Occasion of so many Rebellions The King of Scotland could not in Honour yeild to deliver up a Man to Death whom he had raised and made his Kinsman So at last it was agreed that he should quit his Interest and command him out of his Dominions These Articles were agreed on and a Peace was made between them in the Year 1498. Henry King of England sent home this Spanish Ambassador Loaden with Presents and with great Thanks to his King and Queen Then was the Marriage projected of Prince Arthur the Kings Eldest Son and Katharine the Infanta afterwards Marryed to Henry the VIII his Second Son whose Famous Divorce caused so many Revolutions in the Kingdom About the same time King Henry Received two other Embassies One from the King of France the Other from Prince Philip Earl of Flanders Son to the Emperour Maximilan who renewed his Alliance with Him The King of Scotland exactly observed the Articles of Peace touching Perkin Warbeck being wholly disabused concerning him He sent for him and told him in short what he had done in his Favour but he found himself obliged to conclude a Peace with England and now was no longer in Circumstances to give him assistance or allow him his Court for a Retreat Therefore advised him to retire and hope a better Fortune Though this was a Fatal Blow to Warbeck it came not unforeseen by him who wanted not Understanding but extreamly thanked the King assuring him he could never acknowledge his Favours as he ought and desired acquiescing in his Orders After this with his Wife he went for Ireland with Intention either to go for Flanders to his Aunt or head the Cornish Malecontents But resolving on the latter he found the Minds of those People irritated by their Losses and easily engaged them to Mutiny He then gave out his Commissions and Formed his Army with Design to surprize some considerable Towns which might serve for a Refuge in case of ill Success With this intent he Besieged Exeter using all Endeavours to carry it by Assault and trying to seize the Gates for Petards nor Rams were not then in Use he brought Great Stones and Axes instead of those Engins which not taking effect he employ'd Fire and heaping Wood against the Gates indeavoured to burn them The Besieged used the same Expedient Fireing great quantity of Wood within their Gates by Flames preventing their Danger by Fire He then raised his Scaling Ladders and commanded the Attack to be made which was better repulsed many of his Men being left dead under the Walls the very Women throwing Stones and Scalding Water on the Besiegers King Henry being Informed what Danger the Besieged were in advanced with great Marches to their Assistance sending Detached Partys to declare His Coming In the mean time several Men of Quality got into the City with supplyes Amongst whom was Edward Courtney Earl of Devonshire and several of his Family Peter Edgcomb and William St. Maure and other Men of Noto This extreamly perplexed Perkin he could not cover his Men in any strong Place who for the most part of them were ill provided of Armes as well Offensive as Defensive and considering he was not able to resist so Powerful Enemies as were advancing towards him he raised the Siege and Marched to Taunton where he Muster'd his Men and drew them up in Battalia of which the King hearing directed his March that way many Lords Joyning Him and giving Demonstrations of their Zeal to express and Signalize their Loyalty on that Occasion The King Commanded my Lord Brook my Lord Dawbeney and Sir Richard Thomas with a Party of chosen detached Men to begin the Charge but both his Orders and their Resolutions were needless For Warbeck through his own Natural Cowardize or believing himself betray'd ran away and left his Army flying into the Monastery of Beaulieu His Officers seeing themselves abandonned lost their Resolution and tryed to save themselves by Flight The wretched Multitude being left without a Head knew not what to do whether to resolve to dye Fighting or to Implore the Kings Mercy But choosing the latter they threw down their Armes and on their Knees begged Pardon which the King granted them For certainly if their Officers had not left them it would have cost him very dear they being resolved to overcome or dye Partyes of Light-Horse were sent every way for the Apprehension of Warbeck and the Chief of his Gang But though they missed him they took most of the others his Accomplices Some of the Searchers found Katharine Huntley Wife of Perkin with her Women Her they brought to the King who was much furprized to see so Beautiful a Lady extreamly pittying her Misfortune And considering such a Noble Prize was not fit to be the Souldiers Prey but worthy an Emperor He sent her to London where he presented to the Queen this unfortunate Lady so unhappily Sacrificed to the Humour or Interests of the King her Uncle Match't to a Villain and Impostor instead of a Legitimate Prince whom she justly Merited and not the extream Grief of seeing this Counterfeit her Husband suffer the deserved Reproaches and Calumny of the Basest Profligates The King Encompast the Monastery of Beaulieu with his Army for the better securing Perkin Not being willing to Violate the Sanctuary he himself having been protected the same manner in Bretagn when Richard the Usurper demanded him Besides such was the Custome of those days Wherefore he sent him word by the Religious Men of the Monastery that he would spare his Life assuring him of his Clemency yet nevertheless at Exeter he beheaded several of the Principal Rebels punishing many of the rest which were taken in their Flight thanking that City for their Zeal and Fidelity With Warbeck in his Power he return'd for London where the People in Multitudes Flock't to see Perkin with astonishment admiring that a Forreigner of so mean Birth should undertake by his Impostures the Overthrow of so great a Kingdome and perswade so many Princes Lords and People to the Destruction of many of the Truth of those Falsehoods he till then spread abroad both of his Person and Birth There is no doubt but that the King kept him close Prisoner and justly punish't those remarkable Rebels of Cornwall Devon and Sommersetshire for which Service he sent Thomas Lord Darcy Sir Anyas Pawlet and Robert Sherburn Dean of St. Pauls with his Commission into the West where they soundly Fined Amerced every one that had Assisted or Favoured the Rebels before or after their Defeat at Black-heath But yet with consideration of such Persons who either through Fear or by Force were compell'd to do it There happened about this time a Quarrel between the English and Scotch that had like to have renewed the War Some Scotch were observed to walk under the Walls of Norham which a little before they had Besieged and the next day doing it again the English Garrison fearing they had some Design sent
