SML By7 In OE "/give theft B doles: 'or the founding of a, CalUgi p±tM$;jDoton.y\ Bought with the income of the William C. Egleston Fund 191^- THE SCHOLAR'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND VOL. VII OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY HUMPHREY MILFORD M.A. PUBLISHER to the university HENRY IV. From the Ejfigy on his Monument in Canterbury Cathedral. LANCASTER AND YORK A CENTURY OF ENGLISH HISTORY (A.D. 1399-1485) Sir JAMES H. RAMSAY of Bamff, Bart., M.A. BARRISTER- AT-LAW ; LATE STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS VOLUME I ©;tfotr& AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1893 PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS BY HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY ti ^7. 1 vw TO THE MEMBERS OF MY OWN FAMILY LIVING AND DEPARTED WHO HAVE ASSISTED AND ENCOURAGED ME IN A LENGTHY TASK PREFACE No apology need be offered for an attempt to supply a verified connected narrative of the first 1500 years of the history of England. The last fifty years have seen masses of historical material brought to light, with corresponding developments in the standards of historical criticism. *The earlier ages of our history are those that have profited most by these discoveries and this progress. Of high-class works dealing with portions of this period we have no lack, with Mr. Freeman's History of the Norman Conquest to head the list. Nor are continuous Histories of a popular and attractive character wanting, such as those of the late Mr. J. R. Green or Dr. Franck Bright. But these latter works do not give specific references to the original author ities, and therefore do not supply a foundation upon which after-comers and specialists can build. In the Constitutional History of the Bishop of Oxford (Dr. Stubbs) we have a truly monumental work, not likely to be ever displaced. But the writer of a Constitutional History is somewhat cramped by the necessity of regarding all things from the constitutional point of view ; nor can he without trans gressing the proper limits of his subject do justice to all sides of the national story. He cannot enter fully into military events, nor into foreign affairs, nor into the financial history of the kingdom. Literature and art are equally beyond his purview. Yet foreign affairs have viii PREFACE. always had an important bearing upon domestic politics ; and there are persons who think the military history of a nation worth recording. Nor, again, should the industrial beginnings of a great trading people be thought destitute of interest. Thus the strong points of the work I now offer to the public should be found among those above indicated as not comprised in the work of Bishop Stubbs. I might also point out that the period anterior to the Anglo-Saxon occupation of Great Britain is not touched upon by him. At the risk of being stigmatized as a "drum and trumpet historian," I have taken great pains in verifying as far as possible the incidents of battles, the marches of armies, the strength of their numbers. Under this last head the official documents in our Record Office supply data of unique value. I would invite especial attention to the proofs I have been able to adduce of the smallness of English expeditionary forces, and the exaggerations in their estimates of numbers to which even the best of chroniclers were prone. My conclusions on this subject ought to be of far-reaching application and interest. The verification of dates is another point to which especial attention has been paid, in the interest of scholars. As matters now stand, a specialist searching for the date of some event which might be considered conspicuous — say a Royal Progress or a Royal Voyage — as a fixed point for the determination of other dates, finds himself in some uncertainty as to the very year of the events. A work dealing with so lengthy a period can only be offered as a summary, but I would fain hope a summary that at each step may suggest to the reader how much more might be said, how very much more remains to be found out. The book has been composed to serve no special theory or object, save that of bringing the reader as far as possible face to face with the facts. Considerable attention has been paid to Scottish affairs, where at all in contact with English history. I might PREFACE. ix almost affirm that more of the solid facts of Scottish history will be found in these pages than in some Scottish Histories of recent date. I have not failed to avail myself, with due acknowledge ment, of the fruits of the labours of previous investigators, and, before and above all others, of those of Bishop Stubbs. Where I have accepted the conclusions of a prior writer I have endeavoured as much as possible to give his views in his own words. At the same time the reader must not in strictness hold the primary author responsible for more than the actual expressions quoted, as a borrowed phrase may be used in a connexion materially different from that of the original. With respect to purely domestic events the difficulty has been to re-write, less well, what had already been perfectly well written by another. Never theless the present work must be given to the public as one essentially based on the author's personal examination of the original authorities. Twenty-one years of life devoted to this task, in exclusion of all other tasks, have supplied a fair, but only a fair, amount of time. Lastly, I must explain that I have been induced, for reasons that need not be specified, to publish the last portion of my work first. The earlier volumes will follow without delay, All the references have been verified by myself, ex cept such as are given as cited by another ; but the majority of these also, if in print, have been verified and corrected. The reader's attention is invited to the distinction in the use of single and double inverted commas in quotations. Where the ipsissima verba of another are given without modification, double commas (" ") are used. If the words are translated, transliterated, or in any way modified, single commas (' ') are used, e.g. " Richard nadgairs Roy " ; ' Richard late King ' ; " Lordes Temporels " ; ' Lords Temporal '. J. H. RAMSAY. TABLES, MAPS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS Henry IV, from the effigy on his monument in Canterbury Cathedral ..... Table I. Houses of York and Lancaster Table II. House of Clarence-Mortimer Table III. House of Beaufort . Table IV. The Hollands . Table V. The Staffords and Bourchiers Henry, Duke of Lancaster, receiving the Dukes of Surrey and Exeter (envoys from Richard II) at Chester Shrewsbury — Hotspur's March . Plan of Battle of Shrewsbury Facsimile of Exchequer Tally Henry V France in 141 5 . Map of the Agincourt Campaign Plan of battle of Agincourt Henry VI as a young man City of Orleans ..... France at the close of the year 1428 . Frontispiece To face page xlii xlviii 6061 160 161196207212 322 3823S7 ERRATA ET ADDENDA.— VOL. I Page 150. Butlerage was not levied under Parva Custuma, but was an independent tax, introduced in 1303, as a commutation for " Prisage." Page J59. Johanna of Navarre died on the 9th July, 1437, not on the 9th January. Page 211. For "left" of Peronne read "right." LIST OF AUTHORITIES Achery, L. D'. Spicilegium. (Ed. L. F. J. de La Barre. Paris, 1723-) Acts and Proceedings of the Privy Council. (H. Nicolas. Record Commission, 1834.) Acts of Parliament of Scotland. (Scottish Record Commission.) Agincourt, History of the Battle of By Sir Harris Nicolas. (London, I833-) Amplissima Collectio. See MARTENE and Durand. Amundesham, John OF. Annates. (H. T. Riley. Rolls Series, No. 28.) One of the St. Albans writers. Anglia Sacra. H. Wharton. (London, 1691.) Annates Henrici Quarti. (Rolls Series, No. 28.) One of the St. Albans Chronicles, printed by Mt. H. T. Riley in the same volume as Trokelowe and Blaneford. Annates Ricardi II. (Rolls Series, No. 28.) One of the St. Albans Chronicles, printed by Mr. H. T. Riley. Arnold, Richard. The Customs of London (otherwise called Arnold's Chronicle, 1811). A haberdasher of London, named executor of a will, A.D. 1473, still living in 15 19. The first edition of this work was printed at Antwerp soon after 1502. Barante, A. Brugi£re de. Histoire des Dues de Bourgogne. (Paris, 1825.) Baronius, C, Cardinal. Annates Ecclesiastici. (A. Theiner. Paris, 1864, &c.) BASIN, Thomas. Histoire de Charles VII et Louis XI. (J. Quicherat, Soci&e' de 1'Histoire de Paris, 1855.) Born, 1412, in Normandy; took Holy Orders, circ. 1435 ; assisted at Councils of Ferrara and Florence ; Bishop of Lisieux, 1447 ; driven from Bishopric by Louis XI, 1466 ; began to write after 1470 ; died, 1491. This writer was formerly cited as "Amelgard". Beaucourt, G. Du Fresne de. Histoire de Charles VII. (Paris, 1885, &c.) xii LIST OF AUTHORITIES. Beaurepaire, C. H. Etats de Normandie sous la Domination Anglaise, 1859. Bekyngton, T. Letters of. (Rolls Series, No. 56. G. Williams.) Beltz, G. F. Memorials ofthe Order ofthe Garter. (London, 1841.) Bourgeois de Paris, fournal d'un. (A. Tuetey, 1 88 1 .) The work of a resident clergyman connected with the Chapter of Notre Dame, Paris, 1420-1451. BOUVIER, Gilles Le (Berri Roi d'Armes). Les Cronicques du feu Roy Charles, &c. Printed by D. Godefroy in his Histoire de Charles VII. (Paris, 1661.) Cagny, Perceval de. Anonymous Chronicle. (Printed by M. Quicherat, in vol. iv. of Prods de feanne d'Arc.) The writer was a follower of the Duke of Alencon, and wrote in the year 1436, apparently from a contemporary diary kept by him. Calendar of Norman Rolls. Printed in the forty-first Deputy Keeper's Report, Appendix I, No. 2 (6 to 8 Henry V). Capgrave, John. The Chronicle of England. (Rolls Series, No. I. Rev. F. C. Hingeston.) De Illustribus Henricis. (Rolls Series, No. 7.) Capgrave was born at Lynn, 1393 ; became Prior of the Augustinian Priory at Lynn, and ultimately Provincial of the Augustinians in England. Died, 1464. Champollion-Figeac. See Lettres des Rois. Chartier, Jean. Chronique de Charles VII (ed. Vallet de Viriville, 1858). Chanter of the Abbey of Saint-Denis, appointed Historio grapher Royal to Charles VII in 1437. Chastelain, Georges. Chronique, &c. (Kervyn de Lettenhove. Brussels, 1863, &c.) Born, 1405 ; lived in France till 1445, after that at Court of Burgundy ; commissioned by Philip the Good to write in 1455 ; died, 1475. His work, parts of which are lost, ex tended from 1418 to 1470 ; a writer of great political insight. Chronique de Normandie. A fragment, 1414-1422 ; attributed to the above by Mr. Williams, and printed by him in the same volume as the Gesta Henrici V (Eng. Hist. Soc). The authorship by Chastelain is entirely denied by Baron Kervyn. Chronicle Davies. English Chronicle (1377-1461), printed for the Camden Society by Mr. Sylvester Davies. No. 64. Chronicle Giles. A Chronicle of the reigns of Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI, printed by Dr. J. A. Giles from MSS. Sloane 1776 and Reg. 13, c. I. Chronicle London. English Chronicle of London (1089-1483), printed by Sir H. Nicolas, 1827. Chronique Normande. See COCHON, also Cronicques de Normendie. Chronology of History. By Sir Harris Nicolas. (London, 1833.) Claus=Rotuli Clausi. (Close Rolls, MSS. Record Office, Fetter Lane.) LIST OF A UTHORITIES. xui Cochon, P. Chronique Normande. Printed by Vallet de Viriville in the same volume with the Gestes and the Pucelle of the Cousinots. See COUSINOT. Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, &c. (Edited by G. E. C, 1887, &c.) COSNEAU, E. Conne'table de Richemont. (Paris, 1886.) CousiNOT, G. (Le Chancelier). Gestes des Nobles Francais (Vallet de Viriville, 1869). The writer was the confidential agent of the House of Orleans from 1408-1442. COUSINOT, G. (de Montreuil). Chronique de la Pucelle (same volume as the preceding). The writer became Secretary to Charles VII in 1438, and lived at the French Court till 1484. CREIGHTON, Mandell. History of the Papacy during the Reforma tion. (London, 1882.) CRETON, Jean. Histoire du Roy d'Angleterre Richard, &c. Printed in Archaeologia, vol. xx, p. 295, by Mr. Webb, from MS. Harl. No. 1319. The writer was with Richard in 1399 ; and apparently had finished his work before the battle of Shrewsbury (1403). Cronicques, Les, de Normendie, 1223-1453. (A. Hellot, Rouen, 1881.) Davies. See Chronicle Davies. DELPIT. Documents Francais. (Published in Documents InSdits sur P Histoire de France!) Devon Issues. Issues of the Exchequer, Henry III — Henry VI, from the Pell Records, by F. Devon. (Record Commission, 1837.) D. K. Reports. Reports of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Nos. 1, &c, annual (1840, &c). Ellis, Sir Henry. Original Letters Illustrative of English History. (Three Series, 1825-1846.) Elmham, Thomas of. Vita et Gesta Henrici V. (T. Hearne, 1727.) See Political Poems. See Memorials of Henry V. A monk, originally at Canterbury, afterwards Prior of Lenton, 1414-1426. Eulogium Historiarum. (Rolls Series, No. 9. F. S. Haydon.) Excerpta Historica. Sir H. Nicolas. (London, 1831.) Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. G. Burnet, Edinburgh, 1878. {Chronicles and Memorials of Scotland!) Extractae Variis Cronicis Scotiae. Turnbull. (Abbotsford Club, 1842.) Fabyan, R. The New Chronicle of England. (Ed. H. Ellis, 1811,) A draper of London ; flourished under Henry VII. His work is said to have been finished in 1493. Sheriff of London, 1495 ! died, 1512. Fasciculi Zizaniorum Magistri fohannis Wyclif. (Rolls Series, No. 5. W. W. Shirley.) Foedera, Conventiones et Litterae. T. Rymer. (London, 1709.) Foss, E. The Judges of England, &c, 1848, &c. xiv LIST OF AUTHORITIES. Fox, J. Acts and Monuments of British Martyrs. (London, 1684.) Froissart, Jean. Chroniques. (Ed. Buchon, 1835, Pantheon Littd- raire.) Born about 1337 ; died probably soon after 1400. Gascoigne, Thomas. Loci e Libro Veritatum. (J. E. Thorold Rogers. Oxford, Clarendon Press.) Gascoigne, a Yorkshireman, was born 1403 ; ordained a priest in 1437 at Oxford, where he spent most of his life ; died March, 1458. G. E. C. See Complete Peerage. Gesta Henrici V (English Historical Society, B. Williams). An anonymous work, composed by Henry's own Chaplain. Gestes des Nobles Francais. See COUSINOT. Gilbert, John Thomas. History ofthe Viceroys of Ireland, 1865. Goodwin, Thomas. History of the Reign of Henry V. (London, 1704.) Gower, J. Chronica Tripartita. (Roxburghe Club, 1850.) Gower, the author of the Confessio Amantis (first printed by Caxton in 1483), must have been of age in 1473, when he executed a deed ; he died 1408. Grafton, Richard. Chronicle or History of England. (London, 1809.) A member of the Grocers' Company and a printer ; flourished under Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Elizabeth; died, 1572. The original edition of his Chronicle goes down to 1558. He also issued the first printed edition of Hardyng's Chronicle in 1543, with a prose continuation, bringing down the narrative to date (34 Henry VIII). Green, Mary Anne E. Lives of Princesses of England, 1849, &c- GREGORY, W. Historical Collections of a London Citizen. (J. Gairdner, Camden Society, N. S., No. 18.) Gruel, G. Cronique de Artus III Due de Bretagne. Printed by Godefroy in his Hist, de Charles VII, p. 741. (Paris, 1661.) Hall, E. Chronicle containing the History of England from Henry IV to Henry VIII (ed. H. Ellis, London, 1809). Hall was born 1498-9 ; became a member of Gray's Inn ; his Chronicle first appeared in print in 1542 (Diet. Nat. Biog.). Hardyng, John. Chronicle (metrical), with continuation of R. Grafton. (H. Ellis, 1812.) Hardyng was born in 1378 ; a follower of Sir Robert Umphraville ; fought at Shrewsbury and Agincourt ; was with Henry V at Vincennes in 1422, and delivered to him a copy of the recognition of Edward I by the Scottish Claimants. For this he received a pension of ,£10 a year, 1439-40 (Pat. 18 Henry VI, pt. iii, m. 15). Later in life he went to Scotland in quest of further documents ; received serious bodily injuries in the course of his adventures there, and finally presented a further batch of documents (forgeries) to the Earl of Shrewsbury (Treasurer) in November, 1457. For this service he received a further pension of £20 a year LIST OF AUTHORITIES. xv (Pat. 36 Henry- VI, pt. i, m. 8). He must have written late in life. The heading to the chapter containing the death of Henry V was evidently not written till the time of Edward IV (p. 387 ; so again p. 390), while near the end of the work he refers to 1463 as the current year (p. 410). The prose continuation carries the narrative down to 1543. Historic Peerage. By Sir Harris Nicolas (ed. W. Courthope. London, 1857). Holinshed, Raphael. Chronicles of England, Scotland, &c. (H. Ellis. London, 1807, &c.) Holinshed wrote under Elisabeth, mostly from materials collected by Stow. Hook, Walter Farquhar. Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury. (i860, &c.) Issues. Issue Rolls. Pell Issue Rolls. MSS., Record Office, Fetter Lane. Jollois, J. B. P. Histoire du Siege d'Orldans. (Paris, 1833.) Kings Quair. W. W. Skeat. (Scottish Text Society.) Knighton, H. Chronicle. Printed by Sir R. Twysden in his Decern Scriptores. Also now edited for the Rolls Series, by Mr. J. R. Lumby, No. 92. La Marche, Olivier de. Mtmoires, &c. (Beaune et d'Arbaumont. Socie'te' de l'Histoire de France.) Le Fevre, Jean, DE Saint-R£my. Chronique. (F. Morand, So- cie'te' de l'Histoire de France, 1876.) A native of Abbeville ; born 1395-6 ; at the Battle of Agincourt, on the English side ; Herald of the Golden Fleece, 1431. Began to write in 1462, basing his narrative on the works of Monstrelet and Wavrin, the facts for which had in many cases been supplied by himself. Died June, 1468. Leland, J. De Rebus Britannicis Collectanea. (London, 1770.) Itinerary. (T. Hearne. Oxford, 1745.) L'Enfant, Jacques. Histoire du Concile de Constance. (Amsterdam, 1714.) Histoire du Concile de Pise. (Amsterdam, 1724.) Lettres de Rois. Brequigny. Printed by Champollion-Figeac in Documents Inidits. (Paris, 1847.) Liber Pluscardensis. (F. J. Skene, 1877, Historians of Scotland) Probably compiled circ. 1461. Lobineau, G. A. Histoire de Bretagne. (Paris, 1709.) Longnon, A. Paris pendant la Domination Anglaise. (Socie'te' de l'Histoire de France.) Lords' Report. Reports of the Lords' Committee on matters ap pertaining to the Dignity of a Peer. (5 vols., 1829.) Martene, E. and Durand, U. Veterum Scriptorum Amplissima Collectio. (Paris, 1724.) xvi LIST OF A UTHORITIES. Martene, E. and Durand, U. Thesaurus Novus Anecdotorum. (Paris, 1717.) Martin, Henri. Histoire de France (fourth edition, 1885, &c). Memorials of Henry V. Containing, (1) Vita Henrici V, Roberto Redmano Auctore j (2) Versus Rhythmici j (3) Elmhami Liber Metricus de Henrico V. (Rolls Series, No. 11. C. A. Cole.) Milman, H. H. History of Latin Christianity. (London, 1864.) Monachus Evesh. Historia Ricardi II, auctore Monacho Eves- hamiensi. (T. Hearne, 1729.) MONSTRELET, ENGUERRAND DE. Chroniques. (Buchon, Pantheon Litteraire, 1836.) Native of Picardy; lived mostly at Cambray, of which he was governor at the time of his death, July 1453. His work extends from 1400 to 1444; down to the death of Charles VI, in October 1422, the work is original ; from that point it is copied and condensed from Wavrin ; in fact, the Chronicles of Monstrelet, Wavrin, and Le Fevre must be re garded as really forming one great Burgundian Chronicle pro duced by the three more or less in collaboration. See Le Fevre and Wavrin. Morice, P. H. Memoires pour servir de Preuves d Phistoire Sr'c. de Bretagne. (Paris, 1742.) Mort et Traison du Roy Richart, &c. (Williams. English Historical Society.) The work of a Frenchman who was in England in 1398 and 1399, but who wrote after Creton, and in fact copied him. The two have often been confounded. Cf. Creton. Munimenta Academica (Oxford). (Rolls Series, No. 50. H. Anstey.) Nicolas, Sir N. Harris. See Historic Peerage. Royal Navy. Excerpta Historica. Acts and Proceedings. Chronology of History. Agincourt. Norman Rolls, a.d. 1200— 1205 and 1417. (T. D. Hardy, Record Commission, 1835.) Nottingham Records. Records ofthe Borough of Nottingham, 1882. Ordonnances des Rois de France. (Paris, 1 733.) OTTERBOURNE, T. A Chronicle. (T. Hearne, Oxford, 1734.) Printed with the Chronicle of T. Whethamsted, and Blakman's Liber de Vita Henrici VI. Past on Letters. J. Gairdner, 1872. Pat=Patent Rolls. MSS., Record Office, Fetter Lane. Pauli, R. Geschichte von England, 1853. Continuation of Lappen- berg. Plancher, U. Histoire de Bourgogne. (3 vols. Dijon, 1739, with a fourth vol. by Salazar.) LIST OF AUTHORITIES. xvn Plus car densis. See Liber P. Political Poems. (Rolls Series, No. 14. T. Wright.) Proceedings. See Acts and Proceedings. Prods. See Quicherat. Pucelle. See Cousinot. Quicherat, J. E. J. Proces, Sr'c, de Jeanne d'Arc. (Paris, 1841. Socie'te' de l'Histoire de France.) Raynaldi, O. Annates Ecclesiastici, A.D. 1 198 — 1534. A continua tion of Baronius, with a further continuation by A. Theiner. Receipts. Receipt Rolls. Pell Receipt Rolls. (MSS. Record Office, Fetter Lane.) Redman, T. Vita Henrici V. Memorials of Henry V. (Rolls Series, No. 11. C. A. Cole.) Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum. W. Stubbs. (Oxford, 1858.) Ribadieu, H. Histoire de Conquete de Guienne. (Bordeaux, 1866.) Riley, H. T. Memorials of London, 1868. ROGERS, J. E. THOROLD. A History of Agriculture and Prices in England. (Oxford, 1886, &c.) ROSS, J., of Warwick. Historia Regum Angliae. (T. Hearne, Oxford, 1716.) Rotuli Parliamentorum. Record Commission. Rotieli Scotiae. Record Commission. Royal Letters, Henry IV. A collection of Royal and Historical Letters during the reign of Henry IV. (Rolls Series, No. 18. Rev. F. C. Hingeston.) Royal Navy, A History of. By Sir Harris Nicolas. (London, 1847.) RUDING, R. Annals of the Coinage of Great Britain. (London, 1840.) Rymer, Thomas. See Foedera, &c. (London, 1709.) Saint-Denys. Chronique du Religieux de, &c. Documents Inddits. (L. Bellaguet. Paris, 1839.) Sandford, Francis. Genealogical History of the Kings and Queens of England. Ed. Stebbing (1707). Scotichronicon. Ed. Goodall. (Edinburgh, 1759.) Siege cVOrUans, Chronique du. M.A.Salmon. (Paris, 1845.) SlSMONDl, J. C. L. SlSMONDE de. Histoire de France. (1821, &c.) Histoire des Republiques Italiennes. (Paris, 1826.) Statutes ofthe Realm. (Record Commission, 1810, &c.) Stevenson, J. Letters and Papers Illustrative of the Wars of the English in France, &c. (Rolls Series, No. 22.) Stow, John. Annates or Generall Chronicle of England. With continuation by Howes. (London, 1615.) Stow was born in London, 1525; began to collect historical materials in 1560; his Chronicle first appeared in 1565 ; his Survey of London in 1598. He died in 1595. (Biographie Universelle.) * b xviii LIST OF AUTHORITIES. Stow, John. A Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster. Ed. Strype (1754)- Stubbs, William. Constitutional History of England. (Oxford, 1874.) " Titus Livius de Frulovisiis," of Ferrara. Vita Henrici V. Hearne (1716). The writer was an Italian in the service of Hum phrey, Duke of Gloucester, and wrote at his request. Traison. See Mort et Traison du Roy Richart. Tyler, James Endell. Henry of Monmouth, or Memoirs of Henry V. (London, 1838.) URSINS, Jean Jouvenel des. Chronique de Charles VI. (Buchon, 1838. Pantheon Litte'raire.) This writer (son of a man of the same name) was born in 1388 ; Bishop of Beauvais, 1432 ; Bishop of Laon, 1444 ; Archbishop of Rheims (on the resignation of his younger brother, Jacques), 1449; presided at the 'Proems de Rehabilitation ' of Joan of Arc, 1456 ; died, 1473. Usk, Adam of. Chronicon. E. Maunde Thompson (1876. Royal Society of Literature.) The writer was a follower at first of the House of March, and afterwards of Thomas of Arundel, Arch bishop of Canterbury. He practised as a lawyer in the Archi- episcopal Court at Canterbury from 1395 to 1402. He was present in the Parliaments of 1397, 1399, and 1401. Versus Rhythmici. See Memorials of Henry V. Vic(b)et Vaissette, (J. J.) Histoire Gindrale de Languedoc. 1730. WAKE, W. The State ofthe Church, &c. (London, 1703.) Wallon, H. A. Richard II. (Paris, 1864.) WALSINGHAM, Thomas OF. Gesta Abbatum Monasterii S. Albani. (Rolls Series, No 28. Mr. H. T. Riley.) One of the succession of St. Albans chroniclers. Historia Anglicana. (Rolls Series, No. 28. Mr. H. T. Riley.) WAVRIN, Jehan DE. Recueil des Chroniques, &c. (Rolls Series, No. 39. Sir W. Hardy.) So down to the year 1443 ; after that the author is quoted from the edition by Mdlle. Dupont (Socidte' de l'Histoire de France, 1858), and will be cited as Wavrin-Dupont. Native of Flanders ; born about 1400 ; at the Battle of Agincourt, on the French side, where he lost his father and brother. From 1400 to October, 1422, Wavrin's Chronicle is taken from Monstrelet, but from that point down to 1444, Monstrelet condenses Wavrin, the information in many cases being derived from Le Fevre, who in turn copied Wavrin. From 1444 to 1472, where the work ends, it is partly original, partly taken from Duclerq, or those whom Duclerq copied. Wavrin probably died soon after 1472. Wavrin-Dupont. Anchiennes Cronicques. See preceding. (The whole of Wavrin has now appeared in the Rolls Series, 1891.) Wilkins, David. Concilia Magnae Britanniae, &c. (London, 1737.) LIST OF A UTHORITIES. xix Wood, A. History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford. (Oxford, 1792.) Worcester, William of — otherwise William Botoner. Annates Rerum Anglicarum. (Printed by Hearne, with the Liber Niger Scaccarii, 1728.) A native of Bristol ; born 141 5 ; for many years Steward or Secretary to Sir John Fastolf ; a man of literary tastes ; translated into English a French version of Cicero, De Senectute, printed by Caxton ; probably also the author of The Boke of Noblesse (Roxburgh Club). Died, perhaps, 1479. Wyntoun, Andrew of. Orygynale Chronykil, &c. Macpherson. (Edinburgh, 1795.) The writer was elected Prior of St. Serf's, Loch Leven, about 1395. His work was finished before April, 1424. ba CONTENTS PART I. CHAPTER I. Henry IV. 1399. {Oct. 6) Opening of Parliament Convocation — the King's message The Coronation The Ampulla of St. Thomas of Canterbury The Banquet {Oct. 14) Parliament resumes Repeal of Acts and Proceedings of 1398-9, and re-enact ment of those of 1388 The Succession — the House of Mortimer ignored Richard's Appellants Sir William Bagot — Scene in the House . . . . Sentences : Richard II to be imprisoned for life ; Albe marle, Surrey, Exeter, Dorset, and Gloucester to be degraded Marks, Bishop of Carlisle General Business of the Session — Customs granted Statute 1 Henry V — Limitation of cases of Treason Petitions — The King's firmness . Clerical Petitions Anti-Lollard Legislation deprecated Foreign Relations The French — The Scots . 1 2 2 4 5 5 6779 n 121314 14 IS 16 16 17 CHAPTER II.- 1400. Discontent of the Hollands (Huntingdon and Kent), Salisbury, and Despenser Plot to seize Henry — People hostile to the conspirators 19 20 xxii CONTENTS. A.D. PAGE 1400. Kent and Salisbury lynched by the mob at Cirencester . 21 Bloody Assize at Oxford 21 Huntingdon lynched at Pleshey ; Despenser at Bristol . 21 Trials in London 22 Richard's fate — Suggestion of the Privy Council . . 22 Obsequies 23 {fan. 29) Truce with France— Henry not recognised there 23 Scotland— The Duke of Rothesay — His warlike policy . 23 War resolved upon in England 24 Demand of homage 25 {Aug. 14) Invasion of Scotland by Henry — Three days' siege of Edinburgh 25 Henry's humanity in war 26 Troubles in Wales — Overbearing conduct of English lords 26 Rising in North Wales — suppressed by Henry ... 27 Confiscation of estates of Owen Glyndwr .... 27 Plague 27 Emperor Manuel in London 27 Henry's position — Officers of State — Financial weakness . 28 1401. {fan. 20) Parliament 28 The King and the House of Commons — Sir Arnold Savage 29 Freedom of debate 29 Money grants 30 Interference of Chancery with Common Law Courts . 30 Political duels — Statute 2 Hen. IV 30 Record of Proceedings in Parliament to be drawn up before close of the Session 31 House of Lords — Amnesties 31 Action against Lollards 31 Statute De Haeretico Comburendo (2 Hen. IV, c. 15) . 33 Question as to the concurrence of the Commons . . 33 {Feb. 12) William Sawtrey brought before Convocation . 33 His opinions and staunchness — His condemnation as a heretic 34 His execution 35 Recantation of John Purvey 35 Money grant by Convocation 35 1400. Death of Richard II (Appendix) 36 CHAPTER III. 1401. Welsh affairs— Owen Glyndwr Prince of Wales . . 38 English treatment ofthe Welsh 39 Operations in Wales 39 Isabella's return to France ,o CONTENTS. xxiii A. D. PAGE 1401. Difficulty of refunding her dowry 40 Conferences at Leulinghen — Recognition of Henry still withheld 41 Dexterity of the French negotiators 41 Domestic difficulties — Anonymous letters — Plots . . 43 Third rising in Wales 43 Grey of Ruthyn captured by Owen 44 Richard II reported alive and in Scotland. ... 44 1402. Severity of the Government 45 Sir Edmund Mortimer captured by Glyndwr ... 45 Triple invasion of Wales : bad weather .... 46 Scottish inroad — Battle of Homildon Hill .... 47 The Percies forbidden to ransom their prisoners . . 48 Parliament at Westminster 49 Money grants — Petitions — Stat. 4 Hen. IV . . 50 Marriage of the Lady Blanche to Ludwig of Bavaria . 5 1 The King's marriage 51 1403. Political value of the connection with Brittany ... 52 CHAPTER IV. 1403. Rising of Edmund Mortimer 53 The Earl of Northumberland — Sir Henry Percy, "Hotspur" 54 The King in debt to the Percies 54 Commands taken from them — The Earl more subtle than his son 55 Narrowness of the King's circle 55 His financial difficulties — High rates of soldiers' wages . 56 Siege of Border " Peels ''• — Collusive arrangement between the Percies and the Scots 56 {fuly 4) Henry marches to support the Percies against the Scots 58 The Percies throw off the mask 58 Treaty of Partition with Glyndwr 58 Defiance to ' Henry of Lancaster ' 58 Henry's promptness 59 The Earl of Worcester (Sir Thomas Percy) ... 59 The insurgents reach Shrewsbury : Henry there before them 60 {July 21) Battle of Shrewsbury 60 Desperate character of struggle — Hotspur killed — Douglas and Worcester prisoners 63 Execution of prisoners, &c 64 The Earl of Northumberland pardoned .... 65 xx;v CONTENTS. A D PAGE 1403. His castles holding out— The King turns towards Wales- State of things there 65 The King at a standstill for want of money ... 66 Grant of half a Tenth by clergy of Canterbury ... 66 The King advances to Caermarthen 67 The King at Bristol— Privateering in the Channel . . 67 Defeat of English at sea — Plymouth burnt — Channel Islands put to the ransom 67 Henry's neglect of the Navy 68 Glyndwr up again— Aberystwith besieged : Cardiff burnt . 68 CHAPTER V. 1404. Parliament at Westminster — Weakness of the King's position 69 {Feb. 6) The Earl of Northumberland brought before Parliament — Found guilty of ' trespass ' only ... 70 Penalty remitted by the King 71 The Succession confirmed — Reconciliations ... 71 Attack on the Household — Dismissal of King's servants . 71 Attack on foreigners 72 Submissiveness of the King — The Household to be put on an allowance 72 A responsible Ministry announced — Model Commission of Array 73 Demand for resumption of Crown grants — Special exemp tions claimed 73 Statute, 5 Henry IV — Privilege of Parliament ... 74 Act of Grace 74 Grant of a Land-tax 74 Grants of Tenths by Convocations of Canterbury and York 75 The war in Wales 75 League between Glyndwr and the French ... 76 War with the French in the Channel .... 76 Royal journey to the North — William Serle ... 78 Conditional agreement for surrender of Northumberland's castles 78 {Oct. 6) Parliament at Coventry — 'The Unlearned Parlia ment ' 79 Resumption of Crown grants again suggested by Com mons ; also confiscation of Church property ... 80 Discomfiture of the Commons 80 Double Subsidy granted 81 Tenth and a half granted by Convocation of Canterbury : Tenth by that of York 81 CONTENTS. xxv A. u. PAGE 1404. Outrages by men of rank 81 {Sept. 27) Death of William of Wykeham .... 82 CHAPTER VI. 1405. The year 1405 — Crisis in Henry's career .... 83 Attempt to carry off the two young Mortimers from Windsor — Personages implicated 83 Plans for prosecution of the war in the Channel and Wales 85 Northumberland's double dealing 85 Partition treaty with Glyndwr and Sir E. Mortimer . . 86 Rising of Northumberland, Mowbray, and Bardolf — Arch bishop Scrope joins them — His indictment of Henry . 87 Popular manifesto in English 88 Suppression of the rising 89 Efforts of Archbishop Arundel to save his brother : eluded by the King 90 Execution of Scrope and Mowbray . . ... .90 Reduction of castles — Prudhoe, Warkworth, Berwick " . 91 Dealings of the Earl of Northumberland with the French and Scots . . . 92 Alnwick — Executions at Durham 92 The King moves to Worcester and South Wales . . 92 French landing at Milford — They winter in Wales . . 93 Henry assiduous in business, but without sense of economy 93 CHAPTER VII. 1406. (Mar. 1) Parliament at Westminster . . . 95 Suggestions ofthe Commons for the pacification of Wales, and the keeping of the sea . . . . . .96 Capture of James of Scotland 97 No valid truce between England and Scotland at the time 97 Parliament — Foreigners to be banished from Court . . 98 Attack on the Administration and Household . . -99 Fourth recognition of King's title, and settlement of Suc cession ioo Northumberland and Bardolf to be summoned : failing appearance, to be condemned 100 Fresh demands of Commons for expulsion of foreigners, resumption of Crown grants, and audit of accounts . 101 Audit conceded : money grants in return .... 101 Expulsion of foreigners waived 102 Articles providing for constitutional and economical govern ment 102 XXVJ CONTENTS PAGE 1406. Act of Settlement extended to females . . • .102 Petition for further measures against Lollards . . .103 The Prince of Wales io3 Statute of the Session— Parliamentary elections . . 103 Agricultural labourers not to apprentice their children to trades I04 Foreign relations— The Scots i°4 The Papacy and the execution of Scrope . . . .104 France I04 Marriage of the Lady Philippa 105 Relations of the King : his sons, and his half-brothers . 105 Archbishop Arundel I°6 CHAPTER VIII. 1407. Plague — Truces I°8 {Oct. 20) Parliament at Gloucester 108 The Commons' right of initiating money grants : its ap parent origin 109 Money grants no Special ' franchises ' of March Lords : their evils . .110 The Prince of Wales : his growing popularity . . .110 Truces — French envoys in England in {Aug) Death of Sir Robert Knolles ill 1408. Last effort of the Earl of Northumberland . . .112 Action on Bramham Moor 113 Henry again victorious : again suffers in popularity, and health 113 1406. The Schism in the Papacy 113 Efforts to close it by the ' Double Cession ' . . .114 Gregory XII and Benedict XIII . . . . . 114 1407. Arrangements for a personal meeting . . . . 115 Appeal to a General Council 116 1408. England and the Council 117 Foreign relations again peaceful 117 1409. Representatives for the Council 118 Republication of Constitutions against Lollards . .118 Unlicensed preaching forbidden. Scriptures not to be read in English 119 CHAPTER IX. 1409. Council of Pisa 120 Both Popes deposed — Election of a new Pope — Alex ander V 121 CONTENTS. xxvn A. D. PAGE 1409. Truces — Jedburgh Castle recovered by the Scots . . 122 The Prince of Wales opposing Archbishop Arundel at Oxford — Arundel resigns the Seal 123 New Ministry 123 1410. {fan. 27) Parliament at Westminster .... 123 Appointment of a Council with the Prince at its head . 123 Money grants— Statute n Henry IV . . . .124 Inadequacy of the Revenue 124 Lollard Execution : John Badby — His staunchness . . 125 Wild conduct of the King's sons 126 The Prince's debts — The Prince and Chief Justice Gas coigne 126 French rejection of Henry's overtures : its consequences . 127 Feud of the Burgundians and Orleanists, otherwise Ar magnacs 128 Constituent elements of the two parties . . . .128 141 1. Hostilities in the summer and autumn of 141 1 . . . 129 The Parisians espouse the cause of Burgundy . . .129 Overtures to England — The Prince of Wales sends troops to support Burgundy 130 The Burgundians, with the help of the English, drive the Armagnacs from Paris 131 CHAPTER X. 1411. {Nov.3) Parliament at Westminster — The King dismisses the Council appointed in last Parliament . . . 132 The Commons give them a vote of thanks . . .133 Money grants — The currency reduced .... 133 Archbishop Arundel, the Wycliffites, and the University of Oxford 134 The King and the Prince of Wales 134 New Ministry 134 1412. Relations with French factions — The Armagnacs offer to restore Aquitain . . . . . . . .135 {May 18) Offensive treaty between England and the Ar magnacs 135 Expedition fitted out 136 Opposition of the Prince of Wales : attempt to force the King to abdicate 137 The expedition sails to La Hogue 138 Change in the situation in France : Charles VI able to act 138 'Reconciliation' of parties 138 The English bought out of France 139 The Prince 139 xxviii CONTENTS. A. 13. PAGE 1412. Beaufort and Arundel 140 The King's health failing 140 1413. {Mar. 20) His death 141 Personal appearance of Henry: his character, and achieve ments 142 CHAPTER XL 1 399-1413. Financial view of reign of Henry IV . . . 143 Pell Issue Rolls — Pell Receipt Rolls 143 Pell Rolls not audited ; but subordinate accounts audited 144 Rectification of apparent amounts of Pell Rolls . . .144 Cancelled Tallies — Loans in anticipation of taxes . . 144 Direct payments 145 Heads of Revenue — Hereditary Feudal Revenues — Pipe Rolls 145 Foreign Accounts ........ 146 Forfeited estates 146 Meaning of demands for resumption of Crown Grants . 147 Other possessions of Crown — Duchy of Cornwall — Earl dom of Chester — Wales— Lancaster Estates . . . 147 Customs — Hereditary and Parliamentary Duties . . 148 Wool and Leather Duties — Antiqua Custuma — Accidental over-grant in 1402 149 Parva Custuma — Exemptions of Hanse Merchants . .150 Tonnage and Poundage 150 Net yield of Customs 150 Subsidies from Parliament in Convocation . . .151 ' Hanaper in Chancery 153 Tower Mint and Exchange 153 Debasements of Currency, object of 153 Profit of the transaction 1 54 Amount of Currency in circulation 154 Loans and Sundry Receipts 154 Honesty of Henry's Government 154 Totals of Revenue and Expenditure 155 Expenditure 155 Household— Wardrobe of Household— Great Wardrobe- Private Wardrobe— King's Chamber— Queen's Dower . 155 Civil Service xc6 Public Works !j6 Dockyards . T<;6 Pensions jcg Military and Naval !j6 CONTENTS. xxix A. D. PAGE 1 399-1 4 1 3. The King's marriages and issue . . . .158 Table of Revenues of Henry IV (estimated average) . . 160 CHAPTER XII. Henry V. 1413. {Mar. 21) Accession 161 New Ministry 162 Homage before Coronation 162 {Apr. 9) Coronation 163 Parliament 164 Money Grants — The King's firmness 165 The King energetic and conciliatory 166 King of Scots removed from Tower to Windsor. . .167 Guienne and Ireland . . . . . . . .167 Recognition by foreign Courts 167 Public Works 168 France — Revolutions in Paris 168 Burgundians masters of Paris 169 Overtures from Henry to the Duke of Burgundy- . .170 Decay of Burgundian influence in Paris . . . .170 Armagnacs masters of Paris 171 Henry's pretensions ; the Bretigny terms again . . .171 Truce with Flanders 171 Overtures to Armagnacs — Truce with France . . . 172 CHAPTER XIII. 1413. Attack on Lollards 174 Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham 174 His character and relations with Henry V. . . . 175 Proceedings against him — His apprehension — His con fession of faith 176 The Eucharist — Auricular Confession . . . .177 His condemnation 178 He escapes from the Tower, and organises a rising . .178 1414. Muster appointed in St. Giles' Fields — Frustrated by Henry's vigilance 179 Executions and arrests - 179 {Apr. 30) Parliament at Leicester — Measures against Lollards 180 Truce-breakers at sea, and Border brigands . . .181 Measures assented to by Commons not to be altered in engrossment 183 xxx CONTENTS. A. D. PAGE 1414. Origin of Quarter Sessions 183 Creations in Parliament 183 CHAPTER XIV. 1414. Foreign affairs 184 Henry negotiates both with Burgundians and with Armagnacs 184 Offers to marry Catherine of France or Catherine of Burgundy 184 Henry demanding more than the Bretigny terms . . 185 Grand Council of Lords and country gentlemen . .186 The Gentry not anxious for war — The higher Clergy more „ warlike 187 {Nov. 19) Parliament at Westminster : war announced — Money grants 188 John XXIII and Sigismund — Council of Constance summoned 189 Ecclesiastical Foundations — Sion House . . . .191 Continued negotiations —Henry's demands — French offers. 1 92 //1 41 5. Preparations for war 193 The King goes down to Southampton — French embassy to Winchester 195 Failure of the negotiations 196 Conspiracy of the Earl of Cambridge — His trial and execution 197 Henry sails from Portsmouth 199 CHAPTER XV. 1415. {Aug. 13) Landing in Normandy 201 Town of Harfleur — Its site and fortifications . . . 202 Siege of Harfleur 203 Surrender of the town— Treatment of the inhabitants- English losses during the siege 204 Henry resolves on a march to Calais 206 Passage of the Somme barred — March inland— The Somme crossed 207 Musters of the French 209 Burgundy holds off— The French send a challenge . .210 March through Picardy — Flank march . . . .211 The armies draw near — Preparations for action . . .212 The King's confidence 212 The armies encamp for the night 213 The English position. Formation of the English . .214 Battle of Agincourt— Estimate of English numbers . . 215 ' CONTENTS, xxxi A. D. PAGE 1415. The French position — Estimate of their numbers . . 216 The ground unfavourable to the French — Their formation. 217 The French maintain a defensive attitude . . . .218 Henry negotiates to avoid a battle 219 The English advance — The archers open on the French . 219 The leading French division charges in column ; is sur rounded and overwhelmed 220 Engagement with the second French division . . .221 Flight of the third division 221 A fresh alarm 222 French losses 223 March to Calais 224 CHAPTER XVI. 1415. {Nov. 23) Triumphant entry into London .... 225 {Nov. 4) Parliament at Westminster 227 Situation in France 228 1416. {Mar. 16) Parliament at Westminster .... 228 Sigismund and England 229 1414. Council of Constance 229 John Huss 230 Parties in the Council 231 Pope John XXIII, Sigismund, and the Orthodox Reforms . 231 1415. Deposition of John XXIII 232 Condemnation and execution of Huss 233 1416. Efforts of Sigismund to close the Schism. His visit to Paris 233 He comes to England 234 CHAPTER XVII. 1416. Distress of English garrison at Harfleur .... 236 Franco-Genoese armament in the Channel . . . 237 Relief of Harfleur — Naval engagement in the Seine . . 238 Attempts of Sigismund to mediate between England and France 239 He signs a league with Henry — Treaty of Canterbury . 240 Conferences at Calais; England, France, Sigismund and Burgundy — Abortive issue ...... 240 {Oct. 19) Parliament at Westminster 242 Preparations for fresh invasion of France — The Royal Navy 243 1417. Fluctuating policy of the Duke of Burgundy . . . 244 Henry and his prisoners 245 xxxii CONTENTS. A.D. A PAGE 1417. Muster at Southampton 245 The Bishop of Winchester resigns the Seal . . .246 {Aug. 1) Henry lands in Normandy 246 , Situation in France 247 Henry's plan of campaign 247 Reduction of towns: Touques, Caen, Lisieux, Bayeux, Argentan, Sdes, Alencon, Mortaigne, Bellesme, Frdsnay. 247 Alarm in Brittany — Conferences 249 Operations resumed — Falaise 250 (Appendix to chapter xvii.) The army of 1417 . . . 250 CHAPTER XVIII. 1417. {Nov. 16) Parliament at Westminster 253 Apprehension of Sir John Oldcastle 253 He is brought before Parliament, sentenced and executed . 254 The Government and the Lollards 254 1416. Council of Constance : Jerome of Prague — His execution . 255 141 7. Election of Martin V — End of Council of Constance . . 256 1418. Conquests in Normandy — Domfront and Cherbourg . . 257 Henry's policy towards the inhabitants . . . .257 Parties in France 259 Rising in Paris against the Armagnacs — Duke of Bur gundy master of Paris 260 Siege of Rouen 261 New leader of the Armagnac or Dauphinois party . . 262 Overtures to Henry from both parties — Henry's view of his situation 263 Conferences with the Dauphinois — Conferences with the Burgundians 265 1419. Fall of Rouen 266 CHAPTER XIX. 1419. Negotiations Meeting between Henry and the Duke of Burgundy . Queen Isabella and the Lady Catherine . Henry's demands— Stipulations of the P'rench . Failure of the Conference The Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphinois The English invade the Isle of France Arrangements for a meeting at Montereau between the Dauphin and the Duke of Burgundy Murder ofthe Duke of Burgundy .... 268 270270271 272 272 273274 275 CONTENTS. xxxm a. D. PAGE 1419. Overtures from the young Duke of Burgundy and City of Paris to Henry 276 Henry's terms 276 Course of English conquests , 277 {Oct. 16) Parliament at Westminster 277 1420. The Queen Dowager 278 Acceptance of Henry's terms by Charles VI 279 Queen Isabella 280 Treaty of Troyes 281 Attitude of neutral Powers 282 {June 2) Marriage of Henry and Catherine . . . 282 CHAPTER XX. 1420. Reduction of Sens 283 The Scots in France , . . . 284 Siege of Melun— Fall of Melun 284 State entry of Henry and Charles into Paris . . . 286 Henry and the French 287 Parliament at Westminster 288 1421. Henry at Rouen 288 Henry and Catherine come to England .... 289 Coronation of Catherine — Royal Progress .... 290 4s Battle of Baugd 291 Parliament at Westminster 292 Treaty of Troyes ratified 293 Henry returns to France 295 The Dauphin and Brittany— Treaty of Sable' . . . 295 s* P- ho d. (Green, Princ 3reen, i. 385.) 5, i. ED- X ord, dau. of 6th Lord 2nd wife. ¦chier, Earl of int Bourchier, of Essex Constance f (" Custant d. 1416. j . iuchamp, Earl of '^' 2nd husband. Joan of Gloucester, ^= Gilbert Talbot, d. s. p. of Irchingfield. >ove, under his reign. married James Touchet, Lord Audley (Rot, TABLE II. HOUSE OF CLARENCE-MORTIM. Philippa of Clarence, =f= Edmund Mortimer I, b. August, 1355. b. 1351, Earl of March 1360, d. 1381. Roger Mortimer III, b. 1374, Earl of March 1381, d. 15 August, 1398. : Eleanor, dau. of Thomas Holland II, Earl of Kent. Edmund Mortimer = dau. of Owain d. s. p. (?). Glyndwr, Elisabeth Mortimer :Sirl (ki Shre T I Edmund Mortimer II, = Anne Stafford, dau. of Edmund Stafford, Earl of Stafford. She married secondly John Holland II, Earl of Huntingdon and Duke of Exeter. (See Table IV.) b. 1391, Earl of March 1398, d. 19 Jan. 1425. No issue. Roger Mortimer Anne Mortimer =p Richard of Conis d. young, s. p. 2nd son of E of Langley (Ti 1 Richard of Cambridge, : b.1412, Duke of York 1415, Protector of England. 1454. &c, d. 1460 (killed at Wakefield). . Cecille Neville, youngest dau. of Ralph, ist Earl of Westmorland. (Table I, next Volume.) Isabel = I (See next Volume, p. 239.) bjw,EaiSjHXt 1 i urS, urm FHd ^Uijo Jl TABLE III. HOUSE OF BEAU John of Gaunt =^= Catherine, dau. of Sir . widow of Sir Hugh Sv Statutes 20 Rich. II anc (Their children legitimated by John Beaufort I, b. circa 1375) Earl of Somerset Feb. 1397, Marquis of Dorset Sept. 1397, de prived of Marquisate 1399, d. 1410. Margaret, dau. of Thomas Holland II, Earl of Kent (Table IV). She married 2ndly Thomas of Lan caster, Duke of Clarence. No issue. Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Lincoln 1398, Bishop of Winchester 1405, Cardinal St. Eusebius 1417, d. 1447. Thomas Beaufort, Earl of Dorset 1412, Duke of Exeter 1416, d. 1424. Henry Bes d. young, I Henry Beaufort I, b. 1401, Earl of Somerset 1410, d. 1418, unmar ried. 1 John Beaufort II, Earl of Somer set 1418, Duke of Somerset 1443, d. 1444. Margaret, dau. of Sir John Beauchamp, of Bletso. (She m. afterwards Lyon, Lord Welles.) T Margaret Beaufort, b. 1443. d, 1509. Edmund Tudor, b. 1430, : Earl of Richmond i453i d. 1456, ist hus band. Sir Henry Stafford, : d. 1481-2, 2nd husband. No issue. Edmund Beaufort I, Earl of Mortain 1430-1431, Earl of Dorset 1438, Mar quis of Dorset 1443, Duke of Somerset 1444, d. 1455 (killed at St. Alban's). : Thomas, Lord Stanley, and ist Earl of Derby, 3rd husband. No issue. Henry VII. Eleanor Beauchamp, dau. of Richard, Earl of Warwick. Henry Beaufort II, b. 1436, 1 Edmund Beaufort II, John Beaufort, Thomas Duke of Somerset 1455, jure Duke of Somer d.4 May, 1471, d. beheaded 1464. From a set 1464, recognised s. p. Killed at natural son of his are as such by the Lan Tewkesbury. descended the Somersets, castrian Govern Earls of Worcester and ment Feb. 1471, be Dukes of Beaufort. Un headed May 6, 1471, married ? s.p. Joan Beaufort = Lord Hoth (Howth?), qy. d. s. p. ? Anne Beaufort == Sir William Paston. Marga: Note. To the above members of the Beaufort Family must be added one Henry Beaufort III ("Beuford"), who has As he is not heard of in 1470-1471, he may be supposed to I TABLE IV THE HOLLAN Edmund of Woodstock (youngest son of Edward I) b. 1301, Earl of Kent 1321, beheaded 1330. Edmund of Kent, Earl of Kent 1331, d. under age 1333, s. p. John of Kent, = Elisabeth of Juliers. b. 1330, Earl of Kent 1333? d. 1352, s. p. Joan of Kent : and ¦ Wakwido Sir I d Thomas Holland II, == Alice of Arundel, b. i35o» Earl of Kent 1381, d. 1397. dau. of Richard III, Earl of Arundel. Holland III, = Joan Stafford, 4, Earl of dau. of Hugh, nd Duke of 1397, de- of Dukedom i. 1400, s. p. d by mob). 2nd Earl of Stafford. Edmund Holland, r^ Lucia Visconti. John Holland, Thomas Holland, b. 1384, d, young. d. young. Earl of Kent 1400, d. 1408, s. p. Eleanor Holland I = i Table Margaret Holland =p John Beaufort I, = Thomas, Duke of Clarence, | ist husband. 2nd husband. 4- No issue by him, Table III. Eleanor Holland II =^ Thomas, Earl of Salisbi d. 1428 (killed at Orl< T Richard Holland, d. s. p. 1416. John Holland II, Earl of Hunt ingdon 1416, Duke of Exeter 1443, d. 1447. Anne, Countess of March, widow of Edmund Mortimer II, ist wife. Henry Holland, b. 1430, Duke of Exeter 1447, d. 1475. Anne Plantagenet, dau. of Richard, Duke of York (Protector). Anne divorced the Duke in 1472, and remarried Sir Thomas St. Leger, and by him had another dau., Anne, ancestress ofthe Dukesof Rutland. Beatriz of Portugal, Countess of Arundel, 2nd wife. No issue, Anne I Anne Holland, contracted to Thomas Wydeville, circa 1466, d. 1475, s. p. ¦ TABLE FORDS AN id Extinct Peerages ; IODSTOCK, =^ Ele; II. b. 1355. ter 1385, d. Calais). afford, Earl of Station 5U6j Table I. , s. p., ist husband. onstance Greene. Ai. : Wydeville, Richard, ,r William Knyvet, 2nd husband. Catharine Stafford T John Talbot III, Earl of Shrewsbury. rd Fitz-Waryn 1449, 1471. Fulke B Eleanor Bourchier = John Mowbray II, Duke of Norfolk. John Bourchi chier. d. s.p. 1485 •field). Fulke Bourchier, d. young. Isabel Bourchier, d. young. Cecile Bourchier ^= 1 of Wilts, alleged seccj INTRODUCTION The reader who is invited to take up a drama at the beginning of the fifth Act is entitled to a few fore-words to introduce the situation. Richard II came to the throne in June, 1377, at the death of his grandfather, Edward III, he himself then being only ten years old. Of his father's brothers, John of Gaunt, Edmund of Langley, and Thomas of Woodstock were still living. The second son of Edward III, Lionel of Antwerp, was dead, but had left a daughter Philippa, married to Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March. (See Genealogical Tables I and II.) The leading features of Richard's character as developed by time appear to have been an insatiate thirst for despotic authority, an extraordinary power of dissimulation, and a most unforgiving memory. But it must be admitted that from the time when he began to act for himself, he was subjected to a bitter and in fact contemptuous opposition by his uncle Thomas, Earl of Gloucester, and by his cousin Henry of Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, the son of John of Gaunt. A Baronial party acting in concert with these was led by Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick ; Thomas Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham ; Richard, Earl of Arundel ; and his brother Thomas of Arundel, then Bishop of Ely. A keen struggle began in the Parliament of 1386, when Richard, under threats of deposition, was forced to dismiss his Ministry and submit to the control of a Commission xliv INTRODUCTION. appointed, nominally for one year, to regulate the Royal Household, &c. Instead of biding his time, Richard chafed openly at the Commission, and finally obtained from the Judges Tresilian, Bealknap, Holt, Fulthorp, and de Burgh the well-known extra-judicial opinion condemning the ap pointment of the Commission as an illegal infringement of the Royal Prerogative. But Richard was unable to carry the country with him against the Commission, and, on the contrary, had to submit to the impeachment of his own private friends and advisers, including the Judges. The charges against them were preferred by five ' Appellants,' as they were termed, namely, the Earls of Gloucester, Derby, Nottingham, Warwick, and Arundel (February, 1388). Several executions ensued, one deeply felt by the King being that of Sir Simon Burley (May, 1388). A year later the tables were turned, and Richard was able to dismiss the Ministry imposed upon him by the Appellants, but for active measures of retaliation he had to wait in patience for eight years more. The death of his first wife, Anne of Bohemia (June, 1394), enabled him to effect an alliance with France, the war party in England being headed by the Duke of Gloucester. In 1396 Richard married Isabella, daughter of Charles VI, a girl not seven years old, and therefore a very unsuitable consort for a childless king. But he received with her at least 400,000 ' francs ' (£66,666 13s. 40J.) of dowry, and signed a truce to last for thirty years. A cessation of foreign war seemed to him essential for the prosecution of his domestic plans. His scheme was to make himself absolute through the sup port of a wide-spread association of personal followers, known and feared as the " Fellowship " of the White Hart, this being Richard's personal cognizance. The "White Harts" were practically hired retainers, bound to support and be supported by the King in all things and as against all men, a most unconstitutional and illegal organization. When all seemed ready, in July, 1397, Richard suddenly arrested the Earls of Gloucester, Warwick and Arundel. INTRODUCTION, xlv Eight new Appellants came forward to impeach them for their acts in 1386-1388. These men were Edmund, Earl of Rutland (son of Edmund of Langley, now Duke of York) ; Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent ; his uncle John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon; the Earl of Nottingham ; John Beau fort, Earl of Somerset (legitimated son of John of Gaunt) 1 ; John Montagu, Earl of Salisbury; Thomas, Lord le De- spenser ; and Sir William le Scrope ; all young men, and in fact mostly mere boys. It will be noticed that Nottingham had gone over to the King's side. Bolingbroke, the Earl of Derby, had not come forward as an Appellant, but he supported their action. Gloucester was sent to Calais, and there made away with, after a confession had been elicited from him by Sir William Rickhill, a Puisne Justice of the Common Pleas. Arundel was executed ; Warwick con demned to imprisonment. Thomas of Arundel, now Arch bishop of Canterbury, was banished. To facilitate the exe cution of this sentence the Pope (Boniface IX) translated him to St. Andrews. It should be stated that Gloucester, Arundel, and Warwick, had all received formal pardons for their acts of 1 386-1388, but the pardons were revoked by the ' Merciless Parliament ' (September, 1397). The King's opponents having been punished, his sup porters received their rewards. Derby became Duke of Hereford ; Rutland, Duke of Albemarle ; the two Hollands became Dukes of Surrey and Exeter ; Nottingham was created Duke of Norfolk ; Somerset, Marquis of Dorset ; Despenser, Earl of Gloucester ; Scrope, Earl of Wiltshire. Richard's triumph seemed complete when in January, 1398, the Parliament of Shrewsbury gave him the wool duties for his life, and delegated all the powers of Parlia ment to a Standing Committee. A curious incident brought on a sudden crisis. Norfolk, in confidential con versation with Hereford, imparted to him his belief that Richard had never really forgiven their original sin of 1 For Rutland, the Hollands, and Somerset, see Tables. xlvi INTRODUCTION. 1388, and that sooner or later he would find an opportunity of destroying them. Hereford, by his father's advice. reported the conversation to Richard. The sequel is known to all. Norfolk gave the lie to Hereford, and a wager of battle was arranged between them. When the two appeared in the lists at Coventry, Richard banished Hereford for ten years and Norfolk for life. Both retired — Norfolk to die abroad in despair, Hereford to return in triumph. Before leaving England Henry obtained from Richard a promise that, in the event of the death of his (Henry's) father, John of Gaunt, he should be allowed to appoint an attorney to take " seisin " of his inheritance. John of Gaunt passed away on the 3rd February, 1399, and Richard at once broke his word, confiscating the Lan caster estates. Henry and the exiled Archbishop then set their heads together to scheme for the recovery of their rights. Richard gave them their opportunity by going over to Ireland in the month of May. In preparing for this expedition he filled up the measure of his offences against the nation by raising forced loans under Letters of Privy Seal 1. The Duke of York was appointed Regent in the King's absence, but the real management of affairs was confided to four subordinates, namely, the Earl of Wiltshire, Sir John Bushy, Sir William Bagot, and Sir Henry Green. About the 4th July Henry landed at "Ravenspur" (Spurn Head?) in the Humber, with perhaps 100, perhaps 300 followers, the Archbishop and his nephew, the young Earl of Arundel, being among them ; also John, Lord Cobham of Kent, another man implicated in the events of 1387. The Northern magnates joined the Duke of Lancaster, and he marched boldly southwards, proclaiming that he came simply to claim his heritage — nothing more. The Regent, 1 Commissioners were sent down to the country with ready-drawn obli gations, blank spaces being left for the names of the parties and the sums they were to provide ("Blanke Charters," "Ragemans"). But there was no covenant on the King's part for repayment. Some of these deeds are still perserved in the Record Office. Treasury of Receipt Miscell., y . INTRODUCTION. xlvii after some demur, accepted his assurances and joined his army. Richard, returning tardily from Ireland, landed at Milford about the 22nd July. Whatever chances he might have had were lost by helpless indecision, perhaps in part due to treachery in his own circle. His army fell to pieces, and early one morning he appeared at Conway, disguised as a priest, with a following of just thirteen souls. The two Hollands (Surrey and Exeter), Gloucester (Despenser), and T. Marks, Bishop of Carlisle, were among them. Negotiations were opened with Henry, who was then at Chester, having followed Richard's movements along a parallel route up the Severn valley from Bristol. On the 17th August Richard received the Earl of Northumberland, Henry's envoy, at Conway, and agreed to resign in con sideration of a guarantee for his own personal safety and that of his chief followers. On the 18th the party started for Flint, but on the way Richard was arrested by the Earl, and next day placed in Henry's hands at Flint. A march to London followed. Parliament had been summoned for the 30th September, the writs being issued in Richard's name. But on the day before the opening of the Session, Richard was induced to sign a deed of abdica tion, after a private interview with Henry and Archbishop Arundel, in which the pledge for his personal safety must have been renewed. On the 30th September, when Parliament met, Richard's abdication was at once laid before the Houses, and accepted and ratified without dissent. A formal indictment of thirty-three counts was also passed against Richard, and the Throne declared vacant. Henry then came forward, and preferred his well-known claim to the Crown, in which a fictitious title by descent, a title by conquest, and a title by Parliamentary election, were ingeniously mixed up. Once more the assembly gave its assent, and Thomas of Arundel placed Henry on the Throne. Lastly, we may point out that Henry's accession had been facilitated by the fact that Richard's undoubted heir, xlviii INTRODUCTION. the Earl of March (Edmund Mortimer II), was not yet eight years old, his father, Roger, the son of Philippa of Clarence, who had been recognised as Heir to the Throne in 1385, having fallen in Ireland in 1398. Henry, Duke of Lancaster, receiving the Dukes of Surrey and Exeter (envoys from Richard II) at Chester. — {From the original drawing by Jean Creton, MS. Hart. 1319.) CHAPTER I. Henry IV 'of Bolingbroke.' Born at Bolingbroke, in Lincolnshire, 30th May, 13661. — Began to reign 30th Sept., 1399. — Died 20th March, 1413. Coronation. — Parliament. — The Succession. — Richard II and his Party. — Foreign Relations. The one-day Parliament of the 30th September, 1399, chap. i. had deposed Richard of Bordeaux, and exalted Henry of I39g- Bolingbroke. After a week's interval a fresh Session met Opening of under the writs of the new King. Young Henry ofg^o™6 ' Monmouth took his place among the lay peers, and the King's second son, Thomas, held the wand of the Lord High Steward2 The proceedings were limited to a pro forma confirmation of the acts of the 30th September ; but Thomas of Arundel, who again opened the proceed ings, took care to assure the assembly of the King's purposes of good government, and of his intention to be ruled, not by 'his own individual will,' but by the ' common advice of the most sage and discreet persons of the realm ' 3. 1 Stow, 324. Henry's birth was reported to Edward III on the ist June, 1366 ; Devon Issues, 191. His obsequies in 1413 were celebrated on Trinity Eve, as being his anniversary; Household Accounts, 1 Henry V ; Devon Issues, 326. In 1366 Trinity Eve fell on the 30th May. ,2 The office which was vested in Henry as appurtenant to the earldom of Leicester was apparently conferred on Thomas on the 30th September. On the 4th October, young Thomas held a court to settle procedure at the coro nation ; Foedera, viii. 90 ; also the anonymous chronicle printed by Dr. Giles, P-3- 3 " Q'il est la volunte du Roy d'estre conseillez et governez . . . nient de sa volunte propre, &c, mais par commune advis," &c. * B a HENRY IV. chap. i. The formal business concluded, the Houses were ad- 777 journed to the 14th October, the morrow of the day appointed for the coronation 1. Convoca- On the 7th October the Canterbury clergy were as- tlon- sembled in Convocation at St. Paul's. Arundel took his seat among the priests, his translation to St. Andrews not The King's having yet been cancelled2. The Earls of Northumberland message. an(j -Westmorland attended with the usual message from the King : he informed the clergy that he did not intend to ask for money grants, except in times of war or other pressing necessity; but that he intended to maintain the liberties of the Church, and to 'destroy' heresies and heretics to the best of his ability 3. No further business is recorded 4. Thus constitutional and economical government, and an orthodox suppression of heresy, were announced as the first principles of the reign. The Coro- The coronation ceremonies began on Sunday the iath October5, when some forty-five knights were dubbed at the Tower; each having held the usual vigil, and taken the usual bath, in a private chamber allotted to himself. At the head of the list stood Henry's three younger sons, Thomas, John, and Humphrey, with the young Earls of Arundel and Stafford 6, and the heirs of the earldoms of Warwick and Devon7. 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 415 ; Annales Henrici Quarti, p. 388 (Rolls Series, No. 28, H. T. Riley, vol. " Trokelowe and Blaneford "). 2 The translation was cancelled by a Bull dated 19th Oct. 1399 ; Wilkins, Cone. iii. 246. 3 " Quod haereses et haereticos destrueret juxta posse." Already on the 20th September orders had been issued for the arrest of heretics, seemingly Friars Minors, in Norfolk and Suffolk; Rot. Claus. 23 Ric. II, 1 dorso. 4 Wilkins, Cone. iii. 238. 5 Devon Issues, 274. 6 Edmund Stafford, the third brother who succeeded, came to the title at the age of 17 in 1395 ; Historic Peerage (H. Nicolas). 7 Froissart, iii. 356, ed. Buchon ; Ann. Henrici, 291 ; Creton, Archseologia, xx. 396 ; Mort et Traison du Roy Richart (Williams, Eng. Hist. Society) ; and especially the Bodleian MS. printed by Mr. Webb; Append, to Creton, 275, where the names of forty-two of the new knights are given. It appears to be CORONATION. 3 In the afternoon, the state procession from the Tower chap. i. to Westminster took place. The newly-dubbed knights ~~ preceded, the King in cloaks of green, cut after a priestly fashion \ Henry rode bareheaded, although the day was dull and rainy; he wore a short German 'jack' of cloth of gold, with the Garter round his left knee, and the badge of the King of France round his neck 2. The streets were duly draped, and the conduits in Cheapside ran with red and white wine, as usual 3 ; but pageantry was felt to be out of place when the nation was still in the throes of a great revolution, and vast interests and conspicuous lives were trembling in the balance. The coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey on the 13th October followed strictly the old rite : the appeal to the people was made in the old form, and before the coronation oath 4 ; the day — that of the Translation of St. Eadward — was probably chosen in part with reference to the constitu tional liberties with which the name of the Confessor was traditionally associated 5. York, Albemarle, Surrey, and Exeter were apparently the four peers whose duty it was to support the King as he marched to the abbey from the hall 6. Young Henry, as the representative of the House of Lan caster, bore the principal sword " Curtana " ; the pointless sword of Justice. The second sword was apparently borne quite a mistake to suppose that the Order of the Bath was instituted on this occasion. 1 Froissart ; Ann. Henr. ; " lis semblerent touz estre prestres." Traison, 74. Mr. Williams cites a Great Wardrobe account to the effect that they were clad " in green and blue tartan"; p. 225. 2 " Un court jacque d'un drap d'or a la facon d'AUemagne " ; Froissart ; also Ann. Henrici. The illustrations in Creton, which appear to be part of the original work, always represent Henry in a short serviceable tunic or blouse, with moderate sleeves and tight belt : his head-gear also is different from that of all the others, resembling that of a Greek priest. (See Illustration.) 3 Froissart, sup. * See Ann. Henr. 292-296, and above for Richard II's coronation. 5 The St. Albans writers imply that the day was chosen because it was the anniversary of the day on which Henry went into banishment. So too Adam of Usk, 35 (E. Maunde Thompson): 6 So Creton, 397, who, however, gives the * duke of Gloucester ' as the fourth : the presence of Albemarle, Surrey, and Exeter is mentioned in MS. Bodl., sup. For these peers see Genealogical Tables. B 3 4 HENRY IV. chap. i. by Reginald Lord Grey of Ruthyn 1, a representative of the I3 House of Pembroke ; and the third, by ancient right, by the Earl of Warwick. In recognition of the special services of the House of Percy, a fourth sword, the "Lancaster swerd," was introduced for the Earl of Northumberland to carry. This was the personal sword worn by Henry the day he landed in Holderness : the right to carry the weapon on coronation days was assigned to the Earl and his heirs with the ' fee ' of the Isle of Man forfeited by le Scrope2. The am- But the distinctive feature of the coronation was the Thomas of use f°r t^ie ^rst ^me °^ ^e miraculous phial of oil pre- Canter- sented in a vision by the Virgin Mary to St. Thomas of Canterbury when he was praying by night in the church of St. Colombe at Sens. The story as given out was that this precious oil, contained in a crystal phial, which again was enclosed in a golden eagle, had been specially pre sented by Mary to the archbishop for the hallowing of a future King of England, who should recover Normandy and Aquitain, and clear the Holy Land of unbelievers 3. By Mary's directions the eagle had been buried in the choir of the church of St. Gregory at Poitiers 4, and lay there undiscovered till the times of Edward III, when it was discovered in a leaden vessel with an autograph memorandum in Becket's handwriting authenticating the facts 5. It was said that the articles were delivered to the 'Good Duke,' Henry of Lancaster6, who brought them home and presented them to the Prince of Wales for his coronation. The Prince, a man of little religious 1 So Holinshed, cited by Mr. Webb, Archaeol. xx. 207. Adam of U»k states that it was borne by the Marquis of Dorset ; p. 33. The memorandum in Foedera assigns the office of Carver to him, but nothing more ; viii. 90. 2 Foed. 90, 95 ; A. Usk; MS. Bodl.; Archaeol. xx. 276, 3 " Fugabit omnimodos Babiloniae infideles." 4 " In capite ecclesiae sancti Gregorii." Mary ordered the relic to be buried by one William, a monk " S4i Cypriani Pictavensis." 6 As Mary's directions to the archbishop are given in her own words, M. Wallon justly remarks, " Ce n'est point saint Thomas seulement, c'est la sainte Vierge qui parle dans la lettre " ; Vie de Richard Deux, ii. 315. 6 Qy. June 1344-Jan. 1347? Henry was then in command in Aquitain as Captain-General ; so again in 1349. CORONATION BANQUET. 5 feeling, had sent the phial to the Tower, where again it chap. i. lay unnoticed till Richard II, in 1398 or 1399, found it ^71 one day when looking over his treasures there \ It would seem that he kept it by him from that time till Archbishop Arundel took it from him at Chester 2. The coronation banquet in Westminster Hall followed The as usual : the Archbishop of Canterbury sat on the King's Ban1tiet- right hand ; Richard le Scrope, Archbishop of York, on his left ; a fact which proves that, under the special circum stances of this coronation, the northern Primate had found a place which he could accept 3. Sir Thomas Dymock of Scrivelsby, King's Champion in right of the House of Marmion, rode into the hall armed cap-a-pied, and by the mouth of a herald offered to defend Henry's title against all comers. The King, as a man who had once held a ' day ' in the lists, bowed and said, ' If need were, Sir Thomas, I would in mine own person ease thee of this duty ' 4. Next day, 14th October, Parliament resumed its sitting; Parliament an anxious moment for many a man. That the acts 0fresnmes" Richard's last Parliament would be reversed was a matter of certainty; but the question was, how far would the 1 This discovery is recorded under the year 1399 ; Eulogium Historiamm, iii. 380 (F. S. Haydon, Rolls Series, No. 9). It would seem to be connected with a pilgrimage to Becket's shrine made by the king about that time ; lb. 2 See the story, with Becket's memorandum, Ann. Henrici, 297, &c. ; also given with something of a sneer, Religieux de St. Denys, ii. 726 : T. Wal- singham, ii. 239 (H. T. Riley, Rolls Series, No 28) ; J. Capgrave, Chronicle, 273 (F. C. Hingeston, Rolls Series, No. 1) ; and Eulogium, sup. and 384. A French translation from an old Poitiers MS. is given in Bouchet's Annals of Aquitaine ; Archaeol. xx. 266. The fabrication might be ascribed to the French and others who wished to embark the Prince of Wales on a crusade in 1363 : but the Duke of Lancaster died in 1361. (Note that Capgrave, writing for Edward IV, does not discredit the story.) A copy ofthe ampulla made at the Restoration may be seen among the Regalia in the Tower. 3 MS. Bodl. ; Archaeol. xx. 276. According to the Traison, 74, both arch bishops joined in the act of coronation, but the authority is not very trust- Worthy. Scrope was translated from Lichfield to York in 1 398 ; Reg. Sacrum, Stubbs : he was the younger brother of the Earl of Wiltshire, being the fourth son of John of Gaunt's old friend Richard Lord Scrope of Bolton, who was still living and attending Parliament ; Foss, Judges, iv. 86. 4 A. Usk, 33 ; MS. Bodl. sup. ; Creton, 399 ; Froissart, iii. 358. The Steward (by proxy), Constable, and Marshal all entered the hall on horseback. HENRY IV. CHAP. I. 1399- Repeal of Acts and proceedings of i398"9. re-enact ment of those of The suc cession to the Crown reaction be carried ? The only recorded business of the 14th, however, was the presentation of the Speaker, Sir John Cheyne, a known Lollard. The King accepted him ; but when Parliament met next day (15th October) Cheyne tendered his resignation, on the plea of ill-health. His resignation was accepted, and Sir John Durward was promoted in his place 7 The work of reversal was then taken in hand : Lords and Commons presented a joint petition to the King for his mind (advys) touching the invalidation of the acts of 1398-1399 and the rehabilitation of those of 1388. Henry at once answered that in his opinion all the 'judgments statutes, and ordinances ' of the former Parliament ought to be utterly annulled and repealed, and those of the latter Parliament re-established. The King took the oppor tunity of specially condemning the delegation of the powers of Parliament to a Committee as a matter ' greatly derogatory to all the Estates of the Realm'2, and never to be taken as a precedent. He also called attention to the new cases of treason recently introduced, and intimated a strong wish 3 that they should be utterly abrogated, and the law replaced on the footing on which it stood in the reign of ' his noble grandfather King Edward the Third, whom God assoil ' i. These measures having been carried by acclamation, with a supplemental provision reinstating all persons 'forejudged' by the late Parliament5, Archbishop Arundel introduced a matter on which the King in turn desired ' the advice and assent 6 ' of his lieges ; and that was the 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 424. Archbishop Arundel had moved the clergy in Convo cation in the previous week to resist the nomination of Cheyne as Speaker; Ann. Henr. 290 ; cf. Wilkins, iii. 242. 2 ' ' Chose fait en tres grand derogation de toutz les Estates." 3 " Que sa volunte est tout outrement que," &c. * Rot. Pari. iii. 425, 426; Ann. Henr. 302, 303; MS. Bodl. snp. 277; Statute 1 Henry IV, capp. 3, 4, 5, 10. 5 The heirs of such of them as were no longer living were of course included, but in neither case with any right to recover mesne profits, or chattels seized and appropriated to the use of the Crown. 6 "' Advis, deliberation et assent." RICHARD IPS APPELLANTS. 7 recognition of his son Henry as heir-apparent. As this chap. i. recognition would amount to an Act of Settlement by ,399, which the claims of the House of Mortimer would be House of tacitly excluded, the question was formally put to each -3^"" Estate \ over. The Prince having been formally accepted by all as heir to the Throne, his father forthwith created him Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, and Earl of Chester. The Prince was duly arrayed with coronet, ring, and sceptre (verge d'or), and then conducted to his proper seat by the Duke of York2. The six survivors of Richard's 'Appellants' Richard's are stated to have fully concurred in these acts 3, but la^se " their readiness did not purchase entire amnesty. On the 1 6th October the Commons presented a petition for an enquiry as to the persons by whom the ex-King had been advised in his 'misdeeds4'; five points being specially noticed ; namely, the banishment of Henry and of the Archbishop without proper trial ; the murder of Gloucester ; the condemnation of the Earl of Arundel in violation of his pardon ; and the delegation of the powers of Parliament to a Committee. In the proceedings that ensued it must be said that Henry's conduct shows to advantage. From first to last he appears as striving to restrain the zeal of his followers 5, who called loudly for measures of retaliation. Sir William Bagot, who had been apprehended in Examina- Ireland, was produced and examined as to the primary William11 movers in the proceedings against Gloucester, Arundel, Bagot. and Warwick. He exhibited a written statement in which, without sparing Richard, he did his best to incriminate 1 " Quele demande severalment fait, et examinez de toutz les Seigneurs et Communes," &c. Young Edmund Mortimer, the heir, aged about six years, was in safe-keeping at Windsor. See Genealogical Tables. 2 Rot. Pari. iii. 426 ; Foed. viii. 91 ; MS. Bodl. sup. The Prince also re ceived the duchies of Lancaster and Aquitain later in the session ; Rot. Pari. 427, 428; Annales Ricardi II, p. 311 (H. T. Riley, Rolls Series, No. 28). 3 So Ann. Henr. 303, where their names are given. 4 " Richard nadgairs Roy " ; " Mes faitz " ; Rot. Pari. 5 So too Mon. Evesh. 156 (Historia Ricardi II; T. Hearne, 1729). 8 HENRY IV. chap. i. Albemarle \ who promptly hurled his hood at him in 77" defiance. Henry ordered the challenge to be withdrawn for the time. The examination continuing, Bagot main tained that he had only acted under the ex-King's orders and that his proceedings had been sanctioned by a Parlia ment, ' many members of which were then present.' This brought up Surrey and Exeter, who offered to prove their innocence of Gloucester's death against William Bagot or any other man. Again the King had to interfere. Finally, being pressed for particulars of Gloucester's death, Bagot referred the assembly to one John Halle, who was then in custody in Newgate2. On the next day, the 17th October, the King took counsel of the Peers in the White Hall as to the propriety of acceding to the Commons' petition for the impeach ment of Richard's Appellants, who were not then present. Lord Cobham made a violent speech, in which he declared that under the influence of recent terrorism the English had lost all sense of political morality: he prayed for suitable penalties against the men who were responsible for this state of things 3. The record of the proceedings against Gloucester and his friends was produced and read ; but no actual step was resolved upon 4. Next day Bagot's examination was resumed, the point touched upon being his participation in the old plot against John of Gaunt's life 5 : again the Commons asked for the arrest of all Richard's advisers, clerical as well as lay ; but again the King put them off6 : lastly, the wretch John 1 Edward Duke of Albemarle, eldest son of the Duke of York ; before the 29th Sept. 1397 he bore the title of Earl of Rutland. 2 Ann. Henr. 303-306 ; Rot. Pari. iii. 449 ; MS. Bodl. 277; Holinshed, iii. 4 (ed. 1808). The five points are given by the last, who copies the Bodl. MS., and here supplies a gap in the MS. as now existing. 3 In the like spirit the Commons petitioned that no peer or justice should be allowed to plead compulsion as an excuse for any wrongful judgment given ; Rot. Pari. 433. 4 Ann. Henr. 306-308. 6 This must have been the plot in which Norfolk was involved ; see above, Bagot pleaded a special pardon from the old Duke. 0 Mr. Williams (Traison, 224) cites from the Close Roll orders of the 18th SENTENCE ON RICHARD II. 9 Halle was produced to verify a statement as to the circum- chap. i. stances of Gloucester's death, already made by him and I39g. committed to writing : following Bagot's cue, he incrim inated Albemarle by stating that two of his personal attendants were among the murderers 1. Albemarle again defended himself ; and was followed on Scene in the other side by Lord Fitz Walter, who offered to prove Albemarle's guilt in the lists. Surrey endeavoured to retort upon Fitz Walter, but being weak in his facts was put to silence. Fitz Walter then wound up his speech by hurling his hood at Albemarle. Albemarle accepted the challenge ; whereupon the assembly fell into utter disorder. Twenty hoods lay upon the floor of the House at one moment ; it was as much as the King could do to prevent actual bloodshed 2. Monday, 20th October, being the octave of the corona tion, was a holiday3: on the 21st the King was engaged with foreign ambassadors. On the 22nd business was resumed, and the Commons renewed their attack, demand ing the impeachment, not only of Richard's advisers, but also of Richard himself. They were indulged with a sight of the records of the late Parliament, and Justice Markham and Serjeant Gascoigne were appointed to confer with them on points of law 4 ; but Richard's fate was reserved for a secret sitting of a large Committee of the House of Lords to be held on the morrow. Both archbishops, twenty bishops and abbots, and some October for the liberation of Surrey, Exeter, Salisbury, and Gloucester. Yet the St. Albans writers and the Bodleian MS. notice their presence on the 15th and 16th : perhaps the order of imprisonment was issued on the 16th. 1 See above, and Rot. Pari. 452. Evidence taken under such circumstances is not very satisfactory, but Halle's statements as to the leading facts appear to be corroborated by every writer of the time. He was taken straightway from Westminster to execution : he was condemned to be disembowelled before being hanged, a refinement of cruelty of recent introduction. 2 Ann. Ric. 309-31 1 ; MS. Bodl. 2 78, 2 79. The Duke of Surrey was Thomas Holland III, previously Earl of Kent. 3 A linen cloth bound round the king's head after the anointing had to be solemnly removed on the octave. 4 MS. Bodl. 279, 280 ; cf. Ann. Henr. 311. IO HENRY IV. CHAP. I. 1399- Richard II to be im prisonedfor life in secrecy. Examina tion of Richard'sAppel lants. seven-and-twenty lay peers attended the meeting1: North umberland moved that for the safety of the King and realm the ' King that was ' should be condemned to secret imprison ment for the term of his natural life ; Henry 'being desirous that in any case his life should be spared ' 2. The motion was carried without dissent, the question being put to each peer in succession and his answer entered on the Roll. On the 27th October the Archbishop of Canterbury announced the decision of the Peers in full Parliament, so that all three Estates became in a manner parties to the transaction 3. Two days later Richard was taken from the Tower by night and sent down to an undisclosed place of confinement in the country. It had been specially provided that none of his old ' familiars ' should be allowed to hold any communication with him 4. On the same day, after the publication of Richard's sentence, the Commons at last obtained the appointment of a day for the formal examination of the new ' Appellants.' On the 29th October all six were ' put to their answers ' in full Parliament. In substance all told the same tale : not one of them had been ' a first doer ' or " styrer " in the matter of the ' bill of appeal ; ' nor a " caster " of the death of the Duke of Gloucester : whatever they had done had been done under Richard's peremptory orders5- On some minor points, which concerned himself alone, Albemarle gave a clear and satisfactory answer6. By way of traversing these answers Lord Morley gave a fresh challenge to Salisbury; and Fitz Walter to Albe marle 7. 1 Forty-seven prelates and abbots and forty-nine lay lords had been sum moned to the Parliament, without the Prince of Wales. 2 " Sauvant sa vie quele le Roy voet que lny soit sauves en toutes maneres. 3 So Ann. Henr. : " Decretum fuit consensu communitatis," &c. 4 Rot. Pari. iii. 426, 427 ; MS. Bodl. 280 ; Ann. Henr. 313. 5 Rot. Pari. iii. 449-451. 6 The chief of these concerned Lancaster property assigned by Richard to Albemarle at John of Gaunt's death. Albemarle had taken care not to meddle with it. 7 Arrangements were made for the meeting between Morley and Salisbury, but the duel never took place ; Traison, 73, 224 ; Devon Issues, 275. SENTENCES ON THE APPELLANTS. II On the 3rd November Chief Justice Thirning announced chap. i. the decision of the King and Peers. The King had taken I3g9 counsel first of the " Lordes Temporels " ; and afterwards of the " Spirituel Lordes " : he had privately re-examined the accused, ''oute take"1 the Earl of Salisbury; he felt that their answers 'sounded' in their favour : it had been repre sented to him on the one hand that ' much harm and mischief had "fallen" of their doings, "and all bygone and preceded oute of the course of the common Lawe " : on the other hand it had been urged that "in some mens conceyt, the Kynges first, and other mens also," the new cases of treason introduced by the"Statut"of the nth year of King Richard2 were of a very questionable 3 character ; and that if " the heghest sentence and most rigorouste " were to be " so taken and construed " in the present case, many other persons would be involved ; '' which the Kyng wold not by no waye putte so mych of his people in sych perile nor jueperde." Upon which, some penalty being due to Albemarle, satisfy the public demand for justice, the Lords in Parlia- f^r' ment " by assent of the Kyng " had come to the conclusion Dorset, and that the three Dukes created by Richard in 1397, namely deprived 0f Albemarle, Surrey, and Exeter, should lose their ducal titles and "names" with all "the worship and the Dignite thereof" ; recently and that in like manner Dorset should lose " the name of conferred- Markys," and the Earl of Gloucester (Richard Despencer) "the name of Erie." Each would be remitted to the rank and title he held before the coup d'etat of 1397. But they were condemned to forfeit all estates conferred upon them by Richard since the day of the arrest of the late Gloucester. A saving clause provided that if any of them should ever be " aherdaunt (adherent) to Richard that was Kyng and is deposed," against the judgments and ordinances of the present Parliament " touchant the Persone of the same Richard," such conduct should 1 Literally ' except.' 2 i. e. the proceedings generally of the Merciless Parliament. 3 "Awerous," Rot. Pari.; "de cujus statuti sententia plurimi dnbitant et intricantur," Ann. Henr. (Ital. intricare ; Fr. intriguer, -r-^wzAzH.) 12 HENRY IV. CHAP. I. 1399- Bishop Marks of Carlisle. involve the 'pains' of treason1. Salisbury was let off scot-free. This moderate compromise did not give universal satis faction. The Commons begged that for the future they might not be entered on the Rolls as parties to judgments given in Parliament2. The King himself received an anonymous letter in which he was threatened with an in surrection if the guilty were not more severely punished. The matter was laid before Parliament: "lords and knights of the shire denied on oath their knowledge of the writer • but subsequent events gave a sad corroboration to its' threat, and popular fury completed the task which the king had mercifully declined " 3. On the 27th October, the day when the Appellants were examined in public, Bishop Marks appeared in Parliament and asked to say something in his own defence. Henry pointed out that his case ought to be reserved for an ecclesiastical court ; but the bishop in sisted on being heard. He declared his entire innocence of any ' conspiracy ' against Gloucester ; and complained of his detention under arrest. It was explained that he had been placed in custody for his own protection from the mob : he was advised to return to St. Albans ; he did as he was told, but he was never allowed to return to his bishopric 4. To conclude the judicial proceedings of the session : Bagot, who had given useful information, was allowed to retire to his estate at Packington in Warwick shire : there he died in peace seven years later 5. Justice 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 449-452 ; Ann. Henr. 313-320; MS. Bodl. 280, 281. The judgment is given in English in the Parliament Rolls; in Latin by the St. Albans writer, apparently the more correct text of the two. Exeter was John Holland, third son of Thomas I Earl of Kent, and so uncle to Surrey. Before September 1397 he was Earl of Huntingdon. Dorset was John Beaufort, eldest son of John of Gaunt by Catherine Swynford. See Genealogical Tables. 2 Rot. Pari. iii. 437 ; MS. Bodl., sup. 3 Ann. Henr. 320 ; Stubbs, Const. Hist. iii. 22 (ed. 1874). 4 Ann. Henr. 314; Traison, 71. Marks had been liberated on the 18th October; Traison, 224, note. The See of Carlisle was given to William Strickland ; Foed. viii. 106. 5 MS. Chron. Kenilworth, cited Archaeol. xx. 278. Bagot also received a pension ; Issue Rolls. FINANCIAL MEASURES. 13 Rickhill was examined as to the circumstances under which chap, i, Gloucester's confession had been elicited. His straight- j3QQ. forward answers and the careful precautions he had taken in the discharge of his delicate mission gained him an honourable acquittal a. But the work of the session was not limited to political General trials and reversals of judgments ; much general business 0" st"gSS was despatched. The wool duties were granted for three Parliament, years from Michaelmas at the rates fixed in January, j^t°ms 1398 ; namely $os. the sack from natives and 60s. from foreigners ; Parliament also ' confirmed ' to the King all arrears on two half-Subsidies which Richard had been authorised to raise at Michaelmas 1398 and at Easter 1399 ; the third half-Subsidy, which had just fallen due, being cancelled2. Nothing was said about Tonnage and Poundage ; an omission the more remarkable as Henry had ordered the collection of these dues to be suspended on the 15th September 3. Exporters of wool were relieved from the obligation of importing gold bullion in return 4 ; and the Staple arrangements of 1379 were restored ; Calais being declared the sole Staple for wool, leather, lead, and tin, except in the case of merchants from Genoa, Venice, Catalonia, Arragon, and the West, who were allowed to load and unload at Southampton 6. As a matter of course all the blank bonds and recog nisances issued by Richard were called in and destroyed6. Apart from money the Commons showed every dis position to trust the new King. They declared their wish that he should enjoy ' all the royal liberty that his noble 1 Rot. Pari. 430. 2 Rot. Pari. 425. The total received by Henry from these arrears, lay and clerical, only came to about £I500 > Receipt Rolls. 3 Claus. 23 Ric. II. m. 3. Payments on account of Tonnage and Poundage, * however, appear in the Receipt Roll for the autumn. 4 One ounce of gold had to be imported for each sack of wool exported; Rot. Pari. 429. 5 Ibid. The King gave a half-promise to exempt cheese, butter, tallow, honey, and feathers ("felparie") from the Staple regulations. For further details and explanations see Financial Summary at the close of the reign. 6 Rot. Pari. 426; Foed. viii. 109 : "cartas vocatas Raggemans," J399- j4 HENRY IV. chap. i. progenitors had enjoyed'1; and they gave him even larger powers of overriding the Statutes of Provisors than Richard had obtained ; the understanding clearly being that the Pope should be indulged in the exercise of his authority only so far as might be convenient for purposes of State 2. The legislative work of the session was considerable. More than sixty important petitions were heard and answered ; and a statute of twenty chapters passed. Statute Of the legislative acts the most important were those Limitation limiting high treason to the cases specified in the Statute of cases of 0f Edward III, and forbidding Parliament to delegate its Treason. . ... , , , ° powers to a committee like that abused to his own destruction by Richard II." We may also call attention to a provision forbidding ' appeals ' of treason to be brought in Parliament 3. The distribution of ' liveries of sign of fellowship' was placed under stringent regulations: tem poral lords were absolutely forbidden to give any except to officers of their regular households : even the King was forbidden to give ' liveries ' to yeomen : he was allowed to give ' liveries of honour ' to noblemen and gentlemen, but these badges were only to be worn at court 4. The reader may be reminded that the policy of these measures was not the curtailment of noblemen's house holds ; no one as yet sought to interfere with. these. The ob ject was to prevent the formation of political confederacies outside the household, of which Richard's White Hart 5 was the most signal instance. Petitions. In the treatment of petitions the king showed unflinch- The King's • g firmness. He had doubtless already promised the clergy to restore the revenues of the 'Priories Alien' 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 434. 2 Id. 428. As illustrations of the purposes for which 'Provisions' were to be allowed, the reader may take the reinstatement of Archbishop Arundel and the appointment of a successor to Bishop Marks; Foed. viii. 106; Wilkins, Cone. iii. 246 ; cf. Rot. Pari. iii. 470. 3 Stubbs, Const. Hist. iii. 23 ; Statute, sup. cc. 3, 10, 14. 4 Rot. Pari. 428 ; Statute, cap. 7 ; Foed. 139- The regulation was modified in the next Parliament so as to allow noblemen (but no others) to wear the King's 'livery' ofthe Collar in or out of court ; Rot. Pari. 477. 6 For this organisation, see Introduction to this volume. PETITIONS OF THE CLERGY. 15 impounded by his grandfather x : he saw that whatever chap. i. happened his income would not exceed his wants ; and that he must take his own course. Accordingly, while agreeing to exact all debts due to the ex-King, he refused to pay any debts or loans due by him ; or even to pay for the damages committed by his own troops on their march. He agreed to remit the trifling subsidy on Kerseys, Kendal-cloth, Coventry-frieze and other cheap fabrics ; but refused to restore the ' ransoms ' exacted by Richard from the followers of Gloucester and Arundel ; or to reinstate the heirs of the condemned judges ; or to surrender the right of taking ' deodands ' of river craft 2. On the other hand he declined to listen to a proposal for a general re sumption of Crown grants ; nor would he allow the Council to enquire into grants of land already made by him in favour of his servants 3. Again he declined to quash the Palatine franchises of the county of Chester ; but to check brigandage he agreed that the Palatine officers should be required to enforce sentences at common law passed on 'Pale' men4. On the last day of the session (19th November) John of Gaunt's old adherent Lord le Scrope of Bolton, the ex- chancellor, petitioned for the restoration of the estates forfeited by his son William. Again the answer was " Le Roy s'advisera." Henry however added that he would only detain estates actually vested in the Earl of Wiltshire for his own proper use 5. No Subsidy was granted by the Convocation which sat Clerical concurrently with this Parliament. Henry had expressly Numerous stated that he did not ask for any. The petitions drawn and in- up by the clergy were numerous and instructive from every s ruc v ' 1 See Foed. viii. 101-106. For the future the English chapters were to enjoy their revenues, subject only to the payment to the King of the old pension (apportum) payable to the foreign superior : this was the arrangement suggested by Convocation ; Wilkins, iii. 244. 2 Rot. Pari. 433, 437, 439, 440, 442, 444. Michael de la Pole II was con firmed in the earldom of Suffolk, and some part of his father's lands was restored; Ann. Henr. 312; Nicolas, Historic Peerage. 3 Rot. Pari. 433. 4 Rot. Pari. 440. 5 Rot. Pari. 453. 1 6 HENRY IV. chap. i. point of view. We have petitions by the lower clergy 1399- Petltlons by the Universities ; petitions to the bishops ; petitions to the King ; petitions to the Pope. Complaints of inroads upon clerical immunities and ecclesiastical jurisdictions of course figure largely : so do the counter- complaints of fraudulent and collusive proceedings in the spiritual courts ; and especially in cases of divorce and exchanges of livings1. One article, applicable to the circumstances even of the present day, condemns presentations made on future avoid- Lollard anCG 2' AU concurred in deprecating the anticipated legis- le^islation lation against Lollardy. The lower clergy insisted on the deprecated, necessity of increasing the 'portions' of vicars and chap lains ; and notably of those dependent on Priories Alien3; a point to which the King gave immediate attention. But the oddest petition is that of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge against the Statute of Provisors ; the curtailment of papal appointments having, it would seem, told against the more educated class of clergymen 4. Foreign Foreign relations at the first were not affected by the change of dynasty to the extent that might have been anticipated. The Pope of Rome (Boniface IX) had promptly reinstated Arundel and 'provided' a successor to Bishop Marks 5. Communications were opened with Spain, Por tugal, and Germany 6. The Duke of Brittany sent to beg for a confirmation of the earldom of Richmond. The Commons backed up his petition, but the fief had already been given to the Earl of Westmorland 7. Hainault and 1 See articles i, 14, and 33-43. 2 Article 16. 3 Articles 2, 4, 51, 52, 54. 4 Article 8. The petition asserts that the Statutes had diminished attendance at the Universities. See Wilkins, Cone. iii. 234-245 ; Ann. Henr. 290, 291. In accordance with the tenor of the last petition the King in 1403 granted special leave to graduates of the two Universities to take and hold preferment by virtue of Papal grants ; Foed. viii. 339. 5 Wilkins, Cone. iii. 246 ; Foed. viii. 106. 6 Ann. Henr. 320; Foed. gg, 112. * Rot. Pari. iii. 427. The Duke, "Jean le Conquerant," died shortly after, namely on the night of the ist-2nd November : he was succeeded by his son John V, a boy of twelve; Lobineau, Bretagne, i. 497. NEIGHBOURING POWERS. 17 Guelders were almost equally prompt in their recogni- chap. i. tionsl~ 1^9". The French court was naturally shocked by the news The of Richard's deposition ; but regard for Isabella's safety renc ¦ obliged them to act with caution. Therefore, while private overtures were made to the Gascons, a formal embassy was sent to London to enquire after the welfare of the little Queen. The Gascons, on reflection, elected to remain English: Henry gave the French envoys a hearty welcome ; showed them his golden eagle ; gave them access to Isabella ; and shortly after sent ambassadors of his own to treat for a marriage between Isabella and the Prince of Wales 2. The Scots of course showed the usual disposition to take The Scots. advantage of any favouring circumstances in the state of English affairs. The truce of T398 expiring at Michaelmas 1399, Henry had written before his coronation to ask for a renewal. Robert III sent a dilatory answer3, which gave time for the Scottish Borderers to attack and destroy Wark Castle, the constable, Sir Thomas Grey, being in London in attendance on Parliament. Coquetdale was also ravaged ; but the invaders received a severe defeat at the hands of Sir Thomas Umphraville, at Fulhope Law 4. Henry announced an intention of invading Scotland in person (10th November)5: nevertheless he still continued to treat ; appointing commissioners and naming a day for 1 Royal Letters, Henry IV, pp. 21, 33 (F. C. Hingeston, Rolls Series, No. 18). 2 Froissart, iii. 359-362 ; Foed. viii. 98, 108 ; St. Denys, ii. 732 ; Creton, 413, &c. Henry saw the French envoys on the ist November. For appoint ments of English officers for Gascony, see Foed. 116-119, 136, &c. M. Wallon, ii. 509, cites various favours and concessions granted to the Gascons. Henry doubtless gave the French envoys the copy of Becket's memorandum which the St. Denys writer transcribed. 3 Royal Letters, Henry IV, p. 4 ; cf. Acts and Proceedings of the Privy Council, ii. 41. 4 Ann. Henr. 320 ; J. Hardyng, Chronicle (ed. Ellis, 181 2), p. 355 ; Foed. 162. Sir Richard Rutherford and five sons were captured: also a. certain noted John Turnbull. 5 Rot. Pari. 427, 434. Advances were made for this purpose : some of the clergy gave "gifts" equal to a Tenth ; Receipt Rolls. * C r399' 18 HENRY IV. chap. 1. a meeting at Kelso. Robert allowed this letter to lie for ten weeks without an answer ; as if peace or war were to him a matter of absolute indifference 1. Yet parties in Scotland were in a much more disorganised state than in England. The King was a mere cypher between an ambitious brother on the one hand, and an extravagant Queen and a dissolute son on the other 2. The brother, now Duke of Albany, had been suddenly deprived of the regency, which he had held all the reign, in favour of the heir-apparent, now raised to the dukedom of Rothe say3- Under such circumstances defiance to England seemed absolute folly. 1 Royal Letters, 8, 11, 25 ; Foed. viii. 113. 2 In the financial year 1396-7, when the gross total revenue of Scotland was between £6760 and £6770, the Queen took for her private purse £1566, and the Earl of Carrick £621 : in the year 1398-1399 the son took £1036 and the mother £1068, but the gross revenue that year was only about £4472. Carrick obtained his father's consent to a grant of £800 for the expenses of his 'March Day ' with John of Gaunt in March, 1398. See Exchequer Rolls, Scotland, iii. 405-480 (G. Burnet). 3 January, 1399 ; Acts Pari. Scotland, i. 572. The Earl of Carrick had been created Duke of Rothesay, and Fife Duke of Albany, in April, 1398 ; Scotichron. ii. 422 (ed. Goodall, 1759) ; Excheq. Rolls, Scotland, iii. 460. CHAPTER II. Henry IV (continued). Rising of Richard II's Appellants. — His end. — Invasion of Scotland. — Rising in Wales. — Parliament. — William Sawtrey. The hollow truce effected with so much trouble did not chap. ii. stand for six weeks. As has been said by Bishop Stubbs, I40a " Henry had done either too much or too little. An Eastern potentate would have struck off the heads of the Hollands1 and extinguished the house of Mortimer, re gardless of the infant innocence of the little earl of March." The child was in safe-keeping at Windsor ; and any stronger measures would have been equally repugnant to English sentiment and to Henry's own disposition. The degraded Appellants, again, had suffered little but loss of rank and prestige. Salisbury had suffered nothing Discontent at all. Every effort had been made by Henry to con- Hollands ciliate his uncle the Duke of York 2. Yet it is clear (Hunting- that Huntingdon, Kent, Salisbury, and Despenser were Kent), determined in their hostility, and that Rutland 3 for the Salisbury, time was little less antagonistic. Whether the four lords spenser. " were goaded into desperate action by their own fears, or whether they really miscalculated national opinion so far as to hope for Richard's restoration, cannot be deter- 1 I. e. Exeter and Surrey, now reduced to the earldoms of Huntingdon and Kent. Huntingdon was married to Henry's sister, Elizabeth of Lancaster. 2 On the Enrolled Foreign Accounts, and other accounts of the reign, we have numerous payments to men who had served under the Duke of York ' while Richard was in Ireland ' ; but none to those who had served under Henry. 3 Late Duke of Albemarle. C 2 1400. 20 HENRY IV. mined " 1. Perhaps they put their trust in the advantages always attendant in those days on the party that took the initiative. Plot to They formed a plot to seize Henry at Windsor on the Henry. eve OI" Twelfth Night, 1400, and to restore King Richard. Henry, we are told, was keeping a very small household at the time 2. At the eleventh hour he was warned of the conspiracy, perhaps by the Duke of York or his son 3 : on the night of the 4th~5th January he fled to London ; Kent and Salisbury reaching Windsor with 400 men a few hours later 4. Having missed their stroke, the conspirators retired to Reading, where Queen Isabella then was 5 : they endea voured to raise the people, proclaiming that King Richard was at Radcote Bridge with 100,000 men. According to the French writers, they had dressed up a clerk named Maude- lein to personate Richard, whom he greatly resembled 6- The people Finding that no one would join them, they made a hasty the con- retreat through Wallingford and Faringdon ; and made spirators. sucn gO0d use of their time that they reached Cirencester on the night of the 6th January. But their numbers were so diminished that the towns-people rose against them in the night, and besieged them in their quarters. At 9 o'clock on the morning of the 7th of January they yielded and were taken to the abbey. About vesper-time an attempt at a rescue was made, and the town was fired. Leaving the fire to take care of itself, the populace rushed to the abbey and demanded the lives of the chief rebels. Lord 1 Stubbs, iii. 25. 2 Ann. Henr. 322. 3 So the English Chronicle printed by Mr. Sylvester Davies for the Camden Society, p. 20 ; Creton, 403 ; Religieux de St. Denys, ii. 734 ; and Traison, 81 : but the French writers are very bitter against Rutland ; and this part of the narrative in the Traison is a mere jumble unworthy of criticism. The Evesham writer states that the mayor of London (Thomas Knolles) gave the warning; p. 165. The plot was hatched in London, in the precincts of St. Paul's ; Foed. viii. 165. Ann. Henr., sup. Henry was in London on the 5th January, and gave orders for the arrest ofthe two Hollands ; Foed. 120. 5 Ann. Henr. 6 So Creton, 405, who knew them both well. THE PLOT COLLAPSES. 21 Berkeley, who had taken charge of the prisoners, was chap. ii. unable to protect them. About sunset Kent, Salisbury, I400 and Lord Lumley were beheaded by the mob : the rest Kent and were taken to Oxford \ Henry, who was marching in 'w^ed7 that direction, turned back, and left to Rutland the re- by the mob pulsive task of holding a Bloody Assize. Rutland did cester_ his work without flinching : under his superintendence Bloody some six-and-twenty or seven-and-twenty persons were oxford** executed at Oxford in the Green Ditch; among them were Sir Thomas Blount of Belton and Sir Benedict Shelley2. Huntingdon had remained in London : he attempted to escape by Water down the Thames, but failing to do so landed in Essex. He was discovered in the house of a retainer at Prittlewell, near Southend, and taken to Chelms ford. The Countess of Hereford, Henry's mother-in-law, took him under her protection, and sent him to Pleshey. But again the wrath of the people overpowered the autho rities. On the 15th January he was beheaded by the mob Hunting- in the courtyard of Pleshey Castle, on the spot where two w^ed years and a-half before he had seen Gloucester surrender at Pleshey ; himself to Richard 3. Despenser found no better fate : he fled to the West, Despenser and took ship at Cardiff for the continent : the crew rose at Bnsto1- against him and brought him back to Bristol : on the 16th January he fell a victim to the " hereditary hatred " of the people of that city 4. Bishop Marks, Roger Walden, the Abbot of West- 1 See Ann. Henr. 325, 326 ; Mon. Ev. 166 ; A. Usk, 40, 41 ; Foed. viii. 165. Beltz, Garter, 360, cites extracts from the Issue Rolls to prove that Kent and Salisbury were taken to Oxford and there beheaded. But the passages only show that Kent and other rebels were arrested at Cirencester, and that some of them were taken on to Oxford and executed there. 2 Id., and Chron. Davies, 21 ; Leland, Collectanea, ii. 484 ; Traison, 90, 244 note ; Creton, 2 [5 note ; the English Chronicle of London (printed by Sir H. Nicolas, 1827), p. 96 ; Wood, History of Oxford. 3 Ann. Henr. 326; Eulog. iii. 386. 4 Mon. Evesh. 166, 167; Ann. Henr. 329; Chron. Giles, 9; Beltz, Gaiter, 334, citing Leland, Itinerary, vi. 84; Stubbs. Despenser was married to Constance, only daughter of the Duke of York, so that Henry would probably have allowed him to escape if he could ; Beltz, Sandford. 22 HENRY IV. chap. ii. minster, Sir Bernard Brocas, Sir Thomas Shelley, Richard Maudelein, and William Ferriby were brought to trial in Trials in London. Marks was found guilty, and imprisoned for London. a wnile in the Tower ; Walden and the Abbot were acquitted ; Brocas, Shelley, Maudelein, and Ferriby were executed at Tyburn 1. Richard's The failure of this attempt was Richard's death-warrant. fate" . At a Privy Council held on or before the 8th February2 of the the Lords agreed upon a Minute recommending to the King c11^ il t^iat R^ard, ' if alive, as was supposed, should be placed in safe-keeping 3 ; if dead, that he should be shown openly to the people that they might be certified of the fact.' The murderous suggestion was strictly attended to. By the 14th February Richard was no more; "pyned to death," or " forhungered," — as all England understood, — that is to say, done to death by starvation and petty torture. The treatment which had proved too slow for the coarse rough fibre of Edward 1 1 was entirely successful when applied to the delicate, sensitive organisation of the second Richard, Adam of Usk, the follower of Archbishop Arundel, ven tures even to give us the name of the chief agent — N, Swynford 4, — clearly Sir Thomas Swynford, son of Duchess Catherine and Sir Hugh, who was actually at Pontefract Castle at the time 5. 1 Ann. Henr. 330; A. Usk, 41 ; Traison, 96, 251 note; comp. Foed. hi, 123, 150; Proceedings P. Council, i. 116. Marks received a pardon in Nov. ; Id. 165 ; and later a prebend at York and other favours ; see Archaeol. xx. 88, notes. 2 See Proceedings, i. 107, comparing Foed. viii. 124, a proclamation clearly based on one of the resolutions. 3 "Quil soit mys en seuretee aggreable a les seignurs du roiaume," &c. ; Proceedings, i. 107, 111: for notes on the original draft, see Thompson, A. Usk, 160. 4 "Lugendo, in castro de Pomffret catenis ligato, et victualium pennria domino N. Swynford ipsum tormentante" ; A. Usk, 41. The date is given by this writer as " ultimo die Februarii," but this must be wrong. See also Ann. Henr. 331; Mon. Ev. 169; Eulogium, iii. 387; Chron. Giles, 11; Gower, Chron. Trip. 423 ; J. Hardyng, 357 ; and especially the original proclamation of the Percies in 1403, Id. 352 ; and that of Archbishop Scrope, Angl. Sacr. ii. 365 ; also the further authorities given, A. Usk, 158 note, and Archaeol. xx. 282. See Appendix to this chapter. 5 Devon Issues, 276 ; Foed. viii. 704 ; and Beltz, Garter, 134. Richard had FRANCE AND SCOTLAND. 23 On the 17th February money was paid out of the Ex- chap. ii. chequer for the transport of the remains from Pontefract to J London K On the journey the face from the lower fore head to the throat was exposed to view, the rest of the body being soldered in lead : two days the corpse lay in Obsequies. state in St. Paul's, Henry assisting at the obsequies on each day: from St. Paul's it was sent to a temporary resting-place with the Friars Preachers at Langley 2. In Paris Richard was reported to be already dead before the end of January 3. The French, believing the rumour, Truce with signed a confirmation of the truce of 1396 on the 29th rance January; but they refused to give any recognition to Henry not Henry; and they even declined to allow his envoys to come ^g°fmse to Paris 4. Under these circumstances he withheld his con firmation of the truce for a time, and called for mass levies to resist the warlike intentions of the court of France5. Finding however that his matrimonial overtures would not be listened to, he signed a confirmation of the truce ; and opened negotiations for restoring Isabella to her friends (18th May)6. In his cool treatment of the English government the Scotland. Duke of Rothesay was doubtless bidding for popularity at The Duke home 7. Unfortunately his spirited foreign policy was ° ° rather marred by a mercenary policy in the matter of his His policy own marriage. He was engaged to the daughter of George war ' e" apparently been moved about secretly, first to Leeds (Kent), then to Pickering, Knaresborough, and Pontefract ; J. Hardyng, 356 ; Traison, 76. 1 Devon Issues, 275. 2 Ann. Henr. 331 ; A. Usk, 43. The Traison, 103, gives the date of the arrival in London as the 12 th March. 3 St. Denys, ii. 748. 4 Foed. viii. 124; Proceedings, &c, i. 102 ; Creton, 411. The confirmation of the truce expressly refers to Richard as dead. See also the French Archives cited, Traison, lviii. 5 Foed. viii. 123, 138. 6 Foed. 142. 7 That Rothesay was responsible for the warlike attitude of Scotland seems proved by the fact that we find private agents of the Duke of Albany negotiating apart with Henry (1401) ; Rot. Scot. ii. 156, 159. On the other hand, Rothesay told the Duke of Northumberland that he, his father, and Albany were all for peace, but that the Earl of Douglas would not agree ; Proceedings, ii. 52. 24 HENRY IV. 1400. War resolved upon in England. chap. 11. Dunbar, 'Earl of the March of Scotland1'; but the Earl of Douglas, Archibald the Grim, having offered a larger dowry, Elizabeth of Dunbar was discarded for Mary of Douglas. The Duke and Mary were hastily married in Bothwell church ; and Dunbar threw himself into the arms of the King of England (18th February2). But, even before that, warlike measures had been resolved upon by the English Council. In order to pro vide funds without appealing to Parliament, the Lords agreed to tax themselves ; the prelates undertook to contribute at the rate of a Tenth ; while fifteen of the chief lay lords undertook to provide among them a force of 301 men-at-arms and 662 archers for a quarter of a year 3- The Earl of Westmorland was instructed to confer with Dunbar, and to offer a pension as the reward of his allegiance 4. On the 9th June all Crown pensioners and retainers were called out for immediate service, and the King moved towards the North. On the 14th he was at Clipstone s, on the 22nd he reached York ; but the active negotiations kept up with Scotland show that the King had been led to believe that the Scots, if pressed, would consent to peace or a durable truce ; possibly even to a renewal of the old homage 6. Henry however kept moving onwards slowly. Provisions were ordered from the eastern ports, to be paid for by assignments on the Customs7 By the 25th July he had reached Newcastle; there he sealed a formal treaty with the Earl of March, giving him 1 So he signs, Royal Letters, 25. 2 See Scotichron. ii. 428 ; Royal Letters, 23, 28 ; Proceedings, i. 114 ; Foed. viii. 131, 133; "Marie ducisse," Excheq. Rolls, Scotland, iii. 566. 3 Proceedings, i. 104 ; Ann. Henr. 332 ; comp. Mon. Ev. 170. The monastic Houses were invited to contribute at the rate of a Tenth also ; but the sums actually paid were trifling ; see below. 4 Proceedings,!. 114; Royal Letters, 28. 5 Foed. viii. 146; Proceedings, i. 120. 6 Foed. viii. 149, 150; Proceedings, i. 123; ii. 52, 53 (the last two docu ments appear to belong to this year). Henry afterwards taxed Sir Adam Forster, one of the Scottish envoys employed at this time, with having de ceived him on this point ; Rot. Pari. iii. 487. 7 Royal Letters, 40; Proceedings, i. 122. Among other supplies we maynotice 24 "quarell gunnes'' at -js. each —matchlocks no doubt; Devon Issues, 277. WAR DECLARED. Z$ a castle and lands to the value of 500 marks a-year on chap. ii. condition of his renouncing all allegiance to Robert III I40Oi by a given day1. Dunbar had already been active in conjunction with Hotspur in harrying his own estates in East Lothian, which on his retirement to England had been seized by the Douglasses 2. On the 6th August Henry issued his declaration of war Demand of in the shape of a summons to Robert III, requiring him to omage- be prepared to render homage in Edinburgh on the 23rd August : a fellow missive addressed to the Scottish mag nates demanded the like submission from them 3 On the 14th August Henry crossed the Border: a force Invasion of of 700 men-at-arms and 1400 archers had been detached byVem-y. for the reinforcement of the Border strongholds4, a pre caution which had been too often neglected in previous invasions. On the 15th August Henry entered Haddirig- Three ton and rested there three days ; from thence he moved 0f E c- Js)- known Statute De Haeretico Comburendo. A short petition asking for measures against the Lollards which had been passed through the Commons, was doubtless held to carry their assent. The Act orders the relapsed or persistent Question heretic, after condemnation by the spiritual court, to be concur*6 delivered to the secular authorities to be burnt ; a penalty rence of which the clergy had the delicacy not to name, although mons.°m" it was the doom sanctioned by the Church for obstinate heresy 2. Armed with these powers, Arundel brought William William Sawtrey and John Purvey to trial. Both were charged Sawtrey with holding views enunciated in the Lollard articles °f J395- Sawtrey, "alias Chatrys," was chaplain of St. Osith's, London : in the spring of 1399 he had held preferment in the diocese of Norwich, and had been examined by Bishop le Despenser, on a charge of heresy 3. On the 1 2th February he was brought before Convocation brought on eight articles, the main questions involved bein? thebefo?Con" , . , t> vocation. adoration due to the True Cross ; the relative importance of preaching, and of the performance of church services ; 1 " Nee quod aliquis de cetero . . . aliquid predicet, doceat, teneat vel in- formet, clam vel palam, aut aliquem librum conficiat," &c. 3 Rot. Pari. iii. 466, 473 ; Stat. 2 Henry IV, cap. 15. I take it that the Commons never saw the Statute till it was published ; it makes no reference to their petition, only to that of the clergy. 3 It would seem that Sawtrey had been implicated in the rising of Kent and Huntingdon in 1400; Pauli, iii. 52, citing Rot. Miscell. 319, Placita Dom. Regis in castro Oxon. * D 34 HENRY IV. 1401. His opinions and staunch ness. His con demnationas a heretic. and the doctrine of Transubstantiation 1. On the 18th February he delivered his answer, a manly and straight forward document, which was prefaced by an appeal to the King and Parliament. On the first point he said that he was willing to worship (adorare) Christ crucified, but not the cross on which Christ suffered ; assuming the actual cross to be before him, he could only worship it with ' vicarious adoration,' as a ' sign ' and ' memorial ' 2. On the second point he said that a priest was more bound to preach than to say ' Hours ' ; and that ' Hours ' might well be omitted for other duties, such as confession or the study of the Scriptures. On the third point he held that the Eucharist after consecration, though the true Bread of Life, did not cease to be bread in the natural sense. He quoted St. John vi. 51, 1 Cor. x. 16, and the Sermons of St. Augustine 3. Sawtrey was then asked if he had not abjured these same errors before the Bishop of Norwich, but he denied the allegation. To do Arundel justice, it must be said that he spared no pains to bring Sawtrey to an admission of the error of his ways. On the 18th, and again for three long hours on the 19th, he wrestled with his antagonist to elicit an accept ance, pure and simple, of the teaching of the Church on the question of the Eucharist. Sawtrey would only accept the teaching of the Church ' where not contrary to the will of God ' 4. He was then condemned as a heretic. On the 23rd February another sitting was held, and the Bishop of Norwich produced recantations in Latin and English elicited by him from Sawtrey in May, 1399. According to 1 Wilkins, Cone. iii. 255. 2 " Volo ipsam adorare tanquam signum recordativum et memoriale pas- sionis Christi adoratione vicaria . . . dato quod vera crux esset coram me." Wilkins, sup. 3 " Remanet panis quem frangimus . . . nee desinit esse panis simpliciter . . . volo credere quod illud venerabile sacramentum est verum corpus Christi in forma panis." See the text Fascic. Ziz. 408, &c, wrongly dated by Shirley 30 April, 1399 ; also slightly condensed, Wilkins, iii. 255. 4 "Ubi talis determinatio non esset divinae voluntati contraria"; Wilkins, 256 ; Fascic. Ziz. 411. WILLIAM SA WTREY. 35 the official record Sawtrey could give no answer 1. He was chap. ii. finally condemned as ' a relapsed and incorrigible heretic,' I40i. and preliminary sentence of degradation was passed. On the 26th February this sentence was executed. By seven successive acts of degradation Sawtrey was reduced from priest to deacon ; from deacon to subdeacon ; from subdeacon to acolyte ; from acolyte to exorcist ; from exorcist to reader ; and from reader to door-keeper ; and then, with every shred of spiritual protection taken from him, with his very clerical tonsure defaced, he was handed over, a mere layman, to the king's officers 2. That The writ same day the royal writ for his execution was sealed 3, execution : but not issued. As if to leave a door open for repent ance even at the eleventh hour, the writ was kept in suspended hand for four days more : on the 2nd March it was finally our ays : issued, and then doubtless without further delay William his exe- Sawtrey was taken to Smithfield and burnt at the stake 4. cutl0n- John Purvey proved less staunch : placed upon his trial Recanta- on the 28th of February, on the 5th March he recanted j°£n° all his former ' errors ' : on Sunday the 6th he read aloud Purvey. his recantation at St. Paul's Cross, after sermon. The Money whole episode ended with the grant of a Tenth and a half convoca- made by the clergy on the t 1 th March s- tion. It may be worth noting that the Parliament of 1401 shewed quite as much antagonism to the clergy as any previous Parliament : they even suggested to the King the propriety of resuming the Priories Alien, which he had just restored 6. 