mme anb (Slueene of iSnQlanb EDITED BY ROBERT S. RAIT M.A. and WILLIAM PAGE F.S.A. HENRY VI VOLUMES IN THE SAME SERIES HENRY II By L. F. Salzmann B.A ., F.S.A. HENRY VII By D. M. Gladys Temperley. HENRY V By R. B. Mowat. OTHERS IN PREPARATION Photo, Emery Walker HENRY VI National Portrait Gallery HENRY VI BY MABEL E. CHRISTIE ILLUSTRATED BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 1922 ^^fi^ Printed in Great Britain. 'i C C I 2 : Printed in Great Britain by Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, bungay, suffolk. CONTENTS CHAP. fAQB I BiETH AND Accession 1 II 1423-1437 : Youth and Tutelage of Henky VI 37 III 1423-1435: The Work of Bedford in France 70 IV 1437-1450 : Character of Henry VI . . 109 V 1435-1453 : The Loss of France . . .155 VI 1450-1453 : Jack Cade's Kebellion and the Birth of Prince Edward . . . 190 VII 1454-1458 : York's Campaign against Somer- set AND the King's Second Illness . 235 VIII 1459-1460 : York's Campaign against Henry's Bad Government 273 IX 1460-1461 : Yorkist Claim to the Crown . 292 X 1461-1471 : Henry and Margaret in Exile AND Death of Henry VI . . . 329 Itinerary 375 Appendix to Chapter II ... . 390 Bibliography 394 Index 399 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS To fact page Portrait of Henry VI . . . . FroiUispiece {National Portrail Gallery) How King Henry VI was crowned King of England at Westminster 52 How King Henry VI was crowned King of France at St. Denis beside Paris .... 56 John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford . . . 108 {Add. MSS. 18850,/. 256 h.) John Talbot presenting the Book to Margaret OF Anjou 118 How King Henry made Earl Eichard his Lieu- tenant OF France and Normandy . . .162 Portrait of Henry VI 252 (Royal Collection at Windsor) Portrait of Henry VI 358 {King's College, Camhridge) MAPS Map of France 168 Map of England, to illustrate Chapters I to VIII 250 Ancient St. Albans 256 Map of England, to illustrate Chapter IX 320 Map to illustrate the Battle of Towton . . 332 Map of England to illustrate Chapter X . .336 vu HENRY VI CHAPTER I BIRTH AND ACCESSION On the Feast of St. Nicholas, 6 December, 1421, at the royal castle of Windsor, a son was born to King Henry V and his wife Katherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France. The infant was named Henry after his illustrious father, whom he was destined to resemble neither in character nor fortune. Henry V was besieging the town of Meaux when the news of his son's birth reached him, and he re- ceived it with " humble rejoicing and devout exulta- tion," his joy being shared by the English army when the tidings became known. The King immediately wrote to Queen Katherine exhorting her, when she received his letter, " as soon as she suitably could, to hear devoutly a Mass of the Blessed Trinity and dedicate the newly born Prince to Almighty God, humbly praying that his ways and actions should be directed in happy succession to the honour and glory of God ; all of which things were fulfilled in their entirety by his most devout queen." ^ Historians of the following century, probably unduly ^ Elmham, Vita et Gesta Henrici V, 322. 2 HENRY VI [1421 influenced by subsequent events, relate that Henry V had particularly expressed a desire that his son should not be ushered into the world at Windsor, for some reason believing it to be unpropitious, and that he was much distressed when he heard that it had been so, for " whether he fantaysed some olde blind pro- phecie, or else Judged of his sonnes fortune, he sayde to the Lorde Fitz Hugh his Chamberleyn these wordes. My Lorde, I Henry born at Monmouth shall small time reigne and get much : And Henry borne at W3nidsore shall long reigne and loose all." ^ The authenticity of this tale, however, is far from being well established. At the little Prince's christening the godfathers were Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, half- brother of Henry IV, and John, Duke of Bedford, the elder of King Henry's brothers. The godmother was Jacqueline of Holland, a lady who had recently left her husband, the Duke of Brabant, and had taken refuge at the English Court, where she was attracting the attention of the Duke of Gloucester. She had perhaps gained the special friendship of Queen Katherine ; otherwise there seems little reason for this somewhat odd choice. At the confirmation of the infant, which followed closely upon the christening, Henry Chicheley, Archbishop of Canterbury, stood godfather. Early in 1422 Katherine began to make preparations for rejoining her husband in France, and in May, ^ Hall's Chronicle, p. 108. 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 3 when the little Henry was five months old, she went down to Southampton, and, accompanied by the Duke of Bedford and a small body of troops, embarked on the 12th of that month. Apparently the infant Prince was left at home, for no mention is made of him in the documents dealing with the escort and supplies for the Queen's journey ; nor in the detailed accounts of Katherine's doings in France is there any indication of his being presented to his father or his grandparents, events which would hardly have been passed over in silence. Katherine and Bedford landed at Harfleur and proceeded to Rouen, from whence the Queen v/ent to meet her parents, the King and Queen of France, at Bois de Vincennes. On 25 May she was joined there by her husband, and both monarchs with their queens entered Paris to keep Whitsuntide. The little Prince Henry, thus abandoned by his parents, was not destined to live in peaceful obscurity for long. The cares of royalty descended early upon the unfortunate infant. His father Henry was already in bad health, and worn out, though yet young, by illness and hard campaigning, was forced to take to his bed in July. He was carried back to the castle of Vincennes, where he died on 31 August, 1422, leaving France half won and England exposed to the perils uf a long minority. Henry VI, then within a week of completing his ninth month, began his long and troublous reign on 1 September, for at that time it was not considered 4 HENRY VI [1422 that the new King succeeded the moment that his predecessor had drawn his last breath.^ At the end of October or early in November, the funeral cortege of Henry V, accompanied by the widowed Katherine and the Duke of Exeter, landed in England and proceeded towards London, where on 7 November " the body of the same worthy Kyng Henry the Vth was worshipf ully entered at Westminster with all maner off solempnyte as to that was appar- teyning." ^ This done, the infant King was doubtless restored to his mother. Henry V on his death-bed had given instructions as to how affairs were to be carried on after his death and during the minority of his son. In France, he directed, if the Duke of Burgundy advanced any claim to the Regency, it would be well that he should not be opposed. Otherwise he wished the office to be assumed by his elder brother John, Duke of Bedford — as indeed it was. His younger brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who during the absence of the King in France had been acting as warden of the realm at home, was to be confirmed in that office.^ This appointment seems ^ Henry V died on 31 Oojtpber, but his son did not officially begin his reign until the following day. See Hist. Collection of a Citizen of London (ed. Gairdner), p. 149 ; Fabyan's Chronicle, p. 691 ; Chronicon Anglicae de regnis trium regum Lancastrensium (ed. J. A. Giles), pt. iv. p. 3. " Chronicles of London (ed. C. L. Kingsford), 75. ^ The two French chroniclers, Waurin and Le F^vre, state that the Duke of Exeter was named by Henry for the rule of England, but this does not seem to have been the case. 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 5 to point to Henry's absorption in the conquest of France, for Gloucester was in many ways an unsuitable man to be entrusted with the delicate task of governing a somewhat disturbed country during a long minority. Bedford would have been the right man for this post, as the Council evidently thought, but, since he was required in France, England had to take the risk of Gloucester's unwise administration. The guardianship of his infant son Henry seems to have been entrusted to the old Duke of Exeter, Thomas Beaufort,! half-brother of Henry IV, and he was to be assisted in his duties by Lord Fitz-Hugh and Sir Walter Hungerford. The three Dukes upon whom the chief conduct of affairs thus devolved were of widely differing characters. The D«ke of Bedford, one of the finest personalities produced by the House of Lancaster, was aged thirty-three at the time of his brother Henry's death. Possessed of all that monarch's good qualities without his brilliance, he was for that very reason a more reliable character, and was indeed looked up to and respected by all as a thoroughly trustworthy and serious statesman. He was possessed of a high sense of public duty, and quickly earned the respect of the French by the justice and comparative humanity of his administration in their land. Being above personal rivalries, he was able to act as a wholesome ^ Waurin and another chronicler say the Earl of Warwick, but this may be a confusion with his appointment a few years later : Chron. Ang. de regnis trium reg. Lane. (ed. J. A. Giles), iv. 3. 6 HENRY VI [1422 check upon his wayward brother Gloucester, with whom at the same time he maintained excellent terms. His diplomatic talents, indeed, caused his personality to have a quieting effect upon many disturbers of the peace, for during his rare appearances in England it usually fell to his lot to bring about a reconciliation between various quarrelsome lords. He was endowed, in fact, with what the French term "solid " qualities, and was, in addition, of blameless private life. That he was, however, capable of hardness and even cruelty is evidenced by his treatment of Jeanne d'Arc, which is, indeed, the one stain on his character. His brother Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, on the other hand was ambitious and self-seeking. Utterly wanting in public spirit or statesmanship, during Bedford's lifetime he heedlessly imperilled the all- important friendship with Burgundy by his schemes of personal aggrandisement, and after his death, regardless of the plight of the country and the hopeless condition of affairs in France, he so inflamed the war- spirit and false pride of the English that he drove them into rejecting offers of peace against the better judgment of the King's other advisers. At home, by his quarrels with his uncle of Winchester, and later with the Queen and her ministers, he under- mined by dissension the position of the House of Lancaster, ruined himself, and hastened the ruin of his master. His private life so scandalized the people of London that it became at one time the subject of an expostulation to Parhament. Yet in spite of 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 7 all he was very popular, and was even — most un- deservedly — called the " good Duke Humphrey." He had the outwardly attractive characteristics of the fourth and fifth Henries without their greatness. He was amiable and affable in manner, rigidly ortho- dox, like all his family, and had the reputation of being the most cultured man of his age. " He dotlie excelle, In iindirstonclyng all othir of his age, And hath gret ioio with clerkis to commvme; And no man is mor expert off language. Stable in studie alwei he doth contune. Due off Gloucestre men this prince calle, And notwithstondyng his staat and dignyte His corage never doth appalle To studie in bookis off antiquite; And of o thynge he hath a syngular price ( ? pride) That heretik dar non comen in his sihte." ^ He was munificent, as his gifts to his favourite abbey of St. Albans witness, and this, with his liberal patron- age of literature and art, endeared him to the people. Also, it must be remembered that as he took no part in the campaigns in France he incurred no odium for disasters in the field, which was the unhappy lot of many of his contemporaries. Had he possessed some ordinary insight into the condition of affairs and the precarious state of the monarchy, and had he whole- heartedly and unselfishly devoted his efforts to establishing a capable administration, he would at least have helped the House of Lancaster to survive for another generation. 1 Brit. Mus. Royal MS. 18 D 4. 8 HENRY VI [1422 An incident is related of him by the chronicler of St. Albans which shows at once his hot temper and his concern for the privileges of that abbey. When keeping Christmas there with his wife in 1423, he found that one of his servants had been put in the stocks for hunting rabbits and deer on the abbey lands. Not content with that, the Duke picked up a mattress-beater and so belaboured the unfortunate man with it that his head was broken. ^ The old Duke of Exeter, Thomas Beaufort, whom Henry V wished to be the guardian of the young King, was the youngest of the three Beaufort brothers, sons of John of Gaunt and Catherine Swynford. Exeter seems to have been a somewhat headstrong and violent man in his youth, but he was now old and doubtless sobered, and as he died a few years after the accession of the infant Henry VI he can hardly have had much influence upon the character of the young monarch. His brother, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester and afterwards cardinal, was a far more important personage. Ambitious, energetic and thoroughly capable, he was one of those great clerical statesmen who arose in an age when education was still chiefly in the hands of the Church. A man whose influence was felt throughout Europe, and who was by far the richest man in England, he was possessed also of an arrogance and imperiousness which led him more than once into collision with his contemporaries, and particularly with his nephew Gloucester, whom he 1 Annates Monast. St. Albani, auctore ignoto (Rolls Ser.), V, i. 4. 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 9 cordially detested. For this reason the wisdom of Henry V in recommending that the Regency of England should be conferred on Gloucester may again be called in question, for, considering the characteristics of both, no one could reasonably have been sanguine about their working together in harmony, and Winchester was of far too great importance to be ignored. It seems strange that Henry should have overlooked him.^ The Bishop did not scorn to increase his riches by trade, and had the name of being the greatest wool- dealer in the realm. But whether he acquired his great wealth by fair means or foul, he at least used it in a disinterested manner for the good of the country. It was naturally to the interest of the Beauforts to support the Lancastrian dynasty, and Winchester did it handsomely. He was ever ready to supply the King with funds at any time of financial crisis, whether for private or public use, and there seems to have been considerable affection between him and the young Henry VI as he grew up. These three were the chief men at the head of affairs in 1422. The Privy Council met on 30 September and issued writs for a Parliament to be summoned on 9 November. Trouble began a few days before the latter date. The Lords did not look upon Gloucester with favour, and, knowing his ambition, realized that it was neces- ^ Chron. Ang. de regnis trium regum Lane. (ed. J. A. Giles), pt. iv. 3, Btates that he was recommended with Warwick for the care of the young King. 10 HENRY VI [1422 sary to put some check upon him. The Beauforts, meanwhile, had had time to organize their opposition. Accordingly, on 5 November, Gloucester was author- ized by the Council to open and dissolve Parliament only " by assent of the Council," and not in his own right as Warden of the Realm. The Duke strongly objected to this insertion, protesting that the words were unusual and likely to prove prejudicial to his rank. In spite of his protest, however, the Lords replied that " considering the King's age, they could not, ought not, and would not otherwise consent, but that these words, or others having similar import, should be inserted for the security of the aforesaid Duke, and of themselves in time to come," ^ and to that Gloucester had to submit. When Parliament opened on 9 November, two days after the funeral obsequies of Henry V were com- pleted, the Duke got still less satisfaction. He ad- vanced a claim to the Regency of the Kingdom on the grounds of the will of Henry V, but he was given to understand that it was beyond the power of any monarch to dispose of the government of the kingdom after his death. The atmosphere of mistrust was indeed so strong that the Parliament finally decided to make the Duke of Bedford " Protector of the realm and Church of England and the King's chief counsellor," while Gloucester was to exercise these functions only during Bedford's absence. This was an arrangement ^ Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council, Chron. Catalogue il. and Acts, p. 6. 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 11 recommended by Henry V in the will he made before finally leaving England. As Bedford during the rest of his lifetime paid only one visit of any length to England, Gloucester obtained the office in practice, but together with a severe snub, and the knowledge that his excellent brother could at any time be called in to check him. He was allowed to make appoint- ments to many small offices, but was obliged to ask the advice of the Council with regard to the more important. A Regency Council of seventeen members was then nominated. It comprised the Duke of Gloucester, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Henry Chicheley, who is described as " a very discreet man and mild in all correction " i), the Bishops of Winchester, London, Norwich, and Worcester, the Duke of Exeter, the Earls of March, Warwick, Northumberland, and Westmoreland, Avith the Earl Marshal, Lords Cromwell, and Fitz-Hugh, Sir Walter Hungerford, Sir John Tiptoft, and Sir Walter Beauchamp.^ The Earl of March, thus selected, was that Edmund Mortimer whose grandfather, Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, had married Philippa, the only daughter and heiress of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III. He might therefore have claimed the throne as the descendant of an elder son of the latter monarch than John of Gaunt. He was, perhaps because of this danger, placed upon the Council in order to ^ Chron. Ang. de regnis trium regum Lane. (ed. J. A. Giles), pt. iv. 32. * Bolls of Parliament, iv. 175. 12 HENRY VI [1422 be under observation, but it was left to his nephew and heir to advance the claim. Richard Beauchamp, " gracious Warwick," was a seasoned warrior and a man of considerable influ- ence. He was looked upon as a model of the knightly- virtues of the age, but there seems to have been a stern and harsh quality in him which had an un- fortunate influence upon the young King whose tutor he was afterwards to become. He was, however, upright in character and extremely conscientious in the performance of his duties. He and Archbishop Chicheley were Beaufort partisans. The Earl of Northumberland was Henry Percy, son of that " Hotspur " who with his father had rebelled against Henry IV. This Earl was restored to his honours by Henry V, and remained the faithful adherent of Henry VI until he was killed at the first battle of St. Albans in 1455. The Earl of Westmoreland, Ralph NeviUe of Raby, represented the great Northern rivals of the Peroies. He was the father of twenty-three children, and the ancestor of the great Neville family which was so deeply involved in the troubles of the coming reign, and of which we shall hear much later. This Earl, however, died in 1425. The Earl Marshal, John Mowbray, who was also Earl of Nottingham, became Duke of Norfolk in 1424, and was a son-in-law of Ralph of Westmoreland. Lord Fitz-Hugh had been Chamberlain to Henry V, who had specially desired that he, with Sir Walter 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 13 Hungerford, a renowned soldier, should be about the person of the young King. Sir John Tiptoft had held the offices of Seneschal of Aquitaine and President of the Exchequer in Normandy. Sir Walter Beau- champ, who was a relative of the old Earl of Warwick, had fought at Agincourt, and had also been Speaker of the House of Commons. The guardianship of the young King was now committed by Parliament to the Duke of Exeter, as Henry V had desired. His duties, however, were not likely to be onerous until his charge grew a little older. The situation which the little King's ministers had to face was not a cheering one. The position of the Lancastrian dynasty in England was none too secure, although the successful wars of Henry V had made him popular with the nation and had raised the prestige of England in the eyes of Europe. It will be remembered that Henry IV, grandfather of Henry VI, had forced his cousin Richard II to abdicate his throne on account of his misrule, and is usually supposed to have caused the unfortunate monarch to be made away with in the following year. In this usurpation he had been supported by a nation exasperated by Richard's misgovernment, and he had declared his right to the crown vaguely as the descendant of Henry III, and as the male heir of Richard, but his monarchical position was really based on the elective power of the nation, for the Salic Law was not held in England. 14 HENRY VI [1422 He was the next male heir, for he was the eldest son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, third son of Edward III. The second son, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, had had an only daughter, Philippa, wife of Edmund Mortimer, who, however, never seems to have thought of claiming the crown. It was reserved for her descendant to bring a retribution upon Henry IV's grandson, upon whose innocent head, strangely enough, fell a fate almost exactly similar to that of Richard II without his personally deserving it. The Lancastrian dynasty was therefore in the some- what precarious position of an elected monarchy, and Parliament, having asserted the right of the nation to choose, or at least to ratify the choice of a monarch, naturally had to be treated with respect and allowed the free exercise of its powers and liberties. It was not, however, at this time at all an assertive body, and the King did not desire to come into conflict with its wishes in any violent way, choosing rather to evade its provisions, as far as was lawful, when they were distasteful to him. The House of Commons was a prejudiced body, composed exclusively of landowners and men of some standing in each county, and, owing to the ease with which the elections could be influ- enced by territorial partisanship, was unfitted to act as an impartial tribunal for settUng the affairs of the nation. The Lancastrians wished to rule as constitutional monarchs guided by Parliament, but, in view of the result, it is not surprising that some writers on the subject consider that power had been 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 15 taken from the monarchy and bestowed upon Parha- ment before the country was fit for that amount of self-government. Owing to the weakness of ParUa- ment the chief power fell into the hands of the nobles, with disastrous results when they came to be divided among themselves. The Council, which was composed of them, had the approval of Parliament during the minority, and worked in harmony with it throughout the early years of the reign. At no time did Henry VI attempt to raise money without consent of Parliament, or commit any similar actions calculated to arouse a spirit of opposition, so that at one time three years passed without its being summoned and without any outcry being raised. The country was in a restless and unsatisfactory condition. The war with France had already con- tinued for seventy years, so that the prosperity usually attendant on a time of peace was far to seek. Manj^ of the Lords and country gentry were away in France, and their estates in the meantime were neglected, or fell an easy prey to the depredations of covetous neighbours. The demoralizing influence of long war- fare had caused the decay of authority, and order was not kept in the land. It also gave rise to a callousness towards bloodshed, and, by fostering a love of fighting, paved the way for the slaughter in the civil war which was to follow. In order fully to understand the state of the country we must go back some eighty years. England was in fact still suffering from the effects of that 16 HENRY VI [1350 terrible visitation of 1348-9 known as the Black Death. Opinions vary as to the proportion of the population which was swept away by this scourge, but it seems probable that at least a third of the people perished, and in some districts as much as one- half. Such an appalling visitation could not fail to touch deeply the social conditions of the time. The country was more heavily affected than the towns, for there, up to this time, the manorial system had been the principal factor. In the manor the villeins tilled their strips of the common field, and were also bound to do so many days' work on the demesne land of the lord and render him various other services unless they had been commuted for a money payment. If, then, a third or a half of the able-bodied men of the village were removed — for the plague attacked chiefly the young and strong — it followed that there were not enough men to till the village lands, and also that the lord had a difficulty in exacting enough labour to get his demesne lands tilled. The result of such a scarcity of labour was naturally a demand for high wages, and thus the interests of the landlord and the labourers were brought seriously into conflict. The lord of the manor wished to retain payment in service, while it was to the interest of the villeins to free them- selves so that they might be able to ask good wages. At harvest-time, when the greatest demand for labour occurred, wages rose enormously. Men began to forsake their villages and wander about in search of higher pay. Vagabondage increased. Thus the agri- 1351] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 17 cultural system was entirely dislocated, and landlords who were obliged to employ this expensive labour were much impoverished and threatened with ruin. The necessities of the landowners gave rise to a good deal of oppression, which in turn aroused discontent and restlessness among the villeins. The lords of the manors tried to enforce their manorial services upon the villeins, and were, indeed, in a strong position for the purpose, for the machinery of the Manorial Courts was under their control, and their legal position was secure, the aim of mediaeval legislation being to support the landowners in the maintenance of their authority. Their interests were naturally well guarded by a Parliament which was largely composed of Knights of the Shires, themselves landowners. The outcome of these troubles was the Statute of Labourers of 1351. This enacted that men were to accept work at the old rate of wages usual before the Black Death — a provision which applied to crafts as well as to agriculture. It also restrained the rise in prices and prohibited the sale of food at a rate of " excessive gain." This Statute, however, was not a mere measure in support of the landowners ; it was the general opinion of the times that the claiming of excessive wages or the demanding of exceptionally high prices because of a national calamity was an unfair extortion. But in spite of this Act prices continued to rise, and the tendency was encouraged by the influx of money from the French War and the lightening of the coinage at home. The penalties of the Act were, 18 HENRY VI [1380 however, long enforced with considerable oppression, as will appear at the time of Jack Cade's Rebellion. The immediate result of the unhappy state of the people was the Peasants' Revolt of 1380, from which little or no improvement resulted. The violence of the insurgents turned public feeling against them, and Richard II, misled by his counsellors, evaded his promises to the peasant leaders under pressure of danger. Efforts were made by legislation to check the efiflux from agriculture. The landlords, on their part, hit upon two expedients for dealing with the land which it cost them so much to cultivate in the old way. The first of these was to let out portions of their domains on the " stock and lease " system, which, though not unknown before, was now much developed. The second was to enclose their lands to form large sheep farms — a matter about which there was later much complaint. The latter method was doubly profitable to the landlord, because he required fewer liired men to herd the sheep than to cultivate the land, and also wool was more than ever in demand for the flourishing cloth industry of the country. The abuses of enclosure for sheep farming did not become serious until the end of the fifteenth century, but it is necessary for our purpose to show in what direction matters were tending. The effect of the Black Death on the towns was chiefly indirect. The mortality was doubtless as great as in the country, but the disorganization was not the same, although, owing to the very primitive 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 19 condition of sanitation among a dense population, the disease lingered in the towns much longer. There were outbreaks in London from time to time through- out the reign of Henry VI, and especially in 1438 and 1449, though by that time it was losing much of its former virulence. The principal manner in which the towns were affected was by the influx of the population from the country in the hope of obtaining employment at a craft. There, however, the country- men were met by a fresh barrier, for the Craft Gilds did not welcome them. They were fast becoming proud and exclusive bodies, ruled by the rich master craftsmen, and were unwilling to admit new and poor members to their company. The most flourishing of industries was one outside the Gilds and unhampered by their regulations. This was the cloth trade, for which England was especially famous. So prosperous and well developed was it that in 1422 the Hansards are said to have exported from England 4464 different kinds of cloth. Foreign trade up to this time had been chiefly in the hands of the Hansards and the Merchants of the Staple, but both of these great companies were now beginning to decline, the latter because of the decreasing export of wool, and the former from causes affecting their prosperity at home. Their place was about to be taken by the new Merchant Companies, of which more will be heard later. Lastly, the roads were in a deplorable condition. This, no doubt, was largely owing to the decay of 20 HENRY VI [1422 the manorial system, for the lord of the manor had been responsible for the upkeep of the roads within his domains and the Manorial Courts had kept the matter under their supervision. Such was their state at this time that quite a number of deaths are recorded from persons being flung out of carts owing to sudden irregularities of the ground. ^ In con- sequence of these drawbacks wheeled vehicles were seldom used, transport and journeying being for the most part accomplished on horseback. Water- ways gained an increased importance, for they were used wherever possible in order to avoid the abomin- able roads. In addition to their other disadvantages the roads were infested by vagabonds, disbanded soldiers and bandits, which discouraged the timid and those bearing valuables from much journeying. This difficulty of communication had a bad effect upon internal trade, and the fairs, which in those days were such an important and lucrative institu- tion, declined much in prosperity. England, then, at the beginning of the reign of Henry VI was at a difficult and uneasy stage of her history, and was to sink into a worse condition yet before rising again to prosperity. The position with regard to France was hardly better. Henry V, by an unwise impulse, had revived the ancient claim of England to the throne of France, declaring himself to be the rightful monarch of that country as the male heir of his great-grandfather ^ Abram, Social England in the Fifteenth Century, 14. 1327-1413] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 21 Edward III. The claim of Edward III to the French crown had not been very plausible. The three brothers of his mother Isabella had in turn ascended the throne and had all died without male issue, the third, Charles IV, who died in 1328, leaving two daughters. As the Salic Law was recognized in France, the crown passed to the nearest male heir, Philip of Valois, first cousin of the three brothers. Philip III \ Philip IV Charles of Valois Louis X Philip V Charles IV Isabella Philip VI d. 1350 I I d. 1328 = Edward II I I I I of England | Joan Joan 2 daughters | John Edward III -^ Edward III chose to ignore the Salic Law, and, over- looking the daughters of the former three Kings, claimed the crown by right of his mother Isabella. After some years of warfare, however, he gave up his claim at the Peace of Bretigny. Henry V evidently did not consider this treaty binding, but the absurdity of his claim lay in the fact that he asserted his right to the French throne as the male heir of Edward III. Now Edward had set aside the Salic Law and claimed through a woman, therefore in order to be consistent his rights, such as they were, must descend to Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, who was the direct heir of Edward III through his grandmother Philippa. This 22 HENRY VI [1415-U22 inconvenient fact seems to have escaped Henry's attention. But whatever his views on the subject of the succession may have been, Henry V should have known better than to involve England in a long and useless war. At her strongest, England could hardly hope to conquer France, much less to hold it when won, and, as we have seen, the country was not in a prosperous condition. True, Henry V had been marvellously successful, and, as far as treaties could do it, had secured the crown of France for the heirs of himself and his Queen Katherine of Valois by the Treaty of Troyes. He had obtained for himself at home lustre and popularity, and he even declared fervently on his death -bed that he believed his claim to the French crown to be righteous, and that he had not pursued the war from ambition or love of glory. But even so it is difficult to imagine that he could really have dreamt of governing successfully a foreign realm in addition to his own. He left his son an impossible task, all the more impossible because of his own success ; for the English arms had gone so far that they could not draw back without injury to national pride, and it would have been felt a dis- grace to claim less than Henry V had claimed and half won. It was necessary for the completion of Henry's task to have a strong and capable head and a powerful and well-organized army. The first requirement was fulfilled by the Duke of Bedford. The eldest brother 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 23 of Henry V was, as mentioned above, a most able man, almost equal to the King in generalship, and in some ways superior to him in character. He was more generous and less haughty, and was consequently more popular with the French ; he was, indeed, be- loved by the Burgundians and the Normans, and also by the French nobility who had espoused the English cause, but whose affection Henry had never won. During Bedford's lifetime the English arms did not lose ground, and up to 1428 even ejffected a steady advance, while the administration of affairs was conducted with order and ability. Better success would have attended his efforts had his army been more efficient, but it was an ill-organized mass of small groups. It was customary in England for each lord or captain to bring his own retinue, swelled by as many recruits as he could collect, which band he commanded himself and took his orders only from the King's Lieutenant or his representative. The army was composed chiefly of English, with a sprinkling of French and Burgundians. It was distributed over the country in garrisons, which were drawn upon when an army of aggression was required, small bodies remaining in charge. The famous English archers were still an important part of the troops, but the new artillery, which was to make such a change in warfare, was already being introduced and was used side by side with the bowmen. The pay of the soldiers was high, and under Bedford's adminis- tration fairly regular, although the exchequer was 24 HENRY VI [1422 drained by the long war. As the reign of Henry VI went on it grew more and more difficult to obtain the necessary funds. At one time Bedford offered his Norman revenues for the purpose, and Henry was reduced to pledging his jewels and plate and borrowing from any one who was rich enough to supply him. But his difficulty in raising funds hampered Bedford and gave rise to discontent among his men. The element which turned the scale of success in either direction between France and England was the friendship of the Duke of Burgundy. This Duke held large dominions along the eastern frontiers of France, and also numbered among his possessions Flanders, a country of immense importance to English trade. Jean sans Peur, father of the Duke, who was in possession at the accession of Henry VI, had allied himself with the French in 1419, but it was believed by the followers of the Dauphin that he still had a secret understanding with the English. On 10 September of the same year the Duke Jean was treacherously murdered in the presence of the Dauphin on the bridge of Montereau. His son Philip, therefore, was favour- able to the English cause from motives of vengeance. His support, however, was not very whole-hearted, and it was chiefly owing to the efforts of Bedford that the alliance lasted as long as it did. The domains held by the English in France in the year 1422 comprised Normandy, Ile-de-France, a great part of Picardy and Champagne, and in the south- east Bordelais, Bazadais and Landes. In the north, 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 26 however, the EngUsh rule really extended only over Normandy, Paris, the west of Ile-de-France, and Alen9on, the rest being administered by Burgundian officials. The Duke of Burgundy, then an English ally, held in the east Burgundy, Artois, and Flanders, France was in a terrible condition, and was overrun with brigands and vagrants of all sorts. The distress was fearful ; agriculture was ruined by the incessant warfare ; famine was threatened and trade dislocated. The people in the country starved or were driven away; the towns were full of ruined houses. In Paris, even the religious institutions and hospitals were ruined. Normandy was so poor that it was obliged to obtain corn from England. To add to its miseries, the whole country was infested by wolves, and every- where there was desolation, depopulation and disorder. Bedford's rule was capable, but it could not cope effectually with the state of affairs. He abandoned the practice of planting English colonies in Normandy, which had been the unpopular policy of Henry V. All individuals down to cowherds and swineherds were required to take an oath of allegiance to the English, and those m4io refused were deprived of their goods and evicted, while the Frenchmen of position who supported him were richly rewarded. The revenue to be gained from the French lands was not great, for however much might be voted by a subservient assembly it was almost impossible to wring taxes from the ruined people. Bedford, however, got leave from the Pope to impose taxes of a tenth on the clergy. 26 HENRY VI [1422 He kept his provinces under a strict police surveillance, but his principle was to interfere as little as possible with local customs and institutions, and where he could to give civil posts to Frenchmen. He also reformed the Court of Justice at Paris and struck a good coinage. The policy of the English was thus to conquer France by means of French help and money, but they were not strong enough even with that, and did not succeed in keeping order in the dominions they had won. The dying Henry V himself felt that his brothers would probably be unequal to the task, and while charging them to make no peace with Charles, added with foreboding that they should at least consent to no peace that did not preserve Normandy to the English. Thus England was forced to continue an unjust and hopeless war, which was in itself a fearful handicap to the country's prosperity by its continual draining of her energies and resources. One thing, however, Henry V had done. He had so raised the military prestige of England among European nations that even when she had lost France and was distracted with civil war no other country attempted to take advantage of her distress, and France, except for a few trifling raids, did not venture to avenge herself by carrying the war into the enemy's country. Barely two months after the accession of Henry VI the situation in France underwent an alteration. On 21 October, 1422, the old half -insane King of France, Charles VI, grandfather of the little King of England, 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 27 died in Paris, poor and neglected. On 5 November he was carried to his grave at St. Denis with Httle pomp, the Duke of Bedford, who had remained in France since the death of Henry V, attending as chief mourner in the absence of any French princes. Among the people of Paris the old King was much lamented, and the action of Bedford in causing the King's sword to be carried before him in the funeral procession as Regent caused considerable murmuring. According to the provisions of the Treaty of Troyes the young Henry VI now succeeded his maternal grandfather as Henry II of France, and was so proclaimed by the herald over the grave of Charles. The French nation probably received an unpleasant shock. The treaty had been made several years before, but it only now came into effect and forced itself upon the attention of the people in a manner which they could not well ignore. The Dauphin Charles, whom his father had thus dis- inherited, was a feeble and retiring young man of nine- teen, ruled by favourites who wasted his substance and encouraged his inactivity. He was, however, crowned at Poitiers as Charles VII, and was generally acknow- ledged south of the Loire to the borders of Guienne. Moreover, many of the French nobles who had supported Henry V out of deference to the wishes of Charles VI, now allowed their patriotism to assert itself and joined the Dauphin, who was scornfully nicknamed by the English the " King of Bourges," after the town where he kept his Court. The death of Charles VI therefore 28 HENRY VI [1422 was, on the whole, distinctly disadvantageous to the English. Early in 1423 Bedford took the precaution of pro- claiming again the Treaty of Troyes, and exacted oaths of allegiance to Henry. The people of Paris, we are told, took the oath, some " with good heart," but some with great unwillingness,^ Scotland was another cause of difficulty, both because of her propensity for raids over the border, and chiefly on account of her partiality for the French, to whom she lost no opportunity of sending help. Henry V detested the Scottish nation : "A cursed people the Scots," he is reported to have said ; " wher- ever I go I find them in my beard." The English in general seem to have had but a poor opinion of them : " An ape although she be clothed in purple will be but an ape, and a Scot never so gently entertained of an English prince will be but a dissimulating Scot," says the impolite Hall.