1. in_ernet_dli_2015_163704_2015_163704_Short-Story-Of-The-English-Peoplevol-2

SHORT

OF

ENGLISH

JOHN RIC

HONORARY FELLOW

WITH MA

AN

By C. W. A. TAIT, M.A.,

CHAP. IV.—THE THREE

CHAP. V.—THE HUNDRE

CHAP. VI.—THE NEW M

MACMI

AN

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. II.

Peter de la Mare, denounced the mismanagement of the war, the oppressive taxation, and demanded an account of the expenditure. "What do these base and ignoble knights attempt?" cried John of Gaunt. "Do they think they be kings or princes of the land?" But even the Duke was silenced by the charges brought against the government, and the Parliament proceeded to the impeachment and condemnation of two ministers, Latimer and Lyons. The King himself had sunk into dotage, and was wholly under the influence of a mistress named Alice Perrers; she was banished, and several of the royal servants driven from the Court. One hundred and forty petitions were presented which embodied the grievances of the realm. They demanded the annual assembly of Parliament, and freedom of election for the knights of the shire, whose choice was now often tampered with by the Crown; they protested against arbitrary taxation and Papal inroads on the liberties of the Church; petitioned for the protection of trade, the enforcement of the statute of labourers, and the limitation of the powers of chartered crafts. At the death of the Black Prince his little son Richard was brought into Parliament and acknowledged as heir. But the Houses were no sooner dismissed than Lancaster resumed his power. His haughty will flung aside all restraints of law. He dismissed the new lords and prelates from the Council. He called back Alice Perrers and the disgraced ministers. He declared the Good Parliament no parliament, and did not suffer its petitions to be enrolled as statutes. He imprisoned Peter de la Mare, and confiscated the possessions of William of Wykeham. His attack on this prelate was an attack on the clergy at large. Fresh projects of spoliation were openly canvassed, and it is his support of these plans of confiscation which now brings us across the path of John Wyclif.

The Good Parliament 1360 to 1377 June 8 July 6

Section III.—John Wyclif.

[Authorities.—The "Fasciculi Zizaniorum" in the Rolis Series, with the documents appended to it, is a work of primary authority for the history of Wyclif and his followers. A selection from his English tracts has been made by Mr. T. Arnold for the University of Oxford, which has also published his "Trias." The version of the Bible that bears his name has been edited with a valuable preface by Rev. J. Forshall and Sir F. Madden. There are lives of Wyclif by Lewis and Vaughan; and Milman ("Latin Christianity," vol. vi.) has given a brilliant summary of the Lollard movement.]

Nothing is more remarkable than the contrast between the obscurity of Wyclif's earlier life and the fulness and vividness of our knowledge of him during the twenty years which preceded its close. Born in the earlier part of the fourteenth century, he had already passed middle age when he was appointed to the mastership of Balliol College in the University of Oxford, and recognized as first among the schoolmen of

Wyclif

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together"of the man's marvellous adventures, his descrition in America by Vespucci, his wanderings over the country under the equinoctial line, and at last of his stay in the Kingdom of "Nowhere." It was the story of "Nowhere," or Utopia, which More embodied in the wonderful book which reveals to us the heart of the New Learning. As yet the movement had been one of scholars and divines. Its plans of reform had been almost exclusively intellectual and religious. But in More the same free play of thought which had shaken off the old forms of education and faith turned to question the old forms of society and politics. From a world where fifteen hundred years of Christian teaching had produced social injustice, religious intolerance, and political tyranny, the humourist philosopher turned to a "Nowhere" in which the mere efforts of natural human virtue realized those ends of security, equality, brotherhood, and freedom for which the very institution of society seemed to have been framed. It is as he wanders through this dreamland of the new reason that More touches the great problems which were fast opening before the modern world, problems of labour, of crime, of conscience, of government. Merely to have seen and to have examined questions such as these would prove the keenness of his intellect, but its far-reaching originality is shown in the solutions which he proposes. Amidst much that is the pure play of an exuberant fancy, much that is mere recollection of the dreams of bygone dreamers, we find again and again the most important social and political discoveries of later times anticipated by the genius of Thomas More. In some points, such as his treatment of the question of Labour, he still remains far in advance of current opinion. The whole system of society around him seemed to him "nothing but a conspiracy of the rich against the poor." Its economic legislation was simply the carrying out of such a conspiracy by process of law. "The rich are ever striving to pare away something further from the daily wages of the poor by private fraud and even by public law, so that the wrong already existing (for it is a wrong that those from whom the State derives most benefit should receive least reward) is made yet greater by means of the law of the State." "The rich devise every means by which they may in the first place secure to themselves what they have amassed by wrong, and then take to their own use and profit at the lowest possible price the work and labour of the poor. And so soon as the rich decide on adopting these devices in the name of the public, then they become law." The result was the wretched existence to which the labour-class was doomed, "a life so wretched that even a beast's life seems enviable." No such cry of pity for the poor, of protest against the system of agrarian and manufacturing tyranny which found its expression in the Statute-book, had been heard since the days of Piers Ploughman. But from Christendom More turns with a smile to "Nowhere." In "Nowhere"

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THE NEW MONARCHY

SEC. IV.

THE NEW LEARNING 1509 TO 1520

GENEALOGICAL TABLES.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Sec. IV. THE NEW LEARNING 1509 TO 1520

the aim of legislation is to secure the welfare, social, industrial, intellectual, religious, of the community at large, and of the labour-class as the true basis of a well-ordered commonwealth. The end of its labour-laws was simply the welfare of the labourer. Goods were possessed indeed in common, but work was compulsory with all. The period of toil was shortened to the nine hours demanded by modern artizans, with a view to the intellectual improvement of the worker. " In the institution of the weal public this end is only and chiefly pretended and minded that what time may possibly be spared from the necessary occupations and affairs of the commonwealth, all that the citizens should withdraw from bodily service to the free liberty of the mind and garnishing of the same. For herein they conceive the felicity of this life to consist." A public system of education enabled the Utopians to avail themselves of their leisure. While in England half of the population could read no English, every child was well taught in "Nowhere." The physical aspects of society were cared for as attentively as its moral. The houses of Utopia "in the beginning were very low and like homely cottages or poor shepherd huts made at all adventures of every rude piece of timber that came first to hand, with mud walls and ridged roofs thatched over with straw." The picture was really that of the common English town of More's day, the home of squalor and pestilence. In Utopia however they had at last come to realize the connexion between public morality and the health which springs from light, air, comfort, and cleanliness. "The streets were twenty feet broad; the houses backed by spacious gardens, and curiously builded after a gorgeous and gallant sort, with their stories one after another. The outsides of the walls be made either of hard flint, or of plaster, or else of brick ; and the inner sides be well strengthened by timber work. The roofs be plain and flat, covered over with plaster so tempered that no fire can hurt or perish it, and withstanding the violence of the weather better than any lead. They keep the wind out of their windows with glass, for it is there much used, and sometimes also with fine linen cloth dipped in oil or amber, and that for two commodities, for by this means more light cometh in and the wind is better kept out." The same foresight which appears in More's treatment of the questions of Labour and the Public Health is yet more apparent in his treatment of the question of Crime. He was the first to suggest that punishment was less effective in suppressing it than prevention. " If you allow your people to be badly taught, their morals to be corrupted from childhood, and then when they are men punish them for the very crimes to which they have been trained in childhood—what is this but to make thieves, and then to punish them?" He was the first to plead for proportion between the punishment and the crime, and to

THE NEW MONARCHY.

point out the folly of the cruel penalties of his day. “Simple theft is not so great an offence as to be punished with death.” If a thief and a murderer are sure of the same penalty, More shows that the law is simply tempting the thief to secure his theft by murder. “While we go about to make thieves afraid, we are really provoking them to kill good men.” The end of all punishment he declares to be reformation, “nothing else but the destruction of vice and the saving of men.” He advises “so using and ordering criminals that they cannot choose but be good ; and what harm soever they did before, the residue of their lives to make amends for the same.” Above all, he urges that to be remedial punishment must be wrought out by labour and hope, so that “none is hopeless or in despair to recover again his former state of freedom by giving good tokens and likelihood of himself that he will ever after that live a true and honest man.” It is not too much to say that in the great principles More lays down he anticipated every one of the improvements in our criminal system which have distinguished the last hundred years. His treatment of the religious question was even more in advance of his age. If the houses of Utopia were strangely in contrast with the halls of England, where the bones from every dinner lay rotting in the dirty straw which strewed the floor, where the smoke curled about the rafters, and the wind whistled through the unglazed windows ; if its penal legislation had little likeness to the gallows which stood out so frequently against our English sky ; the religion of “Nowhere” was in yet stronger conflict with the faith of Christendom. It rested simply on nature and reason. It held that God's design was the happiness of man, and that the ascetic rejection of human delights, save for the common good, was thanklessness to the Giver. Christianity, indeed, had already reached Utopia, but it had few priests ; religion found its centre rather in the family than in the congregation : and each household confessed its faults to its own natural head. A yet stranger characteristic was seen in the peaceable way in which it lived side by side with the older religions. More than a century before William of Orange, More discerned and proclaimed the great principle of religious toleration. In “Nowhere” it was lawful to every man to be of what religion he would. Even the disbelievers in a Divine Being or in the immortality of man, who by a single exception to its perfect religious indifference were excluded from public office, were excluded, not on the ground of their religious belief, but because their opinions were deemed to be degrading to mankind, and therefore to incapacitate those who held them from governing in a noble temper. But even these were subject to no punishment, because the people of Utopia were “persuaded that it is not in a man's power to believe what he list.” The religion which a man held he might propagate by argument, though not by violence or insult to the religion of others. But while each sect performed its rites

Sec. IV.

The New Learning 1509 To 1520

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Sec. V. WOLSEY 1515 TO 1531

in private, all assembled for public worship in a spacious tem- ple, where the vast throng, clad in white, and grouped round a priest clothed in fair raiment wrought marvellously out of birds' plum- age, joined in hymns and prayers so framed as to be acceptable to all. The importance of this public devotion lay in the evi- dence it afforded that liberty of conscience could be combined with religious unity.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Section V.—Wolsey. 1515—1531.

[Authorities.—The chronicler Halle, who wrote under Edward the Sixth, hcen copied for Henry the Eighth's reign by Grafton, and followed by Hol- shed. But for any real knowledge of Wolsey's admini-tration we must look to the invaluable prefaces which Professor Brewer has prefixed to the Calen- dars of State Papers for this period, and to the State Papers themselves.]

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Section V.—Wolsey. 1515—1531.

"There are many things in the commonwealth of Nowhere, which I rather wish than hope to see adopted in our own." It was in these words of characteristic irony that More closed the first work which embodied the dreams of the New Learning. Destined as it were to fulfilment in the course of ages, its schemes of social, religious, and political reform broke helplessly against the temper of the time. At the very moment when More was pleading the cause of justice between rich and poor, social discontent was being fanned by exact into a fiercer flame. While he aimed sarcasm after sarcasm at king worship, despotism was being organized into a system. His advo- cacy of the two principles of religious toleration and Christian compre- hension coincides almost to a year with the opening of the strife between the Reformation and the Papacy.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Section V.—Wolsey. 1515—1531.

"That Luther has a fine genius," laughed Leo the Tenth, when he heard that a German Professor had nailed some Propositions denouncing the abuse of Indulgences, or of the Papal power to re- mit certain penalties attached to the commission of sins, against the doors of a church at Wittenberg. But the "Quarrel of Friars," as the controversy was termed contemptuously at Rome, soon took larger proportions. If at the outset Luther flung himself "prostrate at the feet" of the Papacy, and owned its voice as the voice of Christ, the sentence of Leo no sooner confirmed the doctrine of Indulgences than their opponent appealed to a future Council of the Church. Two years later the rupture was complete. A Papal Bull formally condemned the errors of the Reformer. The condemnation was met with defiance, and Luther publicly consigned the Bull to the flames. A second Papal decree of excommunication expelled him from the bosom of the Church, and the ban of the Empire was soon added to that of the Papacy. "Here stand I can none other," Luther replied to the young Emperor, Charles Fifth, as he pressed him to recant in the Diet of Worms; and

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the hiding-place in the Thuringian Forest where he was sheltered by the Elector of Saxony he denounced not merely, as at first, the abuses of the Papacy, but the Papacy itself. The heresies of Wyclif were revived ; the infallibility, the authority of the Roman See, the truth of its doctrines, the efficacy of its worship, were denied and scoffed at in vigorous pamphlets which issued from his retreat, and were dispersed throughout the world by the new printing-press. The old resentment of Germany against the oppression of Rome, the moral revolt in its more religious minds against the secularity and corruption of the Church, the disgust of the New Learning at the superstition which the Papacy now formally protected, combined to secure for Luther a widespread popularity and the protection of the northern princes of the Empire. In England however his protest found as yet no echo. England and Rome were drawn to a close alliance by the difficulties of their political position. The young King himself, a trained theologian and proud of his theological knowledge, entered the lists against Luther with an "Assertion of the Seven Sacraments," for which he was rewarded by Leo with the title of "Defender of the Faith." The insolent abuse of the Reformer's answer called More and Fisher into the field. As yet the New Learning, though scared by Luther's intemperate language, had steadily backed him in his struggle. Erasmus pleaded for him with the Emperor ; Ulrich von Hutten attacked the friars in satires and invectives as violent as his own. But the temper of the Renascence was even more antagonistic to the temper of Luther than that of Rome itself. From the golden dream of a new age, wrought peaceably and purely by the slow progress of intelligence, the growth of letters, the developement of human virtue, the Reformer of Wittemberg turned away with horror. He had little or no sympathy with the new culture. He despised reason as heartily as any Papal dogmatist could despise it. He hated the very thought of toleration or comprehension. He had been driven by a moral and intellectual compulsion to declare the Roman system a false one, but it was only to replace it by another system of doctrine just as elaborate, and claiming precisely the same infallibility. To degrade human nature was to attack the very base of the New Learning ; but Erasmus no sooner advanced to its defence than Luther declared man to be utterly enslaved by original sin and incapable through any efforts of his own of discovering truth or of arriving at goodness. Such a doctrine not only annihilated the piety and wisdom of the classic past, from which the New Learning had drawn its larger views of life and of the world ; it trampled in the dust reason itself, the very instrument by which More and Erasmus hoped to regenerate both knowledge and religion. To More especially, with his keener perception of its future effect, this sudden revival of a purely theological and dogmatic spirit, severing Christendom into

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SEC. V.

Wolsey 1515 TO 1531 1521

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

322

SEC. V

warring camps, and annihilating all hopes of union and tolerance, was especially hateful. The temper which hitherto had seemed so "endearing, gentle, and happy," suddenly gave way. His reply to Luther's attack upon the King sank to the level of the work it answered. That of Fisher was calmer and more argumentative : but the divorce of the New Learning from the Reformation was complete.

Wolsey

Nor were the political hopes of the "Utopia" destined to be realized by the minister who at the close of Henry's early war with France mounted rapidly into power. Thomas Wolsey was the son of a wealthy townsman of Ipswich, whose ability had raised him into notice at the close of the preceding reign, and who had been taken by Bishop Fox into the service of the Crown. His extraordinary powers hardly perhaps required the songs, dances, and carouses with which his indulgence in which he was taunted by his enemies, to aid him in winning the favour of the young sovereign. From the post of favourite he soon rose to that of minister. Henry's resentment at Ferdinand's perfidy enabled Wolsey to carry out a policy which reversed that of his predecessors. The war had freed England from the fear of French pressure. Wolsey was as resolute to free her from the dictation of Ferdinand, and saw in a French alliance the best security for English independence. In 1514 a treaty was concluded with Lewis. The same friendship was continued to his successor Francis the First, whose march across the Alps for the reconquest of Lombardy was facilitated by Henry and Wolsey, in the hope that while the war lasted England would be free from all fear of attack, and that Francis himself might be brought to inevitable ruin. These hopes were defeated by his great victory at Marignano. But Francis in the moment of triumph saw himself confronted by a new rival. Master of Castile and Aragon, of Naples and the Netherlands, the new Spanish King, Charles the Fifth, rose into a check on the French monarchy such as the policy of Henry or Wolsey had never been able to construct before. The alliance of England was eagerly sought by both sides, and the administration of Wolsey, amid all its ceaseless diplomacy, for seven years kept England out of war. The Peace, as we have seen, restored the hopes of the New Learning ; it enabled Colet to reform education, Erasmus to undertake the regeneration of the Church, More to set on foot a new science of politics. But peace as Wolsey used it was fatal to English freedom. In the political hints which lie scattered over the "Utopia" More notes with bitter irony the advance of the new despotism. It was only in "Nowhere" that a sovereign was "removeable on suspicion of a design to enslave his people." In England the work of slavery was being quietly wrought, hints the great lawyer, through the law. "There will never be wanting some pretence for deciding in the King's favour; as that equity is on his side, or the strict letter of the law, or some

WOLSEY

1515

TO

1531

1514

1516

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SEC. V.

forced interpretation of it; or if none of these, that the royal prerogative ought with conscientious judges to outweigh all other considerations." We are startled at the precision with which More maps out the expedients by which the law courts were to lend themselves to the advance of tyranny till their crowning judgement in the case of ship-money. But behind these judicial expedients lay great principles of absolutism, which partly from the example of foreign monarchies, partly from the sense of social and political insecurity, and yet more from the isolated position of the Crown, were gradually winning their way in public opinion. "These notions," he goes boldly on, "are fostered by the maxim that the king can do no wrong, however much he may wish to do it; that not only the property but the persons of his subjects are his own; and that a man has a right to no more than the king's goodness thinks fit not to take from him." In the hands of Wolsey these maxims were transformed into principles of State. The checks which had been imposed on the action of the sovereign by the presence of great prelates and nobles at his council were practically removed. All authority was concentrated in the hands of a single minister. Henry had munificently rewarded Wolsey's services to the Crown. He had been promoted to the See of Lincoln and thence to the Archbishoprick of York. Henry procured his elevation to the rank of Cardinal, and raised him to the post of Chancellor. The revenues of two sees whose tenants were foreigners fell into his hands; he held the bishoprick of Winchester and the abbacy of St. Albans; he was in receipt of pensions from France and Spain, while his official emoluments were enormous. His pomp was almost royal. A train of prelates and nobles followed him wherever he moved; his household was composed of five hundred persons of noble birth, and its chief posts were held by knights and barons of the realm. He spent his vast wealth with princely ostentation. Two of his houses, Hampton Court and York House, the later Whitehall, were splendid enough to serve at his fall as royal palaces. His school at Ipswich was eclipsed by the glories of his foundation at Oxford, whose name of Cardinal College has been lost in its later title of Christ-church. Nor was this magnificence a mere show of power. The whole direction of home and foreign affairs rested with Wolsey alone; as Chancellor he stood at the head of public justice; his elevation to the office of Legate rendered him supreme in the Church. Enormous as was the mass of work which he undertook, it was thoroughly done: his administration of the royal treasury was economical; the number of his despatches is hardly less remarkable than the care bestowed upon each; even More, an avowed enemy, confesses that as Chancellor he surpassed all men's expectations. The court of Chancery, indeed, became so crowded through the character for expedition and justice which it gained under his rule that subordinate courts had to be created for its relief. It was this concen-

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Y 2

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

SEC. V. WOLSEY 1515 TO 1531

tration of all secular and ecclesiastical power in a single hand accustomed England to the personal government which beca Henry the Eighth; and it was, above all, Wolsey's long tenure whole Papal authority within the realm, and the consequent susp of appeals to Rome, that led men to acquiesce at a later time in H claim of religious supremacy. For proud as was Wolsey's bearin high as were his natural powers he stood before England as the creature of the King. Greatness, wealth, authority he held, and he held, simply at the royal will. In raising his low-born favour the head of Church and State Henry was gathering all religious a as all civil authority into his personal grasp. The nation trembled before Wolsey learnt to tremble before the King who destroy Wolsey by a breath.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

SEC. V. WOLSEY 1515 TO 1531

The rise of Charles of Austria gave a new turn to Wolsey's p Possessor of the Netherlands, of Franche Comté, of Spain, the his grandfather Maximilian added to his dominions the herit the House of Austria in Swabia and on the Danube, and opene way for his election as Emperor. France saw herself girt in on side by a power greater than her own ; and to Wolsey and his the time seemed come for a bolder game. Disappointed in his h of obtaining the Imperial crown on the death of Maximilian, turned to the dream of "recovering his French inheritance," which had never really abandoned, and which was carefully fed by his Charles. Nor was Wolsey forgotten. If Henry coveted France minister coveted no less a prize than the Papacy; and the y Emperor was lavish of promises of support in any coming ele The result of these seductions was quickly seen. In May, Charles landed at Dover to visit Henry, and King and Em rode alone to Canterbury. It was in vain that Francis stro retain Henry's friendship by an interview near Guisnes, to the profuse expenditure of both monarchs gave the name of Field of Cloth of Gold.. A second interview between Charles his uncle as he returned from the meeting with Francis ende a secret confederacy of the two sovereigns, and the promise o Emperor to marry Henry's one child, Mary Tudor. Her rig the throne was asserted by a deed which proved how utterly baronage now lay at the mercy of the King. The Duke of Bucking stood first in blood as in power among the English nobles ; he was descendant of Edward the Third's youngest son, and if Mary's su sion were denied he stood heir to the throne. His hopes had fanned by prophets and astrologers, and wild words told his pur to seize the Crown on Henry's death in defiance of every oppo But word and act had for two years been watched by the King; in 1521 the Duke was arrested, condemned as a traitor by his p and beheaded on Tower Hill. The French alliance came to an

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Sec. V. Wolsey 1515 To 1531

and at the outbreak of war between France and Spain a secret league was concluded at Calais between the Pope, the Emperor, and Henry. The first result of the new war policy at home was quickly seen. Wolsey's economy had done nothing more than tide the Crown through the past years of peace. But now that Henry had promised to raise forty thousand men for the coming campaign the ordinary resources of the treasury were utterly insufficient. With the instinct of despotism Wolsey shrank from reviving the tradition of the Parliament. Though Henry had thrice called together the Houses to supply the expenses of his earlier struggle with France, Wolsey governed during seven years of peace without once assembling them. War made a Parliament inevitable, but for a while the Cardinal strove to delay its summons by a wide extension of the practice which Edward the Fourth had invented of raising money by forced loans or 'Benevolences,' to be repaid from the first subsidy of a coming Parliament. Large sums were assessed on every county. Twenty thousand pounds were exacted from London; and its wealthier citizens were summoned before the Cardinal and required to give an account of the value of their estates. Commissioners were despatched into each shire for the purposes of assessment, and precepts were issued on their information, requiring in some cases supplies of soldiers, in others a tenth of a man's income, for the King's service. So poor, however, was the return that in the following year Wolsey was forced to summon Parliament and lay before it the unprecedented demand of a property-tax of twenty per cent. The demand was made by the Cardinal in person, but he was received with obstinate silence. It was in vain that Wolsey called on member after member to answer; and his appeal to More, who had been elected to the chair of the House of Commons, was met by the Speaker's falling on his knees and representing his powerlessness to reply till he had received instructions from the House itself. The effort to overawe the Commons failed, and Wolsey no sooner withdrew than an angry debate began. He again returned to answer the objections which had been raised, and again the Commons foiled the minister's attempt to influence their deliberations by refusing to discuss the matter in his presence. The struggle continued for a fortnight; and though successful in procuring a subsidy, the court party were forced to content themselves with less than half Wolsey's demand. Convocation betrayed as independent a spirit; and when money was again needed two years later, the Cardinal was driven once more to the system of Benevolences. A tenth was demanded from the laity, and a fourth from the clergy in every county by the royal commissioners. There was 'sore grudging and murmuring,' Warham wrote to the court, 'among the people.' 'If men should give their goods by a commission,' said the Kentish squires, 'then it would be worse than the taxes of France, and England

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. III. JOHN WYCLIF 1324?-1361

his day. Of all the scholastic docrors those of England had been throughout the keenest and the most daring in philosophical speculation ; a reckless audacity and love of novelty was the common note of Bacon, Duns Scotus, and Ockham, as against the sober and more disciplined learning of the Parisian schoolmen, Albert and Aquinas. But the decay of the University of Paris during the English wars was transferring her intellectual supremacy to Oxford, and in Oxford Wyclif stood without a rival. From his predecessor, Bradwardine, whose work as a scholastic teacher he carried on in the speculative treatises he published during this period, he inherited the tendency to a predestinarian Augustinianism which formed the groundwork of his later theological revolt. His debt to Ockham revealed itself in his earliest efforts at Church reform. Undismayed by the thunder and excommunications of the Church, Ockham had not shrunk in his enthusiasm for the Empire from attacking the foundations of the Papal supremacy or from asserting the rights of the civil power. The spare, emaciated frame of Wyclif, weakened by study and by asceticism, hardly promised a Reformer who would carry on the stormy work of Ockham ; but within this frail form lay a temper quick and restless, an immense energy, an immovable conviction, an unconquerable pride. The personal charm which ever accompanies real greatness only deepened the influence he derived from the spotless purity of his life. As yet indeed even Wyclif himself can hardly have suspected the immense range of his intellectual power. It was only the struggle that lay before him which revealed in the dry and subtle schoolman the founder of our later English prose, a master of popular invective, of irony, of persuasion, a dexterous politician, an audacious partisan, the organizer of a religious order, the unsparing assailant of abuses, the boldest and most indefatigable of controversialists, the first Reformer who dared, when deserted and alone, to question and deny the creed of the Christendom around him, to break through the tradition of the past, and with his last breath to assert the freedom of religious thought against the dogmas of the Papacy.

England and the Papacy

The attack of Wyclif began precisely at the moment when the Church of the middle ages had sunk to its lowest point of spiritual decay. The transfer of the Papacy to Avignon robbed it of half the awe in which it had been held by Englishmen, for not only had the Popes sunk into creatures of the French King, but their greed and extortion produced almost universal revolt. The claim of first fruits and annates from rectory and bishoprick, the assumption of a right to dispose of all benefices in ecclesiastical patronage, the direct taxation of the clergy, the intrusion of foreign priests into English livings, the opening a mart for the disposal of pardons, dispensations, and indulgences, and the encouragement of appeals to the Papal court produced a widespread national irritation which never slept till the

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

SEC. V. Wolsey 1515 TO 1531

should be bond, not free." The political instinct of the nation was concerned as of old that in the question of self-taxation was involved the very existence of freedom. The clergy put themselves in the forefront of the resistance, and preached from every pulpit that the commission was contrary to the liberties of the realm, and that the King could take no man's goods but by process of law. So stern was the nation that Wolsey lent to the storm, and offered to recall the voluntary loans of each subject. But the statute of Richard the Third which declared all exaction of benevolences illegal was brought to memory ; the demand was evaded by London, and the commissioners were driven out of Kent. A revolt broke out in Suffolk ; the men of Cambridge and Norwich threatened to rise. There was in fact a general strike of the employers. Clothmakers discharged their workers, farmers put away their servants. "They say the King

so much that they be not able to do as they have done before time." Such a peasant insurrection as was rife in Germany was only prevented by the unconditional withdrawal of the royal demand. The Agrarian Discontent Wolsey's defeat saved English freedom for the moment ; the danger from which he shrank was not merely that of a conflict between the sense of liberty. The murmurs of the Kentish peasants only strengthened the ever-deepening voice of public discontent. If the condition of the land question in the end gave strength to the Crown in making security for public order, it became a terrible pressure at every conflict between the monarchy and the landowners. The steady rise in the price of wool was giving a fresh impulse to the agrarian change which had now been going on for over a hundred and fifty years - the throwing together of the smaller holdings, and the introduction of sheep-farming on an enormous scale. The new wealth of merchant classes helped on the change. The men who were largely invested in land, and these "farming gentlemen and dealers in wool," as Latimer bitterly styled them, were restrained by few traditions or associations in their eviction of the smaller tenant. The land yielded largely, and as its value rose the temptation to raise customary rents became irresistible. "This was wont here-tofore for twenty or forty pounds a year," we learn from the same source, "now is let for fifty or a hundred." But it was only by the low scale of rent that the small yeomanry could have been enabled to exist. "My father," says Latimer, "was a yeoman, and had no rents coming in, and he had a farm of three or four pound by year at the uttermost, and he had as much as half-a-dozen men. He had walk for a thousand sheep, and

mother milked thirty kine ; he was able to keep hospitality and did the King's business. I was able to do much more, and I did the King's work. I remember that he buckled his harness when he went to Blackheath Field. He

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

Sec. V. Wolsey 1515 TO 1531

me to school: he married my sisters with five pounds apiece, so that he brought them up in godliness and fear of God. He kept hospitality for his poor neighbours, and some alms he gave to the poor, and all this he did of the same farm, where he that now hath it payeth sixteen pounds by year or more, and is not able to do anything for his prince, for himself, nor for his children, or give a cup of drink to the poor." Increase of rent ended with such tenants in the relinquishment of their holdings, but the bitterness of ejection was increased by the iniquitous means which were often employed to bring it about. The farmers, if we believe More In 1515, were "got rid of either by fraud or force, or tired out with repeated wrongs into parting with their property." "In this way it comes to pass that these poor wretches, men, women, husbands, orphans, widows, parents with little children, households greater in number than in wealth (for arable farming requires many hands, while one shepherd and herdsman will suffice for a pasture farm), all these emigrate from their native fields without knowing where to go." The sale of their scanty household stuff drove them to wander homeless abroad, to be thrown into prison as vagabonds, to beg and to steal. Yet in the face of such a spectacle as this we still find the old complaint of scarcity of labour, and the old legal remedy for it in a fixed scale of wages. The social disorder, in fact, baffled the sagacity of English statesmen, and they could find no better remedy for it than laws against the further extension of sheepfarms, and a terrible increase of public executions. Both were alike fruitless. Enclosures and evictions went on as before. "If you do not remedy the evils which produce thieves," More urged with bitter truth, "the rigorous execution of justice in punishing thieves will be vain." But even More could only suggest a remedy which, efficacious as it was subsequently to prove, had yet to wait a century for its realisation. "Let the woollen manufacture be introduced, so that honest employment may be found for those whom want has made thieves or will make thieves ere long." The mass of social disorder grew steadily greater; while the break up of the great military households of the nobles which was still going on, and the return of wounded and disabled soldiers from the wars, introduced a dangerous leaven of outrage and crime.

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

The Divorce 1525

This public discontent, as well as the exhaustion of the treasury, added bitterness to the miserable result of the war. To France, indeed, the struggle had been disastrous, for the loss of the Milanese and the capture of Francis the First in the defeat of Pavia laid her at the feet of the Emperor. But Charles had no purpose of carrying out the pledges by which he had lured England into war. Wolsey had seen two partizans of the Emperor successively raised to the Papal chair. The schemes of winning anew "our inheritance of France" had ended in utter failure; England, as before, gained nothing from

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

ECGBERHT, r. 802-839.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

ÆTHELWULF, r. 839-857.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

ÆTHELBALD, r. 857-860.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

ÆTHELBERHT, r. 860-866.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

EADWARD THE ELDER, r. 901-925.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

ÆTHELSTAN, r. 925-940.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

EDMUND = Ælfgifu. EADRED, r. 946-955.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

EADWIG, r. 955-959.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

1. Æthelfled = EADGAR = 2. Ælfthryth. r. 959-975.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

EDWARD THE MARTYR, r. 975-978.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

1. Name = ÆTHELRED II. = 2. Emma of uncertain Normandy = 2. Cnut, r. 1016-1035.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

EADMUND IRONSIDE, r. Ap. 23-Nov. 30, 1016, m. Ealdgyth.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

Ælfred, killed 1036.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

EADWARD THE CONFESSOR, r. 1042-1066.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

Harthacnut, r. 1040-1042.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

Eadmund. Eadward, d. 1057, m. Agatha.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

Eadgar, elected King in 1066.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

Margaret, d. 1093, m. Malcolm III, King of Scots.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

Matilda, d. 1118, m. Henry I, King of England.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

Christina, a nun.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC. FROM ECGBERHT.

No longer spurred by the interest of great events, the King ceased

take a busy part in foreign politics, and gave himself to hunting ;

sport. Among the fairest and gayest ladies of his court stood Anne

Boleyn. Her gaiety and wit soon won Henry's favour, and grants

hours to her father marked her influence. In 1524, a new cold

was given to this intimacy by a resolve on the King's part

break his marriage with the Queen. The death of every child she

Mary may have woke scruples as to the lawfulness of a marriage

which a curse seemed to rest ; the need of a male heir may have

deepened this impression. But, whatever were the grounds of

action, Henry from this moment pressed the Roman See to grant him

a divorce. Clement's consent to his wish, however, would mean a breach

with the Emperor, Catharine's nephew ; and the Pope was now at the

Emperor's mercy. While the English envoy was mooting the question

of divorce, the surprise of Rome by an Imperial force brought horror

to Clement his utter helplessness ; the next year the Pope was

fact a prisoner in the Emperor's hands after the storm and sack of

Rome. Meanwhile a secret suit which had been brought before

Wolsey as legate was suddenly dropped ; as Catharine denied the

facts on which Henry rested his case her appeal would have

carried the matter to the tribunal of the Pope, and Clement's

decision could hardly have been a favourable one. The difficulties

of the divorce were indeed manifest. One of the most learned of the

English bishops, Fisher of Rochester, declared openly against it.

The English theologians, who were consulted on the validity of

the Papal dispensation which had allowed Henry's marriage to take

place, referred the King to the Pope for a decision of the question.

The commercial classes shrank from a step which involved an irre

trievable breach with the Emperor, who was master of their great

market in Flanders. Above all, the iniquity of the proposal jarred

against the public conscience. But neither danger nor shame availed

against the King's wilfulness and passion. A great party too had

gathered to Anne's support. Her uncle the Duke of Norfolk, he

father, now Lord Rochford, afterwards Earl of Wiltshire, pushed the

hindered the King from judging the matter in his own realm, and

marrying on the sentence of his own courts. Henry was resolute

in demanding the express sanction of the Pope to his divorce, and

this Clement steadily evaded. He at last, however, consented to

a legatine commission for the trial of the case in England. In

The Legatine court

this commission Cardinal Campeggio was joined with Wolsey.

1528

Months however passed in fruitless negotiations. The Cardinals

pressed on Catharine the expediency of her withdrawal to a religious

house, while Henry pressed on the Pope that of a settlement of the

matter by his formal declaration against the validity of the marriage.

At last in 1529 the two Legates opened their court in the great hall of

the Blackfriars. Henry briefly announced his resolve to live no

longer in mortal sin. The Queen offered an appeal to Clement, and

on the refusal of the Legates to admit it she flung herself at Henry's

feet. "Sire," said Catharine, "I beseech you to pity me, a woman

and a stranger, without an assured friend and without an indifferent

counsellor. I take God to witness that I have always been to you a

true and loyal wife, that I have made it my constant duty to seek

your pleasure, that I have loved all whom you loved, whether I have

reason or not, whether they are friends to me or foes. I have

been your wife for years, I have brought you many children. God

knows that when I came to your bed I was a virgin, and I put it to

your own conscience to say whether it was not so. If there be any

offence which can be alleged against me I consent to depart with

infamy; if not, then I pray you to do me justice." The piteous appeal

July 23

was wasted on a King who was already entertaining Anne Boleyn with

royal state in his own palace. The trial proceeded, and the court

assembled to pronounce sentence. Henry's hopes were at their

highest when they were suddenly dashed to the ground. At the

opening of the proceedings Campeggio rose to declare the court

adjourned. The adjournment was a mere evasion. The pressure of

the Imperialists had at last forced Clement to summon the cause to

his own tribunal at Rome, and the jurisdiction of the Legates was

at an end.

"Now see I," cricd the Duke of Suffolk as he dashed his hand on

dissuaded him from acting at the first independently, from conducti

the cause in his own courts and acting on the sentence of his or

judges; who had counselled him to seek a divorce from Rome and

promised him success in his suit. From the close of the Legati

court he would see him no more. If Wolsey still remained minist

for a while, it was because the thread of the complex foreign negotiati

ons could not be roughly broken. Here too, however, failure awaited

him as he saw himself deceived and outwitted by the conclusion of a

peace between France and the Emperor in a new treaty at Cambra

Not only was his French policy no longer possible, but a reconciliatio

with Charles was absolutely needful, and such a reconciliation could

only be brought about by Wolsey's fall. He was at once prosecuted

for receiving bulls from Rome in violation of the Statute of Præmunir

A few days later he was deprived of the seals. Wolsey was prostrated

by the blow. He offered to give up everything that he possessed

the King would but cease from his displeasure. "His face," wrote the

French ambassador "is dwindled to half its natural size. In truth his

misery is such that his enemies, Englishmen as they are, cannot help

pitying him." Office and wealth were flung desperately at the King('s)

feet, and for the moment Henry seemed contented with his disgrace

A thousand boats full of Londoners covered the Thames to see the

Cardinal's barge pass to the Tower, but he was permitted to retire to

Esher. Pardon was granted him on surrender of his vast possession

to the Crown, and he was permitted to withdraw to his diocese of

York, the one dignity he had been suffered to retain. But hardly

year had passed before the jealousy of his political rivals was roused

by the King's regrets, and on the eve of his installation feast he was

arrested on a charge of high treason, and conducted by the Lieutenant

of the Tower towards London. Already broken by his enormous

labours, by internal disease, and the sense of his fall, Wolsey accepted

the arrest as a sentence of death. An attack of dysentery forced him

to rest at the abbey of Leicester, and as he reached the gate he said

feebly to the brethren who met him, "I am come to lay my bones

among you." On his death-bed his thoughts still clung to the prince

whom he had served. "He is a prince," said the dying man to the

1529

Death of

Wolsey

1530

THE NEW MONARCHY

SEC. V. WOLSEY 1515 TO 1531

Lieutenant of the Tower, “of a most royal courage: sooner than miss any part of his will he will endanger one half of his kingdom : and I do assure you I have often kneeled before him, sometimes for three hours together, to persuade him from his appetite, and could not prevail. And Master Knyghton, had I but served God as diligently as I have served the king, He would not have given me over in my grey hairs. But this is my due reward for my pains and study, not regarding my service to God, but only my duty to my prince.” No words could paint with so terrible a truthfulness the spirit of the new despotism which Wolsey had done more than any of those who went before him to build up. All sense of loyalty to England, to its freedom, to its institutions, had utterly passed away. The one duty which the statesman owned was a duty to his “prince,” a prince whose personal will and appetite was overriding the highest interests of the State, trampling under foot the wisest counsels, and crushing with the blind ingratitude of Fate the servants who opposed him. But even Wolsey, while he recoiled from the monstrous form which had revealed itself, could hardly have dreamed of the work of destruction which the royal courage, and yet more royal appetite, of his master was to accomplish in the years to come.

THE NEW MONARCHY

Section VI.—Thomas Cromwell. 1530–1540.

[Authorities.—Cromwell’s early life as told by Foxe is a mass of fable ; what we really know of it may be seen conveniently put together in Dean Hook’s “Life of Archbishop Cranmer.” For his ministry, the only real authorities are the State Papers for this period, which are now being calendared for the Master of the Rolls. For Sir Thomas More, we have a touching life by his son-in-law, Roper. The more important documents for the religious history of the time will be found in Mr. Pocock’s new edition of Burnet’s “History of the Reformation” ; those relating to the dissolution of the Monasteries, in the collection of letters on that subject published by the Camden Society, and in the “Original Letters” of Sir Henry Ellis. A mass of material of very various value has been accumulated by Strype in his collections, which begin at this time. Mr. Froude’s narrative (“History of England,” vols. i. ii. iii.), though of great literary merit, is disfigured by a love of paradox, by hero-worship, and by a reckless defence of tyranny and crime. It possesses, during this period, little or no historical value.] The ten years which follow the fall of Wolsey are among the most momentous in our history. The New Monarchy at last realized its power, and the work for which Wolsey had paved the way was carried out with a terrible thoroughness. The one great institution which could still offer resistance to the royal will was struck down. The Church became a mere instrument of the central despotism. The people learned their helplessness in rebellions easily suppressed and avenged with ruthless severity. A reign of terror, organized with consummate and merciless skill, held England panic-stricken at Henry’s feet. The

Thomas

Cromwell

The history of this great revolution, for it is nothing less, is the history

of a single man. In the whole line of English statesmen there is no one

of whom we would willingly know so much, no one of whom we really

know so little, as Thomas Cromwell. When he meets us in Henry

service he had already passed middle life ; and during his earlier years

is hardly possible to do more than disentangle a few fragmentary facts

from the mass of fable which gathered round them. His youth was on

of roving adventure. Whether he was the son of a poor blacksmith a

Putney or no, he could hardly have been more than a boy when he was

engaged in the service of the Marchioness of Dorset. He must still

have been young when he took part as a common soldier in the war

of Italy, a “ruffian,” as he owned afterwards to Cranmer, in the most

unscrupulous school the world contained. But it was a school in which

he learned lessons even more dangerous than those of the camp. He

not only mastered the Italian language but drank in the manners and

tone of the Italy around him, the Italy of the Borgias and the Medici

It was with Italian versatility that he turned from the camp to the

counting-house; he was certainly engaged as a commercial agent to

one of the Venetian merchants ; tradition finds him as a clerk at

Antwerp ; and in 1512 history at last encounters him as a thriving wool

merchant at Middleburg in Zealand. Returning to England, Cromwell

continued to amass wealth by adding the trade of scrivener, something

between that of a banker and attorney, to his other occupations, as well

as by advancing money to the poorer nobles; and on the outbreak of

the second war with France we find him a busy and influential member

of the Commons in Parliament. Five years later the aim of his ambition was declared by his entrance into Wolsey’s service. The Cardinal

needed a man of business for the suppression of some smaller monasteries which he had undertaken, and for the transfer of their revenues

to his foundations at Oxford and Ipswich. The task was an unpopular

one, and it was carried out with a rough indifference to the feelings it

aroused which involved Cromwell in the hate which was gathering

round his master. But his wonderful self-reliance and sense of power

only broke upon the world at Wolsey’s fall. Of the hundreds of

dependents who waited on the Cardinal’s nod, Cromwell was the only

A4

and it was by him that the negotiations were conducted which

permitted the fallen minister to retire to York. A general esteem

seems to have rewarded this rare instance of fidelity to a ruined

• patron. "For his honest behaviour in his master's cause he was

esteemed the most faithfulest servant, and was of all men greatly

commended." But Henry's protection rested on other grounds. The

ride to London had ended in a private interview with the King, in

which Cromwell boldly advised him to cut the knot of the divorce by

the simple exercise of his own supremacy. The advice struck the key-

note of the later policy by which the daring counseller was to change

the whole face of Church and State ; but Henry still clung to the hopes

held out by his new ministers, and shrank perhaps as yet from the bare

absolutism to which Cromwell called him. The advice at any rate was

concealed, and though high in the King's favour, his new servant

waited patiently the progress of events.

For success in procuring the divorce, the Duke of Norfolk, who

had come to the front on Wolsey's fall, relied not only on the

alliance and aid of the Emperor, but on the support which the project

was expected to receive from Parliament. The reassembling of the two

Houses marked the close of the system of Wolsey. Instcad of looking

on Parliament as a danger the monarchy now felt itself strong enough

to use it as a tool ; and Henry justly counted on warm support in his

strife with Rome. Not less significant was the attitude of the men of

the New Learning. To them, as to his mere political adversaries, the

Cardinal's fall opened a prospect of better things. The dream of More

in accepting the office of Chancellor, if we may judge it from the acts

of his brief ministry, seems to have been that of carrying out the

religious reformation which had been demanded by Colet and Erasmus,

while checking the spirit of revolt against the unity of the Church. His

severities against the Protestants, exaggerated as they have been by

polemic rancour, remain the one stain on a memory that knows no

other. But it was only by a rigid severance of the cause of reform

from what seemed to him the cause of revolution that More could hope

for a successful issue to the projects which the Council laid before Par-

liament. The Petition of the Commons sounded like an echo of Colet's

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. III. JOHN WYCLIF

Reformation. The people scorned a “French Pope,” and threatened his legates with stoning when they landed. The wit of Chaucer flouted the wallet of “ pardons hot from Rome.” Parliament vindicated the right of the State to prohibit any questioning of judgements rendered in the King's courts, or any prosecution of a suit in foreign courts, by the Statute of Præmunire ; and denied the Papal claim to dispose of benefices by that of Provisors. But the effort was practically foiled by the treacherous diplomacy of the Crown. The Pope waived indeed his alleged right to appoint foreigners ; but by a compromise, in which Pope and King combined for the enslaving of the Church, bishopricks, abbacies, and livings in the gift of Churchmen still continued to receive Papal nominees who had been first chosen by the Crown, so that the treasuries of King and Pope profited by the arrangement. The protest of the Good Parliament is a record of the ill-success of its predecessors' attempts. It asserted that the taxes levied by the Pope amounted to five times the amount of those levied by the King, that by reservation during the life of actual holders the Pope disposed of the same bishoprick four or five times over, receiving each time the first fruits. “ The brokers of the sinful city of Rome promote for money unlearned and unworthy caitiffs to benefices of the value of a thousand marks, while the poor and learned hardly obtain one of twenty. So care to see their parishioners, despise God's services, convey away the treasure of the realm, and are worse than Jews or Saracens. The Pope's revenue from England alone is larger than that of any prince in Christendom. God gave his sheep to be pastured, not to be shaven and shorn.” The grievances were no trifling ones. At this very time the deaneries of Lichfield, Salisbury and York, the archdeaconry of Canterbury, which was reputed the wealthiest English benefice, together with a host of prebends and preferments, were held by Italian cardinals and priests, while the Pope's collector from his office in London sent twenty thousand marks a year to the Papal treasury.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. III. JOHN WYCLIF

If extortion and tyranny such as this severed the English clergy from the Papacy, their own selfishness severed. them from the nation at large. Immense as was their wealth, they bore as little as they could of the common burthens of the realm. They were still resolute to assert their exemption from the common justice of the land, and the mild punishments of the ecclesiastical courts carried little dismay into the mass of disorderly clerks. Privileged as they were against all interterence from the lay world without, the clergy penetrated by their control over wills, contracts, divorce, by the dues they exacted, as well as by directly religious offices, into the very heart of the social life around them. No figure was better known or more hated than the summoner who enforced the jurisdiction and levied the dues of their courts. On the other hand, their moral authority was rapidly passing

Sec. VII.

famous address to the Convocation. It attributed the growth of not more to "frantic and seditious books published in the tongue contrary to the very true Catholic and Christian faith" "the extreme and uncharitable behaviour of divers ordinaries," manifested against the legislation of the clergy in Convocation the King's assent or that of his subjects, the oppressive process the Church Courts, the abuses of ecclesiastical patronage, and cessive number of holydays. Henry referred the Petition bishops, but they could devise no means of redress, and the m persisted in pushing through the Houses their bills for ecclesi reform. The questions of Convocation and the bishops' were adjourned for further consideration, but the fees of the were curtailed, the clergy restricted from lay employments, plun restrained, and residence enforced. In spite of a dogged oppo from the bishops the bills received the assent of the Hou Lords, "to the great rejoicing of lay people, and the great di sure of spiritual persons." The importance of the new measure really in the action of Parliament. They were an exply it announcement that church-reform was now to be undertaken, not by the clergy, by the people at large. On the other hand it was clear that it would carried out, not in a spirit of hostility, but of loyalty to the ch The Commons forced from Bishop Fisher an apology for words were taken as a doubt thrown on their orthodoxy. Henry forbade circulation of Tyndale's translation of the Bible as executed in a testant spirit, while he promised a more correct version. But domestic aims of the New Learning were foiled by the failure of ministry in its negotiations for the divorce. The severance of French alliance, and the accession of the party to power which led to alliance with the Emperor, failed to detach Charles from his cause. The ministers accepted the suggestion of a Cambridge scholar, Thomas Cranmer, that the universities of Europe should be called for their judgement; but the appeal to the learned opinion Christendom ended in utter defeat. In France the profuse bribery of the English agents would have failed with the university of Paris but for the interference of Francis himself. As shameless an excess of Henry's own authority was required to wring an approval of his conduct from Oxford and Cambridge. In Germany the very Protestants, in fervour of their moral revival, were dead against the King. So far it could be seen from Cranmer's test every learned man in Christen but for bribery and threats would have condemned Henry's cause.

It was at the moment when every expedient had been exhausted that Cromwell came again to the front. Despair of other means drove Henry nearer and nearer to bold plan from which he had shrunk at Wolsey's fall. Cromwell again ready with his suggestion that the King should disavow

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

Papal jurisdiction, declare himself Head of the Church within his realm, and obtain a divorce from his own Ecclesiastical Courts. But with Cromwell the divorce was but the prelude to a series of changes he was bent upon accomplishing. In all the chequered life of the new minister what had left its deepest stamp on him was Italy. Not only in the rapidity and ruthlessness of his designs, but in their larger scope, their clearer purpose, and their admirable combination, the Italian state-craft entered with Cromwell into English politics. He is in fact the first English minister in whom we can trace through the whole period of his rule the steady working out of a great and definite aim. His purpose was to raise the King to absolute authority on the ruins of every rival power within the realm. It was not that Cromwell was a mere slave of tyranny. Whether we may trust the tale that carries him in his youth to Florence or no, his statesmanship was closely modelled on the ideal of the Florentine thinker whose book was constantly in his hand. Even as a servant of Wolsey he startled the future Cardinal, Reginald Pole, by bidding him take for his manual in politics the "Prince" of Machiavelli. Machiavelli hoped to find in Cæsar Borgia or in the later Lorenzo de' Medici a tyrant who after crushing all rival tyrannies might unite and regenerate Italy ; and it is possible to see in the policy of Cromwell the aim of securing enlightenment and order for England by the concentration of all authority in the Crown. The last check on royal absolutism which had survived the Wars of the Roses lay in the wealth, the independent synods and jurisdiction, and the religious claims of the Church. To reduce the great ecclesiastical body to a mere department of the State in which all authority should flow from the sovereign alone, and in which his will should be the only law, his decision the only test of truth, was a change hardly to be wrought without a struggle ; and it was the opportunity for such a struggle that Cromwell saw in the divorce. His first blow showed how unscrupulously the struggle was to be waged. A year had passed since Wolsey had been convicted of a breach of the Statute of Præmunire. The pedantry of the judges declared the whole nation to have been formally involved in the same charge by its acceptance of his authority. The legal absurdity was now redressed by a general pardon, but from this pardon the clergy found themselves omitted. They were told that forgiveness could be bought at no less a price than the payment of a fine amounting to a million of our present money, and the acknowledgement of the King as "the chief protector, the only and supreme lord, the Head of the Church and Clergy of England." To the first demand they at once submitted ; against the second they struggled hard, but their appeals to Henry and to Cromwell met only with demands for instant obedience. A compromise was at last arrived at by the insertion of a qualifying phrase "So far as the law of Christ will allow ;" and with this addition the words were again submitted by

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

SEC. VI.

THOMAS CROMWELL. 1530 TO 1540

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

1531

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

Warham to the Convocation. There was a general silence. "ever is silent seems to consent," said the Archbishop. "Then all silent," replied a voice from among the crowd.

There is no ground for thinking that the "Headship of the Church" which Henry claimed in this submission was more than a warning addressed to the independent spirit of the clergy, or that it bore yet the meaning which was afterwards attached to it. It certainly implied no independence of Rome; but it told the Pope plainly that in any strife that might come the clergy were in the King's hand. The warning was backed by the demand for the settlement of the question addressed to Clement on the part of the Lords and some of the Commons. "The cause of his Majesty,"

Peers were made to say, "is the cause of each of ourselves." Clement would not confirm what was described as the judgement of the Universities in favour of the divorce "our condition not be wholly irremediable. Extreme remedies are ever harsh in application; but he that is sick will by all means be rid of his temper." The banishment of Catharine from the King's palace gave emphasis to the demand. The failure of a second embassy to the Pope left Cromwell free to take more decisive steps in the course on which he had entered. As his policy developed itself More withdrew from the post of Chancellor; but the revolution from which he shrank was an inevitable one. From the reign of the Edwards men had been busied with the problem of reconciling the spiritual and temporal relations of the realm. Parliament from the first became the organ of the national jealousy whether of Papal jurisdiction without the kingdom or of the separate jurisdiction of the clergy within it. The movement, long arrested by religious reaction and civil war, was reviving under the new sense of national greatness and national unity, when it was suddenly stimulated by the question of the divorce, and by the submission of English interests to a foreign Court. With such a spur it moved forward quickly. The time had come when England was to claim for herself the fulness of power ecclesiastical as well as temporal, within her bounds; and, in the concentration of all authority within the hands of the sovereign, which was the political characteristic of the time, to claim this power for the nation was to claim it for the king. The implications of the headship of the Church was brought fully out in one of the propositions laid before the Convocation of 1532. "The King Majesty," runs this memorable clause, "hath as well the care of the souls of his subjects as their bodies; and may by the law of God, as by his Parliament make laws touching and concerning as well the

one as the other." Under strong pressure Convocation was brought to pray that the power of independent legislation till now exercized by the Church should come to an end. Rome was dealt with in the same

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Sec. VI.

unsparing fashion. The Parliament forbade by statute any further appeals to the Papal Court; and on a petition from the clergy in Convocation the Houses granted power to the King to suspend the payments of first-fruits, or the year's revenue which each bishop paid to Rome on his election to a see. All judicial, all financial connexion with the Papacy was broken by these two measures. Cromwell fell back on Wolsey's policy. The hope of aid from Charles was abandoned, and by a new league with France he sought to bring pressure on the Papal court. But the pressure was as unsuccessful as before. Clement threatened the King with excommunication if he did not restore Catharine to her place as Queen and abstain from all intercourse with Anne Boleyn till the case was tried. Henry still refused to submit to the judgement of any court outside his realm; and the Pope dared not consent to a trial within it. Henry at last closed the long debate by a secret union with Anne Boleyn. Warham was dead, and Cranmer, an active partisan of the divorce, was named to the see of Canterbury; proceedings were at once commenced in his court; and the marriage of Catharine was formally declared invalid by the new primate at Dunstable. A week later Cranmer set on the brow of Anne Boleyn the crown which she had so long coveted.

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Sec. VI.

As yet the real character of Cromwell's ecclesiastical policy had been disguised by its connexion with the divorce. But though formal negotiations continued between England and Rome, until Clement's final decision in Catharine's favour, they had no longer any influence on the series of measures which in their rapid succession changed the whole character of the English Church. The acknowledgement of Henry's title as its Protector and Head was soon found by the clergy to have been more than a form of words. It was the first step in a policy by which the Church was to be laid prostrate at the foot of the throne. Parliament had shown its accordance with the royal will in the strife with Rome. Step by step the ground had been cleared for the great Statute by which the new character of the Church was defined. The Act of Supremacy ordered that the King 'shall be taken, accepted, and reputed the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England, and shall have and enjoy annexed and united to the Imperial Crown of this realm as well the title and state thereof as all the honours, jurisdictions, authorities, immunities, profits and commodities to the said dignity belonging, with full power to visit, repress, redress, reform, and amend all such errors, heresies, abuses, contempts, and enormities, which by any manner of spiritual authority or jurisdiction might or may lawfully be reformed.' Authority in all matters ecclesiastical, as well as civil, was vested solely in the Crown. The 'courts spiritual' became as thoroughly the King's courts as the temporal courts at Westminster. But the full import of the Act of Supremacy was only seen in the following year, when Henry formally took the

THOMAS CROMWELL 1530 TO 1540 The Divorce 1533 Act of Supremacy 1534 1535

DANISH KINGS

DANISH KINGS.

xix

THE DANISH KINGS.

SWEIN FORKBEARD. d. 1014.

CNUT = Emma of Normandy, widow of King Æthelred II. r. 1016–1035.

Swegen. HARALD. HARTHACNUT.

r. 1035–1040. r. 1040–1042.

Illegitimate.

62

SEC. VI. Thomas Cromwell. 1530 to 1540

title of "on earth Supreme Head of the Church of England," and: months later Cromwell was raised to the post of Vicar-General Vicegerent of the King in all matters ecclesiastical. His title his office, recalled the system of Wolsey ; but the fact that the powers were now united in the hands not of a priest but of a lay showed the new drift of the royal policy. And this policy Cromwell position enabled him to carry out with a terrible thoroughness. great step towards its realization had already been taken in the statute which annihilated the free legislative powers of the convocations of clergy. Another followed in an Act which under the pretext of restoring the free election of bishops turned every prelate into a nominee of the King. Their election by the chapters of their cathedral churches long become formal, and their appointment had since the time of Edwards been practically made by the Papacy on the nomination of the Crown. The privilege of free election was now with bitter i restored to the chapters, but they were compelled on pain of præmunire to choose the candidate recommended by the King. This strange expedient has lasted till the present time ; but its character has changed with the developement of constitutional rule. The nomination of bishops has ever since the accession of the Georges passed from King in person to the Minister who represents the will of the people. Practically therefore an English prelate, alone among all the prelates of the world, is now raised to his episcopal throne by the same popular election which raised Ambrose to his episcopal chair at Milan. By the moment Cromwell's measure reduced the English bishops to absolute dependence on the Crown. Their dependence would have been complete had his policy been thoroughly carried out and the royal power of deposition put in force as well as that of appointment. As it was Henry could warn the Archbishop of Dublin that persevered in his " proud folly, " we be able to remove you again and put another man of more virtue and honesty in your place." Elizabeth in a burst of ill-humour threatened to " unfrock " the Bishop of Ely. By the more ardent partizans of the Reformation this dependence of the bishops on the Crown was fully recognized. On the death of Henry the Eighth Cranmer took out a new commission from Edward for the exercise of his office. Latimer, when the royal policy clashed with his belief, felt bound to resign the See of Worcester. That power of deposition was at a later time quietly abandoned was due so much to any deference for the religious instincts of the nation the fact that the steady servility of the bishops rendered its exercise unnecessary.

Master of Convocation, absolute master of the bishops, Henry became master of the monastic orders through the right of visitation over them which had been transferred by the Act of Supremacy the Papacy to the Crown. The religious houses had drawn on

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Sec. VI. Thomas Cromwell. 1530 TO 1540

selves at once the hatred of the New Learning and of the Monarchy. In the early days of the revival of letters Popes and bishops had joined with princes and scholars in welcoming the diffusion of culture and the hopes of religious reform. But though an abbot or a prior here or there might be found among the supporters of the movement, the monastic orders as a whole repelled it with unswerving obstinacy. The quarrel only became more bitter as years went on. The keen sarcasms of Erasmus, the insolent buffoonery of Hutten, were lavished on the "lovers of darkness" and of the cloister. In England Colet and More echoed with greater reserve the scorn and invective of their friends. As an outlet for religious enthusiasm, indeed; monasticism was practically dead. The friar, now that his fervour of devotion and his intellectual energy had passed away, had sunk into a mere beggar. The monks had become mere landowners. Most of their houses were anxious only to enlarge their revenues and to diminish the number of those who shared them. In the general carelessness which prevailed as to the spiritual objects of their trust, in the wasteful management of their estates, in the indolence and self-indulgence which for the most part characterized them, the monastic houses simply exhibited the faults of all corporate bodies which have outlived the work which they were created to perform. But they were no more unpopular than such corporate bodies generally are. The Lollard cry for their suppression had died away. In the north, where some of the greatest abbeys were situated, the monks were on good terms with the country gentry, and their houses served as schools for their children ; nor is there any sign of a different feeling elsewhere. But in Cromwell's system there was no room for either the virtues or the vices of monasticism, for its indolence and superstition, or for its independence of the throne. Two royal commissioners therefore were despatched on a general visitation of the religious houses, and their reports formed a "Black Book" which was laid before Parliament on their return. It was acknowledged that about a third of the religious houses, including the bulk of the larger abbeys, were fairly and decently conducted. The rest were charged with drunkenness, with simony, and with the foulest and most revolting crimes. The character of the visitors, the sweeping nature of their report, and the long debate which followed on its reception, leaves little doubt that the charges were grossly exaggerated. But the want of any effective discipline which had resulted from their exemption from any but Papal supervision told fatally against monastic morality even in abbeys like St. Alban's : and the acknowledgement of Warham, as well as the partial measures of suppression begun by Wolsey, go far to prove that in the smaller houses at least indolence had passed into crime. But in spite of the cry of "Down with them" which broke from the Commons as the report was read, the country was still far from desiring the utter downfall of the

Z 2

Sec. VI.

monastic system. A long and bitter debate was followed by a promise which suppressed all houses whose incomes fell below a year, and granted their revenues to the Crown ; but the great were still preserved intact.

Sec. VI.

The secular clergy alone remained ; and injunction after injunction from the Vicar-General taught rector and vicar that they must regard themselves as mere mouthpieces of the royal will. With instinct of genius Cromwell discerned the part which the pulpit, one means which then existed of speaking to the people at large, was to play in the religious and political struggle that was at hand ; and resolved to turn it to the profit of the Monarchy. The restriction the right of preaching to priests who received licenses from the Crown silenced every voice of opposition. Even to those who received licenses theological controversy was forbidden ; and a high degree of "tuning the pulpits" by directions as to the subject and tenor of each special discourse made the preachers at every step mere means of diffusing the royal will. As a first step in this direction every bishop, abbot, and parish priest, was required to preach the usurpation of the Papacy, and to proclaim the King as the Supreme Head of the Church on earth. The very topics of the sermon were carefully prescribed ; the bishops were held responsible for the compliance of the clergy with these orders, and the sheriffs were responsible for the compliance of the bishops. It was only when the possibility of resistance was at an end, when the Church was silent and its pulpits turned into mere echoes of Henry's will, that Cromwell ventured on his last and crowning change, that of claiming for the Crown the right of dictating at its pleasure the form of faith to be held and taught throughout the land. A purification of Catholicism such as Erasmus and Colet had dreamed of was to be the religion of England. But the dream of the New Learning was to be wrought out, not by the progress of education and piety, but by the brute force of the Monarchy. The Articles of Religion

Convocation received and adopted without venturing on a protest were drawn up by the hand of Henry himself. The Bible and the three Creeds were laid down as the sole grounds of faith. The commandments were reduced from seven to three, only Penance being degraded to rank on an equality with Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The doctrines of Transubstantiation and Confession were maintained, though they were also in the Lutheran Churches. The spirit of Erasmus was seen in the acknowledgement of Justification by Faith, a doctrine with which the friends of the New Learning, such as Pole and Contarini were struggling at Rome itself, in the condemnation of pardons, and of masses for the dead, in the admission of prayer for the dead, and in the retention of the ceremonies of the Church without material change. Enormous as was the doctrinal revolution

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Sec. VI. Thomas Cromwell 1530 to 1540

murmur broke the assent of Convocation, and the Articles were sent by the Vicar-General into every county to be obeyed at men's peril. The policy of reform was carried steadily out by a series of royal injunctions which followed. Pilgrimages were suppressed; the excessive number of holy days diminished; the worship of images and relics discouraged in words which seem almost copied from the protest of Erasmus. His burning appeal for a translation of the Bible which weavers might repeat at their shuttle and ploughmen sing at their plough received at last a reply. At the outset of the ministry of Norfolk and More the King had promised an English version of the scriptures, while prohibiting the circulation of Tyndale's Lutheran translation. The work however lagged in the hands of the bishops; and as a preliminary measure the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments were now rendered into English, and ordered to be taught by every schoolmaster and father of a family to his children and pupils. But the bishops' version still hung on hand; till in despair of its appearance a friend of Archbishop Cranmer, Miles Coverdale, was employed to correct and revise the translation of Tyndale; and the Bible which he edited was published in 1538 under the avowed patronage of Henry himself. The story of the royal supremacy was graven on its very title-page. The new foundation of religious truth was to be regarded throughout England as a gift, not from the Church, but from the King. It is Henry on his throne who gives the sacred volume to Cranmer, ere Cranmer and Cromwell can distribute it to the throng of priests and laymen below.

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Sec. VI. Thomas Cromwell 1530 to 1540

The debate on the suppression of the monasteries was the first instance of opposition with which Cromwell had met, and for some time longer it was to remain the only one. While the great revolution which struck down the Church was in progress, England looked silently on. In all the earlier ecclesiastical changes, in the contest over the Papal jurisdiction and Papal exactions, in the reform of the Church courts, even in the curtailment of the legislative independence of the clergy, the nation as a whole had gone with the King. But from the enslavement of the clergy, from the gagging of the pulpits, from the suppression of the monasteries, the bulk of the nation stood aloof. It is only through the stray depositions of royal spies that we catch a glimpse of the wrath and hate which lay seething under this silence of a whole people. For the silence was a silence of terror. Before Cromwell's rise and after his fall from power the reign of Henry the Eighth witnessed no more than the common tyranny and bloodshed of the time.

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Sec. VI. Thomas Cromwell 1530 to 1540

But the years of Cromwell's administration form the one period in our history which deserves the name which men have given to the rule of Robespierre. It was the English Terror. It was by terror that Cromwell mastered the King. Cranmer could plead for him at a later time with Henry as "one whose surety was only by your Majesty, who loved

Sec. VI.

your Majesty, as I ever thought, no less than God." But the devotion of Cromwell towards the King was something more than that absolute dependence and unquestioning devotion. He was "so vigilant to preserve your Majesty from all treasons," adds the Primate, "that he detected the same from the very beginning." Henry, like every Tudor, was fearless of open violence, but tremulously sensitive to the slightest breath of hidden disaffection. It was on this inner dread that Cromwell based the fabric of his power. He was hardly secretary before a host of spies were scattered over the land. Secret denunciations poured into the open ear of the minister. The air was thick with tales of plots and conspiracies. With the detection and suppression of each Cromwell tightened his hold on the King. And as it was by terror that he mastered the Court, so it was by terror that he mastered the people. Men felt in Erasmus paints the time, "as if a satyr lay sleeping under every stone." The confessional had no secrets from Cromwell. Men's talk with their closest friends found its way to his ear. "Words idly spoken," the murmurs of a petulant abbey, the ravings of a moon-struck nun, were, as the nobles cried passionately at his fall, "tortured into treason." The only chance of safety lay in absolute silence. "Friends who used to write and send me presents," Erasmus tells us, "now send neither letter nor gifts, nor receive any from one, and this through fear." But even the refuge of silence was closed by a law more infamous than any that has ever blotted the Statute-book of England. Not only was thought made treason; men were forced to reveal their thoughts on pain of their very lives, and being punished with the penalties of treason. All trust in the bulwarks of liberty was destroyed by a policy as daring as it was unscrupulous. The noblest institutions were degraded into instruments of terror. Though Wolsey had strained the law to the utmost violence, he made no open attack on the freedom of justice. If he had refrained from assembling Parliaments it was from his sense that they were the bulwarks of liberty. Under Cromwell the coercion of juries and the management of judges rendered the courts mere mouth-pieces of the royal will; and where even his shadow of justice proved an obstacle to bloodshed, Parliament was brought into play to pass bill of attainder. "He shall be judged by the bloody laws he has made," was the cry of the Council at the moment of his fall, and in singular retribution the crowning injustice which he sought to introduce even into the practice of attainder, the condemnation of a man without hearing his defence, was only practised on himself. But as was the Terror of Cromwell it was of a nobler type than was the Terror of France. He never struck uselessly or capriciously, or struck at the meaner victims of the guillotine. His blows were effective because he chose his victims from among the noblest and the best.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1347 Capture of Calais.

Truce with France.

1348 First appearance of the Black Death.

1349 Statutes of Labourers.

1351 First Statute of Provisors.

1353 First Statute of Præmunire.

1355 Renewal of French War.

1356 Battle of Poitiers.

1366 Statute of Kilkenny.

1367 The Black Prince victorious at Navarete.

1368 Wyclif's treatise 'De Dominio.'

1370 Storm of Limoges.

1372 Victory of Spanish fleet off Rochelle.

1374 Revolt of Aquitaine.

1376 The Good Parliament.

1377 Its work undone by the Duke of Lancaster

Wyclif before the Bishop of London.

1378 Gregory XI. denounces Wyclif's heresy.

1380 Langland's 'Piers the Ploughman.'

1381 Wyclif's declaration against Transubstantiation.

The Peasant Revolt.

1382 Condemnation of Wyclif at Blackfriars.

Suppression of the Poor Preachers.

1384 Death of Wyclif.

1386 Barons force Richard to dismiss the Earl of Suffolk.

1389 Truce with France.

1394 Richard in Ireland.

1396 Richard marries Isabella of France.

Truce with France prolonged.

1397 Murder of the Duke of Gloucester.

1398 Richard's plans of tyranny.

1399 Deposition of Richard.

Henry the Fourth, died 1413.

1400 Revolt of Owen Glendwr in Wales.

1401 Statute of Heresy.

1402 Battle of Homildon Hill.

1403 Revolt of the Percies.

French descents on England.

1405 Revolt of Archbishop Scrope.

1407 French attack Gascony.

1411 English force sent to aid Duke of Burgundy in France.

1413 Henry the Fifth, died 1422.

1414 Lollard Conspiracy.

1415 Battle of Agincourt.

1417 Henry invades Normandy.

1419 Alliance with Duke of Burgundy.

1420 Treaty of Troyes.

1422 Henry the Sixth, died 1471.

1424 Battle of Verneuil.

1428 Siege of Orleans.

1430 County Suffrage restricted.

1431 Death of Joan of Arc.

1435 Congress of Arras.

1445 Marriage of Margaret of Anjou.

1447 Death of Duke of Gloucester.

1450 Impeachment and death of Duke of Suffolk.

Cade's Insurrection.

1451 Loss of Normandy.

1451 Loss of Guienne.

1454 Duke of York named Protector.

1455 First Battle of St. Albans.

1456 End of York's Protectorate.

1459 Failure of Yorkist revolt.

1460 Battle of Northampton.

York acknowledged as successor.

Battle of Wakefield.

1461 Second Battle of St. Albans.

Battle of Mortimer's Cross.

Edward the Fourth, died 1483.

Battle of Towton.

1464 Edward marries Lady Grey.

1470 Warwick driven to France.

Flight of Edward to Flanders.

1471 Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury.

1475 Edward invades France.

1476 Caxton settles in England.

1483 Murder of Edward the Fifth.

Richard the Third, died 1485.

Buckingham's Insurrection.

1485 Battle of Bosworth.

THE TUDORS.

1485—1603.

1485 Henry the Seventh, died 1509.

1487 Conspiracy of Lambert Simnel.

1490 Treaty with Ferdinand and Isabella.

1492 Henry invades France.

1497 Cornish rebellion.

Perkin Warbeck captured.

1497 Sebastian Cabot lands in America.

1499 Colet and Erasmus at Oxford.

1501 Arthur Tudor marries Catharine of Aragon.

1502 Margaret Tudor marries James the Fourth.

1505 Colet Dean of S. Paul's.

1509 Henry the Eighth, died 1547.

THE NEW MONARCHY

SEC. VI.

struck at the Church, it was through the Carthusians, the holiest and : most renowned of English churchmen. If he struck at the baronage, vas through the Courtenays and the Poles, in whose veins flowed the od of kings. If he struck at the New Learning it was through the rder of Sir Thomas More. But no personal vindictiveness mingled h his crime. In temper, indeed, so far as we can judge from the stories which lingered among his friends, he was a generous, dly-hearted man, with pleasant and winning manners which atoned a certain awkwardness of person, and with a constancy of friend- ? which won him a host of devoted adherents. But no touch either ove or hate swayed him from his course. The student of Machia- i had not studied the “Prince” in vain. He had reduced bloodshed a system. Fragments of his papers still show us with what a iness-like brevity he ticked off human lives among the casual :membrances” of the day. “Item, the Abbot of Reading to be t down to be tried and executed at Reading.” “Item, to know the g's pleasure touching Master More.” “Item, when Master Fisher ll go to his execution, and the other.” It is indeed this utter ence of all passion, of all personal feeling, that makes the figure of mwell the most terrible in our history. He has an absolute faith he end he is pursuing, and he simply hews his way to it as a dman hews his way through the forest, axe in hand.

THE NEW MONARCHY

SEC. VI.

he choice of his first victim showed the ruthless precision with ch Cromwell was to strike. In the general opinion of Europe the most Englishman of his time was Sir Thomas More. As the cy of the divorce ended in an open rupture with Rome he had idrawn silently from the ministry, but his silent disapproval was e telling than the opposition of obscurer foes. To Cromwell there t have been something specially galling in More's attitude of rve. The religious reforms of the New Learning were being dly carried out, but it was plain that the man who represented very life of the New Learning believed that the sacrifice of liberty justice was too dear a price to pay even for religious reform. e indeed looked on the divorce and re-marriage as without reli- s warrant, though his faith in the power of Parliament to regulate succession made him regard the children of Anne Boleyn as the l heirs of the Crown. The Act of Succession, however, required sath to be taken by all persons, which not only recognized the ession, but contained an acknowledgement that the marriage with larine was against Scripture and invalid from the beginning. Henry long known More's belief on this point ; and the summons to take oath was simply a summons to death. More was at his house at .sea when the summons called him to Lambeth, to the house where ad bandied fun with Warham and Erasmus or bent over the easel olbein. For a moment there may have been some passing impulse

THE NEW MONARCHY

Thomas Cromwell 1530 TO 1540

THE NEW MONARCHY

The Death of More 1534

THE NEW MONARCHY

1534

SEC. VI.

to yield. But it was soon over. "I thank the Lord," More said a sudden start as the boat dropped silently down the river from garden steps in the early morning, "I thank the Lord that the won." Cranmer and his fellow commissioners tendered to him new oath of allegiance ; but, as they expected, it was refused. They bade him walk in the garden that he might reconsider his reply. The day was hot and More seated himself in a window from he could look down into the crowded court. Even in the press of death, the quick sympathy of his nature could enjoy the hum and life of the throng below. " I saw," he said afterwards, "the crowd beld twain by the neck so handsomely that if they had been weened that he waxed wanton." Latimer very merry in the court, for he laughed and took chiefly of priests, rectors and vicars, pressing to take the oath. More found harder than death. He bore them no grudge for it. He heard the voice of one who was known to have boggled h the oath a little while before calling loudly and ostentatiously for he only noted him with his peculiar humour. " He drank, he supposed, "either from dryness or from gladness," or "to show ille notus erat Pontifici." He was called in again at last, but repeated his refusal. It was in vain that Cranmer plied him with tinctions which perplexed even the subtle wit of the ex-chancellor remained unshaken and passed to the Tower. He was followed by Bishop Fisher of Rochester, charged with countenancing tre listening to the prophecies of a fanatic called the " Nun of Kent the moment even Cromwell shrank from their blood. They remained prisoners while a new and more terrible engine was devised to out the silent but widespread opposition to the religious change a statute passed at the close of 1534 a new treason was created denial of the King's titles ; and in the opening of 1535 Henry as as we have seen, the title of " on earth supreme Head of the Ch England." In the general relaxation of the religious life the char

The Carthusians devotion of the brethren of the Charter-house had won the rever even of those who condemned monasticism. After a stubborn ance they had acknowledged the royal Supremacy, and taken the of submission prescribed by the Act. But by an infamous con tion of the statute which made the denial of the Supremacy tre the refusal of satisfactory answers to official questions as to scientious belief in it was held to be equivalent to open denial aim of the new measure was well known, and the brethren pr to die. In the agony of waiting enthusiasm brought its imag consolations ; "when the Host was lifted up there came as it whis?er of air which breathed upon our faces as we knelt ; an came a sweet soft sound of music." They had not long how wait. Their refusal to answer was the signal for their doom.

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of the brethren went to the gallows; the rest were flung into Newgate, chained to posts in a noisome dungeon where, “tied and not able to stir,” they were left to perish of gaol-fever and starvation. In a fortnight five were dead and the rest at the point of death, “almost despatched,” Cromwell's envoy wrote to him, “by the hand of God, of which, considering their behaviour, I am not sorry.” The interval of imprisonment had failed to break the resolution of More, and the new statute sufficed to bring him to the block. With Fisher he was convicted of denying the King's title as only supreme head of the Church. The old Bishop approached the block with a book of the New Testament in his hand. He opened it at a venture ere he knelt, and read, “This is life eternal to know Thee, the only true God.” Fisher's death was soon followed by that of More. On the eve of the fatal blow he moved his beard carefully from the block. “Pity that should be cut,” he was heard to mutter with a touch of the old sad irony, “that has never committed treason.”

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SEC. VI.