1 We have only the evidence of his enemies on this point : they endeavour to insinuate levity in his demeanour ; " quasi ridendo sive deridendo praemissa nega- vit et ignoravit, ut dixit." It is clear that he declined all metaphysical subtleties. If the recantation had been elicited by torture he might laugh in bitterness. 2 See Wilkins, 257-260. 3 Rot. Pari. iii. 459; Foed. viii. 178. The writ makes no reference to any new Statute; only to human and divine law, to Canons and custom : the Statute could not have been published yet, as the session was not ended. As the writ is tested " Per ipsum Regem et concilium in Parliamento," it was in fact an Ordinance in Council. 4 Rot. Pari. sup. ; A. Usk, 57; Ann. Henr. 335, 336. 5 Wilkins, 263, Sec; Receipt Rolls. 6 Rot. Pari. iii. 457. See also 468-470, 474, &c. D 2 ^6 HENRY IV. CHAP. II. 1400. APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II. Death of Richard II (above, p. 22). FROISSART and J. J. des Ursins (p. 408) decline to investi gate the circumstances of Richard's death ; but they had no doubt of the fact that he was dead. The only original variant from the tale of starvation, voluntary or enforced, is the wild story of a brutal murder by " Sire Pierre Dexton," alleged to have been committed in the Tower on the 6th January. This rests on the sole authority of the writer of the Traison, q. v. 94 and 244, 251 notes. On this we must point out that the writer, whoever he may have been, was clearly not in England at the time ; that the 6th January must be a wrong date ; and that " Sire Pierre Dexton " has never been identified. No one of the name has been traced. Finally, when Richard's tomb was opened in the last century the skull was found intact (Archaeol, vi. 315). The St. Denys writer however, (ii. 738), copies this story as an alternative version, stating that death by starvation was the original report. With respect to the question whether Richard died about this time or not, the only writer of the time who affects to have any doubts is Creton, and he also was in France at the time. He allows that the received account was that Richard had died of starvation, but he declares that he intends to pin his faith to the rumour that Richard is still alive in some prison. " Vif et sain, Enferme dedans leur prison." (p. 408.) The idea of Richard's escape to Scotland had not yet been started. When that report reached the French Court DEATH OF RICHARD II. 333 6s- 8^0 to rePaY. besides jewels and parapher nalia. The question of the liability to repay the money had been referred to the University of Oxford ; but the obligation was pretty clear .; and Henry was obliged to fall back upon the old claim for the arrears of John's ransom as a set-off2. But apart from the £33,333 6s. 8d., Henry was prepared to send Isabella home in due style. A safe-conduct for 500 persons of a retinue was issued : her personal suite was arranged to include a royal duchess (Ireland) and a countess (Hereford), two bishops, two earls, four bannerets, six knights, four ladies in waiting, and seven maids of honour, with 214 domestics. The bare expenses of the journey, with outfit and existing debts, were estimated to exceed £8000 3 — all for a child not yet 12 years old! The ist July was the day fixed for Isabella to be at Dover in readiness to cross. A month before that, namely, on the 3rd June, ' acquittances ' for herself and all her goods (except the 200,000 francs) had been sealed by Charles VI and the French dukes4. The voyage was accom- of the 15th May, which must belong to this year, giving an account of a raid through North Wales and Powys, in which Sycharth, Owen's chief residence in the Vale of Dee, and other places were burnt ; Ellis, Letters, Second Series, i. 11 ; Proceedings, ii. 61. 1 Creton, 413; Traison, 106; cf. Proceedings, i. 118. 2 Proceedings, i. 118 and notes; Foed. viii. 164; A. Usk, 47, q. v. for the opinions of the Oxford jurists. Henry himself had signed the' marriage treaty as a guarantor. For the jewels claimed on behalf of Isabella, see Traison, Append. 108. 3 Foed. 194, 195 ; Proceedings, 130-142. The outfit was to include eight spare beds : " ii litz pur seigneurs et vi autres litz pur chevaliers " ; these were for the entertainment of French guests at Calais. The Queen had eight dozen vessels of plate (vesselle dargent) : it was thought that with eight dozen more there would be enough. 4 Foed. sup. and 196, &c. RETURN OF QUEEN ISABELLA. 41 plished in due course. On the last day of July Isabella chap. hi. was handed over by the Earl of Worcester to the Count of ,40I_ St. Pol at Leulinghen, on the very spot where five years before she had been placed in Richard's hands. On the 1st August she signed a personal 'acquittance' at Bou logne \ Further conferences ensued at Leulinghen on the general Confer- relations of the two countries, which were in a very critical L^ufog. state. In the negotiations for the surrender of Isabella, ken- the French had condescended to recognise Henry so far as Recogni ta style him " • consanguineus nosier Angliae," 'but no farther2 ; ^ still and they had given great offence in England by giving the withheld. title of Duke of Aquitain to the Dauphin Louis, the eldest son of their King3. The question of peace or war had been formally laid by Henry before a Council, held late in June, to give the final orders for Isabella's departure. The Council hesitated to declare war without the sanction of Parliament ; and as the King did not wish to summon Parliament again so soon, a great Representative Council, or Parliament nominated by the King, had been sum moned for the 16th August, to receive the reports of the envoys from Leulinghen 4. The French negotiators were very dexterous. They Dexterity managed to remove any excuse for war without making French the smallest concession. There was no question of any negotia- 1 Foed. viii. 217, 218; Creton, 416; A. Usk, 61, 67. The last informs us that Isabella left London on the 28th June— a Tuesday — and that she sailed from Dover on the 28th July (25th or 26th July, Creton). Arrange ments were made for Isabella's entry into London on a Monday, doubtless the 27th June ; Proceedings, i. 145. Leulinghen is situate between Calais and Boulogne. 2 In the personal acquittance signed by Isabella, the words "mariti nostri successor " follow. Shortly after her return to Paris a paper was issued in Isabella's name, complaining of these words as unauthorized ; and explaining that they had been forced upon her by the English. See the document from the French Archives; Traison, 277. Even this paper breathes no suggestion that Richard might be still living. 3 14th January, 1401. Sismondi, France, xii. 142, from Ordonnances de France. An elder son Charles, who died a few days before, had also received the title ; A. Usk, 55. 4 Proceedings, i. 143, 155 ; Foed. viii. 213, 42 HENRY IV. chap. m. extension of truce, as the long truce of 1396 had been con- 777 firmed since Henry's accession. But the French fixed a day for conferences to be held in Guienne and Picardy, to discuss all grievances between ' the two Realms ' ; in the mean time free commercial intercourse between 'the two Realms ' to be proclaimed ; and all ' letters of Marque and Reprisal ' to be recalled. The agreement does not even mention Henry's name x ! Governors Henry had to submit to this petty diplomatic defeat. tain and1 He named Rutland King's Lieutenant of Aquitain, and ap- Ireland. pointed Somerset and John Bottlesham, the Bishqp of m"ntsgfor Rochester, to meet the French in Picardy; while the further ne- Bishops of Bangor and Carlisle, with the Percies and the with the Earl of Westmorland, were instructed to treat with the French and gcots. They were directed to press for peace, if possible, on the terms of the old homage ; Henry offering lands or a pension if the King of Scots would bind himself and his successors to serve with 500 men-at-arms on de mand : failing any better arrangement, the envoys might agree to a truce for a year from Martinmas ; but under no circumstances were negotiations to be broken off2. Ireland, too, had to be considered. Thomas, the King's second son, was named King's Lieutenant ; with Sir Thomas Erpingham and Sir Hugh Waterton as 'War dens.' Since Richard's departure MacMurragh had held his head higher than ever, and all the historic English families were reported to be in a state of virtual rebellion 3. Domestic But Henry's chief difficulties lay nearer home. Reac tion and disappointment were breaking out on all sides. In Somerset and Devon the people resisted the pay ment of the ' subsidy ' on ordinary cloth 4, the subsidy on narrow cloths only having been remitted. In other dis- 1 Foed. viii. 219. Privateering had been very active in the Channel; A. Usk, 67. 2 See Foed. viii. 222, 223, 229, 230 ; Rot. Scot. ii. 159 ; Proceedings, i. 168. Both the ransoms due for John and David II. were to be mentioned. 3 See Foed. 227, and a report from Ireland, Archaeol. xx. 243. Thomas went over in November ; A. Usk, 68. 4 A. Usk, 61 ; see Statute 1 Henry IV. cap. 19. difficulties. DOMESTIC TROUBLES. A3 tricts the people found that purveyance was not extinct \ chap. iii. In Lent one William Clark, a native of Cheshire, em- I40I. ployed at Canterbury as a writer (scriptor), was executed with great barbarity for having slandered the King. In Anony- May we have another anonymous letter of remonstrance to ietters. the King 2 ; and in September something very like a plot plots against the King's life was discovered in the household at Westminster, which Henry was afraid to investigate 3- Lastly Owen " Glyndwr " was keeping up the struggle with an energy and persistence worthy of the House of Jorwerth. Henry certainly did not spare himself. On the 18th September he called for 1400 archers to resist a third rising in the Principality. On the 29th of the month he rested at Evesham Abbey, for the third time within twelve Third months, on his way to Worcester. On the 9th October he ^jfsm was at Llanarmon-Dyfryn in Denbighshire ; and, according to one account, pushed his expedition into Anglesey. By the ist November he had returned to London4. Garri sons varying from 60 to 170 men strong were appointed for Cardigan, Builth, Welshpool, Montgomery, and other castles ; some at the King's expense, some at the ex pense of the Mortimer estates which were ' in hand ' 5. But the measures were still insufficient ; and 100 men-at- arms and 400 archers had to be sent in all haste to relieve Harlech, which was besieged by Owen 6- He was in cor respondence with the Irish and the Scots, and called on them to join hands against the hated Saxon 7 1 Ann. Henr. 337. 2 The letter is given by Usk without reference to the authorship. In fact it came from the pen of the Lollard, Philip Repyngdon, Abbot of Leicester, ap pointed Bishop of Lincoln in 1405. See Bekyngton's Letters, i. 151 (Rolls Series). The letter is dated 4th May, 1401. 3 A. Usk, 57, 63 ; Mon. Ev. 175 ; Chron. Giles, 25 ; Ann. Henr. sup. 4 Foed. viii. 225, 230 ; Mon. Ev. 176 ; A. Usk, 68 ; Eulogium, iii. 388. 5 Proceedings, i. 176, 177. 6 Dec. ; Devon Issues, 290. On the ist November he had displayed his standard, a gold dragon on a white field, before the walls of Carnarvon ; A. Usk, 69. 1 See the letters, A. Usk, 69, dated 29th November [1401]. For Scotch cruisers on the Welsh coast, see Proceedings, i. 153. 44 HENRY IV. chap. m. The movement gained ground. During the winter ~_ Merioneth and Carnarvon rallied round Owen; and he Grey of was enabled first to defeat, and then to capture, his Ruthyn original enemy, Lord Grey of Ruthyn 1. byPOwen. Henry's popularity waned as his misfortunes increased. " A mysterious reaction in favour of Richard began to set Richard II in." Early in May (1402) this feeling betrayed itself by alFveand ^e rapid spread of a rumour that the late King was alive in Scot- and in Scotland2. The lively imagination of a woman supplied popular credulity with the food it wanted. A lady of Irish extraction, a Bisset by birth, who had seen Richard in Ireland, and was marked to a brother of John of the Isles, Lord of Dunvegan, met a crazy English vagrant 3, afterwards identified as Thomas Warde of Trumpington, and at once pronounced him to be the deposed Richard. The poor outcast was, perhaps, not too steadfast in his rejection ofthe flattering imputation4; he was sent over from Skye to the mainland, and taken possession of by the Duke of Albany, Rothesay being now no1 more 6. " Quhethir he had been king, or nane, Thare wes bot few that wyst certane. Of Devotioune nane he wes, And seilden Will had to here Mes: As he bare hym, like wes he Oft half wod or wyld to be6." 1 The defeat took place on the 30th January, 1402 ; A. Usk, 69 ; the capture in Lent, (8th February-igth March); Mon. Ev. 177; Ann. Henr. 338; cf. Usk, 75 ; Eulog. iii. Ixiv. 2 Foed. viii. 262. 3 "A pure (puir, poor) man traveland" (walking on foot). 4 " That he denyit and said nocht ya " (he denied and said not yea). 5 Rothsay died on the 27th March, 1402, in Falkland Castle, where he had been imprisoned by Albany and the new Earl of Douglas, Archibald, the fourth earl, Rothesay's brother-in-law; A. Wyntoun, ii. 397, and Excheq. Rolls, Scotland, iii. lxxxviii. Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, died in 1400. 8 See A. Wyntoun, ii. 388, 389. Wyntoun was Prior of Lochleven at the time. He gives no date to the discovery, but it clearly belongs to the spring of 1402. Compare also the English MS. Chronicle cited Archaeol. xx. 437» THE PSEUDO-RICHARD II. AS ' Whether he had been King or not, chapjii. Few there were that truly wot. 1402. A man of no devotion he was; And seldom cared to hear the Mass; As he bore himself a madman he, Or a savage, seemed to be.' In 1329 and 1330 the Friars Preachers had been as sociated with the belief that Edward II had survived Berkeley castle. The report that Richard II was still living in 1402 found supporters among the Friars Minors. No mercy was shown to any implicated in this most Severity deadly form of treason. Ten or eleven friars were Govern- promptly executed ; besides Walter Baldock the Prior of ment. Launde, and Sir Roger Clarendon, the illegitimate brother of Richard II1. The report that Richard was still living was accom panied by rumours that the Scots were coming in force to assert his rights. Levies were ordered in the northern counties2; and then came the news that on the 22nd June Owen had defeated and captured Sir Edmund Mortimer 3, Sir Ed- the uncle of the young Earl of March. This reverse was Mortimer hardly balanced by the intelligence that on the very same captured day the Scots Earl of March, with 200 men from the dwr. garrison of Berwick, had intercepted and destroyed a marauding party of 400 Scots from Lothian and the Merse (Berwickshire) 4. Henry at any rate turned his first attention to the Welsh insurgents: he called for levies to meet him at Lichfield " a beggar and out of his mind." Also the deposition of one John of Prittle- well, taken in 1404; Traison, 270, 271. 1 Ann. Henr. 340, 341 ; Eulog. iii. 389-394; Mon. Ev. 179 ; A. Usk, 82. See also Foed. viii. 255, an order of the 9th May for the arrest of ecclesiastics in the diocese of Carlisle : also 261, 262. Henry, however, found that he was going too far, and on the 3rd July published an amnesty ; Devon Issues, 286 ; Foed. 268. The report had reached every nook and corner of England. 3 Foed. 257 and sup. 3 At Knighton in Radnorshire, by Ofla's Dyke ; A. Usk, 75 ; Mon. Ev. 178 ; Proceedings, i. 185. Owen had been challenging the men of Herefordshire; Ann. Henr. 341. 4 " Apud Nesbit-more in Marchia " ; Nisbet on the Teviot, between Kelso and Jedburgh. The Scots had lingered a day too long in England ! Scotichron. 46 HENRY IV. CHAP. III. 1402. Triple invasion of Wales : defeatedby bad weather. on the 7th July \ On the 31st July, however, he was still in London, apologising for the delay forced upon him by press of business ; he called for mass levies from nineteen counties to muster in three bodies on the 27th August; namely, at Hereford, Shrewsbury, and Chester, for a fort night's campaign 2- As Henry was at this moment busy arranging marriages for his two daughters, his eldest son, and himself, besides all the other business already touched upon, he had no doubt enough to do 3. Late in August the King appeared to take command of one of the armies ; the other two being entrusted to the Prince of Wales and the Earl of Arundel4- The triple invasion proved a lamentable failure. The insurgent Welsh seemed to have vanished, while the English were over whelmed by continuous storms of wind and rain and sleet. " The King had never but tempest foule and raine, As longe as he was ay in Wales grounde ; Rockes and mystes, windes and stormes ever certaine : All men trowed that witches it made that stounde5." On the night of the 7th September the King's own tent was blown down upon him ; and he might have been seriously injured by the point of his own lance, if he had 1 Proceedings, i. 185; Foed. viii. 264. All the Crown pensioners were called out, and all pensioners of the late Prince of Wales and of John of Gaunt. 2 Foed. 272. 3 The Lady Blanche, Henry's eldest daughter, was betrothed to Ludwig, eldest son of Rupert of Bavaria, the new King of the Romans, 7th March, 1401 ; Foed. viii. 179-221. This Rupert was the younger ofthe two taken by Richard II into his pay in 1397 ; he was elected Emperor, vice Wenzel deposed, 20th August, 1400 ; Sismondi, France, xii. 193, citing Raynaldi. For negotiations for marriages between the Prince of Wales and Katherine, sister of Eric IX of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway ; and between the Lady Philippa, Henry's second daughter, and Eric himself, see Foed. viii. 259-265 ; Rot. Scot. ii. 162, and Royal Letters passim, but esp. xl. and 125. The Duchess of Brittany had been contracted to Henry by proxy on the 3rd April at Eltham ; Lobineau, Bretagne, and below. 4 15th August; Ann. Henr. 343. 29th August; Mon. Ev. 179. 5 Stounde = hour or time. J. Hardyng, p. 360. Opinion, however, was divided as to whether Welsh magic or the Nemesis of the executed Friars Minors was the true cause of the bad weather ; Ann. Henr. BATTLE OF HOMILDON HILL. 47 not lain down for the night in his armour. By the 22nd chapjii. September he had returned to Westminster1- 1402. In the North, however, fortune again shone more pro pitiously. On the 4th August Henry had ordered part of his levies to move up to the Scottish Border, to resist an invasion that he had been led to anticipate about the 15th of the month 2. The Scots, in fact, had made arrange- ScattiA ments for a raid into England during Henry's campaign in Wales. The chief commands were given to Murdach Stewart, eldest son of Albany, and Archibald, fourth Earl of Douglas. His father, the doughty 'Archibald the Grim,' the true son of ' Black James,' had died two years before 3 ; one of the few survivors of the Day of Poitiers. Under his leadership the Scots might possibly have fared better. The force was a strong one. Lairds from Fife and Stirling, and perhaps even from districts still farther North, appeared in conjunction with the never-failing names from the Lothians, the Merse, 'the Forest,' and Galloway4. Entering England, probably by the favourite route down the North Tyne, they pushed their "road" as far as Newcastle. The Percies, who were supported by the renegade Earl of March, again determined to catch the invaders on their return ; a manoeuvre which had already proved successful in the same summer. The Scots, hasten ing homewards with their usual locust-flight, on nearing Wooler, ascertained that the English were posted between them and the Border, at Millfield on the Till5. While Battle of waiting to consider how they should act, they took up a HiIi position on a terraced eminence, then known as Homildown Heugh, now as Humbleton Hill6- While the Scots were standing there, considering, a body of 500 English archers 1 See Ann. Henr. and Mon. Ev. sup. ; A. Usk, 76 ; Foed. viii. 278. 2 Foed. 272. 3 1400 ; A. Wyntoun, ii. 391. 'Scotichron. 'The Forest' of Scotland throughout the Middle Ages meant that of Ettrick and Selkirk. 5 Scotichronicon. Millfield is 5! miles north of Wooler, on the road to Coldstream. 6 See Hutchinson's Northumberland, i. 242, and the old and new maps of the county there given. 48 HENRY IV. chap. m. appeared on the scene. These men had been told off for ^3, some special duty; but finding themselves in presence of Scotsmen, they opened on them without further ado. The Scottish archers were sent out to engage the English ; but with their feeble bows, drawn to the breast 1 and not to the ear, they were speedily overwhelmed. The Scottish lances coming down in support fared no better, the English falling back to avoid close quarters without slackening fire. Thus the Scots were drawn on and on, three-quarters of a mile from their original position, to the Red Rigg on the Defeat of farther side of the Till. There they were finally broken their losses. anc* dispersed, the main body of the English being ready to catch them in their flight. The pursuit was only stopped by the waters of the Tweed, some twelve or thirteen miles off. " Some fled, some died, some maimed there for ever, That to Scotland agayne came they never." Among the prisoners were Murdach Stewart, the Earl of Douglas, his cousin George the Earl of Angus, Thomas Dunbar Earl of Moray, Henry Sinclair Earl of Orkney2, and Sir William Stewart of Jedburgh3. The Earl of Douglas lost an eye ; his armour of 'proof being pierced in five places. Some eighty gentlemen of name were taken or slain4. A " Battle Stone" on the Red Rigg still marks the spot. The crowning service rendered by the Percies on this day " seems to have led to a final breach " between them The Percies and Henry. On the 22nd September the King issued the toransom well-known order forbidding them to ransom or part with !^!L„ any °f their prisoners without leave from him. As this 1 The Scottish mode of drawing the bow is clearly shown in a series of archery medals of the 17th century, preserved in the University Museum at St. Andrews. 2 Cf. Foed. viii. 415 ; also Devon Issues, 302. 3 This man was executed by Hotspur as a traitor, because at one time he had held lands in Teviotdale ofthe English ; A. Wyntoun, ii. 402 ; Scotichron. ii. 434. 4 14th September. See Ann. Henr. 344 ; Scotichron. ii. 433 ; Chron. Giles, 28 ; Mon. Ev. 180 ; Capgrave, 280 ; A. Wyntoun, ii. 401. Twenty French Lances were found on the side ofthe Scots. prisoners. BREACH WITH THE PERCIES. 49 prohibition was a clear infringement on the recognised chap. iii. rights of captors, he was careful to add that all private 1402 rights would be respected 7 Eight days later Parliament met at Westminster. The Parliament one piece of good news which the Chancellor could minster. report was the victory of Homildon2. Bishop Stafford also endeavoured to make something of the fact that Ru pert, the new King of the Romans, had appealed to Henry, ' as the most powerful King in the world,' to join in healing the Schism in the Church 3. But the Chancellor could not but admit that England had of late undergone manifold tribulations 4. A fortnight of negotiation between the Commons and Negotia- the Ministers ensued ; and a conference with a committee of between Lords named by Henry with considerable reluctance. On Commons, the 16th October the Commons thanked the King for his andthe four personal expeditions to Wales ; but they intimated Mimsters- their feeling that every consideration was due to the Earl of Northumberland for his recent signal services ; they also prayed that no obstacle might be raised to the payment of the ransom of the Lord Grey of Ruthyn5. The King gave a ready assent ; but the petition shews that it was already known that he was refusing to allow the Percies to ransom Sir Edmund Mortimer6. Under the soothing influence, however, of the recent victory, the session passed 1 Foed. viii. 278. Henry had issued a similar order with respect to Sir Richard Rutherford and other Scots taken by Sir Robert Umphraville in a skirmish in the autumn of 1400 ; Id. 162 ; J. Hardyng, 357. 2 Stubbs. Edmund Stafford, Bishop of Exeter, Richard's last Chancellor, had relieved John Searle on the 9th March, 1401 ; Foed. 181 ; Foss. 3 Rot. Pari. iii. 485. On the 27th August, 1398, the French clergy, to make a beginning of the ' double cession,' had renounced Benedict XIII ; and since that time he had been practically a prisoner, blockaded in his palace at Avignon by Marshal Boucicault the younger. See Sismondi, France, xii. in, &c. 4 " Dieux ad mys punissement en diverse manere sur ceste Roialme." " Rot. Pari. iii. 486, 487. Lord Grey had agreed to pay Owen 10,000 marks— £6666 13^. 4a?. Henry had already given his assent, 13th October; Foed. 279. 6 See A. Usk, 75; J. Hardyng, 352, 359; Ann. Henr. 349. On the 19th October Mortimer's plate and jewels were seized and taken into the Treasury ; * E So HENRY IV. 1402. Money grants in Parliament and Con vocation. Petitions.Stat. 4 Henry IV. off smoothly enough. The Commons, with the assent of the Lords, granted the wool and leather duties up to Michaelmas, 1405, at existing rates ; with Tonnage and Poundage at the old rates of 3s. the tun of wine, and 1 2 pence the lb. of goods. They also granted a Fifteenth and Tenth to be raised by three instalments during the ensuing year 7 The Canterbury clergy, who met in pro vincial Synod2 during the sitting of Parliament, were also induced, but ' with some difficulty,' to give a Subsidy and a half3. The public petitions presented in the session number about eighty. Of these thirty-five were granted and embodied in the Act of the session 4. No remark was apparently made about the Statute De Haeretico combu- rendo ; nor about the ' Aid ' recently levied by the King for the marriage of his daughter Blanche 5, that being a strictly legal tax. But the clergy were prompt to complain of the recent executions of clergymen by lay tribunals for offences not amounting to treason 6 ; and the Commons found matter for complaint in the impressment of soldiers for service in Wales without pay ; and in the issue of irregular writs order ing persons to appear before the Chancellor or the Privy Council 7. Sixteen petitions pray for measures against the Welsh : nine of these were granted ; one to the effect that any English burgess married to a Welsh-woman should be disfranchised ; another provides that no Welshman should hold any responsible office in Wales ' except Bishops ' 8. Devon Issues, 295. The King asserted that Sir Edmund had allowed himself to be taken collusively. 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 493. 2 So Wake, 341, who distinguishes this assembly from a convocation proper. 3 Mon. Ev. 181 ; Ann. Ric. 350. 4 Stat. 4 Henry IV; Statutes, i. 132-143. '- See Foed. viii. 232; ist Dec. 1401 ; Mon. Ev. 179; cf. Proceedings, i. 184. The ' Aid ' was levied at 20J-. the knight's fee, the proper amount. 6 Rot. Pari. 494. Henry agreed to confirm and extend the Statute 25 Ed. Ill (the Act limiting cases of treason). See the second chapter of the Act of the session ; also Wilkins, iii. 271. 7 Rot. Pari. 501, 506, 510. 8 Rot. Pari. 508, 509 ; Statute, cc. 26-34, ROYAL MARRIAGES. $1 The Commons insisted on the revocation of certain chap. iii. licenses overriding the Statutes of Provisors recently 1402 granted by the King1 ; and they again urged the resump tion of the ' Priories Alien ' ; and Henry, who was begin ning to find that he could not afford to be as generous as at the first he had hoped to be, agreed to take the matter into consideration 2. Of the royal marriages above referred to, only one had Marriage as yet been celebrated, namely, that of the lady Blanche, ^ e to Louis or Ludwig, eldest son of King Rupert. In the Blanche to month of June she sailed for the Rhine under the charge Bavaria. of Richard Clifford, Bishop of Worcester, and the Earl of Somerset 3. On the 6th July she was married at Cologne, in rather simpler style than was quite acceptable to the English4. Henry's own marriage was delayed by adverse circum- The King's stances till the ensuing year, 1403. The lady of his choice, mama£e- Johanna of Navarre, daughter of Charles II, ' The Bad,' and widow of Duke John IV of Brittany, must have been an old acquaintance ; as within a few months of the death of her first husband we find her enquiring tenderly for her ' very dear cousin's ' health, and accrediting a lady envoy to the Court of Westminster 5 On the 3rd April, 1402, she was betrothed to Henry by proxy at Eltham. In the autumn of the year arrangements were made for bringing her over, but Channel storms seemed to do their best to thwart the 1 Rot: Pari. iii. 490. 2 Id. 491, 499. The session rose on the 25th November. Other matters dealt with were the appointment of perpetual vicars — as opposed to removeable chaplains— to impropriated benefices; the examination and enrolment of attorneys; and a prohibition against receiving boys under 14 into Friar's Orders without consent of parent or guardian. For the resumption of the Priories Alien, see Proceedings, i. 190. January, 1403. 3 See Proceedings, i. 184 ; Royal Letters, 100 ; Foed. viii. 242 ; Devon Issues, 285, 292 ; Green, Princesses, iii. 323-326. 4 Ann. Henr. 342. The date is given by Foreign Accounts, cited by Mr. Haydon, Eulog. iii. lxiv; the Emperor apparently did not appear. £11,607 were spent by Henry on the Lady's outfit and journey ; Enrolled Foreign Accounts. s Royal Letters, 19. 15th February, 1401 : the Duke of Brittany had died on the night ofthe 1-2 November, 1399 >' Lobineau, Bretagne. E 2 52 HENRY IV. chap. in. match. The first embassy was unable even to land in ^77 Brittany1. Eventually the Duchess sailed on the 13th or 14th January, 1403, and after five days' tossing gained the harbour of Falmouth 2. Henry came down to receive her at Winchester. There they were married on the 7th Feb ruary ; on Sunday, the 25th of the month, she was crowned Political at Westminster3. The alliance was not without political thVcon- value : the English always clung to the Breton alliance ; nexionwith anc] the hand of the Duchess brought Henry into cor respondence with the leader of one of the two French factions, namely, the Duke of Burgundy; a friend and con nexion of the new Queen, to whom she had entrusted her son and his inheritance4. The Duke of Orleans, Charles' brother, who now led the other faction, had entirely repu diated his former treaty with Henry. The part he now affected was that of the champion of indefeasible right 'outraged in the persons of Wenzel, of Benedict XIII, and of Richard II ' 7 On the 7th August, 1402, he sent a cartel of defiance to Henry, challenging him to fight with 100 knights a side6. 1 Foed. viii. 280; Proceedings, i. 188 ; Lobineau, i. 501. 2 Enrolled Foreign Accounts. Only £1710 were spent on Johanna's journey. 3 Household Accounts, 4 Henry IV ; Lobineau, i. 503 ; Ann. Henr. 350. 4 Lobineau, i. 501, 502. On the 24th April Henry issued a safe-conduct for an agent of the Duke of Burgundy coming to visit him and his Queen ; Foed, viii. 299. 5 Sismondi, France, xii. 157. 6 Henry answered on the 5th December, of course declining. See Monstrelet, ad locum, where the whole correspondence is given ; also Relig. St. Denys, iii. 56; Foed. 310. CHAPTER IV. Henry IV (continued). Rising of the Percies. — Battle of Shrewsbury. — Naval hostilities in the Channel. But the second and chief crisis of the reign was fast chap. iv. ripening. Henry's ungracious refusal to allow Sir Ed- ~~ mund Mortimer to be ransomed had driven him into Risi„g 0f speedy rebellion. On the iqth December, 1402, he issued Edmund • 1 . • • • t-, , , . , Mortimer, a circular to his retainers in Radnorshire, announcing that he had made common cause with Owen Glyndwr ; and that their intention was to proclaim Richard II, if still living; if not, then ' the right heir,' the Earl of March x. It will be borne in mind that as the second son of Philippa of Clarence, Sir Edmund could shew a better claim to the throne by descent than Henry himself; a fact which may explain Henry's unwillingness to see him ran somed. Next to Mortimer himself, the man most offended by the King's refusal was Sir Edmund's brother-in-law, . Henry Hotspur2, already a discontented man. Percy was a man exactly of Henry's own standing. On the same St. George's Day they had received from the hand of Edward III their investiture ofthe Garter. Two other knights installed on the same day were Richard of 1 Ellis, Letters, sup. 24. Henry asserted that Edmund had connived at Owen's rebellion, a charge which might receive some credit from the fact that he had been cohabiting with the daughter of Glyndwr, whom he now married ; A. Usk. 75. See also Proceedings, ii. 59. Percy was married to Elizabeth Mortimer, Sir Edmund's sister; Beltz, Garter, 323. 2 See Chron. Giles, 30, 31, where efforts on behalf of Owen are given as the cause ofthe breach between Hotspur and the King. For the Mortimer pedigree see Genealogical Tables at the end of the Introduction to this volume. 54 HENRY IV. chap. iv. Bordeaux and Thomas of Woodstock \ The Earl of Northumberland " was probably some years over sixty. . . , The Earl Both father and son were highly spirited, passionate, sus- of North- picious men, who entertained an exalted sense of their own umberland. . , , , , services ; and Hotspur certainly was a man who " could not endure the shadow of a slight" 2- Their adhesion had placed Henry on the throne, and their services had not passed unrewarded. Henry's first act as King was to name the Earl of Northumberland Constable of England, the profits of two-thirds of the Mortimer estates following3. Sir Henry On the 21st October, 1399, Hotspur was appointed Warden "Hotspur." 0l~ the East March, with Berwick and Roxburgh, at a salary of £12,000 a year in time of war, and £3000 in time of peace. Two days later his father was appointed War den of the West March, with Carlisle ; at a salary of £6000 a year in time of war, and £1500 a year in time of peace.. The rival House of Raby had to content itself with the Wardenship of Annandale and Lochmaben, conferred upon Thomas Neville, Lord Furnival 4. In the course of the first year of the reign Hotspur received the further appointments of Justiciar of Cheshire, North Wales, and Flintshire ; and Constable of the Castles of Chester, Flint, Conway, Caernarvon, and Bamborough ; with a grant of the Island of Anglesey and Castle of Beaumaris for life6. Such a concentration of military commands was probably without precedent. The King' The Welsh command proved a thankless office ; Percy to the gained no laurels there ; and he found that he was out of Percies. pocket by his exertions, both there, and on the Scots March ; Henry, who could say and do unhandsome things, answered his complaints by hinting that Conway would not have been surprised if he had taken proper precautions, and ordered just half the desired amount of money to be sent. Hotspur then, apparently, retired from Wales ; 1 1377. So Beltz, Garter, II, 314. 2 Stubbs, iii. 39. 3 Foed. viii. 89 ; Receipt Rolls, &c. 4 Rot. Scot. ii. 151, 152 ; Issue Roll, Easter 3 Henry IV. m. 18. 6 See Beltz, 318, citing the Patent Rolls of Henry IV. THE PERCIES. SS while Anglesey was taken from him1. In March, 1402, chap. iv. Roxburgh Castle was taken from him, and given to the I403_ Earl of Westmorland 2. After Homildon, when the order commands came for sending the prisoners to London, Hotspur re- ^^ from fused to part with the Earl of Douglas, his own prisoner, unless the King would allow Edmund Mortimer to be ransomed. Northumberland, less prepared to break with the King, submitted, and sent up Murdach Stewart 3- In The earl the Parliament of 1402 he was still the King's chief agent, than hjs in his own words, ' his Mattathias ' 4. On the 2nd March, son- 1403, he received a grant of all the Douglas estates 5, a gift possibly intended as a side-stroke at the son, who claimed Douglas as his own. Up to the month of July the King does not appear to have entertained any suspicion of the coming outbreak, although it is clear that as a matter of general policy he was beginning to concentrate power as much as possible Narrow- in the hands of his own immediate circle. Rutland, now King's Duke of York 6, had been sent into Aquitain 7 Thomas, the circle' King's second son, was in Ireland, at an assumed salary of £8000 a year8. Henry Beaufort, the Bishop of Lincoln, had relieved Bishop Stafford of the Great Seal at the end of February9. John Beaufort, the Earl of Somerset, was Captain of Calais and chief negotiator with France 10 ; and 1 See Proceedings, i. 149-153, 177 ; ii. 57 ; Royal Letters, 69. 2 Rot. Scot. ii. 161. 3 J. Hardyng, 360. Murdach, with Sir William Graeme, Sir John Mont gomery, Sir Adam Forster, and three French prisoners, were made to do obeisance to Henry in Parliament, 20th October, 1402 ; Rot. Pari. iii. 487. 4 See below, p. 57, note 1 ; and Maccabees ch. ii. Mattathias seems to have been taken as a type of high principle and devoted patriotism. 5 Foed. viii. 289. 6 Edmund of Langley died ist August, 1402 ; Sandford, Geneal. Hist. ; cf. Mon. Ev. 179. ' Foed. viii. 222. August, 1401 : his salary was to be £16,666 13J. 4*/. a year; Devon Issues, 297. 8 Foed. 227; Devon Issues, 287. Thomas landed in Ireland Sunday, 13th November, 1401 ; Gilbert, Viceroys, 294, where however the year seems wrongly given as 1402 ; cf. Royal Letters, xxxix. &c. " Foss, Judges. 10 The appointment was dated 3rd April, 1401. The salary in time of peace was to be £6301 us. 8d. ; in time of war £10,509 16s. Sd. ; Rot. Pari. iii. 534. 56 HENRY IV. chap. iv. lastly the Prince had been appointed King's Lieutenant of 77" Wales from the ist April, with an allowance of £8102 2.?. od. I4°3" for the support of 500 men-at-arms and 2500 archers \ His finan- That Henry's means were small for the burdens he had cial.di ffi- to sustain must be admitted. The pay of soldiers in those culties. r J High rates days was so high that the revenue, even when Parliament of soldiers' was m0st liberal, could not support an effective body of wages. , troops for any length of time. Archers received 6d. a day, men-at-arms 1 j. Thus, without the extra pay and " re gard " (reward), which knights and barons expected, the Prince's force would have cost £2625 a month, or £31,500 a year. At this moment all payment was in arrear, even that of the Prince 2. Siege of By way of following up their victory of the previous Border ^ year the Percies in May laid formal siege to Cocklaws, a Collusive petty Border " peel," near Yetholm, in Roxburghshire. A arrange- convention was signed by which the Scots agreed to sur- ment b J & between render the place if not relieved on the 1st of August by Ind Ae01'5 an armY able to meet the English in the field 3. Scots. On the 30th May the Earl wrote to inform Henry of this arrangement ; which was, doubtless, intended to give the Scots an opportunity of co-operating with the intended rising 4 ; Douglas having already agreed to throw in his lot with the Percies. The Earl begs the King to send the money he owes them, ' either in cash or bills,' by the 24th June 5. Henry, in his answer, seems to have hinted that he thought that the Earl ought to be strong enough to hold 'Issue Roll, Easter 4 Henry IV. 22nd February; Foed. 291; Devon Issues, 293. 2 See his complaints; Proceedings, ii. 63, 68 ; also those of Richard of York, 69 ; and those ofthe King's private secretary, 78. At the end of the year over £11,000 was due to the Captain of Calais. 3 " Rescouse par bataille," Proceedings, infra ; also A. Wyntoun, ii. 405, and Scotichron. ii. 435. Hardyng (who was there), p. 351, and the Scottish writers speak of Cocklaws only : Northumberland speaks of Ormiston, another peel on the Teviot, two miles above Roxburgh. Perhaps both places were included. Cocklaws stood at the head of the Beaumont. 4 Cf. Scotichron. ii. 436, 438. 5 " Que nous poions estre . . . paiez ou chevez," &c. ; Proceedings, i. 203. ACCOUNT BETWEEN KING AND PERCIES. 57 his own without help from him ; as the Earl writes again chap. iv. on the 24th June pressing to know exactly what sum he I4a, may expect, and by what day : ' if the King has heard that the Earl and his son have received £60,000 since the beginning of the reign, he has been grievously misin formed : whatever they may have received, £20,000 is still due to them ' 7 Under these circumstances the reader may like to know how the account stood as between Henry and the Percy family; that is to say the Earl, his brother Thomas Earl of Worcester, and Hotspur. Between Henry's accession and the month of July, 1403, we find payments to the three entered under one head or another to the amount, in round numbers, of .£49,000, and that with the accounts for one ' term ' or half-year wanting 2. From this amount, how ever, we must deduct the sum of £11,250 for 'returned tallies'; that is to say, drafts not duly honoured on pre sentation, the particulars of which must be traced through the Receipt Rolls. That reduces the sum to £37,750; but to that again we must add something for the half-year the accounts of which are lost : say on an average £4000. With that the total will stand at £41,750, or something like it ; a very large sum for those days, and one which left very little for anybody else. The reader will under stand that this was exclusive of the profits of the estates made over to the Percies, and of the pickings they were supposed to have taken out of Richard's hoard. On the whole we must conclude that they had lost their heads ; that they thought they could treat Henry as a puppet; and that when he attempted to assert himself they threw him over. On the 4th July Henry started from London 3 to support Henry marches to 1 lb. 204. This letter is subscribed in the earl's own hand, " votre Matha- thias H." It is worthy of notice that in neither letter the earl asks for men • according to the Annales Henrici he endeavoured to dissuade the King from coming, p. 361. 2 Issue Rolls, Michaelmas i-Easter 4 Henry IV. The missing accounts are those for Easter 2 Henry IV. 3 Household Accounts, 4 Henry IV ; Q. R. Miscell. Wardrobe ¥• 58' HENRY IV. chap. iv. ' his dear and trusty cousins in the battle against the Scots, j~T7 so honourably undertaken by them.' Perhaps he had support the heard that the Duke of Albany was arming ; perhaps he Percies thought it well to see for himself what the Percies were against the ° Scots. doing. On the 10th July he writes to the Council from Higham Ferrers, in Northamptonshire, to say that as soon as the ' battle ' in the North is disposed of he will take up his quarters in Wales 7 The Percies But the Percies and their allies had already thrown the°mask. away the mask. On the 6th July, Glyndwr, who had Treaty of signed a treaty of partition with the Earl of Northumber- partition ian(j and Sir Edmund Mortimer, took Caermarthen 2. On with ' Glyndwr. the 9th Hotspur entered Cheshire, where he had consider able influence as Justiciar, telling the people that Richard was still living, and distributing White Harts, Richard's well-known badge. A general -muster was ordered for the Defiance 17th July 3. To the King, who was addressed as ' Henry of Lan^ Duke of Lancaster/ a formal defiance was sent under the caster.' seals of the three Percies, Northumberland, Hotspur, and the Earl of Worcester. " They raised no cry of private wrongs," except the refusal to ransom Sir Edmund Mortimer. They taxed Henry with having broken all the pledges given by him at Doncaster ; in that he had forced Richard to resign ; had procured his own election in Parliament, to the ex clusion of the Earl of March; and had done Richard to death at Pontefract by cold and hunger. They also charged him with having raised taxes contrary to his promise ; and with having exercised undue influence to secure the return of Members of Parliament favourable to his cause4. Other 1 Proceedings, i. 206. 2 Friday, 6th July. See Ellis, Letters, sup. 14, 16, 19; cf. Royal Letters, xxxv. The date, " Seint Thomas the Martir," Ellis, p. 15, must be read 7th July, — Translation of St. Thomas Becket ; not 3rd July, — Translation- of St. Thomas the Apostle, as rendered by Mr. Hingeston. For a. treaty of partition signed at Bangor between Owen, the Earl of Northumberland, and Sir Edmund Mortimer, see Ellis, snp. 27, from a SloaneMS. The document seems genuine, and is certainly of Welsh composition. Owen was to get all Wales, with Shropshire, Cheshire, and part of Staffordshire. 3 Harleian MS., Traison, Append. 284; Eulog. iii. 396 ; Ann. Henr. 363. 4 See J. Hardyng, who had the document in his hands, and who gives CIVIL WAR. 59 proclamations addressed to other classes announced that chap. iv. the Percies intended no treason to Henry IV; " their 7^ object was to correct the evils of the administration, to enforce the employment of wise counsellors, and the proper expenditure of public money"1. Henry showed himself equal to the occasion. He wrote Henry's to his friends that the complaints of the Percies were „g°™p " " wholly unfounded " ; they had received more of the public money than any other men. He wrote to the sheriffs ordering immediate levies for the suppression of the rebellion 2. These documents were sent out from Burton-on-Trent and Lichfield on the 16th and 17th July3. The Scots Earl of March, who appears as Henry's military adviser in this campaign, urged him at all hazards to show his face promptly to the enemy. Henry took his advice, remaining only four days at Lichfield to arrange his force. Hotspur had met with considerable support in Cheshire, where the White Hart was still popular. The people were now led to believe that Richard was comfortably established in Chester Castle. The Earl of Northumber land was not with his son ; but Hotspur had the Earl of Douglas with him, and his uncle the Earl of Wor- The Earl of Wor cester. cester (Sir This man's rebellion excited most surprise at the time. ThomasPercy). From the beginning of the reign he had been treated with the distinction due to a warrior of the days of Edward III ; esteemed one pf the very best knights in England, and the soul of honour. We do not hear that he had been out of pocket by any of his appointments, the names of the two Esquires who delivered it, p. 352. Lingard infers from the words "hac die probare intendimus" that the document was only drawn up on the day of battle ; but Northumberland was not there ; and at the last moment Hotspur was temporising. Henry complained on the 17th of docu ments referring to him as " Henry de Lancastre " ; Proceedings, 208. 1 Stubbs, iii. 40 ; Ann. Henr. 361 ; cf. Eulog. iii. 396, 397. 2 Proceedings, sup. ; Foed. viii. 313 ; Ann. Henr. 362. 3 Henry was at Burton on the 15th, and apparently moved to Lichfield on the 1 6th July; Household Accounts, sup. 6o HENRY IV. CHAP. IV. 1403. The in surgents,marchingthrough Cheshire towardsSouthWales,reachShrewsbury. Henry there be fore them. Battle of Shrewsbury,Saturday, 21st July. and he was actually at this moment Steward of the House hold, and governor to the Prince of Wales, from whom he slipped away to join Hotspur 1. Having raised Cheshire the insurgents moved south ward, to pick up fresh adherents, and probably to effect a junction with Owen Glyndwr. On the morning of Saturday the 21st July, Hotspur was thundering at the Castle Foregate of the town of Shrewsbury, demanding admittance and supplies, when the banner of Henry IV was displayed from the walls. He had marched from Lichfield on the previous day, nearly five and forty miles 2. Hotspur promptly fell back along the road to Whit church, retiring some three miles and a half, till he came to a ' convenient place 3 ' for making a stand ; that is to say, till he came to a hill within easy reach of the road. There he took up his position on a large open field known as Hayteley field 4, aligning his men, as we suppose, along the cross road to Hussey- Allbright ; on the north side of the existing memorial church of Battlefield. The chronicler tells us that his front was protected by a thick field of peas 6. But reference to the map will disclose the fact that Percy also had the more substantial protection of a series of small ponds along the foot of the slope on which he had taken his stand. Possibly his front may also have been covered by an old entrenchment, but this cannot be clearly made out, as the ground has suffered from diggings for brick-earth. The King, following hard on Percy's tracks, halted his men at the foot of the hill, in a field ever since known as the King's Croft. Preparing for action, he divided his force into two battalions, one to be commanded by himself; the other by the Prince of Wales, a boy of fifteen, brought 1 Ann. Henr. 361, 366 ; Proceedings, i. 178. For the career of Sir Thomas Percy, see Beltz, Garter, 221 ; Archaeol. xx. 13. 2 Ann. Henr. 364, 365 ; Eulogium, iii. 396, and Household Accounts, sup. 3 " Elegerunt campum, prout videbatur, eis magis accommodum ; " Ann. Henr. 4 " Un champ appelle le Hayteleyfeld " ; Proceedings, i. liii. 5 " Aream satam pisis multis " ; Ann. Henr. HOTSPUR'S MARCH 21 JULY 14Q3, Tct.I.3bfaxpag*6Q. XHervry IV? movements tXkvus XHotspurs. „ ,, _ Occibrd, University Press. THE ARMIES CONFRONTING EACH OTHER. 6l out on this occasion to receive his ' Baptism of Fire.' The chap, iv. division of the army into two contiguous bodies, an unusual I403 arrangement, was clearly necessitated by the ponds, which made a continuous attack in line impossible. As the royal army took ground Percy called for his favourite sword. It was not to be found ; it appeared to have been left at the village of Berwick, where he had rested on the previous night 1. At the name of Berwick, which he had not heard before, Hotspur turned pale, and said, 'Then has my plough reached its last furrow ! ' A prophet had foretold that he should die at Berwick — Berwick-upon-Tweed he had always supposed 2. But with the awkward approach he had to face 3, Henry hesitated to give the word for action. He sent Thomas Prestbury, Abbot of Shrewsbury, to offer terms ; and Percy, possibly under the influence of the unlucky omen of A Parley. " Berwick," showed a readiness to accept his overtures. The Earl of Worcester was sent over to the royal head quarters. The details of all the parleying have not been preserved, but it would seem that ' after long treaty ' something like an agreement for a two days' truce was entered into ; so that a vague charge of bad faith attaches to those responsible for the final collision 4- The royalists 1 " Percy is said to have slept ... at the mansion of the Bettons at Upper Berwick, on the site where Mr. Edgerley's residence now stands." See " Battle field Church," by the Rev. W. G. Dimock-Fletcher, p. 4; (Shrewsbury, 1889.) " Upper Berwick " is the Great Berwick of our map. 2 Ann. Henr. sup. ; cf. A. Wyntoun, ii. 408. 3 For a notice of this important fact we are indebted to the Scotichronicon, which tells us that the King had to attack Percy "ultra quendam strictum passum," ' through a narrow passage ' ; plainly between the ponds. 4 So distinctly Adam of Usk, p. 80, who, however, was, before all things, an adherent of the House of Mortimer ; on whose account, according to him and Hardyng, the Percies had risen. The Annales Henrici refer to the truce as a thing under discussion rather than actually settled. " After long trete the prince began to fight"; Hardyng. The "long trete" makes it unlikely that the virulent defiance was tendered on that day, unless it was tendered after the fighting had begun. Dr. Giles' Chronicle blames Worcester and Dunbar ; — any thing to screen Hotspur's memory. So also Capgrave, De lUustribus Henricis, 6a HENRY IV. CHAP. IV, 1403. Engage mentforced on by Scots Earl of March. Gallantry of the Prince of Wales. Hotspurand Douglas. blamed the Earl of Worcester, but the balance of testimony inclines to the view that at the last the action was forced on by the determination of the Scottish Earl of March, acting as chief of the Staff, who would not allow Henry to give the rebels a single day. Before ever the formal word had been given ; " An avant Baner ! " the Prince's men had begun to move. " St. George !" was the cry on one side, "Espe7ance Percy!" on the other. The action began with the archers, who, on either side, must have been posted more or less in advance. Hotspur's archers, ' than whom no better could be found in all Cheshire'1, overpowered their adversaries and drove them off the field. The young Prince himself was wounded in the face with an arrow, but he refused to retire. The King then brought up his men-at-arms for a hand-to-hand encounter. The King's own division, which must certainly have been on the right, did not get very quickly into action, being cramped between the two ponds, marked B and C on the map. The Prince, however, on the left, had rather more elbow-room, and certainly an easier gradient to en counter. He charged up the slope with such spirit that he fairly doubled up the insurgents' right, rolling it back on the left, which was confronted by the King. Thus the insurgents were completely surrounded 2, and the battle became a desperate medley, in which friends and foes could hardly be distinguished. On the rebel side Hotspur and the Earl of Douglas had resolved to " fight neither with small nor great, save only with the King." Followed by a band 3 of thirty de termined men, they cut their way right through to the royal standard, which was beaten down and torn. There fell the young Earl of Stafford, only that day named 1 Ann. Henr. 2 " Unde contigit quod [Princeps] acie sibi commissa prius perveniens ad hostilem cuneum, penetraret aciem contrapositam, et pertransiit, prostratis obstantibus ; sic quod hostes inter Principis clauderentur copias et cohortes Regias"; Ann. Henr. 3 " Assumptis triginta hominibus " ; Eulogium. DEFEAT OF THE PERCIES. 63 Constable of England1; there fell Sir Walter Blount ; there chap, iv. fell the King's armour-bearer, and many others. But the I403 King of England fell not. The " well-labouring sword " of Douglas had only slain " the appearance of the King," and not his very self2. Dunbar had removed him when he saw the coming onslaught. Percy fell by an unknown hand. His men missing him raised the forlorn cry " Henry Percy Kyng." The King, rushing to the front, with his Desperate own voice proclaimed the fact 'Henry Percy dead ! ' of struggle. The battle, which began late in the afternoon, was main- ,I!°tsPtir r killed. tained as a dogged hand-to-hand struggle till after sunset ; the conquered refusing to acknowledge their defeat ; the conquerors hardly certain of their success. For the second Douglas time within the twelvemonth the Earl of Douglas— "the Worcester bloody Douglas ... that furious Scot "—found himself prisoners. severely wounded and a prisoner. The Earl of Worcester was also taken ; so were Sir Richard Venables Baron of Kinderton ; Sir Richard Vernon of Shipbroke, and others. The list of casualties was very heavy ; a large proportion of the wounded, as usual, dying of neglect3- On the King's side there fell, besides those already named, Sir Hugh Shirley, Sir John Clifton, Sir John Cokayne, Sir Nicholas Gonville, Sir John Calverley, Sir John Massey of Podington, and Sir Robert Gausel, second husband of the Duchess of Norfolk, the widow of Henry's an tagonist4. 1 Edmund, fifth earl ; he was about 25 years old, and was married to Ann, daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, by whom he left an infant son, Humphrey, afterwards first Duke of Buckingham. See the Complete Peerage of G. E. C. 2 So A. Usk, 80. "Ceciderunt duo nobiles milites in armatura regis ac si alter rex insigniti . . . Unde et comes de Duclas de Scosia . . . mirando dixit Nonne duos reges Henricos manibus meis interfeci ? " cf. Scotichron. ii. 438, " tres reges sophisticates, " where it is also stated that in fact Douglas fought with a club or mace, "clava." Cf. Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part II, Act i. Scene 1. 3 "Quorum periit magna pars languendo"; Ann. Henr. q. v. 365-370, the only real account, abridged by Walsingham and Otterbourne. Compare A. Usk, 80 ; Eulogium, iii. 397 ; Chron. London, 88 ; Traison, Append. 285 ; Scotichron. ii. 438 ; Shakespeare, sup. 4 Ann. Henr. sup. ; Sandford, Genealogical History, 211. For the Memorial Church founded 1406-1410, on the spot where most of the dead were buried, see Mr. Dimock-Fletcher's little book, sup. 6a HENRY IV. chap. iv. Of the numbers engaged no account can be given, except the chroniclers' estimates, which, in the absence of special confirmation, are not worth quoting. The best idea of the numbers may be derived from the fact that the probable battle-front was not 300 yards wide, and that the manoeuvres must have been executed within an area of four or five acres of ground. Or, again, the reader may judge of the dimensions of a battle in which a charge by thirty men or so could figure as a signal incident. Such however was "the sory bataill of Schrovesbury between Englysshmen and Englysshmen " J : the most serious engagement of the kind seen since the Day of Evesham — the sad prelude to many another one to come. For Henry, his success involved the loss of all popularity, and all future comfort. The payments to the messengers sent to proclaim the death of Hotspur are immediately followed by payments to another set of messengers, sent to warn people against speaking ill of the King's govern ment 2. Execn- The leaders of such an insurrection could not look for prisoners, much mercy, and they found none. On the Monday &c. (23rd July), Worcester, Venables, and Vernon were sum marily tried and executed with the usual incidents. Hot spur's remains had been removed to Whitchurch and buried there ; but a rumour having been raised that he was alive, Henry, to prevent any further mistakes, ordered the body to be exhumed and exhibited between two mill stones in the public street of Shrewsbury 3. The Earl of Douglas was treated with the courtesy due to an honourable foe, but of course kept in safe bonds. Henry remained twelve days at Shrewsbury; while levies were ordered to meet the Earl of Northumberland, who 1 Chron. London, 88. 2 " Ne quis obloqueretur," &c. ; Issue Roll, Easter 4 Henry IV. For Hot spur's popularity, see Chron. Giles, 32. 3 Ann. Henr. ; Traison and Eulog. sup. ; Angl. Sacr. ii. 366. Hotspur's remains were afterwards quartered and distributed. A. Wyntoun, ii. 409, thought this a just retribution for the execution of Sir William Stewart of Jedburgh ; Foed. viii. 319, 22nd July. THE EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND. 6$ was marching southwards. The task of meeting him was chap. iv. entrusted to his brother-in-law, the Earl of Westmorland, who drove him back to Warkworth. On the and August the King moved to Doncaster, and next day to Ponte fract. There he gave the Wardenship of the East March to his third son, John, and that of the West March to West morland, with instructions to treat for peace 7 Trusty ' Mattathias ' was invited to meet the King at The Earl York: he came and saw the King there on the nth August. umberland Henry promised him a substantial pardon on condition pardoned. of his surrendering his castles. In the meanwhile he was sent to Bagington near Coventry2. But the resump- His castles. tion of the castles was not such an easy matter, as the list included Langley-Dale, Prudhoe, Alnwick, Warkworth, and Cockermouth, besides Berwick. The Earl's Con stables, while ready to swear any oaths of allegiance to Henry, refused to surrender their charges except under The King, written orders from the Earl ; and he found that his ' Great 0btain Seal ' had been left in London. In spite of all Henry's thei,r sur_ render proclamations the Earl's officers managed to retain the control of the castles 3- A royal visit to the North would probably have settled the matter ; but Henry felt bound tnms to- to give his attention to Wales, where the state of affairs Wales. had become intolerable. Owen, though unable to maintain his position in the open State of country 4, was nevertheless strong enough tb keep the whole there? March in confusion and alarm up to the gates of Hereford 1 Foed. viii. 319 ; Rot. Scot. ii. 164 ; Ann. Henr. 371 ; Household Ac counts, sup. 2 Ann. Henr. 372 ; Proceedings, i. 316 ; J. Hardyng, 362. 3 Proceedings, i. 209-216 ; Rot. Scot. ii. 165 ; Foed. 338 ; Eulog. iii. 398. On the 13th October Northumberland promised to send to London for his seal : it was sent from London 9th November ; Devon Issues, 297. For the demands made by Sir William Clifford, the Constable of Berwick, see Pro ceedings, ii. 79. 4 Owen, as above mentioned, took Caermarthen on the 6th July. He hoped to win Kidwelly and all Glamorganshire and Gower ; on his march to Kid welly he was taken in the rear by the Lord Carew, and only escaped to the hill country with the loss of a division of his army, which was cut off; Ellis, Letters, sup., 15-23. * F 66 HENRY IV. CHAP. IV. I4°3. The King at a stand still for want of money. Applica tion to Archbishop Arundel. Grant of half a Tenth by clergy of Canterbury in Synod. and Shrewsbury. The English gentry threatened to leave Wales if they were not promptly supported by the King1. Henry turned southwards ; but his movements were leisurely: he only left York on the 19th August, and he halted for a whole week at Woodstock ; there he was greeted with the news that Plymouth had been pillaged and burnt by the Bretons, his Queen's late subjects. On the and September he reached Worcester 2. But Henry now found his movements paralysed by ab solute want of means. Application for a grant was made to the clergy. Archbishop Arundel having come down to Worcester to remonstrate, the courtiers made the insolent suggestion "that the prelates should be stripped of their equipages and sent home on foot." Arundel dared them to lay a finger on one of his men ; but the King using conciliatory language, he returned to London, and ob tained from a Synod of his province the grant of half a Tenth 3. But when individual applications were made to the clergy for advances on the security of the grant, '' only £500 could be raised " 4. This fact illustrates the amount of sympathy felt for Hotspur, who was certainly the most chivalrous, and pre sumably the most popular, Englishman of the time. As already stated, within a few days ofthe battle of Shrewsbury, Henry had to issue proclamations warning people not to speak ill of his government 5. From Worcester Henry moved on to Hereford, remain ing there from the nth to the 23rd September, when he plunged into South Wales G. On the 29th of the month he 1 See Proceedings, ii. 77, and Royal Letters, 152, 157. 2 Foed. viii. 325, 329 ; St. Denys, iii. 113 ; Household Accounts, sup. 3 6th-7th October ; Wake, State of the Church, 342 ; Wilkins, iii. 274 ; Ann. Henr. 373, 374. 4 Ann. Henr. sup. ; Stubbs, iii. 42. 5 " Ne quis obloqueretur," &c. ; Issue Roll. 6 Household Accounts. If an entry in Foedera may be trusted, Henry was at Devynock, west of Brecon, on the 15th September; p. 332. If so, he must have gone there and back in a day, as by the Household Accounts he was not out of Hereford one night that week. NAVAL OPERATIONS. 6>] was at Caermarthen, and established a garrison there under chap. iv. the two Beauforts and the Bishop of Bath, who agreed ~~ to take charge of the place for one month, at the end of The King which time it was arranged that the Duke of York, now ^°ecre.s returned from Aquitain, should relieve them. On the 8th marthen. October Henry was at Gloucester ; and from thence he moved to Bristol, where we find him at the end of the month 7 Naval affairs no doubt had called the King to Bristol. The King The privateering, which had been one of the curses of Priv"tsee°r; the reign, leading to disputes with every maritime na- ing ^ the tion in Europe2, ripened this autumn into informal war on a considerable scale. The moving spirits, so far as France and Brittany were concerned, were the Duke of Orleans and the old foe of England, Olivier de Clisson. In July an English fleet, which was stationed off Defeat of the Ras de St. Mahe, was defeated by the Breton Guil- seaS ls laume du Chatel 3. Following up his advantage, he Plymouth pillaged and burnt Plymouth, without encountering " the least resistance " 4 ; on his return he put Jersey and Channel Guernsey to the ransom 5. In October, when the King p^f "o^e was at Bristol, Southampton was reported to be in great ransom. danger. The Ministers in London then fitted out the King's balynger 6 and a few other vessels, with which one Sir William Wilford was sent down to Dartmouth to raise shipping there. Wilford retaliated on the enemy with effect, doing great things off the coast of Brittany in 1 Proceedings, i. 217 ; Foed. viii. 334 ; Royal Letters, 167. 2 See Rot. Pari. iii. 539 ; Foed. viii. 269-287, 296, 303, 346 ; Royal Letters, 132, 162, 175, &c. ; H. Nicolas, Royal Navy, ii. 351, &c. Besides France and Brittany, we have complaints from Flanders, Lubec Hamburg and the Hanse Towns collectively, Castile and Portugal. Henry did his best to keep his subjects in order. See Foed. 303. 3 St. Denys, iii. 105 ; Lobineau, i. 503. The English were said to be on the look-out for volunteers to Scotland for ' the day ' of the ist August ; ' the war of the King of Scotland ' was the flag of the French privateers ; Royal Letters, 219. 4 9th and 10th August ; Nicolas, Royal Navy, ii. 355, citing Fabyan, (ed. Ellis), 571 ; Ann. Henr. 375. 5 Royal Letters, 220. " Cf. French bakinier = whale-boat. F a 68 HENRY IV. 1403. Henry's neglect of the Navy. Glyndwr up again, Aberystwith be sieged : Cardiff burnt. November 7 But again early in December the Count of St. Pol, Richard's brother-in-law2, landed in the Isle of Wight. On the 6th of the month he issued a proclama tion, but the people rose against him and drove him off3. For these harassing attacks on the English seaboard Henry must again be held responsible. The English were quite able to hold their own on the sea, if they were pro perly led ; but it is clear that Henry utterly neglected his navy ; practically the only payments under that head that can be traced in the public accounts of the preceding twelvemonth, are those for the transport of Queen Johanna. During the spring and summer months the Royal Navy was represented by a few vessels laid up in the Thames. Just at this critical time Thomas Beaufort was appointed Admiral of the Northern Fleet, another family job4. In November the King returned to London. On the 8th of the month, when he was at Cirencester, Llan- badarn (Aberystwith) was being besieged ; and he had to beg the Council to send down ^too for the relief of the castle 5. In December Owen took Cardiff, and laid the whole town in ashes, excepting one street, occupied by the Friars Minors 6. 1 Royal Letters, 167; Ann. Henr. 375; St. Denys, ii. 112. 2 The Count had married Matilda Holland, widow of Sir Hugh Courtenay ; St. Denys. 3 Foed. 342, 343 ; St. Denys, iii. 119 ; Ann. Henr. 378 ; Royal Letters, 171 ; Eulogium, iii. 399. 4 18th Nov.; Nicolas, Royal Navy, ii. 532. Thomas, Lord Berkeley, was Admiral of the Southern Fleet. 5 Proceedings, i. 219. 6 Eulogium, iii. 401, and Ixiv. notes. CHAPTER V. Henry IV (continued). Parliament. — Glyndwr and the French. — 'Unlearned Parliament.' On the 14th January, 1404, Parliament met at West- chap. v. minster x ; and the weakness of the King's position became ~~ SOOn apparent. Parliament The Chancellor, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Lincoln 2, j^^6^" gave his opening address on the first day — an unusual weakness circumstance. He had no cheering tidings to impart ; and °f.th^ so perhaps he sought to get through an awkward duty in position. a thin House. The only topics on which he could touch were the continuing rebellion in Wales ; the open hostilities of the Duke of Orleans 3 and the Count of St. Pol ; the recent rising of the Percies ; and the general call for war expenditure everywhere 4. The Speaker chosen was Sir Arnold Savage. He cannot have been a man unacceptable to the King, for he was an official of the Privy Council 5, as the Speakers at this time usually were ; but he was a man who could urge unpalatable truths without flinching. ' Lords' Report on the Dignity of a Peer, i. Append. 2 He had succeeded E. Stafford, Bishop of Exeter, in February, 1403 ; Foss. 3 See also Foed. viii. 336, and Proceedings, ii. 82. Another challenge had been formally presented to the King in December. 4 Rot. Pari. iii. 522. 5 The King had consulted him a few days before Parliament met ; Proceed ings, i. 161 ; ii. 83 ; Royal Letters, 69. 7o HENRY IV. CHAP. v. 1404. The Earl of North umberlandbroughtbefore Par liament. Found guilty of ' trespass ' only. When the Budget came to be discussed in private, between the Commons and the Ministers, the Commons made loud complaint of the unprotected state of the sea ; and they were not slow to intimate that if the revenues were not equal to the expenditure, the first items for reduction must be 'Pensions' and 'Household'1. But the " unkindest cut of all " was a reference to the danger of allowing so many castles ' in the parts of the North ' to be ' held with strong hand ' against the King 2 ; as if Henry would have allowed them to be held against him one hour longer than he could help ! This matter, as one involving a personal question, was the first taken in hand. On the 6th February the Earl of Northumberland was brought into Parliament in custody3, and allowed to present a petition ' putting himself wholly in the grace ' of his "most dredful and sovereigne lige Lord"; and remind ing him of the promise given at York "that al graceles sholde I nat go." Henry proposed to refer the petition to the judges ; but the Peers claimed the matter as one within their proper jurisdiction ; and the Commons also, it would seem, exerted their influence on the Earl's behalf. The Lords held that the Earl's recent acts did not amount to treason or felony, but only to 'trespass,' for which suitable satis faction might be made by ' fine and ransom at the King's pleasure.' Northumberland thanked the Lords and Com mons for their kind ' diligence,' and begged to be allowed to take a fresh oath of fealty to the King. The oath was taken, and then Henry, with a Scriptural quotation to the 1 " Annuitees," " l'Ostell du Roy"; Rot. Pari. iii. 523. The Commons threatened to go home and disperse if their demands were not attended to ; p. 524. 2 "Chastelz que sont tenuz ove forte main en les parties de North, en cas q'ils vorroient faire Rebellion en apres," &c. ; Ibid. 3 See Rot. Pari. 524 : " tan q'al temps q'il serroit en sa libertee." The Earl had received a writ for the Parliament as originally summoned for the 20th October, but not a writ for the adjourned Parliament which actually met ; Lords' Report, sup. PARLIAMENT AND THE HOUSEHOLD. fi. effect that a man ought to be whole every whit, remitted chap. v. the fine 7 1404. On the 9th February the Commons thanked the King Penalty for his clemency to Northumberland ; and then the Three ™&t Estates gave a fresh confirmation of the King's title 2 ; his King. sons successively, and their issue, being declared heirs to The. suc" ¦" 3 t> cession the Throne. On the same day Northumberland and confirmed. Westmorland were publicly reconciled ; a few days later, ^f.co?" L J dilations. Northumberland and Dunbar in like manner were made to shake hands and kiss as friends 3- " The extent of the public suspicions," however, was shown by a request made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, on behalf of the Duke of York and himself, that Northumberland might be allowed to declare them innocent of any complicity in Hotspur's rising 4. " But the most significant work of the session was Attack on the attack on the Household " ; a proceeding explained, ^y °use" if not justified, by recent events. The Commons had Dismissal demanded the dismissal of divers persons, some natives of Kin5 s r ' servants. and some foreigners. The Lords had agreed that four Englishmen, namely the King's confessor 5, the Abbot of Dore, and two gentlemen of the Chamber, ought to be removed. On the 9th February three of the four, who were in London, were brought before Parliament and summarily dismissed ; though the King declared that he 1 6th-8th February; Rot. Pari. 524. The only overt act of which the Earl had probably been guilty was distributing crescent-badges, the Percy cognizance. 2 It would seem that this was the third act of recognition and fealty given by the leaders of the nation to Henry, the second one having been given at a Grand Council held in December, when French heralds tendered another mani festo from the Duke of Orleans; Rot. Pari. 525. The defiance was perhaps that of the 14th October, 1403, printed from a Paris MS. ; Traison, ixvii. The language of the document is very powerful, but it does not imply any belief in Richard's escape. " Ou est sa vie ? Ou est son corps ? ne le scet Dieux ? ne le congnoist le monde ? certes si faict, car vous avez la charge : s'il est en vie que ne le delivrez ; et s'il est mort que s'ait este par vous." 3 Rot. Pari. 525. * Rot. Pari. 524. 5 Robert Mascall, a Carmelite. He had a pension of £69 a year on con dition of being always with the King; Issues, Mich. 4 Henry IV, 22nd February. He became Bishop of Hereford in July; Reg. Sacr. 7a HENRY IV. chap. v. knew of no cause why they should be dismissed ; at the 7T7 same time he added that he understood that whatever the Lords and Commons might ordain would be for the best1; and that he would remove any other person who might be obnoxious to his subjects. (9th February 2.) Attack on The case of the foreigners was then taken up. The foreigners. commons began by demanding that not an alien, man or woman, should be allowed to remain either with the King or Queen. The only exceptions that the Lords at first seemed disposed to make were in favour of the Queen's two daughters ; of one Marie Sante ; and of two Breton ladies married to Englishmen ; all these being admitted to be orthodox in the matter of Papal allegiance, a delicate point at this time 3. Aliens who held by the Antipope the Lords thought ought to void the realm with all convenient speed ; ' Catholic strangers from Ducheland and the like 4 ' might be relegated to garrison or seaport towns, as had been Submis- done in the time of Edward III. Henry again yielded th^Ring? most graciously; the order of dismissal was read out to the Household at supper-time, and then the Lords, relenting, gave the Queen permission to retain ten other friends and servants 5. The On the 25th February the King, again making a virtue to°beput °f necessity, made a declaration by his own mouth of the on an propriety of reducing the expenditure of his Household ; allowance. , _, . r , , ,. and of his own purpose of governing justly and according to law. The result was that on the ist March a futile attempt was made to restrain the expenditure of the Household within impossible limits. A fixed sum of ;£ia,ioo from certain specified sources was proposed for 1 " Pur le meilliour de luy et de son Roialme." 2 Rot. Pari. iii. 525. 3 " De l'opinion de nostre tres seint Pere le Pape " ; i.e. Boniface IX, the Roman Pope, who had the support of England. The Antipope was Benedict XIII, the Avignon Pope, who at this time was recognised in France. See below, p. 113 note. 4 " Estraungers Catholikes come ceux de Ducheland "; i.e. Germany. 5 2ist-22nd February ; Rot. Pari. 527, 528. The Queen's daughters were allowed a governess (Maistresse), two esquires, a nurse, and a chambermaid (une chambrer). A RESPONSIBLE MINISTRY. >J3 the Household, with a further sum (left in blank) for the chap. v. Chamber and Great Wardrobe \ As the expenses of the ~4 Household for the last year had exceeded .£37,000, the attempt to cut them down, at one stroke, to £1 a, 100 was clearly preposterous; £19,000 in the year is perhaps the lowest amount that we shall be able to trace under this head within the reign. Further " condescension to public feeling " was shown by A re publishing the names of the persons whom the King Ministry designated as his regular Ministers 2 ; and by allowing the announced. Commons to revise and settle a model Commission ofCommis_ Array for future use. The Welsh and Scots inroads had sion of suggested the expediency of reviving and enforcing the old rules ; it must, however, be stated that the action of the Commons was prompted by regard for the interests, not of the yeomen and others liable to be drafted, but of the country gentlemen responsible for the drafts 3- When the demands of reformers and economists had Demand been attended to, then the persons interested on the other sumption side of the question were allowed to have their say. The of Crown Commons having insisted on the resumption of all grants special made out of the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall, it was exemptions found that exception must be made in favour of Elizabeth, Countess of Huntingdon (Henry's sister), and her second husband, Sir John Cornewall of Burford 4. The Duke of York could not exist without his pension of £689 6s. 8d., chargeable on the customs of Hull and London5; the 1 Rot. Pari. 528, 529 ; Chron. Giles, 36. 2 The list included Archbishop Arundel, the Chancellor, Treasurer (Lord de Roos), and Privy Seal (Thomas Langley), four prelates appointed since the beginning of the reign, the Duke of York, the Earls of Somerset and West morland, the Lords Berkeley, Willoughby, Furnival, and Lovel, and seven commoners, among whom were Sir John Cheyne and Sir Arnold Savage ; Rot. Pari. 530; Stubbs. 3 Rot. Pari. 526, 527; Statute, 5 Henry IV, cap. 3; Statutes, ii. 144; Chron. Giles, 35. 4 Rot. Pari. 526. So again in respect of her dower, 533. Sir John was known as "Green Cornewall," it was said, from having been born at sea; he was descended from a natural son of Richard of Cornwall, the King of the Romans ; Sandford, Genealogical Hist., &c. 5 Rot. Pari. 533. 74 HENRY IV. CHAP. v. 1404. Statute, 5 Henry IV. Privilege of Par liament. Act of Grace. Grant of a land-tax : Countess of Kent wanted something on account of the pension granted to her by Henry x ; and lastly, the Earl of Somerset presented his bill of £11,423 lis. 3d. for the wages of the garrison of Calais — all overdue 2. The Statute published at the close of the session con tained a provision giving special protection to Members of Parliament and their attendants, both during the session and on their ways to and from Parliament3. The petition on which this provision was based, claimed the immunity of Members from liability to arrest for ' debt, account or trespass,' as a matter of ancient right. The case of the sheriff of Rutland, who had neglected to return one Thomas Thorp, though duly elected ' in full county'4, was remitted to the Lords, who ordered the sheriff to be removed and imprisoned. The session closed with an Act of Grace for all trespasses and misprisions committed before the 14th January, three persons being excepted by name, one of whom was ' Thomas Warde of Trumpington, which doth feign himself to be King Richard'5. But the reader will ask, what of Supply? Was nothing granted in return for all these graces and condescensions ? According to the official records of the session, nothing. The royal accounts for the ensuing term (Easter, 5 Henry IV) exhibit a paltry £10,000 or £11,000 as the entire revenue for six months ; including a special ' war account ' of £a686 19^. A\d., drawn from the Customs, and administered by J. Oudeby, J. Hadley, Thos. Knolles, and Richard Merlawe 6 Our well-informed chroniclers explain the mystery. Parliament granted a somewhat novel tax, a land-tax of £5 per cent, or is. on the £1 rental of land, to be expended by the four men above named as war treasurers. This was granted only on condition that no record of the tax should 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 535. 2 Id- 534- 3 Statute, 5 Henry IV. cap. 6 ; Rot. Pari. 541. 4 " En plein Countee " ; Rot. Pari. 530 ; i.e. in full County Court. 5 Rot. Pari, 544; Statute, cap. 15. 6 Receipt and Issue Rolls Easter, 5 Henry IV. Cf. Proceedings, i. 220. THE WAR IN WALES. 75 be allowed to live as a precedent ; and on the further con- chap. v. dition that the surplus of the customs not already specially ^^ appropriated should also be paid over to the same not to treasurers J ; hence the £a686 19* A\d. ^ as The clergy did not escape contribution. The Canterbury cedent. clergy were summoned to St. Paul's for the aist April. Grants of The absentees were numerous, but Arundel, who could ConVOscaJ discern the signs of the times, and knew that the clergy tions of , „ . . . 1 • 1 11 Canterbury could not afford to be niggardly in giving, laid all re- and York. calcitrants under sequestration. Under this pressure a Tenth was granted in May, to be raised half at Martinmas and half at Midsummer, 1405 ; with a further subsidy of %s. on the £1 "of every benefice or office ecclesiastical un taxed over iooj. per annum" 2- A month later the Province of York gave a Tenth 3. The unofficial war with France, and the formal war in The war in Wales, went on with varying results 4. a es' In Wales the English had quite the worst of it. On the iath January (1404) one of the keepers of Conway Castle, writing to his superiors at Chester, gives it as his opinion that aoo men in Conway, and aoo more in Caernarvon, ' abiding there from Candlemas to the Feast of St. Philip and St. James' (and February to ist May) would bring ' the commons ' of Caernarvonshire to ' the peace ' and the payment of ' their duties ' 5. But the 'defensible men' in the town and castle of Caernarvon at the time numbered only twenty-eight. Accordingly the king was informed three days later that Owen and his French auxiliaries were preparing to lay siege to the place with engines, ' sows,' and ladders : Harlech also was 1 See Ann. Henr. 379 ; T. Wals. ii. 260 ; Eulogium, iii. 399 ; A. Usk, 83 ; cf. Rot. Pari. 529, from which it clearly appears that an understanding about a grant had been come to by the ist March. The orders for collecting it were issued on the 23rd April; Proceedings, i. 222. 2 Wilkins, iii. 279, 280 ; Ann. Henr. 388 ; Stubbs, iii. 45, citing 2nd Deputy Keeper's Report, Append, ii. 182; Receipt Rolls. 3 Wake, State of Church. 4 "Fortuna vices variavit . . . utrisque gentibus nunc . . . arridendo nunc irridendo " ; Ann. Henr. 5 Ellis, Letters, sup., 36. 76 HENRY IV s CHAP. V. 1404. League between Glyndwr and the French. War with the French in the Channel. in great danger, the garrison consisting of five Englishmen and sixteen Welshmen 7 Late in April we find these two places still under blockade from the sea by the French; Aberystwith and Cardigan being also in need of relief2. On the 10th May, Owen, ' by the grace of God Prince of Wales,' authorised envoys to conclude a treaty with France3- On the strength of this authority a treaty was sealed in Paris on the 14th June, by which the parties bound them selves to make neither peace nor truce with ' Henry of Lancaster/ except by common consent4. This glaring infraction of the existing truce was of course the work of the Duke of Orleans, who was now supreme at the French court, the Duke of Burgundy having died in the last days of April 5. Early in this same month of June Owen was able to push inroads into Hereford shire. The Prince of Wales, who had the chief command on the March, came down to Worcester to keep him in check ; but he was unable to cross the border, Owen being too strong for him in South and West Wales ; and the King at the end of August gave leave to the men of Shropshire and to Lord Charleton of Powys to sign truces for their several territories as they might think fit6. In the operations at sea and on the Channel coasts, the English fared rather better ; there at any rate they could retaliate with some effect. Early in the year a force from 1 Ellis, Letters, sup., 31, 33. 2 Proceedings, i. 221, * Foed. viii. 356. The authority is dated at Dolgelly ' in the fourth year of our principality.' The envoys were Griffith Younge, Archdeacon of Merioneth, Owen's Chancellor, and his kinsman John Hanmer ; Foed., and Lewis Top. Dicty. The house in which a Welsh Parliament — the last — was held to sanction this treaty, is still pointed out at Dolgelly; Academy, 12th November, 1881. 4 Foed. 365 ; confirmed, 382. The French verbally undertook to send a force from Brest in August ; St. Denys, iii. 166. 5 Philippe le Hardi died 27th April, 1404; Barante, Dues de Bourgogne; Sismondi ; cf. Royal Letters, 230. 6 Proceedings, i. 223, 229, 235, 236. CaeTmarthen was practically, if not completely, blockaded ; Id. 234. HOSTILITIES ON COASTS OF CHANNEL. 77 Calais went out to ravage Picardy, and more especially the chap, v. county of St. Pol, which was utterly wasted \ The French j40+ in return made several attempts on England, not one of which met with any success. The first was a landing in the Isle of Wight, in which the invaders were again re pulsed by the people 2 Towards the end of April or the beginning of May three young Norman lords landed near the Isle of Portland, and after an obstinate fight were over powered and taken prisoners 3- A Breton armament fared no better. Guillaume du Chatel, encouraged by his success at Plymouth in the previous year, applied for and obtained in Paris leave to equip another expedition against Eng land. He landed at Blackpool, " too mile fro Dertmouth." But his men were under no control, and he insisted upon leading them to a forlorn attack upon the English in an impregnable position behind a ditch. In spite of prodigies of personal valour, du Chatel was mortally wounded ; his two brothers — one of them the Tanguy, afterwards so notorious— and some three and twenty other knights and esquires, being taken 4. These successes were held worthy of a solemn Te Deum in Westminster Abbey 5. Landings in Normandy and Brittany, captures of Genoese ships, captures of Spanish ships, effected some by the Earl of Somerset, some by Henry Pay and others, make up the tale of England's successes during the spring 6. But for Henry IV probably the chief anxiety of the 1 St. Denys, iii. 120, 156. The writer places this incident late in February. On the 26th March a levy was called out to serve under Lord Berkeley, the Admiral ofthe Southern Fleet; H. Nicolas, Royal Navy, ii. 359. 2 Ann. Henr. 381 : no date is given. 3 St. Denys, iii. 168 ; and the order ofthe 12th May; Foed. viii. 356. The date of the 15th April, assigned by the Annales Henrici to the attempt next noticed, may belong to this incident. 4 St. Denys, iii. 170, &c. ; Ann. Henr. 383, and the order of the 23rd May ; Foed. 357; also Royal Letters, 270; Chron. London, 89. 5 Ann. Henr. 385. 6 Ann. Henr. 386, 389 ; Chron. Davies, 30. The Genoese 'carracks' were taken for refusing to dip their flags; the Spanish ships were in the French service; St. Denys, iii. 158, 160. 78 HENRY IV, CHAP. V. 1404. Royal journey to the North. William Serle. Condi tionalagreement for sur render of Northumberland's castles. moment was the still sullen attitude of the House of Percy. On the 13th January John Coppyl, Constable of Bam- borough, writing to the King, reported that Bamborough was safe ; but that Berwick, Alnwick, and Warkworth were still held against him "par le mayn force," and would continue to be so held until he, the King, could appear in the North1. Henry, however, did not feel free to leave London till the middle of May. His journey to the North was attended with satisfactory results. On the aist June, writing from Pontefract, he was able to inform the Prince of Wales that the Scots were offering to accept a truce2, and that the Earl of Northumber land and Sir William Clifford had condescended to appear at his summons. The Earl brought with him three grand sons ; Clifford brought a most welcome offering in the person of William Serle, formerly Yeoman of the Robes to Richard II, and one of the three men specially excepted from the last amnesty. Serle was understood to have been the chief agent in the murder of Thomas of Wood stock, and he had been an active propagator of the report that Richard was alive ; his personal connexion with the late King giving weight to his assertions on this point. To make a thorough example of him, Serle was taken round the kingdom, to be "drawe" through "everi cite and burghe toune in Englond," and finally brought to London to be executed as a traitor 3. Northumberland did not submit to give up his strong holds unconditionally. The agreement eventually made between him and the Privy Council was that he should surrender Berwick and "Jedworth," on condition of re- ' Royal Letters, 206. 2 Proceedings, i. 229 ; see also Foed. viii. 359, 362, 363 ; Rot. Scot. ii. 166, 167. A truce was signed to last over Easter Day, 1405 (19th April). 3 Proceedings, sup. ; T. Walsing. ii. 263 ; Ann. Henr. 390 ; Chron. Davies, 30 ; A. Usk, 83 ; Foreign Accounts, cited Eulogium, iii. lxiv. According to the chroniclers, Serle admitted the imposture of the pseudo-Richard. Among the last dupes were the Dowager Countess of Oxford (mother of the Duke of Ireland) and the Abbots of Byleigh, St. John's Colchester, and St. Osythe's ; see Traison, Append. 267, &c. ; Foed. viii. 379. UNLEARNED PARLIAMENT. 79 ceiving from Parliament an equivalent for his ancestral chap. v. rights over the latter place 7 0 r 1404. In accordance with this compact a Parliament was im- parliament mediately summoned to meet at Coventry on the 6th at Coven- October2. In the meantime it was arranged that the King should remain in or near Tutbury, to watch the course of events in Wales ; the Admiral, Lord Berkeley, and the men of Devon being warned to look out for the Count de la Marche, who was fitting out an armament at Harfleur for a descent on Wales 3. On the 6th October the ' Unlearned Parliament ' met at The ¦ Un- Coventry. " This assembly acquired its ominous name p^™^ from the fact that the King, acting upon the ordinance ment.' issued by Edward III in 137a 4, directed that no lawyers should be returned as members " 5. The result was a grand attack upon the Church, and upon the holders of Crown pensions and Crown grants. The Chancellor, Henry Beaufort, apologised for the sum mons of a second Parliament within the year, on the ground of the insufficiency of the grant made in the spring 6 ; hostilities in Guienne being now added to the other troubles of the time 7 The Knights of the Shire at once propounded a sweeping 1 9th July, confirmed 27th August ; Foed. viii. 364 ; and again cancelled by the King 16th November; Rot. Scot. ii. 172. "Jedworth" is an alternative form of Jedburgh, still preserved in the local " Jeddart." 2 Lords' Report, i. Append. (Tables of Writs). 3 Proceedings, i. 233; Royal Letters, 282. The intended marriage ofthe ex-Queen Isabella to the eldest son of the Duke of Orleans was reported at the same time. 4 Rot. Pari. ii. 310, and Statutes. 5 Stubbs, iii. 46 ; Lords' Report, snp. ; " quamobrem parliamentum . . . sortitum est nomen Parliament illiterati " ; Ann. Henr. 391. " Parliament laicalis," Otterboume. Stubbs suggests that Henry excluded the lawyers from a wish to expedite public business, the lawyers being in the habit of introducing private business into Parliament. The reader will also bear in mind that as professions the Law and the Church were much mixed up. 6 Everything was still in arrear; constables of castles were being sued for their men's wages, &c. ; Rot. Pari. 549, 552, 565. 7 Rot. Pari. iii. 545. For the capture of a stronghold called Corbefin by Charles d'Albret and the Captal de Buche, who had turned French, see St. Denys, iii. 201 ; Sismondi, France, xii. 206; Proceedings, i. 250, 254. 8o HENRY IV. CHAP. V. 1404. Resump tion of Crown grants again sug gested by Commons ; also con fiscation of Churchproperty. Discom fiture of the Com- scheme of confiscation, including a general resumption of Crown grants anterior to the 40th year of Edward III (1376-1377); the suspension for one year of all Crown pensions1; and the appropriation for the like period of some or all of the possessions of the Church 2. Archbishop Arundel faced his adversaries manfully, assuring them that he would sooner lay his head on the block than give his consent to any infringement of the rights of the Church. He taunted the Knights with having ever been more reluctant to grant Fifteenths than the clergy had been to grant Tenths ; he asked what had become of the revenues of the Priories Alien so recently impounded by the King at their unhallowed suggestion ; and he reminded the King of his coronation oath. The Archbishop of York and the other prelates sup ported Arundel; and the Bishop of Rochester3, who was said to play Mercury to the Primate's Jupiter, completed the final discomfiture of the Knights by calling for the Roll of Magna Carta ; from which it appeared that the as sailants ofthe rights of the Church had ipso facto involved themselves in the censures of the Major Excommunication. The final victory of the clergy was in part due to the support of the Duke of York and other magnates, who had most to fear from resumptions of Crown grants ; although the Commons had taken care to petition specially that the members of the Royal Family, with the King's Ministers and retainers, should not be affected by the measure 4. The result was that the attack on the Church was dropped ; while the King, to please the Commons, agreed to appoint a commission to examine "what had been graunted " of " al that longed unto the Coroune (belonged 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 547-549. 2 Ann. Henr. 391, 393 ; T. Wals. ii. 265. No reference to the attack on the Church is to be found on the Parliament Rolls. 3 Richard Young, previously Bishop of Bangor ; he was translated after the death of John Bottlesham, 17th April, 1404; Reg. Sacr. 4 Ann. Henr. 313, 394 ; T. Wals. 266, 267 ; Rot, Pari. 547, 548, 459, 553 ; cf. Statute, 6 Henry IV. cap. 2. MONEY GRANTS. 8 1 to the Crown) the forty yere of Kyng Edward"1. All chap. v. parties made liberal grants ; the Commons granted a I404- double Subsidy, to be raised by three instalments within Double twelve months, and expended by Lord Furnival and Sir g^nted John Pelham as war treasurers. They also granted a prolongation of the Customs duties, at existing rates, for two years from Michaelmas 1405 : and they confirmed the land-tax granted in the previous session as to persons owning estates worth more than 500 marks a year 2. The Tenth and clergy of both provinces met shortly after in Convocation, Ranted by and made liberal grants. Canterbury gave a Tenth and Convoca- a half, and York a Tenth. Henry pressed for a further Canter- grant from the stipendiary clergy, but this apparently he ~ur57 b failed to obtain 3. that of The attack on the Church was doubtless a sign of the or ' spread of Lollard principles. During the session at Coventry Archbishop Arundel was much scandalised by seeing a group of gentlemen connected with the King's household turn their backs on the Eucharist when carried past them in procession down the street. Henry tried to make light of the matter ; but the Archbishop took it so seriously that he had to promise that the offence should not be repeated 4 The private petitions still bear witness to the gross Outrages outrages that men of rank could commit. Richard ^^ en of Gascoigne and Robert Redyngton had been driven from their manor of "Badesley Endessore " by Sir John Cokayne, with a force of aoo armed men5. Robert Walron, a man eighty years old, and in weak health, had been dragged from his bed in the night-time, in the month of February, and taken ' 16 leagues,' say twenty miles, on horseback, from Snibston to Saxelby in Leicestershire, where he was kept for twelve days, to force him to release a 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 549. 2 Rot. Pari. 546 ; comparing for the amount of the wool duties, 493 and 556. 3 Wilkins, Cone. iii. 280, 281. * Ann. Henr. 394. 5 " Arraiez a faire de guerre." Now Baddesley Ensor, in North Warwick shire, three miles N.W. of Atherstone. * -mm G 8a HENRY IV. chap. v. debt of £aoo due by Sir James Belers. Elizabeth, Dowager ~ ~ Lady la Zouche, had been beleaguered for three days at her manor of Eyton in Bedfordshire by eighty men, by the orders of William Lord la Zouche, on account of a lawsuit pending between them. Thomas Warcop, Sheriff of West morland, had carried off Margaret Sandford, an heiress nine years old, from the house of her legal guardians, and had married her to his son aged eighteen years 7 The much talked of invasion of the Count de la Marche came to nothing. Devoted to dice and the newly imported pastime of cards 2, Jacques de Bourbon kept his men wait ing from the middle of August to the middle of November: it was then judged to be too late to sail for Wales ; to save his honour he crossed the channel to Falmouth, had a skirmish with the English, and then returned 3. Death of In the course of this autumn William of Wykeham Wykeham. c'osed his long career. " He died at South Waltham, on Saturday the 37th day of September, 1404, about eight o'clock in the morning " ; aged about eighty years 4. The chronicler, while acknowledging his munificence for the advancement of learning, records the fact that the Bishop himself was not a man of letters5- He was in fact an architect and a man of business ; a man who could make money and spend it handsomely; but his talents never raised him even to the level of a successful politician 6 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 561-565. See also 484. 2 Sismondi. 3 St. Denys, iii. 122. 4 Lowth, William of Wykeham, 3, 260. 5 " Qui quod minus habuit litteraturae laudabili compensavit liberalitate " ; Ann. Henr. 391. 6 For a summary of his career, see Stow, 331. CHAPTER VI. Henry IV (continued). Plots. — Fresh rising of Northumberland, Mowbray, and Bardolf. — Archbishop Scrope. — Reduction of Northumbrian castles. THE year 1405 was perhaps the critical year of Henry's chap. vi. fortunes, and the turning-point of his life. All the hostile i40S- influences seemed to be " brought to a head, to be finally The year overcome. They were overcome, and yet out of his I4°5' victory Henry emerged a broken-down unhappy man ; Crisis in losing strength mentally and physically, and unable to career.S contend with the new difficulties, more wearisome though less laborious, that arose before him " 7 The first disquieting incident of the year was an attempt Attempt to made in the middle of February to carry off the two young the two Mortimers from Windsor 2 ; the intention being to take ??un? ° Mortimers them to their uncle Sir Edmund and Owen Glyndwr in from Wales 3- " The boys were speedily retaken, but it was a Wmdsor- matter of no small consequence to discover who had implicated. planned the enterprise." The Lady le Despenser, daughter of Edmund of Langley, and widow of the man created 1 Stubbs, iii. 48. 2 " Circa festum Sancti Valentini," T. Wals. ii. 268. " Feria sexta sequente,'' ' i. e. 20 February, for which we should read " praecedente," Friday, 13 February ; Ann. Henr. 398. 3 Chron. London, 89. G 3 84 HENRY IV. chap. vi. Earl of Gloucester by Richard in 1397, a woman who was living "in pretended wedlock" with the Earl of Kent1, was accused of the deed. Being brought before the Council on the 1 7th February, she at once incriminated her brother the Duke of York (the late Rutland), alleging that his plot included a scheme for the murder of the King. In support of her state ments she produced her squire, William Maidstone, who challenged the Duke to a judicial combat. The Duke accepted the challenge, but Henry immediately arrested him 2. " As usual the first charge gave rise to a large number of informations." Thomas Mowbray, the son of the King's old antagonist, Norfolk, a turbulent youth of nineteen, who was styled by courtesy Earl Marshal 3, " was unable to deny that he had some inkling of the plot " ; and, strange to say, the Archbishop of Canterbury, finding himself among hostile influences, thought it necessary to purge himself of all complicity in the matter. Henry at once accepted his declaration, and forgave Mowbray4. But a fresh disturbance took place at a Council held on the ist March, when a dispute about precedence broke out between Mowbray and the Earl of Warwick. Warwick was ' preferred before ' Mowbray, and the latter, refusing to take the lower place, left the court abruptly 5. Other 1 See Sandford, Geneal. Hist. 379, and Statutes, 9 Henry VI. cap. 11. The Earl of Kent was Edmund Holland, brother of Thomas, Duke of Surrey and Earl of Kent. Lady le Despenser was on her way to Wales when she was arrested ; T. Wals. sup. 2 Ann. Henr. and T. Wals. sup. ; Eulog. iii. 402 ; cf. Proceedings, ii. 105. The Duke was sent to Pevensey. On the 2nd March Lady le Despenser was sent to Kenilworth Castle ; Devon Issues, 300. On the 6th March York's estates were seized, he being already in custody; "after seventeen weeks he begged to be released" (17th February-i6th June?); Foed. viii. 386-388. By the middle of June he was again being employed ; Proceedings, i. 267, 271. 3 "Le Comte Mareschalle " ; Proceedings, ii. 104. "Corpus Thomae Moubray Comitis Marescalli " ; Ann. Henr. 411. He had not yet been summoned to Parliament, and the Earl of Westmorland actually held the office of Marshal of England. 4 Stubbs, sup. ; Ann. Henr. 399. 6 Stubbs, sup. ; Proceedings, ii. 104 ; Eulog. iii. 405 ; Chron. Giles, 43. PLANS OF WAR. 85 Councils held soon after were marked by opposition to the chap. vi. royal wishes: one held at St. Albans ended on the nth ~~ April in ' agreement to differ ' 7 All this time the energies of the government were being directed to a vigorous prosecution of the war. In January it was proposed that the Earl of Somerset, Plans for the Captain of Calais, should sail on an expedition to j;on 0f t^e some undisclosed quarter with 3000 lances and 3000 war in the , , , , Channel archers . Somewhat later it was arranged that 500 men- and Wales. at-arms and 3650 archers should be raised for operations in Wales between the 37th April and the 33nd June, to be directed by the King in person 3. On the 30th February the King's son, Thomas of Lancaster, a youth " little more than seventeen years of age," was appointed Admiral both of the Northern and Western fleets, Sir Thomas Beaufort and Lord Berkeley being superseded 4. This may have been due to the dis trust caused by the attempt on the young Mortimers, but the King's timid policy was fast reducing his dynasty to a faction : 700 lances and 1400 archers were to be raised for the Prince's ' voyage.' In March the King was cheered by a letter from the Prince of Wales, reporting that on the nth of the month Lord Talbot, with a small body of the Prince's Household, had inflicted a severe defeat on the Welsh near Grosmont, capturing Owen's son Griffith5. But troubles were again brewing in the North. In April the Earl of Northumberland, who had managed Northum- after all to retain both Berwick and Jedburgh6, suddenly double- S made an attempt to seize the Earl of Westmorland, the dealing. 1 "Velut in concordi discordia"; T. Wals. ii. 268 ; Ann. Henr. 399. 2 Proceedings, i. 244. 3 Proceedings, i. 251-253. 4 Foed. viii. 388 ; H. Nicolas, Royal Navy. 5 Proceedings, i. 248, 249 ; Ellis, Letters, Second Series, i. 38 ; Ann. Henr. 399 ; cf. Foed. viii. 484. 6 Rot. Scot. ii. 172. The King cancelled the agreement for their surrender, because he had been unable to procure from Parliament the stipulated equivalent for Jedburgh. Mortimer. 86 HENRY IV. chap. vi. Warden of the West March 1. Northumberland's conduct ~Z at this time certainly exhibits a duplicity not easily paralleled. On the I3th January he had written to the King as ' your humble Mattathias,' deploring his own age and infirmity2. On the 33nd March he had attended a Privy Council in London 3. Partition In the interval between these two days it would seem Giandwr ^at ^e ^ac* signeCl a tripartite treaty with Owen Glyndwr and Sir E. and Sir Edmund Mortimer for the partition of England, ' if it should appear to be the will of God that in them the words of a certain prophecy should be fulfilled.' By this compact Owen was to get Wales and the Welsh March up to a line drawn northward from Worcester to the source of the Mersey. The Earl was to get the twelve northern counties down to Warwick, Northamp ton, and Norfolk ; and Sir Edmund ' all the rest ' ; as trustee, we must suppose, for his nephew the Earl of March 4. This intrigue having got wind, Henry hurried up to Pontefract, proclaiming Northumberland a traitor, and offering pardon to his adherents5. But as no rising had taken place, and all seemed quiet again, he returned to Worcester, to resume preparations for the Welsh campaign. About the nth May the Council reported that Lord Bardolf, who had shown a refractory disposition in the recent Councils, and was under orders for service in 1 Ann. Henr. 400. 2 Proceedings, ii. 103. 3 Id. i. 103. 1 See the document dated 28th February ; Chron. Giles, 39 ; also Ellis, Letters, sup., 27. It was signed at the house of the Archdeacon of Bangor. This treaty must be viewed in connexion with the attempt on the young Mortimers. The prophecy might be the well-known one preserved by Benedict of Peterborough, p. 622 (Rolls Series), corrected by Mr. W. W. Skeat, Academy, 18th September, 1886. " Whan thu sees [Engles] in here hert y-veret, Than sulen Engles in three be y-delet," &c. 'When thou seest the English in their hearts a-feard, Then shall the English in three be divided.' 5 25th April ; Foed. viii. 394. ARCHBISHOP SCROPE. 87 Wales, had gone off to the North 7 Again Henry turned chap. vi. northwards ; on the a8th May he was at Derby, and ^^ received confirmation of the report that Northumberland, Rising of Mowbray and Bardolf were in open revolt 2- Northum- " Unfortunately for himself and all concerned, the Arch- Mowbray, bishop of York, Richard le Scrope 3, placed himself on the ^do\f same side." A formal indictment of ten counts was pub- Arch- lished by the Archbishop, denouncing ' Henry of Derby ' bishop as a traitor and usurper. Banished by decree of Richard II, joins them. with consent of John of Gaunt and of the Lords of the His indict- land, he had returned contrary to his own free oath 4- Henry. Having sworn and proclaimed that he came simply to claim his inheritance, he had conspired the death of Richard and others. He had promised the abolition of Fifteenths and Tenths ; and of duties on cloth, wool, and wine ; but had remitted none of them. He had levied war against Richard, and forced him to resign. Having usurped Richard's crown, he had made away with him at Pontefract, by hunger, thirst, and cold. He had imprisoned and put to death by lay hands spiritual persons of all ranks and orders, in violation of the rights of the Church. He had iniquitously put to death 5 the Earls of Salisbury, Hunting don, Gloucester, and Worcester ; Sir Roger Clarendon and Hotspur, 'almost all of them labouring for the justice of the realm ' 6. He had given his sanction to Statutes directed against the Pope and the Universities. He had brought general misery and confusion on the land. The indictment ended with a protest that these charges were not intended to give offence to the Estates of the realm 7, who had certainly been associated with Henry in 1 Proceedings, i. 262 ; Ann. Henr. 402. The tripartite treaty was ascribed to him ; Chron. Giles, 42 . • Proceedings, i. 264 ; Rot. Pari. iii. 604. 3 He was apparently the fourth son of Richard, Lord Scrope of Bolton, and younger brother of Richard, Earl of Wiltshire ; Foss, iv. 85, 86. 4 " Juramentum suum voluntarie praestitum " (!). 5 " Nequiter interfecit." 6 " Fere omnes pro justicia regni insudantes." 7 Anglia Sacra, ii. 362-368, undated ; Stubbs, iii. 49. " Another form, drawn 88 HENRY IV. chap. vi. some of his misdeeds. Another document, circulated in j^, English, stated the demands of the insurgents "in a less Popular precise form." They demanded that a Parliament should manifesto be held in London, to which the Knights of the Shire in English. ' ° should be freely elected " aftir the elde forme," without any exclusion of lawyers or clergy. Before this assembly they proposed to lay certain points, which, if accepted, would effect a thorough reform of the government in all its branches, to the great relief both of Church and people. Lords would no longer be liable to impeachment on trivial grounds ; knights, merchants, and common folk would no longer be ground down by the extravagance of the Court. Measures should also be taken for the maintenance of internal peace ; while commerce should be protected by an effective prosecution of the war abroad. If all this were done, the Archbishop would guarantee that the Welsh would ' come to the peace ' of their own accord \ Though not free from misrepresenta tion or confusion, these manifestoes certainly " touched all the weak points " in Henry's case. He had been guilty of most of the acts imputed to him ; and his reign had not inaugurated a time of peace. What Scrope hoped to effect it is not easy to divine. His fuller manifesto breathes a spirit of honest, but im practicable, Jacobitism, so to speak, which would leave no room for any compromise short of the deposition of Henry IV. Perhaps the Archbishop thought that he had a brother to avenge, as Mowbray had a father, and Northumberland a son. But in judging of Scrope's con sistency the reader will bear in mind that the Archbishop had sat at Henry's left hand at his coronation feast ; that he had been one of the committee of Peers who condemned Richard to imprisonment for life. up as a vindication of the Archbishop after his death, by Clement Maidstone, is given in the same work, p. 369." See also Fox, Acts and Monuments of British Martyrs, iii. 230 sq., and Gascoigne, Liber Veritatis (J. E. T. Rogers), p. 229. 1 Ann. Henr. 403 ; T. Wals. ii. 422 ; Capgrave, 289. Scrope also preached in the Minster to the same effect ; Eulog. iii. 405 ; Chron. Giles, 44. ARREST OF THE ARCHBISHOP. 89 The contest was quickly decided. The Archbishop and chap. vi. Mowbray led out the citizens of York to Shipton Moor. I40gi The Earl of Westmorland and the King's son John, who had just dispersed another body of insurgents at Topcliff, hastening to Shipton, met them there 7 Westmorland Suppres- being inferior in numbers offered a parley ; the Archbishop ^° ° l e accepted the offer, and produced a copy of his ' articles,' doubtless in their more moderate form. The Earl declared them most reasonable, and promised his co-operation. Hands were shaken over this agreement, and a friendy cup of wine drunk ; and then the unsuspecting Archbishop was invited to disband his men. The citizens, glad to get home, hastened off, leaving their leaders at the mercy of Westmorland, who arrested them and carried them off to Pontefract 2. When Henry reached Pontefract Scrope begged for an interview; it was refused, and his cross was taken from him by force. Henry had resolved that the delinquents should suffer where they had sinned, at York. It would seem that Sir William Gascoigne, the Chief Justice of the King's Bench, was ordered to arrange a court ; but that he absolutely refused to sit in judgment either on a Peer or an Archbishop 3. Archbishop Arundel was on his way northwards to join Efforts of the King, when, early oh the 7th June (Whitsunday), he bishop was informed that Scrope and Mowbray were to be Arundel executed on the morrow. Riding on all day and all night brother ¦ he reached Bishopthorpe on Monday morning*, before the 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 604. 2 Ann. Henr. 405-407 ; T. Wals. ii. 269, 270 ; Eulog. iii. 406, 407 ; Chron. Giles, 45 ; 29th May ; Rot. Pari. iii. 405. Otterbourne, writing later, gives a different complexion to the affair. 3 See T. Gascoigne, Liber Veritatis, p. 225 : given under the name of Clement Maidstone ; Angl. Sacra, ii. 370. Maidstone was clearly not the author of this memoir, but he may have written the shorter memoir ; Angl. Sacra, p. 371 ; neither was written at the time. See also Chron. Giles, 45. 4 Henry was at Pontefract on the 4th June ; at Bishopthorpe on the 6th ; Foed. 90 HENRY IV. chap. vi. King was out of bed. Entering the royal chamber, he j 0- protested emphatically against any attempt to lay hands upon an Archbishop. The King put him off with fair words, begging him to take some rest and refreshment. eluded by xhe Archbishop, taking comfort, did as the King desired ; and, while he was at table with the King1, the Earl of Arundel and Sir Thomas Beaufort passed summary sentence upon Scrope and Mowbray as traitors taken in arms2. Scrope's only answer was that he had been no traitor to his country. Execution No time was given for inhibition or appeal. The two and Mow- were taken off-hand to a field under the walls of York, and bray- there beheaded (8th June) 3. Sir John Lamplugh and Sir William Plumpton suffered with them 4- Recep- The execution of an Archbishop was an event for which deed. English history offered " no parallel " : Scrope was " a most popular prelate, a member of a great Yorkshire house." To lay hands on such a man might seem a rash, a desperate act ; but the King's Throne was not shaken by it. The Papal anathemas fell unheeded to the ground5. The people might worship at Scrope's tomb as at the shrine of a martyr ; they might ascribe miracles to his body ; and point to the ailments to which Henry became a prey as " a judgment for his impiety " 6 : but no avenger ever ventured to draw sword in the cause of the lost Arch- 1 "Dum procederet jentaculum," rendered by Capgrave "at dyner." 2 Gascoigne gives Sir William Fnlthorpe, a Yorkshire knight, as the judge ; he may have sat as an assessor ; he was employed in similar business on the 20th July ; Rot. Pari. iii. 633. Dr. Giles' Chronicle gives Fulthorpe and Sir Ralph Euer as the Court. 3 Ann. Henr. 407-410 ; T. Wals. ii. 423, 424, and Chron. Giles, 46 ; also Eulog. iii. 407, 408. Compare Gascoigne's account, sup., and Angl. Sacra, ii. 369-372 ; also Pol. Poems, ii. 114 (T. Wright: Rolls Series, No. 14). 4 Hardyng, 363. 5 See Chron. Giles, 48. 6 See Stubbs, iii. 51, citing Fabric Rolls York, 193, 225 ; also Gascoigne and Angl. Sacra, sup. ; Ann. Henr. 410 ; Eulog. iii. 408. According to Gascoigne Henry was taken ill that day or the next, and detained for seven days at Ripon. The ailment was some tumour or eruption on the face, below the nose. So also Chron. Giles. The people called it leprosy. NORTHUMBRIAN CASTLES. 91 bishop. The days were past when prelates could take the chap. vi. field in arms, and then if worsted retire within the folds of I405. their clerical immunities. Arundel was so shocked at the whole affair that he fell ill of grief, and was laid up with a tertian fever. The King had to exert himself to the utmost to regain his con fidence 7 The city of York having submitted humbly at the King's approach, he was able to move on northwards without delay. For the reduction of the Northumbrian strong- Reduction holds he had provided a powerful train of artillery 2. of castles' Prudhoe submitted without resistance. The captain of Prudhoe. Warkworth, finding himself manned and victualled for a ^th~ siege, answered defiantly that he held the castle for the Earl of Northumberland. The King, having brought up his guns, seven shots 3 brought the garrison to reason (1st July)4.- Leaving Alnwick to be dealt with later, Henry pressed on to Berwick, where Northumberland and Bardolf had taken refuge in June. At the King's approach they crossed the Border5; their last act being to allow Sir James Douglas, the Scottish Warden of the March, to pillage and fire the town 6. The castle again attempted to resist ; but the first Berwick. discharge from one of Henry's big guns brought down a large piece of a flanking tower7, and the defence ended. The garrison having yielded at discretion, the constable, William of Greystock, eldest son of the Baron, with five or six other knights and esquires, were executed 8. 1 Ann. Henr. 411. 2 Ann. Henr. 408, 411. 3 " Noz canones . . . dedeinz sept gettes." 4 Proceedings, i. 275. a They were established first in the castle of St. Andrews — then newly re built — afterwards at Perth ; A. Wyntoun, ii. 410. 6 Excheq. Rolls, Scotland, iv. xlvi. 7 " Incendit gunnam magnam, cujus lapis dejecit," &c. ; Ann. Henr. 3 Rot. Pari. iii. 605 ; Ann. Henr. 414; T. Otterbourne, 257; J. Hardyng, 363, q. v. for the names. 93 HENRY IV. chap. vi. At Berwick Henry found conclusive proof, if any such 777 were needed, of Northumberland's treasonable intentions, in 1405. the shape of documents appointing envoys to conclude Dealings alliances with France and Scotland. A private letter Earl of addressed to the Duke of Orleans was also found, in which Northum- the Earl pledged himself to support ' the quarrel ' of his with the lord King Richard ' if living ' ; but as the Duke had shown French and jj- conviction of Richard's death by arranging to marry oCOlS. his eldest son to Isabella \ Northumberland added that if Richard were dead, then he would espouse ' the right quarrel of your niece, the Queen of England ' 2. Alnwick. Berwick having fallen, Alnwick had no alternative but to submit. In fact a convention to that effect had already been entered into : the commanders, therefore, Henry Percy of " Athel," and William Clifford, were allowed to depart "with horse and harnes," though both were in- Executions veterate enemies : on the other hand an example was ham."1 made of Sir Ralph Hastings, Sir John Falconbridge, Sir John Colville ofthe Dale, and his "make"3, and Sir John Ruthyn, who were beheaded at Durham on the King's return, all in one day (aoth July) 4. The King The Northumbrian strongholds having been thus finally Worcester reduced 5, the King returned towards Wales. No particular and South good fortune awaited him there. He made an incursion Wales. into the Principality between the 8th and the 30th Septem ber, relieving " Coify " (Caerphilly ?) ; but on his return French march to Worcester he lost most of his baggage6 Just MUford.a as ^e was leaving Wales, a French armament landed at Milford. To retrieve the ignominious failure of the Count de la Marche in the previous year, the French Dukes had 1 The marriage took place 29th June, 1406 ; St. Denys, iii. 394 ; J. J. des Ursins, 431. 2 Rot. Pari. sup. French envoys were in Scotland at the time. 3 i. e. mate, wife. 4 J. Hardyng, 363 ; J. Stow, 333 ; Rot. Pari. iii. 604, 633. These prisoners had been taken at Topcliff in May. 5 Hardyng specifies Langley, Cockermouth, Newsted and " Alnham " (Alnmouth ?), besides those above named. 6 Eulog. iii. 408 ; Ann. Henr. 414 ; Foed. and Rot. Scot. sup. FRENCH LANDING' IN WALES. 93 sent a force of 3800 men of all arms under the Marshal de chap. vi. Rieux. Their first attack was directed against " Hele- I40., ford," Haverford West ; the castle being found too strong for a siege, they returned to the sea-coast, and prepared to attack " Canneby " (Tenby) ; but the English fleet, under Lord Berkeley and Henry Pay of Dartmouth, pounced down upon them and destroyed their shipping. Retiring inland in great confusion, they advanced to Caer- marthen : after four days' siege the town yielded to Owen, who had joined the French. Owen sacked and dismantled the town, and then led his allies to attack Cardigan, which surrendered at once. The French then went into canton- They ments without attempting any further operations. About ^aies m the ist November the leaders sailed home, leaving the bulk of their army to be brought back in the ensuing spring 1. At Worcester the King convened an assembly of clergy to consult about a grant, the available proceeds of the subsidy having been more than exhausted. " The proposal to plunder the bishops was repeated, as it had been in 1403, and sternly repelled by the Archbishop " 2- " It is scarcely possible to imagine a government in Henry greater distress for money than that of Henry the Fourth " ^business, at this moment 3 ; nor is it easy to imagine a ruler more b"t with- ¦ i-i r 1 out sense of hardly worked. We find the minutest details of the economy. Treasury business submitted to the King ; the general Home administration was equally directed by him 4 ; and the Foreign Affairs were wholly his. The range of his diplomatic correspondence was wide enough to include 1 St. Denys, iii. 322, &c. ; J. J. Ursins, 429 ; Ann. Henr. 415. For attacks on the south coast, in which a Franco-Castilian force was engaged, see the Chronicle of the Spanish Commander, Pedro Nuno, cited H. Nicolas, Royal Navy, ii. 374, &c. Henry III. of Castile, though married to Henry IV's sister, had joined hands with the French ; Ann. Henr. 389 ; St. Denys, iii. 158. 