North to the Mountains of Sierra Morena and Castile and on the South with the Ocean the Straits of Gibralter and the Midland-Seas It extracts this Denomination from Corduba the Principal City and did anciently enwrap with its Limits Andalusia Gades Estremandura and Granada of which last I shall speak more hereafter The ancient Inhabitants of these Provinces were the Turduli the Bastu'i the Yurditani of Andalusia and Granada the Celtici and some part of the Lusitani all which were reduced to the Roman Obedience and contributed to the making up those Triumphal wreaths which adorned the Temples of Scipio African about the Commencement of the second Punick Warre From the Romans the Seignory of these Provinces was ravished away by the Vandalls who passing over into Africk there to multiply their Conquests to a larger Extent transmitted it to them but they were scarce planted in their new Patrimony but they were disseised by Theodorick the Fourth King of the Goths who by these Victorious Atcheivements made all Boetica augment the Grandeur of his Diadem under the Scepter of whose Successors it continued constant untill the Fatal Eruptions of the Moors who having by perpetual Conflicts and Inroads enslaved almost the whole Continent of Spain were first subservient to the Commands of the great Caliphs who spread their Rule over the Saracenical Empire commanding here from Ulidor Ulit by whose Influence and reiterated Supply they perfected their Triumphs over the Goths Anno 714. to Abdalla Anno 757. at what time Abderamen of the Line of Mahomet the Impostor declining by flight the Fury of Abdalla by whom the ancient Line of the Caliphs of the Race of Humeia from which Stem this Abderamen was extracted had been devested of the Empire sought for shelter in Spain and was with many Symtomes of Joy and other unusual carresses received by the Spanish Moors entirely devoted to his House whose Government upon his shaking off all dependance or subordination to the Caliphs or Mahumetan Emperours he wholly assumed to himself In his Line the Title flowed with an even and undisturbed Current untill it streamed down to Hizen the Second after whose Decease the Scepter of Corduba seemed to be broken to pieces by the surprizal or encroachment of subsequent Usurpers and Pretenders the last of which was Mahomet the Son of 〈◊〉 after whose Exit the Body of the Carduban Monarchy having evaporated its most vigorous and most active Spirits at those wounds the successeful Swords of the Kings of Castile and Leon had inflicted on it languished into decay and fell to peices the Fragments of which dissolved Monarchy were gathered up by several Royolets and erected into new Principalities as namely one started up at Sevill another at Toledo a third at Valentia and a fourth at Corduba After this great onset made on the Monarchy of Corduba which so broke the Scepter and disordered the Diadem made now contemptible and cheap by the tearing off so many Provinces from its Seignory and Jurisdiction the Series of those Princes who were Successors to Mahomet above mentioned is so ravel'd and discomposed that there is no Track in the Registers of History made visible to us by which we may persue their Remembrance only several petty and inconsiderable Tyrants by an unjust Usurpation endevoured to grasp the Scepter but their Arrogance and insolent comportment so disgusted and disobliged the people that to rescue themselves from that Load of Oppression which with so Calamitous a pressure sat heavy upon their Lives and Fortunes they called in the Miramomolins or Kings of Morocco who so nobly asserted the Peoples Liberties that all those Roytelets were totally by them subdued Under seven Princes of Morocco did the Government of these Spanish Moors continue unbroken that is to say from the Entrance of Joseph Telephin in the Year 1091. unto the going out of Mahomet the Green in the Year 1214. During which Interval of Time which made up an Account of an Hundred and twenty years their Affairs and Designs were so well managed by the Conduct and Inspection of these active Chieftains that they lost nothing but Estremadura which was snatched from them by Alfonso the Second King of Castile and Leon and the City of Lisbon torn from them by Alfonso the First King of Portugall But Mahomet the Green being discomfited at Serra Morena by the Forces of the Christians concentered and knit together in in a joynt Confederacie or Combination about the Year 1214. was so dispirited with this disastrous Successe that he made an obscure Retreat abandoning all that Care which might have oblig'd him to a farther defence of this Monarchy after whose Recesse this Kingdome was once more split and dissolved into divers Principalities and small Royalties almost equal to the number of great Towns which after various Contests were incorporated into that Regall Patrimony which bowed under the several Scepters of the Kings of Castile Aragon and Portugall but the Kingdome of Corduba having too crazy and infirm a Foundation to support a Fabrick so ruinous and tottering sunk into its own Ruines being pluck'd asunder by the victorious Hand of Ferdinand the second King of Castile in the year 1236. who afterwards fastned to that Revenue which owned the Jurisdiction of that Crown and Scepter where the Title hath remained ever since so fix'd and permanent that by the Steps of several Descents it hath been conducted down to confesse the Power and Authority of Philip the fourth now King of Spain GRANADA GRANADA is circumscribed on the West with Andalusia on the East with Murcia and the Mediteranean on the North with New Castile on the South only with the Midland Sea This Kingdome was a Limb of the Kingdome of Corduba being still wrapp'd up in the Fate of that having still the same Inhabitants cultivating its earth and the same Conquests retrenching its Liberty so that it was sacrific'd as an oblation to the Sword of the invading Moors and Sarazens But when the Castilians by many signal Encounters had so dissipated and rent asunder the great Kingdom of Corduba that it appear'd to be split into Parcels this was seised on by Mahomet ben Alhamar or Alcamir who so vigorously asserted the Interest of the Moors even in their declining Fortune that he made this Province part of his own Endowment and Patrimony and vvas by those persons vvhom he had so gallantly shadovved vvith his protection advanced to be the first King of Granada though he vvas the last of Corduba of all the Kings subsequent to him the Spanish Records affords us so dim a Beam that we wander in the dark when we endevour to trace out a just and successive Series of them for Civil Contentions and intestine Animosities like a private Moth did so fret into the Title that it was no longer stable than the power of the Sword did support it nor indeed could it be but expected that the Foundation of a Monarchy fixed on so great a Ruine and whose Fabrick
672. Wamba not Bamba as his name is placed in ordinary Registers managed the Government eight years 680. Erigius erroneously sometimes written Eringius continued placed on the Throne six years 687. Egica falsly styled Egipsa weilded the Scepter of the Goths 15 years 701. Witiza and not Vitiza as his Name is enrolled in some Chronicles reigned in a joint Combination of Government with his Father five years and five years he swayed the Scepter alone 711. Rudericus so his Name is inscribed on his Coins and not Rodericus as it is registred in the Spanish Annalls governed one year and then having by an injurious and violent Rape polluted and debauched the Honour of Cana Daughter to Count Julian an eminent Nobleman of Spain he to assoil his Name and Family from that Stain which this ignominious Affront had spread over it invited the Moors of Africk under the Conduct of Musa to expiate the former violence who indeed executed the Vengeance designed by him for Roderick so solemnly that in a signal Battell commenced at Xeres de la Frontera in Andalusia the Fortune of Spain was entomb'd in the Carnage of that Field and Roderick abandoned both Crown and Kingdome to the prevailing Sword of the Moors and Musa being supported and reinforced by new Supplies by frequent successes forced almost all Spain to bow to a universal Conquest whilst the scattered Reliques of the pale and amazed Goths immur'd themselves in the inaccessable Retreats of Asturia or Leon from whence Garcia Ximenes a Nobleman extracted from the Royal Gothish Blood about the year 713. or as others assert about the year 716. descended with 600 men and after divers successeful encounters with the Moors gave a Beginning to the little Kingdom of Suprarba locked up within the Pyrenean Hills which sometimes after dilated it self and spread into the Valleys which from hence assum'd the Name of Navarra or Navierras which in Spanish imports as much as plain grounds And of this Kingdome I shall now render an Account NAVARRE NAVARRE is circumscribed on the East with the principality of Berne in the Kingdome of France on the West with the River Ebrâ— or Iberus on the North with the Cantabrian Mountains and on the South with the River Aragon which seperates it from that Kingdome The ancient Inhabitants were the Vascones invested not only in the possession of this Track but of Biscay and Guipuscâ—a also It was ravished away from these by the Romans who were expulsed by the Goths and they again were disseised of the tenure of this Province by the invading Moors who finally were dislodged from their new Acquists by the Magnanimity of Garcia Ximenes above-mentioned whose Successor Ximenes Garcia dying without Issue after an Interregnum of four years Inigo Arista Son of Simon Earl of Bigorre was advanced by Election to the Royal Dignity of Navarre as the next Heir in the Collateral Line to Ximenes Garcia abovesaid and he was Ancestor to Sancho the fourth who in respect that he was possest by Descent of Navarre and Aragon of Castile in Right of his Wife Donna Nugna or Elvira Sister and Heir of Sancho the last Earl thereof and of Leon by Conquest incorporated into his stile the Title of Great and he upon his Decease bequeathed the Kingdom of Navarre to his eldest Son Garcia whose Son Sancho the fifth was unnaturally assassinated by his younger Brother Raymir after whose Tragical Exit and the brief interposition of this bloody Intruder who had bespattered the Throne of Navarre with such a purple Effusion this Diadem was pluck'd from his Temples by Sancho Ramires to invest his own after whom Pedro and Alfonso Kings of Aragon likewise did severally and Successively weild the Scepter and manage the Government of Navarre But this Alfonso dying without Issue and his Brother Raymir a Monk unclouding his Head of his Cowle to adorne it with the Crown of Aragon the Soveraignty of Navarre was vested in Garcia Raymir Grandchild of Garcia de Nagera and Son of Raymir the Usurper abovementioned so that the Right of this Descent so fortified his Title that he ascended the Throne of Navarre as the direct Heir of that Kingdome from whom the transmission of Descent transported it to his Grandchild Sancho the eighth in whom the Male Line of Garcia Ximines was wound up in a Conclusion for he going out without Issue Theobald Earl of Champaigne Son of Blanch his Sister and Heir was entitled in Right of this Descent to the Diadem of Navarre and from the Thread of Succession wafted this Dignity to his Grandchild Henry who determining in Joan his sole Daughter and Heir she by Matching with Philip the Fair King of France by this new Alliance inoculated the the Scepter of Navarre on that of France and in the Hands of his Posterity it flourished during the Government of Lewis Hutin Philip the Long and Charles the Fair Kings of France and of Navarre his Lineal Successors but Charles the last of these expiring without Issue Jane Daughter of Lewis Hutin as Heir General of this Charles was invested in the Possession of this Kingdome and in her Right Philip Earl of Eureux her Husband step'd into the Throne of Navarre and from these two did the Diadem of this Province devolve by Successive transmission to his Grandchild Charles the third King of Navarre in whom the Male Line determining the Distaff prevailed against the Spear for Blanch his Daughter annexed this Kingdome to the Patrimony of her Husband John King of Aragon who likewise found his Name wrap'd up as to this particular Match in two Daughters and Coheirs one of whom styled Leonora by espousing Gaston de Foix gave up the Roialty Possession and Crown of this Kingdome to empale the Brow of this Earl her Husband and from these two the Soveraignty was conducted down by successive Delegation to their Grandchild Francis Phoebus who deceasing without Issue the Crown and Dignity of Navarre came to embellish the Head of Catharine his Sister and Heir and she being espoused to John d'Albret of Gascony descended from Amani d'Albret which Amani in the Government of Charles the fifth King of France was wedded to Margaret of Bourbon Sister to Jane Queen of France and by that Alliance very much improved the splendor of his House linked the Kingdome of Navarre to his Patrimony and from these two descended Henry their Son and Heir who was King of Navarre and Match'd with Margaret Sister of Francis the first King of France by whom he had Issue Jane the sole Inheritrix of Navarre who by espousing Anthony of Bourbon entitled him to the Crown and Scepter of Navarre and she was Mother of Henry the fourth Grandmother of Lewis the thirteenth Great-grandmother of the instant Lewis the fourteenth successively Kings of France who by Authority of this Alliance have ever since inserted and interwoven the Title of King of Navarre amongst their Style and Inscriptions But alas this is only a barren naked and empty
animated in that design by Soria who so managed and improved their increasing Hopes with Conquests and augmentation of Territory that about the year 870. he undertook the Command of Lord of Biscay and from him did the Title and Estate by the steps of several descents passe down to his Successor Lopez Diaz the third the first who assum'd to himself the Sirname of Haro borrowed from a Town of that name of that Foundation and from him did it descend to his Successor Nugno de Lara vvho determined vvithout Issue so that his tvvo Sisters and Coheirs Jean and Isabel vvere entitled to his Inheritance but vvere defrauded of the Possession by the forcible Intrusion of Pedro King of Castile Ferdinand the younger Son of Ferdinand de la Cerda King of Castile Matched vvith Jean Nugna the Edest of these tvvo Sisters and from this Conjunction Issued Jean Manuell espoused to Henry the second King of Castile likevvise and he had Issue John vvho vvas invested also vvith the Diadem of that Kingdome and he in Right of his Mother vvas planted in the Propriety of Biscay and from him did it devolve to his Successor Henry the fourth King of â—â—â—tile vvho dying vvithout Issue it came to confess the Title of his Sister and Heir Isabella vvho by Matching vvith Ferdinand King of Aragon placed the Propriety of it amongst those Flovvers vvhich adorned his Diadem vvhere it hath been so permanent and fixed that though several Revolutions have intervened in this Family yet still it acknovvledges it self to be an Appendage to the Crovvn and Scepter of Philip the fourth novv King of Spain GUIPUSCOA AS for the Fortunes of Guipuscoa they had this Aspect as they stood in their posture towards the Rest of Spain First the Vascones then the Cantabri subdivided into the Marbogi Caristi and other petty Colonies above-mentioned enjoyed the Possession of this Track and for sometime were disseised of the Propriety of it by the Invading Romans but having vindicatâ—â— their Interest from their Encroachments they were at last forced to bow to the Dominion of the Goths and from them was it torne by the Moors and being again rescued from their Slavery by the Kings of Navarre it was link'd to that Kingdome and remained a Member of that Crown untill it was wrung from Sancho the sixth King of Navarre by Alfonso the first King of Castile about the Year 1079. by whom it was entrusted to the Managery and Sway of Lopez Diez de Haro Lord of Biscay But after the Decursion of some Time it was again upon following Capitulations surrendred to the Kings oâ— Navarre to whose Scepter it continued fastned untill the Year 1200. when the People of Guipuscoa having by a just and equal Resentment tasted of both Governments and rellishing that of Castile better than that of Aragon they by a voluntary Resignation bowed their Heads to the Command of Alfonsus the fourth King of Castile who without the least Decision of the Sword received this Country into a full Subjection and left it thus setled and confirmed to his Successorâ— the Kings of Spain in whose Demeasne and Revenue the Seignory of it is yet constantly treasur'd up GALLICIA GALLICIA or Gallaecia is bounded on the East with Leon on the South with Portugall from which it is separated by the River Minio on the North with the Cantabrian Ocean and on the West with the Atlantick The Ancient Inhabitants were the Gallaeci whence it assumed its Name broken into the several Tribes of the Bâ—dyi Suâ—ri Cilini Capori and Lemavi It was one of the last Provinces which resigned themselves up to the Power of the Romans encouraged to this Noble Defence and asserting of their Liberties by that Chaine of Cantabrian Mountains with which this Country is almost interlaced out of which Consideration it was selected as a Refuge or Sanctuary by those afflicted Christians who groaned under the Conquest of the Moors It was in Times of an Elder Inscription a Limb of Hispania Tarraconensis after it swelled it self into the Estimate of a Province and had the Name of Gallicia imposed upon it being augmented with the Asturia's and some part of Portugall and the Old Castile In the Eclipse of the Roman Power the Suevi a warlike Nation of Germany accompanying the Vandals and Alani in their Eruptions invaded Spain and atchieved the Conquest of this Province But not satisfied with their new Acquists they assaulted the Silings a Collateral Tribe of the Vandalls then invested in the Possession of Boetica whom they subdu'd and by a successful Province extorted that Province from them animated to this Conquest by the presence of Richila their second King They not long after improved their Victories by the Addition of Lusitania but their farther progresse was intercepted by Theodorick the second King of the Goths by whom they were discomsited and shut up within the Recesses of Gallicia which they enjoyed untill their final Suppression and Subversion by Lâ—uâ—igild King of the Goths about the Year 858. and then this Province was linked to the Gothish Scepter In Times subsequent to this it was incorporated into the Kingdome of Leon being Conqueted by retaile and in pieces from the Intruding Moors by the Kings of that Province It was first erected into a Kingdome by Alfonso the third sirnamed the Great Anno 886. and given to Ordogno his second Son who upon the Decease of his Elder Brother Garcia was entitled to the Crown of Leon likewise and so Gallicia became once more united to Leon but so as by particular Compact it was beheld as an independent distinct Realme of it self But this Connexion was not very permanent for in the Year 955. the Gallicians resenting with regret the ill Government of Raymir the third elected Veramund for their King who was Son of Ordogno the third and had the most manifest Title to the Diadem who being advanced to the Crown of Leon on the Death of Raymir once more incorporated the two Realms under one Scepter but it was torn off once more from Leon by Ferdinand King of Castile and Leon who gave it unto Garcia his youngest Son Anno 1067. But it was again reduced under the Sway and Dominion of Leon by Sancho eldest Son to Ferdinand above mentioned by whom the Forces of Garcia were broken and he himself made Captive in the Year 1081. never since broken off from Leon and Castile but when Leon was rent from Castile being still involv'd with Leon in those Distinctions till that disâ—nion of Leon and Castile was sodered together and Cimented in the Person of Ferdinand the second in the Year 1230. And being thus entwined they are by Successive Descent brought down to confesse the Diadem of Philip the fourth now King of â—Spain CORDUBA CORDUBA as it stood when it vvas by Conquest rent from the Moors by the Spaniards vvas thus environed On the Fast it vvas contiguous to Murcia and the Mediterranean on the West to Portugal and the Ocean on the