But it required, as Cromwell well knew, heavier blows even than these to break the stubborn resistance of Englishmen to his projects of change, and he seized his opportunity in the revolt of the North. In the north the monks had been popular; and the outrages with which the dissolution of the monasteries was accompanied gave point to the mutinous feeling that prevailed through the country. The nobles too were writhing beneath the rule of one whom they looked upon as a low-born upstart. “The world will never mend,” Lord Hussey was heard to say, “till we fight for it.” Agrarian discontent and the love of the old religion united in a revolt which broke out in Lincolnshire. The rising was hardly suppressed when Yorkshire was in arms. From every parish the farmers marched with the parish priest at their head upon York, and the surrender of the city determined the waverers. In a few days Skipton Castle, where the Earl of Cumberland held out with a handful of men, was the only spot north of the Humber which remained true to the King. Durham rose at the call of Lords Latimer and Westmoreland. Though the Earl of Northumberland feigned sickness, the Percies joined the revolt. Lord Dacre, the chief of the Yorkshire nobles, surrendered Pomfret, and was at once acknowledged as their chief by the insurgents. The whole nobility of the north were now in arms, and thirty thousand “tall men and well horsed” moved on the Don, demanding the reversal of the royal policy, a re-union with Rome, the restoration of Catharine's daughter, Mary, to her rights as heiress of the Crown, redress for the wrongs done to the Church, and above all the driving away of base-born counsellors, in other words the fall of Cromwell. Though their advance was checked by negotiation, the organization of the revolt went steadily on through-out the winter, and a Parliament of the North gathered at Pomfret, and formally adopted the demands of the insurgents. Only six

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Thomas Cromwell. 1530 to 2540 Cromwell and the Nobles The Pilgrimage of Grace 1536

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

SEC. VI. Thomas Cromwell 1530 TO 1540

thousand men under Norfolk barred their way southward, and the Midland counties were known to be disaffected. Cromwell, however remained undaunted by the peril. He suffered Norfolk to negotiate : and allowed Henry under pressure from his Council to promise pardon and a free Parliament at York, a pledge which Norfolk and Dacre alike construed into an acceptance of the demands made by the insurgents. Their leaders at once flung aside the badge of the Five Wounds which they had worn, with a cry “We will wear no badge but that of our Lord the King,” and nobles and farmers dispersed to their homes in triumph. But the towns of the North were no sooner garrisoned and Norfolk's army in the heart of Yorkshire than the veil was flung aside. A few isolated outbreaks gave a pretext for the withdrawal of every concession. The arrest of the leaders of the “Pilgrimage of Grace,” as the insurrection was styled, was followed by ruthless severities. The country was covered with gibbets. Whole districts were given up to military execution. But it was on the leaders of the rising that Cromwell's hand fell heaviest. He seized his opportunity for dealing at the northern nobles a fatal blow. “Cromwell,” one of the chief among them broke fiercely out as he stood at the Council board, “it is thou that art the very special and chief cause of all this rebellion and wickedness, and dost daily travail to bring us to our ends and strike off our heads. I trust that ere thou die, though thou wouldst procure all the noblest heads within the realm to be stricken off, yet there shall one head remain that shall strike off thy head.” But the warning was unheeded. Lord Darcy, who stood first among the nobles of Yorkshire, and Lord Hussey, who stood first among the nobles of Lincolnshire, went alike to the block. The Abbot of Barlings, who had ridden into Lincoln with his canons in full armour, swang with his brother Abbots of Whalley, Woburn, and Sawley from the gallows. The Abbots of Fountains and of Jervaulx were hanged at Tyburn side by side with the representative of the great line of Percy. Lady Bulmer was burnt at the stake. Sir Robert Constable was hanged in chains before the gate of Hull. The blow to the north had not long been struck when Cromwell turned to deal with the west. The opposition to his system gathered above all round two houses who represented what yet lingered of Yorkist tradition, the Courtenays and the Poles. Margaret, the Countess of Salisbury, a daughter of the Duke of Clarence by the heiress of the Earl of Warwick, was at once representative of the Nevilles and a niece of Edward the Fourth. Her third son, Reginald Pole, after refusing the highest offers from Henry as the price of his approval of the divorce, had taken refuge in Rome, where he had bitterly attacked the King in a book on “The Unity of the Church.” “There may be found ways enough in Italy,” Cromwell wrote to him in significant words, “to rid a treacherous subject. When Justice can take no place by process of

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

Sec. VI. Thomas Cromwell. 1530 TO 1540

law at home, sometimes she may be enforced to take new means abroad." But he had left hostages in Henry's hands. "Pity that the folly of one witless fool should be the ruin of so great a family. Let him follow ambition as fast as he can, those that little have offended (saving that he is of their kin), were it not for the great mercy and benignity of the prince, should and might feel what it is to have a traitor as theirkinsman." Pole answered by pressing the Emperor to execute a bull of excommunication and deposition which was now launched by the Papacy. Cromwell was quick with his reply. Courtenay, the Marquis of Exeter, was a kinsman of the Poles, and like them of royal blood, a grandson through his mother of Edward the Fourth. He was known to have bitterly denounced the "knaves that ruled about the King ; "and his threats to "give them some day a buffet " were formidable in the mouth of one whose influence in the western counties was supreme. He was at once arrested with Lord Montacute, Pole's elder brother, on a charge of treason, and both were beheaded on Tower Hill, while the Countess of Salisbury was attainted and sent to the Tower.

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

Sec. VI. Thomas Cromwell. 1530 TO 1540

Never indeed had Cromwell shown such greatness as in his last struggle against Fate. "Beknave" by the King whose confidence in him waned as he discerned the full meaning of the religious changes, met too by a growing opposition in the Council as his favour declined, the temper of the man remained indomitable as ever. He stood absolutely alone. Wolsey, hated as he had been by the nobles, had been supported by the Church ; but Churchmen hated Cromwell with an even fiercer hate than the nobles themselves. His only friends were the Protestants, and their friendship was more fatal than the hatred of his foes. But he shewed no signs of fear or of halting in the course he had entered on. His activity was as boundless as ever. Like Wolsey he had concentrated in his hands the whole administration of the state ; he was at once foreign minister and home minister and Vicar-General of the Church, the creator of a new fleet, the organizer of armies, the president of the terrible Star Chamber. But his Italian indifference to the mere show of power contrasted strongly with the pomp of the Cardinal. His personal habits were simple and unostentatious. If he clutched at money, it was to feed the vast army of spies whom he maintained at his own expense, and whose work he surveyed with a sleepless vigilance. More than fifty volumes still remain of the gigantic mass of his correspondence. Thousands of letters from "poor bedesmen," from outraged wives and wronged labourers and persecuted heretics, flowed in to the all-powerful minister whose system of personal government had turned him into the universal court of appeal. So long as Henry supported him, however reluctantly, he was more than a match for his foes. He was strong enough to expel his chief opponent, Bishop Gardiner of Winchester, from the

XX

GENEALOGICAL TABLES.

DUKES OF THE NORMANS.

HROLF,

1st Duke of the Normans,

r. 911–927.

WILLIAM

LONGSWORD,

r. 927–943

RICHARD

THE FEARLESS,

r. 943–996.

RICHARD

THE GOOD,

r. 996–1026.

RICHARD III.

r. 1026–1028.

ROBERT

THE MAGNIFICENT,

r. 1028–1035.

WILLIAM

THE CONQUEROR,

r. 1035–1087.

ROBERT II.

r. 1087–1096

(from 1096 to 1100

the Duchy was

held by his

brother William),

and 1100–1106

(when he was over-

thrown at Tinche-

brai by his

brother Henry).

WILLIAM

RUFUS,

r. 1096–1100.

HENRY I.

r. 1106–1135.

Adela,

m. Stephen,

Count of Blois.

STEPHEN

OF BLOIS,

s. 1135.

Matilda.

m. GEOFFREY,

COUNT OF ANJOU

AND MAINE

(who won the

Duchy from

Stephen).

HENRY II.

invested with the

Duchy 1151,

d. 1189.

RICHARD

THE LION HEART,

r. 1189–1199.

JOHN,

r. 1199–1204

(when Normandy was conquered

by France).

Sec. VI.

348 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

THOMAS CROMWELL 1530 TO 1540

royal Council. He met the hostility of the nobles with a threat which marked his power. "If the lords would handle him so, he would give them such a breakfast as never was made in England, and that the proudest of them should know." His single will forced on a scheme of foreign policy whose aim was to bind England to the cause of the Reformation while it bound Henry helplessly to his minister. The daring boast which his enemies laid afterwards to his charge, whether uttered or not, is but the expression of his system. "In brief time he would bring things to such a pass that the King with all his power should not be able to hinder him." His plans rested, like the plan which proved fatal to Wolsey, on a fresh marriage of his master. The short-lived royalty of Anne Boleyn had ended in charges of adultery and treason, and in her death in May, 1536. Her rival and successor in Henry's affections, Jane Seymour, died next year in childbirth ; and Cromwell replaced her with a German consort, Anne of Cleves, a sister-in-law of the Lutheran elector of Saxony. He dared even to resist Henry's caprice, when the King revolted on their first interview at the coarse features and unwieldy form of his new bride. For the moment Cromwell had brought matters " to such a pass" that it was impossible to recoil from the marriage. The marriage of Anne of Cleves, however, was but the first step in a policy which, had it been carried out as he designed it, would have anticipated the triumphs of Richelieu. Charles and the House of Austria could alone bring about a Catholic reaction strong enough to arrest and roll back the Reformation ; and Cromwell was no sooner united with the princes of North Germany than he sought to league them with France for the overthrow of the Emperor. Had he succeeded, the whole face of Europe would have been changed, Southern Germany would have been secured for Protestantism, and the Thirty Years War averted. He failed as men fail who stand ahead of their age. The German princes shrank from a contest with the Emperor, France from a struggle which would be fatal to Catholicism ; and Henry, left alone to bear the resentment of the House of Austria and chained to a wife he loathed, turned savagely on Cromwell. The nobles sprang on him with a fierceness that told of their long-hoarded hate. Taunts and execrations burst from the Lords at the Council table, as the Duke of Norfolk, who had been charged with the minister's arrest, tore the ensign of the Garter from his neck. At the charge of treason Cromwell flung his cap on the ground with a passionate cry of despair. "This then," he exclaimed, "is my guerdon for the services I have done ! On your consciences, I ask you, am I a traitor ?" Then with a sudden sense that all was over he bade his foes " make quick work, and not leave me to languish in prison." Quick work was made, and a yet louder burst of popular applause than that which hailed the attainder

June 1540

of Cromwell hailed his execution.

July

Abercorn, see of, 185

Aberffraw, Princes of, 164, 167

Agincourt, battle of, 263

Agriculture, changes in, 245–247, 292

Alexander the Third, King of Scots, 183

Anne of Bohemia, wife of Richard the Second, 263

Arthur, son of Henry the Seventh, 311

Arthur, legends of, 166

Articles of Religion, 340

Artillery, results of its introduction, 301

Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, 262, 263

Arundel, Earl of, patron of Caxton, 298

Badby, John, 265

Ball, John, 240, 250–252

Balliol, Edward, 214, 216

Balliol, John, 188–190

Bannockburn, battle of, 213, 214

Bards, the Welsh, 166

Barnet, battle of, 283

Barons, greater and lesser, 174

their rule, 203

struggle with Edward the First, 203, 204

effects of Hundred Years’ War on, 273, 274

their decline, 270, 291

Henry the Seventh’s dealings with, 302

Beaufort, Henry, Bishop of Winchester, 273

Cardinal, 280

Beaufort, Margaret, see Richmond

Beaufort, house of, its claims to the Crown, 282, 283

Bedford, John, Duke of, Regent of France, 275, 279, 280

Belesme, Robert of, 164

“Benevolences” under Edward the Fourth, 293

under Wolsey, 325

Berwick stormed by Edward the First, 190

taken by Bruce, 209

its peculiar position, 216

Bible, Wyclif’s translation of, 244

its effects, 259

in Bohemia, 263

translation promised by Henry the Eighth, 334

Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, defies Edward the First, 206

Bishops, mode of appointing, 338

Black Death, the, 248

Bloreheath, battle of, 283

Bohemia, effects of Wyclif’s writings in, 263

Boleyn, Anne, 328, 329, 337, 348

Boniface the Eighth, Pope, 192, 206

PART II.

Boroughbridge, battle of, 209

Boroughs, early English, 144

their representation in Parliament, 177

restriction of franchise in, 272

Bosworth, battle of, 301

Bretigny, treaty of, 231

Brigham, treaty of, 188

Bruce, David, 215, 216, 228

Bruce, Robert, the elder, 188, 192

Bruce, Robert, the younger, murders Comyn, 211, 212

crowned, 212

his successes, 213, 214

truce with England, 214

acknowledged king, 215

dies, ib.

Buckingham, Duke of, beheaded, 324

Bulmer, Lady, burnt, 346

Burgundy, Charles the Bold, Duke of, 287

Burgundy, John, Duke of, 270

Burgundy, Philip the Good, Duke of, 270, 275, 278, 280

Cabot, Sebastian, 303

Cade, John, 281, 282

Calais, siege of, by Edward the Third, 228, 229

ceded to him, 231

Cambray, league of, 311

treaty of, 330

Cambridge, the New Learning at, 309

Erasmus at, ib., 313

Campeggio, Cardinal, 329

Cardigan, conquest of, 165

Carthusians, victims of Thomas Cromwell, 344, 345

Catharine of Aragon, wife of Henry the Eighth, 311, 328, 329, 337

Catharine of France, wife of Henry the Fifth, 273

Caxton, William, 295–298

Cecil, William, 291

Chancellor, the, his office, 171

Chancery, Court of, 171

Charles (the Fifth), King of Spain, &c., 322

alliance with Henry the Eighth, ib.

breaks his pledges, 327, 328

treaty with France, 330

Charles the Fifth, King of France, 233

Charles the Sixth of France, 261, 267, 270, 275

Charles the Seventh of France, 275, 276, 278, 280, 281

11

INDEX.

Charles the Eighth of France, his Italian campaign, 311

Charters confirmed by Edward the First, 207

Chaucer, 219—222

Caxton's edition of, 296

Cherbourg surrendered to Charles the Seventh, 281

Chivalry, 182, 183

Christ-Church, Oxford, 323

Church, English, under Edward the First, 172

in fourteenth century, 236, 237

plans of reform in, 238—240

political decline in fifteenth century, 273

condition after Wars of the Roses, 291

its reform undertaken by Parliament, 334

Henry the Eighth Head of, 335—338

its independent jurisdiction abolished, 336

T. Cromwell's dealings with, 338—340

Clare, Earl of, settles in Pembroke, 164, 165

Clarence, George, Duke of, 287, 288

Clement the Seventh, Pope, 328, 329, 337

Clergy, representation of, in Parliament, 179, 180

condition in fourteenth century, 237, 238

submission to Henry the Eighth, 335, 336,

their enslavement, 340

Cleves, Anne of, 348, 356

Clifford, Lord, 284

Cloth of Gold, Field of, 324

Cobham, Eleanor, 274

Cobham, Lord (Sir John Oldcastle), 259, 266, 267

Colet, John, 304, 305

dean of St. Paul's, 308

founds St. Paul's School. ib.

his address to Convocation, 310

charged with heresy, ib.

denounces war, 312

Commons, House of, 232

its struggle with Wolsey, 325

Petition to Henry the Eighth, 333, 334

Commons of Kent, their Complaint, 282

Compiegne, its defence by Jeanne d'Arc, 278

Comyn, regent of Scotland, 192

Comyn, the Red, slain, 211, 212

Conservators of the Peace, 173

Constable, Sir Robert, 346

Convocation, Colet's address to, 310

submits to Henry the Eighth, 336

Copy-holders, 246

Council, the Continual, 203

Great, 173, 174

Royal, its criminal jurisdiction, 302

Country Court, the, 176

Courtenay, Bishop of London, 239

Archbishop of Canterbury, 242, 239, 260

Courtenay, see Exeter

Coverdale, Miles, 341

Craft-Gilds, 198, 199, 201

Cranmer, Thomas, his advice on Henry the

Eighth's divorce, 334

Archbishop of Canterbury, 337

divorces Henry and Catharine, ib.

crowns Anne Boleyn, ib.

Crécy, battle of, 226, 227

Cromwell, Thomas, 332

fidelity to Wolsey, 333

counsel on the divorce, ib., 334

policy, 335

Vicar-General, 338

Cromwell, Thomas—continued.

dealings with the Church, 338—341,

his rule, 341—343

dealings with the nobles, 345, 347

fall, 348

Cumbria, Kingdom of, 184, 185

Dacre, Lord, 345, 346

Darcy, Lord, 346

David, King of Scots, 187

David Bruce, see Bruce

David, Prince of Wales, 168

Derby, Henry of Lancaster, Earl of,

263, see Henry the Fourth

Despensers, the, 209, 210

Douglas, James, 213

Dudley, minister of Henry the Seventh,

Dunedin, 185

Eadmund, King of Wessex, grants Strath

to Malcolm, 186

Ecgfrith, King of Northumbria, 185

Edinburgh, its origin, 185

capital of Scot Kings, 187

French troops at, 260

Education, see Learning, Schools

Edward the First, his character, 167,

crusade, 168

conquers Wales, 168, 169

his policy, 169

judicial reforms, 170, 171

legislation, 172

social changes under, 173, 175, 177,

first conquest of Scotland, 188—190

second, 191—193

struggle with barons, 203, 204, 206,

expels Jews, 205

dealings with clergy, 206

war with France, ib.

confirms Charters, 207

Edward the Second, King, 207

struggle with Lords Ordainers, 203,

defeated at Bannockburn, 213, 214

truce with Scotland, 214

deposed, 210

murdered, 211

Edward the Third proclaimed King, 215

arrests Mortimer

struggle with Scotland, 216

quarrel with France, 223, 224

alliance with a Flanders, 224

war with France, 225—231

loses Aquitaine, 233, 234

death, 251

Edward the Fourth, see March

King, 285

victor at Tewton, ib.

marriage, 286, 287

struggle with Warwick, flight and re-

turn, 287

final success, 288

character, 292

policy, 293

patron of Caxton, 293, 294, 298

death, 299

Edward the Fifth, 299

More's Life of, 315

Edward the Black Prince at Crécy, 226, 227

plunders Gascony, 230

victory at Poitiers, ib.

sacks Limoges, 233

death, 235

Elizabeth, Queen. her Greek scholarship, 312

Elizabeth, daughter of Edward the Fourth,

300

marries Henry the Seventh, 301

Empson, minister of Henry the Seventh, 308

Enclosures, riots against, 292

England, agrarian discontent in, 248, 326, 327

Commines' account of, 288, 289

New Learning in, 304—314

effects of Wolsey's administration in, 322—

324

change in attitude towards Rome, 336

industrial progress under Edward the

First, 202

social condition under the Edwards, 173,

175, 202, 217—219, 222, 223, 238

in fourteenth century, 245—250, 257—259

in fifteenth century, 272—274

during Wars of the Roses, 289

after, 290—292

Erasmus, 305. 306

his edition of St. Jerome, 307, 313

"Praise of Folly," 308, 316

denounces the war, 312

his Greek Testament, 313

his theology, 313, 314

Essex, Henry of, 165

Exeter, Courtenay, Marquis of, 347

Falkirk, battle of, 192

Farmers, their rise, 246

Fastolfe, Sir John. 276, 293

Ferdinand the Catholic, King of Aragon, 311,

312

Feudalism, its ruin, 227

Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, supports the New

Learning, 309

patron of Erasmus, 314

his reply to Luther, 322

opposes Henry the Eighth's divorce, 328

imprisoned, 344

death, 345

Fitz-Hamo, Robert, 164

Fitz-Thomas, Thomas, mayor of London, 201

Flanders, its relations with England, 224, 225

English Gild of Merchant Adventurers in,

295

Flemings in Pembroke, 164, 165

under Edward the Third, 224

Fortescue, Sir John, his definition of English

kingship, 289

Fourmigny, battle of, 281

Fox, Bishop of Winchester, 309, 314, 322

France, Edward the Third and, 223—231

alliance with the Scots, 260

truce with Richard the Second. 261

Henry the Fifth and, 267—270

Bedford's campaigns in, 275—280

English expelled from, 281

relations with Italy, 311

with Henry the Eighth, Spain, and the

Empire, ib., 312, 322, 325, 327, 330

Franchise, Parliamentary, restricted under

Henry the Sixth, 271, 272

the fourty shilling, 273

Francis the First. King of France, conquers

Lombardy, 322

meeting with Henry the Eighth, 324

prisoner, 327

released, 328

Frank-pledge, 197

Frith-gilds, 196, 197

Galen, Linacre's translation of, 304

Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, 348

Gaunt, John of, Duke of Lancaster, invades

France, 233

struggle with Parliament, 234—235

supports Wyclif, 239, 240

turns against him, 241, 243

driven from power, 261

expedition to Spain, ib.

Gavel-kind, 247

Gaveston, Piers, 207, 208

Gilds, 196—199

Glamorgan, conquest of, 164

Glendower, see Glyndwr

Gloucester, Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of, 274

Gloucester, Duke of, son of Edward the Third,

261, 262

Gloucester, Humphry, Duke of, 275, 280

his library, 298

Gloucester, Richard, Duke of, see Richard the

Third

Glyndwr, Owen, 266

Gower, poet, 294

Caxton's edition of, 296

Greek, revived study of, 304

Grey, Elizabeth, wife of Edward the Fourth,

287

Grey, Sir Richard, 299

Grindecobbe, William, 252, 254

Grocyn, 304, 306, 307

Gruffydd, Prince of Wales, 164

Guienne, struggle of Edward the First and

Philip the Sixth for, 223

lost to England, 281

Gunpowder, effect of its introduction, 301

Hainault, Jacqueline, Countess of, 275

Hales, John, leader of Peasant Revolt, 252

Halidon Hill, battle of, 216

Harfleur taken by Henry the Fifth, 263

Hastings, John, claims Scottish throne, 188

Hastings, Lord, minister of Edward the Fourth,

299

Henry the First, his dealings with Wales, 164.

Henry the Second, his dealings with Wales,

165

with Scotland, 187, 188

Henry the Third, his death, 168

Henry the Fourth, see Derby

king, 264

relations with Parliament, 265

suppresses Lollardry, ib.

revolts against him, 260

death, ib.

Henry the Fifth, King, 266

war with France, 267—269

conquers Normandy, 269, 270

SEC. III.

away ; the wealthiest churchmen, with curled hair and hanging sleeves, aped the costume of the knightly society to which they really belonged. We have already seen the general impression of their worldliness in Chaucer's picture of the hunting monk and the courtly prioress with her love-motto on her brooch. Over the vice of the higher classes they exerted no influence whatever ; the King paraded his mistress as a Queen of Beauty through London, the nobles blazoned their infamy in court and tournament. "In those days," says a chronicler of the time, "arose a great rumour and clamour among the people, that wherever there was a tournament there came a great concourse of ladies of the most costly and beautiful, but not of the best in the kingdom, sometimes forty or fifty in number, as if they were a part of the tournament, in diverse and wonderful male apparel, in parti-coloured tunics, with short caps and bands wound cord-wise round their head, and girdles bound with gold and silver, and daggers in pouches across their body, and then they proceeded on chosen coursers to the place of tourney, and so expended and wasted their goods and vexed their bodies with scurrilous wantonness that the rumour of the people sounded everywhere ; and thus they neither feared God nor blushed at the chaste voice of the people." They were not called on to blush at the chaste voice of the Church. The clergy were in fact rent by their own dissensions. The higher prelates were busy with the cares of political office, and severed from the lower priesthood by the scandalous inequality between the revenues of the wealthier ecclesiastics and the "poor parson" of the country. A bitter hatred divided the secular clergy from the regular ; and this strife went fiercely on in the Universities. Fitz-Ralf, the Chancellor of Oxford, attributed to the Friars the decline in the number of academical students, and the University checked by statute their admission of mere children into their orders. The older religious orders in fact had sunk into mere landowners, while the enthusiasm of the Friars had in great part died away and left a crowd of impudent mendicants behind it. Wyclif could soon with general applause denounce them as sturdy beggars, and declare that "the man who gives alms to a begging friar is ipso facto excommunicate."

Without the ranks of the clergy stood a world of earnest men who, like "Piers the Ploughman," denounced their worldliness and vice, sceptics like Chaucer laughing at the jingling bells of their hunting abbots, and the brutal and greedy baronage under John of Gaunt, eager to drive the prelates from office and to seize on their wealth. Worthless as the last party seems to us, it was with John of Gaunt that Wyclif allied himself in his effort for the reform of the Church. As yet his quarrel was not with the doctrines of Rome but with its practice, and it was on the principles of Ockham that he defended the Parliament's indignant refusal of the "tribute" which was

IV

INDEX.

Henry the Fifth—continued.

marriage, 270

treaty with France, ib.

death, ib.

regency nominated by him, 275

Henry the Sixth, his minority, 271—274

crowned at Paris, 279

marriage, 280

loses Normandy and Guienne, 281

birth of his son, 282

idiotcy, ib., 283

prisoner, 283

deposed, 285

flies to Scotland, ib.

prisoner, 286

restored, 287

dies, 288

his library, 298

Henry the Seventh, see Richmond

King, 301

marriage, ib.

revolts against him, ib.

his policy, 302

title to the throne, ib.

character, 303

patron of Caxton, 298

Henry the Eighth, his accession, 308

person, ib.

marries Catharine of Aragon, 311

war with France, 311, 312

education of his children, 312

his “Assertion of the Seven Sacrament,”

321

treaty with France, 322

seeks imperial crown, 324

meets Francis, ib.

alliance with Charles the Fifth, ib., 325

withdraws from the war, 328

proceedings for divorce, ib., 329, 334, 337

promises a translation of the Bible, 334

“Head of the Church,” 335, 336, 338

marries Anne Boleyn, 337

Jane Seynour, 348

Anne of Cleves, ib.

Herford, Nichulas, 240, 242, 244

Herrings, battle of the, 274, 277

Hexham, battle of, 286

Holland, Jacqucline, Countess of, 275

Hotspur, 266

Howel Dda, Laws of, 164

Hundred Years’ War, its origin, 223, 224

change in its character, 247

its effect on England, 273, 274

its end, 281

Hussey, Lord, 345, 346

Ipswich, Wolsey’s school at, 323

Ireland, Richard the Second in, 261

Isabella of France, wife of Edward the Second,

210, 225

Isabella of France, wife of Richard the Second,

261

JEANNE D’ARC, 274—279

Jews expelled from England, 205

Joan of Arc, see Jeanne

Johanna, daughter of King John, 165

John, King of England, his Welsh wars, 163

John, King of Bohemia, 227

John, King of France, 230

John the Litster, 254

Jurors in the shire court, 176

Justices of the Peace, 173

Kenneth MacAlpin, King of Scots, 183

Kent, John Ball in, 250

revolts in, 252, 281

Complaint of Commons of, 282

Kent, Earl of, beheaded, 215

King, the, in Council, 171

King’s Court, the, 171

Kingship, English theory of, in thirteenth century, 183, 184

Sir John Fortescue’s definition of

Monarchy

Knights of the shire, 158, 176, 177

LABOURERS, their rise, 246, 247

condition after Black Death, 248

as painted by Langland, 257, 258

their enfranchisement refused, 259

Statute of, 249

its failure, 257

demand for its repeal, 282

influence of labour question on

monarchy, 299

Lancaster, John, Duke of, see Gaunt

Lancaster, Thomas, Earl of, 208, 209

Lancaster, House of, its claims to the

264, 283

its fall, 288

Land tenure, changes in, 173, 326, 327

Langton, Bishop of Winchester, 307

Language, English, growing use of, 297

changes in Caxton’s time, 297

Laws of Howel Dda, 164

Law Courts, Common, 170, 171

League, the Holy, 311, 312

Learning, the New, 303, 304

its educational results, 308, 309

plans of Church reform, 310

theology, 313, 314

antagonism to Luther, 321, 322

Leases, their introduction, 246

Leicester, town of, 164, 165

Leo the Tenth, Pope, 311, 320, 321

Lewis the Eleventh, King of France,

Lewis the Twelfth, King of France,

Lilly, master of St. Paul’s School, 309

Limgore, sack of, 233

Linacre, 304

Lincoln, John de la Pole, Earl of, 307

Literature, English, in fourteenth

and fifteenth century, 237

Literature of Peasant Revolt, 257

decline in fifteenth century, 274, 297

Caxton’s translations, 296, 297

New Learning, 303—309

literature of Wales, 161—163

Lithsmen of London, 163

Livery Companies of London, 201

Lewdlyn ap Gruffydd, 117, 162

Lewdlyn ap Jorwerth, 165—167

Lollardry, its origin, 242

suppressed at Oxford, 243

character after Wyclif’s death, 244

INDEX.

Lollardry—continued.

progress, 260

suppressed, 265, 267

under Henry the Sixth, 273

London, its cnichtengild, 197

rising of craftsmen in, 200, 201

attacked by Peasants, 252

supports Lollardry, 259

Lollard rising in, 267

supports Richard of York, 283

Longland, William, 255–257

Lothian granted to the Scots, 186

Lowlands, the, 184

Luther, 320, 321

More's and Fisher's replies to, 322

Lydgate, 294

Caxton's edition of, 296

"MABINOGION," 162

Maine, county of, 280

Malcolm the First, King of Scots, 186

Malcolm the Third, King of Scots, 187

Manor, the English, 245, 246

Manufactures, English, 224

March, Edward, Earl of, 284, see Edward the Fourth

Mare, Peter de la, 235

Margaret, Queen of Scots, 187

Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry the Sixth, 280, 283, 285, 287, 288

Margaret, the Maid of Norway, 188

Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy, 287, 301

Marignano, battle of, 322

Mary, daughter of Henry the Eighth, betrothed to Charles the Fifth, 324

Maunay, Sir Walter, 248

Meaux, siege of, by Henry the Fifth, 270

Merchant-gilds, 197

Merlin, prophecies of, 166, 168

Monarchy, the new, its character and causes, 290–292

its military power, 301

growth under Wolsey, 322, 323

Monasteries, dissolution of, 329, 340

Montacute, Lord, 347

Montagu, Lord, brother of Warwick, 286, 287, 288

Montfort, Eleanor de, 168

More, Sir Thomas, 315, 316

his "Utopia," 316–320

reply to Luther, 321, 322

Speaker, 325

Chancellor, 333

resigns, 336

summoned to Lambeth, 343

imprisoned, 344

death, 345

Mortimer, Edmund, 264

Mortimer, House of, its claims to the Crown, 264, 283

Mortimer, Roger, 215

Mortimer's Cross, battle of, 284

Morton, Bishop of Ely, 299, 300

his "fork," 302

Nectansmere, battle of, 185

Neville, Anne, 287

Neville, George, Archbishop of York and Chancellor, 286, 287, 288

Neville's Cross, battle of, 228

Norfolk, Duke of, his quarrel with Henry of Lancaster, 263

Norfolk, Duke of, uncle of Anne Boleyn, 328

dealings with insurgents, 346

Norfolk, Earl of, see Bigod

Norham, Parliament at, 188

Normandy, reconquered by Henry the Fifth, 269, 270

Bedford's rule in, 280

lost again, 281

Northampton, battle of, 283

treaty of, 215

Northampton, John of, mayor of London, 259

Northumberland, Percy, Earl of, 266

Northumbria, northern, granted to the Scots, 186

Norwich, rising of John the Litster at, 254

Occleve, 294

Ockham, 236

Oldcastle, Sir John, 259, see Cobham

Ordainers, the, Lords, 208

Orleans, siege of, 275–278

Oxford University. Lollards at, 242, 243

its decline in fifteenth century, 294

Duke Humphry gives his library to, 298

the New Learning at, 304, 306, 309, 310

Cardinal College at, 310, 323

Oxford, Earl of, under Henry the Seventh, 302

Papacy, its claim on the English Church, 236–237

Paris, Henry the Sixth crowned at, 279

declares for Charles the Seventh, 280

Parliament, its growth in thirteenth century, 133–181

changes in its composition, 231

two Houses, 232

superseded by permanent committee, 262

deposes Richard the Second and elects Henry the Fourth, 264

position under House of Lancaster, 265

importance during Wars of the Roses, 289, 293

decline under Edward the Fourth, 293

revival under Richard the Third, 300

Henry the Seventh's dealings with, 302

struggle with Wolsey, 325

revival after his fall, 333

undertakes Church reform, 334

the Club, 274

the Good, 234

Acts of, see Statutes

Paston Letters, 294

Pavia, battle of, 327

Peasant revolt, 250–255

Pembroke, settlement of, 164, 165

Percy, see Hotspur, Northumberland

Perrers, Alice, 235

Perth, Convocation of, 193

Petitions changed into Statutes, 233

Philip of Valois, King of France, his war with Edward the Third, 225–227

VI

INDEX.

Pict-land, 184

Picts conquered by Ecgfrith, 185

rise against him, ib.

"Piers the Ploughman," 255—257

Pilgrimage of Grace, 345 340

Poitiers, battle of, 230

Pole, Reginald, 346, 347

Poll-tax, 251

Printing, invention of, 295

"Quo Warranto," 203, 204

Reformation, the, its beginning, 320

antagonism to the Renaissance, 321

Renascence, see Learning, New

Richard the Second, son of the Black Prince,

acknowledged heir to the Crown, 235

dealings with Peasant Revolt, 252, 254

takes government in his own hands, 261

truce with France, ib.

marriage, ib.

character, ib.

rule, 262

banishes Henry of Lancaster, 263; expeditions to Ireland, 261, 263

prisoner, 263

deposed, 264

Richard the Third, patron of Caxton, 298

King, 299—301

Richmond, Edmund Tudor, Earl of, 299

Richmond, Henry Tudor, Earl of, 299

claim to the Crown, 300

plan for his marriage, ib.

victory at Bosworth, 301, see Henry the Seventh

Richmond, Margaret Beaufort, Countess of, 299

Rivers, Earl, father of Elizabeth Woodville, 287

Rivers, Earl, brother of Elizabeth Woodville,

his "Sayings of the Philosophers," 298

executed, 299

Rochfort, Lord, 328

Roses, Wars of the, heir beginning, 283

results, 283, 299

Rouen, siege of, by Henry the Fifth, 269, 270,

Henry the Sixth at, 280

submits to Charles the Seventh, 281

Rutland, Earl of, 284

St. Albans, revolt of its burghers, 253, 254

battles of, 284, 285

St. Edmundsbury, confirmation of its privileges, 254

St. Paul's School, 308, 309

Salisbury, Margaret, Countess of, 346, 347

Salisbury, Earl of, adherent of Richard the Second, 263, 266

Salisbury, Earl of, partisan of York, 283;

beheaded, 284

Sautre, William, 265

Savoy, the, sacked, 252

Say, Lord, 282

Schools founded under Henry the Eighth, 308,

309

Scotland, condition in thirteenth century

kingdom of, its origin, 185, 186

relations with England, 185—182

first conquest of, 128—190

second, 191—193

revolt under Bruce, 211—214

its independence recognized, 215

alliance with France, 260

Scots, their origin, 185

submit to Edward the Elder, 184

league with the Percies, 266

in service of France, 275

Scrope, Archbishop of York, 266

Seymour, Jane, 348

Sheriff, his function in the shire-court

Shire, Knights of the, 176, 177

Shire-court, 175, 176

Shrewsbury, battle of, 266

Shrewsbury, Talbot, 280, 281

Simnel, Lambert, 301

Slavery in England, its disappearance

Slavs, battle of, 225

Snowdon, Lords of, 165

Somerset, Beaufort, Duke of, 282, 283

Somerset, Margaret, Duchess of,

Caxton, 298

Spain, growth of its power, 311

alliance with Henry the Seventh,

Spurs, battle of the, 311, 312

Star Chamber, Court of, 302

Statutes, change in mode of passing t

of Apparel, 282

of Appeals, 337

of Heresy, 265

of Liveryes, 249

of Liveries, 302

of Mortmain, ib.

of Præmunire, 237

wielded by Henry the Eighth again

330

against the clergy, 335

of Provisors, 237

"Quia Emptores," 173

of Supremacy, 343

of Supremacy, 333

of Wales, 169

of Winchester, 172

Stirling, battle of, 191

Strath Clyde granted to Malcolm of

Salisbury, Archbishop of Canterbury

Suffolk, Michel de la Pole, Earl of

Suffolk, Earl of, minister of Henry

Surrey, John de Warenne, Earl of,

TAXATION, 175, 177

arbitrary, see Benevolence

T' papal, on English clergy, 237

Testament, New, Erasmus's edition

Tewkesbury, battle of, 288

Town, taxation of, 177

struggle for freedom, 194—196

struggle for freedom, 196—199, etc.

Trial of classes in, 199—201, etc.

Town, battle of, 285

Trade under Edward the First, 202

under Edward the Third, 224, 225

INDEX.

Troyes, Treaty of, 270 Tudor, House of, Its claim to the Crown, 299, 300, see Richmond Tyler, Wat, 252, 253 Tyndale, William, 351

INDEX.

UNIVERSITIES, influence of New Learning on, 309, 310 consulted on Henry the Eighth's divorce, 334

INDEX.

VERNEUIL, battle of, 275 Vespucci, Amerigo, his travels, 303, 316 Villeins, 245 become copy-holders, 246 revolt, 249, 250 excluded from school and college, 258 their extinction, 257

INDEX.

WAKEFIELD, battle of, 284 Wales, its literature, 161—163 relations with England, 163, 164 revival in twelfth century, 165—167 conquest of, 168 Statute of, 169 revolt in, 266

INDEX.

Wallace, William, 191—193 Walworth, William, 253 Warbeck, Perkin, 301 Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, friend of the New Learning, 307 protects Church reformers, 310 supports Erasmus, 313 his share in submission of the clergy, 336 death, 337

INDEX.

Warwick, Neville, Earl of (the King-maker), 283, 285 his character and position, 286 policy, 287 death, 288 Warwick, Earl of, son of Clarence, 301

INDEX.

Westminster, abbey of, 180 Parliament settled at, ib. William Rufus, his Welsh wars, 164 William the Lion, King of Scots, his homage to Henry the Second, 187, 188 released from it by Richard, 183 William of the Long Beard, 200, 201 Wiltshire, Earl of, 328 Winchelsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, 207 Winchester, Statute of, 172 Wolsey, Thomas, 322 his foreign policy, ib. his offices, 323 educational foundations, 310, 323 administration, 323, 324 financial measures, 325, 326 struggle with Parliament, ib. conduct in the king's divorce case, 328, 329 fall, 330 results of his career, 331 Woodville, Elizabeth, see Grey Worcester, Tiptoft, Earl of, 274, 298, 299 Wyclif, John, 235, 236 his plans of reform, 239 charged with heresy, ib., 240 his "poor preachers," 240, 242 denies Transubstantiation, 241 his writings, ib. condemned, 242 death, 244 translation of the Bible, ib. its effects, 259 influence in Bohemia, 263 Wykeham, William of, Bishop of Winchester, 234

INDEX.

YORK, massacre of Jews at, 205 Parliament at, 210 York, Duke of, joins Henry the Fourth, 263 York, Richard, Duke of, Regent in France for Henry the Sixth, 280 rivalry with Henry, 282, 284 death, 284 York, Richard, Duke of, son of Edward the Fourth, 299

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

EDWARD I., 1272-1307.

Eleanor of Castile = Edward I. = Margaret of France.

Edward. Thomas. Edmund, Eleanor Henry Margaret = John of Elizabeth = (1) John, Johanna = Gilbert,

Earl of = of = Brabant. Count of = Holland. Earl of Kent. Bar. (2) Humphry de Bohun. Gloucester.

(1) Sir Thomas Holland = Johanna = (2) Black Prince.

[Seven others, who died young.]

A

Events till Edward's arrival in England.

1273. Order for the proclamation of the King's peace, and appointment of a Regency.

1275. Visit of Edward to the Pope to obtain permission to levy one-tenth upon Church revenues for the three coming years ; allegiance paid to Philip III. for the possessions in France ; reduction of Gascony to order.

1277. Coronation. AUGUST.

B

The early Legislative and Financial Measures.

1275-1280.

1275. APRIL.

1276. First Statute of Westminster, enacted by the King par son Conseil and with the assent of the prelates, abbots, priors, counts, barons, and commonalty of the land being thither summoned.

a Summary and codification of previous enactments, contained in Great Charter, Statute of Marlborough, and others.

b Provision made for freedom of election, and for limitation of the amount of feudal aids. APRIL.

PART II.

EDWARD III. HENRY IV.

xxi

Claim of EDWARD III. to the French Crown.

PHILIP III.

THE BOLD,

r. 1270–1285.

PHILIP IV.

THE FAIR,

r. 1285–1314.

Charles, Count

of Valois,

d. 1325.

LEWIS X.

r. 1314–1316.

PHILIP V.

THE LONG,

r. 1316–1322.

CHARLES IV.

THE FAIR,

r. 1322–1328.

Isabel,

m. Edward II.

of England.

Edward III.

of England.

PHILIP VI.

of Valois,

r. 1328–1350.

JOHN II.

THE GOOD,

r. 1350–1364.

JOHN I.

15 Nov.–19 Nov.

Descent of HENRY IV.

HENRY III.

Edmund,

Earl of Lancaster.

EDWARD I.

Thomas,

Earl of Lancaster,

beheaded 1322.

EDWARD II.

Henry,

Earl of Lancaster.

EDWARD III.

Henry,

Duke of Lancaster.

John of Gaunt,

Duke of Lancaster.

Blanche

of Lancaster.

HENRY IV.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

2. Grant of custom on wool, woolfells, and (half a mark upon each sack of wool mark for every 300 woolfells, one mark every lading of leather, exported from kingdom). Custuma magna et antiqua. One-fifteenth voted upon movables by and laity. Aug.

3. 3. Quo warranto inquest, based upon Com of Inquiry into territorial franchises, app 1274. Resistance to the inquest by W Earl of Surrey.
4. 4. All freeholders possessed of an estate of year, of whatsoever lord they held, to knighthood or to pay a fine pro militie for respite of knighthood.
5. 5. The opposition of the Church and Sta Mortmain.

a Council at Reading called by Arch Peckham ; canon passed ordaining copy of Magna Charta (which gua the liberties of the Church) should be posted upon all cathedral and co churches. Augu.st.

b The clergy of the Southern Province by the Archbishop to declare publi sentence of excommunication issued all who obtained royal writs to o ecclesiastical cases, or who neglec carry out sentences of ecclesiastical

c The Archbishop compelled to rescind h and to remove the copies of Magna

d The Statute de viris religiosis or Mo forbidding the alienation of land to bodies in such wise as to come into Mo and so cease to render its due service King. All land so bestowed to be fo to the immediate lord of the fee ; in of his neglect, to the next superior capitali domino feodi and ultimately Crown.

1277-1284. C The Welsh Campaigns.

1194-1240. 1. Consolidation of a central authority in W Llewelyn ap Jorwerth.

2. Turbulence of the great barons upon the Border Mortimers, Bohuns, Marshalls,

1273-1276. 3. Refusal of Llewelyn ap Gruffydd to presc self for homage.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

1277. 4. Removal of the courts of law to Shrewsbury, and invasion of Wales. English annexation of the coast as far south as Conway ; submission of Llewelyn and marriage to Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of the late Earl Simon.

1277-1282. 5. Peace with Wales. Rebellion of Llewelyn and his brother David. MARCH, 1282. Second removal of the law courts to Shrewsbury ; capture and death of Llewelyn. DEC. Capture of David. JUNE, 1283. Trial of David for treason at Shrewsbury by an assembly of nobles and representatives of towns (summoned by separate writs and not through the sheriffs), and execution. SEPT.

[Statute of Merchants passed by this assembly, enabling traders to get their debts by imprisonment of the debtor and distraint of his goods.]

1284. 6. The Statute of Wales. Introduction into Wales of the English law of inheritance, and of the English criminal law. Sheriffs appointed for Anglesey, Caernarvon, Merioneth, Flint. The rest of the country left to the jurisdiction of the Lord Marchers.

D

Financial Expedients to raise Money for the Welsh Campaign of 1282-1283.

1282. 1. John Kirkby sent to negotiate with the counties and boroughs separately for a subsidy. JUNE.

1283. Writs issued to the sheriffs and the two Archbishops to call provincial assemblies of the two estates (the nobles being with the King in Wales) at Northampton and York. The sheriffs to summon four knights of each shire and two representatives of each city, borough, and market town. The Archbishops to summon heads of religious houses, and proctors of the cathedral clergy. NOV.

E

Judicial Reforms (during these early years).

1. A distinct staff of judges assigned to each of the tribunals of the King's Court.

Court of Exchequer for causes in which royal revenue was concerned.

Court of Common Pleas for suits between private persons (under a chief Justiciar).

Court of King's Bench for “ pleas of the Crown,” and all matters affecting the sovereign (under chief Justiciar).

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

2. Establishment of an equitable jurisdiction by side with that of the common law.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

a The correction of all breaches of law which common law courts had failed to reserved for the King's Council.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

b Cases in which the common law courts no relief dealt with by the King's Chanc (acting for the King), according to fair or equity. "Matters of grace and favour

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

F Fresh Legislation of 1285.

1285. 1. Statute of Westminster (the second).

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

a De donis conditionalibus. Tenants of under conditional grants (i.e. grants lin in their terms, and intended to confinc estatc to a particular line of succession- to heirs male,) to possess only a limited inalienable estate (a fee tail, fcodum till tum, or limitatum), whereas till the fulfilment of the condition, e.g. the of an heir male, had enabled the tenan alienate, i.e. make a fresh grant, to an person, in whose hands the land beca complete fee simple, conferring possession the widest sense.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

b Two sworn judges, in conjunction with o two knights of the shire, to take a thrice a year-in July, September, and ary. Cases to be tried at Westmin unless the sworn justices held their visit before a fixed day. Hence the title Ju of Nisi Prius.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

2. Statute of Winchester.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

a Suit to be made after robbers and felons town to town and from country to coun

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

b Hundreds to be answerable for felonies robberies done and also the damages.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

c Police regulations the gates of towns closed from sun-setting to sun-rising; to be watched all night; highways to be largcd by clearing of the underwood fect on either side of the way; cach m have in his house harness for to keep peace after the ancient assize (i.e. the of Arms, 1181); two constables to be c in every hundred to make the view of a and report to a justice assigned for th pose.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

[The origin of Justices of the F

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

Sec. III. JOHN WYCLIF c. 1368

claimed by the Papacy. But his treatise on "The Kingdom of God" (De Dominio Divino) shows how different his aims really were from the selfish aims of the men with whom he acted. In this, the most famous of his works, Wyclif bases his action on a distinct ideal of society. All authority, to use his own expression, is "founded in grace." Dominion in the highest sense is in God alone; it is God who, as the suzerain of the universe, deals out His rule in fief to rulers in their various stations on tenure of their obedience to Himself. It was easy to object that in such a case "dominion" could never exist, since mortal sin is a breach of such a tenure, and all men sin. But, as Wyclif urged it, the theory is a purely ideal one. In actual practice he distinguishes between dominion and power, power which the wicked may have by God's permission,and to which the Christian must submit from motives of obedience to God. In his own scholastic phrase, so strangely perverted afterwards, here on earth "God must obey the devil." But whether in the ideal or practical view of the matter, all power or dominion was of God. It was granted by Him not to one person, His Vicar on earth, as the Papacy alleged, but to all. The King was truly God's Vicar as the Pope. The royal power was as sacred as the ecclesiastical, and as complete over temporal things, even the temporalities of the Church, as that of the Church over spiritual things. On the question of Church and State therefore the distinction between the ideal and practical view of "dominion" was of little account. Wyclif's application of the theory to the individual conscience was of far higher and wider importance. Obedient as each Christian might be to king or priest, he himself, as a possessor of "dominion," held immediately of God. The throne of God Himself was the tribunal of personal appeal. What the Reformers of the sixteenth century attempted to do by their theory of Justification by Faith, Wyclif attempted to do by his theory of "dominion." It was a theory which in establishing a direct relation between man and God swept away the whole basis of a mediating priesthood on which the mediæval Church was built; but for a time its real drift was hardly perceived. To Wyclif's theory of Church and State, his subjection of their temporalities to the Crown, his contention that like other property they might be seized and employed for national purposes, his wish for their voluntary abandonment and the return of the Church to its original poverty, the clergy were more sensitive. They were bitterly galled when he came forward as the theological bulwark of the Lancastrian party at a time when they were writhing under the attack on Wykeham by the nobles; and in the prosecution of Wyclif, they resolved to return blow for blow. He was summoned before Bishop Courtenay of London to answer for his heretical propositions concerning the wealth of the Church. The Duke of Lancaster accepted the challenge as really given to himself, and stood by Wyclif's side in the Consistory

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

3. Cicumspecte Agatis, limiting jurisdiction of

Spiritual Courts to matters merely spiritual,

e.g., matrimonial and testamentary cases, and

offences for which penance was due.

G 1286-1290

G 1286-1290. Events till 1290, the close of the first, i.e.,

the Legislative Period of the reign.

1286-1289

1286-1289. 1. Absence of Edward in France, and ordering of

affairs in Gascony. Outbreak of private war

upon the Welsh Borders between the Earls of

Gloucester and Hereford. Grant of money

refused by the Lords till the King's return.

1289

1289. 2. Inquest into the conduct of judges and sheriffs

during the King's absence.

1290

1290. 3. Reconciliation of Gloucester and Hereford ; mar-

riage of Gloucester to the King's daughter

Johanna.

4

4. Statute of Quia Emptores. "Every free man

may henceforth dispose at will of his land or

tenement, or any part thereof, but so that the

taker hold it of the same chief lord, and by the

same services." Meant to prevent the loss of

the feudal profits of wardships and reliefs to the

chief lords by the growing practice of subinfeu-

dation, and to stop the creation of new manors.

[Chiefly, however, important as having tended

to increase the division of estates and transfer

of land. "One of the few acts of legislation

which, being passed with a distinct view to the

interests of a class" (i.e., the landlords, and

above all the Crown), "have been found to

work to the advantage of the nation generally."

5

5. Expulsion of the Jews.

a

a Jewish traders established by the protection of

William the Conqueror in separate quarters,

or "Jewries," in large towns : not citizens of

the country, but the special property of the

King; protected by the Crown therefore

against popular dislike (e.g., privileged with

a separate tribunal and justiciars), but pro-

tected as a source of revenue (e.g., the whole

body of the Jews assigned to Earl Richard

of Cornwall by Henry III., as security for a

loan. 1255).

b

b Increasing dislike of the Jews : partly religious ;

partly from their own insolence and defiance ;

partly from their usury and speculation and

pecuniary oppression of the natives ; partly

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

from the jealousy of exceptional jurisdiction and of exemption from the common burdens of the realm. The dislike merely popular: the Jews expelled by S. Lewis 1252, and their expulsion from England demanded by Grosseteste and Simon de Montfort.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

c Usury forbidden to the Jews, under pain of death, by the Statute de la Jeuerie, bably in 1275; their trade also crippled by the rivalry of the bankers of Cahors (in the reign of Henry III.), and of the bankers of Florence and Lucca (in the reign of Edward I.).

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

d Edward's consent to their final expulsion obtained by a grant of "a fifteenth" of moveables "from clergy and laity" and a tenth of spiritual revenues over and above. Jews permitted to take their personal wealth with them. July, 1290.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

H The Scotch Succession.

H The Scotch Succession.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

H The Scotch Succession.

1. The Kingdom of Scotland an aggregate of distinct countries: Pictland, north of the Forth and Clyde; Scotland proper, in South Argyle; Cumbria or Strathclyde (Galloway), Lothian, the Anglian settlement between Forth and the Tweed.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

H The Scotch Succession.

2. Earlier relations of English and Scotch Crowns.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

H The Scotch Succession.

924. a Submission and "Commendation" of Northumbrian League (including the King of Scots) to Eadward the Elder.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

H The Scotch Succession.

945. b Grant of Strathclyde (Cumbria) to Malcolm by Eadmund the Magnificent, on condition that he should be his fellow-worker as well by sea as by land.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

H The Scotch Succession.

1031. c King of Scots, Malcolm II., confirmed by Knut in possession of Lothian.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

H The Scotch Succession.

d The Kings of Scots regarded as representatives of the old English dynasty, and claimants of the English throne, in consequence of the marriage of Malcolm III. to Margaret, sister of Eadgar AEtheling. This danger finally removed by the marriage of Henry I. to Matilda (daughter of Malcolm and Margaret).

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

H The Scotch Succession.

1070. Nov. e Grant of lordships within England to Scotch Kings or their sons; e.g., of Northumberland and Huntingdon.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

H The Scotch Succession.

1139. Capture of William the Lion by David.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

1174–1189. at Alnwick ; the Scotch Crown held of England.

3. Condition of the Scotch Succession, 1290.

a

David

(1124–1153):

Henry, Earl of Huntingdon.

Malcolm

(1153–1165).

William the Lion

(1165–1214).

David, Earl of

Huntingdon.

Joan, = Alexander II. = Mary de

daughter (1214–1249). Couci.

of John.

Margaret

= Alan of

Galloway.

Isabella = Robert

Bruce,

Lord of

Annandale.

Alexander III. = Margaret,

(1249–1286). daughter of

Henry III.

Margaret = Eric, King

of Norway.

Margaret, Maid of Norway

(died 1290).

Devorguilla = John

Balliol.

John Balliol

Margaret

John Comyn.

(1292–1296).

Robert Bruce

(died 1295).

Robert Bruce

(died 1304).

Robert I.

1290. b Proposal of marriage between the son of Edward I. and the Maid of Norway : Scotland

to remain a separate and free kingdom ; no military claim to be made by English King, nor appeal allowed to English Court. Death of the Maid.

1291. c Edward acknowledged as over-lord of Scotland : the castles delivered up to him, and his peace sworn through the land. June. Decision, after recognition of the claims of John Balliol and Robert Bruce, in favour of Balliol. Nov. Homage done by Balliol for the whole of Scotland. Dec. [The external greatness of Edward here reached its height.] Two points however remained unsettled, from which after troubles ensued.

i. Whether the Scotch King was bound to do service in English warfare or con-tribute to English aids.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

64

ii. Whether Scotland was to remain judicially independent.

1293. d Balliol summoned to Westminster to answer complaints of his subjects.

The French Attack and its Consequences.

1293. a Hostilities between the mariners of the Cinque Ports and the Normans : great defeat of the Normans. APRIL. Hostilities also between the Gascons and French. Edward summoned to Paris as a vassal by Philip the Fair to answer for the wrong-doing of his dependents. Guienne ceded by Edward to Philip for forty days as an acknowledgment of his supremacy.

1294. b Edward declared "contumacious," his fiefs forfeited to the French crown. FEB.—MAY.

c Edward's preparations for war.

i. Summons to the Scotch barons to follow him in arms to Guienne [disregarded, the Scotch being encouraged in their resistance by promises of French aid].

ii. A permanent staff of officials appointed over all the portmen and mariners of the King's dominions.

iii. The whole body of knightly tenants summoned to meet in arms at Portsmouth on SEP. 1. (Action however postponed till 1295: firstly, owing possibly to bad weather ; secondly, owing to revolt in Wales, OCT., 1294—MAY, 1295.)

iv. Activity in collecting money.

a The wool of the merchants seized, released upon payment of three to five marks the sack. JULY. (Possibly granted by an assembly of merchants.)

b Assembly of the clergy called and half the ecclesiastical revenue demanded upon pain of outlawry. SEP.

v. Summoning of a Parliament of nobles and knights of the shire. NOV.

d Increasing difficulties.

1295. i. Attack upon Dover by the French. AUG.

ii. Twelve peers appointed by the Scotch nobles to act as guardians of the realm, and arrangements made for the marriage of Edward Balliol to Johanna of France. OCT. Application of John Balliol to the Pope for absolution from his fealty to Edward.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

e The great Parliament of 1295, consisting of the nobles; heads of chapters, archdeacons, one proctor for each cathedral, two proctors for the clergy of each diocese; two knights of each shire, two citizens of each city, and two burghers of each borough ut quod omnes tangit ab omnibus approbetur.

f The first conquest of Scotland.

Capture of Berwick (consequent ruin of the town as a seaport). March. Formal renunciation of allegiance by Balliol. Capture of Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth. Surrender and imprisonment of Balliol (till 1299). July. Government intrusted to John de Warrenne at the head of an English Council of Regency.

g The confirmation of the Charters.

i.

Publication by Pope Boniface VIII. of the Bull Clericis Laicos forbidding the clergy to pay taxes upon the revenues of their churches [intended to act as a check upon war in general, which was largely carried on at the expense of the clergy]. Feb.

ii.

Consequent refusal of the clergy to contribute; the clergy put out of the King's protection, i.e. outlawed. Jan.

iii.

Assembly of the baronage at Shrewsbury. Refusal of Humfrey de Bohun of Hereford (Constable) and of Roger Bigod of Norfolk (Earl Marshal) to undertake service abroad, except in attendance upon the King. (The King proposing to go to Flanders, while the nobles were to undertake the war in Gascony.)

iv.

The clergy recommended by the Archbishop of Canterbury (Winchelsey) to act on their own responsibility and make, if they will, separate bargains, salvet quisque animam suam. March.

v.

Seizure by the King of all the wool and wool-fells in the kingdom which were weighed and mainly paid for by tallies.

vi.

The military force summoned to meet. July. Continued refusal and dismissal from office of the Constable and Marshal. Solemn pacification between the King and Arch-bishop at St. Paul's, accompanied however with a fresh demand for money and a promise in exchange to confirm the Charters. July.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

vii. Departure of the King for Flanders. Statement of his case published by the King under letters patent as an appeal to the people. Bill of Grievances presented to the King by Hereford and Norfolk. Aug.

viii. Upon the King's departure, collection of tax forbidden by Hereford and Norfolk under the confirmation of the Charter.

ix. Magna Charta, the Charter of the Forest, and certain supplementary articles contained in the Bill of Grievances confirmed by the younger Edward as Regent, Oct., and the King at Ghent. Nov.

[These supplementary articles exist in two forms—Latin and French. The Latin form bidding "tallage or aid to be taken without the will and consent" of Parliament: the French merely declaring that the recited exactions shall not be made precedents and "that no such exactions (including the maletote on wool) shall be taken without the common consent of the realm," with mention of "tallage," and in addition saving the King's right to the ancient aids, prises and customs on wool. The Latin is known as de tallagio non concedendo, and is referred to in the Petition of Right; but the French is probably the authentic form (see Stubbs' Select Charters and Const. Hist. ii. loc.)].

x. The Confirmation repeated in 1298, 1299, 1300, 1301, but the Constitutional articles of the Magna Charta (12–14) omitted in 1216 not replaced.

a Truce followed by peace with France and the marriage of the King to Margaret, sister of Philip the Fair (Queen Eleanor having died 1290).

J The National Resistance in Scotland: Second Conquest and Settlement.

i. Rising of the Scotch peasants, especially those of the east coast north of the Tay, under William Wallace.

1297. a Defeat of Warrenne near Stirling. Sept. 10 b Wallace, "Guardian of the Realm," in Balliol's name.

1298. c Defeat of Wallace by the King in person at Falkirk. July 22.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 67

d Upon the release of Balliol from imprisonment the struggle for independence continued by Robert Bruce and John Comyn. Edward's action crippled

i. By the jealousy of the English barons who resented his attempt to add an evasive saving clause to his confirmation of the Charters (1299).

ii. By the claim advanced by Pope Boniface VIII. to feudal superiority over Scotland, (though the Papal demand summoning the King to prove his right of interference in Scotch matters was boldly resisted by the English baronage).

iii. By the encouragement given by France to the Scotch.

e Quarrel of Philip the Fair with Pope Boniface, restoration of Gascony by France to England, and abandonment of Scotland to Edward's mercy. Second conquest and settlement of Scotland.

i. General amnesty to all concerned in the resistance. Wallace, who refused to surrender, captured and executed as a traitor.

ii. Ten representatives assigned to Scotland in the Common Parliament.

iii. The laws of the Highlanders and Welsh of Strathclyde replaced by the laws of King David with additions, and the country divided into four judicial districts, each under two justiciaries, one English, one Scotch.

K The Last Years and Troubles

K The Last Years and Troubles. 1302. i. Custuma nova paid to the King by alien merchants ; the King driven by want of money to call a colloquium of native merchants, and try to obtain from them a similar increased duty upon wine, wool, and merchandise. The grant refused, but collected from those who were willing to pay it. [This “ new custom ” so called in contrast to that of 1275, the origin of our import duties.]

ii. Appeal of the King to Pope Clement V. to obtain absolution from the confirmation of the Charters in order to evade the fulfilment of the clauses of the Forest Charter.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

xxii

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

HOUSE

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

EDW

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

Lionel, Duke of Clarence. Philippa, m. Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March. Roger Mortimer, Earl of March.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March. d. 1424. Anne m Rich: Duke Pole slain

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

EDWARD IV.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

EDWARD V. Richard, Duke of York. Elizabeth. m. HENR I VII.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

Edmund, Earl of Rutland slain at Wake- field, 1460. George, Duke of Clarence, m. Isabel Neville.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

Katharine, m. Sir William Courtenay. Edward, Earl of Warwick, beheaded 1499. Margaret, Countess of Salisbury; beheaded m. Sir Richard

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

Henry Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter, beheaded 1539. Henry Pole, Lord Montacute, beheaded 1539.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, d. 1556.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

iii. Statute passed against Trailbátons or Clubmen (afterwards known as Sturdy Beggars). Quarrel between the King and Archbishop Winchelsey. The suspension of Winchelsey procured for Pope Clement V.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1306-1307. iv. The intrigues of Robert Bruce with the Bishop of St. Andrew and Glasgow, the murder of Comyn, the coronation of Bruce at Scone March ; advance of the King from Carlisle (where he had just held his last Parliament) towards Scotland, death of the King at Burgh-upon-Sands. July 7, 1307.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

NOTE UPON THE GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH TOWNS

i. The historic township, villata or vicus, is either

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

NOTE UPON THE GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH TOWNS

a A body of alodial owners who have advanced beyond the stage of community of land (the mark) but still retain vestiges of it (the common land of the township, power of determining by-laws), or,

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

NOTE UPON THE GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH TOWNS

b A body of tenants of a lord who are regulated upon principles derived from the ancient mark organization.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

NOTE UPON THE GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH TOWNS

This body, when assigned as a district to a priest, appears ecclesiastically as "parish."

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

NOTE UPON THE GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH TOWNS

ii. The "burh", borough, only different from village township by being larger, more defensible, more organized : in privileges and constitution similar to a "hundred."

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

NOTE UPON THE GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH TOWNS

iii. From the time of Aethelstan (925-940) ? Eadgar (959 975), townships, like the rest of the country, were required to be under a lord. The majority were known as in the demesne of the King, and were under the jurisdiction of the King's reeve ; the remainder in the hands of great thegns. But though externally subject to their lords (e.g. in tolls and fees) internally free (e.g. in participation in the administration of justice, in the right of meeting and deliberating about the affairs concerning the town).

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

NOTE UPON THE GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH TOWNS

iv. Stages in the external development of the town thus subjected to jurisdiction.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

NOTE UPON THE GROWTH OF THE ENGLISH TOWNS

a A distinct valuation obtained of the dues to lord or sheriff.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

b The collection of these dues taken out of the hands of the lord or sheriff by the obtainal of a Charter letting the town to the burghers upon a rent, firma burgi.

c Purchase of further privileges as to regulation of trade and internal government (e.g. exemption from the Norman custom of trial by battle, and from the judicial administration of the sheriff) by the communitas civitatis i.e. the original purchasers of the firma burgi.

d Obtainment of the right to elect their own magistrates (most commonly found in the Charters of the reign of John).

Stages in the internal development of the towns. The townsmen held together by confraternities or guilds.

a The religious guild in honour of God and the local saint.

b The "frith guild" or peace guild for mutual responsibility and mutual defence (dating as far back in London as the time of Aethelstan).

c The Merchant guild or Hansa (dating at least from the Norman Conquest) with the power of making by-laws (i.e. town-laws), owning property, and claiming monopoly of local trade.

d Struggles of the inferior trades to obtain royal charters for the formation of guilds of their own known as "craft guilds" (dating from the reign of Henry I.).

e Struggle between the craft guilds and merchant guilds for commercial and municipal power seen most in London (under William of the Long Beard, 1196), and in the support given to Simon de Montfort by the Craft guilds in the Barons' War, 1264.

EDWARD II. 1307-1327.

Edward II. = Isabella of France.

Edward III. John. Eleanor. Joan = David II. of Scotland.

A Struggle between the King and the Baronage (attempt of the King to rule by a minister wholly dependent upon the Crown.) 1307-1312.

Sec. III.

Court at St. Paul's. But no trial took place. Fierce words passed between the nobles and the prelate; the Duke himself was said to have threatened to drag Courtenay out of the church by the hair of his head, and at last the London populace, to whom John of Gaunt was hateful, burst in to their Bishop's rescue, and Wyclif's life was saved with difficulty by the aid of the soldiery. But his courage only grew with the danger. A Papal bull which was procured by the bishops, directing the University to condemn and arrest him, extorted from him a bold defiance. In a defence circulated widely through the kingdom and laid before Parliament, Wyclif broadly asserted that no man could be excommunicated by the Pope 'unless he were first excommunicated by himself.' He denied the right of the Church to exact or defend temporal privileges by spiritual censures, declared that a Church might justly be deprived by the King or lay lords of its property for defect of duty, and defended the subjection of ecclesiastics to civil tribunals. Bold as the defiance was, it won the support of the people and of the Crown. When he appeared at the close of the year in Lambeth Chapel to answer the Archbishop's summons, a message from the Court forbade the Primate to proceed, and the Londoners broke in and dissolved the session.

Wyclif was still working hand in hand with John of Gaunt in advocating his plans of ecclesiastical reform, when the great insurrection of the peasants, which we shall soon have to describe, broke out under Wat Tyler. In a few months the whole of his work was undone. Not only was the power of the Lancastrian party on which Wyclif had relied for the moment annihilated, but the quarrel between the baronage and the Church, on which his action had hitherto been grounded, was hushed in the presence of a common danger. His 'poor preachers' were looked on as missionaries of socialism. The Friars charged him with being a 'sower of strife, who by his serpent-like instigation has set the serf against his lord,' and though Wyclif tossed back the charge with disdain, he had to bear a suspicion which was justified by the conduct of some of his followers. John Ball, who had figured in the front rank of the revolt, was claimed as one of his adherents, and was alleged to have denounced in his last hour the conspiracy of the 'Wyclifites.' His most prominent scholar, Nicholas Herford, was said to have openly approved the brutal murder of Archbishop Sudbury. Whatever belief such charges might gain, it is certain that from this moment all plans for the reorganization of the Church were confounded in the general odium which attached to the projects of the peasant leaders, and that any hope of ecclesiastical reform at the hands of the baronage and the Parliament was at an end. But even if the Peasant Revolt had not deprived Wyclif of the support of the aristocratic party with whom he had hitherto co-operated, their alliance must have been dissolved by the new theological position which he had

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

70

1307. 1. Pier Gaveston of Gascony recalled from banishment (to which he had been sent by Edward I. at the beginning of the year) made Earl of Cornwall, and appointed Regent during the King's absence for his marriage.

1309. Gaveston again banished from the realm by demand of Parliament, but made by the King Regent of Ireland.

1310. Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, the head of the baronage in opposition to Gaveston and the Court.

TABLE OF THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER.

1309. 4. Presentment of articles to the King complaining of

1310. Purveyance.

1311. The new custom taken by Edward I. from the alien merchants.

1312. The uncertainty of the value of the coinage.

1313. The mal-administration of officials. Acceptance of the articles by the King and return of Gaveston from Ireland through the intervention of the Pope. Withdrawal of Lancaster, through offence at Gaveston's conduct, from the Council. OCT.

1314. 5. Fresh complaints of the nobles. The Government entrusted from MARCH, 1310, to MICHAELMAS, 1311, to twenty-one lords ordainers (among them Archbishop Winchelsey).

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1311. 6. The ordinances.

i. Alienations from the royal demesne forbidden without the consent of the ordainers.

ii. The "new custom" (notwithstanding its illegality) to be collected by native officers that the King may live of his own.

iii. Perpetual banishment and forfeiture of Gaveston and expulsion of other foreign favourites.

iv. Provisions for the proper administration of Government and observation of the Charters.

v. The great offices of State to be filled with the counsel and consent of the baronage.

vi. The consent of the baronage necessary to the levying of forces, declaration of war, or absence of the King from the realm.

vii. Parliaments to be held once or twice every year.

7. Consent of the King to the ordinances. OCT. The articles broken by him, and Gaveston recalled. FEB.

8. 8. Excommunication of Gaveston by Archbishop Winchelsey. Appearance of the barons in arms. Capture of Gaveston at Scarborough, MAY, and execution near Warwick, JUNE. Pardon granted by the King to the barons. DEC.

1312-1322. B The Scotch War of Independence to the Battle of Bannockburn ; Supremacy and Fall of Lancaster.

1311-1313. 1. Successes of King Robert in Scotland. Capture of Linlithgow, Perth, Roxburgh and Edinburgh.

1314. 2. March of King Edward (the Earl of Lancaster and other nobles refusing to follow him because the barons had not been consulted) to raise the siege of Stirling. Defeat of the English at Bannockburn. JUNE 24.

1313-1315. 3. Misery produced by succession of famines. Lancaster made chief of the Council and practical ruler of the kingdom. Attack made upon Ireland by Edward Bruce. Defeat of Bruce at Dundalk. A new permanent Council appointed after the Scotch capture of Berwick.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

72

1319-1321. 4. Unpopularity of Lancaster (partly through his refusal to co-operate for the re-capture of Berwick from the Scots.) Accusation brought by Lancaster against the King's new favourites, the Despensers, for receiving royal gifts (e.g. the county of Glamorgan given to the younger Despenser by marriage) without consent of the Council. Armed attack threatened upon Despenser by Mortimer Earl of March, and Bohun Earl of Hereford.

TABLE OF THE DESPENSERS.

Hugh Despenser (Justiciar, killed at Evesham, 1265).

Hugh the Elder.

Hugh the Younger = Eleanor (daughter of Earl Gilbert and co-heiress of Gloucester).

1321. 6. Attack made in Parliament upon the Despensers. Their forfeiture and exile. Aug.

1322. Appearance of the King in arms in consequence of an insult offered to the Queen at Leeds. Oct. Surrender of Mortimer.

1323. Jan. 1322. Defeat of Lancaster at Boroughbridge. March 16. Execution at Pontefract. March 22.

1322-1327. C The Policy of the Despensers, and the King's Fall.

1322. 1. Parliament at York (including for this occasion representatives from Wales). Proceedings against the Despensers annulled; the Ordinances repealed; the principle asserted that "matters touching the realm be established in Parliament by the King and by the consent of the prelates, earls, barons, and the commonalty of the realm, as hath been hitherto accustomed."

[This marks the popular feeling against the attempt of the baronage to monopolize all legislative action, and gives the clue to the policy of the Despensers to strengthen the Crown by supporting the power of the Three Estates against the separate action of the Baronage.] March-May.

1323. 2. Truce with the Scots for thirteen years. King Robert suffered to adopt title of king in the negotiations.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

1322. 3. Troubles with France. The King summoned upon accession of Charles IV. to do homage for Ponthieu and Gascony. Upon his delay to do so Gascony atttacked by the French. Visit

1323. of Queen Isabella to France to bring about

1324. arrangement. Ponthieu and Gascony transferred by the King to his eldest son (who did homage for them). League formed by the Queen, Edmund Earl of Kent, (the King's brother), and Mortimer Earl of March, who had taken refuge in France, for the overthrow of the Despensers. Negotiations for the marriage of the King's son Edward to Philippa of Hainault, and preparations for the invasion of England.

1325. 4. Landing of the Queen at Orwell. SEPT. Capture and execution of the elder Despenser at Bristol. OCT. The younger captured along with the King on his way to Ireland and executed at Hereford. NOV.
1326. 5. Deposition of the King. Parliament called at Westminster. JAN :-

i. For incompetence to govern, being led by evil counsellors, and neglecting the business of the kingdom.

ii. For the loss of Scotland, Ireland, and Gascony.

iii. For putting to death, exiling, imprisoning many noblemen of the land.

iv. For breaking his coronation oath.

v. For being incorrigible and without hope of amendment.

Death of the King at Berkeley Castle. SEPT.

Edward III. 1327-1377.

Edward III. = Philippa of Hainault (1328).

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1327-1330. A The Rule of Isabella and Mortimer.

1327. 1. Henry Earl of Lancaster appointed by Parliament Head of a Council of Regency.

1328. Reception at the Court of Edward Balliol as vassal-King of Scotland. Scotch invasion of England leading to Treaty of Northampton. i. Claim of feudal superiority over Scotland renounced, and Robert Bruce acknowledged as King. ii. Restitution of forfeited estates promised by Robert to Scotch nobles who had sided with England. iii. Marriage arranged between Johanna and David Bruce.

1328-1329.

3. Unsuccessful attempt of Henry Earl of Lancaster, Thomas Earl of Norfolk, and Edmund Earl of Kent (uncles of the King), and Bishop Stratford to assert the power of the Council of Regency against Mortimer, and bring him to account for the murder of Edward II., the seizure of the lands of the Despensers, and for the dishonourable peace with Scotland.

5. Arrest, trial, and execution of Edmund Earl of Kent through Mortimer's influence. MARCH. Mortimer arrested by Edward at Nottingham, condemned without a hearing and hanged. Queen Isabella pensioned and confined for life at Castle Rising.

E Renewal of the Scotch War and Progress of Events to the Outbreak of the Hundred Years' War.

1329. 1. Death of King Robert ; dissatisfaction both among English and Scotch nobles owing to the delay in compensation and the non-restitution of estates. Successful landing of Edward Balliol (son of John Balliol) on the coast of Fife. AUG. Balliol's coronation at Scone (SEPT.), and acknowledgment of English suzerainty, NOV. ; his expulsion from Scotland. CHRISTMAS.

1331. Advance of Edward to Scotland to enforce his suzerainty : defeat of the Scots at Halidon Hill and capture of Berwick, JULY. All Scotland south of the Forth ceded to England, Balliol proclaimed vassal-King of the country north of the Forth. Opposition of Scotch nobles under Robert the Steward and Earl Randolph of Moray to Balliol. Expeditions of Edward to Scotland, 1334.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

1335-1337. 3. Intervention of the French King, Philip VI., with whom David Bruce had taken refuge, in the Scotch quarrel. French descents upon the English coasts.

C The beginning of the Hundred Years' War.

1. Causes of the war.

a The support given by Philip VI. (of Valois) to the Counts of Flanders against the rising power of the towns which were closely connected with England, as it supplied the raw material for the cloth-trade.

b The support given by Philip VI. to David Bruce against Edward in his struggle for independence.

c The renewal by Philip VI. of the attempt of Philip the Fair to change the Feudal superiority of the King of France over Aquitaine into actual possession (in spite of homage paid by Edward, 1331).

d Consequent assumption by Edward of Title of King of France.

Table to Illustrate Edward's Claim.

Philip III. (1270).

Philip IV. (the Fair) (1285). Charles of Valois.

Lewis X. Philip V. Charles IV. Isabella. Philip VI. (1314). (1316). (1322). (1328).

Jane John I. (1316). (Died an infant.) Edward III. John II. (1350).

Charles the Bad (King of Navarre).

2. Summary of the history of the war.

a 1337-1340. Attempt of Edward to form a foreign confederacy against the superior power of France.

b 1340-1342. Failure of the confederacy and truce with France.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

76

c 1341-1345. War of succession in Brittany between John of Montfort and Charles of Blois (supported respectively by England and France).

d 1345-1347. Renewal of the General War. English successes in Guienne, victory of Crecy, capture of Calais.

e 1347-1355. Truce, originally for a few months, then extended owing to the exhaustion produced by the Black Death.

f 1355-1357. Renewal of the English attack in Normandy and from Guienne. English victory at Poitiers.

g 1357-1360. Truce. Exhaustion and anarchy in France. Revolt in Paris. Treaty of Bretigny.

h 1360-1369. Truce, though the Treaty of Bretigny was not carried out. Campaign of the Black Prince in Spain in defence of Pedro the Cruel.

i 1369-1374. Appeal of the barons of Aquitaine to the French King Charles V. Renewal of the war ending in the loss of Guienne to the English.

j 1374-1396. Desultory warfare upon the whole unfavourable to the English.

k 1396-1415. Marriage of Richard II. to Isabella (daughter of Charles VI.) and truce concluded for 25 years.

l 1415-1420. Renewal of the war by Henry V. English victory of Agincourt, capture of Rouen. Treaty of Troyes.

m 1422-1437. First period of the loss of English possessions in France. The maid of Orleans. Defection of the Burgundians from the English alliance, death of the Duke of Bedford, and loss of Paris.

n 1437-1446. Growth of a peace party in England, and marriage of Henry VI. to Margaret of Anjou.

o 1447-1453. Loss of Normandy, Guienne, and all English possessions in France except Calais.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

D The First Years of the War and Constitutional Crisis of 1340-1341

1. Attempt to form a confederacy of the Emperor Lewis IV. (married to the sister of Queen Philippa, and excommunicated by Pope Benedict XII. owing to the influence of Philip VI.), and of the imperial vassals to the north-east of France, (the Duke of Brabant, the Count of Hainault (Edward's father-in-law), the Count of Guelders, and the Markgrave of Juliers).

3. Attack upon the Agenois (on the Garonne) by France and open declaration of war, Edward recognized as Vicar-General of the Emperor west of the Rhine; seizure of Cambrai by the French, 1338, and ineffectual siege by the Confederates 1339. Gradual dissolution of the Confederacy.

1339-1340.

3. Fresh Confederacy between Edward, the Duke of Brabant, and the great Flemish commercial towns, negotiated mainly by Van Arteveldt of Ghent. English naval victory at Sluys, securing the command of the Channel, June 24. Unsuccessful siege of Tournai (upon the lower Scheldt, intercepting the commerce between Brabant and Flanders). July-September. Truce with France for a year, continued till Oct. 1342.

5. Rising discontent in England against the expenses of the war. Conditions made before grant of money. The Royal right of Tallage finally abolished. No attempts to be made to deal with the merchants apart from the Houses of Parliament. Return of Edward to England from Tournai and summary removal from office of Archbishop Stratford, the treasurer, and some of the judges. Appointment for the first time of a lay Chancellor. Publication of Edward's complaints against Archbishop Stratford, in "Libellus Famosus." Contention of the Archbishop that he can only be tried by his Peers conceded--after a struggle--by the King. Further concession of the King to the Commons.

1340-1341.

i. Commissioners to be appointed for the audit of accounts.

ii. The Chancellor and other great officers to be appointed in Parliament, sworn to obey the

HOUSE OF YORK

HOUSE OF YORK

xxiii

OF

YORK.

III.

Edmund of Langley, Duke of York.

Richard, Earl of Cambridge, beheaded 1415. | Plantagenet, York, Wakefield, 1460.

RICHARD III. m. Anne Neville.

Elizabeth = John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk.

Margaret, m. Charles, Duke of Burgundy.

Edward, Prince of Wales, d. 1484.

John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, slain at Stoke, 1487

Edmund de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, beheaded 1513.

Richard de la Pole, slain at the battle of Pavia, 1523.

Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Cardinal, d. 1558.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

law, and to be accountable for all grievances [From this time may be dated the clear division of Parliament into two houses Lords and Commons.]

Revocation by Letters Patent of the Statute passed in 1341, as prejudicial to the Prerogative, and only assented to in order to prevent worse confusion. [Henceforward may be noticed Edward's jealousy of Parliament.]

1341-1347. E

Edward triumphant.

Outbreak of the war of succession in Britanny between Charles of Blois, cousin of the King of France, and John of Montfort (supported by England).

Murder of Jacob Van Arteveldt at Ghent owing to internal dissensions in the Flemish towns, and consequent failure of the design to proclaim the Prince of Wales as Count of Flanders Ruin of the chief Italian bankers owing mainly to the large loans made to Edward. Success of Henry of Lancaster (Earl of Derby) in Guienne, where he had been appointed governor.

