State and Subjects of the Realm which thing all dutiful faithful and loving Subjects ought and will with all careful Study and Zeal consider foresee and provide for By the neglecting and passing over whereof with winking Eyes there might happen to grow the Subversion and Ruine of the Quiet and most happy State and present Government of this Realm which God defend Therefore it was Enacted Declared and Established That if any Person or Persons whatsoever within the Realm or without should compass imagine invent devise or intend the Death or Destruction or any Bodily harm tending to Death Destruction Maym or Wounding of the Person of Queen Elizabeth or to Deprive or Depose her of or from the Stile Honour or Kingly Name c. or to levy War against her Majestie within the Realm or without or to move or stir any Forreigners or Strangers with Force to Invade this Realm or if any Person of Persons whatsoever shall maliciously and advisedly declare and publish That Queen Elizabeth during her Life is not or ought not to be Queen of England c. or That any other Person or Persons ought of Right to be King or Queen of the said Realm or That shall maliciously and advisedly set forth and affirm That Queen Elizabeth is an Heretick Schismatick Tyrant Infidel or Vsurper That then all and every such said Offence and Offences shall be taken deemed and declared by the Authority of this Act and Parliament to be High Treason And be it also Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all and every Person and Persons of what Degree Condition Place Nation or Estate whatsoever they be which shall at any time in the Life of Queen Elizabeth in any wiâ—e claim pretendi utter declare affirm or publish themselves or any of them or any other than Queen Elizabeth to have Right or Title to have and enjoy the Crown of England during or in her Life-time or shall usurp the same Crown or Royal Style Title and Dignity during or in her Life-time or shall hold and affirm That she had not Right to hold and enjoy the said Crown or shall not after demand effectually acknowledge her to be in Right true and lawful Queen They and every of them so offending shall be utterly disabled during their Natural Lives onely to have or enjoy the Crown or Realm of England or the Style Title or Dignity thereof at any time in Succession Inheritance or otherwise after the Decease of the Queen as if such Person were naturally dead Any Law Custom Pretence or Matter whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding And be it further Enacted That if any Person shall during the Queens Majesties Life maintain hold and affirm any Right in Succession Inheritance or Possibility in or to the Crown or Realm of England or the Rights thereof to be in any such Claimer Pretender Vtterer Declarer Affirmer Vsurper Publisher or Not-acknowledger shall be a High Traytor and suffer and forfeit as in Cases of High Treason And for the Confirmation and making good what had in this Law been hitherto Enacted as much as might be it was further Enacted That if any Person should in any wise hold and affirm or maintain That the Common Laws of this Realm not altered by Parliament ought not to direct the Right of the Crown of England or That our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth with and by Authority of the Parliament of England is not able to make Laws and Statutes of sufficient force and validity to limit and bind the Crown of this Realm and the Descent Limitation Inheritance and Government thereof or That this present Statute or any part thereof or any other Statute to be made by the Authority of the Parliament of England with the Royal Assent of the Queen for Limitting of the Crown or any Statute for Recognizing the Right of the said Crown and Realm to be justly and lawfully in the most Royal Person of the Queen is not are not or shall not or ought not to be for ever of good and sufficient force and validity to bind limit restrain and govern all Persons their Rights and Titles that in any wise may or might claim any Interest or Possibility in or to the Crown of England in Possession Remainder Inheritance Succession or otherwise howsoever Every such Person so holding affirming or mainteining during the Life of the Queens Majesty shall be judged a High Traytor c. And every Person so holding affirming and mainteining after the Decease of the Queen shall forfeit all his Goods and Chattels This Statute was a peculiar Law made for the Preservation of Queen Elizabeths Person and Title and this last Enacting Clause and Paragraph was made to strengthen and confirm the former part of the Statute which was a Provision and Security against such Pretences and Practices as were ennumerated in the preceding Historical Account And if we consider how much if not altogether her Title to the Crown depended upon Statute-Law and how Questionable her Birth-right was generally reputed to be no man can much wonder if for her own advantage and safety she attributed more to an Act of Parliament than otherwise she would have done She was necessitated to take this course to establish her self against the Pretences of the Queen of Scots when her Birth-right could not do it it being very doubtful whether she was Legitimate considering the Proceedings in the Divorce of Queen Katherine Marriage of her Mother and her Mothers Confession to Archbishop Cranmer when the Statute was made for the declaring the Marriage null and void between Henry the Eighth and Anne Bolein by which Statute she was also solemnly Bastardized And although Queen Elizabeth at the entrance upon her Government was acknowledged to be rightly lineally and lawfully Descended from the Blood Royal of this Realm which if true had been a sufficient Title She being then the only remaining Issue of Henry the Eighth yet her right was recognized as depending upon the Lawes and Statutes of the Realm and by express mention of and reference to the Thirty fifth of Henry the eighth by which Statute the Crown was settled upon her and the Heirs of her Body lawfully begotten in several places whereof she is by the King her Father implicitly reputed and declared illegitimate and the settlement in that Act is made to her as not being lawfully begotten or having right to inherit In the first of her Reign before cited when the Crown was declared to be vested in her and that Declaration and Recognition as also the Limitation and Declaration of the Succession of the Imperial Crown of this Realm mentioned and conteined in the Act of 35 Hen. 8. were to stand remain and be the Law of this Land for ever Which notwithstanding when Mary Queen of Scots had claimed the Crown by right of Inheritance and had spread abroad that Title unto it and also the Title of the House of Suffolk and other
exortus Diadema totius regni capiti imposuit William of Malmsbury is more particular in this matter and reports the Jealousie Brihtric had of Egbert Quem solum regalis prosapiae superstitem validissimum suis utilitatibus obicem metuebat Franciam fugandum curavit Who only of the Royal Line was left and the greatest Cheek to his Design he caused to fly into France Nam ipse Brihtricus caeteri infra Inam Reges licet naturalium splendore gloriantes quippe qui de Cerdicio originem traherent non purum tamen linea regiae stirpis exorbitaverant For though Brihtric himself and the rest of the Kings since Ina boasting of their Lineage as drawing their Origin from Cerdic yet they did not a little exorbitate from the true Royal Line The Pedigree of Egbert Egbertus fuit filius Ealmundi Ealmundus Eafae Eafa Eoppae Eoppa fuit filius Ingildi Egbert was the Son of Ealmund Ealmund of Eafa Eafa of Eoppa Eoppa of Ingild the only Brother of Ina King of the West-Saxons who left his Kingdom went to Rome lived a Monastick Life and died Childless Ethelwolfe succeeded his Father Egbert in the Kingdom of the West-Saxons and he gave to his other Son Aethelstan his Conquests Kent East-Sex Surrey and Sussex of which he made him King Malmsbury saith thus Ethelwolphus West-Saxonum regno contentus caetera quae pater subjugaverat Appendicia Aethelstano filio contradidit qui quanto que fine defecerit incertum Ethelwolph by Will divided his Kingdom between his Sons Ethelbald and Ethelbert To Ethelbald he gave West-Saxony to the other Kent c. and by Will gave the Kingdom of West-Saxony to his Sons Ethelred and Elfred after Ethelbald's Death Successively Ethelbald lived but five Years when Ethelbert possessed the whole Kingdom Vt justum èrat says Asser Florence of Worcester and Simeon Dunelmensis Ethelred third Son to Ethelwolph and Brother to Ethelbert succeeded him in his Father's Kingdom who Reigned five or six Years Alfred fourth and youngest Son of Ethelwolph succeeded his Brother Ethelred Fratribus suis Sccundarius fuit He was a Coadjutor or Assistant to his other Brothers Asser fol. 7. 