was cimented with so much blood must be crazy brittle and unsafe so that the â—â—own devolving to Mahomet Boad delin who did not expect his Fathers death but hastned it with all these imperfections debauching its lustre it is no wonder if it was snatch'd from his head by Ferdinand and Isabella who having by a noble and a Christian Conquest knit it to the Demeasn of Castile and Arragon it is now by successive right brought down to confesse Philip the Fourth now King of Spain for its Lord and Soveraign TOLEDO THe Kingdome of Toledo extracts its Appellation from Toledo the principal City which in elder times did circumscribe the chiefest part of that Countrey which now falls under the Name of New Castile The ancient Inhabitants were the Carpentani and Gyresâ—â—ni dislodged by the Romans who again were dispossessed by the Alani and they again finally disseised by the Goths who after they had many Descents possest it and made Toledo their capital Residence which City was surrounded and fortified with a Wall by the Care and Expence of Bamba King of the Goths were outed and devested by the discomfiture given by Musa Chieftain of the Moors to Roderick the last Gothish King whose incogitant â—â—â—st gave him and Spain up a prey to the Sword of Barbarous Sarazens But afterwards when the great Kingdome of Corduba began to be split asunder by its own Disorder and Confusion it was upon the entrance of Abderamen into Spain ravished away from Galafrâ—y who held it as Vassall under the Caliphs of Daâ—ascus but with the Title of King and this Abderamen left it to his eldest Son Zuleima who was disseised not only of this Province but of Corduba likewise by his younger Brother Hizen after which devestiture it remained constant to the Interest of Corduba untill the Expiration of the Reign of Abderamen the second King of Corduba from whom it was torn away by Aben Lope who again was supplanted by Mahomet Son of Abderamen about the year 848. and here it continued fixed and constant until Addalla a Man of very great estimate amongst the Moors taking advantage of the Feud started between Zuleima and Hizen the second in relation to the Realm seised on Toledo and entituled himself to the Diadem of it but he dying without Issue as divers old Records intimate the Crown of Toledo devolved by his Testament and Donation to Mahomet Almohadi issued from the Royal Family of Humeia King of Corduba to which Diadem though he had an indisputable Title yet he was illegally and forcibly discarded from the possession of it by the Violence of Zuleima and his more prevalent Faction and from this Mahomet did the Scepter of Toledo come to adorn the hand of his Son Obeydalla who had but newly ascended his Throne when he fell in an unsuccesseful Encounter a Sacrifice to the Ambition and Fury of Hizen King of Corduba about the year 990. After whose disastrous Tragedy the Diadem of Toledo empailed the Temples of his Kinsman Hairam from whom the Devolution of successive Right carried it down to his great Grandchild to Hiaya sirnamed Alcaduchir or Alcadarbile who having by his Tyranny and Exactions disobliged his Subjects and exasperated their Spirits against him opened a Gap so wide that Alfonso the first King of Castile and Leon rushed in at that breach and by an absolute Conquest annexed this Province to Castile to the Dominion of whose succeeding Princes it hath ever since continued so constant that it still obeys the Scepter of Philip the fourth now King of Spain MURCIA MURCIA is bounded on the West with Granada on the East with Valentia on the North with Valentia and part of Granada on the South with the Levant or Mediteranean Sea This Province being an appendant Limb to Hispania Carthaginensis was upon the Eruption of the Alani ravished from the Romans who were by Conquest first entituled to it but the Alani had not been long resident in their new Atcheivements here but they were expulsed by the more powerful Sword of Vallia or Wallia King of the Goths After this it was so subservient to the Fate of Spain that it was made part of the Conquests of the Moors of Africk when the rest of the Kingdome bowed it self to their yoke and Scepter But their Empire in Spain being by their own Divisions and Animosities so disorder'd and discompos'd that it was distracted and broken into several parcells this upon so general Shipwrack was seised upon by Aben-Hut extracted from the Kings of Saragossa who raised it into a distinct Kingdome about the year 1228. and afterwards stretched out his power to that latitude that he not only commanded over this Countrey but reduced Granada and part of Andalusia under his Dominion But long he had not been in the possession of his new Conquests when amidst the Caresses of a drunken Feast he was traiterously assassinated by Aben Arramin a perâ—idious Servant of his own upon whose Tragedy one Aben Hudiel with a successeful hand seised on the Scepter but long he had not grasped it when one Alboaquis wrung it from him but he being not able to assert his new atchieved Regality against the power of his Competitor resigned the Kingdome into the hands of Ferdinand the second King of Castile but with this Provisoe that he should enjoy the Title of King of Murcia during his Life upon whose Expiration it was annexed to the Diadem of Ferdinand abovementioned and hath been so constantly linked ever since to the Scepter of Castile that it now acknowledges no other Monarch but Philip the fourth now King of Spain VALENTIA VALENTIA is circumscribed on the East with the Mediterranean on the West with Castile and Aragon on the North with Catalonia It was originally part of that Division of Spain called Tarraconensis but afterwards that Province being subdivided by Constantine it was made a Limb of Hispania Carthaginensis The ancient Inhabitants were the Bastitani the Edotani the Contestani and some part of the Celtiberi In the waning of the Roman Empire when the Imperial Diadem was torn to pieces by its fatal Distemper within as well as by the violent and forcible Eruptions of the Barbarous Nations from without this Province stoop'd to receive that yoke which was imposed upon it by the victorious Alani but this was not long after taken off by the Goths who having subdued these new Intruders cimented this Province by Conquest with the Residue of Spain but was again rent off from their Monarchy by the successeful Sword of the Moors and knit by this Acquist to their Kingdome erected in Spain and in their Do ninion untill Mahomet Enasir received that destructive Blow at the Battel of Sierra Morena which so diminished the strength of the Moors that their Retreat into Africk was an effect of this Defeat Valentia was erected into a distinct Kingdome by Zeit Aben Zeit the Brother of Mahomet Enasir before mentioned about the year 1214. but not long after that is about
the year 1228. it was ravished away from this new Prince by Zaen a Prince of the Moors in Spain and the pretence upon which he established this Violence was that this dethroned Potentate had an Intention to revolt to Christianity but this Zaen had not been long seated in his new Conquests but he was supplanted and subdued by James King of Aragon about the year 1238. and this Province annexed as an Appendage to the Kingdome of Aragon to which it hath ever since been so constantly fastned that both its Title and Propriety is at this instant linked to the Scepter of Philip the fourth now King of Spain MAJORCA THe Kingdome of Majorca contained the Islands of Majorca Minorca Fbusa Frumentaria in the Levant and the Land of Roussillon which was added to Spain in the time of the Goths being accounted a Limb before of Gallia Narbonensis On the Decease of Gerrard the last Proprietary Earl it was added to the Crown of Aragon by Alfonso the second by James the first it was annexed to the Diadem of Majorca but being torn from that Scepter by Pedro the fourth it was once more linked to the Patrimony of that Crown After that it was transmitted as a pawn by John the second to Lewis the eleventh King of France to secure the reimbursement of 300000 Crowns lent in the year 1462. and freely surrendred to Ferdinand the second sirnamed the Catholique with a Release from all incumbrances by Charles the Eighth his Son in the year 1493. with this Provisoe annexed that he should not impede or intercept him in those Designs which had an Aspect on the Conquest of Naples from whom the continued Flux of Descent carried it down to Philip the fourth King of Spain in whose Patrimony it lay couched until the late Defection of Catalonia and then it was totally lopp'd off from the Interest of the Spaniard by the successeful Sword of the French and is by the conditions of the last Treaty of Peace to remain during the truce wrapp'd up in the Demeasnes of the Gallican Diadem Adjoyning to this Province as part of the Kingdomâ— of Majorca is that Countrey which by the Spaniard is styled Cerdagne and it is probable borrowed this Appellation now stiv'd into a lesser Volume from the Cerretani who were the ancient Inhabitants This Province lying in those Valleys which are linked to the Pyrenean Hills was judged meet to be annexed to the County of Roussillon for the farther improvement of that Province to whose paramount Fortune its appendant Fate hath been constantly ever since so subservient that when it and Roussillon was pawned to the French it was part of the Mortgage and was also wrapped up in the Restitution The Earldome of Montpellier was some hundreds of years since by Mary the only Daughter of William the last Earl thereof united to the Dominion and Patrimony of Peter the second King of Aragon and by her he had issue James King of Aragon and Majorca of that Name the Third who conveyed it by Sale to Philip of Valois King of France in the patrimony of whose Successors it hath ever since been resident Majorca with the circumambient Islands of Minorca Ebusa now called Yuica Frumentera styled by the Greeks Ophiusa and Colubraria by the Latins from the multitude of Serpents which anciently infested it Dragâ—nera Cabraria Vedra Coâ—â—rello Moncolibre Alfaques and Scombraria so called from a contemptible Fish named Scombrus attaqued in the time of the Romans in numerous Shoals on this Coast and thence transported to Rome though more anciently as divers eminent Records testifie it obtained the Denomination of the Island of Hercules These Islands were first planted by the Tyrians or Phaenicians to whose industrious care most of their Cities owed their first Institution and Erection there being one erected in the Island of Ebusa which to inforce a grateful acknowledge ment to posterity of their expence had the name Phaenissa anciently lodged upon it And from these Phaenicians the future Inhabitants derived the Art of Slinging which they improved to so great advantage and Dexterity that the Name of Baleares in subsequent Ages was imposed upon them which word some do assert was extracted from the Phaenician word Baal-Jarre which in the Punick Dialect imports as much as a Master in the Art of Slinging though others with more probability deduce it from the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to cast forth or throw But to proceed These Islands first bowed to the yoke of the Carthaginians whose Affairs here were successefully managed by the prudent conduct of Hanno and Himilco Anno M. 5500. At what time the City of Rome lay gasping under the Tyranny of the Decemviri under the Dominion of that State they remained subject until the Conclusion of the second Punick War when the Carthaginians being no longer able to shelter them with their protection they abandoned them to themselves who immediately moulded themselves into the Constitution of a Commonwealth whose Contexture was quickly supplanted by Metellus Brother to him who subdued Crete and united it to the Roman Patrimony who from this submission of theirs to that Empire was recompensed with the glorious Trophies of a triumph Afterwards being incorporated into Spain and made a Limb of that great Body the same Fortune either prosperous or adverse which waited on that attended likewise on this In those Distractions which retailed out the Empire of the Moors in Spain to a various Ruine they were knit into an entire Kingdome under the notion of the Kingdom of Majorca from the Moors it was rent away by the Conduct and Prowesse of Raymond Earl of Barcelona assisted in that undertaking by the concurrent Supply of the Genoese about the year 1102 but I know not upon what grounds not long after the Genoese made a tame Surrender of it to the Moors again which was not long resident in their possession for James King of Aragon about the year 1228. wrung it from them by a second Conquest and he setled it on his second Son James and from him the Diadem devolved to his Son and Heir Sancho who dying without Issue James Son of Ferdinand Brother to James the first King of Majorca entred upon it by the Name of James the second on whose decease James the Third ascended the Throne who suddenly after was dislodged being subdued and slain in a disastrous Encounter by Pedro the fourth King of Aragon about the year 1348. After whose Tragedy this was annexed to Aragon and hath continued ever since so closely interwoven with the Interest of this Kingdome that it still obeys the Scepter of Philip the Fourth now King of Spain CATALONIA CATALONIA is shut in on the North with the County of Roussillon and the Pyrenian Mountains on the East with the Mediterranean on the South with Valentia on the North and North-West with Aragon The Name as some probable Conjectures seem to affirm is derived from the Castellani who in elder times were
ingrateful and unworthy Tuition they had been entrusted by their confident but unwaâ—y Father were forced to seek shelter in the most desencible places of the great Forrest of Ardenne where they established the great Earldomes of Ardenne and Mosell Divided in succeeding Generations into many parcels of which this was one Who the first Earls were because Ancient Records are dim in that particular is incertain Albert who was Co-temporary to Hugh Capet and Matched with Irmingrade Daughter of Charles of France and first Duke of Lorraine is represent in very old Registers to have been Earl of this Province and he was Grandfather and as some Authors assert Father to â—eter Earl of Namur in whom the Male Line determined so that his Daughter and Heir by Espousang Henry the second Son of Baldwin the eighth Earl of Flanders and Hainault which Henry was Emperour of Constantinople likewise after the death of his elder Brother Baldwin the ninth Earl of Flanders and Hainault brought this Earldom into that Family and from him it descended to Yoland his Daughter who Wedded Peter Earl of Auxerre who also succeeded his Father in Law Henry in the Empire of Constantinople and he supported by a Right derived from Her was entitled to this Earldome and upon his Decease Philip his younger Son as being then in the Netherlands entered upon it as Earl but he dying without Issue John his elder Brother who at his Fathers Decease was at Constantinople and there made his Claim was entitled to it but he likewise making his Exit without Issue it devolved to Philip the second Brother to Henry the Emperour above mentioned and the likewise determining without Children it was transmitted to Margaret one of the two Daughters and Co-heirs of Baldwin the ninth as Heir General to this Philip and she setled it on her third Son John sirnamed of Dampierre upon whose Decease his elder Brother Guy of Dampierre entered upon the Earldome and left it to his Son by his second Wife by the Name of John the third upon whose Exit his Brother who was one of the Sons of Guy de Dampierre above mentioned by his first Wife was invested in the Earldome by the Style of John the fourth but he expiâ—ing without Issue his Brother by the whole Blood entered upon the Possession by the Name of Guy the second and from him it Descended to his Grandchild John the sixth who in the Year 1429. passed away his Estate here in Reversion to Philip the Good to be enjoyed by him on the Decease of his next Heir Theodore who being Infirm and going out without Issue it accordingly augmented the Revenue of Philip the Good and from him hath the steps of several Descents carried down the Title and Propriety to Philip the fourth now King of Spain Luxenbourg LUXNBOURG is environed on the East with the Moselle and the Land of Triers on the West with the Maes and the Forrest of Ardenne on the North with Luick-land Namur and a part of Hainault and on the South with the Dutchy of Lorraine It hath borrowed this Name from the Castle near the Town of Luxenbourg selected by Sigifride the first Earl hereof for his Seat and Residence The whole Dutchy is resolved into two parts that on the East having borrowed the Name of Famenne that on the West having the Appellation of Ardenne imposed upon it This Province was at first a Limb of the great Earldome of Ardenne rent from it in the Raign of Otho the first by Sigifride the Son of Ricâ—inus Prince thereof who in the breaking the Estate by Division into paâ—cels had this consigned for his Portion with the Title of Earl Of his Successors Gilbert Godfrey and Conrade there is little represented to us by ancient Record in a constant order of Succession until the Time of Henry the first who being slain in the Cause and Quarrel of Renald Earl of Gueldres contending with John Duke of Brabant for the Dutchy of Limbourg this Province descended to his Son and Heir Henry the second who by the Influence and procurement of his Brother Baldwin Elector of Triers Emperour of Germany and he had Issue John who Matched with Elizabeth Daughter of Wenceslaus the Elder King of Bohemia the Respect had to that Alliance was so operative upon that Nation that he was in the Life Time of his Father by their Election advanced to the Scepter of that Nation And he had Issue Charles who was Emperour of Germany the fourth of that Name and likewise King of Bohemia and Wenceslaus the first who was created Duke of Luxenbourg by his Brother Charles the Emperour to inlarge and multiply the Grandeur of their Family but he Deceasing without a Successor this Dutchy again was united to the Patrimony of Wenceslaus who was eldest Son to Charles the fourth and was Emperour and King of Bohemia also and to him Succeeded his Brother Sigismund who was invested in all his Estates and adorned with all hâ—s Titles as namely Emperour King of Bohemia and Duke of Luxenbourg but grew more considerable when he Matched with Mary Heir of Lâ—wis the first King of Hungary by which Alliance that Diadem likewise encircled his Temples and he the better to fortifie his own Family with external Butteresses by a munificient Donation enstated this Dutchy on Elizabeth Daughter to his younger Brother John Duke of Gortlitz which endowment of his fitted her for the Bed of Anthony of Burgogn Duke of Brabant after whose Decease she was remarried to John the third Earl of Hainault and Holland but having Issue by neither of them she by Sale conveyed her Concernment in this Dutchy to Philip the Good Duke of Burgundy 〈◊〉 whom several Descents hath conducted the 〈◊〉 down to Philip the fourth now King of 〈◊〉 Brabant BRABANT is bounded on the East with Luickland on the West with the River Scheld and a part of Flanders on the North with the Maes which separates it from Holland and Guelderland and on the South with Hainault Namur and a branch of Guelderland The ancient Inhabitants of this Province were the Aduatici and some part of the Tungri by the Romans reputed a Limb of that Province called Germania Secunda and by the French a Province of the Kingdome of East-France or Austrasia the Southern parts thereof Confining on Hainault were subservient to the Command of the Earls of Ardenne the Northern parts extending towards the Sea were miserably harrassed with the Depredations of the Danes and Normans and therefore for their future Indempnity were committed to the Custody and Protection of one who had the Title of Lord Warden of the Marches But long these Robbers had not laid this Province Desolate with their wilde Depopulations when their Rapine met with a just Expiation for Theodebert Son of Theodorick first King of Austrasia accompanied with Utilo a Boiarian Prince so check'd their Insolencies and retrenched their Eruptions by seve al Defeats that Theodorick at the request of his Son Theodebert to ballance