^ After the severe defeat of the Scots at Homildon Hill in 1402 the border raids, which until that date had been so prevalent, ceased for some years. In 1406 a strange situation had arisen. In that year Prince James, the only surviving son of the old King Robert III, while journeying to France for his education, was captured off Flamborough Head by an English corsair. It is uncertain whether there was a truce with Scotland at the time, but ^ Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris (ed. A. Tuetey). ^ Hall's Chronicle, p. 119. 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 29 Henry IV could not resist the temptation to keep possession of so valuable a person. This iniquity proved too much for the poor old King Robert, and he died on 4 April, 1406, thus leaving his captive son, aged barely twelve years. King of Scotland as James I. The unfortunate young King was still a captive when Henry VI ascended the throne, and English chroniclers are careful to point out that he thus gained a more peaceful youth and a sounder education than he would have obtained in his own country. Possibly that was the case, but although he was far from being ill- treated, he certainly did not feel that all the advantages he thus obtained, compensated for the loss of his liberty. The Regency was assumed by the Duke of Albany, King Robert's brother, who does not seem to have been particularly anxious to obtain the ransom of his nephew. As his rule connived at the misdoings of the nobility, the country fell into a state of disorder which bade fair to give King James a good deal of trouble whenever he should return to his kingdom. Border raids also began to be the custom once more. Albany died in 1420, and was succeeded by his son Murdoch, who was still less successful than his father in establishing order. In this same year, as the result of a French embassy, Scottish help was sent to France. The French, although they disliked the Scots and disrespectfully called them " tugmuttons " and " winebags," never- theless found them extremely useful when it came to 30 HENRY VI [1422 actual fighting, and to their help was due the defeat and death of Henry V's brother Clarence at Bauge in 1421. Clarence himself is said to have been slain by the Earl of Buchan, and the English army suffered heavy loss. In 1422, consequently, Buchan was made Constable of France, and Stewart of Darnley at the same time became Constable of the Scots in France. The Earl of Douglas was also with them, and the con- tingent of Scots remained to harry the English in France for some years. Before proceeding with the reign of Henry VI it will be worth while to glance at the general position of affairs in Europe. The Emperor at this time was Sigismund. A member of the House of Luxemburg, he had been elected King of the Romans in 1411, but was not actually crowned at Rome until 1433. There had been a schism at his election which did not tend to increase the stability of his position. The electors had been divided in their support between Sigismund, his cousin Jobst of Moravia, and Wenzel, King of Bohemia. Jobst, however, opportunely died, and Sigismund contrived to pacify Wenzel. He was not, however, crowned until after the latter's death. Sigismund had made his reputation in Hungary, on the borders of which he had reduced Bosnia, Servia, and the greater part of Dalmatia, and had thus established a barrier against the Turk. But he also gained an unenviable notoriety at the Council of Constance by permitting the barefaced violation of the safe conduct 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 31 of John Hus, and his subsequent cruel death. In 1419 he became King of Bohemia by Wenzel's death, but the Bohemians, holding him responsible for the death of Hus, would have nothing to do with him. In 1422, therefore, he was engaged in a crusade against the Hussites in his new kingdom, an undertaking in which he was entirely unsuccessful owing to the skilful opposition of Ziska, the Hussite general. Germany, as usual, was in a state of confusion consequent on an outworn military and political system. The Princes of Germany were prevented from binding themselves together under their natural head, the Emperor, by their general distrust of Sigis- mund. In 1422 it was proposed at the Diet of Niirnberg to raise a mercenary army in place of the inefficient feudal levies, and to pay for it by a tax of the hundredth penny. The project, however, was defeated by the opposition of the towns. Moreover, the electors were on the verge of openly opposing Sigismund and were only deterred from it by the dangerous strength of the Hussites, against whom he protected them. The last of the Ascanian Electors of Saxony, Albert III, died in 1422, leaving an only daughter, who was married to the son of the HohenzoUern Elector of Brandenburg. Sigismund, however, passed over this claim and appointed to the Electorship of Saxony Frederick of Meissen, the founder of the present Wettin line, and thereby earned the enmity of his former supporter, Frederick of Brandenburg. The Papacy also had had its difficulties. The 32 HENRY VI [1422 Great Schism had been ended in 1417 by the election of Martin V, the Italian Cardinal Oddo Colonna, but his rival, the deposed Benedict XIII, who was a Spaniard named Peter de Luna, continued to hold out in the fortress of Peniscola, and was occasionally resorted to by persons who could not persuade Martin V to do as they wished. The recognized Pope, however, had returned to Rome, and moulded the policy of the whole of the fifteenth century by his decision to live there and recover and consolidate the Papal States. It was, moreover, an era of Church Councils, a series of which had been inaugurated at the Council of Constance. Martin V disliked them as tending to decrease his power, but he was obliged to submit. The Hussite movement in Bohemia which gave both Emperor and Pope so much trouble, besides being a religious movement, was also part of the widespread Slav reaction against the Germans which had begun in the last century, and it was only intensified in feeling by the burning of Hus in 1415. In 1420 the Hussites had put forward the " Four Articles of Prague," by which they demanded : (i) complete liberty of preach- ing ; (ii) communion in both kinds ; (iii) the exclusion of priests from temporal affairs and the holding of property; and (iv) the subjection of the clergy to secular penalties for crimes and misdemeanours. In that same year Sigismund returned from a campaign against the Turks and claimed the kingdom, an action which resulted in seventeen years of warfare. After 1422] BIRTH AND ACCESSION 33 Sigismund's third defeat in 1422 they were left in peace for five years. Indeed, so complete was their success under the able leadership of Ziska that the orthodox chroniclers of the time were obliged to excuse it by explaining that the good Germans were inspired with such a loathing for heretics that they could not bring themselves to touch or strike them, or even to look them in the face ! A Uttle later the English Cardinal Beaufort, when newly raised to that dignity, took an active part in these wars. Scandinavia at this time was a united whole, the three nations of Norway, Sweden and Denmark having been joined under one ruler by the Union of Kalmar in 1397. The monarch of Scandinavia in 1422 was Eric of Pomerania, but the union of his dominions was by no means secure owing to the fact that the three nations were not bound together by any particular feeling of affection, and they were soon destined to be once more separated. As long as it lasted, however, the union seriously threatened the prosperity of their rival the Hanseatic League of Northern Germany, and in 1422 Denmark and the Hanse Towns, allied with the Count of Holstein, were engaged in a quarrel for the possession of Schleswig. Spain had not yet attained to the unity of a nation. In Castile in 1422 the ruler was John II, a boy of eighteen, whose mother was the English Princess Catherine of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt. The government was in reality in the hands of the powerful minister Alvaro de Luna. John's first 34 HENRY VI [1422 cousin, Alfonso V, had become in 1416 ruler of Aragon. Portugal also was connected with the English royal house, for the reigning King, John III, had married Philippa of Lancaster, another daughter of John of Gaunt. The most interesting personage of the time in Portugal was their son, Prince Henry the Navigator, who during his voyages round the west coast of Africa had recently discovered Madeira. Italy also was composed of many independent states. Milan was in the hands of the Visconti, and in 1422 was ruled by Filippo Maria, the last Duke of that family. Florence was ruled by an oligarchy, of which the most prominent member was Rinaldo degli Albizzi, the opposition being headed by Giovanni de Medici. The Republic of Venice found herself in a difficult position, her attention being divided between Milan and the Turks. On the East she needed to expand and to preserve her commerce in the Levant, but the Turks being aggressive, all her strength was needed for the preservation of her position there. On the West, however, she was threatened by Milan, who laid claim to Padua and Verona, which had been recently acquired by Venice. She greatly needed to make her frontier secure in this direction, but if occupied by a war with Milan she was likely to lose her hold on the Levant. This, then, was the problem with which Venice was confronted in 1422. Naples was ruled by Queen Joanna II, the incapable 1422] BIRTH AND ACCEkSSION 35 sister of Ladislas, but her possession was not undis- puted. Charles III of Naples, father of Ladislas and Joanna, was the cousin and heir of Joanna I, but as they became involved in a violent quarrel Joanna disinherited him and adopted as her heir Louis of Anjou. The result was a century of rivalry between the two houses. Charles succeeded in gaining the kingdom after his aunt's death, and transmitted it to his children, but the claim of Anjou was far from being surrendered, and Louis succeeded on his part in gaining possession of Provence. His grandson, Rene of Anjou, who retained Provence and called himself King of Naples and Sicily, was destined to become the father-in-law of Henry VI of England. Switzerland had established her independence in 1389, and at the time of the accession of Henry VI was quarrelling with Milan for the possession of Bellinzona. Poland had become united with Lithuania by the marriage of Hedwig of Poland with Jagello of Lithuania, who became a Christian, and ruled over the united kingdoms as Ladislas V. His chief enemies, the Knights of the Teutonic Order, could not withstand this union. In 1410 they sustained a severe defeat at the battle of Tannenberg, Ladislas being assisted by his fellow-Slav John Ziska, who afterwards became a distinguished leader when the Slavonic reaction, so marked at the beginning of the fifteenth century, spread to Bohemia. In the following year the Treaty of Thorn inaugurated a period of peace for Poland. 36 HENRY VI [1422 There remains the Turldsh Empire, which was now assuming a threatening attitude towards Europe and was especially troubling the Emperor, whose frontiers its armies approached, and the Republic of Venice, whose Eastern trade was interfered with. The great Mahomet I, who had reunited the Turks, was suc- ceeded in 1421 by Murad III or Amurath II, who continued his father's warfare against the ruler of the Eastern Empire, Manuel Palseologus. In 1422 Amurath laid siege to Constantinople, but his attention was diverted by troubles in his own dominions, and the great city of the East was not destined to fall for another thirty years. Such was, at a glance, the general condition of Europe when Henry VI ascended the throne of England. CHAPTER II 1423-1437 : youth and tutelage of henry The infant Henry, as we have already seen, was officially placed under the guardianship of his great- uncle, the Duke of Exeter. Exeter held that office for the next five years, but owing to the King's tender age the good Duke could hardly be expected to take an active part in his upbringing, and Gloucester thoughtfully arranged that Henry's mother should have the principal charge of him during his infancy. Henry's second Parliament met on 21 October, 1423, and the King now being well advanced in his second year it was thought right that he should make a public appearance in London. On 13 November Henry, with his mother and his nurse, left Windsor and slept that night, which was a Saturday, at Staines. Next morning they would have gone on, but Henry, upon being carried out to his mother's " chair," " shyrled and cried so fervently that . . . nothing the Queen could devise might content him." In fact he created so much disturbance that the Queen, " being feared that he had been diseased," took him back again to her chamber in the inn, " where anone he was in good rest and quyet " ^ ; but the journey was abandoned for ^ Fabyan's Chronicle, p. 593. 37 38 HENRY VI [1423 that day. This exhibition of infantile perversity is solemnly related by Henry's chroniclers as showing a supernatural instinct against the wickedness of travel- ling on the Sabbath. On Monday, as he offered no objection to setting out, he was brought without further distress of mind to Kingston, and on the following day to Kennington. On 17 November the little King " with a glad chere sate in his modres lappe in the chare and rode thurgh the Cite to Westminster , . . and there was brought into the Parliament." ^ This was the first occasion upon which the young King was introduced to his "faithful Commons." At the end of the month, on 26 November, he was taken to Waltham Holy Cross for a short time, and from thence travelled to the royal castle of Hertford, where he kept Christmas in the company of the King of Scots, who had been a prisoner in England for nearly eighteen years, but was now on the point of returning to his kingdom. In February 1424 Henry was found to require a new nurse, and a worthy dame named Alice Botiller was selected by the Privy Council. Owing to the custom of wording the proceedings of the Privy Council in the name of the King the appointment reads somewhat quaintly. " Very dear and well beloved," the two-year-old Henry is made to say, " because of this our youth and tender age it behoves us to be taught and to be instructed in courtesy and nurture and other matters beseeming a royal person, ^ Chronicles of London (ed. C. L. Kingsford), p. 280. 1424] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 39 to the end that we may be able the better to hold and govern in preservation of our honour and estate when we shall come to full age — hoping to arrive at this estate by the help of God. And it is reported and seems to our Council that you are a person well expert and wise enough to so teach and instruct us. We are willing by the advice and assent of our said Council and we command you in this capacity to be about our person and there diligently labour and make arrangements. And we give you our permission by these presents to reasonably chastise us from time to time as the case shall require, so that you shall not be molested, hurt or injured for this cause in future time." ^ Dame Alice received £40 yearly for these services, and in 1426 was awarded in addition an annuity of forty marks from the fee farm of Great Yarmouth. Henry also had another nurse named Joan Asteley, who received an annuity in 1433. The Parliament at which the little King made his first appearance did not pass without a slight fore- shadowing of the direction from which Henry's later troubles were to arise. One Sir John Mortimer, whose name was a disadvantage to him, for he was a cousin of the Earl of March of whose claim to the throne the House of Lancaster was so apprehensive, had lately been imprisoned on suspicion of treason. In February 1424 he attempted to escape from the Tower, which so convinced Parliament of his guilt ^ Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council (Rolls Ser.), iii. 143. 40 HENRY VI [1424 that he was straightway condemned by special attainder and executed, whereupon " no small slander arose emongst the common people." The Earl of March himself came to London to attend this Parliament, being a member of the Council of Regency, but he somewhat unwisely arrived with a large retinue and made a great display, feasting all comers at the house of the Bishop of Salisbury. This caused some ill- feeling amongst the Lords and especially incensed Gloucester, who had always been his enemy. Parlia- ment being already in a nervous state of mind, their suspicions were easily aroused, and, probably at Gloucester's instigation, March was removed from England by being appointed to the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland, a post which was used throughout the reign of Henry VI for disposing of inconvenient persons. March went to Ireland in 1424, but he was already ill — in 1423 he had visited the shrine of St. Alban in search of health — and six months later, in January 1425, he died. The heir to his possessions, and to the claim which he himself had never brought forward, was young Richard of York, the son of his only sister, Anne Mortimer. This young man, who was still a minor in his fourteenth year, had his honours restored to him by the Parliament of 1426 as Duke of York and Earl of Cambridge and Rutland. ^ The custody of his lands was granted to Gloucester, but the ^ The Earldom of Cambridge came to him from his father, that of Rutland from his uncle, who died without issue in 1415, and the Dukedom of York from his grandfather, Edmund Langley. 1426] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 41 wardship of his person was accorded to Joan i widow of Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland, to whose youngest daughter Cecily he had been contracted in marriage about 1424, although the little girl was then only nine, and he was thus brought up among the Nevilles. In the Countess's household the young Richard doubtless formed a friendship with her eldest son — his brother-in-law — Richard Neville, afterwards Earl of Salisbury, and her grandson, Richard Neville, afterwards known as " Warwick the King-maker," men who were destined to be York's principal sup- porters in later years. In 1425 Parliament met on 30 April, and the little King was brought to London to open the session in person. At the west door of St. Paul's Cathedral he was met by his Uncle Gloucester and his Great-uncle Exeter, who took him out of his " chair," and he " went upon his fete fro the west dore to the steires and so up into the quere." ^ Afterwards he was set upon a great courser and rode through the city in triumph, and " was judged of all men to have the very image, lively portraiture and lovely countenance of his famous father." ' After this exploit he was taken back to his palace at Kennington, but came again to West- minster and " held his see diverse daies in Parlia- ment." * The age of three and a half seemed early ^ Joan Beaufort, sister of Exeter and Cardinal Beaufort. 2 Chronicles of London (ed. C. L. Kingsford), 285. 3 Hall's Chronicle, p. 127. * Chronicles of London (ed. C. L. Kingsford), 285. 42 HENRY VI [1426 to expect the poor child to begin his duties in this respect. The evils of a minority and the consequent jealousy between those into whose hands the business of ruling fell now began to be felt. Since October 1424 Gloucester had been in Holland endeavouring to secure the possessions of his wife, Jacqueline of Hainault, which lands her former husband, the Duke of Brabant, and Philip of Burgundy were unwilling to allow her to have. He, however, returned for the opening of Parliament in April 1425, and was severely reprimanded by the Council for his selfish and heedless imperilling of the Burgundian alliance so important to England. In this irritated state of feeling " a grudge began to kindle 1" between Gloucester the Protector and his uncle Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester — the Chancellor — who had probably not lost the opportunity of emphasizing the reproof of the Council. The real cause of the quarrel seems to have been sheer jealousy of power; both were haughty men, unaccustomed to yield ; the immediate grounds were a dispute about Gloucester's right to lodge in the Tower, and the designs of both for gaining control of the infant King. They were not long in coming to blows. On 29 October, when the newly elected Mayor of London was holding his great dinner, he was peremptorily sum- moned from the table by Gloucester and given orders to keep strict watch in the city that night. Matters ^ Fabyan's Chronicle, p. 595. 1425] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 43 came to a head early on the morrow, but it is not quite clear which side was guilty of aggression. Some accuse Gloucester of wishing to attack the Bishop of Winchester's palace in Southwark,i but Fabyan, who — being an alderman — was always well informed regarding London affairs, states that about nine in the morning the Bishop's men tried to enter the city by the bridge gate and were kept out by force. ^ The result threatened to be serious. The Bishop's men, much incensed, collected archers and men-at-arms and assaulted the gate. The men of London, hearing the noise, shut up their shops and " sped them thither in great number." Such was the excitement that the Mayor, with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Portuguese Duke of Coimbra,^ had to ride between the combatants eight times before they were able to " bring them to any reasonable conformity." * After this encounter Winchester hastened to write to the Duke of Bedford bitterly complaining of Gloucester's conduct, and such was the state of affairs that Bedford' was obliged to come over to England to make peace and avert the threatened civil war. Bedford, who became Protector directly he set foot upon English soU — Gloucester only holding that office during his absence — arrived in London on 10 January, 1426. He seems, however, to have come to England at the ^ English Chronicle (ed. J. S. Da vies), pp. 53-4. ^ Fabyan's Chronicle, p. 595. 3 Coimbra was cousin to the King, for he was second son of John I of Portugal, and Philippa, eldest daughter of John of Gaunt. * Fabyan's Chronicle, p. 596. 44 HENRY VI [1426 end of December, for during the Christmas kept by the royal household at Eltham in 1425 it is stated that he gave the King a ruby set in a gold ring.^ Upon his appearance in London the Mayor took the opportunity of presenting him with a pair of silver gilt bowls containing a thousand gold marks, but Winchester had so poisoned Bedford's mind against the City of London (as supporters of Gloucester) that he gave the Mayor scant thanks. On 21 February a Council was summoned at St. Albans, but was later adjourned to Northampton. It was decided to call a Parliament at Leicester, but the precaution was taken of forbidding weapons to be worn in the streets. The people, however, took bats and staves, and even " stones and plummettes of lede and trussed them secretly in theyre slevys and bosomys," ^ and hence the assembly earned the name of the " Parliament of Bats." Gloucester at first actually refused to attend the Council if Winchester were present, but after he had been remonstrated with by the Archbishop and various other lords he con- sented to go. The quarrel was dealt with in the House of Lords, Gloucester formally bringing six articles of accusation against Winchester. He accused the Bishop of keeping him from his lodging in the Tower, of wishing to remove the young King from Eltham in order to get him under his own control, of preparing to assault Gloucester (in Southwark) as he was riding ^ Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council (Rolla Ser.), iii. 285. 2 Fabyan's Chronicle, p. 696. 1426] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 45 to Eltham to prevent this, and of wrongfully accusing him to Bedford. He also lodged a strange accusation of treasonable attempts against Henry IV. Winchester, however, was able to return fairly satisfactory answers to all these charges. ^ The Lords awarded merely that he should declare his loyalty to all three Henries, disclaim any design against Gloucester's person, honour or estate, and clasp his hand " with friendly and loving words." The two lords were thus by Bedford's efforts outwardly reconciled and shook hands, " but yit," says a chronicler, " ther was prive wrath betuene thaym long tyme after." ^ A quarrel had also arisen in Ireland between Talbot, who had been discharging the office of Lieutenant there since the death of the Earl of March, and the local magnate, James, Earl of Ormond, whom he accused of sedition. This difference also Bedford succeeded in adjusting to their satisfaction. Talbot's rule, however, was far from popular in Ireland; he is impolitely referred to as "a son of curses for his venom, and a devil for his evils." ^ The infrequent presence of Bedford in England was taken advantage of for another purpose. On Whit- Sunday, 19 May, the little King — now in his fifth year — was solemnly knighted at Leicester by his good uncle John, and himself knighted a number of his ^ They are given at length in Chronicles of London (ed. C. L. Kingsford), pp. 76-94. 2 English Chronicle (ed. J. S. Davies), p. 54. 2 Wright, History of Ireland, i. 236. 46 HENRY VI [1426-7 young nobility, including Richard of York, who was then nearly fifteen. Winchester, who after the settlement of his quarrel with Gloucester had at Bedford's desire resigned the Chancellorship in order to lessen the likelihood of future collisions, was now allowed to console himself by accepting a cardinal's hat. In March 1427 he returned with Bedford to Calais, and was there invested by the Duke with his new dignity. His acceptance of it hardly tended to strengthen his position in England, for the English people always disliked anything tending towards an undue amount of papal control. Gloucester seized the opportunity to question the Cardinal's right to sit on the Council and continue to hold the Bishopric of Winchester on the grounds of his being a vassal of the Pope, but the attack was quashed. The new Cardinal threw his energies into the movement for the suppression of the Hussites, and remained abroad until September 1428. On 30 December, 1426, the old Duke of Exeter — the King's great-uncle and guardian — died. He can hardly have had much influence upon the little King, and the fact that a new guardian was not appointed until June 1428 shows that the office was not as yet of great importance. In the meantime, Henry presum- ably remained in the care of his mother, Queen Kather- ine. The year 1427 seems to have passed uneventfully for him, except as regards the weather, for it was " unresonable of the wederyng " ^ and rained almost ^ Fabyan's Chronicle, p. 598. 1428] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 47 continually from Easter to Michaelmas. On New Year's Day 1428 it is recorded that he presented his mother with the ruby ring given him by Bedford at Christmas 1425. It looks as though the little King was even then feeling the pinch of poverty. He spent the Easter of that year at Hertford with his mother, and afterwards visited St. Albans. In May, the Privy Council ordained that Henry should inhabit his castles of Wallingford and Hertford in summer and those of Windsor and Berkhampstead in winter, but this rule does not seem to have been adhered to with any strictness. This summer, however, was to see a momentous change in Henry's life. Richard Beauchamp, the last of the Beauchamps, Earls of Warwick, was now recalled from France, and on 1 June, 1428 was appointed the King's guardian and tutor. The Earl was exhorted by the Privy Council " to remain about the King's person, to do his utmost in teaching him good manners, literature, languages, nurture and courtesy and other studies necessary for so great a Prince ; to exhort him to love, honour and fear the Creator, and to draw himself to virtues and eschew vice ; to chastise him reasonably from time to time as occasion shall require." Also to lay before him " mirrours and examples of tymes passed of the good grace and ure prosperite and wele that have fallen to vertuous Kyngs." ^ Poor Henry, who grew up to be the most virtuous and most unfortunate of "^ Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council, iii. Chron. Cat. xl., and pp. 296, 299. 48 HENRY VI [1428 kings! It is very doubtful whether Warwick was such an excellent tutor to Henry as has generally been supposed. " Therle Richard," says Hardjmg, " in mykell worthyhead enfourmed hym," and he was indeed much esteemed and honoured as the " father of courtesy," but his methods, though con- scientious, were probably too robust for a gentle and sensitive child such as Henry. His rule extended over nine years of the most impressionable time of Henry's life, from his seventh to his sixteenth year. That he was in the habit of chastising his pupil we know, for at the age of ten or eleven the young King began to rebel against it and had to be dealt with on the subject by the Council, as will presently appear. It is, of course, possible that Henry was a troublesome and perverse child, but judging from his extreme meekness in after life it hardly seems probable. If it were so, to Warwick belongs the very doubtful credit of having chastised nearly aU the spirit out of him. French writers abhor the Earl as the ruthless jailer of Jeanne d'Arc, and even allowing for their prejudice, and for the fact that he believed himself to be dealing with a dangerous heretic and possible sorceress, it must be admitted that he behaved to her with great cruelty, since he must have been responsible for the circumstances of her imprisonment. Moreover, it was he who inculcated in his docile pupil those ferocious sentiments towards Jeanne which could only have been instilled into his mind by a pitiless fanatic. One cannot but believe that it was Warwick himself, and 1428] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 49 not the boy Henry, only in his tenth year, who was so anxious that Jeanne should not be allowed to die a natural death and thus escape death by fire.^ One benefit, however, Warwick's tutorship did bring to Henry ; the Earl had a son, also named Henry, about two years younger than the King, and these boys were brought up together and became boon com- panions. Their friendship continued after the death of the old Earl, and was only terminated by the death of young Warwick at the age of twenty-two. Thus Henry lost his only recorded friend just about the time of his own marriage. The young King had bestowed many honours upon him, and among other things had created him Duke of Warwick. In the mean time Gloucester, although his quarrels with Cardinal Beaufort were for the time in abeyance, lost no time in committing other indiscretions. In 1427 he prepared to make a last attempt to regain his wife's lands in Holland, and won over the Earl of Salisbury to support him ; but his project was promptly suppressed by Bedford, and he was finally induced to accept the mediation of Bedford and Cardinal Beaufort. When Parliament opened in the autumn he occupied himself in quarrelling with the House of Lords on questions of authority, while at the same time he was gravely scandalizing the Commons by openly living with Eleanor Cobham, his wife's chief woman-in- waiting, whom he had brought back with him from Flanders. In 1428 a deputation of women from the ^ See following chapter. 50 HENRY VI [1428-9 Stocks market and elsewhere presented a petition in Parliament against Gloucester's evil life. It is notice- able that these women, being " respectably apparelled," were apparently allowed to enter the House in person to deliver their petition.^ Gloucester subsequently prevailed upon the Pope to annul his former marriage with Jacqueline, and then wedded Eleanor Cobham. This affair probably did not tend to increase his popularity with the young King, who, when he grew up, permitted himself to be easily scandalized. In September 1428 Cardinal Beaufort returned to England, but he was not greeted with enthusiasm, either through fear of papal encroachment or because Gloucester had been undermining his position. He was met only by the Bishop of Salisbury, with the Abbots of St. Albans and Waltham. The Cardinal made an attempt to raise funds in England for the Bohemian War, but met with no success. He raised a force of men, but in the following year was prevailed upon to lend them to Bedford for service in France. In the autumn of 1429, at a meeting of the Council, the Archbishop of York announced that it was the wish of Bedford that Henry should be crowned in France as soon as possible. Bedford, indeed, was at his wits' end, for in July Charles had been crowned at Rheims, and all France seemed ready to rise at the bidding of Jeanne ; but the Duke still hoped that an impressive coronation in Paris might tend to ^ Annates Monast. St. Alhani, auctore ignoto (Rolls Sor.), V. i. 20. 1429] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 51 arouse loyalty to the English. Before this could be done, however, it was necessary that Henry should be crowned in England. Parliament was therefore summoned, and decided that the liing should be crowned in London without delay. The date fixed upon was 6 November, St. Leonard's Day. The streets of London were adorned with much pageantry, but, as Michelet remarks, the spectacles were all moral : there were fountains representative of Gener- osity, Grace and Mercy, but they did not flow ; one received a cup of wine on discreet demand. ^ The day wa"s fine and there were huge crowds, so that a priest, a woman and several other persons were crushed to death. Several cut-purses were taken and their ears cropped ; ^ and that nothing should be wanting to the festivities, remarks Michelet with sarcasm, a heretic was burnt at Smithfield. The ceremony at Westminster was very gorgeous. Warwick brought the little King to the abbey, dressed in " a clothe of scharlet furryd," and he was led up on to a high platform erected between the high altar and the choir, " and there the kyng was sette in hys sete in the myddys of the schaffold there, beholdynge the pepylle alle aboute saddely and wysely." ^ After the Archbishop had made his proclamation, the little King went up to the altar, and " humely layde hym downe prostrate, hys hedde to the auter warde, longe ^ Michelet, Histoire de France, vi. 313. ^ Annates Monast. St. Albani, auctore ignoto (Rolls Ser.), V. i. 44. ^ Historical Collection of a Citizen of London (ed. Gairdner), p. 165. 52 HENRY VI [1429 tyme lyyng sty lie," while the prelates " radde exer- cysyons " over him and sang anthems, after which the Archbishops " wente to hym and strypte hym owte of hys clothys in to hys schyrte." Many times during the ceremony was the poor boy " dyspoyled of hys gere " and clothed again in various robes.^ At last the great crown of St. Edward was set upon his head, and he returned to his seat, with " ij byschoppys stondyng on every syde of hym, helpyng hym to bere the crowne, for hyt was ovyr hevy for hym, for he was of a tendyr age." Mass then followed, Henry " knel- ynge with humylyte and grete devocyon " ; at the conclusion of which he was escorted with a great and stately procession to Westminster Hall. The King walked between the Bishops of Durham and Bath, " and my goode Lorde of Warwyke bare uppe his trayne," ^ There followed a great banquet in Westminster Hall, at which the King was served with three courses. Judging from the menu, as given by Fabyan, a course was as good as a meal. First Course — Frument ^ wyth venyson. Viand royall * planted losynges of golde and enarmed. Boar heads in caskes of gold and enarmed, ^ Historical Collection of a Citizen of London, 166 et seq. 2 Ibid., 167-8. 3 Frument was made of wheat and sugar boiled in milk, * A compound made of wine, eggs, ground-rice, honey, spices, and some kind of fruit, such as quinces or mulberries, and ornamented on the top. . -=t 1 ■ i:.^:vJ;.u^ i!;, . ■_.-^^ki s ' ' ' ^ ., ' ■^' ! .i-' '■■'A I^Ia^iJ- I .- : . fik ^* 1, tfi- '■-'■ i 1 I i HOW Ki\(, Hl-;^■|;^■ \i. was ck(j\\nl;ii king ui' kngl.wp AT WESTMINSTER Warwick Pageant. Brit. Mus., Cottonian M.S., Julius E. I\' 1429] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 53 Befe wyth motten boylyd. Capon stewyd. Sygnet rested. Heyron rested. Great pyke or luce. A rede leche ^ wyth lyons corujoi ^ therein. Custarde royall wyth a lyoparde of golde syttyng therein and holdyng a floure de lyce. Frytour ^ of sunne facyon with a floure de lyce therein. A sotyltye * of Saynt Edwarde and Saynt Louys arniyd and uppon eyther hys cote armoure, holdyng betwene them a fygure lyke unto Kyng Henry standynge also in hys cote armoure, and a scryp- ture passyng from theym both, sayeng beholde ii parfight kynges under one cote armour. And under the fete of the sayde sayntes was wryten thys balade — " Holy Sayntes, Edwarde and Saint Lowice Conserve tliis braunche borne of your blessed blode, Lyve amonge cristen moste soveraygne of price, Enheritour of the flourdelice so gode : This sixt Henry to reygne and to be wyse God graunt he may to be your mode, And that he may resemble your knighthode and vertue Pray ye hertely unto our lord Jesu." Second course — Viand blank ^ barred wyth golde. Gely * partey wryten and noted with Te Deum laudamus. Pygge endored.'' ^ A leche (properly a slice) seems to have been a kind of mould composed of eggs, raisins and dates, spices, and sometimes meat. It was cut into slices and coloured with saffron and other spices now unknown. According to others it was made of cream, isinglass, sugar and almonds. ^ Crowned. 3 A sort of fritter or pancake. * A device of sugar and paste, with wliich it was customary to close each course. 5 White. ^ Jelly. Seems to have usually been a sort of aspic of meat or game. ' Glazed. 54 HENRY VI [1429 Crane rested. Byttore.^ Conyes.2 Chekyns. Partryche. Peacock enhakyll.^ Great Breme. A white leclie planted wyth a rede antelop wyth a crowne aboute hys necke wyth a chayne of golde. Flampagne ^ powdered wyth leopardes and floure de lyce of golde. A Frytoure gamysshed wyth a leopardes hede and ii estrych fedars. A sotyltye, an emperour and a kjnige arayed in mantelles of garters which fygured Sigismunde ye emperour and Henry the V. And a fygure lyke unto Kyng Henry ye VI. knelyng to fore them wyth this balade takkyd by hym — " Agayne miscreauntes the emperour Sigismunde Hath shewed his myght, which is imperiall. And Henry the V. a noble knyght was founde For Christes cause in actes marciall ; Cherysshed the churche, to lollers gave a fall, Gyvyng example to kynges that succede, And to theyr braunche here in especiall, Whyle he doth reygne to love God and drede." Third course — Quinces in compost.^ Blaund-sure '^ powderyd wyth quarter foyles gylt. Venyson. Egrettes, Curlew. 1 Bittern. 2 Rabbits. ^ " Dressed," i. e. presumably with the feathers on. * Perhaps the same as flampoyntes, a dish of " interlarded " pork, grated cheese, sugar, etc. ^ Compost was made of herbs, raisins, spices, wine, honey and other things boiled together. ^ A sort of spiced pudding boiled with a little fat cheese. 1429] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 55 Cok and partryche. Plover. Quayles. Snytes.^ Great byrdes. Larkys. Carpe. Crabbe. Leclie of iii colours. A bake meate lyke shylde quartered red and whyte, set wyth losynges gylt and floures of borage. A Frytoure cryspyd. A sotyltye of oure Lady syttynge wyth her chylde in her lappe, and she holding a crowne in her hande. Saint George and Saynt Denys knelynge on eyther syde presented to her Kynge Henryes Fygure beryng in hande thys balade — " blessed lady Christes mother dere, And thou Saynt George that called art her knight, Holy Saint Denys O marter nioste entere The sixt Henry here present in your syght, Shedeth of your grace on hym your hevenly lighte, His tender youth with vertue doth avaunce Borne by discent and by title of right Justly to reygne in Englande and in Fraunce." ^ From which elaborate menu it may be perceived that though we may have advanced in the arts of poetry and spelhng, we must yield to our ancestors of the fifteenth century the palm in the gentle art of devising confectionery. The King being crowned, it was now decided by Parliament that the Protectorship should — nominally at least, cease, although Henry was barely eight years old. Gloucester therefore resigned the office, 1 Snipe. 2 Fabyan's Chronicle, pp. 599-601. 56 HENRY VI [1429-31 but without prejudice to the claim of Bedford, and only kept the title of Chief Counsellor. The way being thus prepared by the Enghsh corona- tion for the desired ceremony in Paris, in December 1429 letters were addressed in Henry's name to the towns of France stating that " in compassion for their miserable condition he had lately resolved to proceed to France in person, immediately after his coronation, with so powerful an army that he trusted before his return to enable his good people of France to live in peace and tranquillity " ^ — a hope which was very far from being fulfilled. In April 1430 Henry was taken over to Calais with reinforcements, accompanied by the Dukes of York and Norfolk, three bishops, eight earls and eleven barons. Such was the troubled state of the country — for the French were almost on the borders of Picardy and had lately advanced to Chateau Gaillard — that the young King was kept at Calais for three months before it was considered safe for him to advance. By July, however, the English had recovered twelve towns on the north of Paris, and what was of still greater importance, Jeanne d'Arc had been captured at Compiegne by the Bur- gundians. Henry was therefore able to enter Rouen on 29 July, where he remained for nearly eighteen months, and finally entered Paris in December 1431. He was crowned there on 16 December, but was hurried away at the end of the month. The King ^ Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. Privy Council (Rolls Ser.), iv. Chron. Cat. iii. it- W.w- ttl >. .i l^-Vv K-.rt (i«i..T \tnv «/f<>' u^\.ir;., ^^..,..«.