CK i^/\jKa-iwv' i I ''Wd'M-'^X^^ •^JmtxM-. HIBRARYQ^ unr ^ iUiiiVJ-jU '" -< M\]mm/h % o o vwlOSANCflfx^, o UlVlia!H^ '"^0. \[iin(iA • iNa-Juv^ 'l>^ ('>' .^lUBRARYQc^ % n r-n m ^OF-OU^FOi?^ a:^iubrary<9/?. \^myi^ ^OFCAIIFOI?^ s~> =r. rii: ^^WEUNIVERS-M 'Jr ^TiUONVSOl^ ,5MEl)NIVER^ .^' P i i^n?^)?^ 'JiliJf<¥-iU.- :«?i 3 '> <^ =3 ^WEuNivtio/yj^ C3 ich Q CO ^JUJflViUl-^ m ^«i/OJllVJiv; ^Advaaivi^^ ,^WE-UNr iV 'i- -■^■' r-n &; \'rnr ^ c> % < #"^1 — * rt^ C3 %/ojnv3-jo"^^ %ojnv>jo"^ ;s^ '^^ ..1^ ^/sa3AiN(imv 'i' i' ^S? '^^>^. - -oS^ ^ 'I li ^■ C5. .^WEUNIVERSy/^ >- CO 5f- r5» <2> -75 1 3 ^lOSANCnfx^ 5 J 1 ^^.OFCAIIFO/?^ '^. ■< CO -Tl o Aavaan-T^' '''•>'0Aavaaii#' 5? %a3AiNa-3Wv' .^^ ^. o ^ ■% 1 1 # '^'^.f/OJIlVJ-JO' ■3 -#-li' ■aojiivjjo"^ c,1^V> •>v'. ..,..,^fl-3\\V :^^ -? ^ ^" 5? ^(?Aavaani^ .^ '>^ DATTGHTER OT KUTG EDU'AKD W. QTEES OT KISG ITRIffiT "VII . ./'>'/u/rn. A'uhUs}icd bv Jfiirdi^jj ^ Xt:^'ard,jlfhrL-/i 2J,J{i2?. MEMOIRS OF THE RIVAL HOUSES OF YORK AND LANCASTER, HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL: ^ EMBRACING A PERIOD OF ENGLISH HISTORY FROM THE ACCESSION OF RICHARD II. TO THE DEATH OF HENRY VII. BY EMMA ROBERTS. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: PRINTED FOR HARDING AND LEPARD, PALL MALL EAST; AND G. B. WHITTAKER, AVE-MARIA LANE. 1827. R5* PREFACE. It is with much diffidence that a pen so untried offers its first attempt in historical composition to the public eye. Attracted by the grandeur of the subject, and strongly induced to enter a field comparatively neglected by former writers, the author has perhaps trusted too securely to the in- terest attached to the period which she has en- deavoured to illustrate, and ventured upon a theme which required higher and more varied powers. Amid the mass of materials to be found in the library of the British Museum, the author had to choose those which would be generally acceptable to the reading portion of the community : and her object has been to unite amusement with informa- tion, to divest antiquarianism of its dryness, and to give life and motion to the picture of other days, by the animated narrations of contemporary historians. VOL. I. a ENGLISH VI PREFACE. Entering upon her task unknown and unassisted, the author has to regret that her work was very- far advanced before she became acquainted with those gentlemen to whose kindness in pointing out sources of information she is, notwithstanding so great a disadvantage, deeply indebted. To E. A. Kendall, Esq. who supplied the whole of the account of Sir Richard Whittington, she begs to oiFer her most grateful acknowledgments. From N. H. Ni- colas, Esq. though unable to avail herself from the cause already stated of the facilities offered by his extensive researches, she has obtained many impor- tant facts ; and she eagerly seizes the present oppor- tunity to express, however briefly, her deep sense of the untiring kindness of Dr. Meyrick, whose friendly zeal in her service is sufficiently evinced by the con- tinual recurrence of his name in her pages, as the source whence information equally valuable and in- teresting has been derived. To Dr. Meyrick 's high reputation the author's panegyric can add nothing, but she feels infinite pleasure in offering the weak tribute of her thanks for the numberless instances of kindness which she has, in common with all those PREFACE. VII persons who have sought his assistance, invariably experienced. To J. T. Smith, Esq. of the British Museum the author has also the gratifying duty of expressing her obhgations. Though conscious that there are many imperfec- tions in her work, for which some apology might be deemed necessary, it would perhaps be impertinent to detain the reader with explanations and excuses ; but it seems to be a duty which the author owes to herself, to point out an oversight which occurs in stating that Eleanor Cobham Duchess of Gloucester bore the name, instead of the title, of one of our earliest and most illustrious martyrs ; an error which did not strike her until the work had passed through the press and had become irremediable. For the typographical mistakes she claims the usual indul- gence. ERRATA TO VOL. I. iifc Reader is requested to correct the following typographical errors : Page 129, 1 ith line, for " war target " read war targets 242, 24th line, for " satarizes " read satirizes 265, 15th line, omit " that " before he 318, 2d line, supply his before *' dissolution " 322, 9th line, for " pohtically " read politicly 327, 21st line, supply a before " father " 336, 14th line, for '* vain a" read a vain 371, 14th line, for *' danger " read dangers. CONTENTS OF VOLUME THE FIRST. ^^"t ■xt- aon- — ■ -rS of CHAPTER I. Page State of Society — Origin of the House of Lancaster— Gifts of Henry HI. to Edmond Crouchback — ^Thomas Earl of Lancaster — his Rebellion and Death— Henry Earl of Lancaster — Henry Grismoiid Duke of Lancaster — his eminent Services — John of Ghent — Campaign in Spain — Second Marriage of the Duke of Lancaster with a Princess of Castile — Contention between the Black Prince and John of Ghent — Haughty Disposition and despotic Manner of John of Ghent — Dis- pute between WicklifFe and the Prelacy — Riot of the Citizens — Jealousy of John of Ghent — Apprehensions of the Princess Joan — Last Illness of Edward HL — Proceedings of the Council — State of the Kingdom — Enmity to John of Ghent — John of Ghent's Speech in Parliament— Violation of Sanctuary — Expedition to Bretagne — Incursion of the Scots — Absence of the King's Uncles — Insurrection of the Commons — Outrages of the Insurgents — Death of Wat Tyler — Return of the Duke of Lancaster — Dispute between John of Ghent and the Earl of Northumberland — Marriage of Richard 1 CHAPTER II. Truce with France and Scotland — Infractions of the latter— The Duke of Lancaster's Expedition — Accusations of a Carmelite Friar — Out- rage committed by Sir John Holand — Violent Conduct of the Earl of Buckingham — Character of the King— Employment of John of b CONTENTS. Pa?*" Ghent in France — New Attempts of his Enemies — Interference of the Princess Joan — Sir John Holand received into Favour — War with Scotland — Sir John Holand's second Outrage — Anxious Entreaties of the Princess Joan— her Death — Opposition to tlie Duke of Lan- caster — The King's Unpopularity — Exaltation of the Nobles — Envy of the Favourites— The Duke of Lancaster's Designs upon Castille — Confederacy of the Nobles — Charge against the Chancellor — Inti- midation of the King — Naval Exploits — Richard's Progresses — aitation with the Judges— The King's Hopes — their Dtieat — ;edings of the Confederates — Appeals of Treason — Flight of ard's Friends— The Duke of Gloucester's ambitious Designs— /ance of the Duke of Ireland — Ti^e Defeat at Radcot Bridge— Uctive Proceedings of the Council — Charge against the Favour- -their Execution — Gloucester's Administration — Dismissal of Council 30 CHAPTER III. Campaign of John of Ghent — Marriages of the Princesses— Richard's Administration — Bolingbroke's Policy — Favour enjoyed by John of Ghent — Disputes in the Council Chamber — The Earl of Derby's Expedition- — Gloucester's inordinate Avarice — Death of the Queen — Richard's Departure for Ireland— Death of one of the Favourites — Suggestions respecting the King's second Marriage — Alliance with France — Character of the Duke of York— Third Marriage of John of Ghent— Gloucester's Discontent — Reports relative to the Duke of Gloucester — Competition between hira and Bolingbroke— Con- duct of John of Ghent towards his Brother — Arrest of the Earl of Arundel and of Gloucester — Appeals of Treason — Arundel's Answer — His Execution — Warwick's Pusillanimity —Gloucester's Death and Attainder— Petition of the Commons— Banishment of the Primate.. 53 CHAPTER IV. ^ Elevation of the Nobles— Insecurity of the Appellants — Conversation between Norfolk and Bolingbroke — Richard's Inquiries — Mowbray's Surrender— his Denial of Hereford's Accusation — A Duel appointed — the Combatants appear in Arms — Richard's Interposition — he pro- nounces Sentence — General Discontent — Submission of the Duke of Lancaster — Conclusions drawn from his passive Conduct— Advice to his Son— Bolingbroke's Interview with the King — their mutual Deceit — Bolingbroke's Departure— Anxiety to ally himself with the CONTENTS. XI Page Duke of Berri — Salisbury's Embassy— Richard's Unpopularity— his Despotism — Death of John of Ghent — Seizure of Bolingbroice's In- heritance — The King's Expedition to Ireland— Bolingbroke's Cor- respondence — he lands in England — his Oath— Charges against Richard — DisaiTection of the Army — Flight of Richard's Forces — Bolingbroke enters London — Defection of the Regent— Illegal Exe- cutions — The King's Delay — Albemarle's Treachery 71 CHAPTER V.' Dispersion of Salisbury's Army — Richard'3 Return — his Abandonment — Flight to Conway — Albemarle's Defection— Richard's Disappoint- ment — Message to Bolingbroke — its Reception — Surrey's Imprison- ment — Exeter's DetofftT&R^ his Letter— Richard's Wanderings — Northumberland's Mifesion— Revival of the King's Hopes — Seizure of two Castles— Noithumberland's\PrieJposals^their Acceptance — The Bishop of CarlLslg^ Distrust— W)rfhumb*land's Oath — his De- parture — Capture\ oPi^hard— ^lis Rnge land Lamentation— his Despair— Cj>«4^£^f Henf^i of LancasteryUichard marches in the Train of tiie CorVM^r«j;:5;-^N^gjjlJjaitte^^ the Tower — Bolingbroke claims thd Crown-ii^charaiSAAodicatioa— Superior Title of the Earl of Match — Lanrtk^r's Vi4^i^ns— his Speech— Richard is deposed— Lan'fc^ster's Elation — Submisskni of the Friends of the Earl of March— CJeremonisS^at Henry's Co^^ation — Disputes of the Nobles— The Titlcs^sto^k^ by Richard areX«nul led— Impri- sonment of the Mortimers^^^-yNof Monmouth cre^ed Prince of Wales — Richard's Friends coiiSpire 3§^nst Henry — iVreachery of Rutland— Defeat of the Insurgents — Execitt«yi__of_K£»r and Salis- bury— Murders at Bristol — Fall of Huntingdon — Pardon of two Ecclesiastics — Richard's Death — Suppositions concerning it — Re- ports of Richard's Escape 87 CHAPTER VI. Splendour of Richard'.s Court — Progress of Luxury, Love of Dress — Curious Habiliment of John of Ghent — Distinguishingr Marks of Nobility at Henry IV.'s Coronation — Stow's Philippic on piked Shoes— Knighton's Description of Female Attire — Costly Furniture — Profuse Style of the Lady de Courcy— The Duke of Lancaster's Plate —emblazoned Coat and Coverlet— The Reign of Chivalry— Magni- ficent Tournament — Curious Ceremonial— Foreign Knights attracted to the Tilt — The Procession— Jousts and Banquets — Arrival of Count d'Ostrevant— -Award of the Prizes— Continuation of the Tilting— b 2 Xll CONTENTS. Page Decision of the Ladies, Lords, and Heralds — The Jousts of the Squires — Feast at the Bishop's Palace — The Court adjourn to Wind- sor—Gallantry of Sir John Holand— The Letter of Sir Reginald de Roye— Dialogue between the Duke of Lancaster and Sir John Holand— Gifts to the Herald— Speech of the King of Portugal— Skill and Prowess of Sir John Holand— Speech of the Duke of Lancaster — The Proclamation of three French Knights— Ardour of Sir John Holand — Tournament at Saint Inglevere — Sir John Holand runs six Courses — Incognito of the King of France — Tilts during the Truce between England and Scotland — Gallantry of Earl Crawford — Cha- racter and Accomplishments of Sir John Arundel — his Licentiousness and Barbarity — Outrages committed by Knights — Entertainment of the Court — Chaucer and Gower — Anecdote of King Richard and the latter — Poetical Talents of the Earl of Salisbury — Froissart's Inter- view with the King — Richard's Present to Froissart — Great Success of Wickliffe's Doctrines — their Decline under the House of Lancaster — Magnificence of the Royal Establishment — Splendid Possessions of Sir John Arundel — of the Earl of Gloucester — of the Earl of Wiltshire — and of the Earl of Salisbury — Brutality of Manners — Character and Conduct of the Scottish Nation— Curious Predicament of Sir John de Vienne — Richard's Campaign in Ireland— Anecdote of five Kings — Whittington— probable Origin of his Wealth— Percie's Tale of the Cat — Circumstances respecting its Adoption in England — Character of Sir John Philpot — his splendid Services — A warlike Bishop — Penance of Sir Thomas Erpinghani 117 CHAPTER Vll. Elevation of the House of Lancaster — Origin of the Mortimers — Loy- alty of Roger Mortimer — his Chivalry — Earldom conferred on the guilty Favourite of Isabella — Restoration of the Title by Edward HI. — Illustrious Marriage of Edmund Mortimer — Roger's impetuous Va- lour — Dispute between Owen Glendor and Lord Grey — Glendor appeals to the Sword — is victorious — Glendor claims the Sovereignty of Wales — Battle between Glendor and Mortimer — Defeat of the latter— Henry's Refusal of the Request of thePercies — their Indigna- tion — and Revolt — their Alliance with Scotland and Wales — Henry marches to Chester — Defiance of the Percies— The King's Answer- Propositions for Peace — which are refused— Generous Rivalry of Douglas and Percy— Defeat of the Percies — Valour of the King and of the Prince of Wales — The King marches to the North— Northum- berland's Defence— is restored to Favour—Tenacious Confidence of the CONTENTS. Xm Page adverse Party — Murmurs at Taxations— Discontent of the Clergy — Report of Richard's Existence -Distribution of his Badge — Attempt of Lady Le Despencer— Reception of the Mortimers— Ordeal oifered — Imprisonment of Rutland— Execution of the Locksmith 170 CHAPTER VIII. Revolt of the Nobles— Triumph of Prince John of Lancaster— The Archbishop of York is taken Prisoner — upright Conduct of Gascoigne — the Prelate is beheaded — Northumberland implores Aid from France and Scotland— Reduction of Berwick— The Confederates fly to Wales— Depression of Owen Giendor's Fortunes- Refusal of the Parliament to grant Supplies— Rebellion again breaks forth in the North— Battle of Branham Moor— Death of Bardolph and Northum- berland — Advantages gained by the House of Commons— Henry's Subserviency to the Clergy— their persecuting Spirit — Accession of Henry V.— Youthful Follies of the King— Re-interment of Richard H. —Martial Temper of the King — Melancholy Situation of Charles VI. — Faction in France— Henry claims the Crown of France — Ac- quiescence of Edward Mortimer— Negociation with France — Liberal Grant of the Parliament — The King determines to appeal to the Sword — Discovery of Treason — Execution of Cambridge and Scroope — Departure of the Expedition— Capture of Harfleur- Henry V.'s hazardous March — Battle of Azincourt — Defeat of the French — Anec- dotes of the Battle — Joy of the English— Henry's reception in Eng- land — his prosperous Fortune — Assassination of the Duke of Bur- gundy — Henry appointed Regent of France— Inhuman Execution of Lord Cobham— Zeal of the Lollards— Death of Henry 189 CHAPTER IX. Dearth of amusing Events in the Reign of Henry IV. — Displeasure of Foreign Princes — Paternal Tenderness of Charles VI.— Hostility of the Count de St. Pol— Insult offered to the Earl of Rutland — Incur- sions of the Princes of France on the English Coast — Challenge ef ^, the Duke of Orleans— Henry's Reply— The King is charged with the Murder of Richard II. — Henry denies the Allegation— Neutrality of the French Government — Lamentations of the Citizens of Bor- deaux — Death of the Duke of Orleans— Affairs of Scotland — Anger of the Earl of March — Miserable Fate of Prince David — Captivity of James— Marriage of the King and of his two Daughters — Conduct of the Duke of Burgundy— Credulity of the Times— Strange Stories XIV CONTENTS. Page told to tlie Prejudice of the King — Prophecies concerning his Death — Martyrdom of Sawtre — Character of Arundel — Gallantry of Sir John Cornwall — Various Equipments of Knights— Mail Armour — Plate Armour — Hanging Sleeves — Fantastic Attire of the Prince of Wales — Changes in Henry V.'s Character — his Piety — Misery at Rouen— Anecdotes of the King's Inhumanity — Tyranny exercised towards the Scottish Soldiers — Anecdote of the Queen Dowager — Riot in St. Dunstan's Church — The Penance performed by Lord Strange — The Emperor Sigismund — Speech of the Nobles — The Emperor's Conduct in France— Henry confers the Garter on his Guest — Gifts bestowed by the Emperor on liis Departure — Splendour of Henry's Sliip — Oicleve's Poems— A Ballad of Lydgate's — The King's Attachment to Music and Literature— his extraordinary Swift- ness — Description of Henry's Funeral Piocession » 223 CHAPTER X. Appointments of the King's Uncles — Coronation of the Dauphin — Success of the Duke of Bedford — Sparing Grants to the Duke of Bedford— The Infant King exhibited to his Subjects— Conduct of the Council towards the Earl of March— Death of the Earl — Disabilities of his Heir — Grant of the Council— Restoration of Richard Duke of York — ^his large Possessions- -Imprudent Conduct of Gloucester — Marriage with Jacqualine of Hainault — Appeal of the Duke of Brabant — Gloucester invades the Territory belonging to his Wife — Burgundy hastens to his Kinsman's Assistance — Quarrel between Gloucester and Burgundy — The Pope's Bull — Elfects of Gloucester's rash Ambition — Opposition of Beaufort Bishop of Winchester — Gloucester's second Marriage — Continued Disputes in the Council — Punishment of the Citizens — Violent Conduct of the opposing Parties — Mediation of the Archbishop — Beaufort's Letter — Arrival of the Duke of Bedford — Meeting of Parliament — Charges against Beaufort — Reconciliation between Gloucester and Beaufort — Eleva- tion of the latter — 1 he King's Education — Appointment of the Earl of Warwick — Contrast of Character between Henry and his Tutor — Errors of Gloucester's political Career — Successful Hostility of his Enemies , 263 CHAPTER XI. State of Affairs upon the Continent — Resolution to attack Orleans — Exertions of Charles VII. — Dtath of Salisbury before the Walls — Suffolk's Appointment — Christmas Festivities — Seizure of n Convoy CONTENTS. XV Page —Distress of Charles VII. — Intrepidity of Dunois— Proposition of the French Commanders — Displeasure of the Duke of Burgundy — Despairing Resolutions of Charles VII. — Joan of Arc— Birth-place of the Maid of Orleans — her early Life and Character — The Fairy Tree — Joan's Visions— Political Opinions at Domremy— Joan's loyal Zeal — she determines to fly to the Rescue of Orleans— Belief of the Pea- santry—Joan quits her native Home — Distress of Charles VII. — Joan's Reception — Marvellous Reports — The Misery of the Be- sieged — Joan hastens to the Rescue— is permitted to enter the City — Terror of the English — Successful Sorties of the French — The Siege is raised — Retreat of the English — Joan attacks Jargeau — Suffolk made Prisoner — Victory at Patay — Efforts of the Duke of Bedford — Continued Successes of Charles VII. — he is crowned at Rheims — Joan's Request — her fatal Compliance — Bedford's Exer- tions — Spirited Conduct of the Cardinal — Bedford's Challenge — Exhaustion of both Parties— Charles VIl.'s Message to the Duke of Burgundy — the latter renews the Treaty with England— Recom- mencement of the War — Last Victory of Joan of Arc— she is taken before Compeigne— Joy of the Allies — Ingratitude of the French — Cruel Fate of Joan— New Reverses sustained by the English— In- tended Coronation of Henry VI. at Rheims — The English lose Ground in France— Henry crowned at Paris— The War languishes — Death of the Duchess of Bedford — The Duke's second Marriage — Burgundy's Displeasure — Breach between Bedford and Burgundy — Overtures of the French King — Congress of Arras — Proposals of Peace— rejected by the English — Defection of Burgundy-— Death of the Duke of Bedford 276 CHAPTER XII. Continued Hostility between Gloucester and Beaufort — Gloucester's unsuccessful Exertions — Policy of the Cabinet — Accession of Suffolk to Beaufort's Party — Contention in the Council— Triumph of the Confederation — Disputes concerning Henry's Marriage — Gloucester's Indignation— Ascendance of the Cardinal— Malevolence of Glouces- ter's Enemies — Persecution of the Duchess of Gloucester — The King's Mind poisoned — Charge against the Duchess — Condemna- tion of her Associates — their Execution— Penance imposed upon the Duchess— her perpetual Imprisonment— Second Marriage of Queen Catharine — Death of Catharine — Imprisonment of Owen Tudor — Marriage of the Duchess of Bedford— Wydeville's Elevation to the Peerage — Union of the rival Roses — State of the War in France — Truce beiwten England and Fiance— Negociation for the King's XVI CONTENTS. Page Marriage— Power given to Suffolk — Gloucester's unsuccessful Oppo- _' siticn — Poverty of the Duke of Anjou — Suffolk's Embassy— Arrival of the Queen— Gallantry of the Nobles — Festivities in London — Honours bestowed upon four Peers — Embarrassments of the Crown — Margaret loses the Affection of the People — The Duke of Gloucester presumptive Heir — Alleged Conspiracy against Gloucester — Parlia- ment summoned at Bury — Unusual Precautions — Gloucester's Arrest — his mysterious Death — Condemnation of Gloucester's Retainers — they are pardoned — Suffolk enriched by Gloucester's Death — Glou- cester's Character — Death of Cardinal Beaufort 299 CHAPTER XIV. State of public Feeling towards the Duke of York— Policy of Suffolk and the Queen— Rivalry between York and Somerset — Death of the latter — York's Hatred to the new Duke — his Appointment in Ireland — Suffolk's Administration— Jealousy of the Nobles — State of France —Public Discontent — Accusations of Suffolk's Enemies — Murder of the Bishop of Chichester — his alleged Declaration— Suffolk's Vindi- cation—Increasing Clamour against him— his Impeachment by the Commons — his Defence — Sentence of Banishment — Sanguinary Attempt of Suffiolk's Enemies— Continuation of evil Reports — Suf- folk's Letter lo his Son — he puts to Sea— his Detention- his Despair — ^the Sailors sit in Judgment — Suffolk's Condemnation— his Execu- tion—Supposition concerning Suffolk's Death— Cruel Joy of the Populace— State of Affairs on the Continent — Conduct of Somerset- Talbot's Exploit— Fall of Rouen-Kyriel's Expedition— Defeat of the English— its Consequence — Caen besieged — Somerset's Weak- ness—Remonstrance of Sir David Hall— Fall of Normandy — Attack upon Guienne— Loss of the Duchy — Henry's Imbecility — Character of Queen Margaret — Embarrassments of the Crown — Conduct of the Clergy — Fierce Spirit of the Nation — Claim of the House of York— Revolt of the Commons in Kent — Demands of Cade— Defeat of the Staffords — Opinion of the Council — Dispersion of the Royal Army — Cade marches to London — his Entrance — Murder of Baylley —Illegal Execution— Spirited Conduct of the Citizens— Cade's Defeat — Dispersion of the Rebels— Cade's second Attempt— his Flight and Death 319 CHAPTER XV. National Discontent — Impolitic Conduct of the Government — York's Departure from Ireland— he summons his Friends— Murder of Tre- CONTENl^. XVli Page sham — York enters London— his Interview with the King— Queen Margaret's Disjjleasure — Buckingham's Interference — Parliament summoned — Arrival of Somerset — his unpopularity — Outrage of the Molj— The Peers attend Parliament — Resolution to impeach Somerset — Insolent Proposition of a Lawyer — Proceedings of the Parliament— York secures Somerset — The attempted Vindication by Somerset's Friends — Norfolk's Speech— Private Feuds— Fierce Spirit of the Nobles — York's Retirement to Ludlow— his Proclamation- levies Forces— The King at the Head of an Array — ^York encamps at Dartford— Embassy from the King— York demands the Arrest of Somerset— Decision of the Council — ^York's second Interview with the King — Angry Meeting between Somerset and York— York carried a Prisoner to London— Henry's Clemency— Somerset's Ascend^mce — Embassy from Guienne — Expedition under Talbot— his Success— his Reverses — Encounters the French Army— is defeated and slain— Fall of Guienne— Description of the Duchy— The English driven out of France 348 CHAPTER XVI. State of the Revenue— Somerset's Ascendance— his new Appointment —Reports to his Prejudice — Murmurs of the Yorkists — Council at Coventry — Margaret's Progresses — her Affability — Extravagance in Dress— Margaret Paston's Letter— Proceedings of the Parliament- Henry's Illness — Birth of the Prince of Wales— Calumnies against the Queen— Return of York — Arrest of Somerset— Quarrels of the Duke of Exeter — Judgment passed on Thorp— Mildness of York's Government — Impeachment of the Earl of Devonshire — York's Speech —Henry's Malady — ^York made Protector — Creation of the Prince of Wales — ^York's Application to Parliament— Margaret's Enmity — The King's Recovery — his Piety — York's Indignation — Consultation with his Friends — Splendour of the Nevills — The Nobles take up Arms — The King's Levies— Henry's Message to the Insurgents— their Answer— Spirited Speech of the King — ^Battle of St. Alban's— Death of the Lancastrian Nobles— Flight of the King's Friends— Henry made Prisoner — Pillage of the Town— Prophecy concerning Somerset — Northumberland's Devotedness— Clifford's Valour— Piety of the Monks— Respectful Demeanour of York — Alleged Letter to the Chancellor — The Yorkists are pardoned — Conduct of the Lancastrians —Troubles throughout England— Threatened Hostility in London — State of the King's Health— York resumes the Protectorate— his En- mity to the Lancastrians — Margaret's Apprehensions — Return of her Party to Power 362 XVlil CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVII. Page York retires from the Administratioa — Calamitous EfTects of the Battle of St. Albans— Lawless State of Society — Henry's Attempt at. Paci- fication — Meeting at Coventry — Alarm of the Yorkists— The King's unwearied Endeavours to obtain Peace— The Nobles repair to London — Mayoralty of Sir Godfrey Boleyn— Mediation of the Archbishop of Canterbury — Concessions of the Yorkists — Procession to St. Paul's — Joy of the People — Warwick's naval Exploit — his Attend- ance at Westminster — Fatal Quarrel of his Retainers — his Flight to Calais — Renewal of Hostilities — Henry's amiable Character — Prepa- rations of the Confederates— Activity of the Queen — Battle of Blore Heath— Valour of the Cheshire Men — Henry marches towards Lud- low — York's Proclamation — The King's Offer of Pardon^Reply of the Malecontents — False Report of Henry's Death — Defection of Sir Andrew TroUope — Alarm and Flight of the Yorkists — Submission of the Nobles — Henry's Clemency — Pillage of Ludlow — A Parliament summoned — Sweeping Bill of Attainder — Merciful Disposition of the King 384 CHAPTER XVIII. Ascendance of the Lancastrians — Triumph of Warwick — his naval Exploits — Capture of the Wydevilles — their Reception at Calais — Enterprise of a Knight — Warwick sails to Dublin — Oppression of the Yorkists — The Commons fly to Arms — their alleged Grievances — The Queen's Unpopularity — Warwick's Invasion— he enters Lon- don — A grand Council — Co-operation of the Clergy — Warwick de- mands an Interview with the King — Activity of Margaret — A Traitor in the Camp — The Yorkists march through the Barriers — Defeat of the Lancastrians — Slaughter of the Nobles — Character of Bucking- ham — Diminution of the King's Party — Perils encountered by Mar- garet — Warwick's respectful Demeanour — Rejoicings of the Citizens — Death of Lord Scales — A new Parliament — ^York's Delay— he enters London — his Disappointment — he claims the Crown — Henry's Reply — Deliberations in Parliament— Henry's Title — The Preten- sions of York — Decision of the Peers — Thanksgivings at St. Paul's — Division of the Kingdom — Margaret's prompt Measures — York marches to the North — Somerset's Defiance — York's Impetuosity — Battle of Wakefield — Defeat of the Yorkists — Inhumanity of the Conquerors — Edward's intrepidity— Battle of Mortimer's Cross — CONTENTS. XIX Page Barbarous Expcutions — The Queen's March to London — Warwick's rash Valour — Second Battle of St. Albans — Flight of the Yorkists — Re-union of Henry with his Queen — Death of Sir Thomas Grey- Plunder of St. Albans — Condemnation of the Yorkists — Bonvill's Ingratitude — Conduct of the Northern Army — Animosity of the Citizens — Margaret's Retreat 399 CHAPTER XIX. Reception of Edward — Muster in St. John's Field— The Bishop of Exeter's Oration — Election of Edward — he is proclaimed King- Edward's Ferocity — Amount of Margaret's Army— Ed ward's Station — Skirmish at Ferrybridge — Death of Lord Fitzwalter — Panic in the Army — Defeat and Death of Clifford — Edward's Sanguinary Mea- sures — Battle of Towton— Edward's military Talents — Dreadful Loss on the Lancastrian Part— Miseries of their Retreat — Flight of the Royal Family — Execution of the Lancastrians — Fate of Clifford's Son — Rejoicings in London — Edward's Triumph — his Coronation — The Lancastrians attainted — Execution of the Earl of Oxford — Proceedings ot the Parliament— Honours conferred on the Yorkists — Edward's Speech — his Popularity — Distresses of the Lancastrians — Hungerford's Letter — Margaret's Fortitude— Disappointment of her Hopes — her losses at Sea — Siege of three Castles— The Lancastrians capitulate— Desertion of Somerset— Exploit of Lord Hungerford — Miserable Situation of Margaret — her Adventure in a Forest — Forlorn State of Henry — Generosity of Count Charolois— Unsettled State of the Kingdom — Reanimation of the Lancastrian Party 426 CHAPTER XX. Ravages committed by the Queen's Army — Battle of Hedgly Moor — Death of Northumberland — Battle of Hexham — Execution of So- merset and of two other Nobles — Dispersion of the Lancastrians — Fall of Bamborough Castle — Execution of Sir Ralph Gray — Henry is taken Prisoner — Warwick's Barbarity — The King is committed to the Tower — Persecution of the Lancastrians — their extreme Distress — ^Treaties with Foreign Powers — A general Pardon — Edward's clan- destine Marriage— Beauty and Virtue of Elizabeth Grey — Ambition of her Family— Promulgation of the Marriage — Public Disapproba- tion — ^The Queen enters London — she is crowned — Triumph of Lord Stanley — Depression of the Nobility— Advancement of the Wyde- XX CONTENTS. Page villes — Loyalty of (he Hollands— Warwick's Displeasure — his Ambi- tion — his Hostility to the King's Measures — his Embassy to France — Arrival of the Bastard of Burgundy — Splendid Tournament — Triumph of Antony Wydeville— The King's Jealousy of the Nevills — Death of the Duke of Burgundy — Offer of the King of France — Warwick's Discontent — Policy of the Lancastrians — Edward's Pre- caution — Reconciliation of Warwick and the King— Departure of the Princess Margaret— The Gift of the Citizens— Pageant in Honour of the Princess— Knightly Prowess of Sir Antony Wydeville— Exile of the Lancastrians 444 CHAPTER XXI. Hollow Peace between Edward and Warwick — Increasing Favour of the Wydevilles- Causes for Warwick's Displeasure — Marriage of the Duke of Clarence— The People begin to murmur — Prudent Measures of the King of France — Disturbances in the North — Neutrality of Northumberland — The Nevills participate in the Revolt — Proclama- tions of the Malecontents— Activity of Edward— Flight of the Wy- devilles— Quarrel between Pembroke and Stafford— Battle of Edgecote — Defeat of Pembroke — Melancholy Fate of Sir Henry Nevill — Execution of the Pembrokes — Death of the two Wydevilles — and of Stafford — Distress of Edward — he falls into the Hands of Warwick — The King-maker may now decide the Fate of the rival Houses — Delusive Hopes of the Lancastrians— Spirited Conduct of Edward's Friends— Release of the King— he returns to London — Warwick is restored to Favour— The Insurgents are pardoned — Divisions amongst the Nobility — Suspicions of Edward and of Warwick — A new Con- spiracy — Reconciliation of Edward and Clarence — Revolt in Lin- colnshire — Imprudence of Lord Welles — Defeat of the Rebels — Execution of the Leaders — Retreat of Warwick — he is proclaimed a Traitor— Restoration of Percy to the Honours of his Family — Mon- tague's Displeasure — Warwick sails to Calais — is denied Admittance — and hospitably entertained by Louis XL — Reconcihation of War- wick with Margaret of Anjou— Betrothment of Prince Edward with the Lady Anne — Warwick's extensive Preparations — Discontent of the Duke and Duchess of Clarence 462 CHAPTER XXII. Caution of Burgundy— Edward's rash Security— A female Envoy— The Duke's Fleet scattered by a Storm — Warwick lands— Edward is still confident — Warwick proclaims Henry VI. — Edward's Alarm — CONTENTS. XXI Pasfe Defection of Montague — Flight of the King — Submission of the Yorkists — The King and his P'riends put to Sea — their imminent Peril — Ed ward's extreme Destitution — Friendly Attentions of Grutuse — Burgundy's Embarrassment— The Queen takes Refuge in Sanctuary — Birth of Prince Edward — his Baptism — Warwick's Triumph — Punishment of Offenders — Release of Henry — Rejoicings in France — Edward's Situation at the Court of Burgundy — State of Atfairs — —Burgundy's Policy — Warwick's Moderation — Flight of the Earl of Worcester — his Arrest and Sentence — Public Animosity against him — Execution of the Earl — his great Learning — proud Distinction la- vished on him by the Pope — ^his Barbarity— Lamentations of Caxton — The young Earl of Richmond — Lady Margaret's Dream — Richmond presented to the King — Henry's' prophetic Speech — Margaret's De- tention in France — Reviving Affection for Edward — Preparations for the Defence of the Kingdom— Margaret's unfortunate Delay- Edward's Negociatiou with Clarence — Burgundy's double Dealing — Intrepidity of the King's Followers — Edward's Invasion — is coldly received — a Council of War — Edward lowers his Pretensions — his Oath — Montague's Inactivity — Increase of Edward's Army — Ti- midity of the Lancastrians — Edward claims the Crown — Reconcilia- tion of Clarence and Edward 482 CHAPTER XXIII. Edward's Challenge— he marches to the Metropolis — Weak Defence of the Archbishop— Henry's degrading Exhibition — Attachment of the Citizens to the House of York — The Archbishop's Treachery — Henry delivered up— is committed to the Tower — Edward visits his Queen — ^Warwick advances to give Battle — Edward hastens to meet him — Partial Engagement of the adverse Forces — Battle of Barnet — Edward's Badge — Error of the Lancastrians — their Confusion and Flight — Death of Warwick and his Brother — Edward's Affection for Montague — Burial of the Nevills — Loss of the Lancastrians and of the Yorkists—Henry led back to the Tower— Edward's Offering at St. Paul's— Margaret lands in England— her despairing Anguish- Confidence of the Lancastrians— Loyalty of the Western Counties to Henry — The Earl of Oxford's Letter— Margaret's Fear for her Son — Edward circumvents the Projects of the Lancastrians — Error in the Position of the Lancastrian Army- The Eve of the Battle — Mar- • garet's Despair — her Encouragement to the Soldiers — Battle of Tewkesbury— Somerset's Rashness — Death of Lord Wenlock — Flight of the Lancastrians— Death of Prince Ed ward— Violation of Sanctuary —Intrepidity of a Priest — Execution of the Lancastrians— Triumph XX)i CONTENTS. Page of the House of York— Wenlock's Instability— Loyaltj' of the Earl of Devonshire— Sir John Fortescue— Interesting Records of Edward of Lancaster— Fortescue's Submission to Edward— Margaret is cap- tured—The Lady Anne is brought to the King— Doubts respecting her Marriage- Dispersion of the Northern Insurgents— Attempt upon London— Resistance of the Citizens -Richard of Falconberg— his second Attempt upon London is repelled— Edward enters London — marches in quest of the Insurgents— Falconberg capitulates — receives an Assurance of Pardon— its Violation — Report of one of Edward's Followers— The King's Letter to the Council of Baiges 502 CHAPTER XXIV. Death of Henry VI. — Suspicions concerning it — Gloucester's Share in that dark Transaction — Afflictions of Henry VI — Character of that.,^^^^^-^^^ Monarch— his Funeral— Veneration of the People- Parsimony of ■^ Henry VIL— Margaret's destitute State— Misfortunes of her Father — The Queen ransomed— she quits England — Flight of the Lancas- trians—their Shipwreck— their Reception in Bretagne — Exploits of the Earl of Oxford — Intrenchment at St, Michael's Mount — Mutiny of the Soldiers — Oxford capitulates — Penury of Lady Oxford — Miseries sustained by the Duke of Exeter — his melancholy Fate — Imprisonment of the Archbishop of York — his Release — Edward's Treachery — Pillage of the Archbishop's Property — his Exile, Impri- sonment and Death 524 MEMOIRS OF THE RIVAL HOUSES OF YORK AND LANCASTER. CHAPTER T. State of Societij — Origin of the House of Lancaster — Gifts of Henry III. to Edmond Crouchback — Thomas, Earl of Lancaster — his rebellion and death — Heimj, Earl of Lancaster — Henry Grismond, Duke of Lancaster — his eminent services — John of Ghent — Campaign in Spain — Second marriage of the Duke of Lancaster with a Princess of Castile — Contention between the Black Prince and John of Ghent — Haughty disposition and despotic bearing of John of Ghent — Dispute between Wickliffe and the prelacy — Riot of the citizens — Jealousy of John of Ghent — Apprehensions of the Princess Joan — Last illness of Edward 111. — Proceedings of the Council — State of the Kingdom — Enmity to John of Ghent — John of Ghent's Speech in Parliament — Violation of Sanctuary — Expedition to Bretagne — Incursion of the Scots — Absence of the King's uncles — Insurrection of the Commons — Outrages of the Insurgents — Death of IVat Tyler — Return of the Duke of Lan- caster — Dispute between John of Ghent and the Earl of Northum- berland — Marriage of Richard II. At a period of English history when the pas- CHAP. I. sions of a half civilized people were under very slight controul, when the laws were disregarded by those who were strong enough to defy them, and princes and nobles, only intent upon personal ag- grandizement, wasted blood and treasure in the VOL, I. B Q THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. I. pursuit of their own selfish interests trampling on the risfhts of the weak and the defenceless : revolutions and convulsions in the state were necessarily of frequent occurrence. The annals of the middle ages are little more than records of crime and misery, of human vice and human wretchedness; but, mingled with transactions of the most revolting nature are deeds of martial heroism and knightly courtesy which cast a brilliant lustre over the gloomy page. Though shuddering at the vices of our ancestors, we pay an involuntary tribute of respect to their valour ; whilst the barbaric splendour of a rude yet chivalrous age, reconciles us to the perusal of its appalling atrocities. The old Chro- nicles of England furnish us with abundant proof of the reckless licentiousness of manners which prevailed in every class of society. The true in- terests of the state were forgotten, or wilfully neglected in the inordinate ambition and insatiate rapacity of the great, whilst the lower orders, only held in bondage by chains and yokes of iron, were discontented and factious, ready at every favour- able opportunity to rise upon their oppressors, and, during their brief triumph over regal or ma- gisterial authority, instigated by a blind fury, sought revenge alone, in the perpetration of wanton and indiscriminate slaughter. Religion in these unhappy times was only a name and the mild precepts of Christianity were not inculcated by its ministers. Bigotry, superstition and fanaticism, , deformed the established church, and to the tyranny of crowned heads, the insolent pride of the nobles, and the brutal ferocity of the populace, was super- YORK AND LANCASTER. 3 added an intolerant and barbarous priesthood. Du- CHAP. I ring the space of five centuries from the invasion of tlie Norman Conqueror, England was governed by a succession of monarchs, who, following mis- taken views of glory, or only intent upon the gratification of selfish indulgence, either plunged into hopeless and unnecessary wars or revelled in luxurious profusion at home. To the wild projects of the crusades succeeded the equally visionary and rvXA^- favourite attempt fo subjugate the neighbouring realm of France, the expensive and unwarrantable pursuits of the warlike Richard, and the martial Edwards and Henrys ; whilst the degenerate suc- cessors of these illustrious heroes, by their extra- vagance, folly and mis-government, never failed to kindle the torch of rebellion in the hearts of their subjects and to brings fire and sword into the bosom i^ t i of their suffering country. Amid the numerous civil wars which have delu^ecT^ England with blood, the struggles of a turbulent no- bility for power, the fierce combats between contend- ing claimants for a disputed crown, or the attempts , made by the commons to wrest civil and religious liberty from the strong hand which denied the boon, there is no domestic strife recorded in our annals, i the history of which is more interesting, more fertile? in great events and romantic incidents, than the long and sanguinary contest between the White and the ^ Red Roses. The royal house of Lancaster dates its origin from the reign of Henry HI., and the immense wealth heaped by that monarch upon Edmond, surnamed B 2 T 4 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. I. Crouchback or Crossed-back, bis son, laid the foiind- ation of that overpowering greatness, which, under his unfortunate descendant Richard II., had arrived to such a height of grandeur as not only to menace but to seize the crown. A brief sketch of the rise /f progress and fortunes of this potent family will dis- i play the dangerous ascendance which it gained in the if' 'f ^state during the four succeeding reigns. Henry III. Moaded his son Edmond, with the spoils of the re- bellious barons : besides the lands of the Earl Ferrers, of the Earl of Derby and of Simon Mountford Earl of Leicester, the indulgent monarch gave his fa- vourite son the custody of the castles of Kearrnardin and Cardigan. Edmond w^as also created Earl of Chester and invested by Pope Innocent with the king- doms of Sicily and ApuUa, an unsubstantial honour, compared with the lavish favours which he received from his bounteous parent's hands. A modern writer* has traced the inordinate wealth, the foun- ' dation of equally inordinate ambition of the House of Lancaster, to this fatal gift of the Pope. Unable to conquer the kingdom of Sicily with his own re- sources, the pontifFpoliticly inveigled Henry III. into the expensive undertaking. The credulous king wept for joy at the investiture of his son,' performed in London in 1255 by the Bishop of Bononia, but being compelled to apply for extravagant grants to carry on the war, the barons firmly refused to coun- tenance so chimerical a project, and failing to con- vince the king by their arguments of the folly * Mr. Astle, in an interesting paper to be found in the fourth volume of the Archaeologia. YOJIK AND LANCASTER. 5 of lavishing his treasures in a fruitless attempt CHAP. I. upon a distant country, after suffering repeated unjust exactions, flew at length to arms. The bitter contention between Henry and his barons ended in the total ruin of the confederates. Edmond | amply remunerated for the loss of his kingdom by the possession of their forfeited estates, transmitted to his descendants an inheritance so vast and over- | powering, that they became too great for subjects and Richard II. fell beneath the superior influence of Henry of Lancaster. Though placed upon the throne without a stroke, a stream of blood followed *^ the usurpation of Bolingbroke which flowed with little cessation for the space of an hundred and flfty years. The torrent gushed forth immediately after the accession of Henry IV., was augmented in the reign of his son by the vital current of Cambridge and of Scroope, swelled into a flood during the civil wars between the Roses and ceased not throughout the dominion of the Tudors until not an object remained for that cruel jealousy, so fatally aroused by the ambitious projects of the houses of Lancaster and of York. Taught an in- human lesson by the overthrow of Richard II., of Henry VL, of Edward V., and of Richard HI., English monarchs imitated the policy of Eastern tyrants and would endure no rival, however distant to the throne. Elizabeth was only spared because she stood in the path of a stronger competitor, Mary Stuart, and Mary's life was sacrificed when she fell into the power of one whose claim she had presumed to dispute. To return to the immediate subject before us. G THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. I. Henry III. in addition to the grants already men- tioned, conferred upon his second son, Edmond, the castles of Sherborne in Dorsetshire and of Kenilworth in Warwickshire, with all the lands attached to each : to these magnificent donations he added the honour earldom castle and town of Lancaster " with divers other manors anil castles.'** Edmond thus splendidly endowed, augmented his riches by a marriage with Aveline sole heiress of the Earl of Albemarle, who dying without issue, bequeathed to him the whole of her vast posses- sions. In addition to his numerous estates he procured valuable grants from._.his brother Edward I., and his avarice or his merits knowing no bounds,^ V*^"* --he obtained from his mother Queen Eleanor, the su\jf\f]4^ houses and gardens purchased by her from the Provost and Canons of Montjoy, built by Peter de Savoy her uncle, in the suburbs of London, afterwards entitled the Palace of the Savoy. Thomas Plantagenet eldest son of Edmond by Blanche of Artois, his second wife, became at his father's death, in 1296, Earl of Lancaster Leices- ter and Derby, and in right of his wife, of Lincoln. With this lady, daughter of Henry Lacy Earl of Lincoln, he obtained twenty-five manors in York- siiire, eighteen in Lancashire, one in Leicestershire^ and one in Northamptonshire. This accumulation of wealth and power was speedily turned against y 1/^ *°"]];;^,.*«-4b^ crown. The weak reign of Edward II. offered strong temptation to factious and ambitious nobles and the Earl of Lancaster, stigmatized as the ^-^5^ " demon of treachery," wrested the reins of govern- * Nicholson's History of Lancaster. YORK A\D LANCASTER. 7 ment from his pusillanimous kinsman. It would be CHAP. 1. equally painful and unnecessary to follow him through his bold career of crime : the chief of a potent confederacy, he was at one time at the-iieajd..^ of administration, at another in ar-ms against the existing authorities and at length, in 1322, when upon his march to join a bodj? of Scots, his <^ ^ ^^'^ power was arrested by Edward's friends, and this bane of his country, this mirror of turbulent vA.e-"^«i« traitors, as he is styled by Andrews, expiated his manifold offences on a scaffold. He w^as beheaded at his own castle of Pontefract with circum- stances which mark the brutality of the times. Previous to the fatal feuds which broke out be- tween Edward II. and his nobles, the Earl of Lan- caster had received many favours from the hands of his misguided sovereign ; and during the short interval of peace which ensued between them, the king confirmed a grant of their grandmother's lands, in France to him and his brother Henry. Upon his death and attainder his extensive possessions were forfeited to the crown, and an enormous portion was immediately granted to the rapacious favourites the Spencers. The house of Lancaster did not however re- main long under a cloud, many bitter lessons were still necessary to teach monarchs the impolicy of raising the fallen fortunes of princes, ruined in strong though unsuccessful attempts against the throne. The honours, riches and power of t'le condemned traitor, who .died without offspring, were re-united in the person of his brother and heir Henry, second son of Edmond Crouchback. -Henry \ 8 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. L like Thomas had rebelled against Edward II., but he found favour with the weak monarch's son and successor. At the proclamation of Edward IIL he girded the young king with the sword of knight- hood, and was subsequently intrusted with the care of his education. In the first parliament Henry obtained an act for the reversal of the attainder of his brother, whereby he became re- possessed of the confiscated estates ; and in addition to the splendid patrimony of his family inherited the lands of Alice Lacv, widow of the late earl, who though twice married after the death of Thomas Lancaster descended childless to the grave. Under the victorious reign of Edward III. there sprung an illustrious scion of this royal house, -^well worthy of the grandeur of his descent : Henry, surnamed Grismond from the place of his birth, succeeded his father the third earl in 1345. A valiant commander in the wars of France, this distinguished nobleman assisted at the capture of fifty-six cities, towns and places of note. In the early part of his life he was invested by tlie king's munificence with certain lands at Berwick-upon- Tweed. He amassed a large quantity of gold and other treasure during his campaigns ; and for his eminent services was created Duke of Lancaster, and received grants of land in Derbyshire and in J: France in consideration of his great expences incurred in the support of his sovereign's enter- prize. He died of the plague in 1361 justly lamented by the whole nation ; from which his virtues had obtained for him the title of " the good Duke of Lancaster." YORK AND LANCASTER. U By Henry's consort Isabella daughter of Lord CHAP. I. Beaumont, he left two daughters co-heiresses ; Maude, first married to Ralph son and heir of Lord Stafford; and secondly to William of Bavaria, son of the Emperor Louis ; and Blanche married to John of Ghent, fourth son of Edward III. The decease of Maude without issue again con- centrated the immense possessions of the house of Lancaster, and the husband of Blanche became the sole claimant of the honours, titles and estates. The favourite son of Edward III. proud, ambitious, covetous, disdainful of all beneath him and impe- rious in his manners, the dark shades in the character of "time-honoured" Lancaster were relieved by many brilliant virtues. The duke's caution and prudence combined with the affection which he bore to his mis- guided nephew Richard II., who had been early .y (^^^^^"^ taught to consider him as a secret and dangerousij enemy, preserved him in undeviating loyalty through- out a reign wherein he saw himself deprived of the share of power and authority, so justly due to his talents and his rank as prince of the blood ; and strongly tempted as he was by repeated insults, by universal distrust and by the consciousness of his own amazing resources, to seize a crown which was very generally supposed to be the object of his hopes and wishes, he lived and died faithful to the oath of allegiance which he voluntarily tendered to the infant sovereign upon his accession to the throne. Trained to arms in the school of his martial and accomplished father, we first hear of a command intrusted to John of Ghent in the Spanish cam- 10 Till: iiivAU HOUSES of CHAP. I. paign, undertaken by the victor of Crecy and Poic- tiers, for the purpose of replacing Pedro the Cruel on the throne of Castille. At the battle of Navarete, under the conduct of the gallant Sir John Chandos, a brave knight who had directed the movements of the Black Prince in his youtiiful career of glory, he approved himself v/orthy of his kindred to the heroic Edwards behaving as Froissart tells us, " very gal- lantly." Justly exiled for his tyranny, the restora- tion of Pedro against the wishes of his groaning subjects was only effected by foreign arms, and the departure of his allies proved the signal for new con- vulsions in which the despot lost his crown and life. The monarch's daughters, who had fled in the com- mencement of the troubles from Seville to Bayonne, were now the lawful heiresses of the kingdom of Castille, usurped by Henry of Transtamerre ; and the i Duke of Lancaster being a widower, was prompted I by the hope of ascending a throne to offer his hand ' to the eldest of the princesses: his brother Edmund of Langley, afterwards Duke of York, was married nearly at the same time to the younger sister Isabella of Castille. The naturally haughty dispo- sition of the Duke of Lancaster was heightened by the splendour of this alliance, he assumed the title of King of Castille and on his return to England, the undisguised partiality of the king Edward III. who admitted this beloved son to the highest share in the councils, awakened the jealousy of tire Black Prmce, recalled from his campaign in Aquitaine by declining health. The last years of the ill-fated hero's life were spent in vain contentions with the YORK AND LANCASTER. 11 triumphant John of Ghent, and in terror lest his chaP. I. young son should be deprived of his inheritance by the projects of a too powerful adversary. The conduct of the Duke of Lancaster was^ cer- tainly calculated to raise these suspicions ; even in the prosecution of just measures he displayed an overbearing and vindictive spirit which rendered him an object of hatred to the connnon people : he imprisoned those members of the House of Com- ^■^'^^ mons who dared to oppose his wishes, and disdain- ing to court popularity shewed himself at all times an inexorable enemy to the citizens of London, whose turbulence excited his resentment and brouQ-ht down the full weiiiht of his vensfcance on the innocent as well as on the guilty. The excessive licentiousness which pervaded all ranks, the contempt of law and morality displayed by soldiers inured to rapine and carnage and let loose upon society from the wars in France, and the ready imitation of such models by their associates required a strong hand to guide the reins of government ; but the Duke of Lancaster often overstepped the bounds of justice in the arbitrary exertion of his power. The whole- some rigours of the law were too slow in their opera- tion to gratify his thirst for revenge, and his manner of preserving the peace though generally successful, was not at all compatible with the liberties of the subject ; managing to rule all things his own way as Holingshed tells us by a " huge rout of retainers," who terrified the seditious into submission. John^x)f Ghent embroiled himself with the prelacy by »+& persecution of William of Wyckham Bishop of Win- chester, who was for a short period deprived of his i'^*".K, 12 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. I. temporalities, and the open favour whicli he shewed to Wickliffe seemed a sufficient proof of his enmity to the Church of Rome. Whilst honouring the friendly zeal which the duke displayed in defending the Reformer from the malice of his enemies, it must be admitted that his intemperate demeanour towards the reverend assembly who had cited Wickliffe to appear before them was exceedingly unjustifiable. The patronage and support granted by the Duke of Lancaster and Lord Henry Percy (Earl Mareschal) to that enlightened preacher had enabled him to promulgate his opinions with little personal danger; but the clergy being at length scandalized and in- censed at the boldness of his doctrine urged their archbishop to summon him to answer in person to the charges preferred against him.* Wickliffe made his appearance at St. Paul's accompanied by his two powerful friends and their usual retinue of armed followers : the church was already filled by a curious multitude eager to learn the result of the meeting, and the arrival of so large a train occasioned great inconvenience. It was with considerable difficulty that the duke and his people could make their vvay through the throng though they were little scrupu- lous respecting the means ; and the Bishop of Lon- don, justly enraged to see the tumult which the struggle produced, said to the Lord Percy, *' that if he had known before what mastry he would have kept in the church he would have stopped him out from coming there ; " at which words of the bishop the duke disdaining not a little answered to the bishop again, and said " that he should keep such * Walsingliam. YORK AND LANCASTIOR. 13 mastry there, tliongh he said nay." At last, as our CHAP. I. chronicler informs us, " with much wrestling they jjierced through the crowd," and approached the phice where the bishops and barons of the reahn were assembled : the Lord Percy gave the signal for hostili- ties by desiring WicklifFe to sit in the presence of his accusers : the Bishop of London resented the pro- position and immediately a fierce contest com- menced between him and the Duke of Lancaster. The latter threatened that he would pull down the rve/f^ pride not only of him but also of all the prelacy of England ; and the bishop answering boldly to this menace, the duke enraged beyond all bounds of decency said to the Lord Percy loud enough to be overheard by the bystanders, " that he would rather pluck the bishop by the hair of his head out of the church than he would take this at his hand."* The people, provoked by the indignity offered to their revered prelate exclaimed, " that they would not suffer their bishop so contemptuously to be abused, but rather they would lose their lives than that he should so be drawn out by the hair :" where- upon great strife ensuing the meeting was broken up in confusion and disorder. The rage of the populace of London against the Duke of Lancaster increased to fury by his injurious treatment of their bishop, burst forth the next day with unconquerable violence. The common people refusing to listen to the city magistrates rose in a body, and rushing to the Marshalsea the residence of the Lord Percy wreaked their vengeance on the ;' • Fox. 14 THK RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. 1. building which they speedily demolished. Disap- ■ pointed by the absence of the Earl Mareschal whom they would have sacrificed on the spot, they hastened onwards to the Savoy the palace of John of Ghent, where they hoped to find both the objects of their hatred ; but the duke and the earl were dining to- gether at the house of a friend, and news being brought to them of their danger they escaped hastily by water to Kingston. The insurgents killed a priest who had incautiously expressed opinions dif- fering widely from those entertained by the mob ; and having accomplished all the mischief in their power upon the furniture and decorations of the palace, they reversed the duke's arms as those of a traitor, and scrawled libellous rhymes upon the walls. These outrages were stayed by the interference of the Bishop of London who hastened from his dinner to preach peace to the rioters, and to persuade them to return quietly to their own homes. The mayor and the aldermen dreading the consequences of this tumult essayed to sooth the wrath of the Duke of Lancaster by very humble submissions, but he was not to be appeased ; and as their authority, if exerted, had certainly proved insufficient to preserve tran- quillity, he dismissed them from all their offices, and immediately appointed his own dependents to the posts which he had obliged them to vacate. ^^ This new proof of John of Ghent's implacable dis- \ position and lust of power filled the public mind with apprehension ; the nation feared that on the /.• expected dissolution of the king he would dispute I ! the crown with the son of their idol the Black YORK AND LANCASTER. 1,5 * The young prince could claim the crown only by right of representa- tion, of which there had been no precedent, at least with respect to the crown, since the Norman conquest. — Rapin. The apprehension which John of Ghent's ambitious temper excited in- duced the commons to petition King Edward on the death of the Black Prince, to make a public declaration in favour of his grandson Richard of Bourdeaux. e2 Prince, who claimed it by a right, that of represen- ^rCHAP. tation,* not yet fully established in England. The Princess Joan mother of Richard of Bourdeaux, par- ticipated in the general alarm. A lady of extraor- dinary beauty and amiable manners, but not dis- tinguished for splendid abilities she mihappily im- bibed the general feeling against the Duke of Lan- caster, and her jealousy became the occasion of; fatal misfortune to her son. The errors of Richard's reign and its miserable termination, must be attri* buted to the weakness of his early counsellors, men of no weight in the kingdom and of slender capa- city, who were placed about his person by the sus- picions of his mother and the parliament to the prejudice of John of Ghent: a prince who though too much disdaining the conciliatory methods which would have established his popularity was, by his vigour, talent and experience, admirably calculated to govern the turbulent spirits of the age. Edward's health was now declining ; and during his last illness a deputation of the citizens repaired to Shene, to offer their lives and fortunes in support of the youthful Richard's claim, and to solicit the friendly offices of the latter towards a reconciliation with the Duke of Lancaster. Richard, as we must suppose according to his instructions for he was only eleven years old, received the embassy very June 2 1 1377. f V l6 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. I. graciously, and readily promised to become a media- tor between the petitioners and his enraged uncle. Edward III. survived his three eldest sons ; two of them, the Black Prince and Lionel Duke of Cla- rence, left offspring. William, the second son died an infant ; and John of Ghent the fourth in the descent saw himself opposed by two children, Ri- chard of Bourdeaux and the son of Pliilippa, daugh- ter of the Duke of Clarence, married to the Earl of March. The people remembering the usurpation of John and the melancholy fate of Arthur, Duke of Bretagne, were apprehensive that the Duke of Lan- caster would imitate that fatal precedent, and like the tyrant whose memory was so justly execrated would trample on the rights of his deceased brother; but though John of Ghent and his descendants viewed the claims of the Mortimers Earls of March with contempt, it does not appear that this ambitious prince ever entertained a hope of snatching the^ ;,^ovL^ crown from "the immediate heir of England." ^ Edward III. left two sons voun^er than John of ^y'^ Ghent, Edward, of Langley Earl of Cambridge, and Thomas of Woodstock Earl of Buckingham. Im- mediately upon the decease of the king, John of ■Ghent to the surprise of his enemies voluntarily tendered his allegiance to his nephew, and the co- July ]6. ronation of the new monarch Richard II. followed closely upon the funeral obsequies of his illustfious grandfather. Upon this occasion as well as at the proclamation of the young heir the Duke of Lan- caster conducted himself with unwonted moderation, and together with the Earl Mareschal studied to regain the confidence of the people by the suavity YORK AND LANCASTER. 17 of his demeanour; but his sincerity was deeply sus- CHAP. I. pected, and it appeared to be the aim of all ranks and classes of the kingdom to exclude him from every office of power and aiithority. A grand council composed of the barons and prelates of the realm refused to constitute the Duke July it. of Lancaster sole regent, the supposed object of his wishes, and appointed " twelve permanent coun- sellors, in aid of the cliancellor and treasurer," to direct the reins of government during the minority of the king. Edmund of Langley Earl of Cam- bridire, and Thomas of Woodstock Earl of Buck- ingham, the younger brothers of John of Ghent, were also not named in the administration ; but the former was a man of mean abilities more devoted to his private pleasures than desirous to obtain political importance, and the latter had not as yet acquired any influence in the state, though all three were pro- bably suspected of ill designs against the boy king ; and it w^as the policy of the times to surround Richard with strangers to his blood, people who could only build their own hopes of aggrandizement upon the alienation of his uncles from his heart and councils. The Duke of Lancaster, contrary to ge- neral expectation cheerfully submitted to the de- cision of the assembled barons, and retired to his castle of Kenilworth, leaving however the care of his interests in the hands of his friends, for whom he had contrived to procure places in the council, and whose appointment increased the mistrust which the opposite faction already entertained. The bitter fruits of Edward's foreign wars were bequeathed to his successor in an exhausted treasury, VOL. J. c 18 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. L a mercenary licentious soldiery insatiate of pillage ; and hostility with Scotland, France, and Spain. The utmost prudence and vigour was necessary to ensure an lionourable peace, or to carry on a war worthy of the victorious arms of England ; yet little was at- tempted and nothing done, to place the affairs of the kingdom in a more flourishing condition. The fatal jealousy which had deprived the king of the Duke of Lancaster's assistance was superadded to this disastrous state of things ; for a continual suc- cession of slanderous reports kept every injurious suspicion alive 4against the latter, he was accused of meditating a design to make himself master of the kingdom, and in the meantime one weak admi- nistration was succeeded by another equally imbecile. W-^^< The nation groaned under a weight of taxes which at last was found to be inadequate to its defence ; the towns on the sea-coast were plundered with impunity ''ri/s t>y the fleets of the enemy, and the consequent decay qfcommerce contributed to impoverish the country. The necessity of adopting effective and vigorous measures was obvious, and the Archbishop of Can- O't. 13, terbury in opening the first parliament held under the young king, directed the attention of the com- mons to the situation of the kingdom, and requested their advice respecting the means to be employed for the protection of the country against foreign inroad without compromising the dignity of the sovereign or distressing the people by heavy impo- sitions. The commons, though for the most part the personal enemies of John of Ghent, being principally composed of members who had formerly acted in direct opposition to him, and headed by their YORK AND LANCASTER. 19 speaker Sir Peter de la Marc who had been impri- CHAP. I. soned by tlie Duke, decUned in these difficult cir- cumstances to give an opinion, and requested the aid of " My Lord of Spain, and twelve peers," in discussing so important a question.* John of Ghent instantly seized the opportunity to repel the slanders which were industriously disseminated by the very persons who now claimed his assistance. He arose and bending his knee to the king, declared that he would not endure the imputations which had been cast upon him, or apply to any business with men who had charged him with guilt which amounted to treason, until his character should be cleared from the calumnious aspersions in circulation to his dishonour. The duke concluded an eloquenf\ and impassioned speech with protestations of un- shaken loyalty affirming that he was ready to meet those who accused him of traitorous intentions as if hd were the poorest knight, either in single combat, or in any other way that the king and his . peers might award. The whole assembly concurred in entreating the duke to rest satisfied with their entire confidence in his integrity; and pacified at length he consented to forget the past upon con- dition that a severe law should be enacted for the punishment of the inventors and propagators of similar falsehoods. But that law, if ever granted, was speedily set at defiance ; reports to the pre- judice of the duke being stronger and more credited than ever. That the pubHc voice should = have been against this haughty prince is not sur- ? prising, since he never allowed himself to be • Pari. Rolls. 111. C ^1 20 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. I. restrained by a sense of justice from the commission of any act, however violent and illegal, which pro- mised to forward his private views; and yet that -^o^hese views were mistaken by the world there can be no doubt. In aspiring to the regal dignity the duke only sought the crown of Castille ; he disre- garded the interests of England in the prosecution of his ambitious designs, by adding to the multitude of its enemies the kingdom he desired to conquer : but prevented from being of any effectual service at home by the fears or the policy of Richard's friends, it was perhaps too much to expect from his pa- triotism, that he should sacrifice his foreign projects for the welfare of a nation so ready to misrepresent his actions and to distrust his sincerity. Yet the following; storv tells so much to the discredit of j^v^jd^ V@ John of Ghent, that we cannot be surprised at the r ^j^ popular clamour which the transaction it reports created ; and it is still farther interesting, as not only developing the character of the Duke of Lan- caster, but as it tends to illustrate the spirit .of the age, the whimsical, yet melancholy contrast of law- less oppression and chivalric honour which were the leading features in the conduct of knights and nobles, and were not unfrequently combined in the same J3T8. person. Johnof Ghent, eagerly desirous to strengthen his interest in Castille, procured an order from the king for the delivery of the son of the Earl of Denia into his hands, a noble Spaniard, taken in the late campaign by two English gentlemen, and detained by them according to the custom of war until they should receive the stipulated amount of his ransom.* * Daniell's History. YOUK AND LANCASTIMI. '21 The captors resisted the duke's demand as unjnst, CHAP^I. and took refuge in the sanctuary of Westminster, trusting to the privileges of the place for security against farther persecution ; but this precaution availed not against the Duke of Lancaster : a band of soldiers headed by two gentlemen in the duke s service entered the church, and endeavoured to dras: the fuo-itives from their retreat : the kniirhts^ assisted by their servants and the monks, stood upon their defence ; one of the assailed persons fell in the skirmish, and the scandal raised by a murder thus sacrilegiously perpetrated at the foot of the altar, compelled the king whose name had been employed to sanction the outrage to abandon the odious means which had led to this catastrophe, and to treat with the survivor for the ransom of his pri- soner. The terms being arranged, the Spaniard ap- peared in the garb of a menial ; a disguise which his principles of chivalric conscientiousness had induced him to assume, in order that he might remain con- cealed from the agents employed to force him from his captors, whose right to the benefit of his ransom he had thus religiously maintained. The ill success of an expedition to Bretagne com- i398. manded by the Duke of Lancaster at this period reduced him still lower in public estimation. Though not destitute of military talents, the duke was unfor- tunate in his continental wars. It would be tedious and unnecessary to enumerate all the circumstances which crippled the arms of England, during a con- test wherein fortune had so long declared herself X favourable to the enemy. Edward's conquests had disappeared like a dream, and it required the spirit^ 22 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. I. the influence, and the resources of that enterprising monarch to regain any approximation to the ascend- ance which he had once possessed in France. Experience had taught the French to avoid general engagements in which they usually sustained defeat. It was now their policy to suffer their invaders to traverse the country without opposition, and when the hostile troops were wasted by the hardships which they encountered, in weary marches and scanty fare, to hang upon their retreat, and oblige them to quit the kingdom reduced in numbers, and unsignalized by any action.of importance. The Scots in the meantime harassed the English border, which was valiantly defended by young- Hotspur, the son of the Earl of Northumberland, who commenced his career in arms with a promise of the glorious immortality in after years so proudly linked with the name of Henry Percy. Upon the return of the Duke of Lancaster from Bretagne he was employed to negotiate a truce with Scotland ; his younger brother the Earl of Buckingham had succeeded him in France, and he had dispatched the Earl of Cambridge to the assist- ance of the King of Portugal, whose friendship and alliance his designs upon Castille rendered him very desirous to cultivate. The absence of the king's uncle at this juncture from the seat of government was particularly unfor- tunate ; the men who had been appointed by par- liament for the guardians and advisers of the young monarch, were unequal to the trust ; and the only person in the kingdom who could have maintained the authority of the sovereign against tlie dangers YORK a:\'J) LANCASTER. ^23 which surrounded him, had the singular ill-fortune CIIAP. I. to be denied the regency by the suspicions of the nobles, and to be charged by the common people with the blame of every unpalatable measure emanating from the crown, which they supposed to be entirely under his controul. A spirit of insubor- dination had manifested itself amongst the lower orders, which the grievous and tyrannical manner cf levying an odious tax ripened to open rebellion. Urged to assert their rights by the preaching of dis- satisfied priests, oppressed by heavy burthens, and goaded by the brutal insolence of petty tyrants, the commons of Kent, headed by a daring individual, issij called from his trade, A¥at Tyler, took up arms in defence of their liberties ; and the flame spreading iv.e*f~ with fearful rapidity the population of Essex crowded to the standard of the Kentish leader, whose numbers by this formidable reinforcement were increased to a hundred thousand men.* The first act of the insurgents affords a strong in- stance of the feeling which upon this occasion per- vaded the mass of the disaffected. They assembled in great force on the road to Canterbury, and arresting all passengers and travellers, obliged them to take an oath of allegiance to King Richard, and to the com- mons, and to swear never to receive any king who should be named John ; "and this," says Holingshed, " was the envy which they bore to the Duke of Lan- caster, John of Gaunt." The torrent, gd^^ fresh strength as it swept along, rushed onwards with overpowering force to London. Panic struck, and unable to withstand the popular fury, the king's * Walsinghara. 24 THE 1LI\ AL HOUSES OE CHAP. I, ministers yielded to the tumultuous rabble, not even attempting to defend the Tower though garrisoned by an adequate force ; and thus abandoned by their fears to the vengeance of an incensed enemy, seven persons the most offensive to the rebel crew, in- cluding the chancellor, the treasurer, and the farmer of the tax, were seized without resistance and dragged to immediate execution. The Duke of Lancaster's splendid palace in the Savoy, fell a sacrifice to the hatred of the populace; the work of destruction was performed with such zeal and celerity, that scarcely a vestige was left of its previous magnificence. The duke's massy plate was hammered and cut into pieces, and the precious stones ground to powder and mingled with the dust; as revenge, and not plunder, was the motive for this and for similar outrages. A proclamation was issued^ by the insurgents, forbidding their followers to en- rich themselves with property condemned to wanton demoHtion; and the new lawgivers were so tenacious of their authority that they punished with the loss of life a confederate too strongly allured by the view of the riches of the palace to resist the temptation of appropriating a part : the offender was thrown into the Thames together with a silver cup which he was observed to secrete in his bosom.* The triumphant rioters burnt the Temple with the library and records ; beheaded every individual whom they encountered unprepared with a satisfac- tory answer to the question, "With whom boldest thou ?'* If the prompt reply, " With King Richard and the commons,"! did not immediately satisfy the Stow. f Walsingham. YORK AND LANCASTER. 25 inquirer, instant execution followed, and deeply im- CHAP. I. bued with the vulgar intolerance of foreigners the sanguinary mob dragged sixty-two unfortunate Flemings from the different churches to which they had vainly fled for refuge, and struck off their heads amid shouts of exultation. This frightful scene of disorder lasted three days, June i2, in, without any attempt to repress it on the part of the government except by ineffectual negociations. Even those who possessed sufficient courage to repel the insolence of Tyler and his adherents were so totally devoid of judgment that they precipitated their sovereign to the very brink of ruin j and nothing save the undaunted courage and extraordinary pre- sence of mind displayed by the boy king, could have extricated hini from the dangerous situation in which he was placed by the rash valour of William Walworth the mayor. Richard had twice endea- voured to make terms in person with the insurgents ; on the twelfth of June he went down the river to meet them,* but was compelled to retreat by the alarm of his attendants. The next day he issued, unarmed from the Tower, and held a conference with the most amicable of the malcontents, which, but for the ambition of their turbulent leader misrht have been productive of the most happy events. On the fifteenth of June,t the king, riding through i38i. Smithfield attended by sixty horsemen, encountered Tyler at the head of sixty thousand rebels. Three different charters had been previously submitted to this insolent reformer and rejected by him with contempt.;!: On perceiving the royal party, the * Froissart, f Walsin-hun, X Knyghton. 526 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. I. Kentish leader commanded his followers to halt, and boldly rode up to the king whom he addressed with his usual confidence. The extravagance of the rebel's demands occasioned some hesitation ; and, whilst Richard held a short debate with his friends on the expediency of granting or refusing his pro- posals, Tyler affected to play with his dagger, tossing it from hand to hand ; and, whether through the ambition of appearing on an equality with a crowned head, or with a more mischievous design, laid his hand upon the bri.dle of ^his sovereign's horse. The indignation of WalWortfrat this insult, too powerful to be subdued urged him to the commission of an June 15. act of Unparalleled rashness ; he buried his sword in the rebel's throat, and struck him dead to the ground with the blow. The astonished host who were witnesses of this transaction, and now saw their leader fall, instantly drew their bows to avenge his death ; and Richard, in this imminent peril was only ^/preserved by the unconquerable gallantry of his spirit. Spurring his horse, he galloped up to the insurgents, exclaiming, " What are ye doing, my lieges ? Grieve not for the death of the traitor Tyler j I will be your king, captain, and leader !" and put- ting himself wholly into their power he adroitly drew them towards the fields, where, disconcerted and incapable of farther effort, with no opportunity of increasing their numbers, they remained, until a thousand armed men collected in haste by the mayor came to the assistance of the king. The rebels, terrified by the appearance of the royal troops, threw themselves upon their knees and begged for mercy, which Richard graciously accorded : and to YOUK AND LAXCASTEIl. 27 his infinite honour refused to revoke the pardon CHAP. I. thus granted, when urged by his friends for leave to punish the excesses committed by the misguided men who had so happily failed in their dangerous attempt. The universal outcry had increased against the Duke of Lancaster during the rebeUion ; rumour mag- nified the excesses which had been committed on his property. He was informed that his castles of Leicester and Tutbury had been pillaged, and that two bodies of ten thousand men each were lying in ri^^^c)^^ 9^*^ wait to intercept his return. Other reports stated that the king had sanctioned the proceedings of his uncle's enemies, and had availed himself of the pub- lic commotions to effect his ruin. These assertions were devoid of truth ; but they induced his officers at Pomfret to refuse admittance to the Duchess of Lancaster ; and John of Ghent found the gates of Bamborough castle shut upon him by his old ally the Earl of Northumberland. Alarmed by these hostile movements he deemed it prudent to withdraw^ into Scotland, where he remained until the king invited him to return by issuing a proclamation couched in terms most honourable to his character, and autho- rizing him to travel with a body guard for the security of his person. But the insult which he had received rankled deeply in his heart ; he expos- tulated warmly with the Earl of Northumberland on the part which he had taken against him in the presence of the king and court, exclaiming, " Harry Percy, I did not think you were so great a man in England, that you would dare to order any cities, towns, or castles, to be shut against the Duke of !i^8 THE lllVAL IIOUSK3 OF CHAP. I. Lancaster." The earl respectfully answered, " My lord, I do not deny the knights' act at Berwick ; but 1 was ordered by the strict command of King Richard, who sits there, on my honour, and under pain of death, not to suffer any one, lor i or otherwise, to enter the cities, towns, or castles of Northumber- land, if he were not an inhabitant of those places : and the king, if he pleases, or the lords of the council, may make my excuses ; for they well knew you were in Scotland, and you ought to have been excepted out of their orders." "How! Earl of Northumber- land," replied the duke, " do you think there should have been a reservation in regard to me ? who am uncle to the king, and who have my inhe- ritance to guard ; which, next to the king's, is the greatest ; and who, for the good will of the realm, have made the journey to Scotland ? — Your answer does not excuse you from having much wi'onged my honour, in thus giving credit to the reports in cir- culation, that I wished to commit treason with the Scots, by shutting against me the king my lord's town, and in particular that in which my provisions and stores were ; for which reasons, I tell you, you have ill-behaved ; and for the blame you have thus cast on me, and to clear myself, in the presence of my lord the king, I throw down my glove ; take it up if you dare." Richard now interposed, and, taking the blame upon himself imputed the omission of his uncle's name as an exception to the general order to the peril and confusion of the times. But it was difficult to appease the duke's wrath, and it was not until the Earls of Salisbury, Suffolk, Stafford, and Devonshire, had cast themselves on their knees VOIIK AND LANCASTER. 29 before Iiim, that he consented to withdraw his chal- CHAP. I. lenge, and overlook the affront. Froissart, from whose interesting Chronicles the above record of the Duke of Lancaster's feelings is extracted, informs us, that the king having arrived at a marriageable age various ladies were proposed to him, and among others, a daughter of his uncle John of Ghent, by his first wife, the Lady Blanche of Lancaster. The duke was desirous that this union should take place ; but the consanguinity of the parties, and the advantages which would accrue from a foreign alliance, were objected to a match which we may easily imagine would be violently opposed by the duke's numerous enemies, and little desired by the king, who was in continual dread of being subjected to his kinsman's controul. Anne of Bohemia, sister of the Emperor Wenceslaus, became the consort of Richard ; a princess of great beauty and accomplishments, and styled, from the active virtues of her heart, " Good Queen Anne.'* 30 TIIK RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAPTER II. Truce with France and Scotland — Ivfractions of the latter — The Duke of Lancaster's Expedition — Accusations of a Carmelite Friar — Out- rage committed by Sir John Holand — Violent conduct of the Earl of Bxickingham — Character of the King — Employment of John of Ghent in France — ^''ew attempts of his Enemies — Interference of the Princess Joan — Sir' John Holand received into favour — War with Scotland — Sir John Holand' s second Outrage — Anxious entreaties of the Princess Joan — her death — Opposition to the Duke of Lan- caster — The King's unpopularity — Exaltation of the JVobles — Envy of the Favourites — The Duke of Lancaster'' s designs upon Castille — Confederacy of the Nobles — Charge against the Chancellor — hdimi- dation of the King — Kaval Exploit — Richard's progresses — Con- sultation ivith the Judges — The King's hopes — their defeat — Pro- ceedings of the Confederates — Appeals of treason — Flight of Rich- ard's friends — The Duke of Gloucester's ambitious designs — Ad- vance of the Duke of Ireland — The Defeat at Radcot Bridge — Vindictive proceedings of the Council — Charge against the Favourites — Their Execution — Gloucester's Administration — Dismissal of the Council. CHAP. II. The war in France beino; still unfortunate the & ]384. Duke of Lancaster concluded an armistice with that country in which Scotland was comprehended ; but the articles of the truce being very ill observed by the latter, the duke marched with an army across the border, and effectually crippled the enemy by burn- ing the villages and destroying the forests which had YORK AM) LANCASTER. Si liitlierto sheltered the retreating marauders from tlie CHAP.II. pursuit of the EngHsh. Soon after the duke had performed this service for tlie state he was again assailed by calumny. During the meeting of a parliament held at Salisbury, a Car- melite friar presented a written paper to the king, containing the particulars of a conspiracy, alleged to have been formed for the purpose of ])lacing the crown upon his uncle's head. Richard, by the ad- vice of his friends made the duke acquainted with this accusation, who swore that it was false, offered to trust his innocence to the hazard of battle, and re- quired that the ecclesiastic should be secured for future examination. The friar unintimidated con- tinued to assert the truth of his story, and was com- mitted to the care of Sir John Holand the king's uterine brother, a knight renowned for his chivalric exploits, and infamous for his cold-blooded assassi- nations. He abused the trust reposed in him, tor- tured his unfortunate prisoner with monstrous and unheard-of cruelties to force him to confession ; and being disappointed in his purpose, strangled him with his own hands during the night, and caused his body to be dragged through the streets branded with the name of traitor. This inhuman murder was not calculated to remove the suspicions against the duke, but only, on the contrary, served to involve the whole affair in un- fathomable mystery. The Lord Zouch, whom the friar had named as the author of the scroll which charged the Duke of Lancaster with traitorous de- signs against his nephew, denied, upon oath, all knovvledge of its existence; and testimony of a more 32 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. II. dubious nature was given by the Earl of Bucking- ham, who burst into the presence of the king with ; his sword drawn, swearing that he would murder the first man who should accuse his brother of trea- son.* The ferocity of Thomas of Woodstock, thus boldly displayed, could not fail to make a strong im- ^pression upon Richard's mind. The king had advanced at least two centuries in refinement beyond the age in which it was his misfor- tune to live.- Secluded from early association with his warlike uncles by the too anxious tenderness of his mother, he had imbibed from the apparently harmless companions with which he was surrounded a taste for " dances, carollings," and other elegant amusements, whicli, instead of enjoying as a relaxation from the more laborious pleasures of the chase and the tourney, were the exclusive objects of his pursuit.']" The na- tive valour of his ancestors flashed out in Smithfield at the call of danger ; but he rarely exposed his person in the perilous sport of the tilt, remaining a passive spectator of the exploits of others and de- lighting in the magnificence rather than in the exercise of the hardy pastimes of his court. The contrast of his character with those of his kinsmen will be developed in the course of this history, in which events press so rapidly upon each other, that at present there is little space for the more enter- taining description of manners. Though the subsequent conduct of John of Ghent affords strong evidence of his innocence of the plot imputed to him by the Carmelite friar, yet the in- human murder committed upon that accuser, and the • Walsingham. t Fi'oissart. YORK AND LANCASTER. 33 intemperate interference of the Earl of Buckingham, CHAP. II. occasioned well-grounded suspicions at the time. He was however employed in France to obtain a May. prolongation of the armistice ; and during his ab- sence the council resolved upon his arrest. Gaining intelligence of this design he eluded the vigilance of his enemies, and entrenched himself in his strong castle of Pomfret, or Pontefract, where he made preparations for an open war. The king's mother, always in terror of the Duke of Lancaster and aware of the danger attending a disunion between the sovereign and so powerful a subject, offered her services as a mediator between them ; and though she was of a delicate and tender habit and so corpu- lent that she could scarcely support herself, jour- neyed north and south from one to the other until her earnest entreaties procured a reconciliation, which was sealed by a full pardon for her elder son Sir John Holand, under merited disgrace for the late atrocious violence committed on the person of his prisoner.* The truce with France and Scotland being ended, England was threatened with an invasion by the combined forces of both countries. The Scots were strengthened by a thousand men at arms sent to their aid by the government of France, and Richard putting himself at the head of an army eighty thousand strong advanced with his uncle John of juiy, Ghent to meet the enemy. At York where the ^^^^* royal troops rested on their march. Sir John Holand again disgraced the knightly character by dipping his hands in the blood of assassination. One of his esquires had been killed in a brawl by an archer • Ryraer. VOL. I. D 34. THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. II. belonging to the Earl of Stafford. We are told that wlien he heard of his servant's death he was like a madman, exclaiming that he would neither eat nor drink until he had avenged it.* In this mood he unfortunately encountered the son of Lord Stafford, a gentleman of great promise, and inflamed by the sight of the livery he wore sacrificed him on the spot ; and when informed of his victim's name and title answered with his usual wanton ferocity, " Be it so ! I liad rather put him to death than one of less rank ; for by that I have better avenged the loss of my squire." The unhappy father called loudly for justice on the murderer, whilst the Prin- cess Joan as anxiously besought her son to shew mercy on his brother. But the king, still remem- bering the death of the friar, repelled her entreaties with unwonted sternness declaring that he would hang the offender if he ever dared to leave the sanctuary of St. John of Beverly ; and the distracted mother unable to survive a sentence which threat- ened to deprive her of a son, so unworthy yet so beloved, pined for a few days and died of a broken heart. Softened perhaps by this fatal catastrophe, or incapable of cherishing resentment against a brother who had previously shared his affection, Richard when too late to save the life of his mother granted a pardon to his guilty relative. Aug. 1. The English enterprize against Scotland com- menced with a promise of complete success ; but it failed through the unabated violence of those malig- nant aspersions cast upon the calumniated Duke of Lancaster. Richard had advanced as far as Aber- * Froissart. YORK AND LANCASTER. 3.5 deen, reducing the intermediate towns with one ex- CHAP.II. ception* to ashes in his progress ; when advice was received that the Scots, though neglecting the de- fence of their own country, were making reprisals by carrying fire and sword into the unprotected counties upon the frontier of England. The Duke of I^ancaster proposed to march back to the border by a different route from that which the king's forces had pursued in their approach, and to intercept the enemy upon their return. This measure was at first approved ; but during the ensuing night the king's favourites contrived to poison the mind of their sove- reign, so that the next morning Hichard turned angrily away from his uncle, saying, " You, Sir, may go with your men where you please : I with mine shall return to England, and all those who love me will follow me." " Then I shall follow you,'* re- Aug, 30. plied the duke, " for there is not a man in your com- pany who loves you so well as I and my brothers ; and if any one but yourself dare advance the con- trary I am ready to throw him my glove. "f The king and his courtiers remained silent but steady in their determination to return home; and the martial duke had the mortification to witness the disappointment of England's hope, in the abandonment of a cam- paign which he trusted would have completely dis- abled the enemy. Pursuing a line of conduct which as far as it regarded the king was invariably cal- culated to produce confidence, he acquiesced in * Edinburgh would have been consigned to the flames, like Stirling, but for the gratitude of Duke John, who led the English, and who could not forget the kind reception he had met there when in adversity. — Buchanan. t Froissart. D 2 36 THE ElVAL HOUSES OF CIL\P.II. Richard's determination and relinquished all farther ' efforts to carry on the v/ar. - The youthful monarch had already injured him- self in the estimation of his people. The pacific dis- position which he displayed was not congenial to the sanguinary spirit of the times ; and a deeper cause of disgust existed in the king's unbounded prodi- gality. The treasure spent by Edward III. for the prosecution of a war however unjust and unneces- sary, administered to the gratification of national pride, and Englishmen have seldom thought that laurels could be purchased at too high a price ; but they looked with an evil eye on the wealth which was lavished upon favourites, who if they were un- deserving the bitter censure which was cast upon them, were at least not distinguished by any of those brilliant qualities which might have justified the monarch's excessive liberality. The marriage of the king with Anne, sister of the Emperor of Ger- many, though highly honourable occasioned new causes of discontent. The queen came to England accompanied by a numerous train of Bohemians ; her beauty, virtue and grace secured the warm affections of her husband ; and he gratified the princely munificence of his disposition by costly gifts to the strangers in her retinue. The jealousy of foreigners to which every nation is prone, ren- dered this unseasonable bounty extremely offensive to the English people, and loud murmurs were heard on every side. Nov. 5. At the first parliament held after the Scottish campaign the king confirmed many promotions which he had bestowed during that expedition. He YOllK AND LAIvCASTEll. 37 exalted one of his uncles, Edmund of Langley Earl CHAP.lt. of Cambridge, to the dukedom of York, and another, Thomas of Woodstock Earl of Buckingham, to that of Gloucester. Already the second oerson in the •i i. state the Duke of Lancaster could scarcely bo in- vested with any new dignity short of the crown ; wherefore Richard conferred the earldom of Derby on his son Henry of Bolingbroke, at the same time that with a view to check the aspiring hopes of his ^^ uncle of Lancaster, he declared Roger Mortimer ^,^^\j.yr.^ Earl of March, grandson of Lionel Duke of Cla- \i,/^rt£ rence third son of Edward IIL, the heir presump- 3\<8j9^-< tive to the throne. The king also created Edward Plantagenet, son of the Duke of York, Earl of Rutland; and trusting that he had satisfied the princes of the blood, he proceeded to indulge his own inclination in the advancement of his favourites. He gave to Robert de Vere Earl of Oxford the title of Marquis of Dublin ; and made Michael de la Pole Earl of Suffolk. But it was in vain to hope that the jealousy of an imperious baronage could be appeased by those dignities which they saw shared by men of birth inferior to their own. The ancient nobility called the Earl of Suffolk in scorn, Michael of the Pole ;* and though De Vere traced his an- cestry up to the Conquest he was held in nearly equal disdain.-j- The title of marquis, a novelty in England, was rendered odious by being bestowed upon a man so little esteemed ; and as Speed ob- serves, " it was among the infehcities of King • Speed, t They grew in hate, as they did in honour, for many of ancient nobility did not stomach their undeserved advancement, and with these the votes of the people generally went. — Lives of Roger Mortimer, Earl of Kent, and Robert Earl of Oxford. 38 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. II. Richard, thai those times were too full of sour and impatient censors for a prince of so calm a temper and yet unseasoned years." At this period the revival of the Duke of Lancas- ' ter's hope of obtaining the crown of Castille, induced him to conclude an alliance with the King of Por- tugal and to lead an army to his assistance; an event which was hailed in England with universal joy. The king, long taught to behold a dangerous rival in his uncle was happy to be relieved from his appre- hensions ; the favourites were equally delighted at the removal of a prince whom they feared and hated ; and the commons who had always testified their dislike of the duke on this occasion granted him a liberal subsidy for the purpose of expediting his departure.* Nothing of splendour was omitted 1386. that could add honour to this armament. Richard presented his uncle with a crown of gold, and the queen made a similar gift to the duchess his con- sort. The daughters of John of Ghent by both his wives accompanied him with a suitable retinue ; and Sir John Holand who had married Elizabeth the eldest was appointed constable. The duke left the care of his possessions in England to his son the Earl of Derby, who now first appeared on the politi- cal stage as an active coadjutor in the measures of his uncle the Duke of Gloucester. The short-sighted policy of Lancaster's enemies was soon apparent in the fatal consequences, domes- tic and foreign, of his absence; and he who had been always regarded as the source of every dan- ger apprehended either by king or commons was now discovered to have been always the commor * Parliament Rolls. YORK AND LANCASTER. 39 shield of both. Tlionias of JVpPvistock, regarded CHAP. II. with less suspicion, entertained far more offensive projects ; restrained by the presence and au- thority of his elder brother he had not as yet be- trayed the full extent of his self-willed passions and inordinate ambition ; but the check removed, he took advantage of the defenceless state of the kingdom, its powerful foreign adversaries and its internal weakness, to wrest the whole power and authority from Richard's ministers, and to deprive his nephew of every thing save the title of a king. The absence of the army under the Duke of Lan- caster offered to the French, burning with desire to avenge the disgraces w'hich they had sustained in Edward's reign, a favourable opportunity for the invasion of England. Immense preparations were made by the enemy, whose forces in cavalry and in- fantry exceeded a hundred thousand men. The tidings of this alarming expedition were received in England with dismay ; and though the national confidence was kept alive by a prompt and vigorous adoption of defensive measures, still the possible result of the intended invasion filled the public mind with apprehension ; and the juncture seemed to be peculiarly fitted for the purposes of a faction who were excluded from the government, and who now sought to usurp the Vv'hole authority under a spe- cious pretence of the necessity of their interference to restore the prosperity of the kingdom. The Duke of Gloucester had drawn four of the most potent barons of the realm, the Earls of Warwick, Arundel, Nottingham and Derby into his party ; and the confederates proposed to themselves to 40 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. II. establish a permanent council, similar to that which for a time overawed John, Henry III., and Edward II., whereby the king should be rendered merely a passive instrument in the hands of his nobles. The faction now charged the king's officers with enrich- ing themselves with the public revenues, which became inadequate to meet the expenditure of the country, whilst the nation was impoverished by taxes, the poor compelled to abandon their farms from inability to pay their rents, and the higher classes in consequence deprived of a large portion of their incomes.* The extravagance of the royal household in some degree sanctioned the charge ; but that the evil was not so grievous as it had been represented may be inferred from the voluntary remission on Richard's part during the preceding year, of a tenth and fifteenth which had been granted him in parliament. The king after a few ineffec- tual struggles to resist this Formidable league, con- sented to the imneachment of the chancellor De la Pole, the sum of whose delinquencies if truly stated will serve to exemplify the spirit of his and of the king's enemies. " There was also," says Speed, *' the Lord Chancellor De la Pole,^ accused of, wee wot not what, petty crimes. As for paying to the king's coffers but twentie marks yearly for a fee farm, whereof himself received three score and ten." The accusations brought against this minister were • Knyghton. t The chaiges against Suffolk were slight ; and chiefly turned on pecu- niary aid whirh he had received from Richard. To these he had some claim, as his father (a rich merchant) had been ruined by lending money to Edward lU.—Cvtton. YORK AND LANCASTER. 