Charles Lethbridge Kingsford

“ The next eighteen months were spent by John as lieutenant of Aquitaine, and it was not till November 1389 that he returned to England. By his absence he had avoided implication in the troubles at home. Richard, still insecure of his own position, welcomed his uncle, and early in the following year marked his favour by creating him duke of Aquitaine. John on his part was glad to support the king’s government; during four years he exercised his influence in favour of pacification at home, and abroad was chiefly responsible for the conclusion of a truce with France. ”

“ Suffolk’s fall in 1450 left Richard of York the foremost man in England. Henry’s reign then entered on its last phase of dynastic struggle. Cade’s rebellion suggested first that popular discontent might result in a change of rulers. But York, as heir to the throne, could abide his time. The situation was altered by the mental derangement of the king, and the birth of his son in 1453. York after a struggle secured the protectorship, and for the next year ruled England. Then Henry was restored to sanity, and the queen and Edmund Beaufort, now Duke of Somerset, to power. ”

“ However, when Henry VI. was soon afterwards taken to be crowned in France, Humphrey was made lieutenant and warden of the kingdom, and thus ruled England for nearly two years. His jealousy of Bedford and Beaufort still continued, and when the former died in 1435 there was no one to whom he would defer. The defection of Burgundy roused English feeling, and Humphrey won popularity as leader of the war party. In 1436 he commanded in a short invasion of Flanders. But he had no real power, and his political importance lay in his persistent opposition to Beaufort and the councillors of his party. ”

“ OSBERN or OSBERT (d. 1103) , bishop of Exeter and chancellor, was son of Osbern the seneschal, who was guardian of Normandy for the future Conqueror. He was thus brother of William Fitzosbern, the earl of Hereford [q. v.] , and a kinsman of Edward the Confessor (Will. Malm. Gesta Pontificum, p. 201) . He came to England during the reign of Edward, and was one of the king's chaplains, and held land at Stratton, Cornwall, at the time of Edward's death (Domesday, iv. 216) . As a royal chaplain he was present at the dedication of Westminster Abbey on 28 Dec. ”

“ After Edward’s death she was mistress to Thomas Grey, marquess of Dorset, son of Elizabeth Woodville by her first husband. She also had relations with William Hastings, and may perhaps have been the intermediary between him and the Woodvilles. At all events she had political importance enough to incur the hostility of Richard of Gloucester, afterwards King Richard III., who accused her of having practised sorcery against him in collusion with the queen and Hastings. Richard had her put to public penance, but the people pitied her for her loveliness and womanly patience ”

“ All pretence of moderation was put aside, and he marched on London, using the full arms of England, and with his sword borne upright before him. On reaching Westminster, York took up his residence in the royal palace, and formally asserted his claim to the throne in parliament. In the end a compromise was arranged, under which Henry was to retain the crown for life, but Richard was to succeed him. On the 8th of November he was accordingly proclaimed heir-apparent and protector. Meantime the queen was gathering her friends, and early in December, Richard went north with a small force. ”

“ Hardyng spent many years on the composition of a rhyming chronicle of England. His services under the Percies and Umfravilles gave him opportunity to obtain much information of value for 15th century history. As literature the chronicle has no merit. It was written and rewritten to suit his various patrons. The original edition ending in 1436 had a Lancastrian bias and was dedicated to Henry VI. Afterwards he prepared a version for Richard, duke of York (d. 1460) , and the chronicle in its final form was presented to Edward IV. after his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville in 1464. ”

“ In July 1386 John left England with a strong force to win his Spanish throne. He landed at Corunna, and during the autumn conquered Galicia. Juan, who had succeeded his father Henry as king of Castile, offered a compromise by marriage. John of Gaunt refused, hoping for greater success with the help of the king of Portugal, who now married the duke’s eldest daughter Philippa. In the spring the allies invaded Castile. They could achieve no success, and sickness ruined the English army. ”

“ The negotiations lasted till December, by which time the condition of Rouen had become desperate. As a last resource, twelve thousand useless mouths—probably refugees who had fled to Rouen on the English approach—were expelled from the city. Henry refused them a passage through his lines; the besieged refused them re-entry to the city; and the poor creatures, with only such shelter or food as they obtained from the mercy of the English soldiers, were left to endure all the hardships of winter and famine beneath the walls of Rouen. ”

“ He met Edward of York in Oxfordshire, brought him in triumph to London, had him proclaimed king, and within a month of his defeat at St Albans was marching north in pursuit of the Lancastrians. The good generalship which won the victory of Towton may have been due to Edward rather than to Warwick, but the new king was of the creation of the powerful earl, who now had his reward. For four years the government was centred undisputedly in the hands of Warwick and his friends. The energy of his brother John, Lord Montagu, frustrated the various attempts of the Lancastrians in the north. ”

“ From this time Richard began to assert himself. His chief ministers, appointed by parliament in 1382, were the earl of Arundel and Michael de la Pole. Arundel Richard disliked, and dismissed next year, when he began his personal government. Pole, whom he retained as chancellor and made earl of Suffolk, was a well-chosen adviser. But others, and especially his youthful favourite Robert de Vere, promoted by unheard-of honour to be marquess of Dublin and duke of Ireland, were less worthy. Further, Richard made his own position difficult by lavish extravagance and unseemly outbursts of temper. ”

