THE Triumph that I heard sung aloud of the strength and solidnesse of argument, in a little Information sent abroad almost in the darke, to beguile the friends thereof; Maintaining the King­dome of Bohemia to be successiue, and by consequence rightly descended to the house of Austria, at first, so farre preiudiced mee, as to thinke so much confidence and boldnesse was supported with great probability of truth: And I confesse that little pile, as it stands com­pacted and involued, hath in it selfe a faire show, vntill it bee taken in peeces, and searched at the Corner Stones. Desire of mine owne satisfaction, first made me curious to looke into the best Records of Story of that Country, I found the Authors such, as without excep­tion, for their quality, iudgement, and meanes to know the truth, no dispaffionate man could refuse. They doe relate barely what was done and practised, without fore-thinking to decide a question, which in their times could not be fore-seene, and was the least part of their designe; and therefore, their witnesse, as vn-concerned [Page 2]therein, is of more authority. When I had informed my selfe, I learned of Saint Paul, to settle my Brethren, who for want of my leisure, could not intend such a perplexed search; and might, for zeale and loue of truth, be miscarried with that which was first propoun­ded to them for truth. I doe not intend to answer the Informato [...] from point to point; but to warne you, that he hath taken aduantages, and forcibly drawne into his purpose, fragments and pieces, the whole whereof would be too heauy for his foundation: and as his stuffe is, so are his vses and applications wrested & made crooked, not one grown Timber among them. I haue therfore vndertaken, in a plaine Narration, to shew the first Election of the Princes of Bohemia, & the continu­ance and practice of Free Election vnto Ferdinand of Austria: 34. from Bre [...]t [...]l. [...]2. That not one in all that series of so manie Princes and Kings did succeed in right of Inheritance simply; nor did dare so to claime an admittance to that Scepter. In which discourse I desire you to consider, not so much the efficacy of euery proofe of Election singly (which notwithstanding is an irrefragable eui­dence) as the whole file, and thred, purpose and pra­ctice of the States and free people of that Kingdome: for power and affection may sometimes obscure and slacken the stiffnesse; but yet in euery age and change, more or lesse, the right hath broken forth and stood for it selfe. I haue not thought it fit to trouble you with latter times, in which the house of Austria hath beene preferred, and haue claimed a succession of right, from a succession of Loue, and so haue lost their best title. It is euident in all Electiue kingdomes, that the Sonne of the Father hath beene chosen; for hee was already [Page 3]set vpon the stage, and was borne Candidatus: So was it often practized in the Empire, without preiudice to the right of Election, in any family, when there vvas iust cause to change. As Galba noted of Augustus, Ille in Domo successorem quae siuit, ego in Republica. Tac. hist. lib. 1. But if that Electiue succession be pretended; and an answere heere expected I say, it is out of my purpose, who wade only in the History of former ages, and it is more proper for them to satisfie, who can search the Archiues and Re­cords of their owne Acts: but for a generall answere, we propound, that we dare ioyne issue euen in these, and be iudged by the Registers of the publike assemblies vp­on euery Election, and by the Defesall and Reuersall let­ters giuen by those Princes of Austria, their own Acts, acknowledging the free Election and good will of the States of Bohemia, sine vlla alia obligatione.

To lay our owne foundation sure and conspicuous, I first present this definition of a Kingdome successiue; That the Crowne, and all the Rights of Regality, doe de Iure descend vnto the next Prince or Princesse of the bloud Royall in right Line; And that it is as great an In­terruption of succession that a younger House bee prefer­red, as that a Stranger; and that the States and people haue no right to put by or refuse the next in bloud vp­on any pretence: and these rules establish and limit a Kingdome successiue. But that this Canon hath neuer taken place, nor beene practised by the Bohemians, I shew in these fiue Conclusions.

1. That the first Princes of Bohemia were Elected, and the forme of their Election recorded.

2. That the practice of Election hath continued so, that the Yonger Brethren haue beene preferred before [Page 4]the Elder, the Vncle before the Nephew, sonne to the elder brother: the Cosen of the yonger House, before Cosen of the elder: the Husband of the yonger sister, before the Husband of the elder.

3. Meere stangers before daughters and sisters of the last Kings, and before any of the Bloud.

4. The power and practice of deposition or reiecti­on in case of misgouernment, or want of due Forme in Election.

5. That almost all the Kings that haue immediate­lie succeeded their Fathers, haue beene Elected and Crowned during the Fathers life, or chosen Marques­ses of Morauia (a step to the Crowne) by the authority of the Father in possession, or for his merit and me­mory dead: so that no such succession hath been pure de Iure, but ayded and grounded vpon other rights then of succession. All which examples and Rules doe diametrally oppugne and ouerthrow the pretence of Hereditary Succession, and consequently proue (for there) is not one Prince without the reach of one of these Rules) Bohemiae Regnum esse Electinum.

Crocus after Zechius, who setled his Colonies in Bo­hemia, was made there Iudge by the people for his ver­tue; Geor. Barthold. Boh pia pag. 11. Crocus vir Iustus, & magnae apud Bohemos, tunc tem­poris opinionis & authoritatis, princeps dilectus est: vir hic fuit Iudiciorum in deliberatione discretus, Cosm. Prag. Chron. pag. 4. ad quem, tam de proprijs tribubus, quam ex totius prouinciae plebtbus, ve­lut apes ad alueria, ita omnes ad dirimenda conuolabant Iu­dicia.