41 very ably refuted: and though surrounded by so CHAP.II, many enemies his judges were compelled to acquit him upon four charges ; his answers to the remain- ing three were pronounced to be insufficient; and he was sentenced to be imprisoned during the king*s pleasure, and to forfeit those sums mentioned in the indictment which it was contended had been ille- gally granted. The punishment assigned to the Earl of Suffolk's alleged offences is a proof that the evils of the ad- rninistration had been greatly exaggerated, since the principal culprit had escaped from his persecutors with so mild a doom. The Duke of Gloucester and his associates however proceeded vigorously in the measures which they had concerted for the reformation of the state ; they subdued the obstinacy of the king with threats, and on his declaration that he would dissolve the parliament, the common? reminded him of their power by sending for the statute which had deposed Edward II. Intimidated, Xor. i9. and unequal to combat against this potent conspi- racy, he was unwillingly induced to sign a commis- sion which vested all the authority of the crown in the hands of eleven prelates and peers, for the pur- pose of inquiring into the conduct of the officers of the royal household and the examination and amendment of the abuses of the government. Richard nevertheless though too weak wholly to resist the usurpation of the nobles, yet was still able to refuse his sanction to the duration of this council for a period exceeding twelve months j and at the close of the session he openly and in person pro- tested against the transactions of the parliament, as "'^"^ 42 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. II. affecting the prerogatives of the crown. The new administration tliough armed with extensive powers did not perform many actions worthy of record ; and 1337. the chronicles of the time are silent respecting the redress of grievances and the discovery of abuses. Services more analogous to the pursuits of the age were rendered by the Earl of Arundel, who being appointed Admiral of the Fleet, obtained several splendid successes at sea and enriched the ports of England with an hundred and fifty sail of foreign vessels. The hostile movement contemplated by France was delayed from time to time and finally abandoned j and now it was that England relieved from the danger of a foreign invasion was threatened with the horrors of civil war. Richard, desirous to escape from the personal controulof his council, passed the year of his humi- liation in making progresses through the kingdom. He visited York and Chester ; and in all places of his sojourn diligently sought to court popularity by graciously acceding to the petitions of his subjects. His friends, De Vere, (^now raised to the title of Duke of Ireland,) De La Pole, and the Archbishop of York, were naturally anxious to re-instate him in the regal authority and to secure their own return to power ; the unwarrantable means pursued by the Duke of Gloucester, to force the kino; into submission seemed to justify an appeal to arms, and having obtained at several consultations the opinion of the judges, who concurred in pronouncing the commission which superseded the king in the exer- cise of the royal authority, to be subversive of the constitution, and declared both the members who YORK AND LANCASTER. 4S moved for the statute of the deposition of Edward CHAP.li. II., and he who brought it into the House, to be traitors, and also that the advisers and abettors of the late violent proceedings were liable to capital punishment; they invited the gentlemen and the burghers of the provincial towns in and near which the king resided, to repair to the court of their sove- reign, and swear to hazard their lives in his defence. Richard's popular manners had secured the affections of the people, and none of his subjects thus con- vened, declined to take the oath of allegiance, or to wear the livery of him from whom they had so lately received so many manifestations of kindness.* Sir Nicholas Bramber an active magistrate in London, undertook to secure the co-operation of the citizens, and animated by the expectation of brilliant success the king prepared to return to his capital, which he reached on the tenth of November, nine days previ- ous to the expiration of the commission ; entering amid the acclamations of the populace, and greeted by the mayor and the principal citizens, who testified their respect by assuming his livery of white and crimson. The Duke of Gloucester and his party however were too vigilant to permit themselves to be sur- prised by the measures of the young monarch and his feeble associates. They were accurately informed of all his councils;'}" one of the judges faithless to his oath, had already revealed the important secret with which he had been entrusted ; and the confederates, aware of the proceedings intended to be employed against them, had with equal caution and dispatch • Walsingham. t Kayghton. THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. II. assembled a powerful army; and the king on the day after his arrival in London, found to his asto- nishment and dismay that he was surrounded on all sides by an armed force. The gratifying reception however which he had met with in the city, kept alive a hope of effectual resistance, in pursuit of Not. 12. which he issued a proclamation forbidding the sup- ply of provisions or any other assistance to the troops in the neighbourhood. But upon the fol- lowing day the Duke of Gloucester, together with the Earls of Arundel and Nottingliam, advancing to Hackney at the head of forty thousand men, sent a letter* to the mayor and aldermen, clothed with assurances of respect and loyalty to the king, yet asserting their determination to deliver him from the thrall of evil counsellors, for which laudable service Nov. 13. ^hsy demanded the aid of the municipal authorities under pain of severe penalties. The three lords commissioners were joined upon the following day by the Earls of Warwick and Derby, with reinforce- ments of soldiers ; and now, Richard completely overpowered by numbers was obliged to grant them Nov. 17. an audience. The king ascending his throne in Westminster Hall waited two hours, while the five lords affecting to be apprehensive of treachery re- fused to approach the palace until they had sent to search the houses in the Mews, in which it was rumoured a secret ambush had been placed to sur- prise and cut them off.]' On their entrance into the royal presence the duke and his party assumed the outward appearance of respect, but after bending their knees in humble reverence and solemnly pro- • Pailiamcnt Rolls. f Parliament Rolls. YORK AND LANCASTER. 46 testing their undeviating loyalty and unshaken CHAP. II. attachment to the person of their sovereign, they appealed,* according to the phrase of the time, the king's chief favourites, namely, the Duke of Ireland, the Chancellor De la Pole, the Archbishop of York, Sir Robert Tresilian, Justice, and Sir Nicholas Bram- ber, Knt. of treason; and throwing their gauntlets on the floor each offered to prove the truth of his respective charge by single combat with the accused. Richard dissembling his grief and indignation con- ducted himself with the utmost courtesy towards these imperious nobles, and referring the decision of the cause to parliament assured them that justice should be inflexibly maintained. The king's friends now made aware that flight alone could save them, secretly withdrew from the scene of danger. Suffolk fled to the Continent; the Duke of Ireland to the borders of Wales ; and the archbishop obtained shelter and concealment in the north. The king himself in the meantime still unwilling to submit "without a struggle gave his sanction to De Vere to levy troops in his defence, promising to head them in person at the earliest opportunity. The duke full of hope raised the royal standard, and a strong body of Cheshire archers under Molyneux the constable instantly rallied round the royal colours. Gloucester eagerly watching for an ex- cuse to cast off his allegiance ventured upon the • The history and practice of '« Appeals," both of treason and other crimes, under the ancient law of England, has been diUgently explored, and amply illustrated, in a work elicited by a recent judicial and parliamen- tary occasion, entitled, " An Argument for Construing largely the Right of an Appellee of Murder, to insist on Trial by Battle ; and also for abolishing Appeals." By E. A. Kendall, Esq. F.S.A. 8vo. London, 1818. I 46 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. II. intelligence of this rising to sound the dispositions " of his adherents, and following the example of Richard he inquired of the learned in the law, whether there were not circumstances which would release a vassal from the fealty and homage which he had sworn to his sovereign ? and next proceeded Dec. 10. at a meeting at Huntingdon to move the deposition of Richard, and the removal of the crown under his own custody.* The Earls of Arundel and War- wick, and the Lord Thomas Mortimer, approved of the design ; but on this occasion the E^axLpf Derby, supported by the Earl of Nottingham, re- solutely defended his kinsman's rights. The am- bition of the house of Lancaster here fortunately interposed to defeat Gloucester's projected usurpa- tion. Henry Bolingbroke woidd not submit to the exaltation of a younger branch of the Planta- genets, and had Richard been aware of his true interests he would have felt that the security of his throne depended upon the mutual jealousy of his uncle and his cousin, which must prevent both from obtaining the prize. In the interim the Duke of Ireland was advancing with rapid marches upon London, but attempting to cross the Thames he was surprised and defeated Dec. 20. at Radcot bridoe by the Earl of Derby,t who in 1337 . . *" . . . this victory over the favourite approved himself highly accomplished in the art of war. Surrounded on all sides, his retreat cut off by the Duke of Gloucester, and attacked in front by a superior force, De Vere relinquished his project without an efFort,;f and hastily dismounting from his horse • Parliament Rolls. f Parliament Rolls. J Knighton. YORK AND LANCASTER. 47 plunged into the river and swam to the opposite CHAP. II. bank.* The darkness of the niglit and a report of his death favoured his escape. Molyneux tlie constable disdained either to surrender or to fly, and met a more honourable fate from the weapons of his adversaries. The king was now left wholly at the mercy of the council, and incapable of farther resistance he submitted entirely to their will. Rigorous in the execution of their authority every friend of the unfortunate monarch was im- mediately removed from his presence. Even his confessor was changed, his chief confidents to the number of eleven were apprehended and impri- soned, ten lords and knights and three ladies were banished from court, and a proclamation was issued for the arrest of the Duke of Ireland, the Archbishop of York, and the Earl of Suffolk, v/ho had saved themselves by timely flight. It is painful to contemplate the scene of blood which followed. The parhament, at that time Feb. 4. dignified by the name of the "wonder-working;" but since, more justly entitled, the " merciless," unanimously seconded the views of the Duke of Gloucester; and gratified him in the full measure of his revenge. The charges against the king's favourites were not confined to mal-administration : those persons were accused of striving to compass the death of the lords commissioners, and of other designs equally unfounded and absurd. It was not the custom of that, nor of many succeeding times, to allow a disgraced minister to escape with Hfe, and the three principal culprits being beyond the * Walsinghara. 4S THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. II. reach of their enemies they wreaked their ven- geance upon Sir Robert TresiUan and Sir Nicholas Bramber ; the former having been the chief instru- ment in obtaining the decision of the judges, and being also stigmatized as cruel and unjust in the execution of the duties of his office, was condemned Feb. 19. and hurried to the scaffold without pity or regret. But the next victim. Sir Nicholas Bramber, an active magistrate who had preserved the peace of the city in times of civil tumult, was sacrificed to the hatred of his persecutors rather than for any infrac- tion of the law. So difficult indeed was it to find charges against this loyal subject, that he was ac- cused of things, " which," says Andrews, " were more ridiculous than criminal, such as wishing to change the name of London to Troy, and then to be created Duke of Troy." To possess the confi- dence and affection of the king was a crime con- sidered worthy of death by the stern and flinty- hearted Duke of Gloucester. Not content with the blood of those who had already expiated their guilt upon a scaffold, nor with the total ruin of the fugitive lords, he determined to annihilate every friend that the evil fortunes of his nephew had left him in his adversity. ■ -'The lives of the judges who had signed the offensive declaration of the illegality of the mea- sures pursued by the confederate lords, had been spared at the intercession of the bishop, and the milder doom of banishment to Ireland substituted for that of death. But this was a solitary act of mercy ; four knights, the old and tried friends of the king, were impeached by the commons as YORK AND LANCASTKR. 4-9 aiders and abettors of the condemned traitors. Of CIIAP.IT. these, Sir Simon Burley had been guardian to Richard by the appointment of his gallant father the Black Prince. He had watched over the infancy and youth of his charge with parental solici- tude, and the young king regarded him with filial^ affection. Employed to negotiate the marriage between Richard and his queen, the happiness of the royal pair cemented their attachment to their friend and counsellor and every effort which anxious friendship could dictate was made to save him from unmerited punishment. The king deprived of the most precious attribute of his throne the power of extending mercy to the condemned, and obliged to solicit favour from those whom he had been accustomed to command, in the extremity of his grief condescended to implore his uncle to extend a pardon to his dear and trusted friend. The tjrant replied, tlmt. he .must, either sacrifice his favourite or his crown. The beautiful the gracious the good Queen Anne joined her prayers to those of her husband, and kneeling for three hours with tears and entreaties pleaded the cause of mercy, but in vain ; the inexorable Duke remained unmoved and returned a stern denial to the royal beauty weeping at his feet. The Earl of Derby softened by the distress of his relatives and touched by the virtues and accomplishments of the persecuted knight, essayed to melt the vin- dictive spirit of his uncle : equally unsuccessful he turned from him in anger, and Gloucester with unrelenting cruelty pursued his fierce revenge, VOL. I. E .50 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. II. Richard still unwilling to abandon every hope of savino- his friend persisted for three weeks i.i assert- ing his innocence against his accusers ; and by refusing to assent to his condemnation, obliged the Duke of Gloucester to have recourse to sinister means to effect his purpose.* During the absence of the king and those lords who were favourable to their sovereign's wishes he summoned Sir Simon Burley to appear ; his fate had been previously decided by the dake's party, and condemnation Miiys. was follovv'ed by immediate death. ^ His fellow- prisoners Sir John Beauchamp, Sir James Berners and Sir John Salisbury, were executed a few days afterwards j and satiated with blood the duke at length desisted from his work of slaughter. y Gloucester and his associates continued to direct / the government for the ensuing tw^elve months, (^whilst Richard retained merely the name and title of a king. The administration of his uncle though less sanguinary than its opening had promised, was not distinguished by any illustrious actions nor of a kind to secure the public voice and interest the nation in its ccntinnance. The duke's popularity began to decline ; and the confederacy which in * Parliament Rolls. t The characier of Sir Simon Burley has been blackened by the monks of Canterbury, who ascribe his untimely end to his design of removing Becket's shrine to Dover, for security against the French fleet. Knyghtoa says he was originally worth but twenty marks, but rose to such a height of wealth that he enjoyed above 3000 marks a year ; and gave one Christ- mas to his own and the king's servants and retainers, in liveries, 140, 160, and even 220 suits, some of cloth of gold, and some of scarlet. Froissart says, " from my youth I had known him a gentle knight and a man of parts." — Gougfi's Srpulchral Monuments. YORK AND LANCASTER. 51 its commencement had been so irresistible, no CHAP. II. longer meeting with opposition dissolved of its own accord. Richard acquired the friendship of several of Gloucester's partisans ; he perceived the advan- tage whicli he had gained and by an effort as daring and successful as that which had saved his life in Smithfield he boldly released liimself from the sway of his uncle. At a s'eneral council held after Easter the king i3S9. suddenly required the Duke of Gloucester to tell him his age. " Your Highness," returned the duke, " is in your twenty-second year." " Then," said Richard, " I must be old enough to manage my own inheritance; it is not just that I should remain in ward longer than any other heir in my dominions. I thank ye, my lords, for the pains you have taken in my service, but shall not require your assistance in future." Before the assembly had recovered from the astonishment occasioned by this unexpected ad- dress, he demanded the seals from the Archbishop of York and the keys from the Bishop of Hereford. The council was immediately dismissed and another formed more anrreeable to the kino;, in which the Duke of_York and the Earl of Derby^ though sharers in thejcoaimission so.adious to_the sovereign,, retained a place. The Duke of York had been a mere cipher in his brother's hands and his conduct to Richard was unmarked by the brutality which had disgraced the Duke of Gloucester, Bolingbroke though he had taken a more active part against his cousin had the address to regain his favour ; and Gloucester alone of the princes of the blood de- E 2 52 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. II. parted from court in sullen discontent: yet that the king was not unwilling to receive him into grace again may be inferred by his recall to a seat in the 1389. council, on the return of the Duke of Lancaster from Guienne.* • Knyghton. Walsingham. Rymer. YORK AND LANCASTER. 53 CHAPTER III. Campaign of John of Ghent — Marriages of the Princesses — Richard's Administration — Bolinghroke'' s Policy — Favour enjoyed by John of Ghent — Disputes in the Council Chamber — The Earl of Derby''s Expedition — Gloucester's inordinate avarice — Death of the QiLcen — Richard's departure for Ireland — Death of one of the Favourites — Suggestions respecting the King's Second Marriage — Alliance with France — Character of the Duke of York — Third Marriage of John of Ghent — Gloucester's discontent — Reports relative to the Duke of Gloucester — Competition between him and Bolingbroke — Conduct of John of Ghent tovsards his Brother — Arrest of the Earl of Arun- del and of Gloucester — Appeals of Treason — Arundel's Answer — His Execution — Warwick's Pusillanimity — Gloucesler's Death and Attainder — Petition of the Commons — Banishment of the Primate. The expedition of John of Ghent into Spain was CHAP, in its commencement attended by a series of bril- ^^^' liant successes ; town after town submitted to his victorious arms and he had possessed himself of a vast tract of country when his progress was stopped by the ravages of the climate amongst his troops. Attacked in his own person by disease which nearly reduced him to the grave, he was obliged to retreat to Guienne, and leave the task of bringing off the remnant of his shattered army to his son-in-law, Sir John Holand. But though baffled in his attempt to gain the crown of Spain by force, be fixed it upon 64 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, his posterity by a master stroke of policy.* The duke j[^ had concluded a marriage between the King of Por- tugal and PhilHppa his youngest daughter by his first wife ; a prudent choice on the part of the Portu- guese to avoid embroiling themselves with their neighbours of Castille, by a claim which would in- volve them in continual war or unite the two crowns under one sovereign, an event equally undesired by both countries : and when the mortality amongst his troops compelled him to relinquish his conquests, he listened with apparent pleasure to the proposals of the Duke of Berri eldest son of the King of France, for the hand of Catherine the daughter of Con- stance, the heiress of her mother's rights, desiring only to consult the King of England his nephew, upon the subject. The Duke of Berri was satisfied with so favourable an ansv/er, and John of Ghent artfully employed the time which necessarily inter- vened before a reply from England could be ob- tained, in spreading intelligence of the negociation through the surrounding courts. The news of an al- liance pregnant with such serious evil to Castille soon reached the ears of the king, and he hastened to pre- vent it by the only expedient in his power, that of offering his own son as a husband for the princess. Constantia the duke's consort, waived her claim to the throne in favour of her daughter, and a mar- riage was immediately concluded which gave Jo Spain a long line of sovereigns of the illustrious house of Lancaster. j The administration of the government of England /which Richard had now resumed, proceeded for * Froissart. YORK AND LANCASTER. 55 some time in comparative tranquillity. The king; CHAP. seemed anxious to conciliate the affection of all the < ;_ princes of the blood, and he had not as yet betrayed that thirst for revenge and that rapacious appetite for irold which afterwards so directlv led to the loss of his crown and life. But though a good under- standing apparently subsisted between the Earl of Derby and the sovereign whose pardon for his par- ticipation in the acts of the Lords' Commissioners he had asked and obtained upon his knees, the ex- clamations wrung from Richard in the agony of his despair at a subsequent period, would lead us to imagine that Henry Bolingbroke's ambitious spirit had early taught both his father and his cousin to regard him with apprehension, and that the former* had more than once determined to defeat his trai- torous designs by putting him to death. Boling- broke's courtship of the common people and em- ployment of every popular art to secure their voices is described by all our historians ; and it would ap- ' pear that at one time he warmly seconded the opinions of the Duke of Gloucester, who upon every occasion placed himself in direct opposition to the wishes of the king, disdaining to make the slightest attempt to efface by a temperate demeanour the remembrance of those cruel excesses which he had committed in the insolence of his power. Richard had now learned to distinguish his true friends'r""'2\.ll jealousy of his"°imcle John of Ghent had subsided and he testified the extent of his attachment to this valued kinsman by the magnifi- cent grant of the sovereignty of Guienne for life. * See Webb's translation of Creton's Metrical Histoiy. 56 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. On the arrival of the Duke of Lancaster at the seat , of liis government he found the inhabitants strongly attached to the memory of the Black Prince, and considering themselves as subjects only to the im- mediate descendants of that hero, averse to the ap- ])ointment. Their consequent murmurs were so loudly expressed t!iat the king's advisers suggested the expediency of the duke's recal. This measure however did not suit the views either of Glouces- ter or of Bohngbroke, who were evidently under some restraint in the presence of John of Ghent; and when the question was debated at the council board tlie former maintained that it would be de- rogatory to the king to revoke a grant passed solemnly by the advice of his council and parliament upon account of the rebellion of his subjects; since he could not call himself master of his own inheri- tance unless he exercised the right of bestowing it on whom he pleased. The members of the council expressed their disapprobation of this bold sentiment in their countenances though none dared to dissent by words, so much were they in awe of the Duke of Gloucester. Their astonishment and dismay was increased by a speech of similar import from the Earl of Derby, and perceiving that the uncle and the nephew were in league together they would not carry on the discussion any farther, but in low whis- pers one to the other testified their dislike of the high tone which these princes had assumed. The duke and earl indignant at this mortifying rebuff, flung out of the council chamber; and after a hasty dinner by themselves in the hall, the Duke of Glou- * Fioissart. YORK AND LANCASTER. 57 cester took a slight leave of the king as he sate at CHAP, table and left the place. '_ John of Ghent was recalled, and Richard still continuing to govern with r>rudence and moderation the murmurs and complaints of Gloucester's faction were directed against the king's disinclination to pursue foreign conquests and the consequent dearth of military employments. The duke however de- clined an appointment in Ireland, alleging that it was a country in which neither wealth or glory could be obtained ; and after having asked permis- sion to join the Christians who were fighting against the idolaters of Prussia suffered himself to be pre- vented from lending his assistance to the cross by a storm at sea which obliged his ship to return to port a few days after his embarkation. The Earl of Derby,* more in earnest in his wish to gather laurels was not so easily deterred. In the year 1390, at- tended by a numerous retinue he served a campaign against the Lithuanians ; and comparisons were even now drawn between his active valour and the king's determined sloth, much to the disadvantage of Richard. After the earl's return however from Prussia it does not appear that he shared in the violent councils of the Duke of Gloucester, whose concurrence with the sovereign's wishes was only to be purchased by rich gifts. Avarice at this period was one of the ruling pas- * Henry of Bullingbrooke, Earl of Derb\', loath lo spend his hours ia sloath, but desirous to pursue renown in forraine parts, sayled over to the warres in Prussia, where in sundry places against the Lithuanians he won great honour, which by comparison of King Richard's cahunesse, prepared a way for him in the Englishes affection to poynts more emment,— Speed. 58 TIIK rUVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, sions of the great mIio made a shameless display of '_ their never-ceasing desire to add to fortunes already enormous, and scrupled little respecting the means of appropriating any species of property once placed within their grasp. " The Duke of Gloucester," says Froissart, " was cunning and malicious, and continually soliciting favours of King Richard, and pleading poverty though he abounded in wealth ; for he was Constable of England, Duke of Glouces- ter, Earl of Buckingham, Essex, and Northampton, and enjoyed besides pensions from the King's Ex- chequer to the amount of four thousand nobles a year ; and he would not exert himself in any way, if he were not well paid." This mercenary spirit was shared by Gloucester's contemporaries : and it is said that the affection which once subsisted be- tween him and his brother the Duke of Lancaster, was considerably weakened by a successful ma- noeuvre on the part of the latter to obtain for his son a rich inheritance, which Gloucester had hoped to fix irrevocably in his own family.* The duke had married the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Hum- phrey Earl of Stafford and Northampton, one of the richest lords and landholders in England, his yearly income being valued at fifty thousand nobles. The younger sister of the duchess remained under the guardianship of her brother-in-law, wlio anxious to secure the whole property kept her strictly secluded froni the world. Conversing only with nuns, the young heiress seemed inclined to renounce the splendid destiny which awaited her at a brilliant * Froissart. YOUK AND LANCASTER. ^9 court, for the tranquil pleasures of a conventual life, CHAP. and Gloucester departed upon an expedition to ;_ France in the full conviction that his fair kinswoman would take the veil. The vigilant eye of John of Ghent had been long fixed upon the intended nun whom he was desirous to unite in marriage with his heir. In the absence of Gloucester the artful duke prevailed upon the Countess of Arundel the aunt of the co-heiresses, to assist in his design. The countess managed the whole affair very adroitly : after paying a visit at Plesley, the Duchess of Glou- cester's usual residence, she invited the Lady Mary her youngest niece, to accompany her to Ariihdet"^ Castle where she was introduced to Henry of Lan- caster, and a marriage effected which destroyed Gloucester's avaricious hope. " The duke," ob- serves Froissart, " had no inclination to laugh when he heard these tidings, for it would now be neces- sary to dividean inheritance which he considered wholly as his own. When he learned that both his brothers had been concerned in this matter, he be- came melancholy, and never afterwards loved the Duke of Lancaster as he had hitherto done." The death of Richard's consort Anne of Bohemia, in the year 1314, was the remote cause of infinite ' evil. The king overwhelmed with grief thought at first only of indulging his affliction. He cele- brated the funeral obsequies with extraordinary splendour ; and we are told that a slight shewed by the Earl of Arundel upon this occasion revived all the king's displeasure against the offender, and even led to his destruction which followed within a few years afterwards. In allusion to the circumstances Co THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, wlilch produced the eaii's disgrace, Walsingham says, '_ that Queen Anne's burial was branded with the exe- cution of that gallant nobleman. Richard dissipated his melancholy by an expedition to Ireland where he reduced the rebel tribes to obedience. But the gratification obtained by his triumph v»'as alloyed by the disastrous fate of his still-valued friend the Duke of Ireland, who received a mortal wound from the tusk of a wild boar whilst journeying through a forest in Brabant : not deeming it prudent to evince the extent of his attachment to that unfortunate fa- vourite, the king did not send for his body until three years afterwards ; nevertheless he seized the occasion to grant a pardon to Sir John Lancaster the companion of the duke's exile, and restored the earldom of Oxford to his uncle Aubrey De Vere. The probability of the king's second marriage in- fused as we are informed by Froissart, new hopes into the mind of the Duke of Gloucester, who flat- |tered himself that he should succeed in accomplish- I ing the alliance of the monarch with his own daugh- I ter : but if Richard on a former occasion had de- I clined a union with a Lancastrian princess through j dread of his uncle, John of Ghent, he was now still more unwilling to become the son-in-law of Thomas V of Woodstock. So far from desiring a closer con- nection with his haughty kinsman the anxiety never sufficiently concealed which the king had long en- tertained to secure a permanent peace with France, now openly manifested itself in the solicitation of the hand of Isabel daughter of Charles VI., a prin- cess no more than eight years old. The Dukes of York and Lancaster approved of this match ; the III. YORK AND LANCASTER. 6l formjgr had married a second time and was now CHAP, united to a beautifid young woman daugliter of the Earl of Kent, and never fond at any period of his life of interfering in state affairs, was grown still more devoted than formerly to the gratification of the banquet and the amusement of the chase.* The latter had lately received an important favour from the king, having again become a widower he had exposed himself to the censure of the world by taking for his third wife Alice Swynford, a lady of beauty and accomplishments, but of low birth and more than dubious virtue. She had borne him several children during the lifetime of the two pre- ceding duchesses, and the displeasure conceived by the ladies of the court and more particularly by the Duchess of Gloucester, at her exaltation, would have subjected the Duke of Lancaster to many mortifica- tions, had not Richard happy to oblige his uncle countenanced and supported his new consort; not only securing to her the enjoyment of those honours and dignities to which her marriage had entitled her, but even exerting himself to procure the consent of parliament to the legitimation of her childi'ea,„the eldest of whom he created Earl of Somerset.t , " When this marriage (saysFroissart) was told to the ladies of high rank, such as the Duchess of Glouces- ter, the Countess of Derby, the Countess of Arundel, and others connected with the royal family, they were greatly shocked, and thought the duke much to blame. They said he had sadly disgraced himself by thus marrying his concubine ; and added, that since it was so, she would be the second lady in the * Froissart. f Parliament Rolls. 62 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP kinsjdom, and the Queen Isabel of France would be TTI "-^ '_ dishonourably accompanied by her ; but that for their parts they would leave her to do the honours alone, for they would never enter any place where she was. They themselves would be disgraced if thev suffered such a base-born duchess, who had been the duke's concubine a lono; time before and during his marriages, to take precedence, and their hearts would break with grief if it were to happen. Those who were the most outrageous on the subject, were the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. They considered the Duke of Lancaster as a doating fool, and declared they v/ould never honour his lady by calling her sister. The Duke of York made lightly of the matter, for he lived chiefly with tlie king and his brother of Lancaster, The Duke of Gloucester was of a different way of thinking, he yielded to no man's opinion, was naturally very proud and over- bearing, and in opposition to the king's ministers, unless he could turn them as he willed." The king had not been inattentive to the fortunes of his other uncles, but no fav^our could win a gra- cious concession from the Duke of Gloucester : in- dulging in the moroseness of his disposition, the latter took no pains to conceal his disgust at the frivolous amusements of the court, and affecting to disdain the pacific temper of the sovereign he in- gratiated himself with the discontented and unem- ployed knights by espousing the national prejudice in favour of a war*. As, too, in the plenitude of his power he had displayed the savage ferocity of his relentless heart, so, when no longer able to deal destruction and death upon those who had incurred YORK AND LANCASTER. 63 liis hatred he gratified his spleen by uttering sar- CHAP. casms upon the existing government, and studied '_ how to convince the world that his hostility at least was unabated though his power had ceased. He made a parade of his dislike to the proceedings of the council, not appearing at the board until after the lords had assembled, and departing before the conclusion of the meeting. These petty but un- ceasing provocations kept the flame of resentment alive in the king's breast, when the deep l^Tongs which had been received from his tyrannical uncle in earlier days might have been forgiven, had they not been followed and their memory revived by so much persevering enmity. The following story, which is strongly illustrative of the style of language in which the Duke of Gloucester indulged himself when addressing the monarch he delighted to in- sult, is to be found in Grafton, and is also noticed bv all the old historians. The Duke of Bretagne, a short time after the dis- solution of parliament in 1397 sent according to previous agreement a sum of money to the King of England which he had formerly borrowed, and for wliich he had pledged the tovv^n and haven of Brest as a security for the repayment. Richard unwilling to embroil himself with foreigu powers, and pre- ferring in this instance the strict law of honour to the breach of faith which the policy of courts might have excused, resigned the town upon the fultilment of the stipulated terms. The Duke of Gloucester, anxious for war and aware of the great impoitance of the port thus '; imprudently relinquished, con- demned in harsh language the folly of restoring so 64 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, splendid an acquisition for the sake of a promise ^^^- which few monarchs would have scrupled to break. One day at court seeing the hall filled with dis- banded soldiers who deprived of their warlike oc- cupations were living in poverty and idleness, Glou- cester observed to the king that the poor fellovv^s who crowded round the palace had been ill paid, and being unemployed were destitute of the means of obtaining their subsistence. Richard in reply said, that he could not be blamed for the situation to which these men were reduced, but he would take care that they should receive the full amount of their pay. The duke answered, " that it had been better they had continued where they were ; he, the king, should first have taken a town by his own valour and conduct before he resigned what his ancestors had left him." Richard stung by this reflection, and scarcely imagining that he heard aright, exclaimed, ** What is it you say, uncle ?" The Duke unabashed repeated the offensive words ; and the indignant monarch unable to restrain his anger passionately rejoined, " Think you that I am a fool, or a merchant, to sell my land? No! by John Baptist, no! But our cousin the Duke of Bretagne having paid the sum for which the town and haven of Brest were engaged to me, both honour and conscience require that I should restore it." jTiie historian informs us that the duke's rude jspeech made a strong impression upon Richard's fmind, and that he hated his insolent relative ever after for the " brand of cowardice he had cast upon him." A matrimonial alliance between the royal families of England and France afforded ample YORK AND LANCASTER. 65 scope for Gloucester's animadversions, and though CHAP, his consent was purchased at a .high price he did ^^^- not the less scruple to express his indignation at the utter extinction of military glory which had been effected by the king. Richard's immediate friends were not silent ob- servers of the insults which were unsparingly heaped upon him by his imperious kinsman. Reports were afloat that the duke meditated a second revolution in which he intended to place the Earl of March upon the throne. There were strong reasons to believe that at a former period he had contemplated the possibility of usurping the crown, but the idea must have been long abandoned. John of Ghent, the Earl of Derby, the Duke of York and his two sons stood before him ; it was therefore natural that he should direct his attention to the Earl of March the rightfurheir, yet a claimant certain of being opposed by the ambitious Bolingbroke, whose ex- pectations strengthened by the king's marriage with a baby wife were infinitely more brilliant than those of his competitor. Roger Mortimer in the event of the king's death or deposition had scarcely a chance of obtaining his inheritance without the assistance of the Duke of Gloucester ; and of that \ assistance he was secure, since the duke might hope to influence the conduct and councils of a sovereign ; raised by his efforts to the throne, whilst he must feel equally certain of being comparatively neglected ) should Henry Bolingbroke prevail. Thus the duke's active and aspiring disposition promised to be the most effectual check to the more dangerous projects of the house of Lancaster; and it was the VOL. I. F 66 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, misfortune as well as the crime of Richard that he ^^^' listened to the dictates of revenge and slighted or overlooked the suggestions of policy. While life remained his crown and person were safe so long as Gloucester and Derby were opposed to each other ; and their mutual ambition offered a certain pledge that their union would never be accomplish- ed. Yet waiitonl}'^ reminded of former injuries, and goaded by the recollection of his murdered friends, the king trusting to his apparent security blindly followed the impulse of his heart ; and by _C£ush- ing Gloucester paved the way for IBoITngbroke's , exaltation. , it ■:,.■ A J^'f^r©-' From the conduct of the Duke of Lancaster, it would appear that he had always disapproved of his p>^'"' brother's violent measures ; and that if at any time he had cherished a hope of the accession of his im- mediate descendants to the throne of England, the advantages which would accrue from the removal of a man who openly favoured the more just preten- sions of the Earl of March, might have influenced his opinion of the duke's guilt. But it is difficult to account for the active share which John of Ghent took in the ruin of so near a relative, without sup- posing that he was instigated by some personal feel- ing, some private interest or resentment ; for it is certain that when Richard had determined to exe- cute the scheme of vengeance which had been long brooding in his breast, he obtained the sanction of both his uncles the Dukes of York and Lancaster for the arrest of Gloucester. Their names appeared in a proclamation issued to still the popular clamour occasioned by the apprehension of a nobleman so Ill}- iO. YORK AND LANCASTER. 67 highly esteemed ; and though that paper stated CH/V? that the proceedings against the duke and his con- '_ federates the Earls of Warwick and Arundel were instituted for offences wholly unconnected with the events of the tenth and eleventh years of the king's reign, Gloucester was subsequently pronounced a traitor by his own brother, solely for his participa- "" tion in the outrages of that period ; no evidence being adduced to prove that his late discontent had assumed any other form than that of the open mur- murs and secret menaces in which he but too fre- quently indulged.* The Earl of Arundel, who had rendered himself , • af'y. particularly offensive to the king, was seized and hurried to Carisbrook Castle ; and the Earl of War- wick after being lodged in the Tower was con- veyed for greater security to Tintagel in Cornwall. Richard himself accompanied the party appointed to apprehend his uncle ; who, unconscious of the impending storm was enjoying domestic quietude at Pleshy. Gloucester it is said hastened to the gate of his castle to meet and welcome the royal visitor ; but historians differ respecting the exact mode in which the arrest took place, some averring that the duke was immediately given into the cus- tody of the Earl of Nottingham, Earl Mareschal, while by the statement of others it appears that the king after enjoying the hospitality of Pleshy, invited his unsuspecting relative to accompany him on his return to London and made him prisoner on the road. A vessel which lay waiting in the Thames conveyed the duke Jo .Calais, a place of • Parliament Rolls. F 2 68 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, confinement admirably suited to the views of his ^^^' remorseless enemy. The completion of the tragedy was at hand; Richard turned the weapons formerly employed by the Duke of Gloucester and his associates to their own destruction. They were appealed of treason by the Earls of Kent, Huntingdon, Nottingham, Salisbury and Somerset, the Lord le Despencer Sept .IT. and Sir William Scroop. The king arrived in Lon- don attended by a strong body of Cheshire archers, and perhaps to this precaution he was indebted for the ready subservience of both peers and commons. The former charged the imprisoned lords with usurping the regal power and compassing the death of Sir Simon Burley against the king's will and con- sent ; the latter declared all the pardons both gene- ral and particular which the king had been forcibly constrained to grant to be null and void ; and im- peached the Archbishop of Canterbury, brother of the Earl of Arundel, as an aider and abettor in the conspiracy which had set aside the authority of the crown. The Earl of Arundel being called upon for his answer pleaded the pardon which he had re- ceived from the king. Being told that it was revoked he disdained to ask for his life ; and as there was little difficulty in proving his guilt upon the former occasion, he was condemned to suffer death, the merciless rapidity of the execution plainly evincing that revenge and not justice obtained the sacrifice.* Warwick pusillanimous in adversity, confessed himself to be a traitor ; and purchasing a few years of existence by the abject acknowledg- * Walsingham. YORK AND LANCASTER. 69 ment was banished to the Isle of Man. The death CHAP, of the Duke of Gloucester, which took place at _ Calais under circumstances which flistened a strong suspicion of foul play upon the king, prevented his looked-for arraignment at the bar of the House. The lords appellants demanded judgment upon him, and being seconded by a petition from the commons, the Duke of Lancaster pronounced the sentence which declared his brother to be guilty of treason and confiscated his estates to the crown. The next day the duke's deposition which had been taken in prison was read ; wherein after acknow- ledging his illegal persecution of the royal favourites, he strenuously maintained that since the day on which he had renewed his oath of allegiance to his nephew at Langley, his faith and loyalty had never swerved.* The commons next proceeded to pray for judgment against the primate, who had not ap- peared in his place since his impeachment. His absence was afterwards imputed to an ungenerous artifice on the part of the king ; who it was said dreaded the effect of his eloquence and had there- fore urged him not to irritate his enemies by ap- pearing in person, but to entrust him with his defence. Richard now affirmed that the archbishop had confessed his guilt and thrown himself upon the royal mercy ; whereupon his life was spared and he was pronounced to have forfeited his temporalities to the crown and incurred a sentence of perpetual banishment. Though the Duke of Lancaster had been induced either by a conviction that Gloucester had in reality harboured dangerous designs against • Parliament Rolls. 70 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, the king, or through a less conscientious motive to- aid the vindictive measures of the monarch, his son the Earl of Derby, was too deeply impUcated in the only conspiracy proved against the Duke of Glou- cester, not to feel considerable apprehension at the unexpected development of Richard's character. He saw that under a gay and careless exterior he masqued a cruel, implacable, and designing heart. He placed no faith in his word, and could not trust to the outward marks of favour which he had received. YORK AND LANCASTER. 71 CHAPTER IV, Elevation of the Kohles — Inseciirity of the Appellants — Conversation between Morfolk and Bolingbrokc — Richard's Inquiries — Moiv- brafs Surrender — his Denial of Hereford's Accusation — A Duel appointed — the Combatants appear in Arms — Richard's Interpo- sition — he pronounces Sentence — General Discontent — Submission of the Duke of Lancaster — conclusions drawn from his passive conduct — advice to his Son — Bolingbroke's Interview with the King — their mutual Deceit — Bolingbroke^s Departure — anxiety to ally Himself with the Duke of Berri — Salisbury's Embassy — Richard's Unpopularity — his Despotism — Death of John of Ghent • — Seizure of Bolingbroke's Inheritance — The King's Expedition to Ireland — Bolingbroke's Correspondence — he lands in England — his Oath — Charges against Richard — Disaffection of the Army — Flight of Richard' s Forces — Bolingbroke enters London — Defection of the Regent — Illegal Executions — TJie King''s Delay — Albemarle's Treachery. Richard bad endeavoured to make a distinction between the respective guilt of the confederates, by IV declaring that the Earls of Derby and Nottingham had been misled by the subtle practices of his uncle ; but that their loyalty was proved by their early abandonment of his councils on the discovery of their treasonable purpose. The king had therefore included them in the new dignities which he con- ferred upon the nobles who had assisted in the de- CHAP. 72 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP molition of the objects of his long-smothered hatred. _^* The Earls of Derby and Rutland were created Dukes of Hereford and Albemarle ; the Earls of Kent, Huntingdon and Nottingham, Dukes of Surrey, Exeter and Norfolk ; the Earl of Somer- set, Marquis of Dorset ; the Lords Despencer, Nevil, Percy and William Scroop, Earls of Gloucester, Westmorland, Worcester and Wiltshire. But the Earls of Derby and Nottingham, now the only two remaining of the five lords who had appealed the king's favourites of treason, were far from feeUng secure in their new honours ; they had seen Richard caress the very men whom he had marked for de- struction ; and knew not the moment in which they might themselves be sacrificed to his revenge. Their mutual danger seemed to warrant mutual confi- dence ; yet Norfolk was irretrievably ruined by im- parting his apprehensions to the Duke of Hereford. It is impossible to account for the conduct of Henry Bolingbroke on this occasion, unless we suppose that aware of the utter faithlessness of a corrupt and profligate age he suspected that his old friend and coadjutor had laid a snare for him ; and therefore resolved to anticipate the intended perfidy by revealing the particulars of a private conversation which passed between them at an accidental meet- ing on a public road ; for the habitual wariness of Bolingbroke's character will scarcely permit us to imagine that he incautiously betrayed a secret of a nature so delicate and dangerous. According to his statement the Duke of Norfolk declared that he believed that they were both upon the point of being undone upon account of the affair at Radcot YORK AND LANCASTER. 7^ bridge ; and that the king's ministers and favourites, CHAP. the Duke of Surrey, the Earls of Wiltshire and ^^• Salisbury, and through their machinations the Earl of Gloucester, had sworn to effect the ruin of six lords ; being the Dukes of Lancaster, Hereford, Albemarle and Exeter, the Marquis of Dorset and himself; and that it was " so marvellous and false a world," that even the king was not to be trusted. Richard became acquainted with the import of the alleged observations either by common report or by a clandestine communication from his cousin, and summ.oning the Duke of Hereford to appear before him, he charged him upon his oath of allegiance to render an exact account of every circumstance which had occurred between himself and the Duke of Norfolk to the lords in council, after which he also required him to prosecute the duke before parlia- ment. Mowbray did not appear in his place but surrendered upon proclamation ; and having been admitted to the presence of the king manfully protested his innocence and gave the lie to his accuser. Richard placed both the dukes under arrest, and a court of honour was forthwith insti- tuted to judge the cause between the parties. Hereford reiterated the charge which Norfolk as stoutly denied as far as it regarded the king, though he admitted that he had cast aspersions upon certain lords in Richard's service. The conversation had taken place without a witness, and each stedfastly adhering to his own statement the court could not decide upon the truth, but ordered the issue to be tried by single combat. The Duke of Hereford * Parliament Rolls. 7"^ THE RIVAL HOUSES 01' CHAP, as the appellant gave the challenge, and a day being appointed for the encounter they both appeared Sept. 16. before the king in arms. Richard exulting in his late success and meditating the establishment of an absolute monarchy, saw and seized what he judged the favourable moment for removing from his pre- sence two noblemen whose hostility he had once ex- perienced and whose power he still dreaded. After the preliminary ceremonies had been ad- justed between the Duke of Hereford and his antagonist and the most intense interest created in the minds of the numerous spectators who awaited with anxiety the issue of the battle, the king-sud- ^denly suspended the proceedings; and affecting to take council from the committee of parliament, which formed a part of the assembled multitude, pronounced sentence of banishment upon the accuser and the accused. Norfolk was condemned to per- petual exile ; but Hereford met a milder doom, he was ordered to quit the kingdom within the space of four months and the term of his absence was limited to ten years.* A conclusion so different from that which had been anticipated gave univer- I sal umbrage ; and the injustice of the king's decree in thus confounding the innocent with the guilty, added pity and indignation to the strong aflfection which the people already lavished upon their idol Henry of Bolingbroke. The Duke of Lancaster silently acquiesced in the king's proceedings against his son. Age had quenched that fiery spirit which had been wont to blaze forth upon the slightest provocation ; and his * Parliament Rolls. YORK AND LANCASTER. 7^ tacit approval of a sentence which threatened to CHAP. separate him for ever from the heir of his illustrious ;_ house, afterwards gave occasion to Bolingbroke's enemies to affirm that he had advised and sanctioned the measure.* But if we may give credit to the testimony of Froissart, who reports th£„_current opinion of the time, the duke was not inattentive to his son's interests, having dissuaded him from going to Hungary and recommending him rather to amuse himself at the courts of his relatives in Castille and Portugal when he should become tired of France ; advice which manifestly tended to his remaining within a convenient distance of England in order to take advantage of the first favourable opportunity which should offer to return. Previous to Bolingbroke's departure a scene of deep dissimulation was acted between him and the • Because his father was of the council and perhaps as Seneschal of Eng- land had to pronounce sentence officially upon his own son. Merks in his speech before the parliament in behalf of Richard II. has been made to say that " the duke was banished the realm by King Richard and his council and by the judgment of his own father." But if this testimony should be considered dubious, the fact is confirmed by the manifesto published under the name of Archbishop Scroope, and affixed in 1405 to the doors of the churches in York. This goes farther, affirming that he was doomed to exile " per sententiam domini regis Ricardi, doraini Johannis ducis Lancastriae, populorum que {sic) dominorum temporalium et regni procerum voluntatem, et consensum suum, saltern verbotenus ab eisdem dominis expressatura — juratus de non redeando vel remeando in regnum Anglise, priusquam gratiam regiam obtinuissat et habuisset." Henry must have given his father some trouble, as by Richard's own account of him John of Gaunt had passed sen- tence of death upon his son two or three times, and he was himself once obliged to intercede for his life. This seems an extraordinary story and was uttered in the heat of passion and anguish during one of his nights of tribulation ; but it is reasonable to suppose that there must have been some foundation for it. — Notes to a Translatmi of a French Metrical His- tory of the Deposition of King Richard II, published in the twentieth volume oj the Archceologia. 76 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. king. He had been encouraged to repair to the ^^- court at Eltham where he was received with an affectation of kindness by Richard; who conceahng the~^ecret feehngs of an envious and jealous heart, attempted to amuse him with a hope of speedy recall by remitting at once four years of the terms of his exile. Henry not less skilled in the art of deceiv- ing, answered with apparent gratitude, " My lord I humbly thank you ; and when it shall be your good pleasure you will extend your mercy ;"* though in his present disgrace the first fruits of that bitter animosity which he had purchased by his active par- ticipation in the Duke of Gloucester's conspiracy, he must have seen the settled purpose of the king to involve him in the same ruin which had pursued his confederates to banishment and to death. Bolingbroke quitted the kingdom under circum- stances which could not fail to excite the most pain- ful sentiments in the breast of his persecutor. All ranks and classes crowded round him with testimo- nials of affection and respect. The Lord Mayor and many of the principal citizens accompanied him as far as Dartford on his journey, and others rode with him even to Dover. The common people were vehement in their expressions of attachment, and but that the voice of lamentation and mourning was mingled with the shouts and blessings which greeted him from assembled multitudes, his progress from London to the place of embarkation more nearly re- sembled the triumphant march of a conqueror than .j^ the pilgrimage of an exile proscribed and banished from his native land ; whence repairing to Paris, the * Frois5art. S^ '' YORK AND LANCASTER. 77 hospitable welcome which he received from the CHAP • • IV French court induced him (being now a widower) to |_ ask the hand of Marie, daughter to the Duke of Berri, in marriage. The intelligence of this proposal alarmed the fears of his jealous kinsman, and Richard imme- diately dispatched the Earl of Salisbury to break off an alliance which would place the heir of Lancaster in nearly the same degree of affinity with himself to the crown of France; and upon this occasion he no longer scrupled to avow the bitterness of his hatred to Bolingbroke, but branded him in his letter to Charles VI. with the name of " traiton"* The Earl of Salisbury, who it is said undertook his ungracious mission with reluctance,! forbore to pay the customary mark of respect of a visit to the exile ; * Carte offers a reason for the facility with which Richard interrupted the ; match between Henry and Marie. " This was the easier done, because ac- i cording to the feudal law, received both in France and England, the princi- '■ pal nobility of each kingdom could not marry in the other without leave of their sovereign, on pain of forfeiture of their honours and estates." THis statement throws some light upon the origin of Richard's extraordinary conduct towards Bolingbroke after the gracious manner in which he had dismissed him into temporary exile ; but it is not generally adverted to by historians ; and the Rolls which announce the abrupt and tyrannical revo- cation of the king's indulgence, are silent upon the existing cause. It is indeed rather matter of private history than of public record, and could not have been inserted to any advantage ; but had Henry actually married in opposition to him, Richard could then only have proceeded against him as. he did when he might have had some shew of justification. The duke's sole offence in this case was that he had not previously asked his sovereign's consent when he placed his affection on a foreign lady ; and notwith-tand- ing the defence attempted by Hume, it seems no slight exertion of arbitrary authority that such an omission should have been visited with the confisca- tion of all his estates. Richard however was glad of a pretext to inflict addi- tional chastisement upon one whom he had long regarded with aversion ; and having called him " traitor," his next step, right or wrong, was to deal with him as such. — Notes as above. t Froissart. 78 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, and Henry thus made acquainted with the nature of 1_ the King of England's sentiments towards him, saw at once every chance of reconcihation and return to favour at an end, and was prepared to meet the ex- tremity of his cousin's meditated vengeance. Subse- quent events prove that he did not sHght the warning. /^ The mad career, of crime and folly pursued by \ Richard completely alienated the affections of his ■people. Freed from the restraint which had hitherto I curbed his most vehement desires, the ill-advised Imonarch's vices became hideously apparent ; he squandered large sums of money procured by rapine and extortion upon his rapacious favourites ; set no bounds to his expenditure, and openly t^rampled on every law of justice and humanity in the plunder and oppression of his subjects. The nation was not sufficiently enslaved to endure with patience the king's repeated outrages upon its ancient rights and 1399. privileges, and the death of the Duke of Lancaster hastened a catastrophe which Richard could only have avoided by a timely reformation of those errors which had already conducted him to the brink of ruin. He attended the funeral of his uncle in St. Paul's, but was at no pains to assume the appearance of grief, and wrote an account of the event to the King of France with a sort of joy whilst he forbore to notice it to his cousin ; a contemptuous slight afterwards doubly repaid by the studied insults heaped upon him by the vindictive Bolingbroke, when he in turn exulted over a fldlen enemy. Tempted by the riches of the house of Lancaster* * Could an exact list be formed of the castles that descended by inherit- ance to the Duke of Lancaster the number might excite surprise. Besides YORK AND LANCASTER. 79 snd intent upon the destruction of its envied great- CHAP. ness, the king resolved to deprive the exiled heir of ^ • his inheritance ; and to support that iniquitous measure obtained from a council disgraced by its ready obedience to his illegal acts, a revocation of the letters patent which he had formerly granted in his kinsman's favour empowering him to take pos- session through the medium of an attorney of any and every estate which might fall to him in his ab- sence. An injury so flagrant and so manifest excited general indignation ; the people deeply wronged in their own persons, saw in this daring attack upon the property of a prince of the blood a system of unbounded despotism which called for immediate and powerful resistance. It was scarcely possible for Richard to be ignorant of the combina- tions which were daily forming against him ; yet intoxicated by the success which had attended his late attempts to establish an arbitrary government, he refused to open his eyes to the perils which beset his path ; and with a degree of infatuation which is scarcely to be credited chose this period of irritation i^^^ ^'^'^'^^ and discontent for an expedition to Ireland, whither he allowed himself to be hurried by an intemperate the castellated mansions of various sizes, with which doubtless most of his manors and towns were furnished, the following castles are distinctly speci fied as appertaining to the family at this time; Knaresborough, Ponte- fract, Pickeiing, (co. York) ; Lydel, Dunstanborough (Northumberland) ; Cykhull (Durham) ; Bulingbroke (Limoln) ; Lancaster ; Leicester ; Kenil- •woxih (Warwick) ; Tutbury (^afford); Hertford; Pevensey (Sussex); Monmouth, Skenfrilh, Blanch Castle, Grossmont, Oken, Oggermore. Caer Kennyn, Kidwelly (South Wales and on the Marches). — Dugdale, Baj'oii' age, i. p. 773, et seq. ii. p. 114, et seq. Froiss. xii. c. 12. Archaolofjia., p. 62. vol. 20. 80 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, desire to revenge the death of the Earl of March, ^^' slain in a skirmish with the rebels. Henry Bolingbroke had not been idle nor inatten- tive to his own interests, and received Arundel the exiled archbishop into his councils at Paris, entered into correspondence with the Percies who had re- fused to accompany the king to Ireland, and in all probability made overtures to his perfidious kinsman the Duke of Albemarle, afterwards so openly stigma- tized with the name of traitor by the friends of Richard. By some writers it is affirmed that the citizens of London dispatched a secret message to Bolingbroke in France inviting him to return ; but independent of this proof of popular affection, he was too well acquainted with the estimation in which he was held by the nation at large to entertain any fears respecting the natiu'e of his reception ; and there is jgood reason to suppose, that as lightly regarding the j obligation of an oath as the perjured monarch who \// I was now to suffer for the violation of the sacred I pledge which he had given at his coronation, he I had even before his departure from Paris contem- \ plated the seizure of the crown : although he subse- Iquently endeavoured to make it appear that it was Iconferred upon him by a series of fortuitous events. Artfully eluding the vigilance of Charles VI. upon whose caution Richard too securely relied, he pro- cured a passport under pretence of visiting the Duke of Bretagne, and sailing from France landed with a slender retinue not exceeding fifteen lances be- sides a few servants at Ravenspur in Yorkshire, and was instantaneously joined by the family of the Percies and their numerous dependants. y/ YORK AND LANCASTER. 81 If the House of Northumberland enlertained any cRAP. . scruples at raising the arm of rebellion against the IV, king, they were quieted by Henry of Lancaster's solemn oath taken upon the Gospels, that he came to England solely for the purpose of recovering his inheritance, illegally detained by the hand of power. This assurance he found it advisable to repeat; yet unwilling to trust entirely to the justice of his claim, he fanned the spirit of discontent already abroad, by letters* which were circulated throughout the coun- try, and which imputed the most atrocious and un- heard of designs to Richard, who was accused of entering into an alliance with foreign powers for the purpose of tyrannizing over his subjects ; the people were told that his first measure would be to destroy by " divers torments " all the magistrates of those cities w^hich had ever espoused the cause of the com- mons aojainst him and his council, and that secondly he would secretly introduce his foreign emissaries at a festival where he intended to assemble all the great burgesses, merchants and magistrates, whom he would cause to be apprehended by the mercenaries in his pay, and oblige to purchase rectemption *' by the payment of such heavy imposts, subsidies and tallages, as he should please." " Wherefore, my friends and good people," said Bolingbroke in his letter, *' when the aforesaid matters came to my knowledge I came ov^er as soon as I could to inform, succour and comfort you to the utmost of my power; • The MS. Ambassades has preserved the substance of the letter which was addressed to the city of London, and it is published in the twentietli volume of the Archaeologia. One hundred and fifty to the same purport were sent to different places. VOL. I. G 82 thf: rival houses of CHAP, foi' I am one of the nearest to the crown of England, ^^- and am beholden to love and support the realm of England as much or more than any man alive ; for thus have my predecessors done. My friends, may God preserve you : be well advised, and think well of that which I write to you. Your good and loyal friend, Henry of Lancaster." These things, " Proclaimed at market crosses, read in churches," were admirably adapted to catch the vulgar ear so prone to listen to the marvellous. They raised a general outcry amongst the people who, eager for change and incensed against the king, exclaimed with one accord, " Let Richard be deposed, and Henry declared our lord and governor." In the meantime the invader used more subtle artifices to persuade the nobles to abandon their sovereign ; he assured them that Richard intended to sell all the possessions which his ancestors had won in France to Charles VI., and this assertion was supported by the late resignation of Brest and Cherbourg, places which, however, the king had considered himself bound in honour to re- linquish. Henry's undoubted rights, added to the calumnies so industriously disseminated and so implicitly be- lieved, raised an overwhelming party in his favour ; the grievances which he represented himself as coming to redress, and the justice of his claim, wrought so strongly upon the minds of the nobility, that the Duke of York, regent in the absence of the king, who had summoned the retainers of the crown to assemble under the royal banners at St. Alban's, YORK AND LANCASTER. 83 found himself at the head of a force more inclined to CHAP. espouse the cause of the invader, than to point their ;_ arms against him. Richard's immediate friends the Earl of Wiltshire together with Bussy and Green, members of the committee of parliament and the instruments of his most odious exactions, struck with a sudden panic, fled to Bristol, and the Duke of | York, either unequal to combat with the difficulties of his situation or secretly inclined to favour Boling- broke, marched westward to meet the king on his expected return from Ireland, and left the north road unguarded and free to the approach of the in- surgents. Henry speeded forward to the metro- polis, gathering strength at every step ; the few fol- lowers who attended him upon his landing in York- shire were swelled to an army of sijcty thousand men when he entered London. He was received every where with shouts of triumph, and the joy which pervaded the metropolis at his arrival was commensurate with the grief manifested by its in- habitants on his departure. Froissart tells us that the whole town was so rejoiced at the earl's return that every shop was shut, " and no more work done than if it had been Easter day." Bolingbroke's residence in the capital was short, and wholly devoted to conciliating attentions to the citizens ; having secured them in his interest he marched to the west, and so closely followed the route of the Duke of Y^ork that he reached Evesham the same day in which his uncle arrived at Berkely. An interview took place between the parties, and the fate of Richard sealed by the desertion of the regent, who was persuaded to abandon the royal cause and 2 W' 84 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, to act in concert with the Duke of Lancaster. In- ^^' capable of any great or generous action the Duke of York's natural indolence always induced him to adopt the measures of the strongest party ; he had acted under Gloucester during the whole period of his usurpation, had been equally subservient to the sovereign when the increase of his power en- couraged him to visit the author of his greatest humiliation with the fury of long restrained ven- geance ; and now perceiving that the hearts of the people were with Bolingbroke, he fell away from his unfortunate nephew at the moment of his utmost need, without an effort to preserve him from impend- ing ruin. It will be remembered that Henry had sug- gested a cause of alarm to the House of York, by asserting that the Duke of Norfolk had informed him of the existence of a secret conspiracy which w'ould endanger the lives and fortunes of the most potent lords of the realm, including the Duke of Albemarle ; and that this stratagem had the effect of alienating the affections of the latter from the king we may conclude from the line of conduct which he imme- diately adopted : we are told that notwithstanding the accumulated favours which he had received from Richard, he (unhappily too well assured of the insin- cerity of the monarch's professions), retired from court to his father's residence at Langley, and only joined the royal army in Ireland because he was constable and his attendance required by the duties of his office. That he took advantage of the sove- reign's confidence, who we are informed was im- moderately fond of him, to give advice which he * Froissart. YORK AND LANCASTER. 85 knew must lead to his destruction, appears evident cHAP. from the ruinous delay which Richard was induced ^^• to make in his return to England, by the suggestions of evil counsellors interested in his detention from a .spot where his presence was so loudly called for by the pressing danger of the crown. The subsequent conduct of the nobles who at that time surrounded the king plainly point out the traitor; and in the interim the desertion of his father, from whatever cause it arose, was of infinite service to Henry. Their forces now united consisted of a hundred and twenty thousand men, formidable in themselves, and strengthened by the weight of the Duke of York, who added the authority of regent to his command. The governor of Bristol castle surrendered to the king's delegate though he had previously refused to treat with Bolingbroke, and the possession of this place enabled the latter to proceed to the Welsh frontier with a celerity ^vhich effectually prevented Richard's partizans in the county palatine from rising in his favour. At Bristol Henry dipped his hands in blood by sacrificing to popular fury Scroope Earl of Wiltshire, together with Bussy and Green, members of the committee of parliament and the servile instruments of the oppression of the government. They were beheaded bv the duke's command Vv^ithout a trial ; and having thus cast off' his allegiance and assumed the power of dispensing life and death, the adherents of both parties must have been prepared to see the dispute between the king and his enraged kinsman decided by force alone. The usurper left the Duke of York and his army at Bristol and marched to 86 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. Chester, occupying in his route the castles apper- IV- taining to the duchy of Lancaster which lay upon that southern border, and by this judicious move- ment securing a district always particularly well affected towards the king. Having halted at Chester and whilst waiting the expected arrival of Richard from Ireland, Henry reduced Holt, which in his anxiety to secure a more important post he had neglected whilst pressing onward to Chester. Adverse winds had proved favourable in the first instance to the invasion by ♦ preventing the intelligence of the troubles in Eng- land from reaching the opposite coast ; and three weeks passed away without bringing any tidings of the king ; to whom the news was at length con- veyed either by Sir Stephen Scroope the chancellor, or by Sir William Bagot, both of whom escaped from the destruction of their associates at Bristol ; but instead of proceeding immediately to Wales in person, Richard listened to the insidious councils of Albemarle, and dispatched the Earl of Salisbury to levy troops at Conway, promising to follow without delay from the port of Waterford ; where however still under the guidance of his faithless adviser he was persuaded to remain, wasting his time in col- lecting a fleet until the opportunity of striking an effectual blow was lost, while his soldiers also were exposed to the artful suggestions of an enemy who was but too successful in alienating them from their allegiance. YORK AND LANCASTER. 87 CHAPTER V. Dispersion of Salisbury's Army — Richard's Return — his Abandon- ment — Flight to Comvay — Albemarle' s Defection — Richard's Dis- appointment — Message to Bolingbroke — its Reception — Surrey's Imprisonment — Exetefs Detention — his Letter — Richards Wan- derings — Xorthumberland' s Mission — Revival of the King's Hopes — Seizure of Two Castles — Nor thumber land' s Proposals — their Acceptance — The Bishop of Carlisle's Distrust — Northumber- land's Oath — his Departure — Capture of Richard — his Rage and Lamentation — his Despair — Conduct of Henry of Lancaster — Richard marches in the Train of the Conqueror — is committed to the Tower — Bolingbroke claims the Crown — Richa^'d's Abdication — Superior Title of the Earl of March — Lancaster's Pretensions — his Speech — Richard is deposed — Lancaster's Election — Subinis- sion of the Friends of the Earl of March — Ceremonials at Henry's Coronation — Disputes of the JSfobles — The Titles bestowed by Richard are annulled — Imprisonment of the Mortimers — Henry of Monmouth created Prince of Wales — Richard's Friends conspire against Henry — Treachery of Rutland Defeat of the Insurgents — Execution of Kent and Salisbury — Murders at Bristol — Fall of Huntingdon — Pardon of Two Ecclesiastics — Richard's Death — Suppositions concerning it. — Reports of Richard's Escape. The forces raised by the Earl of Salisbury at CHA.P.V. Conway, alarmed at the king's protracted absence, and continually deceived by the strange reports which were in circulation respecting the cause, melted rapidly away ; and a few days after their 88 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.v. dispersion Richard arrived at Milfbrd Haven, at- tended by a considerable body of men ; but these, ah'eady disaffected to his cause and intimidated by the lukewarm reception which their leader expe- rienced, deserted in such vast numbers during the night that the betrayed monarch dared not trust to the strength or the fidelity of the remainder. Un- acquainted with the disastrous result which had attended the Earl of Salisbury's levy, Richard's council proposed that he should repair in secret and in disguise to Conway, whence he might either fly by sea to Guienne or hazard a battle with the enemy. ^A few of his friends advised him to re-embark with- out delay and hasten to Bourdeaux ; but the former opinion prevailed. Accompanied by a slender train consisting of his uterine brother the Duke of Exeter, the Duke of Surrey, the Earl of Gloucester, the Bishop of Carlisle, Sir Stephen Scroope, Sir William Fereby, and eight others, he quitted the remnant of his army in the dead of the night and bent his course towards Conway. Upon the discovery of the king's departure, the perfidious Duke of Albemarle went over with Sir Thomas Percy to the Duke of Lancaster. The for- lorn monarch arrived at the place of his destination to witness the abolition of every hope of effectual resistance, and to discover that his solitary chance of safety rested in immediate flight. Wavering and irresolute, ignorant of Henry's ultimate design, and still persuading himself that his affairs might be retrieved, he permitted the Dukes of Exeter and Surrey to carry a message to his cousin, in the fal- lacious expectation that they would be enabled both YORK AND LANCASTER. 89 lo fathom the intention of the former and to instruct CHAP.V. himself in the readiest method of baffling or defeat- ing them. The Duke of Lancaster received the messengers au§. 9. from Richard witli secret joy. They discovered to , him both the miserable couiJition to which the king was reduced and the place of his retreat; and Bolingbroke's fertile genius soon suggested the means by which he might be lured from his present wild but secure asylum in a mountainous country, of difficult access to an hostile army, and provided with the means of escape by sea. Upon the arrival of Exeter at Chester he bent his knee before the Duke of Lancaster, and said, " It is but reasonable, Sir, that I should pay you reverence, for your father was a king's son, and my wife also is your sister." " Rise, brother-in-law," said the duke coldly, " you have not always acted thus/* Then taking him by the hand, he drew him aside and they conversed together a long time. The Duke of Exeter's loyalty was incorruptible ; and though Henry in all pro- bability did not venture to disclose the whole of his designs against Richard to the affectionate brother and faithful friend of the ill-starred monarch, the conduct of Bolingbroke excited his apprehensions and he was seen to shed a tear. The kino;'s livery .^,v . of the hart was taken from him, and the fatal emblem of the House of Lancaster, a red rose, substituted in its place. He was separated from his nephew the Duke of Surrey companion of his embassy, to whom the Duke of Lancaster did not deem it necessary to extend his courtesy ; taking little notice of him upon • MS. Atnbussades. C 90 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.V. liis entrance and afterwards ordering him into close confinement in the castle, and Exeter though in more honourable durance was not permitted to return to Conway, but either by threats or promises on the part of Henry that the king's crown and person should be held sacred, was persuaded to write a letter to the royal fugitive assuring him that he might fearlessly rely upon the offers of the Earl I ,' of Northumberland, who was chosen by Bolingbroke ^ 4 to weave the cruel snare in which his luckless rival ^ -"^ was so inextricably involved. Every writer both ancient and modern, is unanimous in reprobating the impious perfidy of this base tool to Lancaster's ambition ; but though nothing can be said in ex- tenuation of his shameless disregard of the most sacred oath, the whole tenor of his latter years is calculated to infuse into the reader's mind a hope, that he was deceived himself by Henry's protes- tations and pretended moderation, and did not con- template the issue that awaited the victim of his arts.* During the absence of the two dukes, Richard, together with those few persons who clung to him in his fallen fortunes, wandered about from castle to castle; but finding every fortress dismantled and destitute of provisions, returned in mental and bodily distress to Conway. The arrival of Nor- thumberland re-animated the king's too sanguine spirit. The latter entered Conway at the head of only five attendants, having taken possession of the castles of Rhuddlan and Flint in his route, and con- cealed the remainder of his party, consisting of a * Metrical History. YORK AND LANCASTER. 91 thousand men at arms and four hundred archers, CHAP. V. behind a rock, at the distance of eight miles from the monarch's retreat. The earl proposed to Richard upon the part of the Duke of Lancaster that he should promise to govern and judge his peo- ple by law ; that the Dukes of Exeter and Surrey, the Earl of Salisbury, and the Bishop of Carlisle, should submit to a trial in Parliament on the charge of having advised the assassination of Gloucester ; that Henry should enjoy his ancestorial dignity of Grand Justiciary of England, and that on the king's acquiescence with these offers the Duke of Lan- caster should come to Flint, ask pardon of his sovereign on his knees, and then they should travel together in amity to London, or proceed thither by different roads as Richard might please to determine. These easy conditions were approved by the too credulous monarch j he declared to Northumber- land his readiness to abide by them ; and in a pri- vate consultation with his friends, he assured them of his determination to provide for their safety at their approaching trial, and to sacrifice their now triumphant enemies at the first favourable oppor- tunity. The king's companions agreed with him respecting the expedience of accepting the terms which Henry offered ; but the Bishop of Carlisle more distrustful than the rest proposed that Nor- thumberland should swear upon the Host to the truth of his asseverations. Mass was accordingly performed, the earl did not refuse the solemn test, and Richard, first adjuring him to remember his oath and the God who liad witnessed it, now suf- fered him to depart in order to facilitate the intended 9^2 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.V. interview at Flint, in which he hoped to gloss over his late conduct, and to obtain a reconciliation with the Duke of Lancaster. Completely deceived by Northumberland's repre- sentations Richard prepared to follow his trea- cherous councillor. Accompanied by twenty-two persons including his servants, he set forward after dinner and rode without molestation to a rocky pass washed on the leftside by the sea and overshadowed by a lofty cliff, where, as the perjured guide had prepared, the unfortunate monarch was betrayed into the hands of his most inveterate enemy. Alarmed by the appearance of pennons in the valley, the king would have retreated, but Northumberland coming up at the moment seized the bridle of his horse and he was instantly surrounded and led away a prisoner to Flint. The unhappy captive called upon God to reward the earl and his accomplices at the last day for their treason and perfidy, and turn- jing to his followers exclaimed, *' We are betrayed and sold, but remember that our Lord was also sold and delivered over to the power of his enemies." When left alone with his companions in afflic- tion, Richard's indignant spirit burst forth into la- mentations and reproaches, " Ah dear cousin of Brittany," he cried, " alas ! thou saidst truly at thy departure that I should never be safe while Henry of Lancaster was alive. Alas ! thrice have I saved his life ! for once my dear uncle of Lancaster, on whom God have mercy, would have put him to death for the treason and villainy he had been guilty of All night did I ride to preserve him from death, and his father yielded him to my request r^ YORK AND LANCASTER. i)S telling me to do with him as I pleased. How true CHAP.V. is the saying that we have no greater enemy than the man we save from the gallows. Once he drew his sword on me in the chamber of the queen, on whom God have mercy ! He was of the council of the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Arundel ; he consented to my death, that of his father, and all my council. By Saint John I forgave him all ; nor would I beheve his father who more than once pro- ^ nounced him deserving of death !"* From this period Richard, though once enlivened by a momentary hope of eluding the vigilance of his keepers, seems to have abandoned himself to the most profound grief, and to have lost all expectation of receiving mercy at the hands of the Duke of Lancaster. After a sleepless night, he rose and heard mass, and then ascended a tower of the castle to watch for the arrival of the insurgent army. Bolingbroke's approach could be seen at a considerable distance : he marched in the midst of a gallant and exulting host, and the sound of their warlike minstrelsy was borne upon the breeze to the ears of the royal cap- tive, who wept with his friends, as he watched the broad array stretching wide across the plain until it reached the sea. Richard was called away from this melancholy contemplation by a summons to dinner ; and, convinced that the regal crown and sceptre had passed away from him for ever, he would not permit any distinction to be made between him- • Some of these exclamations are allusions to facts, no other traces of which I believe are to be found in history. One camiot be surprised if with this impression and knowledge of the character and disposition of Henry towards him he should have yielded to gloomy anticipations. — Notes to a Trans- lation of a French Histoyy of the Deposition of King Richard If. 94 thp: rival houses of CHAP.V. self and the companions of his adversity, but obliged the Earl of Salisbury, the Bishop of Carlisle, Sir Stephen Scroope, and Sir WiUiam Feriby, to sit down to the same table ; where without eating he pro- tracted the repast, knowing its conclusion would bring the now dreaded meeting with Henry of Lan- caster. The duke had drawn up his soldiers beneath the mountains which skirted the castle ; and while the king sate at his wretched meal stragglers from the halted army burst rudely into the hall, and by their threats and menaces prepared the fallen monarch for the destiny that awaited him. He was at length called out to the court-yard to receive his cousin. Boiingbroke presented himself completely armed, with the exception of his helmet : he bent his knee twice as he approached the king, who uncovering his head said, " Fair cousin of Lancaster, you are right welcome." " My lord," replied the duke, " I come before my time ; but I will tell you the reason. Your people complain that for the space of twenty- two years you have governed them very rigorously ; wherefore, if it please God, I will assist you to rule them better." Richard with patient humility answered, " Fair cousin, since it pleaseth you, it pleaseth us well." The Duke of Lancaster turned to the bishop and the knights, and spoke a few words to each, but passed the Earl of Salisbury in silence ; thus manifesting his displeasure at the slight which he had received from the earl at Paris. Suffering too the recollection of past injuries to subdue every generous feeling, he called to his attendants to bring out the king's horses, and Richard and his friend YORK AND LANCASTER. 95 the Earl of Salisbury were desired to mount upon two CHAP.V. miserable animals, an indignity expressly designed to add new wounds to the already depressed monarch, who was distinguished for the magnificence of his appointments, and the beauty and excellence of his stud. The proud moment of triumph to the house of Lancaster had now arrived. Richard had outlived ---, the love of his subjects ; and those men who would \/ have resisted the usurpation of John of Ghent with ' hearts and hands, followed his ambitious son with shouts and blessings. Henry saw how strongly the I tide of popularity ran in his favour. The public voice called him to ascend a throne, and he was not ' slow in obeying its summons. Whilst Richard, exposed to the derision of the multitude, riding in the train of the conqueror as a prisoner, and in his present degradation anticipating a scaffold at every step, played a conspicuous but melancholy part in the pageant which graced his kinsman's march to Chester. It would be difficult to imagine a situation more painful and humiliating : wherever the wretched monarch turned his eyes, they must have rested either on those whom he had deeply injured, and whose just resentment he now so bitterly expe- rienced, on those by whose perfidious counsel he had been betrayed, or on the base and fickle mmions of his court, now pressing forward to pay their deceitful homage to his rival: not an eye beheld him with ^^'Y^Y compassion, not a word was uttered in his favour ; the few who still adhered to him in their hearts, and desired only that he should receive a salutary lesson for the improvement of his future government. 96 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.V, were obliged to conceal their sentiments with the utmost care, and to trust vainly for the return of better times and to the Duke of Lancaster's cle- mency. On Henry's triumphant entry into Chester, he delivered the custody of Richard to the charge of Thomas Fitzalan son of the Earl of Arundel, and Humphrey Plantagenet son of the Duke of Glou- cester, saying to each, " here is the murderer of your father ; you must be answerable for him :"* an act of strict but severe justice. Richard had possessed himself of the estates of his young kinsman, and assumed a personal controul over him in quality of his guardian ; and Fitzalan in his own jeopardy had even deeper sense of hatred to the tyrant who had made him an orphan and an outcast. An interesting account of the sufferings of this persecuted youth is contained in an old chronicle of London, lately brought to light by the indefatigable researches of Mr. Nicholas : " Ye schall wete that Thomas, the son and heyre of Richard the Erie of Arundell, which Thomas, after the deth of his fadir, was dwellynge in houshold with Sir John Holand, Duke of Excetre, and holden in no reputacion, but alway in great reprof and despite, in moche disese and sorwe of herte, thorugh helpe of William Scot, mercer of London, privyly in a gromys clothinge sailed over the see and cam to his uncle, the Arche bysshop of Caunterbury that tyme being at Coloigne." The king saw his brother the Duke of Exeter, but they dared not speak to each other ; and the despair- ing anguish of Richard's heart evinced itself in the utter neglect of his person. We are told that he never * Account and Extracts, ii. p. 225. f Harl. MS. 565. YORK AND LANCASTER. 9? changed his dress during the whole of liis miserable CIIAP.V. journey to the Tower. The Duke of Lancaster remained three days at Chester, from which place he issued writs for the summons of a parliament in the king's name and then proceeded with his prisoner to London. Richard made an attempt to escape at Aug. 20. Litchfield but was detected, and guarded with even greater rigour than before.* On his entrance into the metropolis the captive monarch was conducted through Westminster, and followed to the place of sept.zi. his confinement by the curses and execrations of a barbarous rabble, hardly restrained from dyeing their weapons with his blood as he passed along ; whilst Henry, hailed like a guardian angel, paraded through the city attended by the mayor and citizens, amidst pomp and splendour and unceasing acclamations to St, Paul's, where to display his filial piety he bent weeping over his father's tomb. Bolingbroke regardless of his former oaths now openly aimed at the crown ; and though justly reprobated as perjured and forsworn, it must be admitted that the temptation to supersede the Earl of March was strong, and that circumstances scarcely allowed him to hesitate in the deposition of llichard. The monarch's unremitting: hatred had 1 driven him to extremities : in recovering his inherit- | ance he had been guilty of unpardonable offences, i and the ruin of the king could alone secure his own < safety. He possessed the good wishes of the nation ; those who were adverse to his exaltation were silenced by the irresistible outcry in his favour ; and the I nobles, who saw with astonishment the exile whose * Creton. VOL. I. H gS THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.V. oaths and protestations had won their swords and their services in the pursuit of justice, now preparing to wrest a sceptre from his sovereign's hand, dared not remind tlie cherished idol of the day of his solemn vows, and however unwillingly were urged far /j beyond their original intention, and compelled to ' become the slaves of one who only brought fifteen i, lances into the field when he landed at Ravenspur. Parliament having assembled, the Duke of Lan- caster determined to employ the fatal precedent established by the Commons in the reign of Edward IT. to depose the present king ; but to prevent all opposition from those who might still retain their fidelity to Richard, it was necessary to obhge the imprisoned monarch to make a formal renunciation of his crown. For this purpose Henry and his partizans visited him in the tower, and subdued by threats and menaces the indignant spirit which poured itself out in bitter reproaches against the Dukes of York and Albemarle, to whose double deal- ing he imputed his former guilt and present misery, exclaiming, " In a cursed hour were ye born. By your false counsel was my uncle Gloucester put to death." Appalled at length, and still clinging to an existence which he was assured he could not preserve on any other terms, he gave a reluctant consent ; and as in the court-yard at Flint where finding opposition hopeless he submitted in silence to the will of the conqueror, so in the last trying scene of his public life he performed the part allotted to him with decent composure, and in the presence of the Duke of Lancaster and a deputation of prelates, nobles, knights, and lawyers, appointed YORK AND LANCASTER. 99 for the purpose of witnessing his solemn abdication, CHAP.V. signed a resifi^nation of the royal authority, and a ^ TTT 1 , . . , . " Sept. 29. declaration of his incapacity to govern, which ab- solved his subjects from their allegiance ; to which ^i was added apparently from his own free will a wish that he might be permitted to choose a succes- sor in Henry of Lancaster. . To give greater weight to this important docu- ment, it was confidently asserted that Richard had voluntarily renounced the crown, in confirmation of a promise given by him to Northumberland whilst at perfect liberty at Conway, and in order to bring him into still deeper contempt with the people, his behaviour was represented to have been marked with unnatural and unbecoming levity : statements at complete variance with those of the witnesses of his interview with the earl, and little consonant with the grief and despair which he is described to have suffered when enthralled by the subtle devices of his enemies. The two Houses of Parliament met in Westmin- ster Hall, and having declared the throne to be forfeited by the misconduct and resignation of the king, arrogated to themselves a power to which they could not pretend the shadow of a right, and viet ^ t^»v^x imitating the illegal act of the sovereign whom they had just deposed, proceeded to the election of ^ . a new king, to the prejudice of the rightful heir, a prince in every point unobjectionable, his title being perfect and acknowledged bothjb^ the nation, who had preferred Richard of Bordeaux to John of Ghent, as the representative of his father the Black Prince, and by the Parliament who had de- ^ h2 100 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.V. dared the late Earl of March the true heir of the crown. His youth precluded him from the com- mission of any offensive act, which might have afforded a pretext to set him aside, and in lending themselves to the ambition of Henry of Lancaster, they committed an outrage upon the crown, which though in former periods forcibly usurped by the younger sons of the conqueror, and by Stephen and John, was by the constitution of the country held jto be hereditary and not dependant on the suffrages.. of the nation. The Duke of Lancaster, aware of the injustice of his claim and the superior pretensions of the ; Earl of March, condescended to gloss his usurpa- tion by circulating a report that he derived his title from Edmund Crouchback, or Cross-back,* founder of the House of Lancaster, son of Henry III. whom he averred had been unjustly deprived of his birthright in favour of his younger brother Ed- ward L on account of the deformity of his person. So poor an expedient could only excite ridicule ; it was well known that Edmund took the name of Crouchback or Cross-back, from a badge which he assumed on an expedition to the Holy Land, and that he was not born until four years after his brother Edward ; and perhaps ashamed of attaching much importance to so defective a title, Henry in his \ * Some have referred the utmost root of the Lancastrian title to Edmund, indeed eldest son to Henry III. but by reason of his unlit deformity, his younger brother Edward had the succession, which is absurd and false. For one whom I believe before most of our monks, and the king's chro- nologer of those times, Matthew Paris, tells expressly the days and years of both their births, and makes Edv/ard four years older than Crookback. — Selden's notes to the Polijolhion. YORK AND LANCASTER. 101 address to the Parliament merely made an allusion CHAP.V. to his descent from Henry III., and mingled a claim of conquest with that of inheritance, whilst in conclusion he hinted at the necessity of his interfe- rence in the reformation of the state. His speech ran thus : *' In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I, Henry of Lancaster, challenge this realm of England and the crown, with all the members and appurtenances, as that I am descended by right line of blood, from the good Lord King Henry IH. and through that right that God of his grace hath sent me, with help of my kin, and of my friends to, recover it, the which realm was in point to be undone for default of governance and undoing of good laws.'* Surrounded by friends and partizans more desirous to second his ambitious hopes than to examine the merits of a title liable to so many objections, the Duke of Lancaster's right of suc- cession was unanimously acknowledged both by lords and commons j and the eventful day closed with the proclamation of Bolingbroke, by the style and title of Henry IV. King of England. \ The author of the French Metrical History so often quoted, declares that Henry was elected without a dissentient voice, " Because there was no man in that place for the old king, save i three or four, who durst upon no account gainsay them." To the credit of human nature, our English historians affirm that one man amid those who had tasted Richard's bounty, and shared his friendship, dared to acknowledge a sentiment of pity and attachment to this unfortunate prince ; and in justice to the memory of Thomas Merks, Bishop of Carlisle, 1 102 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.V. it becomes a duty to quote the authority of Hall, and other chroniclers, who assure us that this prelate, faithlul under every change of circum- stances, openly and in Parliament protested against the late proceedings ; that he vindicated the king from the accusations of his enemies, and contended that he had not been guilty of any act that could justify the right they had assumed to depose him. Disdaining to consult liis own safety when the welfare of his sovereign was at stake, he boldly and scornfully animadverted upon the title which Henry had advanced to the crown, fearlessly brought for- ward the superior claim of the Earl of March, and offered an example of disinterested loyalty which must ever be remembered to his honour. We are also informed by the old historians that, liberty of speech in those who espoused the weaker cause not being among the privileges of this Parliament, the bishop was taken into custody the moment he sate down, and conducted as a prisoner to St. Alban's, a mea- sure which effectually silenced all farther oppo- sition. The power, the wealth, and the popularity of Henry had placed him on the throne to the exclu- sion of a family descended from an elder branch of the Plantagenets ; the right of inheritance by females had never been the subject of doubt or of dispute in England, and the claim of Ro^er Mortimer, son of Edward Earl of March, by a marriage with Philippa, sole heir of Lionel Duke of Clarence, thii'd son of Edward III. had been formally recognized by par- liament. The death of this nobleman had vested his title in a minor, and too weak to combat with so YORK AND LANCASTER. 