House of Commons Journal Volume 1: 25 February 1607

Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 1, 1547-1629. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1802.

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'House of Commons Journal Volume 1: 25 February 1607', in Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 1, 1547-1629, (London, 1802) pp. 340-342. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/commons-jrnl/vol1/pp340-342 [accessed 24 March 2024]

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In this section

Mercurii, 25o Februarii, 1606

Northlech School.

L. 1a. B. FOR the Founding and Incorporating of a free Grammar-school in the Town of Northlech, in the County of Glocester.

Trelawney's Estate.

B. For further Assurance to the Purchasers of certain Lands, late Sir Jonathan Trelawnyes, Knight, deceased, &c. reported from the Committee by Mr. Brook, with some little Amendments; which being twice read; upon Question, the Bill ordered to be ingrossed.

Cutton Manor.

L. 2a. B. To convert the Manor and Prebend of Cutton, in the County of Devon (being a Prebend sine Cura) to the Maintenance of a Free-school: - Secondly read, and committed to Mr. Solicitor, Sir Geo. Moore, Sir Antho. Rowse, Mr. Martin, the Burgesses of Devon and Cornwall, Sir William Strowd, Mr. Rolles, Sir Richard Hawkins, Mr. D. James, Sir John Bennett, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Brock, Mr. Brook, Mr. Noy, Mr. Prowse, Mr. Seymour, Sir Francis Popham, Sir Gamaliel Capell, Sir Robert Stanford, Sir John Willyams, Mr. Fuller, Sir William Killigrew, Mr. Hoskins, Mr. Bond, Mr. Upton:

- To meet upon Friday next, at Two a Clock in the Afternoon, in the Exchequer Chamber.

Soham Manor.

L. 3a. An Act of Confirmation of Letters Patents made by the King's Majesty to Sir Roger Aston, Knight, and John Grimsdich, Gentleman, of the Manor of Soham, &c.

- Upon a third Reading, much disputed ; and argued, that it was merely for the Enfranchisement of Copyholds, and not for any Defect in the Conveyance ; and that it might be a good Inducement to a general Confirmation. Question made for the Passing: The Voice doubtful, and the House divided :

For the Affirmative Part, such as went out of the House, were appointed Tellers.

Two :

Sir Geo. Moore,

Sir Rich. Molineux.

For the Negative, such as sat still in the House,

Two :

Sir Henry Poole,

Mr. Fuller.

With the Yea, were numbered, 53

With the Noe, - 88

Difference, 27.

As was reported by the Tellers; and so, the Noe exceeding in Number the Yea, 27, the Bill was dashed.

St. Saviours, Southwark.

L. 2a. B. For the Strengthening, Explanation, and Enlarging of an Act of Parliament, made in the 32th Year of the Reign of King H. VIII. of famous Memory, for the Incorporation of Six or Four Churchwardens in the Parish of St. Saviours, in Southwark: - Secondly read, and committed to the Knights and Burgesses of London, Sir John Heigham, Sir Henry Poole, Mr. Bowyer, Sir Geo. Rivers, Sir Francis Barrington, Mr. D. James, Sir John Leveson, Mr. Overbury, Mr. Francis Moore, Mr. Dyett, Sir Antho. Cope, Sir Edm. Bowyer, Sir Robert Johnson, Sir Walter Cope, Sir Geo. Fleetwood, Sir Tho. Knevytt, Sir Gam. Capell, Sir John Bennett, Mr. Brock, Sir John Cutts, Mr. Cole, Mr. Hare, Sir Nicholas Sauders, Sir Edward Grevill, Sir Geo. Moore, Mr. Wentworth, Mr. Crewe, Sir Jerome Horsey, Mr. Austen, Mr. Wymark; - To meet on Thursday, the Twelfth Day of March, at Two a Clock in the Afternoon, in the Exchequer Chamber.

Ordered, That Counsel, in this Bill, on both Parts, shall be heard at the Bar, on Monday Morning next.

Injuries form Spanyards.

Sir Tho. Lowe, One of the Knights for the City of London, produceth a Relation, in Writing, of certain Injuries and Cruelties done by the Spanyard upon our English Merchants and Mariners, their Persons and Goods; which (he said) certain Merchants of London desired him to offer to the View and Consideration of the House; was commanded to be read, and beginneth thus:

SHEWING of a Ship belonging to divers Merchants of London, called the Tryall; which having been in Trade in divers Parts of the Levant Seas, and last of all re-laded at Alexandria, with Indico, Spices, Druggs, and other Commodities, to the Value of 40,000 Duckats, and being homeward bounden, was met at the Sea, between the Rhodes and Serpenta, by a Fleet of Ships belonging to the Viceroy of Cecilia; which commanded our Purser to come on board their Admiral, who questioned with him, saying, he was commanded to make Search for Turks and Jewes Goods, of which if our Ships had none aboard, he then had nothing to say to them, for that now a happy Peace was concluded between the Kings; so as they would but only make Search, and not finding any, would dismiss them. But, notwithstanding their Promises, albeit they found no Turkes nor Jewes Goods, but a rich Ship of English Goods, they then alleged against them, that their Ship was a Ship of War, and that they had taken from a Frenchman, a Piece of Ordnance, a Sail, and a Hawser. But they declared unto them, what just Laws were executed in England upon Pirates ; and shewed them their Bills of Lading, the Particulars of their Goods, their Unfitness for War, their Ship being of six-score Tun, and but Eighteen Men in her, and their Ship deeply laden with Merchandize. But this Answer not pleasing them, they then commanded their Purser to be put in the Torture, and hanged him up by the Arms upon the Ship's Deck; and the more to increase his Torment, they hanged Two hundreth Weight of Iron at his Heels; nevertheless he endured the Torture the full Time; and confessed no otherwise but Truth. So then they put him the second Time to Torture again, and hanged him up, as aforesaid; and to add more Torment, they tied a live Goat to the Rope, which, with her struggling, did in most grievous Manner increase his Torment; all which the full Time he endured. The third Time, with greater Fury they brought him to the said Torment again, at which Time, by Violence, they brake his Arms, so as they could torment him no longer ; nevertheless he confessed no otherwise, but the Truth, of their Merchants Voyage. All which, with many other Cruelties, being by our Mariners at Sea endured for the Space of Two Months, (all which Time they enforced Ship and Men to serve them to take Turks, as they pretended) after all their Miseries endured at Sea, our Merchant, with Mariners and Ship, were all sent to Messena, in Cecilia, where the principal Men were put in Prisons, and others into the Gallies; where they endured many more Miseries than before, in so much as few or none of them, but had the Hair of their Heads and Faces fallen away; and in this Misery, either by Torment, Straitness of Prison, or other cruel Usage, in a short Time the Master, Merchant, and Purser died, and, to their Deaths, never confessed other but the Truth ; and being dead, they would afford them none other Burial, but in the Fields and Sea-sands : All our Men being wasted, saving Four, they were only left there in Prison and Gallies, and those, through their Miseries, very weak and sick. One of them, called Raphe Board, was twice tormented, and had given him an hundreth Bastinadoes, to enforce him to confess; and, for not saying as they would have him, was committed to a wet Vault, where he saw no Light, and lay upon the moist Earth, feasted with Bread and Water for Eight Days, and being then demanded, if he would not confess otherwise than before ; he replied, he had already told them the Truth, and would not say otherwise : Whereupon they took from him his Allowance of Bread, and for Seven Days, gave him no Sustenance at all; so that he was constrained to eat Orange-pills, which other Prisoners had left there, which stunk, and were like Dirt; and at Seven Days End could have eaten his own Flesh: and the fifteenth Day, the Gaoler came unto him, and not finding him dead, said, he would fetch him Wine and Bread, to comfort him; and so gave him a little Wine, and Two Loaves of Bread, which he did eat; and within a little while after, all his Hair fell off his Head; and the Day after, a Malefactor, for Clipping of Money, was put into the same Vault; who seeing what Case his fellow Prisoner was in, gave him some of his Oil, he had for his Candle, to drink; by which means (as from thence they writ) his Life was preserved. And of the whole Number of Eighteen Men in the Ship, when they took her, there is left alive but Four only, that we can hear of; so that many Widows and fatherless Children are left behind them : But these Four, being kept all in Misery, and seeing all their Friends consumed, and no Ways to free themselves, in the End resolved to set their Hands to a Writing, wherein they acknowledged to have taken away from a Frenchman, a Piece of Ordnance, &c. as aforesaid; all which Things, both by their own Testimonies, and by the Testimony of many others, were carried in the Ship with them out of England, and have belonged to her ever since she was built.

For Remedy of which Wrong, his Majesty hath been pleased, long sithence, to write to the Duke of Feria, who was then Vice-roy of Cecilia, to restore us our Ship and Goods again, with Satisfaction for our Losses, His Majesty hath also written Two Letters to the King of Spaine hinjself, to request Justice. His Majesty was also pleased to speak to the Marquis of St. Germyn, at his being here about the same. So also have the Right honourable the Lords of his Majesty's Council taken very great Pains, and have used all good Means to have procured Satisfaction, not only by their writing to His Majesty's Ambassador in Spaine, but also to the Spanish Ambassador here resident. Nevertheless, for all that was done by his Majesty, and the Lords of his Counsel, and our great Charge in prosecuting (having, for the Space of Twenty Months, kept One Man in Cecylia, and One other in the Court of Spaine) we are no nearer an End now, than we were when we began our Suit first, notwithstanding many fair Promises, given by the Spanyards, of speedy Justice.

Per me Richardum Hall.

