The constitution of parliaments in England deduced from the time of King Edward the Second, illustrated by King Charles the Second in his Parliament summon'd the 18 of February 1660/1, and dissolved the 24 of January 1678/9 : with an appendix of its sessions / observed by Sr. John Pettus ... Knight.

CHAP. III. Of Precedencies.

HAving shewn the Kings Warrant, and the Lord Chancellors, and the Record made up in the Pettibag, call'd the Parliament Pawn, and given a touch of the nature of Writs in general, and in particular, of Parliamen∣tary Writs of Summons, consisting of Writs Exemplar and Consimilar, as also an hint of Precepts or Derivative-Writs from those Exemplars, (which are to be more fully treated of in the 2d. part,) I shall proceed to the Act of 31 of Hen. the 8th. concerning Precedencies in the Lords House, occasion'd from the de∣fect or long disusage of Pawns, or other State reasons; for there being no Pawns extant but, as I said, from the 21 of Hen. the 8th. to this time, the other be∣ing by Endorsment &c. on the Re∣cords in the Tower or Rolls Chappel; Our King Hen. the 8th. did make this Act of Precedencies, (which hath its chief Reference to the time

when a Parliament is Sitting, and so not proper to be inserted in this place, seeing my design in this first part is to treat of matters previous to a Parliament, be∣fore I speak of matters Sedente Parlia∣mento) yet it may be allow'd in respect I make no other present use of it, than to inlighten the Readers with the Characters of such Persons and Degrees as are to have Writs of Summons to sit there according to that Act, and there∣fore I shall first shew a Transcript of that Act, then some Observations upon it, and then give some short discourses of the Noble Degrees therein mention'd, in order to their Writs which shall di∣stinctly follow.

The Transcript of the Act of Pre∣dency, 31. Hen. 8. Cap. 10.

The Act of Precedency, 31. Hen. 8. Cap. 10.

FOrasmuch as in all great Councils and Congregations of men, having sundry Degrees and Offices in the Common∣wealth, it is very requisite and conveni∣ent that an order should be had, and ta∣ken for the placing and sitting of such Persons as been bound to resort to the

same, To the intent that they knowing their places may use the same without dis∣pleasure or let of the Council. Where∣fore the Kings most Royal Majesty (al∣though it appertaineth to his Prerogative Royal to give such Honors, Places, and Reputation to his Counsellors, and other his Subjects as shall seem best to his most Excellent Wisdom.) He is nevertheless pleas'd and contented for an Order to be had and taken in this his most High Court of Parliament, that it shall be Enacted by Authority of the same in manner as hereafter followeth.

First, It is Enacted by Authority a∣foresaid, That no Person or Persons of what Estate, Degree, or Condition soever he or they be of, (except only the Kings Children) shall at any time hereafter attempt, or presume to sit or have place at any side of the Cloth of State in the Parliament-Chamber, neither of the one hand of the Kings Highness nor of the other, whether the Kings Majesty be there Personally present or absent.

2. And forasmuch as the Kings Majesty is justly and lawfully Supream head in Earth under God of the Church of Eng∣land, and for the good exercise of the said most Royal Dignity and Office, hath made Thomas Lord Cromwel and Lord

Privy Seal, his Vicegerent, for good and due ministration of Justice to be had in all Causes and Cases touching the Eccle∣siastical Jurisdiction, and for the Godly reformation and redress of all Errors, He∣resies, and Abuses in the said Church; It is therefore also Enacted by Authority a∣foresaid, That the said Lord Cromwel having the said Office of Vicegerent, and all other Persons which hereafter shall have the said Office of the grant of the Kings Highness, his Heirs or Successors, shall Sit and be plac't as well in this present Parliament as in all Par∣liaments to be holden hereafter, on the right side of the Parliament-Chamber, and on the same Form that the Archbishop of Can∣terbury sitteth on, and above the same Archbishop and his Successors, and shall have Voice in every Parliament to assent or dissent, as other the Lords of the Parlia∣ment.