the signal performances of Utilo gave him not only the Command of these Countries but the Propriety and possession of a considerable part of them likewise by the Title of Lord Marquiss of Antwerpe the fourth from whom called Araulph was the first Mayor of the Palace to the Kings of France made Hereditary to this Family and his â—uccessors By Dagobert the first â—ole King of the French that Branch of this Country which was 〈◊〉 â—ubjection to the Earls of Ardenne was by his Victorious Sword extorted from them and the whole Estate conâ—erred on Ansegisus Son of Arnulph with the Title of Duke of Brabant and from him did the Title and Estate descend to Charles Martell Base Son of his Son Pepin the first and this Charles had Issue Pepin the second surnamed the Short who having managed Successfully the Affairs of France at last Usurped that Diadem and solemnly receive the Crown at Soissons from the Hands of Boniface Arch-Bishop of Mentz in the year 751 The Dukedome of Brabant was by this means incorporated into the Revenue of the Crown of France where it 〈◊〉 â—â—â—ch â—â—ntâ— the partage of the French Empire amongst the â—ons and Kinsmâ—n of Lewis the Godly and 〈◊〉 â—t wâ—s link'd as an Appendage to the Kingdomâ— of Lorraine where it lay wrapped up until Lotharius the third King of France in whose share it was involved conferred it on Charles his younger Bâ—other with the Title of Duke of Brabant But this Donation little improved his Interest because the principal part of this and that Moiety of the Kingdome of Lorraine which obeyed the French was cut off by the Sucessful Sword of Otho the second Emperour of Germany and annexed to the Empire But this Otho considering that Charles above-said thus devested was his Cousin German as being Son to Lewis King of France surnamed the Transmarine who had Wedded Gerburg Sister to his Father Otho the first invested him in the great Dukedome of Lorraine which in spacious Latitude and extent of it circumscribed within its Precincts and perambulation Lorrain Gulick Brabant which had then the Denomination of Basse or Low Lorrain and the Lands of Luick But out of this spreading Patrimony thus enstated on Charles of France Otho the second above-mentioned reserved out of it for his Aunt Gerburg Mother of the said Charles the Towns and Territories of Lovain Bruxells Antwerpe and Nivelle as her Dower which with Reference to the Ancient Title he Honoured with the Dignity of Marquisate of the Holy Empire Annâ— 981. Gerburg the Sister and after the Death of Charles her Brother abovesaid without Issue succeeded in Lovain Antwerpe Bruxells and Nivelle by a Right transmitted to her from her Grandmother the first Gerburg aswell as from him though she had injuriously disseised of Lorrein and the Title to that large Demeasne by the Emperour Henry the second the Emperour which Territories of Lovain and the rest above-mentioned she conveyed in Marriage to Lambert one of the Sons of Reigner Earl of Hainault with the Title of Earl of Lovain Henry his Son reduced Antwerpe which it seems by an unjust Violence was detained from him and by this Atchievement obtained the whole Marquisate but still reserved the Title of Earl of Lovain Godfrey the sixth Earl having by several new Acquists much extended the Bounds and Marches of his Dominions was by the Emperour Henry the fifth to whom he was link'd in as near an Obligation of Affinity having Matched with his Sister as in Friendship in the Year 1108 Created the first Duke of Brabant and from him the Title flowed down with an undisturbed Channel to John the third of that Name Duke of Brabant by whose Daughter and Co-heir both the Title and Seignory was transported to Wenceslaus the first Duke of Luxenbourg by whom though she had no Issue yet on him and on his Posterity she enstated this Dutchy and Sigismund his second Son Duke of Luxenbourg setled it on Elizabeth his Neice Daughter to John Duke of Gorlitz in Lusatia and she by Matching with Anthony of Burgogne one of the younger Sons of Philip the Hardy annexed it to his Inheritance and being by this Alliance thus entitled to it it was transmitted to John the fourth Duke of Brabant who was eldest Son by his first Wife for this his second deceased without Issue Joan Daughter of Waleran Earl of S. Paul but he dying without Issue it devolved by Descent to his second Brother Philip who likewise expiring without Children Philip the Good Grandchild to Philip the Hardy Succeeded in this Dutchy as Heir to his two Kinsmen above mentioned and from him did the Clew of diverse Descents guide the Title down to Philip the second King of Spain and he lost a considerable proportion of it in the Fatal Defection of the Netherlands occasioned by the Bloody Impression made upon their Invaded and Injured Liberties by Ferdinand Duke of Alva though Bruxells Antwerpe Machlin and other Important peices do yet confesse the Scepter and Dominion of Philip the fourth now King of Spain The Seignory of Machlin consists onely of that City and some Eight or nine contiguous Villages The most eminent of the Villages is styled Liest or Hiest situated on the pleasant Knob of a swelling Hill the residue of the adjacent Villages confining on the foot thereof Both Town and Villages were formerly enwraped in the Patrimony of the powerful Family of the Bertholts which Name expiâ—ing in the person of Gualter de Bertholt slain in the Battel of Worancan by John Duke of Brabant one Moiety of it devolved to the Bishop of Leige who again conveyed it by Sale to John the second Duke of Brabant and the other proportion accrued to ...... Duke of Gueldres and he in the Year 1333. passed it away to Lewis de Malain Earl of Flanders but he conveyed nothing away but a naked Title which was before denuded of its Revenue by the Successful Hand of John the third Duke of Brabant who tore it away to augment his own Estate since which this Seignory of Machlin with all its Perquisites and Appendages hath so constantly attended the Fate of Brabant and Flanders that it at this instant confesses the Interest of the Spanish Scepter Limbourg hath on the East the Dukedome of Gulick on the West the Bishoprick of Leige on the North Brabant and on the South the Dukedome of Luxenbourg The ancient Inhabitants of this Track were the Eburones when it was first advanced to the Title of an Earldome the Light which should be Collected from Ancient Records is so dim and faint that it cannot conduct us to any clear and positive discovery onely it is probable that it was Originally a Limb of the great Earldome of Ardenne from which it was rent to institute and make up a Patrimonial Inheritance for some Cadet or younger Son as Namur and Luxenbourg were or snatched away by the Violent hand of some For aign pretender as Gulick was when Godfrey and Baldwin
fortifie her self agrinst the Designs of Pope Urban had adopted Lewis Duke of Anjou Brother to Châ—rles the fifth King of France for her Heir and he endevoured to vindicate and extort the Crown from Charles of Duras by Dint of Sword but the latter did so vigorously sustain all the Impressions of the House of Anjou that he not onely asserted and fixed the Right of the Crown to himself but likewise transmitted a peaceable Possession of it to his Successors which were first Ladislaus his Son and Heir who Deceased without Issue and Joan his onely Daughter and then Heir who upon the Death of Ladislaus ascended the Throne of Naples by the Name of Joan the second who for Disorders and irregular Excesses and holding a scandalous Familarity with one Caracciolo as likewise for her ill Administration of the publique Affairs was Degraded from the Regal Dignity by Pope Martin the fourth and Lewis of Anjou Grandchild to Lewis Duke of Anjou above mentioned named by him to wear the Diadem of Naples in her place but she disdaining to be thus devested to secure her self against the attempts and pretences of this Lewis Adopted Alfonsus King of Aragon and Sicily for her Heir but being a Woman of a volatile and inconstant Temper upon pretence of some ingrateful Affronts put upon her by Alfonsus abovesaid Cancelled her first Adoption and by a second Instrument declared Lewis the fourth Duke of Anjou Son to Lewis abovesaid for her Heir and this Lewis having wrung the Crown from the House of Aragon enjoyed it joyntly with this Queen Joan in a fixed serenity of Government for some years but dying without Issue before her she to preserve her self from the Eruptions of the Aragonian Faction Adopted Rene Duke of Anjou his Brother for her Heir and soon after she had declared and effected this she her self was disrob'd by Death of all Earthly Glory But this Rene being then Captive with the Duke of Burgundy was debarred from amassing those Forces together which might adjoust his Title to the Crown of Naples indeed his Dutchesse Elizabeth attempted to retrive it but being overlaid with the Faction and Force of Alfonsus She and the House of Anjou were utterly supplanted and Alfonsus upon a pretence extracted from the first Adoption of Joan which was supported by Conquest upon the Ruines of this Family step'd up to the Throne of Naples and he more to ennoble his Family by an Additional Augmentation of Revenue enstated this Kingdom on his Natural Son Ferdinand who being thus invested in it transmitted it to his Son Alfonsus the second and he had Issue Ferdinand the second who likewise wore the Diadem of Naples but a Tenure very volatile and unfixt attended the Soveraignty and made it rest but loosly on his Temples for Charles the eighth King of France Espousing the Title and Quarrel of the House of Anâ—ou so vigorously supported their Interest that he supplanted this Ferdinand and forced him to abandon the Neapolitan Scepter but the French upon the Departure of Charles the eighth managing both the Civil and Military Affairs of this Kingdome with much Impetuousnesse and Inadvertency excited the Neapolitans to resent their sway and Government with so much Regret and Passion that Frederick Brother of Alfonsus the second regained it with as much Facility as his Nephew Ferdinand had cheaply lost it But Lewis the twelfth Successor and Kinsman to Charles the eighth upon the Decease of this Charles who dyed suddenly at Amboise as he was preparing for a second Eruption upon Naples Collected a Powerful Army to vindicate his pretences and Title to that Kingdome so that Frederick finding himself too weak to sustain the weight of so mighty an Opposition threw himself into the Protection of Ferdinand King of Aragon and Castile who in stead of asserting his Interest against the Onsets of the French by an unworthy Compact with Lewis the twelfth disserted his Kinsman and had the Moiety of the Kingdome assigned him as the price of this Dereliction but not long after the French and Spaniard entering into Contention about the Bounds and Limits of the Lands divided their Animosities were improved to that heighth that they blazed out in the Flame of a publique War which was managed with that Vigor and Prudence by Gonsalvo the Spanish General that after many Encounters the French were wholly disseised and their Interest they had in this Kingdome extorted from them and though in Ages subsequent to this the French did not tamely abandon their pretended Concernment here but sought to retrive it by the Bloody Umpirage of the Sword yet were their Designs so ill managed and their Arms so unprosperous that their Disastrous successe did but more fasten the Crown and Scepter of Naples to that of Spain to whose Diadem the Interest and Title of this Kingdom hath remained ever since so firmely linked that it is still united to the Hereditary Patrimony of Philip the fourth now King of Spain Milan MILAN is shut in on the East with Mantua and Parma on the West with Piemont and Switzerland on the North with the Province called Marca Anconitana and on the South with that Chain of Hills which is styled the Appenine The Ancient Inhabitants were the Insubres the Bâ—ji the Cenomani and the Senones who were after diverse signal Contentions devested of their Possessions by the Romans and forced to surrender themselves as Tributary to their Dominion and Seignory and in that Demeasn which supported Rome as it was first the Head of a spreading Common-wealth and then secondly the Metrapolis of a spacious Empire did this Province lie folded up until the Government of this Province came to be Managed by Augustulus the last of the Western Emperours who being subdued and his Forces broken by Odoacer King of the Heruli and Thuringians this Province became the Guerdon of his Triumphs but the Possession being thus atchieved by an unjust Invasion was not long after extorted and ravished away from them by Theodorick K. of the Goâ—hs about the Year 495. but here the Title was as volatile and transient as formerly for Teyas his â—uccessor was about the Year 567. vanquished by the unâ—ted Forces of Alboinus King of the Avâ—res invited out of Hungary and Narses General for the Emperour Justinian in Itaâ—y the Goths being thus disieised this Province was consigned to Albâ—inus and his Troops by Narses Anno 568. as the price of his Successful Courage and meritorious Fidelity so visibly exhibited in the War commenced with the expulsed Goth and in himself and his Line did the Soveraignty of this Province by a Decursion and Series of Twenty three Kings remain uninterruptedly lodged until the Devolution of Descent brought the Scepter to be weilded by Desiderius who being about the Year 774. Discomfited by Charles the Great this Kingdome sunk in his Ruines and was afterwards incorporated as a Province into the spreading Demeasne of that Victorious Monarch After whose Raign this Province remained Imperial and
Title for the actual Possession of the Crown which should give support and vital Energie to it was long since torne away by Ferdinand the Catholick King of Aragon and Castile the occasion which ministered materials to that Foundation on which that Detention was established was this About the Year 1510. Lewis the twelfth having by a signal Victory over the Venetian at Aignadel humbled that People much retrenched their Power and infus'd a Terrour into all the Princes of Italy fell into contention with Pope Julius the second and their mutual Animosities were enhans'd with that Acrimonie and Spleen that the Quarrel was prosecuted almost to a Scihsme for Julius blasted all the Partisans of Lewis with an Excomunication and put their Estates under Interdict in the Register of whom was John d'Albret King of Navarre who was disseised of his Crown and Scepter by Ferdinand above mentioned for this Ferdinand varnishing his Designe of ravishing this Kingdom away from the House of D'Albret with a pretence and shew of passing into Guinne to combine and unite his Forces with the Confederate Invading English by Vertue and Authority of the Papal Interdict to seise and subdue the Crown of France suddenly retriv'd his Army and like a Tempest drop'd on the Kingdome of Navarre and by Conquest about the Year 1512. supplanted â—nd expell'd John d'Albret above mentioned upon this pretence that he was entwined and linked in Confederacy with Lewis the twelfth who was a Rebell against the Church and an avowed Enemy to the English with whom he was wrap'd up in mutual Alliance and more to fortifie this pretence he asserted that there was an ancient Compact or stipulation between the Kings of Spain by which they did Covenant and Indent with each other not to suffer or permit that any of the Spanish Crowns should fall into Forreign Hands or under the Power and Seignory of Houses not Soveraign as those of Foix and Albret were and who likewise by a kind of Servile Coherence and Connexion had their Dependance on the Crown of France And though in Ages subsequent to this the French have protested against this Invasion and Forciblâ—â—ntry and have likewise endevoured to vindicate their Interest by the more powerful Argument of the Sword yet hath it ever since been so firmly linked to the Spanish Patrimony that it still obeys the Scepter and confesses the Dominion of Philip the Fourth King of Spain CASTILE CASTILE is bounded on the East with Navarre Aragon and part of Valentia on the West with Portugal on the North with Biscay and Guipuscoa and Asturia on the South with Estremadura Andalusia and Granada It is divided into the Old and New Castile the first of which assumed that Appellation because it was the ancient Patrimony of the first Earls thereof The other hath borrow'd the Distinction of the New because it was incorporated into the Old Demeasne when the successful Conquests of the Castilians had rent it from the Moors The ancient Inhabitants of these two Provinces were the Vaccai Ventones Arevacae Oretani Dittani and the Carpentani whose Chief City was named Castulo now shrunk into an obscure Village havâ—â—g its ancient Glory entomb'd in neglected Rubbish from whence some Conjectures have asserted that the Name of Castile was imposed on this Province But all these Inhabitants having been much harrassed by the frequent Incursions of the Romans not able to stand the shock of so powerful an Opposition fell under their Conquests and became a part of the Roman Empire from which again they were rent off by the Alani who again were disseised of their violently extorted purchase by the Intrusion of the Goths who being overwhelm'd by the Moors who like an â—nnundation not cloistered up within the shore and channel of any Restraint bore down all before them for some distance of Time gave way to the Torrent but not long after their spirits which before seemed to have been sunk buoy'd up again and by the Assistance of the Kings of Leon so resolutely vindicated their own Interest that they disengaged themselves wholly of that yoke of Moorish servitude that with an uneasie Load had so crushed their shoulders and the better for the â—uture to secure themselves from the Eruptions of the Moors resign'd themselves up to the dominion and protection of the Kings of Leon who managed this Province at first by Provincial Earls but they having made ill use of that power they had entrusted them with by making too frequent Inroads upon the peoples Liberties were by the instigation and influence of one Ordogno who much fomented this Defection barbarously assassinated by the impetuous Multitude having thus thrown off all Obedience to the Scepter of Leon they were afterwards Governed by Judges and secondly by Earls as an absolute and Independent Estate chained by no subserviency to any Forreign Diadem but still this did not so supersede the Claim of the Kings of Leon but that they often endevoured by the power of the Sword to assert their Title until Sancho King of Leon being engaged in a Debt to Ferdinand Gonzales â—e to absolve himself From this Obligation quitted and released all pretence and Claim to the Earldom of Castile so that Ferdinand Gonzales from this signal Investiture is look'd upon in the Spanish Annalls as the first Proprietary Earl of Castile and from him it came down to his Great Grandchild Garcias the second who being treasonably assassinated and concluding without Issue Sancho the Great King of Navarre in Right of his Wife Elvira Sister and sole Heir to this Garcias entred upon it and linked it to his Revenue and upon his Decease setled by particular Donation on his Son Ferdinand and more to enhaunse the glory of this Grant annexed the Title of King to this Concession and from him did the Crowns of Castile and Leon by the Devolution of many Descents come to empale the Temples of Sancho the third second Son of Alfonso the fifth King of Castile and Leon who by the Revolution of humane Affairs having the Fate to survive his elder Brother Ferdinand de la Cerdâ— contriv'd so many Stratagems in his Fathers Life Time which Artifices of his were so closely combined and knit together in the Contrivance and Contexture of them that by Aide of these and the concurrent support of a prevalent Faction beside he extorted the Scepter of Castile and Leon from the Heits of his Elder Brother though many Attempts were made to retrive the Diadem thus placed on the Head of Sancho which being by the prudence of Sancho broken and disappointed Alfonso Son of Ferdinand retreated for shelter into France where he Match'd and had Issue Lewis Earl of Clermont which Lewis by Leonora de Guzman extracted from the House of Medina Sidonia had Issue Lewis and John both which were extinguished without Issue and Isabella de la Cerda who by matching with Bernard a Natural Son of the House of Foix and so all the Right of that Family which was