Expedition of Edward to France, originally designed to support Derby, now hard pressed in Guienne, then diverted to La Hogue and Normandy. Advance on Paris. Consequent recall of the French forces from Guienne. March of Edward to join the invading Flemish at Gravelines ; his halt at Crécy in l'Onthiéu. The battle of Crécy, AUGUST 26. [For map see Public Schools Historical Atlas Defeat and capture of David II. of Scotland at Neville's Cross, near Durham, OCT. 17.

Siege of Calais, which surrendered AUGUST 1347.

The death of the Emperor Lewis IV. Edward elected Emperor in his place ; compelled however by Parliament to decline the offer

1349 or 1346.

Foundation of the Order of the Garter.

1349-1360. F

The Black Death and subsequent events the treaty of Bretigny.

Repeated complaints in Parliament; the Commons decline responsibility for the war 'being so ignorant and simple.'

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. III. John Wyclif

already taken up. Some months before the outbreak of the insurrection, he had by one memorable step passed from the position of a reformer of the discipline and political relations of the Church to that of a protester against its cardinal beliefs. If there was one doctrine upon which the supremacy of the Mediæval Church rested, it was the doctrine of Transubstantiation. It was by his exclusive right to the performance of the miracle which was wrought in the mass that the lowliest priest was raised high above princes. With the formal denial of the doctrine of Transubstantiation which Wyclif issued in the spring of 1381 began that great movement of revolt which ended, more than a century after, in the establishment of religious freedom, by severing the mass of the Teutonic peoples from the general body of the Catholic Church. The act was the bolder that he stood utterly alone. The University, in which his influence had been hitherto all-powerful, at once condemned him. John of Gaunt enjoined him to be silent. Wyclif was presiding as Doctor of Divinity over some disputations in the schools of the Augustinian Canons when his academical condemnation was publicly read, but though startled for the moment he at once challenged Chancellor or doctor to disprove the conclusions at which he had arrived. The prohibition of the Duke of Lancaster he met by an open avowal of his teaching, a confession which closes proudly with the quiet words, "I believe that in the end the truth will conquer." For the moment his courage dispelled the panic around him. The University responded to his appeal, and by displacing his opponents from office tacitly adopted his cause. But Wyclif no longer looked for support to the learned or wealthier classes on whom he had hitherto relied. He appealed, and the appeal is memorable as the first of such a kind in our history, to England at large. With an amazing industry he issued tract after tract in the tongue of the people itself. The dry, syllogistic Latin, the abstruse and involved argument which the great doctor had addressed to his academic hearers, were suddenly flung aside, and by a transition which marks the wonderful genius of the man the schoolman was transformed into the pamphleteer. If Chaucer is the father of our later English poetry, Wyclif is the father of our later English prose. The rough, clear, homely English of his tracts, the speech of the ploughman and the trader of the day, though coloured with the picturesque phraseology of the Bible, is in its literary use as distinctly a creation of his own as the style in which he embodied it, the terse vehement sentences, the stinging sarcasms, the hard antitheses which roused the dullest mind like a whip. Once fairly freed from the trammels of unquestioning belief, Wyclif's mind worked fast in its career of scepticism. Pardons, indulgences, absolutions, pilgrimages to the shrines of saints, worship of their images, worship of the saints themselves, were successively denied. A formal appeal to the Bible as the one ground

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1348-1349. 2. First visitation of the Great Pestilence. Its effects.

a Diminution of the population by one half. (The population being estimated at from three to five millions.)

b The rate of labour-wages doubled.

c A consequent change in the management of lands. The modern system of "letting" gradually introduced, owing to the difficulty of getting lands cultivated. Commencement of a permanent distinction between the farmer and the labourer.

d A series of attempts to fix the rate of wages and to bind the labourer to the soil (beginning with the Statute of Labourers, 1349 and 1351), leading to discontent of those who lived by manual labour, which finally broke into rebellion, 1381.

To these may be added :-

e Great mortality among sheep, upon whose wool the King largely depended as a source of revenue.

1351-1353. 3. The Parliaments after the Pestilence.

1351-1352. a Appearance of jealousy between the Commons and the royal Council. Demand that the reasonable petitions of their estate be granted, confirmed, and sealed before the departure of Parliament; and complaints against the legal interference of the Council with the business of the Common Law Courts.

1351. b The First Statute of Provisors—against the right claimed by the Popes to present (often aliens) to English benefices.

1352 c The Statute of Treason. Treason declared by Edward (at the request of Parliament), to consist in—

i. Compassing death of King, Queen, or their eldest son.

ii. Levying war upon the King in his kingdom, or adhering to the King's enemies.

iii. Counterfeiting the Great Seal, or bringing false money into the land.

iv. Slaying the Chancellor, Treasurer, or Judges, "being in their place doing their offices."

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

80

1353

d

The First Statute of Præmunire, against ferring any matter belonging to any jurisdiction outside the realm. [Aimed at the claims of the Court of Rome, though not directly stated so in the Statute.]

1353

c

The Statute of the Staples.

i

Appointment of Staple Towns (i.e., markets) for the sale of the chief commodities of England—wool, woolfells, leather, lead, tin. All merchants, except merchants of the Staple, forbidden to buy or export the goods.

ii

Importance of the Statute—

a

As a means of collecting the customs.

b

As a means of insuring the quality of exports.

c

As a means of bringing the Merchants of the Staple under the control of the Parliament, and preventing King dealing with them in a separate “colloquium,” after the fashion of Edward I.

iii

The most important of these Staple towns : London, York, Bristol, Newcastle, Exeter, Lincoln, Norwich. For Ireland : Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Drogheda. For Wales : Caermarthen. For foreign merchants : Calais.

1357

f

[Publication by the King of an ordinance for the better estate of the land of Ireland

4

The resumption of the war.

1355

a

Attempt to support Charles the Bad of Navarre (who had lands in Normandy) against John II. of France. Failure of the expedition through bad weather. Plundering carried on by the Black Prince up the Garonne. King Edward recalled from Calais by the Scots, to recapture of Berwick.

1356

b

Second expedition, under Henry of Lancaster (now Duke) opposed and driven to Châtellerault by the French King John. Joined again to the defence of Paris by advance of Black Prince from Guienne. The Prince out-manoeuvred and intercepted by French army at Poitiers. English victors, and capture of King John, Sept. 19.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

Expedition of King Edward into Scotland, re-capture of Berwick, and ineffectual ravaging of S. E. Scotland. “The burnt Candlemas.” Restoration of David II. to Scotland upon ransom ; truce and equal trade settled for ten years.

c Truce concluded with France for two years. Rising of Paris against the Regent, Charles of Normandy, and of the peasantry against their lords ; the country devastated by Free Companies of soldiers.

d Rejection by the French, in spite of their exhaustion, of terms proposed by John II. (a prisoner in England), ceding Maine, Touraine, and Poitou in the South, Normandy, Ponthieu and Calais in the North, to the English. Resumption of hostilities. France compelled to accede to the Treaty of Bretigny :-

i. English claims on the Crown of France and Duchy of Normandy waived. ii. Aquitaine and Gascony (including Poitou, but excluding Auvergne), Ponthieu, Guines, Calais, made over to the King of England as absolute possession without any reservation of homage. [See Map in Public Schools Historical Atlas.]

1361-1370.

G Events from 1360 to the renewal of the War.

1361-1362.

1. Re-appearance of the Pestilence, Henry Duke of Lancaster among those who died. Increasing discontent in England with the King's expenses and luxury [see the Letter of Archbishop Islip].

3. Proceedings in Parliament. a Besides attempts to enforce the Statute of Labourers, were enacted- i. The use of English in Courts of Law. ii. No subsidy to be set on wool without the consent of Parliament (re-enacted 1371). Grants by “colloquium” of merchants illegal. iii. Renunciation by the King of the right of purveyance (i.e., the right of demanding provisions at prices fixed by the royal officers) except for personal needs of King or Queen. Purveyors to change their name to buyers. Payments to be made not by tallies, but in money.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1365. b `Second Statute of Præmunire (with definition of the jurisdiction of the Papal Court) forbidding questionings of judgments rendered in the King's Courts under pain of outlawry, imprisonment, or banishment from the land.

c Unanimous refusal of the Parliament (Bishop Lords and Commons) to pay to Urban the tribute of 1000 marks promised by King John, 1213 (in arrears since 1333).

1367. Edward's policy of accumulation of great fiefs his family.

1368. a Marriage of Lionel to Elizabeth de Burgh heiress of Ulster.

1369. b Marriage of the Black Prince to Johanna Kent, daughter of Edmund of Woodstock

1370. Marriage of John of Gaunt to Blanche daughter of Henry Duke of Lancaster (heiress of Lancaster, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln

1371. c Bestowal of title of Duke on Lionel and John of Gaunt.

d Marriage of Philippa, daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence, to Earl Mortimer of March.

e Marriage of Eleanor and Mary Bohun (heiress of Hereford, Essex, and Northampton) Thomas of Woodstock and Henry of Bolingbroke (son of John of Gaunt.)

1362-1369. 4. The Black Prince as Governor of Aquitaine.

a Discontent of the nobles of Aquitaine at transference of their fealty from France to England.

1365. b Co-operation of France in crusade declared Pope Urban V. against Pedro the Cruel Castile for the murder of his wife. Flight of Pedro to Bordeaux, and re-establishment by the Black Prince after a victory at N varete.

c Consequent heavy taxation upon Aquitai and appeal of the nobles to Charles of Frar The Black Prince summoned as a Free vassal to Paris to answer for his conduct.

d Renewal of the war with France in con quence. Capture and sack of Limoges the Black Prince.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1369-1377. H The Last Years of the Reign.

1. Family Troubles. Death of Lionel Duke of Clarence, 1368, of Queen Philippa, 1369. Return of the Black Prince from Guienne owing to illness (originally contracted in his Spanish campaign.) 1371.

2. Foreign difficulties.

a David II. of Scotland succeeded by Robert the Steward his nephew (not by an English Prince as David II. had proposed to the Scotch Parliament—naming Lionel Duke of Clarence, 1363). Renewal of the alliance between Scotland and France.

b France secured from attack on the north-east by the marriage of Margaret (heiress of Flanders) to Philip Duke of Burgundy, brother of Charles V. of France.

c Refusal of the Castilians to recognize John of Gaunt's assumption of the title of King of Castile upon his marriage to Constantia, daughter of Pedro the Cruel.

d Defeat of the English at sea by the Castilian fleet, off Rochelle. Communication thus cut off between England and Guienne. June.

e Ineffectual march of John of Gaunt from Calais to Bordeaux, with much loss in the Mountains of Auvergne. Complete loss to the English of all Southern France, except Bordeaux and Bayonne.

3. Internal troubles.

a Growth of an anti-clerical party among the baronage (strengthened by the influence of Wyclif's preaching and the increasing impatience of lax discipline, pluralities, and other clerical abuses).

i. Suggested proposal to resume the temporalities of the clergy in time of war as the common property of the nation.

ii. Removal of William of Wykeham and other clerical ministers from office. Inexperience of the new lay ministers shown by their calculation of the parishes in England at 40,000, though in reality between 8,000 and 9,000.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

b Growing dissatisfaction at the expenses and conduct of the war. Upon fresh demand for money after Lancaster's unsuccessful expedition (1373), a conference with a committee of the Lords demanded by the Commons, and a petition added to the subsidy which was finally granted that the money be spent on the war and on that only.

1373

c

The discontent increased by the apparent failure of the negotiations conducted at Bruges to come to a settlement with the Pope as to the question of Provisions and Freedom of Election. [A private compromise seems to have been made between the King and the Pope to the profit of both the expense of the nation.] Scandal occasioned by the interference of Alice Perrers with State affairs and the administration of justice.

1374-1375

d

The good Parliament.

1376

i

Peter de la Mare elected Speaker. Demand made for the audit of public accounts.

ii

Impeachment of Lord Latimer, the King's chamberlain, and Richard Lyons, the King's agent with the merchants, for extortion and malversation of money. [The first instance of impeachment.]

iii

Attack upon Alice Perrers. No woman to interfere in the courts of law under pain of forfeiture.

iv

(Upon the death of the Black Prince, June 8), a petition that Richard of Bordeaux, his son, be presented to Parliament next heir.

v

Petition for the election of an administrative council (William of Wykeham, two other prelates, and nine lords in addition to the ordinary Council).

vi

Various petitions (140 in all). Especially notable are—

a

Petition for annual parliaments (none met since 1373).

b

Petition that the knights be elected by the better folk of the shires, not merely nominated by the sheriff.

c

Petition that the sheriffs be elected, not appointed at the Exchequer.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

d Petitions that the Statute of Labourers be enforced, and the abuses of Papal provisions and “of the Brokers of the sinful city of Rome” removed.

e The work of the Parliament undone by John of Gaunt.

i. Not one of the petitions enrolled as a statute.

ii. The additional members of Council dismissed.

iii. Latimer, Lyons, and Alice Perrers recalled to court and influence.

iv. Peter de la Mare imprisoned; William of Wykeham accused of malversation, and his estates confiscated; with difficulty included in the Jubilee Pardon.

v. Another Parliament called to confirm John of Gaunt's measures [the first instance of a packed Parliament]. First imposition of a poll-tax (a groat a head on all over 14). [N.B. The exertions of Convocation to prosecute Wyclif; the attack on the Savoy; and on the other side the mixture of Lollard feeling with opposition to constitutional reform.]

f Death of the King, JUNE 21 (five months after his Jubilee), and the antagonism of the Londoners to John of Gaunt.

RICHARD II. 1377-1399.

Richard II. = (1) Anne of Bohemia = (2) Isabella of France.

A The Early Years and the Peasant Revolt.

1377. 1. Withdrawal of John of Gaunt from the court upon his father's death; release of Peter de la Mare from prison, and election as Speaker of the Commons. Action of Parliament (in pursuance of the work of the good Parliament).

a Petition for the appointment of treasurers to superintend the due application of the subsidy. William Walworth and John Philipot, London merchants, appointed accordingly.

b Petition for the election of ministers by the Lords in Parliament during the King's minority.

1381. c Religious reaction, increased by Wyclif's denial

of Transubstantiation. Wyclif's principal adherents in Oxford induced to recant, his

doctrines condemned by a Council of the

Province of Canterbury at Blackfriars, May.

Examined in person before another Council

at Oxford, November. Death of Wyclif,

1382-1389. B The King's Minority after the Peasant

Revolt.

1. The continuance of the war.

2. a French victory at Rosbecque over Philip van

Arteveldt and the Flemish towns.

1383. b Unsuccessful expedition of Henry Spencer

Bishop of Norwich to Flanders (nominally a

crusade on behalf of Urban VI. against the

anti-Pope Clement VII.). May—Oct.

1385. c Truce with France. Jan. 1384—May, 1385.

French expedition to Scotland, and Scotch

invasion of England ; the invasion repelled,

and Edinburgh burnt. Capture of Ghent by

the French, and threatened invasion of

England. 1385-1386.

1386. d Departure of John of Gaunt with an English

expedition to Castille, to assert his claim to

the Castilian throne.

1387. e Capture of a fleet of Flemings, French, and

Spaniards by Richard Fitz-Alan, Earl of

Arundel. March. Retreat 'of John of

Gaunt from Castille to Gascony.

1388. f Close of John of Gaunt's designs upon Castille

by the marriage of his daughter Katharine

to Henry of Castille.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

1389. g Truces with France. 1389-1392. 1392-1393. 1394 for four years. 1396 for twenty-five years, upon the King's marriage to Isabella of France.

2-1389. 2. Progress of internal affairs.

a The King's friends and advisers. His half-brothers, John and Thomas Holland (sons of Johanna of Kent by her first marriage with Sir Thomas Holland) created Earls of Huntingdon and Kent. Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford ; Sir Simon Burley ; Michael de la Pole, son of a Hull merchant.

1383. b Michael de la Pole made Chancellor.

1384. c Thomas of Woodstock and Edmund of Langley, the King's uncles, created Dukes of Gloucester and York ; Michael de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk.

1385. d Death of Johanna, the King's mother. De Vere created Marquess of Dublin, receiving as an appanage the whole territory and lordship of Ireland. Haughty refusal of the King to allow Parliamentary annual enquiry.

e Party of baronial opposition to de Vere and de la Pole as favourites, under the Duke of Gloucester and Henry of Bolingbroke (son of John of Gaunt), including Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick ; Thomas Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham ; Richard Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel ; Archbishop Courtenay, and the Bishop of Ely (brother of the Earl of Arundel).

1386. f De Vere further created Duke of Ireland. Oct. Outbreak of the storm ; dismissal of the Chancellor demanded by Parliament, the King's haughty refusal ; the King threatened with deposition by the Duke of Gloucester and the Bishop of Ely (acting as envoys). The Chancellor (de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk) removed from office, and charged with malversation, corruption, and neglect to relieve Ghent : sentenced to fine and imprisonment. A Continual Council, under Gloucester, nominated for a year to regulate the realm and the royal household.

1387. g Suffolk liberated by the King at the close of Parliament. Formation of a royal party—

PART II.

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

HOUSE OF LANCASTER

EDWARD III.

1. Blanche of Lancaster.
2. Constance daughter of Peter the Cívil King of Castile and Leon. = = = = = = = = HENRY IV. = = = = m. 1. Mary de Bohun. m. 2. Johanna of Navarre. HENRY V. m. Katharine of France, who = = = = HENRY VI. = = = = m. Margaret of Anjou. EDWARD, Prince of Wales, slain at Tewkesbury,

John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster.

1. Katharine Swynford.

2. Katharine m. Henry III. King of Castile and Leon. = = = = John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset and Marniess of Dorset. = = = = John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. Joan Beaufort m. James I. King of Scots, 1424. Margaret Beaufort, m. Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond. = = = = HENRY VII. m. Elizabeth of York.

3. Katharine Swynford. = = = = John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset and Marniess of Dorset. = = = = Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, slain at St. Albans,

= = = = Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, beheaded after the battle of Hexham, 1461. = = = = Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond. = = = = HENRY VII.

a. Owen Tudor. = = = = m. Katharine of France, who = = = = Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond.

Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester. Cardinal, 1426. = = = = John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. = = = = Margaret Beaufort, m. Edmund Tudor, Earl of Stafford. = = = = Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, beheaded, 1483.

m. Philippa, King John I. King of Portugal.

Sec. III.

of faith, coupled with an assertion of the right of every instructed man to examine the Bible for himself, threatened the very groundwork of the older dogmatism with ruin. Nor were these daring denials confined to the small circle of the scholars who still clung to him ; with the practical ability which is so marked a feature of his character, Wyclif had organized some few years before an order of poor preachers, " the Simple Priests," whose coarse sermons and long russet dress moved the laughter of the clergy, but who now formed a priceless organization for the diffusion of their master's doctrines. How rapid their progress must have been we may see from the panic-struck exaggerations of their opponents. A few years later they complained that the followers of Wyclif abounded everywhere and in all classes, among the baronage, in the cities, among the peasantry of the country-side, even in the monastic cell itself. "Every second man one meets is a Lollard."

"Lollard," a word which probably means "idle babbler," was the nickname of scorn with which the orthodox Churchmen chose to insult their assailants. But this rapid increase changed their scorn into vigorous action. Courtenay, now become Archbishop, summoned a council at Blackfriars, and formally submitted twenty-four propositions drawn from Wyclif's works. An earthquake in the midst of the proceedings terrified every prelate but the resolute Primate ; the expulsion of ill humours from the earth, he said, was of good omen for the expulsion of ill humours from the Church ; and the condemnation was pronounced. Then the Archbishop turned fiercely upon Oxford as the fount and centre of the new heresies. In an English sermon at St. Frideswide's, Nicholas Herford had asserted the truth of Wyclif's doctrines, and Courtenay ordered the Chancellor to silence him and his adherents on pain of being himself treated as a heretic. The Chancellor fell back on the liberties of the University, and appointed as preacher another Wyclifite, Repyngdon, who did not hesitate to style the Lollards "holy priests," and to affirm that they were protected by John of Gaunt. Party spirit meanwhile ran high among the students; the bulk of them sided with the Lollard leaders, and a Carmelite, Peter Stokes, who had procured the Archbishop's letters, cowered panic-stricken in his chamber while the Chancellor, protected by an escort of a hundred townsmen, listened approvingly to Repyngdon's defiance. "I dare go no further," wrote the poor Friar to the Archbishop, "for fear of death ;" but he soon mustered courage to descend into the schools where Repyngdon was now maintaining that the clerical order was "better when it was but nine years old than now that it has grown to a thousand years and more." The appearance, however, of scholars in arms again drove Stokes to fly in despair to Lambeth, while a new heretic in open Congregation maintained Wyclif's denial of Transubstantiation. "There is no idolatry," cried William James, "save in the Sacrament of the Altar."

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

Sir Simon Burley, Archbishop Neville (of York), the Duke of Ireland, Chief Justice Tresilian, Sir Nicholas Brember ex-Lord Mayor of London. Attempt of the King to raise an armed force by means of the Sheriffs, and to exclude his opponents from the next Parliament. Opinion obtained from five of the judges that the Continual Council was contrary to the prerogative; that the King's servants could not be removed by Parliament; that the sentence on Suffolk was erroneous. The King however compelled, by Gloucester's armed force, to receive the Petition of Complaint against his advisers. Nov.

h The Duke of Ireland, Neville, Suffolk, Tresilian, Brember, "appealed" in Parliament on a charge of high treason by Gloucester, Henry of Bolingbroke (Earl of Derby), Warwick, Nottingham, Arundel (hence called "The Lords appellant"). Feb. Suffolk and Vere condemned to death (but had already escaped); Tresilian and Brember executed; Neville translated by Pope Urban VI. to St. Andrews (which acknowledged the anti-Pope Clement VII). The judges who had condemned the Council banished for life to Ireland. Sir Simon Burley and three others of the royal household found guilty of high treason and executed. "The merciless Parliament."

i The King declared himself of age. May 3

1389-1395.

C The King's Constitutional Rule.

1. Moderation of the King. The Lords appellant removed from the Council, but neither de Vere nor the banished judges recalled (Suffolk died this year in France). Return of John of Gaunt to England, and reconciliation between the King and Gloucester. The Lords appellant restored to the Council. John of Gaunt made Duke of Aquitaine for life. Archbishop William of Wykeham Chancellor. 1389-1391. Archbishop Arundel. 1391-1396.

3. Activity of Parliament.

a Statute of Provisors (third) re-enacting statutes of 1351 and 1362 against Papal claims of presentation.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1390. b Statute against interference with due course of justice by livery and maintenance.

1391. c The Statute of Uses. Forbiddal of the practice of granting lands to a layman in use for the Church, and thus evading the Statute of Mortmain.

d The King's consent refused to the petition of the Commons that villeins be not allowed to acquire lands or put their sons to school "to advance them by means of clergy," i.e. scholarship.

1393. e The great Statute of "Præmunire facias." i. The right of recovering the presentation to a church benefice declared to belong only to the King's Court.

ii. The Papal practice of translation condemned.

iii. The pursuance in the Court of Rome of such translations, processes, excommunications, bulls, &c., to be punished with forfeiture of goods.

On the other hand should be noticed, as a condemnation of political opposition— f Declarations of Parliament that the Prerogative of the King is unaffected by the legislation of his reign or of his progenitors (including that of Edward II.).

Pacific influences. a Moderating influence of John of Gaunt and of the Queen, "the good Queen Anne." b Absence of Henry of Bolingbroke (Earl of Derby) from England, on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and a crusade with the Teutonic knights against the heathens in Prussia.

1394-1395. 4.

Growth of Lollardy. Twelve Lollard articles presented to the Parliament at York (during Richard's absence in Ireland) complaining of the secular power of the clergy, the idolatry of the mass, multiplication of chantries, auricular confession, and celibacy of the clergy.

Upon Richard's return from Ireland an oath of abjuration of heresy imposed.

1394-1395. 5.

The King's expedition to Ireland to vindicate the power of the crown.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1395-1398. D The change to Absolutism.

1395-1398. D The change to Absolutism. 1. The first symptoms of change of temper in the King. The Earl of Arundel, who had quarrelled with John of Gaunt, struck by the King on the occasion of the funeral of Queen Anne. 1394.

2. Marriage of Richard to Isabellla of France. Truce with France for twenty-five years. Cherbourg surrendered to the King of Navarre and Brest restored to the Duke of Brittany. Increased extravagance of the Court. 1396.

3. Complaint of the Commons as to the administration and defence of the realm, and the number of bishops and ladies maintained at the Court. The Commons compelled to surrender the name of the proposer of the Bill-Haxey-and to apologize. Recall of the banished judges from Ireland. Arrest of the Earl of Warwick and Duke of Gloucester (the latter sent in custody to Calais). Surrender of the Earl of Arundel. 1397.

4. Meeting of a second and packed Parliament. The King's vengeance for 1388. The pardons of Gloucester, Warwick, and Arundel revoked. Archbishop Arundel impeached and banished, being translated by the Pope (Boniface IX.) to S. Andrews. Trial and execution of the Earl of Arundel. Death of Gloucester in prison at Calais. Confession and perpetual imprisonment of Warwick. 1397.

5. Aggrandisement of the House of Lancaster, and of the King's adherents. The Beauforts, children of John of Gaunt by Katharine Swinford, acknowledged as members of the royal family. Henry of Bolingbroke Earl of Derby created Duke of Hereford (at the same time Mowbray Earl of Nottingham, the fifth of the Lords appellant, created Duke of Norfolk ; Edward (son of Edmund of York) created Duke of Aumale ; the Hollands, Dukes of Surrey and Exeter. 1395-1397.

6. The Parliament of 1398. i. The Acts of the Parliament of 1388 declared void. ii. The customs on wool, wool-fells, and leather granted for the King's life.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

iii. The powers of a Parliament delegated to a standing committee of eighteen members (ten lords temporal, two earls as proctors for the clergy, six members of the Commons.)

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

iv. A bull procured, by request of Parliament, from Pope Boniface IX. confirming these proceedings and declaring them irreversible.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

[The King's victory was thus complete, and his absolutism acknowledged by the nation.]

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1398-1399. E The Fall of the King.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1397-1398. a

Recriminatory quarrel between the newly-created dukes of Hereford and Norfolk. The quarrel referred by the Permanent Committee to settlement by single combat at Coventry. The combat forbidden by the King; Hereford banished for ten years, Norfolk for life.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1399. b

Death of John of Gaunt. Seizure of his estates by the King with the sanction of the Permanent Committee. Departure of the King for Ireland to avenge the defeat and death of Edmund Earl of March, and return of Hereford from France, owing to the influence of Archbishop Arundel, for the recovery of his estates.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

c

Landing of Hereford (Henry of Lancaster) at Ravenspur, July 4 ; Henry joined by Earls of Northumberland (Percy) and Westmoreland (Neville) and Edmund Duke of York, the regent, at Berkeley Castle. March upon Cheshire. Dispersal of the King's forces commanded by the Earl of Salisbury (John de Montacute). Capture of Bristol by Henry. July 29.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

d

Landing of the King at Milford Haven, July 25, to find himself deserted. Submission of the King to Henry at Flint. The King brought to London. Sept. 2.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

e

Parliament summoned by the King to meet upon Sept. 30. Resignation of the crown (Sept. 29) presented to Parliament on its meeting. The resignation accepted, and articles of accusation presented against Richard complaining of.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

94

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

i. His unjust conduct to Henry of Lancaster, Archbishop Arundel, and the Duke Gloucester.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

ii. His breaches of the Constitution, tampering with the judges (1387), and appeal to the Pope (1398).

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

iii. His illegal taxation, especially the extortion of money from seventeen counties for pardons (1399), non-payment of loans, alienation of crown lands.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

iv. His claim to the absolute right of legislation. Sentence of deposition pronounced. SEPT. 30

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1399-1413. HENRY IV. 1399-1413.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

Henry = (1) Mary de Bohun, = (2) Joan of Navarre.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

A Nature of Henry's Claim, and Measures to Consolidate his Throne.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1. Henry's claim to the throne.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

a As being descended by right line of blood coming from the good Lord Henry the Third.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

b The right that God has sent with the help of kin and friends.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

c The realm was in point to be undone default of governance and undoing of good laws.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

2. The claim accepted by Parliament. The castrian title therefore Parliamentary, in contrast to the hereditary claim of the House Mortimer.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 95

Edward III.

Edward, the Black Prince, d. 1376. Lionel, Duke of Clarence, d. 1368. Blanche, daughter of Henry, Duke of Lancaster. = John = Katharine Swinford. Edmund, Duke of York, d. 1402. Richard II., deposed 1399. Philippa = Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March. Henry IV. Roger, Earl of March (declared heir to the throne 1386). d. 1398. Edmund, Earl of March, d. 1424. Anne = Richard of Cambridge.

3. Supremacy of Parliament recognized throughout this reign more fully than before.

4. The support of the Church confirmed by the statute De Hæretico Comburendo for the suppression of Lollardism. Sautre burned, 1401. Badby burned, 1410.

5. The support of the nobles confirmed by the prospect of the renewal of the French war.

B

B Relations with France.

1. France divided between two factions; that of John, Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, (inclined to peace with England on account of the industrial connection between Flanders and England), and of Louis of Orleans (succeeded after his murder, by the Count of Armagnac father-in-law of one of his sons).

John II. (captured at Poitiers).

Charles V.

Charles VI. (mentally incapable). Charles the Dauphin, afterwards Charles VII. Philip the Bold (Duke of Burgundy, 1363, and Count of Flanders by his marriage with Margaret the heiress of Flanders, 1369). Louis of Orleans (murdered by John of Burgundy, 1407). John the Fearless (murdered by the servants of the Dauphin, 1419). Philip the Good.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

Scotch invasions encouraged by France. Battle of Homildon Hill near Wooler, in Northumberland. SEPT. 1402. Desultory fighting the Channel. 1403-1404. Owen Glyndwr cognized by the French as Prince of Wales. 1404. French aid sent him. 1405 and 1407

C Revolts against Henry.

1. Plot of the Earls of Huntingdon and Kent, (t half-brothers of Richard II.,) the Earl of Salisbury and Lord Despenser to release Richard and murder the King, betrayed possibly by the Earl of Rutland (degraded from being Duke of Aumale), and followed by the death of Richard.

3. Revolt of Wales under Owen Glyndwr (reputed a descendant of Llewelyn, the last native Prince of Wales). 1400. Defeat and capture Edmund Mortimer, uncle of the Earl of March 1402. Glyndwr joined by Henry Percy (Hotspur) and Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, owing possibly to Henry's remissness ransoming Edmund Mortimer (Henry Percy's brother-in-law), or to his claim upon the Scots prisoners taken at Homildon, or to his tardiness in repaying their loans ; defeat of the confederates at Shrewsbury. 1403. Glyndwr, however, recognized by the French as Prince of Wales. 1404. Supported by French aid. 1405 and 1407. Crippled by defeat, 1407 Glyndwr's death probably about 1410.

1400-1410.

3. Rising in the North by Henry Percy the elder Earl of Northumberland, Mowbray, Earl Nottingham (son of the Lord Appellant), Scrope, Archbishop of York : articles of accusation against the King, and of reform to laid before Parliament. Execution of Archbishop Scrope and Mowbray. 1407.

4. The last rising of the Earl of Northumberland Defeat and death at Bramham Moor, in Yorkshire. 1408.

D Turn of the Tide. 1405-1409.

1. Capture of James, Prince of Scotland (son Robert III.), on his way to the French Court 1405. Detained in England till 1424, married to Jo Beaufort.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

2. France occupied by the civil strife following upon the murder of Louis of Orleans by John of Burgundy.

4. Defeat and death of Northumberland, 1408; and first decisive defeat of the Welsh. 1409.

1408-1409.

1401-1410. E Claims put forward by Parliament.

1402. Freedom of Speech in Parliament affirmed. Petition that redress of grievances should precede supply of money refused by the King, but in practice secured by postponing the grant tiil the last day of the session.

1404. Attack upon the constitution of the Royal household, and petition against aliens (in consequence of Henry's second marriage). The names of the Royal Council to be published. In a second Parliament of this year called the Unlearned, because lawyers were excluded, proposed confiscation of the temporalities of the clergy for one year, and resumption of all grants since 1367.

1406. The defence of the Channel to be intrusted to a body of merchants in exchange for the receipt of tonnage and poundage. Sixteen Members (including two Commoners) appointed in Parliament as a Continuous Council to advise the King till the next Parliament. Audit of accounts claimed by the Commons and granted. Thirty-one articles of reform in expenditure and management presented to the King by the Commons, and sworn to by the Council.

1408. All grants of money to be declared only by the mouth of the Speaker of the Commons, not to be altered by House of Lords, nor discussed in the presence of the King.

1410. Renewed proposals for the permanent confiscation of part of the temporalities of the Church for the purposes of State rejected.

1411-1415.

F The last years of the King's Reign.

1411

1. Gradual decline of the King's health from 1406. 2. Resistance of the King to the growing claims of Parliament and power of the Continuous Council. Support given by the Prince of Wales and the Beauforts to the Burgundian party in France and expedition to France.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

98

1412. Dismissal of the Prince of Wales from the Council ; the appointment of the Continuous Council annulled ; change in foreign policy and support of the Armagnacs by a force under Clarence. Parliament, at their own request, declared "loyal" by the King.

1413. Death of the King. MARCH. Notice the extreme poverty of the nation, the amount of treason and disaffection, and the strength of the Commons throughout the reign.

1413-1422.

HENRY V. 1413-1422.

Henry V. = Katharine of France = Owen Tudor.

| |

Henry VI. Edmund, Earl of Richmond.

|

Henry VII.

1413-1415.

A The Years before the War.

1414. Appointment of Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester as Chancellor in place of Archbishop Arundel. Condemnation of Sir John Oldcastle for Lollard opinions, and suppression of the apprehended Lollard rising. JAN. Escape of Oldcastle, afterwards captured in the Welsh Marches and burnt, 1418.

1416. Last great Constitutional victory of the Commons ; statutes to be made without altering the petitions on which they are based.

1418. Final and complete confiscation (on the petition of the Commons) of the alien priories, i.e. of houses depending upon foreign monasteries, to the Crown.

1414-1418.

4. Council of Constance : healing of the schism caused by the rival Popes, John XXIII., Gregory XII., and Benedict XIII., and election of Martin V. as Pope through the co-operation of Henry and the Emperor Sigismund. Condemnation of John Huss for preaching heretical doctrines.

6. Plot of Richard, Earl of Cambridge (son of Edmund, Duke of York) in favour of his brother-in-law, Edmund, Earl of March. Execution of the conspirators, Cambridge, Lord Scrope of Masham, and Sir Thomas Grey.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

The French War. 1415-1422.

1414. 1. Restoration of Henry's rights as King of France demanded, JUNE. Aquitaine offered by the French, but the compromise rejected.

1415. Sailing of the expedition, AUG. 11. Capture of Harfleur, SEPT. 22. Great sickness in English camp. March towards Calais through a hostile country (Normandy, Picardy, Artois), OCT. 8.

1416. Attempt to cross the Somme near Abbeville, Oct. 13. Passage of the Somme by night at Péronne, OCT. 20. Battle of Agincourt, Oct. 25. Arrival at Calais, Oct. 29; at Dover, Nov. 17.

1417. 3. Visit of Emperor Sigismund to England and attempt to mediate in the war. Offensive and defensive alliance concluded between him and Henry. Organization of English army and fleet by Henry. Struggle with France for the mastery of the Channel. Open alliance between John, Duke of Burgundy, and the English.
1418. 4. Activity of Henry in shipbuilding. Ordinances issued for the fleets and armies. [This may be regarded as the basis of the English law of the Admiralty.] The commencement of loans for the war by Cardinal Beaufort. Capture of Caen, Bayeux, and other Norman towns.

1419. Isolation and siege of Rouen. Expulsion of the Armagnacs from Paris by the citizens.

1420. 5. Capture of Rouen. Henry's attempt to settle the government of Normandy.
1421. 6. Murder of John, Duke of Burgundy at Montereau, in the presence of the Dauphin, followed by the Treaty of Troyes (due mainly to the determination of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy and master of Paris, to exclude the Dauphin from the Throne). Henry acknowledged as Regent of France during Charles's life, and as his successor on the throne : marriage of Henry with Katharine, Charles's eldest daughter : England and France to retain their own laws, and neither to be in any way subject to the other.

1423. Henry recalled from England to the war by the defeat and death of Clarence at Beaugé, in Anjou. MARCH. Capture of Dreux and (1422) of Meaux. Death of the King, AUG. 31, 1422.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

SEC. III. JOHN WYCLIF

"You speak like a wise man," replied the Chancellor, Robert Rygge. Courtenay however was not the man to bear defiance tamely, and his summons to Lambeth wrested a submission from Rygge which was only accepted on his pledge to suppress the Lollardism of the University. "I dare not publish them, on fear of death," exclaimed the Chancellor when Courtenay handed him his letters of condemnation. "Then is your University an open fautor of heretics," retorted the Primate, "if it suffers not the Catholic truth to be proclaimed within its bounds." The royal council supported the Archbishop's injunction, but the publication of the decrees at once set Oxford on fire. The scholars threatened death against the Friars, "crying that they wished to destroy the University." The masters suspended Henry Crump from teaching, as a troubler of the public peace, for calling the Lollards "heretics." The Crown however at last stepped roughly in to Courtenay's aid, and a royal writ ordered the instant banishment of all favourers of Wyclif, with the seizure and destruction of all Lollard books, on pain of forfeiture of the University's privileges. The threat produced its effect. Herford and Repyngdon appealed in vain to John of Gaunt for protection; the Duke himself denounced them as heretics against the Sacrament of the Altar, and after much evasion they were forced to make a formal submission. Within Oxford itself the suppression of Lollardism was complete, but with the death of religious freedom all trace of intellectual life suddenly disappears. The century which followed the triumphs of Courtenay is the most barren in its annals, nor was the sleep of the University broken till the advent of the New Learning restored to it some of the life and liberty which the Primate had so roughly trodden out.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

SEC. III. JOHN WYCLIF

Nothing marks more strongly the grandeur of Wyclif's position as the last of the great schoolmen, than the reluctance of so bold a man as Courtenay even after his triumph over Oxford to take extreme measures against the head of Lollardry. Wyclif, though summoned, had made no appearance before the "Council of the Earthquake." "Pontius Pilate and Herod are made friends to-day," was his bitter comment on the new union which proved to have sprung up between the prelates and the monastic orders who had so long been at variance with each other; "since they have made a heretic of Christ, it is an easy inference for them to count simple Christians heretics." He seems indeed to have been sick at the moment, but the announcement of the final sentence roused him to life again. "I shall not die," he is said to have cried at an earlier time when in grievous peril, "but live and declare the works of the Friars." He petitioned the King and Parliament that he might be allowed freely to prove the doctrines he had put forth, and turning with characteristic energy to the attack of his assailants, he asked that all religious vows might be suppressed, that tithes might be diverted to the maintenance of the poor and the clergy maintained by the free alms of their flocks, that the Statutes of

DAUGHTERS OF HENRY VII. xxv

DESCENDANTS OF THE DAUGHTERS OF HENRY VII.

HENRY VII.

Margaret = 1. James IV. King of Scots.

Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus.

Margaret Douglas, m. Matthew Stuart, Earl of Lennox.

1. Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.

2. Charles Stuart, Earl of Lennox.

JAMES I.

Arabella Stuart, d. 1615.

Mary = Louis XII. King of France.

Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

Frances Brandon, m. Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk.

Jane Grey, beheaded 1554.

Katherine Grey, m. Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford (son of the Protector Somerset)

1. Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp.

2. William Seymour, afterwards Duke of Somerset.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

100

Notice the general popularity of this war, and the share of the clergy in promoting it, possibly from fear of confiscation. There could however be little legitimate claim to France by a King whose title was mainly parliamentary and who certainly was not “heir general” to Edward III.; the one excuse for the war being the constant support given by France to all risings in England against the House of Lancaster.

1422-1461.

HENRY VI. 1422-1461 (died 1471).

Henry VI. = Margaret of Anjou.

Edward = Anne Neville.

killed at Tewkesbury, 1471

1422-1435.

A Progress of affairs till the death of Bedford (marking the close of the first period in the loss of France), 1435.

1423. Supreme authority in France given to John, Duke of Bedford ; Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, to act as his representative and as head of the Council in England.

1425. Consolidation of the conquest of northern France by a marriage between Bedford and the sister of Philip of Burgundy, and by a Treaty with John, Duke of Britanny.

1427. Release of King James I. of Scotland from imprisonment, and return to Scotland with his wife Joan Beaufort. Defeat of the French and Scots at Verneuil. Aug. Success neutralised by the invasion of Hainault by Gloucester, to assert the claims of his wife, Jacqueline of Hainault, (the divorced wife of the Duke of Brabant) ; the Burgundian forces withdrawn from Bedford to oppose Gloucester. Oct. First blow to the Burgundian alliance.

1429. Return of Bedford to England to mediate between Gloucester and Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, who were disputing for supremacy in the Council.

1431. The Parliament of Bats (Clubs) ; pacification and resignation of the Chancellorship by Beaufort. Beaufort made Cardinal and Papal Legate for the Hussite Crusade. Alarm at this in England. Cessation of war in Hainault.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1428. 6. Bedford thus able to resume the offensive. Siege of Orleans by the English, to open the road to Bourges, the court of the Dauphin.
1429. 7. The appearance of Jeanne Darc. Relief of Orleans by her. April. Talbot defeated at Patay. June. The Dauphin crowned as Charles VII. at Rheims. July. Beaufort's troops raised for Hussite Crusade sent by him to France instead of to Bohemia.
1430. 8. Capture of Jeanne Darc at Compiègne, sold to the Burgundians, and handed over to English. Tried and burned for witchcraft at Rouen, May, 1431. [For estimate of her character and work in arousing moral enthusiasm in France, see Green, pp. 274–278.]
1431. 9. Coronation of Henry at Paris. Dec. Bedford's efforts however mainly confined to securing Normandy, re-establishing order there, and binding it closely to England. Henry's court at Rouen for a year.

1430–1434. 10. Cardinal Beaufort now supreme in the Council and the director of English diplomacy with Scotland and Burgundy.

1432. 11. Death of the Duchess of Bedford, and second marriage of Bedford to Jacuetta of Luxemburg without obtaining the consent of Duke of Burgundy, her feudal superior. The second blow to the Burgundian alliance.
1433. 12. Congress of Arras, through the diplomacy of Beaufort, to arbitrate between France and England. Offer of the French to cede Normandy and Guienne, upon homage, on condition of surrender of all English claims and possessions in France (including Calais). Refusal of the English. Death of Bedford, and final defection of Burgundy from the English alliance. Sept.

Course of events till loss of Normandy.

1435–1449. 1436. 1. Renewal of the struggle between Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufort. Recapture of Paris by the French. Henry's dominions in France limited to Normandy, Picardy, and Maine.

1436–1437. 2. Success of Richard Duke of York as Regent in Normandy.

1437. 3. York succeeded as Regent of France by Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, then by John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset.

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102

1440. 4. Recapture of Harfleur and ravaging of Picardy by Somerset and his brother, Edmund Beaufort, during the conspiracy of the Dauphin against Charles VII. Re-appointment of York as Regent.
1441. 5. Condemnation of Eleanor Cobham (wife of Gloucester) to imprisonment for life in the Isle of Man for practising witchcraft against the King's life. Retirement of Gloucester from public life.

1442. The King of age.

1443. 6. Truce with France. York superseded as Regent by Edmund Beaufort, Marquis of Dorset. The Beaufort policy to secure the Lancastrian succession by the King's marriage carried on in the Council (owing to the age of Cardinal Beaufort) by William de la Pole (Earl of Suffolk), who had come into political prominence after Gloucester's retirement.
1444. 7. Marriage of Henry to Margaret of Anjou ; Maine to be surrendered to her father (possibly only a verbal promise).
1445. 8. Re-appearance of Gloucester as head of the war-party. His arrest and sudden death. Feb. Death of Cardinal Beaufort. April.
1446. 9. Surrender of Maine by Marquis of Suffolk to avoid war with France and to make it easier to hold Normandy and Guienne.

1449-1450. 10. Invasion and conquest of Normandy by the French attributed by the English nation to the incapacity of the Regent, Edmund Beaufort (now Duke of Somerset).

C Course of events till the loss of Guienne.

1449-1451. 1. National discontent at the issue of the war and the feeble government at home.

1450. a Murder of the Bishop of Chichester at Portsmouth by the sailors, while paying the soldiers going to France.

b Accusations of treason and malversation brought against Suffolk. Upon submission to King's mercy banished for five years. [This was the last impeachment till 1621.]

1450. Murdered at sea while leaving the kingdom. May 2.

1451. c Unsuccessful revolt of Kent under John Cade (calling himself "Mortimer"). The "complaint of the Commons of Kent" laid before the King, demanding—

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

(1) Resumption of the gifts from the royal demesne.

(2) Return of the Duke of York to court.

(3) Punishment of the Suffolk party for the death of the Duke of Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufort, and for the loss of Normandy.

(4) Abolition of abuses (e.g. undue interference with elections, heavy taxation, promotion of favourites).

The King's forces defeated at Sevenoaks, June 18. Entry of Cade into London, July 3. Seizure and execution of Lord Say, the Treasurer, July 4. Cade defeated at London Bridge, July 5. Dispersal of most of the rebels on the receipt of sealed pardons; the prisons however opened by Cade, who formed the prisoners into a new force. Cade finally killed in Kent by a force under the sheriff, Iden.

1451

2. Guienne conquered by the French. Final expulsion of the English from France (excepting Calais) due partly to the contest between the Commons (demanding the removal of Somerset from the Council) and the King.

1451-1461

D Course of events till the accession of Edward IV.

1452

1. Appearance of York (who had been Lieutenant of Ireland 1449-1450) in arms demanding the trial of Somerset. Failure of the attempt, the nation not yet prepared for civil war.

1452-1453

2. Disastrous attempt under Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, to recover Guienne. Birth of the Prince of Wales. Two consequences—

(a) The Queen, not Somerset, the head of the party of the Lancastrian succession.

(b) York's hope of succeeding at the death of Henry crushed.

Madness of the King. Somerset sent to the Tower. York appointed by the Lords “Protector and Defender of the Realm.”

1455

3. Recovery of the King. Somerset restored to power. York summoned to submit to arbitration at Leicester. Appearance of York and the Nevilles (Earls of Salisbury and Warwick) in arms. Somerset slain and King captured at St. Alban's.

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104

1455. 4. Return of the King's illness and second Protectorate of York. Recovery of the King, and two years of comparative quiet.

1456-1458.

1458 5. Apparent reconciliation of the rival parties at St. Paul's. Attempted arrest of the Earl of Salisbury checked by his victory at Bloreheath,

1459. but followed by flight of the Nevilles to Calais, of which Warwick was captain, and of York to Ireland, and by the attainder of York and the Nevilles in a Parliament at Coventry.

1460 6. Return of York and the Nevilles. Defeat of the Royal army and capture of the King at Northampton. July. The crown claimed by the Duke of York as the representative of Lionel of Clarence. Compromise by Parliament, Henry to be King for life, and York recognised as his heir. Oct.

1460. 7. Rising in the North for the Lancastrian succession. (The industrial and commercial classes being chiefly in favour of York from a desire for a strong rule.) Battle of Wakefield. Dec. 29. Defeat of York who was killed in the battle, and execution of the Earl of Salisbury.

1461. Victory in the West at Mortimer's Cross by Edward of York. Feb. 3.

Victory of the Northern Lancastrian army advancing upon London over Warwick at St. Alban's. Feb. 17. Retirement of the victorious Lancastrians northwards. Entry of Edward into London and acknowledgment as King. March 1-4. Utter defeat of the Lancastrians at Towton Field (near Tadcaster). March 29

E

Decline of Parliament in this Reign.

1. Sanction of Parliament still considered necessary for legislation. The power of granting and controlling subsidies and impeaching ministers retained by the Commons as well as the security already obtained that statutes, when drawn up, should correspond exactly to petitions (1414). But powers of Parliament encroached upon by Royal Council. During the minority the Council was a Council of Regency, in possession of the power of the Crown, and thus independent of Parliamentary control. After 1437 the right of appointing members claimed and exerted by Parliament (1402, 1406, 1410) was resumed by the King.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

2

2. Increased power of the Royal Council which during this period, Richard II.—Henry VI., reached the highest point of its authority, independent both of the Crown and of Parliament.

a

a Tenure of office. Under Richard II. and Henry IV. for one year. Afterwards for the King's life.

b

b Authority of the Council with reference to the Crown.

(1)

(1) The King could appoint or dismiss individuals, but he could not dispense with a Council altogether. A Royal Council must exist.

(2)

(2) Certain non-ministerial officials, e.g., the Marshal, and the Archbishops, had an ex-officio claim to a seat.

(3)

(3) The King, though not bound to take, was bound to receive the advice of the Council.

(4)

(4) Every writ issued by the King had to be sealed with the Great Seal which—except under Edward II. and Richard II.—was in the hands of the Chancellor. Partly to protect the King against hasty grants which might be prejudicial to his prerogative, partly to protect the Chancellor—by showing that he had warrant for his act—partly to secure that the Council should be consulted, a theory grew up, most fully expressed by the enactment that every writ or grant should be endorsed,

i, ii, iii

i. By the Signet, ii. By the Privy Seal, iii. By the Great Seal. Thus the Chancellor or Council could interpose remonstrance.

1389

(5)

(5) The highest point of the authority of the Council with reference is marked by two enactments.

i

i. That all letters containing orders to the Chancellor be under the cognizance of the Council.

1406

ii

ii. That all grants should be under the cognizance of the Council.

1444

(6)

(6) This great authority of the Council during the first half of the fifteenth century may be ascribed to

i

i. The doubtful claim and bad health of Henry IV.

PART II.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

ii. The absence of Henry V. from England. iii. The long minority of Henry VI. But after 1437 the appointments to the Council were made solely by the King. c Change in name. The Royal Council under the minority of Henry VI. was a Council of Regency, and thus there grew up within the Council a smaller and more authoritative body This change may be considered as coinciding in time with the rise of the name “Privy Council.” d Functions of the Council.

(1) Revenue and finance. Review of the whole royal outgoings (whether private expenditure or public expenses) and consideration as to best means of raising money. (2) Dealings with aliens as being under the protection of the Crown or of treaties, the extension and validity of which could only be decided by the Council.

(3) Dealings with trade, e.g., in the appointment of staple towns, impressment of labourers, and issue of proclamations dispensing in individual cases with the restrictions upon trade. (4) Dealings with the Church, e.g., in granting dispensations from the Statutes of Mortmain and in making ecclesiastical appointments though the contest between England and the Pope was but slight during this period, a the Lancastrian policy was to court the Church, and the Statutes of Præmunire were frequently transgressed.

(5) The preservation of the King's peace, not only by suppressing riots, but judicially by trying rioters. (6) Equitable judicial power. Regarded with much jealousy by Parliament ; e.g.

1400-1444. 1400. Petition that all personal actions be tried common law. 1422. Petition that no one be brought before Council Chancery unless unable to get right at common law. But on this point the general feeling in favour of the equitable jurisdiction of the Council a Chancellor was of real value to justice. [It v the lawlessness of nobles that men fear rather than the arbitrary power of the Crow Thus even the Commons, in the alarm exci

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

by Cade's rebellion, passed an act enhancing the judicial powers of the Council. [For the substance of this note see "Privy Council," by A. V. Dicey. Macmillan & Co.]

e In the reigns of Edward IV. and Richard III. the Council was tending to become a committee of Royal Nominees ; its records a blank. [For continuance of this note see Henry VII. F, and Edward VI. E.]

F Comparison of the House of Lancaster and York ; (a) with reference to Title, (b) with reference to Constitutional Government.

a Title (see Tables at the beginning of reigns of Henry IV. and Edward IV.). The Yorkist House was undoubtedly in the position of "heir-general," the Lancastrian on the other hand was in the position of "heir-male."

b Constitutional Government.

The rule of the House of Lancaster was in the main constitutional, especially under Henry IV. and Henry V.; that of the House of York unconstitutional.

i. The Lancastrian rule.

a The growth of independence in the Parliament, and especially in the Commons.

Freedom of speech without interference of the King in the deliberations ; money grants to be declared by the Speaker of the Commons ; even the request that answers to petitions should precede supply, though refused by Henry IV., practically secured by postponing the grant to the last day of the session ; grants appropriated for special purposes, in some cases permanently (e.g. tonnage and poundage for the fleet, and part of the subsidy on wool for Calais) ; the expenses of the household separated from those of the realm ; all matters of public interest, even foreign policy, laid before the Commons (e.g., the Treaty of Troyes, 1420) ; the Commons secured in the right that acts when drawn up should correspond exactly with their petitions ; the right of auditing the accounts acknowledged 1407 and 1433.

1404-1413.

b Authority of Parliament over the nomination of the Royal Council claimed, 1404, 1406, 1410, though the nomination was resumed by the King, 1437.

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108

c The action of the King checked by the influence of the Royal Council (see note upon Royal Council).

ii. The Yorkist rule.

a Suspension of Parliamentary action. No Parliament called between 1475 and 1483 (except in 1478 for the attainder of the Duke of Clarence). Income granted by the early Yorkist Parliaments to King Edward IV. for life. No instance of impeachment after 1450. Poverty of national legislation in the Parliaments called by Edward IV.

b Taxation by benevolences (declared however illegal "as new and unlawful inventions" under Richard III. 1484).

c Levy of armed forces by Commissioners of Array, not by authority of Parliament, under Edward IV. and Richard III.

d Increased rigour of law-courts, e.g., use of torture ; unconstitutional authority of John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, as Constable, in cases of high treason, "summarily and plainly, on simple inspection of fact."

e Rise of a new nobility composed of the King's friends, and depending upon his support.

f The character of the Royal Council materially modified, tending to become an irresponsible Committee of Royal Nominees.

1. The Lords losing hold over the nation owing to their factions, their lust for gold, and selfish scramble for power.

2. The Commons ceasing to be representative ; the right of choosing members often confined to the Common Councils of towns or a select body of them.

a Borough freedom limited by boroughs obtaining charters of incorporation (to protect the civic property from strangers) and thus becoming close bodies ; the right of voting confirmed by these charters, but mostly only for the Common Council of the Borough or for a select portion of it.

b The county franchise restricted by the fixing of a freehold of 40s. as the qualification for voters.

1232 Fall of Hubert de Burgh.

1237 Charter again confirmed.

1238 Earl Simon of Leicester marries Henry's sister.

1242 Defeat of Henry at Taillebourg. Barons refuse subsidies.

1246 Llewelyn-ap-Gruffydd, Prince in North Wales.

1283 Irish refusal of subsidies. Earl Simon in Gascony.

1248 Earl Simon returns to England.

1253 Provisions of Oxford.

1264 Mise of Amiens.

1285 Statute of Winchester.

1290 Statute "Quia Emptores." Expulsion of the Jews. Marriage Treaty of Brigham.

1291 Parliament at Norham concerning Scotch succession.

1292 Edward claims appeals from Scotland. Death of Roger Bacon.

1294 Seizure of Guienne by Philip of France. French fleet attacks Dover.

1295 Final organization of the English Parliament.

THE WAR WITH SCOTLAND AND FRANCE.

1296-1485.

1296 Edward conquers Scotland.

1297 Victory of Wallace at Stirling. Outlawry of the Clergy. Barons refuse to serve in Guienne.

1298 Edward conquers Scots at Falkirk. Truce with France.

1301 Barons demand nomination of Ministers by Parliament. Barons exact fresh Confirmation of the Charters.

1304 Submission of Scotland.

1305 Parliament of Perth.

1306 Rising of Robert Bruce.

1307 Parliament of Carlisle. Edward the Second, died 1327.

1308 Gaveston exiled.

1310 The Lords Ordainers draw up Articles of Reform.

1312 Death of Gaveston.

1314 Battle of Bannockburn.

1316 Battle of Athenree.

1318 Edward accepts the Ordinances.

1322 Death of Earl of Lancaster. Ordinances annulled.

1323 Truce with the Scots.

1324 French attack Aquitaine.

1325 The Queen and Prince Edward in France.

1326 Queen lands in England.

1327 Deposition of Edward II. Edward the Third, died 1377.

1328 Treaty of Northampton recognizes independence of Scotland.

1329 Death of Robert Bruce.

1330 Death of Roger Mortimer.

1332 Edward Balliol invades Scotland.

1333 Battle of Halidon Hill. Balliol does homage to Edward.

1335 Edward invades Scotland.

1336 France again declares war.

1337 War with France and Scotland. Edward claims crown of France.

1338 Balliol driven from Scotland. Edward attacks France from Brabant.

1340 Battle of Sluys.

1341 War in Britanny and Guienne.

1342 Battles of Crécy and Neville's Cross.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. III.

Provisors and Præmunire might be enforced against the Papacy, that churchmen might be declared incapable of secular offices, and imprisonment for excommunication cease. Finally, in the teeth of the council's condemnation; he demanded that the doctrine of the Eucharist which he advocated might be freely taught. If he appeared in the following year before the Convocation at Oxford, it was to perplex his opponents by a display of scholastic logic which permitted him to retire without any retractation of his sacramental heresy. For the time his opponents seemed satisfied with his expulsion from the University, but in his retirement at Lutterworth he was forging during these troubled years the great weapon which, wielded by other hands than his own, was to produce so terrible an effect on the triumphant hierarchy. An earlier translation of the Scriptures, in part of which he was aided by his scholar Herford, was being revised and brought to the second form, which is better known as “Wyclif's Bible,” when death drew near. The appeal of the prelates to Rome was answered at last by a brief ordering him to appear at the Papal Court. His failing strength exhausted itself in the cold sarcastic reply which explained that his refusal to comply with the summons simply sprang from broken health. “I am always glad,” ran the ironical answer, “to explain my faith to any one, and above all to the Bishop of Rome ; for i take for granted that if it be orthodox he will confirm it, if it be erroneous he will correct it. I assume, too, that as chief Vicar of Christ upon earth the Bishop of Rome is of all mortal men most bound to the law of Christ's Gospel, for among the disciples of Christ a majority is not reckoned by simply counting heads in the fashion of this world, but according to the imitation of Christ on either side. Now Christ during His life upon earth was of all men the poorest, casting from Him all worldly authority. I deduce from these premisses, as a simple counsel of my own, that the Pope should surrender all temporal authority to the civil power and advise his clergy to do the same.” The boldness of his words sprang perhaps from a knowledge that his end was near. The terrible strain on energies enfeebled by age and study had at last brought its inevitable result, and a stroke of paralysis while Wyclif was hearing mass in his parish church of Lutterworth was followed on the next day by his death.

Section IV.—The Peasant Revolt, 1377–1381.

The religious revolution which we have been describing gave fresh impulse to a revolution of even greater importance, which had for a

Authorities.—

For the condition of land and labour at this time see the “History of Prices,” by Professor Thorold Rogers, the “Domesday Book of St. Paul's ” (Camden Society) with Archdeacon Hale's valuable introduction, and Mr. Seebohm's “Essays on the Black Death ” (Fortnightly Review, 1865). Among the chroniclers Knighton and Walsingham are the fullest and most valuable. The great Labour Statutes will be found in the Parliamentary Rolls.]

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

G

Causes of the fall of the House of Lancaster in spite of the constitutional character of its rule.

1. The want of success abroad.

2. The weakness of the government at home, shown by the frequency of illegal usurpations upon private property, private wars, "grants of livery" by the great nobles, and failure to enforce the sentence of the law.

3. Want of economical management of the finances.

4. The close connection of the Lancastriants with the clergy.

5. The unpopularity of the Queen, owing to her strong partisanship and supposed connexion with the enemies of the realm—Irish, Scots, French.

6. Weariness of the scramble for power among the Baronage, and desire for a strong government giving protection for life and property.

1461-1483. EDWARD IV. 1461-1483.

Edward III.

Lionel of Clarence (2nd son). Edmund of York (5th son).

Philippa = Edmund, Earl of March. Roger, Earl of March. Anne. = Richard, Earl of Cambridge. Richard, Duke of York = Cicely Neville.

Edward IV. = Elizabeth Woodville (daughter of Jacquetta, formerly Duchess of Bedford) Edmund, Duke of Rutland. George, Duke of Clarence. Richard III. Margaret = Charles of Bur- gundy.

Edward V. Richard, Duke of York. Elizabeth = Henry VII. Cicely. Anne = Howard, Earl of Surrey. Katherine = W.Courtenay, Earl of Devon. Henry, Marquis of Exeter.

xxvi

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

THE SOVEREIGNS OF ENGLAND.

Robert, Duke of Normandy, b. about 1056, d. 1134. William, Count of Flanders, b. 1101, d. 1128. Henry, b. 1155, d. 1183. WILLIAM II. b. about 1060. d. 1100. RICHARD I. b. 1157, d. 1199.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

110

1461-1464. A Power of the Nevilles. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and of Salisbury, Captain of Calais and Dover, Admiral of the Fleet in the Channel, Warden of the Western Scottish Marches, Lord Chamberlain and Steward ; his brother Richard, Lord Montague, Warden of the Eastern Scottish Marches ; his brother George, Archbishop of York and Chancellor. This power lasted supreme in the state till the Lancastrian power was finally crushed at the battle of Hedgley Moor and Hexham, in Northumberland, APRIL and MAY, and till the capture of King Henry.

B

1464-1471. B Struggle between the King and Warwick.

2. 1. Warwick's policy to secure an alliance with France by the King's marriage to the sister of the queen of Lewis XI. Edward's avowal of his marriage with Elizabeth Grey, daughter of Sir R. Woodville and Jacquetta, widow of John, Duke of Bedford.
4. 2. Commencement of struggles at court between the Woodvilles and the Nevilles.
6. 3. Divergence in foreign policy between Warwick and the King. Question of the marriage of Margaret, the King's sister, with a French prince, or with Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. The French alliance supported by Warwick, the Burgundian favoured by the merchants on account of the trade with Flanders. Archbishop Neville superseded as Chancellor during Warwick's absence in France to negotiate a French alliance. Alliance concluded between Edward and Charles of Burgundy.
8. 4. Proposed invasion of France in conjunction with Burgundy. Margaret married to Charles of Burgundy. JULY.
10. 5. Marriage between Isabel Neville (Warwick's daughter) and Duke of Clarence, the King's second brother. Rising in the north of discontented peasantry under Robin of Redesdale, supported by Clarence and Warwick. The King for a time a prisoner after the fight at Edgecote near Banbury. JULY. Issue by the King of a general pardon. DEC.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

1470. 6. Clarence and Warwick denounced by the King, and forced to take refuge in France. MARCH. Reconciliation between Queen Margaret and Warwick. Marriage of Prince Edward to Anne Neville (Warwick's daughter). Consequent dissatisfaction of Clarence. Landing of Clarence and Warwick at Dartmouth and flight of Edward to Flanders. SEPT.-OCT Henry VI. restored to the throne. OCT.

1471. Landing of Edward nominally to recover his hereditary duchy. MARCH 14. Joined by Clarence at Warwick. MARCH 30. Admitted into London by Archbishop Bourchier. Warwick and Montague defeated and slain at Barnet. APRIL 14. Rising for the House of Lancaster in the West under Somerset and Jasper Tudor. Landing of Queen Margaret at Weymouth. APRIL 14. Her army overtaken by Edward at Tewkesbury on its march up the Severn Valley towards the North. Defeat of Margaret and death of Prince Edward. MAY 4, King Henry found dead in the Tower. MAY 21.

C Foreign Policy.

1473-1474. 1. Preparations for war with France in conjunction with Charles of Burgundy. Large grants in Parliament, and first collection of "Benevolences."

1473. 2. Secret defection of Charles of Burgundy. Betrothal of Mary of Burgundy to Maximilian (son of Emperor Frederick III.) in the hopes of securing for Charles the imperial crown.
1474. 3. Treaty of Pecquigny between Lewis XI. and Edward. Expenses of war paid and pension of 50,000 crowns promised to Edward, and the Dauphin Charles betrothed to Edward's daughter Elizabeth. AUG. 29.
1475. 4. Death of Charles of Burgundy. Marriage of Mary to Maximilian. Edward faithful to the French alliance, but neutral in the war between Lewis and Maximilian.

1476. [Clarence accused and attainted of high treason for his complicity with the Lancastrians in 1470. His death possibly due to the enmity of Gloucester, with whom he had quarrelled since Gloucester's marriage with Anne Neville. 1472.]

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1482. 5. Expedition of Gloucester in support of the claim to the Scotch throne by the Duke of Albany against his elder brother James III. (upon promise by Albany to hold Scotland as a fief of England.) Capture of Edinburgh by Gloucester and Albany. Betrothal of Albany (though he had two wives living) to Cicely, Edward daughter (previously betrothed to Prince James of Scotland). Berwick again an English possession.

1482-1483. 6. Breach by Lewis of the treaty of Pecquigny. The Dauphin betrothed to Margaret of Austria (daughter of Maximilian and Mary of Burgundy) 1482. Preparations for war with France.

1483. Death of the King. April 9.

EDWARD V. April 9—June 22, 1483, and

RICHARD III. June, 1483—August, 1485. Richard III. = Anne Neville.

Edw |

d by Edward, d. 1484.

A

A Attack by Richard of Gloucester upon the Queen's party, the Woodvilles and Greys.

1483. King Edward taken from their guardianship at Stony Stratford ; Lords Rivers and Grey having been arrested at Northampton, Gloucester appointed by the Council Protector of the King and kingdom. April 29—May 4.

B

B Attack upon the New Nobility created by Edward IV. and against the Succession of his Family.

June, 1483. 1. Lord Hastings (most prominent of the new nobility) arrested in Council and executed, though he had supported Richard against the Woodvilles.

2. Petition of nobles and “notable persons of the Commons” declaring Edward's children illegitimate, those of Clarence (Edward and Margaret) disabled from the succession by their father's attainder, and Gloucester the undoubted heir of Richard, Duke of York. June 24.

3. Disappearance and probable murder of Edward V. and Richard of York, between June and Oct. Execution of Lords Rivers and Grey at Pontefract. June or July.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

C Revival of the Lancastrian Hopes.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 113 C Revival of the Lancastrian Hopes. 1. Support given to Henry Tudor, a refugee in Britanny, by Buckingham (head of the elder baronage, discontented with Richard for refusing him the succession to the Earldom of Hereford, and possibly plotting for himself), and Morton, Bishop of Ely, also a refugee, who was planning a marriage between Henry and Elizabeth of York.

2. Table showing descent of Buckingham and Henry Tudor. a. Edward III. Thomas of Woodstock. Anne = Edmund Stafford, | Earl of Buckingham. Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham, killed at Northampton, 1460. Humphrey, = Margaret Beaufort, Henry = Margaret Beaufort, killed at St. Alban's daughter of Edmund, Stafford Countess of Richmond. 1455. Duke of Somerset. Henry, = Katharine Woodville. Duke of Buckingham.

b. Edward III. Blanche of = John of Gaunt = Katharine Swinford. Lancaster Henry IV. John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset. Henry V. = Katharine = (2) Owen John Beaufort, of France. Tudor. Duke of Somerset. Edmund Tudor, = Margaret (afterwards married to Earl of Richmond. Henry Stafford). Henry Tudor.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

114

Oct. 1483. 3. Suppression of the rising of Henry Tudor, (whose arrival had been delayed by storms) and Buckingham. Execution of Buckingham at Salisbury. Nov.

D The King's Measures of Defence.

1484. 1. Apparent reconciliation between Queen Elizabeth (widow of Edward IV.) and Richard. March, 1484.

1485. Summoning of Parliament, and appeal for national support as the restorer of the old liberties. Statutes forbidding "benevolences" (broken however next year, 1485), and seizure of goods before conviction of felony, and fixing forty shillings freehold as qualification for jurors. Statute of Fines, imposing a limit on suits for recovery of lands ; forbiddal of "secret feoffments" ; enactments for protection of trade. Royal orders manumitting unenfranchised bondmen upon the royal demesne, and endowing religious houses.

1486. Armistice with Britanny and the threatened renewal of the war with France (possibly to increase his popularity), and truce for three years with Scotland : the fleet also strengthened.

1487. Disafforestment of lands enclosed under Edward IV.

1488. 5. Arrangement of marriage with Elizabeth of York.

E The Fall of the King.

1485. 1. Gathering indignation at the reputed murder of the princes.

1486. Collection of benevolences against statute of 1484

1487. Landing of Henry Tudor at Milford Haven Treachery of Thomas, Lord Stanley (third husband of Margaret Beaufort), and his brother Sir W. Stanley, and defeat of Richard at Bosworth Field. Aug. 22, 1485.

1485-1509. HENRY VII. 1485-1509. Henry VII. = Elizabeth of York.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

A Summary of Causes that led to the "New Monarchy" (begun under Edward IV. and completed under the Tudors).

1. The elder baronage had become impoverished, reduced in numbers (especially in the greater houses), demoralised by the struggle for power, and had lost influence by their violent defiance of law (shown in the "grants of livery" to their retainers, and the maintenance of quarrels in return for service). The newer baronage, as in the case of Edward IV.'s nobility, depended upon the favour of the crown. The constitutional power of the House of Lords superseded by the Council, now a body of royal nominees.

2. The clergy were lacking in moral enthusiasm and in intellectual vigour, and the papacy under Sixtus IV. (1471), Alexander VI. (1492) and Julius II. (1503), was becoming more of an Italian and less of an universal power. The higher clergy (e.g., Morton, Fox, Warham) were becoming mere officials of the royal administration.

3. The House of Commons was less representative and independent, owing to the restrictions in the franchise both in boroughs (owing to the charters of corporations, making the burgesses a close body) and in counties (owing to the legislation of 1430 restricting franchise to 40s. freeholders).

4. Growth of wealth and industry among the smaller landowners and the burgess class in the cities increased the desire for settled rule. Weariness of the political struggle.

5. Growth of pauperism, "of the sturdy beggars," (due to the consolidation of small into large holdings, the introduction of sheep-farming upon a large scale, and the break-up of the military households of the nobles), led to desire for a strong rule to repress social disorder and preserve from social anarchy.

6. The crown was the only remaining political power: further strengthened by the union of family titles through the marriage of Henry to Elizabeth of York, and by the wealth accruing from confiscations; rendered independent of Parliamentary subsidies by the cessation of foreign war, and made irresistible in the field by the sole possession of the artillery.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

116

1485-1487. B Establishment upon the Throne.

1485. 1. Henry's title Parliamentary, although he claimed the crown by title of "inheritance," as well as "by the true judgment of God in giving him victory over his enemies." Confirmed by a Bull of Innocent VIII. (1486).
1486. 2. Imprisonment of the Earl of Warwick (son of the Duke of Clarence) in the Tower.

TABLE TO ILLUSTRATE THE YORKIST RISINGS.

Richard of York.

Edward IV. | Edmund, Earl of Rutland (slain at Wake-field, 1460.) | George, Duke of Clarence = Isabel Neville. | Richard III. = Anne Neville. | Elizabeth = John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk. Edward, Prince of Wales.

Edward V. | Richard of York. | Elizabeth = Henry VII. | Catharine = Sir W. Courtenay.

Henry, Marquis of Exeter (beheaded, 1539). Edward, Earl of Devon. Edward, Earl of Warwick (beheaded 1499). Margaret, Countess of Salisbury (beheaded 1541). = Sir R. Pole.

Henry Pole, Lord Montacute (beheaded 1539). Reginald Pole, Cardinal, and Arch-bishop of Canterbury.

John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln (slain at Stoke, 1487). Edmund de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk (beheaded, 1513). Richard de la Pole (slain at the Battle of Pavia, 1525).

1486. 3. Marriage with Elizabeth of York. JAN. 18. Post-ponement of her Coronation : consequent irritation of Yorkists.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

4. Revolt of Lord Lovel, and Humphrey and Thomas Stafford, cousins of the Duke of Buckingham, in Worcestershire.

5. 5. Lambert Simnel personating Edward Earl of Warwick, well known to be a prisoner in the King's hands, recognised by Gerald Fitzgerald, (Earl of Kildare), John de la Pole (see Table) and Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy ; defeated at Stoke (near Newark).
6. 6. Coronation of the Queen. Nov. 25.

C Henry's Government at Home

1. Continued suspension of Parliamentary life. Parliament only twice called between 1496 and 1509 (1497 and 1504).

2. 2. Extension of the criminal jurisdiction of the Royal Council by the foundation of the Court of Star Chamber as a remedy for the evils of maintenance, the misconduct of sheriffs, riots, and unlawful assemblies. (The Court to consist of the Chancellor, Treasurer, Privy Seal, taking to themselves a bishop, a lord temporal, and the two chief justices.) [See note at the end of the reign.] Re-enactment and enforcement of the statute against "granting of livery."
3. 3. Accumulation of treasure.

a By obtaining subsidies for wars subsequently evaded (1488 and 1492). Resumption of royal grants to the House of York. 1497.

b By confiscations, and fines after revolts.

c By benevolences. (1492. 1497. 1504.)

d By exactions for breach of obsolete statutes upon the information of "promoters" (e.g., Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley).

4. Statutes for the security of property from vexatious attacks.

5. a Statute of Fines, fixing a term of five years after proclamation of a fine in court as a prescriptive title to land barring suits for recovery.

6. b No person rendering service to the King of the land for the time being to be convicted of high treason.

Foreign Policy

1485-1492. 1. The early policy, 1485-1492, centred round Britanny.

v

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. IV. THE PEASANT REVOLT 1377 TO 1381

long time been changing the whole face of the country. The manorial system, on which the social organization of every rural part of England rested, had divided the land, for the purposes of cultivation and of internal order, into a number of large estates ; a part of the soil was usually retained by the owner of the manor as his demesne or home-farm, while the remainder was distributed among tenants who were bound to render service to their lord. Under the kings of Ælfred's house, the number of absolute slaves, and the number of freemen, had alike diminished. The slave class, never numerous, had been reduced by the efforts of the Church, perhaps by the general convulsion of the Danish wars. But these wars had often driven the ceorl or freeman to "commend" himself to a thegn who pledged him his protection in consideration of a labour-payment. It is probable that these dependent ceorls are the "villeins" of the Norman epoch, men sunk indeed from pure freedom and bound both to soil and lord, but as yet preserving much of their older rights, retaining their land, free as against all men but their lord, and still sending representatives to hundred-moot and shire-moot. They stood therefore far above the "landless man," the man who had never possessed even under the old constitution political rights, whom the legislation of the English kings had forced to attach himself to a lord on pain of outlawry, and who served as household servant or as hired labourer, or at the best as rent-paying tenant of land which was not his own. The Norman knight or lawyer however saw little distinction between these classes ; and the tendency of legislation under the Angevins was to blend all in a single class of serfs. While the pure "theow" or absolute slave disappeared, therefore, the ceorl or villein sank lower in the social scale. But though the rural population was undoubtedly thrown more together and fused into a more homogeneous class, its actual position corresponded very imperfectly with the view of the lawyers. All indeed were dependents on a lord. The manor-house became the centre of every English village. The manor-court was held in its hall ; it was here that the lord or his steward received homage, recovered fines, held the view of frank-pledge, or enrolled the villagers in their tithing. Here too, if the lord possessed criminal jurisdiction, was held his justice court, and without its doors stood his gallows. Around it lay the demesne or home-farm, and the cultivation of this rested wholly with the "villeins" of the manor. It was by them that the great barn of the lord was filled with sheaves, his sheep shorn, his grain malted, the wood hewn for his hall fire. These services were the labour-rent by which they held their lands, and it was the nature and extent of this labour-rent which parted one class of the population from another. The "villein," in the strict sense of the word, was bound only to gather in his lord's harvest and to aid in the ploughing and sowing of autumn and Lent. The cottar, the bordar,

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

118

1487. a Duke Francis of Britanny openly attacked by Charles VIII. of France. Anne of Britanny betrothed to Maximilian of Burgundy.

1488. b Volunteers raised in England for the defence of Britanny. Death of Duke Francis.

1489. c League between Henry, Maximilian, and Spain, for the defence of Britanny if attacked.

1490. d Britanny attacked by France, but not defended by the League. French capture of Nantes, and marriage of Charles VIII. of France and Anne of Britanny. Consequent annexation of Britanny by France.

1491. e Expedition of Henry VII. to Boulogne ; treaty of Etaples ; Henry bought off by a payment of £149,000, and Charles VIII. left free for his expedition for the conquest of Naples (long in dispute between the Houses of Aragon and Anjou).

1492-1498. 2. The policy from 1492-1498. Mainly connected with Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Richard, Duke of York, and was supported by Margaret of Burgundy (sister of Edward IV.), Charles VIII. of France, James IV. of Scotland, and by the popular feeling in Ireland in favour of the House of York.

1492. a Perkin deserted by France after the treaty of Etaples.

1493. b Order enforced among the English in Ireland by Sir E. Poynings. All existing English laws to be in force in Ireland ; no Parliament to be held in Ireland without the sanction of the King and Council ; the King and Council to have power to disallow statutes passed by the Irish Houses. The Earl of Kildare won over by being appointed Royal Deputy in Ireland. Ireland thus shut to Warbeck.

1494. c Commercial treaty with Burgundy, the “Great Intercourse,” securing freedom of trading and mutual expulsion of rebels. Warbeck obliged to leave Flanders. [The Great Intercourse renewed 1506, on the occasion of Duke Philip being driven by a storm into Weymouth, when Edmund de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, was also given up by Philip on condition of his life being spared. Suffolk consequently imprisoned in the Tower, till his execution by Henry VIII. 1513.]

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

d League of Spain, the Empire, the Pope (Julius II.), Milan, Venice, for the mutual preservation of States, (joined by Henry, though he would contribute neither men nor money). [The first enunciation of the idea of Balance of Power.]

1497. e Treaty concluded with Scotland, where Warbeck had been received by James IV., and married to Katharine Gordon. (Warbeck obliged to leave Scotland, July. Treaty, Sept.)

1498. f [Rising for Warbeck in the West, Devon and Cornwall ; capture and imprisonment of Warbeck. Attempted escape of Warbeck. June, 1498. Execution of Warbeck along with Edward, Earl of Warwick. Nov., 1499.]

