Crown were pleaded in the Tower and divers times afterward In 1222 the Citizens having made a Tumult against the Abbot of Westminster Hubbert of Burg Cheif Justice of England sent for the Lord Mayor and Aldermen to the Tower of London to enquire who were Principal Authors thereof Amongst whom one named Constantine Fitz Aelufe boldly avowed That he was the man and had done much less than he thought to have done whereupon the Cheif Justice sent him with two others to Falks de Brent who with armed men brought them to the Gallows and hanged them In 1244 Griffith Prince of Wales being a Prisoner in the Tower attempted an escape and having in the night tyed the Sheets and hangings together he endeavoured thereby to slide from the top of the High Tower but being a Fat man the weight of his Body brake the Rope and he fell The next morning he was found dead his head and neck being driven into his Breast between the Shoulders In 1253 K. Hen. 3. imprisoned the Sheriffs of London in the Tower above a Month about the escape of a Prisoner out of Newgate as is aforementioned In 1260 this King with his Queen for fear of the Barons lodged in the Tower And the next year he sent for his Lords and held his Parliament there In 1263 As the Queen was going by water from the Tower toward Windsor several Citizens got together upon London Bridge under which she was to pass who not only used reproachful words against her but threw stones and dirt at her forcing her to go back again but in 1265. they were forced to submit themselves to the King for it and the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Sheriffs were sent to several Prisons Othon Constable of the Tower being made Custos or keeper of the City About this time Leoline Prince of Wales came down from the Mountain of Snowdon to Montgomery and was taken at Bluith Castle where using reproachful words against the English Roger le Strange fell upon him and with his own sword cut off his head leaving his dead body on the Ground Sir Roger Mortimer caused this Head to be set upon the Tower of London crowned with a wreath of Ivy And this was the end of Leoline who was betrayed by the Men of Bluith and was the last Prince of the Brittish bloud who Ruled in Wales In 1290 Several Judges as well of the Kings Bench as the Assize were sent Prisoners to the Tower and with great Sums of Money obtained their Liberty Sir Thomas Weyland had all his Estate confiscated and himself banished Sir Ralph Hengham Lord Chief Justice of the Kings Bench paid 7000 Marks Sir John Lovet Cheif Justice of the Lower Bench 3000 Marks Sir William Brompton 6000 Marks Yea their Clerks were fined also as being confederate with their Masters in Bribery and Injustice Robert Littlebury Clerk paid 1000 Marks and Roger Leicester as much But a certain Clerk of the Courts called Adam de Straton paid thirty two thousand Marks of Old and new Money besides Jewels without number and precious vessels of Silver which were found in his House together with a Kings Crown whiâ—h some said was King Johns After this the King constrained the Judges to swear That for the future they should take no Pension Fee or Gift of any man except a breakfast or some such small kindness In the 14 of Edw. 2. The King allowed to the Prisoners in the Tower two pence a day to a Knight and a peny a day to an Esquire for their Diet. In 1320. The Kings Justices sate in the Tower for Trial of divers matters at which time John Gissors late Lord Mayor of London and several others fled to the City for fear of being charged with things they had presumptuously done The next year the Mortimers yeilding themselves to King Edw. 2. he sent them Prisoners to the Tower where they were condemned to be drawn and hanged But Roger Mortimer of Wigmore by giving his Keepers sleepy drink made his escape but his Uncle Mortimer died there above 5 years afterward In 1326. The Citizens of London took possession of the Tower and taking away the keys from the Constable they discharged all the Prisoners and kept both the City and Tower for the use of Queen Isabel and her son Edward who was afterward Edw. the III. In 1330 Roger Mortimer Earl of March was taken and committed to the Tower from whence he was drawn to the Elmes and their hanged on the Common Gallows where he hung two days and two nights by the Kings Command and was then buried in the Gray Friers Church This Earl was condemned by his Peers and yet was never brought to make his Defence before them He himself having procured a Law to that purpose by which the Earls of Lancaster Winchester Glocester and Kent were put to death and now he himself suffered by the same Law In the 3. of Edw. 3. 