50. To whom succeeded his Son Edward called the Elder To him succeeded his Son Ethelstan EADWEARD CYNG FORTH FERD and AETHELSTAN his SUNN FENG to RICE King Edward died Ejusque filius Aethelstanus capescit regnum And his Son Aethelstan succeeded in the Kingdom These being the usual Saxon and Latin Words by which the Succession is expressed Florence of Worcester and Simeon of Durham both say Rex Edwardus Sen. ex hac vita transiens Aethelstano filio regni gubernacula reliquit King Edward the Elder dying left the Government of the Kingdom to his Son Aethelstan Malmsbury says thus in the History of Edward the Elder Jussu Patris in Testamento Aethelstanus in Regem acclamatus est By the Command of his Father in his Will Aethelstan was proclaimed King By some Aethelstan is affirmed to be a Bastard from the report of William of Malmsbury in the Book and Chapters last cited Who tells us that one Alfred a Man of great Insolence and his Faction opposed Aethelstan upon pretence he was a Bastard Occasio contradictionis ut serunt says the Historian quod Aethelstanus ex Concubina natus csset The occasion of Contradiction was that Aethelstan was born of a Concubine as was reported Sed ipse praeter hanc notam si tamen vera est nihil ignobile habens But he had no other Mark of Ill upon him but this if it were true And telling the story how King Edward the Elder as it was reported stole a Leap with a Shepherd's Daughter by the help of his sometimes Nurse of whom it is fabled he begat Aethelstan he says he had it from trite Tales and Songs and that he related it not to defend the truth of it but because he would keep nothing from his Readers Nor indeed is the story credible for the same Author in the same Chapter reports that his Grandfather famous King Alfred in his Life-time wished him a prosperous Reign embracing him as a Child of great Hope and excellent Behaviour and Knighted him in his Childhood putting on him a Scarlet Cloak and girding him with a Belt set with Gems and a Saxon Sword in a Golden Scabbard This so wise and great a King as Alfred was would never have said and done to a Bastard Edmund his Brother succeeded Aethelstan in the Kingdom After him Edred third Brother to Aethelstan succeeded in the Kingdom and was consecrated King by Odo Arch Bishop of Canterbury This was done in the Nonage of King Edmund's Sons when they were very young and the Nation under great difficulties The Saxon Chronology says EADRED AETHELING his Brother FENG to RICE regnum â—apessit Florence of Worcester Edredus proximus haeres fratris succedens regnum suscepit Malmsbury Edredus tertius e filiis Edwardi regnum suscepit Simeon Dunelmensis Edredus frater Edmundi in regnum successit Edwy the Son of Edmund succeeded his Uncle Edred He banished Dunstan turned out Monks and placed Secular Priests in Monasteries and was so displeasing to the Mercians and Northumbrians that they rejected him and chose his Brother Edgar who also succeeded Edwy in the Kingdom of the West-Saxons Eadwigus Rex Kal. Octobris obiit and Edgar his Brother FENG to RICE Edwy died on the First of October and Edgar his Brother took the Kingdom Flor Wigorn. Abomni Anglorum populo Electus regnum suscepit Malmsbury Edgarus adolescentulus se decem annorum regnum adipiscit Edward his Son called the Martyr succeeded him filiumque suum Edwardum regnt morum haeredem reliquit And left his Son Edward Heir as well of the Kingdom as of his Vertues and Endowments But there happening a Contest between him and this Brother about the Succession Quidam Regis silium Edwardum quidam illius fratrem eligerunt Ethelredum quam ob causam Archipresules Dunstanus Oswaldus cum Co-episcopis Abbatibus â—ucâ—busque quamplurimis in unum convenerunt Edwardum ut pater eius praeceperat eligerunt Electum consecrarunt in Regem unxerunt Some elected Edward the King's Son some his Brother Ethelred wherefore the Arch-Bishops Dunstan and Oswald with the Bishops Abbots and very many Noble-Men being gathered together elected Edward as his Father had commanded consecrated and anointed him King This Contest was managed and set on foot by Elfrida second Wife to Edgar and Mother in Law to Edward Who by her Contrivance being murthered was succeeded by his Brother Ethelred FENG ETHELRED AETHELING his BROTHER to RICE and Ethelred Aetheling his Brother enjoyed or possessed the Kingdom The Danes ever since the beginning of King Egbert having by continued Invasions harassed and grievously wasted and molested England in the Reign
Edmund Mortimer Erle of March had Issue and leefully bare Rogier Mortimer Erle of March her Son and Heir Which Rogier Erle of March had Issue and leefully gate Edmund Erle of Marche Rogier Mortymer Anne and Alianore which Edmund Rogier and Alianore dyed without Issue And the seyd Anne under the Sacrament of Matrymony copled unto Richard Erle of Cambridge the Son of the seyd Edmund Langley fifth-begoten Son of the seyd King Edward as it is afore specified had Issue and leefully bare Richard Plantagenet commonly called Duc of Yorke The seyd John of Gaunt the fourth-goten Son of the seyd King Edward and younger Brother of the seyd Leonell had Issue and leefully gate Hen. Erle of Derby which incontinent after the tyme that the seyd King Richard resigned the Corones of the seyd Reaumes and the seyd Lordship of Ireland unrightwysely entered upon the same then being on live Edmund Mortymer Erle of Marche Son to Rogier Mortymer Erle of March Son and Heir of the seyd Phelippa Daughter and Heir of the seyd Sir Leonell the third Son of the seyd King Edward the Third to the which Edmund the Ryght and Title of the seyd Corones and Lordship by Lawe and Custome belonged Before we pass over these three Usurpers we must take notice of a Passage in Polydore Virgil concerning Henry V. in these Words Princeps Hen. facto Patris funere Concilium Principum ad Westmonasterium convocandum curat in quo dum de Rege creando more mojorum agitabatur Ecce tibi de repente aliquot Principes ultro in EJVS VERBA jurare coeperunt Quod Benevolentiae Officium nulli antea priusquam Rex renantiatus esset praestitum constat adeo Hen. ab ineunte aetate spem omnibus optimae indolis fecit Creatur itaque Rex ad quintum Iduum Aprilis eo Anno quo Pater e vita excesserat Quintus ejus Nominis Henricus dictus est The Author of the Brief History of Succession thus renders this Sentence Immediately upon the death of Hen. IV. a Parliament MET at Westminster and there according to the Custom of the Realm it was debated who should be King But all men had entertained so good thoughts of Prince Henry that without staying till the whole Assembly had declared him King divers of them began to swear Allegiance to him a thing strange and without president as only occasioned by extraordinary Opinion which was generally conceived of him before and the certain Title vested in him by Act of Parliament In his Citation of the Latin he leaves out these Words which belong to this piece of Story and do declare the meaning of it Creatur itaque Rex ad quintum Iduum Aprilis eo Anno quo Pater e vita excesserat c. He was Crowned King on the fifth of the Ides of April the same year his Father died Tho. Walsingham who lived at this time says Hen. IV. died Mar. 20. 1413. And then eodem Anno coronatus Londoniis Henricus Primogenitus Regis Henrici nuper defuncti quinto Iduum Aprilis c. The same Year Henry the First-born of King Henry lately deceased was Crowned at London on the fifth of the Ides or tenth of April By which Words of Walsingham 't is evident he hath mistaken the meaning and falsly translated the Words of Polydore for they ought to be Englished in this manner Prince Henry having buried his Father caused a Council of the Chief Men of the Nation to be called at Westminster in which they treat or debate about Crowning the King according to the Custom of his Predecessors forthwith some of the Great Men began to swear as he dictated to them which officious Benevolence was performed to none before he was declared King such hope he had given from his Childhood of an excellent Disposition therefore he was Crowned King on the fifth of the Ides of April that Year his Father died and was called Henry the Fifth An intelligent Man would wonder how the Writer of the Brief History c. should SQVEEZE his Translation out of these Latin Words But Polydore who as I hinted before was very unfit to write the English History hath very oddly in Latin express'd this Relation as he likewise hath done many other Stories His Character take from Sir Hen. Savile in his Epistle to Queen Elizabeth before his Edition of the old English Writers after Bede Polydorus saith he ut homo Italus in rebus nostris hospes c. quod caput est neque in Republika versatus nec magni alioqui vel judicii vel ingenii pauca ex multis delibans falfit plerumque pro veris amplexus Historiam nobis reliquit cum caetera mendosam tum exiliter sane jejune conscriptam Polydor as he was an Italian and a Stranger in our Affairs and which was the chief matter not understanding our Government and Laws nor otherwise of great Wit or Judgment chusing a few things out of many and oft-times taking false things for true hath left us a very faulty History slightly and pitifully written After the Reign of these three Usurpers and Deposition of Henry the Sixth in the first of Edward the Fourth the Proceedings against Richard the Second are Repealed where 't is said That Henry Earl of Derby afterwards Henry the Fourth temerously ayenst ryghtwisnesse and Justice by Force and Arms ayenst his Faith and Ligeance rered Werre at Flynt in Wales ayenst King Richard the Second him tooke and imprisoned in the Tower of London in great violence and usurped and intruded upon the Royall Power Estate Dignity c. And not therewith satisfyed or content but more grievous thing attempting wickedly of unnatural unmanly and cruel Tyranny the same King Richard King Anointed Crowned and Consecrated and his Liege and most Soveraigne Lord in Earth against Gods Lawe Mans Ligeance and Oath of Fidelity with uttermost punicion attormenting murdered and destroyed with most vile hainous and lamentable Death c. The Commons being of this present Parliament having sufficient and evident knowledge of the said unryghtwyse Usurpation and Intrusion by the said Henry late Earl of Derby upon the said Crown of England knoweing also certainly without doubt and ambiguity the Right and Title of our said Soveraigne Lord thereunto true and that by Gods Lawe Mans Lawe and the Lawe of Nature he and none other is and ought to be their true ryghtwyse and natural Liege and Soveraigne Lord and that he was in right from the Death of the said Noble and Famous Prince his Father very just King of the said Realm of England doe take accept and repute and will for ever take accept and repute the said Edward the Fourth their Soveraigne and Liege Lord and him and his Heirs to be Kings of England and none other according to his said Right and Title And that the same Henry unryghtwysely against Lawe Conscience and Custome of the said Realm of