and Lot to feed on every Tenth Man till at last he with the Wrack of this miserable Army got back to Thebes in Aegypt The Third which was of Fifty Thousand Men was commanded to waste the Country round the Temple of Jupiter Hammon and to burn that famous Temple with the Statue of Jupiter When they had advanc'd as far as the City Oasis seven days Journey beyond Thebes being the mid-way to the Town of Dasis the Country they were to attack they halted in a Valley where an impetuous Wind blowing Mountains of Sand from all parts buried them together not one escaping so that Cambyses could have no other News but only the probability of this Accident The God Apis so much ador'd by the Aegyptians shew'd himself that Year which he had not done along time before These blind People when they found a Calf of extraordinary Largeness and Beauty made it their False God using all Shews of publick Joy they could express Cambyses being angry and ill humour'd with his late Disasters believed they rejoyced at his ill Fortune and took a Pretext to do it for the Apparition of their God He was then at Memphis where he commanded the Magistrates to come before him and give an Account why they took so ill a Conjuncture for their Mirth and Feasting No Excuses would serve nor no Submissions prevail but he caused them all to be put to Death He also commanded the Priests of Apis to be brought with the Calf they ador'd which was black and had a large square Spot in his Fore head another in the resemblance of an Eagle on his Back a Cross under his Jaws and at the End of his Tail a thick forked Tuff of Hair Cambyses drew his Sword and wounded him in the Ham though his intention was to have kill'd him calling the Priests contemptuous Names saying You deserve no better Gods than Flesh and Blood that can feel and smart with a Wound Then in derision caus'd them to be cruelly beaten commanding his Guards to kill whoever they found rejoycing on that Occasion This severe Order soon put an end to their Feasting The God Apis was carried into the Temple where he languish't till he died and was privately buried by his Priests Heaven as the Aegyptians believed punish'd Cambyses for these Sacriledges taking away his Reason and making him distracted One of the saddest Effects of his Frenzy was the Death of his own Brother Smerdis a very accomplish'd Prince and of so extraordinary Strength that it caused his Brother's Jealousy so far as to deny him Access to his Person by sending him into Persia while he remain'd in Aegypt His Ambassadors or rather his Spies in Aethiopia amongst other Rarities brought home with them a Bow of so large a size that no Persian had strength enough to bend it but Smerdis only who did it with two Fingers which was the first subject of his Disgrace as that which follows was the cause of his Death Cambyses dream't that a Courrier came in great haste brought him news that Smerdis sat on his Throne that his Head reacht Heaven This made him resolve his Death and gave Prexaspes one of his Officers Orders to see it done which he did near Susa as he accompany'd him a Hunting Others say It was by throwing him into the Red-Sea as he walk'd on the Cliffs I need but mention the other Cruelties of Cambyses The Murthering one of his Sisters whom he had Marry'd kicking her many times on the Belly when she was with Child of which she died The Occasion she gave him was wittily reproaching him of his Killing Smerdis He shot the Son of Prexaspes with an Arrow and then rip 't him open so paying his Father for Murthering Smerdis He put twelve of his great Lords to a cruel Death burying them alive with their Heads downwards and would have kill'd the best of his Counsellors the wise and famous Croesus who lost his Kingdom of Lydia with his immense Riches on whom Cyrus his Father had pity These were the Praeludes or rather the Causes which preceded and encourag'd this Impudent Impostor of whom we treat During the time Cambyses committed these Excesses of Cruelties and that his Frenzy made him more hated than a wild Beast there were two Brothers by Profession Magicians One of them called Patazithes was an Officer of his House These conspir'd against him Patazithes knowing the Death of Smerdis which was hid from the Persians had Insolence enough to undertake this Enterprize which follows He had a Brother of the Age and Features of Smerdis and of his Name also him he contrived to set on the Throne and instructed him in all the Arts he should use He sent Heralds into Aegypt commanding the Officers of the Army for the future to obey Smerdis the Son of Cyrus and no longer to own Allegiance to Cambyses These Heralds so well acquitted themselves of their Commission that one of them met Cambyses with his Army at Echatana in Syria to whom he boldly shewed his Order who was astonish'd at his Resoiution and turning towards Prexaspes spoke to him in these words Is it thus you have executed the Commands I gave you No Sir replyed Prexaspes it is not true that your Brother can ever Rebel or Fight more or less against your Authority for with my own Hands I obey'd your Orders And if those who are out of the World can fight you have more reason to apprehend Astyages King of the Medes but if your Majesty have no cause to think of him you have no other to fear your Brother Smerdis I beseech you Sir continued he grant me some of your Guards to pursue this Herald and bring him back that you may learn from him if he have seen or spoke to Smerdis This Advice pleased the King The Herald was brought back and ask't If he received his Orders from the Mouth of Smerdis or from some of his Ministers only He ingenuously confest he had not seen him since the War Cambyses made in Aegypt but had his Orders from the Magician whom his Majesty made Intendant of his Affairs in Persia who said in these words Smerdis the Son of Cyrus commands this to be done Cambyses was satisfied by this Answer that Prexaspes had obey'd him whom he otherwise had certainly put to Death He ask't him If he could conjecture who were the Authors of this Rebellion and Imposture I doubt said Prexaspes they were the Magicians Patazthes Governour of the Houshold and Smerdis his Brother When Cambyses heard the Name of Smerdis he seem'd Thunder-struck remembring the Truth of his Dream and knowing too late his fatal Error wept bitterly for his double Murther of his Brother and Sister In this transport of Grief hastily mounting his Horse to chastise the Rebels at Susa the Scabbard of his Sword dropt off and he found himself wounded in the same Place with the Point where he hurt the God Apis. It surpriz'd him more when they told him
to gain Sisenna a Centurian in the Syrian Army and sent part of that Army to Rome to make a Treaty of Union with the Pretorian Cohorts or Regiment of the Guards carrying with them for the Symbole of that Unity they desired the Figure of Right Hands joyn'd together This Captain he try'd so many ways to make of his Party as obliged him to steal privately out of the Island for avoiding the Violence and Danger that threatned him These Proceedings carried the Terrour and Fear of the supposed Nero very far many unquiet Minds taking this occasion of disturbance some through the desire of Novelty others in dislike of the present Government dispersing the News of Nero's Return The Emperour Galba had given the Government of Galatia and Pamphilia to Calpurnius Asprenas and two Gallies were ordered to conduct him These casting Anchornear this Island the Impostor much desired to be Master of which not being able to effect openly he try'd to accomplish by Art and putting himself into a small Vessel not knowing any thing of a Roman Governour desired he might come on Board and transport himself into Syria or Egypt Standing on the Prow of his Ship looking sad and disconsolate he admonished the Souldiers to think of the Oath of Fidelity they had sworn to him heretofore Then directing himself to the Pilots they made some difficulty to receive him saying They were not Masters but would ask their Commander doing this for an Amusement that they might the better surprize him They informed Asprenas of what had past who considering the Vessel the Impostor was in not to be of any great Force immediately commanded to attack her but he took her not without a smart dispute the false Nero Valiantly fighting till he dyed His Body remarkable for his fine Hair and great Eyes but above all for the Fierceness of his Countenance was carried to Asia and