2 Stubbs, iii. 52 ; Ann. Henr. 414. 3 Palgrave, Proceedings, i. lix ; see also Stubbs, sup. The Issue Rolls for the financial year, Michaelmas 1405-1406, only show a total of £82,700. 4 See the Proceedings of the Privy Council, vols. i. and ii. passim. 1405. 94 HENRY IV. Presbyter John King of Abyssinia, and the all-conquer ing Timur Beg1. No wonder that Henry's health broke down under such accumulated strains. In the course of November the King returned to London 2- 1 See Ellis, Letters, Third Series, i. 54, &c. ; Royal Letters, 421, &c. 2 Foed. viii. 421. CHAPTER VII. Henry IV (continued). Parliament. — Capture of James of Scotland. — The Royal Family. The year 1405 was " a year of action " ; the next year chap. vii. was almost entirely taken up with parliamentary skir- 6 mishes, long-continued, and, from a constitutional point of view, highly interesting 7 On the ist March the session was opened at West- Parliament minster, by Thomas Langley, the new Chancellor 2. ' Coun- minster!" sel and advice ' was all that the King affected to ask for ; but the attention of the lieges was significantly directed to Wales, Guienne, Calais, Ireland, and the Scottish March. On the 33rd March, the Speaker, Sir John Tiptoft, after the usual protest and apology, announced that the Com mons wished for ' good and abundant governance ' ; that they also wished that some ordinance for" the safeguard of the sea should be made ' with all haste possible ' ; and that measures should be taken for the defence of Guienne, and the suppression of the ' Welsh rebels.' On the 3rd April, the Speaker explained in greater detail the measures they would recommend. The Prince of Wales ' to be continually abiding ' there 1 Stubbs, iii. 52. " Langley, previously Keeper of the Privy Seal, received the Great Seal about the 28th February, 1405, from Henry Beaufort, who was translated to the See of Winchester ; Foss, Judges. 96 HENRY IV. chap. vn. for the conduct of the war ; with power to admit the — g rebels to pardon on payment of fines. Lands ' conquered ' Sugges- in Wales should be kept in hand for at least a quarter of a tions of the year. A committee was to be appointed to settle the details for™be°nS of a plan by which the merchants had agreed to undertake pacifica- ^g keeping 0f the sea as against privateers, on condition Wales and of receiving a certain portion of the Customs. All French- oaheTe^ men and Bretons to be banished the realm. Tiptoft con cluded with a protest against sinister reports that the Commons had spoken disrespectfully of the Royal Person. Henry made no difficulties, except as to the grant of lands in Wales ; and Parliament adjourned for Easter 2 On the 5th April the Prince was re-appointed King's Lieutenant of Wales ; and on the next day the arrange ment with the merchants passed the Seal. The scheme as finally settled, was that the merchants should keep the sea for a period of eighteen months ; with aooo armed men afloat in summer, and iooo men in winter, exclusive of mariners ; and that they should receive for the support of this force the whole of Tonnage and Poundage, and one quarter of the wool duties during the period ; with the right of naming a collector of Customs in each port, and two admirals of their own 2- The plan The scheme was impracticable in many ways : one fatal found un- obstacle being the cost, which would have greatly exceeded workable, the produce of the funds allocated. Henry however gave it a trial for six months ; at the end of which time the merchants were found to be unequal to their task, and the agreement was cancelled with the consent of Parliament 3- During this Lenten session, a happy windfall had placed in Henry's hands an effectual means of controlling the policy of Scotland during the rest of his days. Robert III had arranged to send his son, his only surviving son, James 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 567-571. In 1406 Easter fell on the nth April. 2 Rot. Pari. iii. 569, 570; Foed. viii. 437-439. 3 See Foed. 439, 449, 455 ; Rot. Pari. iii. 602, 610 ; Ann. Henr. 419. The merchants' Admirals, R. Clitheroe and N. Blackburn, kept the sea till the 29th November. CAPTURE OF JAMES OF SCOTLAND. 97 to France ; ostensibly " to secure for him the best training chap. vii. that Europe could afford " ; but probably in reality to ^g. shelter him from the fate of his brother Rothesay 1. James was placed under the charge of the Earl of Orkney, who had regained his liberty since the battle of Homildon 2. Sailing from the coast of East Lothian, they were Capture of captured off Flamborough Head in March, and sent to Scotland. Henry, who remarked that the Scots might have entrusted him with the education of their Prince, as he could speak French well enough3. The news of this crowning mis fortune killed Robert outright. He took to his bed, and went sorrowing to his grave on the 4th of April 4. In justice to Henry, it must be stated that at this time No valid there was no truce worthy of the name between England 'r"ce J ° between and Scotland. The last truce of which any formal record England has been preserved expired on Easter Day (19th April), fand at°the 1405 5. In July, 1405, the Scots sacked Berwick, as above time. stated. The English complained of this, and the Scots retorted that the English had previously broken the truce by ravaging the Isle of Arran 6. This agrees with a Minute of the Privy Council belonging to the autumn of the year (1405), which refers to a truce recently taken, to which neither side paid any attention, no Conservators having been appointed : the Earl of Mar (the Scots King's brother) was blockading the coast of Northumberland, and seizing 1 G. Burnet (Exchequer Rolls, below) ; Scotichron. ii. 439 ; Ann. Henr. 419. It is clear that Robert sent off his son secretly, and that James was in hiding on the Bass Rock for several days before his father could send a, ship from Leith. 2 Perhaps in 1404, when safe-conducts were given to his brother, Sir John Sinclair ; Rot. Scot. ii. 167, 168. 3 Scotichron. sup., where the date of the capture is given as the 30th March ; A. Wyntoun, ii. 412-415 ; Ann. Henr. sup. The Scots writers give the year as 1405, but this date is excluded by their own narratives, which show that the capture took place in the year following Northumberland's retreat to Scotland. 4 A. Wyntoun, 416. The Scotichronicon gives " IV Kal. Aprilis id est Dominica palmarum": this will be right if we substitute "die" for "Kal." Palm Sunday fell on the 4th April in 1406. See also Excheq. Rolls, iv. xlii. 5 See Foed. viii. 363, 368, &c. 6 See a letter of Sir Jarries Douglas, afterwards seventh earl, cited Excheq. Rolls Scotland, iv. xlvi. * H 98 HENRY IV. chap. vii. all shipping between Berwick and Newcastle . On the 1406. 7th February, 1406, Henry instructed envoys to negotiate for a ' real truce,' or ' a prolongation of the truce recently taken ' 2, but what came of this overture does not appear. Under all the circumstances, to have discarded such a prize would have been thought at the time a wanton sacrifice of national interests 3. As the Duke of Albany's son Murdach was still a prisoner, Henry had a personal hold on him also. Parliament On the 30th April Parliament resumed its labours, the King, who was suffering from a bad leg and from an attack of ague, being unable to appear i. It soon became apparent that the Commons were prepared to assume the offensive Foreigners all along the line. On the 8th May, the King was forced banished to §'lve a reluctant assent to the reiterated demand that fromCourt. forty-three foreigners, whose names were given in, should leave his household and the realm within the month5. It would seem that the Queen's two daughters were under stood to be included in this petty edict, although their names do not appear 7 On the 33nd May, as a first step towards 'good and abundant Governance,' Henry was induced to publish the names of seventeen Councillors or Ministers, by whose advice all ' bills, letters or orders ' to the royal officers should be issued 7 The list included the names of Archbishop Arundel, the Bishop of Winchester, Duke of York, Earl of Somerset, Lord de Roos, Sir Arnold Savage, &c, &c. Two days later the Speaker enquired of the Archbishop if the Council were prepared to act. Arundel promptly answered 1 Proceedings, ii. 92, 94. 2 " De veris treugis . . . tam per terram quam per mare, seu de treugis nuper , . . sub certa forma habitis prorogandis," &c. ; Rot. Scot. ii. 177. 3 The Commons apparently had no compunction on the subject, as they begged that the Scots, 'whom the King, thanks to God, had in his hands,' should not be ' lightly delivered ' ; Rot. Pari. iii. 580. 4 See his two letters ofthe 28th April ; Proceedings, i. 290. Too ill in the forenoon to write all that he had to say, he resumes the pen in the afternoon. 5 Rot. Pari. iii. 571. 6 Ann. Henr. 419. The measure was clearly aimed at the Queen's retinue. '' "Billes, lettres, ou mandements." PARLIAMENTARY STRUGGLES. 99 that they would, if sufficient means were provided, but chap. vii. not otherwise. Tiptoft retorted by a formal remonstrance I40g on the defenceless state of the coasts and dependencies. Attack on On the 7th June the Speaker returned to the attack *fn^_ with more specific charges. The King was deceived as tion to the yield of Customs, and the wages paid at Calais. The numbers of the garrison there were made up by passing foreigners and sailor lads, who could not ride, as full and sufficient men-at-arms. The charge for Ireland was excessive, and greater than it ever had been ; an allegation not founded on fact1. On the subject of the Household, Sir John allowed and himself to pass the bounds of parliamentary language ; ho°^e" declaring that the royal retinue was not only less honour able, but more costly than it had ever been ; and that it was composed, not of ' valiant and sufficient persons,' but for the most part of a ' rascally' 2 crew. Once more he pressed the King, for his own honour and the profit of the realm, to find a speedy remedy for all these mischiefs 3. This hostile attitude of the Commons was really assumed, "as we learn from the annalist," in self-defence4. The King of course wanted a subsidy; he also wanted a surtax of 6s. 8d. on the sack of wool, to make up a sum of £10,000, to be applied to his own necessities in priority to all war charges. The Commons wanted to shirk any fresh grant. The King again wanted a fresh recognition of his title, as if to remove any doubts created by Scrope's manifestoes 5. The King's wishes on this point had already been 1 On the ist March Thomas of Lancaster received a fresh appointment as King's Lieutenant of Ireland for twelve years, at £6000 a year ; for this he was bound to keep 100 English men-at-arms and 200 English archers, besides Irish troops. The English force alone would cost £3500 a year; Foed. viii. 431. Surrey had received nearly £8000 a year. 2 " Raskaile." s Rot. Pari. iii. 572, 573. 4 Stubbs, iii. 53, S4- 5 Proceedings, i. 283-287; Ann. Henr. 418. The desire for a resettlement of the succession may have also arisen in connection with the fresh proposal for a peace with France, on the basis of the marriage of the Prince of Wales to a daughter of France ; Foed. 432, &c. H 3 100 HENRY IV. CHAP. VII. I406. Fourth recognition of King's title, and settlement of succes sion. Northum berland andBardolf to be sum moned to appear : failing ap pearanceto be con demned. Consideration of cases of Scrope and Mowbrayadjourned. complied with, a settlement having been drawn up limiting the Crown after the King's death to the Prince of Wales as Heir Apparent, and the heirs male of his body; with remainder to his brothers and the heirs male of their bodies in succession \ This Act was passed at the request of the Commons. In his speech introducing the petition, Tiptoft took the opportunity of complimenting the Prince on his promising qualities ; singling out for special mention his ' humbleness and obedience ' to his father ; and his general disposition to submit his own private judgment to that of others. As these qualities were con spicuously wanting to the Prince, one is tempted to ask whether Sir John spoke in simple earnest or in cruel irony. On the 19th June another state sitting was held, as if to report progress before the Houses adjourned for the harvest. The Lay Lords gave in their finding in the matter of Northumberland and Bardolf, upon whom they had been asked to pass judgment ; they found that on the allegations and documents submitted to them the two had been guilty of treason ; but suggested that a pro clamation should be made ordering them to appear within fifteen days of Midsummer, or else to stand condemned by default 2. This being agreed to, the King next asked the Peers ' what they had to say touching the matter of Richard Scrope, late Archbishop of York, and Thomas Mowbray, late Earl Marshal'?3 The Peers answered that the case seemed one of treason ; but they asked that the matter might stand over till after the recess, when a fuller attendance of Peers might be secured. The King took the hint, and the matter dropped 4. 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 574, &c, amended, 580, &c. This was the fourth formal recognition of Henry's title. The three previous recognitions are stated to have been given (1) at Worcester in a. Council, (2) at Westminster in a Council, (3) at Westminster in the Parliament of 1404; Rot. Pari. 574, 580. 2 Rot. Pari. 604-606. Proclamation was made the same day ; Foed. viii. 442. Eventually the two were condemned as traitors on the 4th December, their estates being declared confiscate as from the 6th May, 1405 ; Rot. Pari. 607. They were now with Owen in Wales. 3 " Coment ils vorroient dire touchant le fait de," &c. ' Rot. Pari. 606. PARLIAMENT. IOI When the Commons were introduced they presented chap. vii. a petition dated 13th June, in which they offered the King ~6 a trifling increase of the Customs' duties ; but renewed Fresh their demands for the expulsion of foreigners, especially demands of of the Bretons ; and for the resumption of the Crown for™^u"- grants. Henry was so provoked with some of the Articles |ion.of x foreigners that he refused to listen to them, though he allowed and re- them to be entered on the Roll. TcroZ Another matter brought up was that of Lord Furnival grants ; and Sir John Pelham, the War Treasurers appointed in November, 1404, who wished to be relieved of their duties. The King accepted their resignation at once ; but the question of their accounts gave the Commons also for a fresh point of attack, of which they availed themselves audlt °/ 1 J accounts. by asking to name auditors of their own in addition to those named by the King 7 The struggle on this point lasted the rest of the session, the Commons being doubt less aware that the proposed resignation was merely intended to relieve the King of the burden of keeping a special war account 2- On the 1 8th October business was resumed ; after Re-ad- another month the Commons, as if in despair, appealed to ^ssion the King to charge the Lords on their allegiance to disclose the causes of the ' bad governance.' On the 33nd December the end of the weary session was reached. The King conceded the audit of the war accounts ; Audit and also authorised the Commons to appoint a Com- conce e : mittee to inspect the engrossment of the Roll of the session 3. In return the Commons granted a Subsidy, money with a prolongation of the wool duties, and of Tonnage Jt^s m and Poundage, for a year from Michaelmas, 1407, all at existing rates 4. A sum of £6000 was placed at the 1 Rot. Pari. 577-579 ; Eulog. iii. 409. 2 Furnival continued to act as Treasurer till the following spring. * Rot. Pari. 579, 584, 585. 4 Id. 568. The Convocations of the two provinces in June and July had granted a Tenth each with a subsidy of a 'noble,' 6s. 8d., from stipendary priests and Friars; Wake, 344; Ann. Henr. 418; Wilkins, iii. 284, 303. ioa HENRY IV. chap. vii. King's disposal \ and the banishment of the foreigners ~g was waived 2. Expul- But the most important of the concessions made by the sion of King was in the matter of a body of Articles for the waived. guidance and direction of the standing Council already The King appointed, and through them of the King. To these cepts a Articles the members of the Council were made to swear body of obedience 3, the King himself desiring them to do so. Articles providing The first Article requested the King to be guided in all constitu- things by the Councillors, some of whom were always to tional and be in attendance on his person : ' he will be pleased to govern- govern in all cases by their advice, and to trust it.' " This ment. preamble is followed by thirty-one Articles," which forbid the sealing of illegal grants and alienations of Crown property; provide for the due hearing of petitions, the appointment of proper officers of the Crown, and the upright administration of justice ; forbid interference with the Courts of Common Law ; curtail the expenditure of the Household ; and, in a word, set before the members as their duty "the maintenance of economy, justice and efficiency in every public department." These Articles, if taken seriously, certainly if intrusted to unfriendly hands, would have amounted to "a supercession of the royal authority." But the Council was composed of Henry's best servants, and the Articles were only passed as a temporary measure, to endure till the end of the next Parliament ; in fact a mere flourish on the part of the Commons. Act of Two other measures of interest were announced on the extended 33nd December : one a modification of the recent Act of to females. Settlement to let in the heirs female of the King's sons in 1 See Devon Issues, 307. * i. e. they were allowed to remain on payment of fines, a point resisted before ; Rot. Pari. iii. 578, 588. 3 Rot. Pari. 585. The list of Councillors here given differs slightly from that ofthe 15th May: a third list appears in Proceedings, i. 295. 4 Stubbs, iii. 55 ; Rot. Pari. 585-589 ; Hallam, iii. 94 ; see also Proceedings, i. 297, notes and amendments on the original draft of the Articles, some eventually accepted, some not. PARLIAMENT. 103 accordance with the settlement of 1404 J ; the other a chap. vii. measure against the Lollards, passed at the instance of ~: the Prince of Wales and of the Lords Spiritual and Petition Temporal 2. The petition, in which the Prince made his for flirther - , ... ,. . .,, measures first appearance in the sphere of politics, was artfully against framed to excite odium against the Reformers. It was Lollards- The suggested that their attacks on the temporalities of the prince of clergy would lead up to similar assaults on the ' inherited Wales- possessions ' of the temporal lords ; and the Reformers were also charged with disseminating false prophecies 3 — i. e. prophecies of Richard's restoration — and with maintaining that the " fool " in Scotland was the true Richard. Agreeably to the prayer of the petition, it was ordained that the Lords Spiritual and Temporal ' and the legal officers of the Crown should seize any man or woman teaching, preaching, or maintaining any such views, and keep them in custody till the next Parliament 4. " Nothing more was heard " of this Ordinance, which was not enrolled as a Statute, being only intended as a temporary measure : doubtless the Lollards, though unable to prevent its passing, were strong enough to resist its execution 5. The most important provision of the Statute enacted in Statute of this Parliament was one for securing the honest election paeri;aSS1°n' and return of members of Parliament in proper county mentary elections. 1 Rot. Pari. 580-582 ; Foed. viii. 462. 2 The petition no doubt was tendered by the Speaker, who asked in the name of the Commons that it might pass into law. But it does not follow that the Commons had any real hand in the matter. 3 The Lollards could hardly have paid more attention to the prophecies of John of Bridlington than did the orthodox chroniclers, q. v. passim. In fact the allusions in John's mystical doggrel were all to previous events of the reign of Edward III ; the only distinct prophecy on which he ventures proved most unfortunate ; it was that the Prince of Wales, Edward of Woodstock, should rule England in glory and conquer France. See Wright, Pol. Poems, i. 253, &c. Young Henry took John of Bridlington as his ' patron saint ' ; Foed. viii. 498. Perhaps he wished to appropriate the prophecy. 4 Rot. Pari. 583, 584. 6 For other speculations on this Ordinance, see Stubbs, iii. 359. On the 6th October, the University of Oxford had published a defence of Wycliffe ; Wilkins, Cone. iii. 302. 104 HENRY IV. chap. vii. 1406. Agriculturallabourersnot to apprentice their chil dren to trades. Foreign Relations. court. All persons present, whether ' suitors ' or not, are ordered to take part ' freely and indifferently,' without regard to pressure put upon them by sheriffs or others ; the names of the persons elected to be certified under the seals of the electors and returned with the writ1- Less creditable to King and Parliament was another provision, supplemental to the Statute of Cambridge of the 13th year of Richard II, by which labourers not worth 30.y. a year in land or rent were forbidden to apprentice their children to trades 2. On the whole, however, the Parliament of 1406 may be taken as "an exponent of the most advanced principles of mediaeval constitutional life " 3. The foreign relations of England during the year were comparatively easy. After the capture of young James, " the one aim " of the Regent Albany was " that his nephew should remain a The Scots, prisoner " 4. Henry played into his hands, being anxious, as he always had been, to cultivate friendly intercourse with Scotland. Negotiations for the ransom of the Earl of Douglas were carried on. In September the Earl of Mar came to London and tilted with the Earl of Kent. In December negotiations for a formal truce were opened 7 Pope Innocent VII had uttered an excommunication against all concerned in the murder of Archbishop Scrope ; but Archbishop Arundel managed to arrest the execution of the sentence with an offering of money, raised from the English clergy 6. Twice in the year Henry took steps to effect a treaty of peace with France on the old basis of a marriage between the Prince of Wales and a French Princess7. On the 1 7 Henry IV. cap. 15. 2 Id. cap. 17. 3 Stubbs, iii. 57. 4 J. R. Green ; Albany was confirmed as Regent during the captivity of James by the Scottish Estates at Perth in June. A. Wyntoun, ii. 417 ; Scotichron. 5 Rot. Scot. ii. 179, 180, 181 ; T. Otterbourne, 260. 6 Ann. Henr. 417, 418 ; Eulog. iii. 408 ; Raynaldi, Annales Eccl. xxvii. 143. Innocent died on the 6th November, 1406. 7 Foed. viii. 432, 452. ThePapacyand the execution of Scrope. France. FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 1 05 last occasion he was greeted with the news that the Dukes chap. vii. of Orleans and Burgundy had left Paris : the one to support I40g the French attacks on Guienne 1, the other to prepare for an attack on Calais. The Crown pensioners were called out for the defence of Calais 2 ; but the mutual animosities of the French Dukes made Henry's task easy. Burgundy never got beyond the stage of preparation ; he spent some eight weeks constructing engines of attack, and then, find ing that no money came from Paris, went off. Orleans sat down to the siege of Bourg, on the Dordogne ; at the end of ten weeks he retired, beaten and discredited 3- A victory over the Welsh, in which Owen lost another son4, and the marriage of the King's second daughter, were among the other incidents of the year. On the nth August Henry took leave of Philippa at Lynn : on the Marriage 36th October she was married at Lund in Sweden to Lad Eric IX or XIII of Denmark, Sweden and Norway 5. Philippa. " Notwithstanding a certain amount of disaffection at home, .... the political position of the King was probably stronger at this time than it had been since the beginning of the reign." But " germs of domestic discord " were beginning to develope. The King was a young man, Position of only just forty ; but his sons were growing up to manhood, h7 S0J>"g' and pressing hard on their father's heels. The Prince of and his Wales was in his nineteenth year ; Thomas, the second brothers. son, was eighteen ; John and Humphrey were seventeen and fifteen years old. Next to these within the family circle came the King's three half-brothers ; namely, John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset and High Chamberlain ; Henry, 1 The French had won a considerable number of places, mostly on the Garonne, in this year and the last; St. Denys, iii. 274, 354, 412, 426. 2 Foed. 456 ; St. Denys, iii. 434, &c. ; J. J. Ursins, 431. 3 St. Denys, iii. 450-460 ; 31st October, 1406-15^ January, 1407 ; T. Wals. ii. 275. 4 23rd April ; Ann. Henr. 418/ The other son, Griffith, had been taken prisoner in March, 1405; Ann. H jnr. 399, &c. 5 See Green, Princesses, iii. 3/6 ; Proceedings, i. 291. The negotiations for this marriage had been goinaron since 1401 ; see R. Letters, passim. Only £3443 were spe°t on this manage ; Enrolled Foreign Accounts. io6 HENRY IV. 1406. chap. vii. Bishop of Winchester ; and Sir Thomas Beaufort. " The sons were clever, forward, and ambitious boys ; the half- brothers accomplished, wary, and not less ambitious men." Between them they divided all the most important com mands in the State. The Prince was Viceroy of Wales ; Thomas of Lancaster Viceroy of Ireland ; John shared the command on the Scottish Marches with the Earl of Westmorland, — a man whose support could not be dis pensed with. The Earl of Somerset was at this moment Captain of Calais and Admiral of All the Fleets1. The Prince was active, brilliant and popular. His great ally was Henry Beaufort, who is said to have been his tutor 2 ; John of Lancaster, like his eldest brother, was a good deal under the influence of the Beauforts ; Thomas less so. The three Beauforts had hitherto been " the King's friends " ; the old Court party revived in less unconstitutional guise, maintaining the family interest under all circumstances. Archbishop Arundel, on the other hand, " embodied " the more independent "traditions ofthe elder baronage3". Both the Beauforts and the Archbishop remained faithful to the new dynasty; but the Beauforts soon began to court the rising sun of the Prince of Wales ; while the Archbishop stood loyal to his master. The internal history of the latter part of the reign is that of a struggle for ascendency between the Prince and the Beauforts on the one side, and the King and the Archbishop on the other side. The refractory temper of the Parliament of 1406 in volved the retirement of the Chancellor, Bishop Langley 4. On the 30th January, 1407, he resigned the Seal, and was succeeded by Archbishop Arundel, now Chancellor for the fourth time 5. " Ten days later the King confirmed the Act by which 1 H. Nicolas, R. Navy, ii. 533. 2 J. Stow, 342. 3 Stubbs, iii. 57-59. 4 Thomas Langley was consecrated Bishop of Durham on the 8th August, 1406 ; Reg. Sacrum. 5 Foed. viii. 464; Foss. ArchbishopArundel. THE ROYAL FAMILY. 107 Richard legitimised the Beauforts, but in doing so, he chap. vii. introduced the important reservation excepta dignitate I40^ regaii"1. This alteration the Beauforts would doubtless ascribe quite as much to Arundel's hostility as to any jealousy on the part of the King. 1 See Sir H. Nicolas' Excerpta Historica, 153, London, 1831 ; Stubbs, sup. CHAPTER VIII. Henry IV (continued). Parliament. — Last effort of Northumberland. — Battle of Bramham Moor. — The Papal Schism. — Lollardism at Oxford. chap. viii. The year 1407 was marked at home by a devastating I40?- recurrence of the plague x : externally it was a time of Plague. comparative peace. With Scotland a substantial, if not a Truces. formal, truce was established 2- A truce for a year was made with the Duke of Burgundy, on behalf of his Flemish subjects 3 ; and a similar arrangement was made with the Duke of Brittany and the Bretons 4. The Duke of York and the Earl of Warwick, acting in the name of the Prince of Wales, signed an agreement with the Welsh, by virtue of which Aberystwith was surrendered on the ist of November. But for want of sufficient safeguard the place was again lost in a few days 5- Parlia- The Parliament of the year met at Gloucester on the Gloucester. 20th October. Archbishop Arundel's management was again successful, and liberal grants were obtained ; but the session did not pass without incidents. The Speaker, 1 T. Wals. ii. 276 ; Eulog. iii. 410. 2 Foed. viii. 479 ; Rot. Scot. ii. 183. 3 Foed. 469, 485, 491. * Foed. 483, 490. s Foed. 497; T. Wals. 277; T. Otterbourne, 261. Just two years earlier Lampeter, " Lampadar," was recovered from the Welsh ; Foed. 419. The distance between the two places would seem to mark the English progress in the time. THE PEERS AND MONEY BILLS. 1 09 Thomas Chaucer1, having ventured on some ungracious chap. viii. reference to the grants of the last Parliament and the con- ^407. duct of the Ministers, Arundel stopped his mouth by assuring him that the Lords of the Council had used great « labour and diligence ' in the public service, and had even advanced large sums out of their own pockets 2 ; and that if they were not to be met in a more thankful spirit they must ask to be relieved of their duties 3- An incident that happened on the aist November led to The Com- the establishment of some very important doctrines. The ™f°miti-lg principle that the Commons had the exclusive right of ating originating money grants appears to have arisen from the Rants': fact that Peers were not supposed to contribute. Not its aP~ parent being traders, they were not thought to be affected by origin. Customs' duties ; and their demesne lands do not appear to have been assessed for ordinary Fifteenths and Tenths. Their assent to Money Bills was presumably given on behalf of their tenants, who would be taxed 4. The Commons' right of initiation, however, had not as yet received formal recognition. On the day in question the King, sitting in consultation with the Lords, enquired of them what ' aid ' ought in fairness to be granted. The Lords answered that, all things considered, the King could not do with less than a Subsidy and a half, besides a prolongation of the existing Customs. The King then ordered the Commons to send some of their number to hear and report the opinion of the Lords. A Committee of twelve attended, and reported the message. A loud protest ensued. 'The Commons were greatly disturbed, affirming that this was in great prejudice and disturbance 1 Assumed to be the son of the poet ; at any rate he was greatly favoured and advanced by the House of Lancaster. See the Introduction to Chaucer's Works (Skeat), i. 37. 2 See Foed. viii. 488. 3 Rot. Pari. iii. 608, 609. In carping at Arundel Chaucer, of course, spoke as the voice of the Beauforts. 4 See Nottingham Records, ii. 286. Where the Peers were to contribute, special words were used or separate grants made ; Rot. Pari. iii. 134, 546, 648 ; iv. 370; v. 172-174. In the Record Office, accounts of subsidies from Peers begin 14-15 Henry VIII; "Q. R. Miscell." no HENRY IV. chap. viii. of their liberties.' Henry, who had no wish to quarrel j ? with the Commons, " and who probably had acted in mere inadvertence," at once gave way ; and, with the assent of the Lords, pronounced that it should be lawful for the Lords, and likewise for the Commons, to deliberate in the absence of the King on the state of the realm and the needful remedies ; ' provided always that neither House should make any report to the King on a grant made by the Commons and assented to by the Lords, or any nego tiations touching such grant, until the two Houses had agreed ; and that then the report should be made through the Speaker of the Commons ' 1. This decision has been held to involve the doctrine that the King ought not to take notice of matters pending in Parliament 2. Altogether the incident was a most im portant victory for the Commons. Money Having achieved this success, the Commons made liberal grants : a Subsidy and a half was granted with a prolonga tion of the wool duties, and of Tonnage and Poundage, for two years from Michaelmas, 1408 ; the King in return pledging himself not to ask for any further supply till the 35th March, 141 o 3. Special ^ The transactions of the session bear witness to the evils of March caused by the special jurisdictions or 'franchises' granted Lords : Df old to the March Lords ; doubtless with the idea of their evils. , , . , , , enabling them to keep up strong government on the Borders. Felons liable to arrest for misdeeds committed within the jurisdiction of their own lord, had it in their power to ' disclaim ' their allegiance to him, and to ' avow ' to another lord, for the trifling payment of Ad, per annum. This privilege was now suppressed 4. The Prince The popularity of the Prince was again evidenced by a his growing v°te of thanks from the Commons for his services in popularity. 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 911 ; Stubbs, iii. 61. a Hallam, M. A. iii. 102. 3 Rot. Pari. iii. 612. The Province of Canterbury apparently gave a Tenth about March, 1408; Wake, 347; Proceedings, i. 314, 315 ; that of York in Dec. ; Wilkins, iii. 319 ; Receipt Rolls, Easter 9, and Mich. 10, Henry IV. 4 See Rot. Pari. 615 ; 9 Henry IV. cap 4; Statutes, ii. 161. SIR ROBERT KNOLLES. ill Wales. In acknowledging the compliment the Prince chap. viii. vindicated the honour of the Duke of York, whose name ~_ had been recently aspersed by unfair suggestions x ; doubt less in connection with the loss of Aberystwith. The year ended with short truces concluded with France Truces. for Picardy and Guienne. The truces were signed at Gloucester (7th Dec), the French having condescended to French send envoys to England, an advance not made since the England" first year of the reign 2. The signature of the truce may have been facilitated by the death of the Duke of Orleans, who had been waylaid and brutally murdered in the streets of Paris by agents of the young Duke of Burgundy, Jean Sans Peur, on the night of the 33rd November 3 The obituary of the year includes the name of Sir Robert Knolles, the last of Edward Ill's great captains ; the ablest strategist of his time, yet practically unknown to his countrymen of the present day; while the reputation of his humble pupil and imitator, Sir John Hawkwood, is a household word. Sir Robert died in August, 1407. Five and fifty years had elapsed since he stood among the Thirty in the lists of Ploermel. His latter years had been distinguished by acts of public munificence4. "Roberte Cnollys per te fit Francus5 mollis; Ipsius tollis praedas dans vulnera collis 6." 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 611 ; the Prince had been thanked in the last session, Id. 569. 2 Foed. viii. 499, 504, 507 ; Proceedings, i. 302. The Duke of Beni was the moving person on the French side ; Foed. 522. 3 J. J. des Ursins, 437 ; St. Denys, iii. 730 ; Monstrelet, &c. The two Dukes had partaken of the Communion together on the previous Sunday, in token of reconciliation. 4 He helped to rebuild Rochester bridge ; and rebuilt the church of the Whitefriars in London, where he was buried. He founded a college and hospital at Pontefract, the latter still existing as the Trinity Almshouse ; T. Wals. ii. 277 ; Chron. Giles, 49 ; J. Stow ; Lewis, Topograph. Diet. Knolles also contributed to restore an English hospital at Rome (the old Anglo-Saxon establishment?); T. Wals. ii. 277; J. Stow. Calverley and Hawkwood con tributed to this last work. 5 Read Francia. 6 H. Knighton; Twysden, Decern Scriptores, c. 2619. na HENRY IV. chap. viii. The year 1408 opened with a last desperate effort on the 1408. Paft of the old Earl of Northumberland to turn the tables Last effort on Henry IV. Neither he nor his companion Lord ofNorth-' Bardolf had found a comfortable refuge in Scotland: civil umberland. strife followed the disappearance of young James, and a plan was mooted for surrendering the two exiles to Henry in exchange for the Earl of Douglas 7 They returned to Wales as already mentioned, and in the course of the year (1406) made their appearance in Paris, where they pre sented themselves as supporters, not of the pseudo-Richard, but of the young Earl of March 2. From Paris, it would seem, they went to Holland ; and from thence again in the summer of 1407 they made their way back, "by th' est sea," to Scotland 3 ; the Earl of Douglas having been ransomed. Albany, with some reluctance, allowed them to try their chance in England. The party included " the schismatic Bishop of Bangor," Lewis Bifort4, and the Abbot of Hales5. In anticipation of their coming, their agents had been busy reviving the old rumours that Richard was still alive, and that he would yet return to claim his own 6. The adventurers crossed the Border in February ; push ing rapidly through Northumberland they issued a mani festo at Thirsk ; and penetrated as far as Grimbald Bridge, near Knaresborough. There they found the pas sage of the Nidd held against them by Sir Thomas Rokeby, the sheriff of Yorkshire. Falling back a little they made a circuit, and so pushed on again to Weatherby. Next day, Sunday, 19th February, they advanced to Tad- caster, to find Rokeby again barring the way. Unable to 1 See A. Wyntoun, ii. 412-414 ; Scotichron. ii. 439; Ann. Henr. 418. 2 St. Denys, iii. 427 ; Monstrelet. 3 J. Hardyng, 364. * He was appointed by the interest of Owen Glyndwr soon after 1400, but was never recognised by the English Church. See Stubbs, Reg. Sacrum, p. 178. 5 Scotichron. ii. 441. 6 T. Wals. ii. 276. It is specially mentioned that Northumberland never took the trouble to visit the supposed Richard in Scotland. ' Richard refused to see him ; ' Scotichron. sup. BATTLE OF BRAMHAM MOOR. 1 13 avoid action, they joined issue with him next day, by chap. vm. arrangement, on Bramham Moor. The old Earl fell on T~i the. field; Bardolf was mortally wounded; the Bishop of Action on Bangor and the Abbot of Hales were taken 7 Bramham In April Henry went down to Yorkshire to reward the faithful and punish the guilty. The Abbot of Hales was hung : the Bishop of Bangor was excused, on the plea that he had not actually borne arms in the field. Again the king emerged victorious from the struggle ; but Henry again he suffered in popularity and health. On his return *fCtori011s . he was seized with epileptic fits at Mortlake ; while the again sight of the venerable head of the Earl of Northumber- popularity land impaled on London Bridge gave rise to murmurs, and heaM1- "not loud but deep"2. But for Henry failing health was no excuse for shirking work. On the contrary, we find him during part of Easter Term in this year discharging the duties of Treasurer in person, an unprecedented cir cumstance 3. The subsidence of domestic troubles enabled Henry and Archbishop Arundel to turn their attention to the great European question of the time, the question of the The Papal Schism. In England public interest in the matter f^ePapacy. had slumbered4 since the fall of Richard II; and he had taken the matter up only to please the French. France, though overpowered for the time by the tenacity of Benedict XIII, was still very anxious for an end of the Schism 5. At the death of Innocent VII (6th November, 1406) the question entered on a new phase. The Cardinals, one and all, were induced to give pledges binding each of 1 T. Wals. ii. 278 ; T. Otterbourne, 262 ; Eulog. iii. 411, Sec. 2 T. Wals. ii. 278, 279; T. Otterboume, 263; Foed. viii. 520, 527, 529, 545. Sir Nicholas Tempest and the Abbot of Hexham received pardons. Henry was at Mortlake 19th June ; Foed. 3 Issue and Receipt Rolls, Easter, 9 Henry IV. 4 See admissions to that effect by the clergy ; Wilkins, iii. 307, 309. 5 After renouncing Benedict (27th July, 1398), and blockading him in his palace at Avignon for five years, the French were induced by the bold action ofthe Duke of Orleans to renew their allegiance in May, 1403. Sismondi; Milman ; St. Denys, iii. 84-102 ; also Creighton, History of Papacy, i. 136, 155. &c- * I 114 HENRY IV. chap. viii. them, if elected, to renounce his Papacy as soon as the ~^ Papacy of the rival Pope at Avignon should be brought to Efforts to a close, either by his resignation or his death ; provided close it by aiways that the Avignon Cardinals would come to an procuringthe'Donble agreement for the election of one common Pontiff1. Of all Cession. ^g fourteen, " none seemed to take this -oath with more promptitude and sincerity, none had for years so deeply deplored the Schism, or urged all measures for its termina tion so earnestly, as Angelo Corrario2, a Venetian by birth, now verging on eighty years of age. On his election as Gregory Gregory XII, in public and in private Corrario 2 seized every opportunity of expressing, in the strongest words, the same determination. ' His only fear was lest he should not live to accomplish the holy work ' " 3. Benedict Benedict, too, since he had recovered his hold on France, XIII was all for a settlement of the Schism ; his suggestion being a personal interview between the two rivals 4. Gregory lost no time in addressing to his rival an invitation to a joint resignation. The letter was " re spectful, earnest ; no sacrifice could be too great for the reunion of the Church." Unfortunately perhaps the document "was addressed to ' Peter de Luna, whom some nations during this miserable Schism call Benedict XIII.' Benedict wrote in answer 'To Angelo Correr, whom some in this pernicious Schism call Gregory.' Again he asked for a meeting, and declared himself ready to resign as soon as his rival should do the same 5 After lengthy discussions carried on at Marseilles through the mediation of France, a treaty was signed by 1 See Wilkins, iii. 286 ; St. Denys, iii. 490. An undertaking of the same nature, but not so formal, had been taken before Innocent's election ; Sismondi, It. Reps. viii. 157. 2 Correr appears to be the more correct name; Creighton, i. 176. He had long figured as the Cardinal of St. Mark. ' Milman, vi. 55; cf. Gregory's Bull; Wilkins, iii. 284; also St. Denys, 582. Gregory was elected 30th Nov. 1406 ; Wilkins, 286, &c. 4 St. Denys, iii. 216. Envoys from Benedict were at Rome, to press this suggestion, before the death of Innocent VII, 1st Oct., 1406. 5 See the letters; Wilkins, iii. 285, 288; St. Denys, 498, 504; Milman, vi. 56. THE PAPAL SCHISM. 115 which the two agreed to meet at Savona at Michaelmas, chap. viii. 1407. To guard against treachery, the most elaborate ? arrangements for securing the neutrality of Savona, and the Arrange- independence of the two Pontiffs, were framed by France ments f°r a 1 J personal and the republic of Genoa J- meeting. To press on the matter French envoys were then deputed to obtain from each Pontiff a personal pledge that he would resign ; with guarantees that under no circum stances the Cardinals of his party should prolong the Schism by making another several election at his death or resignation. Benedict baffled them with answers so dexterously involved, that no two of his hearers could ever agree on an exact report of anything he said. Practically, however, he asserted his intention of fulfilling his agreement, but refused to give any further pledges 7 Strongly suspecting that Benedict was shuffling, and half inclined to advise a fresh renunciation of his authority, the envoys proceeded to Rome. There again disappoint ment awaited them. They soon found that Gregory was no longer animated by the zeal of the first days of his Pontificate. He objected to Savona ; he declared that he had no ships, no money for the voyage. In vain ships and money were freely placed at his disposal. In vain, as a last concession, they offered to allow him to make his resignation by proxy, in order to avoid the awkwardness of a personal meeting. All that the envoys could obtain was an assurance that he meant to resign ; and that he would go to Pietra Santa, or some other place as near Savona as he safely could 3. In justice to Gregory it should be stated that there were other persons to be consulted besides himself. He was a good deal in the hands of Ladislaus of Naples ; and for Ladislaus the election of a French Pope would 1 20th April, 1407; see St. Denys, iii. 528-562; Sismondi; also Creigh- ton, i. 179.. 2 May 9-18; St. Denys, iii. 570-634; the writer was present; cf. J. J. Ursins, 439. 3 July 6-28 ; St. Denys, 646-696. 1 a 116 HENRY IV. chap. viii. mean the accession of a French King of Naples 7 More- ~ over, Gregory had needy nephews and other relatives around him, and they placed every impediment in the way of his fulfilling his promise 2. When Benedict heard that his_ adversary was making difficulties, his zeal for Church union revived. He declared that he would not fail to be at Savona by the appointed time ; and in fact he arrived there early in October. Gregory Gregory reached Siena on the 4th September, with a attend0 lai¥e retinue of Cardinals and Bishops : pressed on all sides to make a further advance, he left Siena the 3and January, 1408, and made his way to Lucca. There he remained six months 3. "The weary negotiations" went "languishing on," till not only the outer world of Christendom, but even the very Cardinals of the two parties lost patience. Gregory, however, precipitated a crisis by a false move. In May he suddenly announced an intention of creating four new Cardinals ; a clear breach of his word. This intention having been carried out, his other Cardinals at once retired to Pisa (nth May), and in three days pub- Appeal to lished a manifesto appealing to a General Council *. Six of Council. Benedict s Cardinals joined them at Leghorn in June ; and letters were issued in their joint names, inviting the Chris tian world to meet at Pisa on the 35th of March, 1409 5. Benedict, too, had made a false move. Charles VI having been induced by the University of Paris to publish a declaration that if the Schism were not ended by Ascension Day (34th May, 1408) France would abandon both Popes e, Benedict had attempted to arrest the blow by threats of excommunication. The result was that the Ordinance of renunciation was published on the 35th May; 1 Milman, vi. 58, citing L. Aretino ; Creighton, i. 182. 2 Creighton, sup. 3 St. Denys, 712, &c. ; Sismondi, France, xii. 265, 266. 4 Wilkins, Cone. iii. 293, 296. 5 See the circular dated 24th June, 1408 ; Wilkins, 298 ; also letters to Henry and Archbishop Arundel, id. 290, 291. ' 1 2th January, 1408 ; St. Denys, iv. 4, 18, &c. COUNCIL OF PISA SUMMONED. II 7 and orders were sent to Marshal Boucicault, the French chap. viii. lord of Genoa, to sieze ' Peter de Luna ' 7 8 Henry took the matter up at once, being doubtless glad England to join in any common action with France. Synods were and thf, 1 11 • 1 1 Council. held in both provinces. The Canterbury clergy met at St. Paul's on the 33rd July, and sat for a week. The majority declined to renounce their allegiance to Gregory, an in fluential minority wishing to do so. But they resolved that all pecuniary contributions to the Apostolic Chamber should be suspended till either the Schism should be brought to an end, or the English clergy satisfied that Gregory had done all in his power to accomplish that end. Ambassadors were also named to wait on Gregory, and urge him to fulfil his pledge. Henry took his seat in the assembly on the last day, in token of his approval ; and ordered the decree of the Synod to be published that day at St. Paul's Cross, before the sermon (Sunday, 39th July2). In November the Cardinal of Bordeaux appeared in London, on behalf of the Sacred College. Henry again declined to renounce Gregory; but agreed to support the proposed Council, and to urge Gregory to attend in person for the purpose of fulfilling his promises 3. The. current of foreign relations during the year again Foreign flowed all in the direction of peace. In March the Wardens n££ons of the Marches were authorised to sign a truce with peaceful. Scotland for a year from Easter (15th April)4. In June 1 St. Denys, iv. 4, 14; Ordonnances de France, ix. 342, cited Sismondi, France, xii. 294. Benedict's Bull is given by D'Achery, Spicilegium, i. 805. The Genoese had taken Boucicault as their 'Vicar,' 31st October, 1401 ; Sismondi, Ital. Rep. viii. 89. He was expelled in September, 1409; Sis mondi, sup. 194. 3 Wilkins, iii. 306-310. Henry had already ordered all First Fruits to be paid to a collector named by himself, and kept in hand till further order ; Foed. viii. 540, 543. 3 Foed. viii. 567; Eulog. iii. 412. For the letter sent, see Stow, 336; T. Wals. ii. 280, 12th November. On the 12th of April, Gregory had can celled the excommunications uttered by Innocent VII against the perpetrators of Scrope's murder ; Raynaldi, xxvii. 143. 4 Foed. viii. 514. The truce was apparently signed ; Rot. Scot. ii. 190. n8 HENRY IV. CHAP. VIII 1408. Representatives for the General Council. Republication of Constitu tions against Lollards. the commercial truce with Flanders was prolonged for three years from the 15th of the month 7 In the following month a further truce for a year was concluded with Brittany 2 ; and, lastly, in September a general truce by sea for eighteen months was arranged with France 3. In January, 1409, Arundel held another provincial Synod at St. Paul's, to elect persons to represent the Province at the coming Council. The proctors agreed upon were Robert Hallam, Bishop of Salisbury; Henry Chicheley, Bishop of St. Davids ; and Thomas Chillingden, Prior of Christ Church, Canterbury4. Hallam was certainly a person acceptable to Gregory, who had wished to appoint him to the See of York in 1407 5; and Chicheley had been consecrated by Gregory at Lucca in the previous month of June0. The choice of these men therefore indicated a desire to deal gently with Gregory. Arundel took advantage of this Synod to republish certain Constitutions against the Lollards, which had been already enacted in a Synod held at Oxford during the Gloucester Parliament of 1407 7. The Archbishop apologised for re-enacting measures which had already received the sanction of the clergy. But he did not trouble himself to explain the need for doing so, which doubtless arose from the opposition that his Constitutions had encountered at Oxford, not only from the Wycliffites who were strong there ; but also from " another strong party, that was not Wycliffite," but resented his inter ference 8. The Constitutions attacked the Lollards on their three 1 Foed. viii. 530, 541, 548 ; Proceedings, i. 310. 2 Foed. 542. 3 I November, 1408-lst May, 1410 ; id. 546, 551-560. The truce was signed in Paris, 17th September ; in London, 31st October. 4 Wilkins, iii. 311, 313 ; T. Otterbourne. The Synod sat January 14-30. 5 T. Wals. ii. 277. The King however insisted on giving the preferment to his old chaplain, Henry Bowet. 0 Stubbs, Reg. Sacrum. Chicheley had also been selected to appease Innocent in the matter of Scrope's execution ; Foed. viii. 446. 7 20th October-2nd December, 1407; Wake, State of Church, 346, 347. 8 Stubbs, iii. 62 ; Hook, Archbishops, iv. 493 ; Chron. Giles, 58. LOLLARDISM AT OXFORD. 1 19 strong points, namely, preaching; the dissemination ofcHAP.viii. the Scriptures in English ; and scholastic teaching. Un- beneficed clergymen and others not authorised to preach Unlicensed were forbidden to do so, except under license of the Pre»climg ' r forbidden. bishop *¦ ; licenses not to be granted except after examina tion of the applicants ; teachers in ' arts or grammar ' not to meddle with theology ; no book or treatise composed by John Wycliffe, or any person since his time, to be read in schools or lecture-rooms unless previously approved by the Chancellor of Oxford or Cambridge, and the Arch bishop ; no man to translate the Scriptures into English Scriptures without leave ; or to read any such translation in public °°ad* jn e or private, under penalty of excommunication ; no dispu- English. tations to be allowed on points settled by authority, ' especially as to the adoration of the Cross, veneration of Saints' images, and pilgrimages to shrines and relics ' ; Heads of Colleges and Halls at Oxford to hold monthly enquiries as to the tenets of residents ; graduates found guilty of heresy to be stripped of their degrees ; under graduates to be incapacitated from ever receiving any 2- 1 This prohibition had been embodied in the Act, 2 Henry IV, cap. 15. For persons entitled to preach see Hook, Archbishops, iv. 494, citing Lynd- wood, Provinciale, 289. 2 Wilkins, Cone. iii. 314-319. CHAPTER IX. Henry IV (continued). Council of Pisa. — Archbishop Arundel and the University of Oxford. — Parliament. — John Badby. — The Prince of Wales. — Expedition to France. chap. ix. Neither Pope appeared at Pisa at Lady Day. Both had 777 fled from the Riviera at the first word of the Council. 1409. Council of Benedict made sail to Aragon : Gregory eventually found Pisa. a refuge under the protection of Carlo Malatesta, lord of Rimini. Both summoned Councils of their own ' obedience.' Benedict's adherents met at Perpignan in November, 1408, in respectable numbers. Gregory was unable to find a place of meeting for his scanty following till after the Council of Pisa had closed its sittings 1. That assembly " rose in imposing superiority above these secluded and fugitive conciliabules, as they were tauntingly August called." The pillared nave of Pisa's cathedral saw gathered together the most august assemblage in rank and numbers that Christendom had sent forth for centuries. Twenty-two Cardinals, four Patriarchs, twelve Archbishops, eighty Bishops, and one hundred and twenty-eight Abbots and Priors appeared in person. Fourteen Archbishops and one hundred and two Bishops appeared by proctors. The Kings of France, England, Poland, Portugal, Cyprus, and Bohemia ; both claimants of the Empire, Rupert and 1 Sismondi, Ital. Reps. viii. 176 ; Milman, vi. 63-68 ; Creighton, i. 194-199 ; St. Denys, iv. 28, 62, 74. assemblage. COUNCIL OF PISA. 131 Wentzel ; both claimants of the throne of Naples, Ladis- chap. ix. laus and Louis of Anjou, appeared by ambassadors 2- ~7 Rupert and Ladislaus supported the cause of Gregory : the Kings of Castile and Aragon sent envoys to defend the cause of Benedict 2. A month was spent in preliminary business. In its fifteenth sitting, on the 5th June, the Council pronounced both Peter de Luna and Angelo Correr ' notorious ' heretics and schismatics, abettors ofthe Schism, and guilty of enor mous ' perjuries. Both were cut off from the communion of Both Popes the faithful ; and the Pontifical Throne was declared vacant 3. epose ' " Such was the first solemn, deliberate, authoritative act by which a General Council assumed a power superior to the Papacy, which broke the long tradition of the in defeasible, irresponsible autocracy of the Pope throughout Christendom " 4. The more delicate question of the election of a new Election Pontiff remained. On the 15th June the united College p0p°ew of Cardinals went into conclave ; their suffrages eventually fell on a learned Franciscan of Greek extraction, Peter Philargi of Candia, Cardinal Archbishop of Milan (36th June). He was consecrated on the 7th July, and took the Alexander style of Alexander V 7 In its twenty-fourth and last sitting the Council imposed upon the new Pope the obligation of summoning, within three years, another Council for the general reformation of the Church (7th August) 6. Henry accepted the decrees of the Council, but did not proclaim them officially till the 17 th October, having 1 Milman, vi. 68 ; Sismondi, Ital. Reps. viii. 179. The Bishops of Salisbury, Durham, and St. Davids appeared for England. 2 Sismondi, Ital. Reps, sup., citing Raynaldi, and L'Enfant, Histoire du Concile de Pise. 3 Sismondi, sup.; Creighton, i. 207-217; cf. Wilkins, iii. 321. In some of the proceedings the two were politely referred to as Errorius and Benefictus ; St. Denys, iv. 213. 4 Milman, vi. 73- 5. Sismondi, sup. 180; St. Denys, iv. 240; Eulog. iii. 414. For Philargi's life, see Creighton, i. 219. 6 Sismondi, sup. ; Milman, 90. 133 HENRY IV. CHAP. IX. 1409. Truces, JedburghCastlerecoveredby the Scots. waited to receive the personal reports of his ambassadors. But the deposition of Gregory was not accepted without some murmurs in England J- Efforts for a durable arrangement with France were again kept up throughout the year with unflagging pur pose ; Catherine of France being now suggested as a bride for the Prince of Wales2. A truce to the ist May, 1410, was agreed to 3 ; the truce with Brittany was prolonged for two years 4 ; and apparently a truce was signed with Scotland 5. But this truce, if indeed there was one, did not prevent the Scots from seizing and demolishing the castle of Jedburgh, which had remained in the hands of the English since the battle of Neville's Cross6. Sir Robert Umphra- ville, however, and his nephew Gilbert, were able to re taliate with effect, by ravaging the basins of the Kail, the Jed, and the Rule; and by destroying Scottish shipping in the Forth 7 But the most striking proof of Henry's peaceable dis position was the signing of bonds for upwards of .£40,000 for damages done to Prussian and Lithuanian shipping by English cruisers8- Arundel continued to make efforts to enforce the exe cution of his Constitutions at Oxford ; but the opposition 1 Wilkins, iii. 321 ; Eulog. iii. 415, 416; Foed. 2 Foed. viii. 571, 585, 593, 599. 3 Rot. Pari. iii. 643. 4 Foed. 589. 5 See Rot. Scot. ii. 190; and Devon Issues, 312. No clear evidence of any truce in this year is forthcoming : but it appears that in April, 1410, a truce was signed to the 21st May,' 1411, and, seemingly, in continuation of a previous truce ; Foed. 635 ; Excheq. Rolls Scot. iv. 115 ; see also Foed. 609. 6 Scotichron. ii. 444 ; and Excheq. Rolls, and Devon Issues, sup. 7 J. Hardyng; 365. Sir Robert had at some previous time sacked Peebles during a fair or " market," and hence gained the name of "Robin Mendmarket" ; Id. Gilbert Umphraville, afterwards known as " Earl of Kyme," was a mere lad at this time. 3 Foed. 597 ; cf. Proceedings, i. 320. The negotiations on this subject had gone on for years. The money may have been paid, large as the sum was. The Receipt Rolls for 1408 (Michaelmas and Easter, 9 Henry IV) show a surplus of more than £40,000 over the stated expenditure. THE PRINCE IN POWER. 133 excited proved too strong for him. The Prince of Wales chap. ix. was apparently enlisted on the side ofthe University1, being tempted to sink his orthodoxy for the sake of thwarting The Prince the Archbishop ; while the four Orders of Friars took alarm of Wales r ' supports at the restrictions on preaching, lest their privileges in the the resist- matter should be subjected to episcopal control 2. Arundel's The result was that Arundel resigned the Seal (aist Constitu- December). The King kept the office vacant for more than Oxford. a month, as if unwilling to accept the Archbishop's resig- Arundel nation. At last, however, the Prince, as we may suppose, seal3 obtained the appointment for Sir Thomas Beaufort (31st New January, 1410) 3. A week earlier Lord le Scrope of lms ry' Masham had replaced Sir John Tiptoft at the Treasury4. On the 37th January (1410) Parliament met at West- Parliament minster. The Chancellorship being still vacant, the pro- ^3^'" ceedings were opened by Henry Beaufort, the Bishop of Winchester, the Prince's man 6. The event of the Session was the appointment, at the Appoint- request of the Commons, of another Council for ' good and Council * substantial government,' with the Prince of Wales at its with the head 6- Following as it did on a change of ministry, this jts head. step must be regarded as the work of the Prince's party, and intended to enable him to interfere more directly in the work of government. It may be that the state of his father's health made this desirable 7 ; at any rate from this time up to November, 1411, the Prince virtually had the control of affairs in his own hands. 1 Richard Courtenay, a leading man at Oxford, and a confidant of the Prince, was probably instrumental in this matter; Wilkins, Cone. iii. 322; Otter- bourne, 265; Munimenta Academica (Anstey), i. 250, 251 ; Stubbs. 2 See Eulog. iii. 417; and the declaration issued by Arundel to allay their fears; Wilkins, iii. 324; 10th March, 1410. 3 Foed. viii. 616; Foss. Beaufort had also been recently appointed Admiral of All the Fleets, vice his brother, the Earl of Somerset, who died shortly (below). 4 Receipts, Michaelmas, n Henry IV. 5 Rot. Pari. iii. 622. 6 Rot. Pari. 623, 632, 634. 7 Late in the year we have Elias Sabot, a ' Hebrew,' invited from Bologna to prescribe for the King; Foed. 667 On the 16th April, 141 1, public prayers for Henry's health were ordered ; Foed. 134 HENRY IV. chap. ix. The Commons prolonged the Customs' duties for two I4IOi years from Michaelmas, at existing rates ; they also gave a Money Subsidy and a half to be spread over three years 7 This grants. must have been a disappointment to the King, who had been led to hope that an arrangement might be made by which he would be assured of a Subsidy a year during his life2. That amount, it must be admitted, was not more than either the government needed, or the country could afford. To make up for their own parsimony, the Commons gravely suggested that the King should impound one half of the revenues of all benefices on which the incumbents were non-resident 3. Statute n Of the Statutes enacted in this Session, the most im- enry ' portant provisions were those providing for the due em panelling of juries on inquests ; and subjecting sheriffs to a penalty of £100 for making a false return to a parlia mentary election 4- Inadequacy With only a half Subsidy granted, the ostensible revenue, Revenue, which for the year 1409-1410 had not reached ,£108,000, for the year 1410-1411 sank below ,£90,000 5. Yet £6000 a quarter were needed to keep afloat the modest force of twenty vessels, with crews averaging thirty-two or thirty- three men each, all told, for the defence of the entire sea board ; while the three hundred and forty-eight men-at-arms and the six hundred and ninety-six archers maintained in Wales, required nearly £4000 a quarter more 6 ; and three- 1 Rot. Pari. iii. 635. £13,333 6s. Sd. from each half Subsidy were placed at the King's disposal. Canterbury gave a Tenth, or a Tenth and a half: York with great reluctance gave a Tenth ; Wake, 384 ; Proceedings, i. 342 ; Receipts, Easter, 11 Henry IV. 2 T. Wals. ii. 283. 3 Rot. Pari. 645. Extravagant estimates of the possible proceeds of this act of confiscation were put forward as usual, see T. Wals. ii. 283 ; Stubbs, iii. 64. In this same Parliament it was asserted that the wool duties in the 14th year of Richard II had yielded £160,000. Reference to the Pell Rolls would have shewn that the total ostensible revenue of that year was under £100,000. 4 Stat. 11 Henry IV, c. 9, 1 ; Rot. Pari. 627, 641. 5 Receipt Rolls, 11 Henry IV. 6 See Proceedings, i. 327, 328. JOHN BADBY. \%S fourths of the wool duties had been specially appropriated chap. ix. by Parliament to the expenses of Calais 7 I.I0 Under these circumstances the deliberations of the Council on money matters were frequent and anxious ; and eventually agents were sent down to the country to raise £10,000 on the best security they could offer2. In all these deliberations the Prince of Wales took a leading part. The Session witnessed the execution of another Lollard. Lollard John Badby, a tailor of Evesham, had been tried by the ^ti which before contained Profit 19! grains of silver, would now contain only 15 grains. made by Within two years' time from the 39th November, 141 1, action. when the conversion began, we find that 17,321 lbs. of Amount of g-old and «8a lbs. of silver were brought to the Mint Currencyin ° ° circulation, to be recoined. The gross charge made by the Crown was £4359 10s. yiid. ; while the net profit is returned at £3833 6s. Ad.1 Of this bonus, one fourth belongs to the reign of Henry V ; the remainder will enable us to allow £a75 a year for the gross yield of the Mint to Henry IV, and £160 a year for the net return. Loans and VI. Loans and Sundry. Receipts, As a receipt not included under any one of our heads, we must give the £14,600 derived from Richard IPs hoard. This spread over the whole reign on our system would supply another £1000 a year. Something, too, must be added for borrowed money which the King did not repay. Henry's Treasurers, like those of other Kings, found themselves at times obliged to borrow. An exact statement of all the sums borrowed, whether repaid or not, could only be given by going through the whole series of the Receipt Rolls of the reign. In the first year the total borrowed came to £15,563, of which £14,386 was repaid, leaving an unsettled balance of £1176 for the benefit of the Exchequer; and to this we may add a cognate item of £806 for ' gifts ' from ' well disposed ' persons, together making £1983 2- But this happened in the first year of the reign, and before any Subsidy had been voted by Parliament. Honesty of In later years Henry's government appears to have goTCm- been chary of borrowing, and to have repaid very fairly ment. 1 Enrolled Foreign Accounts, Henry IV. 2 Receipt Rolls, Michaelmas and Easter, 1 Henry IV. TOTAL REVENUE. 155 what it did borrow. In the Michaelmas term of the chap. xi. ninth year the total loans come to £1591 Js. yd. ; all marked I399_I4I3, as 'repaid' (' persol.') except £14 16s. On the Receipt Roll for Michaelmas in the thirteenth year there is not one entry of Mutuum (loan). Thus another £1500 a year will be quite enough for our sixth head. Our total net revenue, therefore, will come in round Totals of numbers to £106,000 a year on the average. The expen- and Ex_ diture shown on the Issue Rolls only comes to £103,000 penditure. or £104,000 a year, as above stated. The payment of the £40,000 to the Hanse merchants out of the surplus left in the Treasury at the end of the Michaelmas term in the eighth year, if spread over the whole reign on our system, would practically make up the difference. The Receipt Rolls, so far as they have been added up, imply a Revenue of £107,000 or £108,000. But these Rolls, as they stand, undoubtedly require reduction. The reader may take it that our estimate of the net Revenue is rather above than below the mark. The probability is that neither the Old Crown Revenues nor the Subsidies yielded as much as we have allowed. On the other hand it must be understood that the difference between the net and the gross receipts includes much more than office charges. The Revenue might be raised by £10,000 a year, if we set off a corresponding amount for grants and pensions on the other side. Our notice of the Expenditure of Henry IV must be Expendi- brief, and, except for heads for which audited accounts RgLn l e are forthcoming, offered with still greater reserve. I. To begin with the Household. This head of Expendi- House- ture comprises two different 'Wardrobe' accounts; namely, ° , ' Wardrobe of Household,' and ' Great Wardrobe ' ; a third of House- account of the ' Private Wardrobe ' at the Tower being in hold' Great fact military expenditure for a depot of arms and mate'riel Wardrobe. of war. Private For the daily expenditure of the Court under 'Wardrobe of Household,' we have full accounts for the fourth, tenth, 156 HENRY IV. CHAP. XI. I399-I4T3 King'sChamber. Queen'sDower. Civil Ser vice. and eleventh years1. Henry found a lavish style of living established by Richard II ; reductions are always diffi cult to effect, and the expenditure for the first of these years is high, amounting to £37,500. In the tenth year the amount comes down to £33,478, and by the eleventh year it is reduced to £19,861. The average of these would give £34,000 a year. The Great Wardrobe was a store of clothing and furniture kept at Blackfriars. The expenditure under this head varied greatly, rising to a climax in a year marked by a coronation or a royal wedding. Audited accounts for eight years are forthcoming, with amounts varying from £10,340 in the fourth year, the year of the King's marriage, to £aaoo in the eighth year2. The average would therefore come to £6447 a year. To the head of Household Expenditure also belong the sum assigned for the King's Chamber or Privy Purse, which was £4000 a year 3 ; and that assigned to the Queen for her ' Dower ' 4, which was fixed at the liberal sum of 10,000 marks (£6666 13s. Ad.) a year. But in the first half year after her marriage we find only £1087 actually paid to her ; so that perhaps £3000 would be enough to estimate 5. With all these items the Household would draw £36,400 a year. II. Civil Service. For this head, which will include the salaries of Judges and the expenses of ambassadors and diplomatic agents, we can only offer the results of an analysis of the items marked on the Issue Rolls of the fourth year. The amount comes to something more than £8000. But the reader 1 Q. R. Miscell., Wardrobes, !£-, ff. 2 L. T. R., Enrolled Wardrobe Accounts, No. 12, and Q. R. Miscell., Ward robes, Henry IV. 3 Issue Rolls, passim. * ' Dotalitium,' Rot. Pari. iii. 352; Issues, Easter, 4 Henry IV. 5 The bulk of the Queen's allowance in fact was drawn by direct payments from various branches ofthe Revenue, so that it comes in under the difference between the gross and the net returns. EXPENDITURE. 157 must understand that the home officials were mainly paid chap. xi. by fees and percentages, which have been deducted in our I39g_I4I3, statement of net returns. III. The amount spent on Public Works was not large, Public averaging only £900 a year1. If Henry left no archi tectural memorial of his reign, his era may nevertheless be remembered in connection with the existing Guildhall of the City of London, begun in 141 1, through the liberality of "Dick" Whittington2. IV. Still less was the charge for Dockyard expenditure, Dockyards. for the maintenance of the King's own ships, the average being only £430 a year 3. But the cost of armaments afloat was very great, as practically all the ships were hired. V. Pensions or Annuities. Pensions. Under this head, again, Henry took over a bad system, brought to a height by Richard II. As already stated, a Minute of the Privy Council in the first year estimated the pensions already granted by the King at £34,000*. If Henry really made or confirmed grants to that amount, they must have been to a great extent saddled on special branches of the Revenue, and so deducted from our net receipts ; as notably in the case of the Old Crown Revenues, where we found a difference of £8000 between the sums accounted for and those paid into the Treasury. Anyhow, the analysis of the Issues of the fourth year only seems to show £6000 paid out of the Exchequer under this head. We have thus far shown fairly trustworthy estimates for an average expenditure of £51,730 a year out of an estimated total of £106,000 a year. The bulk of the balance will fall under the absorbing head of VI. Military and Naval expenditure. Military Under this head the only details that we can give are and Na,,al- the wages stipulated to be paid for the garrisons, a full account of the sums actually paid being out of our reach. 1 Enrolled Foreign Accounts. 2 R. Grafton, i. 504 ; Riley, Memorials London, 589. 3 Enrolled Foreign Accounts. 1 Above, p. 28. 158 HENRY IV. chap. xi. Calais heads the list. The accounts for eleven years of 1399-1413. ^e reign seem complete ; and they enable us to say that, one year with another, it cost £39,000 a- Berwick and the East March of Scotland, as we have seen, were supposed to receive £1 3,000 a year in time of war, and £3000 in time of peace. We have an audited account for one year under the Percies, when they received £3333 ; and another of the time of John of Lancaster, when he received £13,000 in fifteen months2. Striking an average between these, we might suggest that Berwick perhaps cost £6000 a year. Carlisle and the West March were supposed to draw £6000 in time of war, and £1500 in time of peace. These garrisons were probably paid with tolerable regularity. The Prince was promised £8400 a year for Wales, and his brother Thomas £6000 a year for Ireland 3. In 1408. the allowance for Ireland was reduced to £4666 * but how much was paid it would be difficult to say 5. These sums, if all paid up, would still leave a balance for the keeping of the sea, the Welsh garrisons, sundries, and what not. For the wages of troops called out for service against the Scots, or domestic insurgents like the Percies, no estimate need be made ; as the cost of contingents called out for such service was apparently laid on the counties, towns, or individuals, who provided the men. Henry married — First, Mary Bohun, younger daughter of Humphrey, seventh Earl of Hereford, July?, 1380 6. She died 4th July, 1394 7 By her he had — 1 Enrolled Foreign Accounts, Henry IV. 2 Enrolled Foreign Accounts, Henry IV. 3 Issues, Michaelmas, 4 Henry IV; Foed. viii. 431. 4 Proceedings, i. 313. Sir John Stanley, however, was to discharge the duty as Deputy, allowing Thomas to draw £1333 6s. Sd. out ofthe £4666. 5 On the Issue Rolls, Michaelmas and Easter, 4 Henry IV, Thomas appears to have drawn £9000 for Ireland. On turning to the Receipt Rolls, we find £5000 of the amount dishonoured. 6 The patent for the marriage is dated 27 July; Sandford, 266; Beltz, Garter, 238. The marriage was celebrated before February, 1382; Foed. iv. 139- 7 Pauli. She was buried at Leicester on the 6th July; Knighton, Cont. 2741 ; (Decern Scriptores). THE KING'S ISSUE. 159 (1) Henry, born at Monmouth, 9th August, 1387 7 chap. xi. (3) Thomas, Duke of Clarence, born 1388 2; killed at I39g~ i3. Baug&, aand March, 1431 (below). (3) John, afterwards Duke of Bedford, born 1389 3; died 15th September, 1435 (below). (4) Humphrey, afterwards Duke of Gloucester, born 1390-1391 4 ; died 33rd February, 1447 (below). (5) Blanche, born at Peterborough, spring 1 39a5; married 6th July, 140a, Ludwig of Bavaria6, 'the Red Duke'; died 33nd May, 14097 (6) Philippa, born 1393?; married Eric IX of Denmark, 36th October, 1406 8 ; died 5th January, 1430 9. Secondly, Johanna of Navarre, daughter of Charles the Bad, and widow of Jean Le Conquerant, Duke of Brittany, 7th February, 1403 10. She died 9th July, 1437 (below). By Johanna Henry had no issue. 1 Henry was born "anno n Ric. II," i.e. 21st June, i387~2oth June, 1388; Sandford, 277; and in the month of August; Memorials Henry V, Rolls Series, p. 64; he was in his 26th year at his accession, Id. 65 ; and was in fact bom 9th August, 1387 ; Tyler, Henry V, i. I. 2 Born before ist October, 1388 ; Wardrobe Accounts, Tyler, sup. 13. 3 He was seventeen in 1406 ; Tyler, sup. * He was fifteen in 1406 ; Id. Born between 6th May, 1390, and 30 April, 1 39 1 ; Tyler, semble, before November, 1390. 5 Baptized at Peterborough, spring 1402 ; Green, Princesses, iii. 307, citing Lancaster Accounts, and Tyler, Henry V (yet alleged fourteen years old, December, 1401 ; Foed. viii. 232 ; that would imply that she was born in 1387, which is impossible). 6 Above. '' Green, sup. 336. 8 Green, sup. 343, 349 ; Pauli. 8 Green, sup. 387. 10 Above. i6o HENRY IV. i399-i4!3 TABLE OF REVENUES OF HENRY IV. (ESTIMATED AVERAGE). Gross. Net. (i) Old Crown Revenues — Sheriffs' and Escheators' £ £ £ £ Accounts 25,000 17,000 Duchy of Cornwall . . 3,900 3, 000 Earldom of Chester, say 1,000 ? 600 ? Wales o o Lancaster estates . . . 2,400 2,000 32,300 22,600 (2) Customs 47,4°° 45,°°° (3) Subsidies — Lay Fifteenth, say 23,000 23,000 Canterbury Tenth 11,000 11,000 York Tenth 600 600 (4) Hanaper 2,800 2,400 (5) Tower Mint and Exchange . . . 275 160 (6) Loans not repaid and sundry, say . 1,500 1,500 £118,875 £106,260 (Contra prepositum de Led' de denariis receptis de Hynnoc, anno LVI.) Facsimile of Exchequer Tally, for is. 6d. ; drawn on Provost of Led' temp. Edward III. From the original in the Record Office. PfiwH If i iT'-i ¦§7 I HENRY V. From the original at Eton College, To face page 161. CHAPTER XII. Henry V "of Monmouth." Born 9th August, 1387'. Began to reign 21st March, 1413. Died 31st August-ist September, 1422 2. New Ministry. — Coronation. — Parliament— Foreign Relations. — French Factions. Handsome, dashing, and engaging, young Henry had chap. xn. all the makings of a popular ruler. But the wilful and I4I3 reckless conduct in which he had lately indulged had shaken his popularity ; and it is clear that for the moment his accession was viewed with considerable misgivings 3. Accession. But the misgivings were speedily dispelled, as Henry's demeanour day by day attested the sobering effects of a sense of responsibility. In fact his life exhibited a change as striking as that of Becket when he ceased to be Chan cellor and became Archbishop. The remaining hours of the day that witnessed his 1 Above. 2 Foed. x. 253. He died between two and three in the morning, so in fact on ist September. 3 See the poem by Thomas of Elmham, which must have been written immediately after Henry IV's death; Pol. Poems, ii. 118; comparing the chorus of applause which greeted Henry's subsequent 'change' from "all the vyces unto vertuouslyfe"; J. Hardyng, 371 ; T. Wals. ii. 290; T. Otterbourne, 273 (Hearne, 1732) ; Capgrave, 303 ; T. Elmham, Vita Henrici V, 12, 14 ; and the MS. English chronicle cited by Pauli, Claud. A. vii. f. 11. It is im possible to suppose that these statements were invented simply for the sake of rhetorical effect. * M 1413- 1 63 HENRY V. chap. xn. father's death were spent in decorous seclusion : it is even said that after dusk Henry sought for ghostly comfort and advice in the cell of a saintly monk at Westminster1 Next morning (aist March) the new King's Peace was proclaimed in the olden style 2. By the official reckoning the reign dates from this day ; but in the popular view, as reflected by the chroniclers, the new reign began as soon as the late King had ceased to breathe. New On the same day (aist March), probably even before the Ministry. ngw rejgn ^ad been proclaimed, the Great Seal was taken from Archbishop Arundel ; and given, as might have been anticipated, to the King's prime adviser, Bishop Henry of Winchester 3. On the same day Sir John Pelham left the Treasury to make room for the Earl of Arundel4- The Earl had, as above mentioned, sided with Henry as Prince as against the Archbishop. If the new King " could not act cordially " with the Archbishop, it was the more im portant to secure his nephew, the head of the House. Again, on the same day, John of Lancaster and the Earl of Westmorland were confirmed in their appointments as Wardens of the Scottish Marches s. By the renewal of these commissions both public and private interests were safe-guarded. On the 33rd March writs were issued for a fresh Parliament to meet at Westminster on the 15th May6. The assemblage of Peers in London, on account of the Parliament j'ust dissolved, probably suggested the novelty of which we hear on this occasion, namely, performance Homage of homage to the King before his coronation. Henry coronation §ave a c°rdial reception to all ; conveying assurances that * T. Elmham, Vita Henrici V, pp. 14, 15 (Hearne, 1727). Titus Livius Forojuliensis, Vita Henrici V, p. 5 (Hearne, 1716). 2 Foed. ix. 1. 3 Foss, Judges, iv. 186. 4 Stubbs, citing Dugdale's Origines. At any rate the Earl was at the head of the Treasury when the office re-opened for the Easter term ; Pell Rolls. 5 Rot. Scot. ii. 203, 204. 6 Lords' Report. The old members may have been returned, but the Parlia ment was clearly a new one ; see Rot. Pari. iv. 9. THE CORONATION. 163 he intended to let byegones be byegones, and that he chap. xii. meant to govern in no party spirit 7 I4I3. If Henry had been ambitious of ruling, it was partly, no doubt, because he was conscious that he could rule much better than his father. The coronation was fixed for the 9th April. In his arrangements for the ceremony Henry gave further indica tions that his father's family policy would not be his. The offices of Steward and Constable were assigned for the occasion to the Earl of Warwick and the Lord Fitz-Hugh, vice the King's two brothers Thomas and John2- Less creditable was the prompt dismissal of Sir William Gas coigne. On the 38th March Sir William Hankford took his place as Chief Justice of the King's Bench 3. The coronation proceedings began on Friday the 7th Corona- April, when Henry rode in state from Kingston-on-Thames lon' to the Tower. At the banquet that followed the King was , served, according to custom 4, by the young men of birth and rank selected to receive the honour of Knighthood on the morrow. On the present occasion the list included about fifty names. After dinner they retired to hold their vigils and take their ceremonial baths, as usual. Saturday morning was devoted, after mass, to "dubbing" the new Knights. In the afternoon the great procession took its way " thorugh Chepe '' to Westminster ; the newly dubbed Knights preceding the King. On the 9th April, being Passion Sunday, the coronation took place. Archbishop Arundel officiated 5, and the miraculous oil of St. Thomas of Canterbury was again brought into requisition. The young King gained great credit for his devout behaviour 1 Kingston, 23rd March? " post triduum " ; T. Elmham, Vita, 16, 17; Tit. Liv. 5 ; E. Hall, 46. 2 Foed. ix. 2. a Foss, iv. 169. In July, Gascoigne was allowed to receive arrears of salary due from the last reign; in November, 1414, Henry granted him four bucks and four does yearly during his life, doubtless as an tlprjvixuv. All the other judges were reappointed. 4 "regia ferendo fercula obsequia debita exhibebant"; T. Elmham, 19. 5 The appeal to the people preceded the coronation oath ; T. Elmham, 21. M 3 1 64 HENRY V. chap, xn, during the service ; but the general rej'oicings were some- 1413" what marred by the weather, which was " ful trobly wet." Heavy showers of snow and hail fell. Opinion was divided as to the true purport of the omen ; but the prevalent feeling evidently was that it foreboded a bleak political spring-time, if not a recurrence of actual winter \ The coronation banquet is compared to ' the feast of an Ahasuerus'; but it was conducted with more regard to economy than that of Henry IV. On the other hand it would seem that the number of musicians was remarkable; an indication of the young King's musical tastes 2. The acts of the day included a general amnesty for past treasons, insurrections, and felonies not amounting to capital offences3. The messenger who carried a report of the coronation to Paris informed the Dauphin that the claims of the House of Mortimer had not sunk into oblivion ; and that an early outbreak of civil war might be expected4. Doubtless the wish was father to the thought : Henry at any rate showed a noble confidence in his own position by releasing the Earl of March, and admitting him to his estates 5. Parlia- No symptoms of disaffection can be traced in the pro ceedings of the Parliament that met on the 15th May. From the lips of a Chancellor, speaking on behalf of a newly hallowed King, the declaration that the King con firmed 'all the Liberties and Franchises' of Holy Church, and of the Lords Temporal, and of the cities and boroughs, might well be accepted as something more 1 T. Elmham, 20-22; T. Wals. ii. 290; Chron. London, 95; J. Hardyng, 37L 2 T. Elmham. The royal bills for the week came to £1168, of which £971 was spent on the Sunday. Henry IV spent £1344 in the week of his wife's coronation ; Household Accounts, 4 Henry IV, and 1 Henry V. 3 Foed. ix. 3. 4 St. Denys, iv. 770. The writer heard the statement made. 5 Lords' Report, v. 170. The Earl's homage was taken in the ensuing Parliament. ment. PARLIAMENT. 165 than a common form. ' Advice and counsel ' the King chap. xn. desired ; and, without trenching on the limits of parlia- mentary etiquette, the Chancellor could indicate three special points on which the King desired ' advice ' ; namely, the support of his ' Royal Estate ' ; ' good governance ' at home ; and ' resistance to enemies ' abroad. The Commons dealt liberally with the King. The wool Money duties were granted for four years from Michaelmas, 1413, ^aAs" when the current grants would expire ; and Tonnage and Poundage were granted for one year from the same date, all at existing rates. A Subsidy also was given, to be raised half at Martinmas and half at Easter, 14141- But in return the Commons thought themselves entitled to use plain language. 'The late king, whom God assoil, had often been asked by the Commons for good governance ; and had always granted the request. But how afterwards it had been held and performed his Lordship the King well knew.' They made special requests for the safeguard of the sea, and the restoration of peace and order in Wales and on the Welsh March. With respect to the King's ' honourable Estate,' they suggested that the moderate sum of £10,000 might be set apart in the first instance for the expenses of Household, Chamber, and Great Wardrobe; not a third of the late King's expenditure 2. In dealing with the petitions the young King showed The King's tact and firmness. He agreed to enforce the ' Statute ' of firmness- the fifth year of his father's reign for the expulsion of foreigners ; ' saving his prerogative of granting dispensa tions to whom he would.' The Commons promptly answered that their intention never had been other, 'or should be, please God'3. Again, Henry declined to ac cede to several demands which might have been distasteful to the clergy and bishops. He refused to pledge himself to a stricter enforcement of the Statutes of Provisors ; he refused to cut down the charges made by Ordinaries for proving wills; he refused to forbid the commutation of 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 6. 2 Rot. Pari. iv. 4, 5. 3 Rot. Pari. iv. 5. 1 66 HENRY V. chap. xn. public penance for fines in cases of moral offences ; and he gave but a qualified assent to a suggestion for further inroads on the revenues of the Priories Alien 7 The Statute passed in this Session contained a new provision concerning parliamentary elections. It was enacted that no man should be eligible for a county or borough unless ' resident ' therein at the date of the issue of the writ ; electors also were required to be resi dent2. King ener- Henry entered on the duties of his new position with concilia- zea^ and vigour. As a man of business he was not in- toI7- ferior to his father. A clear purpose of inaugurating a new system is traceable in all his first acts : it was his good fortune to be able to do this chiefly by showing kindness to those who had come into collision with his father. On the 33nd March John Mowbray, brother of Thomas executed in 1405, had been called to the House of Lords as Earl Marshal 3. On the 1 3th April a batch of twenty-four Scots prisoners had been released from the Tower. Two days later ne gotiations were opened for the ransom of the ' King of Scotland,' a title never given to James by Henry IV. Shortly after William Douglas, grandson of the Lord of Dalkeith, was allowed to depart in peace, on paying his quota ofthe ransom still due for Earl Archibald4. In 1413 a truce to Easter 141 8 had been signed between the two countries 5 ; but it was late in Sep tember before Henry V could announce that the Duke of Albany had agreed to confirm the truce to the ist June, 1414. The wish to release his son Murdach no doubt impelled the Governor to this ; but, without waiting for a con firmation of the truce, Henry had removed ' King James ' 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 8-14. 2 Statute, 1 Henry V, cap. 1. 3 Lords' Report. 4 Foed. ix. 5-7; Rot. Scot. ii. 204; Excheq. Rolls, Scotland, iv. 189. 5 Foed. viii. 737. FOREIGN RELATIONS. i6y from the Tower to more pleasant quarters at Windsor 1 ; chap. xii. while, to stimulate the Governor, Scottish gentlemen had I4,3 been encouraged to undertake private negotiations for the King of deliverance of their King2. Scotsje- The Duke of Clarence was not allowed to retain the from command in Aquitain ; nor was the Deputy appointed by -Windsor. him in Ireland, Thomas Butler, allowed to retain office there. Sir John Stanley was again appointed King's Guienne Lieutenant of Ireland, for six years 3 ; while Dorset received *annd re~ the viceregal commission over Aquitain4. The Duke of York also was allowed to remain in Guienne, where he took advantage of a disputed succession in Arragon to push his claims as son of Isabella of Castile 6. Of the diplomatic appointments, one of the earliest was Recogni- thatof John Cateryk as King's Proctor at the Papal Court6- f™^ On the same day relations were opened with Arragon ; Courts. and not long after with Holland and the Master of Prussia. John I of Portugal was prompt to recognise his wife's nephew, Henry V. In August the Duke of Brittany applied for a confirmation of the existing truce ; later in the year came recognition from Henry's first cousin, John II, of Castile7. Nothing seemed to escape the King's vigilance. To be ready for any emergency he arranged to remain all the summer near London 8. One of his first acts was to order 1 Foed. ix. 40, 44, 48, 60 ; Rot. Scot. ; Proceedings, ii. 1 25. 2 Foed. 6; Rot. Scot. ii. 205-209. For letters from James, speaking warmly of Henry's kindness, but expressing doubts of Albany, see Excheq. Rolls, Scotland, iv. Ixxviii. 3 Proceedings, ii. 130, 131 ; Gilbert, Viceroys of Ireland, 300. Stanley was to receive £2000 a year for the first three years. * Foed. 29, 42; Proceedings, ii. 128. Dorset was also confirmed in his post as Admiral of All the Fleets ; H. Nicolas, Royal Navy ; 3rd June, 1413. 5 Foed. 27 ; Zurita, Annales de Aragon, cited Goodwin, Henry V, p. 9. Clarence also meddled in the affairs of Arragon. 6 22nd May; Foed. ix. 12. 7 Foed. 12, 27, 80, 81 ; Proceedings, ii. 132. John I, of Portugal, was married to Philippa, eldest daughter of John of Gaunt ; John II of Castile was son of Henry III, by Catherine of Lancaster. " Proceedings, ii. 125. Windsor and Rochester were the furthest points visited ; Household Accounts. 1 68 HENRY V. chap. xii. a monument to his mother's memory at Leicester \ Again ~~ we find him inviting Venetian merchants to England ; I4* ,-)• making arrangements for the convoy of the wine fleet from Bordeaux ; renewing the charter of the English merchants Public in Holland ; ordering the rebuilding of the royal manor Works. house at Sheen, destroyed by Richard II ; and assigning 1000 marks a year for the completion of the nave of Westminster Abbey2. Most graceful among his early acts, perhaps, was the transfer ofthe corpse of Richard II from Langley to its proper resting-place at Westminster, beside the good Queen Anne 3. With this we may couple the recall of the prohibition against ' offering ' at the shrine of Archbishop Scrope4. Nor were the requirements of economy overlooked : Queen Johanna's allowances were largely cut down5, and arrange ments made for reducing the cost of the Border garrisons 6, But the accession of Henry of Monmouth was not fraught with messages of peace and good-will to all men. Neither the French nor the Lollards could regard him as a friend. France. The French were probably too much distracted with their own internal convulsions to be able to think of any- Revolu- thing else. Within the year 1413 Paris witnessed an entire Paris"1 cycle °f political revolutions. The year opened with the rare sight of a meeting of Estates General in Paris ; a last remedy for disorganisation, undertaken by the Dauphin, at the suggestion of Burgundy. The assembly was prob ably thinly attended. After some vague talk the Estates were dissolved (30th January~9th February) 7 Disappointed at this result, the popular party, with the 1 Devon Issues, 321. 2 Foed. 26, 47, 67, 78 ; T. Elmham, 24. 3 4th December; Foed. 189 ; T. Wals. ii. 297 ; Chron. London, 96 ; Chron. Davies, 39 ; Devon Issues, 326-328. * J. Hardyng, sup. In November, the martyr had wrought another miracle by arresting the conflagration of a belfry near York ; Eulog. iii. 421. 5 Devon Issues, 326, 329. 6 Proceedings, ii. 128-135. 7 St. Denys, iv. 732-744 ; J. J. Ursins, 475 ; Sismondi, France, xii. 400- 402. BURGUNDIANS IN PARIS. 169 help of the University of Paris, drew up a list of national chap, xii. grievances, which v/ere read to the Dauphin in the presence 1413. of the Duke of Burgundy (13th February). The grievances were strictly fiscal ; the complaints being of extravagance in the Royal Household, and of peculation and jobbery in the collection of the Revenue \ Burgundy, who was aware that the Dauphin was slipping out of his hands, paid marked attention to the Memorandum ; and on the 34th February published an Ordinance by which all the Revenue Officers resident in Paris were suspended. At the head of the list stood the name of Pierre des Essarts, Provost of Paris, formerly a staunch Burgundian, but recently suspected of betraying the Duke's secret to Orleans and the Dauphin 2. Des Essarts fled from Paris, to reappear in course of time at the head of an armed force, with which he was admitted to the Bastille, by the orders of the Dauphin (a7th-a8th April)3. Burgundy then let loose the populace, headed by his friends the butchers, Legoix Chaumont and Caboche, from the last of whom, by the way, the party acquired the name of" Cabochiens." The people of Paris rushed in arms to the Bastille, Burgundian knights assisting them. Des Essarts lost his head, and surrendered to the Duke of Burgundy. The mob then marched to the Hotel St. Pol* ; Burgun- forced the Dauphin to listen to a lecture on his disreputable dians r L masters of habits ;' and tendered a proscription list containing the Paris. names of some fifty gentlemen of his Household 5. The Dauphin, a dissipated youth of seventeen, who spent his nights in dancing and his days in bed, was too much 1 St. Denys, 744-768 ; E. Monstrelet, 254-263 ; Sismondi, 403, 404. It was alleged that the Households of the King and Queen were costing 504,000 francs a year, as against 139,000 francs under former reigns. 2 St. Denys; J. J. Ursins, 477 ; E. Monstrelet, 265. 3 St. Denys, v. 8 ; E. Monstrelet, 266 ; Sismondi, xii. 406, 407. 4 This important mansion was situate in the Faubourg St. Antoine, near the existing church of St. Paul, and at no distance from the Bastile. 5 St. Denys, v. 8-20; E. Monstrelet, 266; Sismondi, 406-412 ; Foed. ix. 52. Des Essarts and many others were executed. 170 HENRY V. chap. xn. frightened to offer any resistance. He donned the White 7^73. Hood, the popular badge of the time, and let the Cabochiens rule Paris at their will1. On the 13th May the King again recovered the use of his faculties, and, as usual, ratified all the acts of the party then in power 2. Overtures During the continuance of this state of affairs, we find to°theIenry the first reference to France in Henry's acts in the shape of Duke of instructions to Henry Chicheley, Bishop of St. Davids, the urgun y' Earl of Warwick, and Lord le Scrope, to treat for an alliance with Burgundy, and a confirmation of the truce with France 3. The actual state of the relations of the two countries was that the English in Guienne were ravaging the border districts and capturing towns ; while in the North, a force, apparently a privateer force, was harassing Normandy, and wound up their campaign by burning T report 4. But the Cabochiens of 1483 were not equal in character or position to the men of 1356 or 138a ; and Burgundy did not ask for patriotic action at their hands ; all he Decay of wanted was vigorous party support 5. The higher bour- dinlinflu- geoisie refused to act with the Cabochiens ; and these ance in again failed to gain the confidence of the other cities of Paris. France, or of the communes of Flanders 6. Burgundy was forced to allow a conference to be held at Pontoise with the Duke of Orleans and his friends, who, in spite of all prohibitions, had mustered an army. At the conference the Armagnacs asked for nothing but peace and ' recon ciliation ' (July 33-35). The Duke of Berri was so charmed, 1 Sismondi, France, xii. 416. The White Hood had been imported from Ghent in 1382. 2 St. Denys, v. 38-52 ; Sismondi, 418. " 14 July ; Foed. ix. 34-39. The Earl of Warwick was Richard Beau champ, son of Thomas attainted by Richard in 1397, and restored by Henry in 1399. Earl Thomas died in 1401; Beltz, Garter, &c. 4 St. Denys, 64-68; J. J. Ursins, 480 ; E. Monstrelet, 277. In the South the English had won Soubise ; one expedition sent to recover it failed. It was ultimately recovered by the Duke of Bourbon in November ; St. Denys, 222. 5 Sismondi, 421 : " Le due . . . ne leur demandoit pas du patriotisme et des lumieres," &c. 6 Sismondi, 422. ARMAGNACS IN PARIS. 1 71 that he would have brought their commissioners straight- chap. xii. way back to Paris with him ; but Burgundy resisted that1. I4I3, But the tide had turned and reaction set in. The higher bourgeoisie took up arms against the Cabochiens, and set free all persons imprisoned by them. On the 8th August the new ' peace ' was proclaimed, with a supplemental Ordinance forbidding the use of the terms ' Burgundian ' and ' Armagnac' All Paris rang with cries of " La Paix ! La Paix!"2, The Dauphin's language at first breathed nothing but forgiveness ; but as his position grew stronger arrests and executions began to multiply. On the 33rd August Burgundy fled from Paris. On the 31st of the Armagnacs month the Orleanists re-entered the city3- paris. The last royal mandate obtained by Burgundy was a commission authorising the Count of St. Pol, the Burgun dian Constable of France, to negotiate with envoys ' from the part of England ' 4. The conferences were held at the Henry's old place, Leulinghen5; and it would seem that the 5^5°' the English at once opened upon the claim to the French Bretigny Crown and the Treaty of Bretigny. The French answer again. was the old unanswerable one, namely, that Edward III had no claim to the Crown of France ; and that the Treaty of Bretigny had broken down through his own acts and defaults 6. Peace being impossible, on the 35th September a truce Truce with was signed for Picardy and West Flanders ; the truce to last from 1st October, 1413, to the ist June, 1414 7 1 St. Denys, v. 80-120; E. Monstrelet, 277-283; Sismondi, 427. 2 St. Denys, 120-136 ; J. J. Ursins, 483, 484. 3 St. Denys, 142-148 ; J. J. Ursins, 485, 486 ; E. Monstrelet, 287, 288 ; Sismondi, 432-434. 4 " De la Partie d'Angleterre ; " Henry's name is not mentioned ; 2 2nd August ; Foed. 57. 5 Leulinghen or Leulinghem is situate about half-way between Calais and Boulogne. 6 MS. Cott. Tiberius, B. xii. f. 48, cited Goodwin, Henry V, p. 13. The non-renunciation of the French Crown and the support given to the Free Lances are specially dwelt upon. 7 Foed. 56-60; E. Monstrelet, 292. The Earl of Warwick was away 22nd July-14 October; Scrope 30th July-20th October; Enrolled Foreign Accounts, 1 Henry V. 173 HENRY V. chap. xii. But Henry had already made overtures to the other 1413. Party- About the 9th September the Duke of York ap- Overtures peared in Paris to revive the old proposals for a marriage to Armag- between Henry and the Lady Catherine, then aged thirteen. The Duke was received by the King with marked distinc tion, the Princess being introduced in her most gorgeous attire 7 To keep up the thread of friendly intercourse the French Princes forwarded to London a narrative of recent events in Paris, giving the names ofthe leading Cabochiens, but omitting all reference to the Duke of Burgundy ! In this document Charles was made to address Henry as ' his dear cousin of England ' 2. A visit from the Archbishop of Bourges and Charles d'Albret, the Armagnac Constable, was also announced3- About the 6th December they appeared in England4. If the Armagnac Princes thought to enlist Henry's sympathy by unfolding a picture of their own feebleness, they were grievously mistaken. It was the knowledge of their weakness that encouraged him to press his exorbitant demands s. Truce with On the 34th January, 14 14, a truce to the 3nd February, Irance. 1415, was concluded. All allies on either side were invited to j'oin. Supplemental documents sealed a few days later inform us that Henry had offered peace on terms that the French envoys had not been authorised to discuss. Lord le Scrope was commissioned to prosecute these negotiations in Paris, the King pledging himself not to propose marriage to any lady other than Catherine up to the 1 st May. Scrope was even authorised to extend the time still further, if the desired arrangement could not be effected by that day6. We shall find in the sequel 1 St. Denys, v. 158, 228 ; E. Monstrelet, 292 ; J. J. Ursins, 487 ; T. Elmham, 28, 29. York remained in Paris till the truce was settled. 2 1 8th September; Foed. ix. 51. 3 Foed. 60. 4 Foed. 60, 189. Power to sign a general truce had been given to them on the nth November; Foed. 69. Burgundian envoys also were in England, 8th November-I st December; Foed. 189. 6 Pauli, iii. 90. 6 Foed. 88, 90-104, confirmed 29th January; Id. no. The Archbishop HENRY'S PRETENSIONS. 173 that the pretensions laid before the Armagnacs were not chap. xii. more moderate than those unfolded to the Duke of Bur- "777 1 41 4. gundy1- In dealing with the Armagnacs, Henry could appeal to the treaty signed by them with his father not twelve months before. The reader may have noticed that the French were content to leave the question to Edward Ill's pretensions as it stood at his death. It is obvious that Edward's claims on France by right of inheritance through his mother — whatever they might be worth — could not be transferred to a new dynasty, as an appurtenance of the Crown of England, by a mere Act of the English Parlia ment. But the French do not appear to have raised this very material objection to Henry's claims. Probably the objection would have given too deep offence, and so involved an immediate rupture, a contingency the French were most anxious to avoid. and Constable remained in England till the 13th February, waiting probably for the results of Scrope's mission ; Foed. 189. Scrope was away 29th January-4th May ; Enrolled Foreign Accounts. 1 See T. Elmham, 28-30. CHAPTER XIII. Henry V (continued). The Lollards. — Sir John Oldcastle. — Attempted rising in London. — Parliament at Leicester. chap. xin. Under Henry V the Lollard question was brought to a speedy issue, Archbishop Arundel's retirement from secular Attack on office leaving him free for other work. Lollards. Qn ^g g^ March; 1413, the Convocation of Canterbury had met under the writ of Henry IV. On the very first day a warning note was sounded. At the opening of the proceedings it was reported to the Registrar that there was present a chaplain who was grievously suspected of heresy. On enquiry it was ascertained that he had ' celebrated ' that morning in the presence of the Lord Cobham, the recognised head ofthe Lollard party1. Sir John Sir John Oldcastle was a Herefordshire Knight who had LordCob- been active against the Welsh under Henry IV. He had ham. sat in the House of Commons in 1404 ; in 1406 he was Sheriff of Herefordshire ; in 1409 he was summoned to the House of Lords in right of his wife, the heiress of the barony of Cobham 2. He was a " personal friend " of 1 Wake, State of Church, 349 ; Wilkins, Cone. iii. 338 (given as A.D. 1412). The chaplain, John Lay by name, may perhaps be identified with ' Sir John the chaplain,' for whose unlicensed preaching the churches of Hoo, Halstow and Cooling had been laid under interdict in 1410 ; Wilkins, iii. 329, 330. 2 Foed. viii. 331, 1403; Lords' Report; Historic Peerage; Gesta Henrici, p. 5, note ; Stubbs. According to Elmham, Liber Metr., 156, he was born in the first year ofthe Schism, i. e. 1378. SIR JOHN OLDCASTLE. 1 75 Henry V, who had appointed him one of the leaders of chap. xm. the expedition of 1411. "He was an intelligent and I4,3. earnest Lollard " ; and his castle at Cooling in Kent was His cha- one of the few places where the edicts of 1406 and 1409 ^"0^d were ignored 7 witn During the prolonged sittings of Convocation in the spring and summer 2, the Archbishop and his clergy came to the conclusion that all measures against the Lollards would be ineffectual until the 'magnates' ofthe party had been sub dued. In this policy they were probably encouraged by the fact that the Reforming movement had been losing rather than gaining ground among the higher nobility. The strength of Lollardism at this time, as of modern Dissent, lay in the middling classes of the towns 3- Fresh evidence against Sir John Oldcastle was found in the shape of a Wickliffite book belonging to him, which was seized in a limner's4 shop in " Pater-noster Rowe." A " formal presentment " Proceed- against Oldcastle was laid before Arundel, who in turn against laid the matter before the King. Henry was shocked at him- some passages read from the book, but desired the Arch bishop to suspend proceedings until he had reasoned privately with Sir John. After several interviews Henry failed to effect a conversion, Oldcastle finally quitting Windsor without leave. The King then authorised Arundel to proceed ; and a few days later issued a fresh proclamation against unlicensed and heretical preaching 5. 1 Stubbs, iii. 79 ; T. Wals. ii. 291 ; cf. Gesta Henrici, 6. For Sir John's efforts for the reformation ofthe clergy, see Goodwin, Henry V, p. 167. 2 Convocation proper rose on the 6th June, when the Tenth was granted ; but part of the clergy were retained as a Convocation or Synod till the end of the month or even later; Wake, 350 ; Wilkins, 338, 351. 3 See the lists of names ; Foed. ix. 120, 129 ; almost all clergymen or crafts men of the higher sort. The same account was afterwards given of the Hussites in Bohemia. " The grettiste power is of Communers" ; Ellis, Letters, Second Series, i. 81. 4 i. e. an illuminator. s Wilkins, Cone. iii. 351-353; Foed. ix. 46; August 15-21. Oldcastle tendered a confession of faith, which is given by Bale, Harleian Misc. ii. 259 ; and Fox, Martyrs, i. 637. He also wanted to appeal to the Pope, but Henry insisted on submission to the Archbishop. 176 HENRY V. chap. xiii. Oldcastle having refused to allow personal service to be 1413. effected at Cooling, another citation was issued, and served by being affixed to the gates of Rochester Cathedral. Oldcastle having again failed to appear, he was excom municated, and a third citation issued for the 33rd Sep- His appre- tember. Royal writs were issued for his apprehension J ; and when the 33rd September came he was produced in the Chapter House of St. Paul's by Robert Morley, the Lieutenant of the Tower. With the Archbishop sat Richard Clifford, Bishop of London, and Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester. Arundel, who wished to avoid extreme measures, offered His confes- absolution, doubtless on condition of recantation ; but faith. Oldcastle instead produced a written confession of faith on five cardinal points. He declared his belief in " alle the sacramentys that ever God ordeyned to be do in holy Chirche " ; he believed that " the moost worschipful sacrament of the auter (altar) is Crystis body in fourme of bred." "As for the sacrament of penawnce" he believed that it was needful to every man that should be saved to forsake sin, and do due penance, " with trewe confession." " As off ymagys," he understood that they were not " of byleve 2 ; but that they were ordeyned ... by suffraunce of chyrche ... to represente and bryng to mynde the passyon of oure Lord Jesus Cryst, and martirdom and good lyvyng of other seyntis " ; but as for putting " feyth hope or trust in help of hem," that he held to be mere " mawmetrie 3 ". On the subject of pilgrimages, a point keenly disputed at the time, Oldcastle was equally outspoken. " I suppose thys fully, that every man in thys erthe is a pylgrym toward blis or toward peyne ; and that he that knowyth not, ne (nor) will not knowe, ne (nor) kepe the holy commaundementys of God in hys lyvynge here, 1 Devon Issues, 324. 2 ' of belief' i. e. matter of faith. 3 Mahometry, i. e. idolatry, a curious misapplication of the word. OLDCASTLE' S CONFESSION OF FAITH. .177 al be it that he goo on pylgremage to alle the world, and chap, xm, he dye so, he schal be damnyd ; and he that knowyth the ,413- holy comaundementys of God and kepyth hem to hys ende, he schal be savyd, though he nevyr in hys lyff go on pylgremage, as men use now, to Cantirbery or to Rome, or to eny other place." Arundel, after consultation with his assessors, answered that the ' schedule ' contained much that was ' catholic and good.' But it did not go far enough ; and he required answers to two further questions which he propounded, as involving, doubtless, what he took to be the kernel and marrow of Christian teaching. 'In the sacrament of the The Eu- altar,' did the duly consecrated bread remain material bread or not ? ' In the sacrament of penance ' (penitentiae), Auricular was confession of any use if a man who could have access sio£ to a priest confessed otherwise than to a duly ordained presbyter of the Church ? 1 Oldcastle declined to answer, although the Archbishop sternly warned him that if his assurances were not satisfac tory, it would be in their power 'to declare him heretic' ; — with all the consequences ! On the 35th September, Oldcastle was produced for further examination, the sitting being held at Blackfriars. The Bishop of Bangor, Benedict Nicolls, and the Heads of the four Orders of Friars 2 were among the assessors. On the previous day Oldcastle had been supplied with a ' schedule ' containing the " feyth (faith) and determina tion " of the Church on the Eucharist ; confession ; the authority of the Pope and clergy ; and pilgrimages ; the performance of which last was declared " needeful to a crystyn man." Oldcastle argued manfully with his inter locutors, quoting Scripture in defence of his views ; but refusing to swallow the prescribed formulae. In discussing the question of the Keys he grew rather 1 " An necessarium fuerit quod habens copiam sacerdotis confiteatur de peccatis suis presbytero per ecclesiam ordinate" 2 One of these was Thomas Netter of Walden, Prior of the Carmelites, the reputed compiler of the Fasciculi Zizaniorum. * N 178 HENRY V. chap. xm. violent, declaring that the Pope was in fact the head of ~ Antichrist, the clergy his body, and the four Orders of Friars his tail. He warned the bystanders against his judges, whose teaching would lead them to perdition if they listened to it 7 His con- Definitive sentence was then passed upon him ; the demnation. formal publication of the sentence being delayed till the 10th October. He escapes On the 19th of the month he made his escape from the from the n-, 9 Tower, and Tower2. organises a Driven to extremity, the Lollards began to prepare for an appeal to arms, the only mode left to them of assert ing the rights of conscience. From this point their proceedings became treasonable, as involving armed resistance to the established govern ment. But of any prior designs of a revolutionary or socialist character — apart from the movement for the disendowment of the Church — the reader may be assured that no evidence whatever is forthcoming3. The country was thrown into a state of great excite ment. Placards having been posted up in London to the effect that 100,000 men (!) were prepared to stand by the Lord of Cobham 4, a pretended recantation was issued by the Church party 5. On the 4th December, Sir Elyas Lynot and other commissioners were instructed to apprehend divers persons whose names had been privately communicated to them 1 Fascic. Ziz. 433-445, the best text; also in Wilkins, Cone. iii. 353-356; and Foed. ix. 61-65 ; abridged T. Wals. ii. 291-295. A more detailed report of the second day's proceedings has been preserved by Bale, Harleian Miscell. ii. 262-270 ; Fox, Martyrs, i. 639-642. 2 Fascic. Ziz. 446-449 ; Wilkins, 356-357 ; Devon Issues, 324 ; Riley, Memorials of London, 641. 3 The contrary view is assumed, but not proved, by Dr. Hook, Archbishops, lv-499. 5"! ?¦ 3°. 33, &c. 4 T. Wals. ii. 291. 5 Fascic. Ziz. 414 ; cf. Memorials, p. 97. The document is undated ; it retracts everything for which Sir John had contended. If he had signed such a paper before his escape from the Tower, the whole difficulty would have been at an end. LOLLARD RISING. T79 by the King1. On the 10th Arundel preached at St. chap. xm. Paul's Cross against the Lollards2. I4i4. In the first days of 1414 a plot to seize the King at Eltham was discovered 3- The Government also received information that a Lollard rising had been fixed for the 10th January. The adherents Muster ap- of the party from all sides had been invited to muster on gt_ Giies> that day in St. Giles' Fields, between Holborn and ' Lang- F ields. acre ' 4. According to the proclamation subsequently issued by the Government, their intention was to establish a Commonwealth or something of the sort, with Oldcastle as Protector5. Henry left Eltham and came to Westminster to guard against the attack 6- On the night of the 9th-ioth January, he took up his position on the spot appointed for the meeting of the insurgents ; while the city gates were carefully ' sparred ' and " kept," to prevent any co-operation from that side. The successive bands of in- Frustrated surgents flocking in from the country were taken in detail Xn&\vnXceX' and scattered ; the greater part dispersed on hearing that the King was already in possession of the ground 7. Numbers Executions of them were arrested. On the same day (10th January) an 1 a special judicial commission was appointed for the City 8. 1 Patent Roll, 1 Henry V, pt. 4, memb. 11 dorso, cited Goodwin, 32 ; B. M. Add. MS. 4600, f. 67. 2 Chron. London. 3 Devon Issues, 330. On the 5th of January, John Burgh, a carpenter, received a pension for having revealed a conspiracy ; Patent Roll, 1 Henry V, cited Goodwin, 32 ; and Addl. MS. sup. On the 7th a proclamation against Lollard conventicles was issued; id. f. 105. 4 "In Lanacri luce" (qy. luco?) "in gurgitis arce Lanacri"; T. Elmham, Liber Metricus, 97, 98 ; cf. Foed. ix. 193, " in campum Sancti Egidii" ; T. Wals. ; "in campo extra Barram Veteris Templi"; Foed. 171; i.e. outside Holborn Bars, " the Old Temple occupying the site of the present Staples Inn " ; Riley, Memorials, 642 ; " Fykettesfeld," later called Little Lincoln's Fields, is another meeting-place named ; Elmham, Vita, 30. 5 Foed. 119, 170, &c. ; Riley, Memorials, 642. 6 7th January; Gesta Henrici, p. 4; J. Stow, 334; 8th January; Chron. London, 97. 7 T. Wals. ii. 298 ; J. Capgrave, 307; Gesta Henrici, 5, 6. 8 Fox, i. 654; Devon Issues, 331. The Lords Scrope and de Roos, and the Mayor of London, William Crowmere, were on the commission. n a 180 HENRY V. chap. xm. On the nth 1000 marks were offered for the apprehension 1414 °f Oldcastle 1, who had apparently been in St. Giles' Fields on the night of the 9th. On the 13th January, sixty-nine persons were condemned of treason ; some by the special commission at the Tower, some by the regular courts at Westminster. Of those so convicted, thirty-seven were drawn next day from Newgate to St. Giles' Fields, and there hung ; seven of them were also burnt, " gallowes and all." None of these were persons of any position. After wards John Brown, Esquire ; John Beverley, priest ; and Sir Roger Acton, Knight, were taken and executed 2. After Oldcastle, these are the chief persons named in connexion with the rising. Sir John, however, kept at large. Archbishop Arundel did not long survive the Lollard rising his zeal had helped to provoke. He died at Hacking- ton Rectory on the 19th Feburary, aged about sixty-four years. He was a true prelate of the old politico-ecclesias tical type : not a man of letters, but a ruler of men 3. Pariiament On the 30th April Parliament met at Leicester. The cester. Chancellor in his opening address alluded to the recent troubles, and the King's firm purpose of maintaining the Christian Faith, as essential to the well-being of the State, He also invited the attention of the Estates to two other points, namely, the habitual lawlessness of English mariners at sea, and the prevalence of rioting and brigandage at home4. 1 Since the 19th October he had been concealed in the house of one William Fisher, a parchment-maker in Smithfield, who had arranged his escape from the Tower, for which offence he suffered in 1416; Foed. ix. 89; Riley, Me morials, 641 ; Devon Issues, 330. 2 Chron. London ; J. Stow, sup. ; Devon Issues, 331. Beverley suffered on the 19th January, Acton on the 12th February; Stow. Acton was committed to the Tower on the 8th ; B. M. Addl. MS. 4600, f. 119. 3 Stubbs, Reg. Sacrum ; Hook, Archbishops, iv. 402, 525 : " Vir clari ingenii, in singulis agibilibus providus et circnmspectus " ; Angl. Sacra, i. 62, q. v. for his benefactions to Canterbury, which included a peal of five bells, "the Arundel ryng." " To a higher degree (than that of B.A.) he never aspired either at Oxford or elsewhere " ; Hook, sup. 4 Rot. Pari. iv. 15, 16. PARLIAMENT AND THE LOLLARDS. 181 All three points were dealt with in the Session. With chap. xm. respect to the Lollards, the secular power, hitherto " con- 7," tent to aid in the execution of the ecclesiastical sentences," Measures was now called upon to take " the initiative." It was ^fuards enacted that all legal officers of the Crown, from the Chancellor and Treasurer down to the mayors and bailiffs of towns, should be sworn on taking office 'to use their utmost diligence to oust and destroy all manner of Heresies and Errors commonly called Lollardries ' 1 ; such officers to assist to their utmost the Ordinaries in pursuing and arrest ing Lollards ; persons arrested on charge of heresy to be delivered to the Ordinary, ' as cognizance of Heresy apper tained to Judges of Holy Church and not to secular Judges ' ; Justices of the Peace to have power to enquire as to persons holding erroneous or heretical opinions, ' like Lollards'2; also to enquire as to their abettors and sup porters ; the writers of their books ; preachers of sermons, and teachers in schools ; their conventicles and congrega tions. Persons convicted of heresy by the Ordinary and handed over to the secular arm (relinquez a seculer main), to suffer forfeiture after death 3. As the enactment, though duly passed in Parliament, does not appear to have been based on any petition of the Commons, the entire credit of the measure may be given to the King *. The other measures passed at the King's suggestion call for more hearty approval. Henry V was the first Englishman who ventured to proclaim the fact that, if the sea was a scene of strife and violence, the English seamen were the most to blame. The Truce- 6th chapter of the Act of the Session, after, reciting that the ^i^XX™ King's 'dignity' had been greatly 'slandered and dis- 1 " De mettre lour entier peyn & diligence d'oustier & destruier," &c. 2 " Come Lollardes." 3 Statute, 2 Henry V, Stat. i. cap. 7 ; Rot. Pari. iv. 24. 4 The Chancellor's speech, echoed in the preamble of the measure, en deavours, like Henry's petition of 1406 (Rot. Pari. iii. 583), to fix upon the Lollards designs subversive of all government. Apart from their hostility to the possessions of the clergy, I can find no evidence of any such designs. 1 83 HENRY V. chap. xm. honoured ' by the breaking of truces and safe-conducts on t , the sea by his lieges, during both the present reign and the last, proceeds to declare that all such acts shall for the future be held high treason. To enforce the law it was provided that a Conservator of Truces and Safe-Conducts, with two legal assessors, should be appointed in each port ; with jurisdiction equal to that of an admiral, saving capital punishment. Further provisions were added for securing proper adjudication of prizes 7 On the third point, that of internal crimes of violence, the King had the support of a petition from the county of Northumberland, from which we learn that there, as on the Welsh March, the evil had its root in the private jurisdic- and Border tions ' where the King's writ runneth not.' It was alleged ngan b' that the men of the Franchises of Tynedale, Redesdale, and Hexhamshire, made a trade of robbery and murder J and that some of them Were leagued with the Scots in carrying off persons for ransom 2- The petitioners were content to ask that the men of the above Franchises should be made amenable for felonies committed outside the limits of their Franchises, their domestic privileges being respected. The King granted the petition as to Tynedale and Hexhamshire ; but spared Redesdale, probably out of consideration for the Umphravilles 3, Two general measures were also passed on this subject. One for compelling Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace to execute an enactment of the year 141 1 4, which had fallen a dead letter ; the other enabling the Lord Chancellor in cases of undetected felony to initiate or direct pro ceedings 5. Three other noteworthy petitions were presented by the Commons. One prayed for the 'due execution' of the Statute of Cambridge 6, ' and all other good Statutes of Labourers.' The second prayed for the final resumption 1 Statute, 2 Henry V, Stat. i. cap. 6 ; Rot. Pari. iv. 22. 