3. And it is also Enacted, That next to the said Vicegerent, shall sit the Arch∣bishop of Canterbury, and then next to him on the same Form and side, shall sit the Archbishop of York, and next to him on the same Form and side the Bishop of London, and next to him on the same side and Form the Bishop of Durelme, and next to him on the same side and Form the Bi∣shop

of Winchester, and then all the other Bishops of both Provinces, of Canterbury and York, shall sit and be plac't on the same side after their Ancienties, as it hath been accustomed.

4. And forasmuch as such other Perso∣nages which now have or hereafter shall hap∣pen to have other great Offices of the Realm, that is to say, the Offices of the Lord Chan∣cellor, the Lord Treasurer, the Lord Pre∣sident of the Kings Council, the Lord Pri∣vy Seal, the Great Chamberlain of England, the Constable of England, the Lord Marshal of England, the Lord Admiral, the Grand Master or Lord Steward of the Kings most Honourable Houshold, the Kings Cham∣berlain, and the Kings Secretary, have not heretofore been appointed and ordered for the placing and sitting in the Kings most High Court of Parliament, by reason of their Offices: It is therefore now Ordained and Enacted by Authority aforesaid, That the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Treasurer, the Lord President of the Kings Council, and the Lord Privy-Seal, being of the Degrees of Barons of the Parliament, or above, shall sit and be placed as well in this present Parliament as in all other Parliaments hereafter to be holden, on the left side of the said Parliament-Chamber on the higher part of the Form of the same side, above

all Dukes, except only such as shall hap∣pen to be the Kings Son, the Kings Bro∣ther, the Kings Ʋncle, the Kings Nephew, or the Kings Brothers or Sisters Sons.

5. And it is also Ordained and Enacted by Authority aforesaid, That the Great Chamberlain, the Constable, the Marshal, the Lord Admiral, the Great Master or Steward, and the Kings Chamberlain, shall sit and be placed after the Lord Privy-Seal, in manner and form following, that is to say, every of them shall sit and be placed above all other Personages being of the same Estates or Degrees that they shall happen to be of, that is to say, the Great Chamberlain first, the Constable next, the Marshal third, the Lord Admiral the fourth, the Grand Master or Lord Steward the fifth, and the Kings Cham∣berlain the sixth.

6. And it is also Enacted by the Autho∣rity aforesaid, That the Kings chief Secre∣tary being of the Degree of a Baron of the Parliament, shall sit and be placed above all Barons not having any of the Offices a∣forementioned, and if he be a Bishop, that then he shall sit and be placed above all other Bishops not having any of the Offices before remembred.

7. And it is also Ordained and Enacted by Authority aforesaid, That all Dukes not afore mention'd, Marquesses, Earls, Vis∣counts,

counts, and Barons, not having any of the Offices aforesaid, shall sit and be placed after their Ancientry as it hath been ac∣custom'd.

8. And it is further Enacted, That if any Person or Persons which at any time hereafter shall happen to have any of the said Offices, of Lord Chancellor, Lord Treasurer, Lord President of the Kings Coun∣cil, Lord Privy-Seal, or chief Secretary, shall be under the Degree of a Baron of the Parliament, by reason whereof they can have no interest to give any assent or dissent in the said House, That then in every such case such of them as shall happen to be under the said Degree of a Baron, shall sit and be placed at the uppermost part of the Sack in the midst of the said Parliament-Chamber, either there to sit upon one Form or upon the uppermost Sack, the one of them above the other, in order as is above rehearsed.

9. Be it also Enacted by Authority afore∣said, That in all Tryals of Treason by Peers of this Realm, if any of the Peers that shall be called hereafter to be Tryers of such Treason shall happen to have any of the Offices aforesaid, that then they having such Offices, shall sit and be placed accord∣ing to their Offices above all the other Peers that shall be call'd to such Tryals, in manner and form as is above mention'd and rehears'd.

10. And it is also Enacted by Autho∣rity aforesaid, That as well in all Parlia∣ments as in the Star Chamber, and in all other Assemblies and Conferencies of Coun∣cils, the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Trea∣surer, the Lord President, the Lord Privy Seal, the Great Chamberlain, the Constable, the Marshal, the Lord Admiral, the Grand Master or Lord Steward, the Kings Cham∣berlain, and the Kings chief Secretary shall sit and be placed in such order and fashion as is before rehearsed, and not in any other place, by Authority of this Act.