103 potent a competitor the friends of the young Earl of CHAP.V. March wisely endeavoured to lull the new king's jealousy by a silent acquiescence in his usurpation. Richard detained in strict confinement and after- wards doomed to perpetual imprisonment by the Lords in Council, was conveyed away privately by night, first to Leeds castle and subsequently to Pon- tefract.* Henry sent him a suit of black clothes) s*?'^^ and a black horse for his travelling equipments ; a j gloomy omen and fatally prophetic of the colour_^ofy his destiny ! Henry of Lancaster was crowned with extraor- dinary circumstances of pomp and solemnity. Either to obtain remission for his broken vows or to pos- sess the world with a high opinion of his piety, he did not appear at church until an hour unusually late on the morning of his coronation, havino; spent od. is, 1399 a long time in prayer with his confessor and in hearing mass in private. He chose to be anointed with oil imagined to be possessed of miraculous qua- lities, a present from the Virgin to St. Thomas of Canterbury, and appertaining to the house of Lan- caster through the gift of a hermit, who prophesied at the same time that those kings who should be crowned with that sacred oil, should become true champions of-the church ; a title Henry was desirous to acquire, in opposition to the lenity if not to say favour which Richard had shewn to the disciples of Wickliife. In addition also to the three swords carried by the chief officers of state at coronations, he directed that a fourth— to be entitled the " sword of Lancaster,'' the same which he had worn on his * Accounts aod Extracts, p. loO. 104* THE RIVAL HOUSES OP CHAP.V. landing in Yorkshire,— should be borne naked with ■ the point upwards by the Earl of Northumberland. A new parliament assembled immediately after the coronation, consisting of the same individuals who composed the last, and of course equally devoted to the new sovereign ; but though unanimity of senti- ment reigned amongst the commons, the meeting of the Lords commenced with an ill augury for domestic peace. Those nobles who had supported Richard in his late attack upon the Duke of Gloucester, were called upon to vindicate their conduct. They ex- cused themselves from entering upon their defence, by the plea of having been compelled to obey the king's conuTiands by threats ; and maintained that they were not more guilty than those who had countenanced the proceedings by their condemna- tion of the duke. A stormy discussion ensued : the Lord Fitzwalter accused the Duke of Albemarle of treason to King Richard, and throwing down his steel gauntlet, the floor rang with the like defiances from twenty other lords, who thus followed up the charge of their leader. The Lord Morley with less truth stigmatized the Earl of Salisbury under the name of double traitor, charging him wdth perfidy both to Richard and to Henry; and the accused nobles boldly returned these insults, retorting in terms of equal opprobrium. " Liar" and *' traitor" echoed through the hall, and each being ready to support his allegation with his sword, Henry was compelled to interpose his authority to stifle these dangerous feuds. The disputants were not silenced v/ithout con- siderable difficulty, and the undaunted resolution dis- YORK AND LANCASTER. 105 played by those noblemen who had been guilty of CHAP.V. the most offensive act against the Duke of Glou- cester and his friends, was productive of a favour- able result to the inquiry which had occasioned so furious an altercation. They were only punished by the loss of those honours with which their services had been rewarded. Exeter, Surrey and Albemarle were bereft of their dukedoms,* and dwindled into the Earls of Huntingdon, Kent and Rutland j the Marquis of Dorset also deprived of his newly- acquired title was styled Earl of Somerset, and the Earl of Gloucester resumed his former rank as Lord Le Despencer. Henry secured the infant sons of the Earl of March in Windsor Castle, where they remained in honourable captivity: though affecting to overlook their claim when he ascended the vacant throne, he| cautiously abstained from procuring an act of settle-/ ment of the crown by parliament, lest he might thereby admit the doubtful nature of his own rightl His eldest son was created Prince of Wales and de- clared heir apparent to the throne ; but the restless spirits of the time would not allow him to remain long in peaceable possession of a kingdom which he had acquired apparently with so much ease. The close tie which united Richard with the Ho- lands, his elder brother and nephew by the mother's side, could not be severed without difficulty ; the deposed monarch also possessed well-wishers, who though unable to stem the tide which ran so strongly in favour of his rival, were ready to proceed against him the moment they could flatter themselves with * Parliament Rolls. 106 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.V. the slightest prospect of success. The Earls of Hun- tingdon and Salisbury and the Lord Le Despencer, too deeply interested in the fate of the captive mo- narch to feel grateful for the moderation which had spared their lives, were no sooner released from present peril than they plunged into a conspiracy which had for its object the murder of Henry and the restoration of Richard. They drew the young Earl of Kent into their party, and with an extraor- dinary want of foresight which ultimately proved their ruin permitted the perfidious RuUau.d to share their councils. It is probable that irritated by his degradation from the honours which he had received in the late reign, and by the contempt which even the monarch he had served must have felt for his infamous double dealing, hs gave loose to the murmurs of discontent, and thus making common cause with Henry's more generous enemies, they unwittingly trusted him with their dangerous secret. The plot was well imagined ; they caused a tournament to be proclaimed as one of the diversions for the Christmas holidays, and Hun- tingdon took upon himself to procure the presence of the king, who was invited to judge between him and the Earl of Salisbury, in consequence of a pre- tended challenge which had furnished a pretext for the meeting. The nature of this sport would admit of the assembly of a considerable number of armed retainers without exciting suspicion ; and surrounded on all sides by an hostile force, Henry would have fallen an easy prey to his assailants. At a final in- terview agreed upon by the conspirators the Earl of Rutland did not appear ; his absence however failed YORK AND LANCASTER. 107 to excite the fears of his confederates, and they dis- CHAP. V. patched a letter to him requiring his assistance at the appointed time : but fickle as he was treacherous he had abandoned their cause, and now suffered this important paper to fall into his father's hands, who entirely devoted to Henry, immediately acquainted him with his danger, an office readily shared by one who hoped to re-establish himself in the monarch's confidence by the sacrifice of his late associates. On the morning of the day appointed for the tourna- ment the insurgent lords discovered that they had been betrayed, and obliged to relinquish their expec- tation of ensnaring the king, they changed their plans and attempted to surprise him by a bold attack upon Windsor Castle, at the head of five i^oo, hundred horse ; but already warned he had removed to London, and was at that moment actively employed in issuing writs for their apprehension. Baffled a second time, they openly raised the standard of rebellion, proclaimed Richard in the towns and vil- lages which they passed in their route towards the west, and having been joined by Lord Lumley en- camped in the neighbourhood of Cirencester. Here ttiey committed anact of imprudence which precipi- tated their ruin : having posted their soldiers in the fields the Earls of Kent and Salisbury took up their lodgings in the town ; the inhabitants were well affected to Henry, whose vigilance had supplied the mayor with a writ by which he mustered a con- siderable force in the king's name, and investing the quarters of the nobles in the night, a desperate but unequal conflict ensued. Valiantly defending them- c 108 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. V. selves for the space of three hours the Earls of Kent and Salisbury were at length compelled to surrender, having first stipulated tliat they should be admitted to an audience with the king. The prisoners were conducted to the Abbey ; but on the following evening a priest in their retinue having it was supposed set fire to some houses in the town for the purpose of facilitating their escape, the populace in those unhappy times ever ready to dip 'y^^x.^^'^^. their hands in blood, were seized with uncontroulable fury at the suggestion, and gratifying a horrid appe- tite for slaughter dragged their victims from the place of their confinement and beheaded them in the street. Thus fell the Earl of Salisbur}^ one of the most learned and accomplished gentlemen of his age. A poet, a patron of literature, and a firm supporter of the reformed doctrines of religion, he had evinced the purity of his faith by removing the idols of a superstitious worship from his private chapel ; and resolute in maintaining the creed which he professed, attended the meetings of the disciples of Wickliffe in armour. '* He,'' says Walsingham, " who through- out his life had been a favourer of Lollards, a despiser of images, a contemner of the canons, and a derider of sacraments, ended his days as is re- ported without the sacrament of confession." The ruthless barbarity of his executioners deprived him even of a consolation considered to be so essential ; but the earl possessed a better hope, and the con- templation of his cliaracter, his unshaken fidelity to Richard, his fine taste and the amiable quaHties of his heart, sullied only by tlie contempt for human YOUK AND LANCASTER. 109 lile which characterized the martial spirits of the CilAP.V. tune, is a rehef to the mind, shocked by the unmiti- gated vices of too many of his contemporaries. The Earl of Kent who suffered at the same time was sacrificed to the rash impetuosity of his relatives ; he was only five-and-twenty, and had pleaded his youth in extenuation of his prosecution of the Duke of Gloucester. The persuasions of Huntingdon and Salisbury had urged him, it is said,* reluctantly into the act of rebellion against Henry ; but once embarked he behaved very gallantly, and proclaiming Richard to be the true Lord of England, he stre- nuously assisted the Earl of Salisbury in endeavour- ing to excite the people to rise in his defence. The Lords Lumley and Le Despencer who had advanced farther westward fell into the hands of the citizens of Bristol, Richard's devoted enemies, and the common people thirsting for their blood de- manded their persons from the civil authorities and jan. 9. put them instantly to death. A similar fate awaited the Earl of Huntingdon ; anxious to cross the sea he had fled to the coast of Essex ; the wind was adverse, and compelled to wander from place to place clad in a mean disguise, his evil stars conducted him to Fleshy, where surrounded by the exasperated tenants of the Duke of Gloucester, in whose ruin he was considered to have been an active instrument, the discovery of his person was followed by the perpetra- tion of another murder, and he was butchered by the mangling axe of a self constituted executioner, a catastrophe which though shocking to humanity was in unison with the tenor of a life marked by * Froissart. 110 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.V. bloodshed and stained with deeds of equal ferocity. As a knight John De Holand was distinguished for his valour and intrepidity and for his superior skill in the tilt. Froissart has preserved his own expres- sion of the excessive delight which he took in fight- ing ; he earned great applause in the campaign against Castille under his father-in-law John of Ghent, and carried off the prize at the most cele- brated tournaments in France, Spain and England. A pilgrimage which the earl made to the Holy Land must not be omitted in this brief record of his tur- bulent career, as it was probably undertaken to expiate the crimes of his early youth ; and there was something generous in his affectionate attach- ment to Richard, at a period when his close connec- tion with Flenry of Lancaster by marriage might have offered a hope that the long enmity which had subsisted between him and the Duke of Gloucester and the part he had taken in that prince's downfall, would be pardoned and forgotten. The summary vengeance that was executed by an enraged and lawless mob relieved Henry from his enemies with- out obliging him to consent to their deaths. A few only of the inferior conspirators suffered on a scaf- fold ; and Roger Walden and Thomas Merks, two ecclesiastics who were also implicated in the plot, met with mercy from the king ; the former only endured a short imprisonment in the Tower, and the latter, though tried and condemned as a traitor, was pardoned by the intercession of the Pope. \ The unfortunate Richard did not long survive the fall of his friends ; his existence was discovered to be incompatible with the safety of the reigning monarch j YORK AND LANCASTER. Ill and before the conclusion of the month whicli fol- CHAP.V. lowed that whose opening had been marked by the attempt to procure his restoration, he ceased to be a denizen of earth. His death was imputed by the ■\jj king to excessive grief for the fate of tlie conspira- tors ; a report which gained little credit, it being gene- rally supposed that he was suffered to perish by hunger, ^ a cliarge afterwards boldly asserted against Henry by the Percies ; and though the distraction and despair - that llichard must have suffered from this new afflic- tion will warrant the conclusion that he voluntarily put an end to an existence which had become so grievous and burthensome, or that the agony of his . mind had brought on disease and occasioned prema- \ ture dissolution, an acute writer has remarked, that | had Henry felt entirely free from the guilt of the murder, he would have taken more effective measures j to clear his character to the world than the unsatis- factory expedient of exposing the dead body of the king to public view in St. Paul's, the face only being uncovered, to prove that no act of violence had been (3/ perpetrated. The testimony of Richard's keepers, so easily to be procured, would have removed the strong suspicion which the most candid inquirer must entertain respecting Henry's share in this dark j transaction ; and since he neglected to take advan- 1 tage of such obvious and imperative means of estab- lishing his innocence, his solemn denial though con- ' (^T) firmed by oath will have little weight. The brave defiance flung in Henry's teeth by the Percies con- tained a charge of perjury so strong and incon- testable, that we cannot attach any importance to vows however apparently sacred and binding, uttered 112 THE niVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.V. by one already proved to be " false and forsworn.'* At the same time it mast be allowed that Henry was not a cruel gloomy despot, eager to shed the blood of his known or his suspected enemies ; the ,4s^kc"s scaffold in his reign groaned under the weight of multitudes who were sacrificed to his safety ; but the victims thus ruthlessly exterminated consisted chiefly of the common people, a class who had never yet been spared by king, noble, or knight. Pre- vious to the repeated attempts made upon his crown, three only of Richard's adherents met their death by his order ; and though claiming the throne as a con- queror, he not only extended mercy but endea- voured to conciliate those persons whose ruin it was in his power to effect and whose enmity he had /I ^,^/^eason to fear ; but his clemency and moderation in V^Y other circumstances can only incline us to /^ope that Q l^^he was free from the stain of Richard's death, com- bined with the testimony of those who were about the king at the time it would have been conclusive, but will scarcely prevail in opposition to the doubts suggested by the line of conduct which he pursued on the occasion. If we believe Henry to be guilty, we admit that his prudence in involving the manner of Richard's death in impenetrable mystery, and answering his adversaries only by a dignified rejec- tion of the charge, supplied him with the best and solitary measures which he could adopt to defend himself from the imputation ; but if innocent, the cold regard which he manifested to secure his com- plete vindication in the eyes of the whole world, was not consonant with the wisdom which marked his character, and the fair reputation he was so YORK AND LANCASTER. 113 desirous to preserve; and though there is a possi- CHAP.V. bihty that he did not precipitate tlie fate of his unfortunate rival, the error in judgment wliich he committed in overlooking the necessity of instituting | an inquiry respecting the cause of his death, is suffi- cient to fasten the stigma of Richard's murder upon his name to all posterity. The corpse of the deceased king was brouglit with little state to London, and laid upon abler in St. Paul's church, the face from the eyebrows downwards being uncovered. Immense throngs crowded to gaze upon the body, but the precaution which occa- sioned this public spectacle availed nothing, failing to produce conviction that the king had been cut off by disease or self-destruction, or that he in reality had ceased to live. It was reported that Richard had fallen in gallant but hopeless resistance against nine Y y)i^ ruffiaris_appointed to dispatch, him, a tale which has only lately been controv^ei'ted by the examination of the monarch's skull by Gough,* who decides ^^_^ that he could not have been killed by a blow from a pole-axe on the back of the head, the mode by which it was said that he was at last overpowered, there being no mark of violence to support the assertion ; therefore though reluctantly we are com-/ pelled to relinquish the picturesque story adopted ^y by Shakspeare, of the last and desperate struggle '| which Richard the Second made in opposition to a ) host of assailants ere he was hacked to death \\\\ " Pomfret's bloody prison." In addition to the different accounts respecting the ill-fated monarch's * Si-pulrliral i\Io!iumen(s. VOL. I. I 114 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.V. ilissolution which gamed credit and circulation, his friends were deluded by repeated assurances that he /i ;^till existed ; and the notion, however absurd and unfounded, was so strenuously maintained that it kept up a spirit of rebellion against his more for- tunate successor, which was never extinguished during the whole of his stormy reign. It must in candour be acknowledged that the arguments in favour of Henry's innocence of the murder of his rival have lately received much strength, and that a new light has been thrown upon Richard's mysterious fate by the veiy able ex- amination of this interesting point by one of the most }/)v.,zealous and veracious historians of the presen^t^ay-j^i^ It is confidently asserted in many of the old chroni- cles that the question of the expediency of putting Richard to death was formally debated in parha- ment, and that it was at last resolved that he should only be permitted to exist while his friends remained quiescent ; but upon the first revolt of his party the struggle should be terminated by the captive mo- narch's execution. The rolls of parliament do not record this cold-blooded discussion, but merely state that "the lords would by all means that the life of the king should be saved;" and for the honour of human nature we may hope that there was no foundation for the report, more especially as Henry ^ might have pleaded the sanction of parliament in Ki) extenuation of his own conduct ;^'but it is very con- fidently stated that a petition was presented to the • Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Esq. F.S.A. See Cause of the Death of Richard II. examined, Vol. 93 ofthe Gentievum's Mar/rr~inr, YORK AND LANCATEll. 11,0 king by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Duke of CHAP, v York and others, praying liim to secure the quiet of the reahn by the death of his deposed rival; and that Henry urged to this act of self-defence by his friends, and justly alarmed by the discovery of the conspi- racy against liini, dispatched Sir Piers Exton to 'Xf) Pomfret castle with orders for the assassination of the royal prisoner. The King received the first in- telligence of the insurrection in Richard's favour upon the first Sunday in January 1400, supposed to be the fourtli of that month, and the death of the captive monarch did not take place until the thir- teenth or fourteenth of the following February, It is upon these dates that Henry's powerful advocate founds his arguments, and that they are very con- clusive no impartial reader will deny ; but although we may admit that if Henry had determined upon Richard's death at the moment of extreme peril to himself, the execution of this dire purpose would/ scarcely have been delayed for so long a period, and ' the crime perpetrated at last when the rebellion was quelled and all danger to the reigning monarch at an end, yet neither these extenuating circumstances nor the current report stated by Creton that Richard vexed at heart by the evil intelligence of Salisbury's defeat, " neither ate nor drank from that hour,*' can entirely remove the unfavourable impres- sion made by Henry's culpable negligence of the means whereby he might have repelled every aspei- sion of his enemies. The public examination of all those persons about Pomfret castle, or who had the immediate custod}^ of the king as suggested by Mr. 1 2 116 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.V. Webb, would have placed the question at rest for ever ; and at the risk of incurring the charge of tedious repetition it must again be said that, in re- jecting this mode of exculpation Henry compro- mised his own reputation ; and that the manner of 1 Richard's death, to use the mildest term, must still remain a doubt upon the mind of the most diligent I inquirer in the search of truth. YORK AND LANCASTEFx. 117 CHAPTER VI. SplendoiLT of Richard's Court — Progress of Luxury, Love of Dress — Curious Habiliment of John of Ghent^-^Distinguishimj marks of J^o- bility at Henry IV.'s Coronation — Stow^s Philippic on Piked Shoes — Knighton's description of Female Attire — Costly Furniture — Pfo- fuse Style of the Lady de Courcy — The Duke of Lancaster'' s Plate — emblazoned Coat and Coverlet — The Reign of Chivalry — Magnif-. cent Tournament — Carious Ceremonial — Foreign Knights attracted to the Tilt — The Procession — Jousts and Banquets — jirrival of Count d'Ostrevant — Award of the Prizes — Continuation of the Tilting — Decision of the Ladies^ Lords, and Heralds — The Jousts of the Squires — Feast at the Bishop's Palace — The Court adjourn to Windsor — Gallantry of Sir John Holand — The Letter of Sir Reginald de Roye — Dialogue between the Duke of Lancaster and Sir John Holand — Gifts to the Herald — Speech of the King of Por- tugal — Skill and Prowess of Sir John Holand-^Speech of the Duke of Lancaster — The Proclamation of three French Knights— Ardour of Sir John Holand — Tournament at Saint Inglevere — Sir John Holand riuis Six Courses — Incognito of the King of France — Tilts during the truce between England and Scotland — Gallantry of Earl Crawford — Character and Accomplishments of Sir John Arundel — his Licentiousness and Barbarity — Outrages committed by Knights^- — Entertainment of the Court — Chaucer and Gower — Anecdote of King Richard and the latter — Poetical Talents of the Earl of Salis- bury^- FroissarVs Interview with the King — Richard's Present to Froissart— Great Sticcess of Wickliffe's Doctrines — their Decline under the House of Lancaster — Magnificence of the Royal Establish^ ment — Splendid Possessions of Sir John Arundel — of the Earl of Gloucester — of the Earl of Wiltshire — and of the Earl of Salis- bury — Brutality of Manners — Character and Conduct of the Scottish Nation — Curious Predicament of Sir John de Vienne — Richard*^$ 118 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF Campaign in Ireland — Anecdote of Five Kings — Whittington — probable Origin of his Wealth — Percie's Tale of tlie Cat — drcurn^ stances respecting its Adoption in England — Character of Sir John Philpot — his splendid Services — A Warlike Bishop — Penance of Sir Thomas Erpingham. CHAP. Few courts have excelled that of Richard II. in ^*' pomp and magnificence. The monarch inherited the inordinate attachment to glitter and parade which had distinguished his predecessors, and equalled if he could not surpass the splendour of former sovereigns. It would have been difficult to outvie in richness and in extravagance the attire of the great and noble in preceding years ; but the late conquests in France had introduced superior ele- gance and refinement, while the plunder acquired by the soldiery disseminated throughout the whole com- munity luxuries hitherto exclusively confined to the higher ranks. The sumptuary laws passed in the reign of Edward III. were disregarded. Fashions from proud Italy, courtly France and Imperial Ger- many were imported into England and followed with equal avidity by all classes. " The vanity of the common people in their dress,'* says Knighton, " was so great, that it was impossible to distinguish the rich from the poor, the high from the low, the clergy from the laity, by their appearance.'* Cloth of gold, satin and velvet, enriched by the florid decorations of the needle, were insufficient to satisfy the pride of nobles ; robes formed of these costly materials were frequently ornamented with embroidery of goldsmith's work, thickly set with precious stones ; and the most absurd and fantastic YORK AND LANCASTER. 119 habits were continually adopted, in the restless desire CHAP, to appear in new inventions.* John of Ghent is re- ' presented in a habit divided straight down the middle, one side white, the other half dark blue ; and his son Henry IV. on his return from exile, rode in procession through London in a jacket of cloth-of- gold, '* after the German fashion. "f The dukes and earls who attended his coronation wore three bars of ermine on the left arm, a quarter of a yard long, " or thereabouts ;" the barons had but two : and over the monarch's head was borne a canopy of blue silk supported by silver staves with four gold bells "that rang at the corners." " Early in the reign of Richard II. began " says Stow, " the detestable use of piked shoes, tied to the knees with chains of silver gilt ; also women used high attire on their heads with piked horns and long training gowns. The commons also were besotted in excesse of ap- parel ; in wide surcoates reaching to their loines ; some in a garment reaching to their heels close before and strowting out at the sides, so that on the backe they make men seeme women, and this they called by a ridiculous name gowne.'l. Their hoodes • Strutt. t Froissarl. I This " strowting out" of the male garments ''at the sides," and the effeminate figure of this costume altogether had its origin, there can be no reason to doubt, in Asiatic imitation. Whoever casts his eye upon the male dress of Persia, India, and generally of all the eastern countries, will see the models from -vvhic'h that described by Stow was copied. The same may be said of the whole style of dress, the profusion of ornament, and more especi- ally fondness for the works of the goldsmith. The early devotion of human skill, guided by a taste for imitation and combination more or less fantastic, to the materials of silver, gold and gems, is notorious in Asia, and it passed thence to Constantinople, and into Italy and the rest of Europe. Lnitations 120 THE KIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, are little, tied under the chin, and buttoned like the ^'^' women's, but set with gold, silver, and precious stones ; the lirripippes, tippets which went round the neck and hung down before, reach to the heels, all jagged. They liave another weede of silk, which they call a pallock, a close jacket like a waistcoat ; and their hose are of two colours or pied." The apparel of the ladies was equally whimsical and ex- travagant. Knighton informs us that they appeared at tournaments in parti-coloured tunics, one half being of one colour and the other half of another ; *' their lirripippes or tippets very short ; their cape remarkably little, and wrapt about their heads with cords ; their girdles and pouches are ornamented with gold and silver, and they wear short swords called daggers before them : they are mounted on the finest horses and richest furniture." " Pearls and precious stones, and chains of gold, were the neces- sary appendages of female attire ; and the garments of women of rank were frequently " bordered with gems." The ornaments of their apartm.ents were in a style of similar expense, being hung with ta- pestry and cloth of arras and decked with the spoils of France, or with domestic manufactures in imita- tion of these foreign rarities in which, as well as in the lavish profusion of their establishments, the English were surpassed by their continental neigh- bours. The Lady De Coucy, governess to the young Queen Isabel the second wife of Richard II,, is of all natural forms were the pride of the luxurious artist ; an illustration of which is found in the Asiatic allusion to the minute and complex branches and foliage of 7)ioss — so dilTicuIt to imitate in metal, that it has thence been "••ailed "Uk> goid^^milh's sorrow." YORK AND LANCASTER. \U\ described* ;is emulating the magnificence of royally CHAI' in her style of living. Even the liberal and thought- ^^* less monarcii was astonished at the extravagance of her household, and directed that an inquiry should be instituted on the subject. " She lives,'* said one of the persons thus delegated to seek information, " in greater splendour one thing v;ith another than the queen ; for she has eighteen horses by^ your order, besides the hvery of her husband, whenever she comes and goes ; and keeps two or three gold- smiths, seven or eight embroiderers, two or three cutlers, and two or three furriers, as well as you or the queen.'* The nobles in Richard's time were possessed of gold and silver plate in vast abundance. We are told that the valuable property of this description, which fell into the hands of the populace at the sacking of the Duke of Lancaster's palace in the Savoy, would have filled five carts. A coat of state is likewise mentioned, so richly emblazoned with solid ornaments of gold and jewels that it was literally hacked to pieces before it could be destroyed ; and even a more vivid idea of the luxuries of the duke's residence may be conveyed from the account of Stow, who assures us that a coverlet which shared the general doom pronounced upon John of Ghent's eflects was estimated at a thousand marks. The armour and accoutrements of a knight were amazingly superb and costly, and immense sums were expended on the preparations for-the perform- ance of feats of arms, the favourite amusement of this warlike age. * MS. Ambaisades. V2''2 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. Chivalry in England was now in the zenith of its VI- glory, and the reign of Richard II. is celebrated for a brilliant tournament, the fame of which rang throughout the whole of Christendom. The king of England having heard of the gallant jousts held at Paris in honour of the entry of Queen Isabella, consort of Charles VI., resolved to equal or to sur- pass the splendour of the French court. It was therefore determined that sixty English knights who should be conducted to the lists by sixty noble ladies, should challenge all foreign knights. The preliminaries were settled with infinite care. " The sixty knights were to tilt for two days ; that is to say, on the Sunday after Michaelmas day, and on the following Monday." But Froissart has given all the particulars of this tournament with his usual minute attention to these chivalric achievements ; he in- forms us that " the sixty knights were to set out at two o'clock in the afternoon from the tower of Lon- don with their ladies, and parade through the streets down Cheapside to a large square called Smithfield. There the knights were to wait on the Sunday the arrival of any foreign knights who might be desirous of tilting, and the feast of the Sunday was to be called the feast of the challengers. The same ceremonies were to take place on the Monday, and the sixty knights to be prepared for tilting cour- teously with blunted lances against all comers. The prize for the best knight of the opponents was to be a rich fcrown of gold ; that for the tenants of the lists a very rich golden clasp ; they were to be awarded to the most gallant tilter according to the judgment of the ladies who would be present with YORK AND LANCASTEU. 1^23 the queen of England and the great barons as spec- CHAP, tators. _^ " On the Tuesday the tournaments were to be continued by squires against others of the same rank who wished to oppose them. The prize for the opponents was a courser saddled and bridled, and for the tenants of the list a falcon. The manner of holding this feast being settled, heralds were sent to proclaim it throughout England, Scotland, Hainault, Germany, Flanders and France, It was ordered by the council to what parts each herald was to go, and having time before hand they published it in most countries. *' Many knights and squires," continues our au- thor, " made preparations to attend it, some to see the manners of the English, others to take part in the tournament. On the least being made known in Hainault, Sir Williafn de Hainault Count d'Os- trevant, who was at that time young and gal- lant and fond of tilting, determined in his own mind to be present and to honour and make acquaintance with his cousin king Richard and his uncles, whom he had never seen. He therefore engaged many knights and squires to accompany him. " The Sunday according to proclamation being the next to Michaelmas day, was the beginning of the tiltings and called the feast of the challengers. About three o'clock there paraded out from the tower of London sixty barbed coursers ornamented for the tournament, on each was mounted a squire of honour that advanced only at a foot pace. Then came sixty ladies of rank ' having' says Baker, ' their arms and apparel garnished with white harts I'^i THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, and collars of o'olcl about their necks,' mounted on '_ white palfreys most elegantly and richly dressed, every one leading a knight by a silver chain com- pletely armed for tilting ; and in this procession they moved on through the streets of London at- tended by numbers of minstrels and trumpets to Smithfield. " The queen of England with her damsels were already arrived and placed in chambers handsomely decorated. The king was with the queen when the ladies who led the knights arrived in the square, their servants were ready to assist them to dismount from their palfieys, and to conduct them to apart- ments prepared for them. " The knights remained until their squires of honour had dismounted and brought them their coursers, which having mounted they had their helmets laced on and prepared themselves in all points for the tilt. " The Count de Saint Pol with his companions now advanced handsomely armed for the occasion, and the tournament began. Every foreign knight who pleased tilted or had time for so doing before the evening set in. The tiltings were continued with great spirit until night obliged the combatants to break off, and the queen retired to her lodgings in the bishop's palace near St. Paul's church where the banquet was held. *' Towards evening the Count d'Ostrevant ar- rived and was kindly received by king Richard and his lords. The prize for the opponents was adjudged to the Count de Saint Pol as the best knight at the tournament, and that for the tenants YORK AND LANCASTER. K'O to the Earl of Huntingdon. The dancings were at CHAP. the queen's residence, in the presence of the king '_ his uncles, and the baron of England. *' You would have seen," adds the lively narrator, " on the follo\\ing morning, Monday, squires and varlets busily employed in different parts of London furbishing and making ready armour and horses for their masters who were to engage in the jousts. " In the afternoon king Richard entered Smithfield magnificently accompanied by dukes, earls and knights, for he was chief of the tenants of the lists. The queen with the ladies took her station as on the preceding day. The Count d'Ostrevant came next with a large company of knights and squires fully armed for tilting ; then the Count de Saint Pol and the knights from France. " The tournament now began, and every one exerted himself to the utmost, many were unhorsed and more lost their helmets, and the jousting was continued with great courage and perseverance until night put an end to it. At the hour of supper the lords and ladies attended the banquet of the queen which was splendid and well served. The prize for the opponents at the tournament was ad- judged by the ladies, lords and heralds, to the Count d'Ostrevant who far eclipsed all who tilted that day ; that for the tenants was given to a gallant knight of England called Sir Hugh Spencer. " On the morrow, Tuesday, the tournament was renewed by the squires who tilted in the presence of the king, queen, and all the nobles until night, when all retired as on the precednig day. The supper was as magnificent as before at the palace of the 1'2G THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, bishop where the king and queen lodged, and the ;_ dancing lasted until day break, when the company broke up. " The tournament was continued on the Wed- nesday by all knights and squires indiscriminately, who were inclined to joust; it lasted until night, and the supper and dancings were as the preceding day. On Thursday the king entertained at supper all the foreign knights and squires, and the queen their ladies and damsels. The Duke of Lancaster gave a grand dinner to thein on the Friday. On Saturday the king and his court left London for Windsor accompanied by the Count d'Ostrevant, the Count de Saint Pol, and all the foreign knights who had been present at the feasts," Sir John Holand Earl of Huntingdon, so often mentioned in the history of the reign of Richard IL who carried off the first prize of the challengers, was famed throughout the Christian world for his feats of arms : when in Spain with his father-in-law the Duke of Lancaster, a herald arrived at his quarters bearing a letter from Sir Reginald de Roye, a gal- lant French knight in the service of the King of Castille, in which he entreated him " for the love of his mistress that he would deliver him from his vow by tilting with him three courses with the lance, three attacks with the sword, three witli the battle- axe, and three with the dagger." Sir Reginald courteously offered his antagonist the choice of ground ; he invited him to repair to Valladolid under the escort of sixty spears; but if it were more agree- able for him to remain at Enten^a he desired he would obtain from the Duke of Lancaster a passport YOPK AND LANCASTKU. 1^7 for himself and thirty companions. Froissart informs CHAP, us, that " when Sir John Holand had perused tliis letter, he smiled, and looking at the herald said, ' Friend, thou art welcome, for thou hast brought me what pleases me much, and I accept the challenge. Thou wilt remain in my lodging with my people, and in the course of to-morrow thou shalt have my answer whether the tilts are to be in Gallicia or Cas- tille.* The herald replied, ' God grant it.' Sir John went to the Uuke of Lancaster and shewed the letter the herald had brought. ' Well,' said the duke, * and have you accepted it ?' * Yes, by my faith have I ; and why not? I love nothing better than fighting, and the knight entreats me to indulge him ; consider therefore where you would choose it should take place.' " The Duke of Lancaster decided upon Enten9a, and Sir John Holand when he delivered his answer to the herald presented him with a handsome mantle lined with minever and twelve nobles. " News of this tournament," says Froissart, " was carried to Oporto, where the King of Portugal kept his court. * In the name of God,' said the king, ' I will be present at it, and so shall my queen and the ladies.' " Sir John Holand* gained infinite honour by his • The combat between these valiant knights was attended with con- siderable danger, " it was to include every thing," says Froissart, ♦' except pushing it to extremity, though no one could foresee what mischief might happen, nor how it would end ; for they were to tilt with pointed lances, then with swords, which were so sharp scarcely a helmet could resist their strokes ; and these were to be succeeded by battle-axes and daggers, each so well tempered that nothing could withstand them. Now," adds our author, " consider the perils those run who engage in such combats to exalt their honour, for one unlucky stroke puts an end to the business." 1^8 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, gallantry in these jousts, more especially as many of ^^' the spectators were of opinion that Sir Reginald de Roye had not strictly complied with the law of arms in the manner of bracing his helmet, which fastened only by one thong offered slight resistance to the lance of his adversary. The Duke of Lancaster with honourable impartiality upheld the cause of the stranc^er: in answer to the observations of the kniahts around him he said, " he considered that man as wise who in combat knew how to seize his vantage ;" adding, that " Sir Reginald de Roye was not now to learn how to tilt." At another time Sir John Holand distinguished liimself on the plain of Inglevere near Calais, where during a truce more strictly observed between France and England than so short a suspension of hostilities was wont to be, three French knights, namely Sir Boucicaut the younger. Lord Reginald de Roye, and the Lord de Saimpi undertook to maintain the lists against all comers for the space of thirty days. This tournament had been proclaimed in many countries, and particularly in England, where it aroused the martial spirit of men delighting in chi- valric adventures. *' I will name," says Froissart, *' those who were most eager to engage in the jousts. The first v/as Sir John Holand Earl of Huntingdon, Sir John Courtenay and many more to the amount of upwards of one hundred, who said they would be blame-worthy if they did not cross the sea when the distance was so short to Calais, pay a visit to those knights and tilt witli them. ' Let us prej)are our- selves to attend this tournament; for tliese French knights only hold it that they may have our company : YORK AND LANCASTER. 129 it is well done, and shews they do not want courage : CHAP. let us not disappoint them.* Sir Jolni lioland,'* 1 continues our author, " was the first to cross the sea," and he was also the first to touch the shields of the challengers. The tournament was held at the beginning of " tlie charming month of May," on a smooth green plain near the monastery of Saint Inglevere ; and close to the lists were erected three elegant vermilion-coloured pavilions, from whence when summoned by the stroke of a spear upon the war-target which richly emblazoned with the arms of the proprietors were suspended in front, each knight issued forth completely armed. Sir John Holand tilted successively with Sir Boucicaut and the Lord de Saimpi, and was very desirous to break another lance " in honour of his lady," but this was not permitted ; *' he had run his six courses," says Froissart, " with such ability and courage as gained him praise from all sides," and he was now obliged to retire from the lists to give others an opportunity of displaying their prowess. The King of France was present in disguise as a spectator at these jousts, which were carried on with untiring vigour for several days. Many gallant tilts took place between the English and Scottish knights during the peace with Scotland in 139(3,* the nobles of each country manifesting an honourable anxiety to uphold the national glory. Warlike deeds usually engrossed the conversation in these chivalrous times : after the first day's tourna- ment at Inglevere, the English are represented by Froissart as enjoying themselves at Calais, and * stow. VOL. I. K 130 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. " talking over the feats of arms that had been ^^- performed ;" and Stow tells us, that when the Lord Welles visited Scotland as ambassador from Richard II., being present at a solemn banquet where the guests in " communing" upon a subject so interesting to a warrior's ear, discussed the con- tending claims for superiority between the rival countries, the southern knight haughtily exclaimed, " Let wordes have no place ; if ye know not the chivalry and vaHant deedes of Englishmen, appoint me a day and a place where ye list and ye shall have experience.'' The challenge was instantly accepted by David Earl of Crauford, who named St. George's day for the time, and Lord Welles chose the bridge of London for the scene of action. The earl arrived in the English capital previous to the appointed time attended by a train of thirty persons hand- somely equipped : the combatants were conveyed to the ground with the usual ceremonies, and at the sound of the trumpets " ran hastily together on their barbed horses with square-grounded spears to the death." The Scottish knight sustained the shock of his adversary's lance at the first course so un- shrinkingly, that the spectators moved with a vain suspicion, cried " Earl David contrary to the law of arms is bound to the saddle." The knight hear- ing this murmur instantly sprang from his horse, and in another moment without the slightest assistance yaulted again into the saddle. Armed with fresh spears the ardent combatants *' rushed on each other,'* says the historian, " with burning ire to conquer honour."* The third course proved • Stow. YORK AND LANCASTER. ISl decisive, and the triumph was decreed to the CHAP, stranger, who struck his lance with such skill and force against his adversary that he unhorsed him with the well-aimed thrust ; and Lord Welles fell powerless to the ground. Earl Crauford now con- vinced the admiring crowd that his valour was only surpassed by his courtesy ; he dismounted hastily from his steed, ran to the wounded knight and ten- derly embraced him, " that the people might under- stand he fought with no hatred but only for the glory of victory." Nor did his humane attentions rest here, he visited the sick couch of his opponent every day, and did not leave England until Lord Welles was completely restored to health. Amid those English knights conspicuous for their skiU and valour, and who are described as shining at tournaments, was the accomplished but odiously profligate Sir John Arundel. Next to courage and dexterity in feats of arms, the acquirements most dearly prized in the dissipated reign of Richard IL were those of singing and dancing, in both of which Arundel excelled ; but neither the gentle laws of chivalry, nor the refinement of music's enchanting art, could soften or subdue the savage nature of this brutal knight : his deeds are still more revolt- ing than those of Sir John Holand, and after a career of vicious extravagance he perished misera- bly in a storm off the coast of Ireland, in the com- mand of an expedition which the king had dis- patched to the assistance of the Duke of Bretagne. Previous to their embarkation on this fatal voyage, the conduct of Arundel and his companions is de- scribed to have been frightfully dissolute: they K 2 132 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, carried off the wives and daughters of the inliabi- ^^- tants of Portsmouth, where their fleet was preparing, and forced them on board their ships ; profaned the sanctuary of a neighbouring convent, and in despite of the tears and entreaties of the lady abbess, broke open the gates and committed the most frightful outrages within the holy walls. Many of the nuns* who are stated to have been allied to the first fami- lies in the kingdom were also taken out to sea by these lawless soldiers. '* And yet," says the justly indignant Holinshed, " when the tempest rose, like cruel and unmerciful persons, they threw them into the sea, eyther for that they would not be troubled with their lamentable noyse and crying, or for that they thought so long as they had such women aboard with them, God would not cease the rage of the tempest." Such were the deeds which disgraced chivalry in its brightest aera, and the gallant knight who dazzled the world by his valour and courtesy in the field was not unfrequently the unblushing author of atrocities which would reflect discredit on the most unpolished age. It is painful to be com- pelled to tear away the glowing veil with which poetical imaginations have invested the days of chivalry and romance ; but it is the province of the faithful historian to remove those pleasing illu- sions connected with the annals of warriors renowned for their knightly accomplishments : instead of being the redressers of grievances, the friends of defence- less women, and the bold protectors of the oppressed, we find them the scourge and terror of the weak, the spoilers of helpless innocence, contemners of the Walringhim. YORK AND LANCASTER. 133 law,' and indiilQ^in<]: their avarice or their revenue in CHAP, rapine and in murder. In addition to the *' dances and carolHngs" in which Richard II. so greatly deHghted, the court was entertained at certain seasons of the year with mummeries and disguisings, which Dr. Henry styles " the masquerades of the middle ages," and which he informs us were introduced in the reign of Henry III. In the roll of the wardrobe of King Richard IL there is an entry for twenty-one linen coifs for counterfeiting men of the law in the king's play at Christmas ; and besides these amusements, the nobi- lity employed their leisure hours in various games of skill or chance : cards were invented towards the close of the fourteenth century, by Jaquemin Gringonneur, a painter in Paris ; and previous to their appearance in England of which little mention is made until the year 1463, when there was an act passed to prohibit their importation from France, dice were the chief instruments used for the grati- fication of those gambling propensities which have prevailed in nearly every country and every age. The period of Richard II. was the era of Chau- cer, who in the preceding reign opened a new and wide field of poetry to the wondering eyes of his admiring countrymen. It would be doing great in- justice to the merits of this incomparable writer, to notice him merely by a brief eulogium, and yet the nature of a work em.bracing so large a portion of English history will scarcely admit of more than a slight tribute to the genius of this mighty master of his art, even if the author felt competent to descant upon the various excellencies of so bright a star in 134 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, the dark night of Enghsh Uterature. At tlie bare ^^' mention of Chaucer's name a thousand beautiful images spring up, the procession, the tournament, and the chace, pass in review before the dehghted gaze ^ and in examining the splendid picture more closely, we find every gem, every leaf, and every flower, the most minute and trifling accessories, painted with equal truth and vigour with the bolder and more striking ornaments. The poet's delinea- tion of manners and of feelings is equally felicitous r from the splendid palace to the peasant's straw-roofed shed, he has drawn forth a multitude of personages of every rank and class in the community, and given appropriate language and sentiments to each ; and with a delicacy of versification hitherto unknown, and touches of true pathos which no preceding poet ever attained, he has mingled descriptions of natu- ral scenery so magnificent and sublime, and has burst forth into such lofty strains of eloquence, that it is impossible to select from such boundless variety any one passage which could convey more than a faint idea of the exquisite productions of this illus- trious bard, Gower, the contemporary and the friend of Chaucer, though not gifted with the fertile imagination, the spirit, or the elegance of his tune- ful rival, was a splendid ornament to the age in which he flourished : his classic acquirements were very considerable, and his attention was early de- voted to the improvement of his native language, which, polished and refined by his patriotic labours, was no longer deemed too harsh and barbarous for the grace and melody of song. The taste for poetry and romance which since the revival of literature YORK AND LANCASTER. 135 by the Troubadours, liad characterized the Enghsh, CHAP. was strengthened by the compositions of " the Hvely '_ Chaucer," and " the moral Gower ;'* both of these admirable writers were the ornaments of the court, the companions and the favourites of the nobility : the former by his connection with his patron, John of Ghent, through Alice Swynford, the sister of the poet, and the third Duchess of Lancaster ; the latter from his birth, which entitled him to rank with the most honourable families in the kingdom. Sir John Gower enjoyed the sunshine of royal favour from Richard II., by whose command he wrote an English poem, in eight books, entitled, the Lover's Confes- sion. " The king* meeting the poet rowing on the Thames near London, invited him into the royal barge, and after much conversation requested him to book some nexv tiling" The poems of Richard's most esteemed friend and favourite minister, the Earl of Salisbury, are unfortunately lost; but we have the authority of Christina of Pisa, a lady celebrated in the annals of French literature, between whom and the earl a mutual admiration appears to have subsisted, to con- clude that they were worthy of his talents and accomplishments. She used to call him " Grdcieux chevalier^ ahnent dictier, et lui-meme grac'ieux die- teur." The warm attachment of the weak but elegantly minded Richard to letters is supported by many proofs, in the choice of his companions ; the number of minstrels who formed a part of his retinue, and his patronage of the learned. Froissart has preserved * Warton's History of English Poetry. 136 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, an interesting account of the manner in which the ^ king received a volume of romances presented by the historian in his last visit to England. Richard, it appears, scrupulously maintained his royal dignity and estate, and was somewhat difficult of access ; the faces of the English courtiers were strange to Froissart, who had been familiar with all the nobles and knights in the time of Edward III., but at length meeting v/ith an old acquaintance he was introduced to the Duke of York, and presented by him to the king. Richard received the historian in his bedchamber, and laid the book on his bed. "He opened it,'* continues our author, "and looked into it with much pleasure. He ought to have been pleased, for it was handsomely written, and illumi- nated and bound in crimson velvet with ten silver gilt studs, and roses of the same in the middle, with two large clasps of silver gilt richly worked with roses in the centre. The king asked me what the book treated of: I replied, " Of love." He was pleased with the answer, and dipped into several places reading parts aloud, for he read and spoke French perfectly well, and then gave it to one of his knights to carry to his oratory, and made me many acknowledgments.'' On the departure of Froissart, the king presented him with a silver gilt goblet " weighing full two marcs," and filled with one hundred nobles, "which," says the narrator, "were then of service to me and will be as long as I live." Richard himself is not destitute of some pretensions to the poetic garland, he has obtained a place in the catalogue of royal authors, upon the authority of a French manuscript in the Harleian collection entitled YORK AND LANCASTER. 137 Histoire du Roy d'Angleterre Richard ; the writer CHAP. after descanting with much eloquence upon the '_ virtues and accomplishments of the monarch, says, " Et si faisont balades et chan9ons Rondeaulx et laiz Tres bien et bel : si nestoit il que homs lais." A letter from Sir Robert Cotton to Archbishop Usher is also adduced in support of Richard's claims to the rank of an author, the knight requests his cor- respondent to procure for him a poem by Richard II. which he had pointed out. Richard's love of the peaceful arts, and the reli- gious toleration, of which it is possible his indifference to spiritual concerns might be the source, held out a delusive prospect of emancipation from the bigotry and ignorance of preceding ages. Although the king was generally surrounded by the dignitaries of the church, he displayed no friendly spirit towards the great body of the clergy ; he oppressed them with heavy exactions, held more than one parliament in religious houses, to the serious discomfiture of the monks, violated their privileges whenever it suited his own convenience, and contented himself, when recalled from his first expedition to Ireland by the complaints of the priesthood against the intemperate zeal of the Wickliffites, with merely threatening the reformers with banishment. He selected however three saints from the calendar for the objects of his particular veneration, Saint John the Baptist, King Edmund, and Edward the Confessor. The opposition in Richard's reign of the clergy to the new doctrines preached by V/ickliffe was so 138 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, weakly supported by the government, that we learn ^^- on the authority of a contemporary historian* of great credit that more than half of the people of England were his disciples. The opinions of the reformers had penetrated the court, the church and the universities ; in the great towns of London, Leicester and Bristol they were cherished with avidity ; and according to Knyghton a man would, scarcely meet with two persons on the road with- out one of them being a Wickliffite. The laws and edicts against the profession of heretical tenets were but slowly and. faintly executed, " because,"^ observes our author, " the time of correction was not yet come." Wickliffe had translated the Bible into the English language, and thus opened the perusal of the Scrip- tures to all who could read their native tongue : but the progress both of the reformed religion and of literature received a fatal check in the dark and troublesome years which succeeded Richard's depo- sition. Henry of Lancaster lent his authority to persecution, and incessantly employed in maintain- ing the throne against the numerous conspiracies and rebellions which threatened its destruction, though better qualified than his unfortunate prede- cessor to become a patron of the fine arts, had little leisure to attend to affairs of less consequence than the cares of his government. Learning degenerated in the reign of Henry IV. and in that of his warlike son, the mass of the people intimidated by the dread- ful examples of the enmity of the Church of Rome towards those who presumed to reject its dogmas^ * Knyghton. YORK AND LANCASTER. 139 were deterred from the perusal of the works CHAP, which had formerly been industriously circulated by ^^• Wickliife*s disciples: such prohibited books were diligently sought after, and all who " transcribed, sold, bought, or concealed them," were liable to heavy penalties. It was the policy of the clergy of the established churcii to keep their flocks in igno- rance, and thus discouraged from the pursuit of knowledge they relapsed into their former negli- gence ; and the dawn which had opened so brightly under Richard 11. was quickly obscured by clouds and darkness. No European monarch entertained a more splendid retinue than Richard II. " His royalty was such," says Stow,* "that wheresoever he lay his person was guarded by two hundred Cheshire men j he had about him thirteen bishops, besides barons, knights and squires, and others more than needed ; insomuch that to the household came every day to meat ten thousand people, as appeared by the messes told out of the kitchen by three hundred servitors." And the same author tells us that in 1399 the king kept " a most royal Christmas at Westminster Hall, with daily joustings and runnings at tilt, whereunto re- sorted such a number of people that there was every day spent twenty-eight or twenty-sixe oxen, and three hundred sheep, besides fowle without number." This magnificence was imitated by the nobles. Holingshed tells us that the furniture and apparel of Sir John Arundel was " very sumptuous, and that it was thought to surmount the apparel of any king." He had fifty-two new suits of cloth of gold, and • Survey of London. 140 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. Iiorses and other effects to the value of ten thousand ^''* marks which were lost at the period of his shipwreck. Thomas Despencer Earl of Gloucester possessed ** fifty-nine lordships in sundry counties ; twenty- eight thousand sheep, one thousand oxen and steers,* one thousand and two hundred kine, with their calves, forty mares with tiieir colts of two years, one hundred and sixty draught horses, two thousand hogs, three thousand bullocks, forty tons of wine, six hundred bacons, fourscore carcasses of Martin- mas beef, six hundred muttons in his larder, ten tons of cider, armour, plate, jewels, and ready money better than ten thousand pounds, thirty-six sacks of w^ool, and a library of books." William Scroope Earl of Wiltshire, in order to atone for an outrage committed against the Bishop of Durham, made an offering of a jewel to the shrine of Saint Cuthbert of the value of five hundred pounds, and the rich tapestry belonging to the Earl of Salisbury was thought a present worthy of a king's son. Upon forfeiture of his property three pieces were given to Prince Thomas of Lancaster, by a grant from Henry IV. The improvement in manners did not keep pace with the rapid advance of luxury, and the preceding pages bear but too convincing evidence of the low state of morals. The highest and the noblest per- sonages in the realm disgraced themselves by ruffian brutality of conduct. On one memorable occasion the Duke of Gloucester dared to insult the king by bursting into his presence with his sword drawn, and declaring with an oath that he would murder the first man who should venture to accuse his brother * Dugdale. YORK AND LANCASTEU. 141 John of Ghent of treason. Henry BoHngbroke's CHAP, language and demeanour is represented by Richard _ to have been not less rude and violent. The mo- narch in those piercing lamentations wrung from his despairing spirit, when betrayed into the toils set by his crafty kinsman, in summing up the offences of which Henry of Lancaster had been guilty towards him, exclaims, " Once he drew upon me in the chamber of the queen ;" an act of insolence unpa- ralleled even in the history of Simon de Montfort, so justly held up to the indignation of the civilized world for the savage insult offered to his sovereign Henry HI. The threatening gesticulations which accompanied the loud cries of" bar" and " traitor"' resounding through Westminster- Hall at the opening of the first parliament under Henry IV., prove how little scrupulous the peers of England were respect- ing the style of their remonstrances to each other, when their angry passions were excited : their actions were equally indicative of cruelty and bar- barism. Richard himself, though described as far exceedins: the nobles of his court in refinement, is said to have glutted his eyes with the bloody scene of the decollation of his enemy Richard Fitzalan Earl of Arundel ; the monarch's example was, we are told by Baker, followed by divers noblemen who crowded to witness the sanguinary spectacle. Mow- bray Earl of Nottingham has been represented as performing a conspicuous part in the dismal tragedy; but a modern historian in suggesting the necessity of his absence at Calais in charge of his prisoner the Duke of Gloucester, at the period in which Arundel suffered, has wiped the stigma from his name ; he is accused by Walsingham with assisting to bind the 14<2 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, eyes of the condemned earl, with whom he was ^^- closely connected by marriage, being the husband of his daughter. The actual presence of another near relative, the Earl of Kent, has not been disproved. Baker informs us that Arundel rebuked him from the scaffold for his heartless conduct in these prophetic words, " Truly it would have beseemed you rather to be absent than here at this business ; but the time will come ere long, that as many shall marvel at your misfortune as they do now at mine."* The English people notwithstanding the low state of civilization were refined in comparison with the rugged brutality of their northern neighbours, who had not yet emerged from the most savage bar- barism. The lively pen of Froissart affords a spirited sketch of the conduct and manners of the Scots, as narrated by Sir John de Vienne the constable, and other nobles and knights of France, who had the misfortune to be dispatched by Charles VI. in 1385 to aid them in their intended invasion of England. Vienne, accompanied by a thousand men at arms, and laden with a subsidy of forty thousand francs of gold, together with armour and accoutrements for a thousand knights and esquires, sailed from the fair and jocund fields of France to a barren and inhos- pitable region, where in despite of his errand and the glittering treasure he conveyed, he experienced a very indifferent reception. Froissart tells us that " news w^as soon spread through Scotland that a large body of men at arms were arrived in the country j some began to murmur and to say, " what devil has brought them here, or who has sent for * Chroaicle of Kings. YORK AND LANCASTER. 1'13 them ? Cannot we carry on our wars with England CHAP without their assistance ? We shall never do any ^ • effectual good so long as they are with us. Let them be told to return again, for we are numerous enough in Scotland to fight our own quarrels, and do not want their company ; we neither understand their language nor they ours, and we cannot converse together. They will very soon eat up and destroy all we have in this country, and will do us more harm if we allow them to remain amongst us than the English would in battle. If the English burn our houses what consequence is it to us, we can re- build them cheaply enough, for we only require five or six days to do so, provided we have five or six poles and boughs to cover them.'* Such was the conversation of the Scots on the arrival of the French ; they did not esteem them, but hated them in their hearts, and abused them with their tongues as much as they could, like rude and worthless people as they are. I must however say that, con- sidering all things, it was not right for so many of the nobility to have come at this season to Scotland : it would have been better to have sent twenty or thirty knights from France than so large a body. The reason is clear. In Scotland you will never find a man of worth, they are like savages who wish not to be acquainted with any one, and are too envious of the good fortune of others and suspicious of losing any thing themselves ; for their country is very poor. When the English make inroads thither, as they have very frequently done, they order their provisions, if they wish to live, to 14-4 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, follow close at their back ; for there is nothing to be ;_ had ill the country without difficulty. There is neither iron to shoe horses nor leather to make har- ness, saddles, or bridles : all these things come ready made from Flanders by sea ; and should these fail there is none to be had in the country. When these barons and knights of France who had been used to handsome hotels, ornamented apartments and castles, with good soft beds to repose on, saw themselves in such poverty, they began to laugh and say before the admiral, " What could have brought us hither ? We have never known till now what poverty and hard living were ? We have now found the truth of what our fathers and mothers used to tell us, when they said, * Go, thou shalt have in thy time, shouldst thou live long enough, hard beds and poor lodgings.* All this is now come to pass." They said also among them- selves, " Let us hasten the object of our voyage by | advancing towards England. A long stay in Scot- J land will be neithei' honourable nor profitable." And stating their earnest desire to facilitate their departure from the comfortless region which afforded so few accommodations to Sir John de Vienne, he en- deavoured to appease them, saying, " My fair Sirs, it becomes us to wait patiently, and to speak fair, as we have got into such difficulties. We have a long way yet to go, and we cannot return through England. Take in good humour whatever you can get, you cannot be always in Paris, Dijon, or Chalons : it is necessary for those who wish to live with honour in this world, to endure good and evil." YORK AND LANCASTER. 145 By these and similar speeches, the constable pacified CHAP, his officers, and anxious to cidtivate the friendship ^^• of his alhes, he sought the acquaintance of the Scottish barons and knights ; but," continues our author, " he was visited by so very few it is not worth mentioning ; for, as I have said before, there are not many nobles there, and they are people difficult of access." The Earls of Douglas and Moray formed an honourable exception to the rest of their countrymen, and were the principal visitants of the French cavaliers, paying them more attention than they received from the whole remaining portion of the communitv. " But this," observes Froissart, " was not the worst, for the French were hardly dealt with in their purchases ; and whenever they wanted to buy horses, they were asked for what was worth ten florins, sixty and a hundred ; with difficulty could they be found at that price. When the horses had been bought, there were not any housings to be met with, except those which they had brought with them from Flanders. " In this situation were the French : besides when- ever their servants went out to forage, they were indeed permitted to load their horses with as much as they could pack up and carry, but they were waylaid on their return and villainously beaten, robbed, and sometimes slain, insomuch that no varlet dared go out foraging for fear of death." The representations made by Sir John de Vienne and his knights to the King of Scotland, respecting the expedience of a speedy commencement of the campaign were of little avail ; not an individual in the monarch's council would stir until he had VOL. J. L 146 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, received a share of the ffold which Charles had sent VT for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the war ; and when at length the French knights were admitted to an audience with the king, they were disgusted witli his person and his manner, and con- vinced by his *' red bleared eyes, the colour of san- dal-wood, that he was no valiant man." After much delay the constable persuaded the Scots to accompany him across the English border, and ravaging a part of Northumberland, their allied forces were compelled to make a hasty retreat by the approach of Richard II. at the head of eighty thousand men. Upon their return to the lowlands, which had been traversed by the English in their sweeping march to the Scottish capital, they found the whole country in ruins ; but the inhabitants made light of the devastation, observing, that with the assistance of six or eiarht stakes thev should soon have new houses, and they could re-stock their farms with the cattle which had been driven into the forests for security. Having no farther hope of obtaining booty from England the Scots very successfully endeavoured to pillage their allies. " Whatever," says Froissart, " the French wanted to buy they were compelled to pay very dearly for ; and it was fortunate that the French and the Scots did not quarrel with each other very seriously, as there were frequent riots on account of provisions. The Scots said that the French had done them more mischief than the English, and when asked in what manner, they replied by riding through their corn and barley on their horses, which they trod under YORK AND LANCASTER. !47 foot, not condescending to follow the roads, for CHAP, which damages they would have a recompense before ^'" they left Scotland, and they should neither find vessel or mariner who would dare put to sea without their permission." Upon the return of Sir John de Vienne and his troops to the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, the whole party suffered severely from famine ; provisions being scarcely to be procured for money, they could obtain but a very small quantity of the necessaries of life, either for themselves or their horses ; many of the latter perished from want of food, or were com- pletely worn out by fatigue, and when on account of the difficulty in the maintenance of those who were in a better condition their owners wished to sell them, not a purchaser was to be found who would give a " groat" either for the horses or their housings. The situation of the French knights became every day more irksome and distressing, and in conse- quence of the gloomy prospect before them, many petitioned for leave to return home, being justly alarmed at the idea of spending the winter in a place productive of so little comfort : they deemed it impossible from the general scarcity to exist in a body, and expressed their fears lest in the event of their being obliged to spread themselves over the country, they should meet with treatment similar to that which had befallen their foragers, and be set upon and murdered. The constable though exceedingly anxious to remain in Scotland until spring, in order that he might with the assistance of a reinforcement of L 2 148 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, stores, monev and provisions, make another attempt upon England, was convinced of the reasonableness of the statement made by his officers : and perceiving how inimical the Scots were to their allies, and the perilous situation in which himself and his followers were placed, gave permission for the departure of those who were desirous to quit their miserable quarters. But here a fresh difficulty arose : the Scots faithful to their threat of detaining their visitors until they had been remunerated for all their alleged losses opposed the wishes of the French nobles, telling them that their dependants were welcome to leave the country whenever they pleased, but that they themselves should not embark until they had complied with every demand whcih might be brought against them. In this dilemma Sir John de Vienne, convinced of the impracticability of acting in concert with such insatiate plunderers, relinquished his de- signs upon England, and studied only how to make the best terms for himself and his friends with the mercenary people who treated them as if they were enemies rather than allies. Extremely perplexed he applied to the Earls of Douglas and Moray, who represented to their coun- trymen the disgraceful nature of their conduct, telling them that they did not act becoming men at arms nor as friends to the kingdom of France by this behaviour to its knights, and that henceforward no Scottish knight would dare to set his foot in France ; but these nobles having exerted their in- fluence in vain, advised the constable to purchase the consent of the rapacious multitude to the depar- ture of his followers at their own price, and Sir John VI. YORK AND LANCASTER. 149 finding all other means unavailable, made himself CHAP, responsible for the alleged injuries sustained by the Scots from his army, and in a proclamation declared his readiness to satisfy all those who should shew just cause of complaint. Upon this concession many knights and esquires obtained a passage to France, or returned through Flanders, or wherever they could land, famished and without arms or horses, cursing Scotland and the hour of their visit to its rugged shores ; they declared that they had never suffered so much in any previous expedition, and expressed an earnest v. ish that the King of France would make a truce with the English for two or three years and then march to Scotland and utterly de- stroy it, *' for never had they seen such wicked people, nor such ignorant hypocrites and traitors.*' Sir Jolin de Vienne wrote to the Kino- of France and the Duke of Berry to acquaint them with his situation, and to inform them that if they desired to see him again they must send him the money for which he stood pledged. The French government immediately took measures to redeem the constable, and the sum demanded was raised with the utmost dispatch, and lodged in the town of Bruges for that purpose : he was then permitted to leave Scotland, and embarking at Edinburgh with a favourable wind, sailed for Sluys in Flanders. Some of the knights and esquires attached to this unfortunate expedition did not follow the same route, being desirous to see other countries besides Scotland; but the greater number returned in a deplorable condition to France, many of them so poor that they did not know how to remount themselves, and were obhoed to seize the VI 150 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, horses of the peasantry as they were working in the fields, an act of oppression which though in direct contradiction to those gentle rules of chivalry so much the admiration of modern times, no knight ever scrupled to commit when his necessities urged him to despoil the labourer of his hardly-earned cattle. The report of the French knights was of course extremely unfavourable towards the country in which they had experienced such inhospitable treat- ment. The constable, in answering the questions of the king and the Duke of Berry concerning the disposition which the Scots manifested to maintain an alliance with France, expressed his opinion that they never would cordially assist in the invasion of England, to whom, from their jealousy of foreigners they would naturally incline ; and added, as God might help him, he would rather be Count of Savoy or of Artois, or of some such country, than King of Scotland. But however unwilling the Scots might be to give quarters in their own land to the troops of Charles, or to permit them to fight under their banners in their incursions on the English borders, they remained the steady and faithful friends of France during the whole of its long and sanguinary war with the House of Lancaster, shewing them- selves so inveterate in their enmity to Henry V. that when in his last illness it was suggested to him that his malady was occasioned by the resentment of a Scottish saint whose shrine had been violated by his order, the monarch exclaimed, " I am bearded by Scots either alive or dead go where I will." Since the Scots had profited so little by their YORK AND LANCASTER. 151 political and commercial intercourse with France CHAP. and Flanders, countries which surpassed all the other '_ parts of Europe in refinement and in luxury, the state of Ireland, an isolated spot which did not possess similar advantages, was as might be expected still more rude and barbarous. While Froissart was at Richard's court he obtained some curious particulars relative to the king's first expedition to Ireland from a gentleman, Henry Castide, or according to Stow, Cristall, in the monarch's service. From this account we learn that the king remained upwards of nine months in his Irish dominions, attended by a vast armament, which was maintained at a great expense ; " But," observes the narrator, "it was cheerfully defrayed by the English, who thought the money well applied when they saw their sovereign return home with honour." Gentlemen and archers were alone employed upon this occasion, and there were with the king four thousand knights and esquires and thirty thousand archers all regularly paid every week. Cristall describes Ireland as a country pre- senting almost insurmountable difficulties to an hostile army ; *' for there are," he continues, " such impenetrable extensive forests, lakes and bogs, there is no knowing how to pass them and carry on the war advantageously : it is so thinly inhabited that whenever the Irish please they desert the towns and take refuge in their forests, and live in huts made of boughs like wild beasts ; and whenever they observe any parties advancing with hostile dispositions and about to enter the country, they fly to such narrow passes it is impossible to follow them. When they find a favourable opportunity to attack their enemies 1\52 THE KiVAL HOUSES OI- CHAP, to advantage, which frequently happens from their ^ • knowledge of the country, they fail not to seize it ; and no man at arms be he ever so well mounted can overtake them so light are they of foot. Sometimes they leap from the ground behind a horseman and embrace the rider, for they are very strong in their arms, so tightly that he can no way get rid of them. The Irish have pointed knives with broad blades, sharp on both sides like a dart head, with which they kill their adversaries ; but they never consider them as dead until they liave cut their throats like sheep, opened their bodies, and taken out their hearts, which they carry off with them." This savage mode of warfare infused a suspicion into the breasts of the English that these rude islanders were addicted to cannibalism, a horrible supposition strengthened by the vulgar love of the marvellous and the malicious reports of enemies ; *' for," adds the narrator, " some say who are well acquainted with their manners that they devour them as delicious morsels," From the same autho- rity we also learn that the Irish did not according to the usage of other nations accept of ransom for their prisoners ; and that when they were in danger of being worsted in any skirmish, they immediately separated, each person providing for his own safety by hiding in some hedge, bush or hole under ground, so that it was no uncommon thing for a whole party to disappear suddenly from their opponents no one couhl tell whither. Four of the most potent kings belonging to the yet unsubdued districts of Ireland were induced to acknowledge Richard's authority ; but we are told YORK AND LANCASTER- 1,53 that " it was more through love and good-humour CHAP, than by battle or force." The Earl of Ormond _^; whose lands were adjacent to the territories of these princes, succeeded in persuading them to repair to Dublin, where the King of England kept his court, and to submit themselves to him, a point of higher importance than had been gained by England under her warlike monarch Edward III., who strove in vain to reduce the native tribes to obedience. Cristall had the misfortune to be made prisoner in early life, when engaged in Edward's service in Ireland : following the pursuit too hotly he out- stripped his companions, and one of the enemy taking advantage of his rash impetuosity sprang up behind him on his horse, and hurried him forward to the security of a town surrounded by wood, and defended by palisades and stagnant water. In this place he was detained for a considerable period, but the kindness which he experienced lessened the severity of his lot ; and entertaining little hope of recovering his liberty he married the daughter of his captor. The vicissitudes of war placed tiie father-in- law of the English knight in the hands of Lionel Duke of Clarence, and by this means the prisoner's friends were informed of his existence, and with some difficulty obtained his freedom. Henry Cris- tall, in consequence of his long residence in Ireland and his acquaintance with the language and customs of its semi-barbarous inhabitants, was appointed to an office of trust and honour about the persons of the four kings, who he was directed to instruct in the usages then most in fashion amid their more polished English neighbours : his success in the 154" THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, attempt to reclaim them from early habits was not Vi- very flattering ; in reporting his labours to Frois- sart he honestly confesses the slight effect which his most earnest endeavours for their improve- ment produced. " I must say that these kings who were under my management were of coarse manners and understanding, and in spite of all I could do to soften their language and nature very little progress has been made, for they would fre- quently return to their former coarse behaviour. I will more particularly relate the charge that was given me over them, and how I managed it. The king of England intended that these four kings should adopt the manners, dress and appearance of the English, for he wanted to create them knights. He gave them first a very handsome house in Dub- lin for themselves and their attendants, where I was ordered to reside with them. I lived with them three or four days without any way interfering that we might become accustomed to each other, and allowed them to act just as they pleased. I observed that as they sate at table they made grimaces that did not seem to me graceful nor becoming, and I resolved in my mind to make them drop that custom. When these kings were seated at table and the first dish served, they would make their minstrels and principal servants sit beside them and eat from their plates and drink from their cups. They told me this was a praiseworthy custom of their country where everything was in common but the bed. I permitted this to be done for three days, but on the fourth I ordered tlie table to be laid out and covered properly, placing the four kings at an upper table, YORK AND LANCASTER. 155 the minstrels at another below, and the servants CHAP, lower still. They looked at each other and would ^^• not eat, saying I had deprived them of an old cus- tom in which they had been brought up." The chamberlain endeavoured to appease these uncere- monious potentates by representing the necessity of complying with the etiquette suited to their rank and dignity, and by his good-humoured perseverance succeeded in gaining his point. " They had,** he continues, " another custom I knew to be common in the country, which was the not wearing breeches. I had in consequence plenty of breeches made of linen and cloth which I gave to the kings and their attendants, and accustomed them to wear them. I took away many rude articles, as well in their dress as other things, and had great difficulty at the first to induce them to wear robes of silken cloth trimmed with squirrel skins or minever ; for the kings only wrapped themselves up in an Irish cloak. In riding they neither used saddles or stirrups, and I had some trouble to make them conform in this respect to English manners. I once made an inquiry con- cerning their faith, but they seemed so much dis- pleased I was forced to silence ; they said they believed in God and the Trinity without any differ- ence to our creed. I asked which Pope they in- clined to, they answered without hesitation * To that of Rome.* When asked if they would like to receive the honour of knighthood, they answered that they were knights already which ought to con- tent them, ' for in Ireland every king confers that honour upon his son at seven years old, and should the child have lost his father then the nearest rela- 1 56 THE lUVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, tion ; and the young knight begins to learn to tilt ^^- with a light lance against a shield fixed to a post in a field, and the more lances he breaks the more honour he acquires.' * By this method,' added they, * are our young knights trained, more especially king's sons.' But having been told that the king of Eng- land woLdd not be satisfied with this childish kind of knighthood, and wished to confer that honour upon them in the usual way with more imposing cere- monies in the church, they complied, watched their armour all night according to ancient custom in the cathedral, and were after mass on the morrow, being the feast of the virgin, created knights with much solemnity. The four kings we are told were very richly dressed suitable to their rank, and that day dined at the table of King Richard where they were much stared at by the lords and those present ; " not indeed without reason" observes Cristall in conclu- sion, " for they were strange figures and differently countenanced to the Ensilish and other nations. We are naturally inclined to gaze at any thing strange, and it was certainly. Sir John, at that time a great novelty to see four Irish kings." In this reign flourished Sir Richard Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London ; than whom no chief magistrate of that imperial city has ever obtained or is likely to obtain a more immortal memory. The renown too of this eminent citizen is perhaps only the more illustrious, if like that of other heroes it be, what it bears the suspicion of being, considerably tinged with fable. That Sir Richard Whittington was really Lord Mayor of London for three succes- sive periods is matter of city record ; but as to the YORK AND LANXMSTER. IbJ circumstances to which he owed those multiphcd CHAP. honours, and even as to the manner in which he be- came possessed of the wealth which paved the way to so much civic eminence, neither history nor tradi- tion afford unquestionable evidence ; but a sinister conjecture seems at least admissible, that neither in- dustry nor even a " cat " did so much for Whitting- ton as family influence, the venality of the court of Richard II. and the corrupt system of favouritism, and flagrant violations of law for the benefit of those who could purchase the privilege of acting in direct contradiction to the statutes, which were the general political features of the times ; and which if really connected with Whittington's wealth and splendour gives to the memory of this ancient mayor of the English capital so much the stronger claims to a place in the present history, where the errors of the government are at once the spots and the charac- teristics of so many of the pages. Sir Richard at his death founded a college, then and still called from its founder Whittington col- lege ; and it is from the ordinances of that founda- tion itself, that we learn, what at once renders the tradition of his youthful poverty extremely doubt- ful, that he was the son of Sir William Whittington, knight. It may seem indeed that there was a family connection of some kind between this Sir William himself and the lords of Whittington in Derbyshire ; but if so, it was probably through some younger branch only of the stock. In the year 1303 the lordship of Whittington passed into the hands of Guarine de Metz, who by superior prowess had won, at a tournament held at Peveril's place or 158 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, castle, in the Peak, for the express purpose of de- '_ termining the nuptial disposal of the lady, the hand of Mollett or Molde, sole daughter and heiress of the then Lord of Whittington. The posterity of Guarine (Warren) and Molde bore the name of Fitzvvarren, and the wife of Sir Richard is recorded as Alice Fitzwarren, daughter of Hugh Fitzwarren and dame Molde his wife. Be all this however as it may, Whittington from some original or other became a London merchant ; and (if the monumental inscription at St. Michael's is to be believed) the very flower ^'/los mercatorum" of the whole mercantile community. He was of the livery of the Mercer's Company, but that circum- stance as is well known affords no insight into the particular branch of merchandize which he pursued, and the information for which we search upon that head is equally denied us from any other source. A oconjecture however has been thrown out which if well founded, not only mortifies us by casting addi- tional discredit upon the pretty and useful fable of the " cat," and of its youthful owner's early poverty and happily rewarded merit, but opens fresh views of the lawlessness and court favouritism of the time, and unfortunately so far dims the lustre of the name of Whittington as to display its exaltation as the fruit of that corrupt influence so frequently obtained by patronage and bribery. The family of Whitting- ton according to the evidence now adduced was settled in the north of England, that is, in the vicinity of the pit-coal counties and sea-ports. At the date when we may suppose Whittington a boy, the burning of pit-coal in London was esteemed YORK AND LANCASTER. 159 SO ffreat a nuisance that those who ventured to con- CHAP. • VI sume the prohibited fuel were rendered punishable ;_ under the statute with the penalty of death ; and that the actual enforcement of this statute took place is evinced by the record of the execution of individuals for this offence still preserved among the archives of the Tower of London. But notwithstanding the severity of such a law, and the proof that at one period at least all its severity was rigorously executed, we come down as low as the year 1419, before which time Whittington had served all his three several mayoralties, without finding that a repeal of the statute had taken place. The importation of pit-coal formed a considerable branch of the commerce of the Thames. " As early," says the author of the History of Newcastle, " as 1421 it appears that it was a trade of great importance, and that a duty of two pence per chaldron had been imposed upon it for some time'' Now to account for this professed and public sanction of a trade which was still prohibited by law, it is only needful to advert to that dispensing power which the English crown so notoriously assumed in this and other periods of its early history, and by means of which the operation of the law was arbitrarily suspended, abrogated or qualified. But to imagine at the same time that the regal power ever interposed in any manner consistent with general justice, and not for the advantage of some court favourite or directly or indirectly for the benefit of some in- dividual purchasing the monopoly, would be to betray a very slight acquaintance with the cha- racter and usages of the era. The probability 160 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, then is that the coal trade between Newcastle and ^^' London was tlius pursued without the repeal of the law which forbade it in virtue only of the es- pecial license of the crown, and that the license was held through purchase by some individual or^ individuals thus enabled to raise a fortune at the expense of his fellow-countrymen through the en- joyment of a monopoly. To leap nevertheless from the premises now offered to the conclusion that Sir Richard Whitting- ton was the actual and sole individual, or even a participator with others in the enjoyment of this monopoly, and that a monopoly of the London coal trade with Newcastle was the real source of his splendid civic fortunes, would without farther autho- rity be absurdity : but the suspicion receives colour and countenance from the language in which the charter of Whittington College is couched: its mem- bers are directed in this document to remember in their prayers for ever " Richard IL and Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, special lords and promoters of the said Richard Whittington." Whit- tington therefore owed to the kmg and the duke some exclusive privilege or favour, for which he thought himself bound to offer the gravest acknow- ledgment ; and here it cannot be too much to sup- pose the possibility that this favour or privilege was the source of the fortune, which enabled him to found that college whose members were thus to remember in their prayers Richard IL and Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, special lords and promoters of the said Richard Whittington. As to tlie story of " Whittington's cat," so pre- YORK AND LANCASTER. l6l ciousin its character as being oneof thefew romances CHAP. which embellish the history of the English " royal '_ city," and gild it with at least partial rays of the imagination, there seems strong reason to apprehend that the severity of true biography in this, as in so many other instances, must declare itself, however reluctantly, against the reality of its foundations. The original fiction, in company with many others, and in conformity with the usual fortune of such narrations, appears to have made the circle of the habitable globe ; or rather to have migrated west- ward, from the ancient seats and springs of all fiction, fable, poetry, science and philosophy, in the countries of the east. According to a Persian manu- script quoted by that diligent living orientalist Sir William Ouseley, there is an island in Persia which owes its very name to a tradition corresponding to that of the immortal lord mayor of London. In the tenth century, as we learn from the manuscript, one Kees, the son of a poor widow of Siraf, embarked for India with his whole property — a cat. For- tunately for the needy adventurer he arrived in the country at the very time when the royal palace of its king had become so infested either with mice or rats, that these animals made themselves guests at the very banquets of the court, and officers of the house- hold were required to attend for the express purpose of defending the viands before they reached the lips of the persons who were expected to partake of them. It was at a conjuncture thus critical that the son of the widow produced his cat, and by the active em- ployment of whose teeth and talons the direful plague was speedily arrested, and her penniless mas- VOL. I. M 162 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, ter raised into the higliest esteem in the kingdom to _^ which lie had brought her. Magnificent rewards were lavished upon him by the grateful monarch and his courtiers, and a mine of wealth exchanged with him for his cat ; after which returning to Siraf and taking thence his mother and his brothers the whole family settled in the island, which, from his own name, has thenceforward been called Keis, or according to the Persians, Keish. The possibility of a corresponding occurrence if not in London, and to Whittington, has been contended for as having a certain similitude to an authenticated fact, of which the scene was South America. The first couple of cats that were carried to Cuyuba, " sold/' says the English historian of the Brazils, *' for a pound (a pound weight) of gold. There was a plague of rats in the settlement, and the cats were purchased as a mercantile speculation, and with perfect suc- cess." " The kittens," it is added, " produced thirty otiavas each ; the next generation were worth twenty; and the price gradually fell, as the inha- bitants were stocked with these beautiful and useful creatures." But without adverting in this place to the great local dissimilitude which the circumstances of country introduces between the respective tales, it seems sufficiently safe to unite with a distinguished antiquary in adopting a belief that the story of " Whittington and his cat" is no more than a real London version of that of the son of the widow of Siraf. It has been urged indeed, in reply, that to yield to this supposition is to make mere resem- blance a perfect proof of identity ; and that London, like the city of India, might have happened (and YORK AND LANCASTER. 1(J3 this in the very days of Whittington's youth and CHAP. pretended poverty) to have had its own phigue of ;_ rats ; and even that from particular coincidences cats, in more places and more times than one, may have been worth their weight in gold. Assuming however, the single historical fact that Sir Richard Whittington, " thrice Lord Mayor of London," left a memory both for wealth and splendour which *' lingered in men's ears" long before it received the assistance of a junction with the story of the cat, nothing seems more easy to be conceived than the motives which should induce some Enghsh inventor of popular narrations to affix the name of so famous a citizen to his English naturalization of the adven- tures of Keis. The early part of Whittington's true record may have faded from the public memory, while nevertheless the report of his riches and great- ness was still fresh on the public lips. But many of the lord-mayors of London have risen from the depths of want into personal wealth, and into civic pre-eminence, through the aid either of singular occurrences or of great labour, frugality, and long struggling with their original penury. Now • examples of both these sources of this happy change of men's fortunes are agreeable to the ears of those who listen to them, and even moral or useful to the interests of society, in the one case as nurses of hope and the encouragers of enterprize, and in the other as teachers of industry, perseverance, patience, and prudence. The history of Sir Richard Whittington, received as it has been given above, possesses nothing either of similar interest or of similar utility ; but M 2 164 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, conceal the circumstance that this rich and powerful ^ civic magistrate was in fact born to wealth and friends, and was aided throughout his commercial career by the power and even the corruption of a sovereign and a court ; speak of him only as having reached wealth and greatness, and insist that he reached both from out of the abyss of poverty ; add, that the foundation of the whole was the possession, by a poor and unprotected boy, of so insignificant a treasure (so insignificant in common estimation), and in ordinary circumstances, as a starveling cat ; and instantly you have formed a romance which will fill the imagination and haunt the memory of young and old ; which will inspire the dreams of destitute but budding youth; which will oppose itself to the despair of poverty ; which will support patience, animate perseverance, encourage industry and prudence, and proclaim the great and valuable truth, that there are no clouds of condition to which there may not succeed the sunshine of prosperity ! Such, then, may be the probable origin of the pleasing fiction of Whittington and his cat, and in this manner may we remove the difficulties that present themselves to our unqualified adoption of what seems to be the actual history of the renowned lord- mayor of London. John Philpot, alderman and citizen of London, may be truly designated as one of the bravest, most active, and patriotic subjects of Richard II. The heroic exploits performed by this estimable person in the service of his country, being untinc- tured with romance or legendary fame, have been permitted to remain in obscurity ; while the doubt- YORK AND LANCASTER. l65 fill merits of Whittington, and the still more doubt- CHAP ful tale of his cat, have procured for that more L fortunate personage a name and reputation, which though owing their chief support to the popularity of a nursery story, will last until those delightful traditions wliich it is the hopeless and hateful task of truth-loving antiquaries to disparage and to deny, shall lose their attractive influence over the human mind. Few men have deserved more honour from the community which they have adorned, or obtained less than John Philpot ; his memory and his actions are suffered to sleep in the old chronicles which record his splendid achievements in the defence of England's glory. The imbecility of the ministry in the early part of the reign of Richard II. amid other disasters which it entailed upon the kingdom, en- couraged the fleets of France to ravage the defence- less coast, and the impunity with which hostile vessels plundered the unprotected towns and villages, induced a Scottish adventurer named Mercer to wage a predatory war upon his own account, and being joined by other desperadoes as daring and as fortunate as himself, he became so formidable that the king and the council were entreated to prevent and punish aggressions which were so disgraceful and so ruinous to the nation.