Charles Lethbridge Kingsford

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ HENRY VI. (1421–1471) , king of England, son of Henry V. and Catherine of Valois, was born at Windsor on the 6th of December 1421. He became king of England on the 1st of September 1422, and a few weeks later, on the death of his grandfather Charles VI., was proclaimed king of France also. Henry V. had directed that Richard Beauchamp, earl of Warwick (q.v.) , should be his son’s preceptor; Warwick took up his charge in 1428; he trained his pupil to be a good man and refined gentleman, but he could not teach him kingship. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ He could be ruthless, but was not habitually cruel. His strongest weapons were the fine presence, the affable manners (even with citizens) , and the love of pleasure and entertainments which secured his personal popularity. ”

“ When just fourteen she was betrothed to Henry VI. king of England, and in the following year was brought to England and married at Titchfield Abbey, near Southampton, on the 23rd of April 1445. On the 28th of May she was welcomed at London with a great pageant, and two days later crowned at Westminster. Margaret’s marriage had been negotiated by William de la Pole, duke of Suffolk, and when she came to England, Suffolk and his wife were her only friends. Naturally she fell under Suffolk’s influence, and supported his policy. ”

“ 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. ”

“ At the battle of Barnet, Oxford was victorious in command of the Lancastrian right, but his men got out of hand, and before they could be rallied Warwick was defeated. Oxford escaped to France. In 1473 he organized a Lancastrian expedition, which, after an attempted landing in Essex, sailed west and seized St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall. It was only after a four months’ siege that Oxford was forced to surrender in February 1474. ”

“ Even in France the English lost ground steadily after the victory of Joan of Arc before Orleans in 1429. The climax came with the death of Bedford, and defection of Philip of Burgundy in 1435. This closed the first phase of Henry’s reign. There followed fifteen years of vain struggle in France, and growing disorder at home. The determining factor in politics was the conduct of the war. Cardinal Beaufort, and after him Suffolk, sought by working for peace to secure at least Guienne and Normandy. ”

“ Warwick, with his father, his cousin the young Edward of York, and only three followers, made his way to Barnstaple. There they hired a little fishing vessel. The master pleaded that he did not know the Channel, but Warwick resourcefully took command and himself steered a successful course to Calais. He arrived just in time to anticipate the duke of Somerset, whom the Lancastrians had sent to supersede him. During the winter Warwick held Calais against Somerset, and sent out a fleet which seized Sandwich and captured Lord Rivers. ”

“ LOVELL, FRANCIS LOVELL, Viscount (1454–1487) , supporter of Richard III., was son of John, 8th Baron Lovell. As a young man he served under Richard of Gloucester in the expedition to Scotland in 1480. After the death of Edward IV. he became one of his patron’s strongest supporters. He had been created a viscount on the 4th of January 1483, and whilst still Protector Richard made him Chief Butler. As soon as Richard became king, Lovell was promoted to be Lord Chamberlain. ”

“ Henry’s second wife was Joan, or Joanna, (c. 1370–1437) , daughter of Charles the Bad, king of Navarre, and widow of John IV. or V., duke of Brittany, who survived until July 1437. By her he had no children.
The chief contemporary authorities are the Annales Henrici Quarti and T. Walsingham’s Historia Anglicana (Rolls Series) , Adam of Usk’s Chronicle and the various Chronicles of London. The life by John Capgrave (De illustribus Henricis) is of little value. Some personal matter is contained in Wardrobe Accounts of Henry, Earl of Derby (Camden Soc.) . ”

“ On reaching manhood he was made a knight of the Garter in 1474, and in 1478 was high steward at the trial of George, duke of Clarence. He had not otherwise filled any position of importance, but his fidelity might seem to have been secured by his marriage. However, after Edward’s death, Buckingham was one of the first persons worked upon by Richard, duke of Gloucester. ”

“ The king’s friends were driven into exile or executed, and he himself forced to submit to the loss of all real power (May 1388) . Richard changed his methods, and when the lords appellant had lost credit, asserted himself constitutionally by dismissing Gloucester’s supporters from office. and appointing in their place well-approved men like William of Wykeham. In the next parliament of 1390 the king showed himself ready to meet and conciliate his subjects. The simultaneous return of John of Gaunt from Spain put a check on Gloucester’s ambition. ”