1344. The King commanded Florences of Gold to be coyned in the Tower Perceval de Port of Lake being then Master of the Mint and this is the first coining we read of there we read likewise that the same year the King appointed his Exchange of Money to be kept in Sernes Tower being part of the Kings House in Buckles or Bucklers Bury And we find that in former times all great Sums were paid by weight that is so many pounds or Marks of Gold or Silver cut into blank peices without any stamp upon them and smaller Sums were paid in Starlings which were pence so called for they had no other Moneys This Starling or Easterling money took its name as it is judged from the Easterlings which first made it in England in the Reign of Hen. 2. though others imagine it so called from a Star stamped in the Ring or Edge of the Peny or of a Bird called a Starling stamped on it others yet more unlikely of being coyned at Striveling or Sterling a Town in Scotland but the first Opinion seems the most probable In 1360. A Peace being concluded between England and France Edward the 3d. came back into England and went to the Tower to visit the French King who was Prisoner there setting his Ransome at three Millions of Florences which being paid he was discharged from his Imprisonment and the King conducted him with Honour to the Seaside In the 4th of Rich. 2. 1381. A grievous Tax was laid upon the Subjects which caused much Trouble For the Courtiers greedy to inrich themselves informed the King that the Tax was not so carefully gathered as it ought And therefore they would pay a great Sum of Money to Farm it which they would raise above what it was before by being more severe in gathering it This Proposition was soon accepted so that having the Kings Authority and Letters these Farmers or Commissioners met in several Places in Kent and Essex where they levied this Tax of Groats or Polemoney with all manner of severity which so discontented the
his brother Murdered Q. Elizabeth Prisoner in the Tower The Lords having thus got the Government into their hands obliege the King to free them from all Obedience and Allegiance whensoever he infringed their Charter Yet soon after the King sends to Râ—me to be freed from his Oath which he obtained Whereupon the Lords put themselves into arms and Moniford Earl of Leicester their General takes many Castles The King likewise raises Forces The Barons march toward London under a Banner richly and beautifully flourished with the Kings Arms. And as they passed by the Houses or Possessions of those that favoured the Popes Bulls whereby the King himself and all others who had formerly sworn to observe and maintain those new Ordinances and Laws and to support the Authority of the twenty four Peers were fully absolved from their Oaths they robbed and wasted them as Enemies to the King and kingdom They then approached the City of London and by their Letters desired the Lord Mayor and Citizens to send them word whether they resolved to support the Authority of the Peers or not protesting before God themselves intended nothing else and that if any thing were defective in those Laws they should be reformed The Lord Mayor sends these Letters with all speed to the King who desired likewise to know whether they would support the Laws of the twenty four Peers or not they stoutly answered that they would since by the Kings command they had all sworn so to do The King was extreamly enraged at this answer but he could get no other and the same answer they sent to the Lords who thereupon proceeded in their march and were with much joy and kindness received into London and soon after routed the Prince who came against them with a considerable Army But some of the meaner sort of the City intending under the pretence of these disturbances to do mischief elected two ambitious Fellows whom they called the two Constables of London and agreed that at the tolling of a great Bell in St. Pauls Church as many as would join with them should be ready to act whatever the two Constables commanded them and though all endeavours were used to prevent them yet their desire of plunder so furiously transported them that upon the tolling that Bell a great number met together and marching about eight miles Westward from London they ruined and destroyed the House and Possessions of the Kings Brother Richard King of the Romans carrying away all his Goods with them Which insolent outrage much furthered the succeeding Wars for whereas before Richard being of a mild and virtuous disposition had used all his endeavours to make peace upon all occasions he now became a professed Enemy both to the Barons and the City of London After this the Lords sent a Letter to the King and protested with all humility and submission that they intended nothing but the performance of their Oaths by defending those Laws and Ordinances which had been established in Parliament for the benefit of the King and the Realm But the King his Brother Richard and Edward the young Prince thinking nothing more disdainful than that Subjects should rule and command their Sovereign resolved to revenge it and bid utter defiance to the Lords and both Armies met near a Town called Lewis in Sussex where a cruel Battel was fought and the King his Brother and the Prince were all taken prisoners with many other great Commanders and twenty thousand men slain Yet a while after upon some Conditions they were all three set at