2 Rot. Pari. iv. 21. 3 Statute, cap. 5. 4 13 Henry IV, cap. 7. s Statute, capp. 8, 9. 6 12 Ric. II, cap. 3. PETITIONS IN PARLIAMENT. 183 of the Priories Alien. The third, which was tendered in chap. xm. English, touched upon a point of the greatest constitutional I4I4_ importance, already long contended for, namely, that the Measures Commons' petitions should be granted by the King or !^s£nted rejected as " him lust " ; but " that ther never be no Lawe Commons made theruppon & engrosed as Statut & Lawe nother by al0tered jn addicions, nother by diminucions, by no maner of terme ne engross- termes the whiche that sholde chaunge the sentence .... withoute assent of the forsaid Commune." Henry gave his assent to all three ; in the last case " savyng .... his prerogatif to graunte & denye what him lust"1. To the first of these petitions we owe the institution of Origin of periodical quarter sessions, which were now ordained for Sessions the special purpose of propping up the obsolete Statutes of Labourers2. No Subsidy was granted in this Parliament, the Chan cellor having announced in his opening speech that the King would not ask for one, doubtless in order to secure a favourable consideration for the proposals against the Lollards ; but Tonnage and Poundage were granted for three years from Michaelmas, 1414, at existing rates3. Lastly, the King's brothers John and Humphrey were Creations created Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester ; while Richard men" la* of York, brother of the Duke, was raised to the earldom of Cambridge. Clarence and Dorset had their titles con firmed ; and York was reinstated in all the ' name and estate ' taken from him by his degradation in November, 1399 4- 1 Rot. Pari. 20, 22. 2 Statute, 2 Henry V, Stat. i. cap. 4. 3 Rot. Pari. 16. 4 Rot. Pari. 17; Lords' Report, v. 171, 172. The new dukes received annuities of £60 a year each. The Session rose on Tuesday, 29th May ; Rot. Pari. sup. The King remained at Leicester till the 30th May. CHAPTER XIV. Henry V (continued). Negotiations with parties in France. — Grand Council. Parliament at West minster. — Summoning of Council of Constance. — Preparations for War. — French Embassy to England. — Conspiracy of Earl of Cambridge. — Henry sails from Portsmouth. chap. XIV. 1414. Foreign affairs.Henrynegotiatesboth with Burgun dians and Armagnacs. Offers to marryCatherine of France or Cathe rine of Burgundy. The Session over, the King could turn his undivided attention to foreign affairs. In fact envoys from both the French parties had waited on him at Leicester. The Armagnac envoys remained ' at the King's cost ' from the 17th May to the 3nd June. The Burgundian envoys, as representing the party from which most might be expected, were entertained for a longer period, namely, from the 19th April to the 17th June1. On the 33rd May a secret treaty with Burgundy was concluded at Leicester ; by which Henry and the Duke agreed to go shares in conquests to be made by them at the expense of the Armagnac Princes, ' saving the rights of the King of France, the Dauphin, and their successors ' 2. On the 31st May the Bishops of Durham and Norwich received authority to treat with the Armagnacs for the restitution of the King's rights, and the marriage with Catherine of France. The instructions suggested that the latter 'way' involved some sacrifice on Henry's part; but the promise not to marry any other lady was extended to 1 Foed. ix. 189 ; T. Wals. ii. 300. 2 See de Beaucourt, Charles VII, i. 132, citing the original treaty, which is still at Dijon. NEGO TIA TIONS. 1 85 the 34th June1 Four days later2 Lord le Scrope was chap. xiv. authorised to contract a marriage with another Catherine, 7"^ the daughter of the Duke of Burgundy, a child who, after passing for three years as the wife of another child, Louis of Anjou 3, had been recently restored to her father's home. Scrope was also empowered to settle other questions arising out of the treaty of the 33 rd May ; and in particular to receive the Duke's homage for his share of the expected conquests4. Hereupon Gautier Col, the secretary of the King of France, appeared in London, and the promise not to marry except with Catherine of France was extended to the ist August ; the Bishops of Durham and Norwich being authorised to prolong the pledge for such further term as they might think fit5. On the 5th July they received fresh powers, enabling them to conclude a marriage treaty without reference to any question except dowry. As they were furnished with a copy of the clauses of the treaty of Bretigny relative to King John's ransom, it might seem that Henry was merely endeavouring for the time to drive a pecuniary bargain 6. But this was only in case it might be found desirable to conclude the marriage treaty independently of, and as a preliminary to, the territorial arrangement. It appears that Henry's demands exceeded not only Henry the limits of the treaty of Bretigny, but even the limits m^e" lnS of all that Henry II had ever held; the claim being than the drawn up so as to include all Crown rights over the soil of terms. France to which any King of England had at any time 1 Foed. ix. 131, 140. 2 Leicester, 4th June. Henry went up from Leicester to London to sign the Armagnac instructions of the 31st May, returning to Leicester to sign the Burgundian instructions of the 4th June. 3 Eldest son of the King of Naples. Catherine was sent home on the 20th November, 1413; Sismondi, France, xii. 436. 4 Foed. 136-138. The treaty was ratified by the Duke at Ypres, 7th August, and again at Saint-Omer, 29th September; de Beaucourt, i. 133, 134. Henry undertook to put 500 spears and 2000 archers in the field ; Pauli, iii. 91. Scrope was away 25 June-28 October; Foreign Accounts, 2 Henry V. 5 Foed. 140, 141. " lb. 149-151. 186 HENRY V. chap. xiv. laid claim, with something more to boot 7 All this was 7~T advanced 'without prejudice' to the pro forma demand of the Crown of France 2. The envoys proceeded to Paris forthwith, to find that Charles and the Dauphin were in Artois, prosecuting a successful campaign against Burgundy. The Duke of Berri, who ruled in their absence, intimated that territorial concessions might be made in Aquitain ; but that nothing could be settled without the King 3. On the 4th September a fifth ' pacification ' was signed between the French factions at Arras, Burgundy promising not to come to Paris without leave, and not to make any alliance with the English without the consent of his King. The King and Dauphin remained in the field till the English had left Paris4. Henry had been quietly preparing war for months 5. As it now became clear that his ends could not be attained without war, he thought it time to take his subjects more fully into his confidence. Grand A Grand Council of Lords spiritual and temporal and L°Ud d country gentlemen was summoned to Westminster for the country 30th September 6. The King laid his case before the gent emen. assemkiy an(j asked for ' advice.1 1 The claim included all Aquitain, Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, the superiority of Brittany and Flanders, the half of Provence, and the territory between the Somme and Gravelines. Part of this last item, namely the county of Ponthieu (capital Montrenil), was an old possession ; but Provence as yet did not belong to France at all. 2 See a transcript taken by Archbishop Chicheley in 1416, wrongly printed under the year 1415 ; Foed. ix. 208. The document appears perfectly genuine. 3 St. Denys, v. 376 ; J. J. Ursins, 497; Foed. 211. The Bishop of Norwich and the Earl of Salisbury were away, 10th July-3rd October; Foed. 190, 204. For the French Campaign, see Sismondi, xii. 441-449. ' Sismondi, xii. 430; E. Monstrelet, 345, &c. ; St. Denys, v. 382. The Bishop of Durham was away 10th July-2nd October ; Foreign Accounts, 2 Henry V. On the 29th September, Burgundy signed a fresh treaty with Henry; de Beaucourt, i. 134. 5 In September, 141 3, guns were ordered at Bristol; Foed. ix. 49; Devon Issues, 332. In July, 1414, ships were being built at Southampton; id. 335. In September, engines and cannon-balls (' gun-stones ') were ordered, and the exportation of " gunpoudre " forbidden ; Foed. 159, 160. 6 Pell Issue Roll, Easter, 2 Henry V, m. 15; T. Wals. ii. 302; cf. Chron. Davies, 37 ; Chron. London, 98. ENGLAND AND THE WAR. 187 Probably there never was a time when a cry for a war chap. xiv. of aggression could not have been got up in England. Nevertheless, the answer given by the Knights on behalf of The Gentry the Lords and of themselves proves that the extravagance "ot anxlous for war. of the King's demands was felt even in England. " The trewe . . . and humble liges . . . knowen wel that ... so cristen a Prince . . . volde in so hye a matere bigynne nothinge but that were to Goddes plesance." As for "shedynge of cristen blood," if "denyynge of ryght and resen" were the cause, then no charge of "wilfulhede" could be brought. The conclusion of Lords and Knights conveyed in the most delicate manner possible, was that another embassy should be sent ; and that if the King " at the reverence of God," and of his own " propre mocion," could offer some " mene wey," or " modering," of his 'whole title' and 'claims beyond the sea'; and if such offer were to be unreasonably rejected by his adversary; then said they, "we trusten alle in Goddes grace that alle youre workes in pursuinge hem (them) shulde take the better spede and conclusion " 1. The country had not yet been demoralised by successful war ; and accordingly we have here again all the modera tion and good sense that characterised the general dealings of the Knights of the Shire with Henry IV. The higher clergy showed less compunction about the The higher " shedynge of cristen blood " than did their lay brethren. ^0e^y A week later a provincial Synod of the clergy of Canter- warlike. bury was convened in London, under the leadership of their new Archbishop, Henry Chicheley2, late Bishop of St. Davids. The assembly voted a double Tenth ; a direct sanction of the war, as such a sum would never have been voted except in contemplation of war 3. If we may trust the writers of the next century, Chicheley urged that war 1 Proceedings, ii. 140. Undated, except as belonging to the second year of the reign. 2 Chicheley was elected under the King's conge delire, 4th March ; presented to the Pope for confirmation, 23rd March; received his pall, 24 July, 1414; see Foed. ix. 119, 131, and Hook, Archbishops, v. 27. 3 ist-20th October; Wake, State of Church, 350, 351. HENRY V. chap. xiv. 1414. Parliamentat West minster : war an nounced. Money grants. would divert attention from Church questions and check Lollardism 7 The leaders of the nation having been thus consulted, writs were issued for a Parliament at Westminster 2- On the 19th November the Session was opened. The Chancellor went straight to the point, informing the lieges that the King being desirous ' for good and discreet govern ance towards his Enemies abroad ' 3, intended to exert himself for ' the recovery of the inheritance and right of his Crown which had been long withheld.' The Bishop gave out two texts, ' Strive unto death for that which is just, and the Lord shall fight for thee ' ; and, ' While we have time let us do good ' 4. He called for effective support in personal service and money 7 The Commons answered the Chancellor's appeal by voting a double Subsidy; Iialf to be raised on the 3nd February, 1415, and half on the 3nd February, 14166. But the request was again preferred that no ' voyage ' should be undertaken till the resources of diplomacy had been exhausted 7 The Session was chiefly remarkable for the number of private petitions presented ; doubtless the people felt that at such a time the King would not be chary of his favours. 1 Leland, Coll. ii. 490; Fabyan, 578; Stubbs, iii. 82. E. Hall, 50-56, gives speeches as delivered by Archbishop Chicheley and the Earl of West morland in the Leicester Parliament, which are palpable fabrications ; see Stubbs, 83. Chicheley was not Archbishop at the time. They are also given by Redmayne, Memorials Henry V, p. 25, and Goodwin, 43. It is possible, however, that they may have grown out of things said in the Council at West minster or the Synod ; with two Parliaments, a Great Council and a Synod within the year, mistakes would be easy. 2 The writs were issued on the 26th September; Lords' Report. On the same day the exportation of " gunpoudre " was forbidden ; Foed. 160. 3 " Desire le bone & discrete governance estre fait vers ses enemys dehors." 4 Ecclesiasticus, iv. 33 ; and Gal. vi. 10 (Vulgate). The Bishop prudently omitted the concluding words ofthe latter verse : 'unto all men.' 6 Rot. Pari. iv. 34. " Rot. Pari. 34, 35. 7 Proceedings, ii. 150; Second Dep. Keeper's Report, App. ii. p. 185; Stubbs, 84. COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE. 189 Most interesting of these petitions was the one brought chap. xiv. forward on behalf of Henry Percy, eldest son of Hotspur x ; who, having been entrusted by his grandfather to the Scots for safe-keeping, had been retained by them as a valuable pledge 2 ; and in fact was still in their hands. The petition for his rehabilitation and restitution was immediately granted ' in all points,' the King being again glad to seize an opportunity of reconciliation. Among the measures enacted in the Session was a con firmation of the Staple regulations of 1399, by which Calais was maintained as the Staple for the Eastern trade, and Southampton for the Western trade 3. The King also gave his assent to a measure for keeping down the salaries of chaplains 4 ; and it was enacted that in trials for murder, in real actions, and in personal actions where the ' debt or damages' amounted to forty marks, the jurors impanelled should be persons worth forty shillings a year in land 5. But all engrossed as England was with the prospect of an early war, Henry and his subjects could not withhold part of their attention from the great European event of the year 1414, the meeting of the Council stipulated at Pisa. John XXIII (Baldassare Cossa) had been elected on the John 17th May, 1410, in succession to Alexander V, the Pope 1^™^ elected during the Council of Pisa 6- Alexander had Council of pledged himself at his election to call another Council Constance- r _ ° summoned. within three years ; and John was in a manner bound by this undertaking. Closely allied with Louis of Anjou, John failed to maintain his position at Rome against the hostility of Ladislas, the actual King of Naples. Early in June, 1413, 1 Rot. Pari. 37. 2 J. Hardyng, 373. 3 Statute, 2 Henry V, Stat. 2. cap. 6. 4 Rot. Pari. 51. The salaries allowed were to vary from £4 ijj. 43'. to £6 per annum, everything included. 5 Statute, cap. 3. See also Rot. Pari. 34-61. The duration of the Session does not appear. 6 H. Nicolas, Chron. Hist. 190 HENRY V. chap. xiv. Rome fell into the hands of Ladislas; and John fled to j t Tuscany 7 The only sovereign to whom the Pope could turn for effectual support was Sigismund of Hungary, who since January, 1411, had been "uncontested emperor"2. Before his election, Sigismund had been chiefly known for tyranny and vice: with the assumption of his new dignity he disclosed an energy of character and a fixity of purpose not previously suspected. His ambition was to close the Schism, and to " compel the reformation of the clergy, so imperiously demanded by all Chris tendom"3. When John XXIII was driven from Rome Sigismund was actually in Italy; having gone thither partly to agitate for the Council, partly in the hope of re-establishing the old authority of the Empire over Lom bardy. The condition of his support to the Pope was the summoning of another Council, to be of greater authority and more truly representative than that of Pisa. As Sigismund dreaded the ascendency of Italian diplomacy, he insisted that the Council should be held out of Italy ; and the place he suggested was Constance, an imperial city, central and easy of access. John, who had accepted the Council in principle, could hardly break with the Emperor on the mere question of place. Bulls and letters were accordingly issued in the names of Pope and Em peror, inviting Christendom to meet at Constance on the Day of All Saints, 14144. The English delegates were not appointed till October, 1 Sismondi, Rep. Ital. viii. 198-204; Creighton, Papacy, i. 234-249. 2 Rupert died 19th May, 141 o; a Diet held at Frankfort resulted in a. double election, Sigismund being proclaimed by one party, and Jobst of Moravia by another party, 28th October, 1410. Jobst died in January, 141 1, when Sigismund was recognised by all parties, his own brother, the deposed Wentzel, concurring ; Sismondi, 212, 213; cf. Creighton, 237, 238. Sigismund was crowned King of the Romans at Aix-la-Chapelle, 8th November, 1414 ; Foed. ix. 176. 3 Sismondi, sup. ; Milman, vi. 89, 90. 4 Sismondi, 217, 223, &c. ; Milman, 90, 92 ; Creighton, 251-253 ; Wilkins, Cone. iii. 366. But for the capture of Rome, John would have held a Council there ; ibid, and St. Denys, v. 72, 104. The Bull summoning the Council is dated 9th December, 1413 ; St. Denys, 458. ECCLESIASTICAL FOUNDATIONS. 1 91 1414 ; Henry's own representatives included Nicholas chap. xiv. Bubwith, Bishop of Bath ; Robert Hallam, Bishop of ,4j4i Salisbury, who had sat in the Council at Pisa ; John Catterick, who had succeeded Chicheley as Bishop of St. Davids ; the Earl of Warwick; and Lord Fitzhugh1. The envoys were also authorised to conclude a treaty of alliance with Sigismund, who had already made overtures to Henry2. With all his other affairs on hand, the King found time SionHouse in this year (141 4) for founding two new monasteries, a °"n e ' remarkable event at this period. One, dedicated to ' Jesus of Bethlehem,' was established at West Sheen, otherwise Richmond, to support forty Carthusian monks3. The other, to be called Mount Sion or Sion House, was planted on the opposite side of the Thames at Twickenham ; to be moved in 1432 to the well-known site between Isleworth and Brentford. This celebrated establishment was intended for sixty-five nuns and twenty-five men of Religion of the reformed Augustinian order according to the rule of St. Bridget4. 1 See Foed. ix. 162, 167 ; Wilkins, iii. 370; Wake, 351 ; Devon Issues, 335- 2 Foed. 156, 168; Devon Issues, 333, 334. Sir Walter Hungerford had been away on a mission to Sigismund, 16th July-20th September; Foreign Accounts, 2 Henry V. Sigismund had already established friendly relations with England, having made a treaty with Henry IV in 141 1 ; Foed. viii. 674. 3 This Priory, which was suppressed by Henry VIII, was established in the Lower Park, or Old Deer Park, between Richmond and Kew Gardens. The Royal Observatory at Kew marks the site ; see Dugdale, Monast. vi. 29, ed. 1830. According to Tyler the old palace destroyed by Richard II occupied the same site; ii. 27. 4 " The Monasterie of Seint Saveour, and of Seint Marie the Virgine, and Seint Brigitte of Syon, of the Ordre of Seint Austyn of Seint Saveour called " ; Rot. Pari. iv. 395, and v. 551. See also Henry's will ; Foed. ix. 290 ; T. Wals. ii. 300 ; Elmham, Vita, 25 ; Gesta Henrici, 7 ; note Williams ; Tyler, ii. 27. Henry had applied to himself certain visions of St. Bridget, a Swedish lady who, after founding a new Augustinian Order, died at Rome in 1373, and was twice canonised, once by Boniface IX, and again by the Council of Constance ; Creighton, Papacy, i. 375. At the suppression by Henry VIII, the Sion House sisterhood retired to the Continent ; then came back to England for a while ; and then finally returned to the Continent, where the succession has been kept up in one place after another ever since. At this moment a nunnery in Paris still claims the name. T92 HENRY V. CHAP. xiv. 1414. Continuednegotia tions. Henry's demands. French offers. But the negotiations with France, or, to speak more correctly, the preparations for war, never flagged. Conformably with the request of Parliament, the King, on the 5th December, authorised the Bishops of Dur ham and Norwich to prolong the truce, and likewise the promise not to marry, for such term beyond the 3nd February as they should think fit ; they were also empowered to settle the terms of a matrimonial alliance, and to ask for, receive, and take possession of the King's 'rights' and 'dues' in land and money1. These instructions, taken by themselves, do not suggest that Henry was disposed to go any great lengths in the way of " moderyng " his demands for the sake of peace. The extension of the truce caused no difficulty; the French acceded to that at once. On the 34th January, 141 5, the truce was prolonged to the ist May2. When the territorial and matrimonial questions were taken up, the English tendered the identical schedule of claims that had been propounded in August3 ; the pecuniary demands being, the unpaid balance of King John's ransom, amounting to 1,600,000 crowns, with 3,000,000 crowns more for Catherine's dowry; equal to £600,000 in all4. On further treaty it would seem that the English reduced their demands to the simple execu tion of the Treaty of Bretigny, with the cession of the half of Provence and the lordships of Beaufort and Nogent ; and 1,000,000 crowns for the dowry5. The French met these demands by making a more definite offer of the territories previously indicated by the Duke of Berri ; namely, Bigorre with Tarbes ; Auch, Lec- toure and Condom ; the Bazadais and Agenais ; Perigord ; 1 " Jura . . . nobis debita," Sec. ; Foed. ix. 183-188. 2 Foed. ix. 196, 197: confirmed by Henry, 17th February; Id. 201 : by Charles, 6th March ; Id. 205. 3 See above, p. 186, note. 4 The French crown, " scutum " or " icu" was = y. t\d. English, or one sixth of a £1. 5 Foed. 212 ; St. Denys, v. 518, 524; cf. Proceedings, ii. 150; J. J. Ursins, 500. FRENCH OFFERS. 193 Querci, less Montauban ; Rovergue and Saintonge, south of chap. xiv. the Charente ; Oleron and Angoul£me. Besides all this "77 they offered 600,000 crowns for the dowry, and an outfit (13th March). These liberal proposals were confirmed by Charles VI on the morrow, the dowry being raised to 800,000 crowns (£133,333 6s. 8d.). Added to the existing possessions in Gascony, these territories would have formed a tolerably compact dominion, which the English might perhaps have been able to hold. But the English envoys had no authority to accept any such terms ; and the conferences closed with a request on the part of the French that they might be allowed to send another embassy to London 1- But Henry had long indulged the belief that he was destined to conquer France. He meant nothing but war ; and had meant nothing else from the day of his accession. Before his envoys had received the final answer of the French, he had commissioned agents to hire transports in ,.- Holland2. . On the 7 th April he wrote to Charles, ostensibly to Prepara- enquire after the promised embassy, but in reality to ^.°"s or reiterate the assurance that the last demands of his envoys in Paris were an ultimatum, to which he had condescended ' only because he thought that peace would be acceptable to Heaven ' 3. Without waiting for an answer, Henry wrote again on the 15th April with reference to the safe-conducts that had been requested on behalf of the French ambassadors. ' He had shortened the days, . . . not because he was indifferent to peace ; but lest sloth, the foe of peace, should delay the conclusion so ardently desired'4. He took 1 Foed. ix. 209-212 ; see also St. Denys, v. 408 ; E. Monstrelet, 359 ; J. J. Ursins, 500. The English envoys were away 14th December-29th March ; Foreign Accounts, 2 Henry V. 2 Devon Issues, 340 ; February. See also arrangements made in a Privy Council in the same month for the defence of the coast and borders during the King's expected absence ; Proceedings, ii. 145. 3 St. Denys, v. 502. 4 " nee . . . quin simus in causa pacis fervidi, . . . cum id facimus ne segnities, * O 194 HENRY V. chap. xiv. ' the Throne of the Almighty to witness ' that ' no vain ^75- desire to reign would turn his conscience from following that which was right ' 7 Henry may have believed in the justice of his claims, but to call on Heaven to witness his desire for peace was nothing short of blasphemous hypocrisy. On the day following the date of this letter a Grand Council of Peers was held at Westminster; the King formally announced his ' firm purpose ' of invading France for the ' recovery of his heritage.' On the 17th April the Duke of Bedford was named for the Regency during the King's absence. On the 1 8th April the King intimated that noblemen and gentlemen engaged for his ' retinue ' might expect to be absent for a year 2. But Henry was not quite ready yet ; so a few days later the truce was extended to the 8th June 3. His preparations were being made on the largest scale. Privy Seals were issued for raising money in anticipation of the Revenue. All vessels over twenty tons' burden along the whole coast from Newcastle to Bristol were to be im pressed. Crown jewels were deposited with the noblemen and gentlemen engaged for service as security for their wages for the second quarter, .the first quarter being payable in advance, a mode of dealing with the King that does not suggest great enthusiasm on the part of his lieges 4- Careful measures were taken for the defence of th' realm in the King's absence, as stipulated by Parliament. ¦ pacis aemula, negocium differat cujus sic fervidis desideriis bonum felix peroptamus." 1 St. Denys, v. 506. The safe-conducts had been sealed, 13th April ; Foed. ix. 219 ; cf. also J. J. Ursins, 502. 2 Proceedings, ii. 155-158; Foed. 222, 223. Harfleur was already men tioned as the probable landing-place ; Devon Issues, 340. On the 10th March, the King had communicated his intentions to the Mayor and Aldermen; Riley, Memorials London, 603. 3 24th April; Foed. 225-227. 4 See Foed. 218-299. Tne city of London advanced £6666 13s. 4c/. The Italian companies, under threat of imprisonment, £1945 I2S- > Proceedings, ii, 165, 166. THE KING AT SOUTHAMPTON. 195 A coast-guard fleet was organised 1, and the clergy of chap. xiv. both provinces were required to arm during the King's 14I5. absence ; so also the lay population of the Border counties and the coasts 2- Negotiations for exchanging young Percy (who was still detained in Scotland) for Murdach Stewart were opened ; the proposals for the liberation of King James having fallen into the background 3. Over tures were even made to Owen Glyndwr4. On the 10th June the truce was again extended to The King the 35th July 5. Eight days later Henry left London f° s'outih™ for Southampton, after ' offering ' at St. Paul's and St. ampton. George's-in-the-Fields ; the citizens escorted him as far as Kingston 6. Meanwhile the French ambassadors, the Archbishop of Bourges and the Bishop of Lisieux, had at last got under way. They reached Henry's court at Winchester on the French 30th June 7 No measures had yet been taken in France t^win^ to meet the coming storm, though Henry's preparations Chester. had been long known to all 8. The wretched Dauphin — who in the spring of the previous year had sent Henry the present of tennis balls that gave such offence in England9 — had been endeavouring to relieve himself both of Armagnacs and Burgundians ; finding, however, that he could not get on without either "crust or crumb," he had recalled the Duke of Berri, ' the weakest of the weak princes who were ' Proceedings, ii. 145. ' 2 Foed. ix. 253-256 ; Proceedings, ii. 168. 3 May; Rot. Scot. ii. 213; Proceedings, ii. 160-164; Foed. Albany received ambassadors from France on the 22nd June ; Excheq. Rolls Scotland, iv. 238. 4 July; Foed. 283. 5 Foed. 262-268. 6 Chron. London, 100; and John Lydgate's poem, Id. 218; J. Stow, 346. 7 St. Denys, v. 512, 513 ; cf. Foed. 282. 8 St. Denys, 408 ; J. J. Ursins, 502. 9 During Lent, 1414, when Henry was at Kenilworth. See T. Elmham, Lib. Metr. 101 ; J. Capgrave, Illustr. Henr. 114; T. Otterbourne, 274; J. Lydgate, Chron. London, Append. 216. The testimony of so many living writers seems too strong to be disregarded, but the motives of a man of the Dauphin's character must be left to conjecture. Lydgate gives us the vernacular " tenys ballys." The Latin writers render this " pilas Parisianas." For more of tennis phrases see below, p. 203. O 3 196 HENRY V. chap. xiv. disgracing France ' ; and by him the present envoys 1415. been named x- On the 3nd July the colloquies at Winchester began. In answer to a rather peremptory challenge on the part o the English Chancellor, the Archbishop of Bourges pointed out that his master had shown considerable regard for peace and ' the way of justice,' by offering a large part of Aquitain and his daughter's hand, with the unheard-of dowry of 800,000 gold crowns. The English replied that all that had been offered before ; and that when the French King volunteered to send another embassy, it was to be supposed that he intended to offer something more. The French warmly protested against this assumption, but eventually they intimated that some addition might yet be made to the dowry. The question of the jointure to be assigned on the other side was then mooted by them. The English offered 10,000 marks a year ; but the Archbishop thought the allowance small. On the 4th July the French conferred with Henry in person ; and the Archbishop offered to increase the dower by another 50.000 crowns, and to add Limoges and Tulle to the territorial concessions already offered in Guienne. Henry said he would take these proposals into considera tion. But on the 6th July he asked for assurances as to the time within which the conditions would be per formed ; suggesting that perhaps the ambassadors might remain in England in the meanwhile, a proposal that was not relished on their part. Lastly, he raised the most delicate question of all, that on which so many previous negotiations had been wrecked, by enquiring as to the tenure on which the territorial concessions would be held ; that is to say, whether in absolute sovereignty, or subject Failure to the feudal superiority of France. On this point the negotia- French could give no satisfactory answer ; and the nego tiations came to an end (6th July). On the 38th Tuly Henry, as if to clear his conscience, addressed 1 t Scriptural appeal to Charles, urging him to < D tu 1 E. Monstrelet, 361, 362 ; and Sismondi, France *;; *- ' *"• 464, &c. tions, CAMBRIDGE'S CONSPIRACY. 197 he owed ' ; and offering on his own part to forego the chap, xiv, extra 50,000 crowns 7 The French envoys having been dismissed, Henry returned to Southampton. On the 30th July he ordered a muster of his immediate retinue under the Duke of Clarence 2 ; but at this point his proceedings were inter rupted for the moment by the discovery of a plot, formid able at the time, and most ominous as a presage for the future. The plot was to proclaim the Earl of March, if he Conspiracy could be induced to accept the Crown; if not, then it °f c^"1 would seem that the conspirators actually contemplated bridge. proclaiming the pseudo-Richard, who was still alive in Scotland 3. A plan for securing the liberation of young Percy was also woven into the scheme ; the Scots having failed to meet Henry's overtures for an exchange4- This part of the plot was clearly intended to enlist North- country sympathy; but the whole scheme was of North- country origin — an attempt to revive the old triple alliance of the Percies, Mortimers and Glyndwr. At the head of the affair stood Richard of York, brother of the Duke, commonly known as Richard of Conisburgh, " a weak, un grateful man," who had just been created Earl of Cambridge by Henry. His action is explained by the fact that he was the husband of Anne Mortimer, sister to the Earl of March, and failing him the heiress of the House 6. With Richard were associated Henry Lord le Scrope of Masham, and Sir Thomas Grey of Heton. Grey was a Northum- 1 St. Denys, v. 512-530. The envoys had returned to Paris by the 26th July. According to his chaplain, Henry circulated copies of the Armagnac treaty with Henry IV ; Gesta, p. 70. Charles VI sent a brief answer on the 23rd August ; St. Denys, sup. 2 Foed. ix. 287. The general muster had apparently been held on the 8th July; pay was allowed from that day; Proceedings, ii. 225. 3 A crown pawned by Henry was to be brought into use. 4 The exchange was to have been made on the 1st July ; Proceedings, ii. 160-164. Murdach attempted to escape, and was brought back into captivity Foed. 280. 5 The younger brother Roger was apparently dead ; Sandford, Geneal. Hist. See Tables above. 198 HENRY V. chap. xiv. brian, who perhaps had not forgotten the days of Shrews^ j4,c bury and Bramham. But Scrope's treason excited universal astonishment. Next to Henry Beaufort he was supposed to be the man most trusted by the King. He had been Treasurer in 1410 and 141 1, when Henry was at the head of affairs : he had been employed in his most delicate negotiations since he came to the throne 7 The only fact that suggests any explanation of his conduct is that he was married to a Holland, Johanna, widow of Edmund of Langley, and that so he had been led to throw in his lot with Richard of Conisburgh. But the gentle retiring Earl of March was not to be led into dangerous schemes, even by the influence of his spiritual advisers 2. He divulged the whole matter to the King 3. On the 31st July a judicial commission of seven Peers, one Knight, and two Judges was appointed. On the 3nd August they impanelled a local jury, who found that Cambridge and Grey had conspired to dethrone Henry; and that Scrope, being cognisant of their designs, had failed to disclose them to the King. Cambridge and Grey confessed their guilt, throwing themselves upon the 'the King's grace '4. Scrope denied having entertained any really treasonable intentions, and demanded trial by his Peers. Grey, as a commoner, was s entenced and executed forthwith ; the two Peers being remanded. To satisfy the forms of the constitution Henry Issued a commission to the Duke of Clarence, ordering him to summon a jury of Peers to consider the ' process and record ' of the common jury ; and to pass sentence on Cambridge and Scrope in accordance therewith, the King confirming their sentence by anticipation. As no other 1 So late as May ; Proceedings, ii. 167. 2 See Cambridge's statement to this effect below. 3 Gesta, 11 ; E. Monstrelet, 366 ; J. Wavrin, ii. 178 ; and the ballad, printed T. Elmham, Append. 361 ; Nicolas, Agincourt, 306. 4 See Cambridge's confession ; Foed. ix. 300 ; Ellis, Letters, Second Series i. 44. The finding of the jury was apparently based on this confession. THE KING SAILS. 1 99 evidence was to be adduced, this was a mere direction to chap. xiv. the Peers to condemn the two. The Peers did as they were directed, and condemned them to death. On the same day both were executed outside the north gate of Southampton 7 The coincidence of the first Yorkist plot with the resumption of hostilities against France, proves that the war had its immediate as well as its prospective risks ; and it certainly gave a point to the arguments of the peace party. Renewed efforts were made to induce Henry to abandon his expedition ; the possibility of a Lollard rising being pointed out2. Henry refused to change his purpose ; but he took all precautions suggested by the recent crisis. Fresh overtures were made to the Scots 3 ; and Sir Robert Umphraville was directed to leave his duties at Roxburgh and join the King's headquarters. He obeyed the summons, John Hardyng the historian accompanying him 4. On Sunday the nth August the Regent's commission */ was sealed ; always the last act before sailing 5. On that Henry sails same day Henry sailed from Portsmouth in his great ship ^o™^orts" the Trinity Royal °. Three royal Dukes, eight Earls, two Bishops7, and some eighteen or nineteen Barons accom panied the King ; practically the whole available Peerage 8. 1 5th August ; see Rot. Pari. iv. 64-66. For a second prayer for pardon, addressed to the King by Cambridge, see Foed. sup. ; and Ellis, p. 48. Walsingham and others suggest that Scrope had received money from the French, but there is no evidence of this; Lydgate, Chron. London, 219. For fragments of further confessions and supplications to the King from Cambridge, Scrope, and Grey, see 43rd Deputy Keepers' Report, Append, i. 582-594. 2 So Henry's chaplain; Gesta, 12 ; and T. Elmham, Liber Metr. 151; see also T. Wals. ii. 306. 3 Foed. 302, 303. 4 J. Hardyng, 373. Sir Robert had inflicted a severe defeat on the Scots at " Greterig " on the 22nd July ; lb. He was Captain of Roxburgh Castle ; Rot. Scot. ii. 211. 5 Foed. ix. 305. 6 Gesta, 13 ; cf. Foed. 239. 7 Benedict Nicholls, Bishop of Bangor ; and Richard Courtenay of Norwich, appointed by Henry in 1413. 8 The collective Peerage only numbered forty-one in all. Only three Earls were absent : Warwick, who was on duty at Calais ; Westmorland on the Scots March ; and Devon, who was elderly. 300 HENRY V. chap. xiv. With respect to the strength of the entire army, muster i4i5- rolls have been compiled from original data, according to which the effective force should have numbered some 2500 men-at-arms and 7000 archers — some mounted, some on foot — with 130 miners and y5 gunners — in all nearly j 0,000 effectives. But the lists are certainly inaccurate, and to some extent above the mark ; Henry, however, may have taken out 2000 men-at-arms and 6000 archers 7 The force doubt less also included a large number of personal attendants, ' varlets ' or ' pages ' ; but these took no part in regular encounters 2. 1 See these lists; H. Nicolas, Agincourt, 373-389; printed from the unpub lished collections for Foedera ; B. M. MS. Addl. 6400. The lists abound in errors and double entries, e.g. they assume that Cambridge and Scrope appeared with their full contingents. The only part that appears quite correct is the list of the King's supernumerary retinue ; pp. 386-389. On the other hand, it appears that more men came to Southampton than Henry wanted or could transport ; Nicolas, Append. 51. 2 In the siege operations at Harfleur, however, a certain number of these were told off to each lance and each archer ; Gesta, 26. The King undertook to find transport for four horses for each ordinary man-at-arms, or ' esquire,' six for each Knight, sixteen for each Baron, twenty-four for each Earl, and fifty for each Duke. At this rate 2000 lances, if all plain esquires, would have 6000 spare horses to be driven or led; Foed. ix. 227-233. In all the English expeditions across the Channel, the number of the horses seems remarkable. CHAPTER XV. Henry V (continued). Agincourt Campaign. — Siege and Capture of Harfleur. — March to Calais. — Crossing of the Somme. — Battle of Agincourt. On Thursday, 13th August, about five o'clock p.m., the chap. xv. King dropped anchor at the mouth of the Seine, near the g_ " Chef de Caux',' at a distance of about three miles from Landing in Harfleur \ In fact Henry landed ' on the spot where a Normandy. hundred years later the city of Havre de Grace was destined to arise ' 2. No one was allowed to land that day ; but early on the morrow the "disembarkation began. So accurately had Henry's plans been reported to the French, that the people of Harfleur had made every preparation for his coming. Not only had the fortifications of the town been made ready, but extensive earthworks had been raised along the beach at the place where it was anticipated that Henry would seek to land. But no men had been sent down from Paris ; the earthworks could not be manned ; and the English landed without opposition 3. The Dauphin as yet had contented himself with levying 1 Gesta, 13. The writer was present; see also the Chron. Normande of George Chastelain, as printed by Mr. Williams in the same vol. p. 168; also Titus Livius Forojuliensis, p. 8 ; E. Monstrelet, 366. 2 Martin, Hist. France. 3 Gesta, 14, 15. For the complaints of the French, see St. Denys, v. 532, 534- H15- cations. 203 HENRY V. tallages, so oppressive that the French peasantry for the moment were more intent on resistance to the tax-gatherers than to the English 7 Town of Harfleur stands in a valley at the confluence of the river Harfleur. j^zarde with the Seine ; it is described as a town of Its site andfortifi- moderate size 'with one parish church'; but its snug harbour in the heart of the town gave it importance, and y it was generally regarded as the key to Normandy. It was fortified in the best style of engineering science ; with walls and moats, salient angles, and flanking towers. The harbour mouth was closed with chains and stakes, and the three gates were covered by outer barbicans of timber and earth, with casemated shelter for the troops 2- Three full days were taken up with the English landing. On the 17th August Henry proceeded to invest the west side of Harfleur. The French by damming up the waters of the Lezarde had laid the valley under water ; and two days elapsed before the English could make their way round to the east side. In the interval a reinforcement of some 300 lances, under the Sieur de Gaucourt, had entered the town 3. By beginning with siege operations Henry broke away y from the traditions of his great-grandfather, which were altogether against sieges. But it would seem that his plan was to begin by making a thorough conquest of Normandy. Not less aspiring in his ambition than his predecessor, his mode of working towards his end was wholly different. Thus in the matter of humanity we are glad to trace a distinct departure from the older system : wanton fire-raising was forbidden ; also outrages on church property, men of Religion, and women 4. 1 St. Denys, v. 534"536- 2 Gesta, 16-19 ; E. Monstrelet, 366, 367. 3 Gesta, 19, 20. * See the Ordinances, Nicolas, Agincourt, Append. 31 ; given as published at Mantes in the spring of 1419, but being apparently the same as those now issued ; Gesta, 15 ; T. Elmham, Vita, 39. These again are said to be based on Ordinances of Richard II, published in 1386; Excerpta Historica, 29. SIEGE OF HARFLEUR. 303 After a formal summons to surrender, Operations began, chap, xv A brisk bombardment was kept up, Henry's guns being T „ very effective 1 : mining operations were also attempted on siege of the left, but these were twice defeated by counter mines. Harfleur. The King was indefatigable, superintending everything in person, and frequently going the rounds at night. The French on their side offered a most spirited resistance ; repairing by night the damages of the day, and keeping the English back at every point. The English, moreover, found the August and September heats very trying : the knights found it a burden even to stand up in their armour. Fatigue and irregular diet soon 1^- brought on sickness ; intemperance aggravating the neglect of sanitary rules2. On the 15th September the King's friend, Bishop Courtenay, died of dysentery, after five days' illness. On the same day the French made a sally from their western gate, and destroyed part of the English works. Returning to the charge On the morrow, they were defeated by the Earl of Huntingdon, who drove them back and captured the barbican 3. This reverse shook the confidence of the garrison. No attempt had been made to relieve them, though the Dauphin was at Vernon, and "the Constable d'Albret and Marshal Boucicault had troops at Rouen. Provisions were running short, and the fortifications were seriously shaken 4. On the 1 7th September Raoul de Gaucourt asked for a parley. But as he hesitated to accept Henry's terms, the King gave orders for continuing the bombardment through the night, as a preliminary to a general assault on the morrow. Every 1 For allusions to the game of tennis in connexion with the bombardment, see the ballad already cited. The engines are set up on high " to marke the chase ". " London ", a big gun, scores " Fifteen " ; " Messenger " scores "Thirty'', and "King's Daughter" "Forty-five"; Nicolas, Agincourt, 308, 310. For guns bearing these names, see Proceedings, ii. 339. 2 Gesta, 21-26 ; T. Elmham, Vita, 41-46 ; J. Hardyng, 374 and 389, note ; E. Monstrelet, 366, &c. ; St. Denys, 536, &c. 3 Gesta, 27 ; J. Hardyng, sup. 4 St. Denys, 538-540 ; E. Monstrelet, 367 ; and De Gaucourt's Statement ; H. Nicolas, Append. 25. 204 HENRY V. chap. xv. man was warned to be ready in the morning. During the night the French renewed the negotiations, and eventually submitted to Henry's terms, which were that they should surrender at discretion at one o'clock p.m., on Sunday y the 33nd September, unless previously relieved. Four-and-twenty hostages were given as a security for the observance of this compact. The Sieur de Hacqueville and twelve citizens were allowed to go to Vernon to state their case to the Dauphin. But he could do nothing for Surrender them. At the appointed hour the authorities placed them- °owne selves and the keys of their town in Henry's hands 1. Treatment In his dealings with his new acquisition Henry followed hab^nts Cl0sely the arrangements made by Edward III with re spect to Calais. His evident intention was to establish a new Calais ; as if one was not as much as the English Exchequer could support. All moveables were declared booty for the soldiery; but the inhabitants were taken under the King's protection, and divided into three classes : (i) those who were good for ransom ; (3) the able-bodied, who might be allowed to stay on taking an oath of al legiance ; (3) the weak and infirm, who would be out of place in a frontier stronghold. The last were forthwith marched out under escort, with just as much as they could carry in their hands ; and so turned over to the care of their countrymen at Lillebonne (34th September). The chivalry were dismissed on giving their parole to present them selves at Calais on the nth November. This was done ostensibly to allow them to make arrangements for their ransoms ; but mainly in the hope that their influence might win over others of the Norman gentry 2. 1 See Gesta, 29-32 ; Chron. London, 157 ; Henry's announcement to the City of London ; Riley, Memorials, 619 ; T. Wals. ii. 307-309 ; E. Monstrelet, 367 ; J. J. Ursins, 507 ; St. Denys, v. 540 ; see also Nicolas, 62-64. The two towers on the harbour did not surrender till two days later ; J. Wavrin, ii. 187 ; J. Le Fevre, i. 229. For fuller details of the siege, see G. Kohler, Kriegswesen in d. Ritterzeit, ii. 741, from whom I differ in nothing but his estimate of the English numbers. 2 Gesta, 35 ; St. Denys, 542-544 ; J. J. Ursins, 507 ; E. Monstrelet, 370 ; and De Gaucourt's Statement, sup. p. 25. HENRY CHALLENGES THE DAUPHIN. 105 Henry took this opportunity to transmit to the Dauphin chap. xv. a c^ajk^gge^jn_the olden style ; offering to submit all i4Ig, questions between them to the issue of a personal combat. ' He explained that he addressed himself to the Dauphin by reason of the incapacity of his father : to obviate any technical difficulty on the score of the ' want of interest' of the son in the matters in dispute, he offered to meet him on the understanding that whatever the result Charles VI should be allowed to retain his dominions during his life, the reversion to fall to Henry if the result should be in his favour 1. This challenge is interesting as revealing to us, for the first time, the exact object_to wards which Henry's policy during the rest of his life was directed. Pending the receipt of an answer to the challenge — for which it is said that Henry undertook tq wait eight days in Harfleur — the future course of the campaign had to be considered. The losses by sickness and desertion had been English enormous ; amounting apparently to one-third of the whole d°sr^s the force. The Earl of Suffolk, Michael de la Pole, was one siege. of those who had succumbed to dysentery; the Duke of Clarence, and the Earls of March, Arundel2, and Not tingham 3, declared themselves unfit for further service 4- Then 300 lances and 900 bows had been assigned to the Earl of Dorset for the garrison of Harfleur 5- Altogether it appeared that the numbers of those able and willing to continue the campaign had fallen to some 900 lances and 3000 bows6; while the reports of the strength of the 1 See the challenge; Foed. ix. 313; dated Harfleur "xvi. Sept.," which should be read " xxvi. Sept. ; " see Nicolas, Agincourt, 72. The writer of the Gesta, who was with Henry, informs us that the challenge was sent off by De Gaucourt and Guienne Herald on the 27th September ; p. 33. 2 Arundel died on the 13th October; Escheats 3 Henry V, No. 54, cited by Nicolas. 3 John Mowbray, brother of Thomas who was beheaded in 1405 ; like him he was usually styled the Earl Marshal ; Lords' Report. 4 T. Wals. ii. 309 ; so too the lists printed by Nicolas. s Gesta, 35 ; T. Elmham, 49 ; Proceedings, ii. 184, 185. 6 See the return of those present at the battle of Agincourt made up by Sir Robert Babthorp, Controller of the Household, by the King's orders; and 306 HENRY V. chap. xv. French army at Rouen were swelling daily. Great efforts ~7 were made to induce the King to rest on his laurels and Henry sail home. But Henry refused to accept the capture of resolves on Harfleur as a sufficient return for all his outlay; he a march 1 1 tvt to Calais, insisted, at all events, on leading his army through N or- mandy to Calais, estimated to be distant about eight days' march. Perhaps he cherished a hope that the people might rise for him. The troops were directed to provide themselves with such necessaries as could be carried on horseback ; all carts and waggons being left behind 7 On the 8th or 9th October Henry left Harfleur 2. According to English custom the army was divided into three columns or "wards"; the va'ward, mainward, and rereward ; with two detached wings covering the flanks on the right hand and the left. The van apparently was commanded by the veteran duellist, Sir John Cornewall (" Grenecornwall"), and Sir Gilbert Umphraville, comr monly called the Earl of Kyme. The King commanded the centre, with the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of delivered to the Barons ofthe Exchequer, 19th November, 1416. Only half of the list has been preserved, but the part preserved is fortunately the latter half, and it gives the " Summa Totalis'" as 812 men-at-arms and 3073 archers. The details supplied by the extant portion only make np 570 men-at-arms and 1440 archers; the difference, doubtless representing the details given in the missing part. The contingents detailed in Babthorp's list show an average reduction of one-third of their strength, as compared with the numbers attributed to them on the Muster Rolls taken before sailing. The losses are greatest in the large contingents, and least in the small contingents, where the gentlemen could look after their men. See the list as printed by Sir H. Nicolas, Agincourt, 331-364, and 401-403. The chaplain gives the number of the men-at-arms at Agincourt as 900, but he raises the number of archers to 5000 ; Gesta, 36. Again, at p. 57, he gives the total of fighting men as 6000. This is the highest figure that can be taken into consideration. The short prose record of the Agincourt campaign, printed with Hardyng, p. 390, also gives 900 lances and 5000 archers. Le Fevre, i. 245, also gives the men-at- arms as 900-1000, so that on that point we have a strong consensus of testimony. 1 Gesta, 35, 36; T. Elmham, Vita, 49-51 ; Tit. Liv. 11, 12. 2 " die Martis pridie ante festum Sancti Dionysii in nonis Octobris" ; Gesta, 36 ; a contradictory date, Tuesday the Eve of St. Denys being the 8th October ; while the Nones fell on the 7th October. Elmham, Liber Metr. 1 14, gives the ' Day of St. Denys,' i. e. the 9th ; so too T. Otterbourne ; G. Chastelain gives the 10th. Vob.l.To face paqv 207 Qszfbrd University Press. MARCH THROUGH PAYS DE CAUX. 307 Huntingdon u under him ; while the Duke of York and the chap. xv. Earl of Oxford brought up the rear2. More true to his 77T part of lawful King of France than his great-grandfather, Henry issued stringent orders against wanton outrages on the march through his dominions 3. Marching by Montivilliers and Fecamp, on the nth October he came to Arques. The garrison of the fort opened fire ; but after a parley agreed to allow the English to cross the river by the town bridge ; and to yield black mail in the shape of a supply of bread and wine 4. On Saturday the 1 3th they marched past Eu, skirmishing with the garrison ; and so on to some neighbouring villages where they lodged 5 The historic waters of the Somme were now almost within sight. The question of the moment was, would the French dispute the passage? Henry apparently endeavoured to assure his followers that the Duke of Burgundy would never co-operate with the Armagnacs ; and that for fear of him the French Princes would not dare to attack. But many thought that the chivalry of France could never be so lost to knightly honour as to permit an English army to reach Calais unmolested 6. Henry hoped to cross the Somme by the old ford of Passage Blanche-Taque. But on Sunday the 13th October, when somme within five miles of the place, he was informed that the tarred. ford was held in strength 7 Wheeling round he advanced 1 John Holland, son of Huntingdon-Exeter, Richard's Appellant. He was only Earl by courtesy, not having yet been admitted to his title. 2 J. Wavrin, ii. 188. 3 Gesta, 37 ; T. Elmham, Vita, 51 ; Tit. Liv. 12. 4 Gesta, sup.; J. J. Ursins, 519. 5 Gesta, sup. ; T. Elmham, Vita, 52 ; Id. Liber Metr. sup. ; J. Le Fevre, i. 231, 232. 6 Gesta, 38. 7 J. Le Fevre, i. 232 ; T. Elmham, Vita, 52 ; followed by Tit. Liv. 13 ; so also E. Monstrelet, 371 ; and J. Wavrin, 189, 190. Le Fevre asserts that the information given to Henry was false, and that the ford was not defended ; but this seems very unlikely. Le Fevre, then a pursuivant-at-arms, aged nineteen, was with the English. Wavrin, aged fifteen, was on the French side, with his father and elder brother. I give the name " Blanche Taque" as given by Le Fevre, an Abbeville man. i4i5- 30 8 HENRY V. to Abbeville ; but the bridges there having been broken down, he took up his quarters for the night round Mareuil March and Bailleul-en-Vimeu \ inland. With heavy hearts the English resigned themselves to the necessity of marching inland up the river, in quest of a crossing-place, with the ever-increasing probability of finding the French army posted in some advantageous situation. Passing R^my, where the bridge was again broken down, they camped round Hangest and Crouy. On the 15th they made a long march, past Amiens, to some point at or near Boves ; at which place we find them on the 1 6th. There they effected a convention through which they obtained a much-needed supply of bread, their original stock being about exhausted2. Of wine they also found more than enough ; and Henry had to exert himself to prevent excesses 3. On Thursday, the 1 7th October, they marched from Boves to a point on the river opposite Corbie, where a smart en gagement took place between the outposts. Here Henry showed his determination to enforce discipline by hanging a man who was found to have stolen a pix, with the Eucharist in it4. Rumours being current in the army that in the event of a pitched battle taking place the French intended to ride down the archers with cavalry (as Bruce had done at Bannockburn), the King ordered each man to provide himself with a sharp-pointed stake, six feet long, to be planted in the ground as " chevaux de frise " 6. Another long march across a bend in the Somme brought them on Friday, the 18th, to the neighbourhood of Nesle ; and there at last a crossing-place was reported, with no enemy to bar the way. Two fords had been found, at 1 Gesta, 39 ; J. Wavrin, ii. 191 ; E. Monstrelet, 371. 2 Gesta, 39-41 ; J. Le F^vre, i. 233; Wavrin, 191, 192. 3 When the men pleaded that they ought to be allowed to fill their bottles, Henry answered that he would not mind the bottles, if they did not make bottles of their bellies ; J. Le F£vre, and J. Wavrin, sup. 4 Gesta, 41 ; T. Elmham, Vita, 55. For testimony to the good conduct of the English army, see St. Denys, v. 556. 5 Gesta, 42, / PASSAGE OF THE SOMME. 309 Voyenne and B^thancourt, accessible by narrow causeways chap, xv, through marshy ground ; quite practicable, but open to attack, had there been any force to take advantage of the opportunity. Sir John Cornewall and Sir Gilbert Umphraville were sent over to secure the landing-places on the other side ; while the approaches were made good with planks and brushwood. One crossing-place was assigned to the baggage animals, and the other to the regular army. To prevent crowding or disorder the King stationed himself at one approach, trusty officers being posted at the other. The crossing, which began at 1 o'clock The p.m., was not accomplished till an hour after sunset 7 cfsKcja. Detachments of French cavalry had appeared soon after the crossing began ; but when the English outposts ad vanced against them they vanished. With hearts relieved of a load of anxiety the English established themselves for the night in the nearest hamlets 2. When Henry landed at Harfleur, orders for a speedy muster had been issued to all the magnates of France, including the Duke of Burgundy. Charles d'Albret, the Constable, had been appointed Commander-in-chief, and Marshal Boucicault Captain of Normandy. But Burgundy demanded the recall of all Ordinances issued against him ; and the appointment of d'Albret to the chief com mand apparently excited the jealousy of the 'Fleurs de Lys'3. On the 10th September Charles VI took the Oriflamme Musters from St. Denis, and moved to Mantes, his son being pr^h already at Vernon. When Harfleur fell the French King 1 " Per horam infra noctem "; Gesta ; " ad unam horam infra noctem ... ad unam horam noctis " ; J. Hardyng, note. " Jusques a pen pres du jour failly " ; Le Fevre. 2 Saturday, 19th October. See the excellent account of Henry's chaplain; Gesta, 42-44; with the variants given by the MSS. Harl. 661, and Selden, B. 10, printed J. Hardyng, 391 note; cf. E. Monstrelet, 371 ; J. Le Fevre, i. 235 ; J. Wavrin, ii. 193. Monstrelet gives the names ofthe fords. 3 St. Denys, v. 534 ; E. Monstrelet, 367 ; J. J. Ursins, 505. For Burgundy's demands, see Ursins, 509-517. The " Seigneurs de Fleurs de Zys" were the Princes of the Blood. * p 3IO HENRY V. 1415- Burgundy holds off. chap. xv. advanced to Rouen ; and fresh calls to arms were issued. The French nobility turned out in great strength. All the Armagnacs came with the King of Sicily, and the Dukes of Berri, Orleans, Bourbon, Alew^on, and Bar. The Duke of Burgundy did his best to keep his party away; but his brother, the Count of Nevers, and the gentry of Flanders and Picardy, came in spite of him 7 The noblesse felt so strong that they refused with contempt the offer of a contingent from the bourgeoisie of Paris 2. D'Albret and Boucicault, as practical soldiers and heirs of the traditions of Charles V, were in favour of purely defensive tactics. Thus they had refused to attack the English at Harfleur ; and when Henry began his march they retired behind the waters of the Somme 3. But a royal council of war, at which they were not present, was held at Rouen ; and a general action was resolved upon by thirty voices against five. Orders to that effect were immediately forwarded to the Constable and Marshal at Bapaume ; and all fit for arms were ordered to join them. A pressing invitation was addressed to the Count of Charolois, the only don of the Duke of Burgundy, who was then at Arras. But his father's orders were so explicit that his governors at once removed him to Aire. We are assured that to his dying day Philip the Good never forgot the humiliation of that hour4- Charles VI and the Dauphin also wished to take part in the engagement. But the old Duke of Berri, who remembered the day of Poitiers, and its consequences, shook his head. ' Better lose the battle than lose both the battle and the King,' said he 5- The On the 30th October Henry received an intimation of send a t^ie intentions of the French, in the shape of a message from challenge, the Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, intimating that they 1 St. Denys, v. 538, 540, 548 ; E. Monstrelet, 369 ; J. Le Fevre. 2 St. Denys, 548. 3 J. J. Ursins, 518. • E. Monstrelet, 371, 372 ; J. Le Fevre, i. 237-240; J. Wavrin, ii. 196-198. Monstrelet gives the date of the Council as the 20th October, but the English received the challenge on that day. 6 G. Bouvier, Berri King at-arms, cited Sismondi, xii. 479. MARCH THROUGH PICARDY. ill hoped to meet him ere he came to Calais ; and asking for chap. xv. the appointment of a meeting-place. To the first part of t „ this communication Henry answered "soberly" that what ever was the will of God would be acceptable to him. To the request for a meeting-place he replied that he was marching straight to Calais ; by night he lay neither in fenced cities nor strongholds ; they might meet him where they liked x- Henry as a good general put a bold face on the matter ; but his chaplain does not affect to disguise the fact that the prospect of battle brought no comfort to the hearts of the wayworn host. The challenge from the French Princes was received at Monchy-Lagache, where Henry apparently rested on the Sunday (30th October)2. Preparations were made for action on the morrow; but no enemy appearing, Henry continued his march, in fighting trim. Passing a little to the left of Peronne, where he skirmished with the garri son, he halted at Encre, now Albert, on the Miraumont. The state of the roads beyond Peronne gave alarming indications of the numbers they might expect to en counter3. Tuesday's march brought them to Forceville and Acheux. On Wednesday, 33rd October, passing a league to the right of Doullens, so as to cross the Authie high up, they marched by Leucheux to Bonnieres and Frevent on the Canche ; the vanguard resting at the latter place4. During these three days the English had been executing Flank a flank march, past the heights of Bapaume, where the marc ' French were posted. But the French had not the nerve to strike a bold blow ; they wished if possible to force the 1 See J. Wavrin, ii. 194; and J. Le Fevre, i, 236; cf. Gesta, 45; T. Elmham, Vita, 54; E. Hall, 64; J. J. Ursins, 520. 2 Between Ham and Athies; J. Wavrin, 198; E. Monstrelet, 371, 372. Perhaps Henry made his way there on Saturday night. 3 Monday, 21st October; Gesta, 45; E. Monstrelet, sup.; J. Le Fevre, 240 ; J. Wavrin, 199, 4 Gesta, 45, 46; E. Monstrelet; J. Le F^vre, and J. Wavrin, sup. The slight discrepancies between the authorities are due to the fact that the whole army was never quartered in one village. P 1 312 HENRY V. chap. xv. English to attack them in position ; and for that purpose it was necessary to get in front of them, and bar their way. Accordingly when Henry marched past Bapaume, they pressed on to take up fresh ground behind St. Pol and Hesdin. The armies On Thursday, 34th October, as the English were draw near. approaching the Ternoise at Blangy, the French were reported as being already across the stream, and at no great distance on the right front. Henry hastened to secure his own crossing. From the crest of the plateau on the other side, some 300 feet above the river, he gained a view of the dark squadrons of the French x slowly winding their way upwards along a hollow; their course being directed towards Tramecourt and Agincourt, across the line of the English march2. On they came, band after band, till the whole country seemed covered with the swarming hosts 3 Continuing their march, the French eventually halted at a distance of about half a mile from the English, a slight hollow intervening 4. Prepara- Henry at once wheeled his column into line5, facing the action™ enemy ; so that his van became the left, and the rearguard the right. In contemplation of immediate action the cavalry were made to dismount. Those who could began to ' take chaplains,' i. e. to confess. The King's Henry showed the utmost coolness. Sir Walter Hun- e' gerford having ventured to utter a wish for an extra 1 0,000 (!) archers, the young king rebuked him in his grandest manner. ' By the God of Heaven, by whose grace I stand, and in whom I put my trust, I would not have another man if I could. Wottest thou not that 1 " Vidimus per unum milliare a nobis tetros cuneos Gallicorum'' ; Gesta. 2 Gesta, 46; E. Monstrelet, 372, 373; J. Le Fevre, sup.; J. Wavrin, 199, 200. The English writers speak of the Ternoise as " Fluvius Gladiorum," " River of Swerdes." The French probably crossed at Erin. 3 "In agminibus aciebus et turmis, incomparabili multitudine respectu nostri," &c. ; Gesta. 4 "Ultra dimidium milliare . . . habentes vallem modicam inter nos et eos " ; Id. ; see the map. The situation is unmistakable. 5 " Eos in aciebus et alis constituit " : " acies " refers to the men-at-arms ; " alae " to the archers. PLAN OF BATTLE OF AGINCOURT 25 OCT 1415 Vbl.Z To face, -gage. ZIZ SCALE I : 10,000 SCALE OF METRES. 100 200 300 400 /+ English Mile. Contours Etc. tajuav from. French* Ordnance- Survey. Occfbrd, Vhixersity Press. £°° J^.ft.Ejutesivwcussiim^nottohcwveaUsbedr^ -iA Archers /\ Men, at, artne. _— - THE EVE OF AGINCOURT. 113 the Lord with these few can overthrow the pride of the chap. xv. French ' ? x 777I4I5- The English, however, occupied a very commanding position, which the French were not disposed to attack. Resuming their march they disappeared behind a wood ; obviously the wood which to this day encircles the low-lying hamlet of Tramecourt. Henry then became apprehensive of a flanking attack on his left, which occupied the most advanced position ; and led his army onwards along the road, past the woods of Maisoncelles, by which his outlook had been previously obscured. Beyond Maisoncelles an open expanse of sown corn fields lay before him ; and it soon became apparent that The armies the French were establishing themselves for the night ^ theP between Tramecourt and Agincourt, content with having night. fairly got across the line of the English advance. The English accordingly remained pretty well where they were, the King turning aside for the night to Maisoncelles, the men mostly bivouacking in the gardens and orchards around. The headquarters of the two armies were little more than a mile _ apart ; and the outposts were so near that the sound of their voices, and even men's names as they called to each other, could be distinguished 2- Henry's last act of the day was to dismiss his French prisoners ; putting them on their parole to return if he should gain the day. Heavy rain in the early night offered an uncomfortable prelude to a day of mortal strife ; especially to the English, already "bothe hungery, wery, sore traveled and muche vexed with colde diseases " 3. In the course of the night the moon rose ; and Henry sent out officers to reconnoitre. When day broke the English found before them a fair 1 Gesta, 47. The writer was evidently reminded of 1 Maccab. iii. 18 ; but Henry's words do not amount to a quotation ; cf. Elmham, Vita, 61 ; Tit. Liv. 16. 2 The outposts appear to have been only some 400 yards apart ; E. Mons trelet 373 ; Tit. Liv. 16 ; " distancia vix quartae miliaris anglici " ; T. Elm ham, 59. 3 E. Hall, 65, from E. Monstrelet, 373; T. Wals. ii. 310; see Gesta, 47, 4.8 • J. Wavrin, ii. 200-202 ; J. Le Fevre, i. 242-244 ; T. Elmham, Vita, 56-59- %iA HENRY V. chap. xv. field for fighting on, if that was all they asked for ; but ,_ certainly not one that offered them any special advan- The Eng- tages. They occupied, no doubt, the crest of a plateau, lish posi- the ground falling away on either hand ; but the width of the whole field was much greater than they could command ; while the French in greatly superior numbers fairly blocked the way in front. However, it was pretty clear that Calais could not be reached without a battle ; and English traditions were not averse to battles ; so after hearing mass Henry set his army in array. Formation In view of his slender numbers he drew up his force in °ftheo (Bratias! At St. Paul's the King was received by a procession of bishops and clergy. After turning aside to " offer " in due form, he resumed his march. " And so the Kyng and hise presoners of Frensshmen reden thorugh London unto Westm' to mete (meat, i. e. dinner), and there the Kyng abod stille." During the procession Henry distinguished himself by his sober demeanour. He forbad all songs of personal 1 "Ad turrim aquaeductus in Cornehille.'' 2 Lydgate, sup.; Archaeol. xxii. 383, "Nowelle"; see also Monstrelet, 216. PARLIAMENT. 237 panegyric ; and even refused to allow the dinted basnet to chap. xvi. be exhibited. He was attended by a small retinue of his ~~ personal household ; but the prisoners were exhibited under safe escort 1, and the widow of Henry IV was not spared the mortification of seeing her younger son Arthur paraded with the rest 2. The country had been quiet during the King's absence. Perhaps the most notable incident was the execution of a skinner, John Claydon by name, for having listened with approbation to the reading of Lollard tracts, after he had made a recantation 3 From the 4th to the 1 3th November a Parliament had Parliament been held at Westminster by the Regent Bedford. The ^i^tS!" Chancellor could dwell with effect on the 'glorious and marvellous ' victory of Agincourt. The Commons showed themselves fairly liberal ; but their grants evinced fully more regard for their pockets than for constitutional precedent. They agreed to accelerate by six weeks the collection of the Subsidy granted by the last Parliament for the 2nd February, 141 6 ; they granted another Subsidy for the nth November, 14 16 ; and they gave the King the Parliamentary Customs for the term of his life, at existing rates 4. Practically the only other business trans acted was the confirmation of the sentences passed upon Cambridge, Scrope, and Grey 5. 1 Gesta, 61-69; Chron. London, 103; and Lydgate's poem, id. 230-233; also given H. Nicolas, Agincourt, 326, Sec. ; T. Elmham, Vita, 72 ; and Liber Metr. 125-129, also 80; Tit. Liv. 22. 2 The son did not recognise his mother when they met, having been parted from her for twelve years; see Nicolas, 157, citing Godefroy's Vie de Artur III. due de Bretaigne, 1622. See also Cosneau, Connetable de Richemont, p. 46, where the meeting is described. 3 August; Wilkins, Cone. iii. 371 ; Riley, Memorials, 617 ; Chron. London, 99 ; T. Wals. ii. 307 ; Fox, i. 726. " The Lanterne of Light " was the title of a book found in Claydon's possession. Richard Turmyne, a baker, was also condemned, but received a pardon from the King ; Riley, Memorials, 630. 4 Rot. Pari. iv. 64. Tonnage and Poundage were granted at 3.J. and i2d. ; for the wool duties see below. The Canterbury clergy voted a double Subsidy in December ; and York a single one in January, 1416 ; Wake, State of Church, 352. 5 Rot. Pari. iv. 62-69. Q 2 228 HENRY V. chap. xvi. In France the results of the battle of Agincourt had been ~ discussed chiefly in their bearing upon domestic politics. Situation The Duke of Burgundy deeming the victory won for him, in France. promptly started his forces for Paris. The loss of two brothers had not impaired the strength of his party; while the opposite faction had been stripped of its leaders. But the Dauphin and the Duke of Berri removed the King to Paris ; and summoned the Count of Armagnac to their councils, offering him the baton of Constable of France. Burgundy found it advisable to halt his army at Lagny on the Marne, some twenty miles from Paris, the Dauphin having forbidden him to approach the city. That was Louis' last act in politics. About the 18th December he died 7 the third son of his father who had died as Dauphin. His death was a further blow to the Armagnac party, as his next brother John, who succeeded him, was a Burgundian. But the ability of the Count of Armagnac, armed with the authority of the King's name, kept Bur gundy at arm's length. At the end of January, 141 6, the Duke retired to his own territories 2. Parliament The shortness of the autumn Session involved the minstef summons of a spring Parliament, which met at West minster on the 1 6th March, 141 6. The Chancellor's speech was again warlike : he gave out two texts — " Iniciavit vobis viam " ; and " Dimidium facti qui bene cepit habet"3- Referring to the sanction pre viously given to the King's ' purpose ' of ' recovering his rights beyond the sea,' he pointed to recent events as proof that the righteousness of such purpose ' had been openly determined and approved by the Omnipotent ' 4. The Commons at once agreed to accelerate the collection 1 18th December, Monstrelet, Le P'evre, Ursins ; 16th December, St. Denys. Two elder brothers, both named Charles, had died in infancy. 2 Sismondi, France, xii. 490-494; St. Denys, v. 582-592 ; E. Monstrelet, 38i-383 ! J- J- Ursins, 521-526. The Armagnacs in Paris derided Burgundy as fean-le-Long, and Jean-de- Lagny. 3 'He hath shewn you the way,' and 'a good beginning is half the deed.' 4 Rot. Pari. iv. 70 ; for a different report of the speech, see Gesta, 73. PARLIAMENT. IV) of the Subsidy granted in the autumn, so as to make it chap. xvi. available by Whitsunday (7th June). But they made no 6 offer of any further supply. Nor does much business of general interest appear to have been transacted, although the Parliament sat first from the 16th March to the 8th of April ; and again, after an Easter recess, for some time in May1. Young Henry Percy (son of Hotspur) did homage as Earl of Northumberland, his exchange for Murdach Stewart having been at last effected 2. The Ordinance banishing all Bretons attached to the Household of the Queen Dowager was again re-enacted 3. As regards Johanna herself, the measure was unworthy ; but the Bretons had been guilty of numerous acts of piracy upon English shipping 4. A petition, apparently put forward by the clergy, again assures us that the operation of the Statutes of Provisors had been prejudicial to the advance ment of men of learning at Oxford and Cambridge 5 The adjournment of Parliament in April had been agreed upon partly out of regard for Easter, and partly to allow due preparation to be made for the reception of a dis tinguished visitor, the Emperor Sigismund, or to give him his correct title, the King of the Romans 6. Sigismund Sigismund offered his services as a negotiator for peace with France ; fandEnS his ultimate object being to secure Henry's concurrence in his ecclesiastical policy. The Council summoned for the ist November, 1414, had Council of been formally opened by Pope John XXIII on the 5th Constance- 1 Rot. Pari. 71, 72. The writs de expensis are not forthcoming after the first year of this reign, so that the exact duration of the Sessions cannot always be determined. 2 lb.; see Proceedings, ii. 188 ; Foed. ix. 323 ; and for Percy's Charter as Earl, Lords' Report, v. 178. 3 Statute 3 Henry V ; Statute 2, cap. 3. * Rot. Pari. 89. 5 Rot. Pari. 81. 6 Friendly negotiations had gone on between Henry and Sigismund in the autumn of 1414. Sir Walter Hungerford was away on this business, 16th July- 20th September ; Foed. ix. 156 ; Devon Issues, 333 ; Enrolled Foreign Accounts, 2 Henry V. 230 HENRY V. chap. xvi. November. Among the first to enter Constance was " a 1414 pale thin man, in mean attire, yet escorted by three nobles of his country; ... he came under a special safe-conduct from the Emperor, which guaranteed in the strictest and amplest terms his safe entrance and safe departure from John Huss. the Imperial City. This was the famous heresiarch of Bohemia, John Huss " 7 "The Council had been summoned for three principal objects. I. The union of the Church under one acknow ledged Pope. II. The reformation of the Clergy in its head and in its members. III. The extirpation of erroneous and heretical doctrines." At the root of all other questions lay the ultimate question, that of the relative superiority of Pope or Council. To John XXIII the order in which these questions were to be taken in hand was a matter of vital importance. If the attention of the Council could be directed in the first instance to the suppression of heresy, other questions might be adjourned or evaded, and his own position fully established. The presence of Huss gave the Pope the very opportunity he could have wished 2. Wycliffe's writings and doctrines had found their way at an early date to Bohemia, through the connexion established by Queen Anne, the wife of Richard II. The Reformer's views found acceptance among the Tsech court and people, and were adopted as watchwords against the Germans, who were then strictly orthodox. Huss was Rector of the University of Prague, and confessor to Queen Sophia, the consort of Wentzel ; he was a man of Wycliffe's own type ; a scholar, a man of blameless life, and winning manners. After some hesitation he had adopted Wycliffe's doctrines ; " at least as far as denunciations, not only against the corruptions, but against the wealth of the Clergy." John XXIII at his accession had cited Huss to Rome on a long list of charges ; Huss appealed from Milman, Latin Christianity, vi. 160; St. Denys, vi. 436-440; Sismondi, Repub. Ital. viii. 248, citing L'Enfant Concile de Constance, i. 19. Milman, 161. For the general situation at the meeting of the Council, see also M. Creighton, Papacy, i. 261-270. COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE. 131 the Pope to a Council. An attempt to press the sale of chap. xvi. Indulgences for the war against Ladislas had led to a I4I. further breach between the Pope and Bohemia, Huss taking the lead among his countrymen. Having appealed to a Council, Huss felt it a duty to appear1. In the first business sitting of the Council, which was held on the 16th November, the Pope invited attention to the question of faith, ' and notably to certain errors said to have been disseminated by one John, surnamed Wickleff'2- On the 28th November Huss was seized and imprisoned 3 Sigismund, who had been receiving the Crown at Aix- la-Chapelle, did not reach Constance till December 4. The question of the imprisonment of Huss came up at once. The King of the Romans found that if he kept his word Parties to the Tsech heretic the Council might be broken up, and council his grand ambition defeated. He consented to abandon Huss 5. By this breach of faith Sigismund established " perfect Pope John harmony " between himself and the orthodox reformers — sigismund ' to the ruin of John XXIII. and the At the first meeting of the Council the Italians and the Reformers. followers of the curia preponderated to such an extent that, had the votes been taken per capita, the Pope would have been master of the situation. To obviate this result the Council resolved to vote by nations. Four nations were established at the first : Italians, Germans, French, and English ; later the Spaniards were admitted as a fifth nation 6. John had hoped to be confirmed as the true head of the Church ; but it soon appeared that the managers of 1 Milman, 162-168 ; Sismondi, sup. 246-248, citing L'Enfant. For a fuller Life of Huss, or Hus, see Creighton, i. 314-332. 2 St. Denys, 450, 462. 3 Sismondi, sup. ; Milman, 171. 4 St. Denys, 470; Milman, 172; Creighton, 272. 5 Milman, 177, 178. 6 Sismondi, 237; Milman, 181; cf. St. Denys, 466, 470; Creighton, 269, 277. 233 HENRY V. chap. xvi. the Council had other views. Spain still adhered to Benedict XIII ; and parts of Italy and Germany (with Scotland) stood by Gregory XII. It was found that the Schism could not be ended without ' mutual sacrifices.' On the ist March, 1415, John was forced to promise that he would ' set an example to his rivals ' by resigning v. But the pill was too bitter; on the 21st March he fled from Constance and retreated to Schaffhausen, a possession of his chief supporter Frederick, Duke of Austria. The Duke joined him there ; but the Swiss at the call of the Emperor gladly rose against their traditional foe. Overpowered by the Swiss, Frederick returned to Con stance to make his submission. On the 17th May John followed his example ; three days before he had been suspended by the Council ; a list of charges too monstrous to be wholly credible was brought against him ; he refused Deposition to defend himself. On the 29th May, 1415, he was deposed xxnin anc^ sent to PriSOn 2- To John Huss the fall of the Pope proved fatal. The orthodox reformers who led the Council, such as Jean Gerson of Paris, the Cardinal Pierre d'Ailly, the Cardinal of St. Mark, and Cardinal Zabarella of Florence, having dethroned the immoral Pope, were now anxious to show that they could also repress " dangerous latitude " in other quarters. Wycliffe and his doctrines had already been formally condemned 3 ; Huss held the condemned article that an unworthy priest was no priest ; and Sigismund had been taunted with having already shown too much leniency to a heretic. " Obnoxious passages " were gathered from Huss' writings, and articles of accusation framed. He was brought before the Council 4. On the question of 1 Sismondi, 238; Milman, 183 ; St. Denys, 470. By the formal Bull, dated 6th March, John only promised to resign if and so far as Benedict and Gregory should do the same; id. 478, Creighton, 279. 2 Sismondi, 239-241; St. Denys, 480-696; Milman, 188, 195, &c. ; T. Wals. ii. 303. For estimates of John's character, see Sismondi, 234 ; and Creighton, i. 299 ; and for details in general, the latter, 288-301. 3 4th May; St. Denys, v. 650-670. This occurred in the eighth full sitting of the Council ; Milman; Creighton, i. 341. 4 5th June ; Creighton, 344. JOHN HUSS. 233 Transubstantiation he cleared himself fully. ' His doctrine chap. xvi. was that of St. Anselm.' On the question of ' Dominion' , g_ he was dangerously explicit — ' A King in mortal sin was no King before God.' He was pressed " to make un qualified submission to the Council, and to abjure all his errors " ; but he refused to abjure errors of which he was not convinced. After three hearings Sigismund moved his condemnation. For a whole month (8th June-6th July) efforts were made to elicit a submission. On the 6th July Condemna- he was condemned and burnt. Huss suffered as a heretic, execution " but his heresy has never been clearly defined " : he fell of Huss. a victim to" the power ofthe hierarchy " and " ecclesiastical dominion " 7 The deposition of John XXIII did not ipso facto close the Schism. The pretensions of Gregory XII and Bene dict XIII still remained. Gregory gave no further trouble. On the 4th July, 1415, his representative was allowed to go through the form of convening the Council in his master's name ; and then tendered a Bull of final abdication 2. To overcome the resistance of Benedict, Sigismund took Efforts of a journey to Perpignan ; but he found the old Arragonese ^1™™ as wordy and impracticable as ever. The exertions of the Schism. the King, however, had the effect of at last detaching the Spaniards from his cause3. From Perpignan and Narbonne, Sigismund made his His visit way to Paris, entering the city on the ist March, 141 6 4. t0 aris' He was received with all honour ; but his diplomatic efforts were not attended With success. In fact the Count of Armagnac took the first opportunity of .leaving Paris. On the 8th April Sigismund took his departure for London, 1 Milman, vi. 197-2 1 2, citing Von der Hardt, " the fullest report" ; Sismondi cites L'Enfant and Raynaldus. See also Creighton, i. 344-355. 2 Sismondi, Repnb. Ital. viii. 242. Gregory died two years later, aged ninety, 1 8th October, 141 7. 3 Sismondi, 243, 244: "La capitulation, signed a Narbonne le 13 D6- cembre, ne fut executee que le 15 Octobre, 1416." See St. Denys, v. 708- 742. 1 St. Denys, v. 744; J. J. Ursins, 530; E. Monstrelet, 384. 234 HENRY V. chap. xvi. taking with him the Archbishop of Rheims and a French — 7 embassy1. The Earl of Warwick entertained the party at Calais in such style, as to gain for himself the title of ' Father of Courtesy ' 2 ; which might perhaps be rendered in modern phrase the ' Finest Gentleman in Europe.' He comes On the ist May, " at nyght," the King of the Romans landng" landed at Dover with 1000 horses. The Duke of Gloucester was there to receive him ; at Rochester he found the Earl of Oxford ; at Dartford, the Duke of Clarence. On the 7th May he was escorted into London ; the civic authorities meeting him at Blackheath ; the King receiving him " at Seynt Thomas Watering " 3. Great expectations had been formed in England of the possible results of this unprecedented visit. Henry entertained his guest in right royal fashion, surrendering for his use his own apartments at West minster4, and giving all his time to him ; on the other hand, Sigismund's activity and fondness for pleasure made the task of entertainment easy. It is possible that he may have witnessed the re-opening of Parliament after the Easter recess 5- If he did he was the only Emperor that was ever present on such an occasion. It is certain that he was admitted to the brotherhood of the Garter on Rogation Sunday (34th May), the Garter Feast having been delayed on his account 6. But on the question of peace Henry would listen to nothing short of the Bretigny terms ; while the French expected the restitution of Harfleur7. 1 E. Monstrelet, 384 ; J. Le Fevre, i. 278 ; Foed. ix. 342. 2 Goodwin, Henry V, p. 103. 3 Between Deptford and Southwark ; see Chron. London, 103 ; T. Wals. ii. 315 ; Proceedings, ii. 193, 195. 4 Henry retired to Lambeth for the time. 5 nth May; Rot. Pari. iv. 72. Sigismund's presence in London is noticed, but not his actual presence in Westminster Hall ; Pauli. 6 Gesta, 76 ; T. Elmham, 75-77 ; T. Wals. sup. As an appropriate offering, Sigismund brought with him the head of St. George, which was preserved at Windsor till the time of Henry VIII. Williams, note to Gesta, 78 ; J. Ross, Hist. Regum Angl. 209. See also Chron. London, 159. 7 See Foed. 362, 787 ; Du Fresne de Beaucourt, Charles VII, i. 264, citing Lettres des Rois, ii. 362. SIGISMUND IN ENGLAND. 135 The efforts of Count William of Holland, the father-in- chap. xvi. law of the new Dauphin, who had joined Sigismund in I4l6_ London, were equally fruitless 7 Yet it would seem that the country was again anxious for peace 2, and Henry in consequence issued a proclamation, throwing the blame on his French prisoners, and ordering a fresh muster for the ist July3. The charge against the prisoners was doubtless based on the fact that they had refused to purchase their liberty by undertaking to support Henry's claims in France, as we shall see. 1 T. Wals., and Gesta, sup. ; St. Denys, v. 746 ; E. Monstrelet, 387. The Count landed about the 26th May : he came at the Emperor's request. 2 See T. Wals., sup. 2 Foed. ix. 362. CHAPTER XVII. Henry V (continued). Naval Action and Relief of Harfleur. — Conferences at Calais under mediation of Sigismund. — Parliament at Westminster. — Second Invasion of France and Campaign in Normandy. ch. xvii. In truth, if the fruits of the late campaign were not to ^~^ be lost it was time to be moving. The French had not been in a hurry to attack Harfleur ; and Henry had sent over what he doubtless regarded as sufficient relief. He had sent money to pay the wages of the garrison 1, who according to general custom " found " themselves. He had not fully realized the position of an isolated garrison in a hostile country; and that under such circumstances the victualling of a force might be a matter of considerable Distress of difficulty. As a matter of fact the garrison were much gamson at presse(j for supplies 2, and the want of these impelled Dorset to make plundering "roads," one of which was nearly attended with disastrous results. Dorset had led his force, which comprised the whole strength of the garrison, as far out as Cany. On his return he was attacked near Valmont by the Constable d' Armagnac, and the Marshal de Longwy. The English were severely pressed, and suffered considerable loss ; but at last they made a successful stand in an enclosed garden or orchard. Armagnac directed a careful watch to be kept on their movements during the night; but his orders being neglected, 1 One sum of £4892 was sent in February; Devon Issues, 345. 2 See a letter from Dorset, written in April ; Proceedings, ii. 196. NAVAL OPERATIONS. 337 the English managed to steal away to the sea-coast ; and ch. xvn so trudging round by the shore, a distance of some forty i4,6. miles, came in sight of Harfleur on the morning of the second day. But there were the French, who had taken the straight road, ready to receive them ; and Dorset had to fight a desperate uphill battle to cut his way through 1. Early in May the Earl of Huntingdon was directed to land supplies at Harfleur, and then cruise along the west coast of France 2. A few days later came the news that Franco- a Franco-Genoese armament was blockading Harfleur, armament and making descents on the south coast 3. Henry im- in the a Channel. mediately ordered a muster for the 22nd June*. This did not tend to lighten Sigismund's task. Henry, however, allowed him to send a private embassy to Paris, with proposals for the consideration of Charles VI 5. He named agents of his own to treat for a truce and a personal interview, under the mediation of the Emperor6, and renewed the appointment of agents to represent him at the Council. He also ordered public prayers and litanies for the success of Sigismund's efforts for the union of the Church 7 Henry had intended taking the command of the fleet in person. He hastened to and from Southampton, super intending the preparations ; but the Emperor was not yet gone, and Henry could hardly leave England while his 1 March nth-i3th ; see T. Wals. ii. 314, 315 ; G. Chastelain (in Williams, Gesta), 173; E. Monstrelet, 397; J. Le Fevre, i. 285 ; cf. St. Denys, v. 748- 758. The Constable was so provoked at the result that he hung several gentlemen ; J. J. Ursins, 531. 2 Foed. ix. 344, 345 ; Devon Issues, 346. The force apparently never sailed. 3 Foed. 350; Gesta, 79; T. Elmham, 77; T. Wals. ii. 316; J. J. Ursins, 532. The Isle of Portland was ravaged; St. Denys, vi. 10-14. 4 28th May ; Foed. 355. " Nicolas de Gara, Count Palatine of Hungary, was at the head of the embassy; the Archbishop of Bourges went back with him. They left London 2 ist June ; see de Beaucourt, i. 263, 264; cf. Devon Issues, 347 ; Gesta, 82. 6 28th June, Foed. 365, 366. 7 Id. 370, 372. Richard Clifford, Bishop of London; John Catterick, Bishop of Coventry ; and John Wakering, Bishop of Norwich, were appointed, in addition to the Bishops of Bath and Sarum. 338 HENRY V. 1416. Relief of Harfleur. ch. xvn. guest was there. Altogether Henry was induced to dele gate the command to his brother Bedford 1. With the Duke were associated the Earls of March, Salisbury, and Northumberland ; the Lords Fitzhugh and Morley ; Sir Edward Courtenay and other Knights. Sir Walter Hun- gerford held the command of Admiral of the Fleet 2. All was ready by the ist of August 3. But the winds were contrary, and the fleet, which lay partly in the Camber and partly in Southampton Water, could not sail, or even effect a junction, for many days. At last, however, on the 14th August, they made a fair start from Beachy Head 4, and cast anchor in the Seine that same evening after dark. Small row-boats were sent out to reconnoitre the position of the enemy, and orders given for action the first thing in the morning. When day broke the French were seen at a little distance up the river, blockading Harfleur. Conspicuous in their armament were eight great Genoese carracks, besides ' hulks ' and galleys from Spain and else where 5. We are told that the French weighed and stood out to meet the English. But it would seem that for the actual conflict they were content to assume a defensive attitude — as at Sluys — as it appears that the 'turret- ships ' were firmly linked together with chains, cables, and hooks 6. Independently of the turrets or " crows' nests " at their mastheads7, these 'sea-castles,' as the chronicler styles them 8, overtopped the decks of the English vessels by a full spear's length. Fighting began about 9 o'clock 1 Foed. ix. 371 ; Gesta, 84 ; T. Elmham, 78, 79 ; Tit. Liv. 25. 2 Foed. 355, 356; and Nicolas, Royal Navy, ii. 418. 3 Nicolas, 419. * "Le Beauchiefe," "Bewchief." 5 J. J. Ursins, 532 ; St. Denys, vi. 12, 34; J. Hardyng, 377. The Genoese cross-bowmen, as usual, were commanded by a Grimaldi, Battista Grimaldi.; Ursins, sup. ; a carrack might be of 500 tons' burden and upwards ; Nicolas, Royal Navy. ii. 429. 6 " Turritae naves violentia celerima convolantes firmantur cathenis, rudenti- bus colligantnr, et hamorum nexibus de difficili dissolubilibus ad invicem conjugantur." The words, however, may refer to grappling with the English ; T. Elmham, 80. 7 " Turribus malis infixis " ; id. 81. 8 " Castellis marinis " ; id. 80. Naval en gagementin the Seine. ACTION IN THE SEINE. 139 a.m., and was kept up in the sturdiest fashion, ' man to ch. xvn. man, lance to lance, arrow to arrow.' "Success depended I4,g. upon courage and physical strength ; and in such contests the English have almost always been successful " \ After Victory five or six hours of desperate fighting, the English carried English. some of the enemy's vessels by boarding, whereupon the others began to break loose and take to flight. Three carracks, ' one hulk 2 as big as a carrack,' and four ' balingers ' 3 were taken ; another carrack ran aground in the Seine ; and a fifth, the " Mountnegrie " (Montenegro ?), went down in the Channel. Those who could escaped to Honfleur. Bedford lost no time in throwing supplies into Harfleur : that done, he sailed home in triumph with his prizes 4. The King of the Romans still lingered in England, having gone down into Kent in the latter part of June. His enemies at the Council whispered that he could not get away for want of means 5. The truth was that Sigis mund found himself very comfortable in England ; that he still clung to the hope of effecting some arrangement 6 ; and that Henry to some extent shared his hopes. Sigis- Attempts mund's proposals for a truce and a meeting between the mund to two Kings had been laid before the French government. mediatebetween The Count of Armagnac was altogether opposed to England either; but the Council resolved to keep up negotiations and France. for a conference, without agreeing to any truce which might interfere with their maritime operations in the Channel 7 Accordingly, on the 7th July, a letter was ad- 1 Id. ; H. Nicolas, 421. 2 " Hulca." 3 These were vessels of moderate burden ; the word is said to come from the French baleinier, whale-boat. 4 See Gesta, 85-88 ; T. Elmham, 79-83 ; T. Wals. ii. 316 ; J. J. Ursins, 553, &c. According to the last the French ships were insufficiently manned. For special services ordered by Henry to commemorate the victory, see Gesta, 90, 91. 5 Pauli, iii. 137, citing Von der Hardt ; Concil. Const. I. i. 190 ; and the letter of Jean de Montrenil, in Martene and Durand, Ampliss. Coll. ii. c. 1450. 6 Pauli, sup. 7 See St. Denys, vi. 14-28 ; Gesta, 84. 340 HENRY V. ch. xvn. dressed to Sigismund in Charles' name, agreeing to treat ~§ on the bases suggested 1. A meeting between the French and English envoys was then held at Beauvais. The French suggested a truce for three years, during which time Harfleur should be placed in the hands of the Emperor ; and they proposed a meeting between Charles and Henry near Harfleur. The English could not give in to all this ; but they signed a protocol by which both parties agreed to meet again between Boulogne and Calais on the 1 6th August, to arrange if possible for a royal meeting and a truce 2 (39th July). During these negotiations the Genoese had ravaged the Isle of Wight 3- This ambiguous dealing threw Sigismund more fully He signs a into Henry's cause. On the 15th August an offensive and Henre™11 defensive alliance was signed between the two Princes at Canterbury. In the preamble Sigismund intimated that the failure of his efforts for the cause of peace was due to the French : he recognised Henry and all his dynasty as Kings of England and France ; while each agreed to support the other in the recovery of all claims against France 4. Confer- On the 34th August 5 Sigismund left England for Calais Calais21' to Prepare for the conference, in which the Duke of England, Burgundy was to be included 6. Henry followed him on Friin.ce Sigismund the 4th September7. The Archbishop of Rheims appeared and Bur- within three days ; but he was kept practically a prisoner within his lodgings, and at his own expense 8. Burgundy 1 De Beaucourt, snp. ; Gesta, 83. 2 St. Denys, sup. ; Foed. ix. 375, 377, 519, 787 ; see also Max Lenz, Kbnig Sigismund und Heinrich V, p. 104, &c. 3 18 July; Gesta, 83. 1 Foed. ix. 377-381 ; cf. St. Denys, vi. 34. On the whole subject of the league, see Max Lenz, sup. 119, &c. ; and J. Caro, Bundniss von Canterbury; (Gotha, 1880). 5 Pauli, citing E. Windeck, 11 13, 11 14. ' Foed. 374 ; Devon Issues, 347. 7 Foed. 385 ; Gesta, 93. Clarence was left as Regent. 8 Foed. 386, 387 ; Gesta, 94. This was said to be in retaliation for the like treatment of the English envoys at Beauvais. CONFERENCES AT CALAIS. 241 exhibited greater hesitation. Although secretly leagued with ch. xvn. Henry, he was not prepared to go the lengths that Henry 6 wished 1, nor was he anxious to parade the alliance in the eyes of France ; while the detestable precedent of assas sination that he had set made him dread snares at every step. He was not on the best terms with the Emperor 2 ; and it is just possible that he might have heard that the French envoys at Calais, with exquisite irony, were suggest ing to Sigismund that he would fill up the measure of his obligations if he would consent to indemnify Henry out of the former possessions of the Empire 3 ; a compensation which could only take effect at the expense of the Duke of Burgundy. Jean-sans-Peur refused to cross the border until the Duke of Gloucester was delivered in exchange, to be kept as a hostage till his return*. The exchange was made at the ford of the Aa at Gravelines. First the two retinues crossed over, each to the opposite side. Then the two Dukes rode into the water, advancing simul taneously, and shaking hands in the middle. Gloucester was then taken to St. Omer and Burgundy rode on to Calais 6. The French envoys had not been allowed to await his coming ; when all the arrangements for his reception had been settled, they signed a truce for four months, and took their departure (3rd October) °. 1 See above, and de Beaucourt, i. 134, note. Philip Morgan had been in Burgundy on secret service from the 19th August to the 19th December, 1415 ; Foreign Accounts, 3 Henry V. Le Fevre, the historian, must have followed the Agincourt campaign as attendant to some Burgundian envoy. On the 22nd May, 1416, the truce with Flanders was prolonged to the 15th June, 1417 ; Foed. ix. 352 : on the 16th August a truce with Burgundy to the 29th September, 1417, was proclaimed ; id. 383 ; see also 354, 364. 2 " Antiqna querela inter imperatorem et eum " ; Gesta, 102. The Duke had supported John XXIII ; and he had held aloof from the Council, where he was in danger of being censured for the murder of Orleans. 3 So the Memorandum, "dignetur praefata majestas auxilium suae liber- alissimae donationis de terris sui Imperii benigniter adhibere," &c. ; Foed. 387. Artois was probably suggested ; see E. Monstrelet, 390-393. 4 Gesta, 95, 96 ; Foed. 390-393. 5 Gesta, 100-103. 6 The truce was to last to the 2nd February, 141 7, and covered Picardy and * R 243 HENRY V. 1 41 6. Abortive issue. On the 6th the Duke made his entry into Calais, and paid his respects first to the Emperor, and then to the King, with whom he remained closeted for some hours 7 Burgundy remained at Calais till the 13th October. The results of his long interviews with Henry were not allowed to transpire ; but it was understood that they were dis appointing to the English. At any rate the documents which had been prepared beforehand for his signature, recognising Henry as King of France and undertaking to espouse his cause, remained in Henry's hands unexecuted 2. On the 17th Henry took ship for Dover, after a cordial farewell to his Imperial ally. If he had not succeeded in his hopeless task, Sigismund, at any rate, had left most pleasing impressions of himself in England. His return home was not unattended with difficulty, as he had quarrelled with the Count of Holland in London, and he was unable to obtain from Burgundy the exact safe-con duct he wished. Eventually he was conveyed in English shipping to Dordrecht ; and from thence made his way through the friendly territory of Juliers to Aix-la- Chapelle 3. Parliament The King had returned for a Session of Parliament at West- . minster. which met at Westminster on the 19th October. The Chancellor affected a pacific tone, taking for his text " Operam detis ut quieti sitis." But he took care to point out that the only true way to peace was an effectual prosecution of the war, "Bella faciamus ut pacem ha- beamus 4." Seeing no other way out of the difficulty, the Commons granted two Subsidies, one Subsidy and a half West Flanders, with all seas from the " Straites " of Morocco to Norway ; Foed. 397 ; Gesta, 100. Donald ofthe Isles, and Sir John Stanley as Lord of Man, were included among the allies. 1 Gesta, sup. The writer gives the date as the 4th ; I follow de Beaucourt, i. 140, who cites Gachard, Archives de Dijon. 2 Gesta, 103, 104 ; Foed. ix. 394, 395 ; see also E. Monstrelet, 394 ; J. Wavrin, &c. 3 See Gesta, 104 ; Tit. Liv. 29 ; Pauli, iii. 139, 141 ; Devon Issues, 348. Sigismund had received handsome presents of jewelry from Henry, but these unfortunately had to be turned into money. 4 Rot. Pari. iv. 94. PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 343 to be raised on the 3nd of February, and the remaining ch. xvii. half Subsidy on the nth November, 1417. They also ~§ empowered the King to raise loans on the security of the deferred moiety 7 The treaty with Sigismund and the truce with France were ratified ; the Earl of Dorset was created Duke^ of Exeter ; and John Holland formally admitted to his father's Earldom of Huntingdon 2. With the first days of 141 7 preparations for a new Prepara- campaign began. Privy Seals were sent to the nobility f^ 7* and gentry suggesting suitable contingents for them to vasion of bring. Persons honoured with these invitations were re quested to be ready with their answers by the 14th February3. As the wages for the first quarter of the Agincourt campaign had not yet been fully paid, some backwardness on the part of the country gentlemen might be expected. The Royal Navy also came in for a share of the at- The Royal tention of the Government. A Privy Council Minute avy' drawn up at this time reports the King as possessed of ten ships and carracks, eight barges, and ten balingers. By the month of August, when another list was drawn up, the number of Royal ships and carracks had risen to sixteen 4. The muster-roll of a squadron fitted out for coast service in the spring, shows that a great carrack might carry 500 tons of cargo, and a crew of 88 seamen ; a barge 140 tons and 38 seamen ; balingers much the same, sometimes more, sometimes less 5. These figures seem moderate ; but it 1 With these grants, the receipts for the current half year (October-March) rose to £134,000, the highest sum of any term in the reign. Henry gave orders for redeeming his jewels by settling the arrears for the first quarter of the Agincourt campaign; Foed. 416; hence Babthorp's list above cited. The arrears, however, were not yet settled in March, 1417 ; Proceedings, ii. 225. 2 Rot. Pari. 96-100 ; Foed. ix. 403, 404. Holland had already been styled Earl of Huntingdon by courtesy, but he had not been admitted to the estates ; in fact he was not yet of age. For the statute enacted 4 Henry V, see Statutes of Realm. 3 Foed. ix. 433. See also a proclamation in English, Riley, Memorials of London, 645 ; and T. Elmham, 91. 4 Proceedings, ii. 202 ; Ellis, Letters, Third Series, i. 72. 8 See Nicolas, Royal Navy, ii. 429 : we find balingers of thirty-five men, and seventy men, &c. R 3 344 HENRY V. ch. xvn. must be remembered that in this department the King '~ found nothing to begin with ; the continuous existence of the Royal Navy, at the earliest, dates from Henry V. The King had hoped to sail by the ist May1; but nearly three months had to elapse before he could effect his purpose. In the meantime efforts were again made to come to an understanding with the Scots on the basis of the liberation of James 1 2. Arrangements had also to be considered for prolonging the all-important truces with Burgundy and Flanders. The immediate effect of the Calais conferences had been to make the Duke of Burgundy more shy of the English. Fluctuat- His policy was to profit by their operations against the ofgthe°llCy Count of Armagnac, without committing himself to any- Duke of thing that might damage his position in the eyes of France. "gun y. j^ ^. .^ ^ Calais was denounced by the Armagnacs as proof of a disloyal alliance. The Duke promptly made a tack in the opposite direction. On the 12th November he met the new Dauphin, John, and his father-in-law the Count of Holland, at Valenciennes, and a league was formed by the three against Armagnac ; the Duke also promising to support the Dauphin against the English s. This alliance came to a speedy end. The Dauphin John died in April, 1417 4, at Compiegne, while endeavouring to make his way to Paris. The next brother, Charles, was a weak boy of fourteen, who had been brought up wholly under Armagnac influences 5. The old Duke of Berri had 1 Proceedings, ii. 230, 231. 2 Proceedings, ii. 221 ; Rot. Scot. ii. 220. James was to be sent to Raby to have an interview with some of his subjects; on the 8th June the Earl of Northumberland, who was Warden of the East March, was authorised to treat for a truce ; Rot. Scot. ii. 219 ; Foed. 458. But it would seem that Henry wanted a renewal ofthe old homage ; Gesta, 82. 3 E. Monstrelet, 394 ; J. Le Fevre, i. 284, 289 ; cf. Sismondi, France, xii. 505. 4 5th April ; de Beaucourt, Charles VII ; 4th or 5th April, Bourgeois de Paris, ad toe. 5 Charles was born 22nd February, 1403 ; de Beaucourt, Charles VII, i. 1. (Paris, 1881.) In December, 1413, he was betrothed to Mary of Anjou, a girl about twenty months younger than himself ; since that time he had lived with his mother-in-law Yolande, titular queen of Sicily ; de Beaucourt, sup. i. 15, &c. Mary was daughter of Yolande by Louis II of Anjou. THE AGINCOURT PRISONERS. IAS died in June, 141 6; the Count of Holland and the King ch. xvn. of Sicily died soon after the Dauphin John. Thus the ?_ Count of Armagnac was left more completely master of the situation than ever. The only person who could lay any claim to control the King's person was Queen Isabeau, and the Count got rid of her by banishing her to Blois \ Under these circumstances Burgundy renewed his truces with England2. Henry hoped to bring pressure to bear on the French Henry through his prisoners. At an early period he gave them to prisoners understand that he would not be content with a mere money ransom ; they must support his pretensions to the Crown of France. The Duke of Orleans "in name of thaym all " refused. If we may trust the King, the Duke of Bourbon was more pliant. On the 25th January Henry directed Sir John Tiptoft to inform the Emperor con fidentially, that the Duke had offered to negotiate for the Bretigny terms if the King would renounce the Crown of France. If these terms were not conceded, then de Bourbon pledged himself to do homage to Henry as "rightwise Kyng of France " 3. In the course of July Henry mustered round Southampton Muster at perhaps the largest army that England had ever turned out Sonthamp- for foreign warfare. In round numbers some 2300 spears and 7400 archers appeared in the field, making, with miners and artillerists, perhaps 10,000 men. At their head stood the King's brothers, Clarence and Gloucester, seven Earls and thirteen Barons4. In the matter of "stuff" nothing apparently had been forgotten. We are told that the King had provided "gonnes5, tripgetes, engynes, sowes, 1 E. Monstrelet, 387, 395, 397, 401, 403 ; Le Fevre, i. 289-296 ; St. Denys; Sismondi, France, xii. 508-512. 2 July. The truce with Burgundy was extended to Easter (27th March), 1418, and the truce with Flanders to Easter (16th April), 1419 ; Foed. ix. 457, 462, 468, 470, 476. 3 Foed. ix. 427. 4 See Append, to Chapter XVII. 5 " Gonnes "= guns; "tripgetes," French trlbuchets, were catapults for hurl ing missiles; "sowes," sows, were moveable sheds to cover siege works; " brigges of lether"= bridges, or pontoons of leather; " malles"= mallets ; 246 HENRY V. ch. xvn. bastiles, brigges of lether, scalyng ladders, malles, spades, ~~Z shovelles, pykeys, paveys, bowes and arowes, gonstones and gonnpowder " 7 The reader will notice the mixture of appliances belong ing to the old and the new systems of warfare. Before the preparations were complete another Genoese armament was reported as posted off La Hogue. The Earl of Huntingdon was sent over with a competent force. After a conflict, which is described as lasting through a long summer's day, four carracks were captured, and the Genoese finally driven out of the Channel 2. Another difficulty of a different character had to be The disposed of before the King could sail. On the 23rd July Winches'- the Bishop of Winchester resigned the Seal, announcing ter resigns an intention of visiting the Holy Land. Thomas Langley, Bishop of Durham, was named his successor3. Not a word is said by the chroniclers as to the circumstances which occasioned the breach between the King and his oldest adviser. But it appears that Henry owed him £14,000 ; and it has been suggested that the Bishop's demand for security may have led to his fall 4. Two days later the Duke of Bedford was appointed Regent, and the Henry King went on board 5. On the ist August he landed at Normandy. Touques in Normandy, on the river of the same name 6. " pykeys " = picks ; " paveys," French pavois, were large shields, also used in sieges ; " gonstones " = cannon-balls, these mostly hewn out of stone. 1 Chron. Caxton, cited Williams, Gesta, 109 ; Tit. Liv. 33. The transports were apparently 253 in number. Of these, 122 English ships, and 116 Dutch men, were paid off on the ist September, 15 Dutchmen being kept on. The King also had twenty-seven ships of his own ; Norman Rolls (Hardy), 320, 330; Nicolas, Royal Navy, ii. 434, 435 ; Gesta, 112. 2 About the 29th June ; see T. Elmham, Vita, 93 (where the place is given as Harfleur) ; id. Liber Metr. 149 ; J. Capgrave, 111. Henr. 121 ; St. Denys, vi. 69; Chron. London, 105. The action is referred to in a letter ofthe 12th July, cited H. Nicolas, Royal Navy, ii. 433, from Collins' Peerage, viii. 107. 3 Foed. ix. 469, 472. 4 Gesta, 106, note. On the 18th July the King gave his uncle a charge for the amount on the Customs of Southampton ; to make safe the Bishop had the charge ratified in Parliament ; Rot. Pari. iv. in. 5 Foed. ix. 475 ; T. Elmham, Liber Metr. 150. 6 E. Elmham, Vita, 97. The contingent of the Earl of March sailed to La Hogue somewhat later; Proceedings, iii. 126. STATE OF FRANCE. 247 In France the general state of affairs was as favourable ch. xvii. to Henry's plans as it possibly could be. The whole , I?< country was in a state of chaotic disorder; bands of situation partisan soldiery preyed on the peasantry ; all law was in in France- abeyance. The Count of Armagnac, though armed with absolute authority, was obliged to stoop to sacrilege and extortion to raise funds1. During the spring the Duke of Burgundy, as if still further to facilitate Henry's operations, had been pressing the towns of Picardy and Normandy to rise against the Count of Armagnac, who was not popular. The appearance of the young Dauphin, Charles, at Rouen a few days before the English landing, checked this movement, so far as Normandy was concerned. But Burgundy then began an armed advance on Paris, and the first attentions of the government had to be directed to his movements 2. Thus the frontiers of Normandy were abandoned to the English 3- Henry's plan seems to have been not to bring the French Henry's to terms by striking a decisive blow ; not to cow the nation campaign by merciless severity; but to win towns piecemeal, as if his ultimate ambition had been, not to recover a Crown but to found a Duchy. In this he succeeded. He be queathed to his son a valuable territory which the English were able to retain for a surprising length of time, all things considered. Towards the attainment of a real mastery over France he never made the smallest approach. On the 9th August the Castle of Touques surrendered to Reduction him4. The forces were then apparently divided; partoftowns: marching to attack Honfleur, while the main body was directed to Caen. The possession of Honfleur would have given Henry the entire control of the mouth of the Seine. Armagnac therefore had taken care to man and victual the place, and it held out successfully 5. 1 See St. Denys, vi. 62 ; E. Monstrelet, 403 ; J. Le FeVre, i. 289, 296 ; J. J. Ursins, 534; Sismondi, France, xii. 516. 2 E. Monstrelet, 398, 401-405, 413; J. Le Fevre, i. 291-299; St. Denys, vi. 78-96 ; G. Chastelain, i. 1 78 (ed. Kervyn de Lettenhove). 3 Le Fevre, 308. 4 Riley, Memorials of London, 654 ; Foed. ix. 479. 5 St. Denys, vi. 100 ; cf. T. Elmham, 98. 1417- 248 HENRY V. Before leaving Touques Henry addressed a summons to his 'Adversary,' propounding his claims in their fullest extent. Once more, to clear his conscience of all reproach, he called upon Charles ' in the name of Him who is Lord of the living and the dead ; in whose hands are the rights of Kings and Princes ;' to deliver up, 'in their entirety, the Crown and Kingdom of France,' the lawful inheritance so long withheld 7 Caen; From Touques Henry moved to Caen. On the 18th August he took up his quarters at St. Stephen's Abbey, on the south side of the town. The place was invested and bombarded with heavy guns ; we are told that the con cussion shattered the windows of St. Stephen's Abbey2. On the 4th September the town was carried by assault, the Duke of Clarence first scaling a suburb on the north side of the town 3, and then fighting his way over the bridge of the Odon into the main part of the town, just as the English had done in 1346. Little mercy was shown to those in arms ; but non-combatants were spared- ; Church property was respected, and women were protected4. Henry regarded the Normans as his lawful subjects, and wished to treat them as such. Peace and protection were freely offered to all who would come in, especially to persons of Religion 5. On the 20th September the acqui sition of Caen was completed by the surrender of the Lisieux, castle. Lisieux and Bayeux having also yielded, Henry Bayeux ; offered to trea(- wjth the French Court 6. At that moment Burgundy was attacking the Bridge of 1 " Coronam et regnuin Franciae solum et in solidum liberetis " ; Foed. ix. 482. ' 2 T. Elmham, 105. 3 So T. Wals. ii. 322, "Juxta monasteria S. Trinitatis"; "par la partie des Jacobins " ; Chastelain. 4 See T. Elmham, Vita, 101-113 ; Tit. Liv. 35-40 ; T. Wals. ii. 322-325 ; Riley, Memorials, 657; and the notes to Gesta, 115, &c. The humane ordinances of 1415 were re-published; Tit. Liv. sup. Henry also ordered the guns to be laid so as to spare the churches. 5 Foed. 486, &c. In consequence of this all the peasantry began to shave their heads, and wear clerical dress ; Wals. sup. 6 Gesta, 114, 115; T. Elmham, 116; Riley, sup. 657; Foed. 492, 494; Norman Rolls. THE CAMPAIGN IN NORMANDY. 149 St. Cloud, his men occupying Vaugirard and Montrouge at ch. xvii. the gates of Paris1. If combined action had been possible I4I7 Henry ought surely to have marched on the Capital ; but the struggle, like the duel of the humourist, was, in fact, triangular; and Henry left Caen (ist October) only to prosecute petty conquests in Normandy and Maine. Pass- Argentan, ing by Falaise he marched to Argentan, which surrendered Alencon, on the 8th October ; a wing of the army captured L'Aigle Mortaigne, and Verneuil ; while the King advanced by Sees to Fresnay. ' Alencon, both of which yielded during the month. The fall of Alencon involved the submission of Mortaigne, Bellesme, Fresnay, and all Maine up to the walls of Le Mans 2. These successes alarmed the Duke of Brittany, who Alarm in came in person to Alencon to beg that his possessions rI any' might be respected. A ten years' truce had been signed in 1414, but an extra truce to the 39th September, 1418, was now granted to him. He also obtained in the name of Queen Yolande a similar truce for the possessions of her son Louis in Maine and Anjou 3. The conclusion of these truces was followed by another fruitless conference between French and English envoys. The French had not hurled back Henry's defiance in his teeth. Thinking it prudent to temporise, they had re turned a dignified answer to his communication ofthe 13th August, expressing willingness to treat for peace. Henry Confer- accepted the offer and named envoys. After repeated ences' 1 Advancing from Amiens to Montdidier and Beauvais, Burgundy crossed the Oise at Isle Adam, when Senlis and Pontoise yielded to him ; crossing the Seine at Poissy and Meulan, he wheeled round by St. Germain to St. Cloud ; he was there 1 6th September. He summoned the Dauphin to admit him ; the Dauphin answered that if he was a loyal subject he should show his loyalty by warring against the English. The Duke then retired from Paris and went off to Montlhery (taken 7th October) and Chartres; E. Monstrelet, 413-420; St. Denys, vi. 109-123 ; J. Le Fevre, i. 308-313. 2 T. Elmham, 119-124; Gesta, 116, 117; Tit. Liv. 43-45 ; G. Chastelain, i. 180; Foed. ix. 501-503, 517. L'Aigle yielded, 13th October; Norman Rolls, 306; Alencon on the 24th; id. 187. Henry was outside Alencon on the 16th October; id. 182. 3 1 6th November; Foed.511-514; T. Elmham, 124, &c. The French Govern ment had sanctioned these applications ; de Beaucourt, Charles VII, i. 275. 250 HENRY V. ch. xvn. delays the envoys met on the 38th November at Barne- ,4,?i ville, between Touques and Honfleur. Nothing whatever was effected. Henry was not prepared to lower his pre tensions, and the French still thought them preposterous 2. Operations In spite of Henry's proclamations, it does not appear that any places yielded sooner than they could help. The necessity of providing garrisons for so many towns had weakened the army to that extent that further ad vance was impossible2. On the ist December Henry retired from Alencon to undertake the siege of Falaise, Falaise. the birthplace of the tanner's daughter, Arlette. Strong in its natural and artificial defences, the place could only be reduced by blockade ; and for this all the available strength of the army was required. The King established himself on the south side, on the Caen road ; the Duke of Clarence watched the citadel on the east ; the Duke of Gloucester held the west side of the town ; and the other contingents the north side. The troops were hutted, and the whole leaguer fortified from without with earthworks. On the 3nd January, 141 8, the town was surrendered on terms which allowed the resident inhabitants to remain in the enjoyment of all their property 3. The castle under the command of Olivier de Mauni held out for some six weeks longer. On the 16th February he found himself obliged to surrender 4. APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XVII. THE ARMY OF 1417 (p. 245). FOR the numbers of the army of 141 7 the reader may be referred to the Muster Rolls taken before sailing, at 1 " Peticiones excessivas nee transigendas '' ; St. Denys, vi. 108; see de Beaucourt, i. 274 ; Foed. ix. 494, 496,498, 505, 509, 517 ; the latter part ofthe last document, from p. 521, belongs to the year 1419. 2 For a list of towns captured, with the names of the Captains appointed, see Gesta, Append. 275 ; cf. Foed. 510 ; also Hardy's Norman Rolls. 3 T. Elmham, 126-132; Foed. 532. ' T. Elmham, 135-138 ; Foed. 544. RECORDS VERSUS CHRONICLES. 