- *..i .KCji ttV /~"^ ** V v.x'7 ./h .... ^;-'i nr.AVi ... .1 . /..vv :\lf^- i ill V ■^■. V i.) fL. -4 HOW KI.XG HENRY WAS CROWNED KING OF FRANCE AT ST. DENIS, BESIDE PARIS Warwick Pageant. Brit. Mus., Cottonian M.S., Julius E. IV 1432] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 57 landed at Dover on 9 February, 1432, after having been absent from England for almost two years. The gentlemen and commoners of Kent, all arrayed in red hoods, met him on Barham Downs, between Dover and Canterbury, and escorted him with honour, and without undue haste to Blackheath.^ There Henry was received, on 20 February, by the citizens of London, who presented him with an address, after which he rode on to Deptford, where he was met by a procession of ecclesiastics. Taking the route thence through Southwark to the City, the royal cavalcade passed on to St. Paul's through streets adorned with many pageants, and after a service of thanksgiving in the cathedral the King was suffered to proceed to his palace of Westminster.^ Not content with this formal welcome, on 22 February the citizens of London further displayed their loyalty by sending a deputation to present Henry with the sum of £1000 enclosed in a gold casket, accompanied by the following pleasant address : " Most cristen prince, the good folk of youre notable Cite of London, otherwise cleped your Chambre, besechen in her most lowely wise that they nowe be recomanded un to yor hynesse, ant th* can like youre noble grace to resceyve this litell yefte, yoven with as good will and lovjmig hertes as any yefte was yoven to eny erthly prince." ^ During the King's absence the country had not ^ Fabyan's Chronicle, pp. 603-7. * Sharpe, London and the Kingdom, i. 276. ' Ibid., 277. :68 HENRY VI [1431 been without disturbance. Shortly before Whitsuntide 1431, a rather obscure but interesting rising was attempted in Oxfordshire. The leader of the move- ment was a Lollard calling himself John or Jack Sharp of Wigmoreland, but even contemporary writers seem not to have known whether his real name was William Perkyns or William Mandeville.^ Fabyan says that he was a weaver and a bailiff of Abingdon.^ Urged by the distressed state of the common people, and inflamed by the injustice of their wretched con- dition contrasted with the immense wealth held by the prelates of the Church, he revived the Lollard petition of 1410, which had then been considered by Parliament and rejected. This document contains a strange and interesting scheme for the relief of the poor. The temporahties of the Bishops, Abbots and Priors were to be confiscated. Each of the larger Bishoprics, with its dependent Abbeys and Priories, was assessed at 20,000 marks, and the smaller at 10,000 or 12,000 each ; the total being estimated at 332,000 marks. The " spiritualities " of the prelates were of course left to them. These funds, suggested the petition, should be used to create fifteen earldoms, fifteen hundred knights, six thousand two hundred esquires, and a hundred " houses of almes." The persons thus exalted were to use their wealth in employing agricul- tural labour. Each earl was to expend a thousand marks ^ Riley, Ann. J oh. Amundesham (Rolls Ser.), i. 63; Chron. Ang. de regnis trium regum Lane. (ed. J. A, Giles), iv. 13. 2 Fabyan's Chronicle, p. 602. 1431] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 59 yearly and cultivate four" ploughlands " ^ in his domains. The knights (whom Jack Sharp forgets to mention) were doubtless to do likewise in proportion ; the esquires were each to expend £20 yearly, cultivating two ploughlands within their domains. Each " house of almes " was to distribute a hundred marks yearly. It was also petitioned that each town should be re- quired to " kepe hys owne beggars " that were unable to work for their meat, as had been provided by the Statute of Cambridge, and that if they were unable to support them all the houses of alms were to help them. It was calculated that when all this was done there would still be £20,000 left for the King. It was added that £110,000 more might with advantage be taken, now " wasted among worldly clerkys and religyous," which would make a thousand more knights and a thousand good priests and clerks " to preche the wurd of Godde wyth oute flateryng or beggyng or worldly mede to seke therfore." It was bitterly complained that the worldly religious did no work and took away the profit that should come to " true men." The plundered prelates were not to be left without means of support, for it was estimated; that £143,724 IO5. 4|(Z. would still be left to them. 2 This petition was addressed by John Sharp to the Duke of Gloucester and the Parliament, " besechyn mekely alle the comuns to ben herd of hem." ^ The ploughland was anciently assumed to be about 120 acres. 2 Riley, Ann. J oh. Amundesham (Rolls Ser.), i. 453. 60 HENRY VI [1431 The striking feature of the scheme is the wholesale artificial creation of employers of labour. Evidently there was no deep-seated ill-feeling between the labourers and their masters, in spite of the friction between them that had arisen owing to the agricultural conditions after the Black Death. ^ The people as a whole (if the petition represents them) must have approved of the aristocracy and have felt some trust in them, while their hatred was directed towards the luxurious and worldly clergy. Their wish, however, was merely to remove from them their enormous and superfluous wealth and direct it to better uses ; they do not show the least symptom of wishing to abolish any rank of the clergy or to interfere with their spiritual functions so long as they were worthily carried out. It was evidently an attempt to remedy the unhappy condition of those who had become dislodged from their agricultural pursuits by the increase of enclosure for pasturage, and to whom the towns with their Craft Gilds had turned a cold shoulder. Hence the desire to revive the cultivation of manorial lands. Jack Sharp began his movement by distributing " bills " on the subject of his petition in London, Coventry, Oxford and other towns,^ and he thus gathered a band of followers at Abingdon. The clergy were infuriated at this attack on their worldly goods, and did not hesitate to ascribe to its leader ^ See above, pp. 16 to 18. 2 Riley, Ann. J oh. Amundesham (Rolls Ser. ), i. 63. 1431] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 61 the desire to overthrow the Church. The chroniclers, mostly monks, denounce him as a heretic and an " iniquitous pest," and say that he expressed a desire that priests' heads should be as cheap as sheep's heads.i Yet another says that his object was to " have destroid the chirche and the lordis spirituel and tem- porel," 2 which, unless Sharp in an excess of Lollardism had gone far beyond his own petition, was a gross exaggeration. We are not told that he did anything more than assemble a company of Lollards at Abingdon, but Gloucester, who was Lieutenant of the kingdom during Henry's absence, determined to put down the movement with a strong hand. Leaving Greenwich he rode to Abingdon to destroy this " assembly of heretics," which quickly dispersed before him. Jack Sharp, alias William Perkyns, fled to Oxford, but his whereabouts being discovered by one William War- belton with the help of friends, information was given to the Chancellor of Oxford and the bailiffs of the town, and the offender was taken on the evening of the Thursday before Whit-Sunday 1431.^ On Tuesday in Whitweek he was hanged, drawn and quartered and his head placed on London Bridge. Thus the unfortunate Jack Sharp was done to death in 1431 for venturing to bring forward a petition for the presentation of which in 1410 no one had suffered. The names of only two of his followers are known: ^ Chronicles of London (ed. C. L. Kingsford), 97. 2 Eing. Chronicle (ed. J. S. Da vies), 54. 3 Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council, iv, 107. 62 HENRY VI [1431 John Keterige, who was taken at SaHsbury, and gave information against John Longe, of Abingdon/ as supplying him with " bills." They were both hanged, and their fate was shared by seven others who were taken at Oxford with Jack Sharp. John Hals, Justice of the King's Bench, was responsible for the execution of various others in Coventry and the neighbourhood. In November, the Council made a large grant to the zealous Gloucester " in consideration of his great charge and labour in keeping the realm against the malice of the King's rebels, traitors and enemies, and especially in the capture and execution of that horrible heretic and iniquitous traitor who called himself John Sharp," in order that the Duke might the better " maintain his estate and retinue for the defence of the church, the Catholic faith and the King's true subjects." 2 Owing to his office of Lieutenant of the realm, and also to the opportune absence of Cardinal Beaufort, Gloucester was able to make the most of these oppor- tunities for the strengthening of his position; and when the young King returned he contrived to effect sweeping changes in the ministry, which made him still more secure. It seems likely that, during the year that followed, he made efforts to gain personal influence over Henry, and succeeded in so far that the young King actually ventured to show signs of something like rebellion against Warwick's stern rule. ^ Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council, iv. 99. 2 Ibid., iv., xvii and 104; Cal Pat., 1429-36, 185. 1432J YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 63 The Earl became aware that some one had been poisoning the King's mind against him, for the boy was no longer so docile and studious as he had formerly been. Warwick perceived that this tendency must be corrected at once if his office of tutor were to be properly fulfilled; accordingly, on 29 November, 1432, he laid the case before the Council in much detail, 1 " For the goode reule, demeenyng and seuretee of the Kynges persone," he began, " and draght of hym to vertue and conyng, and eschewyng of eny thyng that myght yeue (give) empechement or let therto or cause eny charge, defaulte or blame to be leyde upon the Erie of Warrewyk atte eny tyme withouten his desert, he consideryng that perill and besynesse of his charge aboute the Kynges persone groweth so that auctoritee and power yeven to hym before suffiseth hym nought withouten more therto, desireth therfore thees thyngges that folowen." In the first place he desired power to appoint and dismiss the officials about the King's person, to which the Council agreed, with the reservation that the four knights or squires of the body should be appointed with the consent of Bedford or Gloucester. Secondly, he asked power to remove " eny persone in his discrecion suspect of mysgovernance and not behoveful nor expedient to be about the Kyng " ; and also that he might be freely discharged of his ' ' occupa- tion and besynesse " about the King's person " for ^ Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council, iv. 132 et seq. 64 HENRY VI [1432 sekeness and other causes necessarie and resonable." To both of these the Council agreed. The fourth article is particularly interesting. War- wick asks " that consideryng ho we, blessid be God, the Kyng is growen in years (he was nearly eleven), in stature of his persone and also in conceyte and knoweleche of his hiegh and royale auctoritee and estate, the whiche naturelly causen hym, and frome day to day as he groweth shul causen hym more and more to grucche with chastysing and to lothe it, so that it may resonably be doubted leste he wol conceyve ayenst the saide Erie, or eny other that wol take upon hym to chastyce hym for his defaultes, disples[ure] or indignacion therfor, the whiche withouten due assistence is not esy to be born ; [may] it lyke therfore to my Lorde of Gloucester and to alle the lordes of the Kynges Counseil to promitte to the saide Erie and assure hym thei shal fermely and trewly assisten hym in the exercise of the charge and occupacion that he hath aboute the Kynges persone, namely in chas- tysing of hym for his defaultes, and supporte the said Erie therynne; and yf the Kyng at eny tyme wol conceyve for that cause indignacion ayenst the said Erie, my saide Lorde of Gloucester and lordes shal doo alle her trewe diligence and power to remoeve the Kyng therfro." The Council agreed, but still Warwick was not quite satisfied, and returns to the subject in the seventh article : " To thentent that it may be knowen to the Kjnig that it procedith of thassent, advis and agreement of my Lorde of Glou- 1432] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 65 cestre and all my lords of the Kynges Counseil that the Kyng be chastysed for his defaultes or trespas, and that for awe therof he forebere the more to doo mys and entende the more besily to vertue and to lernyng, the said Erie desireth that my Lorde of Gloucestre and my saide other lordes of the Counseil, or grete part of them . . . come to the Kynges pres- ence and there make to be declared to hym theire agreement in that behalve." The Council, thus pressed, agreed to deal with Henry on the subject when he next came to London, Furthermore Warwick, who certainly did not lack thoroughness in his methods, obtained power to remove the King " into what place hym thjoiketh necessarie for helth of his body and seuretee of his persone," and even requested that no one should be allowed to have an interview with Henry unless he, or some one appointed by him, were present; this because he declared that the King had been " sturred by some frome his lernyng and spoken to of divers matiers not behovefuU." The Council allowed this except in the case of " suche persones as for neghnesse of blode and for theire estate owe of reson to be suffred to speke with the Kyng." Lastly, Warwick requested that he should be told if there were ever any causes of complaint against him, " that he may answere therto and not dwelle in hevy or sinistre conceyte or opinion withouten his desert and withouten answere." It is not recorded that the poor little Henry ever 66 HENRY VI [1432-3 again ventured to be rebellious ; such a system might well have succeeded in crushing a stronger spirit than his, and it is hardly to be wondered at that he grew up more fitted for a monastery than for the throne of a turbulent country. So thoroughly was the pursuit of learning and virtue instilled into him that in after life, according to^his chroniclers, he was always only too ready to forsake either state affairs or " frivoling " for reading, writing, or prayers. When Parliament met in 1432 Cardinal Beaufort returned to England and had a brief sldrmish with Gloucester on the old subject of praemunire,^ in which he came o£E victorious, and also succeeded in regaining payment for some jewels of his which Gloucester had appropriated. He was, however, soon recalled to the Continent to sit on the Council of Basle. In 1433 Bedford himself came over from France and attended Parliament in July. After publicly thanking him for his services in France, the Commons presented a petition that he should abandon the war and remain in England for the good government of the country. Bedford, who could not fail to see the wisdom of this course, was quite willing to agree and to accept a Regency ; negotiations for peace were actually opened and ambassadors came over from France. These reported to their countrymen that ^ A " praemunire '* was the offence of " paying that obedience to a papal process which constitutionally belonged to the Sovereign alone." 1433-5] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 67 Henry was " a very beautiful child and well grown." ^ But Gloucester unfortunately did not share the views of the party in favour of peace. He does not seem to have felt anything but affection for the person of Bedford, but since he hked to be at the head of affairs he preferred to have his good brother out of England. But besides this, his haughty nature felt it unbecoming to the national pride to make peace with France and thus acknowledge defeat. It was easy enough for him to work up the feehngs of a large section of Parliament in this way, and his mihtant policy, unfortunately for his country, was quite successful. The proposals for peace were abandoned, Gloucester's proposition for the renewal of the war was carried in Parliament, and Bedford returned to his hopeless task in France. He never saw England again, for in the following year, worn out by his ceaseless labours, he died at Rouen on 15 September, 1435. By his death England lost her only able administrator, and the only man who could have hoped to quiet the factions that were so soon to play havoc in England. Gloucester and the other self-seeking statesmen who from time to time found themselves in power were left without a check, while the former now occupied the position of heir presumptive to his nephew the King. The year 1435 again saw proposals for peace, but Gloucester's influence was unimpaired and they were again rejected. ^ Stevenson, Letters and Papers of Reign of Hen. VI, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 225. 68 HENRY VI [1437 Early in 1437 the King lost his mother, Queen Katherine. She, however, seems to have had little or nothing to do with him since about the time of Warwick's appointment as tutor. This was not owing to any action on the part of the Earl, but because she had then felt at liberty to retire into private life, and without the knowledge of the Court had been married to Owen Tudor. The exact date of the marriage is unknown, but since her first child was born about 1430, it probably took place in 1428 or 1429. Owen Tudor, said to have been descended from a Prince of North Wales, was a Welsh squire who had held the office of Clerk of the Wardrobe to the Queen, and had thus had ample opportunity of com- mending himself to her. Tradition relates that on an occasion when he was dancing before the Queen at Windsor he stumbled and fell into Katherine's lap, an accident which she is said to have taken in no ill part. They lived in such retirement that, extraordinary as it may seem, three sons were born to them without any news of it reaching the Court. These sons were Edmund, afterwards Earl of Rich- mond, who became the father of Henry VII ; Jasper, afterwards Earl of Pembroke, and Owen, who became a monk. However, upon the birth of her fourth child, Margaret, in 1436, the situation became known, and the wrath of Gloucester descended upon her. Poor Katherine, who was very ill, took refuge at Bermondsey Abbey, but her children were taken from her and given to the sister of the Earl of Suffolk to bring up. 1437] YOUTH AND TUTELAGE 69 This blow probably hastened her end, for she died at Bermondsey on 3 January, 1437. Her husband, Owen Tudor, was imprisoned in Newgate for daring to marry a royal princess, but he was afterwards released and allowed to retire to Wales. The same year died the King's grandmother, Joan of Navarre, Queen of Henry IV ; she had long lived in retirement at King's Langley in Hertfordshire. She died at Havering-at-Bower in Essex, and was buried at Canterbury. "Also," a solemn chronicler relates — inserting the event between the deaths of the two Queens — " this year all the lions in the Tower died in one night." ^ At this juncture the King, being almost sixteen years old, was declared to be of age and no longer to require the services of a tutor. Two different reasons are given for Warwick's departure : in the words of one chronicler — " Therle Richard of Warwike then conceyved Of the symplesse and great innocense Of Kyug Henry, as he it well perceyved, Desired to be discharged of his diligence About the kyng ; and by his sapience Was sent to Fraunce and so was regent, And kepte it well in all establishment." ^ The other, and far more probable one, was that the state of affairs in France called for the presence of an old and experienced leader. The Regency was now done away with, and thus the King's minority came to an end. ^ Chron. Ang. de regnis trium regum Lane. (ed. J. A. Giles), pt. iv. 17. 2 Hardyng's Chronicle, 396. CHAPTER III 1423-1435 : the work of Bedford in France The condition of affairs in France in the year 1422 has already been examined in a previous chapter. At this time the Une of English garrisons stretched along the north coast of France from Abbeville in the east, close to the mouth of the Somme, to the confines of Brittany in the west, while inland they extended south to Paris. Bedford prepared to move early in 1423, He was possessed of an army seasoned by seven years of victory, and this, combined with his capable generalship and wise administration, enabled him to push forward gradually the English arms for another seven years. In the first place, however, it was necessary to consolidate his position and secure friendly relations with his neighbours. Accordingly on 17 April, 1423 he concluded a triple defensive alliance at Amiens between England and the Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, by which the two latter recognized the sovereignty of Henry VI in France. The alliance was further cemented by two marriages : Bedford himself married Anne, sister of Philip, Duke of Bur- gundy, and Arthur, Comte de Richemont, brother of the Duke of Brittany, married Margaret, Burgundy's second sister. The loyalty of Brittany to England 70 1423] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 71 was, however, of short duration. Bedford's wife received Artois in dower from her brother, a province which formed a substantial safeguard on England's eastern frontier. Bedford's marriage with Anne, who seems to have made him an excellent wife, was moreover very popular in Paris, while Burgundy remained loyal to England as long as his sister lived. The prudent Bedford had thus been mindful of Henry the Fifth's dying injunctions ; he did not personally care for the Duke of Burgundy, whom he considered frivolous, but maintained very friendly relations with him for poUtical reasons, and was himself really popular with the Burgundians. His brother Gloucester, on the other hand, came within an ace of breaking up the alhance by his reckless behaviour. The Duke of Burgundy, who numbered Flanders among his dominions, had long coveted the neighbour- ing states of Hainault and Holland, persuading himself that his position was not safe without the control of them. Accordingly Jean sans Peur, father of Duke Philip, had manipulated a marriage between his niece Jacquehne, the young and lively heiress of these desir- able lands, and his cousin the Duke of Brabant, a sickly and dissipated young man whom he considered was very urdikely to have heirs. By this arrangement he hoped that the succession would naturally fall into his hands. Jacqueline, however, was a lady of spirit and was not so easily disposed of. Finding that she detested her husband, she left him after three years and fled to England in 1421, where she promptly 72 HENRY VI [1423 fell in love with the handsome and accomplished Humphrey of Gloucester. Gloucester, being much attracted by the idea of gaining possession of Hainault and Holland, which could not fail to be a most valuable acquisition to English trade, was far from discouraging Jacqueline's advances, and her divorce from the Duke of Brabant was sued for. An obstacle was thrown in the way of the lovers' plans by the not unnatural refusal of Pope Martin V to consent to this convenient arrangement, and considerable delay ensued. There remained, however, the Antipope Benedict XIII, who since his deposition by the Council of Constance had been living in obscurity at Peniscola in Spain. Bene- dict, charmed to find that his authority was recog- nized by any one, and always ready to contradict his rival, granted the required divorce without hesitation. Gloucester and Jacqueline were accordingly married in 1423, a proceeding which " astonished many persons " ^ and caused great scandal. When Gloucester claimed Holland and Hainault in right of his wife. Burgundy, infuriated by this dislocation of his plans, announced his intention of supporting the Duke of Brabant, and even went so far as to open secret negotiations for peace with the French King, which, however, came to nothing, Glou- cester thus came into direct collision with Burgundy and actually began to raise an army preparatory to going to war with his country's most valuable ally. ^ Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, L. Douet d'Arcq., iv. 143. 1424] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 73 Bedford, with great difficulty, managed to keep the peace between them for about a year, but by October 1424 Gloucester's preparations were completed, and crossing to Calais with Jacqueline, he proceeded to invade Hainault. There he " was at the fyrst wors- shupfully ressejrved," ^ and was fairly successful on the whole in gaining control of the country. The merchants and citizens had offered Jacqueline a £30,000 farm, but it was refused. He then aroused still further irritation by sending the Earl Marshal to invade Brabant, a province to which he had no right whatever. The result of this was the passing of several exceedingly quarrelsome letters between Gloucester and the Duke of Burgundy, which culminated in a challenge to personal combat on the part of Duke Philip, the Emperor Sigismund being suggested as umpire. The challenge was eagerly accepted by the impetuous Gloucester, but Bedford at this point firmly interposed, and finally, in 1425, induced Pope Martin V to issue a bull forbidding the duel. Gloucester meanwhile, whom " the importunacie of the woman (Jacqueline) had begoon alreadie above measure to make wearie," ^ had grown tired of a wife whose possessions caused him so much trouble to obtain. He left Jacqueline at Mons, where she parted from him "with great lamentations," ^ and indeed she ^ Three Fifteenth-Century Chronicles (ed. Gairdner), 59. 2 Three books of Polydore VergiVs English History (ed. Sir H. Ellis), 12. 3 Chron. of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, L. Douet d'Arcq., iv. 231. 74 HENRY VI [1425 had good cause to lament, for she never saw him again. After his departure the Brabanters grew bold, and surrounding Mons persuaded the inhabitants to give up their lady. She was conducted to Ghent and kept there as the prisoner of the Duke of Burgundy. Shortly after, however, she escaped disguised as a man, and fled into Holland, where she was allowed to remain. Gloucester returned to England early in 1425 and was sharply reprimanded by the Council for his ill-judged expedition and his behaviour to Burgundy. They refused to provide him with any money or other aid for his selfish designs, and, in short, disowned all respon- sibiUty for his actions. Bedford was thus enabled to pacify Burgundy by representing to him that it was a personal and not a national offence, and peace was finally concluded between Burgundy and Jacque- line in 1428 on condition that she acknowledged Burgundy as her heir. Gloucester before this had persuaded Martin V to annul his marriage with Jacqueline, which was easy, since that Pope had never acknowledged it, in spite of a request from Bedford in 1424, and he thereupon married his wife's favourite waiting-woman, Eleanor Cobham, whom he had brought back with him from Holland in 1425. We must now return to 1423 in order to follow the course of the English arms from that date. Bedford's first task was to complete the occupation of Picardy, and early in the year he was successful in expelling the French from Noyelle, Rue, and Crotoy 1423-4] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 75 at the mouth of the Somme, the last strongholds of the Dauphin in that district. In June he went to Troyes to celebrate his marriage, and gained several small successes on his return journey. In July the French at last made a move, and an army was sent towards the Yonne to secure the communications between Bourges, where the Dauphin held his Court, and Champagne. Aided by a large body of Scots, they laid siege to Crevant, a town on the Yonne in the territory of the Duke of Burgundy. Bedford, accompanied by the Earls of Salisbury and Suffolk, marched south to raise the siege. Aided by the Bur- gundians, he forded the river and attacked the French and Scotch, who suffered a severe defeat, their discom- fiture being completed by a sally of the garrison of Crevant. At this battle many Scots were slain, and Sir William Stewart of Darnley, their constable, taken prisoner. The result of the victory was to advance the English frontier eastward to the Meuse, thus taking in Champagne, the governorship of which was given to the Earl of Salisbury, while a stronger hold was acquired over the Burgundian lands east of Bourges. Next year, 1424, the English arms were successful in reducing the French strongholds to the west. In July, while the English were operating round Ivry, Charles made another great effort, raised an army and marched into Southern Normandy. Outside Verneuil his army, led by Alen9on and Douglas (who had been created Duke of Touraine) were met by the English. The French were " somewhat appalled by reason of 76 HENRY VI [1424 the sudden arrival " * of the enemy, and were undecided what course to take, but Bedford succeeded in drawing them from their position and a fierce fight ensued on 17 August. The battle was hard fought, the French and Scots slightly outnumbering the Enghsh, but the day was decided by the English baggage guard, who dehvered a flank attack at the critical moment. The English suffered considerable loss, which Bedford could ill afford, but the chief slaughter was among the unfortunate Scots, " so that they might well say," remarks a chronicler with more poetical feeling than lucidity, "in the croke off the mone went they thedir- ward and in the wilde wanynge kem they homward." ^ The Earl of Douglas was slain,^ with the Earl of Buchan and many Frenchmen as well as Scots. The Duke of Alen9on was captured. The way into Maine was now open to the English and a general advance followed, considerable progress being made during that year and the next. In spite of the peril to the Burgundian alliance brought about in the autumn of 1424 by Gloucester's rash invasion of Hainault, the English succeeded in advancing as far as Sille-le-Guillaume and Montfort, not far from Lemans, for Charles, after his effort at Verneuil, had again sunk into apathy. During 1425 the whole of Maine was subdued, and Bedford was thus able to return to England for a 1 Three books of Polydore VergiTs Eng. Hist. (ed. Sir H. Ellis), 8. 2 Chronicles of London (ed. C. L. Kangsford), 285. 3 In 1425, Margaret, Countess of Douglas, claimed a third of Touraine as her rightful dower. 1425] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 77 while to adjust the quarrels of Gloucester and Win- chester, which threatened to cause serious trouble at home. Warwick, Salisbury and Suffolk were left in charge of affairs in France. This year, however, John Duke of Brittany detached himself from his alliance with England and Burgundy and joined Charles, being induced on 7 October to make an alliance with the latter at Saumur. He was probably persuaded to take this course by his brother Arthur, Comte de Richemont, who was then high in favour with the French King, and was in this year made Constable of France. Richemont at this time had great influence over Charles VII, and being an ambitious and energetic man, might have roused him to sustained action; but he unfortunately made the great mistake of installing La Tremouille in his place during the long absences enforced by his office of constable. This La Tremouille, who was a vain and worthless man of forty years, quickly undermined the influence of Richemont, and used his power over Charles to encourage him in the pursuit of every kind of pleasure and dissipation. He plunged him into quarrels with his own supporters, and for many years effectually prevented him from attending to the recovery of his kingdom. The only person who was able for a time to set his influence at naught was Jeanne d'Arc, whom he in consequence cordially disUked. During the year 1426 the war languished owing to Bedford's absence in England. The English, indignant 78 HENRY VI 1426-8 at the desertion of the Duke of Brittany, declared war upon him, and a few towns within his boundaries were captured, but peace was patched up again in the following year. At the end of March 1427 Bedford returned to France, but little was done during the summer. In September the English experienced some reverses, Salisbury being surprised and repulsed with consider- able loss at Montargis in Orleanais by two French captains, and a number of towns also being lost in Maine. These, however, were merely spasmodic efforts on the part of isolated French leaders. Charles was too much occupied with his favourites, and too poor to trouble about the conduct of the war. The funds provided for the payment of the army were misappro- priated, the energetic Constable de Richemont was in disgrace, and the resistance to the English had sunk to a mere guerilla warfare carried on by various inde- pendent captains. The most famous of these were -fitienne de VignoUes, commonly known as La Hire, and the Bastard of Orleans, afterwards Comte de Dunois, who in conjunction had defeated Salisbury at Montargis, and who will presently be met with again. Such was the state of Charles's finances that in 1428 the city of Tours took pity upon the poverty of the Queen and presented her with linen for her under- clothes. Charles and his Court were reduced to hving upon the inhabitants of whatever place they were in, and while they were in such straits it was impossible to maintain the army efficiently. 1428] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 79 After the reverse at Montargis, Bedford dispatched Sahsbury to England to induce the Council to send him powerful reinforcements ; and early in 1428 Warwick was recalled from France to act as tutor to the young King in place of the Duke of Exeter, who had recently died. Salisbury, with the assistance of his own funds, managed to raise 2700 men in England and returned to France with them in July 1428. With these reinforcements Bedford had planned an expedition to reduce Angers on the Loire, in the heart of Anjou, but the Council of Regency at Paris decided, not unwisely, that it would be more advantageous to reduce the important city of Orleans, the key of Central France. ^ This decision does not seem to have been altogether approved by Bedford ; he did not join the expedition himself, but remained at Chartres to direct the campaign from there. Salisbury, however, certainly did not, as has sometimes been thought, act contrary to orders in going to Orleans. Salisbury marched slowly south by way of Nogent- le-Roi, gaining many towns on his way, and reached the neighbourhood of Orleans at the beginning of October. Before preparing for the siege, he strengthened his position by securing the adjacent towns of Meung, Beaugency, Jargeau and Chateauneuf-sur-Loire. His army consisted of about three thousand English and a number of Burgundians, who, however, did not remain throughout the siege. Orleans, one of the most strongly fortified places in France, is situated ^ Chron. of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, L. Douet d'Arcq., iv. 294. 80 HENRY VI [1428 on the northern bank of the Loire, and then, as now, was connected with the south bank by a great bridge of nineteen arches. Access to it from the town was gained by the Porte St. Catherine ; the northern end of the bridge was defended by the Bastille de St. Antoine, while the southern end was protected by the Bastille des Tourelles and an extensive earthwork. The city was well furnished with engines of war, and also possessed seventy-one pieces of the lately introduced artillery, the defence being conducted by the Bastard of Orleans and the Governor Raoul de Gaucourt. Finding his army too small to surround the town completely, Salisbury established himself, with the main body of his army, on the south bank of the river as being the most vulnerable point, and also to cut off communications from the south. The rest of the army was encamped on the north of Orleans to keep guard on that side. Salisbury now directed all his efforts towards the taking of the bridge, and was success- ful in the storming of the Tourelles. This accomplished, however, disaster overtook him as he stood at a window in the tower looking down on the bridge. The following account, although that of a rather late chronicler, has a circumstantial air which makes it worth quoting. The defenders at the Orleans end of the bridge had trained a cannon against this window, and were only waiting for some one to appear at it. At the moment when Salisbury stood there, watch was being kept 1428] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 81 by the son of the master gunner, " whiche was gone doune to dinner " ; the boy, however, nothing daunted, " toke his match " and fired a shot with such effect that the iron frame of the window was shattered, ^ A flying fragment hit Sahsbury on the side of the head and inflicted such a terrible wound that he died three days later, on 3 November. His death was much lamented by the English, for he was a man of " hawtines of courage and valiancie rather to be compared with the auncient Romanes than with men of that age." 2 " So manly was his knightly diligence," says another chronicler, ' ' He laboured ever in marciall excellence . " ^ His estates devolved upon his only daughter Alice, the wife of Richard Neville the elder, the friend of York, who thus became Earl of Salisbury in right of his wife. Salisbury was succeeded before Orleans by Suffolk, whose misfortunes seem to have begun from that day, and by the renowned warrior Talbot, whose fame was such that the women of France were accustomed to quiet their refractory children by crying, " The Talbot Cometh ! The Talbot cometh ! " * Suffolk, however, was chief in command, and, despondent of taking so strong a town by assault, he determined to wait for famine to reduce it. This was likely to be a matter of time, for although he strengthened ^ Hall's Chronicle, 145. 2 Three books of Polydore VergiFs Eng. Hist. (ed. Sir H. Ellis), p. 4. 3 Hardyng's Chronicle, 394. * Hall's Chrmicle, 230. O 82 HENRY VI [1429 his lines on the north it was still quite possible to get in and out of the town. The siege dragged on all through the winter, the two armies exchanging pleasantries to pass the time. Dunois sent Suffolk a fur cloak in exchange for a plate of figs : encounters were arranged between the pages of each side, in which the EngUsh came off victorious.^ In February the English were a little enlivened by the news of a skirmish at Rouvray, not far to the north. A convoy of " Lenten stuff " for Suffolk's army, under the command of Sir John Fastolf, was attacked by the French and Scots. The English arranged their effects in a square and beat off the enemy, but shots had pierced the provision casks and herrings poured forth upon the plain. ^ From this circumstance the affair was known as the " Day of Herrings," since from the appearance of the field the casualties seemed to have been chiefly among the fish. The defenders of Orleans were now becoming seriously discouraged, for the French seemed incapable of making any effectual effort to relieve them. As a last hope, they asked that the town might be surrendered to the Duke of Burgundy as neutral territory. The English, however, being "in great prosperity, never considered that the wheel of fortune might turn against them " 3 and refused the proposal, not seeing why Burgundy should reap the fruit of their toil. Bur- ^ Michelet, Histoire de France, vi. 165-6. 2 Ibid., 167. 2 Chron. of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, L. Douet d'Arcq., iv. 319. 1429] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 83 gundy was much annoyed by Bedford's refusal, and withdrew his men from before Orleans. The French were ready to despair, when Orleans was saved by the most extraordinary event of the war. " At this time," says an English chronicler, willing to dismiss as shortly as possible an episode so discredit- able to his country, " the adversaries of the English raised up a girl whom they said was destined to be victorious, but," he adds with indifference, " they were deceived, for shortly after she was taken and destroyed with torture as a sorceress." ^ To the English army in France, however, the appearance of Jeanne d'Arc was an event not so easily passed over. For Jeanne's early life and character it is best to refer direct to the evidence taken in 1455,^ at which time an examination was held at Domremy, Jeanne's home, and many of the villagers questioned, including her godfather, the friends of her childhood, the priest and the neighbours, any one in fact who had had anything to do with her. Jeanne's parents were labourers of good and honest life and far from rich. Jeanne — -all agreed — was a good girl ; so good, said one, that all the village loved her, while her next-door neighbour Mengette admitted that she went so far in her youth as to tell Jeanne that ^ Chron. Ang. de regnis trium regum Lane. (ed. J, A. Giles), iv. 11. ^ Similar evidence was taken in 1430, but was suppressed by the Bishop of Beauvais because favourable to Jeanne : Jeanne d^Arc set forth in the original documents (ed. by T. Douglas Murray). The following account is compiled almost entirely from the evidence given in this book. 84 HENRY VI [1429 she was too pious. For the rest, they said, she was gentle, simple and modest, well brought up and good- mannered. She was of a serious disposition and did not care much for playing, singing or dancing, a taste which brought upon her the grumbling of her companions, who sometimes laughed at her when she went away from them " to talk with God." She was very fond of going to the village church, and at times scolded the sexton, Perrin le Drapier, as he testified, for for- getting to ring the bell, promising to bring him wool from her flock if he would attend to his duties better. She was also fond of visiting the Hermitage of the Blessed Mary of Bermont. Her occupations were chiefly indoor duties about the house, spinning and sew- ing, at which she showed much industry. Sometimes, however, she followed the plough, or minded the cattle and sheep " when it was her father's turn," but she particularly stated in her own evidence at her trial that she did not habitually go into the fields with the flocks, but only helped with them when needed. She never swore, we are told, but contented herself with saying " without fail." She was fond of nursing the sick, which was attested by one whom she had nursed, and was so hospitable that she would sleep on the hearth in order to give the guest her bed. Such was the evidence of the simple villagers who lived with her at Domremy until her departure for the war.i As to her two years with the army, rough * Jeanne tPArcied. T. Douglas Murray ) : depositions atDomremy, 213-31. 