concentered in her was now lodged on him which Bernard King Henry the second the more by some solemn Obligations to endear and fasten to himself adorned with the Title of Earl of Medinâ— Câ—li and his Son Gastoâ— the better to enforce and propagate the memory of the Noblenesse of his Antiquity and Extraction discarded the Name of Foix to embrace that of De la Cerda which hath ever since been transmitted with the Title bestowed on Lewis Grandchild to this Gaston and to his Posterity though there hath not wanted a successive regret and murmur in this Family to be thus excluded from the Spanish Diadem It is customary for this House at the Coronation of the Kings of Spain to put up a Petition to the Prince wherein they exhibit their Claim to the Spanish Scepter that at the least upon the Defailance of this Family now Reigning the stream of Soveraignty might flow back into this House to which demand the King subscribes this Answer Despois Nos Voâ— After Us You And sometimes No est lover There is no place for him Thus have I in a compendious Prospect represented the Fate which attended on the Stock and Lineage of Ferdinand de la Cerda I shall now trace out what Vicissitudes waited on Sancho the third from whom the Scepter of Castile and Leon by the unbroken Thread of Succession came to be swayed by the Hand of his Grandchild Pedro the Cruel who was expulsed out of the possession of his kingdoms by the procurement and influence of his natural Brother Henry Earl of Transtamare because of that havock and ravage his savage Executions had acted both on the Nobility and Populacy who after the discarding and Renunciation of him was by the Favour of the People advanced to the Crown of Castile and Leon but his Son John the first finding that his Title was established but upon a crazie Foundation unlesse there were some more powerful Buttresses to sustain more to fortifie his claim matcht his Son and Heir Prince Henry to Catharine Daughter to John of Gaunt by Constance one of the Daughters of Pedro the Cruel and so twisted the two differing Titles into one and from him did the Diadem devolve to his Great Grandchild Henry the fourth who going out without Issue Male Isabell his Sister and sole Inheritrix being Wedded to Ferdinand Son to John King of Aragon incorporated it with the Patrimony of his Crown and Scepter but both these Princes dying without Issue Male Joâ—n their onely surviving Princesse of Castile Leon Granadâ— c. and of Aragon Navarre Sicily Naples c. by espousing Phillip Arch-Duke of Austria and Lord of Belgium fastned these vast Territories into one Body the Ciment which knits them together hath been in subsequent Ages so closely united by the combination of many reciprocal Leagues and Marriages that they are still the Demeasne of the Austrian Family and particularly the Scepter of this Kingdome is lodg'd in the Hands of Phillip the fourth now Monarch of Spain PORTUGALL PORTUGALL is bounded on the North with the Rivers Minio and Avia which seperate it from Gallicia on the South with Algarue on the West with the Atlantick Ocean on the East with the two Castiles and Estremadura The ancient Inhabitants were the Lusitani and from them the Name of Lusitania was imposed upon it but though these were the principal yet the Celtici and Turditani who dwelt on the South-side of Tagus and the Gallaici Braccarii so styled from the Gallaici Lucenses who were Proprietaries of Gallicia and who inhabited on the North of Duero were entitled to a considerable part of the possession of it It was at first by the successful Sword of the Romans made Subject to their Empire but when their Power began to sink under the Impressions of those barbarous Nations who had so fatally assaulted them this was extorted from their Jurisdiction by the Alani but continued not long twisted into their Acquists for the Suevians breaking in upon them supplanted the Contexture of their newly obtained Conquests and forc'd them to dislodge and tamely to surrender their Interest here to them but a usurped Right can have no solid Foundation to establish itself upon for not long after these new Invaders were cast out from their new encroachments by the prosperous Attempts of the Goths but they again sunk in ths Ruins of Spain particular Lamentations are not distinguishable in universal Groans when the Moorish Invaders by a publique Conquest made the Liberty of Spain stoop to their Commands and Successe and after it had for some Ages groaned under those Fetters they imposed upon it it was rescued from its servitude by the noble Conduct of Henny of Lorrain to whom as a just Recompense of his Vertue and exemplary Services Alsonso the sixth King of Leon espoused his base Daughter Teresa and with her to improve her Fortune transmitted that part of Portugall which he and his Ancestors had by some auspicious Conquests rent from the Moors and and to make his Bounty more conspicuous he Invested him with the Title of Earl from whom it came by Descent to his Son Alfonso who by the Soveraigns of Leon was as Guerdon to poize both his Valour and his Virtue and that testimony of an excellent Courage he exhibited at the Battle of Obriquâ— Anno 1139. he Governed as Earl and King seventy two years and managed his Scepter with that Art and Prudence that at his Decease he made his Exit with the Fear and Reverence of his Enemies and the Adoration of his Friends And from him did the Diadem of this Kingdom descend to Alfonso the Wise who by a successful Conquest inlarged the Dominions of Portugall and wrung the Kingdome of Algarue from the Moors of Morocco who had before supplanted the Moors of Sevill and so broke the Power of Aben Mefad one of the most Puissant Princes of this Track that most of the Towns and petty Governours became by a subordinate Vassalage subject to the Scepter of Portugall and having thus entwined the Right of these two Provinces he transmitted them to his Grandchild Pedro who left Issue Ferdinand the first in whom the Male Line of Hen. of Lorrain determined so that the Right both of Portugall and Algarue was concentered in Beatrix his Daughter who was disseised of her Title to the Crown by her Uncle John Natural Son to Pedro above mentioned who having thus dislodged her from the Throne by ill Arts and dark Stratagems disdaining to be tir'd down by any bordering Title by an unlawfull Disherision diâ—carded and cast out the remaining Lawful Issue of his Father Pedro and having thus by these crooked Designs grasped the Scepter and empaâ—'d his Temples with the Diadem of Portugall and Algarue he to fortifie and support his unjust pretensions Match'd with Phillippa Daughter to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster with whom so many noble English Families enter'd Portugall that most of the Eminent Houses of this Nation spin out their
Extraction from them at this Day And this John the first had by this Alliance Alfonso the fifth and John the second successively Kings who both Deceasing without any Issue surviving Emanuel Son to Ferdinand Duke of Visâ—o third Brother to these two Monarchs ascended the Throne of Portugall and from him it descended to his Grandchild John the fourth who upon his Decease left it to be enjoyed by his Son and Heir Don Sebastian who being unhappily slain in the Fatal Battail of Alcasar which stained the Feilds of Africk wiâ—h so much Blood Henry third Brother to King John above mentioned and Unclâ— to this Sebastian put off his Cardinals Hat to adorne his Head with the Diadem of Portugall but he being Aged and Impotent his Hand was too weâ—k to Manage or sustain a Burden of that importance as the Royal Scepter long so that being assaulted with Cares and over-laid with Years after some short Time of his assuming the Crown shrunk into Ashes and paid that Debt we all owe upon his Decease several pretended a Title to this Diadem Lewis second Brother to King John above mentioned died without any Lawful Issue but left Antonio Christopher and others begot in unlawful imbraces Antonio fixt his Claim upon a pretended Act of Legitimation from the Estates of Portugall but there were Titles which appeared more specious and plausible which stav'd his off for Edward the fourth Brother to King John though he concluded without Issue Male yet he left two Daughters and Co-heirs Mary wedded to Alexander Duke of Parma and Catharine Matched to John Duke of Braganza and the two Aunts of the Deceased Sebastian namely Mary was espoused to Charles the fifth and Beatrix was married to Charles Duke of Savoy from both which Alliances there proceeded Issue so that now the Controversie was whether after the Decease of Cardinal Henry a Brothers Daughter or a Sisters Son had the more fixed and established Pretence to the Crown and Scepter of Portugall and when this Question was begun to be winnowed by the Civill Lawyers the Duke of Alva to endear himself to his Prince who was Phillip the second King of Spain and Son to Charles the fifth and Mary above mentioned and to assoile himself from that Stain his stupendous Massacres in the Netherlands had contracted perswaded his Master to cast his Claim upon no other Debate but the Umpirage of the Sword and this counsell had so great an Operation upon him that he employed this Duke and a puissant Army under his Conduct to assert his Title to the Diadem of Portugall the Effects of which Invasion were so visible that after some Trivial Opposition made by the Portuguees who were broken and split into Division and Faction the whole Kingdome stoop'd and resigned it self up with a Restriction to havs its original Franchises preserved and supported to the Dominion and Scepter of Phillip the Second and under the command of his Successors it continued untill the year 1640. and then by the Arts and dark Engines of Cardinal Richâ—lieu the Negligence and Supine inadvertency of Conde d'Olivarez and the ill managery of Affairs in Portugall it self by the King of Spain's Ministers that Kingdome was torn off by a total Defection from the Crown of Spain and the Scepter placed in the Hand of John Duke of Braganza who was with the publique Applause of the people acknowledged for King by the Name of John the Fifth and upon his late Decease this Kingdome is come to confesse Alfonso his Son just Heir to his Dominion and Scepter Leon and Oviedo THe Kingdome of Leon and Oviedo is bounded on the East with Biscay on the North with the Main Cantabrian Ocean on the South with Castile on the North with Galicia The ancient Inhabitants were the Astures from whence the name of Asturia was imposed upon it and were divided into the two general names of the Augustani and Transmoâ—tani in which the particular Tribes of the Pesici Gigari Zoelae and Lanciâ—â—sâ—s were involved and circumscribed It is divided into two parts Asturia de Oviedo confining on Galicia towards the West and Asturia Santillana approaching Biscay towards the East From which Divisions thus approportioned the eldest Son of the Monarch of Spain is styled Prince of the Asturias which Denomination some probably conjecture was derived from this Foundation that this Countrey was the first that like a Dam stopt the Current of the Moorish Fury which before like an impetuous Inundation carried down all before it though other Spanish Writers of Authentick credit refer the rise and original of this Appellation to that time which was cotemporary to the Match of Catharine Daughter to John of Gâ—â—nt and in Right of her Mother Constance the indisputable Heir of Castile unto Henry Son of John the first then planted in the possession of the Kingdome of Castile it being then assented to more to improve the Honour of this married pair that as the Heir apparent of England is styled the Prince of Wales so the eldest Son of Castile should be named Prince of the Asturias It was first conquered by the Romans and by Augustus Caesar made parcel of the Province Tarracoâ—ensis and part afterwards of the Province of Gallicia by the Emperor Constantine torn it was from the Roman dominion by the conquest of the Goths and from them again it was extorted by the invading Moors though they were not long after supplanted For as the Lust of Roderick excited the injured Count Julian to call in the Moors so the intempered and disordered Lust of Magnutza a Moorish Viceroy engaged him to ravish the Sister of Prince Pelagius whilest he had embarqu'd the said Prince in an Embassy to Musa the Moorish Generall who being a person of noble pretensions and daring Hopes at his return to expiate this Dishonour and Infamy with which his Family was bespattered to assoil this Stain he gave up the life of this Viceroy as an Oblation offered up to the Justice of his Sword and the Price of so great an Insolence and Lust Despairing of pardon for this Act he flew to defensive Arms as his noblest Sanctuary and fortified himself in the most inaccessable Retreats of this Country to which many of the old inhabitants resorted and having prospered under his Command elected him for King by the Name of King of the Asturias though after he had reduced the City of Leon he assumed the Title of King oâ— Leon and left it to his Son Fasila who dying without Issue it devolved to Alfonso for his piety sirnamed the Catholick who had wedded Ormisind his Sister and he had Issue Froilla the Repairer of Oviedo Aurâ—lius and Odesin matched to Sillo who after the Decease of the two others was King of Leon after whose Exit the Crown of Leon was unjustly usurped by Mauregate natural Son to Alfonso in which violent detention he was supported by Aderamen King of the Moors who was obliged to this supply by an infamous stipulation transacted and
made between him and the said Mauregate by which this Usurper was engaged to pay him as an annual Cense or Tribute fifty Virgins collected out of the Families of the most eminent and noblest Estimate in this Region but after his Decease the Crown of Leon returns to invest the Temples of Veramund Son to Froilla above-mentioned and from him the Clew of Descent guided it down to his great Grandchild Alfonso the Third who not only with Contempt and Scorn disdained to pay the ignominious Tribute of Virgins abovesaid but in so many signal contests and encounters retrenched the power of the Moors that he justly merited the Title of Alfonso the Great and he left Issue Garcia who deceasing without Children the Crown and Scepter of Leon devolved to his sâ—cond Brother Ordogno who was King of Gallicia and from him the Inheritance by many Generations flowed down to his Successor Veramund the Third who engaging in an unsuccesseful War with Ferdinand King of Castile was by him in a prosperous Conflict discomfited and slain upon whose Tragedy the Scepter of Leon was seised on by this Ferdinand as having match'd with Sanctia Sister and Heir to Veramund and he left the Crown of Leon to Alfonso his youngest Son and that of Castile to Sanctius his eldest which Sanctius dying without Issue both Scepters devolved to be grasped by Alfonso from whom the Efflux of Descent cast them into the possession of his Daughter â—rraca Queen of Leon and Castile and she had two husbands Raymond of Burgundy and Alfonso the Seventh King of Arragâ—n and Navarre by the Raymond she had issue Alfonso the Eighth who succeeded in the Realms of Leon and Castile and he had issue Sancho the Second on whom he setled the Kingdome of Castile and Ferdinand the Second on whom he enstated the Realm of Leon and from him it went along to Alfonso the Ninth of Leon who more to twist the complicated Interest of these two Diadems espoused with Berengaria Sister of Henry King of Castile from which Alliance descended Ferdinand the Third King of Leon who by the Arts and Designs of his Mother Berengaria was advanced to the Soveraignty of Castile to the prejudice of Blanch her eldest Sister matched to Lewis King of France And thus the Crowns becoming once more united they were never since dissever'd though the Title by the violent Assaults of Sancho second son of Alfonso the fifth was distorted and planted in his Family to the injury and apparent disherison of the Children of Ferdinand de la Cerda Of which discomposure I shall discover more when I come to treat of Castile Biscay and Guipuscoa BIscay is bounded on the West with Leon on the East with the Pyrenean Mountains and Guienne on the North it confines on the Cantabrian Ocean and on the South with Navarre and Old Castile The ancient Inhabitants of this Province were the Cantabri subdivided again into the several Tribes of the Marâ—ogi Caristi Antrigones Varduli and the Cantabri properly so called a people as eminent for their Antiquity as they were for their Valour and Conduct which they exemplified in many solemn Contests with those Adversaries of theirs that endevoured either to retrench or else absolutely to subvert their Liberties nor lost they any thing by their intermixture with the Vascones who came out of Navarre and setled amongst them but rather improved their courage by this union so that notwithstanding the frequent Impressions and Onsets made upon them by the Romans Carthaginians Goths and Moors they remained as in their Liberties not vanquish'd so in their Language unalter'd the Reasons of which eminent Courage of theirs may be assigned to be these First their Habitations being amongst the craggy and inaccessable Retreats of inexpugnable Mountains those natural Bulwarks cast up at Gods own charges might make them more confident and daring and secondly the purity of their native Air might so fan and winnow their Spirits from those Dregs and compacted humours which thicker fumes and grosser exhalatious frequently amass together might possibly render them more active and vigorous This hath made them so impatient of servitude and not easily yeilding a tame Compliance to any thing they resent with dislike and regret so that this scale of privileges still fortifies their Liberties First Though they give obedience to their Prince with their Bodies they deny him the service of their Purses being exempt from all Tallages and Impositions for when ever the King of Spain approaches their Borders he is accosted in his progresse by the Noblesse of the Country neer the Borders and there they present him with some small pieces of Brasse called Maravedies treasur'd in a Lethern Bag appendant to the End of a Lance which he is oblieged not to take which refusal as they conceive of his does enwrap a Tacit Symboll of a Confirmation of their Immunity from Taxes Secondly at all their publique Assemblies the Women first taste of the Cup which custome hath grown by tacit Consent into use and hath been made hoary and reverend by a prescription of many years ever since Ogne Countesse of Castile attempted to destroy the Life of her Son by a Cup of Wine fatally mingled with poyson Thirdly they admit no Bishops which aversnesse to that Order peradventure had its Rise and Growth from some antecedent pressure imposed upon them by that Order as our modern Sectaries from some personal Defects they beheld in the English Protestant Bishops did arrive at that height of Animosity as to abrogate their Function as if this were an equitable piece of Logick because there is an Error in the Seed therefore consequently there must be one in the Soil not considering that these Biscainers by the want of Bishops and Episcopal Visitations have fallen into that ignorance rudenesse and excesse which like a Cimmerian Mist dwells yet about them Fourthly they allow or give license to no Priest to officiate amongst them unlesse he bring his Concubine with him to appease his desires affirming it impossible to preserve their Wives chast and unmix'd from the imbraces of the Incumbent if he hath not a woman with may allay the wilder flames of Concupiscence But to proceed though the ancient Inhabitants were so martial and vigorous yet the frequent Assaults of the Romans so wasted their strength that though they were not wholly subdued yet they were forced to resign themselves with some Salvo or Provision which had a Reflection on their Liberties to the Command of Augustus Under the Romans they continued untill that Empire shrunk into its own Ruins and then not brought under Servitude by the Goths but surrender'd to them with the Residue of Biscay And this indeed may be added to their glory that they were the last Province of Spain which offered themselves up to the successeful Fury of the Moors excepting the Asturias never part of their Triumphs and the first which disengaged their Necks of that yoke of Conquest the Moors had loaded them with
