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diff --git a/19212-8.txt b/19212-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..edf70e4 --- /dev/null +++ b/19212-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,22379 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of England in Three Volumes, +Vol.I., Part B., by David Hume + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part B. + From Henry III. to Richard III. + +Author: David Hume + +Release Date: September 8, 2006 [EBook #19212] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF ENGLAND *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND + +FROM THE INVASION OF JULIUS CĈSAR + +TO THE END OF THE REIGN OF JAMES THE SECOND, + + +BY DAVID HUME, ESQ. + +1688 + + + +London: James S. Virtue, City Road and Ivy Lane +New York: 26 John Street +1860 + +And + +Philadelphia: +J. B. Lippincott & Co. +March 17, 1901 + + + +In Three Volumes: + +VOLUME ONE: The History Of England From The Invasion Of Julius Cĉsar To +The End Of The Reign Of James The Second............ By David Hume, Esq. + +VOLUME TWO: Continued from the Reign of William and Mary to the Death of +George II........................................... by Tobias Smollett. + +VOLUME THREE: From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year +of the Reign of Queen Victoria............... by E. Farr and E.H. Nolan. + + + + +VOLUME ONE + +Part B. + +HENRY III. TO RICHARD III. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +[Illustration: 1_155_henry3.jpg HENRY III.] + + + + +HENRY III. + + +{1216.} Most sciences, in proportion as they increase and improve, +invent methods by which they facilitate their reasonings, and, employing +general theorems, are enabled to comprehend, in a few propositions, +a great number of inferences and conclusions. History, also, being a +collection of facts which are multiplying without end, is obliged to +adopt such arts of abridgment, to retain the more material events, and +to drop all the minute circumstances, which are only interesting during +the time, or to the persons engaged in the transactions. This truth is +nowhere more evident than with regard to the reign upon which we are +going to enter. What mortal could have the patience to write or read a +long detail of such frivolous events as those with which it is filled, +or attend to a tedious narrative which would follow, through a series +of fifty-six years, the caprices and weaknesses of so mean a prince as +Henry? The chief reason why Protestant writers have been so anxious +to spread out the incidents of this reign, is in order to expose the +rapacity, ambition, and artifices of the court of Rome, and to prove, +that the great dignitaries of the Catholic church, while they pretended +to have nothing in view but the salvation of souls, had bent all their +attention to the acquisition of riches, and were restrained by no sense +of justice or of honor in the pursuit of that great object.[*] But this +conclusion would readily be allowed them, though it were not illustrated +by such a detail of uninteresting incidents; and follows indeed, by +an evident necessity, from the very situation in which that church +was placed with regard to the rest of Europe. For, besides that +ecclesiastical power, as it can always cover its operations under a +cloak of sanctity, and attacks men on the side where they dare not +employ their reason, lies less under control than civil government; +besides this general cause, I say, the pope and his courtiers were +foreigners to most of the churches which they governed; they could not +possibly have any other object than to pillage the provinces for present +gain; and as they lived at a distance, they would be little awed by +shame or remorse in employing every lucrative expedient which was +suggested to them. England being one of the most remote provinces +attached to the Romish hierarchy, as well as the most prone to +superstition, felt severely, during this reign, while its patience was +not yet fully exhausted, the influence of these causes, and we shall +often have occasion to touch cursorily upon such incidents. But we shall +not attempt to comprehend every transaction transmitted to us: and till +the end of the reign, when the events become more memorable, we shall +not always observe an exact chronological order in our narration. + + * M. Paris, p. 623. + +The earl of Pembroke, who at the time of John's death, was mareschal +of England, was, by his office, at the head of the armies, and +consequently, during a state of civil wars and convulsions, at the head +of the government; and it happened, fortunately for the young monarch +and for the nation, that the power could not have been intrusted into +more able and more faithful hands. This nobleman, who had maintained +his loyalty unshaken to John during the lowest fortune of that monarch, +determined to support the authority of the infant prince; nor was he +dismayed at the number and violence of his enemies. Sensible that +Henry, agreeably to the prejudices of the times, would not be deemed +a sovereign till crowned and anointed by a churchman, he immediately +carried the young prince to Glocester, where the ceremony of coronation +was performed, in the presence of Gualo, the legate, and of a few +noblemen, by the bishops of Winchester and Bath.[*] As the concurrence +of the papal authority was requisite to support the tottering throne, +Henry was obliged to swear fealty to the pope, and renew that homage to +which his father had already subjected the kingdom:[**] and in order to +enlarge the authority of Pembroke, and to give him a more regular +and legal title to it, a general council of the barons was soon after +summoned at Bristol, where that nobleman was chosen protector of the +realm. + + * M. Paris, p. 290. Hist Croyl. Cont. p. 474. W. Heming. p. + 562. Privet, p. 168. + + ** M. Paris, p. 200. + +Pembroke, that he might reconcile all men to the government of his +pupil, made him grant a new charter of liberties, which, though mostly +copied from the former concessions extorted from John, contains some +alterations which may be deemed remarkable.[*] The full privilege of +elections in the clergy, granted by the late king, was not confirmed, +nor the liberty of going out of the kingdom without the royal consent: +whence we may conclude, that Pembroke and the barons, jealous of the +ecclesiastical power, both were desirous of renewing the king's claim +to issue a congé d'élire to the monks and chapters, and thought it +requisite to put some check to the frequent appeals to Rome. But what +may chiefly surprise us is, that the obligation to which John had +subjected himself, of obtaining the consent of the great council before +he levied any aids or scutages upon the nation, was omitted; and this +article was even declared hard and severe, and was expressly left to +future deliberation. But we must consider, that, though this limitation +may perhaps appear to us the most momentous in the whole charter of +John, it was not regarded in that light by the ancient barons, who were +more jealous in guarding against particular acts of violence in the +crown than against such general impositions which, unless they were +evidently reasonable and necessary, could scarcely, without general +consent, be levied upon men who had arms in their hands, and who could +repel any act of oppression by which they were all immediately affected. +We accordingly find, that Henry, in the course of his reign, while he +gave frequent occasions for complaint with regard to his violations of +the Great Charter, never attempted, by his own will, to levy any aids +or scutages, though he was often reduced to great necessities, and was +refused supply by his people. + + * Rymer, vol. i. p. 215. + +So much easier was it for him to transgress the law, when individuals +alone were affected, than even to exert his acknowledged prerogatives, +where the interest of the whole body was concerned. + +This charter was again confirmed by the king in the ensuing year, with +the addition of some articles to prevent the oppressions by sheriffs; +and also with an additional charter of forests, a circumstance of great +moment in those ages, when hunting was so much the occupation of the +nobility, and when the king comprehended so considerable a part of the +kingdom within his forests, which he governed by peculiar and arbitrary +laws. All the forests, which had been enclosed since the reign of Henry +II., were disafforested, and new perambulations were appointed for that +purpose; offences in the forests were declared to be no longer capital, +but punishable by fine, imprisonment, and more gentle penalties; and all +the proprietors of land recovered the power of cutting and using their +own wood at their pleasure. + +Thus these famous charters were brought nearly to the shape in which +they have ever since stood; and they were, during many generations, the +peculiar favorites of the English nation, and esteemed the most sacred +rampart to national liberty and independence. As they secured the rights +of all orders of men, they were anxiously defended by all, and became +the basis, in a manner, of the English monarchy, and a kind of original +contract which both limited the authority of the king and insured the +conditional allegiance of his subjects. Though often violated, they +were still claimed by the nobility and people; and as no precedents +were supposed valid that infringed them, they rather acquired than lost +authority, from the frequent attempts made against them in several ages +by regal and arbitrary power. + +While Pembroke, by renewing and confirming the Great Charter, gave so +much satisfaction and security to the nation in general, he also applied +himself successfully to individuals; he wrote letters, in the king's +name, to all the malcontent barons; in which he represented to them +that, whatever jealousy and animosity they might have entertained +against the late king, a young prince, the lineal heir of their ancient +monarchs, had now succeeded to the throne, without succeeding either +to the resentments or principles of his predecessor; that the desperate +expedient, which they had employed, of calling in a foreign potentate, +had, happily for them as well as for the nation, failed of entire +success, and it was still in their power, by a speedy return to their +duty, to restore the independence of the kingdom, and to secure that +liberty for which they so zealously contended; that as all past offences +of the barons were now buried in oblivion, they ought, on their part, +to forget their complaints against their late sovereign, who, if he had +been anywise blamable in his conduct had left to his son the salutary +warning, to avoid the paths which had led to such fatal extremities: +and that having now obtained a charter for their liberties, it was +their interest to show, by their conduct, that this acquisition was +not incompatible with their allegiance, and that the rights of king and +people, so far from being hostile and opposite, might mutually support +and sustain each other.[*] + +These considerations, enforced by the character of honor and constancy +which Pembroke had ever maintained, had a mighty influence on the +barons; and most of them began secretly to negotiate with him, and +many of them openly returned to their duty. The diffidence which Lewis +discovered of their fidelity, forwarded this general propension towards +the king; and when the French prince refused the government of the +castle of Hertford to Robert Fitz-Walter, who had been so active against +the late king, and who claimed that fortress as his property, they +plainly saw that the English were excluded from every trust, and that +foreigners had engrossed all the confidence and affection of their new +sovereign.[**] The excommunication, too, denounced by the legate +against all the adherents of Lewis, failed not, in the turn which men's +dispositions had taken, to produce a mighty effect upon them; and they +were easily persuaded to consider a cause as impious, for which they had +already entertained an unsurmountable aversion.[***] Though Lewis made +a journey to France, and brought over succors from that kingdom [****] +he found, on his return, that his party was still more weakened by the +desertion of his English confederates, and that the death of John had, +contrary to his expectations, given an incurable wound to his cause. +The earls of Salisbury Arundel, and Warrenne, together with William +Mareschal, eldest son of the protector, had embraced Henry's party; +and every English nobleman was plainly watching for an opportunity of +returning to his allegiance. + + * Rymer, vol. i. p. 215. Brady's App. No. 143. + + ** M. Paris, p. 200, 202. + + *** Ibid. p. 200 M. West, p. 277 + + **** Chron. Dunst vol. i. p. 79. + +Pembroke was so much strengthened by these accessions, that he ventured +to invest Mount Sorel; though, upon the approach of the count of Perche +with the French army, he desisted from his enterprise, and raised the +siege.[*] The count, elated with this success, marched to Lincoln; and +being admitted into the town, he began to attack the castle, which he +soon reduced to extremity. The protector summoned all his forces from +every quarter, in order to relieve a place of such importance; and he +appeared so much superior to the French, that they shut themselves up +within the city, and resolved to act upon the defensive.[**] But the +garrison of the castle, having received a strong reënforcement, made a +vigorous sally upon the besiegers; while the English army, by concert, +assaulted them in the same instant from without, mounted the walls by +scalade, and bearing down all resistance, entered the city sword in +hand. Lincoln was delivered over to be pillaged; the French army was +totally routed; the count de Perche, with only two persons more, +was killed, but many of the chief commanders, and about four hundred +knights, were made prisoners by the English.[***] So little blood was +shed in this important action, which decided the fate of one of the +most powerful kingdoms in Europe; and such wretched soldiers were those +ancient barons, who yet were unacquainted with every thing but arms! + + * M. Paris, p. 203 + + ** Chron. Dunst vol. i. p. 81. + + *** M. Paris, p. 204, 205. + + **** Chron. de Mailr. p. 195. + +Prince Lewis was informed of this fatal event while employed in the +siege of Dover, which was still valiantly defended against him by Hubert +de Burgh. He immediately retreated to London, the centre and life of his +party; and he there received intelligence of a new disaster, which +put an end to all his hopes. A French fleet, bringing over a strong, +reënforcement, had appeared on the coast of Kent; where they were +attacked by the English under the command of Philip d'Albiney, and were +routed with considerable loss. D'Albiney employed a stratagem against +them, which is said to have contributed to the victory: having gained +the wind of the French, he came down upon them with violence; and +throwing in their faces a great quantity of quick lime, which he +purposely carried on board, he so blinded them, that they were disabled +from defending themselves.[*] + +After this second misfortune of the French, the English barons +hastened every where to make peace with the protector, and, by an early +submission, to prevent those attainders to which they were exposed +on account of their rebellion. Lewis, whose cause was now totally +desperate, began to be anxious for the safety of his person, and was +glad, on any honorable conditions, to make his escape from a country +where he found every thing was now become hostile to him. He concluded +a peace with Pembroke, promised to evacuate the kingdom, and only +stipulated in return an indemnity to his adherents, and a restitution of +their honors and fortunes, together with the free and equal enjoyment +of those liberties which had been granted to the rest of the nation.[**] +Thus was happily ended a civil war which seemed to be founded on the +most incurable hatred and jealousy, and had threatened the kingdom with +the most fatal consequences. + +The precautions which the king of France used in the conduct of this +whole affair are remarkable. He pretended that his son had accepted of +the offer from the English barons without his advice, and contrary to +his inclination: the armies sent to England were levied in Lewis's +name: when that prince came over to France for aid, his father publicly +refused to grant him any assistance, and would not so much as admit him +to his presence: even after Henry's party acquired the ascendant, and +Lewis was in danger of falling into the hands of his enemies, it was +Blanche of Castile his wife, not the king his father, who raised armies +and equipped fleets for his succor.[***] + + *. M. Paris, p. 206. Ann. Waverl. p. 183. W. Heming. p. 563. + Trivet, p. 109. M. West. p. 277. Knyghton, p. 2428. + + **. Rhymer, vol. i. p. 221. M. Paris, p. 207. Chron. Dunst. + vol. i. p. 83. M. West. p. 278. Knyghton, p. 2429. + + *** M, Paris, p. 256. Chron. Dunst, vol. i. p. 82. + +All these artifices were employed, not to satisfy the pope; for he had +too much penetration to be so easily imposed on: nor yet to deceive the +people; for they were too gross even for that purpose: they only served +for a coloring to Philip's cause; and in public affairs men are often +better pleased that the truth, though known to every body, should +be wrapped up under a decent cover, than if it were exposed in open +daylight to the eyes of all the world. + +After the expulsion of the French, the prudence and equity of the +protector's subsequent conduct contributed to cure entirely those wounds +which had been made by intestine discord. He received the rebellious +barons into favor; observed strictly the terms of peace which he had +granted them; restored them to their possessions; and endeavored, by an +equal behavior, to bury all past animosities in perpetual oblivion. +The clergy alone, who had adhered to Lewis, were sufferers in this +revolution. As they had rebelled against their spiritual sovereign, by +disregarding the interdict and excommunication, it was not in Pembroke's +power to make any stipulations in their favor; and Gualo, the legate, +prepared to take vengeance on them for their disobedience.[*] Many of +them were deposed; many suspended; some banished; and all who escaped +punishment made atonement for their offence, by paying large sums to the +legate, who amassed an immense treasure by this expedient. + +The earl of Pembroke did not long survive the pacification, which had +been chiefly owing to his wisdom and valor;[*] and he was succeeded in +the government by Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, and Hubert de +Burgh, the justiciary. The counsels of the latter were chiefly followed; +and had he possessed equal authority in the kingdom with Pembroke, he +seemed to be every way worthy of filling the place of that virtuous +nobleman. But the licentious and powerful barons, who had once broken +the reins of subjection to their prince, and had obtained by violence an +enlargement of their liberties and independence, could ill be restrained +by laws under a minority; and the people, no less than the king, +suffered from their outrages and disorders. They retained by force the +royal castles, which they had seized during the past convulsions, or +which had been committed to their custody by the protector;[**] they +usurped the king's demesnes;[***] they oppressed their vassals; they +infested their weaker neighbors; they invited all disorderly people to +enter in their retinue, and to live upon their lands; and they gave them +protection in all their robberies and extortions. + + * Brady's App. No. 144. Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 83. + + ** M. Paris, p. 210. * Trivet, p. 174 + + *** Rymer, vol. i. p. 276. + +No one was more infamous for these violent and illegal practices than +the earl of Albemarle; who, though he had early returned to his duty, +and had been serviceable in expelling the French, augmented to the +utmost the general disorder, and committed outrages in all the counties +of the north. In order to reduce him to obedience, Hubert seized an +opportunity of getting possession of Rockingham Castle, which Albemarle +had garrisoned with his licentious retinue: but this nobleman, instead +of submitting, entered into a secret confederacy with Fawkes de Breauté, +Peter de Mauleon, and other barons, and both fortified the Gastle of +Biham for his defence, and made himself master by surprise of that of +Fotheringay. Pandulf, who was restored to his legateship, was active in +suppressing this rebellion; and with the concurrence of eleven bishops, +he pronounced the sentence of excommunication against Albemarle and his +adherents:[*] an army was levied: a scutage of ten shillings a knight's +fee was imposed on all the military tenants. Albemarle's associates +gradually deserted him; and he himself was obliged at last to sue for +mercy. He received a pardon, and was restored to his whole estate. + +This impolitic lenity, too frequent in those times, was probably the +result of a secret combination among the barons, who never could endure +to see the total ruin of one of their own order: but it encouraged +Fawkes de Breauté, a man whom King John had raised from a low origin, to +persevere in the course of violence to which he had owed his fortune and +to set at nought all law and justice. When thirty-five verdicts were at +one time found against him, on account of his violent expulsion of so +many freeholders from their possessions, he came to the court of justice +with an armed force, seized the judge who had pronounced the verdicts, +and imprisoned him in Bedford Castle. He then levied open war against +the king; but being subdued and taken prisoner, his life was +granted him; but his estate was confiscated, and he was banished the +kingdom.[**] + + * Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 102. + + ** Rymer, vol. i. p. 198. M. Paris, p. 221, 224. Ann. Waverl + p. 188, Chron. Dunst vol. i. p. 141, 146. M. West, p. 283. + +{1222.} Justice was executed with greater severity against disorders +less premeditated, which broke out in London. A frivolous emulation in +a match of wrestling, between the Londoners on the one hand, and the +inhabitants of Westminster and those of the neighboring villages on the +other, occasioned this commotion. The former rose in a body, and pulled +down some houses belonging to the abbot of Westminster: but this riot, +which, considering the tumultuous disposition familiar to that capital, +would have been little regarded, seemed to become more serious by the +symptoms which then appeared of the former attachment of the citizens to +the French interest. The populace, in the tumult, made use of the cry +of war commonly employed by the French troops: "Mountjoy, Mountjoy, +God help us and our lord Lewis." The justiciary made inquiry into the +disorder; and finding one Constantine Fitz-Arnulf to have been the +ring-*leader, an insolent man, who justified his crime in Hubert's +presence, he proceeded against him by martial law, and ordered him +immediately to be hanged, without trial or form of process. He also cut +off the feet of some of Constantine's accomplices.[*] + +This act of power was complained of as an infringement of the Great +Charter: yet the justiciary, in a parliament summoned at Oxford, (for +the great councils about this time began to receive that appellation,) +made no scruple to grant in the king's name a renewal and confirmation +of that charter. When the assembly made application to the crown for +this favor,--as a law in those times seemed to lose its validity if not +frequently renewed,--William de Briewere, one of the council of regency, +was so bold as to say openly, that those liberties were extorted by +force, and ought not to be observed: but he was reprimanded by the +archbishop of Canterbury, and was not countenanced by the king or his +chief ministers.[**] A new confirmation was demanded and granted two +years after; and an aid, amounting to a fifteenth of all movables, was +given by the parliament, in return for this indulgence. The king issued +writs anew to the sheriffs, enjoining the observance of the charter; but +he inserted a remarkable clause in the writs, that those who paid not +the fifteenth should not for the future be entitled to the benefit of +those liberties.[***] + + * M. Paris, p. 217, 218, 259. Ann. Waverl. p. 187. Chron. + Dunst. vol. i. p. 129. + + ** M. West. p. 282. + + *** Clause ix. H. 3, m. 9, and m. 6, d. + +The low state into which the crown was fallen, made it requisite for a +good minister to be attentive to the preservation of the royal +prerogatives, as well as to the security of public liberty. Hubert +applied to the pope, who had always great authority in the kingdom, and +was now considered as its superior lord, and desired him to issue a +bull, declaring the king to be of full age, and entitled to exercise in +person all the acts of royalty.[*] In consequence of this declaration, +the justiciary resigned into Henry's hands the two important fortresses +of the Tower and Dover Castle, which had been intrusted to his custody; +and he required the other barons to imitate his example. They refused +compliance: the earls of Chester and Albemarle, John Constable of +Chester, John de Lacy, Brian de l'Isle, and William de Cantel, with some +others, even formed a conspiracy to surprise London, and met in arms at +Waltham with that intention: but finding the king prepared for defence, +they desisted from their enterprise. When summoned to court in order to +answer for their conduct, they scrupled not to appear, and to confess +the design: but they told the king that they had no bad intentions +against his person, but only against Hubert de Burgh, whom they were +determined to remove from his office.[**] They appeared too formidable +to be chastised; and they were so little discouraged by the failure of +their first enterprise, that they again met in arms at Leicester, in +order to seize the king, who then resided at Northampton: but Henry, +informed of their purpose, took care to be so well armed and attended, +that the barons found it dangerous to make the attempt; and they sat +down and kept Christmas in his neighborhood.[***] The archbishop and the +prelates, finding every thing tend towards a civil war, interposed with +their authority, and threatened the barons with the sentence of +excommunication, if they persisted in detaining the king's castles. This +menace at last prevailed: most of the fortresses were surrendered; +though the barons complained that Hubert's castles were soon after +restored to him, while the king still kept theirs in his own custody. +There are said to have been one thousand one hundred and fifteen castles +at that time in England.[****] + + * M. Paris, p. 220. + + ** Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 137. + + *** M. Paris, p. 221. Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 138. + + **** Coke's Comment on Magna Charta, chap. 17. + +It must be acknowledged that the influence of the prelates and the +clergy was often of great service to the public. + +Though the religion of that age can merit no better name than that of +superstition, it served to unite together a body of men who had great +sway over the people, and who kept the community from falling to pieces, +by the factions and independent power of the nobles. And what was of +great importance, it threw a mighty authority into the hands of men, who +by their profession were averse to arms and violence, who tempered by +their mediation the general disposition towards military enterprises; +and who still maintained, even amidst the shock of arms, those secret +links, without which it is impossible for human society to subsist. + +Notwithstanding these intestine commotions in England, and the +precarious authority of the crown, Henry was obliged to carry on war +in France; and he employed to that purpose the fifteenth which had been +granted him by parliament. Lewis VIII., who had succeeded to his father +Philip, instead of complying with Henry's claim, who demanded the +restitution of Normandy and the other provinces wrested from England, +made an irruption into Poictou, took Rochelle[*] after a long siege, +and seemed determined to expel the English from the few provinces +which still remained to them. Henry sent over his uncle, the earl of +Salisbury, together with his brother, Prince Richard, to whom he had +granted the earldom of Cornwall, which had escheated to the crown. +Salisbury stopped the progress of Lewis's arms, and retained the +Poictevin and Gascon vassals in their allegiance: but no military action +of any moment was performed on either side. The earl of Cornwall, after +two years' stay in Guienne, returned to England. + + * Rymer, vol i. p. 269. Trivet, p. 179. + +{1227.} This prince was nowise turbulent or factious in his disposition: +his ruling passion was to amass money, in which he succeeded so well as +to become the richest subject in Christendom: yet his attention to gain +threw him sometimes into acts of violence, and gave disturbance to +the government. There was a manor, which had formerly belonged to the +earldom of Cornwall but had been granted to Waleran de Ties, before +Richard had been invested with that dignity, and while the earldom +remained in the crown. Richard claimed this manor, and expelled the +proprietor by force: Waleran complained: the king ordered his brother to +do justice to the man, and restore him to his rights: the earl said that +he would not submit to these orders, till the cause should be decided +against him by the judgment of his peers: Henry replied, that it was +first necessary to reinstate Waleran in possession, before the cause +could be tried; and he reiterated his orders to the earl.[*] We may +judge of the state of the government, when this affair had nearly +produced a civil war The earl of Cornwall, finding Henry peremptory in +his commands, associated himself with the young earl of Pembroke who +had married his sister, and who was displeased on account of the +king's requiring him to deliver up some royal castles which were in his +custody. These two malecontents took into the confederacy the earls of +Chester, Warrenne, Glocester, Hereford, Warwick, and Ferrers, who were +all disgusted on a like account. [**] They assembled an army, which the +king had not the power or courage to resist; and he was obliged to give +his brother satisfaction, by grants of much greater importance than the +manor, which had been the first ground of the quarrel.[***] + +The character of the king, as he grew to man's estate, became every +day better known; and he was found in every respect unqualified for +maintaining a proper sway among those turbulent barons, whom the feudal +constitution subjected to his authority. Gentle, humane, and merciful +even to a fault, he seems to have been steady in no other circumstance +of his character; but to have received every impression from those who +surrounded him, and whom he loved, for the time, with the most imprudent +and most unreserved affection. Without activity or vigor, he was unfit +to conduct war; without policy or art, he was ill fitted to maintain +peace: his resentments, though hasty and violent, were not dreaded, +while he was found to drop them with such facility; his friendships +were little valued, because they were neither derived from choice, +nor maintained with constancy: a proper pageant of state in a regular +monarchy, where his ministers could have conducted all affairs in his +name and by his authority; but too feeble in those disorderly times +to sway a sceptre, whose weight depended entirely on the firmness and +dexterity of the hand which held it. + + * M. Paris, p. 233. + + ** M. Paris, p. 233. + + *** M. Paris, p. 233. + +The ablest and most virtuous minister that Henry ever possessed was +Hubert de Burgh;[*] a man who had been steady to the crown in the most +difficult and dangerous times, and who yet showed no disposition, in +the height of his power, to enslave or oppress the people. The only +exceptionable part of his conduct is that which is mentioned by Matthew +Paris,[**] if the fact be really true, and proceeded from Hubert's +advice, namely, the recalling publicly and the annulling of the charter +of forests, a concession so reasonable in itself, and so passionately +claimed both by the nobility and people: but it must be confessed that +this measure is so unlikely, both from the circumstances of the times +and character of the minister, that there is reason to doubt of its +reality, especially as it is mentioned by no other historian. Hubert, +while he enjoyed his authority, had an entire ascendant over Henry, and +was loaded with honors and favors beyond any other subject. + +{1231.} Besides acquiring the property of many castles and manors, he +married the eldest sister of the king of Scots, was created earl of +Kent, and, by an unusual concession, was made chief justiciary of +England for life; yet Henry, in a sudden caprice, threw off his faithful +minister, and exposed him to the violent persecutions of his enemies. +Among other frivolous crimes objected to him, he was accused of gaining +the king's affections by enchantment, and of purloining from the royal +treasury a gem which had the virtue to render the wearer invulnerable, +and of sending this valuable curiosity to the prince of Wales.[***] The +nobility, who hated Hubert on account of his zeal in resuming the rights +and possessions of the crown, no sooner saw the opportunity favorable, +than they inflamed the king's animosity against him, and pushed him to +seek the total ruin of his minister. Hubert took sanctuary in a church: +the king ordered him to be dragged from thence: he recalled those +orders: he afterwards renewed them: he was obliged by the clergy to +restore him to the sanctuary: he constrained him soon after to surrender +himself prisoner, and he confined him in the castle of the Devizes. +Hubert made his escape, was expelled the kingdom, was again received +into favor, recovered a great share of the king's confidence, but +never showed any inclination to reinstate himself in power and +authority.[****] + + * Ypod. Neust. p. 464. + + ** Page 232. M. West (p. 216) ascribes this counsel to + Peter, bishop of Winchester. + + *** M. Paris, p. 259. + + **** M. Paris, p. 259, 260, 261, 266. Chron. T. Wykes, p. + 41, 47 Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 220, 221. M. West, p. 291, + 301. + +The man who succeeded him in the government of the king and kingdom, was +Peter, bishop of Winchester, a Poictevin by birth, who had been raised +by the late king, and who was no less distinguished by his arbitrary +principles and violent conduct, than by his courage and abilities. This +prelate had been left by King John justiciary and regent of the kingdom +during an expedition which that prince made into France; and his illegal +administration was one chief cause of that great combination among the +barons, which finally extorted from the crown the charter of liberties, +and laid the foundation of the English constitution. Henry, though +incapable, from his character, of pursuing the same violent maxims which +had governed his father, had imbibed the same arbitrary principles; +and in prosecution of Peter's advice, he invited over a great number of +Poictevins and other foreigners, who, he believed, could more safely be +trusted than the English, and who seemed useful to counterbalance the +great and independent power of the nobility.[*] Every office and command +was bestowed on these strangers; they exhausted the revenues of the +crown, already too much impoverished;[**] they invaded the rights of the +people; and their insolence, still more provoking than their power, drew +on them the hatred and envy of all orders of men in the kingdom.[***] + +{1233.} The barons formed a combination against this odious ministry, +and withdrew from parliament, on pretence of the danger to which +they were exposed from the machinations of the Poictevins. When again +summoned to attend, they gave for answer, that the king should dismiss +his foreigners, otherwise they would drive both him and them out of +the kingdom, and put the crown on another head, more worthy to wear it: +[****] such was the style they used to their sovereign. They at +last came to parliament, but so well attended, that they seemed in a +condition to prescribe laws to the king and ministry. + + * M. Paris, p. 263 + + ** Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 151. + + *** M. Paris, p. 258 + + **** M. Paris, p 265. + +Peter des Roches, however, had in the interval found means of sowing +dissension among them, and of bringing over to his party the earl of +Cornwall, as well as the earls of Lincoln and Chester. The confederates +were disconcerted in their measures: Richard, earl Mareschal, who had +succeeded to that dignity on the death of his brother William, was +chased into Wales; he thence withdrew into Ireland, where he +was treacherously murdered by the contrivance of the bishop of +Winchester.[*] The estates of the more obnoxious barons were +confiscated, without legal sentence or trial by their peers; [**] and +were bestowed with a profuse liberality on the Poictevins. Peter even +carried his insolence so far as to declare publicly, that the barons of +England must not pretend to put themselves on the same foot with those +of France, or assume the same liberties and privileges: the monarch in +the former country had a more absolute power than in the latter. It had +been more justifiable for him to have said, that men so unwilling to +submit to the authority of laws, could with the worst grace claim any +shelter or protection from them. + +When the king at any time was checked in his illegal practices, and when +the authority of the Great Charter was objected to him, he was wont to +reply, "Why should I observe this charter, which is neglected by all my +grandees, both prelates and nobility?" It was very reasonably said to +him, "You ought, sir, to set them the example." [***] + +So violent a ministry as that of the bishop of Winchester could not be +of long duration; but its fall proceeded at last from the influence of +the church, not from the efforts of the nobles. Edmond, the primate, +came to court, attended by many of the other prelates, and represented +to the king the pernicious measures embraced by Peter des Roches, the +discontents of his people, the ruin of his affairs; and after requiring +the dismission of the minister and his associates, threatened him +with excommunication in case of his refusal. Henry, who knew that an +excommunication so agreeable to the sense of the people could not +fail of producing the most dangerous effects, was obliged to submit: +foreigners were banished; the natives were restored to their place in +council;[****] the primate, who was a man of prudence, and who took care +to execute the laws and observe the charter of liberties, bore the chief +sway in the government. + +{1236.} But the English in vain flattered themselves that they should be +long free from the dominion of foreigners. The king, having married +Eleanor, daughter of the count of Provence,[*****] was surrounded by a +great number of strangers from that country, whom he caressed with the +fondest affection, and enriched by an imprudent generosity.[******] + + * Chron. Dunst. vol. i p. 219. + + ** M. Paris, p. 265. + + *** M. Paris, p. 608. + + **** M. Paris, p. 271, 272 + + ***** Rymer, vol. i. p. 448. + + ****** M. Paris, p. 286. + +The bishop of Valence, a prelate of the house of Savoy, and maternal +uncle to the queen, was his chief minister, and employed every art to +amass wealth for himself and his relations. Peter of Savoy, a brother of +the same family, was invested in the honor of Richmond, and received the +rich wardship of Earl Warrenne; Boniface of Savoy was promoted to the +see of Canterbury: many young ladies were invited over to Provence, and +married to the chief noblemen of England, who were the king's wards. +[*] And, as the source of Henry's bounty began to fail, his Savoyard +ministry applied to Rome, and obtained a bull, permitting him to resume +all past grants; absolving him from the oath which he had taken to +maintain them; even enjoining him to make such a resumption, and +representing those grants as invalid, on account of the prejudice which +ensued from them to the Roman pontiff, in whom the superiority of the +kingdom was vested.[**] The opposition made to the intended resumption +prevented it from taking place; but the nation saw the indignities to +which the king was willing to submit, in order to gratify the avidity of +his foreign favorites. About the same time he published in England the +sentence of excommunication, pronounced against the emperor Frederic, +his brother-in-law;[***] and said in excuse, that, being the pope's +vassal, he was obliged by his allegiance to obey all the commands of his +holiness. In this weak reign, when any neighboring potentate insulted +the king's dominions, instead of taking revenge for the injury, he +complained to the pope as his superior lord, and begged him to give +protection to his vassal.[****] + + * M. Paris, p. 236, 301, 305, 316, 541. + + **M. West. p. 302, 304. + + *** M. Paris, p. 484. + + ****M. West.p. 338. + +{1247.} The resentment of the English barons rose high at the preference +given to foreigners; but no remonstrance or complaint could ever prevail +on the king to abandon them, or even to moderate his attachment towards +them. After the Provencals and Savoyards might have been supposed pretty +well satiated with the dignities and riches which they had acquired, a +new set of hungry foreigners were invited over, and shared among them +those favors which the king ought in policy to have conferred on the +English nobility, by whom his government could have been supported and +defended. His mother Isabella, who had been unjustly taken by the late +king from the count de la Marche, to whom she was betrothed, was no +mistress of herself by the death of her husband, than she married that +nobleman;[*] and she had born him four sons, Guy, William, Geoffrey, and +Aymer, whom she sent over to England, in order to pay a visit to their +brother. The good-natured and affectionate disposition of Henry was +moved at the sight of such near relations; and he considered neither his +own circumstances, nor the inclinations of his people, in the honors and +riches which he conferred upon them.[**] Complaints rose as high against +the credit of the Gascon, as ever they had done against that of the +Poictevin and of the Savoyard favorites; and to a nation prejudiced +against them, all their measures appeared exceptionable and criminal. +Violations of the Great Charter were frequently mentioned; and it is +indeed more than probable, that foreigners, ignorant of the laws, and +relying on the boundless affections of a weak prince, would, in an +age when a regular administration was not any where known, pay more +attention to their present interest than to the liberties of the people. +It is reported that the Poictevins and other strangers, when the +laws were at any time appealed to in opposition to their oppressions, +scrupled not to reply, "What did the English laws signify to them? They +minded them not." And as words are often more offensive than actions, +this open contempt of the English tended much to aggravate the general +discontent, and made every act of violence committed by the foreigners +appear not only an injury, but an affront to them.[***] + +I reckon not among the violations of the Great Charter some arbitrary +exertions of prerogative to which Henry's necessities pushed him, and +which, without producing any discontent, were uniformly continued by all +his successors, till the last century. As the parliament often refused +him supplies, and that in a manner somewhat rude and indecent,[****] he +obliged his opulent subjects, particularly the citizens of London, to +grant him loans of money; and it is natural to imagine that the same +want of economy which reduced him to the necessity of borrowing, +would prevent him from being very punctual in the repayment.[*****] He +demanded benevolences, or pretended voluntary contributions, from his +nobility and prelates.[******] + + * Trivet, p. 174. + + ** M. Paris, p. 491. M. West. p. 338. Knyghton, p. 2436. + + *** M. Paris, p. 566, 666. Ann. Waverl. p. 214. Chron. + Dunst. vol. i. p. 335. + + **** M. Paris, p. 301 + + ***** M. Paris, p. 406. + + ****** M. Paris, p. 507 + +He was the first king of England, since the conquest, that could fairly +be said to lie under the restraint of law; and he was also the first +that practised the dispensing power, and he employed the clause of "non +obstante" in his grants and patents. When objections were made to this +novelty, he replied that the pope exercised that authority, and why +might not he imitate the example? But the abuse which the pope made of +his dispensing power, in violating the canons of general councils, in +invading the privileges and customs of all particular churches, and +in usurping on the rights of patrons, was more likely to excite the +jealousy of the people than to reconcile them to a similar practice in +their civil government. Roger de Thurkesby, one of the king's justices, +was so displeased with the precedent, that he exclaimed, "Alas! what +times are we fallen into? Behold, the civil court is corrupted in +imitation of the ecclesiastical, and the river is poisoned from that +fountain." + +The king's partiality and profuse bounty to his foreign relations, and +to their friends and favorites, would have appeared more tolerable to +the English, had any thing been done meanwhile for the honor of the +nation, or had Henry's enterprises in foreign countries been attended +with any success or glory to himself or to the public; at least, such +military talents in the king would have served to keep his barons in +awe, and have given weight and authority to his government. But though +he declared war against Lewis IX. in 1242, and made an expedition into +Guienne, upon the invitation of his father-in-law, the count de +la Marche, who promised to join him with all his forces, he was +unsuccessful in his attempts against that great monarch, was worsted at +Taillebourg, was deserted by his allies, lost what remained to him of +Poictou, and was obliged to return with loss of honor into England.[*] + +{1253.} The Gascon nobility were attached to the English government, +because the distance of their sovereign allowed them to remain in a +state of almost total independence; and they claimed, some time after, +Henry's protection against an invasion which the king of Castile +made upon that territory. Henry returned into Guienne, and was more +successful in this expedition; but he thereby involved himself and his +nobility in an enormous debt, which both increased their discontents, +and exposed him to greater danger from their enterprises.[**] + + * M. Paris, p. 393, 394, 398, 399, 405. W. Heming. p. 574. + Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 153. + + ** M. Paris, p. 414. + +Want of economy and an ill-judged liberality were Henry's great defects; +and his debts, even before this expedition, had become so troublesome, +that he sold all his plate and jewels, in order to discharge them. When +this expedient was first proposed to him, he asked where he should find +purchasers. It was replied, the citizens of London. "On my word," said +he, "if the treasury of Augustus were brought to sale, the citizens are +able to be the purchasers: these clowns, who assume to themselves +the name of barons, abound in every thing, while we are reduced to +necessities."[*] And he was thenceforth observed to be more forward and +greedy in his exactions upon the citizens.[**] + +But the grievances which the English during this reign had reason +to complain of in the civil government, seem to have been still less +burdensome than those which they suffered from the usurpations and +exactions of the court of Rome. On the death of Langton, in 1228, the +monks of Christ-church elected Walter de Hemesham, one of their own +body, for his successor: but as Henry refused to confirm the election, +the pope, at his desire, annulled it;[***] and immediately appointed +Richard, chancellor of Lincoln, for archbishop, without waiting for a +new election. On the death of Richard, in 1231, the monks elected Ralph +de Neville, bishop of Chichester; and though Henry was much pleased with +the election, the pope, who thought that prelate too much attached +to the crown, assumed the power of annulling his election.[****] He +rejected two clergymen more, whom the monks had successively chosen; and +he at last told them that, if they would elect Edmond, treasurer of the +church of Salisbury, he would confirm their choice; and his nomination +was complied with. The pope had the prudence to appoint both times very +worthy primates; but men could not forbear observing his intention of +thus drawing gradually to himself the right of bestowing that important +dignity. + + * M. Paris, p. 501. + + ** M. Paris, p. 501, 507, 518, 578, 606, 625, 548. + + *** M. Paris, p. 244. + + **** M. Paris, p. 254. + +The avarice, however, more than the ambition of the see of Rome, seems +to have been in this age the ground of general complaint. The papal +ministers, finding a vast stock of power amassed by their predecessors, +were desirous of turning it to immediate profit, which they enjoyed at +home, rather than of enlarging their authority in distant countries, +where they never intended to reside. Every thing was become venal in the +Romish tribunals: simony was openly practised; no favors, and even no +justice, could be obtained without a bribe; the highest bidder was +sure to have the preference, without regard either to the merits of the +person or of the cause; and besides the usual perversions of right in +the decision of controversies, the pope openly assumed an absolute +and uncontrolled authority of setting aside, by the plenitude of his +apostolic power, all particular rules, and all privileges of patrons, +churches, and convents. On pretence of remedying these abuses, Pope +Honorius, in 1226, complaining of the poverty of his see as the source +of all grievances, demanded from every cathedral two of the best +prebends, and from every convent two monks' portions, to be set apart +as a perpetual and settled revenue of the papal crown; but all men +being sensible that the revenue would continue forever, and the abuses +immediately return, his demand was unanimously rejected. About +three years after, the pope demanded and obtained the tenth of all +ecclesiastical revenues, which he levied in a very oppressive manner; +requiring payment before the clergy had drawn their rents or tithes, +and sending about usurers, who advanced them the money at exorbitant +interest. In the year 1240, Otho the legate, having in vain attempted +the clergy in a body, obtained separately, by intrigues and menaces, +large sums from the prelates and convents, and on his departure is said +to have carried more money out of the kingdom than he left in it This +experiment was renewed four years after with success by Martin the +nuncio, who brought from Rome powers of suspending and excommunicating +all clergymen that refused to comply with his demands. The king, who +relied on the pope for the support of his tottering authority, never +failed to countenance those exactions. + +Meanwhile all the chief benefices of the kingdom were conferred on +Italians; great numbers of that nation were sent over at one time to be +provided for; non-residence and pluralities were carried to an enormous +height; Mansel, the king's chaplain, is computed to have held at once +seven hundred ecclesiastical livings; and the abuses became so evident, +as to be palpable to the blindness of superstition itself. The people, +entering into associations, rose against the Italian clergy; pillaged +their barns; wasted their lands; insulted the persons of such of them +as they found in the kingdom;[*] and when the justices made inquiry into +the authors of this disorder, the guilt was found to involve so many, +and those of such high rank, that it passed unpunished. + +* Rymer, vol. i. p. 323. M. Paris, p. 255, 257. + +At last, when Innocent IV., in 1245, called a general council at Lyons, +in order to excommunicate the emperor Frederic, the king and nobility +sent over agents to complain, before the council, of the rapacity of the +Romish church. They represented, among many other grievances, that the +benefices of the Italian clergy in England had been estimated, and were +found to amount to sixty thousand marks[*] a year, a sum which exceeded +the annual revenue of the crown itself.[**] They obtained only an +evasive answer from the pope; but as mention had been made, before the +council, of the feudal subjection of England to the see of Rome, +the English agents, at whose head was Roger Bigod, earl of Norfolk, +exclaimed against the pretension, and insisted that King John had no +right, without the consent of his barons, to subject the kingdom to +so ignominious a servitude.[***] The popes, indeed, afraid of carrying +matters too far against England, seem thenceforth to have little +insisted on that pretension. + +This check, received at the council of Lyons, was not able to stop the +court of Rome in its rapacity: Innocent exacted the revenues of all +vacant benefices, the twentieth of all ecclesiastical revenues without +exception; the third of such as were exceeded a hundred marks a year; +the half of such as were possessed by non-residents.[****] He claimed +the goods of all intestate clergymen;[*****] he pretended a title to +inherit all money gotten by usury: he levied benevolences upon the +people; and when the king, contrary to his usual practice, prohibited +these exactions, he threatened to pronounce against him the same +censures which he had emitted against the emperor Frederic.[******] + + * Innocent's bull in Rymer, vol. i. p. 471, says only fifty + thousand marks a year. + + ** M. Paris, p. 451. The customs were part of Henry's + revenue, and amounted to six thousand pounds a year: they + were at first email sums paid by the merchants for the use + of the king's ware-houses, measures, weights, etc. See + Gilbert's History of the Exch p. 214. + + *** M. Paris, p. 460. + + **** M. Paris, p. 480. Ann. Burt. p. 305, 573. + + ***** M. Paris, p. 474. + + ****** M. Paris, p. 476. + +{1255.} But the most oppressive expedient employed by the pope, was the +embarking of Henry in a project for the conquest of Naples, or Sicily +on this side the Fare, as it was called; an enterprise which threw +much dishonor on the king, and involved him, during some years, in great +trouble and expense. The Romish church, taking advantage of favorable +incidents, had reduced the kingdom of Sicily to the same state of feudal +vassalage which she pretended to extend over England; and which, by +reason of the distance, as well as high spirit of this latter kingdom, +she was not able to maintain. After the death of the emperor Frederic +II., the succession of Sicily devolved to Conradine, grandson of that +monarch; and Mainfroy, his natural son, under pretence of governing +the kingdom during the minority of the prince, had formed a scheme +of establishing his own authority. Pope Innocent, who had carried +on violent war against the emperor Frederic, and had endeavored to +dispossess him of his Italian dominions, still continued hostilities +against his grandson; but being disappointed in all his schemes by the +activity and artifices of Mainfroy, he found that his own force alone +was not sufficient to bring to a happy issue so great an enterprise. +He pretended to dispose of the Sicilian crown, both as superior lord of +that particular kingdom, and as vicar of Christ, to whom all kingdoms of +the earth were subjected; and he made a tender of it to Richard, earl of +Cornwall, whose immense riches, he flattered himself, would be able to +support the military operations against Mainfroy. As Richard had the +prudence to refuse the present,[*] he applied to the king, whose levity +and thoughtless disposition gave Innocent more hopes of success; and he +offered him the crown of Sicily for his second son, Edmond.[**] +Henry, allured by so magnificent a present, without reflecting on +the consequences, without consulting either with his brother or the +parliament, accepted of the insidious proposal, and gave the pope +unlimited credit to expend whatever sums he thought necessary for +completing the conquest of Sicily. Innocent, who was engaged by his +own interests to wage war with Mainfroy, was glad to carry on his +enterprises at the expense of his ally: Alexander IV., who succeeded him +in the papal throne, continued the same policy, and Henry was surprised +to find himself on a sudden involved in an immense debt, which he had +never been consulted in contracting. The sum already amounted to a +hundred and thirty-five thousand five hundred and forty-one marks, +beside interest;[***] and he had the prospect, if he answered this +demand, of being soon loaded with more exorbitant expenses if he refused +it, of both incurring the pope's displeasure, and losing the crown of +Sicily, which he hoped soon to have the glory of fixing on the head of +his son. + + * M. Paris, p.650. + + ** Rymer, vol. i. p. 502, 512, 530. M. Paris, p. 599, 613 + + *** Rymer, vol i. p. 587. Chron. Dunst vol. i. p. 319. + +He applied to the parliament for supplies; and that he might be sure not +to meet with opposition, he sent no writs to the more refractory barons: +but even those who were summoned, sensible of the ridiculous cheat +imposed by the pope, determined not to lavish their money on such +chimerical projects; and making a pretext of the absence of their +brethren, they refused to take the king's demands into consideration.[*] +In this extremity the clergy were his only resource; and as both their +temporal and spiritual sovereign concurred in loading them, they were +ill able to defend themselves against this united authority. + +The pope published a crusade for the conquest of Sicily; and required +every one who had taken the cross against the infidels, or had vowed to +advance money for that service, to support the war against Mainfroy, a +more terrible enemy, as he pretended, to the Christian faith than +any Saracen.[**] He levied a tenth on all ecclesiastical benefices in +England for three years; and gave orders to excommunicate all bishops +who made not punctual payment. He granted to the king the goods of +intestate clergymen; the revenues of vacant benefices, the revenues of +all non-residents.[***] But these taxations, being levied by some rule, +were deemed less grievous than another imposition, which arose from the +suggestion of the bishop of Hereford, and which might have opened the +door to endless and intolerable abuses. + +This prelate, who resided at the court of Rome by a deputation from +the English church, drew bills of different values but amounting on the +whole to a hundred and fifty thousand five hundred and forty marks on +all the bishops and abbots of the kingdom; and granted these bills to +Italian merchants, who, it was pretended, had advanced money for the +service of the war against Mainfroy.[****] As there was no likelihood +of the English prelates' submitting, without compulsion, to such an +extraordinary demand, Rustand the legate was charged with the commission +of employing authority to that purpose, and he summoned an assembly of +the bishops and abbots whom he acquainted with the pleasure of the pope +and of the king. + + * M. Paris, p. 614 + + ** Rymer, vol. i. p. 547, 548, etc. + + *** Rymer, vol. i. p. 597, 598. + + **** M. Paris, p. 612, 628. Chron. T. Wykes, p. 54. + +Great were the surprise and indignation of the assembly: the bishop of +Worcester exclaimed, that he would lose his life rather than comply: the +bishop of London said, that the pope and king were more powerful than +he; but if his mitre were taken off his head, he would clap on a helmet +in its place.[*] The legate was no less violent on the other hand; and +he told the assembly, in plain terms, that all ecclesiastical benefices +were the property of the pope, and he might dispose of them, either +in whole or in part, as he saw proper.[**] In the end, the bishops and +abbots, being threatened with excommunication, which made all their +revenues fall into the king's hands, were obliged to submit to the +exaction; and the only mitigation which the legate allowed them was, +that the tenths already granted should be accepted as a partial payment +of the bills. But the money was still insufficient for the pope's +purpose: the conquest of Sicily was as remote as ever: the demands which +came from Rome were endless: Pope Alexander became so urgent a creditor, +that he sent over a legate to England, threatening the kingdom with an +interdict, and the king with excommunication, if the arrears, which he +pretended to be due to him, were not instantly remitted;[***] and at +last Henry, sensible of the cheat, began to think of breaking off the +agreement, and of resigning into the pope's hands that crown which +it was not intended by Alexander that he or his family should ever +enjoy.[****] + + * M. Paris, p. 614. + + ** M. Paris, p. 619 + + *** Rymer, vol. i. p. 624. M. Paris, p. 648. + + **** Rymer, vol. i. p. 630. + +The earl of Cornwall had now reason to value himself on his foresight, +in refusing the fraudulent bargain with Rome, and in preferring the +solid honors of an opulent and powerful prince of the blood of England, +to the empty and precarious glory of a foreign dignity. But he had not +always firmness sufficient to adhere to this resolution: his vanity and +ambition prevailed at last over his prudence and his avarice; and he was +engaged in an enterprise no less expensive and vexatious than that of +his brother, and not attended with much greater probability of success. +The immense opulence of Richard having made the German princes cast +their eye on him as a candidate for the empire, he was tempted to expend +vast sums of money on his election; and he succeeded so far as to be +chosen king of the Romans, which seemed to render his succession +infallible to the imperial throne. He went over to Germany, and carried +out of the kingdom no less a sum than seven hundred thousand marks, if +we may credit the account given by some ancient authors,[*] which is +probably much exaggerated.[**] His money, while it lasted, procured him +friends and partisans; but it was soon drained from him by the avidity +of the German princes; and, having no personal or family connections in +that country, and no solid foundation of power, he found, at last, that +he had lavished away the frugality of a whole life in order to procure +a splendid title; and that his absence from England, joined to the +weakness of his brother's government, gave reins to the factious and +turbulent dispositions of the English barons, and involved his own +country and family in great calamities. + + * M. Paris, p. 638. The same author, a few pages before, + makes Richard's treasures amount to little more than half + the sum, (p. 634.) The king's dissipations and expenses, + throughout this whole reign, according to the same author, + had amounted only to about nine hundred and forty thousand + marks, (p. 638.) + + ** The sums mentioned by ancient authors, who were almost all + monks, are often improbable, and never consistent. But we + know from an infallible authority, the public remonstrance + to the council of Lyons, that the king's revenues were below + sixty thousand marks a year: his brother, therefore, could + never have been master of seven hundred thousand marks; + especially as he did not sell his estates in England, as we + learn from the same author; and we hear afterwards of his + ordering all his woods to be cut, in order to satisfy the + rapacity of the German princes: his son succeeded to the + earldom of Cornwall and his other revenues. + +The successful revolt of the nobility from King John, and their imposing +on him and his successors limitations of their royal power, had made +them feel their own weight and importance, had set a dangerous precedent +of resistance, and being followed by a long minority, had impoverished +as well as weakened that crown which they were at last induced, from the +fear of worse consequences, to replace on the head of young Henry. In +the king's situation, either great abilities and vigor were requisite +to overawe the barons, or great caution and reserve to give them no +pretence for complaints; and it must be confessed, that this prince was +possessed of neither of these talents. He had not prudence to choose +right measures; he wanted even that constancy which sometimes gives +weight to wrong ones; he was entirely devoted to his favorites, who +were always foreigners; he lavished on them, without discretion, +his diminished revenue; and finding that his barons indulged their +disposition towards tyranny, and observed not to their own vassals +the same rules which they had imposed on the crown, he was apt, in +his administration, to neglect all the salutary articles of the Great +Charter; which he remarked to be so little regarded by his nobility. +This conduct had extremely lessened his authority in the kingdom; had +multiplied complaints against him; and had frequently exposed him to +affronts, and even to dangerous attempts upon his prerogative. In +the year 1244, when he desired a supply from parliament, the barons, +complaining of the frequent breaches of the Great Charter, and of the +many fruitless applications which they had formerly made for the redress +of this and other grievances, demanded in return, that he should give +them the nomination of the great justiciary and of the chancellor, to +whose hands chiefly the administration of justice was committed: and, +if we may credit the historian,[*] they had formed the plan of other +limitations, as well as of associations to maintain them, which would +have reduced the king to be an absolute cipher, and have held the crown +in perpetual pupillage and dependence. The king, to satisfy them, would +agree to nothing but a renewal of the charter, and a general permission +to excommunicate all the violators of it; and he received no supply, +except a scutage of twenty shillings on each knight's fee for the +marriage of his eldest daughter to the king of Scotland; a burden which +was expressly annexed to their feudal tenures. + + * M. Paris, p. 432. + +Four years after, in a full parliament, when Henry demanded a new +supply, he was openly reproached with the breach of his word, and the +frequent violations of the charter. He was asked whether he did not +blush to desire any aid from his people, whom he professedly hated and +despised; to whom on all occasions he preferred aliens and foreigners, +and who groaned under the oppressions which he either permitted or +exercised over them. He was told that, besides disparaging his nobility +by forcing them to contract unequal and mean marriages with strangers, +no rank of men was so low as to escape vexations from him or his +ministers; that even the victuals consumed in his household, the clothes +which himself and his servants wore, still more the wine which they +used, were all taken by violence from the lawful owners, and no +compensation was ever made them for the injury; that foreign merchants, +to the great prejudice and infamy of the kingdom shunned the English +harbors as if they were possessed by pirates, and the commerce with all +nations was thus cut off by these acts of violence; that loss was +added to loss, and injury to injury, while the merchants, who had been +despoiled of their goods, were also obliged to carry them at their own +charge to whatever place the king was pleased to appoint them; that even +the poor fishermen on the coast could not escape his oppressions and +those of his courtiers; and finding that they had not full liberty to +dispose of their commodities in the English market, were frequently +constrained to carry them to foreign ports, and to hazard all the perils +of the ocean, rather than those which awaited them from his oppressive +emissaries; and that his very religion was a ground of complaint to his +subjects, while they observed, that the waxen tapers and splendid silks, +employed in so many useless processions, were the spoils which he had +forcibly ravished from the true owners.[*] Throughout this remonstrance, +in which the complaints derived from an abuse of the ancient right of +purveyance may be supposed to be somewhat exaggerated, there appears a +strange mixture of regal tyranny in the practices which gave rise to +it, and of aristocratical liberty, or rather licentiousness, in the +expressions employed by the parliament. But a mixture of this kind +is observable in all the ancient feudal governments, and both of them +proved equally hurtful to the people. + +As the king, in answer to their remonstrance, gave the parliament only +good words and fair promises, attended with the most humble submissions, +which they had often found deceitful, he obtained at that time no +supply; and therefore, in the year 1253, when he found himself again +under the necessity of applying to parliament, he had provided a new +pretence, which he deemed infallible, and taking the vow of a crusade, +he demanded their assistance in that pious enterprise.[**] The +parliament, however, for some time hesitated to comply, and the +ecclesiastical order sent a deputation consisting of four prelates, the +primate and the bishops of Winchester Salisbury, and Carlisle, in order +to remonstrate with him on his frequent violations of their privileges, +the oppressions with which he had loaded them and all his subjects,[***] +and the uncanonical and forced elections which were made to vacant +dignities. + + * M. Paris, p. 498. See further, p. 578. M. West. p. 348. + + ** M. Paris, p. 518, 558, 568. Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 293. + + + *** M. Paris, p. 568. + +"It is true," replied the king, "I have been somewhat faulty in this +particular: I obtruded you, my lord of Canterbury, upon your see; I was +obliged to employ both entreaties and menaces, my lord of Winchester, +to have, you elected; my proceedings, I confess, were very irregular, +my lords of Salisbury and Carlisle, when I raised you from the lowest +stations to your present dignities; I am determined henceforth to +correct these abuses; and it will also become you, in order to make a +thorough reformation, to resign your present benefices; and try to enter +again in a more regular and canonical manner."[*] The bishops, surprised +at these unexpected sarcasms, replied, that the question was not at +present how to correct past errors, but to avoid them for the future. +The king promised redress both of ecclesiastical and civil grievances; +and the parliament in return agreed to grant him a supply, a tenth +of the ecclesiastical benefices, and a scutage of three marks on +each knight's fee: but as they had experienced his frequent breach of +promise, they required that he should ratify the Great Charter in +a manner still more authentic and more solemn than any which he had +hitherto employed. All the prelates and abbots were assembled: they held +burning tapers in their hands: the Great Charter was read before them: +they denounced the sentence of excommunication against every one who +should thenceforth violate that fundamental law: they threw their tapers +on the ground, and exclaimed, "May the soul of every one who incurs this +sentence so stink and corrupt in hell!" The king bore a part in this +ceremony, and subjoined, "So help me God, I will keep all these articles +inviolate, as I am a man, as I am a Christian, as I am a knight, and as +I am a king crowned and anointed."[**] Yet was the tremendous ceremony +no sooner finished, than his favorites, abusing his weakness, made +him return to the same arbitrary and irregular administration; and the +reasonable expectations of his people were thus perpetually eluded and +disappointed.[***] + + * M. Paris, p. 579. + + ** Ibid. p. 580. Ann. Burt. p. 323. Ann. Waverl. p. 210. W + Heming. p. 571. M. West. p. 353. + + *** M. Paris, p. 597, 608. + +{1258.} All these imprudent and illegal measures afforded a pretence to +Simon de Mountfort, earl of Leicester, to attempt an innovation in the +government, and to wrest the sceptre from the feeble and irresolute +hand which held it. This nobleman was a younger son of that Simon de +Mountfort who had conducted with such valor and renown the crusade +against the Albigenses, and who, though he tarnished his famous exploits +by cruelty and ambition, had left a name very precious to all the bigots +of that age, particularly to the ecclesiastics. A large inheritance +in England fell by succession to this family; but as the elder brother +enjoyed still more opulent possessions in France, and could not perform +fealty to two masters, he transferred his right to Simon, his younger +brother, who came over to England, did homage for his lands, and +was raised to the dignity of earl of Leicester. In the year 1238, he +espoused Eleanor, dowager of William, earl of Pembroke, and sister to +the king;[*] but the marriage of this princess with a subject and a +foreigner, though contracted with Henry's consent, was loudly complained +of by the earl of Cornwall and all the barons of England; and Leicester +was supported against their violence by the king's favor and authority +alone.[**] But he had no sooner established himself in his possessions +and dignities, than he acquired, by insinuation and address, a strong +interest with the nation, and gained equally the affections of all +orders of men. He lost, however, the friendship of Henry from the usual +levity and fickleness of that prince; he was banished the court; he was +recalled; he was intrusted with the command of Guienne,[***] where he +did good service and acquired honor; he was again disgraced by the king, +and his banishment from court seemed now final and irrevocable. Henry +called him traiter to his face; Leicester gave him the lie, and told +him that, if he were not his sovereign, he would soon make him repent +of that insult. Yet was this quarrel accommodated, either from the good +nature or timidity of the king, and Leicester was again admitted into +some degree of favor and authority. But as this nobleman was become too +great to preserve an entire complaisance to Henry's humors, and to +act in subserviency to his other minions, he found more advantage in +cultivating his interest with the public, and in inflaming the general +discontents which prevailed against the administration. He filled every +place with complaints against the infringement of the Great Charter, the +acts of violence committed on the people, the combination between the +pope and the king in their tyranny and extortions, Henry's neglect of +his native subjects and barons; and though himself a foreigner, he was +more loud than any in representing the indignity of submitting to the +dominion of foreigners. + + * M. Paris, p. 314. + + ** Ibid, p. 315. + + *** Rymer, vol. i. p. 459, 513. + +By his hypocritical pretensions to devotion he gained the favor of the +zealots and clergy: by his seeming concern for public good he acquired +the affections of the public: and besides the private friendships which +he had cultivated with the barons, his animosity against the favorites +created a union of interests between him and that powerful order. + +A recent quarrel which broke out between Leicester and William de +Valence, Henry's half brother and chief favorite, brought matters to +extremity,[*] and determined the former to give full scope to his bold +and unbounded ambition, which the laws and the king's authority had +hitherto with difficulty restrained. He secretly called a meeting of +the most considerable barons, particularly Humphrey de Bohun, high +constable, Roger Bigod, earl mareschal, and the earls of Warwick and +Glocester; men who by their family and possessions stood in the first +rank of the English nobility. He represented to this company the +necessity of reforming the state, and of putting the execution of the +laws into other hands than those which had hitherto appeared, from +repeated experience, so unfit for the charge with which they were +intrusted. He exaggerated the oppressions exercised against the lower +orders of the state, the violations of the barons' privileges, the +continued depredations made on the clergy; and in order to aggravate the +enormity of this conduct, he appealed to the Great Charter, which Henry +had so often ratified, and which was calculated to prevent forever the +return of those intolerable grievances. He magnified the generosity of +their ancestors, who, at a great expense of blood, had extorted that +famous concession from the crown; but lamented their own degeneracy, +who allowed so important an advantage, once obtained, to be wrested from +them by a weak prince and by insolent strangers. And he insisted that +the king's word, after so many submissions and fruitless promises on his +part, could no longer be relied on; and that nothing but his absolute +inability to violate national privileges could henceforth insure the +regular observance of them. + + * M. Paris, p. 649. + +These topics, which were founded in truth, and suited so well the +sentiments of the company, had the desired effect, and the barons +embraced a resolution of redressing the public grievances, by taking +into their own hands the administration of government. Henry having +summoned a parliament, in expectation of receiving supplies for his +Sicilian project, the barons appeared in the hall, clad in complete +armor, and with their swords by their side: the king, on his entry, +struck with the unusual appearance, asked them what was their purpose, +and whether they pretended to make him their prisoner.[*] Roger Bigod +replied in the name of the rest, that he was not their prisoner, but +their sovereign; that they even intended to grant him large supplies, +in order to fix his son on the throne of Sicily; that they only expected +some return for this expense and service; and that, as he had frequently +made submissions to the parliament, had acknowledged his past errors, +and had still allowed himself to be carried into the same path, which +gave them such just reason of complaint, he must now yield to more +strict regulations, and confer authority on those who were able and +willing to redress the national grievances. Henry, partly allured by the +hopes of supply, partly intimidated by the union and martial appearance +of the barons, agreed to their demand, and promised to summon another +parliament at Oxford, in order to digest the new plan of government, and +to elect the persons who were to be intrusted with the chief authority. + +This parliament, which the royalists, and even the nation, from +experience of the confusions that attended its measures, afterwards +denominated the "mad parliament," met on the day appointed; and as all +the barons brought along with them their military vassals, and appeared +with an armed force, the king, who had taken no precautions against +them, was in reality a prisoner in their hands, and was obliged to +submit to all the terms which they were pleased to impose upon him. +Twelve barons were selected from among the king's ministers; twelve more +were chosen by parliament: to these twenty-four unlimited authority was +granted to reform the state; and the king himself took an oath, that he +would maintain whatever ordinances they should think proper to enact for +that purpose.[**] Leicester was at the head of this supreme council, +to which the legislative power was thus in reality transferred; and all +their measures were taken by his secret influence and direction. + + * Annal. Theokesoury. + + ** Rymer, vol. i. p. 655. Chron. Dunst. vol.i. p. 334. + Knyghton p. 2445. + +Their first step bore a specious appearance, and seemed well calculated +for the end which they professed to be the object of all these +innovations; they ordered that four knights should be chosen by each +county; that they should make inquiry into the grievances of which +their neighborhood had reason to complain, and should attend the ensuing +parliament, in order to give information to that assembly of the state +of their particular counties;[*] a nearer approach to our present +constitution than had been made by the barons in the reign of King John, +when the knights were only appointed to meet in their several counties, +and there to draw up a detail of their grievances. Meanwhile the +twenty-four barons proceeded to enact some regulations, as a redress +of such grievances as were supposed to be sufficiently notorious. They +ordered, that three sessions of parliament should be regularly held +every year, in the months of February, June, and October; "that a new +sheriff should be annually elected by the votes of the freeholders in +each county;[**] that the sheriffs should have no power of fining +the barons who did not attend their courts, or the circuits of the +justiciaries; that no heirs should be committed to the wardship of +foreigners, and no castles intrusted to their custody; and that no new +warrens or forests should be created, nor the revenues of any counties +or hundreds be let to farm." Such were the regulations which the +twenty-four barons established at Oxford, for the redress of public +grievances. + + * M. Paris, p. 657. Addit. p. 140. Ann. Burt, p, 412. + + ** Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 336. + +But the earl of Leicester and his associates, having advanced so far +to satisfy the nation, instead of continuing in this popular course, or +granting the king that supply which they had promised him, immediately +provided for the extension and continuance of their own authority. +They roused anew the popular clamor which had long prevailed against +foreigners; and they fell with the utmost violence on the king's +half brothers, who were supposed to be the authors of, all national +grievances, and whom Henry had no longer any power to protect. The four +brothers, sensible of their danger, took to flight, with an intention of +making their escape out of the kingdom; they were eagerly pursued by the +barons; Aymer, one of the brothers, who had been elected to the see of +Winchester took shelter in his episcopal palace, and carried the others +along with him; they were surrounded in that place, and threatened to +be dragged out by force, and to be punished for their crimes and +misdemeanors; and the king, pleading the sacredness of an ecclesiastical +sanctuary, was glad to extricate them from this danger by banishing +them the kingdom. In this act of violence, as well as in the former +usurpations of the barons, the queen and her uncles were thought to +have secretly concurred; being jealous of the credit acquired by the +brothers, which, they found, had eclipsed and annihilated their own. + +But the subsequent proceedings of the twenty-four barons were sufficient +to open the eyes of the nation, and to prove their intention of reducing +forever both the king and the people under the arbitrary power of a +very narrow aristocracy., which must at last have terminated either in +anarchy, or in a violent usurpation and tyranny. They pretended +that they had not yet digested all the regulations necessary for the +reformation of the state, and for the redress of grievances; and +that they must still retain their power, till that great purpose +were thoroughly effected: in other words, that they must be perpetual +governors, and must continue to reform, till they were pleased to +abdicate their authority. They formed an association among themselves, +and swore that they would stand by each other with their lives and +fortunes; they displaced all the chief officers of the crown, the +justiciary, the chancellor, the treasurer; and advanced either +themselves or their own creatures in their place: even the offices of +the king's household were disposed of at their pleasure: the government +of all the castles was put into hands in whom they found reason to +confide: and the whole power of the state being thus transferred to +them, they ventured to impose an oath, by which all the subjects were +obliged to swear, under the penalty of being declared public enemies, +that they would obey and execute all the regulations, both known and +unknown, of the twenty-four barons: and all this, for the greater +glory of God, the honor of the church, the service of the king, and the +advantage of the kingdom.[*] + + * Chron. T. Wykes, p. 52. + +No one dared to withstand this tyrannical authority: Prince Edward +himself, the king's eldest son, a youth of eighteen, who began to give +indications of that great and manly spirit which appeared throughout the +whole course of his life, was, after making some opposition, constrained +to take that oath, which really deposed his father and his family from +sovereign authority.[*] Earl Warrenne was the last person in the kingdom +that could be brought to give the confederated barons this mark of +submission. + +But the twenty-four barons, not content with the usurpation of the royal +power, introduced an innovation in the constitution of parliament, which +was of the utmost importance. They ordained, that this assembly should +choose a committee of twelve persons, who should, in the intervals of +the sessions, possess the authority of the whole parliament, and should +attend, on a summons, the person of the king, in all his motions. But so +powerful were these barons, that this regulation was also submitted to; +the whole government was overthrown or fixed on new foundations; and the +monarchy was totally subverted, without its being possible for the king +to strike a single stroke in defence of the constitution against the +newly-erected oligarchy. + +{1259.} The report that the king of the Romans intended to pay a visit +to England, gave alarm to the ruling barons, who dreaded lest the +extensive influence and established authority of that prince would be +employed to restore the prerogatives of his family, and overturn their +plan of government.[**] They sent over the bishop of Worcester, who met +him at St. Omars; asked him, in the name of the barons, the reason of +his journey, and how long he intended to stay in England; and insisted +that, before he entered the kingdom he should swear to observe the +regulations established at Oxford. On Richard's refusal to take this +oath, they prepared to resist him as a public enemy; they fitted out a +fleet, assembled an army, and exciting the inveterate prejudices of +the people against foreigners, from whom they had suffered so many +oppressions, spread the report that Richard, attended by a number +of strangers, meant to restore by force the authority of his exiled +brothers, and to violate all the securities provided for public liberty. +The king of the Romans was at last obliged to submit to the terms +required of him. [***] + + * Ann. Burt. p. 411. + + ** M. Paris, p. 661. + + *** Ibid p. 661, 662. Chron. T. Wykes, p. 53. + +But the barons, in proportion to their continuance in power, began +gradually to lose that popularity which had assisted them in obtaining +it; and men repined, that regulations, which were occasionally +established for the reformation of the state, were likely to become +perpetual, and to subvert entirely the ancient constitution. They were +apprehensive lest the power of the nobles, always oppressive, should now +exert itself without control, by removing the counterpoise of the crown; +and their fears were increased by some new edicts of the barons, which +were plainly calculated to procure to themselves an impunity in all +their violences. They appointed that the circuits of the itinerant +justices, the sole check on their arbitrary conduct, should be held only +once in seven years, and men easily saw that a remedy which returned +after such long intervals, against an oppressive power which was +perpetual, would prove totally insignificant and useless.[*] The cry +became loud in the nation, that the barons should finish their intended +regulations. The knights of the shires, who seem now to have been +pretty regularly assembled, and sometimes in a separate house, +made remonstrances against the slowness of their proceedings. They +represented that, though the king had performed all the conditions +required of him, the barons had hitherto done nothing for the public +good, and had only been careful to promote their own private advantage, +and to make inroads on royal authority; and they even appealed to Prince +Edward, and claimed his interposition for the interests of the nation, +and the reformation of the government.[**] The prince replied that, +though it was from constraint, and contrary to his private sentiments, +he had sworn to maintain the provisions of Oxford, he was determined to +observe his oath: but he sent a message to the barons, requiring them +to bring their undertaking to a speedy conclusion, and fulfil their +engagements to the public: otherwise, he menaced them, that at the +expense of his life, he would oblige them to do their duty, and +would shed the last drop of his blood in promoting the interests and +satisfying the just wishes of the nation.[***] + +The barons, urged by so pressing a necessity, published at last a new +code of ordinances for the reformation of the state: [****] but the +expectations of the people were extremely disappointed when they found +that these consisted only of some trivial alterations in the municipal +law; and still more, when the barons pretended that the task was not yet +finished and that they must further prolong their authority, in order to +bring the work of reformation to the desired period. + + * M. Paris, p. 667. Trivet, p. 209. + + ** Ann. Burt. p. 427. + + *** Ann Burt. p. 427. + + **** Ann. Burt. p. 428, 439 + +The current of popularity was now much turned to the side of the crown; +and the barons had little, to rely on for their support besides the +private influence and power of their families, which, though exorbitant, +was likely to prove inferior to the combination of king and people. Even +this basis of power was daily weakened by their intestine jealousies and +animosities; their ancient and inveterate quarrels broke out when they +came to share the spoils of the crown; and the rivalship between the +earls of Leicester and Glocester, the chief leaders among them, began +to disjoint the whole confederacy. The latter, more moderate in his +pretensions, was desirous of stopping or retarding the career of the +barons' usurpations; but the former, enraged at the opposition which, he +met with in his own party, pretended to throw up all concern in English +affairs; and he retired into France.[*] + +The kingdom of France, the only state with which England had any +considerable intercourse, was at this time governed by Lewis IX., a +prince of the most singular character that is to be met with in all +the records of history. This monarch united to the mean and abject +superstition of a monk all the courage and magnanimity of the greatest +hero; and, what may be deemed more extraordinary, the justice and +integrity of a disinterested patriot, the mildness and humanity of an +accomplished philosopher. So far from taking advantage of the divisions +among the English, or attempting to expel those dangerous rivals from +the provinces which they still possessed in France, he had entertained +many scruples with regard to the sentence of attainder pronounced +against the king's father, had even expressed some intention of +restoring the other provinces, and was only prevented from taking that +imprudent resolution by the united remonstrances of his own barons, who +represented the extreme danger of such a measure,[**] and, what had a +greater influence on Lewis, the justice of punishing by a legal sentence +the barbarity and felony of John. Whenever this prince interposed +in English affairs, it was always with an intention of composing the +differences between the king and his nobility: he recommended to both +parties every peaceable and reconciling measure; and he used all his +authority with the earl of Leicester, his native subject, to bend him to +a compliance with Henry. + + * Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 348. + + ** M. Paris, p. 604. + +He made a treaty with England at a time when the distractions of that +kingdom were at the greatest height, and when the king's authority was +totally annihilated; and the terms which he granted might, even in +a more prosperous state of their affairs, be deemed reasonable and +advantageous to the English. He yielded up some territories which +had been conquered from Poictou and Guienne; he insured the peaceable +possession of the latter province to Henry; he agreed to pay that prince +a large sum of money; and he only required that the king should, in +return, make a final cession of Normandy and the other provinces, which +he could never entertain any hopes of recovering by force of arms.[*] +This cession was ratified by Henry, by his two sons and two daughters, +and by the king of the Romans and his three sons: Leicester alone, +either moved by a vain arrogance, or desirous to ingratiate himself with +the English populace, protested against the deed, and insisted on the +right, however distant, which might accrue to his consort.[**] Lewis saw +in his obstinacy the unbounded ambition of the man; and as the barons +insisted that the money due by treaty should be at their disposal, not +at Henry's, he also saw, and probably with regret, the low condition to +which this monarch, who had more erred from weakness than from any bad +intentions, was reduced by the turbulence of his own subjects. + +{1261.} But the situation of Henry soon after wore a more favorable +aspect. The twenty-four barons had now enjoyed the sovereign power near +three years; and had visibly employed it, not for the reformation of +the state, which was their first pretence, but for the aggrandizement +of themselves and of their families. The breach of trust was apparent to +all the world: every order of men felt it, and murmured against it: the +dissensions among the barons themselves, which increased the evil, +made also the remedy more obvious and easy: and the secret desertion +in particular of the earl of Glocester to the crown, seemed to promise +Henry certain success in any attempt to resume his authority. Yet durst +he not take that step, so reconcilable both to justice and policy, +without making a previous application to Rome, and desiring an +absolution from his oaths and engagements.[***] + + * Rymer, vol. i. p 675. M. Paris, p. 566. Chron. T. Wykes, + p, 53. Trivet, p. 208 M. West. p. 371. + + ** Chron. T. Wykes, p. 53. + + *** Ann. Burt. p. 389. + +The pope was at this time much dissatisfied with the conduct of the +barons; who, in order to gain the favor of the people and clergy of +England, had expelled all the Italian ecclesiastics, had confiscated +their benefices, and seemed determined to maintain the liberties and +privileges of the English church, in which the rights of patronage +belonging to their own families were included. The extreme animosity of +the English clergy against the Italians was also a source of his disgust +to the order; and an attempt which had been made by them for further +liberty and greater independence on the civil power, was therefore less +acceptable to the court of Rome.[*] About the same time that the barons +at Oxford had annihilated the prerogatives of the monarchy, the clergy +met in a synod at Merton, and passed several ordinances, which were +no less calculated to promote their own grandeur at the expense of +the crown. They decreed, that it was unlawful to try ecclesiastics by +secular judges; that the clergy were not to regard any prohibitions +from civil courts; that lay patrons had no right to confer spiritual +benefices; that the magistrate was obliged, without further inquiry, to +imprison all excommunicated persons; and that ancient usage, without any +particular grant or charter, was a sufficient authority for any clerical +possessions or privileges.[**] About a century before, these claims +would have been supported by the court of Rome beyond the most +fundamental articles of faith: they were the chief points maintained +by the great martyr Becket; and his resolution in defending them had +exalted him to the high station which he held in the catalogue of Romish +saints. But principles were changed with the times: the pope was become +somewhat jealous of the great independence of the English clergy, which +made them stand less in need of his protection, and even imboldened them +to resist his authority, and to complain of the preference given to the +Italian courtiers, whose interests, it is natural to imagine, were the +chief object of his concern. He was ready, therefore, on the king's +application, to annul these new constitutions of the church of +England.[***] And, at the same time, he absolved the king and all his +subjects from the oath which they had taken to observe the provisions of +Oxford.[****] + + * Rymer, vol. i. p. 755. + + ** Ann. Burt. p. 389. + + *** Rymer, vol. i. p. 755. + + **** Rymer, vol. i. p. 722. M. Paris, p. 666. W. Heming. p, + 580. Ypod. Neust. p; 468. Knyghton, p. 2446. + +Prince Edward, whose liberal mind, though in such early youth, had +taught him the great prejudice which his father had incurred by his +levity, inconstancy, and frequent breach of promise, refused for a +long time to take advantage of thus absolution; and declared that the +provisions of Oxford, how unreasonable soever in themselves, and how +much soever abused by the barons, ought still to be adhered to by those +who had sworn to observe them:[*] he himself had been constrained by +violence to take that oath; yet was he determined to keep it. By this +scrupulous fidelity the prince acquired the confidence of all parties, +and was afterwards enabled to recover fully the royal authority, and +to perform such great actions both during his own reign and that of his +father. + +The situation of England, during this period, as well as that of most +European kingdoms, was somewhat peculiar. There was no regular military +force maintained in the nation: the sword, however, was not, properly +speaking, in the hands of the people; the barons were alone intrusted +with the defence of the community; and after any effort which they made, +either against their own prince or against foreigners, as the military +retainers departed home, the armies were disbanded, and could not +speedily be reassembled at pleasure. It was easy, therefore, for a +few barons, by a combination, to get the start of the other party, to +collect suddenly their troops, and to appear unexpectedly in the field +with an army, which their antagonists, though equal or even superior +in power and interest, would not dare to encounter. Hence the sudden +revolutions which often took place in those governments; hence the +frequent victories obtained without a blow by one faction over the +other; and hence it happened, that the seeming prevalence of a party was +seldom a prognostic of its long continuance in power and authority. + +{1262.} The king, as soon as he received the pope's absolution from his +oath, accompanied with menaces of excommunication against all opponents, +trusting to the countenance of the church, to the support promised him +by many considerable barons, and to the returning favor of the people, +immediately took off the mask. After justifying his conduct by a +proclamation, in which he set forth the private ambition and the breach +of trust conspicuous in Leicester and his associates, be declared that +he had resumed the government, and was determined thenceforth to exert +the royal authority for the protection of his subjects. + + * M. Paris. D. 667. + +He removed Hugh le Despenser and Nicholas de Ely, the justiciary and +chancellor appointed by the barons; and put Philip Basset and Walter de +Merton in their place. He substituted new sheriffs in all the counties, +men of character and honor; he placed new governors in most of the +castles; he changed all the officers of his household; he summoned a +parliament, in which the resumption of his authority was ratified, with +only five dissenting voices; and the barons, after making one fruitless +effort to take the king by surprise at Winchester, were obliged to +acquiesce in those new regulations.[*] + +The king, in order to cut off every objection to his conduct, offered +to refer all the differences between him and the earl of Leicester to +Margaret, queen of France.[**] The celebrated integrity of Lewis gave a +mighty influence to any decision which issued from his court; and Henry +probably hoped, that the gallantry on which all barons, as true knights, +valued themselves, would make them ashamed not to submit to the award +of that princess. Lewis merited the confidence reposed in him. By +an admirable conduct, probably as political as just, he continually +interposed his good offices to allay the civil discords ol the English: +he forwarded all healing measures which might give security to +both parties: and he still endeavored, though in vain, to soothe by +persuasion the fierce ambition of the earl of Leicester, and to convince +him how much it was his duty to submit peaceably to the authority of his +sovereign. + + * M. Paris, p. 668. Chron. T. Wykes, p. 55. + + ** Rymer, vol. i. p. 724. + +{1263.} That bold and artful conspirator was nowise discouraged by +the bad success of his past enterprises. The death of Richard, earl +of Glocester, who was his chief rival in power, and who, before his +decease, had joined the royal party seemed to open a new field to his +violence, and to expose the throne to fresh insults and injuries. It was +in vain that the king professed his intentions of observing strictly +the great charter, even of maintaining all the regulations made by the +reforming barons at Oxford or afterwards, except those with entirely +annihilated the royal authority; these powerful chieftains, now +obnoxious to the court, could not peaceably resign the hopes of entire +independence and uncontrolled power with which they had flattered +themselves, and which they had so long enjoyed. Many of them engaged +in Leicester's views, and among the rest, Gilbert, the young earl +of Glocester, who brought him a mighty accession of power, from the +extensive authority possessed by that opulent family. Even Henry, son +of the king of the Romans, commonly called Henry d'Allmaine, though a +prince of the blood, joined the party of the barons against the king, +the head of his own family Leicester himself, who still resided in +France, secretly formed the links of this great conspiracy, and planned +the whole scheme of operations. + +The princes of Wales, notwithstanding the great power of the monarchs +both of the Saxon and Norman line, still preserved authority in their +own country. Though they had often been constrained to pay tribute +to the crown of England, they were with difficulty retained in +subordination or even in peace; and almost through every reign since +the conquest, they had infested the English frontiers with such petty +incursions and sudden inroads, as seldom merit to have place in a +general history. The English, still content with repelling their +invasions, and chasing them back into their mountains, had never pursued +the advantages obtained over them, nor been able, even under their +greatest and most active princes, to fix a total, or so much as a feudal +subjection on the country. This advantage was reserved to the present +king, the weakest and most indolent. In the year 1237, Lewellyn, prince +of Wales, declining in years and broken with infirmities, but still more +harassed with the rebellion and undutiful behavior of his youngest son +Griffin, had recourse to the protection of Henry; and consenting +to subject his principality, which had so long maintained, or soon +recovered, its independence to vassalage under the crown of England, +had purchased security and tranquillity on these dishonorable terms. His +eldest son and heir, David, renewed the homage to England; and having +taken his brother prisoner, delivered him into Henry's hands, who +committed him to custody in the Tower. That prince, endeavoring to make +his escape, lost his life in the attempt; and the prince of Wales, freed +from the apprehensions of so dangerous a rival, paid thenceforth less +regard to the English monarch, and even renewed those incursions by +which the Welsh, during so many ages, had been accustomed to infest the +English borders. Lewellyn, however, the foil of Griffin, who succeeded +to his uncle, had been obliged to renew the homage which was now claimed +by England as an established right; but he was well pleased to inflame +those civil discords, on which he rested his present security and +founded his hopes of future independence. He entered into a confederacy +with the earl of Leicester, and collecting all the force of his +principality, invaded England with an army of thirty thousand men. +He ravaged the lands of Roger de Mortimer, and of all the barons who +adhered to the crown;[*] he marched into Cheshire, and committed like +depredations on Prince Edward's territories; every place where his +disorderly troops appeared was laid waste with fire and sword; and +though Mortimer, a gallant and expert soldier, made stout resistance, it +was found necessary that the prince himself should head the army against +this invader. Edward repulsed Prince Lewellyn, and obliged him to take +shelter in the mountains of North Wales: but he was prevented from +making further progress against the enemy by the disorders which soon +after broke out in England. + +The Welsh invasion was the appointed signal for the malecontent barons +to rise in arms; and Leicester, coming over secretly from France, +collected all the forces of his party, and commenced an open rebellion. +He seized the person of the bishop of Hereford, a prelate obnoxious to +all the inferior clergy, on account of his devoted attachment to the +court of Rome.[**] Simon, bishop of Norwich, and John Mansel, because +they had published the pope's bull, absolving the king and kingdom from +their oaths to observe the provisions of Oxford, were made prisoners, +and exposed to the rage of the party. The king's demesnes were ravaged +with unbounded fury,[***] and as it was Leicester's interest to allure +to his side, by the hopes of plunder, all the disorderly ruffians in +England he gave them a general license to pillage the barons of the +opposite party, and even all neutral persons. + + * Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 354. + + ** Trivet, p. 211. M. West. p. 382, 392. + + *** Trivet, p. 211. M. West. p. 382. + +But one of the principal resources of his faction was the populace of +the cities, particularly of London; and as he had, by his hypocritical +pretensions to sanctity, and his zeal against Rome, engaged the monks +and lower ecclesiastics in his party, his dominion over the inferior +ranks of men became uncontrollable. Thomas Fitz-Richard, mayor of +London, a furious and licentious man, gave the countenance of authority +to these disorders in the capital; and having declared war against the +substantial citizens, he loosened all the bands of government, by which +that turbulent city was commonly but ill restrained. On the approach of +Easter, the zeal of superstition, the appetite for plunder, or what is +often as prevalent with the populace as either of these motives, the +pleasure of committing havoc and destruction, prompted them to attack +the unhappy Jews, who were first pillaged without resistance, then +massacred, to the number of five hundred persons.[*] The Lombard bankers +were next exposed to the rage of the people; and though, by taking +sanctuary in the churches, they escaped with their lives, all their +money and goods became a prey to the licentious multitude. Even the +houses of the rich citizens, though English, were attacked by night; +and way was made by sword and by fire to the pillage of their goods, +and often to the destruction of their persons. The queen, who, though +defended by the Tower, was terrified by the neighborhood of such +dangerous commotions, resolved to go by water to the Castle of Windsor; +but as she approached the bridge, the populace assembled against her: +the cry ran, "Drown the witch;" and besides abusing her with the most +opprobrious language, and pelting her with rotten eggs and dirt, they +had prepared large stones to sink her barge, when she should attempt to +shoot the bridge; and she was so frightened, that she returned to the +Tower[**] + +The violence and fury of Leicester's faction had risen to such a height +in all parts of England, that the king, unable to resist their +power, was obliged to set on foot a treaty of peace, and to make an +accommodation with the barons on the most disadvantageous terms.[***] + + * Chron T. Wykes, p. 59. + + ** Chron. T. Wykes, p. 57. + + *** Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 358. Trivet, p. 211. + +He agreed to confirm anew the provisions of Oxford, even those which +entirely annihilated the royal authority; and the barons were again +reinstated in the sovereignty of the kingdom. They restored Hugh le +Despenser to the office of chief justiciary: they appointed their own +creatures sheriffs in every county of England; they took possession of +all the royal castles and fortresses; they even named all the officers +of the king's household; and they summoned a parliament to meet at +Westminster, in order to settle more fully their plan of government. +They here produced a new list of twenty-four barons, to whom they +proposed that the administration should be entirely committed; and +they insisted that the authority of this junto should continue not only +during the reign of the king, but also during that of Prince Edward. + +This prince, the life and soul of the royal party, had unhappily, +before the king's accommodation with the barons, been taken prisoner by +Leicester in a parley at Windsor;[*] and that misfortune, more than +any other incident, had determined Henry to submit to the ignominious +conditions imposed upon him. But Edward, having recovered his liberty by +the treaty, employed his activity in defending the prerogatives of his +family; and he gained a great party even among-those who had at first +adhered to the cause of the barons. His cousin, Henry d'Allmaine, Roger +Bigod, earl mareschal, Earl Warrenne, Humphrey Bohun, earl of Hereford, +John Lord Basset, Ralph Basset, Hammond l'Estrange, Roger Mortimer, Henry +de Piercy, Robert de Brus, Roger de Leybourne, with almost all the lords +marchers, as they were called, on the borders of Wales and of Scotland, +the most warlike parts of the kingdom, declared in favor of the royal +cause; and hostilities, which were scarcely well composed, were again +renewed in every part of England. But the near balance of the parties, +joined to the universal clamor of the people, obliged the king and +barons to open anew the negotiations for peace; and it was agreed by +both sides to submit their differences to the arbitration of the king of +France.[**] + + * M. Paris, p. 669. Trivet, p. 213. + + ** M. Paris, p. 668, Chron. T. Wykes, p. 58. W. Heming, p. + 580. Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 363. + +{1264.} This virtuous prince, the only man, who, in like circumstances, +could safely have been intrusted with such an authority by a neighboring +nation, had never ceased to interpose his good, offices between the +English factions, and had, even, during the short interval of peace, +invited over to Paris both the king and the earl of Leicester, in order +to accommodate the differences between them, but found that the fears +and animosities on both sides, as well as the ambition of Leicester, +were so violent, as to render all his endeavors ineffectual. But when +this solemn appeal, ratified by the oaths and subscriptions of +the leaders in both factions, was made to his judgment, he was not +discouraged from pursuing his honorable purpose: he summoned the states +of France at Amiens; and there, in the presence of that assembly, +as well as in that of the king of England and Peter de Mountfort, +Leicester's son, he brought this great cause to a trial and examination. +It appeared to him, that the provisions of Oxford, even had they not +been extorted by force, had they not been so exorbitant in their nature +and subversive of the ancient constitution, were expressly established +as a temporary expedient, and could not, without breach of trust, +be rendered perpetual by the barons. He therefore annulled these +provisions; restored to the king the possession of his castles, and the +power of nomination to the great offices; allowed him to retain what +foreigners he pleased in his kingdom, and even to confer on them places +of trust and dignity; and, in a word, reestablished the royal power +in the same condition on which it stood before the meeting of +the parliament at Oxford. But while he thus suppressed dangerous +innovations, and preserved unimpaired the prerogatives of the English +crown, he was not negligent of the rights of the people; and besides +ordering that a general amnesty should be granted for all past offences, +he declared, that his award was not anywise meant to derogate from +the privileges and liberties which the nation enjoyed by any former +concessions or charters of the crown.[*] + +This equitable sentence was no sooner known in England, than Leicester +and his confederates determined to reject it and to have recourse +to arms, in order to procure to themselves more safe and advantageous +conditions.[**] + + * Rymer, vol. i. p. 776, 777, etc. Chron. T. Wykes, p. 58. + Knyghton, p. 2446. + + ** Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 363. + +Without regard to his oaths and subscriptions, that enterprising +conspirator directed his two sons, richard and Peter de Mountfort, in +conjunction with Robert de Ferrers, earl of Derby, to attack the city of +Worcester; while Henry and Simon de Mountfort, two others of his sons, +assisted by the prince of Wales, were ordered to lay waste the estate +of Roger de Mortimer. He himself resided at London; and employing as +his instrument Fitz-Richard, the seditious mayor, who had violently +and illegally prolonged his authority, he wrought up that city to the +highest ferment and agitation. The populace formed themselves into +bands and companies; chose leaders; practised all military exercises; +committed violence on the royalists; and to give them greater +countenance in their disorders, an association was entered into between +the city and eighteen great barons, never to make peace with the king +but by common consent and approbation. At the head of those who swore to +maintain this association, were the earls of Leicester, Glocester, +and Derby, with Le Despenser, the chief justiciary; men who had all +previously sworn to submit to the award of the French monarch. Their +only pretence for this breach of faith was, that the latter part of +Lewis's sentence was, as they affirmed, a contradiction to the former. +He ratified the charter of liberties, yet annulled the provisions of +Oxford, which were only calculated, as they maintained, to preserve that +charter; and without which, in their estimation, they had no security for +its observance. + +The king and prince, finding a civil war inevitable, prepared themselves +for defence; and summoning the military vassals from all quarters, and +being reinforced by Baliol, lord of Galloway, Brus, lord of Annandale, +Henry Piercy, John Comyn,[*] and other barons of the north, they +composed an army, formidable as well from its numbers as its military +prowess and experience. The first enterprise of the royalists was the +attack of Northampton, which was defended by Simon de Mountfort, with +many of the principal barons of that party: and a breach being; made in +the walls by Philip Basset, the place was carried by assault, and both +the governor and the garrison were made prisoners. The royalists marched +thence to Leicester and Nottingham; both which places having opened +their gates to them, Prince Edward proceeded with a detachment into the +county of Derby, in order to ravage with fire and sword the lands of +the earl of that name, and take revenge on, him for his disloyalty. +Like maxims of war prevailed with both parties throughout England; and +the kingdom was thus exposed in a moment to greater devastation, from +the animosities of the rival barons, than it would have suffered from +many years of foreign or even domestic hostilities, conducted by more +humane and more generous principles. + + * Rymer, vol. i. p. 772. M. West. p. 385. Ypod. Neust. p. + 469. + +The earl of Leicester, master of London, and of the counties in the +south-east of England, formed the siege of Rochester, which alone +declared for the king in those parts, and which, besides Earl Warrenne, +the governor, was garrisoned by many noble and powerful barons of the +royal party. The king and prince hastened from Nottingham, where they +were then quartered, to the relief of the place; and on their approach, +Leicester raised the siege and retreated to London, which, being the +centre of his power, he was afraid might, in his absence, fall into the +king's hands, either by force or by a correspondence with the principal +citizens, who were all secretly inclined to the royal cause. Reënforced +[**unusual spelling but that is what it looks like] by a great body +of Londoners, and having summoned his partisans from all quarters, +he thought himself strong enough to hazard a general battle with +the royalists, and to determine the fate of the nation in one great +engagement, which, if it proved successful, must be decisive against +the king, who had no retreat for his broken troops in those parts, while +Leicester himself, in case of any sinister accident, could easily +take shelter in the city. To give the better coloring to his cause, he +previously sent a message with conditions of peace to Henry, submissive +in the language, but exorbitant in the demands;[*] and when the +messenger returned with the lie and defiance from the king, the prince, +and the king of the Romans, he sent a new message, renouncing, in the +name of himself and of the associated barons, all fealty and allegiance +to Henry. He then marched out of the city with his army, divided into +four bodies: the first commanded by his two sons, Henry and Guy de +Mountfort, together with Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, who had +deserted to the barons; the second led by the earl of Glocester, with +William de Montchesney and John Fitz-John; the third, composed of +Londoners, under the command of Nicholas de Segrave; the fourth headed +by himself in person. The bishop of Chichester gave a general absolution +to the army, accompanied with assurances, that, if any of them fell in +the ensuing action, they would infallibly be received into heaven, as +the reward of their suffering in so meritorious a cause. + + * M. Paris, p. 669. W. Heming. p. 583. + +Leicester, who possessed great talents for war, conducted his march with +such skill and secrecy, that he had well nigh surprised the royalists +in their quarters at Lewes, in Sussex, but the vigilance and activity of +Prince Edward soon repaired this negligence; and he led out the king's +army to the field in three bodies. He himself conducted the van, +attended by Earl Warrenne and William de Valence; the main body was +commanded by the king of the Romans and his son Henry; the king himself +was placed in the rear at the head of his principal nobility. Prince +Edward rushed upon the Londoners who had demanded the post of honor in +leading the rebel army, but who, from their ignorance of discipline and +want of experience, were ill fitted to resist the gentry and military +men, of whom the prince's body was composed. They were broken in an +instant; were chased off the field; and Edward, transported by his +martial ardor, and eager to revenge the insolence of the Londoners +against his mother,[*] put them to the sword for the length of four +miles, without giving them any quarter, and without reflecting on the +fate which in the mean time attended the rest of the army. The earl of +Leicester, seeing the royalists thrown into confusion by their eagerness +in the pursuit, led on his remaining troops against the bodies commanded +by the two royal brothers: he defeated with great slaughter the forces +headed by the king of the Romans; and that prince was obliged to yield +himself prisoner to the earl of Glocester: he penetrated to the body +where the king himself was placed, threw it into disorder, pursued +his advantage, chased it into the town of Lewes, and obliged Henry to +surrender himself prisoner.[**] + +Prince Edward, returning to the field of battle from his precipitate +pursuit of the Londoners, was astonished to find it covered with the +dead bodies of his friends, and still more to hear that his father and +uncle were defeated and taken prisoners, and that Arundel, Comyn, Brus, +Hamond l'Estrange, Roger Leybourne, and many considerable barons of his +party were in the hands of the victorious enemy. Earl Warrenne, Hugh +Bigod, and William de Valence, struck with despair at this event, +immediately took to flight, hurried to Pevencey, and made their escape +beyond sea:[***] but the prince, intrepid amidst the greatest disasters, +exhorted his troops to revenge the death of their friends, to relieve +the royal captives, and to snatch an easy conquest from an enemy +disordered by their own victory.[****] He found his followers +intimidated by their situation, while Leicester, afraid of a sudden and +violent blow from the prince, amused him by a feigned negotiation, till +he was able to recall his troops from the pursuit, and to bring them +into order.[*****] + + * M. Paris, p. 670. Chron. T. Wykes, P 62 + + ** W. Heming. p. 583 M. West p. 337. Ypod. Neust. p. 469. + + *** Kynghton, p. 2450. + + **** M. Paris, p. 670. + + ***** M. West, p., 387. + + ****** Chron. T. Wyke, p. 63. W. Heming. p. 584. + + ******* W. Heming. p. 581. + +There now appeared no further resource to the royal party, surrounded +by the armies and garrisons of the enemy, destitute of forage and +provisions, and deprived of their sovereign, as well as of their +principal leaders, who could alone inspirit them to an obstinate +resistance. The prince, therefore, was obliged to submit to Leicester's +terms, which were short and severe, agreeably to the suddenness and +necessity of the situation. He stipulated that he and Henry d'Allmaine +should surrender themselves prisoners as pledges in lieu of the two +kings; that all other prisoners on both sides should be released;[*] and +that in order to settle fully the terms of agreement, application should +be made to the king of France, that he should name six Frenchmen, three +prelates and three noblemen; these six to choose two others of their +own country, and these two to choose one Englishman, who, in conjunction +with themselves, were to be invested by both parties with full powers +to make what regulations they thought proper for the settlement of the +kingdom. The prince and young Henry accordingly delivered themselves +into Leicester's hands, who sent them under a guard to Dover Castle. +Such are the terms of agreement, commonly called the Mise of Lewes, from +an obsolete French term of that meaning; for it appears that all the +gentry and nobility of England, who valued themselves on their Norman +extraction, and who disdained the language of their native country, made +familiar use of the French tongue till this period, and for some time +after. + +Leicester had no sooner obtained this great advantage and gotten the +whole royal family in his power, than he openly violated every article +of the treaty, and acted as sole master, and even tyrant of the kingdom. +He still detained the king in effect a prisoner, and made use of that +prince's authority to purposes the most prejudicial to his interests, +and the most oppressive of his people.[**] He every where disarmed the +royalists, and kept all his own partisans in, a military posture:[***] +he observed the same partial conduct in the deliverance of the captives, +and even threw many of the royalists into prison, besides those who were +taken in the battle of Lewes; he carried the king from place to place, +and obliged all the royal castles, on pretence of Henry's commands, to +receive a governor and garrison of his own appointment. + + * M. Paris, p. 671. Knyghton, p. 2451. + + ** Rymer, vol. i. p. 790, 791, etc. + + *** Rymer, vol. i. p. 795. Brady's Appeals, No. 211, 212. + Chron. T. Wykes, p. 63. + +All the officers of the crown and of the household were named by him, +and the whole authority, as well as arms of the state, was lodged in his +hands: he instituted in the counties a new kind of magistracy, endowed +with new and arbitrary powers, that of conservators of the peace;[*] +his avarice appeared bare-faced, and might induce us to question the +greatness of his ambition, at least the largeness of his mind, if we had +not reason to think that he intended to employ his acquisitions as the +instruments for attaining further power and grandeur. He seized the +estates of no less than eighteen barons as his share of the spoil gained +in the battle of Lewes: he engrossed to himself the ransom of all the +prisoners; and told his barons, with a wanton insolence, that it was +sufficient for them that he had saved them by that victory from the +forfeitures and attainders which hung over them:[**] he even treated the +earl of Glocester in the same injurious manner, and applied to his own +use the ransom of the king of the Romans, who in the field of battle had +yielded himself prisoner to that nobleman. Henry, his eldest son, made a +monopoly of all the wool in the kingdom, the only valuable commodity for +foreign markets which it at that time produced.[***] The inhabitants of +the cinque ports, during the present dissolution of government, betook +themselves to the most licentious piracy, preyed on the ships of all +nations, threw the mariners into the sea, and by these practices, +soon banished all merchants from the English coasts and harbors. Every +foreign commodity rose to an exorbitant price, and woollen cloth, which +the English had not then the art of dyeing, was worn by them white, and +without receiving the last hand of the manufacturer. In answer to the +complaints which arose on this occasion, Leicester replied that +the kingdom could well enough subsist within itself, and needed no +intercourse with foreigners. And it was found that he even combined with +the pirates of the cinque ports, and received as his share the third of +their prizes.[****] + + * Rymer, vol. i. p. 792. + + ** Knyghton, p. 2451. + + *** Chron. T. Wykes, p. 65. + + **** Chron. T. Wykes, p. 6. + +No further mention was made of the reference to the king of France, so +essential an article in the agreement of Lewes; and Leicester summoned a +parliament, composed altogether of his own partisans, in order to +rivet, by their authority, that power which he had acquired by so much +violence, and which he used with so much tyranny and injustice. An +ordinance was there passed, to which the king's consent had been +previously extorted, that every act of royal power should be exercised +by a council of nine persons, who were to be chosen and removed by the +majority of three, Leicester himself, the earl of Glocester, and the +bishop of Chichester.[*] By this intricate plan of government, the +sceptre was really put into Leicester's hands; as he had the entire +direction of the bishop of Chichester, and thereby commanded all the +resolutions of the council of three, who could appoint or discard at +pleasure every member of the supreme council. + +But it was impossible that things could long remain in this strange +situation. It behoved Leicester either to descend with some peril +into the rank of a subject, or to mount up with no less into that of +a sovereign; and his ambition, unrestrained either by fear or by +principle, gave too much reason to suspect him of the latter intention. +Meanwhile he was exposed to anxiety from every quarter; and felt that +the smallest incident was capable of overturning that immense and +ill-cemented fabric which he had reared. The queen, whom her husband +had left abroad, had collected in foreign parts an army of desperate +adventurers, and had assembled a great number of ships, with a view of +invading the kingdom, and of bringing relief to her unfortunate family. +Lewis, detesting Leicester's usurpations and perjuries, and disgusted +at the English barons, who had refused to submit to his award, secretly +favored all her enterprises, and was generally believed to be making +preparations for the same purpose. An English army, by the pretended +authority of the captive king, was assembled on the sea-coast, to oppose +this projected invasion;[**] but Leicester owed his safety more to cross +winds, which long detained and at last dispersed and ruined the queen's +fleet, than to any resistance which, in their present situation, could +have been expected from the English. + + * Rymer, vol. i. p. 793. Brady's Appeals, No. 213. + + ** Brady's Appeals, No. 216, 217. Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p + 373 M. West, p. 385. + +Leicester found himself better able to resist the spiritual thunders +which were levelled against him. The pope, still adhering to the king's +cause against the barons, despatched Cardinal Guido as his legate +into England, with orders to excommunicate by name the three earls, +Leicester, Glocester, and Norfolk, and all others in general, who +concurred in the oppression and captivity of their sovereign.[*] +Leicester menaced the legate with death if he set foot within the +kingdom; but Guido, meeting in France the bishops of Winchester, London, +and Worcester, who had been sent thither on a negotiation, commanded +them, under the penalty of ecclesiastical censures, to carry his bull +into England, and to publish it against the barons. When the prelates +arrived off the coast, they were boarded by the piratical mariners of +the cinque ports, to whom probably they gave a hint of the cargo which +they brought along with them: the bull was torn and thrown into the +sea; which furnished the artful prelates with a plausible excuse for not +obeying the orders of the legate. Leicester appealed from Guido to the +pope in person; but before the ambassadors appointed to defend his cause +could reach Rome, the pope was dead; and they found the legate himself, +from whom they had appealed, seated on the papal throne, by the name of +Urban IV. That daring leader was nowise dismayed with this incident; and +as he found that a great part of his popularity in England was founded +on his opposition to the court of Rome, which was now become odious, he +persisted with the more obstinacy in the prosecution of his measures. + +{1265.} That he might both increase and turn to advantage his +popularity, Leicester summoned a new parliament in London, where he +knew his power was uncontrollable; and he fixed this assembly on a +more democratical basis than any which had ever been summoned since the +foundation of the monarchy. Besides the barons of his own party, and +several ecclesiastics, who were not immediate tenants of the crown, he +ordered returns to be made of two knights from each shire, and, what is +more remarkable, of deputies from the boroughs, an order of men which, +in former ages, had always been regarded as too mean to enjoy a place in +the national councils.[**] This period is commonly esteemed the epoch of +the house of commons in England; and it is certainly the first time that +historians speak of any representatives sent to parliament by the +boroughs and even in the most particular narratives delivered of +parliamentary transactions, as in the trial of Thomas à Becket, where +the events of each day, and almost of each hour, are carefully recorded +by contemporary authors,[***] there is not, throughout the whole, the +least appearance of a house of commons. + + * Rymer, vol. i. p. 798. Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 373. + + ** Rymer, vol. i. p. 802. + + *** Fitz-Stephen, Hist. Quadrip. Hoveden, etc. + +In all the general accounts given in preceding times of those +assemblies, the prelates and barons only are mentioned as the +constituent members. But though that house derived its existence from so +precarious and even so invidious an origin as Leicester's usurpation, it +soon proved, when summoned by the legal princes, one of the most +useful, and, in process of time, one of the most powerful members of +the national constitution; and gradually rescued the kingdom from +aristocratical as well as from regal tyranny. But Leicester's policy, if +we must ascribe to him so great a blessing, only forwarded by some +years an institution, for which the general state of things had already +prepared the nation; and it is otherwise inconceivable, that a plant, +set by so inauspicious a hand, could have attained to so vigorous +a growth, and have flourished in the midst of such tempests and +convulsions. The feudal system, with which the liberty, much more the +power of the commons, was totally incompatible, began gradually +to decline; and both the king and the commonalty, who felt its +inconveniencies, contributed to favor this new power, which was more +submissive than the barons to the regular authority of the crown, and at +the same time afforded protection to the inferior orders of the state. + +Leicester, having thus assembled a parliament of his own model, and +trusting to the attachment of the populace of London, seized the +opportunity of crushing his rivals among the powerful barons. Robert +de Ferrers, earl of Derby, was accused in the king's name, seized, and +committed to custody, without being brought to any legal trial.[*] John +Gifford, menaced with the same fate, fled from London, and took shelter +in the borders of Wales. Even the earl of Glocester, whose power and +influence had so much contributed to the success of the barons, but +who of late was extremely disgusted with Leicester's arbitrary conduct, +found himself in danger from the prevailing authority of his ancient +confederate; and he retired from parliament.[**] This known dissension +gave courage to all Leicester's enemies and to the king's friends; who +were now sure of protection from so potent a leader. + + * Chron. T. Wykes, p. 66. Ann. Waverl. p. 216. + + ** M. Paris, p. 671. Ann. Waverl. p. 211. + +Though Roger Mortimer, Hamond l'Estrange, and other powerful marchers +of Wales, had been obliged to leave the kingdom, their authority still +remained over the territories subjected to their jurisdiction; and +there were many others who were disposed to give disturbance to the new +government. The animosities inseparable from the feudal aristocracy, +broke out with fresh violence, and threatened the kingdom with new +convulsions and disorders. + +The earl of Leicester, surrounded with these difficulties, embraced a +measure, from which he hoped to reap some present advantages, but which +proved in the end the source of all his future calamities. The active +and intrepid Prince Edward had anguished in prison ever since the fatal +battle of Lewes; and as he was extremely popular in the kingdom there +arose a general desire of seeing him again restored to liberty.[*] +Leicester, finding that he could with difficulty oppose the concurring +wishes of the nation, stipulated with the prince, that, in return, +he should order his adherents to deliver up to the barons all their +castles, particularly those on the borders of Wales; and should swear +neither to depart the kingdom during three years, nor introduce into it +any foreign forces.[**] The king took an oath to the same effect, and +he also passed a charter in which he confirmed the agreement or Mise of +Lewes; and even permitted his subjects to rise in arms against him, if +he should ever attempt to infringe it.[***] So little care did Leicester +take, though he constantly made use of the authority of this captive +prince, to preserve to him any appearance of royalty or kingly +prerogatives. + + * Knyghton, p. 2451. + + ** Ann. Waverl. p. 216. + + *** Blackstone's Mag. Chart. Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 378. + +In consequence of this treaty, Prince Edward was brought into +Westminster Hall, and was declared free by the barons: but instead of +really recovering his liberty, as he had vainly expected, he found that +the whole transaction was a fraud on the part of Leicester; that he +himself still continued a prisoner at large, and was guarded by the +emissaries of that nobleman; and that, while the faction reaped all the +benefit from the performance of his part of the treaty, care was taken +that he should enjoy no advantage by it. As Glocester, on his rupture +with the barons, had retired for safety to his estates on the borders +of Wales, Leicester followed him with an army to Hereford,[*] continued +still to menace ana negotiate, and that he might add authority to his +cause, he carried both the king and prince along with him. The earl of +Glocester here concerted with young Edward the manner of that prince's +escape. He found means to convey to him a horse of extraordinary +swiftness; and appointed Roger Mortimer who had returned into the +kingdom, to be ready at hand with a small party to receive the prince, +and to guard him to a place of safety. Edward pretended to take the +air with some of Leicester's retinue, who were his guards; and making +matches between their horses, after he thought he had tired and blown +them sufficiently, he suddenly mounted Glocester's horse, and called +to his attendants that he had long enough enjoyed the pleasure of +their company, and now bade them adieu. They followed him for some time +without being able to overtake him; and the appearance of Mortimer with +his company put an end to their pursuit. + + * Chron. T. Wykes, p. 67. Ann. Waverl. p. 218. W. Heming, p. + 585. Chron Durst. vil. i i. p. 383, 384. + +The royalists, secretly prepared for this event, immediately flew to +arms; and the joy of this gallant prince's deliverance, the oppressions +under which the nation labored, the expectation of a new scene of +affairs, and the countenance of the earl of Glocester, procured Edward +an army which Leicester was utterly unable to withstand. This nobleman +found himself in a remote quarter of the kingdom; surrounded by his +enemies; barred from all communication with his friends by the Severn, +whose bridges Edward had broken down; and obliged to fight the cause +of his party under these multiplied disadvantages. In this extremity he +wrote to his son, Simon de Mountfort, to hasten from London with an army +for his relief; and Simon had advanced to Kenilworth with that view, +where, fancying that all Edward's force and attention were directed +against his father, he lay secure and unguarded. But the prince, making +a sudden and forced march, surprised him in his camp, dispersed his +army, and took the earl of Oxford and many other noblemen prisoners, +almost without resistance. Leicester, ignorant of his son's fate, passed +the Severn in boats during Edward's absence, and lay at Evesham, in +expectation of being every hour joined by his friends from London; when +the prince, who availed himself of every favorable moment, appeared in +the field before him. Edward made a body of his troops advance from +the road which led to Kenilworth, and ordered them to carry the banners +taken from Simon's army; while he himself, making a circuit with the +rest of his forces, purposed to attack the enemy on the other quarter. +Leicester was long deceived by this stratagem, and took one division of +Edward's army for his friends; but at last, perceiving his mistake, +and observing the great superiority and excellent disposition of the +royalists, he exclaimed, that they had learned from him the art of war; +adding, "The Lord have mercy on our souls, for I see our bodies are the +prince's!" The battle immediately began, though on very unequal terms. +Leicester's army, by living in the mountains of Wales without bread, +which was not then much used among the inhabitants, had been extremely +weakened by sickness and desertion, and was soon broken by the +victorious royalists; while his Welsh allies, accustomed only to a +desultory kind of war, immediately took to flight, and were pursued with +great slaughter. Leicester himself, asking for quarter, was slain in the +heat of the action, with his eldest son Henry, Hugh le Despenser, and +about one hundred and sixty knights, and many other gentlemen of his +party. The old king had been purposely placed by the rebels in the front +of the battle, and being clad in armor, and thereby not known by his +friends, he received a wound, and was in danger of his life; but crying +out, "I am Henry of Winchester, your king," he was saved, and put in a +place of safety by his son, who flew to his rescue. + +The violence, ingratitude, tyranny, rapacity, and treachery of the earl +of Leicester, give a very bad idea of his moral character, and make us +regard his death as the most fortunate event which, in this conjuncture, +could have happened to the English nation: yet must we allow the man +to have possessed great abilities, and the appearance of great virtues, +who, though a stranger, could, at a time when strangers were the most +odious and the most universally decried, have acquired so extensive an +interest in the kingdom, and have so nearly paved his way to the throne +itself. His military capacity, and his political craft, were equally +eminent: he possessed the talents both of governing men and conducting +business; and though his ambition was boundless, it seems neither to +have exceeded his courage nor his genius; and he had the happiness +of making the low populace, as well as the haughty barons, coöperate +towards the success of his selfish and dangerous purposes. A prince of +greater abilities and vigor than Henry might have directed the talents +of this nobleman either to the exaltation of his throne or to the good +of his people but the advantages given to Leicester, by the weak and +variable administration of the king, brought on the ruin of royal +authority, and produced great confusions in the kingdom which, however, +in the end, preserved and extremely improved national liberty and the +constitution. His popularity, even after his death, continued so great, +that, though he was excommunicated by Rome, the people believed him to +be a saint; and many miracles were said to be wrought upon his tomb.[*] + +{1266.} The victory of Evesham, with the death of Leicester, proved +decisive in favor of the royalists, and made an equal though an opposite +impression on friends and enemies, in every part of England. The king of +the Romans recovered his liberty: the other prisoners of the royal party +were not only freed, but courted by their keepers; Fitz-Richard, the +seditious mayor of London, who had marked out forty of the most wealthy +citizens for slaughter, immediately stopped his hand on receiving +intelligence of this great event; and almost all the castles, garrisoned +by the barons, hastened to make their submissions, and to open their +gates to the king. The Isle of Axholme alone, and that of Ely, trusting +to the strength of their situation, ventured to make resistance; but +were at last reduced, as well as the Castle of Dover, by the valor and +activity of Prince Edward.[**] Adam de Gourdon, a courageous baron, +maintained himself during some time in the forests of Hampshire, +committed depredations in the neighborhood, and obliged the prince to +lead a body of troops into that country against him. Edward attacked the +camp of the rebels; and being transported by the ardor of battle, leaped +over the trench with a few followers, and encountered Gourdon in single +combat. The victory was long disputed between these valiant combatants; +but ended at last in the prince's favor, who wounded his antagonist, +threw him from his horse, and took him prisoner. He not only gave him +his life; but introduced him that very night to the queen at Guildford, +procured him his pardon, restored him to his estate, received him into +favor, and was ever after faithfully served by him.[***] + + * Chron. de Mailr. p. 232. + + ** M. Paris p. 676. W. Heming. p. 588. + + *** M. Paris, p 575 + +A total victory of the sovereign over so extensive a rebellion commonly +produces a revolution of government, and strengthens, as well as +enlarges, for some time, the prerogatives of the crown; yet no +sacrifices of national liberty were made on this occasion; the Great +Charter remained still inviolate; and the king, sensible that his own +barons, by whose assistance alone he had prevailed, were no less jealous +of their independence than the other party, seems thenceforth to have +more carefully abstained from all those exertions of power which had +afforded so plausible a pretence to the rebels. The clemency of this +victory is also remarkable; no blood was shed on the scaffold; no +attainders, except of the Mountfort family, were carried into execution; +and though a parliament, assembled at Winchester, attainted all those +who had borne arms against the king, easy compositions were made +with them for their lands;[*] and the highest sum levied on the most +obnoxious offenders exceeded not five years' rent of their estate. Even +the earl of Derby, who again rebelled, after having been pardoned and +restored to his fortune, was obliged to pay only seven years' rent, and +was a second time restored. The mild disposition of the king, and the +prudence of the prince, tempered the insolence of victory and gradually +restored order to the several members of the state, disjointed by so +long a continuance of civil wars and commotions. + +The city of London, which had carried farthest the rage and animosity +against the king, and which seemed determined to stand upon its defence +after almost all the kingdom had submitted, was, after some interval, +restored to most of its liberties and privileges; and Fitz-Richard, +the mayor, who had been guilty of so much illegal violence, was only +punished by fine and imprisonment. The countess of Leicester, the king's +sister, who had been extremely forward in all attacks on the royal +family, was dismissed the kingdom with her two sons, Simon and Guy, +who proved very ungrateful for this lenity. Five years afterwards, they +assassinated, at Viterbo in Italy, their cousin Henry d'Allmaine, who at +that very time was endeavoring to make their peace with the king; and +by taking sanctuary in the church of the Franciscans, they escaped the +punishment due to so great an enormity.[**] + + * M. Paris, p. 675. + + ** Rymer, vol. i. p. 879; vol. ii. p. 4, 6. Chron. T. Wykes, + p. 94 W. Heming. p. 589. Trivet, p. 240. + +{1267.} The merits of the earl of Glocester, after he returned to his +allegiance, had been so great, in restoring the prince to his liberty, +and assisting him in his victories against the rebellious barons, that +it was almost impossible to content him in his demands; and his youth +and temerity as well as his great power, tempted him, on some new +disgust, to raise again the flames of rebellion in the kingdom. The +mutinous populace of London at his instigation took to arms; and the +prince was obliged to levy an army of thirty thousand men in order to +suppress them. Even this second rebellion did not provoke the king to +any act of cruelty; and the earl of Glocester himself escaped with total +impunity. He was only obliged to enter into a bond of twenty thousand +marks, that he should never again be guilty of rebellion; a strange +method of enforcing the laws, and a proof of the dangerous independence +of the barons in those ages! These potent nobles were, from the danger +of the precedent, averse to the execution of the laws of forfeiture and +felony against any of their fellows; though they could not, with a +good grace, refuse to concur in obliging them to fulfil any voluntary +contract and engagement into which they had entered. + +{1270.} The prince, finding the state of the kingdom tolerably composed, +was seduced by his avidity for glory, and by the prejudices of the +age, as well as by the earnest solicitations of the king of France, to +undertake an expedition against the infidels in the Holy Land;[*] and he +endeavored previously to settle the state in such a manner, as to dread +no bad effects from his absence. As the formidable power and turbulent +disposition of the earl of Glocester gave him apprehensions, he insisted +on carrying him along with him, in consequence of a vow which that +nobleman had made to undertake the same voyage: in the mean time, he +obliged him to resign some of his castles, and to enter into a new bond +not to disturb the peace of the kingdom.[**] + + * M. Paris, p. 677 + + ** Chron. T. Wykes, p. 90. + +He sailed from England with an army; and arrived in Lewis's camp before +Tunis in Africa, where he found that monarch already dead, from the +intemperance of the climate and the fatigues of his enterprise. The +great, if not only weakness of this prince, in his government, was +the imprudent passion for crusades; but it was this zeal chiefly that +procured him from the clergy the title of St. Lewis, by which he is +known in the French history and if that appellation had not been so +extremely prostituted as to become rather a term of reproach, he seems, +by his uniform probity and goodness, as well as his piety, to have fully +merited the title. He was succeeded by his son Philip, denominated +the Hardy; a prince of some merit, though much inferior to that of his +father. + +{1271.} Prince Edward, not discouraged by this event, continued his +voyage to the Holy Land, where he signalized himself by acts of valor; +revived the glory of the English name in those parts; and struck such +terror into the Saracens, that they employed an assassin to murder him, +who wounded him in the arm, but perished in the attempt.[*] Meanwhile +his absence from England was attended with many of those pernicious +consequences which had been dreaded from it. The laws were not executed: +the barons oppressed the common people with impunity: they gave shelter +on their estates to bands of robbers, whom they employed in committing +ravages on the estates of their enemies: the populace of London returned +to their usual licentiousness: and the old king, unequal to the burden +of public affairs, called aloud for his gallant son to return,[**] and +to assist him in swaying that sceptre which was ready to drop from +his feeble and irresolute hands. At last, overcome by the cares of +government and the infirmities of age, he visibly declined, and he +expired at St. Edmondsbury in the sixty-fourth year of his age, and +fifty-sixth of his reign;[***] the longest reign that is to be met with +in the English annals. + + * M. Paris, p. 678, 679. W. Heming, p. 520. + + ** Chron. Dunst. vol. i. p. 404. + + *** Kymer, vol. i. p. 869. M. Paris, p. 678. + +{1272.} His brother, the king of the Romans, (for he never attained the +title of emperor,) died about seven months before him. + +The most obvious circumstance of Henry's character is his incapacity for +government, which rendered him as much a prisoner in the hands of his +own ministers and favorites, and as little at his own disposal, as when +detained a captive in the hands of his enemies. From this source, rather +than from insincerity or treachery, arose his negligence in observing +his promises; and he was too easily induced, for the sake of present +convenience, to sacrifice the lasting advantages arising from the trust +and confidence of his people. Hence too were derived his profusion to +favorites, his attachment to strangers, the variableness of his +conduct, his hasty resentments, and his sudden forgiveness and return of +affection. + +Instead of reducing the dangerous power of his nobles, by obliging +them to observe the laws towards their inferiors, and setting them the +salutary example in his own government, he was seduced to imitate +their conduct, and to make his arbitrary will, or rather that of his +ministers, the rule of his actions. Instead of accommodating himself, +by a strict frugality, to the embarrassed situation in which his +revenue had been left by the military expeditions of his uncle, the +dissipations of his father, and the usurpations of the barons, he was +tempted to levy money by irregular exactions, which, without enriching +himself, impoverished, at least disgusted, his people. Of all men, +nature seemed least to have fitted him for being a tyrant, yet are there +instances of oppression in his reign, which, though derived from the +precedents left him by his predecessors, had been carefully guarded +against by the Great Charter, and are inconsistent with all rules of +good government. And on the whole, we may say, that greater abilities, +with his good dispositions, would have prevented him from falling +into his faults, or with worse dispositions, would have enabled him to +maintain and defend them. + +This prince was noted for his piety and devotion, and his regular +attendance on public worship; and a saying of his on that head is much +celebrated by ancient writers. He was engaged in a dispute with Lewis +IX. of France, concerning the preference between sermons and masses: he +maintained the superiority of the latter, and affirmed, that he would +rather have one hour's conversation with a friend, than hear twenty of +the most elaborate discourses pronounced in his praise.[*] + + * Walsing. Edw. I. p. 43. + +Henry left two sons, Edward, his successor, and Edmond earl of +Lancaster; and two daughters, Margaret, queen of Scotland, and Beatrix, +duchess of Brittany. He had five other children, who died in their +infancy. + +The following are the most remarkable laws enacted during this reign. +There had been great disputes between the civil and ecclesiastical +courts concerning bastardy. The common law had deemed all those to +be bastards who were born before wedlock; by the canon law they were +legitimate: and when any dispute of inheritance arose, it had formerly +been usual for the civil courts to issue writs to the spiritual, +directing them to inquire into the legitimacy of the person. The bishop +always returned an answer agreeable to the canon law, though contrary to +the municipal law of the kingdom. For this reason, the civil courts had +changed the terms of their writ; and instead of requiring the spiritual +courts to make inquisition concerning the legitimacy of the person, they +only proposed the simple question of fact, whether he were born before +or after wedlock. The prelates complained of this practice to the +parliament assembled at Merton in the twentieth of this king, and +desired that the municipal law might be rendered conformable to the +canon; but received from all the nobility the memorable reply, "Nolumus +leges Angliae mutare." We will not change the laws of England.[*] + +After the civil wars, the parliament summoned at Marlebridge gave their +approbation to most of the ordinances which had been established by the +reforming barons, and which though advantageous to the security of the +people, had not received the sanction of a legal authority. Among other +laws, it was there enacted, that all appeals from the courts of inferior +lords should be carried directly to the king's courts, without passing +through the courts of the lords immediately superior.[**] It was +ordained, that money should bear no interest during the minority of +the debtor.[***] This law was reasonable, as the estates of minors +were always in the hands of their lords, and the debtors could not pay +interest where they had no revenue. The charter of King John had granted +this indulgence: it was omitted in that of Henry III., for what reason +is not known; but it was renewed by the statute of Marlebridge. Most +of the other articles of this statute are calculated to restrain the +oppressions of sheriffs, and the violence and iniquities committed +in distraining cattle and other goods. Cattle and the instruments of +husbandry formed at that time the chief riches of the people. + +In the thirty-fifth year of this king, an assize was fixed of bread, the +price of which was settled according to the different prices of corn, +from one shilling a quarter to seven shillings and sixpence,[****] +money of that age. These great variations are alone a proof of bad +tillage:[*****] yet did the prices often rise much higher than any taken +notice of by the statute. + + * Statute of Merton, chap. 9. + + ** Statute of Marlb. chap. 20. + + *** Ibid. chap. 16. + + **** Statutes at large, p. 6. + + ***** We learn from Cicero's orations against Verres, (lib. + iii. cap. 81, 92,) that the price of corn in Sicily was, + during the preetorship of Sacerdos five denarii amodius; + during that of Verres, which immediately succeeded, only two + sesterces; that is, ten times lower; a presumption, or + rather a proof, of the very bad state of tillage in ancient + times. + +The Chronicle of Dunstable tells us, that in this reign wheat was once +sold for a mark, nay, for a pound a quarter; that is, three pounds of +our present money.[*] The same law affords us a proof of the little +communication between the parts of the kingdom, from the very different +prices which the same commodity bore at the same time. A brewer, says +the statute, may sell two gallons of ale for a penny in cities, and +three or four gallons for the same price in the country. At present, +such commodities, by the great consumption of the people, and the great +stocks of the brewers, are rather cheapest in cities. The Chronicle +above mentioned observes, that wheat one year was sold in many places +for eight shillings a quarter, but never rose in Dunstable above a +crown. + + * So also Knyghton, p. 2444. + +Though commerce was still very low, it seems rather to have increased +since the conquest; at least, if we may judge of the increase of money +by the price of corn. The medium between the highest and lowest prices +of wheat, assigned by the statute, is four shillings and threepence a +quarter; that is, twelve shillings and ninepence of our present money. +This is near half of the middling price in our time. Yet the middling +price of cattle, so late as the reign of King Richard, we find to be +above eight, near ten times lower than the present. Is not this the true +inference, from comparing these facts, that, in all uncivilized nations, +cattle, which propagate of themselves, bear always a lower price than +corn, which requires more art and stock to render it plentiful than +those nations are possessed of? It is to be remarked, that Henry's +assize of corn was copied from a preceding assize established by King +John; consequently, the prices which we have here compared of corn and +cattle may be looked on as contemporary; and they were drawn, not from +one particular year, but from an estimation of the middling prices for +a series of years. It is true, the prices assigned by the assize of +Richard were meant as a standard for the accompts of sheriffs and +escheators and as considerable profits were allowed to these ministers, +we may naturally suppose that the common value of cattle was somewhat +higher: yet still, so great a difference between the prices of corn and +cattle as that of four to one, compared to the present rates, affords +important reflections concerning the very different state of industry +and tillage in the two periods. + +Interest had in that age mounted to an enormous height, as might +be expected from the barbarism of the times and men's ignorance of +commerce. Instances occur of fifty per cent. paid for money.[*] There +is an edict of Philip Augustus, near this period, limiting the Jews in +France to forty-eight per cent.[**] Such profits tempted the Jews to +remain in the kingdom, notwithstanding the grievous oppressions to +which, from the prevalent bigotry and rapine of the age, they were +continually exposed. It is easy to imagine how precarious their state +must have been under an indigent prince, somewhat restrained in his +tyranny over his native subjects, but who possessed an unlimited +authority over the Jews, the sole proprietors of money in the kingdom, +and hated on account of their riches, their religion, and their usury; +yet will our ideas scarcely come up to the extortions which in fact we +find to have been practised upon them. In the year 1241, twenty thousand +marks were exacted from them;[***] two years after money was again +extorted; and one Jew alone, Aaron of York, was obliged to pay above +four thousand marks;[****] in 1250, Henry renewed his oppressions; and +the same Aaron was condemned to pay him thirty thousand marks upon an +accusation of forgery;[*****] the high penalty imposed upon him, and +which, it seems, he was thought able to pay, is rather a presumption of +his innocence than of his guilt. + + * M. Paris, p. 586. + + ** Brussel, Traité des Fiefs, vol. i, p. 576. + + *** M. Paris, p. 372. + + **** M. Paris, p. 410. + + ***** M. Paris, p. 525. + +In 1255, the king demanded eight thousand marks from the Jews, and +threatened to hang them if they refused compliance. They now lost all +patience, and desired leave to retire with their effects out of the +kingdom. But the king replied, "How can I remedy the oppressions you +complain of? I am myself a beggar. I am spoiled, I am stripped of all +my revenues; I owe above two hundred thousand marks; and if I had said +three hundred thousand, I should not exceed the truth; I am obliged to +pay my son, Prince Edward, fifteen thousand marks a year; I have not a +farthing; and I must have money from any hand, from any quarter, or by +any means." He then delivered over the Jews to the earl of Cornwall, +that those whom the one brother had flayed, the other might embowel, to +make use of the words of the historian.