Rome where it lay expos'd to every ones Admiration and to consider his Insolence that durst attempt to usurp the greatest Emprire of the World CHAP. III. THE False MESSIAS CALLED Benchochab Head of the Revolted Jews ADrian having succeeded Trajan the Emperour in the 4080th Year of the World and of Jesus Christ the 118th found the same Dispositions of Revolting in the minds of the Jews that his Predecessors had done So he recall'd Jul. Severus from Britain who was reputed one of the Wisest and most Valiant Captains of his time in the Roman Empire and him the Emperor sent into Syria to quell the Mutineers But he found them so well on their Guards and so strongly fortified as made him avoid coming to a Battle or hazarding his Troops unequally against such desperate Vagabonds Therefore spent time and prolonged the War which gave the Jews opportunity to augment their Strength The better to increase their Army and heighten their Courage they took Religion for a pretence the Head of the Seditious calling himself the Messiah and to make the nearer Allusion to the Prophecy in the 24th of Numbers where the great Legislator Moses says A Star shall come out of Jacob he took the Name of Benchochab Son of the Star or as some will Barcochab but 't is all one for Ben and Bar both signifie a Son This Impostor possest for six years together fifty Castles besides four hundred and eighty Towns and Villages He fortified so strongly the Castle of Bethoron seituated by the Tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim which Castle Solomon chose to make a strong Fortress that it held a Siege of three years and a half The Emperour Adrian coming in person against it 't is hardly to be believed what Resistance the Besieged made how many Sallies and what Blood was spilt We find written that three hundred thousand Jews were slain besides vast numbers who perisht by Plague and Hunger 'T is said to the number of 500000 Men if we may believe Carion's Chronicle Bencochab was kill'd in a Salley after whose Death Bethoron was taken The Jews instead of Bencochab call him Benscosba or the Son of Deceit having falsly call'd himself the Messiah The Emperour writ excellent Letters on this occasion of his Victory as equal with the greatest had ever been obtained since it gave Peace to all the East This Impostor had such an inveterate hatred to the Christians that all those who fell under his power he put to cruel Deaths The Emperour Adrian having razed the City of Jerusalem resolved to rebuild it calling it Elia Adriana he forbad entrance into it or habitation there to the Jews but allowed both to the Christians Thus ended this Impostor who did just contrary to the true Messiah whose Name he usurpt viz. Led the people into Servitude and Misery CHAP. IV. THE Counterfeit MOSES IN the time of Theodosius the Emperour who Reigned from the year 412 until 454 a wicked Jewish Impostor appeared in Candia calling himself Moses promising the Jews who were in great numbers in that Insulary Kingdom he would lead them through the Sea on foot without the help of Ships into their old Country Judea as he had formerly done their Fathers in the time of Pharaoh King of Aegypt and by the same means deliver them from Servitude that he had already done it in the year of the World 2454 being 2050 years before this Counterfeit appeared the present Story happening in the 4420th year of the World He further perswaded them he was the same Prophet Moses whom God had sent from Heaven to be their Guide He went about the Island for a year together inculcating these Perswasions into the People and assign'd them a certain Day to begin their Journey He pretended to prophecy and gathered Money on all hands and at the day appointed led Multitudes of People to the Sea-side where commanding several to leap in their Folly and Blindness was so great to obey him many of them being swallowed by the Waters and if some Fisher-men had not been near and charitably saved several with their Barques calling to those on the Shore not to venture they had many of them perisht who by their means were saved The Impostor escapt and I find not what became of him but his Villany opened the Eyes of many of those poor People who embraced the Christian Religion Socrates a Greek Author writes this History CHAP. V. John Bulchold KING of the Anabaptists THE Conformity of this Impostor with those two preceding perswades me to break the Order of Time I had prescribed my self This Wretch of whom the last Age talkt so much was a Hollander born at Leyden a Taylor by his Profession He appear'd at Munster in the year 1534. and took the Name of King of the Anabaptists saying He was sent by God to Extirpate all other Princes and Potentates of the Earth John Sleidan in his Tenth Book of his History touching the State of Religion declares the Excess Extravagance and Cruelty of this Impostor He caused two Crowns to be made of massive Gold a Sword a Chain and
Scepter with other Jewels and Marks of Royalty He appeared in publick accompanied with his Officers and Gentlemen of his Court having two Pages on Horse-back One carried his Crown and a Bible the Other his Sword He caused a Throne to be built in the most publick place hung with Cloath of Gold on which he sate as in his Court of Justice He created twelve Judges to whom he gave so many Imaginary Kingdoms He married several Women who were drest like so many Queens He sent twenty eight Disciples Teachers of his Law about 〈◊〉 World who were all executed and put 〈◊〉 but one who cunningly made his 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—rd â—â—â—ppeâ—doling who beâ—â—◠〈◊〉 Câ—nsul or Magistrate of the 〈◊〉 would needs be the Executioner He â—â—â—mitted many Cruelties and Extravaâ—â—ncies and the King as many in his turn 〈◊〉 heading People himself not sparing one 〈◊〉 his Wives who was grieved to see the â—â—â—eries the poor People endured by the â—â—tremity of Famine the City being beâ—â—ged by Francis Count of Waldeck their â—â—â—hop assisted by the Circles of the Emâ—â—re His False Doctrine was To deny Infants â—â—otism To Rebaptize those who had been so already To have all things in common â—o marry several wives He denied that Jesus Christ took Humane Nature from the Virâ—n Mary He denied the Pardon of Sinners abolisht Magistracy took Others Goods by Force and Extirpated those who believed not his Foolish Doctrine The 24th of June 1535. the City was taken by the skill of two Fugitives who did that good Service for the Bishop and the Besiegers John Bulchold the Impostor King Bernard Knipperdoling both Magistrate and Hangman and Crechtineh were all three Executed the 25th of Jannary 1536. being torn to pieces with Red-hot Pincers Bulchold repented and implored the Mercy of God Their Bodies were bound in Iron-Frames and hung on the highest Tower of the City the pretended King being placed in the middle a mans heighth above the rest CHAP. VI. THE False Clotaire CALLED GONDOALD THis Impostor appeared a second time in France under the Kings of the first Race in the year 586. calling himself the Son of Clotaire the first King of Soissons and by consequence Grandson to Clovis the Great I will observe what two Historians say of him those are Robert Guaguin and Paulus Aemilius both having writ the History of France His Mother Educated him from a Child like the Son of a King above all things preserving his Hair which was a Mark of the Royal Family amongst the Old French-men Clotaire his pretended Father would not own him when his Mother brought him to Soissons which perswades me that he was Illegitimate But Childebert his Uncle King of Paris who had no Child took pity of him and