1429] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 85 captains of war, such as the Bastard of Orleans, the Sieur de Gaucourt, and others all testify that no one could have been more sober and chaste in conduct. It appears that she took strong measures to eliminate camp-followers from the army, and also that she would not suffer blasphemous language in her presence. ^ In the latter respect she had particular trouble with La Hire, who was given to great freedom of expression, but seeing how hard he tried to break himself of the habit after her expostulation, she allowed him to use the one oath " Par mon martin " — " By my staff " — with which he contrived to be content. ^ According to Jeanne's own testimony, she was thir- teen when she first believed that she heard a voice speaking to her. This Divine voice, she declared, spoke by means of St. Catherine and St. Margaret, and sometimes St. Michael. At first, she said, they bade her be good and go often to church ; afterwards they told her more and more often to go " into France," ^ and lastly to raise the siege of Orleans and take the Dauphin to be crowned at Rheims.* In spite of the fact that she knew nothing of the art of war, Jeanne's ardent faith would not allow her to remain at home, and in the early spring of 1429, at the age of seventeen, she persuaded her uncle, Durand Laxart of Burey le ^ Jeanne d'Arc (ed. T. Douglas Murray) : depositions at Orleans, 232-51. 2 Ibid., 308. * Domremy is on the borders of Lorraine. * It was customary for all French Kings to be consecrated at Rheims, and not at Paris : Jeanne d'Arc, 10. 86 HENRY VI [1429 Petit, to take her to Vaucouleurs, the nearest fortified place, in order that she might get an escort to take her to Charles. Here the Captain, Robert de Baudri- court, repulsed her several times, telling her uncle to take her back to her father and have her ears boxed.^ At length, however, he was won over, sent her to see Charles of Lorraine, and provided her with all she needed. Jean de Metz and Bertrand de Poulengey both advised her to assume a man's dress for greater safety in her long and perilous journey across France, and she accordingly exchanged her " red dress, poor and worn " ^ for a suit provided by de Metz, an action which does not seem at the time to have occasioned the least surprise. Before she set out, the inhabitants of Vaucouleurs had a man's dress and equipment specially made for her, and also presented her with a horse. Thus she journeyed to Chinon in Touraine, where the Dauphin was, accompanied by Jean de Metz or de Novelemport, Bertrand de Poulengey and four others. According to the evidence of Jean and Bertrand, she inspired them both with profound respect.^ Eleven days were occupied by the journey, which was for greater safety made largely at night, and Chinon was reached on 6 March, 1429. After two days, the Dauphin was persuaded to grant her an audience. At this interview Jeanne declared with such simple conviction that she was sent from God to raise the siege of Orleans and to conduct the Dauphin ^ Jeanne d'Arc (ed. T. Douglas Murray), 226. 2 Ibid., 223. 3 jbid^^ 223, 229. 1429] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 87 to Rheims to be crowned that even the apathetic Charles was won over. In order to be quite sure of the approval of th^ Church, he sent her to Poitiers, where she was detained for three or four weeks, to be examined by a body of prelates and clergy. This company having decided that " there was nothing found in her which was not Catholic and reasonable " ^ Charles hesitated no longer, and Jeanne was sent to Blois, where an army had been assembled to conduct a convoy of supplies to Orleans. Leaving Blois on 28 April, they made their way up the river. Jeanne wished to approach by the north bank, reaching Orleans from the west, but as the English were strong on this side, her captains, without informing her, took her round by the south side to a point east of the city, opposite the outlying Bastille de St. Loup. Here they were met by the Bastard of Orleans and La Hire. But the course taken by the French Captains and approved by Orleans now involved the difficulty of crossing the Loire, which was then high, in the face of a contrary wind. It was therefore thought best that the army should return to Blois for the time, leav- ing the convoy to cross if it could. Jeanne pointed out to the Bastard that they would have done better to take her advice ; however, at this point, the wind changed suddenly, and at nightfall the boats were able to get up the river to the city under cover of the darkness. Thus Jeanne entered Orleans on the evening of 29 April, 1429. She was received as an angel of ^ Jeanne cCArc (ed. T. Douglas Murray), 244. 88 HENRY VI [1429 God by the inhabitants, who escorted her with acclama- tion to the cathedral to return thanks. While still at Poitiers, Jeanne had sent a letter to the English leaders bidding them leave France in peace, and she now sent another to Suffolk and Talbot to the same purpose. The English, not unnaturally, received this summons with rage and scorn, considering her to be a witch, and one of her heralds hardly escaped with his life. Bedford later described her without reserve of language as a " disciple and lyme of the Feende." ^ Nevertheless, they were quite unable to withstand the fire of enthusiasm with which Jeanne inspired all whom she led. The army from Blois having returned to Orleans on 3 May, the attack on the English was begun on the 4th. The Bastille de St. Loup on the east and the Tower of St. Augustin quickly fell, and on 7 May the English were actually driven from the Tourelles and the Boulevart beyond. It seems that they were seized with panic at the sight of Jeanne and her white banner with the motto " ou nom de." Jeanne herself was wounded in the neck by an arrow, but did not retire to Orleans until the day was won, when she had her wound dressed and refreshed herself with her usual simple meal of four or five slices of bread dipped in wine. Early next morning the English marched out of their camps. Jeanne armed herself and awaited events. Meanwhile, as it was Sunday, she had Mass celebrated in the presence of the army. At the end of Mass the ^ Rymer's Foedera, x. 408, 1429] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 89 English were observed to be in full retreat towards Meung. Orleans was saved, Jeanne's next task was to recover the neighbouring towns. Jargeau was taken, and Suffolk himself captured while carrying on a desperate resistance in the streets. Matthew Gough was expelled from Beaugency. The English army then retreated north, pursued by Jeanne, who came up with them at Patay. Their position was betrayed by a stag which, put up by the French, ran towards the English lines and caused them incautiously to raise a shout.^ Talbot's army, demoralized by retreat, could not stand against the impetuous valour of Jeanne's soldiers, and they were put to flight, Talbot himself being made a prisoner. The way now lay open for the accomplishment of Jeanne's purpose. Hastening into Touraine with Dunois, she visited the Dauphin at Tours and at Loches, and implored him to go quickly to Rheims to be crowned. In this she was wiser than Charles's captains, who wished to attack Normandy, for Charles's prestige could not but gain immensely by the performance of the time-honoured consecration at Rheims. The Dauphin at length yielded to her urgent representations, and the expedition set out. The important town of Troyes was subdued on the way, and Chalons and many other towns opened their gates. On 17 July, 1429, Charles VII was crowned and anointed in the cathedral at Rheims, as his ancestors had been since the earhest times. Jeanne stood by ^ Chron, of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, L. Douet d'Arcq., iv. 328, 90 HENRY VI [1429 with her banner, and thus saw her declared mission accompHshed. Up to this time, as she declared before the King and his Court, her voices had urged her on, saying, "Fille de Dieu, va, va, va ! Je serai a ton aide ! " but after leaving Rheims, as she afterwards said, they were for a long time silent, and Jeanne for her part only wished to return home. " Would it might please God," she said to Dunois and the Archbishop of Rheims, " that I might retire now, abandon arms and return to serve my father and mother, and take care of their sheep with my sister and my brothers, who would be so happy to see me again." ^ But the army, and those lords who believed in her, would not suffer their leader in so many victories, whom they venerated as "La Pucelle de Dieu," to leave them, and she was obliged to remain. Seeing that she must go on, she urged Charles to march at once on Paris and take it by a bold stroke, and the progress northwards was accordingly begun. Bedford meanwhile had withdrawn the shattered remnants of his army to the neighbourhood of the capital and had sent to England for reinforcements. It happened that just at this time Cardinal Beaufort, with the assistance of a Papal Commission, was raising a force in England for service in the crusade against the Hussites in Bohemia. Owing to the stress of circumstances in France, however, he was prevailed upon in July 1429 to lend this company to Bedford 1 T. Douglas Murray, op. cit., 240. 1429] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 91 for six months' service in France ; for which rather doubtful proceeding he received a reward of 2000 marks from the Council. ^ Paris was thus well defended. Charles advanced to Soissons, but here his evil genius La Tremouille, the mortal enemy of Jeanne, persuaded him to halt. So much, however, was the confidence of the English shaken, that on 7 August Bedford actually addressed a letter to Charles, rather insolent in tone, expressing his willingness to make peace on reasonable terms.^ Charles entered Compi^gne, and in a half-hearted way began to negotiate a truce. But Jeanne, impatient at this foolish vacillation, and burning to advance, pushed on to St. Denis, and on 8 September, at the urgent advice of her captains, ordered an assault on Paris, although, as she afterwards said, she was not supernaturally directed to do so. The attack was unsuccessful, and Jeanne, while fighting in the trenches, received a wound. This reverse gave La Tremouille the opportunity of betraying the interests of his country. The French army was withdrawn from the neighbourhood of Paris on 10 September, and dis- banded at Gien on the 21st, at a moment when a rapid and decisive advance into Picardy would have roused the country and cut off Paris. Already the English were driven from the Loire, from half ile-de-France and nearly all Champagne ; a united effort on the part of the French might have saved twenty years of miserable warfare. ^ Rymer's Fcedera, x. 427. 2 Chron. of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, L. Douet d'Arcq., iv. 341-4. 92 HENRY VI [1429-30 The whole winter was spent in controversy and inactivity on the part of Charles, Jeanne went to Bourges, took the Burgundian town of La Charite in November, and employed the rest of the winter in visiting the towns she had freed and confirming them in their loyalty. Meanwhile the English had time to recover from their panic. In October, Bedford, to make quite sure of Burgundy's loyalty, at the request of the Parisians made over to him the Regency of France, retaining to himself the Governorship of Normandy; after which they both left Paris. Bedford meanwhile had sent to England to recom- mend that the coronation of Henry VI in France should now take place, as a last hope of counteracting the impression produced by the coronation at Rheims, and of awakening loyalty to the English, On 23 April, 1430, the young King was brought over to Calais by his tutor the Earl of Warwick, but there he was obliged to remain for the next three months, until the route to Paris was less unsafe. In May the Burgundians renewed their activity in lle-de-France, and towards the end of the month concentrated their forces round Compidgne. Jeanne, weary of inactivity, gathered a band of reinforcements at Crespy and rode by night to the rehef of Compiegne, entering the town about sunrise on 23 May. About nine in the morning she made a sally, and being drawn away from the town by a feigned retreat of the Bur- gundians, she was cut off by a party in ambush. Her men, seeing the danger, fought their way back almost 1430] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 93 to the drawbridge, but some of the EngHsh and Bur- gundians reached it first, and the governor of the town, either through treachery or fear, raised the bridge, leaving Jeanne hemmed in on all sides. After a struggle she was taken captive by the men of Jean de Luxem- bourg, who was in the service of Burgundy. Having kept her three or four days, he sent her to the castle of Beaulieu, where she was imprisoned about four months while Luxembourg, Burgundy and Bedford haggled over her price. Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, on the part of the University and Inquisition of Paris, claimed her as a heretic against the Church, and on the part of Bedford offered 10,000 livres tournois (about £16,000 present value) for her person — the usual ransom of a king.i In August, Jeanne was removed to Beaurevoir, where she was Idndly treated by the Countess de Ligny, wife of Luxembourg, but about November she was finally sold to the English, in spite of the entreaties of the Countess, for 10,000 francs. She was then taken to Arras and thence to Crotoy, where she was handed over to the Enghsh. Finally, in December, she was removed to Rouen for her trial, and confined to the castle. In July Ejng Henry had left Calais with Warwick, and on the 29th had entered Rouen in state. He was living in the castle when Jeanne arrived, and remained there throughout her trial. Warwick, his tutor, was governor of the castle, and consequently the jailer of Jeanne, in which capacity he gained an unenviable 1 T. Douglas Murray, op. cit., 387. 94 HENRY VI [1430 reputation. It is sad that the young Henry should have been present to lend his countenance to the shame- ful events that followed, but as he was only nine years old we can but hope that his alleged sentiments on the subject were dictated to him by Warwick and Bedford, on whose shoulders a great part of the blame for Jeanne's death must rest. It must be admitted that the English found them- selves in an awkward position. Such seemed the supernatural character of Jeanne's success that the mediaeval mind was obliged to attribute it to the agency either of God or the Devil. Being possessed, as French writers do not fail to point out, of " the pride of Lucifer," ^ they could not bring themselves to own that they were in the wrong and had been defeated by Divine agency, therefore it was necessary for them to prove for their own satisfaction that Jeanne was a " disciple and limb of the Fiend." For the same reasons of outraged pride mingled with orthodox zeal they had conceived such a violent hatred for the poor girl that they would not for the world have her die a natural death. Warwick even went so far as to attribute this infamous sentiment to Henry. The orthodox House of Lancaster ever delighted in hounding a heretic, but it is difficult to believe that the gentle Henry can ever have been so fierce, even in the cause of his beloved Church. It must be remembered, however, that in those days the authority of the Church was paramount, and bold indeed was the man who dared to defy it. Hence when ^ Michelet, Histoire de France, vi. 284-5. 1430] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 95 Jeanne declared that, for her, the authority of her voices must be above even that of the Church men felt, no doubt, that she must be abandoned to her fate. Again, as they knew, it was laid down in the Canon Law that for a woman to assume the dress of a man was a thing abominable to the Lord (although why this point had escaped the Prelates of Poitiers is not clear). Worst of all, they asked themselves, without sorcery — a connection with the Evil One fervently believed in and abhorred by every God-fearing man — how could Jeanne have been so extraordinarily suc- cessful against the Enghsh arms ? Jeanne, then, was regarded by them as both a heretic and a witch, both of which crimes they were accustomed to see expiated by a fiery death. ^ It was therefore perhaps as much a spirit of righteous indignation as of vengeful fury which brought the unfortunate Pucelle to her untimely end, — at least on the part of the best of the English ; it is to be feared that the soldiery were actuated chiefly by the latter feeling. Jeanne was confined at Rouen during the time of her examination, from December 1430 to May 1431, in a room on the second floor of the castle that con- tained the bed on which she slept and a great block of wood to which she was chained. Five English soldiers kept guard over her night and day, two out- side and three inside the room. She was charged ^ Throughout the reign of Henry VI heretics were burnt from time to time at Smithfield, and the accomphces of Eleanor Cobham, convicted of witchcraft, perished in the same manner. 96 HENEY VI [1431 with heresy by the Church, yet she was kept in a lay prison and cut off from clerical guidance. The doctors of Poitiers had declared her orthodox, but, ignoring this, the carefully chosen court of Rouen, under the instigation of the infamous Cauchon, Bishop of Beau- vais, prepared a maze of subtle questions to entangle her into erroneous statements. No charge was pre- sented to her, and she was allowed no counsel for her defence. More than that, Cauchon suppressed the too-favourable evidence of the villagers of Domremy, and servile clerks were provided who took down her answers with omissions. Fortunately there were also honest recorders who refused to be tampered with, and so her marvellous defence has come down to us intact. Jeanne's examination began on 21 February, 1431, but after six public examinations they were continued in private, and lasted until the end of March. The assessors got little satisfaction from their questioning ; nothing could move Jeanne from her serene simplicity. Her answers, which create an impression of entire honesty and sincerity of purpose, together with remark- able clearness of mind, were the admiration of lawyers of later years, and even her accusers marvelled at them. " Do you know if you are in the grace of God ? " they asked her on one occasion; " If I am not," answered Jeanne, " may God place me there ; if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest in all the world if I knew that I were not in the grace of God. But if I were in a state of sin do you think the voice would 1431] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 97 come to me ? I would that every one could hear the voice as I hear it." ^ Questioned about the voice she repUed : " As firmly as I beUeve in the Christian Faith, and that God^hath redeemed us from the pains of Hell, that voice hath come to me from God and by His Command." ^ On 27 March, the " Trial in Ordinary " began. On 18 April, worn out by the strain, Jeanne fell ill; Bishop Cauchon visited her in her prison and delivered a " charitable exhortation." A doctor was also sum- moned by Warwick because, he said, revealing his motive with entire frankness, " the I^ng . . . had bought her dear, and he did not wish her to die except by justice and the fire." ^ Jeanne, unfortunately for herself, recovered. In order to entrap her into heresy, the assessors required her to declare that she would abide by the decision of the Church militant with regard to her voices and visions. But Jeanne, being absolutely convinced that her voices were divine, could only reply that though she believed herself to be subject to the Church, God must be served first. To this she adhered, although threatened with torture and the most dire penalties. "If I were condemned," she said, " if I saw the fire lighted, the faggots prepared and the executioner ready to kindle the fire, and if I myself were in the fire, I would not say otherwise and would maintain to the death all I have said." * ^ T. Douglas Murray, op. cit., 18. ^ ii)i^^^ 17, 3 Ibid., 107, footnote. « Ibid., 126. H 98 HENRY VI [1431 On Thursday, 24 May, formal sentence of condemna- tion was therefore pronounced, Jeanne being placed on a platform opposite the Judges. Then at last the poor girl, " fearing the fire " and seeing the executioner waiting with his cart, for a short time broke down. She was only nineteen. She was induced to put her mark to a written abjuration denying her visions and acknowledging the wickedness of wearing male attire. This done, her sentence was altered to one of perpetual imprisonment — to the great anger of the English rabble, who were wishing for the spectacle of her death — and she was taken back to the castle and provided with a woman's dress. But in a few days Jeanne's courage returned. On 28 May, the Judges, hearing that she had resumed her male dress, went to the prison to question her. She had, indeed, felt herself obliged to resort to it as a protection, the English soldiers not having been removed from her cell. According to the evidence of Pierre Massieu, she told him that the soldiers had taken away her woman's dress while she slept and had thus forced her to assume the male attire they gave her. But besides this she reaffirmed her faith in her voices : " If I said that God had not sent me," she said, " I should damn myself, for it is true that God has sent me ; my voices have said to me since Thursday, ' Thou hast done a great evil in declaring that what thou hast done was wrong.' All I said and revoked I said for fear of the fire." ^ Her fate was sealed. Frankly, Cauchon ^ T. Douglas Murray, op. cit., 137. 1431] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 99 and the English were deHghted. On 30 May, Jeanne was declared relapsed, excommunicate and heretic, and sentenced to death. Immediately afterwards she M^as burnt in the market-place of Rouen. Her ashes were cast into the Seine. In England her death does not seem at the time to have aroused much comment ; it is not until consider- ably later that a chronicler is found to state that her sentence was " the hardest that ever had been remem- bered " 1 ; it seems to have been the English in Rouen, i. e. chiefly the soldiers, who showed such a merciless hatred of Jeanne. It was they who thrust from the castle any whom they suspected of favouring her, and who hurried away the priest who was consoling her last moments. The point of view of their leaders is shown in the letter sent, nominally from Henry, to Burgundy, about a week after Jeanne's death. " Most dear and well-beloved uncle," it begins, " the fervent love and great affection which you like a very Catholic prince bear to our Mother Holy Church and to the advancement of our faith, doth both reasonably admonish and friendly exhort us to signify and write unto you such things which to the honour of our Holy Mother Church, strengthening of our faith, and pluck- ing by the roots of most pestilent errors, have been solemnly done in the city of Rouen." The letter goes on to relate how Jeanne had been " clothed in man's apparel, a thing in the sight of God abominable," and how " presumptuously making ^ Three books of Polydore VergiVs Eng. Hist. (ed. Sir H. Ellis), 38. 100 HENRY VI [1431 her vaunt that she had communication personally and visibly with St. Michael and a great multitude of angels and saints of Heaven, as St. Catherine and St. Margaret . . . she came into the field ... to exercise unnatural cruelties in shedding of Christian blood " ; " but," it continues, " Divine Power having compassion on His true people, and willing no longer to leave them in peril, nor suffer them to abide readily still in ways dangerous and new cruelties, hath lightly permitted of His great mercy and clemency the said Pucelle to be taken in your host and siege which you kept for us before Compiegne ; and by your good mean delivered into our obedience and dominion." It relates that she was dealt with by the body of eccle- siastics, " but all this notwithstanding the perilous and inflamed spirit of pride and of outrageous presump- tion, the which continually enforceth himself to break and dissolve the unity of Christian obedience, so clasped in his claws the heart of this woman Joan, that she neither by any ghostly exhortation, holy admoni- tion, or any other wholesome doctrine which might to her be showed, would mollify her hard heart or bring herself to humility. But she advanced and avowed that all the things by her done were well done ; yea, and done by the commandment of God and the Saints, before rehearsed, plainly to her appearing ; referring the judgment of her cause only to God, and to no judge or Council of the Church militant." ^ One cannot but wonder if Henry and Jeanne, lodged * Halliwell, Letters of the Kings of England, 108 et seq. 1431] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 101 so close to one another in the castle of Rouen, ever saw each other ; probably the strict surveillance of Warwick prevented it. Jeanne had perished, but her work was done. Even Bedford admitted later that his non-success dated from her appearance. The deliverance of Orleans had caused a burst of joy all over France, and as Jeanne pressed on and triumphantly brought Charles their rightful king to be anointed at Rheims as his ancestors had been for numberless generations, the sleeping spirit of nationality began to awake all over the country. The army had tasted success and was inspired with new courage ; towns were no longer content to submit themselves tamely to the English rule, but had to be kept by an English garrison, and this in itself was a serious strain on the resources of the English. The tide of public opinion had turned against the invader, and the apathy resulting from many years of misery was being thrown off. A sign of the times was the fact that the men of material interests now began to drift over to the side of Charles, and it was not long before Burgundy himself began to waver. The route to Paris now being open, Bedford having recovered the revolted towns between Rouen and the capital, Henry was taken to Paris by Bedford and Warwick early in December 1431 to be crowned. The ceremony took place at Notre Dame on 16 Decem- ber, Henry being the only English King who was ever crowned there. Paris in the heart of winter, depopulated, wretched and starving, can hardly have been a cheerful 102 HENRY VI [1431 spectacle, but the officials did their best to cloak it by providing numerous splendid pageants in the streets. The funds necessary for the coronation had, as usual, to be advanced by Cardinal Beaufort. The function, which was meant to create an impression and revive the loyalty of the French, signally failed in its object, although Henry was considered to be " an impe of most excellent towardness and disposition." ^ He was then aged just ten. No French Princes were present ; even the King's French grandmother, though in Paris at the time, was absent ; Mass was sung and the actual ceremony of coronation performed by Cardinal Beaufort, to the great offence of the Bishop of Paris, whose cathedral it was. The whole was con* ducted according to English rites, which gave needless offence to the French clergy. A banquet followed the coronation, and the King was entertained during the courses by tableaux, and probably enjoyed himself, but the affair was grossly mismanaged. The members of the French Parhament, Doctors of the University, and magistrates, who arrived in state, found no places provided for them and had to scramble for seats with the mob. Even the crowd was discontented, for no one troubled to scatter alms; they complained that they would have done better at the wedding of a goldsmith. No prisoners were liberated and no taxes remitted : the Parisians were deeply disappointed. Next day a tourney was held, but on 27 December, Bedford, who was not easy as to the King's safety, 1 Three looks of Polydore VergiVs Eng. Hist. (ed. Sir H. Ellia), 39. 1431-2] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 103 hurried him away from Paris and sent him back to England. 1 Thus ended Henry's only excursion abroad. During December 1431 Burgundy concluded a six years' truce with Charles ; but these truces made little difference to the progress of the war, for the Burgundians, in order to strike a blow against the French, would pretend to be English, while the French, when they felt a desire for a brush with the Burgundians, would pretend to mistake them for English, so that fighting continued nevertheless. Little was done in 1432, An attempt by the French to take the city of Rouen failed, but the English lost ground in Maine, and the important town of Chartres was taken from them by an ingenious stratagem. A large part of the population of Chartres, including many of its defenders, was attracted to one end of the town by the preaching of a Jacobin friar who had an under- standing with the French. Meanwhile several fish and wine carts drove up to a gate at the opposite side of the town and effected an entrance. No sooner were they inside than the drivers threw off their disguise, their comrades hidden in the carts leapt from their concealment, and the gatekeepers were overpowered. Thus the way was opened for the French army, which lost no time in entering the town.^ A still more serious occurrence for the English during this year was the death of Bedford's wife, Anne of ^ For an account of the whole function, see Chron, of E. de Mon- strelet, L. Douet d'Arcq., v. 2-6. 2 Ibid., V. 22-3. 104 HENRY VI [1433 Burgundy, for thus the strongest link between Bur- gundy and England was severed. In the following year Bedford, with strange impolicy, acting under the in- fluence of the Bishop of Therouanne, married Jacquette of Luxemburg, 1 an action which, occurring so soon after the death of Anne, gave rise to a slight coolness with Burgundy. Bedford went home for a while in July 1433, while Burgundy, annoyed at a French incursion into his domains, and repenting of his truce, conducted a bril- liant campaign in the north-east and succeeded in tem- porarily recovering for his ally the districts east of the Seine and Yonne. In England, Bedford found a strong party in favour of peace. Parliament actually presented a petition that Bedford should abandon the war and remain in England to devote his energies to the good of that country. This would indeed have been a wise action, but Gloucester, touched in his short-sighted national pride, raised a furious opposition to the proposal, and by a great misfortune persuaded his countrymen that it would be a weak and unworthy course to make peace at this juncture. Bedford therefore returned to his hopeless task — and he must have known that it was hopeless — in July 1434, after a year's absence. Such was the deplenished state of the Treasury that he was obliged to come to its assistance himself, and generously ^ This lady afterwards married Sir Richard Woodville, who was created Lord Rivers. Their daughter Elizabeth became the Queen of Edward IV. 1433-4] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 105 offered to devote his Norman revenues to the conduct of the war for the next two years. ^ In France, a new and sinister symptom had already developed. The peasants of Normandy, the most English and loyal province of the North, began to rise against the EngHsh and throw off their dependence, and, conducting a little warfare on their own account, obstinately refused to be suppressed . Thus the English , in the province upon which they placed most reliance, were exposed to the great disadvantage of having the country-people against them. Disaffection even appeared among the garrison of Calais, but there it was effectually stamped out, four soldiers being executed. An event had taken place at the Court of Charles in 1433 which was destined in a few years' time to produce great results. This was the murder of La Tremouille, Jeanne's enemy and Charles's worst friend. It remained to be seen what efforts Charles was capable of when freed from the deadening influence which so encouraged his inactivity. Most serious of all. Burgundy, although ostensibly conducting campaigns against the French, was privately considering the advisability of deserting the English. His domains of Burgundy and Flanders were in a miserable condition, and the peace-loving burghers and merchants of the latter were urgent in impressing upon him their desire that he should give up the war. ^ Nicholaa, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council, iv. Chron. Index, xxviii. 106 HENRY VI [1435 Moreover, his neighbour on the eastern side, the Emperor Sigismund, had lately concluded a peace with Charles, so that Burgundy, thus placed between two fires, began to feel it a necessity to make peace with France and agree to overlook the murder of his father. Accordingly, in the spring of 1435, Burgundy invited all the Powers to a Conference at Arras for the purpose of negotiating a general peace. In July the delegates arrived. England was represented by the Archbishop of York, William Lyndwood and Sir John Radcliff ; France by the Duke of Bourbon, the Constable de Richemont, and the Archbishop of Rheims. Delegates were also sent from Spain, Portugal, Sicily, Denmark, Poland and Italy. France began by suggesting that England should keep Gascony and Guienne, with a few additions in the neighbourhood, and that she should also be paid 600,000 crowns, in return for which Henry should renounce the title and arms of the King of France. The English on their side were willing to yield to France all districts south of the Loire except Gascony and Guienne (thus undoing all Jeanne d'Arc's conquests in the North), and offered to pay 120,000 saluts yearly for the royal style and arms of France. The French were willing to meet them to the extent of giving up practically all Normandy, but further than that they would not go. Negotiations continued until the end of August, when both sides presented an ultimatum. England demanded the status quo with a slight recti- fication of frontiers, i. e. Normandy with a large part 1435] BEDFORD'S RULE IN FRANCE 107 of ile-de-France and Maine, besides portions of Guienne and Gascony. France offered the whole of Normandy in return for the renunciation of the royal style and arms ; the English were to liberate the Duke of Orleans (who had been a prisoner in England since Agincourt), and Henry was to receive in marriage a French Princess without dowry. The English, how- ever, who were not very sincere in their desire for peace, refused to give up the royal style as typifying their claim to France, and on 6 September withdrew from the Congress. The French made a last effort, and offered to postpone the question of the renunciation of the royal style until Henry should be of age if England would evacuate the territory not ceded to them ; but the English hardened their hearts and refused the offer with contempt. The Congress however, although it failed in its chief object, had one very important result : Burgundy and France came to an understanding. Charles agreed to apologize for the murder of Philip's father, Jean sans Peur, and to give up the guilty ones. Philip was also to receive five counties and various other concessions, and was relieved from performing personal homage to Charles. These very favourable terms show that Charles was fully aware of the value of the Burgundian alliance. Peace was concluded between them on 21 September, and Burgundy received absolution from the Cardinals present from his oath of allegiance to the English. His defection aroused a storm of indigna- tion in England and gave fresh impetus to the warlike 108 HENRY VI [1435 opinions of Gloucester and his militant party ; in October, Parliament gave its sanction to the continuance of the war against France and Burgundy. Henry was so much hurt by the letter from Burgundy announcing his change of side and omitting the style of King of France that tears ran down his cheeks.^ The Londoners gave vent to their fury by plundering the houses of the Flemish merchants in the city. A few days before the conclusion of the treaty between Charles and Burgundy Bedford died at Rouen, on 15 September, 1435. He had lived to see his work undone and the position of England in France more unstable than when his charge had been committed to him. But for this he was not to blame. He had done his best to advance his nephew's claim, but his task was impossible, and with him perished the last hope of success. There was no one to carry on his wise and capable rule in France, and no firm and ex- perienced hand to direct the movements of the troops. England could ill spare this just and prudent statesman, the only blot upon whose career was his treatment of Jeanne d'Arc. He had been made a Canon of the Cathedral of Notre Dame of Rouen in 1420, and was buried in that church, under the shrine of St. Senier, on the last day of September 1435. His epitaph was inscribed on a tablet of copper, which was attached to a pillar on the left side of the High Altar. ^ ^ Chron, of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, L. Douet d'Arcq., v. 192. • Histoire de VSglise cathidrale de Rouen, Rouen 1686, pp. 65, 204. r^' JOHN OF LANCASTER, DUKE OF BEDFORD Brit. Mus., Add. MSS., 18850 f. 256b. CHAPTER IV 1437-1450 : character of henry vi It is now time to examine the character of the King called upon to rule over the troubled realm of England. In order better to understand subsequent events it will be well to consider his character now as it appeared when fully developed, although we shall presently take up the history of his career in his sixteenth year. It is a strange thing that in such an age, when all the forces of lawlessness and disintegration were at their height — with such an ancestry, his father a great warrior whose aim was the conquest of a neigh- bouring realm, his grandfather a man whose ambition led him to wrest the crown from his own cousin — and with such an upbringing as the stern Warwick is likely to have given him, there should have been placed upon the throne of England at this time a man wholly devoid of self-seeking ambition, without a trace of that bold and warlike spirit so much admired by his age, whose sole aim seems to have been the practice of those virtues usually known as the " fruits of the spirit " — charity, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. It was as though he were sent that the sins of his house and his country might be expiated upon his innocent head. 109 110 HENRY VI [1437 His unostentatious virtues did not commend them- selves to his generation : they would have none of them. His fate was the more pathetic in that had he possessed greater strength of character, wider powers of intellect, a gift for administration, he might have gone down to posterity as the St. Louis of England. But Henry was without these qualities, and that at a time when they were most needed if he was to maintain his worldly position, for he had inherited the mental weakness of his maternal grandfather, Charles VI of France. Consequently his end was one of ignominy and contempt. But had Henry not suffered for the sins of his dynasty at a time when England was at the lowest ebb in her history, his people would never have known the strong, regenerating rule of the Tudors. His ruin was necessary for the good of his country, but the poor King can hardly have had the consolation of being aware of it; truly he might have said bitterly with Hildebrand : "I have loved righteousness and hated iniquity and therefore I die in exile," although Henry's exile was to culminate in a still harder fate. Most of Henry's biographers, being monks, are ex- tremely eulogistic, but even allowing for their bias the general idea of his character given by them seems in accordance with history. Henry's essential characteristic was his entire unworldliness. He " took all human chances, miseries and afflictions of this life in so good part as though he had justly by some offence deserved the same." He " ruled his own affections, gaped not after riches, and 1437] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 111 was careful only of his soul's health." ^ Indeed, his worldly estate never seems to have appeared of much importance to him. During the civil war which devastated his kingdom, he allowed himself without protest to be taken about from place to place by which- ever side happened to be in the ascendancy, and it is never recorded that he bemoaned his lot. Two or three times he was roused to indignant activity by the conduct of the Yorldsts, but for the most part he remained quite calm. Not that he was a coward ; if fate placed him on a battle-field he remained there, even though wounded and in great danger, when the lords who were supporting him at the moment fled for their lives. He was " never in anye greate feare whatsoever chaunced," says the continuator of Hardyng's narrative. ^ Neither could he have been a moral coward, for although he several times buckled on his armour during the civil war, upon joining battle he steadfastly refused to use his weapons against Cliristian men : a noble principle which must have been considered most extraordinary in those turbulent days, and one to wliich it required some courage to adhere. It is to be hoped that his spirit of calmness and resignation made his long imprisonment under Edward IV less irksome than it would have been to most men. He was quite indifferent to wealth and luxury : a habit of mind which not infrequently embarrassed 1 Three books of Polydore VergiVs Enj. Hist{ed. SirH. Ellis), 70-1. 2 Hardyng's Chronicle, 437. 112 HENRY VI [1437 those who had to do with him. Once, we are told, a certain " great lord " brought him a rich coverlet for his couch, wrought with gold and much ornament, but Henry, " most eagerly desiring things celestial and spiritual and despising in comparison things earthly," could hardly be persuaded to look at it.^ The said lord might perhaps have been excused for thinking him somewhat ungrateful. On another occasion he rejected a legacy on the ground that he had received sufficient kindness from the donor while he was alive. Henry's generosity was also a source of difficulty, for his gifts, like those of Alexander the Great, were regulated by the principle of what it was fitting for a king to give, without consideration of what he could afford or of how much the recipient was worthy. ^ He gave away the Crown lands so recklessly to almost any one who entreated his favour that his revenues became seriously diminished, and he had not sufficient income left to meet the expenses of his household. Nevertheless, having a mind above accounts, he continued to give away anything that occurred to him, even his state robes. One can well imagine that the officers of his household found their good master at times a Httle trying. If he heard that one of his chaplains was obhged to mend his vestments he would cause him to be given enough material for ten new ones ,3 and, needless to say, he was assiduous in giving 1 Blakman's Life of Henry VI (ed. Thos. Hearne), 294. * Riley, Registrum Abbatice, J. Whethamstede (Rolls Ser.), 248-9. 