Notes on Ranke's History of England

Last updated February 12, 2012

1 Once again I come before the public . . .

By the time he wrote the History of England between 1859 and 1868, Ranke had already published many of the books for which he is well known. These included

Still to come were

2 universal
Ranke is known for championing three principles of writing history:
  1. Rely on primary sources — believe the writers who were closest to the event. This is a commonplace today, but the difficulties of collecting original materials became overcomable only in the 19th century.
  2. Avoid introducing the prejudices of later ages into the history of an earlier one. Relying on primary sources is, of course, one way of doing this. Ranke had a well-known description of this principle: History should be written "wie es eigentlich gewesen ist" — as it actually was.
  3. The history of one country cannot be understood in isolation. The politics of Europe, for example, made the external relations among Germany, France, Italy and England as important as internal influences. This idea stems from the concept of "universal history", a belief shared by Spengler, Ranke, Toynbee and many others of their age that there are great themes and trends in history that form a "big picture" reflecting God's will. Ranke spent the last years of his life attempting to write a "universal history".

Ranke expands on these points later in this Preface.

3 The best-written histories will be accounted the best
Which perhaps explains why Ranke is not much read in English today. Ranke wrote a clear and even elegant 19th century German, but his 19th century English translators, and especially the the Oxford professors who translated the History of England were a mixed lot. There is little in the English translation that slides easily off the tongue, and some of the paragraphs must have seemed impossibly heavy even in 1890.
4 language . . . employed in rare perfection.
Ranke probably refers to Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859), whose History of England covers roughly the same period as Ranke's. Macaulay was a fine writer and his History is a pleasure. He was also a Whig and saw the Civil Wars, the Restoration, the Glorious Revolution and the continental wars through political eyes. It is easy to be blinded to his bias by his prose.
5 Frenchmen . . . political science.
François Guizot (1787-1884) wrote Histoire de la révolution d'Angleterre, 1826-56.
6 so much documentary matter
Unfortunately this edition does not include a bibliography. But one of the many valuable things to a 21st century reader is that Ranke's History includes extensive extracts from original documents that are now impossible for all but a few to read. The last part of volume 5 and all of volume 6 are devoted to this material and Ranke's opinions on it.
7 the great metropolis . . . has not maintained its rank.
From the peak of its political and geographic dominance in the 3rd Century A.D., Rome declined until it was a city of only regional importance. Often sacked after its fall to Alaric and the Visigoths (410 A.D.), it remained a religious capital as the seat of the Popes—with some interruptions such as the Great Schism (1378-1415) when popes ruled from Avignon.

When Ranke began the History of England in 1859, there was not yet a modern Kingdom of Italy. When the kingdom was declared in 1861, Rome was outside it, remaining an enclave of the church. It was not until 1870 that Rome was politically joined to Italy and became its capital.

8 a certain geographical cause.
The isolation of England from the continent by the barrier of the English Sea.
9 two great capitals
London and Paris
10 Albion . . . was connected with the continent.
A recently as 6500 B.C., there was a chalk land-bridge between Dover and Cap Griz Nez in Pas de Calais. Water trapped between the chalk and the great ice sheet which stretched half way down the modern coast of England eventually broke through the chalk, forming the English Channel.
11 the religion that gave a certain unity to the populations
Modern historians tend to make a distinction between the Druids and the religions of the people among whom they lived. The druids themselves were a class of "magicians, diviners, physicians, and teachers" found throughout the Keltic world. It is now thought that while they performed educational, judicial and priestly functions, they accommodated rather than originated local religions. Caesar writes that a common belief among them was reincarnation.
12 the great war between Rome and Carthage
The two great powers in the Mediterranean during the 3rd Century B.C. were Rome and the former Phoenecian colony, Carthage. (Phoenicians were called "Poeni" by the Romans; in English, "Punic" is a synonym for "Carthaginian"). Carthage was a city located near the present site of Tunis. It controlled most of North Africa, southern Spain, Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily. The first Punic War (264-241 B.C.) began over territorial disputes in western Sicily. Rome was granted Sicily at the end of the first war, but the long struggle was for the most part indecisive.

In the second Punic war (218-202 B.C.), Carthaginian armies under Hannibal marched through Italy, defeating the Romans at Cannae. The Romans, seriously weakened, maintained its political alliances with neibouring Italian states and adopted the strategy of isolating Hannibal in Italy. This worked, after a fashion, and allowed the Roman general Scipio to invade Africa through Spain. Carthage lost the war despite the fact that its general, Hannibal, won every battle.

13 form . . . which bound them.
Hostage giving (and taking) is no doubt as old as political disagreement. We first hear about it among the Greeks; for example, Philip II of Macedon was sent to Thebes as a hostage. The concept of hostages was so universal that the Romans frequently exchanged them with barbarian tribes. It is not surprising that Ranke found the Kelts familiar with and not averse to the idea.
14 the Druids on Mona
In the year 60, Suetonius Paulinus attacked a remnant of the British Keltic forces on Insula Mona, now known as Anglesea, an island off the coast of Wales. Tacitus (Annals XIV, xix ff.) gives a fairly complete description of the attack and the defense. After the victory on Mona, Paulinus returned to the southeast in time to defeat the forces of Boadicea.
15 Arians
Arianism is a Christian doctrine preached by St. Arius, called heresy by the Catholic Church, which holds that Christ is the creation of God, not God Himself, nor His son, nor His co-equal. Like many dogmas it became political and Arian kingdoms sprang up in Italy, Spain and Africa after the fall of the Western Roman empire.
16 King still heathen . . . prophecies of their apostle.
Saint Augustine visited the 2000 monks of the Welsh abbey of Bangor (in Flintshire near Chester) around 598. Bangor was the largest center of the Catholocism practiced by the Britons, who had been driven into Wales by the Saxons. Because the Bangor monks would not change their teaching to correspond to the Roman Church, Augustine is said to have prophesied that they would fall at the hand of one of their own. In 603, the Briton King of Northumbira, Ethelfrid attached Chester and, hearing that the monks of Bangor were praying for his defeat, attacked the monastery killing 1200.
17 Abbot of the . . . island of Iona
St Columba, an Irish monk, founded the abbey at Iona (a small island on the south-western coast of Scotland) around 598. He and the abbey had great influence over the Gaelic Christians of Great Britain and Ireland.
18 number of hides . . . if the families
In fact the land measure called a "hide" is usually defined as the area needed to support one family. It ranged from 60 to 180 acres. When the Normans came in (much later), they standardized it at 120 acres.
19 a wergeld.
A payment of blood money to the family or master of a murder victim. It was a part of Norse and Anglo-Saxon law. The price varied by rank. In Wessex, the wergeld due to family of a noble was 6 times that due a peasant's lord. In other places, there was technically no monetary penalty for killing a peasant or a slave.
20 daughter of a Frankish prince . . . conversion
Æthelbert, King of Kent married Berthe, a daughter of Charibert the Frankish King of Paris. He agreed to allow Berthe to practice the Christian religion and to have with her a bishop, Luidhard. Ethelbert allowed St Augustine to preach and convert in Kent, beginning the Christian reconquest of England. Pope Saint Gregory the Great credited Augustine's success to the influence of Berthe. Ethelbert was baptized in 597 and his capital, Canterbury, became the ecclesiastical center of England.
21 Carl's predecessors overthrew
The Merovingian dynasty was in decay in both its kingdoms (Neustria and Austrasia) when Charles Martel (688?-741) began to take control in the Frankish states. He had some claim to the throne, though his birth was illegitimate. Rather than take power himself, he had Clotaire IV set up as a puppet king in Austrasia and made himself Mayor of the Palace and de facto ruler. He continued this policy of establishing weak kings under his control while unifying the Frankish kingdoms and expanding them into Belgium and Germany. The effect was that his son, Pepin the Short, became King of the Franks, and his grandson Charlemagne ruled a large part of Europe and Holy Roman Emperor.
22 The Danes . . . destroy
In this paragraph, Ranke compresses 31 years of struggle between the Saxons and the Danes. After early defeats of Æthelred and Alfred, the Saxons learned tactics that allowed them to draw in and isolate invading forces. Alfred first gained a partition of England into Saxon and Danish areas (the "Peace of Wedmore" in 878), then a final victory when he blockaded the Viking fleet in the Thames below London in 895.

Alfred also used diplomatic forms to further his aims. He married off his daughters Aethelflaed and Aelfthryth to a Danish chief and the Count of Flanders respectively. Aelfthryth became an ancestor of the wife of William the Conqueror.

Alfred's son, Edward the Elder, completed the defeat of the Danes and claimed control of most of England.
23 regained Northumbria by . . . dubious title
In 927, Athelstan of Wessex called a meeting of the Northern kings at Eamont Bridge near Carlisle. All the local power attended him except Guthfrith, the Danish King of Dublin, who also ruled York. Athelstan marched an army into York and reclaimed it for the Anglo-Saxons.
24 hierarchic colouring.
One of the key ideas in Ranke's History is the conflict between the "hierarchic" principle and one to which he gives no name but which many Americans would be comfortable calling the (small r) republican principle. Power from the top, however far down it is allowed to percolate, is justified by a world-view that assumes a natural hierarchic order to the universe and to human affairs. Perturb that view by the slightest bit and room is left for an alternative understand of affairs. Ranke will show how these perturbations, accumulated over the course of 700 years from this point in the narrative, led to conflict and a final accommodation that left a republican government with hierarchical forms.
25 treacherously murdered by his stepmother.
King Edgar's son Edward "the Martyr" inherited the throne of Wessex — and therefore England — after the death of his father, Edgar, in 975. His step-mother, Elfreda, arranged his assassination at Corfe less than three years later. Her object was to promote her son, Æthelred, who was 10 years old at the time, to the throne.
26 two able women . . . maintaining peace
Ranke probably refers to Otto II's wife, the Byzantine princess Theophanu, and to his mother, Adelaide, who served as regent during the minority of Otto III.
27 half a Dane
Edmund's mother was Æfled of Northumbria. His wife was also a Dane, Ealdgyth, the widow of a Danish thane, Siferth, whom Edmund's father had ordered killed.
28 last scion . . . banished
Æthelred's two surviving sons, Edward (who later reigned in England) and Alfred, were exiled to Normandy, their mother Emma's native country. In part to protect himself from a Norman invasion, Canute marrie the widowed Emma.
29 North America
By the year 999, the Greenland coasts had been well-explored by Icelandic Norsemen, and a few fertile spots had been settled. Norse were visiting the Newfoundland and Labrador coast by the year 1000.
30 Huskurls
The king's Household Guard or Body Guard. This is thought to be a Norse innovation in England, brought in by Canute, but it may be older. The institution was inspired by the Varangian Guard of the Eastern Roman Emperor. The Huskarls had their own rules of law and discipline. They also had very nice swords.
31 Aetheling
"Ætheling" designates the son or daughter of an English Saxon king. It is thought to stem from Alfred the Great, whose children were Æthelwulf, Æthelbald, Æthelbert, Æthelred, and Æthelfleda.
32 Normandy . . . antipathies of the nation
Edward the Confessor, normally a mild man, had an active hate for his mother and her homeland, Normandy. He resented that his mother married Canute and sent Edward into exile in Normandy when he was 10 years old; and he disliked the Normans for giving him only desultory aide in recovering his throne over the next 30 years.
33 attack from the north . . . repelled
After the death of Godwin of Kent, his lands were divided among his sons Harold, Tostig and S???. Tostig ruled Northumbria, badly. In 1065, Harold, under the orders of King Edward, negotiated Tostig's banishment and replacement by Morcar, Harold's brother-in-law. When Harold became King in January 1066, Tostig allied with King Harald Hardrada of Norway and invaded England, seizing York. Harold marched an army north and defeated the invaders at Stamford Bridge in the East Riding.
34 like that once concluded with the leaders of the Frankish host
In other words, the alliance between the Church and the Norman Duke Robert was similar to that formed with Charlemagne 200 years before. It offered the Church of Rome a certain independence, this time from the Byzantine Empire, at the cost of French political domination.
35 Edward had destined Duke William to be his successor
This was early in Edward's reign, when he sought assistance from his Norman friends against Godwin of Kent. When Edward reconciled with Godwin, the promise was (presumably) forgotten.
36 men asserted that Harold had previously recognised this right
In 1064, Harold was on a ship that was blown across the Channel to Poiteau in Normandy. The local lord held him for ransom. Duke William demanded Harold's release and this, it is assumed, was the reason Harold promised to support William's claim on the English throne. At the same time, Harold promised to marry William's daughter Eadmer.
37 beaten his feudal lord in the open field
In 1054 and 1058, Henri I invaded Normandy to try to limit the power of Duke William whom, only a few years earlier, Henri had helped establish in that country. The expedition of 1054 ended with William's victory at Mortemer. In 1058, the French plundered large parts of Normandy but were surprised at the ford of Varaville during their retreat; Henri lost the booty and half his army. As a gesture of peace, Henri restored the fortress of Tillières, which he had seized ten years before, and ceded it to Normandy.
38 an archbishop allied with them
Probably Mauger, Archbishop of Rouen, one of William's uncles. whom he banished to Guernsey.
39 another mighty opponent, the Duke of Brittany
Alain V, who died suddenly in 1040, possibly poisoned.
40 affront . . . at Dover
In 1051 Eustace was in England as a guest of Edward the Confessor. His party was attacked by Saxons, with considerable loss of life on both sides. Godwin of Kent, in whose terriroy of Wessex the insult occurred, was ordered to subdue the Saxon rioters, but instead he demanded the expulsion of the Normans. This led to Godwin's exile.
41 not yet of age
In 1066, Henry IV (later Holy Roman Emperor) was 16. He is the leader of the "East Franks" mentioned by Ranke. The "West Frank" was Philip I of France, who was 14 in the year of the conquest.
42 next three successors
The Norman kings following William I were
43 none . . . enjoyed a completely legal recognition
The legality of William's line in England was questionable on two points:
44 variances . . . not without influence on home affairs
It took several generations for Norman rule to be accepted (as opposed to tolerated) in England. During the 90 years after Hastings, William and his successors faced uprisings in the north (where Edgar Aethling rallied the support of the Scots); the Welsh Marches; in Devon, where Harold's mother Gytha temporarily fortified Exeter; and in Kent. They built the Norman castles that are still a feature of many English towns as protection from, rather than protection of, the people. There were external attacks, too, primarily from the Danes who had some claim to the English throne; and from the continental enemies of Normandy such as Anjou.
45 fall of Jerusalem
After the first Crusade, a string of Christian states were established in the Levant. The largest and most powerful of these was the kingdom of Jerusalem, which at its peak around 1100 controlled much of modern Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.

The exposed Crusader States survived mainly because the Moslem states in the Middle East were weak and divided. Around 1170 the Ayyubid tribes united under Saladin, who took control of Egypt and Syria as far east as Mosul. The reunification of the Moslems coincided with internal dissension among the Christians. Saladin decisively defeated the army of Jerusalem at Hattin (Tiberias) in July of 1187 and seized the city of Jerusalem in September of the same year.

