CAP. V.
Wecome now to treat of the most Noble and IllustriousOrder of the Garter; which, if we consider either its Antiquity, or the Nobleness of the Personages, that have been enroll’d, it excels and outvies all other Institutions of Honour in the whole World. It owes its Original, as is confessed on all Hands, toEdwardIII. King ofEnglandandFrance; yet as to the Occasion, there are several Opinions which we shall rectifie. The vulgar and more general is, that the Garter ofJoan, Countess ofSalisbury, dropping casually off as she danced in a solemn Ball, KingEdwardstooping took it up from the Ground, whereupon some of his Nobles smiling, as at an amorous Action, and he observing their sportive Humour, turned it off with a Reply inFrench,Honi soit qui mal y pense; but withal added, in disdain of their Laughter,That shortly they should see that Garter advanced to so high an Honour and Renown as to account themselves happy to wear it.
Butupon Examination of this Tradition, let others judge what Credit it bears to establish its Belief; for SirJohn Froissart, the only Writer of the Age that treatsof this Institution, assigns no such Original, nor for 200 Years after is there any thing to the Purpose in our other Historians, tillPolydore Virgiltook occasion to say something of it; but had it been Fact, someFrenchHistorian or other, would not have neglected to register it at a convenient Time with a Scoff and Ridicule, since that Nation was so ready to deride KingHenryV’s Design of invading them with a Return of Tennis Balls.
Inthe Original Statutes of this Order, there is not the least Conjecture to countenance the Conceit of such a Feminine Institution, no not so much as laying an Obligation on the Knights-Companions to defend the Quarrels of Ladies (as some Orders then in being enjoyned;) nor doth the Author of that Tract entitledInstitutio clarissimi Ordinis Militaris a prænobili subligaculo nuncupati, prefaced to the Black Book of theGarter, let fall the manifest Passage to ground it on.
Asto whatPolydoresays, he is not so confident to ascertain the Person whose Garter it was; but cautiously declining that, says, it was either the Queen’s, or the King’s Mistress’s; and if it were the latter, yet doth he omit her Name and Title, both which (on what Authority we find not) are supplied by modern Historians, who call herJoanCountess ofSalisbury, the same elsewhere celebrated by the Name of theFair MaidofKent, (whomEdwardthe Black Prince, afterward married) whereas no Historian ever gave the least Inuendo that KingEdwardIII. ever courted her as a Mistress.Seldenpoints at her when he calls the Lady, from whom the Garter slipp’d, Countess ofKentandSalisbury: But about the Time when this Order was founded she in truth was dignified with neither Honour; for altho’ she was Daughter toTho.ofWoodstock, Earl ofKent, and had been sometime the reputed Wife ofWilliam Mountague, second Earl ofSalisbury, yet then she cou’d not properly be accounted Countess ofSalisbury. She was actually Wife to SirThomas Holland, (one of the First Founders of the Order.) Nor was she yet (tho’ afterwards) Countess of Kent, because her BrotherJohnEarl ofKent, at the Institution of this Order, survived, and died not till 26Edw.III.
Thatthere was a Countess ofSalisburywith whom KingEdwardIII. became greatly enamour’d,Froissartreports after this manner,That this King having relieved a Castle of that Earl’s in the North, wherein his Countess had been besieged by theScots (the Earl himself being at that time Prisoner inFrance;)upon sight of her extraordinary Beauty he fell in love with her; but she so virtuously demeaned her self, during his Abode there, that he declined further Solicitation. However, some time after, the King out of Desire to see her, proclaim’d solemn Justs inLondon, whither this Countess and other Ladies being invited, came up. This Castle it seems wasWarkuponTweedinNorthumberland, which KingEdwardhad formerly bestowed on her Husband, for his good Service past, when he first espoused her, being then but a Knight.