the ancient Inhabitants of some part of it though others upon as possible Grounds assert it was extracted from the Catalauni an ancient People of Languedoc a Province of France divided by no considerable distance from this Province But the Affirmation of those is certainly the most proportionate to Reason who deduce it from Gotholonia which by depravation of Dialect and a more easie pronunciation was melted into Catalonia This Province having been adopted into the Name of Gotholonia by the Goths as having been one of the first Provinces of Spain on which that Nation made their violent and successeful Eruptions The ancient Inhabitants of this Province were the Castellani Auxitani Indigites Cosetani with part of the Ilercones and Jaccetani all of them Possessors of that distribution of Spain which was styled Hispania Tarraconensis but when the Glory of the Roman Empire began to suffer her Eclipse and umbrages and wand into a visible Declension this was rent from that great Body by the Alani who not long after were subdued and disseised by the Goths but when a general ruin was super-induc'd on Spain by the power of the Moors this sunk in that general Shipwrack and was forc'd to stoop to receive a yoke from the Hands of Infidelitie from them after many signal struglings it was rescued by the Magnanimity of Charles the Great who having reduced the City of Barcelona about the Year 801. settled it on one Bernard a Frenchman with the Title of Earl and he managed the Affairs of this Province for that Emperour as Gothofredus his Successor did for Lewis the Godly But Gothofredus Son to this Godfred having acted some exemplary Service which obliged Charles the Grâ—â— to some grateful acknowledgement he to expiate this Engagement made him Proprietary of it with this Limitation reserved that the Year of the Kings of France as was accustomed to be performed by his Predecessors should be Inscribed and used in all Records and Instruments of publique Cognisance and from him it was transported to his Grandchild Gothofred the Second who dying without Issue his Uncle Borellus entred upon the Possession of this Earldome and in his Line was it so successively fixed untill by an even Clew it descended to Raymond the Fifth who by Matching with Petronilla Daughter of Raymir the Second King of Aragon was by the Authority of that Alliance invested with the Diadem of that Kingdome and knit by a future Combination this Earldom to the Patrimony of that Scepter whose Successor was James the First King of Aragon and Lord of Catalonia for so the Records of Spain seem to insinuate his Style was used in Coins and other Inscriptions to whom St. Lewis King of France by Resignation and Surrender released that Vassalage and acknowledgement which was due from his Predecessors to the Diadem of France in the Year 1260. and this King James to ballance and poize the Merit of so great an Obligation by a proportionate Compensation at the same time devested himself by a general Release of all his Right and Title to Carcassan Bâ—ziers Nismes and some other considerable pieces in France in Timâ—â— of elâ—er Inscription relating as Appendages to the Revenue of that Crown Thus have I represented in Landskip how Catalonia became twisted into the Demeasne and Royaltie of Aragon where it constantly reposed it self untill the Year 1638. and then that Defection from the Crown of Spain which was occasion'd by the Invasion of the Liberties of the Catalans as was pretended by the Spaniard though those pretences were improv'd inflam'd and aggravated by the Arts and cloudy Stratagems of Cardinal Richelieu having torn it off from that Scepter it was by the Inhabitants modelled and fashioned into the shape of a Common-wealth but with a Reservation that it should still be under the Patronage and shelter of the Crown of France and in this Capacity it remained untill the sucbesseful Sword of Don John of Austria the Marquiss of Cerra and the Marquiss of Mortara so vigorously asserted the Interest of Spain that they wrung all Catalonia from the hands of the French and although this Nation by the concurrent Aid of the Catalans did retrive Puycerda Castiglione and some other pieces from the Spaniard yet the more principal part of Catalonia doeâ—â—et after all these vast Concussions acknowledge no other Scepter but that which is swayed by the Hand of Philip the Fourth King of Spain ARAGON ARAGON is fettered in on the East with the Land of Roussillon and the Pyrenean Hills on the West the two Castiles on the North Navarre on the South and South-East Catalonia and some part of Vanlentia The ancient Inhabitants were the Celtiberi who spread themselves over a very considerable part of Spain styled Hispania Tarraconensis but originally had their Rise and Extraction from the Celtae an ancient People of France who being clogg'd and surcharg'd with superfluity of People advanced over the Pyrenean Hills and mingled with the Iberi the old Possessors of Aragon yet there were other Inhabitants of lesse importance as namely the Jaccetani the Lacetani with some part of the Editani and Ilergetes or Ilurcones that had their Concernment in this Province and thrived under the protection and shadow of the Nobler Colonies And in this posture it remained until the Carthaginians endevouring to enlarge their Territories made it bow to their Government but here it had not long been resident when the power of the Romans growing paramount to theirs it was forced to submit to the more predominant strength of that Empire and to their Interest it was subservient untill it was ravished away by the prevailing Arms of the Goths whose Acquists here attended the Fate of Spain and was surrendred to the Moors in that publique Calamitie which was complicated with their Conquest But about that time when the Foundations of the Kingdomes of Leon and Navarre were established one Aznarius a Person of an unbroken Courage disdaining any longer to lye panting under that load of Slavery which the Moors had cast upon him disengaged himself of the pressure and by many generous Conflicts with the Moors wherein he exhibited many Symptomes of an inexpugnable Courage he invested himself in the Possession of some Lands on the Banks of the River of Aragon but because he found his Power was too infirm and crazie to support his new Acquists without some collateral supply he put himself under the Protection of the King of Navarre about the Year 775. And that Monarch both to excite and cherish so worthy a Vertue with some exemplary Guerdon dignified him with the Title of Earl of Aragon and from him it devolved by Descent to his Lineal Successor Fortunio Ximines in whom the Male Line determined so that Fortunio the Second King of Navarre in Right of his Mother Urraca who was his Sister and Heir was entitled to Aragon supported by this Alliance annexed this Province to Navarre and from him the Clew of Descent transmitted it to Sancho the Great
King of Navarre who gave it to his Son Raymir begotten in unlawful Embraces to the prejudice of his Lawful Son Garcia who indeed justly merited this Disherision because he had by an unnatural Accusation endevoured to blast the Reputation of his Mother Queen Elvira Wife to his Father by besmearing her with the Calumnious Aspersion of Adultery from which black tincture she was assoil'd by the Noble and generous Assistance of Raymir above mentioned who offered to assert her Innocence by the solemn Decision of a mutual Combate with this Garcia which obliged his Father King Sancho to reflect with so benigne an eye on so great a Virtue that he thought the Earldome of Aragon a proportionate Guerdon to his Merit and Courage and translated the Coronet of this Province into a Diadem that the Reward designed him might swell into a more considerable Dimension and with more Lustre adorn his Temples and from this Raymir did there Issue out a Series of Kings that was never interrupted disturb'd or ravel'd in the Clew of Descent but in an even order went along untill the Line of Succession brought the Crown of Aragon to empale the Temples of Ferdinand sirnamed the Catholick who by Matching with Isabella the Heir of Castile linked and incorporated these two Kingdoms into one Body whose divided Interest being thus combined hath ever since continued fastned and tied up in so strict a Union that the Propriety of both these Kingdomes does now support and inforce the Grandeur of that Diadem which invests the Head of Philip the Fourth the instant Monarch of Spain SPAIN SPAIN in Times of an elder Complexion was the Stage where the Scene of much Contention and Bloudshed was established the Romans attempting with much eagernesse and Animosity to ravish away the Spanish Liberty and impose that yoke of Servitude on their Necks they had burdened and loaded the shoulders of other captived Nations with and the Spanish Inhabitants again endevouring with a generous vigour to assert their Native Franchises against their Eruptions and so to secure their Liberties that they might not be offered up an Oblation to the rapatious Tallons of the Roman Eagles but after many Conflicts commenced and the bloody Umpirage of several Battels the Spanish Body having exhaled its most active and vigorous Spirits at those breaches and wounds the successeful Swords of the Romans had torn and discompos'd the Bulk of their Empire withall fell a cheap Sacrifice to their Successe and Ambition and by a tame Submission put on those Fetters the Hands of these new Victors had designed to load them with and the Romans the better to manage and fortifie their new Acquists with a cautious improvement scattered several Colonies and Forts on those several Provinces which were circumscribed within the Continent of Spain a subsequent List of which I shall now represent to the Reader as likewise an exact Register of those Cities and Towns which in times of a more modern Inscription have like so many Phaenix's ascended into shape and order out of their antiquated Ruines A ALCE a City of the Celtiberians was raz'd by Gracchus Abdera now called Almeria and according to the Conjectures of some the place where now the City of Veraâ—s â—s situated Abula now denominated Avila Acci likely to be Guadix in Granada Agra it is under Controversie whether it were placed in Spain or in Africk Arcobrica now styled Calataiub or else separated by no great distance from it Assindon the place where now Medina Sidonia or Xeres in Andalusia is fixed Astapa a Colony of the Carthaginians was destroyed by Martius a Roman Commander under Scipio Astigia reputed to be Eccia in Andalusia Asturica or Astorga retains its primitive Appellation and continues a Bishoprick until this day Ategua how this City is denominated now is represented by Ferrarius who asserts that it is now called Tebalaveia or Teiveila in Granada Augusta a Name Common to many Towns in Spain yet when it is simply rehearsed or Registred without being yoked with any additional Denomination it is taken to signifie Bracar or Braga Auriensis or Aquae Calidae now taken for the Bishoprick of Orenza or Orense in Gallicia Auringa was an eminent City in Andalusia diâ—â—antled and overturn'd by Scipio Aâ—sâ—â—â—a or Auxima at this present styled Vic d'Ossone an obscure Towne circumscribed within Catalonia Auca an ancient City out of whose ruins Burgos is now started Axenium where that was situated or what City was extracted from its Ashes is uncertain B Barcina or Rubicata now call'd Barcelona the Capital City of Catalonia Bastitania now known by the Name of Baza in the Province of Murcia Bregetium in old Records denominated likewise Lucus Astuâ—um is now the City of Oviâ—do in Leon. Biaria now called Barra is in the Kingdome of Toledo Bigastrensis Civitas or Urbs Bistargensis was a Bishoprick situated in the Province of Carthagena Bigerra now styled Beijar is contiguous in its position to Valentia Britolensis Urbs was a Town near Tuy in Gallicia C Cauca was a City in the Territory of the Vacceni and scituated in Portugall ruined by Lucullus the Roman General Carmona was a Town near Cordova demolished by the Goths Cauria at this day denominated Coria and is placed near Merida Caesarea Augusta or Salduba now Sarragossa the Metrapolis of Arragon Calaguris now represented under the Name of Calahorra in Navarre Colimbrica or Conimbrica now Coimbra an eminent University in Portugall Carthago Nova or Carthagena which still retains its pristine Name and though now fallen under some Umbrage and obscurity was in elder Times one of the most eminent Cities of Spain Castulo at this day styled Castona and is scituated near Sevill Centobrica in Celtiberia was reduced to the Roman obedience by Metellus since crumbled into Rubbish Complutum out of wâ—ose Rubbish the noted and Illustrious Unive sity of Alcala de Henarez in Câ—stile is now risen forth Conistorgis was a Colony in Portugall long since mouldred into a neglected heap Colenda was a City of the Celtiberians Corduba gave Naâ—e to the whole Province wherein it was placed and preserves the ancient Appellation and continues a Bishoprick untill this day D Dertosa now called Tortosa and is scituated upon the River of Ebro which separates Catalonia and Valentia Diâ—niâ—m now styled Denia is placed in the Kingdome of Toledo E CIvitas Egarensis was the Residence of a People call'd Egurâ—â— out of whose Ashes sprang a town in Toledo styled Medina del Rio Secco Egedita now a little â—ourg in Portugall called Edania Egosa or Egiba is a Town which still continues its ancient Appellation and is situated near Girona in Catalonia Ebora now is known by the Name of Euora and is placed in Portugall and is at this instant ascended to that Eminence that it is become the Residence of the Kings of Portugal Elibâ—â—is was in Ages of an higher step a populous and spatious City though in Times of a lower Descent it shrunk into the narrow Bulk
Pius the first of which Monarchs which weilded the Burgundian scepter was Charles younger Son of Lotharius the Emperour in which Lotharius likewise the Title to this Crown as being Son to Lewis the Godly was tacitly lodged but he dying without Issue it devolved to his Brother Lotharius who likewise determined without Children and â—o a second Vicissitude brought it to confesse the Scepter of their Uncle Charles the Bald King of France and Emperour of Germany who conferred the Seignory with the Title of Earl on Boson Earl of Ardenne who had Matched with his Sister Judith which Boson was advanced not long after by Charles the Grosse to the Title of Monarch and was styled King of Arles and Burgundy in which last this Province was rolled up from whom by several Traverses it came down to Rodolph the first who had the Title of Duke of Burgundy beyond the Jour and from him the Devolution of successive Interest carried it to Boson the second Brother to this Rodolph the first by whom the Dukedome of Burgundy beyond Jour was united to the Kingdome of Arles and Burgundy And from him the Thread of Descent transported it along to his Grandchild Rodolph the second who concluding without Issue gave this and many other Provinces to Conrade the second Emperour of Germany who had Espoused Gisela Sister and Heir General of this Rodolph After this it was so couched in the Caesarean Patrimony that it was esteemed as a Limb of the German Empire and was managed and Governed by such Earls and Provincial Officers as those Emperours transmitted hither to sway and regulate the Affairs of this Province Otho of Flanders Son of a Sister of the Emperour Conrade by the Aid and Concurrence of Robert King of France was the first who was invested in it as Proprietary those others whom the French Registers and Records represent to us to have held it being Official rather than Hereditary This Otho above mentioned determined without Issue so that Reinald his Cousin and Kinsman became Heir to the Earldome of Burgundy but here the Title was very transitory for he concluded in a female Inheritrix called Beatrix who was Matched to the Emperour Frederick Barbarossa by which Alliance it was annexed to his Patrimony and from him it devolved to his youngest Son Otho but here likewise the Possession was as transient for he expired in a Daughter and Heir styled Beatrix who by Matching with Otho Duke of Meranis which was part of the Province of Tyroll brought it to confesse him for Earl of Burgundy and by her he had Issue Alice his only Daughter and Heir who was violently dispossessed by Stephen de Chalons and his Complices who was next Heir to Garrard de Vienne and Joan his Wife second Daughter to Otho the first and Sister of Beatrix acknowledged by his Faction there for Earl of Burgundy even in the Life Time of Otho and from him did the Title glide down to his Grandchild Hugh who finding his new acquited Dignity was established upon a crazy Foundation to fortifie his Claim he Matched with Alice the Heir of Otho the second above-mentioned and so by twisting their Titles together became indisputable Heir to this Earldome and he had Issue Othelin who going out in a Daughter and Heir known by the Name of Joan she by Matching with Philip the Long King of France annexed it as an Appendage to his Scepter and he setled it on Joan his eldest Daughter issuing from this Match on Eudes Duke of Burgundy but his Grandchild Philip dying young and without Issue this upon his Decease by right of Inheritance devolved to Margaret second Daughter of King Philip the Long and Joan his Wife above mentioned who was Wedded to Lewis de Malain Earl of Flanders and he had Issue by her Lewis de Malain who in her Right incorporated this Earldom into his Patrimony but here it was not long resident for he found his Sepulchre in a Female Heir called Margaret who by Espousing Philip the Hardy second Son of John King of France linked this and the Title and Interest of many other eminent Seignories to his Paternal Demeasne Having thus in Landskip discovered the Fate of the French County I shall represent in a Compendious Prospect those Vicissitudes and Revolutions that roll'd about the Title of the Dutchy of Burgundy untill it came finally to accknowledge the Dominion of Philip the Hardy above-mentioned The Dukedome of Burgundy hath on the East the French County and â—o â—e part of the Savoy on the West Burbonnis on the North Champaigne on the South Bresse Lionnois and and some part of Peau jeulois The Ancient Inhabitants of this Dukedome were the People in Ancient Recoâ—ds so Eminent for their Warlike Disposition called the Hedui In times of a more modeâ—n Inscription that is about the Division of the French Kingdome of Burgundy made by Charles the Bald that part of it which was called the Dukedome of Burgundy on this side of the Soasne was Canton'd into the Five Earldoms of Dijons Chalons Autun Lions and Mascon whereof the three first being laid and amassed together by Eudes King of France during the Minority of Charles the Simple were given unto his Brother Richard embellished with the Title and Style of Duke of Burgundy But the common Fate which attends upon all humane Frailty transported this Province upon the Decease of Gilbert Son of this Richard who made his Exit without Issue Male to Otho Son of Hugh Capet Earl of Paris surnamed the Great in Right of his Wife who was Daughter and Heir General of this Gilbert in whose Patrimony it had not long resided when he dying without Issue this Dutchy which he had been entituled to by the Authority of this Alliance came over to his Brother Henry who likewise expiring without Children the Thread of Desent wafted it along to Robert King of France Son to Hugh Capet who was Nephew to Otho and Henry above mentioned and from him did the Clew of Succession guide it down to Robert the third who had Issue Hugh the fifth of that Name Duke of Burgundy and Eudes who upon the Decease of his Brother Hugh the fifth without Issue entered upon this Dutchy as his Heir and from him again did it come down to his Grandchild Philip who dying young and sans Issue this Province with all its Perquisites augmented the Revenue of John King of France to whom it accrued in right of his Mother Joan Wife to his Father Philip de Valois who was one of the Daughters of Robert the Third above mentioned and by Consequence upon defailance of Issue in Philip abovesaid became entitled as his Heir General to the Propriety of this Dutchy But this was pretended onely for his Title was better supported by a violent Detention of this Dutchy upon which he had entered as an Escheat to the prejudice and supplantation of the Earls of Eureux by an illegall Inroad upon their Interest since those Earls extracted
their Descent and Claim from the Daughter and Heir of Lewis de Hutin K. of France before Philip de Valois which Lewis Matched with Margaret eldest Daughter to Robert the Third above mentioned and Mother to the Heir General But to proceed K. John being thus invested in the Possession setled it on his second Son Philip the Hardy from whom by the steps of some Descents it came down to Charles the Hardy who finding an untimely Sepulchre in the Feilds of Nancy left the Propriety of Burgundy to be enjoyed by Mary his sole Inheretrix upon the Decease of which Charles Lewis the Eleventh King of France seised upon the Dutchy of Burgundy as an Appendage to the Crown of France pretending it was by the Fundamental Customes of that Kingdome to return to that Scepter in case there were a defailance of Issue Male but the French County being an Imperial Isle was permitted to remain united to the Patrimony of his Daughter Mary abovesaid in whose Right Maximilian the Emperour her Husband was invested in the Fee and from him is the Seignory and Demeasne of this Province by the transmission of Successive Descent guided down to own the Scepter and Dominion of Philip the fourth the instant King of Spain Flanders and Artois THese two though since since separated were Originally knit together in the Interest of one Estate yet after the Interval of five or six Descents were again twisted together and remained thus incorporated ever since Flanders is bound in on the East with Haiâ—alt and Brabant on the West with the German Ocean on the North with the Seas of Zealand and a Branch of the Scheld and on the South with Picardy and Graveling interposing betwixt Callis and Graveling Antiquity hath extracted its Name from several Conjectures as first from Flando because it lyeth upon the winds others again assert that it was imposed upon it from Flandbert the Son of Blesinda Daughter of Clâ—dion the second King of France some fetch it from a Town of that Name situated in that part of the Country where now Ardenbourg stands so long since languished and shrunk into Ruin that the least Symptome or Representation being wanting to inform us that there was once such a place in being that we now with difficulty trace out its Rubbish amidst its Ruines therefore the Conjectures of more rational heads extract the Appellation from Flandrina the Wife of Lideric the second the first who managed the Government of these parts as Forrester It was in elder Times resolved into three Divisions that is Flandria Imperialis called so because it was long in its obedience subservient to the Emperours of Germany Flandria Gallica so styled from the French Dialect there spoken and Flandria Teutonica because within its precinct the Dutch Language was properly used Artois is limited on the East with Flanders Gallicant and the County of Cambray on the South and West it is bounded with Picardy on the North with Flanders Flammegant and the River of Lis. The Name is extracted from the Atrebates the old Inhabitants thereof the Air is temperate and the Soil so pregnant and â—ertile that it may very well have the Denomination of the Granary of Flanders and Brabant These Countries of Flanders and Artois were anciently if not a part yet much of the same Nature and Condition with the great Forrest of Ardenne nothing but the Solitudes of continual Woods and Deâ—arts making the Aspect of it rude and desolate The ancient Inhabitants of the first were the Nervii and Morini who were supplanted by the Romans and these again by the French who having established the great Earldome of Ardenne made