January 2 The Earl of Worchester was made Keeper of the Privy Seal, when on the preceding day he had handed over to the King the office of Master of Horse.
3 Thomas Lake was sworn in as one of the Principal Secretaries.
Cottington was sent to Spain to recall John Digby, the Ordinary Ambassador.
4 George Villiers sworn in as Master of Horse in the place of the Earl of Worcester.
11 The case of the prerogative of place between *** Baron Keragh or Kerrey, or Lixnow, and the Baron of Slane was determined by delegates acting on behalf of the Earl Marshal, namely the Earl of Worcester, Keepr of the Privy Seal, the Earl of Suffolk, Treasurer, the Admiral of England, the Duke of Lennox, and the Earl of Pembroke, that the prerogative of place should fall to Baron Keragh until Slane produces clearer arguments for himself.
On the same day there arose a question whether the title of Baron Roos, which came to him on his mother’s side from the Manners family, later elevated to Earls of Rutland, should thus be incorporated to the Earldom of Rutland that it is inseparable, or whether by his mother’s lineage it should be handed down to William Cecil alone, who is commonly called Lord Roos, and has thus been named by the King in letters. But this case was postponed to the 25th of this month.
13 William Monson, Thomas’ breother, is brought to the Tower of London at night. On which day Simon Digby arrived from Spain with letters.
14 Robert Cotton is is brought in a carriage from the Justice of the Royal Bench to his own Cotton House, whence, after he had handed over certain documents to the Justice, he was remanded to Barkham for custody.
15 The Earl of Somerset and his wife were indicted for felony, and a True Bill found by a Grand Jury.
The King departed London towards Royston.
February 1 The case of Baron Roos’ title is first heard before the delegates acting on behalf of the Marshall, namely the Earl of Suffolk, hreasurer, the Earl of Worchester, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and the Duke of Lennox, and a new commission is appointed, onto which the Earl of Pembroke and the Earl of Shrewsbury are coopted.
The Chancellor began to grow ill.
12. William Cecil Lord Roos wed A, firstborn daughter of Thomas Lake, a Royal Secretary.
On the same day John Tindall was killed by Bertram Moore.
The Sergeant of the Law and the Chancellor were summoned to judgement according to the law of 17 Edward III, chapter 1, that under penalty of praemunire nobody should impeach judgement given in the King’s Court.
Flooding at Newmarket.
March 2 George, Thomas, and Charles Neville, sons of Edward Neville Baron Abergavenny, were drowned in the Thames.
10 Sir Henry Fanshaw, the King’s Remembrancer of the Exchequer, died of apoplexy at the Hertfordshire Assizes.
16 The King returns to London.
Sir Jerome Bowes dies.
19 The Scots Baron Benning is taken onto the Privy Council.
20 John Digby, former Ambassador, has returned from Spain.
Walter Ralegh is freed from prison.
22 The Countess of Suffolk returns to London.
23 Henry St. George is created Richmond Herald, and in his place Samson Lennard is substituted as Bluemantle. Augustine Vincent is made Pursuivant at Arms in the name of Rouge Rose. William Persons, Lancaster Herald, because he refused to surrender the letters patent for the position of Chester Herald, as he had promised, is commited to Marshalsea prison.
A joust in honor of King James’ birthday, to be celebrated on the 24th, which day is a Sunday, is put off to Monday.
27 The Countess of Somerset is sent from William Smith’s custody to the Tower of London.
Richard Foster, Doctor of Medicine and outstanding mathematician, died.
April 2 The son of Esmé [Stuart] d’Aubergny is bapatized in the Chapel Royal at Westminster, and is named Henry by the Queen his godmother.
3 John Digby, who had returned from Spain in the preceding month, is taken onto the Privy Council, and appointed Vice-chamberlain of the Royal Household in the place of Baron Stanhope, who was persuaded by royal letters to yield his place.
On the same day the King withdrew to Newmarket, after he had appointed Oliver St. John Viceroy of Ireland.