46 "took the cross in the company of the English"
Ranke glosses over some interesting details here. England and France were at war in 1187 when news arrived of the fall of Jerusalem. Though they made peace on the spot, it was still three years before Henry II's son Richard (by then Richard I of England) and this coalition of French and English knights set out on the Third Crusade.
47 the King and the Archbishop . . . two strong steers
From a letter of St Anselm, who succeeded Lanfranc as Archbishop of Canterbury, quoted by William Harrison in Holinshed's Chronicles (1577):
Secularia negotia nescio, quia scire nolo, eorum namque occupationes horreo, liberum affectans animum. Voluntati sacrarum intendo scripturarum, vos dissonantiam facitis, verendumque est ne aratrum sanctae ecclesiae, quod in Anglia duo boves validi et pari fortitudine, ad bonum certantes, id est, rex et archiepiscopus, debeant trahere, nunc ove vetula cum tauro indomito jugata, distorqueatur a recto.
Harrison translates it as
Of secular affairs I have no skill, because I will not know them; for I even abhor the troubles that rise about them, as one that desireth to have his mind at liberty. I apply my whole endeavour to the rule of the Scriptures; you lead me to the contrary; and it is to be feared lest the plough of holy church, which two strong oxen of equal force, and both like earnest to contend unto that which is good (that is, the king and the archbishop), ought to draw, should thereby now swerve from the right furrow. . . .
48 a design was started . . .
I do not know what plot Ranke refers to here. The years from 1138 to the death of King Stephen was known as "the Anarchy", but the historical crumbs of that period mainly describe invasions from Scotland and revolts of Norman nobles.
49 the Concordat
A concordat is an agreement. In church matters, it is usually applied to agreements between the Catholic church and temporal powers. The first and most famous Concordat, the one Ranke refers to, is the Pactum Callixtinum or Concordat of Worms between the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V and Pope Callistus II in 1122. It settled, temporarily, the question of investiture of bishops by allowing the Emperor to appoint bishops but vesting their spiritual authority in the Pope. In effect it allowed the temporal authority to elect bishops subject to the blessing of the Pope. The Concordat also required the Emperor not to interfere with the election of Popes, a provision largely ignored thereafter.
50 a council
The Synod of Pavia, 1160. Rival popes—Alexander III and Victor IV— had been set up. Frederic insisted on the right to decide the conflict and came down on the side of Victor. Alexander III was forced out of Italy to France, where he was ultimately vindicated.
51 rested on an error
The northern Italian cities, sympathetic with the cause of Alexander III and very anti-German, formed the "Lombard League" as a defensive alliance. They forced Frederic Barbarossa to retreat into Germany in 1167. He returned in 1174 and had some successes, but his army was badly defeated at Legnano and he finally agreed to recognize Alexander as the true Pope. His "error" was supporting the claims of the line of antipopes beginning with Victor IV.
52 Henry II . . . penance
The penances to which Henry submitted, imposed by the Pope, included
53 Constitutions
There were 16 points to the Constitutions of Clarendon, the rights asserted by Henry II to which Thomas à Becket was so opposed. They were:
  1. Cases between churchmen, and cases regarding church patronage and rights of presentation, were to be decided in temporal rather than ecclesiastical courts.
  2. The King has the right of presentation in churches built with royal funds.
  3. Civil courts have the right of supervision over church courts in matters heard there.
  4. Clerics may not leave England without the permission of the King.
  5. Security that can be demanded of excommunicants by the church is limited.
  6. Limitations are placed on the competence of Church courts in cases involving laymen.
  7. The king must decide on cases of excommunication involving his officers and nobles.
  8. The king, not the pope, is the final appeal in all cases, including those arising in ecclesiastical courts.
  9. Disputes over land rights between civilians and clerics are to be decided in temporal courts.
  10. Laymen who refuse to submit to ecclesiastical courts may be arrested, but not excommunicated without permission of the King.
  11. Except in capitol cases, bishops and abbots have the same legal standing, rights and duties as barons and as such must submit to the judgments of the King's court.
  12. During the vacancy of a bishopric or abbey, the revenues belong to the King.
  13. The king will defend the rights of the bishops, and they should defend his right.
  14. Property belonging to the king cannot be withheld from him by the church or because it is in church custody.
  15. The church courts have no competence in cases involving debts.
  16. Serfs (villeins) can't be ordained in the church without the permission of their feudal lord.
54 discords . . . in the King's own house
Henry II's wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine; and his four sons Henry, Richard (later Richard I), Geoffrey and John "Lackland" (later King John); rebelled against him in 1173. The main causes were Eleanor's and Henry's disagreements with Henry's policies in France; son Henry's desire to get a share of his inheritance immediately; and the weak position of Henry II after the murder of Thomas à Becket. After 18 months, the family were reconciled.
55 forgotten charter of Henry I
This is the Coronation Charter, issued by Henry I to assure the Norman nobles that the worst abuses of his brother, William Rufus, would be avoided in the new reign. Here is the translation of the Charter given in White, Source Problems in English History, New York, 1915:
Henry, king of the English, to Bishop Samson and Urso de Abetot and all his barons and faithful, both French and English, of Worcestershire, [copies were sent to all the shires] greeting.
  1. Know that by the mercy of God and the common counsel of the barons of the whole kingdom of England I have been crowned king of said kingdom; and because the kingdom had been oppressed by unjust exactions, I, through fear of god and the love which I have toward you all, in the first place make the holy church of God free, so that I will neither sell nor put to farm, nor on the death of archbishop or bishop or abbot will I take anything from the church's demesne or from its men until the successor shall enter it. And I take away all the bad customs by which the kingdom of England was unjustly oppressed; which bad customs I here set down in part:
  2. If any of my barons, earls, or others who hold of me shall have died, his heir shall not buy back his land as he used to do in the time of my brother, but he shall relieve it by a just and lawful relief. Likewise also the men of my barons shall relieve their lands from their lords by a just and lawful relief.
  3. And if any of my barons or other men should wish to give his daughter, sister, niece, or kinswoman in marriage, let him speak with me about it; but I will neither take anything from him for this permission nor prevent his giving her unless he should be minded to join her to my enemy. And if, upon the death of a baron or other of my men, a daughter is left as heir, I will give her with her land by the advice of my barons. And if, on the death of her husband, the wife is left and without children, she shall have her dowry and right of marriage, and I will not give her to a husband unless according to her will.
  4. But if a wife be left with children, she shall indeed have her dowry and right of marriage so long as she shall keep her body lawfully, and I will not give her unless according to her will. And the guardian of the land and children shall be either the wife or another of the relatives who more justly ought to be. And I command that my barons restrain themselves similarly in dealing with the sons and daughters or wives of their men.
  5. The common seigniorage, which has been taken through the cities and counties, but which was not taken in the time of King Edward I absolutely forbid henceforth. If any one, whether a moneyer or other, be taken with false money, let due justice be done for it.
  6. I remit all pleas and all debts which were owing to my brother, except my lawful fixed revenues and except those amounts which had been agreed upon for the inheritances of others or for things which more justly concerned others. And if any one had pledged anything for his own inheritance, I remit it; also all reliefs which had been agreed upon for just inheritances.
  7. And if any of my barons or men shall grow feeble, as he shall give or arrange to give his money, I grant that it be so given. But if, prevented by arms or sickness, he shall not have given or arranged to give his money, his wife, children, relatives, or lawful men shall distribute it for the good of his soul as shall seem best to them.
  8. If any of my barons or men commit a crime, he shall not bind himself to a payment at the king's mercy as he has been doing in the time of my father or my brother; but he shall make amends according to the extent of the crime as he would have done before the time of my father in the time of my other predecessors. But if he be convicted of treachery or heinous crime, he shall make amends as is just.
  9. I forgive all murders committed before the day I was crowned king; and those which shall be committed in the future shall be justly compensated according to the law of King Edward.
  10. By the common consent of my barons I have kept in my hands forests as my father had them.
  11. To those knights who render military service for their lands I grant of my own gift that the lands of their demesne ploughs be free from all payments and all labor, so that, having been released from so great a burden, they may equip themselves well with horses and arms and be fully prepared for my service and the defense of my kingdom.
  12. I impose a strict peace upon my whole kingdom and command that it be maintained henceforth.
  13. I restore to you the law of King Edward with those amendments introduced into it by my father with the advice of his barons.
  14. If any one, since the death of King William my brother, has taken anything belonging to me or to any one else, the whole is to be quickly restored without fine; but if any one keep anything of it, he upon whom it shall be found shall pay me a heavy fine.
Witnesses Maurice bishop of London, and William bishop elect of Winchester, and Gerard bishop of Hereford, and earl Henry, and earl Simon, and Walter Giffard,and Robert de Montfort, and Roger Bigot, and Eudo the steward, and Robert son of Hamo, and Robert Malet. At London when I was crowned. Farewell.
56 death of a chancellor
Ranke may be confused here. The chancellor, Walter de Gray, did leave office in 1214, opening the way for Peter des Roches, but it was to assume the archbishopric of York. Gray lived until 1255.
57 Magna Carta
Per the National Archives, Magna Carta, as confirmed by Edward I in 1297, had 37 articles:
  1. The Church of England shall be free and retain all her rights and privileges.
  2. Inheritance fees for Earls, Barons and Knights are set.
  3. Terms of wardship are set. The age of majority is 21 years.
  4. Wardship is a trust.
  5. Keepers of wards are responsible for the maintenance of their property.
  6. Marriage does not dilute a ward's right in his property.
  7. The rights of widows are set.
  8. Seizure of property to satisfy debts is limited.
  9. The liberties of Loodon, other boroughs and towns, and the Cinque Ports are confirmed.
  10. Seizure of property in lieu of a Knight's fee is limited.
  11. The location of courts of common pleas will be fixed.
  12. A process for judging restitution of freeholds is specified.
  13. Cases involving the right of presentment (for church offices) are to be judged by the king's bench.
  14. Arbitrary fines are limited.
  15. Seizure of community property for bridges and bankworks is limited.
  16. Property can't be seized to create new bankworks.
  17. Minor officers may not act as judges.
  18. Debts owed the crown may be collected on the death of the debtor.
  19. Taking of property by constables and bailiffs is limited.
  20. Seizure of the property of Knights for castle maintenance is limited.
  21. Taking of horses, carts and firewood is limited.
  22. The king's right to the property of a felon is limited.
  23. Weirs are to be removed from the Thames and Medway.
  24. Rights of the king's tenants in chief are secured.
  25. Weights and measures are standardized.
  26. Requests for inquiries will not be denied.
  27. Rights held from the king are separate from those held from others.
  28. Bailiffs may not accuse on their own, without the evidence of witnesses.
  29. A man may not be condemned without the forms of justic, and justice is not for sale.
  30. In the lands the king holds as Baron, he has no more authority than would the Baron there.
  31. If a man gives or sells his land, his feudal lord must get his rightful share out of it.
  32. Patrons of abbeys retain possession of them if they fail.
  33. A woman can't expect payment on the murder of any man but her husband.
  34. Sittings of local courts are set.
  35. Lease-backs of land gifts to religious houses is forbidden.
  36. Scutage is limited and customary rights are assured. The Charter is binding on King John and his heirs.
58 original contract
Social Contract theory has roots as old as philosophy. The chief modern explainers were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. It became part of the accepted liberal dogma of the 19th century and is therefore now carefully ignored.
59 Statutes, at Oxford
The Provisions of Oxford (1258) and the Provisions of Westminster (1259) were early attempts to institutionalize the rights guaranteed by Magna Carta. The Oxford statutes called for a 15-member council of barons and a thrice-yearly parliament. The Oxford provisions moved many classes of lawsuits to the Barons' courts; the Provisions of Westminster reversed this, reverting the cases to the King's court. The Barons were led in both these causes by Simon de Momfort, Earl of Leister.
60 A disputed succession
On the death of the Scots king Alexander III, the throne passed to his granddaughter Margaret "the Maid of Norway" who was at the time less than a year old. There was a plan to bring Margaret to England to marry the son of Edward I, but the girl died on the journey (1289). Edward was invited to decide among the many claimants for the throne and chose Bailliol over his cousin Robert the Bruce. Much warfare followed.
61 Philip the Fair . . . destroy the English tongue
The conflict between Edward I and Philip the Fair sprang from the attack of Gascon sailors on the port of La Rochelle in 1293. Gascony was the property of Edward, but his tenure there was as a vassal to the French King. As Duke of Gascony, Edward had to answer to Philip; as King of England, he could not. France occupied Gascony in 1294, and this led to war with England. It was a ruinously expensive war for both nations, as Ranke explains.
62 arbitrary imposition of taxes
Edward taxed the clergy, the barons and the commons. The tax that most affected the latter two estates was on wool exports, a tax that became known as the "maltolte".
63 Forest Charter
The provisions of Magna Carta which applied to forests of the realm were separately affirmed by Henry III in 1217.
64 unity of interests between the crown and the nation
Ranke was a monarchist. There are surprisingly few passages of the History that directly reveal his opinion. This is one. The characterization of Edward's concessions as cooperative is, as Ranke himself says, a doubtful conclusion.
65 King of Scotland . . . King of France . . . became prisoners.
King David II of Scotland invaded England in 1341 while Edward III was fighting in France. The Scots were soundly defeated at Neville's Cross. David was captured and remained a prisoner in England for twelve years.

King John II of France (Jean le Bon) was captured by the Black Prince (Prince Edward, son of Edward III) at the battle of Poitiers in 1356. He was held a prisoner in England until the peace of Brétigny in 1360 when he was released for a ransom of three million crowns.

66 Seated at Avignon
The reign of Edward III (1327-1377) was during the period of the Avignon Popes (1305-1378), when a series of 7 French-born popes rules the church from southern France. The first of these, Clement V, died before Edward came to the throne, but Edward dealt with the next six:

Gregory XI moved the church back to Rome, but church politics led to the election of a series of anti-popes who sat at Avignon until 1414.

67 the claim was never . . . raised again.
Urban V's claim of his feudal due in 1365 is remarkable for two circumstances. First, the pope, when he was refused, simply withdrew his claim. Urban was a man of peace and he probably realized the effect on England and the relationship of England and France if he pressed his demand. Second, the discussion of the issue in Parliament was the first time John Wycliffe is mentioned in history. He was a lawyer on the government's side.
68 the king's uncles
Richard II's uncles were all given the title of "Duke" to distinguish them from the other barons:

His cousin, Henry Bolingbroke (later Henry IV) was made Duke of Hereford.

69 Taborites
The Taborites were the Hussites of the town of Tabor in Bohemia. They were the most advanced of the church reformers of the time. John Zizka was a Taborite.

The Hussites held that

To these advanced ideas, the Taborites added the radical notions that

70 charter which secured them personal freedom
In June, 1381, two large groups of peasants marched on London to protest perceived unfairness in English justice and taxes. A group from Kent, led by Wat Tyler, entered the city from the south and peasants from Essex under Jack Straw entered from the east. The three-week period of unrest was called the English Peasants' Revolt. King Richard II (then 14 years old) met the men of Essex and promised tax relief and the abolition of serfdom. The rioters demanded further concessions, however, and in an attack on the Tower of London, murdered Simon of Sudbury, the Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury, and Robert de Hales, the Lord Treasurer. At a meeting the next day, the Lord Mayor of London, William Walworth killed Wat Tyler as the rebel leader met with the King. The authorities came down hard on the rebels and the revolt was quickly put to rest and the concessions granted by Richard II were canceled.
71 the almost inevitable result of success in suppressing a popular agitation is to heighten the self-confidence of an aristocracy
This is one of the pithy quotes often found buried in Ranke's paragraphs that make the History such a pleasure to read.
72 threatened him . . . with the fate of Edward II
Ranke is describing the events of 1386-88, when a small group of barons including his uncle the Duke of Gloucester exercised so much influence in the Parliament that they effectively put the government of the kingdom into commission.
73 exclude succession in the female line . . . .
The tradition for a long time in England (though not in Scotland) was for inheritance of title to pass to male heirs of the body. This is the principle under Salic law. Richard of York (Richard III) claimed the throne through the female line from Edward III.
74 Lollards . . . petition to Parliament
The timing is right for this petition to be the one based on the Twelve Conclusions, a kind of "Heads of the Articles" of Lollard belief. The conclusions were:
  1. The evils of the English church stem from its aping of the Church of Rome, which is at best its stepmother.
  2. Priests ordained by Rome are not necessarily ordained of Christ.
  3. Celibacy of priests leads to sodomy.
  4. The doctrine of transubstantiation is idolatry.
  5. Exorcisms and clerical blessings are attempts to do magic, not sound theology.
  6. Church officers should not be officers of the state. It harms both estates.
  7. The practice of accepting money to pray for a dead person's soul is pernicious.
  8. Pilgrimages to visit holy artifacts or images are a form of idolatry.
  9. The practice of confessing to priests is pernicious because priests can not be trusted with private matters and indeed take advantage of the confidences given them.
  10. War is evil, both for the killing and for driving out charity from the men who are fighting.
  11. Vows of continence (that is, the female equivalent of celibacy) are bad because they will be broken, and when they are the result can be a terrible crime like abortion. It is therefore better for women to marry.
  12. We make things we don't need, so crafts like goldsmithing and armor-making should be banned.
The Conclusions were posted to the doors of Westminster Abbey and St Paul's.
75 an outbreak . . . in which these causes co-operated.
This was Oldcastle's Rebellion. Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, was an old soldier and a prominent land owner in Herefordshire. After his arrest in 1413 for preaching Lollardy, he tried to raise a general rebellion in London. Only about a thousand rebels showed up, and the whole thing was soon over. Oldcastle escaped but was captured and executed in 1417.
76 claims of Edward III
That is, the right to the French throne.
77 successful battle . . . destroyed the flower of the French nobility
Agincourt, 1415.
78 marriage of the youngest of his brothers
Henry IV's sons, all out of Mary of Bohemia, were
79 Council of Constance
The Council was called by Pope John XXII (or XXIII, depending on who is counting) in 1414 and lasted for four and a half years. It dealt mainly with healing the Great Western Schism which had produced as many as three simultaneous Popes in the period since 1378. Reform was also part of the agenda, partly under pressure from Catholics who thought the Church had become too worldly. But anyone who went too far down that path was branded a heretic, and the Council is best remembered for the harsh measure it passed against heresy. The Czech reformer Jan Hus was arrested when he appeared in Constance in 1415; part of the entertainment was seeing him burned as a heretic.
80 The Ottomans
The Ottoman Empire traced its roots to Sultan Osman I who declared independence from the Seljuk empire around 1299. It was 150 years later that its great period of expansion began (Constantinople fell in 1453). The Ottoman Empire reached its greatest extent, ruling Turkey, the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, the Red Sea coasts and Southeastern Europe under Suleiman the Magnificent who died in 1566.
81 Henry V was attacked by a disease
There is no agreement on the disease that ended Henry's life. Contemporary accounts say that it was disfiguring and involved debilitating attacks. There is speculation that he suffered from some combination of leprosy, psorias, syphilis, epilepsy and/or heart disease.
82 incessantly entangled in love affairs
Edward IV himself was rumored to be illegitmately conceived. Shakespeare put these lines in the mouth of Edward's brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III):
Tell them, when that my mother went with child
Of that insatiate Edward, noble York,
My princely father, then had wars in France,
And by true computation of the time
Found that the issue was not his begot;
Which well appeared in his lineaments,
Being nothing like the noble duke my father.
Yet touch this sparingly, as 'twere far off;
Because, my lord, you know my mother lives.
     Richard III Act 3 Scene 5

Edward had many mistresses. The best-known was Jane Shore, but he also left at illegitimate children out of other women.

83 Tonnage and Poundage
The issue of customs revenue—Tonnage and Poundage— will of course become very important when Ranke's story reaches the 17th century.

Tonnage (or tunnage) was a fixed tariff on each barrel (tun) of wine imported. Poundage was a rate levied against the value of all other imports and exports. They were used both for revenue and for trade protection. Originally considered separate taxes, Tunnage and Poundage were first levied together under Edward III, They were first granted for the life of the King—instead of for a fixed period—in the reign of Henry V. Tonnage and Poundage continued in effect until the late 18th century, when they were replaced by a more structured tariff scheme.

84 two infant sons of Edward IV . . . murdered at once
The story of the murder of the princes in the tower is too well known to need a footnote. And as Ranke notes further on in the paragraph, Shakespeare has drawn the character of Richard III in an unforgettable way. The interesting thing about this paragraph is Ranke's speculation that it was some Plantagenet family trait, a sort of assassination gene, to get or maintain power through the murder of close relatives. The same tendency seems to have run through the Julians of Rome, though, and the blood relation there was often broken through adoption.
85 Starchamber
The court of Star Chamber predates the Tudors, but it was in 1487 that it was administered separately from the Council. The court met in a room of Westminster Palace which was decorated with a pattern of stars on the ceiling, hence the name. The nature of Star Chamber changed over time. Under Henry VII it was a court of appeal and mainly heard cases involving property rights. Under Henry VIII it also dealt with matters of public disorder; and some cases were brought directly to it, bypassing the lower courts. The Stuart Kings used it for political purposes. Under Charles I its sessions were secret. The court became so despised that when it was abolished by the Long Parliament in 1641, it was never revived.
86 In his council . . . .
Among the councilors of Henry VII were

Henry council drew on the gentry, the nobility, the church and the legal establishment.

87 offer was accepted
It was a provision of the treaty of Medina del Campo in 1489. Other terms of the treaty bound England to an offensive alliance with Spain and Austria against France, to which Henry VII never agreed; so the terms of the marriage agreement were changed in 1492 and again in 1497.
88 Juana . . . Archduke Philip
This was actually a double wedding in 1497 at Lille. Philip the Fair joined with Joanna (Juana) of Castile and the Infante John of Castile married Margaret of Austria. The son of Philip and Joanna (who was called "Joanna the Mad") was Emperor Charles V. Philip and Margaret were children of Maximilian I of Austria (later Holy Roman Emperor). John was the young son of King Ferdinand V and Juana the daughter of Ferdinand IV and Queen Isabella.

Margaret ruled the Netherlands as regent for her nephew Charles V for 22 years. John died less than a year after their marriage and she married Philibert the Handsome of Savoy. As "Margaret of Savoy" she is infamous for persecution of religious reformation in Holland.

89 meeting . . . in the neighbourhood of Calais
The meeting was held in St Peter's church because Philip refused to enter a foreign walled town. Among the topics of the meeting were the marriage of Henry's son, the future Henry VIII to a Hapsburg; and the marriage of Henry VII's daughter Mary to Philip's son, the future Charles V.
90 near connexions with the Burgundian house
Presumably through her older sister, Joanna "the Mad", who married the Hapsburg Archduke Philip, who inherited the Netherlands from his mother, Margaret of Burgundy.
91 enjoyed its possession
There are several songs attributed to the young Henry VIII that illustrates this point. The best known was collected in contemporary manuscripts, one of which gives it a title, "The King's Ballad":
Passetyme with good companye
I love, and shall until I dye;
Grugge who wyll, but none deny,
So God be pleeyd, this lyfe wyll I:
For my pastaunce,
Hunt, syng, and daunce,
My hert ys sett;
All godely sport,
To my comfort,
Who shall me lett?

Youth wyll have nedes dalyaunce,
Of good or yll some pastaunce,
Companye me thynketh them best,
All thouts and fantasyes to dygest.
For ydleness,
Ys chef mastres
Of vices all:
Than who can say,
But passe the day
Ys best of all.