[*] King John, his father, once +demanded ten thousand marks from a Jew of Bristol; and on his refusal, +ordered one of his teeth to be drawn every day till he should comply. +The Jew lost seven teeth, and then paid the sum required of him.[**] +One talliage laid upon the Jews, in 1243, amounted to sixty thousand +marks;[***] a sum equal to the whole yearly revenue of the crown. + +To give a better pretence for extortions, the improbable and absurd +accusation, which has been at different times advanced against that +nation, was revived in England, that they had crucified a child in +derision of the sufferings of Christ. Eighteen of them were hanged at +once for this crime;[****] though it is nowise credible that even the +antipathy borne them by the Christians, and the oppressions under which +they labored, would ever have pushed them to be guilty of that dangerous +enormity. But it is natural to imagine, that a race exposed to such +insults and indignities, both from king and people, and who had so +uncertain an enjoyment of their riches, would carry usury to the utmost +extremity, and by their great profits make themselves some compensation +for their continual perils. + +Though these acts of violence against the Jews proceeded much from +bigotry, they were still more derived from avidity and rapine. So far +from desiring in that age to convert them, it was enacted by law in +France, that if any Jew embraced Christianity, he forfeited all his +goods, without exception, to the king or his superior lord. These +plunderers were careful lest the profits accruing from their dominion +over that unhappy race should be diminished by their conversion.[*****] + +Commerce must be in a wretched condition where interest was so high, and +where the sole proprietors of money employed it in usury only, and +were exposed to such extortion and injustice. But the bad police of +the country was another obstacle to improvements, and rendered all +communication dangerous, and all property precarious. The Chronicle of +Dunstable says,[******] that men were never secure in their houses, and +that whole villages were often plundered by bands of robbers, though no +civil wars at that time prevailed in the kingdom. + + *M. Paris, p. 606. + + **M. Paris, p. 160. + + ***Madox, p. 152. + + ****M. Paris, p. 613. + + *****Brussel, vol. i. p. 622. Du Cange, verbo Judaei. + + ******Vol. i. p. 155. + +In 1249, some years before the insurrection of the barons, two merchants +of Brabant came to the king at Winchester, and told him that they had +been spoiled of all their goods by certain robbers, whom they knew, +because they saw their faces every day in his court; that like practices +prevailed all over England, and travellers were continually exposed to +the danger of being robbed, bound, wounded, and murdered; that +these crimes escaped with impunity, because the ministers of justice +themselves were in a confederacy with the robbers; and that they, for +their part, instead of bringing matters to a fruitless trial by law, +were willing, though merchants, to decide their cause with the robbers +by arms and a duel. The king, provoked at these abuses, ordered a jury +to be enclosed, and to try the robbers: the jury, though consisting +of twelve men of property in Hampshire, were found to be also in a +confederacy with the felons, and acquitted them. Henry, in a rage, +committed the jury to prison, threatened them with severe punishment, +and ordered a new jury to be enclosed, who, dreading the fate of their +fellows, at last found a verdict against the criminals. Many of the +king's own household were discovered to have participated in the guilt; +and they said for their excuse, that they received no wages from him, +and were obliged to rob for a maintenance.[*] "Knights and esquires," +says the Dictum of Kenilworth, "Who were robbers, if they have no land, +shall pay the half of their goods, and find sufficient security to +keep henceforth the peace of the kingdom." Such were the manners of the +times! + +One can the less repine, during the prevalence of such manners, at the +frauds and forgeries of the clergy; as it gives less disturbance to +society to take men's money from them with their own consent, though by +deceits and lies, than to ravish it by open force and violence. During +this reign the papal power was at its summit, and was even beginning +insensibly to decline, by reason of the immeasurable avarice and +extortions of the court of Rome, which disgusted the clergy as well as +laity in every kingdom of Europe. England itself, though sunk in the +deepest abyss of ignorance and superstition, had seriously entertained +thoughts of shaking off the papal yoke;[**] and the Roman pontiff was +obliged to think of new expedients for rivetting it faster upon the +Christian world. + + * M. Paris, p. 509. + + ** M. Paris, p. 421. + +For this purpose, Gregory IX. published his decretals,[*] which are a +collection of forgeries favorable to the court of Rome, and consist +of the supposed decrees of popes in the first centuries. But these +forgeries are so gross, and confound so palpably all language, history, +chronology, and antiquities,--matters more stubborn than any speculative +truths whatsoever,--that even that church, which is not startled at +the most monstrous contradictions and absurdities, has been obliged to +abandon them to the critics. But in the dark period of the thirteenth +century, they parsed for undisputed and authentic; and men, entangled +in the mazes of this false literature, joined to the philosophy, equally +false, of the times, had nothing wherewithal to defend themselves, but +some small remains of common sense, which passed for profaneness and +impiety, and the indelible regard to self-interest, which, as it was the +sole motive in the priests for framing these impostures, served also, in +some degree, to protect the laity against them. + + * Trivet, p. 191. + +Another expedient, devised by the church of Rome, in this period, for +securing her power, was the institution of new religious orders, chiefly +the Dominicans and Franciscans, who proceeded with all the zeal and +success that attend novelties; were better qualified to gain the +populace than the old orders, now become rich and indolent; maintained +a perpetual rivalship with each other in promoting their gainful +superstitions; and acquired a great dominion over the minds, and +consequently over the purses, of men, by pretending a desire of poverty +and a contempt for riches. The quarrels which arose between these +orders, lying still under the control of the sovereign pontiff, never +disturbed the peace of the church, and served only as a spur to their +industry in promoting the common cause; and though the Dominicans lost +some popularity by their denial of the immaculate conception,--a +point in which they unwarily engaged too far to be able to recede with +honor,--they counterbalanced this disadvantage by acquiring more solid +establishments, by gaining the confidence of kings and princes, and +by exercising the jurisdiction assigned them of ultimate judges and +punishers of heresy. Thus the several orders of monks became a kind +of regular troops or garrisons of the Romish church; and though the +temporal interests of society, still more the cause of true piety, were +hurt, by their various devices to captivate the populace, they proved +the chief supports of that mighty fabric of superstition, and, till the +revival of true learning, secured it from any dangerous invasion. + +The trial by ordeal was abolished in this reign by order of council; a +faint mark of improvement in the age.[*] + +Henry granted a charter to the town of Newcastle, in which he gave the +inhabitants a license to dig coal. This is the first mention of coal in +England. + +We learn from Madox,[**] that this king gave at one time one hundred +shillings to Master Henry, his poet; also the same year he orders this +poet ten pounds. + +It appears from Selden, that in the forty-seventh of this reign, a +hundred and fifty temporal and fifty spiritual barons were summoned to +perform the service, due by their tenures.[***] In the thirty-fifth of +the subsequent reign, eighty-six temporal barons, twenty bishops, +and forty-eight abbots, were summoned to a parliament convened at +Carlisle.[****] + + * Rymer, vol. i. p. 228. Spelman, p. 326. + + ** Page 208. + + *** Titles of Honor, part ii. chap. 3. + + **** Parliamentary Hist. vol. i. p. 151. + + +1_178_carnaryon.jpg + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +[Illustration: 1_176_edward1.jpg EDWARD I.] + + + + + +{1272.} The English were as yet so little inured to obedience under +a regular government, that the death of almost every king, since the +conquest, had been attended with disorders, and the council, reflecting +on the recent civil wars, and on the animosities which naturally +remain after these great convulsions, had reason to apprehend dangerous +consequences from the absence of the son and successor of Henry. They +therefore hastened to proclaim Prince Edward, to swear allegiance to +him, and to summon the states of the kingdom, in order to provide for +the public peace in this important conjuncture.[*] + + * Rymer, vol. ii. p. 1 Walsing, p. 43. Trivet, p. 239. + +Walter Giffard, archbishop of York, the earl of Cornwall, son of +Richard, king of the Romans, and the earl of Glocester, were appointed +guardians of the realm, and proceeded peaceably to the exercise of +their authority, without either meeting with opposition from any of the +people, or being disturbed with emulation and faction among themselves. +The high character acquired by Edward during the late commotions, his +military genius, his success in subduing the rebels, his moderation +in settling the kingdom, had procured him great esteem, mixed with +affection, among all orders of men; and no one could reasonably +entertain hopes of making any advantage of his absence, or of raising +disturbance in the nation. The earl of Glocester himself, whose great +power and turbulent spirit had excited most jealousy, was forward +to give proofs of his allegiance; and the other malecontents, being +destitute of a leader, were obliged to remain in submission to the +government. + +Prince Edward had reached Sicily in his return from the Holy Land, when +he received intelligence of the death of his father; and he discovered a +deep concern on the occasion. At the same time, he learned the death of +an infant son, John whom his princess, Eleanor of Castile, had born him +at Acre, in Palestine; and as he appeared much less affected with that +misfortune, the king of Sicily expressed a surprise at this difference +of sentiment; but was told by Edward, that the death of a son was a +loss which he might hope to repair; the death of a father was a loss +irreparable.[*] + +Edward proceeded homeward; but as he soon learned the quiet settlement +of the kingdom, he was in no hurry to take possession of the throne, but +spent near a year in France, before he made his appearance in England. + +{1273.} In his passage by Chalons, in Burgundy, he was challenged by +the prince of the country to a tournament which he was preparing; and as +Edward excelled in those martial and dangerous exercises, the true image +of war, he declined not the opportunity of acquiring honor in that +great assembly of the neighboring nobles. But the image of war was here +unfortunately turned into the thing itself. Edward and his retinue were +so successful in the jousts, that the French knights, provoked at their +superiority, made a serious attack upon them, which was repulsed, and +much blood was idly shed in the quarrel.[**] This rencounter received +the name of the petty battle of Chalons. + +{1274.} Edward went from Chalons to Paris, and did homage to Philip for the +dominions which he held in France.[***] He thence returned to Guienne, +and settled that province, which was in some confusion. He made +his journey to London through France; in his passage, he accommodated at +Montreuil a difference with Margaret, countess of Flanders, heiress of +that territory;[****] he was received with joyful acclamations by his +people, and was solemnly crowned at Westminster by Robert, archbishop of +Canterbury. + + * Walsing. p. 44. Trivet. p. 240. + + ** Walsing. p. 44. Trivet. p. 241. M. West. p. 402. + + *** Walsing p. 45. + + **** Rymer. vol. ii. p. 32, 33. + +The king immediately applied himself to the reestablishment of his +kingdom, and to the correcting of those disorders which the civil +commotions and the loose administration of his father had introduced +into every part of government. The plan of his policy was equally +generous and prudent. He considered the great barons both as the +immediate rivals of the crown and oppressors of the people; and he +purposed, by an exact distribution of justice, and a rigid execution +of the laws, to give at once protection to the inferior orders of the +state, and to diminish the arbitrary power of the great, on which their +dangerous authority was chiefly founded. Making it a rule in his own +conduct to observe, except on extraordinary occasions, the privileges +secured to them by the Great Charter, he acquired a right to insist +upon their observance of the same charter towards their vassals and +inferiors; and he made the crown be regarded by all the gentry and +commonalty of the kingdom, as the fountain of justice, and the general +asylum against oppression. + +{1275.} Besides enacting several useful statutes, in a parliament which +he summoned at Westminster, he took care to inspect the conduct of all +his magistrates and judges, to displace such as were either negligent +or corrupt, to provide them with sufficient force for the execution of +justice, to extirpate all bands and confederacies of robbers, and to +repress those more silent robberies which were committed either by the +power of the nobles or under the countenance of public authority. By +this rigid administration, the face of the kingdom was soon changed; and +order and justice took place of violence and oppression: but amidst the +excellent institutions and public-spirited plans of Edward, there still +appears somewhat both of the severity of his personal character and of +the prejudices of the times. + +As the various kinds of malefactors, the murderers, robbers, +incendiaries, ravishers, and plunderers, had become so numerous and +powerful, that the ordinary ministers of justice, especially in the +western counties, were afraid to execute the laws against them, the king +found it necessary to provide an extraordinary remedy for the evil; and +he erected a new tribunal, which, however useful, would have been +deemed in times of more regular liberty, a great stretch of illegal and +arbitrary power. It consisted of commissioners, who were empowered +to inquire into disorders and crimes of all kinds, and to inflict the +proper punishments upon them. The officers charged with this unusual +commission, made their circuits throughout the counties of England most +infested with this evil, and carried terror into all those parts of +the kingdom. In their zeal to punish crimes, they did not sufficiently +distinguish between the innocent and guilty; the smallest suspicion +became a ground of accusation and trial; the slightest evidence was +received against criminals; prisons were crowded with malefactors, real +or pretended; severe fines were levied for small offences; and the king, +though his exhausted exchequer was supplied by this expedient, found it +necessary to stop the course of so great rigor, and after terrifying and +dissipating by this tribunal the gangs of disorderly people in England, +he prudently annulled the commission;[*] and never afterwards renewed +it. + +Among the various disorders to which the kingdom was subject, no one was +more universally complained of than the adulteration of the coin; and as +this crime required more art than the English of that age, who chiefly +employed force and violence in their iniquities, were possessed of, the +imputation fell upon the Jews.[**] Edward also seems to have indulged a +strong prepossession against that nation; and this ill-judged zeal for +Christianity being naturally augmented by an expedition to the Holy +Land, he let loose the whole rigor of his justice against that unhappy +people. Two hundred and eighty of them were hanged at once for this +crime in London alone, besides those who suffered in other parts of the +kingdom.[***] + + * Spel. Gloss, in verbo Trailbaston. But Spelman was either + mistaken in placing this commission in the fifth year of the + king, or it was renewed in 1305. See Rymer, vol. ii. p. 960. + Trivet, p. 838., M. West. p. 450. + + ** Walsing. p. 48 Heming. vol. i. p. 6. + + *** T. Wykes, p. 107. + +The houses and lands, (for the Jews had of late ventured to make +purchases of that kind,) as well as the goods of great multitudes, were +sold and confiscated; and the king, lest it should be suspected that the +riches of the sufferers were the chief part of their guilt, ordered a +moiety of the money raised by these confiscations to be set apart, and +bestowed upon such as were willing to be converted to Christianity. But +resentment was more prevalent with them than any temptation from their +poverty; and very few of them could be induced by interest to embrace +the religion of their persecutors. The miseries of this people did not +here terminate. Though the arbitrary talliages and exactions levied upon +them had yielded a constant and a considerable revenue to the crown, +Edward prompted by his zeal and his rapacity, resolved some time +after[*] to purge the kingdom entirely of that hated race, and to seize +to himself at once their whole property as the reward of his labor.[**] +He left them only money sufficient to bear their charges into foreign +countries, where new persecutions and extortions awaited them: but the +inhabitants of the cinque ports, imitating the bigotry and avidity of +their sovereign, despoiled most of them of this small pittance, and even +threw many of them into the sea; a crime for which the king, who was +determined to be the sole plunderer in his dominions, inflicted a +capital punishment upon them. No less than fifteen thousand Jews were at +this time robbed of their effects, and banished the kingdom: very few of +that nation have since lived in England: and as it is impossible for a +nation to subsist without lenders of money, and none will lend without +a compensation, the practice of usury, as it was then called, +was thenceforth exercised by the English themselves upon their +fellow-citizens, or by Lombards and other foreigners. It is very much +to be questioned, whether the dealings of these new usurers were equally +open and unexceptionable with those of the old. By a law of Richard, it +was enacted, that three copies should be made of every bond given to a +Jew; one to be put into the hands of a public magistrate, another +into those of a man of credit, and a third to remain with the Jew +himself.[***] But as the canon law, seconded by the municipal, permitted +no Christian to take interest, all transactions of this kind must, after +the banishment of the Jews, have become more secret and clandestine, and +the lender, of consequence, be paid both for the use of his money, and +for the infamy and danger which he incurred by lending it. + + * In the year 1290. + + ** Walsing. p. 54. Heming. vol. i. p. 20. Trivet, p 266. + + *** Trivet, p. 128. + +The great poverty of the crown, though no excuse, was probably the cause +of this egregious tyranny exercised against the Jews; but Edward also +practised other more honorable means of remedying that evil. He employed +a strict frugality in the management and distribution of his revenue: he +engaged the parliament to vote him a fifteenth of all movables; the pope +to grant him the tenth of all ecclesiastical revenues for three years; +and the merchants to consent to a perpetual imposition of half a mark on +every sack of wool exported, and a mark on three hundred skins. He +also issued commissions to inquire into all encroachments on the royal +demesne; into the value of escheats, forfeitures, and Wardships; and +into the means of repairing or improving every branch of the revenue.[*] +The commissioners, in the execution of their office, began to carry +matters too far against the nobility, and to question titles to estates +which had been transmitted from father to son for several generations. +Earl Warrenne, who had done such eminent service in the late reign, +being required to show his titles, drew his sword; and subjoined, that +William the bastard had not conquered the kingdom for himself alone: his +ancestor was a joint adventurer in the enterprise; and he himself was +determined to maintain what had from that period remained unquestioned +in his family. The king, sensible of the danger, desisted from making +further inquiries of this nature. + +{1276.} But the active spirit of Edward could not long remain without +employment. He soon after undertook an enterprise more prudent for +himself, and more advantageous to his people. Lewellyn, prince of Wales, +had been deeply engaged with the Mountfort faction; had entered into +all their conspiracies against the crown; had frequently fought on +their side; and, till the battle of Evesham, so fatal to that party, had +employed every expedient to depress the royal cause, and to promote +the success of the barons. In the general accommodation made with the +vanquished, Lewellyn had also obtained his pardon; but as he was the +most powerful, and therefore the most obnoxious vassal of the crown, he +had reason to entertain anxiety about his situation, and to dread the +future effects of resentment and jealousy in the English monarch. For +this reason he determined to provide for his security by maintaining a +secret correspondence with his former associates; and he even made his +addresses to a daughter of the earl of Leicester, who was sent to him +from beyond sea, but being intercepted in her passage near the Isles of +Scilly, was detained in the court of England.[**] + + * Ann. Waverl.p. 235. + + ** Walsing. p. 46, 47. Heming. vol. i. p. 5. Trivet, p. 248 + +This incident increasing the mutual jealousy between Edward and +Lewellyn, the latter, when required to come to England, and do homage to +the new king, scrupled to put himself in the hands of an enemy, desired +a safe-conduct from Edward, insisted upon having the king's son and +other noblemen delivered to him as hostages, and demanded that his +consort should previously be set at liberty.[*] The king, having now +brought the state to a full settlement, was not displeased with +this occasion of exercising his authority, and subduing entirely the +principality of Wales. He refused all Lewellyn's demands, except that +of a safe-conduct; sent him repeated summons to perform the duty of a +vassal; levied an army to reduce him to obedience; obtained a new aid of +a fifteenth from parliament; and marched out with certain assurance of +success against the enemy. + +{1277.} Besides the great disproportion of force between the kingdom +and the principality, the circumstances of the two states were entirely +reversed; and the same intestine dissensions which had formerly weakened +England, now prevailed in Wales, and had even taken place in the +reigning family. David and Roderic, brothers to Lewellyn, dispossessed +of their inheritance by that prince, had been obliged to have recourse +to the protection of Edward, and they seconded with all their interest, +which was extensive, his attempts to enslave their native country. The +Welsh prince had no resource but in the inaccessible situation of +his mountains, which had hitherto, through many ages, defended his +forefathers against all attempts of the Saxon and Norman conquerors; and +he retired among the hills of Snowdun, resolute to defend himself to the +last extremity. But Edward, equally vigorous and cautious, entering by +the north with a formidable army, pierced into the heart of the country; +and having carefully explored every road before him, and secured every +pass behind him, approached the Welsh army in its last retreat. He here +avoided the putting to trial the valor of a nation proud of its ancient +independence, and inflamed with animosity against its hereditary +enemies; and he trusted to the slow, but sure effects of famine, for +reducing that people to subjection. The rude and simple manners of the +natives, as well as the mountainous situation of their country, had made +them entirely neglect tillage, and trust to pasturage alone for their +subsistence; a method of life which had hitherto[*] secured them against +the irregular attempts of the English, out exposed them to certain ruin, +when the conquest of the country was steadily pursued, and prudently +planned by Edward. Destitute of magazines, cooped up in a narrow corner, +they, as well as their cattle, suffered all the rigors of famine; and +Lewellyn, without being able to strike a stroke for his independence, +was at last obliged to submit at discretion, and receive the terms +imposed upon him by the victor.[**] He bound himself to pay to Edward +fifty thousand pounds, as a reparation of damages; to do homage to the +crown of England; to permit all the other barons of Wales, except four +near Snowdun, to swear fealty to the same crown; to relinquish the +country between Cheshire and the River Conway; to settle on his brother +Roderic a thousand marks a year, and on David five hundred; and to +deliver ten hostages as security for his future submission.[***] + +Edward, on the performance of the other articles, remitted to the prince +of Wales the payment of the fifty thousand pounds;[****] which were +stipulated by treaty, and which, it is probable, the poverty of +the country made it absolutely impossible for him to levy. But, +notwithstanding this indulgence, complaints of iniquities soon arose +on the side of the vanquished: the English, insolent on their easy and +bloodless victory, oppressed the inhabitants of the districts which were +yielded to them: the lords marchers committed with impunity all kinds +of violence on their Welsh neighbors: new and more severe terms were +imposed on Lewellyn himself; and Edward, when the prince attended him +at Worcester, exacted a promise that he would retain no person in his +principality who should be obnoxious to the English monarch.[****] + + * Rymer, vol. ii. p. 68. Walsing, p. 46 Trivet, p. 247 + + ** T. Wykes, p. 105. + + *** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 88. Walsing. p. 47. Trivet, p. 251. + T. Wykes p. 106. + + **** Rymer, p. 92. + + ***** Dr. Powell's Hist. of Wales, p.344, 345. + +There were other personal insults which raised the indignation of the +Welsh, and made them determine rather to encounter a force which they +had already experienced to be so much superior, than to bear oppression +from the haughty victors. Prince David, seized with the national spirit, +made peace with his brother, and promised to concur in the defence of +public liberty. The Welsh flew to arms; and Edward, not displeased with +the occasion of making his conquest final and absolute, assembled all +his military tenants, and advanced into Wales with an army which the +inhabitants could not reasonably hope to resist. The situation of the +country gave the Welsh at first some advantage over Luke de Tany, one +of Edward's captains, who had passed the Menau with a detachment;[*] +but Lewelly, being surprised by Mortimer, was defeated and slain in an +action, and two thousand of his followers were put to the sword.[**] +David, who succeeded him in the principality, could never collect an +army sufficient to face the English; and being chased from hill to hill, +and hunted from one retreat to another, was obliged to conceal himself +under various disguises, and was at last betrayed in his lurking-place +to the enemy. + + +{1283.} Edward sent him in chains to Shrewsbury; and bringing him to +a formal trial before all the peers of England, ordered this sovereign +prince to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, as a traitor, for defending +by arms the liberties of his native country, together with his own +hereditary authority.[***] All the Welsh nobility submitted to the +conqueror; the laws of England, with the sheriffs and other ministers of +justice, were established in that principality; and though it was long +before national antipathies were extinguished, and a thorough union +attained between the people, yet this important conquest, which it had +required eight hundred years fully to effect, was at last, through the +abilities of Edward, completed by the English. + +{1284} The king, sensible that nothing kept alive the ideas of military +valor and of ancient glory so much as the traditional poetry of the +people, which, assisted by the power of music and the jollity of +festivals, made deep impression on the minds of the youth, gathered +together all the Welsh bards, and from a barbarous, though not absurd +policy, ordered them to be put to death.[****] + + * Walsing. p. 50. Heming. vol. i p. 9. Trivet, p. 258. T + Wykes, p. 110. + + ** Heming. vol. i. p. 11. Trivet, p. 257. Ann. Waverl. p. + 235. + + *** Heming. vol. i. p. 12. Trivet, p. 269. Ann Waverl. p. + 288 T Wykes, p. 111. M. West. p. 411. + + **** Sir J. Wynne, p. 15. crown; and henceforth gives a + title to the eldest son of the kings of England. + +There prevails a vulgar story, which, as it well suits the capacity +of the monkish writers, is carefully recorded by them; that Edward, +assembling the Welsh, promised to give them a prince of unexceptionable +manners, a Welshman by birth, and one who could speak no other language. +On their acclamations of joy, and promise of obedience, he invested in +the principality his second son, Edward, then an infant, who had been +born at Carnarvon. The death of his eldest son Alphonso, soon after, +made young Edward heir of the monarchy; the principality of Wales was +fully annexed. + +[Illustration: 1_178_carnaryon.jpg CARNARVON CASTLE] + +{1286.} The settlement of Wales appeared so complete to Edward, that +in less than two years after, he went abroad, in order to make peace +between Alphonso, king of Arragon, and Philip the Fair, who had lately +succeeded his father, Philip the Hardy, on the throne of France.[*] The +difference between these two princes had arisen about the kingdom of +Sicily, which the pope, after his hopes from England failed him, had +bestowed on Charles, brother to St. Lewis, and which was claimed upon +other titles by Peter, king of Arragon, father to Alphonso. Edward had +powers from both princes to settle the terms of peace, and he succeeded +in his endeavors; but as the controversy nowise regards England, we +shall not enter into a detail of it. He staid abroad above three years; +and on his return found many disorders to have prevailed, both from open +violence and from the corruption of justice. + +Thomas Chamberlain, a gentleman of some note, had assembled several of +his associates at Boston, in Lincolnshire, under pretence of holding +a tournament, an exercise practised by the gentry only; but in reality +with a view of plundering the rich fair of Boston, and robbing the +merchants. To facilitate his purpose, he privately set fire to the town; +and while the inhabitants were employed in quenching the flames, +the conspirators broke into the booths, and carried off the goods. +Chamberlain himself was detected and hanged; but maintained so steadily +the point of honor to his accomplices, that he could not be prevailed +on, by offers or promises, to discover any of them. Many other instances +of robbery and violence broke out in all parts of England; though the +singular circumstances attending this conspiracy have made it alone be +particularly recorded by historians.[**] + + * Rymer, vol. ii. p. 149,150, 174. + + ** Heming vol. i. p. 16, 17. + +{1289.} But the corruption of the judges, by which the fountains of +justice were poisoned, seemed of still more dangerous consequence. +Edward, in order to remedy this prevailing abuse, summoned a parliament, +and brought the judges to a trial; where all of them, except two, who +were clergymen, were convicted of this flagrant iniquity, were fined, +and deposed. The amount of the fines levied upon them is alone a +sufficient proof of their guilt; being above one hundred thousand marks, +an immense sum in those days, and sufficient to defray the charges of an +expensive war between two great kingdoms. The king afterwards made all +the new judges swear that they would take no bribes; but his expedient +of deposing and fining the old ones, was the more effectual remedy. + +We now come to give an account of the state of affairs in Scotland, +which gave rise to the most interesting transactions of this reign, and +of some of the subsequent; though the intercourse of that kingdom with +England, either in peace or war, had hitherto produced so few events of +moment, that, to avoid tediousness, we have omitted many of them, and +have been very concise in relating the rest. If the Scots had, before +this period, any real history worthy of the name, except what they glean +from scattered passages in the English historians, those events, however +minute, yet being the only foreign transactions of the nation, might +deserve a place in it. + +Though the government of Scotland had been continually exposed to those +factions and convulsions which are incident to all barbarous and to many +civilized nations; and though the successions of their kings, the +only part of their history which deserves any credit had often been +disordered by irregularities and usurpations; the true heir of the +royal family had still in the end prevailed, and Alexander III., who +had espoused the sister of Edward, probably inherited, after a period +of about eight hundred years, and through a succession of males, the +sceptre of all the Scottish princes who had governed the nation since +its first establishment in the island. This prince died in 1286, by a +fall from his horse at Kinghorn,[*] without leaving any male issue, and +without any descendant, except Margaret, born of Eric, king of Norway, +and of Margaret, daughter of the Scottish monarch. This princess, +commonly called the Maid of Norway, though a female, and an infant, and +a foreigner, yet being the lawful heir of the kingdom, had, through +her grandfather's care, been recognized successor by the states of +Scotland;[**] and on Alexander's death, the dispositions which had been +previously made against that event, appeared so just and prudent, that +no disorders, as might naturally be apprehended, ensued in the kingdom. + + * Heming. vol. i. p. 29. Trivet, p. 267. + + ** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 266. + +Margaret was acknowledged queen of Scotland; five guardians, the bishops +of St. Andrews and Glasgow, the earls of Fife and Buchan, and James, +steward of Scotland, entered peaceably upon the administration; and the +infant princess, under the protection of Edward, her great uncle, and +Eric, her father, who exerted themselves on this occasion, seemed firmly +seated on the throne of Scotland. The English monarch was naturally led +to build mighty projects on this incident; and having lately, by force +of arms, brought Wales under subjection, he attempted, by the marriage +of Margaret with his eldest son, Edward, to unite the whole island into +one monarchy, and thereby to give it security both against domestic +convulsions and foreign invasions. + +{1290.} The amity which had of late prevailed between the two nations, +and which, even in former times, had never been interrupted by any +violent wars or injuries, facilitated extremely the execution of this +project, so favorable to the happiness and grandeur of both kingdoms; +and the states of Scotland readily gave their assent to the English +proposals, and even agreed that their young sovereign should be +educated in the court of Edward. Anxious, however, for the liberty +and independency of their country, they took care to stipulate very +equitable conditions, ere they intrusted themselves into the hands of so +great and so ambitious a monarch. It was agreed that they should enjoy +all their ancient laws, liberties, and customs; that in case young +Edward and Margaret should die without issue, the crown of Scotland +should revert to the next heir, and should be inherited by him free +and independent; that the military tenants of the crown should never be +obliged to go out of Scotland, in order to do homage to the sovereign +of the united kingdoms, nor the chapters of cathedral, collegiate, or +conventual churches, in order to make elections; that the parliaments +summoned for Scottish affairs should always be held within the bounds of +that kingdom; and that Edward should bind himself, under the penalty of +one hundred thousand marks, payable to the pope for the use of the holy +wars to observe all these articles.[*] + + * Rymer, vol. ii. p. 482. + +It is not easy to conceive that two nations could have treated more on +a footing of equality than Scotland and England maintained during the +whole course of this transaction; and though Edward gave his assent to +the article concerning the future independency of the Scottish crown, +with a "saving of his former rights," this reserve gave no alarm to the +nobility of Scotland, both because these rights, having hitherto been +little heard of had occasioned no disturbance, and because the Scots +had so near a prospect of seeing them entirely absorbed in the rights of +their sovereignty. + +{1291.} But this project, so happily formed and so amicably conducted, +failed of success, by the sudden death of the Norwegian princess, who +expired on her passage to Scotland,[*] and left a very dismal prospect +to the kingdom. Though disorders were for the present obviated by the +authority of the regency formerly established, the succession itself of +the crown was now become an object of dispute; and the regents could not +expect that a controversy, which is not usually decided by reason and +argument alone, would be peaceably settled by them, or even by the +states of the kingdom, amidst so many powerful pretenders. The posterity +of William, king of Scotland, the prince taken prisoner by Henry II., +being all extinct by the death of Margaret of Norway, the right to the +crown devolved on the issue of David, earl of Huntingdon brother to +William, whose male line being also extinct, left the succession open +to the posterity of his daughters. The earl of Huntingdon had three +daughters; Margaret, married to Alan, lord of Galloway, Isabella, wife +of Robert Brus or Bruce lord of Annandale, and Adama, who espoused +Henry, Lord Hastings. Margaret, the eldest of the sisters, left one +daughter, Devergilda, married to John Baliol, by whom she had a son of +the same name, one of the present competitors for the crown: Isabella +II. bore a son, Robert Bruce, who was now alive, and who also insisted +on his claim: Adama III. left a son, John Hastings, who pretended that +the kingdom of Scotland, like many other inheritances, was divisible +among the three daughters of the earl of Huntingdon, and that he, in +right of his mother, had a title to a third of it. Baliol and +Bruce united against Hastings, in maintaining that, the kingdom was +indivisible; but each of them, supported by plausible reasons, asserted +the preference of his own title. Baliol was sprung from the elder +branch: Bruce was one degree nearer the common stock: if the principle +of representation was regarded, the former had the better claim: +if propinquity was considered, the latter was entitled to the +preference.[**] + + * Heming. vol. i. p. 30. Trivet, p. 268 + + ** Heming. vol. i. p. 36. + +The sentiments of men were divided: all the nobility had taken part on +one side or the other: the people followed implicitly their leaders: +the two claimants themselves had great power and numerous retainers in +Scotland: and it is no wonder that, among a rude people, more accustomed +to arms than inured to laws, a controversy of this nature, which could +not be decided by any former precedent among them, and which is +capable of exciting commotions in the most legal and best established +governments, should threaten the state with the most fatal convulsions. + +Each century has its peculiar mode in conducting business; and men, +guided more by custom than by reason, follow, without inquiry, the +manners which are prevalent in their own time. The practice of that +age in controversies between states and princes, seems to have been to +choose a foreign prince as an equal arbiter, by whom the question +was decided, and whose sentence prevented those dismal confusions and +disorders, inseparable at all times from war, but which were multiplied +a hundred fold, and dispersed into every corner, by the nature of the +feudal governments. It was thus that the English king and barons, in +the preceding reign, had endeavored to compose their dissensions by a +reference to the king of France; and the celebrated integrity of that +monarch had prevented all the bad effects which might naturally have +been dreaded from so perilous an expedient. It was thus that the kings +of France and Arragon, and afterwards other princes, had submitted their +controversies to Edward's judgment; and the remoteness of their states, +the great power of the princes, and the little interest which he had +on either side, had induced him to acquit himself with honor in his +decisions. The parliament of Scotland, therefore, threatened with a +furious civil war, and allured by the great reputation of the English +monarch, as well as by the present amicable correspondence between the +kingdoms, agreed in making a reference to Edward; and Fraser, bishop +of St. Andrews, with other deputies, was sent to notify to him their +resolution, and to claim his good offices in the present dangers to +which they were exposed.[*] + + * Heming, vol. i. p. 31. + +His inclination, they flattered themselves, led him to prevent their +dissensions, and to interpose with a power which none of the competitors +would dare to withstand: when this expedient was proposed by one party, +the other deemed it dangerous to object to it: indifferent persons +thought that the imminent perils of a civil war would thereby be +prevented; and no one reflected on the ambitious character of Edward, +and the almost certain ruin which must attend a small state divided +by faction, when it thus implicitly submits itself to the will of so +powerful and encroaching a neighbor. + +The temptation was too strong for the virtue of the English monarch to +resist. He purposed to lay hold of the present favorable opportunity, +and if not to create, at least to revive, his claim of a feudal +superiority over Scotland; a claim which had hitherto lain in the +deepest obscurity, and which, if ever it had been an object of +attention, or had been so much as suspected, would have effectually +prevented the Scottish barons from choosing him for an umpire. He well +knew that, if this pretension were once submitted to, as it seemed +difficult in the present situation of Scotland to oppose it, the +absolute sovereignty of that kingdom (which had been the case with +Wales) would soon follow; and that one great vassal, cooped up in +an island with his liege lord, without resource from foreign powers, +without aid from any fellow-vassals, could not long maintain his +dominions against the efforts of a mighty kingdom, assisted by all +the cavils which the feudal law afforded his superior against him. In +pursuit of this great object, very advantageous to England, perhaps +in the end no less beneficial to Scotland, but extremely unjust and +iniquitous in itself, Edward busied himself in searching for proofs +of his pretended superiority; and, instead of looking into his own +archives, which, if his claim had been real, must have afforded him +numerous records of the homages done by the Scottish princes, and could +alone yield him any authentic testimony, he made all the monasteries be +ransacked for old chronicles and histories written by Englishmen, and +he collected all the passages which seemed anywise to favor his +pretensions.[*] Yet even in this method of proceeding, which must have +discovered to himself the injustice of his claim, he was far from being +fortunate. He began his proofs from the time of Edward the Elder, and +continued them through all the subsequent Saxon and Norman times; but +produced nothing to his purpose.[**] + + * Walsing. p. 55. + + ** Rymer, vol. ii. p, 559. + +The whole amount of his authorities during the Saxon period, when +stripped of the bombast and inaccurate style of the monkish historians, +is, that the Scots had sometimes been defeated by the English, had +received peace on disadvantageous terms, had made submissions to the +English monarch, and had even perhaps fallen into some dependence on a +power which was so much superior, and which they had not at that time +sufficient force to resist. His authorities from the Norman period were, +if possible, still less conclusive: the historians indeed make frequent +mention of homage done by the northern potentate; but no one of them +says that it was done for his kingdom; and several of them declare, in +express terms that it was relative only to the fiefs which he enjoyed +south of the Tweed;[*] in the same manner, as the king of England +himself swore fealty to the French monarch, for the fiefs which he +inherited in France. And to such scandalous shifts was Edward reduced, +that he quotes a passage from Hoveden[**] where it is asserted that a +Scottish king had done homage to England; but he purposely omits the +latter part of the sentence, which expresses that this prince did homage +for the lands which he held in England. + +When William, king of Scotland, was taken prisoner in the battle of +Alnwick, he was obliged, for the recovery of his liberty, to swear +fealty to the victor for his crown itself. The deed was performed +according to all the rites of the feudal law: the record was preserved +in the English archives, and is mentioned by all the historians: but +as it is the only one of the kind, and as historians speak of this +superiority as a great acquisition gained by the fortunate arms of Henry +II.,[***] there can remain no doubt that the kingdom of Scotland was, +in all former periods, entirely free and independent. Its subjection +continued a very few years: King Richard, desirous, before his departure +for the Holy Land, to conciliate the friendship of William, renounced +that homage, which, he says in express terms, had been extorted by his +father; and he only retained the usual homage which had been done by the +Scottish princes for the lands which they held in England. + + * Hoveden, p. 492, 662. M. Paris, p. 109. M. West. p. 256. + + ** Page 662. + + *** Neubr. lib. ii. cap. 4. Knyghton, p. 2392. + +But though this transaction rendered the independence of Scotland +still more unquestionable, than if no fealty had ever been sworn to the +English crown, the Scottish kings, apprised of the point aimed at by +their powerful neighbors, seem for a long time to have retained some +jealousy on that head, and, in doing homage, to have anxiously obviated +all such pretensions. When William, in 1200, did homage to John at +Lincoln, he was careful to insert a salvo for his royal dignity;[*] when +Alexander III. sent assistance to his father-in-law, Henry III., during +the wars of the barons, he previously procured an acknowledgment, that +this aid was granted only from friendship, not from any right claimed by +the English monarch;[**] and when that same prince was invited to assist +at the coronation of this very Edward, he declined attendance till he +received a like acknowledgment.[***] [1] + +But as all these reasons (and stronger could not be produced) were but a +feeble rampart against the power of the sword, Edward, carrying with +him a great army, which was to enforce his proofs, advanced to the +frontiers, and invited the Scottish parliament, and all the competitors, +to attend him in the Castle of Norham, a place situated on the southern +banks of the Tweed, in order to determine the cause which had been +referred to his arbitration. But though this deference seemed due to so +great a monarch, and was no more than what his father and the English +barons had, in similar circumstances, paid to Lewis IX., the king, +careful not to give umbrage, and determined never to produce his claim +till it should be too late to think of opposition, sent the Scottish +barons an acknowledgment, that, though at that time they passed the +frontiers, this step should never be drawn into precedent, or afford the +English kings a pretence for exacting a like submission in any future +transaction.[****] When the whole Scottish nation had thus unwarily put +themselves in his power, Edward opened the conferences at Norham: he +informed the parliament, by the mouth of Roger le Brabançon, his chief +justiciary, that he was come thither to determine the right among the +competitors to their crown; that he was determined to do strict justice +to all parties; and that he was entitled to this authority, not in +virtue of the reference made to him, but in quality of superior and +liege lord of the kingdom.[*****] [2] + + * Hoveden, p. 811. + + ** Rymer, vol. ii p 844. + + *** See note A. at the end of the volume. + + **** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 539, 845. Walsing. p. 58. + + ***** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 543. See note B, at the end of the + volume. + +He then produced his proofs of this superiority, which he pretended to +be unquestionable, and he required of them an acknowledgment of it; a +demand which was superfluous if the fact were already known and avowed, +and which plainly betrays Edward's consciousness of his lame and +defective title. The Scottish parliament was astonished at so new a +pretension, and answered only by their silence. But the king, in order +to maintain the appearance of free and regular proceedings, desired +them to remove into their own country, to deliberate upon his claim, to +examine his proofs, to propose all their objections, and to inform him +of their resolution; and he appointed a plain at Upsettleton, on the +northern banks of the Tweed, for that purpose. + +When the Scottish barons assembled in this place, though moved with +indignation at the injustice of this unexpected claim, and at the fraud +with which it had been conducted, they found themselves betrayed into +a situation in which it was impossible for them to make any defence +for the ancient liberty and independence of their country. The king of +England, a martial and politic prince, at the head of a powerful army, +lay at a very small distance, and was only separated from them by a +river fordable in many places. Though, by a sudden flight, some of them +might themselves be, able to make their escape, what hopes could they +entertain of securing the kingdom against his future enterprises? +Without a head, without union among themselves, attached all of them +to different competitors, whose title they had rashly submitted to the +decision of this foreign usurper, and who were thereby reduced to an +absolute dependence upon him, they could only expect by resistance +to entail on themselves and their posterity a more grievous and more +destructive servitude. Yet even in this desperate state of their affairs +the Scottish barons, as we learn from Walsingham,[*] one of the best +historians of that period, had the courage to reply that, till they +had a king, they could take no resolution on so momentous a point: the +journal of King Edward says, that they made no answer at all;[**] that +is, perhaps, no particular answer or objection to Edward's claim: and +by this solution it is possible to reconcile the journal with the +historian. The king, therefore, interpreting their silence as consent, +addressed himself to the several competitors. + + * Page 56. M. West. p. 436. It is said by Hemingford, vol. + i, p. 33, that the king menaced violently the Scotch barons, + and forced them to compliance, at least to silence. + + ** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 548. previously to his pronouncing + sentence, required their acknowledgment of his superiority. + +It is evident from the genealogy of the royal family of Scotland, that +there could only be two questions about the succession--that between +Baliol and Bruce on the one hand, and Lord Hastings on the other, +concerning the partition of the crown: and that between Baliol and +Bruce themselves concerning the preference of their respective titles, +supposing the kingdom indivisible: yet there appeared on this occasion +no less than nine claimants besides; John Comyn or Cummin, lord of +Badenoch, Florence, earl of Holland, Patric Dunbar, earl of March, +William de Vescey, Robert de Pynkeni, Nicholas de Soules, Patric +Galythly, Roger de Mandeville, Robert de Ross; not to mention the king +of Norway, who claimed as heir to his daughter Margaret.[*] Some of +these competitors were descended from more remote branches of the royal +family; others were even sprung from illegitimate children; and as none +of them had the least pretence of right, it is natural to conjecture +that Edward had secretly encouraged them to appear in the list of +claimants, that he might sow the more division among the Scottish +nobility, make the cause appear the more intricate, and be able to +choose, among a great number, the most obsequious candidate. + +But he found them all equally obsequious on this occasion.[**] Robert +Bruce was the first that acknowledged Edward's right of superiority over +Scotland; and he had so far foreseen the king's pretensions, that even +in his petition, where he set forth his claim to the crown, he had +previously applied to him as liege lord of the kingdom; a step which was +not taken by any of the other competitors.[***] They all, however, with +seeming willingness, made a like acknowledgment when required; though +Baliol, lest he should give offence to the Scottish nation, had taken +care to be absent during the first days; and he was the last that +recognized the king's title.[****] + + * Walsing. p. 58. + + ** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 529, 545. Walsing. p. 56. Heming. + vol. i. 33, 34. Trivet, p. 260. M. West. p. 415. + + *** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 577, 578, 579. + + **** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 546. + +Edward next deliberated concerning the method of proceeding in the +discussion of this great controversy. He gave orders that Baliol, +and such of the competitors as adhered to him should choose forty +commissioners; Bruce and his adherents forty more: to these the +king added twenty-four Englishmen: he ordered these hundred and four +commissioners to examine the cause deliberately among themselves, and +make their report to him:[*] and he promised in the ensuing year to give +his determination. Meanwhile he pretended that it was requisite to have +all the fortresses of Scotland delivered into his hands, in order to +enable him, without opposition, to put the true heir in possession of +the crown; and this exorbitant demand was complied with, both by the +states and by the claimants.[**] The governors also of all the castles +immediately resigned their command; except Umfreville, earl of Angus, +who refused, without a formal and particular acquittal from the +parliament and the several claimants, to surrender his fortresses to so +domineering an arbiter, who had given to Scotland so many just reasons +of suspicion.[***] Before this assembly broke up, which had fixed such +a mark of dishonor on the nation, all the prelates and barons there +present swore fealty to Edward; and that prince appointed commissioners +to receive a like oath from all the other barons and persons of +distinction in Scotland.[****] + + * Rymer, vol. ii. p. 555, 556. + + ** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 529. Walsing. p. 56, 57. + + *** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 531. + + **** Rymer, vol. ii p. 573. + +The king, having finally made, as he imagined, this important +acquisition, left the commissioners to sit at Berwick, and examine the +titles of the several competitors who claimed the precarious crown, +which Edward was willing for some time to allow the lawful heir to +enjoy. He went southwards, both in order to assist at the funeral of +his mother, Queen Eleanor, who died about this time, and to compose some +differences which had arisen among his principal nobility. Gilbert, earl +of Glocester, the greatest baron of the kingdom, had espoused the king's +daughter; and being elated by that alliance, and still more by his +own power, which, he thought, set him above the laws, he permitted his +bailiffs and vassals to commit violence on the lands of Humphrey Bohun, +earl of Hereford, who retaliated the injury by like violence. But +this was not a reign in which such illegal proceedings could pass with +impunity. Edward procured a sentence against the two earls, committed +them both to prison, and would not restore them to their liberty, till +he had exacted a fine of one thousand marks from Hereford, and one of +ten thousand from his son-in-law. + +{1292.} During this interval, the titles of John Baliol and of +Robert Bruce, whose claims appeared to be the best founded among the +competitors for the crown of Scotland, were the subject of general +disquisition, as well as of debate among the commissioners. Edward, in +order to give greater authority to his intended decision, proposed this +general question both to the commissioners and to all the celebrated +lawyers in Europe, "Whether a person descended from the elder sister, +but farther removed by one degree, were preferable, in the succession +of kingdoms, fiefs, and other indivisible inheritances, to one descended +from the younger sister, but one degree nearer to the common stock?" +This was the true state of the case; and the principle of representation +had now gained such ground every where, that a uniform answer was +returned to the king in the affirmative. He therefore pronounced +sentence in favor of Balioi; and when Bruce, upon this disappointment, +joined afterwards Lord Hastings, and claimed a third of the kingdom, +which he now pretended to be divisible, Edward, though his interests +seemed more to require the partition of Scotland, again pronounced +sentence in favor of Baliol. That competitor, upon renewing his oath +of fealty to England, was put in possession of the kingdom;[*] all his +fortresses were restored to him;[**] and the conduct of Edward, both in +the deliberate solemnity of the proceedings, and in the justice of the +award, was so far unexceptionable. + +{1293.} Had the king entertained no other view than that of establishing +his superiority over Scotland, though the iniquity of that claim was +apparent, and was aggravated by the most egregious breach of trust, +he might have fixed his pretensions, and have left that important +acquisition to his posterity: but he immediately proceeded in such a +manner as made it evident that, not content with this usurpation, he +aimed also at the absolute sovereignty and dominion of the kingdom. +Instead of gradually inuring the Scots to the yoke, and exerting his +rights of superiority with moderation, he encouraged all appeals to +England; required King John himself, by six different summons on +trivial occasions, to come to London;[***] refused him the privilege of +defending his cause by a procurator; and obliged him to appear at the +bar of his parliament as a private person.[****] + + * Rymer vol. ii. p. 590, 591, 593, 600. + + ** Rymer, voL ii p. 599. + + *** Rymer, p. 603, 605, 606, 608, 615, 616. + + **** Ryley's Placit. Parl. p. 152, 153. + +These humiliating demands were hitherto quite unknown to a king of +Scotland: they are, however, the necessary consequence of vassalage by +the feudal law; and as there was no preceding instance of such treatment +submitted to by a prince of that country, Edward must, from that +circumstance alone, had there remained any doubt, have been himself +convinced that his claim was altogether a usurpation.[*] [3] But his +intention plainly was to enrage Baliol by these indignities, to engage +him in rebellion, and to assume the dominion of the state as the +punishment of his treason and felony. Accordingly Baliol, though a +prince of a soft and gentle spirit, returned into Scotland highly +provoked at this usage, and determined at all hazards to vindicate +his liberty; and the war which soon after broke out between France and +England, gave him a favorable opportunity of executing his purpose. + +The violence, robberies, and disorders, to which that age was so +subject, were not confined to the licentious barons and their retainers +at land: the sea was equally infested with piracy: the feeble execution +of the laws had given license to all orders of men: and a general +appetite for rapine and revenge, supported by a false point of honor, +had also infected the merchants and mariners; and it pushed them, on +any provocation, to seek redress by immediate retaliation upon the +aggressors. A Norman and an English vessel met off the coast near +Bayonne; and both of them having occasion for water, they sent their +boats to land, and the several crews came at the same time to the same +spring: there ensued a quarrel for the preference: a Norman, drawing his +dagger, attempted to stab an Englishman; who, grappling with him, threw +his adversary on the ground; and the Norman, as was pretended, falling +on his own dagger, was slain.[**] This scuffle between two seamen about +water, soon kindled a bloody war between the two nations, and involved +a great part of Europe in the quarrel. The mariners of the Norman ship +carried their complaints to the French king: Philip, without inquiring +into the fact, without demanding redress, bade them take revenge, and +trouble him no more about the matter.[***] + + * See note C, at the end of the volume. + + ** Walsing. p. 58. Heming. vol. i. p. 39. + + *** Walsing. p. 59. + +The Normans, who had been more regular than usual in applying to the +crown, needed but this hint to proceed to immediate violence. They +seized an English ship in the channel; and hanging, along with some +dogs, several of the crew on the yard-arm, in presence of their +companions, dismissed the vessel; [*] and bade the mariners inform their +countrymen that vengeance was now taken for the blood of the Norman +killed at Bayonne. This injury, accompanied with so general and +deliberate an insult, was resented by the mariners of the cinque ports, +who, without carrying any complaint to the king, or waiting for redress, +retaliated by committing like barbarities on all French vessels without +distinction. The French, provoked by their losses, preyed on the ships +of all Edward's subjects, whether English or Gascon: the sea became +a scene of piracy between the nations: the sovereigns, without either +seconding or repressing the violence of their subjects, seemed to remain +indifferent spectators: the English made private associations with the +Irish and Dutch seamen; the French with the Flemish and Genoese;[**] +and the animosities of the people on both sides became every day more +violent and barbarous. A fleet of two hundred Norman vessels set sail +to the south for wine and other commodities; and in their passage seized +all the English ships which they met with, hanged the seamen, and seized +the goods. The inhabitants of the English seaports, informed of this +incident, fitted out a fleet of sixty sail, stronger and better manned +than the others, and awaited the enemy on their return. After an +obstinate battle, they put them to rout, and sunk, destroyed, or took +the greater part of them.[***] No quarter was given; and it is pretended +that the loss of the French amounted to fifteen thousand men; which is +accounted for by this circumstance, that the Norman fleet was employed +in transporting a considerable body of soldiers from the south. + +The affair was now become too important to be any longer overlooked by +the sovereigns. On Philip's sending an envoy to demand reparation and +restitution, the king despatched the bishop of London to the French +court, in order to accommodate the quarrel. He first said, that the +English courts of justice were open to all men; and if any Frenchman +were injured, he might seek reparation by course of law.[****] + + * Heming. vol. i. p. 40. M. West. p. 419. + + ** Heming. vol. i. p. 40. + + *** Walsing. p. 60. Trivet, p 274. Chron. Dunst vol. ii. p + 609. + + **** Trivet, p. 275. + +He next offered to adjust the matter by private arbiters, or by a +personal interview with the king of France, or by a reference either +to the pope, or the college of cardinals, or any particular cardinals, +agreed on by both parties.[*] The French, probably the more disgusted, +as they were hitherto losers in the quarrel, refused all these +expedients: the vessels and the goods of merchants were confiscated on +both sides: depredations were continued by the Gascons on the western +coast of France, as well as by the English in the Channel: Philip cited +the king, as duke of Guienne, to appear in his court at Paris, and +answer for these offences; and Edward, apprehensive of danger to that +province, sent John St. John, an experienced soldier, to Bordeaux, and +gave him directions to put Guienne in a posture of defence.[**] + +{1294.} That he might, however, prevent a final rupture between the +nations, the king despatched his brother, Edmond, earl of Lancaster, to +Paris; and as this prince had espoused the queen of Navarre, mother to +Jane, queen of France, he seemed, on account of that alliance, the most +proper person for finding expedients to accommodate the difference. Jane +pretended to interpose with her good offices: Mary, the queen dowager, +feigned the same amicable disposition: and these two princesses told +Edmond, that the circumstance the most difficult to adjust was the point +of honor with Philip, who thought himself affronted by the injuries +committed against him by his sub-vassals in Guienne; but if Edward would +once consent to give him seizin and possession of that province, he +would think his honor fully repaired, would engage to restore Guienne +immediately, and would accept of a very easy satisfaction for all the +other injuries. The king was consulted on the occasion; and as he +then found himself in immediate danger of war with the Scots, which he +regarded as the more important concern, this politic prince, blinded +by his favorite passion for subduing that nation, allowed himself to +be deceived by so gross an artifice.[***] He sent his brother orders +to sign and execute the treaty with the two queens; Philip solemnly +promised to execute his part of it; and the king's citation to appear +in the court of France, was accordingly recalled; but the French monarch +was no sooner put in possession of Guienne, than the citation was +renewed; Edward was condemned for non-appearance; and Guienne, by +a formal sentence, was declared to be forfeited and annexed to the +crown.[****] + + * Trivet, p. 275. + + ** Trivet, p. 276. + + *** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 619, 620. Walsing. p. 61. Heming. vol. + i p. 42, 43. Trivet, p. 277. + + **** Rymer vol. ii p. 620, 622. Walsing. p. 61. Trivet, p. 278. + +Edward, fallen into a like snare with that which he himself had spread +for the Scots, was enraged; and the more so, as he was justly ashamed +of his own conduct, in being so egregiously overreached by the court of +France. Sensible of the extreme difficulties which he should encounter +in the recovery of Gascony, where he had not retained a single place in +his hands, he endeavored to compensate that loss by forming alliances +with several princes, who, he projected, should attack France on all +quarters, and make a diversion of her forces. Adolphus de Nassau, king +of the Romans, entered into a treaty with him for that purpose;[*] as +did also Amadĉus, count of Savoy, the archbishop of Cologne, the counts +of Gueldre and Luxembourg; the duke of Brabant and count of Barre, who +had married his two daughters, Margaret and Eleanor: but these alliances +were extremely burdensome to his narrow revenues, and proved in the +issue entirely ineffectual. More impression was made on Guienne by an +English army, which he completed by emptying the jails of many thousand +thieves and robbers, who had been confined there for their crimes. So +low had the profession of arms fallen, and so much had it degenerated +from the estimation in which it stood during the vigor of the feudal +system! + +{1295.} The king himself was detained in England, first by contrary +winds,[**] then by his apprehensions of a Scottish invasion, and by +a rebellion of the Welsh, whom he repressed and brought again under +subjection.[***] The army which he sent to Guienne, was commanded by his +nephew, John de Bretagne, earl of Richmond, and under him by St. John, +Tibetot, De Vere, and other officers of reputation;[****] who made +themselves masters of the town of Bayonne, as well as of Bourg, Blaye, +Reole, St. Severe, and other places, which straitened Bordeaux, and cut +off its communication both by sea and land. + + * Heming. vol, i. p. 51. + + ** Chron. Dunst. vol. ii. p. 622. + + *** Walsing. p. 62. Heming. vol. i. p. 55. Trivet, p. 282. + Chron Dunst. vol. ii. p. 622. + + **** Trivet, p. 279. + +The favor which the Gascon nobility bore to the English government +facilitated these conquests, and seemed to promise still greater +successes; but this advantage was soon lost by the misconduct of some +of the officers. Philip's brother, Charles de Valois, who commanded +the French armies, having laid siege to Podensac, a small fortress near +Reole, obliged Giffard, the governor, to capitulate; and the articles +though favorable to the English, left all the Gascons prisoners at +discretion, of whom about fifty were hanged by Charles as rebels; +a policy by which he both intimidated that people, and produced +an irreparable breach between them and the English.[*] That prince +immediately attacked Reole, where the earl of Richmond himself +commanded; and as the place seemed not tenable, the English general drew +his troops to the water side, with an intention of embarking with the +greater part of the army. The enraged Gascons fell upon his rear, and +at the same time opened their gates to the French, who, besides making +themselves masters of the place, took many prisoners of distinction. St. +Severe was more vigorously defended by Hugh de Vere, son of the earl +of Oxford; but was at last obliged to capitulate. The French king, not +content with these successes in Gascony, threatened England with an +invasion; and, by a sudden attempt, his troops took and burnt Dover,[**] +but were obliged soon after to retire. And in order to make a greater +diversion of the English force, and engage Edward in dangerous and +important wars, he formed a secret alliance with John Baliol, king of +Scotland; the commencement of that strict union which, during so many +centuries, was maintained, by mutual interests and necessities, between +the French and Scottish nations. John confirmed this alliance by +stipulating a marriage between his eldest son and the daughter of +Charles de Valois.[***] + + * Heming. vol. i. p. 49. + + ** Trivet, p. 284. Chron. Dunst. vol. ii. p. 642. + + *** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 680, 681, 695, 697. Heming. vol. i. p. + 76. Trivet, i, 285. + +The expenses attending these multiplied wars of Edward, and his +preparations for war, joined to alterations which had insensibly taken +place in the general state of affairs, obliged him to have frequent +recourse to parliamentary supplies, introduced the lower orders of the +state into the public councils, and laid the foundations of great and +important changes in the government. + +Though nothing could be worse calculated for cultivating the arts of +peace, or maintaining peace itself, than the long subordination of +vassalage from the king to the meanest gentleman, and the consequent +slavery of the lower people, evils inseparable from the feudal system, +that system was never able to fix the state in a proper warlike posture, +or give it the full exertion of its power for defence, and still less +for offence, against a public enemy. The military tenants, unacquainted +with obedience, unexperienced in war, held a rank in the troops by +their birth, not by their merits or services; composed a disorderly +and consequently a feeble army; and during the few days which they +were obliged by their tenures to remain in the field, were often more +formidable to their own prince than to foreign powers, against whom they +were assembled. The sovereigns came gradually to disuse this cumbersome +and dangerous machine, so apt to recoil upon the hand which held it; and +exchanging the military service for pecuniary supplies, enlisted forces +by means of a contract with particular officers, (such as those the +Italians denominate "condottieri,") whom they dismissed at the end of +the war.[*] The barons and knights themselves often entered into these +engagements with the prince; and were enabled to fill their bands, both +by the authority which they possessed over their vassals and tenants, +and from the great numbers of loose, disorderly people whom they +found on their estates, and who willingly embraced an opportunity of +gratifying their appetite for war and rapine. + +Meanwhile the old Gothic fabric, being neglected, went gradually to +decay. Though the Conqueror had divided all the lands of England +into sixty thousand knights' fees, the number of these was insensibly +diminished by various artifices; and the king at last found that, by +putting the law in execution, he could assemble a small part only of the +ancient force of the kingdom. It was a usual expedient for men who held +of the king or great barons by military tenure, to transfer their +land to the church, and receive it back by another tenure, called +frankalmoigne, by which they were not bound to per form any service.[**] +A law was made against this practice; but the abuse had probably gone +far before it was attended to, and probably was not entirely corrected +by the new statute, which, like most laws of that age, we may conjecture +to have been but feebly executed by the magistrate against the perpetual +interest of so many individuals. The constable and mareschal, when +they mustered the armies, often in a hurry, and for want of better +information, received the service of a baron for fewer knights' fees +than were due by him; and one precedent of this kind was held good +against the king, and became ever after a reason for diminishing the +service.[***] + + * Cotton's Abr. p. 11. + + ** Madox, Baronia Anglica, p. 114. + + *** Madox, Bar. Ang. p 115. + +The rolls of knights' fees were inaccurately kept; no care was taken to +correct them before the armies were summoned into the field,[*] it +was then too late to think of examining records and charters; and the +service was accepted on the footing which the vassal himself was pleased +to acknowledge, after all the various subdivisions and conjunctions +of property had thrown an obscurity on the nature and extent of his +tenure.[**] It is easy to judge of the intricacies which would attend +disputes of this kind with individuals; when even the number of military +fees belonging to the church, whose property way fixed and unalienable, +became the subject of controversy; and we find in particular, that when +the bishop of Durham was charged with seventy knights' fees for the aid +levied on occasion of the marriage of Henry II.'s daughter to the +duke of Saxony, the prelate acknowledged ten, and disowned the other +sixty.[***] It is not known in what mariner this difference was +terminated; but had the question been concerning an armament to defend +the kingdom, the bishop's service would probably have been received +without opposition for ten fees; and this rate must also have fixed all +his future payments. Pecuniary scutages, therefore, diminished as much +as military services;[****] other methods of filling the exchequer, as +well as the armies, must be devised: new situations produced new laws +and institutions; and the great alterations in the finances and military +power of the crown, as well as in private property, were the source of +equal innovations in every part of the legislature or civil government. + + * We hear only of one king, Henry II., who took this pains; + and the record, called Liber Niger Scaccarii, was the result + of it. + + ** Madox, Bar. Ang. p. 116. + + *** Madox, p. 122. Hist. of the Exch. p. 404. + + **** In order to pay the sum of one hundred thousand marks, as + King Richard's ransom, twenty shillings were imposed on each + knight's fee. Had the fees remained on the original footing, + as settled by the Conqueror, this scutage would have + amounted to ninety thousand marks, which was nearly the sum + required; but we find that other grievous taxes were imposed + to complete it; a certain proof that many frauds and abuses + had prevailed in the roll of knights fees. + +The exorbitant estates conferred by the Norman on his barons and +chieftains, remained not long entire and unimpaired. The landed property +was gradually shared out into more hands; and those immense baronies +were divided, either by provisions to younger children, by partitions +among co-heirs, by sale, or by escheating to the king, who gratified a +great number of his courtiers by dealing them out among them in smaller +portions. Such moderate estates, as they required economy, and confined +the proprietors to live at home, were better calculated for duration; +and the order of knights and small barons grew daily more numerous, and +began to form a very respectable rank or order in the state. As they +were all immediate vassals of the crown by military tenure, they were, +by the principles of the feudal law, equally entitled with the greatest +barons to a seat in the national or general councils; and this right, +though regarded as a privilege which the owners would not entirely +relinquish, was also considered as a burden which they desired to be +subjected to on extraordinary occasions only. Hence it was provided in +the charter of King John, that, while the great barons were summoned to +the national council by a particular writ, the small barons, under which +appellation the knights were also comprehended, should only be called +by a general summons of the sheriff. The distinction between great and +small barons, like that between rich and poor, was not exactly defined; +but, agreeably to the inaccurate genius of that age, and to the +simplicity of ancient government, was left very much to be determined +by the discretion of the king and his ministers. It was usual for the +prince to require, by a particular summons, the attendance of a baron +in one parliament, and to neglect him in future parliaments;[*] nor +was this uncertainty ever complained of as an injury. He attended when +required: he was better pleased on other occasions to be exempted from +the burden: and as he was acknowledged to be of the same order with the +greatest barons, it gave them no surprise to see him take his seat +in the great council, whether he appeared of his own accord, or by a +particular summons from the king. The barons by writ, therefore, began +gradually to intermix themselves with the barons by tenure; and, as +Camden tells us,[**] from an ancient manuscript now lost, that after the +battle of Evesham, a positive law was enacted, prohibiting every +baron from appearing in parliament, who was not invited thither by a +particular summons, the whole baronage of England held thenceforward +their seat by writ, and this important privilege of their tenures was in +effect abolished. Only where writs had been regularly continued for some +time in one great family, the omission of them would have been regarded +as an affront, and even as an injury. + + * Chancellor West's Inquiry into the Manner of creating + Peers p. 43, 46, 47, 55. + + ** In Britain. p 122. + +A like alteration gradually took place in the order of earls who were +the highest rank of barons. The dignity of an earl, like that of +a baron, was anciently territorial and official:[*] he exercised +jurisdiction within his county: he levied the third of the fines to his +own profit: he was at once a civil and a military magistrate: and though +his authority, from the time of the Norman conquest, was hereditary in +England, the title was so much connected with the office, that where the +king intended to create a new earl, he had no other expedient than to +erect a certain territory into a county or earldom, and to bestow it +upon the person and his family.[**] But as the sheriffs, who were the +vicegerents of the earls, were named by the king, and removable at +pleasure, he found them more dependent upon him; and endeavored to throw +the whole authority and jurisdiction of the office into their hands. +This magistrate was at the head of the finances, and levied all the +king's rents within the county: he assessed at pleasure the talliages +of the inhabitants in royal demesne: he had usually committed to him +the management of wards, and often of escheats: he presided in the lower +courts of judicature: and thus, though inferior to the earl in dignity, +he was soon considered, by this union of the judicial and fiscal powers, +and by the confidence reposed in him by the king, as much superior to +him in authority, and undermined his influence within his own +jurisdiction.[***] It became usual, in creating an earl, to give him a +fixed salary, commonly about twenty pounds a year, in lieu of his third +of the fines: the diminution of his power kept pace with the +retrenchment of his profit: and the dignity of earl, instead of being +territorial and official, dwindled into personal and titular. Such were +the mighty alterations which already had fully taken place, or were +gradually advancing, in the house of peers; that is, in the parliament: +for there seems anciently to have been no other house. + + * Spel. Gloss, in voce Comes. + + ** Essays on British Antiquities. This practice, however, + seems to have been more familiar in Scotland and the + kingdoms on the continent, than in England. + + *** There are instances of princes of the blood who accepted + of the office of sheriff. Spel. in voce Vicecomes. + +But though the introduction of barons by writ, and of titular earls, had +given some increase to royal authority, there were other causes which +counterbalanced those innovations, and tended in a higher degree to +diminish the power of the sovereign. The disuse into which the feudal +militia had in a great measure fallen made the barons almost entirely +forget their dependence on the crown: by the diminution of the number +of knights' fees the king had no reasonable compensation when he levied +scutages, and exchanged their service for money: the alienations of the +crown lands had reduced him to poverty: and above all, the concession +of the Great Charter had set bounds to royal power, and had rendered it +more difficult and dangerous for the prince to exert any extraordinary +act of arbitrary authority. In this situation it was natural for the +king to court the friendship of the lesser barons and knights, whose +influence was no ways dangerous to him, and who, being exposed to +oppression from their powerful neighbors, sought a legal protection +under the shadow of the throne. He desired, therefore, to have their +presence in parliament, where they served to control the turbulent +resolutions of the great. To exact a regular attendance of the whole +body would have produced confusion, and would have imposed too heavy a +burden upon them. To summon only a few by writ, though it was practised +and had a good effect, served not entirely the king's purpose; because +these members had no further authority than attended their personal +character, and were eclipsed by the appearance of the more powerful +nobility, He therefore dispensed with the attendance of most of the +lesser barons in parliament; and in return for this indulgence (for such +it was then esteemed) required them to choose in each county a certain +number of their own body, whose charges they bore, and who, having +gained the confidence, carried with them, of course, the authority of +the whole order. This expedient had been practised at different times +in the reign of Henry III.,[*] and regularly during that of the present +king. The numbers sent up by each county varied at the will of the +prince:[**] they took their seat among the other peers; because by their +tenure they belonged to that order:[***] the introducing of them into +that house scarcely appeared an innovation: and though it was easily in +the king's power, by varying their number, to command the resolutions of +the whole parliament this circumstance was little attended to in an age +when force was more prevalent than laws, and when a resolution, though +taken by the majority of a legal assembly, could not be executed, if it +opposed the will of the more powerful minority. + + *Rot. Glaus. 38. Hen. III. pp. 7. and 12. d.; as also Ret. + Claus 12 Hen. III. m. 1. d. Prynne's Pref. to Cotton's + Abridgment. + + ** Brady's Answer to Petyt, from the records, p 151. + + *** Brady's Treatise of Boroughs, App. No. 13. + +But there were other important consequences, which followed the +diminution and consequent disuse of the ancient feudal militia. The +king's expense in levying and maintaining a military force for every +enterprise, was increased beyond what his narrow revenues were able to +bear: as the scutages of his military tenants, which were accepted in +lieu of their personal service, had fallen to nothing, there were no +means of supply but from voluntary aids granted him by the parliament +and clergy, or from the talliages which he might levy upon the towns +and inhabitants in royal demesne. In the preceding year, Edward had been +obliged to exact no less than the sixth of all movables from the laity, +and a moiety of all ecclesiastical benefices[*] for his expedition +into Poictou, and the suppression of the Welsh: and this distressful +situation which was likely often to return upon him and his successors, +made him think of a new device, and summon the representatives of all +the boroughs to parliament. This period, which is the twenty-third of +his reign, seems to be the real and true epoch of the house of +commons, and the faint dawn of popular government in England. For the +representatives of the counties were only deputies from the smaller +barons and lesser nobility; and the former precedent of representatives +from the boroughs, who were summoned by the earl of Leicester, was +regarded as the act of a violent usurpation, had beer, discontinued in +all the subsequent parliaments; and if such a measure had not become +necessary on other accounts, that precedent was more likely to blast +than give credit to it. + + * Brady's Treatise of Boroughs, p. 31, from the records. + Heming vol. i. p. 52. M. West. p. 422. Ryley, p. 462 + +During the course of several years, the kings of England, in imitation +of other European princes, had embraced the salutary policy of +encouraging and protecting the lower and more industrious orders of +the state; whom they found well disposed to obey the laws and civil +magistrate, and whose ingenuity and labor furnish commodities requisite +for the ornament of peace and support of war. Though the inhabitants of +the country were still left at the disposal of their imperious lords, +many attempts were made to give more security and liberty to citizens, +and make them enjoy unmolested the fruits of their industry. Boroughs +were erected by royal patent within the demesne lands; liberty of trade +was conferred upon them; the inhabitants were allowed to farm, at a +fixed rent, their own tolls and customs,[*] they were permitted to +elect their own magistrates; justice was administered to them by these +magistrates, without obliging them to attend the sheriff or county +court: and some shadow of independence, by means of these equitable +privileges, was gradually acquired by the people.[**] The king, however, +retained still the power of levying talliage or taxes upon them at +pleasure;[***] and though their poverty and the customs of the age made +these demands neither frequent or exorbitant, such unlimited authority +in the sovereign was a sensible check upon commerce, and was utterly +incompatible with all the principles of a free government. But when +the multiplied necessities of the crown produced a greater avidity for +supply, the king, whose prerogative entitled him to exact it, found +that he had not power sufficient to enforce his edicts, and that it was +necessary, before he imposed taxes, to smooth the way for his demand, +and to obtain the previous consent of the boroughs, by solicitations, +remonstrances, and authority. The inconvenience of transacting this +business with every particular borough was soon felt; and Edward became +sensible, that the most expeditious way of obtaining supply, was to +assemble the deputies of all the boroughs, to lay before them the +necessities of the state, to discuss the matter in their presence, and +to require their consent to the demands of their sovereign, For this +reason, he issued writs to the sheriffs, enjoining them to send to +parliament, along with two knights of the shire two deputies from each +borough within their county,[****] and these provided with sufficient +powers from their community to consent, in their name, to what he and +his council should require of them. + + * Madox, Firma Burgi, p. 21. + + ** Brady of Boroughs, App. No. I, 2, 3. + + *** The king had not only the power of talliating the + inhabitants within his own demosnes, but that of granting to + particular barons the power of talliating the inhabitants + within theirs. See Brady's Answer to Petyt, p. 118. Madox, + Hist, of the Exch. p. 518. + + *** Writs were issued to about one hundred and twenty cities + and boroughs. + +"As it is a most equitable rule," says he, in his preamble to this writ, +"that what concerns all should be approved of by all; and common dangers +be repelled by united efforts;"[*] a noble principle, which may seem to +indicate a liberal mind in the king, and which laid the foundation of a +free and an equitable government. + +After the election of these deputies by the aldermen and common council, +they gave sureties for their attendance before the king and parliament: +their charges were respectively borne by the borough which sent them; +and they had so little idea of appearing as legislators,--a character +extremely wide of their low rank and condition,[**]--that no +intelligence could be more disagreeable to any borough, than to find +that they must elect, or to any individual than that he was elected, to +a trust from which no profit or honor could possibly be derived.[***] +They composed not, properly speaking, any essential part of the +parliament: they sat apart both from the barons and knights,[****] who +disdained to mix with such mean personages: after they had given +their consent to the taxes required of them, their business being then +finished, they separated, even though the parliament still continued +to sit, and to canvass the national business.[*****] And as they all +consisted of men who were real burgesses of the place from which they +were sent, the sheriff, when he found no person of abilities or wealth +sufficient for the office, often used the freedom of omitting particular +boroughs in his returns; and as he received the thanks of the people for +this indulgence, he gave no displeasure to the court, who levied on all +the boroughs, without distinction, the tax agreed to by the majority of +deputies.[******] + + * Brady of Boroughs, p. 25, 33, from the records. The writs + of the parliament immediately preceding, remain: and the + return of knights is there required, but not a word of the + boroughs: a demonstration that this was the very year in + which they commenced. In the year immediately preceding, the + taxes were levied by a seeming free consent of each + particular borough, beginning with London. Brady of + Boroughs, p. 31, 32, 33, from the records. Also his Answer + to Petyt, p. 40, 41. + + ** Reiiquia Spel. p. 64. Prynne's Pref. to Cotton's Abridg. + and the Abridg. passim. + + *** Brady of Boroughs, p. 59, 60. + + **** Brady of Boroughs, p. 37, 38, from the records, and + Append. p. 19. Also his Append, to his Answer to Petyt, + Record. And his gloss. in verb. Communitas regn. p. 33. + + ***** Ryley's Placit. Parl. p. 241, 242, etc. Cotton's + Abridg. p. 14. + + ****** Bradv of Boroughs, p. 52, from the records. There is + even an instance in the reign of Edward III., when the king + named all the deputies. Brady's Answer to Petyt, p. 161. If + he fairly named the most considerable and creditable + burgesses, little exception would be taken; as their + business was not to check the king, but to reason with him, + and consent to his demands. It was not till the reign of + Richard II. that the sheriffs were deprived of the power of + omitting boroughs at pleasure. See Stat. at large, 5th + Richard II. cap. iv. + +The union, however, of the representatives from the boroughs gave +gradually more weight to the whole order; and it became customary for +them, in return for the supplies which they granted, to prefer petitions +to the crown for the redress of any particular grievance, of which they +found reason to complain. The more the king's demands multiplied, the +faster these petitions increased both in number and authority; and the +prince found it difficult to refuse men whose grants had supported his +throne, and to whose assistance he might so soon be again obliged to +have recourse. The commons, however, were still much below the rank +of legislators.[*] [4] Their petitions, though they received a verbal +assent from the throne, were only the rudiments of laws: the judges were +afterwards intrusted with the power of putting them into form. and +the king, by adding to them the sanction of his authority, and that +sometimes without the assent of the nobles, bestowed validity upon +them. The age did not refine so much as to perceive the danger of these +irregularities. No man was displeased that the sovereign, at the desire +of any class of men, should issue an order which appeared only to +concern that class; and his predecessors were so near possessing the +whole legislative power, that he gave no disgust by assuming it in this +seemingly inoffensive manner. But time and further experience gradually +opened men's eyes, and corrected these abuses. It was found that no laws +could be fixed for one order of men without affecting the whole; and +that the force and efficacy of laws depended entirely on the terms +employed in wording them. The house of peers, therefore, the most +powerful order in the state, with reason, expected that their assent +should be expressly granted to all public ordinances:[**] + + * See note D, at the end of the volume. + + ** In those instances found in Cotton's Abridgment, where + the king appears to answer of himself the petitions of the + commons, he probably exerted no more than that power, which + was long inherent in the crown, of regulating matters by + royal edicts or proclamations. + +But no durable or general statute seems ever to have been made by the +king from the petition of the commons alone, without the assent of the +peers. It is more likely that the peers alone without the commons, would +enact statutes, and in the reign of Henry V., the commons required, +that no laws should be framed merely upon their petitions, unless the +statutes were worded by themselves, and had passed their house in the +form of a bill.[*] + +But as the same causes which had produced a partition of property +continued still to operate, the number of knights and lesser barons, or +what the English call the gentry, perpetually increased, and they sunk +into a rank still more inferior to the great nobility. The equality of +tenure was lost in the great inferiority of power and property; and the +house of representatives from the counties was gradually separated from +that of the peers, and formed a distinct order in the state.[**] +The growth of commerce, meanwhile, augmented the private wealth and +consideration of the burgesses; the frequent demands of the crown +increased their public importance; and as they resembled the knights +of shires in one material circumstance, that of representing particular +bodies of men, it no longer appeared unsuitable to unite them together +in the same house, and to confound their rights and privileges.[***] [5] +Thus the third estate that of the commons, reached at last its present +form; and as the country gentlemen made thenceforwards no scruple of +appearing as deputies from the boroughs, the distinction between the +members was entirely lost, and the lower house acquired thence a great +accession of weight and importance in the kingdom. Still, however, the +office of this estate was very different from that which it has since +exercised with so much advantage to the public. Instead of checking and +controlling the authority of the king, they were naturally induced to +adhere to him, as the great fountain of law and justice, and to support +him against the power of the aristocracy, which at once was the source +of oppression to themselves, and disturbed him in the execution of the +laws. The king, in his turn, gave countenance to an order of men so +useful and so little dangerous: the peers also were obliged to pay them +some consideration: and by this means the third estate, formerly so +abject in England, as well as in all other European nations, rose by +slow degrees to their present importance; and in their progress made +arts and commerce, the necessary attendants of liberty and equality, +flourish in the kingdom.[****] [6] + + * Brady's Answer to Petyt, p. 85, from the records. + + ** Cotton's Abridgment, p. 13. + + *** See note E, at the end of the volume. + + **** See note F, at the end of the volume. + +What sufficiently proves that the commencement of the house of +burgesses, who are the true commons, was not an affair of chance, but +arose from the necessities of the present situation, is, that Edward, +at the very same time, summoned deputies from the inferior clergy, the +first that ever met in England,[*] and he required them to impose +taxes on their constituents for the public service. Formerly the +ecclesiastical benefices bore no part of the burdens of the state: +the pope indeed of late had often levied impositions upon them: he had +sometimes granted this power to the sovereign:[**] the king himself had +in the preceding year exacted, by menaces and violence, a very grievous +tax of half the revenues of the clergy: but as this precedent was +dangerous, and could not easily be repeated in a government which +required the consent of the subject to any extraordinary resolution, +Edward found it more prudent to assemble a lower house of convocation, +to lay before them his necessities, and to ask some supply. But on +this occasion he met with difficulties. Whether that the clergy thought +themselves the most independent body in the kingdom, or were disgusted +by the former exorbitant impositions, they absolutely refused their +assent to the king's demand of a fifth of their movables; and it was not +till a second meeting that, on their persisting in this refusal, he +was willing to accept of a tenth. The barons and knights granted him, +without hesitation, an eleventh; the burgesses, a seventh. But the +clergy still scrupled to meet on the king's writ, lest by such an +instance of obedience they should seem to acknowledge the authority of +the temporal power: and this compromise was at last fallen upon, +that the king should issue his writ to the archbishop; and that the +archbishop should, in consequence of it, summon the clergy, who, as they +then appeared to obey their spiritual superior, no longer hesitated +to meet in convocation. This expedient, however, was the cause why the +ecclesiastics were separated into two houses of convocation, under their +several archbishops, and formed not one estate, as in other countries of +Europe; which was at first the king's intention.[***] We now return to +the course of our narration. + + * Archbishop Wake's State of the Church of England, p. 235 + Brady of Burroughs, p. 34. Gilbert's Hist, of the Buch. p + 46. + + ** Ann. Waverl. p. 227, 228. T. Wykes, p. 99, 120. + + *** Gilbert's Hist, of the Buch. p 51, 54. + +Edward, conscious of the reasons of disgust which he had given to +the king of Scots, informed of thu dispositions of that people, and +expecting the most violent effects of their resentment, which he knew he +had so well merited, employed the supplies granted him by his people in +making preparations against the hostilities of his northern neighbor. +When in this situation, he received intelligence of the treaty secretly +concluded between John and Philip; and though uneasy at this concurrence +of a French and Scottish war he resolved not to encourage his enemies by +a pusillanimous behavior, or by yielding to their united efforts. + +{1296.} He summoned John to perform the duty of a vassal, and to send +him a supply of forces against an invasion from France, with which he +was then threatened: he next required that the fortresses of Berwick, +Jedburgh, and Roxburgh should be put into his hands as a security during +the war; he cited John to appear in an English parliament to be held at +Newcastle; and when none of these successive demands were complied with, +he marched northward with numerous forces, thirty thousand foot and four +thousand horse, to chastise his rebellious vassal. The Scottish nation, +who had little reliance on the vigor and abilities of their prince, +assigned him a council of twelve noblemen, in whose hands the +sovereignty was really lodged, and who put the country in the best +posture of which the present distractions would admit. A great army, +composed of forty thousand infantry, though supported only by five +hundred cavalry advanced to the frontiers; and after a fruitless attempt +upon Carlisle, marched eastwards to defend those provinces which Edward +was preparing to attack. But some of the most considerable of the +Scottish nobles, Robert Bruce, the father and son, the earls of +March and Angus, prognosticating the ruin of their country from the +concurrence of intestine divisions and a foreign invasion, endeavored +here to ingratiate themselves with Edward by an early submission; and +the king, encouraged by this favorable incident, led his army into the +enemy's country, and crossed the Tweed without opposition at Coldstream. +He then received a message from John, by which that prince, having now +procured for himself and his nation Pope Celestine's dispensation from +former oaths, renounced the homage which had been done to England, +and set Edward at defiance. This bravado was but ill supported by the +military operations of the Scots. + + * Rymer, vol. ii. p. 692. Walsing. p. 64. Heming. vol. i. p. + 84 Trivet, p. 286. t Heming. vol i. p. 75. + + ** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 607. Walsing. p. 66. Heming. vol. i. + p. 92. + +Berwick was already taken by assault: Sir William Douglas, the governor, +was made prisoner: above seven thousand of the garrison were put to +the sword: and Edward, elated by this great advantage, despatched Earl +Warrenne with twelve thousand men to lay siege to Dunbar, which was +defended by the flower of the Scottish nobility. + +The Scots, sensible of the importance of this place, which, if taken, +laid their whole country open to the enemy, advanced with their main +army, under the command of the earls of Buchan, Lenox, and Marre, in +order to relieve it. Warrenne, not dismayed at the great superiority +of their number, marched out to give them battle. He attacked them with +great vigor; and as undisciplined troops, when numerous, are but +the more exposed to a panic upon any alarm, he soon threw them into +confusion, and chased them off the field with great slaughter. The loss +of the Scots is said to have amounted to twenty thousand men: the Castle +of Dunbar, with all its garrison, surrendered next day to Edward, who, +after the battle, had brought up the main body of the English, and +who now proceeded with an assured confidence of success. The Castle of +Roxburgh was yielded by James, steward of Scotland; and that nobleman, +from whom is descended the royal family of Stuart, was again obliged +to swear fealty to Edward. After a feeble resistance, the Castles of +Edinburgh and Stirling opened their gates to the enemy. All the southern +parts were instantly subdued by the English; and to enable them the +better to reduce the northern, whose inaccessible situation seemed to +give them some more security, Edward sent for a strong reënforcement of +Welsh and Irish, who, being accustomed to a desultory kind of war, were +the best fitted to pursue the fugitive Scots into the recesses of their +lakes and mountains. But the spirit of the nation was already broken by +their misfortunes and the feeble and timid Baliol, discontented with his +own subjects, and overawed by the English, abandoned all those resources +which his people might yet have possessed in this extremity. He hastened +to make his submissions to Edward, he expressed the deepest penitence +for his disloyalty to his liege lord; and he made a solemn and +irrevocable resignation of his crown into the hands of that monarch.[*] + + * Rymer, vol. ii. p. 718. Walsing. p. 67. Heming. vo. i p. + 99 Trivet, p. 292. + +Edward marched northwards to Aberdeen and Elgin, without meeting an +enemy: no Scotchman approached him but to pay him submission and do him +homage: even the turbulent Highlanders, ever refractory to their own +princes, and averse to the restraint of laws, endeavored to prevent the +devastation of their country, by giving him early proofs of obedience: +and Edward, having brought the whole kingdom to a seeming state of +tranquillity, returned to the south with his army. There was a stone to +which the popular superstition of the Scots paid the highest veneration: +all their kings were seated on it when they received the rite of +inauguration: an ancient tradition assured them that, wherever this +stone was placed, their nation should always govern: and it was +carefully preserved at Scone, as the true, palladium of their monarchy, +and their ultimate resource amidst all their misfortunes. Edward got +possession of it, and carried it with him to England.[*] He gave orders +to destroy the records, and all those monuments of antiquity which might +preserve the memory of the independence of the kingdom, and refute the +English claims of superiority. The Scots pretend that he also destroyed +all the annals preserved in their convents: but it is not probable that +a nation, so rude and unpolished, should be possessed of any history +which deserves much to be regretted. The great seal of Bailol was +broken; and that prince himself was carried prisoner to London, and +committed to custody in the Tower. Two years after he was restored +to liberty, and submitted to a voluntary banishment in France; where, +without making any further attempts for the recovery of his royalty, +he died in a private station. Earl Warrenne was left governor of +Scotland:[**] Englishmen were intrusted with the chief offices: and +Edward, flattering himself that he had attained the end of all his +wishes, and that the numerous acts of fraud and violence, which he had +practised against Scotland, had terminated in the final reduction of +that kingdom, returned with his victorious army into England. + + * Walsing. p. 68. Trivet, p. 299. + + ** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 726. Trivet, p. 295. + +An attempt, which he made about the same time, for the recovery of +Guienne, was not equally successful. He sent thither an army of seven +thousand men, under the command of his brother, the earl of Lancaster. +That prince gained at first some advantages over the French at Bordeaux: +but he was soon after seized with a distemper, of which he died at +Bayonne. The command devolved on the earl of Lincoln, who was not able +to perform any thing considerable during the rest of the campaign.[*] + +But the active and ambitious spirit of Edward, while his conquests +brought such considerable accessions to the English monarchy, could not +be satisfied, so long as Guienne, the ancient patrimony of his family, +was wrested from him by the dishonest artifices of the French monarch. +Finding that the distance of that province rendered all his efforts +against it feeble and uncertain, he purposed to attack France in a +quarter where she appeared more vulnerable; and with this view he +married his daughter Elizabeth to John, earl of Holland, and at the same +time contracted an alliance with Guy, earl of Flanders, stipulated +to pay him the sum of seventy-five thousand pounds, and projected an +invasion with their united forces upon Philip, their common enemy.[**] +He hoped that, when he himself, at the head of the English, Flemish, and +Dutch armies, reënforced by his German allies, to whom he had promised +or remitted considerable sums, should enter die frontiers of France, +and threaten the capital itself, Philip would at last be obliged to +relinquish his acquisitions, and purchase peace by the restitution +of Guienne. But in order to set this great machine in movement, +considerable supplies were requisite from the parliament; and Edward, +without much difficulty, obtained from the barons and knights a new +grant of a twelfth of all their movables, and from the boroughs that +of an eighth. The great and almost unlimited power of the king over the +latter, enabled him to throw the heavier part of the burden on them; +and the prejudices which he seems always to have entertained against the +church, on account of the former zeal of the clergy for the Mountfort +faction, made him resolve to load them with still more considerable +impositions, and he required of them a fifth of their movables. But he +here met with an opposition, which for some time disconcerted all his +measures, and engaged him in enterprises that were somewhat dangerous to +him; and would have proved fatal to any of his predecessors. + + * Homing, vol. i. p. 72, 73, 74. + + ** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 761. Walsing, p. 68. + +Boniface VIII., who had succeeded Celestine in the papal throne, was a +man of the most lofty and enterprising spirit; and though not endowed +with that severity of manners which commonly accompanies ambition in men +of his order, he was determined to carry the authority of the tiara, +and his dominion over the temporal power, to as great a height as it +had ever attained in any former period. Sensible that his immediate +predecessors, by oppressing the church in every province of Christendom, +had extremely alienated the affections of the clergy, and had afforded +the civil magistrate a pretence for laying like impositions on +ecclesiastical revenues, he attempted to resume the former station of +the sovereign pontiff, and to establish himself as the common protector +of the spiritual order against all invaders. For this purpose he issued +very early in his pontificate a general bull, prohibiting all princes +from levying without his consent any taxes upon the clergy, and all +clergymen from submitting to such impositions; and he threatened both of +them with the penalties of excommunication in case of disobedience.[*] +This important edict is said to have been procured by the solicitation +of Robert de Win chelsey, archbishop of Canterbury, who intended to +employ it as a rampart against the violent extortions which the church +had felt from Edward, and the still greater, which that prince's +multiplied necessities gave them reason to apprehend. When a demand, +therefore, was made on the clergy of a fifth of their movables, a tax +which was probably much more grievous than a fifth of their revenue, +as their lands were mostly stocked with their cattle, and cultivated by +their villains, the clergy took shelter under the bull of Pope Boniface +and pleaded conscience in refusing compliance.[**] The king came not +immediately to extremities on this repulse; but after locking up all +their granaries and barns, and prohibiting all rent to be paid them, he +appointed a new synod, to confer with him upon his demand. The primate, +not dismayed by these proofs of Edward's resolution, here plainly told +him that the clergy owed obedience to two sovereigns, their spiritual +and their temporal; but their duty bound them to a much stricter +attachment to the former than to the latter: they could not comply with +his commands, (for such, in some measure, the requests of the crown +were then deemed,) in contradiction to the express prohibition of the +sovereign pontiff.[***] + + * Rymer, vol. ii. p. 706. Heming. vol. i. p. 104. + + ** Heming, vol., i. p. 107. Trivet, p. 296. Chron. Dunst. + vol. ii p. 652 + + *** Hemming. vol. i. p. 107. + +{1297.} The clergy had seen, in many instances, that Edward paid little +regard to those numerous privileges on which they set so high a value. +He had formerly seized, in an arbitrary manner, all the money and plate +belonging to the churches and convents, and had applied them to the +public service;[*] and they could not but expect more violent treatment +on this sharp refusal, grounded on such dangerous principles. Instead +of applying to the pope for a relaxation of his bull, he resolved +immediately to employ the power in his hands; and he told the +ecclesiastics that, since they refused to support the civil government, +they were unworthy to receive any benefit from it; and he would +accordingly put them out of the protection of the laws. This vigorous +measure was immediately carried into execution.[**] Orders were issued +to the judges to receive no cause brought before them by the clergy; to +hear and decide all causes in which they were defendants; to do every +man justice against them; to do them justice against nobody.[***] The +ecclesiastics soon found themselves in the most miserable situation +imaginable. They could not remain in their own houses or convents for +want of subsistence; if they went abroad in quest of maintenance, they +were dismounted, robbed of their horses and clothes, abused by every +ruffian, and no redress could be obtained by them for the most violent +injury. The primate himself was attacked on the highway, was stripped +of his equipage and furniture, and was at last reduced to board himself +with a single servant in the house of a country clergyman.[****] +The king, meanwhile, remained an indifferent spectator of all these +violences: and without employing his officers in committing any +immediate injury on the priests, which might have appeared invidious and +oppressive, he took ample vengeance on them for their obstinate refusal +of his demands. Though the archbishop issued a general sentence of +excommunication against all who attacked the persons or property +of ecclesiastics, it was not regarded; while Edward enjoyed the +satisfaction of seeing the people become the voluntary instruments of +his justice against them, and inure themselves to throw off that +respect for the sacred order by which they had so long been overawed and +governed. + + * Walsing. p. 65. Heming. vol. i. p. 51. + + ** Walsing. p. 69. Heming. vol. i. p. 107. + + *** M. West. p. 429. + + **** Heming. vol. i. p. 109. + +The spirits of the clergy were at last broken by this harsh treatment. +Besides that the whole province of York, which lay nearest the danger +that still hung over them from the Scots, voluntarily, from the first, +voted a fifth of their movables, the bishops of Salisbury, Ely, and some +others, made a composition for the secular clergy within their dioceses; +and they agreed not to pay the fifth, which would have been an act of +disobedience to Boniface's bull, but to deposit a sum equivalent in some +church appointed them, whence it was taken by the king's officers.[*] +Many particular convents and clergymen made payment of a like sum, +and received the king's protection.[**] Those who had not ready money, +entered into recognizances for the payment. And there was scarcely found +one ecclesiastic in the kingdom who seemed willing to suffer, for the +sake of religious privileges, this new species of martyrdom, the most +tedious and languishing of any, the most mortifying to spiritual pride, +and not rewarded by that crown of glory which the church holds up with +such ostentation to her devoted adherents. + +But as the money granted by parliament, though considerable, was +not sufficient to supply the king's necessities, and that levied by +compositions with the clergy came in slowly, Edward was obliged, for the +obtaining of further supply, to exert his arbitrary power, and to lay +an oppressive hand on all orders of men in the kingdom. He limited the +merchants in the quantity of wool allowed to be exported; and at the +same time forced them to pay him a duty of forty shillings a sack, which +was computed to be above the third of the value.[***] He seized all the +rest of the wool, as well as all the leather of the kingdom, into his +hands, and disposed of these commodities for his own benefit;[****] he +required the sheriffs of each county to supply him with two thousand +quarters of wheat, and as many of oats, which he permitted them to +seize wherever they could find them: the cattle and other commodities +necessary for supplying his army, were laid hold of without the consent +of the owners;[*****] and though he promised to pay afterwards the +equivalent of all these goods, men saw but little probability that a +prince, who submitted so little to the limitations of law, could ever, +amidst his multiplied necessities, be reduced to a strict observance of +his engagements. + + * Heming. vol. i. p. 108, 109. Chron. Dunst. p. 653. + + ** Chron. Dunst. vol. ii. p. 654. + + *** Walsing. p. 69. Trivet, p. 296. + + **** Heming, vol. i. p. 52, 110. + + ***** Heming. vol. i. p. 111. + +He showed at the same time an equal disregard to the principles of the +feudal law, by which all the lands of his kingdom were held: in order to +increase his army, and enable him to support that great effort which +he intended to make against France, he required the attendance of every +proprietor of land possessed of twenty pounds a year, even though he +held not of the crown, and was not obliged by his tenure to perform any +such service.[*] + +These acts of violence and of arbitrary power, notwithstanding the great +personal regard generally borne to the king, bred murmurs in every order +of men; and it was not long ere some of the great nobility, jealous of +their own privileges, as well as of national liberty, gave countenance +and authority to these complaints. Edward assembled on the sea-coast an +army which he purposed to send over to Gascony, while he himself should +in person make an impression on the side of Flanders; and he intended to +put these forces under the command of Humphrey Bohun, earl of Hereford, +the constable, and Roger Bigod, earl of Norfolk, the mareschal of +England. But these two powerful earls refused to execute his commands, +and affirmed that they were only obliged by their office to attend his +person in the wars. A violent altercation ensued: and the king, in the +height of his passion, addressing himself to the constable, exclaimed, +"Sir Earl, by God, you shall either go or hang." "By God, Sir King," +replied Hereford, "I will neither go nor hang."[**] And he immediately +departed with the mareschal and above thirty other considerable barons. + +Upon this opposition, the king laid aside the project of an expedition +against Guienne, and assembled the forces which he himself purposed to +transport into Flanders. But the two earls, irritated in the contest +and elated by impunity, pretending that none of their ancestors had ever +served in that country, refused to perform the duty of their office in +mustering the army.[***] The king, now finding it advisable to proceed +with moderation, instead of attainting the earls, who possessed their +dignities by hereditary right, appointed Thomas de Berkeley and Geoffrey +de Geyneville to act in that emergence as constable and mareschal.[****] + + * Walsing. p. 69. + + ** Heming. voL i. p. 112. + + *** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 783. Walsing. p. 70. + + **** M. West, p. 430. + +He endeavored to reconcile himself with the church; took the primate +again into favor,[*] made him, in conjunction with Reginald de Grey, +tutor to the prince, whom he intended to appoint guardian of the kingdom +during his absence; and he even assembled a great number of the nobility +in Westminster Hall, to whom he deigned to make an apology for his past +conduct. He pleaded the urgent necessities of the crown; his extreme +want of money; his engagements from honor as well as interest to support +his foreign allies; and he promised, if ever he returned in safety, to +redress all their grievances, to restore the execution of the laws, +and to make all his subjects compensation for the losses which they had +sustained. Meanwhile, he begged them to suspend their animosities; to +judge of him by his future conduct, of which, he hoped, he should be +more master; to remain faithful to his government, or, if he perished +in the present war, to preserve their allegiance to his son and +successor.[**] + +There were, certainly, from the concurrence of discontents among the +great, and grievances of the people, materials sufficient in any +other period to have kindled a civil war in England: but the vigor and +abilities of Edward kept every one in awe; and his dexterity in stopping +on the brink of danger, and retracting the measures to which he had been +pushed by his violent temper and arbitrary principles, saved the nation +from so great a calamity. The two great earls dared not to break +out into open violence: they proceeded no further than framing a +remonstrance, which was delivered to the king at Winchelsea, when he was +ready to embark for Flanders. They there complained of the violations +of the Great Charter, and that of forests; the violent seizure of +corn, leather, cattle, and, above all, of wool, a commodity which they +affirmed to be equal in value to half the lands of the kingdom; the +arbitrary imposition of forty shillings a sack on the small quantity +of wool allowed to be exported by the merchants; and they claimed an +immediate redress of all these grievances.[***] The king told them that +the greater part of his council were now at a distance, and without +their advice he could not deliberate on measures of so great +importance.[****] + + * Heming. vol. i. p. 113. + + ** Heming. vol. i. p. 114. M. West. p. 430. + + *** Walsing. p. 72. Heming. vol. i. p. 115. Trivet, p. 302. + + **** Walsing. p. 72. Heming. vol. i. p. 117. Trivet, p. 304. + +But the constable and mareschal, with the barons of their party resolved +to take advantage of Edward's absence and to obtain an explicit assent +to their demands. When summoned to attend the parliament at London, they +came with a great body of cavalry and infantry; and before they would +enter the city, required that the gates should be put into their +custody.[*] The primate, who secretly favored all their pretensions, +advised the council to comply; and thus they became masters both of +the young prince and of the resolutions of parliament. Their demands, +however, were moderate, and such as sufficiently justify the purity of +their intentions in all their past measures: they only required that the +two charters should receive a solemn confirmation; that a clause should +be added to secure the nation forever against all impositions and taxes +without consent of parliament; and that they themselves, and their +adherents, who had refused to attend the king into Flanders, should be +pardoned for the offence, and should be again received into favor.[**] +The prince of Wales and his council assented to these terms, and the +charters were sent over to the king in Flanders, to be there confirmed +by him. Edward felt the utmost reluctance to this measure, which, he +apprehended, would for the future impose fetters on his conduct, and set +limits to his lawless authority. On various pretences he delayed +three days giving any answer to the deputies; and when the pernicious +consequences of his refusal were represented to him, he was at last +obliged, after many internal struggles, to affix his seal to the +charters, as also to the clause that bereaved him of the power which he +had hitherto assumed, of imposing arbitrary taxes upon the people. + +That we may finish at once this interesting transaction concerning the +settlement of the charters, we shall briefly mention the subsequent +events which relate to it. The constable and mareschal, informed of the +king's compliance, were satisfied, and not only ceased from disturbing +the government, but assisted the regency with their power against +the Scots, who had risen in arms, and had thrown off the yoke of +England.[***] + + * Heming. vol. i. p. 138. + + ** Walsing, p. 73. Heming. vol. i. p. 138, 139 140, 141. + Trivet, p. 308. + + *** Walsing, p. 74. Heming. vol. i. p. 143. + +But being sensible that the smallest pretence would suffice to make +Edward retract these detested laws, which, though they had often +received the sanction both of king and parliament, and had been +acknowledged during three reigns, were never yet deemed to have +sufficient validity, they insisted that he should again confirm them +on his return to England, and should thereby renounce all plea which +he might derive from his residing in a foreign country when he formerly +affixed his seal to them.[*] It appeared that they judged aright of +Edward's character and intentions: he delayed this confirmation as long +as possible; and, when the fear of worse consequences obliged him +again to comply, he expressly added a salvo for his royal dignity +or prerogative, which in effect enervated the whole force of the +charters.[**] The two earls and their adherents left the parliament in +disgust; and the king was constrained on a future occasion to grant to +the people, without any subterfuge, a pure and absolute confirmation +of those laws[***] which were so much the object of their passionate +affection. Even further securities were then provided for the +establishment of national privileges. Three knights were appointed to be +chosen in each county, and were invested with the power of punishing, +by fine and imprisonment, every transgression or violation of the +charters;[****] a precaution which, though it was soon disused, as +encroaching too much on royal prerogative, proves the attachment +which the English in that age bore to liberty, and their well-grounded +jealousy of the arbitrary disposition of Edward. + +The work, however, was not yet entirely finished and complete. In order +to execute the lesser charter, it was requisite, by new perambulations, +to set bounds to the royal forests, and to disafforest all land which +former encroachments had comprehended within their limits. Edward +discovered the same reluctance to comply with this equitable demand; and +it was not till after many delays on his part, and many solicitations +and requests, and even menaces of war and violence,[*****] on the part +of the barons, that the perambulations were made, and exact boundaries +fixed by a jury in each county to the extent of his forests.[******] Had +not his ambitious and active temper raised him so many foreign enemies, +and obliged him to have recourse so often to the assistance of his +subjects, it is not likely that those concessions could ever have been +extorted from him. + + * Heming. vol. i. p. 159. + + ** Heming. vol. i. p. 167, 168. + + *** Heming. vol. i. p. 168. + + **** Heming. vol. i. p. 170. + + ***** Walsing. p. 80. We are told by Tyrrel, (vol. ii. p. 145,) + from the Chronicle of St. Albans, that the barons, not + content with the execution of the charter of forests, + demanded of Edward as high terms as had been imposed on his + father by the earl of Leicester; but no other historian + mentions this particular. + + ****** Heming. vol. i. p. 171. M. West. p. 431, 433. + +But while the people, after so many successful struggles, deemed +themselves happy in the secure possession of their privileges, they were +surprised in 1305 to find that Edward had secretly applied to Rome, and +had procured from that mercenary court an absolution from all the oaths +and engagements, which he had so often reiterated, to observe both the +charters. There are some historians,[*] so credulous as to imagine, that +this perilous step was taken by him for no other purpose than to acquire +the merit of granting a new confirmation of the charters, as he did soon +after; and a confirmation so much the more unquestionable, as it could +never after be invalidated by his successors, on pretence of any force +or violence which had been imposed upon him. But, besides that this +might have been done with a better grace if he had never applied for any +such absolution, the whole tenor of his conduct proves him to be little +susceptible of such refinements in patriotism; and this very deed +itself, in which he anew confirmed the charters, carries on the face +of it a very opposite presumption. Though he ratified the charters +in general, he still took advantage of the papal bull so far as to +invalidate the late perambulations of the forests, which had been made +with such care and attention, and to reserve to himself the power, +in case of favorable incidents, to extend as much as formerly those +arbitrary jurisdictions. If the power was not in fact made use of, we +can only conclude that the favorable incidents did not offer. + +Thus, after the contests of near a whole century, and these ever +accompanied with violent jealousies, often with public convulsions, the +Great Charter was finally established; and the English nation have the +honor of extorting, by their perseverance, this concession from +the ablest, the most warlike, and the most ambitious of all their +princes.[**] It is computed that above thirty confirmations of the +charter were done at different times. + + * Brady, vol. ii. p. 84. Carte, vol. ii. p. 292. + + ** It must, however, be remarked, that the king never + forgave the chief actors in this transaction; and he found + means afterwards to oblige both the constable and mareschal + to resign their offices into his hands. The former received + a new grant of it; but the office of mareschal given to + Thomas of Brotherton, the king's second son times required + of several kings, and granted by them in full parliament; a + precaution which, while it discovers some ignorance of the + true nature of law and government, proves a laudable + jealousy of national privileges in the people, and an + extreme anxiety lest contrary precedents should ever be + pleaded as an authority for infringing them. Accordingly we + find that, though arbitrary practices often prevailed, and + were even able to establish themselves into settled customs, + the validity of the Great Charter was never afterwards + formally disputed; and that grant was still regarded as the + basis of English government, and the sure rule by which the + authority of every custom was to be tried and canvassed. The + jurisdiction of the star-chamber, martial law, imprisonment + by warrants from the privy-council, and other practices of a + like nature, though established for several centuries, were + scarcely ever allowed by the English to be parts of their + constitution: the affection of the nation for liberty still + prevailed over all precedent, and even all political + reasoning; the exercise of these powers, after being long + the source of secret murmurs among the people, was, in + fulness of time, solemnly abolished as illegal, at least as + oppressive, by the whole legislative authority. + +To return to the period from which this account of the charters has led +us: though the king's impatience to appear at the head of his armies +in Flanders made him overlook all considerations, either of domestic +discontents or of commotions among the Scots, his embarkation had been +so long retarded by the various obstructions thrown in his way, that +he lost the proper season for action, and after his arrival made no +progress against the enemy. The king of France, taking advantage of his +absence, had broken into the Low Countries; had defeated the Flemings +in the battle of Furnes; had made himself master of Lisle, St. Omer, +Courtrai, and Ypres; and seemed in a situation to take full vengeance on +the earl of Flanders, his rebellious vassal. But Edward, seconded by an +English army of fifty thousand men, (for this is the number assigned +by historians,[*]) was able to stop the career of his victories; and +Philip, finding all the weak resources of his kingdom already exhausted, +began to dread a reverse of fortune, and to apprehend an invasion on +France itself. + + * Helming, vol i. p 146. + +The king of England, on the other hand, disappointed of assistance from +Adolph, king of the Romans, which he had purchased at a very high price, +and finding many urgent calls for his presence in England, was desirous +of ending, on any honorable terms, a war which served only to divert his +force from the execution of more important projects. This disposition +in both monarchs soon produced a cessation of hostilities for two years; +and engaged them to submit their differences to the arbitration of Pope +Boniface. + +{1298.} Boniface was among the last of the sovereign pontiffs that +exercised an authority over the temporal jurisdiction of princes; and +these exorbitant pretensions, which he had been tempted to assume from +the successful example of his predecessors, but of which the season was +now past, involved him in so many calamities, and were attended with +so unfortunate a catastrophe, that they have been secretly abandoned, +though never openly relinquished, by his successors in the apostolic +chair. Edward and Philip, equally jealous of papal claims, took care +to insert in their reference, that Boniface was made judge of the +difference by their consent, as a private person, not by any right of +his pontificate; and the pope, without seeming to be offended at this +mortifying clause, proceeded to give a sentence between them, in which +they both acquiesced.[*] He brought them to agree, that their union +should be cemented by a double marriage; that of Edward himself, who was +now a widower, with Margaret, Philip's sister, and that of the prince of +Wales with Isabella, daughter of that monarch.[**] + + * Rymer, vol. ii. p. 817. Heining. vol. i. p. 149. Trivet, + p. 310 + + ** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 823 + +Philip was likewise willing to restore Guienne to the English, which he +had indeed no good pretence to detain; but he insisted that the Scots, +and their king, John Baliol, should, as his allies, be comprehended in +the treaty, and should be restored to their liberty. The difference., +after several disputes, was compromised, by their making mutual +sacrifices to each other. Edward agreed to abandon his ally the earl of +Flanders, on condition that Philip should treat in like manner his ally +the king of Scots. The prospect of conquering these two countries, +whose situation made them so commodious an acquisition to the respective +kingdoms, prevailed over all other considerations; and though they +were both finally disappointed in their hopes, their conduct was very +reconcilable to the principles of an interested policy. This was the +first specimen which the Scots had of the French alliance, and which was +exactly conformable to what a smaller power must always expect, when +it blindly attaches itself to the will and fortunes of a greater. That +unhappy people now engaged in a brave though unequal contest for their +liberties, were totally abandoned, by the ally in whom they reposed +their final confidence, to the will of an imperious conqueror. + +Though England, as well as other European countries, was, in its ancient +state, very ill qualified for making, and still worse for maintaining +conquests, Scotland was so much inferior in its internal force, and +was so ill situated for receiving foreign succors, that it is no wonder +Edward, an ambitious monarch, should have cast his eye on so tempting +an acquisition, which brought both security and greatness to his native +country. But the instruments whom he employed to maintain his dominion +over the northern kingdom were not happily chosen, and acted not with +the requisite prudence and moderation, in reconciling the Scottish +nation to a yoke which they bore with such extreme reluctance. Warrenne, +retiring into England on account of his bad state of health, left the +administration entirely in the hands of Ormesby, who was appointed +justiciary of Scotland, and Cressingham, who bore the office of +treasurer; and a small military force remained, to secure the precarious +authority of those ministers. The latter had no other object than the +amassing of money by rapine and injustice: the former distinguished +himself by the rigor and severity of his temper: and both of them, +treating the Scots as a conquered people, made them sensible, too early, +of the grievous servitude into which they had fallen. As Edward required +that all the proprietors of land should swear fealty to him, every one +who refused or delayed giving this testimony of submission, was outlawed +and imprisoned, and punished without mercy; and the bravest and most +generous spirits of the nation were thus exasperated to the highest +degree against the English government.[*] + + * Walsing. p. 70. Heming, vol. i. p. 118. Trivet, p. 299. + +There was one William Wallace, of a small fortune, but descended of an +ancient family in the west of Scotland, whose courage prompted him to +undertake, and enabled him finally to accomplish, the desperate attempt +of delivering his native country from the dominion of foreigners. This +man, whose valorous exploits are the object of just admiration, but +have been much exaggerated by the traditions of his countrymen, had been +provoked by the insolence of an English officer to put him to death; +and finding himself obnoxious on that account to the severity of the +administration, he fled into the woods, and offered himself as a leader +to all those whom their crimes, or bad fortune, or avowed hatred of the +English, had reduced to a like necessity. He was endowed with gigantic +force of body, with heroic courage of mind, with disinterested +magnanimity, with incredible patience, and ability to bear hunger, +fatigue, and all the severities of the seasons; and he soon acquired, +among those desperate fugitives, that authority to which his virtues +so justly entitled him. Beginning with small attempts, in which he was +always successful, he gradually proceeded to more momentous enterprises; +and he discovered equal caution in securing his followers, and valor in +annoying the enemy. By his knowledge of the country he was enabled, +when pursued, to insure a retreat among the morasses, or forests, +or mountains; and again collecting his dispersed associates, he +unexpectedly appeared in another quarter, and surprised, and routed, and +put to the sword the unwary English. Every day brought accounts of his +great actions, which were received with no less favor by his countrymen +than terror by the enemy: all those who thirsted after military fame +were desirous to partake of his renown: his successful valor seemed to +vindicate the nation from the ignominy into which it had fallen, by its +tame submission to the English; and though no nobleman of note ventured +as yet to join his party, he had gained a general confidence and +attachment, which birth and fortune are not alone able to confer. + +Wallace, having, by many fortunate enterprises, brought the valor of his +followers to correspond to his own, resolved to strike a decisive blow +against the English government; and he concerted the plan of attacking +Ormesby at Scone; and of taking vengeance on him for all the violence +and tyranny of which he had been guilty. The justiciary, apprised of his +intentions, fled hastily into England: all the other officers of that +nation imitated his example: their terror added alacrity and courage to +the Scots, who betook themselves to arms in every quarter; many of the +principal barons, and among the rest Sir William Douglas,[*] openly +countenanced Wallace's party: Robert Bruce secretly favored and promoted +the same cause: and the Scots, shaking off their fetters, prepared +themselves to defend, by a united effort, that liberty which they had so +unexpectedly recovered from the hands of their oppressors. + + * Walsing. p. 70. vol. i. p. 118. + +But Warrenne, collecting an army of forty thousand men in the north of +England, determined to reëstablish his authority; and he endeavored, +by the celerity of his armament and of his march, to compensate for his +past negligence, which had enabled the Scots to throw off the English +government. He suddenly entered Annandale, and came up with the enemy +at Irvine, before their forces were fully collected, and before they +had put themselves in a posture of defence. Many of the Scottish nobles, +alarmed with their dangerous situation, here submitted to the English, +renewed their oaths of fealty, promised to deliver hostages for their +good behavior, and received a pardon for past offences.[*] Others, who +had not yet declared themselves, such as the steward of Scotland and +the earl of Lenox, joined, though with reluctance, the English army, +and waited a favorable opportunity for embracing the cause of their +distressed countrymen. But Wallace, whose authority over his retainers +was more fully confirmed by the absence of the great nobles, persevered +obstinately in his purpose; and finding himself unable to give battle +to the enemy, he marched northwards, with an intention of prolonging the +war, and of turning to his advantage the situation of that mountainous +and barren country. When Warrenne advanced to Stirling, he found Wallace +encamped at Cambuskenneth, on the opposite banks of the Forth; and being +continually urged by the impatient Cressingham, who was actuated both by +personal and national animosities against the Scots,[**] he prepared +to attack them in that position, which Wallace, no less prudent than +courageous, had chosen for his army.[***] + + * Heming. vol. i. p. 121, 22. + + ** Heming. vol. i. p. 127. + + *** On the 11th of September, 1297. + +In spite of the remonstrances of Sir Richard Lundy, a Scotchman of birth +and family, who sincerely adhered to the English, he ordered his army +to pass a bridge which lay over the Forth; but he was soon convinced, +by fatal experience, of the error of his conduct. Wallace, allowing +such numbers of the English to pass as he thought proper, attacked them +before they were fully formed, put them to rout, pushed part of them +into the river, destroyed the rest by the edge of the sword, and +gained a complete victory over them.[*] Among the slain was Cressingham +himself, whose memory was so extremely odious to the Scots, that they +flayed his dead body, and made saddles and girths of his skin.[**] +Warrenne, finding the remainder of his army much dismayed by this +misfortune, was obliged again to evacuate the kingdom, and retire into +England. The Castles of Roxburgh and Berwick, ill fortified and feebly +defended, fell soon after into the hands of the Scots. + +Wallace, universally revered as the deliverer of his country, now +received, from the hands of his followers, the dignity of regent or +guardian under the captive Baliol; and finding that the disorders +of war, as well as the unfavorable seasons, had produced a famine in +Scotland, he urged his army to march into England, to subsist at the +expense of the enemy, and to revenge all past injuries, by retaliating +on that hostile nation. The Scots, who deemed everything possible under +such a leader, joyfully attended his call. Wallace, breaking into the +northern counties during the winter season, laid every place waste with +fire and sword; and after extending on all sides, without opposition, +the fury of his ravages as far as the bishopric of Durham, he returned, +loaded with spoils and crowned with glory, into his own country.[***] +The disorders which at that time prevailed in England, from the +refractory behavior of the constable and mareschal, made it impossible +to collect an army sufficient to resist the enemy, and exposed the +nation to this loss and dishonor. + + * Walsing. p. 73. Heming. vol. i. p. 127, 128, 129. Trivet, + p. 807. + + ** Heming. vol. i. p. 130. + + *** Heming. vol. i. p. 131, 132, 136. + +But Edward, who received in Flanders intelligence of these events, and +had already concluded a truce with France, now hastened over to England, +in certain hopes, by his activity and valor, not only of wiping off this +disgrace, but of recovering the important conquest of Scotland, which +he always regarded as the chief glory and advantage of his reign. He +appeased the murmurs of his people by concessions and promises: +he restored to the citizens of London the election of their own +magistrates, of which they had been bereaved in the latter part of his +father's reign: he ordered strict inquiry to be made concerning the corn +and other goods which had been violently seized before his departure, +as if he intended to pay the value to the owners:[*] and making public +professions of confirming and observing the charters he regained the +confidence of the discontented nobles. Having by all these popular arts +rendered himself entirely master of his people, he collected the whole +military force of England, Wales, and Ireland, and marched with an army +of near a hundred thousand combatants to the northern frontiers. + +Nothing could have enabled the Scots to resist, but for one season, so +mighty a power, except an entire union among themselves; but as they +were deprived of their king, whose personal qualities, even when he was +present, appeared so contemptible, and had left among his subjects no +principle of attachment to him or his family, factions, jealousies, and +animosities unavoidably arose among the great, and distracted all their +councils. The elevation of Wallace, though purchased by so great merit, +and such eminent services, was the object of envy to the nobility, who +repined to see a private gentleman raised above them by his rank, and +still more by his glory and reputation. Wallace himself, sensible of +their jealousy and dreading the ruin of his country from those intestine +discords, voluntarily resigned his authority, and retained only the +command over that body of his followers who, being accustomed to victory +under his standard, refused to follow into the field any other leader. +The chief power devolved on the steward of Scotland, and Cummin of +Badenoch; men of eminent birth, under whom the great chieftains were +more willing to serve in defence of their country. The two Scottish +commanders, collecting their several forces from every quarter, fixed +their station at Falkirk, and purposed there to abide the assault of the +English. Wallace was at the head of a third body, which acted under his +command. The Scottish army placed their pikemen along their front; lined +the intervals between the three bodies with archers; and dreading the +great superiority of the English in cavalry, endeavored to secure their +front by palisadoes, tied together by ropes.[**] In this disposition +they expected the approach of the enemy. + + * Rymer, vol. ii. p. 813. + + ** Walsing. p. 75. Heming, vol. i. p. 163. + +The king, when he arrived in sight of the Scots, was pleased with the +prospect of being able, by one decisive stroke, to determine the fortune +of the war; and dividing his army also into three bodies, he led them +to the attack. The English archers, who began about this time to surpass +those of other nations, first chased the Scottish bowmen off the field; +then pouring in their arrows among the pikemen, who were cooped up +within their intrenchments, threw them into disorder, and rendered the +assault of the English pikemen and cavalry more easy and successful. +The whole Scottish army was broken, and chased off the field with great +slaughter; which the historians, attending more to the exaggerated +relations of the populace than to the probability of things, make amount +to fifty or sixty thousand men.[*] It is only certain, that the Scots +never suffered a greater loss in any action, nor one which seemed to +threaten more inevitable ruin to their country. + + * Walsing. p. 76. T. Wykes, p. 127. Heming vol. i. p. 163, + 164, 165. Trivet (p. 313) says only twenty thousand. M. + West. (p. 431) says forty thousand. + +In this general rout of the army, Wallace's military skill and presence +of mind enabled him to keep his troops entire and retiring behind the +Carron, he marched leisurely along the banks of that small river, which +protected him from the enemy. Young Bruce, who had already given many +proofs of his aspiring genius, but who served hitherto in the English +army, appeared on the opposite banks, and distinguishing the Scottish +chief, as well by his majestic port as by the intrepid activity of his +behavior, called out to him, and desired a short conference. He here +represented to Wallace the fruitless and ruinous enterprise in which he +was engaged; and endeavored to bend his inflexible spirit to submission +under superior power and superior fortune: he insisted on the unequal +contest between a weak state, deprived of its head and agitated by +intestine discord, and a mighty nation, conducted by the ablest and most +martial monarch of the age, and possessed of every resource either for +protracting the war, or for pushing it with vigor and activity; if the +love of his country were his motive for perseverence, his obstinacy +tended only to prolong her misery; if he carried his views to private +grandeur and ambition, he might reflect that, even if Edward should +withdraw his armies, it appeared from past experience, that so many +haughty nobles, proud of the preeminence of their families, would never +submit to personal merit, whose superiority they were less inclined +to regard as an object of admiration than as a reproach and injury +to themselves. To these exhortations Wallace replied that, if he had +hitherto acted alone, as the champion of his country, it was solely +because no second or competitor, or what he rather wished, no leader, +had yet appeared to place himself in that honorable station: that the +blame lay entirely on the nobility, and chiefly on Bruce himself, who, +uniting personal merit to dignity of family, had deserted the post which +both nature and fortune, by such powerful calls, invited him to assume: +that the Scots, possessed of such a head, would, by their unanimity +and concord, have surmounted the chief difficulty under which they now +labored, and might hope, notwithstanding their present losses, to oppose +successfully all the power and abilities of Edward: that heaven itself +could not set a more glorious prize before the eyes either of virtue or +ambition, than to join in one object, the acquisition of royalty with +the defence of national independence: and that as the interests of his +country, no more than those of a brave man, could never be sincerely +cultivated by a sacrifice of liberty, he himself was determined, as +far as possible, to prolong, not her misery, but her freedom, and was +desirous that his own life, as well as the existence of the nation, +might terminate when they could no otherwise be preserved than by +receiving the chains of a haughty victor. The gallantry of these +sentiments, though delivered by an armed enemy, struck the generous mind +of Bruce: the flame was conveyed from the breast of one hero to that +of another: he repented of his engagements with Edward; and opening +his eyes to the honorable path pointed out to him by Wallace, secretly +determined to seize the first opportunity of embracing the cause, +however desperate, of his oppressed country.[*] + + * This story is told by all the Scotch writers; though it + must be owned that Trivet and Hemingford, authors of good + credit, both agree that Bruce was not at that time in + Edward's army. + +{1299.} The subjection of Scotland, notwithstanding this great victory +of Edward, was not yet entirely completed. The English army, after +reducing the southern provinces, was obliged to retire for want of +provisions; and left the northern counties in the hands of the natives. +The Scots, no less enraged at their present defeat than elated by their +past victories, still maintained the contest for liberty; but being +fully sensible of the great inferiority of their force, they endeavored, +by applications to foreign courts, to procure to themselves some +assistance. The supplications of the Scottish ministers were rejected by +Philip; but were more successful with the court of Rome. + +{1300.} Boniface, pleased with an occasion of exerting his authority, +wrote a letter to Edward, exhorting him to put a stop to his oppressions +in Scotland, and displaying all the proofs, such as they had probably +been furnished him by the Scots themselves, for the ancient independence +of that kingdom.[*] Among other arguments hinted at above, he mentioned +the treaty conducted and finished by Edward himself, for the marriage +of his son with the heiress of Scotland; a treaty which would have been +absurd, had he been superior lord of the kingdom, and had possessed +by the feudal law the right of disposing of his ward in marriage. He +mentioned several other striking facts, which fell within the compass of +Edward's own knowledge particularly that Alexander, when he did homage +to the king, openly and expressly declared in his presence, that he +swore fealty not for his crown, but for the lands which he held in +England: and the pope's letter might have passed for a reasonable one, +had he not subjoined his own claim to be liege lord of Scotland; a claim +which had not once been heard of, but which, with a singular confidence, +he asserted to be full, entire, and derived from the most remote +antiquity. The affirmative style, which had been so successful with +him and his predecessors in spiritual contests, was never before abused +after a more egregious manner in any civil controversy. + +{1301.} The reply which Edward made to Boniface's letter, contains +particulars no less singular and remarkable.[**] He there proves the +superiority of England by historical facts, deduced from the period of +Brutus, the Trojan, who, he said, founded the British monarchy in the +age of Eli and Samuel: he supports his position by all the events which +passed in the island before the arrival of the Romans: and after laying +great stress on the extensive dominions and heroic victories of King +Arthur, he vouchsafes at last to descend to the time of Edward the +Elder, with which, in his speech to the states of Scotland, he had +chosen to begin his claim of superiority. He asserts it to be a fact, +"notorious and confirmed by the records of antiquity," that the English +monarchs had often conferred the kingdom of Scotland on their own +subjects, had dethroned these vassal kings when unfaithful to them; and +had substituted others in their stead. + + * Rymer, vol. ii. p. 844. + + ** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 863. + +He displays with great pomp the full and complete homage which William +had done to Henry II.; without mentioning the formal abolition of that +extorted deed by King Richard, and the renunciation of all future claims +of the same nature. Yet this paper he begins with a solemn appeal to +the Almighty, the searcher of hearts for his own firm persuasion of +the justice of his claim; and no less than a hundred and four barons, +assembled in parliament at Lincoln, concur in maintaining before the +pope, under their seals, the validity of these pretensions.[*] At the +same time, however, they take care to inform Boniface, that, though they +had justified their cause before him, they did not acknowledge him for +their judge: the crown of England was free and sovereign: they had sworn +to maintain all its royal prerogatives, and would never permit the king +himself, were he willing, to relinquish its independency. + + * Rymer, vol. ii. p. 873. Walsing. p. 85. Heming. vol. i. p. + 186. Trivet, p. 330, M. West, p 443. + +{1302.} That neglect, almost total, of truth and justice, which +sovereign states discover in their transactions with each other, is +an evil universal and inveterate; is one great source of the misery +to which the human race is continually exposed; and it may be doubted +whether, in many instances, it be found in the end to contribute to +the interests of those princes themselves, who thus sacrifice their +integrity to their politics. As few monarchs have lain under stronger +temptations to violate the principles of equity than Edward in his +transactions with Scotland, so never were they violated with less +scruple and reserve: yet his advantages were hitherto precarious and +uncertain, and the Scots, once roused to arms and inured to war, began +to appear a formidable enemy, even to this military and ambitious +monarch. They chose John Cummin for their regent; and, not content +with maintaining their independence in the northern parts, they made +incursions into the southern counties, which Edward imagined he had +totally subdued. John de Segrave, whom he had left guardian of Scotland, +led an army to oppose them; and lying at Roslin, near Edinburgh, sent +out his forces in three divisions, to provide themselves with forage and +subsistence from the neighborhood. + +{1303.} One party was suddenly attacked by the regent and Sir Simon +Fraser; and being unprepared, was immediately routed and pursued with +great slaughter. The few that escaped, flying to the second division, +gave warning of the approach of the enemy: the soldiers ran to their +arms; and were immediately led on to take revenge for the death of their +countrymen. The Scots, elated with the advantage already obtained made +a vigorous impression upon them: the English, animated with a thirst of +vengeance, maintained a stout resistance: the victory was long undecided +between them; but at last declared itself entirely in favor of the +former, who broke the English, and chased them to the third division, +now advancing with a hasty march to support their distressed companions. +Many of the Scots had fallen in the two first actions; most of them were +wounded, and all of them extremely fatigued by the long continuance of +the combat: yet were they so transported with success and military rage, +that, having suddenly recovered their order, and arming the followers +of their camp with the spoils of the slaughtered enemy, they drove +with fury upon the ranks of the dismayed English. The favorable +moment decided the battle; which the Scots, had they met with a steady +resistance, were not long able to maintain: the English were chased +off the field: three victories were thus gained in one day;[*] and the +renown of these great exploits, seconded by the favorable dispositions +of the people, soon made the regent master of all the fortresses in the +south; and it became necessary for Edward to begin anew the conquest of +the kingdom. + +The king prepared himself for this enterprise with his usual vigor +and abilities. He assembled both a great fleet and a great army; and +entering the frontiers of Scotland, appeared with a force which the +enemy could not think of resisting in the open field: the English +navy, which sailed along the coast, secured the army from any danger +of famine: Edward's vigilance preserved it from surprises: and by this +prudent disposition they marched victorious from one extremity of +the kingdom to the other, ravaging the open country, reducing all the +castles,[**] and receiving the submissions of all the nobility, even +those of Cummin, the regent. + + * Heming. vol. i. p. 197. + + ** Heming. vol. i. p. 205. the kingdom. Wallace, though he + attended the English army in their march, found but few + opportunities of signalizing that valor which had formerly + made him so terrible to his enemies. + +The most obstinate resistance was made by the Castle of Brechin, +defended by Sir Thomas Maule; and the place opened not its gates, till +the death of the governor, by discouraging the garrison, obliged them to +submit to the fate which had overwhelmed the rest. + +{1304.} Edward, having completed his conquest, which employed him during +the space of near two years, now undertook the more difficult work of +settling the country, of establishing a new form of government, and of +making his acquisition durable to the crown of England. He seems to have +carried matters to extremity against the natives: he abrogated all the +Scottish laws and customs:[*] he endeavored to substitute the English +in their place: he entirely razed or destroyed all the monuments of +antiquity: such records or histories as had escaped his former search +were now burnt or dispersed: and he hastened, by too precipitate steps, +to abolish entirely the Scottish name, and to sink it finally in the +English. + + * Ryley, p. 506. + +{1305.