Altho’it should be admitted that this Countess ofSalisburywas the King’s Mistress, yet must it be remark’d, That she was Wife toWilliam Mountague, Kt. created Earl ofSalisbury,Anno11Edw.III. Mother toWilliamthe before-mention’d second Earl, that her Christian Name wasCatherine, notAlice, asFroissart, notJoan, as others call her, Daughter toWilliamLordGranston, and that she expired 28Edw.III. But that the whole may appear, what indeed it is, a meer Fable, we shall insert the Judgment of Dr.Heylin, who took great Pains in this Particular.This, says he,I take to be a vain and idle Romance, derogatory both to the Founder and the Order first published byPol. Virgil,a Stranger to the Affairs ofEngland,and by him taken upon no better ground thanFama Vulgi,the Tradition of the common People, too trifling a Foundation to so great a Building.
Ofthe same Contexture with the former is another Tradition inAndrew du Chesne,That the Queen departing from the King to her own Apartments, and he following soon after, chanced to espy a Blue Garter lying on the Ground (supposed to have slipp’d from her Leg) whilst some of his Attendants carelesly passed by it, as disdaining to stoop at such a Trifle; but he knowing the Owner, commanded it to be given him; at the Receipt of which he said, You make but small account of this Garter; but within few Months, I’ll cause the best of you all to reverence it alike. Some suppose that the Motto was the Queen’s Answer, when the King askedher,What Men would conjecture of her, upon her losing her Garter in such a manner?
BothRelations are far distant from Fact; nevertheless it has thus far’d with other Orders of Sovereign Foundation, and an amorous, instead of an honourable Account, has been falsly render’d of their Institution; as for Instance,The Order of theAnnunciade, and that ofThe Golden Fleece.
Thereis a third Opinion grounded on a Relation made of KingRich.I. who, whilst his Forces were employ’d againstCyprusandAcon, and extremely tir’d and harrass’d with the Siege, he, by the Assistance and Mediation of St.George(as imagin’d) was inspir’d with fresh Courage, and bethought himself of a new Device, which was to tie about the Legs of a Number of Knights, a Leathern Thong Garter, for such had he then at hand, whereby they being emulated to future Glory, with Assurance of Reward if they prov’d victorious, they might be excited to behave themselves intrepidly and well, much after the Examples of the oldRomans, among whom were distributed various Crowns for several Causes, to adorn the Soldiers: But if KingRichardI. did make use of this Device in theHoly Land, as a Signal or Mark of Distinction of a Party, upon some warlike Exploit, yet that he took Occasion to create a distinct Order of Knighthood thereupon, there is not sufficient warrant to believe; (for it is only put down in the Preface of theBlack Book, but not in any Part of the Annals of the Order; nor can it plead higher Antiquity than the Reign of KingHen.VIII. when written.) All the Advantage that can be made of it, is, to heighten the Reputation of that Saint among theEnglish, by which Means the Garter came to be dedicated to him, and not that it contributed to its Institution.