Crocus had three daughters, Kari eldest, Tethka se­cond, Lubossa third and yongest. Cosm. Prag. pag. 4.5 6. This last for her wise dome was by the people chosen a Princesse, or Iudge; [Page 5]There fell out a controuersie betweene two Bohemians about the limits of their ground, which Lubossa ended by sentence; The party displeased and condemned, being enraged, renounced the Iudgement, disdaining it from that sexe; and thereby tooke occasion to de­mand a man to gouerne. Lubossa was vnwilling to let goe the Reynes, and first threatens what and how vio­lent the dominion of man would proue, Geor. Birtbold. pag. 11. after disswades by force of many arguments; Ad haec vulgus confuso ex­ult at clamore, omnes vno ore Ducem sibi poscunt dari, which when she could not auoyd, she cunningly propounds a free Election, by letting loose an horse that should stay before a man eating at an Iron table, which was agreed vnto; and then she sayes, Ite demum, vt quem vos cras e­ligatis in Dominum, ego assumam mihi in maritum. This horse stood still before Primislaus, who was eating his dinner vpon his plough share, and so he is chosen; The first form of Election. Cosm. Prag. p. 6. and the forme of Election recorded to bee by salutation of all the people; they all all cry out, Domina nostra Lubos­so, & plebs vniuersa mandant vt cito venias &c. te Ducem te Iudicem, te Rectorem, te Protectorem te solum nobis in Dominum eligimus; Here are three Elections in the first foundation, and one Reiection of Lubossa confirmed, and the forme recorded.

To wade deeper into the first times, is vnnessary; onely one obseruation of Cosma Pragensis, Pag. 20. & Du­brau li. 7. pag. 54. an. 1002. that Vlricus the eighteenth Prince, who had no issue by lawfull marriage, saw by chance at a Well a handsome maide washing, named Bo [...]na, vpon whom he cast affection, and begat a sonne called Breceslaus: Vlricus had put out his brother I [...]ron [...]irs eyes, yet hee tooke his Nephew, before whom hee was in right of bloud, and presented [Page 6]him adsedem principalem, & situt semper in electione ducis faciunt, &c. which proues hee was Elected, and the continuation of Election declared in those words, sicut semper in Electione.

