He proceeded on Horse-back to the Church, a Pursuivant riding before him, wearing a King of Arms’s Coat; who, after Sermon, proceeded before him to the Offering; which he made for the Sovereign and himself; Service being ended, he returned to his Lodging, and dined with great Solemnity.
Dispensations for Absence granted during Life.
§ 5. Sometimes Dispensations for Absence have been obtained for Life, upon the Petite of the Knights-Companions setting forth their Age and Infirmity: An Instance of which, we find was granted to the Lord Dacrees, 26 Hen. VIII. and the Earl of Derby, 14 Car. I. and the Lord Musgrave; but both with this Restriction; that the absent should be obliged to send to Garter for his Escutcheons, at the same time that he sent his Excuse, and Petite for Dispensation; and should solemnly keep in his own House the Feast, with all the sacred Rites and Ceremonies, in his Robes, and other Ornaments, if Health permit; and in Case of Sickness, upon his Bed, according to the ancient Statutes.
This Act was thought of so great Importance to be observed, that the Chancellor was ordered to transcribe it, and send it to each of the Knights-Companions; acquainting them at the same time, with the Penalties they should be liable to, if they neglected the least Punctilio. And the like was again observed, and repeated to them, before the Feast of the ensuing Year.
CAP. XXIV.
The Degradation of a Knight-Companion.
§ 1.
The Ensigns of the Order are not to be withdrawn from a Knight, during Life, unless Guilty of some of those Marks of Reproach, set down in King Henry VIII’s Statutes, viz. Heresy, Treason, or Flying from Battle: It has sometimes been found, that Prodigality has been made a fourth Point, where a Knight has so wasted his Estate, as to be incapable of supporting his Dignity. The Pretence for divesting William, Lord Paget, 6 Edw. VI. was, his not being a Gentleman of Blood, both by Father and Mother. But Felony comes not within the compass of this Statute, as not being expresly mentioned among the Reproaches there Summ’d up; and so it was adjudged in a Chapter, 14 Jac. I. in the Case of Robert, Earl of Somerset, then lately condemned for that Fact, whereon his Hatchments were not removed.
When a Knight-Companion is found Guilty of any of the Offences mentioned in King Henry VIII’s Statutes, he is usually degraded at the next Chapter, of which the Sovereign gives the Knights-Companions previous notice; and then commands Garter to attend such of them as are appointed to go to the Convict Knight, who, in a solemn manner, first takes from him the George and Ribbond, and then his Garter. And at the ensuing Feast of St. George, or sooner, if the Sovereign appoint it, publication of his Crimes and Degradation is made by Garter.
Next, Garter, by Warrant to that purpose, takes down his Atchievement, on which Service he is vested in his Coat of Arms, and the Officers of Arms standing about him, the Black-Rod also present; First Garter reads aloud the Instruments of Degradation, after which one of the Heralds, who is placed ready on a Ladder set to the back of the Convict Knight’s Stall, at the Words expelled, and put from among the Arms, takes his Crest, and violently casts it down into the Choir, after that his Banner and Sword; and when the Publication is read out, all the Officers of Arms spurn the Atchievements out of the Choir, into the Body of the Church, first the Sword, then the Banner, and last of all the Crest, so out of the West Door, thence to the Bridge, and over into the Ditch; and thus it was done at the Degradation of Edward, Duke of Buckingham, 13 Hen. VIII. Their Plates are likewise taken down from their Stalls and carried away.
Degradation not being alone thought sufficient, it was debated in Chapter, 32 Hen. VIII. whether the Names of such Knights-Companions as were convicted of Treason should remain in the Registers, or be razed out: Where the Sovereign determined; That wheresoever the Actions or Names of such Offenders should be found, these Words [Vah Proditor] should be Written in the Margin; by which means the Register wou’d be preserved fair, and not defaced with razures or blots.