Charles Francis Keary

“ Arthur by his later biographers is always placed as the opponent of Cerdic (Cheldric: Geoffrey) .
These are really all the facts of Arthur's life for which we have any distinct historical authority. We shall speak presently of new attempts to identify the sites of Arthur's twelve battles. The first difficulty must be to reconcile the account of Nennius with the complete silence of Gildas upon the deeds of Arthur. And it must be acknowledged at once that there is much to be said for the view which would make Arthur a purely mythical personage, possibly an ancient divinity among the Britons. ”

“ At the head of this body stood Ambrosius Aurelianus, who is spoken of as long waging a doubtful war against the Saxons, obtaining frequent successes over them, but, owing to the ever increasing hordes by which the invaders were recruited, unable to draw much profit from his victories. Ambrosius claimed descent from Constantine the Tyrant, the last Roman who ever wore the purple in Britain. The later histories of Arthur represent him as the nephew of this Ambrosius, and the son of Ambrosius's brother, Uther Pendragon. ”

“ On the death of Adrian, Albinus succeeded to the abbacy, being the first native Englishman who filled that post. Bede in his epistle says that he was indebted to Albinus for all the facts contained in his history relating to the Kentish church between the first conversion of the English and the time at which he was writing. Much of this information was collected by the presbyter Nothelm, who, at the instigation of Albinus, undertook a journey to Rome and searched the archives there. Nothelm was the medium of communication between Bede and Albinus, for it does not appear that the two ever met. ”

“ One very important theory must not, however, remain unmentioned. According to this view Arthur was not a king in South Britain, or rather South Wales, as later writers, from Geoffrey downwards, have always supposed, but a king of the North Britons of southern Scotland and of Cumbria. ”

“ The imprisonment of the catholic lords lasted till February 1683-4, when they were admitted to bail. Lord Belasyse stood high in the favour of James II, and was in 1687 made first lord commissioner of the treasury, an appointment which, on account of his religion, gave great offence. He died in 1689.
His eldest son, Sir Henry Belasyse, K.B., the husband of Susan Armine [see under Armine, Sir William] , died before his father, and Lord Belasyse was succeeded in the title by his grandson Henry, son of Sir Henry. On the death of the second Lord Belasyse in 1692 the title became extinct. ”

“ At this time his leanings were entirely upon the side of the puritans, and when, in 1639, he was in his turn elected Lent reader, he took the opportunity of delivering two discourses to the effect that 'a parliament may be held without bishops,' and that 'bishops may not meddle in civil affairs.' The lectures attracted the notice of Laud, and Bagshaw was prohibited from continuing them. Through the popularity which these proceedings gained for him, he obtained in the following year his election to the Long parliament as a burgess for the borough of Southwark. ”

“ BELASYSE, THOMAS, Earl Fauconberg (1627–1700) , son of Henry Belasyse, and grandson of Thomas, first Viscount Fauconberg, succeeded his grandfather in the viscounty of Fauconberg in 1652. Unlike his father and grandfather, he passed over to the side of the parliament, and subsequently became a strong adherent of Cromwell, whose third daughter, Mary, he married in 1667. ”

“ He was bred for the law. In 1526 he was joined with Henry Standish, bishop of St. Asaph, in an embassy sent to Denmark. Not long afterwards he was elected speaker of the House of Commons, and subsequently appointed attorney-general and a member of the privy council. In 1545 he was made chancellor of the exchequer. Lodge states that Baker was distinguished by being the only privy councillor who refused to put his name to the 'Device for the Succession,' which Edward VI drew up when on his death-bed, and which was designed to exclude the princesses Mary and Elizabeth from the succession. ”

“ AIO (d. 974) , an historian, was a monk in the abbey of Croyland or Crowland in Lincolnshire, and is only mentioned in the ‘History’ of Ingulf, afterwards abbot of the same monastery. From this account we learn that after the death, in 941, of Athelstan, the special patron of Croyland, as well as of the abbot and two of the elder brothers, the monastery seemed likely to fall into decay. There remained in it only five monks, and of these two, Brun and Aio, in despair of the future of Croyland, determined to retire to other religious houses. ”

“ That his reputation stood high as a soldier is proved by the fact that in the false information of Titus Oates he, being a catholic, was designated as the leader of the catholic army which Oates pretended was in course of formation. ”

“ BALE, ROBERT (d. 1503) , a Carmelite monk, was a native of Norfolk, and when very young entered the Carmelite monastery at Norwich. Having a great love of learning, he spent a portion of every year in the Carmelite houses at Oxford or Cambridge. ”

“ Nevertheless, it has been generally believed that he was made the instrument for buying over to the government side some politicians of a character not so professedly incorruptible. It is impossible to explain this inconsistency. ”

“ It has been doubted whether his real name was not Thompson. The object of his coming was to ‘reconcile’ doubting or recalcitrant catholics to the church of Rome, and doubtless to sound their political dispositions. ”

“ Barrington was sent to Trinity College, Dublin, and in course of time was called to the bar. He confesses, without any appearance of shame, that having been at first intended for the army he received an offer of an ensign's commission from General Hunt Walsh ”

“ He practised as a lawyer, and was elected notary of the city of London, and subsequently a judge in the civil courts. He wrote a chronicle of the city of London, and collected the stray records of its usages, liberties, &c. ”

“ Of that measure Barrington was a steady opponent. He relates that, when early in 1799 the scheme was mooted by the English government, he received from Lord Clare an offer of the solicitor-generalship, on condition that he would give his support to such a measure. ”

“ This account, although accepted as an undoubted fact by some historians, rests on no better authority than the confession of Tyrrell. They left Rome in October and journeyed homeward through France. In the late months of 1585 Ballard, disguised as a military officer and passing under the name of Captain Fortescue, travelled through almost every county of England and visited every catholic or semi-catholic family. ”

“ The following is a list of his writings: 1. 'Life and Death of Mr. Robert Bolton' London, 1633. 2. Editions of three of Bolton's works, 1633-35-37. 3. Several speeches in parliament, viz. (1) on 9 Nov. 1640, (2) on 9 Feb. 1640 (1641) ”