To proceed to times better knowne, and to an estate better setled, and to looke downward from Brecislaus the 22 ^th Prince, or as Cosma Prag: the ninteenth of Bo­hemia, we shall finde no succession from Father to Son, nor from Brother to Brother regular, but the fittest to gouerne, or the best beloued, euer chosen by the Bohe­mians. Brecislaus had fiue sonnes, Spitigneus 1: Vratislaus 2: Conradus 3: Otho 4: Iaromirus 5. Spitigneus the eldest succeeded, but by Election vpon recommendation of his Father. Cosm. Prag. pag. 30. an. 1055 Post Brecislai obitum filium eius primogenitum, nomine Spignen, omnes Bohemiae gentes, magni & parui, communi Consilio, & voluntate pari elegunt sibi in Ducem, cantantes kyrieleizon. After his death, Vratislaus his brother was chosen, pag. 33. omnibus Boemis fauentibus: He had also sixe sonnes; Breceslaus 1: Boleslaus 2: Boriuorius 3: Vladislaus 4: Sobieslaus 5: Henricus Bishop of Olmunts 6: All these should haue succeeded the Father in rule of succession, but Conradus the Vncle was chosen Duke; Hee had two sonnes, Vdalricus, or as Cosma Prag: calls him, Oalricus and Leopoldus, or Lutoldus: Now, in true succession, one of these must succeed the Father Conrad: but now the Bohemians returne to Brecislaus their Cosin German, and eldest sonne to Vratislaus; and yet they returne not to him as in right, Dubran. p. 78. Nam diu ambigebant or­dines, num Brecislaum ab exilio adregnum paternum reue­carent, an domi aliquem ex fratribus eius qui regnaret: Af­ter the death of Brecislaus. they againe skippe his three sonnes, Vladislaus, Henricus, and Theobaldus, who should [Page 7]succeed, and also the next elder brother, and Boriuerius the yonger is chosen: Now Vdalricus, Cosm. Prag. pag. 54.55. or Oalritus the first sonne of Conrad, thinkes himselfe wronged to bee twice neglected in the Election; and complaines to the Emperour at Ratisbon, sollicits him, by prayers, by friends, by money, to helpe him to the kingdome pos­sessed by his Cozen Borinoy. Dubran. pag. 84: Ibid. The Emperour takes his money, and lends him some succors, Sed hac conditione, vt liberum sit Bohemis, aut Vdalricu, at Boriuorium, ha­bere Principem; vtrum videlicet borum magis idoneum ha­bilemque approbauerint: But when it came to a declara­tion, to what end hee would vse these aydes, to clayme the kingdome by right, hee dares not, but enterprets himselfe, Dat sibi Dncatus insignia & vexillum, (which were due to him by bloud, had hee beene the youn­gest of the family) Sed in Ducem elegendi obtentum ponit in arbitrio Bo [...]horum: But the Bohemians refuse his claime made by his Embassadors, and adhere to their first Ele­ction of Boriuoy, and defeat Oalricus and all his preten­ces in battaile. Boriuoy had a sonne called Iaromirus, who should haue succeeded, had that right taken place: but Suatopulcus gets in by fauour, and by the relapse of the people deposeth Boriuoy: This man was Cozen German to Boriuoy, of a younger house, the sonne of Othe, the fourth sonne of Brecislaus the two and twen­tieth. This Suatopulcus was not long after reiected, & Borinoy againe receined: And hee againe the second time deposed and thrust out, and Suatopulcus restored; & so continued Prince to his death. He had a son called Henry, baptized by the Emperour, Cosm. Prag. pag. 57. and brought vp by him; yet hee being slaine in the Campe, Othoniger his brother was Elected Prince. The Emperor comming [Page 16]to see and lament the dead body of Suatopulcus, and to appease the people, who it seemes feared lest he would obtrude vpon them a Successor against their will, Pag. 60. ad­stantibus immensis Boemis concessit, vt quemcunque volu­issent, suorum ex filijs principum sibi in Ducem cligerent. There was the Sonne of Suatopulcus aliue, (for any thing appeares) many of the grand-children of Vra­tislaus the first King, and foure and twentieth Prince, before Otho in the right of Succession, yet Weseck of Morauia intercedes that he may be chosen Duke; him also Henry the Emperour fauours, before the sonne and his owne God-sonne, and the people being most Morauians approue the Election, and presently in the Campe admit him for their Prince, crying Kyrieleyzon, and in foure daies brought him to Prage, Dubrau. pag. 90. at which Du­brauius sayes, the Bohemians tooke offence. Questi s [...]nt de electione in Castris factâ, contra Maiorum Instituta, mo­remque veterem: And Cosma Pragensis sayes, he was re­fused as he was, [...] Quod quia sine consensu Boemorum & E­piscopi, efficere conabantur, frustratur eorum temeritus, & Sacramenta olim exhibita in medio consilio recitantur: And Vladislaus the brother of Boreuoy was Elected, vt Iura Principatus, Iure adoptata, Cosm. Prag. pag. 60. (that is by lawfull Election) omnibus ascentientibus obtineret. This Vladislaus was younger brother to Boreuoy long since deposed, and now hee complaines; and Otho the brother of Suato­pulcos renewes a pretence: First, Boreuoy treates by his Embassadors, to perswade his yonger Brother to resigne; Responsom huic a Vladislao huiusmodi retulit, non esse rem priuatam quam Boriuorius peteret, Dubrau. p. 91. sed ad vni­versi populi suffragium illam pertinere; proin haud ab vno fratre, sed ab omnibus ordinibus principatum esse ambi­endum: [Page 17]The Bohemians adhere truely to their owne Election, ouerthrew Otho in Battaile, Cosm. Prag. pag. 62. and after Vla­dislaus by the Emperours deliuery gets Boreuoy into his power, and all his friends: Hee dyes, and Sobies­laus his yongest brother is chosen. Otho niger againe pretends, quia aetate prior esset, but is reiected. So­bieslaus had foure sonnes, Vladislaus the first, Dubrau. p. 9 [...]. Sobieslaus the second, Vdalricus the third, Wenceslaus the fourth. These should haue succeeded the Father if succession had preuailed, but Vladislaus his Nephew, the sonne of his Brother Vladislaus (euen by the fauor of Sobies­laus his Vncle against his owne Children, and by the Emperors helpe) was designed Prince of Bohemia, and by the Emperor crowned the second King: But the Bohemians, because hee was yonger in yeares then Conrad his Cozen Germane the sonne of Leopold, son of Otho. And because his Election was not formall, Dubrau. p. 10 [...]. ac Caesaris potius quam Boemorum Principem quando non in Bohemia sed in curia Caesaris Princeps sit creatus, Throno deijciunt, & in locum eius Conradum substituunt: But the Emperour Fredericke fauouring Vladislaus, restor'd him by force, and his sonne Fredericke succeeded, but was after also expulsed, and Vdalricus the third sonne of Sobieslaus the 30th Prince chosen, his elder brethren being neglected; He was Cozen German halfe remoo­ued from Fredericke; He dying, his next elder brother Sobieslaus succeeded, and now Fredericke had againe gotten possession, & was againe expulled: After which Conradus the sonne of Leopold forenamed, was a new declared Prince of Bohemia, suffragijs primorum or di­num: Dubrau. P. 126. Fredericke was againe restored, and Conrad expul­sed, and then Fredericke dying, though hee had fower [Page 10]brethren aliue, Albert, Suatopulk, Premislans, and Vla­dislaus, which should all haue taken place in true suc­cession. Conradus was in his absence declared Prince ab ordinibus Bohemia; Dubrau. p. 130. After his death, Venceslans the son of Otho niger, younger brother to Suatopulcus his Co­zen, but preferred before many neerer the Succession, was Elected Prince. Him Primislaus expulsed, but fea­ring his returne, hee quitted Prage; And Wenceslaus in his returne died, leauing a Sonne called Spitigneus va­cante principali sede, Henricus (the second Sonne of Bre­cislaus the sixe and twentieth Bishop of Prage) diem co­mitiorum habendorum Praga indicit, Dubrau. P. 132. candida tumque in illo principatus pro spitigenio pupillo agit: Boemi parumper deliberantes, ipsum Henricum vnanimi assensu, magnaque voce, Principem Boemiae pronuntiant: Heere also was a succession interrupted by the free Election, not onely Spitigneus the sonne of the last Wenceslaus reiected be­cause a childe, but Henry preferred before all the Sons of Vladislaus the second King of Bohemia: Henry not long after falls sicke, and assembles all the Nobility, de­claring vnto them his desire to resigne the Principality of Bohemia, Dubr. u p. 134. Dat (que) ill is potestatem eligendi Principis quem­cunque voluerint: but the Bohemians hoping on his re­couery would not proceed to a new Election, and so he remained Prince to his death. Being dead, de successio­ne in comitijs ab ordinibus variatum; Dubrau. p. 135. at last they Elected Vladislaus, yonger brother to Primislaus, once before in possession, and fift sonne of Vladislaus the second King: two elder Brethren at least aliue: He resigned in fiue moneths to Primislaus his brother, who was Elected Prince, Dubr. Genealog. Page 139. being of the second venter, by the Landgraues daughter, and his elder brethren and their children, [Page 11]for any thing appeares, being refused: And this Pri­ [...]slaus was crowned the third King of Bohemia, by the Emperour Philip at Mentz, de omnium quae aderant sen­tentia, Anno 1199.