Liberty and the former Laws and Ordinances were confirmed in Parliament and the King took an Oath for confirming the power of the twelve Peers After which the Earls of Leicester and Glocester the two Generals of the Lords Party fell into a great difference which Prince Edward taking advantage of raiseth an Army and persuading the Earl of Glocester to join with him they fell upon the Earl of Leicesters Army and utterly routed them himself his eldest Son and many others being slain Which overthrow utterly defeated the Barons and revived the Melancholy King who calling a Parliament all the former Decrees were made void together with the power of the twelve Peers and the King regained his former Liberty and Authority When this Parliament was ended the King perhaps by the instigation of his Brother Richard who was so horridly abused without cause by the baser sort of the Inhabitants of the City resolved utterly to destroy and consume the City of London by Fire because he said the Magistrates and Inhabitants had always hated him and taken part with the Lords against him Whereupon those of the Nobility who were most in favour with the King humbly besought him By no means to do such an execrable deed which would not onely weaken his own Kingdom and Government but would likewise make him infamous throughout the World to all Generations They were very earnest in their suit and their Reasons were unanswerable yet the King prorested That he was resolved to do it and his determination should be unchangeable and his Justice upon such Rebellious Villains should be a President to deter all perverse and obstinate Rebels and Traitors in time to come This severe Resolution made the Citizens tremble at the indignation of their angry King so that perceiving his rage and fury not to be mitigated they caused an instrument to be drawn in writing which was confirmed with their Common Seal wherein they confessed their Rebellion and humbly craved pardon for the same and without any exception or reservation they wholly submitted their Lands Goods and Lives together with the whole City to the Kings Grace and Mercy This Instrument they sent to Windsor to the King by some of the chiefest of the Citizens who were ordered to present it on their knees but so furious was the Kings wrath against them and so implacable was his anger that he reputed none to be his Friends who interposed as Mediators on their behalf neither would he admit any of them into his presence but commanded them immediately to be thrown into prison and five of the principal of them he gave to the Prince together with all their Lands and Goods and all the rest he bestowed among his Attendants who made them Slaves and suffered them to enjoy the least part of their own But when the King had thus a little revenged himself and time had cooled his mighty passion he began to hearken to the importunate intercession of Prince Edward his Son and soon after received the City and all its Inhabitants into favour again and laying onely a Fine upon them of a thousand Marks he restored to them all their Charters Liberties and Customs which for their transgressions he had seized into his hands And now though these Intestine Troubles and Civil Wars which like an outragious Fire dispersed into the midst of a well compacted City had end angered the whole State of the kingdom were thus appeased
which the Rabble cryed Where is the Traytor who answered I am the Archbishop whom you seek not a Traytor Whereupon they dragged him out of the Chappel to Tower-hill where being incompassed with many Thousands and seeing many drawn swords about his head he said What is it dear Brethren you purpose to do what is mine offence committed against you for which you will kill me you were best take heed that if I be killed who am your Pastor there come not on you the Indignation of the just Revenger or at least for such a fact all England be not put under Interdiction or the Popes Curse But they cried out with a great noise That they did not fear the Interdiction neither did allow the Pope to be above them The Archbishop seeing death at hand spoke them fairly and granting forgiveness to the Executioner he kneeled down and offered his Head to be cut off The Hangman struck him on the neck but not deadly he putting up his hand said Aha it is the hand of God and being struck again before he removed his hand his fingers ends were cut off and part of the Arteries with which he fell down but died not till they had mangled him with eight several strokes in the Neck and Head His body lay two days unburied none daring to do it His Head they cut off and nailing his hood thereon fixt it upon a Pole on London Bridge This Simon Sudbury was eighteen years Bishop of London and being translated to Canterbury he in 1375. repaired the Walls of London from the West-gate which he built to the North-gate which had been destroyed by the Danes before the Conquest of William the Bastard He was at last buried in the Cathedral at Canterbury Sir Robert Hales Lord Treasurer of England suffered