} Edward, however, still deemed his favorite conquest exposed to +some danger so long as Wallace was alive; and being prompted both by +revenge and policy, he employed every art to discover his retreat, +and become master of his person. At last that hardy warrior, who was +determined, amidst the universal slavery of his countrymen, still to +maintain his independency, was betrayed into Edward's hands by Sir John +Monteith, his friend, whom he had made acquainted with the place of his +concealment. The king, whose natural bravery and magnanimity should have +induced him to respect like qualities in an enemy, enraged at some acts +of violence committed by Wallace during the fury of war, resolved to +overawe the Scots by an example of severity: he ordered Wallace to be +carried in chains to London; to be tried as a rebel and traitor, though +he had never made submissions or sworn fealty to England; and to be +executed on Tower Hill. This was the unworthy fate of a hero, who, +through a course of many years, had, with signal conduct, intrepidity, +and perseverance, defended, against a public and oppressive enemy, the +liberties of his native country. + +But the barbarous policy of Edward failed of the purpose to which it +was directed. The Scots, already disgusted at the great innovations +introduced by the sword of a conqueror into their laws and government, +were further enraged at the injustice and cruelty exercised upon +Wallace; and all the envy which, during his lifetime, had attended +that gallant chief, being now buried in his grave, he was universally +regarded as the champion of Scotland and the patron of her expiring +independency. The people, inflamed with resentment, were every where +disposed to rise against the English government; and it was not long ere +a new and more fortunate leader presented himself, who conducted them to +liberty, to victory, and to vengeance. + +{1306.} Robert Bruce, grandson of that Robert who had been one of the +competitors for the crown, had succeeded, by his grandfather's and +father's death, to all their rights; and the demise of John Baliol, +together with the captivity of Edward, eldest son of that prince, seemed +to open a full career to the genius and ambition of this young nobleman. +He saw that the Scots, when the title to their crown had expired in +the males of their ancient royal family, had been divided into parties +nearly equal between the houses of Bruce and Baliol; and that every +incident which had since happened, had tended to wean them from any +attachment to the latter. The slender capacity of John had proved unable +to defend them against their enemies: he had meanly resigned his crown +into the hands of the conqueror: he had, before his deliverance from +captivity, reiterated that resignation in a manner seemingly voluntary; +and had in that deed thrown out many reflections extremely dishonorable +to his ancient subjects, whom he publicly called traitors, ruffians, +and rebels, and with whom, he declared, he was determined to maintain no +further correspondence;[*] he had, during the time of his exile, adhered +strictly to that resolution; and his son, being a prisoner, seemed ill +qualified to revive the rights, now fully abandoned, of his family. + + * Brady's Hist. vol. ii. App. No. 27. + +Bruce therefore hoped that the Scots, so long exposed, from the want of +a leader, to the oppressions of their enemies, would unanimously fly +to his standard, and would seat him on the vacant throne, to which he +brought such plausible pretensions. His aspiring spirit, inflamed by +the fervor of youth, and buoyed up by his natural courage, saw the glory +alone of the enterprise, or regarded the prodigious difficulties which +attended it as the source only of further glory. The miseries and +oppressions which he had beheld his countrymen suffer in their unequal +contest, the repeated defeats and misfortunes which they had undergone, +proved to him so many incentives to bring them relief, and conduct +them to vengeance against the haughty victor. The circumstances which +attended Bruce's first declaration are variously related; but we shall +rather follow the account given by the Scottish historians; not that +their authority is in general anywise comparable to that of the English, +but because they may be supposed sometimes better informed concerning +facts which so nearly interested their own nation. + +Bruce, who had long harbored in his breast the design of freeing his +enslaved country, ventured at last to open his mind to John Cummin, a +powerful nobleman, with whom he lived in strict intimacy. He found his +friend, as he imagined, fully possessed with the same sentiments; and +he needed to employ no arts of persuasion to make him embrace the +resolution of throwing off, on the first favorable opportunity, the +usurped dominion of the English. But on the departure of Bruce, who +attended Edward to London, Cummin, who either had all along dissembled +with him, or began to reflect more coolly in his absence on the +desperate nature of the undertaking, resolved to atone for his crime in +assenting to this rebellion, by the merit of revealing the secret to +the king of England. Edward did not immediately commit Bruce to custody; +because he intended at the same time to seize his three brothers, who +resided in Scotland; and he contented himself with secretly setting +spies upon him, and ordering all his motions to be strictly watched. A +nobleman of Edward's court, Bruce's intimate friend, was apprised of +his danger; but not daring, amidst so many jealous eyes, to hold any +conversation with him, he fell on an expedient to give him warning, that +it was full time he should make his escape. He sent him by his servant +a pair of gilt spurs and a purse of gold, which he pretended to have +borrowed from him; and left it to the sagacity of his friend to discover +the meaning of the present. Bruce immediately contrived the means of his +escape; and as the ground was at that time covered with snow, he had the +precaution, it is said, to order his horses to be shod with their shoes +inverted, that he might deceive those who should track his path over +the open fields or cross roads, through which he purposed to travel. He +arrived in a few days at Dumfries, in Annandale, the chief seat of his +family interest; and he happily found a great number of the Scottish +nobility there assembled, and among the rest, John Cummin, his former +associate. + +The noblemen were astonished at the appearance of Bruce among them; and +still more when he discovered to them the object of his journey. He +told them that he was come to live or die with them in defence of the +liberties of his country, and hoped, with their assistance, to redeem +the Scottish name from all the indignities which it had so long suffered +from the tyranny of their imperious masters: that the sacrifice of the +rights of his family was the first injury which had prepared the way for +their ensuing slavery; and by resuming them, which was his firm purpose, +he opened to them the joyful prospect of recovering from the fraudulent +usurper their ancient and hereditary independence: that all past +misfortunes had proceeded from their disunion; and they would soon +appear no less formidable than of old to their enemies, if they now +deigned to follow into the field their rightful prince, who knew no +medium between death and victory, that their mountains and their valor, +which had, during so many ages, protected their liberty from all the +efforts of the Roman empire, would still be sufficient, were they worthy +of their generous ancestors, to defend them against the utmost violence +of the English tyrant: that it was unbecoming men, born to the most +ancient independence known in Europe, to submit to the will of any +masters; but fatal to receive those who, being irritated by such +persevering resistance, and inflamed with the highest animosity, +would never deem themselves secure in their usurped dominion but +by exterminating all the ancient nobility, and even all the ancient +inhabitants: and that, being reduced to this desperate extremity, it +were better for them at once to perish like brave men, with swords in +their hands, than to dread long, and at last undergo, the fate of the +unfortunate Wallace, whose merits, in the brave and obstinate defence +of his country, were finally rewarded by the hands of an English +executioner. + +The spirit with which this discourse was delivered, the bold sentiments +which it conveyed, the novelty of Bruce's declaration, assisted by the +graces of his youth and manly deportment, made deep impression on the +minds of his audience, and roused all those principles of indignation +and revenge, with which they had so long been secretly actuated. The +Scottish nobles declared their unanimous resolution to use the utmost +efforts in delivering their country from bondage, and to second the +courage of Bruce, in asserting his and their undoubted rights against +their common oppressors. Cummin alone who had secretly taken his +measures with the king, opposed this general determination; and by +representing the great power of England, governed by a prince of such +uncommon vigor and abilities, he endeavored to set before them the +certain destruction which they must expect, if they again violated +their oaths of fealty, and shook off their allegiance to the victorious +Edward.[*] Bruce, already apprised of his treachery, and foreseeing the +certain failure of all his own schemes of ambition and glory from the +opposition of so potent a leader, took immediately his resolution; and +moved partly by resentment, partly by policy, followed Cummin on the +dissolution of the assembly, attacked him in the cloisters of the Gray +Friars, through which he passed, and running him through the body, left +him for dead. Sir Thomas Kirkpatric, one of Bruce's friends, asking him +soon after if the traitor were slain, "I believe so," replied Bruce. +"And is that a matter," cried Kirkpatric, "to be left to conjecture? +I will secure him." Upon which he drew his dagger, ran to Cummin, and +stabbed him to the heart. This deed of Bruce and his associates, which +contains circumstances justly condemned by our present manners, was +regarded in that age as an effort of manly vigor and just policy. The +family of Kirkpatric took for the crest of their arms, which they still +wear, a hand with a bloody dagger; and chose for their motto these +words, "I will secure him;" the expression employed by their ancestor +when he executed that violent action. + + * M. West. p. 453. + +The murder of Cummin affixed the seal to the conspiracy of the Scottish +nobles: they had now no resource left but to shake off the yoke of +England, or to perish in the attempt: the genius of the nation roused +itself from its present dejection: and Bruce, flying to different +quarters, excited his partisans to arms, attacked with success the +dispersed bodies of the English, got possession of many of the castles, +and having made his authority be acknowledged in most parts of the +kingdom, was solemnly crowned and inaugurated in the abbey of Scone by +the bishop of St. Andrews, who had zealously embraced his cause. The +English were again chased out of the kingdom, except such as took +shelter in the fortresses that still remained in their hands; and Edward +found that the Scots, twice conquered in his reign, and often defeated, +must yet be anew subdued. Not discouraged with these unexpected +difficulties, he sent Aymer de Valence with a considerable force into +Scotland, to check the progress of the malecontents; and that nobleman, +falling unexpectedly upon Bruce, at Methven, in Perthshire, threw his +army into such disorder as ended in a total defeat.[*] Bruce fought with +the most heroic courage, was thrice dismounted in the action, and as +often recovered himself; but was at last obliged to yield to superior +fortune, and take shelter, with a few followers, in the Western Isles. +The earl of Athole, Sir Simon Fraser, and Sir Christopher Seton, who had +been taken prisoners, were ordered by Edward to be executed as rebels +and traitors.[**] + + * Walsing. p. 91. Heming. vol. i. p. 222, 223. Trivet, p. + 344. + + ** Heming. vol. i. p. 223. M. West. p. 456. + +{1307.} Many other acts of rigor were exercised by him; and that +prince, vowing revenge against the whole Scottish nation, whom he deemed +incorrigible in their aversion to his government, assembled a great +army, and was preparing to enter the frontiers, secure of success, and +determined to make the defenceless Scots the victims of his severity, +when he unexpectedly sickened and died near Carlisle; enjoining with his +last breath his son and successor to prosecute the enterprise, and +never to desist till he had finally subdued the kingdom of Scotland. He +expired in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and the thirty-fifth of his +reign, hated by his neighbors, but extremely respected and revered by +his own subjects. + +The enterprises finished by this prince, and the projects which he +formed and brought near to a conclusion, were more prudent, more +regularly conducted, and more advantageous to the solid interests of his +kingdom, than those which were undertaken in any reign, either of his +ancestors or his successors. He restored authority to the government, +disordered by the weakness of his father; he maintained the laws against +all the efforts of his turbulent barons; he fully annexed to his crown +the principality of Wales; he took many wise and vigorous measures for +reducing Scotland to a like condition; and though the equity of this +latter enterprise may reasonably be questioned, the circumstances of +the two kingdoms promised such certain success, and the advantage was so +visible of uniting the whole island under one head, that those who give +great indulgence to reasons of state in the measures of princes, will +not be apt to regard this part of his conduct with much severity. But +Edward, however exceptionable his character may appear on the head +of justice, is the model of a politic and warlike king: he possessed +industry, penetration, courage, vigilance, and enterprise: he was frugal +in all expenses that were not necessary; he knew how to open the public +treasures on a proper occasion; he punished criminals with severity; he +was gracious and affable to his servants and courtiers; and being of a +majestic figure, expert in all military exercises, and in the main well +proportioned in his limbs, notwithstanding the great length and the +smallness of his legs, he was as well qualified to captivate the +populace by his exterior appearance, as to gain the approbation of men +of sense by his more solid virtues. + +But the chief advantage which the people of England reaped, and +still continue to reap, from the reign of this great prince, was the +correction, extension, amendment, and establishment of the laws which +Edward maintained in great vigor, and left much improved to posterity; +for the acts of a wise legislator commonly remain, while the acquisition +of a conqueror often perish with him. This merit has justly gained to +Edward the appellation of the English Justinian. Not only the numerous +statutes passed in his reign touch the chief points of jurisprudence, +and, according to Sir Edward Coke,[*] truly deserve the name of +establishments, because they were more constant, standing, and durable +laws than any made since; but the regular order maintained in his +administration gave an opportunity to the common law to refine itself, +and brought the judges to a certainty in their determinations, and the +lawyers to a precision in their pleadings. Sir Matthew Hale has remarked +the sudden improvement of English law during this reign; and ventures +to assert, that till his own time it had never received any considerable +increase.[**] Edward settled the jurisdiction of the several courts; +first established the office of justice of peace; abstained from the +practice, too common before him, of interrupting justice by mandates +from the privy-council;[***] repressed robberies and Edward enacted a +law to this purpose; but it is doubtful whether he ever observed it. We +are sure that scarcely any of his successors did. + + * Institute, p. 156. + + ** History of the English Law, p. 158, 163. + + *** Articuli super Cart. cap. 6., Letters of protection were + the ground of a complaint by the commons in 3, Edward (See + Ryley, p. 525.) This practice is declared illegal. + +The multitude of these disorders[*] encouraged trade, by giving +merchants an easy method of recovering their debts;[**] and, in +short, introduced a new face of things by the vigor and wisdom of his +administration. As law began now to be well established, the abuse +of that blessing began also to be remarked. Instead of their former +associations for robbery and violence, men entered into formal +combinations to support each other in lawsuits, and it was found +requisite to check this iniquity by act of parliament.[***] + +There happened in this reign a considerable alteration in the execution +of the laws: the king abolished the office of chief justiciary, +which, he thought, possessed too much power, and was dangerous to the +crown;[****] he completed the division of the court of exchequer into +four distinct courts, which managed each its several branch, without +dependence on any one magistrate; and as the lawyers afterwards invented +a method, by means of their fictions, of carrying business from one +court to another, the several courts became rivals and checks to each +other; a circumstance which tended much to improve the practice of the +law in England. + + * Statute of Winton. + + ** Statute of Acton Burnel + + *** Statute of Conspirators. + + **** Spel. Gloss, in verbo Justiciarius. + + Gilbert's History of the Exchequer, p. 8: not bound to it by + his tenure; his visible reluctance to confirm the Great + Charter, as if that concession had no validity from the + deeds of his predecessors; the captious clause which he at + last annexed to his confirmation; his procuring of the + pope's dispensation from the oaths which he had taken to + observe that charter; and his levying of talliages at + discretion even after the statute, or rather charter, by + which he had renounced that prerogative; these are so many + demonstrations of his arbitrary disposition, and prove with + what exception and reserve we ought to celebrate his love of + justice. He took care that his subjects should do justice to + each other; but he desired always to have his own hands free + in all his transactions, both with them and with his + neighbors. + +But though Edward appeared thus, throughout his whole reign, a friend +to law and justice, it cannot be said that he was an enemy to arbitrary +power; and in a government more regular and legal than was that of +England in his age, such practices as those which may be remarked in +his administration, would have given sufficient ground of complaint, and +sometimes were even in his age the object of general displeasure. The +violent plunder and banishment of the Jews; the putting of the whole +clergy at once, and by an arbitrary edict, out of the protection of law; +the seizing of all the wool and leather of the kingdom; the heightening +of the impositions on the former valuable commodity; the new and illegal +commission of Trailbaston; the taking of all the money and plate of +monasteries and churches, even before he had any quarrel with the +clergy; the subjecting of every man possessed of twenty pounds a year +to military service, though by the statute of Northampton, passed in the +second of Edward III.; but it still continued, like many other abuses. +There are instances of it so late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth. + +The chief obstacle to the execution of justice in those times was the +power of the great barons; and Edward was perfectly qualified, by +his character and abilities, for keeping these tyrants in awe, +and restraining their illegal practices. This salutary purpose was +accordingly the great object of his attention; yet was he imprudently +led into a measure which tended to increase and confirm their dangerous +authority. He passed a statute which, by allowing them to entail their +estates, made it impracticable to diminish the property of the great +families, and left them every means of increase and acquisition.[*] + + * Brady of Boroughs, p. 25, from the records + +Edward observed a contrary policy with regard to the church: he seems to +have been the first Christian prince that passed a statute of mortmain; +and prevented by law the clergy from making new acquisitions of lands, +which by the ecclesiastical canons they were forever prohibited from +alienating. The opposition between his maxims with regard to the +nobility and to the ecclesiastics, leads us to conjecture, that it was +only by chance he passed the beneficial statute of mortmain, and that +his sole object was to maintain the number of knights' fees, and to +prevent the superiors from being defrauded of the profits of wardship, +marriage, livery, and other emoluments arising from the feudal tenures. +This is indeed, the reason assigned in the statute itself, and appears +to have been his real object in enacting it. The author of the Annals of +Waverley ascribes this act chiefly to the king's anxiety for maintaining +the military force of the kingdom but adds, that he was mistaken in his +purpose; for that the Amalekites were overcome more by the prayers of +Moses than by the sword of the Israelites.[*] The statute of mortmain +was often evaded afterwards by the invention of "uses." + +Edward was active in restraining the usurpations of the church; and +excepting his ardor for crusades, which adhered to him during his +whole life, seems in other respects to have been little infected with +superstition, the vice chiefly of weak minds. But the passion for +crusades was really in that age the passion for glory. As the pope +now felt himself somewhat more restrained in his former practice of +pillaging the several churches in Europe by laying impositions upon +them, he permitted the generals of particular orders, who resided at +Rome, to levy taxes on the convents subjected to their jurisdiction; and +Edward was obliged to enact a law against this new abuse. It was +also become a practice of the court of Rome to provide successors to +benefices before they became vacant: Edward found it likewise necessary +to prevent by law this species of injustice. + +The tribute of one thousand marks a year, to which King John, in doing +homage to the pope, had subjected the kingdom, had been pretty regularly +paid since his time, though the vassalage was constantly denied, and +indeed, for fear of giving offence, had been but little insisted on. The +payment was called by a new name of "census," not by that of tribute. +King Edward seems to have always paid this money with great reluctance; +and he suffered the arrears at one time to run on for six years,[**] at +another for eleven:[***] but as princes in that age stood continually in +need of the pope's good offices, for dispensations of marriage and +for other concessions, the court of Rome always found means, sooner or +later, to catch the money. The levying of first-fruits was also a new +device begun in this reign, by which his holiness thrust his fingers +very frequently into the purses of the faithful; and the king seems to +have unwarily given way to it. + + * Page 234. See also M. West. p. 409. + + ** Rymer, vol. ii p. 77, 107. + + *** Rymer, vol. ii p. 862. + +In the former reign, the taxes had been partly scutages, partly such a +proportional part of the movables as was granted by parliament; in this, +scutages were entirely dropped, and the assessment on movables was the +chief method of taxation. Edward, in his fourth year, had a fifteenth +granted him; in his fifth year, a twelfth; in his eleventh year, a +thirtieth from the laity, a twentieth from the clergy; in his eighteenth +year, a fifteenth; in his twenty-second year, a tenth from the laity, +a sixth from London and other corporate towns, half of their benefices +from the clergy; in his twenty-third year, an eleventh from the barons +and others, a tenth from the clergy, a seventh from the burgesses; in +his twenty fourth year, a twelfth from the barons and others, an eighth +from the burgesses, from the clergy nothing, because of the pope's +inhibition; in his twenty-fifth year, an eighth from the laity, a +tenth from the clergy of Canterbury, a fifth from those of York; in +his twenty-ninth year, a fifteenth from the laity, on account of +his confirming the perambulations of the forests; the clergy granted +nothing; in his thirty-third year, first, a thirtieth from the barons +and others, and a twentieth from the burgesses, then a fifteenth from +all his subjects; in his thirty fourth year, a thirtieth from all his +subjects, for knighting his eldest son. + +These taxes were moderate; but the king had also duties upon exportation +and importation granted him from time to time: the heaviest were +commonly upon wool. Poundage, or a shilling a pound, was not regularly +granted the kings for life till the reign of Henry V. + +In 1296, the famous mercantile society, called the "merchant +adventurers," had its first origin: it was instituted for the +improvement of the woollen manufacture, and the vending of the cloth +abroad, particularly at Antwerp:[*] for the English at this time +scarcely thought of any more distant commerce. + +This king granted a charter or declaration of protection and privileges +to foreign merchants, and also ascertained the customs or duties which +those merchants were in return to pay on merchandise imported and +exported. He promised them security; allowed them a jury on trials, +consisting half of natives, half of foreigners; and appointed them a +justiciary in London for their protection. But notwithstanding this +seeming attention to foreign merchants, Edward did not free them from +the cruel hardship of making one answerable for the debts, and even for +the crimes of another, that came from the same country.[**] + + * Anderson's History of Commerce, vol. i. p. 137. + + ** Anderson's History of Commerce, vol. i. p. 146. + +We read of such practices among the present barbarous nations. The +king also imposed on them a duty of two shillings on each tun of wine +imported, over and above the old duty; and forty pence on each sack of +wool exported besides half a mark, the former duty.[*] + +In the year 1303, the exchequer was robbed, and of no less a sum than +one hundred thousand pounds, as is pretended.[**] The abbot and monks of +Westminster were indicted for this robbery, but acquitted. It does +not appear that the king ever discovered the criminals with certainty, +though his indignation fell on the society of Lombard merchants, +particularly the Frescobaldi, very opulent Florentines. + +The pope having in 1307 collected much money in England, the king +enjoined the nuncio not to export it in specie but in bills of +exchange;[***] a proof that commerce was but ill understood at that +time. + + * Rymer, vol. iv. p. 361. It is the charter of Edward I. + which is there confirmed by Edward III. + + ** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 930. + + *** Rymer, vol. ii. p. 1092. + +Edward had by his first wife, Eleanor of Castile, four sons; but Edward, +his heir and successor, was the only one that survived him. She also +bore him eleven daughters, most of whom died in their infancy: of the +surviving, Joan was married first to the earl of Glocester, and after +his death to Ralph de Monthermer: Margaret espoused John, duke of +Brabant: Elizabeth espoused first John, earl of Holland, and afterwards +the earl of Hereford: Mary was a nun at Ambresbury. He had by his second +wife, Margaret of France, two sons and a daughter; Thomas, created earl +of Norfolk and mareschal of England; and Edmund, who was created earl of +Kent by his brother when king. The princess died in her infancy. + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +[Illustration: 1_197_edward2.jpg EDWARD II.] + + + + +EDWARD II. + +{1307.} The prepossessions entertained in favor of young Edward, kept +the English from being fully sensible of the extreme loss which they had +sustained by the death of the great monarch who filled the throne; and +all men hastened with alacrity to take the oath of allegiance to his son +and successor. This prince was in the twenty-third year of his age, was +of an agreeable figure, of a mild and gentle disposition, and having +never discovered a propensity to any dangerous vice, it was natural to +prognosticate tranquillity and happiness from his government. But the +first act of his reign blasted all these hopes, and showed him to be +totally unqualified for that perilous situation in which every +English monarch during those ages had, from the unstable form of the +constitution, and the turbulent dispositions of the people derived from +it, the misfortune to be placed. The indefatigable Robert Bruce, though +his army had been dispersed, and he himself had been obliged to take +shelter in the Western Isles, remained not long inactive; but before +the death of the late king, had sallied from his retreat, had again +collected his followers, had appeared in the field, and had obtained by +surprise an important advantage over Aymer de Valence, who commanded the +English forces.[*] + + * Trivet, p. 346. + +He was now become so considerable as to have afforded the king of +England sufficient glory in subduing him, without incurring any danger +of seeing all those mighty preparations, made by his father, fail in the +enterprise. But Edward, instead of pursuing his advantages, marched but +a little way into Scotland; and having an utter incapacity, and equal +aversion, for all application or serious business, he immediately +returned upon his footsteps, and disbanded his army. His grandees +perceived, from this conduct, that the authority of the crown, fallen +into such feeble hands, was no longer to be dreaded, and that every +insolence might be practised by them with impunity. + +The next measure taken by Edward gave them an inclination to attack +those prerogatives which no longer kept them in awe. There was one Piers +Gavaston, son of a Gascon knight of some distinction, who had honorably +served the late king and who, in reward of his merits, had obtained an +establishment for his son in the family of the prince of Wales. This +young man soon insinuated himself into the affections of his master, +by his agreeable behavior, and by supplying him with all those +innocent though frivolous amusements which suited his capacity and +his inclinations. He was endowed with the utmost elegance of shape +and person, was noted for a fine mien and easy carriage, distinguished +himself in all warlike and genteel exercises, and was celebrated for +those quick sallies of wit in which his countrymen usually excel. By +all these accomplishments, he gained so entire an ascendant over young +Edward, whose heart was strongly disposed to friendship and confidence, +that the late king, apprehensive of the consequences, had banished him +the kingdom, and had, before he died, made his son promise never to +recall him. But no sooner did he find himself master, as he vainly +imagined, than he sent for Gavaston; and even before his arrival +at court, endowed him with the whole earldom of Cornwall, which had +escheated to the crown by the death of Edmond, son of Richard, king of +the Romans.[*] Not content with conferring on him those possessions, +which had sufficed as an appanage for a prince of the blood, he daily +loaded him with new honors and riches; married him to his own niece, +sister of the earl of Glocester; and seemed to enjoy no pleasure in his +royal dignity, but as it enabled him to exalt to the highest splendor +this object of his fond affections. + + * Rymer, vol. iii. p. 1. Heming. vol. i. p. 243. Walsing, p. + 96. + +The haughty barons, offended at the superiority of a minion, whose +birth, though reputable, they despised as much inferior to their own, +concealed not their discontent; and soon found reasons to justify their +animosity in the character and conduct of the man they hated. Instead of +disarming envy by the moderation and modesty of his behavior, Gavaston +displayed his power and influence with the utmost ostentation; and +deemed no circumstance of his good fortune so agreeable as its enabling +him to eclipse and mortify all his rivals. He was vain-glorious, +profuse, rapacious; fond of exterior pomp and appearance, giddy with +prosperity; and as he imagined that his fortune was now as strongly +rooted in the kingdom as his ascendant was uncontrolled over the weak +monarch, he was negligent in engaging partisans, who might support his +sudden and ill-established grandeur. At all tournaments he took delight +in foiling the English nobility by his superior address: in every +conversation he made them the object of his wit and raillery: every day +his enemies multiplied upon him; and nought was wanting but a little +time to cement their union, and render it fatal both to him and to his +master.[*] + +It behoved the king to take a journey to France, both in order to do +homage for the duchy of Guienne, and to espouse the Princess Isabella, +to whom he had long been affianced, though unexpected accidents had +hitherto retarded the completion of the marriage.[**] Edward left +Gavaston guardian of the realm,[***] with more ample powers than had +usually been conferred;[****] and, on his return with his young queen, +renewed all the proofs of that fond attachment to the favorite of which +every one so loudly complained. This princess was of an imperious and +intriguing spirit; and finding that her husband's capacity required, +as his temper inclined, him to be governed, she thought herself best +entitled, on every account, to perform the office, and she contracted +a mortal hatred against the person who had disappointed her in these +expectations. She was well pleased, therefore, to see a combination of +the nobility forming against Gavaston, who, sensible of her hatred, had +wantonly provoked her by new insults and injuries. + + * T. de la More, p. 593; Walsing. p. 97. + + ** T. de la More, p. 593. Trivet, Cont. p. 3. + + *** Rymer vol. iii. p. 47. Ypod. Neust. p. 499. + + **** Brady's App. No. 49. + +{1308.} Thomas, earl of Lancaster, cousin-german to the king, and first +prince of the blood, was by far the most opulent and powerful subject in +England, and possessed in his own right, and soon after in that of his +wife, heiress of the family of Lincoln, no less than six earldoms, with +a proportionable estate in land, attended with all the jurisdictions and +power which commonly in that age were annexed to landed property. He was +turbulent and factious in his disposition; mortally hated the favorite, +whose influence over the king exceeded his own; and he soon became the +head of that party among the barons who desired the depression of this +insolent stranger. The confederated nobles bound themselves by oath to +expel Gavaston: both sides began already to put themselves in a warlike +posture: the licentiousness of the age broke out in robberies and other +disorders, the usual prelude of civil war, and the royal authority, +despised in the king's own hands, and hated in those of Gavaston, became +insufficient for the execution of the laws and the maintenance of peace +in the kingdom. A parliament being summoned at Westminster, Lancaster +and his party came thither with an armed retinue; and were there enabled +to impose their own terms on the sovereign. They required the banishment +of Gavaston, imposed an oath on him never to return, and engaged +the bishops, who never failed to interpose in all civil concerns, +to pronounce him excommunicated if he remained any longer in the +kingdom.[*] Edward was obliged to submit;[**] but even in his compliance +gave proofs of his fond attachment to his favorite. Instead of removing +all umbrage by sending him to his own country, as was expected, he +appointed him lord lieutenant of Ireland[***], attended him to Bristol +on his journey thither, and before his departure conferred on him new +lands and riches both in Gascony and England.[****] Gavaston, who did +not want bravery, and possessed talents for war,[*****] acted, during +his government, with vigor against some Irish rebels, whom he subdued. + + * Trivet, Cont. p. 5. + + ** Rymer, vol. iii. p. 80. + + *** Rymer, vol. iii. p. 92. Murimuth, p. 39. + + **** Rymer, vol. iii. p. 87. + + ***** Heming. vol. i. p. 248. T. de la More, p. 593. + +Meanwhile, the king, less shocked with the illegal violence which +had been imposed upon him, than unhappy in the absence of his minion, +employed every expedient to soften the opposition of the barons to +his return; as if success in that point were the chief object of his +government. The high office of hereditary steward was conferred on +Lancaster: his father-in-law, the earl of Lincoln, was bought off by +other concessions: Earl Warrenne was also mollified by civilities, +grants, or promises: the insolence of Gavaston, being no longer before +men's eyes, was less the object of general indignation; and Edward, +deeming matters sufficiently prepared for his purpose, applied to the +court of Rome, and obtained for Gavaston a dispensation from that oath +which the barons had compelled him to take, that he would forever +abjure the realm.[*] He went down to Chester to receive him on his first +landing from Ireland; flew into his arms with transports of joy; and +having obtained the formal consent of the barons in parliament to his +reëstablishment, set no longer any bounds to his extravagant fondness +and affection. Gavaston himself, forgetting his past misfortunes, and +blind to their causes, resumed the same ostentation and insolence, +and became more than ever the object of general detestation among the +nobility. + +The barons first discovered their animosity by absenting themselves from +parliament; and finding that this expedient had not been successful, +they began to think of employing sharper and more effectual remedies. +Though there had scarcely been any national ground of complaint, +except some dissipation of the public treasure: though all the acts of +mal-administration objected to the king and his favorite, seemed of a +nature more proper to excite heart-burnings in a ball or assembly, than +commotions in a great kingdom: yet such was the situation of the times, +that the barons were determined, and were able, to make them the reasons +of a total alteration in the constitution and civil government. Having +come to parliament, in defiance of the laws and the king's prohibition, +with a numerous retinue of armed followers, they found themselves +entirely masters; and they presented a petition which was equivalent +to a command, requiring Edward to devolve on a chosen junto the whole +authority, both of the crown and of the parliament. The king was obliged +to sign a commission, empowering the prelates and barons to elect twelve +persons, who should, till the term of Michaelmas in the year following, +have authority to enact ordinances for the government of the kingdom, +and regulation of the king's household; consenting that these ordinances +should, thenceforth and forever have the force of laws; allowing the +ordainers to form associations among themselves and their friends, for +their strict and regular observance; and all this for the greater glory +of God, the security of the church, and the honor and advantage of the +king and kingdom.[**] + + * Rymer, vol. iii. p., 167. + + ** Brady's App. No. 50. Heming. vol. i. p. 247., Walsing. p. + 97.,Ryley, p. 526. + +The barons, in return signed a declaration, in which they acknowledged +that they owed these concessions merely to the king's free grace; +promised that this commission should never be drawn into precedent; +and engaged that the power of the ordainers should expire at the time +appointed.[*] + +{1311.} The chosen junto accordingly framed their ordinances, and +presented them to the king and parliament, for their confirmation in the +ensuing year. Some of these ordinances were laudable, and tended to the +regular execution of justice; such as those requiring sheriffs to be +men of property, abolishing the practice of issuing privy seals for +the suspension of justice, restraining the practice of purveyance, +prohibiting the adulteration and alteration of the coin, excluding +foreigners from the farms of the revenue, ordering all payments to +be regularly made into the exchequer, revoking all late grants of +the crown, and giving the parties damages in the case of vexatious +prosecutions. But what chiefly grieved the king was the ordinance for +the removal of evil counsellors, by which a great number of persons +were by name excluded from every office of power and profit; and Piers +Gavaston himself was forever banished the king's dominions, under the +penalty, in case of disobedience, of being declared a public enemy. +Other persons, more agreeable to the barons, were substituted in all the +offices. And it was ordained that, for the future, all the considerable +dignities in the household, as well as by the law, revenue, and military +governments, should be appointed by the baronage in parliament; and +the power of making war, or assembling his military tenants, should +no longer be vested solely in the king, nor be exercised without the +consent of the nobility. + +Edward, from the same weakness both in his temper and situation which +had engaged him to grant this unlimited commission to the barons, was +led to give a parliamentary sanction to their ordinances; but as a +consequence of the same character, he secretly made a protest against +them, and declared that, since the commission was granted only for the +making of ordinances to the advantage of king and kingdom, such articles +as should be found prejudicial to both, were to be held as not ratified +and confirmed.[**] + + * Brady's App. No. 51. + + ** Ryley's Placit. Parl. p. 530, 541. + +It is no wonder, indeed, that he retained a firm purpose to revoke +ordinances which had been imposed on him by violence, which entirely +annihilated the royal authority, and above all, which deprived him of +the company and society of a person whom, by an unusual infatuation, he +valued above all the world, and above every consideration of interest or +tranquillity. + +As soon, therefore, as Edward, removing to York, had freed himself from +the immediate terror of the barons' power, he invited back Gavaston from +Flanders, which that favorite had made the place of his retreat; and +declaring his banishment to be illegal, and contrary to the laws and +customs of the kingdom,[*] openly reinstated him in his former credit +and authority. + +{1312.} The barons, highly provoked at this disappointment, and +apprehensive of danger to themselves from the declared animosity of so +powerful a minion, saw that either his or their ruin was now inevitable; +and they renewed with redoubled zeal their former confederacies against +him. The earl of Lancaster was a dangerous head of this alliance; Guy, +earl of Warwick, entered into it with a furious and precipitate passion; +Humphrey Bohun, earl of Hereford, the constable, and Aymer de Valence, +earl of Pembroke, brought to it a great accession of power and interest; +even Earl Warrenne deserted the royal cause, which he had hitherto +supported, and was induced to embrace the side of the confederates;[**] +and as Robert de Winchelsey, archbishop of Canterbury, professed +himself of the same party, he determined the body of the clergy, and +consequently the people, to declare against the king and his minion. So +predominant at that time was the power of the great nobility, that the +combination of a few of them was always able to shake the throne; and +such a universal concurrence became irresistible. The earl of Lancaster +suddenly raised an army, and marched to York, where he found the king +already removed to Newcastle:[***] he flew thither in pursuit of him, +and Edward had just time to escape to Tinmouth, where he embarked, +and sailed with Gavaston to Scarborough. He left his favorite in that +fortress, which, had it been properly supplied with provisions, was +deemed impregnable, and he marched forward to York, in hopes of raising +an army which might be able to support him against his enemies. + + * Brady's App. No. 53. Walsing. p. 98. + + ** Trivet, Cont. p. 4. + + *** Walsing. p. 101. + +Pembroke was sent by the confederates to besiege the Castle of +Scarborough, and Gavaston, sensible of the bad condition of his +garrison, was obliged to capitulate, and to surrender himself +prisoner.[*] He stipulated that he should remain in Pembroke's hands for +two months; that endeavors should, during that time, be mutually used +for a general accommodation; that if the terms proposed by the barons +were not accepted, the castle should be restored to him in the same +condition as when he surrendered it; and that the earl of Pembroke +and Henry Piercy should, by contract, pledge all their lands for the +fulfilling of these conditions.[**] Pembroke, now master of the person +of this public enemy, conducted him to the Castle of Dedington, near +Banbury, where, on pretence of other business, he left him, protected +by a feeble guard.[***] Warwick, probably in concert with Pembroke, +attacked the castle: the garrison refused to make any resistance; +Gavaston was yielded up to him, and conducted to Warwick Castle; +the earls of Lancaster, Hereford, and Arundel immediately repaired +thither;[****] and, without any regard either to the laws or the +military capitulation, they ordered the head of the obnoxious favorite +to be struck off by the hands of the executioner.[*****] + +The king had retired northward to Berwick, when he heard of Gavaston's +murder; and his resentment was proportioned to the affection which he +had ever borne him while living. He threatened vengeance on all +the nobility who had been active in that bloody scene; and he made +preparations for war in all parts of England. But being less constant in +his enmities than in his friendships, he soon after hearkened to terms +of accommodation; granted the barons a pardon of all offences; and as +they stipulated to ask him publicly pardon on their knees,[******] he +was so pleased with these vain appearances of submission, that he seemed +to have sincerely forgiven them all past injuries. But as they still +pretended, notwithstanding their lawless conduct, a great anxiety for +the maintenance of law, and required the establishment of their former +ordinances, as a necessary security for that purpose, Edward told them +that he was willing to grant them a free and legal confirmation of such +of those ordinances as were not entirely derogatory to the prerogative +of the crown. This answer was received for the present as satisfactory. +The king's person, after the death of Gavaston, was now become less +obnoxious to the public; and as the ordinances insisted on appeared +to be nearly the same with those which had formerly been extorted from +Henry III. by Mountfort, and which had been attended with so many fatal +consequences, they were, on that account, demanded with less vehemence +by the nobility and people. The minds of all men seemed to be much +appeased; the animosities of faction no longer prevailed; and England, +now united under its head, would henceforth be able, it was hoped, to +take vengeance on all its enemies, particularly on the Scots, whose +progress was the object of general resentment and indignation. + + * Walsing, p. 101. + + ** Rymer, vol ii. p. 324. + + *** T de la More, p. 593. + + **** Dugd. Baron, vol. ii. p. 44. + + ***** Walsing, p. 101. T. de la More, p. 593. Trivet, Cont. p. + 9* + + ****** Ryley, p. 538. Rymer, vol. iii. p. 366. + +Immediately after Edward's retreat from Scotland, Robert Bruce left his +fastnesses, in which he intended to have sheltered his feeble army; and +supplying his defect of strength by superior vigor and abilities, he +made deep impression on all his enemies, foreign and domestic. He chased +Lord Argyle and the chieftain of the Macdowals from their hills, and +made himself entirely master of the high country; he thence invaded +with success the Cummins in the low countries of the north: he took +the castles of Inverness, Forfar, and Brechin; he daily gained some new +accession of territory; and what was a more important acquisition, he +daily reconciled the minds of the nobility to his dominion, and enlisted +under his standard every bold leader, whom he enriched by the spoils +of his enemies. Sir James Douglas, in whom commenced the greatness and +renown of that warlike family, seconded him in all his enterprises: +Edward Bruce, Robert's own brother, distinguished himself by acts of +valor; and the terror of the English power being now abated by the +feeble conduct of the king, even the least sanguine of the Scots began +to entertain hopes of recovering their independence; and the whole +kingdom, except a few fortresses which he had not the means to attack, +had acknowledged the authority of Robert. + +In this situation, Edward had found it necessary to grant a truce to +Scotland; and Robert successfully employed the interval in consolidating +his power, and introducing order into the civil government, disjointed +by a long continuance of wars and factions. The interval was very short; +the truce, ill observed on both sides, was at last openly violated, and +war recommenced with greater fury than ever. Robert, not content with +defending himself, had made successful inroads into England, subsisted +his needy followers by the plunder of that country, and taught them to +despise the military genius of a people who had long been the object of +their terror. Edward at last, roused from his lethargy, had marched an +army into Scotland, and Robert, determined not to risk too much against +an enemy so much superior, retired again into the mountains. The king +advanced beyond Edinburgh; but being destitute of provisions, and being +ill supported by the English nobility, who were then employed in framing +their ordinances, he was soon obliged to retreat, without gaining any +advantage over the enemy. But the appearing union of all the parties in +England, after the death of Gavaston, seemed to restore that kingdom to +its native force, opened again the prospect of reducing Scotland, and +promised a happy conclusion to a war, in which both the interests and +passions of the nation were so deeply engaged. + +{1314.} Edward assembled forces from all quarters, with a view of +finishing at one blow this important enterprise. He summoned the most +warlike of his vassals from Gascony; he enlisted troops from Flanders +and other foreign countries; he invited over great numbers of the +disorderly Irish as to a certain prey; he joined to them a body of the +Welsh, who were actuated by like motives; and, assembling the whole +military force of England, he marched to the frontiers with an army +which, according to the Scotch writers, amounted to a hundred thousand +men. + +The army collected by Robert exceeded not thirty thousand combatants; +but being composed of men who had distinguished themselves by many acts +of valor, who were rendered desperate by their situation, and who were +inured to all the varieties of fortune, they might justly, under such +a leader, be deemed formidable to the most numerous and best appointed +armies. The Castle of Stirling, which, with Berwick, was the only +fortress in Scotland that remained in the hands of the English, had long +been besieged by Edward Bruce: Philip de Mowbray, the governor, after +an obstinate defence, was at last obliged to capitulate, and to promise, +that if, before a certain day, which was now approaching, he were not +relieved, he should open his gates to the enemy.[*] + + * Rymer, vol. iii. p. 481. + +Robert, therefore, sensible that here was the ground on which he must +expect the English, chose the field of battle with all the skill and +prudence imaginable, and made the necessary preparations for their +reception. He posted himself at Bannockburn, about two miles from +Stirling, where he had a hill on his right flank, and a morass on his +left; and not content with having taken these precautions to prevent his +being surrounded by the more numerous army of the English, he foresaw +the superior strength of the enemy in cavalry, and made provision +against it. Having a rivulet in front, he commanded deep pits to be dug +along its banks, and sharp stakes to be planted in them; and he ordered +the whole to be carefully covered over with turf.[*] The English arrived +in sight on the evening, and a bloody conflict immediately ensued +between two bodies of cavalry; where Robert, who was at the head of the +Scots, engaged in single combat with Henry de Bohun, a gentleman of the +family of Hereford; and at one stroke cleft his adversary to the chin +with a battle-axe, in sight of the two armies. The English horse fled +with precipitation to their main body. + +The Scots, encouraged by this favorable event, and glorying in the +valor of their prince, prognosticated a happy issue to the combat on the +ensuing day: the English, confident in their numbers, and elated with +former successes, longed for an opportunity of revenge; and the night, +though extremely short in that season and in that climate, appeared +tedious to the impatience of the several combatants. Early in the +morning, Edward drew out his army, and advanced towards the Scots. +The earl of Glocester, his nephew, who commanded the left wing of the +cavalry, impelled by the ardor of youth, rushed on to the attack without +precaution, and fell among the covered pits, which had been prepared +by Bruce for the reception of the enemy.[**] This body of horse was +disordered; Glocester himself was overthrown and slain: Sir James +Douglas, who commanded the Scottish cavalry, gave the enemy no leisure +to rally, but pushed them off the field with considerable loss, and +pursued them in sight of their whole line of infantry. While the English +army were alarmed with this unfortunate beginning of the action, which +commonly proves decisive, they observed an army on the heights towards +the left, which seemed to be marching leisurely in order to surround +them; and they were distracted by their multiplied fears. This was a +number of wagoners and sumpter boys, whom Robert had collected; and +having supplied them with military standards, gave them the appearance +at a distance of a formidable body. + + * T. de la More, p. 594. + + ** T. de la More, p. 594. + +The stratagem took effect: a panic seized the English: they threw down +their arms and fled: they were pursued with great slaughter for the +space of ninety miles, till they reached Berwick: and the Scots, besides +an inestimable booty, took many persons of quality prisoners, and above +four hundred gentlemen, whom Robert treated with great humanity,[*] and +whose ransom was a new accession of wealth to the victorious army. The +king himself narrowly escaped by taking shelter in Dunbar, whose gates +were opened to him by the earl of March; and he thence passed by sea to +Berwick. + + * Ypod. Neust. p. 501. + +Such was the great and decisive battle of Bannockburn, which secured the +independence of Scotland, fixed Bruce on the throne of that kingdom, and +may be deemed the greatest overthrow that the English nation, since the +conquest, has ever received. The number of slain on those occasions is +always uncertain, and is commonly much magnified by the victors: but +this defeat made a deep impression on the mind of the English; and it +was remarked that, for some years, the superiority of numbers could +encourage them to keep the field against the Scots. Robert, in order to +avail himself of his present success, entered England, and ravaged all +the northern counties without opposition: he besieged Carlisle; but that +place was saved by the valor of Sir Andrew Harcla, the governor: he +was more successful against Berwick, which he took by assault: and this +prince, elated by his continued prosperity, now entertained hopes of +making the most important conquests on the English. + +{1315.} He sent over his brother Edward, with an army of six thousand +men, into Ireland; and that nobleman assumed the title of king of that +island; he himself followed soon after with more numerous forces: the +horrible and absurd oppressions which the Irish suffered under the +English government, made them, at first, fly to the standard of the +Scots, whom they regarded as their deliverers: but a grievous famine, +which at that time desolated both Ireland and Britain, reduced the +Scottish army to the greatest extremities; and Robert was obliged to +return, with his forces much diminished, into his own country. His +brother, after having experienced a variety or fortune, was defeated +and slain near Dundalk by the English, commanded by Lord Bermingham: and +these projects, too extensive for the force of the Scottish nation, thus +vanished into smoke. + +Edward, besides suffering those disasters from the invasion of the Scots +and the insurrection of the Irish, was also infested with a rebellion +in Wales; and above all, by the factions of his own nobility, who took +advantage of the public calamities, insulted his fallen fortunes, and +endeavored to establish their own independence on the ruins of the +throne. Lancaster and the barons of his party, who had declined +attending him on his Scottish expedition, no sooner saw him return with +disgrace, than they insisted on the renewal of their ordinances, which, +they still pretended, had validity; and the king's unhappy situation +obliged him to submit to their demands. The ministry was new-modelled by +the direction of Lancaster:[*] that prince was placed at the head of the +council: it was declared, that all the offices should be filled, from +time to time, by the votes of parliament, or rather by the will of the +great barons:[**] and the nation, under this new model of government, +endeavored to put itself in a better posture of defence against the +Scots. But the factious nobles were far from being terrified with the +progress of these public enemies: on the contrary, they founded the +hopes of their own future grandeur on the weakness and distresses of the +crown: Lancaster himself was suspected, with great appearance of reason, +of holding a secret correspondence with the king of Scots: and though he +was intrusted with the command of the English armies, he took care that +every enterprise should be disappointed, and every plan of operations +prove unsuccessful. + + * Ryley, p, 560. Rymer, vol. iii. p. 722. + + ** Brady vol. ii. p. 122, from the records, App. No. 61. + Ryley p. 560. + +All the European kingdoms, especially that of England, were at this time +unacquainted with the office of a prime minister, so well understood +at present in all regular monarchies; and the people could form +no conception of a man who, though still in the rank of a subject, +possessed all the power of a sovereign, eased the prince of the burden +of affairs, supplied his want of experience or capacity, and maintained +all the rights of the crown, without degrading the greatest nobles +by their submission to his temporary authority. Edward was plainly by +nature unfit to hold himself the reins of government: he had no vices, +but was unhappy in a total incapacity for serious business: he was +sensible of his own defects, and necessarily sought to be governed: +yet every favorite whom he successively chose, was regarded as a +fellow-subject exalted above his rank and station: he was the object of +envy to the great nobility: his character and conduct were decried with +the people: his authority over the king and kingdom was considered as a +usurpation: and unless the prince had embraced the dangerous expedient +of devolving his power on the earl of Lancaster, or some mighty baron, +whose family interest was so extensive as to be able alone to maintain +his influence, he could expect no peace or tranquillity upon the throne. + +The king's chief favorite, after the death of Gavaston, was Hugh le +Despenser, or Spenser, a young man of English birth, of high rank, and +of a noble family.[*] He possessed all the exterior accomplishments of +person and address which were fitted to engage the weak mind of Edward; +but was destitute of that moderation and prudence which might have +qualified him to mitigate the envy of the great, and conduct him through +all the perils of that dangerous station to which he was advanced. His +father, who was of the same name, and who, by means of his son, had also +attained great influence over the king, was a nobleman venerable from +his years, respected through all his past life for wisdom, valor, and +integrity, and well fitted by his talents and experience, could affairs +have admitted of any temperament, to have supplied the defects both of +the king and of his minion.[**] But no sooner was Edward's attachment +declared for young Spenser, than the turbulent Lancaster, and most of +the great barons, regarded him as their rival, made him the object of +their animosity, and formed violent plans for his ruin.[***] They first +declared their discontent by withdrawing from parliament; and it was +not long ere they found a pretence for proceeding to greater extremities +against him. + +{1321.} The king, who set no limits to his bounty toward his minions, +had married the younger Spenser to his niece one of the coheirs of the +earl of Glocester, slain at Bannockburn. The favorite, by his succession +to that opulent family, had inherited great possessions in the marches +of Wales,[****] and being desirous of extending still farther his +influence in those quarters, he is accused of having committed injustice +on the barons of Audley and Ammori, who had also married two sisters of +the same family. + + * Dugd. Baron, vol. i. p. 389. + + ** T. de la More, p. 594. + + *** Walsing. p. 113. T. de la More, p. 595. Murimuth, p. 55. + + **** Trivet, Cont. p. 25. + +There was likewise a baron in that neighborhood, called William de +Braouse, lord of Gower, who had made a settlement of his estate on John +de Mowbray, his son-in-law; and in case of failure of that nobleman and +his issue, had substituted the earl of Hereford in the succession to the +barony of Gower. Mowbray, on the decease of his father-in-law, entered +immediately in possession of the estate, without the formality of taking +livery and seizin from the crown; but Spenser, who coveted that barony, +persuaded the king to put in execution the rigor of the feudal law, to +seize Gower as escheated to the crown, and to confer it upon him.[*] +This transaction, which was the proper subject of a lawsuit, immediately +excited a civil war in the kingdom. The earls of Lancaster and Hereford +flew to arms: Audle and Ammori joined them with all their forces: +the two Rogers de Mortimer and Roger de Clifford, with many others, +disgusted for private reasons at the Spensers, brought a considerable +accession to the party; and their army being now formidable, they sent a +message to the king, requiring him immediately to dismiss or confine the +younger Spenser; and menacing him, in case of refusal, with renouncing +their allegiance to him, and taking revenge on that minister by their +own authority. They scarcely waited for an answer; but immediately fell +upon the lands of young Spenser, which they pillaged and destroyed; +murdered his servants, drove off his cattle, and burned his houses.[**] +They thence proceeded to commit like devastations on the estates of +Spenser the father, whose character they had hitherto seemed to respect. +And having drawn and signed a formal association among themselves,[***] +they marched to London with all their forces, stationed themselves in +the neighborhood of that city, and demanded of the king the banishment +of both the Spensers. + + * Monach. Malms. + + ** Murimuth, p. 55. + + *** Tyrrel, vol. ii p. 280, from the register of C. C. + Canterbury. + +These noblemen were then absent; the father abroad, the son at sea; +and both of them employed in different commissions: the king therefore +replied, that his coronation oath, by which he was bound to observe the +laws, restrained him from giving his assent to so illegal a demand, +or condemning noblemen who were accused of no crime, nor had any +opportunity afforded them of making answer.[*] Equity and reason were +but a feeble opposition to men who had arms in their hands, and who, +being already involved in guilt, saw no safety but in success and +victory. They entered London with their troops; and giving in to the +parliament, which was then sitting, a charge against the Spensers, of +which they attempted not to prove one article, they procured, by menaces +and violence, a sentence of attainder and perpetual exile against these +ministers.[**] This sentence was voted by the lay barons alone; for +the commons, though now an estate in parliament, were yet of so little +consideration, that their assent was not demanded; and even the votes +of the prelates were neglected amidst the present disorders. The only +symptom which these turbulent barons gave of their regard to law, +was their requiring from the king an indemnity for their illegal +proceedings;[***] after which they disbanded their army, and separated, +in security, as they imagined, to their several castles. + +This act of violence, in which the king was obliged to acquiesce, +rendered his person and his authority so contemptible, that every one +thought himself entitled to treat him with neglect. The queen, having +occasion soon after to pass by the castle of Leeds in Kent, which +belonged to the lord Badlesmere, desired a night's lodging, but was +refused admittance; and some of her attendants, who presented themselves +at the gate, were killed.[****] The insult upon this princess, who had +always endeavored to live on good terms with the barons, and who joined +them heartily in their hatred of the young Spenser, was an action which +nobody pretended to justify; and the king thought that he might, without +giving general umbrage, assemble an army, and take vengeance on the +offender. No one came to the assistance of Badlesmere; and Edward +prevailed.[*****] + + * Walsing. p. 114. + + ** Tottle's Collect, part ii p. 50. Walsing. p. 114. + + *** Tottle's Collect, part ii. p. 54. Rymer, vol. iii. p. 891. + + **** Rymer, vol. iii. p. 89. Walsing. p. 114, 115. T. de la + Mare, p. 595. Murimuth, p. 56. + + ***** Walsing. p. 115. + +But having now some forces on foot, and having concerted measures with +his friends throughout England, he ventured to take off the mask, to +attack all his enemies, and to recall the two Spensers, whose sentence +he declared illegal, unjust, contrary to the tenor of the Great Charter, +passed without the assent of the prelates, and extorted by violence from +him and the estate of barons.[*] Still the commons were not mentioned by +either party. + +{1322.} The king had now got the start of the barons, an advantage +which, in those times, was commonly decisive, and he hastened with +his army to the marches of Wales, the chief seat of the power of his +enemies, whom he found totally unprepared for resistance. Many of the +barons in those parts endeavored to appease him by submission:[**] +their castles were seized, and their persons committed to custody. But +Lancaster, in order to prevent the total ruin of his party, summoned +together his vassals and retainers; declared his alliance with Scotland, +which had long been suspected; received the promise of a reënforcement +from that country, under the command of Randolf, earl of Murray, and Sir +James Douglas;[***] and being joined by the earl of Hereford, advanced +with all his forces against the king, who had collected an army of +thirty thousand men, and was superior to his enemies. Lancaster posted +himself at Burton upon Trent, and endeavored to defend the passages of +the river:[****] but being disappointed in that plan of operations, this +prince, who had no military genius, and whose personal courage was even +suspected, fled with his army to the north, in expectation of being +there joined by his Scottish allies.[*****] He was pursued by the king, +and his army diminished daily, till he came to Boroughbridge, where he +found Sir Andrew Harcla posted with some forces on the opposite side of +the river, and ready to dispute the passage with him. He was repulsed +in an attempt which he made to force his way: the earl of Hereford was +killed; the whole army of the rebels was disconcerted: Lancaster +himself was become incapable of taking any measures either for flight or +defence; and he was seized without resistance by Harcla, and conducted +to the king.[******] + + * Rymer, vol. iii. p. 907. T. de la More, p. 595. + + ** Walsing. p. 115. Murimuth, p. 57. + + *** Rymer, vol. iii. p. 958. + + **** Walsing. p. 115. + + ***** Ypod. Neust. p. 504. + + ****** T. de la More, p. 596. Walsing. p. 116. + +In those violent times, the laws were so much neglected on both sides, +that, even where they might, without any sensible inconvenience, have +been observed, the conquerors deemed it unnecessary to pay any regard to +them. Lancaster, who was guilty of open rebellion, and was taken in +arms against his sovereign, instead of being tried by the laws of +his country, which pronounced the sentence of death against him, was +condemned by a court-martial,[*] and led to execution. Edward, however, +little vindictive in his natural temper, here indulged his revenge, +and employed against the prisoner the same indignities which had been +exercised by his orders against Gavaston. He was clothed in a mean +attire, placed on a lean jade without a bridle, a hood was put on his +head, and in this posture, attended by the acclamations of the people, +this prince was conducted to an eminence near Pomfret, one of his own +castles, and there beheaded.[**] + + * Tyrrel, vol. 11. p. 291. + + ** Leland's Coll. vol. i. p. 668. + +Thus perished Thomas, earl of Lancaster, prince of the blood, and one of +the most potent barons that had ever been in England. His public conduct +sufficiently discovers the violence and turbulence of his character: +his private deportment appears not to have been more innocent: and his +hypocritical devotion, by which he gained the favor of the monks and +populace, will rather be regarded as an aggravation than an alleviation +of his guilt. Badlesmere, Giffard, Barret, Cheyney, Fleming, and about +eighteen of the most notorious offenders, were afterwards condemned by +a legal trial, and were executed. Many were thrown into prison: others +made their escape beyond sea: some of the king's servants were rewarded +from the forfeitures: Harcla received for his services the earldom of +Carlisle, and a large estate, which he soon after forfeited with his +life, for a treasonable correspondence with the king of Scotland. But +the greater part of those vast escheats were seized by young Spenser, +whose rapacity was insatiable. Many of the barons of the king's party +were disgusted with this partial division of the spoils: the envy +against Spenser rose higher than ever: the usual insolence of his +temper, inflamed by success, impelled him to commit many acts of +violence: the people, who always hated him, made him still more the +object of aversion: all the relations of the attainted barons and +gentlemen secretly vowed revenge: and though tranquillity was in +appearance restored to the kingdom, the general contempt of the king, +and odium against Spenser, bred dangerous humors, the source of future +revolutions and convulsions. + +In this situation, no success could be expected from foreign wars; and +Edward, after making one more fruitless attempt against Scotland, whence +he retreated with dishonor, found it necessary to terminate hostilities +with that kingdom, by a truce of thirteen years.[*] Robert, though his +title to the crown was not acknowledged in the treaty, was satisfied +with insuring his possession of it during so long a time. He had +repelled with gallantry all the attacks of England: he had carried war +both into that kingdom and into Ireland: he had rejected with disdain +the pope's authority, who pretended to impose his commands upon him, +and oblige him to make peace with his enemies: his throne was firmly +established, as well in the affections of his subjects, as by force of +arms: yet there naturally remained some inquietude in his mind, while at +war with a state which, however at present disordered by faction, was +of itself so much an overmatch for him both in riches and in numbers of +people. And this truce was, at the same time, the more seasonable +for England, because the nation was at that juncture threatened with +hostilities from France. + +{1324.} Philip the Fair, king of France, who died in 1315, had left the +crown to his son Lewis Hutin, who, after a short reign, dying without +male issue, was succeeded by Philip the Long, his brother, whose death +soon after made way for Charles the Fair, the youngest brother of that +family. This monarch had some grounds of complaint against the king's +ministers in Guienne; and as there was no common or equitable judge in +that strange species of sovereignty established by the feudal law, he +seemed desirous to take advantage of Edward's weakness, and under that +pretence to confiscate all his foreign dominions.[**] + + * Rymer, vol. iii. p. 1022. Murimuth, p. 60. + + ** Rymer, vol. iv. p. 74, 98. + +After an embassy by the earl of Kent, the king's brother, had been tried +in vain, Queen Isabella obtained permission to go over to Paris, and +endeavor to adjust, in an amicable manner, the difference with her +brother: but while she was making some progress in this negotiation, +Charles started a new pretension, the justice of which could not be +disputed, that Edward himself should appear in his court, and do +homage for the fees which he held in France. But there occurred many +difficulties in complying with this demand. Young Spenser, by whom +the king was implicitly governed, had unavoidably been engaged in many +quarrels with the queen, who aspired to the same influence, and though +that artful princess, on her leaving England, had dissembled her +animosity, Spenser, well acquainted with her secret sentiments, was +unwilling to attend his master to Paris, and appear in a court where her +credit might expose him to insults, if not to danger. He hesitated no +less on allowing the king to make the journey alone; both fearing lest +that easy prince should in his absence fall under other influence, and +foreseeing the perils to which he himself should be exposed if, without +the protection of royal authority, he remained in England where he was +so generally hated. + + +{1325.} While these doubts occasioned delays and difficulties, Isabella +proposed that Edward should resign the dominion of Guienne to his son, +now thirteen years of age; and that the prince should come to Paris, +and do the homage which every vassal owed to his superior lord. This +expedient, which seemed so happily to remove all difficulties, was +immediately embraced: Spenser was charmed with the contrivance: young +Edward was sent to Paris: and the ruin covered under this fatal snare, +was never perceived or suspected by any of the English council. + +The queen, on her arrival in France, had there found a great number of +English fugitives, the remains of the Lancastrian faction; and +their common hatred of Spenser soon begat a secret friendship and +correspondence between them and that princess. Among the rest was +young Roger Mortimer, a potent baron in the Welsh marches, who had been +obliged, with others, to make his submissions to the king, had been +condemned for high treason; but having received a pardon for his life, +was afterwards detained in the Tower, with an intention of rendering his +confinement perpetual, He was so fortunate as to make his escape into +France;[*] and being one of the most considerable persons now remaining +of the party, as well as distinguished by his violent animosity against +Spenser, he was easily admitted to pay his court to Queen Isabella. The +graces of his person and address advanced him quickly in her affections: +he became her confident and counsellor in all her measures; and gaining +ground daily upon her heart, he engaged her to sacrifice at last, to her +passion, all the sentiments of honor and of fidelity to her husband.[**] + + * Rymer, vol. iv. p. 7, 8, 20. T. de la More, p. 596. + Walsing.[** unclear] p. 120. Ypoa. Neust. p. 506. + + ** T. de la More, p. 598. Murimuth, p. 65. + +Hating now the man whom she had injured, and whom she never valued, she +entered ardently into all Mortimer's conspiracies; and having artfully +gotten into her hands the young prince, and heir of the monarchy, she +resolved on the utter ruin of the king, as well as of his favorite. She +engaged her brother to take part in the same criminal purpose: her court +was daily filled with the exiled barons: Mortimer lived in the most +declared intimacy with her: a correspondence was secretly carried on +with the malecontent party in England: and when Edward, informed of +those alarming circumstances, required her speedily to return with +the prince, she publicly replied, that she would never set foot in the +kingdom till Spenser was forever removed from his presence and councils; +a declaration which procured her great popularity in England, and threw +a decent veil over all her treasonable enterprises. + +Edward endeavored to put himself in a posture of defence;[*] but, +besides the difficulties arising from his own indolence and slender +abilities, and the want of authority, which of consequence attended all +his resolutions, it was not easy for him, in the present state of the +kingdom and revenue, to maintain a constant force ready to repel an +invasion, which he knew not at what time or place he had reason to +expect. + + * Rymer, vol. iv. p. 184, 188, 225. + +All his efforts were unequal to the traitorous and hostile conspiracies +which, both at home and abroad, were forming against his authority, +and which were daily penetrating farther even into his own family. His +brother, the earl of Kent, a virtuous but weak prince, who was then at +Paris, was engaged by his sister-in-law, and by the king of France, who +was also his cousin-german, to give countenance to the invasion, +whose sole object, he believed, was the expulsion of the Spensers: he +prevailed on his elder brother, the earl of Norfolk, to enter secretly +into the same design: the earl of Leicester, brother and heir of +the earl of Lancaster, had too many reasons for his hatred of these +ministers to refuse his concurrence. Walter de Reynel, archbishop of +Canterbury, and many of the prelates, expressed their approbation of +the queen's measures: several of the most potent barons, envying the +authority of the favorite, were ready to fly to arms: the minds of +the people, by means of some truths and many calumnies, were strongly +disposed to the same party: and there needed but the appearance of the +queen and prince, with such a body of foreign troops as might protect +her against immediate violence, to turn all this tempest, so artfully +prepared, against the unhappy Edward. + +{1326.} Charles, though he gave countenance and assistance to the +faction, was ashamed openly to support the queen and prince against the +authority of a husband and father; and Isabella was obliged to court the +alliance of some other foreign potentate, from whose dominions she might +set out on her intended enterprise. For this purpose, she affianced +young Edward, whose tender age made him incapable to judge of the +consequences, with Philippa, daughter of the count of Holland and +Hainault;[*] and having, by the open assistance of this prince, and the +secret protection of her brother, enlisted in her service near three +thousand men, she set sail from the harbor of Dort, and landed safely, +and without opposition, on the coast of Suffolk. The earl of Kent was in +her company: two other princes of the blood, the earl of Norfolk and +the earl of Leicester, joined her soon after her landing with all their +followers: three prelates, the bishops of Ely, Lincoln, and Hereford, +brought her both the force of their vassals and the authority of their +character:[**] even Robert de Watteville, who had been sent by the king +to oppose her progress in Suffolk, deserted to her with all his forces. +To render her cause more favorable, she renewed her declaration, that +the solo purpose of her enterprise was to free the king and kingdom +from the tyranny of the Spensers, and of Chancellor Baldoc, their +creature.[*] The populace were allured by her specious pretences: the +barons thought themselves secure against forfeitures by the appearance +of the prince in her army: and a weak, irresolute king, supported by +ministers generally odious, was unable to stem this torrent, which bore +with such irresistible violence against him. + +Edward, after trying in vain to rouse the citizens of London to some +sense of duty,[****] departed for the west, where he hoped to meet with +a better reception; and he had no sooner discovered his weakness by +leaving the city, than the rage of the populace broke out without +control against him and his ministers. + + * T. de la More, p. 598. + + ** Walsing. p. 123. Ypod. Neust, p. 507. T. de la More, p. + 598., Murimuth, p. 66. + + *** Ypod, Neust. p. 508. + + **** Walsing. p. 123. + +They first plundered, then murdered all those who were obnoxious to +them: they seized the bishop of Exeter, a virtuous and loyal prelate, as +he was passing through the streets; and having beheaded him, they threw +his body into the river.[*] They made themselves masters of the Tower +by surprise; then entered into a formal association to put to death, +without mercy, every one who should dare to oppose the enterprise +of Queen Isabella, and of the prince.[**] A like spirit was soon +communicated to all other parts of England; and threw the few servants +of the king, who still entertained thoughts of performing their duty, +into terror and astonishment. + +Edward was hotly pursued to Bristol by the earl of Kent, seconded by the +foreign forces under John de Hainault. He found himself disappointed +in his expectations with regard to the loyalty of those parts; and he +passed over to Wales, where, he flattered himself, his name was more +popular, and which he hoped to find uninfected with the contagion of +general rage which had seized the English.[***] The elder Spenser, +created earl of Winchester, was left governor of the castle of Bristol; +but the garrison mutinied against him, and he was delivered into the +hands of his enemies. This venerable noble, who had nearly reached his +ninetieth year, was instantly without trial, or witness, or accusation, +or answer, condemned to death by the rebellious barons: he was hanged on +a gibbet; his body was cut in pieces, and thrown to the dogs;[****] and +his head was sent to Winchester, the place whose title he bore, and was +there set on a pole and exposed to the insults of the populace. + +The king, disappointed anew in his expectations of succor from the +Welsh, took shipping for Ireland; but being driven back by contrary +winds, he endeavored to conceal himself in the mountains of Wales: he +was soon discovered, was put under the custody of the earl of Leicester, +and was confined in the castle of Kenilworth. The younger Spenser, his +favorite, who also fell into the hands of his enemies, was executed, +like his father, without any appearance of a legal trial.[*****] + + * Walsing. p. 124. T. de la More, p. 599. Murimuth, p. 66. + + ** Walsing. p. 124. + + *** Murimuth, p. 67. + + **** Leland's Coll. vol. ii. p. 673. T. de la More, p. 599. + Walsing. p. 125. M. Froissard, liv. i. chap. 13. + + ***** Walsing. p. 125. Ypod. Neust. p, 508. + +The earl of Arundel, almost the only man of his rank in England who +had maintained his loyalty, was, without any trial, put to death at the +instigation of Mortimer: Baldoc, the chancellor, being a priest, could +not with safety be so suddenly despatched; but being sent to the bishop +of Hereford's palace in London, he was there, as his enemies probably +foresaw, seized by the populace, was thrown into Newgate, and soon after +expired, from the cruel usage which he had received.[*] Even the usual +reverence paid to the sacerdotal character gave way, with every other +consideration, to the present rage of the people. + +{1327.} The queen, to avail herself of the prevailing delusion, +summoned, in the king's name, a parliament at Westminster; where, +together with the power of her army, and the authority of her partisans +among the barons, who were concerned to secure their past treasons by +committing new acts of violence against their sovereign, she expected +to be seconded by the fury of the populace, the most dangerous of all +instruments, and the least answerable for their excesses. A charge was +drawn up against the king, in which, even though it was framed by his +inveterate enemies, nothing but his narrow genius, or his misfortunes, +were objected to him; for the greatest malice found no particular crime +with which it could reproach this unhappy prince. He was accused of +incapacity for government, of wasting his time in idle amusements, of +neglecting public business, of being swayed by evil counsellors, of +having lost, by his misconduct, the kingdom of Scotland, and part of +Guienne; and to swell the charge, even the death of some barons, and the +imprisonment of some prelates, convicted of treason, were laid to his +account.[**] It was in vain, amidst the violence of arms and tumult of +the people, to appeal either to law or to reason: the deposition of the +king, without any appearing opposition, was voted by parliament: the +prince, already declared regent by his party,[***] was placed on the +throne: and a deputation was sent to Edward at Kenilworth, to require +his resignation, which menaces and terror soon extorted from him. + + * Walsing. p. 126. Murimuth, p. 68. + + ** Knyghton, p. 2765, 2766. Brady's App. No. 72. + + *** Rymer, vol. iv. p. 137. Walsing, p. 125. + +But it was impossible that the people, however corrupted by the +barbarity of the times, still further inflamed by faction, could +forever remain insensible to the voice of nature. Here a wife had first +deserted, next invaded, and then dethroned her husband; had made her +minor son an instrument in this unnatural treatment of his father; had, +by lying pretences, seduced the nation into a rebellion against +their sovereign had pushed them into violence and cruelties that had +dishonored them: all those circumstances were so odious in themselves, +and formed such a complicated scene of guilt, that the least reflection +sufficed to open men's eyes, and make them detest this flagrant +infringement of every public and private duty. The suspicions which soon +arose of Isabella's criminal commerce with Mortimer, the proofs which +daily broke out of this part of her guilt, increased the general +abhorrence against her; and her hypocrisy, in publicly bewailing with +tears the king's unhappy fate,[*] was not able to deceive even the most +stupid and most prejudiced of her adherents. In proportion as the queen +became the object of public hatred the dethroned monarch, who had been +the victim of her crimes and her ambition, was regarded with pity, +with friendship, with veneration: and men became sensible, that all his +misconduct, which faction had so much exaggerated, had been owing to the +unavoidable weakness, not to any voluntary depravity, of his character. +The earl of Leicester, now earl of Lancaster, to whose custody he had +been committed, was soon touched with those generous sentiments; +and besides using his prisoner with gentleness and humanity, he was +suspected to have entertained still more honorable intentions in his +favor. The king, therefore, was taken from his hands, and delivered +over to Lord Berkeley, and Mautravers, and Gournay, who were intrusted +alternately, each for a month, with the charge of guarding him. While he +was in the custody of Berkeley, he was still treated with the gentleness +due to his rank and his misfortunes; but when the turn of Mautravers and +Gournay came, every species of indignity was practised against him, as +if their intention had been to break entirely the prince's spirit, and +to employ his sorrows and afflictions, instead of more violent and +more dangerous expedients, for the instruments of his murder.[**] It is +reported, that one day, when Edward was to be shaved, they ordered cold +and dirty water to be brought from the ditch for that purpose; and when +he desired it to be changed, and was still denied his request, he burst +into tears which bedewed his cheeks; and he exclaimed, that in spite of +their insolence, he should be shaved with clean and warm water.[***] + + * Walsing. p. 126 + + ** Anonymi Hist. p. 838. + + *** T. de la Mo'e, p. 602. + +But as this method of laying Edward, in his grave appeared still too +slow to the impatient Mortimer, he secretly sent orders to the two +keepers, who were at his devotion instantly to despatch him: and +these ruffians contrived to make the manner of his death as cruel and +barbarous as possible. Taking advantage of Berkeley's sickness, in whose +custody he then was, and who was thereby incapacitated from attending +his charge,[*] they came to Berkeley Castle, and put themselves in +possession of the king's person. They threw him on a bed; held him +down violently with a table, which they flung over him; thrust into his +fundament a red-hot iron, which they inserted through a horn; and though +the outward marks of violence upon his person were prevented by +this expedient, the horrid deed was discovered to all the guards and +attendants by the screams with which the agonizing king filled the +castle while his bowels were consuming. + +Gournay and Mautravers were held in general detestation, and when the +ensuing revolution in England threw their protectors from power, they +found it necessary to provide for their safety by flying the kingdom. +Gournay was afterwards seized at Marseilles, delivered over to the +seneschal of Guienne, put on board a ship with a view of carrying him to +England; but he was beheaded at sea, by secret orders, as was supposed, +from some nobles and prelates in England, anxious to prevent any +discovery which he might make of his accomplices. Mautravers concealed +himself for several years in Germany; but having found means of +rendering some service to Edward III., he ventured to approach his +person, threw himself on his knees before him, submitted to mercy, and +received a pardon.[**] + + * Cotton's Abridg. p. 8. + + ** Cotton's Abridg. p. 66, 81. Rymer, vol. v. p. 600 + +It is not easy to imagine a man more innocent and inoffensive than the +unhappy king whose tragical death we have related; nor a prince less +fitted for governing that fierce and turbulent people subjected to his +authority. He was obliged to devolve on others the weight of government, +which he had neither ability nor inclination to bear: the same indolence +and want of penetration led him to make choice of ministers and +favorites who were not always the best qualified for the trust committed +to them: the seditious grandees, pleased with his weakness, yet +complaining of it, under pretence of attacking his ministers, insulted +his person and invaded his authority: and the impatient populace, +mistaking the source of their grievances, threw all the blame upon the +king, and increased the public disorders by their faction and violence. +It was in vain to look for protection from the laws, whose voice, always +feeble in those times, was not heard amidst the din of arms--what could +not defend the king, was less able to give shelter to any of the +people: the whole machine of government was torn in pieces with fury and +violence; and men, instead of regretting the manners of their age, and +the form of their constitution, which required the most steady and most +skilful hand to conduct them, imputed all errors to the person who had +the misfortune to be intrusted with the reins of empire. + +But though such mistakes are natural and almost unavoidable while the +events are recent, it is a shameful delusion in modern historians, +to imagine that all the ancient princes who were unfortunate in +their government, were also tyrannical in their conduct; and that the +seditions of the people always proceeded from some invasion of their +privileges by the monarch. Even a great and a good king was not in that +age secure against faction and rebellion, as appears in the case of +Henry II.; but a great king had the best chance, as we learn from the +history of the same period, for quelling and subduing them. Compare +the reigns and characters of Edward I. and II. The father made several +violent attempts against the liberties of the people: his barons opposed +him: he was obliged, at least found it prudent, to submit: but as they +dreaded his valor and abilities, they were content with reasonable +satisfaction, and pushed no farther their advantages against him. The +facility and weakness of the son, not his violence, threw every thing +into confusion: the laws and government were overturned: an attempt +to reinstate them was an unpardonable crime: and no atonement but the +deposition and tragical death of the king himself could give those +barons contentment. It is easy to see, that a constitution which +depended so much on the personal character of the prince, must +necessarily, in many of its parts, be a government of will, not of laws. +But always to throw, without distinction, the blame of all disorders +upon the sovereign would introduce a fatal error in politics, and serve +as a perpetual apology for treason and rebellion: as if the turbulence +of the great, and madness of the people, were not, equally with the +tyranny of princes, evils incident to human society, and no less +carefully to be guarded against in every well-regulated constitution. + +While these abominable scenes passed in England, the theatre of France +was stained with a wickedness equally barbarous, and still more public +and deliberate. The order of knights templars had arisen during the +first fervor of the crusades; and uniting the two qualities the most +popular in that age, devotion and valor, and exercising both in the most +popular of all enterprises, the defence of the Holy Land, they had made +rapid advances in credit and authority, and had acquired, from the +piety of the faithful, ample possessions in every country of Europe, +especially in France. Their great riches, joined to the course of time, +had, by degrees, relaxed the severity of these virtues; and the templars +had, in a great measure, lost that popularity which first raised them to +honor and distinction. Acquainted from experience with the fatigues and +dangers of those fruitless expeditions to the East, they rather chose +to enjoy in ease their opulent revenues in Europe: and being all men +of birth, educated, according to the custom of that age, without any +tincture of letters, they scorned the ignoble occupations of a monastic +life, and passed their time wholly in the fashionable amusements of +hunting, gallantry, and the pleasures of the table. Then rival order, +that of St. John of Jerusalem, whose poverty had as yet preserved +them from like corruptions, still distinguished themselves by their +enterprises against the infidels, and succeeded to all the popularity +which was lost by the indolence and luxury of the templars. But though +these reasons had weakened the foundations of this order, once so +celebrated and revered, the immediate cause of their destruction +proceeded from the cruel and vindictive spirit of Philip the Fair, who, +having entertained a private disgust against some eminent templars, +determined to gratify at once his avidity and revenge, by involving the +whole order in an undistinguished ruin. On no better information +than that of two knights, condemned by their superiors to perpetual +imprisonment for their vices and profligacy, he ordered on one day all +the templars in France to be committed to prison, and imputed to them +such enormous and absurd crimes as are sufficient of themselves +to destroy all the credit of the accusation. Besides their being +universally charged with murder, robbery, and vices the most shocking +to nature, every one, it was pretended, whom they received into their +order, was obliged to renounce his Savior, to spit upon the cross,[*] +and to join to this impiety the superstition of worshipping a gilded +head, which was secretly kept in one of their houses at Marseilles. + + * Rymer, vol. iii. p. 31, 101. + +They also initiated, it was said, every candidate by such infamous rites +as could serve to no other purpose than to degrade the order in his +eyes, and destroy forever the authority of all his superiors over +him.[*] Above a hundred of these unhappy gentlemen were put to the +question, in order to extort from them a confession of their guilt: the +more obstinate perished in the hands of their tormentors: several, to +procure immediate ease in the violence of their agonies, acknowledged +whatever was required of them: forged confessions were imputed to +others: and Philip, as if their guilt were now certain, proceeded to +a confiscation of all their treasures. But no sooner were the templars +relieved from their tortures, than, preferring the most cruel execution +to a life with infamy, they disavowed their confessions, exclaimed +against the forgeries, justified the innocence of their order, and +appealed to all the gallant actions performed by them in ancient or +later times, as a full apology for their conduct. The tyrant, enraged +at this disappointment, and thinking himself now engaged in honor to +proceed to extremities, ordered fifty-four of them, whom he branded as +relapsed heretics, to perish by the punishment of fire in his capital: +great numbers expired, after a like manner, in other parts of the +kingdom: and when he found that the perseverance of these unhappy +victims, in justifying to the last their innocence, had made deep +impression on the spectators, he endeavored to overcome the constancy of +the templars by new inhumanities. The grand master of the order, John de +Molay, and another great officer, brother to the sovereign of Dauphiny, +were conducted to a scaffold erected before the church of Notredame, at +Paris: a full pardon was offered them on the one hand; the fire destined +for their execution was shown them on the other: these gallant nobles +still persisted in the protestations of their own innocence and that +of their order; and were instantly hurried into the flames by the +executioner.[**] + + * It was pretended that he kissed the knights who received + him on the mouth, navel, and breech. Dupuy, p. 15, 6. + Walsing, p. 99. + + ** Vertot, vol. ii. p. 142. + +In all this barbarous injustice, Clement V., who was the creature +of Philip, and then resided in France, fully concurred; and without +examining a witness, or making any inquiry into the truth of facts, he +summarily, by the plenitude of his apostolic power, abolished the whole +order. The templars all over Europe were thrown into prison; their +conduct underwent a strict scrutiny; the power of their enemies still +pursued and oppressed them; but nowhere, except in France, were the +smallest traces of their guilt pretended to be found. England sent an +ample testimony of their piety and morals; but as the order was now +annihilated, the knights were distributed into several convents, and +their possessions were, by command of the pope, transferred to the +order of St. John.[*] We now proceed to relate some other detached +transactions of the present period. + +The kingdom of England was afflicted with a grievous famine during +several years of this reign. Perpetual rains and cold weather not only +destroyed the harvest, but bred a mortality among the cattle, and raised +every kind of food to an enormous price.[**] The parliament in 1315 +endeavored to fix more moderate rates to commodities! not sensible that +such an attempt was impracticable, and that, were it possible to reduce +the price of provisions by any other expedient than by introducing +plenty, nothing could be more pernicious and destructive to the public. +Where the produce of a year, for instance, falls so far short as to +afford full subsistence only for nine months, the only expedient for +making it last all the twelve, is to raise the prices, to put the people +by that means on short allowance, and oblige them to save their food +till a more plentiful season. But in reality the increase of prices is +a necessary consequence of scarcity; and laws, instead of preventing +it, only aggravate the evil, by cramping and restraining commerce. The +parliament accordingly, in the ensuing year, repealed their ordinance, +which they had found useless and burdensome.[***] + +The prices affixed by the parliament are somewhat remarkable: three +pounds twelve shillings of our present money for the best stalled ox; +for other oxen, two pounds eight shillings; a fat hog of two years old, +ten shillings; a fat wether unshorn, a crown; if shorn, three shillings +and sixpence; a fat goose, sevenpence halfpenny; a fat capon, sixpence; +a fat hen, threepence; two chickens, threepence; four pigeons, +threepence; two dozen of eggs, threepence.[****] + + * Rymer, vol. iii. p. 323, 956; vol. iv. p. 47. Ypod. Neust. + p. 606 + + ** Trivet, Cont. p. 17, 18. + + *** Walsing p. 107. + + **** Rot. Parl. 7 Edw. II. n. 35, 36. Ypod. Neust. p. 502. + +If we consider these prices, we shall find that butcher's meat, in this +time of great scarcity, must still have been sold, by the parliamentary +ordinance, three times cheaper than our middling prices at present; +poultry somewhat lower, because, being now considered as a delicacy, it +has risen beyond its proportion. In the country places of Ireland and +Scotland, where delicacies bear no price, poultry is at present as +cheap, if not cheaper than butcher's meat. But the inference I would +draw from the comparison of prices is still more considerable: I suppose +that the rates affixed by parliament were inferior to the usual market +prices in those years of famine and mortality of cattle; and that these +commodities, instead of a third, had really risen to a half of the +present value. But the famine at that time was so consuming, that wheat +was sometimes sold for above four pounds ten shillings a quarter,[*] +usually for three pounds;[**] that is, twice our middling prices: +a certain proof of the wretched state of tillage in those ages. We +formerly found, that the middling price of corn in that period was half +of the present price; while the middling price of cattle was only an +eighth part: we here find the same immense disproportion in years of +scarcity. It may thence be inferred with certainty, that the raising of +corn was a species of manufactory, which few in that age could practise +with advantage: and there is reason to think, that other manufactures, +more refined, were sold even beyond their present prices; at least, +there is a demonstration for it in the reign of Henry VII., from the +rates affixed to scarlet and other broadcloth by act of parliament. +During all those times it was usual for the princes and great nobility +to make settlements of their velvet beds and silken robes, in the same +manner as of their estates and manors.[***] In the list of jewels and +plate which had belonged to the ostentatious Gavaston, and which the +king recovered from the earl of Lancaster after the murder of that +favorite, we find some embroidered girdles, flowered shirts, and silk +waistcoats.[****] + + * Murimuth, p. 48. Walsingham (p. 108) says it rose to six + pounds. + + ** Ypod. Neust. p. 502. Trivet Cont. p. 18. + + *** Dugdale, passim. + + **** Rymer, vol. iii. p. 288 + +It was afterwards one article of accusation against that potent and +opulent earl, when he was put to death, that he had purloined some of +that finery of Gavaston's. The ignorance of those ages in manufactures, +and still more their unskilful husbandry, seem a clear proof that the +country was then far from being populous. + +All trade and manufactures, indeed, were then at a very low ebb. The +only country in the northern parts of Europe, where they seem to have +risen to any tolerable degree of improvement, was Flanders. When Robert, +earl of that country, was applied to by the king, and was desired to +break off commerce with the Scots, whom Edward called his rebels, and +represented as excommunicated on that account by the church, the earl +replied, that Flanders was always considered as common, and free and +open to all nations.[*] + +The petition of the elder Spenser to parliament, complaining of the +devastation committed on his lands by the barons, contains several +particulars which are curious, and discover the manners of the age.[**] + + * Rymer, vol. iii. p. 770. + + ** Brady's Hist. vol. ii. p. 143, from Claus. 15 Edw-II. M, + 14 Dors. in cedula. + +He affirms, that they had ravaged sixty-three manors belonging to him, +and he makes his losses amount to forty-six thousand pounds; that is, to +one hundred and thirty-eight thousand of our present money. Among other +particulars, he enumerates twenty-eight thousand sheep, one thousand +oxen and heifers, twelve hundred cows with their breed for two years, +five hundred and sixty cart-horses, two thousand hogs, together with six +hundred bacons, eighty carcasses of beef, and six hundred muttons in the +larder; ten tuns of cider, arms for two hundred men, and other warlike +engines and provisions. The plain inference is, that the greater part of +Spenser's vast estate, as well as the estates of the other nobility, was +farmed by the landlord himself, managed by his stewards or bailiffs, +and cultivated by his villains. Little or none of it was let on lease to +husbandmen: its produce was consumed in rustic hospitality by the +baron or his officers: a great number of idle retainers, ready for any +disorder or mischief, were maintained by him: all who lived upon his +estate were absolutely at his disposal: instead of applying to courts of +justice, he usually sought redress by open force and violence: the great +nobility were a kind of independent potentates, who, if they submitted +to any regulations at all, were less governed by the municipal law than +by a rude species of the law of nations. The method in which we find +they treated the king's favorites and ministers, is a proof of their +usual way of dealing with each other. A party which complains of the +arbitrary conduct of ministers, ought naturally to affect a great regard +for the laws and constitution, and maintain at least the appearance of +justice in their proceedings; yet those barons, when discontented, came +to parliament with an armed force, constrained the king to assent +to their measures, and without any trial, or witness, or conviction, +passed, from the pretended notoriety of facts, an act of banishment +or attainder against the minister, which, on the first revolution of +fortune, was reversed by like expedients. The parliament during factious +times was nothing but the organ of present power. Though the persons of +whom it was chiefly composed seemed to enjoy great independence, they +really possessed no true liberty; and the security of each individual +among them was not so much derived from the general protection of +law, as from his own private power and that of his confederates. The +authority of the monarch, though far from absolute, was irregular, and +might often reach him: the current of a faction might overwhelm him: +a hundred considerations of benefits and injuries, friendships and +animosities, hopes and fears, were able to influence his conduct; and +amidst these motives, a regard to equity, and law, and justice was +commonly, in those rude ages, of little moment. Nor did any man +entertain thoughts of opposing present power, who did not deem himself +strong enough to dispute the field with it by force, and was not +prepared to give battle to the sovereign or the ruling party. + +Before I conclude this reign, I cannot forbear making another remark, +drawn from the detail of losses given in by the elder Spenser; +particularly the great quantity of salted meat which he had in his +larder, six hundred bacons, eighty carcasses of beef, six hundred +muttons. We may observe, that the outrage of which he complained began +after the third of May, or the eleventh, new style, as we learn from the +same paper. It is easy, therefore, to conjecture what a vast store of +the same kind he must have laid up at the beginning of winter; and we +may draw a new conclusion with regard to the wretched state of ancient +husbandry, which could not provide subsistence for the cattle during +winter, even in such a temperate climate as the south of England; for +Spenser had but one manor so far north as Yorkshire. There being few or +no enclosures, except perhaps for deer, no sown grass, little hay, and +no other resource for feeding cattle, the barons, as well as the people, +were obliged to kill and salt their oxen and sheep in the beginning of +winter, before they became lean upon the common pasture; a precaution +still practised with regard to oxen in the least cultivated parts of +this island. The salting of mutton is a miserable expedient, which has +every where been long disused. From this circumstance, however trivial +in appearance, may be drawn important inferences with regard to the +domestic economy and manner of life in those ages. + +The disorders of the times, from foreign wars and intestine dissensions, +but above all, the cruel famine, which obliged the nobility to dismiss +many of their retainers, increased the number of robbers in the kingdom; +and no place was secure from their incursions.[*] They met in troops +like armies, and over-ran the country. Two cardinals themselves, the +pope's legates, notwithstanding the numerous train which attended +them, were robbed and despoiled of their goods and equipage, when they +travelled on the highway.[**] + +Among the other wild fancies of the age, it was imagined, that the +persons affected with leprosy (a disease at that time very common, +probably from bad diet) had conspired with the Saracens to poison all +the springs and fountains; and men, being glad of any pretence to get +rid of those who were a burden to them, many of those unhappy people +were burnt alive on this chimerical imputation. Several Jews, also, were +punished in their persons, and their goods were confiscated on the same +account.[***] + + * Ypod. Neust. p. 502. Walsing. p. 107. + + ** Ypod Neust. p. 503. T. de la More, p. 594. Trivet, Cont. + p, 22. Murimuth, p. 51. + + *** Ypod. Neust. p. 504. + +Stowe, in his Survey of London, gives us a curious instance of the +hospitality of the ancient nobility in this period; it is taken from +the accounts of the cofferer or steward of Thomas earl of Lancaster, and +contains the expenses of that earl during the year 1313, which was not +a year of famine. For the pantry, buttery, and kitchen, three thousand +four hundred and five pounds. For three hundred and sixty-nine pipes of +red wine, and two of white, one hundred and four pounds, etc. The whole, +seven thousand three hundred and nine pounds; that is, near twenty-two +thousand pounds of our present money; and making allowance for the +cheapness of commodities, near a hundred thousand pounds. + +I have seen a French manuscript, containing accounts of some private +disbursements of this king. There is an article, among others, of a +crown paid to one for making the king laugh. To judge by the events of +the reign, this ought not to have been an easy undertaking. + +This king left four children, two sons and two daughters: Edward, his +eldest son and successor; John, created afterwards earl of Cornwall, who +died young at Perth; Jane, afterwards married to David Bruce, king of +Scotland; and Eleanor, married to Reginald, count of Gueldres. + + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +[Illustration: 1_207_edward3.jpg EDWARD III.] + + + + +EDWARD III. + +{1327.} The violent party which had taken arms against Edward II., and +finally deposed that unfortunate monarch, deemed it requisite for their +future security to pay so far an exterior obeisance to the law, as to +desire a parliamentary indemnity for all their illegal proceedings; on +account of the necessity which, it was pretended, they lay under, of +employing force against the Spensers and other evil counsellors, enemies +of the kingdom. All the attainders, also, which had passed against +the earl of Lancaster and his adherents, when the chance of war turned +against them, were easily reversed during the triumph of their +party;[*] and the Spensers, whose former attainder had been reversed by +parliament, were now again, in this change of fortune, condemned by the +votes of their enemies. + + * Rymer, vol. iv. p. 245, 267, 258, etc. + +A council of regency was likewise appointed by parliament, consisting of +twelve persons; five prelates, the archbishops of Canterbury and York, +the bishops of Winchester, Worcester, and Hereford; and seven lay peers, +the earls of Norfolk, Kent, and Surrey, and the lords Wake, Ingham, +Piercy, and Ross. The earl of Lancaster was appointed guardian and +protector of the king's person. But though it was reasonable to +expect that, as the weakness of the former king had given reins to the +licentiousness of the barons, great domestic tranquillity would not +prevail during the present minority; the first disturbance arose from an +invasion by foreign enemies. + +The king of Scots, declining in years and health, but retaining still +that martial spirit which had raised his nation from the lowest ebb of +fortune, deemed the present opportunity favorable for infesting England. +He first made an attempt on the Castle of Norham, in which he was +disappointed; he then collected an army of twenty-five thousand men on +the frontiers, and having given the command to the earl of Murray and +Lord Douglas, threatened an incursion into the northern counties. The +English regency, after trying in vain every expedient to restore +peace with Scotland, made vigorous preparations for war; and besides +assembling an English army of near sixty thousand men, they invited back +John of Hainault, and some foreign cavalry whom they had dismissed, and +whose discipline and arms had appeared superior to those of their own +country. Young Edward himself, burning with a passion for military fame, +appeared at the head of these numerous forces; and marched from Durham, +the appointed place of rendezvous, in quest of the enemy, who had +already broken into the frontiers, and were laying every thing waste +around them. + +Murray and Douglas were the two most celebrated warriors, bred in +the long hostilities between the Scots and English; and their forces, +trained in the same school, and inured to hardships, fatigues, and +dangers, were perfectly qualified, by their habits and manner of life, +for that desultory and destructive war which they carried into England. +Except a body of about four thousand cavalry, well armed, and fit +to make a steady impression in battle, the rest of the army were +light-armed troops, mounted on small horses, which found subsistence +every where, and carried them with rapid and unexpected marches, whether +they meant to commit depredations on the peaceable inhabitants, or to +attack an armed enemy, or to retreat into their own country. Their whole +equipage consisted of a bag of oatmeal, which, as a supply in case of +necessity, each soldier carried behind him; together with a light plate +of iron, on which he instantly baked the meal into a cake in the open +fields. But his chief subsistence was the cattle which he seized; +and his cookery was as expeditious as all his other operations. After +flaying the animal, he placed the skin, loose and hanging in the form of +a bag, upon some stakes; he poured water into it, kindled a fire below, +and thus made it serve as a caldron for the boiling of his victuals.[*] + + * Froissard, liv. iv. chap. 18. + +The chief difficulty which Edward met with, after composing some +dangerous frays which broke out between his foreign forces and the +English,[*] was to come up with an army so rapid in its marches, and so +little encumbered in its motions. Though the flame and smoke of burning +villages directed him sufficiently to the place of their encampment, he +found, upon hurrying thither, that they had already dislodged; and he +soon discovered, by new marks of devastation, that they had removed to +some distant quarter. After harassing his army during some time in this +fruitless chase, he advanced northwards, and crossed the Tyne, with +a resolution of awaiting them on their return homewards, and taking +vengeance for all their depredations.[**] But that whole country was +already so much wasted by their frequent incursions, that it could +not afford subsistence to his army; and he was obliged again to return +southwards, and change his plan of operations. He had now lost all track +of the enemy; and though he promised the reward of a hundred pounds a +year to any one who should bring him an account of their motions, he +remained inactive some days before he received any intelligence of +them.[***] He found at last that they had fixed their camp on the +southern banks of the Were, as if they intended to await a battle; but +their prudent leaders had chosen the ground with such judgment, that the +English, on their approach, saw it impracticable, without temerity, +to cross the river in their front, and attack them in their present +situation. Edward, impatient for revenge and glory, here sent them a +defiance, and challenged them, if they dared, to meet him in an equal +field, and try the fortune of arms. The bold spirit of Douglas could ill +brook this bravado, and he advised the acceptance of the challenge; but +he was overruled by Murray, who replied to Edward that he never took the +counsel of an enemy in any of his operations. The king, therefore, +kept still his position opposite to the Scots; and daily expected that +necessity would oblige them to change their quarters, and give him an +opportunity of overwhelming them with superior forces. After a few days, +they suddenly decamped, and marched farther up the river; but still +posted themselves in such a manner as to preserve the advantage of the +ground if the enemy should venture to attack them.[****] + + * Froissard, liv. iv. chap. 17. + + ** Froissard, liv. iv. chap. 19. + + *** Rymer, vol. iv. p. 312. Froissard, liv. iv. chap. 19. + + **** Froissard, liv. iv. chap. 19. + +Edward insisted that all hazards should be run, rather than allow these +ravagers to escape with impunity; but Mortimer's authority prevented the +attack, and opposed itself to the valor of the young monarch. While the +armies lay in this position, an incident happened which had well nigh +proved fatal to the English. Douglas, having gotten the word, and +surveyed exactly the situation of the English camp, entered it secretly +in the night-time, with a body of two hundred determined soldiers, and +advanced to the royal tent, with a view of killing or carrying off the +king in the midst of his army. But some of Edward's attendants, awaking +in that critical moment, made resistance; his chaplain and chamberlain +sacrificed their lives for his safety; the king himself, after making +a valorous defence, escaped in the dark; and Douglas, having lost the +greater part of his followers, was glad to make a hasty retreat with the +remainder.[*] Soon after, the Scottish army decamped without noise in +the dead of night; and having thus gotten the start of the English, +arrived without further loss in their own country. Edward, on entering +the place of the Scottish encampment, found only six Englishmen, whom +the enemy, after breaking their legs, had tied to trees, in order to +prevent their carrying any intelligence to their countrymen.[**] + + * Froissard, liv. iv. chap. 19. Heming. p. 265. Ypod. Neust. + p. 509. Knyghton, p 2552. + + ** Froissard, liv. iv. chap. 19. + +The king was highly incensed at the disappointment which he had met +with in his first enterprise, and at the head of so gallant an army. +The symptoms which he had discovered of bravery and spirit gave extreme +satisfaction, and were regarded as sure prognostics of an illustrious +reign: but the general displeasure fell violently on Mortimer, who was +already the object of public odium; and every measure which he pursued +tended to aggravate, beyond all bounds, the hatred of the nation both +against him and Queen Isabella. + +When the council of regency was formed, Mortimer, though in the +plenitude of his power, had taken no care to insure a place in it; but +this semblance of moderation was only a cover to the most iniquitous and +most ambitious projects. He rendered that council entirely useless, by +usurping to himself the whole sovereign authority; he settled on the +queen dowager the greater part of the royal revenues; he never consulted +either the princes of the blood or the nobility in any public measure; +the king himself was so besieged by his creatures, that no access could +be procured to him; and all the envy which had attended Gavaston and +Spenser fell much more deservedly on the new favorite. + +{1328.} Mortimer, sensible of the growing hatred of the people, thought +it requisite on any terms to secure peace abroad; and he entered into +a negotiation with Robert Bruce for that purpose. As the claim of +superiority in England, more than any other cause, had tended to inflame +the animosities between the two nations, Mortimer, besides stipulating a +marriage between Jane, sister of Edward, and David, the son and heir of +Robert, consented to resign absolutely this claim, to give up all the +homages done by the Scottish parliament and nobility, and to acknowledge +Robert as independent sovereign of Scotland.[*] In return for these +advantages, Robert stipulated the payment of thirty thousand marks +to England. This treaty was ratified by parliament;[**] but was +nevertheless the source of great discontent among the people, who, +having entered zealously into the pretensions of Edward I., and deeming +themselves disgraced by the successful resistance made by so inferior a +nation, were disappointed, by this treaty, in all future hopes both of +conquest and of vengeance. + +The princes of the blood, Kent, Norfolk, and Lancaster, were much united +in their councils; and Mortimer entertained great suspicions of their +designs against him. In summoning them to parliament, he strictly +prohibited them, in the king's name, from coming attended by an armed +force; an illegal but usual practice in that age. The three earls, as +they approached to Salisbury, the place appointed for the meeting of +parliament, found, that though they themselves, in obedience to the +king's command, had brought only their usual retinue with them, Mortimer +and his party were attended by all their followers in arms; and they +began with some reason to apprehend a dangerous design against their +persons. They retreated, assembled their retainers, and were returning +with an army to take vengeance on Mortimer; when the weakness of Kent +and Norfolk, who deserted the common cause, obliged Lancaster also to +make his submissions.[***] + + * Rymer, p. 837. Heming. p. 270. Anon. Hist p. 392. + + ** Ypod, Neust. p. 510. + + *** Knyghton, p. 2554. + +The quarrel by the interposition of the prelates, seemed for the present +to be appeased. + +{1329.} But Mortimer, in order to intimidate the princes, determined to +have a victim; and the simplicity, with the good intentions of the earl +of Kent, afforded him soon after an opportunity of practising upon him. +By himself and his emissaries he endeavored to persuade that prince that +his brother, King Edward, was still alive, and detained in some secret +prison in England. The earl, whose remorses for the part which he had +acted against the late king probably inclined him to give credit to +this intelligence, entered into a design of restoring him to liberty, of +reinstating him on the throne, and of making thereby some atonement for +the injuries which he himself had unwarily done him.[*] + +{1330.} After this harmless contrivance had been allowed to proceed a +certain length, the earl was seized by Mortimer, was accused before the +parliament, and condemned, by those slavish though turbulent barons, to +lose his life and fortune. The queen and Mortimer, apprehensive of young +Edward's lenity towards his uncle, hurried on the execution, and the +prisoner was beheaded next day: but so general was the affection borne +him, and such pity prevailed for his unhappy fate, that, though peers +had been easily found to condemn him, it was evening before his enemies +could find an executioner to perform the office.[**] + + * Avesbury, p. 8. Anon. Hist. p. 395. + + ** Heming. p. 271. Ypod. Neust. p. 510. Knyghton, p. 2555. + +The earl of Lancaster, on pretence of his having assented to this +conspiracy, was soon after thrown into prison: many of the prelates and +nobility were prosecuted: Mortimer employed this engine to crush all his +enemies, and to enrich himself and his family by the forfeitures. The +estate of the earl of Kent was seized for his younger son, Geoffrey: +the immense fortunes of the Spensers and their adherents were mostly +converted to his own use: he affected a state and dignity equal or +superior to the royal: his power became formidable to every one: his +illegal practices were daily complained of: and all parties, forgetting +past animosities, conspired in their hatred of Mortimer. + +It was impossible that these abuses could long escape the observation of +a prince endowed with so much spirit and judgment as young Edward, +who, being now in his eighteenth year, and feeling himself capable of +governing, repined at being held in fetters by this insolent minister. +But so much was he surrounded by the emissaries of Mortimer, that it +behoved him to conduct the project for subverting him with the same +secrecy and precaution as if he had been forming a conspiracy against +his sovereign. He communicated his intentions to Lord Mountacute, who +engaged the Lords Molins and Clifford, Sir John Nevil of Hornby, Sir +Edward Bohun, Ufford, and others, to enter into their views; and the +Castle of Nottingham was chosen for the scene of the enterprise. The +queen dowager and Mortimer lodged in that fortress: the king also was +admitted, though with a few only of his attendants: and as the castle +was strictly guarded, the gates locked every evening, and the keys +carried to the queen, it became necessary to communicate the design to +Sir William Eland, the governor, who zealously took part in it. By his +direction, the king's associates were admitted through a subterraneous +passage, which had formerly been contrived for a secret outlet from the +castle, but was now buried in rubbish; and Mortimer, without having it +in his power to make resistance, was suddenly seized in an apartment +adjoining to the queen's.[*] A parliament was immediately summoned for +his condemnation. He was accused before that assembly of having usurped +regal power from the council of regency appointed by parliament; of +having procured the death of the late king; of having deceived the earl +of Kent into a conspiracy to restore that prince; of having solicited +and obtained exorbitant grants of the royal demesnes; of having +dissipated the public treasure; of secreting twenty thousand marks +of the money paid by the king of Scotland; and of other crimes and +misdemeanors.[**] The parliament condemned him from the supposed +notoriety of the facts, without trial, or hearing his answer, or +examining a witness; and he was hanged on a gibbet at the Elmes, in the +neighborhood of London. It is remarkable, that this sentence was near +twenty years after reversed by parliament, in favor of Mortimer's son; +and the reason assigned was, the illegal manner of proceeding.[***] The +principles of law and justice were established in England, not in such a +degree as to prevent any iniquitous sentence against a person obnoxious +to the ruling party; but sufficient, on the return of his credit, or +that of his friends, to serve as a reason or pretence for its reversal. + + * Avesbury, p. 9. + + ** Brady's App. No. 83. Anon. Hist. p. 397, 398. Knyghton, + p. 2556. + + *** Cotton's Abridg. p. 85, 86. + +{1331.} Justice was also executed by a sentence of the house of peers on +some of the inferior criminals, particularly on Simon de Bereford: but +the barons, in that act of jurisdiction, entered a protest, that though +they had tried Bereford, who was none of their peers, they should not +for the future be obliged to receive any such indictment. The queen +was confined to her own house at Risings, near London: her revenue was +reduced to four thousand pounds a year:[*] and though the king, during +the remainder of her life, paid her a decent visit once or twice a year, +she never was able to reinstate herself in any credit or authority. + +Edward, having now taken the reins of government into his own hands, +applied himself, with industry and judgment, to redress all those +grievances which had proceeded either from want of authority in the +crown, or from the late abuses of it. He issued writs to the judges, +enjoining them to administer justice, without paying any regard to +arbitrary orders from the ministers: and as the robbers, thieves, +murderers, and criminals of all kinds, had, during the course of public +convulsions, multiplied to an enormous degree, and were openly protected +by the great barons, who made use of them against their enemies, the +king, after exacting from the peers a solemn promise in parliament, +that they would break off all connections with such malefactors,[**] set +himself in earnest to remedy the evil. Many of these gangs had become so +numerous as to require his own presence to disperse them; and he +exerted both courage and industry in executing this salutary office. The +ministers of justice, from his example, employed the utmost diligence +in discovering, pursuing, and punishing the criminals; and this disorder +was by degrees corrected, at least palliated; the utmost that could be +expected with regard to a disease hitherto inherent in the constitution. + + * Cotton's Abridg. p. 10 + + ** Cotton's Abridg. p. 10. + +In proportion as the government acquired authority at home, it became +formidable to the neighboring nations; and the ambitious spirit of +Edward sought, and soon found, an opportunity of exerting itself. +The wise and valiant Robert Bruce, who had recovered by arms the +independence of his country, and had fixed it by the last treaty of +peace with England, soon after died, and left David his son, a minor, +under the guardianship of Randolph, earl of Murray, the companion of +all his victories. It had been stipulated in this treaty, that both the +Scottish nobility who, before the commencement of the wars enjoyed lands +in England, and the English who inherited estates in Scotland, should be +restored to their respective possessions:[*] but though this article +had been executed pretty regularly on the part of Edward, Robert, who +observed that the estates claimed by Englishmen were much more numerous +and valuable than the others, either thought it dangerous to admit so +many secret enemies into the kingdom, or found it difficult to wrest +from his own followers the possessions bestowed on them as the reward +of former services; and he had protracted the performance of his part of +the stipulation. The English nobles, disappointed in their expectations, +began to think of a remedy; and as their influence was great in the +north, their enmity alone, even though unsupported by the King of +England, became dangerous to the minor prince who succeeded to the +Scottish throne. + +{1332.} Edward Baliol, the son of that John who was crowned king of +Scotland, had been detained some time a prisoner in England after his +father was released; but having also obtained his liberty, he went over +to France, and resided in Normandy, on his patrimonial estate in that +country, without any thoughts of reviving the claims of his family to +the crown of Scotland. His pretensions, however plausible, had been so +strenuously abjured by the Scots and rejected by the English, that he +was universally regarded as a private person; and he had been thrown +into prison on account of some private offence of which he was accused. +Lord Beaumont, a great English baron, who, in the right of his wife, +claimed the earldom of Buchan in Scotland,[**] found him in this +situation; and deeming him a proper instrument for his purpose, +made such interest with the king of France, who was not aware of the +consequences, that he recovered him his liberty, and brought him over +with him to England. + + * Rymer, vol. iv. p. 384. + + ** Rymer, vol. iv. p. 251. + +The injured nobles, possessed of such a head, began to think of +vindicating their rights by force of arms; and they applied to Edward +for his concurrence and assistance. But there were several reasons which +deterred the king from openly avowing their enterprise. In his treaty +with Scotland he had entered into a bond of twenty thousand pounds, +payable to the pope, if within four years he violated the peace; and as +the term was not yet elapsed, he dreaded the exacting of that penalty by +the sovereign pontiff, who possessed so many means of forcing princes to +make payment. He was also afraid that violence and injustice would every +where be imputed to him, if he attacked with superior force a minor +king, and a brother-in-law, whose independent title had so lately been +acknowledged by a solemn treaty. And as the regent of Scotland, on every +demand which had been made of restitution to the English barons, had +always confessed the justice of their claim, and had only given an +evasive answer, grounded on plausible pretences, Edward resolved not to +proceed by open violence, but to employ like artifices against him. He +secretly encouraged Baliol in his enterprise; connived at his assembling +forces in the north; and gave countenance to the nobles who were +disposed to join in the attempt. A force of near two thousand five +hundred men was enlisted under Baliol, by Umfreville, earl of Angus, +the lords Beaumont, Ferrars, Fitz-warin, Wake, Stafford, Talbot, and +Moubray. As these adventurers apprehended that the frontiers would be +strongly armed and guarded, they resolved to make their attack by sea; +and having embarked at Ravenspur, they reached in a few days the coast +of Fife. + +Scotland was at that time in a very different situation from that in +which it had appeared under the victorious Robert. Besides the loss +of that great monarch, whose genius and authority preserved entire the +whole political fabric, and maintained a union among the unruly barons, +Lord Douglas, impatient of rest, had gone over to Spain in a crusade +against the Moors, and had there perished in battle:[*] the earl of +Murray, who had long been declining through age and infirmities, had +lately died, and had been succeeded in the regency by Donald, earl of +Marre, a man of much inferior talents: the military spirit of the Scots, +though still unbroken, was left without a proper guidance and direction: +and a minor king seemed ill qualified to defend an inheritance, which +it had required all the consummate valor and abilities of his father to +acquire and maintain. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 21. + +But as the Scots were apprised of the intended invasion, great numbers, +on the appearance of the English fleet, immediately ran to the shore, +in order to prevent the landing of the enemy. Baliol had valor and +activity, and he drove back the Scots with considerable loss.[*] He +marched westward into the heart of the country; flattering himself +that the ancient partisans of his family would declare for him. But +the fierce animosities which had been kindled between the two nations, +inspiring the Scots with a strong prejudice against a prince supported +by the English, he was regarded as a common enemy; and the regent found +no difficulty in assembling a great army to oppose him. It is pretended +that Marre had no less than forty thousand men under his banners; but +the same hurry and impatience that made him collect a force, which, from +its greatness, was so disproportioned to the occasion, rendered all +his motions unskilful and imprudent. The River Erne ran between the two +armies; and the Scots, confiding in that security, as well as in their +great superiority of numbers, kept no order in their encampment. +Baliol passed the river in the night-time; attacked the unguarded and +undisciplined Scots; threw them into confusion, which was increased by +the darkness, and by their very numbers, to which they trusted; and he +beat them off the field with great slaughter.[**] But in the morning, +when the Scots were at some distance, they were ashamed of having +yielded the victory to so weak a foe, and they hurried back to recover +the honor of the day. Their eager passions urged them precipitately to +battle, without regard to some broken ground which lay between them +and the enemy, and which disordered and confounded their ranks. Baliol +seized the favorable opportunity, advanced his troops upon them, +prevented them from rallying, and anew chased them off the field with +redoubled slaughter. There fell above twelve thousand Scots in this +action; and among these the flower of their nobility; the regent +himself, the earl of Carrick, a natural son of their late king, the +earls of Athole and Monteith, lord Hay of Errol, constable, and the +lords Keith and Lindsey. The loss of the English scarcely exceeded +thirty men; a strong proof, among many others, of the miserable state of +military discipline in those ages.[***] + + * Heming. p. 272. Walsing. p. 131. Knyghton, p. 2560. + + ** Knyghton, p. 2561. + + *** Heming. p. 273. Walsing. p. 131. Knyghton, p. 2561. + +Baliol soon after made himself master of Perth; but still was not able +to bring over any of the Scots to his party. Patric Dunbar, earl of +Marche, and Sir Archibald Douglas, brother to the lord of that name, +appeared at the head of the Scottish armies, which amounted still to +near forty thousand men; and they purposed to reduce Baliol and the +English by famine. They blockaded Perth by land; they collected some +vessels with which they invested it by water; but Baliol's ships, +attacking the Scottish fleet, gained a complete victory, and opened the +communication between Perth and the sea.[*] The Scotch armies were then +obliged to disband for want of pay and subsistence: the nation was in +effect subdued by a handful of men: each nobleman who found himself most +exposed to danger, successively submitted to Baliol: that prince was +crowned at Scone: David, his competitor, was sent over to France with +his betrothed wife Jane, sister to Edward: and the heads of his party +sued to Baliol for a truce, which he granted them, in order to assemble +a parliament in tranquillity, and have his title recognized by the whole +Scottish nation. + + * Heming p. 273. Knyghton, p. 2561. + +{1333.} But Baliol's imprudence, or his necessities, making him dismiss +the greater part of his English followers, he was, notwithstanding the +truce, attacked of a sudden near Annan, by Sir Archibald Douglas and +other chieftains of that party; he was routed; his brother, John Baliol, +was slain; he himself was chased into England in a miserable condition; +and thus lost his kingdom by a revolution as sudden as that by which he +had acquired it. + +While Baliol enjoyed his short-lived and precarious royalty, he had been +sensible that, without the protection of England, it would be impossible +for him to maintain possession of the throne; and he had secretly sent a +message to Edward, offering to acknowledge his superiority, to renew the +homage for his crown, and to espouse the princess Jane, if the pope's +consent could be obtained for dissolving her former marriage, which +was not yet consummated. Edward, ambitious of recovering that important +concession, made by Mortimer during his minority, threw off all +scruples, and willingly accepted the offer; but as the dethroning of +Baliol had rendered this stipulation of no effect, the king prepared to +reinstate him in possession of the crown; an enterprise which appeared +from late experience so easy and so little hazardous. As he possessed +many popular arts, he consulted his parliament on the occasion; but +that assembly, finding the resolution already taken, declined giving any +opinion, and only granted him, in order to support the enterprise, an +aid of a fifteenth from the personal estates of the nobility and gentry, +and a tenth of the movables of boroughs. And they added a petition, that +the king would thenceforth live on his own revenue, without grieving his +subjects by illegal taxes, or by the outrageous seizure of their goods +in the shape of purveyance.[*] + +As the Scots expected that the chief brunt of the war would fall upon +Berwick, Douglas, the regent, threw a strong garrison into that place, +under the command of Sir William Keith, and he himself assembled a great +army on the frontiers, ready to penetrate into England as soon as Edward +should have invested that place. The English army was less numerous, +but better supplied with arms and provisions, and retained in stricter +discipline; and the king, notwithstanding the valiant defence made by +Keith, had in two months reduced the garrison to extremities, and had +obliged them to capitulate: they engaged to surrender, if they were not +relieved within a few days by their countrymen.[**] This intelligence +being conveyed to the Scottish army, which was preparing to invade +Northumberland, changed their plan of operations, and engaged them +to advance towards Berwick, and attempt the relief of that important +fortress. Douglas, who had ever purposed to decline a pitched battle, +in which he was sensible of the enemy's superiority, and who intended +to have drawn out the war by small skirmishes, and by mutually ravaging +each other's country, was forced, by the impatience of his troops, to +put the fate of the kingdom upon the event of one day. He attacked the +English at Halidown Hill, a little north of Berwick; and though his +heavy-armed cavalry dismounted, in order to render the action more +steady and desperate, they were received with such valor by Edward, and +were so galled by the English archers, that they were soon thrown into +disorder and on the fall of Douglas, their general, were totally routed. +The whole army fled in confusion, and the English, but much more the +Irish, gave little quarter in the pursuit: all the nobles of chief +distinction were either slain or taken prisoners: near thirty thousand +of the Scots fell in the action; while the loss of the English amounted +only to one knight, one esquire, and thirteen private soldiers; an +inequality almost incredible.[***] + + * Cotton's Abridg. + + ** Rymer, vol. iv. p. 564, 565, 566 + + *** Heming. p. 275, 276, 277. Knyghton, p. 2559. Otterborne, + p 115. + +After this fatal blow, the Scottish nobles had no other resource than +instant submission; and Edward, leaving a considerable body with Baliol +to complete the conquest of the kingdom, returned with the remainder +of his army to England. Baliol was acknowledged king by a parliament +assembled at Edinburgh;[*] the superiority of England was again +recognized; many of the Scottish nobility swore fealty to Edward; and to +complete the misfortunes of that nation, Baliol ceded Berwick, Dunbar, +Roxburgh, Edinburgh, and all the south-east counties of Scotland, which +were declared to be forever annexed to the English monarchy.[**] + + * Rymer vol. v. p. 590. + + ** Rymer, vol. iv. p. 614. + +{1334.} If Baliol on his first appearance was dreaded by the Scots, as +an instrument employed by England for the subjection of the kingdom, +this deed confirmed all their suspicions, and rendered him the object +of universal hatred. Whatever submissions they might be obliged to +make, they considered him not as their prince, but as the delegate and +confederate of their determined enemy: and neither the manners of the +age, nor the state of Edward's revenue, permitting him to maintain a +standing army in Scotland, the English forces were no sooner withdrawn, +than the Scots revolted from Baliol, and returned to their former +allegiance under Bruce. Sir Andrew Murray, appointed regent by the party +of this latter prince, employed with success his valor and activity in +many small but decisive actions against Baliol; and in a short time had +almost wholly expelled him the kingdom. + +{1335.} Edward was obliged again to assemble an army, and to march into +Scotland: the Scots, taught by experience, withdrew into their hills +and fastnesses: he destroyed the houses and ravaged the estates of those +whom he called rebels: but this confirmed them still further in their +obstinate antipathy to England and to Baliol; and being now rendered +desperate, they were ready to take advantage, on the first opportunity, +of the retreat of their enemy, and they soon reconquered their country +from the English. + +{1336.} Edward made anew his appearance in Scotland with like success: +he found every thing hostile in the kingdom, except the spot on which he +was encamped: and though he marched uncontrolled over the low countries, +the nation itself was farther than ever from being broken and subdued. +Besides being supported by their pride and anger, passions difficult +to tame, they were encouraged, amidst all their calamities, by daily +promises of relief from France; and as war was now likely to break out +between that kingdom and England, they had reason to expect, from this +incident, a great diversion of that force which had so long oppressed +and overwhelmed them. + +{1337.} We now come to a transaction on which depended the most +memorable events, not only of this long and active reign, but of the +whole English and French history during more than a century; and it will +therefore be necessary to give a particular account of the springs and +causes of it. + +It had long been a prevailing opinion, that the crown of France could +never descend to a female; and in order to give more authority to this +maxim, and assign it a determinate origin, it had been usual to derive +it from a clause in the Salian code, the law of an ancient tribe among +the Franks; though that clause, when strictly examined, carries only +the appearance of favoring this principle, and does not really, by the +confession of the best antiquaries, bear the sense commonly imposed +upon it. But though positive law seems wanting among the French for the +exclusion of females, the practice had taken place; and the rule was +established beyond controversy on some ancient as well as some modern +precedents. During the first race of the monarchy, the Franks were so +rude and barbarous a people, that they were incapable of submitting to +a female reign; and in that period of their history there were frequent +instances of kings advanced to royalty, in prejudice of females who +were related to the crown by nearer degrees of consanguinity. These +precedents, joined to like causes, had also established the male +succession in the second race; and though the instances were neither so +frequent nor so certain during that period, the principle of excluding +the female line seems still to have prevailed, and to have directed the +conduct of the nation. During the third race, the crown had descended +from father to son for eleven generations, from Hugh Capet to Lewis +Hutin; and thus, in fact, during the course of nine hundred years, the +French monarchy had always been governed by males, and no female, and +none who founded his title on a female, had ever mounted the throne. +Philip the Fair, father of Lewis Hutin, left three sons, this Lewis, +Philip the Long, and Charles the Fair, and one daughter, Isabella, queen +of England. Lewis Hutin, the eldest, left at his death one daughter, by +Margaret, sister to Eudes, duke of Burgundy; and as his queen was then +pregnant, Philip, his younger brother, was appointed regent, till it +should appear whether the child proved a son or a daughter. The queen +bore a male, who lived only a few days: Philip was proclaimed king: and +as the duke of Burgundy made some opposition, and asserted the rights of +his niece, the states of the kingdom, by a solemn and deliberate decree, +gave her an exclusion, and declared all females forever incapable of +succeeding to the crown of France. Philip died after a short reign, +leaving three daughters; and his brother Charles, without dispute or +controversy, then succeeded to the crown. The reign of Charles was also +short; he left one daughter; but as his queen was pregnant, the next +male heir was appointed regent, with a declared right of succession +if the issue should prove female. This prince was Philip de Valois, +cousin-german to the deceased king; being the son of Charles de Valois, +brother of Philip the Fair. The queen of France was delivered of a +daughter: the regency ended; and Philip de Valois was unanimously placed +on the throne of France. + +The king of England, who was at that time a youth of fifteen years of +age, embraced a notion that he was entitled, in right of his mother, +to the succession of the kingdom, and that the claim of the nephew +was preferable to that of the cousin-german. There could not well be +imagined a notion weaker or worse grounded. The principle of excluding +females was of old an established opinion in France, and had acquired +equal authority with the most express and positive law: it was supported +by ancient precedents: it was confirmed by recent instances, solemnly +and deliberately decided: and what placed it still farther beyond +controversy, if Edward was disposed to question its validity, he thereby +cut off his own pretensions; since the three last kings had all left +daughters, who were still alive, and who stood before him in the order +of succession. He was therefore reduced to assert that, though his +mother Isabella was, on account of her sex, incapable of succeeding, he +himself, who inherited through her, was liable to no such objection, +and might claim by the right of propinquity. But, besides that this +pretension was more favorable to Charles, king of Navarre, descended +from the daughter of Lewis Hutin, it was so contrary to the established +principles of succession in every country of Europe,[*] was so repugnant +to the practice both in private and public inheritances, that nobody in +France thought of Edward's claim. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 4. + +Philip's title was universally recognized;[*] and he never imagined +that he had a competitor, much less so formidable a one as the king of +England. + +But though the youthful and ambitious mind of Edward had rashly +entertained this notion, he did not think proper to insist on his +pretensions, which must have immediately involved him, on very unequal +terms, in a dangerous and implacable war with so powerful a monarch. +Philip was a prince of mature years, of great experience, and at that +time of an established character both for prudence and valor; and by +these circumstances, as well as by the internal union of his people, and +their acquiescence in his undoubted right, he possessed every advantage +above a raw youth, newly raised, by injustice and violence, to the +government of the most intractable and most turbulent subjects in +Europe. But there immediately occurred an incident which required that +Edward should either openly declare his pretensions, or forever renounce +and abjure them. He was summoned to do homage for Guienne: Philip was +preparing to compel him by force of arms: that country was in a very bad +state of defence: and the forfeiture of so rich an inheritance was, by +the feudal law, the immediate consequence of his refusing or declining +to perform the duty of a vassal. Edward therefore thought it prudent +to submit to present necessity: he went over to Amiens, did homage to +Philip, and as there had arisen some controversy concerning the terms +of this submission, he afterwards sent over a formal deed, in which +he acknowledged that he owed liege homage to France;[**] which was in +effect ratifying, and that in the strongest terms, Philip's title to the +crown of that kingdom. His own claim indeed was so unreasonable, and so +thoroughly disavowed by the whole French nation, that to insist on it +was no better than pretending to the violent conquest of the kingdom; +and it is probable that he would never have further thought of it, had +it not been for some incidents which excited an animosity between the +monarchs. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 22. + + ** Rymer, vol. iv. p. 477, 481. Froissard, liv. i. chap. 25. + Anon, Hist. p. 394. Walsing. p. 130. Murimuth, p. 73. 195 + +Robert of Artois was descended from the blood royal of France, was a man +of great character and authority, had espoused Philip's sister, and by +his birth, talents, and credit was entitled to make the highest figure, +and fill the most important offices in the monarchy. This prince had +lost the county of Artois, which he claimed as his birthright, by a +sentence, commonly deemed iniquitous, of Philip the Fair; and he was +seduced to attempt recovering possession by an action so unworthy of his +rank and character as a forgery.[*] The detection of this crime covered +him with shame and confusion: his brother-in-law not only abandoned him, +but prosecuted him with violence: Robert, incapable of bearing disgrace, +left the kingdom, and hid himself in the Low Countries: chased from that +retreat by the authority of Philip, he came over to England; in spite of +the French king's menaces and remonstrances, he was favorably received +by Edward; [**] and was soon admitted into the councils and shared the +confidence of that monarch. Abandoning himself to all the movements of +rage and despair, he endeavored to revive the prepossession entertained +by Edward in favor of his title to the crown of France, and even +flattered him that it was not impossible for a prince of his valor and +abilities to render his claim effectual. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 29. + + ** Rymer, vol. iv. p. 747. Froissard, liv. i. chap. 27. + +The king was the more disposed to hearken to suggestions of this nature, +because he had, in several particulars, found reason to complain of +Philip's conduct with regard to Guienne, and because that prince had +both given protection to the exiled David Bruce, and supported, at +least encouraged, the Scots in their struggles for independence. Thus +resentment gradually filled the breasts of both monarchs, and made them +incapable of hearkening to any terms of accommodation proposed by the +pope, who never ceased interposing his good offices between them. Philip +thought that he should be wanting to the first principles of policy +if he abandoned Scotland: Edward affirmed that he must relinquish all +pretensions to generosity if he withdrew his protection from Robert. +The former, informed of some preparations for hostilities which had been +made by his rival, issued a sentence of felony and attainder against +Robert, and declared that every vassal of the crown, whether within +or without the kingdom, who gave countenance to that traitor, would +be involved in the same sentence; a menace easy to be understood: the +latter, resolute not to yield, endeavored to form alliances in the Low +Countries and on the frontiers of Germany, the only places from which +he either could make an effectual attack upon France, or produce such +a diversion as might save the province of Guienne, which lay so much +exposed to the power of Philip. + +The king began with opening his intentions to the count of Hainault, his +father-in-law; and having engaged him in his interests, he employed the +good offices and councils of that prince in drawing into his alliance +the other sovereigns of that neighborhood. The duke of Brabant was +induced, by his mediation, and by large remittances of money from +England, to promise his concurrence;[*] the archbishop of Cologne, the +duke of Gueldres, the marquis of Juliers, the count of Namur, the lords +of Fauquemont and Baquen, were engaged by like motives to embrace the +English alliance.[**] These sovereign princes could supply, either +from their own states or from the bordering countries, great numbers of +warlike troops; and nought was wanting to make the force on that quarter +very formidable but the accession of Flanders; which Edward procured by +means somewhat extraordinary and unusual. + +As the Flemings were the first people in the northern parts of Europe +that cultivated arts and manufactures, the lower ranks of men among them +had risen to a degree of opulence unknown elsewhere to those of their +station in that barbarous age; had acquired privileges and independence, +and began to emerge from that state of vassalage, or rather of slavery, +into which the common people had been universally thrown by the +feudal institutions. It was probably difficult for them to bring their +sovereign and their nobility to conform themselves to the principles of +law and civil government, so much neglected in every other country: it +was impossible for them to confine themselves within the proper bounds +in their opposition and resentment against any instance of tyranny: they +had risen in tumults: had insulted the nobles: had chased their earl +into France; and delivering themselves over to the guidance of a +seditious leader, had been guilty of all that insolence and disorder +to which the thoughtless and enraged populace are so much inclined, +wherever they are unfortunate enough to be their own masters.[***] + + * Rymer, vol. iv. p. 777. + + ** Froissard, liv. iv. chap. 29, 33, 36. + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 30. Meyerus. + +Their present leader was James d'Arteville, a brewer in Ghent, who +governed them with a more absolute sway than had ever been assumed by +any of their lawful sovereigns: he placed and displaced the magistrates +at pleasure: he was accompanied by a guard, who, on the least signal +from him, instantly assassinated any man that happened to fall under his +displeasure: all the cities of Flanders were full of his spies: and it +was immediate death to give him the smallest umbrage: the few nobles who +remained in the country, lived in continual terror from his violence: he +seized the estates of all those whom he had either banished or murdered; +and bestowing part on their wives and children, converted the remainder +to his own use.* Such were the first effects that Europe saw of popular +violence, after having groaned, during so many ages, under monarchical +and aristocratical tyranny. + +James d'Arteville was the man to whom Edward addressed himself for +bringing over the Flemings to his interests; and that prince, the most +haughty and most aspiring of the age, never courted any ally with so +much assiduity and so many submissions as he employed towards this +seditious and criminal tradesman. D'Arteville, proud of these advances +from the king of England, and sensible that the Flemings were naturally +inclined to maintain connections with the English who furnished them +the materials of their woollen manufactures, the chief source of their +opulence, readily embraced the interests of Edward, and invited him +over into the Low Countries. Edward, before he entered on this great +enterprise, affected to consult his parliament, asked their advice, +and obtained their consent.[*] And the more to strengthen his hands, he +procured from them a grant of twenty thousand sacks of wool; which might +amount to about a hundred thousand pounds: this commodity was a good +instrument to employ with the Flemings; and the price of it with his +German allies. He completed the other necessary sums by loans, by +pawning the crown jewels, by confiscating or rather robbing at once all +the Lombards, who now exercised the invidious trade formerly monopolized +by the Jews, of lending on interest;[**] and being attended by a body +of English forces, and by several of his nobility, he sailed over to +Flanders. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 30. * Cotton's Abridg. + + ** Dugd. Baron, vol. ii. p. 146. + +{1338.} The German princes, in order to justify their unprovoked +hostilities against France, had required the sanction of some legal +authority; and Edward, that he might give them satisfaction on this +head, had applied to Lewis of Bavaria, then emperor, and had been +created by him "vicar of the empire;" an empty title, but which +seemed to give him a right of commanding the service of the princes of +Germany.[*] The Flemings, who were vassals of France, pretending like +scruples with regard to the invasion of their liege lord; Edward, by the +advice of d'Arteville, assumed, in his commissions, the title of king +of France; and, in virtue of this right, claimed their assistance for +dethroning Philip de Valois, the usurper of his kingdom.