151 various places in Hampshire, of which a summary has been ch. xvn. printed by Mr. Williams as an Appendix to his Gesta, p. 365. \~XXXi. The print appears to have been taken from the Record Office MS. now catalogued as " Treasury of Receipt Miscell. —- ." The names agree, but the numbers, as taken out by ourselves from the MS., vary from those given by Mr. Williams. His totals are — lances, 1793 ; archers, 591 1 ; sundry, 64; or 7767 in all. Our totals come to — lances, 1831 ; foot-archers, 6031 ; horse-archers, 43, or thereabouts ; in all, 7894. With these numbers we can compare those on a parallel list supplied by Titus Livius, p. 31, and copied by Stow without practical variation, p. 353. Their totals are 3356 lances and 6810 archers. But this list clearly gives, not the numbers actually mustered and passed before sailing, but the numbers contracted for, as in all the leading contingents the numbers are round, and the exact normal proportion of three archers to one lance is maintained from first to last ; whereas the MS. Muster Roll exhibits numerous deflections from the rule, such as could not fail to occur in actual fact. On the other hand Livius seems to omit the contingents of the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland (the latter led by Sir John Neville), which figure on the MS. Roll for 133 lances and 434 archers. The addition of these will bring up his totals to 2388 lances and 7344 archers. Mr. Williams thought that the Roll he printed only comprised the southern and western contingents. But that view seems mistaken. The only important contingents wanting in the list seem to be those of the Duke of Gloucester and the Lords Talbot and Ferrers of Chartley, which may be supplied from Titus Livius. He gives their forces as amounting to 330 lances and 660 archers. Adding these to the sum of the MS. Roll as taken by ourselves, we get in all 3361 lances and 7393 archers ; say in round numbers 3300 lances and 7400 archers. The chaplain no doubt gives a gross estimate of 16,400, " viri expediti," as leaving England. But he specifies no 353 HENRY V. ch. xvn. details, Gesta, p. 106. His statement is copied by Elmham, Y~Z Vita, 93 ; and strange to say by Livius, who, after giving exact details, as above, ends by saying that 16,400 "Armati" sailed from England. Stow goes a step further ; and, after copying Livius' lists, winds up with a grand total of 35,000 men. This was apparently made up by roughly adding the 16,400 of the Gesta to the total of the lists. We invite especial attention to the process by which this figure was arrived at. The seven Earls who sailed were March, the Earl Marshal (John Mowbray), Warwick, Salisbury, Hunting don, Suffolk, and Northumberland ; and the thirteen Barons were Abergavenny, Maltravers, FitzHugh, Clifford, Grey of Codnore, Willoughby, Talbot, Courtenay, Bourchier (Sir Hugh Stafford), De Roos, Ferrers of Chartley, and Haryngton. CHAPTER XVIII.' Henry V (continued). Parliament at Westminster. — Apprehension and Execution of Oldcastle. — End of Council of Constance. — Henry's Campaign in Normandy. — Revolu tion in Paris. — Capture of Rouen. At home the Scots had endeavoured to profit by the ch. xvm. King's absence. In October simultaneous attacks were ,,_ made on Berwick and Roxburgh by Albany and the Earl of Douglas. Both attempts failed ; and in truth so miserably, that the expedition only lived in Scottish tra dition to be known as "le foule rade1" (the foul road, i.e. foray). On the 1 6th November a Parliament met at West- Parliament minster. The new Chancellor, Langley, Bishop of Durham, minster'" urged perseverance, recapitulating all the King's successes, from Shrewsbury down to the recent repulse of the Scots. " Confortamini, viriliter agite, et gloriosi eritis." The Commons gave two Subsidies ; one to be raised on the 3nd February, 1418, the other on that day year2- The incident of the Session was the production of Sir Apprehen- John Oldcastle, who had been at last discovered in Wales, s^john and apprehended by Sir Edward Charleton, Lord of Powis. Oldcastle. " But he made gret defens, and was sore wounded er he myghte be take." Sir John, in fact, had to be carried to London in a horse-litter 3. On the 14th December, he was 1 T. Wals. ii. 325 ; T. Otterbourne, 278; Scotichron. ii. 449; Devon Issues, 352 ; T. Elmham, 162 ; Goodwin, Henry V, 168 ; J. Hardyng, 380, but "Anno VII," i.e. a.d. 1419. 2 17th December; Rot. Pari. iv. 106, 107. 3 Ellis, Letters, Second Series, i. 87 ; Chron. Davies, 46. For the popular feeling for Sir John in Kent, see Devon Issues, 383. 254 HENRV V. CH. XVIII. 1417. He is broughtbefore Par liament,sentenced and execu ted. The Go vernment and the Lollards. brought before Parliament, and his old convictions for heresy and treason were produced. According to the official record he offered no protest, and was sentenced forthwith1. According to the St. Albans' writer, whose authority on any other subject would be of very great weight, he first whined for mercy; then appealed to the Supreme Judge"of all men ; and lastly, as if in impotent defiance, to ' his liege lord, King Richard in Scotland ' 2. But Sir John had already sinned beyond hope of forgive ness. On the same day he was taken back to the Tower ; drawn from thence to St. Giles' Fields — the scene of his attempted rising — and there mercifully hung. But after wards the body was burnt, " galawes and alle 3 " (gallows and all). Modern feeling is inclined to regret that such a man should have brought himself under the imputation of treasonable practices. But loyalty as we know it could hardly apply to a dynasty not twenty years old. An appeal to arms was still the best understood remedy for grievances. The Government waged war on the Lollards ; and the Lollards had to find watchwords and allies as best they could. " Richard " and " Mortimer " were the two telling cries of the time. In September, 141 6, one Bene dict of London, a " woolman," described as " a grete Lollard," was executed for having transmitted to Sigismund a paper vindicating the claims ofthe Richard in Scotland4. At Christmas, 141 6, a Lollard plot against the King's life was said to have been discovered at Kennilworth 5- This was followed by fresh proclamations for the arrest of Old castle6. Thomas Payn, a confidential agent of his, was 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 107, 108. 2 T. Wals. ii. 327. In all other respects the writer's account is fully con firmed. Elmham also taxes Oldcastle with supporting the pseudo-Richard; Liber Metr. 158. 3 Chron. London, 106, 160; T. Elmham, Liber Metr. 159. 4 See the Inquisition, Riley, Memorials of London, 638 ; Capgrave, Chron. 316. Another Lollard was executed on the 8th October. 5 T. Wals. ii. 326, 327; Capgrave, Chron. 317; Id. De Illustr. Henricis, 121. 6 January, 141 7 ; Devon Issues, 349. LOLLARD PLOTS AND STRUGGLES. 255 arrested, and charged with plotting the escape of King ch. xviii. James of Scotland 7 XXXlXXX- In the autumn of 141 7 Henry wrote to the home authorities to be on their guard against intrigues with the Scots, the Duke of Orleans at Pontefract, and the "mammet" (puppet) in Scotland2. Lastly, matter was discovered incriminating Sir John Mortimer, a relative of the Earl of March ; this must have been very disquieting, as he had held a command at sea in the winter3. He was consigned to the lowest dungeon in the Tower, there to languish without light or air 4. The labours of the Council of Constance were drawing Council of to a close. The sacrifice of John Huss had been followed onstan";: Jerome of after a lapse of ten months by that of his most distinguished Prague. follower, Jerome of Prague. Thinking, as most of his friends thought, that the breach between the Pope and the Emperor would set Huss free, Jerome had ventured to approach Constance without a safe-conduct: on the 15th April, 1415, he was arrested 5. Harsh treatment and fear of his leader's doom induced him on the nth September to sign a recantation ; on the 39th October he withdrew his recantation ; on the 30th May, 141 6, he was finally His condemned and executed. His dignity and courage executlon- astonished the eye-witness who describes his end 6. In January, 1417, Sigismund returned to Constance7. John XXIII had been removed ; Gregory XII had re signed ; Benedict XIII still spurned all compromise. But the Spaniards had deserted him and joined the Council as a fifth Nation 8. The question was, ought the Reformation 1 Payn was kept in prison for many years ; Proceedings, iii. 4 ; v. 105 ; Rot. Pari. iv. 196 ; Wals. sup. 2 Ellis, Letters, First Series, i. 1 ; cf. Devon Issues, 353. 3 Proceedings, ii. 208. 4 Id. 311. 5 Milman, Latin Christianity, vi. 197 ; Sismondi, Rep. Ital. viii. 250. 6 Poggio Bracciolini, Rerum Ital. Scriptt. xix. 429; see Sismondi, sup. 251- 253 ; Milman, 214-216; Creighton, Papacy, i. 357-361. 7 Foed. ix. 424. 3 Benedict was ultimately deposed, 17th July, 141 7; Sismondi, 245, citing L'Enfant. John XXIII made his final submission to Martin V at Florence, 14th June, 1419 ; Foed. ix. 767. He was reinstated as a Cardinal. 256 HENRY V. ch. xvm. of the Church to precede or give place to the election of a XTvj. new Pontiff? Sigismund, " supported by the Germans and the English," was anxious to seize "the golden opportunity for reform." The Italians, French, and Spaniards, with the Cardinals as a body, insisted that no reform could be valid that was not " authorised by a Pope." The death of Robert Hallam, Bishop of Salisbury1, almost the only man who had "condemned the punishment of death for heresy " 2, broke the strength of the Reforming party : the Bishop of Winchester, who appeared at Constance not long after, joined the party of the Cardinals 3. The Emperor Election of was obliged to yield. On the 8th November a special artm ' Conclave was formed, consisting of a united College of twenty-three Cardinals from the three Obediences, rein forced by thirty delegates named by the five Nations. Sigismund had been unable to carry his scheme of reform ; but with Henry's interest to support him he was able to control the election. After a short, sharp struggle a Roman nobleman, Ottone Colonna, was elected. The Bishop of Lon don nominated him, and he took the style of Martin V4. Of noble birth ; irreproachable morals ; with a reputation for learning; able, cautious, and politic ; Martin at once revived all the authority of the Papal Chair. His first act was to confirm all the obnoxious privileges of the Papal chancery. The demand for reform was evaded by the 5nd °f, , tender of harmless Concordats to the different nations 7 Council of Constance. On the 23nd April, 141 8, the Council was dissolved6. 1 4th September, 141 7 ; Stubbs, Reg. Sacrum. 2 Milman, 214, citing Aschbach, 202. 3 T. Wals. ii. 319. 4 nthNovember; Sismondi, 254; Milman, 222; T. Wals. 317-320; Foed. ix. 523 ; St. Denys, vi. 58, 174. "Whoever was the nominator, the election was the result of the league between Henry and Sigismund" ; Stubbs, iii. 93 ; see Lenz, Konig Sigismund, 184. 5 For the concessions made to England, see Foed. ix. 730; 17th April, 1 41 9. Martin agreed to allow diocesans to enquire into scandalous grants of Indulgences ; not to appropriate or consolidate livings without their consent ; not to relieve beneficed clergy from the obligations of residing or taking orders, &c. 6 Milman, 224-230; Sismondi, 256, citing L'Enfant, 609-617. Martin is recognised as " the creator of the modern papacy " ; Stubbs, sup. For full FALL OF CHERBOURG. 15, After the capture of Falaise Henry retired to Caen ch. xvm. and Bayeux, to attend to administrative and political 8 business, leaving the subjugation of Normandy to be pro- conquests secuted eastwards and westwards by Clarence, Gloucester, m N?r_ ' mandy. and Huntingdon. In the course of March Clarence won Courtonne, Riviere-Thibouville, and Chambrais 1. During the same month Gloucester and Huntingdon reduced St. L6, Coutances, Carentan and St. Sauveur 2. Cherbourg was then attacked and invested, the blockade being kept up from the sea by a fleet operating from the Channel Islands3. Twenty weeks, however, elapsed before any impression could be made upon the garrison ; at last, on Domfront the 22nd August, they signed a capitulation, undertaking ^rCher" to surrender on the 29th September, if not previously relieved 4 Next to Cherbourg the historic rock of Domfront gave most trouble, the garrison only yielding to famine. On the 22nd July the fortress was delivered to the Earl of Warwick 5. Henry kept pressing the people to accept his rule. To Henry's all who would come in, their existing legal status was Poli°y guaranteed ; those who would not remain were allowed a the in- certain time to remove their goods ; the regulations for a Itants' collecting the gabelle or salt-tax were modified ; and the tax reduced to twenty-five per cent, ad valorem. The wealthier clergy, however, were required to resign their details of the proceedings of the Council after the return of Sigismund, see Creighton, i. 378-419. 1 Foed. ix. 549, 552, 554; Gesta, 119; T. Elmham, 139; de Beaucourt, i. 31 ; Norman Rolls. 2 Foed. 554, 556, 557, 565 ; Gesta, 120, Sec. Vire had yielded to Gloucester on the 21st February; Foed. 545. 3 In May a fleet of fifteen vessels, large and small, and manned by 979 sea men, was fitted out for service in the Channel under Sir John Arundel of Lan- heme ; Devon Issues, 355. For the siege of Cherbourg, see a letter from Sir John Sinclair, Collins' Peerage, viii. 107. 4 See the long story, T. Elmham, 147-161 ; condensed by Tit. Liv. 51-56; Gesta, 121. For the capitulation, see Foed. 618. 5 T. Elmham, 144 ; Tit. Liv. ; Foed. 601 ; also Collins' Peerage, sup. 258 HENRY V. ch. xvm. superfluous revenues 1. Henry had but little trouble in j~^ dealing with the lower clergy ; clerks could always be found to fill the parochial cures 2- The higher clergy were less amenable. The Archbishop of Rouen and the Bishops of Bayeux, Evreux, and Lisieux fled from their sees 3. In March the Burgundian truces, which expired at Easter, were renewed, but only to Michaelmas, the Duke growing more distant as his prospects of acceding to power improved 4. In May the King's uncle, the Duke of Exeter, brought over a reinforcement of some 500 lances and 1500 archers. On the 30th of the month Evreux opened its gates to him : Harcourt and Bee had already been won 5. Henry then mustered all his available forces for an advance on Rouen. On the 8th June he began the siege of Louviers ; on the 33rd the place yielded 6- During the siege Henry received a visit from the Cardinal Orsini ; Martin V, in pursuance of his policy of reviving the old traditions of the Papacy, had commissioned him and the Cardinal of St. Mark to mediate between England and France, Burgundy and the Empire being afterwards included in the scope of their mission 7 On the 37th June, the army established itself under the walls of Pont de l'Arche ; but as the bridge enabled the garrison to communicate freely with the right bank of the Seine, Henry collected a flotilla of boats and pontoons 8, and during the night of the 3rd-4th July, transported a 1 See Foed. ix. 556, 572, 575, 582. Sismondi does injustice to Henry in taxing him with harshness; France, xii. 527, 534; see St. Denys, vi. 162, 164. 2 See Foed. ix. and x. passim ; e.g. Foed. ix. 672 ; safe-conducts for 132 curates and chaplains to come in and swear allegiance along with their parishioners. 3 Foed. a. 65, 102, 147. The Bishop of Sees, however, did homage ; id. ix. 578. 4 Foed. ix. 563, 581 ; 24th March. 5 Devon Issues, 354; Foed. 589 ; G. Chastelain, 182; Gesta, 122. 6 T. Elmham, 166-169; T. Wals. ii. 329; cf. Foed. 593, 599; Calendar Norman Rolls, 41st Deputy Keeper's Report. The people of Louviers were allowed to ransom themselves for 8000 crowns ; ib. 7 Foed. 558, 569, 576, 578, 599. 6 " Naviculas ex ligniculis frunitis coriis imbutis." CONFERENCES. 359 wing of his army to the farther shore. The investiture of ch. xvni. Pont de l'Arche was thus completed x ; a bridge of boats ~~^ was constructed to keep up communications between the two divisions of the army. On the 30th July the garrison marched out with all their goods 2 ; and the reduction of lower Normandy was achieved 3. Henry advanced without loss of time to Rouen. He Parties in was now at war, not with the Count of Armagnac — who rance' was no more — but with the Duke of Burgundy, who was again at the head of affairs, master of Paris and of the King's person. On the ist November, 141 7, Burgundy had made common cause with Queen Isabella in her retirement at Tours 4 Previously to her banishment from Paris she had been his enemy. On the I3th November she issued a proclamation asserting her right to the Regency, and announcing her intention of ruling in conjunction with the Duke of Burgundy. The season being advanced, he then disbanded the bulk of his troops, and retired with the Queen to Troyes5- Nothing of any consequence was achieved by either party during the winter. In April, 1418, the Papal legates appeared at Troyes. Under their mediation, conferences between representatives of the two French factions were held at the monastery of La Tombe, between Montereau and Brai-sur-Seine. The negotiators respond ing to the sighs of France, agreed to another pacification, by which all Princes of the Blood were to be admitted to the King's Council. But this did not suit the Count of Armagnac, who would have found himself in a minority on 1 The crossing was effected in two places, one opposite the Abbey of Bon- port, the other at a spot called by Chastelain "les Dans" ('island'; Mon strelet, 438.) 2 T. Elmham, 170-176; Gesta, 122, and notes; Foed. 602 ; G. Chastelain, 187. 3 When Cherbourg finally yielded in September, Mont St. Michel was the only stronghold unsubdued. 4 He went thither from Chartres; see above, p. 249, note (1); and de Beau court, i. 26. 5 E. Monstrelet, 421-425; J. Le Fevre, i. 315-319; St. Denys, vi. 140 ; Sismondi, France, xii. 521-528. S % 36o HENRY V. CH. XVIII I41S. Rising in Parisagainst the Ar magnacs. Duke of Burgundy master of Paris. the Council. He rejected the treaty (Saturday, 38th May)1. The disappointment was more than the Parisians could bear. The Count had made himself utterly hateful by his sanguinary tyranny ; even in his own land ofLanguedoc he had been losing ground 2. That same night a party of 500 Burgundians were admitted into Paris. In the morn ing the city awoke to cries of " Vive la Paix ! Vive le Roy ! Vive Bourgongne ! " The mob rose as one man. The Count of Armagnac tried to hide himself; Tanguy du Chatel carried off the Dauphin to the Bastile, from whence he sent him on to Melun. A furious reaction set in, all Armagnacs being sent to prison, and their houses sacked. On the nth June the Bastile surrendered; on the 13th the mob broke open the prisons and butchered the prisoners in true revolution style. Among the victims were the Count of Armagnac ; Henri de Marie, late Chancellor of France ; and the Bishops of Evreux, Lisieux, Senlis and Coutances 3 On the 14th July Burgundy and Queen Isabella entered Paris ; they were warmly received with cries of "Noel ! Vive Bourgongne ! " 4 The fall of the Armagnacs made no change in the attitude of the French towards Henry and his pretensions. Cardinal Orsini, after witnessing the revolution in Paris, went down to see Henry in his camp at Louviers, as already mentioned ; and reported him impracticable 5. From Pont de l'Arche Henry sent a Pursuivant to the Duke of Burgundy, to enquire if he intended to observe the truce between them ; the Duke answered with a declara tion of war 6. 1 E. Monstrelet, 427, 431; St. Denys, vi. 206-222, 228, 230; Sismondi, 534-536 ; de Beaucourt, i. 78. 2 Sismondi, France, xii. 530 ; de Beaucourt, i. 34. 3 St. Denys, 230-236, and 242-250 ; E. Monstrelet, 432-436 ; J. Le Fevre, i- 327> J- J- Ursins, 541; Sismondi, 536-547; Bourgeois de Paris, 88, &c, and notes. 4 St. Denys, 252; J. J. Ursins, 544; E. Monstrelet, 437; Bourgeois de Paris, 104. 5 St. Denys, 250 ; T. Elmham, 169 ; Foed. ix. 599. 6 So a letter from Henry to the Mayor of London, cited Williams, Gesta, 122. SIEGE OF ROUEN. 161 Henry's message was doubtless sent with special refer- ch. xviii. ence to Rouen, as the town had ' turned Burgundian ' in , ]8_ January, and had at once been taken under the Duke's protection. He had sent down some of his ablest captains and his best troops ; and every preparation had been made for a siege. Stores of victual and ammunition had been laid in ; the fortifications had been set in order ; and all suburbs and buildings that could give shelter to the enemy swept away 1. Henry appeared before Rouen on the 39th July; after Siege of some ineffectual skirmishing, the garrison retired within their fortifications. By the ist August a thorough blockade was established. The King took up his quarters at the Carthusians, "the Chartuarie House"; while his retinue under Lord FitzHugh guarded the Porte Saint- Hilaire 2 ; Clarence watched the Porte Cauchoise ; Exeter the Porte Beauvoisine ; the Earl Marshal (John Mowbray) the Castle Gate ; Warwick, when he came from Domfront, was posted at the Porte de Martinville ; Salisbury besieged the Abbey of St. Catherine, which was held as a detached fort ; while Huntingdon kept guard on the south bank of the river with a flotilla of boats. To keep up communica tions between him and the rest of the army a chain bridge on piles, fit for " man and hors," was constructed. A fleet hired from Portugal watched the mouth of the Seine, and arrangements were made for the supply of provisions from London 3. Even Ireland was called upon for a contingent. 500 Irish came over under Sir Thomas Butler, the Prior of Kilmainham ; these auxiliaries we are told were chiefly employed in foraging ; their disorderly conduct elicited the sternest threats from the King 4. 1 T. Elmham, 176-179; St. Denys, 148; E. Monstrelet, 440; also the ballad printed by Mr. Webb in Archaeol. xxi. 50, 5 1 . (Again in Archaeol. xxii, from the best MS., Harl. 2256.) The writer, John Page, was present — "Wyth my Lege thereat y lay." 2 Archaeol. sup. 3 T. Elmham, Vita, 176-183; Gesta, 126, note; Riley, Memorials of London, 664, 665; G. Chastelain, 187-189; Archaeol. sup. 58. 4 Devon Issues, 356 ; Excerpt. Historica, 388; E. Monstrelet, 441 ; q. v. for French accounts of the doings of the Irish (whom they estimated at 8000 men !) 262 HENRY V. ch. xvni. The garrison at first made an active defence ; but their — ~ sallies were checked when the English counter-works were executed \ On the whole the siege was barren of inci dents, the English contenting themselves with bombard ment. On the ist September St. Catherine's Abbey yielded ; on the 7th an arrangement was made with Caudebec, by which the place was left in peace on con dition of surrendering when Rouen fell. This was done to clear the navigation of the Seine 2. New leader The Armagnac party was now virtually led by the Aimagnac Breton Tanguy du Chatel, late Provost of Paris 3, acting or Dau- jn the name of the Dauphin. Tanguy made him take the paity" style of Regent, with a ' Court of Parliament ' at Poitiers 4. They had strong garrisons at Meaux, Melun, and Mont- lery, commanding the Marne and Upper Seine. In the course of the autumn they fought their way northwards to Compiegne, and southwards to Tours 5. Burgundy remained in Paris inactive, and losing popu larity through his inaction. He made efforts, however, to come to an understanding with the Dauphin ; on the 16th September articles for a sixth ' pacification ' were drawn up at Saint-Maur-les-Fosses under the mediation of the Legates, the Queen of Sicily, and the Duke of Brittany. But the treaty was again rejected by the followers of the Dauphin 6- riding on cows, kidnapping children, &c. For Henry's threats, see Gesta, 125, note; the Prior's name is given there as John, but it seems to have been Thomas, Rot. Pari. iv. 198. The reader will note the extraordinary exaggeration in the chronicler's estimate of the Irish numbers. 1 The English lines were enclosed on each side with a " dyke " hedged with stakes; Archaeol. 62. 2 T. Elmham, 183-190 ; Tit. Liv. 62-64; Foed. ix. 619, 620; G. Chastelain, 188, 190. 3 For a notice of his previous career, see de Beaucourt, i. 1 14. 4 The court was established 21st September ; Ordonnances de France, x. 477 ; the style of Regent was not finally agreed upon till the 26th December ; see de Beaucourt, i. 112, 120, 473. 5 E. Monstrelet, 439, 444 ; J. Le Fevre, i. 336-339 ; J. J. Ursins, 544-546 ; St. Denys, vi. 286 ; de Beaucourt, i. 113-121. B St. Denys, 278 ; Sismondi, xii. 555 ; Bourgeois, 113 ; de Beaucourt, i. 106, 473. The plea of the Dauphinois was that they had not been properly con sulted. OVERTURES TO HENRY. 263 The Armagnac leaders then made overtures to Henry, ch.xviii. who promptly apprised Burgundy of the fact, thereby 8> eliciting the offer of a counter embassy from Paris 7 Overtures Henry's instructions to his agents were to " dryve " the ^°0^e^h other side to the "utmost profre" that might be had as the parties. price of a truce and his support. Terms of peace he declined to discuss, on the plausible ground that neither faction could ' make him sure ' of anything they offered 2. In a confidential memorandum transmitted at this time Henry's to the Privy Council at home, Henry lays bare his inmost sitnation. thoughts and wishes. He implies some uneasiness at the prospect of having to " continue forth his werre (war) to the hool conquest of the reaume of France " ; yet merely " to kepe this that he hath in Normandie " will entail on the King and his host "as gret a charge as to werreie forth 3, and more." The reason is plain. In Normandy " he must paie his soudeours (soldiers) ... as thei shulde be compelled to paie for thaire vitailles " ; otherwise the whole province would revolt. As for the dispositions of the Normans, he says, " In substance there is no man of astat (estate, i. e. noblemen) commen yn to the King's obeissance ; and right few gentilmen, the whiche is a thing that causeth the peuple to be ful unstable, and is no wonder." No wonder, indeed, as the memorandum proceeds to tell us that any " peuple '' that did obey him became a mark for attacks from a " multitude of brigantz and other enemyes," that were always "besy to thaire destruction.". The King's idea is that the Dauphin's wish to get his father, mother and sister " out of the Duks hand," may induce him to bid high for an alliance which might be so shaped as to leave the King free to carry on the war against the Duke — on his own account, and not on the Dauphin's — until the Dauphin " may have his entent of Paris and his fader - . . 1 Foed. ix. 624, 626, 631. Yolande, Queen of Sicily, the mother-in-law of the Dauphin, acted on behalf of her son-in-law. 2 Foed. 628 ; E. Monstrelet, 445. 3 ' Wage on the war.' French " guerroyer.'' 1418. 264 HENRY V. and thenne the accord that shal be now maad betwen the King and the Dauphin may be of newe maad, or confirmed after, as it is thoght for the best." The King proposed to utilise the Dauphin and then throw him over when he had done with him. One point in particular troubled the King. By the proposed treaty he intended to stipulate that " neyther the King (i. e. Henry) ner the Dauphin shal make accord with the forsaid Due, the toon withoute the assent of the tother." But the Duke might hear of the treaty, and offer to become the King's liegeman, "and so holde his lond of hym." How would matters stand then ? Would the King be bound to " forsake hym," or " mighte he accepte hym considering the lige (league) ? And if the King mighte nor oughte not accepte hym, whether the King might with right conscience honeste and savyng of his title to the coroune of France werreie any ferther ayeinst hym 2 ; and in especial to wynne and have with Godds grace Flaundres or any other of the Dues land ? " Here the King's ambition seems to embrace Flanders and Burgundy as well as France. In the next question Henry shows still more clearly the drift of his meaning, as he asks whether he may " by any weye " make war on Flanders " not withstanding the trewe (truce) that is for marchantz, clercs, pilgrimes and fisshers ? " Again he tells his advisers to consider the fact that " in Normandie his men must lye on the peny"2- Lastly, he seems to enquire if he could be advised to " renounce his claym," in consideration of receiving the Bretigny terms with all Normandy in absolute dominion 3. The document exhibits considerable powers of entering into practical detail, with very slender powers of estimating 1 If the Duke offered homage, Henry would have wa prima facie cause for war; and if Henry refused the homage, he either broke the feudal tie or implied that it did not exist. 2 i. e. live at his or their own expense. 3 " To be hoolden as voisin " ; Proceedings, ii. 350-358. The document must have been dictated by the King. DISTRESS AT ROUEN. 165 the probabilities of a broad result. But Henry refused to ch. xvni. contemplate any result but one. T l8_ The conferences with the Dauphinois agents were opened confer- at Alencon on the nth November. After days of argument ^e^th the French could hardly be ' driven ' to offer the Bretigny phinois. terms ; while the English referred to the demands formulated in 1414, which included Touraine, Picardy, the superiority of Flanders, &c, &c. The French intimated that they could cede nothing except in fief; while Henry declared in the most emphatic manner that he would accept of nothing in fief. Henry endeavoured to open the question of the matrimonial alliance, to which he looked as the real stepping-stone to the Crown of France ; but the Dauphinois could not pretend to dispose of the hand of Catherine x. The conferences with the Burgundians were held at Confer- Pont de l'Arche in December, Cardinal Orsini mediating2. a° B^-"* No official record of the proceedings is forthcoming ; but gundians. it would seem that the Duke of Burgundy was disposed to discuss the question of the marriage, the Princess being under his control, but that Henry's demands were too exorbitant 3. These negotiations were carried on without prejudice to the operations against Rouen. Probably the diplomatic campaign helped to paralyse military efforts for relief. By October the unfortunate townspeople had been reduced to eating " cattis, hors, houndis, rattis, myse, and alle that myghte be etynne." As the siege had begun in July, the produce of the new harvest had not been available. The mortality was reported as appalling. The garrison drove 1 See the voluminous record; Foed. ix. 632-645. For a full and accurate account of these transactions, see de Beaucourt, i. 284-292. During the conferences the Dauphin wrote to Henry, begging him to name his ultimatum, "de plain foy et ouvertement." Henry sent a stiff distant answer, ending with a hint that if the Dauphin wanted his help against the Duke he must pay for it ; Foed. 647, 651. The Archbishop of Sens led the discussion on the French side, Philip Morgan, Chancellor of Normandy, on the English side. 2 Foed. 654-659. 3 E. Monstrelet, 445. The Cardinal left France shortly after, satisfied that mediation was useless. 266 HENRY V. 1419. Fall of Rouen. h. xvni. the poor out of the gates " for spendyng of vitaille " ; the English endeavoured to drive them in again \ Henry on principle refused to allow the outcasts to pass through his lines ; he kept them strictly within the moat ; but he was too humane to allow them to starve, and doles of food were served out to them 2. In answer to repeated appeals for help, the Duke of Burgundy raised troops and advanced with King Charles and the Queen as far as Beauvais. But he was never strong enough to attack the English ; and when the negotiations broke down he retired to Creil, telling the Rouennais to take care of themselves. The garrison then, after a final attempt to break out, opened negotiations with the English 3. After some discussion, articles were signed on the 13th January, 141 9, by which Guy le Bouteiller, the Captain of the city, agreed to surrender the place with all arms and munitions of war on the 19th of the month, if not pre viously relieved. Henry also required a ransom of 300,000 ecus (.£50,000) ; but he allowed soldiers and strangers to depart on giving their parole not to serve against him for a year. He also allowed all well-disposed persons to retain their property and effects ; and confirmed all rights and franchises granted to the city by any of his ancestors, Kings of England or France, before the time of Philip of Valois. Some eight marked men were exempted from the King's grace, with all deserters ; but a special clause stipulated for immediate relief to the outcasts in the town ditch ; and Henry undertook to pay for the land required for the site of a proposed residence for himself. Still, as 1 Chron. Davies, 47 ; E. Monstrelet, 447I; T. Elmham, 195 ; G. Chastelain, 190 ; Archaeol. xxi. 63-66. 2 T. Elmham, 192. Some infants were born in the moat ; they were drawn up in baskets to be baptized, and then restored to their mothers ; E. Monstrelet, 446. Henry, by arrangement with the garrison, gave them a sort of dinner on Christmas Day ; Archaeol. 66. 3 According to the writer in Archaeol. the negotiations began on New Year's Eve. FALL OF ROUEN. 267 no terms were offered to citizens who refused to accept his ch. xvih. rule, the conditions were distinctly harsher than those imposed in previous capitulations 7 At the appointed time Henry entered Rouen ; and the city again became an English possession, 215 years after its loss by King John. Care was taken to prevent plunder ing by the soldiery, and attention was paid to the wants of the starving population ; but they had been reduced to so low an ebb, that for fifteen days the death-rate was not sensibly checked 2. " The fall of Rouen was felt to the very extremities of France " 3- The place was spoken of as the second city of the kingdom. Lillebonne, Fecamp, Etrepagny, Gaillon, Vernon, Mantes, Dieppe, Eu and Honfleur yielded in quick succession4. But Henry felt that the sword alone would never give him all he wanted ; the French gentry still showed no disposition to ' turn English ' 5. Captains and garrisons had to be provided for the new conquests ; and Henry had the greatest difficulty in procuring rein forcements from home. Privy Seals haying been sent round to the leading gentry in England, the Council were obliged to report that they could not find one man that would go abroad "with his goode will" (i.e. voluntarily); and that apparently all persons "moost able" were already " over in service " with the King 6. 1 Foed. ix. 664-667. Only one of the excepted persons was actually executed, Alain Blanchard, the leader and hero of the lesser bourgeoisie : " Capitaine du menu commun " ; E. Monstrelet. 2 T. Elmham, 201 ; E. Monstrelet, 449 ; St. Denys, vi. 308 ; G. Chastelain, 191. 3 Lingard. 4 Foed. 677-698; T. Elmham, 205 ; E. Monstrelet, 450; St. Denys, 310; Bourgeois, 121. 5 E. Monstrelet, sup. ; Guy le Bouteiller, the late Captain of Rouen, was the only exception. 6 March 1419 ; Proceedings, ii. 246; Goodwin, Henry V, 214. 1419. CHAPTER XIX. Henry V (continued). Negotiations. — Henry, the Duke of Burgundy, and the Dauphin. — Assassina tion of the Duke of Burgundy. — Parliament at Westminster. — Treaty of Troyes, and Marriage of Henry. WITHIN two days of the fall of Rouen Henry resumed his double-handed negotiations1. On the 1 2th February Negotia- a short truce was signed with the adherents of the Dauphin, to cover the territory between the Seine and the Loire without Normandy. Negotiations were opened simultaneously with the other party; and personal inter views both with King and Dauphin were suggested. Truces were renewed with Brittany and Anjou 2. In other quarters great efforts were made to extend the circle of the King's connexions. The Duke of Bedford was offered as adoptive son to Johanna II, the childless Queen of Naples, who had quarrelled with her French husband Jacques de la Marche 3- Alternative instructions were also given to find an eligible consort for the Duke among the Princesses of Germany4. Gloucester was offered to 1 Foed. ix. 670, 689, 692. 2 Foed. 663, 670 ; the Duke of Brittany came in person to Rouen ; T. Elmham, 206. 3 See Foed. 701-706 ; and Sismondi, Rep. Ital. viii. 262, 288. Johanna was the sister of Ladislas, whom she succeeded in 1414 ; she must have been on the look out for an heir, as in 1420 she adopted Alphonso V of Arragon and Sicily; id. 298. 4 Foed. 710. In 1418 Henry had offered Bedford to Jacqueline, widow of the Dauphin John, and heiress of Count William of Holland ; Proceedings, ii. 241 ; but the lady had been induced by her mother to marry her cousin John, Duke of Brabant ; Foed. ix. 566, 580 ; E. Monstrelet, 439. Of this lady we shall hear again. i4i9- NEGOTIATIONS. 169 Blanche, daughter and heiress of Charles III of Navarre 2 ; ch. xix and efforts were made to secure the allegiance of the Archbishops of Treves and Mayence2. The Dauphin received overtures from both parties, but Tanguy and his associates, who seemed prepared to fight all the world, rejected both. They spurned the offers of the Duke of Burgundy, and, resuming the aggressive, captured Beau mont and Soissons 3. They accepted Henry's proposal for an interview between Evreux and Dreux, and appointed the 26th March ; having done so they took no further steps in the matter 4- The Duke of Burgundy, finding that he could make nothing of the Dauphin, accepted Henry's proposals for an interview; and at the outset authorised his agents to cede everything granted by the treaty of Bretigny, with the addition of Normandy. The 15th May was named for the meeting, which was to take place between Pontoise and Mantes. The Duke promised to bring the King and Queen of France with him, if possible ; at any rate he himself would be there with " madame Catherine " 5- A truce of course formed part of the arrangement ; but its sphere was restricted to the districts between the Seine and the Loire on the one side, and 'beyond the Somme' on the other, so as to leave Henry free to act in Normandy; and accordingly, before the conferences began, La Roche Guion and Ivry were added to his conquests 6. 1 Foed. 716. The lady, however, was given to Don John of Arragon, after wards John II of Arragon; id. 741. 2 Foed. 715. 3 February-April; St. Denys, vi. 314; J. J. Ursins, 547 ; but see de Beau court, i. 123. 4 See Foed. 670, 675, 686, 703, 708, 788 ; T. Elmham, 208 ; G. Chaste lain, 192. Henry went to Evreux about the 25th March, and remained there some days; Foed.; Cal. Norm. Rolls; see also Goodwin, 217; and a letter of the 3rd April, Ellis, Second Series, i. 76 (given wrongly under 1420). 5 Foed. 717-727, 732. 6 T. Elmham, 210-212; G. Chastelain, 193; St. Denys, vi. 310, 326. La Roche Guion was given to Guy le Bouteiller, who had turned English, 270 HENRY V. 1419. Meetingbetween Henry and the Duke of Burgundy. Queen Isabella and the Lady Catherine. The spot selected for the meeting-place was a field x on the banks of the Seine below Meulan, between that place and Mezy. The site was enclosed by the river on one side, and by a pond or lake on the other ; half was held to belong to the English and half to the French, the whole being carefully fortified and enclosed with palisades and ditches 2. A central spot was marked out for the meeting- place, as in 1396 ; and a Council tent, with retiring rooms for the principal personages, was erected within the 'lists,' accommodation for the attendants being provided outside 3. All the usual guarantees were interchanged, and the numbers of the escorts and attendants on either side defined 4. The first meeting eventually took place on the 29th May ; the French advancing from Pontoise and the English from Mantes. Charles VI was not in a presentable state, and had to be left behind ; but the Duke of Burgundy brought the Queen and the Lady Catherine, whom Henry had never yet seen. Henry was attended by his two brothers, by Archbishop Chicheley, and by his uncles, the Bishop of Winchester and the Duke of Exeter 5- About 3 p.m. the two parties entered the enclosure, and, advancing simultaneously, met at the central stake. Henry bowed to the Royal Ladies and saluted them : Burgundy made a slight obeisance to the King, who took him by the hand and saluted him. Henry then led the ladies to the tent 6. A prolonged discussion resulted in the execution of an agreement, by which each party under took not to break off the conferences without eight ' "Campus vocatus de la Chat" ; Foed. ix. 752. A small island in the Seine lay alongside. 2 " Clos de bonnes bailies . . . et de bons fosses " ; Monstrelet ; " lices " ; Chastelain. 3 Foed. sup. ; E. Monstrelet, 453; T. Elmham, 219, 220; J. J. Ursins, 551, 552 ; G. Chastelain, 193, 194. 4 Foed. 756, 758. Sixty men of rank, with sixteen 'ofthe Council,' were to be admitted on either side ; all others were to remain outside ; J. J. Ursins, sup. a Chastelain, 194; Foed. 761 ; E. Hall, 91 ; Goodwin, Henry V, 225. 6 E. Monstrelet, J. J. Ursins, sup. ; T. Elmham, 221, 222. HENRY'S DEMANDS. %,\ days' notice 7 Six more interviews were held between the ch. xix. ist and the 30th June2. The French requested an exact statement in writing of Henry's demands. His require- Henry's ments were 'all and single' granted by "the Grete Pees " demands. (Great Peace, i.e. Bretigny) in absolute dominion, with Normandy 3. The French in return made a series of demands, of a Stipula- very reasonable character. First they required an absolute jrrencn. renunciation of all claim, present or future, to the Crown of France. To this Henry was willing to give in, ' saving the superiority of all lands to be granted by the present treaty.' Next the French demanded a renunciation of all claim either in superiority or demesne over Touraine, Anjou, Brittany, Flanders, or Maine. This point Henry refused to concede. The next requirement was a pledge that neither Henry nor his successors would ever accept from any person any claim or title, actual or prospective, to the Crown of France. This article was clearly intended to bar the obvious risk of a subsequent treaty with the Dauphin, who might be induced to grant all that Burgundy now withheld. Henry agreed, 'provided a similar guarantee were given by the other side ' 4 ; a reservation made and accepted as equivalent to a refusal5- The fourth demand was that the treaty should be ratified by Henry's brothers and by the three Estates of his realm. This most reason able security he again refused to give, and he would not allow the French to assign equivalents in Aquitain for his claims on Ponthieu ; but he agreed to surrender all con quests made outside Normandy ; and he gave a qualified assent to the demand that the dowry and jewels of the 1 Foed. 759, J. J. Ursins, 552 ; T. Elmham, 223. 2 See the days ; T. Elmham, 223, 224; and Tit. Liv. The Princess did not appear after the first day. 3 Foed. 762, undated ; also 779, a private letter from a man in the English camp ; J. J. Ursins, 553. * " Dnm . . . pars consanguinei sui Franciae eodem modo pro parte sua faciat confirmari," &c. 5 See Henry's manifesto (Foed. 789, 790), in which he characterises this demand as " omnino irrationabilis." 272 HENRY V. ch. xix. late Isabella, estimated together at 1,000,000 crowns, should ~~ be set off pro tanto against John's ransom 7 Here was matter enough for dispute, Henry's reluctance to ratify the treaty in Parliament being in itself enough to excite profound misgivings2. But the Dauphinois thought that there was a real danger of a treaty being executed between Henry and the Duke ; and Tanguy came to Pon- toise to offer the reconciliation that would enable France to bid defiance to the English. As this was the thing that the Duke, and all the French, most earnestly desired, he had little hesitation in accepting Tanguy's overture. Rumours of this intrigue cast a shade over Henry's last interview with the Duke on the 30th June : they parted with rather Failure of high words 3- Another appointment having been made for ferenc°n ^e 3r<^ Ju^y» ^e Duke failed to appear ; and the great conference was at an end, " and no conclusion taken " 4. Henry was much mortified. On the 5th July he in structed agents to proceed to the French Court to reopen the treaty, giving them special authority to deal with the money question, as if that had been the chief difficulty. On the 1 8th the commission was renewed 5 ; but for the The Duke moment there was nothing to be done. On the 8th July gundyand the Dauphin had met the Duke of Burgundy on a cause- the Dau- way 6 at Pouilly-le-Fort, near Melun. The course of their phmois. ,..,., , discussions did not run very smoothly; but on the nth a treaty was signed by which the two agreed to bury the past and co-operate for the future in resistance to the English, promising to make no treaty with them except by joint consent 7 1 See the official record ; Foed. ix. 763. 2 This must have been the stipulation to which Henry in his manifesto (intended for circulation at home) twice refers as a gross insult ; but he does not disclose the nature of the insulting stipulation, which must be gathered from the record of the proceedings ; Foed. 764. As for the insult, the subsequent treaty of Troyes was submitted to Parliament at the first opportunity. 3 J. J. Ursins, 553 ; E. Monstrelet, 454; T. Elmham, 224, 225. 4 T. Elmham, sup. ; E. Hall, 91. 5 Foed. 774-776. 6 "Ponceau." 7 St. Denys, vi. 328-344; Foed. 776; E. Monstrelet, 454-457; and especially de Beaucourt, i. 147, from the Dijon archives. PARTIES IN FRANCE. 373 The difficulty was that the Duke wanted the Dauphin ch. xix. to return to his father's Court, where he, Burgundy, was supreme. In other words, he wanted the Armagnacs to merge their party existence. This was just what Tanguy and his associates Louvet and Le Macon did not want ; and the treaty in fact clearly recognised the future continuance of the Armagnac party. When the conferences ended, the Dauphin went off to Bourges ; while the Duke removed the King to St. Denis1. Thus the situation remained prac tically unaltered, France being still split into two camps 2- On the 30th July Henry proclaimed the resumption of The Eng- active hostilities. Next morning at daybreak Pontoise the isje of was carried by escalade, the ladders being set up just as France. the night watch had gone off duty, and before the day watch was set. The escalading party were led by Gaston de Foix, Captal de Buch ; the supports by the Earl of Huntingdon. He lost his way in the dark, and did not come up in proper time. In the interval the storming party were very nearly overwhelmed ; but they managed to hold one of the gates till their friends appeared, when the town was won, with great store of booty, thanks to the recent sojourn there of the French Court. That same day the Duke of Burgundy hastily removed the King and Court to Troyes. Two days later the Duke of Clarence appeared under the walls of St. Denis 3. Fresh appeals were now made to the Armagnacs to have mercy on their country, and sink their personal grudges and their personal interests. On the 8th August a deputation was sent from Paris to wait on the Dauphin, and implore him to act up to the spirit of the recent treaty by rejoining his father's circle. A favourable answer was 1 J. J. Ursins, 555 ; E. Monstrelet, 457; de Beaucourt, i. 150, 156. The last truce expired on the 29th July ; Foed. 782. 2 Henry exerted himself to renew negotiations with the Duke ; Foed. 774- 783. His envoys were received at Pontoise before the Court left the place (23rd July), but apparently only to be informed of the treaty of Pouilly. See Isabella's letter to Henry ; de Beaucourt, i. 187. 3 See T. Elmham, 226-231 ; E. Monstrelet, 458, 459 ; St. Denys, vi. 348- 354; T. Wals. ii. 329. The English appeared at the actual gates of Paris on the 9th August; Bourgeois, 128, note. * T 274 HENRY V. 1419. given ; but the only actual step to which the Dauphinois would consent was another interview ; and for the meeting- place they named Montereau-faut-Yonne . The Duke hesitated for three weeks. Warnings of in tended foul play reached him from divers quarters ; and in fact it is clear that the Armagnacs, fearing that the pressure of circumstances would force the Dauphin out of their hands, had resolved to guard against their own political extinction by assassinating the Duke. Tanguy came to Troyes to dissipate the fears of Jean- sans-Peur. The castle of Montereau, on one side of the Seine, would be placed in his hands ; the Dauphin would occupy the town, which lay on the other side. Ten gentle men only on either side would be admitted to the enclosure : no arms or armour would be allowed except swords and hauberks 2. Arrange- Every possible pledge was offered. The Dame de Giac, meeting at a confidant of the Queen of France, who exercised great Montereau influence over the Duke, urged him to go, and he went 3. the Dau- On Sunday, 10th September, the day finally chosen for P,hl"a"d fthe interview, the Dauphin, coming from Moret on the Burgundy. West, occupied the town of Montereau ; while the Duke, leaving Bray-sur-Seine on the East, took possession of the castle. A barricaded enclosure, with a gate at each end, had been erected on the bridge. As the two parties ap proached the enclosure the last oaths were exchanged ; the lists of attendants verified ; and the state of their equip ment examined 4. At the entrance Tanguy received the Duke to present him to the Dauphin. John laid his hand on Tanguy's shoulder, saying, " veez cy en quije me fie " 5. The Duke stepped up to the Dauphin and made his obeisance, kneeling and doffing his hood. A few formal 1 St. Denys, vi. 369, 370 ; E. Monstrelet, 460 ; J. Wavrin ; J. Le Fevre ; J. J. Ursins, 555. 2 " Haubergeons et espees " ; J. J. Ursins, 556. 3 E. Monstrelet, 460, 461 ; J. J. Ursins, 555; de Beaucourt, i. 159, 163. Mme. de Giac was quite an elderly woman. 4 E. Monstrelet, snp. ; J. J. Ursins, 556 ; and de Beaucourt, i. 163-166. 0 So E. Monstrelet, 462. (' See here the man in whom I put my trust!) ASSASSINA TION OF THE DUKE OF BURGUND Y. ITS words were interchanged x ; the Duke was either still ch. xix. kneeling, or in the act of rising from his knee, and appa- rently fumbling with his sword, which had got between his legs, when a gang of armed men rushed in upon him from behind the Dauphin2- He was quickly despatched. Murder of The Sire de Navailles, one of his attendants, was mortally B^gundy? wounded ; the others were made prisoners, all but one who " vaulted over the barrier and escaped " 3. Succour to the Duke had been cut off by locking the door at his end of the lists on the inside. The Dauphin, who was apparently dumbfoundered by the catastrophe, was hurried away when the first blow was struck. His nerves did not recover from the shock for years. According to the Duke's secretary, Sequinat, who was present, Tanguy actually struck the first blow 4. " Regnaudin l'enferma ; Tanneguy si le frepa Et Bataille si 1'assomma " 6. 1 "Post pauca verba." Registres du Parlement ; de Beaucourt, i. 168 ; so too Isabella's letter below, and another statement given by de Beaucourt, 169. 2 See de Beaucourt, i. 171. It seems clear that on the Dauphin's side men found their way into the lists who were not among the specified ten, Guillaume de Bataille for one ; G. Cousinot, Gestes, 177 ; E. Monstrelet, 493. 3 Lingard. 4 See his deposition in Des Salles Memoires pour l'Histoire de France et Bourgogne, i. 271 (Paris, 1729, La Barre); also Isabella's letter to Henry of the 20th September; de Beaucourt, i. 186. Cf. E. Monstrelet, 462, 463, copied by Wavrin and Le Fevre; J. J. Ursins, sup.; St. Denys, vi. 372-374; and Barante, Dues de Bourgogne, iv. 454-464. For the Dauphinois version see their manifestoes of the 10th and nth September; de Beaucourt, i. 180; and E. Monstrelet, 465 ; cp. J. J. Ursins, 556, and G. Cousinot, sup. According to this version, the Dauphin lectured the Duke on his tergiversation and delay ; the Duke losing his temper put his hand on his sword ; whereupon the Dauphinois interfered to protect their master. In a letter of the 15th Septem ber, addressed by them to the young Duke of Burgundy, the late Duke is formally charged with having planned to seize the Dauphin, but the drawing of the sword is ascribed to the Sire de Navailles ; de Beaucourt, i. 181. This writer labours to establish the Armagnac view. The responsibility for the deed would seem to lie between Tanguy and Jean Louvet, President of Provence, a man who had a great deal to say in the Councils of the party. At Arras in 1435, Duke Philip named these two, with Pierre Frotier and Jean Cadart, as the (surviving?) authors of his father's death ; de Beaucourt, ii. 558. 5 Des Salles, sup. 286, cited in note to O. de La Marche, Memoires, &c, i. 198 (Societe de l'Histoire de France), with a contemporary letter to the same T 2 276 HENRY V. CH. XIX. r4I9. Overtures from the young Duke of Burgundyand City of Paris to Henry. Henry's terms. ' Little Regnaud shut him in ; Tanguy struck him, Bataille slew him.' A fouler deed of treachery was never done ; but Jean- sans-Peur only met the fate he himself had meted out to the Duke of Orleans twelve years before. The blow that felled the Duke of Burgundy laid France at Henry's feet. A wild cry for vengeance rose from Paris. Before the month was out Henry had received overtures from the City; and, a few days later, from the young Duke of Burgundy, Philippe le-Bon1. The King was invited to name his own terms : he had no difficulty in doing so, as his mind had long been made up. On the 24th October he authorised Sir Gilbert Um- phraville to state that he would accept the hand of Catherine, without dowry, but with the reversion of the Crown of France at the death of Charles VI, and the Regency during his life 2. On the 20th November a short truce was signed with the City of Paris. On the 2nd December Duke Philip sealed his acceptance of Henry's terms ; on the 24th a general truce was signed to last to the 1st March, 1420 ; all' Dauphinois or Armagnacs' being of course excluded ; also the Duchy of Normandy, where some places still held out3. Lastly, on Christmas Day, Henry pledged himself to his share of the compact, which was simply that he would keep friends with the young Duke, and use his best efforts to bring " Charles Dauphin de Vienne" and the other murderers of the late Duke to ' condign punishment '4. Henry had long looked to the hand of Catherine to give him a collateral title, which might reconcile the French to effect. Regnaudin is identified with one Le Normant : whoever he was he had no business to be in the enclosure, as he was not one of the Dauphin's ten. 1 Foed. ix. 796-811, 827, 828 ; E. Monstrelet, 467, 468 ; T. Elmham, 236. Queen Isabella had written on the 20th September, above. 2 See Foed. 521, where the document is tacked to other documents belonging to the year 141 7. 3 Foed. 812-829: the Duke's acceptance, p. 816, tallies verbally with Henry's demands, wrongly printed in Foedera under the year 1417, p. 521. 4 Foed. sup. ENGLISH CONQUESTS. 1,7 his original *' claims." But weak, weary, and divided as ch. xix. France was, his seeming triumph could never have been attained without the opportune crime of Tanguy du Chatel. Jean-sans-Peur had steadfastly resisted Henry's scheme : its acceptance was the sole work of his son, who thought himself bound to subordinate every consideration to the duty of avenging his father. The cities which followed his lead endeavoured to smother their sense of nationality in their just hatred of the Armagnacs 7 The conquests of the autumn included the town and Course of castle of Gisors2, Poissy, St. Germains-en-Laye, Meulan3, c™„ests and lastly Les Andelys, better known as the " Chdteau Gaillard" of Richard Cceur de Lion. This noted stronghold, after a lengthened siege, surrendered early in December 4. How far the garrisons of these places held themselves adherents of the Dauphin or of the Duke we need not enquire ; doubtless no French knight would think that he could do wrong by keeping the English out of a French stronghold. The conquest of Gisors made Henry master of that old bone of contention, the Vexin, both " Vexin le Norman" and " Vexin le Frangais"5. The command of Pontoise, Poissy, and St. Germains, all in the Isle of France, gave him a clear access to Paris. At home a Parliament had sat at Westminster from the Parliament 1 6th October to the 13th November. A whole Subsidy ^j^" was granted, to be paid on the 2nd February, with a third of another Subsidy to be paid on the nth November, 1420. Provisions were again made for enabling the King to raise money on the security of the deferred grant 6- Complaints 1 See the remarks ofthe St. Denys writer, vi. 376-386. 2 September I7th-i8th; T. Elmham, 234; Gesta, 131; Foed. 798; G. Chastelain, 198 ; Calendar Norm. Rolls. 3 29th October; T. Elmham, 239 ; 6th November; G. Chastelain, 196. 4 8th December; T. Elmham, 241-243 ; G. Chastelain, 197 ; E. Monstrelet, 460 ; Olivier de Manny was again in command. 5 G. Chastelain, sup. " Rot. Pari. iv. 116, 117 ; Foed. ix. 814. The Convocation of Canterbury granted a Half-Tenth in November : York gave a Tenth and a Half in January, 1420; Wake, 354, 355. 278 HENRY V. ch. xix. having been made of the drain of coin caused by the 7^ heavy remittances to Normandy, the Council was au thorised to send remittances in wool, to be shipped free of all staple regulations, and sold abroad on the King's account 1. The Session witnessed another attack, as it appears to The Queen have been, on the unfortunate Queen dowager Johanna. Dowager. Qn ^ g^gjjg^ 0f a < confession ' made by friar John Randolf, her former chaplain, she was declared guilty of having 'compassed and imagined' the King's death, the means to be employed being " sorcerye and nygramancie." She was committed to safe keeping, and Parliament au thorised the Council to seize all her lands and effects for the King's benefit 2. In the course of this century we shall find a charge of sorcery an expedient frequently adopted to crush political opponents, especially women. The new treaty had yet to be sealed by the King of France, the helpless arbiter of his people's fate. In March, 1420, the Earl of Warwick waited on the Duke of Burgundy at St. Quentin, to arrange for this necessary formality. On the 2 ist of the month they reached the French Court at Troyes, having captured Crepy-en- Laonnais and other Armagnac outposts on the way3. Henry was at Rouen organising a government for Nor mandy, which during the life of Charles VI was to be kept separate from France4. The general truce was kept going by brief extensions, and for these Henry demanded 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 118. 2 Rot. Pari. n8, 247, 248 ; Chron. London, 107 ; T. Wals. ii. 331 ; Devon Issues, 362. The order for seizure is dated 3rd October. Johanna may have intrigued to procure the liberation of her younger son, or she may have con demned Henry's scheme. The Bretons did not like it. Friar Randolf was kept in strict custody, being sent over to France, and brought back when the King came home ; Devon Issues, 365 ; Goodwin, 298. Henry in his last illness repented of his conduct to Johanna, and on the 13th July, 1422, ordered her to be set free and her property restored ; Rot. Pari. iv. 248. 3 E. Monstrelet, 473-475 ; T. Elmham, 246 ; St. Denys, vi. 395. The Duke had to fight his way to Troyes. 4 See Foed. ix. 832-882 ; but especially the Calendar of the Norman Rolls, 41st Dep. Keeper's Report. PRELIMINARY ARTICLES. 279 Beaumont-sur-Oise 7 His captains kept operating against ch. xix. the Dauphinois in the basin of the Oise, and with general 7^ success2. From the French writers we hear of a naval defeat inflicted on the English by a Franco-Spanish fleet near Rochelle 3. Philip the Good acted loyally up to his engagements. Accept- On the 9th April ' Preliminary Articles ' were agreed to by Henry's the King of France ; all the terms previously accepted by terms by , „ , ' , , , . . ' Charles VI. the Duke were ratified, with supplemental provisions to ensure the due working of the scheme. Henry undertook to govern4 with a Council of nobles of Charles' 'obedience.' In return all the magnates, Estates, and cities of the party would swear to obey Henry's orders as Regent, and would declare themselves his 'liege men' from and after Charles' death. Henry on assuming the Regency would take the usual oaths of Kings and Regents of France, 'so far as conducive to the welfare of the Regency, and consistent with the security of the present compact ' 6 ; he would undertake not to levy taxes except for reasonable cause, and according to custom ; he would entirely abandon the style of 'King of France' during Charles' life, styling him self only 'Henry King of England and Heir of France'6 ; he would do his best to reduce to Charles' obedience all persons and places holding by the Dauphin, ' especially on this side of the Loire ' ; he would make over to Charles all ' conquests' to be made by him outside Normandy; and he would undertake that at Charles' death, Normandy and his other 'conquests' should be reannexed to France. He also specially undertook to maintain the authority of the Parliament of Paris, and respect the rights and property of the Church and Universities. Catherine would receive a 1 Foed. 857, 874, 889 ; St. Denys, vi. 386. 2 Fontaine-Lavaganne, and "Muyn" (qy. Mouy?) in the department of the Oise, were captured ; also Dammartin and Tremblay in " Seine et Oise." Cler mont held out; E. Monstrelet, 473 ; St. Denys, 390, 392. 3 February; St. Denys, 398 ; J. J. Ursins, 558. 4 " Regere et gubemare." 6 " Quatenus concernere poterit bonum dicti Regimenis aut securitatem praesentis concordiae." 6 " Roy d'Angleterre Heritier de France." Isabella. a8o HENRY V. ch. xix. dower of 40,000 ' feus' (£6666 ias. Ad.) per annum; all ~ ' Burgundians' willing to accept the treaty to be reinstated by Henry so far as possible ; the treaty to be ratified by the Queen, the Lady Catherine, and the Duke of Burgundy on the one side, and by the King's brothers on the other. Lastly, the articles contained detailed provisions for the final execution of the treaty at a personal interview, to be held, with all the usual guarantees, at some spot between Troyes and Nogent-sur-Seine. For the purposes of this meeting, the French undertook to place in Henry's hands a bridge over the Marne, either at Lagny or Charenton, with the towns of Provins and Nogent 1. Queen It is worthy of remark that throughout the compact, whenever a stipulation is made on behalf of the ' honour and dignity ' of the King of France, a corresponding stipu lation is inserted on behalf of the rights of ' his illustrious consort.' It was her hand that affixed to the treaty the Seal of the helpless Charles VI. The conduct of this frivolous, pleasure-seeking woman seems most disgraceful. Burgundy had a father to avenge : she was prepared to disinherit her eldest son for the mere sake of avenging her lost treasures and the slights of the Armagnacs. On the 29th April the ' marvellous and shameful ' com pact, as a French writer very naturally terms it 2, was laid before the Parliament of Paris and other representatives of the clergy and laity of the city. Paris was starving 3, and the Burgundian interest there was very strong. The articles were ratified without a dissentient voice 4. This ratification was reported next day to Henry, who was then at Pontoise6. On the 14th May, having ad vanced by St. Denis and Charenton to Provins, he called on the French to make the final arrangements for the meeting. But it was doubtless felt that if Henry and 1 Foed. ix. 877-882. 2 J. J. Ursins, 560. 3 St. Denys, vi. 396. For suppressed murmurs at the treaty, see p. 386. ' 29th April ; Barante, Dues de Bourgogne, v. 19, citing Registres du Parlement. 5 Id. 21. TREATY OF TROYES. 181 his future subjects could not meet except within guarded .ch. xix. lists the treaty must fall to the ground, a transparent I42a absurdity. Henry was invited to bring his army to Troyes1. On the 20th May he made his entry into the city, being received by the Duke of Burgundy. A cere monial visit to the King of France followed 2. On the Treaty of morrow, Tuesday, 21st May, the new " Grete Pees" was royes' sworn and sealed in the cathedral church of St. Peter, by the Queen, " Madam Catherine," and the Duke of Burgundy; Charles was unable to appear. The execution of the treaty was immediately followed by the betrothal of Henry and Catherine 3. The treaty, as finally concluded, was an echo of the Preliminary Articles, the order of the clauses being some times altered, and a few supplemental provisions added. Henry undertook to do his best with the Estates of the two realms, to procure an ordinance by which after the death of Charles VI the two Crowns should be united for ever in one and the same person. In the words of the English version, it was proclaimed that "all maner of dissencions .... and werres " between the two countries were to cease. "Stille and reste" should reign "for ever more ! " But the parties pledged themselves to open no negotiations with the 'so-called Dauphin,' on account of the ' horrible and enormous crimes perpetrated by him'4 Henry had now fairly realised his great ambition ; he was, on paper, actual Regent and prospective Heir of the realm of France, or so much thereof as ' obeyed ' Charles VI. But Charles' 'obedience' at the time was 1 Foed. 893 ; T. Elmham, 247-250. 2 See the letters of the King and Duke of Exeter ; Foed. 906, 907 ; T. Elmham, 250. 3 Foed. 906, 907; T. Elmham, 252 ; T. Wals. ii. 334. 4 See the treaty in Latin and French ; Foed. ix. 895-904, and as translated for publication in England, 916-920; all the leading chroniclers give copies. It was registered by the Parliament of Paris on the 30th of the month ; Mons trelet, 484, note Buchon. Henry gave immediate orders for altering the style on the Seals; Foed. 907, 915; "but no impression has been discovered"; Foss, Judges, iv. 186. 282 HENRY V. 1420. neutralPowers. limited to the territory north of the Loire \ minus Burgundy and minus Brittany, and even that reduced dominion was cut up by a network of Dauphinois holds, including Melun, Meaux, Soissons, and Compiegne. Brittany, though for the time bitterly hostile to the Dauphin 2, gave no support Attitude of to Henry. By the Western powers in general the treaty was viewed with disfavour. Sigismund and Henry's brother-in-law, the Count Palatine, Ludwig of Bavaria, accepted it 3. But Martin V, with all his friendly feeling for Henry, could not ratify it. Castile would not hear of any truce either with England or Burgundy4. The hostility of Scotland was quickened into new life. Even Burgundian allies, such as the Duke of Lorraine5, and Burgundian captains and feudatories, such as John and Louis of Luxemburg, and the Prince of Orange, rejected the treaty6. Preparations for the Royal wedding were hastened for wards. On Trinity Sunday (2nd June), Henry and Catherine were married in the cathedral of Troyes ; Henri de Savoisy, Archbishop of Sens, officiated. Marriageof Henry and Cathe rine. 1 For the progress of the Dauphinois party south of the Loire, see de Beaucourt, i. 45 ; Sismondi, France, xii. 589 ; Vic et Vaissette, Hist. Languedoc, iv. 450. The Count of Foix had done great things for them. 2 In February the Count of Penthievre, the heir of the rival House of Blois, at the instigation of some of the Dauphin's followers, had treacherously seized and imprisoned the Duke of Brittany. The Bretons took up arms for their Duke, and the Duchess eventually procured his release through her brother the Dauphin. See de Beaucourt, i. 202; Sismondi, xii. 591, &c. The Duchess implored Henry (her sister's husband) to help her by releasing her brother-in- law Arthur; Foed. ix. 876, 894. Arthur was let out in the hope of reconciling the Bretons to the treaty; Foed. x. 4-15 ; Proceedings, ii. 278. See especially E. Cosneau, Connetable de Richemont, 53-56. 3 Foed. x. 14, 15. Ludwig was the husband of Blanche of Lancaster. 4 See de Beaucourt, i. 325. Sir John Colville was sent from England to Savoy, and apparently on to the Papal Court ; he was away 22nd June to 28th January, 1421 ; Enrolled Foreign Accounts, Henry V, f. 25, and dorso. 5 Foed. ix. 909. 6 J. Le Fevre, ii. 9 ; de Beaucourt, 326. The English had grossly insulted John of Luxemburg by violating safe-conducts granted by him ; E. Monstrelet, 471,472. CHAPTER XX. Henry V (continued). Siege and Capture of Melun. — Parliament at Westminster. — Visit of the King and Queen to England. — Coronation of Catherine. — Battle of Bauge. — Parliament at Westminster. — Return of Henry to France. — Course of the Campaign. — Investiture of Meaux. One clear day was all the time that Henry could give ch. xx. to bridal festivities. I420 On Tuesday, 4th June, the two combined Courts, Kings, Reduction Queens, Dukes, and Ladies, were marched off to the siege of Sens- of Sens, the nearest Dauphinois stronghold. " Of faitz of armes," writes an Englishman from the camp, " had many of the gentil women begonne long time agoon ; but of lyyng at Seges (sieges) now they begynne first " 7 On the 10th June Sens yielded, the capitulation being nominally made to Charles VI 2 ; and then the host moved on to Montereau. On the 23rd June the town was carried by escalade ; on the 1st July the castle surrendered 3. We grieve to add that Henry hung some of the men taken in the town in terrorem ; a cruel practice in which he was beginning to indulge 4. 1 Foed. ix. 910. The ladies, however, were established at Villeneuve-le-Roi. In the spring Henry had received a reinforcement of 1152 men under the Duke of Bedford ; Issue Roll Michaelmas 7 Henry V, 6th March. 2 Henry reinstated Archbishop de Savoisy at Sens, with a neat little speech. ' You gave me a wife ; I restore you yours — your Church ' ; J. J. Ursins, 561. 3 T. Elmham, 269-274; Bourgeois, 141 note. 4 So E. Monstrelet, 484, 485 ; also Wavrin, Le Fevre, and G. Chastelain, i. 201. Henry had done the same by some of the garrison of a petty fort in Brie, stormed on the way to Troyes; T. Elmham, 250. Before the execution of the final treaty, Henry could have no excuse for treating the French as rebels. Perhaps the victims were Scotsmen. Melun. 284 HENRY V. ch. xx. Among the defenders of the castle were found some Scotsmen. Under the management of the Dauphinois the 1420. ° The Scots °^ Franco-Scottish alliance had assumed a more definite in France, shape. A considerable body of Scottish auxiliaries were at this moment on the soil of France under the leadership of John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, second son of the Regent, Robert Albany. The force had been sent at the request of the Dauphin, and with the express sanction of the Scottish Estates 7 It was doubtless in order to check this movement that the unfortunate King James was brought over from England about this time 2. Siege of The next place selected for attack was Melun, a formid able stronghold, commanding the access to Paris from the Upper Seine. The place was strongly fortified 3 and strongly garrisoned, the command being in the hands of the Sire de Barbazan ; next to Tanguy, the chief military leader of the party, and one of the men most deeply implicated in the murder of Montereau. About the 9th July the siege began. Henry stationed himself on the south-west side of the river towards the Gatinois, with Clarence and Bedford and his brother-in-law, 1 Scotichron. ii. 458 ; Liber Pluscard. 353. The negotiations with the Scots began in 1418, both parties in France treating with them; de Beaucourt, i. 306, 308. In April, 1419, Scotsmen are found serving as body-guard to the Dauphin, the germ of the celebrated Archer Guard ; in May, Sir William Douglas of Drumlanrig was retained with 150 lances and 300 archers ; id. 310, 333, and again 198 ; cf. Foed. x. 18. Further reinforcements came over in the autumn of 1419 ; Foed. ix. 783 ; de Beaucourt, 331 ; by the 29th December, Buchan was in France with Archibald Douglas, styled Earl of Wigton, the eldest son of the Earl of Douglas ; id. 333. They are said to have been brought over by a Franco-Spanish fleet, probably that of de Braquemont, which defeated the English in January, 1420 ; Pluscard. sup. ; de Beaucourt, 197. In March, the Duke of Brittany was taxed with opposing their landing ; id. 205. They were mostly quartered along the Loire, and on the frontier of Maine ; Pluscard. 354 ; T. Wals. ii. 331 ; Ellis, Letters, Second Series, i. 74 ; J. J. Ursins, 548. But the Dauphinois were still dissatisfied with their numbers, and the Archbishop of Rheims was instructed to go over to Scotland to press for more men; de Beaucourt, 334. 2 Devon Issues, 362, 363 ; he was ready to sail on the 12th July ; he joined Henry at the siege of Melun. 3 Among the defences of the place, Elmham describes » glacis which covered half the height of the walls from cannon. SIEGE OF MELUN. 185 'the Red Duke of Bavaria'1. The Duke of Burgundy, ch. xx. with Huntingdon and Warwick, was posted on the north- i420. east side, in Brie. The King and Queen of France, and the Queen of England, were established in more comfort able quarters at Corbeil a. Barbazan offered a determined resistance ; the siege, we are told, was ' one of the worst ' 3 the King was ever engaged in. We hear of bombardment, and of mining operations ; in which the King of England and the Duke of Burgundy went down into the depths to exchange lance thrusts with Dauphinois knights in the countermine 4. But Henry, as usual, put his trust in the slow but sure pressure of starvation. A bridge of boats was again con structed across the Seine to keep up communications ; and the whole besieging force on either side of the river fenced in with continuous palisades. Boat-parties kept watch upon the waterway. In the last month of the siege Charles VI was brought up from Corbeil, to ease the act of surrender to the feelings of the garrison. But Barbazan gave no sign of submission till his provisions were utterly exhausted, and every hope of succour from the Dauphin had vanished5. On the 17th November commissioners Fall of were named to settle terms, and on the 18th the Duke of Melun- Exeter was appointed to 'take seisin,' in the name of Charles VI 6- The terms were very simple. All living souls in Melun were required to surrender at absolute discretion ; the understanding being that mercy would be ' Ludwig, the Count Palatine, so called from the colour of his armour ; E. Monstrelet, 487 ; T. Elmham, 280; Gesta, 144; and note Williams. 2 T. Elmham, 275-278; Tit. Liv. 98; E. Monstrelet, 487; J. J. Ursins, 561 ; Foed. x. 4. Henry signs at Montereau on the 7th, at Melun on the 9th July; Calendar Norman Rolls. 3 Chron. London, 108. The mortality was very heavy; T. Wals. ii. 335; J. Le Fevre, ii. 18 ; "per quandam pestem et alia jam exorta incommoda " ; Elmham, 287. 4 T. Elmham, 286 ; E. Monstrelet, 487 ; St. Denys, vi. 446 ; J. J. Ursins, £61-563. s T. Elmham. The Dauphin in August had advanced with an army to the Loire, but his plans were disconcerted by the death of the Count of Vertus, brother of the late Dnke of Orleans, and he retired to his luxurious residence at Mehun-sur-Yevre, near Bourges ; de Beaucourt, i. 209, &c. 6 Foed. x. 29, 30. 286 HENRY V. ch. xx. shown to all except persons implicated in the murder of 0 the Duke of Burgundy, deserters, and Scotsmen. The former would be tried according to law ; deserters and Scotsmen would be put to death without further cere mony 7 Henry's treatment of the Scots was absolutely un justifiable. He had not the smallest right to treat them as rebels. England and Scotland had never been at peace in the strict sense of the term during his reign : his detention of James I plainly implied the contrary. It is doubtful if there was as much as a truce subsisting at the time 2. Henry's bitterness showed the importance attached to the services of the Scots in France. His plea doubtless was the technical one, that as the King of Scots was in his camp, the Scots were fighting against their own flag. The way to Paris was now free from obstacle. During the siege of Melun the Duke of Burgundy had placed in Henry's hands the' Bastille, the Louvre, the H6tel de Nesle, State and the castle of Vincennes 3. On the ist December the Henryand two Kings and the Duke of Burgundy made a state entry Charles into Paris, riding to ' offer ' at Notre Dame. The streets were duly draped, and cries of "Noel!" greeted the pro cession. The presence of the sovereign is always grateful to his capital ; the cause of Burgundy was popular ; and 1 E. Monstrelet, 492 ; J. Wavrin ; J. Le Fevre ; T. Elmham, 288 ; J. J. Ursins, 564 ; Scotichron. ii. 462. All the prisoners of any note were sent to Paris and kept there for years. Barbazan was brought to trial, and declared that he was not present when the Duke was struck ; his case remained undecided for ten years, and then he made his escape ; de Beaucourt. 2 The truce to Easter, 1418, agreed to by Henry IV in 1412 (Foed. viii. 737), had been treated on both sides as lapsed at his death. In September, I413> Henry V agreed to a truce to June, 1414 (Foed. ix. 60) ; in September, 1417, he writes " yf ther be eny trewes to be taken this wynter betwene us and the Scottes," &c. ; Ellis, Third Series, i. 74. In 1419 and 1420 there had been active warfare on the borders ; Scotichron. ii. 458-460 ; J. Hardyng, 380-382. In June, 1420, Richard Neville was authorised to sign truces, but only for two months at a time; Foed. ix. 913. Apparently no general truce had been proclaimed since that which expired in June, 1414. 3 Sismondi, xii. 605 ; G. Chastelain, i. 203 ; T. Elmham, 282 ; E. Hall, 103. By the entries on the Norman Rolls, it would seem that from the middle of August Henry kept going backwards and forwards between Melun and Paris. HENRY V IN PARIS. 287 even the advent of the King of England might be hailed ch. xx. as offering some hope of relief from the hardships of the 0 moment x- On the 6th December the Estates General of France met in the H6tel St. Pol. Charles was produced to enjoin acceptance of the treaty of Troyes. On the 10th the ratification was passed ; measures were also agreed to for the reform of the currency, and for reimposing taxes and subsidies ' for the war against the Dauphinois.' The clergy pleaded hard for exemption, but Henry was inexorable 2. On the 23rd December a Lit de Justice was held in the same place, both Kings again appearing side by side. An appeal was presented by the Duke of Burgundy, his mother and his sisters, against the murderers of the late Duke. They were declared guilty of high treason, and incapable of holding or transmitting property or rights ; but the Parliament refrained from declaring the Dauphin personally guilty 3. The strength of Henry's will, as usual, could overcome Henry and all direct opposition ; but his relations with his new sub- the French- jects were not very cordial. The French found his manners distant, and his tone of command very peremptory. He had but two answers, they said, to all representations. ' It must be done,' and ' it can't be done ' 4. They also com plained that Charles VI was left to persons "de petit /tat," and that Englishmen were appointed to all offices of trust5. 1 J. J. Ursins, 565 ; E. Monstrelet, 493 ; Bourgeois, 144. See the last writer for the state of the city, and the dearth and sickness that prevailed. The very poor were reduced to turnips and cabbage ; pp. 111-146. 2 Foed. x. 30 ; J. J. Ursins, sup. ; E. Monstrelet, 495 ; T. Elmham, 289-292. Bourgeois, 149, 161, and notes; Barante, v. 57; Sismondi, xii. 609. Currency reform is always attended with difficulties, but Henry required persons to bring silver by weight to the Mint to be coined into " francs," at eight to the mark, they receiving back only seven francs for their mark of silver, " qui estoit une bien grosse taille " ; J. J. Ursins ; cf. Foed. x. 85. 3 Foed. x. 33 ; E. Monstrelet, 494; de Beaucourt, i. 217; Martin, France, vi. 73. ' " Nil aliud respondebat quam ' impossibile est ' ; vel ' Sic fieri oportebit ' ; " St. Denys, vi. 380. 5 See E. Monstrelet, 495, 496 ; echoed by Wavrin and Le Fevre ; also G. 288 HENRY V. 1420. at West minster. Yielding to the prayers of the English, who were clamouring for his return, Henry left Paris for Rouen on the 27th December, the Duke of Exeter being left as Captain of Paris and Governor of the King's person 1. Parliament In England the Regent had held a Parliament at West minster in December. Constitutional fears for the future in connexion with the new state of things marked the proceedings. The first prayer of the Commons was for the King's early return. The Regent, for himself per sonally, expressed a cordial assent ; but the Commons thought it best to emphasize their request by withholding a money grant. They asked that all petitions should be heard and answered during the sitting of Parliament, and not suspended for the consideration of the King abroad ; and they called for a republication of the Statute of 1340, guarding against any subjection of the people of England to their King qud King of France 2. The short Act passed in the Session also contained a provision that a Parliament summoned by a Regent during the King's absence should not be dissolved by the King's return 3. Henry spent most of the month of January at Rouen, having plenty to do there. Provincial Estates were held for Normandy and the other districts under his direct control. A Subsidy was voted for the defence of the province, and arrangements made for the reform of the currency 4. The King, on his part, did his best to restore Henry at Rouen. Chastelain, cited Martin, vi. 75. See also Monstrelet, 491, for the rebuke given by Henry to the Marshal de l'Isle Adam for having appeared in a travelling dress, and for having addressed him with his head erect. The Marshal found his way to the Bastille not long after. 1 Bourgeois, 147, 148 ; Champollion-Figeac, Lettres de Rois, ii. 388 ; Pauli; E. Monstrelet, sup.; Goodwin, 295. Henry entered Rouen 31st December; Bourgeois, sup., notes. 2 Rot. Pari. iv. 123-128. The Parliament met on the 2nd December, and rose about the 18th ; Rogers, Prices, iii. 676. No Convocation was summoned ; it is alleged that the Regent did not ask for any supply ; Wake, State of Church, 355 ; if so it must have been because he understood that none would be granted. 3 Statute 8 Henry V, c. 1. 4 Goodwin, 292 ; Foed. x. 58, 85, 101 ; G. Chastelain, i. 204. The clergy gave two Tenths, the Tiers Etat a fouage '{hearth-tax) estimated to make up, ROYAL RETURN TO ENGLAND. 289 order and prosperity by forbidding military exactions and ch. xx. requisitions, and by restoring the old rights and franchises ~ of the towns, which were admitted to be in a very de pressed condition. Charles d'Albret and the Count of Foix appeared to offer their allegiance, the Count having " been turned out of his government by the Dauphinois. The conditions under which Arthur of Brittany had been enlarged x were slightly relaxed ; and, finally, the Duke of Clarence was appointed military commander, with power to call out high and low for the prosecution of the war 2. In the latter part of January 3 the King and Queen left Rouen for England, travelling with all expedition by way of Amiens to Calais. The King of Scots, the Bishop of Winchester, the Duke of Bedford, the Earl of March, the Earl Marshal (Thomas Mowbray), and the Earl of Warwick went with them; the Earls of Huntingdon, Somerset4, Salisbury, and Suffolk 5 being left to support Clarence 6. On the ist February the Royal Pair sailed from Calais, Henry and landing at Dover on the morrow. An immense concourse J^™ was gathered to receive them ; the Barons of the Five England. " Poorts," in their enthusiasm, insisted on carrying them ashore through the water7. with the Tenths, a total of 400,000 Livres Tournois (£60,000). Nobles ' leading a noble life ' contributed nothing but personal service. But by August, 1422, only two-thirds of the amount had been raised, and Henry had to give time, &c. ; B.M. MS. Addl. 4603, f. 4. For the reform of the currency see Ordonnances de France, xi. 11 5-1 36, Pauli. 1 He had been brought to Melun, and apparently let out on the 28th October (1420) for two years, on condition of the interim acceptance of the treaty by the Bretons; Foed. x. 4-15 ; Proceedings, ii. 278. See Cosneau, de Richemont, 55, &c. 2 Foed. 41-58, 70, also 106 ; T. Elmham, 294 ; de Beaucourt, i. 200. 3 The King's chapel left Rouen 9th January, and reached England on the 16th ; Proceedings, ii. 326. The writs at Rouen are tested per ipsum Regem up to the 18th, but the formula occurs again on the 29th, when Henry must have left ; Foed. The distance from Rouen to Calais via Amiens is more than 150 miles. 4 John Beaufort, eldest surviving son of John, the first Earl. 5 William de la Pole, brother of Michael who fell at Agincourt. 6 G. Chastelain, sup. ; T. Elmham, 295 ; E. Monstrelet, 496. 7 T. Wals. ii. 336 ; Chron. London, 108 ; J. Hardyng, 382 ; T. Elmham, 296. * U 290 HENRY V. ch. xx. The first thing to be attended to was the Queen's ~ coronation. Henry went on to London to make arrange ments, Catherine remaining at Eltham till the 21 st of the month, when she went to the Tower. Next day she was carried in state to Westminster ; and on the 23rd February, Coronation being the Third Sunday in Lent, she was duly crowned rin£ath6~ by Archbishop Chicheley1. The Bishop of Winchester was present : he had brought with him from Constance a Cardinal's Hat; but his rank was not recognised2, the King's leave to accept it not having been given. Royal The festivities over, the King and Queen started on a progress rouncj Qf pilgrimages to special shrines; and notably to those of Beverley and Bridlington. The Translation of St. John of Beverley coincided with the day of Agincourt3, and the prophecies of John of Bridlington seemed to find their realisation in the person of the King. Henry was eager to show his bride to his subjects ; doubtless he also wished to see with his own eyes something of the state of the country. The first district visited was the Welsh March, the scene of his earliest achievements. On the 4th March he was at Shrewsbury, and settled the " guerdon and reward " promised for the apprehension of Sir John Old castle4. On the 7th he was at Weobley ; on the 15th at Coventry5 ; on the 19th at Leicester6, a special seat ofthe House of Lancaster : there he spent his Easter (23rd March). During the first week of April the King and Queen were at York; on the nth April Henry was at 1 See for the date, Foed. x. 63 ; Chron. London, 109 ; T. Wals. ii. 336 ; T. Elmham, 297-300. For the coronation banquet and its bill of fare (all fish except a dish of brawn), see Chron. London, 162. The King was not present ; it was the Queen's banquet to her ladies and representatives of the nation, with the officers of state in attendance ; so with the banquet of the Dauphine at her wedding ; de Beaucourt, i. 236; and so usually in fact, 2 Chron. London, 162. 3 For the special services ordered, see Hook, Archbishops, v. 55 ; Wilkins, iii- 379- 4 Ellis, Letters, Second Series, i. 88. 5 So Tyler, ii. 28. • B.M. MS. Addl. 4603, f. 121. Henry gave orders for preparations against an anticipated Spanish attack on the Isle of Wight. BATTLE OF BAUGE. 29 1 Howden ; on the 15th at Lincoln ; by the ist of May he ch. xx. had returned to London for a Session of Parliament1. ,42I But the glory of the Royal Progress was dimmed by the report of a serious reverse abroad. Clarence had been defeated and slain ; Somerset and Huntingdon were prisoners 2. Agreeably to the King's instructions Clarence had led out all his available forces to operate on the Marches of Maine and Anjou ; and had pushed a successful " road " as far as Beaufort-en-Vallee near the Loire 3, But a fresh reinforcement from Scotland had landed at Rochelle4, with which the Dauphinois felt strong enough to take the field. On Good Friday (21st March) the allies reached Baug£, Battle of apparently Viel Bauge, in the rear of the English. Next a"2e' day they reconnoitred the ground round La Lande-Chasles, with a view to an action on the Monday, it being taken for granted that on Easter Day the English would " kepe the Churche and Goddes servyce " 5. Late in the afternoon Clarence got word of the enemy, and, in spite of all remonstrances, insisted upon giving an immediate attack. Pressing on with the cavalry of his staff, he fought his way across a narrow bridge 6, defeating the Scottish out posts. While he was waiting for the rest of his men, the main body of the Scots turned upon him, and annihilated his band. Clarence, Lord de Roos, Sir Gilbert Umphra- ville, and Sir John Grey of Heton 7, were killed. The 1 T. Wals. ii. 337 ; T. Elmham, 300, 304; Gesta, 148, note; Devon Issues, 366; Foed.; Goodwin; Tyler; also J. Hardyng, 383. The Queen went to Pontefract, doubtless to visit the Duke of Orleans. 2 Henry received the news on leaving Beverley : he made no mention of the fact to his attendants till next day ; T. Elmham, sup. 3 T. Wals. ii. 339; Scotichron. ii. 461. 4 J. J. Ursins, 567. The Dauphin received the leaders at Poitiers in February or March ; de Beaucourt, Charles VII, i. 220, 336. 6 J. Hardyng, 384. • From the reference to the bridge I gather that the action was fought near Viel Bauge' : to reach that place either from Beaufort or La Lande the Couesnon would have to be crossed, not so to reach Baug£. ' Umphraville was commonly styled Earl of Kyme (above, 141 1). Grey had U 2 at West minster. 292 HENRY V. ch. xx. Earl of Huntingdon, the Earl of Somerset, his brother ~ Edmund, and Lord Fitz Walter, were taken prisoners. The archers coming up drove off the allies, and rescued the dead 7 " Vere Scoti Anglorum tiriaca sunt" was the remark attributed to Martin V2- The bad news probably made little change in the King's plans, which had been to return to France as soon as he could ; he had already issued commissions for raising money by way of loans from individuals, requiring the names of all recusants to be returned to himself3- The unlucky Bishop of Winchester was again the chief sufferer, another £14,000 being drawn from him, though more than £8000 were still due to him on his loan of 14174. Parliament The Session was opened at Westminster on the 2nd May. The Chancellor in his opening address made a neat little point out of the recent disaster. The King, said he, in his many victories had shown a self-effacing modesty only to be compared to that recorded of ' the valiant Emperor Julius Caesar.' In his recent trial he had shown the patient resignation of a very Job. He explained that the Parliament was specially intended for transaction of the business of those who had been abroad during the late campaign 6. been created Earl of Tancarville in Normandy; Lords' Report, v. 186, January, 141 9. 1 Hardyng, sup. ; and especially the report of Buchan and Douglas to the Dauphin, written the same day ; de Beaucourt, i. 220; also T. Elmham, 302 ; E. Monstrelet, 501 ; Pluscard. 355, 356. The Duke's body was carried home by his natural son John, and buried at Canterbury ; T. Wals. ; Sandford, Geneal. History, 311 ; Foed. x. 406. 2 Scotichron. ii. 461; "tiriaca" for " theriaca,'' Fr. thiriaque, remedy, antidote. 3 Foed. x. 96 ; cf. Proceedings, ii. 280, 281. The sums demanded went as low as forty shillings. 4 Rot. Pari. iv. 132. £3000 more were got from the Bishop before the King sailed, also £1333 6s. 8d. from Queen Catherine. At Henry's death in 1421 £22,306 were due to the Bishop. Enrolled Customs Accounts, 1 Henry VI, " Boston." The small loans were all repaid within a year ; the Bishop's advances were cleared off by January, 1424; Receipt Roll Easter, 9 Henry V. s Rot. Pari. iv. 129. PARLIAMENT. 293 The ratification of the treaty of Troyes was naturally ch. xx. the first thing taken in hand. The treaty was examined, * _ and approved in all points \ Among the public measures Treaty of of the Session, was an ordinance for the reform of the^tified gold currency, which was said to be both light and debased. Royal Mints were ordered to be established at York and Calais 2- The King was authorised to remove the Calais Staple for three years to any place he might think fit ; he was also empowered to keep sheriffs and escheators in office beyond the legal year. The measures passed at Leicester in 1414, for the suppression of brigands in Tynedale and Hexhamshire, were made applicable to persons living within the franchise of Redesdale 3. Among the private matters brought before the Parlia ment were, a readjustment of the partition of the Bohun estates between the King and the Countess of Stafford 4 ; the endowment of the King's convent of Sion House with the manor of " Istilworth " (Isleworth) ; and the reversal of the attainder of the late Earl of Salisbury in favour of his son, but without restitution of fee simple estates. A measure was also passed for repressing the disorderly tendencies of the clerks and scholars of Oxford 5. But the striking fact of the Session was that again no Subsidy was voted, though the subject must have been mooted, as on the 6th May a statement was laid before the Privy Council showing the inadequacy of the Revenue to meet 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 135 ; Foed. x. no. 2 9 Henry V, Stat. 1. capp. 6, n ; Ruding, Annals, i. 264. After Christmas gold was not to be taken except by weight, until recoined ; till then the King offered to recoin all gold free of all but regulation Mint charges. In 141 1 the gold currency had not been reduced as much as the silver currency, hence perhaps the inducement for clipping the gold coin. 3 Here we are told that the nefarious business was conducted by two sets of operators, locally distinguished as "Intakers" and " Outputters " ; Stat., cap. 7. 4 Henry was eldest son of Mary Bohun, elder daughter of Humphrey, last Earl of Hereford, Essex, and Northampton; Eleanor, the younger daughter, married Thomas of Woodstock, and left by him a daughter, Anne, who married Edmund, Earl of Stafford, who fell at Shrewsbury, 1403. See Tables above. 5 See Rot. Pari. iv. 130-149; Stat., 9 Henry V. 294 HENRY V. 1421. even the ordinary expenditure of the year 7 Perhaps the Commons thought, that as the King had taken the law into his own hands by exacting loans, no further contribu tion was called for2; perhaps they thought that as the war was now merely one for the reduction of rebels to the authority of the King of France, the French ought to bear the cost. But the enactments of the Session were mostly taken as temporary measures, to be in force till the King came home again, Henry being in too great a hurry to entertain questions of permanent legislation. An old dispute with the city of Genoa was brought to a satisfactory conclusion, the Genoese agreeing to pay £6000 damages to William Walderne and Company for privateering injuries 3 : and a preliminary agreement was entered into for the eventual liberation of the King of Scots. Robert Duke of Albany was now dead, and the Regency of Scotland was in the hands of his son Murdach. He had not held the reins of government for a year, but his rule was already un popular 4. Henry again insisted upon taking King James abroad to condemn his subjects by his presence ; but he undertook to allow him to pay a visit to Scotland three months after their joint return, if he could deliver sufficient hostages. The Earl of Douglas, who negotiated the arrangement, agreed in return to enter the King's service in the ensuing year with 200 lances and as many mounted archers 5. On the 10th June, the Duke of Bedford was again 1 Proceedings, ii. 312 ; Foed. x. 113. 2 The Commons, in sanctioning arrangements for giving security to persons who had made advances, spoke of the loan of the Bishop of Winchester as being " pur l'aise de vostre povre communalte d' Angleterre " ; Rot. Pari. 130, 132 ; so too J. Stow, 361. The clergy in their provincial assemblies gave Tenths, Canterbury one in May, York one in September ; see Wake, State of Church, 358. 3 Foed. x. 117-123 ; see Id. ix. 700; Proceedings, ii. 255, 270, &c. 4 See Excheq. Rolls, Scotland, IV. lxxix, &c. The elder Albany died 3rd September, 1420. The pseudo-Richard apparently died later in the same year at Stirling; Scotichron. ii. 459 ; Extracta e Cronicis Scot. 220. The year in both cases is wrongly given as 141 9. 6 30th, 31st May; Foed. a. 123-125 ; Rot. Scot. ii. 228-230. SITUATION IN FRANCE. 295 appointed Regent ; and the King crossed from Dover ch. xx. to Calais. The Queen, who was expecting her confinement, I42I was left at home ; but the Duke of Gloucester and the Henry Earls of March and Warwick accompanied the King \ ^"1'° The victory of Bauge had not enabled the allies to make any impression on the English position in Normandy. They had laid siege to Alencon, and had driven off the Earl of Salisbury when he came to the rescue ; but Alencon was too strong for the besiegers, and they finally retired to Dreux 2. Then Salisbury pressed forwards again, and harried the country up to the walls of Angers 3. But in another quarter the cause of the Dauphin had The Dau- made a considerable stride through the secret adhesion Brittany. of the Duke of Brittany, who had come to view the treaty of Troyes with the eyes of a Frenchman. The Dauphin and he met at Sable, on the Sarthe, in the first week of May. On the 8th, a treaty was signed, by which the Duke Treaty of renounced all peace or truce with the English, and under took to give an active support to the cause of his brother-1 in-law4. Reports of successes gained by the Dauphin in the neighbourhood of Chartres 5 induced Henry to hurry from Calais towards Paris. At Montreuil he met the Duke of Burgundy, whose influence gained for him the passage of the Somme at Abbeville. Marching on by Beauvais and Gisors, Henry apparently left the bulk of his army with Gloucester at Mantes, to await reinforcements from Burgundy, while he himself went up to Paris to confer with Exeter ; he reached the 1 Foed. 115, 116, 129 ; T. Elmham, 308; E. Monstrelet, 503 ; J. Hardyng, 385. T. Wals., ii. 340, gives the number ofthe King's force as something over 1000 ; the B.M. MS. Addl. 4603, shows 210 lances and 630 archers, without the contingent of the Earl of March, which might well make the difference. Orders had been given to impress archers ; Id. ff. 1. 99, 145. 2 E. Monstrelet, 502 ; J. Wavrin. 3 " Our road was so that our renneres rannen afore Aungers." See the Earl's report to the King; Foed. 131. 4 See de Beaucourt, i. 224. After this we find the Bretons lending a hand to each party, Richard of Brittany, a third brother, serving with the Dauphin, and Arthur with the English ; de Beaucourt, i. 231 ; Lobineau, Bretagne, i. 539. 5 For these see de Beaucourt, i. 227. 296 HENRY V. 1421. Reduction of Dreux. Henryadvancesto the Loire. city on the 4th July, leaving it again on the 8th1. On the 9th he rejoined his forces at Mantes. But the Dauphin had already fallen back on the Loire ; the Duke of Bur gundy returned to Picardy, to make head against Jacques de Harcourt ; while Henry advanced to lay siege to Dreux 2. If the King's pretensions would accept no limi tations, in the actual conduct of the war he endeavoured to keep to what was practicable. A glance at the map will show that so far his operations had lain within Normandy, the Isle of France, and Champagne. Dreux was in the Isle of France, but its proximity to Normandy pointed it out as an important place to win. Operations began about the 1 8th July ; on the 8th August, articles were signed by virtue of which the town and castle were surrendered on the 20th. All who wished were allowed to march out with all their goods 3. After a week's rest at Dreux, Henry seemed suddenly to change his plan ; appalled, we may suppose, at the pros pect of having to win France by inches, he boldly plunged into the heart of the country, leading his little army south wards to the Loire in quest of the Dauphin, as if to bring the question between them to the issue of a decisive action. Beaugency was his turning point ; he lingered there till dearth and sickness forced him to move on, the Dauphin being at Amboise 4. Moving off up the Loire, Henry hovered wistfully round the gates of Orleans. Again sheer want forced him to lead his men eastwards into the basin of the Yonne. 1 De Beaucourt, Charles VII, i. 229. Henry must have returned to Paris during the siege of Dreux, as he was at the Bois de Vincennes on the 16th August ; Household Accounts. 2 See Henry's letter of the 12th July; Tyler, ii. 300 ; E. Monstrelet, 504; T. Elmham, 309 ; G. Chastelain, i. 205. After divers operations, the Duke gained a signal advantage over de Harcourt at Mons-en-Vimeu, on the 30th August, and broke up the Dauphinois party in Picardy ; see E. Monstrelet, 505-512 ; Wavrin ; and Le Fivre. 3 T. Elmham, 309-311 ; Gesta, 153, note ; E. Monstrelet, 512 ; Bourgeois de Paris, 157, note; cf. Calendar Norman Rolls. 4 A letter from the Dauphin, dated Amboise, 6th September, describes Henry as then moving toward Beaugency and Meung; de Beaucourt, i. 231. SIEGE OF MEAUX. 297 On the 1 8th September he was at Nemours ; on the 27th ch. xx. Villeneuve-sur- Yonne was taken1. About the 6th October , the army settled down to the siege of Meaux 2. This town is situate on the north side ofthe river Marne, at Is obliged the apex of a horse-shoe bend. It was strongly fortified, b°c£ on and a suburb known as the March/ de Meaux, standing on the Yonne. the south side of the river, was stronger still, being built on Investiture an island within the arms ofthe bend. The chief command was apparently in the hands of messire Louis Gast ; but the most conspicuous character of the garrison was the Bastard of Vaurus, a ferocious partisan leader, who long had been the terror of Brie and the Isle of France 3. The King posted himself on the north side facing the town ; Warwick was placed on the south side ; the Duke of Exeter on the west, and March on the east 4- To keep up communications a bridge of boats was established, as at Rouen and Melun ; guns were placed in position, and ' sows ' and other engines built. But the siege proved ' worse ' even than that of Melun. First the Marne came down in flood 5, and for some days cut off all intercourse, except by boat, between the different divisions of the be sieging army. Then the activity of the Dauphinois cavalry outside made the work of foraging and victualling most difficult. Henry was obliged to guard the whole of the road to Paris, and to distribute bread, ' bought at his own cost,' among the soldiery, who were not entitled to rations ; while his own table was thrown open to the largest number of " bouches de cottrte " 6. The need of such exertions for the reduction of a second-rate town was a great disap- 1 Calendar Norman Rolls; Bourgeois, 157, note. 2 See T. Elmham, 311-316; Tit. Liv. 92. 3 T.-Elmham; E. Monstrelet, 513 ; Bourgeois de Paris, cited Sismondi and Martin. The Bastard of Vaurus was an old follower of the murdered Count of Armagnac. 4 T. Elmham ; G. Chastelain, i. 207. Henry was quartered at the Abbey of St. Faron, Exeter at that of " Chage," March at the Cordeliers, Warwick at the point opposite the Market ; G. Chastelain. 5 December ; for the flood in Paris, see Bourgeois, 160. 6 i. e. persons entitled to meals from the Royal Kitchen ; Household Accounts, 9-10 Henry V. 298 HENRY V. 1421. at West' minster. pointment to the King, who made liberal offers to the townspeople ; but the garrison included English and Irish deserters, besides Scotsmen, all doomed men, and the siege had to be fought out to the bitter end 7 ¦Parliament In England another Parliament, the last of the reign, was called to meet at Westminster on the 1st December ; a Subsidy could no longer be refused : a whole year had elapsed since the last instalment of the supply voted in 141 9 had become exigible. The Commons contented themselves with granting one Fifteenth and Tenth ; half to be paid on the 2nd February, and half on the nth November, 1422 ; and with respect to the first moiety, the King was required to accept light nobles, worth only 5s. 8d. a piece, " in full paiement of vij. v'md." : persons tendering gold of better weight were to be allowed the difference. To prevent mistakes the memorandum of this condition was entered on the Rolls in the Commons' own English, not in official French 2. The other enactments ofthe Session were chiefly directed to Currency Reform. The Government agreed to establish exchanges in populous places : bullion brought to the Tower would be coined at a seignorage of 5s. the pound Tower for gold, and of i5d. the pound Tower for silver ; bullion delivered at other exchanges would be subjected to a further charge at the rate of id. per noble 3. The Commons' petition contained a remonstrance against the practice, so often condemned, of bringing persons before the Privy Council, by Letters of Privy Seal and writ of subpoena, to answer matters properly cognisable at Common Law. During the sitting of this Parliament, namely, on the 6th December, the Queen gave birth to a son, " the un happy Henry of Windsor." The news threw a gleam of sunshine on the King's anxious Christmas in the abbey of St. Faron-les-Meaux. Thanksgiving services were per formed ; while the Queen was instructed to attend a Mass 1 T. Elmham, 315-319; E. Monstrelet, 343. 2 Rot. Pari. iv. 151. 3 See Statutes, 9 Henry V, Stat. 2 ; Rot. Pari. iv. 150-157. Birth of the Prince of Wales. A PRINCE OF WALES. 299 of the Holy Trinity, and to present her son before the Lord ch. xx. without loss of time 1. 1422. Early in February the King received a visit from the Henry's Duke of Burgundy; the Duke did not make any long ^j* r°in_ stay, nor did he bring any substantial contingent to assist forcements. in the siege. His followers avoided Henry's camp, where homage would be required of them 2. Yet want of men was the urgent difficulty of the moment. The English army was reduced to a skeleton, but for the time no more men could be got from England. To use Henry's own words, " in the point and conclusion of his labour " he found that " he had never more necessity" 3. Appeals for help were sent to Sigismund ; to the Princes of Germany ; to the King of Portugal. Henry begged the Electors to send him 500 spears ; Castile and Scotland sent help to "him that clepeth him Dauphin." Would not Henry's " friends and allies " do as much for him ? * The Count of Foix, in consideration of his appointment as governor of Languedoc, agreed to put 1500 men in the field by the ist June ; but he required two months' pay in advance5. The 9th March witnessed a gallant attempt at the relief of Meaux. Guy de Nesle, Lord of Offemont, stealing through the English lines by night, made his way to the foot of the wall, where ladders had been placed for him. His men were ascending, he himself guarding the rear, when unfortunately he tumbled off a plank into the moat, with all his armour on. While his men were endeavouring to extricate him, the English took the alarm, and defeated the attempt. The garrison then abandoned the town of 1 T. Wals. ii. 342 ; T. Elmham, 321 ; Chron. London, no. 2 See E. Monstrelet, 515, 516 ; Wavrin, Sec. The Duke was at Meaux on the 8th February ; on the 19th he made his first entry into Dijon as Duke. There again the people protested against the treaty; Foed. x. 173 ; Barante, v. 95. The Duke went on to Geneva at Henry's request, to see if the Duke of Savoy could be persuaded to undertake to mediate as of his own accord. 3 Foed. 162 ; cf. T. Wals. ii. 342 ; "cum suo pauco Anglorum exercitu sibi relicto." 4 See Foed. 161-168. 5 Id. 176-194. The Count's agents received £2318 3.1. 4^. at Southampton, 22nd April; Id. 205. 1422. 300 HENRY V. ch. xx. Meaux, retiring into the Market \ Within that fastness they held out for two months longer, in spite of incessant attacks from all sides. Eventually the English guns got the range of their flour-mills, and so reduced them to extremity 2. They asked for terms. On the 2nd May Henry intimated his conditions, given in the joint names of his father-in-law and himself, but propounded in English. " The foresaid Market," with all persons in it, and all their goods and effects, to be placed in the King's hands by the 10th May, if not previously relieved ; the leaders, with all English, Irish, and Scots deserters ; " all coupable of the deth of Burgoyne that was " ; all that had ever " made othe of the Final Pees " ; and one unfortunate wretch who had brayed offensively with a trumpet, to be " at the Will " of the King. Four specially marked men were frankly told to expect nothing but to be " putte to her Dome"; the rest would be admitted to mercy, " for to dwell prisoners her lives saved." But this would only be on the further condition that all " touns and strengthes " held by or on behalf of any person then in the Market should also be surrendered. Final On these terms the Market was yielded 3. Henry kept ofTMeaux. ^ls worCl to the four men. The Bastard of Vaurus and a kinsman were hung on an elm, known as their elm, " forme Vaurus," a tree on which they had been wont to hang peasants and prisoners. Louis Gast the gallant captain, the obnoxious trumpeter, and another leader, were sent to Paris and executed there, making a total of five victims. All other men of position were consigned to prison ; the spoils of the town enriched the soldiery 4. 1 E. Monstrelet, 516; Bourgeois, 166, and note; T. Elmham, 320. 2 E. Monstrelet, sup.; T. Elmham, 322-326. 3 Foed. x. 212-214; T. Elmham, 327 ; E. Monstrelet, 520, 4 T. Elmham, 328 ; E. Monstrelet, 521 ; J. Le Fevre, ii. 54; G. Chastelain, i. 207; Bourgeois, 169-173; q. v. for the prisoners; also Foed. 214; Pro ceedings, iii. 27. CHAPTER XXI. Henry V (continued). Exhaustion of the King. — His death. — His Testamentary Dispositions. — Transport of the Body to England. — Henry's Character and Appearance. — Financial Review of the Reign. The fall of Meaux brought Henry's third and last ch.xxi. campaign to a close. It crushed the Dauphinois party in I422. the Isle of France and Picardy : Compiegne and a host of minor holds elsewhere also surrendered, chiefly through the influence of the prisoners taken at Meaux 7 On the Exhausted other hand the English army, weak enough before, was English.' e reduced to the lowest ebb. The Earl of Worcester 2, Lord Clifford, the eldest son of Sir John Cornewall, and many other persons of distinction had fallen during the siege ; numbers had gone home weary or invalided 3. But the The King's greatest loss of all was that of the King's health, which health- was irretrievably broken. From Meaux he went to Vin cennes to meet the Queen, who had come out under the escort of the Duke of Bedford 4. They went into Paris on 1 E. Monstrelet, 522-524; G. Chastelain, i. 207 ; J. Hardyng, 386. Nine forts within the Department of the Oise alone are named. 2 Richard Beauchamp, second Lord Abergavenny, created Earl of Worcester in 1420. 3 T. Elmham, 325 ; Gesta, Append. 279 ; T. Wals. ii. 340 : " Magna ejus multitudo consumpta vel infirmata fuit, magna quoque ejus pars in Angliam redit," &c. 4 Catherine began to prepare to join the King as soon as she had recovered from her confinement, but Bedford did not sail till the 12th May; Foed. x. 357. Apparently he brought a reinforcement of about 300 lances and 1000 archers ; Wardrobe Accounts, 9th year. Henry joined the Queen at Vincennes, 25th May; Bourgeois, 174, and note. 302 HENRY V. CH. XXI. I422. March to relieve Cosne. Whitsun Eve (30th May), remaining there till the nth of June, when the double Court moved to Senlis, the weather being very hot. From Senlis Henry paid a short visit to Compiegne, which had just surrendered 7 An appeal for help from the Duke of Burgundy now spurred Henry to a last effort. A party of Burgundians, after invading the Lyonnais and Auvergne, had been ex pelled with considerable loss. Following up their advan tage the Dauphinois invaded the county of Nevers, took La Charite, and laid siege to Cosne 2. The place agreed to surrender if not relieved by the 16th August3. Henry immediately ordered all his available forces to the rescue. Too ill to ride, he had himself transported in a horse-litter4 as far as Corbeil ; there his strength failed him, and he had to send on the army under Bedford and Warwick 5- After a few days' rest, finding that his malady was gaining on him, he resolved to return to the Bois de Vincennes6. He was taken by water to Charenton, the nearest point. There, making an heroic effort ' to seem better than he was,' he called for his horse ; but the agony of sitting on horse- Henry back was too great, and he had to allow himself to be Vincennes. carried to the castle, where he took to his bed, never to rise again. Ague and dysentery had done their work 7 The Duke of Bedford hurried from Cosne to attend his brother's deathbed. 1 Bourgeois, 174, and note; T. Elmham, 329. Henry was at Senlis, 21st June ; at Compiegne, 26th June ; Foed. 2 Barante, Dues de Bourgogne, v. 100. 3 30th June ; Bourgeois, 176, note. 4 " In vehiculo tali quali, equis portantibus " ; Elmham. 5 Barante, v. 100 ; E. Monstrelet, 528 ; T. Elmham, 329, 330. The English reached Cosne on the nth August, and relieved the place. 6 Henry signs at Corbeil, 25th July, and 6th August; on the latter day he gave instructions for a treaty with the Bishop and people of Liege ; Foed. ; Calendar Norman Rolls, sup. 7 " Diulina intemperie (distemper"}) quam ex nimio et diutino labore contrax- erat . , . incidit in febrem acutam cum dysenteria " ; T. Wals. ii. 343. " Fluxus ventris quae dicitur infirmitas sancti Fiacri " ; St. Denys, vi. 480 ; so too J. J. Ursins, " flux de ventre avec hemorrhoides," 571 ; cf. Scotichron. ii. 462 ; " infirmitatem cancrosam quam vulgariter Saint Feacre le male vocant," Fiachra was an Irish Saint with a cell at Meaux, much visited by pilgrims. LAST HOURS OF HENRY. 303 Henry prepared for his end with calm fortitude. He con- ch. xxi. firmed his testamentary dispositions, bequeathing legacies, I422 and directing payment of his own and his father's debt's 1 ; Henry's he also directed restitution to be made to divers persons 1 s' towards whom he admitted that he had acted harshly; and notably his father's widow2. Apparently he appointed Bedford to be Regent of France and Normandy, confirming Gloucester in his office of Regent of England 3- To the Duke of Exeter (Thomas Beaufort) he gave the guardian ship of his infant son, with Lord Fitz Hugh and Sir Walter Hungerford as coadjutors 4. He charged them to prosecute his undertaking to the end, giving them minute instruc tions for the guidance of their policy 5. With his last breath His con- he maintained that as his cause was righteous the guilt of flj^j™ bloodshed could not lie at his door ; 'of that he had been °fhis assured by sage and holy men before ever he drew the sword.' The Penitential Psalms being read at his request, when the chaplain came to the words " Benigne fac ex benevolentia tua Sioni; aedifica muros Hierusalem*," Henry 1 Henry made three Wills in contemplation of his three campaigns. The first, dated 24th July, 1415, is given in Foed. ix. 289; the second, dated 21st July, 141 7, is given in Nichols, Royal Wills, i. 236, Pauli; the third, dated 10th June, 1421, was produced in Parliament in 1425, with a codicil in his own hand "all enterlynet and blotted as hit is." This Will appears to be now lost. The first Will deals with personalty ; the second Will with realty ; the third was his political Will. 20,000 masses were ordered by the first Will. 2 Also the heirs of Lord le Scrope, whose settled estates had been made over to Lord Fitz Hugh and Sir William Porter; Rot. Pari. iv. 213, 247, 287. 3 See Rot. Pari. iv. 171, and Proceedings, iii. 248, for Bedford's appoint ment to Normandy; and Rot. Pari. iv. 326 for Gloucester's appointment to England ; his previous commission does not appear to be forthcoming, but from the time of Bedford's leaving England in April, the writs run "Teste Humphredo Custode Angliae " ; Foed. ; Rot. Scot, Sec. 4 T. Elmham, 332-334; Tit. Liv. 95 ; St. Denys, vi. 484; cf. Gesta, 159; and J.- Hardyng, 387. The last, with Monstrelet and Wavrin, omit Gloucester altogether! See also Proceedings^ iii. 37. 5 According to Monstrelet (followed by Wavrin and Le Fevre) his instruc tions were to make no peace with the Dauphin, unless Normandy at least were ceded; to keep friends with Burgundy, and not to part with their prisoners. The Burgundian writers and Walsingham, ii. 345, allege that he directed the Regency of France to be offered to Burgundy. 6 Psal. Ii. 18. 304 HENRY V. ch. xxi. interrupted him to exclaim, " Good Lord, thou knewst j~7~ that my mynde was to reedifi the waulles of Hierusalem" \ It is, to say the least, an interesting coincidence that thoughts of pilgrimage to Jerusalem should have haunted the dying hours both of Henry IV and Henry V. Father and son had some feelings in common after all. His Death. On the night of the 31st August, between two and three in the morning, Henry passed away, in the thirty-fifth year of his life and the tenth of his reign 2. The King's The obsequies were celebrated with " extraordinary brought to pomp " : Henry's followers seemed determined to neglect England, nothing which could mark their respect for his memory, and their sense of their loss. The emaciated remains3 were embalmed and enclosed in lead. For their transport to England a sumptuous funeral chariot was prepared ; over the coffin a bed was laid, and on this a life-sized effigy of the deceased wearing his full regalia 4. On the 14th September the funeral procession made its first stage from Vincennes to Saint-Denis, outside the walls of Paris, which lay to the left : to have entered the city would have involved a circuit 5. The King of Scots, and the Dukes of Bedford, Burgundy and Exeter, acted as chief mourners. Two hundred lighted torches, and fifty wax-tapers, were carried by the mourners. For the night the body was laid in the choir of the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis, on a catafalque prepared for the 1 E. Monstrelet, 530 ; Leland, Coll., ii. 489. According to Hardyng, Henry had planned a crusade with Sigismund; p. 388. In the last year of his reign he ordered Gilbert de Lannoy to survey and report on the harbours of Egypt and Syria. For his report, see Archaeol. xxi. 312; Proceedings, iii. 117. The King had by him at the time of his death a book of Chronicles of the First Crusade; Foed. x. 317. The book was not his own, he had borrowed it. 2 Foed. x. 253 ; thus in fact Henry died on the 1st September, but all the authorities give the 31st August as the day. 3 T. Elmham, p. 336 : " Corpus adeo extenuatum . . . absque alicujus scissurae dispendio servabatur integrum." Contra however St. Denys, vi. 483 ; E. Monstrelet, 531, &c. 4 T. Elmham, 336; E. Monstrelet, 531 ; T. Wals. ii. 345. The effigy was said to be made of boiled leather : " cuir bouilli." 5 Bourgeois, 1 76 ; St. Denys. CHARACTER OF HENRY V. 305 occasion. Next morning the Bishop of Paris, by leave of ch. xxi the Abbot, celebrated a funeral high mass1- In the after- I422. noon the procession resumed its way towards Pontoise and Rouen, moving by easy stages. Queen Catherine and her train followed at the distance of a league. In each district the clergy were in waiting to receive them. On the 19th September they reached Rouen2, where the body lay in state for some days. Bedford went no further, remaining there to attend to the duties of his Regency : the rest held on their way to Calais by Abbeville, Hesdin, and Boulogne. After some delay at Calais, they made the passage to Dover about the beginning of November3- The Arch bishop of Canterbury and six Suffragans were there to meet them. Funeral services were performed at Dover, Canterbury, Ospring, Rochester, Dartford, and St. Paul's 4. On the 7th November5 the remains were finally laid to rest in Westminster Abbey, near the tomb of the Con fessor, and among relics brought from France by Henry himself. In his dealings with the French we must admit that Henry's Henry showed himself grasping and unscrupulous. He c aracter- had so thoroughly succeeded in persuading himself of the ' righteousness ' of his cause, that in everything connected therewith he seemed to have raised himself above the level of ordinary moral considerations. He also derived strength from the consciousness that he could give the French a much better government than they could otherwise hope to enjoy. His tortuous diplomacy was that of the age : his wish to govern well was all his own. In himself he was of a fine manly nature ; simple, brave, and pious. Edward I is the man with whom he may best be compared. His strength of character was quite equal to that of Edward, while the general features of his portrait are 1 " Missam principalem in pontificalibus celebravit"; St. Denys, vi. 482. 2 Bourgeois, 177, note. 3 T. Elmham, 337 ; E. Monstrelet, 531. Shipping was ordered to be at Calais for them by the 12th October; Proceedings, iii. 5. 4 Foed. x. 256 ; Proceedings, sup. 5 Chron. London, no; W. Worcester, 454 (Hearne). 