Henry of Monmouth, Volume 1

J >> J. Endell Tyler >> Henry of Monmouth, Volume 1

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[Footnote 140: Circa festum Sancti Andreae.]

LETTER FROM EDMUND MORTIMER TO HIS TENANTS. (p. 135)

"Very dear and well-beloved, I greet you much, and make known to
you that Oweyn Glyndor has raised a quarrel, of which the object
is, if King Richard be alive, to restore him to his crown; and if
not, that my honoured nephew, who is the right heir to the said
crown, shall be King of England, and that the said Owen will
assert his right in Wales. And I, seeing and considering that the
said quarrel is good and reasonable, have consented to join in
it, and to aid and maintain it, and, by the grace of God, to a
good end. Amen! I ardently hope, and from my heart, that you will
support and enable me to bring this struggle of mine to a
successful issue. I have moreover to inform you that the
lordships of Mellenyth, Werthrenon, Raydre, the commot of Udor,
Arwystly, Keveilloc, and Kereynon, are lately come into our
possession. Wherefore I moreover entreat you that you will
forbear making inroad into my said lands, or to do any damage to
my said tenantry, and that you furnish them with provisions at a
certain reasonable price, as you would wish that I should treat
you; and upon this point be pleased to send me an answer. Very
dear and well-beloved, God give you grace to prosper in your
beginnings, and to arrive at a happy issue.--Written at
Mellenyth, the 13th day of December.
"EDMUND MORTIMER."

"To my very dear and well-beloved M. John Greyndor, Howell Vaughan,
and all the gentles and commons of Radnor and Prestremde."[141]

[Footnote 141: Cott. Cleop. F. iii. fol. 122, b.]

Of the Prince himself, between the end of August 1402, and the
following spring, little is recorded. In March 1403 he was made
Lieutenant of Wales by the King, and with the consent of his (p. 136)
council, with full powers of inquiring into offences, of pardoning
offenders, of arraying the King's lieges, and of doing all other things
which he should find necessary. This appointment, implying personal
interference, would lead us to infer, either that he tarried through the
winter in the midst of the Principality, or near its borders, or that he
returned to it early in the spring.[142] To this year also we shall
probably be correct in referring the following letter of Prince Henry
to the council, dated Shrewsbury, 30th May; but which Sir Harris
Nicolas considers to have been written the year before. That it could
not have been written by the Prince at Shrewsbury on the 30th of May
1402, seems demonstrable from the circumstance of his having been
personally present in the Tower of London on the 8th of May, and of
his having executed a deed in the Castle of Tutbury on the 26th of May
1402. Whilst the probability of its having been written in the end of
May 1403, is much strengthened by the ordinance of the King, dated
June 16, 1403, in which he mentions the reports which he had received
from the Prince's council then in Wales of Owyn Glyndowr's intention
to invade England; and also by the order made July 10, 1403, by the
King, that the council would send 1000_l._ to the Prince, to (p. 137)
enable him to keep his people together,--the very object chiefly
desired in this despatch. The letter is in French.

[Footnote 142: On the 1st of April 1403, the King
most earnestly requests loans from bishops, abbots,
knights, and others, in the sums severally affixed
to their names, to enable him to proceed against
the Welsh and the Scots.]

LETTER FROM PRINCE HENRY TO THE COUNCIL.

"FROM THE PRINCE.