§ 2.Thetrue Motive was therefore, neither the Ladies Garter, or KingRichard’s Leathern Thong, that it owes it Original to: But KingEdward, being a Person of consummate Vertue, gave himself up to military Affairs; and being engag’d in War for recovering his Right toFrance, made use of the best Martialistsof the Age, did thereupon first design (induc’d by its ancient Fame) the Restoration of KingArthur’sRound Table, to invite hither the Gallant Spirits from abroad, and endear them to himself; and adjudging no Place more requisite thanWindsor, uponNew-Year’s-Day,A. D.1344. he issu’d out Letters of Protection for the safe going and return of Foreign Knights, to try their Valour at the Solemn Justs to be held there onMondayafter the Feast of St.Hilaryfollowing (which happen’dJan.19.) And these Letters of Safe-Conduct continu’d in force until theOctavesof the Purification of our blessed Virgin ensuing, being the 18th Year of his Reign. At the Time appointed, he provided a great Supper to begin the Solemnity, and then ordain’d this Festival to be annually atWhitsontide; and immediately after these first Exercises were over, for a future and better Accommodation, he impress’d Workmen and Carriages for erecting a particular Building in the Castle, and therein plac’d a Table of Two Hundred Foot Diameter, where the Knights should have their Entertainment of Diet, at his Expence of 100l.perWeek; to which Building he gave the Name ofThe Round Table. And as at these great Conventions the Days were spent in all Kinds of noble Feats of Arms, Justs and Turnaments, so were a great Part of the Nights consum’d in publick Balls and dancing with the Ladies that attended the Queen thither; and perhaps it was hence conjectur’d, that at some of these Balls the Queen’s Garter, or the Garter ofCatherine, Countess ofSalisbury, might slip off, and the King’s taking it up occasion Smiles in the Bystanders; and afterwards, when the King had modell’d his intended Order, a Garter offering it self for its chief Ensign, might add to the Conjecture; but that it was the principal Cause, is a groundless Imagination. And tho’ KingEdwardadvanc’d the Honour of the Garter, as to denominate the Order, yet was it not to enhance Reputation to, or perpetuate an effeminate Occasion, but to adorn Martial Prowess, with Honours, Rewards and Splendor; to increase Vertue and Valour in the Hearts of his Nobility, that so true Worth, after long and hazardous Exploits, should notenviously be depriv’d of that Glory which it hath intrinsically deserv’d, and that active and hardy Youths might not want a Spur in their Progression in the Paths of Vertue, which is to be esteem’d glorious and eternal.
Itis further observable, that theFrenchKing,Philip de Valoys, in Emulation of this Seminary atWindsor, set up aRound Tableat his Court, and invited Knights and valiant Men of Arms out ofItalyandAlmainethither, lest they should repair to our KingEdwardIII. which meeting with Success, prov’d a Countermine to his main Design; who perceiving that his Hospitality towards strange Knights, upon Account of reviving KingArthur’sRound Tablewas too general, nor did sufficiently ingratiate them to his Person, but being unconstrain’d and at Liberty, did after their Departure take what Side they pleas’d in the ensuing Wars, he at length resolv’d upon a Projection more particular and select, and such as might oblige those whom he thought fit to make his Associates, in a lasting Bond of Friendship and Honour: And having issu’d forth his own Garter for the Signal of a Battle, that was crown’d with Success, (which is conceiv’d to be the Battle ofCressy, fought about Three Years after his erecting theRound Table;) upon so remarkable a Victory, he thence took Occasion to institute this Order, and gave the Garter Preheminence among the Ensigns of it, whence that select Number, whom he incorporated into a Fraternity, are styl’dEquites Aureæ Periscelidis, and vulgarlyKnights of the Garter. By this Symbol he design’d to bind the Knights and Fellows of it mutually unto one another, and all of them joyntly to himself, as Sovereign of the Order; nor was his Expectation frustrated, for it did not serve only as a vehement Spur and Incentive to Honour and martial Vertue, but also as a golden Bond of Unity and internal Society; and for this ConsiderationCambdenaptly calls it a Badge of Unity and Concord.
Bythe Symbols of this Garter the Knights are reminded, with all Religiousness, Sincerity, Friendliness, Faithfulness and Dexterity, not to leave the Pursuit of whatsoever they take in hand, nor to enterprize anyThing contrary to the Statutes of the Order; neither to frustrate the Rights of Peace and Friendship, nor vilify the Law of Arms, or proceed in any Thing farther than Faith and Compact, or the Bond of Friendship will admit. Moreover, in the binding of the Leg with this enobled Ensign, there was given this Caveat and Exhortation, that the Knights should not pusillanimously (by running away from Battle) betray the Valour and Renown which is ingrafted in Constancy and Magnanimity. Nay, so exactly did the Founder contrive the whole Habit into the Signification of the Garter, that he ordain’d his and the Knights-Companions Robes and Ornaments to be all alike, both for Materials and Fashion, intimating thereby, That they ought to conserve brotherly Affection among themselves. The great Collar of the Order was made of equal Weight, and like Number of Knots and Links, in Token of the like Bond of Faith, Peace and Amity inviolably to be observ’d and retain’d amongst them: In fine, all Things were so design’d, that every one might plainly perceive how much these Things tended to the Maintenance of Amity and Concord.