The said Sir Tho. offereth also a Petition from the said Merchants, touching the Spanish Cruelties, and the inequality of their Laws, directed thus :

To the King's most excellent Majesty, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and to the rest of this honourable Court:

The humble Petition of the Merchants of England, now most intolerably vexed with the Spanish Cruelties:

HUMBLY shewing unto your Majesty, and unto the Right honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the rest of this honourable Court, that having, for the Space of these Two Years, made our Complaints, of divers of our Ships, with our Goods, taken in the Levant Seas, by the Spanyards, under Pretence and Colour of Peace, and to make Search for Turks and Jewes Goods, and other like Pretences; and have not only made Confiscation or our said Ships and Goods, but, in most barbarous and cruel Manner, have, by Torture, imprisoning, and other ill Usage, brought the most of our Mariners, in our said Ships, to untimely Deaths, with the Merchants in the same: So have they also taken divers of our Ships and Goods in the West Indyes, and thrown many of our Mariners into the Seas; the rest also they have committed to the Gallies, where they lie in great Misery ; alleging, we may not trade in those Parts. And if all these Robberies and Cruelties were committed by Pirates, we would with Patience have borne our Losses, supposing it not to be in the King's Power to have done Execution upon them ; but all the Wrongs done us, or the most Part, are by the King's Forces ; not only at Sea, but in all Places of the King of Spaine his Dominions, where we trade, they have and do most unjustly vex us, as by our many Petitions may appear. For Remedy whereof, your Majesty was pleased to write divers Letters to the King of Spaine, requesting him to give us Justice ; commanding also divers Conferences with the Spanish Ambassadors here: We also, these Two Years, have kept our Servants at the Court of Spaine, at our exceeding great Charge, seeking Justice there: Nevertheless, for any thing we know, we are as far off from Satisfaction, as we were when we began our Suits first,

In tender Consideration whereof, we, a very great Number of your poor Merchants, and true liege People, utterly undone without your Majesty's speedy and due Protection, do most humbly desire, that we may be no longer delayed, but may have Letters of Mart granted us, to the Value of our Loss, and according to the Statute made in the fourth Year of the Reign of King Henry the Fifth, of famous Memory, upon the like Occasion ; and that there may be other Laws ordained, to enable us to trade upon equal Conditions with the Spanyards; The Difference and Inequality of which Laws we herewith present : And we shall daily pray for the long Continuance of your Majesty's prosperous Reign, and the Increase of much Honour to this honourable Assembly.

Just Causes and Reasons for the Enabling by Law the Subjects, by way of Letters of Mart, to recover their Damages upon the Spanyards.

FIRST, because the Laws within the Dominions of Spaine do not convict the Parties offending by Depredation, as Pirates, whereby their Lives might be questioned, but only maketh them subject unto Restitution of so much as shall be made by Sale, after their Manner; which they so use, as it shall not amount unto the tenth Part of the true Value; but the Subjects of the King of England stand convicted, and condemned, as Pirates, and their own proper Goods confiscate to the King. Whereby they may lawfully take any of our Shipping, upon any Suggestion whatsoever.

It is lawful and common with them, upon any Suggestion against our Ships, Men, or Goods, by way of Torture, in what Manner soever it pleaseth them, to extort and force Confessions and Approbations of whatsoever they desire ; and by the same, how untrue soever it be, to condemn and convict Ship, Goods and Lives.

They seek to subject us to a Law made only by the Pope of Rome, with whom we have no Correspondence, inhibiting all Trade and Commerce with Turkes, Jewes, and others, not Christian Nations; by which papal Law is prohibited the Transporting into the Dominions of those Nations and People any kind of Munition, of what Nature soever; and under that Title are comprised, not only Artillery, Shot, and Powder, but Lead, Iron, Tin, and Pewter, Brass, Copper, Steel, and Wire, with infinite other Things, that are merely Merchandizes, and a principal Part of Levant Trade, by our Nation.

The Course of Justice is inhibited and interrupted in many Places, in their Form, by the Magistrate himself, when he is both Judge and Party; so that the Parties injured are inhibited their Course of lawful Justification; as in Sardinia and Sicilia we have found to our great Cost, no Man daring to plead our Causes.

In the Dominions of Spaine are many Kingdoms, which have their particular Laws, which the King of Spaine may not infringe by his Authority; and there is no Means of Redress by Appeal, upon any Wrong, howsoever apparent, offered to our Nation.

They conjoin themselves with other People not confederate and in Amity with our King, as those of Malta; whereby they intrap us, under Pretence of Peace with the Spaniards; and in Case of Restitution, we can never recover but in Part only.

We find in all their Courts very unequal Proceeding with our Nation in the Execution of their Sentences; which Sentences being obtained by long Following of the Suit, with great Charges, the Execution is wholly stayed; so that One Englishman had Thirteen Sentences for One immediate Cause, and could never get out Execution of any.

Lastly, we conclude, if the Spanyards do offer these and such notable Injuries, in the Beginning of Peace lately concluded, and may escape in such manner, without any Justice executed upon them, or Restitution unto us; what Encouragement will that be to that insolent Nation, to follow the like Courses, to the Discouragement of the English, the Overthrow of all our Trades,especially within the Straits, and of the Maintenance of all our good Shipping, where the Governors have Ships of War in Course continually against the Turks. And therefore crave your honourable Favours in this so weighty a Cause.