these Provinces in part subject to the Dominion and power of its Governours whilest that Track of Earth which confined on the Sea was so exposed to Rapine Pyracies and Depredations of the Danes that it was neglected uncultivated and almost unpeopled the In-land Countries something contributing to the general Calamity by being meanly planted from a Deficiency of those Necessaries which should support the Life of Man But when Brunulph Earl of Ardenne was secured by Dagobert King of France this Wild and disordered Country extending as far as the River of Some and enwrapping besides Artois and Flanders a considerable part of Piâ—ardy about the Year 621. was given to Lideriâ— le Beuque with the Title of Forrester to be held under Homage to that Crown In whose Posterity this Title sojourned until the time of Baldwin the first the Son of Odoacer the seventh of the Forresters whose Names are Recorded in the Registers of Flanders there being a Gap or Parenthesis which ravels their Memories during the Ravage of the Danes and Normans This Baldwin having by a violent Onset ravished away and after Wedded Judith Sister to Charles the Bald King of France and Emperour was by him created Earl of Flanders about the Year 864. the Soveraignty reserved as before it was in whose Issue the Interest of these Provinces remained combined and entire until Philip the first surnamed of Elsas Son of Theodorick the first surnamed likewise of Elsas to which Theodorick the Seignory both of Flanders and Artois accrued as being Heir General of Heltrude Daughter and Heir General likewise of Robert the first Earl of Flanders and Artois after the Decease of her Brother Robert the second Charles Son of Canutus King of Denmark who had Matched with her Sister Adeliza and of William Grandchild of William the Bastard Duke of Normandy who had Espoused Mawde Daughter of Baldwin the Fifth Earl of Flanders and Artois gave unto Philip Augustus King of France the Province of Artois with the Earldome of Veramandois with Isabel his Neice Daughter of Baldwin the eighth Earl of Hainault which Baldwin had Wedded Margaret Daughter of Theodorick above-mentioned and Sister and Heir of this Philip. By Lewis the Eighth Son and Successor to this King Philip Artois was given as a Portion to swell the Patrimony of his youngest Son Robert who was adorned with the Title of Earl of Artois by King Lewis the Ninth Anno 1234. This Robert had Issue Robert the second in whom the Male Line failed so that Mawde his sole Daughter being Matched to Othelin Earl of Burgundy he in her right became Earl of Artois But in him the Title was as volatile and unfixed as in the former for he Deceased without Issue Male and so Joan his Daughter and Heir by Espousing Philip the Long King of France united this Earldome to his Scepter and the Estate to his Patrimony and gave it in Marriage with the County of Burgundy with Joan his Eldest Daughter to Eudes Duke of Burgundy and from him the right of Descent wafted it along to his Grandchild Philip the Third who expiring without Issue Margaret second Daughter of King Philip the Long above mentioned who was Matched to Lewis Earl of Flanders entered upon this Earldome as his Heir General and transmitted it and both the Burgundies to his Son Lewis de
Frizeland HOLLAND hath on the East the Zuyder-Sea Utrecht and some part of Guelderland on the West and North the German-Ocean on the South the Isles of Zealand and some part of Brabant Zealand consists of Seven Islands viz. Walcheren South Beverlant North Beverlant Wolfers-Dike Schowen Duvelant and Tertoleâ— It is divorced from Flanders by the Left Branch or Arm of the Scheld on the East it is divided from Brabant by the right Branch of the said River on the North it is separated from Holland by the Gulf called the Flack and on the West it is rent from England by the Ocean West-Frizeland hath on the East the Land of Groining and a part of Westphalia on the South Over-Issell and the Zuyder-Sea on the North and West the main Ocean The ancient Inhabitants of these three Provinces were the Batavi and Carinefates Inhabiting that Track of â—arth contracted almost into the circumambient embraces of the Rhine and Wael and which now circumscribes within its precincts and Verge Holland Utrecht â—â—d a part of the Dutchy of Guelders the Frisii who were entitled to the Possession of West-Frizeland and the Mattiaci who were planted in Zealand But when the Ravage and Pyracies of the Normans had by many Bloody Onsets and Impressions acted such a Devastation here that these Provinces were almost dispeopled Charles the Bald to Thierry Son of Sigebert a Prince of Aquitane and the more to manage and improve his encreasing Hopes and enable him to protect these depopulated Countries he engraffed on him the Title of Earl with this Restriction annexed to the Donation that he and his Successors should own and confesse the Soveraignty of the Crown of France which was accordingly performed until it was by Arnulph the fourth Earl interrupted and discontinued who rendred himself Homager to the Empire and from this Thierre an undisturb'd Channel of Descent transported it down to John the Son of Florence the fifth who determining without Issue John of Avesnes Earl of Hainault in Right of the Marriage of his Father John of Avesnes Earl of Hainault and his Mother Aleide Sister and Heir of William the second Earl of Holland entered into the Possession of these Provinces as their Heir General and from him it was wafted down to his Grandchild William the fourth of that Name Earl of Holland and the second of Hainault who being slain in a War against the Frisons and leaving no Issue Margaret his Sister and Heir brought it to be possest by Lewis of Bavaria Emperour of Germany after whose Decease she was forced to relinquish Holland to her second Son William and Hainault to her third Son Albert but Earl William the fifth above mentinoed deceasing without Issue Albert his Brother became entitled to the Earldoms of Holland and Hainault and had Issue William the sixth who by a Right transmitted to him from his Father wore the Coronet of Holland and in him this Family was entombed for he Deceasing without Issue Male Jaqueline his only Daughter became his heir but it seems she was condemned by nature to an inexpugnable barrenness for though she had three Husbands namely John the fourth Duke of Brabant from whom she was separaed by Divorce under pretext of Consanguinity Humfrey Duke of Gloucester and John de Borselles a Gentleman of a private Orb yet the Annalls of Holland do assert that she had Children by neither so that wanting Posterity to inforce and propagate her Memory to succeeding Times she conveyed her Concernment in Holland and Hainault to Philip the Good Duke of Burgundy Son of John Duke of Burgundy and of Margaret his Wife Sister to Earl William the sixth and Daughter of Albert above-mentioned from whom by the Traverses and steps of several Descents the House of Burgundy having by the Match of Joan the Heir of Ferdinand and Isabella faâ—â—ned and knit the House of Castile unto it self the Propriety and Title of Holland Zealand and Frizeland devolved to Philip the second King of Spain 〈…〉 Vice-Roy for the â— Provinces the Duke 〈…〉 va having by his prodigious Butcheries and â—â—â—cutions incited the People to a total Defection from the Crown of Spain they to Fortifie tâ—â—mâ—â—lves against the Bloody encroachments of the Spamard Chained their divided Interests together in one common Union and Coâ—sâ—â—â—â—â—cy in which they continue linked at this instant Utrecht UTRECHT is chain'd in on the East with Guelderland and on the West North and South with Holland The City of Utrecht was sometimes the Royal Residence of Radbold King of the Frizons after the Romans were dislodged who had long been plante â—here in those Cities and Seats they by an unjust Violence had torn from the Bructeri Salii and Batavi who wâ—re the ancient Inhabitants but when Dagobere King of France had dissipated and broken the Strength of the Frizons he erected this Province into a Bishoprick and annexed unto it a Demeasn spreading and opulent the better to soment the increase of Christianity and improve the subsequent Dignity of it The first Bishop whose Hand sustained the Crosier was Willibald an English-man who established Christianity and dispelled the Mists of Infidelity which had long over-shadowed these parts and his Successors multiplied it to that Grandeur and formidable Power that they asserted their Patrimony and Intetest in this Province about Nine hundred yearâ— with much of Reputation and Courage against all the encroachments and unjust Incursions of the Invading Earls of Holland until it came to be possest by Henry of Bavaria Bishop hereof who being distressed by the Duke of Guelders and expulied out of Utrecht by his own mutinous and tumultuous Subjects about the Year 1527. conveyed his Estate here to Charles the fifth and he procured an Investiture in it from the Estates of the Empire it being an Imperial Fief and so not to be alienated or imbezelled without their License not long after and from him did it devolve by Succession to his Son and Heir Philip the second who having lodged the Government of the Netherlands upon his Vicegerent Ferdinand de Toledo Duke D'Alva this Duke by his Massacres and Assassinations having filled the Inhabitants with a universal Regret and Animosity this with the rest of the Provinces by a pubâ—ique Revolt renounced and disclaimed all Alleigeance to the Crown of Spain and the better to secure their Liberties from the future Onsets of that Kingdome the People of this Province cemented themselves in a Confederate Union with those of Holland and continue at this day wound up in that first Combination Cambray THE City of Cambray with the Territory annexed was established and erected into a Bishoprick in the person of St. Diogenes by Birth a Grecian In Times of a more recent Aspect that is about the Year 1562. it was advanced to the Dignity of an Arch-Bishoprick by Paul the fourth It was made an Imperial Fief by the German Emperours and was given in protection by the Emperour Henry the fifth to Robert of Hierusalem Earl of Flanders
the so much Celebrated Tyrant who being General of the Syracusans made himself their King A Man of great Vices and as eminent Vertues 38. A. M. 3582. 5. Dionysius the second Succeeded his Father in his Kingdome and his Vices but not in his Courage or Prudence being first supplanted by Dion a Gentleman of Syracusa and secondly vanquished and made Captive by Timoleon of Corinth A. M. 3635. 6. Agathocles a Potter after a Souldier twenty years after the death of Timoleon made himself King of Syracusa 29. A. M. 3681. 7. Hiero the second of a Leader of their Armyes chosen King of Syracusa by a Party which he had pack'd amongst them In his Time broke out the first Punick War the Romans being called in by the Mamertones who held Messana against the Carthaginians 56. A. M. 3737. 8. Hieronymus Son of Hiero after whose Decease all Sicily became subject to the Dominion of Rome by the successful Conduct of Marcellus Being thus made Subservient to the Government of Rome it was wrapped up in the Fate of that City and of the Roman Empire until in the partition â—f the Roman Empire it was cast together with Apuglia and Calabria into the Power of the Greeks In the Declension and wane of whose Greatnesse this Island having been miserably depopulated and harrassed by Constans Anno 669. it became a prey to the Saracens from them rescued again by the Normans who held both this and the Realm of Naples in Fee of the Church under the Title of Kings of both the Sicilyes After that it fell under the Fortune of that Kingdome subject unto the Princes of the Norman and German Line until the Death of Conrade no discomposure or Interruption intervening After whose Exit when Manfred Base Son of the Emperour Frederick and Brother of Conrade had by a forcible Intrusion entitled himself to the Crown and Scepter of this Island it was offered by the Pope upon some Conditions knotted with many rugged difficulties to Richard Earl of Cornwal Brother to Henry the third a man according to the Standard of those Times of a most important Revenue upon whose waving this motion it was again offered to his Nephew Edmund second Son to Henry the third who was espoused to this Royalty by a Ring and Mony Coyned in his Name by the Popes appointment with the Impresse and Inscription affixed to it of Edmundus Rex Siciliae But Henry the third being not in any Capacity to pursue this Design the Civil Contests with his Barons having entangled him in more difficult Undertakings and the Pope having sufficiently by this Overture drained his Exchequer it was in the Year 1261. given to Charles Earl of Provence and Anoju Brother to Lewis the tenth of France To his Command this Island was subservient until the Year 1281. in which his Competitor Peter of Arragon justled his Title by a new Claim emergent from his Wife the Daughter and Heir of Manfred above mentioned and for the clearer decision of the Title invited him to the Commencement of a Duel before King Edward the first of England at Bourdeaux which defiance he tacitly declining Peter in the mean time by dark Stratagems and black Contrivances wherein he was aided by John de Prochita a Gentleman of the Kingdome of Naples from whom Charles of Anjou had violently snatched the Island of Prochita upon a Summons received from a Toll of a Bell sounded as it was pretended to give an Alarum to Sicily of the approach and onset of some Invading Sarazens the French were Assassinated in this Island which massacre so firmly riveted the title into the House of Aragon that it still continues incorporated into the Interest of Spain Sardinia THE Island of Sardinia lyeth West from Sicily from the nearest point thereof it is distant about Two hundred miles It is in length one Hundred and eighty Ninety in breadth and in Circuit Five hundred and sixty miles In the Time of Aristotle it was called Ichnusa and next Sandaliota from the Resemblance of a Shooe-sole or the Impression of a Mans Foot on the Earth and finally Sardinia from Sardus the Son of Hercules who coming out of Africk entitled himself to the Possession And that which more improves and fortifies this Narration is that the People in the Latine Tongue have still the Appellation of Sardi and the circumambient Sea the Denomination of Mare Sardoum And to this Name it hath remained so constantly ever since espoused that no following Plantations were ever able to extinguish or divorce it Some Companies of Attica were Conducted hither by Iolaus where they erected Olbion and Agrillis which Colonies to inforce and multiply the Memory of their Foundér assumed to themselves the Name of Iolatenses And after the Ruine of Troy some of the broken Reliques of that scattered Nation came and planted in the void places of this Island whose Successours are mentioned by Livie and Pliny under the Denomination of the Ilienses After these the Carthaginians by the nearnesse of their Habitation did attaque all Advantages to make as at last they did a full Conquest of it building therein the Cities of Carmis Calaris and Sulchi and asserting their Title to it it was unjustly wrung from them by the Romans at the end of the first Punick War at what time Carthage was in hazzard to be Ruined by the defection of her own Mercenaries and so in no Capacity to resist This Island being thus extorted from the Carthaginians by the Romans was immediately under the Signory of the Praefect of Rome but after by Junstiâ—an it was incorporated into his New Dioceâ—s of Africk and as an Appendage to it was Claimed Invaded and Subdued by the Sarazens Anno 807. who destroyed Calaris subverted by Gracchus and the Romans and again in more setled Times re-established But from them it was rescued by the Pisans who re-edified Calari and Genoese who made a partition of it betwixt them but the Genoese disgusted with their Portion as being lesse in Quantity and worse in Quality began to enter into Contest with the Pisans which at last ushered in an open War Anno 1324. In which having worried themselves with mutual Contests Pope Boniface the eighth to appease their Animoâ—ties and supersede all Quarrel for the future by a new Donation enstated it on James the 2d King of Aragon who had entitled himself to it by a specious Claim before upon pretence that it was a Limb or Appendix to Sicily and wrapped up in the Patrimony of that Diadem and the more to fortifie his new Acquists obtained the Papal Concession to support and improve his Interest here which before appeared to be but infirm and crazie and being thus doubly guarded with his own Title and the Pope's Grant he after some signal Decisions of the Sword wholly supplanted both the Pisans and Genoese and in the Year 1324. reduced this Island under the Dominion of the Aragonian Scepter And from him hath the Propriety ever since been conducted
down to his Successors in so uninterrupted a Channel that the Devolution and Traverses of many winding Descents hath at this instant brought it to confeâ—s the Empire and Seignory of Philip the fourth K. of Spain Naples THE Kingdome of Naples is almost on every side circumscribed with the Adriatick Ionian and Tuscan-Seas unlesse on the West where it is separated from the Lands of the Church by a small Neck of Land drawn from the Mouth of the River of Druentus to the Spring Head of Axofenus It is divided into Terra di Lavoro Abruzzo Apulia Terra de Otranto Calabria-Inferior Calabria-Superior and the Isles of Naples Terra di Lavoro was Anciently called Campania and extracted this Surname from the Campani who with the Oscani who were invested in Possessions about Capua in Ages of a very old Inscription styleâ— Osca were the ancient Inhabitants of it Abruzzo in Latine styled Aprutium was the Residence or Territory of the Picentes and the Samnites the last of which were subdivided into the â—erentani Arpinates Caraceni Praecatini Peligni Vestini Hirpini and the Samnites properly so called Terra di Otranto was in elder Times Peopled by the Salentini Iapyges and Messapiani and from hence in the Records and Monuments of Antiquity it is exhibited to Posterity under the Names of Salentina Iapygia and Messapia Calabria-Inferior and Superior were both originally that Track of Earth which was postest by the Calabri Tarentini Lucani â—rutij and some sprincklings of the Liburni a People devoted by the Romans to the sustaining of Burdens other servile employments and this I believe was done by such cheap and contemptible undertakings to extinguish in them all thoughts which might egg them on to a Recovery of that Liberty which the Sword of the Romans had lopped off for these the Calabri and Tarentini were the last not without many signal and solemn strugglings who prostrated themselves as a prey to the Victorious Tallons of the Roman Eagle This Kingdom of Naples hath been whirled about with so many Revolutions that the Inhabitants of any Region have not been obnoxious to more Vicissitudes and Mutations than the Possessors of these Provinces have been For 1. the Grecians entered and scattered here their particular Colonies of Achaians and Spartans which obliged Antiquity to give the Name of Magna Graecia to Calabria in which Track they erected Locris so eminent in old Records for Zeleucus the Law-giver and his Laws and Institutions and Eunomus the Musician 2. Tarentum which contributes a Name to that Capacious Bay called Sinus Tarentinus 3. Crotona whose Inhabitants were anciently so active in the Olympick Games 4. Amycle a Town whose Inhabitants were made up in elder Times of the Pythagoreans a Sect which by the Institutions and Rules of their Order devoted themselves to Silence 5. Sybarisâ—o â—o infamous in Story for their Softnesse and Effeminacy having melted themselves into so much Ease and Luxury that they expulsed all Smiths and Brasiers into Exile because by the Noise of their Bellows and Hammers they might make an Invasion on their Repose and Slumber and entertained with unusual Caresses Musicians Fidlers because they improved their Sleep and Excesse And 6. they here erected Rhegium which Name they fixed upon it from the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to break or tear asunder this City being separated or torn off from Sicily by that Straight of Sea which they style the Faro of Messina In Terra di Lavoro they erected Parthâ—nope now called Naples Osca now named Capua Cuma and Sinuessa now called Sessa In Abruzzo they established Arpinum In Apulia Anciently by the Greciaâ—s called Daunia they founded Luceria Asculum sometimes styled Asculum Satrianum and Argyripa the Argos Hirpium of the ancients and contracted by use and depravation of Dialect into Agyripa which as Antiquity asserts and intimates was erected into the shape and model of a City by Diomedes and a Colony transmitted from Etolia In Terra di Otranto they established Brundufium Hydruntum and as some affirm but upon what grounds I know not Gallipolis likewise but though Naples were thus strengthened with Colonies and knotted with Cities yet this could not so secure her from Forraign Eruptions but that she bowed her Head and partly by a voluntary Resignation and partly by Conquest gave her self up to be made part of that Patrimony which improved the Roman Grandeur and after it had for some years submitted to the Dominion of Rome as it was first a Common wealth and afterwards the Seat of the Empire it was rent off from that Great Body by the Goths under whose Tyranny it had not long lain gasping but it was forced to surrender it self to the Jurisdiction of the Lombards who by their frequent and happy Inroads disseised the Goths of their new Acquists but their Conquests were not fixed or permanent for their Foundation being Cimented with Blood was infirm and slippery being after some assaults made upon it by Charles the Great forced to bow to his Scepter But to winde up all Controversie for the future and to entomb all emergent Differences in an amicable Pacification this Charles about the Year 803. made an equal and indifferent partage between Nicephorus then Emperour of the East and himself as Emperour of the West the Limits of which Division was the River Liris now Cantigliano by Capua and the River Aufidus now Ofanto in Apulia But this partage did not long continue without some Discomposure for ill Agents having fomenâ—ed some Differences between the Greeks and the Germans their private Animosities and Heats were at last blown up into the publique Flame of War which did determine in the total expulsion of the Germans out of Naples yet this was not acted without the Concurrent Supply of the Sarazens Enemies to them both who discovering the weaknesse of the Greeks in being invited in to supplant the Germans Invaded those who had called them in and thus was this unhappy Kingdome for several Ages made the sad Stage where the Latines Greeks and Sarazens acted their Bloody Tragedies But in fine the Greeks being wasted with frequent Conflicts and almost sinking under the weight of a Forraign Conquest they having evapourated their noblest most active spirits at those wounds the Swords of these Infidels had inflicted on them were supported in this their Agony by Forty Norman Gentlemen who about the Year 1000. returning from a Pilgrimage made into the Holy Land gave so noble and generous Assistance to the Afflicted Christians that they checked the Fortune of the Sarazens and intercepted the Current of their Victories which before like a Deluge menaced wholly to over-whelme the Christian â—nterest and Concernment in this Kingdome But this gave the distressed Inhabitants but some dawning of better hopes the improvement of this Successe was left to the Valour and Conduct of one Drangot who having slain Repostel a Gentleman of Eminence in the presence of Robert Duke of Normandy Father to our William the