Company with honeste,
Ys vertu and vyce to flee;
Company ys gode or yll,
But ev'ry man hath hys frewylle;
The best I sew,
The worst eschew,
My mynd shall be:
Vertue to use,
Vyce to refuse,
I shall use me.
93 Venice . . . a great victory
The Battle of Agnadello in 1509. Although France was acting with the "League of Cambrai"— a coalition representing most of Europe—it clearly had territorial designs in northern Italy. A few years later the "Holy League" was formed, including most of the Cambrai countries, to drive France out of Italy.
94 oppose a Council to the Pope
This probably refers to the schismatic Council of Pisa in 1511, called in reaction to Pope Julius II's attempt to drive the French from northern Italy. The council had support only of France and was ignored.
95 peaceful dignity of a Roman-German Emperor
The election of Charles V, though inevitable, was opposed by various factions because For a time, Henry VIII was considered a compromise candidate should these issues affect the election. All objections to Charles were overcome, however, and the Electors chose him in June, 1519.
96 some wonderful works
Examples are Hampton Court and Kenilworth Castle. Houses are still being built today in imitation of "Tudor architecture". Innovative features of Henry's time were the use of stone in residential buildings, and the introduction of chimneys.
97 defending the scholastic dogmas against Luther's views
Henry VIII published Assertio Septem Sacramentorum Martinum Lutherum in 1521. It disputed Luther's views on the Eucharist and in general supported the opinions of the church establishment. Although much of the book si quotations from other authors, people claimed to be impressed by Henry's logic and learning. Pope Leo X bestowed the title fidei defensor on Henry and his descendants.
98 Field of the Cloth of Gold
This parlay took place on the frontier between France and the English enclave of Calais. "Cloth of Gold" is silk with metallic gold thread interwoven. Because there were no suitable buildings in the area, tents were erected. The tents were decorated in Cloth of Gold. Accounts of the event usually stress three things:
  1. It was a really good party. There was little tension between the sides, plenty to eat, and lots of entertainment.
  2. It was expensive. Henry could probably afford it better than François, but the cost represented a significant part of each king's treasury.
  3. Nothing much came of it. England almost immediately allied with Spain and Austria against France. Any trust built between England and France on the Field of the Cloth of Gold quickly dissolved.
99 Under Wolsey's infuence . . . Henry . . . [made] common cause with the Emperor.
There is another school of thought, much more common today, that Wolsey was strongly in favor of the French connection and was overruled by Henry. In this view, the young Henry VIII was much more active and in control of foreign affairs than Ranke believed him to have been.
100 Peace of Madrid
The Peace of Madrid, signed by Charles V and François I in 1526, was to have brought an end to the northern Italian wars between France and Spain. François had been captured at the battle of Pavia in the previous year and brought prisoner to Madrid. The treaty also made peace between Austria and Venice, and exhorted a large ransom for the release of the French King. François renounced the treaty as signed under duress.
101 League of the Italian princes with France
The League of Cognac was an alliance of France, the Pope, Venice, Milan and Florence against the Hapsburg empire. It was a disaster, seeing the sack of Rome in 1526, the fall of Genoa and Naples in 1527, the defeat at Cambrai in 1528 and finally the capture of Florence in 1529. By the end of the War of the League of Cognac, Charles V was master of most of Italy.
102 example of a Queen of France
Several Queens of France ended their lives in convents:
103 in agreement with scholars and the rising public opinion
Opinion was not as uniform as Ranke assert here, and Henry's beliefs in this area were far from firm. Since Ranke's time, lots of ink has been wasted arguing these points, and consensus has been elusive. I shall omit comments like this from here on, because the same can be said for many positions Ranke takes on English history from the Tudors forward.
104 cardinals and legates had never brought good to England
Apparently the only authority for this is Cavendish's Wolsey:
With that stepped forth the Duke of Suffolk from the king, and lay his commandment spoke these words with a stout and an hault countenance, 'It was never merry in England,' quoth he, 'whilst we had cardinals amongst us!'
105 Frideswitha . . . advancement of learning and the renown of his name.
St Frideswide, the legendary patroness of Oxford,, is said to have been the daughter of an early Saxon king. Around 670 A.D. she fled to Oxford to avoid marriage with a Mercian king and founded a monastery there. Wolsey turned the monastery into Christ's Church College.

The remains of St Frideswide were an issue in the religious turnings of the 16th century. Henry VIII had them removed from her shrine when he converted the monastery church into Oxford Cathedral. Edward VI allowed a fallen nun (Catherine Cathie, the mistress of Peter Martyr) to be buried in the same location. Mary had Cathie's remains ejected. Early in the reign of Elizabeth, the again-Protestant leadership of Christ Church reburied the bones of both Cathie and Frideswide in the same grave.

106 Roman Curia
"Curia" is used to denote the government and bureaucracy of the Roman Church. Even in the time of Clement VII, the church was far too large and complex for one man to effectively rule it. Only the most important decisions were (and are) referred to the Pope, and when a lazy or incompetent pope came to the throne, the bureaucracy ran everything.

The current Curia consists of

107 Convocation
Convocation, in the government of the English Church, has always consisted of an upper house—the bishops—and a lower (the rest of the clergy). The bishops, of course, are also members of the House of Lords (though they were excluded during the interregnum). When government of church and state were separate matters, Convocation was a very important institution. It voted money to the King (in the form of free gifts or "benevolences"), deliberated on public as well as church policy, and acted as a court of appeal.

There have always been two convocational bodies, one for each ecclesiastical province. The Convocation of Canterbury, however, was the more important.

By the Act of Submission (1534), Convocation could meet only at the command of the King and its acts are subject to the King's will. The institution became mainly ceremonial until the 19th century.

108 Diet of Augsburg
A series of meeting of the Imperial legislature, or diet, were held at Augsburg from 1530-1555. The session of 1530 is of particular interest because it attempted to reconcile the religious principles of Lutheranism with the traditional church. The document submitted to Charles V in explanation of the Lutheran positions has become known as the Augsburg Confession. It is one of the key documents in Protestant history.

Charles V was not much impressed by the Lutheran presentation. He ended the diet by decreeing an end of religious innovation and restoration of property taken from Catholics and Catholic institutions.

109 Annates and Firstfruits
These were fines paid by clergy when they entered an incumbency. The "firstfruits" were based on Leviticus 23:10: "When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest." Bishops were expected to pay to the See of Rome a year's income of a bishopric upon their entry. Annates applied to the first year's income, or a part of them, in all benefices in England and Scotland; these taxes dated from the feudal lordshop claimed by the popes in the 13th century.
110 one of the great statues that followed
The Act in Restraint of Appeals (1534), which made it a praemunire to appeal any judgment in England to the Bishop of Rome.
111 dispensing faculties
Dispension on the Church is the act of a superior authorizing his subordinate not to observe a law. They are of two types: general dispensations and matrimonial ones. The statute Ranke describes seems to prohibit applications for a dispensing power.
112 Peter's penny
Peter's penny was a fine paid annually by British kings to the Bishop of Rome, at the rate of one penny per hearth. In the time of Henry VIII it included the hearths of Ireland, England and Wales. Peter's pence is supposed first to have been given by the Anglo-Saxon King Offa around 790 A.D.
113 formal decision of Parliament . . . .
This was the Act of Succession of 1534, which also contained the requirement that subject take an oath to uphold the ecclesastical supremacy of the King, the clause that led to the death of Sir Thomas More and many others. The Act of Succession was superseded in 1536 by another which declared both Mary and Elizabeth bastards and placed the succession on the children of Jane Seymour.
114 first who learned how to write English prose
More's history of Richard III is still readable (with suitable modernization of spelling, punctuation and occasionally syntax) today. It is well composed, consistently supporting More's Lancasterian point of view, It is detailed without being tiring, and there is even "human interest" in the form of the characters given figures like Hastings, Jane Shore and of course Gloucester.
115 League at Schmalkald
The Schmalkaldic League was a political confederation of Lutheran-leaning towns and principalities in Germany, formed for mutual protection after the Diet of Augsburg. It remained in effect from 1531 to 1547, giving Protestantism time to gain a permanent foothold in western Europe. The original member states were: Lübeck and the province of Bavaria joined later in 1531.

Charles V made concessions to the Schamalkaldic League to prevent it from forming an alliance with France, but when he felt safe from France he ruthlessly crushed the League.

116 Council which was then announced by the Pope
This was the much-planned general council that eventually met as the Council of Trent a decade later. Pope Paul III called for it in 1534 and it got the support of Charles V two years later. It was various planned for Mantua and Vicenze but ended up in the South Tyrolean city of Trento.
117 Ten articles
The Ten Articles were an attempt to establish a confession for the Church of England that would please both the traditionalists and the reformers. They can be divided into 2 parts:

The articles dealing with ceremony specified

The doctrine of the Church of England was to be based solely on

Three other articles dealt with doctrine:

The creeds that were agreed on were

Apostles' Creed

Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem; Creatorem coeli et terrae.

Et in Jesum Christum, Filium ejus unicum, Dominum nostrum; qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria virgine; passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus; descendit ad inferna; tertia die resurrexit a mortuis; ascendit ad coelos; sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis; inde venturus (est) judicare vivos et mortuos.

Credo in Spiritum Sanctum; sanctam ecclesiam catholicam; sanctorum communionem; remissionem peccatorum; carnis resurrectionem; vitam oeternam. Amen.

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN.

Nicene Creed

Credimus in unum Deum Patrem omnipotentem; factorem coeli et terrae, visibilium.

Et in unum Dominum Jesum Christum, Filium Dei [unigenitum], natum ex Patre ante omnia saecula [Lumen de Lumine], Deum verum de Deo vero, natum [genitum], non factum, consubstantialem Patri; per quem omni facta sunt; qui propter nos homines et [propter] salutem nostram descendit de coelis et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria virginine et humanatus [homo factus] est; et crucifixus est pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato [passus] et sepultus est; et resurrexit tertia die [secundum scripturas]; ascendit in coelum [coelos], sedet ad dexteram Patris; interum venturus, cum gloria, judicare vivos et mortuos; cujus regni non erit finis.

Et in Spritum Sanctam, Dominum et vivificantem [vivificatorem], ex Patre procedentem, cum Patre et Filio adorandum et conglorificandum, qui locutus est per sanctos prophetas. Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam ecclesiam. Confitemur unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Expectamus resurrectionem mortuorum et vitam futuri saeculi. Amen.

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Athanasian Creed

Quicunque vult salvus esse, ante omnia opus est, ut teneat catholicam fidem:

Quam nisi quisque integram inviolatamque servaverit, absque dubio in aeternam peribit.

Fides autem catholica haec est: ut unum Deum in Trinitate, et Trinitatem in unitate veneremur.

Neque confundentes personas, neque substantiam seperantes.

Alia est enim persona Patris alia Filii, alia Spiritus Sancti:

Sed Patris, et Fili, et Spiritus Sancti una est divinitas, aequalis gloria, coeterna maiestas.

Qualis Pater, talis Filius, talis [et] Spiritus Sanctus.

Increatus Pater, increatus Filius, increatus [et] Spiritus Sanctus.

Immensus Pater, immensus Filius, immensus [et] Spiritus Sanctus.

Aeternus Pater, aeternus Filius, aeternus [et] Spiritus Sanctus.

Et tamen non tres aeterni, sed unus aeternus.

Sicut non tres increati, nec tres immensi, sed unus increatus, et unus immensus.

Similiter omnipotens Pater, omnipotens Filius, omnipotens [et] Spiritus Sanctus.

Et tamen non tres omnipotentes, sed unus omnipotens.

Ita Deus Pater, Deus Filius, Deus [et] Spiritus Sanctus.

Et tamen non tres dii, sed unus est Deus.

Ita Dominus Pater, Dominus Filius, Dominus [et] Spiritus Sanctus.

Et tamen non tres Domini, sed unus [est] Dominus.

Quia, sicut singillatim unamquamque personam Deum ac Dominum confiteri christiana veritate compelimur:

Ita tres Deos aut [tres] Dominos dicere catholica religione prohibemur.

Pater a nullo est factus: nec creatus, nec genitus.

Filius a Patre solo est: non factus, nec creatus, sed genitus.

Spiritus Sanctus a Patre et Filio: non factus, nec creatus, nec genitus, sed procedens.

Unus ergo Pater, non tres Patres: unus Filius, non tres Filii: unus Spiritus Sanctus, non tres Spiritus Sancti.

Et in hac Trinitate nihil prius aut posterius, nihil maius aut minus:

Sed totae tres personae coaeternae sibi sunt et coaequales.

Ita, ut per omnia, sicut iam supra dictum est, et unitas in Trinitate, et Trinitas in unitate veneranda sit.

Qui vult ergo salvus esse, ita de Trinitate sentiat.

Sed necessarium est ad aeternam salutem, ut incarnationem quoque Domini nostri Iesu Christi fideliter credat.

Est ergo fides recta ut credamus et confiteamur, quia Dominus noster Iesus Christus, Dei Filius, Deus [pariter] et homo est.

Deus [est] ex substantia Patris ante saecula genitus: et homo est ex substantia matris in saeculo natus.

Perfectus Deus, perfectus homo: ex anima rationali et humana carne subsistens.

Aequalis Patri secundum divinitatem: minor Patre secundum humanitatem.

Qui licet Deus sit et homo, non duo tamen, sed unus est Christus.

Unus autem non conversione divinitatis in carnem, sed assumptione humanitatis in Deum.

Unus omnino, non confusione substantiae, sed unitate personae.

Nam sicut anima rationalis et caro unus est homo: ita Deus et homo unus est Christus.

Qui passus est pro salute nostra: descendit ad inferos: tertia die resurrexit a mortuis.

Ascendit ad [in] caelos, sedet ad dexteram [Dei] Patris [omnipotentis].

Inde venturus [est] judicare vivos et mortuos.

Ad cujus adventum omnes homines resurgere habent cum corporibus suis;

Et reddituri sunt de factis propriis rationem.

Et qui bona egerunt, ibunt in vitam aeternam: qui vero mala, in ignem aeternum.

Haec est fides catholica, quam nisi quisque fideliter firmiterque crediderit, salvus esse non poterit.

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith.

Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity,

Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance.

For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost.

But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal.

Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost.

The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate.

The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible.

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal.

And yet they are not three eternals, but one eternal.

As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible.

So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty.

And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God.

And yet they are not three Gods, but one God.

So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord.

And yet not three Lords, but one Lord.

For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity: to acknowledge every Person by himself to be both God and Lord,

So are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion, to say, There be three Gods, or three Lords.

The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten.

The Son is of the Father alone, not made, nor created, but begotten.

The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts.

And in this Trinity none is afore, or after other; none is greater, or less than another;

But the whole three Persons are co-eternal together and co-equal.

So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.

He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man;

God, of the Substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the Substance of his Mother, born in the world;

Perfect God and perfect Man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting;

Equal to the Father, as touching his Godhead; and inferior to the Father, as touching his Manhood.

Who although he be God and Man, yet he is not two, but one Christ;

One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking assumption of the Manhood into God;

One altogether, not by confusion of Substance, but by unity of Person.

For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ;

Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead.

He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty,

From whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies

And shall give account for their own works.

And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.
118 supremacy . . . confirmed in 1539 by a new act of Parliament
The Act of Six Articles confirmed Henry's position, but it covered a lot more than that. It isn't clear of Ranke is referring to the Six Articles or some other Act.
119 another finally ordained the suppression of the great abbeys
This was the Second Act of Suppression, or "the Dissolution Act".
120 the Six Articles
The "six strings" of the "bloody whip" were
121 a careless word
Cromwell was reported to have said of Henry's turn away from Protestantism, "yet I would not turn, and if the king did turn, and all his people, I would fight in this field in mine own person, with my sword in my hand against him and all other."
122 he retained his hold on the nation because his plan . . . suited the people's views.
This is a thoroughly modern and democratic view and foreign to what was probably thought in the 16th century. The reasons for Parliament's slavish adherence to Henry's policies may have been as much a memory of the civil wars of the previous century as a belief in his "principles". Though he tries, Ranke does not give a convincing picture of these principles, and it is hard to conceive that Henry's Parliaments understood them any better than we do.
123 the first Lancaster
The lineage of the Lancaster, Tudor and York kings are probably so well known they do not need a footnote. For convenience, though, the Lancasterian and Tudor claims come through John of Gaunt, the brother of Edward III. John got the title Duke of Lancaster through his marriage to Blanche, great-granddaughter of Edmund of Lancaster (Edmund Crouchback), the younger son of Henry III. John of Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke, seized the throne from Richard II and ruled as Henry IV. The three Lancasterian kings were Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI.

John of Gaunt's oldest son was John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset. Somerset's granddaughter, Margaret Beaufort, married Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, one of the sons of Catherine of Valois by her second husband, Owen Tudor. Their son was Henry of Richmond, who usurped the throne as Henry VII, the first Tudor king. The Tudor rulers were Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth I.

The Yorkist lineage begins with Edmund Langley, Duke of York, one of the sons of Edward III. One of Edmund's sons, Richard of Cambridge, married Anne Mortimer; their son was Richard, the Duke of York whose claims set off the War of the Roses. This Richard's sons, Edward IV and Richard III, and Edward IV's son Edward V, were the York kings.

124 communion in both kinds
Communion under one kind involves serving the sacrament in the form of either the bread or the wine. In the Catholic church, tradition was that the bread was served. Communion in both kinds requires concurrent taking of both the bread and the wine.
125 the palace in the Strand
Somerset House, which still stands between the Strand and the Embankment near the Waterloo Bridge.
126 school of Wittenberg
Among the early Protestant scholars associated with Luther at Wittenberg were Melancthon, Johannes Bugenhagen, Justus Jonas, Kaspar Cruciger, Georg Major; and Matthias Flacius Illyricus. There was little question of the real presence in this group.
127 widower for the second time
Ranke may be mistaken here. Mary Tudor is usually listed as the second wife. As far as I can tell, Philip II married 4 times:
128 doing as the French, German, Netherlandish and Scotch nobility had done
The French wars of religion had not yet begun, but as early as 1549 regional princes were asserting an independence from the Crown in religious matters. In Germany the Schmalkaldic league of Protestant principalities had recently challenged the Emperor. In the Netherlands, pockets of Calvinist resistance to the Duchess of Parma's government had already formed in the north and west. And in Scotland Protestant Earls ran the government during the minority of Mary Stuart.
129 Lord Paget
Lord Tennyson, in his drama Queen Mary (Act 3, scene 4), has Paget say
. . . there be some disloyal Catholics,
And many heretics loyal; heretic throats
Cried no God-bless-her to the Lady Jane,
But shouted in Queen Mary. So there be
Some traitor-heretic, there is axe and cord.
To take the lives of others that are loyal,
And by the churchman's pitiless doom of fire,
Were but a thankless policy in the crown,
Ay, and against itself; for there are many.
130 Rochester
I wonder if this is a mistake on Ranke's part. There was no Earl of Rochester at this time (the title had not been created) and the Bishop of Rochester, Maurice Griffith, was newly installed at that time. I can't think of another figure who bore the name of the city in the reign of Mary.
131 a single statute, so that they must stand or fall together.
This is a bit confusing. Parliament currently has the ability to revoke and amend parts of acts. I don't know when that power began, though I suspect it was in the 18th century. But setting that aside, Parliaments often passed Acts which modified the effect of previous Acts; it would be difficult not to do so. Why was this such an important point to Pole and the Parliament?
132 The executions . . . continued till 1558
A total of about 300 people, almost all men, were executed for religious reasons during Mary's reign. This is about the same number who suffered under Henry VIII and fewer than were killed under Elizabeth I. Some differences are that Mary's executions were concentrated in a 4-year period; that many of the victims were prominent in the church and government; and that Foxe's Actes and Monuments, published only a few years after Mary's death, made her persecutions widely known.
133 blast of a trumpet
In The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (1558) John Knox proves from Scripture that women should not rule over men. It is an interesting commentary on the times that Knox realizes that even though Scripture is clear on the subject, he needs to provide other authorities as well:
To add anything [to what the Bible says] were superfluous, were it not that the world is almost now come to that blindness, that whatsoever pleases not the princes and the multitude, the same is rejected as doctrine newly forged, and is condemned for heresy.
There was also a "Second Blast of the Trumpet".
134 a couple of Italian assistants
One of these may have been Lodovici Beccadelli (1502-1571), Pole's secretary and biographer.
135 tertian or quartan fever
These are generic terms describing fevers which peak every 48 or 72 hours. The most common cause of such fevers is malaria.
136 The letter, which she wrote to Mary at this crisis
Elizabeth's letter to Mary is extant. Modernized in spelling and punctuation, it follows:
If any ever did try this old saying, that a king's word was more than another man's oath, I most humbly beseech Your Majesty to verify it in me, and to remember your last promise and my last demand, that I be not condemned without answer and due proof - which it seems that now I am, for that without cause proved I am by your counsel from you commanded to go unto the Tower, a place more wonted for a false traitor than a true subject, which though I know I deserve it not, yet in the face of all this realm appears that it is proved, which I pray God I may die the shamefullest death that ever any died afore I may mean any such thing. And to this present hour, I protest afore God (who shall judge my truth, whatsoever malice shall devise) that I never practised, counselled nor consented to any thing that might be prejudicial to your person [in] any way, or dangerous to the state by any mean. And therefore, I humbly beseech Your Majesty to let me answer afore yourself, and not suffer me to trust your counsellors, yea, and that afore I go to the Tower (if it be possible) if not afore I be further condemned. Howbeit, I trust assuredly your highness will give me leave to do it afore I go, for that thus shamefully I may not be cried out on, as now I shall be, yea, and without cause. Let conscience move your highness to take some better way with me, than to make me be condemned in all men's sight afore my desert [is] known. Also, I most humbly beseech your highness to pardon this my boldness, which innocency procures me to do, together with hope of your natural kindness, which I trust will not see me cast away without desert - which, [being] what it is, I would desire no more of God but that you truly knew - which thing I think and believe you shall never by report know, unless by yourself you hear. I have heard in my time of many cast away for want of coming to the presence of their prince, and in late days I heard my lord of Somerset say that if his brother had been suffered to speak with him, he had never suffered - but the persuasions were made to him so great that he was bright in belief that he could not live safely if the admiral lived, and that made him give his consent to his death - though these persons are not to be compared to Your Majesty. Yet I pray God as evil persuasions persuade not one sister against the other, and all for that they have heard false report, and not hearken to the truth known. Therfore, once again, with humbleness of my heart, because I am not suffered to bow the knees of my body, I humbly crave to speak with your Highness which I would not be so bold to desire if I knew not myself most clear as I know myself most true, and as for the traitor Wyatt, he might peradventure write me a letter, but on my faith I never recieved any from him; and as for the copy of my letter sent to the French king, I pray God confound me eternally if ever I sent him word, message, token, or letter by any means, and this, my truth, I will stand in to my death.

