Henry of Monmouth, Volume 1

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

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[Footnote 192: About this time, the King's treasury
was in a deplorable state. The minutes of council
suggest the payment of 1000 marks in part of the
debts of the household, incurred in the time of
Atterbury: and the allowance of a sum "for the time
past, and to avoid the clamour of the
people."--Minutes of Council, vol. ii. p. 37.]

The Prince, finding his difficulties increasing, wrote another letter,
dated June 30, to the council, urging them to prompt measures; and
stating in very positive terms the utter impossibility of his remaining
in those parts without supplies. What immediate notice was taken of
these pressing communications, does not appear; that the council enabled
him to remain on the borders, and to protect the country effectually
from the rebels, is proved by their proceedings at Lichfield on the
29th and 30th of the August following. The minutes of those two councils
are full of interest. By the first we are informed that the French,
under the French Earl of March, had equipped a fleet of sixty vessels
in the port of Harfleur, full of soldiers, for the purpose of an
immediate invasion of Wales. To meet this rising mischief, the council
advise that, since the King could not soon raise an army proportionate
to his high estate and dignity, to proceed forthwith into Wales, he
should remain at Tutbury until the meeting of parliament at Coventry
in the October following; and in the mean time proclamations (p. 196)
should be made, directing all able-bodied men to be ready to attend
the King. Orders were also given to the officers of the customs in
Bristol to supply wine, corn, and other provisions for the soldiers in
the town of Caermarthen, in part payment of their wages. The minutes
then record, that, with regard to the county of Hereford, the sheriff
and the other gentlemen had requested the lords of the council to pray
the King that he would be pleased to thank the Prince for the good
protection of the said county since the Nativity of St. John (June
24th), and likewise, that for the well-being of that county, and also
of the county of Gloucester, the Prince might be assigned to guard the
marches of the said counties, and to make inroads into Overwent and
Netherwent, Glamorgan and Morgannoc; and "to carry this into effect,
they must provide the wages of five hundred men-at-arms and two
thousand archers for three weeks, and through another three weeks
three hundred men-at-arms and two thousand archers." In another
council, probably at the end of August, the lords recommend that the
sum of 3000 marks, due to the King as a fine from the inhabitants of
Cheshire, to be paid in three years, should be assigned to the Prince
for the safeguard of the castle of Denbigh, and towards the expenses
of his other castles in North Wales.[193] They recommend also (p. 197)
that the people of Shropshire be allowed to make a truce with Wales
until the last day of November; and with regard to Herefordshire, that
the Prince remain on its borders to the last day of September, and
have the same number of men-at-arms and archers (or more) as he had
had since the 29th of June; that he have on his own account 1000 marks,
and that on the first day of October he be ready with five hundred
men-at-arms and two thousand archers to make an incursion into Wales,
and stay there twenty-one days, for the just chastisement of the
rebels. And since for these charges the Prince should be paid before
his departure, measures had been taken to raise money of several
persons by way of loan. Sir John Oldcastle and John ap Herry were to
keep the castles of Brecknock and the Haye till Michaelmas. The King
also issued his mandate, 13th November 1404, to the sheriffs of
Worcester, Gloucester, and other counties, to provide a contingent
each of twenty men-at-arms and two hundred archers to join the army of
his sons; premising that he had, by the advice of his parliament, sent
his two sons, the Prince and the Lord Thomas, to raise the siege of
Coitey,[194] in which Alexander Berkroller, lord of that place, was
then besieged: we may therefore safely conclude that, through the
first part of the winter at least, young Henry was most fully (p. 198)
occupied in the Principality.[195]

[Footnote 193: August 26, 1404, a thousand marks
were assigned to the Prince for the safekeeping of
Denbigh and other castles.--MS. Donat. 4597.]

[Footnote 194: The ruins of Coity Castle are still
interesting. They are near Bridgend, in
Glamorganshire.]

[Footnote 195: MS. Donat. 4597.]