[**] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 35. + + ** Heming. p. 303. Walsing. p. 143. + +This step, which he feared would destroy all future amity between the +kingdoms, and beget endless and implacable jealousies in France, was not +taken by him without much reluctance and hesitation: and not being in +itself very justifiable, it has in the issue been attended with many +miseries to both kingdoms. From this period we may date the commencement +of that great animosity which the English nation have ever since +borne to the French, which has so visible an influence on all future +transactions, and which has been, and continues to be, the spring of +many rash and precipitate resolutions among them. In all the preceding +reigns since the conquest, the hostilities between the two crowns had +been only casual and temporary; and as they had never been attended +with any bloody or dangerous event, the traces of them were easily +obliterated by the first treaty of pacification. The English nobility +and gentry valued themselves on their French or Norman extraction: +they affected to employ the language of that country in all public +transactions, and even in familiar conversation; and both the English +court and camp being always full of nobles who came from different +provinces of France, the two people were, during some centuries, more +intermingled together than any two distinct nations whom we meet with +in history. But the fatal pretensions of Edward III. dissolved all these +connections, and left the seeds of great animosity in both countries, +especially among the English. For it is remarkable, that this latter +nation, though they were commonly the aggressors, and by their success +and situation were enabled to commit the most cruel injuries on the +other, have always retained a stronger tincture of national antipathy; +nor is their hatred retaliated on them to an equal degree by the French. +That country lies in the middle of Europe, has been successively engaged +in hostilities with all its neighbors, the popular prejudices have been +diverted into many channels, and, among a people of softer manners, they +never rose to a great height against any particular nation. + +Philip made great preparations against the attack from the English, +and such as seemed more than sufficient to secure him from the danger. +Besides the concurrence of all the nobility in his own populous and +warlike kingdom, his foreign alliances were both more cordial and more +powerful than those which were formed by his antagonist. The pope, +who, at this time, lived in Avignon, was dependent on France; and being +disgusted at the connections between Edward and Lewis of Bavaria, whom +he had excommunicated, he embraced with zeal and sincerity the cause of +the French monarch. The king of Navarre, the duke of Brittany, the count +of Bar, were in the same interests; and on the side of Germany, the king +of Bohemia, the Palatine, the dukes of Lorraine and Austria, the bishop +of Liege, the counts of Deuxpont, Vaudemont, and Geneva. The allies of +Edward were in themselves weaker; and having no object but his money, +which began to be exhausted, they were slow in their motions and +irresolute in their measures. + +{1339.} The duke of Brabant, the most powerful among them, seemed even +inclined to withdraw himself wholly from the alliance; and the king was +necessitated both to give the Brabanters new privileges in trade, and to +contract his son Edward with the daughter of that prince, ere he +could bring him to fulfil his engagements. The summer was wasted in +conferences and negotiations before Edward could take the field; and he +was obliged, in order to allure his German allies into his measures, to +pretend that the first attack should be made upon Cambray, a city of the +empire which had been garrisoned by Philip.[*] But finding, upon +trial, the difficulty of the enterprise, he conducted them towards the +frontiers of France; and he there saw, by a sensible proof, the vanity +of his expectations: the count of Namur, and even the count of Hainault, +his brother-in-law (for the old count was dead,) refused to commence +hostilities against their liege lord, and retired with their troops.[**] +So little account did they make of Edward's pretensions to the crown of +France! + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 39. Heming. p. 305. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 29. + +The king, however, entered the enemy's country, and encamped on the +fields of Vironfosse, near Capeile, with an army of near fifty thousand +men, composed almost entirely of foreigners: Philip approached him with +an army of near double the force, composed chiefly of native subjects; +and it was daily expected that a battle would ensue. But the English +monarch was averse to engage against so great a superiority: the French +thought it sufficient if he eluded the attacks of his enemy, without +running any unnecessary hazard. The two armies faced each other for +some days: mutual defiances were sent: and Edward, at last, retired into +Flanders, and disbanded his army.[*] + +Such was the fruitless and almost ridiculous conclusion of Edward's +mighty preparations; and as his measures were the most prudent that +could be embraced in his situation, he might learn from experience in +what a hopeless enterprise he was engaged. His expenses, though they +had led to no end, had been consuming and destructive; he had contracted +near three hundred thousand pounds of debt;[**] he had anticipated all +his revenue; he had pawned every thing of value which belonged either +to himself or his queen; he was obliged in some measure even to pawn +himself to his creditors, by not sailing to England till he obtained +their permission, and by promising on his word of honor to return in +person, if he did not remit their money. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 41, 42, 43. Heming, p. 307. + Walsing p. 143. + + ** Cotton's Abridg. p. 17. + +But he was a prince of too much spirit to be discouraged by the first +difficulties of an undertaking; and he was anxious to retrieve his honor +by more successful and more gallant enterprises. For this purpose +he had, during the course of the campaign, sent orders to summon +a parliament by his son Edward, whom he had left with the title of +guardian, and to demand some supply in his urgent necessities. The +barons seemed inclined to grant his request; but the knights, who often, +at this time, acted as a separate body from the burgesses, made some +scruple of taxing their constituents without their consent; and they +desired the guardian to summon a new parliament, which might be properly +empowered for that purpose. The situation of the king and parliament +was for the time, nearly similar to that which they constantly fell into +about the beginning of the last century; and similar consequences began +visibly to appear. The king, sensible of the frequent demands which he +should be obliged to make on his people, had been anxious to insure to +his friends a seat in the house of commons, and at his instigation the +sheriffs and other placemen had made interest to be elected into that +assembly; an abuse which the knights desired the king to correct by the +tenor of his writ of summons, and which was accordingly remedied. On +the other hand, the knights had professedly annexed conditions to their +intended grant, and required a considerable retrenchment of the royal +prerogatives, particularly with regard to purveyance, and the levying +of the ancient feudal aids for knighting the king's eldest son, +and marrying his eldest daughter. The new parliament, called by the +guardian, retained the same free spirit; and though they offered a large +supply of thirty thousand sacks of wool, no business was concluded; +because the conditions which they annexed appeared too high to be +compensated by a temporary concession. But when Edward himself came over +to England, he summoned another parliament, and he had the interest +to procure a supply on more moderate terms. A confirmation of the two +charters, and of the privileges of boroughs, a pardon for old debts and +trespasses, and a remedy for some abuses in the execution of common law, +were the chief conditions insisted on; and the king, in return for his +concessions on these heads, obtained from the barons and knights an +unusual grant for two years, of the ninth sheaf, lamb, and fleece on +their estates, and from the burgesses a ninth of their movables at their +true value. The whole parliament also granted a duty of forty shillings +on each sack of wool exported, on each three hundred woolfells, and +on each last of leather for the same term of years, but dreading the +arbitrary spirit of the crown, they expressly declared, that this grant +was to continue no longer, and was not to be drawn into precedent. Being +soon after sensible that this supply, though considerable, and very +unusual in that age, would come in slowly, and would not answer the +king's urgent necessities, proceeding both from his debts and his +preparations for war, they agreed that twenty thousand sacks of wool +should immediately be granted him, and their value be deducted from the +ninths which were afterwards to be levied. + +But there appeared at this time another jealousy in the parliament, +which was very reasonable, and was founded on a sentiment that ought +to have engaged them rather to check than support the king in all +those ambitious projects, so little likely to prove successful, and +so dangerous to the nation if they did. Edward, who, before the +commencement of the former campaign, had, in several commissions, +assumed the title of king of France, now more openly, in all public +deeds, gave himself that appellation, and always quartered the arms of +France with those of England in his seals and ensigns. The parliament +thought proper to obviate the consequences of this measure, and to +declare that they owed him no obedience as king of France, and that +the two kingdoms must forever remain distinct and independent.[*] They +undoubtedly foresaw that France, if subdued, would in the end prove +the seat of government; and they deemed this previous protestation +necessary, in order to prevent their becoming a province to that +monarchy: a frail security if the event had really taken place! + + * 14 Edward III. + +{1340.} As Philip was apprised, from the preparations which were making +both in England and the Low Countries, that he must expect another +invasion from Edward, he fitted out a great fleet of four hundred +vessels, manned with forty thousand men: and he stationed them off +Sluise, with a view of intercepting the king in his passage. The English +navy was much inferior in number, consisting only of two hundred and +forty sail; but whether it were by the superior abilities of Edward, or +the greater dexterity of his seamen, they gained the wind of the enemy, +and had the sun in their backs: and with these advantages began the +action. The battle was fierce and bloody: the English archers, whose +force and address were now much celebrated, galled the French on their +approach: and when the ships grappled together, and the contest became +more steady and furious, the example of the king, and of so many gallant +nobles who accompanied him, animated to such a degree the seamen and +soldiery, that they maintained every where a superiority over the enemy. +The French also had been guilty of some imprudence in taking their +station so near the coast of Flanders, and choosing that place for the +scene of action. The Flemings, descrying the battle, hurried out of +their harbors, and brought a reënforcement to the English; which, coming +unexpectedly, had a greater effect than in proportion to its power and +numbers. Two hundred and thirty French ships were taken: thirty thousand +Frenchmen were killed, with two of their admirals: the loss of the +English was inconsiderable, compared to the greatness and importance of +the victory.[*] None of Philip's courtiers, it is said, dared to inform +him of the event; till his fool or jester gave him a hint, by which he +discovered the loss that he had sustained.[**] + +The lustre of this great success increased the king's authority among +his allies, who assembled their forces with expedition, and joined the +English army. Edward marched to the frontiers of France at the head of +above one hundred thousand men, consisting chiefly of foreigners, a more +numerous army than either before or since has ever been commanded by any +king of England.[***] At the same time the Flemings, to the number of +fifty thousand men, marched out under the command of Robert of Artois, +and laid siege to St. Omer; but this tumultuary army, composed entirely +of tradesmen unexperienced in war, was routed by a sally of the +garrison, and notwithstanding the abilities of their leader, was thrown +into such a panic, that they were instantly dispersed, and never more +appeared in the field. The enterprises of Edward, though not attended +with so inglorious an issue, proved equally vain and fruitless. The +king of France had assembled an army more numerous than the English; was +accompanied by all the chief nobility of his kingdom; was attended by +many foreign princes, and even by three monarchs, the kings of Bohemia, +Scotland, and Navarre:[****] yet he still adhered to the prudent +resolution of putting nothing to hazard; and after throwing strong +garrisons into all the frontier towns, he retired backwards, persuaded +that the enemy, having wasted their force in some tedious and +unsuccessful enterprise, would afford him an easy victory. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 51. Avesbury, p. 56. Heming. p. + 321. + + ** Walsing. p. 148. + + *** Rymer, vol. v. p. 197 + + **** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 57. + +Tournay was at that time one of the most considerable cities of +Flanders, containing above sixty thousand inhabitants of all ages, +who were affectionate to the French government: and as the secret of +Edward's designs had not been strictly kept, Philip learned that the +English, in order to gratify their Flemish allies, had intended to open +the campaign with the siege of this place: he took care therefore to +supply it with a garrison of fourteen thousand men, commanded by the +bravest nobility of France; and he reasonably expected that these +forces, joined to the inhabitants, would be able to defend the city +against all the efforts of the enemy. Accordingly Edward, when he +commenced the siege about the end of July found every where an obstinate +resistance: the valor of one side was encountered with equal valor by +the other: every assault was repulsed, and proved unsuccessful: and the +king was at last obliged to turn the siege into a blockade, in hopes +that the great numbers of the garrison and citizens, which had enabled +them to defend themselves against his attacks, would but expose them to +be the more easily reduced by famine.[*] The count of Eu, who commanded +in Tournay, as soon as he perceived that the English had formed this +plan of operations endeavored to save his provisions by expelling all +the useless mouths; and the duke of Brabant, who wished no success +to Edward's enterprises, gave every one a free passage through his +quarters. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 54. + +After the siege had continued ten weeks, the city was reduced to +distress; and Philip, recalling all his scattered garrisons, advanced +towards the English camp at the head of a mighty army, with an intention +of still avoiding any decisive action, but of seeking some opportunity +for throwing relief into the place. Here Edward, irritated with the +small progress he had hitherto made, and with the disagreeable prospect +that lay before him, sent Philip a defiance by a herald and challenged +him to decide their claims for the crown of France either by single +combat, or by an action of a hundred against a hundred, or by a general +engagement. But Philip replied, that Edward having done homage to him +for the duchy of Guienne, and having solemnly acknowledged him for his +superior, it by no means became him to send a defiance to his liege +lord and sovereign: that he was confident, notwithstanding all Edward's +preparations, and his conjunction with the rebellious Flemings, he +himself should soon be able to chase him from the frontiers of France: +that as the hostilities from England had prevented him from executing +his purposed crusade against the infidels, he trusted in the assistance +of the Almighty, who would reward his pious intentions, and punish the +aggressor, whose ill-grounded claims had rendered them abortive: that +Edward proposed a duel on very unequal terms, and offered to hazard only +his own person against both the kingdom of France and the person of the +king: but that, if he would increase the stake, and put also the kingdom +of England on the issue of the duel, he would, notwithstanding that the +terms would still be unequal, very willingly accept of the challenge.[*] +It was easy to see that these mutual bravadoes were intended only to +dazzle the populace, and that the two kings were too wise to think of +executing their pretended purpose. + + * Du Tillet, Recueil de Traités, etc. Heming. p. 325, 326. + Walsing, p. 149. + +While the French and English armies lay in this situation, and a general +action was every day expected, Jane, countess dowager of Hainault, +interposed with her good offices, and endeavored to conciliate peace +between the contending monarchs, and to prevent any further effusion of +blood. This princess was mother-in-law to Edward, and sister to Philip; +and though she had taken the vows in a convent, and had renounced the +world, she left her retreat on this occasion, and employed all her pious +efforts to allay those animosities which had taken place between persons +so nearly related to her and to each other. As Philip had no material +claims on his antagonist, she found that he hearkened willingly to the +proposals; and even the haughty and ambitious Edward, convinced of his +fruitless attempt, was not averse to her negotiation. He was sensible, +from experience, that he had engaged in an enterprise which far exceeded +his force; and that the power of England was never likely to prevail +over that of a superior kingdom, firmly united under an able and +prudent monarch. He discovered that all the allies whom he could gain +by negotiation were at bottom averse to his enterprise; and though +they might second it to a certain length, would immediately detach +themselves, and oppose its final accomplishment, if ever they could be +brought to think that there was seriously any danger of it. He even +saw that their chief purpose was to obtain money from him; and as his +supplies from England came in very slowly, and had much disappointed his +expectations, he perceived their growing indifference in his cause, +and their desire of embracing all plausible terms of accommodation. +Convinced at last that an undertaking must be imprudent which could only +be supported by means so unequal to the end, he concluded a truce, +which left both parties in possession of their present acquisitions, +and stopped all further hostilities on the side of the Low Countries, +Guienne, and Scotland, till midsummer next.[*] A negotiation was soon +after opened at Arras, under the mediation of the pope's legates; and +the truce was attempted to be converted into a solid peace. Edward here +required that Philip should free Guienne from all claims of superiority, +and entirely withdraw his protection from Scotland: but as he seemed +not anywise entitled to make such high demands, either from his past +successes or future prospects, they were totally rejected by Philip, who +agreed only to a prolongation of the truce. + +The king of France soon after detached the emperor Lewis from the +alliance of England, and engaged him to revoke the title of imperial +vicar, which he had conferred on Edward.[**] The king's other allies on +the frontiers of France, disappointed in their hopes, gradually withdrew +from the confederacy. And Edward himself, harassed by his numerous and +importunate creditors, was obliged to make his escape by stealth into +England. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 64. Avesbury, p. 65. + + ** Heming, p. 352. Ypod. Neust. p. 514. Knyghton, p. 2580. + +The unusual tax of a ninth sheaf, lamb, and fleece, imposed by +parliament, together with the great want of money, and still more, of +credit in England, had rendered the remittances to Flanders extremely +backward; nor could it be expected, that any expeditious method of +collecting an imposition, which was so new in itself, and which yielded +only a gradual produce, could possibly be contrived by the king or his +ministers. And though the parliament, foreseeing the inconvenience, had +granted, as a present resource, twenty thousand sacks of wool, the only +English goods that bore a sure price in foreign markets, and were the +next to ready money, it was impossible but the getting possession of +such a bulky commodity, the gathering of it from different parts of the +kingdom, and the disposing of it abroad, must take up more time than the +urgency of the king's affairs would permit, and must occasion all the +disappointments complained of during the course of the campaign. But +though nothing had happened which Edward might not reasonably have +foreseen, he was so irritated with the unfortunate issue of his military +operations, and so much vexed and affronted by his foreign creditors, +that he was determined to throw the blame somewhere off himself and +he came in very bad humor into England. He discovered his peevish +disposition by the first act which he performed after his arrival: as +he landed unexpectedly, he found the Tower negligently guarded; and he +immediately committed to prison the constable and all others who had the +charge of that fortress, and he treated them with unusual rigor.[*] His +vengeance fell next on the officers of the revenue, the sheriffs, the +collectors of the taxes, the undertakers of all kinds; and besides +dismissing all of them from their employments, he appointed +commissioners to inquire into their conduct; and these men, in order to +gratify the king's humor, were sure not to find any person innocent who +came before them.[**] Sir John St. Paul, keeper of the privy seal, +Sir John Stonore, chief justice, Andrew Aubrey, mayor of London, +were displaced and imprisoned; as were also the bishop of Chichester, +chancellor, and the bishop of Lichfield, treasurer; Stratford, +archbishop of Canterbury, to whom the charge of collecting the new taxes +had been chiefly intrusted, fell likewise under the king's displeasure; +but being absent at the time of Edward's arrival, he escaped feeling the +immediate effects of it. + + * Ypod. Neust. p. 513. + + ** Avesbury, p. 70, Heming p. 326. Walsing. p. 150. + +There were strong reasons, which might discourage the kings of England, +in those ages, from bestowing the chief offices of the crown on prelates +and other ecclesiastical persons. These men had so intrenched themselves +in privileges and immunities, and so openly challenged an exemption from +all secular jurisdiction, that no civil penalty could be inflicted on +them for any malversation in office; and as even treason itself was +declared to be no canonical offence, nor was allowed to be a sufficient +reason for deprivation or other spiritual censures, that order of men +had insured to themselves an almost total impunity, and were not bound +by any political law or statute. But, on the other hand, there were +many peculiar causes which favored their promotion. Besides that they +possessed almost all the learning of the age, and were best qualified +for civil employments, the prelates enjoyed equal dignity with the +greatest barons, and gave weight by their personal authority, to the +powers intrusted with them; while, at the same time, they did not +endanger the crown by accumulating wealth or influence in their +families, and were restrained, by the decency of their character, from +that open rapine and violence so often practised by the nobles. These +motives had induced Edward, as well as many of his predecessors, +to intrust the chief departments of government in the hands of +ecclesiastics; at the hazard of seeing them disown his authority as soon +as it was turned against them. + +{1341.} This was the case with Archbishop Stratford. That prelate, +informed of Edward's indignation against him prepared himself for the +storm; and not content with standing upon the defensive, he resolved, +by beginning the attack, to show the king that he knew the privileges +of his character, and had courage to maintain them. He issued a general +sentence of excommunication against all who, on any pretext, exercised +violence on the person or goods of clergymen; who infringed those +privileges secured by the Great Charter, and by ecclesiastical canons; +or who accused a prelate of treason or any other crime, in order to +bring him under the king's displeasure.[*] + + * Heming* p. 339. Ang* Sacra, vol. i. p. 21, 22. Walsing. p. + 153. + +Even Edward had reason to think himself struck at by this sentence; +both on account of the imprisonment of the two bishops and that of other +clergymen concerned in levying the taxes, and on account of his seizing +their lands and movables, that he might make them answerable for any +balance which remained in their hands. The clergy, with the primate at +their head, were now formed into a regular combination against the king; +and many calumnies were spread against him, in order to deprive him of +the confidence and affections of his people. It was pretended that +he meant to recall the general pardon, and the remission which he had +granted of old debts, and to impose new and arbitrary taxes without +consent of parliament. The archbishop went so far, in a letter to the +king himself, as to tell him, that there were two powers by which the +world was governed, the holy pontifical apostolic dignity, and the +royal subordinate authority: that of these two powers, the clerical was +evidently the supreme; since the priests were to answer, at the tribunal +of the divine judgment, for the conduct of kings themselves: that the +clergy were the spiritual fathers of all the faithful, and amongst +others of kings and princes; and were entitled, by a heavenly charter, +to direct their wills and actions, and to censure their transgressions: +and that prelates had hitherto cited emperors before their tribunal, +had sitten in judgment on their life and behavior, and had anathematized +them for their obstinate offences.[*] These topics were not well +calculated to appease Edward's indignation; and when he called a +parliament, he sent not to the primate, as to the other peers, a summons +to attend it. Stratford was not discouraged at this mark of neglect or +anger: he appeared before the gates, arrayed in his pontifical robes, +holding the crosier in his hand and accompanied by a pompous train +of priests and prelates; and he required admittance as the first +and highest peer in the realm. During two days the king rejected his +application: but sensible, either that this affair might be attended +with dangerous consequences, or that in his impatience he had +groundlessly accused the primate of malversation in his office, which +seems really to have been the case, he at last permitted him to take his +seat, and was reconciled to him.[**] + + * Ang. Sacra, vol i. p. 27. + + ** Ang. Sacra, p. 28, 39, 40, 41. + +Edward now found himself in a bad situation, both with his own people +and with foreign states; and it required all his genius and capacity to +extricate himself from such multiplied difficulties and embarrassments. +His unjust and exorbitant claims on France and Scotland had engaged him +in an implacable war with those two kingdoms, his nearest neighbors: he +had lost almost all his foreign alliances by his irregular payments: he +was deeply involved in debts, for which he owed a consuming interest: +his military operations had vanished into smoke; and, except his naval +victory, none of them had been attended even with glory or renown, +either to himself or to the nation: the animosity between him and the +clergy was open and declared: the people were discontented on account of +many arbitrary measures, in which he had been engaged, and what was more +dangerous, the nobility, taking advantage of his present necessities, +were determined to retrench his power, and by encroaching on the ancient +prerogatives of the crown, to acquire to themselves independence +and authority. But the aspiring genius of Edward, which had so far +transported him beyond the bounds of discretion, proved at last +sufficient to reinstate him in his former authority, and finally to +render his reign the most triumphant that is to be met with in English +story; though for the present he was obliged, with some loss of honor, +to yield to the current which bore so strongly against him. + +The parliament framed an act which was likely to produce considerable +innovations in the government. They premised, that, whereas the Great +Charter had, to the manifest peril and slander of the king and damage +of his people, been violated in many points, particularly by the +imprisonment of freemen and the seizure of their goods, without suit, +indictment, or trial, it was necessary to confirm it anew, and to +oblige all the chief officers of the law, together with the steward +and chamberlain of the household, the keeper of the privy seal, the +controller and treasurer of the wardrobe, and those who were intrusted +with the education of the young prince, to swear to the regular +observance of it. They also remarked, that the peers of the realm +had formerly been arrested and imprisoned, and dispossessed of their +temporalities and lands, and even some of them put to death, without +judgment or trial; and they therefore enacted that such violences should +henceforth cease, and no peer be punished but by the award of his peers +"in parliament." They required, that, whenever any of the great offices +above mentioned became vacant, the king should fill it by the advice of +his council, and the consent of such barons as should at that time be +found to reside in the neighborhood of the court. And they enacted, +that, on the third day of every session, the king should resume into his +own hand all these offices, except those of justices of the two benches +and the barons of exchequer; that the ministers should for the time be +reduced to private persons; that they should in that condition answer +before parliament to any accusation brought against them; and that if +they were found anywise guilty, they should finally be dispossessed of +their offices, and more able persons be substituted in their place.[*] +By these last regulations, the barons approached as near as they durst +to those restrictions which had formerly been imposed on Henry III. and +Edward II., and which, from the dangerous consequences attending them, +had become so generally odious, that they did not expect to have either +the concurrence of the people in demanding the*n, or the assent of the +present king in granting them. + +* 15 Edward III. + +In return for these important concessions, the parliament offered the +king a grant of twenty thousand sacks of wool; and his wants were so +urgent from the clamors of his creditors and the demands of his foreign +allies, that he was obliged to accept of the supply on these hard +conditions. He ratified this statute in full parliament: but he secretly +entered a protest of such a nature as was sufficient, one should imagine +to destroy all future trust and confidence with his people; he declared +that, as soon as his convenience permitted, he would, from his own +authority, revoke what had been extorted from him.[*] Accordingly he +was no sooner possessed of the parliamentary supply, than he issued an +edict, which contains many extraordinary positions and pretensions. He +first asserts, that that statute had been enacted contrary to law, as +if a free legislative body could ever do any thing illegal. He next +affirms, that as it was hurtful to the prerogatives of the crown, which +he had sworn to defend, he had only dissembled when he seemed to ratify +it, but that he had never in his own breast given his assent to it. He +does not pretend that either he or the parliament lay under force; but +only that some inconvenience would have ensued, had he not seemingly +affixed his sanction to that pretended statute. He therefore, with the +advice of his council and of some earls and barons, abrogates and annuls +it; and though he professes himself willing and determined to observe +such articles of it as were formerly law, he declares it to have +thenceforth no force or authority.[**] The parliaments that were +afterwards assembled took no notice of this arbitrary exertion of royal +power, which, by a parity of reason, left all their laws at the mercy +of the king; and, during the course of two years, Edward had so +far reëstablished his influence, and freed himself from his present +necessities, that he then obtained from his parliament a legal repeal +of the obnoxious statute.[***] This transaction certainly contains +remarkable circumstances, which discover the manners and sentiments of +the age; and may prove what inaccurate work might be expected from such +rude hands, when employed in legislation, and in rearing the delicate +fabric of laws and a constitution. + + * Statutes at large, 15 Edward III. That this protest of the + king's was secret appears evidently, since otherwise it + would have been ridiculous in the parliament to have + accepted of his assent: besides, the king owns that he + dissembled, which would not have been the ease had his + protest been public. + + ** Statutes at large, 15 Edward III. + + *** Cotton's Abridg. p. 38, 39. and saw so little prospect + of success, that he would probably have dropped his claim, + had not a revolution in Brittany opened to him more + promising views, and given his enterprising genius a full + opportunity of displaying itself. + +But though Edward had happily recovered his authority at home, which had +been impaired by the events of the French war, he had undergone so many +mortifications from that attempt. + +John III., duke of Brittany, had, during some years, found himself +declining through age and infirmities; and having no issue, he was +solicitous to prevent those disorders to which, on the event of his +demise, a disputed succession might expose his subjects. His younger +brother, the count of Penthiev had left only one daughter, whom the duke +deemed his heir; and as his family had inherited the duchy by a female +succession, he thought her title preferable to that of the count of +Mountfort, who, being his brother by a second marriage, was the male +heir of that principality.[*] He accordingly purposed to bestow his +niece in marriage on some person who might be able to defend her rights; +and he cast his eye on Charles of Blois, nephew of the king of France, +by his mother, Margaret of Valois, sister to that monarch. But as he +both loved his subjects and was beloved by them, he determined not to +take this important step without their approbation; and having assembled +the states of Brittany, he represented to them the advantages of that +alliance, and the prospect which it gave of an entire settlement of the +succession. The Bretons willingly concurred in his choice: the marriage +was concluded: all his vassals, and among the rest the count of +Mountfort, swore fealty to Charles and to his consort, as to their +future sovereigns; and every danger of civil commotions seemed to be +obviated, as far as human prudence could provide a remedy against them. + +But on the death of this good prince, the ambition of the count of +Mountfort broke through all these regulations, and kindled a war, not +only dangerous to Brittany, but to a great part of Europe. While Charles +of Blois was soliciting at the court of France the investiture of the +duchy, Mountfort was active in acquiring immediate possession of it; +and by force or intrigue he made himself master of Rennes, Nantz, Brest +Hennebonne, and all the most important fortresses, and engaged many +considerable barons to acknowledge his authority.[**] Sensible that +he could expect no favor from Philip, he made a voyage to England, on +pretence of soliciting his claim to the earldom of Richmond, which had +devolved to him by his brother's death; and there, offering to do homage +to Edward, as king of France, for the duchy of Brittany, he proposed a +strict alliance for the support of their mutual pretensions. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 64. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 65, 66, 67, 68. + +Edward saw immediately the advantages attending this treaty: Mountfort, +an active and valiant prince, closely united to him by interest, opened +at once an entrance into the heart of France, and afforded him much +more flattering views than his allies on the side of Germany and the +Low Countries, who had no sincere attachment to his cause, and whose +progress was also obstructed by those numerous fortifications which had +been raised on that frontier. Robert of Artois was zealous in enforcing +these considerations: the ambitious spirit of Edward was little disposed +to sit down under those repulses which he had received, and which he +thought had so much impaired his reputation; and it required a very +short negotiation to conclude a treaty of alliance between two men, +who, though their pleas with regard to the preference of male or female +succession were directly opposite, were intimately connected by their +immediate interests.[*] + +As this treaty was still a secret, Mountfort, on his return, ventured to +appear at Paris, in order to defend his cause before the court of peers; +but observing Philip and his judges to be prepossessed against his +title, and dreading their intentions of arresting him, till he should +restore what he had seized by violence, he suddenly made his escape; and +war immediately commenced between him and Charles of Blois.[**] Philip +sent his eldest son, the duke of Normandy, with a powerful army, to +the assistance of the latter; and Mountfort, unable to keep the field +against his rival, remained in the city of Nantz, where he was besieged. +The city was taken by the treachery of the inhabitants; Mountfort fell +into the hands of his enemies, was conducted as a prisoner to Paris, and +was shut up in the tower of the Louvre.[***] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap, 69. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 70, 71. + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap 73. + +{1342.} This event seemed to put an end to the pretensions of the +count of Mountfort; but his affairs were immediately retrieved by an +unexpected incident, which inspired new life and vigor into his party. +Jane of Flanders, countess of Mountfort, the most extraordinary woman +of the age, was roused, by the captivity of her husband, from those +domestic cares to which she had hitherto limited her genius; and she +courageously undertook to support the falling fortunes of her family No +sooner did she receive the fatal intelligence, than she assembled the +inhabitants of Rennes, where she then resided; and carrying her infant +son in her arms, deplored to them the calamity of their sovereign. +She recommended to their care the illustrious orphan, the sole male +remaining of their ancient princes, who had governed them with such +indulgence and lenity, and to whom they had ever professed the most +zealous attachment. She declared herself willing to run all hazards with +them in so just a cause; discovered the resources which still remained +in the alliance of England; and entreated them to make one effort +against a usurper, who, being imposed on them by the arms of France, +would in return make a sacrifice to his protector of the ancient +liberties of Brittany. The audience, moved by the affecting appearance, +and inspirited by the noble conduct of the princess, vowed to live +and die with her in defending the rights of her family: all the other +fortresses of Brittany embraced the same resolution: the countess went +from place to place encouraging the garrisons, providing them with every +thing necessary for subsistence, and concerting the proper plans of +defence; and after she had put the whole province in a good posture, +she shut herself up in Hennebonne, where she waited with impatience the +arrival of those succors which Edward had promised her. Meanwhile she +sent over her son to England, that she might both put him in a place of +safety, and engage the king more strongly, by such a pledge, to embrace +with zeal the interests of her family. + +Charles of Blois, anxious to make himself master of so important a +fortress as Hennebonne, and still more to take the countess prisoner, +from whose vigor and capacity all the difficulties to his succession +in Brittany now proceeded, sat down before the place with a great +army, composed of French, Spaniards, Genoese, and some Bretons; and he +conducted the attack with indefatigable industry.[*] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 81. + +The defence was no less vigorous: the besiegers were repulsed in every +assault: frequent sallies were made with success by the garrison; and +the countess herself being the most forward in all military operations, +every one was ashamed not to exert himself to the utmost in this +desperate situation. One day, she perceived that the besiegers, entirely +occupied in an attack, had neglected a distant quarter of their camp; +and she immediately sallied forth at the head of a body of two hundred +cavalry, threw them into confusion, did great execution upon them, +and set fire to their tents, baggage, and magazines; but when she was +preparing to return, she found that she was intercepted, and that a +considerable body of the enemy had thrown themselves between her and +the gates. She instantly took her resolution; she ordered her men to +disband, and to make the best of their way by flight to Brest; she met +them at the appointed place of rendezvous, collected another body of +five hundred horse, returned to Hennebonne, broke unexpectedly through +the enemy's camp, and was received with shouts and acclamations by +the garrison, who, encouraged by this reënforcement, and by so rare an +example of female valor, determined to defend themselves to the last +extremity. + +The reiterated attacks, however, of the besiegers had at length made +several breaches in the walls; and it was apprehended that a general +assault, which was every hour expected would overpower the garrison, +diminished in numbers, and extremely weakened with watching and fatigue. +It became necessary to treat of a capitulation; and the bishop of Leon +was already engaged, for that purpose, in a conference with Charles +of Blois, when the countess, who had mounted to a high tower, and was +looking towards the sea with great impatience, descried some sails at +a distance. She immediately exclaimed, "Behold the succors! the +English succors! No capitulation!"[*] This fleet had on board a body of +heavy-armed cavalry, and six thousand archers, whom Edward had prepared +for the relief of Hennebonne, but who had been long detained by contrary +winds. They entered the harbor under the command of Sir Walter Manny, +one of the bravest captains of England: and having inspired fresh +courage into the garrison, immediately sallied forth, beat the besiegers +from all their posts, and obliged them to decamp. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 81. + +But notwithstanding this success, the countess of Mountfort found that +her party, overpowered by numbers, was declining in every quarter; +and she went over to solicit more effectual succors from the king of +England. Edward granted her a considerable reënforcement under Robert of +Artois, who embarked on board a fleet of forty-five ships, and sailed +to Brittany. He was met in his passage by the enemy; an action ensued, +where the countess behaved with her wonted valor, and charged the +enemy sword in hand; but the hostile fleets, after a sharp action, were +separated by a storm, and the English arrived safely in Brittany. The +first exploit of Robert was the taking of Vannes, which he mastered +by conduct and address;[*] but he survived a very little time this +prosperity. The Breton noblemen of the party of Charles assembled +secretly in arms, attacked Vannes of a sudden, and carried the place; +chiefly by reason of a wound received by Robert, of which he soon after +died at sea, on his return to England.[**] + +After the death of this unfortunate prince, the chief author of all +the calamities with which his country was overwhelmed for more than +a century, Edward undertook in person the defence of the countess of +Mountfort; and as the last truce with France was now expired, the war, +which the English and French had hitherto carried on as allies to the +competitors for Brittany, was thenceforth conducted in the name and +under the standard of the two monarchs. The king landed at Morbian, near +Vannes, with an army of twelve thousand men; and being master of the +field, he endeavored to give a lustre to his arms, by commencing at once +three important sieges, that of Vannes, of Rennes, and of Nantz. But by +undertaking too much, he failed of success in all his enterprises. +Even the siege of Vannes, which Edward in person conducted with vigor, +advanced but slowly;[***] and the French had all the leisure requisite +for making preparations against him. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 93 + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 94 + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 95. + +The duke of Normandy, eldest son of Philip, appeared in Brittany at the +head of an army of thirty thousand infantry and four thousand cavalry; +and Edward was now obliged to draw together all his forces, and to +intrench himself strongly before Vannes, where the duke of Normandy soon +after arrived, and in a manner invested the besiegers. The garrison and +the French camp were plentifully supplied with provisions; while the +English, who durst not make any attempt upon the place in the presence +of a superior army, drew all their subsistence from England, exposed +to the hazards of the sea, and sometimes to those which arose from the +fleet of the enemy. + +{1243.} In this dangerous situation, Edward willingly hearkened to +the mediation of the pope's legates, the cardinals of Palestrine and +Frescati, who endeavored to negotiate, if not a peace, at east a truce, +between the two kingdoms. A treaty was concluded for a cessation of arms +during three years;[*] and Edward had the abilities, notwithstanding +his present dangerous situation, to procure to himself very equal and +honorable terms, It was agreed that Vannes should be sequestered, during +the truce, in the hands of the legates, to be disposed of afterwards as +they pleased; and though Edward knew the partiality of the court of +Rome towards his antagonists, he saved himself by this device from +the dishonor of having undertaken a fruitless enterprise. It was also +stipulated, that all prisoners should be released, that the places in +Brittany should remain in the hands of the present possessors, and +that the allies on both sides should be comprehended in the truce.[**] +Edward, soon after concluding this treaty, embarked with his army for +England. + +The truce, though calculated for a long time, was of very short +duration; and each monarch endeavored to throw on the other the blame of +its infraction. Of course the historians of the two countries differ in +their account of the matter. It seems probable, however, as is affirmed +by the French writers, that Edward, in consenting to the truce, had +no other view than to extricate himself from a perilous situation into +which he had fallen, and was afterwards very careless in observing it. +In all the memorials which remain on this subject, he complains chiefly +of the punishment inflicted on Oliver de Clisson, John de Montauban, +and other Breton noblemen, who, he says, were partisans of the family of +Mountfort, and consequently under the protection of England.[***] But it +appears that, at the conclusion of the truce, those noblemen had openly, +by their declarations and actions, embraced the cause of Charles of +Blois;[****] and if they had entered into any secret correspondence and +engagements with Edward, they were traitors to their party, and were +justly punishable by Philip and Charles for their breach of faith; nor +had Edward any ground of complaint against France for such severities. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 99. Avesbury, p. 102. + + ** Heming. p. 359. + + *** Rymer. vol. v. p. 453, 454, 459, 466, 496. Heming. 376. + + **** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 96, p. 100. + +{1344.} But when he laid these pretended injuries before the parliament, +whom he affected to consult on all occasions, that assembly entered into +the quarrel, advised the king not to be amused by a fraudulent truce, +and granted him supplies for the renewal of the war: the counties were +charged with a fifteenth for two years, and the boroughs with a tenth. +The clergy consented to give a tenth for three years. + +These supplies enabled the king to complete his military preparations; +and he sent his cousin, Henry, earl of Derby, son of the earl of +Lancaster, into Guienne, for the defence of that province.[*] This +prince, the most accomplished in the English court, possessed to a high +degree the virtues of justice and humanity, as well as those of valor +and conduct;[**] and not content with protecting and cherishing the +province committed to his care, he made a successful invasion on the +enemy. He attacked the count of Lisle, the French general, at Bergerac, +beat him from his intrenchments, and took the place. He reduced a great +part of Perigord, and continually advanced in his conquests, till the +count of Lisle, having collected an army of ten or twelve thousand men, +sat down before Auberoche, in hopes of recovering that place, which had +fallen into the hands of the English. + +{1345.} The earl of Derby came upon him by surprise with only a thousand +cavalry, threw the French into disorder, pushed his advantage, and +obtained a complete victory. Lisle himself, with many considerable +nobles, was taken prisoner.[***] After this important success, Derby +made a rapid progress in subduing the French provinces. He took +Monsegur, Monpesat, Villefranche, Miremont, and Tonnins, with the +fortress of Damassen. Aiguillon, a fortress deemed impregnable, fell +into his hands from the cowardice of the governor. Angouleme was +surrendered after a short siege. The only place where he met with +considerable resistance, was Reole, which, however, was at last reduced, +after a siege of above nine weeks.[****] He made an attempt on Blaye, +but thought it more prudent to raise the siege than waste his time +before a place of small importance.[*****] + + * Froissart, liv. i. chap. 103. Avesbury, p. 121. + + ** It is reported of this prince, that having once, before + the attack of a town, promised the soldiers the plunder, one + private man happened to fall upon a great chest full of + money, which he immediately brought to the earl as thinking + it too great for himself to keep possession of it. But Derby + told him, that his promise did not depend on the greatness + or smallness of the sum; and ordered him to keep it all for + his own use. + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 104. + + **** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 110. + + ***** Froissard, liv. i chap. 112. + +{1346.} The reason why Derby was permitted to make, without opposition, +such progress on the side of Guienne, was the difficulties under which +the French finances then labored, and which had obliged Philip to lay on +new impositions, particularly the duty on salt, to the great discontent, +and almost mutiny, of his subjects. But after the court of France was +supplied with money, great preparations were made: and the duke of +Normandy, attended by the duke of Burgundy and other great nobility, led +towards Guienne a powerful army, which the English could not think of +resisting in the open field. The earl of Derby stood on the defensive, +and allowed the French to carry on at leisure the siege of Angouleme, +which was their first enterprise. John Lord Norwich, the governor, after +a brave and vigorous defence, found himself reduced to such extremities +as obliged him to employ a stratagem, in order to save his garrison, and +to prevent his being reduced to surrender at discretion. He appeared on +the walls, and desired a parley with the duke of Normandy. The prince +there told Norwich, that he supposed he intended to capitulate. "Not +at all," replied the governor: "but as to-morrow is the feast of the +Virgin, to whom I know that you, sir, as well as myself, bear a great +devotion, I desire a cessation of arms for that day." The proposal was +agreed to; and Norwich, having ordered his forces to prepare all their +baggage, marched out next day, and advanced towards the French camp. The +besiegers, imagining they were to be attacked, ran to their arms; but +Norwich sent a messenger to the duke, reminding him of his engagement. +The duke, who piqued himself on faithfully keeping his word exclaimed, +"I see the governor has outwitted me: but let us be content with gaining +the place." And the English were allowed to pass through the camp +unmolested.[*] After some other successes, the duke of Normandy laid +siege to Aiguillon; and as the natural strength of the fortress, +together with a brave garrison under the command of the earl of Pembroke +and Sir Walter Manny, rendered it impossible to take the place by +assault, he purposed, after making several fruitless attacks,[**] to +reduce it by famine: but before he could finish this enterprise, he +was called to another quarter of the kingdom by one of the greatest +disasters that ever befell the French monarchy.[***] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 120. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 121. + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 134. + +Edward, informed by the earl of Derby of the great danger to which +Guienne was exposed, had prepared a force with which he intended in +person to bring it relief. He embarked at Southampton on board a fleet +of near a thousand sail of all dimensions; and carried with him, besides +all the chief nobility of England, his eldest son, the prince of Wales, +now fifteen years of age. The winds proved long contrary;[*] and the +king, in despair of arriving in time at Guienne, was at last persuaded, +by Geoffrey d'Harcourt, to change the destination of his enterprise. +This nobleman was a Norman by birth, had long made a considerable figure +in the court of France, and was generally esteemed for his personal +merit and his valor; but being disobliged and persecuted by Philip, he +had fled into England; had recommended himself to Edward, who was an +excellent judge of men; and had succeeded to Robert of Artois in the +invidious office of exciting and assisting the king in every enterprise +against his native country. He had long insisted, that an expedition to +Normandy promised, in the present circumstances, more favorable success +than one to Guienne; that Edward would find the northern provinces +almost destitute of military force, which had been drawn to the south; +that they were full of flourishing cities, whose plunder would enrich +the English; that their cultivated fields, as yet unspoiled by war, +would supply them with plenty of provisions; and that the neighborhood +of the capital rendered every event of importance in those quarters.[**] +These reasons, which had not before been duly weighed by Edward, began +to make more impression after the disappointments which he had met with +in his voyage to Guienne: he ordered his fleet to sail to Normandy, and +safely disembarked his army at La Hogue. + + * Avesbury, p. 123. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 121. + +This army, which, during the course of the ensuing campaign, was crowned +with the most splendid success, consisted of four thousand men at arms, +ten thousand archers, ten thousand Welsh infantry, and six thousand +Irish. The Welsh and the Irish were light, disorderly troops, fitter +for doing execution in a pursuit, or scouring the country, than for any +stable action. The bow was always esteemed a frivolous weapon, where +true military discipline was known, and regular bodies of well-armed +foot maintained. The only solid force in this army were the men at arms; +and even these, being cavalry, were on that account much inferior in +the shock of battle to good infantry: and as the whole were new-levied +troops, we are led to entertain a very mean idea of the military +force of those ages, which, being ignorant of every other art, had not +properly cultivated the art of war itself, the sole object of general +attention. + +The king created the earl of Arundel constable of his army and the earls +of Warwick and Harcourt mareschals: he bestowed the honor of knighthood +on the prince of Wales and several of the young nobility, immediately +upon his landing. After destroying all the ships in La Hogue, Barfleur, +and Cherbourg, he spread his army over the whole country, and gave them +an unbounded license of burning, spoiling, and plundering every place of +which they became masters. The loose discipline then prevalent could +not be much hurt by these disorderly practices; and Edward took care to +prevent any surprise, by giving orders to his troops, however they might +disperse themselves in the day-time, always to quarter themselves at +night near the main body. In this manner, Montebourg, Carentan, St. +Lo, Valognes, and other places in the Cotentin, were pillaged +without resistance; and a universal consternation was spread over the +province.[*] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 122. + +The intelligence of this unexpected invasion soon reached Paris, and +threw Philip into great perplexity. He issued orders, however, for +levying forces in all quarters, and despatched the count of Eu, +constable of France, and the count of Tancarville, with a body of +troops, to the defence of Caen, a populous and commercial but open city, +which lay in the neighborhood of the English army. The temptation of so +rich a prize soon allured Edward to approach it; and the inhabitants, +encouraged by their numbers, and by the reënforcements which they daily +received from the country, ventured to meet him in the field. But their +courage failed them on the first shock: they fled with precipitation: +the counts of Eu and Tancarville were taken prisoners: the victors +entered the city along with the vanquished, and a furious massacre +commenced, without distinction of age, sex, or condition. The citizens, +in despair, barricaded their and assaulted the English with stones, +bricks, and every missile weapon: the English made way by fire to the +destruction of the citizens; till Edward, anxious to save both his +spoil and his soldiers, stopped the massacre; and having obliged the +inhabitants to lay down their arms, gave his troops license to begin +a more regular and less hazardous plunder of the city. The pillage +continued for three days: the king reserved for his own share the +jewels, plate, silks, fine cloth, and fine linen; and he bestowed all +the remainder of the spoil on his army. The whole was embarked on board +the ships, and sent over to England, together with three hundred of the +richest citizens of Caen, whose ransom was an additional profit, which +he expected afterwards to levy.[*] This dismal scene passed in the +presence of two cardinal legates, who had come to negotiate a peace +between the kingdoms. + +The king moved next to Rouen, in hopes of treating that city in the +same manner; but found that the bridge over the Seine was already broken +down, and that the king of France himself was arrived there with his +army. He marched along the banks of that river towards Paris, destroying +the whole country, and every town and village which he met with on his +road.[**] Some of his light troops carried their ravages even to the +gates of Paris; and the royal palace of St. Germains, together with +Nanterre, Ruelle, and other villages, was reduced to ashes within sight +of the capital. + + * Froissord, liv. i. chap. 124. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 125. + +The English intended to pass the river at Poissy, but found the French +army encamped on the opposite banks, and the bridge at that place, as +well as all others over the Seine, broken down by orders from Philip. +Edward now saw that the French meant to enclose him in their country, in +hopes of attacking him with advantage on all sides: but he saved himself +by a stratagem from this perilous situation. He gave his army orders to +dislodge, and to advance farther up the Seine; but immediately returning +by the same road, he arrived at Poissy, which the enemy had already +quitted, in order to attend his motions. He repaired the bridge with +incredible celerity, passed over his army, and having thus disengaged +himself from the enemy, advanced by quick marches towards Flanders. His +vanguard, commanded by Harcourt, met with the townsmen of Amiens, who +were hastening to reënforce their king, and defeated them with great +slaughter;[*] he passed by Beauvais, and burned the suburbs of that +city: but as he approached the Somme, he found himself in the same +difficulty as before; all the bridges on that river were either broken +down or strongly guarded: an army, under the command of Godemar de Faye, +was stationed on the opposite banks: Philip was advancing on him from +the other quarter, with an army of a hundred thousand men; and he was +thus exposed to the danger of being enclosed, and of starving in an +enemy's country. In this extremity, he published a reward to any one +that should bring him intelligence of a passage over the Somme. A +peasant, called Gobin Agace, whose name has been preserved by the +share which he had in these important transactions, was tempted on this +occasion to betray the interests of his country; and he informed Edward +of a ford below Abbeville, which had a sound bottom, and might be passed +without difficulty at low water.[**] The king hastened thither, but +found Godemar de Faye on the opposite banks. Being urged by necessity, +he deliberated not a moment; but threw himself into the river, sword in +hand, at the head of his troops; drove the enemy from their station; +and pursued them to a distance on the plain.[***] The French army under +Philip arrived at the ford, when the rearguard of the English were +passing: so narrow was the escape which Edward, by his prudence and +celerity, made from this danger! The rising of the tide prevented the +French king from following him over the ford, and obliged that prince +to take his route over the bridge at Abbeville; by which some time was +lost. + + * Froissard, liv, i. chap. 125. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 126,127 + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 127. + +It is natural to think that Philip, at the head of so vast an army, was +impatient to take revenge on the English, and to prevent the disgrace to +which he must be exposed if an inferior enemy should be allowed, after +ravaging so great a part of his kingdom, to escape with impunity. Edward +also was sensible that such must be the object of the French monarch; +and as he had advanced but a little way before his enemy, he saw the +danger of precipitating his march over the plains of Picardy, and of +exposing his rear to the insults of the numerous cavalry in which the +French camp abounded. He took, therefore, a prudent resolution: he chose +his ground with advantage near the village of Crecy; he disposed his +army in excellent older; he determined to await in tranquillity the +arrival of the enemy; and he hoped that their eagerness to engage, and +to prevent his retreat, after all their past disappointments would hurry +them on to some rash and ill-concerted action. He drew up his army on +a gentle ascent, and divided them into three lines: the first was +commanded by the prince of Wales, and under him by the earls of Warwick +and Oxford, by Harcourt, and by the lords Chandos, Holland, and +other noblemen: the earls of Arundel and Northampton, with the lords +Willoughby, Basset, Roos, and Sir Lewis Tufton, were at the head of the +second line: he took to himself the command of the third division, by +which he purposed either to bring succor to the two first lines, or to +secure a retreat in case of any misfortune, or to push his advantages +against the enemy. He had likewise the precaution to throw up trenches +on his flanks, in order to secure himself from the numerous bodies of +the French who might assail him from that quarter; and he placed all +his baggage behind him in a wood, which he also secured by an +intrenchment.[*] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 128. + +The skill and order of this disposition, with the tranquillity in which +it was made, served extremely to compose the minds of the soldiers; and +the king, that he might further inspirit them, rode through the ranks +with such an air of cheerfulness and alacrity, as conveyed the highest +confidence into every beholder. He pointed out to them the necessity +to which they were reduced, and the certain and inevitable destruction +which awaited them, if, in their present situation, enclosed on all +hands in an enemy's country, they trusted to any thing but their own +valor, or gave that enemy an opportunity of taking revenge for the many +insults and indignities which they had of late put upon him. He reminded +them of the visible ascendant which they had hitherto maintained over +all the bodies of French troops that had fallen in their way; and +assured them, that the superior numbers of the army which at present +hovered over them, gave them not greater force, but was an advantage +easily compensated by the order in which he had placed his own army, +and the resolution which he expected from them. He demanded nothing, +he said, but that they would imitate his own example, and that of the +prince of Wales: and as the honor, the lives, the liberties of all, were +now exposed to the same danger, he was confident that they would make +one common effort to extricate themselves from the present difficulties, +and that their united courage would give them the victory over all their +enemies. + +It is related by some historians,[*] that Edward, besides the resources +which he found in his own genius and presence of mind, employed also a +new invention against the enemy, and placed in his front some pieces +of artillery, the first that had yet been made use of on any remarkable +occasion in Europe. This is the epoch of one of the most singular +discoveries that has been made among men; a discovery which changed by +degrees the whole art of war, and by consequence many circumstances in +the political government of Europe. But the ignorance of that age in the +mechanical arts, rendered the progress of this new invention very +slow. The artillery first framed were so clumsy, and of such difficult +management, that men were not immediately sensible of their use +and efficacy and even to the present times improvements have been +continually making on this furious engine, which, though it seemed +contrived for the destruction of mankind, and the overthrow of empires, +has in the issue rendered battles less bloody, and has given greater +stability to civil societies. Nations, by its means, have been brought +more to a level: conquests have become less frequent and rapid: success +in war has been reduced nearly to be a matter of calculation: and any +nation, overmatched by its enemies, either yields to their demands or +secures itself by alliances against their violence and invasion. + +The invention of artillery was at this time known in France as well +as in England;[**] but Philip, in his hurry to overtake the enemy, had +probably left his cannon behind him, which he regarded as a useless +encumbrance. All his other movements discovered the same imprudence and +precipitation. Impelled by anger, a dangerous counsellor, and trusting +to the great superiority of his numbers, he thought that all depended on +forcing an engagement with the English; and that if he could once reach +the enemy in their retreat, the victory on his side was certain and +inevitable. He made a hasty march, in some confusion, from Abbeville; +but after he had advanced above two leagues, some gentlemen, whom he had +sent before to take a view of the enemy, returned to him, and brought +him intelligence that they had seen the English drawn up in Bombarda +great order, and awaiting his arrival. + + * Jean Villani, lib. xii. cap. 66. + + ** Du Cange, Glass, in verb. + +They therefore devised him to defer the combat till the ensuing day, +when his army would have recovered from their fatigue, and might be +disposed into better order than their present hurry had permitted +them to observe. Philip assented to this counsel; but the former +precipitation of his march, and the impatience of the French nobility, +made it impracticable for him to put it in execution. One division +pressed upon another: orders to stop were not seasonably conveyed to all +of them: this immense body was not governed by sufficient discipline to +be manageable; and the French army, imperfectly formed into three lines, +arrived, already fatigued and disordered, in presence of the enemy. The +first line, consisting of fifteen thousand Genoese cross-bow men, was +commanded by Anthony Doria and Charles Grimaldi: the second was led by +the count of Alençon, brother to the king: the king himself was at the +head of the third. Besides the French monarch, there were no less than +three crowned heads in this engagement; the king of Bohemia, the king of +the Romans, his son, and the king of Majorca; with all the nobility and +great vassals of the crown of France. The army now consisted of above +one hundred and twenty thousand men, more than three times the number of +the enemy. But the prudence of one man was superior to the advantage of +all this force and splendor. + +The English, on the approach of the enemy, kept their ranks firm and +immovable; and the Genoese first began the attack. There had happened, a +little before the engagement, a thunder shower, which had moistened and +relaxed the strings of the Genoese cross-bows; their arrows for this +reason fell short of the enemy. The English archers, taking their bows +out of their cases, poured in a shower of arrows upon this multitude +who were opposed to them, and soon threw them into disorder. The Genoese +fell back upon the heavy-armed cavalry of the count of Alençon;[*] who, +enraged at their cowardice, ordered his troops to put them to the sword. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 130. + +The artillery fired amidst the crowd; the English archers continued to +send in their arrows among them; and nothing was to be seen in that vast +body but hurry and confusion, terror and dismay. The young prince of +Wales had the presence of mind to take advantage of this situation, +and to lead on his line to the charge. The French cavalry, however, +recovering somewhat their order, and encouraged by the example of their +leader, made a stout resistance; and having at last cleared themselves +of the Genoese runaways, advanced upon their enemies, and by their +superior numbers began to hem them round. The earls of Arundel and +Northampton now advanced their line to sustain the prince, who, ardent +in his first feats of arms, set an example of valor which was imitated +by all his followers. The battle became for some time hot and dangerous, +and the earl of Warwick, apprehensive of the event, from the superior +numbers of the French, despatched a messenger to the king, and entreated +him to send succors to the relief of the prince. Edward had chosen his +station on the top of the hill; and he surveyed in tranquillity the +scene of action. When the messenger accosted him, his first question +was, whether the prince were slain or wounded. On receiving an answer in +the negative, "Return," said he, "to my son, and tell him that I reserve +the honor of the day to him: I am confident that he will show himself +worthy of the honor of knighthood which I so lately conferred upon him: +he will be able, without my assistance, to repel the enemy."[*] This +speech, being reported to the prince and his attendants, inspired them +with fresh courage: they made an attack with redoubled vigor on the +French, in which the count of Alençon was slain: that whole line of +cavalry was thrown into disorder: the riders were killed or dismounted: +the Welsh infantry rushed into the throng, and with their long knives +cut the throats of all who had fallen; nor was any quarter given that +day by the victors.[**] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 130. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 130. + +The king of France advanced in vain with the rear to sustain the line +commanded by his brother: he found them already discomfited; and the +example of their rout increased the confusion which was before but too +prevalent in his own body. He had himself a horse killed under him: he +was remounted; and, though left almost alone, he seemed still determined +to maintain the combat; when John of Hainault seized the reins of his +bridle, turned about his horse, and carried him off the field of battle. +The whole French army took to flight, and was followed and put to the +sword without mercy by the enemy, till the darkness of the night put an +end to the pursuit. The king, on his return to the camp, flew into the +arms of the prince of Wales, and exclaimed, "My brave son persevere in +your honorable course: you are my son! for valiantly have you acquitted +yourself to-day: you have shown yourself worthy of empire."[*] + +This battle, which is known by the name of the battle of Crecy, began +after three o'clock in the afternoon, and continued till evening. The +next morning was foggy; and as the English observed that many of the +enemy had lost their way in the night and in the mist, they employed a +stratagem to bring them into their power: they erected on the eminences +some French standards which they had taken in the battle, and all who +were allured by this false signal were put to the sword, and no quarter +given them. In excuse for this inhumanity, it was alleged that the +French king had given like orders to his troops; but the real reason +probably was, that the English, in their present situation, did not +choose to be encumbered with prisoners. On the day of battle, and on the +ensuing, there fell, by a moderate computation, one thousand two hundred +French knights, one thousand four hundred gentlemen, four thousand men +at arms, besides about thirty thousand of inferior rank:[**] many of +the principal nobility of France, the dukes of Lorraine and Bourbon, the +earls of Flanders, Blois, Vaudemont, Aumale, were left on the field of +battle. The kings also of Bohemia and Majorca were slain: the fate of +the former was remarkable: he was blind from age; but being resolved to +hazard his person, and set an example to others, he ordered the reins of +his bridle to be tied on each side to the horses of two gentlemen of his +train; and his dead body, and those of his attendants, were afterwards +found among the slain, with their horses standing by them in that +situation.[***] His crest was three ostrich feathers; and his motto +these German words, Ich dien,--"I serve;" which the prince of Wales and +his successors adopted in memorial of this great victory. The action +may seem no less remarkable for the small loss sustained by the English, +than for the great slaughter of the French: there were killed in it only +one esquire and three knights,[****] and very few of inferior rank; a +demonstration that the prudent disposition planned by Edward, and the +disorderly attack made by the French, had rendered the whole rather a +rout than a battle, which was indeed the common case with engagements in +those times. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 131. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 131. Knyghton, p. 2588. + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 130. Walsing. p. 166. + + **** Knyghton, p. 2588. + +The great prudence of Edward appeared not only in obtaining this +memorable victory, but in the measures which he pursued after it. Not +elated by his present prosperity so far as to expect the total conquest +of France, or even that of any considerable provinces, he purposed only +to secure such an easy entrance into that kingdom, as might afterwards +open the way to more moderate advantages. He knew the extreme distance +of Guienne: he had experienced the difficulty and uncertainty of +penetrating on the side of the Low Countries, and had already lost much +of his authority over Flanders by the death of D'Arteville, who had +been murdered by the populace themselves, his former partisans, on his +attempting to transfer the sovereignty of that province to the prince of +Wales.[*] The king, therefore, limited his ambition to the conquest +of Calais; and after the interval of a few days, which he employed in +interring the slain, he marched with his victorious army, and presented +himself before the place. + +John of Vienne, a valiant knight of Burgundy, was governor of Calais, +and being supplied with every thing necessary for defence, he encouraged +the townsmen to perform to the utmost their duty to their king and +country. Edward, therefore, sensible from the beginning that it was +in vain to attempt the place by force, purposed only to reduce it by +famine; he chose a secure station for his camp; drew intrenchments +around the whole city; raised huts for his soldiers, which he covered +with straw or broom; and provided his army with all the conveniences +necessary to make them endure the winter season, which was approaching. +As the governor soon perceived his intentions, he expelled all the +useless mouths; and the king had the generosity to allow these unhappy +people to pass through his camp, and he even supplied them with money +for their journey.[**] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 116. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 133. + +While Edward was engaged in this siege, which employed him near a +twelvemonth, there passed in different places many other events: and all +to the honor of the English arms. + +The retreat of the duke of Normandy from Guienne left the earl of Derby +master of the field; and he was not negligent in making his advantage of +the superiority. He took Mirebeau by assault: he made himself master of +Lusignan in the same manner: Taillebourg and St. Jean d'Angeli fell into +his hands: Poictiers opened its gates to him; and Derby, having thus +broken into the frontiers on that quarter, carried his incursions to the +banks of the Loire, and filled all the southern provinces of France with +horror and devastation.[*] + +The flames of war were at the same time kindled in Brittany. Charles of +Blois invaded that province with a considerable army, and invested the +fortress of Roche de Rien; but the countess of Mountfort, reënforced by +some English troops under Sir Thomas Dagworth, attacked him during the +night in his intrenchments, dispersed his army, and took Charles himself +prisoner.[**] His wife, by whom he enjoyed his pretensions to Brittany, +compelled by the present necessity, took on her the government of the +party, and proved herself a rival in every shape, and an antagonist to +the countess of Mountfort, both in the field and in the cabinet. And +while these heroic dames presented this extraordinary scene to the +world, another princess in England, of still higher rank, showed herself +no less capable of exerting every manly virtue. + +The Scottish nation, after long defending, with incredible perseverance, +their liberties against the superior force of the English, recalled +their king, David Bruce, in 1342. Though that prince, neither by his +age nor capacity, could bring them great assistance, he gave them +the countenance of sovereign authority; and as Edward's wars on the +continent proved a great diversion to the force of England, they +rendered the balance more equal between the kingdoms. In every +truce which Edward concluded with Philip, the king of Scotland was +comprehended; and when Edward made his last invasion upon France, David +was strongly solicited by his ally to begin also hostilities, and to +invade the northern counties of England. The nobility of his nation +being always forward in such incursions, David soon mustered a great +army, entered Northumberland at the head of above fifty thousand men, +and carried his ravages and devastations to the gates of Durham.[***] +But Queen Philippa, assembling a body of little more than twelve +thousand men,[****] which she intrusted to the command of Lord Piercy, +ventured to approach him at Neville's Cross near that city; and riding +through the ranks of her army, exhorted every man to do his duty, and to +take revenge on these barbarous ravagers.[*****] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 136. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 143. Walsing, p. 168. Ypod. + Neust p. 517, 518. + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 137. + + **** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 138. + + ***** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 138. + +Nor could she be persuaded to leave the field, till the armies were +on the point of engaging. The Scots have often been unfortunate in the +great pitched battles which they fought with the English; even though +they commonly declined such engagements where the superiority of numbers +was not on their side: but never did they receive a more fatal blow than +the present. They were broken and chased off the field: fifteen thousand +of them (some historians say twenty thousand) were slain; among whom +were Edward Keith, earl mareschal, and Sir Thomas Charteris, chancellor: +and the king himself was taken prisoner, with the earls of Sutherland, +Fife, Monteith, Carrick, Lord Douglas, and many other noblemen.[*] + +Philippa, having secured her royal prisoner in the Tower,[**] crossed +the sea at Dover; and was received in the English camp before Calais +with all the triumph due to her rank, her merit, and her success. This +age was the reign of chivalry and gallantry: Edward's court excelled in +these accomplishments as much as in policy and arms: and if any thing +could justify the obsequious devotion then professed to the fair sex, it +must be the appearance of such extraordinary women as shone forth during +that period. + +[Illustration: 1_223_calais.jpg CALAIS] + +{1347.} The town of Calais had been defended with remarkable vigilance, +constancy, and bravery by the townsmen, during a siege of unusual +length: but Philip, informed of their distressed condition, determined +at last to attempt their relief; and he approached the English with an +immense army, which the writers of that age make amount to two hundred +thousand men. But he found Edward so surrounded with morasses, +and secured by intrenchments, that, without running on inevitable +destruction, he concluded it impossible to make an attempt on the +English camp. He had no other resource than to send his rival a vain +challenge to meet him in the open field; which being refused, he was +obliged to decamp with his army, and disperse them into their several +provinces.[***] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 139. + + ** Rymer, vol. v. p. 537. + + *** Froissard, liv. i chap. 144, 145. + +John of Vienne, governor of Calais, now saw the necessity of +surrendering his fortress, which was reduced to the last extremity by +famine and the fatigue of the inhabitants. He appeared on the walls, +and made a signal to the English sentinels that he desired a parley. +Sir Walter Manny was sent to him by Edward. "Brave knight," cried the +governor "I have been intrusted by my sovereign with the command of this +town: it is almost a year since you besieged me; and I have endeavored, +as well as those under me, to do our duty. But you are acquainted with +our present condition: we have no hopes of relief; we are perishing with +hunger; I am willing therefore to surrender, and desire, as the sole +condition, to insure the lives and liberties of these brave men, who +have so long shared with me every danger and fatigue." [*] + +Manny replied, that he was well acquainted with the intentions of the +king of England; that that prince was incensed against the townsmen of +Calais for their pertinacious resistance, and for the evils which they +had made him and his subjects suffer; that he was determined to take +exemplary vengeance on them; and would not receive the town on any +condition which should confine him in the punishment of these offenders. +"Consider," replied Vienne, "that this is not the treatment to which +brave men are entitled: if any English knight had been in my situation, +your king would have expected the same conduct from him. The inhabitants +of Calais have done for their sovereign what merits the esteem of every +prince; much more of so gallant a prince as Edward. But I inform you, +that, if we must perish, we shall not perish unrevenged; and that we +are not yet so reduced but we can sell our lives at a high price to the +victors. It is the interest of both sides to prevent these desperate +extremities; and I expect that you yourself, brave knight, will +interpose your good offices with your prince in our behalf." + +Manny was struck with the justness of these sentiments, and represented +to the king the danger of reprisals, if he should give such treatment to +the inhabitants of Calais. Edward was at last persuaded to mitigate the +rigor of the conditions demanded: he only insisted, that six of the +most considerable citizens should be sent to him to be disposed of as he +thought proper; that they should come to his camp carrying the keys of +the city in their hands, bareheaded and barefooted, with ropes about +their necks: and on these conditions he promised to spare the lives of +all the remainder.[**] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 146. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 146. + +When this intelligence was conveyed to Calais, it struck the inhabitants +with new consternation. To sacrifice six of their fellow-citizens to +certain destruction for signalizing their valor in a common cause, +appeared to them even more severe than that general punishment with +which they were before threatened; and they found themselves incapable +of coming to any resolution in so cruel and distressful a situation. At +last, one of the principal inhabitants, called Eustace de St. Pierre, +whose name deserves to be recorded, stepped forth, and declared himself +willing to encounter death for the safety of his friends and companions: +another, animated by his example, made a like generous offer: a third +and a fourth presented themselves to the same fate; and the whole number +was soon completed. These six heroic burgesses appeared before Edward in +the guise of malefactors, laid at his feet the keys of their city, and +were ordered to be led to execution. It is surprising that so generous +a prince should ever have entertained such a barbarous purpose against +such men; and still more that he should seriously persist in the +resolution of executing it.[*] [7] But the entreaties of his queen saved +his memory from that infamy: she threw herself on her knees before him, +and with tears in her eyes begged the lives of these citizens. Having +obtained her request, she carried them into her tent, ordered a repast +to be set before them, and, after making them a present of money and +clothes, dismissed them in safety.[**] + + * See note G, at the end of the volume. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 146. + +The king took possession of Calais; and immediately executed an act of +rigor, more justifiable, because more necessary, than that which he had +before resolved on. He knew that notwithstanding his pretended title to +the crown of France, every Frenchman regarded him as a mortal enemy: he +therefore ordered all the inhabitants of Calais to evacuate the town, +and he peopled it anew with English; a policy which probably preserved +so long to his successors the dominion of that important fortress. He +made it the staple of wool, leather, tin, and lead; the four chief, +if not the sole commodities of the kingdom, for which there was any +considerable demand in foreign markets. All the English were obliged to +bring thither these goods: foreign merchants came to the same place in +order to purchase them: and at a period when posts were not established, +and when the communication between states was so imperfect, this +institution, though it hurt the navigation of England, was probably of +advantage to the kingdom. + +{1348.} Through the mediation of the pope's legates, Edward concluded a +truce with France; but even during this cessation of arms, he had very +nearly lost Calais, the sole fruit of all his boasted victories. The +king had intrusted that place to Aimery de Pavie, an Italian, who had +discovered bravery and conduct in the wars, but was utterly destitute +of every principle of honor and fidelity. This man agreed to deliver up +Calais for the sum of twenty thousand crowns; and Geoffrey de Charni, +who commanded the French forces in those quarters, and who knew that, +if he succeeded in this service, he should not be disavowed, ventured, +without consulting his master, to conclude the bargain with him. Edward, +informed of this treachery, by means of Aimery's secretary, summoned the +governor to London on other pretences; and having charged him with the +guilt, promised him his life, but on condition that he would turn the +contrivance to the destruction of the enemy. The Italian easily agreed +to this double treachery. A day was appointed for the admission of the +French; and Edward having prepared a force of about a thousand men, +under Sir Walter Manny, secretly departed from London, carrying with him +the prince of Wales; and, without being suspected, arrived the evening +before at Calais. He made a proper disposition for the reception of +the enemy, and kept all his forces and the garrison under arms. On the +appearance of Charni, a chosen band of French soldiers was admitted at +the postern, and Aimery, receiving the stipulated sum, promised that, +with their assistance, he would immediately open the great gate to +the troops, who were waiting with impatience for the fulfilling of his +engagement. + +{1349.} All the French who entered were immediately slain or taken +prisoners: the great gate opened: Edward rushed forth with cries of +battle and of victory: the French, though astonished at the event, +behaved with valor: a fierce and bloody engagement ensued. As the +morning broke, the king, who was not distinguished by his arms, and who +fought as a private man under the standard of Sir Walter Manny, remarked +a French gentleman, called Eustace de Ribaumont, who exerted himself +with singular vigor and bravery; and he was seized with a desire of +trying a single combat with him. He stepped forth from his troop and +challenging Ribaumont by name, (for he was known to him,) began a sharp +and dangerous encounter. He was twice beaten to the ground by the valor +of the Frenchman: he twice recovered himself: blows were redoubled +with equal force on both sides: the victory was long undecided; till +Ribaumont, perceiving himself to be left almost alone, called out to his +antagonist, "Sir Knight, I yield myself your prisoner;" and at the +same time delivered his sword to the king. Most of the French, being +overpowered by numbers, and intercepted in their retreat, lost either +their lives or their liberty.[*] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 140, 141, 142. + +The French officers who had fallen into the hands of the English, were +conducted into Calais; where Edward discovered to them the antagonist +with whom they had had the honor to be engaged, and treated them with +great regard and courtesy. They were admitted to sup with the prince of +Wales and the English nobility; and after supper, the king himself came +into the apartment, and went about, conversing familiarly with one or +other of his prisoners. He even addressed himself to Charni, and avoided +reproaching him, in too severe terms, with the treacherous attempt which +he had made upon Calais during the truce: but he openly bestowed the +highest encomiums on Ribaumont; called him the most valorous knight that +he had ever been acquainted with; and confessed that he himself had at +no time been in so great danger as when engaged in combat with him. +He then took a string of pearls, which he wore about his own head, and +throwing it over the head of Ribaumont, he said to him, "Sir Eustace, +I bestow this present upon you as a testimony of my esteem for your +bravery; and I desire you to wear it a year for my sake. I know you to +be gay and amorous; and to take delight in the company of ladies and +damsels: let them all know from what hand you had the present. You +are no longer a prisoner; I acquit you of your ransom; and you are at +liberty to-morrow to dispose of yourself as you think proper." + +Nothing proves more evidently the vast superiority assumed by the +nobility and gentry above all the other orders of men, during those +ages, than the extreme difference which Edward made in his treatment of +these French knights, and that of the six citizens of Calais, who +had exerted more signal bravery in a cause more justifiable and more +honorable. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + + + +EDWARD III. + +{1349.} THE prudent conduct and great success of Edward in his foreign +wars had excited a strong emulation and a military genius among the +English nobility; and these turbulent barons, overawed by the crown, +gave now a more useful direction to their ambition, and attached +themselves to a prince who led them to the acquisition of riches and +of glory. That he might further promote the spirit of emulation and +obedience, the king instituted the order of the garter, in imitation of +some orders of a like nature, religious as well as military, which had +been established in different parts of Europe. The number received into +this order consisted of twenty-five persons, besides the sovereign; and +as it has never been enlarged, this badge of distinction continues as +honorable as at its first institution, and is still a valuable though a +cheap present, which the prince can confer on his greatest subjects. A +vulgar story prevails, but is not supported by any ancient authority, +that at a court ball, Edward's mistress, commonly supposed to be the +countess of Salisbury, dropped her garter; and the king, taking it up, +observed some of the courtiers to smile, as if they thought that he had +not obtained this favor merely by accident: upon which he called out, +"Honi soit qui mal y pense,"--Evil to him that evil thinks; and as every +incident of gallantry among those ancient warriors was magnified into a +matter of great importance,[*] he instituted the order of the garter in +memorial of this event, and gave these words as the motto of the order. +[8] This origin, though frivolous, is not unsuitable to the manners +of the times; and it is indeed difficult by any other means to account +either for the seemingly unmeaning terms of the motto, or for the +peculiar badge of the garter, which seems to have no reference to any +purpose either of military use or ornament. + + * See note H, at the end of the volume. + +But a sudden damp was thrown over this festivity and triumph of the +court of England, by a destructive pestilence, which invaded that +kingdom as well as the rest of Europe; and is computed to have swept +away near a third of the inhabitants in every country which it attacked. +It was probably more fatal in great cities than in the country; and +above fifty thousand souls are said to have perished by it in London +alone.[*] This malady first discovered itself in the north of Asia, was +spread over all that country, made its progress from one end of Europe +to the other, and sensibly depopulated every state through which it +passed. So grievous a calamity, more than the pacific disposition of +the princes, served to maintain and prolong the truce between France and +England. + + * Stowe's Survey, p. 478. There were buried fifty thousand + bodied in one churchyard, which Sir Walter Manny had bought + for the use of the poor. The same author says, that there + died above fifty thousand persons of the plague in Norwich, + which is quite incredible. + +{1350.} During this truce, Philip de Valois died, without being able to +reestablish the affairs of France, which his bad success against England +had thrown into extreme disorder. This monarch, during the first years +of his reign, had obtained the appellation of Fortunate, and acquired +the character of prudent; but he ill maintained either the one or the +other; less from his own fault, than because he was overmatched by the +superior fortune and superior genius of Edward. But the incidents in the +reign of his son John gave the French nation cause to regret even the +calamitous times of his predecessor. John was distinguished by many +virtues, particularly a scrupulous honor and fidelity: he was not +deficient in personal courage: but as he wanted that masterly prudence +and foresight, which his difficult situation required his kingdom was +at the same time disturbed by intestine commotions, and oppressed with +foreign wars. + +{1354.} The chief source of its calamities, was Charles, king of Navarre +who received the epithet of the Bad, or Wicked, and whose conduct fully +entitled him to that appellation. This prince was descended from males +of the blood royal of France; his mother was daughter of Lewis Hutin; he +had himself espoused a daughter of King John: but all these ties, which +ought to have connected him with the throne, gave him only greater power +to shake and overthrow it. With regard to his personal qualities, he was +courteous, affable, engaging eloquent; full of insinuation and address; +inexhaustible in his resources; active and enterprising. But these +splendid accomplishments were attended with such defects as rendered +them pernicious to his country, and even ruinous to himself: he was +volatile, inconstant, faithless, revengeful, malicious; restrained by no +principle or duty; insatiable in his pretensions: and whether successful +or unfortunate in one enterprise he immediately undertook another, in +which he was never deterred from employing the most criminal and most +dishonorable expedients. + +The constable of Eu, who had been taken prisoner by Edward at Caen, +recovered his liberty, on the promise of delivering, as his ransom, the +town of Guisnes, near Calais of which he was superior lord: but as John +was offended at this stipulation, which, if fulfilled, opened still +farther that frontier to the enemy, and as he suspected the constable of +more dangerous connections with the king of England, he ordered him to +be seized, and without any legal or formal trial, put him to death, in +prison. Charles de la Cerda was appointed constable in his place; +and had a like fatal end: the king of Navarre ordered him to be +assassinated; and such was the weakness of the crown, that this prince, +instead of dreading punishment, would not even agree to ask pardon for +his offence, but on condition that he should receive an accession of +territory: and he had also John's second son put into his hands, as a +security for his person, when he came to court, and performed this act +of mock penitence and humiliation before his sovereign.[*] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 144. + +{1355.} The two French princes seemed entirely reconciled; but this +dissimulation, to which John submitted from necessity, and Charles from +habit, did not long continue; and the king of Navarre knew that he had +reason to apprehend the most severe vengeance for the many crimes and +treasons which he had already committed, and the still greater, which +he was meditating. To insure himself of protection, he entered into a +secret correspondence with England, by means of Henry, earl of Derby, +now earl of Lancaster, who at that time was employed in fruitless +negotiations for peace at Avignon, under the mediation of the pope. John +detected this correspondence; and to prevent the dangerous effects +of it, he sent forces into Normandy, the chief seat of the king of +Navarre's power, and attacked his castles and fortresses. But hearing +that Edward had prepared an army to support his ally, he had the +weakness to propose an accommodation with Charles, and even to give this +traitorous subject the sum of a hundred thousand crowns, as the purchase +of a feigned reconcilement, which rendered him still more dangerous. +The king of Navarre, insolent from past impunity, and desperate from the +dangers which he apprehended, continued his intrigues; and associating +himself with Geoffrey d'Harcourt, who had received his pardon from +Philip de Valois, but persevered still in his factious disposition, he +increased the number of his partisans in every part of the kingdom. He +even seduced, by his address, Charles, the king of France's eldest +son, a youth of seventeen years of age, who was the first that bore the +appellation of "dauphin," by the reunion of the province of Dauphiny to +the crown. But this prince, being made sensible of the danger and folly +of these connections, promised to make atonement for the offence by the +sacrifice of his associates; and in concert with his father, he invited +the king of Navarre, and other noblemen of the party, to a feast at +Rouen, where they were betrayed into the hands of John. Some of the most +obnoxious were immediately led to execution: the king of Navarre was +thrown into prison;[*] but this stroke of severity in the king, and of +treachery in the dauphin, was far from proving decisive in maintaining +the royal authority. Philip of Navarre, brother to Charles, and Geoffrey +d'Harcourt, put all the towns and castles belonging to that prince in +a posture of defence; and had immediate recourse to the protection of +England in this desperate extremity. + + * Froissard. liv. i. chap. 146. + +The truce between the two kingdoms, which had always been ill observed +on both sides, was now expired; and Edward was entirely free to support +the French malecontents. Well pleased that the factions in France had at +length gained him some partisans in that kingdom, which his pretensions +to the crown had never been able to accomplish, he purposed to attack +his enemy both on the side of Guienne, under the command of the prince +of Wales, and on that of Calais, in his own person. + +Young Edward arrived in the Garronne with his army, on board a fleet of +three hundred sail, attended by the earls of Avesbury, p. 243. Warwick, +Salisbury, Oxford, Suffolk, and other English noblemen. Being joined by +the vassals of Gascony, he took the field; and as the present disorders +in France prevented every proper plan of defence, he carried on with +impunity his ravages and devastations, according to the mode of war in +that age. He reduced all the villages and several towns in Languedoc to +ashes: he presented himself before Toulouse; passed the Garronne, and +burned the suburbs of Carcassonne; advanced even to Narbonne, laying +every place waste around him; and after an incursion of six weeks, +returned with a vast booty and many prisoners to the Guienne, where he +took up his winter quarters.[*] The constable of Bourbon, who commanded +in those provinces, received orders, though at the head of a superior +army, on no account to run the hazard of a battle. + +The king of England's incursion from Calais was of the samme nature, +and attended with the same issue. He broke into France at the head of +a numerous army; to which he gave a full license of plundering and +ravaging the open country. He advanced to St. Omer, where the king of +France was posted; and on the retreat of that prince, followed him to +Hesdin.[**] John still kept at a distance, and declined an engagement: +but in order to save his reputation, he sent Edward a challenge to fight +a pitched battle with him; a usual bravado in that age, derived from the +practice of single combat, and ridiculous in the art of war. The king, +finding no sincerity in this defiance, retired to Calais, and thence +went over to England, in order to defend that kingdom against a +threatened invasion of the Scots. + +The Scots, taking advantage of the king's absence, and that of the +military power of England, had surprised Berwick; and had collected an +army with a view of committing ravages upon the northern provinces: +but on the approach of Edward, they abandoned that place, which was not +tenable, while the castle was in the hands of the English; and +retiring to their mountains, gave the enemy full liberty of burning and +destroying the whole country from Berwick to Edinburgh.[***] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 144, 146. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 144. Avesbury, p. 206. Walsing. + p. 171. + + *** Walsing. p. 171. + +Baliol attended Edward on this expedition; but finding that his constant +adherence to the English had given his countrymen an unconquerable +aversion to his title, and that he himself was declining through age and +infirmities, he finally resigned into the king's hands his pretensions +to the crown of Scotland,[*] and received in lieu of them an annual +pension of two thousand pounds, with which he passed the remainder of +his life in privacy and retirement. + +During these military operations, Edward received information of the +increasing disorders in France, arising from the imprisonment of the +king of Navarre; and he sent Lancaster at the head of a small army, to +support the partisans of that prince in Normandy. The war was conducted +with various success, but chiefly to the disadvantage of the French +malecontents; till an important event happened in the other quarter of +the kingdom, which had well nigh proved fatal to the monarchy of France, +and threw every thing into the utmost confusion. + +{1356.} The prince of Wales, encouraged by the success of the preceding +campaign, took the field with an army, which no historian makes amount +to above twelve thousand men, and of which not a third were English; and +with this small body, he ventured to penetrate into the heart of France. +After ravaging the Agenois, Quercy, and the Limousin, he entered the +province of Berry; and made some attacks, though without success, on the +towns of Bourges and Issoudun. It appeared that his intentions were to +march into Normandy, and to join his forces with those of the earl of +Lancaster, and the partisans of the king of Navarre; but finding all the +bridges on the Loire broken down, and every pass carefully guarded, he +was obliged to think of making his retreat into Guienne.[**] He found +this resolution the more necessary, from the intelligence which he +received of the king of France's motions. That monarch, provoked at the +insult offered him by this incursion, and entertaining hopes of success +from the young prince's temerity, collected a great army of above sixty +thousand men, and advanced by hasty marches to intercept his enemy. +The prince, not aware of John's near approach, lost some days, on his +retreat, before the castle of Remorantin;[***] and thereby gave the +French an opportunity of overtaking him. They came within sight at +Maupertuis, near Poiotiers; and Edward, sensible that his retreat was +now become impracticable, prepared for battle with all the courage of a +young hero, and with all the prudence of the oldest and most experienced +commander. + + * Rymer, vol. v. p. 863. [** My copy has 823] Ypod. Neust. + p. 521. + + ** Walsing. p. 171. + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 158. Walsing. p. 171 + +But the utmost prudence and courage would have proved insufficient to +save him in this extremity, had the king of France known how to make use +of his present advantages. His great superiority in numbers enabled him +to surround the enemy; and by intercepting all provisions, which were +already become scarce in the English camp, to reduce this small army, +without a blow, to the necessity of surrendering at discretion. But such +was the impatient ardor of the French nobility, and so much had their +thoughts been bent on overtaking the English as their sole object, that +this idea never struck any of the commanders; and they immediately took +measures for the assault, as for a certain victory. While the French +army was drawn up in order of battle, they were stopped by the +appearance of the cardinal of Perigord; who, having learned the approach +of the two armies to each other, had hastened, by interposing his good +offices, to prevent any further effusion of Christian blood. By John's +permission, he carried proposals to the prince of Wales; and found him +so sensible of the bad posture of his affairs, that an accommodation +seemed not impracticable. Edward told him, that he would agree to any +terms consistent with his own honor and that of England; and he offered +to purchase a retreat, by ceding all the conquests which he had made +during this and the former campaign, and by stipulating not to serve +against France during the course of seven years. But John, imagining +that he had now got into his hands a sufficient pledge for the +restitution of Calais, required that Edward should surrender himself +prisoner with a hundred of his attendants; and offered, on these terms, +a safe retreat to the English army. The prince rejected the proposal +with disdain; and declared that, whatever fortune might attend him, +England should never be obliged to pay the price of his ransom. This +resolute answer cut off all hopes of accommodation; but as the day +was already spent in negotiating, the battle was delayed till the next +morning.[*] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 161. + +The cardinal of Perigord, as did all the prelates of the court of Rome, +bore a great attachment to the French interest; but the most determined +enemy could not, by any expedient, have done a greater prejudice to +John's affairs, than he did them by this delay. The prince of Wales had +leisure, daring the night, to strengthen, by new intrenchments, the post +which he had before so judiciously chosen; and he contrived an ambush +of three hundred men at arms, and as many archers, whom he put under the +command of the Captal de Buche, and ordered to make a circuit, that +they might fall on the flank or rear of the French army during the +engagement. The van of his army was commanded by the earl of Warwick, +the rear by the earls of Salisbury and Suffolk, the main body by the +prince himself. The Lords Chandos, Audeley, and many other brave and +experienced commanders, were at the head of different corps of his army. + +John also arranged his forces in three divisions, nearly equal: the +first was commanded by the duke of Orleans, the king's brother; the +second by the dauphin, attended by his two younger brothers; the third +by the king himself, who had by his side Philip, his fourth son and +favorite, then about fourteen years of age. There was no reaching the +English army but through a narrow lane, covered on each side by +hedges and in order to open this passage, the mareschals, Andrehen and +Clermont, were ordered to advance with a separate detachment of men at +arms. While they marched along the lane, a body of English archers, who +lined the hedges, plied them on each side with their arrows; and being +very near them, yet placed in perfect safety, they coolly took their +aim against the enemy, and slaughtered them with impunity. The French +detachment, much discouraged by the unequal combat, and diminished in +their number, arrived at the end of the lane, where they met on the open +ground the prince of Wales himself, at the head of a chosen body, ready +for their reception. They were discomfited and overthrown: one of the +mareschals was slain; the other taken prisoner: and the remainder of the +detachment, who were still in the lane, and exposed to the shot of the +enemy, without being able to make resistance, recoiled upon their own +army, and put every thing into disorder.[*] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 162. + +In that critical moment the Captal de Buche unexpectedly appeared, and +attacked in flank the dauphin's line, which fell into some confusion. +Landas, Bodenai, and St. Venant, to whom the care of that young prince +and his brothers had been committed, too anxious for their charge, or +for their own safety, carried them off the field, and set the example of +flight, which was followed by that whole division. The duke of Orleans, +seized with alike panic, and imagining all was lost, thought no longer +of fighting, but carried off his division by a retreat, which soon +turned into a flight. Lord Chandos called out to the prince, that the +day was won; and encouraged him to attack the division under King John, +which, though more numerous than the whole English army, were somewhat +dismayed with the precipitate flight of their companions. John here +made the utmost efforts to retrieve by his valor what his imprudence +had betrayed; and the only resistance made that day was by his line of +battle. The prince of Wales fell with impetuosity on some German cavalry +placed in the front, and commanded by the counts of Sallebruche, Nydo, +and Nosto; a fierce battle ensued: one side were encouraged by the near +prospect of so great a victory; the other were stimulated by the shame +of quitting the field to an enemy so much inferior: but the three German +generals, together with the duke of Athens, constable of France, falling +in battle, that body of cavalry gave way, and left the king himself +exposed to the whole fury of the enemy. The ranks were every moment +thinned around him: the nobles fell by his side one after another: +his son, scarce fourteen years of age, received a wound, while he was +fighting valiantly in defence of his father: the king himself, spent +with fatigue and overwhelmed by numbers, might easily have been slain; +but every English gentleman, ambitious of taking alive the royal +prisoner, spared him in the action, exhorted him to surrender, and +offered him quarter: several, who attempted to seize him, suffered for +their temerity. He still cried out, "Where is my cousin, the prince +of Wales?" and seemed unwilling to become prisoner to any person of +inferior rank. But being told that the prince was at a distance on the +field, he threw down his gauntlet, and yielded himself to Dennis de +Morbec, a knight of Arras, who had been obliged to fly his country for +murder. His son was taken with him.[*] + + * Rymer, vol vi. p. 72, 154. Froissard, liv. i. chap. 164. + +The prince of Wales, who had been carried away in pursuit of the flying +enemy, finding the field entirely clear, had ordered a tent to be +pitched, and was reposing himself after the toils of battle; inquiring +still with great anxiety concerning the fate of the French monarch. +He despatched the earl of Warwick to bring him intelligence; and that +nobleman came happily in time to save the life of the captive prince +which was exposed to greater danger than it had been during the heat +of the action. The English had taken him by violence from Morbec: the +Gascons claimed the honor of detaining the royal prisoner; and some +brutal soldiers, rather than yield the prize to their rivals, had +threatened to put him to death.[*] Warwick overawed both parties, and +approaching the king with great demonstrations of respect, offered to +conduct him to the prince's tent. + +Here commences the real and truly admirable heroism of Edward; for +victories are vulgar things in comparison of that moderation and +humanity displayed by a young prince of twenty-seven years of age, not +yet cooled from the fury of battle, and elated by as extraordinary and +as unexpected success as had ever crowned the arms of any commander. +He came forth to meet the captive king with all the marks of regard and +sympathy; administered comfort to him amidst his misfortunes; paid him +the tribute of praise due to his valor; and ascribed his own victory +merely to the blind chance of war, or to a superior providence, which +controls all the efforts of human force and prudence.[**] The behavior +of John showed him not unworthy of this courteous treatment; his present +abject fortune never made him forget a moment that he was a king: more +touched by Edward's generosity than by his own calamities, he confessed +that, notwithstanding his defeat and captivity, his honor was still +unimpaired; and that if he yielded the victory, it was at least gained +by a prince of such consummate valor and humanity. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 164. + + ** Poul. Cemil, p. 197. + +Edward ordered a repast to be prepared in his tent for the prisoner; and +he himself served at the royal captive's table, as if he had been one +of his retinue: he stood at the king's back during the meal; constantly +refused to take a place at table; and declared that, being a subject, he +was too well acquainted with the distance between his own rank and that +of royal majesty, to assume such freedom. All his father's pretensions +to the crown of France were now buried in oblivion: John in captivity +received the honors of a king, which were refused him when seated on the +throne: his misfortunes, not his title, were respected; and the French +prisoners, conquered by this elevation of mind, more than by their late +discomfiture, burst into tears of admiration; which were only checked by +the reflection, that such genuine and unaltered heroism in an enemy +must certainly in the issue prove but the more dangerous to their native +country.[*] + +All the English and Gascon knights imitated the generous example +set them by their prince. The captives were every where treated with +humanity, and were soon after dismissed, on paying moderate ransoms +to the persons into whose hands they had fallen. The extent of their +fortunes was considered; and an attention was given that they should +still have sufficient means left to perform their military service in +a manner suitable to their rank and quality. Yet so numerous were the +noble prisoners, that these ransoms, added to the spoils gained in the +field, were sufficient to enrich the prince's army; and as they had +suffered very little in the action, their joy and exultation were +complete. + +The prince of Wales conducted his prisoner to Bordeaux; and not being +provided with forces so numerous as might enable him to push his present +advantages, he concluded a two years' truce with France,[**] which +was also become requisite, that he might conduct the captive king with +safety into England. He landed at Southwark, and was met by a great +concourse of people, of all ranks and stations. {1357.} The prisoner was +clad in royal apparel, and mounted on a white steed, distinguished by +its size and beauty, and by the richness of its furniture. The conqueror +rode by his side in a meaner attire, and carried by a black palfrey. In +this situation, more glorious than all the insolent parade of a Roman +triumph, he passed through the streets of London, and presented the king +of France to his father, who advanced to meet him, and received him with +the same courtesy as if he had been a neighboring potentate that had +voluntarily come to pay him a friendly visit.[***] It is impossible, in +reflecting on this noble conduct, not to perceive the advantages which +resulted from the otherwise whimsical principles of chivalry, and which +gave men in those rude times some superiority even over people of a more +cultivated age and nation. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 168. + + ** Rymer, vol. vi p. 3. + + *** Froissard, liv i. chap. 173. + +The king of France, besides the generous treatment which he met with +in England, had the melancholy consolation of the wretched, to see +companions in affliction. The king of Scots had been eleven years a +captive in Edward's hands; and the good fortune of this latter monarch +had reduced at once the two neighboring potentates, with whom he was +engaged in war, to be prisoners in his capital. + +{1357.}But Edward finding that the conquest of Scotland was nowise +advanced by the captivity of its sovereign, and that the government +conducted by Robert Stuart, his nephew and heir, was still able to +defend itself, consented to restore David Bruce to his liberty, for the +ransom of one hundred thousand marks sterling; and that prince delivered +the sons of all his principal nobility, as hostages for the payment.[*] + + * Rymer, vol. vi. p. 45, 46, 52, 56. Froissard, liv. i. + chap, 154 Walsing, p. 73. + +{1358.} Meanwhile, the captivity of John, joined to the preceding +disorders of the French government, had produced in that country a +dissolution, almost total, of civil authority, and had occasioned +confusions the most horrible and destructive that had ever been +experienced in any age or in any nation. The dauphin, now about eighteen +years of age, naturally assumed the royal power during his father's +captivity; but though endowed with an excellent capacity, even in such +early years, he possessed neither experience nor authority sufficient +to defend a state, assailed at once by foreign power and shaken by +intestine faction. In order to obtain supply, he assembled the states +of the kingdom: that assembly, instead of supporting his administration, +were themselves seized with the spirit of confusion; and laid hold of +the present opportunity to demand limitations of the prince's power, +the punishment of past malversations, and the liberty of the king of +Navarre. Marcel, provost of the merchants and first magistrate of Paris, +put himself at the head of the unruly populace; and from the violence +and temerity of his character, pushed them to commit the most criminal +outrages against the royal authority. They detained the dauphin in a +sort of captivity; they murdered in his presence Robert de Clermont +and John de Conflans, mareschals, the one of Normandy, the other of +Burgundy; they threatened all the other ministers with a like fate; +and when Charles, who was obliged to temporize and dissemble, made his +escape from their hands, they levied war against him, and openly erected +the standard of rebellion, The other cities of the kingdom, in imitation +of the capital, shook off the dauphin's authority, took the government +into their own hands, and spread the disorder into every province. The +nobles, whose inclinations led them to adhere to the crown, and were +naturally disposed to check these tumults, had lost all their influence; +and being reproached with cowardice on account of the base desertion of +their sovereign in the battle of Poiotiers, were treated with universal +contempt by the inferior orders. The troops, who, from the deficiency +of pay, were no longer retained in discipline, threw off all regard to +their officers, sought the means of subsistence by plunder and robbery, +and associating to them all the disorderly people with whom that +age abounded, formed numerous bands, which infested all parts of the +kingdom. They desolated the open country; burned and plundered the +villages; and by cutting off all means of communication or subsistence, +reduced even the inhabitants of the walled towns to the most extreme +necessity. The peasants, formerly oppressed, and now left unprotected +by their masters, became desperate from their present misery; and rising +every where in arms, carried to the last extremity those disorders +which were derived from the sedition of the citizens and disbanded +soldiers.[*] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 182,183, 184. + +The gentry, hated for their tyranny, were every where exposed to the +violence of popular rage; and instead of meeting with the regard due +to their past dignity, became only, on that account, the object of +more wanton insult to the mutinous peasants. They were hunted like wild +beasts, and put to the sword without mercy: their castles were consumed +with fire, and levelled to the ground: their wives and daughters were +first ravished, then murdered: the savages proceeded so far as to impale +some gentlemen, and roast them alive before a slow fire: a body of nine +thousand of them broke into Meaux, where the wife of the dauphin, with +above three hundred ladies, had taken shelter: the most brutal treatment +and most atrocious cruelty were justly dreaded by this helpless company: +but the Captal de Buche, though in the service of Edward, yet moved by +generosity and by the gallantry of a true knight, flew to their rescue, +and beat off the peasants with great slaughter. In other civil wars, +the opposite factions, falling under the government of their several +leaders, commonly preserve still the vestige of some rule and order: but +here the wild state of nature seemed to be renewed: every man was +thrown loose and independent of his fellows: and the populousness of the +country, derived from the preceding police of civil society, served only +to increase the horror and confusion of the scene. + +Amidst these disorders, the king of Navarre made his escape from prison, +and presented a dangerous leader to the furious malecontents.[*] But the +splendid talents of this prince qualified him only to do mischief, +and to increase the public distractions: he wanted the steadiness and +prudence requisite for making his intrigues subservient to his ambition, +and forming his numerous partisans into a regular faction. He revived +his pretensions, somewhat obsolete, to the crown of France: but while +he advanced this claim, he relied entirely on his alliance with the +English, who were concerned in interest to disappoint his pretensions; +and who, being public and inveterate enemies to the state, served only, +by the friendship which they seemingly bore him, to render his cause the +more odious. And in all his operations, he acted more like a leader of +banditti, than one who aspired to be the head of a regular government, +and who was engaged by his station to endeavor the reëstablishment of +order in the community. + +The eyes, therefore, of all the French, who wished to restore peace to +their miserable and desolated country, were turned towards the dauphin; +and that young prince, though not remarkable for his military talents, +possessed so much prudence and spirit, that he daily gained the +ascendant over all his enemies. Marcel, the seditious provost of Paris, +was slain, while he was attempting to deliver the city to the king of +Navarre and the English; and the capital immediately returned to its +duty.[**] The most considerable bodies of the mutinous peasants +were dispersed, and put to the sword: some bands of military robbers +underwent the same fate: and though many grievous disorders still +remained, France began gradually to assume the face of a regular civil +government, and to form some plan for its defence and security. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 181. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 187 + +During the confusion in the dauphin's affairs, Edward seemed to have a +favorable opportunity for pushing his conquests: but besides that his +hands were tied by the truce, and he could only assist underhand the +faction of Navarre, the state of the English finances and military +power, during those ages, rendered the kingdom incapable of making any +regular or steady effort, and obliged it to exert its force at very +distant intervals, by which all the projected ends were commonly +disappointed. Edward employed himself, during a conjuncture so inviting, +chiefly in negotiations with his prisoner; and John had the weakness +to sign terms of peace, which, had they taken effect, must have totally +ruined and dismembered his kingdom. He agreed to restore all the +provinces which had been possessed by Henry II. and his two sons, and +to annex them forever to England, without any obligation of homage +or fealty on the part of the English monarch. But the dauphin and the +states of France rejected this treaty, so dishonorable and pernicious to +the kingdom;[*] and Edward on the expiration of the truce, having now, +by subsidies and frugality, collected some treasure, prepared himself +for a new invasion of France. + +The great authority and renown of the king and the prince of Wales, the +splendid success of their former enterprises, and the certain prospect +of plunder from the defenceless provinces of France, soon brought +together the whole military power of England; and the same motives +invited to Edward's standard all the hardy adventurers of the different +countries of Europe.[**] He passed over to Calais, where he assembled an +army of near a hundred thousand men; a force which the dauphin could not +pretend to withstand in the open field: that prince, therefore, prepared +himself to elude a blow, which it was impossible for him to resist. He +put all the considerable towns in a posture of defence; ordered them to +be supplied with magazines and provisions; distributed proper garrisons +in all places; secured every thing valuable in the fortified cities; +and chose his own station at Paris, with a view of allowing the enemy to +vent their fury on the open country. + +{1359.} The king, aware of this plan of defence, was obliged to carry +along with him six thousand wagons, loaded with the provisions necessary +for the subsistence of his army. After ravaging the province of Picardy, +he advanced into Champagne; and having a strong desire of being crowned +king of France at Rheims, the usual place in which this ceremony is +performed, he laid siege to that city, and carried on his attacks, +though without success, for the space of seven weeks.[***] + + * Froissard. liv. i. chap. 201. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 205. + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 208. Walsing. p. 174. + +{1360.} The place was bravely defended by the inhabitants, encouraged +by the exhortations of the archbishop, John de Craon; till the advanced +season (for this expedition was entered upon in the beginning of +winter) obliged the king to raise the siege. The province of Champagne, +meanwhile, was desolated by his incursions; and he thence conducted his +army, with a like intent, into Burgundy. He took and pillaged Tonnerre, +Gaillon, Avalon, and other small places; but the duke of Burgundy, that +he might preserve his country from further ravages, consented to pay him +the sum of one hundred thousand nobles.[*] Edward then bent his march +towards the Nivernois, which saved itself by a like composition: he laid +waste Brie and the Gatinois; and after a long march, very destructive to +France, and somewhat ruinous to his own troops, he appeared before the +gates of Paris, and taking up his quarters at Bourg-la-Reine, extended +his army to Longjumeau, Montrouge, and Vaugirard. He tried to provoke +the dauphin to hazard a battle, by sending him a defiance; but could not +make that prudent prince change his plan of operations. Paris was safe +from the danger of an assault by its numerous garrison; from that of a +blockade by its well-supplied magazines: and as Edward himself could not +subsist his army in a country wasted by foreign and domestic enemies, +and left also empty by the precaution of the dauphin, he was obliged +to remove his quarters; and he spread his troops into the provinces of +Maine, Beausse, and the Chartraine, which were abandoned to the fury +of their devastations.[**] The only repose which France experienced was +during the festival of Easter, when the king stopped the course of his +ravages. For superstition can sometimes restrain the rage of men, which +neither justice nor humanity is able to control. + + * Rymer, vol. vi. p. 161. Walsing. p. 174. + + ** Walsing. p. 175. + +While the war was carried on in this ruinous manner, the negotiations +for peace were never interrupted: but as the king still insisted on +the full execution of the treaty which he had made with his prisoner +at London, and which was strenuously rejected by the dauphin, there +appeared no likelihood of an accommodation. The earl, now duke of +Lancaster, (for this, title was introduced into England during the +present reign,) endeavored to soften the rigor of these terms, and to +finish the war on more equal and reasonable conditions. He insisted with +Edward, that, notwithstanding his great and surprising successes, the +object of the war, if such were to be esteemed the acquisition of the +crown of France, was not become any nearer than at the commencement of +it; or rather, was set at a greater distance by those very victories and +advantages which seemed to lead to it. That his claim of succession had +not from the first procured him one partisan in the kingdom; and the +continuance of these destructive hostilities had united every Frenchman +in the most implacable animosity against him. That though intestine +faction had crept into the government of France, it was abating every +moment; and no party, even during the greatest heat of the contest, +when subjection under a foreign enemy usually appears preferable to the +dominion of fellow-citizens, had ever adopted the pretensions of the +king of England. That the king of Navarre himself, who alone was allied +with the English, instead of being a cordial friend, was Edward's most +dangerous rival, and, in the opinion of his partisans, possessed a much +preferable title to the crown of France. That the prolongation of the +war, however it might enrich the English soldiers, was ruinous to the +king himself, who bore all the charges of the armament, without reaping +any solid or durable advantage from it. That if the present disorders of +France continued, that kingdom would soon be reduced to such a state of +desolation, that it would afford no spoils to its ravagers, if it could +establish a more steady government, it might turn the chance of war in +its favor, and by its superior force and advantages be able to repel the +present victors. That the dauphin, even during his greatest distresses, +had yet conducted himself with so much prudence, as to prevent the +English from acquiring one foot of land in the kingdom; and it were +better for the king to accept by a peace what he had in vain attempted +to acquire by hostilities, which, however hitherto successful, had been +extremely expensive, and might prove very dangerous. And that Edward +having acquired so much glory by his arms, the praise of moderation +was the only honor to which he could now aspire; an honor so much the +greater, as it was durable, was united with that of prudence, and might +be attended with the most real advantages.[*] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 211. + +These reasons induced Edward to accept of more moderate terms of peace; +and it is probable that, in order to palliate this change of resolution, +he ascribed it to a vow made during a dreadful tempest, which attacked +his army on their march, and which ancient historians represent as +the cause of this sudden accommodation.[*] The conferences between the +English and French commissioners were carried on during a few days at +Bretigni, in the Chartraine, and the peace was at last concluded on the +following conditions:[**] it was stipulated that King John should be +restored to his liberty, and should pay as his ransom three millions of +crowns of gold, about one million five hundred thousand pounds of +our present money;[***] [9] which was to be discharged at different +payments: that Edward should forever renounce all claim to the crown of +France, and to the provinces of Normandy, Maine, Touraine, and Anjou, +possessed by his ancestors; and should receive in exchange the provinces +of Poictou, Xaintonge, l'Agenois, Perigord, the Limousin, Quercy, +Rovergue, l'Angoumois, and other districts in that quarter, together +with Calais, Guisnes, Montreuil, and the county of Ponthieu, on the +other side of France: that the full sovereignty of all these provinces, +as well as that of Guienne, should be vested in the crown of England, +and that France should renounce all title to feudal jurisdiction, +homage, or appeal from them: that the king of Navarre should be restored +to all his honors and possessions: that Edward should renounce his +confederacy with the Flemings, John his connections with the Scots: that +the disputes concerning the succession of Brittany, between the families +of Blois and Mountfort, should be decided by arbiters appointed by the +two kings; and if the competitors refused to submit to the award, the +dispute should no longer be a ground of war between the kingdoms; and +that forty hostages, such as should be agreed on, should be sent to +England as a security for the execution of all these conditions.[****] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 211. + + ** Rymer, vol. vi. p. 178. Froissard, liv. i. chap. 212. + + *** See note I, at the end of the volume. + + **** The hostages were the two sons of the French king, John + and Lewis; his brother Philip, duke of Orleans, the duke of + Bourbon, James de Bourbon count de Ponthieu, the counts + d'Eu, de Longueville, de St. Pol, de Harcourt, de Vendome, + de Couci, de Craon, de Montmorenci, and many of the chief + nobility of France. The princes were mostly released on the + fulfilling of certain articles: others of the hostages, and + the duke of Berry among the rest, were permitted to return + upon their parole, which they did not keep. Rymer, vol. vi. + p. 278, 285, 287. + +In consequence of this treaty, the king of France was brought over to +Calais; whither Edward also soon after repaired; and there both princes +solemnly ratified the treaty. + +John was sent to Boulogne; the king accompanied him a mile on his +journey; and the two monarchs parted with many professions, probably +cordial and sincere, of mutual amity.[*] The good disposition of John +made him fully sensible of the generous treatment which he had received +in England, and obliterated all memory of the ascendant gained over him +by his rival. There seldom has been a treaty of so great importance +so faithfully executed by both parties. Edward had scarcely from the +beginning entertained any hopes of acquiring the crown of France: +by restoring John to his liberty, and making peace at a juncture so +favorable to his arms, he had now plainly renounced all pretensions of +this nature; he had sold at a very high price that chimerical claim; and +had at present no other interest than to retain those acquisitions which +he had made with such singular prudence and good fortune. John, on the +other hand, though the terms were severe, possessed such fidelity and +honor, that he was determined at all hazards to execute them, and to +use every expedient for satisfying a monarch who had indeed been his +greatest political enemy, but had treated him personally with singular +humanity and regard. But, notwithstanding his endeavors, there occurred +many difficulties in fulfilling his purpose; chiefly from the extreme +reluctance which many towns and vassals in the neighborhood of Guienne +expressed against submitting to the English dominion;[**] and John, +in order to adjust these differences, took a resolution of coming over +himself to England. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 213. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 214. + +{1363.} His council endeavored to dissuade him from this rash design; +and probably would have been pleased to see him employ more chicanes for +eluding the execution of so disadvantageous a treaty: but John replied +to them, that though good faith were banished from the rest of the +earth, she ought still to retain her habitation in the breasts of +princes. Some historians would detract from the merit of this honorable +conduct, by representing John as enamored of an English lady, to whom he +was glad on this pretence to pay a visit; but besides that this surmise +is not founded on any good authority, it appears somewhat unlikely +on account of the advanced age of that prince, who was now in his +fifty-sixth year. + +{1364.} He was lodged in the Savoy; the palace where he had resided +during his captivity, and where he soon after sickened and died. Nothing +can be a stronger proof of the great dominion of fortune over men, than +the calamities which pursued a monarch of such eminent valor, goodness, +and honor, and which he incurred merely by reason of some slight +imprudences, which, in other situations, would have been of no +importance. But though both his reign and that of his father proved +extremely unfortunate to their kingdom, the French crown acquired, +during their time, very considerable accessions--those of Dauphiny and +Burgundy. This latter province, however, John had the imprudence again +to dismember by bestowing it on Philip, his fourth son, the object of +his most tender affections;[*] a deed which was afterwards the source of +many calamities to the kingdom. + +John was succeeded in the throne by Charles the dauphin, a prince +educated in the school of adversity, and well qualified, by his +consummate prudence and experience, to repair all the losses which the +kingdom had sustained from the errors of his two predecessors. Contrary +to the practice of all the great princes of those times, which held +nothing in estimation but military courage, he seems to have fixed it as +a maxim never to appear at the head of his armies; and he was the first +king in Europe that showed the advantage of policy, foresight, and +judgment, above a rash and precipitate valor. The events of his reign, +compared with those of the preceding, are a proof how little reason +kingdoms have to value themselves on their victories, or to be humbled +by their defeats; which in reality ought to be ascribed chiefly to the +good or bad conduct of their rulers, and are of little moment towards +determining national characters and manners. + +Before Charles could think of counterbalancing so great a power as +England, it was necessary for him to remedy the many disorders to which +his own kingdom was exposed. He turned his arms against the king of +Navarre, the great disturber of France during that age; he defeated this +prince by the conduct of Bertrand du Guesclin, a gentleman of Brittany, +one of the most accomplished characters of the age, whom he had the +discernment to choose as the instrument of all his victories:[**] and he +obliged his enemy to accept of moderate terms of peace. + + * Rymer, vol. vi. p. 421. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 119, 120. + +Du Guesclin was less fortunate in the wars of Brittany, which still +continued, notwithstanding the mediation of France and England: he was +defeated and taken prisoner at Auray by Chandos: Charles of Blois was +there slain, and the young count of Mountfort soon after got entire +possession of that duchy.[*] But the prudence of Charles broke the force +of this blow: he submitted to the decision of fortune: he acknowledged +the title of Mountfort, though a zealous partisan of England; and +received the proffered homage for his dominions. But the chief obstacle +which the French king met with in the settlement of the state, proceeded +from obscure enemies, whom their crimes alone rendered eminent, and +their number dangerous. + +On the conclusion of the treaty of Bretigni, the many military +adventurers who had followed the standard of Edward being dispersed into +the several provinces, and possessed of strongholds, refused to lay +down their arms, or relinquish a course of life to which they were now +accustomed, and by which alone they could gain a subsistence.[**] They +associated themselves with the banditti, who were already inured to the +habits of rapine and violence; and under the name of the "companies" +and "companions," became a terror to all the peaceable inhabitants. +Some English and Gascon gentlemen of character, particularly Sir Matthew +Gournay, Sir Hugh Calverly, the chevalier Verte, and others, were not +ashamed to take the command of these ruffians, whose numbers amounted on +the whole to near forty thousand, and who bore the appearance of regular +armies, rather than bands of robbers. These leaders fought pitched +battles with the troops of France, and gained victories; in one of +which Jaques de Bourbon, a prince of the blood, was slain:[***] and +they proceeded to such a height, that they wanted little but regular +establishments to become princes, and thereby sanctify, by the maxims of +the world, their infamous profession. The greater spoil they committed +on the country, the more easy they found it to recruit their number: all +those who were reduced to misery and despair, flocked to their standard: +the evil was every day increasing; and though the pope declared them +excommunicated, these military plunderers, however deeply affected +with the sentence, to which they paid a much greater regard than to any +principles of morality, could not be induced by it to betake themselves +to peaceable or lawful professions. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 227, 228, etc. Walsing, p. 180. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 214. + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap, 214, 215. + +{1366.} As Charles was not able by power to redress so enormous a +grievance, he was led by necessity, and by the turn of his character, +to correct it by policy, and to contrive some method of discharging into +foreign countries this dangerous and intestine evil. + +Peter, king of Castile, stigmatized by his contemporaries and by +posterity with the epithet of Cruel, had filled with blood and murder +his kingdom and his own family; and having incurred the universal hatred +of his subjects, he kept from present terror alone, an anxious and +precarious possession of the throne. His nobles fell every day the +victims of his severity: he put to death several of his natural +brothers, from groundless jealousy: each murder, by multiplying his +enemies, became the occasion of fresh barbarities; and as he was not +destitute of talents, his neighbors, no less than his own subjects, were +alarmed at the progress of his violence and injustice. The ferocity of +his temper, instead of being softened by his strong propensity to love, +was rather inflamed by that passion, and took thence new occasion +to exert itself. Instigated by Mary de Padilla, who had acquired the +ascendant over him, he threw into prison Blanche de Bourbon, his wife, +Bister to the queen of France; and soon after made way by poison for the +espousing of his mistress. + +Henry, count of Transtamare, his natural brother, seeing the fate of +every one who had become obnoxious to this tyrant, took arms against +him; but being foiled in the attempt, he sought for refuge in France, +where he found the minds of men extremely inflamed against Peter, on +account of his murder of the French princess. He asked permission of +Charles to enlist the "companies" in his service, and to lead them into +Castile; where, from the concurrence of his own friends, and the enemies +of his brother, he had the prospect of certain and immediate success. +The French king, charmed with the project, employed Du Guesclin in +negotiating with the leaders of these banditti. The treaty was soon +concluded. The high character of honor which that general possessed, +made every one trust to his promises: though the intended expedition was +kept a secret, the "companies" implicitly enlisted under his standard; +and they required no other condition before their engagement, than an +assurance that they were not to be led against the prince of Wales in +Guienne. But that prince was so little averse to the enterprise, that he +allowed some gentlemen of his retinue to enter into the service under Du +Guesclin. + +Du Guesclin, having completed his levies, led the army first to Avignon, +where the pope then resided, and demanded, sword in hand, an absolution +for his soldiers, and the sum of two hundred thousand livres. The first +was readily promised him; some more difficulty was made with regard to +the second. "I believe that my fellows," replied Du Guesclin, "may +make a shift to do without your absolution; but the money is absolutely +necessary." The pope then extorted from the inhabitants in the city and +neighborhood the sum of a hundred thousand livres, and offered it to +Du Guesclin. "It is not my purpose," cried that generous warrior, "to +oppress the innocent people. The pope and his cardinals themselves can +well spare me that sum from their own coffers. This money, I insist, +must be restored to the owners. And should they be defrauded of it, I +shall myself return from the other side of the Pyrenees, and oblige you +to make them restitution." The pope found the necessity of submitting, +and paid him from his treasury the sum demanded.[*] The army, hallowed +by the blessings, and enriched by the spoils, of the church, proceeded +on their expedition. + +These experienced and hardy soldiers, conducted by so able a general, +easily prevailed over the king of Castile, whose subjects, instead +of supporting their oppressor, were ready to join the enemy against +him.[**] Peter fled from his dominions took shelter in Guienne, and +craved the protection of the prince of Wales, whom his father had +invested with the sovereignty of these conquered provinces, by the title +of the principality of Aquitaine.[***] + + * Hist. du Guesclin. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap 230. + + *** Rymer, vol. vi. p. 384. Froissard, liv. i. chap. 231. + +{1367.} The prince seemed now to have entirely changed his sentiments +with regard to the Spanish transactions: whether that he was moved by +the generosity of supporting a distressed prince, and thought, as is but +too usual among sovereigns, that the rights of the people were a matter +of much less consideration; or dreaded the acquisition of so powerful +a confederate to France as the new king of Castile; or, what is most +probable, was impatient of rest and ease, and sought only an opportunity +for exerting his military talents, by which he had already acquired so +much renown. He promised his assistance to the dethroned monarch; and +having obtained the consent of his father, he levied a great army, and +set out upon his enterprise. He was accompanied by his younger brother, +John of Gaunt, created duke of Lancaster, in the room of the good prince +of that name, who had died without any male issue, and whose daughter +he had espoused. Chandos, also, who bore among the English the same +character which Du Guesclin had acquired among the French, commanded +under him in this expedition. + +The first blow which the prince of Wales gave to Henry of Transtamare, +was the recalling of all the "companies" from his service; and so much +reverence did they bear to the name of Edward, that great numbers of +them immediately withdrew from Spain, and enlisted under his banners. +Henry, however, beloved by his new subjects, and supported by the king +of Arragon and others of his neighbors, was able to meet the enemy with +an army of one hundred thousand men; forces three times more numerous +than those which were commanded by Edward. Du Guesclin, and all his +experienced officers, advised him to delay any decisive action, to cut +off the prince of Wales's provisions, and to avoid every engagement with +a general, whose enterprises had hitherto been always conducted with +prudence, and crowned with success. Henry trusted too much to his +numbers; and ventured to encounter the English prince at Najara.[*] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 241. + +Historians of that age are commonly very copious in describing the shock +of armies in battle, the valor of the combatants, the slaughter and +various successes of the day: but though small rencounters in those +times were often well disputed, military discipline was always too +imperfect to preserve order in great armies; and such actions deserve +more the name of routs than of battles. Henry was chased off the field, +with the loss of above twenty thousand men: there perished only four +knights and forty private men on the side of the English. + +Peter, who so well merited the infamous epithet which he bore, purposed +to murder all his prisoners in cold blood; but was restrained from this +barbarity by the remonstrance, of the prince of Wales. All Castile now +submitted to the victor: Peter was restored to the throne; and Edward +finished his perilous enterprise with his usual glory. But he had soon +reason to repent his connections with a man like Peter, abandoned to all +sense of virtue and honor. The ungrateful tyrant refused the stipulated +pay to the English forces; and Edward finding his soldiers daily perish +by sickness, and even his own health impaired by the climate, was +obliged, without receiving any satisfaction on this head, to return into +Guienne.[*] + +The barbarities exercised by Peter over his helpless subjects, whom +he now regarded as vanquished rebels, revived all the animosity of +the Castilians against him; and on the return of Henry of Transtamare, +together with Du Guesclin, and some forces levied anew in France, the +tyrant was again dethroned, and was taken prisoner. His brother, in +resentment of his cruelties, murdered him with his own hand: and was +placed on the throne of Castile, which he transmitted to his posterity. +The duke of Lancaster, who espoused in second marriage the eldest +daughter of Peter, inherited only the empty title of that sovereignty, +and, by claiming the succession, increased the animosity of the new king +of Castile against England. + +{1368.} But the prejudice which the affairs of Prince Edward received +from this splendid though imprudent expedition, ended not with it. He +had involved himself in so much debt by his preparations and the pay of +his troops, that he found it necessary, on his return, to impose on his +principality a new tax, to which some of the nobility consented +with extreme reluctance, and to which others absolutely refused to +submit.[**] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 242, 243. Walsing. p. 182. + + ** This tax was a livre upon a hearth; and it was imagined + that the imposition would have yielded one million two + hundred thousand livres a year, which supposes so many + hearths in the provinces possessed by the English. But such + loose conjectures have commonly no manner of authority, much + less in such ignorant times. There is a strong instance of + it in the present reign. The house of commons granted the + king a tax of twenty-two shillings on each parish, supposing + that the amount of the whole would be fifty thousand pounds. + But they were found to be in a mistake of near five to one. + Cotton, p. 3. And the council assumed the power of + augmenting the tax upon each parish. + +This incident revived the animosity which the inhabitants bore to the +English, and which all the amiable qualities of the prince of Wales +were not able to mitigate or assuage. They complained that they +were considered as a conquered people, that their privileges were +disregarded, that all trust was given to the English alone, that every +office of honor and profit was conferred on these foreigners, and that +the extreme reluctance, which most of them had expressed, to receive +the new yoke, was likely to be long remembered against them. They cast, +therefore, their eyes towards their ancient sovereign, whose prudence +they found had now brought the affairs of his kingdom into excellent +order; and the counts of Armagnac, Comminge, and Perigord, the lord +d'Albret, with other nobles, went to Paris, and were encouraged to carry +their complaints to Charles, as to their lord paramount, against these +oppressions of the English government.[*] + +In the treaty of Bretigm it had been stipulated, that the two kings +should make renunciations; Edward, of his claim to the crown of France, +and to the provinces of Normandy, Maine, and Anjou; John, of the homage +and fealty due for Guienne and the other provinces ceded to the English. +But when that treaty was confirmed and renewed at Calais, it was found +necessary, as Edward was not yet in possession of all the territories, +that the mutual renunciations should for some time be deferred; and it +was agreed, that the parties, meanwhile, should make no use of their +respective claims against each other.[**] Though the failure in +exchanging these renunciations had still proceeded from France,[***] +Edward appears to have taken no umbrage at it; both because this clause +seemed to give him entire security, and because some reasonable apology +had probably been made to him for each delay. It was, however, on this +pretence, though directly contrary to treaty, that Charles resolved to +ground his claim of still considering himself as superior lord of those +provinces, and of receiving the appeals of his sub-vassals.[****] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 244. + + ** Rymer, vol. vi. p. 219, 230, 234, 237, 243. + + *** Rot. Franc. 35, Edward III. from Tyrrel, vol. iii + p. 643. + + **** Froissard. liv. i. chap. 245. + +{1369.} But as views of policy, more than those of justice, enter into +the deliberations of princes; and as the mortal injuries received from +the English, the pride of their triumphs, the severe terms imposed by +the treaty of peace, seemed to render every prudent means of revenge +honorable against them; Charles was determined to take this measure, +less by the reasonings of his civilians and lawyers, than by the present +situation of the two monarchies. He considered the declining years +of Edward, the languishing state of the prince of Wales's health, the +affection which the inhabitants of all these provinces bore to their +ancient master, their distance from England, their vicinity to France, +the extreme animosity expressed by his own subjects against these +invaders, and their ardent thirst of vengeance; and having silently made +all the necessary preparations, he sent to the prince of Wales a summons +to appear in his court at Paris, and there to justify his conduct +towards his vassals. The prince replied, that he would come to Paris, +but it should be at the head of sixty thousand men.[*] The unwarlike +character of Charles kept Prince Edward, even yet, from thinking that +that monarch was in earnest in this bold and hazardous attempt. + +It soon appeared what a poor return the king had received by his distant +conquests for all the blood and treasure expended in the quarrel, and +how impossible it was to retain acquisitions, in an age when no regular +force could be maintained sufficient to defend them against the revolt +of the inhabitants, especially if that danger was joined with the +invasion of a foreign enemy. + +{1370.} Charles fell first upon Ponthieu, which gave the English an +inlet into the heart of France: the citizens of Abbeville opened their +gates to him:[**] those of St. Valori, Rue, and Crotoy imitated the +example, and the whole country was, in a little time, reduced to +submission. The dukes of Berri and Anjou, brothers to Charles, being +assisted by Du Guesclin, who was recalled from Spain, invaded the +southern provinces; and by means of their good conduct, the favorable +dispositions of the people, and the ardor of the French nobility, they +made every day considerable progress against the English. The state of +the prince of Wales's health did not permit him to mount on horseback, +or exert his usual activity: Chandos, the constable of Guienne, was +slain in one action;[***] the Captal de Buche, who succeeded him in +that office, was taken prisoner in another:[****] and when young Edward +himself was obliged by his increasing infirmities to throw up the +command, and return to his native country, the affairs of the English in +the south of France seemed to be menaced with total ruin. + +The king, incensed at these injuries, threatened to put to death all the +French hostages who remained in his hands; but on reflection abstained +from that ungenerous revenge. After resuming, by advice of parliament, +the vain title of king of France,[*****] he endeavored to send succors +into Gascony, but all his attempts, both by sea and land, proved +unsuccessful. + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 247, 248. + + ** Walsing. p. 183. + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 277. Walsing, p. 185. + + **** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 310. + + ***** Rymer, vol. vi. p. 621. Cotton's Abridg. p. 108. + +The earl of Pembroke was intercepted at sea, and taken prisoner with +his whole army, near Rochelle, by a fleet which the king of Castile had +fitted out for that purpose:[*] Edward himself embarked for Bordeaux +with another army; but was so long detained by contrary winds, that he +was obliged to lay aside the enterprise.