He took Possession of the Kingdom He succeeded He was chosen c. The Danish Kings stayed not long here after Swane had conquered the Kingdom they all four reigned not much above twenty five Years their best Title was the Sword notwithstanding they either brought hither the Custom of the Predecessor naming or giving the Kingdom to his Successor as probably it might have been practised in their own Kingdoms or used it as they found it here practised by the Saxon Kings The Saxons were very weary of the Danish Government and without doubt very forward to set up a King of their own Nation yet the Donation of Harde-Cnute was as great a step for Edward the Consessor to the Throne as the Power and Policy of Earl Godwin and Livingus the Bishop of Worcester Ingulph Secretary to William when Duke of Normandy reports the Donation of England to him very confidently and as if in those times such Gifts were not much questioned Anno eodem Rex Edward senio jam gravatus cernens Clisonis Edwardi nuper defuncti filium Edgarum Regio so lio minus idoneum tarn corde quam corpore Godwini que Comitis multam malamque sobolem quotidie super terram crescere ad cognatum suum Willielmum Comitem Normaniae animum apposuit c. eum sibi succedere in Regnum Angliae voce stabili savivit In the same Year King Edward grown infirm witli Age perceiving Edgar the Son of the late deceased Edward Aetheling neither in Mind or Body fit for the Government nor to bear up against the growing Power and Malice of Godwin's Sons thought upon his Cousin William Earl of Normandy and by a firm Declaration decreed he should succeed him in the Kingdom Norman Succession FRom what hath been said the Pretences and Causes of William Duke of Normandy his succeeding Edward the Confessor and enjoying the Crown of England are very evident as also are the same to his Dukedom He was the only Son of his Father Robert who going on Pilgrimage to Jerusalem called together the Noble-men of his Dukedom and brought his Son William though Illegitimate before them and earnestly exacted of them that in his stead they would chuse him their Lord who though but a Child they forthwith according to the Decree of the Duke acknowledged him for their Prince and Lord swearing Fealty unto him Robertum ergo Archiepiscopum cum optimatibus suis Duc atus accersivit illis velle se appetere Jerosolimitanam pergrinationem manifestavit exponens autem eis Willielmus filium suum quem unicum apud Falesiam genuerat ab iis attentissime exigebat ut hinc sibi loco sui dum eligerent Qui licet sub tenerrima detineretur oetati puerili juxta Decretum Ducis protinus cum prompta viracitate collaudavere principem Dominum pangentes ti fidelitatem non violandis Sacramentis And R. Hoveden affirms it to have been the custom in Norway from whence the Normans came for Bastards to inherit and that in his time it was so Consuetudo Regni Norweiae est usque in hodiernum diem quod is qui alicujus Regis Norweiae dignoscitur esse filius licet sit spurius de ancilla genitus tantum sibi jus vendicat in Regnum gentitus ideo fiunt inter eos proelia indesinenter donec unus eorum vincatur interficiatur And so it happened between the Curators of Duke William in his Nonage and the Pretenders as Heirs to his Grandfather of the Dutchy of Normandy The same Right of Succession as Testamentary Heir to his Father William Rufus had to the Crown of England Metuens Rex ne in Regno tam diffuso repentina oriretur turbatio epistolam de constituendo Rege fecit Lanfranco Archiepiscopo suoque sigillo signatam tradidit Gulielmo Rufo silio suo jubens ut in Angliam transfretaret continuo This was done a little before the Conqueror's Death and he did it for that his Son William always stuck close to him and had in every thing according to the utmost of his power been dutiful and obedient Rufus brought his Father's Epistle by which he had constituted him King of England to Lanfranc Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who having read it hasted with him to London and consecrated him King in the old Church of St. Peter at Westminster on the 26th of September his Father dying the 9th of the same Month Willielmus Willielmi filius saith Malmsbury a patre ultima valetudine decumbente in Successorem adoptatus est accessit favori ejus maximum rerum momentum Archiepiscopus Lansrancus eo quod eum nutrierat militem fecerat quo Authore annitente Die Sanctorum Cosinae Damianae Coronatus est That is William the Son of Willaim was by his Father in his last Sickness adopted his Successor but it was matter of great moment and the greatest Addition to his Success that Arch-Bishop Lanfranc had educated him and made him a Knight by whose Authority and Endeavour he was Crowned on the day of Cesina and Damianus Florence of Worcester who only says that he was consecrated King at Westminster by Arch-Bishop Laufranc hath noted that not long atter his Coronation there arose great Discord and Contention between the chief Men of England for part of the Great and Noble Normans favoured King William but it was the least and the other part of them favoured Robert Duke of Normandy which was the greatest Odo who mortally hated Lanfranc headed the Duke's Party and Lanfranc headed the King's who with the King Congregatio quantum ad presens poterat Normanorum sed tamen maxime Anglorum equestri pedestri licet mediocri exercitu c. Having raised such an Army as he could of Horse and Foot of Normans but the grratest part English though but a mean one and by using the common Bait of Liberty declaring he would relax the rigid Laws give free leave of Hunting c. Also by insinuating into Roger Earl of Arundel and Shrewsbury the chief Person for the Duke next unto Odo Bishop of Baieux and Earl of Kent brought him off to his Party By these means he brake the Force of his Enemies and ever after ruled by an Army More of this story may be seen in Eadmer Ord. Vit. f. 666. c. Florence of Worcester and Malmsbury in the places before cited who all lived at the time Here we see Rufus claimed as Testamentary Heir and by reason of that Claim was advanced to the Throne by the Assistance of Lanfranc's and the Bishops Faction who then swayed the People and ruled by the help of an Army ever after Whoever rightly considers this story cannot call it an Election After the death of Rufus Florence of Worcester only says that Henry his third Brother succeeded him and that the day he was crowned by Maurice Bishop of London he gave great Liberties to the Church and Kingdom and
commanded that King Edward's Laws should be observed with such Amendments as his Father had amended them And further says that very many great Men sent for Duke Robert over and promised him the Crown and Kingdom and coming they did some of them adhere to him and others dissembling their Kindness and Affection stayed with King William until they had an opportunity of shewing it But the Bishops the Common Soldiers and English stuck close to King Henry by whose means he raised a very great Army and were ready to fight for him when they came to an Agreement by the Mediation of the wise Men of both Parties Eadmer tells us that most of the great Men either did or were ready to revolt from King Henry but Anselm Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who had given him great Assistance in raising his Army upon great Promises made that all the Church-Affairs should be left to his direction and disposing and that he would for ever after obey the Decrees and Commands of the Pope procured the great Men to assemble and then so wheedled and cajoled them and their Army that he altered theit Intentions And it was from his Fidelity and Industry that Henry lost not the Kingdom This King Henry was a plain right down Usurper he had no pretence of Donation no Testamentary Right from his Father and therefore as Malmsbury shews us more particularly he was advanced by a Faction there being only five great Men Robert Fitz-Haymon Richard de Redvers Roger Bigot Henry Earl of Warwick and Robert Earl of Mellent his Brother all Normans that favoured him and by the contrivance of Henry Earl of Warwick he was elected King All others sent privately to Duke Robert to come and be their King or openly reproached Henry This was an excellent Election made by a Faction and an Army and perhaps with a bawling multitude after them and indeed there could be no other Election than such an one as this for Rufus was slain in New Forest on the 2d of August being Thursday and Henry was Crowned on the 5th of August being Sunday So that it was impossible for all that were or ought to be concerned in such an Election all the Kingdom over to have notice meet and dispatch that Business in two days time These Historians lived at the very time these things were done It is true he says in his own Charter That he was Crowned King by the Common Council of the Barons of England Sciatis me misericordia Dei Communi Concilio Baronum Regni Angliae ejusdem Regni Regem Coronatum esse And he must say this or nothing for no other Pretence or Title he could have and there never was any other Usurper in his Circumstances but must say so or some other thing to make out a Title King Stephen in his Charter of Liberties says He was elected A Clero Populo King John in his Charter of Fees of the Seal affirmed himself right Heir to the Crown when Arthur Duke of Britain and his Sister Eleanor Son and Daughter to his Elder Brother Jeffrey were then living and they were both vain Affirmations as will appear in their several stories Some later Historians than these as Matthew Paris who wrote above an hundred Years after them Mat. Westminster and Hen. de Knighton and Brompton who wrote at least two hundred and fifty Years after them all say he was elected But only Knighton amongst them all tells us the most considerable reason why Robert his elder Brother was rejected Robertus says he semper contrarius