I humbly crave but only one word of answer from yourself.

Your Highness' most faithful subject that hath been from the beginning, and will be to my end.

Elizabeth

137 As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord
This is the climax of Joshua's speech to the Israelites in Joshua chapter 24. Verse 15 is
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
138 Thirty-nine Articles
The heads of the articles are
  1. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity. One god, three persons.
  2. Of the Word or Son of God, which was made very Man. Godhead and manhood joined together in one Person. A sacrifice for original sin and continuing sin.
  3. Of the going down of Christ into Hell.
  4. Of the Resurrection of Christ.
  5. Of the Holy Ghost.
  6. Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation. This article also specifies the canonical books of the Old Testament.
  7. Of the Old Testament. "The Old Testament is not contrary to the New. . . .".
  8. Of the Three Creeds. Nicene, Athanasian, Apostles'.
  9. Of Original or Birth Sin. Not the fault of Adam, but the nature of every man.
  10. Of Free Will. The article takes a middle stand.
  11. Of the Justification of Man. Justification by faith alone.
  12. Of Good Works. They are not justification, but are pleasing to God.
  13. Of Works before Justication. Things done not out of faith or preparing others to receive grace are not pleasing to God.
  14. Of Works of Supererogation. Works aver and above God's Commandments are arrogant and impious.
  15. Of Christ alone without Sin.
  16. Of Sin after Baptism. We may depart from grace after baptism.
  17. Of Predestination and Election. A firm stand is avoided.
  18. Of obtaining eternal Salvation only the the Name of Christ. Salvation only in Christ.
  19. Of the Church. This article asserts the errors of the Church of Rome and asserts that the Church is something wider.
  20. Of the Authority of the Church. The Church may enforce only those things necessary to Salvation.
  21. Of the Authority of General Councils. Modern general councils are subject to error.
  22. Of Purgatory. The concept is a "fond thing, vainly invented".
  23. Of Ministering in the Congregation. Preaching must be sanctioned by proper authority.
  24. Of Speaking int he Congregation in such a Tongue as the people understandeth. Speak English, dammit.
  25. Of the Sacraments There are two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
  26. Of the Unworthiness of the Ministers, which hinders not the effect of Sacraments. Bad priests do not manh bad religion.
  27. Of Baptism. Infant Baptism is according to the word of God.
  28. Of the Lord's Supper. "The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper, is Faith."
  29. Of the Wicked, which eat not the Body of Christ in the use of the Lord's Supper. Those who do not believe in a semi-real presence to not partake of the Sacrament.
  30. Of both Kinds. The masses get wine.
  31. Of the one Oblation of Christ finished upon the Cross. The Mass does not repeat the sacrifice of Jesus.
  32. Of the Marriage of Priests. It is lawful.
  33. Of excommunicate Persons, how they are to be avoided. They are to be shunned as heathens. They can be received back into the Church "by a Judege that hath the authority thereunto."
  34. Of the Traditions of the Church. Local variation is allowed.
  35. Of the Homilies. A list of Homilies as published by Edward VI is given.
  36. Of Consecration of Bishops and Ministers. Is tied to the ordinances of Edward VI.
  37. Of the Power of Civil Magistrates. "The King's Majesty hat the chief power . . . of all Estates of this Realm, whether thy be Ecclesiastical or Civil . . . ."
  38. Of Christian Men's Goods, which are not in common. Private property is OK with the Church.
  39. Of a Christian Man's Oath.
139 these consecrated the new Archbishop of Canterbury
The Bishops they managed to dig up for Parker's consecration were
140 Union-Princes
The Hanseatic trading cities and other states near the Baltic formed an alliance called the Northern Union which had great political and military power in the late 15th century. By the time that Hansa and some of the other cities converted to Protestantism in the 16th. century, the Union was already weak. After the religious rupture, it was broken.
141 in commendam
Benefices transferred in commendam are entrusted (commendam derives from a late Latin verb for "to give in trust") to a person until a priest can be found to occupy the benefice in titulum. The holder in commendam is entitled to the revenues of the benefice and is responsible for its upkeep, but is not responsible for the clerical administration.
142 Lords of the Congregation
The Lords of the Congregation originally included the group described by Ranke as gathering at Dun: Lord Erskine and the Earls of Glencairn, Morton and Argyll. Argyll's brother, Colin Campbell, was also in the original group. Lords who associated themselves with the Congregation increased in number throughout the regency of Mary of Guise.
143 I have as great a soul
It surprises me that this striking assertion is not more widely known. Hume noted it in his History of England. A sentence a couple of paragraphs on is also surprisingly unquoted: "A sign without a parallel, these two Queens in Albion, haughty and wondrous creatures of nature and circumstances!"
144 French poems
The writing of Mary Queen of Scots, all in the French language, were summarized by Dr. Sarah Dunnigan in A History of Scottish Women's Writing as
A 66-line elegy; two poems to Queen Elizabeth; sixteen sonnets; a sextain; a 100-line "Meditation"; a poem of two quatrains addressed to Ronsard; a poem of two quatrains addressed to the Bishop of Ross; a quatrain preserved in Anne of Lorraine's Mass Book; quatrains and fragments in a Book of Hours; a prose essay.
145 From Elizabeth also we have so lines in verse
The poems, plus some fragments and letters, are collected at Luminarium .
146 Elizabeth appeared once in the field
At Tilbury in 1588 where she delivered the famous speech that began "My loving people,we have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but, I do assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people."
147 Mary . . . with pistols at her saddle-bow.
After Mary Stuart married Lord Darnley, her half-brother the Earl of Moray was her enemy. Edward Beesly, a 19th century biographer, probably working from the same sources as did Ranke, wrote
Moray failed to elicit a spark of spirit out of the priest-baiting citizens of Edinburgh, and the Queen, riding steel cap on head and pistols at saddle-bow, chased him into England.
148 Conferences at Bayonne
Under the pretense of a reunion of Philip II's wife, Elisabeth de Valois, with her French family, the Catholic powers met at at Bayonne in the summer of 1565 to discuss the suppression of heretics. Present were Philip, Elizabeth, Charles IX, Catharine d' Medici and the Duke of Alva. Huguenots believed that the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572 was planned at this meeting, but there is no evidence of this.
149 Like the Guises at a later time
When Henri IV, king of Navarre, became the heir apparent to the French throne in 1589, Philip II allied with the Guise family and other French Catholic parties to oppose Henri. This backfired on Philip when Henri overcame internal opposition in France and declared a successful war on Spain.
150 the Lords of the Articles
Scottish Parliaments were run in a much different manner than English ones. A select committee of members, the "Lords of the Articles", drafted all legislation. The full Parliament almost always affirmed it. Control over the composition of this committee was obviously very important, and during much of the period when the institution existed, Lords were appointed by the crown.
151 the romance of centuries
Continuing into the 21st century. As this is being written, in April, 2006, there is a movie about the life of Mary Stuart ready for release.
152 sonnets and . . . love-intoxicated letters
The so-called Casket Letters used against Mary at her trial have always been controversial. The originals, all in French, were known to have been in the possession of the Earl of Gowrie at the time of his execution in 1584, but they have not been seen since. Contemporary English and Scots versions—translations of copies— are all that survive. There seems to be broad agreement that some or all of the Casket Letters are forgeries, or at least that incriminating insertions were made. The love poems to Bothwell are given more credence than the letters, but some claim to find important sylistic differences between the Casket verses and poems that Mary wrote while in prison in England.
153 castle which the Douglas had built in the middle of Loch Leven
Lockleven Castle was almost certainly not built by a Douglas. It may have been built by the English army of Edward I, but it may also have been there when they arrived. Robert II deeded it to James Earl of Douglas (the Douglas whom Hotspur killed) around 1390; and it was the main seat of the Douglas family for the next 200 years.

During Mary's imprisonment in 1567 and 1568, the castle was occupied by Sir William Douglas, Moray's half-brother (their mother was Margaret Erskine). He lived there with his wife, mother, brother George, and a boy, Willie Douglas, who was possibly his natural son.

154 Moriscoes
The Moriscos were Moors who chose to convert and remain in Spain after the victories of Ferdinand and Isabella in the 15th century. They retained Arabic as their main language and continued to dress in Moorish fashion. In 1568, Philip II approved measures to integrate the Moriscos into Spanish society by banning Arabic and forcing them to wear Spanish clothes. This sparked a revolt ("The Rebellion of Alpujarras") in Andalusia.
155 the gold-horned bull of the Nevilles, the silver crescent of the Percies, vanished . . . .
One of the Child Ballads, styled The Rising of the North, has this stanza:
'Spread thy ancyent, Erle of Westmoreland!
The halfe-moone faine wold wee see!'
But the halfe-moone is fled and gone,
And the dun bull vanished awaye;
156 palladium
The original Palladium was a statue of Pallas Athena said to have been brought to Rome from Troy by Aeneas. The statue was considered the guardian and the protector of the city.
157 the translation of Demosthenes in 1570
Sir Thomas Wilson, author of The Art of Rhetoric and later one of the Queen's private secretaries, produced the first English translation of Demosthenes in 1570. Wilson, who learned his Greek from John Cheke, also wrote on political topics, and it is not surprising that a political observation found its way into the preface of his translation.
158 victory of Lepanto
The Battle of Lepanto in 1571, coming after a nearly unbroken string of European defeats at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, was a psychological boost to the Christian side that far outweighed the immediate consequences of the destruction of the Turkish galley fleet. One of the best poems of the 20th century, by G.K. Chesterton, is about the battle:

White founts falling in the courts of the sun,
And the Soldan of Byzantium is smiling as they run;
There is laughter like the fountains in that face of all men feared,
It stirs the forest darkness, the darkness of his beard,
It curls the blood-red crescent, the crescent of his lips,
For the inmost sea of all the earth is shaken with his ships.

They have dared the white republics up the capes of Italy,
They have dashed the Adriatic round the Lion of the Sea,
And the Pope has cast his arms abroad for agony and loss,
And called the kings of Christendom for swords about the Cross,
The cold queen of England is looking in the glass;
The shadow of the Valois is yawning at the Mass;
From evening isles fantastical rings faint the Spanish gun,
And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun.

Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard,
Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred,
Where, risen from a doubtful seat and half attainted stall,
The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall,
The last and lingering troubadour to whom the bird has sung,
That once went singing southward when all the world was young,
In that enormous silence, tiny and unafraid,
Comes up along the winding road the noise of the Crusade.
Strong gongs groaning as the guns boom far,
Don John of Austria is going to the war,
Stiff flags straining in the night-blasts cold
In the gloom black-purple, in the glint old-gold.

Torchlight crimson on the copper kettle-drums,
Then the tuckets, then the trumpets, then the cannon, and he comes.
Don John laughing in the brave beard curled,
Spurning of his stirrups like the throne of all the world,
Holding his head up for a flag of all the free.
Love-light of Spain — hurrah!
Death-light of Africa!
Don John of Austria
Is riding to the sea.

Mahound is in his paradise above the evening star,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
He moves a mighty turban on the timeless houri's knees,
His turban that is woven of the sunset and the seas.
He shakes the peacock gardens as he rises from his ease,
And he strides among the tree-tops and is taller than the trees,
And his voice through all the garden is a thunder sent to bring
Black Azrael and Ariel and Ammon on the wing.
Giants and the Genii,
Multiple of wing and eye,
Whose strong obedience broke the sky
When Solomon was king.

They rush in red and purple from the red clouds of the morn,
From temples where the yellow gods shut up their eyes in scorn;
They rise in green robes roaring from the green hells of the sea
Where fallen skies and evil hues and eyeless creatures be;
On them the sea-valves cluster and the grey sea-forests curl,
Splashed with a splendid sickness, the sickness of the pearl;
They swell in sapphire smoke out of the blue cracks of the ground,—
They gather and they wonder and give worship to Mahound.
And he saith, `Break up the mountains where the hermit-folk can hide,
And sift the red and silver sands lest bone of saint abide,
And chase the Giaours flying night and day, not giving rest,
For that which was our trouble comes again out of the west.
We have set the seal of Solomon on all things under sun,
Of knowledge and of sorrow and endurance of things done,
But noise is in the mountains, in the mountains, and I know
The voice that shook our palaces — four hundred years ago:
It is he that saith not `Kismet'; it is he that knows not Fate;
It is Richard, it is Raymond, it is Godfrey at the gate!
It is he whose loss is laughter when he counts the wager worth,
Put down your feet upon him, that our peace be on the earth.'
For he heard drums groaning and he heard guns jar,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
Sudden and still — hurrah!
Bolt from Iberia!
Don John of Austria
Is gone by Alcalar.

St Michael's on his mountain in the sea-roads of the north
(Don John of Austria is girt and going forth.)
Where the grey seas glitter and the sharp tides shift
And the sea folk labour and the red sails lift.
He shakes his lance of iron and he claps his wings of stone;
The noise is gone through Normandy; the noise is gone alone;
The North is full of tangled things and texts and aching eyes
And dead is all the innocence of anger and surprise,
And Christian killeth Christian in a narrow dusty room
And Christian dreadeth Christ that hath a newer face of doom,
And Christian hateth Mary that God kissed in Galilee,
But Don John of Austria is riding to the sea.
Don John calling through the blast and the eclipse
Crying with the trumpet, with the trumpet of his lips,
Trumpet that sayeth ha!
Domino gloria!
Don John of Austria
Is shouting to the ships.

King Philip's in his closet with the Fleece about his neck
(Don Juan of Austria is armed upon the deck.)
The walls are hung with velvet that is black and soft as sin,
And little dwarfs creep out of it and little dwarfs creep in.
He holds a crystal phial that has colours like the moon,
He touches, and it tingles, and he trembles very soon,
And his face is as a fungus of a leprous white and grey
Like plants in the high houses that are shuttered from the day,
And death is in the phial; and the end of noble work,
But Don John of Austria has fired upon the Turk.
Don John's hunting, and his hounds have bayed —
Booms away past Italy the rumour of his raid
Gun upon gun, ha! ha!
Gun upon gun, hurrah!
Don John of Austria
Has loosed the cannonade.

The Pope was in his chapel before day or battle broke,
(Don John of Austria is hidden in the smoke.)
The hidden room in man's house where God sits all the year,
The secret window whence the world looks small and very dear.
He sees as in a mirror on the monstrous twilight sea
The crescent of his cruel ships whose name is mystery;
They fling great shadows foe-wards, making Cross and Castle dark,
They veil the plumèd lions on the galley's of St. Mark;
And above the ships are palaces of brown, black-bearded chiefs,
And below the ships are prisons, where with multitudinous griefs,
Christian captives sick and sunless, all a labouring race repines
Like a race in sunken cities, like a nation in the mines.
They are lost like slaves that swat, and in the skies of morning hung
The stair-ways of the tallest gods when tyranny was young.
They are countless, voiceless, hopeless as those fallen or fleeing on
Before the high Kings' horses in the granite of Babylon.
And many a one grows witless in his quiet room in hell
Where a yellow face looks inward through the lattice of his cell,
And he finds his God forgotten, and he seeks no more a sign —
(But Don John of Austria has burst the battle-line!)
Don John pounding from the slaughter-painted poop,
Purpling all the ocean like a bloody pirate's sloop,
Scarlet running over on the silvers and the golds,
Breaking of the hatches up and bursting of the holds,
Thronging of the thousands up that labour under sea
White for bliss and blind for sun and stunned for liberty.
Vivat Hispania!
Domino Gloria!
Don John of Austria
Has set his people free!

Cervantes on his galley sets the sword back in the sheath
(Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.)
And he sees across a weary land a straggling road in Spain,
Upon which a lean and foolish knight forever rides in vain,
And he smiles, but not as Sultans smile, and settles back the blade...
(But Don John of Austria rides home from the Crusade.)