Infurther reference to the establishing this Order, the aforesaid King calling together the Earls, Barons, and principal Knights of his Kingdom,Freely, saysFroissart,and obligingly declar’d his Mind to them concerning this Affair: To whichall of them being well inclin’d, entertain’d the Motion with equal Joy and Applause, deeming it would prove a very great Advancement to Piety, Nobility and Vertue, and likewise an excellent Expedient for the uniting not only his Subjects one with another, but all Foreigners conjunctively with them, in the Bonds of Amity and Peace. And ’tis very improbable the prudent Founder should summon his Nobles to consult about the Grandeur of an Order, that had taken its Rise from so slight an Occasion as the dropping of a Garter from a Lady’s Leg. Now, to draw the Tye of Friendship more close, the King caused those who were (or should be) of the Order, to be call’dFellows,Associates,Colleagues,Brethren, andKnights-Companions, and the Order it self aSociety,Fellowship,College of Knights, andKnight-Companionship; and their Habits to be all alike, to represent how theyought to be united in all Chances and various Turns of Fortune; Co-partners both in Peace and War, assistant to one another in all serious and dangerous Exploits; and thro’ the whole Course of their Lives to shew Fidelity and Friendliness one towards another. There are other Reasons assign’d, much to the same Effect, That the Order was institutedto fortifie the Confidence of the King, the Kingdom and Martial Vertue; that is to say,to strengthen the Faith of the Subjects towards them, and for their greater Security, andbecause the Garter carries with it a Bond or Tye of Fellowship, and is a Symbol of Amity between Princes, being Companions of the same Order.
Inthe last Place, if we look upon the Statutes of its Institution, we shall find the Injunctions wholly Military, and so are the Words of Admonition pronounc’d at the putting on the Ensigns of the Order: And the Ground of the Institution (in the Preamble to KingHenryVIII’sExemplar) is said to befor the Honour of God and Exaltation of the Catholick Faith, joyn’d both with Piety and Charity, in establishing a College of religious Men to pray for the Prosperity of the Sovereign of the Order and the Knights-Companions, and to perform other holy Duties; as alsoordaining a Maintenance for a Company of Alms-Knights, who have not otherwise wherewith to support themselves; but not one Word relating to the Engagement on behalf of the feminine Sex.
Andwhereas KingEdw.III. had laid Claim by his Title to the Kingdom ofFrance, and in Right thereof assum’d its Arms, he from the Colour of them, ’tis said, caus’d the Garter to be made Blue, and the Circumscription Gold: And it may, without straining, be inferr’d from the Motto,Honi soit qui mal y pense, that he retorted Shame and Defiance upon him that should dare to think amiss of so just an Enterprize, as he had undertaken for recovering of his lawful Right to that Crown; and that the Magnanimity and Bravery of those Knights, whom he had elected into this Order, was such as would impower and enable them to maintain the Quarrel against all who thought ill of it. Consonant to this is the Conjecture ofHarpsfield, that this Apophthegm was design’d to put the Knights-Companionsin mind,Not to admit any Thing in their Actions, or among their Thoughts, derogatory to themselves and their Honour.