adeo innaturalis extiterat Baronibus Regni Angliae quod plenario consensu consilio totius Communitatis Regni IMPOSUERUNT EI ILLEGITIMITATEM QUOD NON FUERAT PROCREATUS DE LEGITIMO THORO WILLIELMI CONQUESTORIS UNDE UNANIMI assensu suo ipsum refutaverunt pro rege omnino recusaverunt Hen. frem in Regem erexerunt Robert was always averse and so harsh to the Barons of England that they by full Consent and Advice voted him Illegitimate because he was not begotten lawfully by William the Conqueror and for that reason by unanimous Assent they refused him and set up Henry his Brother to be their King From this Passage of Knighton we see the Community or Baronage of all England fixed the Right of Succession in the Legitimate Right of Blood and therefore this King his two elder Brothers being dead without Issue desired to secure the Succession unto his Lawful Issue by Right of Blood To that end all Freemen of England and Normandy of what Order and Dignity soever and of whatsoever Lord they held or were Fendataries to were forced to do Homage and swear Fealty to his Son William then but twelve Years old And in the twenty seventh of his Reign he caused all the great Men of England after the death of his Sons William and Richard to recognize Maud the Empress his Daughter Queen to whom the only Lawful Succession was due from her Grandfather Uncle and Father that were Kings and from her Mother many Generations In the thirty first of King Henry he and his Daughter coming into England at a great Meeting of the Nobility or Parliament at Northampton those which before had sworn Fealty renewed their Oaths to her and those which had not done it before then did it Paris tells us that the Clergy and Great or Noble Men made Conditions with Henry who promised them what is before related and in that gave them satisfaction But as all Usurpers ever did so he changed his Mind and his Canting Speech had no other effects than to enslave them for with a seared and cahterized Conscience he had obtained the Kingdom and usurped upon his Brother Robert who had manifest Right impudently violating the Laws and Promises by which he had drawn in all Men to serve him and afterward taking him Prisoner caused his Eyes to be pulled out and kept him in Prison twenty four Years until he died King Henry having thus provided for the Security of his Daughter Maud being asked in his Sickness by Robert Duke of Gloucester and the Noble Men that then were with him about a Successor Filiae omnem terram suam citra ultra mate Legitima perenni successione adjucavit Adjudged his Daughter his Lawful Successor in all his Territories Radulphus de Diceto Dean of Saint Paul's who died Anno Dom. 1210. says that Hath Bigot Steward of the King's Houshold made speed out of Normandy where the King died into England and made Oath before the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury that King Henry upon his Death-bed upon some differences which happened between him and his Daughter the Empress did dis-inherit her and made Stephen Earl of Boloign his Heir Whereupon William Arch-Bishop of Canterbury giving too much credit to the words of the Steward consecratcd Stephen Earl of Mortaigne King at Westminster If this story
however the Lancastrians imposed upon the People For Edward was born June 16. 1239. and Edmund upon the 16th of January 1245. being Marcellus his Day six Years after Edward by that time he was a Year old was acknowledged the First-born of his Father his Brother Edmund not then born Per idem tempus Rex Cives Londinenses quinque portuum custodes multos alios fecit jurare fidelitatem ligantiam Edwardo primogenito suo In the Letter from the Loyal to the Rebellious Barons he is styled the First-born of King Henry Richardus Dei gratia Rex Romanorum semper Augustus Edwardus illustris Regis Angliae primogenitus c. And very frequently Matthew Paris who lived at this time and was Historiographer to his Father calls him his First-born So that there can be no doubt in History that he was the eldest Son for King Henry the Third had only these two Sons Edward and Edmund After the death of Edward the First his Son Edward the Second succeeded him and as Men of purely Commonwealth-Principles tell us he degenerating from so great a Father the People grew weary of his Irregular Arbitrary Government deposed him and chose Edward his Son to reign in his stead A plain Argument say they of the Peoples Power in chusing their Kings aud of limiting and binding the Succession But whoever reads this story will not find the ordinary People had much if any thing to do in this matter further than as they were excited to Tumults and Railing at the Government by many of the Popular Bishops and Barons for they always have been and ever will be Instruments of designing Men against the Government if by remissness thereof and easiness of Governors they be permitted This King was deposed and murdered by a wicked Confederacy and Rebellion of many Bishops and Barons And there is nothing to justifie this Rebellion Deposition and Murther in which our Anti-Monarchical Men instance so often as an Example to be followed but the meer doing of it And if a fact be therefore lawful only because it is done we have no need of Laws Lawyers or Officers of Justice to maintain plead for or defend it The truth is this King was not of so brisk a temper as his Father nor endowed with so much Courage he was more soft and easie and used too great and unseasonable Indulgence to such as he permitted to guide his Affairs and the Affairs of the Kingdom in his Name From hence many Rebellious Barons under pretence of the Honour of God and Holy Church the Honour of the King and Realm made Confederations to remove evil Counsellors reform the Court and to force the King to let them name all Judges the Chancellor Treasurer and other great Officers in Court Gascoigne Ireland and Scotland Thomas Duke of Lancaster one of those Commissioners and Ordainers was always the Head of these Confederacies who pretended great Affection to the King to the common profit of the Realm and great care to see these Ordinances cited in the Margin maintained in all points and many things amended in the King's Houshold Court and Realm At length this great Earl of Lancaster behaved himself very indecently towards the KIng and used him with much Scorn and Contempt until at last in the fifteenth of his Reign he and many of his Confederates brake out into open Rebellion at Burton upon Trent and flying before the King's Army Northward was with many others taken at Burrough-Bridge in York-shire and being tried by his Peers was adjudged to be Hanged Drawn and Quartered which Sentence was pardoned by the King and he was only beheaded The like Sentence had Warren de Insula William Toket Thomas Maudut Henry de Bradborn William Fitz-William and William Cheyne the Lord Roger Clifford the Lord John de Mounbray the Lord Henry Tyes the Lord Bartholomew de Badlesmere Joscelin de Invilla most of them Barons Propter Roberias Felonias resistentiam quam fecerunt contra Regem ad villam de Burton Occidentes Regis familiares Regis transitum prohibentes partem villae praedictae comburentes c. For Robberies and Felonies and the Resistance they made against the King at the Town of Burton killing the King's Friends and Servants and burning part of the Town upon their Retreat The Ordinances before-mentioned in number forty one were revoked and the Confederations and Tumultuous Barons and their Actions consured in a Parliament holden at York 15 Ed. 2. The Ordinances were revoked upon Examination of them before the Prelates Earls Barons amongst which were all the Ordiners then alive and the Commons of the Realm For that by the things which were ordained The King 's Royal Power was restrained in many things against the due Greatness of his Seigniory Royal and contrary to the State of the Crown And also for that in times past by such Ordinances and Provisions made by Subjects over the Power Royal of the Ancestors of the Lord the King Troubles and Wars came upon the Realm by which the Nation was in danger and it was accorded and established in the said Parliament by the Lord the King and by the said Prelates Earls and Barons and all the Commonalty of the Realm at that Parliament assembled That all those things by the Ordiners ordained and contained in the said Ordinances from henceforth for the time to come should cease and lose their Force Vertue and Effect for euer And that from hence forward in no time no manner of Ordinances or Provisions made by the Subjects of the Lord the King or his Heirs by any Power or Commission whatsoever over and upon the Power Royal of the said Lord the King or his Heirs or against the State of the Crown shall be of no value or force But the things which shall be established for the Estate of the King and his Heirs and for the Estate of the Realm and People may be treated accorded and established in Parliament by the King and by the Assent of the Prelates Earls Barons and Communalty of the Realm Roger de Mortuo-Mari Lord of Wigmore submitted himself to the King which much weakned the Barons Forces before the Engagement at Burton and was sent to the Tower of London from whence he made his Escape after two Years Imprisonment in the seventeenth of this King's Reign and went over Sea to the King of France who at this time required the King of England to do him Homage for Gascoygn and other Territories he held of him in France But he delaying to do it and excusing himself by Messengers who prevailed not the King of France with an Army seized Gascoign and the County of Pontheu yet by the means of Edmund of Woodstock the King's Brother and other English Noble-men then in France a Truce was made with the King of France for a certain time until a Peace might be treated of