* The subject was debated in the cabinet, but no measures were taken to remedy the evil, 'and Philpot perceiving the supineness of the government, and hopeless of obtaining aid and sanction from men who appeared to be totally regardless of the honour * Holjngshed. l()6 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, of their king and country, promptly and efficiently 1 equipped a few vessels, which at his own expense he furnished with an ample complement of men, ammunition, and all other requisites for the intended service, and taking the command himself, put out to sea with the determination to avenge the insults offered to the English crown. Encountering the marauders upon an element, and in a service to which the brave Philpot was wholly unaccustomed, the intrepidity of the dauntless citizen prevailed over every disadvantage, and after a sharp engage- ment he achieved a splendid and signal victory, capturing Mercer and his whole fleet, consisting of several ships which the pirate had seized in the port of Scarborough, and fifteen Spanish vessels laden with spoil. Philpot sailed triumphantly to London with his prizes, and received an enthusiastic welcome from the citizens and the populace, who greeted his return with shouts and acclamations. The nobles jealous of the honours so justly paid to Philpot's valour, and mortified by the tacit reproach which the disinterested zeal in the public service dis- played by a private individual conveyed to men who were the constituted guardians of the nation's honour, summoned him before the council to give an account of his conduct. The Earl of Stafford even went so far as to charge this loyal subject of the crown with the commission of an unlawful act, in presuming to levy forces in the king's dominions without the sovereign's permission. But Philpot repelled the accusation with so much spirit and firm- ness that the attempt to procure his disgrace was VI. YORK AND LANCASTER. I67 abandoned, and he was dismissed with the commen- CHAP, dations due to his merits, and the benefit which he had conferred. Few memorials remain to perpetuate the remem- brance of Philpot's glorious action ; a narrow lane in the city of London, which bears his name, we are told by Stow has derived its appellation from the residence of this distinguished ornament of the alder- manic body ; but the tongue of fame has not blazoned its origin, and it is daily pronounced without bringing any reminiscence of the hero who so justly deserves the admiration and esteem of all posterity. While the exploits of Philpot and of Walworth, London's gallant lord-mayor, shed unwonted lustre upon the civic community, hitherto stigmatized for their turbulence, or accused of an inordinate and exclusive attachment to the luxurious ease offered to the wealthy, the martial ardour of a churchman was kindled at the call of dangei'. The pacific duties imposed by the ecclesiastical profession could not fetter the arm of one who disdained to remain an inglorious spectator of the evils arising from the imbecility of the government, and who threw down the crosier and seized the sword when- ever the exigencies of the times demanded his interference. Henry de Spencer, styled *' the warlike Bishop of Norwich," was one of the brightest luminaries of Richard II. 's reign : he had served under his brother in the Pope's wars, and acquired both dexterity and judgment in military aflfliirs, which he exercised with much success at different periods of his life. This martial prelate resolutely opposed himself to the iG8 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, insolence of the Commons, and by his intrepidity ^'- and promptitude awed the insurrectionary spirit which manifested itself in the vicinity of his diocese, into subjection. During the schism in the church, Henry de Spencer espoused the cause of Urban VI. who was favoured by his sovereign King Richard, against the anti-Pope Clement VII. whose claims were supported by the French monarch, and when his active services were required in the field, raised levies of men and money, with the vigorous dis- patch which rendered all his measures so peculiarly effective, and in the struggle which took place upon the continent, emulated the brightest deeds of his most distinguished contemporaries. Laurels as blooming as those which decked the insignia of the boldest knight, were wreathed around the bishop's mitre, and it is said that the jealousy of the Duke of Lancaster occasioned the gallant prelate's recall from the theatre of his exploits. Upon his return the chancellor brought four charges against him in Parliament, but he replied in person with so much energy that the design of his accuser failed. Henry de Spencer was one of the most indefati- gable amid the enemies of the Wickliffites, whom he persecuted with rigorous severity. The city of Norwich is indebted for a beautiful gate, a splendid relique of the architectural genius of the age, to the bishop's ardour in the extirpa- tion of heresy. Sir Thomas Erpingham, a man of wealth and influence in the city of Norwich, deeply impressed with the truth of the reformer's doctrines, not only avowed his own sentiments, but laboured to work YOIIK AND LANCASTLR. iGQ the same conviction in the breasts of others, and by CHAP. VI his zeal and success incurred the resentment of the ;_ ecclesiastical power. The despotic prelate imprisoned his adversary, employed the terrors of the church to compel him to recant, and obliged him to build the gate, called after this distinguished penitent, the Erpingham gate, as an atonement for his heresy, and a public memorial of his contrition. Sir Thomas was afterwards reconciled to his pastor by the command of Henry IV., who in a parliament held in February 1400, publicly expressed his approbation of the bishop's arbitrary proceedings, and enjoined the oppressor and the oppressed to shake hands and kiss each other, which says our author* " they did." Henry de Spencer's severity, and the commendation bestowed upon it by the king, crushed the knight's efforts in the cause of religious liberty in the bud ; and we are informed that during the remainder of his Hfe he lived upon the most friendly terms with the bishop, and dis- played his utter forgetfulness of the animosity of the monks of Norwich by several munificent bene- factions to the cathedral. • Britton. 170 THE RIVAL HOUSES OP . CHAPTER VII. Elevation of the House of Lancaster — Origin of the Mortimers — ■ Loyalty of Roger Mortimer — his Chivalry — Earldom conferred on the guilty Favourite of Isabella — Restoration of the Title by Ed" ward IIL — Rlustrious Marriage of Edmund Mortimer — Roger'' s impetuous Valour — Dispute between Owen Glendor and Lord Grey — Glendor appeals to the Sword — is victorious — Glendor claims the Sovereignty of Wales — Battle between Glendor and Mortimer — Defeat of the latter — Henry's Refusal of the Request of the Percies — their Indignation — and Revolt — their Alliance with Scotland and Wales — Henry marches to Chester — Defiance of the Percies — the King'' s Answer — Propositions for Peace — which are refused — Gene- rous Rivalry of Douglas and Percy — Defeat of the Percies — Valour of the King and of the Prince of Wales — The King marches to the J{orth — Northumberland'' s Defence — is restored to Favour — Tena- cious Confidence of the adverse Party — Murmurs at Taxations — Dis- content of the Clergy — Report of Richard's Existence — Distribution of his Badge — Attempt of Lady Le Despencer — Reception of the Mortimers — Ordeal offered — Imprisonment of Rutland' — Execution of the Locksmith. CHAP. The House of Lancaster had now attained the full • plenitude of power to which its aspirations for so long a period were supposed to have been directed, the potent kinsman, the wealthy subject was seated on the throne, yet there still remained a competitor who notwithstanding his apparent obscurity was the primary cause of a rebellion which shook the founda- tion of the new dynasty, and had nearly levelled it YORK AND LANCASTER. I?! to the earth. It does not come within the province CHAP. VII of these memoirs to narrate all the events of Henry's 1 reign. Necessarily compelled to take a brief survey of the domestic transactions in England which pre- ceded the bursting forth of that quenchless flame of civil dissension which stayed not its devouring progress until it had consumed the best blood in the devoted land, we are only required to trace the almost silent progress of the rival family to the vast acquisition of strength and riches which enabled it to make a long, a fearful, and at length successful struggle for the crown. The young Earl of March, closely allied to the Plantagenets by the marriage of his grandfather with Phillippa daughter of the Duke of Clarence, was also of scarcely less illustrious descent through his paternal ancestors. Roger Mortimer, the first we are told by Dugdale known in England, was related to the Norman invader, his mother being the niece of Gunnora wife of Richard Duke of Normandy, great grandmother of the Conqueror. From the reign of that monarch to the accession of Edward II. the Mortimers were invariably distinguished for their loyalty ; we learn that Hugh Mortimer during the wars between John and his Barons, adhered " stoutly to the king ;"* his successors Ralph and Roger in the reign of Henry III. following the example of their forefathers, firmly supported the interests of the crown, and like them suffered con- siderably for their undeviating attachment to the person of the king, by the devastation committed by the adverse party on their castles and estates on the * Dugdale. 172 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, marches of Wales. Roirer Mortimer, after the fatal VII 1 battle of Lewes in which both Henry and his son had fallen into the hands of the rebellious Montford, in conjunction with the Earl of Gloucester, actively assisted the young prince in his escape, he being the person, according to Dugdale, who sent the '* swift horse" which Edward mounted after having fa- tigued his keepers in a pretended race, and who covered his retreat by issuing out of a wood at the head of five hundred men ; and having brouglit off the heir of England in safety to his castle of Wig- more, he obtained an accession of glory in the subsequent battle which crushed the power of the barons, and restored Henry to his throne. One of the brightest flowers of EngHsh chivalry, the whole of the christian v/orld was filled with admiration at the knightly exploits of this gallant and accomplished nobleman, who not less famous in peace than in war, emulated the bravery, the liberality and courtesy of the Paladins of old, and now shines on the page of history with the dazzling grandeur of a hero of romance. His son Edmund was married to a kinswoman of Edward's queen, and their nuptials were graced by the royal presence, but killed in battle fighting against Lewellyn Prince of Wales, his heir, Roger, who obtained such dis- graceful notoriety as the insolent paramour of the shameless Isabella, then a minor, was committed to the wardship of Piers Gaveston. The history of this great but unhappy man, as he is styled by Dugdale, is too well known to require repetition. The single stain on the annals of the House of Mortimer, the title of Earl of March conferred upon him during YORK AND LANCASTER. 173 the vicious ascendance which he held over Edward's CHAP. dissolute consort, but ill compensated for the loss '_ of the proud integrity so scrupulously maintained by his ancestors ; he finished his career of crime upon a scaffold, and the whole of his ill-acquired wealth was confiscated. The forfeited earldom was regained by his grandson who, left an orphan at three years old, was brought up in the court of Edward III. and shared the honour of knighthood from the hands of that gallant monarch with the Black Prince at an early age, as an encouragement to fight boldly in the sovereign's cause. In the 26th of Edward III. he obtained a reversal of the judg- ment against his grandfather, and thenceforth bore the title of Earl of March. His son and successor Edmund worthily supported his high rank, by his splendid services in France and Ireland, and by his marriage with Phillippa, daughter of the Duke of Clarence before-mentioned, transmitted the rightful claim to the crown of England to his descendants. Roger, a stout knight who yielded not in beauty ofl person, intrepidity of conduct, and dexterity in the " martial accomplishments of the age to his most| spirited and celebrated compeers, won the affectionl of Richard 11. by a congeniality of disposition dis-| played in the lavish splendour of his household, the indulgence of the gay and frequent carousal, and the wild levity of his disregard of all religious restrictions, l According to Froissart he resumed the personal command of his government in Ireland in which he had succeeded his father by the king's appoint- ment, to avoid the overtures of the Duke of Glouces- ter, anxious to engage him in an intrigue against his 174 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, sovereign : and here his bold and reckless darinoj VIT ... [ hurried him into a premature grave. Rushing furiously to the assault in a combat with the Sept of O'Brien, his headlong valour distanced his fol- lowers, and fighting in the disguise of an Irish horseman he was overpowered by numbers, and torn to pieces by his savage enemies ere he could be rescued from their hands. The rash attempt to revenge his death produced the most disastrous con- sequences to Richard IF., and the helpless heirs of the House of Mortimer having fallen into the power of Henry of Lancaster, were given by him in ward to his son the Prince of Wales, and guarded with jealous care in Windsor Castle ; their well-wishers in England could scarcely entertain a hope of ever being able to establish them upon the throne, but a short time opened brighter views and inspired more vivid expectations. A petty feud on the Welch border proved to be the commencement of hostilities which eventually threatened the crown and life of the reisrninac monarch. Owen Glendor, a gentleman of honour- able lineage, said to be descended from the native princes of Wales, had retired to a small patrimony in the land of his birth ; he had received his education at one of the inns of court in Lon- don, and had subsequently served as an esquire in the household of King Richard. The adjoining estate belonged to the Lord Grey of Ruthyn, and a dispute arose between them respecting a piece of land which each claimed as his right ; the proud noble according to the fashion of the times disdainin«: to prove his title, seized upon the ground in question, YORK AND LANCASTER. 17^ and resolved to keep it in despite of law or of justice. CHAP. It was not in the Welcliman's power to obtain either ; ^^^• he presented a petition to parliament through the 1402. medium of the Bishop of St. Asaph, who gave it his warm support, but the prelate's aid proved too feeble to withstand the superior influence of Lord Grey, and denied the restitution of his rights with scorn and contumely, Glendor determined to have recourse to arms. At the head of a rude yet powerful host he invaded his enemy's territory, became conqueror in the strife, and carried off the Lord of llutliyn pri- soner. This nobleman being a firm friend to the house of Lancaster received the king's support against an adherent of Richard IL Henry passed a sentence cf outlawry on his captor, and Owen thus menaced by the royal displeasure boldly asserted a right to the sovereignty of Wales, and promised to liberate his country from the English yoke. The spirit of freedom was not yet extinct in the breasts of the natives, they acknowledged Glendor tor their prince, and crowded to his standard with zeal and alacrity ; his incursions disturbed the peace of the "whole border, and Sir Edward Mortimer, uncle to the young Earl of March, who resided at his castle of Wigmore, roused by the repeated indignities offered by the turbulent ^yelchman, summoned his vassals and retainers and led them forth to chastise the rude mountaineers and their hardy chieftain. Glendor gave battle to the enemy at Knighton in Radnorshire, and a second time victorious routed \^^^>„^ ' June 22. the soldiers and captured their commander. The friends of the Lord Grey had obtained the king's permission to ransom their kinsman with ten 176 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, thousand marks ; Sir Edmund Mortimer was nearly ^^^' allied to the Percies, Henry, surnamed Hotspur, having married the Lady Elizabeth his sister ; these noblemen were anxious to obtain his redemption and solicited the same favour from Henry. The jealous monarch well pleased to behold the misfortunes of a race whom he feared and hated, returned a peremp- tory refusal, an insult which exasperated this haughty family, who justly deemed that he who now "for- bade their tongues to speak of Mortimer," was in- debted to their exertions for the crown he wore. The horror which the perusal of Northumber- land's treachery is calculated to produce in the breasts of all just persons, will be considerably dimi- nished by the strong proofs here afforded by the Percies of their decided disapproval of Bolingbroke's usurpation. If we suppose that the earl, anxious to restore the heir of Lancaster to his rights, and to oblige the king to rule according to law and justice, believed the exile's oaths, and was convinced of the necessity of securing the person of Richard in order ^ to bind him to the observance of conditions bv which alone the friends of good government could permit him to reign, he is at once exonerated from the most atrocious part of the heavy charge which is brought against him. We have the authority of Hardynge, a contemporary, who though naturally biassed in favour of his patron is nevertheless not unworthy ol credit, to assert tliat when Henry, encouraged by the zeal of his partisans threw off the mask and pro- ceeded to the deposition of Richard, North umber land stoutly maintained the right of the young Ear of March, and strenuously insisted even up to tht YORK AND LANCASTER. 177 evening previous to Lancaster's seizure of the crown, CHAP, that the accession of Edward Mortimer as it had ^^^' been settled by Parliament could alone be esta- blished by law. The party in favour of Henry pre- vailed, and the Pcrcies, together with other friends to the cause of the Earl of March, tacitly acquiesced in a measure which they could not prevent. Yet not- withstanding the repeated favours heaped upon them by the king, their indignation was not to be appeased when they discovered that they had been duped by his artifice and employed as the tools of his perjury, and incensed by his rejection of their suit, Thomas and Harry Percy who had been per- fectly guiltless of all share in the deceit practised against Richard, may well be supposed to have urged the Earl of Northumberland to vindicate him- self from the odium of that dark transaction, by openly espousing the cause of the Mortimers now evidently devoted to ruin by their too successful enemy. Another cause of disgust has been ascribed by many writers to the controul assumed by the king over the prisoners lately taken by the Percies in the Scottish war J the fate of the captured usually rested with the conqueror ; on this occasion Henry inter- posed his authority and commanded that they should neither ransom nor liberate them, a privilege which had often been asserted by his predecessors ; nor could the Earl of Northumberland justly stigmatize the act as arbitrary or ungracious since he had received an adequate remuneration from the lands of the Lord Douglas in addition to grants from the crown of other valuable manors. VOL. I. N 178 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. There needed little provocation to kindle such fiery temperaments. Previously discontented, the 1403. king's manifest injustice towards Edmund Mortimer determined them to appeal to arms, and in the tnie spirit of feudal arrogance the Percies revolted at once from their allegiance, gave freedom to the Earl of Douglas upon condition that he should join them with his retainers, and entered into a treaty with the leader of the Welsh malcontents. The superstition of the age had invested Glendor with extraordinary powers : he was reported to hold communion with the spirits of another world ; and the address displayed by him in the desultory mode of warfare which he had adopted contributed to strengthen that opinion. The king himself had al- ready led three armies to the frontiers, but could not meet with any enemy save famine and the fury of the elements ; the wily mountaineers re- treated before him to their caves and fastnesses, and baffled every endeavour which Henry made to bring them to action. Exposed to innumerable hard- ships, and weary of a fatiguing march through a barren and apparently uninhabited country, the mo- narch retired from his fruitless expeditions only consoled under the idea that he had been discomfited by the aid of necromancy. According to common report the Prince of Darkness was an active and personal enemy of the king. Holingshed tells an amusing story which is valuable, inasmuch as it tends to illustrate the excessive credulity of the people at this period. ** On Corpus Christi daye," says our chronicler, " at even song the Devill as was thought YORK AND LANCASTER. 179 appeared in a town of Essex called Danburie, enter- CHAP, ing into the churche in likeness of a graie friar, ^^'• behaving himself very outragiously, playing his partes like a devill indeede ; so that the parishioners were put in a marvellous great fright." The in-, fernal visitant made his exit through the roof of the church, which he carried away with him ; an exploit well adapted to bring the fraternity into disrepute whose habit the evil spirit had assumed. Eight grey friars had been lately apprehended for uttering trea- sonable words ; one of them being asked how he would behave if King Richard were still alive, un- dauntedly replied, " That he would fight against any man in his quarrel, even unto death." He lost his life for the expression of this bold sentiment, and to the great scandal of his order was ** hung in his weeds.'* It was the policy of both parties to avail themselves of the popular error ; Owen Glendor did not deny the " strange wonders" said to have hap- pened at his nativity, he now revived a pretended prophecy of Merlin, which he promised to fultil in the ruin of Henry and the division of his kingdom. The union of the force raised by Northumberland with that of Douglas and Glendor, would in all probability have proved fatal to the king had he per- mitted their junction ; but he perceived at once the danger and hastened to prevent it. Hotspur at the head of the Scottish and Northumbrian bands, toge- ther with his uncle the Earl of AVorcester, leading a strong body of archers from Cheshire, were visible from the walls of Shrewsbury at the moment that July 20. Henry entered and secured the town ; the insurgents withdrew to Hartlefield to make preparations for an N 2 180 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, engagement, and from thence in obedience to the laws ^II* of chivahy sent a defiance to the king. The Percies in this spirited manifesto accuse Henry of repeated acts of perjury, of swearing to them on the " Holy Gospells" that he only entered England to recover his own inheritance* and that of his wife, and after- wards imprisoning the king and obliging him with menaces of death to renounce his crown and king- dom, " Under coulor of whiche resignacion and renunciation by the counsaile of thy frendes and complices, and by the open noysing of the rascali people by thee and thy adherents assembled at West- minster, thou hast crowned thyself kyng of the I'ealmes aforesaid, and hast seazed and entered into all the castles and lordshippes perteignyng to the king's crowne contrary to thyne othe, wherefore thou art forsworn a7id false." In the next article Henry is charged with having imposed taxes without the consent of parliament, though he had promised a strict observance of the laws. In the third he is upbraided with cruelty to King Richard. " Also we do alledge sale and entende to prove that whereas thou sworest to us upon the same Gospells in the forsaid place and tyme, that our sovereign lorde and thyne Kyng Richarde should reigne duryng the terme of his life in his royall prerogative and dignitee, thou hast caused the same our sovereign lord and thine traiteroiislv within the castell of Pomfret with- out the consent or judgment of the lordes of the realme, by the space of fifteen dales and so many nightes (whiche is horible among christian people to be heard) with honger thirst and colde to perishe, * Hall. YORK AND LANCASTER. 181 to be murdered. Wherefore thou art perjured and CHAP, false." The fourth accusation relates to the superior ^^^- claim of the Earl of March. ** Also we do alledge saie and entende to prove that thou at that tyme when our sovereign lorde and thyne Kyng Richarde was so by that horible murder ded as above saied, thou by extorte power diddest usurpe and take the kyngdom of Englande, and the name and honour of the kyngdom of Fraunce, unjustly and wrong- fully contrary to thine othe, from Edmonde Morti- mer Earl of Marche and of Ulster, then next and direct heir imediately by due course of inheritance after the deceasse of the forsaied Richard. Where- fore thou art perjured and false." The Percies likewise accuse King Henry of de- stroying the freedom of election, of procuring a par- liament devoted to his will, and denying the redress of grievances, notwithstanding the complaints which they had continually made against such manifest in- justice. " Wherefore nowe by force and strengthe of hande before our Lord Jesu Christe we must aske our remedy and help." Lastly they complain that when their kinsman Edmunde Mortimer was taken prisoner in open fight against Owen Glendor, he not only refused to ransom or allow his friends to deliver him, but spread a report that the captive had yielded willingly to the enemy, and branded his friends with the name of traitors because they had treated for his release. " For the whiche cause we defy thee, thy fautores and complices, as comen traytoures and destroyers of the realme, and the invadours, oppres- sers, and confounders of the verie true and right heires to the crowne of England, whiche thynge we 182 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, entende with our handes to prove this daie, Ahnighty ^^^- God helping us."* Henry perused this defiance, and told the messenger that he would reply to his ene- mies with the sword, and prove in battle their quarrel to be false and feigned, rather than by ban- dying slanderous words, trusting in God to give him the victory over" perjured traitors. The next morning a fierce and bloody conflict ensued, a prelude well worthy to usher in the bitter strife between the adverse roses. The strength of the two armies was so nicely poised, each being composed of about fourteen thousand men, that the politic king deemed it to be unwise to hazard a battle wherein a defeat must be attended with ine- vitable ruin, if it could be avoided upon honourable terms; he therefore sent the Abbot of Westminster to profiler peace to the insurgents. The Earl of Northumberland was absent from the field, his atten- dance being prevented by illness.^ It is said that his son the gallant Hotspur was not unwilling to accede to the conditions proposed, but that the Earl of Worcester possessed with an unextinguishable hatred to the king, prevailed against every pacific measure, and both parties prepared for an engagement. The ju\yzu royal army advanced, shouting the ancient battle cry, " St. George and England !" and the rebel host made the field resound with " Percy !" and with " Esperance !" each rushed to the charge, and the action commenced with a shower of arrows equally destructive on both sides. Douglas and tlie valiant Percy, hitherto generous yet deadly rivals, now fighting side by side in glorious emula- * Hall. t Walsiiighara. YORK AND LANCASTER. 183 tion, swept at the head of thirty attendants, through CHAP. the hostile lines, and penetrated the very centre of '_ the enemy : nothing could withstand their murder- ous progress as they urged their fierce career, pressing forward to seize the person of the king. Henry's body-guards fell in heaps before them, his standard was trampled in the dust, and four knights and nobles who had assumed his armour to deceive the foe, fell a sacrifice to their temerity. Still the king was not to be found, and the disappointed warriors hemmed in on all sides, turned to cut their despe- rate path through surrounding enemies. Retreating - with the same determined valour which had marked their advance, just as they had nearly extricated themselves from the unequal struggle a random shot pierced the brain of the victorious Percy, he fell, and the report of his death spread terror and consternation through his followers. It has been happily said, that *' a single arrow saved Henry's crown, and deprived the best knight in England of the victory." Neither the King nor the Prince of Wales had been idle, the latter fought with skill and bravery, and refused to leave the field though wounded in the face. Henry upheld his early reputation, and yielded not in deeds of glory to the flower of English chi- valry opposed against him. Clad in a plain suit of armour he joined the ranks as a private soldier, death followed every stroke of his conquering sword, and it is said that thirty-six of the rebels were slain by the gallant monarch in this well-contested field. The battle lasted three hours, and was decided by 184 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, the fall of Percy ; discomfited by the loss of their ^^'- leader his retainers fled, the king raised the shout of " St. George and Victory !" and the remnant of the vanquished party submitted to his arms. The Earl of Douglas, the Earl of Worcester, the Baron Kin- derton, and Sir Richard Vernon, were among those who fell into the victor's hands. Douglas was received with the courtesy granted to a prisoner of war, the others suffered the doom of traitors. July 23. The loss on the king's side is stated to have amount- ed to nearly five thousand men, a number consider- ably surpassed by that on the part of the insurgents. The tardy progress of the Earl of Northumberland, marching at the head of a reinforcement, was ar- rested by the melancholy intelligence of his son's death, and the consequent defeat of his party ; he retired to his castle of Warkworth and dis- banded his troops. Meanwhile the king dispatched the Prince of Wales to meet Glendor, and moved northwards for the purpose of extinguishing the last sparks of a rebellion which had proved so for- midable. Feigning that Hotspur had raised the late insur- rection without his concurrence, and that he had assembled his retainers in aid of the royal cause, Northumberland ventured to attend Henry's sum- mons at York. Aug. 11. The king proceeded with lenity and caution, he would not give implicit credit to the earl's vindica- tion, yet refrained from executing the vengeance which his more than doubtful treason might have excused. Placed under safe but not ungentle re- YORK AND LANCASTER. 185 striction he was detained to answer the charges ^^jj * against him in the next parliament. Henry was not a merciless conqueror. Though sometimes suffering ungenerous feelings to prevail, he took no delight in the blood of his opponents, and seldom lifted the axe to strike, until more gentle methods to subdue hostility had failed. The fraud and perfidy with which he had won the crown were not followed by an indiscriminate slaughter so usually the close attendant of an usurper*s reign ; the executions which took place under his govern- ment were rather acts of necessity than of revenge ; where he could pardon without danger the royal clemency was never withheld. Northumberland, notwithstanding his deep in- volvement in the late conspiracy, escaped with life. On the meeting of parliament he presented a peti- tion to the king, wherein he confessed that he had infringed the law by gathering retainers and arraying them in his livery, but entreated Henry to remem- ber that he had obeyed his commands in appearing before him at York, where he had received a gracious promise of mercy. The king without seeking other and more fatal evidence against him, allowed his nobles to pronounce judgment upon those offences only which the earl had acknow- ledged : his guilt was adjudged to be merely that of a trespass, subject to a fine at the pleasure of the king, and this penalty was remitted upon his taking the oaths of fealty and allegiance to Henry, his four sons, and their issue. The failure of this powerful and well concerted 1404. 186 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, enterprize, menaced the fortunes of the Mortimers with utter ruin, yet there still remained a party in England who in despite of the king's recent successes secretly cherished hopes of ultimately triumphing over the proud house of Lancaster. Henry's popularity was even now upon the wane, the constant demand for taxes which the unwearied attempts of his enemies obliged him to make, dis- gusted the people with a government which they had vainly hoped would have relieved them from the odious burthens imposed by his predecessor. He had manifested a desire to enrich himself with the spoils of the church,* and had endeavoured to resume certain grants of the crown to the great in- dignation of both clergy and laity, naturally tena- cious of their possessions and resentful of so invidious a stretch of the royal prerogative. The licentious insolence of the lower orders of friars had compelled the king to acts of unwonted severity towards the priesthood, hitherto protected by their habit from the disgraceful punishment allotted to traitors; and 1 thus a murmuring spirit was disseminated throughout I all classes, men were induced to pry into the reigning monarch's title, and to pronounce it to *' be too in- direct for long continuance." The release of the young Earl of March and his brother became an object of great importance to the disaffected, who required a pretext for their perpetual conspiracies, and were compelled to spread reports of the exist- ence of Richard as an incentive to rebellion. A rumour of the late king's escape into Scotland, re- vived the hopes of the credulous. * Walsingham. YORK AND LANCASTER. 187 The privy seal of the deposed prince had been CHAP. Icounterfeited by his chamberlain, and annexed to __]_ letters dispatched in his name to his partizans in England. The old Countess of Oxford, mother of the unhappy favourite the Duke of Ireland, had dis- tributed Harts of gold and silver (the cognizance usually assumed by Richard's adherents) to his friends and favourers, and more than one person had been induced to personate the deceased king. These artifices were detected and exposed by Henry's unceasing vigilance ; and the device growing stale, the enemies of the government were compelled to ihave recourse to other and more efficient measures. The widow of Lord Le Despencer, a nobleman dis- tinguished for his zealous attachment to his unfor- tunate master, who had been executed at Bristol by the citizens for his too faithful adherence to a ruined cause, ventured upon a bold attempt to liberate the captive Mortimers. She procured false keys to their 1405. apartments in Windsor castle, and succeeded in con- veying them out of their prison ; but here fortune deserted them, they were pursued and brought back ere they could reach the frontiers of Wales. The lady was examined before the council, and actuated either by fear or resentment declared her brother, late Earl of Rutland and now by the death of his father Duke of York, to be implicated in the plot. Notorious for his intriguing spirit and his dexterous evasions from his fellow conspirators upon the slightest prospect of failure, he denied all participa- tion in this daring project. Lady Le Despencer persisted in her charge, offering to prove its truth by the sword of any knight or esquire who could 188 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. ^6 found to wage battle in her cause,* and to submit VII. to death at the stake should her champion be over- thrown. William Maidstone one of her esquires, immediately declared his readiness to engage the duke in single combat in defence of the lady's honour, and the accused threw down his hood in the hall in token that he accepted the challenge. The king however refused his consent to this approved mode of deciding a disputed point, and seizing the Mar. 12. dukc's cstatcs cast him into prison, where he re- mained until the successive triumphs of the crown rendered the disaffection of this restless prince a matter of little moment, and he was set free. The unfortunate locksmithf employed upon this occasion was the only person who suffered the penalty of death, for faithful to his trust, or ignorant of the contrivers of the plot, he made no discovery. Had the scheme succeeded the disaffected would have doubtless rallied round the Earl of March ; they were now compelled to seek another leader, and so deadly was their animosity against the king that they flung themselves headlong into danger, and unappalled by the difficulties of the enterprize only sought to disturb a government which they could scarcely hope to overturn. * Otterb. f Walsingham. YORK AND LANCASTER. 189 CHAPTER VIII. Revolt of the J^obles — Triumph of Prince John of Lancaster — TJie Archbishop of York is taken Prisoner — upright Conduct of Gas- coigne — the Prelate is beheaded — JVorthumberland implores Aid from France and Scotland — Reduction of Berwick — The Confederates fly to Wales — Depression of Owen Glendor's Fortunes — Refusal of the Parliament to grant Supplies — Rebellion again breaks forth in the JVorth — Battle of Brenham Moor — Death of Bardolph and Jfor- thumberland — Advantages gained by the House of Commons — Henry'' s Subserviency to the Clergy — their persecuting Spirit — Acces- sion of Henry V. — Youthful Follies of the King — Re-interment of Richard II. — Martial Temper of the King — Melancholy Situation of Charles VI. — Faction in France — Henry claims the Crown of France — Acquiescence of Edward Mortimer — ^Negotiation with France — Liberal Grant of the Parliament — Tlie King determines to appeal to the Sword — Discovery of Treason — Execution of Cam- bridge and Scroope — Departure of the Expedition — Capture of . Harfleur — Henry V.'s hazardous March — Battle of Azincourt — Defeat of the French — Anecdotes of the Battle — Joy of the English •^Henry's Reception in Eiigland — his prosperous Fortune — Assassi- nation of the Duke of Burgundy — Henry appointed Regent of France — Inhuman Execution of Lord Cobham — Zeal of the Lollards — Death of Henry. Henry at a orreat council which he held at St. CHAP. • • VIII Alban's had the mortification to find his nobles \ generally adverse to his wishes. Lord Bardolph, one of the most strenuous of his opponents, hastened to 190 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, the Earl of Northumberland, who notwithstanding the late clemency which he had received was easily tempted to renew hostilities. The Earl of West- morland's appointment to be Mareschal of England offended the son of the late Duke of Norfolk, in whose family that office was even then hereditary; he expressed his indignation to Scroop, Archbishop of York, and found in him a willing auditor. This prelate was brother to the Earl of Wiltshire, the friend and minister of Richard II., and one of the earliest sacrifices to Henry's love of popularity, being taken in Bristol castle and executed without a trial by the king's order. The public clamour against the king for irreligion, extortion, and an illegal stretch of power in the execution of many clergymen and gentlemen, af- forded the archbishop a pretext to demand the re- formation of various abuses. A firm supporter of the Earl of March he had not scrupled to exhort Henry to repent of his treason and perjury to Richard ; and had told the Earl of Northumberland that all those who were instrumental in raising Bo- lingbroke to that eminence which had enabled him to depose a king and seize upon his crown, were bound in justice to the real heir to drive him from the throne which he had usurped. Nevertheless, he now protested that his only aim was to induce the king to reign according to law, and to restore har- mony amid contending nobles. Respected for his great age, his superior learning, and the tried integrity of a long life, the prelate's accession to the malecontent party gave weight and dignity to their cause ; and his union with the Earl YORK AND LANCASTER. IQl of Northumberland, the Lord Bardolph and the CHAP. Earl Mareschal produced a new insurrection; the ^^^^* northern districts again appeared in arms, and pre- parations were made for the commencement of a civil war ; but " the plot was too light for the coun- terpoise of so great an opposition." The rising was neither simultaneous or well arranged ; Sir John Falconberg and three other knights with their adhe- rents, who first shewed themselves on the field, were cut to pieces and dispersed by Prince John of Lan- caster and the Earl of Westmorland. The Arch- bishop of York and the Earl Mareschal had assem- bled eight thousand men at Shipton on the Moor, May 29. near York, and over these the royal commanders prevailed by stratagem ; they drew up their army at some distance, and requested a conference with the leaders of the insurgents, which was granted :* and the two parties met in an open space between their respective forces. The archbishop rehearsed the grievances which obliged himself and his friends to fly to arms, and deceived by a shew of moderation on the part of his auditors, expressed his desire to obtain redress without the effusion of blood. The manner in which the Earl of Westmorland contrived to gain the aged prelate's confidence is variously reported. Some writers aver that he per- suaded him to disband his followers as the only means of soothing the king's resentment, whom he represented as not unwilling to grant the prayer of the petitioners upon the performance of this act of obedience. Others say that he guaranteed at once the king's consent to the proposed reformation of • Parliament Rolls. 192 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, the state; but all agree respecting the issue of the ^^^'' interview. The persons of the archbishop and the earl-mareschal were seized and conveyed to the hostile army ; and upon the captivity of theirj leaders the retainers took the alarm, and each mai speeding to his own home for security the field was lost without a blow.* Henry with his usual activity repaired to the scene of action the instant that the rumour of the northern insurrection had reached the capital. The arch- bishop and the earl-mareschal were presented to him J at Pontefract ; he caused them to be removed to" Bishopsthorpe, a palace belonging to the primate, whither he also proceeded, and he there directed the Junes, chief justice Gascoigne to pass sentence of death upon the prisoners. Gascoigne, renowned for his inflexible adherence to the laws, steadily refused ; alleging, that he had no power over the life of an ecclesiastic unless he had been previously deprived of his clerical dignities, and declaring also that both the archbishop and the earl-mareschal had a right to be tried by their peers before they could be adjudged worthy of death. A less scrupulous minister was found in a knight of the name of Fulthorpe, who waiving the ceremony of a trial condemned them to lose their heads. The venerable prelate manifested a truly christian spirit at his execution : he solemnly denied that he had intended evil to the person of the king, and desired the spectators to pray that his death might not be avenged upon the monarch and his friends. His piety and fortitude upon the scaffold moved the hearts of the people, who now * Parliament Rolls. YORK AND LANCASTER. 19-3 looked upon him as a martyr, and the king deemed CHAP, it expedient not to press tlie assembled peers in ^^^^• parliament to stigmatize his memory and that of his fellow-sufferer the earl-mareschal with the name of traitor. Henry at the head of thirty thousand men marched forward in quest of Northumberland ; the earl un- equal to cope with a force so greatly his superior, endeavoured to strengthen himself by an alliance with Scotland, and wrote to the Duke of Orleans earnestly entreating assistance from the court of France. He delivered the town of Berwick to the Scots ; but they were unable to defend it. On the approach of the royal army they set it on fire and withdrew; and the earl who, notwithstanding his factious spirit, ever shewed himself attentive to his own safety, accompanied their retreat, together with Lord Bardolf The castle under the command of Lord Grey stock made a faint resistance ; but a shot from an immense piece of ordnance having shattered one of the towers, the besieged in great terror threw open the gates, and the captain and the chief officers of the garrison were executed on the spot. Henry reduced the whole border to obedience, and returned triumphantly to the south. The English insurgents after the failure of their enterprize found little security in the court of Scot- land ; apprehensive of being delivered into the hands of their enemy they withdrew secretly into Wales, where there still remained a hope of renewing the war against Henry ; again were they disappointed, the affairs of Owen Glendor in consequence of the vigorous campaigns and untiring perseverance of VOL. I. o 194 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, the Prince of Wales were on the decline, and the ^^^^' exiles compelled to wander from place to place in disfjuise were obliged to have recourse to the most extreme caution to defeat the vigilance of the king, unceasing in his endeavours to get possession of their persons. From their hidden retreats they v^atched the signs of the times, anxiously trying to avail themselves of public discontent to raise fresh commotions in the realm. 1407. Henry found his parliament refractory ; instead of granting money, the commons remonstrated with unwonted boldness on the state of the kingdom, and the monarch only subdued their obstinacy by detain- ing them from their own homes, until weary of the inconvenience which they sustained they gave an ungracious vote for a subsidy, coupled with a strong and most unpalatable recommendation to retrench the expenses of his household. The hopes of the Earl of Northumberland were revived by the in- creasing murmurs of the people ; after the lapse ofj two years he suddenly appeared in the north with Lord Bardolf, the companion of his exile. The name of Percy was still all-powerful in its ancestral dominions, and the tenants of that noble house flocked to the standard of their banished lord. The rebels surprised and obtained possession of several castles ; their numbers augmented at every step, and they were joined by Sir Nicholas Tempest at Knaresborough, a gentleman who had previously taken up arms in the train of the Archbishop of York. Success for a brief period marked their pro- gress ; it was followed by total defeat. Sir Thomas llokeby the sheriff of the county at the head of a YORK AND LANCASTER. IQ-^ body of tried soldiers hung upon their rear, and ad- CH\P. vancing upon them as his strength increased, gave V^^^* them battle at Bramhara-Moor near Tadcaster 5 he hos. obtained an easy victory over a confused assembly '^'^^•-^• of undisciplined peasants whom he opposed with men experienced in the art of war. Northumberland fell fighting bravely in the field ; Lord Bardolf was taken alive yet mortally wounded, and before the scaffold could be prepared his troubled spirit fled.* Henry sent the mangled quarters of the two lords to different cities, to appal the disaffected, and im- posed heavy fines upon their adherents, which came opportunely to recruit his exhausted treasury ; and the constant disappointment which followed every attempt on the part of his enemies to disturb his government produced the usual effect of establish- ing the authority of the crown. The partizans of the Earl of March were effectually silenced ; and the young earl remained in hopeless captivity until the death of Bolingbroke, which happened in 1413. Mar. 2. Although necessarily compelled to take a very brief review of the events of the reign of Henry IV. two circumstances not immediately connected with the affairs of the Mortimers, which occurred in it, must not escape our notice. Raised to the throne by the election of the people, and confirmed in his defective title by the parliament, the commons to whom Henry owed the preservation of his autho- rity obtained a ratification of their most valuable privileges. Continually obliged to apply to them for money, they were not slow in perceiving their own importance, and not only established their right * Parliament Rolls. o 2 196 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, to be the sole medium for raising supplies between ^^^^' the king and the people, but claimed the freedom of debate ; and by defining the law of election deprived the crown of that influence which had been so often perniciously displayed in the illegal return of members by sheriffs devoted to the reigning monarch. Henry's politic concessions, though in this in- stance so wise and beneficial, must not however be attributed to true patriotism ; his own private in- terest induced him to bend to circumstances, and the same motive which deterred him from irritating the parliament, even when their petitions were the most distasteful to him, rendered him the tool of an intolerant priesthood, and kindled those dreadful fires which were to be quenched only by oceans of the blood of martyrs. Educated in more liberal principles by John of Ghent, who still adhering to the faith of Romcj yet advocated the cause of religious liberty, and by protecting Wickliffe and his followers ena- bled them to promulgate their opinions in security and peace, Henry IV. purchased the attachment of the clergy by an enormous grant of power, in allow- ing them to let loose the spirit of persecution upon all who dared to judge for themselves, at a period when by steadily maintaining the right of those who were opposed to the unchristian practices of a cor- rupt church, he would have deprived the priesthood of their usurped dominion over the bodies and souls of men, and prevented those barbarous execu- tions which w^ere the disgrace of England for so many succeeding years. Neither was this slavish submission to ecclesiastical tyranny absolutely requi- YORK AND LANX'ASTEU. 197 site to ensure the safety of his crown ; the disciples CHAP, of WicklifFe were numerous in England, and the ^^^'- same vigour and resolution which marked the conduct of Bolingbroke upon other occasions, would, if exerted in the diffusion of light, have prevented that blind submission to a bigot creed, which so effectually retarded the progress of refine- ment in a nation plunged into the darkest supersti- tion by the terror of the secular arm. Henry IV. lately the idol of all ranks and classes, died unregretted by his subjects ; yet was the House of Lancaster so securely seated upon the throne, that his eldest son succeeded him without a single voice being raised in favour of the Earl of March, a cir- cumstance the more remarkable since the wild follies of Harry of Monmouth's early days, had filled the nation with distrust of a prince, who, to a soldier's desperate valour added a lawless devotion to low debauchery. The scenes in Eastcheap so faithfully delineated by Shakspeare from the authorities of the old chronicles of England are familiar to every body. The witty pranks of the prince, the loud revel which brought the sheriff with " a most monstrous watch to the door," and the dissolute courses of the heir-apparent's profligate companions, although opposed to every correct idea of manners and morality, cannot fail to charm the imagination and interest it in favour of a king who so nobly redeemed the vices of his youth ; yet with all our predisposition to admire the mad wag of the Boar's Head, and the gallant conqueror of Azincourt, the study of Henry's character upon the page of history whilst it dazzles us with its splendour is painful and 198 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, revolting to the feelings, and we turn with horror ^^^^' from the cruelties which he perpetrated both abroad and at home. Nevertheless it must be admitted that Henry displayed generous and noble qualities which must always command the esteem of posterity. One of the first acts of the new king's reign restored him to the confidence of his people ; he dismissed the riotous crew who had hitherto been the com- panions of his wanton sports, not, says Hall, though banished from his presence, unrewarded or unpre- ferred, and replaced them by the wise and virtuous portion of his father's court. He liberated the Earl of March from confinement and treated him rather as a friend than a rival. He restored the heir of Percy to the titles and estates of his ancestors, and endeared himself to the nation by a gracious act towards the mouldering remains of Richard II. He caused the body of that luckless prince to be removed from its obscure grave at Langley, and re- interred it with suitable pomp in a magnificent tomb by the side of his first consort Queen Ann, testify- ing the sincerity of his attachment to the unfortu- nate monarch by following the funeral procession as chief mourner. Henry early trained to war, and already having distinguished himself in the campaigns in Wales, strongly participated in the martial ardour which constituted the most esteemed quality in every class of society. The troubles in which the neighbouring kingdom of France was unhappily involved, offered facilities for conquest which were too tempting to be resisted by an ambitious and warlike prince. A mutual hatred YORK AND LANCASTEU. 199 had for a long period existed between the two coun- CHAP. tries, the triumphs of Edward III. were remembered ; by both, and the French had only been prevented by their divisions at home, from endeavouring to wipe off the stain of Crecy and Poictiers, and to punish the English nation for the part it had taken against Richard II. to whose cause they were bound by the ties of friendship and of kindred. The ti'agical fate of his son-in-law had plunged Charles VI. into a paroxysm of frenzy, a return of a very afflicting disorder which had broken out though not so violently before. The Orleans and Burgundian factions had taken advantage of the monarch's incapacity to attend to public affairs to contend for the supremacy ; the kingdom was shaken to the very centre by their intestine jars, and the assassination of the Duke of Orleans by his rival paved the way to more dreadful scenes of blood and slaughter. The infuriated partizans of the murdered duke crushed for a time again exalted themselves. The reins of government were alter- % nately seized by the Armagnacs, his followers, the Burgundian s, and the dauphin, an impetuous self-willed prince, unequal to the trust and unable to keep the ascendance or over-rule an insolent populace, who in turn usurped dominion and were subdued by the Duke of Orleans, a leader more intent upon avenging himself upon the House of Burgundy than anxious for the restoration of \4u. order. It was at this juncture that Henry V. boldly as- serted his title to the crown, claiming it as the de- scendant of Edward III. It will be remembered that this monarch assumed a right to the throne of 200 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. France throuo-h the female line in defiance of the VilL 'to salique law, and therefore admitting his claim to be just. Henry V. in upholding it virtually acknow- ledged the superior title of the Earl of March, who through Philippa daughter of the Duke of Clarence, was Edward's legitimate representative : it being only by the introduction of a similar law in England that Henry could hope (though his own sword might keep it in his lifetime) to maintain his family upon the throne. Edmund Mortimer however either depressed by long confinement and the consciousness of his own feebleness, or too grateful for the kindness which he had received to advance his pretensions, remained silent, and the French court disdaining even to take notice of a demand so insulting, refused to make it the subject of discussion. Henry's second requisition was little less extrava- gant than the first ; he consented to waive his claim to the crown upon receiving immediate possession of the provinces of Normandy, Maine, and Anjou, the territories which anciently composed the duchy of Aquitaine, and the several towns and counties included in the great peace of Bretigni, stipulating also for one half of Provence, as the inheritance of two of the four daughters of Berenger, formerly sovereign of that country, and married to Henry IH. of England, and Richard his brother ; he likewise called upon the king of France to discharge the arrears of ransom of king John, amounting to twelve hundred thousand crowns, and demanded the hand of his daughter the princess Catharine in marriage with a portion of two milHons of crowns.* * Rvraer. YORK AND LANCASTER. 201 The miserable situation of France, and the danger CHAP. of provoking so powerful an enemy, inclined the [ government to offer very advantageous terms of peace, whilst they refused to comply with these humiliating conditions. The Duke of Berri on the part of Charles professed himself willing to restore the territories which were formerly attached to the duchy of Aquitaine, and to give the princess Catha- rine to the King of England, with a dowry of six hundred thousand crowns. Had Henry sincerely desired to terminate the negotiation amicably he would have accepted these proposals ; but panting for conquest, his eagerness to immortalize himself by deeds of arms rendered him regardless of the difficulties which might be opposed to him, and undeterred by the peril of the enterprize, should the interest of France prevail over private feeling, and the nobility make common cause against the invader, he recalled his ambassadors and com- menced a vigorous preparation for war. An immense grant of the parliament in aid of his design, spread consternation throughout the adjacent realm, and induced Henry to offer new conditions. He relinquished the demand of Normandy, Maine, and Anjou, and now asked only one million of crowns as the portion of the princess. The Duke of Berri consented to increase the dowry from six to eight hundred thousand crowns, but refused to make any other alteration in the terms originally stipulated by the French govern- ment, and the King of England upon receiving this answer declared his intention to recover his inherit- ance by arms publicly in council. April 16. 202 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. Edmund Mortimer was amid the nobles who offered ; tlieir support and services to their sovereign upon ^N!.3.^ this occasion ; he accompanied the monarch to Southampton, at which place the English troops were assembled, and during their embarkation he became involved in a transaction of a very dangerous nature. It is impossible at this period of time to unravel the mazes of a plot which has been so ob- scurely related by the elder historians, we only know that the king received intelligence of the existence of a conspiracy formed by the Earl of Cambridge his cousin, and brother of the Duke of York, Sir Thomas Grey and the Lord Scroope for the purpose of compassing the monarch's dethrone- ment and death, and of proclaiming the Earl of March as the rightful sovereign. Some authors have attributed this design to the bribes of Charles VI., prompted by terror to so base an expedient to rid himself of a formidable enemy ; others suppose that the Earl of Cambridge who had married Anne Mortimer, sister of the Earl of March, was stimulated by the expectation of securing the inheritance of the kingdom to his heirs in the event of Edmund Mortimer's decease without issue.* The manner in which Henry became acquainted with the traitorous design against his life is also variously related. I having been gravely asserted that the Earl of Cam bridge and his coadjutors confided the secret to the Earl of March, and that he revealed it to the king ; but the only evidence to prove his knowledge of the plot is contained in the confession of the Earl of Cambridge, who charged his brother-in-law with • Hall. YORK AND LAXCASTEH. Q03 giving his consent to the project, and the doubtful CHAP, testimony of a pardon, granted in all probabihty upon ^^^'• the entire conviction of his innocence, to secure him from future cahnnny and impeachment, a pre- caution of which tlie most guihless in these dan- gerous times have been known to avail themselves. Edmund Mortimer sate at the trial as a judge, and from the undiminished favour wliich he enjoyed during the whole of Henry's reign, we may more justly infer that he was not in the slightest degree implicated in a scheme which would have taught the most generous monarch to regard him with suspicion. The trial and the execution of the conspirators was hastened by the anxiety of the king for the com- mencement of hostilities with France, and quitting Au?. i3. Southampton with the first favourable wind he in- vested Harfleur, which surrendered after a fruitless stru2ro;le of five weeks. The enemy in the interim had raised an army of sppt. 26. one hundred thousand strong, whilst the soldiers under Henry were diminished by disease. No con- sideration of prudence however could damp the ar- dour of an ambitious warrior ; though secure of a safe passage by sea, he determined to march across the country to Calais in defiance of the tremendous force which the late promoters of civil dissensions now animated by one impulse had brought into the field : and confiding in their numbers, impelled by a noble yet rash valour, and thirsting to annihilate the Kino' of England and his followers at a sinsjle blow, the French commanders forgot the lesson of caution which Crecy should have taught them, and instead of wasting the strength of their adversaries and re- 20 1< THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, ducing them by fatigue and famine, they allowed ^__ them the chance of a rescue from their forlorn con- dition by the hazard of a battle. This engagement so glorious to the English arms took place on the 9th of October,* The French army under the command of the Constable D'Albret was drawn up in three divisions ; aware that the frantic impetuosity with which their forefathers rushed upon the enemy had lost the neighbouring field of Crecy, he restrained the fierce impatience of his soldiers and obliged them to await the attack. The thin ranks of the English, mustering only files of four men deep, whilst those of their adversaries amounted to the appalling superiority of thirty, were formed in similar order, and Henry disappointed in his expectation of receiving the first assault of the French, commanded the archers to advance. Each man was provided with a stake, and shouting the battle cry they pressed forwards with cool intre- pidity ; planted their stakes into the ground, and winging their arrows through the air retired to take breath behind the wooden rampart they had formed, from whence they kept up an incessant shower of these murderous weapons. A select battalion of eight hundred men at arms appointed by the con- stable to disperse the assailants, advanced to the charge ; the leaders fell in heaps before the thick flj'ing darts, and those who followed, turning their heads to avoid certain destruction, lost the command of their horses, and the goaded animals becoming wild and unmanageable broke into D'Albret's closest ranks, and spread confusion throughout the whole • Monbtielet, YORK AND LANCASTER. 205 division. Before the French had time to recover CHAp. themselves, the English archers slinging their bows ^''H.* behind their backs rushed onwards to the assault sword and battle-axe in hand, penetrating to the very centre, and making such fearful slaughter that the constable was killed, and the entire body in an incredibly short space of time dispersed or cut to pieces. Henry at the head of his men at arms directed the archers to form again, and led them up to the second division ; the Frenchmen though checked and dis- pirited valiantly repelled the attack, and victory for two hours remained doubtful. Continually exposed to the most imminent peril, Henry at one time be- strode the prostrate body of his brother the Duke of Clarence, who had been struck wounded to the ground, and at another sustained the charge of eighteen French knights, a devoted band, bound by oath to each other to seize the king's person either dead or alive, and who fell a sacrifice to their teme- rity, being instantly annihilated by Henry's faithful guard. A last effort was made by the Duke of Alen^on to secure the field ; cutting his way to the royal standard he cleaved the golden crown which encircled the English monarch's helmet. Henry's followers raised their weapons, the duke surrounded on all sides, exclaimed '' I yield ! I am Alen9on !" but before the generous monarch could interpose to save him he was struck dead upon the earth, and his fall became the signal of flight to the shattered remains of his army. The flower of the French nobility perished in this bloody encounter, whilst the loss on the English part was comparatively 206 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, trifling. The Duke of York terminated his turbulent • but inglorious career in a splendid grave ; and by his gallant bearing wiped off the stain of cowardice which had been cast upon him. No other name of note except that of the Earl of Suftblk appears upon the list of the slain, and the whole amount of the English dead did not exceed sixteen hundred men. Biondi, in narrating the conduct of the Frenchi and English in their respective camps, previous to the battle of Azincourt, mentions signs and omens which were afterwards considered to have been pro- phetic of the melancholy fate of that vast armament, the pride and glory of France, assembled to con- front the thin ranks of the invaders. " The King," (Henry V. says our author) " marching at leisure, came in three days to Blagni, where understanding that the enemy was encamped at Azencourt, he en- camped himself at Maisoncelles, not above three bow shootes from them, where his souldiers, half dead with hunger, wearied and frozen to death (for they had not time to provide for fewell), spent all the night in confession, communion and other spiritual exercises, as if it were the last night they were to live, so as their souls' comfort much encouraged them, the which they witnessed by the continual museake of their trumpets, which never ceased to sound till the breake of day, whilst the French camp, put up with confidence, and buried in sleep, buried all their mirth in silence ; the very horses not so much as neighing, so as some of them fuller of imagination than the rest, tooke it as an ill omen ; it being almost incredible that in the number of one hundred and fifty thousand horse, which were then YORK AND LANCASTER. 207 in the army, what for carts, waggons, artillery and CHAP, other warre affaires, there should want instruments ^ to outdo the tantaraes of the enimies contemptible camp, or at least voices to drown them/'* Antici- pating an easy conquest, the French knights amused themselves with playing at dice for their prisoners, and it is said that, relying fearlessly upon the per- suasion that a signal victory awaited their triumphant arms, they were upon the point of resolving to ex- clude the common soldiers from a share in their laurels, and to permit none save those who had won their golden spurs, to take p;u't in the engage- ment.! They provided a chariot for the conveyance to Paris of the monarch whom they intended to capture, and agreed upon the division of tlie spoils of the English camp : yet we are told that a few of the French commanders, struck with superstitious dread at the unusual scarcity of instruments of martial music in so vast an armament, and the dead silence which prevailed throughout the extensive lines, entertained melancholy forebodings of defeat and death. Henry of England, though rejoicing at the pros- pect of a battle which could alone cut a passage for his way-worn troops to Calais was not blind to the imminent peril which surrounded him. Anxious and doubtful of the possibility of a successful ter- mination of the morrow's combat, the close vicinity of the hostile camp enabled him to dispatch Captain David Gam, a valiant AVelchman, who formed a part of his body guard, to reconnoitre and report the strength of the enemy. This brave soldier nothing * Civill Warres of England. f Goodwin. 208 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF •CHAP, daunted by the almost countless hosts who only ^^^'' waited the early dawn to commence their deadliest operations, gallantly remarked, that " There were enough to be killed, enough to be taken prisoners, and enough to run away :" and the King animated by this spirited answer felt that with such soldiers he might defy the utmost power of France. Anger, we are told, at the sight of the dead body of the Duke of York, was one of the causes which urged the King of England to issue the disastrous order for the slaughter of his prisoners, which sullied the triumph of Azincourt's well-earned field :* a deed of vengeance not justified by the merits of the j slain; for the Duke of York's shameful apostacy and treachery to all his friends had raised the in- | dignation of Europe. The gallant St. Pol, whose ■ bold accusations and stern defiances severely mor- tified the conscious Bolingbroke, openly displayed his contempt and scorn of the " traitor Rutland,'' by hanging him in efiigy before the gates of Calais, at the period in which he sent that memorable chal- lenge to Henry IV., who learned in the bitter enmity of his former associate, that in gaining the crown of England he had lost the esteem of the valiant and the good. The Duke of York would have fallen into utter contempt but for the attachment with which he was regarded by Henry of Monmouth : he served under him when Prince of Wales, in a campaign against Glendor, and being charged in Parliament with cowardice, this generous friend warmly repelled the aspersion. He was not un- skilful in the art of war, and the stakes which • Baker. YORK AND LANCASTER. 209 were found to be so serviceable at Azincourt and CFTAP. succeeding battles are said to have been adopted at VIII. his suggestion. Anxious to " prove that he had been slandered by the calumnious assertions of his enemies, he requested to be placed in the front division of the English army, and being (says our author) a fat man, by much heat and thronging, he was smothered to death."* The intelligence of Henry's dazzling triumph over the chivalry of France, was received in England with the most lively joy and gratitude.f " On the twenty- ninth of October, (we are told, early in the morn- ing) comes tydynges to London while that men weren there beddes, that the Kyng hadde foughton and hadde the bataille and the feld aforsaid. And assoon as they hadde tydynges thereof they wrote to alle the cherches in the citee of London, and rongon alle the belles of every cherche, and solemnely alle the prestes of every cherche, and othere men that were lettered, songen Te Deum LaiidamuSy S^^c. And agens ix of the belle were warned all the ordres of reljgeous men of the citee of London, for to go a procession fro Seynt Poules unto Seynt Edward Schryne at Westm*. And the new maire and hise aldermen, with alle the craftes of London, and the quen (the widow of Henry IV.) with alle here lordes also wente from Seynt Poules unto Westm', and offred at Seynt Edwardes schryne aforesaid, or the meire tok his charge j and whanne the meire hadde taken his charge, every man come rydyng hom fro Westm' on horsbak, and were joyful and glad for the goode tydynges that they hadde of the Kyng, • Diigdale, -j- Chronicle of London. VOL. I. P iiW .THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, and thankyd oure Lord J'hii Crist, his modir Seynt ^^^^' Marye and Seynt George, and alle the holy company of hevene, and seyde Hec est dies qiiam fecit cfns.^' Ah-eady in full possession of the hearts of his subjects, the signal victory achieved by Henry at Azincourt, inspired the English people with an at- tachment amounting to idolatry to their young and gallant sovereign. When the ship in which Henry had embarked from Calais approached the coast, the crowd assembled on the shore, immediately as the dauntless conqueror drew near, plunged into the sea to meet and welcome him and dragged his bark to land amidst loud and repeated acclamations. The King's triumphant journey to the English ca- pital is described at length by a contemporary his- torian, who informs us that on Wednesday the morrow after the festival of St. Simon and St. Jude, Henry arrived at Calais, and on the Saturday after the feast of St. Martin, the nobles taken in the cam- paign having assembled according to their covenant, he sailed for England with his prisoners. " Our oldest men,""* exclaims the enthusiastic panegyrist, " do not remember any prince who ever governed his army throughout an expedition with more pru- dence, vigour and manfulness, or who achieved such deeds of arms in the field. Yea, neither is found in chronicles or annals that any King of England of whom our ancient writings make mention, ever * Far this very interesting account of the pomp and pageantry with which Henry V. was ushered into London, the author is indebted to the kindness of Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Esq. F. S. A. and she can only regret that her acquaintance with him commenced at too late a period to permit her to avail herself of his obliging offer of a perusal of the proof-sheets of his forth- coming work upon the battle of Azincourt. YORK AND LANCASTER. SI 1 executed so many deeds in so short a time, and re- CHAP, turned home with so great and so glorious a triumph. ^^''^• To the only God be the honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. " The king,'* continues our author, " having en- joyed one day's rest at the port of Dover, took his march through Canterbury over the holy threshholds of the churches of that metropolis and at St. Augus- tine, to his manor of Eltham ; proposing on the follow- ing sabbath to honour the city of London with his actual presence. Now the citizens having heard the most desirable, yea, most delightful reports of his arrival, in the mean time prepared themselves and the city as much as time permitted, for the reception of their most beloved and longed-for prince whom God had so magnificently and miraculously of his graciousness led back with triumph to his own coun- try, from a rebellious and invincible people. And when the wished -for sabbath dawned, the citizens went forth to meet the king as far as the heights of Blakeheth ; viz. the mayor and xxiiii aldermen in scarlet and the rest of the inferior citizens in red suits, with party-coloured hoods, red and white, on about XX thousand horses, all of whom according to their crafts had certain finely contrived devices, which notably distinguished each craft from the other. And when about the tenth hour of day, the king had come through the middle of them, and the citizens had given glory and honour to God, and congratulations and thanks to the king, for the vic- tory obtained and for his labours for the state, the citizens advanced forward towards the city, the king following with his own but small retinue. And that p 2 212 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, the pen may record something of the praise and em- ^^^^' belUshment of the city and the splendid entertain- ments of so many noble citizens. When they had come to the tower at the approach to the bridge as it were at the entrance to the authorities of the city, there was erected on the top of the tower a gigantic statue of amazing magnitude, which looking upon the king's face, bore as if a champion a great axe in his right hand, but held in his left as porter the keys of the city hanging on a staff; and at his right side stood a female not much less in size clad in a scarlet mantle and a woman's ornaments, as if man and wife, who arrayed in finer apparel might see the face of their lord and receive him with full praise. But around them banners of the royal arms adorned the tower elevated on the turrets ; and trumpets, clarions and horns sounded in various melody. And in front there was this elegant and fit inscription upon the wall ; Civitas Regis Justicie, T/ie citij of the King of righteousness. And as they proceeded nearer the bridge, there was on each side a little be- fore it a lofty column in imitation of a little tower, no less ingenious than elegant, built of wood which was covered over with linen cloth painted the colour of white marble and green jaspar, as though of stones squared and cut by a stone-cutter ; on the top of the right hand column, stood an erect figure of an ante- lope having a shield with the splendid royal arms suspended from his neck, and holding the royal sceptre extended in his right foot ; and on the top of the other column was an image of a lion erect, bearing on high in his right claws a partizan with the royal standard unfurled. Over the foot of the YORK AND LANCASTER. ^13 bridge across the road was raised a tower worked and CHAP. painted like the said cohmins; in the middle of VIII. which under a splendid pavilion stood a most beau- tiful image of Saint George, armed excepting his head, which was adorned by a laurel wreath studded with pearls, shining with what seemed precious stones, having behind his back a crimson tapestry, with arms glittering in a multitude of shields. And on his right hung his triumphal helmet, and on his left a shield of arms of suitable magnitude. In his right hand he held the hilt of the sword with which he was girded, and in his left a roll extended along the turrets, containing these wosds : Soli des honor ET GLORL-^, {To God alone honour and glory.) And this prophetical congratulation was inserted in front of the tower. The stream of the river gladdens the city of God: and halberds bearing the king's arms impaled, adorned as above, projecting at the awning and turrets. And in a contiguous house behind the tower, were innumerable boys representing the an- gelic host arrayed in white, and with countenances shining with gold, and glittering wings and virgin locks, set with precious sprigs of laurel, who at the king's approach, bowing to the ground, sang with melodious voices and with organs this English anthem. *' • And they sent forth upon him round leaves of silver mixed with wafers, equally thin and round, with wine out of channels and pipes of the conduit, that they might receive him with bread and wine as Melchisedeck received Abraham returning with victory from the slaughter of the four kings.' Then having proceeded further to the cross of Chepe, 214 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, the cross was not to be seen, but as it were a very fair castle around it, which constructed of wood with no less ingenuity than elegance was orna- mented by towers, beautiful columns, and bastions in elegant assemblage, having on each side arches almost as high as a spear and a half, each of which at one extremity artfully supported the castle, and at the other extending forth over the street im- merged into the neighbouring buildings as if it grew out of them. Under which in a sufficiently ample space to the breadth of one spear's length the people rode as through two gates. And there was written on the fronts of the gates on each side, Gloriosa DICTA sunt de te civitas DEI (Glovious tliiiigs are spoken of thee ^ O city ofGod;) its covering con- sisted of a linen awning, and painting of the colours of white marble, and of green and crimson jaspar, as if the whole had been cemented together of squared and well-polished stones. The arms of Saint George adorned the summit of the castle and the lower tower, and in one part were the king's arms, and in the other the emperor's projecting on halberds, and the lower turrets had the arms of the royal and of the greater peers of the realm. From the middle of the castle towards the king issued a very fair portal not less ingeniously constructed, from which was extended a wooden bridge, as it were fifteen (stadia) of good breadth, and reaching from the ground to a man's waist for the sake of seeing, covered and deckt with tapestry, with posts and barriers on each side ornamentally and securely enough for avoiding the pressure of the people ; and upon this bridge there went forth out of the castle YORK AND LANCASTER. 215 to meet the king a chorus of most beaiititul virgins chap. elegantly attired in -white and virgin dress, singing ^'^^^- with timbrel and dance as to another David coming from the slaughter of Goliath, who might be con- veniently intended in tlie haughtiness of the French, this song of congratulation, bowing to the ground, * Welcome Henry the fifte kynge of Englond and OF France.' From the top to the bottom of the castle, in the towers, bastions, arches and columns were innumerable boys, as it were the archangelic and angelic multitude, decked with celestial grace- fulness, white apparel, shining feathers, virgin locks studded with gems and other resplendent and most elegant array, who sent forth upon the head of the king passing beneath crowns of gold, with boughs of laurel ; singing with one accord to the honour of the Almighty God with sweet melody of voice and with organs this angelic hymn, bowing to the ground, * Te Deum laudamus, te Deum confitemur,' &c. * We praise thee God, we acknowledge thee to be our Lord.' And having come to the tower of the conduit in the going out of Chepe towards Saint Paul's, there surrounded that tower about the middle many artificial pavilions, and in each pavilion was a most beautiful virgin girl after the manner of an image, decorated with very elegant ornaments of modesty, all of them being crowned with laurel, girt with golden girdles, and having cups of gold in their hands, from which they blew out with most gentle breath, scarcely perceptible, round leaves of gold upon the king's head when he passed beneath them. But the tower was cov^ered over with a canopy of the colour of the sky, with clouds interwoven and 216 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, heaped up with much art, the summit of which was ^^^^' ornamented by the image of an archangel, as if of most lucid gold, with other more brilliant colours resplendently variegated. And the four posts which supported the canopy were borne by four angels of not inferior workmanship ; beneath the canopy on a throne was a majestic image representing the sun, that with the shining rays it emitted glittered above all things ; round about which angels shone with celestial gracefulness chaunting sweetly, and in all sorts of music, bowing to the ground. " And there ornamented the bastions of the tower ***** projecting on posts. And that the tower in its inscription might seem to conform with the preceding praises of the inscriptions to the ho- nour and glory of God, not of men, it bore to the view of the passengers this conclusion of praise, Deo Gracias, {Thanks to God). And besides the pres- sure in the standing-places, and of men crowding through the streets, and the multitude of persons of both sexes looking out of windows and apertures, however narrow, along the way from the bridge, so great was the pressure of the people in Chepe from one end to the other that scarcely the horse- men (and not without difficulty) could ride through them. And the lattices and windows on both sides were filled with the more noble ladies and women of the realm, and with honourable and honoured men, who flocked together to the pleasing sight, and were so very gracefully and elegantly dressed in garments of gold, fine linen and crimson and various other apparel, that a greater assembly or a nobler spectacle was not recollected to have been YORK AND LANCASTER. 217 ever before in London. The king himself amidst CHAP, these public expressions of praise and the bravery of the citizens passed along clad in a purple robe, not with lofty looks, pompous cavalry or great multitude, but with a solid aspect, a reverend gait, and a few of his most faithful domestics attendant on him ; the said dukes, earls and mareschall, his captives fol- lowing him with a guard of soldiers. Even from the very silence of his countenance, his unassuming gait and sober advance, it might be gathered that the king secretly revolving the affair in his breast rendered thanks and glory to God alone and not to men. And when he had visited the church of the apostles Peter and Paul he turned aside to his palace of Westminster, the citizens leadino; him alons:. " And when thev were come further to the tower of the conduit in Cornehill, that tower was found decked with crimson cloth, spread out after the fashion of a tent, upon poles covered with the same cloth. Round about the middle of the tower below went the arms of Saints George, Edward, Edmund, and of England, in four more elevated places, with intermediate scutcheons of the royal arms ; amongst which was inserted this inscription of pious import, Qm Rex sperat in deno et in mia altissimi non coMMOVEBiTUR, (Bccause the king hopeth in the Lord, and in the mercy of the most high, he shall not he inoved). But higher on the turrets the arms of the royal lineage were raised for ornament on halberds. Under the pavilion, indeed, was a company of prophets, for their venerable grey hair, dressed in golden coats and mantles, with their heads covered and wrapped in gold and crimson j who when the 218 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, king came by them sent forth sparrows and other '_ small birds in sufficient numbers, as a sacrifice agreeable to God, in return for the victory, and of which some alighted on the king's breast, some rested on his shoulders, and some fluttered round about him. And the prophets sang with a sweet harmony, bowing to the ground, this psalm of thanks- giving : * Sing unto the Lord a new song, hallelujah ! Because he hath done wonders, hallelujah ! he hath saved, &c.' Thence they advanced to the tower of the conduit, in the entrance of the street of Chepe, which was hung with a green covering with scutch- eons of the city arms, inserted and interwoven in gay assemblage, upon posts clad with the same coloin-, after the fashion of a building. And the turrets above the tower were ornamented with halberds of arms, projecting as in the other places, and its middle round about. " And beneath the covering were men venerable from old age, in apostolic array and number, having the names of the twelve apostles written on their foreheads, together with the twelve kings, martyrs, and confessors, of the succession of England, their loins girded with golden girdles, sceptres in their hands, and crowns on their heads, the emblems of sanctity, and they chaunted with one accord at the king's approach with sweet harmony, bowing to the ground." The whole of Henry's future reign exhibited one continued series of triumphs, and the historian of the house of Mortimer must search in vain through the chronicles of the time for information of interest connected with the Earl of March : thev contain YORK AND LANCASTER. SiQ only a brief record of his attachment to the king ; CHAP, apparently content with the privileges and honours ^^"- attached to a prince of the blood, he never once swerved from his allegiance, returning the liberal policy of Henry with undeviating gratitude. The confidence so nobly reposed and so honourably repaid is equally creditable to both parties, and these generous heirs of Lancaster and Mortimer afford perhaps a solitary instance of perfect harmony existing between two persons so delicately placed. We are not called upon to follow Henry in his career of foreign conquests, though we may pause to pay our humble tribute to his genius and his valour. Surrounded by a blaze of glory every march was a triumph. Surprised by his prowess, or subdued by his perseverance, city after city submitted to his arms. Wafted to the scene of his romantic exploits in a vessel whose sails were of purple and gold, splendour tracked his path, and the hero of a con- tinual pageant we gaze with admiration and with wonder at achievements emulating the fabled stories of old, approaching the heroic deeds c£ our lion- hearted Richard, and surpassing those of our war- like Edwards. Fortune, frequently so treacherous to these gallant princes, never once deserted Henry. The most powerful combination formed by his enemies was broken by their jealousy and distrust 1419. of each other. Almost at the moment of reconci- liation, the Duke of Burgundy was basely assassi- sept. 10. nated by the friends of the dauphin, and in the horror occasioned by this inhuman act the true interests of France were forgotten. The queen mother, infuriated by passion, and apprehensive of June 'i. S20 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, sharing in the common danger which threatened the ^^^^' Duke of Burgundy's partizans, sacrificed her son 14^0. to her fears and her revenge. Henry was created regent and received the hand of the Princess Catha- rine in marriage, with the reversion of the crown on the demise of Charles YI. Whilst affairs were in this prosperous condition abroad the transactions at home assumed a gloomy \ aspect. Sincerely attached to the Roman Catholic • Church Henry, from conscientious motives as well as from policy, denied his subjects the right of choosing their own creed. His early friend the gallant Lord Cobham was delivered over to the flames, for his pertinacious adherence to the doc- trines of Wickliffe ; and the clergy, triumphing in the authority which empowered them to bring their adversaries to the stake, neglected the only means of effectually repressing the progress of Lollardy, as, after Walter Lollard, the German reformer, the new doctrine was then called, namely a reforma- tion in the morals of the priesthood, whose scanda- lous lives brought disgrace upon the established religion. It must not be concealed in the mean- time that the disciples of Wickliffe were not always content with the peaceable enjoyment of their own opinions. They were shocked by the monstrous superstitions of their brethren of Rome ; and, with more zeal than discretion, waged war upon the images and ceremonies which excited their distrust. They were also (and not without some justice) charged with continual variation in the tenets which they professed, but their accusers have either incon- siderately or purposely overlooked the reason of this YORK AND LANCASTER. 221 apparent caprice. It was not at once that Wickliffe CHAP. or his followers rejected all the errors which had ] been introduced into the Apostolic Church ; but every new perusal of the scriptures discovered to them some tradition of man which liad been imposed by priests and councils as the doctrines of God, and at the moment of conviction they expressed their abhorrence of that in which they had formerly pro- fessed to believe ; the revelation of one great truth was followed by that of another, and it was only by degrees that the cumbrous superstructure which had superseded the simplicity of the gospel could be entirely removed. The zeal of the Lollards, like all other zeal of opponents of the established religion of a state, was productive of public disorder, and in transgressing the law even in the furtherance of a good cause they were doubtless justly obnoxious to punishment at the hands of the civil power. Many too of their persecutors like Henry himself were persuaded that they were obeying the commands of heaven in the extirpation of heresy ; and others, in- furiated by anger and blinded by self-interest, were betrayed into deeds of horror, in order to support the tottering foundation of a church whose very existence was threatened by the attacks of the re- formers. None of the kings of England had more effectually opposed the tyranny of Rome than Edward III. and Richard II. j the papal yoke was scarcely felt during the reigng of these princes ; but the house of Lan- caster feared to provoke ecclesiastical thunders, and surrendered themselves willing slaves to pontifical 222 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, authority, which regained the whole of its ancient ■ power in England. 1422. Suddenly arrested in the midst of his brilliant Aug. 31. career, the hand of death snatched the laurel and the diadem from the brows of Henry before he had realized half the ambitious dreams which haunted his soul with visions of glory : his imagination warmed by the grandeur of Richard Coeur-de-Lion's deeds, meditated conquests which should eclipse the splendour of the crusades. He panted to encounter infidels in a distant quarter of the globe, and t rescue the holy sepulchre from Turkish dominion.* The name of Jerusalem occurring in the psalms with which the officiating priests endeavoured to consol the monarch in his dying moments, arrested his failing breath, and he disclosed to his mourning friends the romantic expectation which he had so fondly cherished. Descending to the grave in the full flush of manhood's prime, Henry left an infant son to the care of his illustrious brothers ; and the j decease of Charles VI. of France on the twenty- second of October in the same year, gave the crowns of two kingdoms to a child of nine months old. * Monstrelet. YORK AND LANCASTER. '223 CHAPTER IX. Dearth of amusing Events in the Reign of Henry IV. — Displeasure of Foreign Princes — Paternal Tenderness of Charles VI. — Hostility of the Count de St. Pol — Insult offered to the Earl of Rutland — In- cursions of the Princes of France on the English Coast — Challenge of the Duke of Orleans — Henrifs Reply — The King is charged with the Murder of Richard II. —Henry denies the allegation — Neutrality of the French Government — Lamentations of the Citizens of Bor- deaux — Death of the Duke of Orleans — Affairs of Scotland — Anger of the Earl of March — Miserable Fate of Prince David — Captivity of James — Marriage of the King and of his two Daughters — Con- duct of the Duke of Burgundy — Credulity of the Times — Strange Stories told to the prejudice of the King — Prophecies concerning his Death — Martyrdom ofSawtre — Character of Arundel — Gallantry of Sir John Cornwall — Various Equipments of Knights — Mail Armour — Plate Armour — Hanging Sleeves^Fantastic Attire of the Prince of Wales — Changes in Henry V.'s Character — his Piety — Misery at Rouen — Anecdotes of the King' s Inhumanity — Tyranny exercised to- wards the Scottish Soldiers — Anecdote of the Queen Dowager — Riot in St. Dunstan's Church — The Penance performed by Lord Strajige — The Emperor Sigismund — Speech of the jYoblcs — The Emperor^s Conduct in France — Henry • confers the Garter on his Guest — The Gifts bestowed by the Emperor on his Departure — Splendour of Henry's Ship — Orcleve's Poems — A Ballad of Lydgate's— The King's Attachment to Music and. Literature — his extraordinary Swiftness- Description of Henry's Funeral Procession. The stormy reign of Henry IV. presents few do- ^^•'^P- raestic occurrences of any interest. Conspiracies L and dissensions occupy the pages of the old chro- QQ4f THE RIVAL HOUSES OF IX. * nicies ; and the gloomy impression made upon the mind by a continual series of revolts is seldom ex- changed for the more entertaining narratives of tournaments and banquets, which enliven the annals of his luckless predecessor. Foreign princes beheld Henry Bolingbroke's violent assumption of the crown with horror; instead of the usual congratulations offered to a sovereign on his accession to the throne, execrations and defiances were poured upon him by surrounding nations ; but peculiarly fortunate in the internal posture of affairs, both of France and of Scotland, those powers, generally the most hostile to England, were prevented from taking advantage of the disaffection of a large portion of the nobles in further- ance of their schemes of ambition or of vengeance. The indignation of France evaporated in empty threats. The parental solicitude of Charles VI. for the recovery of his daughter Isabel, whom he con- sented to receive without the part of her portion, two hundred thousand francs of gold, which had been granted at the period of her espousal with Richard, induced the irritated monarch to stifle his resentment ; but he refused to enter into a friendly treaty with Henry, or to accept the crown of England for his daughter on the condition proposed, her marriage with the Prince of Wales ; and though he did not in his own person violate the truce which it was the policy of the English government to main- tain, he permitted the aggressions of his nobles. From two of the princely vassals of France Henry sustained keener mortification. Valerian, Count of St. Pol, the friend and the kinsman of Richard II., by a matrimonial alliance with Matilda, half sister YORK AND LANCASTER. 225 of the Kincj, sent a formal defiance into England, CHM\ tln-eatening to wage war both by land and by sea on the _^ dominion of the usurper, in his own private quarrel, " and not on account of any hostilities between his dread and sovereign lord the King of France, and the realm of England."* The count also evinced his indignation at the perfidy of Rutland, by hanging the earl's effigy with the arms reversed like those of a traitor, before the gates of Calais, and executing the most daring of those menaces with which he had so boldly assailed the triumphant King, made a descent upon the Isle of Wight; and, joined by the Admiral of Bretagne and three princes of the house of Bourbon his confederates, burnt the town of Plymouth, and sweeping the narrow seas captured nearly two thousand prisoners, whom the victors carried with a large carrack and forty-nine smaller vessels into the ports of France. The submission to these petty ravages was deeply humiliating to the pride of a king; but Henry was condemned to taste even a more bitter cup : his friend and companion the Duke of Orleans, who had solemnly sworn to be " a friend and well-wisher to his friends and well-wishers, an enemy to his enemies, and to love, pursue, keep and defend the health, the good, the honour and the estate'' of his beloved ally against all adversaries, dissolved the bond of amity and challenged him to fight with a hundred knights on aside in the marches of Guienne. Henry replied to this insult with temperate dignity, evading rather than declining the challenge, by re- minding his antagonist of the truce between the * Monstrelet. VOL I. Q 2'2G THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, two kincrdoms, of their former oaths, and of the TV _J_ obHgation of a crowned head not to condescend to engage in single combat with a person of inferior rank ; yet in conchision said, that he should repair to Guienne when it pleased him with such knights as he should choose to appoint, when the duke might meet him if he thought fit, and should receive the satisfaction which he deserved. This temperate answer provoked a second challenge, couched in terms still more offensive than the former : Orleans charged the King with rebellion, usurpation and 1403. murder. Henry made a slight attempt to vindicate himself from the two former of these injurious accu- sations, but reserved all the indignation of a generous spirit for the last : he boldly and solemnly denied having participated in the assassination of Richard. " If you mean that we had any hand in his death, we say that you he, and will lie falsely as often as you shall assert it : as the true God knows, whom we call to witness our innocence, offering as a loyal prince ought, our body against yours, if you will or dare to prove it.