“ For seven years she lived at Saint-Michel-en-Barrois, educating her son with the help of Sir John Fortescue, who wrote at this time: “We be all in great poverty, but yet the queen sustaineth us in meat and drink. Her highness may do no more than she doth” (Works, ii. 72, ed. Clermont) . Margaret never lost her hopes of her son’s restoration. ”

“ Still there was no open breach, and in March 1458 there was even a ceremonial reconciliation of all parties at St Paul's in London. York would not again accept honourable banishment to Ireland, but made no move till the queen's preparations forced him to act. In September 1459 both parties were once more in arms. York protested that he acted only in self-defence, but the desertion of his best soldiers at Ludlow on the 12th of October left him helpless. ”

“ From Calais Warwick, Salisbury and Edward of York crossed to Sandwich on the 26th of June. A few days later they entered London, whence Warwick at once marched north. On the 10th of July he routed the Lancastrians at Northampton, and took the king prisoner. For the order to spare the commons and slay the lords Warwick was responsible, as also for some later executions at London. ”

“ His policy was constructive: a firm central government supported by parliament; church reform on conservative lines; commercial development; and the maintenance of national prestige. His aims in some respects anticipated those of his Tudor successors, but he would have accomplished them on medieval lines as a constitutional ruler. His success was due to the power of his personality. He could train able lieutenants, but at his death there was no one who could take his place as leader. ”

“ He married Alice, daughter of Sir Ivo Fitzwaryn, a Dorset knight of considerable property. Whittington sat in the common council as a representative of Coleman Street Ward, was elected alderman of Broad Street in March 1393, and served as sheriff in 1393–1394. When Adam Bamme, the mayor, died in June 1397, Whittington was appointed by the king to succeed him, and in October was elected mayor for the ensuing year. He had acquired great wealth and much commercial importance, and was mayor of the staple at London and Calais. ”

“ His violent outbursts of passion perhaps give the best clue to a mercurial and impulsive nature, easily elated and depressed. He had real ability, and in his Irish policy, and in the preference which he gave to it over continental adventure, showed a statesmanship in advance of his time: But this, in spite of his lofty theory of kingship, makes it all the more difficult to explain his extravagant bearing in his prosperity. ”

“ Oldcastle died a martyr. He was no doubt a man of fine quality, but circumstances made him a traitor, and it is impossible altogether to condemn his execution. His unpopular opinions and early friendship with Henry V. created a traditional scandal which long continued. In the old play The Famous Victories of Henry V., written before 1588, Oldcastle figures as the prince's boon companion. When Shakespeare adapted that play in Henry IV., Oldcastle still appeared ”

“ In March 1445 he was once more sent to Ireland, where he used his old methods, so that the Irish said “there came not from the time of Herod any one so wicked in evil deeds.” In 1449 he served for a short time in Normandy. When in 1452 the Gascons appealed for English help, Shrewsbury was the natural leader of the expedition. He landed in Aquitaine on the 17th of October. Bordeaux and the surrounding district returned quickly to their old allegiance, and in the following summer Shrewsbury captured Fronsac. ”

“ In that year the barony of Stafford was granted to William Howard (1614–1680) , who after two months was created Viscount Stafford; he was beheaded in 1680, and his son was created earl of Stafford in 1688, a title which became extinct in 1762 ”

“ In spite of York’s active hostility he maintained his position till Henry’s illness brought his rival the protectorate in March 1454. For a year he was kept a prisoner in the Tower “without any lawful process.” On the king’s recovery he was honourably discharged, and restored to his office as captain of Calais. ”

“ Apart from his moral character he was an accomplished scholar, and a great purchaser of books in Italy, many of which he presented to the university of Oxford. He translated Cicero’s De amicitia and Buonaccorso’s Declaration of Nobleness, which were printed by Caxton in 1481. Caxton in his epilogue eulogized Worcester as superior to all the temporal lords of the kingdom in moral virtue as well as in science. Worcester is also credited with a translation of Caesar’s Commentaries printed in 1530. ”

“ The French court would not accept his overtures, and it was only in the summer of 1401 that a truce was patched up by the restoration of Richard’s child-queen, Isabella of Valois. Meantime a more serious trouble had arisen through the outbreak of the Welsh revolt under Owen Glendower (q.v.) . ”