with him at the same time a most Valiant Knight and Lord of St. Johns together with John Leg one of the Serjeants at Arms and William Apledore a Franciscan Friar who was the Kings Confessor Many more were beheaded daily for no cause but the pleasure of the Commons for it was pastime to them to take any who were not sworn of their Party and pulling off their Hoods behead them They took 13 Flemings out of the Augustine Friers 17 out of another Church and 32 in the Vintry and beheaded them all And to make a distinction of Flemings they put them to pronounce Bread and Cheese and if they spake it like Brot and Cawse off went their Heads as a sure sign that they were Flemings The King coming according as he was required to Mile-end was much astonished at the madness of the People who with frowning Countenances made the following demands which they presented in writing â—nd would have them confirmed by the Kings Letters Patents 1. That all men should be free from Servitude or Bondage so that from thenceforth there should be no Bondmen 2. That he should Pardon all men of what Estate soever all manner of Actions and Insurrections committed and all Treasons Felonies Transgressions and Extortions by any of them done and to grant them Peace 3. That all men henceforth might be infranchised or made free to buy and sell in every County City Burrough Town Fair Market and other Places within the Realm of England 4. That no Acre of Land holden in Bondage or Service should be holden but for four pence and if it had been held for less in former time it should not now be inhanced These and many other things they required telling the King That he had been ill Governed to that day but for the time forward he must be otherwise governed The King finding himself in danger yeilded hereunto and so desiring a Truce the Essex men returned home Next day the King went to Westminster to visit St. Edwards Shrine and coming back by Westsmithfield he found the place full of Kentishmen to whom he sent word That their Fellows the Essex men were gone home and that if they desired it he would grant them the same Conditions of Peace But their Chief Captain named John or as others say Walter Hilliard alias Tyler being a cunning Fellow answered He desired Peace but upon his own Conditions intending by fair words to have delayed the business till the next day for he designed that Night to have killed the King and the Nobility about him and then to have pâ—â—ndred the City and burnt it But he was wonderfully disappointed in his Pride having refused Conditions of Peace which were sent him in three several Charters three times Upon which the King at last sent Sir John Newton not to Command but to Intreat him to come and discourse with him concerning what he demanded among which one particular was That Wat Tyler desired a Commission to behead all Lawyers Escheators and others whatsoever that were learned in the Law conceiving that afterward all would be managed according to the Humour of the Common People And it is reported that the day before putting his hand to his Lips he had said That before four days came to an end all the Laws of England should proceed from his mouth When Sir John Newton desired Tyler to dispatch him he scornfully answered If thou art so hasty thou mayst go to thy Master for I will come when I please However Sir John Newton followed him slowly on Horseback and by the way a Doublet-maker brought threescore Doublets to the Commons and demanded thirty Marks for them but could have no Money Upon which Wat Tyler told him Friend be quiet thou shalt be well paid before this day be ended keep nigh me and I will be thy Creditor Wat Tyler then set Spurs to his Horse and rid up toward the King coming so near that his Horse touched the Crouper of the Kings to whom he said Sir King seest thou all yonder People Yes truly said the King but why dost thou ask Because said Tyâ—er they are all at my Command and have sworn their Truth and Faith to me to do whatever I bid them In good time replyed the King I believe it well Then said Tyler Believest thou King that these People and as many more that are in London will depart from thee thus without having thy Letters No said the King you shall have them they are ready and shall be delivered to them all Wat Tyler observing Sir John Newton to be near him bearing the Kings Sword was offended saying Thâ— it became him better to be afoot in his presence Thâ— Knight answered stoutly That surely there was no haâ—â— in it since he himself was on Horseback This so iâ— raged Wat that he drew his Dagger and offered 〈◊〉 strike the Knight calling him Traytor Sir John toâ—â— him he lied and drew his Dagger likewise Wat Tylâ— seeming much disturbed at this Indignity attempteâ— before his Rustick Companions to have run upon thâ— Knight whom the King to preserve from the dangeâ— commanded to alight from his Horse and deliver hiâ— Dagger to Wat Tyler But his