*'* The duel however never took place. Henry anxious to preserve the truce with France submitted to the insult, content with a vehement remonstrance through the medium of his ambassadors concerning the infraction of the armi- stice by the challenge of the Duke of Orleans. The French government refused to exert its authority to silence the insolent threat of Henry's adversary, and met the complaints from England with a cold and unsatisfactory reply. " Neither the King or his council have ever broken, nor will they ever break * Monslrelfct. ^J YORK AM) LANCASTER. 2^7 their engagements. This is the only answer tliat CHAP. can be returned." 1 France was not in a condition to avail itself of the discontent of Guienne where the memory of the Black Prince, revered by the inhabitants, caused the most enthusiastic loyalty towards Richard 11. The feelings of the citizens of Bourdeaux, the birth- place of that unfortunate monarch, are depicted in a very lively manner by Sir John Hayward ; and the following quotation from his work will not only display the attachment of Richard's foreign subjects, but may amuse as a specimen of the curious style adopted by the elder historians: "O good God," (said they) " where is the world become ? Saints are turned to serpents and doues into diuels. The En- glish nation which hath been accompted fierce onely against their foes, and alwayes faithfid to their friends, are now become both fierce and faithlesse against their lawfuU and loving prince, and have most bar- barousUe betrayed him. Who would ever have thought that Christians, that civill people, that any men would thus have violated all religion, all lawes and all honest and orderly demeanure ? And al- though the heavens blush at the view, and the earth sweat at the burthen of so vile a villainie, and all men proclaime and exclaime vpon shame and con- fusion against them, yet they neither feele the hor- rour nor shrinke at the shame nor feare the revenge, but stand upon tearmes, some of defence for the lawfulnesse of their dealing and some of excuse for the necessitie. Well, let them be able to blinde the worlde, and to resist man's revenge, yet shall they never be able to escape eyther the sight or vengeance q2 Q'2^ THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, of Almiglity God, whicli we dayly expect and eani- ^^' estly desire to be powred vpoii them. Alas! good King Richard, thy nature was too gentle and thy gOLiernment too iiiilde for so stiffe and stiibborne a people. What king wil euer repose any trust in such vnnaturell subiects, but fetter them with lawes as theeues are with irons ? A¥hat carriage hereafter can recouer their credite ? What time wyll bee suf- ficient to blotte out this blemish ? What other action could they have doone more ioyfull to their enemyes, more woeful! to their friendes, and more shameful! to themselves ? Oh, corruntion of times ! Oh. con- ditions of men !" Richard's champion and Henry's mortal enemy the Duke of Orleans was in the course of three years cut off by the sword of the assassin, and im- mediately the whole realm of France was thrown into inextricable confusion : and Henry though at first assisting the Duke of Burgundy against the Ar- magnacs, the partisans of the murdered prince, sub- sequently consulted his own interest by espousing the cause of the opposite fliction, who in return ac- knowledged his right to the territory of Guienne. The domestic transactions of Scotland were equally propitious to Henry. Robert HI. the second prince of the family of Stuart, a monarch too gentle for the sovereignty of the fierce people who owned his sway, had retired m a great measure from active life, and committed the care of the kingdom to the hands of his brother the Duke of Albanv, a bold and ambitious man. The extreme profligacy of the heir- apparent Prince David disgusted the nation and encouraged his uncle to aspire to the crown. The YORK AND LANCASTER. 229 prince luul been affianced to the Lady Elizabetii CHAP IX Dunbar daughter of the Earl of March, and h.ad __ received a part of her dowry ; but Arcliibald tlie wealthy and powerful Earl of Douglas thirsting for an alliance with royalty, objected to the marriage, which he alleged had not received the sanction of tlie nobles, and offering his own daughter the Lady Margery with a larger portion,, the prince became his son-in-law ; and the Earl of March withdrawing in sullen wrath to England, revenged his quarrel by espousing the cause of Henry IV. against iiis own country. In the mean time the increasing licentiousness of Prince David rendered him odious to the whole com- munity ; even the king his father shocked by his excesses consented to Ids imprisonment as the only means of effecting a reformation in conduct which had defied the efforts hitherto made to restrain the wildness of youth within decent bounds. The un- fortunate and vicious prince was consigned to a dungeon, from whence it was not the interest of the Duke of Albany to permit him to escape ; after a short confinement a report of his decease was ru- moured abroad, and though ascribed by the govern- ment to a natural cause, the })ublic voice asserted that he had been starved to death. The kinff justly alarmed by the fate of his eldest son, endea- voured to secure the younger from the evils which he feared might await him in Scotland, and deter- mining to send him to complete his education at the court of his friend and ally Charles VI., the yoiuig prince embarked with a few attendants on board a vessel bound for France. But he was not 230 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, permitted to reach his destination ; happening to ^^- fall in with an English ship off Flamborough-head,* 1405. the inveterate enemies of Scotland violated the truce, and carried the fugitive and his train pri- soners to London ; where the king rejoiced at ob- taining so valuable a prize, resolved upon his deten- tion, ironically observing that he could speak French as well as his brother Charles, and was equally capable of educating a king of Scotland.f The Duke of Albany made no effort to procure the release of his kinsman, who w^as consigned to strict imprison- ment; the death of the King of Scotland over- powered by the weight of his calamities occurred shortly afterwards, and the regent aware that the duration of his authority depended upon the cap- tivity of the heir, studiously avoided all sources of dispute with the King of England, and permitted Henry to secure without molestation the throne which he had usurped. Henry IV. contracted a second marriage with Joan of Navarre daughter of Charles H. King of Navarre and Count of Evreux, surnamed the badj and Joan his wife, daughter of John King of France, by Bona of Luxemburgh his first wife ; she was the third wife and widow of John Earl of Montfort, Duke of Bretagne, commonly called the valiant. It is said that the King of England was induced to select the duchess for the partner of his throne in consequence of the authority which her husband's will and the law gave her over her children ; the rich dowry she possessed, and the advantage of securing the alliance of Bretagne against the ex- pected aggressions of France ; but the ministers of * Kymer. f Wakingham. YORK AND LANCASTER. ^31 diaries VI. disappointed the hopes he had formed CHAP of obtaining the guardianship of the young princes _J by conveying them to the French court. The Enghsh chronicles are almost entirely silent respect- ing Henry's queen. The marriage ceremony took place at Winchester, whence she proceeded to London and was crowned with the usual ceremonies. Henry also procured very honourable alliances for his two daughters ; Blanche the eldest became the wife of the Duke of Bavaria, being conducted to Cologne with great magnificence by the Earl of Somerset, Lord Clifford, the Bishop of Worcester, and others of the nobility. Philippa the youngest espoused Eric son of the King of Denmark ; but while these northern princes readily consented to a union with the females of the house of Lancaster, the King of England's hopes of contracting his heir to the daughters of France or Burgundy were baffled, by the mortifying coldness of those powers to his proposals. The Duke of Burgundy indeed after he had lost the ascendance in the government of France, which he had so iniquitously obtained by the murder of his rival, was in his turn urgent for the conclu- sion of a marriage between the Prince of Whales* and one of his daughters, but Henry was then flattered with the prospect of negociating with the ministers of Chailes VI., and abandoned his late ally the mo- ment that his own peculiar interest pointed out the advantages of a line of conduct more politic than generous. The age of Henry IV. presents us with a great number of very curious instances of the darkest su- perstition. The king himself shared in the general 232 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, credulitv, and believed that Owen Glendor could ^^- " call spirits from the vasty deep,'* and that in his campaigns in A\'ales he combated with no mortal enemy. The Percies when confederating with the Welsh insurgent, it is said, relied with fatal confi- dence upon a prophecy of the famous enchanter Merlin, which assured them that Henry of Lancaster was the " Moldwarpe cursed of God's own mouth, and that they were the dragon, the lion and the wolf who should divide the realm between them."* Omens and portents are also gravely stated by the old chroniclers as the forerunners of those extraor- dinary events which placed a younger branch of the Plantagenets upon the throne. The storms and tempests which attended the passage of Richard's first and second queen into England were supposed to have been prophetic of the troubles which ensued. Occurrences more strange and horrible are also re- corded of trees weeping blood at the stroke of the axe, of battles in the air between innumerable hosts of insects, of the sun assuming a blood red hue for the space of six weeks, of flaming meteors, and of a fierv drasfon visible in several counties. Walsins:- ham has written of " a fatal spectrum or apparition in the summer-time between Bedford and Bio-o-les- wade," where sundry monsters of divers colours in the shape of armed men w^ere often seen to issue out of the woods at morning and at noon, " whicli to such as stood afar off seemed to encounter each other in a most terrible manner;" but when the spectators drew near, the whole pageant vanished. These sights are reported to have been seen previous to the rebellion • Hall. YORK AND LANCASTER. ',.^33 of the Percies, which we are told bv Hall followed CHAP, the appearance of " a houge comete, or biasing starre." The king's illness was ascribed by the monkish historian of the life of Archbishop Scroope to a visible sicrn of the wrath of heaven for the mar- tyrdom of the holy prelate. Henry during the latter years of his life was subject to erysipelas in the face, which his enemies styled leprosy, and the writer just (juoted assures us that notwithstanding the splendid funeral which took place at Canterbury, the body of the king pursued by Divine vengeance was denied the rites of christian burial: " About thirty days after the death of Henry IV.," says Clement j\Iayd- stone, " a former domestic of that prince dined at the Trinity-House, Hounslow. During this meal the discourse turning on the character of Henry, the said person said to Thomas jJaydstone, an esquire sitting at table, ' God only knows v/hether or no he was a good man ; but this I know, that I was one of three persons who flung his corpse into the Thames, between Berkyng and Gravesend. For,' added he, ' so frighttld a rush of winds and waves came pour- ing in upon us, that eight barges full of noblemen who attended the funeral were utterly dispersed and in the most extreme danger of being lost. Then, we who were entrusted with the royal body being in the most imminent peril of our lives, by common consent threw it into the river ; and straightway all was calm. But the coffin in which it had lain, and which was covered with cloth of gold, we carried with great pomp to Canterbury and interred it.' On this account the monks of Canterbury say, * "We have the sepulchre (not the body) of Henry IX. in 234 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, our church.' ' And God is my witness and judge, L that I, Clement Maydestone, have heard the said person swear, before my father, Thomas Maydestone, that this account is strictly true."* The place of the monarch's death is also said to have been prophesied, and Henry relying upon the assurance of " the juggHng fiend who keeps the word of promise to the ear but breaks it to the mind," hoped to have expiated all his offences by marching at the head of a new crusade to the holv land. He had been told that he should die at Jerusalem, and he cherished the fallacious expectation of perishing in the sacred cause of religion. Being seized with his last illness while paying his devotions at Saint Ed- ward's shrine in Westminster Abbey, he w^as con- veyed to the abbot's lodgings, and placed in an apartment called the Jerusalem Chamber. The ominous name struck the expiring monarch's ear, and instantly resigning his spirit to its doom, he ex- claimed " Lord have mercy upon my soul, for this is the Jerusalem in which a soothsayer told me I should die."'f' Henry's declining days are reported upon the authority of Monstrelet to have been embittered by the too eager desire manifested by his eldest son to ascend the throne. The above-named writer avers that the jealous monarch never permitted the crown * Gough in his Sepulchral Monuments mentions the tale which he classes with " other wonderful stories," introduced by the writer to advance the credit of Archbishop Scroope ; but Andrews in noticing Clement May- destone's nanative suggests the expedience of a visitation of antiquaries to ascertain the truth by an inspection of the monarch's coffin. t Baker. YORK AND LANCASTER. 235 which had proved too strong a temptation for his loy- CHAP ally to be an instant from his sight; he kept a vigilant guard over it during the day and at night it became the companion of liis couch. The king's iUness was accompanied by long fits of insensibility, and the Prince of Wales, believing that his father's earthly ca- reer was closed, seized the golden prize and conveyed it away. Henry recovering from his trance inquired for the object of his solicitude, and being told that the prince had taken possession of this coveted symbol of authority commanded his immediate presence and asked the motive of his conduct.* The prince answered boldly yet respectfully, " Sir, to mine and to all men's judgments you seemed to be dead in this world ; wherefore I as your heir appa- rent took the crown as mine own, and not yours." " Well, fair son," replied the king, sighing deeply, " what right I had to it, and how I enjoyed it God knoweth.'* " Sir," rejoined the prince, " if you die king, I will have the garland ; and I trust to keep it with my sword against all mine enemies as you have done." " Well," said the king, " I com- mit all to God, and remember you to do well." It is likewise stated that Henry perceiving the indica- tion of a too ambitious spirit in his son Thomas Duke of Clarence, expressed the anxious feelings of a parent for the unanimity of his children, and the intrepid prince, promising to conduct himself as an affectionate brother towards him so long as he should merit his kindness, added, that if he at- tempted to disturb the realm he could teach him his duty. * Hall. -236 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. 'Yhe reign of Henry IV. was disgraced by the L execution of the first martyr sacrificed in England by the zeal of the Roman Catholic Church. AVilliam ►Sautre, a parish priest of London, was condemned to be burned for heresy, by Thomas Arundel Arch- bisliop of Canterbury, a staunch supporter of the papal authority, who had unhappily obtained a vast ascendance over the mind of the king ; and perse- cuted with unrelenting severity by this imperious prelate, the reformer underwent the sentence at Smithfield in 1400.* Reviled and derided by Roman Catholic, and neglected by Protestant writers, history is either hostile or cold when recording the fate of this victim to the tyranny of a barbarous hierarchy. Poetry and painting have also refused to lend their aid in per- petuating the memory of this heroic individual, who though terrified by the prospect of the fearful death before him, and anxious to escape its lingering torments, yet when commanded to give an un- qualified assent to all the absurdities connected with the monstrous doctrine of transubstantiation, pre- ferred the dreadful alternative and surrendered his body to the flames. The reformer in this choice gave an example of constancy the more worthy of praise, since it had to struggle with the weakness and infirmity of a heart clinging too fondly to the hope of extrication from surrounding perils. Though Sautre did not rashly challenge the crown of martyrdom, though he hesitated and wavered, and endeavoured to satisfy the scruples of his con- science, and to explain away his doubts (circum- * Fox. YORK AND LANCASTER. -237 Stances wliicli have weakened the interest of many CHAI' persons in his fate, and provoked the censnre of ^^■ others), he shrank not from the final test ; and this lowly yet sincere Christian affords a glorious example of the triumpli of principle over all those sore and pressing temptations which assault the frail and the feeble when called upon to suffer in the cause of truth. The prominent part which the Archbishop of Canterbury took in the political occurrences of Richard's and of Henry's times entitle him to a dis- tinguished place in the history of those monarclfs reigns; but as many of the transactions in which this able statesman bore a considerable share have been already detailed, it will be unnecessary to follow inm through all liis employments in the settle- ment of the kingdom and the government of the church. One of the most magnificent prelates, wdio since the days of Thomas a Becket had ever attained the height of spiritual authority in England, the talents, learning, and energy of Arundel, when directed against the new opinions, stayed the pro- gress of the reformers ; and those who persisted in the hopeless struggle for religious riglits, paid with their lives the forfeit of their temerity. High spirited, enterprising, plunging boldly into the troubled sea of politics, and persecuting even unto death all who dared to dissent from tlie canons of the church which he served wdth so much fierv ardour, munificence is the only christian \-irtue which Arundel seems to have practised. Contem- porary writers have handed down splendid memorials of the liberality of this princely ecclesiastic. We are 238 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, told that he was a benefactor to every see with which '_ he was concerned. The episcopal palace in Holborn belonging to the bishopric of Ely, was almost entirely rebuilt at his own expense. He presented to the church together with other costly gifts a curious and valuable tablet full of the reliques of the saints, set in large pearls, rubies and sapphii'es, formerly the property of the King of Spain, and afterwards in the possession of the Black Prince, from whom it was purchased by the bishop. He improved the lands of the church at York, and enriched the cathedral with various ornaments and presents of massy plate. To Canterbury he bequeathed many sumptuous habiliments and jewels, with several valuable books, and gave the peal of bells known by the appellation of the " Arundel ring."* The condemnation of Lord Cobham, at whose trial he presided, was the last act of this distin- guished prelate's life. Stricken with a strange and sudden disease in the tongue, a short time after he had pronounced the sentence which delivered the unfortunate nobleman he had so bitterly persecuted to the flames, the Lollards, according to the prac- tice of an age ever prone to believe in the marvellous, did not scruple to aver that his death, which oc- curred previous to the inhuman execution of the prisoner so lately doomed, was a signal manifesta- tion of the justice of heaven : thus calling before its judgment-seat the accuser with the accused. Few tournaments of any celebrity took place in the reign of Henry IV. Sir John Cornwall, we are informed by Holinshed, won the king's favour by prevailing over two foreigners who challenged him • Biograpliia Brittannica, YORK AND LANCASTER. 239 to just at York. The monarch was so much tie- CHAP, lighted with the prowess which he displayed on the ^^' occasion, that he gave him permission to marry his sister, the widow of John HolandEarl of Huntingdon ; ** though," observes the liistorian, " some said that the knight and the countess were agreed aforehand without the King's consent.'' Also, afterwards in London the Earl of Kent and the same Sir John Cornwall justed with two Scottish knights and ob- tained the victory, thus reviving the English glory which had been somewhat tarnished by the discom- fiture of Lord Welles in his combat with the Earl of Crawford in the preceding reign. Henry attempted to check the extravagance of his subjects by reviving the sumptuary laws respecting dress established by his predecessors. He prohibited cloth of gold, of crimson velvet, motley velvet and the fur of the ermine and marten to persons below the dignity of a banneret, with the exception of military officers ; and directed that none of inferior rank should wear large hanging sleeves or gowns that touched the ground. The king also endeavoured to restrain the excesses of the clergy in their attire, limiting the permission to wear hoods of costly furs, and the use of gilt trappings, jewels and em- broidery to the higher orders of ecclesiastics. Yeo- men were commanded to content themselves with the skins of foxes, conies and others ; and no person, except his yearly income in lands or tenements amounted to twenty pounds, or who possessed goods and chattels to the amount of two hundred, was allowed to use " baselards, girdles, daggers or horns (drinking or hunting horns) decorated with silver,"* • statutes 8 Henry IV. ^40 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CH\P. nor any other trappings formed of the same precious J^ metal. The king's ordinances bore hard upon the ladies : rich furs were denied to the wives of esquires who were not ennobled, and those only who were married to the Mayor of London, of Warwick and other free towns, or who were in attendance upon tiie queen or some o"'eat lady of the court, were excepted from a law which condemned simple gen- tlewomen to relinquish the toys and gauds so uni- versally the objects of feminine desire. The outcry of popular writers and the continual recurrence of similar ordinances shevv how ill the mandates of the sovereign were obeyed when they militated against the growth of luxury. A curious statute passed in this reign affords a proof of the fantastic taste which prevailed : the king declared that no man however exalted in rank should be permitted to wear a gown or garment cut or slashed into pieces in the form of letters, rose leaves and posies of various kinds, or any such-like devices, under the penalty of forfeit- ing the same ; and any tailor presuming to make such a gown or garment in defiance of the royal authority was liable to fine and imprisonment, the duration of the latter punishment to be at the plea- sure of the king. To the ouches, beads of gold and other devices in jewellery which were considered to be the necessary appendages of rank and wealth, was added under Henry IV. the collar of S. S. This splendid orna- ment, we are told by Camden, received its appel- lation from the initial letter of the name of an eminent Roman lawyer, Sanctus Simo Simplicius ; but a more satisfactory origin is aflbrded by the YORK AND LANCASTER. 241 suggestion of a distinguished anticjuary of our own CHAP. time, Dr. Meyrick, wlio is of opinion that it was '_ derived from the initial of Henry's motto, which while he was Earl of Derby was *' Souveraine" and which as he afterwards became sovereign appeared auspicious. The attachment of Henry to this motto of fortunate augury is evident from its continual re- petition upon the monarch's tomb ; a circumstance also noticed by Dr. Meyrick as strongly in favour of his supposition. Mail armoiu', which had been in use in England from the period of tlie Norman invasion, and which though not universally adopted in latter years main- tained its ground until the middle of the fifteenth century, was now rapidly declining in favoiu.* Henry IV. is the last of our kings who appears in it on his great seal ; it consisted of the following particulars : — '' a loose garment stuffed with cotton or wool called a gambeson, over which was worn a coat of mail formed of double rings or mascles of iron interwoven like the meshes of a net, called a hawberk. To it were fixed a hood, sleeves and hose, also of mail. The head was defended with a helmet, and by a leather thong round the neck hung a shield. The heels of a knight v/ere equipped with spurs having rowels near three inches in length. Over all these, men of considerable family wore rich surcoats, like those of heralds, charged with their armorial bearings."! Plate armour, a more splendid and in those times a more fashionable equipment for the field, " was composed of different pieces for the back, breast, shoulders, arms, hands, thighs, and * Gough. t Grose, VOL. I. R S42 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, feet, under the several names of cuirass, consisting ^^' of a back and breast-pi'ice, pouldrotis brassart, or gondebras, or avant-bras, corruptly in English vam- braces, gauntlets, cuissarts, with grenouillieris, greaves and iron shoes."* The crackows or piked shoes of Richard II. were rivalled in absurdity by the sleeves which came into fashion in the beginning of his successor's reign, when the dress we are told M^as extravagant, espe- cially the gowns with deep and wide sleeves, com- monly called Pokys, shaped like bagpipes, and worn indifferently both by servants and masters. *' They may," says our author,! " rightly be called the deviPs receptacles ; for whatever could be stolen was popt into them ; some of them were so large and wide that they reached down to the feet or at least to the knees, full of sHts and devils. When the servants were bringing up pottage, sauces, or any other liquor, their sleeves went into the dishes and had the first taste ; and all that was given to them or that they could get, was spent to clothe their uncurable carcases with these pokys or sleeves, while the rest of the habit was cut short." Occleve the poet satarizes these mantles with long sleeves in the following lines : — « Now hath this land little need of broomes, To sweep away the filth out of the street ; Sin side sleeves of pennilesse grooms Will it uplicke, be it dry or weete," Henry V. when Prince of Wales, and in disgrace with his father, jealous of the numbers who for- saking the palace of the sovereign flocked to the • Gough. t Camden. YORK AND LANCASTER. 243 heir apparent 's court, visited the king fantastically CHAP, attired in a gown of blue satin full of small oylct ^^• holes worked in black, with a needle hanging at every hole by a silken thread ; about his arm he wore a hound's collar studded with S S of gold, the tirets being of the same metal. But after the accession of this wild prince to the throne, his cha- racter appears to have undergone a total chajige, the sportive whims of his early youth gave place to stern imperturbability, and though occasionally a redeem- ing trait of generosity shone forth with dazzling radiance, illumining the barbarous deeds of a cruel conqueror, the remorseless manner in which he pur- sued his own ambitious schemes impresses the mind with an unfavourable opinion of the qualities of his heart. It is tDld in Henry's honour that upon his return from the glorious field of Azincourt, he checked the eager enthusiasm of his subjects by silencing the psalms and hymns which wer2 sung in the streets to his praise as he passed along ; nor would he permit his dinted helmet and bruised armour to be displayed as the trophies of his valour, an affectation of humility unbecoming at the mo- ment in which the people were burning with affec- tionate ardour for their heroic monarch, and longed to pour out the feelings of their souls in songs and shouts of joy. Few monarchs have obtained a higher character for piety than Henry V., his devout observance of all the formalities of religious worship prescribed by the priesthood, his prayers, pilgrimages and penances, and his zeal for the glory of God, are lauded and praised by all his biographers ; but although Henry R 2 244 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, might have been very sincere in his professions of ^■^- faith, yet he contented himself with its outward forms and externals, and suffered the scrupulous adherence to the rites of the church which has been so much applauded to interfere very little with the concerns of this world. Indeed, the adoption of certain opinions, and the performance of certain ceremonies w^as all that the ministers of religion required from the laity, and they were more anxious to teach the necessity of conforming to the rites with which they had encumbered the simplicity of the apostolic worship, than to explain and to enforce the pure and benevolent precepts of Christianity. Henry in his father's life-time, and before his heart became steeled asjainst the sufTerin^s of his fellow- creatiu'es, moved to compassion by the shrieks of a wretch at the stake,'* ordered the flames to be quenched, and uniting his entreaties to the exhor- tations of the Prior of St. Bartholomew, that the condemned heretic would abjure his errors, offered him life and an adequate provision for his future comfort if he would acknowledge the miraculous power imputed to the priesthood in the sacrament of the Lord's body. The unhappy man, though shrinking from the faggot and the brand, when the consecrated wafer was placed before him, declared that he could only believe it to be ** hallowed bread," and Henry, shocked at the contumacy evinced by his expected proselyte, left him to his fate. The rigid severity of the pious monarch's principles is * Chronicle of London, for which, and for the anecdote below relative to Olandyne, the author is indebted to Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Esq. F.S. A. who kindly pointed them out to her notice. YOKK AND LANCASTJili. ^24f5 also displayed by the following narrative. *' Amongst CHAP, his (Henry's) host upon the sea beach at South- ^^- ampton, he found a certain gentleman whose name was Olandyne, in whose company were twenty men well apparelled for the war. This Olandyne had given to poor people for Christ's sake all his sub- stance and goods, and in great devotion entered a monk of the monastery of the Charter House, whose wife was also a professed nun in a house of religious women, and there continued during her life. But this Olandyne, at the instigation of the devil, enemy to all virtue, after a little time repented his profes- sion, and obtained from the Pope a dispensation from his vows and to resume his former temporal estate ; and as a temporal man offered to do the kino; service in the war. But when the most vir- tuous king was informed of his life and conversation as the child of God, he refused the company of this gentleman as an inconstant man, and a contemner of the religion of Christ ; at whose refusal this Olan- dyne having indignation as a man replete with pride, departed from the king and went unto the aid of his adversaries in France, whereafter he was slain in the field of Azincourt, right for fighting against ye Englishmen." The savage insensibility with w^hich Henry beheld the agonizing sufferings of many thousand persons thrust out of the city of Rouen, which he had deter- mined to reduce by famine is revolting to every sentiment of humanity ; although plenty reigned in his camp he permitted these miserable creatures to perish by a tormenting and lingering death, refusing t Harltian Manuicripts. __ 246 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, either to administer to their urgent necessities or to '_ allow them safe egress to the open country through his lines, in order to force the more compassionate inhabitants of the besieged city to receive the forlorn outcasts again within the walls, and by thus aug- menting the distress to oblige the authorities of Rouen to surrender at his mercy. In a poem written by an eye-witness of the siege we learn, that upon Christmas-day Henry's piety induced him to supply the whole of the famishing multitude with abundant refreshments of meat and drink. The diligent antiquary to whom the reading world are indebted for this relique of the poetry of Henry's reign, makes the following just remark upon the king's solitary act of charity.* '*' It is pleasing to see the horrors of warfare softened in ever so small a measure by religious feeling, but one cannot help reflecting that a fuller operation of that feeling would have induced Henry to extend his compas- sion to somewhat beyond a mere ostentatious exer- cise of benevolence which could only serve to pro- long the misery of its objects." This acute writer suggests a reason for Henry's cruel resolution not to allow the starving suppliants a passage through his camp, more creditable to his humanity than that which the historians of the siege of Rouen have assigned. The poet states the cause to have been " lest they should see our watch." " The true one perhaps," observes our author, " was, lest they should convey any communications from the garrison to the French monarch."! Henry also committed an act of unjustifiable se- verity towards the Scottish auxiliaries in the service * Conybeare. f Archaeologia, Vol. 21. YORK AND LANCASTER. 247 of France; he had compelled the young King of CHAP. Scothmd who had been detained in close confine- ___ ment from the period of his unfortunate voyage, to accompany him on his foreign campaigns ; and during the siege of Melun he sent in his prisoner's name to the Scottish soldiers who composed a part of the garrison, and commanded them on their alle- giance to abandon the cause which they had espoused and range themselves under the standard of their king : but the Scots refused compliance, declaring that they would not obey a monarch who could only act according to the will of his captor ; and Henry when the town capitulated gratified his own revenge while pretending to punish an affront offered to his illustrious prisoner, and executed twenty of these brave soldiers. He also beheaded a gentleman belonging to his household named Bertrand de Chau- mont, who had espoused his cause at Azincourt, because he owed fealty to the King of England by holding lands in Guienne so long under the do- minion of that crown. This loyal soldier suffered for the crime of aiding the escape of a person suspected of a participation in the murder of the Duke of Burgundy,* who fled from Melun, aware that in the event of a capitulation mercy would not be ex- tended to him. When the connivance of his servant in this affair was reported to the king he was, we are informed by Monstrelet, " troubled thereat, Chaumont being much beloved by him for his valour ;" but although he declared that he would rather have given five hundred thousand nobles than that this cherished favourite should have com- * Moiistielet. ^'18 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, mitted so disloyal an act, he remained inexorable to the entreaties both of the Duke of Clarence and of the Duke of Burgundy, who generously interceded for the culprit, and doomed him to the block, sternly rejecting their solicitation in his behalf by the reply that he would have no traitors in his army. At Montereau the king likewise displayed the rigid implacability of temper which too often dis- graced his victories, the castle held out after the capitulation of the town. Henry threatening to hang the prisoners taken at the latter place unless the fortress he was so anxious to reduce should surrender, sent them with a strong escort under the walls to hold a parley with the garrison. These un- fortunate persons with many tears and lamentations implored their fellow countrymen to yield, urging them the more earnestly on the plea of the impossi- bility of defending the towers against the powerful force which the English and the Burgundians had brought to the siege. The governor believing it to be his duty to maintain the castle to the last extre- mity, replied that he could not surrender consis- tently with honour, and left the supplicants to the mercy of the King of England. The prisoners relinquishing all hope prayed to be allowed to speak to their wives or other relations who had fled to the castle, and taking an affecting leave of these beloved friends returned to the quarters of the besieging army, and Henry ordering a scaffold to be erected before the walls, hung these devoted men in sight of the garrison. The fortress submitted eight days afterwards.* * Mon si relet. YORK AND LANCASTER. 249 The historian gladly turns from these and similar CHAP scenes of cruelty and oppression produced by an ;_ insatiable thirst lor conquest to more amusing anecdotes. Amid the noble prisoners who were taken at the battle of Azincourt was the Count de Richemont, a ison of the dowager Queen of England; the captive [was conducted to his mother's presence, who stood behind the circle, and the young prince mistaking one of the ladies for a parent from whom he had Ibeen long separated saluted the stranger : the lady after some conversation desired him to pay his compliments to her companions, and passing from one to the other he came at last to the queen, who no longer able to dissemble, burst forth into a passionate exclamation, " Ah ! are you so forgetful a son as not to know your mother 1'* A scene of the tenderest nature ensued, tears and embraces were followed by mutual expressions of delight. Upon his departure the queen presented her son with a thousand nobles, which he divided between his fellow prisoners and his guards.* All the old chronicles mention a disturbance of a very disgraceful nature which took place in 1417, during a sermon in St. Dunstan*s in the east. A quarrel commenced between Lord Strange and Sir John Trussel, *' at the instigation,'* says Rollings- head, " of their wives, gentlewomen at cursed hatred with one another. Two wise gentlemen I wisse and well advised,'* adds the sarcastic historian. I Some of the spectators interfering, Thomas Pet- warden, a citizen^and fishmonger, was we are told * History D'Arlur III. Due de Bretagne. 250 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, by Fabian *' slain out of hand." Both combatants • were at length secured and conveyed to the " coun- tear in the Poultry.'* The service of the church was suspended on account of the sacrilegious violence which had been committed within the holy precincts, and Lord Strange being proved the offending person, " he was therefore denounced accursed at Poules- crosse, and in all parysshe churches of London ; and finally he was demyd (doomed) to penance and dyd it, and made great amendes to the wife of the said Thomas, for the deth of her husband." We find in Stow the nature of the punishment to which the aggressors in this murderous brawl were sub- jected : " Lord Strange and his wife, on the first of May following, in Paul's church, before the arch- bishop, the recorder of London, and others, sub- mitted themselves to penance which was enjoined them, that immediately all their servants should, in their shirts, goe before the parson of St. Dunstan's church, and the lord bare-headed, with his ladie bare-footed, Reginald Henwood, arch-deacon of London following them, and at the hallowing of the church, the ladie should fill all the vessels with water, and also offer an ornament of tenne pound, and the Lord Strange should offer a purse of five pound." During the reign of Henry V. England was honoured by a visit from the Emperor Sigismund, a monarch who vainly exerted his influence to appease the deadly strife between France and England. On his arrival at Dover, the Duke of Gloucester, con- stable of the castle, attended by many English noblemen who were assembled on the shore, stej>ped YORK AXD LANCASTER. 251 into the water followed by his companions with tlieir CHAP, swords drawn, at the moment in whicli the emperor '•*'• was prepared to land, and arresting his progress, said " That if he came as a mediator of peace they would receive him with all the honours due to the imperial dignity ; but if as emperor he pretended to challenge a sovereign power and designed to claim and exercise any such authority, they must declare to him, that as the nation was a free people and their king had no dependence on any monarch upon earth, so they were resolved in defence of the liberties of the one and of the rights of the other, to oppose his coming on the English shores."* This spirited address was occasioned ^by the con- duct of the emperor at Paris, where at an assembly of the parliament which he had been invited to attend, he had taken the chair appropriated to the Kings of France, and in thus placing himself in the regal seat had also usurped the royal authority by interposing in a cause which was pleaded before the senate. Two gentlemen aspired to the seneschalship of Beauquaire, and both claimed it by virtue of tlie king's gift, but one urged against the other that he was incapable of enjoying the post because he was not a chevalier. The emperor silenced this objec- tion by inquiring of the defendant whether he were wilhng to receive the honour of knighthood, and being answered in the affirmative called for a sword and performed the ceremony. The interest taken in this affair by their imperial guest in all probability biassed the opinion of the judges, their award being in favour of the newly created knight. The cir- * Goodwin. 252 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, cumstance naturally provoked many observations ; ^^- and it is said that the King of France though he dis- sembled his resentment to the author of the indig- nity, severely reprehended the parliament for per- mittinsc the affront. The emperor assured the Duke of Gloucester and his gallant associates that the sole motive of his visit was to establish a peace between England and France ; he was then received and conducted to London with fitting honours, presented with the order of the Garter, and at the grand banquet given upon the investiture, Henry courteously relinquished the throne of state to his illustrious guest. Though Sigismund failed in the chief object of his mission, the most perfect unanimity prevailed between the two sovereigns. Both were bent upon the extirpation of heresy, and a reciprocity of sen- timent upon a subject so intimately connected with the interests of the Roman Catholic Church, united them in the bonds of friendship with each other, preserved a tottering edifice which the efforts of the reformers in Germany and England threatened to overthrow, and quelled the spirit of opposition by the brand and by the axe. We are informed by Speed that on the departure of the emperor, " he gave to Sir John Tiptoft and other knights, who formed his guard of honour, a thousand crowns in gold, and to their king he sent a unicornes horn about six feet long, with many other choice and precious gifts, as pledges of his love and thankfulness." Henry, though so greatly impoverished by his fo- reign wars as to be obliged to pawn his plate, emu- YORK AND LANCASTER. 253 ated the maii^nificence of his predecessors, the sails CHAP. f the ship which conveyed him on his second expe- '_ ition to France were of purple silk richly embroi- ered with gold, a prodigality of extravagance orrowed from the French, who when preparing to invade England in the reign of Richard II. decorated their gallies in the most costly manner, the masts being painted from top to bottom at an immense expence, '* and some,'* says Froissart, " by w^ay of greater pomp were even covered with sheets of fine gold." Henry appeared at the battle of Azincourt mounted on a spirited charger with a bridle and furniture of goldsmith's work and the caparisons richly embroidered with the splendid ensigns of the English monarchy : he w^as followed by a train of led horses ornamented with the most gorgeous trap- pings. The king's helmet was of polished steel surmounted with a coronet of gold set wuth precious gems, and his surcoat was emblazoned wdth the arms of France and England; namely, the fleur de lys, or and gules, three lions passant gardant, or. The nobles who attended were equipped in a style of similar splendour, their horses being also deco- rated with their proper armorial bearings. Henry's gallant brother the Duke of Clarence rushed to the disastrous battle in which he lost his life sump- tuously arrayed and distinguished by the richness of his arms and a coronet of gold sparkling with jewels on his helm. The dazzling brilliance of these orna- ments rendered the duke conspicuous to the foe ; and the Scottish troops in the service of France anxious to wipe out the stain cast upon them by their allies, that " they were better at eating and 254. THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, drinking than at fighting,"* furiously attacked the — 1 English commander who having sustained a severe wound from John Swintoun, a Scots cavalier whom he bravely repelled, was struck from his horse by the truncheon of the Earl of Buclian. The splendid emblazoned surcoats which spread their cumbrous but not ungraceful drapery over the steel clad limbs of a knight, were it is said first adopted by the Crusaders, and served both to dis- tinguish the various nations who flocked to the ban- ners of the Cross, and to throw a veil over the iron armour^ which acquired an intolerable degree of heat when exposed to the vertical rays of the sun. It was partly owing we are toldf to the richness of the robe which enveloped his coat of mail that Sir John Chandos, a celebrated commander in the wars of Edward III., lost his life at Pont de Lussac ; this magnificent mantle reached to the ground, bla- zoned with his arms on white sarsenet, argent, or pile gules, one on his breast, and the other on his back ; its immense length encumbered him in walk- ing, and getting his legs entangled in the folds before he could recover himself he received a death wound from an esquire, a " strong expert man named James de Martin." No bard of eminence sprang up in the reign of Henry IV. ; the strains of Occleve, miserably in- ferior to those of the glorious poets who preceded him, are chiefly meritorious for their adoption of the polished style of those great masters, who so sedu- lously endeavoured to improve and to refine their native language. Destitute of vigour and of fancy • Goodvviii. I Fioissart. YORK AND LANCASTER. 255 Occleve is most successful when lashing the ibllies CFIAP. of the times ; and the information contained in his ^'^• poems relative to those changes in fashions and cus- toms, which he so pathetically laments, render some of his compositions exceedingly curious and valuable. In one of these satirical effusions the poet complains " That it is a great evil to see a man walking in u gown of twelve yards wide, with sleeves reaching to the ground, and lined with fur, worth twenty pounds or more ; when at the same time if he had only been master of what he paid for, he would not have had enough to line a hood. Certainly," continues the censor, " the great lords are to blame, if I dare say as much, to permit their dependants to imitate their dress: in former times persons of rank were known by their apparel, but at present it is very difficult to distinguish the nobleman from one of low degree." Occleve next proceeds to reprobate the ''foule waste of cloth" attendant upon the lavish and luxurious amplitude of the fashionable garments, assuring us that no less than a yard of cloth was expended for one man's tippet, and predicting that the tailors would soon be compelled to shape their habihments in the open fields for want of room to cut them out in their own houses, "that man only being respected who bears upon his back at one time the greatest quantity of cloth and of fur." Speaking of John of Ghent, our poet says that his garments were not too wide and yet they became him wondrously well ; and in commenting upon the folly and vanity of the age takes occasion to show that the vast sums of money expended upon dress was attended by a proportion- ate retrenchment of the good cheer which formerly 256 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. iTiatJe the tables groan with the weight of the feast, IX. and that the decay of hospitaHty was the conse- quence of the universal passion for costly attire. Lydgate, of whose superior endowments honour- able mention will be made hereafter, first tuned his harmonious lyre in the reign of Henry V. ; his de- scription of the victorious monarch's entrance and reception into London is probably one of the earliest efforts of his muse, and although not equal to many of his subsequent compositions cannot fail to in- terest the reader. PASSUS TERCIUS. And there he restyd verrament, At his owne will whilys that it was, And shipped thanne in good entent, And at Dovorr landyd y ges ; To Canterbury full fair he past, And oifered at Seyiit Thomas shryne ; Fro thens sone he rod in hast. To Etham he cam in good tynie. Wot ye right well, Sfc. The Mayr of London was redy bown. With alle the craftes of that cite, Alle clothyd in red thorugh out the town, A semely sight it was to se : To the Blak heth thanne rod he. And spredde the way on every syde. ; XX" M' men myght well se. Our comely kyng for to abyde. Wot ye right ivell, Sfc. The kyng from Eltham sone he cam Hyse presenors with hym dede brynge. And to the Blak heth ful sone he cam, He saw London withoughte lesynge ; YORK AND LANCASTER. ^5J Heil ryall London, seyde cure kyng, Crist Ihe kepe evere from care ; And thanne gaf it, his blessyng, And praied to Crist that it well fare. The Mair hym mette with moche honour. With all the aldermen without lesyng ; Heil, seyde the mair, the conqucrour, The grace of God with thee doth spryns: ; Heil duk, heil prynce, heil comely kyng, Most worthiest Lord undir Crist ryall, Heil rulere of Remes withoute lettyng, Heil flour of knyghts now over all. Here is come youre citee all, Yow to worchepe and to magnyfye, To welcome yow, bothe gret and small. With yow everemore to lyve and dye. Grauntmercy Sires, oure kyng gan say ; And toward London he gan ride ; This was upon seynt Clementys day, They welcomed hym on every syde. The lordes of Fraunce, thei gan say then, Ingelond is nought as we wen, It farith be these Englisshmen, As it doth be a swarm of ben ; Ingland is like an hive withinne. There fleeres makith us full evell to wryng, Tho ben there arrowes sharpe and kene, Thorugh oure barneys they do us styng. ^ To London brigge, thanne rood our kyng, The processions there they mette hym ryght, "Ave Rex Anglorum " their gan syng " Flos mundi" thei seyde, Goddys knyght. To London brigge whan he com ryght. Upon the gate ther stode on hy, A gyaunt that was full grym of syght. To teche the Frcnsshmen curfesye. VOL. I. S 258 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. And at the drawe brigge, thai is faste by, IX, To toures there were upright ; "~~~~ An antelope and a lyon stondyng hym by, Above them seynt George oure lady knyght, Besyde hym many an angell bright, " Ben ed ictus" thei gan synge, " Qui venit in nomine domini " goddes knyght, " Gracia Dei " with yow doth sprynge. Into London thanne rood oure kyng. Full goodly there thei gonnen hym grete ; Thorugh out the town thanne gonne they syng. For joy and merthe y yow behete ; Men and women for joye they alle. Of his comyng thei weren so fayn. That the Condyd bothe grete and smalle. Ran wyn ich on as y herde sayn. The tour of Cornhill that is so shene, I may well say now as y knowe, It was full of Patriarkes alle be dene, " Cantate " thei songe upon a rowe ; There bryddes thei gon down throwe, An hundred there flew aboughte our kyng, " Laus ejus " bothe hyghe and lowe " In ecclesia sanctorum " thei dyd syng. Unto the Chepe thanne rood oure kyng, To the Condyt whanne he com the. The xij apostelys thei gon syng, " Benedic anima domino" XII kynges there were on a rowe, They knelyd doun be on asent, And obles abcughte oure kyng gan throwe. And wolcomyd hym with good entent. The cros in Chepe verrament. It was gret joy it for to beholde. It Avas araied full reverent, With a castell right as God wolde. YORK AND LANCASTER. 2.59 With baners biighte beten with gold, CHAP. And Angelys seHssyd hym that tyde, IX. With besaunts riche many a fold. They strowed oure kyng on every sydo. Virgynes out of the castell gon glyde, Forjoye of hym they were daunsyng. They knelyd a doun alle in that tyde, " Nowell " " Nowell " alle thei gonsyng. Unto Poules thanne rood oure kyng, XIII I bysshopes hym mette there right. The grete bellys thanne did they vyng. Upon his feet full faire he light. And to the heighe auter he went rio-ht, " Te deura " for joye thanne thei gon syng ; And there he offred to God almyght, And thanne to Westminster he wente withoute dvvellyng. In XV wokes forsothe, he wroughte al this, Conquered Harfleu and Agincourt ; Crist brynge there soules all to blys. That in that day were raort. Crist that is oure hevene kyng. His body and soule save and se ; Now all Ingclond may say and syng, " Blyssyd mote be the Trinite," This jornay have ye herd now alle be dene, The date of Crist I wot is was, A thousand foure hundred and fyftene. Gloria tihi Trinitas. Harflu fert Mauric, Aiigincourt prelia Crispin. Henry was deeply attached to literature and to music ; he delighted in songs and musical instru- ments, " insomuch," says Baker, " that in his chap- pell, amongst his private prayers he used certain psalms of David, translated into English metre, by John Lydgate, a monk of Bury." We are also told s 2 2G0 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, thai he was himself a performer on the organ ; and ;_ his love of books is evinced by the petition of the Countess of Westmorland, who, after his decease prayed that the Chronicles of Jerusalem, and the Expedition of Godfrey of Bouillon,* which the late king had borrow^ed of her, might be restored. From the same authority we learn, that the Prior of Christ- church in the city of Canterbury had also lent the works of St. Gregory to the king. The good monk complains of the Prior of Shene for detaining the book. Henry, amid his other accomplishments, was distinguished for bodily activity. A contemporary (Titus Livius) quoted by Baker, writes, that he was so swift of foot, " that he, with two of his lords, without bow or other engine, would take a wild buck or a doe in a large park." The marriage of Henry with a princess of France, his nomination to the succession by Charles VI., and the deadly hatred which a large portion of the nation bore to the partizans of the dauphin, recon- ciled the conquered provinces to foreign rule : and, in acknowledging the king of England as their future sovereign they, in common with his more ancient subjects, took a generous pride in the glo- rious deeds which filled all Europe with admiration and surprise. At this gallant monarch's death, Walsingham assures us that the people of Paris and Rouen offered immense sums to have the corpse of the hero interred amongst them. The obsequies of a king who was followed to the grave by the affectionate regrets of two powerful nations, were conducted with splendour worthy * Rymer. YORK AND LANCASTER. 26l of the occasion. The body lay in state in the CHAP, chnrch of Notre Dame in Paris, where the funeral __ service was performed, and then it was conveyed with fitting pomp and solemnity to Rouen, at whicli place magnificent preparations were made for the procession to England. The corpse, enclosed in a leaden coffin, was put into a chariot drawn by six horses, and on a bed in the same chariot reposed an effigy of the king royally attired, having a crown on his head, a sceptre in his right hand, and a ball in his left, all of gold ; the coverture of the bed was of vermilion silk embroidered with gold, and the chariot was surmounted by a canopy of silk.* The trappings of the horses were exceedingly rich. The first bore the arms of St. George, the se- cond those of Normandy, the third of King Arthur, the fourth of St. Edward, the fifth of France, and the sixth those of France and England. King James of Scotland followed as chief mourner, attend- ed by the Duke of Exeter, the Earls of Warwick, March, Stafford and Mortaigne ; the Lords Fitz- hugh, Hungerford, Sir Robert Robessart, Lord Bourchier, Sir John Cornwel, Lord Fanhope, and the Lord Cromwell. The banners of the Saints were borne by the Lords Lovel, Audely, Morley, and Zoiich. The Baron of Dudley bore the standard, and the Earl of Longueville the banner. The achievements were carried by twelve captains, and around the chariot rode five hundred men at arms all in black armour, their horses barbed black and their lances held with the points downwards. A great multitude attired in white l.-jaring lighted * Monstrelet and Holingslicd. 262 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, torches also encompassed the chariot. The members IX. of the royal household, clothed in black went next ; and after them, the royal family in deep mourning. The queen with a splendid retinue followed at a league distance. In whatsoever church the royal body reposed upon its journey to England, masses were said without interruption from the first dawn of the morning until nine. Upon landing at Dover, the funeral procession moved with the same pomp to London. On approaching the capital it was met by fifteen bishops in their pontifical habits, and a numerous train of abbots, in their mitres and vest- ments, together with an immense assembly of priests, citizens, and people. The ecclesiastics who attended the dead body of the king into London, performed all the way and through the streets of the city, the funeral devotions. The princes of the royal family in mournful attitudes follovv'ing next the chariot until it reached Westminster Abbey, where the corpse, deposited in a magnificent tomb, received the last honours from the weeping multitude, who with unaffected sorrow consigned the perishing remains of the conqueror of France to an early grave. YORK AND LANCASTER. 263 CHAPTER X. Appointmenls of the King^s Uncles — Coronation of the Dauphin — ^mc- cess of the Duke of Bedford — Sparing Grants to the Duke of Bed- ford — The Infant King exhibited to his Subjects — Conduct of the Council towards the Earl of March — Death of the Earl — disabili- ties of his Heir — Grant of the Council- — Restoration of Richard Duke of York — his large Possessions — Imprudent Conduct of Glou- cester — Marriage with Jacqualine of Uainatdt — Appeal of the Duke of Brabant — Gloucester invades the Territory belonging to his Wife — Burgundy hastens to his Kinsman's assistance — Quarrel between Gloucester and Burgundy — Tlie Pope's Bull — Effects of Gloucester s rash Ambition — Opposition of Beaufort Bishop of Winchester — Gloucester's second Marriage — Continued Disputes in the Council — Punishment of the Citizens — Violent Conduct of the opposing Parties — Mediation of the Archbishop — Beaufort's Letter — Arrival of the. Duke of Bedford — Meeting of Parliament — Charges against Beau- fort — Reconciliation between Gloucester and Beaufort — Elevation of the latter — The King's Education — Appointment of the Earl of Warwick — Contrast of Character between Henry and his Tutor — Errors of Gloucester's political Career — Successful Hostility of his Enemies. Upon the decease of Henry V. John of Lancaster CHAP.X. Duke of Bedford was appointed regent, and the English ParHament invested Humphrey Duke of h22. Gloucester with the honourable office of Protector in England during the absence of his elder brother. A competitor to the sceptre of France existed in 2G4 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.X, the person of the Dauphin who was crowned at Poictiers by the faithful few^ w^ho still adhered to his ruined fortunes,* but the possession by the English of a large territory, including Paris, part of Maine and Anjou, nearly the whole of Picardy and Normandy, together w4th Guienne and Gascony, their closely cemented friendship with the Duke of Burgundy, and their alliance with Bretagne gave them so for- midable an ascendance that there appeared little chance of the recovery of his inheritance by an in - experienced and dissipated youth of nineteen. Victorv still attended the banners of the Duke of Bedford, and under disadvantages which had scarcely been felt by Henry V. j the somewhat sparing * grants transmitted from England, he continued a campaign which promised to end in the indissoluble union of the two kingdoms. t The English people though dazzled by the splendour of so glorious an acquisition, were not neglectful of their own interests ; they watched the conduct of the Duke of Glouces- ter at home with active jealousy, and a vigorous administration introduced many wise regulations for the execution of justice, and circumscribed the protector's power within its proper limits. The slender supplies of men and money which were voted by Parliament for carrying on the war in France taught the resient a lesson of economy which that prudent prince did not fail to observe.J Their baby sovereign displayed to the populace in all the interesting weakness of infancy, lying on the lap of his young and beautiful mother, and bearing on his • Monstrelet. t Paijiament Rolls. \ Parliament Rolk. YORK AND LANCASTER. 565 [ delicate features a resemblance to the valiant mo- CHAP.X. narch whose splendid talents they fondlj' imagined would descend with his crov^Ti to the fair child who now claimed their homage, inspired the English with the deepest sentiments of affection and loyalt}' to the innocent representative of their idol. Surrounded by kinsmen distinguished for their genius and virtue, and devoted with undeviating attachment to his sendee, Henry VI. succeeded to the throne apparently guarded against all the e\"ils usuallv attendinsT a mlBoritv. The council acquitted themselves with infinite wisdom and address in the disposal of the Earl of ^larch, they obser\^ed that notwithstanding his patient acquiescence in the suc- cession of the infant monarch, that he affected a superiority over other noblemen by the surpassing numbers and magnificence of his retinue, thus main- taining the grandeur of his descent and attracting the eyes of the multitude hj the splendour of his appearance. Characterized by the same generous spirit which had marked the conduct of the late sovereign to the heir of so many dangerous preten- sions, they appointed him to the command in Ire- land, a post of great dignitj^ and trust, which, whilst it conferred honour upon the possessor removed him from the regards of the people and the tempta- tion which their admiration, combined with his own secret feelings, might have produced ; and his death which happened shortly afterwards seemed to secure the permanent establishment of the Lancastrian family upon the throne. The hereditary claims of the Earl ! of March descended to the son of his sister Anne married to the EaH of Cambridse, who was beheaded Q66 the rival houses of CHAP. X. in 1415, a young man incapacitated by the attainder of his father and the consequent forfeiture of the family titles and estates from disturbing the govern- ment, had he been permitted to remain in the obscu- rity in which he had been plunged by these events. In considering the cautious though liberal policy ob^ served towards Edmund Mortimer, it is difficult to account for the oversight which the guardians of Henry VI. committed in raising up a rival infinitely more powerful from the rank and possessions of his paternal uncle, than the Earl of March had been. A series of fortuitous circumstances in the death of that prince without issue, and the ruin of the House of York in the person of the Earl of Cambridge, had reduced the only individual who could dispute the title of the reigning monarch to a private sta- tion, and it was indeed, as Camden observes, an instance of " great but unwary liberality," which enabled the depressed heir of a convicted traitor to act so conspicuous a part in the political arena in after years. The youth of Henry VI. and the small degree of power which he enjoyed, must exonerate him from the imprudence of this measure : and though he might have felt a generous anxiety for the restoration of his kinsman to the family honours, so dangerous a gift could not have been conferred without the full consent of his council. Richard, son of the Earl of Cambridge, in the sixteenth year after his father's death, was formally invested with the titles and estates forfeited in the reign of Henry V. as son of Richard, the brother of Edmund Duke of York, and cousin german to Edmund Earl of March, and now, adds our author, " being Duke YORK AND LANCASTER. 267 of York, Earl of March and Ulster, Lord of Wig- CHAP.X, more, Clare, Trim and Con naught, waxed strong and mighty.'* It was not however until a consider- able period had elapsed, and many circumstances had combined to weaken the present government, that the House of York attained a dangerous pre- eminence in the state : events with which Richard Plantagenet, the present heir, had nothing to do, and circumstances over which he possessed not the slightest controul, prepared the way for the mo- mentous struggle between him and his successors with the Lancastrian family. The Protector, though endeared to the English nation, and honoured by all posterity for his domestic virtues, for the kindness of his disposition, his taste and feeling, and the liberal and munificent spirit which he displayed upon all occasions, was yet rash and passionate, ambitious and self-willed ; and suf- fering himself to be swayed by personal considera- tions rather than by the welfare of his country, he by an impolitic, unadvised and hasty marriage, gave the first check to the English arms in France. Jac- queline of Hainault, heiress of rich possessions, comprising Holland, Zealand, Friesland and Hain- ault, had taken the Duke of Brabant, who was cousin german to the Duke of Burgundy, for her second husband, having been previously betrothed to the elder brother of the French king.* Destined to be unfortunate in marriage, she conceived so strong a disgust to this prince that she fled away from him and took refuge in the English courl;. The Duke of Gloucester, unhappily smitten by her beauty and * Monstrelet. 268 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.X. dazzled by her splendid inheritance obtained through the division which agitated the Papal court, a di- vorce between her and the Duke of Brabant from J422. the Anti-pope, and took her for his wife. Instantly laying claim to her dominions, which her husband refused to yield, both parties resorted to arms, sup- ported by the feudal barons of the soil, who espoused the cause of their respective princes. The Duke of Brabant appealed to his friends and allies, and an un- successful nesfotiation was entered into between the Dukes of Bedford and Burgundy to reconcile the jarring interests of their enraged kinsmen. Their award being unfavourable to the Duke of Gloucester he marched five thousand men whom he had pre- viously landed at Calais into Hainault ; and the Duke of Burgundy to repel this invasion led away those forces which were originally intended to be employed against the King of France. The same impetuous spirit which had blinded the Duke of Gloucester to the consequences of irritat- ing the ally of England, now precipitated him into a personal quarrel with this potent prince. He ad- dressed an angry letter to the Duke of Burgundy which was answered by a defiance to a single com- bat, and the acceptance of the challenge put an end to the war, all hostilities being stayed until the event of the duel (which never took place) should be known. Things in the mean time assumed a formidable aspect : the English commanders enthu- siastic in the cause of a native prince, were ready to sacrifice the public weal for the paltry interests of a })rivate individual, and were hardly to be restrained from abandoning tlieir duty in order to support his YORK AND LANCASTER. 269 doubtful claims; and the Duke of Bedford would CHAP.X. have vauily endeavoured to maintain his authority had not a bull from the legitimate pope arrived which set tlie matter at rest by declaring Jacque- line's third marriage to be null and void. Whilst Gloucester's intemperate pursuit of per- sonal aggrandizement threatened to involve the allies in disputes ruinous to the English in their foreign affairs, the same ungovernable disposition led to consequences destructive of the national wel- fare at home. Continually opposed by his uncle Beaufort Bishop of Winchester, illegitimate brother of Henry IV., his rash imprudence gave this ambi- tious and intriguing prelate a manifest advantage over him. The dignified situation which the pro- tector occupied called for the utmost wisdom and circumspection in the preservation of the authority delegated to him, and of unanimity between the associates of his administration ; but injudiciously attempting to bear down all opposition he introduced division in the councils, weakened his own power, and by trying the strength of his adversaries pro- duced those factions which so fatally agitated the devoted kingdom.* Regardless of the opinion of the world, when he could no longer hope to se- cure the inheritance of the lady v/hom he had so hastily married, he gratified a disgraceful passion by raising a mistress whose character was not mi- stained even before her connection with him to the rank of his wife. The exaltation of Eleanor Cobham to be Duchess of Gloucester afforded a proof of weakness which necessarily lessened the * Hall. 270 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.X. respect of the nobility for a prince so easily induced to sacrifice his reputation when his pleasures were concerned. Early in the regency a struggle for the supremacy commenced between the Duke of Gloucester and the Bishop of Winchester. The government of the young king was the mutual object of men anxious to build their own power upon the favour of the sovereign. The citizens of London were warmly attached to Gloucester and testified their zeal in his support: their interference was visited by the prelate by acts of unwonted severity; many were impeached of treason and cast into prison ; and avowedly to extinguish the mutinous spirit which his tyranny had occasioned he garrisoned the tower, giving orders to the commander Sir Richard Wydeville " to admit no one more powerful than himself.''* The Duke of Gloucester on his return from , Hainault found the gates closed upon him, and re- taliated by shutting those of the city of London against his rival. On the morning after this ex- clusion Beaufort's retinue attempted to force an entrance, and appearing in great numbers barricadoed the road, threatening to revenge the insult offered 1425. to their master by preventing the protector who had demanded an escort from the Lord Mayor of five hundred horse to guard him upon a visit to the king at Eltham, from passing out of the city. From the hostile aspect assumed on both sides an open war appeared to be unavoidable, but the effusion of blood was happily prevented by the indefatigable exertions of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the * Hall. YORK AND LANCASTER. S7I Duke of Coimbra, a Portuguese prince,* who rode CHAP.X. eight times in one day between the contending par- ties, and succeeded at last in persuading both to prosecute their feud no farther until the arrival of the Duke of Bedford, who was thus unseasonably called away from his duties in France to adjust the differences of his haughty kinsmen. The Bisliop of Winchester dispatched an epistlef to the regent calculated to convince him of the necessitv of his speedy appearance, and he hastened without delay to the scene of action. The conduct of Gloucester was too strongly opposed to the cautious prudence which characterized the Duke of Bedford to meet his approbation ; he was likewise displeased with the part which the citizens of London had taken in the tumult, and did not receive a magnificent peace- offering which they presented on his arrival with his usual graciousness. He called a meeting of Peers at St. Alban's and a Parliament at Leicester, whither the members were desired to assemble unarmed ;J but so strong a flame was enkindled between the uncle and the nephew that it required extreme vigilance to enforce the orders of the regent, and to prevent the decision of the sword from superseding a milder • Hall, t The contents of this spirited letter ran thus : '* I recommend me unto you with all ray heart ; and as you desire the •welfare of the king our sovereign lord, and of his realms of England and France, and your own health and ours also, so haste you hither; for, by my troth, if you tarry we shall put this land in adventure with a field ; such a brother you have here. God make him a good man. For your wisdom knowelh that the profit of France standeth in the welfare of England. " \ Fabian. Ti^ THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.X. process. Gloucester had prepared six articles against the Bishop of Winchester, of these four related to the personal grievances which he had received at his uncle's hands, and charged him with fortifying the tower with a design to make himself master of the king's person at Eltham ; with endeavouring to compass the protector's death by placing armed men to assault him on his route from London ; and lastly with the treasonable purport of the letter which he had addressed to the Duke of Bedford.* The other two were founded upon an alleged representation of the late king whom Gloucester declared to have accused the Bishop of Winchester of an attempt to assassinate him and of an endeavour to persuade him to the dethronement of his father. The unremitting favour which Beaufort had enjoyed during the reign of Henry V. was a sufficient refutation of the latter charges, and Bedford unhesitatingly pro- nounced his belief in the innocence of the accused. The decision of the cause had been committed to eight lords who were to act as arbitrators, and their exertions produced an apology from the bishop which was accepted by Gloucester, and a solemn shew of reconciliation took place between them. The prelate's conduct seems notwithstanding the slight concession required from him, to have excited considerable disapprobation; he was either desired or allowed to resign the chancellorship, and some time elapsed ere he could recover the ascendance which he had lost by this triumpli of his adversary ; but a consolation awaited him in the gift of a car- • Hal!. YORK AND LANC!\.STEU. 273 dinal's hat in the next year, and we find him soon CHAP.X. after this new accession of honours renewinf? the I contest in the Enghsli cabinet. It was natural for the council of regency, while contemplating the ruinous effects resulting from the too speedy release of Richard II. from the trammels of his tutors, to consider the means of avoiding the recurrence of similar evils in the government of the young prince, and we cannot be surprised at the adoption of an exactly opposite system of education : but actuated by the same desire to retain the reins of power in their own hands which influenced the guardians of Henry's luckless predecessor, they studied only the readiest method of accomplishing this point, preferring to the dangers of favouritism, so amply illustrated in the last minority, the safer plan of reducing the young king to a state of mental slavery. Placed under the immediate care of the Earl of Warwick, a knight whose chivalric achieve- ments were closely assimilated to the romantic deeds ascribed in England's wild legends to the far-famed Guy, instead of the warrior youth panting to emulate iso bright an example, and to rush upon that crimson path of glory tracked by the footsteps of his gallant forefathers, we behold a meek and passive slave, ac- quirements only fitted for the cloister, and a mind iso clouded by the darkest superstition that w^ere it not for those qualities of the heart, those gentle jvirtues which can never exist in a world which pre- iSents so many incitements to vice without exciting aflfection and respect, we should turn from the de- jlineation of Henry's character with contempt. It is 'difficult to account for the extraordinary poverty of VOL. I. T 274i THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP.X. spirit displayed in a pupil of the bold and martial ~ Warwick, without supposing that an undue degree of severity was early exerted to subdue the temper of the royal infant; and this conclusion is borne out by the earl's application for power to inflict corporal punishment upon his charge, who was probably driven to amuse a mind not permitted to be employed in occupations fitted to prepare him for his high calling,* with the trifling pursuits of monkish idleness, absurd tales of witchcraft, and equally puerile chro- nicles of saints. The blame attached to this mise- rable perversion of intellect cannot be imputed to the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester ; the one was too deeply engaged in the arduous task of conduct- ing the war in France in the first years of Henry's reign, to attend to the domestic concerns of his nephew, and his untimely death left the young king without a single friend possessed of sufficient weight and authority to interpose in his behalf; the other perpetually thwarted by the council soon lost even the shadow of power with which he had been invested. The talents and virtues of Gloucester, which might if combined with prudence have been productive of the most beneficial effects to his countrv, were ren- dered useless by the unguarded warmth of his temper ; he betrayed his love of rule to watchful enemies, and lessened the confidence of the reflective portion of the community by following the impulse of his feelings, when they were opposed to the interests of the nation ; and obtaining only a gratifying but inef- fective popularity from the lower orders, his political • Paston Letters. YORK AND LANCASTER. 275 importance gradually decayed. An active party of CHAP.X. determined enemies were continually devising the means of depressing him ; his salary as protector sus- tained an annual reduction, and dwindled from eight to four thousand marks in the space of four years ; and in the eighth year of the king's age and reign, his most persevering and successful rival Beaufort, in carrying a favourite measure, the coronation of the young monarch, deprived him of the title of protector, and though still placed at the head of the council, this elevation was merely nominal, and ceded only to his rank. Gloucester did not submit tamely to these mortifications ; for a considerable, period he maintained an unavailing struggle against the ecclesiastical confederacy which the cardinal headed,* but his efforts were unfortunate both to himself and to his country ; his impatience and dis- appointment too openly displayed furnished his enemies with the weapons which they were not slow to employ to his injury, and in some degree justified the suspicions which they sedulously instilled into the ductile mind of the sovereign, who was early taught to regard his uncle of Gloucester with dis- trust ; and the necessity of acquiring partizans was the chief cause of his warm patronage of the Duke of York, who under his friendly auspices grew into esteem with the people, and arose to eminence in the state." • There were no less than five bishops beside the Cardinal in the council of the regency. t2 ^i'jCy THE RIVAL HOUSES OP CHAPTER XL State of Affairs upon the Continent — ResGlufion to attack Orleans — • Exertions of Charles VIL — Death of Salishury before the Walls — Suffolk's Appointment — Christmas Festivities — Seizure of a Convoy — Distress of Charles VII. — Intrepidity of Dunois — Proposition of the French Commanders — Displeasure of the Duke of Burgundy — Despairing Resolutions of Charles VI I. — Joan of Arc — Birth- place of the Maid of Orleans — her early Life and Character — The Fairy Tree — Joan's Visions — Political Opinions at Douremy — Joan's loyal Zeal — she determines to fy to the Rescue of Orleans — Belief of the Peasantry — Joan quits her J^'ative Home — Distress of Charles VIL — Joan's Reception — Marvellous Reports — The Misery of the Besieged — Joan hastens to the Rescue — is permitted to enter the City — Terror of the English — Successful Sorties of the French — the Siege is raised — Retreat of the English — Joan attacks Jargeau — Suffolk made Prisoner — Victory at Patay — Efforts of the Duke of Bedford — Continued Successes of Charles VIL — he is crowned at Rheims — Joan's Request — her fatal Compliance — Bedford's Exer- tions — Spirited Conduct of the Cardinal — Bedford's Challenge — Exhaustion of both Parties — Charles VII.'s Message to the Duke of Burgundy — the latter renews the Treaty with England — Recom- mencement of the War — Last Victory of Joan of Arc — she is taken before Compeigne — Joy of the Allies — Ingratitude of the French — Cruel Fate of Joan — Kew Reverses sustained by the English — In- tended Coronation of Henry VI. at Rheims — The English lose ground in France — Henry crowned at Paris — The War languishes — Death of the Duchess of Bedford — the Duke's second Marriage — Burgundy's Displeasure — Breach between Bedford and Burgundy — Overtures of the French King — Congress of Arras — Proposals of Peace — rejected by the English — Defection of Burgundy — Death of the Duke of Bedford. CHAP. During the five first years of Henry's reign the ^^' English retained possession of the whole of the YORK AND LANCASTER. ^77 territory torn by the Jate king from the crown CHAP. of France : they had not however extended their '_ conquests, and were prevented from following up the victories of Henry V. by the divisions which Gloucester's impolitic attempt upon Hainault pro- duced. Charles VII. pent up in the provinces be- hind the Loire was permitted to exist in a state of comparative tranquillity for the space of four years, a period in which his utter ruin might have been effected ; and though reduced to great extre- mity the hopes of his followers were revived by this enforced indolence upon the part of their enemies. The indefatigable exertions of the Duke of Bedford had at length restored harmony to the allies, and being furnished with an efficient army of twenty thousand men, he was persuaded it is said reluctantly to attack the French king in his strongest hold ; as it was generally supposed that the fall of Orleans would lead to the final subjugation of France. It is not easy to guess how the expedition against the southern capital could have been made w^ithout the consent of the regent, yet in a letter addressed after its failure to the king his nephew, he denies that he was in any way instrumental to this unfortunate attempt. " All things prospered with you, till the tyme of the seage of Orleans, taken in hand God knoweth by what advice."* The Earl of Salisbury, the most celebrated amid the English generals was appointed to direct the operations against this important city. While on the other part Charles VII. rallied all his powers to maintain a vigorous resistance, and the inhabi- * Parliament Rolls. 278 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF tants in the wild energy of despair rushed to its defence, determined to perish to a man rather than to yield. Salisbury approached the place with the caution of an experienced soldier, crossed the river and invested it upon all sides. His first attack upon the Tourelles, a castle erected for the defence of the bridge, w^as gallantly carried, but the persevering industry of the besieged had raised a fort at the other end of the bridge which effectually impeded his farther progress, and Salisbury in surveying the preparations of the enemy from a window in the castle received a wound in the face from a cannon ball, which after the lapse of two days proved mortal, and the command devolved upon the Earl of Suffolk, grandson of Michael De La Pole, the unhappy fa- vourite of Richard II., a nobleman destined to par- ticipate in the splendid misfortunes which befel nearly every individual belonging to his luckless race. Not endowed with that brilliant and com- manding genius which had distinguished his prede- cessor, Suffolk yet possessed sufficient prudence to follow the plan which Salisbury had marked out,* and as the winter approached and the difficulties of storming the city increased he patiently sate down to a regular blockade, but without relaxing his exer- tions, keeping up a tremendous cannonade, and continually taking advantage of the darkness of the night to make fresh attacks upon the beleaguered walls. The festivities of Christmas produced a short cessation, and for the space of six hours a truce granted at the request of the English, permitted gentler sounds to supersede the roar of artillery * Diary of the Siege of Orleans. YORK AND LANCASTEU. «79 ami the shout of defiance. One gay revel to the CHAF. enlivening strains of trumpet and clarion, and again ^^^ the fierce dissonance of ruthless war prevailed. Many gallant feats of arms were performed on both sides in the assaults, sallies, and skirmishes, which were of constant occurrence, and the Diary of the Siege of Orleans is in itself a manual for instruction in the deeds of chivalry. A signal victory obtained in the beginning of Lent by Sir John Fastolf with an army of fifteen hundred men, who escorted four hundred waggons destined for the use of the besiegers, over a strong body of between three and four thousand troops which had been dispatched to intercept him, in- creased the exultation of the English and occasioned the most dismal forebodings on the part of the enemy. The fall of Orleans now seemed to be inevitable. Charles VII. had exhausted all the resources which his misfortunes had left him in its defence, and no reasonable hope of its deliverance could be enter- tained ; but the intrepidity of its defenders was still unabated. Dunois, a name which has come down to us radiant with the glory that surrounds it, together with St. Severe and Saintrailles, cheered the inha- bitants and incited them to continue their desperate resistance : yet utterly despairing of the ultimate preservation of the apparently devoted city, they wdth the concurrence of the French king offered to surrender it into the hands of the Duke of Bur- gundy, upon the condition that he should hold it in strict neutrality during the war for the benefit of the Duke of Orleans, then a captive in England. 280 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF The proposal was rejected by the Duke of Bedford, who could not consent to relinquish a prize whicti promised so soon to reward the arms of England for the blood and treasure lavished on its acquisition ; but it is said that the refusal deeply offended the haughty Burgundian, although he reserved the'mani- festation of his anger for a more favourable moment. While the assailants of Orleans flushed with hope looked forward to the speedy termination of their toils, and while Charles VII. meditated an inglorious retreat into Spain or into Scotland, one of those astonishing revolutions occurred which can only be attributed to the direct interposition of a superior power, by whom we are assured that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. There is nothing in the brigiitest page of fiction, more extraordinary nor more beautiful than the story of Joan of Arc, and it might even almost seem in vain that the curious inquirers of an incredulous age have attempted to divest her of that reputation for supernaturall endowments which imparted con- fidence to her friends, and struck terror into her enemies. The simple fact, that a young, lowly, un- educated girl, starting from the most profound obscurity, actually effected the deliverance of France at a period when surrounding nations contemplated its utter ruin, appears sufficient to justify the opinion of those persons who believed her to be the favoured instrument of an over-ruling Providence. That the despairing hopelessness of the ministers of Charles VII. should have caught eagerly at the most remote chance of turning the tide which ran so strongly against them is not wonderful, nor can it be YORK AND LANCASTER. ^281 a matter of surprise that an inexperienced enthu- CHAP siastic woman, inflamed with the fervour of loyalty ^^* and patriotism, indulging in romantic dreams, and embodying the creations of a brilliant imagination, should stand forward at such a crisis ready to devote herself to danger and to death in defence of her suffering country : animated as she was by a strong trust that the impulse which guided her weak arm proceeded from a celestial source. It is the success alone that constitutes the miracle. No human fore- sight could have apprehended such a result, and no human contrivance could have produced it. The impostor, however carefully instructed, would have been crushed ; the dupe, however confident in the visions of a distempered fancy, would have perished, had she not been upheld by the inscrutable being who controuls the universe. But Joan of Arc, more like the fabled messengers of classic mythology, the gods of the Greek drama, sent down from heaven to counteract the designs of triumphant despots, than a mortal agent, opposed herself to a host inured to victory and changed the destinies of France and England. Sober history presents no parallel to the brilliant and rapid career of the ex- traordinary champion, who by a chain of marvel- lous exploits gave independence to a nation submit- ting in hopeless despondence to a foreign yoke. * The maid of Orleans was born at Domremy, a small hamlet situated between Neufchateau and Vauco- leurs in Champagne ; her youth was spent in tend- ing sheep for her parents who v/ere poor and simple people. From the earliest age she had manifested * Memoirs of Jeanne D'Arc. 282 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, great sweetness and gentleness of disposition, a taste ^^' for the beauties of nature, and the warmest and most unaffected piety. She shunned the joyous revel, the song and the dance, when all the village poured out its rustic throng into the street, and would retire to a holy edifice to chaunt hymns to the Virgin. Constant in prayer when her occupations did not permit her to attend the bell which summoned her neighbours to church, she would kneel down and offer up her fervent orisons in the fields. At a short distance from Domremy there was a magnificent beech-tree, which had long been an object of vene- ration to the surrounding villagers. It was called the Fairy Tree, and every year in the month of May it was the custom for gay troops of the young of both sexes to hang wreaths of spring flowers on its boughs, and to dance beneath its luxuriant foliage to the music of their own voices : a fountain welled up beside it, and the bright waters and the green shade were reported to have been in elder times the sylvan haunt of fairies, who it was believed even now still lingered though invisible around the spot. This delicious place, and a small chapel dedicated to the Virgin called the Hermitage of St. Mary, often in- vited Joan to their solitudes, when her neighbours sought relaxation from toil in social converse with each other ; and here at the age of thirteen she first gave the reins to an imagination which shaped out glorious visions in the sun-beams, and heard voices in the sighing gales and rippling waters. When the young and ardent are deeply imbued with religious feelings, and conscious of the presence of the Deity, are continually pouring out the aspira- YORK AND LANCASTER. ^83 tions of their hearts in prayer, Uttle of illusion is CHAP, wanting to give a fleeting reality to the idea pre- ^^' sented by the mind ; the eye in such a state of mental excitation may gaze upon the brightness of the atmosphere until dazzled by excess of light it fancies that heaven itself is disclosing its radiant inhabitants in the brilliant forms which float before it ; and when there is a deep oraculous voice within, for ever speaking to the heart, the music of the winds, the rustling of the leaves and the bubbling of gently flowing springs may be easily converted'into distinct and articulate sounds, the echoes of intense and restless thought. Joan of Arc was early impressed with a persuasion that she was destined for some high and lofty purpose, and the disasters which befel her youthful sovereign appeared to her to point out the nature of her mission. The political storm which had shaken and divided France was felt in the district which she inhabited. The population of Domremy, with one exception, espoused the cause of Charles VII. against the Bur- gundian faction. Their immediate neighbours at Marcey favoured the interests of the party who had allied themselves to Henry ; and this dissimilarity of sentiment often engaged the villagers in broils with each other. Joan, a warm partizan of the legitimate heir of France, grieved for his depression with all a woman's strong and ardent feeling. A vague notion that her efforts were to rescue him from his adver- saries seemed at first to pervade her mind. She frequently exclaimed that slie must go into France, though without explaining the exact duties which she believed herself to be appointed to fulfil. Her 284 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, parents watched her narrowly least she should ac- ^^- company those bands of soldiers who occasionally passed through the place, and she was deterred by their opposition from following the impulse of her wishes, until the close investiture of Orleans by the Enghsh menaced the fall of that important city. Then the heroic girl was no longer to be restrained. She declared that she was commissioned by heaven to raise the siege, and to crown the king at Rheims. Vehemently persisting that she was urged by saints and angels continually appearing before her in pal- })able and dazzling forms to accomplish the will of a Divine being ; the innocence and sanctity of her past life gave weight to her assertions ; the surround- ing peasantry looked upon her as one inspired, and the event proved that they were not deceived. The crowned visions and celestial voices which com- panied her solitude, might have been and doubtless were the phantasies of a highly-wrought imagina- tion ; but the deep and settled purpose of her soul, her untiring zeal and trusting confidence must have been derived from that mysterious power whose ways are hidden from the eye of man. Joan of Arc be- came the universal theme of conversation through- out the province. Baudricourt the feudal lord of Vaucoleurs who had at first treated her application to him with contempt, was induced to regard her with complaisance ; and to second her views he sup- plied her with a sword, a horse, and a reconunenda- tion to the king ; after which, escorted by seven persons, who were bound by oath to conduct her in safety to the monarch's court, she departed in the most fearless reliance upon that prophetic spirit YORK AND LANCASTER. ^2H5 wliicli assured lier that she was born for tlie enter- ^^'HAP. prize, and should overcome the numberless obstacles ' which opposed themselves to its success. Many circumstances combined to procure the maid a courteous reception from the king. His affairs were desperate ; his friends were few and weak ; his treasury absolutely exhausted ; no change of fortune could add to distresses which even now threatened to send him a fugitive from the fair seat of his inheritance; and in the exigence of the mo- ment he was willing to adopt measures which in times of prosperity would have been rejected with disdain. This state of things may account very rationally for the patronage afforded by Charles VII. and his courtiers to a female adventurer, but does not in the least degree diminish the wonder excited by her faithful accomplishment of every promise which she made in the deliverance of Orleans and the capture of Rheims. Charles and his council after numerous consultations and the closest inquiries concerning her former life and morals, determined that the ardent pleader should be sent as she desired to the relief of Orleans. The king's partizans, to whom even a momentary advantage was of conse- quence, did not allow so favourable an opportunity to escape them ; and they gave studious celebrity to this unexpected supporter of their cause. The hopes of the credulous were revived by the appearance of so extraordinary a champion, and the zeal and simplicity of the maid, her entire devotion to the interests of France, and her enthusiastic piety, inspired all who approached her with senti- ments of awe and wonder : slie was not feigning nor ^86 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, maintaining a character, and her straight-forward '_ energy proved far more useful to the crafty politi- cians of the time than the most consummate deceit. Joan it is at the same time to be acknowledged was prone to believe all things which tended to support her fond expectations, and thus without compro- mising her own integrity she might assist in many deceptions which were practised to catch the vulgar eye. The besieging army at first ridiculed the maid's pretensions, but a continual succession of marvellous reports produced a strong impression upon the minds of the soldiers, that either the powers of heaven or those of hell were leagued against them. The city of Orleans was now reduced to a state of extreme distress by famine ; a chain of sixty bastilles encompassed the city to prevent the en- trance of succours : and Charles VII. having pro- vided a convoy at Blois consisting of seven thousand men, Joan of Arc obtained leave to accompany the expedition. From that place she sent a letter to the Earl of Suffolk, commanding him to obey the divine will in retiring from the siege, and on the twenty- H2P. seventh of April she passed through the enemy's lines and entered the city, the English apparently stupified by their astonishment, scarcely making an effort to intercept her. An achievement attended with such difficulty and danger convinced the most incredulous that they were now to contend with a person armed with no ordinary power, whilst the hopes of the besieged were raised in a proportionate degree. The French followed up their advantage, and the maid, carrying a sword which was said to have been obtained through the medium of her YORK AND LANCASTER. 287 attendant saints, and having a banner borne before CHAP. Iier covered with mysterious emblems, headed each ^''• sortie of the garrison. Her first attack was upon the strong bastille of St. Paul, which she reduced to ashes, and a second even more obstinately de- fended upon a fortification which had been consi- dered impregnable, after a well contested action of fourteen hours, in which she received a wound, was also carried, with great loss upon the English part. The besiegers were now thrown into consterna- tion ; and utterly depressed, the Earl of Suffolk dared not trust to the result of another action. At a council of war held in the night, it was resolved to abandon the siege, and the next morning the English forces were drawn up at a short distance from the walls ready to turn and attack the enemy in the plain, 1420. upon the least attempt to impede their retreat. But it was Sunday, and Joan's reverence for the sabbath mmjs. restrained her usual impatience for the fight. She would not sanction the shedding of blood on the day of the Lord, and the Enghsh who, in the exas- perated state of their feelings, would probably have engaged in the combat with all their wonted hardi- hood, waited several hours in suspense, and com- pelled at last to retire without a blow, after spread- ing a wide conflagration through their elaborate entrenchments, the diligent labours of seven months, marched in sullen grief from the fatal spot. Suflblk retreated to Jargeau, and strengthened the neigh- bouring fortresses with his soldiers. The English after this period experienced a succes- sion of disgraces. Joan of Arc, since her late triumphs universally denominated the Maid of Orleans, called 288 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, upon Charles VII. to follow her to Rheims, and ^^' attacking the Earl of Suffolk in Jargeau, performed June 12. prodigies of valour before the place which she com- pelled to surrender, the earl himself being taken prisoner.* Mehun, Baugeney, and other fortresses submitted to her arms, and in a general action upon June is. ^{^g plain of Patay, she scattered her enemies like a destroying angel. Struck with a sudden panic, not even the voice and the example of the gallant Talbot could induce the soldiers to face that miraculous banner which they believed to be the work of a malignant demon. Talbot, whose verj' name had been sufficient to put the French to flight, contended almost singly in the field. Overpowered by numbers he was obliged to yield. Sir John Fastolf, hitherto a distinguished captain, withdrew at the first onset in unconquerable alarm. Twelve hundred men were killed or taken prisoners, and the remainder were hotly pursued in their rapid retreat as far as Meun. The Duke of Bedford vainly attempted to stem the adverse current of fortune. He applied to England and to Burgundy for succours, but the latter was now only feebly inclined to the cause, and a divided cabinet and a nation unwilling; to lavish their wealth upon a war which no longer promised to be successful, prevented the acquisition * Suffolk being obliged to yield, demanded of the officer who required him to surrender his sword, if he were a knight ? " No !" replied the cap- tor. " Then," exclaimed the proud noble, refusing to submit to one of less degree, " receive the honour from me ; " and knighting him upon the spot, immediately gave up the weapon with which he had performed the ceremony, — Monstrelet. Hall. YORK AND LANCASTER. 289 of such ample supplies as could alone have proved CHAP of essential service in an hour like that. ^^' Affection for the house of Valois and anxiety to secure the national independence, revived in the bosoms of the French, hitherto quietly submitting to foreign rule. Charles in his progress to his corona- tion did not meet with the slightest opposition ; many towns opened their gates to receive him, others were content to remain neutral, and the citizens of Rheims rose upon the Burgundian garrison and drove them beyond the walls.