bred him in his Court At which Clotaire was angry and writ to him in these terms Send back to me Gondoald that I may take care of him my self and breed him up if I find him my Son for if he be not the Education of a Prince which you give him may be the occasion of Errour and Illusion in the World who may shew him those Honours which are not his due Clotaire when he had him in his power shaved his Head and shut him up in a Monastery This pretended Father dying in the year 564. Cherebert or Childebert King of Paris his elder Brother took a Kindness to him and was careful of him for some time But Cherebert was an Effeminate Prince abandoning himself to Debauchery and Women which extreamly altered his Health so that Gondoald's Happiness had but a short date For after the Death of this generous Brother of Clotaire which was in the year 565. Sigebert another of his Brothers King of Austrasia the Country which is now called Lorrain sent for him to his Court without saying how he intended to treat him and leaving him altogether in uncertainty which he nevertheless construed to his own advantage And this unhappy man no sooner arrived at the Court but he shaved him a second time and put him into a Monastery at Collein So that finding himself thus tost about he made an Escape and fled into Italy where Narses that famous Eunuch General of the Emperour Justinian's Army with admirable success made War against the Goths This was no small advantage to Gondoald to make a Friendship with one of the most Valiant and most Illustrious Captains mentioned in History Totila that Generous and Magnanimous King of the Ostrogoths whom Bellisarius the indefatigable General for the same Justinian could not entirely overcome lost both his Diadem and his Life by the Conduct of this Little Old Man of three Cubits stature who wanted one of the most Essential Parts of a Man I will onely use the words of Paulus Jovius in his Elogies of Illustrious men speaking of him Narses says he deserves an Admiration extraordinary and above all other men who being born a Slave in Persia and bred in the Seraglio or Apartment of the Empresses Women being but half a Man deprived of that Part which both Sexes most value became the Imperial Treasurer and was the only accomplisht General not only for all Military Vertue but likewise for his good Fortune whoever suffered so great a Deprivation E tanta ereptae virilitatis calamitate unicus prope cum Virtute tum fortuna Imperator extiterit It had been incomparably a greater Advantage if Gondoald could have been with this Captain in the heighth of his Favour for at that time viz. in the year 566. Justin the Second succeeded his Maternal Grandfather the Emperour Justinian who extreamly loved Narses for his Merit and the good Service he had done him having Extirpated two powerful Kings of the Ostrogoths Totila and Teias and defeated an Army of Seventy two thousand Frenchmen commanded by one Bucelin General for Theodobert King of Mets. Gornandes Archbishop of Ravenna and born a Goth is mistaken in his History when he reckons Two hundred thousand men kill'd and attributes the Victory to Bellisarius Sometime after Gondoald's Arrival the Empress Sophia perswaded by the Enemies of Narses's Glory recalled him into Italy and also treated him with great Scorn and Contempt saying He was sitter to distribute Wooll to her Women and to the Maids of her Seraglio to spin than to command an Army Which Expressions he so much resented that he called Alboin his Friend King of the Lombards out of Hungary to come into Italy who made such a Progress there that this most wise Empress was not able to put a stop to Gondoald hoped considerable Assistance from Alboin with which he designed to take from his Brothers Sigebert Chilperic and Gontran who bore the Titles of Kings of Mets Paris and Orleans the Cities where they lived and kept their Courts a more considerable Kingdom than either of them possest Narses being naturally Merciful and Religious was perswaded by the Entreaty of Pope John the Third who came to meet him at Naples how pernicious the consequence must
Priests of Cahors as Guaguin Relates of the most Pions he could find hoping for that quality they would be well received by his Brother King Gontran he gave them his Letters written on Tablets cover'd with Wax and Directed to the chief Men of France These Priests were surprized by Gontrans People who understood by the Contents and the Confession of the Bearers what Gondoalds Thoughts and Correspondence intended He left not off for this misfortune but persisted in his indeavours to gain the kindness of Gontran He sent Ambassadors to him carrying Olive Branches that with the Symbole of Peace they might pass every where and get admittance Being brought to his Presence after he had demanded their Names and Country they made this Speech We are come towards your Majesty from Gondoald the Son of Clotaire who with Justice demands a part of his Inheritance which if your Majesty refuse he is resolved to do himself Right by force of Arms He has already a numerous Army in Guienne and Childebert will joyn him with considerable Troops Gontran was so displeased with their Discourse that he violated the Law of Nations ignominiously using the Ambassadors causing them to be tied with their Bellies to two Horses and whipt through the Streets The Persons of Ambassadors have always been Sacred they came desiring Peace and carryed the Symbole of it The Renowned Aeneas received the first marks of Friendship in Italy Jamque Oratores aderant ex urbe Latina Velati ramis Oliae Antiquity allowed none but the Gods to use it and their right devolved to Kings who are their Images for which reason as a Note of Dignity it was called Jus Regium The Injuries received by Ambassadors have ever been esteemed done to the Persons that sent them all Nations agreeing to Revenge a common injury Si Civis Pulsatus actio est Injuriarum si Magistratus Majestatis si Legatus bello Jure gentium agitur It is no wonder after this Procedure of Gontrans if they both made War with the extremity of violence Paulus Aemilius in an excellent Stile writes of the dismal Examples of Wars Domestick and Forreign Civil Wars filling the minds of Men with Distractions But Gontran soon delivered his Subjects from those Alarms by adopting Childebert for his Heir who was a Young Ambitious Prince desirous to augment his Dominion The Good Old man had no Children Legitimate nor natural so chose this way to make him depend in hopes of the Succession Gontran called an Assembly or Parliament to Celebrate this Solemn Action of Adopting his Nephew Childebert the better to seperate his Interest from Gondoald I can hardly believe what Guaguin the same Author that writes the cruel affront done to Gondoalds Ambassadors reports which is that he made them be brought into this Assembly and shew their Commissions as they had done to him already where they owned and confirmed the Truth of a Report had been discoursed before which was that Gondoald had robbed the Princess Rigonde Daughter of the Deceased King Chilperic taking away her Money and Jewels as she went to her new Husband in Spain And that some of Childeberts Courtiers were in the Action who absconded from the Assembly on that Occasion However Gontran proceeded to effect what he intended Adopting his Nephew Childebert and using certain ceremonies presenting the point of a Lance to his Breast giving him advice to make his Kingdom Flourish and at the same time Restoring those Towns and Places his Uncle Chilperic had taken from him The Allies of Gondoald Didier Momol Landase Valden and Sagittaire Bishop of Gap a Turbulent Man