1499. Marriage alliances and proposed alliances.

a For himself, after the death of Queen Elizabeth. 1503. Margaret of Austria (daughter of Maximilian), Johanna of Castile, Louisa of Savoy (mother of Francis I.), Katharine of Aragon (his own daughter-in-law).

b Marriage of Arthur the King's eldest son to Katharine of Aragon, (thus strengthening England by an alliance with Spain against France,) delayed by Henry's caution till France was occupied by the invasion of Italy.

1501. c Upon the death of Arthur, Katharine betrothed to his brother Henry ; the betrothal sanctioned (conditionally) by Pope Julius II.

1502. d Marriage of Margaret of England to James IV. of Scotland.

1503. Death of the King. April 21

E Notice the importance of the reign as marking the transition from Mediæval to Modern History; the transition from separate national development to the idea of national aggrandisement and the counter-idea of Balance of Power, which, though first formally conceived by Henry IV. and Sully (1603), is the key to political action from 1500 to 1800. Influences that led to this political change.

i. Concentration of power in the royal hands in France under Charles VII. and Lewis XI., due mainly to the pressure of the long struggle with England.

1422-1483. ii. The union of Castile and Aragon by the marriage of Isabella to Ferdinand, and the conquest of Granada from the Moors.

SOVEREIGNS OF ENGLAND

SOVEREIGNS OF ENGLAND.

xxvii

OF ENGLAND.

Norman Conquest.

b. about 1027, d. 1087.

of Flanders.

HENRY I.

b. 1063,

d. 1135.

m. 1. Matilda of Scotland.

Matilda,

d. 1167.

m. 2. Geoffrey, Count of Anjou.

HENRY II.

b. 1133, d. 1189.

m. Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Geoffrey,

b. 1158, d. 1186.

m. Constance, Heiress of Brittany.

Arthur, Duke of Brittany, b. 1187.

Adela, d. 1137.

m. Stephen, Count of Blois.

STEPHEN, d. 1154.

m. Matilda of Boulogne.

Eustace, Count of Boulogne, d. 1153.

William, Count of Boulogne, d. 1160.

JOHN.

b. 1166, d. 1216.

m. 2. Isabel of Angoulême.

HENRY III.

b. 1206, d. 1272.

m. Eleanor of Provence.

EDWARD I.

b. 1239, d. 1307.

m. 1. Eleanor of Castile.

EDWARD II.

b. 1284, murdered 1327.

m. Isabel of France.

EDWARD III.

b. 1312, d. 1377.

m. Philippa of Hainault.

[See next page.]

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

iii. The union of all Austrian hereditary possessions under Maximilian of Austria, and his marriage to Mary of Burgundy, bringing with it the County of Burgundy, i.e., Franche Comté and Flanders.

iv. The weakness of the German national Kingship owing to the claim of the German King to the Universal rule of the Holy Roman Empire. (The power of the Emperor in Germany becoming mainly nominal.)

1471. v. Attempts of the Popes from the papacy of Sixtus IV. to gain territorial jurisdiction in Italy, entailing finally the loss of their position as a mediating power.

1472. vi. Rise into importance of Sweden by its separation from Denmark, under Gustavus Vasa.

Note upon the Star Chamber

1. The Court as constituted by Henry VII. was really a Committee of the Council, but by the end of the reign of Henry VIII. this special Commission no longer existed, but criminal powers, analogous although far larger, continued to be exercised by a Court retaining the same name of Star Chamber and mainly identical with the Council itself.

2. Methods of procedure before the Star Chamber. a The proceeding "Ore tenus." The accused privately arrested, examined (no information being given either as to accuser or nature of charge), and judged, or, in case of refusal to confess or answer questions, remanded.

b Procedure by Bill of Complaint addressed to the Council and signed by a Councillor. The accused compelled to answer the bill on oath ; after the answer of the accused witnesses were privately examined by the Council. Torture could also be used to extract confession (as in the cases of Anne Askew and Guido Fawkes).

3. Penalties. Fines (sometimes however apparently not enforced and intended to serve as a mark of severe condemnation), whipping, the stocks, the pillory, branding, and any penalty short of death.

4. Sphere of Jurisdiction. a Accusations of treasonable or seditious acts and words.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

b Cases of libel.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

c The regulation of printing.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

d Accusations of breach of royal proclamation.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

e Cases where individuals acted in a way which the law could not punish but which morality condemned.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

f Cases transferred from the Law Courts, “taken by the King into his own hands.”

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

g Summoning and fining of Juries for erroneous verdicts.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

h The right of interference claimed not only in criminal but in civil cases, and the right of arrest claimed further not only by the Council collectively but by its members individually.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

(See “The Privy Council” by A. V. Dicey (Macmillan & Co.) For the growth and influence of the New Learning, the chief progressive movement of the reign, see Green, pp. 303–320.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

1509-1547. HENRY VIII. 1509-1547.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

Henry VIII. = (1) Katharine =(2) Anne =(3) Jane =(4) Anne of Aragon. Boleyn. Seymour. =Cleves.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

Mary. Elizabeth. Edward. =(5) Katharine =(6) Katharine Howard. Parr.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

1509-1511. A. Early years. 1509-1511.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

1. Popularity of the King and hopes of “a new order” at his accession.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

1509. 2. Trial and execution of Empson and Dudley for high treason. Statute limiting action upon penal suits to within three years after alleged offence.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

3. Marriage to Katharine of Aragon upon advice of Council (in spite of opposition of Warham), for security against the growing power of France.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

1511-1525. B. Foreign wars.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

1511-1514. 1. The Holy League between Ferdinand of Spain, Henry VIII. of England, Pope Julius II., and the Republic of Venice to protect the Papacy and drive the French out of Italy, though the Pope had co-operated with France and the Emperor Maximilian in the League of Cambrai, 1508, for the dismemberment of Venice, as being the only Italian power likely to unite Italy.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

PART II.

K

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1512. The French driven back in the north of Italy.

1513. Navarre seized by Spain. The Scots defeated at Flodden Field (upon the Till) and Tournai taken by Henry. Aug.—Sept.

1514. 2. Truce for a year between Lewis XII., Maximilian and Ferdinand. Anger of Henry VIII. at desertion by Ferdinand, and conclusion of alliance between England and France secured by the marriage of Mary Tudor to Lewis
1515. 3. Death of Lewis XII. Invasion and reconquest of the Milanese by Francis I. counterbalanced by the accession of Charles of the Netherlands to the throne of Spain as Charles I., and Naples as Charles IV. Confederacy between England, France, and Spain.

1516-1518.

1519. 4. Death of Maximilian. Election of Charles of Spain as Emperor (Charles V.). [The beginning of the rivalry between France and the House of Hapsburg.]

1520. English alliance courted both by France and Spain. Conference between Charles V. and Henry at Canterbury, between Francis I. and Henry on the plain of Ardres, “the Field of the Cloth of Gold.” English alliance with Spain: Charles betrothed to Mary (Henry’s daughter), and Buckingham (heir to the throne next to Mary) executed to secure her succession.

Edward III.

Thomas of Woodstock.

Anne = Edmund Stafford, Earl of

Buckingham.

Humphrey, Duke of Buckingham, killed at Northampton, 1460.

Humphrey = Margaret Beaufort, daughter

of Edmund Duke of Somerset

Henry, Duke of Buckingham, = Katha executed 1483. | Wood

Duke of Buckingh

1522-1525. 5. War declared upon France, and English claims upon France revived.

1522. a Money raised by benevolences.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1523. b Parliament summoned : a property tax of 20 per cent. demanded by Wolsey : his visit in state to the Commons to receive their answer. Deliberation suspended during his presence. Half the demand voted.

c Cooling on both sides of the friendship between Charles and Henry.

d France crushed at the battle of Pavia. Eng-. land drawn towards France to counteract the excessive power of Spain.

C Internal Affairs.

1525. 1. Concentration of power in Wolsey's hands.

1526. Wolsey, Dean of Lincoln, Almoner, Member of the Council, Dean of York (1509–1513), for his able management of the preparations for the campaign of 1513 made Bishop of Tournai, then (in addition) of Lincoln (1514), then (in addition) Archbishop of York (1515) and Legatus a Latere by Leo X. (1517), besides being entrusted with the administration of the See of Bath and Wells, and of the temporalities of the Abbey of S. Alban's. Chan- cellor (1525), Bishop of Winchester (1528).

1527. Features of the government at home under Wol- sey’s advice and administration.

a Parliament not called between 1515 and 1523.

b Unconstitutional taxation by benevolences (1522) and (1525), though abandoned in the latter year owing to very general re- sistance to the demand.

c Immense industry in the Court of Chancery, subordinate courts created to expedite justice.

1524. d Visitation of the monasteries : bull obtained from Pope (Clement VII.) for the suppres- sion of forty of the smaller (having less than seven inmates), and for the conversion of the Monastery of S. Frideswyde in Oxford into a college : the endowments of the suppressed monasteries used for the new Cardinal College (afterwards Christ Church) in Oxford, and for a new college at Ipswich (which last however was dis- solved and confiscated by Henry upon Wolsey's fall).

e Gentle treatment of heresy.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

D The Question of the Divorce and Fall of Wolsey

1526. 1. Attempt made by the English Envoy at Rome to procure the divorce of Katharine of Aragon.
1527. 2. Question of the legality of Henry's marriage with Katharine raised in Wolsey's Court, as Legate, by a collusive action (a complaint being preferred against the King for having lived eighteen years with his brother's wife).
1528. 3. Legatine Commission granted to Campeggio and Wolsey by Clement VII. Delay of their proceedings.
1529. 4. Opening of the Legatine Court. Adjournment of the Court for two months when a decision was expected. JULY. The cause called to Rome by Clement VII., under pressure from Charles. Oct. Treaty of Cambrai formed between France and the Emperor. AUG. Fall of Wolsey owing to these combined causes. Accused under Statute of Præmunire of receiving Bulls and Legatine authority from Rome. Oct. The bill for Wolsey's impeachment thrown out in the Commons through the efforts of Thomas Cromwell, but Wolsey's property declared forfeited to the Crown according to the Statute of Præmunire. Wolsey allowed to retire to his see at York. Arrest of Wolsey (1530) for high treason, and death on the road to London. Nov. 29.
1530. 5. Wolsey succeeded in power by Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk (President of the Council), Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk (Lord Treasurer), and Sir Thomas More (Chancellor). Parliament summoned. Nov., 1529. [The long Organic Parliament of the reign.]

E The Breach with Rome and establishment of the Royal Supremacy over the Church

1529. 1. Profits of the Bishops' Courts in cases of probate reduced, and discipline more strictly enforced upon the lower clergy by Act of Parliament.
1530. 2. Measures of Norfolk to get over the marriage difficulty. a. By negotiations with the Imperial Court. b. By an appeal to the Universities.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1531. 3. The clergy held liable to the penalties of Præmunire in submitting to Wolsey as Legate. Fined £118,840 by Convocation. Acknowledgment of the King as "Supreme Head of the Church, as far as the law of Christ will allow." (This assumption of title did not imply independence of Rome, but was a warning to the Pope and the clergy that the clergy were dependent upon the King.)
1532. 4. Withdrawal of More from the Chancellorship (succeeded by Audley). May. Conditional discontinuance of the payment of annates (the first year's revenue upon election to a see) to the Pope.

Petition of Convocation that Church legislation be henceforth only with the King's assent. [The Statutes of Uses (passed 1536) and of Wills (passed 1540) rejected by the Commons.]

1533. 5. Secret marriage with Anne Boleyn. Jan. 25. Death of Archbishop Warham, and appointment of Cranmer as Archbishop by Papal Bull. March.

The marriage between Henry and Katharine declared by Cranmer in Court null and void from the beginning, and the marriage with Anne Boleyn good and lawful. May. Reversal of the sentence by the Pope : Henry's appeal to a general Council. Avowal of the marriage with Anne Boleyn and her Coronation. June. Appeals to Rome forbidden by Statute. April. Act of Succession, settling the crown upon the children of Anne Boleyn.

1534. 6. Statute transferring the payment of annates from the Pope to the crown. A new Statute of Appeals making the final reference (not as before to the Archbishop, but) to the King in Chancery. A new Statute of Annates, empowering the King to nominate Bishops; Chapters subjected to the penalties of Præmunire for non-election of the royal nominee mentioned along with the Congé d'Elire.

Statute granting the petition of Convocation (1532) that Church legislation henceforward be only with the King's consent. The Act of Supremacy, vesting authority over all ecclesiastical matters in the crown.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

Denial of any of the King's titles declared treason. Execution of Elizabeth Barton (the Nun of Kent) for high treason. MAY 5.

1535

7. Assumption by the King by Letters Patent of the title of "on earth supreme Head of the Church of England." Execution of Fisher (Bishop of Rochester), Sir Thomas More, and three brethren of the Charterhouse, under the Statute of Treason of 1534. Cromwell appointed Vicar-General ; visitation of the monasteries. Study of the Canon Law forbidden at the Universities.

1536

8. Suppression of all monasteries and nunneries (380 in number) under £200 of yearly revenue. Their revenues to be administered by a Court of Augmentations.

Negotiations between Henry and the Lutheran princes forming the League of Schmalkald. Publication of Ten Articles basing the faith of the Church of England upon the Bible, the Three Creeds, and the first Four Councils, limiting the sacraments to Baptism, Penance, and the Eucharist, condemning the abuses of the Church (e.g. pardons, and masses for the dead), but retaining most of its ceremonies, and approximating to the Confession of Augsburg in the acceptance of the doctrine of justification by faith.

Trial and execution of Queen Anne for treason and adultery, MAY 19, and marriage with Jane Seymour, MAY 20.

The succession re-settled upon the issue of Jane Seymour, and failing that and the issue of any other lawful wife left to the King to make over and bequeath at his pleasure.

1537

9. Rising in Lincolnshire, followed by the rising in Yorkshire called the Pilgrimage of Grace, and by a Parliament of the North at Pomfret, demanding the fall of Cromwell, the acknowledgment of Mary as legitimate, and the restitution of the goods of the Church.

1537

The promise of consideration of grievances in a free Parliament at York, made to the leaders by the Royal Commissioners (the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Duke of Norfolk), but recalled in consequence of a subsequent rising in the North and Somersetshire. Many cruel executions. Death of Jane Seymour. 1537.

MARCH

Sec. IV. THE PEASANT REVOLT 1377-1381

and the labourer were bound to help in the work of the home-farm throughout the year. But these services and the time of rendering them were strictly limited by custom, not only in the case of the ceorl or villein, but in that of the originally meaner “landless man.” The possession of his little homestead with the ground around it, the privilege of turning out his cattle on the waste of the manor, passed quietly and insensibly from mere indulgences that could be granted or withdrawn at a lord's caprice into rights that could be pleaded at law. The number of teams, the fines, the reliefs, the services that a lord could claim, at first mere matter of oral tradition, came to be entered on the court-roll of the manor, a copy of which became the title-deed of the villein. It was to this that he owed the name of “copy-holder” which at a later time superseded his older title. Disputes were settled by a reference to this roll or on oral evidence of the custom at issue, but a social arrangement which was eminently characteristic of the English spirit of compromise, generally secured a fair adjustment of the claims of villein and lord. It was the duty of the lord's bailiff to exact their due services from the villeins, but his coadjutor in this office, the reeve or foreman of the manor, was chosen by the tenants themselves and acted as representative of their interests and rights.

The Farmer and the Labourer

The first disturbances of the system of tenure which we have described sprang from the introduction of leases. The lord of the manor, instead of cultivating the demesne through his own bailiff, often found it more convenient and profitable to let the manor to a tenant at a given rent, payable either in money or in kind. Thus we find the manor of Sandon leased by the Chapter of St. Paul's at a very early period on a rent which comprised the payment of grain both for bread and ale, of alms to be distributed at the cathedral door, of wood to be used in its bakehouse and brewery, and of money to be spent in wages. It is to this system of leasing, or rather to the usual term for the rent it entailed (feorm, from the Latin firma), that we owe the words, “farm” and “farmer,” the growing use of which marks the first step in the rural revolution which we are examining. It was a revolution which made little direct change in the manorial system, out its indirect effect in breaking the tie on which the feudal organization of the manor rested, that of the tenant's personal dependence on his lord, and in affording an opportunity by which the wealthier among the tenantry could rise to a position of apparent equality with their older masters and form a new class intermediate between the larger proprietors and the customary tenants, was of the highest importance. This earlier step, however, in the modification of the manorial system, by the rise of the Farmer-class, was soon followed by one of a far more serious character in the rise of the Free Labourer. Labour, whatever right it might have attained in other ways, was as yet in the strictest sense bound to the soil. Neither villein nor serf had any

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1538. Royal licence given to Coverdale's translation of the Bible.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

Negotiations begun with the Lutheran princes forming the League of Schmalkald, but abandoned.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

Excommunication of Henry by Pope Paul III. Refusal of France and Spain to execute it.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1539. Execution of the Marquess of Exeter and Lord Montacute, and imprisonment of the Countess of Salisbury (executed May 27, 1541) upon the charge of high treason (as privy to the plans of Cardinal Pole).

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1539. Dissolution of the larger monasteries (645 in number), and disappearance of the mitred abbots from the House of Lords.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

Act "for abolishing diversity of opinions in certain articles concerning Christian religion," commonly called "The Six Articles," declaring transubstantiation, communion in one kind, celibacy of the clergy, monastic vows, private masses, auricular confession and the binding power of vows of chastity to be agreeable to the law of God, and fixing burning as the penalty for the denial of transubstantiation, and on a second offence for an infraction of the other five doctrines (due to the reaction against the violence of the "Lutheran" or "Protestant" Party).

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

Statute empowering the King to appoint new bishops by his letters patent. Bishops appointed for Oxford, Peterborough, Gloucester, Bristol, Chester, Westminster.

ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH HISTORY

1540. Attempt of Cromwell to unite Henry with the German Lutheran princes against the Empire by the marriage with Anne of Cleves, niece of the Elector of Saxony (head of the League of Schmalkald). Dissatisfaction of the King with his wife and with the irresolution of the German princes.

Cromwell accused of treason, attainted without being heard in his own defence, and executed, July, 1540. (For the character and policy of Cromwell see Green pp. 331-348.)

Cranmer's Bible, known as the 'Great Bible,' appointed by royal command to be read in churches.

A

SHORT HISTORY

OF THE

ENGLISH PEOPLE

BY

JOHN RICHARD GREEN

HONORARY FELLOW OF JESUS COLLEGE, OXFORD

WITH MAPS, TABLES, AND

AN ANALYSIS

By C. W. A. TAIT, M.A., Assistant Master in Clifton College

PART II.

CHAP. IV.—THE THREE EDWARDS . . . . . . . . . 1265—1360

CHAP. V.—THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR . . . . . . 1336—1431

CHAP. VI.—THE NEW MONARCHY . . . . . . . . 1422—1540

942

are

London

MACMILLAN AND CO.

AND NEW YORK

1889

GENEALOGICAL TABLES

THE SOVEREIGNS

xxviii

EDWARD

SOVEREIGNS OF ENGLAND.

OF ENGLAND—continued.

III.

Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, b. 1341, d. 1402.

Richard, Earl of Cambridge, beheaded 1415. m. Anne Mortimer.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, slain at Wakefield, 1460.

EDWARD IV. b. 1442, d. 1483. m. Elizabeth Woodville.

= Elizabeth, d. 1503.

EDWARD V. b. 1470.

Richard, Duke of York, b. 1472.

George, Duke of Clarence. b. 1449, d. 1478.

Edward, Earl of Warwick, beheaded 1499.

Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, beh. 1541, m. Sir Richard Pole.

RICHARD III. b. 1452, d. 1485. m. Anne Neville.

Edward, Prince of Wales. b. 1473, d. 1484.

Margaret, b. 1489, d. 1541. m. 1. James IV. King of Scots.

James V. King of Scots, d. 1542.

Mary, Queen of Scots, beheaded, 1587.

JAMES I. b. 1566, d. 1625. m. Anne of Denmark.

[See next page.]

xxx

GENEALOGICAL TABLES.

THE SOVERI

CHARLES I.

b. 1600, beheaded 1649.

m. Henrietta Maria of France.

CHARLES II.

b 1630, d. 1685.

1. Anne Hyde

JAMES II.

= 2. Mary of Modena.

b. 1633, d. 1701.

MARY,

b. 1662,

d. 1694.

WILLIAM III.

ANNE,

b. 1665,

d. 1714.

James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender,

b. 1688, d. 1766.

Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender,

b. 1720,

d. 1788.

Henry Benedict Stuart, Cardinal York,

b. 1725,

d. 1807.

Mary,

b. 1631, died 1660

m. William, Prince of Orang

WILLIAM III.

b. 1650, d. 1702.

m. MARY OF ENGLAND.

SOVEREIGNS OF ENGLAND

OF ENGLAND—continued.

Elizabeth, b. 1596, d. 1662. m. Frederick, Elector Palatine. Sophia, d. 1714. m. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover. GEORGE I. b. 1660, d. 1727. m. Sophia Dorothea of Zell. GEORGE II. b. 1683, d. 1760. m. Caroline of Brandenburg- Anspach. Frederick, Prince of Wales, b. 1707, d. 1751. GEORGE III. b. 1738, d. 1820. m. Charlotte of Mecklenburg- Strelitz. GEORGE IV. b. 1762, d. 1830. m. Caroline of Brunszwich- Wolfenbüttel. Charlotte, b. 1796, d. 1817. WILLIAM IV. b. 1765, d. 1837. Edward, Duke of Kent, b. 1767, d. 1820. VICTORIA, b. 1819. m. Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover. b. 1771, d. 1851.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

Section I.—The Conquest of Wales, 1265—1284.

[Authorities.—For the general state of Wales, see the “Itinerarium Cambriæ” of Giraldus Cambrensis ; for its general history, the “Brut-y-Tywysogion,” and “Annales Cambriæ,” published by the Master of the Rolls ; the Chronicle of Caradoc of Llancarvan, as given in the translation by Powel ; and Warrington's “History of Wales.” Stephen's “Literature of the Cymry” affords a general view of Welsh poetry ; the “Mabinogion” have been published by Lady Charlotte Guest. In his essays on “The Study of Celtic Literature,” Mr. Matthew Arnold has admirably illustrated the characteristics of the Welsh Poetry. For English affairs the monastic annals we have before mentioned are supplemented by the jejune entries of Trivet and Murimuth.] While literature and science after a brief outburst were crushed in England by the turmoil of the Barons' War, a poetic revival had brought into sharp contrast the social and intellectual condition of Wales. To all outer seeming Wales had in the thirteenth century become utterly barbarous. Stripped of every vestige of the older Roman civilization by ages of bitter warfare, of civil strife, of estrangement from the general culture of Christendom, the unconquered Britons had sunk into a mass of savage herdsmen, clad in the skins and fed by the milk of the cattle they tended, faithless, greedy, and revengeful, retaining no higher political organization than that of the clan, broken by ruthless feuds, united only in battle or in raid against the stranger. But in the heart of the wild people there still lingered a spark of the poetic fire which had nerved it four hundred years before, through Aneurin and Llywarch Hen, to its struggle with the Saxon. At the hour of its lowest degradation the silence of Wales was suddenly broken by a crowd of singers. The song of the twelfth century burst forth, not from one bard or another, but from the nation at large. “In every house,” says the shrewd Gerald de Barri, “strangers who arrived in the morning were entertained till eventide with the talk of maidens and the music of the harp.” The romantic literature of the race found an admirable means of utterance in its tongue, as real a developement of the ol' Celtic language heard by Cæsar as the Romance tongues are de· elopements of Cæsar's Latin, but which at

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

The Welsh Literature

v

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. IV. THE PEASANT REVOLT 1377 TO 1381

choice, either of a master or of a sphere of toil. He was born, in fact, to his holding and to his lord ; he paid head-money for licence to remove from the estate in search of trade or hire, and a refusal to return on recall by his owner would have ended in his pursuit as a fugitive outlaw. But the advance of society and the natural increase of population had for a long time been silently freeing the labourer from this local bondage. The influence of the Church had been exerted in promoting emancipation, as a work of piety, on all estates but its own. The fugitive bondsman found freedom in a flight to chartered towns, where a residence during a year and a day conferred franchise. A fresh step towards freedom was made by the growing tendency to commute labour-services for money-payments. The population was slowly increasing, and as the law of gavel-kind which was applicable to all landed estates not held by military tenure divided the inheritance of the tenantry equally among their sons, the holding of each tenant and the services due from it became divided in a corresponding degree. A labour-rent thus became more difficult to enforce, while the increase of wealth among the tenantry, and the rise of a new spirit of independence, made it more burthensome to those who rendered it. It was probably from this cause that the commutation of the arrears of labour for a money payment, which had long prevailed on every estate, gradually developed into a general commutation of services. We have already witnessed the silent progress of this remarkable change in the case of St. Edmundsbury, but the practice soon became universal, and " malt-silver," " wood-silver," and " larder-silver," gradually took the place of the older personal services on the court-rolls. The process of commutation was hastened by the necessities of the lords themselves. The luxury of the castle-hall, the splendour and pomp of chivalry, the cost of campaigns, drained the purses of knight and baron, and the sale of freedom to a serf or exemption from services to a villein afforded an easy and tempting mode of refilling them. In this process even kings took part. Edward the Third sent commissioners to royal estates for the especial purpose of selling manumissions to the King's serfs ; and we still possess the names of those who were enfranchised with their families by a payment of hard cash in aid of the exhausted exchequer.

v

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

The Black Death

By this entire detachment of the serf from actual dependence on the land, the manorial system was even more radically changed than by the rise of the serf into a copyholder. The whole social condition of the country, in fact, was modified by the appearance of a new class. The rise of the free labourer had followed that of the farmer, labour was no longer bound to one spot or one master : it was free to hire itself to what employer, and to choose what field of employment it would. At the moment we have reached, in fact, the lord of a manor had been reduced over a large part of England to the position of

SEC. I. THE CONQUEST OF WALES 1265 TO 1284

a far earlier date than any other language of modern Europe had attained to definite structure and to settled literary form. No other mediæval literature shows at its outset the same elaborate and completed organization as that of the Welsh. But within these settled forms the Celtic fancy plays with a startling freedom. In one of the later poems Gwion the Little transforms himself into a hare, a fish, a bird, a grain of wheat; but he is only the symbol of the strange shapes in which the Celtic fancy embodies itself in the tales or “Mabinogion” which reached their highest perfection in the legends of Arthur. Its gay extravagance flings defiance to all fact, tradition, probability, and revels in the impossible and unreal. When Arthur sails into the unknown world, it is in a ship of glass. The “descent into hell,” as a Celtic poet paints it, shakes off the mediæval horror with the mediæval reverence, and the knight who achieves the quest spends his years of infernal durance in hunting and minstrelsy, and in converse with fair women. The world of the Mabinogion is a world of pure phantasy, a new earth of marvels and enchantments, of dark forests whose silence is broken by the hermit's bell, and sunny glades where the light plays on the hero's armour. Each figure as it moves across the poet's canvas is bright with glancing colour. “The maiden was clothed in a robe of flame-coloured silk, and about her neck was a collar of ruddy gold in which were precious emeralds and rubies. Her head was of brighter gold than the flower of the broom, her skin was whiter than the foam of the wave, and fairer were her hands and her fingers than the blossoms of the wood-anemone: amidst the spray of the meadow fountain. The eye of the trained hawk, the glance of the falcon, was not brighter than hers. Her bosom was more snowy than the breast of the white swan, her cheek was redder than the reddest roses.” Everywhere there is an Oriental profusion of gorgeous imagery, but the gorgeousness is seldom oppressive. The sensibility of the Celtic temper, so quick to perceive beauty, so eager in its thirst for life, its emotions, its adventures, its sorrows, its joys, is tempered by a passionate melancholy that expresses its revolt against the impossible, by an instinct of what is noble, by a sentiment that discovers the weird charm of nature. Some graceful play of pure fancy, some tender note of feeling, some magical touch of beauty, relieves its wildest extravagance. As Kalwch's greyhounds, bound from side to side of their master's steed, they “sport round him like two sea-swallows.” His spear is “swifter than the fall of the dew-drop from the blade of reed-grass upon the earth when the dew of June is at the heaviest.” A subtle, observant love of nature and natural beauty takes fresh colour from the passionate human sentiment with which it is imbued, sentiment which breaks out in Gwain's cry of nature-love, “I love the birds and their sweet voices in the lulling songs of the wood,” in his watches at night beside the firds, “among the

IV. 1

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Sec. I. THE CONQUEST OF WALES 1265 TO 1284

untrodden grass" to hear the nightingale and watch the play of the seamew. Even patriotism takes the same picturesque form ; the Welsh poet hates the flat and sluggish land of the Saxon ; as he dwells on his own, he tells of "its sea-coast and its mountains, its towns on the forest border, its fair landscape, its dales, its waters, and its valleys, its white sea-mews, its beauteous women." But the song passes swiftly and subtly into a world of romantic sentiment : "I love its fields clothed with tender trefoil, I love the marches of Merioneth where my head was pillowed on a snow-white arm." In the Celtic love of woman there is little of the Teutonic depth and earnestness, but in its stead a childlike spirit of delicate enjoyment, a faint distant flush of passion like the rose-light of dawn on a snowy mountain peak, a playful delight in beauty. "White is my love as the apple blossom, as the ocean's spray ; her face shines like the pearly dew on Eryri ; the glow of her checks is like the light of sunset." The buoyant and elastic temper of the French trouvère was spiritualized in the Welsh singers by a more refined poetic feeling. "Whoso beheld her was filled with her love. Four white trefoils sprang up wherever she trod." The touch of pure fancy removes its object out of the sphere of passion into one of delight and reverence.

IV. 1

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Sec. I. THE CONQUEST OF WALES 1265 TO 1284

It is strange, as we have said, to pass from the world of actual Welsh history into such a world as this. But side by side with this wayward, fanciful stream of poesy and romance ran a torrent of intenser song. The old spirit of the earlier bards, their joy in battle, their love for freedom, their hatred of the Saxon, broke out in ode after ode, in songs extravagant, monotonous, often prosaic, but fused into poetry by the intense fire of patriotism which glowed within them. The rise of the new poetic feeling indeed marked the appearance of a new energy in the long struggle with the English conqueror.

IV. 1

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Sec. I. THE CONQUEST OF WALES 1265 TO 1284

Of the three Welsh states into which all that remained unconquered of Britain had been broken by the victories of Deorham and Chester, two had long ceased to exist. The country between the Clyde and the Dee had been gradually absorbed by the conquests of Northumbria and the growth of the Scot monarchy. West Wales, between the British Channel and the estuary of the Severn, had yielded to the sword of Ecgberht. But a fiercer resistance prolonged the independence of the great central portion which alone in modern language preserves the name of Wales. In itself the largest and most powerful of the British states, it was aided in its struggle against Mercia by the weakness of its assailant, the youngest and least powerful of the English states, as well as by the internal warfare which distracted the energies of the invaders. But Mercia had no sooner risen to supremacy among the English kingdoms than it took the work of conquest vigorously in hand. Offa tore from Wales the border land between the Severn and the Wye ; the raids of his successors carried

England and the Welsh

England and the Welsh

Sec. I.

THE CONQUEST OF WALES 1265 TO 1284 1093

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

fire and sword into the heart of the country ; and an acknowledgement of the Mercian over-lordship was wrestled from the Welsh princes. On the fall of Mercia this passed to the West-Saxon kings. The Laws of Howel Dda own the payment of a yearly tribute by “ the prince of Aberffraw ” to “ the King of London.” The weakness of England during her long struggle with the Danes revived the hopes of British independence. But with the fall of the Danelaw the Welsh princes were again brought to submission, and when in the midst of the Con- fessor’s reign the Welsh seized on a quarrel between the houses of Lcofric and Godwine to cross the border and carry their attacks into England itself, the victories of Harold re-asserted the English sup- remacy. His light-armed troops disembarking on the coast pene- trated to the heart of the mountains, and the successors of the Welsh prince Gruffydd, whose head was the trophy of the campaign, swore to observe the old fealty and render the old tribute to the English Crown.

The Conquest of South Wales

A far more desperate struggle began when the wave of Norman conquest broke on the Welsh frontier. A chain of great carldoms, settled by William along the border-land, at once bridled the old marauding fray.s. From his county palatine of Chester, Hugh the Wolf harried Flintshire into a desert; Robert of Belesme, in his earldom of Shrewsbury, “ slew the Welsh,” says a chronicler, “ like sheep, conquered them, enslaved them, and flayed them with nails of iron.” Backed by these greater baronies a horde of lesser adventurers obtained the royal ' licence to make conquest on the Welsh.' Monmouth and Abergavenny were seized and guarded by Norman castellans ; Bernard of Neufmarché won the lordship of Brecknock ; Roger of Montgomery raised the town and fortress in Powysland which still preserves his name. A great rising of the whole people in the days of the second William at last recovered some of this Norman spoil. The new castle of Montgomery was burned, Brecknock and Cardigan were cleared of the invaders, and the Welsh poured ravaging over the English border. Twice the Red King carried his arms fruitlessly among the mountains, against enemies who took refuge in their fastnesses till famine and hardship had driven his broken host into retreat. ' The wiser policy of Henry the First fell back on his father's system of gradual conquest, and a new tide of invasion flowed along the coast, where the land was level and open and accessible from the sea. The attack was aided by internal strife. Robert Fitz-Hamo, the lord of Gloucester, was summoned to his aid by a Welsh chieftain ; and the defeat of Rhys ap Tewdor, the last prince under whom Southern Wales was united, produced an anarchy which enabled Robert to land safely on the coast of Glamorgan, to conquer the country round, and to divide it among his soldiers. A force of Flemings and Englishmen followed the Earl of Clare as he landed

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

SEC. I. The Conquest of Wales

near Milford Haven, and pushing back the British inhabitants settled a “Little England” in the present Pembrokeshire. A few daring adventurers accompanied the Norman Lord of Kemeys into Cardigan, where land might be had for the winning by anyone who would “wage war on the Welsh.”

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

SEC. I. The Conquest of Wales

It was at this moment, when the utter subjugation of the British race seemed at hand, that a new outburst of energy rolled back the tide of invasion and changed the fitful resistance of the separate Welsh provinces into a national effort to regain independence. A new poetic fire, as we have seen, sprang into life. Every fight, every hero, had suddenly its verse. The names of the older bards were revived in bold forgeries to animate the national resistance and to prophesy victory. It was in North Wales that the new spirit of patriotism received its strongest inspiration from this burst of song. Again and again Henry the Second was driven to retreat from the impregnable fastnesses where the “Lords of Snowdon,” the princes of the house of Gruffydd ap Conan, claimed supremacy over Wales. Once a cry arose that the King was slain, Henry of Essex flung down the royal standard, and the King’s desperate efforts could hardly save his army from utter rout. In a later campaign the invaders were met by storms of rain, and forced to abandon their baggage in a headlong flight to Chester. The greatest of the Welsh odes, that known to English readers in Gray’s translation as “The Triumph of Owen,” is Gwalchmai’s song of victory over the repulse of an English fleet from Abermenai. The long reigns of the two Llewlyns, the sons of Jorwerth and of Gruffydd, which all but cover the last century of Welsh independence, seemed destined to realize the hopes of their countrymen. The homage which the first succeeded in extorting from the whole of the Welsh chieftains placed him openly at the head of his race, and gave a new character to his struggle with the English King. In consolidating his authority within his own domains, and in the assertion of his lordship over the princes of the south, Llewlyn ap Jorwerth aimed steadily at securing the means of striking off the yoke of the Saxon. It was in vain that John strove to buy his friendship by the hand of his daughter Johanna. Fresh raids on the Marches forced the King to enter Wales; but though his army reached Snowdon it fell back like its predecessors, starved and broken before an enemy it could never reach. A second attack had better success. The chieftains of South Wales were drawn from their new allegiance to join the English forces, and Llewlyn, prisoned in his fastnesses, was at last driven to submit. But the ink of the treaty was hardly dry before Wales was again on fire; the common fear of the English once more united its chieftains, and the war between John and his barons removed all dread of a new invasion. Absolved from his allegiance to an excommunicated King, and allied with the barons under Fitz-

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

1265 TO 1284 The Welsh revival 1157 1194–1283 Llewlyn ap Jorwerth 1194–1246 1211

Richard Clay and Sons, Limited,

LONDON AND BUNGAY.

The Right of Translation and Reproduction is Reserved.

Sec. I.

Walter—too glad to enlist in their cause a prince who could hold in check the nobles of the border country, where the royalist cause was strongest—Llewelyn seized his opportunity to reduce Shrewsbury, to annex Powys, where the English influence had always been powerful, to clear the royal garrisons from Caermarthen and Cardigan, and to force even the Flemings of Pembroke to do him homage.

The hopes of Wales rose higher and higher with each triumph of the Lord of Snowdon. The court of Llewelyn was crowded with bardic singers. “He pours,” sings one of them, “his gold into the lap of the bard as the ripe fruit falls from the trees.” But gold was hardly needed to wake their enthusiasm. Poet after poet sang of “the Devastator of England,” the “Eagle of men that loves not to lie nor sleep,” “towering above the rest of men with his long red lance,” his “red helmet of battle crested with a fierce wolf.” “The sound of his coming is like the roar of the wave as it rushes to the shore, that can neither be stayed nor appeased.” Lesser bards strung together his victories in rough jingle of rime and hounded him on to the slaughter. “Be of good courage in the slaughter,” sings Elidir, “cling to thy work, destroy England, and plunder its multitudes.”

A fierce thirst for blood runs through the abrupt, passionate verses of the court singers. “Swansea, that tranquil town, was broken in heaps,” bursts out a triumphant poet ; “St. Clears, with its bright white lands, it is not Saxons who hold it now !” “In Swansea, the key of Lloegria, we made widows of all the wives.” “The dread Eagle is wont to lay corpses in rows, and to feast with the leader of wolves and with hovering ravens glutted with flesh, butchers with keen scent of carcases.” “Better,” closes the song, “is the grave than the life of man who sighs when the horns call him forth to the squares of battle.”

But even in bardic verse Llewelyn rises high out of the mere mob of chieftains who live by rapine, and boast as the Hirlas-horn passes from hand to hand through the hall that “they take and give no quarter.” “Tender-hearted, wise, witty, ingenious,” he was “the great Cæsar” who was to gather beneath his sway the broken fragments of the Celtic race. Mysterious prophecies, the prophecies of Merlin the Wise, floated from lip to lip, to nerve Wales to its last struggle with the invaders. Medrawd and Arthur would appear once more on earth to fight over again the fatal battle of Camlan. The last conqueror of the Celtic race, Cadwallon, still lived to combat for his people. The supposed verses of Taliesin expressed the undying hope of a restoration of the Cymry. “In their hands shall be all the land from Britanny to Man : . . . a rumour shall arise that the Germans are moving out of Britain back again to their fatherland.” Gathered up in the strange work of Geoffrey of Monmouth, these predictions made a deep impression, not on Wales only, but on its conquerors. It was to meet indeed the dreams of a yet living Arthur that the grave of the legendary

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

Sec. I.

hero-king at Glastonbury was found and visited by Henry the Second. But neither trick nor conquest could shake the firm faith of the Celt in the ultimate victory of his race. “Think you,” said Henry to a Welsh chieftain who had joined his host, “that your people of rebels can withstand my army?” “My people,” replied the chieftain, “may be weakened by your might, and even in great part destroyed, but unless the wrath of God be on the side of its foe it will not perish utterly. Nor deem I that other race or other tongue will answer for this corner of the world before the Judge of all at the last day save this people and tongue of Wales.” So ran the popular rime, “Their Lord they will praise, their speech they shall keep, their land they shall lose—except wild Wales.” Faith and prophecy seemed justified by the growing strength of the British people. The weakness and dissensions which characterized the reign of Henry the Third enabled Lllewelyn ap Jorwerth to preserve a practical independence till the close of his life, when a fresh acknowledgement of the English supremacy was wrested from him by Archbishop Edmund. But the triumphs of his arms were renewed by Lllewelyn the son of Gruffydd, whose ravages swept the border to the very gates of Chester, while his conquest of Glamorgan seemed to bind the whole people together in a power strong enough to meet any attack from the stranger. Throughout the Barons’ war Lllewelyn remained master of Wales. Even at its close the threat of an attack from the now united kingdom only forced him to submission on a practical acknowledgement of his sovereignty. The chieftain whom the English kings had till then scrupulously designated as “Prince of Aberffraw,” was now allowed the title of “Prince of Wales,” and his right to receive homage from the other nobles of his principality was allowed.

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

Sec. I.

Near, however, as Lllewelyn seemed to the final realization of his aims, he was still a vassal of the English crown, and the accession of a new sovereign to the throne was at once followed by the demand of his homage. The youth of Edward the First had already given promise of the high qualities which distinguished him as an English ruler. The passion for law, the instinct of good government, which were to make his reign so memorable in our history, had declared themselves from the first. He had sided with the barons at the outset of their struggle with Henry ; he had striven to keep his father true to the Provisions of Oxford. It was only when the Crown seemed falling into bondage that Edward passed to the royal side ; and when the danger he dreaded was over he returned to his older attitude. In the first flush of victory, while the doom of Simon was yet unknown, Edward stood alone in desiring his captivity against the cry of the Marcher lords for his death. When all was over he wept over the corpse of his cousin, Henry de Montfort, and followed the Earl’s body to the tomb. It was from Earl Simon, as the Earl owned with a

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

THE CONQUEST OF WALES 1265 TO 1284

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

Lllewelyn ap Gruffydd 1246-1283

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

1267

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

The Conquest of Wales

108

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

proud bitterness ere his death, that Edward had learned the skill

of warfare which distinguished him among the princes of his time.

he had learned the far nobler lesson of a self-government which lifted

him high above them as a ruler among men. Severing himself from

the brutal triumph of the royalist party, he secured fair terms to

conquered, and after crushing the last traces of resistance, he won

the adoption by the Crown of the constitutional system of government

for which the barons had fought. So utterly was the land at rest that

he felt free to join a crusade in Palestine. His father's death recalled

him home to meet at once the difficulty of Wales. During two years

Llewelyn rejected the King's repeated summons to him to perform

homage, till Edward's patience was exhausted, and the royal army

marched into North Wales. The fabric of Welsh greatness fell at a

single blow ; the chieftains of the south and centre who had so long

sworn fealty to Llewelyn deserted him to join his English enemies.

an English fleet reduced Anglesea, and the Prince, cooped up in his

fastnesses, was forced to throw himself on the royal mercy. With

characteristic moderation his conqueror contented himself with adding

to the English dominions the coast-district as far as Conway, and

providing that the title of Prince of Wales should cease at Llewelyn's

death. A heavy fine which he had incurred was remitted, and Elcanor

the daughter of Simon of Montfort, who had been arrested on her way

to join him as his wife, was wedded to him at the English court.

For four years all was quiet, but the persuasions of his brother David,

who had deserted him in the previous war, and whose desertion had

been rewarded with an English lordship, roused Llewelyn to a fresh

revolt. A prophecy of Merlin had announced that when England's

money became round the Prince of Wales should be crowned in

London ; and a new coinage of copper money, coupled with a

prohibition to break the silver penny into halves and quarters, as had

been usual, was supposed to have fulfilled the prediction. In the

campaign which followed the Prince held out in Snowdon with the

stubbornness of despair, and the rout of an English detachment which

had thrown a bridge across the Menai Straits into Anglesca prolonged

the contest into the winter. Terrible however as were the

sufferings of the English army, Edward's firmness remained unbroken,

and rejecting all proposals of retreat he issued orders for the formation

of a new army at Caermarthen to complete the circle of investment

round Llewelyn. The Prince sallied from his mountain-hold fortress,

raid upon Radnorshire, and fell in a petty skirmish on the banks of

the Wye. With him died the independence of his race. After months

of flight his brother David was arrested and sentenced in Parliament

to a traitor's death. The submission of the lesser chieftains was

followed by the building of strong castles at Conway and Caernarvon,

and the settlement of English barons on the confiscated lands.

THE THREE EDWARDS.

soil. A wiser instinct of government led Edward to introduce by the

THE THREE EDWARDS.

"Statute of Wales" English law and the English administration of

THE THREE EDWARDS.

justice into Wales. But little came of the attempt; and it was not till

THE THREE EDWARDS.

the time of Henry the Eighth that the country was actually incor-

THE THREE EDWARDS.

porated in England. What Edward had really done was to break the

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Welsh resistance. His policy of justice. (for the "massacre of the

THE THREE EDWARDS.

bards" is a mere fable) accomplished its end, and in spite of two later

THE THREE EDWARDS.

rebellions Wales ceased to be any serious danger to England for a

THE THREE EDWARDS.

hundred years.

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

[Authorities.—The short treatise on the Constitution of Parliament called

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

"Modus tenendi Parliamenta." may be taken as a fair account of its actual

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

state and powers in the fourteenth century. It has been reprinted by Dr.

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

Stubbs, in the invaluable collection of Documents which serves as the base of

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

the present section. Sir Francis Palgrave has illustrated the remedial side

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

of our parliamentary institutions with much vigour and picturesqueness in his

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

"History of the linglish Commonwealth," but his conclusions are often hasty and

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

prejudiced. On all constitutional points from the reign of Edward the First we

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

can now rely on the judgment and research of Mr. Hallam ("Middle Ages").]

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

[The second volume of Dr. Stubbs's "Constitutional History" which deals

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

with this period was published after this History was written and the list of

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

authorities prepared.—Ed.]

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

The conquest of Wales marked the adoption of a new attitude and

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

policy on the part of the crown. From the earliest moment of his

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

reign Edward the First definitely abandoned all dreams of recovering

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

the foreign dominions which his grandfather had lost. He concen-

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

trated himself on the consolidation and good government of England

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

itself. We can only fairly judge his annexation of Wales, or his attempt

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

to annex Scotland, if we regard them as parts of the same scheme of

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

national administration to which we owe his final establishment of our

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

judicature, our legislation, our Parliament. The King's English policy,

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

like his English name, was the sign of a new epoch. The long period

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

of national formation had come practically to an end. With the reign

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

of Edward begins modern England, the constitutional England in

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

which we live. It is not that any chasm separates our history before

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

it from our history after it, as the chasm of the Revolution divides the

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

history of France, for we have traced the rudiments of our constitution

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

to the first moment of the English settlement in Britain. But it is with

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

these as with our language. The tongue of Ælfred is the very tongue

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

we speak, but in spite of its identity with modern English it has to be

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

learned like the tongue of a stranger. On the other hand, the English

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

of Chaucer is almost as intelligible as our own. In the first the

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

historian and philologer can study the origin and developement of our

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

national speech, in the last a school-boy can enjoy the story of Troilus

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Section II.—The English Parliament, 1283—1295.

and Cressida, or listen to the gay chat of the Canterbury Pilgrims. In

SEC. II.

THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT 1283 TO 1295

precisely the same way a knowledge of our earliest laws is indispensable for the right understanding of later legislation, its origin and developement, while the principles of our Parliamentary system necessarily be studied in the Meetings of Wise Men before the quest or the Great Council of barons after it. But the Parlian-

trative of the history of later Parliaments, they are absolutely identical with those which still sit at St. Stephen's; and a statute of Edwa unrepealed, can be pleaded in our courts as formally as a statute of Victoria. In a word, the long struggle of the constitution for an existence has come to an end. The contests which follow are not tests which tell, like those which preceded them, on the actual forms of our political institutions; they are simply stages in the rough discipline by which England has learned, and is still learning, how best to use and how wisely to develope the latent powers of its national life, to adjust the balance of its social and political forces, and to adapt constitutional forms to the varying conditions of the time. From

reign of Edward, in fact, we are face to face with modern Enge King, Lords, Commons, the Courts of Justice, the forms of public administration, our local divisions and provincial jurisdictions, the relations of Church and State, in great measure the framework of the society itself, have all taken the shape which they still essentially retain.

Judicial reforms

Much of this great change is doubtless attributable to the general temper of the age, whose special task and object seemed to be that of reducing to distinct form the great principles which had sprung into a new and vigorous life during the century that preceded it. As the opening of the thirteenth century had been an age of founders, creators, discoverers, so its close was an age of lawyers; the most illustrious men of the time were no longer such as Bacon, or Earl Simon, or Francis of Assisi, but men such as St. Lewis of France or Alfons the Wise, organizers, administrators, framers of laws and institutions. It was to this class that Edward himself belonged. He had little of the creative genius or political originality in his character, but he possessed in a high degree the faculty of organization, and his passionate love of law broke out even in the legal chicanery to which he sometimes stooped. In the judicial reforms to which so much of his attention was directed, he showed himself, if not an "English Justinian," at any rate a clear-sighted man of business, developing, reforming, bringing into a lasting shape the institutions of his predecessors. One of his first cares was to complete the judicial reforms begun by Henry. The most important court of civil jurisdiction, the Sheriff's or County Court, remained unchanged, both in the extent of its jurisdiction and the character of the Sheriff as a royal officer. But the superior courts

The three Common Law Courts

into which the King's Court had since the Great Charter divided it

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1509 Erasmus writes the "Praise of Folly."

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1512 War with France.

X

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1513 Battles of the Spurs and of Flodden.

X

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Wolsey becomes chief Minister.

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1515 More's "Utopia."

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1517 Luther denounces Indulgences.

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1520 Field of Cloth of Gold.

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Luther burns the Pope's Bull.

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1521 Quarrel of Luther with Henry the Eighth.

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1522 Renewal of French war.

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1523 Wolsey quarrels with the Commons.

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1525 Exaction of Benevolences defeated.

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Peace with France.

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Tyndale translates the New Testament.

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1526 Henry resolves on a Divorce. Persecution of Protestants.

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1529 Fall of Wolsey. Ministry of Norfolk and More.

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1531 King acknowledged as "Supreme Head of the Church of England."

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1532 Statute of Appeals.

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1534 Acts of Supremacy and Succession.

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1535 Cromwell Vicar-General.

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Death of More.

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Overthrow of the Geraldines in Ireland.

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1536 Dissolution of lesser Monasteries.

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1537 Pilgrimage of Grace.

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1538 English Bible issued.

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1539 Execution of Lord Exeter.

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Law of Six Articles.

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Suppression of greater Abbeys.

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1542 Completion of the Tudor Conquest of Ireland.

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1544 War with France.

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1547 Execution of Earl of Surrey.

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Edward the Sixth, died 1553.

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Battle of Pinkie Cleugh.

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Suppression of Chantries.

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1548 English Book of Common Prayer.

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1549 Western Rebellion. End of Somerset's Protectorate.

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1551 Death of Somerset.

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1553 Mary, died 1558.

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Chancellor discovers Archangel.

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1554 Mary marries Philip of Spain.

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England absolved by Cardinal Pole.

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1555 Persecution of Protestants begins.

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1556 Burning of Archbishop Cranmer

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1557 War with France.

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1558 Loss of Calais.

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Elizabeth, died 1603.

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1559 — restores Royal Supremacy and English Prayer Book.

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1560 War in Scotland.

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1561 Mary Stuart lands in Scotland.

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1562 Rebellion of Shane O'Neill in Ulster.

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1562 Elizabeth supports French Huguenots

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Hawkins begins Slave Trade with Africa.

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1563 First penal statute against Catholics

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English driven out of Havre.

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Thirty-nine Articles imposed on clergy

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1565 Mary marries Darnley.

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1566 Darnley murders Rizzio.

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Royal Exchange built.

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1567 Murder of Darnley.

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Defeat and death of Shane O'Neill.

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1568 Mary flies to England.

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1569 Revolt of the northern Earls.

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1570 Bull of Deposition published.

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1571 Conspiracy and death of Norfolk.

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1572 Rising of the Low Countries against Cartwright's "Admonition to the Parliament."

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1575 Queen refuses Netherlands.

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1576 First public Theatre in Blackfriars.

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Landing of the Seminary Priests.

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1577 Drake sets sail for the Pacific.

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1579 Lyly's "Euphues."

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Spenser publishes "Shepherd's Calendar."

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1580 Campian and Parsons in England.

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Revolt of the Desmonds.

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Massacre of Smerwick.

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1583 Plots to assassinate Elizabeth.

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New powers given to Ecclesiastical mission.

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1584 Murder of Prince of Orange.

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Armada gathers in the Tagus.

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Colonization of Virginia.

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1585 English Army sent to Netherlands.

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Drake on the Spanish Coast.

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1586 Battle of Zutphen.

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Babington's Plot.

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1587 Shakspere in London.

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Death of Mary Stuart.

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Drake burns Spanish fleet at Cadiz.

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Marlowe's "Tamburlaine."

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1588 Defeat of the Armada.

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

Martin Marprelate Tracts.

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1589 Drake plunders Corunna.

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1590 Publication of the "Faerie Queene."

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1593 Shakspere's "Venus and Adonis."

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1594 Hooker's "Ecclesiastical Polity."

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1596 Jonson's "Every Man in his Humour"

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

Descent upon Cadiz.

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1597 Ruin of the Second Armada.

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

Bacon's "Essays."

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1598 Revolt of Hugh O'Neill.

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1599 Expedition of Earl of Essex in Ireland

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1601 Execution of Essex.

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1603 Mountjoy completes the conquest of Ireland.

X

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

Death of Elizabeth.

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

Sec. II. THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT 1283 TO 1295

those of the King's Bench, Exchequer, and Common Pleas, now received a distinct staff of judges for each court. Of far greater importance than this change, which was in effect but the completion of a process of severance that had long been going on, was the establishment of an equitable jurisdiction side by side with that of the common law. In his reform of 1178 Henry the Second had broken up the older King's Court, which had till then served as the final Court of Appeal, by the severance of the purely legal judges who had been gradually added to it from the general body of his councillors. The judges thus severed from the Council retained the name and the ordinary jurisdiction of " the King's Court," while all cases in which they failed to do justice were reserved for the special cognizance of the royal Council itself. To this final jurisdiction of the King in Council Edward gave a wide developement. His assembly of the ministers, the higher permanent officials, and the law officers of the Crown, for the first time reserved to itself in its judicial capacity the correction of all breaches of the law which the lower courts had failed to repress, whether from weakness, partiality, or corruption, and especially of those lawless outbreaks of the more powerful baronage which defied the common authority of the judges. Though regarded with jealousy by Parliament, the jurisdiction of the Council seems to have been steadily put in force through the two centuries which followed ; in the reign of Henry the Seventh it took legal and statutory form in the shape of the Court of Star Chamber, and its powers are still exercised in our own day by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. But the same duty of the Crown to do justice where its courts fell short of giving due redress for wrong expressed itself in the jurisdiction of the Chancellor. This great officer of State, who had perhaps originally acted only as President of the Council when discharging its judicial functions, acquired at a very early date an independent judicial position of the same nature. It is by remembering the origin of the Court of Chancery that we understand the nature of the powers it gradually acquired. All grievances of the subject, especially those which sprang from the misconduct of government officials or of powerful oppressors, fell within its cognizance, as they fell within that of the Royal Council, and to these were added disputes respecting the wardship of infants, dower, rent-charges, or tithes. Its equitable jurisdiction sprang from the defective nature and the technical and unbending rules of the common law. As the Council had given redress in cases where law became injustice, so the Court of Chancery interfered without regard to the rules of procedure adopted by the common law courts, on the petition of a party for whose grievance the common law provided no adequate remedy. An analogous extension of his powers enabled the Chancellor to afford relief in cases of fraud, accident, or abuse of trust, and this side of his jurisdiction was largely

Sec. II.

extended at a later time through the results of legislation on the to of land by ecclesiastical bodies. The separate powers of the C cellor, whatever was the original date at which they were exercised, seem to have been thoroughly established under Edi the First.

The English Parliament 1283 to 1295 Edward's legislation

In legislation, as in his judicial reforms, Edward renewed and solidified the principles which had been already brought into prac working by Henry the Second. Significant acts announced his d mination to carry out Henry's policy of limiting the indepen jurisdiction of the Church. He was resolute to force it to bec thoroughly national by bearing its due part of the common nati burthens, and to break its growing dependence upon Rome. defiant resistance of the ecclesiastical body was answered in emphatic way. By falling into the "dead hand" or "mortmain" o Church land ceased to render its feudal services ; and the Statute Mortmain" nowforbade the alienation of land to religious bodies in wise that it should cease to render its due service to the King. restriction was probably no beneficial one to the country at large Churchmen were the best landlords, and it was soon evaded by ingenuity of the clerical lawyers ; but it marked the growing jeal of any attempt to set aside what was national from serving the gen need and profit of the nation. Its immediate effect was to stir clergy to a bitter resentment. But Edward remained firm, and w the bishops proposed to restrict the royal courts from dealing with c of patronage or causes which touched the chattels of Churchmen he their proposals by an instant prohibition. His care for the tra classes was seen in the Statute of Merchants, which provided for registration of the debts of traders, and for their recovery by distri of the debtor's goods. and the imprisonment of his person.

1285

Statute of Winchester, the greatest of Edward's measures for enforcement of public order, revived and reorganized the old inst tions of national police and national defence. It regulated the act of the hundred, the duty of watch and ward, and the gathering of fyrd or militia of the realm as Henry the Second had moulded it i form in his Assize of Arms. Every man was bound to hold him in readiness, duly armed, for the King's service in case of inva i in revolt, or to pursue felons when hue and cry were raised afier the Every district was made responsible for crimes committed withia bounds ; the gates of each town were required to be closed at ni fall, and all strangers to give an account of themselves to it ma istrates. As a security for travellers against sudden attacks from robbe all brushwood was to be destroyed for a space of two hundre feet either side the public highway, a provision which illustrates at on the social and physical condition of the country at the time. enforce the observance of this act knights were appointed in every sh

Justices of the Peace 1285

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

under the name of Conservators of the Peace, a name which, as the convenience of these local magistrates was more sensibly felt and their powers more largely extended, was changed for that which they still retain of "Justices of the Peace." The great measure which is commonly known as the Statute "Quia Emptores" is one of those legislative efforts which mark the progress of a wide social revolution in the country at large. The number of the greater barons was diminishing every day, while the number of the country gentry and of the more substantial yeomanry was increasing with the increase of the national wealth. This increase showed itself in the growing desire to become proprietors of land. Tenants of the greater barons received under-tenants on condition of their rendering them similar services to those which they themselves rendered to their lords; and the baronage, while duly receiving the services in compensation for which they had originally granted their lands in fee, saw with jealousy the feudal profits of these new under-tenants, the profits of wardship or of reliefs and the like, in a word the whole increase in the value of the estate consequent on its subdivision and higher cultivation, passing into other hands than their own. The purpose of the statute was to check this process by providing that in any case of alienation the sub-tenant should henceforth hold, not of the tenant, but directly of the superior lord. But its result was to promote instead of hindering the transfer and subdivision of land. The tenant who was before compelled to retain in any case so much of the estate as enabled him to discharge his feudal services to the over-lord of whom he held it, was now enabled by a process analogous to the modern sale of "tenant-right," to transfer both land and services to new holders. However small the estates thus created might be, the bulk were held directly of the Crown; and this class of lesser gentry and freeholders grew steadily from this time in numbers and importance.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

It is to the same social revolution as well as to the large statesmanship of Edward the First that we owe our Parliament. Neither the Meeting of the Wise Men before the Conquest, nor the Great Council of the Barons after it, had been in any way representative bodies. The first theoretically included all free holders of land, but it shrank at an early time into a gathering of earls, higher nobles, and bishops, with the officers and thegns of the royal household. Little change was made in the composition of this assembly by the Conquest, for the Great Council of the Norman kings was held to include all tenants who held directly of the Crown, the bishops and greater abbots (whose character as independent spiritual members tended more and more to merge in their position as barons), and the great officers of the Court. But though its composition remained the same, the character of the assembly was essentially altered. From a free gathering of "Wise Men" it sank to a Royal Court of feudal vassals. Its functions seem

SEC. II.

THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT 1283 TO 1295 1290

The Great Council of the Realm

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Sec. 11. THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT 1283 TO 1295

to have become almost nominal, and its powers to have been restricted without debate or possibility of refusal, all grants demanded from it by the Crown. Its “counsel and consent,” however, remained necessary for the legal validity of every great fiscal or political measure, and its very existence was an effectual protest against the imperial theories advanced by the lawyers of Henry the Second, theories which declared all legislative power to reside wholly in the sovereign. It was in fact under Henry that these assemblies became more regular, and their functions more important. The reforms which marked his reign were issued in the Great Council, and even financial matters were suffered to be debated there. But it was not till the grant of the Great Charter that its powers over taxation were formally recognized, and the principle established that no burthen beyond the customary feudal aids might be imposed “save by the Common Council of the Realm.” The same great document first expressly regulated its form. In theory, as we have seen, the assembly consisted of all who held land directly of the Crown. But the same causes which restricted attendance at the Witenagemot to the greater nobles told on the actual composition of the Council of Barons. While the attendance of the ordinary tenants in chief, the Knights or “Lesser Barons,” was burthensome from its expense to themselves, their numbers and their dependence on the higher nobles made their assembly dangerous to the Crown. As early, therefore, as the time of Henry the First we find a distinction recognized between the “Greater Barons,” of whom the Council was usually composed, and the “Lesser Barons” who formed the bulk of the tenants of the Crown. But though the attendance of the latter had become rare, their right of attendance remained intact. While enacting that the prelates and greater barons should be summoned by special writs to each gathering of the Council, a remarkable provision of the Great Charter orders a general summons to be issued through the Sheriff to all direct tenants of the Crown. The provision was probably intended to rouse the lesser baronage to the exercise of rights which had practically passed into desuetude, but as the clause is omitted in later issues of the Charter we may doubt whether the principle it embodied ever received more than a very limited application. There are traces of the attendance of a few of the lesser knighthood, gentry perhaps of the neighbourhood where the assembly was held, in some of its meetings under Henry the Third, but till a late period in the reign of his successor the Great Council practically remained a gathering of the greater barons, the prelates, and the officers of the Crown. The change which the Great Charter had failed to accomplish was now, however, brought about by the social circumstances of the time. One of the most remarkable of these was the steady decrease in the number of the greater nobles. The bulk of the earldoms had already lapsed

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

to the Crown through the extinction of the families of their possessors ; of the greater baronies, many had practically ceased to exist by their division among co-heiresses, many through the constant struggle of the poorer barons to rid themselves of their rank by a disclaimer, so as to escape the burthen of higher taxation and attendance in Parliament which it involved. How far this diminution had gone we may see from the fact that hardly more than a hundred barons sat in the earlier Councils of Edward's reign. But while the number of those who actually possessed the privilege of assisting in Parliament was rapidly diminishing, the numbers and wealth of the "lesser baronage," whose right of attendance had become a mere constitutional tradition, was as rapidly increasing. The long peace and prosperity of the realm, the extension of its commerce, and the increased export of wool, were swelling the ranks and incomes of the country gentry as well as of the freeholders and substantial yeomanry. We have already noticed the growing passion for the possession of land which makes his reign so critical a moment in the history of the English freeholder ; but the same tendency had to some extent existed in the preceding century, and it was a consciousness of the growing importance of this class of rural proprietors which induced the barons at the time of the harter to make their fruitless attempt to induce them to take part in the deliberations of the Great Council. But while the barons desired their presence as an aid against the Crown, the Crown itself desired as a means of rendering taxation more efficient. So long as the Great Council remained a mere assembly of magnates it was necessary for the King's ministers to treat separately with the other orders of the state as to the amount and assessment of their contributions. The grant made in the Great Council was binding only on the barons and prelates who made it ; but before the aids of the boroughs, the Church, and the shires could reach the royal treasury, a separate negotiation had to be conducted by the officers of the Exchequer with the reeves of each town, the sheriff and shire-court of each county, and the archdeacons of each diocese. Bargains of this sort would be the more lious and disappointing as the necessities of the Crown increased the later years of Edward, and it became a matter of fiscal expediency to obtain the sanction of any proposed taxation through the presence of these classes in the Great Council itself.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

Sec. II. THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT 1283 TO 1295

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

The effort, however, to revive the old personal attendance of the lesser baronage, which had broken down half a century before, could only be renewed at a time when the increase of their numbers made it more impracticable than ever ; but a means of escape from this iculty was fortunately suggested by the very nature of the court sugh which alone a summons could be addressed to the landed ghthood. Amidst the many judicial reforms of Henry or Edward Shire Court remained unchanged. The haunted mound or the

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

Knights of the Shire

CONTENTS

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . v--xvi GENEALOGICAL TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii--xxxii

CHAPTER IV

THE THREE EDWARDS, 1265--1360

Sect. 1.--The Conquest of Wales, 1265--1284

Sect. 1.--The Conquest of Wales, 1265--1284 . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

CHAPTER IV

THE THREE EDWARDS, 1265--1360

2.--The English Parliament, 1283--1295

" 2.--The English Parliament, 1283--1295 . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

CHAPTER IV

THE THREE EDWARDS, 1265--1360

3.--The Conquest of Scotland, 1290--1305

" 3.--The Conquest of Scotland, 1290--1305 . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

CHAPTER IV

THE THREE EDWARDS, 1265--1360

4.--The English Towns

" 4.--The English Towns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

CHAPTER IV

THE THREE EDWARDS, 1265--1360

5.--The King and the Baranage, 1290--1327

" 5.--The King and the Baranage, 1290--1327 . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

CHAPTER IV

THE THREE EDWARDS, 1265--1360

6.--The Scotch War of Independence, 1306--1342

" 6.--The Scotch War of Independence, 1306--1342 . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

CHAPTER V

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR, 1336--1431

Sect. 1.--Edward the Third, 1336--1360

Sect. 1.--Edward the Third, 1336--1360 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

CHAPTER V

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR, 1336--1431

2.--The Good Parliament, 1360--1377

" 2.--The Good Parliament, 1360--1377 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

CHAPTER V

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR, 1336--1431

3.--John Wyclif

" 3.--John Wyclif . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

CHAPTER V

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR, 1336--1431

4.--The Peasant Revolt, 1377--1381

" 4.--The Peasant Revolt, 1377--1381 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

CHAPTER V

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR, 1336--1431

5.--Richard the Second, 1381--1399

" 5.--Richard the Second, 1381--1399 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

CHAPTER V

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR, 1336--1431

6.--The House of Lancaster, 1399--1422

" 6.--The House of Lancaster, 1399--1422 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

immemorial oak round which the assembly gathered (for the court was often held in the open air) were the relics of a time before the free kingdom had sunk into a shire, and its folk-moot into a County Court. But save that the King's reeve had taken the place of the

King, and that the Norman legislation had displaced the Bishop and set four Coroners by the Sheriff's side, the gathering of the free-holders remained much as of old. The local knighthood, the yeomanry, the husbandmen of the county, were all represented in the crowd that gathered round the Sheriff, as guarded by his liveried followers, he published the King's writs, announced his demand of aids, received the presentment of criminals and the inquest of the local jurors, assessed the taxation of each district, or listened solemnly to appeals for justice, civil and criminal, from all who held themselves oppressed in the lesser courts of the hundred or the soke. It was in the County Court alone that the Sheriff could legally summon the lesser baronage to attend the Great Council, and it was in the actual constitution of this assembly that the Crown found a solution of the difficulty which we have already stated. For the principle of repre-

sentation by which it was finally solved was coeval with the Shire Court itself. In all cases of civil or criminal justice the twelve sworn assessors of the Sheriff, as members of a class, though not formally deputed for that purpose, practically represented the judicial opinion of the county at large. From every hundred came groups of twelve sworn deputies, the "jurors," through whom the presentments of the district were made to the royal officer, and with whom the assess-ment of its share in the general taxation was arranged. The husband-men on the outskirts of the crowd, clad in the brown smock frock which still lingers in the garb of our carters and ploughmen, were broken up into little knots of five, a reeve and four assistants, who formed the representatives of the rural townships. If, in fact, we regard the Shire Courts as lineally the descendants of our earliest English folk-moots, we may justly claim the principle of parliamentary representation as among the oldest of our institutions. But it was only slowly and tentatively that this principle was applied to the reconstitution of the Great Council. As early as the close of John's reign there are indications of the approaching change in the summons of "four discreet knights" from every county. Fresh need of local support was felt by both parties in the conflict of the succeeding reign, and Henry and his barons alike summoned knights from each shire "to meet on the common business of the realm." It was no doubt with the same purpose that the writs of Earl Simon ordered the choice of knights in each shire for his famous parliament of 1265. Something like a continuous attendance may be dated from the accession of Edward, but it was long before the knights were regarded as more than local deputies for the assessment of taxation, or admitted

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

Sec. II. THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT 1283 TO 1295

to a share in the general business of the Great Council. The statute "Quia Emptores," for instance, was passed in it before the knights who had been summoned could attend. Their participation in the delibcrative power of Parliament, as well as their regular and continuous attendance, dates only from the Parliament of 1295. But a far greater constitutional change in their position had already taken place through the extension of electoral rights to the freeholders at large. The one class entitled to a seat in the Great Council was, as we have seen, that of the lesser baronage ; and of the lesser baronage alone the knights were in theory the representatives. But the necessity of holding their election in the County Court rendered any restriction of the electoral body physically impossible. The court was composed of the whole body of freeholders, and no sheriff could distinguish the "aye, aye" of the yeoman from the "aye, aye" of the lesser baron. From the first moment therefore of their attendance we find the knights regarded not as mere representatives of the aronage, but as knights of the shire, and by this silent revolution the whole body of the rural freeholders were admitted to a share in the government of the realm.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

Sec. II. THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT 1283 TO 1295

The financial difficulties of the Crown led to a far more radical revolution in the admission into the Great Council of representatives from the boroughs. The presence of knights from each shire was, as we have seen, the recognition of an older right, but no right of attendance or burgesses of the towns. On the other hand, the rapid developement of their wealth made them every day more important as elements in national taxation. The towns had long since freed themselves from all payment of the dues or fines exacted by the King, as the original lord of the soil on which they had in most cases grown up by what was called the purchase of the "farm of the borough"; in other words, by the commutation of these uncertain dues for a fixed sum paid annually to the Crown, and apportioned by their own magistrates among the general body of the burghers. All that the lord legally retained was the right enjoyed by every great proprietor of land of "a free aid," whenever a grant was made for the national necessities by the barons of the Great Council. But the temptation of appropriating the growing wealth of the mercantile class proved stronger than legal restrictions, and we find both Henry the Third and his son imposing taxes at pleasure and without any authority from the Council even over London itself. The burgesses could indeed refuse to contribute to the "free aid" demanded by royal officers, but the suspension of their markets or trading privileges brought them in the end to submission. Each of these "free aids" however, had to be extorted after a long wrangle between the

Sec. II.

THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT 1283 TO 1295

ecclesiastical order. The King had twice at least summoned 'proctors' to Great Councils before 1295, but it was then only the complete representation of the Church was definitely organized the insertion of a clause in the writ which summoned a bishop, Parliament requiring the personal attendance of all archdeacons, or priors of cathedral churches, of a proctor for each chapter, and two for the clergy within his diocese. The clause repeated in the writs of the present day, but its practical effect foiled almost from the first by the resolute opposition of those whom it was addressed. What the towns failed in doing the clergy actually did. Even when forced to comply with the royal summons as they seem to have been forced during Edward's reign, they acted jealously by themselves, and their refusal to vote supplies in any other than their own provincial assemblies, or convocations, of Canterbury or York left the Crown without a motive for insisting on their continual attendance. Their presence indeed, though still occasionally granted on some solemn occasions, became so pure a formality that by the end of the fifteenth century it had sunk wholly into desuetude. In the anxiety to preserve their existence as an isolated and privileged order the clergy flung away a power which, had they retained it, would have ruinously hampered the healthy developement of the state. To take a single instance, it is difficult to see how the great changes of the Reformation could have been brought about had a good half of the House of Commons consisted purely of churchmen, whose numbers would have been backed by the weight of property as possessors of a third of the landed estates of the realm. A hardly less important difference may be found in the gradual restriction of the meeting Parliament to Westminster. The names of the early statutes remind us of its convocation at the most various quarters, at Winchester, Acton Burnell, or Northampton. It was at a later time that Parliament became settled in the straggling village which had grown up around the marshy swamp of the Isle of Thorns, beside the palace where the embattled pile towered over the Thames and the great minster which was still rising in Edward's day on the site of the older church of the Confessor. It is possible that, while contributing greatly to its constitutional importance, this settlement of the Parliament may have helped to throw into the background its character as a supreme court of appeal. The proclamation by which it was called together invited 'all who had any grace to demand of the King in Parliament, or any plea to make of matters which could not be redressed or determined in the ordinary course of law, or who had been in any way aggrieved by the King's ministers or justices or sheriffs, or their bailiffs, or other officer, or have been unduly assessed, rated, charged, or otherwise wronged,' to deliver their petitions to the receivers who sat in the Great Hall of the Palace of Westmins

Restriction of Parliament to Westminster

Parliament as Court of Appeal

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

The petitions were forwarded to the King's Council, and it was probably the extension of the jurisdiction of that body, and the subsequent rise of the Court of Chancery, which reduced this ancient right of the subject to the formal election of "Triers of Petitions" at the opening of every new Parliament by the House of Lords, a usage which is still continued. But it must have been owing to some memory of the older custom that the subject always looked for redress against injuries from the Crown or its ministers to the Parliament of the realm.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

Section III.—The Conquest of Scotland, 1290–1305.

[Authorities.—Scotland itself has no contemporary chronicles for this period : the jingling rimes of Blind Harry are two hundred years later than the death of his hero, Wallace. Those of England are meagre and inaccurate ; the most important are the "Annales Angliæ et Scotiæ" and "Annales Regni Scotiæ," Rishanger's Chronicle, his "Gesta Edwardi Primi," and three fragments of annals (all published in the Rolls Series). The portion of the so-called Walsingham's History which relates to this time is now attributed by its latest editor, Mr. Riley, to Rishanger's hand. But the main source of our information lies in the copious collection of state papers preserved in Rymer's "Fœdera," in the "Rotuli Scotiæ," and in the "Documents and Records illustrative of the History of Scotland," edited by Sir F. Palgrave. Mr. Robertson, in his "Scotland under her Early Kings," has admirably illustrated the ages before the quarrel, and Mr. Barton in his History of Scotland has stated the quarrel itself with great accuracy and fairness. For Edward's side see the preface of Sir F. Palgrave to the work above, and Mr. Freeman's essay on "The Relations between the Crowns of England and Scotland."]

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

The personal character of Edward the First had borne a large part in the constitutional changes which we have described, but it becomes of the highest moment during the war with Scotland which covers the latter half of his reign.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

In his own time, and amongst his own subjects, Edward was the object of almost boundless admiration. He was in the truest sense a national King. At the moment when the last trace of foreign conquest passed away, when the descendants of those who won and those who lost at Senlac blended for ever into an English people, England saw in her ruler no stranger, but an Englishman. The national tradition returned in more than the golden hair or the English name which linked him to our carlier Kings. Edward's very temper was English to the core. In good as in evil he stands out as the typical representative of the race he ruled, like them wilful and imperious, tenacious of his rights, indomitable in his pride, dogged, stubborn, slow of apprehension, narrow in sympathy, but like them, too, just in the main, unselfish, laborious, conscientious, haughtily observant of truth and self-respect, temperate, reverent of duty, religious. He inherited

248

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. IV. THE PEASANT REVOLT 1377 TO 1381

a modern landlord, receiving a rental in money from his tenants, and dependent for the cultivation of his own demesne on paid labourers. But a formidable difficulty now met the landowners who had been driven by the process of enfranchisement to rely on hired labour. Hitherto this supply had been abundant and cheap; but this abundance suddenly disappeared. The most terrible plague which the world ever witnessed advanced at this juncture from the East, and after devastating Europe from the shores of the Mediterranean to the Baltic, swooped at the close of 1348 upon Britain. The traditions of its destructiveness, and the panic-struck words of the statutes which followed it, have been more than justified by modern research. Of the three or four millions who then formed the population of England, more than one-half were swept away in its repeated visitations. Its ravages were fiercest in the greater towns, where filthy and undrained streets afforded a constant haunt to leprosy and fever. In the burial-ground which the piety of Sir Walter Maunay purchased for the citizens of London, a spot whose site was afterwards marked by the Charter House, more than fifty thousand corpses are said to have been interred. Thousands of people perished at Norwich, while in Bristol the living were hardly able to bury the dead. But the Black Death fell on the villages almost as fiercely as on the towns. More than one-half of the priests of York-shire are known to have perished; in the diocese of Norwich two-thirds of the parishes changed their incumbents. The whole organization of labour was thrown out of gear. The scarcity of hands made it difficult for the minor tenants to perform the services due for their lands, and only a temporary abandonment of half the rent by the land-owners induced the farmers to refrain from the abandonment of their farms. For a time cultivation became impossible. "The sheep and cattle strayed through the fields and corn," says a contemporary, "and there were none left who could drive them." Even when the first burst of panic was over, the sudden rise of wages consequent on the enormous diminution in the supply of free labour, though accompanied by a corresponding rise in the price of food, rudely disturbed the course of industrial employments; harvests rotted on the ground, and fields were left untilled, not merely from scarcity of hands, but from the strife which now for the first time revealed itself between capital and labour.

1349

While the landowners of the country and the wealthier craftsmen of the town were threatened with ruin by what seemed to their age the extravagant demands of the new labour class, the country itself was torn with riot and disorder. The outbreak of lawless self indulgence which followed everywhere in the wake of the plague told especially upon the "landless men," wandering in search of work, and for the first time masters of the labour market; and the wandering labourer or

The Statutes of Labourers

SEC. III.

indeed from the Angevins their fierce and passionate wrath ; his punishments, when he punished in anger, were without pity ; and a priest who ventured at a moment of storm into his presence with a remonstrance dropped dead from sheer fright at his feet. But for the most part his impulses were generous, trustful, averse from cruelty, prone to forgiveness. " No man ever asked mercy of me," he said in his old age, " and was refused." The rough soldierly nobleness of his nature breaks out at Falkirk, where he lay on the bare ground among his men, or in his refusal during a Welsh campaign to drink of the one cask of wine which had been saved from marauders : " It is I who have brought you into this strait," he said to his thirsty fellow-soldiers, " and I will have no advantage of you in meat or drink." A strange tenderness and sensitiveness to affection lay in fact beneath the stern imperiousness of his outer bearing. Every subject throughout his realm was drawn closer to the King who wept bitterly at the news of his father's death, though it gave him a crown ; whose fiercest burst of vengeance was called out by an insult to his mother ; whose crosses rose as memorials of his love and sorrow at every spot where his wife's bier rested. " I loved her tenderly in her lifetime," wrote Edward to Eleanor's friend, the Abbot of Cluny ; " I do not cease to love her now she is dead." And as it was with mother and wife, so it was with his people at large. All the self-concentrated isolation of the earlier Angevins disappears in Edward. He was the first English king since the Conquest who loved his people with a personal love, and craved for their love back again. To his trust in them we owe our Parliament, to his care for them the great statutes which stand in the forefront of our laws. Even in his struggles with her England understood a temper which was so perfectly her own, and the quarrels between King and people during his reign are quarrels where, doggedly as they fought, neither disputant doubted for a moment the worth or affection of the other. Few scenes in our history are more touching than that which closes the long contest over the Charter, when Edward stood face to face with his people in Westminster Hall, and with a sudden burst of tears owned himself frankly in the wrong.