[**] Sir Robert Knolles, at the +head of thirty thousand men, marched out of Calais, and continued his +ravages to the gates of Paris, without being able to provoke the enemy +to an engagement: he proceeded in his march to the provinces of Maine +and Anjou, which he laid waste; but part of his army being there +defeated by the conduct of Du Guesclin, who was now created constable of +France, and who seems to have been the first consummate general that had +yet appeared in Europe, the rest were scattered and dispersed, and the +small remains of the English forces, instead of reaching Guienne, +took shelter in Brittany, whose sovereign had embraced the alliance +of England.[***] The duke of Lancaster, some time after, made a like +attempt with an army of twenty-five thousand men; and marched the whole +length of France from Calais to Bordeaux: but was so much harassed by +the flying parties which attended him, that he brought not the half of +his army to the place of their destination. Edward, from the necessity +of his affairs was at last obliged to conclude a truce with the +enemy;[****] after almost all his ancient possessions in France had been +ravished from him, except Bordeaux and Bayonne, and all his conquests, +except Calais. + +The decline of the king's life was exposed to many mortifications, and +corresponded not to the splendid and noisy scenes which had filled the +beginning and the middle of it. Besides seeing the loss of his foreign +dominions, and being baffled in every attempt to defend them, he felt +the decay of his authority at home; and experienced, from the sharpness +of some parliamentary remonstrances, the great inconstancy of +the people, and the influence of present fortune over all their +judgments.[*****] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 302, 303, 304. Walsing. p. 186. + + ** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 311. Walsing. p. 187. + + *** Froissard, liv. i. chap. 291. Walsing. p. 185. + + **** Froissard, liv, i. chap. 311. Walsing. p. 187. + + ***** Walsing. p. 189. Ypod. Neust. p. 530. + +This prince, who, during the vigor of his age, had been chiefly occupied +in the pursuits of war and ambition, began, at an unseasonable period, +to indulge himself in pleasure; and being now a widower, he attached +himself to a lady of sense and spirit, one Alice Pierce, who acquired a +great ascendant over him, and by her influence gave such general disgust +that, in order to satisfy the parliament, he was obliged to remove her +from court.[*] + + * Walsing, p. 189. + +The indolence also, naturally attending old age and infirmities, had +made him in a great measure resign the administration into the hands of +his son, the duke of Lancaster, who, as he was far from being popular, +weakened extremely the affection which the English bore to the person +and government of the king. Men carried their jealousies very far +against the duke; and as they saw, with much regret, the death of +the prince of Wales every day approaching, they apprehended lest the +succession of his son Richard, now a minor, should be defeated by the +intrigues of Lancaster, and by the weak indulgence of the old king. But +Edward, in order to satisfy both the people and the prince on this head, +declared in parliament his grandson heir and successor to the crown; and +thereby cut off all the hopes of the duke of Lancaster, if he ever had +the temerity to entertain any. + +{1376.} The prince of Wales, after a lingering illness, died in the +forty-sixth year of his age; and left a character illustrious for every +eminent virtue, and, from his earliest youth till the hour he expired, +unstained by any blemish. His valor and military talents formed the +smallest part of his merit: his generosity, humanity, affability, +moderation, gained him the affections of all men; and he was qualified +to throw a lustre, not only on that rude age in which he lived, and +which nowise infected him with its vices, but on the most shining period +of ancient or modern history. + +{1377.} The king survived about a year this melancholy incident: England +was deprived at once of both these princes, its chief ornament +and support: he expired in the sixty-fifth year of his age and the +fifty-first of his reign; and the people were then sensible, though too +late, of the irreparable loss which they had sustained. + +The English are apt to consider with peculiar fondness the history of +Edward III., and to esteem his reign, as it was one of the longest, +the most glorious also, that occurs in the annals of their nation. The +ascendant which they then began to acquire over France, their rival and +supposed national enemy, makes them cast their eyes on this period with +great complacency, and sanctifies every measure which Edward embraced +for that end. But the domestic government of this prince is really +more admirable than his foreign victories; and England enjoyed, by the +prudence and vigor of his administration, a longer interval of domestic +peace and tranquillity than she had been blessed with in any former +period, or than she experienced for many ages after. He gained the +affections of the great, yet curbed their licentiousness: he made them +feel his power, without their daring, or even being inclined, to +murmur at it: his affable and obliging behavior, his munificence and +generosity, made them submit with pleasure to his dominion; his valor +and conduct made them successful in most of their enterprises; and their +unquiet spirits, directed against a public enemy, had no leisure to +breed those disturbances to which they were naturally so much inclined, +and which the frame of the government seemed so much to authorize. +This was the chief benefit which resulted from Edward's victories and +conquests. His foreign wars were, in other respects, neither founded in +justice, nor directed to any salutary purpose. His attempt against the +king of Scotland, a minor and a brother-in-law, and the revival of +his grandfather's claim of superiority over that kingdom, were both +unreasonable and ungenerous; and he allowed himself to be too easily +seduced, by the glaring prospect of French conquests, from the +acquisition of a point which was practicable, and which, if attained, +might really have been of lasting utility to his country and his +successors. The success which he met with in France, though chiefly +owing to his eminent talents, was unexpected; and yet, from the very +nature of things, not from any unforeseen accidents, was found, even +during his lifetime, to have procured him no solid advantages. But the +glory of a conqueror is so dazzling to the vulgar, the animosity of +nations is so violent, that the fruitless desolation of so fine a +part of Europe as France, is totally disregarded by us, and is never +considered as a blemish in the character or conduct of this prince. And +indeed, from the unfortunate state of human nature, it will commonly +happen, that a sovereign of genius, such as Edward, who usually finds +every thing easy in his domestic government, will turn himself towards +military enterprises, where alone he meets with opposition, and where he +has full exercise for his industry and capacity. + +Edward had a numerous posterity by his queen, Philippa of Hainault. His +eldest son was the heroic Edward, usually denominated the Black Prince +from the color of his armor. This prince espoused his cousin Joan, +commonly called the "fair maid of Kent," daughter and heir of his uncle, +the earl of Kent, who was beheaded in the beginning of this reign. She +was first married to Sir Thomas Holland, by whom she had children. +By the prince of Wales she had a son, Richard, who alone survived his +father. + +The second son of King Edward (for we pass over such as died in their +childhood) was Lionel, duke of Clarence, who was first married to +Elizabeth de Burgh, daughter and heir of the earl of Ulster, by whom +he left only one daughter, married to Edmund Mortimer, earl of Marche. +Lionel espoused in second marriage Violante, the daughter of the duke of +Milan,[*] and died in Italy soon after the consummation of his nuptials, +without leaving any posterity by that princess. Of all the family, he +resembled most his father and elder brother in his noble qualities. + +Edward's third son was John of Gaunt, so called from the place of his +birth: he was created duke of Lancaster; and from him sprang that branch +which afterwards possessed the the crown. The fourth son of this royal +family was Edmund created earl of Cambridge by his father, and duke of +York by his nephew. The fifth son was Thomas, who received the title of +earl of Buckingham from his father, and that of duke of Glocester from +his nephew. In order to prevent confusion, we shall always distinguish +these two princes by the titles of York and Glocester, even before they +were advanced to them. + +There were also several princesses born to Edward by Philippa; to wit, +Isabella, Joan, Mary, and Margaret, who espoused, in the order of their +names, Ingelram de Coucy, earl of Bedford, Alphonso, king of Castile, +John of Mountfort, duke of Brittany, and John Hastings, earl of +Pembroke. The princess Joan died at Bordeaux before the consummation of +her marriage. + +It is remarked by an elegant historian,[**] that conquerors though +usually the bane of bunian kind, proved often, in those feudal limes, +the most indulgent of sovereigns: they stood most in need of supplies +from their people; and not being able to compel them by force to submit +to the necessary impositions, they were obliged to make them some +compensation, by equitable laws and popular concessions. + + * Rymer, vol. vi. p. 564. + + ** Dr. Robertson's Hist. of Scot. book i. + +This remark is, in some measure, though imperfectly, justified by the +conduct of Edward III. He took no steps of moment without consulting his +parliament, and obtaining their approbation, which he afterwards pleaded +as a reason for their supporting his measures.[*] The parliament, +therefore, rose into greater consideration during his reign, and +acquired more regular authority, than in any former time; and even the +house of commons, which, during turbulent and factious periods, was +naturally depressed by the greater power of the crown and barons, began +to appear of some weight in the constitution. In the latter years of +Edward, the king's ministers were impeached in parliament, particularly +Lord Latimer, who fell a sacrifice to the Authority of the commons;[**] +and they even obliged the king to banish his mistress by their +remonstrances. Some attention was also paid to the election of their +members; and lawyers in particular, who were at that time men of a +character somewhat inferior, were totally excluded the house during +several parliaments.[***] + +One of the most popular laws enacted by any prince, was the statute +which passed in the twenty-fifth of this reign,[****] and which +limited the cases of high treason, before vague and uncertain, to three +principal heads--conspiring the death of the king, levying war against +him, and adhering to his enemies and the judges were prohibited, if any +other cases should occur, from inflicting the penalty of treason without +an application to parliament. The bounds of treason were indeed so +much limited by this statute, which still remains in force without +any alteration, that the lawyers were obliged to enlarge them, and to +explain a conspiracy for levying war against the king, to be equivalent +to a conspiracy against his life; and this interpretation, seemingly +forced, has, from the necessity of the case, been tacitly acquiesced in. + + * Cotton's Abridg. p. 108, 120. + + ** Cotton's Abridg. p. 122. + + *** Cotton's Abridg. p. 18. + + **** Chap. 2. + +It was also ordained that a parliament should be held once a year, or +oftener, if need be; a law which, like many others, was never observed +and lost its authority by disuse.[*] + +Edward granted above twenty parliamentary confirmations of the Great +Charter; and these concessions are commonly appealed to as proofs of +his great indulgence to the people, and his tender regard for their +liberties. But the contrary presumption is more natural. If the maxims +of Edward's reign had not been in general somewhat arbitrary, and if +the Great Charter had not been frequently violated, the parliament would +never have applied for these frequent confirmations, which could add no +force to a deed regularly observed, and which could serve to no other +purpose, than to prevent the contrary precedents from turning into a +rule, and acquiring authority. It was indeed the effect of the irregular +government during those ages, that a statute which had been enacted some +years, instead of acquiring, was imagined to lose, force by time, and +needed to be often renewed by recent statutes of the same sense and +tenor. Hence likewise that general clause, so frequent in old acts of +parliament, that the statutes, enacted by the king's progenitors, +should be observed;[**] a precaution which, if we do not consider the +circumstances of the times, might appear absurd and ridiculous. The +frequent confirmations in general terms of the privileges of the church +proceeded from the same cause. + +It is a clause in one of Edward's statutes, "that no man, of what estate +or condition soever, shall be put out of land or tenement, nor taken, +nor imprisoned, nor disherited, nor put to death, without being +brought in answer by due process of the law."[***] This privilege +was sufficiently secured by a clause of the Great Charter, which +had received a general confirmation in the first chapter of the same +statute. Why then is the clause so anxiously, and, as we may think, +so superfluously repeated? Plainly, because there had been some late +infringements of it, which gave umbrage to the commons.[****] + + * 4 Edward III. cap. 14. + + ** 36 Edward III. cap. 1. 37 Edward III. cap. 1, etc. + + *** 28 Edward III. cap. 3. + + **** They assert, in the fifteenth of this reign, that there + had been such instances. Cotton's Abridg. p. 31. They repeat + the same in the twenty-first year. See p. 59. + +But there is no article in which the laws are more frequently repeated +during this reign, almost in the same terms, than that of purveyance +which the parliament always calls an outrageous and intolerable +grievance, and the source of infinite damage to the people.[*] The +parliament tried to abolish this prerogative altogether, by prohibiting +any one from taking goods without the consent of the owners,[**] and by +changing the heinous name of purveyors, as they term it, into that of +buyers;[***] but the arbitrary conduct of Edward still brought back the +grievance upon them, though contrary both to the Great Charter and to +many statutes. This disorder was in a great measure derived from the +state of the public finances, and of the kingdom; and could therefore +the less admit of remedy. The prince frequently wanted ready money; yet +his family must be subsisted: he was therefore obliged to employ force +and violence for that purpose, and to give tallies, at what rate he +pleased, to the owners of the goods which he laid hold of. The kingdom +also abounded so little in commodities, and the interior communication +was so imperfect, that had the owners been strictly protected by law, +they could easily have exacted any price from the king; especially in +his frequent progresses, when he came to distant and poor places, where +the court did not usually reside, and where a regular plan for supplying +it could not be easily established. Not only the king, but several +great lords, insisted upon this right of purveyance within certain +districts.[****] + +The magnificent Castle of Windsor was built by Edward III., and his +method of conducting the work may serve as a specimen of the condition +of the people in that age. Instead of engaging workmen by contracts and +wages, he assessed every county in England to send him a certain +number of masons, tilers, and carpenters, as if he had been levying an +army.[*****] + +They mistake, indeed, very much the genius of this reign, who imagine +that it was not extremely arbitrary. All the high prerogatives of the +crown were to the full exerted in it; but what gave some consolation, +and promised in time some relief to the people, they were always +complained of by the commons: such as the dispensing power;[******] +the extension of the forests;[*******] erecting monopolies;[********] +exacting loans--[*********] + + * 36 Edward III. etc. + + ** 14 Edward III. cap. 19. + + *** 36 Edward III. cap. 2. + + **** 7 Richard II. cap. 8. + + ***** Ashmole's Hist, of the Garter, p. 129. + + ***** Cotton's Abridg. p. 148. + + ****** Cotton's Abridg. p. 71. + + ******* Cotton's Abridg. p. 56, 61, 122. + + ******** Rymer, vol. v. p. 491, 574. Cotton's Abridg. p. 56. + + +--stopping justice by particular warrants;[*] the renewal of the +commission of "trailbaton;"[**] pressing men and ships into the public +service;[***] levying arbitrary and exorbitant fines;[****] extending +the authority of the privy council or star-chamber to the decision of +private causes;[*****] enlarging the power of the mareschal's and other +arbitrary courts;[******] imprisoning members for freedom of speech in +parliament;[*******] obliging people without any rule to send recruits +of men at arms, archers, and hoblers to the army.[********] + + * Cotton, p. 114. + + ** Cotton, p. 67. + + *** Cotton, p. 47, 79, 113. + + **** Cotton, p. 32. + + ***** Cotton, p. 74. + + ****** Cotton, p. 74. + + ******* Walsing. p. 189, 190. + +But there was no act of arbitrary power more frequently repeated in this +reign, than that of imposing taxes without consent of parliament. Though +that assembly granted the king greater supplies than had ever been +obtained by any of his predecessors, his great undertakings, and the +necessity of his affairs, obliged him to levy still more; and after his +splendid success against France had added weight to his authority, +these arbitrary impositions became almost annual and perpetual. Cotton's +Abridgment of the records affords numerous instances of this kind, +in the first[*] year of his reign, in the thirteenth year,[**] in the +fourteenth,[***] in the twentieth,[****] in the twenty-first,[*****] +in the twenty-second,[******] in the twenty fifth,[*******] in the +thirty-eighth,[********] in the fiftieth,[*********] and in the +fifty-first,[**********] + + * Tyrrel's Hist. vol. iii. p. 554, from the records. + + ** Rymer, vol. iv. p. 363. + + *** Page 17, 18. + + **** Page 39. + + ***** Page 47. + + ****** Page 52, 53, 57, 58. + + ******* Page 69. + + ******** Page 76. + + ********* Page 101. + + ********** Page 138. + +The king openly avowed and maintained this power of levying taxes +at pleasure. At one time, he replied to the remonstrance made by the +commons against it, that the impositions had been exacted from great +necessity, and had been assented to by the prelates, earls, barons, +and some of the commons;[*] at another, that he would advise with his +council.[**] When the parliament desired that a law might be enacted for +the punishment of such as levied these arbitrary impositions he refused +compliance.[***] + + * Page 152. + + ** Cotton, p. 53. He repeats the same answer in p. 60. "Some + of the commons" were such as he should be pleased to consult + with. + + *** Cotton, p. 57. + +In the subsequent year, they desired that the king might renounce this +pretended prerogative; but his answer was, that he would levy no taxes +without necessity for the defence of the realm, and where he reasonably +might use that authority.[*] This incident passed a few days before his +death; and these were, in a manner, his last words to his people. It +would seem that the famous charter or statute of Edward I., "de tallagio +non concedendo," though never repealed, was supposed to have already +lost by age all its authority. + +These facts can only show the practice of the times: for as to the +right, the continual remonstrances of the commons may seem to prove that +it rather lay on their side: at least, these remonstrances served +to prevent the arbitrary practices of the court from becoming an +established part of the constitution. In so much a better condition were +the privileges of the people even during the arbitrary reign of Edward +III., than during some subsequent ones, particularly those of the +Tudors, where no tyranny or abuse of power ever met with any check or +opposition, or so much as a remonstrance, from parliament. + +In this reign, we find, according to the sentiments of an ingenious +and learned author, the first strongly marked and probably contested +distinction between a proclamation by the king and his privy council, +and a law which had received the assent of the lords and commons.[**] + +It is easy to imagine, that a prince of so much sense and spirit as +Edward, would be no slave to the court of Rome. Though the old tribute +was paid during some years of his minority,[***] he afterwards withheld +it; and when the pope, in 1367, threatened to cite him to the court of +Rome for default of payment, he laid the matter before his parliament. +That assembly unanimously declared, that King John could not, without a +national consent, subject his kingdom to a foreign power; and that they +were therefore determined to support their sovereign against this unjust +pretension.[****] + + * Cotton, p. 132. + + ** Observations on the Statutes, p. 193. + + *** Rymer, vol. iv. p. 434. + + **** Cotton's Abridg. p. 110. + +During this reign, the statute of provisors was enacted, rendering it +penal to procure any presentations to benefices from the court of Rome, +and securing the rights of all patrons and electors, which had been +extremely encroached on by the pope.[*] By a subsequent statute, every +person was outlawed who carried any cause by appeal to the court of +Rome.[**] + +The laity at this time seem to have been extremely prejudiced against +the papal power, and even somewhat against their own clergy, because of +their connections with the Roman pontiff. The parliament pretended, that +the usurpations of the pope were the cause of all the plagues, injuries, +famine, anc poverty of the realm; were more destructive to it than +al the wars; and were the reason why it contained not a third of the +inhabitants and commodities which it formerly possessed: that the taxes +levied by him exceeded five times those which were paid to the king; +that every thing was venal in that sinful city of Rome; and that even +the patrons in England had thence learned to practise simony without +shame or remorse.[***] At another time, they petition the king to employ +no churchman in any office of state;[****] and they even speak in plain +terms of expelling by force the papal authority, and thereby providing +a remedy against oppressions, which they neither could, nor would, any +longer endure.[*****] Men who talked in this strain, were not far from +the reformation: but Edward did not think proper to second all this +zeal. Though he passed the statute of provisors, he took little care +of its execution; and the parliament made frequent complaints of his +negligence on this head.[******] He was content with having reduced such +of the Romish ecclesiastics as possessed revenues in England, to depend +entirely upon him by means of that statute. + +As to the police of the kingdom during this period, it was certainly +better than during times of faction, civil war, and disorder, to which +England was so often exposed: yet were there several vices in the +constitution, the bad consequences of which all the power and vigilance +of the king could not prevent. The barons, by their confederacies +with those of their own order, and by supporting and defending their +retainers in every iniquity,[*******] were the chief abettors of +robbers, murderers, and ruffians of all kinds; and no law could be +executed against those criminals. + + * 25 Edward III. 27 Edward III. + + ** 27 Edward III. 38 Edward III. + + *** Cotton, p. 74, 128, 129. + + **** Cotton, p. 112. + + ***** Cotton, p. 41. + + ****** Cotton, p. 119, 128 129, 130, 143. + + ******* 11 Edward III. cap. 14. + + ******** 4 Edward III. cap. + + ********* 15 Edward III cap. 4. + +The nobility were brought to give their promise in parliament, that they +would not avow retain, or support any felon or breaker of the law;[*] +yet this, engagement, which we may wonder to see exacted from men of +their rank, was never regarded by them. The commons make continual +complaints of the multitude of robberies, murders, rapes, and other +disorders, which, they say, were become numberless in every part of +the kingdom, and which they always ascribe to the protection that the +criminals received from the great.[**]The king of Cyprus, who paid a +visit to England in this reign, was robbed and stripped on the highway +with his whole retinue.[***] Edward himself contributed to this +dissolution of law, by his facility in granting pardons to felons, +from the solicitation of the courtiers. Laws were made to retrench +this prerogative,[****] and remonstrances of the commons were presented +against the abuse of it;[*****] but to no purpose. The gratifying of +a powerful nobleman continued still to be of more importance than the +protection of the people. The king also granted many franchises, which +interrupted the course of justice and the execution of the laws.[******] + + * Cotton, p. 10. + + ** Cotton, p. 51, 62, 64, 70, 160. + + *** Walsing. p. 170. + + **** 10 Edward III. cap. 2. 27 Edward III. cap. 2. + + ***** Cotton, p. 75. + + ****** Cotton, p. 54. + +Commerce and industry were certainly at a very low ebb during this +period. The bad police of the country alone affords a sufficient reason. +The only exports were wool, skins, hides leather, butter, tin, lead, +and such unmanufactured goods, of which wool was by far the most +considerable. Knyghton has asserted, that one hundred thousand sacks of +wool were annually exported, and sold at twenty pounds a sack, money of +that age. But he is widely mistaken both in the quantity exported and +in the value. In 1349, the parliament remonstrate, that the king, by an +illegal imposition of forty shillings on each sack exported, had levied +sixty thousand pounds a year:[*] which reduces the annual exports to +thirty thousand sacks. A sack contained twenty-six stone, and each stone +fourteen pounds;[**] and at a medium was not valued at above five pounds +a sack,[***] that is, fourteen or fifteen pounds of our present money. +Knyghton's computation raises it to sixty pounds, which is near four +times the present price of wool in England. + + * Cotton, p. 48, 69. + + ** 34 Edward III. cap. 5. + + *** Cotton, p. 29. + +According to this reduced computation, the export of wool brought into +the kingdom about four hundred and thousand pounds of our present money, +instead of six millions, which is an extravagant sum. Even the former +sum is so high, as to afford a suspicion of some mistake in the +computation of the parliament with regard to the number of sacks +exported. Such mistakes were very usual in those ages. + +Edward endeavored to introduce and promote the woolen manufacture, +by giving protection and encouragement to foreign weavers,[*] and by +enacting a law, which prohibited every one from wearing any cloth but of +English fabric.[*] The parliament prohibited the exportation of woollen +goods, which was not so well judged, especially while the exportation +of unwrought wool was so much allowed and encouraged. A like injudicious +law was made against the exportation of manufactured iron.[**] + +It appears from a record in the exchequer, that in 1354 the exports of +England amounted to two hundred and ninety-four thousand one hundred +and eighty-four pounds seventeen shillings and twopence; the imports to +thirty-eight thousand nine hundred and seventy pounds three shillings +and sixpence, money of that time. This is a great balance, considering +that it arose wholly from the exportation of raw wool and other rough +materials. The import was chiefly linen and fine cloth, and some wine. +England seems to have been extremely drained at this time by Edward's +foreign expeditions and foreign subsidies, which probably was the reason +why the exports so much exceed the imports. + +The first toll we read of in England for mending the highways, was +imposed in this reign: it was that for repairing the road between St. +Giles's and Temple Bar.[***] + +In the first of Richard II., the parliament complain extremely of +the decay of shipping during the preceding reign, and assert that one +seaport formerly contained more vessels than were then to be found in +the whole kingdom. This calamity they ascribe to the arbitrary seizure +of ships by Edward for the service of his frequent expeditions.[****] +The parliament in the fifth of Richard renew the same complaint;[*****] +and we likewise find it made in the forty-sixth of Edward III. + + * 11 Edward III. cap. 5. Rymer, vol. iv. p. 723. Murimuth p. + 88. + + ** 11 Edward III. cap. 2. + + *** 28 Edward III. cap. 5. + + **** Rymer, vol. v. p. 520. + + ***** Cotton, p. 155, 164. + +So false is the common opinion that this reign was favorable to +commerce. + +There is an order of this king, directed to the mayor and sheriffs of +London, to take up all ships of forty ton and upwards, to be converted +into ships of war.[*] + +The parliament attempted the impracticable scheme of reducing the price +of labor after the pestilence, and also that of poultry,[**] A reaper, +in the first week of August, was not allowed above twopence a day, or +near sixpence of our present money; in the second week, a third more. A +master carpenter was limited through the whole year to threepence a day, +a common carpenter to twopence, money of that age.[***] It is remarkable +that, in the same reign, the pay of a common soldier, an archer, was +sixpence a day; which, by the change both in denomination and value, +would be equivalent to near five shillings of our present money.[****] +Soldiers were then enlisted only for a very short time; they lived idle +all the rest of the year, and commonly all the rest of their lives: one +successful campaign, by pay and plunder, and the ransom of prisoners, +was supposed to be a small fortune to a man; which was a great +allurement to enter into the service.[*****] + + * Rymer, vol. iv. p. 664. + + ** 37 Edward III. cap. 3. + + **** 25 Edward III, cap. I. 3. + + ***** Dugdale's Baronage, vol. i. p. 784. + + ****** Brady's Hist. vol. ii. App No. 92. + +The staple of wool, wool-fells, leather, and lead, was fixed by act of +parliament in particular towns of England.[*] Afterwards it was removed +by law to Calais: but Edward, who commonly deemed his prerogative above +law, paid little regard to these statutes; and when the parliament +remonstrated with him on account of those acts of power, he plainly told +them, that he would proceed in that matter as he thought proper.[**] +It is not easy to assign the reason of this great anxiety for fixing a +staple; unless, perhaps, it invited foreigners to a market, when they +knew beforehand, that they should there meet with great choice of any +particular species of commodity. This policy of inviting foreigners to +Calais was carried so far, that all English merchants were prohibited +by law from exporting any English goods from the staple; which was in +a manner the total abandoning of all foreign navigation, except that to +Calais;[***] a contrivance seemingly extraordinary. + + *Brady, ibid. + + ** Commodities seem to have risen since the conquest. + Instead of being ten times cheaper than at present, they + were, in the age of Edward III., only three or four times. + This change seems to have taken place in a great measure + since Edward I. The allowance granted by Edward III. to the + earl of Murray, then a prisoner in Nottingham Castle, is one + pound a week; whereas the bishop of St. Andrews, the primate + of Scotland, had only sixpence a day allowed him by Edward + I. + + *** 27 Edward III. + +The pay of a man at arms was quadruple. We may therefore conclude, that +the numerous armies mentioned by historians in those times, consisted +chiefly of ragamuffins who followed the camp, and lived by plunder. +Edward's army before Calais consisted of thirty-one thousand and +ninety-four men; yet its pay for sixteen months was only one hundred and +twenty-seven thousand two hundred and one pounds. + +It was not till the middle of this century that the English began to +extend their navigation even to the Baltic;[*] nor till the middle of +the subsequent, that they sailed to the Mediterranean.[**] + +Luxury was complained of in that age, as well as in others of more +refinement; and attempts were made by parliament to restrain it, +particularly on the head of apparel, where surely it is the most +obviously innocent and inoffensive. No man under a hundred a year was +allowed to wear gold, silver, or silk in his clothes; servants, also, +were prohibited from eating flesh meat, or fish, above once a day.[***] +By another law it was ordained, that no one should be allowed, either +for dinner or supper, above three dishes in each course, and not above +two courses; and it is likewise expressly declared that "soused" meat is +to count as one of these dishes.[****] It was easy to foresee that such +ridiculous laws must prove ineffectual, and could never be executed. + +The use of the French language, in pleadings and public deeds, was +abolished.[*****] It may appear strange, that the nation should so long +have worn this badge of conquest: but the king and nobility seem never +to have become thoroughly English, or to have forgotten their French +extraction, till Edward's wars with France gave them an antipathy to +that nation. Yet still it was long before the use of the English tongue +came into fashion. The first English paper which we meet with in Rymer +is in the year 1386, during the reign of Richard II.[******] + + * Cotton, p. 117. + + ** 27 Edward III. cap. 7. + + *** Anderson, vol. i. p. 151. + + **** Anderson, vol. i. p. 177. + + ***** 37 Edward III. cap. 8, 9, 10, etc. + + ****** 10 Edward III., 36 Edward III. cap. 15. + + ******* Rymer, vol. vii. p. 526. This paper, by the style, + seems to have been drawn by the Scots, and was signed by the + wardens of the marches only. + +There are Spanish papers in that collection of more ancient date:[*] +and the use of the Latin and French still continued. We may judge of +the ignorance of this age in geography, from a story told by Robert of +Avesbury. Pope Clement VI having, in 1344, created Lewis of Spain prince +of the Fortunate Islands, meaning the Canaries, then newly discovered, +the English ambassador at Rome and his retinue were seized with an +alarm, that Lewis had been created king of England; and they immediately +hurried home, in order to convey this important intelligence. Yet +such was the ardor for study at this time, that Speed in his Chronicle +informs us, there were then thirty thousand students in the university +of Oxford alone. What was the occupation of all these young men? To +learn very bad Latin, and still worse logic. + +In 1364, the commons petitioned, that, in consideration of the preceding +pestilence, such persons as possessed manors holding of the king in +chief, and had let different leases without obtaining licenses, might +continue to exercise the same power, till the country were become +more populous.[**] The commons were sensible, that this security of +possession was a good means for rendering the kingdom prosperous and +flourishing; yet durst not apply, all at once, for a greater relaxation +of their chains. + + * Rymer, vol. vi. p. 654. + + ** Cotton, p. 97. + +There is not a reign among those of the ancient English monarchs, which +deserves more to be studied than that of Edward III., nor one where the +domestic transactions will better discover the true genius of that +kind of mixed government, which was then established in England. The +struggles with regard to the validity and authority of the Great Charter +were now over: the king was acknowledged to lie under some limitations: +Edward himself was a prince of great capacity, not governed by +favorites, nor led astray by any unruly passion, sensible that nothing +could be more essential to his interests than to keep on good terms with +his people: yet, on the whole, it appears that the government at best +was only a barbarous monarchy, not regulated by any fixed maxims, +or bounded by any certain undisputed rights, which in practice were +regularly observed. The king conducted himself by one set of principles, +the barons by another, the commons by a third, the clergy by a fourth. +All these systems of government were opposite and incompatible: each of +them prevailed in its turn, as incidents were favorable to it: a great +prince rendered the monarchical power predominant; the weakness of a +king gave reins to the aristocracy; a superstitious age saw the clergy +triumphant; the people, for whom chiefly government was instituted, and +who chiefly deserve consideration, were the weakest of the whole. But +the commons, little obnoxious to any other order, though they sunk under +the violence of tempests, silently reared their head in more peaceable +times; and while the storm was brewing, were courted by all sides, and +thus received still some accession to their privileges, or, at worst, +some confirmation of them. + +It has been an established opinion that gold coin was not struck till +this reign; but there has lately been found proof that it is as ancient +as Henry III.[*] + + * See Observations on the more ancient Statutes, p. 375, 3d + edit. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +[Illustration: 1_237_richard2.jpg RICHARD II.] + + + + +RICHARD II. + +{1377.} THE parliament which was summoned soon after the king's +accession, was both elected and assembled in tranquillity; and the great +change, from a sovereign of consummate wisdom and experience to a boy of +eleven years of age, was not immediately felt by the people. The habits +of order and obedience which the barons had been taught, during the long +reign of Edward, still influenced them; and the authority of the king's +three uncles, the dukes of Lancaster, York, and Glocester, sufficed to +repress, for a time, the turbulent spirit to which that order, in a +weak reign, was so often subject. The dangerous ambition, too, of these +princes themselves was checked, by the plain and undeniable title +of Richard, by the declaration of it made in parliament, and by the +affectionate regard which the people bore to the memory of his father, +and which was naturally transferred to the young sovereign upon the +throne. The different characters, also, of these three princes rendered +them a counterpoise to each other; and it was natural to expect, that +any dangerous designs which might be formed by one brother, would meet +with opposition from the others. Lancaster, whose age and experience, +and authority under the late king, gave him the ascendant among them, +though his integrity seemed not proof against great temptations, was +neither of an enterprising spirit, nor of a popular and engaging temper. +York was indolent, inactive, and of slender capacity. Glocester was +turbulent, bold, and popular; but being the youngest of the family, +was restrained by the power and authority of his elder brothers. There +appeared, therefore, no circumstance in the domestic situation of +England which might endanger the public peace, or give any immediate +apprehensions to the lovers of their country. + +But as Edward, though he had fixed the succession to the crown, had +taken no care to establish a plan of government during the minority of +his grandson, it behoved the parliament to supply this defect; and the +house of commons distinguished themselves by taking the lead on the +occasion. This house, which had been rising to consideration during the +whole course of the late reign, naturally received an accession of power +during the minority; and as it was now becoming a scene of business, the +members chose for the first time a speaker, who might preserve order +in their debates, and maintain those forms which are requisite in all +numerous assembles. Peter de la Mare was the man pitched on; the same +person that had been imprisoned and detained in custody by the late king +for his freedom of speech, in attacking the mistress and the ministers +of that prince. But though this election discovered a spirit of liberty +in the commons, and was followed by further attacks, both on these +ministers and on Alice Pearce,[*] they were still too sensible of +their great inferiority to assume at first any immediate share in the +administration of government, or the care of the king's person. They +were content to apply by petition to the lords for that purpose, and +desire them both to appoint a council of nine, who might direct the +public business, and to choose men of virtuous life and conversation, +who might inspect the conduct and education of the young prince. The +lords complied with the first part of this request, and elected the +bishops of London, Carlisle, and Salisbury, the earls of Marche and +Stafford, Sir Richard de Stafford, Sir Henry le Scrope, Sir John +Devereux, and Sir Hugh Segrave, to whom they gave authority for a year +to conduct the ordinary course of business.[**] But as to the regulation +of the king's household, they declined interposing in an office which, +they said, both was invidious in itself, and might prove disagreeable to +his majesty. + + * Walsing. p. 150. + + ** Rymer, vol. vii. p. 161. + +The commons, as they acquired more courage, ventured to proceed a step +farther in their applications. They presented a petition, in which +they prayed the king to check the prevailing custom among the barons of +forming illegal confederacies, and supporting each other, as well as men +of inferior rank, in the violations of law and justice. They received +from the throne a general and an obliging answer to this petition: but +another part of their application, that all the great officers should, +during the king's minority, be appointed by parliament, which seemed +to require the concurrence of the commons, as well as that of the upper +house, in the nomination, was not complied with: the lords alone assumed +the power of appointing these officers. The commons tacitly acquiesced +in the choice; and thought that, for, the present, they themselves had +proceeded a sufficient length, if they but advanced their pretensions, +though rejected, of interposing in these more important matters of +state. + +On this footing then the government stood. The administration was +conducted entirely in the king's name: no regency was expressly +appointed: the nine counsellors and the great officers named by the +peers, did their duty each in his respective department; and the whole +system was for some years kept together, by the secret authority of the +king's uncles, especially of the duke of Lancaster, who was in reality +the regent. + +The parliament was dissolved, after the commons had represented the +necessity of their being reassembled once every year, as appointed +by law; and after having elected two citizens as their treasurers, to +receive and disburse the produce of two fifteenths and tenths, which +they had voted to the crown. In the other parliaments called during the +minority, the commons still discover a strong spirit of freedom, and a +sense of their own authority, which, without breeding any disturbance, +tended to secure their independence and that of the people.[*] [11] + + * See note K, at the end of the volume. + +Edward had left his grandson involved in many dangerous wars. The +pretensions of the duke of Lancaster to the crown of Castile, made that +kingdom still persevere in hostilities against England. Scotland, whose +throne was now filled by Robert Stuart, nephew to David Bruce, and the +first prince of that family, maintained such close connections with +France, that war with one crown almost inevitably produced hostilities +with the other. The French monarch, whose prudent conduct had acquired +him the surname of Wise, as he had already baffled all the experience +and valor of the two Edwards, was likely to prove a dangerous enemy to +a minor king: but his genius, which was not naturally enterprising, +led him not at present to give any disturbance to his neighbors; and +he labored, besides, under many difficulties at home, which it was +necessary for him to surmount, before he could think of making conquests +in a foreign country. England was master of Calais, Bordeaux, and +Bayonne; had lately acquired possession of Cherbourg from the cession of +the king of Navarre, and of Brest from that of the duke of Brittany;[*] +and having thus an easy entrance into France from every quarter, +was able, even in its present situation, to give disturbance to his +government. Before Charles could remove the English from these important +posts, he died in the flower of his age, and left his kingdom to a minor +son who bore the name of Charles VI. + +{1378.} Meanwhile the war with France was carried on in a manner +somewhat languid, and produced no enterprise of great lustre or renown. +Sir Hugh Calverly, governor of Calais, making an inroad into Picardy +with a detachment of the garrison, set fire to Boulogne.[**] The duke +of Lancaster conducted an army into Brittany, but returned without being +able to perform any thing memorable. + +{1380.} In a subsequent year, the duke of Glocester marched out of +Calais with a body of two thousand cavalry and eight thousand infantry, +and scrupled not, with his small army, to enter into the heart of +France, and to continue his ravages through Picardy, Champaigne, the +Brie, the Beausse, the Gatinois, the Orleanois, till he reached his +allies in the province of Brittany.[***] The duke of Burgundy, at the +head of a more considerable army, came within sight of him; but the +French were so overawed by the former successes of the English, that no +superiority of numbers could tempt them to venture a pitched battle with +the troops of that nation. As the duke of Brittany, soon after the +arrival of these succors, formed an accommodation with the court of +France, this enterprise also proved in the issue unsuccessful, and made +no durable impression upon the enemy. + + * Rymer, vol. vii. p. 190. + + ** Walsing, p. 209. + + *** Froissard, liv. ii. chap. 50, 51. Walsing. p. 239. + +The expenses of these armaments, and the usual want of economy attending +a minority, much exhausted the English treasury, and obliged the +parliament, besides making some alterations in the council, to impose +a new and unusual tax of three groats on every person, male and female, +above fifteen years of age; and they ordained that, in levying that tax, +the opulent should relieve the poor by an equitable compensation. This +imposition produced a mutiny, which was singular in its circumstances. +All history abounds with examples where the great tyrannize over the +meaner sort; but here the lowest populace rose against their rulers, +committed the most cruel ravages upon them, and took vengeance for all +former oppressions. + +{1381.} The faint dawn of the arts and of good government in that age, +had excited the minds of the populace, in different states of Europe, +to wish for a better condition, and to murmur against those chains which +the laws enacted by the haughty nobility and gentry, had so long imposed +upon them. The commotions of the people in Flanders, the mutiny of the +peasants in France, were the natural effects of this growing spirit of +independence; and the report of these events being brought into England, +where personal slavery, as we learn from Froissard,[*] was more general +than in any other country in Europe, had prepared the minds of the +multitude for an insurrection. One John Ball, also, a seditious +preacher, who affected low popularity, went about the country and +inculcated on his audience the principles of the first origin of mankind +from one common stock, their equal right to liberty and to all the goods +of nature, the tyranny of artificial distinctions, and the abuses which +had arisen from the degradation of the more considerable part of the +species, and the aggrandizement of a few insolent rulers.[**] These +doctrines, so agreeable to the populace, and so conformable to the ideas +of primitive equality which are engraven in the hearts of all men, were +greedily received by the multitude, and scattered the sparks of that +sedition which the present tax raised into a conflagration.[***] + + * Liv. ii. chap. 74. + + ** Froissard, liv. ii. chap. 74. Walsing. p. 275. + + *** There were two verses at that time in the mouths of all + the common people, which, in spite of prejudice, one cannot + but regard with some degree of approbation:-- + + When Adam delv'd and Eve span, + Where was then the gentleman? + +The imposition of three groats a head had been farmed out to +tax-gatherers in each county, who levied the money on the people with +rigor; and the clause, of making the rich ease their poorer neighbors +of some share of the burden, being so vague and undeterminate, had +doubtless occasioned many partialities, and made the people more +sensible of the unequal lot which Fortune had assigned them in +the distribution of her favors. The first disorder was raised by a +blacksmith in a village of Essex. The tax-gatherers came to this man's +shop while he was at work, and they demanded payment for his daughter, +whom he asserted to be below the age assigned by the statute. One of +these fellows offered to produce a very indecent proof to the contrary, +and at the same time laid hold of the maid; which the father resenting, +immediately knocked out the ruffian's brains with his hammer. The +bystanders applauded the action, and exclaimed, that it was full time +for the people to take vengeance on their tyrants, and to vindicate +their native liberty. They immediately flew to arms: the whole +neighborhood joined in the sedition: the flame spread in an instant over +the county: it soon propagated itself into that of Kent, of Hertford, +Surrey, Sussex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, and Lincoln. Before the +government had the least warning of the danger, the disorder had grown +beyond control or opposition: the populace had shaken off all regard +to their former masters; and being headed by the most audacious and +criminal of their associates, who assumed the feigned names of Wat +Tyler, Jack Straw, Hob Carter, and Tom Miller, by which they were fond +of denoting their mean origin, they committed every where the most +outrageous violence on such of the gentry or nobility as had the +misfortune to fall into their hands. + +The mutinous populace, amounting to a hundred thousand men, assembled on +Blackheath under their leaders, Tyler and Straw; and as the princess +of Wales, the king's mother, returning from a pilgrimage to Canterbury, +passed through the midst of them, they insulted her attendants, and some +of the most insolent among them, to show their purpose of levelling all +mankind, forced kisses from her; but they allowed her to continue her +journey, without attempting any further injury.[*] They sent a message +to the king, who had taken shelter in the Tower; and they desired a +conference with him. Richard sailed down the river in a barge for that +purpose; but on his approaching the shore, he saw such symptoms +of tumult and insolence, that he put back and returned to that +fortress.[**] + + * Froissard, liv. ii. chap. 74. + + ** Froissard, liv. ii. chap 75. + +The seditious peasants, meanwhile, favored by the populace of London, +had broken into the city; had burned the duke of Lancaster's palace of +the Savoy; cut off the heads of all the gentlemen whom they laid hold +of; expressed a particular animosity against the lawyers and attorneys; +and pillaged the warehouses of the rich merchants.[*] A great body of +them quartered themselves at Mile End; and the king, finding no +defence in the Tower, which was weakly garrisoned and ill supplied with +provisions, was obliged to go out to them and ask their demands. They +required a general pardon, the abolition of slavery, freedom of commerce +in market towns without toll or impost, and a fixed rent on lands, +instead of the services due by villainage. These requests, which, though +extremely reasonable in themselves, the nation was not sufficiently +prepared to receive, and which it was dangerous to have extorted by +violence, were, however, complied with; charters to that purpose were +granted them; and this body immediately dispersed, and returned to their +several homes.[**] + +During this transaction, another body of the rebels had broken into the +Tower; had murdered Simon Sudbury, the primate and chancellor, with Sir +Robert Hales, the treasurer, and some other persons of distinction; and +continued their ravages in the city.[***] + + * Froissard, liv. ii, chap. 76. Walsing. p. 248, 249. + + ** Froissard, liv. ii chap. 77. + + *** Walsing, p. 250, 251. + +[Illustration: 1_239_tyler.jpg WAT TYLER] + +The king, passing along Smithfield, very slenderly guarded, met with Wat +Tyler at the head of these rioters, and entered into a conference with +him. Tyler, having ordered his companions to retire till he should give +them a signal, after which they were to murder all the company except +the king himself, whom they were to detain prisoner, feared not to come +into the midst of the royal retinue. He there behaved himself in such +a manner, that Walworth, the mayor of London, not able to bear his +insolence, drew his sword, and struck him so violent a blow as brought +him to the ground, where he was instantly despatched by others of the +king's attendants. The mutineers, seeing their leader fall, prepared +themselves for revenge; and this whole company, with the king +himself, had undoubtedly perished on the spot, had it not been for an +extraordinary presence of mind which Richard discovered on the occasion. +He ordered his company to stop; he advanced alone towards the enraged +multitude, and accosting them with an affable and intrepid countenance, +he asked them, "What is the meaning of this disorder my good people? Are +ye angry that ye have lost your leader? I am your king: I will be your +leader." The populace, overawed by his presence, implicitly followed +him. He led them into the fields, to prevent any disorder which might +have arisen by their continuing in the city. Being there joined by Sir +Robert Knolles, and a body of well-armed veteran soldiers, who had +been secretly drawn together, he strictly prohibited that officer from +falling on the rioters, and committing an undistinguished slaughter upon +them; and he peaceably dismissed them with the same charters which had +been granted to their fellows.[*] Soon after, the nobility and gentry, +hearing of the king's danger, in which they were all involved, flocked +to London, with their adherents and retainers; and Richard took the +field at the head of an army forty thousand strong.[**] It then behoved +all the rebels to submit: the charters of enfranchisement and pardon +were revoked by parliament; the low people were reduced to the same +slavish condition as before; and several of the ringleaders were +severely punished for the late disorders. Some were even executed +without process or form of law.[***] It was pretended, that the +intentions of the mutineers had been to seize the king's person, to +carry him through England at their head; to murder all the nobility, +gentry, and lawyers, and even all the bishops and priests, except the +mendicant friars; to despatch afterwards the king himself, and, +having thus reduced all to a level, to order the kingdom at their +pleasure.[****] It is not impossible but many of them, in the delirium +of their first success, might have formed such projects: but of all the +evils incident to human society, the insurrections of the populace, when +not raised and supported by persons of higher quality, are the least +to be dreaded: the mischiefs consequent to an abolition of all rank and +distinction become so great, that they are immediately felt, and soon +bring affairs back to their former order and arrangement. + + * Froissard, liv. ii. chap. 77. Walsing. p. 252. Knyghton, + p. 2637. + + ** Walsing. p. 267. + + *** 5 Rich. II. cap. ult., as quoted in the Observations on + Ancient Statutes, p. 262. + + **** Walsing. p. 265. + +[Illustration: 1_246_richard.jpg RICHARD II. ENTRY INTO LONDON] + +A youth of sixteen, (which was at this time the king's age) who had +discovered so much courage, presence of mind, and address, and had +so dexterously eluded the violence of this tumult, raised great +expectations in the nation; and it was natural to hope that he would, +in the course of his life, equal the glories which had so uniformly +attended his father and his grandfather in all their undertakings. +{1385.} But in proportion as Richard advanced in years, these hopes +vanished; and his want of capacity, at least of solid judgment, appeared +in every enterprise which he attempted. The Scots, sensible of their own +deficiency in cavalry, had applied to the regency of Charles VI.; and +John de Vienne, admiral of France, had been sent over with a body of one +thousand five hundred men at arms, to support them in their incursions +against the English. The danger was now deemed by the king's uncles +somewhat serious; and a numerous army of sixty thousand men was levied, +and they marched into Scotland with Richard himself at their head. The +Scots did not pretend to make resistance against so great a force: they +abandoned without scruple their country to be pillaged and destroyed +by the enemy: and when De Vienne expressed his surprise at this plan +of operations, they told him, that all their cattle was driven into the +forests and fastnesses; that their houses and other goods were of small +value; and that they well knew how to compensate any losses which they +might sustain in that respect, by making an incursion into England. +Accordingly, when Richard entered Scotland by Berwick and the east +coast, the Scots, to the number of thirty thousand men, attended by the +French, entered the borders of England by the west, and carrying their +ravages through Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, collected +a rich booty, and then returned in tranquillity to their own country. +Richard, meanwhile, advanced towards Edinburgh, and destroyed in his way +all the towns and villages on each side of him: he reduced that city to +ashes: he treated in the same manner Perth, Dundee, and other places +in the low countries; but when he was advised to march towards the west +coast, to await there the return of the enemy, and to take revenge on +them for their devastations, his impatience to return to England, +and enjoy his usual pleasures and amusements, outweighed every +consideration; and he led back his army without effecting any thing by +all these mighty preparations. The Scots, soon after, finding the heavy +bodies of French cavalry very useless in that desultory kind of war to +which they confined themselves, treated their allies so ill, that the +French returned home, much disgusted with the country and with the +manners of its inhabitants.[*] And the English, though they regretted +the indolence and levity of their king, saw themselves for the future +secured against any dangerous invasion from that quarter. + +{1386.} But it was so material an interest of the French court to wrest +the seaport towns from the hands of their enemy, that they resolved to +attempt it by some other expedient, and found no means so likely as an +invasion of England itself. They collected a great fleet and army +at Sluise; for the Flemings were now in alliance with them: all the +nobility of France were engaged in this enterprise: the English were +kept in alarm: great preparations were made for the reception of the +invaders: and though the dispersion of the French ships by a storm, and +the taking of many of them by the English, before the embarkation of the +troops, freed the kingdom from the present danger, the king and council +were fully sensible that this perilous situation might every moment +return upon them.[**] + +There were two circumstances, chiefly, which engaged the French at this +time to think of such attempts. The one was the absence of the duke of +Lancaster, who had carried into Spain the flower of the English military +force, in prosecution of his vain claim to the crown of Castile; an +enterprise in which, after some promising success, he was finally +disappointed: the other was, the violent dissensions and disorders which +had taken place in the English government. + +The subjection in which Richard was held by his uncles, particularly by +the duke of Glocester, a prince of ambition and genius, though it +was not unsuitable to his years and slender capacity, was extremely +disagreeable to his violent temper; and he soon attempted to shake off +the yoke imposed upon him. Robert de Vere, earl of Oxford, a young man +of a noble family, of an agreeable figure, but of dissolute manners, had +acquired an entire ascendant over him, and governed him with an absolute +authority. The king set so little bounds to his affection, that he +first created his favorite marquis of Dublin, a title before unknown in +England, then duke of Ireland; and transferred to him by patent, which +was confirmed in parliament, the entire sovereignty for life of that +island.[***] + + * Froissard, liv. ii. chap. 149, 150, etc., liv. iii. chap. + 52. Walsing p. 316, 317. + + ** Froissard, liv. iii. chap. 41, 53. Walsing. p. 322, + 323. + + *** Cotton, p. 310, 311. Cox, Hist. of Ireland, p. 129. + Walsing, p. 324. + +He gave him in marriage his cousin-german, the daughter of Ingelram de +Couci, earl of Bedford; but soon after he permitted him to repudiate +that lady, though of an unexceptionable character, and to marry a +foreigner, a Bohemian, with whom he had become enamored.[*] These public +declarations of attachment turned the attention of the whole court +towards the minion: all favors passed through his hands: access to the +king could only be obtained by his mediation: and Richard seemed to take +no pleasure in royal authority, but so far as it enabled him to load +with favors, and titles, and dignities, this object of his affections. + + * Walsing. p. 228. + +The jealousy of power immediately produced an animosity Between the +minion and his creatures on the one hand, and the princes of the blood +and chief nobility on the other; and the usual complaints against the +insolence of favorites were loudly echoed, and greedily received, in +every part of the kingdom. Moubray, earl of Nottingham, the mareschal, +Fitz-Alan, earl of Arundel, Piercy, earl of Northumberland, Montacute, +earl of Salisbury, Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, were all connected with +each other, and with the princes, by friendship or alliance, and still +more by their common antipathy to those who had eclipsed them in the +king's favor and confidence. No longer kept in awe by the personal +character of the prince, they scorned to submit to his ministers; and +the method which they took to redress the grievance complained of well +suited the violence of the age, and proves the desperate extremities to +which every opposition was sure to be instantly carried. + +Michael de la Pole, the present chancellor, and lately created earl +of Suffolk, was the son of an eminent merchant; but had risen by his +abilities and valor during the wars of Edward III., had acquired the +friendship of that monarch, and was esteemed the person of greatest +experience and capacity among those who were attached to the duke of +Ireland and the king's secret council. The duke of Glocester, who had +the house of commons at his devotion, impelled them to exercise that +power which they seem first to have assumed against Lord Latimer during +the declining years of the late king; and an impeachment against the +chancellor was carried up by them to the house of peers, which was no +less at his devotion. The king foresaw the tempest preparing against him +and his ministers. After attempting in vain to rouse the Londoners to +his defence, he withdrew from parliament, and retired with his court to +Eltham. The parliament sent a deputation, inviting him to return, and +threatening that, if he persisted in absenting himself, they would +immediately dissolve, and leave the nation, though at that time in +imminent danger of a French invasion, without any support or supply for +its defence. At the same time, a member was encouraged to call for the +record containing the parliamentary deposition of Edward II.; a plain +intimation of the fate which Richard, if he continued refractory, had +reason to expect from them. The king, finding himself unable to resist, +was content to stipulate that, except finishing the present impeachment +against Suffolk, no attack should be made upon any other of his +ministers; and on that condition he returned to the parliament.[*] [12] + +Nothing can prove more fully the innocence of Suffolk, than the +frivolousness of the crimes which his enemies, in the present plenitude +of their power, thought proper to object against him.[**] It was +alleged, that being chancellor, and obliged by his oath to consult the +king's profit, he had purchased lands of the crown below their true +value; that he had exchanged with the king a perpetual annuity of four +hundred marks a year, which he inherited from his father, and which was +assigned upon the customs of the port of Hull, for lands of an equal +income; that having obtained for his son the priory of St. Anthony, +which was formerly possessed by a Frenchman, an enemy and a schismatic, +and a new prior being at the same time named by the pope, he had +refused to admit this person, whose title was not legal, till he made a +composition with his son, and agreed to pay him a hundred pounds a +year from the income of the benefice; that he had purchased, from one +Tydeman, of Limborch, an old and forfeited annuity of fifty pounds a +year upon the crown, and had engaged the king to admit that bad debt; +and that, when created earl of Suffolk, he had obtained a grant of five +hundred pounds a year to support the dignity of that title.[***] + + * See note L, at the end of the volume. + + ** Cotton, p. 315. Knyghton, p. 2683. + + *** It is probable that the earl of Suffolk was not rich, nor + able to support the dignity without the bounty of the crown; + for his father, Michael de la Pole, though a great merchant, + had been ruined by lending money to the late king. See + Cotton, p. 194. + +We may even the proof of these articles, frivolous as they are, was +found very deficient upon the trial: it appeared that Suffolk had made +no purchase from the crown while he was chancellor, and that all +his bargains of that kind were made before he was advanced to that +dignity.[*] It is almost needless to add, that he was condemned, +notwithstanding his defence; and that he was deprived of his office. + +Glocester and his associates observed their stipulation with the king, +and attacked no more of his ministers: but they immediately attacked +himself and his royal dignity, and framed a commission after the model +of those which had been attempted almost in every reign since that +of Richard I., and which had always been attended with extreme +confusion.[**] By this commission, which was ratified by parliament, a +council of fourteen persons was appointed, all of Glocester's faction, +except Nevil, archbishop of York: the sovereign power was transferred +to these men for a twelvemonth: the king, who had now reached the +twenty-first year of his age, was in reality dethroned: the aristocracy +was rendered supreme: and though the term of the commission was limited, +it was easy to foresee that the intentions of the party were to render +it perpetual, and that power would with great difficulty be wrested from +those grasping hands to which it was once committed. Richard, however, +was obliged to submit: he signed the commission which violence had +extorted from him; he took an oath never to infringe it; and though +at the end of the session he publicly entered a protest, that the +prerogatives of the crown, notwithstanding his late concession, should +still be deemed entire and unimpaired,[***] the new commissioners, +without regarding this declaration, proceeded to the exercise of their +authority. + + * Rymer, vol. vii. p. 481. Cotton, p. 31. + + ** Cotton, p. 315. + + *** Knyghton, p. 2686. Statutes at large, 10 Rich. II. chap. + I. + +{1887.} The king, thus dispossessed of royal power, was soon sensible of +the contempt into which he was fallen. His favorites and ministers, who +were as yet allowed to remain about his person, failed not to aggravate +the injury which without any demerit on his part, had been offered to +him. And his eager temper was of itself sufficiently inclined to remark +that the dukes of Glocester and York, though vastly rich received at +the same time each of them a thousand pounds a year top support their +dignity and to seek the means, both of recovering his authority, and of +revenging himself on those who had invaded it. As the house of commons +appeared now of weight in the constitution, he secretly tried some +expedients for procuring a favorable election: he sounded some of the +sheriffs, who, being at that time both the returning officers, and +magistrates of great power in the counties, had naturally considerable +influence in elections.[*] But as most of them had been appointed by his +uncles, either during his minority or during the course of the present +commission, he found them in general averse to his enterprise. The +sentiments and inclinations of the judges were more favorable to him. +He met at Nottingham Sir Robert Tresilian, chief justice of the king's +bench, Sir Robert Belknappe, chief justice of the common pleas, Sir John +Gary, chief baron of the exchequer, Holt, Fulthorpe, and Bourg, inferior +justices, and Lockton, serjeant at law; and he proposed to them some +queries, which these lawyers, either from the influence of his authority +or of reason, made no scruple of answering in the way he desired. They +declared that the late commission was derogatory to the royalty and +prerogative of the king; that those who procured it, or advised the +king to consent to it, were punishable with death; that those who +necessitated and compelled him were guilty of treason; that those were +equally criminal who should persevere in maintaining it; that the +king has the right of dissolving parliaments at pleasure; that the +parliament, while it sits, must first proceed upon the king's business; +and that this assembly cannot without his consent impeach any of his +ministers and judges.[**] Even according to our present strict maxims +with regard to law and the royal prerogative, all these determinations, +except the two last, appear justifiable: and as the great privileges +of the commons, particularly that of impeachment, were hitherto new and +supported by few precedents, there want not plausible reasons to justify +these opinions of the judges.[***] + + * In the preamble to 5 Henry IV. cap. vii. it is implied, + that the sheriffs in a manner appointed the members of the + house of commons, not only in this parliament, but in many + others. + + ** Knyghton, p. 2694. Ypod. Neust. p. 541. + + *** The parliament, in 1341, exacted of Edward III., that on + the third day of every session, the king should resume all + the great offices; and that the ministers should then answer + to any accusation that should be brought against them; which + plainly implies, that, while ministers they could not be + accused or impeached in parliament, therefore, their answer + to the king's queries before the archhishops of York and + Dublin, the bishops of Durham, Chichester, and Bangor, the + duke of Ireland, the earl of Suffolk, and two other + counsellors of inferior quality. Henry IV. told the + commons that the usage of parliament required them to go + first through the king's business In granting supplies; + which order the king intended not to alter. Parl. Hist. vol. + ii. p. 65. Upon the whole, it must be allowed that, + according to ancient practice and principles, there are at + least plausible grounds for all these opinions of the + judges. It must be remarked, that this affirmation of Henry + IV. was given deliberately, after consulting the house of + peers, who were much better acquainted with the usage of + parliament than the ignorant commons. And it has the greater + authority, because Henry IV. had made this very principle a + considerable article of charge against his predecessor; and + that a very few years before. So ill grounded were most of + the imputations thrown on the unhappy Richard. + +They obliged the king to summon a parliament, which was entirely at +their devotion, they had full power, by observing a few legal forms, +to take vengeance on all their enemies. Five great peers, men whose +combined power was able at any time to shake the throne,--the duke +of Glocester, the king's uncle; the earl of Derby, son of the duke of +Lancaster; the earl of Arundel; the earl of Warwick; and the earl of +Nottingham, mareschal of England,--entered before the parliament an +accusation, or appeal, as it was called, against the five counsellors +whom they had already accused before the king. The parliament, who ought +to have been judges, were not ashamed to impose an oath on all their +members, by which they bound themselves to live and die with the lords +appellants, and to defend them against all opposition with their lives +and fortunes.[*] + + * Cotton, p. 322. + +The duke of Glocester and his adherents soon got intelligence of this +secret consultation, and were naturally very much alarmed at it. They +saw the king's intentions; and they determined to prevent the execution +of them. As soon as he came to London, which they knew was well disposed +to their party, they secretly assembled their forces, and appeared in +arms at Haringay Park, near Highgate, with a power which Richard and +his ministers were not able to resist. They sent him a message by the +archbishop of Canterbury, and the lords Lovel Cobham, and Devereux, +and demanded that the persons who had seduced him by their pernicious +counsel, and were traitors both to him and to the kingdom, should be +delivered up to them. A few days after, they appeared in his presence, +armed, and attended with armed followers; and they accused by name the +archbishop of York, the duke of Ireland, the earl of Suffolk, Sir Robert +Tresilian, and Sir Nicholas Brembre, as public and dangerous enemies to +the state. They threw down their gauntlets before the king, and fiercely +offered to maintain the truth of their charge by duel. The persons +accused, and all the other obnoxious ministers, had withdrawn or had +concealed themselves. + +The duke of Ireland fled to Cheshire, and levied some forces, with +which he advanced to relieve the king from the violence of the nobles. +Glocester encountered him in Oxfordshire with much superior forces; +routed him, dispersed his followers, and obliged him to fly into the Low +Countries, where he died in exile a few years after. + +The other proceedings were well suited to the violence and iniquity of +the times. A charge consisting of thirty-nine articles, was delivered +in by the appellants; and as none of the accused counsellors, except +Sir Nicholas Brembre, was in custody, the rest were cited to appear; and +upon their absenting themselves, the house of peers, after a very +short interval, without hearing a witness, without examining a fact, or +deliberating on one point of law, declared them guilty of high treason. +Sir Nicholas Brembre, who was produced in court, had the appearance, and +but the appearance, of a trial: the peers, though they were not by law +his proper judges, pronounced, in a very summary manner, sentence of +death upon him; and he was executed, together with Sir Robert Tresilian, +who had been discovered and taken in the interval. + +It would be tedious to recite the whole charge delivered in against the +five counsellors; which is to be met with in several collections.[*] + + * Knyghton, p. 2715. Tyrrel, vol iii. part ii p. 919, from + the records. Parl. Hist. vol. i. p. 414 + +It is sufficient to observe in general, that if we reason upon the +supposition, which is the true one, that the royal prerogative was +invaded by the commission extorted by the duke of Glocester and his +associates, and that the king's person was afterwards detained in +custody by rebels, many of the articles will appear not only to imply no +crime in the duke of Ireland and the ministers, but to ascribe to +them actions which were laudable, and which they were bound by their +allegiance to perform. The few articles impeaching the conduct of these +ministers before that commission, which subverted the constitution, and +annihilated all justice and legal authority, are vague and general; such +as their engrossing the king's favor, keeping his barons at a distance +from him, obtaining unreasonable grants for themselves or their +creatures, and dissipating the public treasure by useless expenses. No +violence is objected to them; no particular illegal act;[*] no breach of +any statute; and their administration may therefore be concluded to have +been so far innocent and inoffensive. All the disorders indeed seem to +have proceeded not from any violation of the laws, or any ministerial +tyranny, but merely from a rivalship of power, which the duke of +Glocester and the great nobility, agreeably to the genius of the times, +carried to the utmost extremity against their opponents, without any +regard to reason, justice, or humanity. + +But these were not the only deeds of violence committed during +the triumph of the party. All the other judges who had signed the +extrajudicial opinions at Nottingham, were condemned to death, and were, +as a grace or favor, banished to Ireland; though they pleaded the fear +of their lives, and the menaces of the king's ministers as their excuse. +Lord Beauchamp of Holt, Sir James Berners, and John Salisbury, were also +tried and condemned for high treason, merely because they had attempted +to defeat the late commission: but the life of the latter was spared. +The fate of Sir Simon Burley was more severe: this gentleman was much +beloved for his personal merit, had distinguished himself by many +honorable actions,[*] [13] was created knight of the garter, and had +been appointed governor to Richard, by the choice of the late king +and of the Black Prince: he had attended his master from the earliest +infancy of that prince, and had ever remained extremely attached to him: +yet all these considerations could not save him from falling a victim to +Glocester's vengeance. + + * See note M, at the end of the volume. + +This execution, more than all the others, made a deep impression on the +mind of Richard; his queen too (for he was already married to the sister +of the emperor Winceslaus, King of Bohemia) interested herself in behalf +of Burley: she remained three hours on her knees before the duke of +Glocester, pleading for that gentleman's life; but though she was become +extremely popular by her amiable qualities, which had acquired her the +appellation of "the good Queen Anne," her petition was sternly rejected +by the inexorable tyrant.[*] [14] + + * At least this is the character given of him by Froissard, + (liv. ii.) who knew him personally. Walsingham (p. 334) + gives a very different character of him; but he is a writer + somewhat passionate and partial; and the choice made of this + gentleman, by Edward III. and the Black Prince, for the + education of Richard, makes the character given him by + Froissard much more probable. + +The parliament concluded this violent scene by a declaration, that +none of the articles decided on these trials to be treason, should ever +afterwards be drawn into precedent by the judges, who were still to +consider the statute of the twenty-fifth of Edward as the rule of their +decisions. The house of lords seem not at that time to have known or +acknowledged the principle, that they themselves were bound, in their +judicial capacity, to follow the rules which they, in conjunction with +the king and commons, had established in their legislature.[*] [14] +It was also enacted, that every one should swear to the perpetual +maintenance and support of the forfeitures and attainders, and of +all the other acts passed during this parliament. The archbishop of +Canterbury added the penalty of excommunication, as a further security +to these violent transactions. + + * See note N, at the end of the volume. + +{1389.} It might naturally be expected, that the king, being reduced to +such slavery by the combination of the princes and chief nobility, and +having appeared so unable to defend his servants from the cruel effects +of their resentment, would long remain in subjection to them; and never +would recover the royal power, without the most violent struggles and +convulsions: but the event proved contrary. In less than a twelvemonth, +Richard, who was in his twenty-third year, declared in council, that, as +he had now attained the full age which entitled him to govern by his own +authority his kingdom and household, he resolved to exercise his right +of sovereignty; and when no one ventured to contradict so reasonable +an intention, he deprived Fitz-Alan, archbishop of Canterbury, of the +dignity of chancellor, and bestowed that high office on William of +Wickham, bishop of Winchester; the bishop of Hereford was displaced from +the office of treasurer; the earl of Arundel from that of admiral; even +the duke of Glocester and the earl of Warwick were removed for a time +from the council: and no opposition was made to these great changes. The +history of this reign is imperfect, and little to be depended on, except +where it is supported by public records; and it is not easy for us +to assign the reason of this unexpected event. Perhaps some secret +animosities, naturally to be expected in that situation, had crept in +among the great men, and had enabled the king to recover his authority. +Perhaps the violence of their former proceedings had lost them the +affections of the people, who soon repent of any cruel extremities to +which they are carried by their leaders. However this may be, Richard +exercised with moderation the authority which he had resumed. He seemed +to be entirely reconciled to his uncles[*] and the other great men, of +whom he had so much reason to complain: he never attempted to recall +from banishment the duke of Ireland, whom he found so obnoxious to them: +he confirmed by proclamation the general pardon which the parliament had +passed for all offences; and he courted the affections of the people, +by voluntarily remitting some subsidies which had been granted him: a +remarkable, and almost singular instance of such generosity. + +After this composure of domestic differences, and this restoration of +the government to its natural state, there passes an interval of eight +years which affords not many remarkable events. The duke of Lancaster +returned from Spain; having resigned to his rival all pretensions to the +crown of Castile upon payment of a large sum of money,[**] and having +married his daughter, Philippa, to the king of Portugal. The authority +of this prince served to counterbalance that of the duke of Glocester, +and secured the power of Richard, who paid great court to his eldest +uncle, by whom he had never been offended, and whom he found more +moderate in his temper than the younger. He made a cession to him for +life of the duchy of Guienne,[***] which the inclinations and changeable +humor of the Gascons had restored to the English government; but as they +remonstrated loudly against this deed, it was finally, with the duke's +consent, revoked by Richard.[****] + + * Dugdale, vol. ii. p. 170. + + ** Knyghton, p 2677. Walsing p. 342. + + *** Rymer, vol. vii. p. 659. + + **** Rymer, vol. vii. p. 687. 298 HISTORY OF ENGLAND. + +There happened an incident which produced a dissension between Lancaster +and his two brothers. After the death of the Spanish princess, he +espoused Catharine Swineford, daughter of a private knight of Hainault, +by whose alliance York and Glocester thought the dignity of their family +much injured; but the king gratified his uncle by passing in parliament +a charter of legitimation to the children whom that lady had borne him +before marriage, and by creating the eldest earl of Somerset.[*] + +The wars, meanwhile, which Richard had inherited with his crown, still +continued; though interrupted by frequent truces, according to the +practice of that age, and conducted with little vigor, by reason of +the weakness of all parties. The French war was scarcely heard of; the +tranquillity of the northern borders was only interrupted by one inroad +of the Scots, which proceeded more from a rivalship between the two +martial families of Piercy and Douglas, than from any national quarrel: +a fierce battle or skirmish was fought at Otterborne,[**] in which young +Piercy, surnamed Hotspur, from his impetuous valor, was taken prisoner, +and Douglas slain; and the victory remained undecided.[***] Some +insurrections of the Irish obliged the king to make an expedition into +that country, which he reduced to obedience; and he recovered, in some +degree, by this enterprise, his character of courage, which had suffered +a little by the inactivity of his reign. + +{1396.} At last, the English and French courts began to think in earnest +of a lasting peace; but found it so difficult to adjust their opposite +pretensions, that they were content to establish a truce of twenty-five +years: Brest and Cherbourg were restored, the former to the duke of +Brittany, the latter to the king of Navarre: both parties were left +in possession of all the other places which they held at the time of +concluding the truce; and to render the amity between the two crowns +more durable, Richard,[****] who was now a widower, was affianced to +Isabella, the daughter of Charles. This princess was only seven years +of age; but the king agreed to so unequal a match, chiefly that he might +fortify himself by this alliance against the enterprises of his uncles, +and the incurable turbulence, as well as inconstancy, of his barons. + +The administration of the king, though it was not in this interval +sullied by any unpopular act, except the seizing of the charter of +London,[******] which was soon after restored, tended not much to +corroborate his authority; and his personal character brought him into +contempt, even while his public government appeared in a good measure +unexceptionable. + + * Cotton, p. 365. Walsing, p. 352. + + ** 15th August, 1388. + + *** Froissard, liv. iii. chap. 124, 125, 126. Walsing, p. + 355. + + **** Rymer, vol. vii. p. 820. + + ***** Rymer, vol. vii. p. 811. + + ****** Rymer, vol. vii. p. 727. Walsing. p. 347. + +Indolent, profuse, addicted to low pleasures, he spent his whole time +in feasting and jollity, and dissipated, in idle show, or in bounties +to favorites of no reputation, that revenue which the people expected to +see him employ in enterprises directed to public honor and advantage. He +forgot his rank by admitting all men to his familiarity; and he was not +sensible, that their acquaintance with the qualities of his mind was +not able to impress them with the respect which he neglected to preserve +from his birth and station. The earls of Kent and Huntingdon, his half +brothers, were his chief confidants and favorites; and though he never +devoted himself to them with so profuse an affection as that with which +he had formerly been attached to the duke of Ireland, it was easy for +men to see, that every grace passed through their hands, and that the +king had rendered himself a mere cipher in the government. The small +regard which the public bore to his person, disposed them to murmur +against his administration, and to receive with greedy ears every +complaint which the discontented or ambitious grandees suggested to +them. + +{1397.} Glocester soon perceived the advantages which this dissolute +conduct gave him; and finding that both resentment and jealousy on the +part of his nephew still prevented him from acquiring any ascendant over +that prince, he determined to cultivate his popularity with the nation, +and to revenge himself on those who eclipsed him in favor and authority. +He seldom appeared at court or in council; he never declared his opinion +but in order to disapprove of the measures embraced by the king and +his favorites; and he courted the friendship of every man whom +disappointment or private resentment had rendered an enemy to the +administration. The long truce with France was unpopular with the +English, who breathed nothing but war against that hostile nation; +and Glocester took care to encourage all the vulgar prejudices which +prevailed on this subject. Forgetting the misfortunes which attended +the English arms during the later years of Edward, he made an invidious +comparison between the glories of that reign and the inactivity of the +present; and he lamented that Richard should have degenerated so much +from the heroic virtues by which his father and his grandfather were +distinguished. The military men were inflamed with a desire of war when +they heard him talk of the signal victories formerly obtained, and of +the easy prey which might be made of French riches by the superior valor +of the English; the populace readily embraced the same sentiments; +and all men exclaimed, that this prince, whose counsels were so much +neglected, was the true support of English honor and alone able to raise +the nation to its former power and splendor. His great abilities, his +popular manners, his princely extraction, his immense riches, his high +office of constable;[*] all these advantages, not a little assisted by +his want of court favor, gave him a mighty authority in the kingdom, and +rendered him formidable to Richard and his ministers. + +Froissard,[**] a contemporary writer, and very impartial, but whose +credit is somewhat impaired by his want of exactness in material facts, +ascribes to the duke of Glocester more desperate views, and such as were +totally incompatible with the government and domestic tranquillity of +the nation. According to that historian, he proposed to his nephew, +Roger Mortimer, earl of Marche, whom Richard had declared his successor, +to give him immediate possession of the throne, by the deposition of a +prince so unworthy of power and authority: and when Mortimer declined +the project, he resolved to make a partition of the kingdom between +himself, his two brothers, and the earl of Arundel; and entirely to +dispossess Richard of the crown. The king, it is said, being informed of +these designs, saw that either his own ruin, or that of Glocester, was +inevitable; and he resolved by a hasty blow to prevent the execution of +such destructive projects. This is certain, that Glocester, by his own +confession, had often affected to speak contemptuously of the king's +person and government; had deliberated concerning the lawfulness of +throwing off allegiance to him; and had even borne part in a secret +conference, where his deposition was proposed, and talked of, and +determined:[***] but it is reasonable to think, that his schemes were +not so far advanced. + + * Rymer, vol. vii. p. 152. + + ** Liv. iv. chap. 86. + + *** Cotton, p. 378. Tyrrel, vol. iii. part ii. p. 972, from + the records. Par. Hist. vol. i. p. 473. That this confession + was genuine, and obtained without violence, may be entirely + depended on. Judge Rickhill, who brought it over from + Calais, was tried on that account, and acquitted in the + first parliament of Henry IV., when Glocester's party was + prevalent. His acquittal, notwithstanding his innocence, may + even appear marvellous, considering the times. See Cotton, + p. 393. putting them immediately in execution. The danger + probably was still too distant to render a desperate remedy + entirely necessary for the security of government. + +But whatever opinion we may form of the danger arising from Glocester's +conspiracies, his aversion to the French truce and alliance was public +and avowed; and that court which had now a great influence over the +king, pushed him to provide for his own safety, by punishing the +traitorous designs of his uncle. The resentment against his former +acts of violence revived; the sense of his refractory and uncompliant +behavior was still recent; and a man whose ambition had once usurped +royal authority, and who had murdered all the faithful servants of the +king, was thought capable, on a favorable opportunity, of renewing the +same criminal enterprises. The king's precipitate temper admitted of no +deliberation: he ordered Glocester to be unexpectedly arrested; to be +hurried on board a ship which was lying in the river; and to be carried +over to Calais, where alone, by reason of his numerous partisans, he +could safely be detained in custody.[*] The earls of Arundel and Warwick +were seized at the same time: the malecontents so suddenly deprived of +their leaders, were astonished and overawed; and the concurrence of the +dukes of Lancaster and York in those measures, together with the earls +of Derby and Rutland, the eldest sons of these princes,[**] bereaved +them of all possibility of resistance. + +A parliament was immediately summoned at Westminster; and the king +doubted not to find the peers, and still more the commons, very +compliant with his will. This house had in a former parliament given +him very sensible proofs of their attachment;[***] [15] and the present +suppression of Glocester's party made him still more assured of a +favorable election. As a further expedient for that purpose, he is also +said to have employed the influence of the sheriffs; a practice which, +though not unusual, gave umbrage, but which the established authority +of that assembly rendered afterwards still more familiar to the nation. +Accordingly, the parliament passed whatever acts the king was pleased +to dictate to them:[****] they annulled forever the commission which +usurped upon the royal authority, and they declared it treasonable to +attempt, in any future period, the revival of any similar commission: +they abrogated all the acts which attainted the king's ministers, and +which that parliament who passed them, and the whole nation had sworn +inviolably to maintain: and they declared the general pardon then +granted to be invalid, as extorted by force, and never ratified by the +free consent of the king. + + * Froissard, liv. iv. chap. 90. Walsing. p. 354. + + ** Rymer, vol. viii. p. 7. + + *** See note O, at the end of the volume. + + **** The nobles brought numerous retainers with them to give + them* + +Though Richard, after he resumed the government, and lay no longer under +constraint, had voluntarily, by proclamation, confirmed that general +indemnity, this circumstance seemed not, in their eyes, to merit any +consideration. Even a particular pardon, granted six years after to the +earl of Arundel, was annulled by parliament, on pretence that it had +been procured by surprise, and that the king was not then fully apprized +of the degree of guilt incurred by that nobleman. + +The commons then preferred an impeachment against Fitz-Alan, archbishop +of Canterbury, and brother to Arundel, and accused him for his +concurrence in procuring the illegal commission, and in attainting the +king's ministers. The primate pleaded guilty; but as he was protected +by the ecclesiastical privileges, the king was satisfied with a sentence +which banished him the kingdom, and sequestered his temporalities.[*] +An appeal or accusation was presented against the duke of Glocester, +and the earls of Arundel and Warwick, by the earls of Rutland, Kent, +Huntingdon, Somerset, Salisbury, and Nottingham, together with the lords +Spenser and Scrope, and they were accused of the same crimes which had +been imputed to the archbishop, as well as of their appearance against +the king in a hostile manner at Haringay Park. The earl of Arundel, who +was brought to the bar, wisely confined all his defence to the pleading +of both the general and particular pardon of the king; but his plea +being overruled, he was condemned and executed.[**] + + * Cotton, p. 368. + + ** Cotton, p 377. Froissard, liv. iv. chap. 90. Walsing. p. + 354. + +The earl of Warwick, who was also convicted of high treason, was, on +account of his submissive behavior, pardoned as to his life, but doomed +to perpetual banishment in the Isle of Man. No new acts of treason were +imputed to either of these noblemen. The only crimes for which they were +condemned, were the old attempts against the crown, which seemed to be +obliterated both by the distance of time and by repeated pardons.[*] The +reasons of this method of proceeding it is difficult to conjecture. The +recent conspiracies of Glocester seem certain from his own confession; +but perhaps the king and ministry had not at that time in their hands +any satisfactory proof of their reality; perhaps it was difficult to +convict Arundel and Warwick of any participation in them; perhaps an +inquiry into these conspiracies would have involved in the guilt some of +those great noblemen who now concurred with the crown, and whom it was +necessary to cover from all imputation; or perhaps the king, according +to the genius of the age, was indifferent about maintaining even the +appearance of law and equity, and was only solicitous by any means to +insure success in these prosecutions. This point, like many others in +ancient history, we are obliged to leave altogether undetermined. + +A warrant was issued to the earl mareschal, governor of Calais, to bring +over the duke of Glocester, in order to his trial; but the governor +returned for answer, that the duke had died suddenly of an apoplexy in +that fortress. Nothing could be more suspicious, from the time, than the +circumstances of that prince's death: it became immediately the +general opinion, that he was murdered by orders from his nephew: in the +subsequent reign, undoubted proofs were produced in parliament, that +he had been suffocated with pillows by his keepers:[**] and it appeared +that the king, apprehensive lest the public trial and execution of so +popular a prince, and so near a relation, might prove both dangerous and +invidious, had taken this base method of gratifying, and, as he fancied, +concealing, his revenge upon him. Both parties, in their successive +triumphs, seem to have had no further concern than that of retaliating +upon their adversaries; and neither of them were aware that, by +imitating, they indirectly justified, as far as it lay in their power, +all the illegal violence of the opposite party. + + * Tyrrel, vol. iii. part ii. p. 968, from the records. + + ** Cotton, p. 399, 400. Dugdale, vol. ii. p. 171. + +This session concluded with the creation or advancement of several +peers: the earl of Derby was made duke of Hereford; the earl of Rutland, +duke of Albemarle; the earl of Kent, duke of Surrey; the earl of +Huntingdon, duke of Exeter; the earl of Nottingham, duke of Norfolk; the +earl of Somerset, marquis of Dorset; Lord Spenser, earl of Glocester; +Rulph Nevil, earl of Westmoreland; Thomas Piercy, earl of Worcester; +William Scrope, earl of Wiltshire.[*] The parliament, after a session of +twelve days, was adjourned to Shrewsbury. The king, before the departure +of the members, exacted from them an oath for the perpetual maintenance +and establishment of all their acts; an oath similar to that which had +formerly been required by the duke of Glocester and his party, and which +had already proved so vain and fruitless. + +{1398.} Both king and parliament met in the same dispositions at +Shrewsbury. So anxious was Richard for the security of these acts, that +he obliged the lords and commons to swear anew to them on the cross +of Canterbury;[**] and he soon after procured a bull from the pope, +by which they were, as he imagined, perpetually secured and +established.[***] The parliament, on the other hand, conferred on him +for life the duties on wool, wool-fells, and leather, and granted him, +besides, a subsidy of one tenth and a half, and one fifteenth and +a half. They also reversed the attainder of Tresilian and the other +judges; and, with the approbation of the present judges, declared the +answers for which these magistrates had been impeached to be just and +legal:[****] and they carried so far their retrospect as to reverse, +on the petition of Lord Spenser, earl of Glocester, the attainder +pronounced against the two Spensers in the reign of Edward II.[*****] +The ancient history of England is nothing but a catalogue of reversals: +every thing is in fluctuation and movement: one faction is continually +undoing what was established by another: and the multiplied oaths +which each party exacted for the security of the present acts, betray a +perpetual consciousness of their instability. + +The parliament, before they were dissolved, elected a committee of +twelve lords and six commoners,[******] whom they invested with the +whole power both of lords and commons, and endowed with full authority +to finish all business which had been laid before the houses, and which +they had not had leisure to bring to a conclusion.[*******] + + * Cotton, p. 370, 371 + + ** Cotton, p. 371. + + ** Walsing. p. 355. + + **** Statutes at large, 21 Rich. II. + + ***** Cotton, p. 372. + + ****** The names of the commissioners were, the dukes of + Lancaster, York, Albemarle, Surrey, and Exeter, the marquis + of Dorset, the earls of Marche, Salisbury, Northumberland, + Glocester, Winchester, and Wiltshire; John Bussey, Henry + Green, John Russel, Robert Teyne, Henry Chelmeswicke, and + John Golofre. It is to be remarked, that the duke of + Lancaster always concurred with the rest in all their + proceedings, even in the banishment of his son, which was + afterwards so much complained of. + + ******* Cotton, p. 372. Walsing. p. 355. + +This was an unusual concession; and though it was limited in the object, +might, either immediately or as a precedent, have proved dangerous to +the constitution; but the cause of that extraordinary measure was +an event singular and unexpected, which engaged the attention of the +parliament. + +After the destruction of the duke of Glocester and the heads of that +party, a misunderstanding broke out among those noblemen who had joined +in the prosecution; and the king wanted either authority sufficient to +appease it, or foresight to prevent it. The duke of Hereford appeared in +parliament, and accused the duke of Norfolk of having spoken to him, +in private, many slanderous words of the king, and of having imputed +to that prince an intention of subverting and destroying many of his +principal nobility.[**] Norfolk.. denied the charge, gave Hereford the +lie, and offered to prove his own innocence by duel. The challenge was +accepted: the time and place of combat were appointed: and as the event +of this important trial by arms might require the interposition of +legislative authority, the parliament thought it more suitable to +delegate their power to a committee, than to prolong the session beyond +the usual time which custom and general convenience had prescribed to +it.[***] + +The duke of Hereford was certainly very little delicate in the point of +honor, when he revealed a private conversation to the ruin of the person +who had intrusted him; and we may thence be more inclined to believe the +duke of Norfolk's denial, than the other's asseveration. But Norfolk had +in these transactions betrayed an equal neglect of honor, which brings +him entirely on a level with his antagonist. Though he had publicly +joined with the duke of Glocester and his party in all the former acts +of violence against the king. + + ** Cotton, p. 372. Parl. Hist. vol. i. p. 490. + + *** In the first year of Henry VI., when the authority of + parliament was great, and when that assembly could least be + suspected of lying under violence, a like concession was + made to the privy council from like motives of convenience. + See Cotton, p. 564. his name stands among the appellants who + accused the duke of Ireland and the other ministers, yet was + he not ashamed publicly to impeach his former associates for + the very crimes which he had concurred with them in + committing; and his name increases the list of those + appellants who brought them to a trial. Such were the + principles and practices of those ancient knights and + barons, during the prevalence of the aristocratical + government, and the reign of chivalry. + +The lists for this decision of truth and right were appointed at +Coventry before the king: all the nobility of England banded into +parties, and adhered either to the one duke or the other: the whole +nation was held in suspense with regard to the event; but when the +two champions appeared in the field accoutred for the combat, the king +interposed, to prevent both the present effusion of such noble blood, +and the future consequences of the quarrel. By the advice and authority +of the parliamentary commissioners, he stopped the duel; and to show his +impartiality, he ordered, by the same authority both the combatants to +leave the kingdom;[*] assigning one country for the place of Norfolk's +exile, which he declared perpetual, another for that of Hereford, which +he limited to ten years. + + * Cotton, p. 380. Walsing. p. 356. + +Hereford was a man of great prudence and command of temper; and he +behaved himself with so much submission in these delicate circumstances, +that the king, before his departure, promised to shorten the term of his +exile four years; and he also granted him letters patent, by which he +was empowered, in case any inheritance should in the interval accrue to +him, to enter immediately in possession, and to postpone the doing of +homage till his return. + +The weakness and fluctuation of Richard's counsels appear nowhere more +evident than in the conduct of this affair. No sooner had Hereford left +the kingdom, than the king's jealousy of the power and riches of that +prince's family revived; and he was sensible that by Glocester's death +he had only removed a counterpoise to the Lancastrian interest which +was now become formidable to his crown and kingdom. Being informed that +Hereford had entered into a treaty of marriage with the daughter of the +duke of Berry, uncle to the French king, he determined to prevent the +finishing of an alliance which would so much extend the interest of his +cousin in foreign countries; and he sent over the earl of Salisbury to +Paris with a commission for that purpose. + +{1399.} The death of the duke of Lancaster, which happened soon after, +called upon him to take new resolutions with regard to that opulent +succession. The present duke, in consequence of the king's patent, +desired to be put in possession of the estate and jurisdictions of his +father; but Richard, afraid of strengthening the hands of a man whom +he had already so much offended, applied to the parliamentary +commissioners, and persuaded them that this affair was but an appendage +to that business which the parliament had delegated to them. By their +authority he revoked his letters patent, and retained possession of the +estate of Lancaster; and by the same authority he seized and tried the +duke's attorney, who had procured and insisted on the letters, and he +had him condemned as a traitor for faithfully executing that trust +to his master;[*] an extravagant act of power! even though the king +changed, in favor of the attorney, the penalty of death into that of +banishment. + +Henry, the new duke of Lancaster, had acquired by his conduct and +abilities the esteem of the public; and having served with distinction +against the infidels in Lithuania, he had joined to his other praises +those of piety and valor, virtues which have at all times a great +influence over mankind, and were, during those ages, the qualities +chiefly held in estimation.[**] He was connected with most of the +principal nobility by blood, alliance, or friendship; and as the injury +done him by the king might in its consequences affect all of them, he +easily brought them, by a sense of common interest, to take part in his +resentment. The people, who must have an object of affection, who found +nothing in the king's person which they could love or revere, and +who were even disgusted with many parts of his conduct[***] easily +transferred to Henry that attachment which the death of the duke of +Glocester had left. + + * Tyrrel, vol. iii. part ii. p. 991, from the records. + + ** Walsing. p. 343. + + *** He levied fines upon those who had ten years before joined + the duke of Glocester and his party: they were obliged to + pay him money, before he would allow them to enjoy the + benefit of the indemnity; and in the articles of charge + against him it is asserted that the payment of one fine did + not suffice. It is indeed likely that his ministers would + abuse the power put into their hands; and this grievance + extended to very many people. Historians agree in + representing this practice as a great oppression. See + Otterborne, p. 199. without any fixed direction. His + misfortunes were lamented the injustice which he had + suffered was complained of; and all men turned their eyes + towards him as the only person that could retrieve the lost + honor of the nation, or redress the supposed abuses in the + government. + +While such were the dispositions of the people, Richard had the +imprudence to embark for Ireland, in order to revenge the death of his +cousin, Roger, earl of Marche, the presumptive heir of the crown, who +had lately been slain in a skirmish by the natives; and he thereby +left the kingdom of England open to the attempts of his provoked and +ambitious enemy. Henry, embarking at Nantz with a retinue of sixty +persons, among whom were the archbishop of Canterbury and the young earl +of Arundel, nephew to that prelate, landed at Ravenspur, in Yorkshire; +and was immediately joined by the earls of Northumberland and +Westmoreland, two of the most potent barons in England. He here took +a solemn oath, that he had no other purpose hi this invasion than to +recover the duchy of Lancaster, unjustly detained from him; and he +invited all his friends in England, and all lovers of their country, to +second him in this reasonable and moderate pretension. Every place was +in commotion: the malecontents in all quarters flew to arms: London +discovered the strongest symptoms of its disposition to mutiny and +rebellion: and Henry's army, increasing on every day's march, soon +amounted to the number of sixty thousand combatants. + +The duke of York was left guardian of the realm; a place to which +his birth entitled him, but which both his slender abilities, and his +natural connections with the duke of Lancaster, rendered him utterly +incapable of filling in such a dangerous emergency. Such of the chief +nobility as were attached to the crown, and could either have seconded +the guardian's good intentions, or have overawed his infidelity, had +attended the king into Ireland; and the efforts of Richard's friends +were every where more feeble than those of his enemies. The duke of +York, however, appointed the rendezvous of his forces at St. Albans, and +soon assembled an army of forty thousand men; but found them entirely +destitute of zeal and attachment to the royal cause, and more inclined +to join the party of the rebels. He hearkened therefore very readily to +a message from Henry, who entreated him not to oppose a loyal and humble +supplicant in the recovery of his legal patrimony; and the guardian even +declared publicly that he would second his nephew in so reasonable a +request. His army embraced with acclamations the same measures; and the +duke of Lancaster, reenforced by them, was now entirely master of the +kingdom. He hastened to Bristol, into which some of the king's ministers +had thrown themselves; and soon obliging that place to surrender, he +yielded to the popular wishes, and without giving them a trial, ordered +the earl of Wiltshire, Sir John Bussy, and Sir Henry Green, whom he +there took prisoners, to be led to immediate execution. + +The king, receiving intelligence of this invasion and insurrection, +hastened over from Ireland, and landed in Milford Haven with a body of +twenty thousand men: but even this army, so much inferior to the enemy, +was either overawed oy the general combination of the kingdom, or seized +with the same spirit of disaffection; and they gradually deserted him, +till he found that he had not above six thousand men who followed his +standard. It appeared, therefore, necessary to retire secretly from this +small body, which served only to expose him to danger; and he fled to +the Isle of Anglesea, where he purposed to embark either for Ireland or +France, and there await the favorable opportunities which the return of +his subjects to a sense of duty, or their future discontents against +the duke of Lancaster, would probably afford him. Henry, sensible of +the danger, sent to him the earl of Northumberland, with the strongest +professions of loyalty and submission; and that nobleman, by treachery +and false oaths, made himself master of the king's person, and carried +him to his enemy at Flint Castle. Richard was conducted to London by the +duke of Lancaster, who was there received with the acclamations of the +mutinous populace. It is pretended that the recorder met him on the +road, and in the name of the city entreated him, for the public safety, +to put Richard to death, with all his adherents who were prisoners; but +the duke prudently determined to make many others participate in his +guilt, before he would proceed to these extremities. For this purpose he +issued writs of election in the king's name, and appointed the immediate +meeting of a parliament at Westminster. + +Such of the peers as were most devoted to the king, were either fled +or imprisoned; and no opponents, even among the barons, dared to appear +against Henry, amidst that scene of outrage and violence which commonly +attends revolutions, especially in England during those turbulent ages, +It is also easy to imagine, that a house of commons, elected during this +universal ferment, and this triumph of the Lancastrian party, would be +extremely attached to that cause, and ready to second every suggestion +of their leaders. That order, being an yet of too little weight to +stem the torrent, was always carried along with it, and served only +to increase the violence which the public interest required it should +endeavor to control. The duke of Lancaster, therefore, sensible that he +should be entirely master, began to carry his views to the crown itself; +and he deliberated with his partisans concerning the most proper means +of effecting his daring purpose. He first extorted a resignation from +Richard;[*] but as he knew that this deed would plainly appear the +result of force and fear, he also purposed, notwithstanding the danger +of the precedent to himself and his posterity, to have him solemnly +deposed in parliament for his pretended tyranny and misconduct. A +charge, consisting of thirty-three articles, was accordingly drawn up +against him, and presented to that assembly.[**] + +If we examine these articles, which are expressed with extreme acrimony +against Richard, we shall find that, except some rash speeches, which +are imputed to him,[***] and of whose reality, as they are said to +have passed in private conversation, we may reasonably entertain some +doubt,--the chief amount of the charge is contained in his violent +conduct during the two last years of his reign, and naturally divides +itself into two principal heads. The first and most considerable is the +revenge which he took on the princes and great barons who had formerly +usurped, and still persevered in controlling and threatening his +authority; the second is the violation of the laws and general +privileges of his people. But the former, however irregular in many of +its circumstances, was fully supported by authority of parliament, and +was but a copy of the violence which the princes and barons themselves, +during their former triumph, had exercised against him and his party. +The detention of Lancaster's estate was, properly speaking a revocation, +by parliamentary authority, of a grace which the King himself had +formerly granted him. The murder of Glocester (for the secret execution, +however merited, of that prince certainly deserves this appellation) was +a private deed formed not any precedent, and implied not any usurped +or arbitrary power of the crown which could justly give umbrage to the +people. It really proceeded from a defect of power in the king, rather +than from his ambition; and proves that, instead of being dangerous to +the constitution, he possessed not even the authority necessary for the +execution of the laws. + + * Knyghton, p. 2744. Otterborne, p. 212. + + ** Tyrrel, vol. iii. part ii. p. 1008, from the records, + Knyghton, p, 2746. Otterborne, p. 214. + + *** Art 16, 26. + +Concerning the second head of accusation, as it mostly consists of +general facts, was framed by Richard's inveterate enemies, and was never +allowed to be answered by him or his friends, it is more difficult +to form a judgment. The greatest part of these grievances imputed to +Richard, seems to be the exertion of arbitrary prerogatives; such as the +dispensing power,[*] levying purveyance,[**] employing the mareschal's +court,[***] extorting loans,[****] granting protections from +lawsuits;[*****] prerogatives, which, though often complained of, had +often been exercised by his predecessors, and still continued to be so +by his successors. But whether his irregular acts of this kind were more +frequent, and injudicious and violent than usual, or were only laid hold +of and exaggerated by the factions to which the weakness of his reign +had given birth, we are not able at this distance to determine with +certainty. There is, however, one circumstance in which his conduct is +visibly different from that of his grandfather: he is not accused of +having imposed one arbitrary tax, without consent of parliament, during +his whole reign;[******] scarcely a year passed during the reign of +Edward, which was free from complaints with regard to this dangerous +exertion of authority. But, perhaps, the ascendant which Edward had +acquired over the people, together with his great prudence, enabled +him to make a use very advantageous to his subjects of this and other +arbitrary prerogatives, and rendered them a smaller grievance in his +hands, than a less absolute authority in those of his grand son. + + * Art 13,17,18. + + ** Art. 22. + + *** Art 27. + + **** Art, 14. + + ***** Art. 16. + + ****** We learn from Cotton (p. 362) that the king, by his + chancellor, told the commons, "that they were sunderly bound + to him, and namely, in forbearing to charge them with dismes + and fifteens, the which he meant _no more_ to charge + them in his own person," These words "no more" allude to the + practice of his predecessors; he had not himself imposed any + arbitrary taxes: even the parliament, in the articles of his + deposition, though they complain of heavy taxes, affirm not + that they were imposed illegally or by arbitrary will. + +This is a point which it would be rash for us to decide positively on +either side; but it is certain, that a charge drawn up by the duke +of Lancaster, and assented to by a parliament, situated in those +circumstances, forms no manner of presumption with regard to the unusual +irregularity or violence of the king's conduct in this particular.[*] +[16] + + * See note P, at the end of the volume. + +When the charge against Richard was presented to the parliament, though +it was liable, almost in every article, to objections, it was not +canvassed, nor examined, nor disputed in either house, and seemed to +be received with universal approbation. One man alone, the bishop of +Carlisle, had the courage, amidst this general disloyalty and violence, +to appear in defence of his unhappy master, and to plead his cause +against all the power of the prevailing party. Though some topics +employed by that virtuous prelate may seem to favor too much the +doctrine of passive obedience, and to make too large a sacrifice of +the rights of mankind, he was naturally pushed into that extreme by his +abhorrence of the present licentious factions; and such intrepidity, +as well as disinterestedness of behavior, proves that, whatever his +speculative principles were his heart was elevated far above the +meanness and abject submission of a slave. He represented to the +parliament, that all the abuses of government which could justly be +imputed to Richard, instead of amounting to tyranny, were merely the +result of error, youth, or misguided counsel, and admitted of a remedy +more easy and salutary than a total subversion of the constitution. +That even had they been much more violent and dangerous than they really +were, they had chiefly proceeded from former examples of resistance, +which, making the prince sensible of his precarious situation, +had obliged him to establish his throne by irregular and arbitrary +expedients. That a rebellious disposition in subjects was the principal +cause of tyranny in kings; laws could never secure the subject, which +did not give security to the sovereign; and if the maxim of inviolable +loyalty, which formed the basis of the English government, were once +rejected, the privileges belonging to the several orders of the state, +instead of being fortified by that licentiousness, would thereby +lose the surest foundation of their force and stability. That the +parliamentary deposition of Edward II., far from making a precedent +which could control this maxim, was only an example of successful +violence; and it was sufficiently to be lamented, that crimes were so +often committed in the world, without establishing principles which +might justify and authorize them. + +That even that precedent, false and dangerous as it was, could never +warrant the present excesses; which were so much greater, and which +would entail distraction and misery on the nation, to the latest +posterity. That the succession, at least, of the crown, was then +preserved inviolate: the lineal heir was placed on the throne; and the +people had an opportunity, by their legal obedience to him, of making +atonement for the violence which they had committed against his +predecessor. That a descendant of Lionel, duke of Clarence, the elder +brother of the late duke of Lancaster, had been declared in parliament +successor to the crown; he had left posterity; and their title, however +it might be overpowered by present force and faction, could never +be obliterated from the minds of the people. That if the turbulent +disposition alone of the nation had overturned the well-established +throne of so good a prince as Richard, what bloody commotions must +ensue, when the same cause was united to the motive of restoring the +legal and undoubted heir to his authority? That the new government +intended to be established, would stand on no principle; and would +scarcely retain any pretence by which it could challenge the obedience +of men of sense and virtue. That the claim of lineal descent was +so gross, as scarcely to deceive the most ignorant of the populace: +conquest could never be pleaded by a rebel against his sovereign; the +consent of the people had no authority in a monarchy not derived from +consent, but established by hereditary right; and however the nation +might be justified in deposing the misguided Richard, it could never +have any reason for setting aside his lawful heir and successor, who was +plainly innocent. And that the duke of Lancaster would give them but a +bad specimen of the legal moderation which might be expected from +his future government, if he added,[**typo?] to the crime of his past +rebellion, the guilt of excluding the family, which, both by right of +blood and by declaration of parliament, would, in case of Richard's +demise or voluntary resignation, have been received as the undoubted +heirs of the monarchy.[*] + + * Sir John Heywarde, p. 101. + +All the circumstances of this event, compared to those which attended +the late revolution in 1688, show the difference between a great and +civilized nation, deliberately vindicating its established privileges, +and a turbulent and barbarous aristocracy, plunging headlong from the +extremes of one faction into those of another. This noble freedom of +the bishop of Carlisle, instead of being applauded, was not so much +as tolerated: he was immediately arrested by order of the duke of +Lancaster, and sent a prisoner to the abbey of St. Albans. No further +debate was attempted: thirty-three long articles of charge were, in one +meeting, voted against Richard; and voted unanimously by the same peers +and prelates who, a little before, had voluntarily and unanimously +authorized those very acts of violence of which they now complained. +That prince was deposed by the suffrages of both houses; and the throne +being now vacant, the duke of Lancaster stepped forth, and having +crossed himself on the forehead and on the breast, and called upon the +name of Christ,[*] he pronounced these words, which we shall give in the +original language, because of their singularity. + +"In the name of Fadher, Son, and Holy Ghost, I Henry of Lancaster, +challenge this rewme of Ynglande, and the croun with all the membres, +and the appurtenances; als I that am descendit by right line of the +blode, coming fro the gude king Henry therde, and throge that right that +God of his grace hath sent me, with helpe of kyn, and of my frendes +to recover it; the which rewme was in poynt to be ondone by defaut of +governance, and ondoying of the gude lawes."[**] + +In order to understand this speech, it must be observed, that there was +a silly story, received among some of the lowest vulgar, that Edmond, +earl of Lancaster, son of Henry III., was really the elder brother of +Edward I.; but that, by reason of some deformity in his person, he had +been postponed in the succession, and his younger brother imposed on +the nation in his stead. As the present duke of Lancaster inherited +from Edmond by his mother, this genealogy made him the true heir of +the monarchy, and it is therefore insinuated in Henry's speech: but +the absurdity was too gross to be openly avowed either by him or by the +parliament. The case is the same with regard to his right of conquest: +he was a subject who rebelled against his sovereign: he entered the +kingdom with a retinue of no more than sixty persons. + + * Cotton, p. 389. + + ** Knyghton, p. 2757. could not therefore be the conqueror + of England; and this right is accordingly insinuated, not + avowed. Still there is a third claim, derived from his + merits in saving the nation from tyranny and oppression; and + this claim is also insinuated: but as it seemed, by its + nature, better calculated as a reason for his being elected + king by a free choice, than for giving him an immediate + right of possession, he durst not speak openly even on this + head; and to obviate any notion of election, he challenges + the crown as his due, either by acquisition or inheritance. + The whole forms such a piece of jargon and nonsense, as is + almost without example: no objection, however, was made to + it in parliament: the unanimous voice of lords and commons + placed Henry on the throne: he became king, nobody could + tell how or wherefore: the title of the house of Marche, + formerly recognized by parliament, was neither invalidated + nor repealed, but passed over in total silence: and as a + concern for the liberties of the people seems to have had no + hand in this revolution, their right to dispose of the + government, as well as all their other privileges, was left + precisely on the same footing as before. But Henry having, + when he claimed the crown, dropped some obscure hint + concerning conquest, which, it was thought, might endanger + these privileges, he soon after made a public declaration, + that he did not thereby intend to deprive any other of his + franchises or liberties; which was the only circumstances + where we shall find meaning or common sense in all these + transactions. + +The subsequent events discover the same headlong violence of conduct, +and the same rude notions of civil government. The deposition of Richard +dissolved the parliament: it was necessary to summon a new one: and +Henry, in six days after, called together, without any new election, the +same members; and this assembly he denominated a new parliament. They +were employed in the usual task of reversing every deed of the opposite +party. All the acts o£ the last parliament of Richard, which had been +confirmed by their oaths, and by a papal bull, were abrogated: all the +acts which had passed in the parliament where Glocester prevailed: +which had also been confirmed by their oaths, but which had been +abrogated by Richard, were anew established:[**] the answers of +Tresifian and the other judges, which a parliament had annulled, but +which a new parliament and new judges had approved, here received a +second condemnation. + + * Knyghton, p. 2759. Otterborne, p. 220. + + ** Cotton, p. 390. + +The peers who had accused Glocester, Arundel, and Warwick, and who +had received higher titles for that piece of service, were all of them +degraded from their new dignities; even the practice of prosecuting +appeals in parliament, which bore the air of a violent confederacy +against an individual, rather than of a legal indictment, was wholly +abolished, and trials were restored to the course of common law.* The +natural effect of this conduct was, to render the people giddy with such +rapid and perpetual changes, and to make them lose all notions of right +and wrong in the measures of government. + +The earl of Northumberland made a motion, in the house of peers, with +regard to the unhappy prince whom they had deposed. He asked them, what +advice they would give the king for the future treatment of him; since +Henry was resolved to spare his life. They unanimously replied, that +he should be imprisoned under a secure guard, in some secret place, and +should be deprived of all commerce with any of his friends or partisans. +It was easy to foresee, that he would not long remain alive in the hands +of such barbarous and sanguinary enemies. Historians differ with regard +to the manner in which he was murdered. It was long the prevailing +opinion, that Sir Piers Exton, and others of his guards, fell upon him +in the Castle of Pomfret, where he was confined, and despatched him with +their halberts. But it is more probable that he was starved to death +in prison; and after all sustenance was denied him, he prolonged his +unhappy life, it is said, for a fortnight, before he reached the end of +his miseries. This account is more consistent with the story, that his +body was exposed in public, and that no marks of violence were +observed upon it. He died in the thirty-fourth year of his age, and the +twenty-third of his reign. He left no posterity, either legitimate or +illegitimate. + +All the writers who have transmitted to us the history of Richard, lived +during the reigns of the Lancastrian princes, and candor requires, +that we should not give entire credit to the reproaches which they have +thrown upon his memory. But after making all proper allowances, he still +appears to have been a weak prince, and unfit for government, less for +want of natural parts and capacity, than of solid judgment and a good +education. He was violent in his temper, profuse in his expenses, fond +of idle show and magnificence, devoted to favorites, and addicted to +pleasure; passions, all of them the most inconsistent with a prudent +economy, and consequently dangerous in a limited and mixed government. +Had he possessed the talents of gaining, and still more those of +overawing, his great barons, he might have escaped all the misfortunes +of his reign, and been allowed to carry much further his oppressions +over the people, if he really was guilty of any, without their daring +to rebel, or even to murmur against him. But when the grandees were +tempted, by his want of prudence and of vigor, to resist his authority, +and execute the most violent enterprises upon him, he was naturally led +to seek an opportunity of retaliation: justice was neglected; the lives +of the chief nobility were sacrificed; and all these enormities seem +to have proceeded less from a settled design of establishing arbitrary +power, than from the insolence of victory, and the necessities of the +king's situation. The manners indeed of the age were the chief source of +such violence: laws, which were feebly executed in peaceable times, lost +all their authority during public convulsions: both parties were alike +guilty: or, if any difference may be remarked between them, we shall +find, that the authority of the crown, being more legal, was commonly +carried, when it prevailed, to less desperate extremities, than was that +of the aristocracy. + +On comparing the conduct and events of this reign with those of the +preceding, we shall find equal reason to admire Edward and to blame +Richard; but the circumstance of opposition, surely, will not lie in the +strict regard paid by the former to national privileges, and the neglect +of them by the latter. On the contrary, the prince of small abilities, +as he felt his want of power, seems to have been more moderate in this +respect than the other. Every parliament assembled during the reign of +Edward, remonstrates against the exertion of some arbitrary prerogative +or other: we hear not any complaints of that kind during the reign of +Richard, till the assembling of his last parliament, which was summoned +by his inveterate enemies, which dethroned him, which framed their +complaints during the time of the most furious convultions, and whose +testimony must therefore have, on that account, much less authority +with every equitable judge.[*] Both these princes experienced the +encroachments of the great upon their authority. Edward, reduced to +necessities, was obliged to make an express bargain with his parliament +and to sell some of his prerogatives for present supply; but as they +were acquainted with his genius and capacity, they ventured not to +demand any exorbitant concessions, or such as were incompatible +with regal and sovereign power: the weakness of Richard tempted the +parliament to extort a commission, which, in a manner, dethroned the +prince, and transferred the sceptre into the hands of the nobility. The +events of these encroachments were also suitable to the character of +each. Edward had no sooner gotten the supply, than he departed from the +engagements which had induced the parliament to grant it; he openly told +his people, that he had but dissembled with them when he seemed to +make them these concessions; and he resumed and retained all his +prerogatives. But Richard, because he was detected in consulting +and deliberating with the judges on the lawfulness of restoring the +constitution, found his barons immediately in arms against him; was +deprived of his liberty; saw his favorites, his ministers, his tutor, +butchered before his face, or banished and attainted; and was obliged +to give way to all this violence. There cannot be a more remarkable +contrast between the fortunes of two princes: it were happy for society, +did this contrast always depend on the justice or injustice of the +measures which men embrace; and not rather on the different degrees of +prudence and vigor with which those measures are supported. + +There was a sensible decay of ecclesiastical authority during this +period. The disgust which the laity had received from the numerous +usurpations both of the court of Rome and of their own clergy, had very +much weaned the kingdom from superstition; and strong symptoms appeared, +from time to time, of a general desire to shake off the bondage of the +Romish church. In the committee of eighteen, to whom Richard's last +parliament delegated their whole power, there is not the name of one +ecclesiastic to be found; a neglect which is almost without example, +while the Catholic religion subsisted in England.[**] [17] + + * Peruse, in this view, the Abridgment of the Records, by + Sir Robert Cotton, during these two reigns. + + ** See note Q, at the end of the volume. + +The aversion entertained against the established church soon found +principles, and tenets, and reasonings, by which it could justify and +support itself. John Wickliffe, a secular priest, educated at Oxford, +began in the latter end of Edward III. to spread the doctrine of +reformation by his discourses, sermons, and writings; and he made many +disciples among men of all ranks and stations. He seems to have been a +man of parts and learning; and has the honor of being the first person +in Europe that publicly called in question those principles which had +universally passed for certain and undisputed during so many ages. +Wickliffe himself, as well as his disciples, who received the name of +Wickliffites, or Lollards, was distinguished by a great austerity +of life and manners; a circumstance common to almost all those who +dogmatize in any new way; both because men who draw to them the +attention of the public, and expose themselves to the odium of great +multitudes, are obliged to be very guarded in their conduct, and because +few who have a strong propensity to pleasure or business, will enter +upon so difficult and laborious an undertaking. The doctrines of +Wickliffe being derived from his search into the Scriptures and into +ecclesiastical antiquity, were nearly the same with those which were +propagated by the reformers in the sixteenth century: he only carried +some of them farther than was done by the more sober part of these +reformers. He denied the doctrine of the real presence, the supremacy of +the church of Rome, the merit of monastic vows: he maintained, that the +Scriptures were the sole rule of faith; that the church was dependent +on the state, and should be reformed by it; that the clergy ought to +possess no estates; that the begging friars were a nuisance, and ought +not to be supported;[*] that the numerous ceremonies of the church +were hurtful to true piety: he asserted that oaths were unlawful, that +dominion was founded in grace, that everything was subject to fate and +destiny, and that all men were preordained either to eternal salvation +or reprobation,[**] From the whole of his doctrines, Wickliffe appears +to have been strongly tinctured with enthusiasm, and to have +been thereby the better qualified to oppose a church whose chief +characteristic is superstition. + + * Walsing. p. 191, 208, 283, 284. Spel. Concil. vol. ii. p. + 680. + + ** Harpsfield, p. 668, 673, 674. Waldens. lib. iii. art. i. + cap. 8. + +The propagation of these principles gave great alarm to the clergy; and +a bull was issued by Pope Gregory XI. for taking Wickliffe into custody, +and examining into the scope of his opinions.[*] Courteney, bishop of +London, cited him before his tribunal; but the reformer had now +acquired powerful protectors, who screened him from the ecclesiastical +jurisdiction. The duke of Lancaster, who then governed the kingdom, +encouraged the principles of Wickliffe; and he made no scruple, as well +as Lord Piercy, the mareschal, to appear openly in court with him, in +order to give him countenance upon his trial: he even insisted, that +Wickliffe should sit in the bishop's presence while his principles +were examined: Courteney exclaimed against the insult: the Londoners, +thinking their prelate affronted, attacked the duke and mareschal, who +escaped from their hands with some difficulty.[**] And the populace, +soon after, broke into the houses of both these noblemen, threatened +their persons, and plundered their goods. The bishop of London had the +merit of appeasing their fury and resentment. + +The duke of Lancaster, however, still continued his protection to +Wickliffe, during the minority of Richard; and the principles of that +reformer had so far propagated themselves, that when the pope sent to +Oxford a new bull against these doctrines, the university deliberated +for some time whether they should receive the bull; and they never took +any vigorous measures in consequence of the papal orders.[***] Even +the populace of London were at length brought to entertain favorable +sentiments of this reformer: when he was cited before a synod at +Lambeth, they broke into the assembly, and so overawed the prelates, who +found both the people and the court against them, that they dismissed +him without any further censure. + + * Spel. Concil. vol. ii. p. 621. Walsing. p. 201, 202, 203. + + ** Harpsfield in Hist. Wickl. p. 683. + + *** Wood's Ant. Oxon. lib. i. p. 191, etc. Walsing, p 201. + +The clergy, we may well believe, were more wanting in power than in +inclination to punish this new heresy which struck at all their credit, +possessions, and authority. But there was hitherto no law in England +by which the secular arm was authorized to support orthodoxy; and the +ecclesiastics endeavored to supply the defect by an extraordinary and +unwarrantable artifice. In the year 1381, there was an act passed, +requiring sheriffs to apprehend the preachers of heresy and their +abettors; but this statute had been surreptitiously obtained by the +clergy, and had the formality of an enrolment without the consent of the +commons. In the subsequent session, the lower house complained of the +fraud; affirmed, that they had no intention to bind themselves to the +prelates further than their ancestors had done before them; and +required that the pretended statute should be repealed, which was done +accordingly.* But it is remarkable, that notwithstanding this vigilance +of the commons, the clergy had so much art and influence, that the +repeal was suppressed, and the act, which never had any legal authority, +remains to this day upon the statute book;[*] though the clergy still +thought proper to keep it in reserve and not proceed to the immediate +execution of it. + +But besides this defect of power in the church, which saved Wickliffe, +that reformer himself, notwithstanding his enthusiasm, seems not to have +been actuated by the spirit of martyrdom; and in all subsequent trials +before the prelates, he so explained away his doctrine by tortured +meanings, as to render it quite innocent and inoffensive.[**] Most of +his followers imitated his cautious disposition, and saved themselves +either by recantations or explanations. He died of a palsy, in the year +1385, at his rectory of Lutterworth, in the county of Leicester; and +the clergy, mortified that he should have escaped their vengeance, took +care, besides assuring the people of his eternal damnation, to represent +his last distemper as a visible judgment of Heaven upon him for his +multiplied heresies and impieties.[***] + +The proselytes, however, of Wickliffe's opinions still increased in +England:[****] some monkish writers represent one half of the kingdom as +infected by those principles: they were carried over to Bohemia by some +youth of that nation, who studied at Oxford: but though the age seemed +strongly disposed to receive them, affairs were not yet fully ripe for +this great revolution; and the finishing blow to ecclesiastical power +was reserved to a period of more curiosity, literature, and inclination +for novelties. + + * Cotton's Abridg. p. 285. + + ** 5 Richard II. chap. 5. + + *** Walsing. p. 206. Knyghton, p. 2655, 2656. + + **** Knyghton, p. 2663. + +Meanwhile the English parliament continued to check the clergy and the +court of Rome, by more sober and more legal expedients. They enacted +anew the statute of "provisors," and affixed higher penalties to the +transgression of it, which, in some instances, was even made capital.[*] +The court of Rome had fallen upon a new device, which increased their +authority over the prelates: the pope, who found that the expedient +of arbitrarily depriving them was violent, and liable to opposition, +attained the same end by transferring such of them as were obnoxious to +poorer sees, and even to nominal sees, "in partibus infidelium." It +was thus that the archbishop of York, and the bishops of Durham and +Chichester, the king's ministers, had been treated after the prevalence +of Glocester's faction: the bishop of Carlisle met with the same fate +after the accession of Henry IV. For the pope always joined with +the prevailing powers, when they did not thwart his pretensions. The +parliament, in the reign of Richard, enacted a law against this abuse: +and the king made a general remonstrance to the court of Rome against +all those usurpations, which he calls "horrible excesses" of that +court.[**] + +It was usual for the church, that they might elude the mortmain act, to +make their votaries leave lands in trust to certain persons, under whose +name the clergy enjoyed the benefit of the bequest: the parliament also +stopped the progress of this abuse.[***] In the seventeenth of the king, +the commons prayed, "that remedy might be had against such religious +persons as cause their villains to marry free women inheritable, whereby +the estate comes to those religious hands by collusion."[****] This was +a new device of the clergy. + + * 13 Richard II. cap. 3. 16 Richard II. cap. 4. + + ** Rymer, vol. vii. p. 672. + + **** Knyghton, p. 27, 38. Cotton, p. 355. + + **** Cotton, p. 355. + +The papacy was at this time somewhat weakened by a schism, which lasted +during forty years, and gave great scandal to the devoted partisans of +the holy see. After the pope had resided many years at Avignon, Gregory +XI. was persuaded to return to Rome; and upon his death, which happened +in 1380, the Romans, resolute to fix, for the future, the seat of the +papacy in Italy, besieged the cardinals in the conclave, and compelled +them, though they were mostly Frenchmen, to elect Urban VI., an Italian, +into that high dignity. The French cardinals, as soon as they recovered +their liberty, fled from Rome, and protesting against the forced +election, chose Robert, son of the count of Geneva, who took the name of +Clement VII., and resided at Avignon. All the Kingdoms of Christendom, +according to their several interests and inclinations, were divided +between these two pontiffs. The court of France adhered to Clement, +and was followed by its allies, the king of Castile and the king +of Scotland: England of course was thrown into the other party, and +declared for Urban. Thus the appellation of Clementines and Urbanists +distracted Europe for several years; and each party damned the other +as schismatics, and as rebels to the true vicar of Christ. But this +circumstance, though it weakened the papal authority, had not so great +an effect as might naturally be imagined. Though any king could easily, +at first, make his kingdom embrace the party of one pope or the other, +or even keep it some time in suspense between them, he could not +so easily transfer his obedience at pleasure: the people attached +themselves to their own party, as to a religious opinion; and conceived +an extreme abhorrence to the opposite party, whom they regarded as +little better than Saracens, or infidels. Crusades were even undertaken +in this quarrel; and the zealous bishop of Norwich, in particular, +led over, in 1382 near sixty thousand bigots into Flanders against the +Clementines; but after losing a great part of his followers, he returned +with disgrace into England.[*] Each pope, sensible, from this prevailing +spirit among the people, that the kingdom which once embraced his cause +would always adhere to him, boldly maintained all the pretensions of his +see, and stood not much more in awe of the temporal sovereigns, than if +his authority had not been endangered by a rival. + +We meet with this preamble to a law enacted at the very beginning of +this reign: "Whereas divers persons of small garrison of land or other +possessions do make great retinue of people, as well of esquires as of +others, in many parts of the realm, giving to them hats and other livery +of one suit by year taking again towards them the value of the same +livery, or percase the double value, by such covenant and assurance, +that every of them shall maintain other in all quarrels, be they +reasonable or unreasonable, to the great mischief and oppression of the +people, etc."[**] + + * Froissard, liv. i. chap. 133, 134. Walsing. p. 298, 299, + 300. etc. Knyghtor., p. 2671. + + ** I Richard, II. chap. 7 + +This preamble contains a true picture of the state of the kingdom. The +laws had been so feebly executed, even during the long, active, and +vigilant reign of Edward III., that no subject could trust to their +protection. Men openly associated themselves, under the patronage of +some great baron, for their mutual defence. They wore public badges, by +which their confederacy was distinguished. They supported each other +in all quarrels, iniquities, extortions, murders, robberies, and other +crimes. Their chief was more their sovereign than the king himself; and +their own band was more connected with them than their country. Hence +the perpetual turbulence, disorders, factions, and civil wars of those +times: hence the small regard paid to a character, or the opinion of the +public: hence the large discretionary prerogatives of the crown, and the +danger which might have ensued from the too great limitation of them. If +the king had possessed no arbitrary powers, while all the nobles assumed +and exercised them, there must have ensued an absolute anarchy in the +state. + +One great mischief attending these confederacies was, the extorting +from the king pardons for the most enormous crimes. The parliament +often endeavored, in the last reign, to deprive the prince of this +prerogative; but, in the present, they were content with an abridgment +of it. They enacted, that no pardon for rapes, or for murder from malice +prepense, should be valid, unless the crime were particularly specified +in it.[*] There were also some other circumstances required for passing +any pardon of this kind: an excellent law, but ill observed, like most +laws that thwart the manners of the people, and the prevailing customs +of the times. + + * 13 Richard II. chap. 1 + +It is easy to observe, from these voluntary associations among the +people, that the whole force of the feudal system was in a manner +dissolved, and that the English had nearly returned, in that particular, +to the same situation in which they stood before the Norman conquest. +It was, indeed, impossible that that system could long subsist under the +perpetual revolutions to winch landed property is every where subject. +When the great feudal baronies were first erected, the lord lived in +opulence in the midst of his vassals: he was in a situation to protect, +and cherish and defend them: the quality of patron naturally united +itself to that of superior: and these two principles of authority +mutually supported each other. But when by the various divisions and +mixtures of property, a man's superior came to live at a distance +from him, and could no longer give him shelter or countenance, the +tie gradually became more fictitious than real: new connections from +vicinity or other causes were formed: protection was sought by voluntary +services and attachment: the appearance of valor spirit, abilities in +any great man, extended his interest very far, and if the sovereign were +deficient in these qualities, he was no less, if not more exposed to the +usurpations of the aristocracy, than even during the vigor of the feudal +system. + +The greatest novelty introduced into the civil government during this +reign was the creation of peers by patent. Lord Beauchamp, of Holt, was +the first peer that was advanced to the house of lords in this manner. +The practice of levying benevolences is also first mentioned in the +present reign. This prince lived in a more magnificent manner than +perhaps any of his predecessors or successors. His household consisted +of ten thousand persons: he had three hundred in his kitchen; and all +the other offices were furnished in proportion.[*] It must be remarked, +that this enormous train had tables supplied them at the king's expense, +according to the mode of that age. Such prodigality was probably the +source of many exactions by purveyors, and was one chief reason of the +public discontents. + + * Harding: this poet says, that he speaks from the authority + of a clerk of the green cloth. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +[Illustration: 1_250_henry4.jpg HENRY IV] + + + + +HENRY IV + + +{1399.} The English had so long been familiarized to the hereditary +succession of their monarchs, the instances of departure from it had +always borne such strong symptoms of injustice and violence, and so +little of a national choice or election, and the returns to the true +line had ever been deemed such fortunate incidents in their history, +that Henry was afraid, lest, in resting his title on the consent of the +people, he should build on a foundation to which the people themselves +were not accustomed, and whose solidity they would with difficulty be +brought to recognize. The idea too of choice seemed always to imply that +of conditions, and a right of recalling the consent upon any supposed +violation of them; an idea which was not naturally agreeable to a +sovereign, and might in England be dangerous to the subjects, who, lying +so much under the influence of turbulent nobles, had ever paid but an +imperfect obedience even to their hereditary princes. For these reasons +Henry was determined never to have recourse to this claim; the only +one on which his authority could consistently stand: he rather chose to +patch up his title, in the best manner he could, from other pretensions: +and in the end, he left himself, in the eyes of men of sense, no ground +of right but his present possession; a very precarious foundation, +which, by its very nature, was liable to be overthrown by every faction +of the great, or prejudice of the people. He had indeed a present +advantage over his competitor: the heir of the house of Mortimer, who +had been declared in parliament heir to the crown, was a boy of seven +years of age:[*] his friends consulted his safety by keeping silence +with regard to his title: Henry detained him and his younger brother in +an honorable custody at Windsor Castle. + + * Dugdale, vol. i. p. 151. + +But he had reason to dread that, in proportion as that nobleman grew +to man's estate, he would draw to him the attachment of the people, and +make them reflect on the fraud, violence, and injustice by which he had +been excluded from the throne. Many favorable topics would occur in his +behalf: he was a native of England; possessed an extensive interest from +the greatness and alliances of his family; however criminal the deposed +monarch, this youth was entirely innocent; he was of the same religion, +and educated in the same manners with the people, and could not be +governed by any separate interest: these views would all concur to favor +his claim; and though the abilities of the present prince might ward +off any dangerous revolution, it was justly to be apprehended, that +his authority could with difficulty be brought to equal that of his +predecessors. + +Henry, in his very first parliament, had reason to see the danger +attending that station which he had assumed, and the obstacles which he +would meet with in governing an unruly aristocracy, always divided by +faction, and at present inflamed with the resentments consequent on +such recent convulsions. The peers, on their assembling, broke out into +violent animosities against each other; forty gauntlets, the pledges of +furious battle, were thrown on the floor of the house by noblemen who +gave mutual challenges; and "liar" and "traitor" resounded from all +quarters. The king had so much authority with these doughty champions, +as to prevent all the combats which they threatened; but he was not +able to bring them to a proper composure, or to an amicable disposition +towards each other. + +{1400.} It was not long before these passions broke into action. The +earls of Rutland, Kent, and Huntingdon, and Lord Spenser, who were now +degraded from the respective titles of Albemarle, Surrey, Exeter, and +Glocester, conferred on them by Richard, entered into a conspiracy, +together with the earl of Salisbury and Lord Lumley, for raising an +insurrection, and for seizing the king's person at Windsor;[*] but +the treachery of Rutland gave him warning of the danger. He suddenly +withdrew to London; and the conspirators, who came to Windsor with a +body of five hundred horse, found that they had missed this blow, on +which all the success of their enterprise depended. + + * Walsing. p. 362. Otterborne. p. 224. + +Henry appeared, next day, at Kingston upon Thames, at the head of twenty +thousand men, mostly drawn from the city; and his enemies, unable to +resist his power, dispersed themselves, with a view of raising their +followers in the several counties which were the seat of their interest. +But the adherents of the king were hot in the pursuit, and every where +opposed themselves to their progress. The earls of Kent and Salisbury +were seized at Cirencester by the citizens, and were next day beheaded +without further ceremony, according to the custom of the times.[*] The +citizens of Bristol treated Spenser and Lumley in the same manner. The +earl of Huntingdon, Sir Thomas Blount, and Sir Benedict Sely, who +were also taken prisoners, suffered death, with many others of the +conspirators, by orders from Henry. And when the quarters of these +unhappy men were brought to London, no less than eighteen bishops and +thirty-two mitred abbots joined the populace, and met them with the most +indecent marks of joy and exultation. + +But the spectacle the most shocking to every one, who retained any +sentiment either of honor or humanity, still remained. The earl of +Rutland appeared, carrying on a pole the head of Lord Spenser, his +brother-in-law, which he presented in triumph to Henry as a testimony of +his loyalty. This infamous man, who was soon after duke of York by +the death of his father, and first prince of the blood, had been +instrumental in the murder of his uncle, the duke of Glocester;[**] had +then deserted Richard, by whom he was trusted; had conspired against +the life of Henry, to whom he had sworn allegiance; had betrayed his +associates, whom he had seduced into this enterprise; and now displayed, +in the face of the world, these badges of his multiplied dishonor. + + * Walsing. p. 363. Ypod. Neust. p. 556. + + ** Dugdale, vol. ii. p. 171. + +{1401.} Henry was sensible that, though the execution of these +conspirators might seem to give security to his throne, the animosities +which remain after such bloody scenes, are always dangerous to royal +authority; and he therefore determined not to increase, by any hazardous +enterprise, those numerous enemies with whom he was every where +environed. While a subject, he was believed to have strongly imbibed all +the principles of his father, the duke of Lancaster, and to have adopted +the prejudices which the Lollards inspired against the abuses of the +established church: but finding, himself possessed of the throne by so +precarious a title, he thought superstition a necessary implement of +public authority; and he resolved, by every expedient, to pay court to +the clergy. There were hitherto no penal laws enacted against heresy; an +indulgence which had proceeded, not from a spirit of toleration in the +Romish church, but from the ignorance and simplicity of the people, +which had rendered them unfit either for starting or receiving any new +or curious doctrines, and which needed not to be restrained by rigorous +penalties. But when the learning and genius of Wickliffe had once +broken, in some measure, the fetters of prejudice, the ecclesiastics +called aloud for the punishment of his disciples; and the king, who was +very little scrupulous in his conduct, was easily induced to sacrifice +his principles to his interest, and to acquire the favor of the church +by that most effectual method, the gratifying of their vengeance against +opponents. He engaged the parliament to pass a law for that purpose: it +was enacted, that when any heretic, who relapsed, or refused to abjure +his opinions, was delivered over to the secular arm by the bishop or +his commissaries, he should be committed to the flames by the civil +magistrate before the whole people.[*] This weapon did not long remain +unemployed in the hands of the clergy: William Sautré, rector of St. +Osithes in London, had been condemned by the convocation of Canterbury; +his sentence was ratified by the house of peers; the king issued +his writ for the execution; [**] and the unhappy man atoned for his +erroneous opinions by the penalty of fire. This is the first instance of +that kind in England; and thus one horror more was added to those dismal +scenes which at that time were already but too familiar to the people. + +But the utmost precaution and prudence of Henry could not shield him +from those numerous inquietudes which assailed him from every quarter. +The connections of Richard with the royal family of France, made that +court exert its activity to recover his authority, or revenge his death. +[***] + + * 2 Henry IV. chap. vii. + + ** Rymer, vol. viii. p. 178. + + *** Rymer, vol. viii. p. 123. + +But though the confusions in England tempted the French to engage in +some enterprise by which they might distress their ancient enemy, the +greater confusions which they experienced at home, obliged them quickly +to accommodate matters; and Charles, content with recovering his +daughter from Henry's hands, laid aside his preparations, and renewed +the truce between the kingdoms.