who had been Banisht from his Diocess being Informed of the Agreement between the Uncle and the Nephew and knowing that by this Adoption he would quit the Interest of Gondoald resolved all to do so at the same time Yet his unhappiness made him not loose Courage he retired to Comminges beyond the River of Dordogne caressing the Citizens Living Familiarly with them and making great Protestations of Friendship he perswaded them to carry all their Riches into the Castle for fear of loosing them if the Town were Besieged but the Castle he esteemed Impregnable Sometime after making them believe that the Enemy was near he caused them to take Arms opening the Gates and incouraging them to make a Sally but as soon as they were gone he shut them out driving their Bishop after them because he was of the contrary Party The Lords of whom we spoke still kept fair with him though they intended to leave him they had not yet broken all measures This place was so strongly sciâ—uated and so well provided of all things that Gontran dispaired to take it by force and therefore had recourse to an Artifice he perswaded the Queen Brunechilde Mother-in-Law of Childebert whom he had newly Adopted to write to Gondoald as if she were still for his Interest advising him to leave that Place and strengthen himself in Bourdeaux which was the Metropolis of a great Country and had an excellent Harbour perswading him to carry his Treasure with him Gondoald was deceived by her whom he believed advised him heartily It was a strange oversight to trust a Woman and of so ill Fame However he sent his Equipage with his Money and other Treasure to Bourdeaux But the Men whom Gontran had laid in Ambush beyond the River Gironde eased his Mules of their Burthen and carrying off this Rich Booty rejoyn'd the Army which Marched strait to Comminges Landegesille General of Gontrans Army Invented a sort of Chariots covered with large Oziers which defended those that digged Mines for the better taking the Town they also cut down great quantities of Wood in the Forrest there abouts and endeavoured to fill the Ditch The Besieged on the other side with Boats great Stones Pitch and Firebrands endeavouring to burn the Wood and hurt the Besiegers These attacks taking small effect Landegesille Tryed another way to accomplish his Designe he desired to speak with Momol and giving him a Friendly reproof for quitting the Service and interests of King Gontran to assist Gondoald assured him if he would cause the Town to fall into the Power of the King his Master he would for certain liberally acknowledge that Service and pardon all that was past Momol desired time to consider this Proposal and declared it to the Bishop Sagittaire Landase and Valden his intimate Friends shewing them the eminent danger they were in if the place should fall by force into the Power of Gontran and that therefore they ought to think of their safety They all gave attention to Momol's advice and followed it Resolving to fire a Church and while the People should run to quench it take that opportunity to deliver one of the Gates and receive Landegesille into the Town They made Carulfe their confident who was one of the richest Citizens there and their Landlord After this Resolution taken and the Day pitched upon on which the Church was to be
Emperour of Greece Whose Death I have lamented when I was in my Youth When first the unhappy News arrived his Son Henry a Valiant Prince succeeded him in the Empire and his Eldest Daughter Jane in his Earldom of Flanders Their Country holds of me and is a Feudatory of my Crown as the Earl is a Peer of my Kingdom I wish I could alter the Course of Nature and that what has happened had not been that my dear Vncle the Father of my Cousin-German whose Name and Memory is of admirable Veneration in Greece could return to Life But I cannot lightly be perswaded from the belief I have of his death and the report which hath been confirmed through the course of so many Years Most humane things especially Empires subsist by the Testimony of men Tell me then for whom you would be received If for my Vncle shew it us by some authentick proof and because the thing is unexpected it will be so much the more agreeable and give me transports of joy and satisfaction when I am convinced I have wept for my Vncle without cause and for a false Opinion whilst he that I should Reverence like a Father is restor'd to me I am glad that a few short questions will make your self judge and witness in your own Cause which the World must needs know is of the greatest Importance I ask you then If my Father King Philip treated you as his Homager and whether he gave you the Investiture of the Earldom of Flanders In what place at what time in what manner and before what Witnesses did he gird on your Sword and made you a Knight And of what Order was it Who was the Wife you Married in France Who treated the Match In what place and with what Ceremonies did you Marry her for the true Baldwyn cannot be ignorant of these matters I have exactly made a Recital of all the Questions from Paulus Aemilius that admirable Historian It is very strange that he who had so well studied the Genealogies of the Flemish Lords could not tell what Wife he Married which was Margaret Daughter to the Earl of Champagne The Annals of Flanders say it was the Bishop of Beauvais President of the Kings Counsel that askt him all these questions which may be reduced to three 1. In what place he did Homage for his Earldom of Flanders 2. By whom and in what Place he was made a Knight 3. In what Place and on what Day he Married Margaret of Champagne But this Impostor as surprized with all these Questions askt three days to answer them Perhaps one might excuse a Man for not remembring several Circumstances of the principal Actions of his Life Besides such an August Assembly before so Great a King and Magnificent a Court a Subject of such consequence before an Audience no ways favourable with the Apprehension of the Danger might distract him and hinder his answering pertinently Guaguin says That speaking Haughtily to the Points in question without sufficient Proofs of what he pretended to be the King commanded him to go out of his Realm in three days but doing him no hurt because he had given him his safe Conduct This Impostor being thus shamefully Driven away retir'd to Valenciennes in Haynault where being abandon'd by those whose hopes of advantage by this Novelty had made them promise him great assistance he disguis'd himself like a Trades-man intending to have past into Burgundy hoping to find countenance and support there but he was watcht and taken on his way by a Burgundian Gentleman Erard Castenac who sold him to the Countess Jane for four hundred Marks She put him to the torture and forc'd him by his torments to Confess his Imposture He said he was Born in Champagne and his name was Bertrand de Rayns he was led through all the Cities of Flanders and Haynault where after having been shew'd to the People he was publickly hang'd at Lisle in Flanders Famâ ancipiti jurene an injuriâ The greatest part of Europe was in doubt whether the Countess justly put this Impostor to Death The example of Peter Courtney Successor of the true Baldwyn and Henry in right of his Wife Yolante persuaded the possibility of so straight a Prison as might not give him Opportunity to inform his Subjects and Friends what misfortune had befallen him The Catastrophe of this false Baldwyn happen'd in the year of Christ 1225. and of the World 5186. CHAP. VIII Perkin Warbeck OR THE COUNTERFEIT Duke of York Son of Edward the Fourth King of England THis Impostor continued longer than