ThatAge did exceedingly abound with Impresses, Motto’s and Devices, and particularly KingEdw.III. was so excessively given up to them, that his Apparel, Plate, Bed, Houshold-Furniture, Shields, and even the Harness of his Horses, and the like, were not without them, many of which now to descant upon would be a fruitless Attempt, seeing the Occasion of the Invention, and the Circumstances are lost, that should illustrate them; and others, by reason of their Brevity, seem’d insignificant, in regard something was designedly omitted, and left to be understood, which cannot now be rightly supply’d, so as to arrive at the Mind of the Inventor. Of this Number may be this Motto,It is as it is, which was embroider’d upon a Doublet of that King; tho’ there are others which seem more easy to be decypher’d; as that daring Motto wrought upon his Surcoat and Shield provided to be used at a Turnament,
Hay, Hay, the Wythe Swan;By God’s Soul I am the Man.
Hay, Hay, the Wythe Swan;By God’s Soul I am the Man.
Hay, Hay, the Wythe Swan;By God’s Soul I am the Man.
Hay, Hay, the Wythe Swan;
By God’s Soul I am the Man.
§ 3.TheTime when the Order was instituted, Historians differ widely about;Selden,Cowper, and others, fromFroissart(who wrotetemp. Rich.II.) would have it in the 18th of KingEdw.III. But sinceFroissarterrs, in making the Number of Knights-Companions no fewer than Forty, which is a grand Mistake, Why might not he trip in Point of Time, and confound the Year of its Erection, with that wherein the Founder renew’d the Order ofThe Round Table,Windsorbeing the Place for both. For should we admit, that during some Part of the Solemnity held in this King’s 18th Year, when the Accident of the Lady’s Garter slipping off happen’d, what other Inference can be made, but that he had only an Intention to put in Execution somewhat afterwards? Not that an Order was actually erected at that Time: Besides, the Jollity of the Season, the Greatness of the Concourse, andthe Splendidness of the Festivity, it was too busy a Time to suffer much Consultation tending thereunto; or at least to mould and model a Design so compleat and substantial, as it appears to have been even at first. If we joynFabian, he is plain, that tho’ the King design’d the Institution at the End of the Festival, (which he places betweenCandlemasandLent, in the 19th, and not 18th Year of that King)Yet was it not then, saith he,but afterwards establish’d by him. Nevertheless, Mr.Seldenelsewhere observes, it had its Original in the 24th Year of the said King. And our industriousStow(with whomLily,Speed, andSegaragree) tells us,That the first Feast of the Order was celebratedA. D. 1350. which exactly agrees to the 24th ofEdwardIII. ButPolydore Virgilplaces it after the 25th ofEdwardIII. We must therefore have recourse to some other Proofs for elucidating this Point, since this ChronologicalÆraof the true Time of its Institution hath wonderfully slipp’d the Pens of all Writers.
Admittingthen that the erecting this Order was first thought of by KingEdward, at some of those grand Assemblies ofThe Round Table, held after theFrenchKing had set up the like; yet was it not mature, or brought to any Perfection, till after his glorious Victories and Triumphs over theFrenchandScotsin the Battles ofCressyandNevil’s Cross, (in the last of which theScotchKing,David, was taken Prisoner) and until KingEdwardhadCalaissurrendred to him, as will appear very conspicuous.