SECT. I. Observations.

[Obs.] 1. THis Act is observable, being E∣nacted as it were by the King's single Authority, yet by the Preamble it seems to be only an Order, or Ordinance at most, and this upon Record in that House, for it doth not concern the Com∣mons.

2. The Lords House is here call'd the High Court of Parliament, i. e. the highest Court of Judicature in Parliament, and so it is an Act by authority of the same, in∣cluding the Kings.

3. It is also (Parag. 2.) call'd the Parliament Chamber; and (Parag. 8.) the said House, not the House of Lords, or House of Peers, as it is now call'd.

4. Though this Act doth contain the Rules for Places, as the several degrees do sit in their distinct degrees, yet it doth not contain the intermixt Precedencies of the several Degrees, both in calling over the House, and at other Solemnities, as will be more exactly shewn in the local part.

5. In the 8th Paragraph the Lord great Chamberlain, Constable, Marshal, Admiral, Steward, and King's Chamberlain are omit∣ted, because it is presum'd, that those Titles were never given to any under the degree of a noble Baron.

6. Here the Seat for the State-Officers (being not Barons) is call'd a Sack, but in all Records, where those Seats are men∣tion'd, they are call'd Wool-Sacks, being stuff'd with Wool, to mind them of the Staple Commodity of the Kingdom.

7. The use which I make of this Act is to shew the several Titles of the Degrees of such as are mention'd therein, 2dly, the ordering of those Degrees, and 3dly, how this Act doth agree or disagree with the Pawns before, and subsequent to it.

First, The Degrees mention'd therein are four, viz. first, Princes of the Blood,

2dly, Lords Spiritual, 3dly, Ministers and Officers of State, 4thly, Lords Tempo∣ral.

1st. The Princes of the Blood are said therein (Parag. 4.) to be, first, the King's Son, 2dly, the King's Brother, 3dly, the King's Uncle, 4thly, the King's Nephew, 5thly, the King's Brother's Son, 6thly, the King's Sister's Son, as in Paragraph the 1st and 4th.

2dly. The Lords Spiritual are said there∣in to be the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and York, the Bishop of London, Duresm, and Winchester, and all the Bishops of both Provinces according to their Ancientries, Paragraph 2, & 3.

3dly. The Ministers and Officers of State Ecclesiastical and Civil, are (in the 2d and 4th Paragraphs) said to be the Vice-Ge∣rent, and eleven more therein mention'd, of which I shall speak distinctly, Paragraphs 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10.

4thly. The Lords Temporal are said to be those five Degrees mention'd in the se∣venth Paragraph, viz. Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, and Barons, of which I shall also speak more fully, and lower than to these Degrees the Act doth not ex∣tend.

5thly. This Act doth agree with the Method of the Pawns, in the placing of

the Princes of the Blood, as also of the Bishops, but the Pawns do differ from the Act concerning the Ministers and Officers of State, for they meddle with them no otherwise than they are annext to some Spiritual or Temporal Degrees, but if they are under the Degree of those Degrees they have then only particular Writs of As∣sistance, as shall be shewn.

6. The Act doth not take notice of the several Assistants of the Long Robe, viz. the Lords Chief Justices, &c. But the Pawn makes a Record of them also, and of their Writs, and of their Precedencies, in rela∣tion to each other, of whom I shall speak more particularly in the Thirteenth Chap∣ter.

7. This Act was made upon the dissoluti∣on of the Abbots and Priors, and that there might be no more room for them in the House of Lords, whereas the two preceed∣ing Pawns remaining still in the Pettibag, (viz. of the 22 and 31 Hen. 8.) did place them next the Bishops, now (their Abbies, Monasteries, and Priories being dissolved) they in this Act were excluded, as in all future Pawns (only Queen Mary did ven∣ture to summon the Abbot of Westminster, and the Prior of St. John's of Jerusalem) but that being turn'd into a Deanry, and this dissolved, they were as useless, as all

the others, the Ecclesiastical and Civil Estate of this Kingdom being thereby re∣stor'd to its Primitive Constitution, as will be shewn.