“ Giraldus describes Lacy as a swarthy man, with small black sunken eyes, a flat nose, and an ugly scar on his cheek; muscular in body, but small and ill-made. He was a man of resolute character; for temperance a very Frenchman, careful in private affairs, and vigilant in public business. Despite his experience in military matters he sustained many reverses in his campaigns. He was lax in his morality, and avaricious, but eager beyond measure for honour and renown (Opera, v. 354) . Hugh was a benefactor of Lanthony Abbey, and also of many churches in Ireland, including the abbey of Trim. ”

“ As a young man Henry had been chivalrous and adventurous, and in politics anxious for good government and justice. As king the loss and failure of friends made him cautious, suspicious and cruel. The persecution of the Lollards, which began with the burning statute of 1401, may be accounted for by Henry’s own orthodoxy, or by the influence of Archbishop Arundel, his one faithful friend. But that political Lollardry was strong is shown by the proposal in the parliament of 1410 for a wholesale confiscation of ecclesiastical property. Henry’s faults may be excused by his difficulties. ”

“ Higden's fame rests on his ‘Polychronicon.’ This is a universal history down to his own times, and is so called ‘quia præsens chronica multorum temporum continet gesta.’ Only a part of the last of the seven books into which it is divided is strictly contemporary, and even then the work is of no great value as an original authority. The ‘Polychronicon’ owes its interest to the light which it throws on the historical, geographical, and scientific knowledge of the age. ”

“ He was not a monster; but a typical man in an age of strange contradictions of character, of culture combined with cruelty, and of an emotional temper that was capable of high ends, though unscrupulous of means. Tradition represents Richard as deformed. It seems clear that he had some physical defect, though not so great as has been alleged. John Stow told Buck that old men who remembered Richard described him as in bodily form comely enough. ”

“ Josceline's title to fame rests on the work which he did at Wells. He may be called the creator of the cathedral as it now stands. His work includes the nave, the choir proper, and the lower portion of the three towers, including the west front. He may or may not have been his own architect. He also built the oldest part of the palace, and the manor-house at Wookey; and joined with his brother Hugh in founding the hospital of St. John at Wells. Josceline was hardly less memorable with regard to the constitution of the church. ”

“ Under pressure from his followers, Edmund then went to Lisbon to remonstrate with the king, and obtained from him a promise to take the field. But Ferdinand was now, as previously, intriguing with the Spaniards, and presently, before any fighting took place, made peace without reference to his English allies. Edmund would have attacked the king of Portugal if he had felt strong enough, but as it was he had no choice except to return to England, where he arrived in October 1382 (Fœdera, iv. 156, Record ed.) . The king of Portugal soon after remarried his daughter to the infant of Castile. ”

“ The Richard Whittington of history is thus very different from the Dick Whittington of popular legend, which makes him a poor orphan employed as a scullion by the rich merchant, Sir Hugh Fitzwarren, who ventures the cat, his only possession, on one of his master's ships. Distressed by ill-treatment he runs away, but turns back when he hears from Holloway the prophetic peal of Bow bells. He returns to find that his venture has brought him a fortune, marries his master's daughter, and succeeds to his business. ”

“ The English army could occupy the whole width of the field with advantage; in the centre was the king, on the right the Duke of York, on the left Lord Camoys; the archers, provided with stakes to form a palisade, were placed on the wings, while the flanks were protected by woods. When all was ready Henry made a speech to his soldiers; according to one account he declared that ‘for me this day shall England never ransom pay’ (Pol. Songs, ii. 124) . For some time neither army made any movement, and several hours were spent to no purpose in negotiations. ”

“ Philip, the new duke, and the French court threw themselves into Henry’s arms. After six months’ negotiation Henry was by the Treaty of Troyes recognized as heir and regent of France, and on the 2nd of June 1420 married Catherine, the king’s daughter. He was now at the height of his power. His eventual success in France seemed certain. He shared with Sigismund the credit of having ended the Great Schism by obtaining the election of Pope Martin V. All the states of western Europe were being brought within the web of his diplomacy. ”

“ The 'Annals of Loch Cé' call Hugh the 'most generous king and very best man that had come of the men of Erinn for a long time.' Hugh O'Neill is spoken of as 'worthy future arch-king of Ireland' (Annals of Ulter, ii. 285) ; and in a solitary reference to him in the English records, he is said to have styled himself king of all the Irish of Ireland (Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, i. No. 1840) . In the same place reference is made to his having been brought into the English king's peace. ”

“ In 1444 on the death of his elder brother he became duke of Somerset. As head of the Beaufort party he was the rival of Richard of York, whom in 1446 he superseded as lieutenant of France. He lacked statesmanship, and as a general could do nothing to stop French successes. The loss of Rouen and Normandy during the next four years was precipitated by his incompetence, and his failure naturally made him a special object of Yorkist censure. The fall of Suffolk left Somerset the chief of the king’s ministers, and the Commons in vain petitioned for his removal in January 1451. ”