Amongthe Rolls of the Great Wardrobe, is one containing the Account of all the King’s Liveries, fromMichaelmas Anno21, to the 31st ofJan.23Edw.III. In the same are divers Things mention’d to be adorn’d with Garters, which were provided against the first grand Feast of St.George; and among the rest, the Royal Robes,viz.his Mantle, Surcoat and Hood; likewise a Bed of Blue Taffaty was bedeck’d with Garters, containing the Motto,Honi soit qui mal y pense. There were made for the Sovereign Three Harnesses, whereof Two were of White Velvet, wrought over with Gartersde blu & diaspris per totum compedmein cum Woodhouses; and the Thirdde Velvetto Ynde cont. Lappekinquisseux & caligas, wrought over likewise with Garters. Had the Roll been divided into Years, or had distinguishing Marks of Time upon it, we might have been guided with more Certainty as to the true Year of the Institution. However, we may thence conclude it was not founded in the 18th ofEdw.III. because that the Sovereign’s Robes were not made until the 22d Year of his Reign at soonest; perhaps not till the Beginning of the 23d. But to put the Matter beyond dispute, the Founder’s Statutes fix the Time of Institution to his 23d Year; so do the Statutes of KingHenryV. and the Preface to theBlack Book,Leland,Millsand Dr.Heylin. To conclude, when he had fix’d upon the Day and Place for celebrating the first grand Feast of this Order, he sent his Heralds intoGermany,France,Scotland,Burgundy,Hainault,FlandersandBrabant, to invite all Knights and Esquires, (with Assurance of Safe-Conduct and Liberty for Fifteen Days, both before and after the grand Solemnity) to shew their military Prowess and other publick Exercises there to be perform’d, proper to the Place and Occasion; agreeable to which Invitation, sundry Knights and Gallant Men came over to signalize their Valour; and what made the Solemnity more glorious, KingEdward’s Queen was there present, attended with Three Hundred of the fairest Ladies, in all imaginable Splendor and Gaity.
§ 4.ThePatrons of the Order were several, under whose Protection (according to the Custom of the Age) KingEdw.III. put himself and all the Knights-Companions, that the Affairs of the Order might be defended, preserved and govern’d.
Thefirstand chiefest which he elected, was theHoly Trinity, which in a more especial Manner was invocated to the Aid and Assistance of this Order.
Secondly, KingEdwardIII. intitled peculiarly theblessed VirginMary, accounted then the general Mediatrix and Protectress of all Men; unto whom KingEdwardIV. was so strictly devoted, that he thought some additional Ceremonies requisite to her farther Honour, and thereupon ordain’d, that on her Five Solemnitiesthe Knights Companions should annually (as accustom’d on the Feast of St.George) wear the Habit of the Order as long as Divine Service was celebrating, (unless they had sufficient Cause of excuse) bearing on the right Shoulders of their Robes a golden Figure of the VirginMary; and that they should go in the same Manner and Habit upon allSundaysthroughout the Year; and lastly, that on the same Days for ever they should say FivePater Nosters, with as manyAve Maria’s.
Thirdly, St.GeorgeofCappadocia, a most choice Champion of Christ and famous Martyr, was also elected one of the Patrons to this Order by KingEdwardIII. not so much as he was a Professor of the Christian Faith, or for that he was an armed Soldier or Knight of Christ, but so much the more because in those Wars, which were waged by the Christians against the Infidels, he by several Appearances manifested his Presence as a most certain Encourager and Assistant to the Christians; the Relations whereof may be seen in Dr.Heylin’s History, who hath laboriously and judiciously maintain’d the History of this Saint, against those that will not allow him a Place in Heaven, or a Being in the Church. In like manner the learnedSeldenhath avouch’d him to be the special Patron, Protector, Defender, and Advocate of this Realm ofEngland; and has made it plainly appear in what Veneration he hath been honour’d abroad, especially among the Eastern Nations. To whose corroborating Testimonies we shall add, That this Title of Patron to our Nation, as given to St.Georgeby the Founder of this Order, in a Patent granted to the Dean and Canons of the Chapel of St.StephenatWestminster, and St.GeorgeatWindsor, which dischargeth them from Payment of Tythes; as also by KingHenryVIII. in the Preamble of his Statutes. And tho’ in general he is styl’d the Principal Patron of the Affairs ofChristendom, and a tutelar Guardian of military Men, yet among all Christians theEnglishdid excel; and in this Nation the Founder of this Order, in making choice of such an approv’d expert Captain and Patron, in particular Respect of whom the Knights had the Title ofEquites Georgiani, St.George’s Knights, and the Order it self came to becall’d theOrdo Divi Sancti Georgii, The Order of St.George.