Of the Prince's proceedings in consequence of these instructions we
hear nothing before the beginning of the next March: but through the
winter[196] (as it should seem) the Welsh chieftain and his French
auxiliaries were most busily engaged, especially towards the northern
parts. Indeed, it may be surmised, not without probable reason, that
the King's troops under the Prince in Monmouthshire, Glamorganshire,
and its adjacent districts, and perhaps the forces of Thomas Beaufort,
or the Duke of York, in Caermarthen, had driven Owyn and his partisans
northward, by the vigorous efforts which they made through the autumn
and the early part of the winter. To this season also we are induced
to refer those despatches from Conway and Chester,[197] which give the
most alarming accounts to the King of the insolence and activity (p. 199)
of his enemies, and the imminent peril of his friends, his castles,
and the whole country. One letter speaks of six ships coming out of
France "with wyn and spicery full laden." Another reports that the
constable of Harlech had been seized by the Welsh and carried to Owyn
Glyndowr; and that the castle was in great danger of falling into his
hands, being garrisoned only by five Englishmen and about sixteen
Welshmen. A third apprises the King that the deputy-constable of
Caernarvon had sent a woman to inform the writer, William Venables,
the constable of Chester, (by word of mouth, because no man dared to
come, and no man or woman could carry letters safely,) of Owyn
Glyndowr's purpose, in conjunction with the French, "to assault the
town and castle of Caernarvon with engines, sows,[198] and ladders of
very great length;" whilst in the town and castle there were not more
than twenty-eight fighting men,--eleven of the more able of those who
were there at the former siege being dead, some of their wounds,
others of the plague. In the fourth, the constable of Conway informs
the same parties that the people of Caernarvonshire purposed to go
into Anglesey to bring out of it all the men and cattle into the
mountains, "lest Englishmen should be refreshed therewith." The (p. 200)
writer adds, "I durst lay my head that, if there were two hundred men
in Caernarvon and two hundred in Conway, from February until May, the
commons of Caernarvonshire would come to peace, and pay their dues as
well as ever. But should there be a delay till the summer, it will not
be so lightly (likely), for then the rebels will be able to lie without
(in the open air), as they cannot now do. Also I have myself heard
many of the commons and gentlemen of Merionethshire and Caernarvonshire
swear that all men of the aforesaid shires, except four or five
gentlemen and a few vagabonds (vacaboundis), would fain come to peace,
provided Englishmen were left in the country to help in protecting
them from misdoers; especially must they come into the country whilst
the weather is cold." In the fifth letter, we learn that Owyn had
agreed with all the men in the castle of Harlech, except seven, to
have deliverance of the castle on an early fixed day for a stated sum
of gold. A letter, dated Oswestry, February 7th, from the Earl of
Arundel and Surrey, conveys the very same sentiments with those of the
constable of Conway as to the probability of the immediate termination
of the rebellion, either by peace or victory, should any vigorous
measures be adopted. He was appointed to take charge of Oswestry, with
thirty men-at-arms and one hundred and fifty archers, for eight weeks.
He complains that the grand ordinance resolved upon by the late (p. 201)
parliament at Coventry[199] had not been put into execution; and states
that the rebels were never at any time so high or proud, from an
assurance that it, like the others, would become a dead letter.[200]

[Footnote 196: A few days before Christmas, some
French effected a landing in the Isle of Wight, and
boasted that, with the King's leave or without it,
they would keep their Christmas there: but they
were routed. The French demanded a tribute in the
name of Richard and Isabella.]

[Footnote 197: These letters are the tenth,
eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth, in
Sir Henry Ellis' Second Series. He does not assign
them to any date positively. "They were probably
written," he says, "about 1404." It is here
presumed, that they were not written till the
opening of the year 1405. They all bear date
between the 7th of January and the 20th of
February.]

[Footnote 198: The sow was an engine of the nature
of the Roman Vinea, which, by protecting the
assailants from the missiles of the besieged,
enabled them to undermine the wall of a town or
castle.]

[Footnote 199: The parliament called Indoctum, or
Lacklearning. It was in this parliament that the
confiscation of the property of the bishops was
proposed.]

[Footnote 200: At this time Owyn Glyndowr confirms
his league with the King of France by deed, dated
and signed "in our Castle of Llanpadarn, the 12th
of January 1405, and of our principality the
sixth."]

The letter from Henry to his father in the preceding June, and the
testimony of the gentlemen of Hereford, who prayed that thanks might
be presented to the Prince for his watchful and efficient protection
of their county, inform us that the rebels towards the south marches
had been kept in check since the Prince's arrival; but they were ready
to renew their violence at the very opening of spring. Two letters,
one from the King to his council, the other from the Prince to the
King, require to be translated literally, and copied into these pages.
The former, which is now published for the first time in "The Acts of
the Privy Council," proves the hearty good-will entertained by the
King towards his son, and the lively paternal interest he took up to
that time in his honourable career. It assures us also of the great
importance attached by the King to the victory then gained over the
rebels. The latter, though published by Rymer and Ellis, and (p. 202)
others, and though often commented upon before, yet appears to throw
so much light upon the character of Prince Henry as a Christian at
once and a warrior, especially in that union of valour and mercy in
him to which Hotspur first bore testimony four years before, that any
treatise on the life and character of Henry of Monmouth would be
altogether defective were this letter to be omitted. The King's letter
to his council bears date Berkhemstead, March 13, 1405.