3 Blakman's Life of Henry VI (ed. Thos. Hearne), 294-5. 1437] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 113 alms to the poor. This ill-regulated generosity, and his obUviousness to the fact that he was running into debt, indeed amounted to a grave defect. Henry was a simple and upright man, without guile or malice ; he " coveted no revenge for injuries, but gave God most humble thanks for the same." His charity and humanity were indeed remarkable, and in that ferocious age were probably considered a rather contemptible weakness. On one occasion it is related that " hearing that one of his servants had been deprived by theft of a great part of his goods, the said King sent him twenty nobles as compensation for his loss, at the same time advising him that he should now be more careful in the custody of his property, and that he should not go to law for this cause." ^ His humanity did not become blunted by the horrors of the civil war, for when entering Cripplegate after the battle of St. Albans he observed a portion of a human frame over the portal, and upon being told that it had belonged to a traitor, " false to the King's majesty," he bade them have it taken down at once. " For," he said, " I am not willing that any Christian should be treated so cruelly on my account." ^ His personal misfortunes seem to have fostered in him a sort of pious resignation, for later in Ufe even personal assault did not stir him to wrath. When two men set upon him and one inflicted a deep ^ Blakman's Life of Henry VI (ed. Thos. Hearne), 295. 2 Ibid., 301. I 114 HENRY VI [1437 wound in his neck, he " patiently bore " it, merely rebuldng them with the words : " Forsothe and forsothe, ye do fouly to smyte a Kynge enoynted so." 1 During his imprisonment in the Tower under Edward IV, a man attacked him and wounded him in the side with a poniard, but when Henry regained his liberty the man was pardoned.^ It must not be supposed, however, that Hemy was incapable of strong affection, for he was sincerely devoted to his wife Margaret and their son. He was remarkable also for his faithfulness to his friends ; had he been willing to give up Suffolk and Somerset at the crucial moment he might have saved his throne, yet he refused to condemn Suffolk to death and clung to Somerset although his championship dragged him into the jaws of civil war, and brought upon him the defeat at St. Albans. Henry was imbued with the strict orthodoxy upon which the House of Lancaster prided itself. He was devoted to the Church, and regarded Lollards and other heretics with pious horror. We never read that he intervened to mitigate the fate of the Lollards, who, from time to time during his reign, were condemned to the stake. This seems an unamiable trait in an otherwise gentle character, but in the fifteenth century, when religious toleration had not yet dawned upon Europe, when heresy was regarded as a poisoned limb which must be cut off and cast away for the preserva- ^ Blakman's Life of Henry VI (ed. Thos. Heame), 301. 2 Ibid., 302. 1437] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 115 tion of the whole, it could not have been otherwise. A king brought up in an atmosphere of unquestioning orthodoxy, without any great intellectual power of his own, domineered over by Cardinal Beaufort, could hardly have been expected to attain to a breadth of view entirely alien to his times. His behaviour in church was held up as a model by his chroniclers, for he bared his head and knelt devoutly, following the service with great attention. Neither would he allow his retinue to draw their weapons then nor bring their hawks into church, nor carry on discussions there, which seems to have been the usual mode of behaviour.^ He was also particular about the recital of grace before meals. His tastes were serious and studious, and he " had good learning in great reverence," ^ as is amply testified by his two great educational foundations, Eton, and King's College, Cambridge. Neither did he care for any sort of frivolity : " So they worry me," he complained, " that scarcely am I able even hastily by day or night without disturbance to snatch refresh- ment by the reading of some sacred doctrines." ^ He was fond of music, and took care to provide both his new colleges with choristers to sing the sacred offices, yet he said : " We would rather that they should grow less in musical accomplishments than in knowledge of the Scriptures." * He is known to have 1 Blakman's Life of Henry VI (ed. Thos. Heame), 290. 2 Three books ofPolydore Vergil's Eng. Hist. (ed. Sir H. Ellis), 157. » Blakman, op. cit, 299. - Ibid., 296. 116 HENRY VI [1437 composed a Sanctus, which is still preserved at his Cambridge College. Except on Sundays and holy days, he spent his time chiefly in business, study and prayers ; it appears, however, that he was occasion- ally known to hunt.^ His taste in dress was of the simplest, in which respect, as well as in his aversion to going to law, he resembled the Quakers, for he preferred clothes of a plain cut in dark and quiet colours. 2 His modesty was such that his chronicler was moved to quote instances more diverting than he intended. On the occasion of a Christmas ball at Bath, Henry, he affirms, was so much shocked by the inadequate dresses of some of the ladies whom they would have presented to him that he turned his back and left the room, exclaiming, " Fy, fy, for shame ! forsothe ye be to blame ! " while the scantiness or absence of the bathing costumes used at the famous baths disturbed him so much that he quitted the town in haste.^ Like Jeanne d'Arc, he would not permit swearing in his presence, but severely rebuked any one who thus forgot himself, pointing out that he was setting a bad example to his family and servants. The most violent expression Henry himself is ever recorded to have used was, " Forsooth and. forsooth ! " * or " St. John ! " which cannot be said to err on the side of 1 Paston Letters (ed. Gairdner), i. 357, 525. 2 Blakman's Life of Henry VI (ed. Thos. Heame), 298. 3 Ibid., 292. 4 Ibid., 300. 1437] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 117 over-expressiveness. He is also extolled by Blakman for his truthfulness. 1 But with all these virtues poor Henry was not possessed of the qualities necessary to the making of a successful king. With his inherent weakness of character, he was influenced in turn by whichever of his lords had succeeded in insinuating himself into the royal favour. His chroniclers, realizing the beauty of his character, rightly lay the chief blame for his unwise political actions on the " false lords " who misled him, and not on himself. He had no power of self-assertion to check the turbulence of his subjects, for his mild and gentle personality made little im- pression on the average, somewhat stern, mediaeval character. Neither did he in the least understand the spirit of his own age, for he dwelt for the most part in a dreamy realm of his own, into which he only allowed the clamour of the outside world to penetrate at necessary intervals. He showed no power either of discerning the character of those about him, or of interpreting the signs of the times. The nation's ideal of a king was a distinguished and warlike monarch such as Henry's illustrious father. The people began by loving Henry VI for his goodness, but, chiefly owing to his lack of popular qualities, they ended by treating him with absolute indifference, and his enemies declared that he had not " heart or manli- ness " to be a king. 2 ^ Blakman, op. cit, 288. 2 Continuator of Hardyng's Chronicle, 448. 118 HENRY VI [1437 Such was Henry VI of unhappy memory : a man who in private life would have been conspicuous for his virtues and who would have been happy in a cloister. It was hard that he should have had to occupy a mediaeval throne, for he was too Christian for his position and for his times. His virtues did not pass wholly unrecognized by his contemporaries, for in 1446 Pope Eugenius IV sent him the Golden Rose, a distinction conferred by the Papacy upon sons of the Church who were deemed specially deserving of recognition. The next monarch of Henry's name, his avenger Henry VII, began to take measures for obtaining the canonization of Henry VI, but this pious tribute to his memory was cut short by the Tudor monarch's death. In person, Henry is said to have been tall of stature, slender and well-proportioned in frame, and " of comely visage . . . wherein did glisten continually that bountifulness of disposition wherewith he was abundantly endowed." ^ His portraits show a some- what thin and pointed face, with dark eyes and a long and slightly aquiline nose. The mouth is small and well-formed, the underlip rather thicker than the upper. The jaw is rather sloping, the chin inchned to be long, and not prominent. The expression is one of slight nervousness or timidity. Three contemporary portraits of Henry VI are preserved to us, showing him at different periods of his life. The first, at 1 Three books ofPolydore VergWs Eng. Hist. (ed. Sir H. Ellis), 156, g« o O 'j: Z 3 1437] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 119 King's College, Cambridge, represents him as a young man. That in the National Portrait Gallery shows him in middle life. Finally, in the royal collec- tion at Windsor there is his portrait as a compara- tively old man. He cannot have been really old, since he ended his troubled life at the age of fifty, but the face is much aged and lined compared with that of the London portrait. All three pictures represent him in what was presumably his usual dress : a dark tunic with bands of ermine over the shoulders and round the neck, dark red sleeves and a gold collar, and the insignia of some order \vith a jewelled cross. The close dark cap comes down over the ears in all three portraits. Among the King's manuscripts in the British Museum there is a folio presented by Talbot to Queen Margaret, on the title page of which are represented Henry and his wife. The King and Queen also appear in the tapestry in St. Mary's Hall at Coventry, but as portraits these are probably of little value. The young Henry, aged barely sixteen, now found the responsibilities of government over-early thrust upon him. The youthful King was nothing if not good-natured, and instead of in any way asserting his own mil he set before himself the amiable but im- possible task of pleasing all parties. His kindly weakness in consequence played havoc in the ajffairs of the Council. The King's uncle Gloucester was at this time in a fairly strong position, and he had the support of York and Salisbury, while his lifelong enemy, Cardina 120 HENRY VI [1438 Beaufort, was growing old, and, besides, spent much of his time abroad. The Cardinal, however, had two nephews, John, Earl of Somerset, and Edmund, Earl of Dorset, sons of the old Earl of Somerset who died in 1410, who were destined some years later to succeed to their uncle's influential position with the help of the Earl of Suffolk, and Kemp, Archbishop of York. Henry, however, at no time showed much affection for Gloucester. Probably the looseness of the Duke's private life repelled the young King, and with his religious leanings towards peace he would also be dis- tressed by Gloucester's determined advocacy of the war. The Privy Council soon became embarrassed by Henry's kindliness of heart, which apparently led him to be over-merciful. Early in 1438 the following memorandum occurs in their minutes — " Remember to speke unto the King to be warr how that he graunteth pardons, or elles how that he doeth [causeth] them to be amended, for he doeth to him self therinne greet disavaille, and now late in a pardon that he graunted unto a customer the which disavailled the King, 2000 marcs." ^ His rash generosity also worried them — " Remember to speke unto the King what losse he hath had by the graunte that he maad to Inglefeld of the constableship and stewardship of the castel and lordship of Chirk, to the losse of 1000 marcs." ^ To add to Henry's difficulties, as the chroniclers ^ Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council, v. 88. 2 Ibid., 89. 1438-9] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 121 relate, " the land was at that tyme full of treson after the death of the Duke of Bedford." ^ A feud was being carried on between the two branches of the Neville family in the North, for old Ralph Neville of West- moreland had married twice and had had large families by both wives, and now that he was dead the two families were quarrelling over his lands. The young Earl of Westmoreland and his two brothers on the one side took arms against the Dowager Countess of Westmoreland, Ralph's second wife, and her two sons the Earl of Salisbury and Lord Latimer on the other, and they had actually come to blows, with " great routes and companies upon the field, and done further- more other greet and horrible offences, as well in slaughter and destruction of our people as other- wise," 2 The leaders of both sides were cited to appear before the Council, and apparently some sort of an understanding was arrived at. Henry was also lacking in means. He seems, un- fortunately, to have been brought up in an extravagant mode of living, for his private expenditure was twice the amount customarily laid out by his grandfather, and in 1439 there was great murmuring because of the non-payment of the expenses of his household. Henry was, indeed, continually in debt in this respect throughout his reign not because his personal tastes were extravagant, for they were simple almost to austerity, but owing to his deplorable habit of making 1 Chronicles of London (ed. C. L. Kingsford), 141. ^ Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council, v. 90, n. 122 HENRY VI [1439 recklessly generous gifts of money or land to any who petitioned him. In this way many of the Crown lands, from which a great part of his revenue was derived, were alienated — a grievance which will be heard of later. At the time of the " complaints " mentioned, the revenues of the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall were assigned to the purpose of paying the King's debts. Also there had been a great decrease since the reign of Henry V in the amount of revenue derived from taxation. This was partly due to the reductions made in the assessment for subsidies to relieve the impoverished condition of many of the towns, and also to the large amounts which the dishonest collectors of the revenue appropriated for themselves. But the chief cause of the decrease was the great fall in the customs on the export of wool, owing to the fact that more and more wool was being used in the country itself as the cloth industry increased in prosperity, and much less was consequently exported. The country, moreover, was in a distressed condition, for the three years from 1437 to 1440 were years of great dearth owing to the unusual wetness of the weather ; ^ in 1439 the famine was the worst that had been known since 1315-16, and the poor were reduced to eating bread made of beans, pease and vetches. In 1439 also the pestilence was so bad that it gave rise to the somewhat quaint enactment that any one 1 Chron. Ang. de regnis trium regum Lane. (ed. J. A. Giles), iv. 18; Chron. Mon. St. Albani (J. Amundesham ; Rolls Ser.), 157. 1440] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 123 having occasion to do homage should be excused from kissing the King.^ This year proposals for peace were considered, but the Cardinal being occupied in France as the chief English envoy, Gloucester had the ear of the King and was able to persuade him to reject the terms. This, however, was almost the last occasion on which his influence triumphed before it began to wane. In 1440 Archbishop Kemp was made a cardinal, and Gloucester, hoping that the people would be suspicious of undue papal influence in the country, took this opportunity to attack both Kemp and Cardinal Beaufort, bringing against them wild charges of malversation and treachery which could not possibly be substantiated, and which did the accused no harm. He also protested against the release of the Duke of Orleans, which was decided upon in 1440 and carried through in spite of his objections. Orleans took an oath on the sacrament not to bear arms against England, but " my seyde Lord of Gloucester agreyd never to hys dely veraunce ; qwan the masse began he toke his barge." ^ Clearly his influence was no longer supreme. The chief blow to his position, however, was brought about by the ambitious schemes of his wife, Eleanor Cobham. This woman, who had been JacqueUne of Hainault's chief waiting-woman, and whom Gloucester had raised to the position of his duchess, ^ Rolls of Parliament, v. 31. 2 Paston Letters (ed. Gairdner), i. 40 ; 1. 27. 124 HENRY VI [1441 could not forget that her husband, in the absence of direct heirs to the King, stood nearest to the throne. The ambitious Eleanor allowed this idea to gain possession of her mind, and she even resorted to astro- logy and superstitious practices, with the consequence that in 1441 she was charged with using magical arts against the King's life, the attack being skilfully engineered by the Beauforts. The Duchess fled into sanctuary at Westminster, but this expedient was unavailing against such a crime as "wdtchcraft, and she was brought forth to be tried. She and her accompUces, Roger BoUngbroke and Margery Jourdain, an accredited witch, were solemnly accused of making a wax image of the King and melting it over a slow fire with the intent to bring about a similar wasting in his person, and other such matters. The unfortunate Roger and Margery suffered extreme penalties, the former being hanged, drawn and quartered, and the latter burned. Eleanor, whose life was spared by Henry's mercy, was condemned to a fantastic penance. For three consecutive days she was compelled to walk through the streets of London, barefooted, " with a meke and demure countenaunce," ^ carrying a taper weighing one pound, accompanied by the Mayor, Sheriffs and " crafts " of London. The first day her allotted pilgrimage was from Temple Bar to St. Paul's, the second day from the Swan pier to Christ Church, Aldgate, and the third from Queenhithe to St. Michael's, Cornhill. After doing this public penance she was 1 Eng. Chron. Rich II to Hen. VI (ed. J. S. Davies), 59. 1440-1] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 125 condemned to lifelong imprisonment ; she died in 1454 at Peel Castle in the Isle of Man. Gloucester remained passive, not daring to raise a finger in her defence for fear that suspicion of complicity should faU upon him. None the less his wife's doings were a fatal blow to his influence, and his power was at an end. Seeing this, says Hardyng — " He waxed then straunge eche day unto ye King, And into Wales he went of frowardness, And to the King had grete hevynesse " ; and the Beauforts reigned supreme over the young Henry. One other result sprang from the trial of the Duchess of Gloucester : in the following year Parliament enacted that in the eyes of the Law peeresses were to take rank with their husbands, and were therefore to be entitled to trial by their peers for the same offences that their husbands could claim such trial. Henry himself was chiefly preoccupied during these years with the educational schemes in which he was so deeply interested. For his first project he selected a spot near his own castle of Windsor that he might watch the growth of the infant institution with a solici- tous eye, and there in 1440 he founded the "King's College of our Lady of Eton beside Windsor," the charter being dated 11 October, 1440. ^ As originally 1 Corresp. of Will. Bekynton (Rolls Ser.), ii. 279, 280; see also Heywood and Wright's Statutes of Eton College. 126 HENRY VI [1440 constituted this establishment was a very different one from that of the present day. The college was to consist of a provost, an " informer in grammar," or schoolmaster, ten fellows (priests), four clerks, six choristers, twenty-five poor and indigent scholars, and twenty-five poor and feeble old men, " to pray for the king's health during life and, when he left the Hght of earth, for his soul, and the souls of the illustrious prince Henry his father ... of the lady Katharine his consort . . of all his ancestors and of all the faithful departed." ^ The master in grammar was to teach the scholars " freely, without exaction of money or anything else." In 1443 the numbers were altered to seventy poor scholars, ten fellows, ten chaplains, ten clerks, sixteen choristers, only thirteen poor and infirm men, and a master and usher besides the provost.- The parish church of Eton was attached to the college, and improvements carried out in the interior. The founda- tion stone of a new church was laid by the king before Passion Sunday, 1441.^ Henry endowed his founda- tion principally from the English lands of the alien priories which had been confiscated by Henry V. These lands were scattered all over the country, and included the Leper Hospital of St. James at Westmin- ster. The college was also granted two annual fairs, to be held on the six working days following the Feast of the Assumption (August 15), and for three days after Ash Wednesday. Further, the Pope granted plenary ^ Corres'p. of Will Bekynton (Rolls Ser.), ii. 281. 2 Sir H. Maxwell Lyte, History of Eton College, 577. ^ Ibid., 12. 1440] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 127 indulgence to all pilgrims visiting Eton at the Feast of the Assumption,^ which besides increasing the company at the August fair brought the college many offerings. Wilham Waynflete, the Head Master of Winchester,^ presided over the organization of the new college. Henry Sever was the first provost, but resigned that post in 1442, and was succeeded by Waynflete.^ In 1448 Henry assigned to Eton its armorial bearings : " On a field sable three Hly-flowers argent, intending that our newly founded coUege, lasting for ages to come, whose perpetuity we wish to be signified by the stability of the sable colour, shall bring forth the brightest flowers redolent of every kind of knowledge. . . . To which also, that we may impart something of royal nobility, which may declare the work truly royal and illustrious, we have resolved that that portion of the arms which by royal right belong to us in the kingdoms of France and England be placed on the chief of the shield, per pale azure with a flower of the French, and gules with a leopard passant or." * Henry was much attached to his school at Eton. In after years he would tip the Eton scholars if he met them in the precincts of Windsor, telling them to be good boys ; but if he found any of them in the neighbour- hood of the Court he would send them away reproved, saying that it was not a suitable place for the young. ^ 1 Sir H. Maxwell Lyte, History of Eton College, 9, 23, 26. - He afterwards became Bishop of Winchester and was the founder of Magdalen College, Oxford. 2 Sir H. Maxwell Lyte, History of Eton College, 14, 18. « Ihid., 54. s Blakman's Life of Henry VI (ed. Thos. Hearne), 296. 128 HENRY VI [1440-6 The other great foundation England owes to Henry VI is King's College, Cambridge. The in- tention of founding this college was formed by Henry in 1440, but the charter was not granted until February 1441, This institution, at first named the college of St. Nicholas — Henry's birthday being on the feast of that saint — was modestly established in the first instance for twelve scholars and a rector, and Henry himself laid the first stone of the gatehouse on Passion Sunday, 1441. ^ In 1443, however, by fresh statutes the college was much enlarged. Under the new regulations provision was made for a provost, seventy fellows or scholars, ten secular chaplains, six clerks, and sixteen choristers ^ — the nucleus of the choir now so famous for the perfection of its singing. The name was also changed to " The College Royal of our Lady and St. Nicholas." On St. James's Day, 25 July, 1446, Henry laid the foundation-stone of the new chapel,^ which was destined to grow into such a marvel of beauty under his successors. Henry VI did not live to see it completed, but the great design was his, together with that of other buildings for the college never carried out, and he endowed it with funds and granted it two quarries of Yorkshire limestone to provide the building material. The civil war, however, stopped for a time the progress of the chapel, and nothing was done under Edward IV, who took no interest in his rival's foundations. Henry VII granted ^ A. Austen Leigh, King^s College, 4. 2 Ibid., 5. =^ Ibid., 19. 1438] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 129 some funds for its continuance, and it was completed during the early years of the reign of Henry VIII. Henry VI endowed the college with manors all over the country, and for the early buildings granted leave for the materials of the old castle at Cambridge to be used. He desired the foundation to be connected with Eton, whose scholars were to be passed on to Cambridge when suflaciently advanced. The first provost of the college was William Millington. But Henry's efforts in the cause of education did not end with these two achievements. Finding in 1438 that the universities of both Oxford and Cambridge, which he referred to as " the two luminaries from which the chief part of the fame and glory of his Crown and Kingdom was derived," ^ were decayed and scarce in students, he intimated to the Convocation of Canterbury that he wished them assisted from the revenues of the Church. Many grammar schools were founded in different parts of the country during his reign, including St. Anthony's School, London, in 1441. Colleges were founded at Newport, Salop, in 1442, and at Towcester in 1449 ; ^ Cardinal Kemp founded Wye College in 1447, and Archbishop Chicheley All Souls' College, Oxford in 1437. Magdalen College was founded by William Waynflete in 1456, and Lincoln College by Richard Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1427, both at Oxford.^ ^ Corresp. of William Bekynton (Rolls Ser.), I. cxxxviii. 55. ^ See A. F. Leach, English Schools at the Reformation, 323-4. 2 For Queen Margaret's Foundation, see below, p. 148. E 130 HENRY VI [1432-41 In France also Henry's reign was beneficial to educational institutions. Although he can hardly have taken much personal interest in the beginning of the university of Caen, since he was only ten at the time of its foundation, yet it was founded by Bedford in the King's name in January 1432, just at the conclusion of his visit to France. The foundation was confirmed by a papal bull in 1437, but the uni- versity was not formally installed until 1439.^ The reason for its creation was that there was no university existing in all the dominions possessed by the English at that time in France, except that of Paris, which was notoriously French in feeling and was even given to conspiring against the English party. It was therefore thought desirable to provide a university where the youths of Northern France might be brought up under the eye of England as it were ; consequently great pains were taken to ke^p the institution loyally English in spirit. In 1442 it was reported, to Henry's satisfaction, that Caen University was attracting an " incredible influx of students in all branches of science." ^ At Bordeaux, too, Henry gave his sanction to the foundation of a university in 1441 ; but the chief credit for this achievement seems to have been due to Pey Berland, then Archbishop of Bordeaux. At home, while Henry was thus happily engaged with schemes after his own heart, the country was ^ A. de Bourmont, La Fondation de Vuniversite de Caen, 29, 40, 43. '^ Corresp. of Will. Bekynton (Rolls Ser.), I. clix. 123. 1441] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 131 becoming more and more disturbed owing to the lack of a strong and decided government. In the West, the Earl of Devon and Sir William Bonville openly took up arms to decide which was the rightful claimant of the stewardship of the Duchy of Cornwall. Both produced a royal patent, so that it is possible that Henry, whose memory was deplorable, had, in a moment of aberration, granted the stewardship twice over, and thus unwittingly caused great trouble. In 1441 the Council attempted to deal with these " grete riotes, disorders, dissencions and debates the which now late have growen and been betwix the said Erie of Devon and his servants and frends, and Sir William Bonevile knyght and his servants and frends, the which hath caused manslaughter and the Kings pees gretly troubled and broken, to the greet inquietnesse of his shires of Cornewaill and of Devon and also of other places, to the uneaise not oonly of theim and theirs but also of his subjitz dwellyng therinne." ^ The two claimants were charged to bring their patents for examination, and meanwhile to allow " an indifferent man " to occupy the office. Little good, however, seems to have been done, for in 1451 the feud broke out again, and continued to burst forth at intervals whenever occasion offered. In 1442 and 1443 riots occurred in Wales, and the Council ordered " that for as moche as that a monk in Wales, that is other wyle in North Wales and other wyle in South Wales, and telleth cronicles at Commor- ^ Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council, v. 173. 132 HENRY VI [1443 thees and other gaderings, to the mocion of the people, that it be aspied prively wher that he is and that he be taken." ^ At York also in 1443 there were dissensions between the Mayor and Sheriffs and the Abbot of St. Mary's. Besides this the men of Yorkshire refused to pay their dues to Archbishop Kemp, and in 1443 riots were actually stirred up against the Archbishop by the Earl of Northumberland. Kemp complained that " diverses and many persones in grete multitude and in rioteuse wyse have comen to certain of his places and have throwen downe som of his houses, and have broken downe by grete spaces the pales of divers of his parkes, and have broken downe divers water and wynd melles, and have hurted and fered divers of his servantz, and continuyng in their said riot and evel wille, as he sayth that he is enfourmed, thei dispose them to come to his manoir of Southewel and hurte it. And therfor he besecheth the Kyng that it wol lyke his hieghnesse to ordain remedie." ^ The Earl of Northumberland was commanded by the Council to make reparation. The town of Norwich had been for some time in a disturbed condition. The franchise of the town had been suspended and the Mayor removed from office in 1437, and in 1442 it was again thought necessary to deprive the town of its liberties. All over the country there were small disturbances, ^ Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council, v. 233. 2 Ibid., 268-9. 1442] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 133 and even in London the " getters of the Inns of Court " and the citizens had a " great debate by night time " ^ in Fleet Street, an occurrence which does not seem to have been uncommon. The majority of these disturbances, as has been seen, were headed by some person of importance, and it was probably because of this that so little was done efficiently to check them, for it must be remembered that Parliament in the fifteenth century almost ex- clusively represented the landed interest. The mem- bers of the House of Commons were the " knights of the shires " and members for boroughs, often themselves lords of manors or wealthy merchants, and elected by men of substance ; so that it could hardly be expected that they would wish to make themselves unpleasant to the nobility, in many cases their overlords, by putting too strict a check upon their doings. The King at this time was, as usual, in pecuniary difficulties, and in 1442 the Commons again besought that the revenues of the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall should be used to satisfy the King's creditors, " in eschuyng of thair grete murmour, clamour and continuell importable chargez," ^ and also begged that in future ready money should be paid for the expenses of the household. This same Parliament took measures towards the strengthening of the navy, which was then small and ^ Chronicles of London (ed. C. L. Kingsford), 154. 2 Rolls of Parliament, v. 62. 134 HENRY VI [1442 neglected. In 1423 " certain great ships " had actually been put up for sale at Southampton; but as it was specially ordered that the Mayors of London, Bristol, Hull, Lynn, Yarmouth and Plymouth should be notified, it was evidently hoped that these ports would purchase them for the public service. No one was allowed to buy them who was not at least the subject of an ally of England. The Parliament of 1442 enacted that there should be prepared for service in 1442 and 1443 eight " great ships," viz. the GrAce Dieu, George, Tritiity, Thomas, Nicholas of the Tower, Katherine of Burtons, " the Spanish ship of Lord Poins " and a ship belonging to Sir Philip Courtenay. There were also to be eight barges, the Mangeleke, Marie, Trinity, Valentine, and Slugge, a sixth at Falmouth, and two belonging to Harry Russell and Sir Philip Courtenay. These were to be attendant on the " great ships," and were each to be accompanied by a balinger.^ There were also to be four " spynes." ^ The Grhce Dieu was an unlucky ship, for shortly before this she had been damaged by fire, and later, in 1459, when she would have been carried off to Calais, she was found to be " broke in the bottom." This list, however, does not represent the entire number of ships available at the time, for the exchequer accounts of the same year give the names of ten 1 A balinger was a small sailing vessel, but usually larger than a " barge." 2 Pinnaces. 1442] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 135 " great ships," four mentioned in the parHamen- tary list, and in addition the Holy Ghost, Little Trinity} Rodecogge, Philip, John and Galley. Six carracks ^ are also mentioned : Marie of Hampton, Marie of Sandwich, Marie of Hull, Peter, Paul and Andrew, the last of which was, however, " submersed in the sea." The two balingers mentioned, the Rose and the Gabriel of Harfleur, were both reported to be sunk. At an earlier date in the reign there are men- tioned, besides the Edward of Fowey, the Fowler and the barge Little John.^ This little navy, however, does not seem to have effected much towards the safeguarding of the sea until the command was taken over by the Earl of Warwick in 1458. Another important question which came to the fore during these years was the subject of the King's marriage. As early as 1438 it had been proposed that Henry should marry a daughter of the then newly elected Emperor Albert II. In 1438-9 there was some idea of his marrying a daughter of Charles of France,* but this came to nothing. Again in 1442 one of the daughters of the Count of Armagnac was proposed as a suitable bride, ^ Henry, who was really anxious to fulfil the wishes of his subjects and marry, in May 1442 commissioned Sir Robert Roos and ^ This probably corresponded to the Trinity mentioned among the barges in the parliamentary list. 2 A large ship originally of Genoese or Spanish type, 3 Exch. Q. R. Accts., U, H, ¥. f f, ff * Rymer's Foedera, x. 727. ^ JUd., xi. 7, 136 HENRY VI [1442 Thomas Bekyngton to conduct negotiations and to instruct a painter named Hans to execute faithful portraits of the three ladies that the King might make his choice. The artist was to " portraie the iij dough- ters in their kerttelles simple, and their visages, lyk as ye see their stature and their beaulte and color of skynne and their countenaunces, with almaner of fetures ; and that one be delivered in al haste with the said portratur to bringe it unto the Kinge, and he t'appointe and signe which hym lyketh." ^ But it so happened that the Count of Armagnac's decision on the subject was hampered by the fact that the army of Charles VII was hovering on his borders, and he therefore dared not at that moment pledge himself to an alliance with the King of England, lest the French army should be let loose upon him. The EngUsh Ambassadors, not understanding the awkward- ness of his position, took offence at his evasions, and the project was dropped. This marriage was very much favoured by Gloucester, and was said to have been finally " disallowed and put by " through the influence of Suffolk, an incident which " kindled a new brand of burning envy " ^ between them. Doubtless the House of York might have had less trouble in realizing their ambition had either of these marriages taken place. Henry now became attracted by the fame of the young Margaret, daughter of Rene of Anjou, who, ^ Corresp. of Will. Bekynton (Rolls Ser.), ii. 184. ^ Fabyan's Chronicle, 616. 1443-4] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 137 although aged only about fifteen was already renowned throughout France for her beauty and wit. Appar- ently the same method was employed as before, for Henry is said to have become deeply enamoured of her portrait. Certainly he displayed a sincere affection for her during the remainder of his life. The real instigator of the match was Cardinal Beaufort. This astute prelate, realizing Henry's weakness, saw that he needed a partner of some decision of character and intellect, but hoped at the same time that Margaret's youth and inexperience would bring her easily under his own influence, and thus make his ascendancy over the King doubly sure. At all events he did succeed in establishing a firm friendship between Margaret and the House of Beaufort. But besides this, both Henry and the Cardinal hoped that this marriage would conduce to peace, because Margaret was the niece of Charles of France, and with this view it is said to have been originally suggested by the Duke of Orleans. Gloucester and his party, of course, for all these reasons were much opposed to it, their hopes having been fixed on the Armagnac alliance. The story of Suffolk's romantic attachment to the young Princess and his consequent determination to procure for her this exalted marriage seems improbable, considering that he was a comfortably married man of over fifty years of age at the time — an old man in those days — while Margaret was about fifteen. The young and spirited Margaret of Anjou, who was born in 1429, was, through her mother Isabella of 138 HENRY VI [1444 Lorraine, a direct descendant of Charles the Great. Her father, Rene of Anjou, who was titular King of Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem, Count of Provence, and Duke of Bar and Lorraine, in spite of his numerous titles, in reality possessed very little territory : he kept his Court at Nancy in Lorraine. A true Proven9al, poet, artist and musician, he was beloved by the people of his southern province, but rather despised by the rough and warlike nobles of his time, who considered his accomplishments effeminate and his indifference to his worldly fortune unworthy. This bride, therefore, although she might be highly gifted intellectually, was not likely to bring her husband a rich dowry. In 1444 Suffolk was sent to Nancy to negotiate the marriage and at the same time to endeavour to obtain satisfactory terms of peace. Rene was willing enough that his daughter should marry Henry, but he con- sidered it inconsistent with his honour to give her to the King of England while that monarch was in pos- session of Maine and Anjou, Rene's hereditary do- mains. He therefore at the last moment demanded their restoration to the French as a condition of the marriage, and was naturally supported in this by Charles. Suffolk had by this time so far committed his master to the marriage that it would have been difficult for him to repudiate it, and he therefore agreed to these remarkable terms, which were destined to hasten his own downfall, in spite of the fact that he was armed with an indemnity from Parliament for anything that might be involved in his mission. The 1445] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 139 transaction, however, remained a secret between him and Henry for as long as possible. Thus Henry's ill-omened bride was bought with two provinces, and came to her husband without any dowry except her father's purely formal claims to Aragon, Majorca and Minorca. In February 1445, a truce for two years having been concluded, Suffolk, as proxy for the King, was married to Margaret at Nancy with great festivities, after which the young Queen set out for England under the protection of Suffolk and his wife, parting with many tears from her family, by whom she was deeply beloved. At Poissy, on 18 March, occurred her first meeting with Richard of York,^ who received her there on the English frontier, little foreseeing the very different cir- cumstances under which they were destined to meet in after years. Between Mantes and Harfleur Margaret distributed fourteen pairs of shoes and other things to poor women,^ but upon reaching Rouen she found herself so short of means that she was obliged to pledge certain vessels of " mock silver " to the Duchess of Somerset. Henry meanwhile, no better off, was harrying Parliament for a grant of funds to defray the expenses of his marriage, borrowing horses from the Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds, and pledging his jewels and plate to provide for his Queen's coronation. On 8 April, Margaret embarked at Harfleur in the ^ Stevenson, Letters and Papers of Reign of Henry VI (Rolls Ser.), i. 448. 2 Ibid., i. 449. 140 HENRY VI [1445 Cocke Johne of Cherbourg/ and landed next day at Porchester so much overcome by the passage that Suffolk was obliged to carry her ashore. She rested that night at a convent in Portsmouth,^ and was conveyed next day by boat to Southampton, en- livened on the way by the performances of seven foreign trumpeters. Upon reaching the convent at Southampton, where she was to lodge,^ she became ill. Henry waited anxiously at Southwick for her recovery. " Oure moost dere and best beloved wyf the Quene," he wrote from there to the Lord Chancellor on 16 April, " is yet seke of the labour and indisposicion of the sea, by occasion of which the pokkes been broken out upon hir, for which cause we may not in oure own personne holde the feste of Saint George at oure castel of Wyndesore." * It has been assumed from this letter that Margaret's malady was smallpox, but this is clearly impossible, seeing that barely a fortnight elapsed between her landing in England and her marriage to the King, which ceremony would not have been permitted to take place while there was fear of infection of any kind. Moreover, during this interval she was able to receive a " tyre-maker " to prepare ^ Stevenson, Letter and Papers of Reign of Henry VI (Rolls Ser.), i. 451. * The only recorded " convent " in Portsmouth is " God's House" for the reUef of the poor, see V.C.H., " Hants," ii. 206. ^ This would probably be the Hospital of St. Julian, the most important religious house in Southampton, where Richard of Cambridge, father of the Duke of York, was buried. V.C.H., "Hants," ii. 203. * Nicholas, Proc. and Ord. of the Privy Council, VI. xvi. 1445] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 141 her wedding garments ; neither can we suppose, judging by the enthusiastic reception accorded a little later to her beauty, that her complexion long suffered from the pockmarks. By 23 April she was able to travel to Titchfield Abbey, nine miles away, and was there quietly married to Henry, the ceremony being performed by Aiscough, Bishop of Salisbury, Henry's confessor, Henry was then twenty-three, and his bride just sixteen. These nuptials, according to Capgrave, " everyone thought pleasing to God and the Kingdom because peace and abundant fruits came with them " — an excessively rose-coloured view of the situation which caused a later annotator of his chronicle to remark in the margin, with good reason, " Compilator adulavit." ^ On the occasion of her marriage at Titchfield Margaret received the somewhat novel wedding-present of a lion : an embarrassing gift which was deposited in the Tower.