Itis remarkable, thatDu Chesne, a notedFrenchHistorian, acknowledges it was by the special Invocation of St.Georgethat KingEdwardIII. gain’d the Battle ofCressy, which afterwards bringing to his Remembrance,He founded, says he,a Chapel within the Castle ofWindsor. But if we may ascend a step higher, and give credit toHarding, it’s recorded KingArthurpaid St.Georgeparticular Honours, for he advanc’d his Picture in one of his Banners, which was about Two Hundred Years after his Martyrdom, and very early for a Country so remote fromCappadociato have him in Reverence and Esteem.
Lastly, The Founder added a fourth Patron, whose Name himself bore,viz.St.Edward the Confessor, his Predecessor, King ofEngland; and we find he was wont to be invocated by this Founder, as well as St.George, in any great Difficulties and Streights.Walsinghamgives an Instance at the Skirmish ofCalais,A. D.1349. when KingEdward, in great Anger and Grief, drew out his Sword, and most passionately cry’d out,Ha St.Edward,Ha St.George; which his Soldiers hearing, ran presently to him, and rushing violently upon the Enemy, put many of them to the Sword. These Four Patrons we find recorded together in the Preamble of the Foundation ofWindsorCollege by KingEdwardIII. tho’ in the Preamble to his Statutes of the Order, and to KingHenryV’s Statutes, St.Edward the Confessoris omitted; nevertheless he is enumerated with the rest in the Preamble to KingHenryVIII’s.
§ 5.Asto the Honour and Reputation of this Noble Order, either in Comparison with others, or in Reference to it self, it challenges the Precedency of Antiquity, before the eldest Rank of Honour of that Kind any where establish’d.
Secondly, The Statutes of the Foundation were so exquisitely and judiciously devised and compacted, upon such solid Foundations of Honour and Nobleness, that they afterwards became a Precedent to other Orders; and gave the Plan to those Two ofThe Golden Fleeceandof Monsieur St.Michael, as is manifest by comparing their Statutes.
Thirdly, It is no small Honour that accrues to this Order, that the Number of these Knights-Companions were never encreas’d, but as they were Twenty Six with the Sovereign, so they now thus continue,ut Pretium faciat raritas; for the infringing this Article hath split several other military Orders into Contempt and Ruin, as nothing more tarnishing, or throwing a sully on the Worth of Glory and Honour, than when render’d so vulgar, and indifferently disposed without Distinction and Merit, as is exemplify’d inThe Order of theStar, and the now decliningOrder of St.Michael.
Fourthly, It has receiv’d more additional Lustre by being honour’d with the Companionship of divers Emperors, Kings and Sovereign Princes, who esteem’d it the Summit of their Glory, and the highest Trophy of additional Honour, to be enroll’d in the Number. Insomuch that some of them with Impatience courted the Election. For we find recorded in the Register,A. D.1672. Eight Emperors ofGermany, Three Kings ofSpain, FiveFrenchKings, Two Kings ofScotland, Five Kings ofDenmark, Five Kings ofPortugal, Two Kings ofSweden, One King ofPoland, One King ofArragon, Two Kings ofNaples, besides divers Dukes and other free Princes; as One Duke ofGuelderland, One Duke ofHolland, Two Dukes ofBurgundy, Two Dukes ofBrunswick, One Duke ofMilan, Two Dukes ofUrbin, One Duke ofFerrara, One Duke ofSavoy, Two Dukes ofHolstein, One Duke ofSaxony, and One Duke ofWertemberg, Seven Count Palatines of theRhine, Four Princes ofOrange, and One Marquis ofBrandenburg.
Fifthly, It entitles those Knights and Noblemen, whose Vertue hath rais’d them to this Pitch of Greatness, to be Companions and Associates with Emperors and Kings, a Prerogative of an high Nature, and a sufficient Recompence for the greatest Merit. We shall close up all with the high Elogy bestow’d on it by the learnedSelden,That it exceeds in Majesty, Honour and Fame, all Chivalrous Orders of the World.