23 Robert Car of Ancram and Gibbs are examined by the Chancellor, and freed the following day.
24 Francis Earl of Rutland and George Villiers are taken into the Order of the Garter.
After dinner the King departed Westminister.
27 The Peers are summoned by letter to Somerset’s trial.
May 8 Gilbert Earl of Shrewsbury died.
9. Together with the Bishop of Ely, I was taken ill after dinner.
14 After the Peers had been convened and stands erected in Westminster Hall for the trial of the Countess of Somerset and her husband, which had been appointed for the 15th of this month, it was postponed until the 23rd of this month, because, as it they say, she is in poor health.
22 The trial is posponed again until the 24th, and the Peers are summoned anew.
24 The Countess of Somerset is brought in to Westminster Hall slightly before nine o’ clock, the axe not borne before her.
The Chancellor of England, appointed Seneschal of England for this occasion, came a little before on horseback, with his servants and other noblemen precedeing him, six Sergeants at Arms, the Crown Clerk of Chancery bearing letters patent for the Seneschal, Richard Coningsby bearing a white wand, and the bearer of the Seal. There followed on horseback Barons Norris and Russell, and two others of the knightly Order. Having confessed herself guilty, she is condemned to hang. She took refuge in the mercy of God and the King, beseeching the Peers to intercede for her life, with many bystanders taking pity on her.
25 The Earl of Somerset is brought to Westminster Hall a little before ten o’clock, wearing a robe with the George and the Garter, the axe not born before him. Soon the Chancellor arrived, and Coningsby on a horse bearing his staff. He is condemned of felony and the court broken up at 9 p. m.
The Countess of Cumberland, widow of George Earl of Cumberland, dies.
26 Robert Sidney Viscount de l’Isle is granted the Garter.
27 George Barbadico, Venetian Ambassador in England, died.
31 Thomas Parry, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, departed his life, buried at night at Wesminster. John Dacumb succeeds to his place.
Flushing and Breda, towns in pawn, are handed over to the United Provinces by their governors Viscount de l’Isle and Horatio Vere.
June 3 Authority is delegated to the Archbishop of Canterbury and others to inquire who were responsible for calling the the Chancellor in question over praemunire.
5 The judges of the kingdom are taxed by the King, as if they had transgressed upon his prerogative in conferring benefices of rents upon bishoprics, with patrons excluded from their rights.
8 The King dines with the London Alderman Cockaine, who he has knighted.
9 Francis Bacon, the King’s Attorney, is taken onto the Privy Council at Greenwich.
10 Robert Cotton, Whitaker, Horn, Coppinger, Ferguson, and others summoned for questioning on behalf of Somerset are set free from custody.
15 The firstborn son of William Earl of Salisbury, named William, born on this day the 15th, was taken up from the holy font by the King, the Treasurer, and Mistress Walden at Bishops Hatfield, with the Bishop of Lincoln performing the baptism.
18 Thomas Bilson Bishop of Winchester died at Westminster, and was buried there at night.
20 The King was present with the Prince at the Star Chamber. The Peers and judges received him at Kings Bridge. He delivered a most elegant speech (which is expected to be published), in which he asserted that the Chancellor’s authority was as is own, and he pleasantly chided the judges etc.
30 Edward Coke is in great disgrace with the King because of the praemunire aimed at the Chancellor, secret letters written to Somerset, and the legacy of the younger Christopher Hatton and Lord Rich intercepted by Coke’s wife under the pretext of paying money owed the King. By the Privy Council he is removed from his office of Justice of the Peace (save in the County of Norfolk) and his position of J ustice of the Assizes, with Sir Ranulph Carew substituted in his place.
Robinson, Bishop of Carlysle, and Roland, Bishop of Bangor, died.
July 6 James Montagu is translated to the bishopric of Winchester.
The King decreed that the insignia of the Earl of Somerset, even if he is condemned of felony, are not to be rmoved from Winsor Chapel, because felony is not enumerated among the faults warranting expulsion from the Order of St. George, and because this lacks an example.