Parliament called wherein Justice might be done and himself pardoned all Offences he would be ready to come to him on his knees and as an humble Subject to obey him Yet upon this Conference with the Earl some say the King required only that himself and eight more whom he would name might have honourable allowance with assurance of a private quiet Life and that then he would resign his Crown and that upon the Earls Oath that this should be performed the King agreed to go with the Earl to meet the Duke but after four miles riding coming to the place where they had laid an Ambush the King was seized and carried Prisoner to Flint Castle where the Duke of Lancaster came to him and bowing the knee thrice came toward him whom the King took by the hand and lifted up saying Dear Cousin you are welcome the Duke humbly thanking him said My Soveraign Lord and King the Cause of my coming at this present is your honour saved to have restitution of my Person my Lands and Heritage whereto the King answered Dear Cousin I am ready to accomplish your Will so that you enjoy all that is yours without exception After this coming out of the Castle the King called for Wine and then mounted on Horseback and by easie Journeys came to London and the next day he was committed to the Tower As the King was carried toward London divers Citizens conspired to lye in wait by the way and suddenly slay him partly for private Grievances and partly for the Severity he had used toward the whole City But the Maior having notice thereof prevented it and rid forth with a Considerable Company to conduct him safely to the Tower and soon after a Parliament was called by the Duke of Lancaster but in the name of King Richard where many heinous points of Misgovernment were laid to his Charge and were drawn up into three and thirty Articles the Cheif whereof were Thâ—t be had wastefully spent the Treasure of the Realm upon unworthy Persons whereby great Taxes were laid upon the People That he had borrowed great sums of Money and given his Letters Patents to repay the same and yet not one peny ever paid That he had taxed men at the pleasure of himself and his unhappy Council and had spent the money in folly and not in paying poor men for their victual and viand That he said the Laws of the Realm were in his Head and Breast by reason of which phantastical Opinion he destroyed Noblemen and Impoverished the Commons That he most Tyranously and unprincely said that the Lives and Goods of all his Subjects were in his hands and at his disposition That when divers Lords as well spiritual as Temporal were appointed by Parliament to Treat of matters concerning the good of the Kingdom while they are busie therein he and others of his Party went about to impeach them of Treason and that the King caused all the Rolls and Records to be kept from them contrary to his promise made in Parliament and to his open dishonour That he had private Spies in every place and if any discoursed of his Lascivious living or his Illegal Actings he presently apprehended them and grievously fined them That he changed Knights and Burgesses of Parliament at his Pleasure putting out divers Persons and placing others in their Room to serve his Will and Appetite That when divers Lords and Justices were sworn to speak the truth in many things which concerned the honour and profit of the Realm the King so threatned them that they durst not speak what was right That by force and threats he compelled the Judges of the Realm to condescend to him for destruction of divers of the Lords That he caused his Fathers own Brother the Duke of Glocester without Law to be Attached and sent to Callice and there without Cause to be secretly Murdered That contrary to the Great Charter of England he caused several lusty young men to Challenge divers old men upon matters determinable at Common Law in the Court Martial where Tryal is only by battel which old men fearing submitted themselves to his mercy whom he fined unreasonably at his pleasure That in all his Leagues with Forreign Princes his way of Writing was so subtill and dark that no other Prince nor his own Subjects could beleive or trust him That he craftily devised certain private Oaths contrary to Law causing several to swear the same to the utter undoing of many honest men That he assembled certain Lancashire and Cheshire-men to make War upon the Lords and suffered them to rob and spoil without prohibition That notwithstanding his pardon granted them he inforced divers of those who joined with the Lords to be again Intollerably fined to their utter undoing Upon these and some other Articles which were read it was demanded of the Nobility and the Commons what they judged both of the Truth and desert of these Articles who all agreed that the Crimes were Notorious and King Richard was worthy for the same to be deposed from all Princely Honour and Kingly Government The Duke of York who a little before had been Governour of the Realm for the King and directed him much thought it best that King Richard should both Voluntarily Resign and also be Solemnly deposed by consent of all the States of the Realm for Resignation only would be