159 the Gueux ('Beggars')
The Gueux were a party of Dutch and Flemish reformers who traced their origins to the Compromise of Breda in 1566, a pact under which several thousand burghers pledged to protect local liberties against the Spanish. A petition of theirs to the Spanish Governor, Margaret of Parma, prompted her secretary, Barlaymount, to refer to them as "those beggars", and the name stuck. The Beggars were for the most part forced to flee beyond seas, but, with the help of France and England, managed to mount an efficient sea-guerilla force which, among other victories, raised the siege of Leiden in 1574. These pirates were called in French geaux de la mer.
160 the Pacification of Ghent in 1576
Wyllies History of Protestantism lists the points of the treaty:
In it the prince and the States of Holland and Zealand on the one side, and the fifteen Provinces of the Netherlands on the other, agreed to bury all past differences, and to unite their arms in order to effect the expulsion of the Spanish soldiers from their country. Their soil cleared of foreign troops, they were to call a meeting of the States-General on the plan of that great assembly which had accepted the abdication of Charles V. By the States-General all the affairs of the Confederated Provinces were to be finally regulated, but till it should meet it was agreed that the Inquisition should be for ever abolished; that the edicts of Philip touching heresy and the tumults should be suspended; that the ancient forms of government should be revived; that the Reformed faith should be the religion of the two States of Holland and Zealand, but that no Romanist should be oppressed on account of his opinion; while in the other fifteen Provinces the religion then professed, that is the Roman, was to be the established worship, but no Protestant was to suffer for conscience sake. In short, the basis of the treaty, as concerned religion, was toleration.
161 Palsgrave
Palsgrave, or Palgrave, or Count Palatine, was the title of the lord of an autonomous region of the Holy Roman Empire. There were a number of Palatinates in the middle ages. By early modern times, there were only two of consequence: The Rhenish Palatine and the Upper Palatine in eastern Bavaria. The Counts Palatine on the Rhine became Electors of the Empire in 1356 and the Kurfürst was known as the Elector Palatine. Subsidiary princes were known as Pfalzgraf or Palgrave.
162 A plan fell into her hands
In 1583, Francis Walsingham, Secretary of State, became suspicious of the foreign communications of Francis Throckmorton who, among other things, carried messages between Mary Stuart and Mendoza. Among Throckmorton's papers was the document that Ranke refers to. It was the main excuse of Bernardino de Mendoza's expulsion.
163 Holofernes . . . Judith
In the Book of Judith, she comes to the bed of Holofernes, Sennacherib's chief general, makes him drunk, and cuts his head off. By displaying the severed head on the walls of the besieged city of Bethulia, she frightened the Assyrians away.
164 association of individuals for defending of the Queen
The prologue of this Bond of Association, as subscribed by the Privy Council in 1584, ran
The Instrument of an Association for the Preservation of Her Majesty's Royal Person, by the Lords of Her Majesty's Privy Council, binding themselves under a vow and promise before the Majesty of Almighty God, with their whole powers, bodies, lives, lands, and goods, and with their children and servants, faithfully to serve and obey the Queen, and to defend her against all Estates, Dignities, and earthly Powers whatsoever, and to pursue to utter extermination all that shall attempt by any act, counsel, or consent to anything that shall tend to the harm of Her Majesty's Royal Person, or claim succession to the Crown by the untimely death of Her Majesty; vowing and protesting in the presence of the Eternal and Everliving God to prosecute such persons to the death. Dated at Hampton Court on the 19th October 1584. Signed and sealed by thirteen of the Privy Council then present.
165 Parliament of 1585 . . . judge of this offence.
The first article of this Act (The Act of Association, 1585) was
Be it enacted and ordained, If at any time after the end of this present session of Parliament, any open invasion or rebellion shall be had or made, into or within any of Her Majesty's realms or dominions, or any act attempted, tending to the hurt of Her Majesty's most royal person, by or for any person that shall or may pretend title to the Crown of this Realm after Her Majesty's decease; or if any thing be compassed or imagined, tending to the hurt of Her Majesty's royal person, by any person, or with the privity of any person that shall or may pretend title to the Crown of this Realm: That then by Her Majesty's Commission under her Great Seal, the lords and other of Her Highness's Privy Council, and such other lords of Parliament to be named by Her Majesty, as with the said Privy Council shall come up to the number of four and twenty at the least, having with them for their assistance in that behalf such of the judges of the Courts of Record at Westminster as Her Highness shall for that purpose assign and appoint, or the more part of the same Council, lords, and judges, shall by virtue of this Act have authority to examine all and every the offences aforesaid, and all circumstances thereof, and thereupon to give sentence or judgement, as upon good proof the matter shall appear unto them. And that after such sentence or judgement given, and declaration thereof made and published by Her Majesty's proclamation under the Great Seal of England, all persons against whom such sentence of judgement shall be so given and published shall be excluded and disabled for ever to have a claim to the Crown of this Realm, or of any Her Majesty's dominions; any former law or statute whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding.
166 The League
The Catholic League, the Catholic Lords in France who combined to prevent Henri IV from succeeding to the throne. Their great general was Henri I, Duke of Guise.
167 Drake . . . caught sight of the Pacific.
Sir Francis Drake is said to be the first Englishman to see the Pacific Ocean. The incident is supposed to have occurred when Drake, on a search for the Spanish Silver Train in 1573, climbed a tree on a ridge in Panama. I've always found it odd that Keats had "stout Cortez" (his mistake: he meant Balboa) and not Drake "with eagle eyes" stare at the Pacific "silent upon a peak in Darien.".
168 Wingandacoa
Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlow were sent by Sir Walter Ralegh to explore the coast of Virginia in 1584. The country they discovered was known by the native inhabitants as Wingandacoa. Ralegh, always a courtier, though not always good at it, named the place Virginia for the Queen.
169 Islas de Bayona
Drake raided Bayona and Vigo on the Gallician coast because his fleet did not have supplies for a trans-Atlantic voyage. Six weeks later he also raided Santiago in the Cape Verde Islands.
170 millions . . . in the castle of St Angelo . . . .
One of the financial reforms of Sixtus V was to set aside a treasure for extraordinary expenses. The treasure was stored in the ancient tomb of Hadrian, known since the time of Gregory I as the Castle S Angelo.
171 our Lady of Atocha, the patroness of Spain.
The Lady of Atocha is a madonna figure, supposed to represent the mother of el Niño de Atocha, a boy who carried water and food to Christians persecuted by the Moors in Atocha.

There are other candidates for protectress of Spain. Our Lady of Almudena, the patroness of Madrid, is represented by a statue supposed to have been found behind a wall of the Madrid cathedral when Alfonso VI took the city from the Moors in 1083. The Virgin of Paloma is a later phenomenon.

172 as Spenser was once made to feel
On publication of The Fairie Queene, Queen Elizabeth awarded Spenser a pension of £100 per annum. Lord Burleigh, the treasurer, balked at such an extravagant grant. He convinced the Queen to reduce the amount and then neglected to pay it at all.
173 defeat on the Blackwater
This was the Battle of Yellow Ford (Atha Buidhe) near Armagh in 1598. A colonist army of 4000 led by Henry Bagenal was ambushed by an Irish and mercenary force under Tyrone. The English lost about 2000 in the attack and in flight.
174 Sir Richard Lawson
Sir Richard Hawkins?
175 the Second Book
This was the Second Book of Discipline written mainly by Andrew Melville. The First Book, by John Knox, was written as advice to the Scots government on the establishment of religion in 1560. It set out the principles of the Scottish Reformation under nine heads:
  1. Of Doctrine
  2. Of Sacraments
  3. Touching the Abolishing of Idolatry
  4. Concerning Ministers and Their Lawful Election
  5. Concerning the Provisions for the Ministers, and for the Distribution of the Rents and Possessions Justly Pertaining to the Kirk
  6. Of the Rents and Patrimony of the Kirk
  7. Of Ecclesiastical Discipline
  8. Touching the Election of Elders and Deacons, etc.
  9. Concerning the Policy of the Church
Melville's Second Book is an outline for the self-government of the reformed church in Scotland. It establishes rules under 13 chapter headings:
  1. Of the Kirk and Policy Thereof in General, and Wherein It is Different from the Civil Policy
  2. Of the Parts of the Policy of the Kirk, and Persons or Office-Bearers to Whom Administration is Committed
  3. How the Persons that Bear Ecclesiastical Functions are to be Admitted to Their Office
  4. Of the Office-Bearers in Particular, and First of the Pastors or Ministers
  5. Of Doctors and Their Office, and of the Schools
  6. Of Elders and Their Office
  7. Of the Elderships, and Assemblies, and Discipline
  8. Of the Deacons and Their Office, the Last Ordinary Functions in the Kirk
  9. Of the Patrimony of the Kirk, and the Distribution Thereof
  10. Of the Office of a Christian Magistrate in the Kirk
  11. Of the Present Abuses Remaining in the Kirk Which We Desire to be Reformed
  12. Certain Special Heads of Reformation Which We Crave
  13. The Utility that Shall Flow from this Reformation to all Estates
176 Raid of Ruthven
This refers to James VI's kidnap by Lord Ruthven and others in 1582. The Protestant Earls were nominally in power, but the 16-year old King was under the influence of the Catholic lords Arran and Lennox. The Presbyterians held the King for 10 months until he was able to escape. This episode necessarily decreased James's already low regard for Prebyterianism and led to the eventual execution of Ruthven (though he was pardoned for the kidnapping) and passage of the most notorious of the Black Acts. (All of the legislation in the early part of James VI's reign are technically Black Acts—the term refers to how they were printed.) These particular laws gave the King power to judge both temporal and church affairs and people of all estates.
177 the German Nestor
The expression "he was the Nestor of" some field was widely used in the 18th and 19th centuries. Sometimes it refers to Nestor's character as an aged and respected warrior; sometimes to the wise advice he was thought to give. Nestor shows up in many myths about the three generations before the Trojan war. Homer, of course, makes much of him. Nestor was the only Achaian leader who found his way home directly from Troy and ruled quietly thereafter.
178 when the Church was 'Beautiful as the morning . . .'
Song of Solomon, 6:10
Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?
179 mission of James Lindsay
Sir James Lindsay was sent to Rome by James VI at least once. This sentence suggests that Pope Clement sent some sort of counter- proposal back with him.
180 infectious disease
1603 was a plague year. Plague was endemic in London, but the great outbreaks were 1563, 1593, 1603, 1625 and 1665.
181 old Milesian kings
Irish bloodlines are traced back to the Spanish king Milesius, supposed to have been a contemporary of Solomon. He had three sons who survived the invasion of Ireland: Heremon, Heber and Ir. The Stuart kings are supposed to descend from the line of Heber.
182 peace of Vervins
A treaty between Philip II and Henri IV was signed at Vervins on May 2, 1598. If formally ended the international part of the Wars of Religion. Spain recognized Henri as King of France and withdrew from French territory.
183 peace . . . remarkable for its indefiniteness
Indefinite as it may have been, it was long-lasting. Ralegh's raids; Buckingham's expedition to Cadiz during the war that followed the rejection of the Spanish marriage; and Blake's victory at Tenerife notwithstanding, relations between Spain and England went relatively smoothly in the 17th century.
184 fine collected every month from those who refused to take part in the Protestant service.
The Recusancy fines were collected beginning in 1559. The sheriffs collected them after 1581. The fines remained in force until 1691. There are extensive records of the fines in the rolls of the Exchequer. I assume someone has used these records to estimate the number of recusants during the Stuart years. The number of Catholics in England has always been a subject of controversy. Some Catholic writers estimate it at 30% in 1603. Some Anglican writers estimate it at 2% later in the century.
185 oath ex officio
In ecclesiastical courts, the accused were sworn to truthfully answer any question put to them, even to the point of self-incrimination. Refusal to take the oath was contempt of court.
186 [with regard to elections] He ordered
This is from the order of 11 January 1604:
... We do hereby straitly charge and admonish all persons interested in the choice of knights for the shires, first, that the knights for the county be selected out of the principal knights or gentlemen of sufficient ability within that county wherein they are chosen; and, for the burgesses, that choice be made of men of sufficiency and discretion without any partial respects or factious combination.... Next and above all things, considering that one of the main pillars of this estate is the preservation of unity in the profession of sincere religion of Almighty God, we do also admonish that there be great care taken to avoid the choice of any persons either noted for their superstitious blindness one way, or for their turbulent humours other ways; because their disorderly and unquiet spirits will disturb all the discreet and modest proceeding in that greatest and gravest council.

Further, we do command that an express care be had that there be not chosen any persons bankrupt or outlawed, but men of known good behaviour and sufficient livelihood, and such as are not only taxed to the payment of subsidies and other like charges, but also have ordinarily paid and satisfied the same ...; next, that all sheriffs be charged that they do not direct any precept for electing and returning of any burgesses to or for any ancient borough-town within their counties being so utterly ruined and decayed that there are not sufficient residents to make such choice, and of whom lawful election may be made; also to charge all cities and boroughs and the inhabitants of the same, that none of them seal any blanks, referring or leaving to any others to insert the names of any citizens or burgesses to serve for any such city or borough, [but that they] do make open and free election according to the law, and set down the names of the persons whom they choose before they seal the certificate.

Furthermore, we notify by these presents that all returns and certificates of knights, citizens, and burgesses ought and are to be brought to the chancery, and there to be filed of record. And if any shall be found to be made contrary to this proclamation, the same is to be rejected as unlawful and insufficient, and the city or borough to be fined for the same; and if it be found that they have committed any gross or wilful default and contempt in their election, return, or certificate, that then their liberties according to the law are to be seized into our hands as forfeited. And if any person take upon him the place of a knight, citizen, or burgess, not being duly elected, returned, and sworn according to the laws and statutes in that behalf provided, and according to the purport, effect, and true meaning of this our proclamation, then every person so offending [is] to be fined and imprisoned for the same....

The business about "person bankrupt or outlawed" was the reason the Chancery court rejected the election of Sir Francis Godwin (see below).
187 The speech . . . 19th of March 1604 . . . has been often and often reproduced.
But not, as far as I can tell, on the Web. This is a place-holder for it.
188 The Lower House found that this was improper
Ranke cites Molino's May 12 dispatch (in Italian). Molino, the Venetian ambassador, also wrote on April 7:
Every day it becomes more and more apparent that, between the Lords and Commons there is great friction and ill feeling. It has shown itself on various occasions, but more especially in the case where the county of Buckingham has refused to return Sir John Fortescue, who is a member of the Privy Council, and has elected in his stead a man of small or rather of low condition. This has caused an altercation and the exchange of threats between certain members of the Privy Council and the burgesses. The King is greatly disturbed, for he desires nothing so much as concord, with a view to the union of England and Scotland, a favorite scheme of his but one which will meet with difficulties, as he well knows, and, therefore, he does all he can to secure unanimity.
From a diary of the March 30 session of the Commons:
Moved, and urged by one, touching the Difference now on foot between the King and the House, That there is just Fear of some great Abuse in the late Election: That, in his Conscience, the King hath been much misinformed; and that, he had too many misinformers: which, he prayed God, might be removed, or lessened in their Number: That now the Case of Sir John Fortescue and Sir Francis Goodwin was become the Case of the whole Kingdom: That old Lawyers forget, and commonly interpret the Law according to the Time: That, by this Course, the free Election of the Country is taken away and none shall be chosen but such as shall please the King and Council. Let us therefore, with Fortitude, Understanding, and Sincerity, seek to maintain our Privilege; which cannot be taken or construed any Contempt in us, but merely a Maintenance of our common Right, which our Ancestors have left us, and is just and fit for us to transfer to our Posterity.
189 One of the foremost principles . . . established afresh.
And remains established today over much of the world. The Constitution of the United States, Article 1, Section 5, begins "Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own members,"
190 Some of the most resolute . . . applied to the Spanish court
This was the so-called "Spanish Treason" involving several of the actors in the Gunpowder Conspiracy, including Robert Catesby, Lord Monteagle, Francis Tresham and Father Henry Garnet.
191 Among the families . . . .
There are generally considered to have been 13 conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot. They were Other important peripheral figures were Father Henry Garnet, an English Jesuit; Father William Baldwin, also an English Jesuit, serving as a chaplain in the English mercenary regiment; Lord William Stanley and Hugh Owen, an officer in Belgium..
192 the quarrels in which [Venice] became involved with the Papacy.
The Republic of Venice around 1605 asserted civil jurisdiction over criminal behavior by the clergy. It also passed two ordinances that were unacceptable to the Pope: one forbidding citizens to alienate property in favor of the Church; and another requiring state approval for the construction of new churches. The disagreement was resolved mostly in the favor of the Venitians.
193 the Cleves - Juliers question
Friederich von Schiller explains this in his Thirty Years' War:
... by the death of the Duke John William of Juliers, a highly disputable succession became vacant in the territories of Juliers and Cleves.

Eight competitors laid claim to this territory, the indivisibility of which had been guaranteed by solemn treaties; and the Emperor, who seemed disposed to enter upon it as a vacant fief, might be considered as the ninth. Four of these, the Elector of Brandenburg, the Count Palatine of Neuburg, the Count Palatine of Deux Ponts, and the Margrave of Burgau, an Austrian prince, claimed it as a female fief in name of four princesses, sisters of the late duke. Two others, the Elector of Saxony, of the line of Albert, and the Duke of Saxony, of the line of Ernest, laid claim to it under a prior right of reversion granted to them by the Emperor Frederick III., and confirmed to both Saxon houses by Maximilian I. The pretensions of some foreign princes were little regarded. The best right was perhaps on the side of Brandenburg and Neuburg, and between the claims of these two it was not easy to decide. Both courts, as soon as the succession was vacant, proceeded to take possession; Brandenburg beginning, and Neuburg following the example. Both commenced their dispute with the pen, and would probably have ended it with the sword; but the interference of the Emperor, by proceeding to bring the cause before his own cognizance, and, during the progress of the suit, sequestrating the disputed countries, soon brought the contending parties to an agreement, in order to avert the common danger. They agreed to govern the duchy conjointly. In vain did the Emperor prohibit the Estates from doing homage to their new masters; in vain did he send his own relation, the Archduke Leopold, Bishop of Passau and Strasburg, into the territory of Juliers, in order, by his presence, to strengthen the imperial party. The whole country, with the exception of Juliers itself, had submitted to the Protestant princes, and in that capital the imperialists were besieged.

The dispute about the succession of Juliers was an important one to the whole German empire, and also attracted the attention of several European courts. It was not so much the question, who was or was not to possess the Duchy of Juliers;—the real question was, which of the two religious parties in Germany, the Roman Catholic or the Protestant, was to be strengthened by so important an accession—for which of the two religions this territory was to be lost or won. The question in short was, whether Austria was to be allowed to persevere in her usurpations, and to gratify her lust of dominion by another robbery; or whether the liberties of Germany, and the balance of power, were to be maintained against her encroachments. The disputed succession of Juliers, therefore, was matter which interested all who were favorable to liberty, and hostile to Austria. The Evangelical Union, Holland, England, and particularly Henry IV. of France, were drawn into the strife.

194 The forces of the Union
The Protestant Union (also called the Evangelical Union and the Union of Aushausen was a confederacy of the smaller German Protestant states. The leader was the Count Palatine, Frederich V. The Union did not include some of the most powerful Protestant principalities and was riven with dissension. It was formally disbanded under the Mainz Accord in 1621.
195 as Arminius had maintained in his lectures at Leyden
The Protestant theological ideas now called "Arminianism" were fundamentally those of Calvinism except in 5 important points. These differences were summarized after the death of Arminius by the Remonstrants, a group of like-minded theologians, as
  1. The nature of predestination. The Arminians held that men are prejudged, but that it is conditional. The judgment can be changed by actions during life. The Calvinists hold predestination to be absolute.
  2. The nature of the Atonement. Arminians thought God intended the sacrifice of his Son to atone for all men's sins. The Calvinists believed only the Elect were saved.
  3. [I don't understand the third difference well enough to explain it. It has to do with how saving faith comes to be.]
  4. The grace of God. The Armenians believed its power important for all men, but limited. The Calvinists believed it was limitless and omnipotent among the Elect.
  5. Election. The Calvinists believed that the Elect can not fall from grace. The Arminians thought that sin has the power to damn any man.
196 inclined to Socinianism
Socinianism is a Christian theological opinion, not uniquely Protestant but associated with the Reformation, that there is no distinction in the Godhead: that the Trinity is not three persons but one. It is named for two early Italian proponents, Lelio and Fausto Sozzini. Various Socinianism groups drew different conclusions from this presence, but many agreed it means Jesus as he appeared on earth was not divine; that he was begotten by St Joseph, not by the Holy Spirit; that the Virgin Mary was not the Mother of God, and in fact not a virgin; and that His death was not man's salvation.

Socinianism was considered a very damnable heresy by most parties.

Unitarianism in Europe, Britain and the United States has its roots in Socinianism.

197 King James took a side in this controversy
The New General Biographical Dictionary by Hugh James Rose (1857) describes the Gomarist efforts to oust Vorstius and how they
obtained the aid of James I. of England, whose supreme gratification was to exercise his dictatorial authority in religious controversy. The king was hunting when Vorstius's book was brought to him, which he perused with so much diligence, that in an hour's time he drew up a catalogue of heresies from it, which he sent to his resident [Winwood] at the Hague with orders to notify to the States how much he detested these errors, and those who should tolerate them. He also caused the book to be burnt at London, Oxford and Cambridge. His majesty also wrote to the States, vehemently urging them to dismiss this professor. James, moreover, wrote a tract against Vorstius, who wrote a short reply.