Thus it is euident from Bretislaus the 22. to this Pri­mislaus Ottocarus the thirtieth, in which are seuenteene changes, no kinde of succession hath taken place, but that the yonger brother that beene preferred before the el­der, the vncle before the Nephew, the yonger house before the elder, and many Princes deposed for mis­gouernment, or want of forme in true election.

After Primislaus, foure Kings are pretended to suc­ceed to Wenceslaus the seauenth King: But Primislaus causeth his sonne Wenceslaus to be crowned in his life­time, and Dubrauius notes it, pag. 139. that he was carefull of his owne house, Exin rebus suis domi intentas, Venceslaum silium, etiamsi puerum, regem coronat, which hee needed not haue done, had he Ius successionis, and was easie for him to doe, being in possession. When hee died, his friends concealed it, and his sonne Ottocarus entred with an army, and so was admitted. Idem 157. Propter frequen­tiam comitatus, qui eum ex Austria Styria, Morauia comi­tabantur; ita plerisque metuendus quia armatus vener at; Hee was Marquesse of Morauia, established in his Fa­thers life time, and because hee was not then admitted to the Crowne by Election, it seemes he entred armed, which hee needed not doe to his Inheritance: He was slaine in the battell of Laua, and his sonne Venceslaus, a Childe was admitted in his Infancy in honour of the Father, ex consensu omnium Ordinum, Idem 16 [...]. cura fouendi illius ad Marchionem Brandeburgum: The Marquesse abuseth the trust, and carries him away: At 15. yeares of age, [Page 20]he is restored to the Bohemians for a summe of mony, not till now, was he chosen King, which I inferre out of Dubranius: Idem 169. Inter catera ab omnibus acclamantum est, Aduenisti tandem desiderabilis, quem tam diu ex pectaba­mus, Ottogari ô inclytaproles, (which insinuates the loue of the father) nihil videlicet tum Otthogari nomine clarius, nihil ad conciliandum omnium ordinem fauorem efficacius: which implyes the Election by the States, although the reason be rendred why they chose him, for loue of the father, yet still their fauour was the formall part of his admission.

Wenceslaus the 7. The stories mention not the manner his Admission. King succeeded the Father, & in him ended the ancient Race of their Princes; in all these, no succession of right established. He had 3. sisters, Iudith eldest, Anne & Elizabeth; the first married to Rupertus of Nassau the Emperors son; the second to Henry of Ca­rinthia, the third yet a maid. Dubrau p. 179. The States assemble in the Bishop of Prages house, ad ius comitiorū: summa (que) conten­tione de Rege eligendo certant, alijs perigrinū regem penitus aspernantibus, alijs inter Rodulphum Caesaris Alberti filiū, & Henricum ex Carinthia qui praesens aderat, variantibus: as yet no mention make of any right in the daughters: Tobias Bechinus, who fauoured the strangers, sons of Al­bert to crosse the aduerse party who would not accept them, saith, Quando non alium Regem quam Boemum creare libet, Regia (que) progenies in Boemia planê deficiat reuert amur ad Pagum stadium, vnde Primislaus ex rustico, priamus in Boemia factus est Princeps atque indidem, nos quoque Re­gem nobis adciscamus: Yet that was not his desire, but onely to diuert the Election, which vtterly ouer­throwes the pretended Contract with the house of Au­stria; for hee being of that party, should haue pleaded [Page 21]it, if he had knowne it, or had thought it of force, & not haue returned to an originall Election, which fully anni­hilated the Contract, but it seems Tobias knew nothing of it: And so hee also reiects the sisters, for that was his end, esteeming them no heyres, though they were ex progeniê Regia, & concluded they might lawfully elect a stranger in bloud. This motion was reiected, not that they might elect a stranger, but because the other side vnderstood his craft, that he would obtrude a German, hatefull to the Bohemians: and so he was commanded without further Prefaces, to nominate one in a faire E­lection: He as Chamberlayne of Boheme, prefers first Rodolph, and then his brother Fredericke, sonnes of Al­bert, Quo audito, Crussina Lychtemburgus, Quous (que) tandem, inquit, nobis ingeres tuos Germanos Regum nostrorum par­ricidas, nec plura locutus, stringit gladium, & Thobiam transfodit: The next day, the two sisters, Anna marri­ed to Carinthia, Elizabeth a maid come into the Court, not as heyres, or ant ve sui haberi rationem, ne velut ali­enae a Regno praetereantur. And Henry the Husband of Anne vvas chosen King, but he could not hold it; for the Emperour stood for his Sonne, not by a Con­tract, but as preuayling in Election, and vpon that onely grounds his Title to place him by force, Caefare alacriter, instante, ne filius s [...]ns, qui priores partes in suf­fragijs tulerat, posteriores in Regno acquirendo ferret. He enters Bohemia vvith an Army, Henry of Carinthia, and his wife giue way, and so he fortifies the election of Rodolph, and Crownes him, a meere stranger in bloud or other title, but the Election pretended. Rodolph dies, Dubrauius ree­kons Fredoricke as elected, o­ther doe not. and Henrie of Carinthia returnes with his Wife; In which interim, the Emperour endeuors the Election of [Page 14] Fredericke his second sonne, but is slaine before hee could effect it, and then these were receiued with great Ioy; After three or foure yeares the Bohemians grew weary of Henries gouernment, and sent Ambassadors to Henry of Luxenburgh then Emperor, to send his sonne Iohn to marry Elizabeth the yonger sister to Anne, and Wenceslaus the seuenth, and that they would elect him King. The Emperor accepts it, and married Iohn at Spire: The Bohemians deposed Henry for ill gouernment, as Bartoldus notes, Geor. Barthold. pag. 24. Hunc Boemi sibi Regem deligunt, sed quia male administrauit, miserune ad Caesarem, Henricum sextum, Legatos suos: So was Iohn of Luxenburgh Ele­cted, a stranger also in bloud; for he could pretend no right by his wife in Succession, Anne the elder sister li­uing. Concerning the contract made betweene Bo­heme and Austria, the elder stories speake nothing of it. Albert of Austria declared not the pretence, Dubrau. p. 180. but streng­thens the Election of his owne sonnes by making a fac­tion by mariage of Elizabeth the widdow of Venceslaus. And Hieronimo Canini in his history of the Election of the Roman Kings, Hieron. Canini. pag. 211. cites, that such an accord was made, That for want of heyres in eyther House, the other should succeed; but withall notes, Encore que le Royaume soyt a l'Election des Barons, & des seigneurs du pays: which beeing cleerely confessed, an accord made betweene them for their owne aduantage, to the preiudice of the freedome of Bohemia could not be auaileable, nor was euer confirmed by practice in succession.