imputed to fear and deprivation to force and therefore this being concluded on there came Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury the Archbishop of York the Bishop of Hereford the Duke of Lancaster and several other Lords and Abbots to King Richard in the Tower of London When all were set in their places King Richard was brought forth apparelled in his Royal Robes the Crown on his head and the Scepter in his hand and was placed among them in a Chair of State Never was Prince so Gorgeous with less Glory and greater Grief to whom it was not disgrace sufficient to lose both the honour and Ornaments of a King but he must openly do even in great scorn renounce the one and deliver up the other After a little Pause and expectation the King rose from his Seat and spake to the Assembly these words or to this effect I assure my self that some at this present and many hereafter will account my Case lamentable either that I have deserved this Dejection if it be just or if it be wrongful that I could not avoid it Indeed I do confess that many times I have shewed my self both less Provident and less painful for the benefit of the Commonwealth than I should or might or intended to do hereafter and have in my Actions more respected the satisfying of my own particular humour than either Justice to some private persons or the Common Good of all yet I did not at any time omit duty or Commit Grievance upon natural dulness or set malice but partly by abuse of Corrupt Councellors partly by Error of my Youthful Judgment
Salters and Gerrards Hall This Ward hath an Alderman his Deputy and 11 Common Council Men 10 Constables 8 Scavengers Wardmote Inquest 13 and a Beadle 23. Queen Hythe VVard comprehends Tainity lane Breadstreet hill Fyfoot lane Disbourn lane Little Trinity lane Old Fishstreet Lambeth hill Pye lane Townsend lane Queen Hythe Salt VVharf Stew lane Broof VVharf Broken wharf Trig lane and Bull wharf The whole Ward was consumed in 1666 with these Churches Trinity Church St. Nicholas Cole Abby St. Nicholas Olaves St. Maudlins Old Fishstreet Saint Mary Mounthaw St. Mary Somerset St. Michael Quean Hythe and St. Peters Pauls wharf It hath an Alderman his Deputy and 6 Common Council Men 9 Constables 8. Scavengers Wardmote Inquest 13 and a Beadle In it is Painter Stainers Hall 24. Castle Baynard Ward contains part of Creed lane the Last part of Avemary lane part of Pater noster Row the East side of Warwick lane Peters hill lane Pauls Wharf Addle hill Carter lane Dolittle lane Sermon lane St. Pauls Chain and part of the South Church-yard St. Peters Pauls Wharf and Baynards Castle It was wholly burnt down by the Fire and therein Baynards Castle St. Bennets Church near Pauls Wharf St. Andrew Wardrobe St. Mary Magdalen and St. Gregories by St. Pauls It hath an Alderman his Deputy and 6 Common Council Men 10 Constables 7 Scavengers VVardmote Inquest 14 and a Beadle 25. Farringdon Ward without is very large and contains Giltspur street Pye Corner Cock lane Holbourn Conduit St. Bartholomews Hospital Duck lane Saint Bartholomews Close part of Long lane part of Chick-lane Smithfield Cow lane Snow hill to the Bishop of Elies House Furnivals Inn Staples Inn Bernards Inn Fetter-lane Thavies Inn Shoe lane the Churches of St. Sepulchres and St. Andrews Holborn the Old Baity where the Sessions is kept for London and Middlesex Fleet Ditch Holborn Bridge the Streets on each side the Fleet Prison Fleet lane St. Dunstaus Church in the west Cliffords Inn the south end of Chancery lane Sergeants Inn even to the Rolls Liberty Jackanapes lane part of Sheer lane the two Temples White Fryers Water lane Salisbury Court St. Brides Church Bridewel lane and Bridewel There is now a new Street out of Chancery lane to Little Lincolns-Inn Some part of this VVard was burnt and also Newgate It hath an Alderman Deputy and 16 Common Council Men 14 Constables 15 Scavengers VVardmote Inquest 44 and 3 Beadles 26. Bridge Ward without contains long Southwark St. Georges Church St. Olaves Church Barnaby street Kent street Blackman street St. Mary Overies formerly a Priory of Canon Regulars St. Thomas Church and Hospital for the Sick and Lame and the Lock a Lazer House in Kent street in which were five Prisons the Clink the Compter the Marshalsea the Kings Bench the White Lyon also Winchester house Battle bridge the Bridge house and Bermondsey Abby It hath an Alderman 3 Deputies a Bailiff no Common Council Men 16 Constables 6 Scavengers and VVardmote Inquest 20. Every VVard hath a peculiar Alderman as an Overseer or Guardian who hath greater Power than any ordinary Justice of Peace CHAP. VIII The Inns of Court and Chancery Colleges Schools and Hospitals in and about the City of London THE famous City of London may not unfitly be stiled an University for therein are taught all Liberal Arts and Sciences for not only Divinity Civil Law and Physick which are usual in Universities are read hear but also the Municipal or Common Law of the Nation is here taught and Degrees taken therein which can be said of no other City