[*] The attack of Guienne was also an +inviting attempt, which the present factions that prevailed among the +French obliged them to neglect. The Gascons, affectionate to the memory +of Richard, who was born among them, refused to swear allegiance to +a prince that had dethroned and murdered him; and the appearance of +a French army on their frontiers would probably have tempted them +to change masters.[**] But the earl of Worcester, arriving with some +English troops, gave countenance to the partisans of Henry, and overawed +their opponents. Religion too was here found a cement to their union +with England. The Gascons had been engaged by Richard's authority to +acknowledge the pope of Rome; and they were sensible that, if they +submitted to France, it would be necessary for them to pay obedience +to the pope of Avignon, whom they had been taught to detest as a +schismatic. Their principles on this head were too fast rooted to admit +of any sudden or violent alteration. + +The revolution in England proved likewise the occasion of an +insurrection in Wales. Owen Glendour, or Glendourduy, descended from the +ancient princes of that country, had become obnoxious on account of +his attachment to Richard: and Reginald, Lord Gray of Ruthyn, who was +closely connected with the new king, and who enjoyed a great fortune in +the marches of Wales, thought the opportunity favorable for oppressing +his neighbor, and taking possession of his estate. [***] Glendour, +provoked at the injustice, and still more at the indignity, recovered +possession by the sword; [****] Henry sent assistance to Gray; [*****] +the Welsh took part with Glendour: a troublesome and tedious war was +kindled, which Glendour long sustained by his valor and activity, aided +by the natural strength of the country, and the untamed spirit of its +inhabitants. + + * Rymer, vol. viii. p. 142, 152, 219. + + ** Rymer, vol. viii. p. 110, 111. + + *** Vita Ric. Sec. p. 171, 172 + + **** Walsing, p. 364. + + ***** Vita Rir. Sec. p. 172, 173. + +As Glendour committed devastations promiscuously on all the English, +he infested the estate of the earl of Marche; and Sir Edmund Mortimer, +uncle to that nobleman, led out the retainers of the family, and gave +battle to the Welsh chieftain: his troops were routed, and he was taken +prisoner:[*] at the same time, the earl himself, who had been allowed +to retire to his castle of Wigmore, and who, though a mere boy, took +the field with his followers, fell also into Glendour's hands, and was +carried by him into Wales.[**] As Henry dreaded and hated all the family +of Marche, he allowed the earl to remain in captivity; and though that +young nobleman was nearly allied to the Piercies, to whose assistance +he himself had owed his crown, he refused to the earl of Northumberland +permission to treat of his ransom with Glendour. + +The uncertainty in which Henry's affairs stood during a long time with +France, as well as the confusions incident to all great changes in +government, tempted the Scots to make incursions into England; and +Henry, desirous of taking revenge upon them, but afraid of rendering his +new government unpopular by requiring great supplies from his subjects, +summoned at Westminster a council of the peers, without the commons, and +laid before them the state of his affairs.[***] The military part of the +feudal constitution was now much decayed: there remained only so much of +that fabric as affected the civil rights and properties of men: and +the peers here undertook, but voluntarily, to attend the king in an +expedition against Scotland, each of them at the head of a certain +number of his retainers. [****] Henry conducted this army to Edinburgh, +of which he easily made himself master; and he there summoned Robert +III. to do homage to him for his crown.[*****] But finding that the +Scots would neither submit nor give him battle, he returned in three +weeks, after making this useless bravado; and he disbanded his army. + +{1402.} In the subsequent season, Archibald, earl of Douglas, at the +head of twelve thousand men, and attended by many of the principal +nobility of Scotland, made an irruption into England, and committed +devastations on the northern counties. On his return home, he was +overtaken by the Piercies, at Homeldom, on the borders of England, and +a fierce battle ensued, where the Scots were totally routed. Douglas +himself was taken prisoner; as was Mordác, earl of Fife, son of the duke +of Albany, and nephew of the Scottish king, with the earls of Angus, +Murray, and Orkney, and many others of the gentry and nobility. [******] +| When Henry received intelligence of this victory, he sent the earl of +Northumberland orders not to ransom his prisoners, which that nobleman +regarded as his right by the laws of war received in that age. The king +intended to detain them, that he might be able by their means to make +an advantageous peace with Scotland; but by this policy he gave a fresh +disgust to the family of Piercy. + + * Dugdale, vol. i. p. 150. + + ** Dugdale, vol. i. p. 151. + + *** Rymer, vol. viii. p. 125, 126. + + **** Rymer, Vol. viii. p.. 125. + + ***** Rymer, vol. viii. p. 155, 156, etc. + + ****** Walsing p. 336. Vita Ric. Sec p. 180. Chron. + Otterborne. p. 237. + +{1403.} The obligations which Henry had owed to Northumberland, were +of a kind the most likely to produce ingratitude on the one side, and +discontent on the other. The sovereign naturally became jealous of that +power which had advanced him to the throne; and the subject was not +easily satisfied in the returns which he thought so great a favor had +merited. Though Henry, on his accession, had bestowed the office of +constable on Northumberland for life,[*] and conferred other gifts on +that family, these favors were regarded as their due; the refusal of any +other request was deemed an injury. + + * Rymer, vol. viii. p. 89. + +The impatient spirit of Harry Piercy, and the factious disposition of +the earl of Worcester, younger brother of Northumberland, inflamed the +discontents of that nobleman; and the precarious title of Henry tempted +him to seek revenge, by overturning that throne which he had at first +established. He entered into a correspondence with Glendour: he gave +liberty to the earl of Douglas, and made an alliance with that martial +chief: he roused up all his partisans to arms; and such unlimited +authority at that time belonged to the great families, that the same +men, whom, a few years before, he had conducted against Richard, now +followed his standard in opposition to Henry. When war was ready to +break out, Northumberland was seized with a sudden illness at Berwick: +and young Piercy, taking the command of the troops, marched towards +Shrewsbury, in order to join his forces with those of Glendour, The +king had happily a small army on foot, with which he had intended to act +against the Scots; and knowing the importance of celerity in all civil +wars, he instantly hurried down, that he might give battle to the +rebels. He approached Piercy near Shrewsbury, before that nobleman was +joined by Glendour; and the policy of one leader, and impatience of the +other, made them hasten to a general engagement. + +The evening before the battle, Piercy sent a manifesto to Henry, in +which he renounced his allegiance, set that prince at defiance, and, in +the name of his father and uncle, as well as his own, enumerated all the +grievances of which, he pretended, the nation had reason to complain; +He upbraided him with the perjury of which he had been guilty, when, on +landing at Ravenspur, he had sworn upon the Gospels, before the earl of +Northumberland, that he had no other intension than to recover the duchy +of Lancaster, and that he would ever remain a faithful subject to King +Richard. He aggravated his guilt in first dethroning, then murdering +that prince, and in usurping on the title of the house of Mortimer, to +whom, both by lineal succession, and by declarations of parliament, +the throne, when vacant by Richard's demise, did of right belong. He +complained of his cruel policy in allowing the young earl of Marche, +whom he ought to regard as his sovereign, to remain a captive in the +hands of his enemies, and in even refusing to all his friends permission +to treat of his ransom; He charged him again with perjury in loading +the nation with heavy taxes, after having sworn that, without the +utmost necessity, he would never levy any impositions upon them. And he +reproached him with the arts employed in procuring favorable elections +into parliament; arts which he himself had before imputed as a crime +to Richard, and which he had made one chief reason of that prince's +arraignment and deposition.[*] This manifesto was well calculated to +inflame the quarrel between the parties: the bravery of the two leaders +promised an obstinate engagement; and the equality of the armies, being +each about twelve thousand men, a number which was not unmanageable by +the commanders, gave reason to expect a great effusion of blood on both +sides, and a very doubtful issue to the combat. + +We shall scarcely find any battle in those ages where the shock was more +terrible and more constant. Henry exposed his person in the thickest of +the fight: his gallant son, whose military achievements were afterwards +so renowned, and who here performed his novitiate in arms, signalized +himself on his father's footsteps; and even a wound, which he received +in the face with tin arrow, could not oblige him to quit the field.[**] + + * Hall, fol. 21, 22, etc. + + ** T. Livii, p. 3 + +Piercy supported that fame which he had acquired in many a bloody +combat. And Douglas, his ancient enemy, and now his friend, still +appeared his rival amidst the horror and confusion of the day. This +nobleman performed feats of valor which are almost incredible: he seemed +determined that the king of England should that day fall by his arm: he +sought him all over the field of battle: and as Henry, either to elude +the attacks of the enemy upon his person, or to encourage his own men by +the belief of his presence every where, had accoutred several captains +in the royal garb, the sword of Douglas rendered this honor fatal to +many.[*] But while the armies were contending in this furious manner, +the death of Piercy, by an unknown hand, decided the victory, and the +royalists prevailed. There are said to have fallen that day on both +sides near two thousand three hundred gentlemen; but the persons of +greatest distinction were on the king's; the earl of Stafford, Sir Hugh +Shirley, Sir Nicholas Gausel, Sir Hugh Mortimer, Sir John Massey, Sir +John Calverly. About six thousand private men perished, of whom two +thirds were of Piercy's army.[**] The earls of Worcester and Douglas +were taken prisoners: the former was beheaded at Shrewsbury; the latter +was treated with the courtesy due to his rank and merit. + +The earl of Northumberland, having recovered from his sickness, had +levied a fresh army, and was on his march to join his son; but being +opposed by the earl of Westmoreland, and hearing of the defeat at +Shrewsbury, he dismissed his forces, and came with a small retinue to +the king at York.[***] He pretended that his sole intention in arming +was to mediate between the parties: Henry thought proper to accept of +the apology, and even granted him a pardon for his offence: all the +other rebels were treated with equal lenity; and, except the earl of +Worcester and Sir Richard Vernon, who were regarded as the chief authors +of the insurrection, no person engaged in this dangerous enterprise +seems to have perished by the hands of the executioner.[****] + + * Walsing. p. 366, 367. Hall, fol. 22. + + ** Chron. Otterborne, p. 224. Ypod. Neust. p. 560. + + *** Chron. Otterborne, p. 225. + + **** Rymer, vol. viii. p. 353. + +{1405.} But Northumberland, though he had been pardoned, knew that he +never should be trusted, and that he was too powerful to be cordially +forgiven by a prince whose situation gave him such reasonable grounds +of jealousy. It was the effect either of Henry's vigilance or good +fortune, or of the narrow genius of his enemies, that no proper concert +was ever formed among them: they rose in rebellion one after another; +and thereby afforded him an opportunity of suppressing singly those +insurrections which, had they been united, might have proved fatal to +his authority. The earl of Nottingham, son of the duke of Norfolk, and +the archbishop of York, brother to the earl of Wiltshire, whom Henry, +then duke of Lancaster, had beheaded at Bristol, though they had +remained quiet while Piercy was in the field, still harbored in their +breast a violent hatred against the enemy of their families; and they +determined, in conjunction with the earl of Northumberland, to seek +revenge against him. They betook themselves to arms before that powerful +nobleman was prepared to join them; and publishing a manifesto, in which +they reproached Henry with his usurpation of the crown and the murder of +the late king, they required that the right line should be restored, +and all public grievances be redressed. The earl of Westmoreland, whose +power lay in the neighborhood, approached them with an inferior force at +Shipton, near York; and being afraid to hazard an action, he attempted +to subdue them by a stratagem, which nothing but the greatest folly and +simplicity on their part could have rendered successful. He desired a +conference with the archbishop and earl between the armies: he heard +their grievances with great patience: he begged them to propose the +remedies: he approved of every expedient which they suggested: he +granted them all their demands: he also engaged that Henry should give +them entire satisfaction: and when he saw them pleased with the facility +of his concessions, he observed to them, that, since amity was now in +effect restored between them, it were better on both sides to dismiss +their forces, which otherwise would prove an insupportable burden to +the country. The archbishop and the earl of Nottingham immediately gave +directions to that purpose: their troops disbanded upon the field: +but Westmoreland, who had secretly issued contrary orders to his army, +seized the two rebels without resistance, and carried them to the king, +who was advancing with hasty marches to suppress the insurrection.[*] + + * Walsing. p. 373. Otterborne, p 255. + +The trial and punishment of an archbishop might have proved a +troublesome and dangerous undertaking, had Henry proceeded regularly, +and allowed time for an opposition to form itself against that unusual +measure: the celerity of the execution alone could here render it safe +and prudent. Finding that Sir William Gascoigne, the chief justice, +made some scruple of acting on this occasion, he appointed Sir William +Fulthorpe for judge; who, without any indictment, trial, or defence +pronounced sentence of death upon the prelate which was presently +executed. This was the first instance in England of a capital punishment +inflicted on a bishop; whence the clergy of that rank might learn that +their crimes, more than those of laies, were not to pass with impunity. +The earl of Nottingham was condemned and executed in the same summary +manner: but though many other persons of condition, such as Lord +Falconberg, Sir Ralph Hastings, Sir John Colville, were engaged in this +rebellion, no others seem to have fallen victims to Henry's severity. + +The earl of Northumberland, on receiving this intelligence, fled +into Scotland, together with Lord Bardolf;[*] and the king, without +opposition, reduced all the castles and fortresses belonging to these +noblemen. He thence turned his arms against Glendour, over whom his son, +the prince of Wales, had attained some advantages; but that enemy, more +troublesome than dangerous, still found means of defending himself in +his fastnesses, and of eluding, though not resisting, all the force of +England. + +{1407.} In a subsequent season, the earl of Northumberland and Lord +Bardolf, impatient of their exile, entered the north, in hopes of +raising the people to arms; but found the country in such a posture as +rendered all their attempts unsuccessful. Sir Thomas Rokesby, sheriff +of Yorkshire, levied some forces, attacked the invaders at Bramham, and +gained a victory, in which both Northumberland and Bardolf were slain.** +This prosperous event, joined to the death of Glendour, which happened +soon after, freed Henry from all his domestic enemies; and this prince, +who had mounted the throne by such unjustifiable means, and held it +by such an exceptionable title, had yet, by his valor, prudence, and +address, accustomed the people to the yoke, and had obtained a greater +ascendant over his haughty barons, than the law alone, not supported by +these active qualities, was ever able to confer. + + * Walsing. p. 374. + + ** Walsing, p. 377. Chron. Otterb. p. 261. + +About the same time, fortune gave Henry an advantage over that neighbor, +who, by his situation, was most enabled to disturb his government. +Robert III., king of Scots, was a prince, though of slender capacity, +extremely innocent and inoffensive in his conduct: but Scotland, at +that time, was still less fitted than England for cherishing, or even +enduring sovereigns of that character. The duke of Albany, Robert's +brother, a prince of more abilities, at least of a more boisterous and +violent disposition, had assumed the government of the state; and, not +satisfied with present authority, he entertained the criminal purpose +of extirpating his brother's children, and of acquiring the crown to +his own family. He threw in prison David, his eldest nephew; who there +perished by hunger: James alone, the younger brother of David, stood +between that tyrant and the throne; and King Robert, sensible of his +son's danger, embarked him on board a ship, with a view of sending him +to France, and intrusting him to the protection of that friendly power. +Unfortunately, the vessel was taken by the English; Prince James, a +boy about nine years of age, was carried to London; and though there +subsisted at that time a truce between the kingdoms, Henry refused to +restore the young prince to his liberty. Robert, worn out with cares and +infirmities, was unable to bear the shock of this last misfortune; and +he soon after died, leaving the government in the hands of the duke of +Albany.[*] Henry was now more sensible than ever of the importance of +the acquisition which he had made: while he retained such a pledge, he +was sure of keeping the duke of Albany in dependence; or, if offended, +he could easily, by restoring the true heir, take ample revenge upon the +usurper. But though the king, by detaining James in the English court, +had shown himself somewhat deficient in generosity, he made ample amends +by giving that prince an excellent education, which afterwards qualified +him, when he mounted the throne, to reform in some measure the rude and +barbarous manners of his native country. + + * Buchanan, lib. x. + +The hostile dispositions which of late had prevailed between France and +England, were restrained, during the greater part of this reign, from +appearing in action. The jealousies and civil commotions with which both +nations were disturbed, kept each of them from taking advantage of the +unhappy situation of its neighbor. But as the abilities and good fortune +of Henry had sooner been able to compose the English factions, this +prince began, in the latter part of his reign, to look abroad, and to +foment the animosities between the families of Burgundy and Orleans, +by which the government of France was, during that period, so much +distracted. He knew that one great source of the national discontent +against his predecessor was the inactivity of his reign; and he hoped, +by giving a new direction to the restless and unquiet spirits of his +people, to prevent their breaking out in domestic wars and disorders. + +{1411.} That he might unite policy with force, he first entered into +treaty with the duke of Burgundy, and sent that prince a small body +of troops, which supported him against his enemies.[*] Soon after, +he hearkened to more advantageous proposals made him by the duke of +Orleans, and despatched a greater body to support that party. + +{1412.} But the leaders of the opposite factions having made a temporary +accommodation, the interests of the English were sacrificed; and this +effort of Henry proved, in the issue, entirely vain and fruitless. The +declining state of his health, and the shortness of his reign, prevented +him from renewing the attempt, which his more fortunate son carried to +so great a length against the French monarchy. + +Such were the military and foreign transactions of this reign: the civil +and parliamentary are somewhat more memorable, and more worthy of our +attention. During the two last reigns, the elections of the commons had +appeared a circumstance of government not to be neglected; and Richard +was even accused of using unwarrantable methods for procuring to his +partisans a seat in that house. This practice formed one considerable +article of charge against him in his deposition; yet Henry scrupled +not to tread in his footsteps, and to encourage the same abuses in +elections. Laws were enacted against such undue influence; and even a +sheriff was punished for an iniquitous return which he had made:[**] but +laws were commonly at that time very ill executed; and the liberties of +the people, such as they were, stood on a surer basis than on laws and +parliamentary elections. + + * Walsing. p. 380. + + ** Cotton, p. 429. + +Though the house of commons was little able to withstand the violent +currents which perpetually ran between the monarchy and the aristocracy, +and though that house might easily be brought, at a particular time, +to make the most unwarrantable concessions to either, the general +institutions of the state still remained invariable; the interests of +the several members continued on the same footing; the sword was in the +hands af the subject; and the government, though thrown into temporary +disorder, soon settled itself on its ancient foundations. + +During the greater part of this reign, the king was obliged to court +popularity; and the house of commons, sensible of their own importance, +began to assume powers which had not usually been exercised by their +predecessors. In the first year of Henry, they procured a law, that no +judge, in concurring with any iniquitous measure, should be excused by +pleading the orders of the king, or even the danger of his* own life +from the menaces of the sovereign.[*] In the second year, they insisted +on maintaining the practice of not granting any supply before they +received an answer to their petitions, which was a tacit manner of +bargaining with the prince.[**] In the fifth year, they desired the king +to remove from his household four persons who had displeased them, among +whom was his own confessor, and Henry, though he told them that he knew +of no offence which these men had committed, yet, in order to gratify +them, complied with their request.[***] In the sixth year, they voted +the king supplies, but appointed treasurers of their own, to see the +money disbursed for the purposes intended, and required them to deliver +in their accounts to the house.[****] In the eighth year, they proposed, +for the regulation of the government and household, thirty important +articles, which were all agreed to; and they even obliged all the +members of council, all the judges, and all the officers of the +household, to swear to the observance of them.[*****] The abridger of +the records remarks the unusual liberties taken by the speaker and the +house during this period.[******] But the great authority of the commons +was but a temporary advantage, arising from the present situation. In a +subsequent parliament, when the speaker made his customary application +to the throne for liberty of speech, the king, having now overcome +all his domestic difficulties, plainly told him that he would have +no novelties introduced, and would enjoy his prerogatives. But on the +whole, the limitations of the government seem to have been more sensibly +felt, and more carefully maintained, by Henry than by any of his +predecessors. + + * Cotton, p. 364. + + ** Cotton, p. 406. + + *** Cotton, p. 426. + + **** Cotton, p. 438. + + ***** Cotton, p. 456, 457. + + ****** Cotton, p 462. + +During this reign, when the house of commons were at any time brought to +make unwary concessions to the crown they also showed their freedom by +a speedy retractation of them. Henry, though he entertained a perpetual +and well grounded jealousy of the family of Mortimer, allowed not their +name to be once mentioned in parliament; and as none of the rebels +had ventured to declare the earl of Marche king, he never attempted to +procure, what would not have been refused him, an express declaration +against the claim of that nobleman; because he knew that such a +declaration, in the present circumstances, would have no authority, and +would only serve to revive the memory of Mortimer's title in the minds +of the people. He proceeded in his purpose after a more artful and +covert manner. He procured a settlement of the crown on himself and his +heirs male,[*] thereby tacitly excluding the females, and transferring +the Salic law into the English government. He thought that, though the +house of Plantagenet had at first derived their title from a female, +this was a remote event, unknown to the generality of the people; and +if he could once accustom them to the practice of excluding women, the +title of the earl of Marche would gradually be forgotten and neglected +by them. But he was very unfortunate in this attempt. During the long +contests with France, the injustice of the Salic law had been so much +exclaimed against by the nation, that a contrary principle had taken +deep root in the minds of men; and it was now become impossible to +eradicate it. The same house of commons, therefore, in a subsequent +session, apprehensive that they had overturned the foundations of the +English government, and that they had opened the door to more civil +wars than might ensue even from the irregular elevation of the house +of Lancaster, applied with such earnestness for a new settlement of the +crown, that Henry yielded to their request, and agreed to the succession +of the princesses of his family;[**] a certain proof that nobody was, in +his heart, satisfied with the king's title to the crown, or knew on what +principle to rest it. + +But though the commons, during this reign, showed a laudable zeal for +liberty in their transactions with the crown, their efforts against the +church were still more extraordinary, and seemed to anticipate very +much the spirit which became so general in little more than a century +afterwards. I know that the credit of these passages rests entirely on +one ancient historian;[***] but that historian was contemporary, was a +clergyman, and it was contrary to the interests of his order to preserve +the memory of such transactions, much more to forge precedents which +posterity might some time be tempted to imitate. + + * Cotton, p. 454. + + ** Rymer, vol. viii. p. 462. + + *** Walsingham. + +This is a truth so evident, that the most likely way of accounting +for the silence of the records on this head, is by supposing that the +authority of some churchmen was so great as to procure a razure, with +regard to these circumstances, which the indiscretion of one of that +order has happily preserved to us. + +In the sixth of Henry, the commons, who had been required to grant +supplies, proposed in plain terms to the king, that he should seize all +the temporalities of the church, and employ them as a perpetual fund +to serve the exigencies of the state. They insisted that the clergy +possessed a third of the lands of the kingdom; that they contributed +nothing to the public burdens; and that their riches tended only to +disqualify them from performing their ministerial functions with proper +zeal and attention. When this address was presented, the archbishop of +Canterbury, who then attended the king, objected that the clergy, though +they went not in person to the wars, sent their vassals and tenants +in all cases of necessity; while at the same time they themselves, who +staid at home, were employed night and day in offering up their prayers +for the happiness and prosperity of the state. The speaker smiled, and +answered without reserve, that he thought the prayers of the church +but a very slender supply. The archbishop, however, prevailed in the +dispute; the king discouraged the application of the commons; and the +lords rejected the bill which the lower house had framed for stripping +the church of her revenues.[*] + + * Walsing. p. 371. Ypod. Neust. p. 563. + +The commons were not discouraged by this repulse: in the eleventh of the +king, they returned to the charge with more zeal than before: they +made a calculation of all the ecclesiastical revenues, which, by their +account, amounted to four hundred and eighty-five thousand marks a +year, and contained eighteen thousand four hundred ploughs of land. They +proposed to divide this property among fifteen new earls, one thousand +five hundred knights, six thousand esquires, and a hundred hospitals, +besides twenty thousand pounds a year, which the king might take for his +own use; and they insisted, that the clerical functions would be better +performed than at present by fifteen thousand parish priests, paid at +the rate of seven marks apiece of yearly stipend.[*] This application +was accompanied with an address for mitigating the statutes enacted +against the Lollards, which shows from what source the address came. The +king gave the commons a severe reply and further to satisfy the church, +and to prove that he was quite in earnest, he ordered a Lollard to be +burned before the dissolution of the parliament.[**] + + * Walsing. p. 379. Tit. Livius. + + ** Rymer, vol. viii. p. 627. Otterborne> p. 267. + +{1413.} We have now related almost all the memorable transactions of +this reign, which was busy and active, but produced few events that +deserve to be transmitted to posterity. The king was so much employed in +defending his crown, which he had obtained by unwarrantable means, and +possessed by a bad title, that he had little leisure to look abroad, or +perform any action which might redound to the honor and advantage of the +nation. His health declined some months before his death; he was subject +to fits, which bereaved him, for the time, of his senses; and though he +was yet in the flower of his age, his end was visibly approaching. He +expired at Westminster, in the forty-sixth year of his age, and the +thirteenth of his reign. + +The great popularity which Henry enjoyed before he attained the crown, +and which had so much aided him in the acquisition of it, was entirely +lost many years before the end of his reign; and he governed his people +more by terror than by affection, more by his own policy than by their +sense of duty or allegiance. When men came to reflect, in cool blood, on +the crimes which had led him to the throne; the rebellion against his +prince; the deposition of a lawful king, guilty sometimes, perhaps, of +oppression, but more frequently of indiscretion; the exclusion of the +true heir; the murder of his sovereign and near relation; these were +such enormities as drew on him the hatred of his subjects, sanctified +all the rebellions against him, and made the executions, though not +remarkably severe, which he found necessary for the maintenance of +his authority, appear cruel as well as iniquitous to the people. Yet, +without pretending to apologize for these crimes, which must ever be +held in detestation, it may be remarked, that he was insensibly led +into this blamable conduct by a train of incidents which few men possess +virtue enough to withstand. The injustice with which his predecessor had +treated him, in first condemning him to banishment, then despoiling him +of his patrimony, made him naturally think of revenge, and of recovering +his lost rights; the headlong zeal of the people hurried him into the +throne; the care of his own security, as well as his ambition, made him +a usurper; and the steps have always been so few between the prisons of +princes and their graves, that we need not wonder that Richard's fate +was no exception to the general rule. All these considerations make +Henry's situation, if he retained any sense of virtue, much to be +lamented; and the inquietude with which he possessed his envied +greatness, and the remorses by which, it is said, he was continually +haunted, render him an object of our pity, even when seated upon the +throne. But it must be owned, that his prudence, and vigilance, and +foresight, in maintaining his power, were admirable; his command of +temper remarkable; his courage, both military and political, without +blemish; and he possessed many qualities which fitted him for his high +station, and which rendered his usurpation of it, though pernicious +in after times, rather salutary, during his own reign, to the English +nation. + +Henry was twice married: by his first wife, Mary deBohun, daughter and +coheir of the earl of Hereford, he had four sons, Henry, his successor +in the throne, Thomas, duke of Clarence, John, duke of Bedford, and +Humphrey, duke of Glocester: and two daughters, Blanche and Philippa; +the former married to the duke of Bavaria, the latter to the king of +Denmark. His second wife, Jane, whom he married after he was king, +and who was daughter of the king of Navarre, and widow of the duke of +Brittany, brought him no issue. + +By an act of the fifth of this reign, it is made felony to cut out any +person's tongue, or put out his eyes; crimes which, the act says, were +very frequent. This savage spirit of revenge denotes a barbarous people; +though, perhaps, it was increased by the prevailing factions and civil +commotions. + +Commerce was very little understood in this reign, as in all the +preceding. In particular, a great jealousy prevailed against merchant +strangers; and many restraints were by law imposed upon them; namely, +that they should lay out in English manufactures or commodities all the +money acquired by the sale of their goods; that they should not buy or +sell with one another; and that all their goods should be disposed of +three months after importation.[*] + + * 4 Henry IV. cap. 15, and 5 Henry IV. cap. 9. + +This last clause was found so inconvenient, that it was soon after +repealed by parliament. + +It appears that the expense of this king's household amounted to the +yearly sum of nineteen thousand five hundred pounds, money of that +age.[*] + + * Rymer, tom. viii. p. 610. + +Guicciardin tells us, that the Flemings in this century learned from +Italy all the refinements in arts, which they taught the rest of Europe. +The progress, however, of the arts was still very slow and backward in +England. + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +[Illustration: 1_256_henry5.jpg HENRY V.] + + + + +HENRY V. + +{1413.} THE many jealousies to which Henry IV.'s situation naturally +exposed him, had so infected his temper, that he had entertained +unreasonable suspicions with regard to the fidelity of his eldest son; +and during the latter years of his life, he had excluded that prince +from all share in public business, and was even displeased to see him +at the head of armies, where his martial talents, though useful to the +support of government, acquired him a renown, which he thought might +prove dangerous to his own authority. The active spirit of young Henry, +restrained from its proper exercise, broke out into extravagances of +every kind; and the riot of pleasure, the frolic of debauchery, the +outrage of wine, filled the vacancies of a mind better adapted to the +pursuits of ambition and the cares of government. This course of life +threw him among companions, whose disorders, if accompanied with +spirit and humor, he indulged and seconded; and he was detected in many +sallies, which, to severer eyes, appeared totally unworthy of his rank +and station. There even remains a tradition that, when heated with +liquor and jollity, he scrupled not to accompany his riotous associates +in attacking the passengers on the streets and highways, and despoiling +them of their goods; and he found an amusement in the incidents which +the terror and regret of these defenceless people produced on such +occasions. This extreme of dissoluteness proved equally disagreeable +to his father, as that eager application to business which had at first +given him occasion of jealousy; and he saw in his son's behavior the +same neglect of decency, the same attachment to low company, which had +degraded the personal character of Richard, and which, more than all his +errors in government, had tended to overturn his throne. But the +nation in general considered the young prince with more indulgence; and +observed so many gleams of generosity, spirit, and magnanimity, breaking +continually through the cloud which a wild conduct threw over his +character, that they never ceased hoping for his amendment; and they +ascribed all the weeds, which shot up in that rich soil, to the want +of proper culture and attention in the king and his ministers. There +happened an incident which encouraged these agreeable views, and gave +much occasion for favorable reflections to all men of sense and candor. +A riotous companion of the prince's had been indicted before Gascoigne, +the chief justice, for some disorders; and Henry was not ashamed to +appear at the bar with the criminal, in order to give him countenance +and protection. Finding that his presence had not overawed the chief +justice, he proceeded to insult that magistrate on his tribunal; but +Gascoigne, mindful of the character which he then bore, and the majesty +of the sovereign and of the laws which he sustained, ordered the prince +to be carried to prison for his rude behavior.[*] The spectators were +agreeably disappointed, when they saw the heir of the crown submit +peaceably to this sentence, make reparation for his error by +acknowledging it, and check his impetuous nature in the midst of its +extravagant career. + +The memory of this incident, and of many others of a like nature, +rendered the prospect of the future reign nowise disagreeable to the +nation, and increased the joy which the death of so unpopular a prince +as the late king naturally occasioned. The first steps taken by the +young prince confirmed all those prepossessions entertained in his +favor.[**] He called together his former companions, acquainted them +with his intended reformation, exhorted them to imitate his example, but +strictly inhibited them, till they had given proofs of their sincerity +in this particular, from appearing any more in his presence; and he thus +dismissed them with liberal presents.[***] + + * Hall, fol, 33. + + ** Walsing, p. 382. + + *** Hall, fol. 33. Holingshed, p. 543. Godwin's Life of + Henry V, p. 1 + +The wise ministers of his father, who had checked his riots, found that +they had unknowingly been paying the highest court to him; and were +received with all the marks of favor and confidence. The chief justice +himself, who trembled to approach the royal presence, met with praises +instead of reproaches for his past conduct, and was exhorted to +persevere in the same rigorous and impartial execution of the laws. The +surprise of those who expected an opposite behavior, augmented their +satisfaction; and the character of the young king appeared brighter than +if it had never been shaded by any errors. + +But Henry was anxious not only to repair his own misconduct, but also to +make amends for those iniquities into which policy or the necessity of +affairs had betrayed his father. He expressed the deepest sorrow for +the fate of the unhappy Richard, did justice to the memory of that +unfortunate prince, even performed his funeral obsequies with pomp and +solemnity, and cherished all those who had distinguished themselves by +their loyalty and attachment towards him.[*] Instead of continuing the +restraints which the jealousy of his father had imposed on the earl +of Marche, he received that young nobleman with singular courtesy and +favor; and by this magnanimity so gained on the gentle and unambitious +nature of his competitor, that he remained ever after sincerely attached +to him, and gave him no disturbance in his future government. The family +of Piercy was restored to its fortune and honors.[**] The king seemed +ambitious to bury all party distinctions in oblivion: the instruments of +the preceding reign, who had been advanced from their blind zeal for +the Lancastrian interests, more than from their merits, gave place every +where to men of more honorable characters; virtue seemed now to have an +open career, in which it might exert itself: the exhortations, as well +as example of the prince, gave it encouragement: all men were unanimous +in their attachment to Henry; and the defects of his title were +forgotten, amidst the personal regard which was universally paid to him. + +There remained among the people only one party distinction, which was +derived from religious differences, and which, as it is of a peculiar +and commonly a very obstinate nature, the popularity of Henry was not +able to overcome. The Lollards were every day increasing in the kingdom, +and were become a formed party, which appeared extremely dangerous +to the church, and even formidable to the civil authority.[***] The +enthusiasm by which these sectaries were generally actuated the great +alterations which they pretended to introduce, the hatred which they +expressed against the established hierarchy, gave an alarm to Henry; +who, either from a sincere attachment to the ancient religion, or from +a dread of the unknown consequences which attend all important changes, +was determined to execute the laws against such bold innovators. + + * Hist. Croyland. Contin. Hall, fol. 34. Holing, p. 544. + + ** Holing, p. 545. + + *** Walsing. p. 382. + +The head of this sect was Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, a nobleman +who had distinguished himself by his valor and his military talents, and +had, on many occasions, acquired the esteem both of the late and of +the present king.[*] His high character and his zeal for the new sect +pointed him out to Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury, as the proper +victim of ecclesiastical severity, whose punishment would strike a +terror into the whole party, and teach them that they must expect +no mercy under the present administration. He applied to Henry for a +permission to indict Lord Cobham;[**] but the generous nature of +the prince was averse to such sanguinary methods of conversion. He +represented to the primate, that reason and conviction were the best +expedients for supporting truth; that all gentle means ought first to +be tried, in order to reclaim men from error; and that he himself +would endeavor, by a conversation with Cobham, to reconcile him to the +Catholic faith. But he found that nobleman obstinate in his opinions, +and determined not to sacrifice truths of such infinite moment to his +complaisance for sovereigns.[***] + + * Walsing. p 382. + + ** Fox's Acts and Monuments, p. 513. + + *** Rymer, vol ix. p. 61. Walsing. p. 383. + +Henry's principles of toleration, or rather his love of the +practice, could carry him no farther; and he then gave full reins to +ecclesiastical severity against the inflexible heresiarch. The primate +indicted Cobham, and with the assistance of his three suffragans, the +bishops of London, Winchester, and St. David's, condemned him to the +flames for his erroneous opinions. Cobham, who was confined in the +Tower, made his escape before the day appointed for his execution. The +bold spirit of the man, provoked by persecution and stimulated by zeal, +was urged to attempt the most criminal enterprises; and his unlimited +authority over the new sect proved that he well merited the attention +of the civil magistrate. He formed in his retreat very violent designs +against his enemies; and despatching his emissaries to all quarters, +appointed a general rendezvous of the party, in order to seize the +person of the king at Eltham, and put their persecutors to the sword.[*] + +{1414.} Henry, apprised of their intention, removed to Westminster: +Cobham was not discouraged by this disappointment; but changed the place +of rendezvous to the field near St. Giles; the king, having shut the +gates of the city, to prevent any reënforcement to the Lollards from +that quarter, came into the field in the night-time, seized such of +the conspirators as appeared, and afterwards laid hold of the several +parties who were hastening to the place appointed. It appeared, that +a few only were in the secret of the conspiracy; the rest implicitly +followed their leaders: but upon the trial of the prisoners, the +treasonable designs of the sect were rendered certain, both from +evidence and from the confession of the criminals themselves.[**] Some +were executed; the greater number pardoned.[***] Cobham himself, who +made his escape by flight, was not brought to justice till four years +after; when he was hanged as a traitor; and his body was burnt on +the gibbet, in execution of the sentence pronounced against him as +a heretic.[****] This criminal design, which was perhaps somewhat +aggravated by the clergy, brought discredit upon the party, and checked +the progress of that sect, which had embraced the speculative doctrines +of Wickliffe, and at the same time aspired to a reformation of +ecclesiastical abuses. + + * Walsing. p. 385. + + ** Cotton, p. 554. Hall, fol. 35. Holing, p. 544. + + *** Rymer, vol. ix. p. 119, 129, 193. + + **** Walsing. p. 400. Otterborne, p. 280. Holing, p. 561. + +These two points were the great objects of the Lollards; but the bulk of +the nation was not affected in the same degree by both of them. Common +sense and obvious reflection had discovered to the people the advantages +of a reformation in discipline; but the age was not yet so far advanced +as to be seized with the spirit of controversy, or to enter into those +abstruse doctrines which the Lollards endeavored to propagate throughout +the kingdom. The very notion of heresy alarmed the generality of the +people: innovation in fundamental principles was suspicious: curiosity +was not, as yet, a sufficient counterpoise to authority; and even many, +who were the greatest friends to the reformation of abuses, were +anxious to express their detestation of the speculative tenants of the +Wickliffites, which, they feared, threw disgrace on so good a cause. +This turn of thought appears evidently in the proceedings of the +parliament which was summoned immediately after the detection of +Cobham's conspiracy. That assembly passed severe laws against the new +heretics: they enacted, that whoever was convicted of Lollardy before +the ordinary besides suffering capital punishment according to the laws +formerly established, should also forfeit his lands and goods to the +king; and that the chancellor, treasurer, justices of the two benches, +sheriffs, justices of the peace, and all the chief magistrates in every +city and borough, should take an oath to use their utmost endeavors for +the extirpation of heresy.[*] Yet this very parliament, when the king +demanded supply, renewed the offer formerly pressed upon his father, and +entreated him to seize all the ecclesiastical revenues, and convert them +to the use of the crown.[**] The clergy were alarmed: they could offer +the king no bribe which was equivalent: they only agreed to confer +on him all the priories alien, which depended on capital abbeys in +Normandy, and had been bequeathed to these abbeys, when that province +remained united to England: and Chicheley, now archbishop of Canterbury, +endeavored to divert the blow by giving occupation to the king, and by +persuading him to undertake a war against France, in order to recover +his lost rights to that kingdom.[***] + + * 2 Henry V. chap. 7. + + ** Hall, fol. 35. + + *** Hall, fol. 35. 36. + +It was the dying injunction of the late king to his son, not to allow +the English to remain long in peace, which was apt to breed intestine +commotions; but to employ them in foreign expeditions, by which the +prince might acquire honor; the nobility, in sharing his dangers, might +attach themselves to his person; and all the restless spirits find +occupation for their inquietude. The natural disposition of Henry +sufficiently inclined him to follow this advice, and the civil disorders +of France, which had been prolonged beyond those of England, opened a +full career to his ambition. + +{1415.} The death of Charles V., which followed soon after that of +Edward III., and the youth of his son, Charles VI., put the two kingdoms +for some time in a similar situation; and it was not to be apprehended, +that either of them, during a minority, would be able to make much +advantage of the weakness of the other. The jealousies also between +Charles's three uncles, the dukes of Anjou, Bern, and Burgundy, had +distracted the affairs of France rather more than those between the +dukes of Lancaster, York, and Gloucester. Richard's three uncles, +disordered those of England; and had carried off the attention of the +French nation from any vigorous enterprise against foreign states. But +in proportion as Charles advanced in years, the factions were composed; +his two uncles, the dukes of Anjou and Burgundy, died; and the king +himself, assuming the reins of government, discovered symptoms of +genius and spirit, which revived the drooping hopes of his country. This +promising state of affairs was not of long duration: the unhappy prince +fell suddenly into a fit of frenzy, which rendered him incapable of +exercising his authority; and though he recovered from this disorder, he +was so subject to relapses, that his judgment was gradually but sensibly +impaired, and no steady plan of government could be pursued by him. The +administration of affairs was disputed between his brother, Lewis, +duke of Orleans, and his cousin-german, John, duke of Burgundy: the +propinquity to the crown pleaded in favor of the former: the latter, +who, in right of his mother, had inherited the county of Flanders, which +he annexed to his father's extensive dominions, derived a lustre from +his superior power: the people were divided between these contending +princes; and the king, now resuming, now dropping his authority, kept +the victory undecided, and prevented any regular settlement of the state +by the final prevalence of either party. + +At length, the dukes of Orleans and Burgundy, seeming to be moved by the +cries of the nation, and by the interposition of common friends, agreed +to bury all past quarrels in oblivion, and to enter into strict amity: +they swore before the altar the sincerity of their friendship; the +priest administered the sacrament to both of them; they gave to each +other every pledge which could be deemed sacred among men: but all this +solemn preparation was only a cover for the basest treachery, which was +deliberately premeditated by the duke of Burgundy. He procured his rival +to be assassinated in the streets of Paris: he endeavored for some time +to conceal the part which he took in the crime; but being detected, he +embraced a resolution still more criminal and more dangerous to society, +by openly avowing and justifying it.[*] + + * Le Laboureur, liv. xxvii. chap. 23, 24. + +The parliament itself of Paris, the tribunal of justice, heard the +harangues of the duke's advocate in defence of assassination, which he +termed tyrannicide; and that assembly, partly influenced by faction, +partly overawed by power, pronounced no sentence of condemnation against +this detestable doctrine.[*] + + * Le Laboureur, liv. xxvii. chap. 27. Monstrelet. chap. 39. + +The same question was afterwards agitated before the council of +Constance; and it was with difficulty that a feeble decision in favor of +the contrary opinion, was procured from these fathers of the church, the +ministers of peace and of religion. But the mischievous effects of that +tenet, had they been before anywise doubtful, appeared sufficiently from +the present incidents. The commission of this crime, which destroyed +all trust and security, rendered the war implacable between the French +parties, and cut off every means of peace and accommodation. The princes +of the blood, combining with the young duke of Orleans and his brothers, +made violent war on the duke of Burgundy; and the unhappy king, seized +sometimes by one party, sometimes by the other, transferred alternately +to each of them the appearance of legal authority. The provinces were +laid waste by mutual depredations: assassinations were every where +committed, from the animosity of the several leaders; or, what was +equally terrible, executions were ordered, without any legal or +free trial, by pretended courts of judicature. The whole kingdom was +distinguished into two parties, the Burgundians and the Armagnacs; so +the adherents of the young duke of Orleans were called, from the count +of Armagnac, father-in-law to that prince. The city of Paris, distracted +between them, but inclining more to the Burgundians, was a perpetual +scene of blood and violence; the king and royal family were often +detained captives in the hands of the populace; their faithful ministers +were butchered or imprisoned before their face; and it was dangerous for +any man, amidst these enraged factions, to be distinguished by a strict +adherence to the principles of probity and honor. + +During this scene of general violence, there rose into some +consideration a body of men, which usually makes no figure in public +transactions, even during the most peaceful times; and that was the +university of Paris, whose opinion was sometimes demanded, and more +frequently offered, in the multiplied disputes between the parties. +The schism by which the church was at that time divided, and which +occasioned frequent controversies in the university, had raised the +professors to an unusual degree of importance; and this connection +between literature and superstition had bestowed on the former a weight +to which reason and knowledge are not of themselves anywise entitled +among men. But there was another society, whose sentiments were much +more decisive, at Paris,--the fraternity of butchers, who, under the +direction of their ringleaders, had declared for the duke of Burgundy, +and committed the most violent outrages against the opposite party. +To counterbalance their power, the Armagnacs made interest with the +fraternity of carpenters; the populace ranged themselves on one side +or the other; and the fate of the capital depended on the prevalence of +either party. + +The advantage which might be made of these confusions was easily +perceived in England; and, according to the maxims which usually +prevail among nations, it was determined to lay hold of the favorable +opportunity. The late king, who was courted by both the French parties, +fomented the quarrel, by alternately sending assistance to each; but +the present sovereign, impelled by the vigor of youth and the ardor of +ambition, determined to push his advantages to a greater length, and to +carry violent war into that distracted kingdom. But while he was +making preparations for this end, he tried to effect his purpose by +negotiation; and he sent over ambassadors to Paris, offering a perpetual +peace and alliance; but demanding Catharine, the French king's daughter, +in marriage, two millions of crowns as her portion, one million six +hundred thousand as the arrears of King John's ransom, and the immediate +possession and full sovereignty of Normandy, and of all the other +provinces which had been ravished from England by the arms of Philip +Augustus; together with the superiority of Brittany and Flanders.[*] +Such exorbitant demands show that he was sensible of the present +miserable condition of France; and the terms offered by the French +court, though much inferior, discover their consciousness of the +same melancholy truth. They were willing to give him the princess in +marriage, to pay him eight hundred thousand crowns, to resign the entire +sovereignty of Guienne, and to annex to that province the country of +Perigord, Rovergue Xaintonge, the Angoumois, and other territories.[**] + + * Rymer, vol. ix. p. 208. + + ** Rymer, vol. ix. p. 211. + +It is reported by some historians, (see Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 500,) that +the dauphin, in derision of Henry's claims and dissolute character, sent +him a box of tennis balls; intimating, that these implements of play +were better adapted to him than the instruments of war. But this story +is by no means credible; rejected these conditions, and scarcely hoped +that his own demands would be complied with, he never intermitted a +moment his preparations for war; and having assembled a great fleet and +army at Southampton, having invited all the nobility and military men of +the kingdom to attend him by the hopes of glory and of conquest, he came +to the sea-side with a purpose of embarking on his expedition. + +But while Henry was meditating conquests upon his neighbors, he +unexpectedly found himself in danger from a conspiracy at home, which +was happily detected in its infancy. The earl of Cambridge, second son +of the late duke of York, having espoused the sister of the earl of +Marche, had zealously embraced the interests of that family; and had +held some conferences with Lord Scrope of Masham, and Sir Thomas Grey of +Heton, about the means of recovering to that nobleman his right to the +crown of England. The conspirators, as soon as detected, acknowledged +their guilt to the king; [*] and Henry proceeded without delay to their +trial and condemnation. The utmost that could be expected of the best +king in those ages, was, that he would so far observe the essentials of +justice, as not to make an innocent person a victim to his severity; +but as to the formalities of law, which are often as material as the +essentials themselves, they were sacrificed without scruple to the least +interest or convenience. A jury of commoners was summoned: the three +conspirators were indicted before them: the constable of Southampton +Castle swore that they had separately confessed their guilt to him: +without other evidence, Sir Thomas Grey was condemned and executed; but +as the earl of Cambridge and Lord Scrope pleaded the privilege of their +peerage, Henry thought proper to summon a court of eighteen barons, in +which the duke of Clarence presided: the evidence given before the jury +was read to them: the prisoners, though one of them was a prince of the +blood, were not examined, nor produced in court, nor heard in their own +defence; but received sentence of death upon this proof, which was +every way irregular and unsatisfactory; and the sentence was soon after +executed. The earl of Marche was accused of having given his approbation +to the conspiracy, and received a general pardon from the great offers +made by the court of France show that they had already entertained a +just idea of Henry's character, as well as of their own situation. + +The successes which the arms of England have, in different ages, +obtained over those of France, have been much owing to the favorable +situation of the former kingdom. The English, happily seated in an +island, could make advantage of every misfortune which attended their +neighbors, and were little exposed to the danger of reprisals. They +never left their own country but when they were conducted by a king +of extraordinary genius, or found their enemy divided by intestine +factions, or were supported by a powerful alliance on the continent; +and as all these circumstances concurred at present to favor their +enterprise, they had reason to expect from it proportionable success. +The duke of Burgundy, expelled France by a combination of the princes, +had been secretly soliciting the alliance of England; [**] and +Henry knew that this prince, though he scrupled at first to join +the inveterate enemy of his country, would willingly, if he saw any +probability of success, both assist him with his Flemish subjects, +and draw over to the same side all his numerous partisans in France. +Trusting, therefore, to this circumstance, but without establishing any +concert with the duke, he put to sea, and landed near Harfleur, at the +head of an army of six thousand men at arms, and twenty-four thousand +foot, mostly archers. He immediately began the siege of that place, +which was valiantly defended by D'Estouteville, and under him by De +Guitri, De Gaucourt, and others of the French nobility; but as the +garrison was weak, and the fortifications in bad repair, the governor +was at last obliged to capitulate; and he promised to surrender the +place, if he received no succor before the eighteenth of September. The +day came, and there was no appearance of a French army to relieve him. +Henry, taking possession of the town, placed a garrison in it, and +expelled all the French inhabitants, with an intention of peopling it +anew with English. + + * Rymer, vol. ix. p. 303. + + ** St. Remi, chap. lv. Godwin, p. 65 + +The fatigues of this siege, and the unusual heat of the season, had +so wasted the English army, that Henry could enter on no further +enterprise; and was obliged to think of returning into England. He had +dismissed his transports, which could not anchor in an open road upon +the enemy's coasts; and he lay under a necessity of marching by land to +Calais, before he could reach a place of safety. A numerous French army +of fourteen thousand men at arms and forty thousand foot, was by this +time assembled in Normandy under the constable D'Albret; a force which, +if prudently conducted, was sufficient either to trample down the +English in the open field, or to harass and reduce to nothing their +small army, before they could finish so long and difficult a march. +Henry, therefore, cautiously offered to sacrifice his conquest of +Harfleur for a safe passage to Calais; but his proposal being rejected, +he determined to make his way by valor and conduct through all the +opposition of the enemy.[*] That he might not discourage his army by the +appearance of flight, or expose them to those hazards which naturally +attend precipitate marches, he made slow and deliberate journeys,[*] +till he reached the Somme, which he purposed to pass at the ford of +Blanquetague, the same place where Edward, in a like situation, had +before escaped from Philip de Valois. But he found the ford rendered +impassable by the precaution of the French general, and guarded by a +strong body on the opposite bank;[*] and he was obliged to march higher +up the river, in order to seek for a safe passage. He was continually +harassed on his march by flying parties of the enemy; saw bodies of +troops on the other side ready to oppose every attempt; his provisions +were cut off; his soldiers languished with sickness and fatigue; and his +affairs seemed to be reduced to a desperate situation; when he was so +dexterous or so fortunate as to seize, by surprise, a passage near St. +Quintin, which had not been sufficiently guarded; and he safely carried +over his army.[**] + + * Le Laboureur, liv. xxxv. chap. 6. * T. Livii, p. 12 + + ** St. Remi, chap, 58. * T. Livii, p. 13 + +Henry then bent his march northwards to Calais; but he was still exposed +to great and imminent danger from the enemy, who had also passed +the Somme, and threw themselves full in his way, with a purpose of +intercepting his retreat. After he had passed the small river of Ternois +at Blangi, he was surprised to observe from the heights the whole French +army drawn up in the plains of Azincour, and so posted that it was +impossible for him to proceed on his march without coming to an +engagement. Nothing in appearance could be more unequal than the battle +upon which his safety and all his fortunes now depended. The English +army was little, more than half the number which had disembarked at +Harfleur; and they labored under every discouragement and necessity. The +enemy was four times more numerous; was headed by the dauphin and all +the princes of the blood; and was plentifully supplied with provisions +of every kind. Henry's situation was exactly similar to that of Edward +at Crecy, and that of the Black Prince at Poietiers; and the memory of +these great events, inspiring the English with courage, made them +hope for a like deliverance from their present difficulties. The king +likewise observed the same prudent conduct which had been followed by +these great commanders: he drew up his army on a narrow ground between +two woods, which guarded each flank; and he patiently expected in that +posture the attack of the enemy.[*] Had the French constable been +able either to reason justly upon the present circumstances of the two +armies, or to profit by past experience, he had declined a combat, and +had waited till necessity, obliging the English to advance, had made +them relinquish the advantages of their situation. But the impetuous +valor of the nobility, and a vain confidence in superior numbers, +brought on this fatal action, which proved the source of infinite +calamities to their country. The French archers on horseback and their +men at arms, crowded in their ranks, advanced upon the English archers, +who had fixed palisadoes in their front to break the impression of +the enemy, and who safely plied them, from behind that defence, with a +shower of arrows, which nothing could resist.[**] + + * St. Remi, chap. 62. + + ** Walsing. p. 392. T. Livii, p. 19. Le Laboureur, liv. xxxv + chap, 7. Monstrelet, chap. 147. + +The clay soil, moistened by some rain which had lately fallen, proved +another obstacle to the force of the French cavalry: the wounded men and +horses discomposed their ranks: the narrow compass in which they were +pent hindered them from recovering any order: the whole army was a scene +of confusion, terror, and dismay: and Henry, perceiving his advantage, +ordered the English archers, who were light and unencumbered, to advance +upon the enemy, and seize the moment of victory. They fell with their +battle-axes upon the French, who, in their present posture, were +incapable either of flying or of making defence: they hewed them in +pieces without resistance:[*] and being seconded by the men at arms +who also pushed on against the enemy, they covered the field with the +killed, wounded, dismounted, and overthrown. + + * Walsing. p. 393. Ypod. Neust. p. 584. + +After all appearance of opposition was over, the English had leisure to +make prisoners; and having advanced with uninterrupted success to the +open plain, they there saw the remains of the French rear guard, which +still maintained the appearance of a line of battle. At the same time, +they heard an alarm from behind: some gentlemen of Picardy, having +collected about six hundred peasants, had fallen upon the English +baggage, and were doing execution on the unarmed followers of the camp, +who fled before them, Henry, seeing the enemy on all sides of him, +began to entertain apprehensions from his prisoners; and he thought +it necessary to issue general orders for putting them to death: but on +discovering the truth, he stopped the slaughter, and was still able to +save a great number. + +No battle was ever more fatal to France, by the number of princes and +nobility slain or taken prisoners. Among the former were the constable +himself, the count of Nevers and the duke of Brabant, brothers to +the duke of Burgundy; the count of Vaudemont, brother to the duke of +Lorraine, the duke of Alençon, the duke of Barre, the count of Marle. +The most eminent prisoners were the dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, the +Counts d'Eu, Vendôme, and Richemont, and the mareschal of Boucicaut. +An archbishop of Sens also was slain in this battle. The killed are +computed on the whole to have amounted to ten thousand men; and as the +slaughter fell chiefly upon the cavalry, it is pretended that, of these, +eight thousand were gentlemen. Henry was master of fourteen thousand +prisoners. The person of chief note who fell among the English, was the +duke of York, who perished fighting by the king's side, and had an end +more honorable than his life. He was succeeded in his honors and fortune +by his nephew, son of the earl of Cambridge, executed in the beginning +of the year. All the English who were slain exceeded not forty; +though some writers, with greater probability, make the number more +considerable. + +The three great battles of Crecy, Poictiers, and Azincour bear +a singular resemblance to each other in their most considerable +circumstances. In all of them there appears the same temerity in the +English princes, who, without any object of moment, merely for the sake +of plunder, had ventured so far into the enemy's country as to leave +themselves no retreat; and unless saved by the utmost imprudence in +the French commanders, were, from their very situation, exposed to +inevitable destruction. But allowance being made for this temerity, +which, according to the irregular plans of war followed in those ages, +seems to have been, in some measure, unavoidable there appears, in the +day of action, the same presence of mind, dexterity, courage, firmness, +and precaution on the part of the English; the same precipitation, +confusion, and vain confidence on the part of the French: and the events +were such as might have been expected from such opposite conduct. The +immediate consequences too of these three great victories were similar: +instead of pushing the French with vigor, and taking advantage of their +consternation, the English princes, after their victory, seem rather +to have relaxed their efforts, and to have allowed the enemy leisure to +recover from his losses. Henry interrupted not his march a moment after +the battle of Azincour; he carried his prisoners to Calais, thence to +England; he even concluded a truce with the enemy; and it was not till +after an interval of two years that any body of English troops appeared +in France. + +The poverty of all the European princes, and the small resources of +their kingdoms, were the cause of these continual interruptions in their +hostilities; and though the maxims of war were in general destructive, +their military operations were mere incursions, which, without any +settled plan, they carried on against each other. The lustre, however, +attending the victory of Azincour, procured some supplies from the +English parliament; though still unequal to the expenses of a campaign. +They granted Henry an entire fifteenth of movables; and they conferred +on him for life the duties of tonnage and poundage, and the subsidies +on the exportation of wool and leather. This concession is more +considerable than that which had been granted to Richard II. by his last +parliament and which was afterwards, on his deposition, made so great an +article of charge against him. + +But during this interruption of hostilities from England, France was +exposed to all the furies of civil war, and the several parties became +every day more enraged against each other. The duke of Burgundy, +confident that the French ministers and generals were entirely +discredited by the misfortune at Azincour, advanced with a great army +to Paris, and attempted to reinstate himself in possession of the +government, as well as of the person of the king. But his partisans in +that city were overawed by the court, and kept in subjection: the +duke despaired of success; and he retired with his forces, which he +immediately disbanded in the Low Countries.[*] + +{1417.} He was soon after invited to make a new attempt, by some violent +quarrels which broke out in the royal family. The queen, Isabella, +daughter of the duke of Bavaria, who had been hitherto an inveterate +enemy to the Burgundian faction, had received a great injury from the +other party, which the implacable spirit of that princess was never +able to forgive. The public necessities obliged the count of Armagnac, +created constable of France in the place of D'Albret, to seize the +great treasures which Isabella had amassed: and when she expressed her +displeasure at this injury, he inspired into the weak mind of the king +some jealousies concerning her conduct, and pushed him to seize, and put +to the torture, and afterwards throw into the Seine, Boisbourdon, her +favorite, whom he accused of a commerce of gallantry with that princess. +The queen herself was sent to Tours, and confined under a guard;[**] +and after suffering these multiplied insults, she no longer scrupled to +enter into a correspondence with the duke of Burgundy. As her son, +the dauphin Charles, a youth of sixteen, was entirely governed by the +faction of Armagnac, she extended her animosity to him, and sought +his destruction with the most unrelenting hatred. She had soon an +opportunity of rendering her unnatural purpose effectual. The duke of +Burgundy, in concert with her, entered France at the head of a great +army: he made himself master of Amiens, Abbeville, Dourlens, Montreuil, +and other towns in Picardy; Senlis, Rheims, Chalons, Troye, and Auxerre, +declared themselves of his party.[***] He got possession of Beaumont, +Pontoise, Vernon, Meulant, Montlheri, towns in the neighborhood of +Paris; and carrying further his progress towards the west, he seized +Etampes, Chartres, and other fortresses; and was at last able to +deliver the queen, who fled to Troye, and openly declared against those +ministers who, she said, detained her husband in captivity.[****] + + * Le Laboureur, liv. xxxv. chap. 10. + + ** St. Remi, chap. 74. Monstrelet, chap. 167. + + *** St. Remi, chap. 79. + + **** St. Remi, chap. 81. Monstrelet, chap. 178, 179. + +Meanwhile the partisans of Burgundy raised a commotion in Paris, which +always inclined to that faction. Lile-Adam, one of the duke's +captains, was received into the city in the night-time, and headed the +insurrection of the people, which in a moment became so impetuous that +nothing could oppose it. The person of the king was seized: the dauphin +made his escape with difficulty; great numbers of the faction of +Armagnac were immediately butchered: the count himself, and many persons +of note, were thrown into prison: murders were daily committed from +private animosity, under pretence of faction: and the populace, not +satiated with their fury, and deeming the course of public justice +too dilatory, broke into the prisons, and put to death the count of +Armagnac, and all the other nobility who were there confined.[*] + +{1418.} While France was in such furious combustion, and was so ill +prepared to resist a foreign enemy, Henry, having collected some +treasure and levied an army, landed in Normandy at the head of +twenty-five thousand men; and met with no considerable opposition from +any quarter. He made himself master of Falaise; Evreux and Caen +submitted to him; Pont de l'Arche opened its gates; and Henry, having +subdued all the lower Normandy, and having received a reënforcement of +fifteen thousand men from England,[**] formed the siege of Rouen, which +was defended by a garrison of four thousand men, seconded by the +inhabitants, to the number of fifteen thousand.[***] The cardinal des +Ursins here attempted to incline him towards peace, and to moderate his +pretensions; but the king replied to him in such terms as showed that he +was fully sensible of all his present advantages: "Do you not see," said +he, "that God has led me hither as by the hand? France has no sovereign: +I have just pretensions to that kingdom: every thing is here in the +utmost confusion: no one thinks of resisting me. Can I have a more +sensible proof, that the Being who disposes of empires has determined to +put the crown of France upon my head?"[****] + + * St. Remi, chap. 85, 86. Monstrelet, chap. 118. + + ** Walsing. p. 100. + + *** St. Remi, chap. 31 + + **** Juvenal des Ursins. + +But though Henry had opened his mind to this scheme of ambition, he +still continued to negotiate with his enemies, and endeavored to obtain +more secure, though less considerable advantages. He made, at the same +time, offers of peace to both parties; to the queen and duke of Burgundy +on the one hand, who, having possession of the king's person, carried +the appearance of legal authority;[*] and to the dauphin on the other, +who, being the undoubted heir of the monarchy, was adhered to by every +one that paid any regard to the true interests of their country.[****] +These two parties also carried on a continual negotiation with each +other. The terms proposed on all sides were perpetually varying: the +events of the war and the intrigues of the cabinet intermingled with +each other: and the fate of France remained long in this uncertainty. +After many negotiations, Henry offered the queen and the duke of +Burgundy to make peace with them, to espouse the Princess Catharine, +and to accept of all the provinces ceded to Edward III. by the treaty of +Bretigni, with the addition of Normandy, which he was to receive in full +and entire sovereignty.[*] + +{1419.} These terms were submitted to: there remained only some +circumstances to adjust, in order to the entire completion of the +treaty; but in this interval the duke of Burgundy secretly finished his +treaty with the dauphin; and these two princes agreed to share the royal +authority during King Charles's lifetime, and to unite their arms in +order to expel foreign enemies.[****] + + * Rymer, vol. ix. p. 717, 749. + + ** Rymer, vol. ix. p. 626, etc. + + *** Rymer, vol. ix. p. 762. + + **** Rymer, vol. ix. p. 776. St. Remi, chap. 95. + +This alliance which seemed to cut off from Henry all hopes of further +success, proved in the issue the most favorable event that could have +happened for his pretensions. Whether the dauphin and the duke of +Burgundy were ever sincere in their mutual engagements, is uncertain; +but very fatal effects resulted from their momentary and seeming union. +The two princes agreed to an interview, in order to concert the means of +rendering effectual their common attack on the English; but how both or +either of them could with safety venture upon this conference, it seemed +somewhat difficult to contrive. The assassination perpetrated by the +duke of Burgundy, and still more his open avowal of the deed, and +defence of the doctrine, tended to dissolve all the bands of civil +society; and even men of honor, who detested the example, might deem +it just, on a favorable opportunity, to retaliate upon the author. The +duke, therefore, who neither dared to give, nor could pretend to expect, +any trust, agreed to all the contrivances for mutual security which +were proposed by the ministers of the dauphin. The two princes came to +Montereau: the duke lodged in the Castle; the dauphin in the town, which +was divided from the castle by the River Yonne: the bridge between them +was chosen for the place of interview: two high rails were drawn across +the bridge: the gates on each side were guarded, one by the officers of +the dauphin, the other by those of the duke: the princes were to enter +into the intermediate space by the opposite gates, accompanied each by +ten persons; and with all these marks of diffidence, to conciliate their +mutual friendship. But it appeared that no precautions are sufficient +where laws have no place, and where all principles of honor are utterly +abandoned. Tannegui de Chatel, and others of the dauphin's retainers, +had been zealous partisans of the late duke of Orleans; and they +determined to seize the opportunity of revenging on the assassin the +murder of that prince; they no sooner entered the rails, than they +drew their swords and attacked the duke of Burgundy; his friends were +astonished and thought not of making any defence; and all of them +either shared his fate, or were taken prisoners by the retinue of the +dauphin.[*] + + * St. Remi, chap. 97. Monstrelet, chap. 211. + +The extreme youth of this prince made it doubtful whether he had +been admitted into the secret of the conspiracy; but as the deed +was committed under his eye, by his most intimate friends, who still +retained their connections with him, the blame of the action, which +was certainly more imprudent than criminal, fell entirely upon him. +The whole state of affairs was every where changed by this unexpected +incident. The city of Paris, passionately devoted to the family of +Burgundy, broke out into the highest fury against the dauphin. The court +of King Charles entered from interest into the same views; and as all +the ministers of that monarch had owed their preferment to the +late duke, and foresaw their downfall if the dauphin should recover +possession of his father's person, they were concerned to prevent by +any means the success of his enterprise. The queen, persevering in her +unnatural animosity against her son, increased the general flame, and +inspired into the king, as far as he was susceptible of any sentiment +the same prejudices by which she herself had long been actuated. But +above all, Philip, count of Charolois, now duke of Burgundy, thought +himself bound by every tie of honor and of duty to revenge the murder of +his father, and to prosecute the assassin to the utmost extremity. And +in this general transport of rage, every consideration of national and +family interest was buried in oblivion by all parties: the subjection +to a foreign enemy, the expulsion of the lawful heir, the slavery of the +kingdom, appeared but small evils, if they led to the gratification of +the present passion. + +The king of England had, before the death of the duke of Burgundy, +profited extremely by the distractions of France and was daily making a +considerable progress in Normandy. He had taken Rouen after an obstinate +siege:[*] he had made himself master of Pontoise and Gisors: he even +threatened Paris, and by the terror of his arms had obliged the court +to remove to Troye: and in the midst of his successes, he was agreeably +surprised to find his enemies, instead of combining against him for +their mutual defence, disposed to rush into his arms, and to make +him the instrument of their vengeance upon each other. A league was +immediately concluded at Arras between him and the duke of Burgundy. +This prince, without stipulating any thing for himself, except the +prosecution of his father's murder, and the marriage of the duke of +Bedford with his sister, was willing to sacrifice the kingdom to Henry's +ambition; and he agreed to every demand made by that monarch. + +{1420.} In order to finish this astonishing treaty, which was to +transfer the crown of France to a stranger, Henry went to Troye, +accompanied by his brothers, the dukes of Clarence and Glocester; and +was there met by the duke of Burgundy. The imbecility into which Charles +had fallen, made him incapable of seeing any thing but through the +eyes of those who attended him; as they, on their part, saw every +thing through the medium of their passions. The treaty, being already +concerted among the parties, was immediately drawn, and signed, +and ratified: Henry's will seemed to be a law throughout the whole +negotiation: nothing was attended to but his advantages. + + * T. Livii, p. 69. Monstrelet, chap. 201. + +The principal articles of the treaty were, that Henry should espouse the +Princess Catharine: that King Charles, during his lifetime, should enjoy +the title and dignity of king of France: that Henry should be declared +and acknowledged heir of the monarchy, and be intrusted with the present +administration of the government: that that kingdom should pass to his +heirs general: that France and England should forever be united +under one king; but should still retain their several usages, customs, +and privileges: that all the princes, peers, vassals, and communities +of France should swear, that they would both adhere to the future +succession of Henry, and pay him present obedience as regent: that this +prince should unite his arms to those of King Charles and the duke of +Burgundy, in order to subdue the adherents of Charles, the pretended +dauphin: and that these three princes should make no peace or truce with +him but by common consent and agreement.[*] + + * Rymer, vol. ix. p. 895. St. Remi, chap 101. Monstrelet, + chap. 223. + +Such was the tenor of this famous treaty; a treaty which, as nothing but +the most violent animosity could dictate it, so nothing but the power +of the sword could carry into execution. It is hard to say whether its +consequences, had it taken effect, would have proved more pernicious +to England or to France. It must have reduced the former kingdom to the +rank of a province: it would have entirely disjointed the succession of +the latter, and have brought on the destruction of every descendant of +the royal family; as the houses of Orleans, Anjou, Alençon, Brittany, +Bourbon, and of Burgundy itself, whose titles were preferable to that +of the English princes, would on that account have been exposed to +perpetual jealousy and persecution from the sovereign. There was even a +palpable deficiency in Henry's claim, which no art could palliate. For, +besides the insuperable objections to which Edward III.'s pretensions +were exposed, he was not heir to that monarch: if female succession were +admitted, the right had devolved on the house of Mortimer: allowing that +Richard II. was a tyrant, and that Henry IV.'s merits in deposing him +were so great towards the English, as to justify that nation in placing +him on the throne, Richard had nowise offended France, and his rival +had merited nothing of that kingdom: it could not possibly be pretended, +that the crown of France was become an appendage to that of England; +and that a prince, who by any means got possession of the latter, was, +without further question, entitled to the former. So that, on the whole, +it must be allowed that Henry's claim to France was, if possible, still +more unintelligible than the title by which his father had mounted the +throne of England. + +But though all these considerations were overlooked, amidst the hurry of +passion by which the courts of France and Burgundy were actuated, they +would necessarily revive during times of more tranquillity; and it +behoved Henry to push his present advantages, and allow men no leisure +for reason or reflection. In a few days after, he espoused the Princess +Catharine: he carried his father-in-law to Paris, and put himself in +possession of that capital: he obtained from the parliament and the +three estates a ratification of the treaty of Troye: he supported the +duke of Burgundy in procuring a sentence against the murderers of his +father: and he immediately turned his arms with success against the +adherents of the dauphin, who, as soon as he heard of the treaty of +Troye, took on him the style and authority of regent, and appealed to +God and his sword for the maintenance of his title. + +The first place that Henry subdued was Sens, which opened its gates +after a slight resistance. With the same facility he made himself master +of Montereau. The defence of Melun was more obstinate: Barbasan, the +governor, held out for the space of four months against the besiegers; +and it was famine alone which obliged him to capitulate. Henry +stipulated to spare the lives of all the garrison, except such as were +accomplices in the murder of the duke of Burgundy; and as Barbasan +himself was suspected to be of the number, his punishment was demanded +by Philip: but the king had the generosity to intercede for him, and to +prevent his execution.[*] + + +{1421.} The necessity of providing supplies both of men and money, +obliged Henry to go over to England; and he left the duke of Exeter, +his uncle, governor of Paris during his absence. The authority which +naturally attends success, procured from the English parliament a +subsidy of a fifteenth; but, if we may judge by the scantiness of the +supply, the nation was nowise sanguine on their king's victories; and +in proportion as the prospect of their union with France became nearer, +they began to open their eyes, and to see the dangerous consequences +with which that event must necessarily be attended. It was fortunate for +Henry that he had other resources, besides pecuniary supplies from his +native subjects. The provinces which he had already conquered maintained +his troops; and the hopes of further advantages allured to his standard +all men of ambitious spirits in England, who desired to signalize +themselves by arms. He levied a new army of twenty-four thousand archers +and four thousand horsemen,[**] and marched them to Dover, the place of +rendezvous. + + * Holingshed, p. 577. + + ** Monstrelet, chap. 242. + +Every thing had remained in tranquillity at Paris under the duke of +Exeter but there had happened, in another quarter of the kingdom, a +misfortune which hastened the king's embarkation. + +The detention of the young king of Scots in England had hitherto proved +advantageous to Henry; and by keeping the regent in awe, had preserved, +during the whole course of the French war, the northern frontier in +tranquillity. But when intelligence arrived in Scotland of the progress +made by Henry, and the near prospect of his succession to the crown of +France, the nation was alarmed, and foresaw their own inevitable ruin, +if the subjection of their ally left them to combat alone a victorious +enemy, who was already so much superior in power and riches. The regent +entered into the same views; and though he declined an open rupture with +England, he permitted a body of seven thousand Scots, under the command +of the earl of Buchan, his second son, to be transported into France for +the service of the dauphin. To render this aid ineffectual, Henry +had, in his former expedition, carried over the king of Scots, whom he +obliged to send orders to his countrymen to leave the French service; +but the Scottish general replied, that he would obey no commands which +came from a king in captivity, and that a prince, while in the hands of +his enemy, was nowise entitled to authority. These troops, therefore, +continued still to act under the earl of Buchan: and were employed by +the dauphin to oppose the progress of the duke of Clarence in Anjou. +The two armies encountered at Baugé: the English were defeated: the duke +himself was slain by Sir Allan Swinton, a Scotch knight, who commanded +a company of men at arms: and the earls of Somerset,[*] Dorset, and +Huntingdon were taken prisoners.[**] This was the first action that +turned the tide of success against the English; and the dauphin, that +he might both attach the Scotch to his service, and reward the valor and +conduct of the earl of Buchan, honored that nobleman with the office of +constable. + + * His name was John, and he was afterwards created duke of + Somerset. He was grandson of John of Gaunt, duke of + Lancaster. The earl of Dorset was brother to Somerset, and + succeeded him in that title. + + ** St. Remi, chap. 110. Monstrelet, chap. 239. Hall, fol. + 76. + +But the arrival of the king of England with so considerable an army, +was more than sufficient to repair this loss. Henry was received at +Paris with great expressions of joy, so obstinate were the prejudices of +the people; and he immediately conducted his army to Chartres, which had +long been besieged by the dauphin. That prince raised the siege on the +approach of the English; and being resolved to decline a battle, he +retired with his army.[*] Henry made himself master of Dreux without a +blow: he laid siege to Meaux, at the Solicitation of the Parisians, +who were much incommoded by the garrison of that place. This enterprise +employed the English arms during the space of eight months: the bastard +of Vaurus, governor of Meaux, distinguished himself by an obstinate +defence; but was at last obliged to surrender at discretion. The cruelty +of this officer was equal to his bravery: he was accustomed to hang, +without distinction, all the English and Burgundians who fell into his +hands: and Henry, in revenge of his barbarity, ordered him immediately +to be hanged on the same tree which he had made the instrument of his +inhuman executions.[**] + + * St. Remi, chap. 3. + + ** Rymer, vol. x. p. 212 T. Livii, p. 92, 93. St. Remi, chap + 116 Monstrelet, chap. 260. + +This success was followed by the surrender of many other places in +the neighborhood of Paris, which held for the dauphin: that prince +was chased beyond the Loire, and he almost totally abandoned all the +northern provinces: he was even pursued into the south by the united +arms of the English and Burgundians, and threatened with total +destruction. Notwithstanding the bravery and fidelity of his captains, +he saw himself unequal to his enemies in the field; and found it +necessary to temporize, and to avoid all hazardous actions with a rival +who had gained so much the ascendant over him. And to crown all the +other prosperities of Henry, his queen was delivered of a son, who +was called by his father's name, and whose birth was celebrated by +rejoicings no less pompous, and no less sincere, at Paris than at +London. The infant prince seemed to be universally regarded as the +future heir of both monarchies. + +{1422.} But the glory of Henry, when it had nearly reached the summit, +was stopped short by the hand of nature; and all his mighty projects +vanished into smoke. He was seized with a fistula, a malady which the +surgeons at that time had not skill enough to cure; and he was at last +sensible that his distemper was mortal, and that his end was approaching +He sent for his brother the duke of Bedford, the earl of Warwick, and +a few noblemen more, whom he had honored with his friendship; and he +delivered to them, in great tranquillity, his last will with regard to +the government of his kingdom and family. He entreated them to continue +towards his infant son the same fidelity and attachment which they had +always professed to himself during his lifetime, and which had been +cemented by so many mutual good offices. He expressed his indifference +on the approach of death; and though he regretted that he must leave +unfinished a work so happily begun, he declared himself confident that +the final acquisition of France would be the effect of their prudence +and valor. He left the regency of that kingdom to his elder brother, the +duke of Bedford; that of England to his younger, the duke of Glocester; +and the care of his son's person to the earl of Warwick. He recommended +to all of them a great attention to maintain the friendship of the +duke of Burgundy; and advised them never to give liberty to the French +princes taken at Azincour, till his son were of age, and could himself +hold the reins of government. And he conjured them, if the success of +their arms should not enable them to place young Henry on the throne +of France, never at least to make peace with that kingdom, unless the +enemy, by the cession of Normandy, and its annexation to the crown +of England, made compensation for all the hazard and expense of his +enterprise.[*] + +He next applied himself to his devotions, and ordered his chaplain +to recite the seven penitential psalms. When that passage of the +fifty-first psalm was read, "build thou the walls of Jerusalem," he +interrupted the chaplain, and declared his serious intention, after +he should have fully subdued France, to conduct a crusade against the +infidels, and recover possession of the Holy Land.[**] So ingenious are +men in deceiving themselves, that Henry forgot, in those moments, all +the blood spilt by his ambition; and received comfort from this late and +feeble resolve, which, as the mode of these enterprises was now passed, +he certainly would never have carried into execution. He expired in the +thirty-fourth year of his age and the tenth of his reign. + + * Monstrelet, chap. 265. Hall, fol. 80. + + ** St. Remi, chap. 118, Monstrelet, el ap. 265. + +This prince possessed many eminent virtues; and if we give indulgence +to ambition in a monarch, or rank it, as the vulgar are inclined to do, +among his virtues, they were unstained by any considerable blemish. His +abilities appeared equally in the cabinet and in the field: the boldness +of his enterprises was no less remarkable than his personal valor +in conducting them. He had the talent of attaching his friends by +affability, and of gaining his enemies by address and clemency. The +English, dazzled by the lustre of his character, still more than by +that of his victories, were reconciled to the defects in his title: the +French almost forgot that he was an enemy: and his care in maintaining +justice in his civil administration, and preserving discipline in his +armies, made some amends to both nations for the calamities inseparable +from those wars in which his short reign was almost entirely occupied, +That he could forgive the earl of Marche, who had a better title to the +crown than himself, is a sure indication of his magnanimity; and that +the earl relied so entirely on his friendship, is no less a proof of his +established character for candor and sincerity. There remain in history +few instances of such mutual trust; and still fewer where neither party +found reason to repent it. + +The exterior figure of this great prince, as well as his deportment, +was engaging. His stature was somewhat above the middle size; his +countenance beautiful; his limbs genteel and slender, but full of vigor; +and he excelled in all warlike and manly exercises.[*] He left by his +queen, Catharine of France, only one son, not full nine months old; +whose misfortunes, in the course of his life, surpassed all the glories +and successes of his father. + + * T. Livii, p. 4. + +In less than two months after Henry's death, Charles VI. of France, his +father-in-law, terminated his unhappy life. He had for several years +possessed only the appearance of royal authority: yet was this mere +appearance of considerable advantage to the English; and divided the +duty and affections of the French between them and the dauphin. This +prince was proclaimed and crowned king of France at Poictiers, by the +name of Charles VII. Rheims, the place where this ceremony is usually +performed, was at that time in the hands of his enemies. + +Catharine of France, Henry's widow, married, soon after his death, a +Welsh gentleman, Sir Owen Tudor, said to be descended from the ancient +princes of that country: she bore him two sons, Edmund and Jasper, +of whom the eldest was created earl of Richmond; the second earl of +Pembroke The family of Tudor, first raised to distinction by this +alliance, mounted afterwards the throne of England. + +The long schism, which had divided the Latin church for near forty +years, was finally terminated in this reign by the council of Constance; +which deposed the pope, John XXIII., for his crimes, and elected Martin +V. in his place, who was acknowledged by almost all the kingdoms of +Europe. This great and unusual act of authority in the council, gave the +Roman pontiffs ever after a mortal antipathy to those assemblies. The +same jealousy which had long prevailed in most European countries, +between the civil aristocracy and monarchy, now also took place between +these powers in the ecclesiastical body. But the great separation of the +bishops in the several states, and the difficulty of assembling them, +gave the pope a mighty advantage, and made it more easy for him to +centre all the powers of the hierarchy in his own person. The cruelty +and treachery which attended the punishment of John Huss and Jerome +of Prague, the unhappy disciples of Wickliffe, who, in violation of +a safe-conduct were burned alive for their errors by the council of +Constance prove this melancholy truth, that toleration is none of the +virtues of priests in any form of ecclesiastical government But as the +English nation had little or no concern in these great transactions, we +are here the more concise in relating them. + +The first commission of array which we meet with, was issued in this +reign.[*] The military part of the feudal system, which was the most +essential circumstance of it, was entirely dissolved, and could no +longer serve for the defence of the kingdom. Henry, therefore, when he +went to France, in 1415, empowered certain commissioners to take in each +county a review of all the freemen able to bear arms, to divide them +into companies, and to keep them in readiness for resisting an enemy. +This was the era when the feudal militia in England gave place to one +which was perhaps still less orderly and regular. + +* Rymer, vol, ix. p. 254, 255. + +We have an authentic and exact account of the ordinary revenue of the +crown during this reign; and it amounts only to fifty-five thousand +seven hundred and fourteen pounds ten shillings and tenpence a year. [*] +This is nearly the same with the revenue of Henry III.; and the kings +of England had neither become much richer nor poorer in the course of so +many years. The ordinary expense of the government amounted to forty-two +thousand five hundred and seven pounds sixteen shillings and tenpence; +so that the king had a surplus only of thirteen thousand two hundred and +six pounds fourteen shillings for the support of his household; for his +wardrobe; for the expense of embassies; and other articles. This sum was +nowise sufficient: he was therefore obliged to have frequent recourse +to parliamentary supplies, and was thus, even in time of peace, not +altogether independent of his people. But wars were attended with a +great expense, which neither the prince's ordinary revenue, nor the +extraordinary supplies, were able to bear; and the sovereign was always +reduced to many miserable shifts, in order to make any tolerable figure +in them. He commonly borrowed money from all quarters; he pawned his +jewels, and sometimes the crown itself;[**] he ran in arrears to his +army; and he was often obliged, notwithstanding all these expedients, to +stop in the midst of his career of victory, and to grant truces to the +enemy. The high pay which was given to soldiers agreed very ill with +this low income. All the extraordinary supplies, granted by parliament +to Henry during the course of his reign, were only seven tenths and +fifteenths, about two hundred and three thousand pounds.[***] It is +easy to compute how soon this money must be exhausted by armies of +twenty-four thousand archers and six thousand horse; when each archer +had sixpence a day,[****] and each horseman two shillings. The most +splendid successes proved commonly fruitless when supported by so poor a +revenue; and the debts and difficulties which the king thereby incurred, +made him pay dear for his victories. The civil administration, likewise, +even in time of peace, could never be very regular, where the government +was so ill enabled to support itself. + + * Rymer, vol. x. p. 113. + + ** Rymer, vol. x. p. 190. + + *** Parliamentary History, vol. ii. p. 168. + + **** It appears from many passages of Rymer, particularly + vol. ix p. 258, that the king paid twenty marks a year for + an archer, which is a good deal above sixpence a day. The + price had risen, as it is natural, by raising the + denomination of money. + +Henry, till within a year of his death, owed debts which he had +contracted when prince of Wales.[*] It was in vain that the parliament +pretended to restrain him from arbitrary practices, when he was +reduced to such necessities. Though the right of levying purveyance +for instance, had been expressly guarded against by the Great Charter +itself, and was frequently complained of by the commons, it was found +absolutely impracticable to abolish it; and the parliament at length, +submitting to it as a legal prerogative, contented themselves with +enacting laws to limit and confine it. The duke of Glocester, in the +reign of Richard II., possessed a revenue of sixty thousand crowns, +(about thirty thousand pounds a year of our present money,) as we learn +from Froissard,[**] and was consequently richer than the king himself, +if all circumstances be duly considered. + +It is remarkable, that the city of Calais alone was an annual expense +to the crown of nineteen thousand one hundred and nineteen pounds;[***] +that is, above a third of the common charge of the government in time of +peace. This fortress was of no use to the defence of England, and only +gave that kingdom an inlet to annoy France. Ireland cost two thousand +pounds a year, over and above its own revenue; which was certainly very +low. Every thing conspires to give us a very mean idea of the state of +Europe in those ages. + +From the most early times till the reign of Edward III., the +denomination of money had never been altered; a pound sterling was still +a pound troy; that is, about three pounds of our present money. That +conqueror was the first that innovated in this important article. In +the twentieth of his reign, he coined twenty-two shillings from a pound +troy; in his twenty-seventh year, he coined twenty-five shillings. +But Henry V., who was also a conqueror, raised still farther the +denomination, and counted thirty shillings from a pound troy:[****] +his revenue therefore must have been about one hundred and ten thousand +pounds of our present money; and by the cheapness of provisions, was +equivalent to above three hundred and thirty thousand pounds. + + * Rymer, vol. x. p. 114. + + ** Liv. iv. chap. 86. + + *** Rymer, vol. x. p. 113. + + **** Fleetwood's Chronicon Preciosum, p. 52 + +None of the princes of the house of Lancaster ventured to impose taxes +without consent of parliament: their doubtful or bad title became so far +of advantage to the constitution. The rule was then fixed, and could not +safely be broken afterwards, even by more absolute princes. + + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +[Illustration: 1_265_henry6.jpg HENRY VI.] + + + + +HENRY VI. + +CONTEMPORARY MONARCHS. + +{1422.} During the reigns of the Lancastrian princes, the authority of +parliament seems to have been more confirmed, and the privileges of +the people more regarded, than during any former period; and the two +preceding kings, though men of great spirit and abilities, abstained +from such exertions of prerogative, as even weak princes, whose title +was undisputed, were tempted to think they might venture upon with +impunity. The long minority, of which there was now the prospect, +encouraged still further the lords and commons to extend their +influence; and without paying much regard to the verbal destination +of Henry V., they assumed the power of giving a new arrangement to the +whole administration. They declined altogether the name of "Regent" with +regard to England: they appointed the duke of Bedford "protector" or +"guardian" of that kingdom, a title which they supposed to imply less +authority: they invested the duke of Glocester with the same dignity +during the absence of his elder brother;[*] and in order to limit the +power of both these princes, they appointed a council, without whose +advice and approbation no measure of importance could be determined.[**] +The person and education of the infant prince were committed to Henry +Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, his great uncle, and the legitimated son +of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster; a prelate who, as his family could +never have any pretensions to the crown, might safely, they thought, be +intrusted with that important charge.[***] + + * Rymer, vol. x. p. 261. Cotton, p. 564. + + ** Cotton, p. 564. + + *** Hall, fol. 83. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 27. + +The two princes, the dukes of Bedford and Glocester, who seemed injured +by this plan of government, yet, being persons of great integrity and +honor, acquiesced in any appointment which tended to give security +to the public; and as the wars in France appeared to be the object +of greatest moment, they avoided every dispute which might throw an +obstacle in the way of foreign conquests. + +When the state of affairs between the English and French kings was +considered with a superficial eye, every advantage seemed to be on the +side of the former; and the total expulsion of Charles appeared to be an +event which might naturally be expected from the superior power of his +competitor. Though Henry was yet in his infancy, the administration was +devolved on the duke of Bedford, the most accomplished prince of his +age; whose experience, prudence, valor, and generosity qualified him +for his high office, and enabled him both to maintain union among his +friends, and to gain the confidence of his enemies. The whole power +of England was at his command; he was at the head of armies inured to +victory; he was seconded by the most renowned generals of the age, the +earls of Somerset, Warwick, Salisbury, Suffolk, and Arundel, Sir +John Talbot, and Sir John Fastolffe: and besides Guienne, the ancient +inheritance of England, he was master of the capital, and of almost +all the northern provinces, which were well enabled to furnish him with +supplies both of men and money, and to assist and support his English +forces. + +But Charles, notwithstanding the present inferiority of his power, +possessed some advantages, derived partly from his situation, partly +from his personal character, which promised him success, and served, +first to control, then to overbalance, the superior force and opulence +of his enemies. He was the true and undoubted heir of the monarchy: all +Frenchmen, who knew the interests, or desired the independence, of +their country, turned their eyes towards him as its sole resource; the +exclusion given him by the imbecility of his father, and the forced or +precipitate consent of the states, had plainly no validity: that spirit +of faction which had blinded the people, could not long hold them in +so gross a delusion: their national and inveterate hatred against the +English, the authors of all their calamities, must soon revive, and +inspire them with indignation at bending their necks under the yoke of +that hostile people: great nobles and princes, accustomed to maintain +an independence against their native sovereigns, would never endure a +subjection to strangers; and though most of the princes of the blood +were, since the fatal battle of Azincour detained prisoners in England, +the inhabitants of their de mesnes, their friends their vassals, all +declared a zealous attachment to the king and exerted themselves in +resisting the violence of foreign invaders. + +Charles himself, though only in his twentieth year, was of a character +well calculated to become the object of these benevolent sentiments; +and perhaps from the favor which naturally attends youth, was the more +likely, on account of his tender age, to acquire the good-will of +his native subjects. He was a prince of the most friendly and benign +disposition, of easy and familiar manners, and of a just and sound, +though not a very vigorous understanding. Sincere, generous, affable, he +engaged from affection the services of his followers, even while his low +fortunes might make it their interest to desert him; and the lenity of +his temper could pardon in them those sallies of discontent, to which +princes in his situation are so frequently exposed. The love of pleasure +often seduced him into indolence; but amidst all his irregularities, the +goodness of his heart still shone forth; and by exerting at intervals +his courage and activity, he proved that his general remissness +proceeded not from the want either of a just spirit of ambition, or of +personal valor. + +Though the virtues of this amiable prince lay some time in obscurity, +the duke of Bedford knew that his title alone made him formidable, and +that every foreign assistance would be requisite, ere an English regent +could hope to complete the conquest of France; an enterprise which, +however it might seem to be much advanced, was still exposed to many +and great difficulties. The chief circumstance which had procured to the +English all their present advantages, was the resentment of the duke +of Burgundy against Charles; and as that prince seemed intent rather on +gratifying his passion than consulting his interests, it was the more +easy for the regent, by demonstrations of respect and confidence, to +retain him in the alliance of England. He bent, therefore, all his +endeavors to that purpose: he gave the duke every proof of friendship +and regard: he even offered him the regency of France, which Philip +declined: and that he might corroborate national connections by private +ties, he concluded his own marriage with the princess of Burgundy, which +had been stipulated by the treaty of Arras. + +{1423.} Being sensible that, next to the alliance of Burgundy, the +friendship of the duke of Brittany was of the greatest importance +towards forwarding the English conquests; and that, as the provinces of +France, already subdued, lay between the dominions of these two princes, +he could never hope for any security without preserving his connections +with them; he was very intent on strengthening himself also from that +quarter. The duke of Brittany, having received many just reasons of +displeasure from the ministers of Charles, had already acceded to the +treaty of Troye, and had, with other vassals of the crown, done homage +to Henry V. in quality of heir to the kingdom: but as the regent knew +that the duke was much governed by his brother, the count of Richemont, +he endeavored to fix his friendship, by paying court and doing services +to this haughty and ambitious prince. + +Arthur, count of Richemont, had been taken prisoner at the battle of +Azincour, had been treated with great indulgence by the late king, and +had even been permitted on his parole to take a journey into Brittany, +where the state of affairs required his presence. The death of that +victorious monarch happened before Richemont's return; and this prince +pretended that, as his word was given personally to Henry V., he was not +bound to fulfil it towards his son and successor; a chicane which the +regent, as he could not force him to compliance, deemed it prudent +to overlook. An interview was settled at Amiens between the dukes of +Bedford, Burgundy, and Brittany, at which the count of Richemont was +also present:[*] the alliance was renewed between these princes: and +the regent persuaded Philip to give in marriage to Richemont his eldest +sister, widow of the deceased dauphin, Lewis, the elder brother of +Charles. Thus Arthur was connected both with the regent and the duke of +Burgundy, and seemed engaged by interest to prosecute the same object, +in forwarding the success of the English arms. + + * Hall. fol. 84. Monstrelet, vol. i. p 4. Stowe, p. 364. + +While the vigilance of the duke of Bedford was employed in gaining or +confirming these allies, whose vicinity rendered them so important, he +did not overlook the state of more remote countries. The duke of Albany, +regent of Scotland, had died: and his power had devolved on Murdac, his +son, a prince of a weak understanding and indolent disposition; who, far +from possessing the talents requisite for the government of that +fierce people, was not even able to maintain authority in his own +family, or restrain the petulance and insolence of his sons. The ardor +of the Scots to serve in France, where Charles treated them with great +honor and distinction, and where the regent's brother enjoyed the +dignity of constable, broke out afresh under this feeble administration: +new succors daily came over, and filled the armies of the French king: +the earl of Douglas conducted a reënforcement of five thousand men +to his assistance: and it was justly to be dreaded that the Scots, by +commencing open hostilities in the north, would occasion a diversion +still more considerable of the English power, and would ease Charles, in +part, of that load by which he was at present so grievously oppressed. +The duke of Bedford, therefore, persuaded the English council to form an +alliance with James, their prisoner; to free that prince from his long +captivity; and to connect him with England by marrying him to a daughter +of the earl of Somerset, and cousin of the young king.[*] As the +Scottish regent, tired of his present dignity, which he was not able to +support, was now become entirely sincere in his applications for James's +liberty, the treaty was soon concluded; a ransom of forty thousand +pounds was stipulated;[**] and the king of Scots was restored to the +throne of his ancestors, and proved, in his short reign, one of the +most illustrious princes that had ever governed that kingdom. He was +murdered, in 1437, by his traitorous kinsman the earl of Athole. His +affections inclined to the side of France; but the English had never +reason during his lifetime to complain of any breach of the neutrality +by Scotland. + + * Hall, fol. 86. Stowe, p. 364. Grafton, p. 501. + + * Rymer, vol. x. p. 299, 300, 326. + +But the regent was not so much employed in these political negotiations +as to neglect the operations of war, from which alone he could hope +to succeed in expelling the French monarch. Though the chief seat of +Charles's power lay in the southern provinces beyond the Loire, his +partisans were possessed of some fortresses in the northern, and even in +the neighborhood of Paris; and it behoved the duke of Bedford first +to clear these countries from the enemy, before he could think of +attempting more distant conquests. The Castle of Dorsoy was taken after +a siege of six weeks: that of Noyelle and the town of Rue, in Picardy, +underwent the same fate: Pont sur Seine, Vertus, Montaigu, were +subjected by the English arms: and a more considerable advantage was +soon after gained by the united forces of England and Burgundy. John +Stuart, constable of Scotland, and the lord of Estissac had formed the +siege of Crevant, in Burgundy: the earls of Salisbury and Suffolk, +with the count of Toulongeon, were sent to its relief: a fierce and +well-disputed action ensued; the Scots and French were defeated: the +constable of Scotland and the count of Ventadour were taken prisoners; +and above a thousand men, among whom was Sir William Hamilton, were left +on the field of battle.[*] The taking of Gaillon upon the Seine, and of +La Charité upon the Loire, was the fruit of this victory: and as +this latter place opened an entrance into the southern provinces, the +acquisition of it appeared on that account of the greater importance +to the duke of Bedford, and seemed to promise a successful issue to the +war. + + * Hall, fol. 86. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 8. Holingshed, p. + 586., Grafton, p. 500. + +{1424.} The more Charles was threatened with an invasion in those +provinces which adhered to him, the more necessary it became that he +should retain possession of every fortress which he still held within +the quarters of the enemy. The duke of Bedford had besieged in person, +during the space of three months, the town of Yvri, in Normandy: and +the brave governor, unable to make any longer defence, was obliged to +capitulate; and he agreed to surrender the town, if, before a certain +term, no relief arrived. Charles, informed of these conditions, +determined to make an attempt for saving the place. He collected, with +some difficulty, an army of fourteen thousand men, of whom one half were +Scots; and he sent them thither under the command of the earl of Buchan, +constable of France; who was attended by the earl of Douglas, his +countryman, the duke of Alençon, the mareschal de la Fayette, the count +of Aumale, and the viscount of Narbonne. When the constable arrived +within a few leagues of Yvri, he found that he was come too late, and +that the place was already surrendered. He immediately turned to the +left, and sat down before Verneuil, which the inhabitants, in spite of +the garrison, delivered up to him.[*] Buchan might now have returned in +safety, and with the glory of making an acquisition no less important +than the place which he was sent to relieve: but hearing of Bedford's +approach, he called a council of war, in order to deliberate concerning +the conduct which he should hold in this emergence. + + * Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 14. Grafton, p. 504. + +The wiser part of the council declared for a retreat; and represented, +that all the past misfortunes of the French had proceeded from their +rashness in giving battle when no necessity obliged them; that this +army was the last resource of the king, and the only defence of the few +provinces which remained to him; and that every reason invited him to +embrace cautious measures, which might leave time for his subjects to +return to a sense of their duty, and give leisure for discord to arise +among his enemies, who, being united by no common bond of interest or +motive of alliance, could not long persevere in their animosity against +him. All these prudential considerations were overborne by a vain point +of honor, not to turn their backs to the enemy; and they resolved to +await the arrival of the duke of Bedford. + +The numbers were nearly equal in this action; and as the long +continuance of war had introduced discipline, which, however imperfect, +sufficed to maintain some appearance of order in such small armies, the +battle was fierce, and well disputed, and attended with bloodshed +on both sides. The constable drew up his forces under the walls of +Verneuil, and resolved to abide the attack of the enemy: but the +impatience of the viscount of Narbonne, who advanced precipitately, and +obliged the whole line to follow him in some hurry and confusion, was +the cause of the misfortune which ensued. The English archers, fixing +their palisadoes before them, according to their usual custom, sent +a volley of arrows amidst the thickest of the French army; and though +beaten from their ground, and obliged to take shelter among the baggage, +they soon rallied, and continued to do great execution upon the enemy. +The duke of Bedford, meanwhile, at the head of the men at arms, made +impression on the French, broke their ranks, chased them off the field, +and rendered the victory entirely complete and decisive.[*] + + * Hall, fol. 83, 89, 90. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 15. Stowe, + p 365., Holingshed, p. 588. + +The constable himself perished in battle as well as the earl of Douglas +and his son, the counts of Aumale, Tonnerre, and Ventadour, with many +other considerable nobility. The duke of Alençon, the mareschal de la +Fayette, the lords of Gaucour and Mortemar, were taken prisoners. There +fell about four thousand of the French, and sixteen hundred of the +English; a loss esteemed, at that time, so unusual on the side of +the victors, that the duke of Bedford forbade all rejoicings for his +success, Verneuil was surrendered next day by capitulation.[*] + + * Monstrelet. vol. ii. p. 15. + +The condition of the king of France now appeared very terrible, and +almost desperate. He had lost the flower of his army and the bravest +of his nobles in this fatal action: he had no resource either for +recruiting or subsisting his troops; he wanted money even for his +personal subsistence; and though all parade of a court was banished, it +was with difficulty he could keep a table, supplied with the plainest +necessaries, for himself and his few followers: every day brought +him intelligence of some loss or misfortune: towns which were bravely +defended, were obliged at last to surrender for want of relief or +supply: he saw his partisans entirely chased from all the provinces +which lay north of the Loire: and he expected soon to lose, by the +united efforts of his enemies, all the territories of which he had +hitherto continued master; when an incident happened which saved him +on the brink of ruin, and lost the English such an opportunity for +completing their conquests, as they never afterwards were able to +recall. + +Jacqueline, countess of Hainault and Holland, and heir of these +provinces, had espoused John, duke of Brabant cousin-german to the +duke of Burgundy; but having made this choice from the usual motives of +princes, she soon found reason to repent of the unequal alliance. She +was a princess of a masculine spirit and uncommon understanding: the +duke of Brabant was of a sickly complexion and weak mind: she was in the +vigor of her age; he had only reached his fifteenth year: these +causes had inspired her with such contempt for her husband, which soon +proceeded to antipathy that she determined to dissolve a marriage, +where, it is probable, nothing but the ceremony had as yet intervened. +The court of Rome was commonly very open to applications of this nature, +when seconded by power and money; but as the princess foresaw great +opposition from her husband's relations, and was impatient to effect her +purpose, she made her escape into England, and threw herself under +the protection of the duke of Glocester. That prince, with many noble +qualities had the defect of being governed by an impetuous temper and +vehement passions; and he was rashly induced, as well by the charms +of the countess herself, as by the prospect of possessing her rich +inheritance, to offer himself to her as a husband. Without waiting for +a papal dispensation; without endeavoring to reconcile the duke of +Burgundy to the measure; he entered into a contract of marriage with +Jaqueline, and immediately attempted to put himself in possession of +her dominions. Philip was disgusted with so precipitate a conduct: he +resented the injury done to the duke of Brabant, his near relation: +he dreaded to have the English established on all sides of him: and +he foresaw the consequences which must attend the extensive and +uncontrolled dominion of that nation, if, before the full settlement of +their power, they insulted and injured an ally to whom they had already +been so much indebted, and who was still so necessary for supporting +them in their further progress. He encouraged, therefore, the duke of +Brabant to make resistance: he engaged many of Jaqueline's subjects to +adhere to that prince: he himself marched troops to his support: and as +the duke of Glocester still persevered in his purpose, a sharp war was +suddenly kindled in the Low Countries. The quarrel soon became personal +as well as political. The English prince wrote to the duke of Burgundy, +complaining of the opposition made to his pretensions; and though, in +the main, he employed amicable terms in his letter, he took notice of +some falsehoods into which, he said, Philip had been betrayed during +the course of these transactions. This unguarded expression was highly +resented: the duke of Burgundy insisted that he should retract it; and +mutual challenges and defiances passed between them on this occasion.[*] + + * Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 19, 20, 21. + +The duke of Bedford could easily foresee the bad effects of so ill-timed +and imprudent a quarrel. All the succors which he expected from England, +and which were so necessary in this critical emergence, were intercepted +by his brother, and employed in Holland and Hainault: the forces of the +duke of Burgundy, which he also depended on, were diverted by the +same wars: and besides this double loss, he was in imminent danger of +alienating forever that confederate whose friendship was of the utmost +importance, and whom the late king had enjoined him, with his +dying breath, to gratify by every mark of regard and attachment. He +represented all these topics to the duke of Glocester: he endeavored to +mitigate the resentment of the duke of Burgundy: he interposed with his +good offices between these princes, but was not successful in any of his +endeavors; and he found that the impetuosity of his brother's temper +was still the chief obstacle to all accommodation.[*] For this reason, +instead of pushing the victory gained at Verneuil, he found himself +obliged to take a journey into England, and to try, by his counsels and +authority, to moderate the measures of the duke of Glocester. + +There had likewise broken out some differences among the English +ministry, which had proceeded to great extremities, and which required +the regent's presence to compose them.[**] The bishop of Winchester, to +whom the care of the king's person and education had been intrusted, +was a prelate of great capacity and experience, but of an intriguing and +dangerous character; and as he aspired to the government of affairs, +he had continual disputes with his nephew the protector; and he gained +frequent advantages over the vehement and impolitic temper of that +prince. + +{1425.} The duke of Bedford employed the authority of parliament to +reconcile them; and these rivals were obliged to promise, before that +assembly, that they would bury all quarrels in oblivion.[***] Time also +seemed to open expedients for composing the difference with the duke of +Burgundy. The credit of that prince had procured a bull from the pope; +by which not only Jaqueline's contract with the duke of Glocester was +annulled, but it was also declared that, even in case of the duke +of Brabant's death, it should never be lawful for her to espouse the +English prince. Humphrey, despairing of success, married another lady of +inferior rank, who had lived some time with him as his mistress.[****] + + * Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 18. + + ** Stowe, p. 368. Holingshed, p. 530. + + *** Hall, fol. 98, 99. Hollingshed, p. 593, 594. Polydore + Virgil, p. 466. Grafton, p. 512, 519. + + **** Stowe, p 367. + +The duke of Brabant died; and his widow, before she could recover +possession of her dominions, was obliged to declare the duke of Burgundy +her heir, in case she should die without issue, and to promise never to +marry without his consent. But though the affair was thus terminated +to the satisfaction of Philip, it left a disagreeable impression on his +mind: it excited an extreme jealousy of the English, and opened his eyes +to his true interests: and as nothing but his animosity against Charles +had engaged him in alliance with them, it counterbalanced that passion +by another of the same kind, which in the end became prevalent, and +brought him back, by degrees, to his natural connections with his family +and his native country. + +About the same time, the duke of Brittany began to withdraw himself +from the English alliance. His brother, the count of Richemont, though +connected by marriage with the dukes of Burgundy and Bedford, was +extremely attached by inclination to the French interest; and he +willingly hearkened to all the advances which Charles made him for +obtaining his friendship. The staff of constable, vacant by the earl of +Buchan's death, was offered him; and as his martial and ambitious temper +aspired to the command of armies, which he had in vain attempted to +obtain from the duke of Bedford, he not only accepted that office, but +brought over his brother to an alliance with the French monarch. The new +constable, having made this one change in his measures, firmly adhered +ever after to his engagements with France. Though his pride and +violence, which would admit of no rival in his master's confidence, +and even prompted him to assassinate the other favorites, had so much +disgusted Charles, that he once banished him the court, and refused to +admit him to his presence, he still acted with vigor for the service of +that monarch, and obtained at last, by his perseverance, the pardon of +all past offences. + +{1426.} In this situation, the duke of Bedford, on his return, found the +affairs of France, after passing eight months in England. The duke +of Burgundy was much disgusted. The duke of Brittany had entered into +engagements with Charles, and had done homage to that prince for his +duchy. The French had been allowed to recover from the astonishment +into which their frequent disasters had thrown them. An incident too +had happened, which served extremely to raise their courage. The earl of +Warwick had besieged Montargis with a small army of three thousand men, +and the place was reduced to extremity, when the bastard of Orleans +undertook to throw relief into it. This general, who was natural son to +the prince assassinated by the duke of Burgundy, and who was afterwards +created count of Dunois, conducted a body of one thousand six hundred +men to Montargis, and made an attack on the enemy's trenches with so +much valor, prudence, and good fortune, that he not only penetrated into +the place, but gave a severe blow to the English, and obliged Warwick +to raise the siege.[*] This was the first signal action that raised the +fame of Dunois, and opened him the road to those great honors which he +afterwards attained. + +But the regent, soon after his arrival, revived the reputation of the +English arms by an important enterprise which he happily achieved. He +secretly brought together, in separate detachments, a considerable +army to the frontiers of Brittany; and fell so unexpectedly upon that +province, that the duke, unable to make resistance, yielded to all the +terms required of him. he renounced the French alliance; he engaged to +maintain the treaty of Troye; he acknowledged the duke of Bedford +for regent of France; and promised to do homage for his duchy to King +Henry.[**] And the English prince, having thus freed himself from a +dangerous enemy who lay behind him, resolved on an undertaking, which, +if successful, would, he hoped, cast the balance between the two +nations, and prepare the way for the final conquest of France. + +{1428.} The city of Orleans was so situated between the provinces +commanded by Henry, and those possessed by Charles, that it opened an +easy entrance to either; and as the duke of Bedford intended to make a +great effort for penetrating into the south of France, it behoved him to +begin with this place, which, in the present circumstances, was become +the most important in the kingdom. He committed the conduct of the +enterprise to the earl of Salisbury, who had newly brought him a +reënforcement of six thousand men from England, and who had much +distinguished himself by his abilities during the course of the present +war. Salisbury, passing the Loire, made himself master of several +small places, which surrounded Orleans on that side;[***] and as his +intentions were thereby known, the French king used every expedient +to supply the city with a garrison and provisions, and enable it to +maintain a long and obstinate siege. + + * Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 32, 33. Holingshed, p. 597. + + ** Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 35, 36. + + *** Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 38, 39. Polyd. Virg. p. 468. + +The lord of Gaucour, a brave and experienced captain, was appointed +governor: many officers of distinction threw themselves into the place: +the troops which they conducted were inured to war, and were determined +to make the most obstinate resistance: and even the inhabitants, +disciplined by the long continuance of hostilities, were well qualified, +in their own defence, to second the efforts of the most veteran forces. +The eyes of all Europe were turned towards this scene; where, it was +reasonably supposed, the French were to make their last stand for +maintaining the independence of their monarchy, and the rights of their +sovereign. + +The earl of Salisbury at last approached the place with an army, which +consisted only of ten thousand men; and not being able, with so small +a force, to invest so great a city, that commanded a bridge over the +Loire, he stationed himself on the southern side towards Sologne, +leaving the other, towards the Beausse, still open to the enemy. He +there attacked the fortifications which guarded the entrance to the +bridge; and, after an obstinate resistance, he carried several of them; +but was himself killed by a cannon ball as he was taking a view of the +enemy.[*] + + * Hall, fol. 105. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 39., Stowe, p. + 369. Hoingshed, p. 599. Grafton, p. 531. + +The earl of Suffolk succeeded to the command; and being reënforced with +great numbers of English and Burgundians, he passed the river with the +main body of his army, and invested Orleans on the other side. As it +was now the depth of winter, Suffolk, who found it difficult, in that +season, to throw up intrenchments all around, contented himself, for the +present, with erecting redoubts at different distances, where his men +were lodged in safety, and were ready to intercept the supplies which +the enemy might attempt to throw into the place. Though he had several +pieces of artillery in his camp, (and this is among the first sieges +in Europe where cannon were found to be of importance,) the art of +engineering was hitherto so imperfect, that Suffolk trusted more to +famine than to force for subduing the city; and he purposed in +the spring to render the circumvallation more complete, by drawing +intrenchments from one redoubt to another. Numberless feats of valor +were performed both by the besiegers and besieged during the winter: +bold sallies were made, and repulsed with equal boldness: convoys were +sometimes introduced, and often intercepted: the supplies were still +unequal to the consumption of the place: and the English seemed +daily, though slowly, to be advancing towards the completion of their +enterprise. + +{1429.} But while Suffolk lay in this situation, the French parties +ravaged all the country around; and the besiegers, who were obliged to +draw their provisions from a distance were themselves exposed to the +danger of want and famine. Sir John Fastolffe was bringing up a large +convoy of even kind of stores, which he escorted with a detachment of +two thousand five hundred men; when he was attacked by a body of four +thousand French, under the command of the counts of Clermont and Dunois. +Fastolffe drew up his troops behind the wagons; but the French generals, +afraid of attacking him in that posture, planted a battery of cannon +against him; which threw every thing into confusion, and would have +insured them the victory, had not the impatience of some Scottish +troops, who broke the line of battle, brought on an engagement, in which +Fastolffe was victorious. The count of Dunois was wounded; and about +five hundred French were left on the field of battle. This action, which +was of great importance in the present conjuncture, was commonly called +the battle of Herrings; because the convoy brought a great quantity of +that kind of provisions, for the use of the English army during the Lent +season.[*] + +Charles seemed now to have but one expedient for saving this city, which +had been so long invested. The duke of Orleans, who was still prisoner +in England, prevailed on the protector and the council to consent that +all his demesnes should be allowed to preserve a neutrality during the +war, and should be sequestered, for greater security, into the hands +of the duke of Burgundy. This prince, who was much less cordial in the +English interests than formerly, went to Paris, and made the proposal to +the duke of Bedford; but the regent coldly replied, that he was not of a +humor to beat the bushes while others ran away with the game; an answer +which so disgusted the duke, that he recalled all the troops of Burgundy +that acted in the siege.[**] + + * Hall, fol. 100. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 41, 42. Stowe, p. + 369. Holingshed, p. 600. Polyd. Virg. p. 469. Grafton, p. + 532. + + ** Hall, fol. 106. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 42. Stowe, p. 369. + Grafton, p. 533 + +This place, however, was every day more and more closely invested by +the English: great scarcity began already to be felt by the garrison and +inhabitants: Charles, in despair of collecting an army which should dare +to approach the enemy's intrenchments, not only gave the city for lost, +but began to entertain a very dismal prospect with regard to the general +state of his affairs. He saw that the country in which he had hitherto +with great difficulty subsisted, would be laid entirely open to the +invasion of a powerful and victorious enemy; and he already entertained +thoughts of retiring with the remains of his forces into Languedoc and +Dauphiny, and defending himself as long as possible in those remote +provinces. But it was fortunate for this good prince that, as he lay +under the dominion of the fair, the women whom he consulted had the +spirit to support his sinking resolution in this desperate extremity. +Mary of Anjou, his queen, a princess of great merit and prudence, +vehemently opposed this measure, which, she foresaw, would discourage +all his partisans, and serve as a general signal for deserting a prince +who seemed himself to despair of success. His mistress too, the fair +Agnes Sorel, who lived in entire amity with the queen, seconded all her +remonstrances, and threatened that, if he thus pusillanimously threw +away the sceptre of France, she would seek in the court of England a +fortune more correspondent to her wishes. Love was able to rouse in the +breast of Charles that courage which ambition had failed to excite: he +resolved to dispute every inch of ground with an imperious enemy, and +rather to perish with honor in the midst of his friends, than yield +ingloriously to his bad fortune; when relief was unexpectedly brought +him by another female of a very different character, who gave rise to +one of the most singular revolutions that is to be met with in history. + +In the village of Domremi, near Vaucouleurs, on the borders of Lorraine, +there lived a country girl of twenty-seven years of age, called Joan +d'Arc, who was servant in a small inn, and who in that station had been +accustomed to tend the horses of the guests, to ride them without a +saddle to the watering-place, and to perform other offices which, in +well frequented inns, commonly fall to the share of the men servants.[*] + + * Hall, fol. 107. Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 42. Grafton, p. + 534. + +This girl was of an irreproachable life, and had not hitherto been +remarked for any singularity; whether that she had met with no occasion +to excite her genius, or that the unskilful eyes of those who conversed +with her had not been able to discern her uncommon merit. It is easy to +imagine, that the present situation of France was an interesting object +even to persons of the lowest rank, and would become the frequent +subject of conversation: a young prince, expelled his throne by the +sedition of native subjects, and by the arms of strangers, could +not fail to move the compassion of all his people whose hearts were +uncorrupted by faction; and the peculiar character of Charles, so +strongly inclined to friendship and the tender passions, naturally +rendered him the hero of that sex whose generous minds know no bounds +in their affections. The siege of Orleans, the progress of the English +before that place, the great distress of the garrison and inhabitants, +the importance of saving this city and its brave defenders, had turned +thither the public eye; and Joan, inflamed by the general sentiment, +was seized with a wild desire of bringing relief to her sovereign in +his present distresses. Her unexperienced mind, working day and night +on this favorite object, mistook the impulses of passion for heavenly +inspirations; and she fancied that she saw visions, and heard voices, +exhorting her to reëstablish the throne of France, and to expel the +foreign invaders. An uncommon intrepidity of temper made her overlook +all the dangers which might attend her in such a path; and thinking +herself destined by Heaven to this office, she threw aside all that +bashfulness and timidity so natural to her sex, her years, and her low +station. She went to Vaucouleurs; procured admission to Baudricourt, the +governor; informed him of her inspirations and intentions; and conjured +him not to neglect the voice of God, who spoke through her, but to +second those heavenly revelations which impelled her to this glorious +enterprise. Baudricourt treated her at first with some neglect; but on +her frequent returns to him, and importunate solicitations, he began +to remark something extraordinary in the maid, and was inclined, at all +hazards, to make so easy an experiment. It is uncertain whether this +gentleman had discernment enough to perceive, that great use might be +made with the vulgar of so uncommon an engine; or, what is more likely +in that credulous age, was himself a convert to this visionary; but he +adopted at last the schemes of Joan; and he gave her some attendants, +who conducted her to the French court, which at that time resided at +Chinon. + +It is the business of history to distinguish between the miraculous and +the marvellous; to reject the first in all narrations merely profane +and human; to doubt the second; and when obliged by unquestionable +testimony, as in the present case, to admit of something extraordinary, +to receive as little of it as is consistent with the known facts and +circumstances. It is pretended, that Joan, immediately on her admission, +knew the king, though she had never seen his face before, and though +he purposely kept himself in the crowd of courtiers, and had laid aside +every thing in his dress and apparel which might distinguish him: that +she offered him, in the name of the supreme Creator, to raise the siege +of Orleans, and conduct him to Rheims to be there crowned and anointed; +and on his expressing doubts of her mission, revealed to him, before +some sworn confidants, a secret which was unknown to all the world +beside himself, and which nothing but a heavenly inspiration could +have discovered to her: and that she demanded, as the instrument of her +future victories, a particular sword, which was kept in the church of +St. Catharine of Fierbois, and which, though she had never seen it, she +described by all its marks, and by the place in which it had long lain +neglected.[*] This is certain, that all these miraculous stories were +spread abroad, in order to captivate the vulgar. The more the king +and his ministers were determined to give into the illusion, the more +scruples they pretended. An assembly of grave doctors and theologians +cautiously examined Joan's mission, and pronounced it undoubted +and supernatural. She was sent to the parliament, then residing at +Poictiers; and was interrogated before that assembly: the presidents, +the counsellors, who came persuaded of her imposture, went away +convinced of her inspiration. A ray of hope began to break through that +despair in which the minds of all men were before enveloped. Heaven +had now declared itself in favor of France, and had laid bare +its outstretched arm to take vengeance on her invaders. Few could +distinguish between the impulse of inclination and the force of +conviction; and none would submit to the trouble of so disagreeable a +scrutiny. + + * Hall, fol. 107. Holingshed, p. 600. + +After these artificial precautions and preparations had been for some +time employed, Joan's requests were at last complied with: she was armed +cap-à-pie, mounted on horseback, and shown in that martial habiliment +before the whole people. Her dexterity in managing her steed, though +acquired in her former occupation, was regarded as a fresh proof of +her mission; and she was received with the loudest acclamations by the +spectators. Her former occupation was even denied: she was no longer the +servant of an inn. She was converted into a shepherdess, an employment +much more agreeable to the imagination. To render her still more +interesting, near ten years were subtracted from her age; and all +the sentiments of love and of chivalry were thus united to those of +enthusiasm, in order to inflame the fond fancy of the people with +prepossessions in her favor. + +When the engine was thus dressed up in full splendor, it was determined +to essay its force against the enemy. Joan was sent to Blois, where a +large convoy was prepared for the supply of Orleans, and an army of ten +thousand men, under the command of St. Severe, assembled to escort it. +She ordered all the soldiers to confess themselves before they set out +on the enterprise: she banished from the camp all women of bad fame: she +displayed in her hands a consecrated banner, where the Supreme Being was +represented, grasping the globe or earth, and surrounded with flower +de luces. And she insisted, in right of her prophetic mission, that the +convoy should enter Orleans by the direct road from the side of Beausse: +but the count of Dunois, unwilling to submit the rules of the military +art to her inspirations, ordered it to approach by the other side of the +river, where he knew the weakest part of the English army was stationed. + +Previous to this attempt, the maid had written to the regent, and to +the English generals before Orleans, commanding them, in the name of the +omnipotent Creator, by whom she was commissioned, immediately to +raise the siege; and to evacuate France; and menacing them with divine +vengeance in case of their disobedience. All the English affected to +speak with derision of the maid, and of her heavenly commission; and +said, that the French king was now indeed reduced to a sorry pass, +when he had recourse to such ridiculous expedients: but they felt their +imagination secretly struck with the vehement persuasion which prevailed +in all around them; and they waited with an anxious expectation, not +unmixed with horror, for the issue of these extraordinary preparations. + +As the convoy approached the river, a sally was made by the garrison +on the side of Beausse, to prevent the English general from sending any +detachment to the other side: the provisions were peaceably embarked in +boats, which the inhabitants of Orleans had sent to receive them: the +maid covered with her troops the embarkation: Suffolk did not venture +to attack her: and the French general carried back the army in safety +to Blois; an alteration of affairs which was already visible to all the +world, and which had a proportional effect on the minds of both parties. + +The maid entered the city of Orleans, arrayed in her military garb, and +displaying her consecrated standard; and was received as a celestial +deliverer by all the inhabitants. They now believed themselves +invincible under her influence; and Dunois himself, perceiving such a +mighty alteration both in friends and foes, consented, that the next +convoy, which was expected in a few days, should enter by the side of +Beausse. The convoy approached: no sign of resistance appeared in the +besiegers: the wagons and troops passed without interruption between the +redoubts of the English: a dead silence and astonishment reigned among +those troops, formerly so elated with victory, and so fierce for the +combat. + +The earl of Suffolk was in a situation very unusual and extraordinary, +and which might well confound the man of the greatest capacity and +firmest temper. He saw his troops overawed, and strongly impressed +with the idea of a divine influence accompanying the maid. Instead of +banishing these vain terrors by hurry, and action, and war, he waited +till the soldiers should recover from the panic; and he thereby gave +leisure for those prepossessions to sink still deeper into their minds. +The military maxims which are prudent in common cases, deceived him in +these unaccountable events. The English felt their courage daunted and +overwhelmed; and thence inferred a divine vengeance hanging over +them. The French drew the same inference from an inactivity so new and +unexpected. Every circumstance was now reversed in the opinions of +men, on which all depends: the spirit resulting from a long course of +uninterrupted success, was on a sudden transferred from the victors to +the vanquished. + +The maid called aloud, that the garrison should remain no longer on the +defensive; and she promised her followers the assistance of Heaven in +attacking those redoubts of the enemy which had so long kept them in +awe, and which they had never hitherto dared to insult. The generals +seconded her ardor: an attack was made on one redoubt, and it proved +successful:[*] all the English who defended the intrenchments were put +to the sword or taken prisoners: and Sir John Talbot himself, who had +drawn together, from the other redoubts, some troops to bring them +relief, durst not appear in the open field against so formidable an +enemy. + + * Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 45. + +Nothing, after this success, seemed impossible to the maid and her +enthusiastic votaries. She urged the generals to attack the main body +of the English in their intrenchments, but Dunois, still unwilling to +hazard the fate of France by too great temerity, and sensible that the +least reverse of fortune would make all the present visions evaporate, +and restore every thing to its former condition, checked her vehemence +and proposed to her first to expel the enemy from their forts on the +other side of the river, and thus lay the communication with the country +entirely open, before she attempted any more hazardous enterprise. Joan +was persuaded, and these forts were vigorously assailed. In one attack +the French were repulsed; the maid was left almost alone; she was +obliged to retreat, and join the runaways; but, displaying her sacred +standard, and animating them with her countenance, her gestures, her +exhortations, she led them back to the charge, and overpowered the +English in their intrenchments. In the attack of another fort, she was +wounded in the neck with an arrow; she retreated a moment behind the +assailants; she pulled out the arrow with her own hands; she had the +wound quickly dressed; and she hastened back to head the troops, and to +plant her victorious banner on the ramparts of the enemy. + +By all these successes, the English were entirely chased from their +fortifications on that side: they had lost above six thousand men in +these different actions; and, what was still more important, their +wonted courage and confidence were wholly gone, and had given place to +amazement and despair. The maid returned triumphant over the bridge, and +was again received as the guardian angel of the city. After performing +such miracles, she convinced the most obdurate incredulity of her divine +mission: men felt themselves animated as by a superior energy, and +thought nothing impossible to that divine hand which so visibly +conducted them. It was in vain even for the English generals to oppose +with their soldiers the prevailing opinion of supernatural influence: +they themselves were probably moved by the same belief: the utmost they +dared to advance was, that Joan was not an instrument of God; she was +only the implement of the devil: but as the English had felt, to their +sad experience, that the devil might be allowed sometimes to prevail, +they derived not much consolation from the enforcing of this opinion. + +It might prove extremely dangerous for Suffolk, with such intimidated +troops, to remain any longer in the presence of so courageous and +victorious an enemy; he therefore raised the siege, and retreated +with all the precaution imaginable. The French resolved to push their +conquests, and to allow the English no leisure to recover from their +consternation. Charles formed a body of six thousand men, and sent them +to attack Jergeau, whither Suffolk had retired with a detachment of his +army. The siege lasted ten days; and the place was obstinately defended. +Joan displayed her wonted intrepidity on the occasion. She descended +into the fosse, in leading the attack: and she there received a blow +on the head with a stone, by which she was confounded and beaten to +the ground: but she soon recovered herself, and in the end rendered the +assault successful: Suffolk was obliged to yield himself prisoner to a +Frenchman called Renaud; but before he submitted, he asked his adversary +whether he were a gentleman. On receiving a satisfactory answer, he +demanded whether he were a knight. Renaud replied, that he had not yet +attained that honor. "Then I make you one," replied Suffolk; upon +which he gave him the blow with his sword which dubbed him into that +fraternity; and he immediately surrendered himself his prisoner. + +The remainder of the English army was commanded by Fastolffe, Scales, +and Talbot, who thought of nothing but of making their retreat, as +soon as possible, into a place of safety; while the French esteemed the +overtaking them equivalent to a victory; so much had the events which +passed before Orleans altered every thing between the two nations! The +vanguard of the French under Richemont and Xaintrailles attacked the +rear of the enemy at the village of Patay. The battle lasted not a +moment: the English were discomfited and fled: the brave Fastolffe +himself showed the example of flight to his troops; and the order of +the garter was taken from him, as a punishment for this instance of +cowardice.[*] Two thousand men were killed in this action, and both +Talbot and Scales taken prisoners. + + * Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 46. + +In the account of all these successes, the French writers, to magnify +the wonder, represent the maid (who was now known by the appellation of +"the Maid of Orleans") as not only active in combat, but as performing +the office of general; directing the troops, conducting the military +operations, and swaying the deliberations in all councils of war. It is +certain that the policy of the French court endeavored to maintain this +appearance with the public: but it is much more probable, that Dunois +and the wiser commanders prompted her in all her measures, than that a +country girl, without experience of education, could on a sudden become +expert in a profession which requires more genius and capacity than +any other active scene of life. It is sufficient praise, that she could +distinguish the persons on whose judgment she might rely; that she +could seize their hints and suggestions, and on a sudden, deliver +their opinions as her own; and that she could curb, on occasion, that +visionary and enthusiastic spirit with which she was actuated, and could +temper it with prudence and discretion. + +The raising of the siege of Orleans was one part of the maid's promise +to Charles: the crowning of him at Rheims was the other: and she now +vehemently insisted that he should forthwith set out on that enterprise. +A few weeks before, such a proposal would have appeared the most +extravagant in the world. Rheims lay in a distant quarter of the +kingdom; was then in the hands of a victorious enemy; the whole road +which led to it was occupied by their garrisons; and no man could be so +sanguine as to imagine that such an attempt could so soon come within +the bounds of possibility. But as it was extremely the interest of +Charles to maintain the belief of something extraordinary and divine in +these events, and to avail himself of the present consternation of +the English, he resolved to follow the exhortations of his warlike +prophetess, and to lead his army upon this promising adventure. Hitherto +he had kept remote from the scene of war: as the safety of the state +depended upon his person, he had been persuaded to restrain his military +ardor: but observing this prosperous turn of affairs, he now determined +to appear at the head of his armies, and to set the example of valor +to all his soldiers, And the French nobility saw at once their young +sovereign assuming a new and more brilliant character, seconded by +fortune, and conducted by the hand of Heaven, and they caught fresh zeal +to exert themselves in replacing him on the throne of his ancestors. + +Charles set out for Rheims at the head of twelve thousand men: he passed +by Troye, which opened its gates to him; Chalons imitated the example: +Rheims sent him a deputation with its keys, before his approach to it: +and he scarcely perceived, as he passed along, that he was marching +through an enemy's country. The ceremony of his coronation was here +performed[*] with the holy oil, which a pigeon had brought to King +Clovis from heaven, on the first establishment of the French monarchy: +the maid of Orleans stood by his side in complete armor, and displayed +her sacred banner, which had so often dissipated and confounded his +fiercest enemies: and the people shouted with the most unfeigned joy, +on viewing such a complication of wonders. After the completion of the +ceremony, the maid threw herself at the king's feet, embraced his knees, +and with a flood of tears, which pleasure and tenderness extorted from +her, she congratulated him on this singular and marvellous event. + + * Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 48. + +Charles, thus crowned and anointed, became more respectable in the eyes +of all his subjects, and seemed, in a manner, to receive anew, from a +heavenly commission, his title to their allegiance. The inclinations +of men swaying their belief, no one doubted of the inspirations and +prophetic spirit of the maid: so many incidents which passed all human +comprehension, left little room to question a superior influence: and +the real and undoubted facts brought credit to every exaggeration, +which could scarcely be rendered more wonderful. Laon, Soissons, +Chateau-Thierri, Provins, and many other towns and fortresses in that +neighborhood, immediately after Charles's coronation, submitted to him +on the first summons; and the whole nation was disposed to give him the +most zealous testimonies of their duty and affection. + +Nothing can impress us with a higher idea of the wisdom, address, and +resolution of the duke of Bedford, than his being able to maintain +himself in so perilous a situation, and to preserve some footing in +France, after the defection of so many places, and amidst the universal +inclination of the rest to imitate that contagious example. This prince +seemed present every where by his vigilance and foresight: he employed +every resource which fortune had yet left him: he put all the English +garrisons in a posture of defence: he kept a watchful eye over every +attempt among the French towards an insurrection: he retained the +Parisians in obedience, by alternately employing caresses and severity: +and knowing that the duke of Burgundy was already wavering in his +fidelity, he acted with so much skill and prudence, as to renew, in +this dangerous crisis, his alliance with that prince; an alliance of the +utmost importance to the credit and support of the English government. + +The small supplies which he received from England set the talents of +this great man in a still stronger light. The ardor of the English for +foreign conquests was now extremely abated by time and reflection: the +parliament seems even to have become sensible of the danger which might +attend their further progress: no supply of money could be obtained by +the regent during his greatest distresses: and men enlisted slowly under +his standard, or soon deserted, by reason of the wonderful accounts +which had reached England, of the magic and sorcery, and diabolical +power of the maid of Orleans.