^ About a month elapsed before Henry and Margaret appeared in London, the interval doubtless being spent in making each other's acquaintance. One would like to have known Mar- garet's impressions of her husband ; apparently they were not unpleasing, for Henry must have been a lovable man, and she seems to have become genuinely attached to him, judging by the care with which she looked after him. The King and Queen made their state entry into ^ Capgrave, Liber de illustribus Henricis (Rolls Ser.), 166, n. • ^ Stevenson, Letters and Papers of Reign of Henry VI (Rolls Ser.), . 450. 142 HENRY VI [1445 London on 28 May, Margaret's beauty creating great enthusiasm among the Londoners, who wore daisies in their hats in her honour. As yet the terms of the marriage settlement had not leaked out, and the people were ready enough to welcome her, although Parliament was sullen and suspicious. On 30 May the new Queen was crowned with great splendour at Westminster Abbey. Margaret, although only sixteen, quickly made her influence felt in English politics. Her energetic and ambitious nature soon gained ascendancy over the docile Henry, whom her charms had captivated from the first. She had not the wisdom to avoid committing herself to party rivalry, and her influence was naturally exerted on the side of the Beauforts, for the old Car- dinal had promoted her marriage and was her sincere friend. As appears from his will, Margaret must have visited him at his manor of Waltham, for he bequeathed to her the " crimson bed, with the cloth of gold of Damascus, which hung in her chamber in my mansion of Waltham, in which my said lady lay when she was at the said manor." ^ Suffolk also was her benefactor and firm friend, whereas Gloucester had strenuously opposed her marriage, which piqued her extremely, and for which she never forgave him. She saw early that the King appeared to do nothing of his own initiative, but was ruled by the advice of those about him, and hence she quickly fell into the habit of meddling with the governance of the kingdom. ^ A bed with rich hangings was a very usual bequest in those days. 1447] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 143 Gloucester's downfall was not long in coming. The King, doubtless under Margaret's influence, ." began to give heavy and unpleasant occasions and quarrels against his uncle Gloucester," whom he had never loved overmuch, and to shun his presence, " furnishing himself with many armed men, as if he were a mortal enemy." ^ Probably also the three concerned, Henry, Margaret and Suffolk, felt apprehensive as to what course Gloucester would take when he learnt of the surrender of Maine, which could not be kept secret much longer. The crisis came in 1447. In February of that year Parliament was summoned at Bury St. Edmunds. A few days after the opening of the session Gloucester arrived, "as an innocent lamb," but with too large a retinue to be wise. It was rumoured that he came to beg for an amelioration of his wife's sentence, but evidently his enemies had laid their plans beforehand. Reaching Bury St. Edmunds about eleven in the morning of 18 February, in " a fervent coolde weder and a bytynge," he was met on the outskirts of the town by the King's messengers, who informed him that he need not present himself to the King, but might go to his own lodgings and dine. This strange announcement, little short of an insult, would be enough to fill Gloucester with foreboding of disaster. He rode on through " Dede lane " — a circumstance afterwards remembered as of ill omen — and lodged at ^ Chron. Ang. de regnis irium regum Lane. (ed. J. A. Giles), pt. iv. 33. 144 HENRY VI [1447 St. Salvator's without the north gate.^ Hardly had he finished dining when Buckingham, Dorset, Sahsbury and others entered and placed him under arrest, ap- parently upon a charge of treason, and his servants were removed. Gloucester remained at his lodging under guard, but the shock and humiliation were too much for him. When he found that Suffolk and Lord Say had so excited the King against him that he was not for the present to be allowed to answer the charges made against him, he " was in so great anguish of grief that the strength of all his members and of his inner spirit suddenly vanished," and " for three days there was in him neither sense nor motion." ^ On 23 February it was announced that he had died of a paralytic stroke, which under the circumstances is quite likely to have been true. One chronicler circum- stantially gives the hour of his death as " sone appon iij on the belle at aftrenone." ^ His death, however, caused a tremendous sensation, and all sorts of rumours of foul play were spread abroad. Some affirmed that he was " stranguled " * ; " some said he was murdered bitwene two ffedirbeddes, and some said he was throst into the bowell with an bote brennyng spitte." ^ It may be worth noticing that his predecessor, the Duke of Gloucester, actually was smothered between feather- 1 English Chronicle, Rich. II to Hen. VI (ed. J. S. Davies), 116-17. ^ Chron. Aug. de regnis tmim regum Lane. (ed. J. A. Giles), pt. iv. 33^. 3 Eng. Chron. Rich. II to Hen. VI (ed. J. S. Davies), 117. * Three books ofPolydore VergiVs Eng. Hist. (ed. Sir H. Ellis), 73, ^ Chronicles of London (ed. C. L. Kingsford), 157. 1447] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 145 beds, and the last horrible fate was that attributed by legend (happily without good foundation) to Edward II, so that both these conjectures seem like mere suggestions of memory. Moreover, no wound was found upon Gloucester's body.^ On the whole it seems most probable that the more trustworthy chroniclers ^ who stated that he " died for sorrow " were right; to a man of such proud and choleric temper as he had habitually shown himself such treatment might well be enough to bring on a stroke of some sort. Gloucester was not a young man, and by the evidence of his own physician he had been in bad health for some years before his death. ^ Hardyng also affirms that — " Ofte afore he was in that sykenesae — In poynt of death and stode in sore distresse." It is certain that the Beaufort party were determined on Gloucester's downfall, but they would probably have contented themselves with imprisonment or exile. If he was assassinated the blame must rest on Suffolk, for certainly Henry would never have con- sented to it, and it is to be hoped that Margaret at the age of eighteen was not so bloodthirsty. As a matter of fact his death put his enemies in a bad case, for by his removal the Duke of York was left ^ Chronicles of London (ed. C. L. Kingsford), 157. * Chron. Ang. de regnis trium regum Lane. (ed. J. A. Giles), iv. 34 ; Eng. Chron. Rich. II to Hen. VI (ed. J. S. Davies), 63 ; Whet- hamstede, Reg. Mon. St. Albani (Rolls Ser.), i. 179. 2 Michelet, Histoire de France, vii. 56. L 146 HENRY VI [1447 nearest heir to the throne : a most inconvenient and dangerous situation, destined to have fatal conse- quences. Evidently becoming aware of this danger, they lost no time in getting rid of York by appointing him in July 1447 to the Lieutenancy of Ireland for ten years. Nor did Gloucester's death make Suffolk's party more secure in popularity, for the Duke had been popular with the people in spite of his ill-judged policy and other faults, and they called him the " good Duke Humphrey," probably because of his affability, his handsome presence and his patronage of art and literature. He was the founder of the first public library at Oxford, now the Bodleian, and it is probable that his influence fostered in Henry VI that taste for education for which he was so conspicuous. Gloucester was buried on the south side of the Saints' Chapel in St. Albans Abbey, of which he was a benefactor. Five of his followers were " hanged and lette downe quicke " ^ as a warning, and then pardoned. His estates were given to Margaret. The people, convinced that he met his death by foul play, murmured against Suffolk, the Bishop of Salisbury and Lord Say, who were known to be high in favour with the King.^ A later chronicler even went so far as to say that after Gloucester's " shameful slaughter, good men forsook the Court." ^ Less than two months later, on 11 April, Gloucester ^ Three Fifteenth-Century Chronicles (ed. Gairdner), 65. 2 It is remarkable that these three men all met their death at the hands of the jjeople, on different occasions, three years later, a Three books ofPolydore Vergil's Eng. Hist. (ed. Sir H. Ellis), 73. 1447] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 147 was followed to the graye by his old enemy Cardinal Beaufort, who for forty-eight years had been a pillar of the House of Lancaster. This capable and ambitious prelate had since 1443 taken little public part in politics, but his influence had remained, and now the last check to the rash policy of Margaret and Suffolk was removed. He was possessed of enormous wealth, and had many times extricated Henry from his diffi- culties. Blakman relates that he left Henry £2000 in gold for his personal use, quite a large sum in those days, but the unworldly King, forgetful of his many debts, rejected the money, saying that he had received sufficient kindness from his great-uncle during his lifetime. The astonished executors then suggested that Henry should give it to his two foundations, Eton and King's College, which he accordingly did, for the good of the Cardinal's soul.^ Meanwhile England had learnt the news of the surrender of Maine, and the discontent was becoming dangerous. Suffolk, complaining of the accusations commonly circulated against him, demanded that he should be allowed to justify himself before the Council. His defence was accordingly heard by them on 25 May, 1447, and his integrity declared vindicated, but his position was not in reality much bettered. It was unfortunate that the government should have been so much in his hands, for all the national grievances were laid up against him in the minds of the people, and it followed that, when the grudge grew too heavy, ^ Blakman's Life of Henry VI (ed. Thos. Heame), 294. 148 HENRY VI [1448 the destruction of the hated minister meant a serious shock to the whole government of the country, and even brought discredit on the ruling dynasty itself. To add to their misdemeanours, Margaret and Suffolk had managed to obtain special privileges for the export of wool, a piece of flagrant self-interest which naturally alienated the merchants. In 1448 Suffolk received a further mark of favour in being made a duke. The young Queen Margaret, at the age of eighteen, was now left virtually at the head of affairs, for her husband was, as usual, absorbed in his studies and devotions. She cannot have been without sympathy for Henry's studious tastes, for she emulated him in 1448 by founding the college of St. Margaret and St. Bernard at Cambridge, now known as Queens' College. The difficulties of England were increased in that year by the outbieak of border warfare between the Douglases and the Percys. The Enghsh had crossed the border and burnt Dunbar and Dumfries, while the Scots under Douglas fired Alnwick and Warkworth. Accordingly in September 1448 Henry set out on a royal progress to the North. He visited Stamford, Southwell, Beverley and Durham, returning to York in the middle of October. Skirmishes on the border continued, however, until Percy was severely defeated by the Douglases at the battle of the Sark in October 1449. The year 1449 opened inauspiciously. The King's debts were such that the sergeant gentlemen and 1449-50 CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 149 yeomen of his household, and even the priests and clerks of his chapel, were driven to petition Parliament for their arrears of pay. The army was in the same state, which was running a foolish risk. In addition to this the war broke out again in France, and disaster after disaster befell the English arms in Normandy, for Suffolk had made no preparations whatever during the years of truce. Tardy reinforcements were raised and sent to the coast, but there they were kept wait- ing while funds were collected. At the beginning of January 1450, when Normandy was already almost lost, Moleyns, Bishop of Chichester, at last came down to Portsmouth with the soldiers' pay ; but they were in such an inflamed state of mind that "so it happid that with boistez langage and also for abrigging of their wagez he fil in variaunce with thaym, and thay fil on him and cruelli there kilde him." ^ This bishop had accompanied Suffolk on his embassy to Nancy, and had also been sent to France in 1448 to negotiate the final surrender of Lemans. An interesting ballad of this time bewails the state of England and the loss of her capable leaders, all the personages being referred to by their badges — " The Rote ^ is ded, the Swanne ^ is goone, The firy Cressett * hath lost his lyght, Therfore Inglond may make gret mone Were not the helpe of Godde almygt'. 1 Eng. Chron. Rich. II to Hen. VI (ed. J. S. Davies), 64. ^ The tree root or Woodstock, borne by the Duke of Bedford. ^ Gloucester. * Exeter, who died in 1447. His mother was sister of Henry IV, 150 HENRY VI [1450 The castelle ^ is woune where care begowne [began], The Portecolys ^ is leyde adowne, I-closid we have our welevette hatte.^ That keveryd us from mony stormys browne [brewen]. The White Lioun * is leyde to slepe Thorough the envy of the Ape ^ clogge ; And he is bounden that oure dore shuld kepe. That is Talbott oure goode dogge.'' The Fisshere ' hathe lost his hangulhooke, Gete theym agayne when it wolle be. Oure Mylle-saylle ^ wille not abowt. Hit hath so longe goone emptye. The Bere is bound that was so wild, Ffor he hath lost his ragged stafie.^ The Carte nathe ^o is spokeles. For the counseille that he gaflfe. The Lily ^^ is both faire and grene The Coundite ^^ rennyth not, as I wene, 1 Rouen, lost in October 1449. 2 Somerset, who capitulated at Rouen. ^ Cardinal Beaufort. * Norfolk, who had gone on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1447. ^ Suffolk. So in another ballad, "Jack Napys with his clogge Hath tiede Talbot oure gentille dogge." * The badge of Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, was a sort of hunting dog, between a hound and a beagle, later known as a " talbot." Talbot remained as a hostage after the fall of Rouen. ' Lord Fauconberg, brother of Salisbury, taken prisoner by the French at Pont de I'Arche. 8 Robert, Lord Willoughby of Eresby, who surrendered at Paris in 1436. ® The bear and ragged staff, the celebrated badge of Warwick. The old Earl died in 1439. ^o Nathe = the hub of a wheel. The Duke of Buckingham, a nephew of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. He was Ambassador to France in 1446. ^^ Thomas Daniel, a courtier, later made steward of the Duchy of Lancaster. 12 The conduit represents John Norris, another courtier. The removal of Norris, Daniel and Trevilian (the Cornish chough) was petitioned for during Cade's Rebellion. 1450] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 151 The Comysshe Chowgh offt with his trayne Hath made oure Egulle '^ blynde. The White Harde ^ is put out of mynde, Because he woUe not to hem consent ; Therfore the Commyns saith is both trew and kynde Bothe in Southesex and in Kent. The Water-Bowge ^ and the Wyne-Botelle * With the Vetturlockes ^ cheyne bene fast. The Whete-yere ^ wolle theym susteyne As longe as he may endure and last. The Boore '' is gane into the west, That shold us helpe with shilde and spere ; The Fawkoun,* fleyth and hath no rest Tille he witte where to bigge [build] his nest." ^ Suffolk could no longer avert the storm. On 26 January, 1450, a fortnight after the murder of Bishop Moleyns, Parliament petitioned for the Duke's im- peachment and he was committed to the Tower. The only important charge that could be brought against 1 The King. 2 Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, later a Yorkist, and married to Warwick's sister. (Arundel Castle is in Sussex.) 3 The " water-budget " was two leathern buckets on a pole — arms of Lord Bourchier, husband of York's sister, afterwards Earl of Essex. * No name given. 5 Prior of St. John's, Clerkenwell; Master of the Hospitallers in England, and ranked as first Baron of the Kingdom — Robert Botyll. " Henry Holand, Duke of Exeter, a Lancastrian in spite of his marriage with York's daughter. '' The boar, the Earl of Devon, Thomas Courtenay. ^ The falcon, the Duise of York, absent in Ireland as Lord- Lieutenant. '•• Wright, Political Poems and Songs (Rolls Ser.), ii. 221. 152 HENRY VI [1450 him was his unauthorized promise of the evacuation of Maine. For the rest he was accused of purposing to invade England and place his son John on the throne, of holding treasonable relations with the Duke of Orleans — whose keeper he had been at one time — of revealing state secrets to the French, and such charges. The King, hoping to protect his minister, ordered the case to be " respited," but Parliament, nothing daunted, brought in a Bill of Attainder on 9 March. This contained fresh charges, accusing the Duke of encouraging the King to make prodigal grants, of weakening the King's power in Guienne and alienat- ing Armagnac, of giving away offices to his friends without leave of the Council, of appropriating and wasting the country's funds and those granted for the guardianship of the sea, and other offences. Suffolk threw himself upon the King's mercy, and Henry, ever faithful to his friends even when disastrous to himself, and probably in this case backed up by Margaret, in order to save Suffolk's life banished him for five years. He was discharged on 19 March, but in the end even the King could not save him. The populace of London, infuriated at the mildness of the sentence, surrounded his house at St. Giles, Holborn, to the number of 2000, and maltreated his horse and servants. Suffolk, however, succeeded in escaping by another way and fled into his own county. On 30 April he set sail from Ipswich to go to France, but off the coast of Kent he was intercepted by the ship Nicholas of the Tower — so little control had the Government even 1450] CHARACTER OF HENRY VI 153 over the navy — and being hailed on board as a traitor, was kept there until 2 May. " Also he asked the name of the ship," wrote William Lorimer to John Paston three days later, " and when he knew it he remembered Stacy that said if he might escape the danger of the Tower he should be safe ; and then his heart failed him, for he thought he was deceived, and in the sight of all his men he was drawn out of the great ship in to the boat . . . and one of the lewdest of the ship bade him lay down his head, and he should be fair fared with and die on a sword ; and took a rusty sword and smote off his head within half a dozen strokes, and took away his gown of russet and his doublet of velvet mailed, and laid his body on the sands of Dover." ^ The country as a whole rejoiced at his death and did not hide their feelings. It was for Suffolk that the nickname of " Jackanapes " was first invented, and his death was commemorated in various ballads, one of which commenced — " In the monethe of May, when gresse groweth grene Flagrant - in her floures, with swete savour, Jac Napes wolde on the see a maryner to ben, With his cloge and his cheyn, to seke more tresour. Suyche a payn prikkede hym he asked a confession : Nicholas said, ' I am redi thi confessour to be ' ; He was so holden so that he ne passede that hour. For Jac Napes soule Placebo and Dirige." ^ ^ Paston Letters (ed. Gairdner), i. 125, let. 93. 2 Fragrant ( ?) 3 Wright, Political Poems and Songs (Rolls Ser.), ii, 232. 154 HENRY VI [1450 Parliament met at Westminster in April of that year, but such was the disturbed state of London that it was thought best to remove the session to Leicester. The country was on the verge of an outbreak, and it was not long delayed. CHAPTER V 1435-1453 : the loss of France Charles VII and the Duke of Burgundy, having sung a Te Deum together in the church of St. Vaast in Arras, and Charles, as a compHment to the Duke, having given the name of PhiHp to the son born to him at that time, preparations for united war against England were begun. The position of Charles was now most favourable. Burgundy, with all his domains scattered down the eastern borders of France, was on his side ; the Duke of Brittany, though not an ally on whom much reliance could be placed, was likely to be kept loyal to France by his brother, the Constable de Richemont, while the people of Brittany were openly French in sympathy, and supplied Charles with bodies of men who did him great service. More- over the people of Normandy, in spite of their strong English garrisons, were now with him in spirit, and large numbers of them fled over the border into Brittany that they might openly support his cause. In England the Parliament summoned in the autumn of 1435, roused to a blind fury by the defection of Burgundy, voted large sums towards the continuance of the war, and in April 1436 the young Duke of York was appointed to the Lieutenancy of France in the 155 156 HENRY VI [1436 place of Bedford. He was only twenty-four at the time, and on account of his youth, says a chronicler, was not encouraged to fight,i but he nevertheless displayed considerable ability. He was accompanied to France by his brother-in-law and faithful friend the new Earl of Salisbury — that Richard Neville who had married the daughter and heiress of the Salisbury who was killed before Orleans. The veteran Talbot also remained in the field, together with such well-seasoned captains as Lord Hungerford, John Fastolf, Matthew Gough and Thomas Kyriel. Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester was appointed Captain of Calais, a point now likely to be threatened by Burgundy, whose Flemish lands lay within a stone's throw of it. During the winter the French had not been idle. A raid into Normandy found the English so unprepared that the invaders, aided by the peasantry, actually succeeded — though only temporarily — in capturing Dieppe, Fecamp and Harfleur. A number of towns in the neighbourhood of Paris also fell into their hands, but the overrash band which captured St. Denis was quickly expelled by the English, Early in 1436 Charles began his advance in earnest, and the army, under the command of Richemont, marched on Paris. Already the city was almost cut off ; Pontoise, Vincennes, Corbeil, St. Germain en Laye and other towns had fallen into the hands of the French, and the Parisians were approaching a condi- tion of famine owing to the vicinity having been so ^ Chron. Aug. de regnis trium regum Lane. (ed. J. A. Giles), pt. iv. 18. 1436] THE LOSS OF FRANCE 157 long infested by the enemy. The Governor for the English was Louis de Luxembourg, who was loyal enough but very unpopular, as were also his assistants, the notorious Cauchon, now Bishop of Lisieux, and the Bishops of Paris and Meaux, He was also sup- ported by Lord Willoughby and some English troops. Such, however, was the state of disaffection that he could hardly trust the inhabitants to assist in the defence. On 10 April Richemont took St. Denis, whereupon a mutiny broke out in Paris. On the 13th the Parisians rose under the leadership of one Lailler, Councillor of the Chamber of Accounts, barricaded the streets and poured missiles upon the English from the windows of the houses. Some of the latter made a stand in the Halles and others made for the Porte St. Denis, but finally those that were left were obliged to take refuge in the Bastille. Mean- while Richemont entered the city without difficulty by the Porte St. Jacques, and was escorted to Notre Dame by a joyous crowd. After four days Willoughby and his troops in the Bastille were allowed to retire to Rouen, and they marched out amid the hoots of the Parisians. Thus was Paris finally lost to the English, after being in their possession for seventeen years. In the summer of 1436 Burgundy, finding his Flemish provinces more ready than usual to give him help owing to their irritation at the English outrages against their merchants in London, led the troops thus provided against Calais, which was the nearest English stronghold of importance. Philip, however, 158 HENRY VI [1436 was not strong enough to reduce such a place, and the siege did not prosper. The fleet which was to co- operate with his army was delayed; when it at last arrived vessels were sunk in the mouth of the harbour, but were found to be in the wrong place and proved quite ineffectual for blockading the town. Finally, finding the coast dangerous, the ships sailed away altogether. 1 At that the Flemish troops, who had been tiresome all along, mutinied and announced their intention of going home, so that at the end of July Philip was obliged ignominiously to abandon the siege and retreat. By this time reinforcements had been raised in England, where there had been some alarm, but not enough to induce much haste. Glou- cester, who does not seem to have allowed his duties as Captain of Calais to weigh very heavily upon him, landed in France with an army of 8000 men shortly after Philip had retired. Finding his enemy flown he advanced into West Flanders, burnt ' Poperinghe ' and Bailleul, but " little did to counte a manly man," ^ and soon returned to England. Charles, exhausted by the effort of taking Paris, made no move for the defence of his ally, while Burgundy " sore sycke was many a day for sorowe and shame." During the winter of 14-36-7 York began to dis- tinguish himself, making the recapture of the towns round Paris his objective. His principal feat was the regaining of Pontoise in February, when, owing to a hard frost, the surrounding water defences were ^ Jehan de Waurin, Croniques (Rolls Ser.), iv. 176-8. 2 Hardyng's Chronicle, 396. 1437] THE LOSS OF FRANCE 159 turned to the advantage of the besiegers. Other towns also fell before his arms, but in the spring of 1437, apparently at his own request, he was recalled to England. His appointment had only been for a year, but it seems strange that it should not have been continued, since he was so successful in his office. Possibly it was considered that he attempted too much for a young and inexperienced commander. He was replaced in July by the old Earl of Warwick, tutor to the King, who was now considered to be of age. This venerable warrior was not, however, destined to meet with much success. In the autumn of 1437 Charles was at last pre- vailed upon to move. This time he actually led his army in person, and advanced to raise the siege of Montereau. This was accomplished on 10 October, and a month later, on 12 November, Charles made his triumphal entry into Paris, which he had not ventured to visit until then. There was the usual display of pageantry of a rehgious character. The King was accompanied by the seven cardinal virtues and the seven deadly sins, and was met by many sacred tableaux, of which the " acting was good and very affecting." ^ By the Chatelet gate he encoun- tered the Last Judgment, with St. Michael in the centre weighing souls. The people sang carols as lustily as they were able. Charles however, only stayed in Paris three weeks, as the English were too near to be pleasant, and he then returned to the safe neighbourhood of the Loire. 1 Chron. of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, L. Douet d'Arcq., v. 303. 160 HENRY VI [1437-9 A new English commander made his appearance this year in the person of John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, who up to this time had been a prisoner in France since the battle of Beauge in 1421. This nephew of the Cardinal was now exchanged for the Count of Eu. His return, however, brought no particular advantage to the English arms, for none of the Beauforts were distinguished for their military capacity. Little was done during 1438 owing to general dis- tress, the famine in France being worse than usual. Wolves howled round Paris and grew so bold that they entered and devoured people in the streets. Charles made an expedition into Gascony, took the town of Tartas and advanced towards Bordeaux. The gallant defence of the Chateau de la Reole, how- ever, detained him until winter set in, when the extreme cold forced him to retreat. Next year, 1439, John, Earl of Huntingdon, who had been appointed Lieutenant of Aquitaine, landed with a force of 2000 men, swept off the remnants of Charles's expedition, and made the country round Bordeaux once more secure. During this winter a desire for peace had again made itself felt, fostered at home by the Beauforts, and arrangements began to be made for a conference in January 1439. The Ambassadors met in June at a spot between Calais and Gravelines. The English envoys. Cardinal Beaufort, the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Oxford, proposed to keep Calais, Normandy, Guienne and Maine, and offered to acknowledge 1439] THE LOSS OF FRANCE 161 Charles as King of France if Henry might use the title also. This quaint arrangement was hardly likely to commend itself to the French, who were in a far stronger position than at the time of the proposals of Arras. On their side they refused to give up Maine, and insisted that Henry should do homage for the lands he was permitted to keep. Negotiations, how- ever, dragged on until August. The Ambassadors do not appear to have spent all their time on business, for we read that they devoured many sweetmeats and pears, and it is further related that the Archbishop of Rheims hurt his foot playing at ball.^ In the end the young Henry was persuaded by Gloucester, who still had considerable influence over him, to reject the French terms once more, and nothing was effected by the conference except a private truce for three years between England and Burgundy. Charles, meanwhile taking advantage of the pause in the military operations, had begun to inaugurate the reforms in the organization of his army which were so greatly needed. Possibly this awakening to activity was caused by the influence of Burgundy, but more probably by that of his own vigorous and patriotic captains, such as Charles of Anjou, the Bastard of Orleans, Richemont, and Pierre de Breze, who since the fall of La Tremouille had been able to gain the ear of the King and were gradually arousing him to sustained effort. In November 1439 the Estates General at Orleans re-enacted an old ordinance fixing the permanent cantonments of the troops, and ^ Nicholas, Proc. and Or A. of the Privy Council, Chron. Cat. xix., etc. M 1G2 HENRY VI [1439 also voted 1,200,000 livres a year for the support of the army, thus making a regular standing army possible for the first time. Charles, however, had little time at the moment for carrying out reforms, for the war had to be continued when the negotiations of 1439 failed, and he was further distracted by a conspiracy of his nobles, headed by the Dukes of Bourbon and Alengon and the Comte de Vendome, with the connivance of the Dauphin Louis, which threatened to plunge him into civil war. He was therefore for the present obliged to bide his time. Immediately after the envoys dispersed he took Meaux. While the conference had been going on, England had sustained another loss in the death of the old Earl of Warwick, Richard Beauchamp, in April 1439 — a seasoned and capable warrior, though lacking in brilliance. " He stode in grace of his commendacion Emonge all folke unto the day he died." ^ His place was taken by the Duke of York, who in the following year was appointed Lieutenant-General in Normandy and France, with " like and sembable power as my Lord of Bedford had." ^ In 1440 the decision was made to release the Duke of Orleans, who had been languishing as a prisoner in England for the last twenty-five years — since the 1 Hardyng's Chronicle, 396. 2 Stevenson, Letters and Papers of Reign of Henry VI (Rolls Ser.), ii. 586. ;■ r|| I ^ ;::• ^B^4^4-^S|^' - .c^^^-^ .^^-^'U' I k 'rvmrwi \ ^' 1-- ■ .. > .;"!: s4^ ''- J > -^ HOW KING HEXRV MADE EARL RICHARD HIS LIEUTEXAXT OF FRANCE AND NORMANDY Warwick Pageant. Brit. Mus., Cottonian MS. Julius E. \\ 1440] THE LOSS OF FRANCE 163 battle of Agincourt. Henry V had left strict injunc- tions that he should not be released during the minority of Henry VI, but it was now thought that a suitable moment had come, especially as the Duke of Burgundy was urgent for his liberation. Charles being at the moment distracted by the " praguerie " — the revolt of his disaffected nobles — it was privately hoped in England that the Duke of Orleans would join the insurgents and cause Charles so much embarrassment that he would be glad to conclude peace with the English. The ransom of the Duke was fixed at 40,000 nobles ^ on liberation, and 80,000 marks ^ to be paid within six months after his release unless peace was made as a result of his mediation. Glou- cester, who had no wish for peace, was entirely opposed to his liberation, but for once his protest was in vain. Orleans took an oath on the sacrament, in the presence of all the Lords of the Council except Gloucester, who pointedly absented himself, not to bear arms against England, and on 3 November was given his safe conduct. He was received with open arms by Bur- gundy, who paid part of his ransom and gave him his niece in marriage. Charles was not overpleased at this ostentatious friendship between two ancient enemies, but far from being intimidated, only roused himself to fresh efforts towards the strengthening of his position. The praguerie was put down, and the release of Orleans was quite without the beneficial results hoped for by the English. In 1441 Charles found himself strong enough to enforce order within 1 A noble = 6s. Sd. 2 ^ mark = 135. 4c?. 164 HENRY VI [1441-2 his domains. He conducted a punitive expedition against the " 6corcheurs " who tormented the country, and succeeded in clearing Champagne of these dreaded brigands. Meanwhile steady advance was made by the French in lle-de-France. The last struggle in that district concentrated round Pontoise. The French laid vigorous siege to the town, but the defence was long and courageous under the captaincy of Lord Chfford. Talbot reheved it in June, but the French returned. Three times more they were driven back, once by York and twice by Talbot, and the struggle was fought out backwards and forwards across the Seine and the Oise; but at last the French stormed the town. They had built a bastille before it from which the English were unable to dislodge them, and on 16 September two furious assaults, lasting for five hours, won the town. With the fall of Pontoise the English occupation of tle-de-France was at an end. Such was the result of the first six years of fighting after the death of Bedford. The next three years were occupied with desultory warfare of varying success. In 1442, by a rapid incursion into Normandy, Dieppe was surprised when the English were in their beds and once more taken by the French. Somerset occupied himself in making a " chivalrous promenade " through Normandy and Anjou, while Charles in person was harrying Gascony and making considerable inroads into Guienne. Inci- dentally the Count of Armagnac was placed in an embarrassing position by this expedition, for at that time Henry VI was considering the question of a 1442-3] THE LOSS OF FRANCE 165 marriage with one of his daughters, and the poor Count, with Charles and his army on his very borders, dared not offend him by returning friendly answers to the English envoys. Hence the marriage fell through. Had Charles chosen any other time for invading Gascony Henry's future might have been less stormy. Bordeaux was put in a state of defence by the gallant Archbishop Pey Berland, who followed up this action by going to London in person to beg assistance. It now became pressing for England to send relief to Guienne, but York also was clamouring for rein- forcements, all the efforts of Talbot (now Earl of Shrewsbury) being insufficient to recover Dieppe. In the limited state of the English resources the choice was rather a difficult one. Gloucester's in- fluence at this time was a good deal impaired by the disgrace into which his wife had fallen for treason- able practices ; Cardinal Beaufort, having consequently the ascendancy, succeeded in getting his nephew Somerset appointed to bear help to Guienne. A considerable force was raised, and Somerset, as " Captain-General of France and Guienne," set out in August 1443. This incident did not improve the relations between York and the Beauforts, for York, in addition to losing his reinforcements, felt that his rights as Lieutenant-General of France were infringed by Somerset's appointment, although the latter's authority was supposed to be restricted to regions not under the control of York, Somerset was an incompetent commander, and wasted his time and 166 HENRY VI [1443-4 his men in making useless raids into Maine and Anjou instead of pressing on to Bordeaux. Consequently he never reached Guienne at all, and returned home having done nothing. Probably his health was already failing, for he died in the following spring. His brother, Edmund Beaufort, Earl of Dorset, then succeeded to the Earldom of Somerset and to the influential position of the Beauforts, in which he was so soon to come into deadly conflict with York.^ The failure of this expedition and the eclipse of Gloucester's influence turned the inclinations of England once more towards peace, and the wish was shared by the Dukes of Burgundy, Brittany and Or- leans, the last of whom was mindful of the conditions of his release. The Pope also urged the desirability of putting an end to the hostilities. The Beauforts and King Henry, moreover, were anxious that peace should be secured by the young King's marriage with Margaret, daughter of Rene of Anjou, who was brother to the Queen of Charles VII. Accordingly in 1444 the Earl of Suffolk and the Bishop of Chichester were sent over to France to negotiate both the be- trothal and a truce. Suffolk's talents, however, were not such as fitted him for diplomatic service, and he betrayed such obvious eagerness to gain his ends that the French, seeing their opportunity, became more and more exorbitant in their demands. In the end nothing was gained but the promise of a truce for ^ John Beaufort left a daughter, Margaret, who married Edmund Tudor, half-brother of Henry VI, and became the mother of Henry VII and ancestress of the Tudor Sovereigns. 1445] THE LOSS OF FRANCE 167 two years, while Suffolk had committed Henry to receiving Margaret as his wife entirely without dower. Suffolk then returned to England holding out hopes that he would be able to convert the truce into a peace with suitable terms later on, and was made a marquis for his pains. At the beginning of 1445 he returned to Nancy, where Rene had his Court, "with great apparel of chayres"^ to fetch the King's bride. But Rene, as already related, now demanded as a condition of the marriage the surrender of all the English strongholds in Maine and Anjou, Rene's ancestral lands. Suffolk's bungling had thus put him into a most unfortunate position, but he dared not draw back now and return ignominiously to England without the promised Queen on whom Henry had set his heart, and he was therefore obliged to accept these extraordinary terms. Doubtless he felt thankful that he had taken the precaution of obtain- ing an indemnity beforehand for anything that his embassy might involve. In February, Suffolk was married to Margaret as proxy for Henry, and she was then escorted to England by Suffolk and his wife. The news of the surrender of Maine was kept secret as long as possible. In July, according to promise, French Ambassadors came over to treat for peace, but the negotiations proved futile, as the French, now grown bold, had set their hearts on gaining Normandy, and Parliament, probably distrustful of what concessions Suffolk might make, petitioned against the conclusion of peace on the grounds that Henry V ^ Fabyan's Chronicle, p. 617. 168 HENRY VI [1446-8 had said that no treaty should be made without the consent of the three estates of the realm. The truce, however, was prolonged until November 1446. During the marriage truce many English Captains, who for long years had been serving in France, at last had an opportunity of returning home to see their wives and children. Difficulties followed with the surrendered lands, for the English garrisons in Maine flatly refused to give up their towns to the French without striking a blow. The French demanded that they should be surrendered at once, but the English invented endless excuses for delay, and months passed into years while nothing was done. Lemans in particular gave great trouble and held out the longest. In the autumn of 1447 the Captain of the town received formal orders from England to surrender, but even then he continued to evade the necessity. At last, in exasperation, the French took matters into their own hands, entered Maine with an army in February 1448, and laid siege to Lemans. The town was forced to surrender on 16 March, and the garrison, with those ejected from other towns, evacuated Maine in a discontented frame of mind, destined to cause catastrophe in the near future, and took up their quarters at Mortain and St. James de Beuvron, near the borders of Brittany. Maine and Anjou thus passed out of English dominion, in spite of the quibbling protest of Matthew Gough that the cession was only on condition of a secure peace being concluded and that the English sovereignty was not resigned. i^xlexit of Ha^lish dominions in April 11-29. Sur^undiazi let/ids . Ghent / I ) Rutn { \Jbbey.He ^ A^Aaf t°i'.l*!:t jy ^ Gaen 'L.s,eu^ (ia,ll<,^d ^„^f,g, totse f^-^ ' Rhei _ «^ oUortain ^ Verntii:l.~-fi ., ^^^^r l i. v^ J> a m p Fouqires ' Fresnoy . " °a^ii^rr.^ ' ^-' Charti ?}' -li o 1 e \ " \ ~i,— -\.