moreover all sorts of Sciences as Geography Hydrography the Arts of Navigation and Fortification Anatomy Chyrurgery Chymistry Calligraphy Brachygraphy or Short-hand the Arts of Riding Fencing Dancing Art Military Fireworks Limning Painting Enamelling Sculpture Architecture Heraldry all sorts of Musick Arithmetick Geometry Astronomy Grammar Rhetorick Poetry and any other Science that may contribute to the accomplishment of an Ingenuous Noble Man or Gentleman The Colleges of Municipal or Common Law for Professors and Students are Fourteen and are still called Inns the old English word for the Houses of Noble Men or Bishops There are 2 Inns of Sergeants 4 Inns of Court and 8 Inns of Chancery the Inns of Chancery were probably so named because there dwelt such Clerks as did chiefly study the forming of Writs their Names are Thavies Inn begun in the Reign of Edward III. Furnivals Inn Bernards Inn New Inn Clements Inn Cliffords Inn anciently the House of the Lord Clifford Staple Inn belonging to the Merchants of the Staple and Lyons-Inn anciently a common Inn with the sign of the Lyon These were preparatory Colleges for younger Students many being entred here before admitted into the Inns of Court now they are generally taken by Attorneys Sollicitors and Clerks who have Chambers apart and their Diet in an Hall together where they are obliged to appear in long Robes and black round knit Caps these Colleges belong all to some Inns of Court who send yearly some of their Barristers to read to these In each of these Inns of Chancery may be about threescore Persons The Inns of Court were so named as some think because the Students therein are to serve the Courts of Judicature of these there are 4. First the 〈◊〉 Temples heretofore the dwelling of the Knights Templars and purchased by some Professors of the Common Law above 300 years ago they are called the Inner middle Temple in elation to Essex house which was a part of the Knights Templars Lodgings call'd utter or outer Temple because it is seated without Temple-Bar the 2 other Inns of Court are Lincolns-Inn and Greys-Inn belonging to the Noble Family of the Greys In the Reign of K. Henry VI. there were in each of these above 200 Students These Societies are no Corporations nor have any Iudicial Power over their Members only certain Orders among themselves which have by consent the force of Laws for lighter Offences they are only excommoned or put out of Commons not to eat with the rest for greater they lose their Chambers There are no Lands or Revenues belong to these Societies nor have they any thing for defraying the Charges of the House but what is paid at Admittance and quit Rents for their Chambers the whole Company in each Society may be divided into 4 parts Benchers Vtter Barristers Inner Barristers and Students In the 4 Inns of Court there now are reckoned 800 Students There are 2 more Colleges called Sergeants Inn where the Common Law Student when he hath arrived to the highest Degree hath his Lodging and Diet and are as Doctors in the Civil Law out of these are chosen all the Judges of the Kings Bench and Common-Pleas There is likewise the College of Civilians called Doctors-Commons near St. Pauls for the Professors of the Civil Law where commonly the Judges of the Arches Admiralty and Prerogative Court reside whose Office is not far off They judgeth of Estates
of the Common Law â—ow kept at Wallingford-House The next thing considerable is the Collegiate Church called Westminster-Abby or St. Peters It was â—aised out of the ruins of a Temple formerly dedicated to Apollo wherein there is King Henry VII's Chappel a magnificent and curious Edifice beautified with the stately Tombs of the Kings and Queens of England and many other Persons of Honour and Renown are buried in this Church and here the Kings of England are commonly crowned Then there is Somerset-house a large and stately â—tructure belonging to the King Northumberland house York-house now turned into Streets and Buildings the new Exchange stored with variety of Shops and Goods the Statue of K. Charles I. lately erected at Charing cross Salisbury-house now a fine Street the Savoy Arundel-house Bedford-house and divers other Places worth observing The Limits of Westminster end at Temple-Bar and there the bounds of London begin Westminfter is so mightily enlarged by the building of St. James's Fields and the adjaceat Places into stately large Streets that it is thought to be as big again as formerly To conclude London is the Epitome of England the Seat of the Brittish Empire the Chamber of the King the chiefest Emporium or Town of Trade in the World and to describe all things in it worthy to be known would make a Volume The City of London with the Suburbs and parts adjacent is from Lime-house to the end of Tothill street in Westminster East and West above 7500 Geometrical Paces or 7 English Miles and an half and from the further end of Blackman-street in Southwark to the end of Shoreditch North and South 2500 Paces or two Miles and an half Historical Remarks