* Shouts and acclama- tions attested the joy of the inhabitants at the return of their youthful sovereign. They crowned him with less of the usual pomp and splendour than had graced former occasions, but with a warmth of affectionate loyalty which must have fully compen- sated for the absence of jewels and ermine. The Maid of Orleans who assisted at the cere- mony, now declared her mission to be completed, and kneeling at the feet of the monarch entreated per- mission to return home. The king at this time fully conscious of the value of her services effectu- ally combatted her modest wish ; she consented to remain with the army, and to aid him in expelling the English from France. Human nature could scarcely have been proof against the temptation thus offered, the gratification of that love of fame and popularity almost inherent in every noble breast, and which it is impossible that Joan should not have felt in the strongest degree ; but it was for her an unfortunate decision. Though the prosperity of Charles continued her success declined, and a * Rymer, X. 432. VOL. I. U 290 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, series of disasters led at last to a miserable captivity ^^' and a cruel death. In the mean time the Duke of Bedford was not idle ; he procured fresh assurances of friendship from his Burgundian ally, who sent a reinforcement of troops amounting to five thousand men, and the same supply from England enabled him to take the field : for the latter he was indebted to his uncle CardinalBeaufort, who displayed a spirit of patriotism which exposed him to the censure of religious zealots.* Placed at the head of a small army raised through the pressing entreaties of the pope, and intended for a crusade against the reformers of Bohemia, he readily consented to relinquish the persecution of heresy, and to defend the interests of England with the swords of his followers. Charles VII. loudly complained of this sacrilegious perversion of the arms of the church ; and though it gave present safety to the Bohemians it afforded little assistance to the regent.' The war languished in despite of all the duke's efforts, for Charles wisely avoided a general engage- ment. Not of a temper to be roused by insult he returned no answer to a challenge in which the indignant Bedford, willing to stake the cause of his country upon his own sword, had defied him to meet him singly in the field. But Bedford being compelled to hasten into Normandy, the French king availed himself of so favourable a circumstance to advance to the capital. The attempt which was unsuccessful, ended the campaign for that year, and the monarch retired into winter quarters at Bourges. * Parliament Rolls, v. 433. May 2.5. YORK AND LANCASTER. 291 The influence of the Duchess of Bedford, sister CHAP, of the Duke of Burgundy, prevented the defection ^^' of her brotlier. Charles sent an embassy to propose a reconciHation and to offer satisfaction for the murder of his father ; the Burgundian council gene rally approved of the terms, and the duke was inclined to accede to them, but his sister's ardent solicitations prevailed, and he consented upon the payment of twenty-five thousand nobles to put an end to the negociation, and to take the command of the united armies in the commencement of fresh hostilities. The duke directed his forces against Compeigne ; 1430. the Maid of Orleans was dispatched to its relief. On her progress she defeated a party of Burgun- dians ; but sullied her triumph by ordering the commander, Franquet, to be beheaded. The crisis of her own fate was at hand. She had scarcely entered the city ere she quitted it to head an attack upon the besiegers ; she advanced to the action with her usual heroism, was thrice repulsed, and returned thrice to the charge ; compelled at length to retreat, the last to fly, and fighting as she fled, she reached the barrier in safety, still facing her enemies, and maintaining the combat in the generous endeavour to provide for the security of her companions in arms. Influenced by terror or by treachery they flung themselves into the city and closed the gates behind them,* leaving Joan of Arc to a fearful and a hope- less struggle with foes already flushed with victory. Thus cruelly abandoned the courage of the maid did not forsake her ; she made an attempt to cut her - * Monstrelet. u 2 292 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, desperate way through her assailants and to gain the ^^- open country, but overpowered by numbers she was dragged from her horse and taken prisoner. The Enghsh and the Burgundians received the news of Joan's captivity with triumphant exultation, while the French though at first panic-struck by so great a misfortune soon perceived that they no longer stood in need of her almost miraculous assist- ance ; and pleased to conquer without the aid of a female arm, with a degree of ingratitude if possible more criminal than the brutal persecution of her enemies, left her to the merciless revenge of men, who unwilling to confess her superior prowess, stifled every feeling which might have pleaded for a helpless woman's life, in the alleged conviction that they were delivering up a sorceress to the justice of the outraged laws. The close of Joan of Arc's career was worthy of the splendour of its commencement ; she sustained a long and painful imprisonment with unyielding fortitude, underwent the mockery of a trial with a spirit which baffled her accusers, and resigned herself at last to an inhuman death with the fervent piety of a martyr. The execution of this heroic girl will be a stain upon the memory of the Duke of Bedford, which will last so long as the names of England and France shall remain upon record. Joan of Arc made two unsuccessful attempts to escape from the power of her enemies during a cap- tivity of several months, in which the ungrateful associates in her late victories resigned her to her fate without an effort to procure her liberation by ransom from tlie Burgundians, by whoin she had YORK AND LANCASTER. 293 been captured. The troops of Charles continued CHAP. their triumphant career, and stung to madness by '_ repeated reverses the EngUsh condescended to gratify a cowardly revenge by the persecution of a defence- less woman. The hapless object of a baffled ene- my's hatred was conveyed to Rouen, loaded with chains and exposed to the brutal attendance of three English guards who treated their prisoner with the most cruel indignity. Nothing was left undone to force the Maid of Orleans to admit that she had formed an unholy league with evil spirits. She un- derwent frequent examinations before a council headed by her most inveterate enemy the Bishop of Beauvais and devoted to her ruin ; and though at last bewildered by the fearful accusations of heresy and witchcraft which were brought against her, and the terrors of an agonizing death, she was prevailed upon to declare that she had been deceived by those apparitions which she had fondly mistaken for guar- dian saints and angels, no threat could extort the- confession of a single error against the faith of Rome ; and she defeated all the subtle devices of artful men to entrap her into the avowal of opinions contrary to the tenets of the church. Joan confidently ap- pealed to the decision of the pope, but her inhuman judges intent upon her destruction would not allow her the opportunity of defending herself before a less prejudiced tribunal ; they took advantage of her attachment to the masculine garb in which she had achieved so many wonders to procure a condemna- tion, which they dared not to pronounce witliout this evidence of her contumacious adherence to her own will against the commands of her spiritual directors ; 294- THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, and exulting at having at length caught her in the ^^"- toils they dragged their victim to the market place at Rouen, where in the midst of a crowd of specta- tors, invoking the name of her Saviour and pressing a wooden cross presented by a pitying soldier to her bosom, she was burned at the stake in the presence of the Bishop of Winchester and of many noblemen and gentlemen of England. Though the maiden warrior whose arm had res- cued her devoted country was reduced to ashes, the perpetrators of the cruel deed were still unpros- perous. In order to counteract the powerful in- fluence w^hich Charles VII. had gained in the hearts of his people by his coronation at Rheims, a cere- mony which was supposed to ratify the title of the sovereign and to give him a strong claim to the allegiance of his subjects, the Duke of Bedford re- solved to conduct his infant nephew to receive the regal investment at the same place. Already 1429. -crowned with the Enghsh diadem at Westminster, Henry prepared to depart for his foreign dominions. The difficulty of raising men and money delayed the young king's journey for six months, and in this period several blows fatal to his interests were struck in France. The English could now no longer en- tertain a hope of the recovery of Rheims. Paris therefore was fixed upon as the scene of this im- 1430. portant ceremonv ; and thither Henry of Lancaster proceeded eighteen months after his more fortunate rival had been anointed with the holy oil, in a city to which religious motives had given a national 1431. preference. At Paris nothing of outward splendour was wanting to grace the performance j but com- YORK AND LANCASTER. ^95 pelied by necessity to abandon many long-established CHAP, usages the French people could not recognize a ^'■ coronation in the maimed rites performed by fo- reigners and unsanctioned by the presence of the nobles of the kingdom, the peers of France, whose public homage to the new sovereign was so essential both to the dignity and the security of the throne. After a residence of a few days at Paris the king was removed to Rouen and thence to England; and the whole journey may be said to have proved ex- pensive and unprofitable. Nothing material happened during the two follow- ing years ; neither party were in a condition to perform any decisive action, yet both still intent upon conquest were unwilling to negociate for peace. The death of the Duchess of Bedford in the year 1432 dissolved the friendship which, though so often wavering and uncertain, had continued to subsist between the English and the Burgundians from the period of the murder of John father of the reigning duke by the friends of the dauphin. The bond loosened by the demise of one always so actively employed in soothing the angry passions of her kinsman, was snapped asunder by the hasty and somewhat inconsiderate marriage of the regent with 1433. Jacqueline of Luxembourg. The duke's proud spirit resented the disapprobation of his brother-in- law ; and instead of the kind mediator whose gentle pleadings had never failed to produce peace, in- terested enemies increased their mutual dissatisfac- tion, and so completely v/cre the two dukes es- tranged that when Cardinal Beaufort, anxiously desirous to promote a reconciliation, had persuaded ^9t) THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, them to meet each other at St. Omer, some triflinff YT '__ punctilio too strenuously insisted upon by both pre- vented a personal interview, and they departed in irremediable disgust.* Charles VII. had long eagerly watched for a division between the allies, and it was now no longer difficult to detach the Duke of Burgundy from the interests of England : the most rigid justice must have been satisfied in the great revenge which he had accomplished against his father's murderers, and he was only withheld from openly declaring for the French king in consideration of the oath he had taken not to agree to a peace without the consent of England. The dissolution of the alliance between Burgundy and Henry VI. was effected at a congress held at Arras, in which the pope offered his services in mediating a treaty which should put an end to the ravages of war. The meeting was crowded with princes, nobles and prelates ; and all Christendom, in sending their envoys to attend it, seemed to be inte- restedin thenegociation. Itwas not possible, however, to reconcile the jarring interests of the two countries. To England the continent had long been a theatre of martial exercises and a source of fame and wealth.f The nobility gained great riches by the government of cities, the plunder of castles and the ransom of prisoners ; and nothing, save the gratification of national vanity in some high-sounding acquisition, could have induced rapacious and self-willed men to forego these advantages. Even the Duke of Bed- ford is reported to have been influenced in rejecting the terms proposed ; terms certainly more honourable * Monbtrelet. t Hall. YORK AND LANCASTER. 297 than any that were subsequently offered by his dis- CHAP inclination to relinquish the splendour and the ^^• profit attached to the regency. The French government declared their willingness to yield Normandy and Guienne to Henry, upon condition that he should pay the usual homage for these provinces, and formally renounce his preten- sions to the title of King of France. The English who had so nearly grasped the whole kingdom could not agree to remain satisfied with the posses- sion of two provinces important as they were ; al- though they perceived with dismay, by the good understanding which subsisted between the French and the Burgundians, that henceforward they must fight their battles singly ; the remembrance of for- mer glories rendered them unable to form a cool judgment upon the present position of affairs, and they refused the proposal. Upon the departure of the Duke of Bedford, who with the English nobles and their followers immediately quitted 1435. Arras, the friends of Charles VII. negociated a separate peace between the King of France and the Duke of Burgundy, which was accepted on the plea that the English had disregarded the duke's interests, in rejecting terms which would have preserved the balance of power between France and England and secured the safety of the great fiefs of the former crown. The Duke of Burgundy wrote an explana- tion of his conduct to the young King of England, and Henry, a monarch early taught to weep, re- ceived the letter with tears.* Worn out by con- tinual service, and deeply wounded by the defection * Monstre'et. ^29S THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, of his old ally and the disastrous consequences ^^' which it i)ortended, the gallant Bedford sunk under the pressure of hopeless anxiety ; and before the Sept. 14, congress at Arras had dispersed his gallant spirit fled. The duke died at Rouen justly esteemed both by friends and foes. Inferior to his martial brother only in fortune, he greatly surpassed him in the endearing qualities of the heart. With the single exception of the cold-blooded murder of Joan of Arc, to which he must be said to have more than consented, not an instance of cruelty has been laid to his charge during the conduct of a long, obsti- nate and sanguinary war. YORK AND LANCASTER. ^2[)\) CHAPTER XII. Continued Hostility between Gloucester and Beaufort — Gloucester's un^ successful Exertion — Policy of the Cabinet — Accession of Suffolk to BeauforCs Party — Contention in the Council — Triumph of tin: Con- federation — Disputes concerning Hewy's Marriage — Gloucester'' s Indignation — Ascendance of the Cardinal — Malevolence of GlouceS' ter's Enemies — Persecution of the Ducliess of Gloucester — The King's Mind poisoned — Charge against the Duchess — Condemnation of her Associates — their Execution — Penance imposed upon the Duchess — her perpetual Imprisonment — Second Marriage of Queen Catha- rine — Death of Catharine — Imprisonment of Owen Tudor — Mar- riage of the Duchess of Bedford — Wydeville's Elevation to the Peerage — Union of the rival Roses — State of the War in France ■ — Truce between England and France — J\^egotiation for the King's Marriage — Poiuer given to Suffolk — Gloucester's unsuccessful Oppo- sition — Poverty of the Duke of Anjou — Stffolk's Embassy — Arrival of the Queen — Gallantry of the JVobles — Festivities in London — Honours bestowed upon four Peers — Embarrassments of the Crown — Margaret loses the Affection of the People — The Duke of Glou- cester presumptive Heir — Alleged Conspiracy against Gloucester — Parliament summoned at Bury — Unusual Precautions — Gloucester's Jlrrest — his mysterious Death — Condemnation of Gloucester's Re- tainers — they are pardoned — Stffolk enriched by Gloucester's Death — Gloucester's Character — Death of Cardinal Beaufort. The feud which had so early commenced between chap the Duke of Gloucester and his uncle Cardinal Beau- ^j^ fort became more fierce and deadly in every ensuing- year ; the prelate and his ecclesiastical associates 300 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, had removed Gloucester from the protectorate when ^I^- the king had attained his ninth year, upon the pre- tence that Henry was already capable of governing without such assistance ; yet the same persons sedu- lously prevented the monarch's participation in public business, even when he had arrived at the verge of manhood.* At seventeen his modest de- sire to be present at the deliberations of the council was refused. Gloucester more spirited than prudent openly resented their exclusion of the sovereign from their debates, and the neglect which he himself experienced in the cabinet. He ardently desired to supply the place of his brother in France, and con- tinually offered his services to head the army against Charles. It was the policy of Cardinal Beaufort to procure peace, and public good was forgotten or disdained in the eager desire to thwart the measures of his political antagonist; so that while these states- men constantly espoused opposite questions, Glou- cester had the mortification to find himself inva- riably defeated. Beaufort's party after the decease of the Duke of Bedford was strengthened in its political ascendance by the junction of the Earl of Suffolk, a man of more ambition than capacity, of greater courage than con- duct ; determined to effect two objects, each of the highest importance, the marriage of the king and a pacific treaty with France, by his own and his party's influence; their ultimate benefit to the country was a secondary consideration to this aspiring minister, and he trusted it should seem wholly to fortune to * Parliament Rolls. YORK AND LANCASTER. 301 maintain him on the dizzy lieight which he so fear- rilAP. lessly ascended. ^"• The release of the Duke of Orleans who had re- mained in captivity since the battle of Azincourt, resolved upon by Suffolk and his colleagues and re- solutely opposed by Gloucester, was carried after warm and passionate debates. The duke weary of his long imprisonment was prodigal in the promises of the exertion of his influence to procure an ho- nourable peace. Suffolk depended upon the interest of the Duke of Orleans with Charles VII., whilst Gloucester more justly feared that the communica- tions which his protracted residence in England would enable him to make respecting the state of the country, would induce the French king to impose hard conditions upon an enemy whose resources were so nearly exhausted. Henry's marriage afforded another fertile subject of dispute. At one time a hope had been enter- tained of effecting an alliance between the king and the daughter of Charles VII., but her union with the son of the Duke of Burgundy defeated this ex- pectation ; a second match which met with Glou- cester's warm concurrence was proposed with the daughter of Count Armagnac, who w^ould have brought Gascony and Auvergne as her portion, an important acquisition to England. The interposi- tion however of Suffolk prevented this marriage from taking place, to the high indignation of those who were aware of its advantages.* Gloucester had ren- dered his adversaries fully acquainted with the opinion which he entertained of them ; he had * Fabian, 302 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, openly accused the cardinal to the king of the as- XII. sumption* of almost regal power, to the prejudice of his associates in council, and with amassing enor- mous wealth by unjust and illegal means. Henry was easily persuaded that his uncle had imbibed a causeless animosity against the prelate, whose in- fluence in the cabinet was too great to allow the discussion of these heavy charges to end in his dis- grace, " those who feared and those who favoured him,"t composed the majority ; he continued at the head of administration, and the party to whom Gloucester's bold censure had revealed such unpa- latable sentiments, dissembled their resentment until an opportunity occurred in which they could dis- play it with effect. The duke had declared that there were too many ecclesiastics amid the states- men who composed the council of regency, and the 1 expression was not forgotten. At a period when ballads against Lollardy formed a part of coronation festivities, and heretics were yearly brought to the stake, Gloucester though he did not hesitate to punish the excesses of the re- formers, yet shewed himself friendly to a more tem- perate line of conduct towards those who professed the doctrines of Wickliflte, than the bigot zeal of churchmen permitted. He was the friend and patron of Reginald Peacocke, who subsequently incurred the punishment of perpetual imprisonment for daring to dissent from the established creed ; and he had married one who was in some degree connected with, and who bore the name of, the most distinguished martyr of the proscribed faith, * Hall. t Hall. YORK AND LANCASTER. .308 Lord Cobham. It was through this lady that a CITAP. deadly blow was aimed against the Duke of Glou- ^'''^• cester. Unfortunately the disparity of her rank with that of her illustrious husband, joined to the lightness of her reputation, rendered her open to the machinations of men who would scarcely have dared to attack the wife of a prince of the blood, had her birth been equally splendid, and her virtue without a stain. Attempts had been frequently made to impress the mind of the king with the belief that his uncle thirsted for power, and would assuredly rule the state according to his own will were he not prevented by continual watchfulness; and this ideas eems always to have inclined Henry to place the most affectionate con- fidence in Cardinal Beaufort, whilst Gloucester was comparatively little esteemed. Henry was now in- formed that the Duchess of Gloucester had employed herself in concert with Margery Jourdemayn, a re- 1441, puted witch, and three other accomplices, in diabolic practices for the discovery of hidden means by which his dissolution might be accomplished, through a slow disease, fastened upon him by spells and incan- tations. Credulous, to the extreme of weakness in the belief of the power of sorcery, and entertaining a religious horror of the forbidden art, no method could have more effectually increased the suspicions which Henry already entertained of his uncle's loyalty. The enemies of the Duchess of Gloucester were actuated by the most artful policy when they brought the charge of magic against her, a crime heinous in the eyes of the ignorant, and calculated to provoke popular indignation and to prevent that 304 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, sympathy which the people by whom her husband, '_ surnamed " the good," was adored, would have na- turally felt for her, under a less horrible imputation. The conjectures of Fox and other old writers render it not improbable that she had exposed herself to the persecution of the church for her religious opinions. Bolingbroke, one of the Duchess of Gloucester's alleged confederates, was an ecclesiastic, celebrated for his learning and his knowledge of astronomy. The other two, Southwell and Hume, were also priests. Of these the latter received a pardon, an extension of mercy not usual to one accused of the crime of treason,* and which therefore renders the supposition but too probable that he had been made instrumental in the ruin of the unfortunate indivi- duals, who were involved in the charge of a con- spiracy to compass the king's death. Southwell died in prison before the commencement of his trial, but Bolingbroke suffered all the penalties of the law, in addition to the hideous mockery to which the Roman Catholic church has ever exposed its victims. Fantastically arrayed, and surrounded with strange devices, the supposed instruments of his sorcery, he was set up in a high chair at St. Paul's to the gaze of the populace, and thence, declaring his innocence to the last moment of his life, drawn to the gallows at Tyburn where he was hanged and beheaded. The fires of Smithfield were kindled fbr the wretched woman associated with him in the charge of witch- craft ; Margery Jourdemayn was burned at the stake, and Eleanor Cobham (Duchess of Gloucester), * Fabian. YORK AND LANCASTER. t)06 though her Hfe was spared, was condemned to per- CHAl- form public penance in the streets of London : bare- ^^^^' headed and with waxen tapers in her hands she was led on three several days through the princij)al thoroughfares of the city, and then consigned to an imprisonment which ended only with her existence.* We have no record to inform us how the proud and lofty spirit of Gloucester bore the degradation of one so nearly connected with him. This tragical occurrence, though it must have convinced him of the malice of his enemies, did not subdue his oppo- sition ; he still dared to speak the truth, and manfully though vainly strove to prevent those ruinous mea- sures by which Suffolk climbed to power. The necessity of mentioning the marriages of two illustrious widows, whose second unions gave a long line of monarchs to England, will afford the reader a short repose from the sickening detail of political intrigue. Queen Catharine, who with the charac- teristic gaiety of her country mourned not long for her gallant and accomplished husband, suffered her admiration of the personal beauty of Owen Tudor, a simple Welch knight, to subdue the pride of birth ; the fair and royal matron became the wife of a com- moner who had charmed her eyes at a ball : for it is said, that " being a courtly and active gentleman, he was commanded once to dance before the queen,t and in a turne, not being able to recover himself, * She was allowed 100 marks a year for her support; Chester and Kenihvorth castles are mentioned as the places of her confinement, but she was finally removed to the Isle of Man, and died in that dreary exile. Sfnw. There, according to the report of certain giave historians, she still walkelh. — Waldrons Isle of Man. t Drayton's Epistles. VOL. I. X 306 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, fell into her lap as she sate on a little stoole with YTTT many of her ladies about her." Sandford bears wit- ness to the excellence of Catharine's taste in the selection of a husband thus singularly introduced ; the person of Owen Tudor he tells us, was " so absolute in all the lineaments of his body, that the only contemplation of it might make a queen forget all other circumstances."* Three sons were the fruit of this union, the two elder, Edmund and Jasper, were created Earls of Richmond and Pembroke, by their half-brother, " with pre-eminence," says Fuller, " to take place above all earls, for kings have absolute authority in dispensing honours ;" the younger en- tered into a religious community and died a monk. After the death of Catharine, which happened in 1437, the government thought fit to punish the teme- rity of the bold knight who had dared to snatch the hand of a queen, and Owen Tudor was committed to the Tower ; but not of a disposition to submit tamely to confinement, the hardy Welchman either by fraud or force contrived to effect his escape. A contemporary writer in recording the prisoner's at- tempt, makes an assertion which goes far to disprove the ostentatious accounts so industriously circulated by Henry VII. and his partizans, respecting the royal descent of that monarch's paternal ancestor. * Queen Catharine, being a Frenchwoman born, knew no difference be- tweene the English and Welch nation, until her marriage being published, Owen Tudor's kindred and countrey were objected to disgrace him as most vile and barbarous, which made her desire to see some of his kinsmen. Whereupon he brought to her presence John Ap Meredith and Howell Ap Llewellyn Ap Howell, his neare cozens, men of goodly stature and per- sonage, but wholly destitute of bringing up and nurture, for when the queene had spoken to them in divers languages and they were not able to answer her, she said, " that they were the goodliest dumbe creatures that ever she saw." — Wynnes History of the Gweder Family. YORK AND LANCASTER. ,'S07 The passage in the chronicle runs thus : " Tliis CHAP, same year one Oweyn, no man of birth neilher of ^'"'• livelihood, broke out of Newgate against night at searching time, tlu'ough help of his priest, and went his way hurting foule his keeper. The which Owen had privily wedded the Queen Katherine, and had three or four children by her, unweeting the com- mon people, till that she was dead and buried."* Constancy after death was not it should appear one of the virtues of the age. The Duchess of Bedford speedily banished the recollection of her warrior lord, and becoming enamoured of a brave knight, Sir Richard Wydeville, descended from the high emi- nence to which she had been raised for the love of one who possessed little recommendation besides the accomplishments of mind and person. Tiiis union was less offensive to the feelings of the royal family than that of Catharine had been. Sir Richard Wydeville, who had served with honour in the wars of France, was considered worthy of exaltation to the peerage, and was ennobled shortly after his mar- riage, being created a baron with the title of Lord Rivers. These marriages notwithstanding the dis- parity in the rank of the parties must be called aus- picious. Henry VII.' grandson of Owen Tudor, and Ehzabeth of England granddaughter of Sir Richard Wydeville, were destined to unite the claims of two royal houses, and to put an end to those bloody dis- sensions which had destroyed so many princes who were born to brighter expectations of the crown. The war witli France had been earned on in a desultory manner during the last ten years by the ♦ Harl. MS, 565. X2 308 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. English with occasional successes, which supported ^^^^- the national reputation ; but whilst brilliant achieve- ments evinced the courage and skill of the warriors who still stoutly maintained their ground, the position which Charles had assumed was too formidable to ■ admit a hope of eventual conquest. Peace seemed to be an absolute necessity, and Suffolk in procuring this boon for his country would have entitled him- self to its everlasting gratitude, had he been more scrupulous respecting the terms : but however wil- ling to consult his own personal aggrandizement alone, he found it impossible to harmonize the dis- cordant pretensions of France and England, and the 1444 insurmountable difficulties which attended a perma- nent treaty induced both kingdoms to accede to a truce for two years, which promised to pave the way to more effectual accommodation. Henry was at this time a mere cypher in the hands of his ministers; but they were aware that the continuation of the-ir power must depend upon the lady v.ho should be given to him for a wife ; he was anxious to be mar- ried, and by selecting a princess who could only attribute her exaltation to their exertions, they hoped to secure a never-failing ally. The choice so important to the House of Lancaster fell upon Mar- garet of Anjou, the niece of Charles VH.'s queen. Her relationship to the French monarch, and the favour which she enjoyed at his court,* were plau- sibly urged as a sufficient atonement for her poverty; the family possessions consisted solely of high-sound- ing titles, her father was styled King of Sicily and Jerusalem, and Duke of Maine and Anjou ; these latter dominions had been seized bv the English • Hall, YORK AND LANCASTER. 30\) early in the war, and the countries over which he CHAP claimed regal sovereignty owned other lords. It re- '^'"• quired no small degree of sophistry to prove the eligibility of such an alliance ; Suffolk was not blind to the difficulties which attended his negociation, and he prevailed upon the king and the parliament to sign an instrument which empowered him to act according to the dictates of his own judgment, and exonerated him from all responsibility for errors which so wide a latitude might occasion. Thus free to follow the impulse of ambitious feelings, and sanctioned in the most inconsiderate sacrifices of the national interest by his friends in the cabinet, Suffolk easily arranged the preliminaries of this un- propitious marriage. Regnier the father of the lady took advantage of the English monarch's ardent desire to obtain the hand of Margaret, to require the cession of Anjou, Mons, and the conte of Maine territories which could not be given up without endangering the loss of Normandy ; and, after a strong but fruitless resistance on the part of the Duke of Gloucester,* these dearly-bought and valuable con- quests were relinquished to a vassal of France. The impoverished condition of the titular King of Sicily's finances, would not admit of his sending his daughter with proper state to England, the expenses there- fore of her splendid progress from Tours were to be defrayed by her affianced husband. Suffolk took care that the princess of his choice should be intro- duced with suitable magnificence, accompanied by several noble personages, " having with them," says Holingshed, " many costly chariots and gorgeous horse litters,' he proceeded on his mission, and • Fabian. 310 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, having married the lady as the proxy of Henry, in ^^^^' the presence of the French court, escorted the bride to her new dominions. The report of Margaret's accompHshments and the admiration excited by her exterior charms, procured her an enthusiastic recep- tion from all ranks and classes ; even those who had opposed the marriage from principle hastened now that it was irrevocably concluded to give assurance to the queen that they had not been actuated in their conduct by personal hostility towards one so w^orthy of their approval. Gloucester advanced to meet her at the head of five hundred feudal depen- dants sumptuously apparelled, and the chief nobility of the realm vied with each other in displaying tokens of their respect : the liveries of their re- tainers shone with beaten gold to do her honour, and with delicate gallantry they avowed themselves her partizans by adopting the beautiful badge which was the symbol of her name. The daisy, called in France marguerite, bloomed in the plumed and jewelled crests of England's chivalry ; and thus sur- rounded by gems and flowers the fair queen was conducted in triumph to her coronation. On pass- ing through the city to Westminster Margaret was greeted by a succession of pageants, the picturesque and costly exhibitions which the genius of the age constructed upon seasons of rejoicing, angels and goddesses, the ancient worthies, and personifications of the cardinal virtues fantastically arrayed, and issuing out of mimic woods or pasteboard temples, pronounced orations in her praise and scattered gar- lands in her path ; her charms were extolled in the strains of England's most distinguished poet Lydgate, and a splendid tournament was held for the space of YORK AND LANCASTER. 311 three days to evince the national felicity at the ani- CHAI'. val of the fliir and royal visitant. Upon this occasion ^"J- also the Earls of Buckingham and Warwick were advanced to the dignity of dukes, and those of Suffolk and Dorset received the title of marquis, uu. But the joy which welcomed the ill-flited guest was of short duration ; she had brought no dower, and the country soon experienced the inconvenience which the lavish expenditure of public money upon her account had occasioned. Henry's administra- tion had never been celebrated for its financial skill : so early as 1433 the treasurer announced the unwel- come intelligence that the revenues of the crown were inadequate to its disbursements by thirty-five thousand pounds a-year ; and the debt continued to increase, bringing with it the usual consequences, embarrassed measures and popular dissatisfaction. The contrast of the queen's disposition with that of her meek husband was unfavourable. Female interposition in state affairs is usually resented, and many of the king's friends * perceiving themselves excluded from all share in the government by a * This marriage semed to many bothe infortunate and vnprofitable to the realme of England, and that for many causes : fyrst, the kyng with her had not one peny and for the fetchyng of her the Marques Suftblke de- maunded a whole fiftene in open parliament: also for her mariage the Duchie of Anjow, the citie of Manns, and the whole countie of Meyne, were delivered and released to KyngReyner her father, whiche counties were the very stages and backestandes to the Duchy of Normandy : furthermore for this mariage the Erie of Arminiacke toke suche great displeasure, that he be- came vtter enemy to the realme of England, and was the chief cause that the Englishmen werexpulsed out of the whole Duchie of Aquiteyne, and lost bothe the countreis of Gascoyn and Guyen But moste of all it should seme, that God with this matrimony was not content. For after this spousage the kyug's friends fell from him, bothe in England and in France. — Hall. .3112 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, domineering woman, determined to uphold her own ^^ favourites, withdrew their support from the throne. She gave no hope of endearing herself to the nation as the mother of its future sovereigns : her marriage was as yet childless, and the frail tenure of human existence rendered the heirs presumptive objects of pecuHar importance. The Duke of Gloucester stood next to his nephew ; and if the anticipation of his succession to the crown should have induced him to resent the insignificance to which he had been reduced by an overbearing faction, it would not be difficult to account for the persecution which ensued. We read of continual subjects of offence occurring between him and the prime minister Suffolk ; but the particulars of their differences have not been handed down to us ; it is therefore very difficult for the historian to judge, whether Gloucester's indig- nation transported him into any unjustifiable action, or if Suffolk, bold in crime, resolved to rid himself of an opponent whom he feared and hated. The old chroniclers do not hesitate to attribute Glouces- ter's death to the malevolent practices of the queen and Suffolk, aided by the Duke of Buckingham and the two cardinals Winchester and York,* but the ab- sence of positive proof of the existence of such a conspiracy renders their guilt a matter of conjecture only. The king easily led to imbibe the opinions of his councillors, was persuaded that his uncle entertained evil designs against him. At the suggestion of the mi- 1447. nistry he summoned a parliament at Bury, instead of the usual place of meeting in Westminster. Notwith- • Hall. YORK AND LANCASTER. 313 Standing the inclemency of the season patroles were cHAP. directed to scour the roads all night, the country XIII. ' people were required to attend in arms,* and such extraordinary measures of security were taken as evniced a strong dread of danger. Gloucester who had for some time resided at his castle of Devizes, not apprehending any violence to him- self, repaired to the appointed spot to take his place as a peer, accompanied by a very small retinue, his train consisting only of two and thirty persons, a number which in all probability would have been swelled to hundreds, had he anticipated the inten- tions of his enemies. The assembly opened with the usual form, and the first day passed in tranquillity ; on the second morning, X^ord Beaumont, Constable of England, was chai-ged with the arrest of the Duke of Glou- cester upon an accusation of treason ; his attendants at the same time were hurried to different prisons,t and rumours were industriously circulated that he meditated an attempt upon the king's life, for the purpose of procuring the liberation of his duchess. Marvellous tales usually gain credit with the vulgar, and before the alarm occasioned bv this strange intelligence had subsided, or preparations could be made for the trial of the illustrious prisoner, he was found dead in his bed. Apoplexy, brought on by distress of mind, was the alleged cause, and the body M-as exhibited to public view to shew that it bore no mark of violence, but this precaution did not satisfy the nation that foul play had not been • Stow. t Fabian. 314 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, committed, and secret murmurs soon broke into VTTT open accusation.* The manifestation of Gloucester's innocence, had he been permitted to defend himself, would have been very dangerous to his enemies. The disgrace of his arrest could not have been forgiven, and fear of the consequences of so hazardous a step might have operated to produce his murder. Sudden death under such suspicious circumstances, must always excite distrust, and Suffolk in neglecting to bring forward such evidence to the world as would have proved that the duke in expiring by the course of nature had been rescued from the penalty of treason, has rendered himself liable to the imputation of having destroyed, a prince by assassination whom he dared not bring to public trial. Five persons in the service of the duke were condemned as participators in his pre- tended conspiracy to be hanged, drawn and quar- tered. Suffolk proceeded to the place of execution and making a parade of mercy which he vainly hoped would have procured for him more lasting ap- plause than the cheers of the surrounding spectators, suspended the punishment at the moment that the hangman having performed the first part of his office had marked the bodies of the sufferers for the bar- barous accomplishment of the sentence. They were cut down still alive, and received the gracious * Some judged him to be strangled: others write that he was stiffled or smouldered between twoo fether beddes. After whose deathe none of his servants (although they were arraigned and attainted) wer put to death ; for the Marques of Suffolk, when they should have been executed, shewed, openly their pardon, but this doing appeased not the grudge of the people, which saied that the pardonne of the servantes was no aniendes for murder- ing of their master.— //«//. YORK AND LANCASTEll. 315 news of pardon from the lips of the man who had CHAP allowed them to languish in torture until the last ^"^• moment that human nature could have supported its infliction.* A considerable part of Gloucester's great pos- sessions was granted to the family of his enemy, and the appalling instances which Henry's reign affords of cruel deeds incited by a thirst for gold, in men whose vast possessions rendered such craving avarice in the highest degree disgraceful, seems to justify the suspicion that Suffolk had been tempted by the riches of his adversary to pursue him to the grave. This ill-fated prince, who has been styled the Mae- cenas of his age, has left behind him lasting memo- rials of his patronage of the learned. He is supposed to have been the founder of the Bodleian library, and his encouragement of literature invited erudite foreigners to enter his service ; whilst he won the hearts of the unlettered by the splendour of his household and the munificence of his hospi- tahty. The vice of intemperance which has been too justly laid to his charge, and the indulgence of self-will when the public interest demanded the sacrifice of private feeling, are faults which were eclipsed by those splendid virtues which secured the affection of his contemporaries and the esteem of pos- terity. We cannot withhold our reverence from one graced by the excellence of liis heart with the title of " the good," and called, for his undeviating justice, " the father of his country." * When these unfortunate men received, their pardon they were turned out destitute upon tlie world, for we are told that the " yeomen of the crown had their livelihood, and the executioner their clothes."— (S^ok>. 31 6 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. I" the short period of six weeks after the death of XIII. Gloucester, his implacable and triumphant political rival Cardinal Beaufort descended with a very dif- ferent reputation to the tomb. A haughty ambitious priest, determined upon bearing sway, and little scru- pulous in the means of adding to his revenues, yet liberally appropriating his riches to the service of his sovereign, he seems scarcely to have merited the obloquy which a host of writers have heaped upon his name. The proud persecuting spirit of the churchman, and his never ceasing enmity to the popular idol Gloucester, irritated the public mind so strongly against him that the odium attached to his imputed crimes, at all times of frightful magnitude, in the Protestant days of Shakspeare sanctioned the poet's terrible delineation of a death-bed tortured with remorse : a soul hardened and hopeless, a guilty despairing wretch, who died " and made no sign.*' Pious according to the corrupt notions of his church Cardinal Beaufort appears by the evi- dence of his chaplain to have been more tormented by the fading away of his earthly grandeur than anxious respecting his condition in another world.* That he employed his power in the furtherance of personal aggrandizement rather than for the welfare of the king he served, and the country whose inte- rests were committed to his care, is an imputation which he must share with the statesmen of preceding and subsequent times. The errors of Beaufort's ad- ministration produced very disastrous consequences; but they were the errors of the age, and we find Hall. YORK AND LANCASTER. '317 his successors acting upon the same principles and CHAP, bringing forth the same results. ^^'"• Though reaching what is usually termed a good old age, death overtook Cardinal Beaufort before he was prepared to relinquish the ambitious hope of attaining new honours and dignities : his aspirations after worldly grandeur were intense ; even at a period when men usually perceive the vanity of human wishes ; he cherished expectations of ascending un- rivalled to the height of power, and could scarcely believe that the immense wealth which he had accu- mulated should be insufficient to preserve him from the common doom : betraying his thoughts to the attendants of his dying couch, he was heard to ex- claim " Why should I die having so much riches ? If the whole realm would save my life, I am able either by policy to get it, or by riches to buy it. Fye, will not death be hindered ? nor will money do Nothing ?"* Having exhausted these vain lamenta- tions, the haughty prelate deplored the demolition of those brilliant prospects which had flattered him with the hope of engrossing the whole authority in the English cabinet and of rising to the highest dignities of papal power. " When my nephew of Bedford dyed I thought myself half up the wheel, but when 1 saw my other nephew of Gloucester deceased, then I thought myself able to be equal with kings, and so thought to increase my treasure in hope to have worne a triple crown. But I see now the world faileth me, and so I am deceived. I pray you all to pray for me." The last testament of the cartlinal is couched in a strain of pious submission to the will • Hall. 318 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, of heaven, too miicli at variance with his conduct -^^^^- through life, and the sentiments avowed ahnost at the moment of dissohition, to be considered more than common-piace words, inserted in accordance wath custom. The legacies he devoted to charitable purposes were magnificent, and he manifested his regard to Queen Margaret by bequeathing to her the bed of cloth of Damascus, and the arras be- longing to the chamber in which she had slept at Waltham. YORK AND LANCASTER. .'JIQ CHAPTER XIV. State of public Feeling towards the Duke of York— Policy of Suffolk and the Queen — Rivalry between York and Somerset — Death of the latter — York^s Hatred to the neiv Duke — his Appointment in Ireland — SuffoWs Administration — Jealousy of the .Afobles — State of France — Public Discontent — Accusations of Suffolk's Enemies — Murder of the Bishop of Chichester — his alleged Declaration — Suf- folk's Vindication — Increasing Clamour against him — his Impeach- ment by the Commons — his Defence — Sentence of Banishment — San- guinaj-y Attempt of Suffolk'' s Enemies — Continuation of evil Reports —^Suffolk's Letter to his Son — he puts to Sea — his Detention — his Despair — the Sailors sit in Judgment — Suffolk^s Condemnation — his Execution — Supposition concerning Siiffolk's Death — Cruel Joy of the Popidace — State of Affairs on the Continent — Conduct of Somerset — TalboVs Exploit — Fall of Rorien — KyriVs Expedition — Defeat of the English — its Consequence — Caen besieged — Somersefs Weakness — Remonstrance of Sir David Hall — Fall of Xormandy — Attack upon Cruienne — Loss of the Duchy — Henrfs Imbecility — Character of Queen Margaret — Embarrassments of the Croivn — Con- duct of the Clergy — Fierce Spirit of the Jfation — Claim of the House of York— Revolt of the Commons in Kent — Demands of Cade— Defeat of the Staffords — Opinion of the Council — Dispersion of the Royal Army — Cade marches to London —his Entrance — Murder of Baylley — Illegal Execution — Spirited Conduct of the Citizens — Cade's Defeat — Dispersion of the Rebels — Cade's second Attempt — his Flight and Death. During the contentions which ended so fatally in CIIAP. Gloucester's death, the Duke of York had been ^ honourably employed at a safe distance from the 320 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, scene of the struggles of his contemporaries : thus he escaped an early involvement in state intrigue ; and pecuUarly favoured by fortune he was appointed to serve in France before the commencement of those final disasters which expelled the English from the land they had so nearly conquered. The duke's good conduct procured him universal esteem ; and now that the legitimate presumptive heir of the House of Lancaster was laid in the grave, the gran- deur and the authority of Cardinal Beaufort sunk into the same obscurity, and the line only feebly sup- ported by the Somersets, a weak branch abased by the disgrace of their birth in the eye of the law, there were many who turned their regards towards Richard Plantagenet the lineal descendant of Ed- ward III. Suffolk and the queen, when too late, appear to have been aware of the dangerous relation in which the Duke of York stood to the crown by the demise of Gloucester ; and with the rashness which marked their admhiistration, in a vain attempt to depress him they gave him speedy cause of dis- content by obliging him to relinquish his splendid H4T. post in Normandy in favour of John Duke of So- merset. This invidious preference provoked the indignation of York. His hatred was at first di- rected against the Somersets and afterwards trans- ferred to the party who upheld them. John Beaufort, a man of haughty temper and mean abilities, speeilily lost the courtly favour which had enabled him to triumph over his rival ; and too proud to brook even the appearance of disgrace, committed suicide. He died in the course of the following year, leaving one child, a daughter, committed to the wardship of YORK AND LANCASTER. 321 Suffolk. His brother Edmund Beaufort succeeded CHAP, to all his dignities, and incurred the inextinguishable ^^^; animosity of Richard Plantagenet by tlie base sur- render of a town which belonged to him in Nor- mandy. The command in Ireland, which in some degree seemed to be attached to his family, was given to the Duke of York ; apparently a poor exchange, yet in the sequel exceedingly advantageous, since he was spared the odium which the loss of France oc- casioned to the new regent; a loss which, though perhaps accelerated and rendered disgraceful by the incapacity of Somerset, was under the present ad- ministration almost inevitable. Suffolk, now raised to a dukedom, swayed the whole kingdom ; but exalted to the height of power, every day revealed some new peril, and he looked down from his dizzy height upon a sea of danger, wherein each succeedins; wave threatened to under- ' m&Ac.J\^ mine the narrow base of that lofty superstructure which he had so fearlessly raised. The king's immediate friends observed Suffolk's ascendance over the monarch's weak mind with disgust : as proud and rapacious as himself, neither Buckingham, Exeter or Norfolk could brook the exclusive privileges which he had obtained. Suffolk was no longer upheld by the power of the cardinal: he had courted and secured only one friend, the queen, and she though so resolute and high spirited could not save him from his numerous enemies. He neglected to provide for the security of the English possessions in France. Somerset described in vivid terms the dangerous situation of the provinces VOL. I. Y T n-4!). 322 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, from the dearth of adequate means of defence ; and ^^^- strongly urged the government to provide him with the necessary suppUes of men, ammunition and money ; but his remonstrance was unheeded, and the country left to its own impoverished resources was soon the spoil of France.* The cession of Anjou and Maine, which led di- rectly to the seizure of Normandy by Charles VII. who had politically evaded a peace in order that he might either commence hostilities or renew the truce according to the situation of the English, exasperated the minds of the people against the author of this calamity ; numbers were farther incensed by his tyrannical disposal of offices both lay and ecclesias- tical ;t and the greedy avarice which he and his dependants evinced alienated all those who were the victims of his extortion ; at least these are the accusations recorded by the monkish historians of Suffolk's time. His crimes were probably exagge- rated, but whether the heavy allegations brought against him were true or false, the effect is certain, the whole nation seemed to be animated by a spirit of determined hostility, and the animosity so openly displayed warned him to take speedy measures to shield himself from the gathering storm. Antici- pating the impeachment which ensued, the duke solicited and obtained leave to vindicate himself from the aspersions of his adversaries. The violence of Suffolk's enemies, whilst it overwhelmed him, at the same time furnished the means of a miuch more ample vindication than he could have made had he been charged with those offences only which he had * Parliament Rolls, 147, 143. f History of Croyl, 521. YORK AND LANCASTER. 3^23 actually committed. Accused of having wilfully CHAP, betrayed the interests of his country to the French ^^^'• king, exposed its secret councils, and bargained away its possessions, — with a design to dethrone Henry VI. and to place the crown upon the head of his son whom he intended to marry to his ward Margaret Beaufort, it was not difficult to parry such wild imputations.* The Bishop of Chichester, who had performed the odious office of delivering up Maine into the hands of the enemy, had been sacrificed to the popular indignation in a tumultuous insurrection in Hampshire. It was said that with iiis dvinn; breath he had declared Suffolk to be a traitor, who had sold the province to Charles VII. The assertion if really made was probably only wrung from tJie bishop by the exigence of the moment, in the vain hope of arresting the fury of his assailants by denouncing a more guilty person ; or it might have been one of the numerous inventions which never fail to spring out of the clamours of the multitude. Suffolk calmly repelled these inalevolent slanders : he ad- dressed himself to the king in parliament, and en- 1450. treated him to remember the faithful services which he and his family had performed for the English crown, the death of his father at Harfleur, that of his elder brother on the field of Azincourt, of two others killed at Jargeau, and of the youngest who had died a hostage for him in France. Speaking of himself he said that he had borne arms for thirty- four years, and w'orn the order of the garter for thirty; that he had continued in the wars for the * Parliament Rolls. Y 2 324 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, space of seventeen years without once visiting his ^^^' own country, and had served the crown for fifteen years since his return. He affirmed that his best interests lay in England, since it was the place of his birth, of his inheritance, and that of his children ; and concluded by appealing to the king, whether it '%ere possible that all these things considered he should become a traitor for a Frenchman's promise.* Suffolk's defence satisfied no one except the king and queen, and their undiminished favour could not protect him from the hatred of a whole nation Jan. 2(j, determined to effect his ruin. The commons re- quested that he might be sent to the Tower to answer charges which he himself had confessed had been alleged against him. The lords replied that they had no power to command the imprisonment of a peer unless he should be distinctly accused of some particularized offence ; and two days after- wards the commons impeached him of treason, on an absurd declaration that he had " stuffed his castle at Wallingford with gunnes, and other implements of war," for the purpose of affording assistance to the French king in an intended invasion. A long catalogue of charges followed, embodying the sub- stance of every report which had been circulated to Suffolk's prejudice : many of these were evidently malicious, and all overstrained. His weak and rash measures had incurred a fearful responsibility, and though guiltless of the corrupt motives ascribed to him, and unstained by foreign gold, he had in- variably disregarded the public good when the • Parliament Rolls, v. p. 176. YORK AND LANCASTER. 3^25 schemes of his selfish ambition demanded the sa- cHAR crifice. XIV. When called upon for his answer the duke denied Maril that he had acted without the concurrence of the ^^*^- council and the sanction of the king and parliament in his negociations with France ; he ridiculed the idea of considering the Lady Margaret as heiress t* the crown, and entreated several lords who were present, to remember that they were acquahited with his intention of uniting his son to the daughter of the Earl of Warwick, had she lived to fulfil the engagement; for the rest of the allegations he af- firmed that they were utterly false and untrue. * Upheld by the king and queen and only secretly opposed by the nobles, Margaret hoped that by con- senting to the favourite's banishment, the storm would blow over, and he might return again to the station he was obliged to quit. The infuriated state of public feeling, excited by inflammatory libels, and breaking out in continual insurrections, warned her of the necessity of appearing at least to acquiesce in the minister's disgrace. Suflblk in consequence was 31,,^. 17. brought before the king who had assembled all the ''*"^^- nobles then in London, in an inner chamber of the palace. Kneeling down, he answered to the chan- cellor (who remarked that he had not demanded to be put on his trial), that he trusted he had sufficiently cleared himself from charges which he had shewn to be false, and therefore threw himself unhesi- tatingly upon the decision of" his sovereign. f The chancellor was instructed to reply, that since he had not claimed to be tried by his peers, but had sub- * Parliament Rolls. t Parliament Rolls. 3^G THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, milted entirely to the royal judgment, the king ^^^- would neither hold him guilty or innocent, but of his own free will, commanded him to be absent from the realm for the space of live years. Suffolk was not permitted to escape with so lenient a sentence ; tlie rancour of his enemies was unappeasable. On the night of his leaving London Mar. 18. two thousaud pcrsous assembled in St. Giles's with ^^^^' the determination to intercept him on his journey ; they found his horse saddled and his servant waiting, and disappointed of their promised victim, treated both with great inhumanity.* Baffled by the duke's caution who quitted London by another road and reached Suffolk in safety, the revenge of Suffolk's enemies was only delayed. A single month of retire- ment cruelly disturbed by the untiring persecution of malicious tongues was allowed to tlie unhappy favourite, and deeply touched by the aspersions cast upon his honour he assembled the neighbouring April 30. knights and gentlemen together, and solemnly swore upon the sacrament in their presence that he was innocent of the crimes imputed to him, and guiltless of the sale of Normandy. A letterf addressed at this period by Suffolk to his * V\''illiam of Wj'rcester. t This letter is preserved in Fenn's collection, vol. 1, page 32. " My dear and only well-beloved son, I beseech onr Lord in Heaven the Maker of all the world, to bless you, and to send you ever grace to love him, and to dread himj to the which, as a father may charge his child, I both charge you, and pray you to set all your spirits and wits to do, and to know his holy laws and commandments, by the which ye shall, with his great mercy, pass all the great tempests and troubles of (his wretched world. And that also weetingly, ye do nothing for love nor dread of any earthly creature that shoidd displeaie him. And there as [whenever] any frailty niaketh YORK AND LANCASTER. 327 only son, contains such admirable councils and so CHAP, many exhortations to persevere in the most religious ^^^' you to fall, beseech his mercy soon to call you to him again, with repen. tance, satisfaction, and contrition of your heart never more in will to olfend hira. " Secondly : — Next Him above all earthly things, to be true liegeman in heart, in will, in thought, in deed, unto the king our alder most [greatest] high and dread sovereign lord, to whom both ye and I be so much bound to; charging you as father can and may, rather to die than to be the contrary, or to know anything that were against the welfare or prosperity of his most royal person, but that as far as your body and life may stretch, ye live and die to defend it, and to let his highness have knowledge thereof in all the haste ye can. " Thirdly: — In the same wise I charge you, my dear son, alway as ye be bounden by the commandment of God to do, to love, to worship, your lady and mother; and also that ye oK°y alway her commandments, and to believe her counsels and advices in all your works, the which dread not but shall be best and truest to you. And if any body bhould steer you to the contrary, to flee the counsel in any wise, for ye shall find it nought and £vil. ''Furthermore, as Father may and can, I charge you in any wise to flee the company and counsel of proud men, of covetous men, and of flattering men, the more especially and mightily to withstand them, and not to draw nor to meddle with them, with all your might and power, and to draw to you and to your company good and virtuous men, and such as be of good conversation, and of truth, and by them shall ye never be deceived or repent you of. " Moreover, never follow your own wit in no wise, but in all your works, of such folks as I write of above, ask your advice and counsel, and doing thus, with the mercy of God, ye shall do right well, and live in right much worship, and great heart's rest and ease. " And I will be to you as good lord and father as my heart can think. « And last of all, as heartily and as lovingly as ever father blessed his child in earth, I give you the blessing of our Lord and of me, which of His infinite mercy increase you in all virtue and good living ; and that your blood may by his grace from kindred to kindred multiply in this earth to his service, in such wise as after the departing from this wretched world here, ye and they may glorify him eternally amongst his angels in heaven. " Written of mine own hand, " The day of my departing from this land, " Your true and loving Father, "SUFFOLK." 3'28 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, observance oF liis duty towards God and man, that • we can scarcely fail to be impressed with sentiments of pity for the writer, so peculiarly unfortunate, if his political conduct had been actuated by the prin- ciples which he inculcated for the guidance of others. Suffolk's errors might have been those of judgment alone, or with the clearest perceptions of right it is not always that men have sufficient resolution to persevere in well-doing when assailed by strong temptation: but however unwilling to adopt the vul- gar opinion or to condemn without sufficient proof, it is impossible to exonerate the Duke of Suffolk from the charge of having betrayed his country, not cer- tainly to the palpable bribes of the enemy, but to his ov/n insatiate ambition. When a private indi- vidual voluntarily emerges from a quiet station inca- pacity becomes a crime. The duke did not possess that over-mastering spirit which commands success; gifted with courage that was never disputed, no single action of his life in the cabinet or the field ever covered him with glory ; and in his negociation with France, and his administration at home, every evil which befel the English cause, unluckily if undesignedly, was accompanied by some personal advantage to himself; and therefore, the most can- did reader may be pardoned, if considering the result of Suffolk's measures, and imputing to the measures themselves the least unfavourable motives, they pronounce the duke to have been a weak, rash man, unable to guide the vessel which he presumed to steer, and ready to hazard its destruction rather than relinquish his command. The hostility which compelled Suffolk to leave YORK AND LANCASTEll. ^'29 England might have warned the exile of the ne- CHAP cessity of taking infinite precaution to ensure his '^'^- safety, but his preparations a})pear to have been open, and he sailed from Ipswich in the first week n^o. in May with a convoy of three ships. On arriving off Dover the duke dispatched a small vessel to Calais for the purj)ose of gaining intelligence re- specting the feeling of the inhabitants towards him ; it was intercepted by a large ship called the Nicholas of the Tower, and the commander being aware of the duke's approach, made sail, and coming up with his vessel sent out a boat with orders that he should repair on board. Suffolk unwarily complied, attended by a few followers he ascended the hostile deck, his first salutation was ominous. " Welcome, traitor," exclaimed the captain, and immediately abandoned by the hireling crew of his own ship, he was left to the mercy of rude and sanguinary men. The nature of the duke's reception left little doubt of the fate which was to ensue, yet the horror of the catas- trophe was heightened by a superstitious conviction which shut out hope. It has been said that the witch of Eye had bade him beware of water, and the name of the commander of the vessel, Walter, corrupted by a mal-pronunciation into the same sound, inspired liim with terror which was deepened when he learned the designation of the ship itself. The duke had been told that if he escaped the dan- gers of the Tower he should be safe, and in quitting the gloomy confines of the fortress in London he trusted that his life would be secure ; but his cou- rage fliiled him when he met the ill-omened name- sake of that fatal prison on the deep. A fearful in- 330 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, terval of two days ensued from the period of Suffolk's [ capture, in wliich he underwent tlie form of a trial by the sailors, having previously confessed himself to his chaplain.* The duke*s judges agreed in finding him guilty, and continuing inexorable to his pro- mises of reward and entreaties for mercy drew him into a boat by the side of the ship. One of the meanest of the crew desired him to lay his head down, saying that " he should be fairly dealt with, and die on a sword." After a few eager yet vain solicitations that they would spare his life, he com- plied ; a rusty v/eapon was produced, which at five strokes severed his head from his body : the execu- tioners then stripped the corpse of its russet gown and doublet of mailed velvet, and bringing it on shore laid it naked on the sands " with the head (as some say) upon a pole beside it j" the duke's property was likewise deposited with his slaughtered remains, and his attendants were landed unhurt. These things performed, the Nicliolas sailed away. The murder was committed within sight of Suffolk's ships, whose crews remained quiet spectators of the inhuman deed.'-j- The tidings of this tragical event travelled * Fenn's Collection, p. 38, 42, vol. 1. t There is not a more unfortunate family in the records of the Baronage than that of De La Pole ; their origin has been already related, and for many years the stigma attached to the low birth of their progenitors exposed them to the persecution of an insolent nobility. Michael, the son of William de La Pole, whom Edward IlL styled his "beloved merchant,*' died in the reign of Richard IL in exile, flying from his enemies to Calais in so abject a dis- guise that his own brother could not recognize him. Another earl, as re- counted by the ill-fated favourite of Henry VI. perished at Harfieur, a third upon the field of Azincourt. The marriage of the son of the murdered no- bleman whose melancholy fate occurs in the present page, with a sister of Edward IV. subjected the luckless race to new evils. In former years the YORK AND LANCASTER. 331 swiftly, and the sheriff of Kent proceeded imnie- CHAP, diately to the spot and sate watching the body until ^^^' he received the king's commands respecting its dis- posal, it was afterwards interred with befitting honours in the collegiate church of Wingfield in Suffolk.* The grief of Henry and his queen was extreme when they learned the flital catastrophe which had befallen their beloved friend, yet we do not hear that the perpetrators of such atrocious vio- lence were ever punished ; they were perhaps under powerful protection. William of Wyrcestre and the Monk of Croyland, in relating the circumstance of Suffolk's detention at sea, assert that it was preme- ditated, and other writers impute the design to those Lords who were politically opposed to him, Mon- strelet even naming the Duke of Somerset as the most deeply implicated in the plot. Executions how- ever, equally illegal, were of frequent occurrence in these lawless times, wherein the commons required little pretext to seize the sword of justice and to dispense summary punishment upon those who had incurred public indignation ; the Duke of Suffolk's death might therefore have been caused by an acci- dental rencontre with a ferocious band, incensed meanness of their descent had been alleged against them : this illustrious con- nection occasioned a more bitter source of enmity. The Tudors beheld the near relatives of the house of York with fatal jealousy ; throughout the reign of Henry VII. and that of his successor, their blooG flowed in torrents, those who escaped the sword and the axe only finding safety in distant countries. Cardinal De La Pole the hst of the name, was recalled to England by Mary, and dying a short time before the accession cf Elizabeth, the family became extinct. • Fenn's Collection. 33^ THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, but not suborned against him. With the exception ^^ of his own retainers the duke did not possess amid the lower classes a single friend ; popular hatred so far from being appeased by the barbarous revenge which had overtaken him in his flight, burst out into indecent songs of triumph.* Those who could thus brutally exult over his blood-stained grave, would not have hesitated in dealing the stroke of death ; and it must consequently always remain a m.atter of doubt whether he was the victim of a deep laid con- spiracy or a sacrifice to the fury of men not pre- viously intending his destruction. The assassina- tion excited comparatively little horror, it was con- sidered to be a well-merited retribution for the murder of Gloucester ; and never did any minister fall with deeper odium attached to his name, or fewer lamentations for a fate so cruel and untimely. The signal vengeance which had been taken on the Duke of Suffolk did not appease the exasperated spirit of the nation. Accustomed to conquest, the English could not brook the loss of France, and the hatred which had pursued the royal favourite to the grave was after his death directed to his successor Somerset, under whose command Henry's foreign dominions had melted away, and who now pursued the same measures which had already covered the crown with disgrace. The late misfortunes in France owed their direct origin to the cession of Maine, but the most disas- I trous consequences of Margaret's marriage treaty were attributed to the incapacity and the cowardice of Somerset. When the English soldiers evacuated ' * Vesp. B. 16. YORK AND LANCASTER. 333 the provinces which Suffolk had agreed to rehiiquisli ciiAl\ to France they were suffered to overrun the neidi- '^'^ bouring countries unprovided with quarters and depending upon their own swords for subsistence ; a punishment it is said most unwisely devised by the king's lieutenant for their obstinate tenacity in refusing to be expelled from their garrisons except by force. With weapons in their hands and indignation in their hearts they were not long in seeking a remedy. They violated the truce by seizing u])on the town of Fougeres, and pillaging the inhabitants. The Duke 1449. of Bretagne complained of this outrage to his feu- dal sovereign, and Somerset hastened to assure the French king that he was guiltless of all participation in the predatory mode of warfare adopted by the troops under Sir Francis Surienne ; but he did not restore the town, and Charles politicly estimating the damage at a sum far beyond the English power to produce, per- mitted his own commanders to make reprisals, which being quickly resented the war broke out afresh, but with so much disadvantage on the Enghsh part that Somerset found himself shut up in his capital and exposed daily to attacks which he was unable to resist. No succours arrived from England, the city was surrounded by foes, and a dangerous conspi- racy existed within the walls. The inhabitants of Rouen favoured Charles, and secretly assured Dunois, the bastard of Orleans, that they would open their gates to his forces.* Once the gallant Talbot saved the city by his promp- Hall. 334 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, titude and valour ; perceivino; that the French had [ gained a rampart which had been entrusted to the townsmen's charge, he flung himself upon the spot, hurled the foremost assailants in the ditch below ; and having repelled the open foe put the treacherous sentinels to the sword.* But Talbot's exertions backed only by a garrison of twelve hundred men were insufficient to maintain a place which had fallen from its allegiance to England. Somerset encom- passed in the streets by an overpowering number of armed citizens, was compelled to allow them to treat with the enemy, they brought him conditions which he rejected, and withdrawing to the citadel he sustained a close siege by the French and Normans, who were now united. Obliged to capitulate the enemy refused to grant those terms which they . had formerly offered, and exacted the surrender of several important fortresses, and the payment of fifty-six thousand francs for his ransom. Somerset had no alternative, he submitted, leaving the brave Talbot and other knights as hostages for the fulfil- ment of his promise. The duke's example damped the ardour of the English : it was sufficient for the enemy to shew his troops before the towns and castles ; not one was resolutely defended, and many fell without a blow. Somerset retreated ingloriously to Caen, which was immediately threatened by the French. In this exigence the English government sent a scanty force of three thousand men under Sir Thomas Kyriel, to prevent the siege, but they were encoun- tered by the Earl of Clermont near Fourmigni * Monsfrelet. YORK AND LANCASTER. 335 ere they could reach their destination.* The contest CHAP, lasted with doubtful success for three hours. It was ^^^' decided by the appearance of the constable of France with a formidable reinforcement : many of the English turned and fled ; the rest fought stoutly to the last, and were either left dead upon the field or taken prisoners.^ The fruits of this victory were Avranches, Bayeux and Valanges, which opened their gates ; and the news was received throughout the whole realm of France with acclamations of joy ; for tlie troops of Charles had seldom been success- ful in the open field. The conquerors followed up their advantage by the investiture of Caen : their attempts were weakly resisted ; and its reduction, by many attributed to a principle more reprehensible if less base than cowardice, increased the bitter enmity which already subsisted between the Dukes of Somerset and York. Caen had been granted to the latter by the king ; and when his political rival had superseded him in the command in France, he had left it in the charge of three knights. Sir David Hall, Sir Robert Vere and Sir Henry Radford, who were entrusted respectively with the town, the castle and the keep. The besieged made several vigorous sorties ; and Somerset, it is said, careless of a place which belonged to one with whom he was at variance, allowed the inhabitants to treat with a June s. foe whom he might' have effectually repulsed. To- tally unprepared for a spirited resistance, the duke had even neglected to send away his wife and family ; and considerations for their safety were permitted to interpose between his inclination and * Hal!. t Monstrelet. S3() THE RIVA-L HOUSES OF CHAP, his duty ; the terrors of infantile and feminine weak- ^ • ness were communicated to him, or at least he had not firmness to withstand their tears and entreaties. A stone discharged from the heavy ordnance which Charles had provided for the siege, fell near enough to endanger the lives of the duchess and her children J and the agonies of these helpless beings so wrought upon his soul that, forgetful of the claims of his country, he surrendered. This craven conduct provoked the indignation of Sir David Hall, who considerins: himself accountable for the loss of a town committed to his governance, re- fused to sanction a treaty disgraceful to the Eng- lish arms ; and after vain a endeavour to inspire the duke with more honourable sentiments, quitted the place for Cherburgh, from whence he sailed to Aug. 12. Ireland with the ungracious tidings. Cherburgh '^^*^* was soon afterwards the spoil of the conqueror, and not a single castle of Normandy remained to the des- cendant of him whose proud banner had floated triumphantly over its hundred fortresses. Charles VII. now turned his victorious arms against Guienne. The inhabitants, faithful to their ancient sovereigns, were ready to assist in its defence had they met with encouragement and support from England. Henry and his ministry looked passively on whilst the enemy pursued his rapid conquests, and the dutchy was relinquished without a struggle,* for unable to cope singly with the troops which the French monarch poured down upon them, each town and castle surrendered when a superior force J451. appeared before the walls. In this campaign Charles recovered the whole of his kingdom with the excep- * Hall. YORK AND LANCASTER. 337 tion of Calais. England had lost its possessions and cil\P. its honour, the tame resignation of four rich and ^^^• fertile provinces stamped the government with in- delible disgrace, and the meanest peasant in the land blushed with shame and indignation at the tarnished lustre of the warrior's arms. A dreadful crisis was at hand in Henry's most in- glorious and unhappy reign, the aspect of the times was full of horror ; the king himself, a mere cipher, wiiose amiable qualities might have atoned for his weakness had he been united to a partner equally inoffensive, was under the dominion of a proud and headstrong woman. The very virtues and talents of Margaret were so many misfortunes to her husband ; guided solely by her own feelings, and strongly attached to the party who had raised her to the throne, she espoused their cause and their interests to the prejudice of the national welfare, with an in- veterate obstinacy which involved her in the ruin brought on by their unwise and arbitrary conduct. A meeker disposition, a more yielding temper, would have saved the house of Lancaster from the perse- cution which laid it in the dust. Had the queen allowed the administration to be guided by men who possessed the confidence of the people, the generous spirit of the nation would have interposed to coun- teract the ambition of a rival, she would not have incurred public hatred but have shared in the love and pity accorded to her husband, whose harmless character excited the veneration of a large portion of his subjects : but jealous of the slightest inter- ference and hostile to every species of reform she boldly struggled with the opposite party, and de- VOL. I. z 838 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, fended the measures of an unpopular administration ^^^- with an heroic constancy worthy of a better cause. It must be owned that Margaret was placed in a situation of infinite trial and difficulty ; too cou- rageous to submit against her inclination and her judgment, she plunged into an unequal warfare be- tween a divided nobility, at a period when every class of society was ripe and ready for revolt. The country groaned under an accumulation of evils, the continuation of a wretched system of policy in church and state had wrought mischief which it was now scarcely possible to remedy. The crown revenues were so impoverished by repeated grants to greedy favourites, that Henry had been obliged to pawn the silver plate out of his jewel office, and to encourage the pursuits of alchemists in the fallacious hope of transmuting base metal into the gold of which he stood so much in need.* The conduct of the minis- ters of religion was a fertile source of disorder. Many pleaded the sanctity of their habit as an ex- emption from punishment for the most atrocious crimes. The heads of the church, instead of reform- ing the priesthood, clamoured for the pardon of those who had been prosecuted for rape, felony, and extortion ;t and whilst the faggot and the brand were kindled for all who dared to search the scrip- tures for the doctrine of salvation, no license how- ever gross was disallowed to ecclesiastics who clung to the old superstition. Intent upon the extirpation of heresy, and trusting wholly to coercive means, the clergy followed their schemes of pleasure or of am- bition, neglected the duties of their holy office, and * Rymer Feed. f Gasc. MS. YORK AND LANCASTER. 339 treated the remonstrances of the advocates of a more CHAP, strict discipline with contempt. The sermons of a ^'^^^• few honest preachers who lashed the vices of the age, exposed the corruptions of the church to the people, and incited them to punish offences which its ministers disdained to reform : men murmured at the riches and the power of a com.munity whom they had ceased to respect, and meditated on the means of reducing both. Loud complaints were also made of the abuse of the rights of election in the appoint- ment of members to serve in Parliament who had not been chosen by the people. The agitated state of public feeling had shown itself in many places in tumults and insurrections ; during the whole of the proceedings against the Duke of Suffolk, the rabble had created serious disturbances, arming themselves under captains who assumed various grotesque ap- pellations. Civilization had not yet subdued the savage pro- pensities of the human race ; a brutal thirst for blood incited the lower orders to continual massacres ; the records of London are sufficient to shew the slight pretexts which w^ere wanting to engage the inhabi- tants in the most dreadful outrages ; an accidental dispute between two individuals would bring out a horde of barbarians from the neighbouring lanes and alleys, who either engaged fiercely with each other or united to hunt down the Jews, the Flem- ings, or the Lombards, whose superior industry, and consequently superior wealth, excited their hatred or their envy. Stow tells us of aftra} s of this nature v/hich lasted for three days together, and the spirit was not confined to the metropolis. The murder of z 2 340 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, the Bishop of Chichester has been ah'eady men- ^^^' tioiied, another prelate was butchered with equal inhumanity by his own tenants ; and we can scarcely look into the old chronicles without meeting with instances of similar violence. The sedition of the commons under the notorious Jack Cade, has generally been attributed to the machinations of the Duke of York, but we do not find any evidence to connect him or the peers who were his partizans with this revolt. The claims of the house of Mortimer to the throne of England had never been entirely forgotten. Richard Earl of Cambridge lost his life for an alleged attempt to wrest the crown from an usurper's head, and in the early part of the present monarch's reign Sir John Mortimer, a cousin of the Earl of March, was beheaded upon a similar charge. The accusation was supposed to be malicious, and from the death of this gentleman. Hall informs us, " no small slander arose amongst the common people." Whether innocent or guilty his execution kept up the remembrance of his kinsman's rights. The Duke of York's conduct and fortune in France offered a brilliant contrast to the shame and obloquy which covered his successor. He was not less esteemed for the excellence of his government in Ireland ; and the eyes of the disaffected were naturally turned to a man who stood so high in public opinion, and who himself had sustained in- juries which might dispose him to sanction their attempt to remove the offensive ministry so per- tinaciously cherished by the king. Disgraced by losses and defeats abroad, and YORK AND LANCASTER. 341 goaded by exactions at home, subjected to the most CHAl'. cruel despotism by the church, and their Hberties ^^ continually threatened and endangered by an equally arbitrary government, the whole kingdom was in a state of excitation and ferment; and whilst thus agitated a report that the king intended to inflict a signal vengeance upon the county of Kent for the share which it was supposed to have taken in fur- nishing the ships which surprised the Duke of Suffolk, inflamed the perturbed spirits of a district always prone to sedition to madness. Before the king and queen had recovered from their grief for the cruel fate of Suflblk, they were alarmed by the tumultuous rising of the peasants of Kent, who flocked to Blackheath in the beginning of June under John Cade, a man of some capacity but of ruffian disposition ; he had fled from the service of Sir Thomas Dacre in Sussex, to escape the conse- quences of a murder which he had perpetrated under circumstances of great atrocity. Subsequently serving in the French army he acquired considerable military experience ; and now pretending to be the illegi- timate cousin of the Duke of York, called himself by the name of Mortimer. The insurgents justified their assumption of arms by a list of fifteen griev- ances,* which together with the requests of their * The commons of Kent complained that the king intended to punish the county for the murder of the Duke of Suffolk, of which they were not guilty, that he gave away the crown revenues and lived entirely by the taxation of the commons 3 that he refused to admit the lords of his blood to his councils, and supplied their places with men of low birth; that the purveyors of the royal household were not paid their just demands, and that bribes were taken by the king's servants of those who were accused of treason. They likewis-e complained of the illegal seizure of the lands of poo S42 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, captain they sent to the king ; their demands were ^^^- reasonable and the monarch might have been mate- rially benefited had he accepted their advice : but under the influence of men who would not listen to any change of measures, though advocated by more distinguished personages, the admonitions of the rabble were of course rejected. 1450. The government levird an army of twenty thou- sand men in haste, and the king advanced in person to quell the disturbance. Cade, who had entrenched himself at Blackheath, with a skill and caution which proved him to be adequate to his command, being aware of the approach of the royal forces June 24. withdrcw to Seven Oaks, and there took up a more favourable position. His retreat deceived Sir Humphrey Stafford into a belief that he fled in fear, and the knight and his brother pursuing the supposed fugitives at the head of a small party, the rebels faced about, received the charge with bravery, slew both the Staffords and defeated the rest. people— of the exactions of men in oflSce — the improper return of members not chosen by the people, but named and appointed by lords in power — the sale of the coUectorships, and the vexation and trouble occasioned by their attendance at sessions from distant parts of the county, they therefore prayed that the assize might be divided for the remedy of this in- convenience. They requested after many assurances of loyalty to the king in whose service they declared themselves to be ready to suffer death, that the relations of the Duke of Suflfolk should be banished from court, and the Dukes of York, Exeter, Buckinghani, and Norfolk, with the old nobility of the land, his true lords, should be employed about the king's person. Theydemanded the punishment of those false traitors who had devised the death of Glouces- ter, and by whose means the French provinces had been delivered up and lost ; and finally they besought the king to abolish all extortions, to relieve the people from their present grievous oppressions, and to bring those false traitors, Slegge, Crowmer, Isle, and Robert Este, to justice.— ^^ou'. YORK AND LANCASTER. ^43 The complaints of the commons were by many lords CHAP, who were now called to the king's council, adjudged ^^'^' to be worthy of redress, and their success in tlie late conflict produced a more open expression of this opinion. Several of the nobles urged the dismissal of their followers, whom they represented as unwilling to fight against men wlio contended not unjustly for their natural rights.* The expe- dience of sending Lord Say to the tower was also suggested to the king. He was an object of general detestation, and his disgrace it was affirmed would deter many from joining the standard of rebel- lion. Assured of at best very feeble support, and threatened with instant desertion, Henry compUed : commanded the imprisonment of Lord Say, and disbanding his army, repaired to Kenilworth. Cade arrayed himself in the golden spurs and glittering mail of the knight he had slain, and re- turned to his camp at Blackheath. His numbers increased daily ; men of a superior condition to the generality of his associates were forced into his service, as we learn from the letters of Payn, pre- served in Sir John Fenn's collection 5 and several mentioned in the same document, seem to have joined him of their own accord. f Payn owed his life to the intercession of a gentleman of Norfolk, and " other of his friends " whom he met in the rebel's train. A herald belonging to the Duke of Exeter was also attached to the insurgent leader ; for the turbulent ruffian affected the manners of gentle birth. The defenceless state of London invited the approach of the rebels. The tower alone was weakly * Fabian. t Hal!. 1450. 314 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, guarded by Lord Scales; and the citizens, at a ^^^' meeting convened by the Lord Mayor, ordered an alderman into custody who boldly advised them to shut their gates upon the mob, who were already in possession of Southwark.* The fears or the wishes of the majority prevailed, and the civic authorities lowered the drawbridge to give Cade admission.. Sus- pecting treachery he cut the ropes with his sword, and riding triumphantly through the streets struck Lon- don stone with the blade of his weapon, exclaiming, July 3. " Now is Mortimer Lord of the City !" He declared in person, and caused the same proclamation to be made by others, that his followers had strict orders to abstain from plunder : he had already beheaded one of his officers for disobedience, and on the first and second days of his entry he gave an example of moderation which was universally obeyed. To pre- vent the possibility of any disturbance he drew off his forces in the evening to their quarters in South- wark. Hitherto Cade had not been guilty of any very flagrant act. A man of the name of Baylly lost his life for claiming the rebel's acquaintance ; and the incident has furnished our great dramatic poet with a highly characteristic scene. Fabian informs us that the pretended Mortimer, unwilling that his birth and early history should be blazoned abroad, de- nounced his old companion as a sorcerer, aware that he usually carried scrolls and prophecies about his person. The books were found ; and the poor wretch, convicted of the sin of witchcraft, was in- stantly condemned to death. * Fabian. YORK AND LANCASTER. 345 On the third of July, Cade proceeded to Giiihl- CHAP hall, and commanded the mayor and council to sit \ in judgment upon Lord Say, who had probably been deliv^ered up to him as we do not hear of any assault upon the tower. The arraigned noble claimed to be tried by his peers, and was instantly hurried away by the insurgents to the standard in Cheapside where they struck off his head. Mile End was in possession of a band of rioters who had risen in Essex ; on that mornino- thev had seized upon the sheriff of Kent, Crowmer, son-in-law of Lord Say, and the partner of his extortions, and their vengeance could be only satiated with his blood ; bearing the gory heads of their respective victims upon poles, the two parties met each other in tlie streets, and with sickening and savage exultation displayed the trophies of their inhumanity to the brutal derision of a furious mob. Robbery quickly followed upon murder. Cade himself relaxed in his discipline, and plundered the house of a draper where he had been hospitably entertained. The rabble of London relieved from the restraint im- posed upon them, eagerly sought to enrich them- selves with the property of their wealthy neighbours, and alarmed by the prospect of general pillage, the more respectable classes, in conjunction with Lord Scales, took measures to expel the marauders from the city.* At nightfall they attacked Cade upon the bridge, who aware of their design had assembled his partizans [in great numbers : the rebels made a vigorous resistance, frequently repulsing their as- sailants ; after a sharp conflict of six hours in which * Fabian, 34)6 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, many of each party lost their lives, the Londoners ^ • succeeded in forcing the bridge, and Cade was com- pelled to retreat. This disaster encouraged the archbishops of Canterbury and York, who were in the tower, to try the effect of negotiation, they dispatched the Bishop of Winchester to the church of Saint Margaret's on the opposite side of the river, with pardons under the great seal for all who should lay down their arms. Cade was induced to accept the royal mercy, which was eagerly received by his followers, many of whom returned home ; but reco- vering his spirits, and suspicious that Henry's cle- mency would not be extended to the leader of the rebellion, he rallied the most staunch of his asso- ciates, and not finding himself strong enough to renew the attempt upon London, fell back to Dart- ford, and from thence to Rochester. He had, how- ever, lost all his authority ; regardless of the common cause each of the insurgents was intent upon seizing the plunder which had been carried from the capital ; unanimity was at an end, and Cade perceiving that every hope of regaining his command was lost, mounted a horse and fled into Sussex. A reward of a thousand marks had been set upon the rebel's head, his movements had been carefully watched, and Alexander Iden, the nev/ sheriff of Kent, fol- lowing close upon his track, overtook him in an orchard near the town of Lewes. A desperate con- flict ensued. Cade's brave defence purchased for him a soldier's death, he fell under the sword of the royalist, who carried the traitor's head to London, YORK AND LANCASTER. 347 where it was placed upon the bridge. The prin- CHAP, cipal ringleaders of the rebellion suffered upon the ^'^• scaffold, and it was afterwards alleged against the Duke of York that they had confessed a design to place him upon the throne in the event of their success.* Hall. Holingslied. Stow. 348 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAPTER XV. JYational Discontent — Impolitic Conduct of the Government — York^s Departure from Ireland — he summons his Friends — Murder ofTre- sham — York enters London — his Intervieiv with the King — Queen MargareV s Displeasure — Buckingham' s Interference — Parliament Summoned — Arrival of Somerset — his unpopidarity — Outrage of the Mob — The Peers attend Parliament — Resolution to impeach Somerset — Insolent Proposition of a Lawyer — Proceedings of the Parliament — York secures Somerset — The attempted Vindication by SomerseVs Friends — Norfolk's Speech — Private Feuds — Fierce Spirit of the JVobles — York'' s Retirement to Ludlow — his Proclamation — Levies Forces — Tlie King at the head of an Army — York encamps at Dartford — Embassy from the King — York demands the Arrest of Somerset — Decision of the Council — York''s Second Interview with the King — Angry Meeting between Somerset and York — York car- ried a Prisoner to London — Henry's Clemency — Somerset's Ascen- dance' — Embassy from Guienne — Expedition under Talbot — his Suc- cess — his Reverses — Encounters the French Army — is defeated and slain — Fall of Guienne — Description of the Duchy — The English driven out of France. The insurrection was quelled, but it was followed by a very short interval of tranquillity. A large portion of the nation disliked the government of the queen, and were anxious to see the Duke of York at the head of the ministry. He was not without am- bition, though deeply indebted to Henry for the resto- ration of the forfeited titles and estates of his family he had received ample cause for discontent in the YORK AND LANCASTER. 34^ preference accorded by his sovereign to his personal CIIAF. enemies. His faithful services to the crown seemed ^^- to demand confidence, and at a period in which the nation had strongly expressed their dissatisfaction with the measures of the court, lie was encouraged by numerous partizans to assert his just pretensions to a share in the royal councils. Henry's imbecility and dislike to public business seemed to warrant the interference of a kinsman so nearly allied, and so capable of conducting an ad- ministration from whence he had been entirely ex- cluded without sufficient cause. It was the policy of Margaret of Anjou and her party to prevent the duke from gaining a higher degree of ascendance over the public mind ; it seemed dangerous to trust a man with power who was not only in the event of the king's death presumptive heir to the crown, but who possessed rights which he would probably claim at the first favourable moment. We cannot there- fore be surprised at the queen's unyielding resolu- tion rather to engage in open war than to admit him into the cabinet. Unfortunately both the talents and the virtue of the kingdom were opposed to Margaret, and the misconduct of her principal favourites afforded but too fair a pretext for their removal from the royal presence. Notwithstanding the rebellious spirit which was abroad, as yet scarcely a disloyal word had been breathed, even the procla- mations of Cade were couched in the king's name, and the errors of the government attributed entirely to unworthy ministers. The enm.ity between York and Somerset furnished the former with a plausible motive for his expostulations,, and whatever might 350 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF have been his secret intentions his requests were reasonable, and limited to the modest privileges of a prince of the blood. The duke's movements, however, were calculated to excite alarm. He quitted Ireland without the permission or recall of the king in September, pro- ceeded to his castle in Wales, and there distrusting it should seem the nature of his reception at court, mustered a sufficient force to ensure his safe conduct to London. Amid those who attended his summons was the late speaker of the House of Commons, Tresham, one of the Duke of Suffolk's most deter- mined opposers. Whilst upon his journey he was assaulted by the people of the Lord Grey of Ruthyn,* who to the amount of a hundred and sixty men armed w^ith swords and spears lay in wait for him under a hedge, and put him to death whilst he was repeat- ing his matins to the virgin .