But it was just this sensitiveness, this openness to outer impressions and outer influences, that led to the strange contradictions which meet us in Edward's career. Under the first king whose temper was distinctively English a foreign influence told most fatally on our manners, our literature, our national spirit. The rise of France into a compact and organized monarchy from the time of Philip Augustus was now making its influence dominant in Western Europe. The " chivalry " so familiar in Froissart, that picturesque mimicry of high sentiment, of heroism, love, and courtesy, before which all depth and reality of nobleness disappeared to make room for the coarsest profligacy, the

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Sec. III.

narrowest caste-spirit, and a brutal indifference to human suffering, was specially of French creation. There was a nobleness in Edward's nature from which the baser influences of this chivalry fell away. His life was pure, his piety, save when it stooped to the superstition of the time, manly and sincere, while his high sense of duty saved him from the frivolous self-indulgence of his successors. But he was far from being wholly free from the taint of his age. His passionate desire was to be a model of the fashionable chivalry of his day. He had been famous from his very youth as a consummate general ; Earl Simon had admired the skill of his advance at Evesham, and in his Welsh campaign he had shown a tenacity and force of .will which wrested victory out of the midst of defeat. He could head a furious charge of horse at Lewes, or organize a commissariat which enabled him to move army after army across the harried Lowlands. In his old age he was quick to discover the value of the English archery, and to employ it as a means of victory at Falkirk. But his fame as a general seemed a small thing to Edward when compared with his fame as a knight. He shared to the full his people's love of hard fighting. His frame, indeed, was that of a born soldier---tall, deep-chested, long of limb, capable alike of endurance or action. When he encountered Adam Gurdon, a knight of gigantic size and renowned prowess, after Evesham he forced him single-handed to beg for mercy. At the opening of his reign he saved his life by sheer fighting in a tournament at Challon. It was this love of adventure which lent itself to the frivolous unreality of the new chivalry. At his "Round Table of Kenilworth" a hundred lords and ladies, "clad all in silk," renewed the faded glories of Arthur's Court. The false air of romance which was soon to turn the gravest political resolutions into outbursts of sentimental feeling appeared in his "Vow of the Swan," when rising at the royal board he swore on the dish before him to avenge on Scotland the murder of Comyn. Chivalry exerted on him a yet more fatal influence in its narrowing.of his sympathy to the noble class, and in its exclusion of the peasant and the craftsman from all claim to pity. "Knight without reproach" as he was, he looked calmly on at the massacre of the burghers of Berwick, and saw in William Wallace nothing but a common robber.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Sec. III.

Hardly less powerful than the French notion of chivalry in its influence on Edward's mind was the new French conception of kingship, feudality, and law. The rise of a lawyer class was everywhere hardening customary into written rights, allegiance into subjection, loose ties such as commendation into a definite vassalage. But it was specially through French influence, the influence of St. Lewis and his successors, that the imperial theories of the Roman Law were brought to bear upon this natural tendency of the time. When the "sacred majesty" of the Cæsars was transferred by a legal fiction to the royal head of a feudal

Sec. III.

The Conquest of Scotland 1290 to 1305 baronage, every constitutional relation was changed. The "detestable" deed by which a vassal renounced service to his lord became treason after resistance " sacrilege." That Edward could appreciate what was sound and noble in the legal spirit around him was shown in the reforms of our judicature and our Parliament; but there was nothing as congenial to his mind in its delimiteness, its rigidness and narrow technicalities. He was never wilfully unjust, but he was often captious in his justice, fond of legal chicaneiy, prompt to take advantage of the letter of the law. The high conception of right which he had borrowed from St. Lewis united with this legal tendency in charter or roll Edward would know nothing, while his own sense was overpowered by the majesty of his crown. It was incredible to him that Scotland should revolt against a legal lord on whom her national independence conditional on the terms extorted from the claimant of her throne; nor could he view in any other light the treason the resistance of his own baronage to an arbitrary tax which their fathers had borne. It is in the very anomalies of his character, in its strange union of justice and wilful wrong, of haughtiness and meanness, that we must look for any fair explanation of much that has since been bitterly blamed in Edward's conduct and policy.

Fairly to understand his quarrel with the Scots, we must clear our minds of the ideas which we now associate with the word "Scotch" or the "Scotch people." At the opening of the fourteenth century the kingdom of the Scots was composed of four districts, each of which had originally its different people, its different speech, or at least dialect, and its different history. The first of these was the Lowland district, at one time called Saxony, and which was then bearing the name of Lothian and the Merse (or border land), the speech roughly speaking between the Forth and Tweed. We have seen that at the close of the English conquest of Britain the kingdom of Northumbria stretched from the Humber to the Firth of Forth, and of this kingdom the Lowlands formed simply the northern portion. The English conquest and the English colonization were as complete here as over the rest of Britain. Rivers and hills indeed retained their Celtic names, but "tons" and "hams" scattered over the country told the story of the Teutonic settlement. Livings and Dodings left their names to Linstone and Duddingstone; Elphinstone, Dolphinstone and Edmundston preserved the memory of English Elphins, Dolphins, and Edmuns who had raised their homesteads beyond the Teviot and the Tweed. To the northward and westward of this Northumbrian land lay the kingdoms of the conquered. Over the "Waste" or "Desert" range of barren moors which stretches from Derbyshire to the Cheviots the Briton had sought a refuge in the long strip of coast between

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

Clyde and the Dee which formed the earlier Cumbria. Against this kingdom the efforts of the Northumbrian rulers had been incessantly directed ; the victory of Chester had severed it from the Welsh kingdoms to the south ; Lancashire, Westmoreland, and Cumberland were already subdued by the time of Ecgfrith ; while the fragment which was suffered to remain unconquered between the Firths of Solway and of Clyde, and to which the name of Cumbria is in its later use confined, owned the English supremacy. At the close of the seventh century it seemed likely that the same supremacy would extend over the Celtic tribes to the north. The district north of the Clyde and Forth was originally inhabited chiefly by the Picts, a Latin name for the people who seem to have called themselves the Cruithne. To these Highlanders the country south of the Forth was a foreign land, and significant entries in their rude chronicles tell us how in their forays “the Picts made a raid upon Saxony.” But during the period of Northumbrian greatness they had begun to yield at least on their borders some kind of submission to its kings. Eadwine had built a fort at Dunedin, which became Edinburgh and looked menacingly across the Forth ; and at Abercorn beside it was established an English prelate with the title of Bishop of the Picts. Ecgfrith, in whose hands the power of Northumbria reached its highest point, marched across the Forth to change this over-lordship into a direct dominion, and to bring the series of English victories to a close. His host poured burning and ravaging across the Tay, and skirted the base of the Grampians as far as the field of Nechtansmere, where King Bruidi awaited them at the head of the Picts. The great battle which followed proved a turning-point in the history of the North ; the invaders were cut to pieces, Ecgfrith himself being among the slain, and the power of Northumbria was broken for ever. On the other hand, the kingdom of the Picts started into new life with its great victory, and pushed its way in the hundred years that followed westward, eastward, and southward, till the whole country north of the Forth and the Clyde acknowledged its supremacy. But the hour of Pictish greatness was marked by the sudden extinction of the Pictish name. Centuries before, when the English invaders were beginning to harry the south coast of Britain, a fleet of coracles had borne a tribe of the Scots, as the inhabitants of Ireland were at that time called, from the black cliff-walls of Antrim to the rocky and indented coast of South Argyle. The little kingdom of Scot-land which these Irishmen founded slumbered in obscurity among the lakes and mountains to the south of Loch Linnhe, now submitting to the over-lordship of Northumbria, now to that of the Picts, till the extinction of the direct Pictish line of sovereigns raised the Scot King, Kenneth Mac-Alpin, who chanced to be their nearest kinsman, to the vacant throne. For fifty years these rulers of Scottish blood still call themselves “Kings of the Picts ;” but with the opening of the tenth

Sec. III.

The Conquest of Scotland 1290 to 1305

Pict-land 682 685 Scot-land

Sec. III.

The Conquest of Scotland 1290 to 1305

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

century the very name 'passes away, the tribe which had given its chief to the common throne gives its designation to the common realm, and 'Pict-land' vanishes from the page of the chronicler or annalist to make way for the 'land of the Scots.'

It was even longer before the change made way among the people itself, and the real union of the nation with its kings was only effected by the common suffering of the Danish wars. In the north, as in the south of Britain, the invasion of the Danes brought about political unity. Not only were Picts and Scots thoroughly blended into a single people, but by the annexation of Cumbria and the Lowlands, their monarchs became rulers of the territory which we now call Scotland. The annexation was owing to the new policy of the English Kings. Their aim, after the long struggle of England with the northmen, was no longer to crush the kingdom across the Forth, but to raise it into a bulwark against the northmen who were still settled in Caithness and the Orkneys, and for whose aggressions Scotland was the natural highway. On the other hand, it was only in English aid that the Scot Kings could find a support for their throne against these Norse Jarls of Orkney and Caithness. It was probably this common hostility to a common foe which brought about the 'commendation' by which the Scots beyond the Forth, with the Welsh of Strath-clyde, chose the English King, Eadward the Elder, 'to father and lord.' The choice, whatever weight after events may have given to it, seems to have been little more than the renewal of the loose English supremacy over the tribes of the North which had existed during the times of Northumbrian greatness; it certainly implied at the time nothing save a right on either side to military aid, though the aid then rendered was necessarily placed in the hands of the stronger party to the agreement. Such a connexion naturally ceased in the event of any war between the two contracting parties; it was in fact by no means the feudal vassalage of a later time, but rather a military convention. But loose as was the tie which bound the two countries, a closer tie soon bound the Scot King himself to his English overlord.

Grant of Strath-clyde to the Scot King

Strath-clyde, which, after the defeat of Nectansmere, had shaken off the English yoke, and which at a later time had owned the supremacy of the Scots, rose into a temporary independence only to be conquered by the English Eadmund. By him it was granted to Malcolm of Scotland on condition that he should become his 'fellow-worker' both by land and sea, and became from that time the appanage of the eldest son of the Scottish king. At a later time, under Eadgar or Cnut, the whole of Northern Northumbria, or what we now call the Lothians, was ceded to the Scottish sovereigns, but whether on the same terms of feudal dependence or on the same loose terms of 'commendation' as already existed for lands north of the Forth, we have no means of deciding. The retreat, however, of the bounds of the great

Grant of Northern Northumbria

iv

THE TIIREE EDWARDS

Sec. III. The Conquest of Scotland 1290 to 1305 England and the Scot Kings

English bishopric of the North, the see of St. Cuthbert, as far southward as the Pentland Hills, would seem to imply a greater change in the political character of the ceded district than the first theory would allow.

iv

THE TIIREE EDWARDS

Sec. III. The Conquest of Scotland 1290 to 1305 England and the Scot Kings

Whatever change these cessions may have brought about in the relation of the Scottish to the English Kings, they certainly affected in a very marked way their relation both to England and to their own realm. One result of the acquisition of the Lowlands was the ultimate fixing of the royal residence in their new southern dominion at Edinburgh; and the English civilization with which they were then surrounded changed the Scot Kings in all but blood into Englishmen. A way soon opened itself to the English crown by the marriage of Malcolm with Margaret, the sister of Eadgar Ætheling. Their children were regarded by a large party within England as representatives of the older royal race and as claimants of the throne, and this danger grew as William's devastation of the North not only drove fresh multitudes of Englishmen to settle in the Lowlands, but filled the Scotch court with English nobles who fled thither for refuge. So formidable, indeed, became the pretensions of the Scot Kings, that they forced the ablest of our Norman sovereigns into a complete change of policy. The Conqueror and William the Red had met the threats of the Scot sovereigns by invasions which ended again and again in an illusory homage ; but the marriage of Henry the First with the Scottish Matilda not only robbed the claims of the Scottish line of much of their force, but enabled him to draw it into far closer relations with the Norman throne. King David not only abandoned the ambitious dreams of his predecessors to place himself later at the head of his niece Matilda's party in her contest with Stephen, but as Henry's brother-in-law he figured as the first noble of the English court, and found English models and English support in the work of organization which he attempted within his own dominions. As the marriage with Margaret had changed Malcolm from a Celtic chieftain into an English King, so that of Matilda converted David into a Norman and feudal sovereign. His court was filled with Norman nobles from the South, such as the Balliols and Bruces who were destined to play so great a part afterwards but who now for the first time obtained fiefs in the Scottish realm ; and a feudal jurisprudence modelled on that of England was introduced into the Lowlands. A fresh connexion between the countries began with the grant of lordships in England to the Scot Kings or their sons. Homage was sometimes rendered, whether for these lordships, for the Lowlands, or for the whole Scottish realm, but it was the capture of William the Lion during the revolt of the English baronage which suggested to Henry the Second the project of a closer dependence of Scotland on the English Crown. To gain his freedom, William consented to hold

iv

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

THE NEW MONARCHY, 1422—1540.

6

THE NEW MONARCHY, 1422—1540

1.—Joan of Arc, 1422—1451

Sect. 1.—Joan of Arc, 1422—1451 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

6

THE NEW MONARCHY, 1422—1540

2.—The Wars of the Roses, 1450—1471

,, 2.—The Wars of the Roses, 1450—1471 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

6

THE NEW MONARCHY, 1422—1540

3.—The New Monarchy, 1471—1509

,, 3.—The New Monarchy, 1471—1509 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

6

THE NEW MONARCHY, 1422—1540

4.—The New Learning, 1509—1520

,, 4.—The New Learning, 1509—1520 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

6

THE NEW MONARCHY, 1422—1540

5.—Wolsey, 1515—1531

,, 5.—Wolsey, 1515—1531 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

6

THE NEW MONARCHY, 1422—1540

6.—Thomas Cromwell, 1530—1540

,, 6.—Thomas Cromwell, 1530—1540 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I—VIII

ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57—128

MAP.

5. France at the Treaty of Bretigny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Sec. III.

The Conquest of Scotland 1290 1305

his crown of Henry and his heirs, the prel: kingdom did homage to Henry as to thei appeal in all Scotch causes was allowed English suzerain. From this bondage, h freed by the prodigality of Richard. who a freedom she had forfeited, and from that older claim were evaded by a legal com repeatedly did homage to the English sover of rights which were prudently left unspe accepted the homage on the assumption t as overlord of the Scottish realm, and th granted nor denied. For nearly a hundre two countries were thus kept peaceful and

1286 Alexander the Third seemed destined to re protests by a closer union of the two k wedded his only daughter to the king c negotiation the Scotch Parliament proposec Margaret, "the Maid of Norway," with the It was, however, carefully provided in the r that Scotland should remain a separate and laws and customs should be preserved invio to be claimed by the English King, no Sco an English court. But this project was a child's death on her voyage to Scotland, an after claimant of the vacant throne Edward relations to the Scottish realm.

The First Conquest 1290-1296

Of the thirteen pretenders to the thron could be regarded as serious claimants. B of William the Lion the right of succession his brother David. The claim of John B rested on his descent from the eldest of the Lord of Annandale, on his descent from Hastings, Lord of Abergavenny, on his de this crisis the Norwegian King, the Prim seven of the Scotch Earls, had already ap Margaret's death ; and the death itself was both of the claimants and the Council of Re of the succession to his decision in a Parlian over-lordship which the Scots acknowledge direct and definite than what Edward clain conference. His claim was supported by monastic chronicles, and by the slow adva while the Scotch lords, taken by surprise, fou which was granted them, and :at last, in c claimants themselves, formally admitted E

May, 1291

iv.

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Sec. III. THE CONQUEST OF SCOTLAND 1290 TO 1305

To the nobles, in fact, the concession must have seemed a small one, for like the principal claimants they were for the most part Norman in blood, with estates in both countries, and looking for honours and pensions from the English Court. From the Commons who were gathered with the nobles at Norham no admission of Edward's claims could be extorted; but in Scotland, feudalized as it had been by David, the Commons were as yet of little weight, and their opposition was quickly passed by. All the rights of a feudal suzerain were at once assumed by the English King; he entered into the possession of the country as into that of a disputed fief to be held by its over-lord till the dispute was settled, his peace was sworn throughout the land, its castles delivered into his charge, while its bishops and nobles swore homage to him directly as their lord superior. Scotland was thus reduced to the subjection which she had experienced under Henry the Second, but the full discussion which followed over the various claims to the throne showed that, while exacting to the full what he believed to be his right, Edward desired to do justice to the country itself. The commissioners whom he named to report on the claims to the throne were mainly Scotch; a proposal for the partition of the realm among the claimants was rejected as contrary to Scotch law; and the claim of Balliol as representative of the elder branch was finally preferred to that of his rivals.

iv.

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Sec. III. THE CONQUEST OF SCOTLAND 1290 TO 1305

The castles were at once delivered to the new monarch, and Balliol did homage to Edward with full acknowledgement of the services due to him from the realm of Scotland. For a time there was peace. Edward in fact seemed to have no desire to push farther the rights of his crown. Even allowing that Scotland was a dependent kingdom, it was far from being an ordinary fief of the English crown. By feudal custom a distinction had always been held to exist between the relations of a dependent king to a superior lord and those of a vassal noble to his sovereign. At Balliol's homage Edward had disclaimed, in strict accordance with the marriage treaty of Brigham, any right to the ordinary incidents of a fief, those of wardship or marriage; but there were other customs of the realm of Scotland as incontestable as these. The Scot King had never been held bound to attend the council of the English baronage, to do service in English warfare, or to contribute on the part of his Scotch realm to English aids. No express acknowledgement of these rights had been given by Edward, but for a time they were practically observed. The claim of independent justice was more doubtful, as it was of higher import than these. It was certain that no appeal from a Scotch King's court to that of his supposed overlord had been allowed since the days of William the Lion, and the judicial independence of Scotland had been expressly reserved in the marriage treaty. But in feudal jurisprudence the right of ultimate appeal was the test of sovereignty. This right

iv.

THE THREE EDWARDS.

Sec. III. THE CONQUEST OF SCOTLAND 1290 TO 1305

1293

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

SEC. III. THE CONQUEST OF SCOTLAND 1290 TO 1305

of appeal Edward now determined to enforce, and Balliol at first gave way. It was alleged, however, that the resentment of his baronage and people forced him to resist; and while appearing formally at Westminster he refused to answer an appeal save by advice of his Council. He was in fact looking to France, which, as we shall afterwards see, was jealously watching Edward's proceedings, and ready to force him into war. By a new breach of customary law Edward summoned the Scotch nobles to follow him in arms against this foreign foe. But the summons was disregarded, and a second and formal refusal of aid was followed by a secret alliance with France and by a Papal absolution of Balliol from his oath of fealty.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

SEC. III. THE CONQUEST OF SCOTLAND 1290 TO 1305

Edward was still reluctant to begin the war, when all hope of accommodation was ended by the refusal of Balliol to attend his Parliament at Newcastle, the rout of a small body of English troops, and the investment of Carlisle by the Scots. Orders were at once given for an advance upon Berwick. The taunts of its citizens stung the King to the quick. 'Kynge Edward, waune thou havest Berwick, pike thee; waune thou havest geten, dike thee,' they shouted from behind the wooden stockade, which formed the only rampart of the town. But the stockade was stormed with the loss of a single knight, and nearly eight thousand of the citizens were mown down in a ruthless carnage, while a handful of Flemish traders who held the town-hall stoutly against all assailants were burned alive in it. The massacre only ceased when a procession of priests bore the host to the King's presence, praying for mercy, and Edward with a sudden and characteristic burst of tears called off his troops; but the town was ruined for ever, and the great merchant city of the North sank from that time into a petty seaport. At Berwick Edward received Balliol's defiance.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

SEC. III. THE CONQUEST OF SCOTLAND 1290 TO 1305

'Has the fool done this folly?' the King cried in haughty scorn. 'If he will not come to us, we will come to him.' The terrible slaughter, however, had done its work, and his march was a triumphal progress. Edinburgh, Stirling, and Perth opened their gates, Bruce joined the English army, and Balliol himself surrendered and passed without a blow from his throne to an English prison. No further punishment, however, was exacted from the prostrate realm. Edward simply treated it as a fief, and declared its forfeiture to be the legal consequence of Balliol's treason. It lapsed in fact to the overlord, and its earls, barons, and gentry swore homage in Parliament at Berwick to Edward as their king. The sacred stone on which its older sovereigns had been installed, an oblong block of sandstone, which legend asserted to have been the pillow of Jacob as angels ascended and descended upon him, was removed from Scone and placed in Westminster by the shrine of the Confessor. It was enclosed by Edward's order in a stately seat, which became from that hour the coronation chair of English kings.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

SEC. IV THE PEASANT REVOLT 1377 TO 1381

artizan turned easily into the “sturdy beggar,” or the bandit of the woods. A summary redress for these evils was at once provided by the Crown in a royal ordinance which was subsequently embodied in the Statute of Labourers. “Every man or woman,” runs this famous provision, “of whatsoever condition, free or bond, able in body, and within the age of threescore years, . . . and not having of his own whereof he may live, nor land of his own about the tillage of which he may occupy himself, and not serving any other, shall be bound to serve the employer who shall require him to do so, and shall take only the wages which were accustomed to be taken in the neighbourhood where he is bound to serve” two years before the plague began. A refusal to obey was punished by imprisonment. But sterner measures were soon found to be necessary. Not only was the price of labour fixed by Parliament in the Statute of 1351, but the labour class was once more tied to the soil. The labourer was forbidden to quit the parish where he lived in search of better-paid employment; if he disobeyed, he became a “fugitive,” and subject to imprisonment at the hands of the justices of the peace. To enforce such a law literally must have been impossible, for corn had risen to so high a price that a day’s labour at the old wages would not have purchased wheat enough for a man’s support. But the landowners did not flinch from the attempt. The repeated re-enactment of the law shows the difficulty of applying it, and the stubbornness of the struggle which it brought about. The fines and forfeitures which were levied for infractions of its provisions formed a large source of royal revenue, but so ineffectual were the original penalties that the runaway labourer was at last ordered to be branded with a hot iron on the forehead, while the harbouring of serfs in towns was rigorously put down. Nor was it merely the existing class of free labourers which was attacked by this reactionary movement. The increase of their numbers by a commutation of labour services for money payments was suddenly checked, and the ingenuity of the lawyers who were employed as stewards of each manor was exercised in striving to restore to the landowners that customary labour whose loss was now severely felt. Manumissions and exemptions which had passed without question were cancelled on grounds of informality, and labour services from which they held themselves freed by redemption were again demanded from the villeins. The attempt was the more galling that the cause had to be pleaded in the manor-court itself, and to be decided by the very officer whose interest it was to give judgement in favour of his lord. We can see the growth of a fierce spirit of resistance through the statutes which strove in vain to repress it. In the towns, where the system of forced labour was applied with even more rigour than in the country, strikes and combinations became frequent among the lower craftsmen. In the country the free labourers found allies in the villeins whose freedom

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

Sec. III.

To the King himself the whole business must have seemed another and easier conquest of Wales, and the mercy and just government which had followed his first success followed his second also. The government of the new dependency was entrusted to Warenne, Earl of Surrey, at the head of an English Council of Regency. Pardon was freely extended to all who had resisted the invasion, and order and public peace were rigidly enforced. But both the justice and injustice of the new rule proved fatal to it; the wrath of the Scots, already kindled by the intrusion of English priests into Scotch livings, and by the grant of lands across the border to English barons, was fanned to fury by the strict administration of law, and the repression of feuds and cattle-lifting. The disbanding, too, of troops, which was caused by the penury of the royal exchequer, united with the licence of the soldiery who remained to quicken the national sense of wrong. The disgraceful submission of their leaders brought the people themselves to the front. In spite of a hundred years of peace the farmer of the Lowlands and the artisan of the towns remained stout-hearted Northumbrian English; they had never consented to Edward's supremacy, and their blood rose against the insolent rule of the stranger. The genius of an outlaw knight, William Wallace, saw in their smouldering discontent a hope of freedom for his country, and his daring raids on outlying parties of the English soldiery roused the country at last into revolt. Of Wallace himself, of his life or temper, we know little or nothing; the very traditions of his gigantic stature and enormous strength are dim and unhistorical. But the instinct of the Scotch people has guided it aright in choosing Wallace for its national hero. He was the first to assert freedom as a national birth-right, and amidst the despair of nobles and priests to call the people itself to arms. At the head of an army drawn principally from the coast districts north of the Tay, which were inhabited by a population of the same blood as that of the Lowlands, Wallace, in September, 1297, encamped near Stirling, the pass between the north and the south, and awaited the English advance. The offers of John of Warenne were scornfully rejected: "We have come," said the Scottish leader, "not to make peace, but to free our country." The position of Wallace, a rise of hills behind a loop of Forth, was in fact chosen with consummate skill. The one bridge which crossed the river was only broad enough to admit two horsemen abreast; and though the English army had been passing from daybreak, only half its force was across at noon when Wallace closed on it and cut it after a short combat to pieces in the sight of its comrades. The retreat of the Earl of Surrey over the border left Wallace head of the country he had freed, and for a time he acted as "Guardian of the Realm" in Balliol's name, and headed a wild foray into Northumberland. His reduction of Stirling Castle at last called Edward to the field. The King, who marched

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

THE CONQUEST OF SCOTLAND 1290 TO 1305 The Second Conquest 1297-1305

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

Battle of Stirling Sept. 1297

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

northward with a larger host than had ever followed his banner, was enabled by treachery to surprise Wallace, as he fell back to avoid an engagement, and to force him to battle near Falkirk. The Scotch force consisted almost wholly of foot, and Wallace drew up his spearmen in four great hollow circles or squares, the outer ranks kneeling,

1290

and the whole supported by bowmen within, while a small force of horse were drawn up as a reserve in the rear. It was the formation of Waterloo, the first appearance in our history since the day of Senlac of “ that unconquerable British infantry,” before which chivalry was destined to go down. For a moment it had all Waterloo’s success. “ I have brought you to the ring, hop (dance) if you can,” are words of rough humour that reveal the very soul of the patriot leader, and the serried ranks answered well to his appeal. The Bishop of Durham,

1305

who led the English van, shrank wisely from the look of the squares. “ Back to your mass, Bishop,” shouted the reckless knights behind him, but the body of horse dashed itself vainly on the wall of spears. Terror spread through the English army, and its Welsh auxiliaries drew off in a body from the field. But the generalship of Wallace was met by that of the King. Drawing his bowmen to the front, Edward riddled the Scottish ranks with arrows, and then hurled his cavalry afresh on the wavering line. In a moment all was over, and the maddened knights rode in and out of the broken ranks, slaying without mercy. Thousands fell on the field, and Wallace himself escaped with difficulty, followed by a handful of men. But ruined as the cause of freedom seemed, his work was done. He had roused Scotland into life, and even a defeat like Falkirk left her unconquered. Edward remained master only of the ground he stood on ; want of supplies forced him to retreat ; and in the following year a regency of

Scotch nobles under Bruce and Comyn continued the struggle for independence. Troubles at home and dangers from abroad stayed Edward’s hand. The barons were pressing more and more vigorously for redress of their grievances and the heavy taxation brought about by the war. France was still menacing, and a claim advanced by Pope

1303

Boniface the Eighth, at its suggestion, to the feudal superiority over Scotland, arrested a fresh advance of the King. A quarrel, however, which broke out between Philippe le Bel and the Papacy removed all obstacles, and enabled Edward to defy Boniface and to wring from France a treaty in which Scotland was abandoned. In 1304 he resumed the work of invasion, and again the nobles flung down their arms as he marched to the North. Comyn, at the head of the Regency, acknowledged his sovereignty, and the surrender of Stirling completed the conquest of Scotland. The triumph of Edward was but the prelude to the full execution of his designs for knitting the two countries together by a clemency and wisdom which reveal the greatness of his statesmanship. A general amnesty was extended to all

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Sec. IV. The English Towns

who had shared in the revolt. Wallace, who refused to avail himself of Edward's mercy, was captured, and condemned to death at Westminster on charges of treason, sacrilege, and robbery. The head of the great patriot, crowned in mockery with a circlet of laurel, was placed upon London Bridge. But the execution of Wallace was the one blot on Edward's clemency. With a masterly boldness he entrusted the government of the country to a council of Scotch nobles, many of whom were freshly pardoned for their share in the war, and anticipated the policy of Cromwell by allotting ten representatives to Scotland in the Common Parliament of his realm. A Convocation was summoned at Perth for the election of these representatives, and a great judicial scheme which was promulgated in this assembly adopted the amended laws of King David as the base of a new legislation, and divided the country for judicial purposes into four districts, Lothian, Galloway, the Highlands, and the land between the Highlands and the Forth, at the head of each of which were placed two justiciars, the one English and the other Scotch.

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THE THREE EDWARDS

Section IV.—The English Towns.

[Authorities.—For the general history of London see its “Liber Albus” and “Liber Custumarum,” in the series of the Master of the Rolls ; for its communal revolution, the “Liber de Antiquis Legibus,” edited by Mr. Stapleton for the Camden Society ; for the rising of William Longbeard, the story in William of Newburgh. In his “Essay on English Municipal History” (1867), Mr. Thompson has given a useful account of the relations of Leicester with its Earls. A great store of documents will be found in the Charter Rolls published by the Record Commission, in Brady's work on English Boroughs, and (though rather for Parliamentary purposes) in Stephen's and Merewether's “History of Boroughs and Corporations.” But the only full and scientific examination of our early municipal history, at least on one of its sides, is to be found in the Essay prefixed by Dr. Brentano to the “Ordinances of English Gilds,” published by the Early English Text Society.] From scenes such as we have been describing, from the wrong and bloodshed of foreign conquest, we pass to the peaceful life and progress of England itself. Through the reign of the three Edwards two revolutions, which have been almost ignored by our historians, were silently changing the whole character of English society. The first of these, the rise of a new class of tenant-farmers, we shall have to notice hereafter in its connection with the great agrarian revolt which bears the name of Wat Tyler. The second, the rise of the craftsmen within our towns, and the struggle by which they won power and privilege from the older burghers, is the most remarkable event in the period of our national history at which we have arrived.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

124

§ 4. IV. THE ENGLISH TOWNS The Early English Boroughs

The English borough was originally a mere township or group of townships whose inhabitants happened, either for purposes of trade or protection, to cluster together more thickly than elsewhere. It is this characteristic of our boroughs which separates them at once from the cities of Italy and Provence, which had preserved the municipal institutions of their Roman past, from the German towns founded by Henry the Fowler with the special purpose of sheltering industry from the feudal oppression around them, or from the communes of northern France which sprang into existence in revolt against feudal outrage within their walls. But in England the tradition of Rome had utterly passed away, while feudal oppression was held fairly in check by the Crown. The English town, therefore, was in its beginning simply a piece of the general country, organized and governed precisely in the same manner as the townships around it. The burh or borough was probably a more defensible place than the common village ; it may have had a ditch or mound about it instead of the quickset-hedge or "tun" from which the township took its name. But its constitution was simply that of the people at large. The obligations of the dwellers within its bounds were those of the townships round, to keep fence and trench in good repair, to send a contingent to the fyrd, and a reeve and four men to the hundred court and shire court ; and the inner rule of the borough lay as in the townships about in the hands of its own freemen, gathered in "borough-moot" or "portmannimote." But the social change brought about by the Danish wars, the legal requirement that each man should have a lord, affected the towns, as it affected the rest of the country. Some passed into the hands of great thegns near to them ; the bulk became known as in the demesne of the king. A new officer, the lord's or king's reeve, was a sign of this revolution. It was the reeve who now summoned the borough-moot and administered justice in it ; it was he who collected the lord's dues or annual rent of the town, and who exacted the services it owed to its lord. To modern eyes these services would imply almost complete subjection. When Leicester, for instance, passed from the hands of the Conqueror into those of its Earls, its townsmen were bound to reap their lord's corn-crops, to grind at his mill, to redeem their strayed cattle from his pound. The great forest around was the Earl's, and it was only out of his grace that the little borough could drive its swine into the woods or pasture its cattle in the glades. The justice and government of the town lay wholly in its master's hands ; he appointed its bailiffs, received the fines and forfeitures of his tenants, and the fees and tolls of their markets and fairs. But when once these dues were paid and these services rendered the English townsman was practically free. His rights were as rigidly defined by custom as those of his lord. Property and person alike were secured against arbitrary seizure. He could

iv

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Sec. IV. THE ENGLISH TOWNS

demand a fair trial on any charge, and even if justice was administered by his master's reeve it was administered in the presence and with the assent of his fellow-townsmen. The bell which swung out from the town tower gathered the burgesses to a common meeting, where they could exercise rights of free speech and free deliberation on their own affairs. Their merchant-guild over its ale-feast regulated trade, distributed the sums due from the town among the different burgesses, looked to the due repairs of gate and wall, and acted, in fact, pretty much the same part as a town-council of to-day. Not only, too, were these rights secured by custom from the first, but they were constantly widening as time went on. Whenever we get a glimpse of the inner history of an English town, we find the same peaceful revolution in progress, services disappearing through disuse or omission, while privileges and immunities are being purchased in hard cash. The lord of the town, whether he were king, baron, or abbot, was commonly thriftiless or poor, and the capture of a noble, or the campaign of a sovereign, or the building of some new minster by a prior, brought about an appeal to the thrifty burghers, who were ready to fill again their master's treasury at the price of the strip of parchment which gave them freedom of trade, of justice, and of government. Sometimes a chance story lights up for us this work of emancipation. At Leicester one of the chief aims of its burgesses was to regain their old English trial by compurgation, the rough predecessor of trial by jury, which had been abolished by the Earls in favour of the foreign trial by battle. "It chanced," says a charter of the place, "that two kinsmen, Nicholas the son of Acon, and Geoffrey the son of Nicholas, waged a duel about a certain piece of land, concerning which a dispute had arisen between them ; and they fought from the first to the ninth hour, each conquering by turns. Then one of them fleeing from the other till he came to a certain little pit, as he stood on the brink of the pit, and was about to fall therein, his kinsman said to him 'Take care of the pit, turn back lest thou shouldest fall into it.' Thereat so much clamour and noise was made by the bystanders and those who were sitting around, that the Earl heard these clamours as far off as the castle, and he inquired of some how it was there was such a clamour, and answer was made to him that two kinsmen were fighting about a certain piece of ground, and that one had fled till he reached a certain little pit, and that as he stood over the pit and was about to fall into it the other warned him. Then the townsmen being moved with pity made a covenant with the Earl that they should give him threepence yearly for each house in the High Street that had a gable, on condition that he should grant to them that the twenty-four jurors who were in Leicester from ancient times should from that time forward discuss and decide all pleas they might have among themselves." For the most part the liberties of our towns were bought in this way, by sheer

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Sec. IV. The English Towns

hard bargaining. The earliest English charters, save that of London, date from the years when the treasury of Henry the First was drained by his Norman wars ; and grants of municipal liberty made professedly by the Angevins are probably the result of their costly employment of mercenary troops. At the close, however, of the thirteenth century, this struggle for emancipation was nearly over. The larger towns had secured the administration of justice in their own borough-courts, the privilege of self-government, and the control of their own trade, and their liberties and charters served as models and incentives to the smaller communities which were struggling into life.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Sec. IV. The English Towns

During the progress of this outer revolution, the inner life of the English town was in the same quiet and hardly conscious way developing itself from the common form of the life around it into a form especially its own. Within as without the ditch or stockade which formed the earliest boundary of the borough, land was from the first the test of freedom, and the possession of land was what constituted the townsman. We may take, perhaps, a foreign instance to illustrate this fundamental point in our municipal history. When Duke Berthold of Zahringen resolved to found Freiburg, his "free town," in the Brisgau, the mode he adopted was to gather a group of traders together, and to give each man a plot of ground for his freehold round what was destined to be the market-place of the new community. In England the landless man who dwelled in a borough had no share in its corporate life; for purposes of government or property the town was simply an association of the landed proprietors within its bounds ; nor was there anything in this association, as it originally existed, which could be considered peculiar or exceptional. The constitution of the English town, however different its form may have afterwards become, was at first simply that of the people at large. We have seen that among the German races society rested on the basis of the family, that it was the family who fought and settled side by side, and the kinsfolk who were bound together in ties of mutual responsibility to each other and to the law.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

The Frith-Gilds

As society became more complex and less stationary it necessarily outgrew these simple ties of blood, and in England this dissolution of the family bond seems to have taken place at the very time when Danish incursions and the growth of a feudal temper among the nobles rendered an isolated existence most perilous for the freeman. His only resource was to seek protection among his fellow-freemen, and to replace the older brotherhood of the kinsfolk by a voluntary association of his neighbours for the same purposes of order and self-defence. The tendency to unite in such 'frith-gilds' or peace-clubs became general throughout Europe during the ninth and tenth centuries, but on the Continent it was roughly met and repressed. The successors of Charles the Great enacted penalties of scourging, noseslitting, and banishment against voluntary unions, and even a league

IV

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SEC. VI. THE ENGLISH TOWNS

of the poor peasants of Gaul against the inroads of the northmen was suppressed by the swords of the Frankish nobles. In England the attitude of the Kings was utterly different. The system known at a later time as 'frank-pledge,' or free engagement of neighbour for neighbour, was accepted after the Danish wars as the base of social order. Ælfred recognized the common responsibility of the members of the 'frith-gild ' side by side with that of the kinsfolk, and Æthelstan accepted 'frith-gilds' as a constituent element of borough life in the Dooms of London.

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SEC. VI. THE ENGLISH TOWNS

The frith-gild, then, in the earlier English town, was precisely similar to the frith-gilds which formed the basis of social order in the country at large. An oath of mutual fidelity among its members was substituted for the tie of blood, while the gild-feast, held once a month in the common hall, replaced the gathering of the kinsfolk round their family hearth. But within this new family the aim of the frith-gild was to establish a mutual responsibility as close as that of the old. "Let all share the same lot," ran its law ; "if any misdo, let all bear it." A member could look for aid from his gild-brothers in atoning for any guilt incurred by mishap. He could call on them for assistance in case of violence or wrong : if falsely accused, they appeared in court as his compurgators ; if poor they supported, and when dead they buried him.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

SEC. VI. THE ENGLISH TOWNS The Merchant Gilds

On the other hand, he was responsible to them, as they were to the State, for order and obedience to the laws. A wrong of brother against brother was also a wrong against the general body of the gild, and was punished by fine, or in the last resort by expulsion, which left the offender a 'lawless' man and an outcast. The one difference between these gilds in country and town was, that in the latter case, from their close local neighbourhood, they tended inevitably to coalesce. Under Æthelstan the London gilds united into one for the purpose of carrying out more effectually their common aims, and at a later time we find the gilds of Berwick enacting "that where many bodies are found side by side in one place they may become one, and have one will, and in the dealings of one with another have a strong and hearty love." The process was probably a long and difficult one, for the brotherhoods naturally differed much in social rank, and even after the union was effected we see traces of the separate existence to a certain extent of some one or more of the wealthier or more aristocratic gilds. In London, for instance, the Cnichten-gild, which seems to have stood at the head of its fellows, retained for a long time its separate property, while its Alderman—as the chief officer of each gild was called— became the Alderman of the united gild of the whole city. In Canterbury we find a similar gild of thegns, from which the chief officers of the town seem commonly to have been selected. Imperfect, however, as the union might be, when once it was effected the town passed from a mere collection of brotherhoods into a powerful and organized com-

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

OF

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS OF ENGLISH HISTORY.

THE ENGLISH KINGDOMS.

449–1016.

449 English land in Britain. 642 Oswald slain at Maserfeld.

457 Kent conquered by English. 651 Oswiu, King of Northumbria, died 670.

477 Landing of South Saxons. 655 — Victory at Winwæd.

491 Siege of Anderida. 658 West Saxons conquer as far as the Parret.

495 Landing of West Saxons. 659 Wulfhere King in Mercia.

519 Cerdic and Cynric, Kings of West Saxons. 661 — drives West Saxons over Thames.

520 British victory at Mount Badon. 664 Council of Whitby.

547 Ida founds kingdom of Bernicia. 668 Cædmon at Whitby.

552 West Saxons take Old Sarum. 670 Theodore made Archbishop of Canterbury.

560 Æthelberht, King of Kent, died 616. 675 Æthelred, King of Mercia, died 704.

568 — driven back by West Saxons. 681 Wilfrid converts South Saxons.

571 West Saxons march into Mid-Britain. 682 Centwine of Wessex conquers Mid-Somerset.

577 — conquer at Deorham. 685 Ecgfrith defeated and slain at Nechtanmere.

584 — defeated at Faddiley. 688 Ine, King of West Saxons, died 726.

588 Æthelric creates Kingdom of Northumbria. 715 — defeats Cœlred of Mercia at Wanhborough.

593 Æthelfrith, King of Northumbria, died 617. 716 Æthelbald, King of Mercia, died 757.

597 Augustine converts Kent. 733 Mercian conquest of Wessex.

603 Battle of Degsæstan. 735 Death of Bæda.

613 Battle of Chester. 753 Death of Boniface.

617 Eadwine, King of Northumbria, died 633. 754 Wessex recovers freedom in battle of Burford.

626 — overlord of Britain. 756 Eadberht of Northumbria takes Meluid.

Penda, King of the Mercians, died 655. 758 Offa, King of Mercia, died 796.

627 Eadwine becomes Christian. 775 — subdues Kentish men at Otford.

633 — slain at Hatfield. 779 — defeats West Saxons at Bensington.

635 Oswald, King of Bernicia, died 642. 786 — places Beorhtric on throne of Wessex.

— defeats Welsh at Heavenfeld. 787 — creates Archbishopric at Lichfield.

Idon settles at Holy Island. First landing of Danes in England.

Sec. IV.

munity, whose character was inevitably determined by the circumstances of its origin. In their beginnings our boroughs seem to have been mainly gatherings of persons engaged in agricultural pursuits ; the first Dooms of London provide especially for the recovery of cattle belonging to the citizens. But as the increasing security of the country invited the farmer or the squire to settle apart in his own fields, and the growth of estate and trade told on the towns themselves, the difference between town and country became more sharply defined. London, of course, took the lead in this new developement of civic life. Even in Æthelstan's day every London merchant who had made three long voyages on his own account ranked as a thegn. Its 'lithsmen,' or shipmen's-gild, were of sufficient importance under Harthacnut to figure in the election of a king, and its principal street still tells of the rapid growth of trade, in the name of 'Cheap-side,' or the bargaining place. But at the Norman Conquest the commercial tendency had become universal. The name given to the united brotherhood is in almost every case no longer that of the 'town-gild,' but of the 'merchant-gild.'

The Craft Gilds

This social change in the character of the townsmen produced important results in the character of their municipal institutions. In becoming a merchant-gild the body of citizens who formed the 'town' enlarged their powers of civic legislation by applying them to the control of their internal trade. It became their special business to obtain from the Crown, or from their lords, wider commercial privileges, rights of coinage, grants of fairs, and exemption from tolls ; while within the town itself they framed regulations as to the sale and quality of goods, the control of markets, and the recovery of debts. A yet more important result sprang from the increase of population which the growth of wealth and industry brought with it. The mass of the new settlers, composed as they were of escaped serfs, of traders without landed holdings, of families who had lost their original lot in the borough, and generally of the artisans and the poor, had no part in the actual life of the town. The right of trade and of the regulation of trade, in common with all other forms of jurisdiction, lay wholly in the hands of the landed burghers whom we have described. By a natural process, too, their superiority in wealth produced a fresh division between the 'burghers' of the merchant-gild and the unenfranchised mass around them. The same change which severed at Florence the seven Greater Arts, or trades, from the fourteen Lesser Arts, and which raised the three occupations of banking, the manufacture and the dyeing of cloth, to a position of superiority even within the privileged circle of the seven, told, though with less force, on the English boroughs. The burghers of the merchant-gild gradually concentrated themselves on the greater operations of commerce, on trades which required a larger capital, while the meaner employments of general traffic were abandoned to their poorer neigh-

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

SEC. IV. THE ENGLISH TOWNS

bours. This advance in the division of labour is marked by such severances as we note in the thirteenth century of the cloth merchant from the tailor, or the leather merchant from the butcher. But the result of this severance was all-important in its influence on the constitution of our towns. The members of the trades thus abandoned by the wealthier burghers formed themselves into Craft-gilds, which soon rose into dangerous rivalry with the original Merchant-gild of the town. A seven years' apprenticeship formed the necessary prelude to full membership of any trade-gild. Their regulations were of the minutest character; the quality and value of work was rigidly prescribed, the hours of toil fixed "from day-break to curfew," and strict provision made against competition in labour. At each meeting of these gilds their members gathered round the Craft-box, which contained the rules of their Society, and stood with-bared heads as it was opened. The warden and a quorum of gild-brothers formed a court which enforced the ordinances of the gild, inspected all work done by its members, confiscated unlawful tools or unworthy goods; and disobedience to their orders was punished by fines, or in the last resort by expulsion, which involved the loss of right to trade. A common fund was raised by contributions among the members, which not only provided for the trade objects of the gild, but sufficed to found chantries and masses, and set up painted windows in the church of their patron saint. Even at the present day the arms of the craft-gild may often be seen blazoned in cathedrals side by side with those of prelates and of kings. But it was only by slow degrees that they rose to such a height as this. The first steps in their existence were the most difficult, for to enable a trade-gild to carry out its objects with any success, it was first necessary that the whole body of craftsmen belonging to the trade should be compelled to belong to it, and secondly, that a legal control over the trade itself should be secured to it. A royal charter was indispensable for these purposes, and over the grant of these charters took place the first struggle with the merchant-gild, which had till then solely exercised jurisdiction over trade within the boroughs. The weavers, who were the first trade-gild to secure royal sanction in the reign of Henry the First, were still engaged in the contest for existence as late as the reign of John, when the citizens of London bought for a time the suppression of their gild. Even under the house of Lancaster, Exeter was engaged in resisting the establishment of a tailors' gild. From the eleventh century, however, the spread of these societies went steadily on, and the control of trade passed from the merchant-gilds to the craft-gilds.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

The Greater and Lesser Folk

It is this struggle, to use the technical terms of the time, of the "greater folk" against the "lesser folk," or of the "commune," the general mass of the inhabitants, against the "prudhommes," or "wiser"

SEC. IV.

from manorial service was questioned. These were often men of position and substance, and throughout the eastern counties the gatherings of "fugitive serfs" were supported by an organized resistance and by large contributions of money on the part of the wealthier tenantry. A statute of later date throws light on their resistance. It tells us that "villeins and holders of lands in villeinage withdrew their customs and services from their lords, having attached themselves to other persons who maintained and abetted them; and who, under colour of exemplifications from Domesday of the manors and villages where they dwelt, claimed to be quit of all manner of services, either of their body or of their lands, and would suffer no distress or other course of justice to be taken against them; the villeins aided their maintainers by threatening the officers of their lords with peril to life and limb, as well by open assemblies as by confederacies to support each other." It would seem not only as if the villein was striving to resist the reactionary tendency of the lords of manors to regain his labour service, but that in the general overturning of social institutions the copyholder was struggling to become a freeholder, and the farmer to be recognized as proprietor of the demesne he held on lease.

John Ball

A more terrible outcome of the general suffering was seen in a new revolt against the whole system of social inequality which had till then passed unquestioned as the divine order of the world. The cry of the poor found a terrible utterance in the words of "a mad priest of Kent," as the courtly Froissart calls him, who for twenty years found audience for his sermons, in defiance of interdict and imprisonment, in the stout yeomen who gathered in the Kentish churchyards. "Mad" as the landowners called him, it was in the preaching of John Ball that England first listened to a declaration of natural equality and the rights of man. "Good people," cried the preacher, "things will never go well in England so long as goods be not in common, and so long as there be villeins and gentlemen. By what right are they whom we call lords greater folk than we? On what grounds have they deserved it? Why do they hold us in serfage? If we all came of the same father and mother, of Adam and Eve, how can they say or prove that they are better than we, if it be not that they make us gain for them by our toil what they spend in their pride? They are clothed in velvet, and warm in their furs and their ermines, while we are covered with rags. They have wine and spices and fair bread; and we oat-cake and straw, and water to drink. They have leisure and fine houses; we have pain and labour, the rain and the wind in the fields. And yet it is of us and of our toil that these men hold their state." It was the tyranny of property that then ever roused the defiance of socialism. A spirit fatal to the whole system of the Middle Ages breathed in the popular rime which condensed the levelling doctrine of John

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Sec. IV. THE ENGLISH TOWNS

few, which brought about, as it passed from the regulation of trade to the general government of the town, the great civic revolution of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. On the Continent, and especially along the Rhine, the struggle was as fierce as the supremacy of the older burghers had been complete. In Köln the craftsmen had been reduced to all but serfage, and the merchant of Brussels might box at his will the ears of “the man without heart or honour who lives by his toil.” Such social tyranny of class over class brought a century of bloodshed to the cities of Germany ; but in England the tyranny of class over class had been restrained by the general tenor of the law, and the revolution took for the most part a milder form. The longest and bitterest strife of all was naturally at London. Nowhere had the territorial constitution struck root so deeply, and nowhere had the landed oligarchy risen to such a height of wealth and influence. The City was divided into wards, each of which was governed by an alderman drawn from the ruling class. In some, indeed, the office seems to have become hereditary. The “magnates,” or “barons,” of the merchant-gild advised alone on all matters of civic government or trade regulation, and distributed or assessed at their will the revenues or burthens of the town. Such a position afforded an opening for corruption and oppression of the most galling kind ; and it seems to have been the general impression of the unfair assessment levied on the poor, and the undue burthens which were thrown on the unenfranchised classes, which provoked the first serious discontent. William of the Long Beard, himself one of the governing body, placed himself at the head of a conspiracy which numbered, in the terrified fancy of the burghers, fifty thousand of the craftsmen. His eloquence, his bold defiance of the aldermen in the town-mote, gained him at any rate a wide popularity, and the crowds who surrounded him hailed him as “the saviour of the poor.” One of his addresses is luckily preserved to us by a hearer of the time. In medieval fashion he began with a text from the Vulgate, “ Ye shall draw water with joy from the fountain of the Saviour.” “ I,” he began, “ am the saviour of the poor. Ye poor men who have felt the weight of rich men's hands, draw from my fountain waters of wholesome instruction and that with joy, for the time of your visitation is at hand. For I will divide the waters from the waters. It is the people who are the waters, and I will divide the lowly and faithful folk from the proud and faithless folk ; I will part the chosen from the reprobate as light from darkness.” But it was in vain that by appeals to the King he strove to win royal favour for the popular cause. The support of the moneyed classes was essential to Richard in the costly wars with Philip of France, and the Justiciar, Archbishop Hubert, after a moment of hesitation, issued orders for his arrest. William felled with an axe the first soldier who advanced to seize him, and taking refuge with a few followers in the tower of St. Mary-le-

IV

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Sec. IV.

Bow, summoned his adherents to rise. Hubert, however, who had already flooded the city with troops, with bold contempt of the right of sanctuary, set fire to the tower and forced William to surrender. A burgher's son, whose father he had slain, stabbed him as he came forth, and with his death the quarrel slumbered for more than fifty years.

IV

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Sec. IV.

No further movement, in fact, took place till the outbreak of the Barons' war, but the city had all through the interval been seething with discontent ; the unenfranchised craftsmen, under pretext of preserving the peace, had united in secret frith-gilds of their own, and mobs rose from time to time to sack the houses of foreigners and the wealthier burghers. But it was not till the civil war began that the open contest recommenced. The craftsmen forced their way into the town-mote, and setting aside the aldermen and magnates, chose Thomas Fitz-Thomas for their mayor. Although dissension still raged during the reign of the second Edward, we may regard this election as marking the final victory of the craft-gilds. Under his successor all contest seems to have ceased ; charters had been granted to every trade, their ordinances formally recognized and enrolled in the mayor's court, and distinctive liveries assumed to which they owed the name of "Livery Companies" which they still retain. The wealthier citizens, who found their old power broken, regained influence by enrolling themselves as members of the trade-gilds, and Edward the Third himself humoured the current of civic feeling by becoming a member of the gild of Armourers. This event marks the time when the government of our towns had become more really popular than it ever again became till the Municipal Reform Act of our own days. It had passed from the hands of an oligarchy into those of the middle classes, and there was nothing as yet to foretell the reactionary revolution by which the trade-gilds themselves became an oligarchy as narrow as that which they had deposed.

V

THE THREE EDWARDS

Section V.

The King and the Baronage, 1290—1327.

V

THE THREE EDWARDS

Section V.

[Authorities.—For Edward I. as before. For Edward II. we have three important contemporaries : on the King's side, Thomas de la More (in Camden, "Anglica, Britannica, etc."); on that of the Barons, Trokelowe's Annals (published by the Master of the Rolls), and the Life by a monk of Malmesbury, printed by Hearne. The short Chronicle by Murimuth is also contemporary in date. Hallam ("Middle Ages") has illustrated the constitutional aspect of the time.]

V

THE THREE EDWARDS

Section V.

If we turn again to the constitutional history of England from the accession of Edward the First we find a progress not less real but chequered with darker vicissitudes than the progress of our towns. A great transfer of power had been brought about by the long struggle

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

for the Charter, by the reforms of Earl Simon, and by the earlier legislation of Edward himself. His conception of kingship indeed was that of a just and religious Henry the Second, but his England was as different from the England of Henry as the Parliament of the one was different from the Great Council of the other. In the rough rimes of Robert of Gloucester we read the simple political creed of the people at large.

1290

"When the land through God's grace to good peace was brought

1327

For to have the old laws the high men turned their thought :

For to have, as we said erst, the good old Law,

The King made his charter and granted it with sawe."

But the power which the Charter had wrested from the Crown fell not to the people but to the Barons. The farmer and the artisan, though they could fight in some great crisis for freedom, had as yet no wish to interfere in the common task of government. The vast industrial change in both town and country, which had begun during the reign of Henry the Third, and which continued with increasing force during that of his son, absorbed the energy and attention of the trading classes. In agriculture, the inclosure of common lands and the introduction of the system of leases on the part of the great proprietors, coupled with the subdivision of estates which was facilitated by Edward's legislation, was gradually creating out of the masses of rural bondsmen a new class of tenant farmers, whose whole energy was absorbed in their own great rise to social freedom. The very causes which rendered the growth of municipal liberty so difficult, increased the wealth of the towns. To the trade with Norway and the Hanse towns of North Germany, the wool-trade with Flanders, and the wine trade with Gascony, was now added a fast increasing commerce with Italy and Spain. The great Venetian merchant galleys appeared on the English coast, Florentine traders settled in the southern ports, the bankers of Florence and Lucca followed those of Cahors, who had already dealt a death-blow to the usury of the Jews. But the wealth and industrial energy of the country was shown, not only in the rise of a capitalist class, but in a crowd of civil and ecclesiastical buildings which distinguished this period. Christian architecture reached its highest beauty in the opening of Edward's reign, a period marked by the completion of the abbey church of Westminster and the exquisite cathedral church at Salisbury. An English noble was proud to be styled "an incomparable builder," while some traces of the art which was rising across the Alps perhaps flowed in with the Italian ecclesiastics whom the Papacy was forcing on the English Church. In the abbey of Westminster the shrine of the Confessor, the mosaic pavement, and the paintings on the walls of minster and chapter-house, remind us of the schools which were springing up under Giotto and the Pisans.

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

Sec. V. THE KING AND THE BARONAGE 1290 TO 1327 The Baronage and its rule

But even had this industrial distraction been wanting the trading classes had no mind to claim any direct part in the actual work of government. It was a work which, in default of the Crown, fell naturally, according to the ideas of the time, to the Baronage. Constitutionally the position of the English nobles had now become established. A King could no longer make laws or levy taxes or even make war without their assent. And in the Baronage the nation reposed an unwavering trust. The nobles of England were no more the brutal foreigners from whose violence the strong hand of a Norman ruler had been needed to protect his subjects; they were as English as the peasant or the trader. They had won English liberty by their swords, and the tradition of their order bound them to look on themselves as its natural guardians. At the close of the Barons' war, the problem which had so long troubled the realm, the problem of how to ensure its government in accordance with the Charter, was solved by the transfer of the business of administration into the hands of a standing committee of the greater prelates and barons, acting as chief officers of state in conjunction with specially appointed ministers of the Crown. The body thus composed was known as the Continual Council; and the quiet government of the kingdom by the Council in the long interval between the death of Henry the Third and his son's return shows how effective this rule of the nobles was. It is significant of the new relation which they were to strive to establish between themselves and the Crown that in the brief which announced Edward's accession the Council asserted that the new monarch mounted his throne "by the will of the peers." The very form indeed of the new Parliament, in which the barons were backed by the knights of the shire, elected for the most part under their influence, and by the representatives of the towns, still true to the traditions of the Barons' war; the increased frequency of these Parliamentary assemblies which gave opportunity for counsel, for party organization, and a distinct political base of action; above all, the new financial power which their control over taxation enabled them to exert on the throne, ultimately placed the rule of the nobles on a basis too strong to be shaken by the utmost efforts of even Edward himself.

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

Law and the Baronage

From the first the King struggled fruitlessly against this overpowering influence; and his sympathies must have been stirred by the revolution on the other side of the Channel, where the French kings were crushing the power of the feudal baronage, and erecting a royal despotism on its ruins. Edward watched jealously over the ground which the Crown had already gained against the nobles. Following the policy of Henry II., at the very outset of his reign he instituted a commission of enquiry into the judicial franchises still existing, and on its report itinerant justices were sent to discover by what right these franchises were held. The writs of "quo warranto" were

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. V. THE KING AND THE BARONAGE 1290 TO 1327

roughly met here and there. Earl Warenne bared a rusty sword, and hung it on the justices' table. “This, sirs,” he said, “is my warrant. By the sword our fathers won their lands when they came over with the Conqueror, and by the sword we will keep them.” But the King was far from limiting himself to the plans of Henry II.; he aimed further at neutralizing the power of the nobles by raising the whole body of landowners to the same level ; and a royal writ ordered all freeholders who held land of the value of twenty pounds to receive knighthood at the King's hands. While the political influence of the baronage as a leading element in the nation mounted, in fact, the personal and purely feudal power of each individual on his estates as steadily fell. The hold which the Crown had gained on every noble family by its rights of wardship and marriage, the circuits of the royal judges, the ever narrowing bounds within which baronial justice was circumscribed, the blow dealt by scutage at their military power, the prompt intervention of the Council in their feuds, lowered the nobles more and more to the level of their fellow subjects. Much yet remained to be done. Different as the English baronage, taken as a whole, was from a feudal noblesse like that of Germany or France, there is in every military class a natural drift towards violence and lawlessness, which even the stern justice of Edward found it difficult to repress. Throughout his reign his strong hand was needed to enforce order on warring nobles. Great earls, such as those of Gloucester and Hereford, carried on private war ; in Shropshire the Earl of Arundel waged his feud with Fulk Fitz Warine. To the lesser and poorer nobles the wealth of the trader, the long wain of goods as it passed along the highway, was a tempting prey. Once, under cover of a mock tournament of monks against canons, a band of country gentlemen succeeded in introducing themselves into the great merchant fair at Boston; at nightfall every booth was on fire, the merchants robbed and slaughtered, and the booty carried off to ships which lay ready at the quay. Streams of gold and silver, ran the tale of popular horror, flowed melted down the gutters to the sea ; “all the money in England could hardly make good the loss.” Even at the close of Edward's reign lawless bands of “trail-bastons,” or club-men, maintained themselves by general outrage, aided the country nobles in their feuds, and wrested money and goods by threats from the great tradesmen. “The King was strong enough to fine and imprison the Earls, to hang the chief of the Boston marauders, and to suppress the outlaws by rigorous commissions. During Edward's absence of three years from the realm, the judges, who were themselves drawn from the lesser baronage, were charged with violence and corruption. After a careful investigation the judicial abuses were recognized and amended ; two of the chief justices were banished from the country, and their colleagues imprisoned and fined.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

The next year saw a step which remains the great blot upon Edward's reign. Under the Angevins the popular hatred of the Jews had grown rapidly in intensity. But the royal protection had never wavered. Henry the Second had granted them the right of burial outside of every city where they dwelt. Richard had punished heavily a massacre of the Jews at York, and organized a mixed court of Jews and Christians for the registration of their contracts. John suffered none to plunder them save himself, though he once wrested from them a sum equal to a year's revenue of his realm. The troubles of the next reign brought in a harvest greater than even the royal greed could reap; the Jews grew wealthy enough to acquire estates, and only a burst of popular feeling prevented a legal decision which would have enabled them to own freeholds. Their pride and contempt of the superstitions around them broke out in the taunts they levelled at processions as they passed their Jewries, sometimes as at Oxford in actual attacks upon them. Wild stories floated about among the people of children carried off to Jewish houses, to be circumcised or crucified, and a boy of Lincoln who was found slain in a Jewish house was canonized by popular reverence as "St. Hugh." The first work of the Friars was to settle in the Hebrew quarters and attempt their conversion, but the tide of popular fury rose too fast for these gentler means of reconciliation. When the Franciscans saved seventy Jews from death by their prayers to Henry the Third the populace angrily refused the brethren alms. The sack of Jewry after Jewry was the sign of popular hatred during the Barons' war. With its close, fell on the Jews the more terrible persecution of the law. Statute after statute hemmed them in. They were forbidden to hold real property, to employ Christian servants, to move through the streets without the two white tablets of wool on their breasts which distinguished their race. They were prohibited from building new synagogues, or eating with Christians, or acting as physicians to them. Their trade, already crippled by the rivalry of the bankers of Cahors, was annihilated by a royal order, which bade them renounce usury under pain of death. At last persecution could do no more, and on the eve of his struggle with Scotland, Edward, eager at the moment to find supplies for his treasury, and himself swayed by the fanaticism of his subjects, bought the grant of a fifteenth from clergy and laity by consenting to drive the Jews from his realm. Of the sixteen thousand who preferred exile to apostasy few reached the shores of France. Many were wrecked, others robbed and flung overboard. One shipmaster turned out a crew of wealthy merchants on to a sandbank, and bade them call a new Moses to save them from the sea. From the time of Edward to that of Cromwell no Jew touched English ground.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

No share in the enormities which accompanied the expulsion of the Jews can fall upon Edward, for he not only suffered the fugitives to

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

Sec. V.

THE KING AND THE BARONAGE 1290 TO 1327 Edward and the Jews

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

1290 Edward and the Baronage

SEC. V.

take their wealth with them, but punished with the halter those who plundered them at sea. But the expulsion was none the less cruel, and the grant of a fifteenth made by the grateful Parliament proved but a poor substitute for the loss which the royal treasury had sustained.

THE KING AND THE BARONAGE 1290 TO 1327

The Scotch war more than exhausted the aids granted by the Parliament. The treasury was utterly drained; the costly fight with the French in Gascony called for supplies, while the King was planning a yet costlier attack on northern France with the aid of Flanders. It was sheer want which drove Edward to tyrannous extortion.

1294

His first blow fell on the Church; he had already demanded half their annual income from the clergy, and so terrible was his wrath at their resistance, that the Dean of St. Paul's, who had stood forth to remonstrate, dropped dead of sheer terror at his feet. "If any oppose the King's demand," said a royal envoy, in the midst of the Convocation, "let him stand up that he may be noted as an enemy to the King's peace."

The outraged churchmen fell back on an untenable plea that their aid was due solely to Rome, and pleaded a bull of exemption, issued by Pope Boniface VIII, as a ground for refusing to comply with further taxation. Edward met their refusal by a general outlawry of the whole order. The King's courts were closed, and all justice denied to those who refused the King aid.

1297

By their actual plea the clergy had put themselves formally in the wrong, and the outlawry soon forced them to submission, but their aid did little to recruit the exhausted treasury, while the pressure of the war steadily increased. Far wider measures of arbitrary taxation were needful to equip an expedition which Edward prepared to lead in person to Flanders.

The country gentlemen were compelled to take up knighthood, or to compound for exemption from the burthensome honour. Forced contributions of cattle and corn were demanded from the counties, and the export duty on wool—now the staple produce of the country—was raised to six times its former amount.

Though he infringed no positive charter or statute, the work of the Great Charter and the Barons' war seemed suddenly to have been undone. But the blow had no sooner been struck than Edward found himself powerless within his realm.

1297

The baronage roused itself to resistance, and the two greatest of the English nobles, Bohun, Earl of Hereford, and Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, placed themselves at the head of the opposition.

Their protest against the war and the financial measures by which it was carried on, took the practical form of a refusal to lead a force to Gascony as Edward's lieutenants, while he himself sailed for Flanders.

They availed themselves of the plea that they were not bound to foreign service save in attendance on the King. "By God, Sir Earl," swore the King to Bigod, "you shall either go or hang!" "By God, Sir King," was the cool reply, "I will neither go nor hang!"

Ere the Parliament he had convened could meet, Edward had discovered his own powerlessness, and, with one of

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

those sudden revulsions of feeling of which his nature was capable, he stood before his people in Westminster Hall and owned, with a burst of tears, that he had taken their substance without due warrant of law. His passionate appeal to their loyalty wrested a reluctant assent to the prosecution of the war, but the crisis had taught the need of further securities against the royal power. While Edward was still struggling in Flanders, the Primate, Winchelsey, joined the two Earls and the citizens of London in forbidding any further levy of supplies till Edward at Ghent solemnly confirmed the Charter with the new clauses added to it prohibiting the King from raising taxes save by general consent of the realm. At the demand of the barons he renewed the Confirma-

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

tion in 1299, when his attempt to add an evasive clause saving the rights of the Crown proved the justice of their distrust. Two years later a fresh gathering of the barons in arms wrested from him the full execution of the Charter of Forests. The bitterness of his humiliation preyed on him; he evaded his pledge to levy no new taxes on merchandise by the sale to merchants of certain privileges of trading; and a formal absolution from his promises which be obtained from the Pope showed his intention of re-opening the questions he had yielded. His hand was stayed, however, by the fatal struggle with Scotland which revived in the rising of Robert Bruce, and the King's death bequeathed the contest to his worthless son.

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

Worthless, however, as Edward the Second morally might be, he was far from being destitute of the intellectual power which seemed hereditary in the Plantagenets. It was his settled purpose to fling off the yoke of the baronage, and the means by which he designed accomplishing his purpose was the choice of a minister wholly dependent on the Crown. We have already noticed the change by which the "clerks of the king's chapel," who had been the ministers of arbitrary government under the Normans and Angevins, had been quietly superseded by the prelates and lords of the Continual Council. At the close of his father's reign, a direct demand on the part of the Barons to nominate the great officers of state had been curtly rejected; but the royal choice had been practically limited in the selection of its ministers to the class of prelates and nobles, and, however closely connected with royalty, such officers always to a great extent shared the feelings and opinions of their order. It seems to have been the aim of the young King to undo the change which had been silently brought about, and to imitate the policy of the contemporary sovereigns of France by choosing as his ministers men of an inferior position, wholly dependent on the Crown for their power, and representatives of nothing but the policy and interests of their master. Piers Gaveston, a foreigner sprung from a family of Guienne, had been his friend and companion during his father's reign, at the close of which he had been banished from the realm for his share in intrigues which had divided

iv

THE THREE EDWARDS

Sec. V.

The King and the Baronage 1290 to 1327 1297 1301 1305 1307 Edward the Second 1307-1327

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

796 Cenwulf, King of Mercia, died 821.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

802 Ecgberht becomes King in Wessex, died 839.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

803 Cenwulf suppresses Archbishopric of Lichfield.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

808 Charles the Great restores Eardwulf in Northumbria.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

815 Ecgberht subdues the West Welsh to the Tamar.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

821 Civil war in Mercia.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

825 Ecgberht defeats Mercians at Ellandun.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

— overlord of England south of Thames.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

827 Revolt of East Anglia against Mercia.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

828 Defeat of Mercians by East Anglians.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

Mercia and Northumbria submit to Ecgberht.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

Ecgberht overlord of all English kingdoms.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

— invades Wales.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

837 — defeats Danes at Hengestesdun.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

839 Æthelwulf, King of Wessex, died 858.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

849 Alfred born.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

851 Danes defeated at Aclea.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

853 Alfred sent to Rome.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

855 Æthelwulf goes to Rome.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

857 Æthelbald, King of Wessex, died 860.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

860 Æthelberht, King of Wessex, died 866.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

866 Æthelred, King of Wessex, died 871.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

867 Danes conquer Northumbria.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

868 Peace of Nottingham with Danes.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

870 Danes conquer and settle in East Anglia.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

871 Danes invade Wessex.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

Ælfred, King of Wessex, died 901.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

874 Danes conquer Mercia.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

876 Danes settle in Northumbria.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

877 Ælfred defeats Danes at Exeter.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

878 Danes overrun Wessex.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

Ælfred victor at Edington.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

Peace of Wedmore.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

883 Ælfred sends envoys to Rome and India.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

886 Ælfred takes and refortifies London.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

893 Danes reappear in Thames and Kent.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

894 Ælfred drives Hasting from Wessex.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

895 Hasting invades Mercia.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

896 Ælfred drives Danes from Essex.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

897 Hasting quits England.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

Ælfred creates a fleet.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

901 Eadward the Elder, died 925.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

912 Northmen settle in Normandy.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

913 } Æthelflæd conquers Danish Mercia.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

918 }

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

921 Eadward subdues East Anglia and

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

— owned as overlord by Northu Scots, and Strathclyde.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

924 Æthelstan, died 940.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

— drives Welsh from Exeter.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

934 — invades Scotland.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

937 Victory of Brunanburh.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

940 Eadmund, died 946.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

943 Dunstan made Abbot of Glastonbury.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

945 Cumberland granted to Malcolm, K Scots.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

946 Eadred, died 955.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

954 — makes Northumbria an Earldom.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

955 Eadwig, died 959.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

956 Banishment of Dunstan.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

957 Revolt of Mercia under Eadgar.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

958 Eadgar, died 975.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

959 Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

975 Eadward the Martyr, died 978.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

978 Æthelred the Unready, died 1016.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

987 } Fulk the Black, Count of Anjou.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1040 }

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

994 Invasion of Swein.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1002 Massacre of Danes.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1003 Swein harries Wessex.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1012 Murder of Archbishop Ælfheah.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1013 All England submits to Swein.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

Flight of Æthelred to Normandy.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1016 Eadmund Ironside, King,

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1016 Cnut, King, died 1035.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1020 Godwine made Earl of Wessex.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1027 Cnut goes to Rome.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

Birth of William of Normandy.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1035 Harald and Harthacnut divide England.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1037 Harald, King, died 1040.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1040 Harthacnut, King, died 1042.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1040 } Geoffrey Martel, Count of Anjou.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1060 }

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1042 Eadward the Confessor, died 1066.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1045 Lanfranc at Bec.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1047 Victory of William at Val-ès-dunes.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1051 Banishment of Godwine.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

William of Normandy visits England.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1052 Return of Godwine.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1053 Death of Godwine.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

Harold made Earl of West Saxons.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1054 William's victory at Mortemer.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1055 Harold's first campaign in Wales.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1054 } Norman conquest of Southern Italy.

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1060 }

ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS

1016-1204

1058 William's victory at the Dive.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Edward from his son. At the new King's accession he was at once recalled, created Earl of Cornwall, and placed at the head of the ad-ministration. Gay, genial, thrifless, Gaveston showed in his first acts the quickness and audacity of Southern Gaul; the older ministers were dismissed, all claims of precedence or inheritance set aside in the distribution of offices at the coronation, while taunts and deflances goaded the proud baronage to fury. The favourite was a fine soldier, and his lance unhorsed his opponents in tourney after tourney. His reckless with flung nicknames about the Court; the Earl of Lancaster was "the Actor," Pembroke "the Jew," Warwick "the Black Dog." But taunt and defiance broke helplessly against the iron mass of the baronage. After a few months of power the demand of the Parliament for his dismissal could not be resisted, and he was formally banished from the realm. In the following year it was only by conceding the rights which his father had sought to establish of imposing import duties on the merchants by their own assent, that Edward procured a subsidy for the Scotch war. The firmness of the baronage sprang from their having found a head in the Earl of Lancaster, son of Edmund Crouchback. His weight proved irresistible. When Edward at the close of the Parliament recalled Gaveston, Lancaster withdrew from the royal Council, and a Parliament which met in 1310 resolved that the affairs of the realm should be entrusted for a year to a body of twenty-one "Ordiners."

A formidable list of "Ordinances" drawn up by the twenty-one met Edward on his return from a fruitless warfare with the Scots. By this long and important statute Gaveston was banished, other advisers were driven from the Council, and the Florentine bankers whose loans had enabled Edward to hold the baronage at bay sent out of the realm. The customs duties imposed by Edward the First were declared to be illegal. Parliaments were to be called every year, and in these assemblies the King's servants were to be brought, if need were, to justice. The great officers of state were to be appointed with the counsel and consent of the baronage, and to be sworn in Parliament. The same consent of the barons in Parliament was to be needful ere the King could declare war or absent himself from the realm. As the Ordinances show, the baronage still looked on Parliament rather as a political organization of the nobles than as a gathering of the three Estates of the realm. The lower clergy pass unnoticed; the Commons are regarded as mere tax-payers whose part was still confined to the presentation of petitions of grievances and the grant of money. But even in this imperfect fashion the Parliament was a real representation of the country, and Edward was forced to assent to the Crdinances after a long and obstinate struggle. The exile of Gaveston was the sign of the barons' triumph; his recall a few months later renewed a strife which was only ended by his capture in Scarborough. The

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

SEC. IV. THE PEASANT REVOLT 1377 TO 1381 The Peasant Rising

Ball : "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman ?" The rime was running from lip to lip when a fresh instance of public oppression fanned the smouldering discontent into a flame. Edward the Third died in a dishonoured old age, robbed on his death-bed even of his finger-rings by the vile mistress to whom he had clung ; and the accession of the child of the Black Prince, Richard the Second, revived the hopes of what in a political sense we must still call the popular party in the Legislature. The Parliament of 1377 took up the work of reform, and boldly assumed the control of a new subsidy by assigning two of their number to regulate its expenditure : that of 1378 demanded and obtained an account of the mode in which the subsidy had been spent. But the real strength of Parliament was directed, as we have seen, to the desperate struggle in which the proprietary classes, whom they exclusively represented, were striving to reduce the labourer into a fresh serfage. Meanwhile the shame of defeat abroad was added to the misery and discord at home. The French war ran its disastrous course : one English fleet was beaten by the Spaniards, a second sunk by a storm ; and a campaign in the heart of France ended, like its predecessors, in dis- appointment and ruin. It was to defray the heavy expenses of the war that the Parliament of 1380 renewed a grant made three years before, to be raised by means of a poll-tax on every person in the realm. The tax brought under contribution a class which had hitherto escaped, men such as the labourer, the village smith, the village tiler ; it goaded into action precisely the class which was already seething with discontent, and its exaction set England on fire from sea to sea. As spring went on quaint rimes passed through the country, and served as summons to the revolt which soon extended from the eastern and midland counties over all England south of the Thames. "John Ball," ran one, "greeteth you all, and doth for to understand he hath rung your bell. Now right and might, will and skill, God speed every dele." "Help truth," ran another, "and truth shall help you ! Now reigneth pride in price, and covetise is counted wise, and lechery withouten shame, and gluttony withouten blame. Envy reigneth with treason, and sloth is take in great season. God do bote, for now is tyme !" We recognise Ball's hand in the yet more stirring missives of "Jack the Miller" and "Jack the Carter." "Jack Miller asketh help to turn his mill aright. He hath grounden small, small : the King's Son of Heaven he shall pay for all. Look thy mill go aright with the four sailes, and the post stand with steadfastness. With right and with might, with skill and with will ; let might help right, and skill go before will, and right before might, so goeth our mill aright." "Jack Carter," ran the companion missive, "prays you all that ye make a good end of that ye have begun, and do

THE THREE EDWARDS.

"Black Dog" of Warwick had sworn that the favourite should feel his teeth ; and Gaveston, who flung himself in vain at the feet of the Earl of Lancaster, praying for pity "from his gentle lord," was beheaded in defiance of the terms of his capitulation on Blacklow Hill. The King's burst of grief was as fruitless as his threats of vengeance ; a feigned submission of the conquerors completed the royal humiliation, and the barons knelt before Edward in Westminster Hall to receive a pardon which seemed the deathblow of the royal power. But if Edward was powerless to conquer the baronage he could still, by evading the observance of the Ordinances, throw the whole realm into confusion. The six years that follow Gaveston's death are among the darkest in our history. A terrible succession of famines intensified the suffering which sprang from the utter absence of all rule during the dissension between the barons and the King. The overthrow of Bannockburn, and the ravages of the Scots in the North, brought shame on England such as it had never known. At last the capture of Berwick by Robert Bruce forced Edward to give way, the Ordinances were formally accepted, an amnesty granted, and a small number of peers belonging to the Barons' party added to the great officers of state.

THE THREE EDWARDS.

The Earl of Lancaster, by the union of the four earldoms of Lincoln, Leicester, Derby, and Lancaster, as well as by his royal blood (for like the King he was a grandson of Henry the Third), stood at the head of the English baronage, and the issue of the long struggle with Edward raised him for the moment to supreme power in the realm. But his character seems to have fallen far beneath the greatness of his position. Incapable of governing, he could do little but regard with jealousy the new advisers on whom the King now leaned, the older and the younger Hugh Le Despenser. The rise of the younger, on whom the King bestowed the county of Glamorgan with the hand of its heiress, was rapid enough to excite general jealousy, and Lancaster found little difficulty in extorting by force of arms his exile from the kingdom. But the tide of popular sympathy, already wavering, was turned to the royal cause by an insult offered to the Queen, against whom Lady Badlesmere had closed the doors of Ledes Castle, and the unexpected energy shown by Edward in avenging the insult gave fresh strength to his cause. He found himself strong enough to recall Despenser, and when Lancaster convoked the baronage to force him again into exile, the weakness of their party was shown by the treasonable negotiations into which the Earl entered with the Scots, and by his precipitate retreat to the north on the advance of the royal army. At Boroughbridge his forces were arrested and dispersed, and the Earl himself, brought captive before Edward at Pontefract, was tried and condemned to death as a traitor. "Have mercy on me, King of Heaven," cried Lancaster, as mounted on a grey pony without a bridle he was hurried to execution, "for my earthly King has

Sec. V.