7 Francis Earl of Rutland, George Villiers, Master of the Horse, and Robert Sidney Viscount de l’Isle are installed at Windsor in the presence of the King. But no sermon is delivered, although it is a Sunday.
This day Morton, Dean of Winchester, is consecrated Bishop of Chester.
At Lambeth Marquess Huntley partook of the holy Eucharist.
9 The King returned to Westminster in the evening, and created John Holles Baron Houghton of Houghton, and John Roper Baron Tenham of Tenham, for himself and the heirs masculine of his body.
12 James Hay Baron Hay of Sawley is sent as Ambassador to France.
13 Sealed pardon for the Countess of Somerset, as an accessory before the fact.
16 Thomas Earl of Arundel is taken onto the Privy Council at Westminster.
17 Francis Leigh arives at Chesilhurst.
19 Baron Carew is taken onto the Privy Council.
Prerogative of place belongs to the Primate of Ireland before the Chancellor, and to Arthur Savage, Treasurer of Revenues, before Docwra, Treasurer of the Army, and Baron Chichester is appointed Treasurer of the Kingdom, which is now nothing but an honorary title.
A leaden coffer was excavated at Radcliff, and a couple of urns with a silver coin inscribed IMP. PUPIENUS MAXIMUS P. F. AUG., and on the other side clasped hands with PATRES SENATUS.
Roger Wilbraham, Master of Requests, died, and William Bower, Master of Accounts.
A little daughter is born to the Earl of Exeter, now 72 years old, and was taken up from at baptism by the Queen with no second godmother.
August 10 Henry Lennard, Baron Dacre of the South, son of Sampson Leonard by ***, sister and heiress of Gregory Fiennes Baron Dacre, died, leaving behind children born of Chrysogona Baker; his son and hear is twenty years, eight months.
The Earl of Shrewsbury, who died May 8, was buried at Sheffield.
14 I visited Crayford, Darent, Sutton, Frank, Farningham, and Ainsford, where there are the remains of walls of ancient camps.
A son was born to the Earl of Montgomery.
27 At Woodstock in the evening George Villiers, Master of the Horse, was first created Baron of Whaddon in the County of Buckinghamshire (which was the possession of Baron Grey, lately proscribed), introduced by Barons Compton and Norris, with Baron Carew carrying the robe before. And then he was created Viscount Villiers, inducted by the Earl of Suffolk and Viscount de l’Isle, wearing a waistcoat of scarlet silk, with Norris carrying before a robe of the same silk and Compton a coronet, the King sitting on his throne, and the Queen and Prince being present.
September. Baron Audley is created Earl of Castlehaven in Ireland, so that he, an ancient English Baron, might have a position superior to the Irish Barons, he who has now established a prosperous manor in Ireland.
21 A son was born to John Egerton, son of Thomas Egerton Baron of Ellesmere, Chancellor of England, by, one of the daughters and heiresses of Fernando Earl of Derby, baptized October 2, the King acting as godfather.
Henry Howard, who had married Elizabeth, the daughter and sole heiress of William Basset of Blore, died suddenly at Pipe in the house of Henningham.
28 Richard St. George, Norroy King of Arms, is knighted.
At this time Chriyogona Baroness Dacre, the relict of Henry Lennard, Baron Dacre, who had died at the beginning of August, died at London.
October 3 Edward Coke, Justice of the Royal Bench, summoned before the Chancellor, was warned not to come to City Hall, and that he should answer to certain excerpts from his records.
5 and 7 Delegates convened for the creation of the King’s son Charles as Prince of Wales, and the nomination of Knights of the Bath, namely the Treasurer, the Duke of Lennox, the Chamberlain, and the Earl of Arundel.
James, the son and heir of William Earl of Salisbury, died in infancy.
Lady Abergavenny, Lennard’s daughter, died.
November 3 Twenty-six Knights of the bath are created.