"Very dear and entirely well-beloved, we greet you well. And
forasmuch as our soldiers desire to know from us whether they
will be paid for the three months of the present quarter, and
tell us that they will not remain here without being promptly
paid their wages according to their agreements, we beseech you
very sincerely that you will order payment for the said months,
or supply us otherwise, and take measures in time for the
safeguard of these marches. For the rebels are trying to find out
every day whether we shall be paid, and they well know that
without payment we shall not be able to continue here: and they
propose to levy all the power of Northwales and Southwales to
make inroads, and to destroy the march and the counties adjoining
to it; and we have not the power here of resisting them, so as to
hinder them from the full execution of their malicious designs.
And when our men are withdrawn from us, we must at all events
ourselves retire into England, or be disgraced for ever. For
every one must know that without troops we can do no more than
another man of inferior rank. And at present we have very great
expenses, and we have raised the largest sum in our power to meet
them from our little stock of jewels. Our two castles of Harlech
and Lampadern are besieged, and have been so for a long time, and
we must relieve them and victual them within these ten days; and,
besides that, protect the march around us with the third of our
forces against the invasion of the rebels. Nevertheless, if this
campaign could be continued, the rebels never were so likely (p. 138)
to be destroyed as at present. And now, since we have fully shown
the state of these districts, please to take such measures as shall
seem best to you for the safety of these same parts, and of this
portion of the realm of England; which may God protect, and give
you grace to determine upon the best for the time. And our Lord
have you in his keeping.--Given under our signet at Shrewsbury,
the 30th day of May. And be well assured that we have fully shown
to you the peril of whatever may happen hereafter, if remedy be
not sent in time.

On this letter it is impossible not to remark that, so far from having
an abundant supply of money to squander on his supposed vices and
follies, Henry was compelled to pawn his own little stock of plate and
jewels to raise money for the indispensable expenses of the war.

The first direct mention made of the Prince after this is found in the
ordinance above referred to, dated June 16, 1403, which informs us
that he certainly was then in Wales, and strongly implies that he had
been there for some time previously. The King says, "I heard from many
persons of my son the Prince's council, now in Wales, that Owyn Glyndowr
is on the point of making an incursion into England with a great power,
for the purpose of obtaining supplies. I therefore command the sheriffs
of Gloucester, Salop, Worcester, and Hereford, to make proclamation for
all knights, and gentlemen of one hundred shillings' annual income, to
go and put themselves under the governance of the Prince." Another
letter from Henry to his council, dated Higham Ferrers, July 10, (p. 139)
1403,[143] is deeply interesting, not only as bearing testimony to the
persevering bravery of his son Henry, but as affording an example of
the uncertainty of human calculations, and the deceitfulness of human
engagements and friendships. He informs the council that he had received
letters from his son, and information by his messengers, acquainting him
with the gallant and good bearing of his very dear and well-beloved
son, which gave him very great pleasure. He then commissions them to
pay 1000_l._[144] to the Prince for the purpose of enabling him to
keep his soldiers together. "We are now," he adds, "on our way to
succour our beloved and loyal cousins, the Earl of Northumberland and
Henry his son, in the conflict which they have honourably undertaken
for us and our realm; and, as soon as that campaign shall have ended
honourably, with the aid of God, we will hasten towards Wales."[145]

[Footnote 143: The Pell Rolls (July 17, 1403)
record the appointment of the Prince as the King's
deputy in Wales, to see justice done on all rebels,
and the payment of a sum amounting to 8108_l._
2_s._ 0_d._ for the wages of four barons and
bannerets, twenty knights, four hundred and
seventy-six esquires, and two thousand five hundred
archers.]

[Footnote 144: On the next day, July 11, the King
issued a proclamation against selling horses, or
armour and weapons, to the Welsh.]

[Footnote 145: Astonishing confusion pervades
almost all our historians as to the circumstances
under which Henry IV. first became acquainted with
the defection of the Percies, and then hastened to
resist their hostilities; and most absurd
inferences as to the national interest taken in the
ensuing struggle have in consequence been drawn.
The King is almost universally represented as
having left London, accompanied by all the forces
he could, after much preparation, command, for the
express purpose of quelling the rebellion of the
Percies; whereas he left London for the express
purpose of joining his forces to those of the
Percies, and to proceed, in conjunction with them,
against the Scots; and he had never heard of their
defection till he reached Burton-upon-Trent. The
news came upon him with the suddenness of an
unexpected thunderstorm.]