-< ijroyi JSwIlaume ° K. ■i'^ ^' ] Rouvroy ■^„ pp, ^^ ^ G/en I Cro vcrnt \ f / ^-~^y J I) a. i( p h i n c Prove n c X ¥0XTC ~\ jSi?^ London TUmslable Ibid., i. 38; ii. 56. 1* Proc. Privy Council, v. 131. i« Ibid., 132. 1* Bekyngton Corres., ii. 98 ; i. 34. " Ibid. " 75id.^ i. 185. 1* Docviment at King's College, cit. Willis, Archit. Hist, of Cam- bridge, i. 321. 20 Proc. Privy Council, v. 139. 21 jbid., v. 142. 22 Ibid. 23 Bekyngton Corres., i. 211. 2* Proc. Privy Council, v. 145. 25 Bekyngton Corres., i. 235. 28 Ibid., 239. 27 /5id.^ ii. 99. 28 ma., X. 130. 2» /6icZ. 30 jft^d., 137. 380 ITINERARY OF HENRY VI Hertford, King's Langley ; 3, Hertford, Langley, Waltham, Totten- ham; Westminster, Sheen; 6-11, Sheen; 12-15, Westminster; ^ 16-26, Eltham; 26, Eltham, Westminster; 27, Uxbridge; 28, Sheen; 29, Sheen, Westminster; 30-Dec. 31, The Manor in Windsor Park or Eltham. ^ Perhaps Dec. 13 at Hillingdon.* 1442. Jan. 1, 7, Eltham; 8, Eltham, Dartford, Rochester; 9, Sittingbourne, Ospringe; 10, Canterbury; 11, Ospringe; 12, Sitting- bourne, Rochester; 13, Rochester, Dartford, Eltham; 14, Eltham, Westminster; 15, Eltham; 16, Eltham, Kennington, Sheen; 17, Sheen; 18, Sheen, Westminster; 19, Staines; 20, 21, Easthampstead ; 22, Easthampstead, Staines; 23, Sheen, Westminster; 24-28, West- minster ; ^ 29, The Wardrobe in London ; ^ Z(y-Feb. 24, Westminster, Eltham; 25-Jiine 5, Sheen, Windsor, Colnbrook or Westminster.^ 6, Wmdsor, Brentford; 7-11, Eltham; 12, Eltham, Clapham, Sheen; 13-17, Sheen; 18, Cohibrook; 19-July 9, Wuidsor; ' 10, Windsor, Brentford; 11-15, Fulham; 16, Brentford, Cohibrook; 11 -Sept. 30' apparently at Windsor or Sheen.s Oct. 4-30, Eltham; » Nov. 7-21, Westminster. Dec. 1, Westminster, Windsor; 6, 7-30, Dogmers- iield. 1443. Jan. 1-9, Dogmersfield ; 13, Westminster; 15, Windsor; 16, Dogmersfield; 27-30, Eltham." Feb. 2-27," Westminster, Chis- wick, Sheen. Mar. 2-18, Westminster; 26-April 6, Eltham ;i2 11-24, Dogmersfield. May 5- Aug. 24, Westminster and Sheen ; ^^ 28, Kennington. Sept. 16, Westminster. Oct. 1-18, Windsor; 19, Colnbrook, Sheen; 20-29, Sheen; 30, Colnbrook, Windsor; 31-Nov. 5, Windsor; 7, Windsor, Easthampstead; 8, 9, East- hampstead; 10-27, Sheen;" 28, Colnbrook, Windsor; 29-Dec. ^ Proc. Privy Council, v. 153. * There is no evidence to show at which place the King was in residence. 3 Treaty R. 124, m. 22. * Rolls of Parliament, v. 34. ^ " Gard, London." ^ April 15 he was, perhaps, at Chiswick, and May 24 and June 1 at Dogmersfield. ' Bekyngton Corres., ii. 180. * Proc. Privy Council, v. 192-207. » Ibid., V. 210, 212, 214, 215. *" Rymer, xi. 18. ^^ Proc. Privy Council, v. 223-6. ^^ Ibid., 249, 264. " Ibid., 267, 268, 273, 288. 1* Eptries continue for Easthampstead till Dec. 10. ITINERARY OF HENRY VI 381 10, Windsor; 11-18, Sheen; 19, Colnbrook, Windsor; 20-31, Windsor. 1444. Jan. 1-6, Windsor; 7, Windsor, Colnbrook, Sheen, Uxbridge, Rickmansworth ; 8-31, Sheen or King's Langley. Feb. \-Mar. 22, apparently at Sheen; 23-25, Hillingdon; 26, Wycombe; 27, Watlington; 28, Watlington, Culham; 2Q-April 4, Culham; 4, Culham, Abingdon; 5, Abingdon; 6-15, Abingdon; 16-19, Culham; 20-26, Woodstock; 27, Islip, Tetsworth; 28, Stoken Church, Wycombe ; 29, Beaconsfield, Hillingdon ; dO-May 7, HilUngdon; 8, Hillingdon, Chalfont, Berkhampstead ; 9-25, Berk- hampstead or King's Langley ; 25, Berkhampstead, King's Langley, Chalfont ;i 26-28, Hillingdon; 29, Chalfont; 30-June 11, Berk- hampstead; 12, Chalfont, Uxbridge; 13, StanweU, Bagshot; 14, Bagshot; 15, Farnham, Alton; 16, Wamford; 17, Southwick; 18, Meon Stoke; 19, Tisted, Alton; 20, Farnham, Bagshot; 21, Bagshot; 22, Stanwell, Sheen; 23-July 19, Sheen; 2 20, Sheen, Staines, The Manor in Windsor Park; 21-26, The Manor in Windsor Park ; 27, The Manor in Windsor Park, Bagshot, Henley ; 28-Aug. 2, Henley ; 3, Henley ?, Easthamsptead ; 4, Marlow, Wycombe ; 5, Stoken Church, Tetsworth; 6, Islip, Woodstock; 7-11, Wood- stock; 12-20, Langley in Whichewood; 21, Woodstock; 25, Islip, Tetsworth ; 26, Stoken Church, Wycombe ; 27, Marlow, The Manor in Windsor Park; 28~Sept. 10, Windsor; 11, Staines, Kingston; 12, Clapham, Eltham; 13-16, Eltham; 17, Eltham, Clapham, Kingston; 18, Staines, Windsor; 19-30, Windsor. Oct. l(y-Dec. 30, Westminster. 1445. Jan. 1-April 14, Westminster; 18, Southwick Priory ;3 22, Titchfield Abbey;* May 7-25,^ Westminster; 26, The Tower of London ; ' 28, London ; ' 30-June » 19, Westminster. July 3, 5, Windsor Castle; 9 13 10-I6," Westminster; 17, Windsor; ^^ 19,26, ^ The King was probably at Berkhampstead. ' Payments at King's Langley or Chiltem Langley throughout July, Aug. and Sept. ^ Rymer, xi. 83. * Marriage of the King and Margaret of Anjou. ' Proc. Privy Council, vi. 39. ' Gregory's Chron., 186. ' Chron. of London, 186. « Ibid. ; Davies, English Chron., 61 ; Treaty R. 127, m. 6. * Rymer, xi. 89. i« L. and P. of Henry VI. (Rolls. Ser), i. 1. " Ibid., i. 124. " Ibid. 382 ITINERARY OF HENRY VI Westminster; 27, 30, Fulham;! Sept. 1-Ocf. 20, Westminster; 28, Eltham; - Nov. 2-27, Westminster. Dec. 25, Windsor.^ 1446. Jan. 2,* 3,^ Windsor Castle; S-Mar. 30, Westminster. April 21, Canterbury; 2'i-July 20, Westminster. Aug. 1,^ Augus- tinian Friary, Lymi; 1-Oct. 18, Westminster; 25, Windsor.' Nov. 8, 10, 14, Westminster; 16, Eltham, Dartford; 17, Gravesend, Rochester; 18, Sittingbourne, Ospringe; 19, 20, Canterbury; 21, Canterbury, Ospringe ; 22, Sittingbourne ; 23, Gravesend, Dartford ; 24, Eltham, Westminster; 25-Z>ec. 1, Westminster; 2, Westminster, Brentford; 3, Colnbrook, Windsor; 4-12, Windsor or Sheen; 13-19, Sheen; 19, Sheen, Cohibrook; 20, Windsor; 21, 22, Windsor, Sheen; 23, Colnbrook; 24-31, Windsor. 1447. Jan. 1-9, Windsor, Bagshot ; 11, Guildford; 12, Guildford, Chiddingfold ; 13, Midhurst, Arundel; 14, 15, Chichester; 16, Havant, Southwick; 17, Botley, South(ampton) ; 18-21, Southamp- ton; 24, Alresford, Alton; 25, Alton, Farnham; 26, Guildford; 27, Windsor, Guildford, "Newerk;" 2%—Feh. 2, Windsor; 3, Windsor, Uxbridge, Watford; 4, Hatfield, Hertford; 5, Hertford; 6, Buntingford, Royston; 7, Cambridge; 8, Newmarket; 9 — • Mar. 5, Bury St. Edmunds ; 8 6, Thetford ; 7, Pickenham,^ Litham ; 8, Walsingham; 9, " Hilberworth," Brandon Ferry; 10, Mildenhall, Newmarket; 11-14, Cambridge; 15, Royston; 16, Ware, "Ponontz;" 17, Cheshunt, Tottenham; 18, Tottenham; 19, West- minster; 1" 20, Brentford, Colnbrook, Windsor; 21 — Mar. 4. Appar- ently at Windsor but " testes " at Canterbury on Mar. 24," 31,^^ April 6, 1 1 and at Maidstone, Mar. 29 ; Windsor, Baghot, Farnham ; 5, Farnham, Alton, Alresford; 6-8, Winchester; 9, Bishop's Waltham; 10, Alresford, Alton; 11, Farnham; 12, Bagshot; 13-15, Windsor, Greenwich; 16, Windsor, Kingston, Westminster, Greenwich; 17 — June 23, Windsor with occasional visits to West- minster by Colnbrook and Brentford ; 24, 25, Windsor, Greenwich ; 1 L. and P. of Henry VI., 142-3, 148. * Rymer, xi. 105. ' M. d'Esconchy, Chronique, iii. 153. « L. and P. of Henry VI. ii. (1), 371. * Rymer, xi. 111. ' Capgrave, 137. ' Proc. Privy Council, vi. 56. « Rolls of Parliament, v. 128 {Feb. 10); Rymer, xi. 155 (Feb. 24). * " Piknamwade," 1' Proc. of Privy Couticil, vi. 61. " Rymer, Foadera, xi. 160. " Ibid. ITINERARY OF HENRY VI 383 26-28, Greenwich, Westminster, Windsor; 29, Windsor, Greenwich; 30, Greenwich, Brentford, Colnbrook. July 1, Colnbrook, Brent- ford, Greenwich; 2-14, Greenwich, Westminster; 15, 16, West- minster, Greenwich, Eltham; 17, Greenwich, Stratford; 18, Strat- ford, Havering atte Bower; 19, Barking, Westminster; 20-27. Westminster, Green-\vich; 28, Westminster, Brentford; 29, Brent- ford, Colnbrook, Windsor; 30, 31, Windsor. Aug. 1, Windsor, Wycombe; 2, Stoken Church, Tetsworth; 3, Islip, Woodstock; 4, Woodstock; 5, 6, Oseney; 7, Dorchester, Ewelme; 8, Reading; 9, Maidenhead, Windsor; 10-15, Windsor; 16, Windsor, West- minster; ^ 17, Windsor, Sonning; 18, Theale, Newbury ; 19, Hunger- ford, Marlborough; 20-27, 28, Marlborough, Bishops Cannings, Potterne; 29, Trowbridge, "Farley" (Monkton Farley?); 30, Bath; 31, Keynsham, Bristol. Sept. 1, Sudbury; 2, 3, Sudburj^, Malmesbury; 4, Dorchester, Lechlade; 5, Faringdon, Abmgdon; 6, WalJingford, Sonning; 7, Maidenhead; 8-12, Windsor; 13, Windsor, Colnbrook; 14, Brentford, Westminster; 15, Brent- ford, Westminster; 16, 17, Westminster, Greenwich; 18, West- minster; ^ 19-21, Westminster, Greenwich; 22, Westminster, Greenwich, " WelUng," Dartford; 23, Gravesend; 24, Gravesend, Greenwich; 25, Rochester; 26, Rochester, Sittingbourne ; 27, Sittingboume, Ospringe ; 28, Ospringe, Canterbury ; 29, Feversham ; 30, Maidstone. Oct. 1-19, Westminster; 23, Eltham; 3 24-27, Nov. 3-25, Westminster; 28, Westminster, Brentford; 29-Z>ec. 7, Windsor; 8, Windsor, Westminster; 9, Windsor, Brentford; 10, Westminster; 11, Westminster,* Romford, Dartford; 12, Dartford, Gravesend, Rochester; 13, Rochester, Sittingbourne, Ospringe; 14, Canterbury; 15, Ospringe; 16, Ospringe, Sittingbourne, Rochester; 17, Rochester; 18, Rochester, Dartford, Gravesend; 19, Westminster, Brentford, Windsor; 20, Windsor; 21, Windsor, Westmmster; 22-31, Windsor. 1448. Jan. l-Feb. 13, Windsor, Brentford and Westminster;^ 14, 15, Windsor, Eltham; 16, Eltham, Windsor; 17-28, Windsor, Brentford, Eltham or Greenwich; 29, Greenwich, Gravesend, Rochester. Mar. 1, Sittingbourne, Osi^ringe; 2, Ospringe, Cantcr- ^ RjTner, Fadera, xi. 188. - Ibid. ' L. and P., ii. (2) 703. * M. d'Esconchy, op. cit., iii. 175. ' Croydon, Jan. 11, 15, 19, and Maidstone Jan. 1, 7, 384 ITINERARY OF HENRY VI bury; 3, Canterbury; 4, Ospringe; 5, Sittingbourne, Maidstone; 6, Cobham, Dartford; 7, 8, Eltham; 9, Eltham, Westminster, Windsor; 10, Windsor, Greenwich; 11, Greenwich, Tower of London, Westminster, Windsor; 12, Windsor, Eton College, ^ Brentford; 13, Colnbrook, Windsor; U-April 10, Windsor; 11, Windsor, Brentford; 12, Camberwell, Eltham; 13, 14, Eltham; 15, Eltham, Westminster; 17, Clapham, Brentford; 18, Brentford, Windsor; 19-28, Windsor; 29, Windsor, Merton. i/oy 1, Merton, Windsor; 2-26, apparently Windsor; 27, Windsor, Brentford; 28, Clapham, Eltham; 29-Ju7ie 4, Eltham; 5, Eltham, Walthara (Abbey); 6, Waltham (Abbey), Ware; 7, Buntmgford, Royston; 8, 9, Cambridge ; 10, Borwell, Mildenhall; 11, Brandon Ferry; 12, Brandon Ferry, Litham ; 13, Litham, Walsingham ; 14, Walsingham, Dereham; 15, Dereham, Norwich; 16, Norwich; 17, Attleborough ; 18, Attleborough, Thetford; 19, Thetford, Bury St. Edmunds; 20, Bury St. Edmunds, Woolpit; 21, Bury St. Edmunds, Milden- hall; 22-30, Cambridge. J«??/ 1, Cambridge, Royston; 2, Royston, Ware; 3, Ware, Waltham (Abbey); 4, Edmonton, Westminster; 5, Westminster, Brentford, Windsor; 6-17, Windsor; 18, Windsor. Bagshot, Hartford Bridge; 19, Basingstoke, Ashe; 20, Wallop, Clarendon; 21, 22, Clarendon; 24, 25, Shaftesbury; 26, Temple- combe,2 Sherborne; 27-29, Glastonbury; 30, Wells; 31, Chew.' A2ig. 1, Bristol ; 2, Bath ; 3, Castlecombe, Malmesbury ; 4, Malmes- bury; 5, Cirencester; 6, Lechlade; 7, Ewelme; 9-15, Windsor; 16, Windsor, Westminster; 17-21, Windsor; 22, Windsor, West- minster; 23-Sept. 2, Windsor; 3, Windsor, Brentford; 4, West- minster; 5, Waltham (Abbey); 6, Waltham (Abbey), Puckeridge, Barkway; 7, 8, Cambridge; 9, Huntingdon; 10, Stilton; 11, Wanford, Stamford; 12, Essendine,* Grantham; 13, Newark, Southwell; 14, 15, Southwell; 16, " Harow," Retford, Scrooby ; 17, Scrooby, Doncaster; 18, Pontefract ; 19, Shirborne, " Heyle ; " ^ 20-22, York ; 23, York, Alne, Topchffe ; 24, Topcliffe, Northallerton: 25, Northallerton, Darlington; 26, Ferryhill, Durham; 27-29, Durham; 30, Ferryhill, Darlington. Oct. 9, Beverley;' 13, 14, ^Document at King's College, cit. Willis, op. cit., i. 221. * " Totme." ^ Chew Magna or Chew Stoke. « " Eston." * Healaugh Hall near Tadcaster ? •* M. d'Esconchy, iii. 210. ITINERARY OF HENRY VI 385 York; 15, Sherburn, Pontefract; 16, Blyth; 17, Kettlethorp, Lincoln; 18-20, Lincoln; 21, Navenby, Grantham ; 22, Essendine,^ Stamford; 23, "Mylton;" 24, Thorney; 25, Sawtry, Hunting- don; 26-28, Cambridge; 29, Royston; 30, " Richworth," ^ Luton; 31-Nov. 2, St. Albans, Tittenhanger Park; 3, Westminster; 3- Dec. 2, Eltham with visits to Westminster and Tower of London; 3, Eltham, Brentford; 4, 5, Windsor; 6, Windsor, Westminster; 7-9, Windsor; 10, Windsor, Brentford; 11, Brentford, Eltham; 12, Eltham; 13, Eltham, Gravesend, Rochester; 14, 15, Canter- bury; 16, Ospringe; 17, Sittingbourne, Rochester; 18, Eltham; 19, Eltham, Westminster,^ Brentford; 20-22, Windsor; 23, Brentford, Windsor; 24-31, Windsor. 1449. Jan. 1-14, Windsor; 15, Windsor, Bagshot; 16, Farnham; 17, Alton, Alresford; 18, 19, Winchester; 20, Alresford; 21, Alton; 22, Farnham; 23, Bagshot, Windsor; 24-i^e6. 9, Windsor and Westminster; 10, Windsor, Brentford; 11, Westminster; 12, Westminster,* Kingston; 13, Westminster?, Greenwich; 14- Mar. 23, Greenwich, Eltham, and Westminster ; 22, 23, Westminster, Sheen; 24, Windsor; 25, 26-June 7, Apparently Windsor with visits to Westminster; 19-July 15, Winchester; 16, Winchester, Alresford, Holybourne; 17, Holybourne, Farnham; 18, Bagshot; 19, Windsor; 20, Windsor, Staines, Westminster; 21, Kingston, Merton, Sheen; 22, Sheen, Merton, Greenwich; 23, 24, Eltham, Westminster; 25-27, Eltham; 28-31, Eltham, Westminster. Aug. 1-11, Eltham; 12, Eltham, Brentford; 13, Brentford, Wind- sor; 14-17, Windsor; 18, Windsor, Brentford, Westminster; 19, Hackney, Waltham; 20, Ware, Buntingford; 21, Royston, Cambridge; 22-24, Cambridge; 25, Ely; 26, " Wilnate," Brandon Ferry; 27, " Hilberworth," Litham; 28, Walsingham; 29, Dere- ham; 30, 31, Norwich. Sept. 1, Wymondham, Thetford; 2, Thetford ?, Bury St. Edmunds ; 3, Woolpit, Newmarket ; 4, New- market ?, " Baverham," Barkway ; 5, Ware, Waltham; 6, Hackney, Eltham; 7-9, Eltham; 10, 11, Eltham, Sheen; 12, 13, Eltham, Sheen, Westminster;* IQ-Dec. 19, Westminster; 25, Greenwich. 1450. Jan. 20-April 6, Westminster; 22-June 8, Leicester; ^ " Eston." * Letch worth ? ' Rymer, Foedera, xi. 220. * Rolls of Parliament, v. 141. ' Rymer, Foedera, xi. 241. « L. and P., Henry VI., ii. (2) 770. CO 386 ITINERARY OF HENRY VI 16-18, Hospital of St. John at Clerkenwell ; ^ 25, Westminster 28, Westminster,^ Blackheath,^ Greenwich, London; 29-Aug. 11, Westminster; 18, Brentford;* Sept. 2, 5, 9, Westminster; 11, Rochester; 16, Maidstone; 21-24, Canterbury; 28-Oc<. 8, West- minster; 9, Westminster, Brentford; 10-13, Chertsey;^ 14, Bagshot; 15, Farnham; 16, Alton; 17, Stoke Meon, Bishop's Waltham; 18, 19, Bishop's Waltham; 20, West Meon, Alton; 21, Alton, Farnham; 22, Farnham, Guildford; 23-Nov. 4, Sheen; 5-27, Westminster ; ^ 28, Westminster, Blackf riars in London ; ^ 29-Dec. 3, Westminster ; 4, Westminster, Blackfriars in London ; ^ 5-31, Westminster. 1451. Jan. 1-27, Westminster ; 28, Westminster, Dartford ; » 29, Gravesend, Rochester; 30, Sittingbourne, Ospringe; 31 Ospringe. Feb. 1-7, Canterbury; 8, Dover; 9, Sandwich; 10, 11 Canterbury; 12, Ospringe; 13, Sittingbourne, Rochester; 14-16 Rochester; 17, 18, Maidstone; 19-21, Rochester; 22, Dartford 23, City of London," Westminster; 2'L-April 2, Westminster 3-16, Westminster, Sheen; ll-June 10, Westminster, Brentford Colnbrook or Windsor; 11, Westminster, Waltham; 12-21, Hert ford; 22, Hertford, Westminster, Croydon; 23, 24, Croydon 25, Sevenoaks; 26, Tonbridge, Westminster; 27-30, Tonbridge Jnly 1, "Mavyle; " i" 2-5, Lewes; 6, Bramber; 7, Arundel; 8-12; Chichester; 13, Southwick; 14, 15, Winchester; 16, Romsey 17-21, Salisbury; 22, Andover; 23, Newbury; 24, 25, Reading 26, Maidenhead; 27, Stames, Kingston; 28, Kingston, Eltham 29, Eltham; 30, Eltham, Dartford; 31, Gravesend, Rochester Atig. 1, Rochester; 2, Sittmgbourne, Ospringe; 3-10, Canterbury 11, Canterbury; 12-16,^^ Canterbury; 17, Ospringe; 18, Sitting bourne, Rochester; 19, Gravesend, Dartford; 20, Eltham, Kings ton; 21, Kingston, Sheen, Eltham; 22-27, Eltham; 28, Eltham; Greenwich; 29-Sept. 2, Greenwich; 3, Greenwich, Kingston 4, Kingston; 5, Windsor; 6-8, Windsor; 9, Windsor, Uxbridge 10-13, St. Albans; 14, Dunstable; 15, Stony Stratford; 16, North ^ Jack Cade's rebellion. ^ RjTner, Fcedcra, xi. 272. ^ Chronicles of London, 159. * Proc. Privy Council, vi. 86. ^ Rolls of Parliament, v. 210. ® Proc. Privy Council, vi. 89. ' Ibid., 90. * Chronicles of London, 162. » Ibid., 163. 1" Mayfield or Maresfield ? 11 Proc. Privy Council, vi. 112. ITINERARY OF HENRY VI 387 ampton; 17, Market Harborough; 18-21, Leicester; 22-26, Coventry; 27, Kenilworth; 28, 29, Coventry; 30, Kenilworth. Oct. 25-Dec. 31, Westminster. 1452. Jan. 1-Feb. 28, Westminster; 28, St. Mary Overey at Southwark; ^ Mar. 1, Westminster, Blackheath, Welling; ^ 2, Welling; 3 3, Blackheath;* 'i-Sept. 4, Westminster; 6, West- minster, Eltham, Sheen ; 8-Nov. 15, Westminster ; 22-27, Reading ; 28-Z>ec. 8, Westminster; 10, 12, Canterbury; 16-26, Westminster. 1453. Jan. 1-Mar. 12, Westminster; Mar. 6^-28, Reading. The King was apparently at Westminster till the summer, when he went west and was taken ill at Clarendon about the second week in August.® He remained at Clarendon till the beginning of October, when he came to Westmmster and later to Wmdsor. 1454. The King during his illness was apparently at Windsor. On his recovery in December he went to Greenwich, where he waa on 27 Dec.'' 1455. Jan. 9, Greenwich ; ^ Feb. 25-May 16, Westminster ; 20 ?, Watford; » 22, St. Albans; i" 23"-/w?ie 1,^2 Bishop's Palace in London. July 9,^^ Westminster. At the end of July Henry went to Hertford, where he was again taken ill in October ; he was removed to Greenwich, where he probably remained till the middle of Feb. 1456. 1456. 1 Jan.-Feb. 24, Greenwich (?); 2S-May 21, Westminster; 26, Oxford; 31, Sheen; June, U-Aiig. 24, Westminster. Sept. 2-8, » London Chronicle, 1446-52, 298. 2 Ibid. » Ibid. * Ibid. * Rolls of Parliament, v. 227. * Chronica Regum Anglioe (Giles) gives about the feast of St. Thomas the Martyr, July 7, as the date of the King's illness at Clarendon. Ramsay {Lancaster and York, ii. 166) notes that he was still at Westminster on the 7th, and gives Aitg. 10 as the probable date. The King, however, seems to have issued documents till Sept. 5. ' Paston Letters, i.Zl5. * Ibid. * An English Chronicle (Davis). 1" Ibid.; the first battle of St. Albans ; the Chronicle of London gives the battle on the 23rd and the King to London on the 24th. " An Etiglish Chronicle (Davies), 71 ; Whetamstede, Chron. i. 171. ^2 Whetamstede, Chron., i. 171. 1* Rolls of Parliament, v. 278. 388 ITINERARY OF HENRY VI Saltwood; 11, Canterbury; 12, Ford; 24r-Oct. ll,i Coventry; 20, Eccleshall. Nov., Chester, Shrewsbury, Kenilworth. Dec. 8-13, Coventry ; 14, Thame ;] 22, 23, Westminster. 1459. The King seems to have continued in the Midlands during the spring and summer. During Feb. and the beginning of 3Iar. he was at Coventry. June, 7, 10, Coventry; July 16, 18, Kenil- worth. Aug., Kenilworth. Dec. 6, Reading. 1458. End of Jan, Abingdon, Westmuister. Feb. 1-24, Berk- hampstead.2 Mar. Vl-May 27, London, Westminster ; ^ 28, Greenwich.* .4 wgr. 6, Woodstock ; ^ 8, Berkhampstead; apparently remainder of the year at Westminster. 1459. Jan., Feb., and beginning of Mar., Westminster. Mar. 25, St. Albans.^ May and June apparently in the Midlands. July 6- 25,'' Coventry. Aug. 23, Coventry. Sept. 22, Market Harborough ; 25, Walsall; 26, Wolverhampton. Oct. 9, Leominster; 10, Coven- try; 14, Ludlow; 20, Warwick. Nov. 20 ^-Dec. 22, Coventry; 25, Leicester.^ 1460. Jan. 26, Leicester; 31, Feb. 4, Northampton. May 19- June 26, Coventry; July 7, In a tent in Hardingstone Field, near the Abbey de Pratis, Northampton ; ^° 9, Between Harsington and Sandiford near Northampton; ^^ 16, London; ^^ 17, City of London, St. Paul's Cathedral; ^^ jg^ Westminster; 25, Bishop of London's Palace in London.^* Aug. 8,1^ 9,i« Canterbury ; 14-Oc^. 29,^' West- minster; Zl-Nov. 1, The Bishop's Palace in London ^S; 2-Dec. 22 Westminster. ^ Proc. Privy Council, vi. 290. " Wlietamstede, Chron., i. 296. * Chronicles of London, 168; Whetamstede, Chron., i., 308. * Chronicles of London, 168. * Proc. Privy Council, vi. 296. * Whetamstede Chronicle, i. 323 (Easter Sunday). ' Rymer, Fcedera, xi. 423 (July 13) ; Proc. Privy Council, vi. 302. * Rolls of Parliament, v. 345. * L. and P., Henry VI., ii. (2) 771. ^o Delivery of Seals to the King. " Three Fifteenth Cent. Chrons., 74. " Ibid.; L. and P., Henry VI., ii. (2), 273. ^' Three Fifteenth Cent. Chrons., 74. ^* Delivery of Seals to the King. ^^ Rymer, Foedera, xi. 461. ^' Proc. Privy Council, vi. 304. i' Rolls of Parliament, v. 373. " Chronicles of London, 171; Gregory's chron-, 207. ITINERARY OF HENRY VI 389 1461. Jan. 5-Feb. 9, Westminster; 17, St. Albans.^ Feb., Bamet, St. Albans, Dunstable. Mar. York. April 1-5, York ; ^ 18, " Corvumbr " in Yorkshire; ^ 25, Scotland; * sometime during the remainder of the year Blackfriars, Edinburgh, Lmlithgow Castle ^ and Kirkcudbright. 1462. Scotland, Mar. 27, Edinburgh.s 1463. Edinburgh,' AlmvicJi, Norham, Bamborough, Edinburgh. 1464. Jan. 2, Edinburgh ;8 between 3-3Iar. 30, St. Andrews ;» 31, Bamborough." 3Iay 15, Bywell Castle; " 16-Dec. 31, West- moreland and neighbourhood, Crackenthorpe.^^ 1465. Jan. \-July, Westmoreland, Waddinghall nr. Clithero,^^ a wood near Cletherwood, beside " Bungelly Hyppyngstones ; " " 24, Islington, The Tower of London ;^^ 25-Dec. 31, Tower of London. ^^ 1466-1469. Tower of London." 1470. Jan. l-Oct, Tower of London; ^s 9, Westminster; !» 12, Tower of London; 2" 15-Dec. 28, Westminster. 1471. Jan. ll-April 8, Westminster; 10, 11, The Bishop's Palace in London ; 21 13, 14, Bamet ; 22 15 ?-21, The Tower of London.23 ^ Gregory's Chron., 211 ; the second battle of St. Albans. 2 Chronicles of London, 175. Henry left York after Easter Sunday, April 5. ^ Fasten Letters, ii. 7. * Fabyan, 640 ; Surrender of Berwick Castle to Scots. * Excheq. Rolls of Scotland, vii. 49, 60, 62, 80. « Wavrin, iii. 169-170. ' Excheq. Rolls of Scotland, vii. 145, 211. * Charters and Documents relating to the City of Edinburgh (Scottish Record Soc), 119. * Wavrin, iii. 169-170. " Ibid., 183; Kennedy, Despatches, 171. " Fabyan, 654; Three Fifteenth Cent. Chrons., 178-9. ^2 Rymer, Foedera, xi. 575. ^^ J. Warkworth, Chron., 108. " Ibid. " Three Fifteenth Cent. Chrons., 80; W. Worcester, 504. ^* Devon. Issues, 489. ^'' Ibid. ^' Ibid. 1' By word of mouth. 2" Chronicles of London, 134. The 12th is given as the date of Henry's release from imprisonment, but it had probably taken place three days previously, as he had given orders by word of mouth that were enrolled on the Patent Roll. 21 J. Warkworth, Chron., 123. 22 /tid., 124. 2' Ibid., 124, 131; Chronicles of London, 131; Henry was murdered in the night of May 21-22. II APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II It may be of interest to some to know of what ingredients these strange dishes consuijied by our forefathers were composed. Several collections of fifteenth -century recipes have been preserved, notably those published in Warner's Antiquitates Culinarice, from which most of the following are quoted. To make Viand Royal : " Take a galone of vernage ^ and sethe [seethe] hit into iii quartes, and take a pynte therto and two pounde of sugree, ii lb. of cliardekoynes,^ a pounde of paste-roiale,^ and let hit sethe untyl a galone of vernage. Take the yokes of 60 eyren [eggs] and bete horn togeder, and drawe hom thurgh a straynour, and in the settynge doune of the fyre putte the yolkes therto, and a pynte of water of ewrose, and a quartrone of powder of gynger, and dresse hit in dysshes plate, and take a barre of golde foyle, and another of sylver foyle, and laye hom on Seint Andrews crosse wise above the potage ; and then take sugre plate or gynger plate, or paste royale, and kutte hom of losenges and plante hom in the voide places betwene the barres ; and serve hit forthe." At Henry's coronation banquet the Viand Royal Avas " plantyd with losygnes of golde." An elaborate Frytour or fritter was made thus — " Take white Flour e, Ale, Yeast, Safronn and Salt, and bete alle to-gederys as thikke as thou schuldyst make other bature * in fleyssche tyme, and than take fayre Applys and kut hem in maner of Fretourys and wete hem in the bature up on [and] downe, and frye hem in fayre Oyle and ^ A kind of white wine. * It is suggested that these were either quinces or cardamums. 3 See below. * Batter. 390 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II 391 caste hem in a dyssche and caste sugre ther-on and serve forth." Jelly was made either of fish or flesh. Thus with fish — " Take tenches, pykes, eelys, turbut and plays,^ kerve hem to pecys. Scalde hem, and waisshe hem clene. Drye hem with a cloth ; do [put] hem in a pane. Do thereto half vynegar and half wyne, and seeth it wel ; and take the fysshe and pyke it clene. Cole ^ the broth thurgh a cloth into an erthen pane. Do thereto powder of peper and safron ynowli [enough]. Lat it seeth, and skym it wel, whan it is ysode [boiled]. Dof the grees clene. Cowche [lay] fysshe on chargeors and cole the sewe [liquor] thorow a cloth onoward and serve it forth." If of flesh, the same operation was gone through with " swynes feet and snowtes, and the eerys,^ capons, connynges,* and calves fete." The serving of a Peacock was an important matter. " At a f easte roiall pecokkes shall be dight on this manner. Take and flee [flay] off the skynne with the fedurs, tayle, and nekke, and the hed thereon ; then take the skjni with all the fedurs, and lay hit on a table abrode ; and strawe thereon grounden comyn ; then take the pecokke, and roste hym, and endore ^ hym with rawe yolkes of egges ; and when he is rested, take hym of, and let hym coole awhile, and take and sowe hym in his skyn, and gilde his combe, and so serve hym forthe." Compost was a decoction kept ready for use, and was thus made — ■ "Take rote of parsel [? parsley], pasternate of rasens, scrape hem, and waisthe hem clene. Take rapes ^ and caboches ' ypared and icorne.^ Take an earthen pane with clene water, and set it on the fire. Cast all thise thereinne. Whan they buth boiled, cast thereto peeres^ 1 Plaice. 2 Stain (?). 3 Ears. * Rabbits. 5 Glaze. ^ Turnips. "^ Cabbages. 8 i.e. the turnips pared and the cabbages cut up. ^ Pears. 392 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II and parboile hem wele. Take thise thynges up, and let it kele [cool] on a fair cloth. Do thereto salt, whan it is colde, in a vessel. Take vynegar, and powder, and safron, and do thereto. And lat alle thise thjrnges lye thereinne al nygt other [or] al day. Take vryne greke and hony clarified togider, lumbarde mustard, and raisons, corance al hool ; ^ and grynde powdor of canel,^ powder douce, and aneys hole,^ and fenell seed. Take all thise thynges, and cast togyder in a pot of erthe, and take thereof whan thou wilt, and serve it forth." Blank-desire, blank- dessorre, or bland-sure seems to have been usually made thus — " Take brawn of hennes or of capons ysoden * without the skyn, and he we hem as small as thou may. And grinde hem in a mortar. After take gode mylke of almandes, and put the bra"\vn therein; and stere it wel togyder and do hem to seeth ; and take floer of rys and amydon ^ and alye * it ; so that it be chargeant [stiff] ; and do thereto sugar a gode plenty, and a plenty of white grece.' And when it is put in disshes, strewe uppon it blanche powder, and thenne put in blank desire, and mawmenye in disshes togider and serve forth." Mawmenny was a composition on similar lines, with a little meat added, and yolks of eggs and saffron to make it yellow. Blank-desire was sometimes made, doubtless in Lent, with eggs and cheese in place of brawn. Paste-royal, which formed one of the ingredients of Viand Royal, was, in the following century, made in this way — " Take sugar, the quantity of four ounces, very finely beaten and searced ^ and put into it an ounce of cinnamon and ginger, and a grain of musk, and so beat it into paste ^ Currants all whole. ^ Cinnamon. ^ Aniseed whole. * Boiled. "• The starch of -wheat. * Mix. ' Lard. 8 Put through a sieve. APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II 393 with a little gum-dragon steep'd in rose-water ; and when you have beaten it into a paste in a stone mortar, then roul it thin, and print it with your moulders ; then dry it before the fire, and when it is dry, box it up and keep it all the year," Sauces innumerable, of elaborate composition, were used, a different one pertaining to every sort of game. The following curious recipe is also given for Mylk rost — " Nym [take] swete mylk, and do it in a panne. Nym eyreyn [eggs] wyth al the wyte, and swyng hem wel and cast thereto ; and coloure yt wyth safron, and boyl it tyl it wexe thykke ; and thanne seth [strain] yt thoru a culdore,^ and nym that levyth [what remains] and presse yt up on a bord ; and whan yt is cold larde it, and scher [stick] yt on schyverys,^ and rose yt on a grydern, and serve yt forthe." Lastly, a Sobre sawse for fish was made thus — " Take raysons, grynde hem with crustes of brede, and drawe it up with wyne. Do thereto gode powders, and salt, and seeth it. Fry roches, looches, sool,^ other [or] oother gode fyssh ; cast the sewe [liquor] above, and serve it forth." ^ CuUinder. ^ Skewers. ^ Roach, pike and sole. Ill BIBLIOGRAPHY I. — Official Records of the Reign Unfortunately the Calendars to the Close Rolls of this reign have not yet been published, but the Calendars of the Patent Rolls are complete, and occupy six volumes. The Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council have been edited by Sir Harris Nicholas, and Vols. Ill to VI of his series cover this reign, stopping, however, in 1461. The accounts of the keeper of the Great Wardrobe for Henry VI will be found in the Exchequer L.T.R., Nos. 6 and 7. The Miscellaneous Chancery Rolls contain various Wardrobe accounts and Household ordinances, and the Exchequer Q.R. are useful for records of the navy and shipments. Rolls of Parliament, Vols. IV and V, and Rymer's Foedera, Vols. X and XI, provide important documents for this reign. II. — Chronicles and Contemporary Writers Very few contemporary chronicles cover the whole of this reign, and even these are somewhat scanty. The English Chronicle, edited by J. S. Da vies, is the fullest and most useful, but the Short English Chronicle, one of the London records edited by Dr. James Gairdner in Three Fifteenth- Century Chronicles, is also valuable. Besides these there is William of Worcester, who, indeed, covers the whole reign in his Annales, but the information is meagre and of little use except for the period 1445 to 1461. His collection of documents concerning the affairs of Normandy and France is more useful, and forms part of the valuable 394 BIBLIOGRAPHY 395 Letters and Papers illustrative of the Wars of the English in France, edited by Joseph Stevenson in the Rolls Series. The Chronicon Anglicce, edited by J. A. Giles, extends to 1455, but is given to long digressions on papal afifairs. For the early part of the reign there are two London MSS., printed in Chronicles of London (edited by C. L. Kingsford) : Cottonian MSS., Julius B II, 1422 to 1432, which throws considerable light on the quarrels of Glou- cester and Beaufort, and Cottonian MS., Cleopatra C IV, 1422 to 1443. Besides these there is the St. Albans Monastic Chronicle of Johannis Amundesham Annales Monasterii Sancti Alhani (Rolls Series), which is continued by an unknown writer up to 1440. The best chronicle from 1440 onwards is that of Gregory {Historical Collection of a Citizen of London, edited by James Gairdner), who was Mayor of London in 1451, and is therefore particularly useful for events in that city. His Gontinuator ably carries on the record to 1470. Other chronicles for the latter part of the reign are the Registrum Ahhaiice Johannis Whethamstede of St. Albans (Rolls Series), 1452 to 1461 ; the continuation of Ingulph's Chronicle of Croyland, 1459 onwards; a brief and very meagre Latin Chronicle, and some Brief Notes, both printed in the Three Fifteenth-Century Chronicles (edited by James Gairdner). For the French Wars, La Chronique de Monstrelet (edited by L. Douet dArcq) is especially valuable up to 1444, and continues beyond. The Chronique of Jean Le Fevre (to 1435), and Le Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris (to 1449, edited by Alex. Tuetey) give a good idea of the relations between England and France during those years. The works of Jehan de Waurin in the Rolls Series, and his Anchiennes Cronicques d' Engleterre, are good for French affairs from 1444 onwards, but are only reliable for English events when the author has obviously obtained his in- formation from Warwick the Kingmaker, with whom he 396 BIBLIOGRAPHY had some acquaintance. The records of Jeanne d' Arc's trial have been collected and translated by T. Douglas Murray, and form an illuminating volume. For the expulsion of the English from Normandy (1448 to 1450), detailed and trustworthy narratives are provided by Robert Blondel's De Reductione Normannice and Berry the Herald's Becouvrement (RoHs Series). Letters of the reign are the invaluable Paston Letters, with introduction by James Gairdner ; Letters of the Kings of England, J. 0. Halliwell ; three series of Original Letters illustrative of English History, edited by Sir Henry Ellis; Letters of Margaret of Anjou and Bishop Bekington, edited by C. Munro; Correspondence of Bishop Bekington, Rolls Series. The Life of Henry VI in John Capgrave's Liber de illustrihus Henricis (Rolls Series) is too eulogistic to be of much use, but the biography by John Blakman (edited by Thos. Hearne), although full of pious praises, relates in- teresting anecdotes and gives a fair idea of the King's character. T. Wright's Political Poems and Songs provide ballads of the reign, particularly the " Libell of English Policy," which gives a good idea of the state of commercial affairs ; and a few more may be found in Archceologia, XXIX. Some idea of the manners and customs of the time may be gained from Manners and Meals (edited by Furnivall, E. E. Text Soc), much of which is written by an official of Gloucester's household. For events after the accession of Edward IV, and for the restoration of Henry VI, the best chronicles are the Historie of the Arrivall of Edward IV (edited by J. Bruce), the excellent official Yorkist account of the events of 1471 ; and a Chronicle of the First Thirteen Years of the Reign of Edward IV, by John Warkworth, Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge (edited by J. 0. Halliwell) is written with a Lancastrian bias. BIBLIOGRAPHY 397 III, — Later Writers. An almost contemporary Chronicle, but probably com- piled after the death of Henry VI, is that of Fabyan. He is an attractive writer, of Lancastrian bias, and fairly sound on London affairs, but is not of great independent value. Hardyng wrote his Chronicle at the beginning of the reign of Edward IV. It is metrical and of little value, and is continued to a later date by Grafton, Polydore Vergil and Hall wrote their Chronicles in a later reign, but probably had communication with survivors from the reign of Henry VI. IV. — Modern Writers The best works by modern writers are Ramsay's Lan- caster and York, and the volume (1377 to 1485) in the Political History of England by C. Oman, Both of these give the fullest references and notes. Oman also con- tributes a brilliant sketch of Warwick the Kingmaker in the English Statesman Series. Other useful works are R. R. Sharpe, London and the Kingdom ; B. B. Orridge, Illustra- tions of Jack Cade's Rebellion ; G. Kriehn, The English Rising in l^SO ; L. Lallement, Marguerite d'Anjou- Lorraine ; L. B. Radford, Henry Beaufort ; D. Rowland, Historical and Genealogical Account of the Noble Family of Nevill ; A. Lang, History of Scotland ; R. S. Rait, Outline of the Relations between England and Scotland ; W, Cunning- ham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce, Vol. I; A, S. Green, Town Life in the Fifteenth Century ; W. Denton, England in the Fifteenth Century ; W. Stubbs, Constitutional History, Vol. Ill; Clowes, Roijal Navy; A. F. Leach, English Schools at the Reformation ; A. A. Leigh, King's College, Cambridge ; Sir Henry Maxwell Lyte, History of Eton College ; A. de Bourmont, La Fondation de Vuniversite de Caen ; Lavisse, Histoire de France ; Michelet, Histoire de France INDEX Aeergavenny, Edw. Neville, lord, 243, 298; Eliz. Neville, lady, 243 Abingdon, 58, 60-2, 378, 381, 383, 388 Agriculture, 16-18, 58-60, 210 Aiscough, Will., bp. of Salis- bury, see Salisbury. Albany, Murdoch, duke of, 29, 186; Robert, duke of, 29 Albert II, emperor, 135 Albert III, elector of Saxony, 31 Albizzi, Rinaldo degli, 34 Alengon, 25 Alen9on, duke of, 75-6, 162 Alfonso V, king of Aragon, 34 Alfriston, 202 n. Alien priories, 126 Aliens, employment of, 209 Almshoiises, 209, 221 Alne, 384 Alnwick, 148, 334, 339-41, 389 Alresford, 382, 385 Alton, 381-2, 385-6 Amende-alle, John, see Cade, Jack. Amiens, 70 Amurath II, 36 Anchiennes Cronicques d'Engle- terre, 395 Andover, 377, 386 Andrew, Rich., 229 Andrew, carrack, 135 Angers, 79, 355 Angus, earl of, 341-2 Anjou, 138, 164, 166-8, 367 Anjou, Chas. of, 161 ; Louis of, 35 ; Marg. of, see Margaret (of Anjou), queen; Rene of, see Ren6 (of Anjou and Provence), king of Naples Anne (Neville), princess of Wales, 366, 367 Aragon, 34, 139 Arc, Isabel d', 184; Jeanne d', see Jeanne d'Arc. Archers, 23, 171 Architecture, 220 Armagnac, count of, 135-6, 152, 164-5 Army, 23-4, 147; French, 161-2, 170-2 Arques, 175, 337 Arras, 93 ; conference at, 106-7 Artillery, 23, 171, 180, 344-5 Artois, 25, 71 Arimdel, 382, 386 Arundel, earl of, 151 n., 321 Arundell, John, 238 Ashe, 384 Asteley, Joan, 39 Attleborough, 384 Audley, lord, 276, 296, 298 Avranches, 178 Aylesbury, 377 Bagshot, 378, 381-2, 384-6 Bailleul, 158 Bailly, , 197, 204 Balinger, meaning of term, 134 n. Bamborough, 339-42, 344, 389 Bambury, 361, 377-8 Barham Downs, 57 Barking, 383 Barkway, 384-5 Barnard Castle, 241 Barnard's Heath, St. Albans, 321 Barnet, 325, 376, 389; battle of, 363-5 Baronage, see Nobility. Basingstoke, 384 Bath, 116, 366, 383-4 399 400 INDEX Bath and Wells, Thos. Bekyng- ton, bp. of, 136, 396; John Stafford, bp. of, 62; Rob. Stillington, bp. of, 350 Battle Abbey, 201 Baudricourt, Rob. de, 86 Baug6, battle of (1421), 30, 186 Baverham, 385 Bayeux, 177-8 Baynard's Castle (London), -268, 326, 328 Bayonne, 180 Beaconsfield, 381 Beauchamp, Anne, see Warwick, Anne Neville.countess of ; Eliz. , see Abergavenny, Eliz. Neville, lady; Rich., earl of Warwick, see Warwick; Sir Walt., 11, 13 Beaufort, Hen., cardinal (bp. of Winchester), badge, 150 n. ; cardinal's hat accepted, 46; character, 8-9 ; death, 147 ; embassy to France, 160; funds advanced for Henry's coronation, 102; Gloucester's accusations against, 44-6, 123 ; godfather to Henry VI, 2 ; Hussites and, 33, 46, 60 ; jewels appropriated by Gloucester, 66; London gate attacked by men of, 42-3; Margaret of Anjou's marriage promoted, 137, 142; nephews, 120; prae- munire accusations against, 66 ; in Regency Council, 1 1 ; Somerset's appointment to Guienne command obtained, 166; troops lent to Bedford, 90-1 Beaufort, Joan, 41 n. ; 242-3 ; Joan, queen of Scotland, see Joan; Marg., 166 n.; Thos., duke of Exeter, see Exeter. Beaug6, 160 Beaugency, 79, 89 Beaulieu (France), castle, 93 Beaulieu Abbey (England), 365 Beaumont, lord (d. 1460), 237-8, 295,299-301; lord (d. 1461), 333 Beaurevoir, 93 Beauvais, Cauchon, bp. of (bp, of Lisieux), 83 n., 93, 96-8, 157, 184 Bedford, John, duke of, badge, 149 n. ; Caen university, founded, 130; character, 5-6, 23; death, 67, 108; duel between Gloucester and Bur- gundy prevented, 73 ; France under, 23-8 ; French war under, 70, 74-108; Glouces- ter's plans in Holland de- feated, 49 ; godfather to Henry VI, 2 ; Henry's coronation in France desired, 60; Jeanne d'Arc described, 88; pope requested to confirm Glou- cester's marriage, 74; pro- tector of England, 10-11; queen Katherine escorted to France, 3 ; regent of France, 4, 23-8; visits to England, 43-6, 66-7, 104 Bedford, Anne, duchess of, 70-1, 103-4; Jacquette, duchess of, 104; Geo. Neville (of North- umberland), duke of, 350, 354-6 Bedfordshire, 212 Bekyngton, Thos., bp. of Bath and Wells, see Bath and Wells. Belleme, 176 Bellinzona, 35 Benedict XIII (Peter de Luna), pope, 32, 72 Berkhampstead, 268, 376, 381, 381 n., 388; castle, 47, 376 Berland, Pey, archbp. of Bor- deaux, see Bordeaux. Bermondsey Abbey, 68-9 Bermont, Hermitage of Blessed Mary of, 84 Berners, lord, 363 Berry the Herald, 396 Berwick, 269, 334, 337, 340 Beverley, 148, 385 Bibliography, 394-7 Bishop, John, 326 Bishops Cannings, 383 Bispham Abbey, 365 INDEX 401 Black Death, 16-19 Blackheath, 67, 198-200, 202, 207, 229, 297, 376, 386-7 Blakman, John, 396 Blaye, 180 Blew-berd, see Cheyne, Thos. Blois, 87-8 Blondel, Rob., 396 Blore Heath, battle of, 276-7, 279, 284-5 Blyth, 385 Boarstall, 377 Bohemia, 30-3, 35 Bolingbroke, Rog., 124 Bolton Hall (Sawley), 345-6 Bonville, lord, 212, 227, 237, 251 n., 261, 323 Bonville, Sir Will., 131 Bordeaux, 130, 160, 165, 179-82, 338 Bordeaux, Pey Berland, archbp. of, 130, 165 Bordelais, 24 Borwell, 384 Bosnia, 30 Botiller, Alice, 38-9 Botley, 382 Botyll, Rob., 151 n. Bouille, Will., 184 Bourbon, duke of, 106, 162 Bourchier, lord, earl of Essex, see Essex ; lady, 240 n. Bourchier, Edw., 283; Thos., bp. of Ely, archbp. of Canter- bury, see Canterbury; Will., 304 Bourges, 75, 92 ; king of, see Charles VII, king of France Boyes, John, 246 Brabant, 73-4 Brabant, duke of, 2, 42, 71-2 Bracewell, 346 Bramber, 386 Brancepeth, 335 Brandenburg, 31 Brandon Ferry, 382, 384-5 Brehal, Jean, 185 Brentford, 377-8, 380, 382-6 Brentwood, 377 Bretigny, Peace of, 21 Brez6, Pierre de, 161, 266, 339-42 DD Brickhill, 376 Brightling, 202 n. Bristol, Bristowe, 223, 247, 383-4 Brittany, 173, 214 Brittany, John, duke of, 70, 77-8, 155, 166 Brittany, Arth. of, comte de Richemont, see Richemont. Brown, Sir Thos., 304 Buchan, earl of, 30, 76, 186 Buckingham, duke of, ambas- sador to France, 150 n. ; badges, 150 n., 237; death at Northampton, 299--301; Gloucester arrested, 144; Kentish rebels punished, 207; prince of Wales presented to Henry VI, 233; recall de- manded, 194; relationship to Gloucester, 150 n.; at St. Albans, 251, 254, 256; at Shrewsbury, 266; submission to York, 258; Yorkist con- nections and sympathies, 243, 264-5 Buckingham, duchess of, 232, 243, 284, 325, 350 n. Bungerley Hyppingstons, 347, 389 Bmitingford, 382, 384-5 Bureau, Gaspard, 171; Jean, 171, 180-1 Burford-on-the-Wold, 326 Burgimdy, Phil., duke of, in alliance with England, 24-5, 70, 82, 92-3, 103-4; Brittany supported, 173; Calais be- sieged, 157-8; description of Jeanne d'Arc in letter to, 99-100; Flanders closed to English cloth-trade, 193; Hainault and Holland schemes, 42, 71-4; Jeanne d'Arc surrendered, 93; Mar- garet of Anjou's appeal to, 342; Orleans (duke of) wel- comed, 163; peace with Eng- land desired, 166; reconcilia tion with French king, 105-8, 155; regency of France sug- gested for, 4; Scottish con^ 402 INDEX uection, 188, 335; Yorkists' relations with, 335, 350 Burgundy, Charles the Bold, duke of, 350, 357, 359; Jean Sans Peur, duke of, 24, 71, 107; Margaret of York, duchess of, 307, 319 n., 350 Burgundy, Anne