Iohn of Luxenburgh is chosen, and is a great Prince, he begins indeed to seeke to establish the Kingdome in his Lyne, and in his life-time practiseth to exchange it with Lewis Duke of Bauare, which it is like he affected, [Page 15]to leaue them to the fortune of Election, which is a taeite confession of the right in the States to Elect: when it was reuealed to the Bohemians, they tooke it in so ill part, that hee should by a secret practice infringe their liberty, or seeme to haue right, to obtrude a King vpon them at his choyce, that they almost reuolted against him, and would not be reconciled, vntill a copy of the treaty was shewed, that he did nothing, but with reser­uation of the consent of the States to confirme it. The words of Dubrauiu [...] are considerable. Dubrau. p. 193. Sed longè omnium maximū odiū sibi ab omnibus or dinibus conflauit, inchoatâ cū Lodonico permutatione, qua regnū pro Bauariae principatu commutare voluit, At Boemi in deteriorem partem inter­pretati funt, quasi illos Rex vendere Germanis, & prodcre cuperet: Ergo omnes in vnum conspirant, vt pereant potius quam non perdant illos, qui ad exitium Patriae corum immi­neant: At que haec turba maior visa, quam vt pacart vel ipso rege praesente potuerit, & nisi pacata esset, spes de retinendo ei regno decollabat: So that this feare of Iohn, confesseth a forfeiture, and a power to depose him, and then hee procures the Emperor to come in person to the Con­fines of Bohemia, where at the towne of Luticium the Emperor thus excuses the King. Illic in maxima Bohe­morum frequentia, Regem illorum de tam graui suspitione, qualem de illo haberent, testimonio suo expurgat; pactionem­que illis, quam cum Rege inire caeperat, scriptum ostendit, in qua diserte aperteque appositum erat, ita illā ratam & fir­mam fore si communi Bohemorum assensu confirmata fuerit. So iealous were they then of their right, that nothing could appease them, but the sight of his owne agnition of the validity of their consent in transferring the king­dome: Iohn caused his sonne Charles, Dubrau. P. 201. to bee admitted [Page 24] Marquesse of Morauia in his life time, an halfe electi­on, as in the Empire the King of Romans, and a step to the kingdome; And indeed he was so fauoured of the Bohemians for his valour, witte, and skill in tongues, that his admittance was easily procured; yea hee was so fauoured of the Bohemians, Idem 202. that his Father suspec­ted and feared him: Soone after hee was chosen King of the Romanes at Bon, and now it was not easie for the Bohemians to refuse him if they would, for he preuai­led in vniuersall loue: Charles in his life laboured all he could to settle the Kingdome in his issue, and to that end in confirming the priuiledges of Fredericke the Emperour, inserts a Clause of exposition to his owne aduantage, which cannot extend beyond the Text: But 8. yeeres after, establishing the succession of all the Electors, he expects expressely the Kingdome of Bohe­mia, and the free Election of the States, Onuphirus Au­re. Bulla. p. 431. not when the heyres royall should faile (as they pretend) but vvhen the Crowne shall be vacant, quemcunque voluerunt, as is notorious in Bulla aurea; His sonne Venceslaus was ad­mitted, but he gouerned ill, and left the kingdome in trouble by the Hussites and Zisca. After 12 years, Sigis­mund his brother enters by force, Dubrau. p. 243. the kingdom weake­ned and torne in peeces by ciuill dissention, & takes the Crown: and hauing only one daughter Elizabeth mar­ried to Albert of Austria, Geor. Barthold. pag. 29. AEn. Syl. p. 54 Sigismund on his death-bedde conuocates the States, takes care for the election, & pre­sents Albert his sonne in Law: Albertum Austriae Ducem generum suum esse & virtute praestantem, & gener is nobili­tate sublimem cum se non minus amare quam filium, suc­cessorem itaque suum nominare, rogare supremam volun­tatem suam exequantur: beatum id regnum fore, vbi [Page 25]Albertus imperauer it, Here are reasons of conuenience, of Nobility, of Vertue, and hee nominates a Succes­sor to their choyce, which he could not doe, nor they refuse, if Elizabeth his daughter should succeed in right; and so Albert is chosen, a stranger in bloud. Dubrau. p. 266. Albert hath 3. children, Ladislaus Pastunus was admitted King, but he was a Childe, and therefore the States offered the Kingdome to Albert of Bauaria, hee refuseth it vpon Conditions of Religion, That hee would not be bound to admitte the Chalice in the Sacrament, which was re­quired, not considering at all the right of Ladislaus: Ibid. Then they offer it to Fredericke the Emperour as Tu­tor; but among the Ambassadors, Ptasco, no friend to Albertus father of Ladislaus, perswades the Emperor to make himselfe King of Bohemia, as the first of the house of Austria: but he refuseth both the ones Counsell, and the generall offer of Tutorship, and recommits it wholly to the Bohemians, as hauing best vnderstanding and inte­rest in their owne affaires. In this Interraigne, Podiebra­dius consults of calling home Ladislaus, now in the hands of Fredericke, for it seemes eyther he bredd him, Dubrau. p. 271: or was retired to him: and after deliberation, con­cludes to receiue him vpon conditions; and at his en­trance they giue him the oath, Ibid. 272. Quo praestito capita dein­de libertatum ab omnibus ordinibus missa exhibet, &c. Hee dyes vvithout Issue, and leaues two sisters, Anne the Eldest, married to William Duke of Saxe, Elizabeth to Cassimer King of Poland. Ladislaus fin­ding himselfe stroken with Death, calls Podiebradius, and foreseeing in the affections of the Bohemians who should be Elected, Georg. Bartold, pag. 30. neuer thinkes of his sisters as in any right, nor once mentions them, but mihi moriendum est, [Page 24] [...] [Page 25] [...] [Page 18]Regnum in tua manuerit, Duo te peto, vti prouinciales iuste regas &c. alterum, vt qui me secuti sunt ex Austria, caeterisque prouincijs in Patriam suam inuiolatos remittas. Podiebradius modestly seemes to decline it, excuseth and hopes the King shal recouer, neuer, for a Complement, once mentions any heyre, sister, or kinred of the King, which he could not in manners doe, nor with safety o­mit, if they had had right, and the King who should maintaine their Interest yet aliue: But Ladislaus sets his eyes onely vpon Podiebrad, Promitte quod cupio, nam me mori certum est: Ladislaus eyes, and Podibradius beeing Gouernour, calls the Assembly for Election: The French King stands a meere stranger in bloud, and his Ambassadors come to Prage; but because they vvere vnwilling to admit a stranger, they resolued to finish the Election, before the French had audience. The manner of the Election is recorded by Dubrauius, espe­cially; Locus eligendo Regi in domo Praetoria veteris vrbis constitutus, where, after first solemnely going to the Church, Rokickzanus makes an Oration to perswade them not to looke vpon any Stranger nor Germane: Among themselues, he first propounds the Gouernor Podiebradius, whose Armes had defended their Liber­ties; or if they disliked him, and thought no Bohemian eminent enough, nor worthy of so high aduancement, he counsells a new way of gouernment, vtterly to re­linquish a Monarchy: Aut hunc Regem esse nominandum aut si nemo inter Boemos tanto fastigio dignus censeatur, Haebreo more duodecim Iudicis assumendos, qui Populum Boemum aequo Iure gubernarent. Hinc in Praetorium itum, & tam foris, quam intus prius acclamantum quam decretū, VIVAT REX GEORGIVS: Here is a solemn Electi­on, [Page 19]on, and therein a proposition to change the gouerne­men into Aristocracy, and lastly a stranger in bloud to the Crowne of Bohemia Elected, the daughters and sisters of the two last Kings not once in question: And George held the Crowne of Bohemia to his death, and this Election and Coronation of George was confirmed by Calixtus the Pope, which no Aussrian dare say hee would haue done in iniury of the true heyre or their House. George Podiebrad had three sonnes, Idem 281. two liued at his death, yet in his last meditations hee durst not once cast his eyes vpon any of them; His words are, Idem 289. Nollem autem, quantum in me situm est, libenter committere (which implies he had no interest in designing an heyre, but by way of Counsayle) vt post obitum meum, ipsum Regnum in aliquod diserimen adduceretur propter dubium regni suc­cessorem, proin scire aueo, quidn [...] in hac causa agere, quem­uè Regem vobis legare destinaneritis; Respondentibus nul­lam ipso Rege su perstite successoris faciendam esse mentio­nem (perhaps to preuent the preiudice, iealous to pre­serue their right entire) instabat auidus, donec ab ill it ex­torqueret, non adme dum sibi gratam sententiam, qua se di­cerent sentire, apud Polonos Regem esse quaerendum, cum quibus & linguae & moribus non multùm dissentirent. They expresse their reasons for likenesse of manners, and language, without any mentioning a right by the second daughter of Albert, which they could not doe without iniury to Anne the Elder sister married to Saxe.

