BRITAIN

the prince ascends the royal seat immediately after the funeral of the deceased father, by a most certain order of succession. The fourth region is Northland, by far the largest of the provinces, if we comprehend under one name the territories of many petty kings from the Thames to the Trent and thence to the Tweed. For they are bounded by the opposite shores of the Ocean from East to West, and by those great rivers we have mentioned from North to South. In this region, the city of York holds the highest distinction, known to the ancients as Eboracum, remarkable as the seat of a victorious legion and the place of Emperor Severus’s death. From the Archbishop of York, the prelates of all Scotland and the Orkney Islands formerly sought their consecration, just as they are now sought by the Scots, as from the Primate of all Britain. Above York, towards the eastern Scottish Ocean, is the city of Durham, a neighbor to Northumberland, strong with a wealthy and warlike bishop, and memorable for the sacred banner of Saint Cuthbert. When war threatens against the Scots, it is brought forth with solemn sacred pomp for a victory beyond doubt, nor has it ever failed the hope of the English who piously trust in it, for the enemies turn their backs immediately upon catching sight of the consecrated image of the guardian Saint. But to run through all the frequent cities and countless towns of this most vast and wealthy region would be the task of one who, in describing a single Britain with peculiar diligence, follows every smallest detail in its order, content with modest labor and equal praise. To us, however, the entire globe is undertaken to be traversed in a great course, and we believe that both gods and men will be favorable to this most pleasant and useful work, so that, even if with ambiguous merit, the fame of our labor may extend to the very ends of the earth. We shall say, therefore, that there are seven most famous cities in England, among which is Coventry, placed in the very navel of the whole island, perhaps surpassing the others in density of population, were it not for the dignity of a bishop and the convenience of a river flowing past it. Towards the eastern Ocean, famous Norwich is seen, named—as it sounds in the Germanic tongue—from a prophetic maiden, not far from that promontory we called Yarmouth; for this, curved into the right shore with the river flowing between, makes the city and its harbor, very capable of vessels, safe and deep. On the same coast towards the North is Hull, noble in its harbor-filled market, where the river Humber, having received the notable river Trent, flows into the Ocean with very wide mouths. On the contrary, on the western shore of the island, where Wales, carved out by two great borders, extends a round face into the Ocean like a peninsula, there are two ports suitable for Gallic and Hispanic trade: in the inner bay and the limit of the Welsh dominion is the city of Chester, placed by the river Dee flowing past it, and Bristol in the opposite bay where Cornwall ends. The river Rotoftathybius, which is today called the Severn, makes this city very large and wealthy, and its port famous. On the shore which faces the continent of Gaul to the South, the sixth city is Southampton, celebrated for the security and size of its great port, the protection of the Isle of Wight, and the songs of poets. Two cities hold the primacy of the archiepiscopal sacred dominion of England: York, as we have said, and Canterbury, whose jurisdictions one-and-twenty episcopal cities obey. The kings have the right of conferring the greater and lesser priesthoods by the indulgence of the Roman Pontiffs, so that they may easily ennoble whom they wish with accumulated fortunes and honors. Enriched by this royal liberality, the bishops are accustomed to adorn their own kin with horses, arms, and money whenever the King demands their service. But the fame of these...