any of the rest and had more Chances and happy Hours The Cruelty of Richard Duke of Glocester Son of Richard Duke of York and Brother of Edward the Fourth King of England gave Henry Earl of Richmond Grand-son of Owen Tudor and Catharine of France a Pretension to Arm against him for the Recovery of the Kingdom of England which Edward the Fourth before Duke of York and Head of the Red-Rose had usurp't from Henry the Sixth Richard Duke of Glocester had also usurp't the Crown from Edward the Fifth a young Prince of Twelve years old Eldest Son and Successor to King Edward the Fourth as likewise from his Brother Richard Duke of York his two Nephews whom he unnaturally and cruelly murthered in the Tower of London in the year 1483. It was the Person of this last Richard Duke of York and only Brother of King Edward the Fifth that this Impostor Peter Warbeck commonly called Perkin Warbeck so artfully imitated for Five or Six Years time from 1494 untill 1499 putting all England into combustion and perplexity on that Subject and giving much trouble to the new Conqueror Henry the Seventh who was before Earl of Richmond Margaret Sister to King Edward the Fourth Widow of Charles the Hardy Duke of Burgundy and Soveraign of the Seventeen Provinces of the Lower Germany produced and instructed this Counterfeit to take the Crown of England if she could have effected what she had often endeavoured from Henry the Seventh Chief of the House of Lancaster or the White-Rose whom she mortally hated This is the Truth of the Story as Polydore Virgil Historiographer to Henry the Eighth relates it in the Twenty-sixth Book of his History of England This Princess a Woman of an Ambitious and Intriguing humour had conceived a great Aversion to Henry the Seventh Exterminator of the Usurper Richard Duke of Glocester The principal cause of her Hatred proceeded from the long Enmity between his Family of Lancaster and her 's of the House of York which made her continually endeavour by all means imaginable his extirpation with the satisfaction of her own Revenge in the removal of the Crown to One of her own Party But finding all her endeavours miscarried and those of John Earl of Lincoln were come to nothing her old Inveterate temper prompted her with new Expedients more difficult for Henry to prevent She met a young man at Tourney who was handsom
going out of the Kingdom except with good Passes and to hinder all great Assemblies For the better disabusing the English from their false opinions he sent his subtlest Spies through all the Towns of Flanders to understand the Birth and Original of this Counterfeit promising large Recompence to those that could discover it Writing to his Friends on the same Subject These Emissaries exactly obeyed their Orders some of them coming to Tournay found the false Richard was Born there of the Meanest of the People his name being Peter Warbeck of which they brought very authentick Attestations Upon this the King sent a solemn Embassy to young Earl Philip in Flanders of which Sir Edward Poinings and William Warham Dr. of Laws were chief The latter of these was also a Church-man of extraordinary Parts and Modesty He made a Speech to the Lords of the Young Princes Counsel who was not of Age yet to take the Government upon himself He laid the impiousness of the Impostor before them putting them in mind of the like happening in their Country about 250 years before in the time of their Countess Jane Likewise telling them that the Effects of the King his Masters Friendship to Maximilian Father of the Prince in the War of France should not be so quickly blotted out of their memory sharply reflecting on the Conduct of the Dutchess Margaret who brought forth in her elder Years not a Child at nine Months but a Prodigy of nine score Months old The Councel after a long Debate reply'd That to gratifie the King their Earl would give no assistance to Perkin But for the Dutchess Dowager She was Mistress of her Joynture and her Actions and they would neither prescribe nor forbid her any thing The Ambassadors being return'd Henry sent divers Emissaries some to discover the Names of the Conspirators by feigning to enter into the design others to endeavour the persuading Sir Robert Clifford and William Barklay to return with the assurance of their Pardon Clifford was prevailed on but Barklay continued obstinate not returning till two Years after and till he was certain of the Kings Mercy Some of the Kings Messengers came back after having discovered many of the Conspirators Others staid longer to accompany Clifford whose coming home so much discountenanced the Plotters that they knew not whom to trust The King being informed who several of the Conspirators were caused them to be Seized and Committed to Prison in London the Chief were John Ratclif Lord Fitz-Walter Sir Simon Montfort and Sir Thomas Thwaites Knights William Dawbeney Robert Ratclif Richard Lacy with divers others Some Priests William Richeford and Thomas Ponys Dominican Fryers William Sutton Robert Laybourn and William Worsley Dean of St. Pauls The rest finding their practises were discovered fled to several places of Refuge They were all Condemned as Traytors but only these Principal were Beheaded Robert Ratclif William Dawbeney and Simon Montfort John Ratclif Lord Fitzwalter was carried to Calais where for endeavouring to make his Escape he lost his Head likewise The rest the King Pardoned Not long after Sir Robert Clifford Arrived and the King chose to speak with him in the Tower that in case he accused any Great Men about his Person he might secure them there Much discourse there was touching Cliffords Conduct some thought him all along to have been imploy'd by the King to discover the rest This was occasioned by the ready obtaining his Pardon and his Return made him equally decry'd by both Parties his Friends believing him a Cheat but the small consideration the King had of him generally convinced People he acted as he thought through his Inclination to the House of York being deceived into the persuasion it was the true Prince He threw himself at the Kings Feet giving an account what passed in Flanders and naming amongst his Accomplices Sir William Stanley It much astonished the King he being his Lord Chamberlain to whom he trusted his most Important Affairs and who had gain'd him the Crown which was wore by his assistance in the Battel against Rich. the Third the Usurper Clifford pretending to know his ill will to the King from the beginning he having declared He would never bear Arms against that Young Man if he were convinced he was the Son of King Edward Polydore Virgil says his Resentment proceeded from his not being rewarded as he thought he had deserved to be Benesicium post hominum memoriam Maximum per quod Henricus a periculo vitaeliberatus conservatusque Regnum sibi quaesivit For when the King was over-power'd at the Battel of Bosworth and like to be torn in pieces by that Squadron where his Enemy Richard was Sir William Stanly by order of his Brother Thomas who Commanded the Reserve effectually helping where he found most need charging Richard he disingaged the King and gave him the Victory These Considerations made him in some suspence but the consequence of the Example prevail'd and he was Beheaded as the rest were The King was under a necessity to use that Rigour for hindring the Insolent discourses of the common People who talkt Maliciously and Cursed him at their little Meetings saying aloud They expected every day the Duke of York and to see him on the Throne But these Executions and the Method he used in his Affairs extinguished great part of those Heats and restored