Conquerour so disgusted his Allies and Relations that to decline the Tempest which menaced him he retired into this Kingdome for shelter and after many Conflicts commenced with the Sarazens by a Fortunate Managery of the Christian Quarrel he contracted their Power into narrower limits but being supplied with new Recruits the Sarazens not onely reinforced their Animosities but Hopes also until Tancred and his twelve Sons arriving out of Normandy with fresh Supplies after many signal encounters wholly supplanted the Interest that these Infidels had in Naples but though these Invaders were thus dissipated yet the Greeks remained dis-satisfied and gave new occasion of War and Trouble to these Norman Conquerours under the Command of Melorco Vicegerent of this Province under the Grecian Emperours but the Affairs of the Normans were so well swayed and ordered by the Care and Prudence of William Son to Tancred above mentioned that this new Emotion was extinguished by the Defeat of Melorco and the Troops marshall'd under his Conduct but this Discomfiture did not so totally dispel the Tempest but that there were new Clouds collected together to disorder and ecclipse the Glory of the Norman Conquests which in fine were so wholly dissipated by the active Courage of Robert Guiscard another of the Sons of Tancred that the Greeks being absolutely crush'd and subdu'd the Reliques of the Sarazens extirpated thrown out he justly merited in the Annals of succeeding Times the Title of the Conquerour of the Kingdome of Naples and he bequeathed this Province with all its Perquisits and Appendages to be enjoyed by his second Son Robert Guiscard Earl of Sicily who in the Year 1125. by the Favour and Influence of Anacletus then Pope had the Title of King of Naples conferred upon him and his Son William received the Crown with this Restriction that he should hold this Diadem as a Donative from the Pope and in Homage of the See of Rome and in the Hands of his Successors did the Neapolitan Scepter remain fixed until it came to be weilded by William the second who upon his Decease left Constance his Daughter his onely Lawful Issue and Tancred his Natural Son the Issue of unlawful Embraces and he by the concurrence and support of his Faction so managed his Designs that he invested his Head with the Crown of Naples to the prejudice and Disherision of Constance the Lawful Heir but disdaining to acknowledge the Pope for Soveraign of the Fee the Pope to retaliate this Affront Matches Constance to Henry the sixth Emperour of Germany and by opposing the Right of his Empresse to the distorted and Usurped Title of Tancred so crippled his Authority and Power that finally after many Contests and Bloody Decisions the Scepter of Naples came to be swayed by Henry the sixth abovesaid but his Successor Frederick the second embarquing in the former Contrast with the succeeding Popes in Relation to the Soveraignty of Naples disclaimed and renounced any Homage to the See of Rome which so inflamed that Bishop that he collected all supply that the Engins borrowed either from Strength or Art could contribute to vindicate his pretended Right to the Soveraignty of Naples yet was he thwarted in his endevours with such vigorous Opposition during the Government of Frederick the second abovesaid Conrade his Son Manfred his Natural Son and Conradine Grandchild to Frederick nothing was effected of Importance which might afford any support to the accomplishment of the Designs of the Popes for the time being so that Pope Innocent the fourth to Fortifie his Attempts with Forraign Succour presented the Kingdom to St. Lewis King of France for his Brother Charles Count of Anjou and Provence who had the Repute of an excellent Souldier and an experienced Commander and about the Year 1264. which was two years after Pope Urban the fourth invested him with it he to assert his Interest Commenced a War with Conradine King of Naples and having put his Title to the Umpirage of a Battel after a Bloody Debate took this Conradine Captive and made the forfeiture of his Head expiate its wearing that Diadem which the Popes Donation had before by a pretended Investiture entituled him to and having thus fixed the Scepter of Naples in his own Hand he left it to be swayed by his Son and Heir Charles the Lame who by Mary his Queen Inheritrix of Hungary had Issue Charles surnamed Martel who had his Mothers Kingdom assigned him for his Subsistence or Portion Lewis his second Son who assumed Holy Orders and Clowded all his earthly Glories in the Cowle of a Franeiscan Frier and afterwards was Bishop of Thoulouse Robert his third Son was by the Munificence of his Father entitled to the Inheritance of the Kingdome of Naples There were other Sons who had other Lands consigned them in Appennage for their future support and Alimony Robert abovesaid had Issue Charles who dying without Issue Male in his Fathers life time left onely a Daughter and Heir called Joane who after the Decease of her Grandfather Robert came to Manage the Neapolitan Scepter and this is that Joane so Famously Infamous in the Annals of Naples for the probable Assassination of her first Husband Andrew and other wilde Disorders which have cast so dark a Tincture upon her Fame that though some have endevoured to wrap up her Guilt in a modest Covering yet the Blacknesse of her Life is visible by an indelible stain through all those Veils the Industry of Flattery attempts to fold it up in But to proceed about the Expiration of the Raign of this Ioane which was about the Year 1378. the Church of Rome was Disordered by a remarkable Schisme for Urban the sixth being made Pope the Violence of a predominant Faction a considerable part of the Conclave of Cardinals Elected Robert Cardinal of Geneva by the Name of Clement the seventh Queen Joan being warped with Animosity against Urban who was born under her Dominion and Scepter made her self a Partisan in the Cause and Quarrel of his Adversary and Competitor Clement Her Crime contracted from the Slaughter of her Husband Andrew had been long entombed in a Pacification transacted in her Favour by Pope Clement the sixth with Lewis the Great King of Hungary Brother to Andrew abovesaid But Urban the sixth to recompense her for those Disservices with which she had disobliged him again raked into her Guilt and incensed Charles of Duras of the House of Hungary to expiate the former Murther by a just Revenge and this Prince inflamed by his Instigations came and Beseiged her in Castello del Ovo and having reduced her and that Fortresse to his Discretion strangled her in or near that place where she had acted her Barbarous Parricide on her first Husband Andrew Charles of Duras having thus destroyed this Infamous Princesse seised on the Neapolitan Diadem which did not sit so fast on his Temples but that it was shaken by a Concurrent Title for Joan not long before her Death to
all the Efforts and hostile Eruptions of the French that it is still wound up in the Patrimony of Philip the fourth King of Spain The Spanish Interest in Siena Siena SIENA and its circumambient Territory is situated between the Estate of Pisa and the Patrimony of the Popes of Rome called the Demeasn of the Church The City is by Antoninus in his Itinerary styled Sena Julia to distinguish it from another of that Name situated on the Margin or Fringes of the Adriatick Gulf and named Sena Gallica It was as the Ancient Traditions of Italy testifie erected by Brennus who here as in some Infirmatory did deposite his Souldiers who were superannuated with Age or else almost crumbled away with Sicknesse In Times of a more modern Aspect this Province was wholly devoted or offered up to the Interest of the Faction or Combination of the Gibellines or Imperial party so that the price was narrow and easie at which they enfranchis'd purchased their liberty of the Emperour Rodolphus After this City and Province came to confesse the Seignory and Scepter of the Spaniard but they had not been long resident in their new Acquists but they were disseised by the French but by the second Eruption of those Spanish they had not long before expulsed they were again rooted out and supplanted and the King of Spain having thus rescued Siena from the yoke of the French conveyed all his Concernment in it to Cosmo de Medices Duke of Florence about the Year 1558. but with this Retrenchment or limitation that the Dutchy of Siena it self should hold in Fee of the Crown of Spain and the Cities and Ports of Porto Hercolâ— Orbitillo Piombino and Porto Longone should be annexed to the Crown of Spain and remain as Limbs of the Patrimony of that Diadem for ever though Porto Piombino and Longone were not many years since torne from the Spanish Scepter by the prosperous Arms of the French yet the Spanish discovering how Destructive and Ruinous it would be to their Affairs in Italy to suffer these new Intruders to be fixed in a constant Possession of them retrived them by Dint of the Sword and are at this instant entitled to the peaceable Possession of them The Interest of the House of AUSTRIA in GERMANY AUSTRIA properly so called hath on the East the Kingdome of Hungary on the West Bavaria on the North Bâ—â—â—â—ia on the South Stiria or Stiermarck represented to us by the Dutch under the Denomination of Ostâ—â—rick that is to say the Eastern Kingdome this being the extreme Province of East-France or the Eastern Kingdom of the French in the rude and unpolished Latine of those Times styled Austrasia whence the modern Austria hath borrowed its Name and extraction The ancient Inhabitants were the Quadi who were subdued by the Romans but these had scarcely advanced their Trophies upon the Ruines of this People but the Marcomanni improving their strength by a Confederate mixture with the Boij dislodged the Romans from their new Acquists and Conquered part of this Province and left the remainder to be offered up as a Sacrifice to the Victorious Sword of the Avares But these Boij being subjugated by Clovis the Great and the Avares expulsed from Pannonia by Charlemaigne both this and that became incorporated into the French Empire until the subduing Pannonia by the Hungarians To oppose whom and more vigorously to protect this Province in its Peace and Safety some under the Notion of Guardians or Lord Marchers were Deputed by the Kings and Emperours of Germany to have an Inspection into the Affairs of this Territory and more to reward and ennoble their Care they were adorned with the Title of Marquisses At first Officiarie but at last Hereditary made so by the Emperour Henry the first who gave this Province Anno 980. to one Leopold surnamed the Illustrious extracted from the House of Schwaben and from him descended Leopold the fourth Marquisse of Austria who dying without Issue Henry the second was not onely invested with the Estate but likewise with the Title of Marquisse of Austria but by the liberal Munificence of Frederick Barbarossa in the Year 1158. was advanced to a higher Dignity and Created Duke of this Province by that Emperour and from him it came down to his Grandchild Leopold the fifth who surprized Richard the first in his Return from the Holy War and having made him his Captive obtained so plentiful a Ransome for his Redemption that with it he Purchased Stiermark and the Counties of Neobourg and Lintz and Circumscribed Uâ—enna with a Wall and this Leopold had Issue Frederick the Warlike who for some Enterprises wherein he exhibited signal Testimonies of his Courage was made King of Austria by Frederick the second Emperour of Germany but he Deceasing without Issue Ottocarus Son of Wenceslaus King of Bohemia being fortified with a Right derived from Margaret Sister to this Frederick entered upon his newly established Monarchy adding thereto as an increase of Patrimony the Countries of Carinthia and Carniola which he had Purchased of Ulric the last Prince thereof but being Vanquished and Slain by Rodolphus of Hapsberg not long before advanced to the German Empire in the Year 1246. he conferred the Possession of these large Acquists on his eldest Son Albert with the Title of Duke of Austria about the Year 1298. But though these new Conquests were incorporated into the Demeasn of Albert by the successful Sword of his Father yet was their Title better secured and supported by Marriage for he Wedded Elizabeth Daughter of Mâ—inard Earl of Tiroll and Elizabeth his Wife the Daughter of Gertrude who was Daughter to Henry Brother to Frederick the Warlike which Gertrude Matched with Hermanus Marquisse of Badâ—n by whom she had Frederick Beheaded at Naples by Charles of Valois 1268. And this Elizabeth abovesaid in whose Right Albert became entitled to Austria Tiroll and many other Opulent and considerable Possessions elsewhere and from him did this Dutchy by Descent devolve to Albert the sixth who as some Records and Histories assert assumed the Style of Arch-Duke about the Year 1430. and much enhaunsed his Grandeur and Revenue by Matching with Elizabeth Heir of Sigismund King of Hungary and of Bohemia she adding those two Crowns to his Patrimony and he left Issue Ladislaus who Deceasing Childlesse Frederick the second being extracted from Leopold one of the Sons of Albert the third Duke of Austria surnamed the Short was by a Right flowing from him entitled to this Dukedome and he had Issue Maximilian the first from whom this Dutchy devolved successively to his two Grandchildren Charles the fifth and Ferdinand the first The last of which had Issue Maximilian the second from whom the Title was conducted down to his two Sons Rodolph the third and Matthias who both Deceasing without Issue the Title was invested in their Kinsman Ferdinand the second Duke of Gratz Son of Charles Duke of Austria youngest Son of Ferdinand the first from whom it
instant confesses the Seignory and Title of the Descendants of Leopold Brother to Ferdinand the second Duke of Gratz and Emperour of Germany Bohemia BOHEMIA is encompassed on the East with Moravia on the West with the Upper Palatinate and Voitland on the North with Misnia Lusatia and some part of Silesia on the South with some parts of Bavaria and Austria The first Inhabitants were the Marcomanni and Quadi mingled with the Boiari Marsigni Burij and Gothini who upon the wane of that Power and Splendor which ennobled the Roman Empire were disseised of their ancient Patrimony in this Kingdome by the Sclavi a Nation Inhabiting the Banks of the River Ister a People very Obscure in their Original and in their Country until their Successes dispelled that Mist which hung about them and made them more conspicuous Under what Form of Government they modelled themselves after their Atchievement of this Kingdome is not obvious from any Ancient Record or if they did erect any Frame it was swept away by new Squadrons of Sclaves Croatians and other scattered Nations who under the Conduct of Zechius a Leader of great estimate like an Inundation broke in upon them which Zechius with his Brother Leches about the Year 640. were expulsed out of Croatia for some Offences of a dark Complexion there acted by them and being very acceptable to the Sclaves of Bohemia who viewed him as a Prince extracted out of the same Cradle and Seminary with themselves and one of the same Language concerned in the same Laws and conformable to the same Customes with their own they Adopted him into the Supreme Government of this Province But after his Decease the Estate crumbled into the Confusions of a disordered Anarchy until Crocus about the Year 670. recollected the broken pieces into shape and Order and from his Justice and Integrity in the Administration of the Publique Affairs acquired the Name of the Bohemian Law-giver after his Exit the Bohemians resigned themselves up to the Government of Libussa his youngest Daughter but her Hand being too narrow to graspe the Affairs of State her Subjects made choice of Primiâ—â—aus and by Matching of him to her devolved the Government on his shoulders and in his Posterity the Supreme Authority was resident who were adorned with no other Title but sometimes Governours and sometimes Dukes of Bohemia until the Rule of Ueratislaus Brother to Sbtignâ—us who about the Year 1086. was for his Worthy and generous Performances in several Undertakings by the Emperour Henry the fourth at Metz invested with the Title of King which Regal Dignity was to continue Elective either at the will and Arbitrament of the Emperour or at the Disposition of the Estates and People and this is evident from several Precedents this Uratislaus left three Sons who were devested of the Crown to give way to Conrade Brother to Uratislaus who by the suffrages of the People was Elected King and after his Decease Brecislaus Son to Uratislaus to the prejudice of hiâ— two Sons was advanced by Choice to the Bohemian Diadem and after his Exit Borivorius fourth Son to Brecislaus to the Disherison of his three elder Brothers was Elected to weild the Scepter and thus did the Crown continue in the persons of Sutopulcus Uladislaus the second Sobeslaus Brother to this Uladislaus Uladislaus the third Son to Uladislaus the second above mentioned who by the Peoples Election was advanced to the Diadem the Sons of Sobeslaus being excluded and all the Residue of their Successors until the Crown came to be placed on the Head of Ferdinand the first Emperour of Germany who notwithstanding his Latitude of Power acknowledged that the Bohemian Scepter devolved to him not by the Authority of any Intrinsique or Inherent Right or the Claim of Succession but only by the Election of the People and this his Confession was enrolled in the Records of the Kingdome and though it is certain that Maximilian his Son Rodolphus Matthias his two Grandchildren were Successively Kings after him yet not their Descent but the Peoples Election fortified their advancement to the Bohemian Diadem and though upon the Decease of Matthias Ferdinand surnamed of Gratz as Adopted Son to Matthias declar'd Successor to the Crown of Bohemia by his Testament intruded upon the Throne yet being not formally and legally Elected by the People he was by the Estates of the Kingdom rejected who fixed upon Frederick Elector Palatine of the Rhine as the object of their Choice but he being betrayed by his Confederates and over-laid with the united Armies of the Emperour Ferdinand and the Dukes of Saxony and Bavaria abandoned Bohemia which was re-possest by Ferdinand in whose Descendant Line it hath been since so permanent the Peoples Election having been by Menaces and Force extorted that it is now the Possession of his Grandchild Leopoldus Ignatius the instant Emperour of Germany Silesia SILESIA is bounded on the East with Poland on the West with Lusatia on the North with the Marck of Bradenburg on the South with Moravia The first Inhabitants hereof were the Marsigni Burij Gothini and some part of the Quadi In the great partage of the Eastern parts of Germany amongst the Sclaves who had supplanted the ancient Proprietaries it was incorporated with the Dukedome or Kingdom of Poland and remained annexed unto it until the Government of Uladislaus the second who being devested of his Crown and Scepter by the unnatural Combination of his Brethren was by the powerful Influence and Intercession of the Emperour Frederick Barbarossa Seated in this Country with this Restriction that it shoul be held in Homage to the Soveraignty of Poland After his Decease it became split into parcels and was distributed amongst his three Sons and again according to that ancient Custome of Germany called Land-Skiftan which with the Saxons was transplanted into England was subdivided into so many subordinate parts which were to support the Revenue and Livelyhood of their Posterity that it became resolved and broken into fourteen Dukedomes of all which onely Oswitz and Zator continue fastned to the Crown of Poland ten of the twelve remaining being by the Power and Prudence of Wenceslaus the second and John of Luxenbourg Son to the Emperour Henry the seventh both Kings of Bohemia knit to the Patrimony of that Diadem only Suâ—initz remained under the Regiment and Administration of its own Dukes until Bogâ—slaus the last Duke by Testamentary Donation passed away all his Interest in it to Charles the fourth Emperour and King of Bohemia also so that eleven of these petty Royalties by Conquest and voluntary Concession came to be linked to those Possessions which improved the Grandeur of the â—ohemian Scepter and have still so constantly waited on the Fate which hath attended the Diadem of that Kingdome that they are now subservient to the Interest and Dominion of the Austrian Family at this instant Seated in the Imperial Throne onely Lignitz the last in the Inventory of Fourteen Dukedomes