This letter had not been written more than five days when King (p. 140)
Henry became acquainted with the rebellion of those, his "beloved and
faithful lieges," to assist whom against his northern foes he was then
actually on his road. His proclamation for all sheriffs to raise their
counties, and hasten to him wherever he might be, is dated
Burton-on-Trent, July 16, 1403. On the morrow he sent off a despatch
to his council, informing them that Henry Percy, calling him only
Henry of Lancaster, was in open rebellion against him, and was
spreading far and wide through Cheshire the false rumours that Richard
was still alive. He then assures them, "for their consolation," that
he was powerful enough to encounter all his enemies; at the same time
expressing his pleasure that they should all come to him wherever he
might be, except only the Treasurer, whom he wished to stay, for the
purpose of collecting as large sums as possible to meet the exigence
of the occasion. The Chancellor, on Wednesday, June 18th, met the
bearer of these tidings before he reached London, opened the letters,
and forwarded them to the council with an apology.[146]

[Footnote 146: Minutes of Privy Council.]

CHAPTER VIII. (p. 141)

THE REBELLION OF THE PERCIES, -- ITS ORIGIN. -- LETTERS OF HOTSPUR,
AND THE EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND. -- TRIPARTITE INDENTURE BETWEEN THE
PERCIES, OWYN, AND MORTIMER. -- DOUBTS AS TO ITS AUTHENTICITY. --
HOTSPUR HASTENS FROM THE NORTH. -- THE KING'S DECISIVE CONDUCT. -- HE
FORMS A JUNCTION WITH THE PRINCE. -- "SORRY BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY." --
GREAT INACCURACY OF DAVID HUME. -- HARDYNG'S DUPLICITY. -- MANIFESTO
OF THE PERCIES PROBABLY A FORGERY. -- GLYNDOWR'S ABSENCE FROM THE
BATTLE INVOLVES NEITHER BREACH OF FAITH NOR NEGLECT OF DUTY. --
CIRCUMSTANCES PRECEDING THE BATTLE. -- OF THE BATTLE ITSELF. -- ITS
IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCES.

1403.

In analysing the motives which drove the Percies, father and son, into
rebellion, we are recommended by some writers to search only into
those antecedent probabilities, those general causes of mutual
dissatisfaction, which must have operated on parties situated as they
were with regard to Henry IV. The same authors would dissuade us from
seeking for any immediate and proximate causes, because "chroniclers
have not discovered or detailed the beginning incidents." But we shall
scarcely be able to do justice to our subject if we strictly follow
this prescribed rule of inquiry. The general causes enumerated (p. 142)
by Hume, and expatiated upon in modern times, we may take for granted.
Undoubtedly ingratitude on the one side, and discontent on the other,
were not only to be expected, but, as we know, actually prevailed.
"The sovereign naturally became jealous of that power which had advanced
him to the throne, and the subject was not easily satisfied in the
returns which he thought so great a favour had merited." But we are by
no means left to conjecture abstractedly on the "beginning incidents,"
as the proximate causes of the open revolt of the family of Percy have
been called: Hotspur's own letters, as well as those of his father
Northumberland, the existence of which seems not to have been known to
our historians, prepare us for much of what actually took place. We
have already observed the indications of wounded pride, and indignation,
and utter discontent, which Hotspur's despatches from Wales evince.
Another communication, dated Swyneshed, in Lincolnshire, July 3, is more
characteristic of his temper of mind than the preceding, and makes his
subsequent conduct still more easily understood.[147] Sir Harris (p. 143)
Nicolas has so clearly analysed this letter, that we may well content
ourselves with the substance of it as we find it in his valuable
preface.

[Footnote 147: The date of this letter is not
ascertained; it probably was in the July of 1402.
It could scarcely have been in 1401, in which year
he was certainly in Wales in June, and was
appointed a commissioner for negociating a peace
with Scotland on the 1st of September. In the
beginning of July 1403 he was in Wales, or on its
borders, negociating perhaps with Owyn Glyndowr's
representatives, and in Cheshire exciting the
people to rebellion.]