306 HENRY V. ch. xxi. more brilliant and interesting. In vain should we look in 1413^1422. Edward for that consideration for the poor evinced by Henry 7 But, again, Edward was not so unsparing towards personal antagonists as Henry. Edward had Bohuns and Bigots, Warennes and Winchelseys, to contend with. His ascend- Henry's ascendency over the wills of his subjects was com- hnfsub?* plete. Not a whisper of opposition to the Royal fiat was jects. ever heard in his circle 2'. The settlement of constitu tional questions had a good deal to do with the difference between the dases of Edward and Henry. What Edward attempted to demand as a right, Henry knew that he must ask as a favour. Moreover, foreign warfare had become quite another thing to the English since the days of Edward III. Henry's personal success was partly due to his thorough ness and industry, which went to the bottom of every thing3 : partly no doubt also to the sternness with which he visited any attempt at opposition 4. The French writers fully acknowledge the grandeur of Henry's character, his varied abilities, and the impartial strictness of his justice. The humblest petitioner could always find access to the royal ear. If the foreigners thought the King's manners formal, they recognised his good-breeding, and the sim plicity of his language, which shunned profane oaths5. With him it was Yea, yea ; Nay, nay. Perhaps the order 1 " Magnus justiciarius, ita magnum ut parvum dijudicans " ; St. Denys, vi. 480. So too Versus Rhythmici, Memorials Henry V, 67 ; J. Hardyng, 388 ; E. Hall, 112. Above all see Henry's own answers to petitions, of which some are given by Mr. Williams, Gesta, xxiV: "And in especial ... see that the porer partye suffre no wrong." 2 " Vix enim erat inter suos qui suis edictis vel tenui murmure contra ire volebat," &c. ; T. Elmham, 249. So too Monstrelet, 532 : " De tres hautain vouloir . . . £tait-si craint et doubte." So too St. Denys, vi. 480. 3 See e. g. the answers to mere private petitions endorsed in the King's own hand; Proceedings, ii. 302, 315, &c. ; cf. also p. 290 : "ubi in margine manu regia conscribuntur hec verba ad inquirendum." 4 " Les . . . faisoit punir . . . sans aucune misericorde " ; Monstrelet, Wavrin, Le Fevre. B For his aversion to swearing, see Versus Rhythmici, sup. " juratores exter minate' Duelling Was another practice that Henry would not tolerate ; J. Hardyng, 383 ; Gesta, 126, note. HIS APPEARANCE AND HABITS. 307 and decorum of his camp impressed them as much as any- ch. xxi. thing1. His consideration for the poor and the general 14I~422 humanity of his warfare were characteristics worthy of an iElfred. Personally Henry was a good-looking man, of stature His per- rather above "the common sort," lightly, but strongly ^"rance. built 2- He excelled in athletic sports. " In wrestlyng, His fond- leapyng, and runnyng no man almoste durst with him pre- °"!0f°joor sume ; in castyng of great yron barres and hevy stones he sports. excelled commonly all men"3. It was said that with the help of two others he could run down a buck4- He had thick, smooth, brown hair, a broad forehead, good teeth and complexion, bright hazel eyes, a straight nose, and a cleft chin 5. His habits were active and frugal ; his life hardy ; he confessed regularly, and never transacted His orderly any business in his pew 6 during mass. The highest officers j^ ^hmX of state were not allowed to interrupt him during his devo tions7. At his request Martin V granted to his confessor special powers of absolution, to be exercised once a year and on Henry's death-bed. He also granted Henry a ' faculty ' to have a ' portatile ' altar, on which mass might be celebrated before day-break, and on interdicted ground, or the like ; he also authorised him to remove sacred relics from France ' at the dictates of his conscience ' 8. His persecution of the Lollards must be viewed in connexion with his zeal for the purity of the faith. Besides the con- His charit- vents at Sheen and Sion House, he founded the fraternity jbl? fouQ" ' ¦> dations. 1 St. Denys, sup. and 380 (two different writers) ; E. Monstrelet, sup. ; " Beaucoup de pretres mais point de femmes " ; Sismondi. 2 " Mediocri statura decenter enituit . . . corpus gracile . . . membra non multum tumentia . . . multa tamen fortitudine," &c. ; T. Elmham, 12 ; "egregie forme et competentis stature " ; St. Denys, 380 ; " bene formata membra . . . vir formosus vix aut eques aut pede lassus"; Versus Rhythmici, Memorials, 66, 67. 3 E. Hall, 112. 4 T. Elmham, sup. 5 " Clare lucentes oculi subrufe patentes . . . mentum fissum.'' 6 "Cellula." 7 Versus Rhythmici, sup. ; Gesta, 92. Henry himself arranged forms of Service for the use of his Chapel, and for general use on special occasions ; Gesta, 90, 91. 8 " Juxta tuae conscientiae dictamen"; Foed. ix. 615, 617. X 2 3o8 HENRY V. CH. XXI. 1413-142: Allegedstudies at Oxford. Literature ofthereign. of St. Giles Without Cripplegate, London ; he conferred benefactions (at the expense of the Priories Alien) on the Collegiate Church of Higham Ferrers, and on Tong College in Shropshire 1 ; and made yearly allowances from the Exchequer to the Friars Preachers of London, as well as to the Friars Preachers and the Friars Minors both of Oxford and Cambridge2. Henry was fond of field sports when he had time to indulge in them. A sporting incident that occurred at Kennilworth in 1414 led him to take a fox's "brush" as one of his cognizances. He was also fond of music 3 and books 4 ; but perhaps not so fond of the latter as his brother Humphrey. Tradition has it that he studied at Oxford, at Queen's College, under his uncle, Henry Beaufort, at one time a member of the College. This must have been in 1399-1400, when Beaufort was Chan cellor of the University for a year5. Thomas Occleve, or Hoccleve, and John Lydgate, the two poets of the reign, speak gratefully of his patronage ; the latter translated the Siege of Troy for Henry when he was Prince of Wales 6. But the reign is not distinguished for its verse7. On the other hand, the period must be held to mark an epoch in the history of our language ; we might say, the last transition from Late Middle English to 1 J. Stow, 362 ; Goodwin, Henry V, 340. 2 Rot. Pari. iv. 195. 3 Henry had six ' organists,' or instrumental players, for the service of his chapel abroad ; Devon Issues, 361. For a harp sent over to the King, see Id. 367. 4 For an order for pieces of velvet and satin, gilt and plain, for coverings for the King's books, see Foed. ix. 335. For twelve ' books ' on hunting, and a Bible on vellum transcribed for the King, see Devon Issues, 368, 372. Henry restored to Westminster Abbey a beautiful book of Flores Historiarum ; so Versus Rhythmici, 72. Was this the original "Matthew of Westminster," MS. Chetham, 6712? 6 Foss, Judges, iv. 287. See Tyler, i. 21, and Goodwin, 339; also J. Ross, of Warwick (Heame). The College accounts afford no evidence of Henry's stay there ; Hist. MSS. Comm. ii. Append, p. 141. 6 See the passages quoted ; Pauli, iii. 1 79. 7 If we could number among the poets of the reign one who was not an Englishman, and who did not write till after Henry's death, the palm would be assigned to James I. THE ENGLISH TONGUE. 309 Early Modern English. At any rate it gave the first ch. xxi. recognition to English as an official language. The first 1413-1422. entry of a Privy Council Minute in the native tongue is English found under the year 141 7 \ the great majority of official ^c°Smsed documents, however, being still in French or Latin, official Henry IV corresponded in French ; his son corresponded ansuaSe in English, and he even endeavoured to force the English tongue upon the French as the language of diplomacy, an attempt in which he did not succeed. His style of writing is vigorous and good : he always wrote in English, and his compositions have been said to be " decidedly superior to those of Henry the Eighth" 2. The following may be taken The King's as a specimen of the King's English ; the reader will observe ng IS ' the tone used in addressing a favoured confidant, Sir John Tiptoft, Seneschal of Aquitain, and once Speaker of the House of Commons. " Tiptoft, I charge you by the feith that ye owe to me that ye kepe this matere, her after writen, from al men secre save from my brother th' emperor owne persone, that never creature have wittyng thereof, without myn especial com- mandement, of myn owne mouthe, or els writen with myn owne hand and seelyd with my signet. Kepeth this charge as ye wil kepe al that ye may forfet to me " The instruction ends thus : " And for the secreness of this matere I have writen this instruction wyth myn owne hande, and seled hit with my signet of th' egle the 25 day of Januar, that is the day of conversion of St. Paule " 3. The attestation clause of Henry's will, executed just before leaving England in 1415, is interesting : — 1 Proceedings, ii. 238. 2 Williams, Gesta, xxv. 3 25th January, 141 7 ; Foed. ix. 427, 430. In the King's English we may point out that we have in the second person of the imperative ' kepeth ' an old English form ; ' matere ' seems to stand half-way between ' matiere ' and ' matter ' ; ' secre ' is simply the French ' secret ',' and ' secreness ' is half French and half English. 310 HENRY V. ch. xxi. " This is my last Will, subscribed with my own hand. T.7TT„„ R. H. Tesu mercy and Gremercy Ladie Marie help" \ Influence Of the influence of Henry's life and work we must form of his life a very melancholy estimate. Between his domestic war- and work. . . ,,... fare against the rights of conscience, and his foreign warfare against the French, he demoralised England, and sealed the fate of his dynasty, by committing it to a war which it could neither carry on with any hope of success, nor abandon without discredit. Financial Henry V could not complain of want of liberality on the Review of part Qf j^ subjectS- During the nine and a-half years that he filled the Throne he received ten and one-third Subsidies from Parliament, ten and a-half from the Convocation of Canterbury, and eight and a-half from that of York, besides one supplemental grant of 6s. 8d. on the £1 from sti pendiary priests. Henry IV had received in thirteen years and a-half only eight Subsidies from Parliament and ten and a-half from Canterbury; and he received more than Richard II had done. Henry V also obtained a grant of the Parliamentary Customs for the term of his life, a concession not vouch- The safed to his father. But the Revenue must be considered under the regular heads taken seriatim. Old Crown I. Old Crown Revenues. This head still continues to be very troublesome to investigate. The reader has heard of the demands by the sheriffs for reductions in the amounts for which they were accountable to the Exchequer. These demands do not appear to have fallen unheeded. In the year of Henry IV's accession we seemed to find the sheriffs called upon to render a bona fide account of some ^25,000 ; the sum of all the items passed pro forma through their accounts being much greater. A careful analysis of the first Pipe Roll of the reign of Henry V 2 brings down the amount with which the sheriffs and escheators are substantially charged to £12,150 ; the sums 1 Foed. ix. 293. The spelling of this seems to have been modified. 2 Pipe Roll, Michaelmas 1-2 Henry V. FINANCE OF THE REIGN. 31 1 actually paid in only amounting in round numbers to ch. xxi. £2300 1- Now the estimate of the amounts with which I4j'^422_ the sheriffs are really charged is a point on which persons might easily differ, the question being, what are to be held substantial assets, voluntarily granted away or remitted by the King ; and what are to be considered mere bad debts or former possessions lost beyond hope of recovery. On the other hand the summation of the items marked "In Tho" ('paid into the Treasury') is quite easy; but ^2300 seems too small a sum to be accepted as the average yield without confirmation. We have taken out the itepis paid into the Exchequer under this head in the two terms Easter and Michaelmas 2 Henry V, this Easter term being included in the Pipe Roll above quoted. The sum without Cornwall and Wales comes to £4034 2, and so £4000 a. year might be allowed for this branch of the Revenue. That would include the returns from the Priories Alien, which in the second year only came to £126 3. There again the hand of Henry IV had been heavy on Crown rights. In the first year of his reign he had re ceived £1 840 from that quarter. But the Old Crown Revenues no doubt were liable to great fluctuations. A forfeiture, a death, a marriage might make a substantial difference in the proceeds of a year, especially under a strong King who could enforce his rights. Thus the Earl of March was fined 10,000 marks (£6666 13s. Ad.) for leave to marry as he pleased 4. Again, 1 The accounts for Surrey, Sussex, and Westmorland are wanting ; the exact figures stand as follows : — £ *¦ d. Total charge ... . 12,253 19 o Paid into the Treasury . . 2,296 7 0 9,957 12 o Accounted for or remitted . 8,740 4 4 Balance held still due . £1,217 7 8 2 Receipt Rolls, Easter and Michaelmas 2 Henry V. 3 lb. 4 Rot. Pari. iv. 212. £2000 were paid up within the year (1415); Receipts Mich. 3 H. V ; but the whole was not accounted for till 1423. I4I3-I422- 312 HENRY V. ch. xxi. Lady de Roos, widow of Baron John, who was killed at Bauge, had to pay £1000 because she had married again, not only without leave, but distinctly below her rank1. This happened under Henry VI, but still we may fairly allow another £1000 a year for extraordinary fines such as these. Altogether we will allow £15,000 gross and £5000 net for this head. We may add that this estimate agrees with an estimate laid before the King on the 6th May, 1421, from which it would appear that the entire net Revenues of the Crown, apart from Customs and Parliamentary Subsidies, only came to £15,000 a year2. The minor landed possessions of the Crown show some improvement, Wales becoming more orderly. Cornwall. For the Duchy of Cornwall we have full returns for seven and a-half years of the reign 3 ; the gross returns average £3744 a year, and the net returns £1782 a year. For the wide margin between the gross and the net receipts the weakness of Henry IV is again responsible. Chester. For the Earldom of Chester, again, on the strength of miscellaneous evidence, we will allow say £1000 a year gross and £600 net. An entry on the Receipt Roll for Michaelmas in the fourth year, informs us that Cheshire had voted a Subsidy of £2000 in the previous year, the County Palatine not being assessed for Parliamentary Subsidies 4. Wales. For Wales we have audited accounts for three years, from 1413 to 1416. The gross return for all that time was £919, and the net return £503 6. This, perhaps, had reference to North Wales only, as on Receipt Rolls falling 1 Proceedings, iii. 49, 130, a.d. 1423. Roger Wynteworth, Esquire, was the man of her choice. 2 It will be seen from the Table below that our estimate of the Old Crown Revenues in their widest acceptation, with Hanaper and Mint, come to some thing like that. 3 Enrolled Foreign Accounts, Henry V. * £400 paid in nth March, 141 7. 5 Enrolled Foreign Accounts, Henry V, year 4. CUSTOMS. 313 within the same time we have net returns from North ch. xxi. Wales to the amount of £133 6s. 8d.x; and from South I4,3_,422. Wales to the amount of £200 2. Taking our stand on these figures, we will allow £306 for tbe gross annual return, and £167 13s. Ad- for the net annual return of North Wales ; and £400 and £200 for the corresponding returns from South Wales. For the Lancaster estates we have returns for three Lancaster years, 2nd February 141 9-1422. The gross returns, taken states' one year with another, come to £5°°° > the net annual balance comes to £4500 3. II. Of the Customs we can give a good account, having Customs. taken out the totals for five years of the reign. The amounts, omitting shillings and pence, are as follows : — Michaelmas, 1-2 Henry V (1413-1414) . £46,462 2-3 ., (1414-14*5) • 49>I39 3-4 „ (1415-1416) . 47,443 4-5 ¦> (1416-1417) • 47^73 5-6 » (i4i7-I4i8) . 52, in'- To the latter three of these years we ought to add £400 each, to make up the returns from Chichester, which are incomplete. Some £300 or £400 a year ought also to be added for Butlerage. With these the average gross yield will come to ,£49,100 or ^49,200 a year. For the net returns as paid into the Exchequer we turn to the Receipt Rolls for the second year, where we find the total paid in as only amounting to ,£41,930 ; while the Treasurer's estimate of 1421 already referred to gives the net yield of the Customs as £40,676. Taking the mean between these two, we will take the net return of the Customs at £"41,300 a year. As £600 a year would clear the allowances to the Customs officials, the reader will notice that the Customs had been alienated or mortgaged to the extent of £7100 a year. 1 Receipts, Michaelmas 2 Henry V. 2 Receipts, Easter 2 Henry V. 3 Dnchy of Lancaster, Class 28, Bundle 4. 4 L. T. R. Enrolled Customs Accounts, Henry V. 314 HENRY V. ch. xxi. Throughout the reign the duties were levied at the old 1413-1422 rates, namely Tonnage at 3s. the tun of wine, and Pound- Rates of age at nd. on the £7 value of general merchandise. The Duties. aggregate duties on wool and leather remained at 50s. the sack of wool or 240 wool-fells, from natives, and 60s. from aliens. In 1415 an attempt was made in Parliament to impose an extra 10s. the sack on foreigners. But the burden could not be borne, and the tax had to be re mitted \ Subsidies III. Subsidies. Parliament The Parliamentary Subsidy, the Fifteenth from counties and Con- and Tenth from towns, may be taken at the same amount as under Henry IV, namely £36,000 ; though it may be seriously questioned whether that sum was made up all through the reign. As already noticed, these taxes were always best paid up at the beginning of a reign, each successive Subsidy getting more and more into arrear. The second half of the grant of the first year came to £17,664 Js. 3d.2, with some £300 more paid up in the fol lowing term 3- That would practically make up £36,000. But the first collection of the grant of the second year only brings in £33,973 4, leaving over £2000 yet to come in. However, taking the amount at £36,000, ten and a-third such grants spread over the whole reign will give a net £39,000 a year. The Tenth from the Province of Canterbury appears to have fallen. The proceeds of a Subsidy granted in the second year only come to £"10,500, even including some arrears from the first year5. £"12,000 will probably be more than enough to allow, but allowing that much we shall get a further average contribution of £13,000 a year to our Revenue. The Northern Province, on the other hand, seem to have pulled itself together again, as the proceeds of a Tenth, voted in the second year, came in one term to 1 See Rot. Pari. iv. 6, 64 ; Proceedings, ii. 282. For details of the Customs duties, see above, under Henry IV. 2 Receipt Roll, Easter 2 Henry V. 3 Receipts, Michaelmas 2 Henry V. * lb. 5 lb. SUBSIDIES. 315 £1347 ijs. gd.1, a sum that would suggest an ultimate ch. xxi. £1400 as the total yield. Assuming that the northern I4I7~722 clergy were able to sustain this effort, eight and a-half such grants would make up a further £1250 a year. IV. Hanaper in Chancery. Here, again, we have a pretty complete view of the Hanaper. returns in the Enrolled Foreign Accounts, which give us the yield of six and a-half years, including the first year of the reign, which was always the most fruitful in Chancery returns. With these the average yearly returns were £3600 gross and £"2900 net. V. The profits ofthe Tower Mint and Exchange are given Tower even more fully on the same accounts, where nine years mt are fully accounted for. The receipts for the first two years were affected by the re-coinage introduced at the close of Henry IV's reign. With this help the gross returns average £1000 a year, and the net returns nearly £600. These heads all together give us a legitimate Revenue of The £I37,5°° gross, or £"110,299 net> per annum. Revenue At this point it may be well to enquire what totals compari- the Pell Issue and Receipt Rolls show. Out of nine- !™ with .... . Pell Issue teen terms or half years over which the reign extended, and Re- we have obtained the totals of the Issue Rolls for eighteen ceipt Rol,s- terms, only one being wanting, and seven of these Rolls give their own totals. With vast fluctuations, varying from £"33,000 to £119,000 per term, they exhibit, when melted down together, an average yearly expenditure of £122,000 2- Of the Receipt Rolls only thirteen have been added up, and they exhibit an average yearly income of £146,000, a serious discrepancy. But with the totals for six Rolls wanting we cannot be sure that the balance might not to some extent be redressed if all the totals were be fore us, as the Issues sometimes exceed the Receipts. All things considered, however, we may take it that on the whole the apparent Receipts did exceed the Issues ; 1 Receipts, Easter 3 Henry V. 2 See Antiquary, viii. 99. 1413-1422 316" HENRY V. a circumstance for which we cannot offer a satisfactory ex planation, but which must have been connected with the loan transactions. Money borrowed and not repaid would con stitute an addition to the Revenue ; but money borrowed and repaid, perhaps out of new loans contracted for the purpose, would swell the Receipts without adding to the King's effectual Revenue. To test the extent to which the system was carried, we have examined, more or less carefully, nine Receipt Rolls with the following results : — The Loans Loans Repaid, AND Loans not ofthe Cancelled Tallies. Repaid. Reign. {Mutuum per lalV cane1 0 Receipt Roll, Easter, 1 Henry V. . . £9133 None „ Easter, 2 ,, • ¦ 533 1849 „ Mich., 2 „ . . 2132 None „ Easter, 3 „ (not fully examined) . . 6000 9566 „ Easter, 4 „ . . 4815 None Mich., 4 . . 18881 2666 £41,494 £14,081 At the rates here indicated the loans not repaid would imply an addition of nearly £"5000 a year to the Revenue ; while the repaid loans would inflate the apparent Receipts by a much larger sum. For the latter years of the reign we may remind the reader of the loans obtained from the Bishop of Win chester, of which £"22,306 remained due at the King's death. With the Bishop's advances the borrowings in the Easter term of the ninth year seem to have come to nearly Final £"2o,ooo. Adding at a rough estimate £"5000 a year for loans Revenue.0 not repaid within the reign, the Exchequer net receipts will come to £"i 1 5,299 a year, and the gross returns to £"142,500. Contribu- While treating of Henry's resources we may notice the tions levied, ...,.,. in France, heavy contributions levied from the French, but these were expended abroad, and not passed through the English Exchequer. The ransom of Rouen alone was 300,000 /cits, or £"50,000 ^ The contributions obtained from the 1 For the value of the scutum or leu = $s. ^d., see Elmham, 200 ; and Foed. x. 194, 205. 25 sous Toumois went to the icu. EXPENDIT URE. 3 1 7 Provincial Estates of Normandy in 1421 had apparently ch. xxi. yielded some £"40,000 at the King's death1. 1413^1422. Thus it will be seen that Normandy was called upon to pay a Subsidy larger than that usually given by all England. Our notice of the Expenditure must again be brief. To Expendi- begin, as before, with the Royal Household. Reignf I. A fragmentary Account of the first year exists, which Household. gives the total of the weekly bills from the 23rd March to Weekly the 31st October, 141 3, a period of thirty-one and a-half Bills- weeks, as £8600, or £275 a week. This included the Coronation feast, on which £971 were spent, being the average expenditure of a month. With sundries, stocks in hand, and advances, the account is swelled to £12,846, or say £"21,400 a year2. Another Account has been preserved which gives the totals ofthe Household expenditure from the ist October, 1 42 1, to the day of the King's death, and on to the 8th November, 1423, being apparently the day after his burial, when the Household may be supposed to have been finally disbanded. The amount of these house bills is £"17,225, or with Alms, Gifts, and Sundries, £24,389 3. This includes, as these accounts always do, the value of all goods bought on credit, which appear to amount to nearly £8000. Taking the mean between these two Accounts we may say that Henry spent on his Household some £22,400 a year. The accounts of the Great Wardrobe are all but com- Great plete ; they show an expenditure for the first four and a-half Wardrobe. years of the reign at the rate of £13,000 a year; and for the last five years at the rate of £3100 a year4. The drawings for the Chamber in the second year came to the extravagant amount of £19,000. But the King had to return a good part of the money to the Exchequer as a ' loan.' Moreover, it seems that payments for war purposes 1 Above, 288. 2 Q.R., Miscell. Wardrobe, ^. 3 Q. R., Miscell. Wardrobe, ^. 4 L. T. R., Enrolled Wardrobe Accounts, No. 12, ff. 5-1 1. 31 8 HENRY V. ch. xxi. were made from this account. However, if we allow only 1413^1422 £6°°° f°r this head, we shall see that the expenditure of the Royal Household in the wider sense could run from £31,500 to £"41,000 a year. Civil Service and Pensions. II and III. Civil Service and Pensions. These two cognate items may be taken together. Our own analysis of the Issues of the second year brings out the first as amounting to £8527, and the second as amounting to £"5616, together £"14,143. The Treasurer's estimate of 1421 takes £3747 for the first, and £7750 for the second, together £11497. He adds, no doubt, a further estimate of £4648 ; but as he tells us that this was charged on the Customs, we omit this as representing part of the difference between our gross and our net Receipts. Splitting the difference between the Treasurer's estimate and our own, we take £"11,320 for the drawings from the Exchequer under this head. But the reader must again be reminded that the bulk of the difference between our net and our gross Receipts, say £"14,000 a year more, really belongs to the same category. IV. Public Works. The Enrolled Foreign Accounts J give the amount spent on these between the 7th April, 141 3, and the 2nd Sep tember, 1420, seven years and a-half; and the total is £"i 1,946, say £7 600 a year. To this expenditure we owe the practical completion of the nave of Westminster Abbey, six bays having been added by Henry to the work as left by Edward I ; a seventh bay, the westernmost bay of all, being left for Tudor times 2. Dockyards. V. Dockyards. The Enrolled Foreign Accounts again give the amount spent between the 1 8th July, 141 3, and the 31st August, 1 Henry V, ff. 14-16. 2 G. G. Scott, Gleanings from Westminster Abbey. £666 13J. ql. a year were assigned for the work, the money to be received by Richard Whjttington ; Foed. ix. 78. Caen stone was used; Brit. Mus. MS. Addl. 4603, f. 51. PublicWorks. MILITARY AND NAVAL. 319 1422, practically the whole reign. The total comes to ch. xxi. £24,337, or £2433 a year for the construction and main- , x 22 tenance of the Royal Navy \ We have also a subsidiary Account for four years, amounting to £4900. If it really belongs to this reign it would imply another £1000 a year. VI. Military and Naval. Militaryand Naval. Here the standing garrisons again supply the chief items that we can give. Calais, as under Henry IV, between wages and vie- The stand- tualling undoubtedly cost just £"25,000 a year2. For the ™f0^x~ other garrisons we must trust to the Treasurer's estimate so often quoted. He tells us that the East and West Marches of Scotland, with Roxburgh, the two coun tries being at peace, cost £"9500 a year. Ireland drew £"1666 13s. Ad., and Fronsac, the frontier fort of Aqui tain, £666 13s. Ad- Thus the whole would come to £35,^33 6s. 8d. So far then we have accounted for an expenditure of Expendi- £"83,oob-£"9 1,000 out of a net revenue of £115,000 aturesofar- year. That would leave a balance available for the pur- Balance poses of the grand war of £24,ooo-£3 2,000 a year. available But the force that Henry had in France in the latter War. years of his reign, if taken at 2000 lances and 6000 archers, Its in- would have cost for mere wages alone, at the established rates, £"7500 a month, or £90,000 a year : and that with out one penny for transport or materiel. The Household Account of the ninth year above quoted gives the amount spent on ' wages of war ' during the period. The total seems to be £25,808, of which seemingly only some £14,000 were drawn from the home Exchequer, the balance being defrayed from the ransoms of Rouen and Meaux. At that rate the reader may think that the war did not cost England much. Perhaps not, but the light Nothing rate of expenditure was helped by leaving everything paid for- unpaid that could be left unpaid. Henry was deep in 1 Enrolled Foreign Accounts, Henry V, f. 28 ; ld. Henry VI, ff. 22, 40. 2 Enrolled Foreign Accounts, Henry V, passim. 320 HENRY V. ch. xxi. debt at his death ; not with obligations enough to ruin a ' great commercial city, like those of Edward III, but with 1413-1422. ° •" ' sums enough to press heavily upon individuals. Ambas sadors, captains of cities, soldiers, sailors, tradesmen, all had their claims. The bill for the Agincourt campaign was not by any means settled at Henry's death 7 Gentle men quartered in Normandy wrote home in doleful strains. ' No pay, and not allowed to forage ! ' 2 Hard case But the hardest case was that of the Earl of Huntingdon, Huntin °f ta^en prisoner at Bauge. .£8157 iAs. <)d. were due to him don. for actual wages, independently of the prize money specially promised to him for the capture of the Genoese carracks. The money would have doubtless paid his ransom ; but for lack of it he must languish a prisoner in foreign* bond age3. By Catherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France, Henry had issue : — Henry of Windsor, born 6th Dec, 14214; died 21-22 May, 147 1 5. After Henry V's death Catherine had by Owen Tudor, a Welsh gentleman of her household, to whom, apparently, she was privately married, — (1) Edmund of Hadham, created Earl of Richmond 1452, married Margaret Beaufort, daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset (Table III), by whom he had Henry afterward HENRY VII. Edmund died 1456. (2) Jasper of Hatfield, created Earl of Pembroke 1452 or 1453, Duke of Bedford 1485 ; died 1495, s. p. (3) Thomas of Westminster, a monk. 1 The Duke of Exeter, the Earl Marshal, and Sir W. Hungerford only had their Agincourt wages settled in the 1st or 2nd year of Henry VI ; Foreign Accounts, Henry V, ff. 42, 43. For other claims still unpaid see Proceedings, iii. 124-127 ; Devon Issues, 385. Only £4000 had been paid to the executors of Henry IV, for chattels taken from them to the value of 25,000 marks ; Rot. Pari. iv. 324. 2 See Collins, Peerage, viii.. 106, 108. 3 See his petition to Parliament; Rot. Pari. iv. 247. 4 Above, 298. 5 Below. REVENUE AVERAGES. 3%i TABLE OF REVENUE. (Estimated Yearly Average.) ch. xxi. 1413-1422. (1) Old Crown Revenues: Sheriffs' and Escheators' Accounts Duchy of Cornwall Earldom of Chester (say) Wales (North) . Wales (South) Lancaster Estates (2) Customs .... (3) Subsidies: Lay Fifteenths (say) Canterbury Tenths (say) York Tenths (say) (4) Hanaper (5) Tower Mint and Exchange (6) Loans not repaid Gross. Net. j 1 5,000 £5,000 3,744 1,782 1,000 '. > 600 i 1 306 167 400 200 5,000 25>45° 4,500 12,249 49,200 41,300 39,000 39,000 13,000 13,000 1,250 1,250 3,600 2,900 1,000 600 5,000 5,000 £137,500 £115,299 CHAPTER XXII. Henry VI "of Windsor." 1422. Accession Born, 6th December, 142 11. — Began to reign, 1st September, 1422 2. — Deposed, 4th March, 1461. — Restored, 9th October, 1470. — Died, 2ist-22nd May, i47is. Accession. — The Regency.— Parliament. — Death of Charles VI. — Treaty of Amiens. — Jacqueline of Hainault. — Battle of Cravant. THE reign of Henry VI was held to have begun on the ist September, being the day after that on which his father was reckoned to have died; but the death of Henry V was not generally known in England till the 10th September4; and apparently no formal step was taken to mark the beginning of a new reign till the 28th of the month, when the Chancellor resigned the Great Seal. Even the new King's Peace was not proclaimed till the ist October 7 The blow that had fallen on the nation was, doubtless, very great ; but the personal jealousies of the men who surrounded the Throne had also a good deal to do with the delay. The We have seen that at the time of his brother's death Gloucester. Gloucester was Regent, ' Warden of England, and King's Lieutenant ' 6, as the style ran. He was the young King's nearest relative in England ; he had been confirmed in his 1 T. Wals. ii. 342, &c. 2 Proceedings Privy Council, iii. 3. 3 See below. 4 It was not known to the Justices who were trying an issue at Biggleswade, in Beds, on the 9th September; Rot. Pari. iv. 194. 5 Foed. x. 253, 254. B " Custos angliae et Regis locum tenens " ; so, too, T. Wals. ii. 345, " prius custode "- Parties in England. HENRY VI (as a young man). From the original portrait at Kingly College, Cambridge. To face page 322, * THE REGENCY. 313 office by his brother's Will. It would have seemed a mere ch. xxn. matter of course that, subject to any new disposition by I,22 Parliament, he should continue to retain his office. But Humphrey, though popular with the middling gentry and lower orders, did not enjoy the confidence of the magnates. Clever and cultivated, wanting in ballast, self-seeking and ambitious, he never would rest content with the position assigned to him ; while the Lords, who distrusted him, never would concede to him the authority to which his rank prima facie entitled him. Henry V, too, by giving the personal guardianship of his son to the Duke of Exeter, showed that he did not place entire confidence in his brother Humphrey. The The Duke Duke of Bedford, as a sober-minded statesman of the best ° e or ' English type, ought to have been the English Regent ; but, being the best man at his brother's disposal, he had been appointed to carry on the dynastic scheme in France, and therefore was not available. The Beauforts led the party The Beau- opposed to Gloucester ; and it was at their instigation that forts' the Council refused to acknowledge him as Regent \ elect ing to keep the executive authority as far as possible in their own hands. Thus, when Bishop Langley resigned the Chancellorship, Gloucester was allowed, in deference to his rank, to take the Seal from the Bishop's hands. But the act was performed at Windsor, in the chamber of the infant King, to make the act his, not that of a Regent 2 ; and, Gloucester when two days later writs had to be issued for the ^ ^° summons of Parliament, they were sealed " Teste Rege—per ipsum regem et consilium ' ; the first writ being addressed to Humphrey, simply as the leading lay Peer, " and non otherwise " 3. But it was necessary that Parliament should be formally opened by some one ; and that some one should have the 1 See J. Hardyng, 391. 2 Foed. sup. •* 3 See Lords' Report, iv. 856 ; Proceedings, iii. 3 ; and Rot. Pari. iv. 326. The Parliamentary writs issued by Bedford and Gloucester in 141 5, 141 7, 1420, and 1421, were all sealed Teste Custode, and no writ was addressed to the Regent. Y 2 324 HENRY VI. ch. xxn. power of controlling its sittings. On the 5th November a Privy Council was held, at which Archbishop Chicheley, '4"' the Bishop of Winchester, the Duke of Exeter, the Earls of Warwick and Northumberland, and other Lords, spiritual and temporal, were present. The draft of a commission was produced, by which the Council proposed to authorise the Duke of Gloucester to open, carry on, and dissolve Parliament as King's Commissioner, and 'by the assent of the Council ' 1. This appointment again necessarily im plied that Gloucester was not Regent ; but apparently he contented himself with protesting against the words ' de assensu consilii ' as unprecedented and derogatory 2. The Lords, however, one and all, insisted "that, consider ing the tender age of the King, they neither could, ought, nor would consent to the omission of the words, which were as necessary for the security of the Duke as they were for that of the Council ". Finding that he could not help himself, the Duke consented 3. Burial of On the 7th November, as already stated, the remains of enry the late King were buried at Westminster 4. Parliament On the 9th, Parliament met. Gloucester's Commission minster'" was reac* ' anc* ^en Archbishop Chicheley, by his direc tion 6, opened the proceedings. He alluded, of course, to the 'marvellous acts and governance' of the late King, ' known of all the world '. He alluded to the succession of his son, ' already King of England and of France '. He expressed a hope that all the good works begun by the father would be brought to ' perfection ' by the son. He declared the appointment of 'good governance for the 1 " Ad Parliamentum illud finiendum et dissolvendum de assensu consilii nostri plenam commisimus potestatem". 2 The words do not occur in any of the Regency Commissions given to Bedford or Gloucester by Henry V ; see Foed. ix. 306, 475, 831 ; x. 130 ; nor do they occur in the Commissions given by Edward III to Lionel in 1351, and to Richard in 1377, ^u' these cases were not Regency cases, and therefore not parallel. 3 Stubbs, iii. 96 ; Proceedings, iii. 6 ; Foed. x. 257. 4 So Chron. London. 5 The petitions of the Parliament are addressed to ' the Most Noble Hum phrey, Duke of Gloucester, Commissary of the King '. PARLIAMENT. 325 King's most excellent person ' to be the first duty of Par- ch. xxii. liament, intimating that ' each Estate of the Realm ' would x be represented on the Regency Council 7 When the assembly was fully constituted by the ap pointment of a Speaker, the Lords of the Council asked for and received ratification of their previous acts ; such as summoning Parliament, renewing the commissions of the judges and sheriffs, and accepting the resignation of the Lord Chancellor2. A deputation from the Commons then waited on the Lords to enquire what names would be proposed for the three great ministerial offices, namely, the Chancellorship, the Treasury, and the Privy Seal. After some deliberation the Commissary and the Lords Ministers came to the conclusion that they could not do better than ^XfaXXXXt m re-appoint the men in whom the late King had put his trust ; namely, Thomas Langley, Bishop of Durham, William Kynwolmarsh, and Master John Stafford (16th November)3. This decision was notified to the Commons, who expressed their entire satisfaction 4- All this time Gloucester was pressing his claims, both by blood and by his brother's will, to be recognised as Regent. " The Lords, having searched for precedents, found that he had no such claim on the ground of relationship 5 ; and that the late King could not, without the assent of the Estates, dispose ofthe Government after his death " 6. They persisted in refusing to give Humphrey the title of Regent, or of Lieutenant-Governor, or any "name that shuld emporte auctorite of governance ". Nor did they attempt to conceal 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 169. 2 Id. 170; Proceedings, iii. 3. John Kemp, Bishop of London, also asked that notice might be taken of the fact that he had resigned the Normandy Seal to the Duke of Bedford. 3 Kynwolmarsh, who had been at the Treasury either as Deputy or as Treasurer since August, 1419, died about the 19th December, when Stafford was appointed Treasurer; and William Alnwick, the late King's Secretary, became Keeper of the Privy Seal. 4 Rot. Pari. 171, 172. 5 No Regent had been appointed during the minorities of Richard II or Edward III. 6 Stubbs, iii. 97. CH. XXII. 1422. Gloucester to be ProtectorduringBedford'sabsence. The RegencyCouncil. 326 HENRY VI. their preference for " his brother of Bedford ". "Neverthe- lesse to kepe pees and tranquillite", and "to ese and appese" the Duke, they agreed that during Bedford's absence he should be styled ' Protector of the Realm and King's Chief Counsellor ', with certain specified powers. But they in sisted that Bedford should have the title and office when ever he should come over to England, Gloucester sinking to the position of King's Second Counsellor during his brother's stay at home1- This was settled on the 5th December, the Act of Parliament being followed by Letters Patent, containing the formal appointments. Gloucester again accepted the situation 2. The powers conceded to him as Protector included the disposal of the patronage of the Royal Forests, and the gift of smaller ecclesiastical benefices ; the concurrence of the Council being made necessary for the disposition of all other patronage3. The reader will see how tight a hand the Beauforts intended to keep on Humphrey. The appointment of the Protector was followed by the nomination of the Council, in which the supreme authority would, in fact, be vested. Gloucester's name came first. Then followed five Prelates, namely, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishops of London, Winchester, Nor wich, and Worcester ; the Duke of Exeter ; five Earls, namely, March, Warwick, the Earl Marshal, Northumber land, and Westmorland ; the Barons Fitz Hugh and Crom well ; and three Commoners, Sir Walter Hungerford, Sir John Tiptoft, and Sir Walter Beauchamp4. " This body, in which every interest was represented and every honoured name appears, accepted office under five conditions, which still further limited the powers of the 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 326. The two Beauforts, with the Earls of March and Warwick, are mentioned as taking the leading parts in this matter. 2 Rot. Pari. iv. 174, 175; Foed. x. 261; T. Wals. ii. 346. Gloucester received a salary of 8000 marks (Proceedings, iii. 26), being the allowance made to the Regents under Henry V; Id. ii. 313, &c. 3 Rot. Pari. sup. 4 9th December; lb.; Proceedings, iii. '57- 30.v The date, "IX0 die Novembris ", at p. 155, seems a clerical niw. REGENCY COUNCIL. 327 Protector". In the first place, they reserved to themselves ch. xxu. the appointment of all Officers of Justice and Revenue; r 22 and by themselves the wardships, marriages, forms, and its other incidents of the Crown Revenues were to be '' sold authonty- and disposed " ; " and that indifferently atte the derrest (dearest)". For the transaction of any business a quorum of six, or four at the least, was made necessary; for matters of importance the presence of the majority was required. On the other hand, they agreed that for business on which it was usual to ask the King's opinion the advice of the Pro tector should be taken. The fourth article " secured secrecy as to the contents of the Treasury; and the fifth provided that a list of attendances should be kept. The Commons added an article to prevent the Council from encroaching on the patronage belonging to the existing Officers of State " 7 As a sop to Gloucester's feelings he was appointed Constable of Gloucester Castle, and Chamberlain of England, vice Lord Fitz Hugh. As an act of general grace all private charters Reseaiing were ordered to be renewed without fine ; and all pensions °nd ^"^ and offices granted by the late King were confirmed 2. newai of Pensions Archbishop Chicheley had spoken of young Henry VI &c. as being already King both of England and of France. This statement had reference to the fact that Charles VI Death of was dead. He had died on the 21st October3, during the 0f France. time when the remains of his late adversary were being transported to England. On the nth November he was Proclama- laid in his grave at Saint Denis ; and young Henry was H°nry vi proclaimed by the English4. as King of The Commons approved of the assumption of the Double Style ; and they agreed that the Seals should be altered ac cordingly5. But for the prosecution of the war not one 1 Stubbs, iii. 98; Rot. Pari. 176. 2 Id. 172. 3 St. Denys, vi. 486 ; J. Le Fevre, ii. 69 ; de Beaucourt ; Sismondi. The Dauphin was proclaimed as Charles VII on the 30th October. 4 See St. Denys, 188-196 ; Bourgeois, 177-180 ; E. Monstrelet, 533. Not a friend or a relative ; not a Frenchman of any note followed the bier of Charles le Bien-aiml, only the Duke of Bedford with the clergy and people of Paris. 5 Rot. Pari. 171. CH. XXII. I422. Money Grants. The Queen Mother. Wills of Henry V and Henry IV. Irishstudents at Oxford. Securityfor good behaviour required of them. 338 HENRY VI. measure was suggested, and not one penny voted. The money grants of the Commons show that the con solation they looked for in the new state of things was reduction of taxation. No Subsidy was voted, and the Customs were only granted for two years, and under decided reductions. The wool dues exigible from foreigners were maintained at the existing rate, 63s. Ad- the sack. For natives the amount was reduced from 50s. to A°s. ', six months' credit from the date of " the coket " being allowed on one half of the duty, and twelve months' credit on the other half, with a drawback of all the duty on wool lost or captured at sea. Tonnage and Poundage were granted at the existing rates of 3s. and is., but from foreigners only; goods imported by natives being relieved of all duty1. Lands and money were assigned to Queen Catherine in satisfaction of her stipulated dower of £6666 13s. Ad. per annum 2 ; and directions were given for transferring money and jewels to the value of ^"26,666 13s. Ad- to the executors of Henry V, to be applied in payment of his debts, and in particular of a sum of ;£i2,666 13s. Ad. still due to the executors of Henry IV3. On more than one occasion during the late reign com plaints had been made of crimes of violence committed in Oxfordshire and Berkshire by Oxford students. A petition presented in this Parliament states that these disorders had been traced to Irish students, some of them King's lieges, some of them "wilde Irishmen", not of the King's obedience. It was enacted that for the future all Irishmen resident in England should give se curity for their good behaviour ; and that no Irish students should be admitted to either University without producing 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 173. In February, 1423, the Council found it desirable to reduce the wool duties on foreigners to 53^. s\d. the sack ; Proceedings, iii. 33 No Convocation was summoned, and no clerical Subsidy granted in eithet Province ; Wake, State of Church. 2 Rot. Pari. 186-189. The lands were taken from the Hereford and Lancaster estates, the Principality of Wales, and the Duchy of Cornwall. 3 Id. 172 ; again, 324. CHARLES VII OF FRANCE. 319 certificates that they were King's lieges 7 This incident ch. xxn. is important as showing, first, the advantages the Irish I423 could derive at this time from the connexion with England ; and, secondly, that no difficulties were thrown in their way except in consequence of their own mis conduct. The Commons petitioned that all ' Bills in Chancery ' should be submitted for approval to two Common Law Judges. This was not granted ; nor would the Council agree to surrender the power given to the late King of retaining Sheriffs in office after the expiry of the legal year2. On the other hand, it was agreed that all Lollards Lollards. detained in prison should be delivered to the Ordinaries to be ' justified ' according to the laws of Holy Church 3. The Dauphin had lost no time in asserting his rights. Proclama- On the 30th October, before his father was yet buried, he Charles was proclaimed King, as already stated, at Mehun-sur- vii as Yevre 4. His accession was a distinct disadvantage to the France. English, who could no longer issue edicts in the name of a King whose theoretical authority no loyal Frenchman could deny. Charles VII was no longer the head of a questionable faction, but the legitimate and true King of France, the centre of all national aspirations5. To counterbalance the effect of Charles'. proclamation as Treaty of King, Bedford re-proclaimed the Treaty of Troyes, exact- Tl^X ing fresh oaths of allegiance from the Parliament of Paris, claimed. the University, and the Bourgeoisie^. But so far as the military situation was concerned the English had the best of it. Firmly established on 1 Rot. Pari. 190; Statute 1 Henry VI, cap 3. 2 Rot. Pari. 189, 191. 3 Rot. Pari. 174. The Session rose on the 18th December; Id. 173. For directions to the Judges to separate the administrative from the legislative Acts of the Session, the latter only to be published as Statutes, see Proceedings, iii. 22. 4 de Beaucourt, i. 241. 5 Kitchin, History of France. 6 19th November; Stevenson, Letters, &c. of Henry VI, i. lxxvii. (Rolls Series, No. 22). 330 HENRY VI. ch. xxu. the coast, from the gates of Abbeville to those of Mont- Saint-Michel, they occupied a triangular position, whose MilibS base extended from the Somme to Brittany, with Paris situation for ;ts apex, "a formidable wedge driven into the very in France. ^^ ^ ^ Kingdom " \ Charles ruled south of the Loire ; but his authority in Languedoc was disputed by the Count of Foix, who still held by the English 2, while Dauphine' and the Lyonnais were threatened by Savoy and Burgundy. The state of the country was deplorable. In the words of a writer of the time, France was a stormy sea, " oh chacun a tant de seigneurie comme il a de force " 3. Another writer tells us that both to the east and west of Paris, in Champagne and the Vexin, as well as in Maine and Beauce, he had seen whole districts Distress lying waste. The highways were deserted ; the peasantry, countr m despair, took to brigandage, wherever there was anything to rob4; The French showed their activity in desultory opera tions, very harassing to the Regent. In December, 1422, a plot to seize Paris — the second within the year — was Operations discovered 5. On the 1st January, 1423, the important of U23g position of Meulan on the Seine was surprised. Salisbury and Sir John Fastolf were sent to the rescue. On the 2nd of March the place was recovered. A mixed force of French and Scots had been sent from the Loire to relieve Meulan, but they failed to come up, the leaders having quarrelled by the way, through Tanguy's mismanagement 6. 1 Kitchin. 2 The Count got his treaty renewed in March on easy terms ; Foed. x. 271, 278. See also Stevenson, Letters, Sec, i. i, 6. 3 Alain Chartier, cited de Beaucourt. * T. Basin, Histoire de Charles VII, i. 44 (ed. Quicherat, Paris, 1855). As the writer was only ten years old at this time, his remarks are probably based on later observation ; but he moved a good deal between Normandy and Flanders when quite a young man. See also de Beaucourt, Charles VII, ii. 9-1 1. 5 Bourgeois de Paris, 174, 183 ; E. Monstrelet, 524, 538. 0 Bourgeois, 182-184 ; E- Monstrelet, 538-540 ; G. Cousinot, Gestes des Nobles Francais, 189 (ed. Viriville) ; W. Gregory, 149, 150 (Collections of a London Citizen, Camden Society, N. S.). The Regent himself took part in the siege; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 6 ; 12th February. TREATY OF AMIENS. 331 But the great event of the spring was the triple alliance ch. xxu. between England, Burgundy, and Brittany, effected by the Duke of Bedford. On the 17th April a treaty was signed Treaty of at Amiens, by which the Duke of Brittany (John V), re- Amiens. gardless of the treaty of Sable and of the inclinations of his own subjects, recognized Henry as King of France and England. The three signataries undertook, in the interests Alliance of of peace, to support each other to the moderate extent of B^f™ y' 100 men, if attacked ; but no offensive operations were and Eng- stipulated 7 The treaty was based on marriages with two of Burgundy's sisters. Bedford took the fifth sister, Anne ; while Arthur of Brittany received the hand of the eldest sister, Margaret, widow of the Dauphin Louis, Duke of Guienne2. The Duke of Brittany was doubtless in fluenced by his brother, who was solemnly pledged to the English ; but the hollowness of their intentions to wards England is revealed by the fact that on the morrow Burgundy and Brittany sealed a secret treaty by which they agreed to remain friends, even if they should be reconciled to ' the Dauphin Charles ' 3. In fact, the all-important Burgundian alliance had already been seriously shaken. William IV, Count of Holland and Hainault, who died Affairs of in 141 7, left an only daughter, Jacque, Jacquette, or Jacque line, widow of the Dauphin John, who had died six weeks before. Henry V made overtures for a marriage between the lady and his brother John 4, but through the influence of her mother 5, who was sister to Jean-sans-Peur, she was 1 Feod. x. 280. 2 For Bedford's marriage contract, dated 12th December, 1422, and other details, see Plancher, Histoire de Bourgogne, iv. 68-71, and iii. Preuves, cccxii- cccxx. The marriage between Arthur of Brittany and the Duchess of Guienne was celebrated at Dijon loth October, 1423 ; Plancher, iv. 80. Being detained by the siege of Meulan the Regent was betrothed to the Lady Anne by proxy at Montbar on the 13th April ; Id. and Lille Records, cited Pauli. They were finally married at Troyes on the 14th June ; Plancher, iv. 71. 3 Plancher, iv; Preuves, xxvii. On the Treaties of Amiens generally, see Cosneau, de Richemont, 70, Sec. 4 March, 1418; Proceedings, ii. 241. 5 Margaret of Burgundy, daughter of Philippe le Hardi ; Hardy. 33a HENRY VI. ch xxu prevailed upon to marry her first cousin, John, Duke of '— Brabant, son of Duke Anthony, who fell at Agincourt. The H23' marriage was entirely a Burgundian arrangement, intended to strengthen and consolidate the family interest, Jacque line, her husband, and Philip the Good, being all three first cousins ; while the geographical situation of Hainault made the control of its policy a matter of great importance to Burgundy and Brabant. But the marriage proved very un happy, the Duke of Brabant being a weakly youth of low tastes, and altogether unsuited to Jacqueline, a woman of The high spirit and fond of gaiety1. After three years of jarring Uc^uelTne matrimony, she fled from her husband's Court, and was leaves her taken, by arrangement, to London (1421) 2, where she and comes soon fell in love with the gay and brilliant Duke Hum- to London : phrey. Application was made to Martin V for a dis solution of the marriage with John of Brabant, on the ground of consanguinity. But he refused, or rather allowed the proceedings to lie dormant 3. As a last expedient the lovers applied to Benedict XIII, who was still living, and styling himself Pope. Glad of an opportunity of exer cising his spiritual authority, he granted the desired dis- marries pensation ; and the marriage was celebrated, to the scandal Hum- of au Europe. This happened shortly before the Treaty phrey. 0f Amiens4- Burgundy felt deeply aggrieved. Even in Indigna- Henry V's time he had made strong representations on Duke of ^s subject, but no attention was paid tc them5. In justice Burgundy, to Humphrey, therefore, we may note that if his marriage imperilled the Burgundian alliance the blame should be shared by Henry V. 1 See G. Chastelain, cited Stevenson, Letters, i. xlix. " E. Monstrelet, 497 ; J. Le Fevre, ii. 30 ; Foed. x. 67, 134 ; Proceedings, ii. 291. The safe-conduct was made out in March, but Jacqueline did not come over till July. She received an allowance of £ 100 a month out of Queen Johanna's dower lands ; Devon Issues, 368. She was made one of Henry VI's sponsors at his baptism. Henry V was responsible for the whole affair. 3 The suit, which apparently was instituted in 142 1, had not been decided at the close of 1424 ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 404. 4 Barante v. 131. Humphrey is addressed as Count of Hainault, Sec. 7th March, 1423; Feod. 279. 5 Plancher, iv. 63,64; Barante, sup.; Sismondi, France, xiii. 26. THE WAR. 333 But the triple alliance still seemed to promise great ch. xxii. things for the future ; and so the English resumed the offensive with such forces as they could command. One operations band which was raised in Rouen and the Pays de Caux, took in Picardy, Noyelles and Rue from Jacques de Harcourt, and drove him into Crotoy \ The Earl of Salisbury received the Cham- chief command in Brie and Champagne, and began by P*^' laying siege to Montaiguillon, a petty stronghold near Provins. There his men were detained for many months 2. Early in June the Regent went from Paris to Troyes to receive the hand of his bride. On the way back Pont- and Isle of sur-Seine was stormed ; and about the same time a nest rance' of brigands was cleared out of Orsay, between Paris and Montlhery3. But the most important operations of the summer oc curred in connexion with the struggle for the possession of Cravant on the Yonne 4. Held in the first instance Cravant by the Burgundians, it was surprised by some of Charles' ost men, through the treachery of a Savoyard, who had been won over. Within a few days it was recovered and re- by Burgundian gentry of the neighbourhood 5. Anxious ^™. y to open up a line of communication with Champagne, dians ; Charles VII ordered a mixed force, which was intended for the relief of Montaiguillon, to attack Cravant. The again be- army being all ready at Gien6, promptly reached the place. French -X 1 May; J. Wavrin, iii. 35, &c. ; E. Monstrelet, 545. A fresh start was made in June for the siege of Crotoy, which was kept up all through the year. Rue had been captured by Harcourt in November ; J. Le Fevre, ii. 71. The three places are all in the department of the Somme. 2 J. Wavrin, 32, 70. The place, which does not appear to exist now, is stated to have been in the department of Seine-et-Marne, between Provins and Nogent-sur- Seine ; Bourgeois, 193, note. 3 J. Wavrin, 29. The Lady Anne reached Troyes on the 14th June, Bedford being there ready to receive her ; Plancher, iv. 71. The marriage would be cele brated the same day. The prisoners from Orsay were brought into Paris 19th June; Bourgeois, 186. 4 Department Yonne, to the North of Vermanton. 5 J. Wavrin, 42-57. 6 G. Bouvier (Berry Roy d'Armes) apud Histoire de Charles VII ; D. Gode- froy, p. 369 (Paris, 1661). Gien is on the Loire, department Loiret. ,'7'H HENRY VI. Battle of Cravant. ci i. xxu. Equal efforts for the relief of the town were made on the ' "" other side. The dowager Duchess of Burgundy called s.ii'„,'isVor her son's fuedatories to arms ; while the Regent recalled its relief. Salisbury from Montaiguillon, reinforcing him with troops just brought over by the Earl Marshal and Lord Wil- loughby 1- The English and Burgundians joined forces at Auxerre. On the 30th July they marched out, ad vancing up the right bank of the Yonne to some place within easy distance of Cravant2 Next morning, the enemy, a mixed force of ' French, Lombards, Arragonese, Scots, and Spaniards'3, were discovered on a rising ground in front of Cravant. Not caring to attack them in that position, the English crossed over to the left bank, probably at Champs, where the highway from Auxerre to Cravant crosses the river, and so marched up to the bridge of Cravant. The French then shifted their ground, and took post along the river bank, between the walls of Cravant and the water. Thus the two armies remained facing each other across the water for a considerable time. At last Salisbury on the left gave the word " St. George ! Avant Banner ! " and plunged into the Yonne. On the right wing Lord Willoughby had carried the bridge, driving the Scots before him at the spear point. In friendly rivalry the English ' and Burgundians on the left struggled through the water, which in places was waist deep. After a sturdy conflict the allies gained the bank, the archers probably Defeat of covering the advance of the men-at-arms. Then the Scots. garrison sallied on the French from the rear, and they broke and fled. The Scots, who were in the forefront of the battle, suffered the chief loss. Sir John Stewart of Darnley, the commander, lost an eye and was taken 1 They took over 160 lances and 540 archers in May ; Proceedings, iii. 66, 87, 101. Sir Walter Hungerford and a few others went also. Among them they might have made up 1000 men of all arms. 2 Wavrin gives the name of the place as " Vancelles ", i.e. Vincelles. But this is on the left bank, and so inconsistent with the rest of his story. 3 J. Le Fevre, ii. 76. BATTLE OF CRAVANT. 335 prisoner 7 Some sixteen gentlemen of name were taken ch. xxu. or killed 2. 7771423. This success led to decided results in the East of France. Anglo- Salisbury returned to Montaiguillon ; while Suffolk and Jurgun- J *> ' dlan suc- the Earl Marshal assisted John of Luxemburg in driving cesses in the French from Laonnois and Guise, and so across the 0fFr^,sCe, Meuse to Mouzon 3. The Earl of Suffolk made his way down to the Maconnais ; and again, with the help of the Duke of Burgundy, won a castle to the south of Macon, called La Roche 4. In the West, where there were no Burgundian allies, the A reverse English suffered a decided reverse. Sir John de la Pole, ^ste Suffolk's brother, made a plundering " road " through Maine into Anjou. Returning from Segre with 1000 head of cattle, he was waylaid by the Count of Aumale, Jean de Harcourt, who had been summoned from Tours. The cavalry of the French van began the attack. Repulsed on one flank, where the archers carried stakes, they fell on the other flank, where the English were not so well equipped, and broke their ranks. Then the French foot closed in and overwhelmed the English. The leaders were captured and a large part of the force destroyed. Aumale followed up his advantage by a raid to Avranches and Saint-L6 5- 1 See the graphic account of Wavrin, who was present, iii. 57-69 ; con densed, E. Monstrelet, 546, 547 ; Cousinot, Gestes, 191. Bonfires were lit in Paris on the night of the 3rd August; Bourgeois, 187. The writer, though a staunch Burgundian, groans over the fact. 2 For lists of names on either side, see E. Hall, 117, 118 ; cf. Wavrin. 3 See J. Wavrin, 33, 70-75 ; G. Cousinot, Gestes, 214 ; E. Monstrelet, 548 ; J. Le Fevre, ii. 79. 4 August; J. Wavrin, sup. The Duke coming from Dijon passed through Macon to reach La Roche ; there are three, if not four, places of the name in the depart ment of the Loire. The Duke then went to Paris, which he entered 27th August, leaving it 9th September to go to Dijon for the marriage of his sister, the Duchess of Guienne, which took place on the 10th October, as already mentioned ; Bourgeois, 189 and note; Plancher, iv. 80. 5 26th September; G. Cousinot, 193, 214; J. Wavrin, 22. CHAPTER XXIII. Henry VI (continued). Arrangements for Liberation of the King of Scots. — Parliament at West minster. — Execution of Sir John Mortimer. — The War in France. — Battle of Verneuil. ch. xxm. At home the business of the year was arranging for the ~_ liberation of the King of Scots, who was now entering on James I of his eighteenth year of " strayte ward " and " strong prisoun." Scotland.The King's " The bird> the beste> the fisch eke in the see, Quair. They lyve in fredome everich in his kynd; And I a man, and lakkith libertee. Quhat schall I seyne, quhat resoun may I fynd, That fortune suld do so? Thus in my mynd My folk I would argewe; but al for noght; Was none that might, that on my peynes rought " 1. ' The bird, the beast, the fish too in the sea, They live in freedom each one in his kind; And I a man, yet lack my liberty. What shall I say, what reason may I find, That fortune so should do? Thus in my mind My people I would blame; but all for nought; Was none that might, that on my pains took thought'. The matter had been mooted, if not resolved upon, before the late King's death 2 ; and the Government had every inducement to go on with it. They were anxious to obtain the recall of the Scots auxiliaries from France ; 1 King's Quair, Stanza 27 (ed. Skeat, Scottish Text Society). "Quair "is the modern quire = book or album. 2 May, 1421 ; Foed. x. 123-125, and above. JAMES I OF SCOTLAND. 337 the necessary ransom would help to fill the Treasury, and ch. xxiii. the Beauforts perhaps had a private inducement in the x,2. prospect of finding a royal suitor for the hand of their niece. In February (1423) safe-conducts were made out for Scottish envoys to meet King James at Pontefract. In July arrangements were made for his travelling establish ment1. On the 6th July definite instructions for the treaty were given to the Bishops of Durham and Worcester and the Earl of Northumberland. They were directed to ask £40,000 for the * expenses ' of King James during the period of his entertainment at the English Court 2 ; £36,000 was the lowest sum they might accept. They were directed to make efforts to obtain a 'perpetual peace ' between the two countries, with an interim truce for as long a period as possible. They would ask for the recall of the Scots serving in France ; at any rate, they would press for an undertaking that no more should be sent out during the truce. Lastly, they might suggest, with all due delicacy, that if the Scots were inclined for a matrimonial alliance there were noble ladies, nay, even ladies of the Royal lineage, in England with whom King James was already acquainted. Plainer language, the in structions added, would not be suitable, 'as English ladies are not wont to offer themselves in marriage ' 3. In August a Scots Parliament was held at Inver keithing * ; and power to settle everything was given to three Commissioners, namely, the Scottish Chancellor, William Lauder, Bishop of Glasgow, George Dunbar, Scots Earl of March, and Sir James Douglas of Balveny. On the ioth September a definite agreement was sealed Final in the Chapter House at York. The Scots agreed to ^rrehe™ent the £40,000, to be paid by six yearly instalments of liberation. 1 Rot. Scot. ii. 234-236 ; Foed. x. 266, 286, 293, 296. James was entertained at Court at Westminster during most of February ; Stevenson, Letters, &c. i. 390. 2 " Pro expensis dicti Regis pro tempore quo stetit in custodia seu praesentia Regum Angliae". 3 Foed. 294. 4 19 August; Foed. 298; Acts of Parliament of Scotland. * Z CH. XXIII. I423- The Lady Joan Beaufort. Revenues of Scot land. 338 HENRY VI. £6666 13s. Ad- each; and they approved of the matri monial project, undertaking to send envoys to London in October to settle a contract 7 The lady's name was still withheld, but it was well understood that the King's affections had been engaged by the Lady Joan Beaufort, daughter of John, the late Earl of Somerset. James, as we learn from his own poem, the King's Quhair, had fallen in love with Joan on seeing her from the window of his place of confinement at Windsor. "And therewith kest I doun myn eye ageyne Quhare2 as I saw walkyng under the Toure Full secretely, new cumyn hir to pleyne3, The fairest or the freschest joung4 floure That ever I sawe methoght before that houre; For quhich sodain abate6, anon astert The blude of all my body to my hert. And though I stood abaisit tha a Iyte, No wonder was; for-quhy6 my wittis all Were so overcome with plesance and delyte, Onely through latting of myn eyen fall, That sudaynly my hert became hir thrall, For ever of free wyll; for of manace There was no takyn7 in hir suete face"8. Measured by the ordinary Revenues of the Scottish Kings, £40,000 was a considerable sum. If Scotland did not enjoy much government, neither did it labour under much taxation. Direct imposts had not been levied for fifty years. The ' forms ' of the chartered towns were ab- 1 Foed. x. 299. 2 ' Where ', Scots " qu " = Southern " w ". 3 ' pleyen ', play. 4 'Young', Scots "3 " = Southern "y ". 5 ' At which sudden surprise'. ° ' Because '. 7 Token. 8 The King's Quhair, stanzas 40, 41. James appears to say that he first saw the lady in May, in the eighteenth year of his captivity ; that would be May, 1423. The poem is evidently modelled after The Parlement of Foules, written by Chaucer in honour of some attachment, perhaps that of Richard II to Anne of Bohemia ; but it is one of the best imitations of Chaucer. James lands Gower and Chaucer as his " maisteris dere ". REVENUE OF SCOTLAND. 339 sorbed by pensions and local charges : the returns from ch. xxiii. the counties were trivial, the Crown being too weak to 2 enforce payment of its dues. Year after year the Chamber lain apologises for the smallness of the receipts from reliefs, escheats, fines, wardships, and marriages, protesting that he has been unable to raise any more 7 The Revenue practically depended on the wool and leather duties ; and these, since the year 1368, had been levied at £1 6s. 8d. the sack, and £2 13J. Ad- the last, all other commodities passing in and out of the kingdom duty free. For the financial year 1421-14222 the entire gross Revenue of Scotland amounted to £3313. Of this, the sum that reached the hands of the Governor and his Chamberlain was £1003. Nearly £1000 was absorbed by pensions and poundages; while £1100, being the proceeds of the cus toms of Edinburgh, had been appropriated by the Earl of Douglas and his friends. The Duke of Albany had a claim on the Exchequer for £3809 for arrears of salary and disbursements out of pocket 3 ! Thus each instalment of the ransom would equal two years' gross revenue. On the 20th October Parliament met at Westminster. Parliament The Session was again opened by Gloucester, by virtue of '' . ¦ at West- i a Special Commission of the same tenor as the former one. The Parliament sat more than three months, without counting a Christmas recess of four weeks4. In the first part of the Session 5 the Council was reappointed ; later 1 Exchequer Rolls Scotland, ii, xii, Ixxii. 2 The Rolls for the years 1422-1423 and 1423-1424 are missing. 3 See Exchequer Rolls Scotland, iv. 358-378. The heads of the Revenue stand thus : — Burgh Ferms County Ferms, with proceeds of judicial Iters and such feudal incidents as could be levied Wool and leather duties (about) .... 4 Rot. Pari. iv. 197-200; Parliament sat 20th October-i7th December; and again 14th January-27th February. 5 This is a conjecture. No date is given on the Rolls ; Chaucer and Al- ington were added on the 25th January, and Scrope on the 28th February, 1424; Proceedings, iii. 155. Z 2 £ s. d. 243 6 8 260 10 5 2818 15 6 34Q HENRY VI. 1423. The Pro tector and the Coun cil. ch. xxiii. Lords Scrope of Masham and Bourchier, with Thomas Chaucer and William Alington, were added to the list 1 Additional rules were also framed to ensure harmonious and equitable action on the part of the Council ; the cur tailment of the Protector's influence being clearly the chief end in view. It was provided that neither " my lord of Gloucestre ne noon other man of the Counsaill " should take upon himself to answer petitions addressed to the whole Council ; and again, that " singuler persons " should not " on peyne of shame and reproefe, . . . presume ... to write the contrarie " of that which had been determined by the majority; which practice was declared to be "to greet a schame". Further, the Council were charged to pay special attention to cases where there was " to great myght " on the one side, and " unmyght " on the other side, the clerk of the Council being directed to assign a King's Sergeant as gratuitous counsel for poor suitors 2. On the 17th November the infant King was brought into Parliament, and received an address. On the previous day he had entered London in his mother's " chair ", sitting on her lap 3. On the 2 ist November the Commons expressed a hearty approval of the arrangements for the liberation of the King of Scots, begging the Lords to bring the matter to a ' final conclusion '. On the 17th December the Houses adjourned to the 14th January, 1424 4. The second part of the Session was disturbed by a dark The infant King in Parliament. 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 201. Henry Lord Scrope was brother of John, executed in 141 5 ; Lord Bourchier was Sir Louis Robesart, who had married the heiress Elizabeth Bourchier, widow of Sir Hugh Stafford ; Nicolas, Historic Peerage. 2 Rot. Pari. 201 ; also fuller, Proceedings, iii. 148, where an additional paragraph at the end discloses a distinct division between the Protector and the rest of the Council. 3 Chron. London, 112; R. Fabian, 593. On the 14th November, when the Court was leaving Staines, Henry " schriked and cryed and sprang ", so that the day's journey was given up ; lb. Johanna, wife of Thomas Asteley, was the King's nurse ; Proceedings, iii. 131. She had an annuity of £40. 4 Rot. Pari. 199, 200. SIR JOHN MORTIMER. 341 incident, discreditable to all concerned, and ominous for ch. xxiii. the future. ~ Sir John Mortimer of Bishop's Hatfield, cousin to the Sir John Earl of March1, had been arrested, apparently in the . °rtimer ' ' rr j imprisoned summer- of 1421 2, 'on suspicion of treason'; but ononsus- suspicion only, and no attempt had been made to bring ^son° him to trial. It is possible, however, that he may have listened to overtures from Oldcastle. In April, 1422, he escapes; made his escape from the Tower with Thomas Payn, Oldcastle's secretary, and another. Being recaptured, he is re-cap- was sent to Pevensey 3. tu In Februaiy, 1424, he was taken from Pevensey back to the Tower 4, where he fell into a snare, apparently laid for his destruction. On the 23rd of the month he was Attempts detected in a fresh attempt at escape. The fact was a°.^ape established on the 25th by the verdict of a jury empanelled at Guildhall under a Special Commission. The gaoler who was to have assisted Mortimer to escape was ap parently the chief witness against him 5. The Earl of March had just been ordered off to his government in Ireland 6. On the 26th February the finding of the Guildhall jury was laid before Parliament. But as a mere attempt at 1 So Grafton. Sandford calls Sir John uncle to the Earl of March, but he was certainly not that, as it appears clearly from the will of Earl Edmund I that he had but two sons, Roger and Edmund ; but he had two brothers, and Sir John of Hatfield may have been descended from one of them. See J. Nichols, Royal Wills, p. 112. 2 Sir John was engaged for service afloat in February, 141 7 ; Proceedings, ii. 209 ; but he was not in the King's army that summer. On the 13th July, 142 1, Lady Mortimer petitioned for an allowance for her support. In December Sir John addressed a petition to the Peers, begging their intercession with the King; Proceedings, ii. 296, 307, 311 ; Rot. Pari. iv. 160. 3 Devon Issues, 373, 375 ; Proceedings, ii. 332 ; iii. 11. Sir John was still at Pevensey, 30th June, 1423; Devon Issues, 384. 4 Devon Issues, 389. 6 So J. Stow, 365. 6 The Earl was appointed King's Lieutenant in May, 1423, but with power to appoint a Deputy, and he did so; Foed. x. 382 ; Gilbert, Viceroys, 319. Ship ping for his voyage to Ireland was ordered on the 14th February, 1424 ; Foed. According to Chron. Giles, p. 6, he had excited suspicion by keeping open- house in London, and had quarrelled with Gloucester. 342 HENRY VI. 1424. tainder. ch. xxiii. escape was not a treasonable offence under the existing law, a special Act declaring it such was passed offhand ; the Act being made to take effect retrospectively from the 20th October, the first day of the Parliament ; while its duration was limited, as if in mockery, to the day of the Executed meeting of the next Parliament. On the strength of this under Act „ onjinance ", Mortimer was sent to Tyburn on the self same day 1- " Of whose death no small slaunder arose emongest the common people"2. The responsibility for the affair must be divided between Gloucester, Exeter, and the Bishop of Winchester. The Commons would probably have excused their ready com plicity on the ground that England was committed to the House of Lancaster ; and that it was expedient that one man should die rather than that the . nation should be exposed to the risk of a war of succession 3. Trade and currency questions were prominent in the proceedings of the Session. The Staple regulations which had been in force since 1379 were confirmed, Calais being kept up as the Staple for the eastern, Southampton for the western ports. The Council agreed to do their best to put down smuggling, and promised not to exempt any com modities from the Staple regulations except wool grown in the four northern counties. The exportation of gold and Scarcity of silver was again forbidden 4. Complaints were renewed of the scarcity of * white money ' ; and the cause was fully explained. The cost of coining fell upon those who brought bullion to the Mint. At this time thirty shillings were struck from the pound Tower of standard silver ; but the merchant who brought a pound of raw silver to the Tower only got back twenty-nine shillings, one shilling being retained by the Mint ; " and evere the greter the summe the greter the loss". Another reason suggested was that the standard of alloy Trade and Currency questions in Parlia ment. silver money, 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 202 ; Stat. 2 Henry VI, cap. 17. 2 E. Hall, 128. 3 Cf. Hall, sup. " to avoyde thynges that might chaunce". 4 Rot. Pari. 250-252 ; Stat. cc. 4, 5, 6. PARLIAMENT. 343 was too good. " Consideryng that oon the next way (the ch. xxiii. one best way) that may be, for to distruye any Moneye in the world, and cause it to be broken moltyn or born out of a Lond is for to make hit better in weght or alay thenne hit shulde be ''. The course apparently advocated by the experts was a slight depreciation of the standard to cover the cost of coining1. But the remedy which approved itself to the wisdom of Parliament was a prohibition against buying or selling standard 2 silver for more than thirty Maximum shillings the pound Troy, the current price being thirty- ^"vce. ^ed two shillings 3. At the request of the northern members the Master of the Mint was required to keep up a per- Mint at manent establishment at York 4. The standard measures or ' of wine and salt-fish were republished ; weirs, trunk-nets, and other fixed appliances for the destruction of salmon were again forbidden 5 ; and Justices of the Peace were authorised to examine not only the labourers who took, Labourers. but also the employers who gave, wages in excess of the rates sanctioned at Leicester in 141 4 6. A good deal of business of a private character was also transacted. The Duchesses of Bedford and Gloucester were Duchesses naturalised 7 The acts of the executors of the late King ^nd eGl °*_ were approved ; and it was arranged that out ofthe proceeds cester. of plate and furniture to the value of 40,000 marks assigned w™iry V'S to them from the Treasury, a sum of 19,000 marks still due to the executors of Henry IV should be paid 8. Arrangements were made for giving security to the Bishop of Winchester to the amount of 20,000 marks (£13,333 6s. 8d.) for advances 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 256, 257 ; also 258. 2 ' ' Beyng as good of alay as the sterlyng ". The " sterlyng " was the silver penny. 3 Statute, cc. 12, 13. Silver was at 2s. 8d. the oz. Troy about thi time; Rogers, Prices, iv. 189. Thirty- two pounds Tower are equal to thirty pounds Troy. 4 Rot. Pari. 200. 5 Rot. Pari. 255, 256, 259; Stat. cap. 10, sec. 4; and cc. 11 and 15. 6 Rot. Pari. 258 ; Stat. cp. 14, sec. 2 ; cf. 2 Henry V, cap. 4. Wages were high ; see Rogers, Prices, iv. 514, 524. 7 Rot. Pari. 242 ; Foed. x. 311. 8 Rot. Pari. 206, 207, 208, 209. For the inventory of the articles see 214-242. 344 HENRY VI. ch. xxiii. made or to be made 7 The Patent assigning the dower lands of Queen Catherine was reformed 2, and measures Queen directed for giving effect, so far as practicable, to the Catherine, tardy restitution of Queen Johanna's dower 3. Sianna Cases of brigandage are often noticed in the Commons Noble petitions ; but it is not often that the names of the offenders Brigands. are disclosed. In this Parliament gross acts of violence were complained of in Herefordshire, and the chief offenders were stated to be Lord Talbot, of Goodrich Castle 4, and his brother, Sir William Talbot 5. The The arrangements for the liberation of the King of Scots th^Kiiig were settled, and his marriage actually solemnized, during of Scots, the sitting of Parliament. On the 4th December, 1423, the details of the security for the £40,000 were adjusted ; a list of proposed hostages was tendered by the Scots, with drafts of obligations to be sealed by the hostages, by King James, and by the cities of Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee, and Aberdeen 6. On the 20th January, 1424, 200 marks were His mar- given to James for his wedding outfit7. The marriage took place in the church of St. Mary Overy, Southwark, and ap parently on the 13th February, as on that day an acquittance for one instalment of his ransom, the last instalment to fall due, was tendered to King James by way of dowry for his Queen 8. The Bishop of Winchester apparently officiated, and gave the wedding feast at his palace near the church 9- 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 210. The last instalment of the £14,000 advanced by the Bishop in May, 1421, was paid up at this time; Receipt Roll, Easter 9 Henry V. 2 Rot. Pari. 202-206. 3 Id. 247, 248, q. v. for Henry V's order for restitution. * John, afterwards created Earl of Shrewsbury. 6 Rot. Pari. 254. " London, Rot. Scot. ii. 241-243 ; Foed. x. 302-308. The English bound themselves to restore the hostages and cancel the bonds as soon as the £40,000 were paid. No other claim of any sort was advanced ; contra E. Hall, 119. 7 Proceedings, iii. 131. A week later ^24 more were given to James for a piece of cloth of gold; Id. 133. 8 Foed. x. 322 ; Rot. Scot. 246. In the latter the document, which speaksof the marriage as having been solemnized, is dated 10th February ; but a memorandum in Foedera states that the warrant to seal the deed was only issued on the 13th February. That day was a Sunday, and Sunday was a great day for marriages. 9 Chron. London, 112 ; R. Fabian, 593; Pauli cites Sloane MS. 1776, f. 83, i. e. Chron. Giles. nage, LIBERATION OF JAMES I. 345 In the course of March the royal pair were taken to ch. xxiii. Durham ; and on the 28th of the month the great affair was brought to a satisfactory conclusion. Seven and twenty hostages of rank were presented and verified ; the stipulated bonds were sealed ; and a general truce for seven years from the ist of May executed. In their in structions to the English agents the Privy Council ad mitted that an actual peace was more than they could hope for. With respect to the Scots serving in France, James was allowed to enter a protest that as they were beyond his control he must not be held responsible for their acts till after their return to Scotland, from which time he undertook to restrain them from all infractions of the truce 7 " About the begynnyng of Averill " James found himself and final once more a free man on his native soil. On the 5th April he ratified the treaty at Melrose2. On the 21st May he was crowned at Scone 3. In France Charles' supporters kept springing up here and there, like puppets in a show, only to be struck down again by the prompt arm of the Regent. In October, 1423, Ham on the Somme was taken by the Course of French, and promptly retaken by John of Luxemburg. Franc" Beaumont on the Oise underwent the same vicissitudes 4. Failure of A Burgundian partizan added to the previous successes of aj^ ts his friends in the South by recovering the important position of La Charite on the Loire 5. The year closed with the surprise of Compiegne by the French. The Burgundian L'Isle-Adam having failed to 1 Foed. x. 324-335; Proceedings, 139-142. The English agents were the Bishops of London and Durham, the Earls of Northumberland and West morland, Sir Richard Neville, Warden of the West March, Sec. 2 Proceedings, iv. 21; 5th April "anno regni XIX", wrongly rendered as 1425, Foed. 342; see Devon Issues, 388. 3 Scotichron. ii. 474 ; Liber Pluscard. 370 ; Extracta e Cronicis, 226. Henry Wardlaw, Bishop of St. Andrews, hallowed James I ; Murdach, Duke of Albany, installed him, in right of the earldom of Fife. 4 J. Wavrin, ii. 86; E. Monstrelet, 551. Wavrin places Beaumont on the Loire, but this must be a mistake ; Monstrelet corrects him. 5 J. Wavrin, 87; E. Monstrelet, 552. 346 HENRY VI. CH. xxiii. 1423-1424. General but moderatesuccess ofthe English. Reinforce ments. The Earl of Douglas. recover it, the Regent ordered a fuller muster at Mont- didier early in 1424. After three weeks' siege the French signed articles by which the place was yielded in February or March. On the 3rd March Crotoy opened its gates ; and about the same time the equally lengthy siege of Montaiguillon was brought to an end. The place was dismantled, a course the English were adopting with regard to all the smaller fortresses that fell into their hands 7 The campaign continued to be altogether favourable to the English, France having failed to develope any leader of capacity. On the 1 6th April the French seized Gaillon on the Seine, but prompt measures for its recovery were taken by the Regent2; while the Earl of Salisbury, John of Luxemburg, and Sir Thomas Rempston operated with great success in the East of France. Between April and July Oisy (Nord), Wiege (Aisne), La Fere (Aisne), Sezanne (Marne), and Nangis (Seine-et-Marne) were taken, and Guise and Nesle beleagured. Ivry-la-Chaussee 3, won by the English in 141 9, had been retaken by a Gascon knight4. Besieged by the Earl of Suffolk since the 15th June, the Captain signed articles on the 5th July, by which he agreed to surrender on the 15th August if not previously relieved. On the 8th July Bedford recovered Gaillon 5. But these successes only show how much had still to be done, even in the chief seats of the English dominion. Since the beginning of the year both parties had been reinforced. The Earl of Douglas had gone over to replace his son, a discreditable act on his part, as he had specially promised to join Henry V if King James were released. 1 J. Wavrin, ii. 77, 88-90 ; Bourgeois, 192, 193 and notes; Cousinot, Gestes, 194, 195. "LTsle-Adam" was by name Jean de Villiers, lord of that place. The last male of his House, a distinguished writer, died recently (189I). 2 Cochon, Chronique Normande, p. 449 (Vallet de V., printed with the Gestes of Cousinot). 3 Eure. The place is now known as Ivry-la-Bataille. 4 Cousinot, Gestes, 196. 5 J. Wavrin, 92-99; E. Monstrelet, 553-556; Bourgeois, 193, 194 and note ; Cochon, 449 ; J. Chartier, Chronique Charles VII, i. 38 (ed. Vallet de V). THE WAR IN FRANCE. 347 Charles VII received him with open arms, and created him ch. xxm. Duke of Touraine1. A band of mercenaries, under the I4H command of three leading condottieri2 , had also been received from Milan. On the other hand, the Lords Poynings and Willoughby had brought over 1560 men and 3500 horses from England in June 3- Bedford having heard perhaps that the French might Operations be tempted to risk an engagement to save Ivry, mustered roun vry' his forces at Vernon in July4. At Evreux he was joined by LTsle-Adam and other Burgundians, who had been summoned from the siege of Nesle 5. Bedford presented himself at the gates of Ivry on the 15th August. No French appeared, the garrison marched out, and he took possession. While the evacuation was going on an alarm of a French attack was raised in the English camp. Too late to save Ivry, they had just succeeded in making them selves masters of Verneuil by a ruse 6. Bedford fell back on Evreux, Salisbury and Suffolk being sent round to Breteuil to watch the enemy 7 Next morning Suffolk sent word that the French were standing their ground ; whereupon the Regent moved to 1 On the 24th April Charles VII took the Earls of Douglas and Buchan into his service with 2500 lances and 4000 archers. These numbers, though taken from a MS. account (de Beaucourt, ii. 15), must be exaggerations. They landed, apparently in March, at Rochelle ; Cousinot, Pucelle, 221 ; and Forbes Leith, Scots in France, 26; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 15-20. 2 Valperga,Rusca, and Cacchiere. SeeMartin,France,vi.99; Sismondi, France, xiii. 33. 3 Issue Roll, Easter 2 Henry VI; Proceedings, iii. 135, 138; J. Wavrin, ii. 94. The force consisted of 420 lances and 11 40 archers ; they sailed the first week in June. 4 Stevenson, Letters, ii. 24. 5 We are told that the Regent wore a ' coat-of-arms ' of blue velvet, display ing a large red cross upon a white cross, as a symbol of the double sovereignty. The red cross stood for England and the white cross for France ; J. Wavrin, ii. 101. Bedford also displayed five banners, viz. those of France, of St. George, of St. Edward, of France and England, quarterly, and his own banner. 6 They pretended to have defeated Bedford, passing off Scotsmen as English prisoners; Bourgeois, 195, 196. 7 J. Wavrin, ii. 100-106; Cousinot, Gestes, 196; Id. Pucelle, 222; G. Bouvier, 371 ; E. Monstrelet, 557 ; Bourgeois, sup. Wavrin, though present, goes wrong at first in the dates, but corrects himself later. 348 HENRY VI. ch. xxm. Damville, and, concentrating his forces, on the morning of. the 17th August advanced to Verneuil. When he was Battle of ' past the woods ' 1 the French were discovered drawn up Verneuil, jn front 0f the town. Of their numbers we can give no UgU ' estimate, except that they are said to have had at least half as many men again as the English, who, according to our ideas, may have had 2000 or 3000 men 2. The French were commanded by the Duke of Alencon, the Counts of Aumale, Ventadour, and Tonnerre, the Viscount of Nar bonne, Marshal de La Fayette, the Constable Buchan, and the Earl of Douglas, now Duke of Touraine. It would seem that the older French warriors, with Aumale and Narbonne, had not forgotten the sage maxim of Charles V, which forbad pitched battles with the English. But the younger men, and of course the Scots, insisted on fighting3. Bedford made his arrangements for the action with coolness and judgment. The archers, with the exception of those told off for the baggage-guard, were posted on the wings, with their stakes, ready for cavalry. The dis mounted men-at-arms were placed in the centre ; the horses, with the few provision and artillery waggons, were " lagered " in the rear, under the charge of the ' varlets and pages '. The horses were packed as close as they could stand, three and four deep, and then securely haltered to gether heads and tails, so that not a beast could move4. A substantial guard of archers was posted at each end of this living barricade, which proved impenetrable to cavalry. The French, following the English example, dismounted their men-at-arms ; all but a few Gascons and Italians, 1 " Tant . . . quil eut passe les bois '' ; Wavrin. 2 The numbers given by the chroniclers are of course greatly in excess of these. Wavrin, the Bourgeois, and Cousinot give the French 18,000 to 20,000 men. The Bourgeois gives the English 10,000. The Regent had not the whole of the recent reinforcement with him ; he had sent L'Isle-Adam back from Ivry to Nesle ; and on the night before the battle a body of Normands deserted; Wavrin, 107, 120; G. Bouvier. 3 Cousinot, Pucelle, 223. 4 " Chevaulz et charroy . . . acouplez ensamble par les hatreauz et par les queues ", &c. ; Wavrin. " En maniere de haye " ; Le Fevre. " Les testes devers le cul, iii. ou iiii. d'espes " ; and again, " la haye des chevaulz " ; Bourgeois. BATTLE OF VERNEUIL. 349 who were told off for an attack on the English baggage, ch. xxiii. The dismounted men-at-arms were massed in one big 777 battalion, with the archers on the wings 7 When all was ready the two lines moved simultaneously forward. The English advanced with a steady measured step ; but the French blamed the Scottish leaders and the Viscount of Narbonne for having urged their men forward at such a pace that they were out of breath before they reached the English. With trumpet-blasts and yells of " St. George " ! " St. Denis " ! the two iron lines crashed together. When the spears could no longer be used, they hammered at each other with swords and axes 2, while the archers poured volleys on each other at close quarters. 'At Azincourt were many more princes and people . . . Cravant was a very pretty affair . . . but the assembly of Verneuil was the most dreadful and the best fought of the three'3. The brunt of the attack fell on the Earl of Salisbury ; but for his ' sense and valour ' 4 it might have fared ill with the English. Bedford, who is described as a tall man and large of limb 5, did great execution with a poleaxe. For a time he was hard pressed by the Earl of Douglas ; but Bedford stood and Douglas fell. For three-quarters of an hour the struggle lasted, long enough for one unbroken round of such work. The French stuck to their business ; the English were Severity beginning to feel the weakness of their numbers, when °tr' gle the archers of the baggage-guard, having disposed of the Gascon and Milanese cavalry on the right and left, fell 1 "Le sourplus tout de pie se rengerent ... en une seulle compaignie" ; Wavrin. The Liber Pluscardensis, written from Scottish reports, divides both armies into three successive lines, but apparently there was but one line, divided into three commands. 2 " Commencerent a frapper et mallier l'un sur l'autre de toutes manieres d'armeures ", &c. ; Bourgeois. See also Wavrin, " moult furieusement aborde- rent ensamble, main a main ", Sec. 3 " Une tres belle besogne . . . plus a redoubter et la mieulz combatue ", Sec. ; Wavrin. He was present at all three. 4 " Sens et grande valliance " ; Wavrin. 5 " Grant de corpz et gros de membrez '' ; Wavrin. 350 HENRY VI. ch. xxm. ' fresh and new' x on the flanks of the French. Gathering ^7 themselves together for a last effort, the English broke the line of the enemy at several points, and all was over. Defeat The French fled, ' some to the fields, some to the town '. French and The chief slaughter took place in the moat, the garrison Scots. being afraid to open the gates to their fugitive countrymen. Aumale, Ventadour, Tonnerre, Narbonne, Douglas, with James his younger son, and Buchan his son-in-law, were among the slain ; the Duke of Alencon and Marshal La Fayette among the prisoners 2. The body of the Viscount of Narbonne was gibbeted by order of the Regent, for his complicity in the murder of Jean-sans-Peur3. Of Archibald, fourth Earl of Douglas, we cannot say as the Psalmist says of the captain of the hosts of Israel, "Died Abner as a fool dieth?" Archibald II lived and died the true head of a fighting clan. Bereft of an eye at Homildon, again mutilated at Shrewsbury, he found a warrior's death on the field of Verneuil. We may add that with this defeat the substantial co operation of the Scots in the Hundred Years' War came practically to an end. Without accepting the estimates, which give from 4000 to 9000 men for the French loss, and 1600 men for the English loss, we may believe that the slaughter was great, and that Bedford, who had not a man to spare, felt his deeply 4- 1 "Ainsi fres et nonveaulz quilz estoient"; Wavrin. The Milanese, being unable to break the hedge of living horseflesh, dispersed to plunder. 2 See J. Wavrin, ii. 1 07-11 8, abridged by Monstrelet and Le Fevre; also Bourgeois, 196-199 ; G. Cousinot, Gestes, 197 ; Id. Pucelle, 223 ; G. Bouvier, 371 ; Scotichron. ii. 463, 464; Pluscard. 360, 361. 3 J. Wavrin, sup.; E. Monstrelet; Chron. London, 112. We also seem to find the name of another of the Dauphin's Ten among the dead, viz. Robert de Laire, but the fact is not noticed by the writers. 4 See the authorities above cited, and de Beaucourt, ii. 16. Bedford, in a letter to John of Luxemburg, written two days after the battle, gives the French loss as 7262 men; lb. Wavrin gives the names of fifty-seven French gentlemen of rank killed. CHAPTER XXIV. Henry VI (continued). The War. — Quarrel between Gloucester and the Duke of Burgundy. — Invasion of Hainault. — Parliament at Westminster. On the day after the battle Verneuil again changed ch. xxiv. hands. Bedford returned to Rouen to punish the Norman 777 deserters ; while John of Luxemburg took vigorous measures against a French party that was beginning to raise its head in Picardy 7 Flushed with success, the allies pressed forwards in all Successes directions. °fnJsh Suffolk was sent to operate in the direction of Chartres and Bur- , -n „ gundians and Beance 7 fn the The Duke of Burgundy, moving southwards, took Tour- South, nus and Bussi£res, near Macon3. On the 1 2th September operations by sea and land West, were undertaken against Mont St. Michel, while Tanis in that neighbourhood was taken not long after 4. In the East, on the i8th September the Captain of and East. Guise pledged himself to surrender by the ist March, 1425. A few days later the celebrated La Hire (Etienne de Vignoles) signed a similar engagement with reference to Vitry-en-Perthois 5 ; Nesle and La Fere 6 had already 1 Wavrin, ii. 119-121 ; E. Monstrelet, 559 ; de Beaucourt, ii. 16. 2 1 7th-20th September ; de Beaucourt. 3 September-October; G. Cousinot, Gestes, 192 and note; Barante, v. 180; Plancher, iv. 92. 1 G. Cousinot, Pucelle, 219, 226; and especially de Beaucourt, ii. 20. The siege of Mont St. Michel again proved futile. 5 E. Monstrelet, 560-562 ; J. Wavrin, 123-125. 6 Guise and La Fere are in the department of the Aisne ; Vitiy is in the Marne, and Nesle in the Somme. 35* HENRY VI. ch. xxiv. succumbed. Plans were laid for the thorough reduction of Maine. Sir John Fastolf was ordered up from Nor- 1424. j * Advance in mandy, and proved his worth by capturing Sille-le- Maine. Guillaume (ist October). The Earl of Suffolk, operating from the Chartrain, captured Senonches1 (17th October) and Nogent-le-Rotrou. By the 8th December an English garrison was established at Montfort, within thirteen miles of Le Mans 2- 'The King The prospects of ' the King of Bourges', as Charles VII andnhe63' was styled in contradistinction to ' the Regent of Paris ', Regent of were gloomy indeed. All his best captains, all his trusted auxiliaries, were gone. The demoralised garrisons, driven out of the North by the English, retired behind the Loire td add to the confusion of the South 3. But just when the military situation was at its darkest the political horizon began to clear. The Gloucester and Jacqueline were not at all disposed to between abandon her inheritance without a struggle. Gloucester jn March (1424)4 Bedford and Burgundy had a meeting and Bur- . . , ..,-,.,, gundy. at Amiens with agents commissioned by the rival hus- Bedford's bands ; but nothing was settled. It would seem, however, that Bedford agreed that the marriage question ought to be settled by ' the true pope ', Martin V; and an appointment for a further conference was made for Trinity Sunday ( 1 8th June)5. This meeting was duly held, and the Regent, to keep his ally in good humour, ceded to him the counties of Auxerre and Macon, the lordship of Bar-sur-Seine, and 1 Eure et Loire, near Dreux. 2 See de Beaucourt, ii. 20, and the detailed authorities there cited; cf. Stevenson, Letters, ii. 33, 39, 44. 3 Martin, France, vi. 102; Sismondi, France, xiii. 31, "Sacquemains plutot que soldats ". 1 For the date see the documents cited Cosneau, de Richemont, 77. 6 For the meeting at Amiens see J. Wavrin, ii. 89 ; E. Monstrelet, 552 ; Stevenson, ii. 401. For the reference to Martin, Pauli cites a report from English envoys at Rome ; cf. Martin, France, 104 ; Plancher, Bourgogne, iv. 79. The letters addressed to the Pope on Humphrey's behalf, in the names of Bed ford and the people of Brabant (Stevenson, ii. 388-392), do not appear to have been ever executed. efforts. GLOUCESTER IN HAINAULT. 353 the towns and territories of Montdidier, Roye, and Pe- ch. xxiv. ronne, with permission to conquer the Free City of Tournai \ But Gloucester was determined to try the chances of war, though the Council in England were warned that any invasion of Hainault would be regarded by the Duke of Burgundy as equivalent to war against himself 2- Undeterred by this warning, Gloucester and Jacqueline Gloucester passed over to Calais on the 16th October with the van of channel, an army 3. The Duke of Burgundy, who, having got a good hold of the Maconnais, had just signed a truce for seven months with France4, hurried up to Paris to renew his remon strances5. Amid tournaments and social festivities, intended by the Regent to keep up the entente cordiale 6, time was found for conferences in which terms were drawn up for the acceptance of the two rivals. Brabant accepted, but Glou cester refused ; and, his whole army having now joined him, and in- marched without further ceremony through Artois into Hainault. Hainault 7 He was received with pretty general sub mission, only Valenciennes apparently holding out against him 8. But not content with this, Gloucester, in his reckless impolicy, sent the Earl Marshal to invade and harry 1 21st June ; Plancher, Bourgogne, iv. 87, and Preuves. Martin, France, iv. 104. The cessions were nominally made in satisfaction of pecuniary claims on France held by the Duke. 2 Stevenson, ii. 386. 3 Stevenson, sup. 397-399. J. Stow gives the number as "twelve hundred fighting men ", a very possible estimate ; p. 366. For correspondence between the Pope and Humphrey at this time, Martin wanting the archdeaconry of Canterbury for his nephew Prosper, see Stevenson, i. 279-284. 4 Chambery, 28th September ; Plancher, iv. 94, and Preuves. 5 Bedford came to Paris from Rouen 8th Seplember ; Bourgeois. Burgundy entered Paris on the 20th October ; he had not yet heard of Humphrey's landing, but he must have known of his preparations. 6 See J. Wavrin, ii. 130-132 ; Bourgeois, 201 and notes. " The Duke of Bed ford, that had never justed before, justed then " ; J. Stow, 365. 7 18th November?; J. Wavrin, ii. 127-129; J. Le Fevre, ii. 89, and the letter to the Bishop of Winchester ; Stevenson, sup. 399, also Id. i. lxxxii. 8 J. Le Fevre, 91 ; Wavrin and Monstrelet name Hal, but Hal is in Brabant. On the 4th December the Estates of Hainault received the Duke and Duchess at Mons; on the 5th Gloucester took the oath as Count; de Beaucourt, ii. 18. * A a 354 HENRY VI. ch. xxiv. Brabant ; the devastations extended up to the very walls of Brussels, exasperating the people to the last degree 1. About the time that Gloucester began his march from Guisnes, the Duke of Burgundy left Paris and went to Macon, where he saw envoys from the Court of France. No actual reconciliation was effected, as the Duke insisted on the dismissal of Tanguy and Louvet, the old difficulty; but he advised Arthur of Brittany, otherwise the Count of Richemont, to accept the post of Constable of France, vacant by the death of Buchan ; and he finally engaged his sister Agnes to Charles of Bourbon, son of the captive Duke 2. As soon as he heard of the entry of Gloucester into Hainault, he gave orders for a muster in Flanders and Artois for the support of his cousin of Brabant 3. One of these circulars having fallen into Gloucester's hands, an angry controversy ensued. Humphrey wrote taxing Philip with having made state ments that were ' not true ' 4. In other respects the letter was moderate, but Gloucester insisted that he was in the right, and that Burgundy ought to support him rather than Brabant 5. Burgundy Philip took up the imputation on his honour very Gloucester, warmly, requiring Humphrey to withdraw the imputation or else meet him in single combat, with the Emperor as arbiter. Nay more, he added, such was his confidence in the integrity of the Duke of Bedford, that in order to expedite matters he would accept of him as arbiter. On the general merits ofthe case, he pointed to Humphrey's ' arrogant refusal ' 6 to abide by the articles approved by his own brother ; to his refusal to await the decision of 1 See the private report to the Bishop of Winchester of the 8th January, 1425 ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 409. 2 J. Wavrin, ii. 131-133; J. Le Fevre, ii. 90; Barante, v. 182-186. The marriage of Agnes and Charles was celebrated 17th September at Autun ; Monstrelet ; Wavrin. 3 30th December; J. Wavrin, 136-140 ; J. Le Fevre, 92-96, Sec. 4 " Contre verite", 12th January, 1425. 5 J. Wavrin, 139 ; E. Monstrelet, 565 ; J. Le Fevre, 96. 6 " Refus arrogant ". GLOUCESTER AND THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY. 355 his own divorce suit at Rome ; and to his unlicensed ch. xxiv. march through the borders of Artois 7 ~~ Humphrey promptly replied, refusing to withdraw the The offensive expression, accepting the challenge, taking Bed- challenge ford as judge, and naming St. George's day (23rd April) for the meeting 2. The breach was thus complete. Philip's advisers were dismayed at the suddenness of the catastrophe, and the reversal of policy that it foreshadowed. But the young Duke refused to temporise ; he accepted Gloucester's terms, and passed into Flanders to prepare for the ' Day '. To leave Gloucester free for his preparations he ordered a suspension of hostilities, and sent a safe-conduct for Hum phrey's journey to England 3. Gloucester accepted the offer. He had not distinguished End of himself in the campaign. The Brabanters and Bur- cester's gundians had entered Hainault, and, after a short siege, campaign. taken Braine-le-Comte. Humphrey was at Soignies, not three miles off, but he never ventured to strike a blow 4. Falling back from Soignies to Mons, he was preparing to return to England with all his following, when a sug gestion was made by the Hainaulters that Jacqueline might be left among her own people ; and the proposal was warmly supported by her mother, the dowager Countess of Holland, a devoted Burgundian, who had in fact originally married her daughter to the Duke of Brabant. Gloucester was willing to agree, if the Hain aulters would pledge themselves to be faithful to their Countess. 1 " Maistrieusement sans ma licence ", &c, 13th March; J. Wavrin, 145-152 ; E. Monstrelet, 566 ; J. Le Fevre, 99. 2 J. Wavrin, 153-157; E. Monstrelet, 567; J.Le F^vre, 103. The two latter give the letter as dated Soignies, '16th March'; the former as '26th March '. For Bedford's efforts to heal the dissension see Stevenson, i. Ixxxii. 3 J. Wavrin, 158-163, 169, 170; J. Le Fevre, 105. For the safe-conduct Pauli cites MS. Cott. Vitellius, E, x. f. 53". 4 April; J. Wavrin, 164-174; J. Le Fevre, 93, 94. The Brabanters were led by the Count of St. Pol, brother of their Duke ; the Burgundians by John of Luxemburg and LTsle-Adam. The Brabanters were furious with the English, and wanted to give them no quarter. A a 2 356 HENRY VI. ch. xxiv. Jacqueline could not refuse, and so she was left at Mons, 7^7 a prey to dismal forebodings ; while Humphrey returned Jacqueline to England with the mistress of his affections, Eleanor £ftat. Cobham1, whom he had taken out as companion to his Duchess 2. Poor Jacqueline's misgivings were fully realised ; she had seen the last of the quasi-husband to whom she had given her heart. No sooner were the English gone than the Brabanters took up arms again. The Hainaulters, who saw that the war would be their ruin 3, turned against the English. Mons was blockaded, and negotiations were opened with the Duke of Burgundy, who dictated his terms. These were that Hainault should be united to Brabant, and that Jacqueline should be placed in his (Burgundy's) hands pending the decision of the divorce suit at Rome. Jacqueline met the citizens of Mons in their Town Hall, and asked them if they expected her to submit to such terms. They answered, sullenly, that if she did not she would be given up to the Duke of Brabant. is given up On the 13th June the Prince of Orange conducted her a Duke of state prisoner to Ghent 4. Burgundy. Gloucester returned to England in time for a Session of Parliament 5. From the Council, we are told, he received a very cool reception. The Bishop of Winchester, " it may be safely assumed, was unsparing in his strictures"6. Nothing of this, however, appears either in the Minutes 1 Daughter of Reginald Cobham of Sterborough, Kent, commonly called Lord Cobham, because his father and grandfather had been summoned to the House of Lords, though he himself never was ; E. Hall, 129; H. Nicolas, Historic Peerage ; G. E. C, &c. 2 J. Wavrin, ii. 175 ; J. Le Fevre, ii. 106 ; E. Monstrelet, 571. Gloucester returned to London on the 7th April ; Issue Roll, Michaelmas 11 Henry VI; 27th February. 3 J. Wavrin, 169. 4 See J. Wavrin, 179-184 ; J. Le Fevre, 107, 108 ; and especially the touch ing appeal of Jacqueline to Gloucester of the 6th June ; E. Monstrelet, 572. The letter was intercepted. 5 He was named a Trier of Petitions ; Rot. Pari. ; and both he and the Earl Marshal received writs ; Lords' Report, Append, iv. 861 ; Devon Issues, 392. 6 J. Wavrin, 188; E. Monstrelet, 575 ; J. Le Fevre, 106; Stubbs, iii. 101. PARLIAMENT. 35*7 of the Privy Council or on the records of Parliament, ch. xxiv. though a grave crisis was impending. The Session was opened at Westminster on the 30th Parliament April, not by Gloucester, but by the young King in at West- person, who was brought from his nursery for the purpose. The usual address was delivered by the Bishop of Win chester, who had taken the Great Seal from the Bishop of Durham on the 16th July, 1424, and had held the reins of government in Gloucester's absence 7 The Chancellor could still appeal to continued successes in France as proof that the hand of the Almighty was extended over the infant King2. To extricate the country from the difficulties in which Gloucester had involved it, power was given to the Queens dowager of England and France, and to the Duke of Bedford, to take the " debate " between Humphrey and Burgundy " into the Kyng's hand " 3 ; an unnecessary step, as the duel had already been forbidden by the Pope4. Directions were given at the same time for negotiating with the Duke of Burgundy as to the release of " my Ladies' persone of Gloucestre " 5. The King's " bele oncle " had also sufficient influence Humphrey. with the Commons to obtain a petition recommending an advance to him of 20,000 marks ; and this in the face of an official statement that the actual requirements of the Government could not be met without loans to the amount of £20,000 before Christmas 6 The recorded proceedings of the Parliament exhibit 1 Foed. x. 340. This arrangement was probably the result " of a compromise with Gloucester before he started on his expedition"; Stubbs, iii. 100; Pro ceedings, iii. 165. 2 Rot. Pari. iv. 261. 3 Rot. Pari. 277. 4 29th April 1425 ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 412. The inhibition, however, would not have reached London yet ; it was not formally presented to the Regent in France till the 24th September. On the 1 3th February Martin had written to the Duke of Brabant to assure him that the report circulated by Gloucester, that his (Brabant's) marriage had been annulled, was false; E. Monstrelet, 571. 5 Rot. Pari. 277. 6 Id. 277, 289. The advance to Gloucester was to be spread over four years. 358 HENRY VI. ch. xxiv. something of an oligarchical character, as might be ex- J~ pected under the circumstances. The greater part of a lengthy Session, extending to the 14th July, was devoted to the private affairs of 'great men', their interests being consulted rather than those of the The Crown or nation \ The great affair, apparently, was the Warwick settlement of the question of precedence between the Earl and the 0f Warwick, and the Earl Marshal, John Mowbray. The Marshal, question had already agitated two reigns. Warwick claimed by antiquity of title and clear precedent ; Mowbray relied on his " peedigree ", showing descent on his mother's side from Edward I, and on his father's side from Henry III. The leanings of the Council, being evidently in favour of Royal blood, the difficulty was ultimately solved by re viving in Mowbray's favour the Dukedom of Norfolk, which had lain dormant since his father's death in 1399 2. The Earl Again, arrangements were made for ransoming the Earl ingdon. of Huntingdon, partly by mortgaging Crown rents, partly by releasing Crown prisoners ; but, as the Crown would still be in the Earl's debt for wages of war, this transaction The Scrope could not be complained of3. The question ofthe title to the Masham estates was also settled, Lord Scrope being apparently allowed to recover the entailed estates, while the fee simple estates forfeited by his brother Henry in 1415 were confirmed to the Crown or its grantees 4. Money The wool duties, both from natives and foreigners, and PT3.nts Tonnage and Poundage from foreigners, were renewed in anticipation for three years from the 13th November, 1426, at existing rates, and subject to existing regulations as to credit and drawback 5- Tonnage and Poundage were also granted on goods shipped by natives, for the first 1 E. g. in the Council the Temporalities of the See of York, vacant through the death of Henry Bowet, were farmed to the Lords Cromwell and Scrope and Sir Walter Beauchamp for 2000 m. (£1333 6s. 8d.) a year; Proceedings, iii. 166. 2 Rot. Pari. iv. 262-275. 3 Id. 283-285. 4 Id. 287, 288. 5 On the question of the evidence on which the loss of wool at sea for the purposes of drawback should be established, the merchants and the Council were not at all at one ; Rot. Pari. 289. THE HOUSE OF MORTIMER. 359 time in the reign, and for the limited period to run from ch. xxiv. the 1st August, 1425, to the nth November, 1426, only1. ^T Of the Statute passed in the Session the most interest- Statute. ing provisions were those prohibiting the exportation of live sheep to Flanders, and forbidding the annual " Chapi ters and Assemblies " of the masons. These trade con federacies, we are told, had been very successful in their resistance to the Statutes of Labourers 2- The Commons complained of the frequent suppression of chapels of ease. Non-residence on the part of "parsons and vicars " was an old subject of complaint 3- Among the private petitioners who addressed them selves to this Parliament was Anne, Countess of March. She prayed for the assignment of the dower to which she was entitled as the widow of Earl Edmund II, who had died Death of without issue in January4. The wardship of the estates March. had been given to Gloucester 5 ; and the Crown officials, by neglecting to issue the writs for the necessary in quisitions as to the late Earl's death, were keeping his widow out of her rights. But for this petition the death of the last male of the House of Mortimer would have passed unnoticed. In fact his death was rather a loss than a gain to the reigning dynasty. Of his acquiescence in the existing state of things there could be no doubt. By his death all his claims and all the sentiment that Richard, floated round his name were transferred to his sister's son, y°rl£ ° Richard, the young Duke of York. 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 275, 276. The native merchants also obtained the re-enact ment of the ordinances requiring foreign merchants to place themselves " under hoost " — i. e. under the roof of a responsible host or landlord — before making any sale of their goods, and binding them to sell off all their goods within forty days. The Convocation of Canterbury granted a half Tenth in July ; Wilkins, Cone. iii. 438 ; Stubbs ; Proceedings, iii. 1 79. 2 Statute 3 Henry VI, cc. 1, 2 ; Rot. Pari. 292. 3 Rot. Pari. 290. * He died in Ireland on the 19th January, 1425 ; Inqnis. Post Mort. 3 Henry VI. His widow not long after married the Earl of Huntingdon (John Holland II). See Tables. 5 Proceedings, iii. 169. CHAPTER XXV. Henry VI (continued). Quarrel between Gloucester and the Chancellor, the Bishop of Winchester. — The War. — Reduction of Maine. — Treaty of Saumur. — Visit of the Duke of Bedford to England.— Parliament at Leicester. — Knighting of the King. — The Bishop of Winchester a Cardinal. chap. xxv. The Bishop of Winchester was assuredly not one of those 1425 who favoured the proposed advance to Gloucester. Gloucester In the first place he had pecuniary claims of his own to and the iirp*e Bishop of s " Win- The sums advanced by him to Henry V had been paid Chester. ^ Qr nearjy SOj as already mentioned. But he had been obliged to make advances to Henry VI, and £11,032 16s. id. were due to him on this new account ; and for that sum he now took a sweeping charge on all the Crown revenues \ But Gloucester's return opened up a broader field of con troversy between him and his uncle, who had ruled in his Gloucester absence. It would seem that Gloucester had been cultiva- Londoners. ^nS a party among the citizens of London : " stealing their hearts" with fair words and pleasant promises2. It is probable that the kind exemption of native merchants from Tonnage and Poundage was his doing, as he was at all times a strenuous advocate of " British interests ". At any rate his uncle charged him with having abetted a rising of 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 277-280. £1000 had been advanced by him on the 13th December, 1424, £4000 apparently on the 22nd March, 1425, and £39°° on the 21st June, 1425 ; Issue and Receipt Rolls, Michaelmas and Easter, 3 Henry VI. 2 So the statement of the Bishop of Winchester ; E. Hall, 134; cf. Chron. Giles, p. 7. GLOUCESTER AND WINCHESTER. 361 London workmen against wage-regulations framed in chap. xxv. pursuance of the Statutes of Labourers. During Glou- 777T cester's absence disorderly symptoms had broken out in Disturb- London : seditious handbills had been circulated, and at- ™e^™ tacks upon foreigners threatened. The Council resolved to place a substantial garrison in the Tower under the charge of Richard Wodeville or Wydeville, of Grafton, Northants, a trusted follower of the Duke of Bedford, who happened to be in London J The choice of such a commander clears the Council of all suspicion of improper motives. On his return Gloucester found, to his great annoyance, that he was not to be admitted to the Tower, Wydeville having been advised by the Chancellor that he ought not to admit any one "stronger than himself", without express orders from the -Council. Humphrey found in this a Gloucester pretext for calling the citizens to arms, " in defens of the citizens6 citee ageyn the bysshop of Wychestre ". Rumours were to arms 1., ., ¦ , „. / • ¦ r ¦ ¦ against the circulated ascribing to the Bishop an intention of seizing Bishop. the young King at Eltham, in order to rule in his name, that being in fact the step contemplated by Humphrey himself. The signal for action was given on the 29th October, the " Lord Mayor's Day", while the new Mayor was holding his inaugural banquet. The city was under arms all night. Next morning Gloucester, calling the civil authorities and the Inns of Court to follow him, took his way towards London Bridge, to attack the Bishop in his Palace. But Henry Beaufort was equal to the occasion. He had filled Vigorous Southwark with Lancashire and Cheshire archers 2, Border 0f t^e men, who might be trusted to act. The bridge and the Bishop. river bank were held by his men in strength3, not one of Gloucester's followers could cross. Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Duke of Coimbra, a 1 26th February ; Proceedings, iii. 167, and the Bishop's statement below. 2 Chron. London, 114. 3 They " let drawe the chein of the stulpes there " ; R. Arnold ; E. Hall. The Stulpes (i. e. Posts) at the Southwark end of London Bridge are mentioned in Stow's Survey, but no explanation is given : the context suggests some sort of drawbridge, but the drawbridge was in the middle of London Bridge. 362 HENRY VI. chap.xxv. Portuguese cousin of the Royal family, who happened to 7777 be in London 1, exerted themselves to mediate. Through 1425. ' o their efforts a collision was averted, and seeming peace re- Bedford stored 2. But the Bishop, who fully realised the gravity of England ^e situation, lost not a day in writing for Bedford to come over, warning him that if he tarried " a felde " (i. e. field, pitched battle) might be the consequence. Of Humphrey he added, " such a brother you have here, God make hym a good man " 3. Bedford Bedford could not hesitate to respond to such an Duke of appeal. He had been exerting himself, not without suc- Burgundy. cesS) t0 heaj ^jjg mischief done by Humphrey in other quarters. To summarise these. At the end of June he had met the Duke of Burgundy at Doullens 4, and had spent a festive week with him at his castle of Hesdin. The Count of St. Pol was one of the guests ; by meeting him in this friendly manner Bedford proclaimed his acquiescence in the existing state of things in Hainault 5. Burgundy was still keen for the duel, for which he was making elaborate preparations, even to undergoing a per sonal course of athletic training 6. But the Regent was firm in his opposition ; and, when the Papal Bull arrived, he held a Court of Chivalry in Paris, 1 Proceedings, iii. 178, 180. He was the second son of John I of Portugal, by Philippa, eldest daughter of John of Gaunt. 