many People to their Duty Giles Lord Dawbeney whose Prudence and Fidelity the King was well assured of possest the Place of Lord Chamberlain Vacant by the Death of Sir William Stanley The Irish more than ever persisting in their rash unadvisedness it was resolved to endeavour to crush those Seeds of Sedition Perkin had sown amongst them the precedent Years For which Intent the King sent Henry Denny Abbot of Langton a Wise and Contriving Man whom he designed to make Chancellor of that Kingdom making Sir Edward Poynings his Colleague who was to command the Army These two Persons representing the two Arms of Justice one holding the Scales the other the Sword shewing above the Cheats of an Impostor the Majesty of a Lawful King Non solum Armis decoratam sed Legibus armatam They had order to go where he had been and take an exact account who they were that resolved to assist him and to Arm all they could to pursue the Accomplices Ireland was divided into two sorts of Inhabitants the one Civilized through the converse with other Nations but especially the English The others Wild and Savage as any upon Earth living by Theft enclin'd to Rebellion and Novely destroying one another according to the Inclinations and Avarice of those they follow Perkin knowing the Genius and Turbulent Spirits of the latter addressed himself to them These Sir Edward Poynings attackt chiefly knowing them most Guilty but they would never stand the shock always flying to their Boggs and Mountains The other Irish did not obey his Orders nor send him Succours as they promised which made him give over
Satisfaction And now his Senses were charmed with the Sound of War-like Musick as well as with the softer Concerts of his Wedding Courriers were sent into England to observe what Preparations were making for Resistance But all being quiet the Scotch Army with their King at the Head entred Northumberland where they pillaged burnt ravished and killed sparing neither Age nor Sex behaving themselves without Humanity Till the Soldiers laden with Plunder refused to March further pretending no English joyned them The Counterfeit Richard one day hearing the Crys of the poor plunder'd English seemed much afflicted saying Oh! how wretched am I and my Heart as hard as Steel not to be troubled at the Misery of my People Intreating the King to prevent the Cruelty of the Soldiers and not suffer them to destroy his unhappy Country feigning great Commiseration and Tenderness Who answered him very coldly He might concern himself with his own Affairs and not with other Mens calling England his Country and People where none came to his Assistance though a War was undertaken for his Cause So chiding this Mock-King's Dissimulation and changing from that time his Respect to him Neglecting and contemning him when he found neither his Actions nor the Event of things correspond with his former Promises King Henry prepared to meet and repell the Scotch-Men at the News of this their Cruelty and Infidelity when the Lords on the Marches informed him of their Retreat They having done the best they could by Intrenching Fortifying themselves with an Intent as they did by their frequent Allarms and Skirmishes to wast and tire out the Enemy Just before this Advice he Summons a Parliament at London where several good Laws were made for the Publick Safety But Money being the Sinews of War they concluded on the Methods of raising it Giles Lord Dawbeney who was General of the Army had Orders to begin his March for the Frontiers of Scotland But he had scarce set forward when the Cornish Men took up Arms alledging for their Pretence great Taxes laid on them as they said for an Inconsiderable Scotch-War which was ended already when indeed it was but just begun And then their Barren Land and hard Labour of Mineing making them Incapable to pay them Thomas Flammock a Country-Lawyer and Michael Joseph a Farrier two bold Fellows being at the Head of the Rebels they Marched toward London and demanded the Heads of John Morton Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and Sir Reynald Bray both Privy-Counsellors And at Wells they were Joyned by James Twichet Lord Awdley and some other Gentlemen King Henry considering these Troubles should be first appeased recalled the Lord Dawbency with his Army sending Thomas Howard Earl of Surry in his stead a most experienced Souldier To whom he had given his Life and Liberty after the Famous Battle of Bosworth-Field which he had won of Richard the Usurper afterwards honouring him with the Office of Lord High Treasurer of England upon the Death of John Lord Dinham This Earls Commands were to raise what Men he could about the County of Durham and oppose the Incursions of the Scots till Giles Lord Dawbeney should have Dissipated and Chastized the Rebels of Cornwall and Joyn'd him with his Army Polydore Virgil Names the Lords and the Gentlemen who met the Royal Army commanded by Dawbeney increasing it with their Tennants About this time Charles the 8 th of France sent an Ambassador to give the King an Account of his Conquering the Kingdom of Naples and to renew his Allyance with England Henry sent some Lords to meet them so soon as he knew they were arrived at Calais and also to amuse them at Dover that they might not understand the Revolt in the West till it was supprest in which he was exactly obey'd In the mean time the Rebels decamped from Wells Marched to Salisbury and so to Canterbury hoping those People would Joyn with them but they were much deceived for they found them Armed and ready to oppose them being Commanded by George Earl of Kent and John Lord Brook with Fifteen or Sixteen other Lords The Resolution and Fidelity of these Men so astonisht the Rebels Army that many abandoned them Running from their Camp in the Night But they were too far advanced for a Retreat so continued their March to Black-Heath near London where they drew up themselves in Order to a Battle upon the Hill Thither the King sent Henry Bourcheir Earl of Essex Edmund dela Pool Earl of Suffolk Sir Richard Thomas and Sir Humphrey Stanly all Great Souldiers with detached Parties to encompass them and hinder their Flight whilst he March't streight to charge them with Dawbeney followed by the best Men of his Army Commanding Sir Richard Thomas to attack them at the same time from his Post which was so vigourously executed that notwithstanding all their resistance the Rebels were broken and lost Two Thousand Men besides vast Numbers of Prisoners the King missing but Three Hundred He pardon'd those wretched People only making their Chiefs Examples among whom was the Lord Audley who was drawn from Newgate to Tower-Hill and there beheaded Thomas Flammock and Michael Joseph were Hanged and Quarter'd and their Heads and Limbs set up in London and several places of Cornwall for the Terror and Example of others They admired the Constancy of Michael the Smith who contented himself that he should always be talked of A Deo says Polydore Medios ac insimos viros perinde ut Summos Gloriae cupiditas incendit The Scotch King taking Advantage by these Disorders entred the County of Durham giving his Men all manner of Licence With some of his Troops he Besieged Norham a Castle of Great Importance on those Frontiers into which Richard Fox the Vigilant Bishop of Durham had put a strong Garrison and well fortified the Place having foreseen the Siege He then advertised Thomas Earl of Surry who had already raised a considerable Army in Yorkshire and hearing the distress that Norham was in he Marched with all speed having a Great number of Gentlemen and Knights with him and a Body of near Twenty Thousand Men besides a considerable Fleet at Sea King James informed of his Advancing being within Two Days March Hastily raised his Siege and retired into Scotland where he was followed by the Earl who being in the Enemies Country plundred all he could and took several Towns But having no opportunity to furnish himself with Provisions he returned into the County of Durham During the War about this time Peter Hyalas a wise and prudent Man came Ambassador and Mediator from Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain a most Incomparable Princess King Henry appointed for his Ambassador Richard Bishop of Durham who was near the Place of Treaty where they met the King of Scotlands Privy Counsellors and treated of the Conditions of Peace The greatest difficulty arose concerning Perkin Warbeck Henry Positively persisting to have him delivered up as being the Disturber of his Kingdoms Peace and the