was impeached in Parliament for divers Felonies and Treasons for assuming to himself Royal Power making Dissention between King Edward the Second and his Queen and for murdering of him and many other great Treasons and adjudged to be Drawn and Hanged and was executed accordingly And the Earl Marshal was commanded to do the Execution and the Mayor Aldermen and Sheriffs of London and Constable of the Tower to guard and assist him Many of his Accomplices had the same Judgment In the Fiftieth of Edward the Third the Parliament do acknowledge Richard the Second to be very Heir to the Crown as Son to Edward the Black Prince very Heir to the Crown and petition the King his Father being dead to make him Prince of Wales Who after his Grandfather's death was immediately by all people the Londoners especially acknowledged owned and addressed to as King and not long after Crowned with great Solemnity He lived continually in Tumults and by his Great Uncles his Reign was made uneasie and at length was deposed and murdered by a Potent Faction The Author of the Brief History of Succession fol. 7. recommends to his Readers the thirty three Articles drawn up against Richard the Second as well deserving to be read with hope and design as easily may be guessed to make them believe and think he was justly deposed and murdered But Mr. Hollingshed a moderate Writer who hath truly related these Articles and all the Transactions of his Deposition and Murder tells us y that whatsoever Writers do report touching the state of the time and doings of this King yet if he might boldly speak what he thought He was a Prince the most unthankfully used of his Subjects of any one of whom ye shall lightly read For although through Frailty of Youth he demeaned himself more dissolutely than seemed convenient for his Royal Estate and made choice of such Counsellors as were not favoured of the People whereby he was the less favoured himself Yet in no King's days were the Commons in greater Wealth if they could have perceived their happy State Neither in any other time were the Nobles and Gentlemen more cherished nor Church-men less wronged But such was their Ingratitude towards their bountiful and loving Sovereign that those whom he had chiefly advanced were readiest to control him for that they might not rule all things at their Will and remove from him such as they misliked and place in their rooms whom they thought good and that rather by strong Hand than by gentle and courteous means Which stirred such malice betwixt him and them The chief Instruments in deposing this King were Henry Duke of Lancaster late Earl of Derby and Thomas Arundel Arch-Bishop of Canterbury who assisted by others reduced the unfortunate King to so great Straits as he was weary of his Government They having him in their power kept him safe in the Tower of London until a Parliament was called which was suddainly done by directing Writs in the King's Name to those who of Right ought to be there All things were prepared for the Resignation of his Crown against the time of the meeting of the Parliament He was by certain Commissioners appointed by it deposed or had rather a Resignation of the Crown extorted from him though he seemed willing and forward to do it And then the Duke of Lancaster claimed the Crown in Parliament and challenged the Realm AL 's DESCENDIT BE RYGHT LYNE OF THE BLODE COMEYNGE FRO THE GUDE LORD HENRY THERDE Postquam quidem vindicationem clameum tam Domini Spirituales quam Temporales omnes status ibidem praesentes singillatim communiter interrogati quid de illa vindicatione clameo sentiebant Iidem status cum toto populo absque quacunque difficultate vel mora ut Dux praefatus super eos regnaret unanimitur consenserunt After which Claim and Challenge as well the Lords Spiritual as Temporal and all States there present being severally asked what they thought of that Challenge and Claim the same States with all the People without difficulty or delay consented the aforesaid Duke should reign over him And then shewing to the States the Signet of King Richard which he gave him as token of his desire to have him succeed him The Arch-Bishop taking him by the Right Hand placed him in the Throne Here we see the Foundation of the Parliament's Consent that Henry should be King was a pretended Right of Blood and the desire of King Richard that it might be so Henry the Fourth was Son to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster fourth Son to Edward the Third by Blanch his Wife Daughter and Heir of Henry Duke of Lancaster Son of Henry Earl of Lancaster Brother and Heir to Thomas Earl of Lancaster eldest Son to Edmund called Crouch-Back the First Earl of Lancaster Second Son to King Henry the Third Upon Consideration had of this Title it was conceived to be insufficient and that it would pass for a Blind and Pretence only And therefore king Henry upon the day of his Coronation caused to be proclaimed That he claimed the Kingdom of England First By Right of Conquest Secondly Because King Richard had resigned his Estate and designed him for his Successor And Lastly Because he was of the Blood-Royal and NEXT HEIR MALE UNTO KING RICHARD In this Claim he takes no notice of any Election by the People nor doth own the least Right in them to elect him but founds his Title upon Conquest and Proximity of Male-Blood and Donation of Richard the Second Henry the Fourth Fifth and Sixth held the Crown by Vsurpation without much disturbance until the thirty ninth Year of Henry the Sixth when Richard Duke of York put in his Claim as Hein to Philippa Daughter and Heir to Lionel the third gotten Son of King Edward the Third to whom the Right Title Dignity Royal and Estate o the Crowns of the Realms of England and of France and of the Lordship and Land of Ireland of Right and Law and Custom appertaineth and belongeth before any Issue of John of Gaunt the fourth gotten Son of the same King Edward The Lords Spiritual and Temporal the Question being put what they thought of the Duke's Claim answer that The Matier was so high and of such wyght that it was not to any of the King's Subjects to enter into Communication thereof without his high Commandment Agreement and Consent had thereto The Duke pressing for an Answer all the Lords went unto the King and opened the Claim by the Mouth of the Chancellor of England and it pleased him to pray and command all the said Lords that they should search as much as in them was to find all such things as might be object and leyde against the Cleym and Title of the Due Whereupon in the Morning October 18. the Lords sent for the King's Justices to defend his Title against the Claim of
the Duke of York and in the King's Name streightly command them to find all Objections as might he laid against the same in fortifying of the King's Title Who on Monday following on the 20th of October answered that the matter was so high and touched the King's high Estate and Regalio which is above the Law and passed their Learning Wherefore they durst not enter into any Communication of the same for that it permined to the Lords of the King's Blode and th'Apparage of this his Londes and therefore besought all the Lords to have then utterly excused Then the Lords sent for all the King's Serjeants and Attorney and gave them streight Commandment in the King's Name that they sadladly and avisely shuld serch and take all such things as might be best and strongest to be allegged for the King 's Avail in Objection and defeating of the Title and Cleym of the Due They answered that if this matter passed the Lerning of the Justices it must needs exceed their Lerning and also that they durst not enter into any Communication in that matier and prayed and besought all the Lords to have them excused by geveing any Avice or Counsell therein But the Lords would not excuse them and therefore by the in Advice and Assistance it was concluded by all the Lords that the Articles following should be objected agenst the Clayme and Title of the Duc. First It is thought that the Lords of this Lond must needs call to their remembrance the great Oaths the which they have made to the King the which may be leyd to the said Duc of York and that the Lords may not break their Othes Item It is thought also that it is to be called to remembrance the great and notable Acts of Parliament of divers of the King's Progonitors The which Acts be sufficient and reasonable to be leyd agene the Title of the said Due of York The which Acts be of much more Authority than eny Chronicle and also of Authority to defete eny manner of Title made to eny Person Item It is thought that there is to be leyd ayent the Title divers Inteyles made to the Heires Mules of Henry the Foureth as for the Crown of England as it may appear by divers Chronicles and Parliaments Item It is thought to be allegged the Title of the seid Due that the tyme that King Henry the Fourth toke upon him the Corone of England he said he entered and toke upon him the Corone as right Inheritor to King Henry the Third and not as a Conqueror To which Articles the Duke answered First That noe Oath being the Lawe of Man ought to be performed when the same leadeth to suppression of Trueth and Right which is against the Lawe of God To the second and third That in trouth there been noo such Acts and Tayles made by eny Parliament heretofore as it is furmised but only in the seventh yere of King Hen. IV. a certain Act and Ordinance was made in a Parliament by him called wherein he made the Reaums of Englond and France amongst other to be unto him and to the Hetres of his Body comeing and to his four Sons and to the Heires of their Body comeing in manner and fourme as it apperith in the same Act. And if he might have obteyned and rejoysed the Corones c. by Title of Inhaeritance Discenter or Succession He neither needed or would have desired or made thaim to be granted to him in such wyse as be by the said Act which tacketh noo place neither is of eny force or effect ayenst him that is right Inhaeriter of the sayd CORONES