2 See the subsequent statement ofthe Bishop ; R. Arnold, 288 ; E. Hall, 131, a plain unvarnished tale; cf. Id. 130; R. Fabian, 195; Chron. Davies, 53; Chron. London, sup. ; W. Gregory, 159 ; J. Stow, 376. Humphrey's popularity in London is reflected in the pages of the London chroniclers, who take his part, representing his uncle as the aggressor. 3 31st October; R. Fabian, 596 ; E.Hall, 130. The Bishop's prompt appeal to the Regent is another point in his favour. Gloucester had refused to formu late his complaints against his uncle, when asked to do so by envoys from his brother. 4 Dept. Somme. " Wavrin, ii. 185, 186; Monstrelet. 6 " Se exercita en toute dilligence corporele de sa personne en toutes manieres en tel cas apartenans, tant pour usitation et force de corps comme pour soy mettre en allaine " (i. e. haleine, breath) ; J. Wavrin ; " tant en abstinence de sa bouche ", Sec. ; E. Monstrelet, 576. The suit of armour specially forged for the occasion was preserved for years at Lille ; Stevenson. MAINE REDUCED. 363 and declared that both parties had acted as men of honour, chap. xxv. and that no meeting need take place 7 777. The situation in France was not such as to forbid the Regent's temporary absence. Allies were falling off, and important political changes were in progress ; but the current of military success was still unbroken. The re- Reduction duction of Maine had been accomplished. In the summer Salisbury, having reduced Champagne, marched round the South of Paris, and took Etampes and Rambouillet 2. On the 1 2th July he was at Beaumont-le-Vicomte (Sarthe) ; on the 2nd August Le Mans signed a capitulation ; on the 10th the Earl took possession. St. Suzanne and Mayenne were then successively bombarded and reduced. A series of minor successes completed the work. It is only fair to add that La Ferte Bernard kept Salisbury at bay for four months 3. On the other hand the Duke of Burgundy had ceased to co-operate against France, devoting himself to the war against Jacqueline4- The slippery Count of Foix had finally elected to stand with his countrymen ; and Arthur Richemont, of Brittany had been installed as Constable of France 5. enhance He had attained to that dignity apparently by signing a 1 22nd September; Plancher, Bourgogne, iv ; Preuves, Hi; J. Wavrin, 195 ; E. Monstrelet; J. Le Fevre, ii. 109. The Bull was formally presented by the Archbishop of Rouen to the Regent in Council on the 24th September; Stevenson, sup. 2 Bourgeois, 203 ; J. Wavrin, 191 ; Moymer, Moynier, or Montaime, near Vertus in Champagne, (Marne), surrendered 24th June. It had been held by Eustace de Conflans; Stevenson, ii. 56, 62 ; Bourgeois, 212. 3 De Beaucourt, ii. 20; J. Le Fevre, ii. 115; Bourgeois, 203 note; G. Cousinot, 200, 226. De Beaucourt enumerates St. Calais (Sarthe), Mondou- bleau and Savigny-sur-Braye (Loir et Cher, near Vend6me), Le Lude and Chateau du Loir (Sarthe). These two last were the southernmost outposts of the English. La Fleche remained French. In June a reinforcement of some 1 300 men, under Sir John Grey of Ruthyn, had been received from England ; Issues, Easter 3 Henry VI ; cf. Stevenson, ii. 411. 4 De Beaucourt, ii. 19. The truce of Chambery was renewed in January, 1425, and so on from time to time. 5 The Count of Foix was appointed Charles' Lieutenant- General of Lan- guedoc, 6th January, 1425 ; Arthur received the Constable's Sword at Chinon, 7th March; Cosneau, 90; de Beaucourt, sup. and 84, no; Gruel, apud Godefroy, Hist. Charles VII, p. 748. 3^4 HENRY VI. CHAP, xxv, 1425. The Men of Mon tereau dis missedfrom Court.Charles VII and Brittany. Treaty of Saumur. Bedford comes to England. pledge to stand by Tanguy, Louvet and their creatures ; but no sooner was he invested with his new authority than he began to press for their dismissal. He could point to the fact that so long as they were retained in office, neither Burgundy nor Brittany would listen to any overtures. Queen Yolande of Sicily and all the nobility backed him up. Louvet struggled to the last, and Charles VII appar ently did not sacrifice his old friends till he found himself alone. By the end of July the sordid cabal that had so long disgraced him, was driven from the French Court, and the way cleared for fresh combinations 1- On the 18th Septem ber the Count of Foix came to the Court at Poitiers. On the 3rd October Charles met the Duke of Brittany at Saumur. On the 7th a treaty was sealed by which the Duke, while humbly advising his liege to make friends with the Duke of Burgundy, obtained for himself in the mean time the control of the finances of Languedoil, with the supreme direction of the war ' for the expulsion of the English'2. The ulterior bearing of these events may not have been fully realised by the Regent, but at any rate he might accept his uncle's dictum, " The profite of France (i. e. of the English dominion there) standeth in the welfare of Eng land " 3 ; and the welfare of England clearly demanded his presence at home. In arranging for the government during his absence, he gave the command in Champagne to the Earl of Warwick, in Upper Normandy and Maine to the Earl of Salisbury, and in Lower Normandy to the Earl of Suffolk 4. On the ist December, Bedford left Paris5 with his Duchess, and succeeded in reaching Calais after a narrow 1 See de Beaucourt, ii. 80-104 '• G. Cousinot, Pucelle, 229 ; G. Bouvier, 373 ; Gruel, sup. 2 De Beaucourt, no, 115, citing Morice, Bretagne, ii. c. 1180-1182 ; Gruel, 748, 749- 3 E. Hall. 130. 4 26th November; Stevenson, Letters, i. Ix; Bourgeois, 212, note. 5 Bourgeois, 212. BEDFORD IN ENGLAND. 365 escape of being cut off by a French partisan between chap. xxv. Amiens and Doullens1. 6 On the 20th December he landed at Sandwich ; on the 10th January, 1426, he made his entry into London 2- Gloucester had profited by the lull which followed the struggle of the 30th October to hold a Privy Council at Guildford, in which he ordered 5000 marks to be paid to himself, in accordance with the resolution of Parliament 3. The money was apparently expended in fitting out a relief of 500 men, under the young Lord Fitz Walter 4, which was sent to Jacqueline, who had managed to escape ' in man's weeds ' from Antwerp to Holland 5. Bedford and Gloucester " had not met since the death of Bedford, Henry V ". Humphrey " was not able to resist the personal andtiie5 "' influence " 6 of his brother, but he was very bitter against his Bishop uncle ; and it is clear that he expected him to be dis- Chester. missed and disgraced off-hand. On the 7th January writs had been issued for a Parliament to meet at Leicester on the 1 8th February7. The intervening time was spent in fruitless efforts at reconciliation, Humphrey refusing even to meet his uncle. On the 29th January a Privy Council was held at St. Albans, under the presidency of Bedford ; another meeting was appointed to be held at Northampton on the 13th February to arrange the business of Parliament. Archbishop Chicheley, the Earl of Stafford, the Lords Talbot and Cromwell, and Sir John Cornewall, were 1 J. Wavrin, ii. 199; E. Monstrelet, 578; Stevenson, sup. The leader was canght and hung ; Bourgeois, 229. 2 Proceedings, iii. 197 ; E. Hall, 130. The citizens presented him with 1000 marks; W. Gregory, 160; Stubbs. 3 5th November; Proceedings, iii. 179. The names of the Lords who were present are not recorded. 4 Walter Fitz Walter. He succeeded an elder brother in 1419, and was about twenty-five years old, but had not yet been summoned to the House of Lords. 5 J. Wavrin, 193, 200; E. Monstrelet, 577, 578; J. Le Fevre, ii. 116, 119; Chron. London, 113. Fitz Walter was utterly repulsed by the Duke of Burgundy in person, at Brouvershaven in Zeeland, in January, 1426 ; Id. 6 Stubbs. 7 Lords' Report. Gloucester's influence in London was perhaps feared. ofi6 HENRY VI. chap.xxv. instructed to wait on Duke Humphrey, and urge him to 7^ meet his uncle at Northampton. If he expressed a fear of a collision between their partisans, the King would undertake to maintain order ; if he demanded that his uncle should be dismissed from the office of Chancellor, they were to point out that even the King could not refuse to hear the " excusations " of a Peer who had offended him, much less dismiss an officer at the bidding of a subject without "cause resonable proved ". If anything could be proven against the Chancellor of course he would be dismissed. Finally they were " to require and charge him of the Kyng's behalve " to attend at Leicester 1. 'The Par- The Parliament, which was distinguished as the Parlia- Bats '. ment of Bats^-because people came armed with clubs, other weapons having been forbidden 2 — was duly opened by the Chancellor. No reference to the actual state of affairs is traceable in his speech, except perhaps in the text "Sic facite ut salvi sitis ". " For ten days the two parties stood face to face, nothing being done in consequence of their hostile attitude ". Even the Speaker was not chosen till the 28th February. At last the Commons sent up a deputation to the Lords, begging them to take steps to heal the dissentions, which, they understood, had arisen between certain magnates 3. Peers Qn fae 4t^ March Bedford and the Peers took an oath arbitrating between to proceed " trewely, justly and indifferently between Sd"^ Gloucester and the Chancellor4. Bishop. On the 7th the two signed a submission to the arbi tration of nine Lords, under the presidency of the Arch bishop 5. Gloucester then put in his charges, of which the chief were his exclusion from the Tower, and the armed resist- 1 Proceedings, iii. 181. The language of the instructions shows wonderful tact and firmness. The envoys were to remind Humphrey that Henry V, when Prince of Wales, had to meet Archbishop Arundel as Chancellor, much as he had been offended by him. 2 W. Gregory ; J. Stow. * Rot. Pari. iv. 295, 296. 4 Id.; Proceedings, iii. 187-189. 6 Rot. Pari. 297. GLOUCESTER'S CHARGES. 367 ance offered to him on the 30th October, when he proposed chap. xxv. to pay a visit to the King at Eltham. The mysterious 6 incident above narrated, of the discovery of a supposed assassin in the Green Chamber at Westminster1, was brought forward as the basis of a charge that Beaufort had plotted to murder the late King when Prince of Wales. This accusation was accompanied by the more likely but very incompatible charge that he had conspired with the Prince to dethrone Henry IV. The confidential letter to the Duke of Bedford, of the 31st October, supplied matter for a supplementary count. The Bishop's answers on all points, except that of the conspiracy against Henry IV, were clear and convincing 2. On the 1 2th March the Peers published their award, which Their was : First, that the Bishop should declare on oath that he was, and always had been, " a trewe man " to Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI ; and that Bedford should accept such declaration : Secondly, that the Bishop should disclaim all designs against Humphrey's " persone, honour or estat " ; and that Humphrey should accept the disclaimer : Thirdly, that the two should shake hands. All this was done 3. But Gloucester was strong enough to insist upon further satisfaction. On the. 13th March The Beaufort resigned the Seal, the Treasurer, John Stafford, re^;™ tne now Bishop of Bath, resigning also. On the 16th the Seal- Bishop of London, John Kemp, became Chancellor ; and Mi^stry Sir Walter, now Lord.Hungerford, Treasurer4. Power was taken to raise loans to the amount of £40,000 within the ensuing twelvemonth ; and, some other administrative business having been disposed of, the Houses adjourned for Easter on the 20th March 5. 1 See above, p. 139. 2 R. Arnold, 187-194; E. Hall, 130-134. 3 R. Arnold, 194-300; E. Hall, 135-137. * Rot. Pari. 297-299; Foed. a. 353; Proceedings, iii. 212. On the same day the Bishop of Durham delivered the late King's Will to William Alnwick, Bishop Elect of Norwich, the Keeper of the Privy Seal, who was retained in office ; Rot. Pari. sup. ; Proceedings, iii. 1 90. 6 Rot. Pari. 300, 301. The English merchants wanted to withhold payment 368 HENRY VI. 1426. Knighting ofthe King. Money Grant. Statute. TreatybetweenBedfordand Glou cester. Sittings were resumed on the 29th April. The incident ofthe Session was the Knighting ofthe young King, who re ceived that premature distinction from the sword of his uncle John on Whitsunday ( 1 9th May). Being thus duly qualified, he was made to confer the same honour on six-and-thirty other young gentlemen. Richard, Duke of York, headed the list. Among those who followed were the Earls of Devon, Oxford, and Westmorland ; and the eldest sons of the Duke of Norfolk, and of the Earls of Northumberland and Ormond1. On the last day of the Session (ist June) the Commons, as usual, produced their money grant, which was simply a prolongation of the Customs at existing rates. The wool duties, both from natives and foreigners, were granted for two years from Martinmas, 1429. Tonnage and Poundage were granted for two years from foreigners, and for one year from natives, from Martinmas, 1426 2. The Council were again unable to agree with the merchants as to the evidence on which the loss of wool at sea should be proven for the purposes of drawback 3. The Statute passed in this Session revived the Act of Richard II, permitting the exportation of corn to friendly nations4. It also made another attempt to check the malversations of sheriffs in the return of writs and the im- panelment of juries 5. " Bedford stayed sixteen months in England ". During that time a treaty of fraternal alliance was executed be tween him and his brother, by which they pledged them- of the Tonnage and Poundage voted in the last Parliament, on the ground that the conditions, i. e. the harsh restrictions on foreign traders, had not been observed. Bedford decided against them. As the matter was keenly discussed, it is open to surmise that Gloucester supported them. The riotous tendencies which led to the garrisoning of the Tower had apparently some reference to the presence of foreigners in London. 1 Wardrobe Account, 4 Henry VI ; Q. R. Miscell. Wardrobe, V ; F°ed. *• 356; Chron. London, 114. 2 Rot. Pari. iv. 302. 3 Id. 303. 4 17 Richard II, cap. 7. * Rot. Pari. 306, 307 ; Stat. 4 Henry VI, cc. 1 and 5. BEDFORD, GLOUCESTER, AND THE COUNCIL. 369 selves to honour and support each other next to the King ; chap, xxv and to form no alliance without common consent. " Queen TJTg Catherine also appears to have joined in the contract "7 On the 24th November some vacancies in the Council were filled up, and fresh rules agreed upon for securing freedom of discussion and good government2. Some of the stipulations seem to suggest a certain jealousy of both the royal Dukes ; and the same feeling appears much The more openly in certain proceedings which took place in the a^dGlou- Star Chamber on the 28th and 29th January, 1427; but it cester. is probable that, so far as Bedford was concerned, the pro ceedings were " pre-arranged ", and that they were only aimed at Gloucester 3. On the 28th, Bedford having been specially requested to attend, the Chancellor, John Kemp, now Archbishop of York, after a declaration of personal regard for the Duke and his " estate ", proceeded to remind him that ' the execution of the King's authority,' during his minority, belonged to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, in Parlia ment or in Council ; " and in especiale in the lordes of his consail ; the whiche lordes of his consail by liklynesse mowe (may) be called hereafter to answere how thei have governed, and executed the said auctorite, now beyng in the persone of oure said soverain lord ; execution of the whiche auctorite resteth not in oon singuler persone, but in alle my said lordes togidres, except thauctorite yeven to you my lord, as by auctorite of parliament protector of this reaume, and in your absence, ye being out of this roiaume, unto my lord your brother of Gloucester ; after theffect of an act thereon maad." Kemp then went on to say that the Lords could not face this responsibility, unless they were " free to governe by the said auctorite, and aquite hem in al thing that hem thought expedient for the King's behove, and the 1 T. Bekyngton's Letters, i. 138 ; (G. Williams, Rolls Series) ; Stubbs, iii. 102. The treaty is undated, but seems clearly to belong to this period. Bekyngton was Gloucester's secretary at the time. 2 Proceedings, iii. 213. 3 Stubbs. * Bb 370 HENRY VI. chap. xxv. good publique of his said roialmes". Wherefore they had ~_ taken on them to send for his lordship, that they might "have knowleche of" his "good and gracieux wille and entent in this matere". Bedford Bedford met them in the frankest manner, thanking them himsdf f°r t^ie'r acti°n > protesting his desire " to be rewled and to the governed lyke as my said lordes would conseille hym and advise hym " ; and even begging them to let him know "if he myght erre at eny time", With that he laid his hand on a copy of the Gospels, and took an oath to be counselled and ruled by them in all things for the King's good. " Fortified with a precedent ", the Lords next day waited on Gloucester at his " inne ", where he was confined by sick ness. The desired declaration was not obtained from him quite so easily, the Chancellor having to remind Gloucester of the answers already given by him to " certayne overtures and articles " 1 laid before him ; as well as of certain dis quieting utterances reported of him, as that " if he had doon eny thing that touched the Kyng his soverain lordes estat, thereof wolde he not answere unto no persone on lyve (life), save oonly unto the King, whan he [shulde] come to his eage (age) ". And again, he was understood to have said, " Lat my brother governe as hym lust whiles he is in this land, for after his going overe into France I wol governe as me semeth Gloucester good ". Gloucester apologised and explained. " Fynaly ", upon to however, the Minute informs us, "he prometted there to pledge be ruled and governed by my said lords of the conseil . . . also. in wyse as my said lord of Bedford his brother had doon the day afore " 2. It is not improbable that the treaty between the royal brothers was executed after these events, and in order to assure Gloucester of his brother's good will towards him. Bedford now began to prepare to return to his "un- 1 The reference to previous articles strengthens the presumption that the meeting with Bedford was concerted. 2 See Proceedings, iii. 231, 237 ; two records of these interviews, differently worded, but the same in substance. HENRY BEAUFORT A CARDINAL. 3JI righteous task" in France. On the 24th February £2000 chap. xxv. were assigned to him for the expenses of his two journeys 7777 to and from England 7 On the same day Lord Talbot passed a muster of 300 spears and 900 bows, engaged for six months' service under the Regent2. On the 19th March3 Bedford sailed, the Bedford Bishop of Winchester going with him. France. It was doubtless felt that Beaufort's presence in England might occasion difficulties. He had applied for leave to go on pilgrimage during the sitting of the Leicester Parliament 4 : since then his position had been weakened by the death of his brother, Exeter, the King's Governor 5. Doubtless he felt that he could afford to wait. Meanwhile as a douceur leave was given to him to ship 800 sacks of wool (duty paid) to Cherbourg or Caen 6, while a still more important concession was made in the shape of a The Bishop tacit permission to accept the long-coveted Cardinal's °hester' Hat. Martin V had originally conferred the honour at Con stance7, shortly after his election. But Henry V shared the objections of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the presence of a Cardinal Legate. In fact he was reported to have said that he " had as leef sette his coroune biside hym as to see him were a cardinal's hatte"8. Henry V being gone, and Chicheley having been induced to waive his 1 Proceedings, iii. 246. Bedford was liberally treated while in England. In July, 1426, he was made Admiral of All the Fleets, vice the Duke of Exeter deceased ; Proceedings, 207. Before sailing he received the wardship of the Oxford estates, and a license to open and work mines of gold and silver in any part of England ; Id. 247 ; Foed. x. 370. 2 Issue Roll, Michaelmes 4 Henry VI; 14th March. Lords de Roos, Camoys, and Clinton were with Talbot. Transport for 2700 horses was provided. 3 Issue Roll, Michaelmas 11 Henry VI ; 27 February. Bedford was at Canterbury on the 12th March; Proceedings, 265. 4 Proceedings, iii. 195 ; Foed. x. 358. 5 Thomas, Duke of Exeter, died 27th Dec. 1426 ; H. Nicolas; Sandford. • Proceedings, 253. 7 28th December, 1417 ; Angl. Sacra, i. 800. 8 So the Duke of Gloucester; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 441. "Chicheley's protest to Henry V is printed by Duck in his life of Chicheley, ed. 1699, p. 115 " ; Stubbs; cf. Hook, Archbishops, v. 70. B b 2 372 HENRY VI. chap.xxv. objections, a second nomination to the cardinalate was 1427. made on the 24th May, 1426 7 On the 25th March, 1427, in St. Mary's Church at Calais, Henry Beaufort received his Hat, Bedford with his own hands placing it on his uncle's head 2. The two then parted, the Cardinal going off to fight the Hussites as Papal Legate for Germany, Hungary, and Bohemia, while Bed ford returned to Paris. 1 Panvinius Epitome Pontificum, 291, cited Stubbs. For Chicheley's posi tion at this time see below. 2 J. Amuudesham, i. 11 ; (Riley, Rolls Series, No. 28); Chron. London, 115; E. Hall, &c. CHAPTER XXVI. Henry VI (continued). The War. — The English advance towards the Loire. — Parliament. — Siege of Orleans undertaken. — Battle of the Herrings. In consequence of the altered attitude of Brittany the ch. xxvi. English rulers in France had felt themselves obliged to ~~^ declare war with the Duke in January, 1426 x. Sir Thomas war Rempston, Suffolk's Lieutenant, taking the offensive, made petv^eei\ an inroad as far as Rennes, and then established himself and at Saint-James-de-Beuvron, on the frontier of Normandy ; Brlttany- Mont-Saint-Michel and Pontorson being still in the hands of the French. The Constable de Richemont hastened to Defeat the relief of his countrymen, but was utterly defeated \xc\Xc- before Saint-James on the 6th March, 1426 2. The English m°nt- were thus free to push on southwards towards the Loire. H^e™| About June Sir R. Hungerford and Sir R. Stafford took on towards over 400 men to Cherbourg for service on the March of Brittany, while Warwick took out an equal number to assist Lord Willoughby, who was besieging Bonneval 3. In September Salisbury attacked Mondoubleau. Both places fell 4, though the Count of Foix had 3000 Bearnais at Jargeau 5, living at free quarters. The Constable like wise had a force under his command in September. But 1 Proceedings, iii. 181. 2 De Beaucourt, Charles VII, ii. 23-25 ; Bourgeois, 207 ; G. Cousinot, Pucelle, 239 ; Gruel, 749. Pontorson was on the frontier line of Brittany, but belonged to Normandy. 3 They were there on the 4th July ; de Beaucourt, ii. 24 ; Issue Roll, Easter 4 Henry VI ; 26 July. 4 Bonneval is in Enre et Loir ; Mondoubleau in Loir et Cher. 5 On the Loire, a little above Orleans. 374 HENRY VI. ch. xxvi. his movements were again directed towards Brittany, and ~Z his only practical achievement was the relief of Pontorson1. On the nth January, 1427, formal siege was laid to this place by the Earl of Warwick, who had replaced Suffolk Capture of in Lower Normandy. On the 8th May the place sur- Pontorson. ren^ere^} though ban and arriere ban had been called out in Brittany ; but when it came to the point the Duke refused to risk the chivalry of Brittany ' merely for Pon torson ' 2. The English cause seemed so much in the ascendant that the Duke was in fact meditating another change of Brittany front. In May a truce was signed ; on the 3rd July a peace? treaty was executed ; on the 8th September John V, with the approval of part of his people, once more accepted the treaty of Troyes, and declared himself Henry's man 3. But the wily Breton was in too great a hurry. The English cause had already received a distinct check, and in their circumstances the smallest check was serious. Still pushing southwards they had taken Pithiviers before the 6th May. On the 26th of the month Suffolk laid siege Siege of to Venddme. On the ist July Warwick and he joined on argis. forces for an a^tack on Montargis 4. The possession of this important stronghold would place them in communication with their Burgundian allies in the valley of Yonne, and the Burgundians were again beginning to take a part in the war, Gloucester having apparently abandoned Jacqueline. Thus, in the course of this year, John of Luxemburg had reconquered for the English the fort of Moymer or Moynier in Champagne, which had been wrested from them by the 1 See Gruel, 751 ; de Beaucourt, ii. 24, 25 ; and authorities there cited. Other successes of the year were the capture of Rochefort-en-Yveline (near Rambouillet) ; Bourgeois, 205, note ; and the recovery of Moymer (below). 2 See Gruel and de Beaucourt, sup., for the dates. For details without dates see J. Wavrin, ii. 226-234, condensed by Monstrelet, 589. For Warwick's anxiety as to his position at Pontorson see Stevenson, Letters, ii. 68-76. In January a rising at Cherbourg was feared ; Proceedings, ii. 230. 3 De Beaucourt, ii. 27, citing Lobineau, i. 571, and Morice, ii. c. 1198- 1201. 4 De Beaucourt, sup. For supplies ordered for the siege see Bourgeois, 217, 218 and notes. MONTARGIS. 375 French1. In May or June the Burgundians had found a ch. xxvi. pretext for attacking Mailly-le-Chatel2 in the Auxerrois; I427 while on the 1 2th of August the Burgundian Sire de Vergy was appointed by Bedford Governor of Champagne and. Brie 3. For more than two months Montargis was pressed by blockade and bombardment. But the apathetic Court of Charles VII was at last roused to action. A force was raised at Gien, one of the leaders being La Hire, and another a bastard son of the murdered Duke of Orleans, a young man of twenty-three, destined to acquire fame as the Count of Dunois. The position of Montargis, at the junction of the Puisseau and the Loing, obliged the English, to divide their forces into three. Bridges had been estab lished to keep up communications, but the French had impaired their utility by damming up the rivers. On Friday, 5th September, at dinner time, the French crept up in two bodies, and fell on the quarters of Sir John de la Pole and Henry Basset on the west of Montargis. La Hire quickly routed Sir John and sent him down the stream ; then, uniting with the Bastard of Orleans, he drove Basset, with great loss, across a half-submerged bridge to join Warwick on the east bank. The Earl drew his men off Repulse to a vine-clad hill, and next morning retired to Nemours, English. leaving behind him his artillery and baggage 4. On the very day on which this first gleam of sunshine Reverses in broke upon the French arms, some of Sir John Fastolfs ame' men suffered a defeat near Ambrieres, in Maine 5- A day or two earlier Marchenoir and Mondoubleau had been re covered by the French, the garrisons having probably been withdrawn for the siege of Montargis. All Maine was soon astir. La Ferte-Bernard, Nogent-le-Rotrou, Le Lude, 1 Wavrin, ii. 214-216 ; E. Monstrelet. Moynier is, or was, situate near Vertus. * Yonne ; near Coulanges-sur- Yonne. 3 See de Beaucourt, ii. 27. 4 J. Wavrin, ii. 216-221 ; E. Monstrelet ; Bourgeois, 221 ; de Beaucourt, ii. 28. Cf. G. Cousinot, Pucelle, 242 ; J. Chartier, i. 14 ; G. Bouvier, 374 ; Gruel, 752. 5 Between Mayenne and Domfront; Pucelle, 248; de Beaucourt, sup.; "le premier lueur ". 376 HENRY VI. ch. xxvi. Nogent-le-Roi, shook off the yoke 7 Rambouillet rose, but 1427 was recovered by the Regent (Oct.) 2. Without reinforce ments all would soon be lost, and the Earl of Salisbury had already gone home to press for help 3- But the state of domestic affairs was not propitious for sending help to France. Gloucester Relieved of the presence of his brother and uncle, Glou- Hainault. eester had again begun to manoeuvre for his own ends. In May he took the Justiciarship of Chester and North Wales 4. In July he obtained the consent of the Council to an advance of 9000 marks ; 5000 marks on account of the 20,000 marks sanctioned by the Parliament of 1425, and 4000 marks on account of his salary as Protector ; the Jacqueline money to be expended in raising a force to bring back Jacqueline, for whom much sympathy was felt in England. The Council also agreed that if the money would suffice, men might be left in Holland to garrison any places still actually held by Jacqueline, but all offensive operations were forbidden unless the sanction of Parliament should be obtained 5. The wish for Jacqueline's return must have been a mere pretext on Humphrey's part, as he was openly living with Eleanor Cobham. But it would seem that the Earl of Salisbury — who had domestic grudges of his own against the Duke of Burgundy 6 — favoured the scheme, offering to take the command. An energetic protest from Bedford, however, put an end to the whole business 7 1 Cousinot, Gestes, 202 ; de Beaucourt, ii. 29. 2 De Beaucourt, 30. 3 The Earl took the oaths and his seat at the Privy Council 15th July; Proceedings, iii. 274, 4 Proceedings, iii. 267. 5 Proceedings, iii. 271, 276; Foed. x. 374. Jacqueline was apparently re duced to Delft, Gouda, and Utrecht. 0 The Duke had paid court to the Countess during the gay doings in Paris in the autumn of 1426; Barante, v. 182. She was the daughter of Thomas Chaucer, and so granddaughter ofthe poet ; Wavrin, ii. 130, note. 7 J. Wavrin, ii. 212. The Regent left Paris the 26th May to see the Duke of Burgundy at Lille on this matter; Bourgeois, 215; J. Le F£vre, ii. 133- The bonds given by Gloucester for the 9000 marks were cancelled in 1428, nothing having been received by him ; Proceedings, iii. 290, 296. PARLIAMENT. 377 On the 1 3th October Parliament met at Westminster, ch. xxvi. Again Gloucester was not allowed to open the proceedings. ~^ " The little King presided in person " \ But Gloucester Parliament was determined not to be kept in the background, and he at West- r • ¦ 7 minster. took the first opportunity of enquiring 'what power and authority belonged to him ' 2- On the 8th December the Session adjourned for Christmas, resuming on the 27th January, 1428. On the 3rd March Humphrey, with incredible want of Gloucester tact, returned to the charge. He told the Lords that they might ' commune of matters of Parliament in his absence, but should nothing determine without him,' adding that he would not again appear among them till his "auctorite and pouoir " had been recognised. The Lords gave a written answer, rehearsing the matter and the fully. They reminded him of the settlement made in the first or s' Parliament of the reign, by which every title " that should emporte auctorite of governance of the lond" had been in tentionally withheld. He had been simply named Protector and Chief of the King's Council, with certain specified powers ; he had accepted the position ; in Parliament they simply knew him " as duke of Gloucester, as other lords be, and non otherwise ". They therefore ' prayed, exhorted, and required ' him ' to be content with this power, and not to desire, will, or use any larger power '. " By this reply they were determined to stand, and they subscribed it with their own hands, eleven bishops, four abbots, the Duke of Norfolk, three earls, and eight barons " 3. In his attack on the Lords, Humphrey may have hoped The for support from the Commons. But his private life was London °f causing great scandal, and it appears that during the Gloucester, sitting of Parliament a deputation of city dames from queline. the Stocks Market 4 waited on the Lords to petition that 1 Stubbs; Rot. Pari. iv. 316. ' Rot. Pari. 317. 3 Rot. Pari. 327 ; Stubbs, iii. 107. 4 " Quaedam mnlierum de Stokkes ". " Stocks Market in the City ; so called from the Stocks which stood there. The present Mansion House occupies its site " ; H. T. Riley. 37* HENRY VI. CH. XXVI. I428. Moneygrants. A special Subsidy. Martin V and the Statutes of Provisorsand Prae- Gloucester would dismiss Eleanor and take back Jacque line 7 The money grants of the Parliament showed no great increase of liberality — certainly nothing that gave any scope for fitting out expeditions. Tonnage and Poundage from natives were granted for a year from St. Ambrose's Day (4th April ?), 1428, the last grant having expired in November, 1427 ; while a sort of Subsidy, the first of the reign, was at last voted. Landowners were required to con tribute at the rate of 6s. 8d. for each knight's fee ; country parishes, of which the ' churches ' were rated under ten marks a year, were to pay the same sum — double if the benefice exceeded ten marks a year ; boroughs and cities to pay at the rate of is. for every 10s. of rated value of the benefice2. To provide an immediate supply, security might be given to the amount of £24,000 to the Earl of Salisbury and others willing to make advances for ' the defence of the Realm ' 3. A petition presented by the Commons in this Parliament brings to our notice an ecclesiastical struggle of some im portance. Martin V, in his endeavour to rehabilitate the Papacy, had soon come into collision with the Statutes of Provisors and Praemunire, the ' execrable Statutes ' which gave the King a practical supremacy in matters ecclesias tical. Henry V having turned a deaf ear to his remon strances, he had written " still more pressingly " to the Regency Council of his son 4. 1 J. Amundesham, i. 20 ; cf. J. Stow, 368. As the Duke of Brabant had died 7th April, 1427 (J. Wavrin, ii. 223, note), there was now no obstacle to the marriage. The assertion of Wavrin, ii. 213, copied by Monstrelet, 584, that the Pope had finally forbidden Humphrey to marry Jacqueline, seems quite unsupported ; Lingard. No definitive sentence against Gloucester was known of in England, 21st October, 1426 ; Proceedings, iii. 211. 2 Rot. Pari. iv. 318. 3 Id. 317. The Session rose on the 25th March. For the Act passed, 6 Henry VI, see Statutes. 4 In connexion with this matter we may notice the struggle over the appoint ment of a successor to Henry Bowet, Archbishop of York, who died 20th October, 1423 ; Stubbs, Reg. Sacrum. The Pope wanted Richard Fleming, whom he had named Bishop of Lincoln in 1420. The Council wanted Philip Morgan. Ultimately, in October, 1426, it was settled that John Kemp of ENGLAND AND THE PAPACY. 379 The Council being impracticable, the Pope turned his ch. xxvi. artillery on Archbishop Chicheley, who was not equal to the T 2g_ struggle. He could only plead that, however willing, he alone fjrm could not procure the repeal of the obnoxious Statutes. a^j^e Martin answered by threatening him with suspension, and nation. England with an interdict. The Council arrested the Papal collector who had charge of the Bulls 1 ; while the Univer sity of Oxford, and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, wrote strongly to the Pope on behalf of the Archbishop. Still Chicheley " trembled at the thought of an interdict ". He presented himself in Parliament to urge compliance with the Papal demands. The Archbishop of York, four Bishops, and two Abbots, supported him. The Commons gave their Rejection answer in the shape of the petition above referred to, by papaj which in effect they civilly prayed the " holy Fader " to demands. dismiss from his mind any unfavourable suggestions made against the Archbishop ; praying further that if any pro ceedings had been instituted against Chicheley the Pope would kindly " cassen hem and anullen hem " (quash them and annul them)2. In the course of the summer an embassy was sent to Rome at the suggestion of the Commons, and there the matter rested 3. The Duke of Exeter being dead, it was necessary to A new appoint a new Governor for the young King. The Earl of f0° a™01 Warwick was recalled from France to take the office. His King' London should be translated to York, the Council agreeing to recognise Fleming as Bishop of Lincoln on condition of his using his best endeavours for Gloucester in the matter of Jacqueline's divorce. See Proceedings, iii. 180, 211 ; Chron. Giles, p. 4. Fleming came over expecting to be installed at York, and was threatened with imprisonment; Id. It was doubtless to resist him that the temporalities of York were assigned in July, 1425, to Lords Scrope and Cromwell; Proceedings, iii. 166. 1 May, 1427. Proceedings, iii. 268; J. Amundesham, i. 13. 16. 2 Rot. Pari. 322. For the whole episode see Creighton, Papacy, ii. 25-27 ; Hook, v. 88-102; Wilkins, Cone. iii. 471-486; Baronius (Raynaldus), a.d. 1421, 1422-1428. Cardinal Beaufort was supposed to be on the Papal side and Gloucester on the National side ; but Humphrey was very anxious not to be thought hostile at Rome. See Bekyngton's Letters, i. 279-284. 3 Proceedings, iii. 301 ; Foed. x. 405. The envoys, William Gray, Bishop of London, and Lord Scrope, were also accredited to Sigismund and Alphonso V of Arragon ; Id. 407. 380 HENRY VI. ch. xxvi. duties, as settled by the Council,- were first to answer for ^^ the surety of the King's person. Next "to lerne (learn= teach) the Kyng to love, worship and drede God, and gener ally noryssche hym, and drawe to vertues and to eschewyng of vices ... To teche the Kyng . . . nurture lettrure langage and other manere of cunnyng"; with power to chastise him " after his good avis and discrecion ". Lastly, the Earl was authorised to remove undesirable persons from the King's household ; and to change his residence in case of alarm of " pestilence " or other sudden danger 7 More honest instructions could hardly be given, and they were as honestly carried out by the gallant Earl. Reinforce- Meanwhile Salisbury was raising the much needed rein- France.01 forcements for the war in France. On the 19th July he passed his muster at Sandwich, and immediately after sailed with 450 spears and 2250 bows 7 No military events of any importance had occurred in France during the winter or spring, 1427-1428, the energies of the National party being paralysed by the struggle for ascendancy at Court between the Constable de Richemont and La Tremoille, whom he had originally introduced to Charles VII 3, but who was endeavouring to supplant him. The war. Thus the English were able to ravage the basin of the Loire, burning Bourgueil, not many miles from Chinon, where the Constable's wife was established. In March, 1428, Lord Talbot took Laval in Maine. In April an attempt to seize Rouen was frustrated4. On the 25th May a force com manded by La Hire and others was admitted into the town of Le Mans. The English were driven into a single tower, where doubtless they would have been starved out 1 ist June ; Proceedings, iii. 296 ; Foed. a. 399. 2 Stevenson, Letters, i. 403-421. The Earl sealed his Indentures 24th March, and received the first quarter's pay (in advance) next day; he was to pass his muster and receive his second quarter's pay 30th June ; but as he did not receive the money till 19th July, I gather that he did not sail till then ; p. 418 ; cf. Foed. x. 392, 402. 3 See de Beaucourt, ii. 142-159 ; also Cosneau, De Richemont, 141, for the earlier career of Georges de La Tremoille. 4 De Beaucourt, ii. 30, 31 ; P. Cochon, 454; Cousinot, Pucelle, 251. ADVANCE TO THE LOIRE. 381 but for the atrocious misconduct of the French captains, ch. xxvi. who, after being admitted as friends, let loose their men to g_ pillage the town. As a natural consequence, when on the third day Lord Talbot came to the rescue, he was welcomed as a deliverer by the infuriated people, who helped to expel La Hire1. In anticipation of Salisbury's coming, councils of war Councils were held in Paris as to the best mode of employing his ° war' force. The Duke of Burgundy came to Paris in May, incognito, so that doubtless his wishes were consulted. A forward policy was resolved upon, and it was arranged that Salisbury should lay siege to Angers, while the Prince of Orange would invade Dauphine 2. Passing to the west of Paris, the Earl quickly recovered Nogent-le-Roi, Rambouillet, and other places in the neigh bourhood of Chartres. Then following the road, not to Salisbury Angers, but to Orleans, he attacked and stormed Le toto"063 Puiset and Janville 3. The latter place fell on the 29th Loire, August, after a considerable resistance. From Janville negotiations were opened with the people of Meun on the Loire, below Orleans. They agreed to surrender. On the 8th September Salisbury marched past the gates of Orleans on his way to take possession of Meun. Before that the list of his conquests in the campaign included no less than eight-and-thirty towns of one sort or another4- On the 25th September Salisbury made himself master of the bridge and castle of Beaugency ; his men had already crossed the Loire, plundering the Abbey of Clery. On the 5th October Sir John de la Pole captured Jargeau, on the Loire, above Orleans. This success entailed the sur- 1 Bourgeois, 225, 226; Cousinot, Pucelle, 251. A brother of the Sire d'Albret was another of the French leaders. 2 Bourgeois, 225 ; Stevenson, ii. 77, 80; de Beaucourt, ii. 31. Grants for the siege of Angers were obtained in June and September; Beaurepaire, Etats de Normandie sous la Domination Anglaise, 30, 33. 3 Both in the department of Eure et Loir, and at no distance apart. 4 See the letter dated Janville, 5th September, from the Earl to the citizens of London ; Delpit, Documents Francais, 237. The list of places is verified by Longnon, Limites de la France, &c. ; Revue des Questions Historiques, xviii. 487. 382 HENRY VI. ch. xxvi. render of Ch&teau-Neuf-sur-Loire, a little higher up ; while 8_ higher still Sully fell into the hands of the Burgundians 7 and sur- It was now clear that Salisbury had abandoned the rounds siege of Angers for that of Orleans. How this change of Orleans. ° ° ° plan came to be adopted does not appear ; but seemingly it was done against Bedford's inclination, and it involved a gross breach of faith, as he and Suffolk had just renewed an agreement with the Bastard of Orleans to respect the possessions of his House 2. Anyhow, the results were disastrous. Having thus cleared the surrounding country, Salisbury drew up to Orleans. On the 7th October Sir John de la Pole carried Olivet, an outlying village about a mile from the city 3. Situation Orleans stands on the north side of the Loire ; but the English had resolved to make their chief attack from the south bank of the river, across the bridge, an island in midstream offering a landing-stage from which the city might be bombarded with effect. On the 12th October the Earl of Salisbury took up his position on the south side. The 2700 men he brought from England had been reinforced by native auxiliaries drawn from Paris, Chartres, and Normandy4. Among his subordinates were the Earl of Suffolk and his brother ; the Lords de Ros and Scales ; Sir Lancelot de Lisle, Sir Thomas Gerrard, and an Esquire, little known to English fame, but always mentioned with distinction by the French writers, William Glasdale 5- 1 Cousinot, Gestes, 203, 204 ; Pucelle, 256-259. Both Chateau-Nenf and Sully are in the Loiret. 2 16th, 17th July, 1428 ; de Beaucourt, ii. 31 ; Pucelle, 236 and note, citing a document of July, 1427, from Cabinet Historique, 108. In 1434 Bedford complained that the siege of Orleans had been taken in hand " God knoweth by what advis" ; Proceedings, iv. 224. On the 8th September, 1428, a Subsidy of 180,000 L. T. was asked from the Estates at Caen for the siege of Angers. They were subsequently asked to allow the grant to stand for the siege of Orleans ; Beaurepaire, 33, 34. 3 Cousinot, Pucelle, 259, 260. 4 " Faulx Francois ", Consinot styles them. 5 His name appears in Hall, but seemingly as taken from Monstrelet. He Vbl.T.Xlb ihcepage 3SX Portefe SfLoup OUT m OKLSJOC8. 29* of April 1429. Showvna the English, pcritLcms, -frcm Jotlois XHxtf.ditSiege d'Orleans. XEnglisTi positions shown, thus Scale. fWhslilfile. Oarford University Pres, SIEGE OF ORLEANS. 383 Inside the city the Bastard of Orleans held the chief ch. xxvi. command. In spite of the special agreement with Bedford, I428 the possibility of an attack on the chief bulwark of the South of France had been anticipated, and the place was fairly manned and victualled. At the English approach the French destroyed the southern suburb of Portereau Saint-Marceau 1, retiring within an earthwork, or " boule- vart," constructed to mask the bridge. On the 21st October the English attempted to storm The siege. this tete de pont, but the French repelled them with net work of ropes ; while live coals, quicklime, hot water, and scalding grease were showered upon them2. But the "boulevart" was honeycombed with mines and counter mines. On the 23rd the French fired the pit-props and Capture of retired to the "Tourelles," a turreted Bridge-House at the^£d' southern end of the bridge, but separated from the shore by a drawbridge 3. But the Tourelles again had been shattered by the English fire ; the river was low, and the French fighting men had not recovered from their efforts of the 21st October. On Sunday, 24th October, the English carried and of the the Tourelles, where they proceeded to establish their chief battery. The citizens were beginning to lose heart, when their spirits were revived by the arrival of a substantial reinforcement under Marshal de Boussac. Two days later the English cause received a further check through the fall of the Earl of Salisbury, who was struck in the face by a splinter from a gun-stone while reconnoitring from the window of an upper chamber in the Tourelles. He was taken to Meun, where he lingered for some days, and appears as a commander in the Gesta Henrici V, Append. 278; but after Henry's time. 1 See map. 2 The French women took an active part in the defence, bringing up materials, and even helping to guard the rampart. 8 " Fortalitium de Tournelles in buto pontis " ; Quicherat, Proces de Jeanne dArc, iii. 94. The form "Tournelles" is said to be erroneous, "Tourelles" being the only form known to the local records ; J. B. P. Jollois, Histoire du Siege d'Orl^ans, p. vi. 3«4 HENRY VI. CH. xxvi, 1428. Death ofthe Earl of Salisbury. Orleans blockaded. then died, a popular nobleman, and the most successful captain of his time 7 " For whom men sore gan rewe ; So manly was his knightly diligence, He laboured ever in marciall excellence"2. The Earl's death brought a short lull in the operations. But the Regent having given the chief command to Suffolk, with orders to persevere 3, the siege was soon re sumed. Suffolk resolved to blockade Orleans on both sides, not with continuous lines, but, as seems to have been the usual practice, with a chain of detached out works. On the 29th December the main army came up from Beaugency, William Glasdale having maintained his position on the south side throughout. Seven en trenchments, or " bastides," were constructed on the north bank, four having been constructed on the south side; these, with the Tourelles, another outpost on the " Isle de Charlemaigne," just below Orleans 4, and a bridge of com munication at the same point, completed the English works 7 The blockade was far from complete ; in fact the Eng lish works only covered the West and South, leaving one half of the town open on the North-East, a length of more than a mile. Accordingly, it appears that mounted men could always pass out and in 6, but the influx of supplies 1 Salisbury was apparently struck 27th October and died 3rd November ; G. Cousinot, Pucelle, 260-264. The narrative is really that of the elder Cousinot, who was in Orleans all the time ; J. Wavrin, ii. 244-249 ; Inquis. Post Mortem, 7 Henry VI. Salisbury was brought home and buried at Bisham Abbey, near Marlow; E. Hall, 145. 2 J. Hardyng, 393. 3 Suffolk's Commission was sent from Mantes 13th November. Bedford then moved to Chartres. 1 This was the Isle of Charlemagne, au dessous du pont, to distinguish it from the Great Isle of Charlemagne above Bridge; Jollois, p. 31. 5 See Pucelle, 265 ; Liber Pluscard. 362. The English works seem to have been casemated. For the identification of the sites see Jollois, Siege d'Orleans, 24, &c. 6 J. Le Fevre, ii. 141 ; J. Chartier, i. 63. Many horses were lost in these affairs. BATTLE OF HERRINGS. 385 was stopped, and the pressure of want was soon felt. Even ch. xxvi. among the besiegers supplies were not over abundant, Paris being their chief basis. Supplies In February, 1429, a convoy was sent down from thej°r.the capital under the charge of Sir John Fastolf, Steward of the Regent's Household. Lent having just begun, the pro visions comprised a store of " heryng and lenten stuffe " 1. The Count of Clermont (son of the captive Duke of Bour bon), having a force at Blois for the relief of Orleans, sent word of the coming convoy to the Bastard and the other leaders in the city, who, slipping through the English lines, effected a junction with him at Janville2. A Scottish contingent, under Sir John Stewart of Darnley, formed part of the force. Sir John had succeeded the Earl of Buchan as Constable of the Scots in France. Fastolf, having marched on the first day to fitampes, halted the second night at Rouvray-Saint-Denis 3, a place in English hands, and situate between Angerville and Janville. Next morning the French advancing from Janville, The found Fastolf with his convoy carefully parked, in an- attacked ticipation of an attack. The men-at-arms were held in reserve inside the "lager"; the cross-bowmen and archers were posted outside, the French on one flank, the English on the other, both well protected from cavalry by chevaux defrise of stakes shod with iron. The French leaders resolved to keep on horseback, Battle of while allowing their ' cannons and culverins ' 4 to play on Hernnss' the English. These tactics would doubtless have been successful, as the French fire was well directed, and the English could not reply to it ; but with anything short of a hand-to-hand bout with the English the irrepressible pugnacity ofthe Scots would not be content. Dismounting, they pressed on in front of their line, thus giving the long- 1 E. Hall. In 1429 Ash Wednesday fell on the 9th February. For the requisitions of flour and cartage made in and round Paris see Bourgeois, 230. 2 G. Cousinot, Pucelle, 266. '¦ Department Eure et Loir; Bourgeois, 230, 231, and notes.. 4 " Canons couleuvrines et autres traicts" ; Pucelle. * C C 386 HENRY VI. CH. XXVI. 1429. Gloomyprospects of Charles VII. StrugglebetweenLa Tre moilleand the Constable. Despairingsugges tions. bow its opportunity ; then the English men-at-arms sallied from the "lager'' and overwhelmed them. The French cavalry retired, carrying off the Bastard severely wounded. Darnley was left on the field with Guillaume D'Albret and other French gentlemen of rank (12th February). Three days later Fastolf brought his convoy in triumph to the camp at Orleans 7 Orleans seemed doomed, and the whole cause of Charles VII utterly lost. La Tremoille, as already mentioned, had soon broken with Richemont, to whom he owed his promotion2. In July (1438) the King had been obliged to lead an army to Bourges, to suppress the friends of the Constable, who had risen in arms against La Trdmoille. The relief force sent to Orleans in October was the result of a tem porary coalition, inasmuch as the Bastard, La Hire, and Pothon de Xaintrailles belonged to La Tremoille's party; while the Count of Clermont, Marshal Boussac, and the Scots belonged to the Constable's party 3. After the battle of the Herrings, Clermont retired in disgust to his estates. The only course open to Charles seemed to be that already suggested to him* by his Estates General, namely, peace^ at-any-price with the Duke of Burgundy4. Failing that, gloomy eventualities were discussed at Court ; retirement to Dauphine, to Spain, possibly even to Scotland 5 ! As a last hope the men of Orleans appealed privately to 1 See Cousinot, Pucelle, 266-269, the best account, and Liber Pluscard. 363 ; also J. Wavrin, ii. 253-261, copied by E. Monstrelet; J. Chartier, i. 62 ; cf. Bourgeois, 230-233. 2 When the Constable installed La Tremoille as his representative at Court, Charles told Arthur that he was making a mistake. "Beau cousin, vous me le baillez, mais vous en repentirez car je le congnois mieux que vous' ; Gruel, 752; Cosneau, de Richemont, 142 (a.d. 1427). This proves that Charles was no fool, but a shrewd jndge of character. 3 lor full details see de Beaucourt, ii. 144-168 ; cf. Sismondi and Martin. 4 Pucelle, 269. The Estates of Languedoc and Languedoil had met for the first time in one assembly at Chinon, in September, 1428 ; de Beaucourt, 170. 5 See authorities cited de Beaucourt, 176; also Pluscard. 365. The writer was at the French Court at the time, perhaps in the embassy negotiating the marriage of Margaret of Scotland to the Dauphin Louis ; de Beaucourt, ii- 397- THE MAP OF FRANCE. 387 the Duke of Burgundy, suggesting that the place might be ch. xxvi. placed in his hands as neutral territory on behalf of their 777 captive Duke. Philip went straight to Paris, and remained there three weeks urging acceptance of this proposal, but the Regent refused to forego his prize, and Burgundy in a huff recalled all his followers from the siege of Orleans 7 If at this point we turn to the map of France, and follow the right bank of the river Loire from the borders of Burgundy and Beaujolais downwards to Beaugency, and thence strike a line through Saint-Calais, Le Mans, and Laval to the borders of Brittany, we shall find that all to the North of the frontier, from Franche-Comte and Lor raine in the East, to Brittany in the West, was under the control of the Burgundians or the English, with the exception of a few scattered holds, such as Orleans, Montargis, Boulogne-sur-Mer, and the heroic rock of Mont-Saint-Michel 2. 1 See Pucelle, 269 ; J. Wavrin, ii. 266-2 70 ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 93. The Duke was in Paris April 4-22 ; Bourgeois, 233, 234. 2 See the details above given ; also A. Longnon, Limites de la France, &c. ; Revue des Questions Historiques, xviii. 469-500 ; and H. Ribadieu, Histoire de la Conquete de Guyenne, 116, &c. C C 2 parentage. CHAPTER XXVII. Henry VI (continued). Joan of Arc. — Raising ofthe Siege of Orleans. — Battle of Patay. — Coronation •^ of Charles VII. — Unsuccessful assault upon Paris. ch. xxvn. But the voice of a great nation will find utterance ; and 1429. that of France at this crisis found a spokeswoman in a Joan of peasant girl of seventeen, who refused to believe that Atc; her country was destitute of resources. her birth Born at Domremy1 in the Duchy of Bar in Champagne, on the frontier of Lorraine, Jeanne, commonly called and Jeanne D'Arc 2, was the daughter of parents of humble, perhaps servile position 3, but not destitute of means. The district was Dauphinois in its politics, while the neigh bouring hamlets of Lorraine were all Burgundian. Jeanne had thus been reared in a border-land, where national feelings run strongly, and in the vicinity of one of the chief seats of the war. When armed resistance to the English in Champagne became hopeless, the children still fought the battle out on their playgrounds 4. In attending 1 On the Meuse, in the present department of the Vosges. Jeanne was bom early in 1412 ; see her statement, Proces, &c. de Jeanne D'Arc, i. l6,andv. 116 (J. Quicherat, Paris, 1841, &c.) 2 " Johannae d'Arc de Dompremio " See the Charter of Charles VII, Proces, v. 343. She was called by that name because it was that of her father ; but it is not clear that it was anything but a soubriquet personal to him self. At her trial she could give no surname ; Proces, i. 46. To the world of her own time, English as well as French, she was essentially a mysterious nameless being, La Pucelle de Dieu, The Maid of God. 3 "Peut etre d' autre condition que de condition libre"; Patent of Charles VII, cited Martin, vi. 139. 4 See her statement, Proces, i. 66. JOAN, THE MAID OF GOD. 389 to the duties of the farm Jeanne had learned to ride a horse ch. xxvii. and handle weapons 7 " Left much alone, she brooded ^7777 with an imaginative temper and religious warmth over the sorrows of her country, the wrongs of her King. . . . She became a dreamer, an enthusiast". Notwithstanding her robust peasant constitution 2, it appears that she was a sexless woman, not as other women are, but subject to peculiar hysterical affections 3- Visions Her of saints and angels, and ' voices ' unheard by other ears V0ices than her own, bade her go forth and deliver the Dauphin, as he was still commonly called, " and lead him to be duly crowned at Rheims as King of France " 4. These ' voices,' it should be stated, first made them selves heard after something very like a sunstroke, which she had suffered at the age of thirteen, on a hot summer's day in her father's garden, after a day of fasting 6. Though wholly illiterate — it was as much as she could do to repeat her Pater Noster — her imaginative sensibility and her simple-minded shrewdness implied an intelligence above the common. In the religious aspect of her enthusiasm, not less than Relation in the patriotic, Jeanne was in accord with her times. COntem- France was being deeply stirred by the " Revivalist " poraneous religious preaching of the followers of Bernardino of Sienna and move- Vincent Ferrier of Valentia, men who had learned to use ments' Wycliffe's weapons in defence of the old beliefs e- If 1 She maintained, however, that her work was mainly in-door, not out-of-door work; Proces, i. 51, 53, 66. 2 "Bien compassee de membres et forte" It seems clear that Jeanne had no personal attractions except apparently an interesting expression and a sweet voice, "la plus simple bergere que on veit onques" ; Pucelle, 271, 274. " Une assez douce voix de femme" ; Letter given by de Beaucourt, ii. 219. 3 See the testimony of Jean d'Aulon, a gentleman appointed to be her Esquire, Proces, &c. iii. 219 ; cf. id. 100; Sismondi, xiii. 117. 4 See Pucelle, 271 ; J. Le Fevre, ii. 143; Martin, France, vi. 137-145, and documents there cited; Kitchin, History of France, i. 522. The allegation that Jeanne had been servant at an inn is without foundation. B See her own statement, Proces, i. 52, and below. 6 For the preaching of the Carmelite Breton, Thomas Connecte, in Flanders, Artois, and Picardy, in 1428, see Monstrelet, 595. Friar Richard of the Franciscans had preached at Troyes with great effect during Advent 1428. 39° HENRY VI. CH. XXVII. I429. She an nouncesher mis sion. Her journey to Chinon. Joan convinces Charles VII by a ' sign '. ' the Maid ' had not fallen directly under the influence of these teachers, it is certain that they paved the way for her mission, and that they received her with open arms as soon as she appeared. At last, unable to contain herself any longer, she per suaded an uncle to take her to the nearest French com mander, Robert de Baudricourt, Captain of Vaucouleurs, At first he laughed her to scorn ; but, after a third inter view, yielding to her simple earnestness, and to the faith the country people seemed to place in her, he agreed to send her to Charles' Court. She cut off her dark hair, ex changed her red peasant gown for man's attire, girt on a sword, given her by de Baudricourt, and, with a slender escort of six men, rode to Chinon. On the 6tb March (1429) she was allowed to enter the place 7 There again polite scepticism was divided in opinion as to whether she ought to be held a fool, an impostor, or a witch. La Tremoille was hostile from the first. She de clared that her mission was to relieve Orleans and take ' the Dauphin ' to be crowned at Rheims. Three days elapsed before she was allowed to see the King ; and apparently a further delay occurred before she was allowed to converse with him in private. Then she uttered some words that took hold of Charles' imagination 2. He declared himself a believer, but insisted upon her going to Poitiers, the seat of the Parliament, to be examined by the clergy. After a searching investigation, the authorities were obliged to admit that no harm could be found in her; in fact In April, 1429, he delivered a course of open air sermons in Paris, which lasted from 5 a.m. to io or n a.m. daily. Women burnt their high-peaked caps and trains; while the men made hecatombs of gambling tables, billiard-tables, cards, dice, and skittles. The English became alarmed at the excitement, and Friar Richard had to fly; Bourgeois, 233-237, and notes. He joined the Maid on her march to Rheims. 1 See her own and other evidence, Proces, i. 53, ii. 436, 456; Pucelle, 271- 273; de Beaucourt, ii. 204. 2 Apparently she declared him "True Heir of France and King's Son"; words which Charles took as an answer to a private prayer he had made; de Beaucourt, 208-210. Perhaps the treaty of Troyes had raised doubts in his own mind as to his right to succeed. HER MISSION ACCEPTED. 391 ' nothing but good ', and that Charles might safely accept CH' xxvu. her services 7 1429. By the 22nd March Jeanne's mission was accepted, at Her mis- any rate on trial ; and she was given the style of " Chef ^Jed.~ de Guerre". A suit of plain armour was provided for her, and a flag which represented Christ, supported by two angels, on a white ground, with the words " Ihesus Maria " 2. She was sent to Blois to join a convoy pre paring for the relief of Orleans. From Blois she sent to the English leaders a proclamation, drawn up at Poitiers, in language of "singular confidence and simplicity", in which she ordered them in the name of God and " La Pucelle " to evacuate France. ' Begone, or I will make you go ' 3. On the 27th or 28th April the convoy left Blois. The Advance to soldiers were made to confess and leave all camp-followers behind. A clerical procession led the way, chaunting hymns 4- Jeanne wanted to enter Orleans from the North, through the district of Beauce. The works, as we have shown, were incomplete on that side, but the English were also strongest in numbers on that side ; and so the Marshals de Rais and Boussac, the leaders of the expedition, with the concurrence of the commanders in Orleans, took her quietly round to the South, through the district of Sologne. It is uncertain whether they camped out one or two nights s ; but passing by Olivet on Thursday, 28th April, 1 " En elle on ne tronve point de mal, fors que bien" ; see Proces, iii. 3. 16, 209, 391 ; Pucelle, 273-277. The length ofthe investigations suggests that the clergy were not enthusiastic in their reception of Jeanne. 2 Proces, i. 78, 118, 181, 300. 3 * Ihesus Maria * Roy d'Angleterre faictes raison au roy du ciel de son sang royal ... La Pucelle . . . vient de par le roy du ciel corps pour corps, vous bouter hors de France . . . Alez vous en en vostre pais de par Dieu ", &c. ; Pucelle, 277-283 ; Proces, i. 240 ; J. Wavrin, ii. 263-265 ; de Beaucourt, 211, The English at Orleans threatened to burn the herald who brought the letter, as the emissary of a witch. 4 See the testimony of persons present, Proces, iii. 67, 105 ; Pucelle, 283. 5 Ibid. 392 ' HENRY VI. ch. xxvu. they lodged at Rully, near Ch^cy, some four miles above — Orleans \ On the morning of the 29th the Bastard of Orleans crossed the river to meet them as they drew near to Orleans. Great was Jeanne's indignation at the deception that had been practised upon her. 'Are you the Bastard of Orleans?' said she. 'Yes, Jeanne'. ' Did you counsel them to bring me by the way of Sologne and not by the way of Beauce, where Talebot and the English are ? ' The Bastard explained the military considerations that had influenced him. " Ou nom De"!" (In God's name!) retorted she, ' The counsel of Messire (the Lord) is better than the counsel of men. You thought to deceive me, but you have only deceived yourselves ! ' 2 As the next best thing to be done the Maid now de manded an attack on the Bastille St.-Jean-le-Blanc, the nearest English stronghold on that side of the river3. Again the captains protested. With some difficulty Jeanne was induced to allow Orleans to be revictualled without a fight. The convoy was brought down to the river bank, apparently at the Port Saint- Loup4, to which place a flotilla of river craft had been brought over from Orleans. Jeanne, the provision train, and some 200 lances were taken on board, the rest of the troops remaining on shore. But the wind, which had suited the crossing from Orleans, was contrary to the recrossing ; and night had fallen before a favouring change, a providential change, as the people thought 5, had set in. Meanwhile the attention of the English in the Bastille Saint-Loup had been kept fully engaged by persistent 1 So again, Proces, iv. 151 ; v. 344 ; Chronique du Siege d'Orleans (M. A. Salmon), p. 6; also the Chronicle of P. de Cagny, printed Proces, iv. p. 12, &c. 2 See the Bastard's own deposition, Proces, iii. 4, 5; and Pucelle, 284. Talebot is the usual French for Talbot : Ou nom De", less correctly given as en nom De, was the Maid's favourite expression; see Proces, iii. 217, Sec. 3 So d'Aulon ; Proces, iii. 78 ; also p. 68. 4 " Ad ripam Ligeris et usque juxta ecclesiam quae dicitur Sancti Lupi " ; Bastard, sup. 5 and 6. 0 "Failloit dire que ce fust miracle de Dieu"; Siege d'Orleans, p. 6. ORLEANS RELIEVED. 393 attacks on the part of the French. At last, under cover ch. xxvii. of darkness, the wind having shifted, Jeanne and her party J42r). sailed safely across, passing apparently between the He Relief of aux Bceufs and the lie Saint Aignan1, and so entered the Town' Orleans in triumph. The rest of her force returned to Blois. All this was a considerable encouragement to the French, and a corresponding blow to the English, who were already threatening to burn the Pucelle as a witch. But the garrison of Orleans still needed reinforcement in men. On the 3rd May2 a fresh relief was despatched from Blois, along the north bank of the Loire, while another force advanced simultaneously along the same side from Gien and Montargis. Next morning, ' about prime ' (6-7 Further a.m.), the two parties having effected a junction, Jeanne Orleans. and the Bastard sallied out, and brought them in, the English keeping within their works. Striking while the iron was hot, the French turned out again at noon, and attacked the Bastille Saint-Loup, where Lord Talbot was posted. The Maid, peasant-like, was enjoying a mid-day siesta. The French captains would have allowed her to rest in peace ; but she, having heard what was happening, hastily donned her armour, and galloped after them. After several hours of severe fighting the bastille was The carried 3 FreQch carried . storm an The morrow, 5th May, being Ascension Day, Jeanne outwork. proposed to signalise the day by an attack on the Bastille Saint-Laurens, the strongest of the English works. But the captains, who probably knew that their men needed rest, insisted on reverence for the ' Feast ' 4. Besides, they saw that policy dictated an attack on the English on the 1 Pucelle, 283, 284; where we are told that Jeanne crossed from near the Bastille St. Jean-le-Blanc, the English having evacuated it for the day. See also Proces, iii. 210, and generally Wavrin, ii. 272. 2 Pucelle, 287 ; Siege d'Orleans, p. 7. 3 " Environ vespres " (6-9 p.m. Viriville ; qy. 3-4 p.m. ?) ; Pucelle, 287-289 ; Proces, iii. 106, 212. 4 "La r£v&ance du jour" (contra Proems, iii. 107). 394 HENRY VI. ch. xxvii. south side, where they were weakest. If the blockade were 1429. broken on that side the siege would be at an end 7 Accordingly, on Friday the 6th May, the French crossed the river in boats, above the bridge, landing in the He Saint Aignan 2, and then crossing the narrow southern arm of the Loire with two boats moored as pontoons. The Bastille Saint-Jean-le-Blanc was to have been the first object of their attack ; but Glasdale, at their coming, evacuated and destroyed the work, concentrating his men in the Bastille Joan's des Augustins and the boulevart at the Bridge-End. Here ras ness. jeanne nearly ruined all by her precipitancy. Landing at the head of the force, she marched straight up to the boulevart, the strong point of the English defence, where her left and rear would be exposed to the fire from the Augustins. Moreover, before the French were all landed, a cry was raised that the English were coming down from St. Prive. A panic ensued, and Jeanne, to her great mortification, was obliged to follow her men back to the landing-place. The English, thinking the spell broken, burst from their redoubts with yells of derision. Jeanne Her flag, turned in an instant and faced them with her standard, " OU NOM D±" Silent and cowed they fell back before the Holy Banner. The French rallied, and the fight was renewed ; but Gilles de Rais persuaded Jeanne to turn her standard Another against the detached Bastille of the Augustins. After wo?kS a whole afternoon of fighting the work was carried, the carried. defenders being again put to the sword. Jeanne, who had been slightly wounded in the foot, allowed herself to be taken back to Orleans ; but a strong force was left to blockade the bridge. During the night the English at Saint Prive abandoned their position and joined their friends on the north side 3. 1 Pucelle, 289-290; cf. J. Chartier, i. 73-75. To keep the Maid quiet they took her on to the bridge to hail Glasdale to surrender. He gave her a very rough answer. 2 " En une isle qui est devant Saint Jehan-le-Blanc " ; Siege, p. 8. * Pucelle, 290-291 ; Proces, iii. 213; Siege, sup. THE SIEGE RAISED. 395 Saturday, 7th May, brought the struggle to a close. The ch. xxvu. Maid was astir by sunrise. Again the King's captains did j429, their utmost to induce her to stay at home ; but the Bourgeoisie rallied round her, placing their levies and their artillery at her disposal. She crossed the river to join the soldiery in their attack on the tite de pont, while the townspeople bombarded the Tourelles from the He Saint- Antoine. Men were also set to work to repair the bridge itself with timber, so as to give a direct access to the Tourelles from the North. The live -long day the bombardment was kept up. Attack Towards sunset so little seeming progress had been made, bridge-end. that the Bastard informed the Maid that the captains had resolved to draw off for the night. " Ou nom De" ! " she retorted. ' Fear not, you'll soon be in '. She called for her horse, and riding apart, uttered a short prayer ; then returning, with her own hand she laid the first ladder, and gave the word, " Tout est vostre — et y entrez ! " (' All is yours, — Go in '). The French swarmed up the ladders, and the redoubt was The bridge won; but Jeanne was struck down by a quarrel1 in the neck. Glasdale fought his way towards the Tourelles, but the drawbridge broke down under him, and he perished in the Loire 2. All was over. The Tourelles were in flames, the towns people having succeeded in bridging the broken arches with beams. Sir William Moleyns 3 and Sir Hugh Poynings were among the s!ain ; but 200 prisoners were saved alive. Next morning, Sunday, 8th May, the English on the The siege north side fired their cantonments and marched off; some ra to Meun, some to Beaugency, and some to Jargeau 4. From the direction of these movements, it may be inferred that the English leaders did not consider them- 1 Vireton. 2 Proces, i. 79 ; iii. 8, 70, 215 ; Pucelle ; and Siege, sup. Glasdale's body was recovered and sent home ; Bourgeois, 337. 3 Cf. Esch. 8 Henry VI, no. 32, and Proceedings, iv. 98. 4 See Pucelle, 292-297; cf. J. Chartier, i. 77-79; J. Wavrin, ii. 276-279. For further details see M. Jollois' book, sup. 396 HENRY VI. 1429. Further successes ofthe French. ch. xxvii. selves really beaten. The garrison of La Ferte-Saint- Hubert was allowed to remain there 7 Even the Regent did not call for any fresh levies for more than a fortnight 2- Jeanne left Orleans to report her triumph to the King, She met him outside Tours on the 13th May3- Her thoughts were still set on the coronation at Rheims ; but the military men saw that it would be idle to push into Champagne till the English had been driven from the basin of the Loire. Reinforcements coming in, siege was laid to Jargeau and Beaugency in the first days of June. On the 1 2th ofthe month Jargeau was captured by Jeanne and the Duke of Alencon. The Earl of Suffolk and his brother John were taken ; a third brother, Alexander de la Pole, was killed, the French peasantry refusing to give quarter4- On Wednesday, the 15th June, the Duke and the Maid marched from Orleans to near Meun, and next day attacked Beaugency, where Matthew Gough, a Welshman, was in command, as Talbot's lieutenant5. On the 17th the French were reinforced by the Constable de Richemont, who after some demur was allowed by Jeanne to join her army 6. Being now completely hemmed in, Gough that night signed articles, under which the French took possession next morning at sunrise (Saturday, 18th June). Meanwhile Lord Talbot and Sir John Fastolf were 1 See Pucelle, 303. 2 25th May ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 95 ; cf. J. Wavrin, ii. 283. 3 Pucelle, 298; de Beaucourt, ii. 214, 219. We are told that she rode " armee tout en blanc sauf la tSte ", i. e. clad in plain armour without armorial bearings, gilding, or inlaying. 4 Pucelle, 299-302; J. Wavrin, ii. 281-287; "?• de Cagny; apud Procis, iv. 12. The writer was apparently with the Duke of Alencon, his master. B De Cagny, 13 ; Proces, iii. 97. "Matago" is the French rendering of this sturdy Welshman's name. 6 Jeanne was half inclined to receive de Richemont as an enemy. His greeting of her when they first met was certainly not cordial. ' Jeanne ', said he, ' I know not whence you may be ; but if you are of God I fear you nought ; and if of the devil I fear you less'; Gruel, 755. See also Alencon's account, Proems, iii. 97 ; and P. de Cagny, 13 ; J. Wavrin, ii. 282. La Tremoille, how ever, refused to accept of the Constable's services, and both he and the Count de la Marche were sent home at once ; Gruel, 756; de Cagny, 15 ; Pucelle, 313. BA TTLE OF PAT AY. 397 bringing reinforcements from Paris. On hearing of the ch.jcxvii. fall of Jargeau they halted at Janville. Already their I429. movements had been much hampered by the active hos tility of the peasantry x Fastolf strongly urged a retreat ; but Talbot would not listen to him, declaring that he would go to Beaugency if he had to go alone. Talbot carried the day ; and the army held on its course. On the 17 th June they drew near to Beaugency, and there they found the French ready to receive them. Turning aside they halted for the night at Meun2. Early next morning the fall of Beaugency was reported ; and then the whole army, without further ado, began an orderly retreat towards Patay and Janville. The English prestige in the field was still so great that La Hire and the Duke of Alencon hesitated to attack them. 'Have you spurs on?' said the Maid, scornfully. ' Then follow the English ; " Ou nom De"!" ' 3. The French overtook the English near Coinces, some Battle of Patav two or three miles short of Patay. Talbot was informed of the enemy's approach by the ' runners of the afterguard '. The French learned the situation of the English by hearing them halloo a stag which had broken covert. Talbot ordered his army to take up a position by some hedge rows in front of Patay, undertaking to hold the road against the French with a small body of picked men, while the rest of the army got into line. The van established them selves as directed ; but, while the rest were hurrying into position, the French van under La Hire and Pothon de Xaintrailles surrounded Talbot and overwhelmed him. If the English van had held their ground the disaster Defeat might not have been serious ; but as it was they were English seized with a panic and fled. What became of the rear guard is not stated ; but the main body under Sir John 1 Pucelle, 305 ; J. Wavrin, ii. 283-285, 294-297. The writer was with the force, serving under Fastolf. 2 J. Wavrin, 288-293 ; cf. Gruel, 755. 3 So the Bastard of Orleans, Proces, iii. 10 ; and Pucelle, 306 ; cf. the statements of T. de Thermes and Alencon, Proces, iii. 98, 120. 39« HENRY VI. The Regent and the Pucelle. ch. xxvii. Fastolf, by keeping together, managed to make good their 777 retreat to Etampes, which they reached after midnight. The casualties were very heavy. Among the prisoners taken were the Lords Talbot and Scales, Sir Walter Hun- gerford the younger, and Sir Thomas Remston \ The Regent's view of the situation is given in a Memo randum drawn up by him some years later. "And alle thing there prospered for you til the tyme of the siege of Orleans taken in hand, God knoweth by what advis. At the whiche tyme after the adventure fallen to the persone of my cousin of Salysbury, whom God assoille, there felle by the hand of God, as it seemeth, a greet strook upon your peuple that was assembled there in grete nombre, caused in grete partie as Y trowe of lakke of sadde beleve (sound faith) ; and of unlevefulle (unbelieving) doubte that thei hadde of a disciple and lyme (limb) of the Feende, called the Pucelle ; that used fals enchauntements and sorcerie ; the whiche strooke and discomfiture, nought oonly lessed in grete partie the nombre of youre peuple there, but as well withdrowe the courage of the reme- nant in merveillous wyse; and couraiged youre adverse partie and ennemys to assemble them forthwith in grete nombre " 2. Careful measures were taken for the defence of Paris ; the municipality was changed, and an appeal made to the Duke of Burgundy. As reinforcements were on their way out from England, there really was nothing more that Bedford could do. On the 10th July Duke Philip appeared in Paris. He agreed to raise troops, for which the moderate sum of 20,000 francs was given to him 3. On the 14th July the story of Montereau was again rehearsed in public for the benefit of the Parisians ; and fresh oaths of allegiance were exacted Measures taken by him. 1 18th June. See Wavrin, ii. 296-304 ; Pucelle, 306-308 ; P. de Cagny, 15 ; J. Chartier, i. 85, 86 ; Gruel, 756. Fastolf met with a very bad reception in Paris, from Bedford, at first, but soon regained his confidence. 2 Foed. ix. 408 ; Proceedings, iv. 222. 9th June, 1434. 3 Stevenson, Letters, ii. 10 1, CHARLES VII CROWNED AT RHEIMS. 399 from the citizens. On the 15th a solemn procession was ch. xxvii. held, and on the 16th the Duke departed 7 It was prob- ~39 ably not without Bedford's knowledge that Burgundian envoys were privately sent to the French Court, to offer congratulations and suggest a truce2. After the victory of Patay the Maid's demand for an Joan leads advance to Rheims could no longer be resisted 3. On the Rbeims. 29th June Charles left Gien, Jeanne, in her impatience, preceding him by a day or two. Auxerre closed its gates against her ; but St. Florentin yielded, the French army swelling at every step. On the 6th July 4 Jeanne took up her position outside Troyes. The Anglo-Burgundian garrison held firm for some days : the French, in lack even of bread, were living on beans and parched corn. La Tremoille and his friends advised a retreat, when the indomitable Maid beat up all her forces for a grand assault. The garrison lost heart and capitulated 5. The fall of Troyes involved the submission of Chalons and Rheims. Charles entered the latter place on the 16th July. Next morning, Sunday, 17th July, he was fairly His 'hallowed'. The Maid, flag in hand, stood by the altar. coronation- She had kept her word ; she had relieved Orleans and crowned Charles VII 6. Certainly she had done enough to justify mankind in holding her a true Prophetess, a Sybil, a Deborah 7. 1 See J. Wavrin, ii. 307-309; Bourgeois, 239-241, and notes; Foed. ix. 432- 2 De Beaucourt, ii. 402, 403, and documents there cited. The envoys joined the French at Rheims on the r6th July. 3 For the opposition see P. de Cagny, 16 ; Pucelle, 310. 4 Pucelle, 31 r, note. Charles came on the 8th July; P. de Cagny, 18. The writer seems to have been with the army, and kept a diary. See also the letter, Proces, iv. 130. 5 9th July; Ordonnances, xiii. 142, cited Martin, vi. 186. The King entered on the 10th ; de Cagny, sup. See also Proces, iv. 278, &c. 6 See Pucelle, 310-322 ; P. de Cagny, sup. ; J. Chartier, i. 87-97 ; J. Wavrin, ii. 311-318; Martin, vi. 180-188; Proces, i. 104; iv. 288; v. 128. 7 "Sibylla Francica". Thus the Count of Armagnac sent to " enquire " of her which was ' the true Pope,' Martin V or the so-called Clement VIII. Bona Visconti asked Jeanne to reinstate her at Milan, &c. See Proces, i. 243-245 ; v. 243. 400 HENRY VI. ch. xxvii. " Jehanne, de bonne heure n£e, I42g Bdni soit eil qui te crea! Pucelle de Dieu ordonnee, En qui le Saint-Esprit rea1 Sa grand grace; et qui ot2 et a Toute largesse de haut don. Qui te rendra assez guerdon? Merlin et la Sybille et Bede, Plus de mille ans a la vei'rent En esperit, et pour remede A France en leurs escrits la mirent Et leurs proph&ies en firent. Done, dessus tous les preux passes, Ceste doit porter la couronne. Ne sai si Paris se tiendra Ne si La Pucelle attendra, Sec."3 ' Jeanne, • in lucky hour born, Blessed may thy Maker be ! Maiden fore-ordained of God, On whom the Holy Spirit shed His mighty grace; who had and has All wealth of highest gift; Who shall pay thee guerdon meet ? A thousand years ago, and more, Merlin, Baeda, and the Sybil In the spirit saw, and wrote her Cure for all the ills of France And sang of her their fateful lays. 1 Rayonna. 2 Eut. 3 Christine de Pisan : her last utterance, dated 31st July, 1429, and printed by Martin, France, vi. 192, from Jubinal ; Proces, v. 3, Sec. From the time of Jeanne's arrival at Chinon, much talk had been made of an alleged prophecy of Merlin concerning a Maid from a wood. The latter was identified with a certain Bois Chesnu, near Domremy ; Proces, i. 68 ; iii. 15, 340, &c. FRENCH ADVANCE FROM RHEIMS. 401 Thus above all bygone heroes, ch. xxvii. She must wear the crown. Nor know I, if Paris will hold out; Nor if the Maid will wait ", &c. As the true exponent of French feeling, Jeanne, without Joan the loss of a single hour, now began to demand an advance an ad7ance on Paris. On the day of the Coronation she addressed a on Paris- second appeal to the Duke of Burgundy, urging him in the name of Heaven to come to terms with his true lord King Charles. No notice was taken by the Duke of either appeal ; but his envoys at Rheims induced La Tremoille to sign a fifteen days' truce. The Maid was told that the Duke would deliver up Paris at the end of the time1. La Tremoille apparently only wished to have the King safely back at Bourges, and Charles only wished what La Tremoille wished. But the popular feeling for an advance was again too strong to be resisted. On the 21st July Charles left Movements Rheims ; on the 22nd he was at Vailly ; on the 23rd he direction. reached Soissons. Laon, Chateau Thierry, Coulommiers, Provins, hastened to offer their allegiance 2. From Soissons a short and open road led to Paris. The country people held out their arms to the King, but La TreTnoille preferred to lead him southwards to Chateau- Thierry and Provins3. The Burgundian truce may have served as a pretext ; it was a shallow pretext at the best. Meanwhile, Bedford had been strongly reinforced. On Reinforce- the 25th July 250 spears and 2500 bows4 entered Paris Engkn™"' under the leadership of Cardinal Beaufort. The army had been raised in England, under circumstances to which we 1 See Barante, vi. 12-15; de Beaucourt, ii. 400-404; and Jeanne's letters, Proces, v. 126, 139. 2 P. de Cagny, 20 ; cf. Pucelle, 321-324, and notes. 3 29th July- 2nd August; lb. * Foed. ix. 411. * D d 402 HENRY VI. ch. xxvii. shall hereafter revert, for a third crusade against the Hussites in Bohemia ; but the Cardinal, in view of the urgency of the situation, had agreed to allow the services of his men to be made over for a time to the Regent. As a further contingent of ioo spears and 700 bows had recently come out under Sir John Ratcliff1, the Regent March- for the time must have been very strong in men. On the counter- 4th August he led his forces out towards Corbeil and marchings Melun 2, to intercept the French in their southward round Paris. march3. These, hearing of his movements, advanced on the next day 4 from Provins to Nangis, as if to give battle. The Maid exulted at the prospect of action, but La Tremoille having been informed that the bridge over the Seine at Bray was still open, turned in that direction, only to find that the place had just been occupied by an Anglo- Burgundian force. Never was an army better pleased at meeting with a check than was that of La Tremoille when their leader was obliged to retrace his steps northwards to Coulommiers, La Ferte-Milon, and Crespy-en-Valois 5. On the 7th August Bedford was at Montereau, and sent a challenge to ' Charles of Valois', taunting him with being the associate of ' a disreputable female and an apostate monk ' 6. Charles received this message at Crespy on the nth August. He is said to have told the herald that he would rather seek the Duke than trouble the Duke to pursue him ; and, suiting his action to his speech, he 1 Proceedings, iii. 324, 326, 344; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 121 ; W. Gregory, 164. - 2 Bourgeois, 241, note. 3 Bedford left the Burgundian, LTsle-Adam, in command at Paris, appoint ing another Burgundian, the Bastard of St. Pol, as captain of Meaux. These politic appointments hampered the French. 4 Charles left Provins on the 5th August ; de Cagny. Jeanne writes ' on the road to Paris' that day; Proces, v. 139. 5 Pucelle, 324-326 ; Bourgeois, 242. 7th-nth August ; de Cagny, 21. 6 " De une femme desordonnee et diffamee . . . et dun frere mendiant apostat et sedicieux . . . tous deux abhominables a Dieu ". The ' apostate ' was Friar Richard, who had joined the French army at Troyes ; J. Wavrin, ii. 319-324 ; E. Monstrelet. STRATEGIC MOVEMENTS. 403 advanced next day to Lagny-le-Sec, with his van at Dam- en. xxvu 1429. martin 1 The people received their King with shouts of " Noel !" Jeanne was so moved that she wished she might die among such good people. But her confidence was breaking down under the persistent opposition of La Tremoille's faction. ' She had fulfilled her task ', she said ; she wished that "Messire" (the Lord) 'would take her back to her father's sheep ' 2. Bedford, who was keeping between the French and Paris along an inner circle, had now reached Mitry, between Dammartin and Claye. A substantial Burgundian con tingent swelled his ranks, the truce having expired. On the 13th August the two armies skirmished all day at Thieux, near Dammartin. About Vesper time, the French having fallen back towards Baron3, the English moved to Louvres, on the road from Paris to Senlis. Next day they took up a position on the Nonette, near Notre Dame de la Victoire, outside Senlis ; the French in turn making an advance from Baron to Montepilloy4 On the 15th August the two armies faced each other all The armies day in battle array, but nothing happened except skirmish- ,^frg eac ing.; the English were in a strong position, not to be attacked, and Bedford did not think it his business to bring on an action against superior numbers. On the forenoon of the 16th, again the Maid and the Duke of Alencon did their best to entice the English to action, but Bedford fell back to Senlis; and the French followed their King to Crespy. On the 18th August Charles entered Compiegne 5. "" But the King's advisers clung to the hope of a reconcili ation with Burgundy, and if the thing had been at all 1 1 2th August; De Cagny, sup.; G. Bouvier, 379; E. Hall, 151; Martin, v. 203. Lagny.le-Sec is near Nanteuil in the department of the Oise. The reader will not confound it with Lagny on the Marne. 2 Pucelle, 326 ; Proces, iii. 14. 3 Department Oise, between Nanteuil and Senlis. * De Cagny; G. Bouvier, sup. ; J. Chartier, i. 100, 101 ; Pucelle, 327. 5 De Cagny, 21-23; J- Wavrin, ii. 324-329. D d 2 404 HENRY VI. ch. xxvii. possible no blame could attach to them for such a wish. Conferences were being held at Arras ; the Duke de- Overtures manded a formal apology for the murder of his father ; from the ^g surrender of all who should be named as implicated in r rench to Burgundy, the crime ; with the exemption of himself and his vassals from all homage and duty to the Crown of France during the life of Charles VII. The King's advisers could not concede these terms. To save the appearance of an utter failure, a futile truce was signed on the 28th August. The truce was to run only from 28th September to Christmas, and was to cover only the territory on the left bank of the Seine, from Nogent to Harfleur ; Paris, and all towns actually situate on the river, being excluded. The English were to be at liberty to join under certain conditions 1. France and While La Tremoille was negotiating truces, French moille. national feeling was kindling in all directions. A breath would have fanned the sparks into general conflagration. During the conferences Senlis, Creil, Pont-Sainte-Maxence, Beauvais, Aumale, and Blangy changed hands. The Con stable de Richemont, who had been operating successfully in Maine and Perche, was at this moment threatening Evreux 2. It was admitted on all hands that a bold, prompt advance into the basin of the Somme would have raised all Picardy, and brought the English dominion to a speedy close3. The Regent was so sensible of the danger that he divided his forces, leaving Paris to the Burgundian Bishop of Therouanne, Louis of Luxem burg, while he himself took up a post of observation at Vernon 4- The Maid's enthusiasm was still at its height, an irre- 1 See de Beaucourt, ii. 404-410 ; Barante, vi. 34-41 ; and for the documents, Plancher, iv, Preuves, lxxviii ; cf. Wavrin, ii. 330—333, 335. 2 J. Wavrin, ii. 337, 338 ; E. Monstrelet, 613 ; Bourgeois, 243 ; Pucelle, 331 ; P. Cochon, 457-459. 3 So the Burgundians Wavrin and Monstrelet, sup. So the letter of J. J. des Ursins and the Tournai Chronicle, cited de Beaucourt, ii. 234; cf. J. Chartier, i. 116.4 Pucelle, 332. The Regent was at Vernon, 27th August-ist September; Stevenson, Letters, ii. m-118. ATTACK ON PARIS. A°5 sistible explosive, if properly applied, but it needed regula- ch. xxvu. tion ; and, between the party of action and the party of ^~~ inaction, she was left to her promptings 1 ; and these still impelled her to attack the English at their strongest point, and that was Paris, where the old hatred of the "Ar magnacs " was still the freshest. Without awaiting the issue of the negotiations at Arras, she left Compiegne with the van of the army on the 23rd August, and two or three days later occupied Saint-Denis without opposition 2. Two personal appeals from the Duke of Alencon were needed to induce the King to follow her. He reached Saint-Denis on the 7th September, Jeanne Joan being then at La Chapelle making preparations for an j^ga"itts of attack on Paris. The French were full of hope3. Next Paris. day she made her grand effort. The Duke of Alencon and Marshal Boussac were posted to watch the Porte Saint- Denis, while Jeanne, Marshal de Rais, and the Sire de Gaucourt attacked the Porte Saint-Honore. A barbican and an outer ditch were carried, but the King's officers had not calculated the depth of water in the inner moat. The fascines and ladders proved insufficient. Jeanne, standing on a hog's back between the two moats4, was again struck down by a missile from a cross-bow. There she lay till dark, urging her men to persevere. At last de Gaucourt rescued her and carried her off to La Chapelle. King Charles never showed his face the whole day 5. The Maid, at last, had failed in an undertaking, and that La Tre- was just what La Tremoille wanted. She was forbidden JJ-°vlled to renew the assault, and the King's immediate return to his army. Berri was announced. Jeanne was ordered to follow him. She hung up her armour at Saint-Denis and submitted. On 1 Wavrin, p. 327, taxes Jeanne with vacillation at this period. At her trial she declared that the " gentils hommes " were always urging her on, daring her to feats, like schoolboys ; de Beaucourt, ii. 238. 2 26th August; De Cagny, 24. 25th August; Bourgeois, 243. 3 " Elle (Jeanne) metra le roy dedens Paris se a lui ne tient " ; de Cagny. 4 " Sur le dos d'asne " ; Pucelle. 5 See de Cagny, 25-27; Pucelle, 332-334; Bourgeois, 224-226; Proces, i. 57. For La Tremoille's part see G. Bouvier, 379. 1429. 406 HENRY VI. ch. xxvu. the 13th September the army moved to Lagny; next day or so they crossed the Seine at Bray. On the 21st they were disbanded at Gien 7 Never was a nation more grossly betrayed. 1 P. de Cagny, 27-29 ; Pucelle, 335 ; J. Chartier, i. in ; G. Bouvier, sup. ; de Beaucourt, ii. 238, 239. The governors to rule in the North of France after Charles' return to the South were appointed on the 7th September, a proof that La Tremoille never intended the attack to succeed. So also G. Bouvier, sup., and notes to Martin, vi. 215. Further proof may be found in the fact that in the attack Jeanne was separated from her friends Alencon and de Boussac, and placed under her enemies de Rais and de Gaucourt. CHAPTER XXVIII. Henry VI (continued). Cardinal Beaufort and the Hussites. — Parliament. — Coronation. — Expedition of Henry VI to France. — Capture of Joan of Arc. To return to domestic affairs. ch.xxvih. The incident of the autumn of 1428 was the return of g Cardinal Beaufort, who had been abroad since the spring of Cardinal 1427 fighting the battles of the Papacy in Bohemia1. weaff°H in His acceptance of the Cardinalate has been held by some again. " the great mistake of his life ". It may have caused some estrangement on the part of his episcopal brethren, and it certainly '' gave Gloucester the opportunity for attack, which he had sought for in vain before " 2 . But that with the bulk of his countrymen his popularity was at all affected there is nothing to show. The country felt too strong in its independence to be any longer afraid of the Papacy. Thus, when Beaufort came home the Mayor and citizens of London received him in state, on the ist September. But the Bishop of Salisbury, Robert Neville, was the only Prelate who would meet him 3. In fact, the Cardinal came armed with a Papal Commis- The Bo ston to raise funds for the Bohemian war. ^f™ian A request for a Tenth was laid before the Convocation of war. ' For the wars in Bohemia, and Beaufort's action there, see Creighton, Papacy, ii. 37-54; and Palacky, Gesch. von Bohmen, iii. 438-467, cited Stubbs. 2 Stubbs, iii. 108. 3 Amund. i. 26. 408 HENRY VI. ch. xxviii. Canterbury on the 23rd November. The demand was 1428. allowed to lie on the table, while the assembly busied itself with examining Lollards and passingfresh ordinances against Lollardism. Finally, as if to emphasise against their refusal towards the Pope, they voted a half-Tenth to the King 7 The scope of the Cardinal's mission extended to Scotland. The Council approved of his making a journey thither, and advantage was taken of the opportunity for holding a March Day with the King of Scots. A friendly meeting was held at Coldingham (February-March, 1429), but the ready- sealed receipts for 2500 marks on account ofthe ransom with which the English envoys had been provided were brought back to be cancelled, no money being forthcoming 2- Gloncester On his return to London, Beaufort was subjected to uncle 1S a Petty attack by Gloucester. His position as Cardinal having been fully recognised, a question was raised in Council as to his right to retain the bishopric of Win chester, and specially as to his right to officiate as Prelate of the Order of the Garter at the approaching feast of St. George. The Lords refused to give a direct answer, but begged the Bishop to waive his right for the time, in consideration of the King's minority 3. A cmsade. On the main object of his mission, namely, " the pro clamation of a Cruciat" (Crusade), and the raising of an army for service against "the heretikes in Beeme", the Cardinal met with no opposition. On the 18th June an Indenture was sealed by which the King gave leave to raise 500 " speres " and 2500 " bowes ", under conditions as to their proper guidance and transport, out and home 4. The pliancy of the Council was, perhaps, the more re markable, as Bedford had been pressing for a reinforcement 1 Wilkins, Cone. iii. 493, 496, 503. 2 Proceedings, iii. 318; Rot. Scot. ii. 264, 265; Exchequer Rolls, Scotland, iv, ciii, ccvii; Devon Issues, 40S ; J. Amund. i. 33, 34. The Cardinal came to St. Albans, on his way northwards, on the 12th February, returning about the nth April. For James' ransom see the letter of Mr. W. Plardy, Exch. Rolls, sup. cciii. 3 17th, 18th April ; Proceedings, iii. 323 ; Foed. x. 414. ' Proceedings, 330-338 ; Foed. 419. CORONATION. 409 of 200 spears and 1200 bows to replace the losses of the ch.xxviii. 1429. winter \ Probably Gloucester, and perhaps others also, were only too glad to be rid of the Cardinal. The agreement with him was settled on the very day of the battle of Patay. The news of this disaster obliged the Council to reconsider The their position, and Beaufort, who saw the urgency of the £™ce j1^ case, was induced to lend the services of his men for any to the operations against the French, except sieges ; the Council undertaking to relieve him of all responsibility in the matter, and to guarantee the repayment of the expenses of the campaign 2. On the 22nd September Parliament met at Westminster, Parlia- eighteen months having elapsed since the last Parliament ment' was dissolved. The Session was opened by the King in person. The Chancellor, John Kempe, Archbishop of York, drew a dismal picture of the moral state of the country, declaring that true Faith, godly Fear, and upright Justice had alike disappeared. He called on the Commons to provide the King with means for restoring a better state of things 3- This appeal did not mean money only. It also had reference to the King's coronation, which had been resolved upon at Bedford's instance. Early in the year, before the Maid had entered Orleans, the Regent had requested that Henry might be sent over to France to rally and consoli date his party 4. " Before he could be "crowned King of France he must be crowned King of England". Up to this time Parliament had shown little interest in the course of affairs in France, as if the completion of the conquest were a matter affecting the Crown rather than the 1 Proceedings, 322. Apparently only 100 spears and 700 archers were actually raised ; Id. 326. Men were afraid ofthe Pucelle. 2 Rochester, ist July; Proceedings, 339; Foed. 421. 3 Rot. Pari. iv. 335. The Parliament was originally summoned for the 13th October, but the meeting was accelerated by writs issued on the 3rd August ; Lords' Report, i. Append. 4 The letter was laid before the Council 15th April; Proceedings, iii. 322. The request was repeated in July; Foed. 432. 410 HENRY VI. ch. xxvm. people of England. But at the reports of the victorious ^~ career of the Pucelle national pride woke up, and Bedford's wishes were at last attended to. Corona- Preparations for the coronation were made with all speed, Henry VI. Cardinal Beaufort returning from France for the event x. Gloucester received the appointment of Steward for the occasion. The Earl of Salisbury2 was deputed to repre sent Bedford as Constable. The Duke of Norfolk was Earl Marshal in his own right, and Philip Dymock King's Champion3. The state ride from the Tower to Westminster took place as usual on the eve of the coronation, thirty-two " Knyghtys of the Bathe " having been previously dubbed 4. On Sunday, the 6th November, St. Leonard's Day, the young King was duly hallowed by Archbishop Chicheley. Being " nought fully VIII yere old " he was carried in the arms of his governor — " My Lorde of Warwyke " — from the Palace to the Abbey. The miraculous phial of St. Thomas of Canterbury was again brought into use 5. The Bishops of Lichfield and Rochester6 chanted the Litany; the Cardinal, as Bishop of Winchester, celebrated Mass 7. The day ended with the usual banquet in Westminster Hall 8. England now having a duly crowned King to rule her, the office and duty of the Protector seemed to have ex- 1 J. Amundesham, i. 44. The Cardinal had been in Paris in October arranging for the transfer of the Government to the Duke of Burgundy ; Bourgeois, 245 ; Stevenson, ii. 126; cf. Amund. 43. See below. 2 Richard Neville, eldest son of the first Earl of Westmorland by his second wife, Joan Beaufort. Richard held the earldom in the right of his wife, Alice (" Aleys"), heiress of Earl Thomas, who fell at Orleans; Historic Peerage; Proceedings, iii. 324. 3 Proceedings, iv. 1, 6 ; W. Gregory, 168. 4 J. Amund. sup ; W. Gregory, 165. 5 Foed. x. 436. The warrant for its delivery out of the treasury was sealed on the day. " William Heyworth and John Langdon. 7 So J. Amund. sup., contra W. Gregory. 8 See W. Gregory, 164-170; J. Amund. sup.; Chron. London, 118, 168; Wright, Pol. Poems, ii. 141, 146. PARLIAMENT. 4" pired. The Lords Spiritual and Temporal voted that such ch.xxviii. was the case, and that Bedford and Gloucester should ~ drop the style of Protector, retaining only that of Chief The Pro- Counsellor, tectorate. On the 15th November, Gloucester gave in his resigna tion, only protesting that his act should not prejudice the position of his brother Bedford 7 This matter having been settled, the Commons produced A Subsidy a grant of a Fifteenth and Tenth, the first of the reign, to be gran raised in January, 1430. A further attack on the Cardinal ended in a triumph for him. The question having been raised whether he as Cardinal The could be allowed to sit at the King's Council table, the and the Lords voted not only that he was admissible, but that he Lords. should be specially requested to attend and take part in all proceedings in which the relations of England to the Apostolic See were not in question. This decision was notified to the Cardinal in Parliament on the 18th De cember, when he graciously returned thanks ; while the Further Commons, as if to mark their satisfaction, two days later Grants. voted a second Subsidy to be raised at Christmas, 1430, with a renewal of Tonnage and Poundage from natives till next Parliament. The Session was then adjourned to the 16th January2, 1430. The adjourned Session lasted till the 23rd February, when the Commons gave a renewal of the wool duties for two years from Martinmas, 1431 3. During the four months of actual Session a large amount of useful business was transacted, a miscellaneous Act of seven and twenty chapters being passed 4. The Statute. rules framed in 1423 for restricting the influence of the Protector and for securing the freedom of deliberation in Council were republished and extended 5. In their petitions 1 Gloucester's salary was also apparently reduced to £1333 6s. Sd. ; Proceed ings, iv. 12. 2 Rot. Pari. iv. 336-338. " Id. 341, 342. 4 8 Henry VI, Statutes. 5 Rot. Pari. 343 ; Proceedings, 59. 412 HENRY VI. 1430. Petitions. ch.xxviii. the Commons invited the attention of the Government to such matters as brigandage in Cambridgeshire and Essex 1 ; interference with the navigation of the Severn by interested parties from the Forest of Dean ; piracy on the seas ; truce breaking ; quartering of soldiers ; ' forcible entries ' on property ; false and malicious indictments ; fugitive felons ; fraudulent ' inquests of office '. As on former occasions, the crimes of violence in Cam bridgeshire were primarily ascribed to the Irish students. On this occasion, however, we find Welsh and Scotch students associated with them, but the Government refused to include the latter in the preventive measures taken. The monopoly enjoyed by the Calais Staple in respect of wool, hides, tin, and lead, was confirmed, and in fact ex tended, the existing exemptions in favour of Berwick and Newcastle being rescinded. Other measures of a tendency to hamper trade were also passed ; and the last Statute of Labourers was made perpetual ". But the enduring work of the Session was the establish ment of the Forty-shilling County Franchise. The reader is doubtless aware that from the first days of Parliamentary representation the elections of county members took place in county court. In earlier days it was a matter of policy to insist upon the general attend ance of all males over twelve years of age. Even as late as 1406 it was declared that Knights of the Shire should be elected ' freely and indifferently ' by all per sons present ' in full county ' 3. But now the complaint was that under this system in a contested election the suffrage of a man of straw might tell as much as that of the most influential man in the county. Accordingly the Act provides that from thenceforth no man shall vote at the election of a Knight of the Shire unless he be resident 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 349 ; cf. J. Amund. i. 45. The Schools at Cambridge were burnt down late in 1429, by brigands, apparently because money had been refused. So Amundesham. 2 See Statutes, and Rot. Pari. iv. 343-361. Complaints, however, were raised in the next Parliament ; Rot. Pari. 377-379. 3 7 Henry IV, cap. 15. Forty- shilling County Franchise. THE FORTY-SHILLING COUNTY FRANCHISE. 413 in the county, and possessed of a freehold tenement ofthe ch.xxviii. clear annual value of 40J. at least1. 777 Two questions of privilege also came up during the Session. The clergy demanded that persons attending Privilege Convocation, whether clerical or lay, should enjoy the same ment immunities as those attending Parliament. The petition was granted 2. The Commons complained that the servant of one of the Members for the City of London had been arrested at Westminster for a debt under a judgment recovered against him before the beginning of the Session. The Lords declined to pass any fresh measure, but ordered the man to be set at liberty, and the proceedings against him to be suspended, during the Session 3. The Duke of Bedford had returned from Normandy to Paris on the 18th September, 1429. The Pucelle and her Situation hosts had disappeared ; but the prospect was not cheering, and the Regent must have felt that the hope of conquering France had vanished from his dreams. The Duke of Burgundy was again invited to Paris, for the third time within the year. He appeared on the 30th September, bringing his' sister, the Duchess of Bedford, with him. Cardinal Beaufort, who was still in France, joined the party six days later 4. The two Dukes con ferred within Paris, while the Cardinal talked over pro posals for a truce with French envoys at Saint-Denis. Bedford apparently made up his mind to retire to Nor mandy, surrendering all the rest of France to the Duke of Burgundy; while the latter named the 1st April, 1430, for a general conference to be held under Papal mediation at Auxerre. On the 13th October the Governments of Paris, Regency of Chartres, Melun, Sens, Troyes, the Vermandois, Amiens, n^d^over 1 8 Henry VI, cap. 7. In a similar spirit a few years before it had been ordained in London that apprentices and serving-men should no longer attend the elections of Mayors and Sheriffs ; Riley, Memorials, 560. For the theoretic franchise before 1430 see Stubbs, Const. Hist. ii. 215, 237-243 ; and iii. 417, 420-425. But whatever the theory, in practice the return of the county Members appears to have rested mostly with the county magnates and the Sheriff. See Appendix A to this chapter. 2 Stat. cap. 1. 3 Rot. Pari. 357. 4 Bourgeois, 246, 247, and notes; de Beaucourt, ii. 411, 412. 4M HENRY VI. ch.xxviii. 1429. to the Duke of Burgundy. State of Paris. Frenchsuccesses. Henry VI goes over to France. Tournai, and Ponthieu — the practical Regency of France — were formally made over to Duke Philip, while the benefit of the paltry truce of Arras was extended to the City of Paris \ On the 17th October, and with a heavy heart, Bedford left Paris. " Moult laissoit envis le due de Bedfort ledit gouverne- ment, si fasoit sa femme, mais a faire leur convint"2. Burgundy took his departure for Flanders at the same time 3. Thus the unfortunate Parisians were left without effectual government within their walls, while without all was at the mercy of Armagnac bands which seemed to spring from the soil 4. By prudently retiring to Rouen, Bedford enabled the English to maintain their footing in France for twenty years, but^for the time he had enough to do. The French, following up their successes in the basin of the Seine, had captured Etrepagny 5 in September. On the 26th October they seized Torcy, not far from Dieppe. In December they stormed Louviers, and on the 24th February, 1430, they calmed Chateau Gaillard 6. While Bedford was struggling to recover these losses 7, a royal army came over under the young King in person. He crossed the Channel on the 23rd April 8 ; his forces were understood to number 1200 lances and 3500 archers ; * Bourgeois, sup. ; de Beaucourt, ii. 412, 413, and authorities there cited; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 126. The truce was subsequently extended from Christmas to Easter, 1430; de Beaucourt, 415. 2 Bourgeois, 247. Of course he was a Burgundian in his sympathies. 3 Philip went to receive his third wife, Isabella, daughter of John I of Portugal by Philippa of Lancaster. He married her at Bruges, Sunday, 8th January, 1430 ; J. Le Fevre, ii. 159-164. The 10th January, the date usually assigned to the marriage, appears to be that of the foundation of the Order of the Golden Fleece ; Barante, vi. 62. 4 Bourgeois, 248-250. 5 Department Eure, not far from Andelys. 6 P. Cochon, 461, 463, 464 ; E. Monstrelet, 620. Barbazan, the former governor of Melun, was found at ChSteau Gaillard and set free. 7 P. Cochon, sup. ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 128, 136. 8 Stevenson, 140. Gloucester was appointed Regent during Henry's absence, with special authority to hold Parliaments ; Proceedings, iv. 40 ; Foed. x. 458. HENRY VI IN FRANCE. 4T5 but unusual difficulty had been found in filling up the com- ch.xxviii. plements, the men distinctly shirking service against the I430_ " Pucelle De Dieu " 1. Cardinal Beaufort accompanied the King. Among the leaders of contingents were the Dukes of York and Norfolk; the Earls of Huntingdon, Warwick, Stafford, Arundel, Devon, and Ormonde ; and the Barons de Roos, Lovell, Beaumont, de La Warr, Welles, Grey, Morley, and Tiptoft 2. Gloucester seemed as anxious to get his uncle out of the country as the Commons were to keep him at home. Beaufort having returned to England for the coronation, as already mentioned, he was sent in February to confer with Burgundy about the proposed conferences at Auxerre. The result of his mission was a promise of Champagne and Brie to the Duke, with a guarantee for the costs of the conquest 3. Philipwas unquestionablyaiming at the dismemberment of France, but he had the dexterity to persuade the English that he only took up arms in their interests, and at their request 4. The Cardinal having only returned to England in March or April, was unwilling to cross the Channel again so soon, and he only consented to join the King's retinue on re ceiving pledges from the lay Magnates that they would act harmoniously and not ' take parties ' 5. The King was kept at Calais for three months 6, the 1 See the proclamations ; Foed. x. 458 ; Chron. London, 118 ; Chron. Giles, 11 ; E. Hall, 157. 2 Proceedings, iv. 28, 30, 36 ; Chron. London, 1 70 ; J. Wavrin, ii. 360. For the names and contingents see Issue Roll Mich. 7. For the Earls of Stafford, Arundel, Devon, and Ormonde, see Appendix B to this chapter. 3 Proceedings, 31 ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 156, 164. The English were to pay 19,500 francs per month, besides the cost of "lartillerie". £8333 6s. Sd. were paid on account in March ; Foed. 454. 4 See the papers drawn up by Hugues de Lannoy during this winter, cited de Beaucourt, ii. 415, 416; and compare the Duke's letter to Henry VI, Stevenson, ii. 156. De Lannoy had been in England in December. The foreign policy of the English Government during J430 appears to follow in every particular the suggestions of his Memorandum. 6 J. Amundesham, i. 48 ; Proceedings, iv. 3. Dissensions between the Duke of Norfolk and the Earls of Huntingdon and Warwick were feared. 6 He was still there 16th July; Stevenson, ii. 540; J. Amund. i. 52. He entered Rouen 29th July; P. Cochon, 466. 41 6 HENRY VI. ch.xxviii. troops being sent forward to operate in various quarters. 777 The conferences at Auxerre of course had been aban- 1430. doned 7 The Duke had resumed operations, as arranged with the Cardinal, as soon as Easter (16th April) was passed, and was advancing in force along the line of the Oise. None of the Norman strongholds recently won by the French had as yet been recovered ; while they, on the other hand, had added Melun to the list of their conquests 2. The Maid Suddenly the hearts of the English were cheered by the captured news that the Pucelle — the awful, the terrible Pucelle, " the by the fajs WyChe " (witch) — had fallen into the hands of the Burgun- x ' dians. Burgundians. Unable to bear the gilded inactivity in which La Tremoille sought to keep her 3, she had slipped away from Court at Sully to join her countrymen in Champagne. Peace with Burgundy, she saw well enough, would not be gained but at the point of the lance. Her ' voices ' warned her that her career was drawing to a close, but she held on resolutely, if not hopefully4. From Sully on the Loire she made her way to Melun, and from thence to the valley of the Oise, taking part in various petty operations5. Early on the morning of the 24th May6 she entered Compiegne. Siege of The place was being attacked by the Duke of Burgundy Compiegne . * , . . i by the in person, and his forces were posted in detachments along Buwundv ^ "Sht bank ofthe Oise, opposite Compiegne, at Condom, 1 For hollow suggestions of a meeting on 1st June see de Beaucourt, ii. 419. 2 See E. Monstrelet, 620-623 ; J. Wavrin, ii. 354, 355 ; J. Le Fevre, ii. 176. 3 The only operations in which she had been allowed to take part were the petty sieges of Saint-Pierre-le-Moutier and La Charitd (Nievre). Alencon was forbidden to take her into Maine ; but her family were ennobled by Patent ; De Cagny, 29 ; de Beaucourt, ii. 239. 4 Proces, i. 108, 114 ; v. 160-162. Jeanne was at Sully on the Loire 28th March, and at Melun about Easter, 16th April. 5 See Le Fevre, ii. 178; E. Monstrelet, 623, 624; Chron. London, 170; Proces, i. 147. 6 So Wavrin and Monstrelet, ' Eve of the Ascension ' ; also de Cagny, 24th May. Yet the Duke of Burgundy's letters announcing Jeanne's capture are dated 23rd May ; below. CAPTURE OF JEANNE. A17 Clairoy, Margny-le-Petit and Venette ; the latter place ch.xxviii. occupied by an English contingent under Sir John Mont- gomery 7 About five o'clock on the afternoon of the same 24th May Jeanne sallied out with the bulk of the garrison for an attack on the central point of the Burgundian position at Margny on the Montdidier road. The Burgundians there were quite unprepared for an attack, but they held their ground in the village while the alarm was carried to their friends on the right and left. The French persisting in their assault, the allies gathered round them, till they were forced to retreat. The Maid fought heroically in the rear, defending her men, till she was surrounded and cut off; an archer seized her by the leg, unhorsed her, and she was taken. The only other named leader of the party shared her fate. The exultation of the English and their followers was unspeakable. They gathered together on the banks of the river and shouted for joy 2- The very same night the Duke wrote to inform his friends that the delusion of the Pucelle might be considered at an end 3. Two days later the Vicar-General of the Inquisition in The inqui- France writes from Paris, in the name of the University, ^°js ^'eT asking that Jeanne may be given up as a disseminator of surrender. pernicious errors4. The attitude of Jeanne's enemies was thus declared. 1 Chron. London, 170; Proceedings, iv. 72. 2 See J. Wavrin, ii. 355-359; E. Monstrelet, 624; J. Le Fevre, ii. 179; and Jeanne's own statement ; Proces, i. 116 ; cf. de Cagny ; id. iv. 32. The Duke of Burgundy came down at once to see his captive. Monstrelet was with him, but strange to say he seems content to copy the account of Wavrin. The facts raise no prima facie case of treachery against Guillaume de Flavy, the commander of Compiegne. See Martin, vi. 231. The Duke of Burgundy's letter to Henry VI implies that Jeanne was well backed up ; see next note. 3 " De laquelle prise (i. e. de la Pucelle) . . . sera connue l'erreur et folle creance de tous ceux qui es faits d'icelle femme se sout rendus enclins et favorables", Sec. ; Proces, v. 166; Martin. For the letter to Henry VI see Chron. London, 170; both are dated 23rd May. 4 Proces, i. 12. * E e 41 8 HENRY VI. ch.xxviii. As for her friends, the Archbishop of Rheims, the con- ^77J, fidant of La Tremoille, writing of her capture, accepts it Passive piously as a judgment on her obstinacy and self-will ; and ofth«. cons0ies his correspondents with the intelligence that an French adequate successor has been found in the person of a young shepherd from the hills of the Gevaudan, ' who talks just as well as Jeanne ever did ' 7 As Charles VII was ruled by La Tremoille2, and as Jeanne's soldier friends, La Hire, the Bastard of Orleans, and the Duke of Alencon, had no influence, she was utterly foredoomed from the first. Failure of Apart from the capture of the Maid, the Burgundians gundian did not distinguish themselves in the campaign of 1430. campaign. Soissons surrendered to the Count of Ligny, John of Luxemburg 3 ; but every other undertaking failed. In June a grand attack on Dauphine, planned by the Prince of Orange, was brought to a close by his signal defeat at Anthon on the Rhone 4. In the same month (June) Duke Philip was obliged to detach part of his troops from Com piegne for the protection of the city of Namur, which was threatened by the men of Liege 5. In August he went off himself to take up the inheritance of Brabant, which had just fallen to him by the death of his cousin Duke Philip 6. The command at Compiegne then devolved upon John of Luxemburg and the Earl of Huntingdon, who had relieved Sir John Montgomery. The siege was kept up with some spirit till the end of October, when the tardy Court of Charles VII managed to despatch a relief force under 1 " Lequel disoit ne plus ne moings que avait faict Jehanne " ; Proces, v. 168. Martin. 2 Charles had not nerve enough to ride over a wooden bridge ; he was afraid to lodge upstairs because a floor once broke down under him, and he lived in terror of assassination. See note to Cousinot, Pucelle, 325. 3 J. Wavrin, ii. 364; J. Le Fevre, ii. 182. 4 11 June?; E. Monstrelet, 631 ; G. Bouvier, 379; Vic et Vaissette, Hist. Languedoc, iv. 4 76 ; Sismondi. Anthon is in the department of Isere, above Lyons. 5 J. Le Fevre, ii. 180, 187 ; E. Monstrelet, 626 ; de Beaucourt, ii. 38. 6 4th August; Barante, vi. 91; J. Le Fevre, ii. 182; E. Monstrelet, 629. This Philip was the second son of Duke Anthony, who fell at Agincourt. HENRY AT ROUEN. 419 Marshal de Boussac and the Count of Venddme. These, ch.xxviii. by some skilful manoeuvring, succeeded in drawing Luxem- , ,30_ burg and Huntingdon down the Oise towards Verberie ; while supplies were being thrown into the town through the Forest (ist November). The besieged at once assumed the offensive, and next day, at night-fall, Luxemburg and Huntingdon found themselves obliged to retire to Noyon 7 The English campaign, on the other hand, was marked English by moderate but continuous success. Step by step Bedford, f^und. with the help of the troops brought over by the King, re covered his hold on Normandy and Paris. Chateau Gaillard was won back in June, and Aumale and Etrepagny in July. By the second week of July the English had worked their way back to Corbeil, having previously recovered twelve places on that side of Paris. The Regent must have directed these operations in person, as we find him near Lagny on the 20th July2. Under these circumstances it was thought safe to bring young Henry from Calais to Rouen. On the 29 th July he made a State entry into the city 3. In August the Bastard of Clarence recovered Torcy4. On the 1 6th of the month Lord de Roos entered Paris, to TheEng- resume the functions which the Duke of Burgundy could the govern- no longer pretend to discharge. De Roos' administration ™eri} of lasted two days, as on the 18th August he was drowned in the Marne, to be promptly replaced by the Earl of Stafford, with the title of Constable of France. Through his exertions, and those of the Duke of Norfolk and others, Brie-Comte-Robert, Dammartin, and sundry other places in Brie, were recovered s. On the other hand, after the 1 See J. Wavrin, 375-391 ; J. Le Fevre, ii. 183; also the Duke's letter ofthe 4th November to Henry VI, pressing for two months' arrears of his subsidy, &c, Sec. ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 156, 164 ; 20,000 livres tournois were paid for 800 lances and 1000 archers for a month, from the 10th August ; Id. 101, 102. 2 Bourgeois, 255, 256; P. Cochon, 466; J. Wavrin, ii. 347; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 149. 3 P. Cochon, sup. The writer, who was present, describes him as " ung tres beau filz"- 4 J. Wavrin, sup. ; P. Cochon, 468. 5 Bourgeois, 255-260; J. Wavrin, 373, 374, 393 ; Chron. London, 170, 171. E e 2 420 HENRY VI. ch.xxviii. relief of Compiegne, Champagne and the basin of the Oise 7777 were almost wholly recovered by the French 7 On the 30th January, 1431, Bedford again entered Paris, coming by water, and bringing with him a much needed convoy of provisions 2. Henry VI was left at Rouen, with his governor Warwick, to superintend the trial of the Maid. APPENDIX A. The following facts may be taken as throwing light on the way in which county elections were managed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. One of the petitions presented in the Good Parliament of 1376 complained that Knights of the Shire were often nominated by the Sheriffs ' without due election ' 3 ; that is to say without any semblance of election. The complaint was repeated in 1406, and in consequence the Act above referred to4 was passed, requiring a certificate of the due holding of an election to be returned ; the certificate to be made in the shape of an indenture between the electors present, or the chief of them, of the one part, and the Sheriff of the other part. That made the form of an election at all events necessary. Many of these indentures have been preserved. We are told that in Yorkshire down to the year 1445 they are invariably sealed by the attorneys of 1 See the list of places; J. Wavrin, ii. 391; E. Monstrelet; also de Beau court, ii. 38, 39. The Burgundians were again twice defeated in the autumn by Barbazan ; once at Guerbigny near Montdidier, 20th November ; Le Fevre, ii. 193 ; and again at Chappes near Bar-sur-Seine, 13th December; Monstrelet, 624 ; de Beaucourt. 2 Bourgeois, 261 ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 424, 425. 3 Rot. Pari. ii. 355. See also two instances, Stubbs, iii. 435, 436. 4 7 Henry IV, u. 15. APPENDICES. 421 the great lords, and by no other persons1; a fact which ch.xxviii. may speak for itself. From East Anglia we obtain two instructive peeps behind the scenes, which may be noticed here, though the events fall later in our history. In 1450, a critical time no doubt, we find the Duke of York going down to arrange with the Duke of Norfolk for the repre sentation of Norfolk and Suffolk in the coming Parlia ment. Having made their choice the two Dukes impart their decision to the Earl of Oxford, leaving it to him to make the necessary arrangements 2. Again, in 1472, we have the representation of Norfolk settled by the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk. But it is important to notice that the affair was arranged with a due regard for constitutional appearances. The Dukes' decision was not proclaimed on the house-tops. It was kept a secret till the day of the election. Sir John Paston wished to be returned, and up to the day of the election fancied that he was to be nominated. When the actual state of the case transpired a party of his men who had been brought into Norwich to assist at his election were sent home again without being allowed to attend the meeting 3. APPENDIX B. The Earl of Stafford was Humphrey Stafford, after wards Duke of Buckingham (Table V). The Earl of Arundel (so styled) was John of Arundel IV : he succeeded his father, John of Arundel III, in 1421, but as yet had only been summoned to Parliament as Lord Arundel. He was not recognized as Earl of Arundel till 1433 4. The name Fitz Alan, as usually given to this 1 Stubbs, iii. 424. 2 Paston Letters, i. 160. 3 Id. iii. 52. 4 See Rot. Pari. iv. 443. 422 HENRY VI. ch.xxviii. family in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, is a mere _ invention of later times, unknown to the persons supposed to have borne it. The Earl of Devon was Thomas Courtenay, who suc ceeded his father, Hugh, in 1422. The Earl of Ormonde was James Butler IV, who suc ceeded his father in 1405. He had held the highest offices there. CHAPTER XXIX. Henry VI (continued). Trial and Execution of the Maid of Orleans. — Coronation of Henry VI in Paris. — Truce between Burgundy and France. THE capture of Jeanne at Compiegne had been effected ch. xxix. by men serving under the Bastard of Wandomme, himself a follower of John of Luxemburg. Accordingly, she had been placed under the charge of Luxemburg, who sent her first to Beaulieu near Noyon, and thence to Beaurevoir, near Saint-Quentin, in the Vermandois 7 No notice was taken of the application of the University of Paris. Philip the Good did not intend to spare the Maid, but he wished to secure the benefit of her ransom for his followers. The University of Paris could not offer to pay this, but the English authorities could. On the 14th July Pierre Cauchon, Bishop of Beauvais, a creature of the Anglo- Burgundian party 2, presented himself to the Duke in his camp at Compiegne. He demanded Jeanne as having Joan of been apprehended within the limits of his diocese, and he ^rc7!olcl supported his demand by fresh letters from the University Duke of 1 E. Monstrelet, 625 ; Proces, i. 95, 109, 163. Jeanne was at Beaurevoir August-November ; Proces, v. 382. If so she must have been at Beaulieu all June and July. 2 For his career see Martin, vi. 237. He had represented the Burgundian party at Constance ; raised by them to the see of Beauvais, in 1420, he had been expelled by the people in August, 1429. In the following December he had been recommended by the English to the Pope for the Archbishopric of Rouen; Proceedings, iv. 10. 434 HENRY VI. CH. XXIX. 1430. Burgundy to the English, and taken to Rouen. An Eccle siasticalCourt ap pointed to try her. of Paris, and an authority from Henry VI to offer 10,000 francs for the captive. On those terms the bargain was concluded 1. Great was Jeanne's agony when she learned that she had been 'sold to the English'. After severe struggles with herself she threw herself from her place of confine ment in the tower of Beaurevoir. She was picked up in an insensible condition, and for two or three days could neither eat nor drink. At her trial she admitted that the ' voice ' of St. Catherine had condemned what seemed a plain attempt at self-destruction, but that she had ' com mended herself to God ', hoping to escape the hands of the English 2. From Beaurevoir she was taken by the Burgundians as quietly as possible to Arras, and from thence to Crotoy. There she was delivered into the hands of the English (November). Before the close of 1430 she was safely im mured at Rouen 3- The Rouen Chapter having granted a territorial faculty to the Bishop of Beauvais, he proceeded to take evidence and constitute his Court. Among the assessors were some of the most distinguished members of the University of Paris, Jean Beaupere, Guillaume Erard, Thomas de Cour- celles 4. To secure the support of Papal authority the local Vicar of the Inquisition was invited to assist. He declined, on the ground that his commission, only extend ing to the province of Rouen, did not warrant his taking part in proceedings connected with the See of Beau vais 5. Application was then made to the Inquisitor- 1 Proces, i. 8-15. The money was paid out of a subsidy of 120,000 francs obtained by Bedford from the Norman Estates, in August, 1430 ; Martin, vi. 242 ; Proces, v. 178-192. 2 Proces, i. 150-152, 169, 266. Jeanne had previously attempted to escape from Beaulieu. The saving of her life at Beaurevoir was claimed as a miracle ; Bourgeois, 268. 3 Proces, v. 382 ; Martin, vi. 244. 4 See Martin, 250 ; Proces, i. 29, 30, and notes ; Vallet de Viriville, Hist, de Charles VII, vol. ii. 208. 6 Proces, i. 31-35. EXAMINATION OF JEANNE. A^5 General, a native of Normandy. He sent a special com- ch. xxix. mission, by virtue of which the Vicar eventually took his ,.„ seat beside the Bishop x. A prima facie case having been made out, Jeanne was Her ex- produced for examination on the 21st February. Between ^officio. that day and the 17th March she was interrogated on twelve different days, two sittings being sometimes held in one day 2. Every available fact in her life was raked up ; Her but the questioning mainly turned on her ' voices ' and her a^ her visions. Of the objective reality of these she had no visions. doubt whatever. ' She had seen St. Michael and his angels as clearly as she saw her judges there'3; she had not only seen but embraced both St. Catherine and St. Margaret ; she had felt the warmth of their flesh ; had smelled the fragrance of their breath 4. Being pressed to say how she knew St. Catherine from St. Margaret ; how they were robed, how they wore their hair, she declined to particularise 5. ' But they wore crowns, and they spoke French — excellent French — certainly not English ' e. The voices were always with her in great crises 7 ; she had heard them once that day, and thrice the day before8. They had told her to answer boldly, and that God would help her. The first voice had come to her when she was thirteen years old ; she was much alarmed at the time ; the voice came about mid-day, in the summer time, in her father's garden. She had fasted the previous day ; she heard a voice and saw a great light9- These details no 1 13th March. The Commission from the Inquisitor-General was dated Coutances, 4th March; Proces, i. 122-134; Vallet de Viriville, ii. 196. The Papacy at the time was practically vacant, Martin V having died on the 20th or 2 ist February, while the new Pope, Eugenius IV, was only elected on the 4th March. No subsequent attempt, however, was made to arrest the proceed ings. Eugenius was by birth a Venetian, " Gabriel Condolmier " ; Creighton ; H. Nicolas. 2 Proces, ii. 342, 365. Three hours at a time she was sometimes kept. 3 Id. i. p. 73, again 173. 4 Id. 185, 186. 5 Id. 85, 86, 93, 143, 153, 177. 6 Id. i. 86. 7 Id. 169; "en ses grans afaires". 8 Id. 61. 9 Id. 52. Jeanne had also been fasting on the day when she heard the voices thrice. 426 HENRY VI. CH. XXIX. 1431- Attempts on the Maidby her keepers. Exhibition of Articles doubt were wrung from her by cross-examination ; all that she wished to insist on was a general inspiration. ' She had done nothing save by the command of God ' 7 On the subject of the sign given by her to Charles VII she was resolutely silent2. With regard to her male attire also she shewed great tenacity; she admitted that she had been repeatedly urged to leave it off; but she had taken it by God's command, and could not leave it off without3. At Easter she asked to be allowed to communi cate. She was told she might if she would change her dress ; after some fencing, she finally refused to take the Sacrament on that condition 4. Jeanne's motives for her original assumption of male attire may be left to conjecture. During her captivity it would seem that her keepers, Burgundians as well as English, supplied her with a fresh reason for retaining that dress. Both — to their shame be said — made de liberate attempts to violate her modesty, in the hope of breaking her spell. As Sampson's strength lay in his locks, so the charm of the Pucelle lay in her virginity. The name of the Earl of Warwick is actually connected with one of these foul attempts 5. The proceedings ex officio having been concluded, sixty- nine formal Articles were exhibited against Jeanne. She was charged with being a sorceress or, at any rate, a pseudo- prophetess ; a blasphemer of God and the Saints ; a thirster for blood ; one lost to all sense of womanly shame, who had allowed divine honours to be paid to herself6. This last charge was made in the teeth of Jeanne's assertions that she had done her utmost to resist undue honours being paid to herself7. The charge of sorcery was based on the admission that as a child she had danced around 1 " Nihil fecit nisi de praecepto Dei " ; Proces, i. 75 Id. 45, 90 ; cf. 1 19. 4 ld. 165, 191-193. 5 See Proces, ii. 4, 300, 365; iii. 121, &c. eventually intervened to protect her; iii. 155. 6 27th, 28th March ; Proces, i. 197-323. 7 Id. 206. Id. 94-96, 176. The Duchess of Bedford JEANNE'S DEFENCE, 4»7 a traditional fairies' tree at Domremy on Mid-Lent ch. xxix. Sundays1. I43I. Jeanne made a spirited defence, unaided by counsel. TheMaid's Her answers throughout exhibit a curious mixture of^rself^ shrewdness and simplicity. Apart from the refutation of untrue allegations, her defence was that she was com missioned by Heaven, and that by Heaven alone she ought to be judged2. This no doubt was Jeanne's own view of her position. But she had been inveigled into assuming an attitude of unnecessary antagonism to recognised in stitutions by the subtlety of her judges, who, while pressing her to submit her whole case to Holy Mother Church, had pointed out, as if casually, the distinction to be taken between the Church Militant on earth, consisting of Pope, Cardinals, Clergy, and good Christians ; and the Church Triumphant in Heaven. Jeanne, of course, immediately answered that she stood before the Church Triumphant in Heaven 3, and that she could only accept the authority of the Hierarchy, subject to an ultimate appeal to God 4. The month of April was spent in submitting to chosen Opinions Divines passages culled from Jeanne's answers. All gave of Dlvines hostile opinions ; the alleged visions must be held to be either delusions or emanations of the Evil One5. The efforts of the prosecution were then directed towards obtaining from Jeanne a submission to the Church as represented by themselves, or, in other words, a con fession of guilt. On the 2nd May she was publicly admonished in hall, and her answer was, " Je me actens a Dieu mon criateur de tout; je Vayme de tout mon cuer " 6. On the 9th May, at a private sitting, she was threatened with torture. The instruments were exhibited, with the 1 Proces, i. 67, 212 ; ii. 391, 427. The tree, a beech, was locally known as "le beau may" ; " l'arbre des Faees "; and " Aux-loges-les-Dames ", ' the Ladies' Bower'. The last name is very noteworthy, and doubtless of high antiquity. 2 Id. i. 205. 3 Id. i. 162, 176. See also Martin, France, vi. 266-272. 4 "Deo primitus servito"; Proces, i. 324-326. 5 Id. 326-374. 6 Id. 381-398 ; " actend ", MS. de Urfe, i. e. wait upon, trust in ; see p. 401. 428 HENRY VI. ch. xxix. executioners all ready. She said that since the last jTT" sitting St. Gabriel had comforted her, and told her that if she wished God to deliver her she must leave all to Him1. Torture was spared 2, but no further mercy was shewn. A final On the 19th May a special Court of fifty-one assessors stituted°n" was ^eld to ^ear letters ar)d opinions from the University of Paris. The opinions coincided with those of the Norman Divines 3. The letters begged the King of Eng land and the Bishop of Beauvais to bring the ' scandalous offenses' of the "Pucelle" to speedy justice4. The Court having resolved that the proceedings must close, on the 23rd May twelve selected Articles, with the opinions of the University of Paris, were read to Jeanne. She was exhorted to submit to the Church — the Church Militant. She adhered to her former answers. ' If she; saw the faggots laid and the torch ready she could say nothing else'5. The proceedings were then closed, and the morrow appointed for judgment and execution 6. Treach- In the interval, however, efforts were privately made to turesStoVer" induce Jeanne to submit, and she was promised that she ter- would be transferred to an ecclesiastical prison and allowed a female attendant7. These overtures were not made with any intention of sparing poor Jeanne, but partly to gain the triumph of a recantation, partly to establish against her a case of relapse. The Stake was properly applicable to cases of relapse, and a case of relapse could always be made out against an offender who had once recanted. The recantation would also tell against Charles VII and his party ; they would now stand as the sup porters of a self-convicted heretic and schismatic 8. 1 Proces, i. 399-401. 2 Id. 402. " Id. 411-422. 4 " Escandes faultes et offenses ", 407-410. The letters were dated 14th March. 3 "Si n'en dyroit elle autre chose"; id. 429-441. 6 Id. 442. 7 See the evidence of Jean Beaupere, who took the message; Proces, ii. 21 ; also iii. 54, 60, 175. 8 See Proces, ii. 353 ; iii. 168 ; de Beaucourt, ii. 247. A RECANTATION. 429 On the morning of the 24th May a grand function was ch. xxix. arranged in the churchyard of Saint-Ouen. Cardinal 143I, Beaufort and the Bishops of Norwich, Therouanne and Noyon1 occupied seats with the judges on one platform, while Jeanne was set on high on another platform, with the notaries and an appointed preacher. The executioners stood by with their wain 2, ready to take the victim to the Old Market (vieux-Marchi). At the close of his discourse the preacher turned to Jeanne, and for the last time called on her to submit. Jeanne declared herself willing to refer her case to the Pope if they would take her to him, or to any tribunal except the actual one 3. That would not do. Bishop Cauchon was beginning to deliver judgment She is when Jeanne gave way, and eventually affixed her mark to sign a re. a paper which was tendered to her. By this she was made cantation. to confess that her revelations were lying impostures, and that she had also grievously sinned by bearing arms and wearing male attire. She pledged herself never again to offend in like manner 4. A modified sentence condemning Modified Jeanne to the bread and water of affliction for life was ^ce then passed, and she was remanded to her English gaol, upon her. In the afternoon she resumed female dress and altered the cut of her hair5. All this happened on Thursday, 24th May. On the following Saturday or Sunday it was reported Jeanne re- that Jeanne had resumed the male attire which, in fact, apses' had never been removed from her cell 6. On Monday, 28th May, the judges visited her in prison, and asked why she had broken her word. She answered that faith had not been kept with her ; she was to have 1 The French Bishops were Louis of Luxemburg (Therouanne) and Jean de Mailly (Noyon). 2 Quadriga. 3 Proces, i. 445 ; ii. 4, 349. " Tu abjureras ou tu sera arse " {burnt) was the preacher's last word ; ii. 17. 4 " Je confesse que j'ay tres griefment pechie, en faignant mencongeusement avoir eu revelations ", Sec. ; Proces, i. 447. See also ib. ii. 17, 331, 361 ; iii. 55, 64. H7, 157- 5 Proces, i. 450-453- 6 Id. ii. 18, 21 ; iii. 148, 158. i43i- 430 HENRY VI. ch. xxix. been removed to an ecclesiastical prison, and allowed a female assistant. Nothing of this had been done. The fetters on her legs and the systematic insults of her gaolers had obliged her to discard the dress proper to her sex1. The judges then enquired concerning St. Catherine and St. Margaret, and if their ' voices ' had been heard since last Thursday? Most assuredly they had, said Jeanne. They had told her from God 'the great pity' of the ' treason ' she had committed in denying them to save her life. How could she say that God had not sent her when He had sent her? If the judges wished it she would resume female dress, 'but that was all that she could do'2. Final con- Two more days brought the long-drawn agony to a demnation. dose_ Qn ^ %^ May & fujj Court hejd ^^ jeanne was guilty of relapse, and that she must be dealt with ac cordingly 3. Next morning at seven o'clock two Friars Preachers were sent to intimate her doom and offer the last Sacraments. It is doubtful whether till then she had fully realised her danger i. At nine she was taken to the Execution. Old Market. Another cruel sermon was preached over her, and then definitive sentence was passed upon her as an obstinate and relapsed heretic, a rotten branch to be cut off5 and handed over to the secular arm. The sen tence ended with a hypocritical recommendation to mercy ' saving life and limb ' 6. The secular arm however, in the person of a lay judge sitting ready on the scaffold, at once delivered her to the executioner with the simple direction 1 Three men slept in the room with Jeanne. See Proces, i. 454, 455 ; ii. 5 ; iii. 61, 149, 164, 168. The statement of the apparitor Massieu (ib. ii. 18, 333, and iii. 157), that the English actually compelled Jeanne to resume male dress by removing her female dress, though adopted in the Proces de Rehabilitation, appears to be contradicted by Jeanne's statement as reported by all the other witnesses. 2 Proces, i. 456-458 ; "du residu elle n'en fera autre chose" 3 " Tanquam contra relapsam esse procedendum " ; Proces, i. 467. 4 Id. i. 467-469 ; ii. 3-8. Jeanne appears to have entertained hopes of miraculous intervention till the last ; the French shared her hopes, and the English had some fears; id. ; also i. 478, 483 ; iii. 191. 5 " Te tanquam membrum putridum ", Sec. c "Citra mortem et meuibrorum mutilationem " ; Id. i. 472. JEANNE'S EXECUTION. 431 "Fay ton office!" At her request a Crucifix was brought from ch. xxix. a church and held before her eyes. She died calling for I43I, help on Christ and the Saints \ To ensure utter anni hilation her ashes were carefully collected and thrown into the Seine 2. That no attempt to save Jeanne was made by the Court No effort of Charles VII may be taken as certain 3. The question j£aaaeVbyher remains, what power had they of intervening with effect ? Charles One at any rate, which, in the hands of a Du Guesclin, would have been quite sufficient — retaliation. Lord Talbot was still in French hands4 Had the Duke of Bedford been made to understand that, whatever Jeanne suffered Talbot should suffer, he could never have sent her to the stake. The tender of Jeanne's paltry ransom would have satisfied all the requirements of mediaeval warfare. The English hatred of Jeanne was merely political ; the French hierarchy hated her with a theological hatred ; the French gentry hated her for her piety and her peasant birth. Thus poor Jeanne stood alone with the people of France, and they for the time were of no account. As a political measure the execution was not without Effect of results ; it checked for a time the uprising of French tion nationality, and it enabled the English to achieve the great pageant of crowning Henry VI as King of France. The course of military events had become more favour- English able. During the trial the Duke of Bedford had re- ^f63 covered Gournay-sur-Marne, Montjoy, near Lagny, and neld- Coulommiers, but failed to win Lagny 5- In August a plan 1 See Proces, i. 469-472 ; and the accounts of the clergy who were present ; id. ii. 6-20. For the circulars issued by the English see Proces, i. 489 ; J. Wavrin, ii. 397 ; E. Monstrelet. At the Proces de Rehabilitation some stress was laid upon the fact that no formal sentence was passed upon Jeanne by the lay judge. It is not easy to see how the omission of such a mere technicality could strengthen the case either for Jeanne or against her enemies. 2 Proces, iii. 186, 188. 3 The failure even of M. de Beaucourt to find any trace of such action is conclusive ; see his History of Charles VII, ii. 240, &c. 4 He was only exchanged for Pothon de Xaintrailles in 1433. See G. Bouvier, 384; Foed. x. 507, 553, Sec. 5 March, 143 1 ; Bourgeois, 263 ; J. Wavrin, iii. 393 ; G. Bouvier, 384. 43 a HENRY VI. CH. xxix. 1431. Henry VI entersParis. His coro nation as King of France. was laid at Beauvais for a coup de main on Rouen ; but the English were beforehand. The Earl of Warwick met the French at Savignies, near Beauvais, and defeated them. Pothon de Xaintrailles was taken prisoner, and with him the intended successor of the Pucelle, the idiot shepherd-lad of the Cevennes 7 The all-important siege of Louviers, between Rouen and Paris, had been purposely delayed till after the execution of the Maid. It was begun early in June. On the 25th October the place capitulated 2. The road to Paris was now clear. On the 30th November Henry rested at Saint-Denis 3. Two days later the young King entered his capital. The captive shepherd 4 graced the procession. The King's retinue included Cardinal Beaufort, the Bishops of Paris, Therouanne, Noyon, Bath, and Norwich ; the Dukes of Bedford and York ; and the Earls of Warwick, Salisbury (Neville), and Suffolk. The aristocracy of France were con spicuous by their absence. As Henry passed the H6tel Saint-Pol he exchanged salutations with his grandmother the Queen Dowager of France, Isabeau of Bavaria, one of the chief instruments of the treaty of Troyes. That night he rested at the Regent's residence, the Tournelles ; but, pending the preparations for the coronation, it was thought prudent to remove him to Vincennes. On Sunday, the 16th December, he was crowned King of France in Notre Dame s. The hallowing sanction was imparted by the hands of the Cardinal of England. France was only represented in name. The state banquet was a most scrambling affair ; cold viands predominated. The mob had gained a footing in the hall early in the day, 1 G. Bouvier, sup.; Bourgeois, 272 and note; J. Wavrin, 394; J. Chartier, i. 132. About this time the Regent was again nearly intercepted; Bourgeois. 2 Proces, ii. 3 ; Bourgeois, 273 and note. 3 Bourgeois, 274. 4 He disappeared at the end of the day. Le FeVre understood that he had been thrown into the Seine ; ii. 264. 5 For the ceremonial and pageants, Scriptural, social, and fantastic, see Bourgeois, 274, Sec. ; J. Wavrin, iv. 4; E. Monstrelet, 631, &c. BATTLE OF BULGNJEVILLE. A33 and were not to be got rid of. Civic and Academic func- ch. xxix. tionaries had to battle for seats with cobblers and tap- sters 7 The Burgundian campaign of the year witnessed some vicissitudes. It began badly. In the first half of the year the Duke's men suffered one or two more defeats, and lost several more places in Champagne2. The Duke shewed such discontent that the English Council at Rouen promised to place 600 spears and 1200 bows at his disposal for operations in Picardy during July and August 3. A war of succession in Lorraine enabled the Bur- Disputed gundians to some extent to retrieve their laurels. Charles in Lor- II, Duke of Lorraine, died in January, 1431, leaving his Ta-ine- inheritance, as he thought, to his daughter Isabella, who was married to Rene" of Anjou, Duke of Bar4. But a competitor sprang up in the person of Anthony of Lor raine, Count of Vaudemont, the nephew of the late Duke, who claimed the Duchy as a male fief. Rene' being thoroughly French in his politics, Anthony received the immediate support of the Duke of Burgundy. The Estates of Burgundy voted a subsidy for the war, and the Bur gundian Marshal, Toulongeon, led an irregular force into Lorraine. On the 2nd of July Rend met him near Bul- gneville5- The Burgundians took post in the English style — on foot — with their archers on the wings, protected by stakes, the horses and baggage being parked in the rear. Rend insisted on charging the dismounted lances with the heavy German cavalry which formed the strength of his force, and was overthrown at a blow. He himself 1 Bourgeois, 277, 278. 2 See de Beaucourt, ii. 40, and authorities there cited. 8 17th April and 28th May. See the documents; Plancher, Hist. Bour gogne, iv, Preuves, Ixxxv, &c. ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 1 88 ; de Beaucourt, «• 437- 4 Ren6 was younger brother of Louis III, titular King of Naples, brother also of Charles of Anjou, of the Queen of France, and father of Margaret of Anjou. 5 Department Vosges, S. of Neufchateau. * Ff 434 HENRY VI. i43i- ch. xxix. was taken prisoner, and Barbazan, his chief captain, was killed \ The satisfaction of this triumph, coupled with a sense of the difficulties of the struggle in which he was embarked, induced Duke Philip at last to turn towards his liege lord of France. On the 8th September a limited truce for two years was signed at Chinon. This preliminary was followed by a further treaty, signed at Lille on the 13th December, by which the truce was made general, and its duration ex tended to six years2. The efforts of a Papal Legate, Cardinal Albergati, originally accredited by Martin V, and after his death by Eugenius IV, conduced to this result 3. Truce betweenBurgundyandFrance. 1 See J. Le Fevre, ii. 258; E. Monstrelet, 647-651; G. Bouvier, 383; Sismondi, France, xiii. 197-202 ; de Beaucourt, ii. 41 ; Barante; Plancher. 2 See de Beaucourt, ii. 438-442 ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 196 ; Plancher, Bourgogne iv, Preuves, lxxxix and ciii. 3 Martin V died 20th February, 1431 ; see above, 423 note. Albergati, Cardinal of Santa Croce, visited first Charles VII, then Henry VI, then the Duke of Burgundy. The English declared that they could do nothing without the Duke of Burgundy ; Plancher, sup., xciv. For his letter to Henry, notifying the truce, see id. cix. Philip had reserved power to serve Bedford with 500 lances ; id. cxl. CHAPTER XXX. HENRY VI (continued). In England a Parliament had met at Westminster oncHAP.xxx. the 1 2th January (1431). i^7. The Chancellor being ill, the proceedings were opened Parliament by Dr. William Lyndwood \ ^teef ' No reference was made to foreign affairs ; and the pic ture of the domestic state of the realm was not more cheerful than that exhibited at the opening of the last Session. Harmony, peace and justice were the blessings England sighed for, but did not enjoy2. The Commons, however, again made liberal grants, per- Money haps through the influence of Cardinal Beaufort, who had Grants- been sent over to attend the Parliament3. A Subsidy was granted, to be raised on the nth November, 1431, with a third of another Subsidy, to be raised at Easter, 1432. A special Subsidy was also granted in the shape of a land-tax, at the rate of 10s. on the Knight's fee of lands held in chivalry, and the same on every £10 a year in land or rent held by socage tenure. This was to be paid on the 25th June, 1431 4. Tonnage and Poundage x Compiler of the " Constitutions '', the last code of the English Church before the Reformation; and appointed Bishop of St. Davids in 1442. 2 Rot. Pari. iv. 367. 3 Beaufort came over 20th December, 1430 ; and returned to Rouen for the last act of the Maid's trial, 23rd April, 1431 ; Proceedings, iv. 79. 4 This impost was remitted in 1432, on account of doubts and difficulties attending the collection of it ; Rot. Pari. 409. F f 2 436 HENRY VI. chap. xxx. were renewed to the nth November, 1432, at existing ~~ rates for natives, goods imported by foreigners being sub jected to extra duties of 3s. and 6d. respectively 7 The wool duties were also prolonged to Martinmas, 1434, at existing rates2. Power was again taken to give security to the amount of ^50,000 for advances made or to be made 3. On the subject of the continuance of the war Parlia ment gave an expression of opinion in some respects more A wish for distinct than any yet given. Lords Spiritual and Tem- pea poral and Commons joined in ' ordaining and advising ' that the King's uncles were at liberty to treat for peace, on any terms that might be thought " covenable and expedient ". This was said with express reference to the reported mission of Cardinal Albergati, " and also con sideryng the birdon of the werre, and howe grevous and hevy it is to this lande ; and howe behoffull therfore the pees (peace) were to hit( it) " 4. Hitherto such hints as these had been conveyed by the mouth of the Commons only. The Lords could now speak for themselves, because there was no King to overawe them. Lollard The event of the year was a Lollard demonstration stration". against the hierarchy, who throughout the reign had been most active in the work of persecution 5. Apart from gentler " disciplinings ", a priest had been burnt in 1423 c. In 1428 Wycliffe's bones had been 1 Natives would thus pay $s. the tun of wine, and is. on the £1 value of general goods ; while foreigners would pay 6s. the tun of wine, and is. 6d. on the £1 value of goods. 2 Namely, '40s. natives, and 53J. ^d. aliens, in all'; Rot. Pari. iv. 368-370. The total of 63*. 415?. imposed on foreigners in 1422 had been promptly reduced ; Proceedings, iii. 35. The Convocation of Canterbury granted a half- Tenth 21st March ; Wake, 365. 3 Rot. Pari. 374. 4 Rot. Pari. 371. The Session rose 20th March. For the Statute passed 9 Henry VI, see Statutes. The prohibition of the last Parliament against dealing with foreigners on credit was rescinded ; cap. 2. 5 Henry V was understood to have commended his son to the spiritual charge of Thomas Netter of Walden, the reputed compiler of the Fasciculi Zizaniorum ; q. v. p. lxx. 6 William Taylor; Fascic. Ziz. 412. LOLLARD MOVEMENT. A37 exhumed and burnt1. Two priests and a layman had chap, xxx suffered in the same year2, two laymen and a priest I43I. in 1430 3, while another priest was sacrificed in March, 143 1 4- This seemed to fill up the measure of lay irritation. In Scheme of May handbills were circulated in the name of " Jack ^sne"f°w" Sharpe of Wigemoresland ", reviving the scheme of 1410 vived. for the confiscation of the temporalities of the higher clergy, and their appropriation to secular purposes, in cluding the relief of the poor 5. The reference to the House of Wigmore was alarming, and the Government acted with vigour and promptitude. Rewards were offered and numerous arrests made. William Perkyns, alias Mandeville, Bailiff of Abingdon, The was arrested at Oxford on the 17th May. He was exe- ™°J^nt cuted there a few days later, in the presence of the Lord Protector. Other arrests were made at Salisbury, Coventry, and London. No mercy was shewn ; all persons im plicated being treated as guilty of high treason. Thus the movement was speedily crushed 6. Flushed with this success, of which he took care to Gloucester make the most, Gloucester renewed his attack on his uncle Cardinal Henry, who was still abroad with the King. On the 6th Beaufort. November the legal officers of the Crown laid before the Council the precedents of Archbishops Kilwardby and Langham, who on promotion to the Cardinalate had re signed their Sees. 1 This was done by the Bishop of Lincoln, Richard Fleming, in pursuance of orders from the Pope, executing a decree of the Council of Constance ; Lewis, Wiclif, 136. 2 Pye, Whyte, and Whaddon ; Rogers, Prices, iii. 676. For Whyte's exam ination see Fascic. Ziz. 417. 3 R. Hunden or Hoveden, a nameless tiler, and W. Calais. 4 R. Bagley. See W. Gregory, 149, 163, 171 ; J. Amund. i. 29, 46, 50, 51 ; Chron. London, in annis; J. Fox, i. 748-758. The sufferers were mostly from the Eastern counties. 5 See a copy of the handbill printed by Mr. Riley in J. Amund. i. 453. A thousand priests were to be added to the parochial clergy, besides provision for the poor. 6 Proceedings, iv. 89, 99, 107 ; J. Amund. i. 63 ; W. Gregory, 172 ; Chron. Giles, 12 ; Chron. London, 118 ; R. Fabian, 602 ; Devon Issues, 413. 438 HENRY VI. chap. xxx. The Protector asked the Bishop of Worcester if it was 777 not the fact that Beaufort had procured from Rome docu ments exempting him from the jurisdiction of his Metro politan. The Bishop with some hesitation admitted that the Bishop of Lichfield, Beaufort's proctor, had informed him to that effect. The Lords The Lords, however, agreed in asking for further pre- c?rd°nilhe cedents, and that 'the parties' should be duly cited according to law 1, the Cardinal being abroad with the King. A few days later, however, Gloucester obtained an order for a writ of praemunire against the Cardinal ; but again the Lords added a proviso respiting execution till the King's return 2. The King On the 27th December the young King left Paris for England? Rouen and Calais 3. The Parisians were not a little dis appointed with the results of his visit. They had done their best in their poverty and distress to give him a hearty reception. But the Royal presence had not re flected any great acts of grace. No taxes had been remitted, nor had any general amnesty been published 4. On the 6th or 7th January, 1432, he reached Calais5. On the 9th February he crossed the Channel 6. On St. Valentine's Day (14th February) he made a state entry into London, ' offering ' at St. Paul's, and so riding on to Westminster 7 1 Proceedings, iv. 100 ; Foed. x. 479. 2 28th November. Gloucester's salary, which had been reduced in 1429 to 2000 marks, was now raised to 6000. Hungerford, the Treasurer, suggested 4000 marks, but Lord Scrope, Humphrey's friend, carried the higher figure against him ; Proceedings, 104 ; Devon Issues, 414. 3 W. Gregory, 173. The King was still in Paris on the 26th ; on the 27th he was at Saint-Denis ; on the 4th January, 1432, at Rouen ; Longnon, Paris pendant la Domination Anglaise, 338-40. (Soci&e de l'Histoire de France.) 4 Bourgeois, 279 ; the University of Paris, however, received a remission of taxation, well earned by their zeal in the matter of the Pucelle ; the citizens received a confirmation of existing rights, with a grant of some Armagnac property ; Longnon, sup. 324, 333, 334. 5 "The XII even"; W. Gregory. 6 Chron. London, 119 ; Chron. Giles, 13. 7 See W. Gregory, 173-175; Chron. Lond. Henry signs at Westminster on the 16th February ; Foed. x. 500. PARLIAMENT. 439 Cardinal Beaufort had been left in France busy with chap. xxx. negotiations. Gloucester took advantage of his absence I4J2. to effect sweeping changes in the Ministry and the King's New surroundings, doubtless using his natural influence with the Mimstry- young King, as his nearest relative, to effect his purpose1. We have already seen that in 1425 Humphrey aimed at getting the control of the King's person in order to govern in his name. Archbishop Kemp was now made to surrender the Great Seal in favour of John Stafford, Bishop of Bath. Lord Hungerford left the Treasury to make way for Lord Scrope ; Sir William Philip became Chamberlain in the place of Lord Cromwell ; while Sir Robert Babthorp relieved Lord Tiptoft of the Stewardship of the House hold 2. Kemp, as well as Hungerford, had recently opposed Humphrey in the matter of an increase of salary 3. Writs were also issued summoning Parliament to meet at West minster on the 12th May4. A few days before the time Privy Seals were addressed to the Duke of Norfolk, the Earls of Suffolk, Huntingdon, Stafford, Northumberland and Salisbury, and Lord Cromwell, warning them not to bring more than their usual retinues to Parliament 5. The intimation under the circumstances must have sounded very like a declaration of war. The Session was opened by the young King in person. Parlia- The new Chancellor, Bishop Stafford, took for his text west-3' the passage, 'Fear God, Honour the King'6, pointing minster- the moral at the Lollards, who, as he averred, denied the Faith, despised the Sacraments, and panted for the destruction of the ministers of God. He also referred to the depressed state of the country7, a circumstance which, 1 See the complaint of the Earl of Warwick that certain persons were tam pering with his Royal ward, turning him from his lessons, &c. ; Proceedings, iv. i33< 135- 2 25th February-ist March; Foed. x. 500-503; Proceeedings, iv. no; Issues, Mich. 10 Henry VI. 3 Proceedings, 104. 4 25th February ; Lords' Report, i. Append. 5 7th May; Proceedings, 112. 6 1 Peter, ii. 1 7. 7 " Penuria regnicolarum " ; Rot. Pari. iv. 388. 440 HENRY VI. chap. xxx. if real, was certainly not occasioned by any burdens im- ^~~~ posed for the prosecution of the war 7 Gloucester Next day (13th May) Gloucester hurled a fresh challenge and the at the heads of both Lords and Commons. Addressing menta" the Lords, he said that it would be well for the Commons to know that the Lords Spiritual and Temporal were all of one mind. For himself, although his birth entitled him in his brother's absence to the style and function of King's Chief Counsellor, yet he was resolved to do nothing ' of his own head ' 2. He wished therefore to know if he could rely on their Lordships' assistance and advice in all things. The Lords having promised their support, the happy concord of the magnates was next day formally intimated Petty to the Commons. The results, so far as the obtaining of Grants money was concerned, were not striking. On the 17th July, when the Session closed, the only immediate grant the Commons had to announce was a meagre half Sub sidy, spread in two instalments over sixteen months. The wool duties, however, were renewed, in anticipation, to the nth November, 1435, at existing rates, and Tonnage and Poundage were likewise renewed to the nth November, 1434. The extra duties on goods imported by foreigners were again granted, but the opposition of the foreigners was so great that the Council, with the consent of the Lords, remitted the surtax 3. Gloucester In the House of Lords Gloucester's gauntlet was Cardinal, promptly taken up by the Cardinal, who had taken care to return home for the Parliament. Addressing the King and Gloucester in their places, he said that when passing through Flanders on his way to Rome, by the King's 1 Two sums of £25°° sent to the Duke of Bedford, and £1580 paid to the Earl of Warwick for arrears of pay of the garrison at Meaux, are the only contributions to the war recorded; Proceedings, iv. 109, 112, 125. The winter, however, had been very severe; Bourgeois, 279-282. The Seine was frozen. For the weather in Scotland, see Scotichron. ii. 491. 2 " Ex suo proprio capite." 3 Rot. Pari. iv. 389, 390. For the reprisals of the Hanse merchants on English goods abroad, see p. 403. " The Canterbury clergy granted a half-Tenth ; the York clergy a quarter of a Tenth"; Wilkins, Cone. iii. 522 ; Stubbs. CARDINAL BEAUFORT'S JEWELS. AA^ leave, he had received information that a charge of treason chap. xxx. had been brought against him. He had hastened home to 777 defend his fair name ; whatever the rank or station of his accuser 1, he was ready to meet him. After a short dis cussion Beaufort was assured that no such charge had ever been made against him, and that the King held him 'a true and loyal subject'. Beaufort having thanked the King for his gracious declaration, and requested that it might be duly recorded, proceeded to take up another grievance. A quantity of plate and jewels sent home by him in anticipation of his return had been seized at Sandwich, by Gloucester's orders, and, apparently, for Gloucester's private benefit2. The matter was eventually compromised, the Cardinal agree ing to pay £6000 into the Exchequer for the restitution of his property. The transaction was put as a loan ; the repayment of which Beaufort agreed to forego, if the King could at any time within six years show any justification for the seizure of the jewels ; otherwise the money to be repaid. Further, the Cardinal agreed to advance another sum of £6000 " as an ordinary loan ", and also to release collateral securities held by him for advances to the amount of nearly 13,000 marks (£8666 13s. Ad.) made to the King in France. On the other hand Parliament agreed that the last two sums should be repaid out of the proceeds of the first available grants 3. Lastly, at the request of the Commons, Victory of Beaufort received full Parliamentary absolution from any a^"" liabilities incurred by him under the statutes of Provisors or Praemunire, through his acceptance of the Cardinal's Hat4- The victory, " for it was a victory ", did not in the end cost Beaufort much. Two years later (10th May, 1434), when Bedford was in England, he obtained a declaration 1 " Cujuscunque status gradus vel dignitatis ", &c. 2 See the last paragraph of the original entry relating to this matter ; Rot. Pari., below. 3 3rd July; Rot. Pari. iv. 390-392 ; Foed. x. 516-519. 4 Id. 442 HENRY VI. chap.xxx. that the jewels had been seized unlawfully, with an order 777. for the repayment of the £6000, which was promptly attended to. The £6000 advanced as an ordinary loan had been repaid before1. Following the Cardinal's example, Lord Cromwell laid his complaint before the Lords (16th June). He had been re moved from office without cause shown,and,as he submitted, against the Ordinances of 1429, by which the proceedings of the Council were regulated 2. He appealed to testi monials from Bedford as to his services in France. But Cromwell was not a Cardinal, nor of royal blood : a polite assurance that he left office without a stain on his character was all the satisfaction he could get 3. Miscel- " Of the minor transactions of the Parliament some were busings important ". Sir John Cornewall, the hero of two reigns, ofthe was created Baron Fanhope4. Richard, Duke of York, was declared of age, but for admission to his estates he must pay £979 to Duke Humphrey, besides 1000 marks (£666 13s. Ad.) to the King5. The County Franchise Act of 1430 was amended and explained. It was declared that the forty shilling qualification must be situate within the county for which the elector voted 6. The special Subsidy or land-tax of 1431 was remitted, being found impossible to collect 7 The difficulty was probably connected with the fact that Peers had to contribute to this impost. Council of The question of recognising the Council of Bale may have been brought before this Parliament : at any rate envoys from the Council came to London during the Session, and the appointment of representatives for Eng land was made immediately after its close 8. The new 1 Proceedings, iv. 238 ; Issue and Receipt Rolls, Easter 12 Henry VI. The money was honestly repaid, only some £750 being carried on as a continued loan out of a total of £12,666 13.C ^d. accounted for. In Devon Issues, 425, the sum is wrongly given as £8000. 2 See above, and Rot. Pari. iv. 336. 3 Rot. Pari. 392. 4 17th July; id. 401. 5 Rot. Pari. 398. 6 Stat. 10 Henry VI, cap. 2. 7 Rot. Pari. 409. 8 July; Proceedings, 121, 123. COUNCIL OF BALE. AA3 Council had met under a Bull issued by Martin V 1 in chap.xxx. pursuance of engagements originally entered into at Con- stance. Eugenius IV at first supported the Council, and then, changing his mind, endeavoured to dissolve it. But the Council refused to be dissolved, and Sigismund sup ported it 2. On the 15th February, 1432, the Council republished Authority " the famous decree of Constance," by which the paramount °eass°rted.S authority of a general Council, in matters pertaining to the Faith, the extirpation of Heresy, and the reformation of the Church, was asserted 3 ; but the energies of the Fathers of Bale had so far been chiefly directed towards obtaining for themselves recognition and support. The friendly Univer sity of Paris appealed on their behalf to the sister Univer sities of England 4, while Sigismund and the Council itself appealed to the Government. Cardinal Beaufort was given leave to attend as a private personage. Gloucester would certainly not oppose anything that kept his uncle out of England. Among the official representatives eventually sent were the Bishops of London, Rochester, and Dax, and Edmund Beaufort, Earl of Mortain 5. In France the military operations of the year were some- The war in what contracted, through the retirement of the Duke of France- Burgundy. But if the Duke was not in the field his men were still free to enlist under the English flag, and many of them waged war on their own account, without even the excuse of the Red Cross. The French, on the other hand, were not backward. In Picardy, on the Somme, in 1 ist February, 1431 ; de Beaucourt, ii. 467, 468; Creighton, ii. 57. Martin died within the month. 2 See Creighton, 58-69; de Beaucourt, ii. 468. On the 3rd March, 1431, the day originally named for the meeting, one solitary abbot appeared at Bale. On the 23rd July the assembly was formally opened ; on the 14th December the first public session was held. 3 Creighton, ii. 71. 4 18th June, 1432 ; Bekyngton, Letters, ii. 104. 5 Bekyngton, Letters, ii. 259 ; Proceedings, 149 ; Foed. x. 539, &c. Edmund Beaufort was the third son of John Beaufort, the eldest son of John of Gaunt by Catherine Swynford. He was created Earl of Mortain, in Normandy, in 142 1 ; Elmham. See Table. 444 HENRY VI. CHAP. xxx. 1432. Attempt on Rouen. Chartresrecovered by the French. English reverses in Maine. Champagne, in Burgundy, raids and sieges never ceased 7 The results, as a whole, were not encouraging to the English. In the first week of March, Marshal de Boussac planned another attempt to seize Rouen. A Bearnais, in the English service, was induced to admit a party of 150 men to the castle of Rouen by night. The Earl of Arundel escaped by dropping himself from the walls. But de Boussac, though close at hand, did not follow up his enterprise. Probably he saw that as the city had not risen it would be folly to immure himself in a detached fortress, far from help. After a regular siege of twelve days' duration, the gallant escaladers were overpowered and put to death 2. The Bastard of Orleans was more successful in an attack on Chartres. With the help of friends in the town he arranged a stratagem similar to that by which Linlithgow had been wrested from the English by the Scots. At an early hour on the eve of Palm Sunday a train of waggons, ostensibly laden with provisions and salt, but in fact con cealing a party of armed men, were introduced into the town. When by this means a drawbridge and gate had been secured, further supports rushed in from without, and the place was won. The Bishop of Chartres, Jean de Festigny, a staunch Burgundian, was killed in the streets. The loss of Chartres was severely felt by the Parisians, much of their supplies coming from that quarter 3. In Maine again the English lost ground. Lord Wil- loughby and Matthew Gough were worsted in an attack on a French detachment at Vivain, on the Sarthe, opposite Beaumont. The consequence was that they had to abandon the siege of Saint-Ceneri 4, falling back on Alencon 6. 1 See de Beaucourt, ii. 45, 46, 443 ; E. Monstrelet, 665, &c. 2 Bourgeois, 281 ; E. Monstrelet, 655 ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 202 ; B. M. Additional Charters, 389, 390. 3 1 2th April. Bourgeois, 282 ; J. Chartier, i. 141 ; E. Monstrelet, 658. 1 Department Orne, near Alen9on : Cosneau de Richemont, 193. 5 J. Chartier, i. 134-141 ; cf. Stevenson, ii. 208, 210; Lord Willoughby had 300 spears and 900 archers under him. THE WAR. A45 But the chief reverse of the year was suffered in con- chap.xxx. nexion with Bedford's chief effort, and that was for the I432. recovery of Lagny. The possession of this place by the The Duke enemy neutralised to a great extent the benefit of the ^eges"1 retention of Meaux, higher up the Marne. In the first Lagny. week of May the Regent marched out of Paris with all the forces he could muster : in honour of the Burgundian element LTsle Adam was reinstated in the post of Marshall, taken from him by Henry V in 1421 7 For three full months bombardment and blockade were kept up. At last, on the 9th August, the Bastard of Orleans, Raoul de Gaucourt, and the Spanish Captain Villandrada, brought up a relieving army from the South. Next day they proceeded to throw supplies into the town by a gate on the West side, down the stream, while keeping the English occupied with feigned attacks on their camp, on the East side, up the stream. The day proved to be one of sudden and overpowering heat. The English, rushing from one point of attack to another, had ' too much to do 2.' Bedford, a stout full-blooded man, fell ill of exhaustion. Several Englishman died of heat and sunstroke. The French, having relieved Lagny, moved up the The siege Marne, which they crossed at La Fert^-sous-Jouarre. raised> Bedford became apprehensive of a movement on Paris : on the 20th August he broke up his camp, and retired in confusion 3. Such reverses could not be considered at all compensated by the capture of a petty Maurepas (near Rambouillet, nth September), or by the nocturnal sack of Provins ; or even by the recovery through corruption of Montargis 4. The repulse at Lagny was the first check the Regent had 1 See Bourgeois, 283, and note. If the money sent from England for operations in May, June, July, and August, was wholly applied to this under taking, the Regent would have had some 350 spears and 1000 bows. Monstrelet gives his force as 1 200 strong, p. 660. 2 "Si orent les Angloys trop a faire." The English had men on both sides of the Marne, with a bridge at an island above Lagny ; J. Chartier. 3 See J. Chartier, i. 143-147 ; J. Wavrin, iv. 26-32 ; E. Monstrelet ; Bourgeois, 283, 285, and notes ; J. Le Fevre, ii. 265. 4 Bourgeois, 288 ; G. Bouvier, 385. 446 HENRY VI. chap.xxx. suffered in person \ Later in the year he had to suffer J777 another loss, severely felt in more ways than one, that of Death his charming wife Anne of Burgundy : " la plus plaisant °f thhe de toutes dames qui adong furent en France, car elle estoit Bedford, bonne et belle . . . et certes elle estoit bien amee du peuple de Paris." Anne had not been afraid to show kindness to the poor Pucelle ; and the Parisians mourned for her as for a friend. She died early in the morning of the 14th Novem ber, the victim of an epidemic engendered by the war, and communicated to her perhaps in her charitable visits to the sick 2. As the Duchess had borne no child the per sonal tie between Bedford and Burgundy was at an end. Failure of The death of the Duchess of Bedford was followed by ti!tions!g0" another blow to the spirits of the Parisians, namely, the report of the failure of peace negotiations at Auxerre. These had been agreed upon at Lille in the previous month of December, but the envoys of the three parties never fairly met till the 27th November (1432) ; and then it was found that the French were no longer disposed to make any territorial concessions to the English, much less to cede Champagne to Burgundy ; nor were they disposed even to treat for any general truce ; the observance of which, they said, their master had no means of enforcing. But they demanded that the Agincourt prisoners should be brought over to France, to give the benefit of their advice. The English having no instructions on this point, Cardinal Albergati adjourned the meeting to the 21st March, 1433 3. The Parisians were so infuriated at this disappointment that the envoys on their return had to be placed in custody to protect them from the populace4. 1 Martin, vi. 315. 2 Bourgeois, 289, 304, and notes ; J. Wavrin, iv. 35 ; the Duchess was buried at the Celestines. Her remains were discovered and exhumed in 1847, and transported to Dijon. 3 See de Beaucourt, ii. 442-452 ; Plancher, iv, Preuves, cxix-cxxvii ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 252 ; G. Bouvier, 384. The Duke of Burgundy was still hoping for Champagne (de Beaucourt, sup.) ; while the English Council thought that they could not venture to make peace while the King was under age (Proceedings, iv. 95) ; doubtless because they knew that peace meant the surrender of the Treaty of Troyes. 4 Bourgeois, 290. NEGOTIATIONS. 447 Paris was indeed to be pitied ; the grass was growing in chap. xxx. her streets ; the practice of pulling down empty houses for ~~ firewood had become so common as to call for special prohibition > The adjourned conferences were held as appointed at Further Seine-Port, ' an uninhabitable village' between Corbeil and ences." Melun. The English intimated that their master was prepared to bring his prisoners to Dover, the nearest point to France ; and that if the conferences could be adjourned to Calais, the French would be given every facility for con ferring with their friends at Dover. The French in turn found themselves without instructions ; and the distracted Cardinal Albergati went off to the French Court, to try what his personal influence could effect 2. Meanwhile the English sent the Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon to Dover, and Gloucester went over to Calais, Bedford and Cardinal Beaufort joining him there 3. But the French envoys declined to come to Calais ; so Gloucester went home at the end of a month. It would seem, however, that conferences were eventually held near Corbeil, in June and July, and that the French proposed a bare truce for four months. The English flatly rejected this, on the ground that so short a suspension of arms would simply enable the French to revictual their beleaguered strongholds, without conferring any corre sponding benefit on the English. Cardinal Albergati, seeing that the case was hopeless, threw up his mission and went off to Bale 4. At Calais Duke Humphrey had met not only his brother 1 Martin, vi. 312, citing Ordonnances, xiii. 174. For the extra distress caused by two severe winters running, I43i-I432,and 1432-1433, see Bourgeois, 280, 291, Sec. 2 De Beaucourt, ii. 453; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 254; Plancher, Bourgogne, iv, Preuves, cxxix, cxxxiii, cxxxiv; Bourgeois, 293. The conferences had ended before the loth April. 3 Stevenson, sup. ; Proceeedings, iv. 257. Humphrey was away 22nd April- 23rd May; Foed. x. 548, 549, 561 ; cf. Devon Issues, 420. 4 See Bourgeois, 294 ; and Stevenson, 254, 255 ; being the answer of the English Council to the remonstrances of the Duke of Burgundy. 448 HENRY VI. chap.xxx. the Regent, but also John's newly married wife Jacqueline 777 or Jacquette of Luxemburg, a pretty girl of seventeen, The Duke daughter of Peter, Count of St. Pol, and niece of the Bishop of Bedford Qf Therouanne, the English Chancellor of France. Jacquette married, was also niece of John of Luxemburg, the Duke of Bur gundy's chief captain. Bedford had been led into this precipitate match by the Bishop, who was gaining great influence over him 7 The Regent doubtless thought it politic to secure the adhesion of a powerful Burgundian House, but by so doing he Coolness alienated the Duke of Burgundy. Philip was perhaps the Duke offended by the slight to his sister's memory, but nothing °f ^ h *s sa'^ °^ th3^' political marriages being so common ; but the he was certainly offended because the Luxemburgs had Regent. contracted the marriage without consulting him 2. Cardinal Beaufort arranged for a meeting between the two Dukes at St. Omer, but when they came there they quarrelled about etiquette. Bedford required Philip to make the first advance, which he refused to do, and they left St. Omer without having met 3. English An answer from the English Government to an appeal France. from the Duke of Burgundy, asserts that at this time the English had on foot 1600 men with Lord Willoughby on the Somme; 1200 under the Earl of Huntingdon on the ' Lower March,' i. e. the March of Brittany ; and 900 with the Earl of Arundel in Maine ; ' without the garrisons in France, Normandy, Anjou, and Maine, which are more than 6000 men ' 4. A detailed statement of these garrisons for the twelve months — Michaelmas, 1433, to Michaelmas, 1434 — gives them as amounting on paper to 3837 5. Of 1 See Bourgeois, 295, and note. "Le regent laissoit du tout regenter le devant dit evesque, lui et ses aliez". For the Luxemburgs, see Table, Cosneau, 667. 2 The marriage was Celebrated on the 20th April, in the Bishop's palace at Therouanne ; Bourgeois, 293 ; J. Wavrin, iv. 36 ; E. Monstrelet. 3 J. Wavrin, 38 ; cf. Stevenson, sup. 248. 4 Stevenson, sup. 257 ; Arundel contracted, on the ist June, to serve with 200 lances and 600 archers. Bourgeois, 305, note. 5 Stevenson, ii. 540-546, and 551. The only circumstance to throw any doubt THE WAR. 449 these no doubt a certain proportion would be natives of chap.xxx. France, who would serve for lower rates than Englishmen ; but in any case if the English really had 8500 men under arms, it was a great and notable effort. But the all- important garrison at Calais had been left so long without pay, that in April a dangerous mutiny broke out among them 7 With these forces the English were able to hold their Course of own. On the Somme the Count of St. Pol and Lord * e war' Willoughby recovered Saint- Valdry (20th August) and Haplincourt (near Bapaume), but failed to recover Mon- chaux : all three places recently seized by the French 2. In " France " the French won Crepy-en-Valois, and the English Milly-en-Gatinois 3. In Burgundy and Champagne, however, the flames of war burst out again with fresh fury. In the spring Pont-sur-Seine, Fougeon, Sailly, Epernay, and other places were seized by Anglo-Burgundian parties4, while the French had either captured or put to ransom Passy, Lezinnes, Avallon, Vezelai, La Roche- Solutri5- The Duke, alarmed at these losses, threw the truce to the winds, and called out all his men. Leaving Arras late in June, he halted near Troyes on the 3rd July. Passing rapidly through Champagne he captured Mussy- Brilliant sur-Seine. Chatillon had been his all along : there he oftjj^12" rested while the county of Tonnerre was being cleared of Duke °f the enemy. Passy (near Sens) made a lengthened resist ance. A 'Day' was fixed for the ist of September. on the accuracy of the return, is the fact that in every contingent the exact normal ratio between lances and archers is kept up. In forty-five contingents there is not a man wanting. That seems too perfect. 1 Four of the ringleaders were executed, and some 230 men cashiered, minus their arrears ; Chron. London, 119, 120; W.Gregory, 176; Proceedings, iv. 139; Rot. Pari. iv. 473. 2 E. Monstrelet, 663, 670, 675, 676 ; J. Le Fevre, ii. 268, 271 ; Proceedings, iv. 163, 169, 178. 3 May-July. Bourgeois, 294, 295 ; E. Monstrelet, 674. 4 See de Beaucourt, ii. 46 ; E. Monstrelet, 669. 5 Plancher, Bourgogne, iv. 169. The places appear to be all in the Yonne. Langres (Haute-Marne).and Grancy-le-Chateau (C6te d'Or) went over to the French later in the year. * Gg 450 HENRY VI. chap.xxx. Marshal LTsle Adam and Lord Talbot1 brought iooo I433- men from Paris ; but no French appeared, and the place surrendered. Avallon again held out for a month. On the 21st October Duke Philip entered the place. This success entailed the surrender of Cravant, Mailly-le- Chateau, Mailly-la- Ville. The campaign ended with the storm of Pierre-Perthuis early in November 2. From first to last the French never offered to meet their adversaries in the field. These operations had practically recovered the whole Fall of territory to the East of the Seine and Yonne. But during moille. the course of this campaign France had been relieved of a disgraceful incubus — the government of La Tremoille. His insolence and rapacity had left him without a friend at Court 3, except Charles VII, who was as much under his control as ever. The Con- The all-powerful Minister of six years' standing fell at a the House blow, the victim of a coalition between his old foe, the of Anjou. Constable de Richemont, and the House of Anjou, includ ing Queen Yolande of Sicily, her daughter the Queen of France, and Charles of Anjou. The affair, as carried out, was very simple ; the captain of a castle (Chinon) was won over ; a party of armed men were introduced by night ; La Tremoille was seized in his bed, as he had seized his predecessor de Giac, and his fall was accomplished. But La Tremoille was treated more mercifully than he had treated de Giac. On payment of a ransom of 6000 icus dor he was allowed to retire to his castle of Sully. The King at first was ' greatly troubled and alarmed ', fearing the presence of the Constable : he took some comfort, however, when told that the Constable 1 Talbot had been exchanged for Pothon de Xaintrailles, who was set free on the 22nd July ; Foed. x. 553. 2 See J. Le Fevre, ii. 272-284; de Beaucourt, ii. 47, 48; Barante, vi. 226- 236; cf. Plancher, iv. 177, 182. All the above places are in Champagne or Burgundy, Mussy being in the Department of the Aube, the rest in that of the Yonne. 3 For the facts see de Beaucourt, ii. 293-296. The seizure of Montargis by the English, in the spring, gave the final impulse; G. Bouvier, 386; J. Wavrin, iv. 3S. In Monstrelet the name of the place is miscopied La Charity. CHARLES OF ANJOU. 451 was not there. The Queen pacified him, and he surrendered chap.xxx. himself contentedly to the new maire de palais provided for ,, him, namely, Charles of Anjou, third son of Yolande, and brother of the Queen x- 1 See de Beaucourt, ii. 296-300 ; E. Cosneau, De Richemont, 198-200 ; G. Bouvier, 386; Gruel, 758; J. Chartier, i. 170; E. Monstrelet, 676. The incident happened in the last days of June ; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 245. Gg CHAPTER XXXI. Henry VI (continued). Parliament at Westminster. — The Duke of Bedford in England. — His return to France. — The War. — The Burgundians coming to terms with the French. ch. xxxi. On the 8th July a Parliament was opened at Westmin- ster. Bedford, Gloucester, and Cardinal Beaufort were all Bedford in- present I Parliament. Bedford had come over partly to represent the gravity of the situation in France 2, partly it would seem to defend himself from the machinations of his irrepressible brother. On the 13th July, when business fairly began, he rose to give the reasons for his presence. Addressing the King and the united Houses, he said that he had been brought home by matters affecting not only the King's Highness and his realm of France, but his, the Duke's, own reputa tion and honour. He had been given to understand that some persons at home were disposed to attribute recent reverses in France to his neglect. He begged to be allowed to clear himself from such aspersions. Bedford's complaint was received by the Lords with the attention due to so grave a communication; but he was speedily assured by the mouth of the Chancellor that no 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 19. Bedford apparently landed on the 18th June; Pro ceedings, iv. 218. He entered London with his Duchess 23rd June; Chron. Lond. 120; cf. Stevenson, Letters, ii. 222. 2 See his statement; Proceedings, iv. 224, 225. PARLIAMENT. A53 such 'prophane and scandalous ' words had ever reached the ch. xxxi, ears either of the King, or of the Duke of Gloucester, or of 777 any of the Council ; and that the King not only held him He is a true and faithful liege, but owed him very special thanks Jha?ed for ' laudable and fruitful ' services 7 King. The approach of harvest time, and an alarm of plague at Westminster, caused Parliament to adjourn on the 13th August2. But changes had already been made in the Ministry. Lord Cromwell had replaced Lord Scrope at the Treasury, and the Earl of Suffolk had become Steward of the Household vice Sir Robert Babthorp 3. The last act of the Parliament before the adjournment was to authorise the Treasurer to suspend all payments until he had £2000 in hand for petty expenses. During .the recess Cromwell prepared statements of the State of the Revenue and Expenditure and the King's debts. The ^Ex-6 results brought out were startling. The estimated Revenue penditure. for the ensuing year, apart from Parliamentary Subsidies, was only £62,565, subject to deductions and encumbrances to the amount of £20,000. The quarter Subsidy, still available under the grant of the previous year, might bring in £8000 or £9000 more. The necessary expenditure was estimated at £53,471 ; the garrisons of Calais, Aquitain, and the Scottish March being taken as on a peace footing only. Not a penny was estimated for active operations by sea or land. The schedule of Debts amounted to £164,000, of which at least £120,000 might rank as war expenditure for which Parliament had failed to make provision 4. The want of this money would fall to some extent upon Inade- the soldiery ; but chiefly we believe upon the magnates and ™nts ° 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 419, 420. 2 lb. In Paris the season was very unhealthy ; Bourgeois, 295 ; the worst since 1348. 3 Proceedings, iv. 175 ; Foed. a. 555. Scrope closed his accounts on the 18th July ; Issues, Easter 12 Henry VI. 4 For the figures see Rot. Pari. 433-438 ; cf. below, and Antiquary, x. 191. Besides the £59,500 expressly given as due for ' Wages of War,' the whole of the loans (£17,800) and the bulk of the 'Tallies' retained in the Exchequer (£56,000) we take to be War Debt. H33- 454 HENRY VI. gentlemen who had been induced to lead contingents into the field. The standing garrisons were paid out of monies voted by levied in France ; but, apart from this, the war seemingly Parha- was carried on mainly at the expense of those who liked to ment. J L wage it. Four extra Subsidies would have cleared off the whole, and Parliament in eleven years had only made grants equal perhaps to four Subsidies and a half. But Parliament, as we shall see, showed no disposition to make provision for anything but ordinary current expendi ture, and the new Treasurer soon found that it is easier to frame accounts than to get them looked into. Twice he had to appeal to Parliament to appoint a day for the examination of his accounts 7 Brigand- On the 13th October Parliament resumed. On the 3rd the No- November the Commons reverted to a subject which had bility. been mooted in the first part of the Session, namely, the prevalence of crimes of violence, and the support given to the malefactors, in and out of court, by men of position. As a precedent for remedial action they produced the order of March 13 15 for the excommunication of all such. The Royal Dukes thought this mode of procedure obso lete ; but they agreed to re-swear observance of certain Articles already sworn during the Parliament of 1429-1430 for the suppression of such offences 2. The On the 24th November the Commons again appeared petition"3 before the King to press another matter which lay near to for Bedford their hearts, and doubtless to the heart of all England. The to 16HVG France. Duke of Bedford, they said, had " nobly doon his devoir " in France for " the defense and kepyng ... of the Kyng's Obeisance and Cuntre (country) there." He had done all that in him lay to save the King's rights there. " In his owen persone " he had on " many and diverse dayes kept the fold." So long as he remained out there it would be impossible for him to " forbere aventure of his persone " ; which, said the 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 432, 435. 2 See Rot. Pari. 421, 422, also 344. The oath was taken by the Lords on the 3rd November, by the Commons on the 13th ; Commissions for taking oaths were also sent down to the counties ; id. 445-45 7. THE COMMONS AND THE DUKE OF BEDFORD. A55 Commons, " is a grete perile consideryng howe greet a ch. xxxi. tresor his persone is to the Kyng and bothe his landis , 3# (lands)." Wherefore they humbly prayed that it would " like his Hynesse . . to desire my saide Lorde of Bedford to abide stille in this lande " for its " restful rule and governaille." The proposal that Bedford should give the benefit of his wisdom and experience to England was of course tantamount to advising the practical abandonment of the war. The Lords, on being consulted by the King, " seconded The Lords the prayer of the commons " ; and the proposal was at once concur- laid before the Duke. He was evidently touched by the compliment ; and in a speech " full of modesty and sim plicity declared himself at the King's disposal " *. Next day Bedford laid the question of his salary before the Lords. Gloucester's salary as Regent had varied from 8000 to 4000 marks a year. At the moment it stood at 6000 marks (£4000). No one being ready with any pro posal Bedford generously volunteered to serve the King for £1000 a year, on condition of receiving £500 for every journey to and from France. that he might be required to undertake 2. Three days later, Gloucester, following his example, agreed to accept the same sum 3. On the 1 8th December Bedford propounded the con- Bedford ditions under which he would accept the Regency in ^cePls the England. A list to be made out of those who would of England undertake to act on the Council ; no name to be conditions. removed or added without the concurrence of himself and the rest of the Council ; so as to the appointment, in case of necessity, of new officers of the Household, ministers, or judges ; so as to the summoning of Parliament and appointments to bishoprics. A list of deserving old ser vants of the Crown to be made out for appointments to 1 Rot. Pari. 423 ; Stubbs, iii. 118. 2 Rot. Pari. 424. "The wages ofthe Councillors are a constantly recurring topic in all the records of the time." 3 Proceedings, iv. 185. 456 HENRY VI. ch. xxxi. " offices and corrodies ", as they might fall vacant. All these points were accepted 7 Money But though every effort had been made to please the Grants. Commons they declined to enlarge the scale of their money grants. One Subsidy was all that they gave, and that under a deduction of £4000, to be remitted rateably among the counties ; the grant, moreover, was spread over two years, so as to cover the whole of 1434 and 1435. This reduction of the amount was quite uncalled for. The tax doubtless needed re-assessment, the existing valuation being a hundred years old ; but the aggregate amount ought to have been raised rather than lowered. The wool duties were prolonged to the nth November, 1437, at an increase of 10s. for foreigners. This extra duty was doubtless imposed to make up for the grievous falling off in the proceeds of this most important tax shewn by the Treasurer's statement above referred to. Tonnage and Poundage were also prolonged to the same date, with surtaxes on sweet wines and general merchandise imported by foreigners to the amount of 3s. and nd. respectively2. On the 2 ist December the session rose 3. Glouces- Good Duke John " was destined to no peaceful or long gestionffor tenure " of office. " It was soon seen that even with Bed- the prose- ford at home, Duke Humphrey could not be kept quiet". the war. On the 26th April, 1434, a Grand Council was held at Westminster to consider proposals put forward by him for the conduct of the war. His ideas were conceived on such a scale as to involve reflections on those who had had the previous management of affairs. Bedford asked first that the scheme should be reduced to writing ; and then that he should be allowed to offer explanations on points affecting himself. Gloucester's plans were duly examined by the Council, 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 424. For the names of those who agreed to act on the Council see p. 446. 2 Rot. Pari. 425, 426. For the wool duties see also Proceedings, iv. 205. The totals would now stand at 40J. and 63*. 40?. 3 Rot. Pari. 446. For the Act passed, 11 Hen. VI, and the general business transacted, see id. 427-480, and Statutes. BEDFORD AND GLOUCESTER. A57 which included some of the most experienced com- ch. xxxi. manders of the war, and rejected with contempt. On 34> the 5th May they gave in their finding. "My Lord of Gloucestre's offre . . . shuld with Goddes grace have be (been) of greet availle ... if it had be or were possible to be put in execucion." In the first place it would involve raising £48,000 or £50,000 at least. As for doing that by borrowing, on that point, "your commissioners ordeyned in every shire of your lande but late agoo to borowe can wel reporte." Nobody would make further advances on the security of Crown jewels ; while the prospects of any substantial grant from Parliament were distant. Lastly, they had to complain of misleading rumours circulated among an ignorant and credulous public. It was " begonne to be noised " that offers had been laid before the Council which, if accepted, would have relieved the people " of taille or talliage for many yeers ". On the 8th May Bedford produced his personal explana tion, to which Gloucester in turn asked to reply. But the Council refused to hear another word ; and the King, by their direction, closed the discussion with a declaration that he held both Dukes men of unblemished honour, and dear and faithful uncles 7 Bedford, however, soon began to prepare to return to Bedford France. On the 9th June he laid certain propositions remforce-°r before the King in Council. He referred with evident ments. disappointment to the failure of his mission to England. He had shewn, he said, that the King's subjects in France, and especially the Parisians, could not " longe abide " with out " more chargeable and abidyng socours " 2. But the means had not been found, " to my ful greete hevynesse God knoweth." He called God to witness " how grete a pyte (pity) it were " to lose " that noble royaume for getyng and a i\ 1 Proceedings, iv. \io~hi6. Cardinal Beaufort, the two Archbishops, eight Bishops, the Duke of York, six Earls, ten Barons, and thirty-eight Commoners attended the Council. 2 The Duke's description of Paris without commerce, agriculture, or means of living, tallies exactly with the accounts in the Bourgeois. 458 HENRY VI. ch. xxxi. kepyng of the whiche my lorde that was your fadre, to whos soule God do mercye, and other many noble princes lordes knyghtes and squyers and other persones in ful greete nombre haved payed here lyves". He spoke in feeling terms of his personal relations with the King's subjects both in France and England. Of the former he said, " I have founde the multitude of your subgittes there aswel disposed and as desirous to kepe theire faith and trouthe to youre highnesse as evere was peuple, and to me as lovyng and as kynde ". By the English he had been treated with " greete and tender love and affeccion at alle tymes, and in especial sithe my last comyng thereto." He grieved to see that they ' stood not ' " in so greet wele and plente of good as I have seen hem doo before this tyme " x . Words could not convey a more favourable impression of the man who uttered them than did Bedford's last appeal to his countrymen. His practical suggestions were three : The revenues of the Lancaster estates to be devoted to the maintenance of 200 spears " and the bowes " ; i. e. the due complement of archers, which would be 600 men 2. The garrisons of Calais and the Calais March to be mobilised and placed under his orders ; so as to be available for general service. If these two points were conceded he would devote his own personal appointments in France to the maintenance of another 200 spears " and the bowes " 3- No objection could be raised with reference to the last two points ; but with respect to the Lancaster estates there was a difficulty. The lands had been " enfeoffed ", i. e. con veyed, by the late King to satisfy various legacies and trusts declared by his will. These trusts were still unper formed. The debts had not been paid ; the Masses had not been sung. Eventually, after two days' discussion, the His sug gestions. 1 Proceedings, iv. 222-226. 2 Bedford must have intended to include all the private estates ofthe Crown, which, according to the statement of the previous year, would yield £10,700 gross ; 200 spears and 600 archers would cost £9,000 a year. 3 Proceedings, 226-229. BEDFORD'S FAREWELL TO ENGLAND. A59 " feoffees " (trustees) agreed to surrender their estate on ch. xxxi. receiving sufficient assignments of other revenues from ~7 the King x. On the 20th June Bedford held a parting Council at Westminster. He charged the Lords to adhere strictly to the Articles of Dec. 1433. But the Treasury was so empty that Cardinal Beaufort had to come forward with another loan, — the second within the month, — to provide for the slender escort of 100 spears for the Regent's return journey2. Bedford's own statements had already revealed as clearly The Duke as possible the hopelessness of the situation in France. Yet °nd t]ie we fail to trace in his mind any disposition to come to war. terms with the French. Henry's claim to the titular Crown of France was the precise point he would not con cede 3 : yet the pressure put upon him from abroad was so great that before leaving England he was obliged to agree that the English representatives at Bale might discuss the question of peace, an authority previously withheld 4. He also agreed to allow the Duke of Orleans to make a fresh 1 14th, 15th June; Proceedings, 229-232. The arrangement was not effected. 2 Proceedings, 243, 244 ; 3000 marks (£2000) was the sum advanced for Bedford's escort ; 10,000 marks had been advanced on the 2nd June. This sum was repaid on the 10th June, together with the £6000 paid by the Cardinal on the 3rd July, 1432, for the recovery of his jewels. On the 14th June another sum of £6666 1 33-. ^d. was repaid to Beaufort for advances made in May and July, 1433 ; Issue and Receipt Rolls, Easter 12 Henry VI ; Pro ceedings, 247-250. The repayment of these loans had emptied the Treasury, hence the need for fresh loans. 3 See the agreement ofthe 15th August, 1433, with the Duke of Orleans, for conferences to be held at Calais. Orleans was bound down to recognise Henry, under all circumstances, as the only King of France ; Foed. x. 556-563 ; Devon Issues, 423 ; also the letter to the Duke of Burgundy next cited. 4 See the letter to the Duke of Burgundy of the nth June (1434); Plancher, iv, Preuves, cxlii ; Foed. x. 589, 595 ; Proceedings, iv. 257. For instructions to the agents at the Council given in May, 1434, see Bekyngton, Letters, ii. 260. For the action of the Council in the interests of peace see de Beaucourt, ii. 508-510. These efforts began in August, 1433, after the breakdown of the mission of Cardinal Albergati. The Duke of Burgundy accepted the offers of mediation in September, 1433 ; Charles VII accepted them in May or June, 1434. In this last month an alliance between Charles and Sigismund as against the Duke of Burgundy was announced; de Beaucourt, 482. 460 HENRY VI. ch. xxxi. attempt at mediation. But of these concessions the one ~77 was made simply to please the Emperor, and the other to please the Duke of Brittany x He returns On the ist or 2nd of July Bedford sailed from Gravesend. His game in France was "nearly played out". War was raging on all sides ; while in Normandy the situation was complicated by the horrors of peasant risings. Peasant The kindling spark had been furnished by the mis- Normandy. conduct of one Richard Venables, who had served with a small party at Lagny and elsewhere round Paris. After wards he had taken advantage of Bedford's absence to raise an independent standard of his own in Normandy as a Free Lance2- A party of peasantry having been slaughtered by him at Vieques, near Falaise, the attention of the provincial Government was called to his proceed ings ; and he was arrested and executed (Rouen, 22nd June) 3. To guard against a renewal of such practices the Government then bethought themselves of arming the peasantry, who promptly turned their weapons against the Severity English garrisons4. The peasantry having ventured to English, assemble in considerable numbers, the movement was checked for the time by a wholesale massacre at Saint- Pierre-sur-Dives (2nd August) 5. Loud complaints of this affair were again carried to Rouen, but the Regent, just returned from England, could not interfere. The list of the English garrisons, to which we have already referred, as made up in the month of September in 1 Proceedings, iv. 255-260. 2 Venables had gone out, in 1428, with just three men-at-arms and twelve archers. For some of his exploits see J. Chartier, i. 175-177; Vallet de V. Hist. Charles VII, ii. 104. 3 Beaurepaire, feats de Normandie, 62. 4 So T. Basin, i. 103 ; J. Wavrin, iv. 50, and Chartier, i. 172 ; cf. Stevenson, Letters, ii. xlvii. 5 See Wavrin and Basin, sup.; Bourgeois, 300; E. Monstrelet, 689; E. Hall, 172; cf. Vallet de V. Hist. Charles VII, ii. 334. Saint-Pierre- sur-Dives is in the Department of Calvados, half-way between Lisieux and Falaise. PEASANT RISINGS. 461 this year x, was probably called for in consequence of these ch. xxxi. events. — To find pay for the men a grant of 344,000 /. T. was extorted from the Norman estates, being the largest sum voted since 1421 2. But the insurgent spirit was still strong. In December Fresh the Regent left Rouen for Paris 3 ; and then the peasantry Tlsm£s- rose again round Bayeux, some of the minor gentry now joining hands with them. A tumultuous attack on Caen was arranged. But the starving peasants were not fit to contend even with the weather, and the leaders in the attack were cut to pieces in the suburb of Vauxelles. The bands disappeared, only to rise again shortly in the Cotentin, at the instigation of the Duke of Alencon. The Duke joined them in a demonstration against Avranches, but the place was much too strong for them ; and he was obliged to lead the people into Maine, there to be supported till the English would allow them to return to their homes. Yet another rising near Vire had to be suppressed by Lord Scales 4. To turn from Normandy to the rest of France. In the autumn of the previous year two plots to deliver Paris to the French had been detected and frustrated, but the city was hemmed in more closely than ever 5. During the first half of 1434 the English with many Losses and vicissitudes still seemed to hold their own. In January North-11 the French recovered Saint- Valery ; and in February a East. brother of La Hire established himself in the dismantled walls of Beaumont-sur-Oise 6. On the other hand, John of 1 Stevenson, ii. 541. 2 Beaurepaire, fitats, 46. 3 Bourgeois, 301, 302. 4 See J. Chartier, i. 172, 173 ; ef. J. Wavrin, iv. 54, 55 ; Basin, i. 106 ; and Vallet de V. ii. 336-338. The narrative must be given with considerable reserve, the authorities being by no means agreed as to the dates and sequence of the events. Basin places the massacre at Vieques after that at Saint-Pierre ; and makes the execution of Venables subsequent to both. The Chronique Normande gives the date ofthe execution as the 29th November (1434), p. 81. Vieques and Saint-Pierre are at no distance apart, so that the events might easily be confounded. 5 Bourgeois, 296-298. 6 E. Monstrelet, 680 ; Bourgeois, 298 ; Department Seine et Oise. 462 HENRY VI. ch. xxxi. Luxemburg managed to seize the fortified abbey of Saint- 1434. Vincent, under the walls of Laon (April) 2- This success was followed by the capture of Moreuil (near Montdidier), and Mortemer (near Ressons, Dept. Oise). From Moreuil the Burgundians marched to Saint- Valery, and recovered it, with the help of the Bishop of Therouanne and Lord Willoughby, who also captured Monchaux 2. Meanwhile, however, the French had regained St. Vin cent3; and in August the Constable de Richemont and the Bastard of Orleans seized the important fortress of Ham ; but, under circumstances to which we shall revert, they in turn were induced to restore it for a consideration of 40,000 e'cus, the money being wrung from the unfor tunate peasantry of Artois and Vermandois 4. Successes in Maine the Earl of Arundel did great things. In of Arundel _ , , ,_._,,. _,._,,-.- in Maine. January he reduced Saint-Celenn, now Saint-Ceneri, after some three months of heavy bombardment5. Arundel then marched to Sille-le-Guillaume 6- The captain, who was probably aware that great efforts were being made to raise a French army, signed articles to surrender at the The 'Day' end of six weeks, if not previously relieved, a 'Day' being appointed to be held by a great elm near Sille. Both parties came to the rendezvous. On the previous evening the French, who were commanded by Charles of Anjou, Constable de Richemont, and the Duke of Alencon, halted at Conlie. Arundel, who had apparently been reinforced by Lord Scales, camped a little to the north-east of Conlie, the outposts of the two armies being within speaking distance of each other at Neuvillalais. 1 J. Le Fevre, ii. 298 ; E. Monstrelet, 680. ' July?; E. Monstrelet, 682, 683. 3 E. Monstrelet, 681 ; G. Gruel, 760. 4 E. Monstrelet, 683, 684 ; G. Bouvier, 388 ; Gruel, 760. The Convention was signed 17th September; de Beaucourt, ii. 52. 5 J. Chartier, i. 164, 165 ; G. Bouvier, 387, and especially Cosneau, de Riche mont, 206,'and the document given Append, p. 545. All the writers of the time give the name as Saint-C^lerin ; but Cosneau and Longnon identify it with Saint-Ceneri, Department Orne, some twelve miles west of Alencon. 6 Department Sarthe. THE WAR. 463 Early next morning the French pushed on and established ch. xxxi. themselves by the elm-tree. The English, whose course ,434 seems to have been obstructed by a rivulet, followed, and, approaching as near as they safely could, took up their position on a hillock. Skirmishing ensued, but Arundel could not deny that the French had held their 'Day'; and so, as a man of honour, he cancelled the articles and gave back his hostages. The French then, as if they had done enough for Sille, took up their carriages and retired to Sable, leaving Arundel free to operate as he pleased ; and accordingly, on the morrow (9th March)1, he gave a grand assault on Sille, and captured the place. Beaumont-le-Vicomte shared the same fate. After a pause at Le Mans to refresh his troops, Arundel returned to the charge and pushed a successful ' road ' down to the banks of the Loire, capturing Melle' 2 and Saint-Laurent-des- M or tiers 3. A third English force was led into the field by Lord Talbot in Talbot. He came out in May4, and began by driving Picardy' La Hire's brother, Amado de Vignolles, from Beaumont- sur-Oise. Following him to Creil Talbot recovered that place also (20th June). In like manner he recovered Pont- Sainte-Maxence, Crespy, and Clermont. Beauvais marked the limit of his advance, and he returned to Paris 5. The Duke of Burgundy's personal campaign was again Further distinctly successful. His efforts were directed in the first Sllc<^sses instance against the positions in Burgundy occupied by Duke of Burgundy. 1 Cosneau, 209. 2 Department lie et Vilaine, near Fougeres. 3 Department Mayenne, near Chateau Gonthier. See J. Chartier, i. 165-169 (given under the year 1432) ; G. Bouvier, 387 ; Gruel, 758 ; cf. E. Monstrelet, 683. In June Arundel was drawing pay from England for 50 spears and 150 bows; Issue Roll, Easter 12 Henry VI. From the ist June, 1433, to the ist May, 1434, he was to receive from the English Treasurer in Normandy pay for 200 spears and 600 bows ; Bourgeois, 305, note. 4 His Indenture was sealed on the 16th May ; Pauli, citing Record Office MS., France, Portfolio vi. In February Talbot received £1000 from the Treasury in full for past claims ; Devon Issues, 423. 5 Bourgeois, 299, 300, and notes ; J. Wavrin, iv. 43 ; E. Monstrelet ; Gruel, 759. 76°- 464 HENRY VI. H34- ch. xxxi. the French. He captured Grancey-le-Chateau \ which had been recently made over to the French (15th August), and then, moving southwards, practically cleared the enemy out of Charolais and Maconnais. Pushing on still farther south, he captured Belleville (6th October) ; and overran the Pays de Dombes 2. But these successes brought no good to the English cause. Throughout these operations the French had been led by Charles, Count of Clermont, now Duke of Bourbon, through the death of his father, Duke John, the prisoner of Agincourt3. Duke Charles' wife, Agnes of Burgundy, was sister to Philip the Good, and, though the two had not met since childhood, the relationship furnished a plea for friendly overtures. The Constable de Riche mont, it will be remembered, was married to another sister ; and in fact negotiations between the brothers-in-law had been kept up at intervals through the summer. The restitution of Ham by the Constable on the 17th Sep tember was part and parcel of these affairs, and was in fact accompanied by a truce for six months for north eastern France ; while on the 2nd December a general truce for three months was signed by Burgundy and Bour bon at Pont-de-Veyle. This last armistice was accompanied by an appointment for a further meeting in January, 14354 The meeting took place at Nevers. The Duke of Burgundy came thither on the 16th of the month ac companied by the Count of Nevers and a brilliant suite. He was followed by the Duke and Duchess of Bourbon, the French Chancellor, Regnault de Chartres, and the Constable de Richemont. The meeting assumed the Truce between Burgundy and France. Confer ences at Nevers. 1 C6te d'Or, west of Langres; Plancher, iv. 189. 2 Department Ain. See J. Le Fevre, ii. 299-303 ; E. Monstrelet, 683-685 ; de Beaucourt, ii. 51. 3 He died in England 5th January, 1434; Foed. x. 602. 4 De Beaucourt, ii. 51, 510-513 ; Plancher, iv. 192, 193. For the Constable's efforts to make peace between France and Burgundy see G. Gruel, 760; Cosneau, 209, &c. CONFERENCES OF NEVERS. 465 aspect of a family gathering. Under the exhilarating ch. xxxi. influences of sharp frost the rival magnates feasted and revelled as if they had never known a difference. " Si grant chiere faisoient qu'il sembloit que jamais n'eussent eu guerre ensemble"1. Business conferences were opened on the 20th January. On the 6th February preliminaries of peace Pre- were signed. For the first time the Duke of Burgundy ^^ conceded to his liege lord the style of ' King Charles ' 2. The parties agreed to hold a 'Day' at Arras on the ist July. Duke Philip would notify the fact to ' King Henry,' and urge him to appear. King Charles would make ' reasonable offers ' to the English ; failing their accept ance of these the Duke of Burgundy undertook to make satisfactory arrangements for the ' pacification of the King dom ' 3- In case he should find himself obliged to break with the English and join King Charles, the latter agreed to make over to him in fief all the domain lands of the Crown of France on either bank of the Somme, including the county of Ponthieu, and the towns of Montreuil, Doullens, and Saint-Riquier. Eugenius IV would be asked to mediate, and the Fathers of Bale would also be invited to send representatives. Not a reference was made to the murder of Jean-sans- Peur 4. The arrangement calls for little comment. The struggle had become too bitter to last. In the recent captures and recaptures of forts quarter was seldom given 5- This was felt by the gentry. The Duke saw that he had nothing to gain by a continued support of the English ; while in fact the real obstacle to a reconciliation was removed from the day when King Charles passed from the hands of ad venturers to the hands of men of rank, who could afford to admit other men of rank to their counsels. 1 J. Le Fevre, ii. 304 ; G. Gruel, 762. 2 So de Beaucourt, ii. 516, notes. 3 " L'apaisement de ce royaume ". 4 See de Beaucourt, ii. 514-517, citing Plancher, iv, Preuves, cxliv; J. Le Fevre, sup. 5 See e. g. J. Le Fevre, ii. 300 ; E. Monstrelet, 680. * Hh 466 HENRY VI. ch.xxxi. Philip lost no time in prosecuting his undertaking. Heralds and pursuivants hurried to London, Paris, Flo- 1435 rence, and Bale with invitations to 'the great Parliament' 7 Burgundy Having occasion to visit his northern dominions he took in Paris. paris on his way, and there met with the reception due to a harbinger of peace (14th April). Bedford was not there to receive him. He had taken leave — his last leave — of Paris on the 10th February, apparently on receipt ofthe news of the agreement of Nevers 2. The University, which had sided with the English against the Pucelle, presented an address to the Duke of Burgundy, while the bourgeoises waited on the Duchess to implore her good offices in the cause of peace. The Duke conferred with the English Council in Paris, and explained to them that peace was a necessity, and that the French were resolved never to accept Henry VI as their King. On the 21st April he left Paris 3. The tide The tide of war too now began distinctly to turn. A against the Party °f French having seized Rue, at the mouth of the English. Somme, the Regent hastily ordered up Arundel from Mantes. On reaching Gerberoy the Earl found the French establishing themselves in the old castle there. He pre pared to attack and dislodge them ; but La Hire and Xaintrailles attacked him before the whole of his force had come up, overwhelmed him, and carried him off to Beauvais with his foot shattered by a cannon ball 4. On the ist June he died, a great loss to the English5. Early in the morning of the same day a party from Lagny and Melun surprised Saint-Denis 6, while, later in the month, the Bastard of Orleans again recovered Pont- Sainte-Maxence 7 1 " Au grant parlement a Arras " ; J. Wavrin, iv. 56. See de Beaucourt, ii. 518 ; Plancher, iv. 195-197. 2 J. Wavrin, 57; E. Monstrelet; Bourgeois, 303. 3 Bourgeois, 303, 304 ; Plancher, sup. 4 ist-7th.May; J. Wavrin, 58-65; G. Bouvier, 388; Bourgeois, 305. 3 Devon Issue, 430. ' Bourgeois, sup., and note ; J. Wavrin, 66-68 ; G. Bouvier. ' Cosneau, de Richemont, 222. CHAPTER XXXII. Henry VI (continued). Congress of Arras. THE Duke of Burgundy's invitations to a Congress at ch. xxxii. Arras were very favourably received by the European Powers in general 7 Invitations On the 16th May he despatched from Lille his formal *?the L Congress. embassy to the Court of London. His agents were in structed to repeat what he had already said in Paris, and to point out that a truce would not do ; peace must be made 2. The King of France, the Pope, and the Fathers of Bale had all accepted the conference. Eugenius and the Council had severally addressed Henry on the subject 3. The English expressed their willingness to appear at Arras ; but it would seem that they still insisted on the validity of the Treaty of Troyes ; a position which augured ill for the results of the Congress 4. On the 20th June the English plenipotentiaries were The Eng- named. The Duke of Burgundy was placed at the head of ^ Pele" 1 See Plancher, iv. 198, 199, and Preuves. 2 De Beaucourt, ii. 520. The envoys were away 16th May-i5th June; cf. Proceedings, iv. 301. The instructions are given in the French MS. Col lections de Bourgogne, ff. 99, 422, cited by de Beaucourt. 3 See de Beaucourt, 307, 522 ; Foed. a. 610. 4 Plancher, iv. 200 ; Martene and D., Amplissima Collectio, viii. t. 815-818 ; de Beaucourt, 521. The English sent to Florence, where the Pope was, to enquire if he had relieved the Duke of Burgundy of his oath. The Pope answered that he had not done so, nor had he been asked to do so ; but he added a significant warning to Henry to shew a more conscientious desire for peace than he had done as yet ; Foed. 620. H h 2 1435' 468 HENRY VI. ch. xxxn. a first list. An alternative commission was headed by Cardinal Beaufort, with the Archbishop of York, the Bishops of Norwich and St. David's, the Earls of Hunt ingdon and Suffolk, William Lyndwood the Keeper of the Their in- Privy Seal, and others as negotiators x- The tenor of their structions. fjrst jnstructions must be gathered from their attitude at the opening of the Congress ; subsequently they received re vised instructions, under which they were empowered in the last resort to conclude peace on the simple basis of the status quo ; all questions of renunciation being passed over 2- Arrivals at The English, though assuredly not the most anxious for the meeting, were the first on the spot. William Lyndwood and Sir John Radclyff, the Seneschal of Guienne, were the only delegates who appeared at Arras on the ist July. They were followed on the 8th by envoys from the Council and others, ' with 150 horses and mules ' ; and again on the 1 2th or 13th July by the Papal Legate Cardinal Albergati, ' with 50 horses and mules ' 3. On the 25th the Arch bishop of York appeared ' with 300 horses or there abouts'. On the 28th or 29th Duke Philip made his entry, with some 800 horses and a perfect army of gentle men in his retinue. The Order of the Golden Fleece appeared in brilliant strength. The French envoys, last instructed4, were the last to appear. They entered Arras on the 31st July5, 'with 900 or 1000 horses'. The Duke of Bourbon, the Constable de Richemont, and the Archbishop of Rheims again headed 1 Foed. x. 610-616. The Duke of Burgundy declined to act as an English agent; de Beaucourt, ii. 523. 2 See these instructions, dated 31st July, Stevenson, Letters, ii. 431. 3 1 2th; de Beaucourt: 13th; Le Fevre. For a discourse delivered by the Archbishop of York on the 26th see Plancher, iv, Preuves, cxlviii. It would seem that the Duke of Orleans was brought to Calais, and allowed to see envoys from the Constable ; Gruel, 763. 4 The envoys did not receive their final instructions till the 6th July ; de Beaucourt, 523 ; Martene and D., Thesaurus, i. c. 1784. Charles, however, had accepted the Congress early in March; de Beaucourt, 522 : after Easter (17th April) ; Gruel, 763. 5 So J. Le Fevre, J. Wavrin, and E. Monstrelet. 30th July ; de Beaucourt. MEETING OF THE CONGRESS. 469 the delegation. All the assembled representatives, with ch. xxxii. the exception of those from England, went out to meet 777 them 7 The presence of agents from Sicily, Spain, Por- European tugal, Denmark, Poland, and Italy attested the European interest interest felt in the cause of peace. Probably no purely Congress. political meeting had ever gathered in such strength 2- On the 4th or 5th of August the Congress was formally opened in the hall of the historic abbey of St. Vaast. The Cardinal of St. Cross (Albergati) presided in the name of the Pope : the Cardinal of Cyprus, Hugh of Lusignan, sat slightly below him as representing the Council 3- But the proceedings were merely formal up to the 10th, and in fact up to the 12th of August, on which day the English having suggested a truce for twenty years, with a matrimonial alliance, the French answered that no question of truce could be entertained. Being asked to formulate Proposals terms of their own, they suggested that Henry should French. renounce the style and arms of France ; and restore all places held by him in 'France', receiving in return sub stantial additions to his dominion in Guienne. These as defined on a second offer were made to include Cahors, Quercy, the county of Perigord, and parts of the Agenais Limousin and Saintonge ; all to be held of the Crown of France. The French also offered 600,000 crowns in money4. The proposals in question brought the diplo matic situation back to the exact point at which it stood before the Agincourt campaign ; these having been the last offers made by the Archbishop of Bourges at Winchester in July, 1415 s- The French, finding the English still unmoved, then made a further step in advance ; and offered first the 1 See J. Le Fevre, ii. 305-311 ; J. Wavrin, iv. 69-78; E. Monstrelet. 2 Id. and de Beaucourt, ii. 523-525 ; Plancher, iv. 201. 3 De Beaucourt, 527. This writer's account of the negotiations at Arras is taken from the Journal of A. de Le Taveme (Paris, 165 1), the report of the English ambassadors, MS. Harl. 4763 ; and the reports of the Cardinals in the French Archives. 4 See the offers, Stevenson, i. 51, 53 ; for the date, de Beaucourt, 530, 531. 6 See above. 47° HENRY VI. 1435- CounterproposalsoftheEnglish. ch. xxxii. dioceses of Coutances, Avranches, and Bayeux ; and eventu ally the whole of Normandy, less the duchy of Alencon, the counties of Tancarville and Harcourt, and Mont-Saint- Michel x- For two or three days the English fenced with their adversaries, reverting to their old suggestion of a truce based on a matrimonial alliance and the liberation of the Duke of Orleans. On the 1 6th August, however, having been once more implored by the Cardinals to make some feasible offer, they took up the first line authorised by the revised in structions above referred to, and suggested that Henry should cede ' all beyond the water of Loire,' saving Gascony and Guienne ; and pay an annual rent of 1 20,000 saluts in consideration of retaining the style and arms of France 2- The French answer was that the status quo was the least that they could accept, and that for that their master would readily pay 150,000 saluts a year. They followed this up by communicating to the Cardinals their own final instruc tions, by which they were precluded from entertaining any offer not based on the renunciation of the Crown of France by Henry3. The English not being instructed on this point, matters remained at a stand-still for some days, the English doubtless waiting for the arrival of Cardinal Beau fort, who was on his way to Arras. On the 23rd August he entered the city4. Outrage by Two days later the Congress was nearly brought to an captains, abrupt conclusion by a wanton outrage perpetrated by La Hire and Pothon de Xaintrailles. On the 25th August, while the Duke of Burgundy was entertaining the French Ambassadors at dinner, word was brought that the two, sallying from Beauvais, had crossed the Somme near Bray, and were ravaging Artois. 1 De Beaucourt, Charles VII, ii. 531. 2 De Beaucourt, 532; Stevenson, Letters, ii. 431. The salut or icu was = 25 sous Tournois, or about is. <\d. sterling; Foed. x. 454, 727. 3 De Beaucourt, 533. 4 De Beaucourt, 534; J. Wavrin, iv. 81. THE ENGLISH IMPRACTICABLE. Al * The Duke, in a fury, ordered all his men to horse, ch. xxxii. Parties of English and French joined them, many gentle- men starting half-armed. The marauders were intercepted near Corbie ; but through the mediation of the French a conflict was avoided ; and the Armagnac captains were allowed to retire on surrendering their prisoners and booty1. On the 27th August the negotiators resumed their hope less task. Cardinal Beaufort, finding that the French were resolved to insist on the renuntiation of the Crown, would have broken off the negotiations at once ; but at the instance of An ulti- the presiding Cardinals each party was induced to formu- !^f0rWat murder. 1 Rot. Scot. ii. 261. Malise received the nominal earldom of Menteith, but the lands remained in the King's hand ; Burnet. 2 Scotichron. ii. 490. 3 Acts Pari. Scotland, ii. 22. The Earl's son, Patrick Dunbar, fled to England ; made an inroad with Sir Robert Ogle, and was defeated at Piperden ; Proceedings, iv. 309, 310 ; Scotichron. ii. 500. 4 Of the £33,333 6s. 6d. finally stipulated as James' ransom, little more than £6000 had found its way to England; Proceedings, iii. 260; iv. 21. Yet the Scottish burghs had paid to James I their full contribution, namely, £13,333 6s. Sd. Whether the clergy and baronage of Scotland had ever con tributed anything at all does not appear ; Burnet, sup. cxxxii. For the ransom see above, 337, 344 5 Rot. Scot. ii. 277; Foed. 6 Rot. Scot. ii. 261 ; Malise appears there as Earl of Menteith. 492 HENRY VI. ch.xxxiii. James I was the Earl of Athole ; while the undoubted 1424^1436. instruments of the deed were Sir Robert Graham, uncle of the Earl of Strathern, and Sir Robert Stewart, eldest son of the Master of Athole x. The latter was at the time the King's private Chamberlain 2 ; so that he personally had nothing to complain of; but Graham had been im prisoned on the King's return to Scotland as a partizan of the Albanys. Thus it would seem that James owed his death primarily to the general discontent of the Scottish nobility ; and more immediately to the special discontents of the Albany faction, and of those who had friends detained in England. The thought of changing the Succession had probably little to do with the conspiracy ; although that was the view put forward by the Scots Government 3, and, to a certain extent, echoed by the chroniclers. After his repulse at Roxburgh James held a Parliament in Edinburgh in October (1436). Later in the year a Grand Council was summoned to meet at Perth in February, 1437, to receive a Papal Legate 4. Circum- The King came to Perth in due course, and took up his thedeed° quarters at the Blackfriars, on the North Inch, just outside the then limits of the town. The city under the circum stances would be in the hands of the nobility and their followers. On the 20th or perhaps the 21st of the month5, about 10 o'clock at night, James was in the Queen's chamber undressing and preparing to retire : the attendant had gone for the hot spiced wine, when an armed party, led by Sir Robert Graham, were admitted to the premises through the influence of Sir Robert Stewart. Two Perth men of the name of Chalmers showed 1 The Extracta e Cronicis, p. 236, expressly connect James' murder with his dealings with the hostages and the aristocracy ; cf. Pluscard. 390 ; " propter justiciam passus est", and again 391. Wavrin understood that he suffered at the hands of the Albany party ; iv. 213. 2 Excheq. Rolls, iv. cxx. 574. 3 Cf. Foed. x. 679, " Rege Scotorum per fratres ex secundis nuptiis mur- drato ". 4 Rot. Scot. ii. 296. 5 20th February; Extracta e Cronicis, 237. Wednesday, 20th; J. Wavrin; Tytler; Burnet. 21st February; Scotichron. 503; Extracta e Cronicis, 236. MURDER OF JAMES I, 493 the way. The King tried to hide himself in a closet x ; he ch.xxxiii. was dragged out and brutally murdered after a desperate 7/^. resistance. Eight and twenty wounds were counted in his body. The Queen was wounded ; the attendant, Walter Stratoun, killed ; Katherine Douglas, trying to bar the door with her arm, had the limb broken. The only man who attempted to come to the rescue was Sir David Dunbar, brother of the ill-treated Earl of March 2. " Thus tragically perished, in the 44th year of his age, and the 13th of his reign, the greatest and ablest of all the Stewart Kings of Scotland " 3. "Robert Graeme, That slew our King, God give him shame ! " i On the 21st January, 1437, Parliament was opened at Parliament Westminster. The Chancellor took his text from Isaiah, ^5^" " Corona . . . regni in manu Dei " 5- With much rhetoric he demonstrated that it was the duty of the Commons to be ductile as the gold of the royal diadem. As a special cause for the summons of Parliament, he indi cated the depressed state of English commerce ; rather a delicate point to touch on for a Government that had plunged into a gratuitous war with Burgundy 6. The Commons showed themselves neither more nor less MoneyGrants. 1 " In latrina fugientem " ; Extracta e Cronicis ; " in cloaca " ; Three Fifteenth Century Chronicles, 166. 2 See Scotichron. ii. 503 ; Pluscard. 389 ; Extracta e Cronicis, 236 ; J. Wavrin, iv. 209. The so-called Contemporary Account cited by Pinkerton, Tytler, and Burnet, does not seem entitled to the credit they give it. It cannot have been written in Scotland or by a Scotsman. It confounds the Water of Leith with the Forth, and speaks of the " Gildhall " of Edinburgh. See the MS. (a Fifteenth Century transcript) B.M. Addl. 5467, f. 72 b. It purports to have been translated from the Latin (qy. French ?) by John Shirley, pre sumably the transcriber of Chancer, who d. in 1456. 3 Burnet, sup. cxxi. For James' accomplishments as a poet, a musician, an athlete, and a man of business, see Scotichron. ii. 504-509 ; his great claims to the respect of posterity were his strictness in keeping ' good peace ', and his regard for the interests ofthe poor; id. and Pluscard. 391. 4 Walter Scott, Tales of My Grandfather, ad locum. 5 Isaiah Ixii. 3 : ' The crown of the kingdom is in the hand of God ' The Bishop, however, modified the words of the text. 6 Rot. Pari. iv. 495. 494 HENRY VI. ch.xxxiii. liberal than they had done of late. They gave a Subsidy ~77 (under deduction of £4000 as before), half to be raised in November, 1437, and half in November, 1438. They re newed the wool duties for three years from the nth November, 1437, at a slight increase on foreigners ; and they renewed Tonnage and Poundage for three years from the ist April. Of the wool duty twenty shillings on the sack, or nearly one half, was assigned to the garrison of Calais ; and power was again given to borrow up to ^100,000 x. In return Gloucester produced an Act of Grace for all debts and penalties incurred previous to the 2nd September, 143 1 2. The On the 23rd March Jaquette, Duchess of Bedford, was of Bedford, allowed to compound for the offence she had committed by marrying the Duke's henchman, Sir Richard Wydeville Death or Wodeville, without leave 3 ; while on the 26th March Queen administrators were appointed to execute the will of the Mother. Queen Mother, Catherine of France 4, who had died on the 2nd or 3rd January5. Statute. By the Act of the Session a fresh attempt was made to curb the old encroachments of the courts of the Steward and Marshal of the Household. Leave was given for a time to export corn to friendly countries, so long as wheat should not rise above 6s. 8d. the quarter ; or barley above 3s. the quarter. Suitors applying to the Court of Chancery for relief were required to find security for damages in case they should fail to establish the complaint of their Bill ; and the Masters of Guilds and Fraternities were required to enrol their charters, and 1 Rot. Pari. iv. 502-504. The total wool duties were 40^. the sack for denizens and 63J. ^d. for aliens, the latter being the rate imposed in 1433 (above, 456) and reduced to 56^. Sd. in 1435 (p. 479). Convocation of Canterbury gave a Tenth on the 29th April ; Wilkins. 2 27th March ; Rot. Pari. 504. 3 Id. 498 ; Foed. x. 677. She was fined £1000 to get her dower assigned. It only amounted to £222 a year; Devon Issues, 436. 4 Rot. Pari. 505 ; Foed. x. 662. s 3rd January; W. Gregory, 179; Sandford, 285 ; W. Worcester, 458, 459. 2nd January; Chron. Giles, 17; Chron. London, 123; "in extremis", 1st January; Rot. Pari. 506. Between the nth and the 14th February she was laid in " Oure Lady Chapylle " at Westminster ; W. Gregory. PARLIAMENT, A95 submit their rules for approval by the authorities of the ch.xxxiii. town or county 7 777 The petitions, as usual, illustrate the ways of the times. The complaint that the King sold licenses to evade the Staple regulations was an old one2. The abduction of Abduction ¦ 11 c r s. i u of women women, especially of women of property, was also an old 0f pro. offence ; but the case of " Isabell," widow of Sir John Perty' Boteler or Butler, of Beaufey in Lancashire, was felt to be a very aggravated one. Lady Butler had been taken from her chamber, at " Bartonwood in Beaufey ", on the morning of the 23rd July 1436, and carried off in " hir Kirtyll and hir smokke ", by one William Pulle of Wirral ; who next day compelled her by actual threats to ' say the words of matrimony' in the parish church of Bidstone. The lady and her friends petitioned that the offender might be brought to justice by the authorities of the county of Lan caster ; and that she might be at liberty to prosecute him "the espousels hadde betwix theym noght withstanding"3. Another petition again describes a nautical fraud of Fraudu- singular audacity. It would seem that the common form 0efnsafe-erS of Safe-Conduct issued to ships contained a clause to the Conduct. effect that a duly authenticated Vidimus, or copy, should be as valid as the original. A Frenchman, Jean le Gautier 4, having obtained such a Safe-Conduct for himself and four ships, had issued to his friends an indefinite number of copies authenticated by the French authorities at La Rochelle, whereby victuals were freely carried to Harfleur and other blockaded places in the Channel. As the petitioners justly pointed out, '' under the umbre of such Vidimus all an hole (whole) Navye of adversaries myght been shadewed". It was enacted that for the future the Vidimus clause should not be inserted without special reason5. The death of Queen Catherine disclosed the fact that 1 Stat. 15 Henry VI, cc. i, 2, 4, 6. 2 Rot. Pari. 508. 3 Rot.Parl.497,498. Forjust such another casein Pembrokeshire see id. v. 14. 4 He was apparently a follower of the Duke of Orleans ; Foed. x. 679. 5 Rot. Pari. 500 ; Statute, c. 3. 496 HENRY VI. ch.xxxiii. she had been privately married for some years1 to a Welsh 777 gentleman, Owen ap Tudor 2 ; a man of good looks and Second personal accomplishments, but of moderate estate : in fact Family of f ^ Household. Three sons and a daughter had the late Queen been born of the marriage, if such the connexion really Mot er' was 3. It would seem that early in the reign Catherine had wished to marry Edmund Beaufort, Earl of Mortain ; but that the marriage had been prevented by Gloucester, Who doubtless feared the enhancement of the Beaufort interest 4. It would also seem that in view of the Queen's matrimonial Inclinations an Act was passed in the Parlia ment of 1427-1428, making it penal for any man to marry a Queen Dowager without special license 5. Owen ap Tudor was summoned before the Council to answer for p ',_ his conduct. He refused to appear without a formal pro- ingsagainst mise from the King that he might " freely come and freely goo". A verbal assurance to that effect was sent to him by Gloucester ; but not feeling satisfied therewith, he left Daventry, where he was ' lying ', and, coming up to London, took sanctuary at Westminster. He was induced to come out and enter an appearance. Having done so, and under taken to ! byde the lawe ' as towards any charge that might be brought against him, he was allowed to retire to Wales ; whereupon he was arrested without further ceremony, brought to London, and consigned to Newgate 6. 1 " Unwetyng the comoun peple tyl that sche were ded " ; Chron. London ; " in occulta " ; Chron. Giles. 2 The name is given in various ways. "Oweyn ap Tedir''; Foed. x. 685 ; "apTuder"; 709; " Oweyn Tidr '' ; Proceedings. 3 Chron. Lond, 123; E. Hall, 185. The sons were, Edmund, afterwards Earl of Richmond, father of Henry VII ; Jasper, afterwards Earl of Pembroke ; and another who died young, a monk at Westminster. The daughter also died early ; lb. Catherine makes no reference to her second family in her Will printed by Miss Strickland, Queens of England, ii. 153 : she leaves her whole "intent" to be executed by Henry VI. 4 Chron. Giles, 17. 5 6 Henry VI, quoted by Hall, sup., Lord Coke, and Cotton's Abridgement, p. 589. The membrane of the original Roll containing the enactment appears to have been torn off since Cotton's Abridgement was compiled (1657). See Palgrave, Proceedings, v. xviii. 6 See the elaborate plea for this breach of faith entered on the Minutes of the Privy Council ; Proceedings, v. 46-50 ; E.Hall; Chron. London, sup. The arrest is spoken of on the 15th July as "now late made". THE WAR. 497 The situation in Normandy had become most anxious ch.xxxiii, and harassing. The peasant risings had dispelled all ^777 illusions, and left nothing but rankling bitterness 7 Few State of Englishmen cared to serve there if they could help it. mandy. Louis of Luxemburg, having at last attained to the arch bishopric of Rouen, came over to England, asking to be naturalised. His request was granted ; and for his past services he received a pension of icoo marks a year, to be drawn from the revenues of the vacant see of Ely 2. The Duke of York begged to be relieved of his command at the end of the year ; and Cardinal Beaufort, as if anxious to be out of it altogether, asked leave to go to Rome to " doo his duetee" to the Pope. Both were implored to remain at their posts 3. For the Duke of York, however, a The Duke successor had to be found in the old Earl of Warwick, °omi°g who, undertaking a service, as he himself said, " full farre home. from the ease of my years', consented to devote his re maining energies to ': continuall laboure . . . att seiges and daily occupation in the warre " 4. It was arranged that he The Earl should go out for a year and a half at any rate, taking ^ict^" with him 400 spears, "and the bows thereto", so as to King's make up, with 800 spears already in France 5, a pre- General. sumable total of 4800 men. His personal guard was fixed at 30 spears, with 'their bows'; and his household allowance at 20,000 or 30,000 francs per annum 6, to be 1 For the state of Normandy see J. Chartier, i. 240; J. Wavrin, iv. 226; and especially the letter of the Bishop of Bayeux; Bekyngton, Letters, i. 289. 2 W. Gregory, 179, 180; Proceedings, v. 27, 28, 42; Foed. x. 666, 671. Louis of Luxemburg was translated to Rouen 24th October, 1436, and enthroned 9th August, 1437; Bourgeois, 345, note; Williams, citing Gallia Christiana, t. 1566. At Henry's request Ely was assigned to Louis by the Pope, to be held in commendam ; Bekyngton, Letters, i. 4 ; Foed. 696. 3 Proceedings, v. 7, 9. The Duke of York again had to beg his subordinates to remain at their posts ; Stevenson, ii. 289, &c. 4 Hardyng understood that Warwick was weary ofthe King's "symplesse", and, doubtless, of the intrigues to which it gave rise ; p. 396. 6 Devon Issues, 432. 15 Bedford had 4^,000 francs per annum ; Stevenson, ii. 559. Nine francs or livres Tournois were held = £i sterling ; Id. 540, 546. * Kk 498 HENRY VI. ch.xxxiii. drawn of course from the revenues of Normandy. Lastly 777 the Earl had to stipulate that he should be free to return home if the King's covenants should be overridden by any of his Council 1. The significance of such a proviso by a man of such position is unmistakeable. For Henry personally, the death of his mother and the retirement of Warwick from the Council must have been very serious losses. Presumably they were the two best friends he had. The King With Warwick's departure all semblance of Regency ofa^e* aS was ailov/ed to expire. The King was nearly sixteen End of the years old, and when the Council was re-appointed in the egency. autUmn, Henry was treated as able to decide all ultimate questions for himself2. Under this system the managers of the Council for the time being could govern England without practical responsibility. 1 nth May. See the articles, Stevenson, ii. Ixvi, comparing p. 587, and Proceedings, v. 15-24. 2 1 2th November; Proceedings, v. xxii. END OF PART I. 3 9002 00982 6554