THE KING AND THE BARONAGE 1290 TO 1327

1312

1318

The De-spensers

1321

Fail of Lan-caster

1322

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

THE KING AND THE BARONAGE 1290 TO 1327

SE: V. forsaken me." His death was followed by that of a number of his adherents and by the captivity of others; while a Parliament at York annulled the proceedings against the Despensers, and repealed the Ordinances. It is to this Parliament however, and perhaps to the victorious confidence of the royalists, that we owe the famous provision which reveals the policy of the Despensers, the provision that all laws concerning " the estate of the Crown, or of the realm and people, shall be treated, accorded, and established in Parliaments by our Lord the King and by the consent of the prelates, earls, barons, and commonalty of the realm, according as hath been hitherto accustomed." It would seem from the tenor of this remarkable enactment that much of the sudden revulsion of popular feeling had been owing to the assumption of all legislative action by the baronage alone. But the arrogance of the Despensers, the utter failure of a fresh campaign against Scotland, and the humiliating truce for thirteen years which Edward was forced to conclude with Robert Bruce, soon robbed the Crown of its temporary popularity, and led the way to the sudden catastrophe which closed this disastrous reign. It had been arranged that the Queen, a sister of the King of France, should re-visit her home to conclude a treaty between the two countries, whose quarrel was again verging upon war ; and her son, a boy of twelve years old, followed her to do homage in his father's stead for the duchies of Gascony and Aquitaine. Neither threats nor prayers, however, could induce either wife or child to return to his court ; and the Queen's connexion with a secret conspiracy of the baronage was revealed when the primate and nobles hurried to

her standard on her landing at Orwell. Deserted by all, and repulsed by the citizens of London whose aid he implored, the King fled hastily to the west and embarked with the Despensers for Lundy Isle ; but contrary winds flung the fugitives again on the Welsh coast, where they fell into the hands of the new Earl of Lancaster. The younger Despenser was at once hanged on a gibbet fifty feet high, and the King placed in ward at Kenilworth till his fate could be decided by a Parliament summoned for that purpose at Westminster. The Peers who assembled fearlessly revived the constitutional usage of the earlier English freedom, and asserted their right to depose a king who had proved himself unworthy to rule. Not a voice was raised in Edward's behalf, and only four prelates protested when the young Prince was proclaimed King by acclamation, and presented as their sovereign to the multitudes without. The revolution soon took legal form in a bill which charged the captive monarch with indolence, incapacity, the loss of Scotland, the violation of his coronation oath, and oppression of the Church and baronage ; and on the approval of this it was resolved that the reign of Edward of Caernarvon had ceased and that the crown had passed to his son, Edward of Windsor.

THE THREE EDWARDS

SEC. VI. THE SCOTCH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

A deputation of the Parliament proceeded to Kenilworth to procure the assent of the discrowned King to his own deposition, and Edward, “clad in a plain black gown,” submitted quietly to his fate. Sir William Trussel at once addressed him in words which better than any other mark the true nature of the step which the Parliament had taken. “I, William Trussel, proctor of the earls, barons, and others, having for this full and sufficient power, do render and give back to you, Edward, once King of England, the homage and fealty of the persons named in my procuration ; and acquit and discharge them thereof in the best manner that law and custom will give. And I now make protestation in their name that they will no longer be in your fealty and allegiance, nor claim to hold anything of you as king, but will account you hereafter as a private person, without any manner of royal dignity.” A significant act followed these emphatic words. Sir Thomas Blount, the steward of the household, broke his staff of office, a ceremony only used at a king’s death, and declared that all persons engaged in the royal service were discharged. In the following September the King was murdered in Berkeley Castle.

THE THREE EDWARDS

Section VI.—The Scotch War of Independence, 1306—1342.

Authorities.—Mainly the contemporary English Chroniclers and state documents for the reigns of the three Edwards. John Barbour’s “Bruce,” the great legendary storehouse for his hero’s adventures, is historically worthless. Mr. Burton’s is throughout the best modern account of the time.] To obtain a clear view of the constitutional struggle between the kings and the baronage, we have deferred to its close an account of the great contest which raged throughout the whole period in the north.

THE THREE EDWARDS

Section VI.—The Scotch War of Independence, 1306—1342.

With the Convocation of Perth the conquest and settlement of Scotland seemed complete. Edward I., in fact, was preparing for a joint Parliament of the two nations at Carlisle, when the conquered country suddenly sprang again to arms under Robert Bruce, the grandson of one of the original claimants of the crown. The Norman house of Bruce formed a part of the Yorkshire baronage, but it had acquired through intermarriages the Earldom of Carrick and the Lordship of Annandale. Both the claimant and his son had been pretty steadily on the English side in the contest with Balliol and Wallace, and Robert had himself been trained in the English court, and stood high in the King’s favour. But the withdrawal of Balliol gave a new force to his claims upon the crown, and the discovery of an intrigue which he had set on foot with the Bishop of St. Andrews so roused Edward’s jealousy that Bruce fled for his life across the border. In the church of the Grey Friars at Dumfries he met Comyn, the Lord of Badenoch, to whose treachery he attributed the disclosure of

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

Sec. VII. THE SCOTCH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1306 TO 1342

his plans, and after the interchange of a few hot words struck him with his dagger to the ground. It was an outrage that admitted of no forgiveness, and Bruce for very safety was forced to assume the crown six weeks after in the Abbey of Scone. The news roused Scotland again to arms, and summoned Edward to a fresh contest with his unconquerable foe. But the murder of Comyn had changed the King's mood to a terrible pitilessness ; he threatened death against all concerned in the outrage, and exposed the Countess of Buchan, who had set the crown on Bruce's head, in a cage or open chamber built for the purpose in one of the towers of Berwick. At the solemn feast which celebrated his son's knighthood Edward vowed on the swan, which formed the chief dish at the banquet, to devote the rest of his days to exact vengeance from the murderer himself. But even at the moment of the vow, Bruce was already flying for his life to the western islands. "Henceforth," he had said to his wife at their coronation, "thou art queen of Scotland and I king." "I fear," replied Mary Bruce, "we are only playing at royalty, like children in their games." The play was soon turned into bitter earnest. A small English force under Aymer de Valence sufficed to rout the disorderly levies which gathered round the new monarch, and the flight of Bruce left his followers at Edward's mercy. Noble after noble was hurried to the block. The Earl of Athole pleaded kindred with royalty ; "His only privilege," burst forth the King, "shall be that of being hanged on a higher gallows than the rest." Knights and priests were strung up side by side by the English justiciars ; while the wife and daughter of Robert Bruce were flung into prison. Bruce himself had offered to capitulate to Prince Edward, but the offer only roused the old King to fury. "Who is so bold," he cried, "as to treat with our traitors without our knowledge?" and rising from his sick bed he led his army northwards to complete the conquest. But the hand of death was upon him, and in the very sight of Scotland the old man breathed his last at Burgh-upon-Sands.

1307 Robert Bruce

The death of Edward arrested only for a moment the advance of his army to the north. The Earl of Pembroke led it across the border, and found himself master of the country without a blow. Bruce's career became that of a desperate adventurer, for even the Highland chiefs in whose fastnesses he found shelter were bitterly hostile to one who claimed to be King of their foes in the Lowlands. It was this adversity that transformed the murderer of Comyn into the noble leader of a nation's cause. Strong and of commanding presence, brave and genial in temper, Bruce bore the hardships of his career with a courage and hopefulness which never failed. In the legends which clustered round his name we see him listening in Highland glens to the bay of the bloodhounds on his track, or holding single-handed a pass against a crowd of savage clansmen. Sometimes the little

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

band which clung to him were forced to support themselves by hunting or fishing, sometimes to break up for safety as their enemies tracked them to the lair. Bruce himself had more than once to fling off his shirt of mail and scramble barefoot for very life up the crags. Little by little, however, the dark sky cleared. The English pressure relaxed, as the struggle between Edward and his barons grew fiercer. James Douglas, the darling of Scotch story, was the first of the Lowland barons to rally again to the Bruce, and his daring gave heart to the King's cause. Once he surprised his own house, which had been given to an Englishman, at the dinner which had been prepared for its new owner, slew his captives, and tossed their bodies on to a pile of wood gathered at the castle gate. Then he staved in the wine-vats that the wine might mingle with their blood, and set house and woodpile on fire. A terrible ferocity mingled with heroism in the work of freedom, but the revival of the country went steadily on. Bruce's "harrying of Buchan" after the defeat of its Earl, who had joined the English army, at last fairly turned the tide of success. Edinburgh, Roxburgh, Perth, and most of the Scotch fortresses fell one by one into King Robert's hands. The clergy met in council and owned him as their lawful lord. Gradually the Scotch barons who still held to the English cause were coerced into submission, and Bruce found himself strong enough to invest Stirling, the last and the most important of the Scotch fortresses which held out for Edward.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

Stirling was in fact the key of Scotland, and its danger roused England out of its civil strife to a vast effort for the recovery of its prey. Thirty thousand horsemen formed the fighting part of the great army which followed Edward to the north, and a host of wild marauders had been summoned from Ireland and Wales to its support. The army which Bruce had gathered to oppose the inroad was formed almost wholly of footmen, and was stationed to the south of Stirling on a rising ground flanked by a little brook, the Bannock burn which gave its name to the engagement. Again two systems of warfare were brought face to face as they had been brought at Falkirk, for Robert, like Wallace, drew up his force in solid squares or circles of spearmen. The English were dispirited at the very outset by the failure of an attempt to relieve Stirling, and by the issue of a single combat between Bruce and Henry de Bohun, a knight who bore down upon him as he was riding peacefully along the front of his army. Robert was mounted on a small hackney and held only a light battle-axe in his hand, but, warding off his opponent's spear, he cleft his skull with so terrible a blow that the handle of the axe was shattered in his grasp. At the opening of the battle the English archers were thrown forward to rake the Scottish squares, but they were without support and were easily dispersed by a handful of horse whom Bruce had held in reserve for the purpose. The body of men-at-arms next flung themselves on

SEC. VI.

THE SCOTCH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 1306 TO 1342

1313

Bannock burn June 24, 1314

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

SEC. VI. THE SCOTCH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1306 TO 1342

the Scottish front, but their charge was embarrassed by the narrow space along which the line was forced to move, and the steady resistance of the squares soon threw the knighthood into disorder. "The horses that were stickit," says an exulting Scotch writer, "rushed and reeled right rudely." In the moment of failure the sight of a body of camp-followers, whom they mistook for reinforcements to the enemy, spread panic through the English host. It broke in a headlong rout. Its thousands of brilliant horsemen were soon floundering in piles which had guarded the level ground to Bruce's left, or riding in wild haste for the border. Few however were fortunate enough to reach it. Edward himself, with a body of five hundred knights, succeeded in escaping to Dunbar and the sea. But the flower of his knighthood fell into the hands of the victors, while the Irishry and the footmen were ruthlessly cut down by the country folk as they fled. For centuries after, the rich plunder of the English camp left its traces on the treasure and vestment rolls of castle and abbey throughout the Lowlands.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

SEC. VI. THE SCOTCH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1306 TO 1342

The Inde- pendence of Scotland 1318 1319 1323 Terrible as was the blow England could not humble herself to relinquish her claim on the Scottish crown. With equal pertinacity Bruce refused all negotiation while the royal title was refused to him and steadily pushed on the recovery of his southern dominion Berwick was at last forced to surrender, and held against a desperate attempt at its recapture ; while barbarous forays of the borderers under Douglas wasted Northumberland. Again the strife between the Crown and the baronage was suspended to allow the march of a great English army to the north ; but Bruce declined an engagement till the wasted Lowlands starved the invaders into a ruinous retreat. The failure forced England to stoop to a truce for thirteen years, in the negotiation of which Bruce was suffered to take the royal title. But the truce ceased legally with Edward's deposition. Troops gathered on either side, and Edward Balliol, a son of the former king John was solemnly received as a vassal-king of Scotland at the English court. Robert was disabled by leprosy from taking the field in person but the insult roused him to hurl his marauders again over the border under Douglas and Randolph. An eye-witness has painted for us this Scotch army, as it appeared in this campaign : "It consisted of four thousand men-at-arms, knights and esquires, well mounted, besides twenty thousand men bold and hardly, armed after the manner of their country, and mounted upon little hackneys that are never tied up or dressed, but turned immediately after the day's march to pasture on the heath or in the fields. . . . They bring no carriages with them on account of the mountains they have to pass in Northumberland neither do they carry with them any provisions of bread and wine, for their habits of sobriety are such in time of war that they will live for a long time on flesh half-sodden without bread, and drink the river

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

Sec. VI. The Scotch War of Independence 1306 to 1342

water without wine. They have therefore no occasion for pots or pans, for they dress the flesh of the cattle in their skins after they have flayed them, and being sure to find plenty of them in the country which they invade, they carry none with them. Under the flaps of his saddle each man carries a broad piece of metal, behind him a little bag of oatmeal: when they have eaten too much of the sodden flesh and their stomach appears weak and empty, they set this plate over the fire, knead the meal with water, and when the plate is hot put a little of the paste upon it in a thin cake like a biscuit which they eat to warm their stomachs. It is therefore no wonder that they perform a longer day's march than other soldiers." Against such a foe the English troops who marched under their boy-king to protect the border were utterly helpless. At one time the army lost its way in the vast border waste; at another all traces of the enemy had disappeared, and an offer of knighthood and a hundred marks was made to any who could tell where the Scots were encamped. But when found their position behind the Wear proved unassailable, and after a bold sally on the English camp Douglas foiled an attempt at intercepting him by a clever retreat. The English levies broke hopelessly up, and a fresh foray on Northumberland forced the English court to submit to peace. By the Treaty of Northampton the independence of Scotland was formally recognized, and Bruce acknowledged as its king.

IV

THE THREE EDWARDS

Scotland and Edward the Third

The pride of England, however, had been too much aroused by the struggle to bear easily its defeat. The first result of the treaty was the overthrow of the government which concluded it, a result hastened by the pride of its head, Roger Mortimer, and by his exclusion of the rest of the nobles from all share in the administration of the realm. The first efforts to shake Roger's power were unsuccessful: a league headed by the Earl of Lancaster broke up without result; and the King's uncle, the Earl of Kent, was actually brought to the block, before the young King himself interfered in the struggle. Entering the Council chamber in Nottingham Castle, with a force which he had introduced through a secret passage in the rock on which it stands, Edward arrested Mortimer with his own hands, hurried him to execution, and assumed the control of affairs. His first care was to restore good order throughout the country, which under the late government had fallen into ruin, and to free his hands by a peace with France for further enterprises in the North. Fortune indeed, seemed at last to have veered to the English side; the death of Bruce only a year after the Treaty of Northampton left the Scottish throne to a child of but eight years old, and the internal difficulties of the realm broke out in civil strife. To the great barons on either side the border the late peace involved serious losses, for many of the Scotch houses held large estates in England, as many of the English lords held

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. VI. THE SCOTCH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1306 TO 1342

large estates in Scotland; and although the treaty had provided for their claims, they had in each case been practically set aside. It is this discontent of the barons at the new settlement which explains the sudden success of Edward Balliol in his snatch at the Scottish throne. In spite of King Edward's prohibition, he sailed from England at the head of a body of nobles who claimed estates in the north, landed on the shores of Fife, and, after repulsing with immense loss an army which attacked him near Perth, was crowned at Scone, while David Bruce fled helplessly to France. Edward had given no open aid to the enterprise, but the crisis tempted his ambition, and he demanded and obtained from Balliol an acknowledgement of the English suzerainty.

The acknowledgement, however, was fatal to Balliol himself. He was at once driven from his realm, and Berwick, which he had agreed to surrender to Edward, was strongly garrisoned against an English attack. The town was soon besieged, but a Scotch army under the regent Douglas, brother to the famous Sir James, advanced to its relief, and attacked a covering force, which was encamped on the strong position of Halidon Hill. The English bowmen, however, vindicated the fame they had first won at Falkirk, and were soon to crown in the victory of Créçy ; and the Scotch only struggled through the marsh which covered the English front to be riddled with a storm of arrows, and to break in utter rout. The battle decided the fate of Berwick, and from that time the town remained the one part of Edward's conquests which was preserved by the English crown.

Fragment as it was, it was always viewed legally as representing the realm of which it had once formed a part. As Scotland, it had its chancellor, chamberlain, and other officers of State ; and the peculiar heading of Acts of Parliament enacted for England 'and the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed' still preserves the memory of its peculiar position. Balliol was restored to his throne by the conquerors, and his formal cession of the Lowlands to England rewarded their aid. During the next three years Edward persisted in the line of policy he had adopted, retaining his hold over Southern Scotland, and aiding his sub-king Balliol in campaign after campaign against the despairing efforts of the nobles who still adhered to the house of Bruce. His perseverance was all but crowned with success, when the outbreak of war with France saved Scotland by drawing the strength of England across the Channel. The patriot party drew again together. Balliol found himself at last without an adherent and withdrew to the Court of Edward, while David returned to his kingdom, and won back the chief fastnesses of the Lowlands. The freedom of Scotland was, in fact, secured. From a war of conquest and patriotic resistance the struggle died into a petty strife between two angry neighbours, which became a mere episode in the larger contest between England and France.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1060 Normans invade Sicily. 1063 Harold conquers Wales. 1066 Harold, King. — conquers at Stamford Bridge. — defeated at Senlac or Hastings. William of Normandy, King, died 1087. 1068 1071 Norman Conquest of England. 1070 Reorganization of the Church. Lanfranc Archbishop of Canterbury. 1075 Rising of Roger Fitz-Osbern. 1081 William invades Wales. 1085 Failure of Danish invasion. 1086 Completion of Domesday Book. 1087 William the Red, died 1100. 1093 Anselm, Archbishop. 1094 Revolt of Wales against the Norman Marchers. 1095 Revolt of Robert de Mowbray. 1096 Normandy left in pledge to William. 1097 William invades Wales. Anselm leaves England. 1098 War with France. 1100 Henry the First, died 1135. Henry's Charter. 1101 Robert of Normandy invades England. 1106 Settlement of question of investitures. English Conquest of Normandy. 1109 1129 Fulk of Jerusalem, Count of Anjou. 1110 War with France. 1111 War with Anjou. 1113 Peace of Gisors. 1114 Marriage of Matilda with Henry V. 1120 Wreck of White Ship. 1121 Henry's campaign in Wales. 1123 Revolt of Norman baronage. 1124 France and Anjou support William Clito. 1128 Matilda married to Geoffrey of Anjou. Death of the Clito in Flanders. 1134 Revolt of Wales. 1135 Stephen of Blois, died 1154. 1138 Normandy repulses the Angevins.

1138 Revolt of Earl Robert. Battle of the Standard. 1139 Seizure of the Bishops. Landing of Matilda. 1141 Battle of Lincoln. 1147 Birth of Gerald of Wales. 1148 Matilda withdraws to Normandy. Archbishop Theobald driven into exile. 1149 Henry of Anjou in England. 1151 Henry becomes Duke of Normandy. 1152 Henry marries Eleanor of Guienne. 1153 Henry in England. Treaty of Wallingford. 1154 Henry the Second, died 1189. 1159 Expedition against Toulouse. The Great Scutage. 1162 Thomas made Archbishop of Canterbury. 1164 Constitutions of Clarendon. Council of Northampton. Flight of Archbishop Thomas. 1166 Assize of Clarendon. 1170 Strongbow's invasion of Ireland. Inquest of Sheriffs. Death of Archbishop Thomas. 1172 Henry's Conquest of Ireland. 1173 1174 Rebellion of Henry's sons. 1176 Assize of Northampton. 1178 Reorganization of Curia Regis. 1181 Assize of Arms. 1189 Revolt of Richard. Richard the First, died 1199. 1190 Richard's Crusade. 1194 War with Philip Augustus. 1194 Llewelyn ap-Jorwerth in North Wales. 1196 1197 Richard builds Château Gaillard. 1199 John, dies 1216. — recovers Anjou and Maine. Layamon writes the Brut. 1203 Murder of Arthur. 1204 French conquest of Anjou and Normandy.

THE GREAT CHARTER.

1204—1295. 1205 Barons refuse to fight for recovery of Normandy. 1206 Stephen Langton Archbishop of Canterbury. 1208 Innocent III. puts England under Interdict. 1210 John divides Irish Pale into counties. 1211 John reduces Llewelyn -ap- Jorwerth to submission. 1213 John becomes the Pope's vassal. 1214 Battle of Bouvines. Birth of Roger Bacon. 1215 The Great Charter. 1216 Lewis of France called in by the Barons.

SEC. IV.

THE PEASANT REVOLT 1377 TO 1381

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

well, and aye better and better : for at the even men heareth this day.” “Falseness and guile,” sang Jack Trewman, “ have reigned long, and truth hath been set under a lock, and falseness and guile reigneth in every stock. No man may come truth to, but if he sin ‘si dedero.’ True love is away that was so good, and clerks fals wealth work them woe. God do bote, for now is tyme.” In the rude jingle of these lines began for England the literature of political controversy : they are the first predecessors of the pamphlets of Milton and of Burke. Rough as they are, they express clearly enough the mingled passions which met in the revolt of the peasants : their longing for a right rule, for plain and simple justice ; their scorn of the immorality of the nobles and the infamy of the court ; their resentment at the perversion of the law to the cause of oppression. The revolt spread like wildfire over the country ; Norfolk and Suffolk, Cambridge and Hertfordshire rose in arms ; from Sussex and Surrey the insurrection extended as far as Devon. But the actual outbreak began in Kent where a tiler killed a tax-collector in vengeance for an outrage on his daughter. The county rose in arms. Canterbury, where “the whole town was of their mind,” threw open its gates to the insurgents, who plundered the Archbishop's palace and dragged John Ball from prison, while a hundred thousand Kentish-men gathered round Wat Tyler of Essex and John Hales of Malling. In the eastern counties the levy of the poll-tax had already gathered crowds of peasants together armed with clubs, rusty swords, and bows, and the royal commissioners sent to repress the tumult were driven from the field. While the Essex-men marched upon London on one side of the river, the Kentish men marched on the other. Their grievance was mainly political, villeinage was unknown in Kent ; but as they poured on to Blackheath every lawyer who fell into their hands was put to death ; “not till all these were killed would the land enjoy its old freedom again,” the peasants shouted as they fired the houses of the stewards and flung the records of the manor-courts into the flames. The whole population joined them as they marched along, while the nobles were paralyzed with fear. The young King—he was but a boy of fifteen— addressed them from a boat on the river ; but the refusal of his Council under the guidance of Archbishop Sudbury to allow him land kindled the peasants to fury, and with cries of “Treason” the great mass rushed on London. Its gates were flung open by the poorer artizans within the city, and the stately palace of John of Gaunt at the Savoy, the new inn of the lawyers at the Temple the houses of the foreign merchants, were soon in a blaze. But the insurgents, as they proudly boasted, were “seekers of truth and justice, not thieves or robbers,” and a plunderer found carrying off a silver vessel from the sack of the Savoy was flung with his spoil into the flames. The general terror was shown ludicrously enough on

Peasant revolt June 5

June 13.

FRANCE AT THE TREATY OF BRETIGNY

London Macmillan & Co.

V

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Section I.—Edward the Third, 1336-1360.

[Authorities.—The concluding part of the chronicle of Walter of Hemingburgh or Hemingford seems to have been jotted down as news of the passing events reached its author ; it ends at the battle of Crécy. Hearne has published another contemporary account by Robert of Avesbury, which closes in 1356. A third account by Knighton, a canon of Leicester, will be found in the collection of Twysden. At the end of this century and the beginning of the next the annals that had been carried on in the Abbey of St. Albans were thrown together by Walsingham in the “Historia Anglicana” which bears his name, a compilation whose history is given in the prefaces to the “Chronica Monasterii S. Albani” (Rolls Series). Rymer's Foedera is rich in documents for this period, and from this time we have a storehouse of political and social information in the Parliamentary Rolls. For the French war itself our primary authority is the Chronicle of Jehan le Bel, a canon of S. Lambert of Liége, who had himself served in Edward's campaign against the Scots, and spent the rest of his life at the court of John of Hainault. Up to the Treaty of Brétigny, where it closes, Froissart has done little more than copy this work, making however large additions from his own inquiries, especially in the Flemish and Breton campaigns and the account of Crécy. A Hainaulter of Valenciennes, Froissart held a post in Queen Philippa's household from 1361 to 1369 ; and under this influence produced in 1373 the first edition of his well-known Chronicle. A later edition is far less English in tone, and a third version, begun by him in his old age after long absence from England, is distinctly French in its sympathies. Froissart's vivacity and picturesqueness blind us to the inaccuracy of his details ; as an historical authority he is of little value. The incidental mention of Crécy and the later English expeditions by Villani in his great Florentine Chronicle are important. The best modern account of this period is that by Mr. W. Longman, “History of Edward III.” Mr. Morley (“English Writers”) has treated in great detail of Chaucer.]

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Section I.—Edward the Third, 1336-1360.

[Dr. Stubbs' “Constitutional History” (vol. ii.), published since this chapter was written, deals with the whole period.—Ed.]

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THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Section I.—Edward the Third, 1336-1360.

In the middle of the fourteenth century the great movement towards national unity which had begun under the last of the Norman Kings seemed to have reached its end, and the perfect fusion of conquered and conquerors into an English people was marked by the disuse, even amongst the nobler classes, of the French tongue. In spite of the efforts of the grammar schools, and of the strength of fashion, English was winning its way throughout the reign of Edward the Third to its

SEC. I.

Edward the Third 1336 to 1360 final triumph in that of his grandson. “Children in school,” says a writer of the earlier reign, “against the usage and manner of all' other nations, be compelled for to leave their own language, and for to construe their lessons and their things in French, and so they have since Normans first came into England. Also gentlemen's children be taught to speak French from the time that they be rocked in their cradle, and know how to speak and play with a child's toy ; and uplandish (or country) men will liken themselves to gentlemen, and strive with great busyness to speak French for to be more told of.” “This manner,” adds a translator of Richard's time, “was much used before the first murrain (the plague of 1349), and is since somewhat changed ; for John Cornwal, a master of grammar, changed the lore in grammar school and construing of French into English ; and Richard Pencrych learned this manner of teaching of him, as others did of Pencrych. So that now, the year of our Lord, 1385, and of the second King Richard after the Conquest nine, in all the grammar schools of England children leaveth French, and construeth and learneth in English.” A more formal note of the change is found when English was ordered to be used in courts of law in 1362 “because the French tongue is much unknown ;” and in the following year it was employed by the Chancellor in opening Parliament. Bishops began to preach in English, and the English tracts of Wyclif made it once more a literary tongue. This drift towards a general use of the national tongue told powerfully on literature. The influence of the French romances everywhere tended to make French the one literary language at the opening of the fourteenth century, and in England this influence had been backed by the French tone of the court of Henry the Third and the three Edwards. But at the close of the reign of Edward the Third the long French romances needed to be translated even for knightly hearers. “Let clerks indite in Latin,” says the author of the “Testament of Love,” “and let Frenchmen in their French also indite their quaint terms, for it is kindly to their mouths ; and let us show our fantasies in such wordes as we learned of our mother's tongue.” But the new national life afforded nobler material than “fantasies” now for English literature. With the completion of the work of national unity had come the completion of the work of national freedom. Under the first Edward the Parliament had vindicated its right to the control of taxation, under the second it had advanced from the removal of ministers to the deposition of a King, under the third it gave its voice on questions of peace and war, controlled expenditure, and regulated the course of civil administration. The vigour of English life showed itself socially in the wide extension of commerce, in the rapid growth of the woollen trade, and the increase of manufactures after the settlement of Flemish weavers on the eastern coast ; in the progress of the towns, fresh as they were from the victory of the craft-gilds ; and in

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Sec. I. EDWARD THE THIRD 1336 TO 1360

the developement of agriculture through the division of lands, and the rise of the tenant farmer and the freeholder. It gave nobler signs of its activity in the spirit of national independence and moral earnestness which awoke at the call of Wyclif. New forces of thought and feeling, which were destined to tell on every age of our later history, broke their way through the crust of feudalism in the socialist revolt of the Lollards, and a sudden burst of military glory threw its glamour over the age of Crécy and Poitiers.

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Sec. I. EDWARD THE THIRD 1336 TO 1360

It is this new gladness of a great people which utters itself in the verse of Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer was born about 1340, the son of a London vintner who lived in Thames Street ; and it was in London that the bulk of his life was spent. His family, though not noble, seems to have been of some importance, for from the opening of his career we find Chaucer in close connexion with the Court. At sixteen he was made page to the wife of Lionel of Clarence ; at nineteen he first bore arms in the campaign of 1359. But he was luckle enough to be made prisoner ; and from the time of his release after the treaty of Brétigny he took no further share in the military enterprises of his time. He seems again to have returned to service about the Court, and it was now that his first poems made their appearance, and from this time John of Gaunt may be looked upon as his patron. He was employed in seven diplomatic missions which were probably connected with the financial straits of the Crown, and three of these, in 1372, 1374, and 1378, carried him to Italy. He visited Genoa and the brilliant court of the Visconti at Milan ; at Florence, where the memory of Dante, the "great master" whom he commemorates so reverently in his verse, was still living, he may have met Boccaccio ; at Padua, like his own clerk of Oxenford, he possibly caught the story of Griselidis from the lips of Petrarca. He was a busy, practical worker ; Comptroller of the Customs in 1374, of the Petty Customs in 1382, a member of the Commons in the Parliament of 1386, and from 1389 to 1391 Clerk of the Royal Works, busy with building at Westminster, Windsor, and the Tower. A single portrait has preserved for us his forked beard, his dark-coloured dress, the knife and pen-case at his girdle, and we may supplement this portrait by a few vivid touches of his own. The sly, elvish face, the quick walk, the plump figure and portly waist were those of a genial and humorous man ; but men jested at his silence, his love of study. "Thou lookest as thou wouldest find an hare," laughs the Host, in the "Canterbury Tales," "and ever on the ground I see thee stare." He heard little of his neighbours' talk when office work was over. "Thou goest home to thy own house anon, and also dumb as any stone thou sittest at another book till fully dazed is thy look, and livest thus as an heremite, although," he adds slyly, "thy abstinence is lite" (little). But of this abstraction from his fellows there is no trace in his verse. No poetry

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. I. EDWARD THE THIRD 1336 TO 1360

was ever more human than Chaucer's; none ever came more frankly and genially home to its readers. The first note of his song is a note of freshness and gladness. "Of ditties and of songes glad, the which he for my sake made, the land fulfilled is over all," Gower makes Love say in his lifetime; and the impression of gladness remains just as fresh now that four hundred years have passed away. The historical character of Chaucer's work lies on its surface. It stands out in vivid contrast with the poetic literature from the heart of which it sprang. The long French romances were the product of an age of wealth and ease, of indolent curiosity, of a fanciful and self-indulgent sentiment. Cf the great passions which gave life to the Middle Ages, that of religious enthusiasm had degenerated into the pretty conceits of Mariolatry, that of war into the extravagances of Chivalry. Love, indeed, remained; it was the one theme of troubadour and trouvère, but it was a love of refinement, of romantic follies, of scholastic discussions, of sensuous enjoyment—a plaything rather than a passion. Nature had to reflect the pleasant indolence of man; the song of the minstrel moved through a perpetual May-time; the grass was ever green; the music of the lark and the nightingale rang out from field and thicket. There was a gay avoidance of all that is serious, moral, or reflective in man's life: life was too amusing to be serious, too piquant, too sentimental, too full of interest and gaiety and chat. It was an age of talk: "mirth is none," says the Host, "to ride on by the way dumb as a stone;" and the trouvère aimed simply at being the most agreeable talker of his day. His romances, his rimes of Sir Tristram, his Romance of the Rose, are full of colour and fantasy, endless in detail, but with a sort of gorgeous idleness about their very length, the minuteness of their description of outer things, the vagueness of their touch when it passes to the subtler inner world. It was with this literature that Chaucer had till now been familiar, and it was this which he followed in his earlier work. But from the time of his visits to Milan and Genoa his sympathies drew him not to the dying verse of France, but to the new and mighty upgrowth of poetry in Italy. Dante's eagle looks at him from the sun. "Fraunces Petrak, the laurcat poete," is to him once "whose rethorique swcete enlumyned al Itail of poetric." The "Troilus" is an enlarged English version of Boccaccio's "Filostrato," the Knight's Tale bears slight traces of his Tescide. It was, indeed, the "Decameron" which suggested the very form of the "Canterbury Tales." But even while changing, as it were, the front of English poetry, Chaucer preserves his own distinct personality. If he quizzes in the rime of Sir Thopas the wearisome idleness of the French romance, he retains all that was worth retaining of the French temper, its rapidity and agility of movement, its lightness and brilliancy of touch, its airy mockery, its gaiety and good humour, its critical coolness and self-control. The

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Sec. I. Edward the Third 1336 to 1360

French·wit quickens in him more than in any English writer the sturdy sense and shrewdness of our national disposition, corrects its extravagance, and relieves its somewhat ponderous morality. If, on the other hand, he echoes the joyous carelessness of the Italian tale, he tempers it with the English seriousness. As he follows Boccaccio, all his changes are on the side of purity; and when the Troilus of the Florentine ends with the old sneer at the changeableness of woman, Chaucer bids us “look Godward,” and dwells on the unchangeableness of Heaven.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. I. Edward the Third 1336 to 1360

But the genius of Chaucer was neither French nor Italian, whatever element it might borrow from either literature, but English to the core, and from 1384 all trace of foreign influence dies away. The great poem on which his fame must rest, the “Canterbury Tales,” was begun after his first visits to Italy, and its best tales were written between 1384 and 1391. The last ten years of his life saw a few more tales added; but his power was lessening, and in 1400 he rested from his labours in his last home, a house in the garden of St. Mary’s Chapel at Westminster. The framework—that of a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury—not only enabled him to string together a number of tales, composed at different times, but lent itself admirably to the peculiar characteristics of his poetic temper, his dramatic versatility, and the universality of his sympathy. His tales cover the whole field of mediæval poetry; the legend of the priest, the knightly romance, the wonder-tale of the traveller, the broad humour of the fabliau, allegory and apologue are all there. He finds a yet wider scope for his genius in the persons who tell these stories, the thirty pilgrims who start in the May morning from the Tabard in Southwark—thirty distinct figures, representatives of every class of English society from the noble to the ploughman. We see the “verray perfight gentil knight” in cassock and coat of mail, with his curly-headed squire beside him, fresh as the May morning, and behind them the brown-faced yeoman, in his coat and hood of green, with the good bow in his hand. A group of ecclesiastics light up for us the mediæval church—the brawny hunt-loving monk, whose bridle jingles as loud and clear as the chapel-bell—the wanton friar, first among the beggars and harpers of the country side—the poor parson, threadbare, learned, and devout (“Christ's lore and His apostles twelve he taught, and first he followed it himself”)—the summoner with his fiery face—the pardoner with his wallet “bret-full of pardons, come from Rome all hot”—the lively prioress with her courtly French lisp, her soft little red mouth, and “Amor vincit omnia” graven on her brooch. Learning is there in the portly person of the doctor of physic, rich with the profits of the pestilence—the busy serjeant-of-law, “that ever seemed busier than he was”—the hollow-cheeked clerk of Oxford, with his love of books, and short sharp sentences that disguise a latent tender-

SEC. I.

ness which breaks out at last in the story of Griseldis. Around them crowd types of English industry; the merchant; the franklin, in whose house "it snowed of meat and drink;" the sailor fresh from frays in the Channel; the buxom wife of Bath; the broad-shouldered miller; the haberdasher, carpenter, weaver, dyer, tapestry-maker, each in the livery of his craft; and last, the honest ploughman, who would dyke and delve for the poor without hire. It is the first time in English poetry that we are brought face to face not with characters or allegories or reminiscences of the past, but with living and breathing men, men distinct in temper and sentiment as in face or costume or mode of speech; and with this distinctness of each maintained throughout the story by a thousand shades of expression and action. It is the first time too, that we meet with the dramatic power which not only creates each character, but combines it with its fellows, which not only adjusts each tale or jest to the temper of the person who utters it, but fuses all into a poetic unity. It is life in its largeness, its variety, its complexity, which surrounds us in the "Canterbury Tales." In some of the stories, indeed, composed no doubt at an earlier time, there is the tedium of the old romance or the pedantry of the schoolman; but taken as a whole the poem is the work not of a man of letters, but of a man of action. Chaucer has received his training from war, courts, business, travel—a training not of books, but of life. And it is life that he loves—the delicacy of its sentiment, the breadth of its farce, its laughter and its tears, the tenderness of its Griseldis or the Smollett-like adventures of the miller and the clerks. It is this largeness of heart, this wide tolerance, which enables him to reflect man for us as none but Shakspere has ever reflected him, and to do this with a pathos, a shrewd sense and kindly humour, a freshness and joyousness of feeling, that even Shakspere has not surpassed.

It is strange that such a voice as this should have awakened no echo in the singers who follow; but the first burst of English song died as suddenly and utterly with Chaucer as the hope and glory of his age. The hundred years which follow the brief sunshine of Créçy and the "Canterbury Tales" are years of the deepest gloom; no age of our history is more sad and sombre than the age which we traverse from the third Edward to Joan of Arc. The throb of hope and glory which pulsed at its outset through every class of English society died at its close into inaction or despair. Material life lingered on indeed, commerce still widened, but its progress was dissociated from all the nobler elements of national well-being. The towns sank again into close oligarchies; the bondsmen struggling forward to freedom fell back into a serfage which still leaves its trace on the soil. Literature reached its lowest ebb. The religious revival of the Lollard was trodden out in blood, while the Church shrivelled into a self-seeking

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Sec. I. Edward the Third 1336 to 1360 England and France

secular priesthood. In the clash of civil strife political freedom was all but extinguished, and the age which began with the Good Parliament ended with the despotism of the Tudors.

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Sec. I. Edward the Third 1336 to 1360 England and France

The secret of the change is to be found in the fatal war which for more than a hundred years drained the strength and corrupted the temper of the English people. We have followed the attack on Scotland to its disastrous close, but the struggle ere it ended, had involved England in a second contest, to which we must now turn back, a contest yet more ruinous than that which Edward the First had begun. From the war with Scotland sprang the hundred years' struggle with France. From the first France had watched the successes of her rival in the north, partly with a natural jealousy, but still more as likely to afford her an opening for winning the great southern Duchy of Guienne and Gascony—the one fragment of Eleanor's inheritance which remained to her descendants. Scotland had no sooner begun to resent the claims of her over-lord, Edward the First, than a pretext for open quarrel was found by France in the rivalry between the mariners of Normandy and those of the Cinque Ports, which culminated at the moment in a great sea-fight that proved fatal to 8,000 Frenchmen. So eager was Edward to avert a quarrel with France, that his threats roused the English seamen to a characteristic defiance. "Be the King's Council well advised," ran the remonstrance of the mariners, "that if wrong or grievance be done them in any fashion against right, they will sooner forsake wives, children, and all that they have, and go seek through the seas where they shall think to make their profit." In spite, therefore, of Edward's efforts the contest continued, and Philip found an opportunity to cite the King before his court at Paris for wrongs done to him as suzerain. Again Edward endeavoured to avert the conflict by a formal cession of Guienne into Philip's hands during forty days, but the refusal of the French sovereign to restore the province left no choice for him but war. The refusal of the Scotch barons to answer his summons to arms, and the revolt of Balliol, proved that the French outrage was but the first blow in a deliberate and long-planned scheme of attack;

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Sec. I. Edward the Third 1336 to 1360 England and France

Edward had for a while no force to waste on France, and when the first conquest of Scotland freed his hands, his league with Flanders for the recovery of Guienne was foiled by the strife with his baronage. A truce with Philip set him free to meet new troubles in the north; but even after the victory of Falkirk Scotch independence was still saved for six years by the threats of France and the intervention of its ally, Boniface the Eighth; and it was only the quarrel of these two confederates which allowed Edward to complete its subjection. But the rising under Bruce was again backed by French aid and by the renewal of the old quarrel over Guienne—a quarrel which hampered England through the reign of Edward the Second, and which indirectly brought about

SEC. 1.

his terrible fall. The accession of Edward the Third secured a momentary peace, but the fresh attack on Scotland which marked the opening of his reign kindled hostility anew ; the young King David found refuge in France, and arms, money, and men were despatched from its ports to support his cause. It was this intervention of France which foiled Edward's hopes of the submission of Scotland at the very moment when success seemed in his grasp ; the solemn announcement by Philip of Valois that his treaties bound him to give effective help to his old ally, and the assembly of a French fleet in the Channel drew the King from his struggle in the north to face a storm which his negotiations could no longer avert.

EDWARD THE THIRD 1336 TO 1360

1332

1335

The Opening of the War 1337

From the first the war took European dimensions. The weakness of the Empire, the captivity of the Papacy at Avignon, left France without a rival among European powers. In numbers, in wealth, the French people far surpassed their neighbours over the Channel. England could hardly have counted four millions of inhabitants, France boasted of twenty. Edward could only bring eight thousand men-at-arms into the field. Philip, while a third of his force was busy elsewhere, could appear at the head of forty thousand. Edward's whole energy was bent on meeting the strength of France by a coalition of powers against her ; and his plans were helped by the dread which the great feudatories of the Empire who lay nearest to him felt of French annexation, as well as by the quarrel of the Empire with the Papacy. Anticipating the later policy of Godolphin and Pitt, Edward became the paymaster of the poorer princes of Germany ; his subsidies purchased the aid of Hainault, Gèlders, and Jülich ; sixty thousand crowns went to the Duke of Brabant, while the Emperor himself was induced by a promise of three thousand gold florins to furnish two thousand men-at-arms. Negotiations and profuse expenditure, however, brought the King little fruit save the title of Vicar-General of the Empire on the left of the Rhine ; now the allies refused to move ; and when the host at last crossed the border, Edward found it impossible to bring the French king to an engagement. But as hope from the Imperial alliance faded away, a fresh hope dawned on the King from another quarter. Flanders was his natural ally. England was the great wool-producing country of the west, but few woollen fabrics were woven in England. The number of weavers' guilds shows that the trade was gradually extending, and at the very outset of his reign Edward had taken steps for its encouragement. He invited Flemish weavers to settle in his country, and took the new immigrants, who chose the eastern counties for the seat of their trade, under his royal protection. But English manufactures were still in their infancy, and nine-tenths of the English wool went to the looms of Bruges or of Ghent. We may see the rapid growth of this export trade in the fact that the King received in a

1338

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THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

SEC. I.

single year more than £30,000 from duties levied on wool alone. A stoppage of this export would throw half the population of the great Flemish towns out of work; and Flanders was drawn to the English alliance, not only by the interest of trade, but by the democratic spirit of the towns which jostled roughly with the feudalism of France. A treaty was concluded with the Duke of Brabant and the Flemish towns, and preparations were made for a new campaign. Philip gathered a fleet of two hundred vessels at Sluys to prevent his crossing the Channel, but Edward with a far smaller force utterly destroyed the French ships, and marched to invest Tournay. Its siege however proved fruitless; his vast army broke up, and want of money forced him to a truce for a year. A quarrel of succession to the Duchy of Brittany, which broke out in 1341, and in which of the two rival claimants one was supported by Philip and the other by Edward, dragged on year after year. In Flanders things went ill for the English cause, and the death of the great statesman Van Arteveldt in 1345 proved a heavy blow to Edward's projects. The King's difficulties indeed had at last reached their height. His loans from the great bankers of Florence amounted to half a million of our money; his overtures for peace were contemptuously rejected; the claim which he advanced to the French crown found not a single adherent save among the burghers of Ghent. To establish such a claim, indeed, was difficult enough. The three sons of Philip the Fair had died without male issue, and Edward claimed as the son of Philip's daughter Isabella. But though her brothers had left no sons, they had left daughters; and if female succession were admitted, these daughters of Philip's sons would precede a son of Philip's daughter. Isabella met this difficulty by contending that though females could transmit the right of succession they could not themselves possess it, and that her son, as the nearest living male descendant of Philip, and born in his lifetime, could claim in preference to females who were related to Philip in as near a degree. But the bulk of French jurists asserted that only male succession gave right to the throne. On such a theory the right inheritable from Philip was exhausted; and the crown passed to the son of his brother Charles of Valois, who in fact peacefully mounted the throne as Philip the Sixth. Edward's claim seems to have been regarded on both sides as a mere formality; the King, in fact, did full and liege homage to his rival for his Duchy of Guienne; and it was not till his hopes from Germany had been exhausted, and his claim was found to be useful in securing the loyal aid of the Flemish towns, that it was brought seriously to the front.

The failure of his foreign hopes threw Edward on the resources of England itself, and it was with an army of thirty thousand men that he landed at La Hogue, and commenced a march which was to change the whole face of the war. The French forces were engaged in hold-

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. I. EDWARD THE THIRD 1336 TO 1360

ing in check an English army which had landed in Guienne ; and panic seized the French King as Edward now marched through Normandy, and finding the bridges on the lower Seine broken, pushed straight on Paris, rebuilt the bridge of Poissy and threatened the capital. At this crisis, however, France found an unexpected help in a body of German knights. The Pope having deposed the Emperor Lewis of Bavaria, had crowned as his successor a son of King John of Bohemia, the well-known Charles IV. of the Golden Bull. But against this Papal assumption of a right to bestow the German Crown, Germany rose as one man, and Charles, driven to seek help from Philip, now found himself in France with his father and a troop of five hundred knights. Hurrying to Paris this German force formed the nucleus of an army which assembled at St. Denys ; and which was soon reinforced by 15,000 Genoese crossbowmen who had been hired from among the soldiers of the Lord of Monaco on the sunny Riviera, and arrived at this hour of need. The French troops too were called from Guienne to the rescue. With this host rapidly gathering in his front Edward abandoned his march on Paris, and threw himself across the Seine to join a Flemish force gathered at Gravelines, and open a campaign in the north. But the rivers in his path were carefully guarded, and it was only by surprising the ford of Blanche-Taque on the Somme, that Edward escaped the necessity of surrendering to the vast host which was now hastening in pursuit. His communications, however, were no sooner secured than he halted at the village of Crécy, in Ponthieu, and resolved to give battle. Half of his army, now greatly reduced in strength by his rapid marches, consisted of the light-armed footmen of Ireland and Wales ; the bulk of the remainder was composed of English bowmen. The King ordered his men-at-arms to dismount, and drew up his forces on a low rise sloping gently to the south-east, with a windmill on its summit from which he could overlook the whole field of battle. Immediately beneath him lay his reserve, while at the base of the slope was placed the main body of the army in two divisions, that to the right commanded by the young Prince of Wales, Edward the Black Prince as he was called, that to the left by the Earl of Northampton. A small ditch protected the English front, and behind it the bowmen were drawn up " in the form of a harrow," with small bombards between them "which, with fire, threw little iron balls to frighten the horses "—the first instance of the use of artillery in field warfare. The halt of the English army took Philip by surprise, and he attempted for a time to check the advance of his army, but the disorderly host rolled on to the English front. The sight of his enemies, indeed, stirred the King's own blood to fury, "for he hated them," and at vespers the fight began. The Genoese crossbowmen were ordered to begin the attack, but the men were weary with the march; a sudden storm

Crécy August 26, 1346

attack, but the men were weary with the march; a sudden storm

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Sec. IV. THE PEASANT REVOLT 1377 TO 1381

the following day, when a daring band of peasants, under Tyler himself, forced their way into the Tower, and taking the panic-stricken knights of the royal household in rough horse-play by the beard, promised to be their equals and good comrades in the time to come. But the horse-play changed into dreadful earnest when they found the King had escaped their grasp, and when Archbishop Sudbury and the Prior of St. John were discovered in the chapel; the primate was dragged from his sanctuary and beheaded, and the same vengeance was wreaked on the Treasurer and the Chief Commissioner for the levy of the hated poll-tax. Meanwhile the King had ridden from the Tower to meet the mass of the Essex-men, who had encamped without the city at Mile-end, while the men of Hertfordshire and St. Albans occupied Highbury. "I am your King and Lord, good people," the boy began with a fearlessness which marked his bearing throughout the crisis; "what will ye?" "We will that you free us for ever," shouted the peasants, "us and our lands; and that we be never named nor held for serfs." "I grant it," replied Richard; and he bade them go home, pledging himself at once to issue charters of freedom and amnesty. A shout of joy welcomed the promise. Throughout the day more than thirty clerks were busied writing letters of pardon and emancipation, and with these the mass of the Essex and Hertfordshire men withdrew quietly to their homes. It was with such a charter that William Grindecobbe returned to St. Albans, and breaking at the head of the burghers into the abbey precincts, summoned the abbot to deliver up the charters which bound the town in bondage to his house. But a more striking proof of servitude remained in the millstones, which after a long suit at law had been adjudged to the abbey, and placed within its cloister as a triumphant witness that no townsman might grind corn within the domain of the abbey save at the abbot's will. Bursting into the cloister the burghers now tore the millstones from the floor, and broke them into small pieces, "like blessed bread in church," so that each might have something to show of the day when their freedom was won again.

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Sec. IV. THE PEASANT REVOLT 1377 TO 1381

Many of the Kentish-men dispersed at the news of the King's pledge to the men of Essex, but thirty thousand men still surrounded Wat Tyler when Richard by a mere chance encountered him the next morning at Smithfield. Hot words passed between his train and the peasant leader, who advanced to confer with the King; and a threat from Tyler brought on a brief struggle in which the Mayor of London, William Walworth, struck him with his dagger to the ground. "Kill, kill," shouted the crowd, "they have slain our captain." "What need ye, my masters?" cried the boy-king, as he rode boldly to the front, "I am your Captain and your King! Follow me." The hopes of the peasants centred in the young sovereign: one aim of their rising had been to free him from the evil counsellors who, as they believed, abused

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Suppression of the Revolt June 15

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

SEC. IV. The Peasant Revolt 1377 to 1381

his youth, and they now followed him with a touching loyalty and trust till he entered the Tower. His mother welcomed him with tears of joy “Rejoice and praise God,” the boy answered, “for I have recovered to-day my heritage which was lost, and the realm of England.” But he was compelled to give the same pledge of freedom as at Mile-end and it was only after receiving his letters of pardon and cmancipation that the Kentish-men dispersed to their homes. The revolt, indeed was far from being at an end. South of the Thames it spread as far as Devonshire ; there were outbreaks in the north ; the eastern counties were in one wild turmoil of revolt. A body of peasants occupied St. Albans. A maddened crowd forced the gates of St. Edmundsbury and wrested from the trembling monks pledges for the confirmation of the liberties of the town. John the Litster, a dyer of Norwich, headed a mass of peasants, under the title of King of the Commons, and compelled the nobles he captured to act as his meat-tasters and to serve him on their knees during his repast. But the withdrawal of the peasant armies with their letters of emancipation gave courage to the nobles. The warlike Bishop of Norwich fell lance in hand on Litster’s camp, and scattered the peasants of Norfolk at the first shock: while the King, with an army of 40,000 men, spread terror by the ruthlessness of his executions as he marched in triumph through Kent and Essex. At Waltham he was met by the display of his own recent charters and protest from the Essex-men that “ they were so far as freedom were the peers of their lords.” But they were to learn the worth of king’s word. “ Villeins you were,” answered Richard, “and villein you are. In bondage you shall abide, and that not your old bondage but a worse !” But the stubborn resistance which he met showed the temper of the people. The villagers of Billericay threw themselves into the woods and fought two hard fights before they were reduced to submission. It was only by threats of death that verdicts of guilty could be wrung from the Essex jurors when the leaders of the revolt were brought before them. Grindecobbe was offered his life if he would persuade his followers at St. Albans to restore the charters they had wrung from the monks. He turned bravely to his fellow townsmen and bade them take no thought for his trouble. “ If die,” he said, “ I shall die for the cause of the freedom we have won counting myself happy to end my life by such a martyrdom. Do the to-day as you would have done had I been killed yesterday.” But the stubborn will of the conquered was met by as stubborn a will in the conquerors. Through the summer and autumn seven thousand men are said to have perished on the gallows or the field. The royal council indeed showed its sense of the danger of a mere policy of resistance by submitting the question of enfranchisement to the Parliament which assembled on the suppression of the revolt, with words which suggested a compromise. “ If you desire to enfranchise and

Nov. 1381

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

Sec. V. RICHARD THE SECOND 1381 TO 1399

set at liberty the said serfs," ran the royal message, "by your common assent, as the King has been informed that some of you desire, he will consent to your prayer." But no thoughts of compromise influenced the landowners in their reply. The King's grant and letters, the Parliament answered with perfect truth, were legally null and void : their serfs were their goods, and the King could not take their goods from them but by their own consent. "And this consent," they ended, "we have never given and never will give, were we all to die in one day."

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

Sec. V. RICHARD THE SECOND 1381 TO 1399

Section V.—Richard the Second, 1381–1399.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

Sec. V. RICHARD THE SECOND 1381 TO 1399

[Authorities.—The “Annales Ricardi Secundi et Henrici Quarti,” published by the Master of the Rolls, are our main authority. They form the basis of the St. Albans compilation which bears the name of Walsingham, and from which the Life of Richard by a monk of Evesham is for the most part derived. The same violent Lancastrian sympathy runs through Walsingham and the fifth book of Knighton's Chronicle: The French authorities, on the other hand, are vehemently on Richard's side. Froissart, who ends at this time, is supplemented by the metrical history of Creton (“Archæologia,” vol. xx.) and the “Chronique de la Traïson et Mort de Richart” (English Historical Society), both the works of French authors, and published in France in the time of Henry the Fourth, probably with the aim of arousing French feeling against the House of Lancaster and the war-policy it had revived. The popular feeling in England may be seen in “Political Songs from Edward III. to Richard III.” (Rolls Series). The “Fœdera” and Rolls of Parliament are indispensable for this period : its constitutional importance has been ably illustrated by Mr. Hallam (“Middle Ages”). William Longland's poem, the “Complaint of Piers the Ploughman” (edited by Mr. Skeat for the Early English Text Society), throws a flood of light on the social condition of England at the time ; a poem on “The Deposition of Richard II.,” which has been published by the Camden Society, is now ascribed to the same author. The best modern work on Richard II. is that of M. Wallon (“Richard II.” Paris, 1864).]

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

Sec. V. RICHARD THE SECOND 1381 TO 1399

All the darker and sterner aspects of the age which we have been viewing, its social revolt, its moral and religious awakening, the misery of the poor, the protest of the Lollard, are painted with a terrible fidelity in the poem of William Longland. Nothing brings more vividly home to us the social chasm which in the fourteenth century severed the rich from the poor than the contrast between the “Complaint of Piers the Ploughman” and the “Canterbury Tales.” The world of wealth and case and laughter through which the courtly Chaucer moves with eyes downcast as in a pleasant dream is a far-off world of wrong and of ungodliness to the gaunt poet of the poor. Born probably in Shropshire, where he had been put to school and received minor orders as a clerk, “Long Will,” as Longland was nicknamed for his tall stature, found his way at an early age to London, and earned a miserable livelihood there by singing “placebos” and “diriges” in the stately funerals of his day. Men took the moody clerk for a

Sec. V.

madman; his bitter poverty quickened the defiant pride that made him loth—as he tells us—to bow to the gay lords and dames who rode decked in silver and minivere along the Cheap, or to exchange a “ God save you ” with the law sergeants as he passed their new house in the Temple. His world is the world of the poor : he dwells on the poor man's life, on his hunger and toil, his rough revelry and his despair, with the narrow intensity of a man who has no outlook beyond it. The narrowness, the misery, the monotony of the life he paints reflect themselves in his verse. It is only here and there that a love of nature or a grim earnestness of wrath quicken his rime into poetry ; there is not a gleam of the bright human sympathy of Chaucer, of his fresh delight in the gaiety, the tenderness, the daring of the world about him, of his picturesque sense of even its coarsest contrasts, of his delicate irony, of his courtly wit. The cumbrous allegory, the tedious platitudes, the rimed texts from Scripture which form the staple of Langland's work, are only broken here and there by phrases of a shrewd common sense, by bitter outbursts, by pictures of a broad Hogarthian humour. What chains one to the poem is its deep undertone of sadness : the world is out of joint and the gaunt rimer who stalks silently along the Strand has no faith in his power to put it right. His poem covers indeed an age of shame and suffering such as England had never known, for if its first brief sketch appeared two years after the Peace of Brétigny its completion may be dated at the close of the reign of Edward the Third, and its final issue preceded but by a single year the Peasant Revolt. Londoner as he is, Will's fancy flies far from the sin and suffering of the great city to a May- morning in the Malvern Hills. “ I was wery forwandered and went me to rest under a broad bank by a burn side, and as I lay and leaned and looked in the water I slumbered in a sleeping, it sweyved (sounded) so merry.” Just as Chaucer gathers the typical figures of the world he saw into his pilgrim train, so the dreamer gathers into a wide field his army of traders and chafferers, of hermits and solitaries, of minstrels, “japers and jinglers,” bidders and beggars, ploughmen that “ in setting and in sowing swonken (toil) full hard,” pilgrims “ with their wenches after,” weavers and labourers, burgess and bondman, lawyer and scrivener, court-haunting bishops, friars, and pardoners “ parting the silver” with the parish priest. Their pilgrimage is not to Canterbury, but to Truth ; their guide to Truth neither clerk nor priest but Peterkin the Ploughman, whom they find ploughing in his field. He it is who bids the knight no more wrest gifts from his tenant nor misdo with the poor. “ Though he be thine underling, here, well may hap in heaven that he be worthier :et and with more bliss than thou. For in charnel at church churlcs he evil to know, or a knight from a knave there.” The gospel of equality is backed by the gospel of labour. The aim of the Ploughman is to

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

work, and to make the world work with him. He warns the labourer as he warns the knight. Hunger is God's instrument in bringing the idlest to toil, and Hunger waits to work her will on the idler and the waster. On the eve of the great struggle between wealth and labour Longland stands alone in his fairness to both, in his shrewd political and religious common sense. In the face of the popular hatred which was to gather round John of Gaunt, he paints the Duke in a famous apologue as the cat who, greedy as she might be, at any rate keeps the noble rats from utterly devouring the mice of the people. Though the poet is loyal to the Church, he proclaims a righteous life to be better than a host of indulgences, and God sends His pardon to Piers when priests dispute it. But he sings as a man conscious of his loneliness and without hope. It is only in a dream that he sees Corruption, "Lady Mede," brought to trial, and the world repenting at the preaching of Reason. In the waking life Reason finds no listeners. The poet himself is looked upon—he tells us bitterly—as a madman. There is a terrible despair in the close of his later poem, where the triumph of Christ is only followed by the reign of Antichrist; where Contrition slumbers amidst the revel of Death and Sin ; and Conscience, hard beset by Pride and Sloth, rouses himself with a last effort, and seizing his pilgrim staff wanders over the world to find Piers Ploughman.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

The strife indeed which Longland would have averted raged only the fiercer after the repression of the Peasant Revolt. The Statutes of Labourers, effective as they proved in sowing hatred between employer and employed, were powerless for their immediate ends, either in reducing the actual rate of wages or in restricting the mass of floating labour to definite areas of employment. During the century and a half after the Peasant Revolt villeinage died out so rapidly that it became a rare and antiquated thing. A hundred years after the Black Death the wages of an English labourer could purchase twice the amount of the necessaries of life which could have been obtained for the wages paid under Edward the Third. The statement is corroborated by the incidental descriptions of the life of the working classes which we find in Piers Ploughman. Labourers, Longland tells us, "that have no land to live on but their hands disdained to live on penny ale or bacon, but demanded fresh flesh or fish, fried or baked, and that hot and hotter for chilling of their maw." The market was still in fact in the labourer's hands, in spite of statutes ; "and but if he be highly hired else will he chide and wail the time that he was made a workman." The poet saw clearly that as population rose to its normal rate times such as these would pass away. "Whiles Hunger was their master here would none of them chide or strive against his statute, so sternly he looked : and I warn you, workmen, win while ye may, for Hunger hitherward hasteth him fast." But even

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

Sec. V.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

Richard the Second 1381 to 1399

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

The Social Strife

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

THE STUARTS.

1603 James the First, died 1625. Millenary Petition.

1604 Parliament claims to deal with both Church and State. Hampton Court Conference.

1605 Gunpowder Plot. Bacon's "Advancement of Learning."

1610 Parliament's Petition of Grievances. Plantation of Ulster.

1613 Marriage of the Elector Palatine.

1614 First quarrels with the Parliament.

1616 Trial of the Earl and Countess of Somerset. Dismissal of Chief Justice Coke. Death of Shakspere.

1617 Bacon Lord Keeper. Proposals for the Spanish Marriage. The Declaration of Sports.

1618 Expedition and death of Raleigh.

1620 Invasion of the Palatinate. Landing of the Pilgrim-Fathers in New England.

1621 Bacon's "Novum Organum." Impeachment of Bacon. James tears out the Protestation of the Commons.

1623 Journey of Prince Charles to Madrid.

1624 Resolve of War against Spain.

1625 Charles the First, died 1649. First Parliament dissolved. Failure of expedition against Cadiz.

1626 Buckingham impeached. Second Parliament dissolved.

1627 Levy of Benevolence and Forced Loan. Failure of expedition to Rochelle.

1628 The Petition of Right. Murder of Buckingham. Laud Bishop of London.

1629 Dissolution of Third Parliament. Charter granted to Massachusetts. Wentworth Lord President of the North.

1630 Puritan Emigration to New England.

1633 Wentworth Lord Deputy in Ireland. Laud Archbishop of Canterbury. Milton's "Allegro" and "Penseroso." Prynne's "Histrio-mastix."

1634 Milton's "Comus."

1636 Juxon Lord Treasurer. Book of Canons and Common Prayer issued for Scotland. Hampden refuses to pay Ship-money.

1637 Revolt of Edinburgh. Trial of Hampden.

1638 Milton's "Lycidas." The Scotch Covenant.

1639 Leslie at Dunse Law. Pacification of Berwick.

1640 The Short Parliament. The Bishops' War. Great Council of Peers at York. Long Parliament meets, Nov. Pym leader of the Commons.

1641 Execution of Strafford, May. Charles visits Scotland. Hyde organizes royalist party. The Irish Massacre, Oct. The Grand Remonstrance, Nov.

1642 Impeachment of Five Members, Jan. Charles before Hull, April. Royalists withdraw from Parliament. Charles raises Standard at Nottingham, August 22. Battle of Edgehill, Oct. 23. Hobbes writes the "De Cive."

1643 Assembly of Divines at Westminster. Rising of the Cornishmen, May. Death of Hampden, June. Battle of Roundway Down, July. Siege of Gloucester, Aug. Death of Falkland, Sept. Charles negotiates with Irish Catholics. Taking of the Covenant, Sept. 25.

1644 Fight at Cropredy Bridge, June. Battle of Marston Moor, July 2. Surrender of Parliamentary Army in Cornwall, Sept. 2. Battle of Tippermuir, Sept. 2. Battle of Newbury, Oct. Milton's "Areopagitica."

1645 Self-denying Ordinance, April. New Model raised. Battle of Naseby, June 14. Battle of Philiphaugh, Sept.

1646 Charles surrenders to the Scots, May.

1647 Scots surrender Charles to the Houses, Jan. 30. Army elects Agitators, April. The King seized at Holmby House, June. "Humble Representation" of the Army, June. Expulsion of the Eleven Members. Army occupies London, Aug. Flight of the King, Nov.

parsley and leeks and many cabbage plants, and eke a cow and

calf, and a cart-mare to draw a-field my dung while the drought

lasteth, and by this livelihood we must all live till Lammas-tide

(August), and by that I hope to have harvest in my croft." But

it was not till Lammas-tide that high wages and the new corn

bade "Hunger go to sleep," and during the long spring and summer

the free labourer, and the "waster that will not work but wander

about, that will eat no bread but the finest wheat, nor drink but

of the best and brownest ale," was a source of social and political

danger. "He grieveth him against God and grieveth against

Reason, and then curseth he the King and all his Council after such

law to allow labourers to grieve." The terror of the landowners

expressed itself in legislation which was a fitting sequel to the Statute

of Labourers. They forbade the child of any tiller of the soil to be

apprenticed in a town. They prayed Richard to ordain "that no

bondman or bondwoman shall place their children at school, as has

been done, so as to advance their children in the world by their going

into the Church." The new colleges which were being founded at

two Universities at this moment closed their gates upon villeins.

was the failure of such futile efforts to effect their aim which drove

the energy of the great proprietors into a new direction, and in the

end revolutionized the whole agricultural system of the country.

Sheep-farming required fewer hands than tillage, and the scarcity

and high price of labour tended to throw more and more land into

sheep-farms. In the decrease of personal service, as villeinage died

away, it became the interest of the lord to diminish the number of

tenants on his estate; as it had been before his interest to maintain

and he did this by massing the small allotments together into large

holdings. By this course of eviction the number of the free-labour

class was enormously increased while the area of employment was

diminished; and the social danger from vagrancy and the "sturdy

beggar" grew every day greater till it brought about the despotism

the Tudors.

This social danger mingled with the yet more formidable religious

peril which sprang from the party violence of the later Lollardry.

persecution of Courtenay had deprived the religious reform of i

Lollardry

of organization, this looseness and fluidity of the new movement, that made it penetrate through every class of society. Women as well as men became the preachers of the new sect. Lollardry had its own schools, its own books; its pamphlets were passed everywhere from hand to hand; scurrilous ballads which revived the old attacks of 'Golias' in the Angevin times upon the wealth and luxury of the clergy were sung at every corner. Nobles, like the Earl of Salisbury, and at a later time Sir John Oldcastle, placed themselves openly at the head of the cause and threw open their gates as a refuge for its missionaries.

London in its hatred of the clergy became fiercely Lollard, and defended a Lollard preacher who had ventured to advocate the new doctrines from the pulpit of St. Paul's. One of its mayors, John of Northampton, showed the influence of the new morality by the Puritan spirit in which he dealt with the morals of the city. Compelled to act, as he said, by 'the remissness of the clergy, who connived for money at every kind of debauchery, he arrested the loose women, cut off their hair, and carted them through the streets as an object of public scorn. But the moral spirit of the new movement, though infinitely its grander side, was less dangerous to the Church than its open repudiation of the older doctrines and systems of Christendom. Out of the floating mass of opinion which bore the name of Lollardry one great faith gradually evolved itself, a faith in the sole authority of the Bible as a source of religious truth. The translation of Wyclif did its work. Scripture, complains a canon of Leicester, 'became a vulgar thing, and more open to lay folk and women that knew how to read than it wont to be to clerks themselves.' Consequences which Wyclif had perhaps shrunk from drawing were boldly drawn by his disciples. The Church was declared to have become apostate, its priesthood was denounced as no priesthood, its sacraments as idolatry. It was in vain that the clergy attempted to stifle the new movement by their old weapon of persecution. The jealousy entertained by the baronage and gentry of every pretension of the Church to secular power foiled its efforts to make persecution effective. At the moment of the Peasant Revolt, Courtenay procured the enactment of a statute which commissioned the sheriffs to

S 2

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

SEC. V. RICHARD THE SECOND 1381 TO 1399

seize all persons convicted before the bishops of preaching heresy. But the statute was repealed in the next session, and the Commons added to the bitterness of the blow by their protest that they considered it 'in nowise their interest to be more under the jurisdiction of the prelates or more bound by them than their ancestors had been in times past.' Heresy indeed was still a felony by the common law, and if as yet we meet with no instances of the punishment of heretics by the fire it was because the threat of such a death was commonly followed by the recantation of the Lollard. But the restriction of each bishop's jurisdiction within the limits of his own diocese made it almost impossible to arrest the wandering preachers of the new doctrine, and the civil punishment—even if it had been sanctioned by public opinion —seems to have long fallen into desuetude. Experience proved to the prelates that few sheriffs would arrest on the mere warrant of an ecclesiastical officer, and that no royal court would issue the writ 'for the burning of a heretic' on a bishop's requisition. But powerless as the efforts of the Church were for purposes of repression, they were effective in rousing the temper of the Lollards into a bitter fanaticism. The Lollard teachers directed their fiercest invectives against the wealth and secularity of the great Churchmen. In a formal petition to Parliament they mingled denunciations of the riches of the clergy with an open profession of disbelief in transubstantiation, priesthood, pilgrimages, and image worship, and a demand, which illustrates the strange medley of opinions which jostled together in the new movement, that wars might be declared unchristian, and that trades such as those of the goldsmith or the armourer, which were contrary to apostolical poverty, might be banished from the realm. They contended (and it is remarkable that a Parliament of the next reign adopted the statement) that from the superfluous revenues of the Church, if once they were applied to purposes of general utility, the King might maintain fifteen carls, fifteen hundred knights, and six thousand squires, besides endowing a hundred hospitals for the relief of the poor.

1395

The distress of the landowners, the general disorganization of the country, in every part of which bands of marauders were openly defying the law, the panic of the Church and of society at large as the projects of the Lollards shaped themselves into more daring and revolutionary forms, added a fresh keenness to the national discontent at the languid and inefficient prosecution of the war. The junction of the French and Spanish fleets had made them masters of the seas; what fragments were left of Guienne lay at their mercy, and the northern frontier of England itself was flung open to France by the alliance of the Scots. The landing of a French force in the Forth roused the whole country to a desperate effort, and a large and well-equipped army of Englishmen penetrated as far as Edinburgh in the vain hope of bringing their enemy to battle. A more terrible blow had been struck in the re-

The French Wars 1385

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

v.]

duction of Ghent by the French troops, and the loss of the one remaining market for English commerce ; while the forces which should have been employed in saving it, and in the protection of the English shores against the threat of invasion, were squandered by John of Gaunt on the Spanish frontier in pursuit of a visionary crown, which he claimed in his wife's right, the daughter of Pedro the Cruel. The enterprise showed that the Duke had now abandoned the hope of directing affairs at home. Robert de Vere and Michael de la Pole, the Earl of Suffolk, had stood since the suppression of the revolt at the head of the royal councils, and their steady purpose was to drive the Duke of Lancaster from power. But the departure of John of Gaunt only called to the front his brother and his son, the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Derby ; while the lukewarm prosecution of the war, the profuse expenditure of the Court, and above all the manifest will of the King to free himself from Parliamentary control, estranged the Lower House. The Parliament impeached Suffolk for corruption, and appointed a commission of regency for a year, of which Gloucester was the leading spirit. The attempt of the young King at the close of the session to reverse these measures was crushed by the appearance of Gloucester and his friends in arms ; in the Merciless Parliament a charge of high treason hurried into exile or to death Suffolk with his supporters, the five judges who had pronounced the commission to be in itself illegal were banished, and four members of the royal household sent to the block. But hardly a year had passed when Richard found himself strong enough to break down by a word the government against which he had struggled so vainly. Entering the Council he suddenly asked his uncle to tell him how old he was. "Your Highness," replied Gloucester, "is in your twenty-fourth year." "Then I am old enough to manage my own affairs," said Richard coolly. "I have been longer under guardianship than any ward in my realm. I thank you for your past services, my lords, but I need them no longer."

For eight years the King wielded the power which thus passed quictly into his hands with singular wisdom and good fortunc. On the one hand he carried his peace policy into effect by negotiations with France, which brought about a truce renewed year by year till it was prolonged in 1394 for four years, and this period of rest was lengthened for twenty-five years by a subsequent agreement on his marriage with Isabella, the daughter of Charles the Sixth. On the other he announced his resolve to rule by the advice of his Parliament, submitted to its censure, and consulted it on all matters of importance. In a short campaign he pacified Ireland ; and the Lollard troubles which had threatened during his absence died away on his return. But the brilliant abilities which Richard shared with the rest of the Plantagenets were marred by a fitful inconstancy, an insane pride, and a craving for absolute power. His uncle, the Duke of Gloucester remained at the head of the opposition ;

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. I.

wetted and rendered useless their bowstrings; and the loud shouts with which they leapt forward to the encounter were met with dogged silence in the English ranks. Their first arrow-flight, however, brought a terrible reply. So rapid was the English shot, “that it seemed as if it snowed.” “Kill me these scundrels,” shouted Philip, as the Genoese fell back; and his men-at-arms plunged butchering into their broken ranks, while the Counts of Alençon and Flanders, at the head of the French knighthood, fell hotly on the Prince's line. For the instant his small force seemed lost, but Edward refused to send him aid. “Is he dead or unhorsed, or so wounded that he cannot help himself?” he asked the envoy. “No, Sir,” was the reply, “but he is in a hard passage of arms, and sorely needs your help.” “Return to those that sent you, Sir Thomas,” said the King, “and bid them not send to me again so long as my son lives! Let the boy win his spurs; for if God so order it, I will that the day may be his, and that the honour may be with him and them to whom I have given it in charge.” Edward could see, in fact, from his higher ground, that all went well. The English bowmen and men-at-arms held their ground stoutly, while the Welshmen stabbed the French horses in the mêlée, and brought knight after knight to the ground. Soon the French host was wavering in a fatal confusion. “You are my vassals, my friends,” cried the blind King John of Bohemia, who had joined Philip's army, to the German nobles around him: “I pray and beseech you to lead me so far into the fight that it may strike one good blow with this sword of mine!” Linking their bridles together, the little company plunged into the thick of the combat to fall as their fellows were falling. The battle went steadily against the French: at last Philip himself hurried from the field, and the defeat became a rout: 1,200 knights and 30,000 footmen—a number equal to the whole English force—lay dead upon the ground.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. I.

“God has punished us for our sins,” cries the chronicler of St. Denys, in a passion of bewildered grief, as he tells the rout of the great host which he had seen mustering beneath his abbey walls. But the fall of France was hardly so sudden or so incomprehensible as the ruin at a single blow of a system of warfare, and of the political and social fabric which rested on it. Feudalism depended on the superiority of the mounted noble to the unmounted churl; its fighting power lay in its knighthood. But the English yeomen and small freeholders who bore the bow in the national fyrd had raised their weapon into a terrible engine of war; in the English archers Edward carried a new class of soldiers to the fields of France. The churl had struck down the noble; the yeoman proved more than a match in sheer hard fighting for the knight. From the day of Crécy feudalism tottered slowly but surely to its grave. To England the day was the beginning of a career of military glory, which, fatal as it

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

EDWARD THE THIRD 1336 TO 1360

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Calais

SEC. V.

while the King had secured the friendship of John of Gaunt, and of his son Henry, Earl of Derby. The readiness with which Richard seized on an opportunity of provoking a contest shows the bitterness with which during the long years that had passed since the flight of Suffolk he had brooded over his projects of vengeance. The Duke of Gloucester and the Earls of Arundel and Warwick were arrested on a charge of conspiracy. A Parliament packed with royal partizans was used to crush Richard's opponents. The pardons granted nine years before were recalled; the commission of regency declared to have been illegal, and its promoters guilty of treason. The blow was ruthlessly followed up. The Duke was saved from a trial by a sudden death in his prison at Calais; while his chief supporter, Arundel, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was impeached and banished, and the nobles of his party condemned to death and imprisonment. The measures introduced into the Parliament of the following year showed that besides his projects of revenge Richard's designs had widened into a definite plan of absolute government. It declared null the proceedings of the Parliament of 1388. He was freed from Parliamentary control by the grant to him of a subsidy upon wool and leather for the term of his life. His next step got rid of Parliament itself. A committee of twelve peers and six commoners was appointed in Parliament, with power to continue their sittings after its dissolution and to "examine and determine all matters and subjects which had been moved in the presence of the King, with all the dependences of those not determined." The aim of Richard was to supersede by means of this permanent commission the body from which it originated: he at once employed it to determine causes and carry out his will, and forced from every tenant of the Crown an oath to recognize the validity of its acts and to oppose any attempts to alter or revoke them. With such an engine at his command the King was absolute, and with the appearance of absolutism the temper of his reign suddenly changed. A system of forced loans, the sale of charters of pardon to Gloucester's adherents, the outlawry of seven counties at once on the plea that they had supported his enemies and must purchase pardon, a reckless interference with the course of justice, roused into new life the social and political discontent which was threatening the very existence of the Crown.