Podebradius with this answer was dismaid, for thogh he durst not expresse it, hee had strong hopes and de­signes for his owne sonnes; but knowing the right of free Election, and hauing discouered their affections; [Page 28]in the little pause hee had of life, neuer sought to alter the Inclination of the Bohemians, but prouided onely to leaue his sonnes rich, and possessing them with the mooueables of the Kingdome, commanded them to retire to the Castle of Podiebrad. A solemne Parliament is held for the Election, Matthias King of Hungarie stands, and is ready to threaten vvith an Army, and hath a party in Bohemia, therefore they remooue the Session, ad montes Cuthenses, data omnibus fide publica, vt quisque ad illa libere veniret & rediret, summaque cum libertate suffragia perageret. Three great men in Bohemia declare for Matthias, Dubrau. P. 290. contentissimâ suffragatione, sed maior numerus Vladis­laum Cassimiri Poloniae Regis filium, etiamnum adolescen­tem nullarumque partium factionibus per aetatem infec­tum, Regem possebant, numeroque praenaluerunt: Mat­thias stirres, enters with an Army, and molesteth Fredericke the Emperour in Austria and Styria, and partly thereby, partly by promise of money, procures an Investiture, Although hee had formerly granted it to Vladislaus the sonne of Cassimere of Poland, yet the Bohemians maintaine their Election, and repulse Matthias, heere is no reason of bloud, but fitnesse, in respect of partialitie, mentioned in the Election: And if reason of bloud could then haue been vrged, Anne, or VVilliam of Saxe, or their Issue must haue preceded, and by Consequence, now the Elector of Brandeburgh.