[*] It happened fortunately, in this +emergency, that the bishop of Winchester, now created a cardinal, landed +at Calais with a body of five thousand men, which he was conducting into +Bohemia, on a crusade against the Hussites. He was persuaded to lend +these troops to his nephew during the present difficulties;[**] and the +regent was thereby enabled to take the field, and to oppose the French +king, who was advancing with his army to the gates of Paris. + +The extraordinary capacity of the duke of Bedford appeared also in his +military operations. He attempted to restore the courage of his troops +by boldly advancing to the face of the enemy; but he chose his posts +with so much caution, as always to decline a combat, and to render it +impossible for Charles to attack him. He still attended that prince in +all his movements; covered his own towns and garrisons; and kept himself +in a posture to reap advantage from every imprudence or false step of +the enemy. The French army, which consisted mostly of volunteers, who +served at their own expense, soon after retired and was disbanded: +Charles went to Bourges, the ordinary place of his residence; but not +till he made himself master of Compiegne, Beauvais, Senlis, Sens, Laval, +Lagni, St. Denis, and of many places in the neighborhood of Paris, which +the affections of the people had put into his hands. + +{1430.} The regent endeavored to revive the declining state of his +affairs, by bringing over the young king of England, and having him +crowned and anointed at Paris,[***] All the vassals of the crown +who lived within the provinces possessed by the English, swore anew +allegiance, and did homage to him. + + * Rymer, vol. x. p. 459, 472. + + ** Rymer, vol. x. p. 421. + + *** Rymer, vol. x. p 432. + +But this ceremony was cold and insipid, compared with the lustre which +had attended the coronation of Charles at Rheims; and the duke of +Bedford expected more effect from an accident, which put into his hands +the person that had been the author of all his calamities. + +The maid of Orleans, after the coronation of Charles, declared to the +count of Dunois that her wishes were now fully gratified, and that she +had no further desire than to return to her former condition, and to the +occupation and course of life which became her sex: but that nobleman, +sensible of the great advantages which might still be reaped from her +presence in the army, exhorted her to persevere, till, by the final +expulsion of the English, she had brought all her prophecies to their +full completion. In pursuance of this advice, she threw herself into +the town of Compiegne, which was at that time besieged by the duke +of Burgundy, assisted by the earls of Arundel and Suffolk; and the +garrison, on her appearance, believed themselves thenceforth invincible. +But their joy was of short duration. The maid, next day after her +arrival, headed a sally upon the quarters of John of Luxembourg; she +twice drove the enemy from their intrenchments; finding their numbers to +increase every moment, she ordered a retreat; when hard pressed by the +pursuers, she turned upon them, and made them again recoil; but being +here deserted by her friends, and surrounded by the enemy, she was +at last, after exerting the utmost valor, taken prisoner by the +Burgundians.[*] The common opinion was, that the French officers, +finding the merit of every victory ascribed to her, had, in envy to +her renown, by which they were themselves so much eclipsed, willingly +exposed her to this fatal accident. + + * Stowe, p. 371. + +The envy of her friends, on this occasion, was not a greater proof of +her merit than the triumph of her enemies. A complete victory would not +have given more joy to the English and their partisans. The service +of Te Deum, which has so often been profaned by princes, was publicly +celebrated on this fortunate event at Paris. The duke of Bedford fancied +that, by the captivity of that extraordinary woman, who had blasted all +his successes, he should again recover his former ascendant over France; +and to push farther the present advantage, he purchased the captive from +John of Luxembourg, and formed a prosecution against her, which, +whether it proceeded from vengeance or policy, was equally barbarous and +dishonorable. + +{1431.} There was no possible reason why Joan should not be regarded as +a prisoner of war, and be entitled to all the courtesy and good usage +which civilized nations practise towards enemies on these occasions. She +had never, in her military capacity, forfeited, by any act of treachery +or cruelty, her claim to that treatment: she was unstained by any civil +crime: even the virtues and the very decorums of her sex had ever been +rigidly observed by her: and though her appearing in war, and leading +armies to battle, may seem an exception, she had thereby performed such +signal service to her prince, that she had abundantly compensated for +this irregularity; and was, on that very account, the more an object +of praise and admiration. It was necessary, therefore, for the duke of +Bedford to interest religion some way in the prosecution, and to cover +under that cloak his violation of justice and humanity. + +[Illustration: 1_272_joan_d'arc.jpg JOAN D'ARC + +The bishop of Beauvais, a man wholly devoted to the English interests, +presented a petition against Joan, on pretence that she was taken +within the bounds of his diocese; and he desired to have her tried by +an ecclesiastical court for sorcery, impiety, idolatry, and magic: the +university of Paris was so mean as to join in the same request: several +prelates, among whom the cardinal of Winchester was the only Englishman, +were appointed her judges: they held their court in Rouen, where the +young king of England then resided: and the maid, clothed in her former +military apparel, but loaded with irons, was produced before this +tribunal. + +She first desired to be eased of her chains: her judges answered, that +she had once already attempted an escape by throwing herself from a +tower: she confessed the fact, maintained the justice of her intention, +and owned that, if she could, she would still execute that purpose. +All her other speeches showed the same firmness and intrepidity: though +harassed with interrogatories during the course of near four months, she +never betrayed any weakness or womanish submission; and no advantage was +gained over her. The point which her judges pushed most vehemently, was +her visions and revelations, and intercourse with departed saints; and +they asked her, whether she would submit to the church the truth of +these inspirations: she replied, that she would submit them to God, +the fountain of truth. They then exclaimed, that she was a heretic, +and denied the authority of the church. She appealed to the pope: they +rejected her appeal. + +They asked her, why she put trust in her standard, which had been +consecrated by magical incantations: she replied that she put trust +in the Supreme Being alone, whose image was impressed upon it. They +demanded, why she carried in her hand that standard at the anointment +and coronation of Charles at Rheims: she answered, that the person who +had shared the danger was entitled to share the glory. When accused +of going to war, contrary to the decorums of her sex, and of assuming +government and command over men, she scrupled not to reply, that her +sole purpose was to defeat the English, and to expel them the kingdom. +In the issue, she was condemned for all the crimes of which she had +been accused, aggravated by heresy; her revelations were declared to be +inventions of the devil to delude the people; and she was sentenced to +be delivered over to the secular arm. + +Joan, so long surrounded by inveterate enemies, who treated her with +every mark of contumely; browbeaten and overawed by men of superior +rank, and men invested with the ensigns of a sacred character, which +she had been accustomed to revere, felt her spirit at last subdued; and +those visionary dreams of inspiration, in which she had been buoyed up +by the triumphs of success and the applauses of her own party, gave +way to the terrors of that punishment to which she was sentenced. +She publicly declared herself willing to recant: she acknowledged the +illusion of those revelations which the church had rejected; and she +promised never more to maintain them. Her sentence was then mitigated: +she was condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and to be fed during life +on bread and water. + +Enough was now done to fulfil all political views, and to convince both +the French and the English, that the opinion of divine influence, which +had so much encouraged the one and daunted the other, was entirely +without foundation. But the barbarous vengeance of Joan's enemies was +not satisfied with this victory. Suspecting that the female dress, which +she had now consented to wear, was disagreeable to her, they purposely +placed in her apartment a suit of men's apparel; and watched for the +effects of that temptation upon her. On the sight of a dress in which +she had acquired so much renown, and which, she once believed, she +wore by the particular appointment of Heaven, all her former ideas and +passions revived; and she ventured in her solitude to clothe herself +again in the forbidden garment. Her insidious enemies caught her in that +situation: her fault was interpreted to be no less than a relapse into +heresy: no recantation would now suffice; and no pardon could be granted +her. She was condemned to be burned in the market-place of Rouen; and +the infamous sentence was accordingly executed. This admirable heroine, +to whom the more generous superstition of the ancients would have +erected altars, was, on pretence of heresy and magic, delivered over +alive to the flames, and expiated, by that dreadful punishment, the +signal services which she had rendered to her prince and to her native +country. + +{1432.} The affairs of the English, far from being advanced by this +execution, went every day more and more to decay: the great abilities of +the regent were unable to resist the strong inclination which had seized +the French to return under the obedience of their rightful sovereign, +and which that act of cruelty was ill fitted to remove. Chartres was +surprised, by a stratagem of the count of Dunois: a body of the English, +under Lord Willoughby, was defeated at St. Celerin upon the Sarte:[*] +the fair in the suburbs of Caen, seated in the midst of the English +territories, was pillaged by De Lore, a French officer: the duke of +Bedford himself was obliged by Dunois to raise the siege of Lagni with +some loss of reputation: and all these misfortunes, though light, yet +being continued and uninterrupted, brought discredit on the English, +and menaced them with an approaching revolution. But the chief detriment +which the regent sustained, was by the death of his duchess, who had +hitherto preserved some appearance of friendship between him and her +brother, the duke of Burgundy:[**] and his marriage, soon afterwards, +with Jaqueline of Luxembourg, was the beginning of a breach between +them.[***] Philip complained, that the regent had never had the civility +to inform him of his intentions, and that so sudden a marriage was a +slight on his sister's memory. + + * Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 100. + + ** Monstrolet, vol. ii. p. 87. + + *** Stowe, p. 373. Grafton, p. 554. + +The cardinal of Winchester meditated a reconciliation between these +princes, and brought both of them to St. Omers for that purpose. The +duke of Bedford here expected the first visit, both as he was son, +brother, and uncle to a king, and because he had already made such +advances as to come into the duke of Burgundy's territories, in order +to have an interview with him: but Philip, proud of his great power and +independent dominions, refused to pay this compliment to the regent; and +the two princes, unable to adjust the ceremonial, parted without seeing +each other.[*] A bad prognostic of their cordial intentions to renew +past amity! + + * Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 90. Grafton, p. 561. + +Nothing could be more repugnant to the interests of the house of +Burgundy, than to unite the crowns of France and England on the same +head; an event which, had it taken place, would have reduced the duke +to the rank of a petty prince, and have rendered his situation entirely +dependent and precarious. The title also to the crown of France, which, +after the failure of the elder branches, might accrue to the duke or his +posterity, had been sacrificed by the treaty of Troye; and strangers and +enemies were thereby irrevocably fixed upon the throne. Revenge alone +had carried Philip into these impolitic measures; and a point of honor +had hitherto induced him to maintain them. But as it is the nature of +passion gradually to decay, while the sense of interest maintains +a permanent influence and authority, the duke had, for some years, +appeared sensibly to relent in his animosity against Charles, and to +hearken willingly to the apologies made by that prince for the murder of +the late duke of Burgundy. His extreme youth was pleaded in his favor; +his incapacity to judge for himself; the ascendant gained over him by +his ministers; and his inability to resent a deed which, without his +knowledge, had been perpetrated by those under whose guidance he was +then placed. The more to flatter the pride of Philip, the king of France +had banished from his court and presence Tanegui de Chatel, and all +those who were concerned in that assassination; and had offered to make +every other atonement which could be required of him. The distress which +Charles had already suffered, had tended to gratify the duke's revenge; +the miseries to which France had been so long exposed, had begun to move +his compassion; and the cries of all Europe admonished him, that his +resentment, which might hitherto be deemed pious, would, if carried +further, be universally condemned as barbarous and unrelenting. While +the duke was in this disposition, every disgust which he received from +England made a double impression upon him; the entreaties of the count +of Richemont and the duke of Bourbon, who had married his two sisters, +had weight; and he finally determined to unite himself to the royal +family of France, from which his own was descended. + +{1435.} For this purpose, a congress was appointed at Arras under the +mediation of deputies from the pope and the council of Basle: the duke +of Burgundy came thither in person: the duke of Bourbon, the count of +Richemont, and other persons of high rank, appeared as ambassadors from +France: and the English having also been invited to attend, the cardinal +of Winchester, the bishops of Norwich and St. David's, the earls of +Huntingdon and Suffolk, with others, received from the protector and +council a commission for that purpose.[*] + +The conferences were held in the abbey of St. Vaast, and began with +discussing the proposals of the two crowns which were so wide of each +other as to admit of no hopes of accommodation. France offered to cede +Normandy with Guienne, but both of them loaded with the usual homage +and vassalage to the crown. As the claims of England upon France were +universally unpopular in Europe, the mediators declared the offers of +Charles very reasonable, and the cardinal of Winchester, with the +other English ambassadors, without giving a particular detail of their +demands, immediately left the congress. There remained nothing but to +discuss the mutual pretensions of Charles and Philip. These were easily +adjusted: the vassal was in a situation to give law to his superior; and +he exacted conditions which, had it not been for the present +necessity, would have been deemed, to the last degree, dishonorable +and disadvantageous to the crown of France. Besides making repeated +atonements and acknowledgments for the murder of the duke of Burgundy, +Charles was obliged to cede all the towns of Picardy which lay between +the Somme and the Low Countries; he yielded several other territories; +he agreed that these and all the other dominions of Philip should be +held by him, during his life, without doing any homage, or swearing +fealty to the present king; and he freed his subjects from all +obligations to allegiance, if ever he infringed this treaty.[**] Such +were the conditions upon which France purchased the friendship of the +duke of Burgundy. + + * Rymer, vol. x. p. 611, 612. + + ** Monstrelet, vol ii. p. 112. Grafton, p. 565. + +The duke sent a herald to England with a letter, in which he notified the +conclusion of the treaty of Arras, and apologized for his departure from +that of Troye. The council received the herald with great coldness: they +even assigned him his lodgings in a shoemaker's house, by way of insult; +and the populace were so incensed, that if the duke of Glocester had not +given him guards, his life had been exposed to danger when he appeared +in the streets. The Flemings, and other subjects of Philip, were +insulted, and some of them murdered by the Londoners; and every thing +seemed to tend towards a rupture between the two nations.[*] These +violences were not disagreeable to the duke of Burgundy; as they +afforded him a pretence for the further measures which he intended +to take against the English, whom he now regarded as implacable and +dangerous enemies. + +A few days after the duke of Bedford received intelligence of this +treaty, so fatal to the interests of England, he died at Rouen; a prince +of great abilities, and of many virtues; and whose memory, except from +the barbarous execution of the maid of Orleans, was unsullied by any +considerable blemish. Isabella, queen of France, died a little before +him, despised by the English, detested by the French, and reduced, in +her latter years, to regard with an unnatural horror the progress and +success of her own son, in recovering possession of his kingdom. This +period was also signalized by the death of the earl of Arundel,[**] a +great English general, who, though he commanded three thousand men, +was foiled by Xaintrailles at the head of six hundred, and soon after +expired of the wounds which he received in the action. + + * Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 120. Holing. p. 612. + + ** Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 105. Holing, p. 610. + +{1436} The violent factions which prevailed between the duke of +Glocester and the cardinal of Winchester, prevented the English from +taking the proper measures for repairing these multiplied losses, and +threw all their affairs into confusion. The popularity of the duke, +and his near relation to the crown, gave him advantages in the contest, +which he often lost by his open and unguarded temper, unfit to struggle +with the politic and interested spirit of his rival. The balance, +meanwhile, of these parties, kept every thing in suspense; foreign +affairs were much neglected; and though the duke of York, son to that +earl of Cambridge who was executed in the beginning of the last reign, +was appointed successor to the duke of Bedford, it was seven months +before his commission passed the seals; and the English remained so long +in an enemy's country, without a proper head or governor. + +The new governor, on his arrival, found the capital already lost. The +Parisians had always been more attached to the Burgundian than to the +English interest; and after the conclusion of the treaty of Arras, their +affections, without any further control, universally led them to +return to their allegiance under their native sovereign. The constable, +together with Lile-Adam, the same person who had before put Paris into +the hands of the duke of Burgundy, was introduced in the night-time by +intelligence with the citizens: Lord Willoughby, who commanded only +a small garrison of fifteen hundred men, was expelled: this nobleman +discovered valor and presence of mind on the occasion; but unable to +guard so large a place against such multitudes, he retired into the +Bastile, and being there invested, he delivered up that fortress, and +was contented to stipulate for the safe retreat of his troops into +Normandy.[*] + +In the same season, the duke of Burgundy openly took part against +England, and commenced hostilities by the siege of Calais, the only +place which now gave the English any sure hold of France, and still +rendered them dangerous. As he was beloved among his own subjects, and +had acquired the epithet of Good, from his popular qualities, he was +able to interest all the inhabitants of the Low Countries in the success +of this enterprise; and he invested that place with an army formidable +from its numbers, but without experience, discipline, or military +spirit.[**] On the first alarm of this siege, the duke of Glocester +assembled some forces, sent a defiance to Philip, and challenged him to +wait the event of a battle, which he promised to give, as soon as the +wind would permit him to reach Calais. The warlike genius of the English +had at that time rendered them terrible to all the northern parts of +Europe; especially to the Flemings, who were more expert in manufactures +than in arms; and the duke of Burgundy, being already foiled in some +attempts before Calais, and observing the discontent and terror of his +own army, thought proper to raise the siege, and to retreat before the +arrival of the enemy.[***] + + * Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 127. Grafton, p. 568. + + ** Monstrelet, vol. ii, p. 126, 130, 132. Holing. p. 613. + Grafton, p 571. + + *** Monstrelet, vol. ii. p. 136. Holing. p. 614. + +The English were still masters of many fine provinces in France; but +retained possession more by the extreme weakness of Charles, than by the +strength of their own garrisons or the force of their armies. Nothing, +indeed, can be more surprising than the feeble efforts made, during the +course of several years, by these two potent nations against each other +while the one struggled for independence, and the other aspired to a +total conquest of its rival. The general want of industry, commerce, and +police in that age, had rendered all the European nations, and France +and England no less than the others, unfit for bearing the burdens of +war, when it was prolonged beyond one season; and the continuance of +hostilities had, long ere this time, exhausted the force and patience of +both kingdoms. Scarcely could the appearance of an army be brought +into the field on either side; and all the operations consisted in +the surprisal of places, in the rencounter of detached parties, and in +incursions upon the open country; which were performed by small bodies, +assembled on a sudden from the neighboring garrisons. In this method +of conducting the war, the French king had much the advantage: the +affections of the people were entirely on his side: intelligence was +early brought him of the state and motions of the enemy: the inhabitants +were ready to join in any attempts against the garrisons: and thus +ground was continually, though slowly, gained upon the English. The +duke of York, who was a prince of abilities, struggled against these +difficulties during the course of five years; and being assisted by +the valor of Lord Talbot, soon after created earl of Shrewsbury, he +performed actions which acquired him honor, but merit not the attention +of posterity. It would have been well, had this feeble war, in sparing +the blood of the people, prevented likewise all other oppressions; and +had the fury of men, which reason and justice cannot restrain, thus +happily received a check from their impotence and inability. But the +French and English, though they exerted such small force, were, however, +stretching beyond their resources, which were still smaller; and the +troops, destitute of pay, were obliged to subsist by plundering and +oppressing the country, both of friends and enemies. The fields in all +the north of France, which was the seat of war, were laid waste and left +uncultivated.[*] + + * Grafton, p 562. + +{1440.} The cities were gradually depopulated, not by the blood spilt +in battle, but by the more destructive pillage of the garrisons;[*] and +both parties, weary of hostilities which decided nothing, seemed at last +desirous of peace, and they set on foot negotiations for that purpose. +But the proposals of France, and the demands of England, were still so +wide of each other, that all hope of accommodation immediately vanished. +The English ambassadors demanded restitution of all the provinces which +had once been annexed to England, together with the final cession of +Calais and its district; and required the possession of these extensive +territories without the burden of any fealty or homage on the part of +their prince: the French offered only part of Guienne, part of Normandy, +and Calais, loaded with the usual burdens. It appeared in vain +to continue the negotiation while there was so little prospect of +agreement. The English were still too haughty to stoop from the vast +hopes which they had formerly entertained, and to accept of terms more +suitable to the present condition of the two kingdoms. + +The duke of York soon after resigned his government to the earl of +Warwick, a nobleman of reputation, whom death prevented from long +enjoying this dignity. The duke, upon the demise of that nobleman, +returned to his charge; and during his administration, a truce was +concluded between the king of England and the duke of Burgundy, which +had become necessary for the commercial interests of their subjects.[**] +The war with France continued in the same languid and feeble state as +before. + +The captivity of five princes of the blood, taken prisoners in the +battle of Azincour, was a considerable advantage, which England long +enjoyed over its enemy; but this superiority was now entirely lost. +Some of these princes had died; some had been ransomed; and the duke of +Orleans, the most powerful among them, was the last that remained in +the hands of the English. He offered the sum of fifty-four thousand +nobles[***] for his liberty; and when this proposal was laid before the +council of England, as every question was there an object of faction, +the party of the duke of Glocester, and that of the cardinal of +Winchester, were divided in their sentiments with regard to it. + + * Fortescue, who soon after this period visited France, in + the train of Prince Henry, speaks of that kingdom as a + desert, in comparison of England. See his treatise De + Laudibus Legum Angliĉ. Though we make allowance for the + partialities of Fortescue, there must have been some + foundation for his account; and these destructive wars are + the most likely reason to be assigned for the difference + remarked by this author. + + ** Grafton, p. 673. + + *** Rymer, vol. x. p. 764, 776, 782, 795, 796. This sum was + equal to thirty-six thousand pounds sterling of our present + money. A subsidy of a tenth and fifteenth was fixed by + Edward III. at twenty-nine thousand pounds, which, in the + reign of Henry VI., made only fifty-eight thousand pounds of + our present money. The parliament granted only one subsidy + during the course of seven years, from 1437 to 1444. + +The duke reminded the council of the dying advice of the late king, that +none of these prisoners should on any account be released, till his son +should be of sufficient age to hold himself the reins of government. +The cardinal insisted on the greatness of the sum offered, which, +in reality, was nearly equal to two thirds of all the extraordinary +supplies that the parliament, during the course of seven years, granted +for the support of the war. And he added, that the release of this +prince was more likely to be advantageous than prejudicial to the +English interests; by filling the court of France with faction, and +giving a head to those numerous malecontents whom Charles was at present +able with great difficulty to restrain. The cardinal's party, as +usual, prevailed: the duke of Orleans was released, after a melancholy +captivity of twenty-five years:[*] and the duke of Burgundy, as a pledge +of his entire reconciliation with the family of Orleans, facilitated to +that prince the payment of his ransom. It must be confessed, that the +princes and nobility, in those ages, went to war on very disadvantageous +terms. If they were taken prisoners, they either remained in captivity +during life, or purchased their liberty at the price which the victors +were pleased to impose, and which often reduced their families to want +and beggary. + + * Grafton, p. 578. + +{1443.} The sentiments of the cardinal, some time after, prevailed +in another point of still greater moment. That prelate had always +encouraged every proposal of accommodation with France; and had +represented the utter impossibility, in the present circumstances, of +pushing farther the conquests in that kingdom, and the great difficulty +of even maintaining those which were already made. He insisted on the +extreme reluctance of the parliament to grant supplies; the disorders in +which the English affairs in Normandy were involved; the daily progress +made by the French king; and the advantage of stopping his hand by a +temporary accommodation which might leave room for time and accidents +to operate in favor of the English. The duke of Glocester, high-spirited +and haughty, and educated in the lofty pretensions which the first +successes of his two brothers had rendered familiar to him, could not +yet be induced to relinquish all hopes of prevailing over France; much +less could he see with patience his own opinion thwarted and rejected by +the influence of his rival in the English council. But, notwithstanding +his opposition, the earl of Suffolk, a nobleman who adhered to the +cardinal's party, was despatched to Tours, in order to negotiate with +the French ministers. It was found impossible to adjust the terms of a +lasting peace; but a truce for twenty-two months was concluded, which +left every thing on the present footing between the parties. The +numerous disorders under which the French government labored, and which +time alone could remedy, induced Charles to assent to this truce; and +the same motives engaged him afterwards to prolong it.[*] But Suffolk, +not content with executing this object of his commission, proceeded also +to finish another business, which seems rather to have been implied than +expressed in the powers that had been granted him.[**] + + * Rymer, vol. xi. p. 101, 108, 206, 214. + + ** Rymer, vol. xi. p. 53. + +In proportion as Henry advanced in years, his character became fully +known in the court, and was no longer ambiguous to either faction. Of +the most harmless, inoffensive, simple manners, but of the most slender +capacity, he was fitted, both by the softness of his temper and the +weakness of his understanding, to be perpetually governed by those who +surrounded him; and it was easy to foresee that his reign would prove a +perpetual minority. As he had now reached the twenty-third year of his +age, it was natural to think of choosing him a queen; and each party was +ambitious of having him receive one from their hand, as it was probable +that this circumstance would decide forever the victory between them. +The duke of Glocester proposed a daughter of the count of Armagnac; but +had not credit to effect his purpose. The cardinal and his friends had +cast their eye on Margaret of Anjou, daughter of Regnier, titular king +of Sicily, Naples, and Jerusalem, descended from the count of Anjou, +brother of Charles V., who had left these magnificent titles, but +without any real power or possessions, to his posterity. This princess +herself was the most accomplished of her age, both in body and mind; +and seemed to possess those qualities which would equally qualify her +to acquire the ascendant over Henry, and to supply all his defects +and weaknesses. Of a masculine, courageous spirit, of an enterprising +temper, endowed with solidity as well as vivacity of understanding, she +had not been able to conceal these great talents even in the privacy +of her father's family; and it was reasonable to expect, that when +she should mount the throne, they would break out with still superior +lustre. The earl of Suffolk, therefore, in concert with his associates +of the English council, made proposals of marriage to Margaret, which +were accepted. But this nobleman, besides preoccupying the princess's +favor by being the chief means of her advancement, endeavored to +ingratiate himself with her and her family, by very extraordinary +concessions: though Margaret brought no dowry with her, he ventured of +himself, without any direct authority from the council, but probably +with the approbation of the cardinal and the ruling members, to engage, +by a secret article, that the province of Maine, which was at that time +in the hands of the English, should be ceded to Charles of Anjou, her +uncle,[*] who was prime minister and favorite of the French king, and +who had already received from his master the grant of that province as +his appanage. + +The treaty of marriage was ratified in England: Suffolk obtained first +the title of marquis, then that of duke; and even received the thanks +of parliament for his services in concluding it.[**] The princess fell +immediately into close connections with the cardinal and his party, the +dukes of Somerset, Suffolk, and Buckingham;[***] who, fortified by her +powerful patronage, resolved on the final ruin of the duke of Glocester. + + * Grafton, p. 590. + + ** Cotton, p. 630. + + *** Holingshed, p. 626. + +{1447.} This generous prince, worsted in all court intrigues, for which +his temper was not suited, but possessing in a high degree the favor of +the public, had already received from his rivals a cruel mortification, +which he had hitherto borne without violating public peace, but which +it was impossible that a person of his spirit and humanity could ever +forgive. His duchess, the daughter of Reginald Lord Cobham, had been +accused of the crime of witchcraft; and it was pretended, that there was +found in her possession a waxen figure of the king, which she and her +associates, Sir Roger Bolingbroke, a priest, and one Margery Jordan, of +Eye, melted in a magical manner before a slow fire, with an intention +of making Henry's force and vigor waste away by like insensible degrees. +The accusation was well calculated to affect the weak and credulous mind +of the king, and to gain belief in an ignorant age; and the duchess was +brought to trial with her confederates. The nature of this crime, so +opposite to all common sense, seems always to exempt the accusers from +observing the rules of common sense in their evidence: the prisoners +were pronounced guilty; the duchess was condemned to do public penance, +and to suffer perpetual imprisonment; the others were executed.[*] But +as these violent proceedings were ascribed solely to the malice of the +duke's enemies, the people, contrary to their usual practice in such +marvellous trials, acquitted the unhappy sufferers; and increased their +esteem and affection towards a prince who was thus exposed, without +protection, to those mortal injuries. + +These sentiments of the public made the cardinal of Winchester and his +party sensible that it was necessary to destroy a man whose popularity +might become dangerous, and whose resentment they had so much cause to +apprehend. In order to effect their purpose, a parliament was summoned +to meet, not at London, which was supposed to be too well affected to +the duke, but at St. Edmondsbury, where they expected that he would +lie entirely at their mercy. As soon as he appeared, he was accused of +treason, and thrown into prison. He was soon after found dead in his +bed;[**] and though it was pretended that his death was natural, and +though his body, which was exposed to public view, bore no marks of +outward violence, no one doubted but he had fallen a victim to the +vengeance of his enemies. + + * Stowe, p. 381. Holingshed, p. 622. Grafton, p. 687. + + ** Grafton, p. 597. + +An artifice, formerly practised in the case of Edward II., Richard II., +and Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Glocester, could deceive nobody. The +reason of this assassination of the duke seems, not that the ruling +party apprehended his acquittal in parliament on account of his +innocence, which, in such times, was seldom much regarded, but that they +imagined his public trial and execution would have been more invidious +than his private murder which they pretended to deny. Some gentlemen of +his retinue were afterwards tried as accomplices in his treasons, and +were condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, They were hanged and +cut down; but just as the executioner was proceeding to quarter them, +their pardon was produced, and they were recovered to life;[*] the most +barbarous kind of mercy that can possibly be imagined! + +This prince is said to have received a better education than was +usual in his age, to have founded one of the first public libraries in +England, and to have been a great patron of learned men. Among other +advantages which he reaped from this turn of mind, it tended much to +cure him of credulity of which the following instance is given by Sir +Thomas More. There was a man who pretended that, though he was born +blind, he had recovered his sight by touching the shrine of St. Albans. +The duke, happening soon after to pass that way, questioned the man, and +seeming to doubt of his sight, asked him the colors of several cloaks, +worn by persons of his retinue. The man told them very readily. "You are +a knave," cried the prince; "had you been born blind, you could not so +soon have learned to distinguish colors;" and immediately ordered him to +be set in the stocks as an impostor.[**] + + * Fabian, Chron. anno 1447. + + ** Grafton, p. 597. + +The cardinal of Winchester died six weeks after his nephew whose murder +was universally ascribed to him as well as to the duke of Suffolk, and +which, it is said, gave him more remorse in his last moments than could +naturally be expected from a man hardened, during the course of a long +life, in falsehood and in politics. What share the queen had in this +guilt is uncertain; her usual activity and spirit made the public +conclude, with some reason, that the duke's enemies durst not have +ventured on such a deed without her privity. But there happened, soon +after, an event of which she and her favorite, the duke of Suffolk, bore +incontestably the whole odium. + +That article of the marriage treaty by which the province of Maine was +to be ceded to Charles of Anjou, the queen's unele, had probably been +hitherto kept secret; and during the lifetime of the duke of Glocester, +it might have been dangerous to venture on the execution of it. But as +the court of France strenuously insisted on performance, orders were +now despatched, under Henry's hand, to Sir Francis Surienne, governor +of Mans, commanding him to surrender that place to Charles of Anjou. +Surienne, either questioning the authenticity of the order, or regarding +his government as his sole fortune, refused compliance; and it became +necessary for a French army, under the count of Dunois, to lay siege +to the city. The governor made as good a defence as his situation could +permit; but receiving no relief from Edmund, duke of Somerset, who was +at that time governor of Normandy, he was at last obliged to capitulate, +and to surrender not only Mans, but all the other fortresses of that +province, which was thus entirely alienated from the crown of England. + +{1448.} The bad effects of this measure stopped not here. Surienne, at +the head of all his garrisons, amounting to two thousand five hundred +men, retired into Normandy, in expectation of being taken into pay, and +of being quartered in some towns of that province. But Somerset, who had +no means of subsisting such a multitude, and who was probably incensed +at Surienne's disobedience, refused to admit him; and this adventurer, +not daring to commit depredations on the territories either of the +king of France or of England, marched into Brittany, seized the town +of Fougeres, repaired the fortifications of Pontorson and St. James de +Beuvron, and subsisted his troops by the ravages which he exercised on +that whole province.[*] The duke of Brittany complained of this violence +to the king of France, his liege lord: Charles remonstrated with the +duke of Somerset: that nobleman replied, that the injury was done +without his privity, and that he had no authority over Surienne and his +companions.[**] Though this answer ought to have appeared satisfactory +to Charles, who had often felt severely the licentious independent +spirit of such mercenary soldiers, he never would admit of the apology. +He still insisted that these plunderers should be recalled, and that +reparation should be made to the duke of Brittany for all the damages +which he had sustained: and in order to render an accommodation +absolutely impracticable, he made the estimation of damages amount to no +less a sum than one million six hundred thousand crowns. He was sensible +of the superiority which the present state of his affairs gave him over +England; and he determined to take advantage of it. + + * Monstrelet, vol. iii. p. 6. + + ** Monstrelet vol. iii. p. 7. Holingshed, p. 629. + +No sooner was the truce concluded between the two kingdoms, than Charles +employed himself, with great industry and judgment, in repairing those +numberless ills to which France, from the continuance of wars both +foreign and domestic, had so long been exposed. He restored the course +of public justice; he introduced order into the finances; he established +discipline in his troops; he repressed faction in his court; he revived +the languid state of agriculture and the arts; and, in the course of +a few years, he rendered his kingdom flourishing within itself, and +formidable to its neighbors. Meanwhile, affairs in England had taken +a very different turn. The court was divided into parties, which were +enraged against each other: the people were discontented with the +government: conquests in France, which were an object more of glory than +of interest, were overlooked amidst domestic incidents, which engrossed +the attention of all men: the governor of Normandy, ill supplied with +money, was obliged to dismiss the greater part of his troops, and to +allow the fortifications of the towns and castles to become ruinous; +and the nobility and people of that province had, during the late open +communication with France, enjoyed frequent opportunities of renewing +connections with their ancient master, and of concerting the means for +expelling the English. The occasion, therefore, seemed favorable to +Charles for breaking the truce. + +{1449.} Normandy was at once invaded by four powerful armies: one +commanded by the king himself; a second by the duke of Brittany; a third +by the duke of Alençon; and a fourth by the count of Dunois. The places +opened their gates almost as soon as the French appeared before them; +Verneuil, Nogent, Chateau Gaillard, Ponteau de Mer, Gisors, Mante, +Vernon, Argentan Lisieux, Fecamp, Coutances, Belesme, Pont de l'Arche, +fell in an instant into the hands of the enemy. The duke of Somerset, +so far from having an army which could take the field and relieve these +places, was not able to supply them with the necessary garrisons and +provisions. He retired, with the few troops of which he was master, into +Rouen; and thought it sufficient, if, till the arrival of succors +from England, he could save that capital from the general fate of the +province. The king of France, at the head of a formidable army, fifty +thousand strong, presented himself before the gates: the dangerous +example of revolt had infected the inhabitants; and they called aloud +for a capitulation. Somerset, unable to resist at once both the enemies +within one from without, retired with his garrison into the palace and +castle; which, being places not tenable he was obliged to surrender: +he purchased a retreat to Harfleur by the payment of fifty-six thousand +crowns, by engaging to surrender Arques, Tancarville, Caudebec, +Honfleur, and other places in the higher Normandy, and by delivering. +hostages for the performance of articles.[*] + +{1450.} The governor of Honfleur refused to obey his orders; upon +which the earl of Shrewsbury, who was one of the hostages, was detained +prisoner; and the English were thus deprived of the only general capable +of recovering them from their present distressed; situation. Harfleur +made a better defence under Sir Thomas Curson, the governor; but was +finally obliged to open its gates to Dunois. Succors at last appeared +from England, under Sir Thomas Kyriel, and landed at Cherbourg: but +these came very late, amounted only to four thousand men, and were +soon after put to rout at Fourmigni by the count of Clermont.[**] This +battle, or rather skirmish, was the only action fought by the English +for the defence of their dominions in France, which they had purchased +at such an expense of blood and treasure. Somerset, shut up in Caen, +without any prospect of relief, found it necessary to capitulate: +Falaise opened its gates, on condition that the earl of Shrewsbury +should be restored to liberty: and Cherbourg, the last place of Normandy +which remained in the hands of the English, being delivered up, the +conquest of that important province was finished in a twelvemonth +by Charles, to the great joy of the inhabitants, and of his whole +kingdom.[***] + + * Monstrelet, vol. iii. p. 21. Grafton, p. 643. + + ** Holing, p. 631. + + *** Grafton, p. 646. + +A like rapid success attended the French arms in Guienne; though the +inhabitants of that province were, from long custom, better inclined to +the English government. Dunois was despatched thither, and met with +no resistance in the field, and very little from the towns. Great +improvements had been made during this age in the structure and +management of artillery, and none in fortification; and the art of +defence was by that means more unequal, than either before or since, +to the art of attack. After all the small places about Bordeaux were +reduced, that city agreed to submit, if not relieved by a certain time; +and as no one in England thought Seriously of these distant concerns, +no relief appeared; the place surrendered; and Bayonne being taken soon +after, this whole province, which had remained united to England since +the accession of Henry II., was, after a period of three centuries, +finally swallowed up in the French monarchy. + +Though no peace or truce was concluded between France and England, the +war was in a manner at an end. The English, torn in pieces by the +civil dissensions which ensued, made but one feeble effort more for the +recovery of Guienne, and Charles, occupied at home in regulating the +government, and fencing against the intrigues of his factious son, Lewis +the dauphin, scarcely ever attempted to invade them in their island, +or to retaliate upon them, by availing himself of their intestine +confusions. + + + + + +HENRY VI. + +{1450.} A WEAK prince, seated on the throne of England, had never +failed, how gentle soever and innocent, to be infested with faction, +discontent, rebellion, and evil commotions; and as the incapacity of +Henry appeared every day in a fuller light, these dangerous consequences +began, from past experience, to be universally and justly apprehended +Men also of unquiet spirits, no longer employed in foreign wars, whence +they were now excluded by the situation of the neighboring states, were +the more likely to excite intestine, disorders, and by their emulation, +rivalship, and animosities, to tear the bowels of their native country. +But though these causes alone were sufficient to breed confusion, +there concurred another circumstance of the most dangerous, nature: a +pretender to the crown appeared: the tie itself of the weak prince who +enjoyed the name of sovereignty, was disputed; and the English were now +to pay the severe though late penalty of their turbulence under Richard +II., and of their levity in violating, without any necessity or just +reason, the lineal succession of their monarchs. + +All the males of the house of Mortimer were extinct; but Anne, +the sister of the last earl of Marche, having espoused the earl of +Cambridge, beheaded in the reign of Henry V. had transmitted her latent, +but not yet forgotten claim to be; on Richard, duke of York. This +prince, thus descended by his mother from Philippa, only daughter of the +duke of Clarence, second son of Edward III., stood plainly in the order +of succession before the king, who derived his descent from the duke of +Lancaster, third son of that monarch; and that claim could not, in many +respects, have fallen into more dangerous hands man those of the duke of +York. Richard was a man of valor and abilities, of a prudent conduct +and mild disposition: he had enjoyed an opportunity of displaying these +virtues in his government of France; and though recalled from that +command by the intrigues and superior interest of the duke of Somerset, +he had been sent to suppress a rebellion in Ireland; had succeeded much +better in that enterprise than his rival in the defence of Normandy, and +had even been able to attach to his person and family the whole Irish +nation, whom he was sent to subdue.[*] In the right of his father, he +bore the rank of first prince of the blood; and by this station he gave +a lustre to his title derived from the family of Mortimer, which, though +of great nobility, was equalled by other families in the kingdom, and +had been eclipsed by the royal descent of the house of Lancaster. He +possessed an immense fortune from the union of so many successions, +those of Cambridge and York on the one hand, with those of Mortimer on +the other; which last inheritance had before been augmented by a union +of the estates of Clarence and Ulster with the patrimonial possessions +of the family of Marche. The alliances too of Richard, by his marrying +the daughter of Ralph Nevil, earl of Westmoreland, had widely extended +his interest among the nobility, and had procured him many connections +in that formidable order. + + * Stowe, p. 387. + +The family of Nevil was perhaps at this time the most potent, both from +their opulent possessions and from the characters of the men, that has +ever appealed in England. For, besides the earl of Westmoreland, and the +lords Latimer, Fauconberg, and Abergavenny, the earls of Salisbury and +Warwick were of that family, and were of themselves, on many +accounts, the greatest noblemen in the kingdom. The earl of Salisbury, +brother-in-law to the duke of York, was the eldest son by a second +marriage of the earl of Westmoreland; and inherited by his wife, +daughter and heir of Montacute, earl of Salisbury, killed before +Orleans, the possessions and title of that great family. His eldest son, +Richard, had married Anne, the daughter and heir of Beauchamp, earl of +Warwick, who died governor of France; and by this alliance he enjoyed +the possessions, and had acquired the title, of that other family, one +of the most opulent, most ancient, and most illustrious in England. +The personal qualities also of these two earls, especially of Warwick +enhanced the splendor of their nobility, and increased then influence +over the people. This latter nobleman commonly known, from the +subsequent events, by the appellation of the "king-maker," had +distinguished himself by his gallantry in the field, by the hospitality +of his table, by Ore magnificence, and still more by the generosity, of +his expense, and by the spirited and bold manner which attended him in +all his actions. The undesigning frankness and openness of his character +rendered his conquest over men's affections the more certain and +infallible: his presents were regarded as sure testimonials of esteem +and friendship; and his professions as the over-flowings of his genuine +sentiments. No less than thirty thousand persons are said to have +daily lived at his board In the different manors and castles which he +possessed in England: the military men, allured by his munificence and +hospitality, as well as by his bravery, were zealously attached to his +interests: the people in general bore him an unlimited affection: his +numerous retainers were more devoted to his will than to the prince +or to the laws: and he was the greatest, as well as the last, of those +mighty barons who formerly overawed the crown, and rendered the people +incapable of any regular system of civil government. + +But the duke of York, besides the family of Nevil, had many other +partisans among the great nobility. Courtney, earl of Devonshire, +descended from a very noble family of that name in France, was attached +to his interests: Moubray, duke of Norfolk, had, from his hereditary +hatred to the family of Lancaster, embraced the same party: and the +discontents which universally prevailed among the people, rendered +every combination of the great the more dangerous to the established +government. + +Though the people were never willing to grant the supplies necessary for +keeping possession of the conquered provinces in France, they repined +extremely at the loss of these boasted acquisitions; and fancied, +because a sudden irruption could make conquests, that, without steady +counsels and a uniform expense, it was possible to maintain them. The +voluntary cession of Maine to the queen's uncle, had made them suspect +treachery in the loss of Normandy and Guienne. They still considered +Margaret as a French woman, and a latent enemy of the kingdom. And +when they saw her father and all her relations active in promoting the +success of the French, they could not be persuaded that she, who was +all-powerful in the English council, would very zealously oppose them in +their enterprises. + +But the most fatal blow given to the popularity of the crown and to +the interests of the house of Lancaster, was by the assassination of the +virtuous duke of Glocester; whose character, had he been alive, +would have intimidated the partisans of York; but whose memory, being +extremely cherished by the people, served to throw an odium on all his +murderers. By this crime the reigning family suffered a double prejudice +it was deprived of its firmest support; and it was loaded with all the +infamy of that imprudent and barbarous assassination. + +As the duke of Suffolk was known to have had an active hand in the +crime, he partook deeply of the hatred attending it; and the clamors +which necessarily rose against him, as prime minister and declared +favorite of the queen, were thereby augmented to a tenfold pitch, and +became absolutely uncontrollable. The great nobility could ill brook +to see a subject exalted above them; much more one who was only +great-grandson to a merchant, and who was of a birth so much inferior to +theirs. The people complained of his arbitrary measures; which were, +in some degree, a necessary consequence of the irregular power then +possessed by the prince, but which the least disaffection easily +magnified into tyranny. The great acquisitions which he daily made were +the object of envy; and as they were gained at the expense of the crown, +which was itself reduced to poverty, they appeared on that account, to +all indifferent persons, the more exceptionable and invidious. + +The revenues of the crown, which had long been disproportioned to its +power and dignity, had been extremely dilapidated during the minority of +Henry;[*] both by the rapacity of the courtiers, which the king's uncles +could not control, and by the necessary expenses of the French war, +which had always been very ill supplied by the grants of parliament. + + *: Cotton, p. 609. + +The royal demesnes were dissipated; and at the same time the king was +loaded with a debt of three hundred and seventy-two thousand pounds, a +sum so great, that the parliament could never think of discharging +it. This unhappy situation forced the ministers upon many arbitrary +measures: the household itself could not be supported without stretching +to the utmost the right of purveyance, and rendering it a kind of +universal robbery upon the people: the public clamor rose high upon this +occasion, and no one had the equity to make allowance for the necessity +of the king's situation. Suffolk, once become odious, bore the blame of +the whole; and every grievance, in every part of the administration, was +universally imputed to his tyranny and injustice. + +This nobleman, sensible of the public hatred under which he labored, and +foreseeing an attack from the commons endeavored to overawe his enemies, +by boldly presenting himself to the charge, and by insisting upon his +own innocence and even upon his merits, and those of his family, in +the public service. He rose in the house of peers; took notice of the +clamors propagated against him; and complained that after serving the +crown in thirty-four campaigns; after living abroad seventeen years, +without once returning to his native country; after losing a father and +three brothers in the wars with France; after being himself a prisoner, +and purchasing his liberty by a great ransom; it should yet be +suspected, that he had been debauched from his allegiance by that enemy +whom he had ever opposed with such zeal and fortitude, and that he had +betrayed his prince, who had rewarded his services by the highest honors +and greatest offices that it was in his power to confer.[*] This speech +did not answer the purpose intended. The commons, rather provoked at his +challenge, opened their charge against him, and sent up to the peers +an accusation of high treason, divided into several articles. They +insisted, that he had persuaded the French king to invade England with +an armed force, in order to depose the king, and to place on the throne +his own son, John de la Pole, whom he intended to marry to Margaret, +the only daughter of the late John, duke of Somerset, and to whom, he +imagined, he would by that means acquire a title to the crown: that he +had contributed to the release of the duke of Orleans, in hopes that +that prince would assist King Charles in expelling the English from +France, and recovering full possession of his kingdom: that he had +afterwards encouraged that monarch to make open war on Normandy and +Guienne, and had promoted his conquests by betraying the secrets of +England, and obstructing the succors intended to be sent to those +provinces; and that he had, without any powers or commission, promised +by treaty to cede the province of Maine to Charles of Anjou, and had +accordingly ceded it; which proved in the issue the chief cause of the +loss of Normandy.[**] + + * Cotton, p. 641. + + ** Cotton, p. 642. Hall, fol. 157. Holing, p. 631. Grafton, + p. 607 + +It is evident, from a review of these articles, that the commons adopted +without inquiry all the popular clamors against the duke of Suffolk, +and charged him with crimes of which none but the vulgar could seriously +believe him guilty. Nothing can be more incredible, than that a +nobleman, so little eminent by his birth and character, could think +of acquiring the crown to his family, and of deposing Henry by foreign +force, and, together with him, Margaret, his patron, a princess of so +much spirit and penetration. Suffolk appealed to many noblemen in the +house, who knew that he had intended to marry his son to one of the +coheirs of the earl of Warwick, and was disappointed in his views only +by the death of that lady: and he observed, that Margaret of Somerset +could bring to her husband no title to the crown; because she herself +was not so much as comprehended in the entail settled by act of +parliament. It is easy to account for the loss of Normandy and Guienne, +from the situation of affairs in the two kingdoms, without supposing any +treachery in the English ministers; and it may safely be affirmed, that +greater vigor was requisite to defend these provinces from the arms of +Charles VII., than to conquer them at first from his predecessor. +It could never be the interest of any English minister to betray and +abandon such acquisitions; much less of one who was so well established +in his master's favor, who enjoyed such high honors and ample +possessions in his own country, who had nothing to dread but the effects +of popular hatred and who could never think, without the most extreme +reluctance, of becoming a fugitive and exile in a foreign land. The only +article which carries any face of probability, is his engagement for +the delivery of Maine to the queen's uncle: but Suffolk maintained, with +great appearance of truth, that this measure was approved of by several +at the council table; [*] and it seems hard to ascribe to it, as is done +by the commons, the subsequent loss of Normandy and expulsion of the +English. Normandy lay open on every side to the invasion of the French: +Maine, an inland province, must soon after have fallen without any +attack; and as the English possessed in other parts more fortresses than +they could garrison or provide for, it seemed no bad policy to contract +their force, and to render the defence practicable, by reducing it +within a narrower compass. + + * Cotton, p.643. + +The commons were probably sensible, that this charge of treason against +Suffolk would not bear a strict scrutiny; and they therefore, soon +after, sent up against him a new charge of misdemeanors, which they also +divided into several articles. They affirmed, among other imputations, +that he had procured exorbitant grants from the crown, had embezzled the +public money, had conferred offices on improper persons, had perverted +justice by maintaining iniquitous causes, and had procured pardons for +notorious offenders.[*] The articles are mostly general, but are not +improbable; and as Suffolk seems to have been a bad man and a bad +minister, it will not be rash in us to think that he was guilty, and +that many of these articles could have been proved against him. The +court was alarmed at the prosecution of a favorite minister, who lay +under such a load of popular prejudices; and an expedient was fallen +upon to save him from present ruin. The king summoned all the lords, +spiritual and temporal, to his apartment: the prisoner was produced +before them, and asked what he could say in his own defence: he denied +the charge; but submitted to the king's mercy: Henry expressed himself +not satisfied with regard to the first impeachment for treason; but +in consideration of the second for misdemeanors, he declared that, by +virtue of Suffolk's own submission, not by any judicial authority, he +banished him the kingdom during five years. The lords remained silent; +but as soon as they returned to their own house, they entered a protest, +that this sentence should nowise infringe their privileges, and that, if +Suffolk had insisted upon his right, and had not voluntarily submitted +to the king's commands, he was entitled to a trial by his peers in +parliament. + +It was easy to see, that these irregular proceedings were meant to favor +Suffolk, and that, as he still possessed the queen's confidence, he +would, on the first favorable opportunity, be restored to his country, +and be reinstated in his former power and credit. A captain of a vessel +was therefore employed by his enemies to intercept him in his passage to +France: he was seized near Dover; his head struck off on the side of +a long-boat; and his body thrown into the sea,[**] No inquiry was made +after the actors and accomplices in this atrocious deed of violence. + + * Cotton, p. 643. + + ** Hall, fol. 158. Hist. Croyland, Contin. p. 525. Stowe, p. + 388. Grafton, p. 610. + +The duke of Somerset succeeded to Suffolk's power in the ministry, and +credit with the queen; and as he was the person under whose government +the French provinces had been lost, the public, who always judge by the +event, soon made him equally the object of their animosity and hatred. +The duke of York was absent in Ireland during all these transactions +and however it might be suspected that his partisans had excited and +supported the prosecution against Suffolk, no immediate ground of +complaint could, on that account, lie against him. But there happened, +soon after, an incident which roused the jealousy of the court, and +discovered to them the extreme danger to which they were exposed from +the pretensions of that popular prince. + +The humors of the people, set afloat by the parliamentary impeachment, +and by the fall of so great a favorite as Suffolk, broke out in various +commotions, which were soon suppressed, but there arose one in Kent +which was attended with more dangerous consequences. A man of low +condition, one John Cade, a native of Ireland, who had been obliged +to fly into France for crimes, observed, on his return to England, +the discontents of the people; and he laid on them the foundation of +projects which were at first crowned with surprising success. He took +the name of John Mortimer; intending, as is supposed, to pass himself +for a son of that Sir John Mortimer who had been sentenced to death by +parliament, and executed, in the beginning of this reign, without any +trial or evidence, merely upon an indictment of high treason given in +against him.[*] On the first mention of that popular name, the common +people of Kent, to the number of twenty thousand, flocked to Cade's +standard; and he excited their zeal by publishing complaints against the +numerous abuses in government, and demanding a redress of grievances. +The court, not yet fully sensible of the danger, sent a small force +against the rioters, under the command of Sir Humphrey Stafford, who was +defeated and slain in an action near Sevenoke;[**] and Cade, advancing +with his followers towards London, encamped on Blackheath. + + * Stowe, p. 364. Cotton, p. 564. This author admires that + such a piece of injustice should have been committed in + peaceable times: he might have added, and by such virtuous + princes as Bedford and Glocester. But it is to be presumed + that Mortimer was guilty; though his condemnation was highly + irregular and illegal. The people had at this time a very + feeble sense of law and a constitution; and power was very + imperfectly restrained by these limits. When the proceedings + of a parliament were so irregular it is easy to imagine that + those of a king would be more so. + + ** Hall, fol. 159. Holing. p, 634. + +Though elated by his victory, he still maintained the appearance of +moderation; and sending to the court a plausible list of grievances,[*] +he promised that, when these should be redressed, and when Lord Say, +the treasurer, and Cromer, sheriff of Kent, should be punished for their +malversations, he would immediately lay down his arms. The council, who +observed that nobody was willing to fight against men so reasonable in +their pretensions, carried the king, for present safety, to Kenilworth; +and the city immediately opened its gates to Cade, who maintained, +during some time, great order and discipline among his followers. He +always led them into the fields during the night-time; and published +severe edicts against plunder and violence of every kind: but being +obliged, in order to gratify their malevolence against Say and Cromer, +to put these men to death without a legal trial,[**] he found that, +after the commission of this crime, he was no longer master of their +riotous disposition, and that all his orders were neglected.[***] They +broke into a rich house, which they plundered; and the citizens, alarmed +at this act of violence, shut their gates against them; and being +seconded by a detachment of soldiers, sent them by Lord Scales, governor +of the Tower, they repulsed the rebels with great slaughter.[****] The +Kentish men were so discouraged by the blow, that upon receiving a +general pardon from the primate, then chancellor, they retreated towards +Rochester, and there dispersed. The pardon was soon after annulled, as +extorted by violence: a price was set on Cade's head,[*****] who was +killed by one Iden, a gentleman of Sussex; and many of his followers +were capitally punished for their rebellion. + +It was imagined by the court, that the duke of York had secretly +instigated Cade to this attempt, in order to try, by that experiment, +the dispositions of the people towards his title and family:[*] and as +the event had so far succeeded to his wish, the ruling party had +greater reason than ever to apprehend the future consequences of his +pretensions. + + * Stowe, p. 388, 389. Holing, p. 633. + + ** Grafton, p. 612. + + *** Hall, fol. 160. + + **** Hist. Croyland, Contin.p. 526. + + ***** Rymer, vol. xi p. 275. + + ****** Cotton, p. 661. + +At the same time they heard that he intended to return from Ireland; +and fearing that he meant to bring an armed force along with him, they +issued orders, in the king's name, for opposing him, and for debarring +him entrance into England.[*] But the duke refuted his enemies by coming +attended with no more than his ordinary retinue: the precautions of the +ministers served only to show him their jealousy and malignity against +him: he was sensible that his title, by being dangerous to the king, +was also become dangerous to himself: he now saw the impossibility of +remaining in his present situation, and the necessity of proceeding +forward in support of his claim. His partisans, therefore, were +instructed to maintain, in all companies, his right by succession, and +by the established laws and constitution of the kingdom: these questions +became every day more and more the subject of conversation: the minds +of men were insensibly sharpened against each other by disputes, before +they came to more dangerous extremities: and various topics were pleaded +in support of the pretensions of each party. + + * Stowe, p, 394. + +The partisans of the house of Lancaster maintained that, though the +elevation of Henry IV. might at first be deemed somewhat irregular, and +could not be justified by any of those principles on which that prince +chose to rest his title, it was yet founded on general consent, was a +national act, and was derived from the voluntary approbation of a free +people, who, being loosened from their allegiance by the tyranny of the +preceding government, were moved by gratitude, as well as by a sense +of public interest, to intrust the sceptre into the hands of their +deliverer: that, even if that establishment were allowed to be at first +invalid, it had acquired solidity by time; the only principle which +ultimately gives authority to government, and removes those scruples +which the irregular steps attending almost all revolutions, naturally +excite in the minds of the people: that the right of succession was a +rule admitted only for general good, and for the maintenance of +public order; and could never be pleaded to the overthrow of national +tranquillity, and the subversion of regular establishments; that the +principles of liberty, no less than the maxims of internal peace, +were injured by these pretensions of the house of York; and if so many +reiterated acts of the legislature, by which the crown was entailed on +the present family, were now invalidated, the English must be considered +not as a free people, who could dispose of their own government, but as +a troop of slaves, who were implicitly transmitted by succession from +one master to another that the nation was bound to allegiance under the +house of Lancaster by moral no less than by political duty; and were +they to infringe those numerous oaths of fealty which they had sworn to +Henry and his predecessors, they would thenceforth be thrown loose from +all principles, and it would be found difficult ever after to fix and +restrain them: that the duke of York himself had frequently done homage +to the king as his lawful sovereign, and had thereby, in the most solemn +manner, made an indirect renunciation of those claims with which he now +dared to disturb the tranquillity of the public: that even though the +violation of the rights of blood, made on the deposition of Richard, was +perhaps rash and imprudent, it was too late to remedy the mischief; the +danger of a disputed succession could no longer be obviated; the people, +accustomed to a government which, in the hands of the late king, +had been so glorious, and in that of his predecessor, so prudent and +salutary, would still ascribe a right to it; by causing multiplied +disorders, and by shedding an inundation of blood, the advantage would +only be obtained of exchanging one pretender for another; and the +house of York itself, if established on the throne, would, on the first +opportunity, be exposed to those revolutions, which the giddy spirit +excited in the people gave so much reason to apprehend: and that, though +the present king enjoyed not the shining talents which had appeared +in his father and grandfather, he might still have a son who should +be endowed with them; he is himself eminent for the most harmless and +inoffensive manners; and if active princes were dethroned on pretence +of tyranny, and indolent ones on the plea of incapacity, there would +thenceforth remain in the constitution no established rule of obedience +to any sovereign. + +Those strong topics in favor of the house of Lancaster, were opposed +by arguments no less convincing on the side of the house of York. The +partisans of this latter family asserted, that the maintenance of order +in the succession of princes, far from doing injury to the people, or +invalidating their fundamental title to good government, was established +only for the purposes of government, and served to prevent those +numberless confusions which must ensue, if no rule were followed but the +uncertain and disputed views of present convenience and advantage: +that the same maxims which insured public peace, were also salutary to +national liberty the privileges of the people could only be maintained +by the observance of laws; and if no account were made of the rights of +the sovereign, it could less be expected that any regard would be paid +to the property and freedom of the subject: that it was never too late +to correct any pernicious precedent; an unjust establishment, the longer +it stood, acquired the greater sanction and validity; it could, with +more appearance of reason, be pleaded as an authority for a like +injustice; and the maintenance of it, instead of favoring public +tranquillity, tended to disjoint every principle by which human society +was supported: that usurpers would be happy, if their present possession +of power, or their continuance for a few years, could convert them into +legal princes; but nothing would be more miserable than the people, if +all restraints on violence and ambition were thus removed, and a full +scope given to the attempts of every turbulent innovator: that time +indeed might bestow solidity on a government whose first foundations +were the most infirm; but it required both a long course of time to +produce this effect, and the total extinction of those claimants whose +title was built on the original principles of the constitution: that the +deposition of Richard II., and the advancement of Henry IV., were not +deliberate national acts, but the result of the levity and violence of +the people, and proceeded from those very defects in human nature which +the establishment of political society, and of an order in succession, +was calculated to prevent: that the subsequent entails of the crown +were a continuance of the same violence and usurpation; they were not +ratified by the legislature, since the consent of the rightful king was +still wanting; and the acquiescence, first of the family of Mortimer, +then of the family of York, proceeded from present necessity, and +implied no renunciation of their pretensions that the restoration of +the true order of succession could not be considered as a change which +familiarized the people to devolutions; but as the correction of +a former abuse, which had itself encouraged the giddy spirit of +innovation, rebellion, and disobedience: and that, as the original +title of Lancaster stood only, in the person of Henry IV., on present +convenience, even this principle, unjustifiable as it was when not +supported by laws and warranted by the constitution, had now entirely +gone over to the other side; nor was there any comparison between a +prince utterly unable to sway the sceptre, and blindly governed by +corrupt ministers, or by an imperious queen, engaged in foreign and +hostile interests and a prince of mature years, of approved wisdom and +experience, a native of England, the lineal heir of the crown, who, by +his restoration, would replace every thing on ancient foundations. + +So many plausible arguments could be urged on both sides of this +interesting question, that the people were extremely divided in their +sentiments; and though the noblemen of greatest power and influence seem +to have espoused the party of York, the opposite cause had the advantage +of being supported by the present laws, and by the immediate possession +of royal authority. There were also many great noblemen in the +Lancastrian party, who balanced the power of their antagonists, and kept +the nation in suspense between them. The earl of Northumberland adhered +to the present government: the earl of Westmoreland, in spite of his +connections with the duke of York, and with the family of Nevil, of +which he was the head, was brought over to the same party; and the whole +north of England, the most warlike part of the kingdom, was, by means of +these two potent noblemen, warmly engaged in the interests of Lancaster. +Edmund Beaufort, duke of Somerset, and his brother Henry, were great +supports of that cause; as were also Henry Holland duke of Exeter, +Stafford, duke of Buckingham, the earl of Shrewsbury, the Lords +Clifford, Dudley, Scales, Audley, and other noblemen. + +While the kingdom was in this situation, it might naturally be expected +that so many turbulent barons, possessed of so much independent +authority, would immediately have flown to arms, and have decided +the quarrel, after their usual manner, by war and battle, under the +standards of the contending princes. But there still were many causes +which retarded these desperate extremities, and made a long train of +faction, intrigue, and cabal, precede the military operations. By +the gradual progress of arts in England, as well as in other parts +of Europe, the people were now become of some importance; laws were +beginning to be respected by them; and it was requisite, by various +pretences, previously to reconcile their minds to the overthrow of such +an ancient establishment as that of the house of Lancaster, ere their +concurrence could reasonably be expected. The duke of York himself, +the new claimant, was of a moderate and cautious character, an enemy +to violence and disposed to trust rather to time and policy, than +to sanguinary measures, for the success of his pretensions. The very +imbecility itself of Henry tended to keep the factions in suspense, and +make them stand long in awe of each other: it rendered the Lancastrian +party unable to strike any violent blow against their enemies; it +encouraged the Yorkists to hope that, after banishing the king's +ministers, and getting possession of his person, they might gradually +undermine his authority, and be able, without the perilous experiment +of a civil war, to change the succession by parliamentary and legal +authority. + +{1451.} The dispositions which appeared in a parliament assembled +soon after the arrival of the duke of York from Ireland, favored these +expectations of his partisans, and both discovered an unusual boldness +in the commons, and were a proof of the general discontents which +prevailed against the administration. The lower house, without any +previous inquiry or examination, without alleging any other ground of +complaint than common fame, ventured to present a petition against the +duke of Somerset, the duchess of Suffolk, the bishop of Chester, Sir +John Sutton, Lord Dudley, and several others of inferior rank; and they +prayed the king to remove them forever from his person and councils, and +to prohibit them from approaching within twelve miles of the court.[*] +This was a violent attack, somewhat arbitrary, and supported but by few +precedents, against the ministry; yet the king durst not openly oppose +it: he replied that, except the lords, he would banish all the others +from court during a year, unless he should have occasion for their +service in suppressing any rebellion. At the same time he rejected a +bill, which had passed both houses, for attainting the late duke of +Suffolk, and which, in several of its clauses, discovered a very general +prejudice against the measures of the court. + +{1452.} The duke of York, trusting to these symptoms, raised an army +of ten thousand men, with which he marched towards London, demanding a +reformation of the government, and the removal of the duke of Somerset +from all power and authority.[**] He unexpectedly found the gates of the +city shut against him; and on his retreating into Kent, he was followed +by the king at the head of a superior army; in which several of +Richard's friends, particularly Salisbury and Warwick appeared; probably +with a view of mediating between the parties, and of seconding, on +occasion, the duke of York's pretensions. + + * Parl. Hist. vol. ii. p. 263. + + ** Stowe, p. 394. + +A parley ensued; Richard still insisted upon the removal of Somerset, +and his submitting to a trial in parliament: the court pretended to +comply with his demand; and that nobleman was put in arrest: the duke +of York was then persuaded to pay his respects to the king in his +tent; and, on repeating his charge against the duke of Somerset, he was +surprised to see that minister step from behind the curtain, and offer +to maintain his innocence. Richard now found that he had been betrayed; +that he was in the hands of his enemies; and that it was become +necessary, for his own safety, to lower his pretensions. No violence, +however, was attempted against him: the nation was not in a disposition +to bear the destruction of so popular a prince: he had many friends in +Henry's camp; and his son, who was not in the power of the court, might +still be able to revenge his death on all his enemies: he was therefore +dismissed; and he retired to his seat of Wigmore, on the borders of +Wales.[*] + +While the duke of York lived in this retreat, there happened an incident +which, by increasing the public discontents, proved favorable to +his pretensions. Several Gascon lords, affectionate to the English +government, and disgusted at the new dominion of the French, came to +London, and offered to return to their allegiance under Henry.[**] + +{1453.} The earl of Shrewsbury, with a body of eight thousand men, was +sent over to support them. Bordeaux opened its gates to him: he made +himself master of Fronsac, Castillon, and some other places: affairs +began to wear a favorable aspect; but as Charles hastened to resist +this dangerous invasion, the fortunes of the English were soon reversed: +Shrewsbury, a venerable warrior, above fourscore years of age, fell in +battle; his conquests were lost; Bordeaux was again obliged to submit +to the French king;[***] and all hopes of recovering the province of +Gascony were forever extinguished. + + * Grafton, p. 620. + + ** Holing. p. 640. + + *** Polyd. Virg. p. 501. Grafton, p. 623. + +Though the English might deem themselves happy to be fairly rid of +distant dominions, which were of no use to them, and which they never +could defend against the growing power of France, they expressed +great discontent on the occasion: and they threw all the blame on the +ministry, who had not been able to effect impossibilities. While they +were in this disposition, the queen's delivery of a son, who received +the name of Edward, was deemed no joyful incident; and as it removed +all hopes of the peaceable succession of the duke of York, who was +otherwise, in the right of his father, and by the laws enacted since +the accession of the house of Lancaster, next heir to the crown, it had +rather a tendency to inflame the quarrel between the parties. But +the duke was incapable of violent counsels; and even when no visible +obstacle lay between him and the throne, he was prevented by his own +scruples from mounting it. + +{1454.} Henry, always unfit to exercise the government, fell at this +time into a distemper, which so far increased his natural imbecility, +that it rendered him incapable of maintaining even the appearance of +royalty. The queen and the council, destitute of this support, found +themselves unable to resist the York party; and they were obliged to +yield to the torrent. They sent Somerset to the Tower, and appointed +Richard lieutenant of the kingdom, with powers to open and hold a +session of parliament.[*] + + * Rymer, vol. xi. p. 344. + +That assembly, also, taking into consideration the state of the kingdom, +created him protector during pleasure. Men who thus intrusted sovereign +authority to one that had such evident and strong pretensions to +the crown, were not surely averse to his taking immediate and full +possession of it; yet the duke, instead of pushing them to make further +concessions, appeared somewhat timid and irresolute even in receiving +the power which was tendered to him. He desired that it might be +recorded in parliament, that this authority was conferred on him from +their own free motion, without any application on his part: he expressed +his hopes that they would assist him in the exercise of it: he made it a +condition of his acceptance, that the other lords who were appointed to +be of his council, should also accept of the trust, and should exercise +it; and he required, that all the powers of his office should be +specified and defined by act of parliament. This moderation of Richard +was certainly very unusual and very amiable; yet was it attended with +bad consequences in the present juncture; and by giving time to the +animosities of faction to rise and ferment, it proved the source of all +those furious wars and commotions which ensued. + +The enemies of the duke of York soon found it in their power to make +advantage of his excessive caution. Henry being so far recovered from +his distemper, as to carry the appearance of exercising the royal power, +they moved him to resume his authority, to annul the protectorship +of the duke to release Somerset from the Tower,[*] and to commit the +administration into the hands of that nobleman. + +{1455.} Richard, sensible of the dangers which might attend his former +acceptance of the parliamentary commission, should he submit to the +annulling of it, levied an army; but still without advancing any +pretensions to the crown. He complained only of the king's ministers, +and demanded a reformation of the government. A battle was fought at St. +Albans, in which the Yorkists were superior, and, without suffering any +material loss, slew about five thousand of their enemies; among whom +were the duke of Somerset, the earl of Northumberland, the earl of +Stafford, eldest son of the duke of Buckingham, Lord Clifford, and many +other persons of distinction.[**] The king himself fell into the hands +of the duke of York, who treated him with great respect and tenderness: +he was only obliged (which he regarded as no hardship) to commit the +whole authority of the crown into the hands of his rival. + + * Rymer, vol. xi. p. 361. Holing, p. 642. Grafton, p. 626. + + ** Stowe, p. 309. Holing, p. 643. + +This was the first blood spilt in that fatal quarrel which was not +finished in less than a course of thirty years, which was signalized by +twelve pitched battles, which opened a scene of extraordinary fierceness +and cruelty, is computed to have cost the lives of eighty princes of the +blood, and almost entirely annihilated the ancient nobility of England. +The strong attachments, which, at that time, men of the same kindred +bore to each other, and the vindictive spirit, which was considered as +a point of honor, rendered the great families implacable in their +resentments, and every moment widened the breach between the parties. +Yet affairs did not immediately proceed to the last extremities; the +nation was kept some time in suspense; the vigor and spirit of Queen +Margaret, supporting her small power, still proved a balance to the +great authority of Richard, which was checked by his irresolute temper. +A parliament, which was soon after assembled, plainly discovered, by +the contrariety of their proceedings, the contrariety of the motives by +which they were actuated. They granted the Yorkists a general indemnity, +and they restored the protectorship to the duke, who, in accepting it, +still persevered in all his former precautions; but at the same time +they renewed their oaths of fealty to Henry, and fixed the continuance +of the protectorship to the majority of his son Edward, who was vested +with the usual dignities of prince of Wales, duke of Cornwall, and earl +of Chester. The only decisive act passed in this parliament, was a full +resumption of all the grants which had been made since the death of +Henry V., and which had reduced the crown to great poverty. + +{1456.} It was not found difficult to wrest power from hands so little +tenacious as those of the duke of York. Margaret, availing herself of +that prince's absence, produced her husband before the house of lords; +and as his state of health permitted him at that time to act his part +with some tolerable decency, he declared his intentions of resuming the +government, and of putting an end to Richard's authority. This measure, +being unexpected, was not opposed by the contrary party; the house of +lords, who were many of them disgusted with the late act of resumption, +assented to Henry's proposal; and the king was declared to be reinstated +in sovereign authority. Even the duke of York acquiesced in this +irregular act of the peers, and no disturbance ensued. But that prince's +claim to the crown was too well known, and the steps which he had +taken to promote it were too evident ever to allow sincere trust and +confidence to have place between the parties. + +{1457.} The court retired to Coventry, and invited the duke of York and +the earls of Salisbury and Warwick to attend the king's person. When +they were on the road, they received intelligence that designs were +formed against their liberties and lives. They immediately separated +themselves; Richard withdrew to his castle of Wigmore; Salisbury to +Middleham, in Yorkshire, and Warwick to his government of Calais, which +had been committed to him after the battle of St. Albans, and which, as +it gave him the command of the only regular military force maintained +by England, was of the utmost importance in the present juncture. Still, +men of peaceable dispositions, and among the rest Bourchier, archbishop +of Canterbury, thought it not too late to interpose with their good +offices, in order to prevent that effusion of blood, with which the +kingdom was threatened; and the awe in which each party stood of the +other, rendered the mediation for some time successful. It was agreed +that all the great leaders on both sides should meet in London, and be +solemnly reconciled. + +{1458.} The duke of York and his partisans came thither with numerous +retinues, and took up their quarters near each other for mutual +security. The leaders of the Lancastrian party used the same precaution. +The mayor, at the head of five thousand men, kept a strict watch, +night and day; and was extremely vigilant in maintaining peace between +them.[*] + + * Fabian Chron. anno 1458. The author says that some lords + brought nine hundred retainers, some six hundred, none less + than four hundred. See also Grafton, p. 633. + +Terms were adjusted, which removed not the ground of difference. An +outward reconciliation only was procured; and in order to notify this +accord to the whole people, a solemn procession to St. Paul's was +appointed, where the duke of York led Queen Margaret, and a leader of +one party marched hand in hand with a leader of the opposite. The less +real cordiality prevailed, the more were the exterior demonstrations of +amity redoubled. But it was evident, that a contest for a crown could +not thus be peaceably accommodated; that each party watched only for +an opportunity of subverting the other; and that much blood must yet +be spilt, ere the nation could be restored to perfect tranquillity, or +enjoy a settled and established government. + +{1459.} Even the smallest accident, without any formed design, was +sufficient, in the present disposition of men's minds, to dissolve +the seeming harmony between the parties; and had the intentions of the +leaders been ever so amicable they would have found it difficult to +restrain the animosity of their followers. One of the king's retinue +insulted one of the earl of Warwick's: their companions on both sides +took part in the quarrel: a fierce combat ensued: the earl apprehended +his life to be aimed at: he fled to his government of Calais; and +both parties, in every county of England, openly made preparations for +deciding the contest by war and arms. + +The earl of Salisbury, marching to join the duke of York, was overtaken +at Blore Heath, on the borders of Staffordshire, by Lord Audley, who +commanded much superior forces; and a small rivulet with steep banks +ran between the armies. Salisbury here supplied his defect in numbers +by stratagem, a refinement of which there occur few instances in +the English civil wars, where a headlong courage, more than military +conduct, is commonly to be remarked. He feigned a retreat, and allured +Audley to follow him with precipitation; but when the van of the royal +army had passed the brook, Salisbury suddenly turned upon them; and +partly by the surprise, partly by the division, of the enemies' forces, +put this body to rout: the example of flight was followed by the rest +of the army: and Salisbury, obtaining a complete victory, reached the +general rendezvous of the Yorkists at Ludlow.[*] + +The earl of Warwick brought over to this rendezvous a choice body of +veterans from Calais, on whom, it was thought the fortune of the war +would much depend; but this reënforcement occasioned, in the issue, +the immediate ruin of the duke of York's party. When the royal army +approached, and a general action was every hour expected, Sir Andrew +Trollop, who commanded the veterans, deserted to the king in the +night-time; and the Yorkists were so dismayed at this instance of +treachery, which made every man suspicious of his fellow, that they +separated next day without striking a stroke:[**] the duke fled to +Ireland: the earl of Warwick, attended by many of the other leaders, +escaped to Calais; where his great popularity among all orders of +men, particularly among the military, soon drew to him partisans, and +rendered his power very formidable. The friends of the house of York in +England kept themselves every where in readiness to rise on the first +summons from their leaders. + +[Illustration: 1_283_albans_abbey.jpg ST. ALBANS ABBEY] + +{1460.} After meeting with some successes at sea, Warwick landed in +Kent, with the earl of Salisbury, and the earl of Marche, eldest son +of the duke of York; and being met by the primate, by Lord Cobham, and +other persons of distinction, he marched, amidst the acclamations of the +people, to London. The city immediately opened its gates to him; and +his troops increasing on every day's march, he soon found himself in a +condition to face the royal army, which hastened from Coventry to attack +him. The battle was fought at Northampton; and was soon decided against +the royalists by the infidelity of Lord Grey of Ruthin, who, commanding +Henry's van, deserted to the enemy during the heat of action, and spread +a consternation through the troops. The duke of Buckingham, the earl of +Shrewsbury, the Lords Beaumont and Egremont, and Sir William Lucie +were killed in the action or pursuit: the slaughter fell chiefly on +the gentry and nobility; the common people were spared by orders of the +earls of Warwick and Marche.[***] + + * Holingshed, p. 649. Grafton, p. 936. + + ** Holingshed, p. 650. Grafton, p. 537 + + *** Stowe, p. 409. + +Henry himself, that empty shadow of a king, was again taken prisoner; +and as the innocence and simplicity of his manners, which bore the +appearance of sanctity, had procured him the tender regard of the +people,[*] the earl of Warwick and the other leaders took care to +distinguish themselves by their respectful demeanor towards him. + +A parliament was summoned in the king's name, and met at Westminster; +where the duke soon after appeared from Ireland. This prince had never +hitherto advanced openly any claim to the crown: he had only complained +of ill ministers, and demanded a redress of grievances; and even in the +present crisis, when the parliament was surrounded by his victorious +army, he showed such a regard to law and liberty, as is unusual during +the prevalence of a party in any civil dissensions; and was still +less to be expected in those violent and licentious times. He advanced +towards the throne; and being met by the archbishop of Canterbury, who +asked him, whether he had yet paid his respects to the king, he replied, +that he knew of none to whom he owed that title. He then stood near the +throne,[**] and addressing himself to the house of peers, he gave them a +deduction of his title by descent, mentioned the cruelties by which the +house of Lancaster had paved their way to sovereign power, insisted on +the calamities which had attended the government of Henry, exhorted them +to return into the right path, by doing justice to the lineal successor, +and thus pleaded his cause before them as his natural and legal +judges.[***] This cool and moderate manner of demanding a crown +intimidated his friends and encouraged his enemies: the lords remained +in suspense;[****] and no one ventured to utter a word on the occasion. + + * Hall, fol. 169. Grafton, p. 195. + + ** Holingshed, p. 650 + + *** Cotton, p. 665. Grafton, p. 643. + + **** Holingshed, p. 657. Grafton, p. 645. + +Richard, who had probably expected that the peers would have invited him +to place himself on the throne, was much disappointed at their silence; +but desiring them to reflect on what he had proposed to them, he +departed the house. The peers took the matter into consideration, with +as much tranquillity as if it had been a common subject of debate: they +desired the assistance of some considerable members among the commons in +their deliberations: they heard in several successive days, the reasons +alleged for the duke of York: they even ventured to propose objections +to his claim founded on former entails of the crown, and on the oaths +of fealty sworn to the house of Lancaster:[*] they also observed that as +Richard had all along borne the arms of York, not those of Clarence, he +could not claim as successor to the latter family: and after receiving +answers to these objections, derived from the violence and power by +which the house of Lancaster supported their present possession of the +crown, they proceeded to give a decision. Their sentence was calculated, +as far as possible, to please both parties: they declared the title of +the duke of York to be certain and indefeasible; but in consideration +that Henry had enjoyed the crown, without dispute or controversy, +during the course of thirty-eight years, they determined that he should +continue to possess the title and dignity during the remainder of his +life; that the administration of the government, meanwhile, should +remain with Richard; that he should be acknowledged the true and lawful +heir of the monarchy; that every one should swear to maintain his +succession, and it should be treason to attempt his life; and that all +former settlements of the crown, in this and the two last reigns, should +be abrogated and rescinded.[**] The duke acquiesced in this decision: +Henry himself, being a prisoner, could not oppose it: even if he +had enjoyed his liberty, he would not probably have felt any violent +reluctance against it: and the act thus passed with the unanimous +consent of the whole legislative body. Though the mildness of this +compromise is chiefly to be ascribed to the moderation of the duke of +York, it is impossible not to observe in those transactions visible +marks of a higher regard to law, and of a more fixed authority enjoyed +by parliament, than has appeared in any former period of English +history. + + * Cotton, p. 666. + + ** Cotton, p. 666. Grafton, p. 647. + +It is probable that the duke, without employing either menaces or +violence, could have obtained from the commons a settlement more +consistent and uniform: but as many, if not all the members of the upper +house, had received grants, concession, or dignities, during the +last sixty years, when the house of Lancaster was possessed of the +government, they were afraid of invalidating their own titles by too +sudden and violent an overthrow of that family; and in thus temporizing +between the parties, they fixed the throne on a basis upon which it +could not possibly stand. The duke, apprehending his chief danger to +arise from the genius and spirit of Queen Margaret sought a pretence for +banishing her the kingdom: he sent her, in the king's name, a summons to +come immediately to London; intending, in case of her disobedience, to +proceed to extremities against her. But the queen needed not this menace +to excite her activity in defending the rights of her family. After +the defeat at Northampton, she had fled with her infant son to Durham, +thence to Scotland; but soon returning, she applied to the northern +barons, and employed every motive to procure their assistance. +Her affability, insinuation, and address,--qualities in which she +excelled,--her caresses, her promises, wrought a powerful effect on +every one who approached her: the admiration of her great qualities was +succeeded by compassion towards her helpless condition: the nobility +of that quarter, who regarded themselves as the most warlike in the +kingdom, were moved by indignation to find the southern barons pretend +to dispose of the crown and settle the government. And that they might +allure the people to their standard, they promised them the spoils of +all the provinces on the other side of the Trent. By these means, the +queen had collected an army twenty thousand strong, with a celerity +which was neither expected by her friends nor apprehended by her +enemies. + +The duke of York, informed of her appearance in the north, hastened +thither with a body of five thousand men, to suppress, as he imagined, +the beginnings of an insurrection; when, on his arrival at Wakefield, +he found himself so much outnumbered by the enemy. He threw himself +into Sandal Castle, which was situated in the neighborhood; and he was +advised by the earl of Salisbury, and other prudent counsellors, to +remain in that fortress till his son, the earl of Marche, who +was levying forces in the borders of Wales, could advance to his +assistance.[*] But the duke, though deficient in political courage, +possessed personal bravery in an eminent degree; and notwithstanding his +wisdom and experience, he thought that he should be forever disgraced, +if, by taking shelter behind walls, he should for a moment resign the +victory to a woman. + + * Stowe, p. 412. + +He descended into the plain, and offered battle to the enemy, which was +instantly accepted. The great inequality of numbers was sufficient alone +to decide the victory; but the queen, by sending a detachment, who +fell on the back of the duke's army, rendered her advantage still more +certain and undisputed. The duke himself was killed in the action; +and as his body was found among the slain, the head was cut off by +Margaret's orders, and fixed on the gates of York, with a paper crown +upon it, in derision of his pretended title. His son, the earl of +Rutland, a youth of seventeen, was brought to Lord Clifford; and that +barbarian, in revenge of his father's death, who had perished in the +battle of St. Albans, murdered in cool blood, and with his own +hands, this innocent prince, whose exterior figure, as well as other +accomplishments, are represented by historians as extremely amiable. +The earl of Salisbury was wounded and taken prisoner, and immediately +beheaded, with several other persons of distinction, by martial law at +Pomfret.[*] There fell near three thousand Yorkists in this battle: the +duke himself was greatly and justly lamented by his own party; a +prince who merited a better fate, and whose errors in conduct proceeded +entirely from such qualities as render him the more an object of esteem +and affection. He perished in the fiftieth year of his age, and left +three sons, Edward, George, and Richard, with three daughters, Anne, +Elizabeth, and Margaret. + +{1461.} The queen, after this important victory, divided her army. She +sent the smaller division, under Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke, half +brother to the king, against Edward the new duke of York. She herself +marched with the larger division towards London, where the earl of +Warwick had been left with the command of the Yorkists. Pembroke was +defeated by Edward at Mortimer's Cross, in Herefordshire, with the loss +of near four thousand men: his army was dispersed; he himself escaped +by flight; but his father, Sir Owen Tudor, was taken prisoner, and +immediately beheaded by Edward's orders. This barbarous practice, being +once begun, was continued by both parties, from a spirit of revenge, +which covered itself under the pretence of retaliation.[**] + + * Poivd. Virg. p 510. + + ** Holingshed, p. 660. Grafton, p. 650. + +Margaret compensated this defeat by a victory which she obtained over +the earl of Warwick. That nobleman on the approach of the Lancastrians, +led out his army, reënforced by a strong body of the Londoners, who +were affectionate to his cause; and he gave battle to the queen at St. +Albans. While the armies were warmly engaged, Lovelace, who commanded +a considerable body of the Yorkists, withdrew from the combat; and this +treacherous conduct, of which there are many instances in those civil +wars, decided the victory in favor of the queen. About two thousand +three hundred of the vanquished perished in the battle and pursuit; and +the person of the king fell again into the hands of his own party. This +weak prince was sure to be almost equally a prisoner whichever faction +had the keeping of him; and scarce any more decorum was observed by one +than by the other, in their method of treating him. Lord Bonville, to +whose care he had been intrusted by the Yorkists, remained with him +after the defeat, on assurances of pardon given him by Henry: but +Margaret, regardless of her husband's promise, immediately ordered the +head of that nobleman to be struck off by the executioner.[*] Sir Thomas +Kiriel, a brave warrior, who had signalized himself in the French wars, +was treated in the same manner. + +The queen made no great advantage of this victory: young Edward advanced +upon her from the other side; and collecting the remains of Warwick's +army, was soon in a condition of giving her battle with superior forces. +She was sensible of her danger, while she lay between the enemy and the +city of London; and she found it necessary to retreat with her army to +the north.[**] + + * Holingshed, p. 660. + + ** Grafton, p. 652. + +Edward entered the capital amidst the acclamations of the citizens, and +immediately opened a new scene to his party. This prince, in the bloom +of youth, remarkable for the beauty of this person, for his bravery, his +activity, his affability, and every popular quality, found himself so +much possessed of public favor, that, elated with the spirit natural to +his age, he resolved no longer to confine himself within those narrow +limits which his father had prescribed to himself, and which had been +found by experience so prejudicial to his cause. He determined to +assume the name and dignity of king; to insist openly on his claim; and +thenceforth to treat the opposite party as traitors and rebels to his +lawful authority. But as a national consent, or the appearance of it, +still seemed, notwithstanding his plausible title, requisite to precede +this bold measure, and as the assembling of a parliament might occasion +too many delays, and be attended with other inconveniences, he ventured +to proceed in a less regular manner, and to put it out of the power of +his enemies to throw obstacles in the way of his elevation. His army +was ordered to assemble in St. John's Fields; great numbers of people +surrounded them; an harangue was pronounced to this mixed multitude, +setting forth the title of Edward, and inveighing against the tyranny +and usurpation of the rival family; and the people were then asked +whether they would have Henry of Lancaster for king. They unanimously +exclaimed against the proposal. It was then demanded whether they would +accept of Edward, eldest son of the late duke of York. They expressed +their assent by loud and joyful acclamations.[*] A great number of +bishops, lords, magistrates, and other persons of distinction were next +assembled at Baynard's Castle, who ratified the popular election; and +the new king was on the subsequent day proclaimed in London, by the +title of Edward IV.[**] + +In this manner ended the reign of Henry VI., a monarch, who, while in +his cradle, had been proclaimed king both of France and England, and +who began his life with the most splendid prospects that any prince in +Europe had ever enjoyed. The revolution was unhappy for his people, as +it was the source of civil wars; but was almost entirely indifferent to +Henry himself, who was utterly incapable of exercising his authority, +and who, provided he personally met with good usage, was equally easy, +as he was equally enslaved, in the hands of his enemies and of his +friends. His weakness and his disputed title were the chief causes of +the public calamities: but whether his queen and his ministers were not +also guilty of some great abuses of power, it is not easy for us at this +distance of time to determine: there remain no proofs on record of any +considerable violation of the laws, except in the assassination of the +duke of Glocester, which was a private crime, formed no precedent, and +was but too much of a piece with the usual ferocity and cruelty of the +times. + +The most remarkable law which passed in this reign, was that for the +due election of members of parliament in counties. After the fall of the +feudal system, the distinction of tenures was in some measure lost; +and every freeholder, as well those who held of mesne lords, as the +immediate tenants of the crown, were by degrees admitted to give +their votes at elections. This innovation (for such it may probably be +esteemed) was indirectly confirmed by a law of Henry IV.[***] which +gave right to such a multitude of electors, as was the occasion of great +disorder. + + * Stowe, p. 415. Holingshed, p. 661. + + ** Grafton, p. 653. + + *** Statutes at large, 7 Henry IV. ca. 15. + +In the eighth and tenth of this king, therefore, laws were enacted, +limiting the electors to such as possessed forty shillings a year +in land, free from all burdens within the county.[*] This sum was +equivalent to near twenty pounds a year of our present money, and it +were to be wished, that the spirit, as well as letter, of this law had +been maintained. + +The preamble of the statute is remarkable: "Whereas the elections +of knights have of late, in many counties of England, been made by +outrageous and excessive numbers of people, many of them of small +substance and value, yet pretending to a right equal to the best knights +and esquires; whereby manslaughters, riots, batteries, and divisions +among the gentlemen and other people of the same counties, shall very +likely rise and be, unless due remedy be provided in this behalf, +etc." We may learn from these expressions, what an important matter +the election of a member of parliament was now become in England: that +assembly was beginning in this period to assume great authority: the +commons had it much in their power to enforce the execution of the laws; +and if they failed of success in this particular, it proceeded less from +any exorbitant power of the crown, than from the licentious spirit of +the aristocracy, and perhaps from the rude education of the age, +and their own ignorance of the advantages resulting from a regular +administration of justice. + +When the duke of York, the earls of Salisbury and Warwick, fled the +kingdom upon the desertion of their troops, a parliament was summoned +at Coventry in 1460, by which they were all attainted. This parliament +seems to have been very irregularly constituted, and scarcely deserves +the name; insomuch, that an act passed in it, "that all such knights of +any county, as were returned by virtue of the king's letters, without +any other election, should be valid; and that no sheriff should, for +returning them, incur the penalty of the statute of Henry IV."[**] All +the acts of that parliament were afterwards reversed; "because it was +unlawfully summoned, and the knights and barons not duly chosen."[***] + + * Statutes at large, 8 Henry VI. cap. 7. 10 Henry VI. cap. + 2. + + ** Cotton, p. 664. + + *** Statutes at large, 39 Henry VI. cap. 1 + +The parliaments in this reign, instead of relaxing their vigilance +against the usurpations of the court of Rome, endeavored to enforce the +former statutes enacted for that purpose. The commons petitioned, that +no foreigner should be capable of any church preferment, and that the +patron might be allowed to present anew upon the non-residence of any +incumbent:[*] but the king eluded these petitions. Pope Martin wrote +him a severe letter against the statute of provisors; which he calls +an abominable law, that would infallibly damn every one who observed +it.[**] The cardinal of Winchester was legate; and as he was also a kind +of prime minister, and immensely rich from the profits of his clerical +dignities, the parliament became jealous lest he should extend the papal +power; and they protested, that the cardinal should absent himself in +all affairs and councils of the king, whenever the pope or see of Rome +was touched upon.[***] + +Permission was given by parliament to export corn when it was at low +prices; wheat at six shillings and eightpence a quarter, money of that +age; barley at three shillings and fourpence.[****] It appears from +these prices, that corn still remained at near half its present value; +though other commodities were much cheaper. The inland commerce of corn +was also opened in the eighteenth of the king, by allowing any collector +of the customs to grant a license of carrying it from one county to +another.[*****] The same year a kind of navigation act was proposed +with regard to all places within the Straits; but the king rejected +it.[******] + +The first instance of debt contracted upon parliamentary security occurs +in this reign.[*******] The commencement of this pernicious practice +deserves to be noted; a practice the more likely to become pernicious, +the more a nation advances in opulence and credit. The ruinous effects +of it are now become apparent, and threaten the very existence of the +nation. + + * Cotton, p. 585. + + ** Burnet's Collection of Records, vol. i. p. 99. + + *** Cotton, p. 593. + + **** Statutes at large, 15 Henry VI. cap. 2. 23 Henry VI. cap. + 6. + + ***** Cotton, p. 625. + + ****** Cotton, p. 626. + + ******* Cotton, p. 593, 614, 638. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +[Illustration: 1_286_edward4.jpg EDWARD IV.] + + + +EDWARD IV. + +{1461.} Young Edward, now in his twentieth year, was of a temper +well fitted to make his way through such a scene of war, havoc, and +devastation, as must conduct him to the full possession of that crown, +which he claimed from hereditary right, but which he had assumed from +the tumultuary election alone of his own party. He was bold, active, +enterprising; and his hardness of heart and severity of character +rendered him impregnable to all those movements of compassion which +might relax his vigor in the prosecution of the most bloody revenges +upon his enemies. The very commencement of his reign gave symptoms of +his sanguinary disposition. A tradesman of London, who kept shop at the +sign of the Crown, having said that he would make his son heir to the +crown; this harmless pleasantry was interpreted to be spoken in derision +of Edward's assumed title; and he was condemned and executed for the +offence.[*] Such an act of tyranny was a proper prelude to the events +which ensued. The scaffold, as well as the field, incessantly streamed +with the noblest blood of England, spilt in the quarrel between the +two contending families, whose animosity was now become implacable. The +people, divided in their affections, took different symbols of party: +the partisans of the house of Lancaster chose the red rose as their mark +of distinction;[**] those of York were denominated from the white; and +these civil wars were thus known over Europe by the name of the quarrel +between the two roses. + + * Habington in Kennet, p. 431. + + ** Grafton, p. 791. + +The license in which Queen Margaret had been obliged to indulge her +troops, infused great terror and aversion into the city of London, and +all the southern parts of the kingdom; and as she there expected an +obstinate resistance, she had prudently retired northwards among her own +partisans. The same license, joined to the zeal of faction, soon brought +great multitudes to her standard; and she was able, in a few days, to +assemble an army sixty thousand strong in Yorkshire. The king and the +earl of Warwick hastened, with an army of forty thousand men, to check +her progress; and when they reached Pomfret, they despatched a body of +troops, under the command of Lord Fitzwalter, to secure the passage of +Ferrybridge over the River Are, which lay between them and the enemy. +Fitzwalter took possession of the post assigned him; but was not able +to maintain it against Lord Clifford, who attacked him with superior +numbers. The Yorkists were chased back with great slaughter; and Lord +Fitzwalter himself was slain in the action.[*] The earl of Warwick, +dreading the consequences of this disaster, at a time when a decisive +action was every hour expected, immediately ordered his horse to be +brought him, which he stabbed before the whole army; and kissing the +hilt of his sword, swore that he was determined to share the fate of the +meanest soldier.[**] And to show the greater security, a proclamation +was at the same time issued, giving to every one full liberty to retire, +but menacing the severest punishment to those who should discover any +symptoms of cowardice in the ensuing battle.[***] Lord Falconberg was +sent to recover the post which had been lost: he passed the river some +miles above Ferrybridge, and falling unexpectedly on Lord Clifford, +revenged the former disaster by the defeat of the party and the death of +their leader.[****] + + * W. Wyrcester, p. 489. Hall, fol. 186. Holingshed, p. 664. + + ** Habington, p. 432. + + *** Holingshed, p. 664. + + **** Hist. Croyl. Contin. p. 532. + +The hostile armies met at Touton; and a fierce and bloody battle ensued. +While the Yorkists were advancing to the charge, there happened a great +fall of snow, which, driving full in the faces of their enemies, +blinded them; and this advantage was improved by a stratagem of Lord +Falconberg's. That nobleman ordered some infantry to advance before the +line, and, after having sent a volley of flight-arrows, as they were +called, amidst the enemy, immediately to retire. The Lancastrians, +imagining that they were gotten within reach of the opposite army, +discharged all their arrows, which thus fell short of the Yorkists.[*] +After the quivers of the enemy were emptied, Edward advanced his line, +and did execution with impunity on the dismayed Lancastrians: the bow, +however, was soon laid aside, and the sword decided the combat, which +ended in a total victory on the side of the Yorkists. Edward issued +orders to give no quarter.[**] The routed army was pursued to Tadcaster +with great bloodshed and confusion; and above thirty-six thousand men +are computed to have fallen in the battle and pursuit:[***] among these +were the earl of Westmoreland, and his brother Sir John Nevil, the +earl of Northumberland, the Lords Dacres and Welles, and Sir Andrew +Trollop.[****] The earl of Devonshire, who was now engaged in Henry's +party, was brought a prisoner to Edward; and was soon after beheaded by +martial law at York. His head was fixed on a pole erected over a gate +of that city; and the head of Duke Richard and that of the earl of +Salisbury were taken down, and buried with their bodies. Henry and +Margaret had remained at York during the action, but learning the defeat +of their army, and being sensible that no place in England could now +afford them shelter, they fled with great precipitation into Scotland. +They were accompanied by the duke of Exeter, who, though he had married +Edward's sister, had taken part with the Lancastrians; and by Henry, +duke of Somerset, who had commanded in the unfortunate battle of Touton, +and who was the son of that nobleman killed in the first battle of St. +Albans. + + * Hall, fol. 186. + + ** Habington, p. 432. + + *** Holingshed, p. 665. Grafton, p. 656. Hist. Croyl. Cont. + p. 533. + + **** Hall, fol. 187. Habington, p. 433. + +Notwithstanding the great animosity which prevailed between the +kingdoms, Scotland had never exerted itself with vigor, to take +advantage either of the wars which England carried on with France, or of +the civil commotions which arose between the contending families. James +I., more laudably employed in civilizing his subjects, and taming them +to the salutary yoke of law and justice, avoided all hostilities with +foreign nations; and though he seemed interested to maintain a balance +between France and England, he gave no further assistance to the +former kingdom in its greatest distresses, than permitting, and perhaps +encouraging, his subjects to enlist in the French service. After the +murder of that excellent prince, the minority of his son and successor, +James II., and the distractions incident to it, retained the Scots in +the same state of neutrality; and the superiority visibly acquired by +France, rendered it then unnecessary for her ally to interpose in her +defence. But when the quarrel commenced between the houses of York and +Lancaster, and became absolutely incurable but by the total extinction +of one party, James, who had now risen to man's estate, was tempted to +seize the opportunity, and he endeavored to recover those places which +the English had formerly conquered from his ancestors. He laid siege to +the Castle of Roxburgh in 1460, and had provided himself with a small +train of artillery for that enterprise: but his cannon were so ill +framed, that one of them burst as he was firing it, and put an end to +his life in the flower of his age. His son and successor, James III., +was also a minor on his accession: the usual distractions ensued in the +government: the queen dowager, Anne of Gueldres, aspired to the regency: +the family of Douglas opposed her pretensions: and Queen Margaret, when +she fled into Scotland, found there a people little less divided by +faction, than those by whom she had been expelled. Though she pleaded +the connections between the royal family of Scotland and the house of +Lancaster, by the young king's grandmother, a daughter of the earl of +Somerset, she could engage the Scottish council to go no further than to +express their good wishes in her favor; but on her offer to deliver to +them immediately the important fortress of Berwick, and to contract +her son in marriage with a sister of King James, she found a better +reception; and the Scots promised the assistance of their arms to +reinstate her family upon the throne.[*] But as the danger from that +quarter seemed not very urgent to Edward, he did not pursue the fugitive +king and queen into their retreat; but returned to London, where a +parliament was summoned for settling the government. + +On the meeting of this assembly, Edward found the good effects of his +vigorous measure in assuming the crown, as well as of his victory +at Touton, by which he had secured it;[**] the parliament no longer +hesitated between the two families or proposed any of those ambiguous +decisions which could only serve to perpetuate and inflame the +animosities of party. + + * Hall, fol. 137. + + ** Habington, p. 434. + +They recognized the title of Edward, by hereditary descent, through the +family of Mortimer; and declared that he was king by right, from the +death of his father, who had also the same lawful title; and that he was +in possession of the crown from the day that he assumed the government, +tendered to him by the acclamations of the people.[*] They expressed +their abhorrence of the usurpation and intrusion of the house of +Lancaster, particularly that of the earl of Derby, otherwise called +Henry IV.; which, they said, had been attended with every kind of +disorder, the murder of the sovereign, and the oppression of the +subject. They annulled every grant which had passed in those reigns; +they reinstated the king in all the possessions which had belonged to +the crown at the pretended deposition of Richard II.; and though they +confirmed judicial deeds and the decrees of inferior courts, they +reversed all attainders passed in any pretended parliament; particularly +the attainder of the earl of Cambridge, the king's grandfather; as well +as that of the earls of Salisbury and Glocester, and of Lord Lumley, who +had been forfeited for adhering to Richard II.[**] + +Many of these votes were the result of the usual violence of party: the +common sense of mankind, in more peaceable times, repealed them: and the +statutes of the house of Lancaster, being the deeds of an established +government, and enacted by princes long possessed of authority, have +always been held as valid and obligatory. The parliament, however, in +subverting such deep foundations, had still the pretence of replacing +the government on its ancient and natural basis: but in their subsequent +measures, they were more guided by revenge, at least by the views of +convenience, than by the maxims of equity and justice. They passed an +act of forfeiture and attainder against Henry VI. and Queen Margaret and +their infant son Prince Edward: the same act was extended to the dukes +of Somerset and Exeter; to the earls of Northumberland, Devonshire, +Pembroke, Wilts; to the Viscount Beaumont; the Lords Roos, Nevil, +Clifford, Welles, Dacre, Gray of Rugemont, Hungerford; to Alexander +Hedie, Nicholas Latimer, Edmond Mountfort, John Heron, and many other +persons of distinction.[***] + + * Cotton, p. 670. + + ** Cotton, p. 672. Statutes at large, 1 Edward IV cap. i. + + *** Cotton, p. 670. W. Wyrcester, p. 490. + +The parliament vested the estates of all these attainted persons in the +crown, though their sole crime was the adhering to a prince whom every +individual of the parliament had long recognized, and whom that very +king himself, who was now seated on the throne, had acknowledged and +obeyed as his lawful sovereign. + +The necessity of supporting the government established will more fully +justify some other acts of violence, though the method of conducting +them may still appear exceptionable. John, earl of Oxford, and his son +Aubrey de Vere were detected in a correspondence with Margaret, +were tried by martial law before the constable, were condemned +and executed.[*] Sir William Tyrrel, Sir Thomas Tudenham, and John +Montgomery were convicted in the same arbitrary court; were executed, +and their estates forfeited. This introduction of martial law into civil +government was a high strain of prerogative; which, were it not for the +violence of the times, would probably have appeared exceptionable to a +nation so jealous of their liberties as the English were now become.[**] +[18] It was impossible but such a great and sudden revolution must leave +the roots of discontent and dissatisfaction in the subject, which would +require great art, or, in lieu of it, great violence, to extirpate +them. The latter was more suitable to the genius of the nation in that +uncultivated age. + +But the new establishment still seemed precarious and uncertain; not +only from the domestic discontents of the people, but from the efforts +of foreign powers. Lewis, the eleventh of the name, had succeeded to +his father, Charles, in 1460; and was led, from the obvious motives +of national interest, to feed the flames of civil discord among such +dangerous neighbors, by giving support to the weaker party. But the +intriguing and politic genius of this prince was here checked by itself: +having attempted to subdue the independent spirit of his own vassals, he +had excited such an opposition at home, as prevented him from making all +the advantage, which the opportunity afforded, of the dissensions among +the English. + +{1462.} He sent, however, a small body to Henry's assistance under +Varenne, seneschal of Normandy;[***] who landed in Northumberland, +and got possession of the Castle of Alnwick; but as the indefatigable +Margaret went in person to France, where she solicited larger supplies +and promised Lewis to deliver up Calais, if her family should by his +means be restored to the throne of England; he was induced to send along +with her a body of two thousand men at arms, which enabled her to take +the field, and to make an inroad into England. + + * W. Wyrcester, p. 492. Hall, fol. 189 Grafton, p. 658. + Fabian fol. 215. Fragm. ad finem T. Sproti. + + ** See note R, at the end of the volume. + + **** Monstrelet, vol. iii. p 95. + +{1464.} Though reënforced by a numerous train of adventurers from +Scotland, and by many partisans of the family of Lancaster she received +a check at Hedgley-more from Lord Montacute, or Montague, brother to +the earl of Warwick, and warden of the east marches between Scotland +and England. Montague was so encouraged with this success, that, while +a numerous reënforcement was on their march to join him by orders +from Edward, he yet ventured, with his own troops alone, to attack the +Lancastrians at Hexham; and he obtained a complete victory over them. +The duke of Somerset, the Lords Roos and Hungerford, were taken in the +pursuit, and immediately beheaded by martial law at Hexham. Summary +justice was in like manner executed at Newcastle on Sir Humphrey Nevil, +and several other gentlemen. All those who were spared in the field, +suffered on the scaffold; and the utter extermination of their +adversaries was now become the plain object of the York party; a conduct +which received but too plausible an apology from the preceding practice +of the Lancastrians. + +The fate of the unfortunate royal family, after this defeat, was +singular. Margaret, flying with her son into a forest, where she +endeavored to conceal herself, was beset, during the darkness of the +night, by robbers, who, either ignorant or regardless of her quality, +despoiled her of her rings and jewels, and treated her with the utmost +indignity. The partition of this rich booty raised a quarrel among them; +and while their attention was thus engaged, she took the opportunity of +making her escape with her son into the thickest of the forest where she +wandered for some time, overspent with hunger and fatigue, and sunk +with terror and affliction. While in this wretched condition, she saw a +robber approach with his naked sword; and finding that she had no means +of escape, she suddenly embraced the resolution of trusting entirely for +protection to his faith and generosity. She advanced towards him; and +presenting to him the young prince, called out to him, "Here, my friend, +I commit to your care the safety of your king's son." The man, whose +humanity and generous spirit had been obscured, not entirely lost, +by his vicious course of life, was struck with the singularity of the +event, was charmed with the confidence reposed in him, and vowed, not +only to abstain from all injury against the princess, but to devote +himself entirely to her service.[*] By his means she dwelt some time +concealed in the forest, and was at last conducted to the sea-coast, +whence she made her escape into Flanders. She passed thence into her +father's court, where she lived several years in privacy and retirement. +Her husband was not so fortunate or so dexterous in finding the means +of escape. Some of his friends took him under their protection, and +conveyed him into Lancashire, where he remained concealed during a +twelvemonth; but he was at last detected, delivered up to Edward, and +thrown into the Tower.[**] The safety of his person was owing less +to the generosity of his enemies, than to the contempt which they had +entertained of his courage and his understanding. + +The imprisonment of Henry, the expulsion of Margaret, the execution and +confiscation of all the most eminent Lancastrians, seemed to give +full security to Edward's government; whose title by blood, being now +recognized by parliament, and universally submitted to by the people, +was no longer in danger of being impeached by any antagonist. In this +prosperous situation, the king delivered himself up, without control, +to those pleasures which his youth, his high fortune, and his natural +temper invited him to enjoy; and the cares of royalty were less attended +to than the dissipation of amusement, or the allurements of passion. The +cruel and unrelenting spirit of Edward, though inured to the ferocity +of civil wars, was at the same time extremely devoted to the softer +passions, which, without mitigating his severe temper, maintained a +great influence over him, and shared his attachment with the pursuits of +ambition and the thirst of military glory. During the present interval +of peace, he lived in the most familiar and sociable manner with his +subjects,[***] particularly with the Londoners; and the beauty of his +person, as well as the gallantry of his address, which, even unassisted +by his royal dignity, would have rendered him acceptable to the fair, +facilitated all his applications for their favor. + + * Monstrelet, vol. iii. p. 96. + + ** Hall, fol. 191. Fragm. ad finem Sproti. + + *** Polyd. Virg. p. 513. Biondi. + +This easy and pleasurable course of life augmented every day his +popularity among all ranks of men: he was the peculiar favorite of +the young and gay of both sexes. The disposition of the English little +addicted to jealousy, kept them from taking umbrage at these liberties: +and his indulgence in amusements, while it gratified his inclination, +was thus become, without design, a means of supporting and securing his +government. But as it is difficult to confine the ruling passion within +strict rules of prudence, the amorous temper of Edward led him into a +snare, which proved fatal to his repose, and to the stability of his +throne. + +Jaqueline of Luxembourg, duchess of Bedford, had, after her husband's +death, so far sacrificed her ambition to love, that she espoused, in +second marriage, Sir Richard Woodeville a private gentleman, to whom she +bore several children; and among the rest, Elizabeth, who was remarkable +for the grace and beauty of her person, as well as for other amiable +accomplishments. This young lady had married Sir John Gray of Groby, by +whom she had children; and her husband being slain in the second battle +of St. Albans, fighting on the side of Lancaster, and his estate being +for that reason confiscated, his widow retired to live with her father, +at his seat of Grafton, in Northamptonshire. The king came accidentally +to the house after a hunting party, in order to pay a visit to the +duchess of Bedford; and as the occasion seemed favorable for obtaining +some grace from this gallant monarch, the young widow flung herself +at his feet, and with many tears entreated him to take pity on her +impoverished and distressed children. The sight of so much beauty in +affliction strongly affected the amorous Edward; love stole sensibly +into his heart under the guise of compassion; and her sorrow, so +becoming a virtuous matron, made his esteem and regard quickly +correspond to his affection. He raised her from the ground with +assurances of favor; he found his passion increase every moment, by +the conversation of the amiable object; and he was soon reduced, in his +turn, to the posture and style of a supplicant at the feet of Elizabeth. +But the lady, either averse to dishonorable love from a sense of duty, +or perceiving that the impression which she had made was so deep as to +give her hopes of obtaining the highest elevation, obstinately +refused to gratify his passion; and all the endearments, caresses, and +importunities of the young and amiable Edward proved fruitless against +her rigid and inflexible virtue. His passion, irritated by opposition, +and increased by his veneration for such honorable sentiments carried +him at last beyond all bounds of reason and he offered to share his +throne, as well as his heart, with the woman whose beauty of person and +dignity of character seemed so well to entitle her to both. The marriage +was privately celebrated at Grafton:[**] the secret was carefully +kept for some time: no one suspected that so libertine a prince could +sacrifice so much to a romantic passion; and there were, in particular, +strong reasons, which, at that time, rendered this step, to the highest +degree, dangerous and imprudent. + +The king, desirous to secure his throne, as well by the prospect of +issue as by foreign alliances, had, a little before, determined to make +application to some neighboring princess, and he had cast his eye on +Bona of Savoy, sister to the queen of France, who, he hoped, would by +her marriage insure him the friendship of that power, which was alone +both able and inclined to give support and assistance to his rival. To +render the negotiation more successful, the earl of Warwick had been +despatched to Paris, where the princess then resided; he had demanded +Bona in marriage for the king; his proposals had been accepted; the +treaty was fully concluded; and nothing remained but the ratification of +the terms agreed on, and the bringing over the princess to England.[**] +But when the secret of Edward's marriage broke out, the haughty earl, +deeming himself affronted, both by being employed in this fruitless +negotiation, and by being kept a stranger to the king's intentions, who +had owed every thing to his friendship, immediately returned to England, +inflamed with rage and indignation. The influence of passion over so +young a man as Edward, might have served as an excuse for his imprudent +conduct, had he deigned to acknowledge his error, or had pleaded his +weakness as an apology; but his faulty shame or pride prevented him +from so much as mentioning the matter to Warwick; and that nobleman was +allowed to depart the court, full of the same ill humor and discontent +which he brought to it. + + * Hall, fol. 193. Fabian, fol. 216. + + ** Hall, fol. 193. Habington, p. 437. Holingshed, p. 607. + Grafton, p. 665. Polyd. Virg. p. 513. + +{1466.} Every incident now tended to widen the breach between the king +and this powerful subject. The queen, who lost not her influence by +marriage, was equally solicitous to draw every grace and favor to her +own friends and kindred, and to exclude those of the earl, whom she +regarded as her mmortal enemy. Her father was created earl of Rivers: he +was made treasurer in the room of Lord Mountjoy:[*] he was invested in +the office of constable for life; and his son received the survivance of +that high dignity.[**] The same young nobleman was married to the only +daughter of Lord Scales, enjoyed the great estate of that family, and +had the title of Scales conferred upon him. Catharine, the queen's +sister, was married to the young duke of Buckingham, who was a ward of +the crown:[***] Mary, another of her sisters espoused William Herbert, +created earl of Huntingdon: Anne, a third sister, was given in marriage +to the son and heir of Gray, Lord Ruthyn, created earl of Kent.[****] +The daughter and heir of the duke of Exeter, who was also the king's +niece, was contracted to Sir Thomas Gray, one of the queen's sons by her +former husband; and as Lord Montague was treating of a marriage between +his son and this lady, the preference given to young Gray was deemed an +injury and affront to the whole family of Nevil. + +The earl of Warwick could not suffer with patience the least diminution +of that credit which he had long enjoyed, and which he thought he had +merited by such important services. Though he had received so many +grants from the crown, that the revenue arising from them amounted, +besides his patrimonial estate, to eighty thousand crowns a year, +according to the computation of Philip de Comines,[*****] his ambitious +spirit was still dissatisfied, so long as he saw others surpass him in +authority and influence with the king.[******] Edward also, jealous of +that power which had supported him and which he himself had contributed +still higher to exalt, was well pleased to raise up rivals in credit +to the earl of Warwick; and he justified, by this political view, his +extreme partiality to the queen's kindred. But the nobility of England, +envying the sudden growth of the Woodevilles,[*******] were more +inclined to take part with Warwick's discontent, to whose grandeur they +were already accustomed, and who had reconciled them to his superiority +by his gracious and popular manners. + + * W. Wyrcester, p. 506. + + ** W. Wyrcester, p. 505. + + *** Liv. iii. chap. 4. + + **** Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 539. + + ***** W. Wyrcester, p. 506. + + ****** Polyd. Virg. p. 514. + + ******* Rymer, vol. xi. p. 581. + +And as Edward obtained from parliament a general resumption of all +grants, which he had made since his accession, and which had extremely +impoverished the crown,[*] this act, though it passed with some +exceptions, particularly one in favor of the earl of Warwick, gave +a general alarm to the nobility, and disgusted many, even zealous +partisans of the family of York. + +But the most considerable associate that Warwick acquired to his party, +was George, duke of Clarence, the king's second brother. This prince +deemed himself no less injured than the other grandees, by the +uncontrolled influence of the queen and her relations; and as his +fortunes were still left upon a precarious footing, while theirs were +fully established, this neglect, joined to his unquiet and restless +spirit, inclined him to give countenance to all the malecontents.[**] +The favorable opportunity of gaining him was espied by the earl of +Warwick, who offered him in marriage his elder daughter, and coheir of +his immense fortunes; a settlement which, as it was superior to any that +the king himself could confer upon him, immediately attached him to the +party of the earl.[***] Thus an extensive and dangerous combination was +insensibly formed against Edward and his ministry. Though the immediate +object of the malecontents was not to overturn the throne, it was +difficult to foresee the extremities to which they might be carried: +and as opposition to government was usually in those ages prosecuted by +force of arms, civil convulsions and disorders were likely to be soon +the result of these intrigues and confederacies. + + * W. Wyrcester, p. 508. + + ** W. Wyrcester, p. 511. Hall, fol. 200. Habington, p. 439. + Holingshed, p. 671. Polyd. Virg. p. 515. + + *** Grafton. p. 873. + +While this cloud was gathering at home, Edward carried his views abroad, +and endeavored to secure himself against his factious nobility, by +entering into foreign alliances. The dark and dangerous ambition of +Lewis XI., the more it was known, the greater alarm it excited among his +neighbors and vassals; and as it was supported by great abilities, +and unrestrained by any principle of faith or humanity, they found no +security to themselves but by a jealous combination against him. Philip, +duke of Burgundy, was now dead: his rich and extensive dominions were +devolved to Charles, his only son, whose martial disposition acquired +him the surname of Bold, and whose ambition, more outrageous than that +of Lewis, but seconded by less power and policy, was regarded with a +more favorable eye by the other potentates of Europe. + +The opposition of interests, and still more a natural antipathy of +character, produced a declared animosity between these bad princes; and +Edward was thus secure of the sincere attachment of either of them, for +whom he should choose to declare himself. The duke of Burgundy, being +descended by his mother, a daughter of Portugal, from John of Gaunt, +was naturally inclined to favor the house of Lancaster:[*] but this +consideration was easily overbalanced by political motives; and Charles, +perceiving the interests of that house to be extremely decayed in +England, sent over his natural brother, commonly called the Bastard of +Burgundy, to carry in his name proposals of marriage to Margaret, the +king's sister. + +{1468.} The alliance of Burgundy was more popular among the English than +that of France; the commercial interests of the two nations invited the +princes to a close union; their common jealousy of Lewis was a natural +cement between them; and Edward, pleased with strengthening himself by +so potent a confederate, soon concluded the alliance, and bestowed +his sister upon Charles.[**] A league, which Edward at the same time +concluded with the duke of Brittany, seemed both to increase his +security, and to open to him the prospect of rivalling his predecessors +in those foreign conquests, which, however short-lived and unprofitable, +had rendered their reigns so popular and illustrious.[***] + + * Comine's, liv. iii. chap. 4, 6. + + ** W. Wyrcester, p. 5. Parl. Hist. vol. ii. p. 332. + + *** Hall, fol. 169, 197. + +{1469.} But whatever ambitious schemes the king might have built on +these alliances, they were soon frustrated by intestine commotions, +which engrossed all his attention. These disorders probably arose +not immediately from the intrigues of the earl of Warwick, but from +accident, aided by the turbulent spirit of the age, by the general humor +of discontent which that popular nobleman had instilled into the nation, +and perhaps by some remains of attachment to the house of Lancaster. +The hospital of St. Leonard's, near York, had received, from an ancient +grant of King Athelstane, a right of levying a thrave of corn upon every +plough-land in the county; and as these charitable establishments are +liable to abuse, the country people complained, that the revenue of +the hospital was no longer expended for the relief of the poor, but was +secreted by the managers, and employed to their private purposes. + +After long repining at the contribution, they refused payment: +ecclesiastical and civil censures were issued against them, their goods +were distrained, and their persons thrown into jail: till, as their ill +humor daily increased, they rose in arms; fell upon the officers of the +hospital, whom they put to the sword; and proceeded in a body, fifteen +thousand strong, to the gates of York. Lord Montague, who commanded +in those parts, opposed himself to their progress; and having been so +fortunate in a skirmish as to seize Robert Hulderne, their leader, +he ordered him immediately to be led to execution, according to the +practice of the times. The rebels, however, still continued in arms; and +being soon headed by men of greater distinction: Sir Henry Nevil, son of +Lord Latimer, and Sir John Coniers, they advanced southwards, and began +to appear formidable to government. Herbert, earl of Pembroke, who had +received that title on the forfeiture of Jasper Tudor, was ordered by +Edward to march against them at the head of a body of Welshmen; and he +was joined by five thousand archers, under the command of Stafford, +earl of Devonshire, who had succeeded in that title to the family of +Courtney, which had also been attainted. But a trivial difference about +quarters having begotten an animosity between these two noblemen, the +earl of Devonshire retired with his archers, and left Pembroke alone to +encounter the rebels. The two armies approached each other near Banbury; +and Pembroke, having prevailed in a skirmish, and having taken Sir John +Nevil prisoner, ordered him immediately to be put to death, without any +form of process. This execution enraged without terrifying the rebels: +they attacked the Welsh army, routed them, put them to the sword without +mercy; and having seized Pembroke, they took immediate revenge upon him +for the death of their leader. The king, imputing this misfortune to +the earl of Devonshire, who had deserted Pembroke, ordered him to be +executed in a like summary manner. But these speedy executions, or +rather open murders, did not stop there: the northern rebels, sending +a party to Grafton, seized the earl of Rivers and his son John; men +who had become obnoxious by their near relation to the king, and his +partiality towards them: and they were immediately executed by orders +from Sir John Coniers.[*] + + * Fabian, fol. 217. + +There is no part of English history since the conquest so obscure, +so uncertain, so little authentic or consistent, as that of the +wars between the two "roses:" historians differ about many material +circumstances; some events of the utmost consequence, in which they +almost all agree, are incredible, and contradicted by records;[*] [19] +and it is remarkable, that this profound darkness falls upon us just on +the eve of the restoration of letters, and when the art of printing was +already known in Europe. All we can distinguish with certainty through +the deep cloud which covers that period, is a scene of horror and +bloodshed: savage manners, arbitrary executions, and treacherous, +dishonorable conduct in all parties. There is no possibility, for +instance, of accounting for the views and intentions of the earl of +Warwick at this time. It is agreed that he resided, together with his +son-in-law, the duke of Clarence, in his government of Calais during the +commencement of this rebellion; and that his brother Montague acted +with vigor against the northern rebels. We may thence presume, that the +insurrection had not proceeded from the secret counsels and instigation +of Warwick; though the murder committed by the rebels on the earl +of Rivers, his capital enemy, forms, on the other hand, a violent +presumption against him. He and Clarence came over to England, offered +their service to Edward, were received without any suspicion, were +intrusted by him in the highest commands,[**] and still persevered in +their fidelity. Soon after, we find the rebels quieted and dispersed +by a general pardon granted by Edward from the advice of the earl +of Warwick: but why so courageous a prince, if secure of Warwick's +fidelity, should have granted a general pardon to men who had been +guilty of such violent and personal outrages against him, is not +intelligible; nor why that nobleman, if unfaithful, should have +endeavored to appease a rebellion of which he was able to make such +advantages. But it appears, that after this insurrection, there was an +interval of peace, during which the king loaded the family of Nevil +with honors and favors of the highest nature: he made Lord Montague +a marquis, by the same name: he created his son George duke of +Bedford;[***] he publicly declared his intention of marrying that young +nobleman to his eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who, as he had yet no sons, +was presumptive heir of the crown: yet we find that soon after, being +invited to a feast by the archbishop of York, a younger brother of +Warwick and Montague, he entertained a sudden suspicion that they +intended to seize his person or to murder him: and he abruptly left the +entertainment.[****] + + * See note S, at the end of the volume. + + ** Rymer, vol. xi. p. 647, 649, 650. + + *** Cotton, p. 702. + + **** Fragm. Edward IV. ad fin. Sproti. + +{1470.} Soon after, there broke out another rebellion, which is as +unaccountable as all the preceding events; chiefly because no sufficient +reason is assigned for it, and because, so far as appears, the family +of Nevil had no hand in exciting and fomenting it. It arose in +Lincolnshire, and was headed by Sir Robert Welles, son to the lord of +that name. The army of the rebels amounted to thirty thousand men; but +Lord Welles himself, far from giving countenance to them, fled into a +sanctuary, in order to secure his person against the king's anger or +suspicions. He was allured from this retreat by a promise of safety; and +was soon after, notwithstanding this assurance, beheaded, along with Sir +Thomas Dymoc, by orders from Edward.[*] The king fought a battle with +the rebels, defeated them, took Sir Robert Welles and Sir Thomas Launde +prisoners, and ordered them immediately to be beheaded. + +Edward, during these transactions, had entertained so little jealousy +of the earl of Warwick or duke of Clarence, that he sent them with +commissions of array to levy forces against the rebels:[**] but these +malecontents, as soon as they left the court, raised troops in their +own name, issued declarations against the government, and complained +of grievances, oppressions, and bad ministers. The unexpected defeat of +Welles disconcerted all their measures; and they retired northwards into +Lancashire, where they expected to be joined by Lord Stanley, who had +married the earl of Warwick's sister. But as that nobleman refused +all concurrence with them, and as Lord Montague also remained quiet +in Yorkshire, they were obliged to disband their army, and to fly into +Devonshire, where they embarked and made sail towards Calais.[***] + + * Hall, fol. 204. Fabian, fol. 218. Habington, p. 442. + Holingshed, p. 674. + + ** Rymer, vol. xi. p. 652. + + *** The king offered, by proclamation, a reward of one + thousand pounds, or one hundred pounds a year in land, to + any that would seize them. Whence we may learn that land was + at that time sold for about ten years' purchase. See Rymer, + vol. xi. p. 654. + +The deputy governor, whom Warwick had left at Calais, was one Vaucler, a +Gascon, who, seeing the earl return in this miserable condition, refused +him admittance; and would not so much as permit the duchess of Clarence +to land, though, a few days before, she had been delivered on shipboard +of a son, and was at that time extremely disordered by sickness. With +difficulty he would allow a few flagons of wine to be carried to the +ship for the use of the ladies: but as he was a man of sagacity, and +well acquainted with the revolutions to which England was subject, he +secretly apologized to Warwick for this appearance of infidelity, and +represented it as proceeding entirely from zeal for his service. He said +that the fortress was ill supplied with provisions; that he could not +depend on the attachment of the garrison; that the inhabitants, +who lived by the English commerce, would certainly declare for the +established government; that the place was at present unable to resist +the power of England on the one hand, and that of the duke of Burgundy +on the other; and that, by seeming to declare for Edward, he would +acquire the confidence of that prince, and still keep it in his power, +when it should become safe and prudent, to restore Calais to its ancient +master.[*] It is uncertain whether Warwick was satisfied with this +apology, or suspected a double infidelity in Vaucler; but he feigned +to be entirely convinced by him; and having seized some Flemish vessels +which he found lying off Calais, he immediately made sail towards +France. + +The king of France, uneasy at the close conjunction between Edward +and the duke of Burgundy, received with the greatest demonstrations of +regard the unfortunate Warwick,[**] with whom he had formerly maintained +a secret correspondence, and whom he hoped still to make his instrument +in overturning the government of England, and reëstablishing the house +of Lancaster. + + * Comines, liv. iii. chap. 4. Hall, fol. 205. + + ** Polyd. Virg. p. 519. + +No animosity was ever greater than that which had long prevailed between +that house and the earl of Warwick. His father had been executed by +orders from Margaret: he himself had twice reduced Henry to captivity, +had banished the queen, had put to death all their most zealous +partisans either in the field or on the scaffold, and had occasioned +innumerable ills to that unhappy family. For this reason, believing that +such inveterate rancor could never admit of any cordial reconciliation, +he had not mentioned Henry's name when he took arms against Edward; +and he rather endeavored to prevail by means of his own adherents, than +revive a party which he sincerely hated. But his present distresses and +the entreaties of Lewis made him hearken to terms of accommodation; +and Margaret being sent for from Angers, where she then resided, an +agreement was, from common interest, soon concluded between them. It was +stipulated, that Warwick should espouse the cause of Henry, and endeavor +to restore him to liberty, and to reëstablish him on the throne; that +the administration of the government, during the minority of young +Edward, Henry's son, should be intrusted conjointly to the earl of +Warwick and the duke of Clarence; that Prince Edward should marry the +Lady Anne, second daughter of that nobleman; and that the crown, in case +of the failure of male issue in that prince, should descend to the duke +of Clarence, to the entire exclusion of King Edward and his posterity. +Never was confederacy, on all sides, less natural, or more evidently the +work of necessity: but Warwick hoped, that all former passions of the +Lancastrians might be lost in present political views; and that, at +worst, the independent power of his family, and the affections of the +people, would suffice to give him security, and enable him to exact the +full performance of all the conditions agreed on. The marriage of Prince +Edward with the Lady Anne was immediately celebrated in France. + +Edward foresaw that it would be easy to dissolve an alliance composed +of such discordant parts. For this purpose, he sent over a lady of +great sagacity and address, who belonged to the train of the duchess of +Clarence, and who, under color of attending her mistress, was empowered +to negotiate with the duke, and to renew the connections of that +prince with his own family.[*] She represented to Clarence, that he had +unwarily, to his own ruin, become the instrument of Warwick's vengeance, +and had thrown himself entirely in the power of his most inveterate +enemies; that the mortal injuries which the one royal family had +suffered from the other, were now past all forgiveness, and no imaginary +union of interests could ever suffice to obliterate them; that even if +the leaders were willing to forget past offences, the animosity of their +adherents would prevent a sincere coalition of parties, and would, +in spite of all temporary and verbal agreements, preserve an eternal +opposition of measures between them; and that a prince who deserted +his own kindred, and joined the murderers of his father, left himself +single, without friends, without protection, and would not, when +misfortunes inevitably fell upon him, be so much as entitled to any +pity or regard from the rest of mankind. + + * Comines, liv. iii. chap. 5. Hall, fol. 20*7. Holingshed, + p. 676. + +Clarence was only one and twenty years of age, and seems to have +possessed but a slender capacity; yet could he easily see the force of +these reasons; and, upon the promise of forgiveness from his brother, +he secretly engaged, on a favorable opportunity, to desert the earl of +Warwick, and abandon the Lancastrian party. + +During this negotiation, Warwick was secretly carrying on a +correspondence of the same nature with his brother, the marquis of +Montague, who was entirely trusted by Edward; and like motives produced +a like resolution in that nobleman. The marquis, also, that he might +render the projected blow the more deadly and incurable, resolved, on +his side, to watch a favorable opportunity for committing his perfidy, +and still to maintain the appearance of being a zealous adherent to the +house of York. + +After these mutual snares were thus carefully laid, the decision of the +quarrel advanced apace. Lewis prepared a fleet to escort the earl of +Warwick, and granted him a supply of men and money.