OF LONDON and WESTMINSTER PART II. ENgland in the time of the Saxons was divided into an Heptarchy or seven Kingdoms in the year of Christ 527. One of these Kingdoms contained Essex and Middlesex and continued about 281 years during the Reign of 14 Kings The third of whom was Sebert who built the Cathedral of St. Paul which had formerly been the Temple of Diana The ninth King was Sebba who after thirty years peaceable Reign relinquished the Crown and took upon him a Religions Habit in the Monastery of St. Paul where dying his Body was intombed in a Coffiâ— of Gray Marble and stood in the North Wall of the Chancel of the Church till the Fire in 1666. About 872. the Danes invaded this Kingdom and got into London making great spoil upon which King Elfred who then reigned compounded with them allowing them a great quantity of Land to secure the rest from Plunder and Ruine for we find these words in the end of the Laws published by this King Let the Bounds of our Dominion stretch from the River Thames and from thence to the Vale of Lea even unto the head of the same Water and so forth straight unto Bedford and finally going along by the River of Ouse let them end at Watling-street But the Danes ufurped daily upon other places so that King Elfred was many times forced to hide himself in the Fens and Marshes and with his small Company to live by Fishing Fowling and Hunting Wild Beasts for Food and being one time entertained alone in a Country man's house disguised in very mean attire as he was sitting by the Fire a Cake was baking on the Hearth before him but the King being intent in trimming his Bow and Arrows the Country woman coming in and seeing the Cake burn she furiously took the Bow from him and checking him as her Slave said Thou Fellow dost thou see the Bread burn before thy Face and wilt thou not turn it and yet mayest be glad to eat it before it be half baked Little suspecting him to be the man that used to be treated with more dainty Food This King more minding the Benefit of his Subjects than the Majesty of State disguised himself in the habit of a common Fidler and went in Person to the Danes Camp who lay wallowing in Wantonuess and Security and being a skilful Musician and a Poet he addded his Voice thereto singing Songs of the Valour of the Danes whereby he had admittance to the Company and Banquets of their chief Commanders and Princes and observing their carelesness and understanding their Designs he returns to his poor disconsolate Soldiers and tells them how easie it was to surprize their Enemies and thereby recover their ruined Country who immediately fell upon the Danes in their Camp and made a very great slaughter and pursuing their Victory they beat them in all Places and at last followed them to London from whence all the Danes fled The Inhabitants were very glad to see the Face of their King and he restored the City to its former Liberty and Splendor again the Danes making their escape by shipping into France In 982 the Danes again invade England and destroy all Places near the Shore Etheldred was then King whose elder Brother called the Martyr was treacherously murdered by his Mother-in-Law for the King being a hunting in the Isle of Purbeck went alone out of kindness to 〈◊〉 his Mother-in-Law and Brother who dwelt hard by where this cruel Woman out of ambition to bring her Son to the Crown caused one to run him into the back with a Knife as he was drinking a Glass of Wine on Horseback at his departing who feeling himself hurt set spurs to his Horse thinking to get to his Company but the Wound being mortal and he fainting through loss of Blood fell from his Horse and one Foot being entangled in the Stirrup he was dragged up and down through the Woods and afterward found dead and was buried at the Minster in Shaftsbury Etheldred was then crowned King by Dunstan Arch Bishop of Canterbury who at his Coronation denounced the wrath of God against him in these Words Because saith he thou hast aspired to the Crown by the death of thy Brother whom thy Mother hath murdered therefore hear the Word of the Lord The Sword shall not depart from thy House but shall furiously rage all the days of thy Life killing all thy Seed till such time as thy Kingdom shall be given to a People whose Customs and Language the Nation thou now governest know not Neither shall thy sin the sin of thy Mother nor the sins of those men who were Partakers of her Councils and Instruments of her wicked Designs be expiated and appeased but by long and most severe Vengeance Which Prediction was seconded by Prodigies for it is said that a Cloud of Blood and Fire appeared after his Coronation and miserable Calamities fell upon him and his House This King was neither forward nor fortunate in any of his undertakings so that he was called The Vuready he spent his Youth in debauchery his middle Age in carelesness and neglect of his Government maintaining Dissentions amongst his own Subjects and his latter end in resisting the blood thirsty Danes who made continual Destruction of his People