James's letter to the States concerning Vorstius, as transcribed by the Liberal Arts Computer Lab at the University of Texas:

High and mightie Lords,

Having understood by your answere to that proposition which was made unto you in our name by our Ambassadour there resident, That at your Assembly to bee holden in November next, you are resolved then to give order concerning the businesse of that wretched D. Vorstius, Wee have thought good (notwithstanding the declaration which our Ambassadour hath already made unto you in our name touching that particular), to put you againe in remembrance thereof by this Letter, and thereby freely to discharge our selves, both in point of our duetie towards God, and of that sincere friendship which wee beare towards you.

First We assure Our selves that you are sufficiently perswaded that no worldly respect could move Us to have thus importune you in an affairs of this nature, being drawen into it onely through Our zeale to the glory of God, and the care which Wee have that all occasion of such great scandals as this is, unto the trew reformed Church of God, might bee in due time foreseene and prevented. Wee are therefore to let you understand, that Wee doe not a little wonder, that you have not onely sought to provide an habitation in so eminent a place amongst you for such a corrupted person as this Vorstius is, but that you have also afforded him your license and protection to print that Apologie which he hath dedicated unto you; A booke wherein he doeth most impudently maintaine the execrable blasphemies, which in his former hee hath disgorged; The which wee are now able to affirme out of our owne knowledge, having since that Letter which wee wrote unto our Ambassadour, read over and over againe with our owne eyes (not without extreme mislike and horrour) both his bookes, the first dedicated to the Lantgrave of Hessen, and the other to you. We had well hoped, that the corrupt seed which that enemie of God Arminius did sowe amongst you some few yeeres since (whose disciples and followers are yet too bold and frequent within your Dominions) had given you a sufficient warning, afterwards to take heed of such infected persons, seeing your owne Countrey men already divided into Factions upon this occasion, a matter so opposite to unitie (which is indeed the the onely prop and safetie of your State next under God) as of necessitie it must by little and little bring you to utter ruine, if wisely you doe not provide against it, and that in time.

It is trew that it was Our hard hap not to heare of this Arminius before he was dead, and that all the Reformed Churches of Germanie had with open mouth complained of him. But as soone as Wee understood of that distraction in your State, which after his death he left behind him, We did not faile (taking the opportunitie when your last extraordinary Ambassadors were here with Us) to use some such speeches unto them concerning this matter, as We thought fittest for the good of your State, an which we doubt not but they have faithfully reported unto you; For what need We make any question of the arrogancie of these Heretiques, or rather Atheisticall Sectaries amongst you, when one of them at this present remaining in your towne of Leyden, hath not onely presumed to publish of late a blasphemous Booke of the Apostasie of the Saints, but hath besides been so impudent, as to send the other day a copie thereof, as a goodly present, to our Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, together with a letter, wherein he is not ashamed (as also in his Booke) to lie so grossely, as to avowe, that his Heresies conteined in the said Booke, are agreeable with the Religion and profession of Our Church of England. For these respects therefore have Wee cause enough very heartily to request you, to roote out with speede those Heresies and Schismes, which are begining to bud foorth amongst you, which if you suffer to have the reines any longer, you cannot expect any other issue thereof, then the curse of God, infamy throughout all the reformed Churches, and a perpetuall rent and distraction in the whole body of your State. But if peradventure this wretched Vorstius should denie or equivocate upon those blasphemous poynts of Heresie and Atheisme, which already hee hath broached, that perhaps may moove you to spare his person, and not cause him to bee burned (which never any Heretique better deserved, an wherein we will leave him to your owne Christain wisedome) but to suffer him upon any defence or abnegation which hee shall offer to make, still to continue and teach amongst you, is a thing so abominable, as we assure our selves it will not once enter in to any of your thoughts: For admit hee would prove himselfe innocent (which nevertheless he cannot doe) in most of these points wherewith hee is charged; yet were it but the scandall of his person, which will remaine, it were cause more then enough for you to remoove him out of your Dominions. You know what is written of Caesar's wife, that it was not sufficient for her to be innocent, but she must also bee free from all occasion of suspicion: how much more then ought you to bee warie and cautious in a matter of so greate importance as this, which concerneth the glory of God, the salvation of your souls, the soules of your people, and the safetie of your State; and not to suffer so dangerous a sparke to lie kindling amongst you? For a man may easily conjecture, that feare and the horrour of his owne actions will make him boldly denie that poyson which boyleth at his heart: For what will not he denie, that denieth the Eternitie and Omnipotencie of God? An howbeit he were innocent (as we have said before) the Church of God is not so ill furnished with men of sufficiencie for that place, as that you need bee unprovided of some other, who shall not be subject to that scandall, where with hee is so tainted, as it must bee a long penance, and many yeeres of probation, that must weare it away. But especially ought you to bee very carefull, not to hazard the corruption of your youth in so famous an Universitie by the doctrine of so scandalous a person, who (it is to bee feared) when hee findeth himselfe once well setled there, will return againe to his ancient vomite.

We will therefore conclude with this request unto you, that you will assure your selves, that the affection onely which wee beare unto your State, hath enforced us to use this libertie towards you, not doubting for our part, but that, as this which wee have written unto you proceedes from the sinceritie of our conscience, so our good God will bee pleased to give you a due apprehension thereof, and that your resolution in a matter of so greate consequence, may tend to his glory, to your owne honour and safetie, to the extirpation of these springing Atheismes an Heresies, and to the satisfaction, not onely of us, but of all the reformed Churches, who have bene hitherto extremely scandalized therewith: But if on the contrary part, we faile of that wee expect at your hands (which God forbid) and that you suffer hereafter such pestilent Heretiques to nestle among you, who dare take upon them that licentious libertie, to fetch againe from Hell the ancient Heresies long since condemned, or else to invent new of their owne braine, contrary to the beliefe of the trew Catholike Church, wee shall then bee constrained (to our great griefe) publikely to protest against these abominations: and (as God hath honoured us with the Title of Defender of the Faith) not onely to depart and separate our selves from the union of such false and heretical Churches, but also to exhort all other reformed Churches to joyne with us in a common Councel, how to extinguish and remand to hell these abominable Heresies, that now newly begin to put foorth againe. And furthermore for our owne particular, we shall be enforced strictly to inhibite the youth of our Dominions from repairing to so infected a place, as is the Universitie of Leyden. Sed meliora speramus & ominamur, We hope and expect for better, assuring our selves in the mercie of our good God, that as he hath a long time preserved you from your temporall enemies, and at this time is beginnig to establish your Estate to the contentment of all your friends, (but especially to ours, who have never beene wanting to assist you upon all occasions) that the same God will not leave you for a prey to your spiritual adversaries, who gape at nothing but your utter destruction. And in this confidence wee will recommend you and the prosperitie of your affaires to the protection of God, remaining as we have ever beene,

Your good friend James R.

Given at our Pallace of Westminister the 6. of October, 1611.

198 The brother of the Duke of Wurtemberg, Louis Frederick
I think this means the brother was Louis Frederick. The Duke of Württemberg at the time was John Frederick who inherited the title on the death of Frederick I in 1608.
199 the Spanish marriages which Mary de' Medici made up
These were the betrothal of Louis XIII to Anne of Austria; and of the Princess Elizabeth of France to Prince Philip of Spain in 1612. The marriages were just a part of the overall struggle between the Queen Regent and Catholic nobles on one side and the relatives and dependents of the assassinated Henri IV on the other. An assembly of the States General in 1614 narrowly supported the Queen. It was the last calling of that body until 1789.
200 the differences between the Duke of Savoy and the Spanish governor in Milan
The Duchy of Savoy and Piedmont sat between France and the Hapsburg province of Lombardy (Milan) and was in constant danger of invasion by one or the other. Charles Emanuel I of Savoy protected his land by good relations with Hapsburg Spain, but around 1612 changed his policy to ally more closely with France. There were apparently religious, political and personal reasons for this. In particular, there was a dispute over the inheritance of the small Duchy of Monferrato which had common borders with Savoy and Milan. Savoy declared war on Spain in 1613. The French were involved because the Duke of Nevers had a claim on Monferrato.
201 agreement of Knäröd
The Treaty at Knærød ended a Scandinavian war in which Denmark tried to prevent Sweden from establishing an overland trading route that would allow Baltic traders to avoid paying the Sound Toll to pass through the Straights of Denmark. The trade of both England and the States were affected by the war. England's influence on the peace was important in part because of James I's prestige as the husband of a Danish princess. One effect of the peace was to free Gustav Adolphus to prepare for his decisive role in the 30 Years' War.
202 commercial relations . . . with Russia
A "Company of Merchant Adventurers" was brought together in 1551 to seek a northeastern trade route into the Orient. They spent the winter of 1555-6 in the area that would become Archangel and that spring reached the court of Ivan the Terrible. From that beginning a joint-stock company, the Muscovy Company, developed a lucrative trade monopoly in wood, hemp, fish and furs that lasted into the 18th century.
203 quarrels about the succession to the throne
Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible), the first tsar, died in 1584. His only son, Feodor I, was an ineffective leader, perhaps mentally retarded. From 1584 to Feodor's death in 1598 (he left no heirs), the country was ruled by his brother-in-law, a Romanov, Boris Gudunov. Boris was then elected tsar by the Zemskii Sobor. When he died in 1605 and his young son Feodor II was assassinated a few months later, there was no clear succession and "time of troubles", during which various factions tried to gain control lasted until the election of Mikhail Romanov in 1613.
204 advances to the Turks
The Turkey Company, a joint-stock venture, was formed in 1581 and in 1592 merged with the Venice Company to form the Levant Company. They had a monopoly in Mediterranean wines, cotton, silks and grapes. England was not the only Protestant state to see a potential ally in the Ottomans. Protestant princes in eastern and southeastern Europe frequently found common ground with them against the Catholic Hapsburgs and this continued up to the time of the Battle of Vienna (1682),
205 ambassadors . . . both of whom enjoyed considerable influence under James I.
The first ambassador of the Levant Company was Edward Barton from around 1570 to 1597. Sir Henry Lello, Keeper of Westminster came in 1597, along with the famous self-playing organ presented to the Sultan from Elizabeth I. Sir Paul Pindar was ambassador in 1612. I suspect the two men referred to be Ranke are Lello and Pindar.
206 colonists commemorated his name
Cape Henry is named for the Prince of Wales.
207 an unity [which] . . . would have procured for the power of the King an authority paramount to all the other elements of the constitution.
Such an unity has always been the goal of executive powers, regardless of the form of government. Having it does not necessarily make a nation strong or rich or successful, but lacking it ensures it will be none of these. One would think that the 17th century provides so many examples of this that no Western government would practice a policy that did not promote unity. One would be very wrong.
208 Perpetual embarrassment was the result
Oh for a Compte Rendu of these finances. From 1610 forward, the financial condition of the government was the single factor most often cited for determining the King's strategy in reigning with and without Parliament. Yet there is no complete picture of the finances of the 17th century, nor, apparently, was there strong demand for an accounting system that might provide one. Doouble-entry bookkeeping, common in Italy from the 16th century, did not make deep inroads in England until after the Restoration.

This is not to say there are no financial records: records of the transactions of the Exchequer and related offices exist from the time of Henry III. But they fall short of providing a comprehensive picture of the finances of the kingdoms.

209 Court of wards
The Court of Wards and Liveries was created in the time of Henry VIII to collect fees associated with feudal tenures and to administer the law of wardship. Wardship was still a feudal concept. The lord of a fief had control of the minor heirs of his tenants and their property, and he was not required to account for his use of the property while it was in his possession. As the highest person in the feudal hierarchy, the king had many tenants-in-chief and therefore many wards. Wardships were not usually exercised directly by the Crown, but sold to relatives or others for immediate revenue. Robert Cecil was Master of the Court of Wards, a very lucrative position. He succeeded Thomas Parry in 1599. Part of Cecil's "Great Contract" involved elimination of feudal fees (including wardship) in return for a regular land tax.
210 allodial
Allodial titles are inalienable. The term is used in contrast with feudal title, under which rights are granted temporarily by the lord of the fief.
211 garrison of Brill
Brill (Brielle or Den Briel) was a town and fortress on the island of Voorne in the Maas estuary. It was a strategic position from which the Sea Beggars had begun the re-conquest of Holland in the 1571. Brielle was continuously garrisoned from the early 16th century until 1952. An English detachment was there in 1613 at the invitation of the United Provinces as a token of English favor against Spain.
212 creatures of the government . . . dissatisfaction of the people
This is the kind of statement that gives the writing of history a bad name. It is a sweeping generalization, supported undoubtedly by Ranke's extensive reading but unproven by observation. I don't doubt that there is a paper, perhaps a book, somewhere which analyzes the returns for the 1614 Parliament and provides anecdotes of particular elections, but I'll bet it was written after Ranke's History and I would not presuppose its conclusions.

One of the admirable things about Ranke is that he generally avoids this kind of voice-from-the-clouds declaration.

213 Sicilian Vespers
The Sicilian Vespers was a popular uprising in Palermo on Easter Sunday, 1282. The native population, disgusted by the arbitrary taxation and tyranny of the appointed King of the Two Sicilies, Charles of Anjou, rose up, according to legend signalled by the ringing of the vesper bells. The revolt spread to all parts of the island and upwards of 8000 Frenchmen were murdered. The incident was well-remembered in Europe and is frequently cited during discussion of arbitrary government.
214 the loudest and most reckless speakers
They were Lionel Sharpe, once chaplain to Prince Henry; John Hoskyns, a lawyer and wit; Cornwallis; and Sir Walter Chute, Carver to the King. All 4 were sent to the Tower. Cornwallis remained there until 1616.
215 sovereign . . . was the living law.
Clemens Alexandrinus said that "a Christian, if, like Moses, he be called to the exercise of sovereign power, will be a living law to his subjects, rewarding the good, and punishing the wicked". But that was 350 years before Justinian. That emperor introduced the Institutes with the idea that "Justice is the constant and perpetual wish to render to everyone his due," and as a Saint of the Eastern communion, Justinian must have believed his authority was Divine. Justinian's Tanta says that God has "set the Imperial dispensation at the head of human affairs".
216 the opposition between parties was not so outspoken in England as in Scotland
Ranke puts it very well. The opposition was there: it existed, it was visible; the affects of it can be seen in the behavior, if not the language, of Parliament. But it was not uttered, at least in a way that we can detect at this distance. The early 17th century is the last age in Western civilization when there was no record of the popular and middle-class voice. From the time of the Civil Wars there is a far greater record of what John or Jonathan thought and said.
217 What better legacy . . . useful for all time?
One reason for studying the 17th century is that some things happened then that fundamentally changed the relations among men and between men and their environment. Ranke puts his finger on one of these things: Study became the steady accumulation of knowledge rather than a constant attempt to recover knowledge that was lost in each generation. Bacon convinced men of the value of systematic observation; but the real value was in the continuous synthesis and resynthesis of what was learned, and the writing down of intermediate conclusions.
218 Bolingbroke's feeling . . . .
In Act II, scene iii of Richard II, Henry Bolingbroke is affronted by his uncle Edward, Duke of York, who coldly asks him why he has returned to England before the expiration of his exile. Bolingbroke appeals to their blood relationship, answering:
Will you permit that I shall stand condemn'd
A wandering vagabond; my rights and royalties
Pluck'd from my arms perforce and given away
To upstart unthrifts? Wherefore was I born?
If that my cousin king be King of England,
It must be granted I am Duke of Lancaster.
219 the speech . . . of the Bishop of Carlisle . . . .
Richard II, Act IV, scene i. The Bishop, a prisoner, is brought before the soon-to-be-crowned Bolingbroke and says
Would God that any in this noble presence
Were enough noble to be upright judge
Of noble Richard! then true noblesse would
Learn him forbearance from so foul a wrong.
What subject can give sentence on his king?
And who sits here that is not Richard's subject?
Thieves are not judged but they are by to hear,
Although apparent guilt be seen in them;
And shall the figure of God's majesty,
His captain, steward, deputy-elect,
Anointed, crowned, planted many years,
Be judged by subject and inferior breath,
And he himself not present? O, forfend it, God,
That in a Christian climate souls refined
Should show so heinous, black, obscene a deed!
I speak to subjects, and a subject speaks,
Stirr'd up by God, thus boldly for his king:
My Lord of Hereford here, whom you call king,
Is a foul traitor to proud Hereford's king:
And if you crown him, let me prophesy:
The blood of English shall manure the ground,
And future ages groan for this foul act;
Peace shall go sleep with Turks and infidels,
And in this seat of peace tumultuous wars
Shall kin with kin and kind with kind confound;
Disorder, horror, fear and mutiny
Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd
The field of Golgotha and dead men's skulls.
O, if you raise this house against this house,
It will the woefullest division prove
That ever fell upon this cursed earth.
Prevent it, resist it, let it not be so,
Lest child, child's children, cry against you woe!
220 the two speehes . . .
Ranke refers to Act III, scene ii of Julius Cæsar, in which Brutus, the assassin, unwisely chooses to speak before Caesar's friend Mark Antony:
BRUTUS

Be patient till the last. Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his. If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer: —Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his ambition. Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.

ALL

None, Brutus, none.

BRUTUS

Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Caesar than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol; his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy, nor his offences enforced, for which he suffered death.
Antony's response is
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest—
For Brutus is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men—
Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
He was my friend, faithful and just to me:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
He hath brought many captives home to Rome
Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill:
Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to mourn for him?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
221 what is becoming in good society . . . .
Among the habits attributed to James I which would probably be looked down on today, if not in his own time, were
222 white wands . . . tranferred to . . . his adherents and friends.
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke received the white wand as Lord Chamberlain, in charge of the finances of the royal household. Thomas Lake and Ralph Winwood were the principal secretaries of state after the fall of Carr; and George Calvert succeeded Lake when he fell under royal displeasure. None of these appear to have been creatures of Buckingham. Ranke is probably referring to the officers who actually did the work in the State office.
223 gold mines which he had formerly seen there
In 1595 Ralegh led an expedition up the Orinoco which he described in Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and Bewtiful Empyre of Guiana with a relation of the great and Golden Citie of Manoa. In an introduction to that book, Ralegh summarizes what he knows and speculates about Orinoco gold:
Because there have been divers opinions conceived of the gold ore brought from Guiana, and for that an alderman of London and an officer of her Majesty's mint hath given out that the same is of no price, I have thought good by the addition of these lines to give answer as well to the said malicious slander as to other objections. It is true that while we abode at the island of Trinidad I was informed by an Indian that not far from the port where we anchored there were found certain mineral stones which they esteemed to be gold, and were thereunto persuaded the rather for that they had seen both English and Frenchmen gather and embark some quantities thereof. Upon this likelihood I sent forty men, and gave order that each one should bring a stone of that mine, to make trial of the goodness; which being performed, I assured them at their return that the same was marcasite, and of no riches or value. Notwithstanding, divers, trusting more to their own sense than to my opinion, kept of the said marcasite, and have tried thereof since my return, in divers places. In Guiana itself I never saw marcasite; but all the rocks, mountains, all stones in the plains, woods, and by the rivers-sides, are in effect thorough-shining, and appear marvellous rich; which, being tried to be no marcasite, are the true signs of rich minerals, but are no other than El madre del oro, as the Spaniards term them, which is the mother of gold, or, as it is said by others, the scum of gold. Of divers sorts of these many of my company brought also into England, every one taking the fairest for the best, which is not general. For mine own part, I did not countermand any man's desire or opinion, and I could have afforded them little if I should have denied them the pleasing of their own fancies therein; but I was resolved that gold must be found either in grains, separate from the stone, as it is in most of the rivers in Guiana, or else in a kind of hard stone, which we call the white spar, of which I saw divers hills, and in sundry places, but had neither time nor men, nor instruments fit for labour. Near unto one of the rivers I found of the said white spar or flint a very great ledge or bank, which I endeavoured to break by all the means I could, because there appeared on the outside some small grains of gold; but finding no mean to work the same upon the upper part, seeking the sides and circuit of the said rock, I found a clift in the same, from whence with daggers, and with the head of an axe, we got out some small quantity thereof; of which kind of white stone, wherein gold is engendered, we saw divers hills and rocks in every part of Guiana wherein we travelled.
Subsequent expeditions by Laurence Kermis, Charles Leigh, Robert Harcourt, and Thomas Roe found no commercial quantities of gold, but Ralegh was not dissuaded.