•|' We do not know whether Lord Grey participated in this murder, or whether it was caused by private pique or political animosity. The perpetrators, who also carried off the horse and valuables of the deceased, were outlawed. Sept. At the end of the month, the Duke of York advanced to London with a retinue of four thousand men, a number sufficient to prevent the interference of Lord Lyle, son of the famous Talbot, who had been directed to oppose his progress. Arriving at the palace of Westminster, he knelt before the king, and having represented the disturbed state of the country in consequence of the great neglect of the administration of justice, entreated him to summon a parliament that measures might be taken to redress • William of Wynchester. t Parliament Rolls. YORK AND LANCASTER. 351 these grievances. York's conduct in this interview CHAP, is differently reported ; in the preamble to his sub- ^^' sequent attainder it is stated that he assumed a menacing aspect, filled the chamber with a multitude of armed men, who beat down the spears and walls, and that he retired covered with confusion at the king's rebuke. But there is a passage in the Paston letters which gives a more favourable idea of the duke's behaviour. The writer observes, " It is said that my Lord of York has been with the king and departed in right good conceit with the king, but not in great conceit with the queen.*'* Henry with his usual meekness, was probably disposed to listen to the duke had Margaret permitted ; but that ^ strong-minded woman saw danger and scrupled not to declare her suspicions in the intruder's presence. She charged him with treason, and would have sent him to the tower had not the Duke of Buckingham interposed. A steady friend to the house of Lan- caster, Buckingham was at this time displeased by the sudden dismissal of his two brothers from the honourable offices of Treasurer and Chamberlain ; we learn from the same letter already quoted that he manifested his resentment by opposing Margaret. The writer states, that " the duke's opinion is con- trary to the queen's intent." Though threatened with imprisonment and attainder for his boldness the Duke of York gained his point. A Parliament was summoned to meet in the following November, and in the interim he retired to his castle of Fotheringay. Soon after the departure of York, the Duke of Somerset arrived from France. Margaret hailed his * Fenn's Collection, vol. 1. 352 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, return with joy j but the people, exasperated against '_ him by the loss of Normandy, viewed his favour with the sovereign as an additional incentive to their hatred. He soon experienced the effects of the gene- ral indignation : the mob of London broke open and plundered his house in the Blackfriars. Flying from the fury of an enraged populace to the Thames, he was only rescued from impending death by the oppor- tune approach of the Earl of Devonshire's barge, in which he took refuge. The Duke of York came to the House of Peers well attended, as did also his friends the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Salisbury, and Richard Nevill, Salisbury's gallant son, the Lord Cobham, and the Earl of Devonshire. The result of numerous con- sultations which these nobles held with each other, was a determination to impeach Somerset. Early in the sitting of parliament, Thomas Young, a lawyer and member for Bristol, boldly asserted the necessity of naming the heir apparent, the king being without issue ; and presumed even to mention the Duke of York as the most fitting person : the suggestion was ill received, and he was sent to the tower.* On the day that Lord Say had been murdered, the Duchess of Suffolk, Thomas Daniel and others, im- peached at the same time by Cade, only escaped a similar fate from being beyond the rebel's reach : these persons now demanded to be put upon their trial, and were immediately acquitted. f After a pro- rogation of six weeks the two houses met again. York openly accused Somerset of flagrant miscon- * Parliament Rolls. f Parliament Rolls. YORK AND LANCASTER. S5S duct in France, both by his negligence in suffering the chap. truce to be broken by his officers, and thereby afford- ^^• ing the French king a pretext to renew the war before preparation had been made by the Enghsh to sup])ort it, and his cowardly abandonment of the towns and castles committed to his care. He also charcjed him with having received bribes for his consent to the cession of Anjou and Maine, and with meditating to sell Calais to the Duke of Burgundy. Somerset's friends, without denying all these imputations, en- deavoured to palliate his conduct. They contended that the offences if committed only amounted to a trespass ; and the Duke of Norfolk indignantly re- plied, " That every true subject to the crown ought greatly to marvel that the loss of two so noble duchies as Normandy and Guienne, that be well worth a great nation, coming by succession to the said crown, is but trespass ; whence it has been seen that the loss of towns and castles without siege, the captains that have lost them have been dead and beheaded and their goods lost."* The duke quoted several cases to support his opinion, and concluded by urging an inquiry into the state of the law upon this point, and upon the conduct of Somerset both in England and France. Norfolk's remonstrance was ineffectual, the queen's power upheld the favourite, and little was done to satisfy the malecontent party or to tranquillize the public mind. The weakness of the government and the fatal differences of sentiment which agitated the nobles, occasioned innumerable feuds: appeals to arms were made all over the kingdom, and every quarrel was * Fenn's Collection, vol. iii. p. 111. VOL. I. A A 854 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, decided bv the sword. The old historians draw a ^^' frightful picture of the state of society. We are told that the Duke of York narrowly escaped being put to death by the western men who fell upon him beyond St. Alban's, and would have slain him had not Sir William Oldhall interposed at the hazard of his life. Tliere was an affray at Coventry between the Duke of Somerset's people and the townsmen, in which several of the latter were killed. *The Earl of Devonshire, for what cause we do not learn, besieged the Lord Bonville in his castle at Taunton, who surrendered at the Duke of York's approach ; and in returning from tlie marriage of his son Thomas Neville the Earl of Salisbury, encountered and quar- * A diligent search for the origin and nature of tlie quarrel between Lord Bonvill and the Earl of Devonshire, has only been rewarded by the following account given by Prince, in his Woithies of Devon, a w riter too frequently in error to be of much authority. He says, " In the thirty-third year of Henry VI. there fell out a shrewd dispute between Thomas Courtney Earl of Devon and this Lord Bonvilj, about a couple of hounds, which could by no mediation of friends be qualified or appeased, until it was valiantly tried by single combat on Clist Hill (Cliff Heath, according to Dugdale) near Exeter; wherein, as Dugdale tells us, this lord prevailed. But another writer saith, that after they had well tryed one the other's strength and valour with their naked swords, tliey at last, as was said of the two kings, Edmund and Canutus, in the isle of Olney, near Gloucester, A. D. 1016, lovingly agreed and embraced each other, and ever after con- tinued in great amity; which I can hardly believe, for a reason which may hereafter be observed in reference to the lord. Not long after this the civil wars breaking out in England between the two famous houses of York and Lancaster, notwithstanding the honour and personal obligation this noble lord had received from Henry VI. he was always found on the side of the enemy, the Duke of York; but whether induced hereunto from a principle of mere conscience towards v\hat he apprehended the right line, or by the subtile insinuations of Nevil Earl of Salisbury, whose daughter he had married to his grandson William Bonvill Lord Hariington, I shall not take upon me to determine." — Worf/iirs of Devon. YORK AND LANCASTER. 355 relied with the Lord Egremoiit, near York. The CHAP, old writers date the calamities which desolated Eng- ^^ • land from circumstances which they do not mention connected with this conflict ; probably the haughty temper of Salisbury, irritated by the insult he had received, burned for more signal vengeance. These fiery spirits should have been allowed to exhaust themselves in a foreign war. Henry V. sharing in the ardour of his subjects, led men to gather laurels abroad, who under his peaceable descendant en- gaged in murderous quarrels with each other. Mar- garet has been accused of preferring the interests of France to those of England. If the imputation be just, she suffered the punishment, for those who would have carried flame and sword into an enemy's country now fought with equal fury upon their own thresholds. York at the conclusion of the session withdrew in sullen discontent to his castle at Ludlow. The name of Mortimer was powerful in the marches of Wales, and whilst great numbers of his tenants crowded to '^-52- his standard, he issued proclamations, assuring the people that he intended only the good of his country, and the welfare of the king, to whom he professed the most profound and unshaken loyalty.* Henry prepared to repel this forcible interference with his government by the sword ; accompanied by the Duke of Somerset and other lords, he marched at the head of a powerful army to meet the force opposed against him; this spirited movement seems to have discon- certed the duke, who avoiding an engagement crossed the Thames at Kingston, and proceeded into • Fabian. A A 2 35(3 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. Kent, a hot-bed of sedition, where he hoped to gain •^^* a considerable accession of strength : he entrenched himself on a heath near Dartford, and fortified his camp with artillery. The king closely following his opponent's route, drew up the royal forces at Black- heath, and by the advice of his council, dispatched the Bishops of Winchester and Ely to inquire the cause of his kinsman's hostile appearance. York again protesting his attachment to the crown, com- plained of many grievances — of being accused of treason and threatened with arrest ; he assured the prelate that he did not take up arms either to en- danger the king or any other good man, but with the intent to remove from his councils those ill-dis- posed persons who were the common oppressors of all ranks and classes and, naming the Duke of Somerset as the cause of infinite evil, demanded that he should be put upon his trial.* The king's friends debated upon this answer, and advised him as the best hope of subduing a dangerous insurrection without the effusion of blood, to pacify the malecon- tent party by appearing at least to comply with their requests. The Duke of Somerset was reported to be in custody by the king's command. York, " the easy-natured," as he has been termed, trusting to the good faith of the sovereign's promise, dis- banded his army upon the assurance of Somerset's dismissal and restraint, a measure which, if unwary, proved that he at least was sincere in asserting that he desired only to reform, and not to overthrow the government. He repaired alone and uncovered to the royal tent, and to his surprise and conster- • Hal!. YORK AND LANCASTER. 3.37 nation was confronted by his rival, who at pericct chap. Hberty seemed to be as high as ever in the favour of -"^^• the king. Each retorted the charge of treason upon the other ; Somerset accused York of meditating the seizure of the crown, and told him that if he had not learned to play the king by his regency in France, he had never forgot to obey as a subject when he returned to England:* and addressing Henry advised the duke's immediate arrest. York, astonished, but not abashed, replied with equal spirit; and as he quitted the royal tent found himself a pri- soner : he was placed on horseback and conveyed in the usual manner to London, riding before the king. Somerset urged the trial and execution of his enemy, but it was not possible to prevail upon the mild and pious Henry, always averse to the shedding of blood, to consent to the death of so near a relation ; and the council, alarmed by intelligence that the young Earl of March was hastening at the head of an army to effect his father's release, proposed the terms of a reconciliation between the offender and his sovereign. The Duke of York willingly consented to renew his oath of fealty and allegiance as the price of his liberty, and in the most solemn manner in St. Paul's church, in the presence of a numerous assemblage, swore upon the sacrament eternal fidelity to the king."f He was then permitted to return to his castle at Wigmore, and Somerset again at the head of affairs, enjoyed the most unbounded confidence botli from Margaret and her weak husband. Paramount at court, we are told that he ruled by his word * Leland. f Stow. 358 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, alone, and that no other voice was heard in the ^^' council chamber.* The discomfiture of the Duke of York and the total failure of his enterprize seemed to ensure the security of the house of Lancaster, and an oppor- tunity now offered for the recovery of part of the English possessions in France, and the renewal of those glorious achievements which had riveted the affections of the nation to their triumphant monarchs. The inhabitants of Guienne, who paid unwilling alle- giance to their new master, gave Henry secret intel- ligence of the weakness of the French garrisons, and invited him by an embassy dispatched on pur- 1452. pose, to assist them in expelling the invaders from the dutchy. The prospect of renewing the war under such favourable auspices filled the nation with joy. The veteran Talbot was selected for this ho- nourable service, a commander whose very name inspired terror throughout the dominions of Charles; but he was in his eightieth year, and though the hero of innumerable battles, had gained reputation in the field more by the prowess of his single arm than by his skill in military tactics. On his first appearance the hero of Henry V.'s wars performed his usual wonders. Landing with four thousand men, and sup- ported by the good will of the Gascons, Talbot advanced to Bourdeaux ; the French garrison fright- ened, as Fuller quaint!}^ observes, by the bare fame of his approach, fled from the spot; the English flag again waved over the towers, and with the co-opera- tion of Lord Lisle, who joined him with a rein- forcement equal in strength to his own army, he • Hall. July. YORK AND LANCASTER. 3j9 regained the wliole of the Bordeiais, together with CHAP. Chatillon in Perigord. The town of Fronsac siir- _^ rendered in the folh:)wing spring; but this success o,.t. was his last. Charles VII. dispatched a formidable array against Chatillon, under tlie Marshals Loheac and Jalagnes : they invested it with twenty-two tiiou- sand men. Talbot, anxious to prevent the fall of this i-iw. important fortress, iiished eagerly to its relief. By the celerity of his movements he surprized a con- siderable detachment of the French, dispersed and cut them to pieces. Those who fled warned the main body of the approach of the English, and Talbot found the enemy well prepared to receive him, being- drawn up in a camp strongly entrenched and pro- vided with three hundred pieces of cannon. Flushed with recent victory, and unwilling to check the enthusiasm of his followers, the undaunted soldier hazarded an assault. He was gallantly supported, and victory for a moment promised to reward the generous daring of these devoted men. The French quailed under the shock of their resolute attack; but the Count Penthieore coming up at the instant with fresh troops, the English overpowered by numbers made a glorious defence, but could no longer hope to gain the battle. Talbot fell mortally w^ounded: escape was in the power of the valiant Lisle; but determined upon the rescue of his father, though assured that all was lost, he disdained to fly, and was slain in the futile attempt.* The battle already decided was discon- * Moiistreltt. 360 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, tinued at the death of the commander ; the soldiers [ retreated on all sides, and a thousand men who had cut their way to Chatillon were taken prisoners. The victorious army now directed their arms against Bourdeaux which was closely besieged. Six thou- sand citizens resolutely defended it for the space of seven weeks, and at the expiration of that period only capitulated from the pressure of famine. They obtained honourable terms, provided for the safety of the English inhabitants, and having boldly though ineffectually struggled for their liberties, suffered themselves to be irrevocably attached to the French dominions. A rich gem was plucked out of the crown of England by the loss of Guienne. Hall tells us that " the keeping of this fair duchy was neither costly nor troublesome to the realm ; for by the sov^ereignty of that country young gentlemen acquired expe- rience in the art of war, and expert men were promoted to rich offices." No longer called upon to achieve fresh victories, or to defend the posses- sions gained by their predecessors, the nobles, in the dearth of all foreign military enterprize, eagerly espoused the factions which so unhappily divided the kingdom. An anecdote preserved by Camden may not be misplaced here, since it enables us to form a vivid idea of the lawless state of society and the distraction which prevailed. He says, *' After the battle in which Shrewsbury was slain, when the flame of inward war began to flash out in England, the martial men were called home out of France to maintain the factions here ; at which YORK AND LANCASTER. S6l time a French captain scoffingly asked an English- CHAP, man when they should return again to France? He ^^• answered feelingly and upon true ground, * When your sins shall be greater and more grievous in the sight of God than ours are now.'*' 36^2 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAPTER XVI. State of the Revenue — Somerset" s Ascendance — his new Appointment — Reports to his Prejudice — Murmurs of the Yorkists — Council at Coventry — MargareV s Progresses — her Affability — Extravagance in Dress — Margaret Paston's Letter — Proceedings of the Parliament — Henry'' s Illness — Birth of the Prince of Wales — Calumnies against the Queen — Return of York — Arrest of Somerset — Quarrels of the Duke of Exeter — Judgment passed on Thorp — Mildness of York's Government — Impeachment of the Earl of Devonshire — York's Speech — Henry's Malady — York made Protector — Creation of the Prince of Wales — York's Application to Parliament — Margaret's Enmity — The King's Recovery — his Piety — York's Indignation — Consultation with his Friends — Splendour of the J^'evilh — The Cobles take up Arms — The King's Levies — Henry's Message to the Insurgents — their Answer — Spirited Speech of the King — Battle of St. Alban's — Death of the Lancastrian J\~obhs — Flight of the King's Friends — Henry made Prisoner — Pillage of the Town — Prophecy concerning Somerset — Northumberland' s Devotedness — Clifford's Valour — Piety of the Monks — Respectful Demeanour of York — Al- leged Letter to the Chancellor — The Yorkists are pardoned — Con- duct of the Lancastrians — Troubles throughout England — Threatened Hostility in London — State of the King's Health — York resumes the Protectorate — his Enmity to the Lancastrians — Margaret's Appre- hensions — Return of her Party to Power. CHAP. The expenditure of the crown having greatly ex- ^^^- ceeded its revenue, and the " poor commons,"* as they are styled, not being able to bear the pressure of new taxes, the Parliament passed an act for the * Parliament Rolls. 'STORK -.AND LANCASTEli. 368 repeal of the royal grants, with the exception of a CHAP. certain number ; a measure which however neces- '_ sary could not fail to displease those rapacious courtiers who had so largely profited by the king's muniiicence. Somerset remained at the head of the administration, receiving each day fresh proofs of the monarch's favour. All honours were dispensed through his hands, and he was appointed to be Captain of Calais, in the place of a tried servant of the crown, the Duke of Buckingham. This new advancement we are told grieved and offended not only the commons but the nobility also, who did not hesitate to affirm that " as he had lost Normandy, so would he lose Calais."* The Duke of York and his party inflamed the public discontent by their bitter animadversions upon the king and the govern- ment. Henry's passive disposition and monkish habits were represented as unworthy of his high station. They depicted the favourite in the blackest colours, as mischievous, tyrannical and covetous; and these continual strictures, we are informed by our chronicler, weakened the attachment of many persons of rank to the reigning monarch ; and rest- less spirits, discontented with their present con- dition, or from mere wantonness anxious for change, were easily wrought upon to espouse the quarrel of a prince whose exaltation would cause honours and dignities to flow through a new channel.^- Henry, unfitted himself to rule a kingdom in trou- blesome times, and too strongly attached to the scarcely less incapable yet more ambitious Somerset, to confide the reins of government to stronger hands, * Hall. t Hall. 364) THE RIVAL HOUSES OF -CHAP, was yet earnestly desirous to conciliate the Duke of _; York ; the king's love of justice we may believe in- cited him to a measure which in many would have been only the result of policy ; he assembled a grand council at Coventry and invited the contending lords to discuss their differences in his presence, committing the decision to the surrounding nobles.* It does not appear to have been difficult to appease the Duke of York ; the meeting ended amicably, and had not untoward circumstances subsequently thrown the kingdom into a chaos of confusion the mild tem.- per of the parties immediately concerned might have rendered the harmony which this meeting produced between the sovereign and his kinsman of permanent duration. Margaret took advantage of the short interval of tranquillity which ensued to ingratiate herself with the gentry of some of the neighbouring counties. The Paston letters have preserved an account of her visit to Norwich, whither it appears she proceeded at the head of a gay and elegant court, soliciting with much affability and grace the company of those ladies whom circumstances prevented from approach- ing her without an invitation.f The queen gained the good-will of the provincial fair by her condescen- * William of Wyrcestre. t Margaret Paston says, *' The queen sent after my cousin Elizabeth Clerc, to come to her, and she durst not disobey the commandment." This expres- sion, as the writer had previously paid her respects to the royal visitor, would lead us to imagine that her cousin either did not think herself eligible to ap- pear at court, or staid away until she had received an invitation in conse- quence of the political bias of the family. Whichever supposition we adopt Margaret deserves great credit for so excellent a method of winning the female part of the community to her interests. 1452. April. YORK AND LANCASTER. S65 sion : and the splendour of her appearance may be CHAP, inferred by the necessity which Margaret Paston ^^ informs her husband she was under, of borrowing her cousin EHzabeth's necklace,* " as she durst not for shame go with her beads before so many fine gentlewomen.'* The attire in these days though cumbrous was magnificent. Margaret is represented in a picture preserved by Walpole in a robe embroidered round the hem with a verse of a psalm ; and we hear of head-dresses so high that doors were obliged to be enlarged to admit them ; the native country of the queen then, as at the present time, gave the laws of fashion to England : and the utmost extravagance and pomp had been introduced in France by Isabel of Bavaria. Froissart observes, that though there had been many gay queens before, ** there was never one so trimmed out as she,'' and the rude English strongly attached to showy ornaments, eagerly adopted the most absurd and expensive decorations for the person. Henry was perhaps the only indi- vidual in his kingdom who refused to wear the pointed and upturned shoes so universally esteemed by the gallants of the time ; these, always ridiculous, grew at last to such an immoderate length that laws were enacted against them. In 1465 it was pro- claimed throughout England, that the " beakes or pikes of shoes or boots should not passe two inches * The lady takes advantage of this circumstance to ask her husband for a new ornament. " I pray you do your cost on me against Whitsuntide, that I may have something for my neck."— FennV Collection, pages 68, 70. S6G THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, upon paine of cursing by the clergy, and forfeiting twenty shillings." Margaret not trusting wholly to the beauty of her person, and the richness of her dress, strove by even more powerful arts to incre-ase her popularity. She asked the young ladies questions about their lovers, and professed herself pleased with their answers. Margaret Paston says of her cousin, *' the queen reporteth of her in the best wise, and saith by her truth she saw no gentlewoman since she came to Norfolk that she liked better ;"* and though no other commendations have reached us, Margaret doubtless took care to send away all her guests in equal good humour. J453. In the following March the king assembled a par- liament at Reading. It was considered expedient to raise an army of twenty thousand archers for the maintenance of the peace of the kingdom, and each city and county was to furnish its quota, and return them at their own expense. f The king also asked and obtained a grant for the necessary subsidies for his whole life, although it had not been customary to vote them for a longer period than two or three years. The liberality of the commons drew forth a speech of gracious thanks from the kind-hearted monarch, who did not however experience the same ready co-operation with his wishes from his subjects ; the proposed levy was unfavourably received, at least we may infer the public disapprobation since the project was relinquished. It was intended that the king should have commanded in person, and his * Fenn's ColJection, vol. i. t Parliament Rolls. YORK AND LANCASTER. S6j ckclining state of health was scarcely a sufficient chap. reason for the abandonment of a measure wliicli ^^l. would have placed a large force at the disposal of the crown. The king's illness assumed an alarming character; as the winter approached, he sunk into a state of helpless unconsciousness, both body and mind sympathizing in a malady which rendered his limbs powerless and paralyzed the mental faculties. Margaret at this inauspicious period was delivered oct. 13. of a son ; had the unfortunate infant entered the ^^^^' world during the first years of his parent's marriage, his birth would have been hailed with universal ac- clamations ; but a large portioji of the nation had fallen from their allegiance to the house of Lan- caster, and many desired the quiet succession of Richard Duke of York, when the present monarch should be removed by death; a hope which was destroyed by the inopportune appearance of another claimant to the throne : doubts of the legitimacy of this ill-fated prince were industriously circulated by the queen's enemies, and Margaret, never an object of po[)ular regard, was now assailed by calumnies which made a strong impression upon the vulgar ear.* The lamentable situation of the kma; could not be disguised, and no longer enabled to act in his name the queen's party were obliged to admit the Duke of York to a place in the cabinet. The arrest of Somerset soon followed, a measure which it would appear was adopted by the duke's friends, to pre- serve him from fallinsr into the hands of his deter- lYiined foe, as he states himself in a letter to the * Fal)i;iU. 368 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. King of Scotland, " that his being in the tower was [ owing to the advice of the lords of the king's council, which," he continues, " as I understood was mooste for the surety of my person :"* the arrest took place in the queen's public chamber.^j- York subsequently arraigned him before the par- liament, but the Lancastrian party were stifficiently strong to prevent his impeachment from being fol- lowed by a trial, and the only inconvenience which he sustained was an imprisonment of fourteen months. The Duke of Exeter was also in custody. Of the exact cause we are left uninformed, but it was pro- bably not of a political nature, his turbulent dis- position even involved him in deadly quarrels with the chiefs of the faction which he had espoused. The Lord Cromwell obtained an act to bind him to keep the peace under a severe penalty, and some idea of his general conduct may be gained from a letter to John Paston, the writer of which stating that he was then at large, prays " God to give him good council hereafter. "J The Duke of York pro- ceeded at law against Thorp, a baron of the Exche- quer and speaker to the house of commons, one of the most active partizans of Somerset and the queen, for a trespass. Thorp was convicted and adjudged to pay damages to the amount of a thousand pounds, in default of which he was committed to the Fleet. • Harleian MS. ■f The Duke of Somerset was arrested in the Queen's great chamber and sent to the Tower of London, where he without great solemnitie kept a dole- full Christmas. — Hall, page 232. X Fenn's Collection, vol. i. YORK AND LANCASTER. 3G9 The commons petitioned* the lords to procure the CHAP release of their speaker, but they refused to interfere, '"^^ '* and another was chosen. We do not know how far the Duke of York was justified in his prosecution of this man, but in other respects his government was remarkable for its moderation. An attempt was made by tlie opposite party to impeach the loyalty of one of his adherents, with a view, if we may judge from the result, to extend the imputation to York himself. The Earl of Devonshire was accused of treason, and being put upon his trial was imme- diately acquitted. On this occasion the duke, who conceived that he had been included in the attack upon his friend, addressed the assembled lords, de- claring that the indictment as far as it touched him was false and untrue, for he had always been a faith- ful liegeman to the king, and never even in thought or action intended aught against him ;^ and then calling the saints of heaven to bear witness to the truth of his asseveration, he offered as a knight to adventure his body in support of his innocence. The king's disorder increased to a fearful extent. Upon the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1454. which happened in March, a deputation of peers was sent to his residence at Windsor to condole with him upon his sickness, and receive his commands respecting a successor to the vacant see, should he be able to comprehend the purport of their visit. The commissioners brought a melancholy report of the monarch's infirmity of mind ; he had sunk into a state of torpor from which it was impossible to arouse him ; he breathed indeed, but of rational • Parliament Rolls. t Parliament Rolls. VOL. I. B B 370 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, existence there was no indication, his eyes gazed upon vacancy, his ears echoed no sound, he was speechless and motionless, nor did he acknowledge by a single sign the slightest consciousness of their unwearied efforts to awaken him from his dumb insensibility.* The communication made by the lords respecting Henry's distressing condition ratified the appoint- ment of the Duke of York as protector to the realm. The wisdom of the parliament imposed the usual re- straints upon this high office ; the duke was merely placed at the head of the council, and entrusted with the command of the army in case of rebellion or invasion : and great care was taken to preserve the rights of the infant heir who had been created Prince of Wales ; the protectorate being limited to the duration of. the king's illness or the minority of the prince, to whom when he became of age it was to be resimied. Fearing perhaps to incur the charge of an ambi- tious usurpation of a dignity which parliament could alone confer, the duke entreated the peers to give an assurance that they of their free will and without any presumption of his own (since he was anxious only to perform his humble obedience to his sovereign lord) had called upon him to fulfil their especial desire in taking the authority with which he had been in- vested : and the parliament acceding to this request, and expressing at the same time their full confidence in his loyalty, an act was framed upon the model of that passed in the minority of the reigning monarch.'f' • Parliament Rolls. t Parliament Rolls. YOUK AND LAXCASTEH. Sji It was most unfortunate that the queen's inve- CHAR terate prejudices prevented her from seeking the '^^''• friendship of a man who did not become the enemy of his prince until he had been treated as a rival and a foe. Margaret hastened tlie catastrophe she dreaded by her uncompromising enmity : tlie minute causes of the hatred which burned so fiercely in her bosom being hidden from us we cannot tell how deeply it was merited, but judging only from the facts preserved in history, an im])artial mind will acquit the duke of those long laid designs of treason attributed to him by the writers of the Lancastrian party. The danger which might have been apprehended from the king's illness, and the power which it com- mitted into his kinsman's hands, were averted by the precaution of the parliament, and the temperate conduct of the Duke of York ; and had the protec- torate lasted there is reason to believe that Richard Plantagenet would have become the prop of the throne which he afterwards shook to its base. Henry suddenly recovered from his afflicting hji. lethargy, which had lasted nearly a year, and the first act of his returning reason displayed the fervour of his piety, his almoner being dispatched with an offering to the shrine of St. Edward at Canterbury. The news soon spread and the king's friends crowded around him ; we learn from the Paston letters that when the queen brought the infant prince to a parent hitherto unconscious of the gift, he inquired its name, and when told that it was Edward, " held up his hands and thanked God thereof." He avowed the stupor which had oppressed his mental faculties, B K 2 37^ THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, observing " that he knew not what had been said to ^^^- him or where he had been." Retaining the meek and placid disposition for which he had ever been distinguished, he declared himself to be in charity with all the world, uttering at the same time a devout but ineffectual wish that all the lords were in the same happy temperament. The Bishop of Winchester and the Prior of St. John after having been admitted to their monarch's presence wept for joy. They reported that he had spoken to them as well as ever ; and continuing still to amend, the administration was again changed.* The Duke of York's protectorate ended of course, but he was also somewhat invidiously deprived of the command of Calais, to which he had been ap- pointed for seven years : it was given to Somerset, who released from his imprisonment now took the lead in the government. York did not see himself thus supplanted without bitter indignation. A second time it was proposed that the almost innumerable disputes which had arisen between these implacable rivals should be settled by arbitration.^f York gave a sullen consent, but regardless of the decision, whatever it might be, retired in undisguised resentment to his northern possessions. Bent upon revenge, and judging per- haps from his own feelings towards Somerset, that his life was not safe whilst his adversary continued in power, the duke aroused the fierce passions of his friends by his representations and complaints. Richard of York was nearly connected with the powerful family of the Nevills, having married * Fenn's Collectiou, vol. i. f Ryraer. YORK AND LANCASTER. C^t^ Cecily daughter of the Earl of WestmorchuKl, and cn\l'. sister of the Earl of Salisbury, raised to the earhlom '>^vi. in right of his wife the heiress of Thomas Mon- tacute, slain before Orleans. The Earl of Salisbury potent by his valour and his riches was surpassed in both by his son Richard Nevill,* the most splen- did peer that England ever boasted. Princely in his modeofhving, frank, courteous, high spirited, and liberal, the excess of these virtues secured a more extensive popularity than any subject had ever yet attained. The Earl of Warwick*s chivalric bearino: and gorgeous magnificence won the favour of the nobility ; his boundless hospitality filled his castles with retainers, and his munificence procured the idolatrous attachment of the common people, who tasted his bounty themselves, or saw it bestowed upon the friendless wanderer, the disbanded soldier, the decayed gentleman, and the multitude of needy applicants who crowded to his gates, and were never suffered to depart without relief. These haughty barons were easily induced to second the violent measures of their aggrieved kins- man ; he was joined also by Lord Cobham, and the confederates raised their followers with the deter- mination of expelling the Duke of Somerset from the royal councils by force of arms. Henry prepared with unusual spirit to resist this insolent invasion of his right. Attended by Somerset, the Duke of Buckingham, and his son, the Earl of Stafford, the Earls of Northumberland and Wiltshire, * Richard Kevill like his father acquired his inuiiense riches by a fortu- nate marriage, he espoused the heiress of the Beauchamps, and to this spk-ndid aUiance he owtd the proud title of Warwick. 374 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, and Lord Clifford, he hastened from London to pre- • v^ent a conjunction between York and his friends in the metropoHs, and proceeded northwards to meet and punish the disturbers of the pubhc peace. The king reached St. Albans, on the 22d of May, in time to prevent the entrance of the hostile lords, whose banners were visible from the walls. By Henry's commands the Duke of Buckingham advanced to inquire the motives which had armed the hands of the insurgents against their sovereign.* York boldly demanded the surrender of the Duke of Somerset, yet was careful to preserve a tone of respectful entreaty throughout his reply, in which he prayed^ and besou2:ht the king; to trust him as his faithful and humble subject, and for the love of God and of charity to consider the true cause of his appearance, and to act graciously towards his liege men, who with the whole of their forces would be ready at all times to live and die in maintaining his right, and to obey all his commands, for the welfare of his crown and the good of the realm. Farther, the duke in behalf of himself and his colleagues implored Henry by the excellent qualities of his heart and temper, to regard the justice of the petition of his liege men and subjects, who prayed the Almighty to assist him in his decision, and trusted that through the media- tion of the glorious martyr Saint Alban, he would be convinced of the necessity of their interference, • Whetharastade. •f See account of the first battle of St. Albans from a contemporary manuscript communicated by John Bayly, Esq. F.S.A. to the Society of Antiquaries, and printed in the twentieth volume of the Archaeologia- — Slow, &c. YORK AND LANCASTER. 37^ which the Almighty Judge of human hearts knew to CHAP, be prompted by the purest motives. " Wlierefore," ^^''• continued the duke, " gracious Lord, be pleased of your high majesty to deliver into our hands such persons as we shall accuse, in order that they may receive the doom they merit, and you be honoured and obeyed as our just and rightful king; but as the most sacred and solemn promises which we have hitherto received have been broken, we now declare that we will not relinquish our intention either for promise or for oath until the man against whom our hostility is directed be given up to us, or we perish in the field.** Henry, fired with generous indignation by the ari'o- gant pretensions of the insurgents and their relentless animosity to his favourite, answered with unwonted energy : " I, Henry, King of England, charge and command that all manner of persons, of whatsoever degree, estate, or condition, shall instantly quit the field, and not be so hardy as to make resistance to me in mine own land ; for I desire to know what traitor dare be so bold as to raise forces in my king- dom, when through the machinations of e\il men I am in great trouble and heaviness. And by the faith I owe to Saint Edmund and the crown of England, I will utterly destroy those traitors, either by the sword or the hands of the executioner, as an example to all such as shall presume to defy their king and gover- nor ; and to conclude, rather than abandon the faithful friends who have sought my protection, I will this day venture my life in their quarrel, and for their sake live or die." Upon receiving this spirited answer from the king, 376 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF (:hap. York assembled his council, and finding bloodshed to be inevitable, said : *' The king our sovereign lord will not be reformed by our intreaties, nor will he understand the intention of our appearing before him in arms ; but is fully determined to pursue us to the utmost extremity, and should we fall into his power to deliver us up to a shameful death, whereby we shall lose our lands and chattels, and our heirs be dis- graced for ever. Therefore as we cannot escape death, it were better to fall upon the field, than to make a cowardly submission, and perish ignomi- niously : moreover considering in what evil plight England stands at this hour, it behoves us all to lend a vigorous assistance to remedy the mischiefs and redress the grievances which now prevail, and to acquit ourselves like men in this quarrel ; beseeching that Lord who is King of Glory to keep and save us this day in our right, that through the help of his holy grace we may be made strong to withstand the abominable malice of those who purpose fully to destroy us by a disgraceful death ; we therefore, Lord, pray to thee to be our comfort and defender, for the right of England standeth in us.'* The duke's sen- timents being fully approved by his confederates, both parties unsheathed the sword. The king's forces did not exceed two thousand men ; but in holding the town, they possessed an advantage over York, whose numbers were superior by one-third. Lord Clifford had the charge of the barriers ; they were vigorously assaulted, but the re- solution of his followers prevented the enemy from making any impression. Richard Nevill in seeking for a weaker point commenced a furious assault YORK AND LANCASTER. 377 Upon the garden side : the soldiers, animated by liis cilAP. noble daring, shouted "a Warwick! a Warwick!" ^^' The enthusiastic cry inspired them witli redoubled spirit ; they burst through the barriers, a deadly struggle ensued, and the battle was fought hand to hand in the streets. Three of the Lancastrian nobles rushed to the onset with dauntless intrepidity; the steady valour of Somerset, Clifford, and Northum- berland would have secured the victory, but for the admirable skill and conduct of the Duke of York ;* as his followers fell or gave way he supplied the places of the wounded and the weary from detach- ments in reserve, and obliged to maintain an unequal contest with continued reinforcements of fresh anta- gonists, those gallant soldiers were slain in despite of the most desperate resistance. The murderous showers of arrows which the archers of the malecontent party poured upon the royalists were irresistible, the king himself was struck in the neck, the Earls of Dorset and Stafford dangerously wounded, and the Duke of Buckingham and Lord Sudeley also hurt. Thus galled, the death of the three leaders proved the signal for flight, and the panic was so complete and universal, that the Earl of Wiltshire flung his armour in a ditch, Sir Philip Wentworth disgracefully abandoned the standard of the king, and the Duke of Buckingham, regarding his own safety rather than the danger of his master, retreated in haste without making the slightest attempt to rally the fugitives and avenge the dead. Stow tells us, that the departure of the Duke of Buckingham, who left the field wounded, ♦ Hall. 378 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF dispirited the royalists. Thorp was also in the battle, but made an early retreat. According to the most accurate writers the loss on the Lancastrian side did not exceed forty-eight persons. Had the surviving nobles imitated the gal- lant conduct of those who fell, the victory in all probability would have rested with Henry. The unfortunate monarch, deserted and bleeding, sought refuge in the house of a tanner, whither the Duke of York immediately proceeded, and strove by the most respectful demeanor to allay his anger and calm his fears. The northern soldiers, always insatiate of plunder, pillaged the town, and the next morning when the Yorkists attended the king to London, the monks of the abbey, who had listened anxiously to the clash of arms and the groans of the wounded, now left their cells to gaze upon a melancholy spec- tacle. The maimed and mangled bodies of the slain lay in the streets transfixed with the barbed darts which had made such frightful havoc amid the par- tizans of the red rose.* There is a tradition that the body of Somerset was found under the sign of a castle, thus fulfilling the prophetic warning of Margery Jourdemayn, the witch of Eya : — " Let him shun castles, , Safer shall he be on the sandy plain, Than where castles mounted stand." The Earl of Northumberland, attached from a principle of gratitude to the Lancastrian family for his restoration by Henry V. after the forfeiture of • Whethamstade. YORK AND LANCASTEU. 379 the title and estates by the rebelHon of his house, CHAP, had incurred the hatred of the opposite party by his ^^^• firm adherence to Henry's government, and now gave the last and most convincing proof of loyalty in pouring out his life-blood in his service. Lord Clifford, another faithful and unfortunate partizan, shared in the common destiny of his ancestors and immediate successor in faUing by a violent death. An old and tried soldier, this nobleman's adven- turous gallantry had brightened the fading glories of the English chivalry in France. Taking advantage of a wintry night of deep snow, Clifford directed his soldiers to put their shirts over their armour, and by this stratagem surprised and took the town of Ponthieu.* The timid monks were at first afraid to remove the ghastly remains of these noblemen, lest they should incur the displeasure of the victor ; but having obtained leave, the abbot sent out his servants to convey them into the monastery where the pious brethren performed their obsequies, and deposited them in the lady chapel in a line according to " their state, degree, and honour of their birth. "t Although the battle of St. Albans must be con- sidered as the commencement of those civil wars "Vv^hich changed the dynasty of England, its disas- trous consequences might have been prevented if the jealousy of the Lancastrians had permitted a more generous line of policy towards the victor. The conduct of York at this crisis affords a strong proof that his hostility was aimed solely against Somerset, and that he sought only to supplant the minister and • flail. t Gough. Whethamstade. 380 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. ^^^^ ^^^^ sovereign. The king was a prisoner in his XVI. hands, three of the most powerful of his party slain, the rest discomfited and dispersed ; he had already passed the rubicon by an act of open rebellion, he neither wanted courage nor resources to maintain his present formidable position, and his forbearance in candour must be attributed to a deep sense of duty and the obligation of his oath of allegiance. The duke sought to excuse rather than to justify the measures which he had pursued, assuring the king that he had written to the chancellor to explain the cause of his appearing in arms,* an act which he had then declared to be dictated entirely by the fear which he entertained of danger to his own person : and that he had farther expressed his determination to keep his loyalty unspotted, to lay aside his own particular quarrel, and to consult only the welfare of the king and the people ; that again at Ware, he had dispatched a letter addressed to Henry himself, written in the same spirit, and had made several ineffectual attempts to see him previous to the bat- tle ; and that the intrigues of Somerset, with Thorp and Joseph, another of the duke's creatures, had been the cause of the fatal rencontre which ensued. Henry gave apparent credit to this statement, which if feigned showed at least a desire to sooth rather than to defy. He received the duke and his friends into favour. York was appointed to be constable of England, Warwick to be captain of Calais, with the custody of the sea also, and Viscount Bourchier was made treasurer; and having assured them of his entire confidence in their loyalty, and granted a full * Parliament Rolls. YORK AND LANCASTER. 381 pardon for all past offences, they renewed their oatli CHAP, of allegiance. xvi. The Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of AVilt- shire reconciled themselves to the new administra- tion, and buried for a time their resentment for their losses and disgrace on the field of St. Albans. Lord Dudley was sent to the Tower, and the Earl of Dorset, the son and successor to Somerset, was a • prisoner in the custody of the Earl of Warwick. Sir Philip Wentworth incurred the contempt of all parties by his base desertion of the royal colours ; the Duke of Norfolk, though the friend of York, would have had him hanged for his cowardice, and hiding his dishonoured head in Suffolk he dared not approach the king.* The convulsed state of society during this session of Parliament shewed itself in continual storms. The Lords Warwick and Cromwell mutually accused each other of being the cause of the late battle; carrying their contentions even into the monarch's palace, and disputing in his presence ;t and so haugh- tily did the proud Nevills resist the imputation of Cromwell, that the latter was obliged to appeal to the Earl of Shrewsbury for protection, who lodged him in consequence at the hospital of St. James. The retainers of York, Salisbury, and Warwick, dis- trusting danger, wore their armour in the streets and filled the barges of their lords wdth offensive weapons. :t Henry issued proclamations to forbid this hostile array in fiery spirits so easily kindled, especially as upon every idle rumour the partizans of either faction drew their swords. Nor were the * Paston Letters, f Paston Letters. % Paston Letters, vol. i. p. H. 882 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, citizens more peaceably disposed. A report reached ^^ them that the Hfe of the Duke of York had been attempted by three of the king's household, and they immediately flew to arms ; the tumult being only appeased by the manifestation of the innocence of the accused. The feverish state of public feeling extended nearly over the whole kingdom. Nobles thirsted for each other's possessions, and revived the worst ages of barbarism by the lawless anarchy of their proceedings. The western counties were in a state of insurrection from the sanguinary war carried on between the Earl of Devonshire and Lord Bon- vill, who prosecuted their ancient feud with increas- ing fury. The king had again fallen into ill health, and the commons strongly representing the disturbed state Nov. of the country, the lords solicited the Duke of York to re-assume the title of protector, that by the authority of his office he might re-establish the peace of the realm. After a few scruples, which however were easily overcome, the duke accepted the prof- fered dignity. Hall, in speaking of the Duke of York's government, gives it this commendation, that he finds " no mention made of deferring justice or bribery, as was openly proved of those who ruled before his time ;'' but in removing, according to this author's statement, " all those whom the king loved and the queen favoured," he gave the Lancastrians too much reason to suppose that he would not be long content with the degree of power entrusted to his hands. Margaret could not be blind to the precarious state of her husband's health. The life of Henrv ]455 YORK AND LANCASTER. S83 hung upon a thread; and in the event of his decease, CHAP, she perhaps justly feared that the protector would ^^^• not respect the rights of the infant heir. A less courageous woman would have trusted her cause to the good feeling of the nation, and the English would not have deserted the interests of an injured female and her helpless child ; but with danger before her, a spirit to resent, and friends ready to encounter peril in her service, she boldly opposed herself to the ambition of the Duke of York. The Parliament in granting the commission of protector had shewn their steady devotion to the reigning family by naming Prince Edward as the duke's successor, should he on arriving at the proper age feel inclined to take the charge of the government upon himself. The queen's persevering activity improved this favourable bias, and at the recovery of the king, which took place at Christmas, she H55. found herself strong enough to remove the duke from his high station in the cabinet. 384 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAPTER XVIL York retires from the Administration — Calamitous Effects of the Battle of St. Albans — Lawless State of Society — Henry's Attempt at Paci- fication — Meeting at Coventry — Alarm of the Yorkists — The Kings unwearied Endeavours to obtain Peace — The Nobles repair to London — Mayoralty of Sir Godfrey Boleyn — Mediation of the Archbishop of Canterbury — Concessions of the Yorkists — Procession to St. PauVs — Joy of the People — JFarwick's naval Exploit — his Attend- ance at JVestminster — Fatal Quarrel of his Retainers — his Flight to Calais — Renewal of Hostilities — Henry's amiable Character — Pre- parations of the Confederates— Activity of the Queen— Battle of Blore Heath — Valour of the Cheshire Men — Henry marches towards Lud- low — York's Proclamation — TJie King's Offer of Pardon — Reply of the Malecontents — False Report of Henry's Death — Defection of Sir Andrew Trollope — Alarm and Flight of the Yorkists — Submis- sion of the Nobles — Henry's Clemency — Pillage of Ludlow — A Par- liament summoned — Sweeping Bill of Attainder — Merciful Dispo- sition of the King, CHAP. Henry attended parliament in person, and the ^^^^' resignation of York and Salisbury immediately fol- 1456. lowed. The two houses revoked the commission granted to the former, and whatever might have been his secret feelings he submitted with patient acquiescence to the sovereign will, who in restoring his own friends to their places about his person, dis- missed the intruders with his usual gracious kind- ness. Warwick was still allowed to retain the com- Feb. YORK AND LANCASTER. SS.'t mand of Caliiij, an oversight whicli afterwards proved CHAI' fatal to the Lancastrians : but though York retired '^^'' quietly to his castle of Wigmore, where he remained inactive for a considerable period, the bitter fruits of his late violent assumption of power appeared in the unextinguishable hatred which the deadly ren- contre at St. Albans had kindled in the breasts of the contendino; nobles. The opposite party now succeeding to power cried aloud for vengeance for the blood of those slain in tiie service of the king; and the Yorkists thus menaced by their enemies, surrounded them- selves with bands of armed retainers, and trusted solely for their safety to the sword. The old grudge again broke out between the Earl of Egremont and the Nevills, the former made a fierce attack upon the Earl of Warwick, in which many lives were lost. Hall informs us that the Earl of Egremont was taken prisoner in this affray, and brought before the king and queen, who sate in council. The violence of the earl's conduct may be estimated by the result, since it could not pass uncensured by judges who might be inclined to favour a friend so potent and so faith- ful. He was condemned to pay a large sum to the Earl of Salisbury, and committed to New^gate, from whence by the assistance of his " fautors" w^e are told he escaped, to the great vexation of the sheriffs. A spirit of insubordination displayed itself in Kent, and the Londoners in an aflfiay between a foreigner and an Englishman,* who resented an affront which he had received in Italy, rushed as * Mali. VOL. T. t; c 386 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, usual into the commission of indiscriminate and ^^^^- wanton murders. In the dreadful ferment which for the space of two years agitated the nation, the queen discovered too many indications of the disaffection of the metro- polis to render it a safe or a pleasant residence ; but unwilling to betray her distrust, it is said that upon the pretence of hawking and hunting she gradually removed the king to Coventry, a city thoroughly devoted to her interest. At the head of a weak and feeble government, totally unequal to devise or to execute those vigorous measures which could alone administer justice and restore tranquillity, Margaret has been accused of permitting her fears and her hatred to overcome the noble feelings of her lofty mind in an endeavour to compass the downfall of her enemies by treachery. 1456. The king heartily desirous to soothe the turbulent passions of his nobles, and to establish unanimity where wrath and discord raged, invited the Duke of York and his party to repair to Coventry to assist at a grand council convoked for the purpose of adjust- ing the differences which threatened such fatal con- sequences to the realm.* Depending upon the good faith of the royal word, the Yorkists attended the summons without the precaution of an armed re- tinue ;t but retreated in consternation and haste upon receiving private information that a snare had been laid by the queen for their destruction. York speeded to Wigmore, Salisbury shut himself up in Middleham, and Warwick sailed to Calais. The * Fabian, f Stow. YORK AND LANCASTER. .^87 suspicion that Margaret had sanctioned a design so chap base and ruthless could not fail to deepen the resent- ^^'1'- ment of men who had already received })roofs of her enmity: henceforward their only dependence must be upon their own strength, against one who meditated the most deadly mischief beneath a be- traying smile. No greater calamity could have befallen the queen than an unjust imputation which involved her in such deep guilt. If innocent she was indeed unfortunate, for the honest hearts of the English people were alienated by the supposition that York had narrowly escaped the fate which under similar circumstances had befallen the Duke of Gloucester. The pacific Henry still clung to the hope that amity might be restored by gentle means ; again he summoned the great lords to his court, trusting that mutual explanations and concessions would lead to permanent peace : preparations were made in Lon- don for their reception, and in the beginning of the year they complied with the sovereign's mandate, n^s. each noble guarded by troops of armed and trusty vassals. Warwick appeared at the head of six hun- dred retainers in his own livery of scarlet, with the ragged staff embroidered upon their coats. York entrenched himself at Bavnard's castle with four hundred men, and Salisbury displayed the wealth and consequence of his family by a number exceeded only by that of his gallant son. The friends of the white rose, the ancient cogni- zance of Edmund of Langley, lodged within the city ; the king and queen took up their residence at the bishop's palace, and the Lancastrians, of whom cc 'Z 5(S(S THK RIVAL HOUSES OF tlie most powerful were the Dukes of Buckingham, Somerset and Exeter, repaired to quarters without the walls, to avoid the constant collision of their followers, who amounted to two thousand men, with those of the opposite party. Sir Godfrey Boleyn, lord-mayor of London, the worthy ancestor of the wise and martial Ehzabeth, prevented the dangers to be apprehended from the brawls of idle and hos- tile partizans by his unremitting exertions ; he placed five thousand citizens under arrns, and patroled the streets himself every night at the head of a band whose formidable numbers alone kept the factious in awe.* The Archbishop of Canterbury laboured hard to promote the king's charitable work ; he was the medium of all communications between the two parties,! who met at different places and periods every day ; he soothed their angry passions, and wrought upon the patriotic feeling which still existed in their breasts, by representing the dangerous situa- tion of England from foreign enemies in its present divided state. At the conclusion of each day's de- bate the indefatigable prelate carried the proceedings of both councils to the king, who acted as supreme umpire. Henry's honest impartiality fitted him for the office which had been assigned to him, and his unre- mitting efforts were at length crowned with success. * Hall makes the following observation upon the virulent hatred of the two parties. " The Duke cf York and liis mates were lodged within the city, and the Duke of Somerset and all his friends sojourned vvithout Temple Barr, Hoiborn, and other places in the suburbs : as who sayd, that as the Jews dysdained the company of the Sarriaritans, so the Lancastrians abhorrefl the familiarity of Yorkists' lyneage." f Fenn's Collection, p. 154. YORK AND LANCASTER. SSi) The Duke of York with the Earls of Sdisbury and CHAP. Warwick agreed to found a chantry for the repose '^• of the souls of Somerset, Clifford, and Northunibcr- land, killed upon the field of St. Albans, and received in return an assurance that their loyalty should not be called in question on account of the transactions of that fatal day. It was farther stipulated that the Duke of York should pay five thousand marks to the Duchess of Somerset and her children, and that War- wick should give one thousand to Lord Chfford. The Earl of Salisbury consented to relinquish the amount of the damages awarded against the Earl of Egremont for his late aggressions, upon the as- surance that he would bind himself under a heavy penalty to keep the peace for the ensuing ten years. That nothing might be wanting to render this much wished for reconciliation permanent, Henry piously determined that it should be ratified at the altar. The celebration of the happy event drew admiring crowds together, who viewed with unaffected delight the procession, wherein enemies so lately thirsting for each other's blood seemed to be now united by concord's gentle bonds.* The king gracing the cere- mony with regal pomp and splendour, walked ak)ne, arrayed in his robes of state with the crown upon his head:t he was preceded bv the Duke of Somerset Mnrrh 2.?, and the Earl of Salisbury, the Duke of Exeter and the Earl of Warwick, and a brilliant train of the chiefs of both parties, who clasped each other's hands in token of their utter forgetfulness of former ' Hail. t Fabian. 390 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, wrongs. Immediately behind the king came Mar- ^^^^ - garet led by the Duke of York, and the pleased spectators observed that the royal lady gave approv- ing looks and gracious words to her courtly and noble conductor. Glittering in gold and jewels, and radiant with smiles of gladness, the sparkling pageant passed to St. Paul's ; a stranger and an angel visitant, the rudest hearts welcomed the return of peace, and beheld the universal concord with joy, which breathed itself in song.* The strains of the poet called upon England to rejoice at the triumph of love and charity ; but it was a fleeting vision, a dream of hope vanishing with the first angry feeling which arose in bosoms unaccustomed to more gentle guests. An unfortunate accident precipitated the breach, which nothing less than a miracle could have pre- vented from breaking out between people whose resentments only slumbered, whilst they endeavoured to sustain a character at variance with the turbulence of their dispositions. The Earl of Warwick, prompted by his usual im- petuosity, attacked a fleet of foreign vessels with a very inferior number ; he succeeded in capturing six sail, but unable to maintain the combat from the loss of men retired into Calais. The earPs too active zeal in this instance involved him in a dispute with the merchants of Lubeck who had embarked pro- perty on board the ships ; they complained of their losses to the English government, and an inquiry was instituted at Westminster, which Warwick at- * The poem composed upon this occasion is preserved in the British Mu- seum. 3ISS. Vcsb. B. 16. YORK AND LANCASTKK. '3[)l tended.* Whilst eno^ao-ed at the council one of his CHAP, retainers happened to quarrel with a servant belono- ing to the king, blows passed between them, and the latter being seriously wounded the earl*s yeoman fled. The king's retainers enraged at the condition of their comrade and the escape of the offender, rushed out to avenge the wrong at the moment that the Earl of Warwick sought his barge. Assaulted with ruffian violence by men who added party spirit to their recent irritation, the earl fought his way with difficulty to the river. Rumour magnified an idle brawl into a preconcerted plot, and each party suspected the other of being the contrivers. A report reached Warwick that the queen had seized this pretext to procure his disgrace and death, and that her orders were issued for his arrest; upon these alarming tidings he hastened to Warwick, and from thence to Calais. Every shadow of confidence was now at an end, and Richard Nevill's retreat confirmed the queen in her opinion that the oppor- tunity of renewing a contest with the crown Iiad been purposely created. t The Duke of York, perceiving that he must either subdue his enemies in open fight, or sink into irre- trievable ruin, consulted with Salisbury and War. wick upon the expedience of appealing again to the sword. These gallant nobles readily assured him of their willingness to embark their lives and fortunes in his service. They bruited the wrongs and the pretensions of their oppressed kinsman abroad, in- flamed the minds of the people by representations of his superior right to the English crown ; and many • Rymer. f Hall. Fabian. Croyland. 39^ THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, who had only desired to see him triumph over the X V F T . . • * illegitimate branch of the Somersets, unjustly pre- ferred to a prince more nobly and honourably descen- ded, now lent their aid to place him on the throne.* It was no longer a struggle for power between ambi- tious nobles. York raised his eyes to a regal diadem, and the king sought to crush a dangerous rival j reconciliation had become utterly hopeless, and no peace could be effected until one of the contending parties should be levelled with the dust. Yet in thus arousing the energies of the nation, the attempt on the part of the confederates seemed almost des- perate. Henry was endeared to the majority of his subjects by the amiable qualities of his pure and unsophisticated mind, the virtues of his character shone so transcendently bright that even calumny shrank from accusation. Though too easily led to uphold a set of men who misdirected his affairs, the monarch's well-known abhorrence to every thing akin to crime or to injustice, secured him from sharing in the odium which the outrages perpetrated by the queen and the favourites brought upon the government ; despite of his more than doubtful title not a hand would ever have been raised against the king, had not Margaret and her council usurped the royal dignity and defied every attempt of a more popular party to dispossess them of power which they exercised with hateful tyranny. J 4.59. Several months elapsed before either of the adv-erse roses were in a condition to take the field. York mustered his followers on the Welsh border, the Earl of Salisbury raised levies at JMiddleham, and ♦ Whclbanistede. YORK AND LANCASTER. S\)o Warwick prepared to meet the two former at Kenil- CHAP, worth with a band of well-organized troops, the rem- nant of the French garrisons concentrated at Calais. The king, to whom the designs of the Yorkists had been communicated, repaired to Worcester at the head of an army of sixty thousand men, whilst the active Margaret hastened to Chester with Prince Edward, trusting that the youth and innocence of England's heir would raise the declining spirit of loyalty in tlie border counties. To this intent she distributed the badge of the royal boy, a silver swan, amongst the Cheshire gentlemen ; and gaining intel- ligence of the approach of Salisbury, dispatched the Lord Audley to meet and circumvent him, with the express command that he should bring the traitor to her presence whether alive or dead. On the evening of the twenty-second of September, Salisbury found himself at Blore Heath near Dray- ton in Staffordshire, in the immediate neighbour- hood of a force amounting to double his own numbers, whilst the Lord Stanley at the head of another division hovered at a short distance. Even the intrepid spirit of a Nevill would not rest upon the sword for victory in a combat so unequal ; but difficulties only oppose themselves to genius to be surmounted. Salisbury had taken his station upon the banks of a deep but narrow brook, which sepa- rated him from his antagonists, and when morning revealed the disparity of his numbers, he shot a flight of arrows across the stream and commenced a retreat. Lord Audley, deceived by this movement, rushed with headlong valour on the pursuit;* halioC • Hall. 394 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, his men forded the river undisturbed, but before the ^^^- other half could join their comrades Salisbury had turned with overpowering fury upon the astonished host.* Tradition relates that Margaret beheld from the towers of Muccleston Church the dreadful car- nage of that well contested field ; the Cheshire gentlemen shewed themselves worthy of the confi- dence which she had reposed in them ; they claimed the front of the battle and perished with their leader. A stone still marks the spot where the gallant Audley fell. This distinguished Lancastrian was killed by the hand of Sir Roger Kynaston of Hordley, a ser- vice which his party rewarded by a grant of the Audley arms, which are to this day borne by his descendants in the first quarter. f The loss on both sides amounted to two thousand men, and several nobles, knights, and gentlemen fell into the hands of Salisbury, who marched in triumph to join the Duke of York at Ludlow. Sir John and Sir Thomas Neville, two of the victor's sons, were wounded in the action, and on their return home were taken prisoners by the friends of the queen. They were however speedily rescued, for York's popularity upon the Marches, the ancient domain of the house of Mortimer, raised the common people in their defence. The defeat at Blore Heath, though it enabled the confederates to meet, did not damp the ardour of the royalists ; they pressed forward to Ludlow, en- countering many difficulties from the badness of the I'oads, the inclemency of the weather, and the want of accommodation. Henry, who cheerfully sub- • Pennant. f Yorke's Royal Tribes of Wales. YORK AND LANCASTER. 3{)5 mitted to the unaccustomed hardships of his soldiers' CHAP life, halted only on Sundays, and often spent the ' night in the open fields. The rapidity of his move- ments brought him into the close vicinity of the op- posing army in the second week of October. 1459. York's situation was one of extreme hazard ; he had endeavoured to preserve the semblance of loyalty by continued proclamations which souglit to assure the people that the arms of the associates were directed against the evil councillors who misgo- verned the state, and kept the extortion, rapine, and wrong which desolated the kingdom a secret from the unsuspecting monarch, into whose most gracious presence they intended to go as true subjects, to lay before him the inconveniences produced by the dissi- pation of the crown revenues, the impositions of the king's ministers and household, and the impunity granted to the most flagrant transgressors of the law. Henry sent offers of grace into the hostile camp for all who should quit the insurgent banners, and promised pardon to the three leaders if they would request it within the space of six days.* The lords replied that they had already received pardons which were of no security, since the king had dis- graced them in the eyes of the nobility and the people, in neither summoning them to his parlia- ments nor inviting them to his councils ; and that the latter was composed of haughty relatives who made their own will their sole law, while Warwick had nearly lost his life in the discharge of his duty at Westminster ; they concluded by entreating the king to receive this declaration as the truth, and not * Whethamstade. 396 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. to suffer the blessed disposition and righteous equity XVII. which God had granted him, to be biassed by the malicious importunities of those who made his royal authority a cloak to procure their destruction. No answer was returned to these remonstrances, and York who had reason to doubt the steadiness of many of his followers, stooped to an unworthy artifice to fix their wavering resolution. He pre- tended to receive information of the king's death, and ordered masses to be sung for his soul's repose. The report reached Henry's ears, who immediately refuted it by appearing amongst his troops and ad- dressing them with a knightly port and martial demeanour, which no other occasion had ever eli- cited. York's falsehood was thus made to stand confessed ; and it accelerated the defection which he dreaded.* Sir Andrew Trollop the commander of the forces which Warwick had brought from Calais, had grown old in the king's service,! and suspecting that trea- sonable designs lurked beneath the fair speeches of the reformers, he drew off his veteran troops in the evening, and repairing to the royal camp tendered his allegiance to the king. Henry received him with joyful surprise, whilst his retreat spread con- sternation and dismay throughout the tents of the insurgents. In this painful emergence York con- sulted with Salisbury and Warwick; they agreed upon the impossibility of trusting to the fidelity of those who still remained, and in reluctant despair abandoned their now hopeless enterprize. In con- sequence of this resolution the three leaders stole * Wlielhamslade. f Fabian. Hall. YORK AND LANCASTER. .'31)7 away in the dead of the night. York with his <''HAr youngest son took refuge in Ireland ; his heir Edward ' ^^'^- Earl of March, accompanied the Nevills into Devon- shire, where they obtained shelter under the roof of John Denham, a faithful partizan, who after a short concealment procured a ship wliicli conveyed them to Guernsey, whence they sailed to Calais. Upon the dispersion of the insurgent army. Lord Grey and Lord Powys surrendered themselves to the king. Lord Stanley who had kept aloof at the battle of Blore Heath, and had afterwards written to the Earl of Salisbury to congratulate him upon • the issue of the day, was probably the third who with the Bishop of Exeter is stated to have sought grace, and obtained pardon from a monarch who delighted in deeds of mercy. The town and castle of Ludlow became the spoil of the triumphant army. The Duchess of York and her two youngest sons w^ere taken prisoners, but the lady was treated with the deference due to her rank and sex, and committed to the friendly custody of her sister the Duchess of Buckingham.* Margaret assembled a parliament at Coventry, a place where her influence entirely prevailed, and styled by the enemies to her government " the queen's secret arbour ;"'|" the members returned were wholly devoted to her interest, and she was afterwards charged with having procured their election by an illegal stretch of power. The proceedings were marked by a ruthless severity which was fatally imitated by the House of York. The estates of the nobles who had fled were conflscated, and the brand 398 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, of traitor cast upon their names ; their children were ^^^* also attainted, together with the Countess of Salis- bury, who was accused of having councilled and abetted her kinsman's designs, and the Lord Clin- ton, Lord Powys, and a long list of knights and esquires. Henry warmly advocated a milder system, insist- ing upon the insertion of a clause which would enable him to extend the royal clemency in the reversal of the act of attainder at his own pleasure. Neither would he consent to the confiscation of the estates of the Lord Powys, who had solicited his mercy on the morning after the retreat of York.* * Parliament Rolls. YORK AND LANCASTER. fi'J^) CHAPTER XVIII. Ascendance of the Lancastrians — Triumph of Warwick — his Maval Exploits — Capture of the Wydevilles — tlieir Reception at Calais — Enterprize of a Knight — Warwick sails to Dublin — Oppression of the Yorkists — The Commons fly to Arms — their alleged Grievances — The Queen's Unpopularity — Warwick's Invasion — he enters Lon- don — A grand Council — Co-operation of the Clergy — Warwick demands an hiterview with the King — Activity of Margaret — A Traitor in the Camp — The Yorkists march through the Barriers — Defeat of the Lancastrians — Slaughter of the J^obles — Character of Buckingham — Diminution of the King's Party — Perils encountered by Margaret — Warwick's respectful Demeanour — Rejoicings of the Citizens — Death of Lord Scales — A new Parliament — York's De- lay — he enters London — his Disappointment — he claims the Crown — Henry's Reply — Deliberations in Parliament — Henry's Title — The Pretensions of York — Decision of the Peers — Thanksgivings at St. Paid's — Division of the Kingdom — Margaret's prompt Measures — York marches to the JS^orth — Somerset's Defiance — York's Im- petuositxj— Battle of Wakefield— Defeat of the Yorkists— Inhuma- nity of the Conquerors — Edward's Intrepidity — Battle of Mortimer's Cross — Barbarous Executions — The Queen's March to London — Warwick's rash Valour — Second Battle of St. Albans — Flight of the Yorkists — Re-union of Henry with his Queen — Death of Sir Thomas Gray — Plunder of St. Albans — Condemnation of the Yorkists— Bonvill's Ingratitude —Conduct of the Northern Army- Animosity of the Citizens — Margaret's Retreat. The queen now reigned more absolutely than cHAP. ever, her favourites were promoted to the highest XViII. offices in the realm. The Earl of Northumberland 400 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, and Lord Clifford were appointed to command in ___' the North, the government of Calais was given to the Duke of Somerset, and the Duke of Exeter was intrusted with the custody of the sea. The hopes of the white rose seemed to have ut- terly withered, but they faded only to display the strength, the intrepidity, and the resources of the Earl of Warwick, whose name alone supported the defeated and scattered party of the house of York. In possession of Calais, where admitted by Lord Fauconberg through a postern gate he was received with those acclamations of joy which universally hailed his approach, he defied the fleet of Somerset who arrived too late to cut off his retreat ; nor in the extreme depression of his fortunes was he forgotten in England ; the princely munificence of his dispo- sition, his reckless valour, profuse generosity and open board had raised him to such high estimation, that Hall informs us that *' the common people judged him to be able to do all things, and without him nothing to be well done." Though the hearth was cold where six oxen had been roasted for a breakfast,* and the taverns in the neighbourhood of his residence in London no longer filled with the overflowings of his abundant larder, the boundless hospitality of that liberal household was still remem- bered to his honour, and this extensive popularity, amounting at length to a species of idolatry, sus- • Stow tells us that at the Earl of Warwick's house in London, there were often six oxen eaten at a breakfast, " and every taverne was full of his meate ; for he that had any actiuaintauce in that house might l»ave there so much of sodden and rest meate as he could pricke and carry upon a lono- dagger." Thirty thousand casual guests besides numerous tenant?, are said each day to have been fedby this munificent earl. YORK AND LAXCASTEU. JUl tamed him througli the most adverse circumstances CHAP of his life, and when a better prospect dawned ^^ '"• crowded his ranks with enthusiastic multitudes who crowned and dethroned monarchs at his pleasure. Somerset appeared before Calais only to be dis- comfited ; the earl's itrtillery obliged him to retreat to Guisnes, where the sailors under his command deserted his standard and carried off the ships to the triumphant Nevill. Warwick made a prompt ad- vantage of the fleet so fortunately acquired ; he sent it under the command of Denham to Sandwich to surprise an armament fitting out in that port under the Lord Rivers. This daring enterprise was emi- nently successful ; the chivalric band landed, seized the royalists in their beds, and carrying off the ships, conveyed their prisoners to Calais. Upon this occa- sion all knightly courtesy was lost in the bitterness of resentment; the captives were the Wydevilles, at this time strongly attached to the Lancastrians in consequence of the marriage of the father wdth Jacqueline dowager Duchess of Bedford. The con- duct of the haughty barons into whose hands they had now fallen affords a curious illustration of the fierce manners of the age. Brought by the light of eight score torches into the presence of their enemies, they were assailed with a torrent of invective.* Salisbury heaped opprobrious epithets upon Lord Rivers, calling him " knave's son," and retorting the word " traitor" which provoked his ire, roughly re- buked his rudeness for daring to apply the term to the faithful liegemen of the true king. Warwick attacked the Lancastrian with language equally coarse and * Fena's Collection, vol. ii. VOL. r. D D 402 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, intemperate, scornfully adverting to the meanness of XVm. ]-jjg lineage, the late advancement of a family de- scended from a squire ; and, boasting of the regal blood whicli flowed in his own viens, told him that it was not his part to speak of noblemen as he had done. The earl of March who was present, uncon- scious that he saw his father and brother-in-law in the gentlemen thus unceremoniously treated, "rated him in likewise," and the accomplished Sir Anthony Wydeville, afterwards so highly distinguished for his valour and his learning, also sustained the united abuse of the enraged triumvirate. It was in vain that the English government sent out forces against the politic and fortunate Warwick, A second expedition, prepared at Sandwich to aid Somerset in a projected assault upon Calais, w^as de- feated by the earl's navy ; and the Lord Audley, driven by stress of weather to the fortress so proudly and fearlessly maintained, was added with his squadron to the list of captures. The most romantic period of England's history does not pre- sent a more striking instance of determined resist- ance in a subject than that afforded by the bold exile, who from his tower of refuge on a foreign shore bade defiance to a whole kingdom, and swept the seas with insulting impunity. The spirit of the times led many ambitious knights to offer their ser- vices to the queen in the reduction of so insolent an enemy. Sir Baldwin Eulford we are told undertook the earl's destruction upon pain of losing his head,* but he returned from a bootless expedition after having squandered one thousand marks of the king's * Fabian, YORK AND I.AXCASTER. 4Q3 money in the futile attempt. The Duke of Exeter riiAP. was equally unsuccessful. In the command of a ^^^ powerful fleet he had the mortification to see the adventurous Warwick sail unmolested under his own prows from Dublin to Calais, whither his darinc^ tem- per had led him in order to consult in person with the Duke of York. Not a mariner would raise his hand against the object of national attachment. Margaret disdained the lesson which these sisriis of disaffection should have taught. Unfitted to rule over a free people, she strove to bend the stubborn necks of Englishmen to a yoke they would not bear. The followers of the confederated lords were visited with great severity, and the executions and confisca- tions which took place at Newberry* a town chiefly belonging to the Duke of York, raised the indigna- tion of the people of Kent and incited them to rebel- lion. The fugitives were invited to return, receiving at thesametime assurances of warm and ready support. The commons in arming themselves for the pre- servation of the national privileges, disclaimed all evil intentions against their sovereign. They sepa- rated him entirely from the ministers who were the cause of the grievances of which they complained, representing themselves as his true friends, f inas- much as they desired only to clear his councils of those traitors to him and to their country, who sub- verted the laws at their \\\\\,X asserting contrary to the coronation oath, that the king's pleasure should * The Earl of Wiltshire, Lord Seales, and Lord Hungerford were the chief performers in the cruel inquisition held at Newberry upon the adherents of the Duke of York. — Dugdale. f See the articles of tlie Kentish Men. X Harleian MSS. No. 543. D D 2 404 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, be the sole guide of his administration. They drew XVIII. ^ lively picture of the disgrace and desolation brought upon the kingdom by the long course of misgovernment to which it had reluctantly sub- mitted ; and finished by declaring that they did not include " all the lords about the king's person, nor all gentlemen, nor all men of law, nor all bishops, nor all priests," in their censure ; but only such as by a fair trial should be found guilty of the crimes alleged against them. We must pity whilst we condemn the misguided Margaret. She was most unfortunate in her friends: impatient of control she grasped at absolute power and found a band of greedy aspirants ready to flatter her into the belief that it might be maintained by force. The errors into which she plunged dis- gusted the nation, and gave the Duke of York a degree of importance in the public eye which he could not otherwise have obtained, while his dor- mant, yet alarming pretensions deterred a proud and jealous woman from availing herself of talents and popularity which she had some reason to fear would be exerted to the prejudice of the king. Had the queen's party secured the good will of the country by a just and liberal government, they might have excluded the Duke of York from their councils without danger ; but in pursuing their obstinate and ruinous system they renewed the discontents of the aera of Richard 11. and obliged the people to seek a leader who would free them from the intolerable 1460. oppression under which they laboured. "'""^" Warwick, accompanied by the Earl of Salisbury, Edward Earl of March and a train of fifteen bun- YOilK AND LANCASTER. 405 dred men, landed in England witliout awaiting tlie CHAP, arrival of the Duke of York, and lie had not deceived himself in trusting to the attachment of his country- men. The gentlemen of Kent flocked to the carl's standard; the Lord Cobham joined him with four hundred followers, and the Archbishop of Canter- bury lent the sanction of his presence to the enter- prise, and in this manner the army of the invaders was augmented to forty thousand men before it reached the capital, w^here the mayor and aldermen opened the gates in defiance of Lord Scales, who prevented from defending the city withdrew to tlic tower, while the lords at a convocation assembled at St. Paul's, declared that they had returned to England for the purpose of effecting the deliverance of the king from the power of a faction by whom he was detained in captivity dishonourable to himself and destructive to the national interests.* Five of the bishops were prevailed upon to espouse the cause and to usher Warwick to the foot of his sovereign's throne, in order that he might unfold to him the calamitous situation of his affairs through the wilful misconduct of unworthy councillors. Leav- ing the care of the metropolis to the Earl of Salis- bury and Lord Cobham, Warwick and the Earl of March advanced towards Coventry, determined to force themselves into the king's presence. The Bishop of Salisbury, at the suggestion pf his mitred brethren, speeded forward to the king, chargotl with an entreaty that he would prevent the direful consequences of civil war by an amicable adjust- ment with the insurgents ; but Henry, if inclined to * WhethamsUde. 406 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, grant the petition, was not a free agent. Surrounded ^^^^^ ' by nobles who confidently trusted to the issue of a battle, he refused an audience to the ambassador, and all hope of peaceful negotiation was at an end.* Margaret, whose courage at least must demand our admiration, shewed herself to the soldiers, and urged them in a spirited address to fight valiantly for their king and prince. She had quitted Coventry, and passing the river Nene, the lords of her party carefully entrenched themselves in a field between Harry ngton and Sandifford. Their position was strong, and might have been ably defended had not treachery lurked within the camp. It was, we are told the abominable thirst for lucre which tempted the Lord Grey of Ruthyn to betray the trust reposed in him by the party whom he feigned to serve. f • Whethamstede. f Dugdale and other writers aver that the Lord Grey pretending a title to Ampelhill, the lands of Lord Fanhope a loyal parliian of Henry VI. nego- tiated with the Earl of March before the battle : offering upon the promise of this estate to go over with his " strong band of Welschemen " to the assail- ants. Pennant disputes the story, observing that Ampethill was not granted to Lord Grey until seventeen years after Lord Fanhope's death; but the unsettled state of public affairs might have delayed the performance of Edward's engagements ; the fact of Lord Grey's mercenary disposition re- ceives strong corroboration from the Paston letters. In endeavouring to accomplish an alliance between a young gentleman, his M-ard, and a sister of John Paston, he appears to have been entirely influenced by the hope of engrossing the whole of the lady's portion. The bridegroom however was not content to relinquish the property in his guardian's favour. Lord Grey's speech on the occasion, as reported by a lawyer to one of the family, is curious : — " 400 marks would do me ease, and now he would have his marriage money himself; and therefore, quoth he, he shall marry himself for me."— Fenji'* Coll. 43, p. 220. Looking cautiously to his own interests, Lord Grey continued to retain both life and land through four stormy reign?, and " to keep well with Edward IV., Richard III. and Henry VII.'* 1100. YORK AND LAN'CASTER. 40'/ The enemy advanced to attack the royal camp in CHAP three distinct cokmins, tlie first led bv vonnir ^^''"- Edward, the second by Warwick, and the third by j„iy lo, Fauconbero- ; they rushed to the assault with their usual impetuosity, but their attempts on the out- works which had been thrown up with considerable skill, were for a time baffled by the steepness of the rampart, and the sharp stakes planted in the ditch below.* At this critical period the traitor Cxvey surrendered his post to the invaders. Warwick assisted by his new allies gained the summit of the entrenchment, and followed by Edward Plantagenet bearing his flither's banner, burst into the camp.f The royalists though sold into the enemy's hands made a vigorous resistance, and for the space of two hours endeavoured to retrieve the fortunes of the day ; but, beaten back, discomfited on all sides, and forced upon the edge of the stream swollen by heavy rains, a total rout ensued, and the survivors of the sword and the flood sought only to save themselves by flight. Amid the most distinguished of the slain was the Duke of Buckingham, Talbot Shrews- bury's gallant son, and the Lords Egremont and Beaumont. Henry lost a steady friend and potent ally in the Duke of Buckingham, who was nearly connected with the royal family, being the son of Anne, daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Glou- cester, and had been advanced to his dukedom by the flivour of Henry. Though serving the House of Lancaster very fluthfully with his sword his proud tyrannical disposition and rapacious spirit assisted to • Whtthamitede. t Ha^l- 408 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF bring the government of Henry into disrepute. Tenacious of his high birth he refused to give place to Henry Beauchamp Duke of Warwick, to whom the king had granted precedence, and such violent animosities broke out in consequence between these haughty peers that an especial act of parliament was framed to appease their differences.* It was enacted that the contending dukes should enjoy the coveted privilege alternately for the space of a year, the survivor during his life to have the precedence of the other's heir, and the prerogative to rest finally with that heir who should first obtain livery of his lands. The death of the Duke of Warwick without issue more effectually settled this nice point, and the Duke of Buckingham immediately obtained a grant of precedence to himself and to his heirs, " above all dukes whatsoever, whether of England or of France," excepting those of the blood royal. Nor did he covet rank alone : there is a dark record extant of a baser avarice, in the imprisonment of two gentlemen, whom he kept in durance until they signed away their right to an inheritance which the duke divided with a younger brother of the family. f " It is no marvel," adds our author, " that the in- jured heir became a partizan of the House of York." It appears that Sir William Mountford, a wealthy knight, executed an unjust will to the exclusion of his three eldest sons, in favour of their younger brother by a second marriage : and aware that the heirs would not be easily deprived of their inherit- ance, gave the Duke of Buckingham (a potent man, * Dugdale. f Dugdale. YORK AND LANCASTEK. lOQ observes our author, in that age), an interest in cHAi' defending it, by bequeathing the property in his ^"'• charge for the use of his wife and her son, witli the reversion to the Duke in case of the boy's dcatli without issue. Sir Baldwyn, the elder, advanced his claim at his father's death, and was immediately exposed to the persecution of the rapacious duke.* Closely confined in Coventry, whilst his son was also a prisoner at Gloucester, they at length agreed to relinquish their title : but upon the death of this nobleman Sir Baldwyn openly published the oppres- sive grievances which he had sustained; in a manifesto addressed " To all true Cristen pepull," he declares that he was compelled to release his right to the family estate, " or als my seid son should never have comen out of prison, nor y should not have abidden in my country, but to have had and to have stouden in the indignacion of the lordship of the said duke, and other lords above rehersed, which in those dayes had byn too hevy and too importable for me and my seid son to have boren." Delegating according to the convenient custom of the day, his spiritual concerns to others, the duke left the poor to pray for his soul's repose, rating his salvation at the price of two hundred marks. The obligations to morality were slight when the offences of a long life were supposed to be wiped off by the foundation of a chantry or the support of additional canons to religious houses. Percy Lord Egremont, a true scion of the fiery- hearted Northumberlands, whose deadly hostility to his border neighbours, the Nevills, has been re- * Dugdale. 410 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, ferred to as the origin of the savage warfare which XVIII. afterwards became common between dissentient nobles, too strongly identified with the adverse party ever to have supported the pretensions of the Duke of York, was a heavy loss to the House of Lancaster. Henry was also deprived of steady friends in the Lords Talbot and Beaumont, both had shewn undeviating gratitude for the favours which they had received from their liberal sovereign's hands. The latter had served him long and faith- fully, and was remarkable in being the first English nobleman who received the title of viscount The Duke of Somerset fied from the field in haste, and Margaret, whom it is most pleasing to contem- plate in the maternal character, anxiously provided for the safety of her son and bore him away with her to Wales. The unhappy fugitives experienced numberless disasters in their flight, robbed by their own servants, and narrowly escaping capture by a retainer of the Lord Stanley, it was with infinite difficulty that they obtained a temporary asylum in Wales from whence they proceeded to Scotland. The king, left desolate and forlorn in his tent, received from the victors the reverence due to his rank and virtues. Kneeling at his feet, they renewed their assurances of loyalty, and conducted him into the town with every testimonial of the most pro- found respect. Nor was there any diminution in duty or service during his subsequent journey to the metropolis.* Henry entered London attended with all the attributes of sovereignty. Warv/ick rode before him bare-headed, carrying the sword of state, • Stow. YORK AND LANCASTER. 411 and the procession was greeted with joyful ucchi- CHAP, mations by all ranks and chisses as it passed along. ^^' The presence of the Earl of Salisbury and the hostility of the citizens had kept Lord Scales a pri- soner in the Tower, where we are told " he was in a manner besieged." Provoked to retaliate, he fired upon his assailants.* The first shot unfortunately killed a young woman ; this accident increased the indignation of the Londoners, and upon the arrival of the triumphant party, he was compelled to seek safety in flight from the fury of the people. The fugitive was already on the river, but recognized by some watermen attached to the Earl of Warwick, they plunged their daggers into his body, and flung the bleeding corpse on the opposite bank : it was found naked and neglected near the porch of St. Mary Overie;t but received honourable interment by the order of the victors. Easily influenced by the party, whoever they might be, who had the custody of his person, Henry rea- dily assented to the measures of the new adminis- tration. The proceedings of the late parliament being particularly distasteful to the persons now in power, they prevailed upon the king to order the issue of new writs, and questioning the legality of the former elections, hastened to repeal all the acts which had been passed in the last session.:]: Three months elapsed after the battle of North- ampton before the Duke of York arrived in England. By this long meditation ere he could resolve to prefer his claim to the crown at a period when the king was in the hands of his party, and himself the che- * Fabian. f William of Wyrcestre. X Farliainent Rolls. 412 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, rished object of national expectation, the hope and * trust of all who desired to see a reformation in the state, he evinced his reluctance to violate the re- peated oaths of allegiance which he had sworn to the House of Lancaster. But however irresolute, scarcely a choice was left him. He had already experienced the queen's spirited and persevering enmity in the loss of every advantage gained by the battle of St. Albans, and whilst she lived to connect the faction whom he had now defeated with the king, he could not hope to maintain any elevation below the throne. Determined at length to appeal to the rights w^hich had been suffered to slumber for so many years, the duke quitted Ireland, and entered the metropolis with all the pomp and circumstance H60- of regal dignity.* A sword borne naked before him, and the blast of trumpets announcing his approach, Richard of York proceeded straight to the House of Peers where the lords were sitting in assembly ; yet still anxious for encouragement he ventured only to hint his wishes by placing his hand upon the throne. A dead silence ensued, the nobles unprepared for this movement stood mute, nor by a word or sign manifested the slightest token of approbation. The Duke, somewhat disconcerted, withdrew his hand, and immediately a burst of plaudits arose in the circle around him ; nor did the display of feeling end here ; for the archbishop of Canterbury boldly inquired, whether he would not repair to the Queen's Palace to visit the king.f York indignantly replied, that he knew of no one in the kingdom who ought not rather to come to him, and hastily retiring took * Whethamstede. t Whethamstede. Oct. YORK AND LANCASTER. 413 up his abode in the royal apartments hitlierto helil CHAP, sacred to the sovereign of Enghind. XV ill. The Duke's demeanour excited surprise and con- sternation, for neither lords nor commons were in- clined to depose their inoffensive monarch. Anxious only for a better system of government, they iiad supported the Duke of York in the hope that he would have been content M'ith a share in the admi- nistration, and all ranks we are informed by Whet- hamstede began to murmur at the ambitious views which he now disclosed ; but the die was cast ; he had advanced too far to recede ; and in a written document which he presented to the chancellor, he formally stated his claims to the throne, deriving his title from Lionel Duke of Clarence, the elder brother of John of Ghent, whence the present monarch was descended. The lords, astonished and perplexed by this novel case, when called upon for an answer, said that though they consented to receive the duke's petition, they could not make any reply without first consult- ing the king. Henry, with his usual patience, directed his council to search into the legality of his rival's pretensions. He observed, that his father and grandfather had been kings, that he had worn the crown forty years from his cradle, received the oath of fealty from the sons of those who had sworn allegiance to his fathers, and therefore could not imagine how his title could be disputed.