as it accordeth with Gods Lawe and all Natural Lowes howe it be that all other Acts and Ordinances made in the seyd Parliament â—â—then been good and sufficient ayenst all other Persons To the fourth That such seyeing of the King Henry the Fourth may in noe wise be true and that the contrary thereof which is trouth shall be largely enough shewed approved and justified by sufficient Autorite and matter of Record and over that his seyd seying was onely to shadowe and cover fraudulently his seyd unrightwyse and violent Vsurpation and by that moyen to abuse disceyveably the People standing about him Upon consideration of this Answer and Claim of the Duke of York it was concluded and agreed by all the Lords That his Title could not be DEFETED and therefore for eschuying the great Inconvenients that may ensue a mean was found to save the Kings Honor and Estate and to appease the said Due IF HE WOULD which was That the King should enjoye the Corone during Life the Duke to be declared the true Heir and to possess it after his Death c. In the first Article of this Agreement or Accord as 't is there called the Title of the Duke of York is set forth and the Judgment of the Parliament given what then was and before had been the Foundation and ground of the Succession to the Crown of England tint is Proximity of Blood The Articles follow so much of them as is pertinent to this matter First Where the seyd Richard Due of Yorke hath declared and opened as above his seyd Title and Cleyme in manner as followeth That the right noble and worthy Prince Herry King of Englond the Third had Issue and leefully gate Edward his first-begotten Son born at Westminster the xv Kalend of Juyle in the Vigil of St. Mart. Marcellian the Yere of our Lord M.CC. XXXIX and Edmund his second goten Son which was born on Seint Marcell day the Yere of our Lord M. CC. XLV The which Edward after the death of the seyd King Herry his Fader entituled and called King Edward the First had Issue Edward his first-begoten Son entituled and called after the decease of the seyd first Edward his Fader King Edward the Second which had Issue and leefully gate the ryght Noble and Honourable Prynce Edward the Third true and undoubted King of Englond and of France and Lord of Ireland Which Edward the Third true and undoubted King of Englond and of France and Lord of Irelond had Issue and leefully gate Edward his first begotten Son Prynce of Wales William Hatfield second begotten Leonell third-begoten Duc of Clarence John of Gaunt fourth-begotten Duc of Lancaster Edmund Langley fifth begoten Duc of Yorke Thomas Woodstock sixth-begoten Duc of Gloucester and William Wyndesore the seventh-begotten The seyd Edward Prynce of Wales which dyed in the lyfe of the seyd Edward King had Issue and leefully gate Richard the which succeeded the same Edward King his Grandfather in Royal Dignity entituled and called king Richard the Second and dyed without Issue William Hatfield the second-goten Son of the seyd Edward King dyed without Issue Leonell the third-goten Son of the same king Edward had Issue and leefully gate Philippa his oonly Daughter and Heir which by the Sacrament of Matrymony copled unto
England usurped upon the said Crown and Lordship and that he and also Henry late called King Henry the Fifth his Son and Henry late called King Henry the Sixth his Son occupied the Realm of England and Lordship of Ireland and exercised the Governance thereof by unryghtwyse intrusion usurpation and no otherwise That the Amotion of Henry late called King Henry the Sixth from the Exercise Occupation Usurpation Intrusion Reign and Governance of the same Realm and Lordship done by our Soveraigne Lord King Edward the Fourth was and is rightwyse lawfull and according to the Lawes and Customes of the said Realme and soe ought to be taken holden reputed and accepted Further Some if not all the Grants made by Henry Earl of Derby called Henry the Fourth the said Henry his Son or the said Henry called Henry the Sixth or by Authority of any pretenced Parliament in any of their days were reputed null and void That the unrightwyse and unlawful Usurpation and Intrusion of the same Henry upon the Crown of England and Lordship of Ireland was to the great and intolerable hurt prejudice and derogation of Edmund Mortimer Earle of Maroh next Heir of Blood of the said King Richard at the time of his Death and to the Heirs of the said Edmomd and to the great and excessive Damage unto the Realm of England and to the politick and peaceable Governance thereof by inward Wars moved and grounded by occasion thereof In the First of Richard the Third the Three Estates after having much faulted the Government Marriage and Person of Edward the Fourth and affirmed That the Right and Title of the Issue of George Duke of Clarence was barred by his Attainder and extolling the Parts Wisdom and Justice of Richard his Brother declared him undoubted Heir of Richard Duke of York Father to Edward the Fourth very Inhaeritor of the Crown of England and Dignity Royal and as in Right King of England by way of Inheritance and therefore having in his great prudent Justice Princely Courage and excellent Vertue singular Confidence did by Writing in all that in them lay chuse him their King and Sovereign Lord to whom they knew of certain it apperteined to be so chosen c. And do further declare That the Right Title and Estate which King Richard the Third had to and in the Crown and Royal Dignity of the Realm of England with all things thereunto within the said Realm and without it annexed and apperteining was just and lawful as grounded upon the Laws of God and Nature and also upon the antient Lawes and laudable Customes of this said Realm as also taken and reputed by all such Persons as were learned in the abovesaid Laws and Customs And then they proceed and say Yet nevertheless forasmuch as it is considered that the most part of the People is not sufficiently learned in the aforesaid Laws and Customs whereby the Truth and Right in this behalf of likelyhood may be hid and not clearly known to all the People and thereupon put in doubt and question And over this how that the Court of Parliament is of such Authority and the People of this Land of such a nature and disposition as Experience teacheth that Manifestation or Declaration of any Truth made by the Three Estates of this Realm assembled in Parliament and by Authority of the same maketh before all other things most faithful and certain quieting of Mens minds and removeth the occasion of Doubts and seditious Language Therefore at the Request and by the Assent of the Three Estates of this Realm THAT IS TO SAY The Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons of this Land assembled in this present Parliament and by the Authority of the same be it pronounced decreed and declared That our said Sovereign Lord the King was and is the very undoubted King of this Realm of England with all things thereunto belonging within the said Realm and without it united annexed and apperteining as well by Right of Consanguinity and Inhaeritance as by lawful Election Consecration and Coronation Haereditary Right and Right of Blood was the Ground of this Establishment Henry the Seventh having no Haereditary Title of his own and being always averse to take upon him the only true and undoubted Title of his Queen eldest Daughter and Heir to Edward the Fourth procured an Act of Parliament That the Inhaeritance of the Crown of the Realms of England and France with all the Preheminencies and Dignities Royal to the same apperteining and the Ligeances to the King belonging beyond the Seas c. shall be rest remain and abide in the most Royal Person of our most Sovereign Lord Henry the Seventh and in the Heirs of his Body lawfully coming perpetually and so to endure and no otherwise It may be noted from these words That the inheritance of the Crown should rest remain and abide in the King c. That he designed not a Declaration or Recognition of his Right but rather an Establishment of that Possession he had gotten by the Sword for not thinking this Act a Sufficient Security for him nor depending on this Parliamentary Title he extended his pretences beyond this Establishment in at much as he procured it to be confirmed the year following by the Bull of Pope Innocent the Eighth in which this Statute with his Titles of Couquest and Descent are mentioned and confirmed The Bull says That the Kingdom of England belonged to him by undubitable right Non modo jure Belli ac notorio indubitato proximo successions Titulo verum etiam omnium prelatorum procerum Magnatum Nobilium totiusque ejusdem Regni Angliae plebis Electione et noto ac decreto statuto et ordinatione ipsius Angliae Regni trium Statuum in ipsorum conventu Parliamento nuncupato That is Not only by the right of War and the notorious and indubitable next Title of Succession but also by the election of all the Prelates and great Men and of the whole Commonalty of the Kingdom of England and by a known and decreed Statute and Ordinance of the Three Estates of the same Kingdom of England their meeting called a Parliament And afterward in the Thirteenth of his Reign he got his Bull renewed and the Act confirmed again by Pope Alexander the Sixth under pain of Excommunication and Curse to such as should upon any pretence whatsoever disturb the peace of the Nation and create trouble against this Title of Henry the Seventh So that notwithstanding this Act of Parliament which was cunningly penned to Establish his possession he had obtained by the sword He thought that and the Popes Bulls of Confirmation his best Title yet not omitting his own pretended indubitable next Right of Succession Henry the Eighth next heir to the Crown by Proximity of Blood as right Heir to his Mother Elizabeth Daughter and right Heir to Edward the Fourth succeeded his Father in