Marcasite is a crystaline form of iron sulfide, similar to pyrites or "fools gold".

223a What confusion must eventually follow from this divided policy.
The execution of Ralegh was itself a dividing act. Aubrey records this doggerel on Ralegh's death:
Here lieth, hidden in this pit,
The wonder of the world for wit.
It to small purpose did him serve:
His wit could not his life preserve.
He living was belov'd of none
Yet in his death all did him moan.
Heaven hath his soul, the world his fame,
The grave his corpse; Stukley his shame.

"Stukley" is Sir Lewis Stukely, an admiral of the fleet and Ralegh's cousin. He arrested Ralegh on his return from Guiana, prevented his escape, and gave evidence against him in London. Another contemporary piece of doggerel describes this incident in a metaphore on wrestling:

Two kinsmen wrestling, who should have the fall the state stood by, threw up the football.
Both met, took hold, one collar thinks to slip; the other slyly got him on the hip:
Ne're foiled him, but ere he came to ground to save him self and fooil his friend means found.
Whilst one clean strength to fetch him o'er did lack, the other foots him and layes him on his back.
O for a righteous judge, people's good voice and after age sentence; tis better choice
To die with glory, then to live with shame. Ralegh hath lost his head, and Stukeley his fame.
224 1616 on the boundaries between Austria and Venice
In 1616 the Republic of Venice attacked Hapsburg Croatia to end the piracy of the Uskoks, a Croat tribe. This began the limited Friulian War, or War of Gradisca. Venice gained a small bit of territory from the conflict, which lasted 3 years.

Although peace was mostly maintained in Europe during this period, the struggle between the Iberian powers and Holland continued in the Pacific, where the Dutch defeated the Portuguese in the East Indies and the Spanish off the coast of Peru.

225 Ferdinand should indemnify him . . . .
The price of Spanish support was the province of Alsace.
226 The Union and the League
That is, the Protestant Union (see note 194) and the Catholic League which was formed in 1608 to counter the Union. Both were military alliances and both missed the membership of the most powerful parties of their camp. The League was formed and led by Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria.
227 In these considerations the balance evidently was in favor of a refusal.
Ranke doesn't state the considerations concisely. As I read them they were
For supporting Frederick For refusing.
His grandchildren would inherit a crown. The King of Spain claimed the throne.
He would be supporting the Protestant cause in Europe. Spain's claim was based on inheritance and treaty.
He would establish himself as a "king-maker" Spain intended to enforce its right, which would involve an expensive war.
  James held hereditary rights to be stronger the the electoral rights of parliaments.
  He believed subjects should obey in matters of religion, even if the sovereign were Catholic.
  He thought that support of popular election might weaken his domestic position.
228 Vere held Mannheim. . . .
The places garrisoned by English held out longest against the Bavarians, but Heidelberg fell in September 1622, Mannheim in November, and Frankenthal last in April 1623, surrendered on the orders of James I. One consequence of the fall of Heidelberg was that the library of the Elector, a great collection of Latin and Greek manuscripts as well as printed volumes, was transferred to the Vatican Library.
229 scattered the troops of Frederick . . . .
This is the Battle of the White Mountain, which took place on the outskirts of Prague on November 8, 1620.
230 struggle for life and death
According to one estimate, at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War the population of Germany was about 15 million; at the end, about 4 million. Many fled, of course, but there were huge slaughters, such as the massacre of Magdeburg in 1631, when 20,000 to 25,000 civilians were killed.
231 a protest . . . these rights
The Protestation entered into the Journal of the House, said to have been written in large part by John Selden, was
The Commons now assembled in Parliament, being justly occasioned thereunto concerning sundry liberties, franchises and privileges of Parliament, amongst others here mentioned, do make this Protestation following. That the liberties, franchises, privileges and jurisdictions of the Parliament are the ancient and undoubted birthright and inheritance of the subjects of England; and that the arduous and urgent affairs concerning the King, state and defence of the realm, and of the Church of England, and the maintenance and making of laws, and redress of mischiefs and grievances which daily happen within this realm, are proper subjects and matters of counsel and debate in Parliament; and that in the handling and proceeding of those businesses every member of the House of Parliament hath and of right ought to have freedom of speech to propound, treat, reason and bring to conclusion the same; and that every member of the said House hath like freedom from all impeachment, imprisonment and molestation (other than by censure of the House itself) for or concerning any speaking, reasoning or declaring of any matter or matters touching the parliament or parliament business; and that if any of the said members be complained of and questioned for anything done or said in Parliament, the same is to be showed to the King by the advice and assent of all the Commons, assembled in Parliament before the King give credence to any private information.
232 arrest a number of members
Among them were John Wright, Clerk of the House, and Sir Edward Coke. Sir Edwin Sandys and the Earls of Southhamptom and Oxford had been arrested the previous summer over statements in Parliament.
233 Sedan
Sedan is a city on the Meuse, which forms the current French border with Belgium. It was traditionally a Protestant stronghold and the site of a Calvinist college.
234 as the Duke of Saxony had been dealt with by Charles V
This probably refers to the Johann Friedrich, the Elector of Saxony and leader of the Schmalkaldic League. He was taken prisoner by Charles V at the battle of M¨hlberg and his lands were given to his relative, Maurice of Saxony. Johann was finally restored to his domains after the treachery of Maurince against the Emperor, but he died soon after.
235 relief of Breda
A Spanish army under Spinola invested Breda in August, 1624. The defense was stout, but the Dutch were unable to relieve them and no English forces were committed until February 1625, when 7000 English under Mansfeld failed to break the siege. The town surrendered in June 1625 and was held by Spain until 1637.
236 overtaken by Nemesis
Nemesis was a Greek goddess who carried out the vengeance of the gods on mortals who sinned out of arrogance.
237 Joab's hand
Joab was the son of David's sister. He commanded the victorious armies of Israel throughout his uncle's reign. After the death of King David, Joab favored Adonijah over the younger son, Solomon. Charles apparently is saying that the persecution of Buckingham is mere factionalism.
238 fought hand to hand to Nienburg
The first major action by the Danes in the 30 Years War was September 25, 1625 when Christian IV defeated a Catholic League army under Tilly at Nienburg near Hanover.
239 the defeat which he now sustained at Lutter
Tilly decisively defeated the Danes at Lutter, south-east of Hanover on August 27, 1626. Christian IV lost the support of many of the Protestant princes and eventually left the 30 Years' War after the Treaty of Lübeck in 1629.
240 Mansfeld . . . almost annihilated.
Mansfeld's army was destroyed by League forces under Wallenstein at Dessau Bridge, April 25, 1626. Mansfeld's attempt to link a new army with the Transylvanians under Bethem Gábor was thwarted when gábor signed a peace with the Empire.
241 Island of Rhé
The Île de Rhé lies about a mile off the coast of northwest France and guards the approach to Rochefort and La Rochelle. It is about 19 miles long and 3 wide.
242 Fort Martin
At the southeast tip of the island, closest to the mainland.
243 he received orders to leave London
In fact, the King put the English Church into commission. The commissioners were

The text of the commission was:

Whereas George [Abbot], now Archbishop of Canterbury, in the right of the Archbishopric, hath several and distinct Archiepiscopal, Episcopal, and other Spiritual and Ecclesiastical Powers and Jurisdictions, to be exercised in the Government and Discipline of the Church within the Province of Canterbury, and in the administration of Justice in Cases Ecclesiastical within that Province, which are partly executed by himself in his own person, and partly and more generally by several persons nominated and authorised by him, being learned in the Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm, in those several places whereunto they are deputed and appointed by the said Archbishop: which several places, as We are informed, they severally hold by several Grants for their several lives, as namely

Sir Henry Martin Knight hath and holdeth by the grants of said Archbishop, the Offices and Places of the Dean of the Arches, and Judge or Master of the Prerogative Court, for the natural life of the said Sir Henry Martin.

Sir Charles Caesar Knight hath and holdeth by grants of the said Archbishop, the Places or Offices of the Judge of the Audience, and Master of the Faculties, for the term of the natural life of the said Sir Charles Caesar.

Sir Thomas Ridley Knight hath and holdeth by the grant of the said Archbishop, the Place or Office of Vicar General to the said Archbishop.

And Nathaniel Brent, Doctor of the Laws, hath and holdeth by grant of the said Archbishop, the Office or Place of Commissary to the said Archbishop, as of his proper and peculiar diocese of Canterbury.

And likewise the several Registrars of the Arches, Prerogative, Audience, Faculties, and of the Vicar General and Commissary of Canterbury, hold their places by grants by the said Archbishop respectively.

Whereas the said Archbishop, in some or all of these several places and Jurisdictions, doth and may sometimes assume unto his personal and proper Judicature, Order, or Direction, some particular Causes, Actions, or Cases, at his pleasure. And foreasmuch as the said Archbishop cannot, at this present, in his own person, attend these services which are otherwise proper for his Cognisance and Jurisdiction; and which as Archbishop of Canterbury, he might and ought in his own person to have performed and executed in Causes and Matters Ecclesiastical, in the proper function of the Archbishop of the Province.

We, therefore, of Our regal power, and of Our princely care and providence, that nothing shall be defective in the Order, Discipline, Government, or Right of the Church, have thought fit by the service of some other learned and reverend Bishops, to be named by Us, to supply those which the said Archbishop ought or might, in the cases aforesaid, to have done; but, for this present, cannot perform the same.

Know ye, therefore, that We, reposing special trust and confidence in your approved wisdoms, learning and integrity, have nominated, authorised, and appointed, and do, by these presents, nominate, authorise and appoint You, the said George, Lord Bishop of London; Richard, Lord Bishop of Durham; John, Lord Bishop of Rochester; John, Lord Bishop of Oxford; and William, Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells, or any four, three, or two of you to do, execute and perform all and every those acts, matters, and things any way touching or concerning the Power, Jurisdiction, or Authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury in Causes or Matters Ecclesiastical, as amply, fully, and effectively, to all intents and purposes, as the said Archbishop himself might have done.

And We do thereby Command you, and every of you, to attend, perform, and execute this Our Royal Pleasure in and touching the permises, until We shall declare our Will and Pleasure to the contrary.

And We do further hereby Will and Command the said Archbishop of Canterbury, quietly and without interruption, to permit and suffer you; . . . any four, three, or two of you, to execute and perform Our Comission, according to Our Royal Pleasure thereby signified.

And we do further Will and Command all and every other person and persons, whom it may in any way concern in their several Places or Offices, to be attendant, observant, and obedient to you and every one of you, in the execution oand performance of this Our Royal Will and Command; as they and every of them will answer the contrary at their utmost perils.

The remainder of the patent confirmed the ecclesiastical officers mentioned earlier in their appointed position.

244 speech of Sir Benjamin Rudyard
Part of this address is preserved by Rushworth:
The King is a good man; and it is no diminution to a King to be called so. He hath already intimated unto us by a message, that he doth willingly give way to have the abuse of power reformed; by which I do verily believe, he doth very well understand what a miserable Power it is which hath produced so much weakness to himself and to the kingdom: and it is our happiness that he is so ready to redress it. For mine own part I shall be very glad to see that old decrepit law, Magna Charta, which hath been kept so long, and lien bed-rid, as it were, I shall be glad to see it walk abroad again with new vigour and lustre, attended and followed with the other six statutes: questionless it will be a great heartening to all the People. As for intrinsical power and reason of state, they are matters in the clouds, where I desire we may leave them, and not meddle with them at all, lest by the way of admittance we may lose somewhat of that which is our own already. Yet this by the way I will say of Reason of State, that in the latitude by which 'tis used, it hath eaten out almost, not only the Laws, but all the Religion of Christendom.
245 the lawful prerogative of the King
To a large extent, the progress of representative government has been the transformation of prerogative rights into statute law. In a world where there was no common law, there would be no prerogative; where no statue law, nothing but prerogative.
246 these questions were finally settled in a different way.
The Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, which will be discussed in its place.
246a Coronation Oath
The wording and form (declaration or affirmation) of the Coronation Oath probably varied widely, but from the time of Edward II the Oath contained three essential elements:

First, that the King will preserve Religion..

Second, that the King will enforce the just laws and customs of the land to all orders.

Third, that he will cause justice to be rendered rightly, impartially, and wisely, in compassion and in truth.

247 deliberate on a protestation
This eventually was the Remonstrance which ran in part
Most Gracious Sovereign . . . Concerning your Majesty's servants and, namely, the Duke of Buckingham, we humbly beseech your Majesty to be informed by us your faithful Commons . . . that it hath been the ancient, constant and undoubted right and usage of Parliaments, to question and complain of all persons, of what degree soever, found grievous to the commonwealth, in abusing the power and trust committed to them by their sovereign . . . without which liberty in Parliament no private man, no servant to a King, perhaps no councilor, without exposing himself to the hazard of great enmity and prejudice, can be a means to call great officers into question for their misdemeanours, but the commonwealth might languish under their pressures without redress: and whatsoever we shall do accordingly in this Parliament, we doubt not but it shall redound to the honour of the Crown, and welfare of your subjects . . .
248 the Petition of Right
The Petition of Right begins with by citing statutes and Common Law rights requiring regular form for taxation (including benvolences), taking of life and property, imprisonment, and billeting of soldiers; and complaining of recent instances where these were violated and the violators not punished.

The heart of the petition is that the Parliament

do therefore humbly pray your Most Excellent Majesty, that no man hereafter be compelled to make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such like charge, without common consent by Act of Parliament; and that none be called to make answer, or take such oath, or to give attendance, or be confined, or otherwise molested or disquieted concerning the same, or for refusal thereof; and that no freeman, in any such manner as is before-mentioned, be imprisoned or detained; and that your Majesty will be pleased to remove the said soldiers and mariners, and that your people may not be so burdened in time to come; and that the foresaid commissions for proceeding by martial law, may be revoked and annulled; and that hereafter no commissions of like nature may issue forth to any person or persons whatsoever, to be executed as aforesaid, lest by colour of them any of your Majesty's subjects be destroyed or put to death, contrary to the laws and franchise of the land.

The King's response on June 2, referred to in Ranke's narrative, was

The King willeth that right be done according to the laws and customs of the realm; and that the statutes be put in due execution, that his subjects may have no cause to complain of any wrong or oppressions, contrary to their just rights and liberties, to the preservation whereof he holds himself as well obliged as of his prerogative.
249 remonstrance on the subject of tonnage and poundage
In this remonstrance the Parliament declared itself compelled
to make this humble declaration, "That the receiving of Tonnage and Poundage, and other impositions not granted by Parliament, is a breach of the fundamental liberties of this kingdom, and contrary to your Majesty's royal answer to the said Petition of Right." And therefore they do most humbly beseech your Majesty to forbear any further receiving of the same, and not to take it in ill part from those of your Majesty's loving subjects, who shall refuse to make payment of any such charges, without warrant of law demanded.
250 the King declared Parliament to be prorogued on June 20
In his declaration of prorogation, the King said he was not willing "to receive any more Remonstrances". He promised to abide by his answer to the Petition of Right, but would not listen to any question of his right to the customs. Politicians spoke much more clearly back then. Addressing the question of whether his grant of the Petition meant he could not collect tunnage and poundage, the King said
The profession of both Houses, in time of hammering this Petition, was no ways to intrench upon my Prerogative, saying, they had neither intention nor power to hurt it. Therefore it must needs be conceived that I have granted no new, but only confirmed the ancient liberties of my subjects: yet to show the clearness of my intentions, that I neither repent, nor mean to recede from anything I have promised you, I do here declare, that those things which have been done, whereby men had some cause to suspect the liberties of the subjects to be trenched upon,—which indeed was the first and true ground of the Petition,—shall not hereafter be drawn into example for your prejudice; and in time to come, on the word of a king, you shall not have the like cause to complain.

But as for Tonnage and Poundage, it is a thing I cannot want, and was never intended by you to ask, nor meant—am sure—by me to grant.

251 assassins of William of Orange, Henry III and Henry IV

William the Silent (1533-1584), the Stadtholder who began the long war for the independence of the United Provinces, was assassinated by Balthazar Gerards on July 10, 1584. Gerards (or Gérard in French, was a native of the Franche-Comté. He was motivated by religion (he was Catholic) and patriotism, but also by the large reward offered by Philip II for the Stadtholder's death.

Henri III (1551-1589) was murdered by a Dominican monk, Jacques Clément (1567-1589) during the Wars of Religion. Clément was a religious fanatic who was promised both temporal and spiritual rewards by the Church and the Catholic League.

Henri IV (1553-1610) was stabbed in his coach by François Ravaillac (1578-1610), a religious fanatic who opposed the King's support of the United Provinces against Spain.

252 the ideas of Richelieu became the foundation of a new order in the world.
These ideas included
253 to hold the Articles of the English Church in the sense they were understood by their writers . . . .
The King's Declaration that was prefixed to the Articles of Religion as published in 1628, seems to uphold Eliot's views:

That therefore in these both curious and unhappy differences, which have for so many hundred years, in different times and places, exercised the Church of Christ, we will, that all further curious search be laid aside, and these disputes shut up in God's promises, as they be generally set forth to us in the Holy Scriptures, and the general meaning of the Articles of the Church of England according to them. And that no man hereafter shall either print, or preach, to draw the Article aside any way, but shall submit to it in the plain and full meaning thereof: and shall not put his own sense or comment to be the meaning of the Article, but shall take it in the literal and grammatical sense.

That if any public reader in either our Universities, or any head or master of a College, or any other person respectively in either of them, shall affix any new sense to any Article, or shall publicly read, determine, or hold any public disputation, or suffer any such to be held either way, in either the Universities or Colleges respectively; or if any divine in the Universities shall preach or print any thing either way, other than is already established in convocation with our royal assent; he, or they the offenders, shall be liable to our displeasure, and the Church's censure in our commission ecclesiastical, as well as any other: and we will see there shall be due execution upon them.

254 did not his nearest kinsmen belong to that order?
Weston's family was openly Catholic, as were the Tresurer's own friends and servants, for the most part. It isn't clear (to me) whether Richard Weston was related to William Weston, the secret priest who was the last Superior of the Jesuits in England.
255 The Republic of Venice

The Venetian Republic, which had maintained its independence for over 800 years, was by 1628 a century past the peak of its wealth and influence. Although it had, with the Spanish and the Pope, defeated the Turks at Lapanto in 1571, and had worked out a relationship with the Porte which left the Republic relatively unimpeded in the Adriatic, Venice was forced to play the three great powers—Spain, France and Austria—one against the others in order to maintain its position in the complicated politics of northern Italy.

256 the fall of Rochelle

The English attempts to raise the siege of Rochelle faced several disadvantages in addition to the fortifications on the Isle of Rhè. Richelieu had dug more than 7 miles of trenches on the landward side of the town and had sealed it from the water by a mile-long sea wall. Clarendon says that these works were nearing completion at the time of Buckingham's assassination.