does yet pay its Obedience to a proper Prince or Duke whose Predecessors have enjoyed it by a prescription of many Descents But alas his power is circumscribed and himself so chained up by Tribute and Homage to the Commands of the Emperour as King of Bohemia that he appears little more than precarious Moravia MORAVIA is shut in on the East with Hungary on the West with Bohemia on the North with Silesia on the South with the Lower Austria The Ancient Inhabitants were the Marcomanni and Quadi who were in subsequent Ages rooted out and discarded by a Sprig or Branch of the Sclaves who Inhabited about the Banks of the River Mora from whence they imposed the Name of Moravia on their new acquired Patrimony At the beginning of their Settlement in this Province their Government was managed by Kings the first Name of whom represented to us in Record is Raslai who was made Captive by Lewis the Godly and this Province forced to become Tributary to the Empire after Raslai the Right of Succession brought the Moravian Scepter to be swayed by Hermodurus and Suantopulcus under whose Raign these Moravian Sclaves were retrived from the Mists of Paganisme and Infidelity to the Light and Clearer Conduct of Christianity by the pious Industry of Cyrill and Methodius two Grecian Doctors After Suantopulcus his Son Suantobegius ascended the Moravian Throne a Prince of a Noble and inexpugnable Spirit who stretched his Scepter by many eminent Conquests over Bohemia Silesia and Polonia alâ—o but his Power growing formidable Arnulph the Emperour thought it meet to contract it and taking the Advantage to lay the Foundation of a Quarrel from his Denial to pay the accustomed Tribute by the united Aid of the Hungarians then Pagans so bruised him in several encounters that his Kingdome crumbled into a heap of Râ—ines being seised on by the Hungarians and Poles and other Nations And in this Calamitous condition it lay entombed until it began to glitter with a new Beam of Grandeur by being erected into a Marquisate but when Chronologie is silent only History represents to us that Jodocus Barbatus about the Year 1410. Elected Emperour was likewise Marquisse of Moravia after whose Decease it devolved to Sigismund Emperour and King of Bohemia as his next Heir and he enstated it on his Son in Law Albert Duke of Anstria about the Year 1417. which Albert upon his Decease not only succeeded him in Moravia but likewise was planted in all the rest of his Estates since which time it hath been so constant an attendant on the Fate and Fortune of the Crown of Bohemia that at this instant it obeys the Scepter of Leopoldus Emperour of Germany Lusatia LUSATIA in High Dutch styled the Lausnits is clasped in on the East with Silesia on the West with Misnia on the North with the Marck of Brandenbourg and on the South with Bohemia Who were the first Inhabitants no Beam from Antiquiy affords us Light enough to Discover onely an obsolete Supposition reflects upon the Senones of Tacitus to be its Ancient Possessors In Ages of a more Modern Inscription the Winithi or Venedi the most Powerful Branch of all the Sclavos were entitled by Conquest to the Propriety of it When it was advanced to the Dignity of a Marquisate the Annalls of the Empire are so dim and obscure that they exhibit no Testimony to us which may justifie a perfect Discovery About the Year 1156. one Câ—nrade dyed invested with the Title of Marquisse to whose Dominion the Emperour Henry the fifth added both the Title and Marquisate of Misnia which for some Decursion of time remained annexed to Lusatia after this this Province of Lausnits being not able to support it self against the frequent Incursions and Inroads of the Poles it stooped to the Scepter of their Kingdom and continued subservient to the Interest of that Diadem until it was conveyed by Sale to Frederick the second Marquisse and Elector of Brandenbourg who reserving to himself Câ—thouse and some other peices contiguous to the Margin and Verge of his Confines transmitted the Remainder by a voluntary Resignation to George Pogibrachius King of Bohemia who Claimed it by the Right and Authority of an Original Grant made to Uratislaus the first Bohemian King by Henry the fourth Emperour of Germany and from this George did the Right and Title of this Province flow down to Ferdinand the second Emperour of Germany in an even Channel who conveyed his Interest in it to the late Duke of Saxony as a Guerdon of those Supplies with which he Supported his Quarrel against the Palsgrave Fredrick Elected King of Bohemia yet though Moravia Silesia and this Lusatia were thus interwoven in the person of one Supreme Governour yet did they continue so distinct in their particular Laws and Governments that the Chief Magistrate or Ruler is admitted and acknowledged by each Province distinctly by it self and not by any one of them in the Name of the rest and this is done to preserve themselves free from any Slavish Connexion or Dependency of each to the other which Custome or Priviledge notwithstanding these late Concussions hath remained unshaken and unviolated to this day Alsatia ALSATIA in Dutch Elsats is shut in on the East with the Rhine and some parts of Schwaben on the West with the Mountain Vogesus which divoâ—ces it from Lorrein on the North with the Palatinate on the South with Switzerland The Ancient Inhabitants were the Tribochi with some mixture of the Nemâ—â—es and Raâ—raâ—i It was first subdued by the Romans and wâ—ung from them by the Almans afterwards extorted from these by the French and by them annexed as a Province to the Kingdome of Lorrein and and when that Realm was in the Solstice of its most flourishing Condition it fell under the Notion of a Province of the Empire The Government at â—irst was managed for the Emperours by Provincial Earls called Landgraves at first Officiarie and Tiâ—ular onely as being accomptable for the profits of the County to the present Emperour But in the subsequent Age it was made Hereditary and Successive in the person of Theodorick by Otho the third after whose Decease the Empire returning to be Elective gave such an Alarum to these Provincial Commanders that they endevoured to secure themselves by lopping off any future dependant Connexion that might render them precarious so that the Propriety of Elsats remained folded up in the successive Line of this Theodorick until the Government of the Emperour Frederick the second and then this Estate and Seignory of Alsatia was broken to peices and conveyed by Female Coheirs to Albert the second Earl of Habspurg Albert Earl of Hohenloe and Lewis Count of Ottingen Rodolph of Habspurg afterwards Emperour Son of this Albert Matched with Anne Heir of the Earl of Hohenloe and so in her Right and in his own became invested in two parts of this Province which make up the Upper Elsats which remained so constantly fixed in the Possession
of the House of Austria that by the steps of several Descents it came to acknowledge the Dominion of the Emperour Ferdinand the third not long since Deceased who to reimburse the French for those vast expences the German War had embarqued and engaged that Crown in by the Articles of the late Peace so solemnly transacted at Munster conveyed it by Grant to the Crown of France and remains so at this instant an Appendage to the Demeasn of that Diadem Sungow or the Earldom of Pfirt was Anciently clasped up within the Patrimony of the Princes of Schwaben upon the expiration of which Eminent House in the person of Conraradine about the Year 1268 the Patrimony of which supported the Lustre of that Family in his Extinction sunk into parcells some proportion of which erected this into a distinct Earldome And under this Notion it remained until Ulrick the last Earl going out in two Female Coheirs about the Year 1324. Ann the eldest Matched to Albert the Short Duke of Austria and Son to the Emperour Rodâ—lphus and Ursula the second by an equal Distribution shared his Inheritance and she fearing his Power for a Recompense of Eight Thousand Crowns conveyed her Moiety to this Albert whose Successors unlesse when it was pawned or engaged to Burgundy were entitled by an uninterrupted Right to the Propriety of it until the War Commenced not many years since between the two Emperours Ferdinand the second and Ferdinand the third and Lewis the thirteenth King of France made by that King in favour of the Swede who was in danger to be over-laid and dislodged from his new Acquists in the Empire by the thriving Caesarean Army after the Fatal Battel of Nortlingen the effects of which Quarrel were so destructive and ruinous to the last Emperour that to expedite an Accommodation with the Crown of France he gave up his Interest in this Province during the term of the Truce to be enjoyed by the French Brisgow in Schwaben BRISGOW was in Times of a very high Ascent the Patrimony of the Earls of Zeringen which was erected into an Earldome by Berthold the first Son of Gebizo and Grandchild of Guntran the second Earl of Hapspurg which Family finding its Tombe and fatal Extinction in the person of Berthold the fifth the seventh in succession who Deceased Anno 1218. the Right of Brisgow devolved to the Earls of Fribourg the Principal City of that Country Cuno the first who bare the Title of Earl of Fribourg being the eldest Son of Judith Sister and Heir of Berthold the last Earl of Zeringen Eggon is the last Recorded in the Register of those Earls of Fribourg who were invested with that Dignity and the Propriety of Brisgow who being over-born by the Eruptions of his Mutinous Subjects he sunk under the pressure and transmitted by Sale his entire Concernment in this Province upon the Receipt of Twelve thousand Ducats to Albert and Leopold Dukes of Austria Sons of Albert the Short in the Patrimony of whose Successors the Title of this Province hath ever since been so constantly folded up that it still confesses the Signory of the Austrian Family Hungary HUNGARY is shut in on the East with Transylvania and Walachia on the West with Stiria Austria and Moravia on the North with the Carpathian Hills on the on the South with Sclavonia and some part of Dacia The Ancient Inhabitants of Hungary on the North side Tisse were the Iazyges Metanastae on the East-side of Tibiscus the Daci were planted on the South-side of the Danau the Pannones resolved into the several Colonies of the Azuli Latovici Werciani Jassij and Oseriates as likewise the Ercuneales Breuci Aravisei and Scordisci Inhabited the first of which extended their Dwellings to the East as the last inlarged their Habitations to the West But all these above mentioned were either very much broken or else forced to surrender themselves to the Successful Sword of the Romans Anno post urbem Conditam 719. Lucius Cornificius and Sextus Pompeius being Consuls and after they had been planted in the Possession of this Province for some Centuries of years their Tenure and Title was disordered by the Invasions of the Chuni or Huns who under the Command of Balamir their General in several Encounters so disspirited the Power and bruised the Force of the Romans that they adandoned this Province to the Possession of these new Conquerours but the same Vicissitude which cast out the Romans roll'd in upon these Huns and crushed them with the Wheel of a Revolution ' like the former for the Winnithi or Longobards having both infested these Huns with many Inroads and afflicted them in many fortunate Encounters so wasted their Strength and impair'd their Armies that they gave up themselves and this Province as a Cheap Oblation to the Triumphs of these Victorious Longobards but these being called by Narses into Italy to reinforce his Armies who then were in Contest with the Goths for the Soveraignty of that Territory discarded the Cold and Barren Fields of Hungary to settle on the Warmer Champaign of Lombardy where under the Government and Scepter of Alboinus they erected their Longobardian Kingdome The Longobards having thus left the Stage the Avares or Avarini a People dropp'd out of the Bosome of Sarmatia about the Raign of Tiberius the second Emperour of Greece entered under the Conduct of Caganus or Chan an Heroick but Merciful Clemency and Magnanimity are twins Cheiftane who first dissipated the Forces employed to break him by Tiberius abovesaid and then after a Bloody Decision subdued Cometiolus Lieutenant to the Emperour Mauritius Successor to Tiberius and the Forces marshall'd under his Conduct which Emperour attempting to repair the Dishonour contracted by this Defeat had his Endevours frustrated by that execrable and perfidious Assassination which was acted on him by his Bloody Servant Phocas which Murther so unsetled and disordered all those hinges which sustained the Frame of the Grecian Empire that these Avares and their Commanders taking the Advantage of its intestine Distractions not only reduced Hungary to their subjection but likewise so extended their Conquests that in the Raign of Phocas abovesaid and the Emperour Heraclius they Forraged to the Gates of Constantinople and having thus broken the Power of the Greeks they next Assaulted the Gothâ— and Gepidae who yet possest some part of Hungary and after many Conflicts and Disputes with these tougher Nations about their Title they supplanted these also and asserted the entire Possession to themselves and here they setled in a quiet and undisturbed Residence until the Government of Charles the Great and then he having like a Whirle-wind cast out those Nations which opposed him shivered these into a wilde Dispersion and by his Victorious Arms dislodged them from the Possession of this Kingdome after their Exit this Province was subservient to the Commands of the German Emperours until Arnulphus being Assaulted by the fierce Impressions of Suantobogius King of Moravia called in the
Hungars a People of Scithia wandering in Sarmatia Europaea and not tied or fixed to any certain abode to his support and Assistance and they so generously crushed the Attempts and repulsed the Assaults given to the Emperour and his Armies that to reward so signal and generous performances Arnulphus Invested them in the Possession of Pannonia and by a grateful elevation advanced Casala their Leader to the Title of Duke of this Province and he to perpetuate to Posterity the Memory of this Magnificent Donation discarded the Ancient Name of Pannonia and imposed that of Hungary an Appellation extracted from the People above mentioned upon it and from him it came down to his great Grandchild Stephen the fourth Duke of Hungary in whom that Title ceased and was improved to the more eminent Dignity of King which Office by the transmission of Descent passed along to his Successor Stephen the fourth of that Name King of Hungary and he determined in Mary his sole Heir who by Matching with Charles the I ame Son of Charles K. of Naples linked the Crown of Hungary to his Patrimony and in his Descendant Line it resided until the Scepter of this Kingdome came to be grasped by his Successor Ludovicus or Lewis who concluding in Daughters and Coheirs Mary the eldest being Wedded to Sigismund the Emperour brought this Crown about the Year 1387. to acknowledge his Scepter and Seignory and he left Issue Elizabeth Daughter to them two and she by Espousing Albert of Austria planted the Crown of Hungary on his Temples and from him it devolved to Elizabeth his Daughter by this Alliance who was Affianced to Ladislaus the second Son of Casimir the fourth King of Poland who in her Right was justly entitled to the Hungarian Diadem and left it to his Son Ladislaus or Lewis infortunately slain at the Battel of Mohats by the Turks about the Year 1526. upon whose Decease without Issue Ferdinand Brother to Charles the fifth in Right of Anne his Wife who was Sister and Heir to Lewis above-said was Invested with the Crown of Hungary and from him the Scepter of this Kingdom was transported by the Devolution of several Descents to Ferdinand the third Emperour of Germany who upon his late Decease hath left it to be weilded by his Son and Heir Leopoldus Ignatius who now is placed on the Hungarian Throne Croatia CROATIA is bounded on the East with Bosnia on the West with Carniola on the South with Contado di Zara anciently Named Liburnia on the North with Windischland The Reason why the Name was imposed is not obvious in Authours only it is generally asserted it was fixed on it by the Sclaves when they made their first Eruption on this Country when they disseised the Goths who supplanted the Romans who had before rooted out and dislodged by several multiplied Conquests the ancient Inhabitants call'd the Liburni and Illyrij mingled with some allay of the neighbouring Nations or rather Colonies of the Japodes the Scirtari the Mazai the Peruistae the Derrij Ceraunij Daursii Vardae Siculotae Sardiotae and others of more despicable Estimate But long the Sclaves had not setled in this Province but their Disorders unsetled them for by their Mutinies and Rebellions against their Governours which concluded still in their slaughter and Ruin they fill'd the State with Anarchie and Vicissitude and were never calm or fixed until the several Tribes to allay this Distemper had Princes who succeeded one another in a more Regular Method under the Title of Kings of Croatia and in this Capacity it remained until the Year 970. when having worried and harrassed their Neighbours by Pyracies and other acts of Devastation the Venetians inflamed by these Affronts to expiate their Depredations with a just Revenge in several Conflicts so embased and retrench'd their Power that Zelamirus the last King Deceasing without Issue bequeathed the Kingdome to his Wife and she by a willing Donation transferr'd her Interest to her Brother Ladislaus the Saint King of Hungary so that it hath had its Title ever since so involved and wound up in the Fate and Fortune of Hungary that by Ann the Sister and Heir of K. Lewis who perished in the Ruin of the Battel of Mohatz it accrued to Ferdinand the first Emperour of Germany and from him by the Traverses of several Descents did it passe along untill at last it is now come to confess the Soveraignty of Leopoldus Ignatius now Emperour of Germany VVindischland VVINDISCHLAND is chained in on the East with part of the lower Hungary on the West with Carniola or Karnt on the North with the River Dravus on the South with Croatia It was anciently esteemed a Limb of Pannonia Inferiour as in more modern Times a parcell of the Province of Savia The ancient Inhabitants were the Winithi or Vendi who being swallowed up in the frequent mixtures of their Confining Neighbours the Sclaves were esteemed a Branch of that Powerful and spreading Nation but still to preserve the Name of their first Original the Denomination of Windischland was imposed on this Province which since by the Sale and conveyance above mentioned made by Zelamirus to Uladislaus the Saint hath been so linked with Croatia that as it hath had still the same Successours so at this instant it owns no other Scepter but that of Leopoldus Ignatius now Emperour of Germany FINIS