The Palatine of Uilua a great friend of the dutchesThat sute by the forwardnes of the Palatine was as soone granted as vttered. Upon which assurance the said dutchesse and hir husband, with their familie, entred the iournie in Aprill 1557, from the castell of Winheim,The dutches taketh hir iournie to|ward Pole. where they before laie, towards Franc|ford. In the which their iournie, it were long here to describe what dangers fell by the waie vpon them, & their whole companie, by reason of the Lantgraues capteines,The troubles happening to the du [...]ches in hir iournie to Poleland. who vnder a quarrell pretensed for a spa|niell of maister Berties, set vpon them in the high waie, with his horssemen, thrusting their borespears through the wagon where the children and women were, maister Bertie hauing but foure horssemen with him. In the which brabble it happened the cap|teins horsse to be slaine vnder him.

Wherevpon a rumor was sparsed immediatlie through townes and villages about, that the Lant|graues capteine should be slaine by some Wallons, which incensed the ire of the countriemen there more fiercelie against maister Bertie, as afterwards it prooued. For as he was motioned by his wife to saue himselfe by the swiftnes of his horsse, and to recouer some towne thereby for his rescue, he so dooing was in worse case than before: for the townesmen and the capteines brother supposing no lesse but that the cap|teine had béene slaine,M. Bertie in great danger of his life. pressed so egerlie vpon him, that he had beene there taken and murthered among them, had not he (as God would) spieng a ladder lea|ning to a window, by the same got vp into the house, and so gone vp in to a garret in the top of the house, where he with his dag and rapier defended himselfe for a space: but at length the Burghmaister com|ming thither with another magistrate, which could speake Latine, he was counselled to submit himselfe vnto the order of the law. Maister Bertie knowing himselfe cléere, and the capteine to be aliue, was the more bolder to submit himselfe to the iudgement of the law, vpon condition that the magistrate would receiue him vnder safe conduct, and defend him from the rage of the multitude. Which being promised, maister Bertie putteth himselfe and his weapon in the magistrates hand, and so was committed to safe custodie, while the truth of his cause should be tried. Then master Bertie writing his letters to the Lant|graue and to the earle of Erbagh, the next daie erlie in the morning the earle of Erbagh dwelling within eight miles, came to the towne whither the dutchesse was brought with hir wagon, maister Bertie also being in the same towne vnder custodie.

The earle, who had some intelligence of the dutches before, after he was come, & had shewed such courte|sie as he thought to hir estate was séemelie, the townesmen perceiuing the earle to behaue himselfe so humblie vnto hir, began to consider more of the matter: and further vnderstanding the capteine to be aliue, both they, and especallie the authors of the stir shrunke awaie, and made all the friends they could to maister Bertie and his wife, not to report their dooings after the woorst sort. And thus maister Bertie and his wife escaping that danger,M. Bertie with the dut|chesse honora [...]blie intertei|ned of the K. of Poole. procéeded in their iournie toward Poleland, where in conclusi|on they were quietlie interteined of the king, and placed honorablie in the earledome of the said king of Poles in Sanogelia, called Crozan, where mai|ster Bertie with the dutchesse hauing the kings ab|solute power of gouernment ouer the said earldome, continued both in great quietnesse and honor, till the death of queene Marie.] Whose troublesome time (sa|uoring altogither of bloudshed & mercilesse murthe|ring of Gods saints, wherof the poet saith full trulie,

— tellus madefacta cruore

Christicolûm regerit decursus sanguinis atros,

Heu carnem mollem puerorum deuorat ignis,

Foemina másque perit, nulla ratione virilis

Foeminei aut sexus habita)