Lodouicus his sonne succeded, but was admitted and Crowned at three yeares of age, by his Fathers meanes, and then liuing, Nulla mora interposita ad Reg­num Bohemiae Lodouicum inaugurandum curauit. Dubrau. p. 302. Lodoui­cus [Page 29]is drowned in the Danuby in the Rowt giuen by the Turkes, and leaues his onely sister Anne married to Ferdinand, sonne of Maximilian the Emperor, who, as Dubrauius sayes, could not bee preuented by slight, Ibid. nor wit, nor Armes, Dextra prorsus manus & tenaci exce­pit gubernacula regni.

In all these times there is no Succession establi­shed, but free Election, or another reason of Suc­cession then right. Princes chosen of the younger line, reiecting the Elder, and the right line, and some few seizures by force, Princes deposed for misgouernment, and for vvant of due forme in the Election: Stran­gers in bloud Elected, and all pretended succession, aduanced by the Father liuing, or for his sake dead; and this concludes no succession, because present greatnesse hath gotten an aduantage, Primus dominan­di spes in arduo, vbi sis ingressus, addesse studia, & mixi­stros. Tac. Annal. li. 4.

Ferdinand hath gotten possession, but accepts it by right of Election, as is confessed, Nulla facta men­tione Iuris quod Annae competebat, Informator. pag. 7. and giues Defea­sall Letters, Quod ex nulla obligatione sed ex libera & bona voluntate eum Boemi eligerint against vvhich the Austrians now vrge a resumption of those letters, and a new declaration of the right of Anne: for the truth of which, there is no record in it own proper time and place, & that which is, is crept into the Mar­gen, from which most corruptions into Classique Au­thors haue beene deriued. But admitte it vvere true, there is no stronger Argument against the Succes­sion; For thereby Ferdinand doth confesse a prac­tice and stretch of his authority for his aduantage [Page 22]against a former confessed right. The acceptance of the Election without the right of Anne, was safer for him then to come in by her right, because so hee was esta­blished in his owne title, which might haue failed by the death of his wife, singly depending on her, and Kingdomes successiue are not held in curtesie; But af­ter ninteene yeares, hauing a setled posterity by Anne, it was then for his aduantage in preiudice of the liberty of the States, to disclayme the Election, and to claime by his wife for his childrens interest, who should not then hazard a new Election, but succeed. And this rea­son caused the former Kings of Boheme to procure their sonnes crowned when they could, and some as appears, could not. This practice discredits the whole claime, and is founded vpon Ferdinand interessed against Fer­dinand freely elected.