of, duchess of Bedford, see Bedford; Marg. of, countess of Richemont, see Richemont. Burning of Heretics, see Heretics, burning of. Bury St. Edmunds, 143, 382, 384^5; abbot, 139 Butler, Jas., earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, see Ormond. Bydon, Dr., 347 Bywell Castle, 345, 389 Cade, Jack, 191-2, 194, 196-9, 202-7 Cade's Rebellion, 190-207, 221 Caen, 130, 176-8 Caerphilly Castle, 241 n. Caistor Castle, 291 Calais, 56, 92, 105, 156-8, 160, 179, 214, 219, 248, 258, 265-6, 278, 281, 284-5, 287-8, 292-4, 296, 305, 339, 352, 355, 376; naval battle (1458), 270 Calixtus III, pope, 185 Camberwell, 384 Cambridge, 379, 382, 384-5; King's coll., 115, 128-9, 147; Queen's coll. (coll. of St. Marg. and St. Bern.), 148 Cambridge, Rich., earl of, duke of York, «ee York. Canterbury, 190, 195, 207, 226, 296, 376, 378, 380, 382-8 Canterbury, Thos. Bourchier, archbp. of (bp. of Ely), 229, 238-40, 249, 251, 253, 258, 264, 295-6, 298-9, 308, 324, 328, 363; Hen. Chicheley, archbp. of, 2, 11-12, 43-4, 129; John Kemp, archbp. of, see Kemp, John, cardinal. Cantlowe, Will., 346 Cardiff Castle, 241 n. Carlisle, 335, 339 Carrack, 135 Castile, 33 Castillon, 181 Castle, inn (St. Albans), 256 Castlecombe, 384 Castleford, 330 Castleton, 231, 265 Catherine, see Katherine. Cauchon, bp. of Beauvais, sec Beauvais. Caudebec, 175 Cerne Abbey, 365 Chalfont, 381 Chalons, 89 Chamberlayn, Sir Rog., 206 Champagne, 24, 75, 91, 164 Channel Islands, 247 Charles IV, king of France, 21 Charles VI, king of France, 1, 3, 26-7, 110 Charles VII, king of France, accession, 27 ; alliance with Burgundy, 155; army re- organised, 161-2, 170; Brit- tany supported, 173; Bur- gundy reconciled with, 107 ; campaign of 1424, 75-6; coronations, 27, 50, 89; daughter's marriage with Henry VI suggested, 135; ecorcheurs put down, 164; emperor's peace with, 106; Gascony and Guienne ex- peditions (1438, 1442-3), 160, 164-5 ; influence of Richemont and La Tr^mouille over, 77-9, 91, 105; Jeanne d'Arc and, 86-7, 89, 183-4; Normandy recovered, 173-6; poverty of, 78; Rene of Anjou supported, 138, 167; Scottish king's wife chosen by, 188; triumphal entry into Paris, 159 Charles III, king of Naples, 35 Charles of Valois, French prince 21 Charolais, Charles, count of, duke of Burgundy, see Burgundy. Chartres, 79, 103 Chateau Gaillard, 56, 176 INDEX 403 Chateauneuf, 79 Chatham, 196 Chelmsford, 377 Cheltenham, 366 Chequer, inn (St. Albans), 255 Cherbourg, 176, 178 Chertsey, 376, 386; abbey, 370 Cheshire, 343 Cheshunt, 382 Chester, 265, 344, 388 Chester, bp. of, 238-9 Chesterfield, 355 Chew, 384 Cheyne, Cheyney, Sir John, 195; Thos., 190-1 Chieheley, Hen., archbp. of Can- terbury, see Canterbury. Chichester, 382, 386 Chichester, Adam Moleyns,bp.of, 149, 151, 166, 176, 201; Regi- nald Pecock, bp. of, 212, 267 Chiddingfold, 382 Chinon, 86, 338 Chipping Norton, see Norton, Chipping. Chirk, castle and lordship of, 120 Chiswick, 379-80, 380 n. Chivalry, 216 Christchurch Castle, 243 Chronicle of Cray land, 395 Chronicle of the First Thirteen Years of the Reign of Edward /F, 396 Chronicon Anglicce, 395 Chronique de Monstrelet, La, 395 Chronique of Jean Le Fevre, 395 Church of England, see England, Church of. Cinque Ports, barons of, 193 Cirencester, 366, 384 Clapham, 380-1, 384 Clarence, Geo., duke of, 169, 307, 318, 350, 352-7, 359-61, 367 ; Isabel (Neville), duchess of, 350, 352-3; Lionel, duke of, 11, 14; Thos., duke of (d. 1421), 30 Clarendon, 232, 377, 384, 387 Clerkenwell, hosp. of St. John, see London, St. John's Priory. dd2 Clerkenwell Fields (London), 328 Clermont, comte de, 177, 180 Cletherwood, Clitherwood, 347, 389 Cleton, Will., 245 Cliffe-by-Lewes, 202 n. Clifford, lord (d. 1455), 164, 237, 251, 255-7; lord (d. 1461), 268, 313, 316, 323, 330-1 Clinton, lord, 251, 283, 298 Clitherwood, see Cletherwood. Cloth industry, 18-19, 122, 193, 218-20 Clyer, John, 304 Cobham, 384 Cobham, lord, 228, 296, 298 Cobham, Eleanor, duchess of Gloucester, see Gloucester. Cock, stream, 331, 333 Cockermouth, 334 Cognac, 173 Coimbra, duke of, 43 Cokke John, ship, 140 Colchester, 191 Cold Harbour (Blackfriars), 268, 305 Coleshill, 276, 278 Colnbrook, 376-7, 380-4, 386 Colonna, Oddo, cardinal, see Martin V, pope. Combe, John, 304 Commorthees (Wales), 131-2 CompiegnO; 56, 91-2 Constance, Council of, 30 Constantinople, 36, 183 Conyers, Sir John, 283, 352; Sir Will., 352, 354 Cooke, Thos., 198 Copped Hall, Coptfold Hall, 376, 379 Coppini, cardinal, 294, 296, 298, 310 Corbeil, 156 Corn, 210 Cornwall, 266 Cornwall, duchy of, 122, 131, 133 Corvumber, Coroumbe (Yorks.), 334, 389 County Sessions, 193 404 INDEX Courtenay, John, Earl of Devon, see Devon; Sir Phil., 134; Thos., earl of Devon, see Devon. Coutances, bp. of, 185 Coventry, 60, 228, 264, 2C5 n., 276, 282, 298-9, 361-2, 367, 387-8 Crackenthorp, 345, 389 Craft Gilds, see Gilds, Craft Crespy, 92 Crevant, 75, 188 Cromwell, lord, 11, 231, 259 Crotoy, 74, 93 Crowmer, Eliz., 206 n. ; , 200, 203, 206, 206 n. CroAvn lands, 122, 192, 194, 227 Croydon, 386 Croyland Abbey, 291 n. Culham, 381 Customs, 122 Dacre, lord, 313, 333 Dallington, 202 n. Dalmatia, 30 Daniel, Thos., 150 n., 200, 227 Darlington, 384-5 Dartford, 229, 296, 377-8, 380, 382-4, 386 Dartmouth, 293, 355 Daventry, 354 Day of Herrings, 82, 188 Delapr6 Abbey, 299 Delaware, lord, 303 Denbigh, 351 Denmark, 33, 106 Deptford, 57, 376 De Reductione Normanniae, 396 Dereham, 384-5 Desmond, earl of, 286 Devils Water, 344 Devon, John Courtenay, earl of, 365, 367; Thos. Courtenay, earl of (d. 1458), 131, 151 n., 212, 225, 227-8, 247, 249, 251, 261 ; Thos. Covirtenay, earl of (d. 1461), 313, 333 Dieppe, 156, 164-5, 337 Dinas, Castle, 241 n. Dintingdale, 330-1 Dogmersfield, 377, 379-80, 380 n. Domremy, 83-4, 85 n., 96, 185 Doncaster, 345, 355, 384 Dorchester, 383 Dorset, rising, 1450, see Cade's rebellion. Dorset, Edm. Beaufort, earl of, duke of Somerset, see Somer- set; Hen. Beaufort, earl of, duke of Somerset, see Somer- set. Douglas, earl of (d. 1424), 30, 75-6; earl of (1460), 189, 336, 339; countess of, 76 n. Douglas, Archibald, 186 Douglases, border warfare of, 148 Dover, 57, 153, 376, 386 Dover, Court of, 193 Dover, Straits of, 214 Drapers Co., 220 Drapier, Perrin le, 84 Dviblin, 169 Dudley, lord, 200, 226, 238, 251, 258, 277 Dumfries, 148, 339 Dunbar, 148 Dunfermline, 336 Dunois, comte de, bastard of Orleans, 78, 80, 82, 85, 87, 89-90, 161, 180, 185 Dunstable, 320-1, 326, 376, 387, 389 Dunstanburgh, 340 Durham, 148, 333, 340-1, 384-5 Durham, Laur. Booth, bp. of, 339; Thos. Langley, bp. of, 52; Rob. Neville, bp. of (bp. of Salisbury), 50, 231, 243 Dynham, Sir John, 280, 283, 287-8, 294 Earl Marshal, John Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, see Norfolk. East Angha, rising 1450, see Cade's Rebellion. Easthampstead, 376-80, 380 n., 381 Eccleshall, 265, 276-7, 304, 388 Ecorcheurs, 164, 170 Edgcott, battle of (1469), 354 Edgware, 376 INDEX 405 Edinburgh, 335. 389 Edmonton, 384 Education, 126-30, 211, 220-1 Edward III, claims to France, 21 Edward IV (earl of March), accession, 325-8 ; attainder, 283; campaigns of 14G0, 1461, 314, 319, 330-1; capture (1469), 354; coronation, 335; declared a traitor (1470), 359; exile (1470-1), 357; flight (1459, 1470), 280, 357; French crown claimed, 351 ; illness (1462), 340-1 ; letter of, 245-G ; in London after Tewkesbury, 368-9; marriage, 169, 348- 50; at Northampton battle, 300-2; rebellion against (1469), 352—4; reconciliation with Warwick, 354 ; recovery of the throne (1471), 359-68; return to England (1460), 296; Warwick's quarrel with, 348, 351-2, 354 Edward V, 357 Edward, prince of Wales, badges distribvited, 275; at battle of St. Albans (2nd), 323-4; birth, 232-3, 247; created prince of Wales, 238 ; crown entailed on, 359; death, 367; disinherited, 311-12; flight (1460, 1461), 304, 333-4; in Lorraine, 342 ; marriage, 336, 355-6; oath of allegiance to, 284; in Scotland, 313 Edward of Foivey, ship, 135 Edyngdonn, 201 Egreniont, Sir Thos. Percy, lord, 231, 237, 245, 265, 268-9, 299-301 Elizabeth (Woodville), queen, 104 n., 349, 357, 363 Elizabeth (of York), princess, 354 EUerton, , 347 Elmley Castle, 241 Eltham, 44, 307, 375-8, 380-7 Ely, 385 Ely, Isle of, 326 Ely, Thos. Bourchier, bp. of (archbp. of Canterbury), see Canterbury ; Will. Grey, bp. of, 297-8, 328, 357 Enclosures, 18 England, Church of, 58-61, 129, 210-12, 295 English Chronicle, 394 Erber, see Cold Harbour (Black- friars), 268 Eric (of Pomerania), king of Scandinavia, 33 Essay, 174 Essendine, 384-5 Essex, rising in, 1450, see Cade's Rebellion. Essex, earl of (lord Bourchier), 151 w., 238, 240 n., 258, 264, 298, 304, 321, 339, 363 Eton Coll., 115, 125-7, 129, 147, 384 Eu, count of, 160 Eugenius IV, pope, 118 Evictments, 193 Ewelme, 383-4 Ewyas Lacy Castle, 241 n. Exeter, 261, 366 Exeter, Bastard of, 316, 333 Exeter, Geo. Neville, bp. of (archbp. of York), 243, 278, 297-8, 304, 321, 324, 328-9, 350, 352-4, 359, 362-3, 365 Exeter, Thos. Beaufort, duke of, 4, An., 5, 8, 11, 13, 37, 46; Hen. Holand, duke of, 151 n., 194, 237, 245, 266, 269, 292-3, 312-13, 333, 337, 342; John Holand, duke of, 149 n. Fabyan, chronicle, 397 Faceby, John, 238 Fairs, 20 Falaise, 178 Fanhope, , 212 Faringdon, 377, 383 Farley, 383 Farnham, 381-2, 385-6 Fastolf, Sir John, 82, 156, 228, 291 n. Fauconberg, Will. Neville, lord (earl of Kent), 150 «., 238, 243, 278, 281, 293, 290, 298, 300, 305, 328, 331, 340, 352 406 INDEX Fauconberg, bastard of, see Neville, Thos. Favershani, 207 Fecamp, 156 Ferrers (of Chartley), lord, 328 Ferrybridge, 330 Ferryhill, 384-5 Feversham, 383 Filippo Maria Visconti, duke of Milan, 34 Fitz Hugh, lord, 2, 5, 11-12, 352, 356 Fitzwalter, lord, 328, 330 Flanders and Flemings, 24—5, 105, 157-8, 193, 219 Fleming, Rich., bp. of Lincoln, see Lincoln. Florence, 34, 214 Flushing, 359 Folkestone, 195 Fowler, ship, 135 Ford, 388 Forteseue, Sir John, 336 Formigny, 177, 191, 194 Fotheringay, 223 Fougeres, 173 Fowey, 266 Framlingham, 200 Franc-archers, 171 France, army, 161-2, 170-2; Bedford's regency, 4-6, 23-8 ; Edward IV's negotiations with, 348-50; Enghsh claims to, 20-22, 351; English pos- sessions (1422), 24-5; Lan- castrian appeal to (1461-2), 337-9 ; universities founded by the English, 130; war with, 22-8, 66-7, 70, 74-108, 123, 149, 155-83, 193 Frederick (of Meissen), elector of Saxony, 31 Fresnay, 176 Fronsac, 180-1 Fulbrook, Lodge at, 377-8 Fulford, Sir Bald., 325-6 Fulham, 378, 380, 382 Fysshwick, 223 Odbriel of Harfleur, balinger, 1 35 Galley, ship, 135 Gascony, 106-7, 160, 164-5 Gaucourt, Raoul de, 80, 85 Gavelkind, 195 Genoa, 271 George, ship, 134 Geraldines, The, 280 Gerberoz, 173 Germany, 31 Ghent, 74 Gien, 91 Gilds, Craft, 19, 218, 220 Glastonbury, 366, 384 Gloucester, 207, 366; abbot of, 226 Gloucester, Eleanor (Cobham), duchess of, 49-50, 74, 95 n., 123-5; Jacqueline (of Hain- ault), duchess of, 2, 42, 50, 71-4; Rich., duke of (Richard III), see Richard III Gloucester, Humph., duke of, authority conferred on, 4-5, 10-11, badge, 149 n. ; Beau- fort ; disputes with, 42-5, 66, 123; captain of Calais, 156, - 158; character, 6-8; enmity against Edmund of March, 40 ; fall and death, 142-6, 165, 201; French policy, 67, 104, 108, 123, 136, 158, 161; Henry VI 's personal attitude to, 119-20 ; Holland and Hain- ault claims, 2, 42, 49, 71-4; influence destroyed by Eleanor Cobham, 123—5; Kemp at- tacked, 123 ; Orleans' release opposed, 163; parliamentary exoneration of, 260; popu- larity, 146; protectorship re- signed, 55; queen Katherine persecuted, 68 ; Sharp's move- ment repressed, 59, 61-2; York's lands in custody of, 40 Godfrey, Thos., 203 Golden Rose, 118 Good Rest Lodge, 378 Gough, Matth., 89, 156, 168, 176-8, 204 Grace Dieu, ship, 134, 288, 292 Grafton, chronicler, 397 Grantham, 320, 384-5 INDEX 407 Gravesend, 382-3, 385-6 Green wax, writs of, 193 Greenwich, 200, 226, 262, 307, 382-8 Gregory , chronicler, 395 Grey, EUz., lady, see Elizabeth (Woodville), queen ; Sir John, 349; Sir Ralph, 340-1, 344-5; Will., bp. of Ely, see Ely; ,212 Grey de Ruthyn, lord, 299-300 Greystock, lord, 313 Grisnez, Cape, 285, 287 Gueldres, Mary of, see Mary (of Gueldres), queen of Scot- land Guernsey, 281 Guienne, 106-7, 152, 160, 164-6, 172-3, 179-82, 193, 225, 235-6 Guildford, 378, 382, 386 Hackney, 385 Hainault, 71-3 Hall, chronicler, 397 Hals, John, 62 Hampshire, 228 Hans, painter, 136 Hansards and Hanseatic League, 19, 33, 214, 219, 271 Hanworth, 377 Harborough, Market, 376, 387-8 Hardingstone Field (Northamp- ton), 388 Hardyng, chronicler, 397 Harfleur. 3, 156, 176 Harlech Castle, 304, 336, 347, 351 Harrington, lord, 316 Harrington, Sir Jas., 346-7; Sir Thos., 283, 316 " Hart " (Southwark), 202, 206 Hartford Bridge, 384 Harw, 384 Hastings, lord, 226, 357 Hatclj'ff, Will., 238 Hatfield, 382 Havant, 382 Havering atte Bower, 69, 377, 379-80, 383 Healaugh Hall, 384 n. Heathfield, 206 Hedgeley Moor, battle of (1464), 344 Hedwig, queen of Poland, 35 Henley, 377, 381 Henry IV, 13, 29, 45, 224, 310 Henry V, 1-4, 20-2, 26, 28, 54, 126, 162, 167 Henry VI, accession, 3; army led into England (1461), 335; attainder, 337; attempt against by witchcraft alleged, 124; at Bamborough (1463), 341-2; birth, 1; Burgundy's letter to, 108; burial, 370; Cade's rebellion inadequately met, 198-200; in campaign of 1459, 276, 278-80 ; captured by Yorkists (1471), 362-3; Cardinal Beaufort's legacy re- fused, 147 ; character, 109- 20, 216; childhood, 37-9, 41- 2, 46-7 ; christening 2 ; corona- tions, 51-6, 92, 101-3; death, 368-9; declared of age, 69; deposition, 326-9 ; educational foundations, 125-30; flight after Towton, 333-5; forces raised 1460, 298; French throne acquired, 27; Glouces- ter persuades the rejection of French terms (1439), 161; heirship to (1450), 224; ill- ness, 232, 238-40, 247-8, 261-2; imprisonment, 365; itinerary, 375-89 ; Jeanne d'Arc and, 93-4, 100 ; knighted 45; marriage, 135-42, 164-7, 381 n.; at Northampton bat- tle, 299-302; Northern rising for (1464), 344—5; pecuniary difficulties, 121-2, 133, 148-9, 172, 226-7, 295; personal appearance, 118—9; present to abbot of St. Albans, 273-4; progresses, 148, 227-30, 264, see also above itinerary; pro- phecy concerning, 2 ; recon- ciliation of Yorkists and Lan- castrians attempted (1458), 267-9 ; remains examined (1910), 369-70; restoration 408 INDEX (1470), 356-8; resumption of Crown lands, 194; at St. Albans battles, 253-7, 321-4; in Scotland, 335-6, 342-3; son born to, 232—3 ; wander- ings and capture (1464-5), 345—8; Warwick's education of, 47-9, 62-6; York's inter- view with (1450), 222 Henry VII, 118, 128, 166 n. Henry the Navigator, Portu- guese prince, 34 Herbert, lord, 351, 354 Hereford, 266 Heretics, burning of, 51, 95 n., 211 Hertford, 258, 261, 376, 380, 382, 386-7 ; castle, 38, 47, 375 Hertford Bridge, 379 Hexham, battle of, 344 Heyle, 384 Hilberworth, 382, 385 Hillingdon, 380-1 Hilyard, Rob., 352-3 Historic of the Arrivall of Edward IV, 396 Hody, Sir Alex., 325 Holand, Hen. and John, dukes of Exeter, see Exeter. Holderness, 353, 360 Holderness, Robin of, 352-3 Holland, 71-2, 74 Holstein, 33 Holybank Ford, 341 Holybourne, 385 Holy Ghost, ship, 135 Holy Island, 340 Holywell Hill (St. Albans), 255 Honfleur, 175-6, 355-6, 365 Hoo, SirThos., 222, 226 Home, Rob., 202 Hospitals, 209, 221 Howard, lord, 361 Hull, 314 Hundred Years' War, see France, war with. Hungerford, 383 Hungerford, lord, 156, 290, 297, 337 339 344 Himgerford, Sir Walt., 5, 11, 13 Hunsdon, 259 Huntingdon, 320, 384-5 Huntingdon, John, earl of, 160 Hus, John, 31-2 Hussites, 31-3, 46, 90 Iden, Alex., 206; Eliz., 206 n. ile de France, 24, 91-2, 107, 164 Industry, see Trade and Industry. Ingatestone, 377 Inglefield, , 120 Ipswich, 152 Ireland, 45, 214, 286, 359 Isabella (of France), queen of England, wife of Edward II, 21 Isabella (of York), lady Bour- chier, see Bourchier, lady Islington, 389 Islip, 381, 383 Italy, 34, 106 Ivry, 75 Jackanapes, nickname, 153 Jacqueline of Hainault, duchess of Gloucester, see Gloucester. Jagello of Lithuania, see Ladislas king of Poland. James I, king of Scotland, 28-9, 38, 186-8 James II, king of Scotland, 188-9, 263, 305 James III, king of Scotland, 313, 336 Jargeau, 79, 89 Jean sans Peur, duke of Bur- gundy, see Burgundy. Jeanne d'Arc, 48-50, 56, 77, 83- 101, 183-6, 188, 396 Jernyngan, John, 270 Joan (of Navarre), queen of England, 69 Joan (Beaufort), queen of Scot- land, 186-7 Joan, daughter of Louis X, French princess, 21 Joan, daughter of Philip V French princess, 21 Joanna I, queen of Naples, 35 Joanna II, queen of Naples, 34 Johannis Amundesham Annales Monasterii Sancti Albani, 395 INDEX 409 John II, king of Castile, 33 John, king of France, 21 John, king of Portugal, 34, 43 n. John, ship, 135 Josep, Will., 259 Jourdain, Margery, 124 Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris, 395 Justice, admin, of, 193-4, 295 Kalmar, Union of (1397), 33 Katherine, Catherine (of Lan- caster), queen of Castile, 33 Katherine (of Valois), queen of England, 1-4, 22, 37, 46-7, 68-9, 126 Katherine of Burtons, ship, 134 Kemer, Gilb., dean of Salisbury, see Salisbury. Kemp, John, cardinal (archbp. of York, archbp. of Canterbury), 50, 106, 120, 123, 129, 132, 205, 207, 225, 232, 237, 241, 248 Kempton Park, manor at, 377 n. Kendal, earl of, 303 Kenilworth, 200, 264-5, 375, 377, 387-8 ; castle, 378 Kennedy, bp., 336, 342-3 Kennington, 38, 41, 375-8, 380 Kent, 222, 226, 228-9, 266, 293, 368; rising, 1450, see Cade's rebellion. Kent, Will., Lord Fauconberg, earl of, see Fauconberg. Keterige, John, 62 Kettlethorp, 385 Key, Cross Keys, inn (St. Albans), 255 Key Field (St. Albans), 253 Keynsham, 383 Kiddecaws, 140 Kildare, earl of, 286 Kingsclere, 377 Kingston, 38, 375, 377, 381-2, 385-6 Kirkcudbright, 336, 338, 389 Knights of the shires, 192 Kymer, Gilb., dean of Salisbury, see Salisbviry. Kyriel, Sir Thos., 156, 176-7, 191, 323-4 Kyrton, 261 Labourers, 16-18, 58-60, 210 Labourers, statute of, 17, 194 La Charite, 92 Ladislas, king of Naples, 35 Ladislas, king of Poland, 35 La Hire, see Vignolles, Etienne de. Lailler, , 157 Lancashire, 343, 345 Lancaster, duchy of, 122, 133, 258 Lancaster, John of Gaunt, duke of, 8, 14, 33-4 Landes, 24 Langley, 375, 380 Langley, King's (Chiltern Lang- ley), 69, 377, 380-1, 381 n. Langley in Wliichewood, 381 Latimer, Geo. Neville, lord, 121, 243, 313, 352, 354 Latin Chronicle., 395 La Tremouille, , 77, 91, 105, 183 Laxart, Durand, 85 Lechlade, 383-4 Leeds, Castle, 377 Leicester, 44-5, 154, 190, 228, 249, 251, 264, 274, 360-1, 375-7, 386-8 Lemans, 168 Leominster, 388 Letters of Margaret of Anjou and Bishop Bekington, 396 Letters of the Kings of England, 396 Levant, 34 Lewes, 201, 386 Libourne, 180 Lichfield, 264 Ligny, countess of, 93 Lillebonne, 175 Lincluden Abbey, 313 Lincoln, 385 Lincoln, Rich. Fleming, bp. of, 129 Lincolnshire, 355 Linhills, 344 410 INDEX Linlithgow Castle, 389 Lisieux, 174 Lisieux, Cauchon, bp. of (bp. of Beauvais), see Beauvais. Lisle, , 222 Litham, 382, 384-5 Lithuania, 35 Little John, barge, 135 Livery and maintenance, 213 Llantrussant Castle, 241 n. Loches, 89 Lollards, 68-61, 114, 211-12, 267 London, alarm after second battle of St. Albans, 324-5; attack by Lancastrians (1471), 368 ; Baynard's Castle, see Baynard's Castle ; Beaufort, cardinal, in dispute with, 42-4 ; bishop's palace, 387-9 ; Black Death in, 19; Blackfriars, 268, 386; Cade's rebellion, 198-9, 202-5; Cripplegate, 113; Drapers Company, 220; Edw.IV acknowledged, 326-9 ; Eleanor Cobham's penitential walk, 124; Fleet Street dis- turbances, 133; Flemish mer- chants plundered, 108; Grey- friars, 268; Henry V's burial, 4 ; Henry VI's visits, 57, 347-8, 375, 381, 386-8 ; King's Bench Prison, 205; Lancastrian re- storation (1470), 357-8; Mar- shalsea Prison, 205; riots (1456), 263; St. Anthony's school, 129; St. John's Priory (Clerkenwell), 151 n., 238, 248, 298, 377, 386; St. Mary Overy, 187, 387; St. Pauls, 378, 388; severities of Lan- castrians (1460), 291; Sharp's bills distributed in, 60; Suf- folk's house attacked, 152; Tower, 381, 384-5, 389; Ward- robe in, 380; White Friars, 269 ; Yorkists admitted (1460, 1461, 1471), 297-8, 302-3, 326-9, 362-3; see also West- minster. London, bp. of, 11, 387-9 London Stone, 203 Longe, John, 62 Lorraine, 367 Loughborough, 376-7 Louis X, king of France, 21 Louis XI, king of France (dauphin), 162, 188, 337-9, 342, 348-9, 351, 355, 367 Louis of Anjou, see Anjou. Lovedeyne, Harry, 246 Lovelace, , 322 Lovell, lord, 303 Lucy, Sir Will., 300 Ludford, 279-80 Ludlow, 228, 275, 277-81, 388 Luna, Alvaro de, 33 ; Peter de, see Benedict XIII, pope. Luton, 385 Luxemberg, Jacquette of, see Bedford, Jacquette, duchess of; Jean de, 93; Louis de, 157 Lyndwood, Will., 106 Lynn, 357, 361; Augustinian Friary, 382 Lynwood, Will., 278 Lyons, Hankyne, 214 Madeira, 34 Mahomet I, Turkish ruler, 36 Maidenhead, 377, 383 Maidenhithe, 383, 386 Maidstone, 191, 196, 377, 382-3, 383 n., 384, 386 Maine, 76, 78, 103, 107, 138, 143, 147, 152, 160-1, 166-8, 180 Maine, count of, 176 Majorca, 139 Mailing, 383 Mahnesbury, 366, 383-4 Malpas, 304 Malpas, Phil., 202, 204 Mandeville, Will., see Sharp, Jack. Mangeleke, barge, 134 Manners and Meals, 396 Manning, dr., 347 Manorial system, 16, 20 Mantes, 174 Manuel Palaeologus, Eastern emperor, 36 INDEX 411 March, Edm. Mortimer, earl of (son-in-law of Lionel duke of Clarence), 11, 14; Edm. Morti- mer, earl of (d. 1425), 11-12, 21, 40, 196; Philippa Mortimer (of Clarence), countess of, 11, 14, 21; Edw. Plantagenet, earl of, see Edward IV. Marchall, John, 238 Margaret (of Anjou), queen of England, Blore Heath battle watched, 277; campaign 1460-1, 317, 320-6; coast attacks by French connected with, 266 ; college founded, 148; coiuicils smnmoned, 249, 264; at Coventry (1460), 298- 9; disinlieritance of her son resisted, 312—13; dismissal of Warwick attempted, 271 ; fear inspired by, 279; flight (1460, 1461), 304, 333-4; folio pre- sented to, 119 ; forces gathered (1459), 274-6; French aid invoked, 337-9 ; Gloucester's estates given to, 146; Henry VI's deposition imputed to, 327 ; imprisonment and ran- som, 367 ; invasions of Eng- land (1462-3), 339-42; Irish incited against York, 286; letters, 396; marriage, 136- 42, 166-7; persuades Henry VI to remain at Blackheath, 199; portraits, 119; prepara- tions against York ( 1456), 262 ; regency demanded, 236; re- turn to England (1471), 359, 365-6; in Scotland, 335-8; son born, 232-4; at Tewkes- bury battle, 366-7; virtual ruler of England, 148; War- wick reconciled with, 355-6 Margaret (of York), daughter of duke Richard, see Burgundy, Marg., duchess of. Marie, barge, 134 Marie of Hampton, carrack, 135 Marie of Hull, carrack, 135 Marie of Sandwich, carrack, 135 Marlborough, 377, 383 Mario w, 381 Martin V (Oddo Colonna), pope, 32, 72-4 Mary (of Gueldres), queen of Scotland, 188, 313, 335, 339, 342 Maud's Castle, 241 n. Mavyle, 386 Maychell, John, 345 Meaux, 1, 162 Meaux, bp. of, 157 Medici, Giovanni de, 34 Melbourne, 320 Meon Stoke, 381, 386 Meon, West, 386 Merchant Adventurers, 219 Merchant Companies, 19, 219-20 Merton, 376, 384-5 Metz, Jean de, 86 Meugette, 83 Meung, 79, 89 Middleham Castle, 242, 344, 351 Midhurst, 382 Mighel-en-Barrois, 342 Milan, 34-5 Mildenhall, 382, 384 Mile End, 202-3 Milewatier, John, 245 Millington, Will., 129 Milton, 202 n. Minorca, 139 Moleyns,Adam,bp. of Chichester, see Chichester. Monasteries, 126, 209-11 Money, 217 Money-lending, 214, 217 Mens, 73-4 Montagu, John Neville, lord (earl of Northumberland), 226, 231, 243, 265-6, 277, 284, 304, 321, 324, 335, 340-1, 344, 350n., 352-3, 356-7,360-2,365 Montargis, battle of, 78 Montereau, 159 Montevilliers, 175 Montfort, 76 Moravia, Jobst of, 30 Mortain, 168 Mortimer, Anne, 40; Edm., earl of March, see March ; (Sir) John, 39, 196-8, 205-6 412 INDEX Mortimer's Cross, battle of, 319 Mortlake, 379 Mountjoy, lord, 350, 353 Mowbray, John, duke of Nor- folk, see Norfolk. Mucklestone, church, 277 Mundford, Osbert, 293-4, 29G Murad, see Amurath. Mylton, 385 Nancy, 138-9, 167, 170 Nantes, 139 Naples, 34-5 Navenby, 385 Navy, 133-5, 213-14, 247, 270 Neath Castle, 241 n. Nene, river, 299, 301 Neville, John Neville, lord, 313, 331 Neville, Alice, countess of Salis- bury, see Salisbury; Anne, daughter of Warwick, see Anne, princess of Wales; Cecily, 41; Edw., lord Aber- gavenny, see Abergavenny ; Geo., duke of Bedford, see Bedford; Geo., bp. of Exeter, archbp. of York, see Exeter; Geo., lord Latimer, see Lati- mer; Hen., 352; Isabel, see Clarence, Isabel, duchess of; Joan, see Westmoreland, coun- tess of ; John, 242 ; John, lord Montagu, see Montagu ; Maud, 231 ; Ralph, earl of Westmore- land,see Westmoreland ; Rich., earl of Salisbvu-y.see Salisbury ; Rich., earl of Warwick, see Warwick; Rob., bp. of Dur- ham, see Durham; Sir Thos. (son of Salisbury), 226, 231, 243, 277, 284, 309, 316; Thos. (Bastard of Faucon- berg), 352, 356, 367-8; WiU., lord Fauconberg, see Faucon- berg; family, 242-4 Nevyle, Rog., 291 Newark, 384 Newbury, 290, 293, 383, 386 Newcastle, 333, 340, 344 Newerk, 382 Newmarket, 382, 385 Newnham Bridge, 305 Newport (Salop), coll., 129 Newstead Abbey, 376 Nicholas V, pope, 184 Nicholas of the Tower, ship, 134, 152-3 Nobility, 210, 212-13, 217-18 Nogent-le-Roi, 79 No Man's Land (St. Albans), 322 Norfolk, 214, 228, 359 Norfolk, John Mowbray, duke of (d. 1432) (earl Marshal, earl of Nottingham), 11-12, 66, 73, 243; John Mowbray, duke of (d. 1461), 150 n., 160, 194, 223, 225, 235, 251, 257, 291, 317 n., 321, 328-9, 331- 2; John Mowbray, duke of (d. 1476), 340, 343 Norham Castle, 341, 344, 389 Normandy, 24-6, 105-7, 149, 155-6, 160, 164, 167, 172-8, 236 Norris, John, 150 n., 200 Northallerton, 384 Northampton, 44, 228, 274, 276, 299, 354, 376, 387-8; battle of (1460), 299-302 Northumberland, 263 Northumberland, John Neville, lord Montagu, earl of, see Montagu; Hen. Percy, earl of (d. 1455), 11-12, 132, 231, 243, 245, 251, 256-7; Hen. Percy, earl of (d. 1461), 148, 259, 268, 313-14, 332-3 Norton, Chipping, 326, 377 Norway, 33 Norwich, 132, 207, 384-5 Norwich, bp. of, 11 Nottingham, 353, 356, 361, 376 Nottingham, John Mowbray, earl of, duke of Norfolk, see Norfolk. Novelemport, Jean de, see Metz, Jean de. Noyelle, 74 Nuneaton, 377 Niirnberg, Diet of (1422), 31 Odiham, 377; castle, 378 INDEX 413 Ogle, Sir Rob., 340 Oldhall, Sir Will., 225, 283 Olney, 354 Original Letters illustrative of English History, 396 Orleans, siege of, 79-83, 86-9 Orleans, duke of, 107, 123, 137, 152, 162-3, 166 Ormond, Jas. Butler, earl of (earl of Wiltshire), 45, 221, 237, 251, 256, 273, 284, 286, 290, 293, 295, 312, 314, 334 Oseney, 383 Ospringe, 380, 382-6 Oxford, All Souls coll., 129; library founded by Gloucester, 146; Lincoln coll., 129; Magdalen coll., 129; mayor warned against assemblies (1450), 191; Sharp's move- ment at, 60-2; university decayed, 129; visits of Henry VI, 378, 388 Oxford, John de Vere, earl of (d. 1462), 160, 238, 338; John de Vere, earl of (d. 1513), 356, 358-9, 361, 364-5 Oxfordshire, 58-62 Padua, 34 Papacy, 31-2 Paris, 3, 25-8, 56, 90-2, 101-3, 156-7, 159-60 Paris, bp. of, 157, 185 Parliament, 1422, regency, king's debts and naval ques- tions, 9-11, 133-5; 1423, Sir John Mortimer attainted and March sent to Ireland, 37, 39-40; 1425, Henry VI brought to open, 41; 1426 (" of Bats "), quarrels of Beaufort and Gloucester dealt with, 44; 1427, women's petition to, 49-50 ; 1429, pro- tectorship ended, 55; 1433, French war discussed, 66—7, 104, 108; 1435, money voted for war, 155; 1445, petition against peace, 167-8; 1447, Gloucester's death, 143; 1450, removal to Leicester, re- siunption of crown lands, 154, 190, 194; 1450-1, reforms and appointment of an heir to Henry VI, demanded, 223, 226-7; 1453, Somerset re- instated, 230; 1455, amnesty to Yorkists, Gloucester's memory cleared, 259-60 ; 1459, Yorkists attainted, 282- 3; 1460, York's claims con- sidered, 307-11; 1461, Lan- castrians attainted, 337 ; 1470, records obliterated, 358-9 ; franchise, 192 n. ; free elec- tion prevented, 192 ; position and character, 14-15, 133, 215 Parmynter, Will., 207 Parr, Sir Thos., 283 Paston, John, 223 Paston Letters, 396 Patay, 89 Paul, carrack, 135 Peasants' Revolt (1380), 18 Pecock, Reginald, bp. of Chi- chester, see Chichester. Peel Castle, 125 Peeresses, privileges of, 125 Pembroke, Jasper Tudor, earl of, 68, 226, 251, 304, 312, 314, 319, 337, 340-1, 351, 356, 359, 365 Peniscola, 32 Percies, 231 Percy, Hen., earl of Northum- berland, see Northumberland ; Sir Ralph, 340-1, 344 Perkyns, Will., see Sharp, Jack. Perth, 188 Peter, carrack, 135 Peterboro', 320 Pevensey, 201, 202 n. Philip, duke of Burgundy, see Burgundy. PhiUp III, king of France, 21 PhiHp IV, king of France, 21 Philip V, king of France, 21 Phihp VI (of Valois), king of France, 21 Philip, French prince, 155 Philip, ship, 135 414 INDEX Philippa (of Lancaster), queen of Portugal, 34, 43 n. Philippa of Clarence, countess of March, see March. Picardy, 24, 74 Pickenham, 382 . Pirates, 193, 213-14, 266 Pius X, pope, 186 Plaisant Marreys, 378 Ploughland, 59 n. Pluralities, 211 Poins, lord, 134 Poitiers, 27, 87, 95-6 Poland, 35, 106 Political Poems and Songs, 396 Ponontz, 382 Pont de I'Arche, 173, 175 Pontefract, 314-16, 330, 357, 360, 384-5 Pontoise, 156, 158, 164 Poor reUef , 58-60, 209 Poperinghe, 158 Porchester, 140 Portsmouth, 365 Portugal, 34, 106 Potterne, 383 Poulengey, Bertrand de, 86 Powys, lord, 283-4 Poynings, lady, 197 ; lord, 237 Poynings, Edw., 320; Rob., 197 Praemunire, 66 Prague, Four Articles of, 32 Praguerie, 163 Prices, competitive, 216-7; legislation concerning, 17, 210 Priories, alien, see Alien priories. Privy Council, 9-10 Provence, 35, 367 Prussian merchants, 214 Puckeridge, 384 Queenborough, 195, 206 Raby, 242 Radcliff, Sir John, 106 Radford, Nich., 261 Ravenspur, 360 Reading, 230, 377-8, 383, 386-8 Recouvrement, 396 Redbank, 306 n. Redchff, 306 n. Redesdale, Robin of, 352 Regency Council, 1422, 11, 15 Registrum Abbatice Johannis Whethamstede, 395 Ren6 (of Anjovi and Provence), king of Naples, 35, 136, 138, 166-7, 176, 342 Reole, chateau de la, 160 Retford, 384 Revenue, 122, 192 Rheims, 85, 87, 89 Rheims, archbp. of, 90, 106, 161, 185 Richard II, 13 Richard III (duke of Glouces- ter), 307, 318, 360, 368-70 Richemont, Arth. of Brittany, comte de, 70, 77-8, 106, 155-7, 161,173,177; Marg., countess of, 70 Richmond, Edm. Tudor, earl of, 68, 166 n., 226; Marg. Tudor (Beaufort), countess of, 224 Richworth, 385 Rickmansworth, 381 Rivers, Sir Rich. Woodville, lord, 104 n., 287-9, 332, 349-50 Roads, 19-20 Robert III, king of Scotland 28-9 Robertsbridge, 202 n. Roche-Guyon, 174 Rochester, 196-7, 205-6, 226, 296, 377-8, 380, 382-6 Rochester, bp. of, 298 Rodecogge, ship, 135 Romford, 383 Romsey, 386 Roos, lord, 245, 251, 284, 313, 336, 344 Roos, Sir Rob., 135 Rose, balinger, 135 Roses, Wars of the, 251-370 Ross, John, earl of, 336 Rouen, 3, 56, 93, 95-9, 101, 103, 108, 139, 150 ?i., 157, 174-6, 185, 376 Rouvray, 82 Roxburgh, 305 INDEX 415 Royston, 251, 320, 382, 384-5 Rue, 74 Russell, Harry, 134 Rutland, Edm., earl of, 245- 6, 280, 283, 314, 316; Rich., earl of, duke of York, see York. Rye, 258 St. Albans, 44, 47, 375-6, 379, 385, 387-9; abbey, 7-8, 50, 146, 273-4, 324; first battle of (1455), 253-7; second battle of (1461), 321-4 St. Andrews, 389 St. Anthony's school (London), 129 St. Antoine, Bastille de (Or- leans), 80 St. Augustin, Tour de (Orleans), 88 St. Clement, Fords of, 177 St. Denis, 91, 156-7, 376 Ste. Catherine, Porte de (Or- leans), 80 St. Germain-en-Laye, 156 St. James de Beuvron, 168 St. James's hosp. (Westminster), see Westminster. St. John's Priory (Clerkenwell), 151 n., 238, 248, 298, 377, 386 St. Loup, Bastille de (Orleans), 87-8 St. Megrin, 173 St. Michaels, 321 Salisbury, 62, 207, 377, 386 Salisbury, Gilb. Kemer (Kymer), dean of, 257 Salisbury, Rich. Neville, earl of, arrest of Gloucester by, 144; Blore Heath and Ludlow campaign (1459), 275-80; chancellor, 240 ; chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, 258 ; death, 316; earldom ac- quired, 8 1 ; flight to Calais (1459), 280-1; Gloucester supported, 119; at Grand Council of 1458, 267-9; Henry VI's present to, 260; immense retinue (1454), 237; lieutenant for northern counties (1460), 304; marriage and possessions, 242-3, 282, 289; ordered to restrain the Nevilles, 231; return to Eng- land (1460), 296; Rivers attacked, 288 ; in St. Albans campaign (1455), 249-51, 256; at Sandal (1460), 315; Tower of London besieged, 298, 303 ; war with half-brother, 121; York's connection with, 41, 156, 244; Yorkshire estates harried (1460), 313 Salisbury, Thos. Montagu, earl of, 49, 75, 77, 81; Alice Neville, countess of, 81, 242, 283, 286, 292-3, 305 Salisbury, Will. Aiscough, bp. of, 141, 146, 201; Rich. Beauchamp, bp. of, 298, 328; John Chandler, bp. of, 40 Salt trade, 193 Saltwood, 388 Sandal, 262, 360; castle, 249, 315 Sandwich, 196, 266, 278, 287-8, 293-4, 296, 386 Sark, battle of the, 148 Savoy, Bona of, 349 Sawtry, 385 Saxony, 31 Saxton, 330-1 Say, lord (d. 1450), 144, 146, 200, 203; lord (d. 1471), 298, 357 Say, Jolin, 200, 227 Sayntweonard Castle, 241 n. Scales, Thos. de Scales, lord, 204, 290, 297, 303-4; Sir Ant. Woodville, lord, 288-9, 340, 368 Scandinavia, 33 Scarthingwell, 331 Schleswig, 33 Schools and colleges, 125-30, 220 Scotland, 28-30, 148, 186-9, 259, 263, 305, 335-6, 341-3, 389 Scrooby, 384 416 INDEX Scrope, lord, 298 Seaford, 201, 202 n. Servia, 30 Sevenoaks, 200, 386 Sever, Hen., 127 Shaftesbury, 384 Sharp, Jack (John), 58-02 Sheen, 376-82, 385-8 Sheep farms, 18 Sherborne, 384 ' Sheriff Hutton, 242 Sheriffs, 193 Shirborne, 384-5 Short English Chronicle, 394 Shrewsbury, 228, 265-6, 388 Shrewsbury, John Talbot, earl of (d. 1453), 45, 81, 88-9, 119, 150 w., 156, 164-5, 174-6, 178, 180-2, 183 n. ; John Talbot, earl of (d. 1460), 238, 264, 295, 299-301 Sicily, 106 Sigismund, Roman emperor, 30- 3, 36, 54, 73, 106 Silk manufacture, 220 Sill6-le-GuilIaume, 76 Sittingbourne, 378, 380, 382-6 Skipton-in-Craven, 344 Slugge, barge, 134 Sluys, 342 Smithfield, 51 Smyth, John, see Parmynter, Will. Snodhill Castle, 241 n. Social conditions, 15-20, 207-21 Sodbury, 366 Sombourn, 377 Somerset, Edm. Beaufort, duke of (earl of Somerset, earl of Dorset, d. 1455), army gathered (1455), 251; badge, 150 n. ; banishment demanded by Parliament, 226 ; captain of Calais, 226, 248-9; claims to be Henry VI's heir, 224; constable of England, 221-2; death at St. Albans, 253, 256- 7, 259; earl of Dorset, 120; Gloucester arrested, 144 ; god- father to Edward Prince of Wales, 232; Henry VI's devo- tion to, 114; impeached and imprisoned (1453-4), 235-7, 244 ; lieutenant-general of France (1447), 169; Nor- mandy lost, 173-8; release and restoration to power (1455), 248-9; York's rivalry with, 169, 179, 222, 228-30, 236-7 Somerset, Hen. Beaufort, duke of (earl of Dorset), captaincy of Calais contended for with Warw'ick, 271, 284-5, 287, 305 ; Coleshill incident (1459), 278; Coventry affray (1456), 204; Edward IV acknow- ledged, 341; execution, 344; flight after Towton, 333-4; French mission and imprison- ment (1461), 337-8; at Grand Council of 1458, 268-9; Lan- castrians again joined (1464), 343-4; London gates closed against (1461), 325; at Northampton (1459), 276; quarrel with John Neville, 265; at St. Albans battle (1455), 251, 256; surrender to Yorkists (1462), 340; War- wick in charge of, 258 ; West country raised (1460), 313; Worksoja skirmish, 314 Somerset, Edm. Beaufort, duke of (d. 1471), 365-7; Eleanor Beaufort, duchess of, 139, 269; John Beaufort, earl of (d. 1410), 120, 224; John Beaufort, earl (d. 1444), 120, 160, 164-6, 224-6 Sonning, 377-8, 383 Sorelle, Agnes, 170 Southampton, 3, 134, 140, 201, 382 Southewel, manor of, 132 Southover, 201 Southwark, 43-4, 202-6, 297, 376, 387 Southwell, 148, 384 Southwick, 381-2, 380; priory, 381 Spain, 33, 106, 270-1 INDEX 417 Spyne, meaning of term, 134 Stacy, , 153 Stafford, 265 Stafford, Humph., 200 ; John, see Bath and Wells, bp, of; Will., 200 Staines, 37, 375-7, 380-1, 385-6 Stamford, 148, 320, 361, 384-5 Stanhope, Maud, 231 Stanley, , 222 Stanwell, 381 Staple, Merchants of the, 19, 219, 293 Starlawe, Thos., 200 Stewart of Darnley, Sir John, 186, 188; Sir Will., 30, 75 StiUington, Rob. H., bp. of Bath and Wells, see, Bath and Wells. Stilton, 384 Stoken Church, 381, 383 Stourton, lord, 238 Stratford, 383 Stratford, Stony, 376 Stratford-on-Avon, 377 Stuart of Darnley, see Stewart. Sudbury, 191, 383 Suffolk, Alice de la Pole, duchess of, 226 ; John de la Pole, duke (earl) of (d. 1450), 75-6, 81-2, 88-9, 114, 120, 136-40, 142-53, 166-7, 191, 194, 241; John de la Pole, duke of (d. 1491), 321 Surienne, Frangois de, 173 Surrey, rising, 1450, see Cade's rebellion. Sussex, 193, 228; rising, 1450, see Cade's rebellion. Sutton, 375 Sutton, Sir John, 352 Sweden, 33 Switzerland, 35 Swynford, Cath., 8 Tadcaster, 360 Tailboys, Sir Will., 344 Talbot, Alice, 346; Sir Edw., 346 ; John, 346 ; John, earl of Shrewsbury, see Shrewsbury. Tancarville, 175 Tannenberg, battle of, 35 Tarporley, 277 Tartas, 160 Taunton, 227, 366 Taxation, 192, 295 Tempest, Sir John, 346; Rich., 346 Templecombe, 384 Tetsworth, 381, 383 Teutonic Order, 35 Tewkesbury, battle of, 366-7 Thame, 388 Th^rouanne, bp. of, 104 Thetford, 382, 384-5 Thomas, ship, 134 Thorn, Peace of, 35 Thorney, 385 Thorpe, , 259 Thrale, 383 Throgmorton, John, 320 Thurland, 347 Tiptoft, Sir John, 11, 13; John, earl of Worcester, see Wor- cester. Tisted, 381 Titchfield Abbey, 141, 381 Tittenhanger Park, 385 Todenham, Sir Thos., 226 Tonbridge, 386 Topcliffe, 384 Tottenham, 376, 380, 382 Touraine, 76 n. Touraine, duke of, see Douglas, earl of Tourelles, Bastille des (Orleans), 80, 88 Tournaments, 216 Tours, 78, 89 Towcester, coll., 129 Towns, Black death's effect on, 18-19 Towton, battle of, 330-3 Trade and industry, 15-20, 209, 214, 217-20 Trevilian, , 150 n., 200, 227 Trinity, barge, 134 Trinity, ship, 134 Trinity, Little, ship, 135 Trollope, Sir Andr., 278, 280, 305, 323, 332-3 Trowbridge, 383; castle, 243 Troyes, 75, 89; Treaty of, 22, 27-8 418 INDEX Tudor, Edm., earl of Richmond, see Richmond; Jasper, earl of Pembroke, see Pembroke; Marg. 68; Owen, 68-9, 313, 319; Owen (the younger), 68; badge, 251 n. Tunstall, Sir Rich., 345-7, 351 Turks, 30, 32, 34, 36 Tutbury, 262 Urswyke, , 362 Usury, see Money-lending. Uxbridge, 377, 380-2, 386 Vagabonds, 16, 20 Valentine, barge, 134 Valognes, 177 Valois, house of, 21 Vaucouleurs, 86 Vendome, comte de, 162 Venice, 34, 36, 214 Vergil, Polydore, 397 Verneuil, 173-4; battle of (1424), 75-6, 188 Verona, 34 Vesci, lord, 303 Vignolles, ifetienne de. La Hire, 78, 85, 87 Vincennes, 156; castle, 3 Vincennes, Bois de, 3 Vire, 177 Visconti, family, 34 Waddington Hall, Wadding- hall, 346, 389 Wakefield, 360; battle of, 315-6 Wales, 131, 351 Wales, Edw., prince of, see Edward. Wallingford, 383; castle, 47, 375 Wallop, 384 Walsall, 388 Walsingham, 382, 384-5 Waltham, 380, 385-6 Waltham, Bishop's, 386 Waltham Holy Cross, 38, 376; abbey, 50, 376, 384 Waltham Manor, 142 Wanford, 384 Warbelton, Will., 61 Ware, 253, 258, 382, 384-5 Wareyn, Rob., 238 Wark, 305 Warkworth, 148, 340 Warkworth, John, 396 Warnford, 381 Wars of the English in France, Letters and Papers illustrative of the, 395 Warwick, 378, 388; castle, 241, 377 Warwick, Anne Beauchamp, duchess of, 241 ; Hen. Bean- champ, duke of, 49, 241, 243; Rich. Beauchamp, earl of, 5n., 11-12, 47-9, 51-2, 62-5, 69, 77, 92-4, 97, 101, 150 n., 159, 162, 212, 241; Anne Neville, countess of, 241, 305 Warwick, Rich. Neville, earl of (the Kingmaker), captain of Calais, 258, 265-6, 270-2, 275, 281, 284-5, 287-93, 304- 5 ; death, 365 ; in deputation to Henry VI (1453), 238; Edward IV made king, 326-8 ; forces (1453), 237; at Grand Council of 1458, 268-9 ; Henry VI arrested, 347 ; importance after Wakefield, 317-8; Lan- castrian restoration effected, 355-8; in Ludlow campaign, 278, 280-1 ; Northampton campaign, 296-302; northern fortresses reduced, 340-1, 344 ; overthrow, 360-5 ; at Parlia- ment of 1455, 1456, 259, 262; position in 1453, 240-4; quarrel with Edward IV, 348- 55; retirement to Yorkshire, 249; in St. Albans cam- paigns, 250-1, 255-6, 32-0 6 ; Scottish embassy, 339 ; at Towton, 329-33 ; Waurin's information derived from, 395; York's claims opposed (1460), 308-11; York's early connection with, 41 Waterford, 292 Waterways, 20 Watford, 253, 382, 387 Watlington, 381 INDEX 419 Waurin, Jehan de, 395 Waynflete, Will., bp. of Win- chester, see Winchester. Welles, Sir Rob., 355 Welling, 383, 387 Wells, 366, 384 Wenlock, Sir John, 283, 288, 294, 298, 325, 339, 366 Wentworth, Sir Phil., 256 Wenzel, king of Bohemia, 30 Westerdale, Sir John, 360 Westham, 202 n. Westminster, coronation of Hen. VI, 51-5; EHz. Wood- ville in sanctuary at, 357 ; funeral of Henry V, 4; hosp. of St. James by, 126, 378 ; Marg. of Anjou crowned, 142; visits of Hen. VI, 41, 57, 375-89 Westmoreland, 345, 389 Westmoreland, Joan Neville (Beaufort), countess of, 41, 121, 242; Ralph Neville, first earl of, 11-12, 41, 121, 242; Ralph Neville, second earl of, 121, 231, 242 Wey bridge, 375 We3rmouth, 365 Whitchurch Castle, 241 n. Whittingham, , 337 Wight, Isle of, 179 Wigmoreland, 58 Wilcot, 378 Willoughby of Eresby, Rob., lord, 150, 157 Wiltshire, 228; rising in 1450, see Cade's rebellion. Wiltshire, Jas. Butler, earl of, earl of Ormond, sec Ormond. "Wiluale, 385 Winchcomb, 377 Winchelsea, 191 Winchester, 385-6 Winchester, Hen. Beaufort, bp. of, see Beaufort, Hen., card. ; Will. Waynflete, bp. of, 127, 205, 207, 232, 238-9, 248, 264, 284, 289, 357 Windsor, 237, 375-8, 380-7; castle, 1, 37, 47 376, 378-9, 381-2; Lodge at, 378-9; Manor in Park, 377, 379- 81 ; St. George's chapel, 370 Wine trade, 193 Wisbech, 326 Witchcraft, 95 n., 125 Wolverhampton, 388 Women, industries of, 219-20 Woodstock, 377-9, 381, 383, 388 Vv^oodville, Sir Ant., lord Scales, see Scales; Eliz., queen of Edw. IV, see Elizabeth ; Rich., 229; Sir Rich., lord Rivers, see Rivers. Woolpit, 384-5 Wool trade, 9, 18-19, 122, 148, 219 Worcester, 278 Worcester, bp. of, 11 Worcester, John Tiptoffc, earl of, 340, 359 Worcester, Will, of, 394 Worksop, 314 Wrotham Park, 365 Wycliffe, John, 211 Wycombe, 379, 381, 383 Wycombe, High, 378 Wymondham, 385 Yarmouth, Gt., 39 Yeomanry, 218 Yonge, Thos., 227 York, 132, 148, 313-4, 330, 333" 344, 360, 384-5, 389 York, John Kemp, archb of. see Kemp, John, card. ; Geo. Neville, archb. of, bp. of Exeter, see Exeter. York, Rich. Plantagenet, duke of, appearance, 221 ; at- tainted, 283; award of 1458 accepted, 269; badge, 151 n., 251 n. ; Cade's rising in rela- tion to, 1:94, 196, 283 ; claims to the throne, M5, 224, 227- 30, 233-4, 305-11; constable of England, 258; defeat and death, 315-7; French affairs under, 155-6, 158-9, 162, 164-5, 169; Gloucester sup- 420 INDEX ported, 119; inheritance, 40; knighted, 46; heutenant of Ireland, 146, l69, 267, 286, 292; at Ludlow, 277-9; Marg. of Anjou's first meeting with, 139; northward march (1460), 314; protector of the realm, 240, 244-8, 262, 264; return from Ireland, 221-3, 226; rivalry with Somerset, 479, 235; at St. Albans battle, 253-7 ; upbringing, 40-1 ; wars of the Roses begun, 249-51 ; Yorkshire estates harried, 313 York, Cecily, duchess of, 169, 243, 280, 282, 284, 307 ; Edm. (of Langley), duke of, 40 n. Yorkshire, 345, 352-4, 356 Ziska, John, Hussite general, 31, 33, 35 vOq ^V :^/' > « I A .-o- ^0^^ ^^. .^'^ ■ » * ' ' A . 1 . 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