his Kingdom who in all Extravagant Acts concerning his Queens and the Succession ever founded it in pretended legal Proximity of Blood and Lawful next Heirs of Blood according to the due course of inheritance the pretended want of which was the only suggestion for passing these Acts. In the Twenty fifth of Henry the Eighth there was an Act for the Succession the preamble this In their most humble wyse shewen unto your Majesty your most humble and obedient Subjects the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament c. That since it is the natural inclination of every man to provide for the suerty both of his Title and Succession although it touch his only private Cause we therefore reckon our selves much more bounden to beseech and instant your I lighness to forsee and provide for the perfect suerty of both you and your lawful Succession and Heirs upon which dependeth all our joy and wealth in whom also is united and knit the only meer TRUE INHERITANCE and TITLE of this Realm without any contradiction And then mentions that certain divisions arose upon ambiguities and doubts not perfectly declared from froward intents to expound them contrary to the right legalty of the Lawful Succession and posterity of the lawful Kings and Emperours of this Land After this confirming the Divorce of Queen Katherine as also the King's Marriage with Anne Boleyn the Parliament entayles the Crown upon him and his Heirs Male by her and for want of such Issue upon Elizabeth their eldest Daughter and their Heirs Females according to the due course of Inheritance From whence it appears that the Succession was founded upon inheritance and the design of the Act was that Henry the eighth might have Lawful Issue to inherit the Crown that so all Ambiguities and Doubts about the Succession might be taken off And all the Kings Subjects were bound under pain of misprision of Treason to swear to observe the Contents of this Act. The Act for Succession 28 Hen. 8. c. 7. affirms there were many Lawful impediments unknown at the making of the Act of Succession 25 Hen. 8. c. 22. which since that time were confessed by the Lady Anno before Themas Archbishop of Canterbury sitting Judicially for the same By reason of which impediments the Kings Marriage with her was never good nor consonant to the Lawes and therefore Q. Elizabeth was declared Illegitimate and it was declared Treason for any Man to judge or believe the Marriage between the King and the Lady Katherine or Anne to be good lawful or of any effect It was also in this Act declared Treason for any one to take accept name or call any of the Children born and procreate under those unlawful Marriages legitimate or lawful Children of the King And therefore the Crown was settled upon the King and his Heirs Males by his Lawful Queen Jane and for want of such Issue by her upon his Heirs Males by any other Lawsul Wife and for want of Heirs Males upon his Heirs Females by Queen Jane or any other Lawful wise And for lack of Lawful Heirs of his Body to be procreated and begotten as is limitted by this Act to such person and persons in Possession and Remainder as should please the King and according to such Estate and after such manner form fashion order and condition as shall be expressed declared named and limitted by his Letters Parents or by his last Will. And then follows And we your most humble and obedient Subjects do faithfully promise to your Majesty by one Common Assent That after your decease and for lack of Heirs of your Body lawfully begotten as is afore rehearsed We our Heirs and Successors shall accept and take love dread serve and alonely obey such Person and Persons Males or Females as your Majesty shall give your said Imperial Crown unto by authority of this Act and to none other and wholly to stick to them as true and faithful subjects ought to do to their Regal Rulers Governours and supream Heads To provide for Lawful Heirs was the pretended Ground of this Act of succession not to exclude them and to give the King a strange unheard of Power to dispose of the crown c. The Thirty fifth of Henry the Eighth cap. 1. recites how the Crown was entailed 28. Hen. 8. and what Power was given to him to dispose of the Crown To the intent therefore that His Majesty's disposition and mind therein might be openly declared and manifestly known His Majesty designing a Voyage beyond Sea it was enacted by his Highness with the Assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled and by Authority of the same That in case it should happen the King's Majesty and Prince Edward Heir Apparent to die without Issue of their Bodies lawfully begotten so as there be no Heirs Male or Female of either of their Bodies to have and inherit the said Imperial Crown that then it should be to his Daughter Mary and her Heirs lawfully to be begotten under such Conditions as should be limited by the King's Letters Patents or his last Will And for default of Issue to his Daughter Elizabeth upon the same Conditions But if no Conditions were appointed then the Succession to each of them one after another abosolutely And for want of Heirs by his Queen Katherine his Lawful Wife and for want of Lawful Issue or Prince Edward his Daughters Mary and Elizabeth then the King to dispose of the Crown at his only pleasure from time to time All these Acts of Succession were made by the King's Sollicitation Authority Command or other Procurement and were not other wife moved contrived or offered to him In the First of Queen Mary there is an Act declaring the Queen's Highness to have been born in most just and faithful Matrimony and also repealing all Acts of Parliaments and Sentence of Divorce made or had to the contrary The intention of this Act was to declare the Succession to be in Inheritance by Right of Blood In the First of Elizabeth the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons do declare and confess th t Queen Elizabeth and in very deed and of most meer Right ought to be by the Laws of God and the Laws and Statutes of this Realm their most rightful and lawful Sovereign Queen And that she was rightly and lineally and lawfully descended and come of the Blood-Royal of this Realm of England in and to whose Princely Person and the Heirs of her Body lawfully begotten after her without all Doubt Ambiguity Scruple or Question The Imperial Crown and Dignity of this Realm was rally and entirely vested In this Law whether it were true or not in her the right lineal and lawful Descent of Queen Elizabeth was the Ground upon which she was declared to be by God's Laws and the Laws and Statutes of this Realm most rightful and lawful Queen And whatever she
King of Spain Duke of Guise in France Duke D'Alva in the Netherlands the Fugitive English c. abroad And at home frequent Conspiracies to deliver the Queen of Scots out of Prison Attempts upon the Queen's Person the Rebellion in the North by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmerland the Match of the Duke of Norfolk with the Queen of Scots her Usurpation of the Crown of England with the Title and Arms thereof and the Bull of Pope Pius the Fifth by which he declared her a Heretick c. and impiously and without any Authority other than Papal Tyranny deprived her of her Title Dominions and Kingdoms and absolved all her Subjects from their Obedience and Allegiance All these but more particularly the Pope's Bull and the Conspiracy of Norfolk created much trouble in the mind of Queen Elizabeth And she sent to the Queen of Scots Cecyl and Sir Walter Mildmay to consult with her by what means most conveniently the Dissentions of Scotland might be compounded her self restored and Queen Elizabeth and her young Son safe and secure Amongst the Propositions made to obtain these ends these were two That the Queen of Scots should renounce her Title and Claim as long as Queen Elizabeth and the Children lawfully born of her Body should live That if the Queen of Scots should attempt any thing by her self or any other against Queen Elizabeth she should ipso facto forfeit all her Right and Title she claimed to England To which the Deputies of the Queen of Scots Lieutenants answered That the Title should be renounced as long as Queen Elizabeth lived And That the Queen of Scots should be excluded from all Right of Succession in England if she attempted any thing against the Queen of England ' s Right so as if the Queen of England would be likewise bound in some equivalent Penalty if she should attempt any thing against the Queen of Scots There was no Agreement upon these and other Propositions then made because the Scots-Deputies thought thorn too hard and severe and not to be assented unto without the greatest Inconveniencies imaginable And thence followed new Designs and Contrivances for the Relief of the Queen of Scots c. The Marriage of the Duke of Norfolk with the Queen of Scots was first propounded by her great Enemy the Regent Murray and afterwards carried on by the Earls of Arundel Northumberland Westmerland Sussex Pembroke and Southampton with many Barons and by the Earl of Leicester himself who with his own hand drew up Articles which he sent to the Queen of Scots in number six two whereof were That she should do nothing which might be prejudicial to the Queen of England or to the Children born of her in the Succession of the Kingdom of England That she should revoke her Assignment of the Kingdom of England to the Duke of Anjou The occasion of this Article was that Murray had reported that the Queen of Scots had made over her Title to England to the Duke of Anjou and that her Conveyance was confirmed at Rome which the Queen utterly denied And it was afterwards discovered to be an invention of Murray's to alienate Queen Elizabeths mind from her To obviate all these Mischiefs and Designs The Queen and her private Ministers the Earl of Leicester Lord Burleigh and Sir Francis Walsingham thought fit to improve the insinuation and Overture of a Match made by the Queen Mother of France but not very vigorously pursued untill the Year 1571. 