By his good government and by his evil government alike, Richard had succeeded in alienating every class of his subjects. He had estranged the nobles by his peace policy, the landowners by his refusal to sanction the insane measures of repression they directed against the labourer, the merchant class by his illegal exactions, and the Church by his want of zeal against the Lollards. Richard himself had no sympathy with the Lollards, and the new sect as a social danger was held firmly at bay. But the royal officers showed little zeal in aiding the bishops to seize or punish the heretical teachers, and

The Lancastrian Revolution

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

Sec. V. RICHARD THE SECOND 1381 TO 1399

Lollardry found favour in the very precincts of the Court ; it was through the patronage of Richard's first queen, Anne of Bohemia, that the tracts and Bible of the Reformer had been introduced into her native land, to give rise to the remarkable movement which found its earliest leaders in John Huss and Jerome of Prague. Richard stood almost alone in fact in his realm, but even this accumulated mass of hatred might have failed to crush him had not an act of jealousy and tyranny placed an able and unscrupulous leader at the head of the national discontent. Henry, Earl of Derby and Duke of Hereford, the eldest son of John of Gaunt, though he had taken part against his royal cousin in the earlier troubles of his reign, had loyally supported him in his recent measures against Gloucester. No sooner, however, were these measures successful than Richard turned his new power against the more dangerous House of Lancaster, and availing himself of a quarrel between the Dukes of Hereford and Norfolk, in which each party bandied accusations of treason against the other, banished both from the realm. Banishment was soon followed by the annulling of leave which had been given to Henry to receive his inheritance on John of Gaunt's death, and the King himself seized the Lancastrian estates. At the moment when he had thus driven his cousin to despair, Richard crossed into Ireland to complete the work of conquest and organization which he had begun there ; and Archbishop Arundel, an exile like himself, urged the Duke to take advantage of the King's absence for the recovery of his rights. Eluding the vigilance of the French Court, at which he had taken shelter, Henry landed with a handful of men on the coast of Yorkshire, where he was at once joined by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, the heads of the great houses of the Percies and the Nevilles ; and, with an army which grew as he advanced, entered triumphantly into London. The Duke of York, whom the King had left regent, submitted, and his forces joined those of Henry ; and when Richard landed at Milford Haven he found the kingdom lost. His own army dispersed as it landed, and the deserted King fled in disguise to North Wales, to find a second force which the Earl of Salisbury had gathered for his support already disbanded. Invited to a conference with the Duke of Lancaster at Flint, he saw himself surrounded by the rebel forces. " I am betrayed," he cried, as the view of his enemies burst on him from the hill ; " there are pennons and banners in the valley." But it was too late for retreat. Richard was seized and brought before his cousin. " I am come before my time," said Lancaster, " but I will show you the reason. Your people, my lord, complain that for the space of twenty years you have ruled them harshly : however, if it please God, I will help you to rule them better." " Fair cousin," replied the King, " since it pleases you, it pleases me well." But Henry's designs went far beyond a share in the government of the realm. The Parliament which assembled in

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Sec. V. RICHARD THE SECOND 1381 TO 1399

Westminster Hall received with shouts of applause a formal paper in which Richard resigned the crown as one incapable of reigning and worthy for his great demerits to be deposed. The resignation was confirmed by a solemn Act of Deposition. The coronation oath was read, and a long impeachment, which stated the breach of the promises made in it, was followed by a solemn vote of both Houses which removed Richard from the state and authority of King. According to the strict rules of hereditary descent as construed by the feudal lawyers, by an assumed analogy with the descent of ordinary estates, the crown would now have passed to a house which had at an earlier period played a leading part in the revolutions of the Edwards. The great grandson of the Mortimer who brought about the deposition of Edward the Second had married the daughter and heiress of Lionel of Clarence, the third son of Edward the Third. The childlessness of Richard and the death of Edward's second son without issue placed Edmund, his grandson by this marriage, first among the claimants of the crown ; but he was a child of six years old, the strict rule of hereditary descent had never received any formal recognition in the case of the crown, and precedent had established the right of Parliament to choose in such a case a successor among any other members of the Royal House. Only one such successor was in fact possible. Rising from his seat and crossing himself, Henry of Lancaster solemnly challenged the crown “as that I am descended by right line of blood coming from the good lord King Henry the Third, 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.” Whatever defects such a claim might present were more than covered by the solemn recognition of Parliament. The two Archbishops, taking the new sovereign by the hand, seated him upon the throne, and Henry in emphatic words ratified the compact between himself and his people. “Sirs,” he said to the prelates, lords, knights, and burgesses gathered round him, “I thank God and you, spiritual and temporal, and all estates of the land : and do you to wit it is not my will that any man think that by way of conquest I would disinherit any of his heritage, franchises, or other rights that he ought to have, nor put him out of the good that he has and has had by the good laws and customs of the realm, except those persons that have been against the good purpose and the common profit of the realm.”

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Section VI.—The House of Lancaster, 1399–1422.

Authorities.—For Henry IV. the “Annales Henrici Quarti” and Walsingham, as before. For his successor, the “Acta Henrici Quinti” by Titus Livius, a chaplain in the royal army (English Historical Society) ; a life by Elmham, Prior of Lenton, simpler in style but identical in arrangement and facts with

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

Sec. VI.

the former work ; a biography by Robert Redman ; a metrical Chronicle by Eltham (published in Rolls Series in 'Memorials of Henry V.') ; and the meagre chronicles of Hardying and Otterbourne. Monstrelet is the most important French authority for this period ; for the Norman campaigns see M. Puiseux's 'Siége de Rouen' (Caen, 1867). Lord Brougham has given a vigorous and, in a constitutional point of view, valuable sketch of this period in his 'History of England under the House of Lancaster.'

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR.

Sec. VI.

Raised to the throne by a Parliamentary revolution and resting its claims on a Parliamentary title, the House of Lancaster was precluded by its very position from any resumption of the late struggle for independence on the part of the Crown which had culminated in the bold effort of Richard the Second. During no period of our early history were the powers of the two Houses so frankly recognized. The tone of Henry the Fourth till the very close of his reign is that of humble compliance with the prayers of the Parliament, and even his imperious successor shrank almost with timidity from any conflict with it. But the Crown had been bought by other pledges less noble than that of constitutional rule. The support of the nobles had been partly won by the hope of a renewal of the fatal war with France. The support of the Church had been purchased by the more terrible promise of persecution. The last pledge was speedily redeemed. In the first Convocation of his reign Henry declared himself the protector of the Church and ordered the prelates to take measures for the suppression of heresy and of the wandering preachers. His declaration was but a prelude to the Statute of Heresy which was passed at the opening of 1401. By the provisions of this infamous Act the hindrances which had till now neutralized the efforts of the bishops were taken away. Not only were they permitted to arrest all preachers of heresy, all schoolmasters infected with heretical teaching, all owners and writers of heretical books, and to imprison them, even if they recanted, at the King's pleasure, but a refusal to abjure or a relapse after abjuration enabled them to hand over the heretic to the civil officers, and by these--so ran the first legal enactment of religious bloodshed which defiled our Statute-book--he was to be burned on a high place before the people. The statute was hardly passed when William Sautre, a parish priest at Lynn, became its first victim. Nine years later a layman, John Badby, was committed to the flames in the presence of the Prince of Wales for a denial of transubstantiation. The groans of the sufferer were taken for a recantation, and the Prince ordered the fire to be plucked away ; but the offer of life and of a pension failed to break the spirit of the Lollard, and he was hurled back to his doom. The enmity of France, and the fierce resentment of the Reformers, added danger to the incessant revolts which threatened the throne of Henry. The mere maintenance of his power through the troubled years of his reign is the best proof of the King's ability. A conspiracy of Richard's kinsmen, the Earls of Huntingdon and Kent, was suppressed, and was at once followed by

THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER 1399 TO 1422 The Suppression of Lollardry

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

Sec. VI. THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER 1399 TO 1422

Richard's death in prison. The Percies broke out in rebellion, and Hotspur, the son of the Earl of Northumberland, leagued himself with the Scots and with the insurgents of Wales. He was defeated and slain in an obstinate battle near Shrewsbury ; but two years later his father rose in a fresh insurrection, and though the seizure and execution of his fellow-conspirator Scrope, the Archbishop of York, drove Northumberland over the border, he remained till his death in a later inroad a peril to the throne. Encouraged meanwhile by the weakness of England, Wales, so long tranquil, shook off the yoke of her conquerors, and the whole country rose at the call of Owen Glyndwr or Glendower, a descendant of its native princes. Owen left the invaders, as of old, to contend with famine and the mountain storms ; but they had no sooner retired than he sallied out from his inaccessible fastnesses to win victories which were followed by the adhesion of all North Wales and great part of the South to his cause, while a force of French auxiliaries was despatched by Charles of France to his aid. It was only the restoration of peace in England which enabled Henry to roll back the tide of Glyndwr's success. By slow and deliberate campaigns continued through four years the Prince of Wales wrested from him the South ; his subjects in the North, discouraged by successive defeats, gradually fell away from his standard ; and the repulse of a bold descent upon Shropshire drove Owen at last to take refuge among the mountains of Snowdon, where he seems to have maintained the contest, single-handed, till his death. With the close of the Welsh rising the Lancastrian throne felt itself secure from without, but the danger from the Lollards remained as great as ever within. The new statute and its terrible penalties were boldly defied. The death of the Earl of Salisbury in the first of the revolts against Henry, though his gory head was welcomed into London by a procession of abbots and bishops who went out singing psalms of thanksgiving to meet it, only transferred the leadership of the party to one of the foremost warriors of the time. Sir John Oldcastle, whose marriage raised him to the title of Lord Cobham, threw open his castle of Cowling to the Lollards as their head-quarters, sheltered their preachers, and set the prohibitions and sentences of the bishops at defiance. When Henry the Fourth died in 1413 worn out with the troubles of his reign, his successor was forced to deal with this formidable question. The bishops demanded that Cobham should be brought to justice, and though the King pleaded for delay in the case of one who was so close a friend, his open defiance at last forced him to act. A body of royal troops arrested Lord Cobham and carried him to the Tower. His escape was the signal for a vast revolt. A secret order summoned the Lollards to assemble in St. Giles's fields outside London. We gather, if not the real aims of the rising, at least the terror that it caused, from Henry's statement that

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. VI. The House of Lancaster 1399 to 1422

its purpose was “ to destroy himself, his brothers, and several of the spiritual and temporal lords ;” but the vigilance of the young King prevented the junction of the Lollards of London with their friends in the country, and those who appeared at the place of meeting were dispersed by the royal forces. On the failure of the rising the law was rendered more rigorous. Magistrates were directed to arrest all Lollards and hand them over to the bishops ; a conviction of heresy was made to entail forfeiture of blood and of estate ; and thirty-nine prominent Lollards were brought to execution. Cobham escaped, and for four years longer strove to rouse revolt after revolt. He was at last captured on the Welsh border and burned as a heretic.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. VI. The House of Lancaster 1399 to 1422

With the death of Oldcastle the political activity of Lollardry came suddenly to an end, while the steady persecution of the bishops, if it failed to extinguish it as a religious movement, succeeded in destroying the vigour and energy which it had shown at the outset of its career. But the House of Lancaster had, as yet, only partially accomplished the aims with which it mounted the throne. In the eyes of the nobles, one of Richard's crimes had been his policy of peace, and the aid which they gave to the revolution sprang partly from their hope of a renewal of the war. The energy of the war-party was seconded by the temper of the nation at large, already forgetful of the sufferings of the past struggle and longing only to wipe out its shame. The internal calamities of France offered at this moment a tempting opportunity for aggression. Its King, Charles the Sixth, was a maniac, while its princes and nobles were divided into two great parties, the one headed by the Duke of Burgundy und bearing his name, the other by the Duke of Orleans and bearing the title of Armagnacs. The struggle had been jealously watched by Henry the Fourth, but his attempt to feed it by pushing an English force into France at once united the combatants.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. VI. The House of Lancaster 1399 to 1422

bitterly than ever when the claim of the French crown by Henry the Fifth on his accession declared his purpose of renewing the war. No claim could have been more utterly baseless, for the Parliamentary title by which the House of Lancaster held England could give it no right over France, and the strict law of hereditary succession which Edward asserted could be pleaded, if pleaded at all, only by the House of Mortimer. Not only the claim, indeed, but the very nature of the war itself was wholly different from that of Edward the Third. Edward had been forced into the struggle against his will by the ceaseless attacks of France, and his claim of the crown was a mere afterthought to secure the alliance of Flanders. The war of Henry, on the other hand, though in form a renewal of the earlier struggle on the expiration of the truce made by Richard the Second, was in fact a wanton aggression on the part of a nation tempted by the helplessness of its opponent and galled by the memory of former defeat. Its one excuse

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1647 Secret Treaty of Charles with the Scots, Dec.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1648 Outbreak of the Royalist Revolt, Feb. Revolt of the Fleet, and of Kent, May. Fairfax and Cromwell in Essex and Wales, June-July. Battle of Preston, Aug. 17. Surrender of Colchester, Aug. 27 Pride's Purge, Dec. Royal Society begins at Oxford.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1649 Execution of Charles I., Jan. 30. Scotland proclaims Charles II. King. England proclaims itself a Commonwealth. Cromwell storms Drogheda, Sept. 11.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1650 Cromwell enters Scotland. Battle of Dunbar, Sept. 3.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1651 Battle of Worcester, Sept. 3. Hobbs's " Leviathan."

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1652 Union with Scotland. Outbreak of Dutch War, May. Victory of Tromp, Nov.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1653 Victory of Blake, Feb. Cromwell drives out the Parliament, April 20. Constituent Convention (Barebones Parliament), July. Convention dissolves, Dec. The Instrument of Government. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, died 1658.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1654 Peace concluded with Holland. First Protectorate Parliament, Sept.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1655 Dissolution of the Parliament, Jan. The Major-Generals. Settlement of Scotland and Ireland. Settlement of the Church. Blake in the Mediterranean. War with Spain and Conquest of Jamaica.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1656 Second Protectorate Parliament, Sept.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1657 Blake's victory at Santa Cruz. Cromwell refuses title of King. Act of Government.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1658 Parliament dissolved, Feb. Battle of the Dunes. Capture of Dunkirk. Death of Cromwell, Sept. 3. Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector, died 1712.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1659 Third Protectorate Parliament. Parliament dissolved. Long Parliament recalled. Long Parliament again driven out.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1660 Monk enters London. The " Convention " Parliament. Charles the Second, lands at Dover, May, died 1685.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1660 Union of Scotland and Ireland undone.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1661 Cavalier Parliament begins.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1662 Act of Uniformity re-enacted. Puritan clergy driven out. Royal Society at London.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1663 Dispensing Bill fails.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1664 Conventicle Act.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1665 Dutch War begins. Five Mile Act. Plague of London. Newton's Theory of Fluxions.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1666 Fire of London.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1667 The Dutch in the Medway. Dismissal of Clarendon. Peace of Breda. Lewis attacks Flanders. Milton's " Paradise Lost."

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1668 The Triple Alliance. Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. Ashley shrinks back from toleration to Catholics.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1670 Treaty of Dover. Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress " written

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1671 Milton's " Paradise Regained " and " Samson Agonistes." Newton's Theory of Light.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1672 Closing of the Exchequer. Declaration of Indulgence War begins with Holland. Ashley made Chancellor.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1673 Declaration of Indulgence withdrawn. The Test Act. Shaftesbury dismissed. Shaftesbury takes the lead of the Country Party.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1674 Bill of Protestant Securities fails. Charles makes Peace with Holland. Danby Lord Treasurer.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1675 Treaty of mutual aid between Charles and Lewis.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1677 Shaftesbury sent to the Tower. Bill for Security of the Church fails. Address of the Houses for War with France. Prince of Orange marries Mary.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1678 Peace of Nimeguen. Oates invents the Popish Plot.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1679 New Parliament meets. Fall of Danby. New Ministry with Shaftesbury at its head. Temple's plan for a new Council. Habeas Corpus Act passed. Exclusion Bill introduced. Parliament dissolved. Shaftesbury dismissed.

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS

1680 Committee for agitation formed.

SEC. VI. THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER 1399 TO 1422

indeed lay in the attacks which France for the past fifteen years had directed against the Lancastrian throne, its encouragement of every enemy without and of every traitor within. In the summer of 1415 the King sailed for the Norman coast, and his first exploit was the capture of Harfleur. Dysentery made havoc in his ranks during the siege, and it was with a mere handful of men that he resolved to insult the enemy by a daring march, like that of Edward, upon Calais. The discord, however, on which he probably reckoned for security, vanished before the actual appearance of the invaders in the heart of France ; and when his weary and half-starved force succeeded in crossing the Somme, it found sixty thousand Frenchmen encamped on the field of Agincourt right across its line of march. Their position, flanked on either side by woods, but with a front so narrow that the dense masses were drawn up thirty men deep, was strong for purposes of defence but ill suited for attack ; and the French leaders, warned by the experience of Crécy and Poitiers, resolved to await the English advance. Henry, on the other hand, had no choice between attack and unconditional surrender. His troops were starving, and the way to Calais lay across the French army. But the King's courage rose with the peril. A knight in his train wished that the thousands of stout warriors lying idle that night in England had been standing in his ranks. Henry answered with a burst of scorn. " I would not have a single man more," he replied. " If God give us the victory, it will be plain that we owe it to His grace. If not, the fewer we are, the less loss for England." Starving and sick as were the handful of men whom he led, they shared the spirit of their leader. As the chill rainy night passed away, his archers bared their arms and breasts to give fair play to " the crooked stick and the grey goose wing," but for which--as the rhyme ran--" England were but a fling," and with a great shout sprang forward to the attack. The sight of their advance roused the fiery pride of the French ; the wise resolve of their leaders was forgotten, and the dense mass of men-at-arms plunged heavily forward through miry ground on the English front. But at the first sign of movement Henry had halted his line, and fixing in the ground the sharpened stakes with which each man was furnished, his archers poured their fatal arrow flights into the hostile ranks. The carnage was terrible, but the desperate charges of the French knighthood at last drove the English archers to the neighbouring woods, from which they were still able to pour their shot into the enemy's flanks, while Henry, with the men-at-arms around him, flung himself on the French line. In the terrible struggle which followed the King bore off the palm of bravery : he was felled once by a blow from a French mace, and the crown on his helmet was cleft by the sword of the Duke of Alençon ; but the enemy was at last broken, and the defeat of the main body of the French was followed at once by the rout of their reserve. The triumph was

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. VI. THE House of Lancaster 1399 TO 1422 The Conquest of Nor- mandy

more complete, as the odds were even greater, than at Crécy. Eleven thousand Frenchmen lay dead on the field, and more than a hundred princes and great lords were among the fallen. The immediate result of the battle of Agincourt was small, for the English army was too exhausted for pursuit, and it made its way to Calais only to return to England. The war was limited to a contest for the command of the Channel, till the increasing bitterness of the strife between the Burgundians and Armagnacs encouraged Henry to resume his attempt to recover Normandy. Whatever may have been his aim in this enterprise—whether it were, as has been suggested, to provide a refuge for his house, should its power be broken in England, or simply to acquire a command of the seas—the patience and skill with which his object was accomplished raise him high in the rank of military leaders. Disembarking with an army of 40,000 men. near the mouth of the Touque, he stormed Caen, received the surrender of Bayeux, reduced Alençon and Falaise, and detaching his brother the Duke of Gloucester to occupy the Cotentin, made himself master of Avranches and Domfront. With Lower Normandy wholly in his hands, he advanced upon Evreux, captured Louviers, and, seizing Pont-de-l'Arche, threw his troops across the Seine. The end of these masterly movements was now revealed. Rouen was at this time the largest and wealthiest of the towns of France; its walls were defended by a powerful artillery; Alan Blanchard, a brave and resolute patriot, infused the fire of his own temper into the vast population; and the garrison, already strong, was backed by fifteen thousand citizens in arms. But the genius of Henry was more than equal to the difficulties with which he had to deal. He had secured himself from an attack on his rear by the reduction of Lower Normandy, his earlier occupation of Harfleur severed the town from the sea, and his conquest of Pont-de-l'Arche cut it off from relief on the side of Paris. Slowly but steadily the King drew his lines of investment round the doomed city; a flotilla was brought up from Harfleur, a bridge of boats thrown over the Seine above the town, the deep trenches of the besiegers protected by posts, and the desperate sallies of the garrison stubbornly beaten back. For six months Rouen held resolutely out, but famine told fast on the vast throng of country folk who had taken refuge within its walls. Twelve thousand of these were at last thrust out of the city gates, but the cold policy of the conqueror refused them passage, and they perished between the trenches and the walls. In the hour of their agony women gave birth to infants, but even the new-born babes which were drawn up in baskets to receive baptism were lowered again to die on their mothers' breasts. It was little better within the town itself. As winter drew on one-half of the population was wasted away. "War," said the terrible King, "has three handmaidens ever waiting

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. VI.

on her, Fire, Blood, and Famine, and I have chosen the meekest maid of the three." But his demand of unconditional surrender nerved the citizens to a resolve of despair ; they determined to fire the city and fling themselves in a mass on the English lines ; and Henry, fearful his prize should escape him at the last, was driven to offer terms.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

THE House of LANCASTER 1399 TO 1422

Those who rejected a foreign yoke were suffered to leave the city, but his vengeance reserved its victim in Alan Blanchard, and the brave patriot was at Henry's orders put to death in cold blood.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

The Conquest of France

A few sieges completed the reduction of Normandy. The King's designs were still limited to the acquisition of that province; and pausing in his career of conquest, he strove to win its loyalty by a remission of taxation and a redress of grievances, and to seal its possession by a formal peace with the French Crown. The conferences, however, which were held for this purpose at Pontoise failed through the temporary reconciliation of the French factions, while the length and expense of the war began to rouse remonstrance and discontent at home.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

The King's difficulties were at their height when the assassination of the Duke of Burgundy at Montereau, in the very presence of the Dauphin with whom he had come to hold conference, rekindled the fires of civil strife. The whole Burgundian party, with the new Duke, Philip the Good, at its head, flung itself into Henry's hands.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

1419

The mad King, Charles the Sixth, with his Queen and daughters, were in Philip's power ; and in his resolve to exclude the Dauphin from the throne the Duke stooped to buy English aid by giving Catharine, the eldest of the French princesses, in marriage to Henry, by conferring on him the Regency during the life of Charles, and by recognizing his succession to the crown at that sovereign's death.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

1420

The treaty was solemnly ratified by Charles himself in a conference at Troyes, and Henry, who in his new capacity of Regent had undertaken to conquer in the name of his father-in-law the territory held by the Dauphin, reduced the towns of the Upper Seine and entered Paris in triumph side by side with the King.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

The States-General of the realm were solemnly convened to the capital ; and strange as the provisions of the Treaty of Troyes must have seemed, they were confirmed without a murmur, and Henry was formally recognized as the future sovereign of France.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

1422

A defeat of his brother Clarence in Anjou called him back to the war.1 His reappearance in the field was marked by the capture of Dreux and a repulse before Orleans was redeemed by his success in the long and obstinate siege of Meaux.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

At no time had the fortunes of Henry reached a higher pitch than at the moment when he felt the touch of death. But the rapidity of his disease baffled the skill of physicians, and with a strangely characteristic regret that he had not lived to achieve the conquest of Jerusalem, the great conqueror passed away.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

Sec. I. EDWARD THE THIRD 1336 TO 1360 Neville's Cross Oct. 1346

was destined to prove to the higher sentiments and interests of the nation, gave it for the moment an energy such as it had never known before. Victory followed victory. A few months after Crécy a Scotch army which had burst into the north was routed at Neville's Cross, and its King, David Bruce, taken prisoner ; while the withdrawal of the French from the Garonne enabled the English to recover Poitou. Edward meanwhile turned to strike at the naval superiority of France by securing the mastery of the Channel. Calais was a great pirate-haven ; in one year alone, twenty-two privaters had sailed from its port ; while its capture promised the King an easy base of communication with Flanders, and of operations against France. The siege lasted a year, and it was not till Philip had failed to relieve it that the town was starved into surrender. Mercy was granted to the garrison and the people on condition that six of the citizens gave themselves unconditionally into the King's hands. " On them," said Edward, with a burst of bitter hatred, " I will do my will." At the sound of the town bell, Jehan le Bel tells us, the folk of Calais gathered round the bearer of these terms, " desiring to hear their good news, for they were all mad with hunger. When the said knight told them his news, then began they to weep and cry so loudly that it was great pity. Then stood up the wealthiest burgess of the town, Master Eustache de S. Pierre by name, and spake thus before all : 'My masters, great grief and mishap it were for all to leave such a people as this is to die by famine or otherwise ; and great charity and grace would he win from our Lord who could defend them from dying. For me, I have great hope in the Lord that if I can save this people by my death, I shall have pardon for my faults, wherefore will I be the first of the six, and of my own will put myself barefoot in my shirt and with a halter round my neck in the mercy of King Edward.'" The list of devoted men was soon made up, and the six victims were led before the King. " All the host assembled together ; there was great press, and many bade hang them openly, and many wept for pity. The noble King came with his train of counts and barons to the place, and the Queen followed him, though great with child, to see what there would be. The six citizens knelt down at once before the King, and Master Eustache said thus : 'Gentle King, here be we six who have been of the old bourgeoisie of Calais and great merchants ; we bring you the keys of the town and castle of Calais, and render them to you at your pleasure. We set ourselves in such wise as you see purely at your will, to save the remnant of the people that has suffered much pain. So may you have pity and mercy on us for your high nobleness' sake.' Certes, there was then in that place neither lord nor knight that wept not for pity, nor who could speak for pity ; but the King had his heart so hardened by wrath, that for a long while he could not reply ; then he commanded to cut off their heads. All the knights and lords

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

Section I.—Joan of Arc, 1422–1451.

[Authorities.—The “Wars of the English in France,” and Blondel's work “De Reductione Normanniæ,” both published by the Master of the Rolls, give ample information on the military side of this period. Monstrelet remains our chief source of knowledge on the French side. The “Procès de Jeanne d'Arc” (published by the Société de l'Histoire de France) is the only real authority for her history. For English affairs we are reduced to the meagre accounts of William of Worcester, of the Continuator of the Crowland Chronicle, and of Fabyan, a London alderman with a strong bias in favour of the House of Lancaster, is useful for London only. The Continuator is one of the best of his class, and though connected with the House of York, the date of his work, which appeared soon after Bosworth Field, makes him fairly impartial; but he is sketchy and deficient in actual facts. The more copious narrative of Polydore Vergil is far superior to these in literary ability, but of later date and strongly Lancastrian in tone. The Rolls of Parliament and Rymer's “Fœdera” are of high value. Among modern writers M. Michelet, in his “History of France” (vol. v.), has given a portrait of the Maid of Orleans at once exact and full of a tender poetry. Lord Brougham (“England under the House of Lancaster”) is still useful on constitutional points.] [Dr. Stubbs' “Constitutional History,” vol. iii., published since these pages were written, illustrates this period.—Ed.] At the moment when death so suddenly stayed his course the greatness of Henry the Fifth had reached its highest point. He had won the Church by his orthodoxy, the nobles by his warlike prowess, the whole people by his revival of the glories of Crécy and Poitiers. In France his cool policy had transformed him from a foreign conqueror into a legal heir to the crown; his title of Regent and of successor to the throne rested on the formal recognition of the estates of the realm; and his progress to the very moment of his death promised a speedy mastery of the whole country. But the glory of Agincourt and the genius of Henry the Fifth hardly veiled at the close of his reign the weakness and humiliation of the Crown when the succession passed to his infant son. The long minority of Henry the Sixth, who was a boy of nine months old at his father's death, as well as the personal weakness which marked his after-rule, left the House of Lancaster at the mercy of the Parliament. But the Parliament was fast dying down into a mere representation

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Disfranchisement of the Commons

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. I.

of the baronage and the great landowners. The Commons indeed retained the right of granting and controlling subsidies, of joining in all statutory enactments, and of impeaching ministers. But the Lower House was ceasing to be a real representative of the “Commons” whose name it bore. The borough franchise was suffering from the general tendency to restriction and privilege which in the bulk of towns was soon to reduce it to a mere mockery. Up to this time all freemen settling in a borough and paying their dues to became by the mere settlement its burgesses ; but from the reign of Henry the Sixth this largeness of borough life was roughly curtailed The trade companies which vindicated civic freedom from the tyranny of the older merchant gilds themselves tended to become a narrow and exclusive oligarchy. Most of the boroughs had by this time acquired civic property, and it was with the aim of securing their own enjoyment of this against any share of it by “strangers” that the existing burgesses for the most part, procured charters of incorporation from the Crown which turned them into a close body, and excluded from their number all who were not burgesses by birth or who failed henceforth to purchase their right of entrance by a long apprenticeship. In addition to this narrowing of the burgess-body, the internal government of the borough had almost universally passed, since the failure of the Communal movement in the thirteenth century, from the free gathering of the citizen in borough-mote into the hands of Common Councils, either self-elected or elected by the wealthier burgesses ; and it was to these councils, or to a yet more restricted number of “select men” belonging to them, that clauses in the new charters generally confined the right of choosing their representatives in Parliament. It was with this restriction that the long process of degradation began which ended in reducing the representation of our boroughs to a mere mockery Great nobles, neighbouring landowners, the Crown itself seized on the boroughs as their prey, and dictated the choice of their representatives. Corruption did whatever force failed to do ; and from the Wars of the Roses to the days of Pitt the voice of the people had to be looked for, not in the members for the towns, but in the knights of the counties. The restriction of the county franchise on the other hand was the direct work of the Parliament itself Economic changes were fast widening the franchise in the counties The number of freeholders increased with the subdivision of estates and the social changes which we have already examined, while the increase of independence was marked by the “riots and divisions between the gentlemen and other people,” which the statesmen of the day attributed to the excessive number of the voters. In many counties the power of the great lords undoubtedly enabled them to control elections through the number of their retainers. In Cade's revolt the Kentishmen complained that “the people of the shire are

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Restriction of Borough Freedom

Restriction of County Franchise

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Sec. I.

not allowed to have their free elections in the choosing of knights for the shire, but letters have been sent from divers estates to the great nobles of the county, the which enforceth their tenants and other people by force to choose other persons than the common will is. It was primarily to check this abuse that a statute of the reign of Henry the Sixth restricted in 1430 the right of voting in shires to freeholders holding land worth forty shillings (a sum equal in our money to at least twenty pounds) a year, and representing a far higher proportional income at the present time. This 'great disfranchising statute,' as it has been justly termed, was aimed, in its own words, against voters 'of no value, whercof every of them pretended to have a voice equivalent with the more worthy knights and esquires dwelling within the same counties.' But in actual working the statute was interpreted in a far more destructive fashion than its words were intended to convey. Up to this time all suitors who found themselves at the Sheriff's Court had voted without question for the Knight of the Shire, but by the new statute the great bulk of the existing voters, every leaseholder and every copyholder, found themselves implicitly deprived of their franchise. A later statute, which seems, however, to have had no practical effect, showed the aristocratic temper, as well as the social changes against which it struggled, in its requirement that every Knight of the Shire should be 'a gentleman born.' The death of Henry the Fifth revealed in its bare reality the secret of power. The whole of the royal authority vested without a struggle in a council composed of great lords and Churchmen representing the baronage, at whose head stood Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, a legitimated son of John of Gaunt by his mistress Catharine Swynford. In the presence of Lollardry and socialism, the Church had at this time ceased to be a great political power and sunk into a mere section of the landed aristocracy. Its one aim was to preserve its enormous wealth, which was threatened at once by the hatred of the heretics and by the greed of the nobles. Lollardry still lived, in spite of the steady persecution, as a spirit of religious and moral revolt; and nine years after the young King's accession we find the Duke of Gloucester traversing England and with men-at-arms for the purpose of repressing its risings and hindering the circulation of its invectives against the clergy. The violence and anarchy which had always clung like a taint to the baronage had received a new impulse from the war with France. Long before the struggle was over it had done its fatal work on the mood of the English noble. His aim had become little more than a lust for gold, a longing after plunder, after the pillage of farms, the sack of cities, the ransom of captives. So intense was the greed of gain that only a threat of death could keep the fighting men in their ranks, and the results of victory after victory were lost by the anxiety of the conquerors to deposit their plunder and captives safely

SEC. I. Joan of Arc 1422 TO 1451

at home. The moment the firm hand of great leaders such as Henry the Fifth or Bedford was removed, the war died down into mere massacre and brigandage. “If God had been a captain now-a-days,” exclaimed a French general, “He would have turned marauder.” The nobles were as lawless and dissolute at home as they were greedy and cruel abroad. The Parliaments, which became mere sittings of their retainers and partizans, were like armed camps to which the great lords came with small armies at their backs. That of 1426 received its name of the “Club Parliament,” from the fact that when arms were prohibited the retainers of the barons appeared with clubs on their shoulders. When clubs were forbidden, they hid stones and balls of lead in their clothes. The dissoluteness against which Lollardy had raised its great moral protest reigned now without a check. A gleam of intellectual light was breaking on the darkness of the time, but only to reveal a hideous combination of mental energy with moral worthlessness. The Duke of Gloucester, whose love of letters was shown in the noble library he collected, was the most selfish and profligate prince of his day. The Earl of Worcester, a patron of Caxton, and one of the earliest scholars of the Revival of Letters, earned his title of “butcher” by the cruelty which raised him to a pre-eminence of infamy among the bloodstained leaders of the Wars of the Rose. All spiritual life seemed to have been trodden out in the ruin of the Lollards. Never had English literature fallen so low. A few tedious moralists alone preserved the name of poetry. History died down into the barest and most worthless fragments and annals. Even the religious enthusiasm of the people seemed to have spent itself, or to have been crushed out by the bishops’ courts. The one belief of the time was in sorcery and magic. Eleanor Cobham, the wife of the Duke of Gloucester, was convicted of having practised magic against the King’s life with a priest, and condemned to do penance in the streets of London. The mist which wrapped the battle-field of Barnet was attributed to the incantations of Friar Bungay. The one pure figure which rises out of the greed, the lust, the selfishness, and unbelief of the time, the figure of Joan of Arc, was regarded by the doctors and priests who judged her as that of a sorceress.

Joan of Arc

Jeanne d’Arc was the child of a labourer of Domrémy, a little village in the neighbourhood of Vaucouleurs on the borders of Lorraine and Champagne. Just without the cottage where she was born began the great woods of the Vosges, where the children of Domrémy drank in poetry and legend from fairy ring and haunted well, hung their flower garlands on the sacred trees, and sang songs to the “good people” who might not drink of the fountain because of their sin. Jeanne loved the forest; its birds and beasts came lovingly to her at her childish call. But at home men saw nothing in her but “a good girl, simple and pleasant in her ways,” spinning and sewing by her

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mother's side while the other girls went to the fields, tender to the poor and sick, fond of church, and listening to the church-bell with a dreamy passion of delight which never left her. The quiet life was soon broken by the storm of war as it at last came home to Domrémy. The death of King Charles, which followed hard on that of Henry the Fifth, brought little change. The Dauphin at once proclaimed himself Charles the Seventh of France : but Henry the Sixth was owned as Sovereign over the whole of the territory which Charles had actually ruled ; and the incursions which the partizans of Charles, now reinforced by Lombard soldiers from the Milanese and by four thousand Scots under the Earl of Douglas, made with fresh vigour across the Loire were easily repulsed by Duke John of Bedford, the late King's brother, who had been named in his will Regent of France. In genius for war as in political capacity John was hardly inferior to Henry himself. Drawing closer by marriage and patient diplomacy his alliances with the Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, he completed the conquest of Northern France, secured his communications with Normandy by the capture of Meulan, made himself master of the line of the Yonne by a victory near Auxerre, and pushed forward into the country near Mâcon. It was to arrest his progress that the Constable of Buchan advanced boldly from the Loire to the very borders of Normandy and attacked the English army at Verneuil. But a repulse hardly less disastrous than that of Agincourt left a third of the French knighthood on the field ; and the Regent was preparing to cross the Loire when he was hindered by the intrigues of his brother the Duke of Gloucester. The nomination of Gloucester to the Regency in England by the will of the late King had been set aside by the Council, and sick of the powerless Protectorate with which they had invested him, the Duke sought a new opening for his restless ambition in the Netherlands, where he supported the claims of Jacqueline, the Countess in her own right of Holland and Hainault, whom he had married on her divorce from the Duke of Brabant. His enterprise roused the jealousy of the Duke of Burgundy, who regarded himself as heir to the Duke of Brabant, and the efforts of Bedford were paralyzed by the withdrawal of his Burgundian allies as they marched northward to combat his brother. Though Gloucester soon returned to England, the ruinous struggle went on for three years, during which Bedford was forced to remain simply on the defensive, till the cessation of war again restored to him the aid of Burgundy. Strife at home between Gloucester and Beaufort had been even more fatal in diverting the supplies of men and money needed for the war in France, but with temporary quiet in England and peace in Holland Bedford was once more able to push forward to the conquest of the South. The delay, however, brought little help to France, and Charles saw Orleans invested by ten thousand of the allies without power to march to its relief. The war had long

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SRC. I.

Joan of Arc 1422 to 1451

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T 2

SEC. I. JOAN OF ARC 1422 TO 1451

since reached the borders of Lorraine. The north of France, indeed, was being fast reduced to a desert. The husbandmen fled for refuge to the towns, till these in fear of famine shut their gates against them. Then in their despair they threw themselves into the woods and became brigands in their turn. So terrible was the devastation, that two hostile bodies of troops at one time failed even to find one another in the desolate Beauce. The towns were in hardly better case, for misery and disease killed a hundred thousand people in Paris alone. As the outcasts and wounded passed by Domrémy the young peasant girl gave them her bed and nursed them in their sickness. Her whole nature summed itself up in one absorbing passion: she "had pity," to use the phrase for ever on her lip, "on the fair realm of France." As her passion grew she recalled old prophecies that a maid from the Lorraine border should save the land; she saw visions; St. Michael appeared to her in a flood of blinding light, and bade her go to the help of the King and restore to him his realm. "Messire," answered the girl, "I am but a poor maiden; I know not how to ride to the wars, or to lead men-at-arms." The archangel returned to give her courage, and to tell her of "the pity" that there was in heaven for the fair realm of France. The girl wept, and longed that the angels who appeared to her would carry her away, but her mission was clear. It was in vain that her father when he heard her purpose swore to drown her ere she should go to the field with men-at-arms. It was in vain that the priest, the wise people of the village, the captain of Vaucouleurs, doubted and refused to aid her. "I must go to the King," persisted the peasant girl, "even if I wear my limbs to the very knees." "I had far rather rest and spin by my mother's side," she pleaded with a touching pathos, "for this is no work of my choosing, but I must go and do it, for my Lord wills it." "And who," they asked, "is your Lord?" "He is God." Words such as these touched the rough captain at last: he took Jeanne by the hand and swore to lead her to the King. When she reached Chinon she found hesitation and doubt. The theologians proved from their books that they ought not to believe her. "There is more in God's book than in yours," Jeanne answered simply. At last Charles received her in the midst of a throng of nobles and soldiers.

"Gentle Dauphin," said the girl, "my name is Jeanne the Maid. The Heavenly King sends me to tell you that you shall be anointed and crowned in the town of Rheims, and you shall be lieutenant of the Heavenly King who is the King of France."

The Relief of Orleans

Orleans had already been driven by famine to offers of surrender when Jeanne appeared in the French Court. Charles had done nothing for its aid but shut himself up at Chinon and weep helplessly. The long series of English victories had in fact so demoralized the French soldiery that a mere detachment of archers under Sir John Fastolfe had repulsed an army, in what was called the "Battle

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Sec. I. JOAN OF ARC 1422 TO 1451

of the Herrings," and conducted the convoy of provisions to which it owed its name in triumph into the camp before Orleans. Only three thousand Englishmen remained there in the trenches after a new withdrawal of their Burgundian allies, but though the town swarmed with men-at-arms not a single sally had been ventured upon during the six months' siege. The success however of the handful of English besiegers depended wholly on the spell of terror which they had cast over France, and the appearance of Jeanne at once broke the spell. The girl was in her eighteenth year, tall, finely formed, with all the vigour and activity of her peasant rearing, able to stay from dawn to nightfall on horseback without meat or drink. As she mounted her charger, clad in white armour from head to foot, with the great white banner studded with fleur-de-lys waving over her head, she seemed " a thing wholly divine, whether to see or hear." The ten thousand men-at-arms who followed her from Blois, rough plunderers whose only prayer was that of La Hire, " Sire Dieu, I pray you to do for La Hire what La Hire would do for you, were you captain-at-arms and he God," left off their oaths and foul living at her word and gathered round the altars on their march. Her shrewd peasant humour helped her to manage the wild soldiery, and her followers laughed over their camp-fires at the old warrior who had been so puzzled by her prohibition of oaths that she suffered him still to swear by his bâton. In the midst of her enthusiasm her good sense never left her. The people crowded round her as she rode along, praying her to work miracles, and bringing crosses and chaplets to be blest by her touch. " Touch them yourself," she said to an old Dame Margaret ; " your touch will be just as good as mine." But her faith in her mission remained as firm as ever. " The Maid prays and requires you," she wrote to Bedford, " to work no more distraction in France, but to come in her company to rescue the Holy Sepulchre from the Turk." " I bring you," she told Dunois when he sallied out of Orleans to meet her, " the best aid ever sent to any one, the aid of the King of Heaven." The besiegers looked on overawed as she entered Orleans, and, riding round the walls, bade the people look fearlessly on the dreaded forts which surrounded them. Her enthusiasm drove the hesitating generals to engage the handful of besiegers, and the enormous disproportion of forces at once made itself felt. Fort after fort was taken, till only the strongest remained, and then the council of war resolved to adjourn the attack. " You have taken your counsel," replied Jeanne, " and I take mine." Placing herself at the head of the men-at-arms, she ordered the gates to be thrown open, and led them against the fort. Few as they were, the English fought desperately, and the Maid, who had fallen wounded while endeavouring to scale its walls, was borne into a vineyard, while Dunois sounded the retreat. " Wait a while !" the girl imperiously pleaded, " eat

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1429

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1680 Monmouth pretends to the throne. Petitioners and Abhorrers. Exclusion Bill thrown out by the Lords. Trial of Lord Stafford. 1681 Parliament at Oxford. Treaty with France. Limitation Bill rejected. Shaftesbury and Monmouth arrested. 1682 Conspiracy and flight of Shaftesbury. Penn founds Pennsylvania. 1683 Death of Shaftesbury. Rye-house Plot. Execution of Lord Russell and Algernon Sidney. 1684 Town charters quashed. Army increased. 1685 James the Second, died 1701. Insurrection of Argyll and Monmouth. Battle of Sedgemoor, July 6. The Bloody Circuit. Army raised to 20,000 men.

1685 Revocation of Edict of Nantes. 1686 Test Act dispensed with by royal authority. Ecclesiastical Commission set up. 1687 Newton's "Principia." Expulsion of the Fellows of Magdalen. Dismissal of Lords Rochester and Clarendon. Declaration of Indulgence. The Boroughs regulated. William of Orange protests against the Declaration. 1688 Clergy refuse to read the new Declaration of Indulgence. Birth of James's son. Invitation to William. Trial of the Seven Bishops. Irish troops brought over to England. Lewis attacks Germany. William of Orange lands at Torbay. Flight of James.

MODERN ENGLAND.

1689-1874.

1689 Convention Parliament. Declaration of Rights. William and Mary made King and Queen. William forms the Grand Alliance against Lewis. Battle of Killiecrankie, July 27. Siege of Londonderry. Mutiny Bill. Toleration Bill. Bill of Rights. Secession of the Non-jurors. 1690 Abjuration Bill and Act of Grace. Battle of Beachy Head, June 30. Battle of the Boyne, July 1. William repulsed from Limerick. 1691 Battle of Aughrim, July. Capitulation and Treaty of Limerick. 1692 Massacre of Glencoe. Battle of La Hogue, May 19. 1693 Sunderland's plan of a Ministry. 1694 Bank of England set up. Death of Mary. 1696 Currency restored. 1697 Peace of Ryswick. 1698 First Partition Treaty. 1700 Second Partition Treaty. 1701 Duke of Anjou becomes King of Spain. Act of Settlement passed.

1701 Death of James II. 1702 Anne, died 1714. 1704 Battle of Blenheim, August 13. Harley and St. John take office. 1705 Victories of Peterborough in Spain. 1706 Battle of Ramillies, May 23. 1707 Act of Union with Scotland. 1708 Dismissal of Harley and St. John. Battle of Oudenarde. 1709 Battle of Malplaquet. 1710 Trial of Sacheverell. 1712 Tory Ministry of Harley and St. John. Dismissal of Marlborough. 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. 1714 George the First, died 1727. Ministry of Townshend and Walpole. 1715 Jacobite Revolt under Lord Mar. 1716 The Septennial Bill. 1717 The Triple Alliance. Ministry of Lord Stanhope. 1718 The Quadruple Alliance. 1720 Failure of the Peerage Bill the South Sea Company. 1721 Ministry of Sir Robert Walpole. 1723 Exile of Bishop Atterbury. 1727 War with Austria and Spain. George the Second, died 1760. 1729 Treaty of Seville. 1730 Free exportation of American rice allowed.

Sec. I. Joan of Arc 1422 to 1451

and drink ! so soon as my standard touches the wall you shall enter the fort." It touched, and the assailants burst in. On the next day the siege was abandoned, and the force which had conducted it withdrew in good order to the north. In the midst of her triumph Jeanne still remained the pure, tender-hearted peasant girl of the Vosges. Her first visit as she entered Orleans was to the great church, and there, as she knelt at mass, she wept in such a passion of devotion that " all the people wept with her." Her tears burst forth afresh at her first sight of bloodshed and of the corpses strewn over the battle-field. She grew frightened at her first wound, and only threw off the touch of womanly fear when she heard the signal for retreat. Yet more womanly was the purity with which she passed through the brutal warriors of a mediæval camp. It was her care for her honour that had led her to clothe herself in a soldier's dress. She wept hot tears when told of the foul taunts of the English, and called passionately on God to witness her chastity. "Yield thee, yield thee, Glasdale," she cried to the English warrior whose insults had been foulest, as he fell wounded at her feet, " you called me harlot ! I have great pity on your soul." But all thought of herself was lost in the thought of her mission. It was in vain that the French generals strove to remain on the Loire. Jeanne was resolute to complete her task, and while the English remained panic-stricken around Paris the army followed her from Gien through Troyes, growing in number as it advanced, till it reached the gates of Rheims. With the coronation of Charles, the Maid felt her errand to be over. " O gentle King, the pleasure of God is done," she cried, as she flung herself at the feet of Charles the Seventh and asked leave to go home. " Would it were His pleasure," she pleaded with the Archbishop as he forced her to remain, " that I might go and keep sheep once more with my sisters and my brothers : they would be so glad to see me again !"

Death of the Maid 1430

The policy of the French Court detained her while the cities of the north of France opened their gates to the newly-consecrated King. Bedford, however, who had been left without money or men, had now received reinforcements, and Charles, after a repulse before the walls of Paris, fell back behind the Loire ; while the towns on the Oise submitted again to the Duke of Burgundy. In this later struggle Jeanne fought with her usual bravery, but with the fatal consciousness that her mission was at an end, and during the defence of Compiègne she fell into the power of the Bastard of Vendôme, to be sold by her captor into the hands of the Duke of Burgundy and by the Duke into the hands of the English. To the English her triumphs were victories of sorcery, and after a year's imprisonment she was brought to trial on a charge of heresy before an ecclesiastical court with the Bishop of Beauvais at its head. Throughout the long process which followed every art was employed to entangle her in her

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SEC. I. JOAN OF ARC 1422 TO 1451

talk. But the simple shrewdness of the peasant girl foiled the efforts of her judges. "Do you believe," they asked, "that you are in a state of grace?" "If I am not," she replied, "God will put me in it. If I am, God will keep me in it." Her capture, they argued, showed that God had forsaken her. "Since it has pleased God that I should be taken," she answered meekly, "it is for the best." "Will you submit," they demanded at last, "to the judgement of the Church Militant?" "I have come to the King of France," Jeanne replied, "by commission from God and from the Church Triumphant above: to that Church I submit." "I had far rather die," she ended, passionately, "than renounce what I have done by my Lord's command." They deprived her of mass. "Our Lord can make me hear it without your aid," she said, weeping. "Do your voices," asked the judges, "forbid you to submit to the Church and the Pope?" "Ah, no ! Our Lord first served." Sick, and deprived of all religious aid, it was no wonder that, as the long trial dragged on and question followed question Jeanne's firmness wavered. On the charge of sorcery and diabolical possession she still appealed firmly to God. "I hold to my Judge," she said, as her earthly judges gave sentence against her, "to the King of Heaven and Earth. God has always been my Lord in all that I have done. The devil has never had power over me." It was only with a view to be delivered from the military prison and transferred to the prisons of the Church that she consented to a formal abjuration of heresy. She feared in fact among the English soldiery those outrages to her honour, to guard against which she had from the first assumed the dress of a man. In the eyes of the Church her dress was a crime and she abandoned it ; but a renewed insult forced her to resume the one safeguard left her, and the return to it was treated as a relapse into heresy which doomed her to death. A great pile was raised in the market-place of Rouen where her statue stands now. Even the brutal soldiers who snatched the hated "witch" from the hands of the clergy and hurried her to her doom were hushed as she reached the stake. One indeed passed to her a rough cross he had made from a stick he held, and she clasped it to her bosom. "Oh ! Rouen, Rouen," she was heard to murmur, as her eyes ranged over the city from the lofty scaffold, "I have great fear lest you suffer for my death." "Yes ! my voices were of God!" she suddenly cried as the last moment came ; "they have never deceived me !" Soon the flames reached her, the girl's head sank on her breast, there was one cry of "Jesus !"—"We are lost," an English soldier muttered as the crowd broke up, "we have burned a Saint."

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The Loss of France

The English cause was indeed irretrievably lost. In spite of a pompous coronation of the boy-king Henry at Paris, Bedford, with the cool wisdom of his temper, seems to have abandoned all hope of permanently retaining France, and to have fallen back on his brother's

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THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. 1.

prayed him with tears, as much as they could, to have pity on them, but he would not hear. Then spoke the gentle knight, Master Walter de Maunay, and said, ' Ha, gentle sire ! bridle your wrath ; you have the renown and good fame of all gentleness ; do not a thing whereby men can speak any villany of you ! If you have no pity, all men will say that you have a heart full of all cruelty to put these good citizens to death that of their own will are come to render themselves to you to save the remnant of their people.' At this point the King changed countenance with wrath, and said, 'Hold your peace, Master Walter ! it shall be none otherwise. Call the headsman ! They of Calais have made so many of my men die, that they must die themselves !' Then did the noble Queen of England a deed of noble lowliness, seeing she was great with child, and wept so tenderly for pity, that she could no longer stand upright ; therefore she cast herself on her knees before her lord the King, and spake on this wise : 'Ah, gentle sire ! from the day that I passed over sea in great peril, as you know, I have asked for nothing : now pray I and beseech you, with folded hands, for the love of our Lady's Son, to have mercy upon them.' The gentle King waited for a while before speaking, and looked on the Queen as she knelt before him bitterly weeping. Then began his heart to soften a little, and he said, 'Lady, I would rather you had been otherwhere ; you pray so tenderly, that I dare not refuse you ; and though I do it against my will, nevertheless take them, I give them to you.' Then took he the six citizens by the halters and delivered them to the Queen, and released from death all those of Calais for the love of her ; and the good lady bade them clothe the six burgesses and make them good cheer.

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THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Edward now stood at the height of his renown. He had won the greatest victory of his age. France, till now the first of European states, was broken and dashed from her pride of place at a single blow. A naval picture of Froissart sketches Edward for us as he sailed to meet a Spanish fleet which was sweeping the narrow seas. We see the King sitting on deck in his jacket of black velvet, his head covered by a black beaver hat " which became him well," and calling on Sir John Chandos to troll out the songs he had brought with him from Germany, till the Spanish ships heave in sight and a furious fight begins which ends in a victory that leaves Edward " King of the Seas." But peace with France was as far off as ever. Even the truce which for seven years was forced on both countries by sheer exhaustion became at last impossible. Edward prepared three armies to act at once in Normandy, Britany, and Guienne, but the plan of the campaign broke down. The Black Prince, as the hero of Crécy was called, alone won a disgraceful success. Unable to pay his troops, he staved off their demands by a campaign of sheer pillage. Northern and central France had by this time fallen into utter ruin ; the royal

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THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Edward the Third 1336 to 1360

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THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Poitiers 1347-1355

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. I. JOAN OF ARC 1422 TO 1451

original plan of securing Normandy. Henry's Court was established for a year at Rouen, a university founded at Caen, and whatever rapine and disorder might be permitted elsewhere, justice, good government and security for trade were steadily maintained through the favoured provinces. At home Bedford was resolutely backed by the Bishop of Winchester, who had been raised in 1426 to the rank of Cardinal and who now again governed England through the Royal Council spite of the fruitless struggles of the Duke of Gloucester. Even when he had been excluded from the Council by Gloucester's intrigues, Beaufort's immense wealth was poured without stint into the exhausted Treasury till his loans to the Crown amounted to half-a-million ; and he had unscrupulously diverted an army which he had raised at his own cost for the Hussite Crusade in Bohemia to the relief of Bedford after the deliverance of Orleans. The Cardinal's diplomatic ability was seen in the truces he wrung from Scotland, and in his personal efforts to prevent the reconciliation of Burgundy with France. In 1435 however the Duke of Burgundy concluded a formal treaty with Charles ; and his desertion was followed by a yet more fatal blow to the English cause in the death of Bedford. Paris rose suddenly against its English garrison and declared for King Charles. Henry's dominion shrank once to Normandy and the outlying fortresses of Picardy and Maine. But reduced as they were to a mere handful, and fronted by a whole nation in arms, the English soldiers struggled on with as desperate bravery as in their days of triumph. Lord Talbot, the most daring of their chiefs, forded the Somme with the waters up to his chin to relieve Crotoy, and threw his men across the Oise in the face of a French army to relieve Pontoise. The Duke of York, who succeeded Bedford as Regent, by his abilities stemmed for a time the tide of ill-fortune, but the jealousy shown to him by the King's counsellors told fatally on the course of the war. A fresh effort for peace was made by the Earl of Suffolk, who swayed the Council after age forced Beaufort to retire to Winchester, and who negotiated for his master a marriage with Margaret, the daughter of Duke René of Anjou. Not only Anjou, of which England possessed nothing, but Maine, the bulwark of Normandy were ceded to Duke René as the price of a match which Suffolk regarded as the prelude to peace. But the terms of the treaty and the delays which still averted a final peace gave new strength to the war-party with Gloucester at its head. The danger was roughly met when Gloucester was arrested as he rode to Parliament on a charge of secre conspiracy ; and a few days later he was found dead in his lodging. But the difficulties he had raised foileded Suffolk in his negotiations ; and though Charles extorted the surrender of Le Mans by a threat of war the provisions of the treaty remained for the most part unfulfilled. The struggle, however, now became a hopeless one. In two months from the resumption of the war half Normandy was in the hands of Dunois.

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

Sec. I.

Rouen rose against her feeble garrison and threw open her gates to Charles ; and the defeat of an English force at Fourmigny was the signal for revolt throughout the rest of the province. The surrender of Cherbourg in 1450 left Henry not a foot of Norman ground, and the next year the last fragment of the Duchy of Guienne was lost. Gascony indeed once more turned to the English Crown on the landing of an English force under Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. But ere the twenty thousand men whose levy was voted by Parliament for his aid could cross the Channel Shrewsbury suddenly found himself face to face with the whole French army. His men were mown down by its guns, and the Earl himself left dead on the field. The surrender of fortress after fortress secured the final expulsion of the English from the soil of France. The Hundred Years' War had ended, not only in the loss of the temporary conquests made since the time of Edward the Third, with the exception of Calais, but in the loss of the great southern province which had remained in English hands ever since the marriage of its Duchess, Eleanor, to Henry the Second, and in the building up of France into a far greater power than it had ever been before.

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

Section II.—The Wars of the Roses, 1450–1471.

Authorities.—No period, save the last, is scantier in historical authorities. We still possess William of Worcester, Fabyan, and the Crowland Continuator, and for the struggle between Warwick and Edward, the valuable narrative of " The Arrival of Edward IV.," edited for the Camden Society, which may be taken as the official account on the royal side. "The Paston Letters" (edited by Mr. Gairdner) are the first instance in English history of a family correspondence, and throw great light on the social history of the time. Cade's rising has been illustrated in two papers, lately reprinted, by Mr. Durrant Cooper. The Rolls of Parliament are, as before, of the highest value.

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

The ruinous issue of the great struggle with France roused England to a burst of fury against the wretched government to whose weakness and credulity it attributed its disasters. Suffolk was impeached, and murdered as he crossed the sea into exile. When the Bishop of Chichester was sent to pay the sailors at Portsmouth, and strove to put them off with less than their due, they fell on him and slew him. In Kent, the great manufacturing district of the day, seething with a busy population, and especially concerned with the French contests through the piracy of the Cinque Ports, where every house showed some spoil from the wars, the discontent broke into open revolt. The rising spread from Kent over Surrey and Sussex. A military levy of the yeomen of the three shires was organized ; the insurgents were joined by more than a hundred esquires and gentlemen, and two great landowners of Sussex, the Abbot of Battle and the Prior of Lewes, openly favoured their cause. John Cade, a soldier of some experience in the French wars, took the significant name of Mortimer, and placed

Sec. II.

himself at their head; and the army, now twenty thousand men strong, marched on Blackheath. The “Complaint of the Commons of Kent” which they laid before the Royal Council, is of high value in the light which it throws on the condition of the people. Not one of the demands touches on religious reform. The question of villeinage and serfage finds no place in the “Complaint” of 1450. In the seventy years which had intervened since the last peasant rising, villeinage had died naturally away before the progress of social change. The Statutes of Apparel, which from this time encumber the Statute-Book, show in their anxiety to curtail the dress of the labourer and the farmer the progress of these classes in comfort and wealth; and from the language of the statutes themselves, it is plain that as wages rose both farmer and labourer went on clothing themselves better in spite of sumptuary provisions. With the exception of a demand for the repeal of the Statute of Labourers, the programme of the Commons was now not social, but political. The “Complaint” calls for administrative and economical reforms, for a change of ministry, a more careful expenditure of the royal revenue, and for the restoration of freedom of election, which had been broken in upon by the interference both of the Crown and the great landowners. The refusal of the Council to receive the “Complaint” was followed by a victory of the Kentishmen over the royal forces at Sevenoaks; the entry of the insurgents into London, coupled with the execution of Lord Say, the most unpopular of the royal ministers, broke the obstinacy of his colleagues. The “Complaint” was received, pardons were granted to all who had joined in the rising; and the insurgents dispersed to their homes. Cade, who had striven in vain to retain them in arms, sought to form a new force by throwing open the gaols; but his men quarrelled, and Cade himself was slain by the sheriff of Kent as he fled into Sussex. The “Complaint” was quietly laid aside. No attempt was made to redress the grievances which it stated, and the main object of popular hate, the Duke of Somerset, took his place at the head of the Royal Council.

York and the Beauforts

Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, as the grandson of John of Gaunt and his mistress Catharine Swynford, was the representative of a junior branch of the House of Lancaster, whose claims to the throne Henry IV. had barred by a clause in the Act which legitimated their line, but whose hopes of the Crown were roused by the childlessness of Henry VI. He found a rival in the Duke of York, heir of the houses of York, of Clarence, and of Mortimer, who boasted of a double descent from Edward III. In addition to other claims which York as yet refrained from urging, he claimed as descendant of Edmund of Langley, Edward’s fifth son, to be regarded as heir presumptive to the throne. Popular favour seems to have been on his side, but in 1453 the birth of the King’s son promised to free the Crown from the turmoil of warring factions; Henry, however, at the same time sank into a state of idiotcy

vi

THE NEW MONARCHY

SEC. II.

which made his rule impossible, and York was appointed Protector of the Realm. But on Henry's recovery the Duke of Somerset, who had been impeached and committed to the Tower by his rival, was restored to power, and supported with singular vigour and audacity by the Queen. York at once took up arms, and backed by the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick, the heads of the great House of Neville, he advanced with 3,000 men upon St. Albans, where Henry was encamped. A successful assault upon the town was crowned by the death of Somerset ; and a return of the King's malady brought the renewal of York's Protectorate. Henry's recovery, however, again restored the supremacy of the House of Beaufort, and after a temporary reconciliation between the two parties there was a fresh outbreak of war. Salisbury defeated Lord Audley at Bloreheath, and York with the two Earls raised his standard at Ludlow. The King marched rapidly on the insurgents, and a decisive battle was only averted by the desertion of a part of the Yorkist army and the disbanding of the rest. The Duke himself fled to Ireland, the Earls to Calais, while the Queen, summoning a Parliament at Coventry, pressed on their attainder. But the check, whatever its cause, had been merely a temporary one. In the following Midsummer the Earls again landed in Kent, and backed by a general rising of the county, entered London amidst the acclamations of its citizens. The royal army was defeated in a hard-fought action at Northampton, Margaret fled to Scotland, and Henry was left a prisoner in the hands of the Duke of York. The position of York as heir presumptive to the crown by descent from Edmund of Langley had ceased with the birth of a son to Henry ; but the victory of Northampton no sooner raised him to the supreme control of affairs than he ventured to assert the far more dangerous claims which he had secretly cherished, and to their consciousness of which was owing the bitter hostility of Henry and his Queen. As the descendant of Edmund of Langley he stood only next in succession to the House of Lancaster, but as the descendant of Lionel, the elder brother of John of Gaunt, he stood in strict hereditary right before it. We have already seen how the claims of Lionel had passed to the House of Mortimer : it was through Anne, the heiress of the Mortimers, who had wedded his father, that they passed to the Duke. There was, however, no constitutional ground for any limitation of the right of Parliament to set aside an elder branch in favour of a younger, and in the Parliamentary Act which placed the House of Lancaster on the throne the claim of the House of Mortimer had been deliberately set aside. Possession, too, told against the Yorkist pretensions. To modern minds the best reply to their claim lay in the words used at a later time by Henry himself. "My father was King ; his father also was King ; I myself have worn the crown forty years from my cradle ; you have all sworn fealty to me as your sovereign, and your

vi

THE NEW MONARCHY

SEC. II.

The Wars of the Roses 1450 to 1471 1455 1458 Northampton 1460 The Wars of the Roses

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. II. THE WARS OF THE ROSES 1450 TO 1471

fathers have done the like to mine. How then can my right be disputed?" Long and undisturbed possession, as well as a distinctly legal title by free vote of Parliament, was in favour of the House of Lancaster. But the persecution of the Lollards, the interference with elections, the odium of the war, the shame of the long misgovernment, told fatally against the weak and imbecile King, whose reign had been a long battle of contending factions. That the misrule had been serious was shown by the attitude of the commercial class. It was the rising of Kent, the great manufacturing district of the realm, which brought about the victory of Northampton. Throughout the struggle which followed, London and the great merchant towns were steady for the House of York. Zeal for the Lancastrian cause was found only in Wales, in northern England, and in the south-western shires. It is absurd to suppose that the shrewd traders of Cheapside were moved by an abstract question of hereditary right, or that the wild Welshmen believed themselves to be supporting the right of Parliament to regulate the succession. But it marks the power which Parliament had now gained that the Duke of York felt himself compelled to convene the two Houses, and to lay his claim before the Lords as a petition of right. Neither oaths nor the numerous Acts which had settled and confirmed the right to the crown in the House of Lancaster could destroy, he pleaded, his hereditary claim. The baronage received the petition with hardly concealed reluctance, and solved the question, as they hoped, by a compromise. They refused to dethrone the King, but they had sworn no fealty to his child, and at Henry's death they agreed to receive the Duke as successor to the crown. But the open display of York's pretensions at once united the partizans of the royal House, and the deadly struggle which received the name of the Wars of the Roses, from the white rose which formed the badge of the House of York and the red rose which was the cognizance of the House of Lancaster, began in the gathering of the North round Lord Clifford, and of the West round the new Duke of Somerset. York, who had hurried to meet the first with a far inferior force, was defeated and slain at Wakefield, and the passion of civil war broke fiercely out on the field. The Earl of Salisbury was hurried to the block, and the head of Duke Richard, crowned in mockery with a diadem of paper, is said to have been impaled on the walls of York. His second son, Lord Rutland, fell crying for mercy on his knees before Clifford. But Clifford's father had been the first to fall in the battle of St. Albans which opened the struggle. "As your father killed mine," cried the savage baron while he plunged his dagger in the young noble's breast, "I will kill you !" The brutal deed was soon to be avenged. Duke Richard's eldest son,

Wakefield 1460

Edward, Earl of March, hurried from the West, and, routing a body of Lancastrians at Mortimer's Cross, struck boldly upon London. A

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

SEC. II. THE WARS OF THE ROSES 1450 TO 1471

force of Kentishmen under the Earl of Warwick barred the march of the Lancastrian army on the capital, but after a desperate struggle at St. Albans the Yorkist forces broke under cover of night. An immediate advance of the conquerors might have decided the contest, but Queen Margaret paused to sully her victory by a series of bloody executions, and the rough northerners who formed the bulk of her army scattered to pillage, while Edward appeared before London. The citizens rallied at his call, and cries of "Long live King Edward" rang round the handsome young leader as he rode through the streets. A council of Yorkist lords, hastily summoned, resolved that the compromise agreed on in Parliament was at an end and that Henry of Lancaster had forfeited the throne. The final issue, however, now lay, not with Parliament, but with the sword. Disappointed of London, the Lancastrian army fell rapidly back on the North, and Edward hurried as rapidly in pursuit.

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

SEC. II. THE WARS OF THE ROSES 1450 TO 1471

The two armies encountered one another at Towton Field, near Tadcaster. In the numbers engaged, as well as in the terrible obstinacy of the struggle, no such battle had been seen in England since the fight of Senlac. The armies numbered together nearly 120,000 men. The day had just broken when the Yorkists advanced through a thick snow-fall, and for six hours the battle raged with desperate bravery on either side. At one critical moment Warwick saw his men falter, and stabbing his horse before them, swore on the cross of his sword to win or die on the field. The battle was turned by the arrival of Norfolk with a fresh force. At last the Lancastrians gave way, a river in their rear turned the retreat into a rout, and the flight and carnage, for no quarter was given on either side, went on through the night and the morrow. Edward's herald counted more than 20,000 Lancastrian corpses on the field, and the losses of the conquerors were hardly less heavy. But their triumph was complete. The Earl of Northumberland was slain ; the Earls of Devonshire and Wiltshire were taken and beheaded ; the Duke of Somerset fled into exile. Henry himself with his Queen was forced to fly over the border and to find a refuge in Scotland. The cause of the House of Lancaster was lost: and with the victory of Towton the crown of England passed to Edward of York. A vast bill of attainder wrapped in the same ruin and confiscation the nobles and gentry who still adhered to the House of Lancaster. The struggles of Margaret only served to bring fresh calamities on her adherents. A new rising in the North was crushed by the Earl of Warwick, and a legend which lights up the gloom of the time with a gleam of poetry told how the fugitive Queen, after escaping with difficulty from a troop of bandits, found a new brigand in the depths of the wood. With the daring of despair she confided to him her child. "I trust to your loyalty," she said, "the son of your King." Margaret and her child escaped over the border under the robber's

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

SEC. II. THE WARS OF THE ROSES 1450 TO 1471 The King-Maker

guidance; but on the defeat of a new revolt in the battle of Hexham, Henry, after helpless wanderings, was betrayed into the hands of his enemies. His feet were tied to the stirrups, he was led thrice round the pillory, and then conducted as a prisoner to the Tower. Ruined as feudalism really was by the decline of the baronage, the extinction of the greater houses, and the break-up of the great estates, which had been steadily going on, it had never seemed more powerful than in the years which followed Towton. Out of the wreck of the baronage a family which had always stood high amongst its fellows towered into unrivalled greatness. Lord Warwick was by descent Earl of Salisbury, a son of the great noble whose support had been mainly instrumental in raising the House of York to the throne. He had doubled his wealth and influence by his acquisition of the Earldom of Warwick through a marriage with the heiress of the Beauchamps. His services to the Yorkists were munificently rewarded by the grant of vast estates from the confiscated lands of Lancastrians, and by his elevation to the highest posts in the service of the State. He was captain of Calais, admiral of the fleet in the Channel, and Warden of the Western Marches. This personal power was backed by the power of the House of Neville, of which he was the head. The command of the northern border lay in the hands of his brother, Lord Montagu, who received as his share of the spoil the forfeited Earldom of Northumberland and the estates of his hereditary rivals, the Percies. A younger brother, George Neville, was raised to the See of York and the post of Lord Chancellor. Lesser rewards fell to his uncles, Lords Falconberg, Abergavenny, and Latimer. The vast power which such an accumulation of wealth and honours placed at the Earl's disposal was wielded with consummate ability. In outer seeming Warwick was the very type of the feudal baron. He could raise armies at his call from his own earldoms. Six hundred liveryd retainers followed him to Parliament. Thousands of dependants feasted in his courtyard. But few men were really further from the feudal ideal. Active and ruthless warrior as he was, his enemies denied to the Earl the gift of personal daring. In war he was rather general than soldier. His genius in fact was not so much military as diplomatic ; what he excelled in was intrigue, treachery, the contrivance of plots, and sudden desertions. And in the boy-king whom he had raised to the throne he met not merely a consummate general, but a politician whose subtlety and rapidity of conception was destined to leave a deep and enduring mark on the character of the monarchy itself. Edward was but nineteen at his accession, and both his kinship (for he was the King's cousin by blood) and his recent services rendered Warwick during the first three years of his reign all-powerful in the State. But the final ruin of Henry's cause in the battle of Hexham gave the

signal for a silent struggle between the Earl and his young Sovereign. Edward's first step was to avow his union with the widow of a slain

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THE NEW MONARCHY

Sec. II. THE WARS OF THE ROSES 1450 TO 1471

Lancastrian, Dame Elizabeth Grey, at the very moment when Warwick was negotiating for him a French marriage. Her family, the Woodvilles, were raised to greatness as a counterpoise to the Nevilles ; her father, Lord Rivers, became treasurer and constable; her son by the first marriage was betrothed to the heiress of the Duke of Exeter, whom Warwick sought for his nephew. Warwick's policy lay in a close connexion with France ; foiled in his first project, he now pressed for a marriage of the King's sister, Margaret, with a French prince, but in 1467, while he crossed the sea to treat with Lewis, Edward availed himself of his absence to deprive his brother of the seals, and prepared to wed Margaret to the sworn enemy both of France and of Warwick, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Warwick replied to Edward's challenge by a plot to rally the discontented Yorkists round the King's brother, the Duke of Clarence. Secret negotiations ended in the marriage of his daughter to Clarence ; and a revolt which instantly broke out threw Edward into the hands of his great subject. But the bold scheme broke down. The Yorkist nobles demanded the King's liberation. Warwick could look for support only to the Lancastrians, but the Lancastrians demanded Henry's restoration as the price of their aid. Such a demand was fatal to the plan for placing Clarence on the throne, and Warwick was thrown back on a formal reconciliation with the King. A new rising broke out in the following spring in Lincolnshire. The King, however, was now ready for the strife. A rapid march to the north ended in the rout of the insurgents, and Edward turned on the instigators of the revolt. But Clarence and the Earl could gather no force to meet him. Yorkist and Lancastrian alike held aloof, and they were driven to flight. Calais, though held by Warwick's deputy, repulsed them from its walls, and the Earl's fleet was forced to take refuge in France, where the Burgundian connexion of Edward secured his enemies the support of Lewis the Eleventh. But the unscrupulous temper of the Earl was seen in the alliance which he at once concluded with the partizans of the House of Lancaster. On the promise of Queen Margaret to wed her son to his daughter Anne, Warwick engaged to restore the crown to the royal captive whom he had flung into the Tower ; and choosing a moment when Edward was busy with a revolt in the North, and when a storm had dispersed the Burgundian fleet which defended the Channel, he threw himself boldly on the English shore. His army grew as he pushed northward, and the desertion of Lord Montagu, whom Edward still trusted, drove the King in turn to seek shelter over sea. While Edward fled with a handful of adherents to beg help from Charles the Bold, Henry of Lancaster was again conducted from his prison to the throne, but the bitter hate of the party Warwick had so ruthlessly crushed found no gratitude for the "King Maker." His own conduct, as well as that of his party, when Edward again disembarked in the spring at Ravenspur, showed a weariness of the new alliance, quickened perhaps by their

xiv

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1731 Treaty of Vienna.

1733 Walpole's Excise Bill.

War of the Polish Succession.

Family compact between France and Spain.

1737 Death of Queen Caroline.

1738 The Methodists appear in London.

1739 War declared with Spain.

1740 War of the Austrian Succession.

1742 Resignation of Walpole.

1743 Battle of Dettingen, June 27.

1745 Ministry of Henry Pelham.

Battle of Fontenoy, May 31.

Charles Edward lands in Scotland.

Battle of Prestonpans, Sept. 21.

Charles Edward reaches Derby, Dec. 4.

1746 Battle of Falkirk, Jan. 23.

Battle of Culloden, April 16.

1748 Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.

1751 Clive's surprise of Arcot.

1754 Death of Henry Pelham.

Ministry of Duke of Newcastle.

1755 The Seven Years' War.

Defeat of General Braddock.

1756 Loss of Port Mahon.

Retreat of Admiral Byng.

1757 Convention of Closter-Seven.

Ministry of William Pitt.

Battle of Plassey, June 23.

1758 Capture of Louisburg and Cape Breton.

Capture of Fort Duquesne.

1759 Battle of Minden, August 1.

Capture of Fort Niagara and Ticonderoga.

Wolfe's victory on Heights of Abraham.

Battle of Quiberon Bay, Nov. 20.

1760 George the Third died 1820.

Battle of Wandewash.

1761 Pitt resigns office.

Ministry of Lord Bute.

Brindley's Canal over the Irwell.

1763 Peace of Paris.

Ministry of George Grenville.

Wedgwood establishes potteries.

1764 First expulsion of Wilkes from House of Commons.

Hargreaves invents Spinning Jenny.

1765 Stamp Act passed.

Ministry of Lord Rockingham.

Meeting and Protest of American Congress.

Watt invents Steam Engine.

1766 Repeal of the Stamp Act.

Ministry of Lord Chatham.

1768 Ministry of the Duke of Grafton.

Second expulsion of Wilkes.

Arkwright invents Spinning Machine.

1769 Wilkes three times elected for Middlesex.

House of Commons seats Col. Luttrell.

Occupation of Boston by British troops.

Letters of Junius.

1770 Chatham's proposal of Parliamentary Reform.

Ministry of Lord North.

1771 Last attempt to prevent Parliamentary reporting.

Beginning of the great English Journal.

1773 Hastings appointed Governor-General.

Boston tea-riots.

1774 Military occupation of Boston.

Its port closed.

Massachusetts Charter altered.

Congress assembles at Philadelphia.

1775 Rejection of Chatham's plan of conciliatic

Skirmish at Lexington.

Americans, under Washington, besiege Boston.

Battle of Bunker's Hill.

Southern Colonies expel their Governors.

1776 Crompton invents the Mule.

Arnold invades Canada.

Evacuation of Boston.

Declaration of Independence, July 4.

Battles of Brooklyn and Trenton.

Adam Smith's 'Wealth of Nations.'

1777 Battle of Brandywine.

Surrender of Saratoga, Oct. 17.

Chatham proposes Federal Union.

Washington at Valley Forge.

1778 Alliance of France and Spain with United States.

Death of Chatham.

1779 Siege of Gibraltar.

Armed Neutrality of Northern Powers.

The Irish Volunteers.

1780 Capture of Charlestown.

Descent of Hyder Ali on the Carnatic.

1781 Defeat of Hyder at Porto Novo.

Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

1782 Ministry of Lord Rockingham.

Victories of Rodney.

Repeal of Poynings' Act.

Pitt's Bill for Parliamentary Reform.

Burke's Bill of Economical Reform.

Shelburne Ministry.

Repulse of Allies from Gibraltar.

1783 Treaties of Paris and Versailles.

Coalition Ministry of Fox and North.

Fox's India Bill.

Ministry of Pitt.

1784 Pitt's India Bill.

Financial Reforms.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

288

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

dread of Margaret, whose return to England was hourly expected. Passing through the Lancastrian districts of the North with a declaration that he waived all right to the crown and sought only his own hereditary dukedom, Edward was left unassailed by a force which Montagu had collected, and was joined on his march by his brother Clarence, who had throughout acted in concert with Warwick. Encamped at Coventry, the Earl himself contemplated a similar treason, but the coming of two Lancastrian leaders put an end to the negotiations. When Montagu joined his brother, Edward marched on London, follow by Warwick's army; its gates were opened by the perfidy of the Earl's brother, Archbishop Neville; and Henry of Lancaster passed anew to the Tower. The battle of Barnet, a medley of carnage and treachery which lasted three hours, ended with the fall of Warwick, who was charged with cowardly flight. Margaret had landed too late to bring aid to her great partizan, but the military triumph of Edward was completed by the skilful strategy with which he forced her army to battle at Tewkesbury, and by its complete overthrow. The Queen herself became a captive; her boy fell on the field, stabbed—as was affirmed—by the Yorkist lords after Edward had met his cry for mercy by a buffet from his gauntlet ; and the death of Henry in the Tower crushed the last hopes of the House of Lancaster.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

Section III.—The New Monarchy. 1471—1509.

[Authorities.—Edward V. is the subject of a work attributed to Sir Thomas More, and which almost certainly derives much of its information from Archbishop Morton. Whatever its historical worth may be, it is remarkable in its English form as the first historical work of any literary value which we possess written in our modern prose. The “Letters and Papers of Richard III., and Henry VII,” some “Memorials of Henry VII.,” including his life by Bernard André of Toulouse, and a volume of “Materials” for a history of his reign have been edited for the Rolls Series. A biography of Henry is among the works of Lord Bacon. Halle's Chronicle extends from Henry IV. to Henry VIII. Miss Halstead, in her “ Life of Richard III.,” has elaborately illustrated a reign of some constitutional importance. For Caxton, see the biography by Mr. Blades.]

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

Section III.—The New Monarchy. 1471—1509.

There are few periods in our annals from which we turn with such weariness and disgust as from the Wars of the Roses. Their savage battles, their ruthless executions, their shameless treasons, seem all the more terrible from the pure selfishness of the ends for which men fought, the utter want of all nobleness and chivalry in the struggle itself, of all great result in its close. But even while the contest was raging the cool eye of a philosophic statesman could find in it matter for other feelings than those of mere disgust. England presented to Philippe de Commines the rare spectacle of a land where, brutal as was the civil strife, “ there are no buildings destroyed or demolished

Sec. I.

treasury was empty, the fortresses unoccupied, the troops disbanded for want of pay, the country swept by bandits. Only the south remained at peace, and the young Prince led his army of freebooters up the Garonne into “what was before one of the fat countries of the world, the people good and simple, who did not know what war was; indeed, no war had been waged against them till the Prince came. The English and Gascons found the country full and gay, the rooms adorned with carpets and draperies, the caskets and chests full of fair jewels. But nothing was safe from these robbers. They, and especially the Gascons, who are very greedy, carried off everything.” The capture of Narbonne loaded them with booty, and they fell back to Bordeaux, “their horses so laden with spoil that they could hardly move.” The next year a march of the Prince's army on the Loire pointed straight upon Paris, and a French army under John, who had succeeded Philip of Valois on the throne, hurried to check his advance.