257 peace concluded at Susa, April 1, 1629

Davenport and Paulin, in European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States. . . make these observations on the treaty:

The negotiations, mainly conducted through Contarini and Zorzi, ambassadors of Venice at the respective courts of England and France, dealt chiefly with the Huguenots, Queen Henrietta Maria's household, and the restitution of a French vessel taken by the English in the neutral waters of the Texel. Negotiations resulted negatively in the postponement both of the steelement of the commercial questions, and of the formation of an anti-Hapsburg league, desired by Richelieu; and in the virtual abandonment of the Huguenots by Charles. The treaty provided that the Anglo-French marriage articles should be confirmed; that the question of the queen's household should be left for later adjustment; that prizes made before the peace should be retained, but, if made later, restored; and that there should be an exchange of ambassadors.

On April 14/24, 1629, both kings signed the treaty, which is named from the place where Louis signed it, Susa, a principal fortress of Savoy, which had recently been taken by France in the course of the Mantuan war. . . .

258 the conflict with Spain

During the 20 years from the end of the Wars of Religion until the Fronde, France established itself as a credible counterbalance to the power of the Hapsburg Empire. Four important theaters of the wars were:

259 the spreading power of the Emperor and the League

The Catholic League mentioned here is not the League involved in the French wars of religion. It was formed to oppose a confederation of German Protestant states and towns called the Protestant (or Evangelical) Union. The Union was formed at Anhausen in 1608; the nominal head of the Union was Friederich IV, the Elector Palatine. The League coalesced in 1609 and chose Duke Maximilian of Bavaria as its military chief. By 1629, the Protestant side was worn down and oppressed. The main non-German Protestant power in the 30 Years' War, Denmark, had withdrawn. The League, allied with the Hapsburg powers in both Spain and Austria, were making steady advances in the North, threatening Swedish interests on the Baltic.

260 Halland

Halland is a province on the south-west coast of present-day Sweden. At the time of this conference, it was a Danish possession.

261 Sylt and Förh . . . Nordstrand

At the time of Morgan's operation, Nordstrand was on another of the North Frisian islands—an island called Strand— off the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein. A storm in 1634 changed the geography, so that Nordstrand is now on a peninsula attached to the German coast. "Gottorp" comes into this because the region was under the control of Friedrich III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, who, though Protestant, was an enemy of Denmark.

262 the two kings, the Republic, and the Hanse towns

That is, between Christian IV and Gustav Adolphus, the Republic of Venice, and at least Hamburg and Lübeck among the major independent Baltic port cities.

263 to the exclusion . . . even of the Secretaries of State

Clarendon makes the point that the Secretaries of State during this time, though respected, were not among the top advisers of the King. They sat in council, but mainly so they could dispatch communications based on resulutions taken.

264 the silver

In one of those economic moves that now seem so silly and so dangerous, Charles I had given Cottington a monopoly on importing Spanish\ silver. The benefit for England was that Cottington must sell a third of the silver to the mint at a fixed price. The benefit for the Lord Treasurer was that he could sell the rest at market prices. Cottington used his diplomatic trip into Spain to arrange a transaction—not possible while there was a state of war—and brought the metal home with him.

265 Leith . . . Yarmouth

Leith is the port of Edinburgh. Great Yarmouth is a port in East Anglia.

266 Usedom

Usedom or Uznam is an island on the Pomeranian coast, at the modern border between Poland and Germany. It was the site of the Nazi missle-testing station at Peenemünde during World War II.

267 battle-field of Lützen.

The battle of Lützen, near Leipzig in Saxony, resulted in the retreat of the Catholic League from eastern Germany, but it cost the life of the King of Sweden, who was killed leading a cavalry attack. The Hapsburg side also lost General Poppenheim, killed by a Swedish cannonball.

268 Consilium formatum

The Consilium was a council set up at the conference of Heilbronn in 1633 to determine the course of the Protestant powers after the death of Gustavus Adolphus. It ws established under the joint protection of Louis XIII and the infant Queen Christina of Sweden. The members of the council were

269 reichs thalers

The Reichsthaler, which Ranke prices at about 5 shillings, was convertible to 90 German Kreutzen, or 360 pfennig.

270 half a million thalers

Or £125,000, an impossible-sounding number.

271 Slaak . . . attack them

In September, 1633, the Spanish attempted a sneak-attack, using shallow-draft river boats, on fortresses that protected the channel of the Scheldt. If they had succeeded, they would have cut off the important Dutch province of Zeeland from the rest of the Dutch confederation. The attempt failed when an English force stationed at Steenbergen kept the Spanish from landing at Tholen; and a Hollander naval force under Marinus Hollare intercepted the fleet, pursuing it up the narrow channel of the Slaak, where it was destroyed.

272 Wesel . . . required a longer time for its development.

By the treaty of Xanten in 1614, the Duchy of Cleves (of which Wesel was a part) was ceded to Johann Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg. A large part of the Duchy was occupied by the Spanish, though, until 1629 when the Dutch seized it. Wesel was an important mercantile city and transshipment point until the beginning of the troubles in the Netherlands in the 16th century.

273 contended for this right in learned treatises

John Selden's Mare Clausum was completed around 1619, according to G.W. Johnson's Memoirs of John Selden. The manuscript was pulled off the shelf for publication in 1635. Another thirty years later, when the Dutch once again refused certain courtesies such as striking colors in the presence of an English war ship, Samuel Pepys, clerk of the Navy, referred to Selden for precedents. He found the book still very useful and thought so much of it that he had his copy rebound.

274 battle of Nördlingen

The Battle of Nördlingen, September 6, 1634, ended the middle period of the Thirty Years' War. A combined Spanish and Austrian army routed Swedish and Saxon forces, bringing southern Germany back under Imperial influence, demoralizing the Swedes, and forcing the protestant princes into the Treaty of Prague. After this time, the main ally of the Swedes in Germany was France, which bore the brunt of the fighting for the rest of the war.

275 the treaty of Prague

The Peace of Prague (1634) effectively ended the German-Austrian conflicts of the Thirty Years' War. Local armies were disbanded and relations between the religions reverted to those formalized at the Diet of Augsburg, with borders as they stood in 1627. The pact included a clause of oblivion, in which all enemies of the Emperor were forgiven except Frederick V of the Palatine, who was already dead.

276 The great successes of the Spanish army in the year 1636

When the Spanish captured Trier in 1635, France declared war. In the next season, the Spanish and Imperial forces attacked on three fronts. The Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand came in from the Spanish Netherlands through Picardy and nearly captured Paris. Matthias Gallas de Campo led an Imperial army into the Vosges. And Philip IV attacked the Midi. The two northern offensives were successful during most of 1636, although Ferdinand was prevented from reaching Paris and Gallas was eventually driven back into Bavarian territory by Bernard of Weimar.

277 monopolies of different kinds were again granted by the crown.

Clarendon mentions monopolies on gunpowder, soap, wine, salt, leather, and sea-coal as being considered particularly odious.

278 The old sever laws of Parlmament against priests and Jesuits . . . ,

Beginning with the Acts of Supremecy and Uniformity in 1559, which established Elizabeth as the governor of the Church and the Book of Common Prayer as the authority in liturgy, the Penal Laws included these Acts:

279 the wording of the oath . . . .

The Oath of Allegiance, or Oath of Obedience, contained in an Act of the Parliament of 1606, is an example of the extreme reaction against Catholics after the Gunpowder plot. It is skillfully worded in that no scrupulous Catholic could swear to it, and no good Englishman could not.

I, A.B. do truly and sincerely acknowledge, profess, testify, and declare in my conscience before God and the world, that our Sovereign Lord King James, is lawful and rightful King of this realm, and of all other in his Majesties Dominions and Countries; And that the Pope neither of himself, nor by any authorities of the Church or See of Rome, or by any means with any other hath any power or authority to depose the King, or to dispose any of his Majesty's kingdoms, or dominions, or to authorize any foreign prince to invade or annoy him, or his countries, or to discharge any of his Subjects of their allegiance and obedience to his Majesty, or to give any license or leave to any of them to bear arms, raise tumult, or to offer any violence, or hurt to his Majesty's royal person, state, or government, or to any of his Majesty's subjects within his Majesty's dominions.

Also, I do swear from my heart that, notwithstanding any declaration or sentence of excommunication or deposition made or granted, or to be made or granted by the Pope or his successors, or by any authority derived, or pretended to be derived from him, or his See against the King, his heirs or successors, or any absolution of the said subjects from their obedience: I will bear faith and true allegiance to his Majesty, his heirs and successors, and him or them will defend to the uttermost of my power, against all conspiracies and attempts whatsoever, which shall be made against his or their persons, their crown and dignity, by reason or color of any such sentence or declaration or otherwise, and will doe my best endeavor to disclose and make known unto his Majesty, his heirs and successors, all treasons and traitorous conspiracies, which I shall know or hear of to be against him or any of them:

And I do further swear, that I do from my heart abhor, detest and abjure, as impious and heretical, this damnable doctrine and position, that princes which be excommunicated or deprived by the Pope, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, or any whatsoever.

And I do believe and in conscience am resolved, that neither the Pope nor any person whatsoever, hath power to absolve me of this oath, or any part thereof, which I acknowledge by good and full authority to bee lawfully ministered unto me, and do renounce all pardons and dispensations to the contrary: And all these things I do plainly and sincerely acknowledge and swear, according to these express words by me spoken, and according to the plain and common sense and understanding of the same words, without any Equivocation, or mental evasion, or secret reservation whatsoever: And I doe make this recognition and acknowledgement heartily, willingly, and truly, upon the true faith of a Christian: So help me God.

280 The Synod of Dort....

This Synod of the Dutch reformed church sat from November 1618 to May 1619 at the town of Dordrecht. It met to debate the doctrines of the Arminian Remonstrants (see Note 195). Twenty-six foreign scholars were invited from eight other countries, including the English divines John Carleton, bishop of Llandaff; Joseph Hall, Dean of Worcester; John Davenant of Queen's College, Cambridge; and Samuel Ward of Sidney College, Cambridge; and a Scot, Walter Balcanquell. An English Arminian divine, John Hale, attended but was not a deputy. The Synod's refutations of Arminianism were captured in a fairly compact document usually called the Canons of Dort. Among other work products of the Synod were the Dutch Annotations of the Bible. Hale published a record of the Synod in English, although his disgust of the extreme positions adopted eventually drove him away from Calvinism.

281 acquisition of Arabic and Person manuscripts

It was as Chancellor of the University at Oxford that Laud made most of his oriental contributions. Picking up on the enthusiams of Thomas Bodley, Laud bought and donated to the University 221 Arabic, Persian and Turkish manuscripts between 1635 and 1640.

282 Sabbatarian controversy

The Sabbatarian Controversy is the argument about the nature of the Sabbath day. Fuller gives five key questions in the argument:

  1. What is the fittest name to signify the day set apart for God's public service?
  2. When that day is to begin and end?
  3. Upon what authority the keeping thereof is bottomed?
  4. Whether or no the day is alterable.
  5. Whether any recreations, and what kinds of them, be lawful on that day?
The controversy was agitated by the more precise English calvanists and resulted in a flurry of books and pamplets beginning around 1628. The issue was quieted when Laud had the most active Sabbatarians brought before the High Commission.

283 Synod of Gap

The Huguenot national Synod at Gap in 1603 declared the Pope to be Antichrist.

284 Arundel marbles

The first in an unfortunate series of raids by English collectors on the antiquities of Rome, Greece and Turkey, the Arundel Marbles were statues, columns, plinths and inscriptions bought and shipped by Thomas Howard, the 21st Earl of Arundel Most of the pieces now reside in the Ashmolean Museum. They are of considerable artistic and historical importance, but would be far more so in situ.

285 Cameron's action

This is probably James Cameron (1579?-1625), a Scots theologian of great reputation among the Huguenots. The DNB says "In Cameron King James found one of the strongest supporters of his own opinions as to the power and prerogatives of the king…". In 1622 James made Cameron principal of the University of Glasgow, replacing Dr. Boyd, who had opposed the Five Articles of Perth (see note 287). One of Cameron's students said that he taught "that all resistance to the supreme magistrate in anie case was simplie unlawful." Cameron didn't last long at Glasgow: he was so unpopular that he was forced to return to France.

286 ordination from English bishops

Spottiswoode was one of three Scots titular bishops invited by James I to London to be ordained in 1610. They in turn ordained those of the remaining 10 Scottish bishops who had not been ordained in succession.

287 Five Articles of Perth

The Five Articles, which were to cause so much aggrevation to the Scottish presbyterians, are summarized by Stephens as:

  1. That the holy sacrament be received meekly and reverently by the people on their knees.
  2. That if any good christian, known to the pastor, be, by long visitation of sickness, unable to resort to the church, and shall earnestly desire to receive the communion in his own house, the minister shall not deny him so great a comfort, but shall administer it to him, with three or four to communicate with him, according to the form prescribed in the church.
  3. That in cases of great need and danger, the minister shall not refuse to baptize an infant in a private house, after the form used in the congregation; and shall, on the next Lord's day after, declare such private baptism to the people.
  4. That, for stopping the increase of popery, and settling true religion in the hearts of the people, it is thought good that the minister of every parish catechise the young children, of eight years of age, in the Belief, the Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer, and that children so instructed shall be presented to the bishop, who shall bless them with prayer for the increase of their knowledge, and continuance of God's heavenly graces with them.
  5. That considering how the inestimable benefits of our Lord's birth, passion, resurrection, ascension, and the sending down of the Holy Spirit, were commendably and godly remembered at certain particular days and times, by the whole church of the world, and may be so now; therefore it is thought meet, that every minister shall, on these days, make commemoration of the said inestimable benefits from the pertinent texts of scripture, framing his doctrine and exhortation thereto, and rebuking all superstitious observations and licentious profanation thereof.

288 Norse Yule Feast

One of the few details known of the ancient Yule Feast of the Norsemen is that it involved drinking large quantities of Yule Ale.

289 drawing up … the Puritan address

Before the Parliament of 1633, a Presyterian minister named Thomas Hog presented a petition to the Clerk of the Articles titled "Grievances and petitions concerning the disordered estate of the reformed kirk…". The petition has been described as an early prototype of the Solemn League and Covenant. The Lords of the Articles did not even consider presenting it to the King, but the solicitor Thomas Haig rewrote it and brought it to Balmerino, one of the Lords of the Articles, who brought it to the Earl of Rothes. It ended up being shown to and discussed by a large number of people and probably had a larger impact in that way than if it had been presented and forgotten. Balmerino was chosen as the whipping boy for the entire scheme: he was questioned and then impeached for perjury. The sentence was death, but he was pardoned by the king.

290 rose up and threw their stools …

Legends have grown up around this incident. The alledged hurler of the first stool, an herb-seller named Jane Geddes, may be a fiction. The distinction has been variously attributed, but there is no direct evidence from anyone who was there, and the first accounts were not published until 30 years later. There is a bronze sculpture of Jane Geddes' stool in St. Giles today.

291 Balaam's ass

See the book of Numbers, chapters 22 and 24, where the loyal ass, having been beaten 3 times, finally voices a complaint.

292 The Scottish troops which served under the Swidith flag …

The assertion that the Scots troops in Swedish service were the source of the common feeling with other Protestant states is not proved here. Research is needed in this area. Among the famous Scots officers were Charles Campbell and James King.

293 resistance without … guilt of rebellion

The Earl of Rothes' Relation of the Proceedings Concerning the Affairs of the Kirk of Scotland contains much evidence of the belief of the nobles, barons, municipalities and pastors that their religious beliefs were proof against the resentment of the monarch.

294 superstition and idolatry

The supposed return of superstition was at the core of the Presbyterian rebellion. The Articles of Perth were acceptable (to some few) only in that they allowed practices that were undertoood in a particularly Protestant sense. The context introduced by the books of Service and Canons denied that sense, and a large part of the nation rejected the practices as dangerous in a climate of superstition.

295 junta

The OED does not support Ranke's assertion that junto or junta was widely used in the political sense at this time. The earliest source is 1623, but it refers to a Spanish "junta of divines" deliberating the terms of the Spanish Marriage. "Junta" was applied to various governing councils in the Hapsburg empire and did not necessarily carry the suggestion of arbitrary government. The earliest citation that applies the term to English government councils is from 1642. OED does say that it was applied both to King Charles's cabinet and to the Prebyterian Tables in Scotland.

296 A prophetess arose

She was a young woman by the name of Mitchelson. From the Domestic Annals of Scotland:

Amidst the excitement of the time, a young woman named Mitchelson, who had been subect to fits, attracted attention in Edinburgh by becoming a sort of prophetess or Pythoness of the Covenant. She was acquainted with the Scripture, and much taken with the Convenant, and in her fits spoke much to its advantage, and much ill to its opposers, that would, or at least that she wished to befall them. Great numbers of all ranks of people were her daily hearere; and many of the devouter sex prayed and wept, with joy and wonder, to hear her speak. When her fits came upon her, she was ordinarily thrown upon a down bed, and there prostrate, with her face downwards, spoke such words as were for a while carefully taken from her mouth by such as were skilful in brachygraphy. She had intermissions of her discourses for days and weeks and before she began to speak, it was made known through Edinburgh. Mr Harry Rollock [one of the clergymen of Edinburgh], who often came to see her, said that he thought it was not good manners to speak while his Master was speaking, and that he acknowledged his Master's voice in her. Some misconstered her to be suborned by the Coventanters, and at least that she had nothing that savoured of a rapture, but only of memory, and that still she knew what she spoke, and, being interrupted in her discourse, answered pertinently to the purpose. Her language signified little: she spoke of Christ, and called him Covenanting Jesus; that the Covenant was approved from heaven; that the king's covenant was Satan's invention; that the Covenant should prosper, but the adherents to the king's covenant should be confounded; and much other stuff o this nature, which savoured at best of senseless implicity.

297 The Arogonese had rebelled…

The parallels between Castile and Aragon in 1591, and England and Scotland in 1639, are remarkable. Both sets were dual kingdoms ruled by the son of the monarch who had united them. Both sets were in the process of developing common institutions. Both Aragon and Scotland were afraid of being reduced to secondary status. As with Scotland, Aragon had a stronger tradition of representative government than did its partner. In Aragon as well as Scotland, the nobility attempted to gain pipular support to maintain their power. Scotland was as worried as was Aragon about "foreign" infringement on its laws and liberties. In the case of both nations, the reigning monarch sought to maintain his prerogative although he had little to gain thereby. As Ranke points out, the main differences were the limited scope of the Aragonese claims, and that Philip could afford to persevere and prevail.

298 old edicts against recusants

It is tedious to recount these laws. The rock on which they all rest is the Act of Uniformity of the second year of Elizabeth, which established a form of service and delivery of the sacrements to which Catholics were relucant to conform. The first law against such non-conformance passed in 1581. The notable Act for Restraining Popish Recusants passed in 1593. Enforcement of the laws was lax for most of the next two centuries, but the statues remained in force until 1792.

299 the proofs alleged … made an indescribable impression.

Sir George Crook's notes on the case are printed by the Camden Society. Page images are available at the Internet Archive, and an HTML version. The heads under which he forms his argument are:

  1. That the writ for Ship-money is against the common lawe, specifically in that Parliament had not assented to it.
  2. That the writ also violates many statutes.
  3. That the royal prerogative to not reach to impositions of this kind.
  4. That there is no precedent for such a writ.
  5. That even if precedents were allowed, the current danger to the kingdom does not warrant such an imposition.
  6. That even if conditions warranted it, the writ as drawn would be illegal.
  7. That even if the writ were legal, the sheriff's procedure in assessing of the county was illegal.
  8. That the writ was not issued according to legal form.

300 anxiety lest the Scottish uprising should spread…

Royalists in Scotland thought that the Scottish resistance was, if not inspired by, was at least encouraged by and coordinated with the English puritans. Both Spalding and Burnet mention this belief.