13 Eliz. and in the time of the Sitting of the Parliament of that Year though 't was not in that Assembly or their Journals taken notice of it being secretly managed by order of the Queen by her two then great Confidents the Earl of Leycester and the Lord Burleigh by the Mediation of Sir Francis Walsingham then Embassador in France Whether Leycester meant honestly and seriously in this Affair I cannot determine he made great Professions that he did the then Posture of Affairs being represented to him by Walsingham in a Letter dated from Paris May 14. 1571. in these Words MY very good Lord The Protestants here do so earnestly desire this Match and on the other side the Papists do so earnestly seek to impeach the same as it maketh me the more earnest in furthering of the same Besides when I particularly consider her Majesties Estate both at home and abroad so far forth as my poor Eye-sight can discern and how she is beset with Forreign Peril the Execution whereof stayeth only upon the Event of this Match I do not see how she can stand if this Matter break off No particular Respect as God is my Witness moveth me to write thus earnestly but only the Regard I have to God's Glory and Her Majesties Safety Your Lordships to command Fr. Walsingham How necessary this Match was at this time for the safety of the Queen and Nation we have the Opinion of this great Statesman and Minister with whom Leycester and Burleigh concurred in Opinion as appears by their several Letters relating to these Transactions And since the French in the Sixth Article delivered in by the French Ambassador the Thirteenth of April 1571. propounded the Succession to be secured to the Issue of this Marriage according to the Laws and Customs of the Realms to which Queen Elizabeth according to the common Opinion of the Understanding Men of those Times not having Right by Inheritance or Proximity of Blood might think by this Act of Parliament that in effect doth grant the general Surmise to make good her Title and by this way and means to notifie it to be according to the Laws and Customs of the Realm For the Duke of Anjou could not but have notice of the pretended Defectiveness of her Claim though not mentioned in the Treaty and therefore this might haply be done as much as could be to meet with and satisfie that Objection if it should be made and that this might be a private though none of the great Considerations of procuring and passing this Act. He that will but observe these Particulars of History and will take the pains to compare them with this Act may easily perceive it was made as a Provision against such things pretences and attempts for the future during Queen Elizabeths Reign as had then been done used and practised it being then doubted whether the Laws and Statutes of this Realm then in force were sufficient for the Preservation of the Queens Person The Title of the Act is An Act whereby certain Offences are made Treason And the Bill in the Commons Journal was called A Bill for Treasons The Preamble upon the Parliament-Roll is Forasmuch as it is of some doubted whether the Laws and Statutes of this Realm remaining at this present in force are vailable and sufficient enough for the Surety and Preservation of the Queens most Royal Person in whom consisteth all the Happiness and Comfort of the whole
and that her Majesty minded not by any Implication or drawing of Words to have the Scotish Queen either inabled or disinabled to or from any manner of Title to the Crown of England and willed That the Bill be drawn and penned by her Learned Counsel before the same be treated of in the House and that in the mean time of bringing in of that Bill the House enter not into any Speeches or Arguments of that Matter With the Journal agrees a Passage in the Lord Burleigh's Letter to Sir Francis Walsingham the Queens Embassador in France July 2. 1572. two days after the Parliament was Prorogued Now for our Parliament I cannot write patiently All that we laboured for and had with full Consent brought to fashion I mean a Law to make the Scotish Queen unable and unworthy of Succession of the Crown was by her Majesty neither assented to nor rejected but deferred until the Feast of All Saints But what all other good and wise Men may think thereof you may guess Some here have it seemeth abused their Favour about her Majesty to make her self her most Enemy God amend them I will not write to you who were suspected I am sorry for them and so would you also if you thought the suspicion to be true Your assured Loving Friend Will. Burleigh This Parliament did not meet again until the Eighth of February in the Eighteenth year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth unless there be any better Authority than Mr. Pulton's in his Statutes to make it appear that it did And although there never was greater fear and danger of the Introduction of Popery and Arbitrary Power by reason of the Queen of Scots Religion her Pretences and Practices and the expectation of great Assistance from abroad and at home than at this time yet we find not those that were suspected to have advised the Queen this great Affair to have been branded by Publick Vote as Betrayers of the Queen the Protestant Religion and the Kingdom of England Promoters of the Scottish Interest and Pensioners to Scotland This is a faithful Relation of the Succession Whether I have fairly or partially cited the Records and Histories I have used any Man if he please may inform himself Whether it be expedient just or lawful to go about to interrupt the lawful Succession by Birth-right or to endeavour to break or vacate the Laws and Customs of the Nation by which it is Established and Governed without any Motion Sollicitation Procurement or Intention of the present true and lawful King by Birth-right for and upon the Suggestions in the Bill mentioned I leave to the Consideration of Wiser Men than my self In smaller Matters than this it was said Nolumus Leges Angliae mutare A Paralel or Comparison between some Citations in the Author of the Brief History of Succession c. And the Words of the Authors themselves Author of the Brief Hist fol. 1. in the Margin EDwardum Elegerunt Electum consecraverunt in Regem unxerunt Sim. Dunelm An. 975. f. 160. Fol. 3. in the Margin Hic Robertus semper contrarius adeo innaturalis extiterat Baronibus Regni Angliae quod plenario consensu Consilio totius Comunitatis Regni ipsum refutaverunt pre Rege omnino recusaverunt Henricum fratrem in Regem erexerunt Hen. de Knighton c. 8. 2374. Fol. 4. In the Notes in the middle of the Folio In Conventu Episcoporium aliorum de Regno optimatum Mat. Westm f. 246. an 1153. Fol. 4. In the Margin Convenerunt interim die Statuto ex Mandato Regis ad Londoniam totius Angliae Episcopi Abbates Comites Barones Vice-Comites Praepositi Aldermanni cum Fidejussoribus Gervas Hen. 2 fol. 1412. And fol. 4. in the Body of his History says This was a Parliament in which Henry the Second procured his Son Henry to he declared King together with himself by their consent Brief History fol. 5. in the Margin Post tam Cleri quam Populi solennem debitam electionem Rad. de Diceto fol. 647. Ibid. f. 5. In the Body of the History King John applies himself to the People for a more sure Title d who being summoned together chose him King Ibid. in the Margin d Praelatorum Comitum aliorum Nobilium infinita a multitudine Brompt 1281. Fol. 10. in the Body of the History Please it your Grace to understand the Consideration Election and Petition of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons c. Cot. Rec. fol. 709. This is all considerable which he cites out of this Record Fol. 11. in the Body of the History In the 25th Year of Henry the Eighth an Act passed wherein the Parliament in the Preamble say They were BOUNDEN to provide for the perfect Surety of the Succession They did not certainly reckon themselves bound to do a thing that was not in their Power Stat. 25 H. 8. c. 22. Sim. Dunelm Anno 975. col 160. n. 40. EDwardum UT PATER SUUS PRAECEPERAT Elegerunt Electum consecraverunt in Regem unxerunt Hen. de Knighton col 2374. c. 8. n. 10. Iste Robertus semper contrarius adeo innaturalis extiterat Baronibus Regni Angliae quod plenario Consensu Consilio totius Comunitatis Regni IMPOSUERUNT EI ILLEGITIMITATEM QUOD NON FUERAT PROCREATUS DE LEGITIMO THORO WILLIELMI CONQUESTORIS UNDE UNANIMI ASSENSU SUO ipsum refutaverunt pro Rege omnino recusaverunt Henricum fratrem ejus in Regem erexerunt Mat. Westm f. 246. an 1153. n. 10. Rex Stephanus omni haerede viduatus praeter solumodo Henricum Ducem recognovit in Conventu Episcoporum aliorum de Regno optimatum Quod Dux Henricus jus haereditarium in Regnum Angliae habebat Dux benigne concessit ut Rex Stephanus tota vita sua suum Regnum pacifice possideret Chronica Gervasii col 1412. lin 4. Convenerunt interim die Statuto ex Mandato Regis ad Londoniam totius Angliae Episcopi Abbates Comites Barones Vice-Comites praepositi Aldermani cum Fidejussoribus suis timentes valde omnes Quisque juxta conscientiam suam metuebat nesciebunt enim Quid Rex statuere decrevisset ipsa die Henricum filium suum qui eadem septimana de Normannia venerat militem fecit statimque eum stupentibus cunctis mirantibus in Regem ungi praecepit coronari Not one word here or in all this story of this Author of their declaring him King Rad. de Diceto Imagines historiarum col 647. n. 40. Comes Itaque Pictavorum Ricardus HAEREDITARIO JURE PRAEMOVENDUS IN REGEM post tam Cleri quam Populi solempnem debitam electionem c. Chron. Johan Brompt col 1281. n. 40 50. Johannes ab Huberto Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi in Ecclesia B. Petri Westmonasterii INUNGITUR ET IN REGEM ANGLIAE CORONATUR ASSISTENT Prelatorum Comitum BARONUM aliorum Nobilium infinita multitudine Exact Abridgment of Records in the Tower fol 709 710 711