Edward the Third 1336 to 1360

1356

The Prince gave orders for a retreat, but as he approached Poitiers he found the French, who now numbered 60,000 men, in his path. He at once took a strong position in the fields of Maupertuis, his front covered by thick hedges, and approachable only by a deep and narrow lane which ran between vineyards. The Prince lined the vineyards and hedges with bowmen, and drew up his small body of men-at-arms at the point where the lane opened upon the higher plain where he was encamped. His force numbered only 8,000 men, and the danger was great enough to force him to offer the surrender of his prisoners and of the places he had taken, and an oath not to fight against France for seven years, in exchange for a free retreat. The terms were rejected, and three hundred French knights charged up the narrow lane. It was soon choked with men and horses, while the front ranks of the advancing army fell back before a galling fire of arrows from the hedgerows. In the moment of confusion a body of English horsemen, posted on a hill to the right, charged suddenly on the French flank, and the Prince seized the opportunity to fall boldly on their front. The English archery completed the disorder produced by this sudden attack ; the French King was taken, desperately fighting ; and at noontide, when his army poured back in utter rout to the gates of Poitiers, 8,000 of their number had fallen on the field, 3,000 in the flight, and 2,000 men-at-arms, with a crowd of nobles, were taken prisoners. The royal captive entered London in triumph, and a truce for two years seemed to give healing-time to France. But the miserable country found no rest in itself. The routed soldiery turned into free companies of bandits, while the captive lords procured the sums needed for their ransom by extortion from the peasantry, who were driven by oppression and famine into wild insurrection, butchering their lords, and firing the castles ; while Paris, impatient of the weakness and misrule of the Regency, rose in arms against the

Poitiers Sept. 19, 1356

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

by war, and where the mischief of it falls on those who make the war."

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

Sec. III.

Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 to 1509

VI

THE NEW MONARCHY

The ruin and bloodshed were limited, in fact, to the great lords and their feudal retainers. Once or twice indeed, as at Towton, the towns threw themselves into the struggle, but for the most part 'the trading and agricultural classes stood wholly apart from it. Slowly but surely the foreign commerce of the country, hitherto conducted by the Italian, the Hanse merchant, or the trader of Catalonia or southern Gaul, was passing into English hands. English merchants were settled at Florence and at Venice. English merchant ships appeared in the Baltic. The first faint upgrowth of manufactures was seen in a crowd of protective statutes which formed a marked feature in the legislation of Edward the Fourth. The general tranquillity of the country at large, while the baronage was dashing itself to pieces in battle after battle, was shown by the remarkable fact that justice remained wholly undisturbed. The law courts state at Westminster. The judges rode on circuit as of old. The system of jury-trial took more and more its modern form by the separation of the jurors from the witnesses. But if the common view of England during these Wars as a mere chaos of treason and bloodshed is a false one, still more false is the common view of the pettiness of their result. The Wars of the Roses did far more than ruin one royal house or set up another on the throne. If they did not utterly destroy English freedom, they arrested its progress for more than a hundred years. They found England, in the words of Commines, "among all the world's lordships of which I have knowledge, that where the public weal is best ordered, and where least violence reigns over the people." A King of England—the shrewd observer noticed—"can undertake no enterprise of account without assembling his Parliament, which is a thing most wise and holy, and therefore are these Kings stronger and better served" than the despotic sovereigns of the Continent. The English kingship, as a judge, Sir John Fortescue, could boast when writing at this time, was not an absolute but a limited monarchy ; the land was not a land where the will of the prince was itself the law, but where the prince could neither make laws nor impose taxes save by his subjects' consent. At no time had Parliament played so constant and prominent a part in the government of the realm. At no time had the principles of constitutional liberty seemed so thoroughly understood and so dear to the people at large. The long Parliamentary contest between the Crown and the two Houses since the days of Edward the First had firmly established the great securities of national liberty—the right of freedom from arbitrary taxation, from arbitrary legislation, from arbitrary imprisonment, and the responsibility of even the highest servants of the Crown to Parliament and to the law. But with the close of the struggle for the succession this liberty suddenly disappears. We enter on an epoch of constitutional retrogression in which the

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Sec. III. THE NEW MONARCHY 1471 TO 1509

slow work of the age that went before it was rapidly undone. Parliamentary life was almost suspended, or was turned into a mere form by the overpowering influence of the Crown. The legislative powers of the two Houses were usurped by the royal Council. Arbitrary taxation re-appeared in benevolences and forced loans. Personal liberty was almost extinguished by a formidable spy-system and by the constant practice of arbitrary imprisonment. Justice was degraded by the pro-digal use of bills of attainder, by the wide extension of the judicial power of the Royal Council, by the servility of judges, by the coercion of juries. So vast and sweeping was the change that to careless observers of a later day the constitutional monarchy of the Edwards and the Henries seemed suddenly to have transformed itself under the Tudors into a despotism as complete as the despotism of the Turk. Such a view is no doubt exaggerated and unjust. Bend and strain the law as he might, there never was a time when the most wilful of English rulers failed to own the restraints of law ; and the obedience of the most servile among English subjects lay within bounds, at once political and religious, which no theory of King-worship could bring them to overpass. But even if we make these reserves, the character of the Monarchy from the time of Edward the Fourth to the time of Elizabeth remains something strange and isolated in our history. It is hard to connect the kingship of the old English, of the Norman, the Angevin, or the Plantagenet Kings, with the kingship of the House of York or of the House of Tudor.

The Causes of the new Monarchy

If we seek a reason for so sudden and complete a revolution, we find it in the disappearance of that organization of society in which our constitutional liberty had till now found its security. Freedom had been won by the sword of the Baronage. Its tradition had been watched over by the jealousy of the Church. The new class of the Commons which had grown from the union of the country squire and the town trader was widening its sphere of political activity as it grew. But at the close of the Wars of the Roses these older checks no longer served as restraints upon the action of the Crown. The baronage had fallen more and more into decay. The Church lingered helpless and perplexed, till it was struck down by Thomas Cromwell. The traders and the smaller proprietors sank into political inactivity. On the other hand, the Crown, which only fifty years before had been the sport of every faction, towered into solitary greatness. The old English king-ship, limited by the forces of feudalism or of the religious sanctions wielded by the priesthood, or by the progress of constitutional freedom, faded suddenly away, and in its place we see, all-absorbing and unrestrained, the despotism of the new Monarchy. Revolutionary as the change was, however, we have already seen in their gradual growth the causes which brought it about. The social organization from which our political constitution had hitherto sprung and on which it still rested

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Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 to 1509

had been silently sapped by the progress of industry, by the growth of spiritual and intellectual enlightenment, and by changes in the art of war. Its ruin was precipitated by the new attitude of men towards the Church, by the disfranchisement of the Commons, and by the decline of the Baranage. Of the great houses some were extinct, others lingered only in obscure branches which were mere shadows of their former greatness. With the exception of the Poles, the Stanleys, and the Howards, themselves families of recent origin, hardly a fragment of the older baronage interfered from this time in the work of government. Neither the Church nor the smaller proprietors of the country, who with the merchant classes formed the Commons, were ready to take the place of the ruined nobles. Imposing as the great ecclesiastical body still seemed from the memories of its past, its immense wealth, its tradition of statesmanship, it was rendered powerless by a want of spiritual enthusiasm, by a moral inertness, by its antagonism to the deeper religious convictions of the people, and its blind hostility to the intellectual movement which was beginning to stir the world. Some-what of their old independence lingered indeed among the lower clergy and the monastic orders, but it was through its prelates that the Church exercised a directly political influence, and these showed a different temper from the clergy. Driven by sheer need, by the attack of the barons on their temporal possessions, and of the Lollards on their spiritual authority, into dependence on the Crown, they threw their weight on the side of the King with the simple view of averting by means of the Monarchy the pillage of the Church. But in any wider political sense the influence of the body to which they belonged was insignificant. It is less obvious at first sight why the Commons should share the political ruin of the Church and the Lords, for the smaller county proprietors were growing fast, both in wealth and numbers, while the burgess class, as we have seen, was deriving fresh riches from the developement of trade. But the result of the narrowing of the franchise and of the tampering with elections was now felt in the political insignificance of the Lower House. Reduced by these measures to a virtual dependence on the baronage, it fell with the fall of the class to which it looked for guidance and support. And while its rival forces disappeared, the Monarchy stood ready to take their place. Not only indeed were the churchman, the squire, and the burgess powerless to vindicate liberty against the Crown, but the very interests of self-preservation led them at this moment to lay freedom at its feet. The Church still trembled at the progress of heresy. The close corporations of the towns needed protection for their privileges. The landowner shared with the trader a profound horror of the war disorder which they had witnessed, and an almost reckless desire to entrust the Crown with any power which would prevent its return. But above all, the landed and monied classes clung passionately to the

Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 to 1509

Monarchy, as the one great force left which could save them from social revolt. The rising of the Commons of Kent shows that the troubles against which the Statutes of Labourers had been directed still remained as a formidable source of discontent. The great change in the character of agriculture indeed, which we have before described, the throwing together of the smaller holdings, the diminution of tillage, the increase of pasture lands, had tended largely to swell the numbers and turbulence of the floating labour class. The riots against “enclosures,” of which we first hear in the time of Henry the Sixth, and which became a constant feature of the Tudor period, are indications not only of a constant strife going on in every quarter between the landowner and the smaller peasant class, but of a mass of social discontent which was constantly seeking an outlet in violence and revolt. And at this moment the break-up of the military households of the nobles, and the return of wounded and dis- abled soldiers from the wars, added a new element of violence and disorder to the seething mass. It was in truth this social danger which lay at the root of the Tudor despotism. For the proprietary classes the repression of the poor was a question of life and death. Employer and proprietor were ready to surrender freedom into the hands of the one power which could preserve them from social anarchy. It was to the selfish panic of the landowners that England owed the Statute of Labourers and its terrible heritage of pauperism. It was to the selfish panic of both landowner and merchant that she owed the despotism of the Monarchy.

The founder of the new Monarchy was Edward the Fourth. As a mere boy he showed himself among the ablest and the most pitiless of the warriors of the civil war. In the first flush of manhood he looked on with a cool ruthlessness while grey-haired nobles were hurried to the block. In his later race for power he had shown him- self more subtle in his treachery than even Warwick himself. His triumph was no sooner won however than the young King seemed to abandon himself to a voluptuous indolence, to revels with the city- wives of London and the caresses of mistresses like Jane Shore. Tall in stature and of singular beauty, his winning manners and gay care- lessness of bearing secured him a popularity which had been denied to nobler kings. But his indolence and gaiety were mere veils beneath which Edward shrouded a profound political ability. No one could contrast more utterly in outward appearance with the subtle sovereigns of his time, with Louis the Eleventh or Ferdinand of Aragon, but his work was the same as theirs, and it was done as completely. While jesting with aldermen, or dallying with his mistresses, or idling over the new pages from the printing-press at Westminster, Edward was silently laying the foundations of an absolute rule. The almost total discontinuance of Parliamentary life was in itself a revolution. Up

THE NEW MONARCHY.

Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 To 1509

to this moment the two Houses had played a part which became more and more prominent in the government of the realm. Under the two first Kings of the House of Lancaster Parliament had been summoned almost every year. Not only had the right of self-taxation and initiation of laws been yielded explicitly to the Commons, but they had interfered with the administration of the State, had directed the application of subsidies, and called royal ministers to account by repeated instances of impeachment. Under Henry the Sixth an important step in constitutional progress had been made by abandoning the old form of presenting the requests of the Parliament in the form of petitions which were subsequently moulded into statutes by the Royal Council; the statute itself, in its final form, was now presented for the royal assent, and the Crown was deprived of its former privilege of modifying it. But with the reign of Edward the Fourth not only does this progress cease, but the very action of Parliament itself comes almost to an end. For the first time since the days of John not a single law which promoted freedom or remedied the abuses of power was even proposed. The necessity for summoning the two Houses had, in fact, been removed by the enormous tide of wealth which the confiscations of the civil war poured into the royal treasury. In the single bill of attainder which followed the victory of Towton, twelve great nobles and more than a hundred knights and squires were stripped of their estates to the King's profit. It was said that nearly a fifth of the land had passed into the royal possession at one period or another of the civil war. A grant of the customs was given to the King for life. Edward added to his resources by trading on a vast scale. The royal ships, freighted with tin, wool, and cloth, made the name of the merchant-king famous in the ports of Italy and Greece. The enterprises he planned against France, though frustrated by the refusal of Charles of Burgundy to co-operate with him in them, afforded a fresh financial resource; and the subsidies granted for a war which never took place swelled the royal exchequer. But the pretext of war enabled Edward not only to increase his hoard, but to deal a deadly blow at the liberty which the Commons had won. Setting aside the usage of contracting loans by the authority of Parliament, Edward called before him the merchants of London and requested from each a gift or "benevolence," in proportion to the royal needs. The exaction was bitterly resented even by the classes with whom the King had been most popular, but for the moment resistance was fruitless, and the system of "benevolence" was soon to be developed into the forced loans of Wolsey and of Charles the First. It was to Edward that his Tudor successors owed the introduction of an elaborate spy-system, the use of the rack, and the practice of interference with the purity of justice. In the history of intellectual progress alone his reign takes a brighter colour, and the founder of

1474

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. III. The New Monarchy 1471 to 1509 Literature after Chaucer

a new despotism presents a claim to our regard as the patron of Caxton. Literature indeed seemed at this moment to have died as utterly as freedom itself. The genius of Chaucer, and of the one or more poets whose works have been confounded with Chaucer's, defied for a while the pedantry, the affectation, the barrenness of their age ; but the sudden close of this poetic outburst left England to a crowd of poetasters, compilers, scribblers of interminable moralities, rimers of chronicles, and translators from the worn-out field of French romance. Some faint trace of the liveliness and beauty of older models lingers among the heavy platitudes of Gower, but even this vanished from the didactic puerilities, the prosaic commonplaces, of Occleve and Lydgate. The literature of the Middle Ages was dying out with the Middle Ages themselves ; in letters as in life their thirst for knowledge had spent itself in the barren mazes of the scholastic philosophy, their ideal of warlike nobleness faded away before the gaudy travestie of a spurious chivalry, and the mystic enthusiasm of their devotion shrank at the touch of persecution into a narrow orthodoxy and a flat morality. The clergy, who had concentrated in themselves the intellectual effort of the older time, were ceasing to be an intellectual class at all. The monasteries were no longer seats of learning. 'I found in them,' said Poggio, an Italian traveller twenty years after Chaucer's death, ' men given up to sensuality in abundance, but very few lovers of learning, and those of a barbarous sort, skilled more in quibbles and sophisms than in literature.' The erection of colleges, which was beginning, failed to arrest the quick decline of the universities both in the numbers and learning of their students. Those at Oxford amounted to only a fifth of the scholars who had attended its lectures a century before, and ' Oxford Latin ' became proverbial for a jargon in which the very tradition of grammar had been lost. All literary production was nearly at an end. Historical composition lingered on indeed in compilations of extracts from past writers, such as make up the so-called works of Walsingham, in jejune monastic annals, or worthless popular compendiums. But the only real trace of mental activity is to be found in the numerous treatises on alchemy and magic, on the elixir of life or the philosopher's stone, a fungous growth which most unequivocally witnesses to the progress of intellectual decay. On the other hand, while the older literary class was dying out, a glance beneath the surface shows us the stir of a new interest in knowledge among the masses of the people itself. The correspondence of the Paston family, which has been happily preserved, not only displays a fluency and vivacity as well as a grammatical correctness which would have been impossible in familiar letters a few years before, but shews country squires discussing about books and gathering libraries. The very

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Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 to 1509

character of the authorship of the time, its love of compendiums and abridgements of the scientific and historical knowledge of its day, its dramatic performances or mysteries, the commonplace morality of its poets, the popularity of its rimed chronicles, are additional proofs that literature was ceasing to be the possession of a purely intellectual class and was beginning to appeal to the people at large. The increased use of linen paper in place of the costlier parchment helped in the popularization of letters. In no former age had finer copies of books been produced; in none had so many been transcribed. This increased demand for their production caused the processes of copying and illuminating manuscripts to be transferred from the scriptoria of the religious houses into the hands of trade-gilds, like the Gild of St. John at Bruges, or the Brothers of the Pen at Brussels. It was, in fact, this increase of demand for books, pamphlets, or fly-sheets, especially of a grammatical or religious character, in the middle of the fifteenth century that brought about the introduction of printing. We meet with it first in rude sheets simply struck off from wooden blocks, "block-books" as they are now called, and later on in works printed from separate and moveable types. Originating at Maintz with the three famous printers, Gutenberg, Fust, and Schœffer, the new process travelled southward to Strasburg, crossed the Alps to Venice, where it lent itself through the Aldi to the spread of Greek literature in Europe, and then floated down the Rhine to the towns of Flanders. It was probably at the press of Colard Mansion, in a little room over the porch of St. Donat's at Bruges, that Caxton learnt the art which he was the first to introduce into England.

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Caxton

A Kentish boy by birth, but apprenticed to a London mercer, William Caxton had already spent thirty years of his manhood in Flanders, as Governor of the English gild of Merchant Adventurers there, when we find him engaged as copyist in the service of Edward's sister, Duchess Margarct of Burgundy. But the tedious process of copying was soon thrown aside for the new art which Colard Mansion had introduced into Bruges. "For as much as in the writing of the same," Caxton tells us in the preface to his first printed work, the Tales of Troy, "my pen is worn; my hand weary and not steadfast, mine eyes dimmed with over much looking on the white paper, and my courage not so prone and ready to labour as it hath been, and that age creepeth on me daily and feebleth all the body, and also because I have promised to divers gentlemen and to my friends to address to them as hastily as I might the said book, therefore I have practised and learned at my great charge and dispense to ordain this said book in print after the manner and form as ye may see, and is not written with pen and ink as other books be, to the end that every man may have them at once, for all the books of this story here emprynted as ye see were begun in one day and also finished in one day." The printing press

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1476

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

Sec. III. THE NEW MONARCHY 1471 TO 1509

was the precious freight he brought back to England, after an absence of five-and-thirty years. Through the next fifteen, at an age when other men look for ease and retirement, we see him plunging with characteristic energy into his new occupation. His “red pale,” heraldic shield marked with a red bar down the middle, invited buyers to the press established in the Almonry at Westminster, a little enclosure containing a chapel and almshouses near the west front of the church, where the alms of the abbey were distributed to the poor. “If it please any man, spiritual or temporal,” runs his advertisement “to buy any pyes of two or three commemorations of Salisbury emprynted after the form of the present letter, which be well and truly correct, let him come to Westminster into the Almonry at the red pale, and he shall have them good chepe.” He was a practical man of business, as this advertisement shows, no rival of the Venetian Aldi or of the classical printers of Rome, but resolved to get a living from his trade, supplying priests with service books, and preachers with sermons, furnishing the clerk with his “Golden Legend,” and knight and baron with “joyous and pleasant histories of chivalry.” But while careful to win his daily bread, he found time to do much what of higher literature lay fairly to hand. He printed all the English poetry of any moment which was then in existence. His reverence for “that worshipful man, Geoffrey Chaucer,” who “ought to be eternally remembered,” is shown not merely by his edition of the “Canterbury Tales,” but by his reprint of them when a purer text of the poem offered itself. The poems of Lydgate and Gower were added to those of Chaucer. The Chronicle of Brut and Higden's “Polychronicon” were the only available works of an historical character then existing in the English tongue, and Caxton not only printed them but himself continued the latter up to his own time. A translation of Boethius, a version of the Æneid from the French, and a tract of Cicero, were the stray first-fruits of the classical press in England.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

Caxton's Translations

Busy as was Caxton's printing-press, he was even busier as a translator. More than four thousand of his printed pages are from works of his own rendering. The need of these translations shows the popular drift of literature at the time; but keen as the demand seems to have been, there is nothing mechanical in the temper with which Caxton prepared to meet it. A natural, simple-hearted literary taste and enthusiasm, especially for the style and forms of language, breaks out in his curious prefaces. “Having no work in hand,” he says in the preface to his Æneid, “I sitting in my study, where as lay many divers pamphlets and books, happened that to me came a little book in French, which late was translated out of Latin by some noble clerk of France—which book is named Eneydos—and made in Latin by that noble poet and great clerk Vergyl—

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Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 to 1509

which book I had great pleasure by reason of the fair and honest termes and wordes in French which I never saw to-fore-like; none so pleasant nor so well-ordered, which book as me seemed should be much requisite for noble men to see, as well for the eloquence as the histories; and when I had advised me to this said book I deliberated and concluded to translate it into English, and forthwith took a pen and ink and wrote a leaf or twain." But the work of translation involved a choice of English which made Caxton's work important in the history of our language. He stood between two schools of translation, that of French affectation and English pedantry. It was a moment when the character of our literary tongue was being settled, and it is curious to see in his own words the struggle over it which was going on in Caxton's time. "Some honest and great clerks have been with me and desired me to write the most curious terms that I could find;" on the other hand, "some gentlemen of late blamed me, saying that in my translations I had over many curious terms which could not be understood of common people, and desired me to use old and homely terms in my translations." "Fain would I please every man," comments the good-humoured printer, but his sturdy sense saved him alike from the temptations of the court and the schools. His own taste pointed to English, but "to the common terms that be daily used" rather than to the English of his antiquarian advisers. "I took an old book and read therein, and certainly the English was so rude and broad I could not well understand it," while the Old-English charters which the Abbot of Westminster lent as models from the archives of his house seemed "more like to Dutch than to English." On the other hand, to adopt current phraseology was by no means easy at a time when even the speech of common talk was in a state of rapid flux. "Gur language now used varieth far from that which was used and spoken when I was born." Not only so, but the tongue of each shire was still peculiar to itself, and hardly intelligible to men of another county. "Common English that is spoken in one shire varieth from another so much, that in my days happened that certain merchants were in a ship in Thames, for to have sailed over the sea into Zealand, and for lack of wind they tarried at Foreland, and went on land for to refresh them. And one of them, named Sheffild, a mercer, came into a house and asked for meat, and especially he asked them after eggs. And the good wife answered that she could speak no French. And the merchant was angry, for he also could speak no French, but would have had eggs, but she understood him not. And then at last another said he would have eyren, then the good wife said she understood him well. Lo! what should a man in these days now write," adds the puzzled printer, "eggs or eyren? certainly it is hard to please every man by cause of diversity and change of language." His own mother-

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1785 Parliamentary Reform Bill.

Free Trade Bill between England and Ireland

1786 Trial of Warren Hastings.

1787 Treaty of Commerce with France.

1788 The Regency Bill.

1789 Meeting of States-General at Versailles.

New French Constitution.

Triple Alliance for defence of Turkey.

1790 Quarrel over Nootka Sound.

Pitt defends Poland.

Burke's "Reflections on the French Revolution."

1791 Representative Government set up in Canada.

Fox's Libel Act.

Burke's "Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs."

1792 Pitt hinders Holland from joining the Coalition.

France opens the Scheldt.

Pitt's efforts for peace.

The United Irishmen.

1793 France declares War on England.

Part of Whigs join Pitt.

English army lands in Flanders.

English driven from Toulon.

1794 English driven from Holland.

Suspension of Habeas Corpus Act.

Victory of Lord Howe, June 1.

1796 Burke's "Letters on a Regicide Peace."

1797 England alone inthe War with France.

Battle of Camperdown.

Battle of Cape St. Vincent.

1798 Irish revolt crushed at Vinegar Hill.

Battle of the Nile.

1799 Pitt revives the Coalition against France.

Conquest of Mysore.

1800 Surrender of Malta to English Fleet.

Armed Neutrality of Northern Powers.

Act of Union with Ireland.

1801 George the Third rejects Pitt's Plan of Catholic Emancipation.

Administration of Mr. Addington.

Surrender of French army in Egypt.

Battle of Copenhagen.

1802 Peace of Amiens.

Publication of "Edinburgh Review."

1803 War declared against Buonaparte.

Battle of Assaye.

1804 Second Ministry of Pitt.

1805 Battle of Trafalgar, Oct. 21.

1806 Death of Pitt, Jan. 23.

Ministry of Lord Grenville

Death of Fox.

1807 Orders in Council.

1807 Abolition of Slave Trade.

Ministry of Duke of Portland.

1808 Seizure of Danish Fleet.

Battle of Vimiera, and Convention of Cintra.

1809 America passes Non-Intercourse Act.

Battle of Corunna, Jan. 16.

Wellesley drives Soult from Oporto.

Battle of Talavera, July 28.

Expedition against Walcheren.

Ministry of Spencer Perceval.

Revival of Parliamentary Reform.

1810 Battle of Busaco.

Lines of Torres Vedras.

1811 Prince of Wales becomes Regent.

Battle of Fuentes d'Onore, May 5.

Luddite Riots.

1812 Assassination of Spencer Perceval.

Ministry of Lord Liverpool.

Storm of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz.

America declares War against England.

1813 Battle of Salamanca, July 22.

Wellington retreats from Burgos.

Victories of American Frigates.

Battle of Vitoria, June 21.

Battles of the Pyrenees.

Wellington enters France, Oct.

1814 Americans attack Canada.

Battle of Orthes.

Battle of Toulouse, April 10.

Battle of Chippewa, July.

Raid upon Washington.

British repulse at Plattsburg and New Orleans.

1815 Battle of Quatre Bras, June 16.

Battle of Waterloo, June 18.

Treaty of Vienna.

1819 Manchester Massacre.

1820 Cato Street Conspiracy.

George the Fourth, died 1830.

Bill for the Queen's Divorce.

1822 Canning Foreign Minister.

1823 Mr. Huskisson joins the Ministry.

1826 Expedition to Portugal.

Recognition of South American States.

1827 Ministry of Mr. Canning.

Ministry of Lord Goderich.

1828 Battle of Navarino.

Ministry of Duke of Wellington.

1829 Catholic Emancipation Bill.

1830 William the Fourth, died 1837.

Ministry of Lord Grey.

Opening of Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

1831 Reform Agitation.

1832 Parliamentary Reform Bill passed, June 7.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Sec. II. The Good Parliament 1360 to 1377

Crown. The "Jacquerie," as the peasant rising was called, had hardly been crushed, when Edward again poured ravaging over the wasted land. Famine, however, proved its best defence. "I could not believe," said Petrarch of this time, "that this was the same France which I had seen so rich and flourishing. Nothing presented itself to my eyes but a fearful solitude, an utter poverty, land uncultivated, houses in ruins. Even the neighbourhood of Paris showed everywhere marks of desolation and conflagration. The streets are deserted, the roads overgrown with weeds, the whole is a vast solitude." The misery of the land at last bent Charles to submission, and in May a treaty was concluded at Brétigny, a small place to the eastward of Chartres. By this treaty the English King waived his claims on the crown of France and on the Duchy of Normandy. On the other hand, his Duchy of Aquitaine, which included Gascony, Poitou, and Saintonge, the Limousin and the Angoumois, Périgord and the counties of Bigorre and Rouergue, was not only restored but freed from its obligations as a French fief, and granted in full sovereignty with Ponthieu, Edward's heritage from the second wife of Edward the First, as well as with Guisnes and his new conquest of Calais.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR

Section II.—The Good Parliament, 1360–1377.

Section II.—The Good Parliament, 1360–1377. [Authoritics.—As in the last period. An anonymous chronicler whose work is printed in the “Archæologia ” (vol. 22) gives the story of the Good Parliament ; another account is preserved in the “Chronica Angliæ from 1328 to 1388 ” (Rolls Series), and fresh light has been recently thrown on the time by the publication of a Chronicle by Adam of Usk from 1377 to 1404.] If we turn from the stirring but barren annals of foreign warfare to the more fruitful field of constitutional progress, we are at once struck with a marked change which takes place during this period in the composition of Parliament. The division, with which we are so familiar, into a House of Lords and a House of Commons, formed no part of the original plan of Edward the First ; in the earlier Parliaments, each of the four orders of clergy, barons, knights, and burgesses met, deliberated, and made their grants apart from each other. This isolation, however, of the Estates soon showed signs of breaking down. While the clergy, as we have seen, held steadily aloof from any real union with its fellow-orders, the knights of the shire were drawn by the similarity of their social position into a close connexion with the lords. They seem, in fact, to have been soon admitted by the baronage to an almost equal position with themselves, whether as legislators or counsellors of the Crown. The burgesses, on the other hand, took little part at first in Parliamentary proceedings, save in those which related to the taxation of their class. But their position was raised

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SEC. III. The New Monarchy 1471 TO 1509

tongue too was that of “ Kent in the Weald, where I doubt not is spoke as broad and rude English as in any place in England ;” and couplin this with his long absence in Flanders, we can hardly wonder at th confession he makes over his first translation, that “ when all thes things came to fore me, after that I had made and written a five or si quires, I fell in despair of this work, and purposed never to hav continued therein, and the quires laid apart, and in two years afte laboured no more in this work.”

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. III. The New Monarchy 1471 TO 1509 Literature and the Nobles

He was still, however, busy translating when he died. All difficu ties, in fact, were lightened by the general interest which his labou aroused. When the length of the “ Golden Legend ” makes him “ ha desperate to have accomplished it” and ready to “ lay it apart,” th Earl of Arundel solicits him in nowise to leave it and promises a yearl fee of a buck in summer and a doe in winter, once it were done. “ Man noble and divers gentle men of this realm came and demanded man and often times wherefore I have not made and imprinted the nobl history of the ‘ San Graal.’” We see his visitors discussing with th sagacious printer the historic existence of Arthur. Duchess Margare of Somerset lent him her “ Blanchardine and Eglantine ;” an Arch deacon of Colchester brought him his translation of the work calle “ Cato ;” a mercer of London pressed him to undertake the “ Roya Book” of Philip le Bel. The Queen’s brother, Earl Rivers, chatted with him over his own translation of the “ Sayings of the Philosophers. Even kings showed their interest in his work ; his “ Tully ” was printe under the patronage of Edward the Fourth, his “ Order of Chivalry dedicated to Richard the Third, his “ Facts of Arms ” published at th desire of Henry the Seventh. The fashion of large and gorgeous libraries had passed from the French to the English princes of his day Henry the Sixth had a valuable collection of books ; that of the Louvr was seized by Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, and formed the basis c the fine library which he presented to the University of Oxford. Grea nobles took an active and personal part of the literary revival. Th warrior, Sir John Fastolf, was a well-known lover of books. Earl Rivers was himself one of the authors of the day ; he found leisure in the intervals of pilgrimages and politics to translate the “ Sayings o the Philosophers ” and a couple of religious tracts for Caxton’s press A friend of far greater intellectual distinction, however, than thes was found in John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester. He had wandered during the reign of Henry the Sixth in search of learning to Italy, hac studied at her universities, and become a teacher at Padua, where the elegance of his Latinity drew tears from the most learned of the Popes Pius the Second, better known as Æneas Sylvius. Caxton can find nc words warm enough to express his admiration of one “ whích in his time flowered in virtue and cunning, to whom I know none like among the lords of the temporality in science and moral virtue.” But the

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ruthlessness of the Renascence appeared in Tiptoft side by side with its intellectual vigour, and the fall of one whose cruelty had earned him the surname of "the Butcher" even amidst the horrors of civil war was greeted with sorrow by none but the faithful printer. "What great loss was it," he says in a preface long after his fall, "of that noble, virtuous, and well-disposed lord ; when I remember and advertise his life, his science, and his virtue, me thinketh (God not displeased) over great a loss of such a man, considering his estate and cunning."

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Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 To 1509

Among the nobles who encouraged the work of Caxton we have already seen the figure of the King's youngest brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Ruthless and subtle as Edward himself, the Duke at once came to the front with a scheme of daring ambition when the succession of a boy of thirteen woke again the fierce rivalries of the Court. On the King's death Richard hastened to secure the person of his nephew, Edward the Fifth, to overthrow the power of the Queen's family, and to receive from the council the office of Protector of the realm. Little more than a month had passed, when suddenly entering the Council chamber, he charged Lord Hastings, the chief adviser of the late King and loyal adherent of his sons, with sorcery and designs upon his life. As he dashed his hand upon the table the room was filled with soldiers. "I will not dine," said the Duke, addressing Hastings, "till they have brought me your head ;" and the powerful minister was hurried to instant execution in the court-yard of the Tower. The Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Ely were thrown into prison, and every check on Richard's designs was removed. Only one step remained to be taken, and two months after his brother's death the Duke consented after some show of reluctance to receive a petition presented by a body of lords and others in the name of the three estates, which, setting aside Edward's children as the fruit of an unlawful marriage and those of Clarence as disabled by his attainder, besought him to take the office and title of King. His young nephews, Edward V. and his brother the Duke of York, were flung into the Tower, and there murdered, as was alleged, by their uncle's order ; while the Queen's brother and son, Lord Rivers and Sir Richard Grey, were hurried to execution. Morton, the Bishop of Ely, imprisoned under Buckingham in Wales, took advantage of the disappearance of the two boys to found a scheme which was to unite the discontented Yorkists with what remained of the Lancastrian party, and to link both bodies in a wide conspiracy. All the descendants of Henry IV. had passed away, but the line of John of Gaunt still survived. The Lady Margaret Beaufort, the last representative of the House of Somerset, had married the Earl of Richmond, Edmund Tudor, and become the mother of Henry Tudor. In the act which legitimated the Beauforts an illegal clause had been inserted by Henry IV. which barred their

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Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 To 1509

Richard the Third 1483 Henry Tudor

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Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 to 1509

succession to the crown ; but as the last remaining scion of the line Lancaster Henry's claim was acknowledged by the partizans of h House, and he had been driven to seek a refuge in Brittany from tl jealous hostility of the Yorkist sovereigns. Morton's plan was tl marriage of Henry Tudor with Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress Edward IV., and with Buckingham's aid a formidable revolt w organized. The outbreak was quickly put down. But daring as w Richard's natural temper, it was not to mere violence that he trust in his seizure of the throne. During his brother's reign he had watch keenly the upgrowth of public discontent as the new policy of t monarchy developed itself, and it was as the restorer of its olc liberties that he appealed for popular support. "We be determiner said the citizens of London in a petition to the King, "rather to adve ture and to commit us to the peril of our lives and jeopardy of dea than to live in such thraldom and bondage as we have lived long tu heretofore, oppressed and injured by extortions and new impositic against the laws of God and man and the liberty and laws of t' realm, wherein every Englishman is inherited." Richard met the : peal by again convoking Parliament, which, as we have seen, had be all but discontinued under Edward, and by sweeping measures reform. In the one session of his brief reign the practice of extc ing money by "benevolences" was declared illegal, while grants pardons and remission of forfeitures reversed in some measure 1 policy of terror by which Edward at once held the country in a and filled his treasury. Numerous statutes broke the slumbers Parliamentary legislation. A series of mercantile enactments strove protect the growing interests of English commerce. The King's lo of literature showed itself in the provision that no statutes should : as a hindrance "to any artificer or merchant stranger, of what nati or country he be, for bringing unto this realm or selling by retail otherwise of any manner of books, written or imprinted." His prohi tion of the iniquitous seizure of goods before conviction of felo which had prevailed during Edward's reign, his liberation of bondmen who still remained uncnfranchised on the royal domain, : his religious foundations, show Richard's keen anxiety to purchas popularity in which the bloody opening of his reign might be forgott But as the news of the royal children's murder slowly spread, most pitiless stood aghast at this crowning deed of blood.

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Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 to 1509

B:swor:h Fig.d 1485 pretense of constitutional rule, too, was soon thrown off, and a l of benevolences in defiance of the statute which had just been pas woke general indignation. The King felt himself safe ; he had e won the Queen-mother's consent to his marriage with Elizabeth ; : Henry, alone and in exile, seemed a small danger. But a wide c spiraey at once revealed itself when Henry landed at Milford Haven,; advanced through Wales. He no sooner encountered the royal ar

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Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 To 1509

at Bosworth Field in Leicestershire than treachery decided the day. Abandoned ere the battle began by a division of his forces under Lord Stanley, and as it opened by a second body under the Earl of Northumberland, Richard dashed, with a cry of “Treason, Treason,” into the thick of the fight. In the fury of his despair he had already flung the Lancastrian standard to the ground and hewed his way into the very presence of his rival, when he fell overpowered by numbers, and the crown which he had worn, and which was found as the struggle ended lying near a hawthorn bush, was placed on the head of the conqueror.

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Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 To 1509

With the accession of Henry the Seventh ended the long bloodshed of the civil wars. The two warring lines were united by his marriage with Elizabeth : his only dangerous rivals were removed by the succes- sive deaths of the nephews of Edward the Fourth, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, a son of Edward’s sister, who had been acknowledged as his successor by Richard the Third ; and the Earl of Warwick, a son of Edward’s brother the Duke of Clarence, and next male heir of the Yorkist line. Two remarkable impostors succeeded for a time in exciting formidable revolts, Lambert Simnel, under the name of the Earl of Warwick, and Perkin Warbeck, who personated the Duke of York, the second of the children murdered in the Tower. Defeat, how- ever, reduced the first to the post of scullion in the royal kitchen ; and the second, after far stranger adventures, and the recognition of his claims by the Kings of Scotland and France, as well as by the Duchess- Dowager of Burgundy, whom he claimed as his aunt, was captured and four years later hanged at Tyburn. Revolt only proved more clearly the strength which had been given to the New Monarchy by the revolution which had taken place in the art of war. The introduction of gunpowder had ruined feudalism. The mounted and heavily-armed knight gave way to the meaner footman. Fortresses which had been impregnable against the attacks of the Middle Ages crumbled before the new artillery. Although gunpowder had been in use as early as Créçy, it was not till the accession of the House of Lancaster that it was really brought into effective employment as a military resource. But the revolution in warfare was immediate. The wars of Henry the Fifth were wars of sieges. The “Last of the Barons,” as Warwick has pic- turesquely been styled, relied mainly on his train of artillery. It was artil- lery that turned the day at Barnet and Tewkesbury, and that gave Henry the Seventh his victory over the formidable dangers which assailed him.

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Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 To 1509

The strength which the change gave to the crown was, in fact, almost irresistible. Throughout the Middle Ages the call of a great baron had been enough to raise a formidable revolt. Yeomen and retainers took down the bow from their chimney corner, knights buckled on their armour, and in a few days an army threatened the throne. But without artillery such an army was now helpless, and the one train of artillery in the

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Sec. III. The New Monarchy 1471 to 1509

kingdom lay at the disposal of the King. It was the consciousness of his strength which enabled the new sovereign to quietly resume the policy of Edward the Fourth. He was forced, indeed, by the circumstances of his descent to base his right to the throne on a Parliamentary title, without reference either to the claim of blood or conquest, the House of Lords enacted simply “that the inheritance of the Crown should be, remain, and abide in the most Royal person of their sovereign lord King Henry the Seventh, and the heirs of his body lawfully ensuing.” But the policy of Edward was faithfully followed, and Parliament was but twice convened during the last thirteen years of Henry’s reign. The chief aim, indeed, of the King was the accumulation of a treasure, which would relieve him from the need of ever appealing for its subsidies granted for the support of wars which Henry evaded from the base of a royal treasure, which was swelled by the revival of dormant claims of the crown, by the exaction of fines for the breach of forgotten tenures, and by a host of petty extortions. A dilemma beset his favourite minister, which received the name of “Morton’s fork,”—the exaction of gifts to the exchequer from men who lived handsomely on the ground that their wealth was manifest, and from those who lived plainly on the plea that economy had made them wealthy. Greater sums were drawn from those who were compromised in revolts which chequered the King’s rule. So successful were these efforts that at the end of his reign Henry bequeathed a hoard of millions to his successor. The same imitation of Edward’s policy was seen in Henry’s civil government. Broken as was the strength of the baronage, there still remained lords whom the new monarch watched with a jealous solicitude. Their power lay in the hosts of disorderly retainers who swarmed round their houses, ready to furnish a force in case of revolt, while in peace they became centres of outrage and defiance to the law. Edward had ordered the dissolution of these military households in his Statute of Liveries, and the statute was enforced by Henry with the utmost severity. On a visit to the Earl of Oxford, one of the most devoted adherents of the Lancastrian cause, the King found two long lines of liveried retainers drawn up to receive him. “I thank you for your good cheer, my Lord,” said Henry as they parted, “but I may not endure to have my laws broken in my sight. My attorney must speak with you.” The Earl was glad to escape with a fine of £10,000. It was with a special view to the suppression of this danger that Henry employed the criminal jurisdiction of the Royal Council. He appointed a committee of his Council as a regular court, to which the place where it usually sat gave the name of the Court of Star Chamber. The King’s aim was probably little more than a purpose to enforce order on the land by bringing great nobles before his own judgment-seat; but the establishment of the court as a regular and no longer an exceptional tribunal, was

Court of Star Chamber

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traditional powers were confirmed by Parliamentary statute, and where the absence of a jury cancelled the prisoner's right to be tried by his peers, furnished his son with his readiest instrument of tyranny. But though the drift of Henry's policy was steady in the direction of despotism, his temper seemed to promise the reign of a poetic dreamer rather than of a statesman. The spare form, the sallow face, the quick eye, the shy, solitary humour broken by outbursts of pleasant converse or genial sarcasm, told of an inner concentration and enthusiasm. His tastes were literary and artistic ; he was a patron of the new printing press, a lover of books and of art. But life gave Henry little leisure for dreams or culture. Wrapt in intrigue, struggling with dangers at home, he could take small part in the one movement which stirred England during his reign, the great intellectual revolution which bears the name of the Revival of Letters.

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Section IV.—The New Learning. 1509–1520.

Section IV.—The New Learning. 1509–1520. [Authorities.—The general literary history of this period is fully and accurately given by Mr. Hallam (“ Literature of Europe ”), and in a confused but interesting way by Warton (“ History of English Poetry ”). The most accessible edition of the typical book of the Revival, More's “ Utopia,” is the Elizabethan translation, published by Mr. Arber (“ English Reprints,” 1869). The history of Erasmus in England must be followed in his own entertaining Letters, abstracts of some of which will be found in the well-known biography by Jortin. Colet's work and the theological aspect of the Revival has been described by Mr. Seebohm (“ The Oxford Reformers of 1498 ”); for Warham's share, I have ventured to borrow a little from a paper of mine on “ Lambeth and the Archbishops,” in “ Stray Studies.”] Great as were the issues of Henry's policy, it shrinks into littleness if we turn from it to the weighty movements which were now stirring the minds of men. The world was passing through changes more momentous than any it had witnessed since the victory of Christianity and the fall of the Roman Empire. Its physical bounds were suddenly enlarged. The discoveries of Copernicus revealed to man the secret of the universe. Portuguese mariners doubled the Cape of Good Hope and anchored their merchant fleets in the harbours of India. Columbus crossed the untraversed ocean to add a New World to the Old. Sebastian Cabot, starting from the port of Bristol, threaded his way among the icebergs of Labrador. This sudden contact with new lands, new faiths, new races of men quickened the slumbering intelligence of Europe into a strange curiosity. The first book of voyages that told of the Western World, the Travels of Amerigo Vespucci, were soon “ in every body's hands.” The “ Utopia ” of More, in its wide range of speculation on every subject of human thought and action, tells us how roughly and utterly the narrowness and limitation of human life had been broken up. The capture of Constantinople by

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SEC. IV. THE NEW LEARNING 1509 TO 1520

the Turks, and the flight of its Greek scholars to the shores of Italy opened anew the science and literature of the older world at the very hour when the intellectual energy of the Middle Ages had sunk into exhaustion. The exiled Greek scholars were welcomed in Italy, and Florence, so long the home of freedom and of art, became the home of an intellectual revival. The poetry of Homer, the drama of Sophocles, the philosophy of Aristotle and of Plato woke again to life beneath the shadow of the mighty dome with which Brunelleschi had just crowned the City by the Arno. All the restless energy which Florence had so long thrown into the cause of liberty she flung, now that liberty was reft from her, into the cause of letters. The galleys of merchants brought back manuscripts from the East as the most precious portion of their freight. In the palaces of her nobles fragments of classic sculpture ranged themselves beneath the frescoes of Ghirlandajo. The recovery of a treatise of Cicero's or a tract of Sallust's from the dust of a monastic library was welcomed by the group of statesmen and artists who gathered in the Rucellai gardens with a thrill of enthusiasm. Foreign scholars soon flocked over the Alps to learn Greek, the key of the new knowledge, from the Florentine teachers. Grocyn, a fellow of New College, was perhaps the first Englishman who studied under the Greek exile, Chalcondylas ; and the Greek lectures which he delivered in Oxford on his return mark the opening of a new period in our history. Physical as well as literary activity awoke with the re-discovery of the teachers of Greece, and the continuous progress of English science may be dated from the day when Linacre, another Oxford student, returned from the lectures of the Florentine Politian to revive the older tradition of medicine by a translation of Galen.

1491 Colet at Oxford

But from the first it was manifest that the revival of letters would take a tone in England very different from the tone it had taken in Italy—a tone less literary, less largely human, but more moral, more religious, more practical in its bearings both upon society and politics. The awakening of a rational Christianity, whether in England or in the Teutonic world at large, began with the Italian studies of John Colet and the vigour and earnestness of Colet were the best proof of the strength with which the new movement was to affect English religion. He came back to Oxford utterly untouched by the Platonic mysticism or the semi-serious infidelity which characterized the group of scholars round Lorenzo the Magnificent. He was hardly influenced by their literary enthusiasm. The knowledge of Greek seems to have had once almost exclusive end for him, and this religious end. Greek was the key by which he could unlock the Gospels and the New Testament, and in these he thought that he could find a new religious standing-ground. It was this resolve of Colet to fling aside the traditional dogmas of his day and to discover a rational

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Sec. IV.

and practical religion in the Gospels themselves, which gave its peculiar stamp to the theology of the Renascence. His faith stood simply on a vivid realization of the person of Christ. In the prominence which such a view gave to the moral life, in his free criticism of the earlier Scriptures, in his tendency to simple forms of doctrine and confessions of faith, Colet struck the key-note of a mode of religious thought as strongly in contrast with that of the later Reformation as with that of Catholicism itself. The allegorical and mystical theology on which the Middle Ages had spent their intellectual vigour to such little purpose fell at one blow before his rejection of all but the historical and grammatical sense of the Biblical text. The great fabric of belief built up by the mediæval doctors seemed to him simply "the corruptions of the Schoolmen." In the life and sayings of its Founder he found a simple and rational Christianity, whose fittest expression was the Apostles' creed. "About the rest," he said with characteristic impatience, "let divines dispute as they will." Of his attitude towards the coarser aspects of the current religion his behaviour at a later time before the famous shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury gives us a rough indication. As the blaze of its jewels, its costly sculptures, its elaborate metal-work burst on Colet's view, he suggested with bitter irony that a saint so lavish to the poor in his lifetime would certainly prefer that they should possess the wealth heaped round him since his death. With petulant disgust he rejected the rags of the martyr which were offered for his adoration, and the shoe which was offered for his kiss. The earnestness, the religious zeal, the very impatience and want of sympathy with the past which we see in every word and act of the man, burst out in the lectures on St. Paul's Epistles which he delivered at Oxford. Even to the most critical among his hearers he seemed "like one inspired, raised in voice, eye, his whole countenance and mien, out of himself." Severe as was the outer life of the new teacher, a severity marked by his plain black robe and the frugal table which he preserved amidst his later dignities, his lively conversation, his frank simplicity, the purity and nobleness of his life, even the keen outbursts of his troublesome temper, endeared him to a group of scholars among whom Erasmus and Thomas More stood in the foremost rank.

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"Greece has crossed the Alps," cried the exiled Argyropulos on hearing a translation of Thucydides by the German Reuchlin; but the glory, whether of Reuchlin or of the Teutonic scholars who followed him, was soon eclipsed by that of Erasmus. His enormous industry, the vast store of classical learning which he gradually accumulated, Erasmus shared with others of his day. In patristic reading he may have stood beneath Luther; in originality and profoundness of thought he was certainly inferior to More. His theology, though he made a far greater mark on the world by it than even by

THE NEW LEARNING

1509 To 1520

1497

Erasmus in England

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Sec. IV. The New Learning 1509 to 1520

his scholarship, he derived almost without change from Colet. But his combination of vast learning with keen observation, of acuteness of remark with a lively fancy, of genial wit with a perfect good sense—his union of as sincere a piety and as profound a zeal for rational religion as Colet's with a dispassionate fairness towards older faiths, a large love of secular culture, and a genial freedom and play of mind—this union was his own, and it was through this that Erasmus embodied for the Teutonic peoples the quickening influence of the New Learning during the long scholar-life which began at Paris and ended amidst darkness and sorrow at Basel. At the time of Colet's return from Italy Erasmus was young and comparatively unknown, but the chivalrous enthusiasm of the new movement breaks out in his letters from Paris, whither he had wandered as a scholar. "I have given up my whole soul to Greek learning," he writes, "and as soon as I get any money I shall buy Greek books—and then I shall buy some clothes." It was in despair of reaching Italy that the young scholar made his way to Oxford, as the one place on this side the Alps where he would be enabled through the teaching of Grocyn to acquire a knowledge of Greek. But he had no sooner arrived there than all feeling of regret vanished away. "I have found in Oxford," he writes, "so much polish and learning that now I hardly care about going to Italy at all, save for the sake of having been there. When I listen to my friend Colet it seems like listening to Plato himself. Who does not wonder at the wide range of Grocyn's knowledge? What can be more searching, deep, and refined than the judgement of Linacre? When did Nature mould a temper more gentle, endeared, and happy than the temper of Thomas More?"

Revival of Learning

But the new movement was far from being bounded by the walls of Oxford. The silent influences of time were working, indeed, steadily for its cause. The printing press was making letters the common property of all. In the last thirty years of the fifteenth century ten thousand editions of books and pamphlets are said to have been published throughout Europe, the most important half of them of course in Italy; and all the Latin authors were accessible to every student before it closed. Almost all the more valuable authors of Greece were published in the first twenty years of the century which followed. The profound influence of this burst of the two great classic literatures upon the world at once made itself felt. "For the first time," to use the picturesque phrase of M. Taine, "men opened their eyes and saw." The human mind seemed to gather new energies at the sight of the vast field which opened before it. It attacked every province of knowledge, and it transformed all. Experimental science, the science of philology, the science of politics, the critical investigation of religious truth, all took their origin from the Renascence—this 'New Birth' of the world. Art, if it lost much in purity and propriety, gained in scope and in the fearlessness of its love of Nature. Literature, i

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crushed for the moment by the overpowering attraction of the great models of Greece and Rome, revived with a grandeur of form, a large spirit of humanity, such as it had never known since their day. In England the influence of the new movement extended far beyond the little group in which it had a few years before seemed concentrated. The great churchmen became its patrons. Langton, Bishop of Winchester, took delight in examining the young scholars of his episcopal family every evening, and sent all the most promising of them to study across the Alps. Learning found a yet warmer friend in the Archbishop of Canterbury. Immersed as Archbishop Warham was in the business of the state, he was no mere politician. The eulogies which Erasmus lavished on him while he lived, his praises of the Primate's learning, of

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his ability in business, his pleasant humour, his modesty, his fidelity to friends, may pass for what eulogies of living men are commonly worth. But it is difficult to doubt the sincerity of the glowing picture which he drew of him when death had destroyed all interest in mere adulation. The letters indeed which passed between the great churchman and the wandering scholar, the quiet, simple-hearted grace which amidst constant instances of munificence preserved the perfect equality of literary friendship, the enlightened piety to which Erasmus could address the noble words of his preface to St. Jerome, confirm the judgement of every good man of Warham's day. In the simplicity of his life the Archbishop offered a striking contrast to the luxurious nobles of his time. He cared nothing for the pomp, the sensual pleasures, the hunting and dicing in which they too commonly indulged. An hour's pleasant reading, a quiet chat with some learned new-comer, alone broke the endless round of civil and ecclesiastical business. Few men realized so thoroughly as Warham the new conception of an intellectual and moral equality before which the old social distinctions of the world were to vanish away. His favourite relaxation was to sup among a group of scholarly visitors, enjoying their fun and resorting with fun of

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his own. But the scholar-world found more than supper or fun at the Primate's board. His purse was ever open to relieve their poverty. "Had I found such a patron in my youth," Erasmus wrote long after, "I too might have been counted among the fortunate ones." It was with Grocyn that Erasmus on a second visit to England rowed up the river to Warham's board at Lambeth, and in spite of an unpromising beginning the acquaintance turned out wonderfully well. The Primate loved him, Erasmus wrote home, as if he were his father or his brother, and his generosity surpassed that of all his friends. He offered him a sinecure, and when he declined it he bestowed on him a pension of a hundred crowns a year. When Erasmus wandered to Paris it was Warham's invitation which recalled him to England. When the rest of his patrons left him to starve on the sour beer of Cambridge it was Warham who sent him fifty angels. "I wish

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SEC. IV. THE NEW LEARNING 1509 TO 1520

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Archbishop Warham

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1510

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

Sec. II. The Good Parliament 1360 to 1377

1374 had closed the two towns of Bordeaux and Bayonne were all that remained of the English possessions in southern France. It was a time of shame and suffering such as England had never known. Her conquests were lost, her shores insulted, her fleets annihilated, her commerce swept from the seas ; while within she was exhausted by the long and costly war, as well as by the ravages of pestilence. In the hour of distress the eyes of the hard-pressed nobles and knighthood turned greedily on the riches of the Church. Never had her spiritual or moral hold on the nation been less ; never had her wealth been greater. Out of a population of some three millions, the ecclesiastics numbered between twenty and thirty thousand. Wild tales of their riches floated about. They were said to own in landed property alone more than a third of the soil, their “spiritualities” in dues and offerings amounting to twice the King's revenue. The throng of bishops round the council-board was still more galling to the feudal baronage, flushed as it was with a new pride by the victories of Créy and Poitiers. On the renewal of the war the Parliament prayed that the chief offices of state might be placed in lay hands. William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, resigned the Chancellorship, another prelate the Treasury, to lay dependents of the great nobles ; and the panic of the clergy was seen in large grants which they voted in Convocation. The baronage found a leader in John of Gaunt ; but even the promise to pillage the Church failed to win for the Duke and his party the goodwill of the lesser gentry and of the burgesses ; while the corruption and the utter failure of the new administration and the calamities of the war left it powerless before the Parliament of

The Good Parliament April, 1376

1376. The action of this Parliament marks a new stage in the character of the national opposition to the misrule of the Crown. Till now the task of resistance had devolved on the baronage, and had been carried out through risings of its feudal tenantry ; but the misgovernment was now that of a main part of the baronage itself in actual conjunction with the Crown. Only in the power of the Commons lay any adequate means of peaceful redress. The old reluctance of the Lower House to meddle with matters of State was roughly swept away therefore by the pressure of the time. The Black Prince, sick as he was to death and anxious to secure his child’s succession by the removal of John of Gaunt, the prelates with William of Wykeham at their head, resolute again to take their place in the royal councils and to check the projects of ecclesiastical spoliation, alike found in it a body to oppose to the Duke's administration. Backed by powers such as these, the action of the Commons showed none of their old timidity or self-distrust. The knights of the shire united with the burgesses in a joint attack on the royal council. “Trusting in God, and standing with his followers before the nobles, whereof the chief was John, Duke of Lancaster, whose doings were ever contrary,” their speaker, Sir

CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS.

1833 Suppression of Colonial Slavery. East Indian trade thrown open. 1834 Ministry of Lord Melbourne. New Poor Law. System of National Education begun. Ministry of Sir Robert Peel. 1835 Ministry of Lord Melbourne replaced. Municipal Corporation Act. 1836 General Registration Act. Civil Marriages Act. 1837 Victoria. 1838 Formation of Anti-Corn-Law League. 1839 Committee of Privy Council for Education instituted. Demands for a People's Charter. Revolt in Canada. War with China. Occupation of Cabul. 1840 Quadruple Alliance with France, Portugal and Spain. Bombardment of Acre. 1841 Ministry of Sir Robert Peel. 1842 Income Tax revived. Peace with China. Massacre of English Army in Affghanistan. Victories of Pollock in Affghanistan. Annexation of Scinde. 1845 Battles of Moodkee and Ferozeshah. 1846 Battle of Sobraon. Repeal of the Corn Laws. Ministry of Lord John Russell.

1848 Suppression of the Chartists and Irish rebels. 1849 Victory of Goojerat. Annexation of the Punjaub. 1852 Ministry of Lord Derby. Ministry of Lord Aberdeen. 1854 Alliance with France against Russia. Siege of Sebastopol. Battle of Inkermann, Nov. 5. 1855 Ministry of Lord Palmerston. Capture of Sebastopol. 1856 Peace of Paris with Russia. 1857 Sepoy Mutiny in Bengal. 1858 Sovereignty of India transferred to the Crown. Volunteer movement. 1859 Second Ministry of Lord Derby. 1865 Ministry of Lord Russell. 1866 Third Ministry of Lord Derby. 1867 Parliamentary Reform Bill. 1868 Ministry of Mr. Disraeli. Ministry of Mr. Gladstone. 1869 Disestablishment of Episcopal Church in Ireland. 1870 Irish Land Bill. Education Bill. 1871 Abolition of religious tests in Universities Army Bill. 1872 Ballot Bill. 1874 Second Ministry of Mr. Disraeli.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

Sec. IV.

there were thirty legions of them,” the Primate puns in his humoured way. Real however as this progress was, the group of scholars represented the New Learning in England still remained a one through the reign of Henry the Seventh. But a “Order,” to use their own enthusiastic term, dawned on them the accession of his son. Henry the Eighth had hardly completed his eighteenth year when he mounted the throne, but the beauty of his person, his vigour and skill in arms, seemed matched by a frank and generous temper and a nobleness of political aims. gave promise of a more popular system of government by checking once the extortion which had been practised under colour of enforcing forgotten laws, and by bringing his father's financial ministers, Empson and Dudley, to trial on a charge of treason. No accession excited higher expectations among a people than that of Henry Eighth. Pole, his bitterest enemy, confessed at a later time, that King was of a temper at the beginning of his reign “from which excellent things might have been hoped.” Already in stature strength a King among his fellows, taller than any, bigger than any mighty wrestler, a mighty hunter, an archer of the best, a knight who bore down rider after rider in the tourney, the young monarch combined with his bodily lordliness a largeness and versatility of mind which was to be the special characteristic of the age that had begun. His sympathies were known to be heartily with the New Learning for Henry was not only himself a fair scholar, but even in boyhood had roused by his wit and attainments the wonder of Erasmus. The great scholar hurried back to England to pour out his exultation the “Praise of Folly,” a song of triumph over the old world of ignorance and bigotry which was to vanish away before the light and knowledge of the new reign. Folly, in his amusing little book, mounts the pulpit in cap and bells and pelts with her satire the absurdities of world around her, the superstition of the monk, the pedantry of grammarian, the dogmatism of the doctors of the schools, the selfishness and tyranny of kings.

The irony of Erasmus was backed by the earnest effort of Colet. Four years before he had been called from Oxford to the Deanery of St. Paul's, when he became the great preacher of his day, the precursor of Latimer in his simplicity, his directness, and his force. seized the opportunity to commence the work of educational reform the foundation of his own Grammar School, beside St. Paul's. bent of its founder's mind was shown by the image of the Child Jesus over the master's chair, with the words “ Hear ye Him ” graven beneath it. “Lift up your little white hands for me,” wrote the Dean to scholars, in words which show the tenderness that lay beneath the stern outer seeming of the man,—“ for me which prayeth for you to God ”

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All the educational designs of the reformers were carried out in the new foundation. The old methods of instruction were superseded by fresh grammars composed by Erasmus and other scholars for it's use. Lilly, an Oxford student who had studied Greek in the East, was placed at it's head. The injunctions of the founder aimed at the union of rational religion with sound learning, at the exclusion of the scholastic logic, and at the steady diffusion of the two classical literatures. The more bigoted of the clergy were quick to take alarm. “No wonder,” More wrote to the Dean, “your school raises a storm, for it is like the wooden horse in which armed Greeks were hidden for the ruin of barbarous Troy.” But the cry of alarm passed helplessly away. Not only did the study of Greek creep gradually into the schools which existed, but the example of Colet was followed by a crowd of imitators. More grammar schools, it has been said, were founded in the latter years of Henry than in the three centuries before. The impulse grew only stronger as the direct influence of the New Learning passed away. The grammar schools of Edward the Sixth and of Elizabeth, in a word the system of middle-class education which by the close of the century had changed the very face of England, were amongst the results of Colet's foundation of St. Paul's. But the “armed Greeks” of More's apologie found a yet wider field in the reform of the higher education of the country. On the Universities the influence of the New Learning was like a passing from death to life. Erasmus gives us a picture of what happened at Cambridge, where he was himself for a time a teacher of Greek. “Scarcely thirty years ago nothing was taught here but the Parva Logicalia, Alexander, antiquated exercises from Aristotle, and the Questiones Scotus. As time went on better studies were added, mathematics, a new, or at any rate a renovated, Aristotle, and a knowledge of Greek literature. What has been the result? The University is now so flourishing that it can compete with the best universities of the age.” Latimer and Croke returned from Italy and carried on the work of Erasmus at Cambridge, where Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, himself one of the foremost scholars of the new movement, lent it his powerful support. At Oxford the Revival met with a fiercer opposition. The contest took the form of boyish frays, in which the young partizans and opponents of the New Learning took sides as Greeks and Trojans. The King himself had to summon one of its fiercest enemies to Woodstock, and to impose silence on the tirades which were delivered from the University pulpit. The preacher alleged that he was carried away by the Spirit. “Yes,” retorted the King, “by the spirit, not of wisdom, but of folly.” But even at Oxford the contest was soon at an end. Fox, Bishop of Winchester, established the first Greek lecture there in his new college of Corpus Christi, and a Professorship of Greek was at a later time established by the Crown. “The students,” wrote an eye-

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HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

Sec. IV. The New Learning 1509 TO 1520

witness, “rush to Greek letters, they endure watching, fasting, toil, and hunger in the pursuit of them.” The work was crowned at last by the munificent foundation of Cardinal College, to share in whose teaching Wolsey invited the most eminent of the living scholars of Europe, and for whose library he promised to obtain copies of all the manuscripts in the Vatican. From the reform of education the New Learning pressed on to the reform of the Church. Warham still flung around the movement his steady protection, and it was by his commission that Colet was enabled to address the Convocation of the Clergy in words which set before them with unsparing severity the religious ideal of the New Learning. “Would that for once,” burst forth the fiery preacher, “you would remember your name and profession and take thought for the reformation of the Church ! Never was it more necessary, and never did the state of the Church need more vigorous endeavours.” “We are troubled with heretics,” he went on, “but no heresy of theirs is so fatal to us and to the people at large as the vicious and depraved lives of the clergy. That is the worst heresy of all.” It was the reform of the bishops that must precede that of the clergy, the reform of the clergy that would lead to a general revival of religion in the people at large. The accumulation of benefices, the luxury and worldliness of the priesthood, must be abandoned. The prelates ought to be busy preachers, to forsake the Court and labour in their own dioceses. Care should be taken for the ordination and promotion of worthier ministers, residence should be enforced, the low standard of clerical morality should be raised. It is plain that the men of the New Learning looked forward, not to a reform of doctrine, but to a reform of life, not to a revolution which should sweep away the older superstitions which they despised, but to a regeneration of spiritual feeling before which they would inevitably vanish. Colet was soon charged with heresy by the Bishop of London. Warham however protected him, and Henry, to whom the Dean was denounced, bade him go boldly on. “Let every man have his own doctor,” said the young King, after a long interview, “and let every man favour his own, but this man is the doctor for me.” But for the success of the new reform, a reform which could only be wrought out by the tranquil spread of knowledge and the gradual enlightenment of the human conscience, the one thing needful was peace ; and the young King to whom the scholar-group looked was already longing for war. Long as peace had been established between the two countries, the designs of England upon the French crown had never been really waived, and Henry's pride dwelt on the older claims of England to Normandy and Guienne. Edward the Fourth and Henry the Seventh had each clung to a system of peace, only broken by the vain efforts to save Britanny from

The New Learning and the Church 1512

Henry and France

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French invasion. But the growth of the French monarchy in extent and power through the policy of Lewis the Eleventh, his extinc-tion of the great feudatories, and the administrative centralization he introduced, raised his kingdom to a height far above that of its European rivals. The power of France, in fact, was only counter-balanced by that of Spain, which had become a great state through the union of Castile and Aragon, and where the cool and wary Ferdinand of Aragon was building up a vast power by the marriage of his daughter and heiress to the Archduke Philip, son of the Emperor Maximilian. Too weak to meet France single-handed, Henry the Seventh saw in an alliance with Spain a security against his “heredi-tary enemy,” and this alliance had been cemented by the marriage of his eldest son, Arthur, with Ferdinand’s daughter, Catharine of Aragon. This match was broken by the death of the young bridegroom ; but by the efforts of Spain a Papal dispensation was procured which enabled Catharine to wed the brother of her late husband. Henry, however, anxious to preserve a balanced position between the battling powers of France and Spain, opposed the union ; but Henry the Eighth had no sooner succeeded his father on the throne than the marriage was carried out. Throughout the first years of his reign, amidst the tournaments and revelry which seemed to absorb his whole energies, Henry was in fact keenly watching the opening which the ambition of France began to afford for a renewal of the old struggle. Under the successors of Lewis the Eleventh the efforts of the French monarchy had been directed to the conquest of Italy. The passage of the Alps by Charles the Eighth and the mastery which he won over Italy at a single blow lifted France at once above the states around her. Twice repulsed from Naples, she remained under the successor of Charles, Lewis the Twelfth, mistress of Milan and of the bulk of Northern Italy ; and the ruin of Venice in the league of Cambray crushed the last Italian state which could oppose her designs on the whole peninsula. A Holy League, as it was called from the accession to it of the Pope, to drive France from the Milanese was formed by the efforts of Ferdinand, aided as he was by the kinship of the Emperor, the support of Venice and Julius the Second, and the warlike temper of Henry the Eighth. “The barbarians,” to use the phrase of Julius, “were chased beyond the Alps ;” but Ferdinand’s unscrupulous adroitness only used the English force, which had landed at Fontarabia with the view of attacking Guienne, to cover his own conquest of Navarre. The troops mutinied and sailed home ; men scoffed at the English as useless for war. Henry’s spirit, however, rose with the need. He landed in person in the north of France, and a sudden rout of the French cavalry in an engagement near Guinegate, which received from its bloodless character the name of the Battle of the

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE

Sec. IV. The New Learning 1509 to 1520

Spurs, gave him the fortresses of Térouanne and Tournay. The young conqueror was eagerly pressing on to the recovery of his "heritage France," when he found himself suddenly left alone by the desertion of Ferdinand and the dissolution of the league. Henry had indeed gained much. The might of France was broken. The Papacy was restored to freedom. England had again-figured as a great power in Europe. But the millions left by his father were exhausted, his subjects had been drained by repeated subsidies, and, furious as he was at the treachery of his Spanish ally, Henry was driven to conclude a peace. To the hopes of the New Learning this sudden outbreak of the storm of war, this change of the monarch from whom they had looked for a "new order" into a vulgar conqueror, proved a bitter disappointment. Colet thundered from the pulpit of St. Paul's that "an unjust peace is better than the justest war," and protested that "when men fight out hatred and ambition fight with and destroy one another, they fight under the banner, not of Christ, but of the Devil." Erasmus quitted Cambridge with a bitter satire against the "madness" around him. "It is people," he said, in words which must have startled his age,—"it is people who build cities, while the madness of princes destroys them. The sovereigns of his time appeared to him like ravenous birds pouring with beak and claw on the hard-won wealth and knowledge of mankind. "Kings who are scarcely men," he exclaimed in bitter irony, "are called 'divine;' they are 'invincible' though they fly from every battle-field; 'serene' though they turn the world upside down with a storm of war; 'illustrious' though they grovel in ignorance of all that is noble; 'Catholic' though they follow anything rather than Christ. Of all birds the Eagle alone has seemed to wise men the type of royal character; a bird neither beautiful nor musical nor good for food, but murderous, greedy, hateful to all, the curse of all, and with its great powers of doing harm only surpassed by its desire to do it. It was the first time in modern history that religion had formally dissociated itself from the ambition of princes and the horrors of war, or that the new spirit of criticism had ventured not only to deny what had then seemed the primary truths of political order. We shall soon see to what further length the new speculations were pushed by a greater thinker, but for the moment the indignation of the New Learning was diverted to more practical ends by the sudden peace. However he had disappointed its hopes, Henry still remained its friend. Through all the changes of his terrible career his home was a home of letters. His brother, Edward the Sixth, was a fair scholar in both the classical languages. His daughter Mary wrote good Latin letters. Elizabeth began every day with an hour's reading in the Greek Testament, the tragedies of Sophocles, or the orations of Demosthenes. The ladies of the court caught the royal fashion, and were found poring over the pages of Plato. Widely as Henry's ministers differed from each other, they all agreed

VI

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in sharing and fostering the culture around them. The panic of the scholar-group therefore soon passed away. The election of Leo the Tenth, the fellow-student of Linacre, the friend of Erasmus, seemed to give to the New Learning control of Christendom. The age of the turbulent, ambitious Julius was thought to be over, and the new Pope declared for a universal peace. “Leo,” wrote an English agent at his Court, in words to which after-history lent a strange meaning, “would favour literature and the arts, busy himself in building, and enter into no war save through actual compulsion.” England, under the new ministry of Wolsey, withdrew from any active interference in the struggles of the Continent, and seemed as resolute as Leo himself for peace. Colet toiled on with his educational efforts ; Erasmus forwarded to England the works which English liberality was enabling him to produce abroad. Warham extended to him as generous an aid as the protection he had afforded to Colet. His edition of the works of St. Jerome had been begun under Warham’s encouragement during the great scholar’s residence at Cambridge, and it appeared with a dedication to the Archbishop on its title-page. That Erasmus could find protection in Warham’s name for a work which boldly recalled Christendom to the path of sound Biblical criticism, that he could address him in words so outspoken as those of his preface, shows how fully the Primate sympathized with the highest efforts of the New Learning. Nowhere had the spirit of inquiry so firmly set itself against the claims of authority. “Synods and decrees, and even councils,” wrote Erasmus, “are by no means in my judgement the fittest modes of repressing error, unless truth depend simply on authority. But on the contrary, the more dogmas there are, the more fruitful is the ground in producing heresies. Never was the Christian faith purer or more undefiled than when the world was content with a single creed, and that the shortest creed we have.” It is touching even now to listen to such an appeal of reason and of culture against the tide of dogmatism which was soon to flood Christendom with Augsburg Confessions and Creeds of Pope Pius and Westminster Catechisms and Thirty-nine Articles. The principles which Erasmus urged in his “Jerome” were urged with far greater clearness and force in a work which laid the foundation of the future Reformation, the edition of the Greek Testament on which he had been engaged at Cambridge, and whose production was almost wholly due to the encouragement and assistance he received from English scholars. In itself the book was a bold defiance of theological tradition. It set aside the Latin version of the Vulgate, which had secured universal acceptance in the Church. Its method of interpretation was based, not on received dogmas, but on the literal meaning of the text. Its real end was the end at which Colet had aimed in his Oxford lectures. Erasmus desired to set Christ himself in the place of the Church, to recall men from the teachings of Christian theologians

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The New Learning 1509 to 1520

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The Jerome of Erasmus

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New Testament of Erasmus

SEC. IV.

to the teachings of the Founder of Christianity. The whole value of

THE NEW

the Gospels to him lay in the vividness with which they brought home

LEARNING

to their readers the personal impression of Christ himself. " Were we

1509

to have seen him with our own eyes, we should not have so intimate

TO

a knowledge as they give us of Christ, speaking, healing, dying, rising

1520

again, as it were in our very presence." All the superstitions of

mediæval worship faded away in the light of this personal worship of

Christ. "If the footprints of Christ are shown us in any place, we

kneel down and adore them. Why do we not rather venerate the

living and breathing picture of him in these books? We deck statues

of wood and stone with gold and gems for the love of Christ. Yet they

only profess to represent to us the outer form of his body, while these

books present us with a living picture of his holy mind." In the same

way the actual teaching of Christ was made to supersede the mysterious

dogmas of the older ecclesiastical teaching. " As though Christ taught

such subtleties," burst out Erasmus; "subtleties that can scarcely be

understood even by a few theologians—or as though the strength of

the Christian religion consisted in man's ignorance of it ! It may be

the safer course," he goes on, with characteristic irony, " to conceal the

state-mysteries of kings, but Christ desired his mysteries to be spread

abroad as openly as was possible." In the diffusion, in the universal

knowledge of the teaching of Christ the foundation of a reformed Chris-

tianity had still, he urged, to be laid. With the tacit approval of the

Primate of a Church which from the time of Wyclif had held the trans-

lation and reading of the Bible in the common tongue to be heresy and

a crime punishable with the fire, Erasmus boldly avowed his wish for

a Bible open and intelligible to all. " I wish that even the weakest

woman might read the Gospels and the Epistles of St. Paul. I wish

that they were translated into all languages, so as to be read and

understood not only by Scots and Irishmen, but even by Saracens

and Turks. But the first step to their being read is to make them in-

telligible to the reader. I long for the day when the husbandman

shall sing portions of them to himself as he follows the plough, when

the weaver shall hum them to the tune of his shuttle, when the

traveller shall while away with their stories the weariness of his

journey." The New Testament of Erasmus became the topic of the

1516

day; the Court, the Universities, every household to which the New

Learning had penetrated, read and discussed it. But bold as its

language may have seemed, Warham not only expressed his approba-

tion, but lent the work—as he wrote to its author—" to bishop after

bishop." The most influential of his suffragans, Bishop Fox of Win-

Thomas

chester, declared that the mere version was worth ten commentaries:

MORE

one of the most learned, Fisher of Rochester, entertained Erasmus at

his house.

Daring and full of promise as were these efforts of the New Learning

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Sec. IV. THE NEW LEARNING 1509 TO 1520

in the direction of educational and religious reform, its political and social speculations took a far wider range in the "Utopia" of Thomas More. Even in the household of Cardinal Morton, where he had spent his childhood, More's precocious ability had raised the highest hopes. "Whoever may live to see it," the grey-haired statesman used to say, "this boy now waiting at table will turn out a marvellous man." We have seen the spell which his wonderful learning and the sweetness of his temper threw over Colet and Erasmus at Oxford, and young as he was, More no sooner quitted the University than he was known throughout Europe as one of the foremost figures in the new movement. The keen, irregular face, the grey restless eye, the thin mobile lips, the tumbled brown hair, the careless gait and dress, as they remain stamped on the canvas of Holbein, picture the inner soul of the man, his vivacity, his restless, all-devouring intellect, his keen and even reckless wit, the kindly, half-sad humour that drew its strange veil of laughter and tears over the deep, tender reverence of the soul within. In a higher, because in a sweeter and more loveable form than Colet, More is the representative of the religious tendency of the New Learning in England. The young law-student who laughed at the superstition and asceticism of the monks of his day wore a hair shirt next his skin, and schooled himself by penances for the cell he desired among the Carthusians. It was characteristic of the man that among all the gay, profligate scholars of the Italian Renascence he chose as the object of his admiration the disciple of Savonarola, Pico di Mirandola. Free-thinker as the bigots who listened to his daring speculations termed him, his eye would brighten and his tongue falter as he spoke with friends of heaven and the after-life. When he took office, it was with the open stipulation "first to look to God, and after God to the King." But in his outer bearing there was nothing of the monk or recluse. The brightness and freedom of the New Learning seemed incarnate in the young scholar, with his gay talk, his winsomeness of manner, his reckless epigrams, his passionate love of music, his omnivorous reading, his paradoxical speculations, his gibes at monks, his schoolboy fervour of liberty. But events were soon to prove that beneath this sunny nature lay a stern inflexibility of conscientious resolve. The Florentine scholars who penned declamations against tyrants had covered with their flatteries the tyranny of the house of Medici. More no sooner entered Parliament than his ready argument and keen sense of justice led to the rejection of the Royal demand for a heavy subsidy. "A beardless boy," said the courtiers,—"and More was only twenty-six,—"has disappointed the King's purpose;" and during the rest of Henry the Seventh's reign the young lawyer found it prudent to withdraw from public life. But the withdrawal had little effect on his buoyant activity. He rose at once into repute at the bar. He wrote his "Life of Edward the Fifth,"

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE.

SEC. IV.

the first work in which what we may call modern English prose appears written with purity and clearness of style and a freedom either from antiquated forms of expression or classical pedantry. His ascetic dreams were replaced by the affections of home. It is when we get a glimpse of him in his house at Chelsea that we understand the endearing epithets which Erasmus always lavishes upon More. The delight of the young husband was to train the girl he had chosen for his wife in his own taste for letters and for music. The reserve which the age exacted from parents was thrown to the winds in More's intercourse with his children. He loved teaching them, and lured them to their deeper studies by the coins and curiosities he had gathered in his cabinet. He was as fond of their pets and their games as his children themselves, and would take grave scholars and statesmen into the garden to see his girls' rabbit-hutches or to watch the gambols of their favourite monkey. "I have given you kisses enough," he wrote.to his little ones in merry verse when far away on political business, "but stripes hardly ever." The accession of Henry the Eighth dragged him back into the political current. It was at his house that Erasmus penned the "Praise of Folly," and the work, in its Latin title, "Moriæ Encomium," embodied in playful fun his love of the extravagant humour of More. More "tried as hard to keep out of Court," says his descendant, "as most men try to get into it." When the charm of his conversation gave so much pleasure to the young sovereign, "that he could not once in a month get leave to go home to his wife or children, whose company he much desired, . . . he began thereupon to dissemble his nature, and so, little by little, from his former mirth to dissemble himself." More shared to the full the disappointment of his friends at the sudden outbreak of Henry's warlike temper, but the peace again drew him to Henry's side, and he was soon in the King's confidence both as a counsellor and as a diplomatist.

The Utopia 1516

It was on one of his diplomatic missions that More describes himself as hearing news of the Kingdom of "Nowhere." "On a certain day when I had heard mass in Our Lady's Church, which is the fairest, the most gorgeous and curious church of building in all the city of Antwerp, and also most frequented of people, and service being over I was ready to go home to my lodgings, I chanced to espy my friend Peter Gilles talking with a certain stranger, a man well stricken in age, with a black sun-burnt face, a large beard, and a cloke cast trimly about his shoulders, whom by his favour and apparell forthwith I judged to be a mariner." The sailor turned out to have been a companion of Amerigo Vespucci in those voyages to the New World "that be now in print and abroad in every man's hand." and on More's invitation he accompanied him to his house, and "there in my garden upon a bench covered with grcen turves we sate down, talking