As farre as mine Authors haue led me, in mine owne purpose, which was to shew a continuall claime and practise in the States of Bohemia to Elect their Princes and Kings, I haue (perhaps with too much breuity) deliuered the same truth I found recorded, and I doubt not it will bee cleare enough to all well affected men, that my propositions are made euident in sundry ex­ample, and so my Conclusion will stand, Bohemiae Reg­num Electinum; but because I professed at first, that the Informator had mis-vsed his stuffe to serue his owne ends, and to beguile the simplicity of our mindes, I stand bound not so to accuse him, without shewing in some particulars, which way hee hath made that which was straight crooked. The truth I haue deliue­red, as a Rule, will doe it; but vntill I haue also demon­strated his crookednesse, mine owne may lye vnder the [Page 23]same suspition; where therefore his Vses seem to crosse my Narration, I will endeuour to shew the fallacy or peruercenesse; Informator. pag. 1. Desiring you to obserue that the Infor­mator seemes to insinuate, that this claime of Free Ele­ction is fortified by Testimonies onely of sixe Ages, which indeed were weake, although true, in respect of so many changes; but we say, that from the first peo­pling to this age, wee haue Right and Practice on our part without Interruption. First hee denies euen that continuance of sixe ages, by example of Iohn of Luxen­burgh, who as he pretends, had right to the Kingdome by marriage of his wife Elizabeth, heyre of the Crown. I will not confute him with any other reason then his owne. His next words are; Inform. pag. 2. Indeed Henry of Carinthia married the elder sister Anne, by which he tooke the In­heritance of the Kingdom: How then could Iohn haue Right by the younger sister? but hee tells vs Henry was deposed by the Emperour, (we say by the people, and that they called in Iohn) but he tells not, who gaue the Emperour power to depose a King in Boheme: ye; he showes the fault, because he rebelled against the Empe­rour: And this Rebellion was, because Henrie entred the Kingdome in his Wifes right, without demanding an Investiture; If it were the right of Iohn, husband to the yonger sister (as the Informator will haue it) how is it Rebellion in the Elder to clayme or defend that right? or what fault is it in them to take their own? if any had a right of suecession, and should refuse, for other quar­rels to demand the Investiture, or the Emperor to grant it, can this vitiate the right, and make them no heyres? A right so limited is a miserable Wardship; & although the Emperours reserued that honour of Inuestiture, be­cause [Page 24]they gaue the title of King, yet they gaue not the right of being Prince, or being heyre: so that Hen­ry could not for this cause be so a Rebell, as to bee ex­pelled from all Soueraignty; and if not, then Iohn could as yet haue no right by Elizabeth: But admit it bee so, that Henry rebelled, could bee forfeit the right of his Wife? Or can successiue kingdomes bee forfeited for want of Ceremony? Nothing is more absurd. But what consideration of their rights had the Emperour Albert of Austria, that thrust both out, to place his sons Rodolph and Fredericke.

To vnfold all these Contradictions, we must returne to the truth of Story; These neither of his sisters had, nor clai­med right: But the Bohemians (alwaies respectiue to the descendents of their Kings) first Elected the hus­band of Anne the eldest, and after reiecting him for misgouernment, called in Iohn of Luxenburgh; And though they gaue him Elizabeth to bee his Wife, they plainly chose him for their King.

Next he tells vs, Ibid. Wenceslaus the sonne of Charles, at three yeares of age was Crowned King by his Fathers Command, absque vlla requisitione statuum: That ne­gatiue is not proued, and I aske no more Inference a­gainst it, and that which it concludes, quod Iure succes­sionis, then his owne words, his Father commanded it, which if you make gentler, and say (as the truth is) he desired it wee are agreed; for to command it, if he had right, was vnnecessary, to entreat and procure it, not so, hauing no right.

I omit his boldnesse contrary to good authority, Idem pag. 3. to auerre that Albert of Austria claymed the kingdome in right of Elizabeth, when it is euident, that Sigismund at [Page 25]his death presented him to the States, by vehement words of recommendation; and the imputation cast vpon the Ashes of Podiebrad (whom indeed hee hates, for against his Election stands no exception) and des­cend to the onely clayme, that the daughters were true heyres; to proue which he auerrs, that Cassimir of Po­land pretended right to the Kingdome at the Election of Podiebrad, which is vtterly false; and that Podiebrad preuailed by a faction of a few, against the more pow­erfull of the States, which is in it selfe absurd, & brands Pope Calixtus his approbation; for neuer was any King chosen with more vniuersal applause. But admit all that true, the Conclusion to be proued is, That the Kingdome did descend in right to a Daughter; and so after Podiebrad, the sonne of Cassimir was admitted; to vse his owne words, The kingdome did returne to the ordinary suc­cession, de Iure, was it ordinary that the younger did succeed? Was not Anne married to the Duke of Saxe, the Elder, and heyre, if there were a right of Successi­on? Was Anne deposed by any Emperour, or any De­cree against her? if not, what clayme had the sonne of Elizabeth against his Aunt and her issue? And how, by the right and vigour of their priuiledges did the king­dome appertaine to the younger in bloud? But we see these daughters Titles pieced up to confirme the claime of Ferdinand by Anne the sister of Ladislaus, which hee at his owne Election durst not trust vnto.

Lastly, he preferres to vs the Letters or Bulls of Fre­dericke, Charles, Ferdinand, and Vladisl [...]us, to entaile the Kingdome to the Princes of the bloud, but none of these to the next in bloud, which formes a succession, but at large, that any of the bloud may be chosen, and [Page 26]to that of greatest force, which seemes exclusiue (when none of the bloud shall remaine) the words following are, or by any other meanes when the Crowne shall bee voyd, which must needs be by death of any in possession: But we say that in the golden Bull of Charles, he not onely excepts his Kingdom of Bohemia, and the right of the States to choose their King whomsoeuer they will, Onaph. Aurea Bulla 431. in any vacancy, but also confirmes that right so, that no Con­stitution, Regall nor Imperiall, Aurea Bulla pag. 481. shall bee of force against it; and this, in words direct and vehement. So that whatsoeuer could follow for the aduantage of any par­ticular House, could not preiudice an Ancient and Fun­damentall Right of a whole Kingdome, and the pra­ctice hereof is the safest and best Interpretor. I haue presented the Truth naked and simply; If it do any man seruice, I am glad; if not, I am glad that I haue learned it for my selfe.