* The nobles, anxious to escape from the invidious dis- cussion, sent for the judges and desired that they would decide. They excused themselves, saying • Blackin. 305. 414 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, that they could only be required to pass a judgment ' upon points of law, and were not competent to act as council in matters of such high importance, which should rather be left to Parliament and the lords of the king's blood. No one seemed inclined to undertake the cause. Henry's attornies would gladly have withdrav^n from the responsibility ; but by the duties of their office they were compelled to plead in the king's behalf; and the defence of his claim was committed to their hands. Henry's advo- cates contended that the oath of allegiance which the reigning monarch had received from the Duke of York and the assembled peers, was in itself a sufficient proof of the justice of his claim ; that moreover he held the throne by the acts of divers Parliaments, whose acknowledgments of the right of his progenitors was of " authority to defeat any manner of title;" and by the several entails which liad been made of the crown to the heirs male to the prejudice of the descent by females.* To the Duke of York they objected, that he did not bear the arms of Lionel third son of Edward IH. but those of Ed- mund the younger brother of John of Ghent, from whom he derived his dukedom ; and finally they pleaded the declaration of Henry IV. who had suc- ceeded to the throne of England in quality of true heir of Henry HI. and by the undoubted right of conquest. The duke's council denied the right of parliament to set aside priority of descent, either by election or entail ; neither would they admit that Richard Plantagenet had made a voluntary conces- sion of his title by taking the oath of allegiance, an * Parliament Rolls. YORK AND LANCASTER. 415 act which his own personal safety demanded.* In ruAr abstaining from quartering the arms of Lionel Duke ^^^'"• of Clarence with his own, they maintained that lie had only avoided the manifest danger to which he would have been exposed by so open an avowal of his pretensions j and with respect to the declaration of Henry IV. it was so perfectly false that it would not bear the slightest examination and therefore must be instantly dismissed.! The deliberations which followed in the house of peers wei'e of a much more temperate nature than might have been expected from the character of the parties and the subject under discussion. Each member seems to have exerted the privilege (not always conceded) of freedom of speech in the de- bate ; and York's friends resting entirely upon the merits of their cause made no attempt to carry it by force. The lords at length aorced that Richard Plantagenet possessed the legal title to the crown ; but bound by their oaths of allegiance to the reigning monarch, they could not resolve to violate those solemn assurances of fealty which they had so often made, and recommended the Duke of York to wave his claim during the life of the king, and to rest satisfied with the reversion of the crown after • Parliament Rolls. f " Whilst he, the Duke of York, was thus decliring his tide in the chambre of the peies, there happened a straungo chaunce, in the very same time amongst the commons in the nether house, then there assembled ; for a crowne which did hang in the meddal of the same, to garnish a branch to- set lights upon, without touch of any creature, or rigor of wynd, sodeinly fell doune, and at the same time fell doune the crowne, which stode upon the top of the castle of Dover; as a signc and prognoslicacion that tlie crowne of the realm should be divided and changed from one line to anotlar. 'J'his was the judgment of the common people." — Hall. 4lG THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. Henry's decease. Both parties consented to this XVIII. arrangement : Henry at once sacrificing the interests of his son for the doubtful hope of present tranquil- lity ; and Richard, who being two years older than the king, could only flatter himself with a remote chance of succeeding to the throne, relinquishing his own expectations in favour of his descendants. Tiiough so lately pleading against the sanctity of an oath prompted merely by convenience, the duke was again permitted to prove his sincerity by the same weak testimony. He, together with his two sons the Earls of March and Rutland, swore to attempt nothing against the king's life, and to devote them- selves faithfully to his service. In return, Henry re- cognized the Duke of York as heir apparent, and in a second procession they repaired to St. Paul's to return thanks for the amicable adjustment of their differences. On this occasion the king wore his crown, the duke taking the second place as the de- clared successor ; nor was it until this station was assigned to him that he condescended to visit the sovereign, haughtily affirming that he was subject to none save the Deity, who was his sole superior.* Henry's tame abandonment of his son's hopes availed the conquering party but little, whilst Mar- garet's heroic spirit maintained the struggle for the house of Lancaster. The whole nation was now divided, the poorest and the meanest participating in the political animosity which had so long raged in the breasts of the nobles. The badge of each rival party was assumed throughout the kingdom by the favourers of Richard and of Henry j even in the * Parliament Rolls. Hal!. Fabian. YORK AND LANCASTER. 4<17 smallest villages the rustics manifested their rancor- CHAP, ous hostility by braving each other with the white ^^"* - and the red rose worn in their caps as a signal of de- fiance ; the disunion penetrated into the bosoms of private families, brethren hitherto living in concord became at variance, and the son was not unfre- quently in arms against his father. The queen, whose unremitting exertions in a fail- ing cause must ever redound to her honour, assem- bled her friends in the north ; she was joined by the Duke of Somerset, the Earls of Devon, Northumber- land, and Wilts, and Lord Clifford.* This formi- dable conjunction obliged the Duke of York to leave the capital, accompanied by the Earl of Salisbury and his second son the unfortunate Rutland ; he hastened to Sandal Castle, a strong post which he reached on the twenty-first of December, while his ^^^^ heir the Earl of March followed more at leisure with fresh supplies. Richard's army consisted only of six thousand men, those of his enemies amounted to treble the number. Somerset anxious to engage before young Edward and his succours should come up, approached the castle where the duke lay entrenched, and tried to provoke him with bitter taunts to quit the shelter of its walls: thus braved, York against the advice of his faithful knight Sir David Hallt rashly determined to hazard a battle. To the earnest remonstrances of his trusty counsellor he replied, that as he had never kept a fortress in Normandy, but issued forth and combated with his enemies, so now he would fight though he engaged singly in the field.J Courage and • William of Wyrchester. t Hall. t Hall. VOL. I. K E 418 THE RIVAJ. HOUSES OF CHAP, caution had hitherto been the duke's characteristics, ^^^^^ - but disregarding the lessons of a long military expe- rience he rushed against fearful odds to battle rather than submit to be kept in check by a woman.* Salis- bury cheerfully followed, and the contending parties agreed to meet in a plain near Wakefield.^ For this purpose York drew up his troops in the neighbour- hood. The queen's friends perceiving that an ad- vantage might be gained by surprising the enemy before the appointed day, violated the strict laws Dec 30. of chivalry by commencing the attack at a period when part of the duke's small army were absent in search of forage. J York might still have gained the security of his castle, but with fatal impetuosity he threw himself on the main body headed by the Duke of Somerset, and was instantly hemmed in on all sides by the columns under the Earl of Wilts and Lord Clifford. A horrid scene of carnage com- menced : York's desperate and unyielding courage availed not in the unequal conflict, in the short space of half an hour two thousand eight hundred of his followers were slain, and he and Salisbury covered with wounds had fallen into the hands of their re- morseless assailants. The victors sullied their tri- umph by outrages appalling to humanity. Perceiv- ing the fate of the day, the tutor of young Rutland led his pupil, an interesting boy of twelve years old, out of the field in the hope of conveying him to a place of safety.^ Clifford hot from recent slaughter encountered the fugitives on the bridge, and demand- ing the name of the younger whose rich dress be- trayed his rank,!) the terrified youth fell upon his • Hall. ■]■ Whelhamslede. J William of Wyrcestre. § Grafton. || H^). YORK AND LANCASTER. 419 knees, and casting up his swimming eyes, made a CHAP, silent appeal to the conqueror's mercy. " Save ^^^"• him," cried the attendant priest, " he is the son of a prince, and may do you good hereafter :" but the savage Clifford boasting that he had sworn destruc- tion to the line of York, buried his dagger in the trembling suppliant's heart; and bidding the dis- mayed ecclesiastic carry the news to the boy's mo- ther, surpassed even the cold-blooded murder by the barbarity of the message.* Authors differ respecting the flite of York.! AVhct- hamstede affirms that he was taken prisoner alive, and his dying moments insulted by the brutal deri- sion of his enemies, who placing him on an ant-hill as on a throne, twisted a crown of grass around his temples, and hailed him, in scorn, " King without a kingdom, prince without a people." Others say that he was killed in the action ; but all as-ree in describ- ing the horrid mockery with whicli the adverse party exulted, either over his captive person or his cold remains. The reeking head borne upon a pole was brought before the queen by Clifford. " Madam," he exclaimed, " your war is done, here is the ransom of your king." The ruthless Margaret, disgracing her sex and rank, laughed at the fearful spectacle ; henceforward she combated with an enemy not less sanguinary than herself; and York who had never stained his victories by any act of wanton cruelty, was amply revenged by his ferocious son. J Crowned with a paper diadem the duke's • Lord Clifford at the battle of Wakefield fighting for Henry VI. is re- ported to have made so great a slaughter with his own hands that he was thenceforth called " the Butcher."— I>«5- Redesdale; their ostensible motive was the resis- ^'^-'^^• tance of an ancient right demanded by the warden of the hospital of St. Leonard's. The Earl of Northum- berland suffered the rebels to assemble without a single attempt to oppose or disperse them, until they threatened the destruction of the city of York : he then advanced to the attack, achieved an easy vic- tory, and executed their leader on the field ; his con- duct however, notwithstanding this exertion in the king's favour, was calculated to excite suspicion ; satisfied with the deliverance of York he remained supine whilst the insurgents rallied under the com- mand of two gentlemen connected with his own family. Two young men the sons of the Lords Fitz- hugh and Latimer, the nephew and cousin german of Warwick, put themselves at the head of the army, and by the direction of a more experienced person, Sir John Conyers, led the malecontents southwards to meet the Earl of Warwick, whose name connected with a popular object drew^ thousands to the rebels' banners. Upon their march they issued proclama- tions formed upon the model of those which the Duke of York had so often promulgated ; these ar- ticles set forth the grievances of the commons from the heavy impositions which they sustained through the maladministration of the queen's relatives, who they alleged had engrossed the supreme authority, to the exclusion of the lords of the king's blood.* Edward summoned his retainers with his usual celerity ; he visited Suffolk and Norfolk in person, and then hastened to the scene of action, where, ^' Harleian MSS. No. 543. VOL. r. H n 466 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, taking up his station at Fotheringay he perceived the ^^^* extent of the danger, and warning the queen's father and brothers of their perilous situation, advised them to seek the security of their own estates. Upon the arrival of fresh troops the king marched forward to Newark, but finding the rebels too strong for any chance of successful opposition, retreated to Not- tingham, where he hoped to be joined by the Earl of Pembroke with levies from Wales.* Pembroke, at the head of eight thousand soldiers, met the Lord Stafford with his forces consisting of five thousand men from the western counties, and upon this junc- tion prepared to attack the rebels who had stationed themselves upon Edgecote-Hill, near Banbury in Wilt- shire. The royalists entered the town, and an unfor- tunate quarrel between the leaders was followed by the most disastrous consequences.^ Stafford had taken up his quarters at an inn in which it is said a damsel lived for whom he had formed an attachment, but Pembroke, with the turbulent insolence character- istic of the times, chose the same lodgings, dispos- sessed the enraged nobleman by violence, and Staf- ford in revenge called off his archers, and departing, left the Earl to sustain the shock of the battle. Pembroke thus abandoned, fought with desperate energy, seconded by his gallant brother, who twice cut through the enemy's line with his pole-axe, but though hotly contesting the victory, their exertions July 2f). availed not against the superiority of numbers ; they fell into the hands of the insurgents, and with the barbarity now so commonly exercised against pri- soners of war were beheaded the next day. Modern * History of Croyle. f Ha!I. 1469. YORK AND I.ANCASTEK. 4()7 historians do not usually mention a circumstance CHAP, recorded by Hall, which in some degree justifies the '^'^'• relentless severity of the conquerors ; the chronicler informs us that after Stafford's angry retreat " Syr Henry Nevill, (a rebel leader) sonne to the Lord Latimer, took with hym certain light horse men, and skirmished with the Welshmen in the evening, even before their campe, where he did diverse valiant feats of arms, but a little too hardy, he went so far forward that he was taken and yielded, and yet cruelly slain : which unmerciful act the Welshmen sore ruied the next daie or night. The Earl of Pembroke, Syr Richard Herbert his brother, and diverse gentlemen were taken and brought to Banberie to be behedded ; much lamentacion and no less entreatie was made to save the lyfe of Syr Richard Herbert, both for hys goodly personage, which excelled all men there and also for the noble chivalry that he had shewed in the felde the daie of the battayl, in so muche that hys brother the erle, when he should lay down hys hed on the block to suffer, seyd to Syr John Conyers and Clappam : ' masters, let me die for I am olde, but save my brother which is young, lusty, and hardy, mete and apte to serve the greatest prince in Chris- tendom.' But Syr John Conyers and Clappam, re- membryng the death of the yonge knyght Syr Henry Neville, cosyn to the Erie of Warwick, could not here on that side, but caused the erle and his brother with diverse other gentlemen to the number of X to be there behedded." We are told that Sir Richard Herbert entertained a superstitious apprehension respecting the event of the battle in consequence of the maledictions of a HH 2 4G8 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. Welch hag. When Pembroke had ravaged the XXI. revolting parts of Wales, in 1463, he had ordered the execution of seven brothers, all of them men convicted of rapine, murder, and other equally heinous crimes, in despite of the anxious entreaties of their mother, that one might be spared, Sir Richard humanely joined in the afflicted parent's suit, but the earl was inexorable, and they were hanged, " at which denial," says our author,* '* the mother was so aggrieved, that with a pair of woollen beads on her arms, she on her knees curst him, praying God's mischief might fall on him in the first battle he should make. The earl after this coming with his brother to Edgcote field, found Sir Richard at the head of his men leaning on his pole- axe, in a sad and pensive manner, whereupon the earl said, ' What, does thy great body apprehend any thing, or art thou weary with walking (for he was higher by the head than any one in the army), that thou dost lean thus upon thy pole-axe ?' Sir Richard Herbert replied ' that he was neither of both, whereof he should see the proof presently ; only I cannot but apprehend on your part, lest the curse of the woman with the woollen beads fall on yoa.' " Five thousand of the royalists were left dead upon the field ; and the rebels scouring the whole country, surprised the Lord Rivers, and his youngest son, Sir John Wydevile, in the forest of Dean ; seized by the triumphant and sanguinary mob, immediate exe- cution followed on the discovery of their persons. A similar fate awaited Stafford ; he was taken at • Lord Herbort of Chorlttirv. YORK AND LANCASTEll. U^fj Bridgwater, and suffered deatli, either, as some say ClIAl' by order of the king, for the dereHction of his duty, ''^■^'■ or according to others, with more probability, by the fury of the people, incensed against him on account of his friendship with the denounced family of the Wydevilles. Pembroke's flital defeat placed Edward on the brink of ruin ; thousands of his own soldiers de- serted him to join tlie popular cause, and in this extremity his only hope rested in the fidelity of Warwick. The earl at the commencement of the disturbance was absent at Calais, attending the marriage of his daughter with the Duke of Clarence, the king had written to both requesting that they would join him, assuring them that they should be welcome, and desiring Warwick to believe that he gave no credit to the rumour which assailed his loyalty.* The earl and his son-in-law obeyed the summons, but they came rather as victors than friends j they found Edward at a village near Coventry, too weakly guarded to dispute their will. He flattered himself that the respectful salutations with which they ap- proached him were sincere : he was speedily unde- ceived, yet not in a situation to betray his resent- ment, he acquiesced in the plans of the confederates, suffered Warwick to dismiss his few remaining fol- lowers, and accompanied the Nevills to War wick. -f- The insurgent army was now disbanded and the rebels returned to their homes enriched with the fruits of their late ravages. Edward's person was soon afterwards committed to the care of the Arch- * Fenn's Ck)llection, vol. ii. f Continuation of Croyle, 551. 4 70 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF bishop of York, who detained him a prisoner at Middleham Castle. The triumphant Warwick now held the destiny of two captive monarchs in his hands. The fate of the white and the red rose depended upon his nod, and both parties looked up with anxious expectation to the king-maker's decree. The friends of the House of Lancaster trusting that the earl's hostility to Edward was unappeasable ventured to steal from their hiding places. Sir Humphrey Nevill, who after the Battle of Hexham had been hunted down like a wild beast into woods and caves, quitted the rude sanctuary which had afforded him shelter for the last five years, and unfurled Henry's standard upon the Scottish marches :* but Warwick, unpre- pared for this result of his persecution of the Wyde- villes, opj)osed himself to the knight's attempt ; he called upon the retainers of the crown to arm them- selves in Edward's name.f Here, however, the proud earl's assumption of the regal authority re- ceived a check ; the nobles refused to obey this mandate whilst doubtful of the nature of his inten- tions towards the captive monarch, and Warwick was compelled either to make terms with Edward or to lend his assistance to the restoration of Henry ; he chose the former. The circumstances attending upon the king's release are not certainly known. It is said that carelessly guarded by the archbishop he contrived to make his escape whilst engaged in the diversion of the chase, an indulgence incautiously permitted by the good-natured prelate ; but his subsequent conduct to Warwick renders the * Year Book, 4 Ed. IV. f History of Croyle. YORK AND LANCASTER. .J.yi supposition more probable that lie regained his CHAP, liberty in consequence of a secret negociation \vit]i '^^'• his captors. The exigence of the moment demanded Edward's appearance at York where he took up his residence, giving Warwick the command of a body of men who marched northwards against the Lan- castrians. Henry's luckless partizans, overwhelmed by their enemies, were dispersed and cut to pieces ; their leader taken prisoner was brought by Richard Nevill to the newly-liberated monarch, who passed sentence of death upon the adventurous Lancastrian. The insurrection quelled, Edward hastened to the metropolis, rejoicing his despairing friends by his unhoped-for deliverance. The Duke of Gloucester, his brother, attended by a great number of the Yorkist nobles, together with the lord mayor and twenty-two aldermen in their scarlet gowns, two hundred members of the city companies in blue liveries, and a long line of knights, rode out to meet him, giving his return to London the air of a triumphal entry. The king's retinue was swelled on its arrival to one thousand persons on horseback, many of whom were accoutred in their armour ; and he took a circuit through Cheapside in order to shew himself to the delighted citizens.* The explanation which at a grand council of peers held in November Warwick and the Duke of Clarence chose to give of their conduct was gra- ciously received ; the former, perhaps in conse- quence of a previous stipulation, was rewarded by a grant of the office of chief justiciary of Wales, the * Fenn's Collection, vol. i. 294. ir/2 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF constableship of Cardigan, and all the other dig- nities enjoyed by the late Earl of Pembroke.* Every person engaged in the late revolt, from the period of Robin of Redesdale's command until their dispersion by Warwick, was included in a general pardon, and the king endeavoured to bind the Nevills to his interests by fresh concessions. Edward hoped and believed that Northumberland, Warwick's brother, had not participated in the earl's councils ; he was therefore anxious to shew him esnecial marks of favour, and to counteract the danger which the alliance of the Duke of Clarence with the daughter of the latter had and might still occasion, he proposed a union between the Princess Elizabeth, his eldest child, an infant of four years old, and a son of the Earl of Northumberland, the sole male heir of this too potent family. This measure met with universal approbation, and harmony appeared to be fully re-established. The calm was unfortunately of short duration ; there were too many aggravations attending on the late insurrection to admit of its being buried in oblivion. The queen had lost a father and a brother in the strife, and the death of the Earl of Pembroke^ a nobleman whom Edward had exalted from a private station, must have alarmed other of the king's friends : they saw all his honours in the grasp of Richard Nevill, whose insatiate avarice of wealth and office could only be appeased by the enjoyment of every dignity in the disposal of the crown. Warwick also, notwithstanding his present favour, could not be blind to the frail tenure by which it was held. An increase of strength on the part of * Rymer. YORK AND LANCASTER. 1.7.*3 tlie king would in all probability tempt a revengeful CHAP. temper to retaliate ; and conscious of liaving sinned ^^'• beyond forgiveness he seems to have been afraid to trust to the continuation of Edward's friendship. To outward appearance England was in a state of profound tranquillity, and Edward even meditated the invasion of France in conjunction with his bro- ther-in-law, the Duke of Burgundy. The confusion of the dates and the bare and hurried record of events which has been alone transmitted to posterity, renders it almost impossible to give a very clear or correct account of the transactions connected witli Warwick's second revolt. The Nevills it appears • were again anxious to obtain possession of the person of the king ; and to accomplish this important object, the Archbishop of York invited Edward to meet the Duke of Clarence and the Earl of Warwick at an en- tertainment given at one of his country houses, the Moor in Hertfordshire.* Unsuspicious of danger the jovial king repaired to the banquet ; but as he was washing his hands before supper he received an in- timation from a gentleman, who informed him in a whisper that a band of a hundred armed men lay in wait to surprise and detain him in captivity. The king, justly alarmed yet commanding his feelings hto. lest they should betray his acquaintance with the plot, watched an opportunity to steal secretly away, mounted a good horse and rode at full speed to Windsor. His sudden flight spread confusion throughout the adverse party and filled every heart with distrust. The Duchess of York, deeply dis- tressed by the division between her sons, laboured * Hearne's Fragments, 302. 4741 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, with parental solicitude to restore them to confi- ^^^- dence in each other.* By her entreaties they met in her presence at Baynard's castle on Shrove Tuesday, and again these fiery spirits were soothed into tem- 1470. porary amity .t The insurrection which ensued is generally as- cribed to the secret machinations of Warwick's faction ; but the people were discontented with the government ; they discovered that they had only exchanged the House of Lancaster for that of York without having effected the removal of those griev- ances which had forced them into rebellion : the . same heavy and intolerable oppressions continued under their new sovereign, and the extortion of the royal household afforded ample reason for complaint. The commons of Lincolnshire sought the usual means of redress by seizing arms ; they rose upon Sir Robert Burgh, a purveyor, who was particularly odious from his exactions, forced him to fly for the preservation of his life, plundered his estates, and destroyed his house with burning brands. The rebels found a leader in a knight the son of Lord Welles. The king unwilling to believe that his newly reconciled friends were concerned in the revolt, sent commissions to his brother and the Earl of Warwick to levy forces in his name, and anxious to prevent the rebelUon from spreading far- ther, commanded Lord Welles to appear before him in the expectation that his authority would check the imprudence of his son. The vacillation of this unfortunate nobleman cost him his life; he appeared at court in obedience to the sovereign's mandate, and * Fabian. t Fabian. YORK AND LANCASTEU. 47.0 then precipitately flying with Sir Thomas Dynioke CIlAl". to sanctuary was again induced by an assurance of ^^ pardon to return. Edward made him the medium of an offer of the royal mercy to his son, ilcMiing at the same time that he would exert his influence to induce him to accept it. The knight obstinately persisted in his rebelHon, and the savage king, furiously incensed, inhumanly sacrificed Lord M'clies to his resentment. Sir Thomas Dymoke suffered also, despite of the sovereign's })iedge of safety. Marching to Stamford, Edward summoned Sir Ro- bert to surrender, but the young man refused to treat with his father's murderer and returned a mes- sage of defiance. Edward's extraordinary celeiity had enabled him to take the field before Warwick could bring up his forces, and without waiting for the expected supplies, a fortunate circumstance since they would have been turned against him, he fell upon the rebels at Empyngham in Rutlandshire. Always conspicuous in action the martial king fol- •"^';\'';J^- lowed up the fierceness of his attack with such overpowering ardour that the rebels utterly dismayed by the fearful havoc of the day, cast away their armour lest it should impede the rapidity of their flight. The leaders, Sir Robert Welles and Sir Charles Delalaunde, disdaining this cowardly me- thod of retreat, fell into the king's hands alive, and suffered the penalty of their treason. A series of frightful executions followed under the sangui- nary auspices of the Earl of W^orcester who again came into office as Lord Constable. Lord "W'il- loughby was beheaded at York, and liuman ingenuity was taxed in the invention of new tortures to cm- I 170. '^7^ THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP- bitter the deaths of the remaining victims to a [ tyrant's crneltv.* Warwick and the Duke of Clarence were witliin a day's march of Edward at the period in which he defeated Sir Robert Welles, not daring to join him lest their treacherv should be discovered, and too weak to attack his victorious troops, they fell back upon Manchester, thus disclosing their intended per- fidy. The loyalty of Lord Stanley who refused to desert the kuig, obliged the malecontents to direct their next movement to the western counties,t Ed- ward was prevented from the pursuit by a scarcity of provisions, and tempted to resort once more to pacific measures, he assured them by a proclamation issued from York that he was ready to hear them in their defence, and w^ould rejoice at the establishment of their innocence, if they would submit themselves before the twenty-eighth of March :t but whilst holding out a hope of pardon he did not trust wholly to the chance of its acceptance, he commanded the arrest of the confederates, and sent orders to the different counties to take up arms against them. Upon the thirty-first of March when the day of pro- mised grace had elapsed, the king proclaimed the duke and the earl to be traitors, and anxious to sup- ply the loss of these powerful friends, restored the titles and estates of the house of Northumberland to Thomas Percy. Edward endeavoured to recon- cile the brother of Warwick who had not yet be- trayed any symptoms of disaffection towards him to this unpalatable deprivation, by raising him to a higher rank as Marquis of Montague. Stow has * Stow, t Fenn's Collection, vol. ii. p. 36. f Parliament Rolls, vi. 233. YORK AND LANCASTER. I.77 preserved the homely expression of the indignant ciiAl' lord upon this unwelcome elevation ; he afterwards -^■^'• told Warwick that the king had obliged him to sur- render the rich lands of Percy for a new title " allowing him a pie's nest to maintain it withal." Edward having offered large rewards for the ap- prehension of the insurgent lords, marched westward in the expectation of bringing them to action ; they escaped his pursuing arm by a sudden flight, and embarked on board a small fleet at Dartmouth ere he had proceeded farther than P^xeter : their retreat would have been tracked with blood but for the interference of a Dorsetshire gentleman,* who res- cued the Lord Scales and the Lord Audley as they were about to be beheaded by the order of the fugitives, fortunately too hardly pressed to admit of their witnessing the execution ; and the opportune arrival of a friend to Edward prevented the per- formance of the sanguinary mandate. Warwick directed his course to Calais, which he had entrusted to the charge of a Gascon gentleman named Vaucler. Assured of a welcome reception in a town where he had always been so popular, the earl's surprise and consternation were equally great when, denied admit- tance, he saw the guns from the batteries directed against his ships. The Duchess of Clarence who had accompanied her husband was in extreme dis- tress, she brought forth a son whilst the fleet was lying at anchor before Calais,"f and it was with the utmost difficulty that her attendants procured two flao-o-ons of wine from the inhospitable port. A'au- cler boasting his loyalty sent a messenger to the * Ileime's Fragments, 25. f Cominef:. 478 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. King of England with an assurance that he would [ continue to hold the fortress against his enemies, and at the same time he gave Warwick secretly to understand that his late conduct had been actuated by friendship ; there being too many partizans of Edward in the town for any hope of the safety of their enemies. The king grateful for the Gascon's services rewarded him with the government of Calais, and the Duke of Burgundy who hated Warwick testified his approbation by a pension of a thousand crowns. The earl sailed to Harfleur, sweeping the sea as he passed of the ships freighted by the duke's sub- jects ; and the booty being sold in Normandy, Charles arrested the French merchants who traded in his dominions, and fresh hostilities broke out between the two countries. Louis XI. graciously received his illustrious guests, appointing the Admiral of France to protect their small convoy from the Duke of Burgundy's navy, which had been dispatched in pursuit. Hitherto the French monarch had neglected the Lancastrian cause, but Edward had lately threatened to direct the military talents which had won the English crown in the recovery of the continental possessions so long and so gloriously attached to it ; and he now felt that his own interests required a more gene- rous line of conduct towards the deposed king. It became necessary to effect a reconciliation between Margaret of Anjou and the Earl of Warwick, and the subtle negociator found the exercise of all his genius called forth to surmount the difficulties of the undertaking. It was long before the high-spirited YORK AND LANCASTER. 1,79 queen could stoop to a frieiuUy alliance \\\{h a CM\\\ Nevill : she could neither forget nor forgive the ^' misfortunes which she had sustained from Warwick's pursuing enmity,* and but that ambition is blind, the earl could scarcely have trusted to the fulin-e favour of one whose noble spirit scorned him even in her adversity. In the event of success through Richard Nevill's prowess, the recent benefit would have been overlooked, the former injuries remem- bered. If Edward's ingratitude hnd disappointed Warwick's expectations, what could he expect from the red rose, so often and so deeply crimsoned by his destroying sword with the blood of its most faithful friends? W^arwick's eager desire to raise one of his daugh- ters to a throne now became apparent ; he offered the hand of the Lady Ann in marriage with Prince Edward: the proposal was coldly received. Edward of York as yet was unblessed witii an heir, and Margaret seemed more inclined to listen to the suggestions of a friend in England, who projected the union of the two houses by a matrimonial alli- ance between Edward of Lancaster and Elizabeth of York, a wild scheme in the present position of affairs. The reluctance so mortifying to the proud noble was at length overcome by the persuasions of the French king, and the earnest entreaties of Margaret's household, who saw no other chance of Henry's restoration. In giving an unwilling con- sent the lofty-minded queen prescribed her own terms, and Warwick so long accustomed to dictate was compelled to assent to the wishes of a woman * Ilaileian MSS. 543. 480 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, whom he had hitherto successfully opposed. Jea- XXI. lously guarding the rights of her son, Margaret stipulated for the crown to the exclusion of Clarence, who was only to inherit in case of the heir of Lan- caster's death without issue. " A strange marriage," observes Philip de Comines, *' when the earl had deposed and imprisoned the prince's fatlier, to cause him to marry his daughter, and to entertaine also the Duke of Clarence brother to the king, of the other faction, who had just cause to fear his owne estate if the house of Lancaster recovered the crown." Warwick's almost inexhaustible resources enabled him to undertake the projected enterprize with comparatively little assistance. His letters from England were of the most encouraging description ; he had carried away with him treasure sufficient for the maintenance of two thousand French archers,* and he only required a few ships, soldiers, and money from Louis. Born for extraordinary achievements, Richard Nevill's second triumph, though less glo- rious, was more wonderful than the first ; the cause of the white rose would have been entirely ruined after the flight of York from Ludlow in 1489, but for his single and supporting arm ; and now the same unbounded popularity saved its blushing rival, at the moment when it appeared to be withered and blighted beyond the hope of recovery. The earl's generous devotion to a desperate cause redounded to his honour ; but his union with the house of Lancaster, the result of a selfish and headlong am- bition, has cast an irretrievable stain upon his other- ' Harleian MSS. 543. YORK AND LANCASTER. 481 wise dazzling character. The Duke and Duclicss ruAP. of Clarence saw their interests sacrificed to the earl's •'^'^'• personal aggrandizement witli deep but su])prcs.sed resentment. The punishment of the duke's apostacy now commenced; breaking; the fraternal tic in the desertion of the king his brotlier, lie was abandoned in turn the moment that the success of A\'arwick's schemes demanded new political arrangements ; and, the slave of circumstances, he was compelled to assist in the elevation of an enemy whom his lamily had hurled from the throne. VOL. I. ^ ^ 48^ THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAPTER XXIL Caution of Burgundy — Edward's rash Security — ^ female Envoy — The Duke's Fleet scattered by a Storm — TFarwick lands — Edward is still confident — Warwick proclaims Henry VI. — Edward's jllarm — Defection of Montague — Flight of the King — Submission of the Yorkists — The King and his Friends put to Sea — their imminent Peril — Edward's extreme Destitution — Friendly Attentions of Grutiise — Burgundy's Embarrassment — The Queen takes Refuge in sanctuary — Birth of Prince Edward — his Baptism — Warwick's Triumph — Punishment of Offenders — Release of Hemij — Rejoicings in France — Edward's Situation at the Court of Burgundy — State of Affairs — Burgundy's Policy — Warwick's Moderation — Flight of the Earl of Worcester — his Arrest and Sentence — public Animosity against him — Execution of the Earl — his great Learning — proud Distinction lavished on him by the Pope — his Barbarity — Lamentations of Caxton — The young Earl of Richmond — Lady Margaret's Dream — Richmond presented to the King — Henry's prophetic Speech — Mar- garet's Detention in France — Reviving Affection for Edward — Preparations for the Defence of the Kingdom — Margaret' s unfortu- nate Delay — Edward's JVegociation with Clarence — Burgundy's dou- ble dealing — Intrepidity of the King's Followers — Edward's Inva- sion — is coldly received — a Council of War — Edward lowers his Pretensions — his Oath — Montague' s Inactivity — Increase of Edward's Army — Timidity of tlie Lancastrians — Edward claims the Crown — Reconciliation of Clarence and Edward. CHAP. The Duke of BLirgimdy's watchful vigilance had XXII. rendered him perfectly acquainted with the nego- ciations which the king of France carried on between Warwick and Margaret of Anjou, and he transmitted YOIIK AND LANCASTER. ISJ the important intelligence to Edwartl witli an earnest cflAP. exhortation thathe would prepare to defend iiis realm; ^•'^"• but the thoughtless and presumptuous king, too con- tident in his own strength despised his kinsman's re- peated warnings ; giving credit to the Marquis of Montague's assurances of attachment, he admitted him to his councils and merely sent a few servants to watch the conduct of the Archbishop of York, his brother.* The Duke of Clarence's league with Warwick occasioned Edward much uneasiness, and he devised a plan of separating them which was emi- nent!/ successful ; he contrived (an achievement not difficult to the handsome and favoured monarch) to gain over a lady attached to the suite of Isabella, who in the hurry of the flight to Calais had been left in England. Apparently indebted to Edward's courtesy for permission to rejoin her mistress, she was in- structed to represent the folly and imprudence of the Duke's engagements with his present associates. Unacquainted v/ith the secret of her commission, which this discreet ambassadress -f" wisely concealed even from Vauclere, she deceived that subtle person, and was allowed to pass through Calais into France, where, gaining the confidence of the duchess, she executed Edward's commands so adroitly, that Cla- rence promised to return to his brother at the first convenient opportunity after his landing in England. Depending upon this desertion, and despising the attempts of his enemies, Edward amused himself with his customary diversions, to the utter neglect of those precautions which could alone have checked the daring efforts of the enterprising Warwick. • Fenn's Collection. f Comines. I I 2 1470. 484 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. The Duke of Burgundy awake to the danger and ^^^^- accurately informed of all the enemy's movements, apprised Edward of the very spot appointed for the disembarkation of the hostile armament ; no pre- caution which prudence could dictate was omitted by the anxious Burgundian, he stationed a powerful fleet to intercept the Earl of Warwick's passage : a violent storm which dispersed the ships and drove them upon opposite coasts, enabled the invaders to make the voyage unmolested ; and protected by the navy of Louis, they crossed the sea and landed upon ^7!:}^' the southern coast of Devonshire. Warwick, whose recent misfortunes had endeared him to the people — ■ who was the hero of every ballad, and whose exploits were commemorated in shows and pageants at every provincial festival, experienced the enthusiastic ardour of English affection, his ranks swarmed with multitudes gathering daily around the standard of their idol. Edward, in the proud security of self-confidence, had laughed at the idle expenditure of money in the Duke of Burgundy's equipment of a navy for the discomfiture of so insignificant a foe :* a httle shaken by the earl's invasion, he was still assured of ultimate success : " Let him land," he exclaimed, " I can match him well enough on shore ;'* and in the cer- tainty of victory desired the duke to employ his ships in cutting off the retreat of the fugitives. Blinded to the reality of the perils which beset his path, by an unaccountable infatuation, though warned that the blow would be struck in Devonshire, Ed- ward permitted the Lord Fitzhugh, brother-in-law * Philip de Comines, p. 33. WII. YORK AND I.AjNCASIKI;. m,) to Warwick, to allure him into Yorksliirc by a pre- ( IIM tended insurrection. Whilst thus uselessly employed in the north, Warwick traversed the west without l lie slightest opposition, ordered Henry VI. to be pro- claimed at Paul's Cross, and then marched with an army which acquired new strength at every step iu search of the incautious monarch. The thunderbolt had fallen. The people, though unprepared for the restoration of the rival house, either intoxicated bv their attachment to the popular leader, and ready to second him in any and every undertaking, or too much astonished to dispute his commands, followed Warwick with the usual acclamations, and exchaniiintr the white for the red rose, made the air resound with shouts of " Long live Henry of Lancaster." Edward, in ignorance of the transactions which were taking place in the south, lay near Doncaster, having his army scattered about in the neighbouring villages. From this place he summoned the re- tainers of the crown to repair to his banners. The ex- pected levies came slowly in, and as the king, not yet conscious of his dangerous situation, sate at table, a friendly messenger, breathless with speed, rushed into his presence, warning Inm to save him- self by immediate flight; the astonished monarch heard with dismay that the traitor jMontague was riding through the royal troops, flinging up his ca[), and crying "God save King Henry," and that six thousand soldiers had already abandoned his device and assumed the crimson badge of Lancaster.* In another moment, the Lord Hastings, the chamber- lain, ascertained the truth of this alarming intelli- * Comints. 486 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, p-ence: fortunately a brida:e intervened between the XXII . . ". . ■ king and his enemies : this was immediately secured by a strong battaHon of guards whose loyalty was invincible, and it being impossible to entertain the slightest hope of effectual resistance, Edward mounted a swift horse, and attended by Lord Scales, fled with the utmost celerity, leaving Hastings to make terms for those adherents whom he was compelled to abandon. This faithful friend recommended the be- wildered troops to submit to Warwick for the time, and when a brighter day arose to remember their allegiance to the House of York, and then hastily following the same route which the king had pur- sued, accomxpanied by the heroic few who preferred exile to the desertion of their master's cause, overtook Edward before he reached the coast. The royalists defended the bridge until the king was out of imme- diate danger from a pursuit, and having obtained a pledge of security surrendered to the triumphant party. Edward repaired with breathless expedition to Lynn, where he found two Dutch and an English vessel pre- paring to sail. Richard i:)uke of Gloucester, the Lords Hastings and Scales, a few nobles, and eight hun- dred followers composed his retinue, and desti- tute of every thing except the clothes which they happened to wear, and many entirely ignorant of their destination, they hurried on board. Edward commanded the mariners to direct their course to the coast of Holland ; they obeyed, and a new danger awaited the exiles in their attempt to make the shore : a hostile fleet from the Hans towns, who had already captured maiiy English sliips, bore down YORK AND LANCASTER. 1S7 upon the convoy; and the king, deprived ol' the ciiAi'. means of defence, preferred the chance of death ^'^"' by the waves to the certainty of being taken pri- soner, he desired the captain to run the ship aground. The pirates, prevented from pursuit by tlie sliallow- ness of the water, cast anchor in the expectation of securing their prize on the return of the tide;* l)ut in the interim Grutuse, the Duke of Burgundy's Ueu- tenant in Holland, learning the rank of the stranger, and the imminent peril of his situation, sent orders to the enemy to abstain from their meditated assault, and hastening to pay his respects to the king, con- ducted him in safety to the town. We are informeil by Comines that Edward was absolutely pennyless, and had no pecuniary means of recompensing the master of the vessel for his passage ; the king •' ga\e him therefore," says our author, " a goodly gown, furred with martins, promising one day to do liim a good turne ; and as touching his traine,'\ contiiuies the historian, " never was so poor a company seen." Grutuse defrayed the king's expenses to the Hague, and several of his followers who possessed nothing but their armour, were obliged to this gentleman's munificence for more convenient raiment. The mo- narch, grateful for the kindness accorded to him in his distress, upon the return of better fortune gave his preserver an English peerage, the earldom of Winchester, which he afterwards rehnquished at the request of Henry VH. Grutuse sent intelligence of the king's arrival to the Duke of Burgundy, who we are told was exceed- ingly disconcerted by the unwelcome news. Comines * Comines. 488 T^IE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, declares that he would rather have heard of Edward's 1^ V FT * death, an event which would have permitted him to make peace with Warwick, the person upon earth whose hostility he had the most reason to fear.* On his departure from London the king had left his consort with her mother and three infant dauarh- o ters in the tower. The alarming tidings of War- 1470. wick's approacli reached them time enough to enable them to seek a more secure retreat ; and leaving the fortress, they fled with the utmost privacy to sanc- tuary in Westminster, and in this forlorn condition Elizabeth was delivered of a son. This unfortunate prince was born in the midst of grief and desolation fatally ominous of ills to come. Hall, in describing the distressed state of the queen, who, he tells us, was in great penury and deserted by all her friends, adds, that the royal infant was *' with small pompe christened and baptized hke a poor man's child,'* the godfathers being the Abbot and Prior of West- minster, and the godmother the I^ady Scroope. Within the space of eleven days Warwick had chased Edw^ard from the kingdom, and attended by the Duke of Clarence entered London in triumph. One of Nevill's first acts increased his popularity. The Kentish men had profited by the late disturb- ance in their usual manner, rising tumultuously and committing various enormities in the suburbs of London, which they plundered, accompanying their depredations with circumstances of peculiar atrocity. Warwick, by a prompt and vigorous exertion of his authority, quelled these disorders and brought the • " As whome," says Hall, " he," the Duke of Burgundy, " hated more than a cucudrylle." YORK AND LANCASTER. 480 offenders to punishment; and the citizens, grateful niAF'. for this essential benefit, esteemed him more highly ^'• than ever.* Shortly after his arrival, the " kin. disapprove, but secretly supplied his royal guest with ^J^' fifty thousand florins, four good ships equipped at Walcheren, and fourteen well armed vessels hired by his agents from the Hanse towns.* Sharing in the king's martial ardour, and equally reckless of all personal danger, Richard Duke oi* Gloucester, Lord Hastings, and Lord Scales, a small but chivalrous band, committed themselves with two thousand followers to the perilous adventure. 'J'he secret wishes of the Duke of Burgundy were against them, and Warwick's power more formidable than ever ; but with hearts steeled against the worst, they resolved to brave every danger rather than drag out the remainder of their existence in melancholy exile. Upon the second of March 1471, this gallant com- pany embarked from an inhospitable coast; they remained wind bound for eleven days, but the wea- ther at length proving favourable they set sail and appeared off the coast of Suffolk about the middle of Lent. Edward sent a party on shore to reconnoitre ; they returned with intelligence which obliijred him to seek a more secure place of landing ; three gentlemen repaired on board his vessel and informed him that the Earl of Oxford was upon the alert, and that AVarwick had removed the Duke of Norfolk to Lon- don, with all the princi})al men in the county known to fiivour the house of York. Thus baffled the fleet again put to sea. In imminent danger of shipwreck from a sudden and violent tempest, the small squad- • Comines. VOL. I. K K 498 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, ron buffeted the winds and waves for two days, losing XXII. sight of each other as they were carried along at the mercy of the storm. Hourly menaced with death by the devouring ocean, Edward, with a magnanimity perhaps the offspring of despair, determined to throw himself upon the shore at any point that he could reach ; he had five hundred persons with him in the ship, and ignorant of the fate of their com- rades in arms, he ordered them to disembark at Ravenspur in Yorkshire, the very spot whence Henry IV. commenced his successful march to London.* The Duke of Gloucester and Lord Scales who were on board different vessels, influenced by the same undaunted resolution, quitted their ships and effected a landing; the rest of their band followed their ex- ample, and were scattered along the coast at consi- derable distances from each other. The king advanced towards a small village, and received the next day news of the safety of his slen- der army, they joined him without opposition. But the country people kept aloof; no reinforcements as he had confidently expected, flocked to his standard; still he remained unmolested ; the neutrality of large assemblies of men armed by the orders of Warwick, though affording little hope of ready aid, preserved him from instant destruction. Had the Earl of Northumberland been less timid or more thoroughly attached to the Lancastrian interest, he might have annihilated Edward's followers ; he hesitated, and gave the monarch time to form new plans. It was however evident that no man felt inclined to hazard life and fortune in a cause which appeared desperate. * HarleianMSS. YORK AND LANCASTER. 499 Under these cheerless circumstances tlie invaders cum' called a council of war, and sat in solemn deliberation •''^"• on their future course. Somewhat discouraged, yet still resolved against the abandonment of their project, they adopted an unworthy artifice, and not daring to trust to the sword, resorted to duplicity in the fur- therance of their designs.* Dissimulation and j)er- jury marked every succeeding step. Edward placed the ostrich feather in his cap, the cognizance of Prince Edward of Lancaster ; declared that he sought only to regain the inheritance of his father the Duke of York, and advancing through the towns and villages with shouts of " Long Hve King Henry !" afforded the undecided populace a pretext for abstaining from attack. The strong array which in every stage of Edward's progress met his eyes, warned him that the slightest repulse would be attended by total over- throw. Before him rose innumerable perils, behind him yawned a grave ; there was now no choice, and he pressed onwards with an anxious yet unwavering mind. Edward w^as not perplexed by any conscien- tious scruple, he considered the expedient alone, and free from all reli2:ious and moral controul his bold- ness and decision saved him where a more virtuous prince must have sunk into irretrievable ruin. The city of York shut its gates, and Edward was M„r,i, is. advised by the recorder to avoid the certainty of failure in an attempt to approach it ; but steadily determined not to retreat he drew up his little army before the the walls, called upon the citizens to witness the sincerity of his protestations, and swear- ing solemnly in their presence that he had relin- • Harleian MSS. 543. KK 2 \ 500 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, quished all design upon the crown, was permitted ' to repeat the oath on the altar of the cathedral : his troops were then allowed to enter, and halting for the night advanced the next day to Tadcaster, a solitary train whom few or none had dared to join. The Marquis of Montague was stationed at Ponte- fract. It is impossible to account for this noble- man's inactivity ; the news of Edward's landing must have reached him in time for the collection of those armed bands who, destitute of an active leader, were content to watch the invader's progress in silence. He had received orders from Warwick to dispute Edward's path, but imitating the suspicious conduct of Northumberland he offered no resistance. The . Yorkists passed this formidable enemy at the distance of four miles ; they had penetrated into the very heart of England without a single hand being raised against them, and the hopes of their secret friends reviving by this unforeseen success, the tide of fortune turned. No longer hesitating through fear vast numbers augmented Edward's ranks, and he found himself at Nottingham at the head of a respectable force. The Duke of Exeter and Lord Oxford had assem- bled four thousand men at Newark, which following upon the rear of the Yorkists might have prevented farther accessions. Sharing in the universal dread of the gallant monarch's prowess, these noblemen were alarmed by the report of his strength, and retreating with disgraceful speed at a mere rumour of his approach fell back upon Warwick. The daring adventurer now unveiled his ambitious designs, he resumed the style and title of a king, YORK AI^D LANCASTER. ^01 and commanded his subjects by proclamation to CUM', hasten to his standard. Warwick with a numerous ^^•^" - army was stationed at Coventry ; surprised and dis- concerted by Edward's rapid advance througli a country so well prepared to resist him, he made a fatal pause, and during this impolitic delay Clarence declared in favour of his brother, four thousand men under his command displayed the white rose above their gorgets.* Avowing his faithlessness with unblushing eflfron- tery the perjured duke sent a message to Richard Nevill, offering to procure the king's pardon and favour if he would also desert the Lancastrian cause. Warwick in the presence of the Earl of Oxford returned an indignant refusal. Clarence joined the Yorkists at Warwick. Edward advanced at the head of his army three miles uj)on the road to meet him, in all the pomp of war, with banners flying and music's exhilarating strains. The brothers rushed into each other's embrace amidst the loud shouts of their soldiers, the minstrel's peahng melody and the blast of the spirit stirring trumpet : an animated scene ; but the reconciliation, purchased at the expence of honour, was hollow and imstable.f * Fenn's Collection, vol. ii. t Continuation of Croyl. -502 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP. XXIII. CHAPTER XXIII. Edward's Challenge — he marches to the Metropolis — Weak Defence of the Archbishop — Henry's degrading Exhibition — Attachment of the Citizens to the House of York — The Archbishop's Treachery — Hejiry delivered up — is committed to the Tower — Edward visits his Queen — Warwick advances to give Battle — Edward hastens to meet him — Partial Engagement of the adverse Forces — Battle of Barnet — Ed- ward's Badge — Error of the Lancastrians — their Confusion and Flight — Death of Warwick, and his Brother — Edward's Affection for Montague — Burial of the Nevills — Loss of the Lancastrians and of the Yorkists — Henry led back to the Tower — Edward's Offering at St. Paul's — Margaret lands in England — her despairing Anguish — Confidence of the Lancastrians — Loyalty of the Western Counties to Henry — The Earl of Oxford's Letter — Margaret's Fear for her Son — Edward circumvents the Projects of the Lancastrians — Error in the Position of the Lancastrian Army — The Eve of the Battle — Margaret's Despair — her Encouragement to the Soldiers — Battle of Tewkesbury — Somerset's Rashness — Death of Lord Wen- lock — Flight of the Lancastrians — Death of Prince Edward — Violation of Sanctuary — Intrepidity of a Priest — Execution of the Lancastrians — Triumph of the House of York — Wenlock's Insta- bility — Loyalty of the Earl of Devonshire— Sir John Fortescue— Interesting Records of Edward of Lancaster — Fortescue' s Submission to Edward — Margaret is captured — The Lady Anne is brought to the King — Doubts respecting her Marriage — Dispersion of the JVorthern Insurgents — Attempt upon London — Resistance of the Citizens — Richard of Falconberg — his second Attempt upon London is repelled — Edward enters London — marches in quest of the In- surgents — Falconberg capitulates — receives an Assurance of Pardon — its Violation — Report of one of Edwards Followers— The King's Letter to the Council of Bruges. Strongly fortified at Coventry, Edward though extremely anxious to give battle to the enemy, could YORK AND LANCASTEU. 5(>.j not induce Warwick to ([uit his cntrcncliinL'Uts. ^^^^- and only revived to utter those piercing lamentations which are wrunc^ from the bitter aniruish of a fainting heart. The surrounding nobles strove to inspire her with better hopes ; far from being dis- pirited by the earl's deleat, they spoke conHdently of future success, and pointed out to their dismayeil auditor the fertile resources which still remained.* The western counties had long been in a state of active preparation, and obeying the call of their leaders, fresh and numerous forces appeared upon the field. Lord Oxford had joined Jasper Pembroke in Wales; the account of the earl's escape is pre- served amongst the Paston letters, wherein he de- sires the countess, to whom the confidential epistle is addressed, to send all the money that she could raise, together with as many men as could be pro- vided with good horses, directing at the same time that they should "join him by stealth, at divers par- cels."'-f' The earl's letter gives a lamentable picture of the instability of servants and dependants at this unhappy period. He tells his correspondent that he quitted his men and fled alone, having reason to suspect that his chaplain intended to betray him ; yet notwithstanding his expeirience of the open hostility of the Yorkists, and the secret treachery of j)re- tended friends, he was still sanguine in his expec- tation of ultimate triumph, and he concludes with an expression of unwavering confidence : " Be of good cheer and take no thought, for I shall bring my pur- pose about, by the grace of God." The queen's friends had taken up their quarters at Bath, whence * Harl. TVISS. t Fonn's Collcrtion. 510 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, they proposed to join their partizans in Wales, an * alHance which would have placed them at the head of an irresistible force. Margaret anxiously soli- citous for the welfare of her son, earnestly requested that he might be allowed to quit the kingdom ; she felt a presentiment of evil, and her strong natural affection prompted the removal of her darling from the reach of Edward's destroying sword.* The queen's intreaties were unavailing, and her fears over- ruled, the presence of the young prince was deemed necessary in the existing state of affairs, and he remained to take the chance of war. The Lancastrians having raised their levies, pressed forward on the route to AVales. Edward's vigilance had prepared a check at Gloucester which produced a change of plan ; the citizens by his orders fortified the bridge, and turning off by Tewkesbury, the close pursuit of the Yorkists obliged them to pause and give battle. The queen, impressed with melancholy feelings, looking anxiously to the river, which she was desirous to pass lest it should cut off the retreat, she deemed would be the too probable result of the unavoidable encounter ; and she urged her friends to cross this dangerous obstacle before the enemy could come up ; but weary with a long and rapid march, they preferred a situation close to the town, as it would afford rest and refreshment to the harassed troops. It appears by the statement of modern writers that the military leaders committed a fatal error in the choice of their ground. Dyde, upon surveying the spot, remarks, that "if the position of the My the eminence had been chosen, the right of the army would have been covered by the Se- * Hal!. YORK AND LANCASTER. 511 vern, and the front by the Avon, and by an ascent so cii \i>. steep as to make any attack in front very hazardous ; ■'^■^'"• and in this situation the army might liave waited in safety till the Earl of Pembroke had joined it."* Edward came up in the evening and posted his forces within three miles of the enemy .-f The nigiit was spent by both parties in anxious preparation. It was an interval of fearful suspense to Margaret ; the heroic constancy which had supported licr through so many dangers gave way, and her broken spirit was oppressed with a heavy weight of despon- dence. As the morning advanced she shook ofl' diis dejection, and steeling her grief-worn lieart to the task, rode with her son round the intrenchments, spoke kindly and cheerfully to the soldiers, and ])ro- mised large rewards to those who should prove fliith- ful and courageous. ;|: The Lancastrians had raised a steep rampart in their front, and the strength of their fortifications appeared to defy assault. The Yorkists were drawn up in three divisions, the vanguard was entrusted to Gloucester, a prince who never failed to be in the foremost rank ; Edward commanded the centre in person, and the rear w^as led by Hastings and the Marquis of Dorset, of the Wydeville family. Tiie king found his adversaries very advantageously posted under the protection of dikes and ditches, which it m .v a, was difficult to pass ; but Gloucester pushed boldly on, brought his artillery to play upon the barriers, and rained his arrows like hail upon the enemy : they withstood the shock, and the duke was com- pelled to give w^ay. Somerset eager to follow up liis advantage rushed out to the attack, beat back his • History of Tewkesbury. f flarleian MSS. % lb. 5l'^2 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, assailants, and carried death into the centre of Kd" ward's host, in the midst of his career the duke was checked by the alarmin;^ conviction that he was fighting almost alone. The Yorkists, recovered from their first sui'prise, were in turn pursuers. Somerset regained his entrenchments, and found Lord Wen- lock, of whose supy)ort he had been assured, standing idle with his troops, either struck by a sudden panic, or meditating a revolt to Edward : goaded to mad- ness the infuriated duke staid not to inquire whe- tlier he were a coward or a traitor, but riding fiercely to the spot clove his skull with one stroke of his battle-axe. Distrust seized upon all ; unable to dis- tinguish friends from foes the dismayed Lancastrians had lost their energy, and now made only a feeble resistance. Gloucester advanced and planted his victorious banner in the heart of the enemy's camp ; he was followed by J^dward, and fresh assailants pouring in, Somerset overwhelmed with the cer- tainty of ruin, faint, wounded and betrayed, relin- quished the ineffectual struggle, and sought shelter in a neighbouring church ; whilst his flying troops spread themselves through the parks and fields in wild confusion. In the Harleian MSS. it is stated that Prince Ed- ward died fighting on the field, but all other writers affirm that he was taken prisoner with Queen Mar- garet, and brought before the king. The ferocious monarch asked him " Why he had dared to appear in England in arms ?" The young hero undauntedly replied, " To recover my father's kingdom and my own inheritance.'' Edward enraged struck the spi- rited prisoner on the face, and the surrounding YORK AND LANCASTER. 513 ruffians, truly deserving (lie ai)pellation, wlicilicr rn\i- knights or nobles, only awaiting a signal liom their -^^'"• brutal master, buried their swords in his bodv, and he fell transfixed with unnumbered wonmls. Determined to exterminate the whole of the Lan- castrian party Edward even violated Ww privileges of sanctuary, an outrage hitherto unaUcniptcd by the most sanguinary conqueror : he rushed to the church with his sword drawn; a priest shocked by ihu intended sacrilege planted himself firndy at the door, and holding up the host in his hand interposed the sacred symbol between the monarch and his devoted enemies.* The pious ecclesiastic wrung a reluctant promise from Edward's lips; he assured him that the lives of the fugitives should be spared : but two days afterwards repenting this clemency he renewed the attack, and sending an armed force the Duke of Somerset, the Prior of St. John, and eleven others were dragged from the foot of the altar. Gloucester sate in judgment upon these victims, and Somerset covered with the blood which had streamed fiom his wounds in the late battle was hurried to the scaffold, and perished with his friends ; the last and the most unfortunate of the Beauforts. This was the ninth splendid vet barbarous victorv which Edward had achieved; it secured his throne; the red rose lay crushed and scattered beneath his feet, and nothing now could have shaken the power of the House of York save its internal dissensions and its ruthless crimes. Lord Wenlock, the victim of Somerset's indignant reveno'c, afibrds a striking instance of the nnifabilitv * Leland. VOL. I. I^ I- 51 i THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, of the times. Rising to honours through the favour XXIII. of Henry VI. he was knighted, made constable of Bamborough castle, and chamberlain to the queen : acquiring great wealth in the liberal monarch's ser- vice, he was enabled to lend his master a consi- derable sum, for which he received an assignment of the tenth and fifteenth granted by parliament in 1456 ;* he was made Knight of the Garter, and fight- ing valiantly on Henry's side at the first battle of St. Albans, left the field desperately wounded : yet deserting the cause of the red rose, he joined the Duke of York in 1459, and was in consequence included in the attainder passed on the duke's party by the Lancastrian parliament. At the battle of Towton Lord Wenlock strengthened young Ed- ward's ranks with his followers, distinguishing him- self by his gallantry 5 the conqueror recompensed him for his former loss by the office of chief butler of England : he was also employed in several im- portant embassies, created a baron, and advanced to the honourable post of lieutenant of Calais. But notwithstanding all these favours he again revolted and joined Warwick in the restoration of the deposed king. The Earl of Devonshire, whose unwavering fidelity offers a bright contrast to the fickle Wenlock, was the third Courtney who lost his life in the cause of the red rose : blotted from the list of the peerage by Edward's orders after the battle of Towton, the earl- ]469. dom was bestowed upon Lord Stafford, beheaded the same year at Bridgewater, but the intrepid noble refusing to relinquish his title, opposed the Yorkists • Pennait. YORK AND LANCASTER. 51.5 in many a bloody field. After the eai-rs deatli at CllAl'. Tewkesbury the family lay for a loni^ time appa- •'^■^'"• rently extinct ; but under Henry \'JI. it revived again: Edward the next heir was restored to his honours,* and marrying a daughter of Kdward 1\'. involved the ill-starred race in new misfortunes; persecuted throughout the latter part of Jlenry VIII.'s reign, the last descendant in the direct line died in exile after the accession of Mary.f The rivers of blood shed at the batife of Tewkes- bury at length ceased to flow. One of the desolate Margaret's companions was spared. Sir Joiui Tor- tescue, a learned and upright lawyer, justly esteemed the brightest light of the age. Enjoying the confi- dence of Henry VI., and advanced by him to the highest oflices in his profession, he remained incor- ruptibly faithful to the red rose, shared all the wan- derings of Queen Margaret, and em])loyed the period of his retreat in France in directing the studies of the young prince ; his work De Laud'ibus Le^inn Anglice was composed expressly for the accomplished boy*s instruction ; it explained the nature of the English constitution as a limited legal and not abso- lute monarchy, and it is still considered for its clear- * Camden. t Reginald Courtney was the first of this family that came into England, being brought hither by Henry II. and by him advanced with the marriage of theheirof the barony of Okehampton, for that he procured the marriage of the said king and Eleanor of Poitou and Aquitain, Our historians tell us, that the branch of the family that seated itself here was derived froui the royal house of France ; but however that matter may be there is one branch still in France known by the title of Princes of Courienay as being lineally dcsccn led from Louis Le Grosse, King of France ; another branch, came to be Emperors of Constantinople, and enjoyed that dignity three or four descents ; another branch seated itself in the East, where Jocelyn de Courlenay, famous in t!ie holy wars, was made Count of Edesse. — Cannlni. L l2 516 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, ness and solidity one of the most admirable treatises • of its kind. Under the able tuition of this excellent and highly-gifted man, taught to respect the rights of the subject, and acquainted with the important duties of his station, there is infinite reason to believe that had the life of Edward of Lancaster been spared, he would have become a shining ornament upon the roll of English kings. The sUght records which are extant concerning young Edward's brief career cannot fail to impress the reader with very favourable ideas of that most unfortunate prince ; cradled in sorrow, pursued throughout infancy by the keenest blasts of adver- sity, and perishing by violence at the early age of seventeen, his history presents a continued series of tragical events ; but inured to hardships and trained to arms by the fierce amazon his mother, a heroine who never trembled until her son's life was in jeopardy, the magnanimity which he displayed at Tewkesbury gives evidence of an undaunted cou- rage worthy of his descent from John of Ghent and his chivalrous house ; for whether falling in defence of his father's crown upon the crimson field, or in bearding the conqueror whilst unarmed and a pri- soner, and defying him with noble disdain in his own tent, the circumstances of young Edward's death are equally glorious. The king, capable of appreciating the worth and talents of Sir John Fortescue, rendered his imprison- ment light ; and when he had leisure to attend to domestic affairs, sought to engage so brilliant a lu- minary in his service, and having fliithfully adhered to the Lancastrian cause until fartlier efforts were YORK AXD LANCASTEU. ,517 Utterly hopeless, he accepted, or as it is stated in the ctlAl-. petition which appears on the Parliamentary RolN, '^•^"'• asked grace of the king. Gratitude and pcrsoiuil affection it is most probable had connected him witli Henry, for upon that monarch's death and the entire extinction of the house of Lancaster, Sir John Fortescue wrote in defence of Edward's title, a work which his unblemished integrity affords snfli- cient proof was the result of a firm conviction of the incontrovertible right of the Yorkists to the crown : and still retaining and avowing the senti- ments which he had formerly expressed, he mani- fested the consistence of his political principles in a second treatise upon the difference between an ab- solute and a limited monarchy, composed in English for the benefit of Edward IV., wherein he explains the latter to be the legal constitution of England, and advocates its merits upon various grounds. Thus this honest councillor dared address instruc- tions to the sovereign upon his throne, similar to those which wdth less risk of offending he had given to an exiled prince, and covered with years and honours he closed an active, virtuous, and not- withstanding the reverses sustained with ^Margaret, prosperous career at the advanced age of ninety.* Margaret of Anjou, at the commencement of her last and most disastrous conflict, had retired to a monastery in the vicinity of Tewkesbury, where she was taken prisoner by the victors; yet spared the sidit of Edward in the first flush of his inhuman triumph, she was not brought before him until he had moved to Coventry. Warwick on his departure from France had hit * Biosrupliia Biitannica. 518 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, his wife and daugliter in attendance on the queen. XXIII. 'p|-|g countess sailing; in a different vessel arrived at Portsmouth, where the afflicting intelligence of her husband's death reached her, and no longer inte- rested in the struggle for the crown, she hastened to indulge her melancholy within the walls of a holy edifice, and took refuge from a sanguinary world in the abbey of Beaulieu. The Lady Anne, Warwick's daughter, in all probability only the betrothed of Edward, since there is no account of the celebra- tion of her marriage, remained with the queen, and was captured at the same time.* Though anxious to rescue the lady from the charge which has pro- duced that splendid but satiric scene of Shakspeare, where she is made to disgrace her sex by the exhi- bition of an unpardonable weakness, it must be confessed that Warwick committed a dangerous error if he trusted to a reluctant promise wrung from the high-souled Margaret at the period of her deepest adversity, and neglected to secure the throne in his family beyond the power of recall. Edward after the victory at Tewkesbury proceeded northwards to disperse the Lancastrians, who had obeyed the summons of Margaret's party ; the news of the monarch's advance, and the flital issue of the late battle prevented a recurrence of hostiHties ; relinquishing a fruitless attempt they threw away their arms, and prudently retired to the shelter of their homes. In the mean time fresh disturbances took place in London, occasioned by a desperate effort to rescue Henry from the Tower. A bastard son of the Lord Falconberg had been entrusted by Warwick with a • * Harleian MSS. YORK AND LAXCASTKR. »519 naval command, he had scoured the seas in triunii)h, CHAi'. made numerous captures, and landing,* tiunigh ^^"' now too late, attracted immense muhiludes ol* the Kentish freebooters to Jiis standard. Tliese men had already reaped rich iiarvests in the pillage of the suburbs, and were willing to secoml any enter- prize which promised the spoil of the city : at the head of seventeen thousand adventurers f the bas- tard assaulted the capital, a force which if collected and brought up previous to the battle ot" Barnet, would in all probability have given perpetual sove- reignty to the red rose : but Edward's celerity and good fortune enabled him to attack his enemies before they could concentrate their partizans ; and he defeated in succession the hosts of those leaders which had they been permitted to join must have proved irresistible. The mayor and aldermen shut their gates upon this new assailant, and he retired to Kingston ; but though baffled in his attempt to restore Henry to liberty, he could not abandon the hope of plunder, and being well provided with ships and cannon he returned again to the charge ; his lawless followers thirsting for spoil were divided into two bodies, who made a simultaneous attack upon Aldgate and Bi- shopsgate. The Londoners, aided by several knights and nobles hastening from the adjacent counties to their assistance, made a vigorous resistance ; a strong out-work which protected the bridge effectually re- pulsed the enemy in that quarter, and Lord Rivers is- suing from a postern gate of the Tower, then under his command, at the moment tliat the mayor attended • Harleiaii MSS. t Hall. 520 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, by the flower of the nobility rushed out at another, J ' the rout became general, and the banditti fled with precipitation to their ships : sixty houses were burned on the bridge, and a wide conflagration in other parts of the city marked the devastating pro- gress of the insurgents. Repulsed but not van- quished Falconberg retired into Kent, and drew up his troops at Blackheath, whence learning that the king was moving forwards with an army of thirty thousand men he again retreated, and entrenched himself at Sandwich, where he possessed a navy of forty-seven ships. Edward entered London on the 1471. twenty -first of May, and eagerly bent upon the re- duction of the Kentish rebels, remained in the me- tropolis only for a single day, and passed with all his array to Canterbury. Falconberg despairing of success in an encounter with such an overv\^helming force, took advantage of his strong position to sue for peace ; he should rather have trusted the ocean which lay open before him, than the worthless pledge of Edward's promise. The expedience of accepting the rebel's oflTers was discussed in the council, and after long deliberation the king consented to receiv^e his submission, and to accord forgiveness to an intrepid spirit who still possessed the means of producing new commotions. The Duke of Gloucester was appointed to convey the monarch's assurance of pardon on the surrender of the town and ships which were given up on the twenty-sixth of May, in the full confidence that life would be the reward of obedience. In the Septem- ber following Falconberg experienced the fallacy of his hope of Edward's grace; the treacherous monarch YORK AND LANCASTER. .0'21 revoked his word, and tlie yioldinf:^ prisoner siiflcred cn\?. a traitor's death ; his head, a gliastly monument of ^J^' the perjured king's dishonour, was ])hieetl upon London bridge, '* looking towards Kent."* The last enemy was subdued, and one of tlie fol- lowers of the triumphant prinee concludes his accountf of the rapid and important conquests achieved by this invincible cham])ion of the whi(e rose in the following words: — " Thus then may be now seen how, with the aid of God and our lady, Saint George and all the Saints, the final expedition and proper recovery of the just title and righ.t of our Sovereign Lord the King, Edward the Fourth, to his kingdom of England is at length completed and ter- minated, within the space of eleven weeks ; during which period, through the grace of God, he has by his great good sense and excellent policy, undergone and escaped many eminent perils, dangers, and dif- ficulties ; and by his noble and valonrons conduct has won two great battles, and dispersed divers great assemblao;es of rebels in various parts of his kingdom, great numbers of whom although as powerful and as v.ickedly disposed as possibly could be, were withal so terrified and overpowered by his chivalrous cou- rage, that they were put into utter confusion. It clearly appears then, and is as firmly believed, that with the assistance of the Almighty (which has never been wanting to him from the very com- mencement to the present hour) our sovereign lord will, in a very short time, pacify the whole of his * Fenn's Collection, vol. ii. f Translated from a French MS. in the Public Library of Ghent, and printed in the 21st vol. of the Aichceologia. .522 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, kingdom, so that peace and prosperity will increase • from day to day to the great honour and praise of God, to his own singular and famous renown, to the signal joy and consolation of his people, his friends, and valiant allies, and to the confusion of his enemies and evil-minded men." Edward displayed his exultation at the brilliant success w^hich had rewarded his gallant struggle for the crown of England, and his gratitude to those friends who had afforded sympathy and assistance in his dreary exile, in a letter addressed to — • i4Ti. « The Nobles and Burgo-Masters, Sheriffs, and May 29. o ' ' Council of Bruges. Edward, by the grace of God, King of England and of France, and Lord of Ireland, to our very dear and special friends, the Nobles Men, Escontelles, Burgo-Master, She- riffs and Council of the town of Bruges, and to each of them, health and happiness.* " Very dear and special friends. We thank you as much and as cordially as we can, for the good cheer and great courtesy, which from your benevo- lent affection it did please you to bestow on us, and demonstrate so graciously and profusely for the good and consolation of us and our people, during the time that we were in the said town ; that we con- sider ourselves greatly beholden to you, and that you know in effect how dearly we prize it, as we nev^er can do sufficient for you and for the said town ; signify- ing to you, that it has pleased our blessed Creator, by his grace, to give us since we left the said town and arrived in this our kingdom, such good and pros- * Archaeologia, vol. xxi. YORK AND LANCASTER. 523 perous fortune, that we have obtained the victory CHAP, over all our enemies and rebels, so that thereby we ''^^'"• have peaceably retaken possession of our said kiu^;- dom, crown and regalia, and are very duly obeyed, as by the bearer of these presents you can be more fully informed. For which we return and give very particular thanks and acknowledgment to our Crea- tor, who very dear and special friends we pray may always have you in his holy keeping. " Given under our seal, in our city of Canterbury, the 29th day of May. Signed, " EDWARD." 524f THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAPTER XXIV. Death of Henry VI. — Suspicions concerning it — Gloucester'' s Share in that dark Transaction — Afflictions of Henry VI. — Character of that Monarch — his Funeral — Veneration of the People — Parsimony of Henry VII. — Margaret's destitute State — Misfortunes of her Father — The Qiieen ransomed — she quits England — Flight of the Lancas- trians — their Shipwreck — their Reception in Bretagne — Exploits of the Earl of Oxford — Intrenchment at St. Michael's Mount — Mutiny of the Soldiers — Oxford capitulates — Penury of Lady Oxford — — Miseries sustained by the Duke of Exeter — his melancholy Fate — Imprisonment of the Archbishop of York — his Release — Edward's Treachery — Pillage of the Archbishop's Property — his Exile, Impri- sonment and Death. Henry of Lancaster's mysterious death took place CHAP, in the Tower of London during Edward's absence. It happened opportunely for the House of York; and the sanguinary disposition of the king and of his brother the Duke of Gloucester would sanction the report that he fell by their hands or by their order; if indeed the numberless calamities heaped upon the stricken monarch had not reduced him broken-hearted to the grave. The opinion current at the time that he fell by violence unsupported by more substantial evidence is weak and inconclusive. XXIV. YORK AND LANCASTEn. .5'2.^ Few kings have been permitted to die without a ciiap. supposition that they were hastened to the tomb by ^^^ sinister means. Tlie monk of Croyland, in rehiling the event, ejaculates this solemn prayer : *' May the Ahnighty spare and allow time for penitence to him, whoever he were, w^ho dared to lay sacrilegious hands upon the Lord's anointed." Many writers think it probable that the historian would have named the assassin had he not been restrained by his rank ; and upon the death of Gloucester no one hesitated to ascribe the crime to his insatiate dacrijcr : but Richard had subsequently imbrued his hands in infant blood, and the perpetration of a deed so black rendered men credulous in the belief of any former atrocity. In the Harleian MSS. it is positively stated, that " the king, incontinent after his coming to London, tarried bid 07ie day i' but he was going in search of a mili- tary leader distinguished for courage and conduct, who had already attempted the release of Henry ; and the promptitude of decision which formed one of Edward's most striking characteristics might certainly have induced him to destroy the only person who could now dispute the throne. That he commissioned his brother to commit the murder seems most unlikely, if there were other weapons to whom he could have entrusted the bloody work. Lord Rivers had the command of the lortrcss in which the wretched king was imprisoned. The assassination, if performed by a vulgar hand, could scarcely have been accomplished witiiout his sanc- tion ; and no tongue, however malevolent, has dared to cast the imputation on this chivalric nobleman's unspotted name : it is the necessity of his being a 5^Q THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, party to the dark transaction which affords the XXIV ■ strongest proof of Edward's innocence ; unless we adopt the popular belief that Gloucester was the in- strument. Henry was doubtless too closely watched to admit the possibility of the intrusion of any person of meaner rank into the place of his confinement, without the king's especial order, and the concur- rence of the commander of the fortress; but Richard was only eighteen, and at this early period could not have formed eith^ plan or hope of obtaining the crown, which subsequent circumstances threw so fatally in his path ; nor can we scarcely suppose it possible that for his brother's sake he should have volunteered the act, and have quitted the scene of his triumphs, the glory of a public entry into the me- tropolis, where congratulating thousands thronged to meet him, to steal into the tower and glut a brutal appetite for blood. The Harleian MSS. also contain the following account of the king's death. After detailing the lamentable occurrences which had befallen Queen Margaret and the Prince of Wales, the writer says, " the certainty of all which came to the knowledge of the said Henry, being in the Tower, not having afore that, knowledge of the said matter. He took it to so great despite, ire and indignation, that of pure displeasure and melan- choly he died." Always of a weak constitution, the afflicting events of the last few weeks were of themselves sufficient to bring Henry to the grave. The cold and averted looks of the citizens of London during that painful pilgrimage wherein distressed royalty vainly sought for sympathy and protection ; the YORK AND LANCASTER. 527 disappointment of the last hope of gaininc; refuge CHAP, in sanctuary ; the horror of being dehvered up to ^^^ ' the havage hearted Edward; and the fatigue and anxiety which the king must have endured when dragged to the battle of Barnet, might liave saj)ped the foundation of a frail existence, without the last appalling blow. Cold and callous must have been the heart which could have sustained these repeated shocks nnmoved, and Henry though patient and almost uncomplaining under the heaviest afflictions, was not destitute of feeling ; he endured his trials with meekness, trusting that having suffered the punishment of his sins in this world he should iind mercy in the next, a ground of consolation afibrded by a holy resignation to the divine will, and a deep sense of human infirmity.* It is therefore more than probable that Henry wearied by a long conflict with despair yielded up his soul in the gush of mortal anguish which 'followed the fearful comnuniication of the fall of his friends, and the untimely fate of the hope, the heir, the promise of his declining house. Henry's heart was pure and open, guileless and simple as that of a child ; his virtues comprised the whole circle of the Christian charities ; liberal, cour- teous, just and beneficent, his benevolence was as boundless as his clemency was untiring; unaffectedly pious every thought and action was governed by a religious principle. Never offending others yet always ready to forgive the most flagrant insults and injuries, he fulfilled the scriptural command to the letter; and the very soul of integrity, he was never • Hall. 528 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, known to utter a falsehood, to forget a promise, or ^^^' to stoop to the shglitest equivocation. Yet all these admirable and excellent qualities were rendered nu- gatory by the errors of the monarch's education and the imbecility of his mind ; not permitted by his tutors to form in early life an acquaintance with the world, ignorant of business, and too amiable even to suspect the existence of vice, Henry trusted with implicit confidence to ministers of whose fitness he was not capable of forming a judgment, and with the most anxious desire to pursue the right path the weakness of his understanding continually led him astray. The placability of his own spirit deceived him with the delusive hope of effecting a reconciliation between the ambitious and the restless, and totally unconscious of the evils of his administration Henry sought only to sooth the angry tempers of factious men. In the midst of regal splendour the abste- mious monarch lived a hermit's blameless life ; the pleasures and temptations vv^hich surrounded the throne possessed no cliarms for his uncontaminated heart ; he turned from vain pomp and frivolous amusements to domestic joys, and the performance of relio'ious exercises constituted his chief delisrht : his time was principally employed in the perusal of pious works ; constant at church, and irreproachable in his demeanour, he knelt with lowly reverence to his devotions, offering a fruitless example to the thoughtless courtiers in his train, who were wont to sit down or walk about with careless indifference during the service. Henry interposed his authority to prevent the YORK A\D LANCASTER. 5^2(- admission of swords and spears into an edifice con- ciiap. secrated to a God of peace, nor would he allow it '^■^'^• to be made the scene of worldly business or idle con- versation ; he loved to inculcate those virtues which he practised himself with such undeviatiuf]^ rectitude, more especially to the young, and addressed mild but earnest exhortations to his visitors to avoid evil and to live in accordance with the holy precepts of their religion.* Strictly chaste himself, he was shocked by any deviation from propriety in dress or conduct in females, and turned away from some lightly attired damsels at a ball, with a strong ex- pression of disapprobation, " Fie, fie, for shame. Forsooth, ye be to blame." Willingly Henry would not have permitted the loss of a single life upon the scaffold. Learning that one of his household had been robbed he gave him twenty nobles as a remuneration, advising him to be care- ful of his property in future, and with perhaps ill- judged humanity requesting that he would not pro- secute the thief: nor was he less merciful to aggres- sions which concerned himself, he sent pardons with anxious haste to those whom he was allowed to save, though about to suffer for treason : and horror- struck by the sight of a mangled quarter of some hapless wretch impaled upon a stake at Cripplegate, he exclaimed, " Take it away, 1 will not have any Christian so cruelly treated on my account ! " Con- scientiously abstaining from the bold language of his more daring companions, Henry never suf- fered the oaths uttered by licentious nobles in his presence to pass uncensured, and holding the vain • Blakmen. VOL. I. -^J ^I .530 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF YY^v' ^i'^^^^^tions of dress in contempt, he was plain in J ' his apparel, and averse to the parade and ostentation displayed by men proud of their rank, he expressed his displeasure at the violent knockings on his door when a great lord came to visit him. Henry was a warm encourager of learning. King's College, at Cambridge, and the public school at Eton, remain illustrious monuments of his love of science ; the magnificent plan of the ibrmer was left unfinish- ed in consequence of the troubles occurring in the founder's unhappy reign ; but he had the pleasure of seeing the nursery for this college, which he had instituted at Eton, rise under his paternal direction. Fond of the conversation of the young and innocent the king took delight in talking to the scholars when they came over to the neighbouring castle at Windsor, on visits to any of his servants ; upon these occasions he condescended to instruct them in their pious and moral duties, nor did he send his admiring auditors empty handed away, a present of money accompa- nied the homily, and he dismissed them with this gentle exhortation : " Be good lads, meek and do- cile, and attend to your religion.*' Apprehensive that the example of profligate nobles would counter- act these precepts, Henry was unwilling to see the young students at his court. Ill calculated to meet the exigencies of the times, and unhappily linked to an imperious woman, who, in releasing him from the controul of his guardians subjected him to more dangerous dependance, Henry, warmly attached to his subjects, anxious for their welfare, and without a sins^le crime alleged against him, lost the national afiection, the two YORK AM) LAXCASTEIl. .031 crowns which his gaUant forefatlicrs had won, and ^HAFV finally his own life; tallinn- a victim cither \n ^J^' unconquerable distress of niiiul or to the dagger of an assassin. The king's remains were conveyed to St. l-aul's Church, and exposed according to custom for one day, that the people might satisfy themselves of the truth of his decease ; they were afterwards interred with little solemnity at Chertsey, the sum expended upon the deposed monarch's funeral amounting only to thirty-three pounds six shillings and eight-pence, which included the fees to torch-bearers and priests, the Holland cloth and spices which enveloped the body, the pay of two soldiers from Calais em])loyed to watch the corpse, the barges to Chertsey, and eight pounds twelve shillings and three-pence dis- tributed in charity.* After a short period, gracious recollections of the meek-spirited prince revived in the hearts of his sub- jects ; they visited his tomb with affectionate rever- ence, and reports were spread of miracles wrought upon the hallowed spot. Richard III. in im.itation of the popular conduct of Henry V., removed the corpse from its obscure grave and caused it to be re- interred with more fitting honours at Windsor ; a circumstance certainly favourable to the opinion that he was not accessary to the death of a man whose memory he thus needlessly revived. I'jion the accession of Henry VH. the various excellencies of the royal martyr, offering a dazzling contrast to the black catalogue of crimes which stained the house of York, became the favourite theme of • Rvmer's T ture, and banners of the Nobles, furnished employment to the female por- tion of the community, whose exploits with the needle almost surpass the wonders achieved by their male relatives with the lance- A passage occur ring in the Paston Letters shews that it was not only the lower orders wlio made a profit of their industry—" And tell Elizabeth Paston that she must use herself to work readily, as other gentlewomen do, to help lierself there- with."— jPcwnV Collection, vol. i. VOL. I. N N 538 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, adequate for her support, and the charity of the _• humane eked out the rest, until the house of York, with tardy compassion for the miseries of her situa- tion, allowed her a hundred pounds per year from the imposts of wine in the port of London.* The fate of the remaining Lancastrians was equally severe. The Duke of Exeter, the last of the Hollands, had been the godson of Henry VI ; and though so closely allied by marriage to the rival house, conti- nued steadfast in his attachment to his weak and luckless master. Upon the total ruin of the red rose, disabled by wounds, and driven into sanctuary, he grew tired of fruitless contention, and longed anxiously to end his days in peace, hoping that the influence and mediation of his wife would obtain a pardon from the king : but this merciless princess, " own sister," observes Andrews, " every way to Edward," beheld her husband's affliction with an un- pitying eye, and took advantage of the period of his distress to snap the holy tie which bound them to- gether : instead of supplicating the monarch in his favour, she procured her own divorce ; and the duke, despairing of succour through her means, and weary of his long incarceration in Westminster, ventured to quit his asylum. The plans of the unhappy wan- derer are unknown ; he probably tried to cross the sea in an open boat, and was drowned in the attempt ; his lifeless body washed on shore on the coast of Kent, gave melancholy evidence of the tragic con- clusion of his chequered career. It is remarked as an extraordinary circumstance in this family, that one of its members, the father of the last duke, died * Speed. ^-^ YORK AND LANCASTKR. 3S[) in his bed.* Amid the richest and most sumptuous ( ii.\p. peers in England, the duke had sufi'ored the ex- ^^*^- tremes of fortune, and as tlie bahuice preponderaleil in favour of Henry or Edward, flourished in luxu- rious affluence, or languished in want and bcg}^arv. Puissant in his magnificent palace near the briilge in London, at the court of the Duke of IJurirundv he sued for the casual bounty of a stranger's hand. The Archbishop of York had been committed to the Tower for form sake, to screen his treacherous conduct towards Henry VI. Upon Edward's arrival in London fi'om Ravenspur, a writer of the Pas- ton letters says, " He hath his pardon and shall do well." He was shortly afterwards released and ap])a- rently restored to the monarch's friendshij), but the share which he had taken in Warwick's conspiracies rankled deeply in the heart of an unforgiving prince, whilst the magnificence of an establishment little inferior to that of the king-maker, offered an irresis- tible temptation to unblushing avarice.f Lulled into fatal security by the deceitful sunshine of court favour, the archbishop dreamed not that the king meditated a deep revenge, at the moment in wiiich he loaded him with caresses. The prelate had been invited to join a royal hunting party at Windsor, and Edward wath gracious condescension projiosed to pursue the sport at the Moor in Hertfordshire, the favourite place of Nevill's retirement: delighted with this mark of distinction he made splendid preparations for the visit ; the family plate, which during the dangerous position of his affairs he liad been induced to conceal, was brought from flir * Pennant. t Fenn's Collection, vol. ii. p. 63. 540 THE RIVAL HOUSES OF CHAP, places wherein it had lain buried; and by the ac- * count of Stow, he even borrowed similar treasures ' from the neighbouring peers, whose presence he had solicited to grace the festival. On the day previous to that which Edward had appointed for the commencement of the sport, he sent for the archbishop to Windsor, and accusing him of corresponding with the Earl of Oxford, ordered him into immediate arrest, confiscated his property, and seized upon the plate, valued at twenty thousand pounds. The regalia was enriched by the transformation of the prelate's mitre into a crown, and the king divided the jewels with his son, whom he had created Prince of Wales : whilst their unfortunate owner, hurried to a prison, was removed afterwards for greater security to Guisnes castle, where he lingered in deep affliction for three years, being liberated only a few weeks before his care-worn spirit fled.* * Leiand. Stow. Ryiner. END OF VOL. I. 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