[*] The duke of +Burgundy, on the other hand, enraged at that nobleman for his seizure of +the Flemish vessels before Calais, and anxious to support the reigning +family in England, with whom his own interests were now connected, +fitted out a larger fleet, with which he guarded the Channel: and he +incessantly warned his brother-in-law of the imminent perils to which +he was exposed. But Edward, though always brave and often active, had +little foresight or penetration. He was not sensible of his danger; he +made no suitable preparations against the earl of Warwick;[**] he even +said that the duke might spare himself the trouble of guarding the seas, +and that he wished for nothing more than to see Warwick set foot on +English ground.[***] A vain confidence in his own prowess, joined to the +immoderate love of pleasure, had made him incapable of all sound reason +and reflection. + +The event soon happened, of which Edward seemed so desirous. A storm +dispersed the Flemish navy, and left the sea open to Warwick.[****] That +nobleman seized the opportunity, and setting sail, quickly landed at +Dartmouth with the duke of Clarence, the earls of Oxford and Pembroke, +and a small body of troops, while the king was in the north, engaged +in suppressing an insurrection which had been raised by Lord Fitz-Hugh, +brother-in-law to Warwick. + + * Comines, liv. iii. chap. 4. Hall, fol. 207. + + ** Grafton, p. 687. + + *** Comines, liv. iii. chap. 5. Hall, fol. 208. + + **** Comines, liv. iii. chap. 5. + +The scene which ensues resembles more the fiction of a poem or romance +than an event in true history. The prodigious popularity of Warwick,[*] +the zeal of the Lancastrian party, the spirit of discontent with which +many were infected, and the general instability of the English nation, +occasioned by the late frequent revolutions, drew such multitudes to his +standard, that in a very few days his army amounted to sixty thousand +men and was continually increasing. Edward hastened southwards to +encounter him; and the two armies approached each other near Nottingham, +where a decisive action was every hour expected. The rapidity of +Warwick's progress had incapacitated the duke of Clarence from executing +his plan of treachery; and the marquis of Montague had here the +opportunity of striking the first blow. He communicated the design to +his adherents, who promised him their concurrence: they took to arms +in the night-time, and hastened with loud acclamations to Edward's +quarters; the king was alarmed at the noise, and starting from bed, +heard the cry of war usually employed by the Lancastrian party. Lord +Hastings, his chamberlain, informed him of the danger, and urged him +to make his escape by speedy flight from an army where he had so many +concealed enemies, and where few seemed zealously attached to his +service. He had just time to get on horseback, and to hurry with a small +retinue to Lynne, in Norfolk, where he luckily found some ships ready, +on board of which he instantly embarked.[**] And after this manner the +earl of Warwick, in no longer space than eleven days after his first +landing, was left entire master of the kingdom. + + * Hall, fol. 205. + + ** Comines, liv. iii. chap. 5. Hall, fol. 208. + +But Edward's danger did not end with his embarkation. The Easterlings +or Hanse Towns were then at war both with France and England; and some +ships of these people, hovering on the English coast, espied the king's +vessels, and gave chase to them; nor was it without extreme difficulty +that he made his escape into the port of Alcmaer, in Holland. He had +fled from England with such precipitation, that he had carried nothing +of value along with him; and the only reward which he could bestow on +the captain of the vessel that brought him over, was a robe lined with +sables; promising him an ample recompense if fortune should ever become +more propitious to him.[*] + + * Comines, liv, iii. chap. 5. + +It is not likely that Edward could be very fond of presenting himself in +this lamentable plight before the duke of Burgundy; and that having so +suddenly, after his mighty vaunts, lost all footing in his own kingdom, +he could be insensible to the ridicule which must attend him in the eyes +of that prince. The duke, on his part, was no less embarrassed how he +should receive the dethroned monarch. As he had ever borne a greater +affection to the house of Lancaster than to that of York, nothing but +political views had engaged him to contract an alliance with the latter; +and he foresaw, that probably the revolution in England would now turn +this alliance against him, and render the reigning family his implacable +and jealous enemy. For this reason, when the first rumor of that event +reached him, attended with the circumstance of Edward's death, he +seemed rather pleased with the catastrophe; and it was no agreeable +disappointment to find, that he must either undergo the burden of +supporting an exiled prince, or the dishonor of abandoning so near a +relation. He began already to say, that his connections were with the +kingdom of England, not with the king; and it was indifferent to +him whether the name of Edward or that of Henry were employed in the +articles of treaty. These sentiments were continually strengthened by +the subsequent events. Vaucler, the deputy-governor of Calais, though +he had been confirmed in his command by Edward, and had even received +a pension from the duke of Burgundy on account of his fidelity to the +crown, no sooner saw his old master, Warwick, reinstated in authority, +than he declared for him, and with great demonstrations of zeal and +attachment, put the whole garrison in his livery. And the intelligence +which the duke received every day from England, seemed to promise an +entire and full settlement in the family of Lancaster. + +Immediately after Edward's flight had left the kingdom at Warwick's +disposal, that nobleman hastened to London; and taking Henry from his +confinement in the Tower, into which he himself had been the chief +cause of throwing him, he proclaimed him king with great solemnity. +A parliament was summoned in the name of that prince, to meet at +Westminster, and as this assembly could pretend to no liberty while +surrounded by such enraged and insolent victors, governed by such an +impetuous spirit as Warwick, their votes were entirely dictated by the +ruling faction. The treaty with Margaret was here fully executed: Henry +was recognized as lawful king; but his incapacity for government being +avowed, the regency was intrusted to Warwick and Clarence till the +majority of Prince Edward; and in default of that prince's issue, +Clarence was declared successor to the crown. The usual business also +of reversals went on without opposition: every statute made during the +reign of Edward was repealed; that prince was declared to be a usurper; +he and his adherents were attainted; and in particular Richard, duke of +Glocester, his younger brother: all the attainders of the Lancastrians, +the dukes of Somerset and Exeter, the earls of Richmond, Pembroke, +Oxford, and Ormond, were reversed; and every one was restored who had +lost either honors or fortunes by his former adherence to the cause of +Henry. + +The ruling party were more sparing in their executions than was usual +after any revolution during those violent times. The only victim of +distinction was John Tibetot, earl of Worcester. This accomplished +person, born in an age and nation where the nobility valued themselves +on ignorance as their privilege, and left learning to monks and +schoolmasters, for whom indeed the spurious erudition that prevailed was +best fitted, had been struck with the first rays of true science, +which began to penetrate from the south, and had been zealous, by his +exhortation and example, to propagate the love of letters among his +unpolished countrymen. It is pretended, that knowledge had not produced +on this nobleman himself the effect which naturally attends it, of +humanizing the temper and softening the heart;[*] and that he had +enraged the Lancastrians against him by the severities which he +exercised upon them during the prevalence of his own party. + + * Hall, fol. 210. Stowe, p. 422. + +He endeavored to conceal himself after the flight of Edward, but was +caught on the top of a tree in the forest of Weybridge, was conducted +to London, tried before the earl of Oxford, condemned, and executed. All +the other considerable Yorkists either fled beyond sea, or took shelter +in sanctuaries, where the ecclesiastical privileges afforded them +protection. In London alone it is computed that no less than two +thousand persons saved themselves in this manner;[*] and among the rest, +Edward's queen, who was there delivered of a son, called by his father's +name.[**] + +Queen Margaret, the other rival queen, had not yet appeared in England, +but on receiving intelligence of Warwick's success, was preparing with +Prince Edward for her journey. All the banished Lancastrians flocked to +her; and, among the rest, the duke of Somerset, son of the duke beheaded +after the battle of Hexham. This nobleman, who had long been regarded +as the head of the party, had fled into the Low Countries on the +discomfiture of his friends; and as he concealed his name and quality, +he had there languished in extreme indigence. Philip de Comines tells +us,[***] that he himself saw him, as well as the duke of Exeter, in a +condition no better than that of a common beggar; till being discovered +by Philip, duke of Burgundy, they had small pensions allotted them, and +were living in silence and obscurity when the success of their party +called them from their retreat. But both Somerset and Margaret were +detained by contrary winds from reaching England,[****] till a new +revolution in that kingdom, no less sudden and surprising than the +former, threw them into greater misery than that from which they had +just emerged. + +Though the duke of Burgundy, by neglecting Edward, and paying court to +the established government, had endeavored to conciliate the friendship +of the Lancastrians, he found that he had not succeeded to his wish; and +the connections between the king of France and the earl of Warwick still +held him in great anxiety.[*****] This nobleman, too hastily regarding +Charles as a determined enemy, had sent over to Calais a body of four +thousand men, who made inroads into the Low Countries;[******] and +the duke of Burgundy saw himself in danger of being overwhelmed by the +united arms of England and of France. He resolved therefore to grant +some assistance to his brother-in-law; but in such a covert manner as +should give the least offence possible to the English government. + + * Comines, liv. iii. chap. 7. + + ** Hall, fol. 210. Stowe, p. 423. Holingshed, p. 677. + Grafton, p. 690. + + *** Liv. iii. chap. 4. + + **** Grafton, p. 692. Polyd. Virg. p 522. + + ***** Hall, fol. 205. + + ****** Comines, liv, iii. chap. 6. + +{1471.} He equipped four large vessels, in the name of some private +merchants, at Terveer, in Zealand; and causing fourteen ships to be +secretly hired from the Easterlings, he delivered this small squadron +to Edward, who, receiving also a sum of money from the duke, immediately +set sail for England. No sooner was Charles informed of his departure +than he issued a proclamation inhibiting all his subjects from giving +him countenance or assistance;[*] an artifice which could not deceive +the earl of Warwick, but which might serve as a decent pretence, if that +nobleman were so disposed, for maintaining friendship with the duke of +Burgundy. + +Edward, impatient to take revenge on his enemies, and to recover his +lost authority, made an attempt to land with his forces, which exceeded +not two thousand men, on the coast of Norfolk; but being there repulsed, +he sailed northwards, and disembarked at Ravenspur, in Yorkshire. +Finding that the new magistrates, who had been appointed by the earl of +Warwick, kept the people every where from joining him, he pretended, and +even made oath, that he came not to challenge the crown, but only the +inheritance of the house of York, which of right belonged to him; +and that he did not intend to disturb the peace of the kingdom. His +partisans every moment flocked to his standard: he was admitted into the +city of York: and he was soon in such a situation as gave him hopes of +succeeding in all his claims and pretensions. The marquis of Montague +commanded in the northern counties; but from some mysterious reasons, +which, as well as many other important transactions in that age, no +historian has cleared up, he totally neglected the beginnings of an +insurrection which he ought to have esteemed so formidable. Warwick +assembled an army at Leicester, with an intention of meeting and of +giving battle to the enemy; but Edward, by taking another road, passed +him unmolested, and presented himself before the gates of London. Had he +here been refused admittance, he was totally undone: but there were many +reasons which inclined the citizens to favor him. His numerous friends, +issuing from their sanctuaries, were active in his cause; many rich +merchants, who had formerly lent him money, saw no other chance for +their payment but his restoration; the city dames who had been liberal +of their favors to him, and who still retained an affection for this +young and gallant prince, swayed their husbands and friends in his +favor;[**] and above all, the archbishop of York, Warwick's brother, +to whom the care of the city was committed, had secretly, from unknown +reasons, entered into a correspondence with him; and he facilitated +Edward's admission into London. + + * Comines, liv. iii. chap. 6. + + ** Comines, liv. iii. chap. 7. + +The most likely cause which can be assigned for those multiplied +infidelities, even in the family of Nevil itself, is the spirit of +faction, which, when it becomes inveterate, it is very difficult for +any man entirely to shake off. The persons who had long distinguished +themselves in the York party, were unable to act with zeal and +cordiality for the support of the Lancastrians; and they were inclined, +by any prospect of favor or accommodation offered them by Edward, to +return to their ancient connections. However this may be, Edward's +entrance into London made him master not only of that rich and powerful +city, but also of the person of Henry, who, destined to be the perpetual +sport of fortune, thus fell again into the hands of his enemies.[*] + +It appears not that Warwick, during his short administration, which had +continued only six months, had been guilty of any unpopular act, or had +anywise deserved to lose that general favor with which he had so lately +overwhelmed Edward. But this prince, who was formerly on the defensive, +was now the aggressor; and having overcome the difficulties which always +attend the beginnings of an insurrection, possessed many advantages +above his enemy: his partisans were actuated by that zeal and courage +which the notion of an attack inspires his opponents were intimidated +for a like reason; every one who had been disappointed in the hopes +which he had entertained from Warwick's elevation, either became a cool +friend or an open enemy to that nobleman; and each malecontent, +from whatever cause, proved an accession to Edward's army. The king, +therefore, found himself in a condition to face the earl of Warwick; +who, being reënforced by his son-in-law the duke of Clarence, and +his brother the marquis of Montague, took post at Barnet, in the +neighborhood of London. The arrival of Queen Margaret was every day +expected, who would have drawn together all the genuine Lancastrians, +and have brought a great accession to Warwick's forces: but this very +consideration proved a motive to the earl rather to hurry on a decisive +action than to share the victory with rivals and ancient enemies, who, +he foresaw, would, in case of success, claim the chief merit in the +enterprise.[**] + + * Grafton, p. 702. + + ** Comines, liv. iii. chap. 7. + +But while his jealousy was always directed towards that side, he +overlooked the dangerous infidelity of friends, who lay the nearest to +his bosom. His brother Montague, who had lately temporized, seems now to +have remained sincerely attached to the interests of his family: but +his son-in-law, though bound to him by every tie of honor and gratitude, +though he shared the power of the regency, though he had been invested +by Warwick in all the honors and patrimony of the house of York, +resolved to fulfil the secret engagements which he had formerly taken +with his brother, and to support the interests of his own family: he +deserted to the king in the night-time, and carried over a body of +twelve thousand men along with him.[*] Warwick was now too far advanced +to retreat; and as he rejected with disdain all terms of peace +offered him by Edward and Clarence, he was obliged to hazard a general +engagement. The battle was fought with obstinacy on both sides: the two +armies, in imitation of their leaders displayed uncommon valor; and the +victory remained long undecided between them. But an accident threw the +balance to the side of the Yorkists. Edward's cognizance was a sun; that +of Warwick a star with rays; and the mistiness of the morning rendering +it difficult to distinguish them, the earl of Oxford, who fought on the +side of the Lancastrians, was by mistake attacked by his friends, and +chased off the field of battle.[**] Warwick, contrary to his more usual +practice, engaged that day on foot, resolving to show his army that he +meant to share every fortune with them; and he was slain in the thickest +of the engagement;[***] his brother underwent the same fate; and +as Edward had issued orders not to give any quarter, a great and +undistinguished slaughter was made in the pursuit. There fell about one +thousand five hundred on the side of the victors. + +The same day on which this decisive battle was fought,[****] Queen +Margaret and her son, now about eighteen years of age, and a young +prince of great hopes, landed at Weymouth, supported by a small body of +French forces. + + * Grafton, p 700. Comines, liv. iii. chap. 7. Leland's + Collect. vol. ii. p. 505. + + ** Habington, p. 449. + + *** Comines, liv. iii. chap. 7. + + **** Leland's Collect, vol. ii. p. 505. + +When this princess received intelligence of her husband's captivity, and +of the defeat and death of the earl of Warwick, her courage which had +supported her under so many disastrous events, here quite left her; and +she immediately foresaw all the dismal consequences of this calamity. +At first she took sanctuary in the abbey of Beaulieu;[*] but being +encouraged by the appearance of Tudor, earl of Pembroke, and Courtney, +earl of Devonshire, of the Lords Wenlock and St. John, with other men of +rank, who exhorted her still to hope for success, she resumed her former +spirit, and determined to defend to the utmost the ruins of her fallen +fortunes. She advanced through the counties of Devon, Somerset, and +Glocester, increasing her army on each day's march; but was at last +overtaken by the rapid and expeditious Edward, at Tewkesbury, on the +banks of the Severn. The Lancastrians were here totally defeated: the +earl of Devonshire and Lord Wenlock were killed in the field: the duke +of Somerset, and about twenty other persons of distinction, having +taken shelter in a church, were surrounded, dragged out, and immediately +beheaded: about three thousand of their side fell in battle: and the +army was entirely dispersed. + +Queen Margaret and her son were taken prisoners, and brought to the +king, who asked the prince, after an insulting manner, how he dared to +invade his dominions. The young prince, more mindful of his high birth +than of his present fortune, replied, that he came thither to claim his +just inheritance. The ungenerous Edward, insensible to pity, struck him +on the face with his gauntlet; and the dukes of Clarence and Glocester, +Lord Hastings, and Sir Thomas Gray, taking the blow as a signal for +further violence, hurried the prince into the next apartment, and there +despatched him with their daggers.[**] Margaret was thrown into the +Tower: King Henry expired in that confinement a few days after the +battle of Tewkesbury; but whether he died a natural or violent death is +uncertain. It is pretended, and was generally believed, that the duke +of Glocester killed him with his own hands:[***] but the universal odium +which that prince had incurred, inclined perhaps the nation to aggravate +his crimes without any sufficient authority. + + * Hall, fol. 219. Habington, p. 451. Grafton, p. 706. Polyd. + Virg. p. 528. + + ** Hall, fol. 221. Habington, p. 453. Holingshed, p 688. + Polyd. Virg. p. 530. + + *** Comines. Hall, fol. 228. Grafton, p. 703. + +It is certain, however, that Henry's death was sudden; and though he +labored under an ill state of health, this circumstance, joined to the +general manners of the age, gave a natural ground, of suspicion; which +was rather increased than diminished by the exposing of his body +to public view. That precaution served only to recall many similar +instances in the English history, and to suggest the comparison. + +All the hopes of the house of Lancaster seemed now to be utterly +extinguished. Every legitimate prince of that family was dead: almost +every great leader of the party had perished in battle or on the +scaffold: the earl of Pembroke, who was levying forces in Wales, +disbanded his army when he received intelligence of the battle of +Tewkesbury; and he fled into Brittany with his nephew, the young earl of +Richmond.[*] The bastard of Falconberg, who had levied some forces, and +had advanced to London during Edward's absence, was repulsed; his men +deserted him; he was taken prisoner and immediately executed:[**] and +peace being now fully restored to the nation, a parliament was summoned, +which ratified as usual, all the acts of the victor, and recognized his +legal authority. + + * Habington, p. 454. Polyd. Virg. p. 531. + + ** Holingshed, p. 689, 690, 693. Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 554. + +But this prince, who had been so firm, and active, and intrepid during +the course of adversity, was still unable to resist the allurements of +a prosperous fortune; and he wholly devoted himself, as before, to +pleasure and amusement, after he became entirely master of his kingdom, +and had no longer any enemy who could give him anxiety or alarm. He +recovered, however, by this gay and inoffensive course of life, and +by his easy, familiar manners, that popularity which, it is natural +to imagine, he had lost by the repeated cruelties exercised upon his +enemies; and the example also of his jovial festivity served to abate +the former acrimony of faction among his subjects, and to restore +the social disposition which had been so long interrupted between the +opposite parties. All men seemed to be fully satisfied with the present +government; and the memory of past calamities served only to impress +the people more strongly with a sense of their allegiance, and with +the resolution of never incurring any more the hazard of renewing such +direful scenes. + +{1474.} But while the king was thus indulging himself in pleasure, he +was roused from his lethargy by a prospect of foreign conquests, which, +it is probable, his desire of popularity, more than the spirit of +ambition, had made him covet. Though he deemed himself little beholden +to the duke of Burgundy for the reception which that prince had given +him during his exile,[*] the political interests of their states +maintained still a close connection between them; and they agreed to +unite their arms in making a powerful invasion on France. A league +was formed, in which Edward stipulated to pass the seas with an army +exceeding ten thousand men, and to invade the French territories: +Charles promised to join him with all his forces: the king was to +challenge the crown of France, and to obtain at least the provinces of +Normandy and Guienne; the duke was to acquire Champaigne and some other +territories, and to free all his dominions from the burden of homage +to the crown of France: and neither party was to make peace without +the consent of the other.[**] They were the more encouraged to hope for +success from this league, as the count of St. Pol, constable of France, +who was master of St. Quintin and other towns on the Somme, had secretly +promised to join them; and there were also hopes of engaging the duke of +Brittany to enter into the confederacy. + +The prospect of a French war was always a sure means of making the +parliament open their purses, as far as the habits of that age would +permit. They voted the king a tenth of rents, or two shillings in the +pound; which must have been very inaccurately levied, since it produced +only thirty-one thousand four hundred and sixty pounds; and they added +to this supply a whole fifteenth, and three quarters of another;[***] +but as the king deemed these sums still unequal to the undertaking, he +attempted to levy money by way of benevolence, a kind of exaction which, +except during the reigns of Henry III. and Richard II., had not been +much practised in former times, and which, though the consent of +the parties was pretended to be gained, could not be deemed entirely +voluntary.[****] + + * Comines, liv. iii. chap. 7. + + ** Rymer, vol. xi p. 806, 807, 808, etc. + + *** Cotton, p. 696, 700. Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 558. + + **** Hall, fol. 226. Habington, p. 461. Grafton, p. 719. + Fabian, fol. 221. + +The clauses annexed to the parliamentary grant show sufficiently the +spirit of the nation in this respect. The money levied by the fifteenth +was not to be put into the king's hands but to be kept in religious +houses; and if the expedition into France should not take place, it +was immediately to be refunded to the people. After these grants, the +parliament was dissolved, which had sitten near two years and a half, +and had undergone several prorogations; a practice not very usual at +that time in England. + +{1475.} The king passed over to Calais with an army of one thousand five +hundred men at arms and fifteen thousand archers, attended by all the +chief nobility of England, who, prognosticating future successes from +the past, were eager to appear on this great theatre of honor.[*] But +all their sanguine hopes were damped when they found, on entering the +French territories, that neither did the constable open his gates to +them, nor the duke of Burgundy bring them the smallest assistance. That +prince, transported by his ardent temper, had carried all his armies +to a great distance, and had employed them in wars on the frontiers of +Germany, and against the duke of Lorraine: and though he came in person +to Edward, and endeavored to apologize for this breach of treaty, +there was no prospect that they would be able this campaign to make a +conjunction with the English. This circumstance gave great disgust to +the king, and inclined him to hearken to those advances which Lewis +continually made him for an accommodation. + +That monarch, more swayed by political views than by the point of honor, +deemed no submissions too mean which might free him from enemies who +had proved so formidable to his predecessors, and who, united to so +many other enemies, might still shake the well-established government of +France. It appears from Comines, that discipline was at this time very +imperfect among the English; and that their civil wars, though long +continued, yet, being always decided by hasty battles, had still left +them ignorant of the improvements which the military art was beginning +to receive upon the continent.[**] + + * Comines, liv. iv. chap. 5. This author says, (chap. 11,) + that the king artfully brought over some of the richest of + his subjects who, he knew, would be soon tired of the war, + and would promote all proposals of peace, which he foresaw + would be soon necessary. + + ** Comines, liv. iv. chap. 5. + +But as Lewis was sensible that the warlike genius of the people would +soon render them excellent soldiers, he was far from despising them for +their present want of experience; and he employed all his art to detach +them from the alliance of Burgundy. When Edward sent him a herald +to claim the crown of France, and to carry him a defiance in case of +refusal, so far from answering to [*] this bravado in like haughty +terms, he replied with great temper, and even made the herald a +considerable present:[**] he took afterwards an opportunity of sending a +herald to the English camp; and having given him directions to apply to +the Lords Stanley and Howard, who, he heard, were friends to peace, he +desired the good offices of these noblemen in promoting an accommodation +with their master.[***] As Edward was now fallen into like dispositions, +a truce was soon concluded on terms more advantageous than honorable +to Lewis. He stipulated to pay Edward immediately seventy-five thousand +crowns, on condition that he should withdraw his army from France, and +promised to pay him fifty thousand crowns a year during their joint +lives: it was added, that the dauphin, when of age, should marry +Edward's eldest daughter.[****] In order to ratify this treaty, the +two monarchs agreed to have a personal interview; and for that purpose +suitable preparations were made at Pecquigni, near Amiens. A close rail +was drawn across a bridge in that place, with no larger intervals than +would allow the arm to pass; a precaution against a similar accident +to that which befell the duke of Burgundy in his conference with the +dauphin at Montereau. Edward and Lewis came to the opposite sides; +conferred privately together; and having confirmed their friendship, and +interchanged many mutual civilities, they soon after parted.[*****] + + * Comines, liv. iv. chap. 5. Hall, fol. 227. + + ** Comines, liv. iv. chap. 7. + + *** Rymer, vol. xii. p. 17. + + **** Comines, liv, iv, chap. 9. + + ***** Hall, fol. 235. + +Lewis was anxious not only to gain the king's friendship but also that +of the nation, and of all the considerable persons in the English court. +He bestowed pensions, to the amount of sixteen thousand crowns a year, +on several of the kings, favorites; on Lord Hastings two thousand +crowns; on Lora Howard and others in proportion; and these great +ministers were not ashamed thus to receive wages from a foreign prince. +As the two armies, after the conclusion of the truce remained some time +in the neighborhood of each other, the English were not only admitted +freely into Amiens, where Lewis resided, but had also their charges +defrayed, and had wine and victuals furnished them in every inn, without +any payment being demanded. They flocked thither in such multitude that +once above nine thousand of them were in the town, and they might have +made themselves masters of the king's person; but Lewis, concluding +from their jovial and dissolute manner of living, that they had no +bad intentions, was careful not to betray the least sign of fear or +jealousy. And when Edward, informed of this disorder, desired him to +shut the gates against them, he replied, that he would never agree to +exclude the English from the place where he resided; but that Edward, if +he pleased, might recall them, and place his own officers at the gates +of Amiens to prevent their returning.[*] + +Lewis's desire of confirming a mutual amity with England, engaged him +even to make imprudent advances, which it cost him afterwards some pains +to evade. In the conference at Pecquigni he had said to Edward, that he +wished to have a visit from him at Paris; that he would there endeavor +to amuse him with the ladies; and that, in case any offences were then +committed, he would assign him the cardinal of Bourbon for confessor, +who, from fellow-feeling, would not be over and above severe in the +penances which he would enjoin. This hint made deeper impression than +Lewis intended. Lord Howard, who accompanied him back to Amiens, +told him in confidence that, if he were so disposed it would not be +impossible to persuade Edward to take a journey with him to Paris, where +they might make merry together. Lewis pretended at first not to hear the +offer; but on Howard's repeating it, he expressed his concern that his +wars with the duke of Burgundy would not permit him to attend his royal +guest, and do him the honors he intended "Edward," said he privately +to Comines, "is a very handsome and a very amorous prince: some lady +at Paris may like him as well as he shall do her; and may invite him to +return in another manner. It is better that the sea be between us."[**] + + * Comines, liv. iv. chap. 9. Hall, fol. 233. + + ** Comines, liv. iv. chap. 10. Habington, p. 469. + +This treaty did very little honor to either of these monarchs: it +discovered the imprudence of Edward, who had taken his measures so ill +with his allies, as to be obliged, after such an expensive armament, +to return without making any acquisitions adequate to it: it showed the +want of dignity in Lewis who, rather than run the hazard of a battle, +agreed to subject his kingdom to a tribute, and thus acknowledge +the superiority of a neighboring prince possessed of less power and +territory than himself. But as Lewis made interest the sole test of +honor, he thought that all the advantages of the treaty were on his +side, and that he had overreached Edward, by sending him out of France +on such easy terms. For this reason he was very solicitous to conceal +his triumph; and he strictly enjoined his courtiers never to show the +English the least sign of mockery or derision. But he did not himself +very carefully observe so prudent a rule: he could not forbear, one +day, in the joy of his heart, throwing out some raillery on the easy +simplicity of Edward and his council; when he perceived that he was +overheard by a Gascon, who had settled in England. He was immediately +sensible of his indiscretion; sent a message to the gentleman; and +offered him some advantages in his own country, as engaged him to remain +in France. "It is but just," said he, "that I pay the penalty of my +talkativeness."[*] + + * Comines, liv. iii. chap. 10. + +The most honorable part of Lewis's treaty with Edward was the +stipulation for the liberty of Queen Margaret, who, though after the +death of her husband and son she could no longer be formidable to +government, was still detained in custody by Edward. Lewis paid fifty +thousand crowns for her ransom; and that princess, who had been so +active on the stage of the world, and who had experienced such a variety +of fortune, passed the remainder of her days in tranquility and privacy, +till the year 1482, when she died; an admirable princess, but more +illustrious by her undaunted spirit in adversity, than by her moderation +in prosperity. She seems neither to have enjoyed the virtues, nor been +subject to the weaknesses, of her sex; and was as much tainted with the +ferocity as endowed with the courage of that barbarous age in which she +lived. + +Though Edward had so little reason to be satisfied with the conduct of +the duke of Burgundy, he reserved to that prince a power of acceding +to the treaty of Pecquigni: but Charles, when the offer was made him, +haughtily replied, that he was able to support himself without the +assistance of England, and that he would make no peace with Lewis till +three months after Edward's return into his own country. This prince +possessed all the ambition and courage of a conqueror; but being +defective in policy and prudence, qualities no less essential, he was +unfortunate in all his enterprises; and perished at last in battle +against the Swiss;[*] a people whom he despised, and who, though brave +and free, had hitherto been in a manner overlooked in the general system +of Europe. This event, which happened in the year 1477, produced a +great alteration in the views of all the princes, and was attended with +consequences which were felt for many generations. Charles left only one +daughter, Mary, by his first wife; and this princess, being heir of his +opulent and extensive dominions, was courted by all the potentates of +Christendom, who contended for the possession of so rich a prize. Lewis, +the head of her family, might, by a proper application, have obtained +this match for the dauphin, and have thereby united to the crown of +France all the provinces of the Low Countries, together with Burgundy, +Artois, and Picardy; which would at once have rendered his kingdom an +overmate for all its neighbors. But a man wholly interested is as rare +as one entirely endowed with the opposite quality; and Lewis, though +impregnable to all the sentiments of generosity and friendship, was, on +this occasion, carried from the road of true policy by the passions of +animosity and revenge. He had imbibed so deep a hatred to the house +of Burgundy, that he rather chose to subdue the princess by arms, than +unite her to his family by marriage: he conquered the duchy of Burgundy +and that part of Picardy which had been ceded to Philip the Good by the +treaty of Arras: but he thereby forced the states of the Netherlands to +bestow their sovereign in marriage on Maximilian of Austria, son of the +emperor Frederick, from whom they looked for protection in their present +distresses: and by these means, France lost the opportunity, which she +never could recall, of making that important acquisition of power and +territory. + +During this interesting crisis, Edward was no less defective in policy, +and was no less actuated by private passions, unworthy of a sovereign +and a statesman. Jealousy of his brother Clarence had caused him to +neglect the advances which were made of marrying that prince, now a +widower, to the heiress of Burgundy;[**] and he sent her proposals +of espousing Anthony, earl of Rivers, brother to his queen, who still +retained an entire ascendant over him. + + * Comines, liv. v. chap. 8. + + ** Polyd. Virg. Hall, fol. 240. Holingshed, p. 703. + Habington p. 474. Grafton, p. 742. + +But the match was rejected with disdain;[*] and Edward, resenting this +treatment of his brother-in-law, permitted France to proceed without +interruption in her conquests over his defenceless ally. Any pretence +sufficed him for abandoning himself entirely to indolence and pleasure, +which were now become his ruling passions. The only object which divided +his attention was the improving of the public revenue, which had been +dilapidated by the necessities or negligence of his predecessors; and +some of his expedients for that purpose, though unknown to us, were +deemed, during the time, oppressive to the people.[**] The detail of +private wrongs naturally escapes the notice of history; but an act of +tyranny of which Edward was guilty in his own family, has been taken +notice of by all writers, and has met with general and deserved censure. + + * Hall, fol. 240. + + ** Hall, p. 241. Hist. Croyl. Cont. p, 559. + +The duke of Clarence, by all his services in deserting Warwick, had +never been able to regain the king's friendship, which he had forfeited +by his former confederacy with that nobleman. He was still regarded at +court as a man of a dangerous and a fickle character; and the imprudent +openness and violence of his temper, though it rendered him much less +dangerous, tended extremely to multiply his enemies, and to incense them +against him. Among others, he had had the misfortune to give displeasure +to the queen herself, as well as to his brother, the duke of Glocester, +a prince of the deepest policy, of the most unrelenting ambition, and +the least scrupulous in the means which he employed for the attainment +or his ends. A combination between these potent adversaries being +secretly formed against Clarence, it was determined to begin by +attacking his friends; in hopes that, if he patiently endured this +injury, his pusillanimity would dishonor him in the eyes of the public; +if he made resistance, and expressed resentment, his passion would +betray him into measures which might give them advantages against him. +The king, hunting one day in the park of Thomas Burdet, of Arrow, in +Warwickshire, had killed a white buck, which was a great favorite of the +owner; and Burdet, vexed at the loss, broke into a passion, and wished +the horns of the deer in the belly of the person who had advised +the king to commit that insult upon him. This natural expression of +resentment, which would have been overlooked or forgotten had it +fallen from any other person, was rendered criminal and capital in that +gentleman, by the friendship in which he had the misfortune to live with +the duke of Clarence; he was tried for his life; the judges and jury +were found servile enough to condemn him and he was publicly beheaded +at Tyburn for this pretended offence.[*] About the same time, one John +Stacey, an ecclesiastic, much connected with the duke as well as with +Burdet, was exposed to a like iniquitous and barbarous prosecution. +This clergyman, being more learned in mathematics and astronomy than +was usual in that age, lay under the imputation of necromancy with the +ignorant vulgar; and the court laid hold of this popular rumor to effect +his destruction. He was brought to his trial for that imaginary crime; +many of the greatest peers countenanced the prosecution by their +presence; he was condemned, put to the torture, and executed.[**] + +The duke of Clarence was alarmed when he found these acts of tyranny +exercised on all around him: he reflected on the fate of the good duke +of Glocester, in the last reign, who, after seeing the most infamous +pretences employed for the destruction of his nearest connections, +at last fell himself a victim to the vengeance of his enemies. But +Clarence, instead of securing his own life against the present danger +by silence and reserve, was open and loud in justifying the innocence +of his friends, and in exclaiming against the iniquity of their +prosecutors. + +{1478.} The king, highly offended with his freedom, or using that +pretence against him, committed him to the Tower,[***] summoned a +parliament, and tried him for his life before the house of peers, the +supreme tribunal of the nation. + +The duke was accused of arraigning public justice, by maintaining the +innocence of men who had been condemned in courts of judicature, and or +inveighing against the iniquity of the king, who had given orders for +their prosecution.[****] + + * Habington, p. 475. Holingshed, p. 703. Sir Thomas More in + Kennet, p. 498. + + ** Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 561. + + *** Hist Croyl. Cont. p. 562. + + **** Stowe, p. 430. + +Many rash expressions were imputed to him, and some, too, reflecting on +Edward's legitimacy; but he was not accused of any overt act of treason; +and even the truth of these speeches may be doubted of, since the +liberty of judgment was taken from the court, by the king's appearing +personally as his brother's accuser,[*] and pleading the cause against +him. But a sentence of condemnation, even when this extraordinary +circumstance had not place, was a necessary consequence, in those times, +of any prosecution by the court or the prevailing party; and the duke of +Clarence was pronounced guilty by the peers. The house of commons were +no less slavish and unjust: they both petitioned for the execution of +the duke, and afterwards passed a bill of attainder against him.[**] The +measures of the parliament, during that age, furnish us with examples of +a strange contrast of freedom and servility: they scruple to grant, and +sometimes refuse, to the king the smallest supplies, the most necessary +for the support of government, even the most necessary for the +maintenance of wars, for which the nation, as well as the parliament +itself, expressed great fondness: but they never scruple to concur +in the most flagrant act of injustice or tyranny which falls on any +individual, however distinguished by birth or merit. These maxims, +so ungenerous, so opposite to all principles of good government, so +contrary to the practice of present parliaments, are very remarkable +in all the transactions of the English history for more than a century +after the period in which we are now engaged. + +The only favor which the king granted his brother after his +condemnation, was to leave him the choice of his death; and he was +privately drowned in a butt of malmsey in the Tower; a whimsical choice, +which implies that he had an extraordinary passion for that liquor. The +duke left two children by the elder daughter of the earl of Warwick; +a son, created an earl by his grandfather's title, and a daughter, +afterwards countess of Salisbury. Both this prince and princess were +also unfortunate in their end, and died a violent death; a fate which, +for many years, attended almost all the descendants of the royal blood +in England. There prevails a report, that a chief source of the violent +prosecution of the duke of Clarence, whose name was George, was a +current prophecy, that the king's son should be murdered by one, the +initial letter of whose name was G.[***] It is not impossible but, in +those ignorant times, such a silly reason might have some influence; +but it is more probable that the whole story is the invention of a +subsequent period, and founded on the murder of these children by the +duke of Glocester. Comines remarks, that at that time the English +never were without some superstitious prophecy or other, by which they +accounted for every event. + + * Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 562. + + ** Stowe, p. 430. Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 562. + + *** Hall, fol. 239. Holingshed, p. 703. Grafton, p. 741. + Polyd. Virg. p. 537. Sir Thomas More in Kennet, p. 497. + +All the glories of Edward's reign terminated with the civil wars, where +his laurels, too, were extremely sullied with blood, violence, and +cruelty. His spirit seems afterwards to have been sunk in indolence and +pleasure, or his measures were frustrated by imprudence and the want of +foresight. There was no object on which he was more intent than to have +all his daughters settled by splendid marriages, though most of these +princesses were yet in their infancy, and though the completion of his +views, it was obvious, must depend on numberless accidents, which were +impossible to be foreseen or prevented. His eldest daughter, Elizabeth, +was contracted to the dauphin; his second, Cicely, to the eldest son of +James III., king of Scotland; his third, Anne, to Philip, only son of +Maximilian and the duchess of Burgundy; his fourth, Catharine, to John, +son and heir to Ferdinand, king of Arragon, and Isabella, queen of +Castile.[*] None of these projected marriages took place; and the king +himself saw in his lifetime the rupture of the first, that with the +dauphin, for which he had always discovered a peculiar fondness. Lewis, +who paid no regard to treaties or engagements, found his advantage +in contracting the dauphin to the princess Margaret, daughter of +Maximilian, and the king, notwithstanding his indolence, prepared to +revenge the indignity. + + * Rymer, vol. xi. p. 110. + +{1482.} The French monarch, eminent for prudence as well as perfidy, +endeavored to guard against the blow; and by a proper distribution of +presents in the court of Scotland, he incited James to make war upon +England. This prince, who lived on bad terms with his own nobility, and +whose force was very unequal to the enterprise, levied an army; but +when he was ready to enter England, the barons, conspiring against +his favorites, put them to death without trial; and the army presently +disbanded. The duke of Glocester, attended by the duke of Albany, +James's brother, who had been banished his country, entered Scotland at +the head of an army, took Berwick, and obliged the Scots to accept of +a peace, by which they resigned that fortress to Edward. This success +imboldened the king to think more seriously of a French war; but while +he was making preparations for that enterprise, he was seized with a +distemper, of which he expired in the forty-second year of his age, and +the twenty-third of his reign; a prince more splendid and showy than +either prudent or virtuous; brave, though cruel; addicted to pleasure, +though capable of activity in great emergencies; and less fitted to +prevent ills by wise precautions, than to remedy them, after they took +place, by his vigor and enterprise. Besides five daughters, this king +left two sons; Edward, prince of Wales, his successor, then in his +thirteenth year and Richard, duke of York, in his ninth. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +[Illustration: 1_298_edward5.jpg EDWARD V.] + + + + +EDWARD V. AND RICHARD III. + +{1483.} During the latter years of Edward IV., the nation having in +a great measure forgotten the bloody feuds between the two roses, and +peaceably acquiescing in the established government, was agitated only +by some court intrigues, which, being restrained by the authority of the +king, seemed nowise to endanger the public tranquillity. These intrigues +arose from the perpetual rivalship between two parties; one consisting +of the queen and her relations, particularly the earl of Rivers, her +brother, and the marquis of Dorset, her son; the other composed of the +ancient nobility, who envied the sudden growth and unlimited credit of +that aspiring family.[*] + + * Sir Thomas More. p. 481. + +At the head of this latter party was the duke of Buckingham, a man of +very noble birth, of ample possessions, of great alliances, of shining +parts; who, though he had married the queen's sister, was too haughty to +act in subserviency to her inclinations, and aimed rather at maintaining +an independent influence and authority. Lord Hastings, the chamberlain, +was another leader of the same party; and as this nobleman had, by his +bravery and activity, as well as by his approved fidelity, acquired the +confidence and favor of his master, he had been able, though with some +difficulty, to support himself against the credit of the queen. +The lords Howard and Stanley maintained a connection with these +two noblemen, and brought a considerable accession of influence and +reputation to their party. All the other barons, who had no particular +dependence on the queen, adhered to the same interest; and the people +in general, from their natural envy against the prevailing power, bore +great favor to the cause of these noblemen. + +But Edward knew that, though he himself had been able to overawe those +rival factions, many disorders might arise from their contests during +the minority of his son; and he therefore took care, in his last +illness, to summon together several of the leaders on both sides, and +by composing their ancient quarrels, to provide, as far as possible, +for the future tranquillity of the government. After expressing his +intentions, that his brother, the duke of Glocester, then absent in +the north, should be intrusted with the regency, he recommended to them +peace and unanimity during the tender years of his son; represented to +them the dangers which must attend the continuance of their animosities; +and engaged them to embrace each other with all the appearance of the +most cordial reconciliation. But this temporary or feigned agreement +lasted no longer than the king's life; he had no sooner expired, +than the jealousies of the parties broke out afresh; and each of them +applied, by separate messages, to the duke of Glocester, and endeavored +to acquire his favor and friendship. + +This prince, during his brother's reign, had endeavored to live on good +terms with both parties; and his high birth, his extensive abilities, +and his great services, had enabled him to support himself without +falling into a dependence on either. But the new situation of affairs, +when the supreme power was devolved upon him, immediately changed +his measures; and he secretly determined to preserve no longer that +neutrality which he had hitherto maintained. His exorbitant ambition, +unrestrained by any principle either of justice or humanity; made him +carry his views to the possession of the crown itself; and as this +object could not be attained without the ruin of the queen and her +family, he fell, without hesitation, into concert with the opposite +party. But being sensible that the most profound dissimulation was +requisite for effecting his criminal purposes, he redoubled his +professions of zeal and attachment to that princess; and he gained such +credit with her as to influence her conduct in a point which, as it was +of the utmost importance, was violently disputed between the opposite +factions. + +The young king, at the time of his father's death, resided in the Castle +of Ludlow, on the borders of Wales; whither he had been sent, that +the influence of his presence might overawe the Welsh, and restore the +tranquillity of that country, which had been disturbed by some late +commotions. His person was committed to the care of his uncle, the earl +of Rivers, the most accomplished nobleman in England, who, having united +an uncommon taste for literature[*] to great abilities in business +and valor in the field was entitled by his talents, still more than by +nearness of blood, to direct the education of the young monarch. The +queen, anxious to preserve that ascendant over her son which she had +long maintained over her husband, wrote to the earl of Rivers, that he +should levy a body of forces, in order to escort the king to London, to +protect him during his coronation, and to keep him from falling into the +hands of their enemies.[**] The opposite faction, sensible that Edward +was now of an age when great advantages could be made of his name and +countenance, and was approaching to the age when he would be legally +entitled to exert in person his authority, foresaw that the tendency of +this measure was to perpetuate their subjection under their rivals; +and they vehemently opposed a resolution which they represented as the +signal for renewing a civil war in the kingdom. Lord Hastings threatened +to depart instantly to his government of Calais:[**] the other nobles +seemed resolute to oppose force by force: and as the duke of Glocester, +on pretence of pacifying the quarrel, had declared against all +appearance of an armed power, which might be dangerous, and was nowise +necessary; the queen, trusting to the sincerity of his friendship, +and overawed by so violent an opposition, recalled her orders to her +brother, and desired him to bring up no greater retinue than should be +necessary to support the state and dignity of the young sovereign.[***] + + * This nobleman first introduced the noble art of printing + into England. Caxton was recommended by him to the patronage + of Edward IV. See Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors. + + ** Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 564, 565. + + *** Sir Thomas More, p. 483. + +The duke of Glocester, meanwhile, set out from York, attended by a +numerous train of the northern gentry. When he reached Northampton, +he was joined by the duke of Buckingham, who was also attended by a +splendid retinue; and as he heard that the king was hourly expected on +that road, he resolved to await his arrival, under color of conducting +him thence in person to London. The earl of Rivers, apprehensive that +the place would be too narrow to contain so many attendants, sent his +pupil forward by another road to Stony Stratford; and came himself to +Northampton, in order to apologize for this measure, and to pay his +respects to the duke of Glocester. He was received with the greatest +appearance of cordiality: he passed the evening an an amicable manner +with Glocester and Buckingham: he proceeded on the road with them next +day to join the king: but as he was entering Stony Stratford, he was +arrested by orders from the duke of Glocester:[*] Sir Richard Gray, one +of the queen's sons, was at the same time put under a guard, together +with Sir Thomas Vaughan, who possessed a considerable office in the +king's household; and all the prisoners were instantly conducted +to Pomfret. Glocester approached the young prince with the greatest +demonstrations of respect; and endeavored to satisfy him with regard +to the violence committed on his uncle and brother: but Edward, much +attached to these near relations, by whom he had been tenderly +educated, was not such a master of dissimulation as to conceal his +displeasure.[**] + +The people, however, were extremely rejoiced at this revolution; and the +duke was received in London with the loudest acclamations: but the queen +no sooner received intelligence of her brother's imprisonment, than she +foresaw that Glocester's violence would not stop there, and that her +own ruin, if not that of all her children, was finally determined. +She therefore fled into the sanctuary of Westminster, attended by the +marquis of Dorset; and she carried thither the five princesses, together +with the duke of York.[***] + + * Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 564, 565. + + ** Sir Thomas More. + + *** Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 565. + +She trusted that the ecclesiastical privileges, which had formerly, +during the total ruin of her husband and family, given her protection +against the fury of the Lancastrian faction, would not now be violated +by her brother-in-law, while her son was on the throne; and she resolved +to await there the return of better fortune. But Glocester, anxious to +have the duke of York in his power, proposed to take him by force +from the sanctuary; and he represented to the privy council both +the indignity put upon the government by the queen's ill-grounded +apprehensions, and the necessity of the young prince's appearance at +the ensuing coronation of his brother. It was further urged, that +ecclesiastical privileges were originally intended only to give +protection to unhappy men persecuted for their debts or crimes; and were +entirely useless to a person who, by reason of his tender age, could lie +under the burden of neither, and who, for the same reason, was +utterly incapable of claiming security from any sanctuary. But the two +archbishops, Cardinal Bourchier, the primate, and Rotherhand, archbishop +of York, protesting against the sacrilege of this measure, it was agreed +that they should first endeavor to bring the queen to compliance by +persuasion, before any violence should be employed against her. These +prelates were persons of known integrity and honor; and being themselves +entirely persuaded of the duke's good intentions, they employed every +argument, accompanied with earnest entreaties, exhortations, and +assurances, to bring her over to the same opinion. She long continued +obstinate, and insisted that the duke of York, by living in the +sanctuary, was not only secure himself, but gave security to the king, +whose life no one would dare to attempt while his successor and avenger +remained in safety. But finding that none supported her in these +sentiments, and that force, in case of refusal, was threatened by the +council, she at last complied, and produced her son to the two prelates. +She was here on a sudden struck with a kind of presage of his future +fate: she tenderly embraced him; she bedewed him with her tears; and +bidding him an eternal adieu, delivered him, with many expressions of +regret and reluctance, into their custody.[*] + +The duke of Glocester, being the nearest male of the royal family +capable of exercising the government, seemed entitled, by the customs of +the realm, to the office of protector; and the council, not waiting for +the consent of parliament, made no scruple of investing him with that +high dignity.[**] + + * Sir Thomas More, p. 491. + + ** Hist. Croyl. Cont, p. 566. + +The general prejudice entertained by the nobility against the queen and +her kindred, occasioned this precipitation and irregularity; and no +one foresaw any danger to the succession, much less to the lives of the +young princes, from a measure so obvious and so natural. Besides +that the duke had hitherto been able to cover, by the most profound +dissimulation, his fierce and savage nature, the numerous issue of +Edward, together with the two children of Clarence, seemed to be an +eternal obstacle to his ambition; and it appeared equally impracticable +for him to destroy so many persons possessed of a preferable title, and +imprudent to exclude them. But a man who had abandoned all principles of +honor and humanity, was soon carried by his predominant passion beyond +the reach of fear or precaution; and Glocester, having so far succeeded +in his views, no longer hesitated in removing the other obstructions +which lay between him and the throne. The death of the earl of Rivers, +and of the other prisoners detained in Pomfret, was first determined; +and he easily obtained the consent of the duke of Buckingham, as well as +of Lord Hastings, to this violent and sanguinary measure. However easy +it was, in those times, to procure a sentence against the most innocent +person, it appeared still more easy to despatch an enemy without any +trial or form of process; and orders were accordingly issued to Sir +Richard Ratcliffe, a proper instrument in the hands of this tyrant, +to cut off the heads of the prisoners. The protector then assailed the +fidelity of Buckingham by all the arguments capable of swaying a vicious +mind, which knew no motive of action but interest and ambition. He +represented that the execution of persons so nearly related to the king, +whom that prince so openly professed to love, and whose fate he so much +resented, would never pass unpunished; and all the actors in that scene +were bound in prudence to prevent the effects of his future vengeance: +that it would be impossible to keep the queen forever at a distance from +her son, and equally impossible to prevent her from instilling into +his tender mind the thoughts of retaliating, by like executions, the +sanguinary insults committed on her family: that the only method of +obviating these mischiefs was to put the sceptre in the hands of a +man of whose friendship the duke might be assured, and whose years +and experience taught him to pay respect to merit and to the rights of +ancient nobility: and that the same necessity which had carried them so +far in resisting the usurpation of these intruders, must justify them +in attempting further innovations, and in making, by national consent, +a new settlement of the succession. To these reasons he added the offers +of great private advantages to the duke of Buckingham; and he easily +obtained from him a promise of supporting him in all his enterprises. + +The duke of Glocester, knowing the importance of gaining Lord Hastings, +sounded at a distance his sentiments, by means of Catesby, a lawyer, who +lived in great intimacy with that nobleman; but found him impregnable +in his allegiance and fidelity to the children of Edward, who had ever +honored him with his friendship.[*] He saw, therefore, that there were +no longer any measures to be kept with him; and he determined to +ruin utterly the man whom he despaired of engaging to concur in +his usurpation. On the very day when Rivers, Gray, and Vaughan were +executed, or rather murdered, at Poinfret by the advice of Hastings, +the protector summoned a council in the Tower; whither that nobleman, +suspecting no design against him, repaired without hesitation. + + * Sir Thomas More. p. 493. + +The duke of Glocester was capable of committing the most bloody and +treacherous murders with the utmost coolness and indifference. On taking +his place at the council-table, he appeared in the easiest and most +jovial humor imaginable. He seemed to indulge himself in familiar +conversation with the counsellors, before they should enter on business, +and having paid some compliments to Morton, bishop of Ely, on the good +and early strawberries which he raised in his garden at Holborn, +he begged the favor of having a dish of them, which that prelate +immediately despatched a servant to bring to him. The protector then +left the council, as if called away by some other business; but soon +after returning with an angry and inflamed countenance, he asked them, +what punishment those deserved that had plotted against his life, +who was so nearly related to the king, and was intrusted with the +administration of government. Hastings replied, that they merited the +punishment of traitors. "These traitors," cried the protector, "are the +sorceress, my brother's wife, and Jane Shore, his mistress, with others +their associates: see to what a condition they have reduced me by their +incantations and witchcraft:" upon which he laid bare his arm, all +shrivelled and decayed. But the counsellors, who knew that this +infirmity had attended him from his birth, looked on each other with +amazement; and, above all, Lord Hastings, who, as he had since Edward's +death engaged in an intrigue with Jane Shore,[*] [20] was naturally +anxious concerning the issue of these extraordinary proceedings. + + * See note T, at the end of the volume. + +"Certainly, my lord," said he, "if they be guilty of these crimes, they +deserve the severest punishment." "And do you reply to me," exclaimed +the protector, "with your ifs and your ands? You are the chief abettor +of that witch, Shore: you are yourself a traitor; and I swear by St. +Paul, that I will not dine before your head be brought me," He struck +the table with his hand: armed men rushed in at the signal: the +counsellors were thrown into the utmost consternation: and one of the +guards, as if by accident or mistake, aimed a blow with a pole-axe +at Lord Stanley, who, aware of the danger, slunk under the table; and +though he saved his life, he received a severe wound in the head, in the +protector's presence. Hastings was seized, was hurried away, and +instantly beheaded on a timber-log, which lay in the court of the +Tower.[*] Two hours after, a proclamation, well penned, and fairly +written, was read to the citizens of London, enumerating his offenses, +and apologizing to them, from the suddenness of the discovery, for the +sudden execution of that nobleman, who was very popular among them; but +the saying of a merchant was much talked of on the occasion, who +remarked, that the proclamation was certainly drawn by the spirit of +prophecy.[**] + + * Hist Croyl. Cont. p. 566. + + ** Sir Thomas More, p. 496. + +Lord Stanley, the archbishop of York, the bishop of Ely, and other +counsellors, were committed prisoners in different chambers of the +Tower; and the protector, in order to carry on the farce of his +accusations, ordered the goods of Jane Shore to be seized; and he +summoned her to answer before the council for sorcery and witchcraft. +But as no proofs, which could be received even in that ignorant age, +were produced against her, he directed her to be tried in the spiritual +court for her adulteries and lewdness; and she did penance in a white +sheet in St. Paul's, before the whole people. This lady was born +of reputable parents in London, was well educated, and married to a +substantial citizen; but unhappily views of interest, more than the +maid's inclinations, had been consulted in the match, and her mind, +though framed for virtue, had proved unable to resist the allurements +of Edward, who solicited her favors. But while seduced from her duty by +this gay and amorous monarch, she still made herself respectable by +her other virtues; and the ascendant which her charms and vivacity +long maintained over him, was all employed in acts of beneficence +and humanity. She was still forward to oppose calumny, to protect the +oppressed, to relieve the indigent; and her good offices, the genuine +dictates of her heart, never waited the solicitation of presents, or +the hopes of reciprocal services. But she lived not only to feel the +bitterness of shame imposed on her by this tyrant, but to experience, +in old age and poverty, the ingratitude of those courtiers who had long +solicited her friendship, and been protected by her credit. No one, +among the great multitudes whom she had obliged, had the humanity to +bring her consolation or relief; she languished out her life in solitude +and indigence; and amidst a court inured to the most atrocious crimes, +the frail ties of this woman justified all violations of friendship +towards her, and all neglect of former obligations. + +These acts of violence, exercised against all the nearest connections +of the late king, prognosticated the severest fate to his defenceless +children; and after the murder of Hastings, the protector no longer made +a secret of his intentions to usurp the crown. The licentious life +of Edward, who was not restrained in his pleasures either by honor or +prudence, afforded a pretence for declaring his marriage with the queen +invalid, and all his posterity illegitimate. It was asserted that, +before espousing the lady Elizabeth Gray, he had paid court to the lady +Eleanor Talbot, daughter of the earl of Shrewsbury; and being repulsed +by the virtue of that lady, he was obliged, ere he could gratify his +desires, to consent to a private marriage, without any witnesses, by +Stillington, bishop of Bath, who afterwards divulged the secret.[*] + + * Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 567. Comines. Sir Thomas More, p. + 482. + +It was also maintained that the act of attainder passed against the duke +of Clarence, had virtually incapacitated his children from succeeding +to the crown; and these two families being set aside, the protector +remained the only true and legitimate heir of the house of York. But +as it would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove the preceding +marriage of the late king, and as the rule which excludes the heirs of +an attainted blood from private successions was never extended to the +crown, the protector resolved to make use of another plea, still more +shameful and scandalous. His partisans were taught to maintain, that +both Edward IV. and the duke of Clarence were illegitimate; that the +duchess of York had received different lovers into her bed, who were the +fathers of these children, that, their resemblance to those gallants +was a sufficient proof of their spurious birth; and that the duke +of Glocester alone, of all her sons, appeared by his features and +countenance to be the true offspring of the duke of York. Nothing can +be imagined more impudent than this assertion, which threw so foul an +imputation on his own mother, a princess of irreproachable virtue, +and then alive; yet the place chosen for first promulgating it was the +pulpit, before a large congregation, and in the protector's presence. +Dr. Shaw was appointed to preach in St. Paul's; and having chosen this +passage for his text "Bastards lips shall not thrive," he enlarged on +all the topics which could discredit the birth of Edward IV., the duke +of Clarence, and of all their children. He then broke out in a panegyric +on the duke of Glocester; and exclaimed, "Behold this excellent prince, +the express image of his noble father, the genuine descendant of the +house of York; bearing no less in the virtues of his mind than in the +features of his countenance the character of the gallant Richard, once +your hero and favorite: he alone is entitled to your allegiance: he must +deliver you from the dominion of all intruders: he alone can restore the +lost glory and honor of the nation." It was previously concerted, that +as the doctor should pronounce these words, the duke of Glocester should +enter the church; and it was expected that the audience would cry out, +"God save King Richard;" which would immediately have been laid hold of +as a popular consent, and interpreted to be the voice of the nation; +but by a ridiculous mistake, worthy of the whole scene, the duke did not +appear till after this exclamation was already recited by the preacher. +The doctor was therefore obliged to repeat his rhetorical figure out +of its proper place: the audience, less from the absurd conduct of +the discourse than from their detestation of these proceedings, kept +a profound silence: and the protector and his preacher were equally +abashed at the ill success of their stratagem. + +But the duke was too far advanced to recede from his criminal and +ambitious purpose. A new expedient was tried to work on the people. +The mayor, who was brother to Dr. Shaw, and entirely in the protector's +interests, called an assembly of the citizens; where the duke of +Buckingham, who possessed some talents for eloquence, harangued them on +the protector's title to the crown, and displayed those numerous virtues +of which he pretended that prince was possessed. He next asked them +whether they would have the duke for king; and then stopped, in +expectation of hearing the cry, "God save King Richard." He was +surprised to observe them silent; and turning about to the mayor, asked +him the reason. The mayor replied, that perhaps they did not understand +him. Buckingham then repeated his discourse with some variation. +enforced the same topics, asked the same question, and was received with +the same silence. "I now see the cause," said the mayor; "the citizens +are not accustomed to be harangued by any but their recorder; and know +not how to answer a person of your grace's quality." The recorder, +Fitz-Williams, was then commanded to repeat the substance of the duke's +speech; but the man, who was averse to the office, took care, throughout +his whole discourse, to have it understood that he spoke nothing of +himself, and that he only conveyed to them the sense of the duke +of Buckingham. Still the audience kept a profound silence. "This is +wonderful obstinacy," cried the duke: "express your meaning, my friends, +one way or other: when we apply to you on this occasion, it is merely +from the regard which we bear to you. The lords and commons have +sufficient authority, without your consent, to appoint a king: but I +require you here to declare, in plain terms, whether or not you will +have the duke of Glocester for your sovereign." After all these +efforts, some of the meanest apprentices, incited by the protector's and +Buckingham's servants, raised a feeble cry, "God save King Richard:"[*] +the sentiments of the nation were now sufficiently declared: the voice +of the people was the voice of God: and Buckingham, with the mayor, +hastened to Baynard's Castle, where the protector then resided, that +they might make him a tender of the crown. + + * Sir Thomas More, p. 496. + +When Richard was told that a great multitude was in the court, he +refused to appear to them, and pretended to be apprehensive for his +personal safety; a circumstance taken notice of by Buckingham, who +observed to the citizens that the prince was ignorant of the whole +design. At last he was persuaded to step forth, but he still kept +at some distance; and he asked the meaning of their intrusion and +importunity. Buckingham told him that the nation was resolved to have +him for king: the protector declared his purpose of maintaining his +loyalty to the present sovereign, and exhorted them to adhere to the +same resolution. He was told that the people had determined to have +another prince; and if he rejected their unanimous voice, they must look +out for one who would be more compliant. This argument was too powerful +to be resisted: he was prevailed on to accept of the crown: and he +thenceforth acted as legitimate and rightful sovereign. + +This ridiculous force was soon after followed by a scene truly tragical; +the murder of the two young princes. Richard gave orders to Sir Robert +Brakenbury, constable of the Tower, to put his nephews to death; but +this gentleman, who had sentiments of honor, refused to have any hand +in the infamous office. The tyrant then sent for Sir James Tyrrel, +who promised obedience: and he ordered Brakenbury to resign to this +gentleman the keys and government of the Tower for one night. Tyrre, +choosing three associates, Slater, Dighton, and Forest, came in the +night-time to the door of the chamber where the princes were lodged; and +sending in the assassins he bade them execute their commission, while he +himself staid without. They found the young princes in bed, and fallen +into a profound sleep. After suffocating them with the bolster and +pillows, they showed their naked bodies to Tyrrel, who ordered them to +be buried at the foot of the stairs, deep in the ground, under a heap of +stones.[*] These circumstances were all confessed by the actors in the +following reign; and they were never punished for the crime; probably +because Henry, whose maxims of government were extremely arbitrary, +desired to establish it as a principle, that the commands of the +reigning sovereign ought to justify every enormity in those who paid +obedience to them. But there is one circumstance not so easy to be +accounted for: it is pretended that Richard, displeased with the +indecent manner of burying his nephews, whom he had murdered, gave his +chaplain orders to dig up the bodies, and to inter them in consecrated +ground; and as the man died soon after, the place of their burial +remained unknown, and the bodies could never be found by any search +which Henry could make for them. Yet in the reign of Charles II., when +there was occasion to remove some stones and to dig in the very spot +which was mentioned as the place of their first interment, the bones of +two persons were there found, which by their size exactly corresponded +to the age of Edward and his brother: they were concluded with certainty +to be the remains of those princes, and were interred under a marble +monument by orders of King Charles.[**] Perhaps Richard's chaplain had +died before he found an opportunity of executing his master's commands; +and the bodies being supposed to be already removed, a diligent search +was not made for them by Henry in the place where they had been buried. + + * Sir Thomas More, p. 501. + + ** Kennet, p. 551. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +[Illustration: 1_301_richard3.jpg RICHARD III.] + + + + +RICHARD III. + +{1483.} The first acts of Richard's administration were to bestow +rewards on those who had assisted him in usurping the crown, and to gain +by favors those who, he thought, were best able to support his future +government. Thomas Lord Howard was created duke of Norfolk; Sir Thomas +Howard, his son, earl of Surrey; Lord Lovel, a viscount by the same +name; even Lord Stanley was set at liberty, and made steward of the +household. This nobleman had become obnoxious by his first opposition +to Richard's views, and also by his marrying the countess dowager of +Richmond, heir of the Somerset family; but sensible of the necessity of +submitting to the present government, he feigned such zeal for Richard's +service, that he was received into favor, and even found means to be +intrusted with the most important commands by that politic and jealous +tyrant. + +But the person who, both from the greatness of his services and the +power and splendor of his family, was best entitled to favors under +the new government, was the duke of Buckingham; and Richard seemed +determined to spare no pains or bounty in securing him to his interests. +Buckingham was descended from a daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, duke +of Glocester, uncle to Richard II.; and by this pedigree he not only +was allied to the royal family, but had claims for dignities as well as +estates of a very extensive nature. The duke of Glocester, and Henry, +earl of Derby, afterwards Henry IV. had married the two daughters and +coheirs of Bohun, earl of Hereford, one of the greatest of the ancient +barons, whose immense property came thus to be divided into two shares. +One was inherited by the family of Buckingham; the other was united to +the crown by the house of Lancaster, and, after the attainder of that +royal line, was seized, as legally devolved to them, by the sovereigns +of the house of York. The duke of Buckingham laid hold of the present +opportunity, and claimed the restitution of that portion of the Hereford +estate which had escheated to the crown, as well as of the great office +of constable, which had long continued by inheritance in his ancestors +of that family. Richard readily complied with these demands, which +were probably the price stipulated to Buckingham for his assistance in +promoting the usurpation. That nobleman was invested with the office of +constable; he received a grant of the estate of Hereford;[*] many other +dignities and honors were conferred upon him; and the king thought +himself sure of preserving the fidelity of a man whose interests seemed +so closely connected with those of the present government. + + * Dugdale's Baron. vol. i. p. 168, 169. + +But it was impossible that friendship could long remain inviolate +between two men of such corrupt minds as Richard and the duke of +Buckingham. Historians ascribe their first rupture to the king's refusal +of making restitution of the Hereford estate; but it is certain from +records, that he passed a grant for that purpose, and that the full +demands of Buckingham were satisfied in this particular. Perhaps Richard +was soon sensible of the danger which might ensue from conferring +such an immense property on a man of so turbulent a disposition, and +afterwards raised difficulties about the execution of his own grant: +perhaps he refused some other demands of Buckingham, whom he found +it impossible to gratify for his past services: perhaps he resolved, +according to the usual maxim of politicians, to seize the first +opportunity of ruining this powerful subject, who had been the principal +instrument of his own elevation; and the discovery of this intention +begat the first discontent in the duke of Buckingham. However this may +be, it is certain that the duke, soon after Richard's accession, began +to form a conspiracy against the government, and attempted to overthrow +that usurpation which he himself had so zealously contributed to +establish. + +Never was there in any country a usurpation more flagrant than that +of Richard, or more repugnant to every principle of justice and public +interest. His claim was entirely founded on impudent allegations, never +attempted to be proved; some of them incapable of proof, and all of +their implying scandalous reflections on his own family, and on the +persons with whom he was the most nearly connected. His title was never +acknowledged by any national assembly, scarcely even by the lowest +populace to whom he appealed; and it had become prevalent merely for +want of some person of distinction, who might stand forth against him, +and give a voice to those sentiments of general detestation which arose +in every bosom. Were men disposed to pardon these violations of public +right, the sense of private and domestic duty, which is not to be +effaced in the most barbarous times, must have, begotten an abhorrence +against him; and have represented the murder of the young and innocent +princes, his nephews, with whose protection he had been intrusted, +in the most odious colors imaginable. To endure such a bloody usurper +seemed to draw disgrace upon the nation, and to be attended with +immediate danger to every individual who was distinguished by birth, +merit, or services. Such was become the general voice of the people; +all parties were united in the same sentiments; and the Lancastrians, so +long oppressed, and of late so much discredited, felt their blasted +hopes again revive, and anxiously expected the consequences of these +extraordinary events. The duke of Buckingham, whose family had been +devoted to that interest, and who, by his mother, a daughter of Edmund, +duke of Somerset, was allied to the house of Lancaster, was easily +induced to espouse the cause of this party, and to endeavor the +restoring of it to its ancient superiority. Morton, bishop of Ely, a +zealous Lancastrian, whom the king had imprisoned, and had afterwards +committed to the custody of Buckingham, encouraged these sentiments; +and by his exhortations the duke cast his eye towards the young earl of +Richmond, as the only person who could free the nation from the tyranny +of the present usurper.[*] + + * Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 568. + +Henry, earl of Richmond, was at this time detained in a kind of +honorable custody by the duke of Brittany; and his descent, which seemed +to give him some pretensions to the crown, had been a great object of +jealousy both in the late and in the present reign. John, the first duke +of Somerset who was grandson of John of Gaunt, by a spurious branch but +legitimated by act of parliament, had left only one daughter, Margaret; +and his younger brother, Edmund, had succeeded him in his titles, and in +a considerable part of his fortune. Margaret had espoused Edmund, earl +of Richmond, half brother of Henry VI., and son of Sir Owen Tudor and +Catharine of France, relict of Henry V., and she bore him only one +son, who received the name of Henry, and who, after his father's death, +inherited the honors and fortune of Richmond. His mother, being a widow, +had espoused in second marriage Sir Henry Stafford, uncle to Buckingham, +and after the death of that gentleman, had married Lord Stanley; but had +no children by either of these husbands; and her son Henry was thus, in +the event of her death, the sole heir of all her fortunes. But this was +not the most considerable advantage which he had reason to expect from +her succession: he would represent the elder branch of the house of +Somerset; he would inherit all the title of that family to the crown; +and though its claim, while any legitimate branch subsisted of the house +of Lancaster, had always been much disregarded, the zeal of faction, +after the death of Henry VI., and the murder of Prince Edward, +immediately conferred a weight and consideration upon it. + +Edward IV., finding that all the Lancastrians had turned their attention +towards the young earl of Richmond as the object of their hopes, thought +him also worthy of his attention; and pursued him into his retreat in +Brittany, whither his uncle, the earl of Pembroke, had carried him, +after the battle of Tewkesbury, so fatal to his party. He applied to +Francis II., duke of Brittany, who was his ally; a weak, but a good +prince; and urged him to deliver up this fugitive, who might be the +source of future disturbances in England; but the duke, averse to so +dishonorable a proposal, would only consent that, for the security +of Edward, the young nobleman should be detained in custody; and he +received an annual pension from England for the safe keeping or the +subsistence of his prisoner. But towards the end of Edward's reign, when +the kingdom was menaced with a war both from France and Scotland, the +anxieties of the English court with regard to Henry were much increased; +and Edward made a new proposal to the duke, which covered, under the +fairest appearances, the most bloody and treacherous intentions. He +pretended that he was desirous of gaining his enemy, and of uniting +him to his own family by a marriage with his daughter Elizabeth; and he +solicited to have him sent over to England, in order to execute a scheme +which would redound so much to his advantage. These pretences, seconded, +as is supposed, by bribes to Peter Landais, a corrupt minister, by +whom the duke was entirely governed, gained credit with the court of +Brittany: Henry was delivered into the hands of the English agents, +he was ready to embark; when a suspicion of Edward's real design was +suggested to the duke, who recalled his orders, and thus saved the +unhappy youth from the imminent danger which hung over him. + +These symptoms of continued jealousy in the reigning family of England, +both seemed to give some authority to Henry's pretensions, and made him +the object of general favor and compassion, on account of the dangers +and persecutions to which he was exposed. The universal detestation of +Richard's conduct turned still more the attention of the nation towards +Henry; and as all the descendants of the house of York were either women +or minors, he seemed to be the only person from whom the nation +could expect the expulsion of the odious and bloody tyrant. But +notwithstanding these circumstances, which were so favorable to him, +Buckingham and the bishop of Ely well knew that there would still be +many obstacles in his way to the throne; and that, though the nation had +been much divided between Henry VI. and the duke of York, while present +possession and hereditary right stood in opposition to each other, +yet as soon as these titles were united in Edward IV., the bulk of the +people had come over to the reigning family; and the Lancastrians had +extremely decayed, both in numbers and in authority. It was therefore +suggested by Morton, and readily assented to by the duke, that the only +means of overturning the present usurpation, was to unite the opposite +factions, by contracting a marriage between the earl of Richmond and the +princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of King Edward, and thereby blending +together the opposite pretensions of their families, which had so long +been the source of public disorders and convulsions. They were sensible, +that the people were extremely desirous of repose after so many bloody +and destructive commotions; that both Yorkists and Lancastrians, who now +lay equally under oppression, would embrace this scheme with ardor; and +that the prospect of reconciling the two parties, which was in itself +so desirable an end, would, when added to the general hatred against +the present government, render their cause absolutely invincible. In +consequence of these views, the prelate, by means of Reginald Bray, +steward to the countess of Rich-* *mond, first opened the project of +such a union to that lady; and the plan appeared so advantageous for her +son, and at the same time so likely to succeed, that it admitted not of +the least hesitation. Dr. Lewis, a Welsh physician, who had access to +the queen dowager in her sanctuary, carried the proposals to her, and +found that revenge for the murder of her brother and of her three sons, +apprehensions for her surviving family, and indignation against her +confinement, easily overcame all her prejudices against the house of +Lancaster, and procured her approbation of a marriage, to which the age +and birth, as well as the present situation of the parties, seemed so +naturally to invite them. She secretly borrowed a sum of money in +the city, sent it over to the earl of Richmond, required his oath to +celebrate the marriage as soon as he should arrive in England, advised +him to levy as many foreign forces as possible, and promised to join +him on his first appearance, with all the friends and partisans of her +family. + +The plan being thus laid upon the solid foundations of good sense and +sound policy, it was secretly communicated to the principal persons of +both parties in all the counties of England; and a wonderful alacrity +appeared in every order of men to forward its success and completion. +But it was impossible that so extensive a conspiracy could be conducted +in so secret a manner, as entirely to escape the jealous and vigilant +eye of Richard; and he soon received intelligence, that his enemies, +headed by the duke of Buckingham, were forming some design against +his authority. He immediately put himself in a posture of defence, +by levying troops in the north; and he summoned the duke to appear at +court, in such terms as seemed to promise him a renewal of their +former amity. But that nobleman, well acquainted with the barbarity and +treachery of Richard, replied only by taking arms in Wales, and giving +the signal to his accomplices for a general insurrection in all parts of +England. But at that very time there happened to fall such heavy rains, +so incessant and continued, as exceeded any known in the memory of man; +and the Severn, with the other rivers in that neighborhood, swelled to +a height which rendered them impassable, and prevented Buckingham from +marching into the heart of England to join his associates. The Welshmen, +partly moved by superstition at this extraordinary event, partly +distressed by famine in their camp, fell off from him; and Buckingham, +finding himself deserted by his followers, put on a disguise, and took +shelter in the house of Banister, an old servant of his family. But +being detected in his retreat, he was brought to the king at Salisbury; +and was instantly executed, according to the summary method practised +in that age.[*] The other conspirators, who took arms in four different +places, at Exeter, at Salisbury, it Newbury, and at Maidstone, hearing +of the duke of Buckingham's misfortunes, despaired of success, and +immediately dispersed themselves. + +The marquis of Dorset and the bishop of Ely made their escape beyond +sea; many others were equally fortunate; several fell into Richard's +hands, of whom he made some examples. His executions seem not to have +been remarkably severe; though we are told of one gentleman, William +Colingbourne, who suffered under color of this rebellion, but in reality +for a distich of quibbling verses which he had composed against Richard +and his ministers.[*] + + * Hist. Croyl. Cont. p. 568. + The lines were-- + + "The Rat, the Cat, and Lovel that Dog, + Rule all England under the Hog;" + +The earl of Richmond, in concert with his friends, had set sail from St. +Malo's, carrying on board a body of five thousand men, levied in foreign +parts; but his fleet being at first driven back by a storm, he appeared +not on the coast of England till after the dispersion of all his +friends; and he found himself obliged to return to the court of +Brittany. + +{1484.} The king, every where triumphant, and fortified by this +unsuccessful attempt to dethrone him, ventured at last to summon a +parliament; a measure which his crimes and flagrant usurpation had +induced him hitherto to decline. Though it was natural that the +parliament, in a contest of national parties, should always adhere to +the victor, he seems to have apprehended, lest his title, founded on +no principle, and supported by no party, might be rejected by that +assembly. But his enemies being now at his feet, the parliament had no +choice left but to recognize his authority, and acknowledge his right +to the crown. His only son, Edward, then a youth of twelve years of age, +was created prince of Wales: the duties of tonnage and poundage were +granted to the king for life; and Richard, in order to reconcile the +nation to his government, passed some popular laws, particularly one +alluding to the names of Ratcliffe and Catesby; and to Richard's arms, +which were a boar, against the late practice of extorting money on +pretence of benevolence. + +All the other measures of the king tended to the same object. Sensible +that the only circumstance which could give him security, was to gain +the confidence of the Yorkists, he paid court to the queen dowager with +such art and address, made such earnest protestations of his sincere +good-will and friendship, that this princess, tired of confinement, and +despairing of any success from her former projects, ventured to leave +her sanctuary, and to put herself and her daughters into the hands of +the tyrant. But he soon carried further his views for the establishment +of his throne. He had married Anne, the second daughter of the earl of +Warwick, and widow of Edward, prince of Wales, whom Richard himself had +murdered; but this princess having born him but one son, who died about +this time, he considered her as an invincible obstacle to the settlement +of his fortune, and he was believed to have carried her off by poison; +a crime for which the public could not be supposed to have any solid +proof, but which the usual tenor of his conduct made it reasonable to +suspect. He now thought it in his power to remove the chief perils which +threatened his government. The earl of Richmond, he knew, could never be +formidable but from his projected marriage with the princess Elizabeth, +the true heir of the crown; and he therefore intended, by means of a +papal dispensation, to espouse, himself, this princess, and thus to +unite in his own family their contending titles. The queen dowager, +eager to recover her lost authority, neither scrupled this alliance, +which was very unusual in England, and was regarded as incestuous, nor +felt any horror at marrying her daughter to the murderer of her three +sons and of her brother: she even joined so farther interests with those +of the usurper, that she wrote to all her partisans, and among the rest +to her son, the marquis of Dorset, desiring them to withdraw from +the earl of Richmond; an injury which the earl could never afterwards +forgive: the court of Rome was applied to for a dispensation: Richard +thought that he could easily defend himself during the interval, till +it arrived; and he had afterwards the agreeable prospect of a full and +secure settlement. He flattered himself that the English nation, seeing +all danger removed of a disputed succession, would then acquiesce under +the dominion of a prince who was of mature years, of great abilities, +and of a genius qualified for government; and that they would forgive +him all the crimes which he had committed in paving his way to the +throne. + +But the crimes of Richard were so horrid and so shocking to humanity, +that the natural sentiments of men, without any political or public +views, were sufficient to render his government unstable; and every +person of probity and honor was earnest to prevent the sceptre from +being any longer polluted by that bloody and faithless hand which held +it. All the exiles flocked to the earl of Richmond in Brittany, and +exhorted him to hasten his attempt for a new invasion, and to prevent +the marriage of the princess Elizabeth, which must prove fatal to all +his hopes. The earl, sensible of the urgent necessity, but dreading +the treachery of Peter Landais, who had entered into a negotiation with +Richard for betraying him, was obliged to attend only to his present +safety; and he made his escape to the court of France. The ministers of +Charles VIII., who had now succeeded to the throne after the death +of his father, Lewis, gave him countenance and protection; and being +desirous of raising disturbance to Richard, they secretly encouraged the +earl in the levies which he made for the support of his enterprise upon +England. The earl of Oxford, whom Richard's suspicions had thrown into +confinement, having made his escape, here joined Henry; and inflamed his +ardor for the attempt, by a favorable account which he brought of +the dispositions of the English nation, and their universal hatred of +Richard's crimes and usurpation. + +{1485.} The earl of Richmond set sail from Harfleur, in Normandy, with +a small army of about two thousand men; and after a navigation of six +days, he arrived at Milford Haven, in Wales, where he landed without +opposition. He directed his course to that part of the kingdom, in hopes +that the Welsh, who regarded him as their countryman, and who had been +already prepossessed in favor of his cause by means of the duke of +Buckingham, would join his standard, and enable him to make head against +the established government. Richard, who knew not in what quarter he +might expect the invader, had taken post at Nottingham, in the centre +of the kingdom; and having given commissions to different persons in the +several counties, whom he empowered to oppose his enemy, he purposed in +person to fly, on the first alarm, to the place exposed to danger. Sir +Rice ap Thomas and Sir Walter Herbert were intrusted with his authority +in Wales; but the former immediately deserted to Henry; the second +made but feeble opposition to him; and the earl, advancing towards +Shrewsbury, received every day some reënforcement from his partisans. +Sir Gilbert Talbot joined him with all the vassals and retainers of the +family of Shrewsbury: Sir Thomas Bourchier and Sir Walter Hungerford +brought their friends to share his fortunes; and the appearance of +men of distinction in his camp made already his cause wear a favorable +aspect. + +But the danger to which Richard was chiefly exposed, proceeded not so +much from the zeal of his open enemies, as from the infidelity of his +pretended friends. Scarce any nobleman of distinction was sincerely +attached to his cause, except the duke of Norfolk; and all those who +feigned the most loyalty were only watching for an opportunity to betray +and desert him. But the persons of whom he entertained the greatest +suspicion, were Lord Stanley and his brother Sir William, whose +connections with the family of Richmond, notwithstanding their +professions of attachment to his person, were never entirely forgotten +or overlooked by him. When he empowered Lord Stanley to levy forces, +he still retained his eldest son, Lord Strange, as a pledge for his +fidelity; and that nobleman was, on this account, obliged to employ +great caution and reserve in his proceedings. He raised a powerful body +of his friends and retainers in Cheshire and Lancashire, but without +openly declaring himself: and though Henry had received secret +assurances of his friendly intentions, the armies on both sides knew +not what to infer from his equivocal behavior. The two rivals at last +approached each other, at Bosworth near Leicester; Henry at the head of +six thousand men, Richard with an army of above double the number; and +a decisive action was every hour expected between them. Stanley, +who commanded above seven thousand men, took care to post himself +at Atherstone, not far from the hostile camps; and he made such a +disposition as enabled him on occasion to join either party. Richard had +too much sagacity not to discover his intentions from these movements; +but he kept the secret from his own men for fear of discouraging them: +he took not immediate revenge on Stanley's son, as some of his courtiers +advised him; because he hoped that so valuable a pledge would induce the +father to prolong still further his ambiguous conduct: and he hastened +to decide by arms the quarrel with his competitor; being certain that +a victory over the earl of Richmond would enable him to take simple +revenge on all his enemies, open and concealed. + +The van of Richmond's army, consisting of archers, was commanded by the +earl of Oxford: Sir Gilbert Talbot led the right wing; Sir John Savage +the left: the earl himself, accompanied by his uncle the earl of +Pembroke, placed himself in the main body. Richard also took post in his +main body, and intrusted the command of his van to the duke of Norfolk: +as his wings were never engaged, we have not learned the names of the +several commanders. Soon after the battle began, Lord Stanley, whose +conduct in this whole affair discovers great precaution and abilities, +appeared in the field, and declared for the earl of Richmond. This +measure, which was unexpected to the men, though not to their leaders, +had a proportional effect on both armies: it inspired unusual courage +into Henry's soldiers; it threw Richard's into dismay and confusion. +The intrepid tyrant, sensible of his desperate situation, cast his eye +around the field, and descrying his rival at no great distance, he drove +against him with fury, in hopes that either Henry's death or his own +would decide the victory between them. He killed with his own hands Sir +William Brandon, standard-bearer to the earl: he dismounted Sir John +Cheyney: he was now within reach of Richmond himself, who declined +not the combat, when Sir William Stanley, breaking in with his troops, +surrounded Richard, who, fighting bravely to the last moment, was +overwhelmed by numbers, and perished by a fate too mild and honorable +for his multiplied and detestable enormities. His men every where sought +for safety by flight. + +There fell in this battle about four thousand of the vanquished; and +among these the duke of Norfolk, Lord Ferrars of Chartley, Sir Richard +Ratcliffe, Sir Robert Piercy, and Sir Robert Brackenbury. The loss was +inconsiderable on the side of the victors. Sir William Catesby, a great +instrument of Richard's crimes, was taken, and soon after beheaded, with +some others, at Leicester. The body of Richard was found in the field, +covered with dead enemies, and all besmeared with blood: it was thrown +carelessly across a horse; was carried to Leicester amidst the shouts of +the insulting spectators; and was interred in the Gray Friars' church of +that place. + +The historians who favor Richard (for even this tyrant has met with +partisans among the later writers) maintain, that he was well qualified +for government, had he legally obtained it; and that he committed no +crimes but such as were necessary to procure him possession of the +crown: but this is a poor apology, when it is confessed, that he was +ready to commit the most horrid crimes which appeared necessary for that +purpose; and it is certain, that all his courage and capacity, qualities +in which he really seems not to have been deficient, would never have +made compensation to the people for the danger of the precedent, and for +the contagious example of vice and murder exalted upon the throne. This +prince was of a small stature, humpbacked, and had a harsh, disagreeable +countenance; so that his body was in every particular no less deformed +than his mind. + +***** + +Thus have we pursued the history of England through a series of many +barbarous ages, till we have at last reached the dawn of civility +and science, and have the prospect, both of greater certainty in our +historical narrations, and of being able to present to the reader a +spectacle more worthy of his attention. The want of certainty, however, +and of circumstances, is not unlike to be complained of throughout +every period of this long narration. This island possesses many ancient +historians of good credit, as well as many historical monuments; and +it is rare, that the annals of so uncultivated a people as were the +English, as well as the other European nations after the decline of +Roman learning, have been transmitted to posterity so complete, and +with so little mixture of falsehood and of fable. This advantage we +owe entirely to the clergy of the church of Rome; who, founding their +authority on their superior knowledge, preserved the precious literature +of antiquity from a total extinction;[*] [21] and, under shelter of +their numerous privileges and immunities, acquired a security by means +of the superstition, which they would in vain have claimed from the +justice and humanity of those turbulent and licentious ages. + + * See note U, at the end of the volume + +Nor is the spectacle altogether unentertaining and uninstructive, which +the history of those times presents to us. The view of human manners, in +all their variety of appearances, is both profitable and agreeable; and +if the aspect in some periods seem horrid and deformed, we may thence +learn to cherish with the greater anxiety that science and civility, +which has so close a connection with virtue and humanity, and which, +as it is a sovereign antidote against superstition, is also the most +effectual remedy against vice and disorders of every kind. + +The rise, progress, perfection, and decline of art and science, are +curious objects of contemplation, and intimately connected with a +narration of civil transactions. The events of no particular period can +be fully accounted for, but by considering the degrees of advancement +which men have reached in those particulars. + +Those who cast their eye on the general revolutions of society, will +find that, as almost all improvements of the human mind had reached +nearly to their state of perfection about the age of Augustus, there +was a sensible decline from that point or period; and men thenceforth +relapsed gradually into ignorance and barbarism. The unlimited extent +of the Roman empire, and the consequent despotism of its monarchs, +extinguished all emulation, debased the generous spirits of men, +and depressed that noble flame by which all the refined arts must be +cherished and enlivened. The military government, which soon succeeded, +rendered even the lives and properties of men insecure and precarious; +and proved destructive to those vulgar and more necessary arts of +agriculture, manufactures, and commerce; and, in the end, to the +military art and genius itself, by which alone the immense fabric of the +empire could be supported. The irruption of the barbarous nations which +soon followed, overwhelmed all human knowledge, which was already far +in its decline; and men sunk every age deeper into ignorance, stupidity, +and superstition; till the light of ancient science and history had very +nearly suffered a total extinction in all the European nations. + +But there is a point of depression, as well as of exaltation, from which +human affairs naturally return in a contrary direction, and beyond which +they seldom pass either in their advancement or decline. The period in +which the people of Christendom were the lowest sunk in ignorance, and +consequently in disorders of every kind, may justly be fixed at the +eleventh century, about the age of William the Conqueror; and from that +era the sun of science, beginning to reascend, threw out many gleams of +light, which preceded the full morning when letters were revived in the +fifteenth century. The Danes and other northern people, who had so long +infested all the coasts, and even the island parts of Europe, by their +depredations, having now learned the arts of tillage and agriculture, +found a certain subsistence at home, and were no longer tempted to +desert their industry, in order to seek a precarious livelihood by +rapine and by the plunder of their neighbors. The feudal governments +also, among the more southern nations, were reduced to a kind of system; +and though that strange species of civil polity was ill fitted to insure +either liberty or tranquillity, it was preferable to the universal +license and disorder which had every where preceded it. But perhaps +there was no event which tended further to the improvement of the age, +than one which has not been much remarked, the accidental finding of +a copy of Justinian's Pandects, about the year 1130, in the town of +Amalfi, in Italy. + +The ecclesiastics, who had leisure, and some inclination to study, +immediately adopted with zeal this excellent system of jurisprudence, +and spread the knowledge of it throughout every part of Europe. Besides +the intrinsic merit of the performance, it was recommended to them by +its original connection with the imperial city of Rome, which, being the +seat of their religion, seemed to acquire a new lustre and authority by +the diffusion of its laws over the western world. In less than ten years +after the discovery of the Pandects, Vacarius, under the protection of +Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, read public lectures of civil law in +the university of Oxford; and the clergy every where, by their example +as well as exhortation, were the means of diffusing the highest esteem +for this new science. That order of men, having large possessions to +defend, was in a manner necessitated to turn their studies towards the +law; and their properties being often endangered by the violence of the +princes and barons, it became their interest to enforce the observance +of general and equitable rules, from which alone they could receive +protection. As they possessed all the knowledge of the age, and were +alone acquainted with the habits of thinking, the practice as well as +science of the law fell mostly into their hands: and though the close +connection which, without any necessity, they formed between the canon +and civil law, begat a jealousy in the laity of England, and prevented +the Roman jurisprudence from becoming the municipal law of the country, +as was the case in many states of Europe, a great part of it was +secretly transferred into the practice of the courts of justice, and +the imitation of their neighbors made the English gradually endeavor +to raise their own law from its original state of rudeness and +imperfection. + +It is easy to see what advantages Europe must have reaped by its +inheriting at once from the ancients so complete an art, which was +also so necessary for giving security to all other arts, and which by +refining, and still more by bestowing solidity on the judgment, served +as a model to further improvements. The sensible utility of the Roman +law, both to public and private interest, recommended the study of it, +at a time when the more exalted and speculative sciences carried no +charms with them; and thus the last branch of ancient literature which +remained uncorrupted, was happily the first transmitted to the modern +world. For it is remarkable, that in the decline of Roman learning, +when the philosophers were universally infected with superstition and +sophistry, and the poets and historians with barbarism, the lawyers, who +in other countries are seldom models of science or politeness, were yet +able, by the constant study and close imitation of their predecessors, +to maintain the same good sense in their decisions and reasonings, and +the same purity in their language and expression. + +What bestowed an additional merit on the civil law, was the extreme +imperfection of that jurisprudence which preceded it among all the +European nations, especially among the Saxons or ancient English. +The absurdities which prevailed at that time in the administration of +justice, may be conceived from the authentic monuments which remain of +the ancient Saxon laws; where a pecuniary commutation was received for +every crime, where stated prices were fixed for men's lives and members, +where private revenges were authorized for all injuries, where the use +of the ordeal, corsnet, and afterwards of the duel, was the received +method of proof, and where the judges were rustic freeholders, assembled +of a sudden, and deciding a cause from one debate or altercation of the +parties. Such a state of society was very little advanced beyond the +rude state of nature: violence universally prevailed, instead of general +and equitable maxims: the pretended liberty of the times was only an +incapacity of submitting to government: and men, not protected by law in +their lives and properties, sought shelter, by their personal servitude +and attachments, under some powerful chieftain, or by voluntary +combinations. + +The gradual progress of improvement raised the Europeans somewhat above +this uncultivated state; and affairs, in this island particularly, took +early a turn which was more favorable to justice and to liberty. Civil +employments and occupations soon became honorable among the English: the +situation of that people rendered not the perpetual attention to wars so +necessary as among their neighbors, and all regard was not confined to +the military profession: the gentry, and even the nobility, began to +deem an acquaintance with the law a necessary part of education: they +were less diverted than afterwards from studies of this kind by other +sciences; and in the age of Henry VI., as we are told by Fortescue, +there were in the inns of court about two thousand students, most of +them men of honorable birth, who gave application to this branch of +civil knowledge: a circumstance which proves, that a considerable +progress was already made in the science of government, and which +prognosticated a still greater. + +One chief advantage which resulted from the introduction and progress +of the arts, was the introduction and progress of freedom; and this +consequence affected men both in their personal and civil capacities. + +If we consider the ancient state of Europe, we shall find, that the far +greater part of the society were every where bereaved of their personal +liberty, and lived entirely at the will of their masters. Every one that +was not noble, was a slave: the peasants were sold along with the land: +the few inhabitants of cities were not in a better condition: even the +gentry themselves were subjected to a long train of subordination under +the greater barons or chief vassals of the crown; who, though seemingly +placed in a high state of splendor, yet, having but a slender protection +from law, were exposed to every tempest of the state, and, by the +precarious condition in which they lived, paid dearly for the power +of oppressing and tyrannizing over their inferiors. The first incident +which broke in upon this violent system of government, was the practice, +begun in Italy, and imitated in France, of erecting communities +and corporations, endowed with privileges and a separate municipal +government, which gave them protection against the tyranny of the +barons, and which the prince himself deemed it prudent to respect.[*] + + * There appear early symptoms of the jealousy entertained by + the barons against the progress of the arts, as destructive + of their licentious power. A law was enacted, 7 Kenry IV. + chap. 17, prohibiting any one who did not possess twenty + shillings a year in land from binding his sons apprentices + to any trade. They found already that the cities began to + drain the country of the laborers and husbandmen: and did + not foresee how much the increase of commerce would increase + the value of their estates. See further, Cotton, p. 179. The + kings, to encourage the boroughs, granted them this + privilege, that any villein who had lived a twelvemonth in + any corporation, and had been of the guild, should be + thenceforth regarded as free. + +The relaxation of the feudal tenures, and an execution somewhat stricter +of the public law, bestowed an independence on vassals which was unknown +to their forefathers. And even the peasants themselves, though later +than other orders of the state, made their escape from those bonds of +villenage or slavery in which they had formerly been retained. + +It may appear strange that the progress of the arts, which seems, among +the Greeks and Romans, to have daily increased the number of slaves, +should, in later times, have proved so general a source of liberty; but +this difference in the events proceeded from a great difference in the +circumstances which attended those institutions. The ancient barons, +obliged to maintain themselves continually in a military posture, and +little emulous of elegance or splendor, employed not their villains +as domestic servants, much less as manufacturers; but composed their +retinue of freemen, whose military spirit rendered the chieftain +formidable to his neighbors, and who were ready to attend him in +every warlike enterprise. The villains were entirely occupied in the +cultivation of their master's land, and paid their rents either in corn +and cattle, and other produce of the farm, or in servile offices, which +they performed about the baron's family, and upon the farms which he +retained in his own possession. In proportion as agriculture improved +and money increased, it was found that these services, though extremely +burdensome to the villain, were of little advantage to the master; +and that the produce of a large estate could be much more conveniently +disposed of by the peasants themselves, who raised it, than by the +landlord or his bailiff, who were formerly accustomed to receive it. A +commutation was therefore made of rents for services, and of money-rents +for those in kind; and as men, in a subsequent age, discovered that +farms were better cultivated where the farmer enjoyed a security in +his possession, the practice of granting leases to the peasant began +to prevail, which entirely broke the bonds of servitude, already much +relaxed from the former practices. After this manner villenage went +gradually into disuse throughout the more civilized parts of Europe: the +interest of the master, as well as that of the slave, concurred in this +alteration. The latest laws which we find in England for enforcing or +regulating this species of servitude, were enacted in the reign of +Henry VII. And though the ancient statutes on this subject remain still +unrepealed by parliament, it appears that before the end of Elizabeth, +the distinction of villain and freeman was totally, though insensibly +abolished, and that no person remained in the state, to whom the former +laws could be applied. + +Thus personal freedom became almost general in Europe; an advantage +which paved the way for the increase of political or civil liberty, and +which, even where it was not attended with this salutary effect, served +to give the members of the community some of the most considerable +advantages of it. + +The constitution of the English government, ever since the invasion of +this island by the Saxons, may boast of this pre-eminence, that in no +age the will of the monarch was ever entirely absolute and uncontrolled; +but in other respects the balance of power has extremely shifted among +the several orders of the state; and this fabric has experienced the +same mutability that has attended all human institutions. + +The ancient Saxons, like the other German nations, where each individual +was inured to arms, and where the independence of men was secured by +a great equality of possessions, seem to have admitted a considerable +mixture of democracy into their form of government, and to have been one +of the freest nations of which there remains any account in the records +of history. After this tribe was settled in England, especially after +the dissolution of the heptarchy, the great extent of the kingdom +produced a great inequality in property; and the balance seems to have +inclined to the side of aristocracy. The Norman conquest threw more +authority into the hands of the sovereign, which, however, admitted +of great control; though derived less from the general forms of the +constitution, which were inaccurate and irregular, than from the +independent power enjoyed by each baron in his particular district or +province. The establishment of the Great Charter exalted still higher +the aristocracy, imposed regular limits on royal power, and gradually +introduced some mixture of democracy into the constitution. But even +during this period, from the accession of Edward I. to the death of +Richard III., the condition of the commons was nowise eligible: a kind +of Polish aristocracy prevailed; and though the kings were limited, the +people were as yet far from being free. It required the authority almost +absolute of the sovereigns, which took place in the subsequent period, +to pull down those disorderly and licentious tyrants, who were equally +averse from peace and from freedom, and to establish that regular +execution of the laws, which, in a following age, enabled the people +to erect a regular and equitable plan of liberty. In each of +these successive alterations, the only rule of government which is +intelligible, or carries any authority with it, is the established +practice of the age, and the maxims of administration which are at that +time prevalent and universally assented to. Those who, from a pretended +respect to antiquity, appeal at every turn to an original plan of +the constitution, only cover their turbulent spirit and their private +ambition under the appearance of venerable forms; and whatever period +they pitch on for their model, they may still be carried back to a more +ancient period, where they will find the measures of power entirely +different, and where every circumstance, by reason of the greater +barbarity of the times, will appear still less worthy of imitation. +Above all, a civilized nation like the English, who have happily +established the most perfect and most accurate system of liberty that +was ever found compatible with government, ought to be cautious in +appealing to the practice of their ancestors, or regarding the maxims +of uncultivated ages as certain rules for their present conduct. An +acquaintance with the ancient periods of their government is +chiefly _useful_, by instructing them to cherish their present +constitution, from a comparison or contrast with the condition of +those distant times. And it is also _curious_, by showing them the +remote, and commonly faint and disfigured originals of the most finished +and most noble institutions, and by instructing them in the great +mixture of accident, which commonly concurs with a small ingredient of +wisdom and foresight, in erecting the complicated fabric of the most +perfect government. + + + + +NOTES. + +[Footnote 1: NOTE A, p. 86. Rymer, vol. ii. p. 26, 845. There cannot +be the least question, that the homage usually paid by the kings of +Scotland was not for their crown, but for some other territory. The only +question remains, what that territory was. It was not always for the +earldom of Huntingdon, nor the honor of Penryth; because we find it +sometimes done at a time when these possessions were not in the hands of +the kings of Scotland. It is probable that the homage was performed in +general terms, without any particular specification of territory; and +this inaccuracy had proceeded either from some dispute between the +two kings about the territory and some opposite claims, which were +compromised by the general homage, or from the simplicity of the age, +which employed few words in every transaction. To prove this, we need +but look into the letter of King Richard, where he resigns the homage of +Scotland, reserving the usual homage. His words are, "Sĉpedictus W. +Rex ligius homo noster deveniat de omnibus terris de quibus antecessores +sui antecessorum nostrorum ligii homines fuerunt, et nobis atque +hĉredibus nostris fidelitatem jurarunt." Rymer, vol. i. p. 65. These +general terms were probably copied from the usual form of the homage +itself. + +It is no proof that the kings of Scotland possessed no lands or baronies +in England, because we cannot find them in the imperfect histories +and records of that age. For instance, it clearly appears from another +passage of this very letter of Richard, that the Scottish king held +lands both in the county of Huntingdon and elsewhere in England; though +the earldom of Huntingdon itself was then in the person of his brother +David; and we know at present of no other baronies which William held. +It cannot be expected that we should now be able to specify all his fees +which he either possessed or claimed in England; when it is probable +that the two monarchs themselves and their ministers would at that very +time have differed in the list: the Scottish king might possess some +to which his right was disputed; he might claim others which he did +not possess; and neither of the two kings was willing to resign his +pretensions by a particular enumeration. + +A late author of great industry and learning, but full of prejudices, +and of no penetration, Mr. Carte, has taken advantage of the undefined +terms of the Scotch homage, and has pretended that it was done for +Lothian and Galloway: that is, all the territories of the country now +called Scotland, lying south of the Clyde and Forth. But to refute this +pretension at once, we need only consider, that if these territories +were held in fee of the English kings, there would, by the nature of the +feudal law as established in England, have been continual appeals from +them to the courts of the lord paramount; contrary to all the histories +and records of that age. We find that, as soon as Edward really +established his superiority, appeals immediately commenced from all +parts of Scotland: and that king, in his writ to the king's bench, +considers them as a necessary consequence of the feudal tenure. Such +large territories also would have supplied a considerable part of the +English armies, which never could have escaped all the historians. Not +to mention that there is not any instance of a Scotch prisoner of +war being tried as a rebel, in the frequent hostilities between the +kingdoms, where the Scottish armies were chiefly filled from the +southern counties. + +Mr. Carte's notion with regard to Galloway, which comprehends, in the +language of that age, or rather in that of the preceding, most of the +south-west counties of Scotland; his notion, I say, rests on so slight a +foundation, that it scarcely merits being refuted. He will have it, (and +merely because he will have it,) that the Cumberland, yielded by King +Edmund to Malcolm I., meant not only the county in England of that name, +but all the territory northwards to the Clyde. But the case of Lothian +deserves some more consideration. + +It is certain that, in very ancient language, Scotland means only the +country north of the Friths of Clyde and Forth. I shall not make a +parade of literature to prove it; because I do not find that this point +is disputed by the Scots themselves. The southern country was divided +into Galloway and Lothian; and the latter comprehended all the +south-east counties. This territory was certainly a part of the ancient +kingdom of Northumberland, and was entirely peopled by Saxons, who +afterwards received a great mixture of Danes among them. It appears from +all the English histories, that the whole kingdom of Northumberland paid +very little obedience to the Anglo-Saxon monarchs, who governed after +the dissolution of the heptarchy; and the northern and remote parts of +it seem to have fallen into a kind of anarchy, sometimes pillaged by +the Danes, sometimes joining them in their ravages upon other parts +of England. The kings of Scotland, lying nearer them, took at last +possession of the country, which had scarcely any government; and we are +told by Matthew of Westminster, (p. 193,) that King Edgar made a grant +of the territory to Kenneth III.; that is, he resigned claims which he +could not make effectual, without bestowing on them more trouble and +expense than they were worth: for these are the only grants of provinces +made by kings; and so ambitious and active a prince as Edgar would never +have made presents of any other kind. Though Matthew of Westminster's +authority may appear small with regard to so remote a transaction, +yet we may admit it in this case, because Ordericus Vitalis, a good +authority, tells us, (p. 701,) that Malcolm acknowledged to William +Rufus, that the Conqueror had confirmed to him the former grant of +Lothian. But it follows not, because Edgar made this species of grant +to Kenneth, that therefore he exacted homage for that territory. Homage, +and all the rites of the feudal law, were very little known among +the Saxons; and we may also suppose, that the gla'n of Edgar was so +antiquated and weak, that, in resigning it, he made no very valuable +concession, and Kenneth might well refuse to hold, by so precarious a +tenure, a territory which he at present held by the sword. In short, no +author says he did homage for it. + +The only color indeed of authority for Mr. Carte's notion is, that +Matthew Fans, who wrote in the reign of Henry III., before Edward's +claim of superiority was heard of, says that Alexander III. did homage +to Henry III. "pro Laudiano et aliis terris." See p.555. This word seems +naturally to be interpreted Lothian. But, in the first place, Matthew +Paris's testimony, though considerable, will not outweigh that of all +the other historians, who say that the Scotch homage was always done +for lands in England. Secondly, if the Scotch homage was done in general +terms, (as has been already proved,) it is no wonder that historians +should differ in their account of the object of it, since it is probable +the parties themselves were not fully agreed. Thirdly, there is reason +to think that Laudianum in Matthew Paris does not mean the Lothians, now +in Scotland. There appears to have been a territory which anciently +bore that or a similar name in the north of England. For (1.) the +Saxon Chronicle (p.197) says, that Malcolm Kenmure met William Rufus in +Lodene, in England. (2.) It is agreed by all historians, that Henry II. +only reconquered from Scotland the northern counties of Northumberland, +Cumberland, and Westmoreland. See Newbriggs, p.383. Wykes, p.30. +Hemingford, p.492, Yet the same country is called by other historians +Loidis, comitatus Lodonensis, or some such name. See M. Paris, p.68. +M. Westi p.247. Annal. Wayerl. p.159, and Diceto, p.531. (3.) This +last-mentioned author, when he speaks of Lothian in Scotland, calls it +Loheneis, (p.574,) though he had called the English territory Loidis. + +I thought this long note necessary in order to correct Mr. Carte's +mistake, an author whose diligence and industry has given light to many +passages of the more ancient English history.] + + +[Footnote 2: NOTE B, p.86. Rymer, vol. ii. p.543. It is remarkable that +the English chancellor spoke to the Scotch parliament in the French +tongue. This was also the language commonly made use of by all parties +on that occasion. I bid, passim. Some of the most considerable among the +Scotch, as well as almost all the English barons, were of French origin: +they valued themselves upon it; and pretended to despise the language +and manners of the island. It is difficult to account for the settlement +of so many French families in Scotland; the Bruces, Baliols, St. +Glairs, Montgomeries, Somervilles, Gordons, Frasers, Cummins; Colvilles, +Umfrevilles, Mowbrays, Hays, Maules, who were not supported there, as in +England, by the power of the sword. But the superiority of the +smallest civility and knowledge over total ignorance and barbarism, is +prodigious.] + + +[Footnote 3: NOTE C, p.91. See Rymer, vol. ii. p.533, where Edward +writes to the king's bench to receive appeals from Scotland. He knew the +practice to be new and unusual; yet he establishes it as an infallible +consequence cf his superiority. We learn also from the same collection, +(p. 603,) that immediately upon receiving the homage, he changed the +style of his address to the Scotch king, whom he now calk "dilecto et +fideli," instead of "fratri dilecto et fideli," the appellation which he +had always before used to him. See p. 109, 124, 168, 280, 1064. This is +a certain proof that he himself was not deceived, as was scarcely indeed +possible, but that he was conscious of his usurpation. Yet he solemnly +swore afterwards to the justice of his pretensions, when he defended +them before Pope Boniface.] + + +[Footnote 4: NOTE D, p. 104. Throughout the reign of Edward I., the +assent of the commons is not once expressed in any of the enacting +clauses; nor in the reigns ensuing, till the 9 Edward III., nor in any +of the enacting clauses of 16 Richard II. Nay, even so low as Henry +VI., from the beginning till the eighth of his reign, the assent of the +commons is not once expressed in any enacting clause. See preface to +Ruffhead's edit, of the Statutes, p. 7. If it should be asserted, that +the commons had really given their assent to these statutes, though +they are not expressly mentioned, this very omission, proceeding, if you +will, from carelessness, is a proof how little they were respected. The +commons were so little accustomed to transact public business, that +they had no speaker till after the parliament 6 Edward III. See Prynne's +preface to Cotton's Abridg.: not till the first of Richard II. in the +opinion of most antiquaries. The commons were very unwilling to meddle +in any state affairs, and commonly either referred themselves to the +lords, or desired a select committee of that house to assist them, as +appears from Cotton. 5 Edw. III. n. 5; 15 Edw. III. a. 17; 21 Edw. III. +n. 5; 47 Edw. III. n. 5; 50 Edw. III. n. 10; 51 Edw. III. n. 18; 1 Rich. +II. n. 12; 2 Rich. II. n. 12; 5 Rich. II. n 14; 2 parl. 6 Rich. II. n. +14; parl. 2, 6 Rich. II. n. 8, etc.] + + +[Footnote 5: NOTE E, p. 105. It was very agreeable to the maxims of all +the feudal governments, that every order of the state should give their +consent to the acts which more immediately concerned them; and as the +notion of a political system was not then so well understood, the other +orders of the state were often not consulted on these occasions. In +this reign, even the merchants, though no public body, granted the king +impositions on merchandise, because the first payments came out of their +pockets. They did the same in the reign of Edward III.; but the +commons had then observed that the people paid these duties, though the +merchants advanced them; and they therefore remonstrated against this +practice. Cotton's Abridg. p. 39. The taxes imposed by the knights on +the counties were always lighter than those which the burgesses laid on +the boroughs; a presumption, that in voting those taxes the knights and +burgesses did not form the same house. See Chancellor West's Inquiry +into the Manner of creating Peers, p. 8. But there are so many proofs, +that those two orders of representative were long separate, that it is +needless to insist on them. Mr. Carte, who had carefully consulted the +rolls of parliament, affirms, that they never appear to have been united +till the sixteenth of Edward III. See Hist. vol. ii. p,451. But it is +certain that this union was not even then final: in 1372, the burgesses +acted by themselves, and voted a tax after the knights were dismissed. +See Tyrrel, Hist, vol. iii. p. 754, from Rot. Claus. 46 Edward III. +n. 9. In 1376, they were the knights alone who passed a vote for +the removal of Alice Pierce from the king's person, if we may credit +Walsingham, p. 189. There is an instance of a like kind in the reign +of Richard II. Cotton, p.193. The different taxes voted by those two +branches of the lower house, naturally kept them separate; but as their +petitions had mostly the same object, namely, the redress of grievances, +and the support of law and justice both against the crown and the +barons, this cause as naturally united them, and was the reason why they +at last joined in one house for the despatch of business. The barons had +few petitions. Their privileges were of more ancient date. Grievances +seldom affected them: they were themselves the chief oppressors. In +1333, the knights by themselves concurred with the bishops and barons in +advising the king to stay his journey into Ireland. Here was a petition +which regarded a matter of state, and was supposed to be above the +capacity of the burgesses. The knights, therefore, acted apart in this +petition. See Cotton, Abridg. p. 13. Chief baron Gilbert thinks, that +the reason why taxes always began with the commons or burgesses was, +that they were limited by the instructions of their boroughs. See Hist, +of the Exchequer, p. 37.] + +[Footnote 5: NOTE F, p. 105. The chief argument from ancient authority, +for the opinion that the representatives of boroughs preceded the +forty-ninth of Henry in., is the famous petition of the borough of +St. Albans, first taken notice of by Selden, and then by Petyt, Brady, +Tyrrel, and others. In this petition, presented to the parliament in the +reign of Edward II., take town of St. Albans asserts, that though they +held "in capite" of the crown, and owed only, for all other service, +their attendance in parliament, yet the sheriff had omitted them in +his writs; whereas, both in the reign of the king's father, and all his +predecessors, they had always sent members. Now, say the defenders of +this opinion, if the commencement of the house of commons were in Henry +III.' reign, this expression could not have been used. But Hadox, in his +History of the Exchequer, (p. 522, 523, 524,) has endeavored, and with +great reason, to destroy the authority of this petition for the purpose +alleged. He asserts, first, that there was no such tenure in England +is that of holding by attendance in parliament, instead of all other +service. Secondly, that the borough of St. Albans never held of take +crown at all, but was always demesne land of the abbot. It is no wonder, +therefore, that a petition which advances two falsehoods, should contain +one historical mistake, which indeed amounts only to an inaccurate and +exaggerated expression; no strange matter in ignorant burgesses of that +age. Accordingly, St. Albans continued still to belong to the abbot. It +never held of the crown, call after the dissolution of the monasteries. +But the assurance of these petition *ers is remarkable. They wanted to +shake off the authority of their abbot, and to hold of the king; but +were unwilling to pay any services even to the crown; upon which they +framed this idle petition, which later writers have made the foundation +of so many inferences and conclusions. From the tenor of the petition it +appears, that there was a close connection between holding of the crown +and being represented in parliament. The latter had scarcely ever place +without the former; yet we learn from Tyrell's Append. vol. iv. that +there were some instances to the contrary. It is not improbable that +Edward followed the roll of the earl of Leicester, who had summoned, +without distinction, all the considerable boroughs of the kingdom; among +which there might be some few that did not hold of the crown. Edward +also found it necessary to impose taxes on all the boroughs in the +kingdom, without distinction. This was a good expedient for augmenting +his revenue. We are not to imagine, because the house of commons have +since become of great importance, that the first summoning of them would +form any remarkable and striking epoch, and be generally known to +the people even seventy or eighty years after. So ignorant were the +generality of men in that age, that country burgesses would readily +imagine an innovation, seemingly so little material, to have existed +from time immemorial, because it was beyond their own memory, and +perhaps that of their fathers. Even the parliament in the reign of Henry +V. say, that Ireland had, from the beginning of time, been subject to +the crown of England. (See Brady.) And surely if any thing interests the +people above all others, it is war and conquests, with their dates and +circumstances] + + +[Footnote 7: NOTE G, p. 233. This story of the six burgesses of Calais, +like all other extraordinary stories, is somewhat to be suspected; +and so much the more as Avesbury, (p. 167,) who is particular in his +narration of the surrender of Calais, says nothing of it; and, on the +contrary, extols in general the king's generosity and lenity to the +inhabitants. The numberless mistakes of Froissard, proceeding either +from negligence, credulity, or love of the marvellous, invalidate very +much his testimony, even though he was a contemporary, and though his +history was dedicated to Queen Philippa herself. It is a mistake to +imagine, that the patrons of dedications read the books, much less vouch +for all the contents of them. It is not a slight testimony that should +make us give credit to a story so dishonorable to Edward, especially +after that proof of his humanity, in allowing a free passage to all the +women, children, and infirm people, at the beginning of the siege: +at least, it is scarcely to be believed, that, if the story has any +foundation, he seriously meant to execute his menaces against the six +townsmen of Calais.] + + +[Footnote 8: NOTE H, p. 236. There was a singular instance, About this +time, of the prevalence of chivalry and gallantry in the nations of +Europe. A solemn duel of thirty knights against thirty was fought +between Bembrwigh, as Englishman, and Beaumanoir, a Breton, of the party +of Charles of Blois, The knights of the two nations came into the field; +and before the combat began, Beaumanoir called out, that it would be +seen that day who had the fairest mistresses. After a bloody combat, the +Bretons prevailed; and gained for their prize, full liberty to boast +of their mistresses' beauty. It is remarkable, that two such famous +generals as Sir Robert Knolles and Sir Hugh Calverley drew their swords +in this ridiculous contest. See Pere Daniel, vol. ii. p.536, 537, etc. +The women not only instigated the champions to those rough, if not +bloody frays of tournament, but also frequented the tournaments during +all the reign of Edward, whose spirit of gallantry encouraged this +practice. See Knyghton, p. 2597.] + + +[Footnote 9: NOTE I, p. 253. This is a prodigious sum, and probably near +the half of what the king received from the parliament during the whole +course of his reign. It must be remarked, that a tenth and fifteenth +(which was always thought a high grant) were, in the eighth year of this +reign, fixed at about twenty-nine thousand pounds; there were said to be +near thirty thousand sacks of wool exported every year. A sack of wool +was at a medium sold for five pounds. Upon these suppositions it would +be easy to compute all the parliamentary grants, taking the list as they +stand in Tyrrel, vol. iii. p. 780; though somewhat must still be left to +conjecture. This king levied more money on his subjects than any of his +predecessors; and the parliament frequently complain of the poverty of +the people, and the oppressions under which they labored. But it is to +be remarked, that a third of the French king's ransom was yet unpaid +when war broke out anew between the two crowns. His son chose rather to +employ his money in combating the English, than in enriching them. See +Rymer, vol. viii. p. 315.] + + +[Footnote 11: NOTE K, p. 281. In the fifth year of the king, the commons +complained of the government about the king's person, his court, the +excessive number of his servants, of the abuses in the chancery, king's +bench, common pleas, exchequer, and of grievous oppressions in the +country, by the great multitudes of maintainers of quarrels, (men linked +in confederacies together,) who behaved themselves like kings in the +country, so as there was very little law or right, and of other things +which they said were the cause of the late commotions under Wat Tyler. +Parl. Hist. vol. i. p. 365. This irregular government, which no king +and no house of commons had been able to remedy, was the source of the +licentiousness of the great, and turbulency of the people, as well +as tyranny of the princes. If subjects would enjoy liberty, and kings +security, the laws must be executed. + +In the ninth of this reign, also the commons discovered an accuracy +and a jealousy of liberty, which we should little expect in those rude +times. "It was agreed by parliament," says Cotton, (p.309), "that the +subsidy of wools, woolfels, and skins, granted to the king until the +time of midsummer then ensuing, should cease from the same time unto +the feast of St. Peter 'ad vincula' for that thereby the king should be +interrupted for claiming such grant as due." See also Cotton, p. 198.] + + +[Footnote 12: NOTE L, p. 290. Knyghton, p. 2715, etc. The same author +(p. 2680) tells us, that the king, in return to the message, said, +that he would not for their desire remove the meanest scullion from +his kitchen. This author also tells us, that the king said to the +commissioners, when they harangued him, that he saw his subjects were +rebellious, and his best way would be to call in the king of France to +his aid. But it is plain that all these speeches were either intended +by Knyghton merely as an ornament to his history, or are false. For (1.) +when the five lords accuse the king's ministers in the next parliament, +and impute to them every rash action of the king, they speak nothing of +these replies, which are so obnoxious, were so recent, and are +pretended to have been so public. (2.) The king, so far from having any +connections at that time with France, was threatened with a dangerous +invasion from that kingdom. This story seems to have been taken from +the reproaches afterwards thrown out against him, and to have been +transferred by the historian to this time, to which they cannot be +applied.] + + +[Footnote 13: NOTE M, p. 295. We must except the twelfth article, which +accuses Brembre of having cut off the heads of twenty-two prisoners +confined for felony or debt, without warrant or process of law; but as +it is not conceivable what interest Brembre could have to treat these +felons and debtors in such a manner, we may presume that the fact is +either false or misrepresented. It was in these men's power to say any +thing against the persons accused. No defence or apology was admitted; +all was lawless will and pleasure. + +They are also accused of designs to murder the lords; but these +accusations either are general, or destroy one another. Sometimes, as in +article fifteenth, they intend to murder them by means of the mayor and +city of London; sometimes, as in article twenty-eighth, by trial and +false inquests; sometimes, as in article twenty-eighth, by means of the +king of France, who was to receive Calais for his pains.] + + +[Footnote 14: NOTE N, p. 296. In general, the parliament, in those days, +never paid a proper regard to Edward's statute of treasons, though +one of the most advantageous laws for the subject that has ever been +enacted. In the seventeenth of the king, the dukes of Lancaster and +Glocester complain to Richard, that Sir Thomas Talbot, with others of +his adherents conspired the death of the said dukes in divers parts of +Cheshire, as the same was confessed and well known; and praying that the +parliament may judge of the fault. Whereupon the king and the lords in +the parliament judged the same fact to be open and high treason; and +hereupon they award two writs, the one to the sheriff of York, and the +other to the sheriffs of Derby, to take the body of the said Sir Thomas, +returnable in the king's bench in the month of Easter then ensuing. And +open proclamation was made in Westminster Hall, that upon the sheriffs +return, and at the next coming in of the said Sir Thomas, the said +Thomas should be convicted of treason, and incur the loss and pain of +the same; and all such as should receive him after the proclamation +should incur the same loss and pain. Cotton, p. 354. It is to be +observed, that this extraordinary judgment was passed in a time of +tranquillity. Though the statute itself of Edward III. reserves a power +to the parliament to declare any new species of treason, it is not to +be supposed that this power was reserved to the house of lords alone, or +that men were to be judged by a law "ex post facto." At least, if such +be the meaning of the clause, it may be affirmed, that men were at that +time very ignorant of the first principles of law and justice.] + + +[Footnote 15: NOTE O, p. 301. In the preceding parliament, the commons +had shown a disposition very complaisant to the king; yet there happened +an incident in their proceedings which is curious, and shows us the +state of the house during that period. The members were either country +gentlemen or merchants, who were assembled for a few days, and were +entirely unacquainted with business; so that it was easy to lead them +astray, and draw them into votes and resolutions very different from +their intention. Some petitions concerning the state of the nation were +voted: in which, among other things, the house recommended frugality to +the king; and for that purpose desired that the court should not be +so much frequented as formerly by bishops and ladies. The king was +displeased with this freedom; the commons very humbly craved pardon. He +was not satisfied unless they would name the mover of the petitions. +It happened to be one Haxey, whom the parliament, in order to make +atonement, condemned for this offence to die the death of a traitor. +But the king, at the desire of the archbishop of Canterbury and the +prelates, pardoned him. When a parliament in those times, not agitated +by any faction, and being at entire freedom, could be guilty of such +monstrous extravagance, it is easy to judge what might be expected from +them in more trying situations. See Cotton's Abridg. p. 361, 362.] + + +[Footnote 16: NOTE P, p. 312. To show how little credit is to be given +to this charge against Richard, we may observe, that a law in the 13th +Edward III. had been enacted against the continuance of sheriffs for +more than one year. But the inconvenience of changes having afterwards +appeared, from experience, the commons, in the twentieth of this king, +applied; by petition, that the sheriffs might be continued; though +that petition had not been enacted into a statute, by reason of other +disagreeable circumstances which attended it. See Cotton, p. 361. It was +certainly a very moderate exercise of the dispensing power in the king +to continue the sheriffs, after he found that that practice would be +acceptable to his subjects, and had been applied for by one house of +parliament; yet is this made an article of charge against him by the +present parliament. See article 18. Walsingham, speaking of a period +early in Richard's minority, says, "But what do acts of parliament +signify, when, after they are made, they take no effect, since the king, +by the advice of the privy council, takes upon him to alter, or wholly +set aside, all those things which by general consent had been ordained +in parliament?" If Richard, therefore, exercised the dispensing power, +he was warranted by the examples of his uncles and grandfather, and +indeed of all his predecessors from the time of Henry III., inclusive.] + +[Footnote 17: NOTE Q, p. 318. The following passage in Cotton's +Abridgment (p. 196) shows a strange prejudice against the church and +churchmen. "The commons afterwards coming into the parliament, and +making their protestation, showed, that for want of good redress +about the king's person in his household, in all his courts, touching +maintainers in every county, and purveyors, the commons were daily +pilled, and nothing defended against the enemy, and that it should +shortly deprive the king and undo the state. Wherefore in the same +government they entirely require redress. Whereupon the king appointed +sundry bishops, lords, and nobles, to sit in privy council about these +matters; who, since that they must begin at the head, and go at the +request of the commons, they, in the presence of the king, charged +his confessor not to come into the court but upon the four principal +festivals." We should little expect that a popish privy council, in +order to preserve the king's morals, should order his confessor to be +kept at a distance from him. This incident happened in the minority of +Richard. As the popes had for a long time resided at Avignon, and +the majority of the sacred college were Frenchmen, this circumstance +naturally increased the aversion of the nation to the papal power; but +the prejudice against the English clergy cannot be accounted for from +that cause.] + + +[Footnote 18: NOTE R, p. 450. That we may judge how arbitrary a court +that of the constable of England was, we may peruse the patent granted +to the earl of Rivers in this reign, as it is to be found in Spellman's +Glossary in verb. Constabularius: as also more fully in Rymer, vol. xi. +p. 581. Here is a clause of it: "Et ulterius de uberiori gratia nostra +eidem comiti de Rivers plenam potestatem damus ad cognoscendum et +procedendum, in omnibus et singulis causis et negotiis, de et super +crimine lesse majestatis, seu super occasione eseterisque causis +quibuscunque per prĉfatum comitem de Rivers, ut constabularium +Angliĉ----quĉ in curia constabularii Angliĉ ab antique, viz, tempore +dicti domini Gtilielmi Conquĉtoris, sen aliquo tempore citra, tractari, +audiri examinari, aut decidi consueverant, aut jure debuerant aut +clebeni, causasque et negotia prĉdicta cum omnibus et singulis +emergentibus, incidentibus et connexis, audiendum, examinandum, et fine +debito terminandum, etiam _summarie et de plano, sine strepitu et +figura justitiĉ, sola facti veritate inspecta,_ ac etiam manu +regia, si opportunum visum fuerit eidem comiti de Rivers, vices nostras, +appellatione remots." The office of constable was perpetual in the +monarchy; its jurisdiction was not limited to times of war, as appears +from this patent, and as we learn from Spellman; yet its authority was +in direct contradiction to Magna Charta; and it is evident, that no +regular liberty could subsist with it. It involved a full dictatorial +power, continually subsisting in the state. The only check on the crown, +besides the want of force to support all its prerogatives, was, that the +office of constable was commonly either hereditary or during life, +and the person invested with it was, for that reason, not so proper an +instrument of arbitrary power in the king. Accordingly the office +was suppressed by Henry VIII., the most arbitrary of all the English +princes. The practice, however, of exercising martial law still +subsisted; and was not abolished till the Petition of Right under +Charles I. This was the epoch of true liberty, confirmed by the +restoration, and enlarged and secured by the revolution.] + + +[Footnote 19: NOTE S, p. 459. We shall give an instance. Almost all +the historians, even Coraines, and the continuator of the Annals of +Croyland, assert that Edward was about this time taken prisoner by +Clarence and Warwick, and was committed to the custody of the archbishop +of York, brother to the earl; but being allowed to take the diversion of +hunting by this prelate, he made his escape, and afterwards chased the +rebels out of the kingdom. But that all the story is false, appears +from Rymer, where we find that the king, throughout all this period, +continually exercised his authority, and never was interrupted in his +government. On the 7th of March, 1470, he gives a commission of array +to Clarence, whom he then imagined a good subject; and on the 23d of the +same month, we find him issuing an order for apprehending him, Besides, +in the king's manifesto against the duke and earl, (Claus. 10. Edward +IV. m. 7, 8,) where he enumerates all their treasons, he mentions no +such fact; he does not so much as accuse them of exciting young Welles's +rebellion; he only says, that they exhorted him to continue in his +rebellion. We may judge how smaller facts will be misrepresented +by historians, who can in the most material transactions mistake so +grossly. There may even some doubt arise with regard to the proposal of +marriage made to Bona of Savoy; though almost all the historians concur +in it, and the fact be very likely in itself; for there are no traces in +Rymer of any such embassy of Warwick's to France. The chief certainty in +this and the preceding reign arises either from public records, or from +the notice taken of certain passages by the French historians. On the +contrary, for some centuries after the conquest, the French history +is not complete without the assistance of English authors. We may +conjecture, that the reason of the scarcity of historians during this +period, was the destruction of the convents, which ensued so soon +after. Copies of the more recent historians not being yet sufficiently +dispersed, those histories hare perished.] + + +[Footnote 20: NOTE T, p. 490. Sir Thomas More, who has been followed, +or rather transcribed, by all the historians of this short reign, says, +that Jane Shore had fallen into connections with Lord Hastings; and this +account agrees best with the course of the events; but in a proclamation +of Richard's, to be found in Rymer, vol. xii. p. 204, the marquis of +Dorset is reproached with these connections. This reproach, however, +might have been invented by Richard, or founded only on popular rumor; +and is not sufficient to overbalance the authority of Sir Thomas More. +The proclamation is remarkable for the hypocritical purity of manners +affected by Richard. This bloody and treacherous tyrant upbraids the +marquis and others with their gallantries and intrigues as the most +terrible enormities.] + + +[Footnote 21: NOTE U, p., 507. Every one that has perused the ancient +monkish writers know that, however barbarous their own style, they are +full of allusions to the Latin classics, especially the poets. There +seems also in those middle ages to have remained many ancient books that +are now lost. Maimesbury, who flourished in the reign of Henry I. and +King Stephen, quotes Livy's description of Caesar's passage over the +Rubicon. Fitz-Stephen, who lived in the reign of Henry II., alludes to +a passage in the larger history of Sallust. In the collection of letters +which passes under the name of Thomas a Becket, we see how familiar all +the ancient history and ancient books were to the more ingenious and +more dignified churchmen of that time, and consequently how much that +order of men must have surpassed all the other members of the society. +That prelate and his friends call each other philosophers in all the +course of their correspondence, and consider the rest of the world as +sunk in total ignorance and barbarism.] + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of England in Three +Volumes, Vol.I., Part B., by David Hume + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF ENGLAND *** + +***** This file should be named 19212-8.txt or 19212-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/2/1/19212/ + +Produced by David Widger and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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