Paternal Grand-mother Sister to the same Emperor and of the Cardinal Henry his Great Uncle A Desire to Augment his Glory by setting a Moorish Prince on the Throne of Fez in Africa imitating Alexander the Great who at his Age passed the Hellespont for the Conquest of Asia Perswaded him to do the same over the Straights of Gibraltar for the Subjugating Africk his Ancestors having shewed the way especially King Don Emanuel whose Heroick Vertues frequent Prosperities and Signal Victorys had vanquish't and made Tributary several Kings in those Extream Parts of the World Chiefly by the Conduct of the Famous Don Alphonso Albuquerque and also through his Care to plant the Christian Faith which Justly made him esteemed one of the Greatest and most Happy Princes in the World The same Motives of Religion and Glory with the Hopes that Muley Mahomet or Muley Hamet King of Fez whom he undertook to re-establish in the Throne would according to his Promise embrace the Christian Religion perswaded him to this most Unhappy Enterprize and as the Marquis of Pisani then Ambassador for the Crown of France in the Spanish Court declares That he was also push't on to this Engagement by the Vnsound and Pernicious Counsels of the Jesuites I have Read in their Catechism That this Prince being a Jesuite in his Heart would not Marry they having often sollicited him to make a Law That for the future none should be King of Portugal but a Jesuite and Elected by their Order as the Pope is by the Cardinals And because this young Prince could not or to say truely durst not condescend to it though Superstitious enough they assured him that God had so ordained it as he should understand by a Voice from Heaven when he came to the Sea-side so that he several times expected it but these good Apostles for so they called them in Portugal could not so well carry on their Mummery to procure the Voice However they so followed these Impressions as carryed him into this unhappy War in the Flower of his Age being about Twenty Two Years Old This Disaster one of the most terrible that ever the Sun beheld was presaged the Year before it happened that is in 1577. by the Appearance of a Prodigious Comet seen in the Ayr when all Portugal was in Armes Nunquam visus Terris impune Cometes if you believe the Poet. I will not leave my Subject to seek further any Reasons of the War That having been at large declared by Giovanni Botero Benese Abbot of St. Michael de la Chiusa in his first Volume of his General Description of the World which was augmented by Pierre Daviti of Tournay and continued by Me in the Year 1660. Cherif Xeque King of Fâ—z and Morocco gave his Kingdoms to his Sons Successively excluding his Grand-sons Abdalla Successor of Xeque to Frustrate his Fathers Will put all his Brothers to Death who were very Numerous being born of many Wives after the Mahumetan Fashion Only Muley Moluc or Abdelmeleck and Hamet sled to Constantinople for the saving their Lives and for a better Expectation of the Crown to exclude their Nephews the Sons of Abdalla according to their Father's Establishment Muley Mahomet the Son of Abdalla tryed to secure his Fathers Scepter to the Prejudice of the Substitution made in his Uncles Favour And in truth Justice was on his side it being the Natural Order of Succession However his Uncle Muley Moluc or Abdelmeleck assisted by the Turks beat him three several times This made him Cross the Sea to Implore the Assistance of King Don Sebastian who moved with hopes of converting the Moores through more Zeal than Prudence and heightned by his Desire of Glory heard the Affrican Kings Protestations from whom he promised himself great Advantages for the Christian Religion for the Reputation of his Name and the Utility and Profit of his Subjects With these Notions he passed the Seas at the Head of a very Powerful Army and joyning with Muley Mahomet he gave Battle to Muley Abdelmeleck near the City Alcazer on the Plains of Tamista in the Year 1578. where to his great Unhappiness his Army was defeated with an extream Slaughter and he doing the Office of a Valiant Captain was there kill'd Though the Portuguezes have always believed and yet affirm his Escape from the Fight into Italy where many saw him as we shall after declare Muley Moluc or Abdelmeleck in the Beginning of this Action was taken with an Appoplexy and carryed to his Tent where he dyed just when his Enemies were upon the Point of Flying Hamet his Brother Reaping the Sole Fruit of this Victory Mahomets Body was carefully sought for by his Order and being found his Skin was slayed off and stufft with Straw to be carryed before him at his triumphant Entry into the City of Fez. This Mahomet left a Son called Chirissi whom his Uncle Albequerin brought into Spain where turning Christian by the Munificence of Philip the Second he was made Commendator of the Order of S. James though commonly called the Prince of Morocco Some years after this King Don Sebastian came back out of Affrica But whether he were the True or an Impostor the World seems yet divided in their Opinions Daniel Hawley an Irish Man of the Order of St. Dominick called Arch-bishop of Goa when he was Ambassador in France from Alphonso the Sixth King of Portugal told me in Paris That he was fain to refuse the Licensing a Book which said This King Don Sebastian had lost his Life in that Battle of Alcazer till he had Obliged the Author to change his Language and Opinion And at this present to say That he was an Impostor and not the true Don Sebastian that returned from Affrica is forbidden and Criminal in Portugal Peter Mathâ—â—a in his History of Henry the Great in the Third Book and Mademoiselle des Jâ—â—â—â—as in the Seventh Part of her Aâ—nales Gallantes in the Eighth History tells by what good Fortune this young Prince got from among the Dead and how he wandred from the Field of Battle I will not determâ—ne any thing on the likelyhood or real Truth of the Action She says That this King though he were promised and engaged to Many the Princess Mary his near Kinswoman Daughter of Edw. Duke of Braganza and Isabel one of the Daughters of King Don Emanâ—eb fell so much in Love with Xerine Daughter of Muley Moluc who being born of a Greek was much whiter than Affricans commonly are that he promised to Marry her and underhand bring what Obstacles he could against the Dispensation to Marry his Cousin German This Moorish Princess understanding Don Sebastians Defeat whom she dearly Loved despiseing the Crowns of Fez and Morocco for the Hopes of that of Portugal and Transported with a Grief even to Despair Rann ere the Day-brake to the Plains of Tamista only accompanyed with Laura a Christian Slave her Confident resolving to Sacrifice her self with her own Hand on the Body of