4 The King’s son Charles, Duke of Cornwall, is created Prince of Wales.
7 Thomas Egerton Baron of Ellesmere, the Chancellor of England, a steady and vigorous champion of the rights of the Crown, is created Viscount Brackley.
William Baron Knollys is created Viscount Wallingford, even if the honor of Wallingford pertains to the Duchy of Cornwall.
And Philip Stanhope is created Baron Stanhope of Shelford in the evening at Westminster.
Henry Parry, Bishop of Worcester, died.
9 William Segar, Garter King of Arms, is knighted.
10 The King quitted London after pronouncing sentence of removal of office for Edward Coke, Chief Justice of the Royal Bench.
12 John Bertram, a grave gentleman of more than seventy years, with a spotless reputation among all men, irritated by what he regarded as the libellous slander of Sir John Tindall, Master in Chancery, shot him in Lincoln’s Inn.
15 Francis Tate died.
November 17 The murderer John Bertram hanged himself in prison.
Thomas Coventry elected Recorder of the City of London.
18 Sir Henry Montagu, King’s Sergeant at Law, is sworn in to replace Edward Coke, and formally installed by the Chancellor as Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, which place his grandfather Sir Edward Montagu occupied in the reign of Henry VIII.
19 This Henry Montagu is honorably escorted to Westminster Hall in his order: younger gentlemen of the Inner Temple went before, then barristers in order of seniority, then officials of the King’s Bench, them on foot, he on horseback, with the Earl of Huntingdon on his right and Baron Willoughby of Eresby on his left, and a band of about fifty gentlemen bringing up the rear.
At this time Robert Dormer, Baron Dormer of Wing, succumbed to destiny; his son and heir had died a month ago, and his young son was left in his minority.
20 Sir Lionel Cransfield, lately a merchant of London, is made Master of Requests, to the astonishment of many, since nobody save those learned in civil or municipal law have been appointed to this position.
11 Richard Hackluyt, Prebend of Westminster, died.
December 8 Passfield, resident Prebend of St. Pauls, died at the beginning of the month.
At Lambeth Arthur Lake is consecrated Bishop of Bath, and Lewis Bailiff Bishop of Bangor.
John Thornbury, Bishop of Bristol, is translated to Worcester.
16 Mark Anthony de Dominis Archbishop of Spalato in Dalmatia, hating the abuses of the Catholics, came to England, and at the King’s command was entertained in the household of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Parry, Bishop of Worchester, dies.
21 The King returned to Wesminster, and bestowed upon Thomas Edmonds, returned from service as Ambassador to France, the staff of Controller of the Royal Household, with Baron Wotton made Treasurer of the Household, and on the following Sunday this man was sworn in and took a place at the table of the Privy Council above the Vice-chancellor.
On this same day the Archbishop of Spalato visited the King, to attend divine service with him.
25 On Christmas Day, Thomas Earl of Arundel, who had been brought up in the Catholic religion since his earliest years and lately had been touring Italy, detesting the abuses of the Catholic religion and embracing that of the Protestants, partook of the Eucharist in the Chapel Royal at Westminster.
27 William Segar King of Arms is accused of having bestowed upon George Brandon, a London butcher, the arms of Aragon quartered with the arms of Brabant, at which the King was most indignant, but it was found that this was done by the wicked malice of Ralph Brooksmouth, a Herald, who having bribed a subordinate, had drawn up these arms to look not unlike those of Aragon quartered with Brabant, and, taking advantage of Garter’s gullibilty and ignorance, had obtained their confirmation at the price of 22 pieces of gold, and took care that they be shown the King.
30 Garter King of Arms, York Herald himself, and the rest of the Heralds were called before delegates acting on behalf of the Earl Marshall, but the King thought that an example of justice should be made of York for his malicious bribery, and of Garter for his gullibility, ignorance, and acceptance of such a small fee. Therefore both were handed over to custody in Marshalsea Prison.
31 Consultations about the King’s departure for Scotland.