"Hotspur commenced by reminding the council of his repeated applications
for payment of the money due to him as Warden of the East March; and
then alluded to the other sums owing to his father and himself, and to
the promise made by the treasurer, when he was last in London, that,
if it were agreeable to the council, 2,000 marks should be paid him
before the February then last past. He said he had heard that at the
last parliament, when the necessities of the realm were explained by
the lords of the great council to the barons and commons, the war
allowance was demanded for all the marches, Calais, Guienne and Scotland,
the sea, and Ireland; that the proposition for the Scotch marches was
limited to 37,000_l._; and that, as the payment for the marches in
time of truce, due to his father and to him, did not exceed 5,000_l._
per annum, it excited his astonishment that it could not be paid in
good faith; that it appeared to him either that the council attached
too little consideration to the said marches, where the most formidable
enemies which they had would be found, or that they were not satisfied
with his and his father's services therein; but, if they made proper
inquiry, he hoped that the greatest neglect they would discover in the
marches was the neglect of payment, without which they would find no
one who could render such service. On this subject he had, he (p. 144)
said, written to the King, entreating him that, if any injury occurred
to town, castle, or march, in his charge, from default of payment, he
might not be blamed; but that the censure should rest on those who would
not pay him, agreeably to his Majesty's honourable command and desire.
He begged the council not to be displeased that he wrote ignorantly in
his rude and feeble manner on this subject, because he was compelled
to do so by the necessities not merely of himself, but of his soldiers,
who were in such distress, that, without providing a remedy, he neither
could nor dared to go to the marches; and he concluded by requesting the
council to take such measures as they might think proper."

Two letters from the Earl of Northumberland, the one to the council in
May, the other to the King, dated 26th June 1403, breathe the same
spirit with those of his son Hotspur, and would have led us to
anticipate the same subsequent conduct; at least they ought to have
prepared the King and council for the resentments of two such men,
overflowing with bitter indignation at the neglect and injustice with
which they considered themselves to have been treated.

"The last of these letters (we quote throughout the words of the same
Editor) is extremely curious. Northumberland commenced by acknowledging
the receipt of a letter from the King, wherein Henry has expressed (p. 145)
his expectation that the Earl would be at Ormeston Castle on the day
appointed, and in sufficient force, without creating any additional
expense to his Majesty; but that, on consideration, the King, reflecting
that this could not be the case without expenses being incurred by the
Earl and his son Hotspur, had ordered some money to be speedily sent
to them. Of that money the Earl said he knew not the amount, nor the
day of payment; that his honour, as well as the state of the kingdom,
was in question; and that the day on which he was to be at Ormeston
was so near, that, if payment was not soon ordered, it was very
probable that the fair renown of the chivalry of the realm would not
be maintained at that place, to the utter dishonour and grief of him
and of his son, who were the King's loyal subjects; which they
believed could not be his wish, nor had they deserved it. 'If,' the
Earl sarcastically observed, 'we had both been paid the 60,000_l._
since your coronation, as I have heard you were informed by those who
do not wish to tell you the truth, then we could better support such a
charge; but to this day there is clearly due to us, as can be fully
proved, 20,000_l._ and more'. He then entreated the King to order his
council and treasurer to pay him and his son a large sum conformably
to the grant made in the last parliament, and to their indentures, so
that no injury might arise to the realm by the non-payment of what was
due to them.' To this letter he signed himself 'Your Matathias, (p. 146)
who supplicates you to take his state and labour to heart in this
affair.'"

There is so much sound reasoning also and good sense in the review of
these proceedings, presented to us by the same pen, that we cannot do
better than adopt it. The Author's subsequent researches have all
tended to confirm that Editor's view:

"This letter preceded the rebellion of the Percies by less than four
weeks; and that event may, it is presumed, be mainly attributed to the
inattention shown to their requests of payment of the large sums which
they had expended in the King's service. They were not only harassed
by debts, and destitute of means to pay their followers, but their
honour, as the Earl expressly told the King, was involved in the
fulfilment of their engagements; a breach of which not only exposed
them to the greatest difficulties, but, in the opinion of their
chivalrous contemporaries, perhaps affected their reputation. That
under these circumstances, and goaded by a sense of injury and injustice,
the fiery Hotspur should throw off his allegiance, and revolt, is not
surprising; but it is matter of astonishment that Henry should have
hazarded such a result. To the house of Percy he was chiefly indebted
for the crown; and it is scarcely credible that at the moment of their
defection it could have been his policy to offend them. The country
was at war with France and Scotland, Wales was then in open rebellion,
and Henry was far from satisfied of the general loyalty of his (p. 147)
subjects. Can it be believed that he desired to increase his enemies
by adding the most powerful family in the kingdom to the number? Nor
can Henry's constant efforts to prevent the people from becoming
disaffected, be reconciled with the wish to excite discontent in two
of the most influential and distinguished personages in the realm. It
is shown in another part of this volume, (Minutes of Privy Council,)
that the King had not the slightest suspicion of Hotspur's revolt
until it took place; and it appears that, when he heard of it, he was
actually on his route to join that chieftain, and, to use his own
words to his council, 'to give aid and support to his very dear and
loyal cousins, the Earl of Northumberland and his son Henry, in the
expedition which they had honourably commenced for him and his realm
against his enemies the Scotch.' Instead of refusing to pay to the
Percies the money which they claimed, from the desire to lessen their
power, or to inflict upon them any species of mortification, all which
is known of the state of this country justifies the inference that
Henry had the strongest motives for conciliating that family. The
neglect of their repeated demands seems, therefore, to have arisen
solely from his being unable[148] to comply with them; and the (p. 148)
King's pecuniary embarrassments are shown by the documents in this
work to have been of so pressing and so permanent a nature, that there
is no difficulty in believing such to have been the case. It is deserving
of observation, however, that the discontent which is visible in the
letters of Hotspur and his father, is as much at the conduct of the
council as at that of the King; and jealousy of their superior influence
with Henry, and possibly a suspicion that they endeavoured to injure
them in his estimation, as well as to impede their exertions in his
service, by withholding the necessary resources, may have combined
with other causes in producing their disaffection."[149]

[Footnote 148: The fact is, that in the years
immediately preceding their defection, the Issue
Rolls of the Exchequer abound with items of
payment, some to a very large amount, to the Earl
of Northumberland and his son. The names of both
the father and the son, sometimes separately, often
jointly, recur so constantly that they can scarcely
escape the observation even of a cursory glance
over the Rolls. Generally the payment is for the
protection of the East March and Berwick; in some
instances, for defending the castle of Beaumaris,
and the island of Anglesea. On the 17th July 1403,
payment is recorded of precisely the same sum to
the two Percies for their services in the North
March, and to the Prince for the protection of
Wales; in each case, no doubt, falling far short of
the requisite amount, but in each case probably as
much as the Exchequer could afford to supply.]

[Footnote 149: Preface to Sir H. Nicolas's Privy
Council of England, p. 4.]

* * * * *

Not Shakspeare only, in his highly-wrought scene at the Archdeacon of
Bangor's house, but our historians also and their commentators,
instruct us to refer to a point of time very little subsequent to the
date of the last letter from the Earl of Northumberland the celebrated
TRIPARTITE INDENTURE OF DIVISION. Shakspeare has traced, with (p. 149)
such exquisite designs and shades of colouring, the different characters
of the contracting parties in their acts and sentiments, and has
thrown such vividness and life and beauty into the whole procedure,
that the imagination is led captive, superinducing an unwillingness to
doubt the reality; and the mind reluctantly engages in an examination
of the truth. But, consistently with the principles adopted in these
Memoirs, the Author is compelled to sift the evidence on which the
genuineness of the treaty depends. The document, if it could have been
established as trustworthy, could not have failed to be interesting to
every one as a fact in general history, whilst the English and Welsh
antiquary must in an especial manner have been gratified by being made
acquainted with its particular provisions. At all events, whatever
opinion may be ultimately formed of its character as the vehicle of
historical verity, it is in itself too important, and has been too
widely recognised, to be passed over in these pages without notice.

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