"FROM THE KING.

"Very dear and faithful! We greet you well. And since we know
that you are much pleased and rejoiced whenever you can hear good
news relating to the preservation of our honour and estate, and
especially of the common good and honour of the whole realm, we
forward to you for your consolation the copy of a letter sent to
us by our very dear son, the Prince, touching his government in
the marches of Wales; by which you will yourselves become
acquainted with the news for which we return thanks to Almighty
God. We beg you will convey these tidings to our very dear and
faithful friends the Mayor and good people of our city of London,
in order that they may derive consolation from them together with
us, and praise our Creator for them. May He always have you in
his holy keeping.--Given under our signet at our Castle of
Berkhemstead, the 13th day of March."

The following letter, the copy of which the King then forwarded, was
written by the Prince at Hereford, on the 11th of March, at night.

LETTER FROM PRINCE HENRY TO THE KING HIS FATHER. (p. 203)

"My most redoubted and most sovereign lord and father, in the
most humble manner that in my heart I can devise, I commend
myself to your royal Majesty, humbly requesting your gracious
blessing. My most redoubted and most sovereign lord and father, I
sincerely pray that God will graciously show his miraculous aid
toward you in all places: praised be He in all his works! For on
Wednesday, the eleventh day of this present month of March, your
rebels of the parts of Glamorgan, Morgannoc, Usk, Netherwent, and
Overwent, were assembled to the number of eight thousand men
according to their own account; and they went on the said
Wednesday in the morning, and burnt part of your town of Grosmont
within your lordship of Monmouth. And I immediately[201] sent off
my very dear cousin the Lord Talbot, and the small body of my own
household, and with them joined your faithful and gallant knights
William Neuport and John Greindre; who were but a very small
force in all. But very true it is that VICTORY IS NOT IN A
MULTITUDE OF PEOPLE, BUT IN THE POWER OF GOD; and this was well
proved there. And there, by the aid of the blessed Trinity, your
people gained the field, and slew of them by fair account on the
field, by the time of their return from the pursuit, some say
eight hundred, and some say a thousand, being questioned on pain
of death. Nevertheless, whether on such an account it were one or
the other I would not contend.

"And, to inform you fully of all that has been done, I send you a
person worthy of credit in this case, my faithful servant the
bearer of this letter, who was present at the engagement, (p. 204)
and did his duty very satisfactorily, as he does on all occasions.
And such amends has God ordained you for the burning of four houses
of your said town. And prisoners there were none taken excepting
one,[202] who was a great chieftain among them, whom I would have
sent to you, but he _cannot yet ride at his ease_.

"And touching the governance which I purpose to make after this,
please your Highness to give sure credence to the bearer of this
letter in whatever he shall lay before your Highness on my part.
And I pray God that He will preserve you always in joy and
honour, and grant me shortly to comfort you with other good news.
Written at Hereford, the said Wednesday, at night.
"Your very humble and obedient son,
"To the King, my most redoubted HENRY.
and sovereign lord and father."

[Footnote 201: All the writers who have copied this
letter, from Rymer downwards, have fallen into a
ludicrous mistake here. Reading an _n_ instead of a
_v_ in the words _J'envoia_ (I sent), they have
translated the passage, "within your lordship of
Monmouth and Jennoia." Sir Harris Nicolas first
supplied the true reading. The mistake led persons
well acquainted with Monmouthshire (among others,
the Author of these Memoirs,) to make different
inquiries as to the lordship of Jennoia: they will
now no longer wonder at the unfruitful issue of
their search.]

[Footnote 202: The author published under the name
of Otterbourne says, that Owyn's son was made
prisoner at Usk on the 25th of March, and one
thousand five hundred of his men were taken or
slain; and that, after the Feast of St. Dunstan,
his chancellor was taken. There is reason to doubt
whether that chronicler has not mistaken the place
and time of the battle to which he refers; though
it is not impossible that another battle (of which,
however, we have no authentic record,) was fought
at Usk a fortnight after the rebels were defeated
at Grosmont: Grosmont is about twenty miles distant
from Usk.]

The true reading of "I sent," instead of "Jennoia," at first might
seem to imply that the Prince was not present in person at the (p. 205)
battle of Grosmont: and there is no positive evidence in the letter to
show that he was there. The testimony which he bears to the gallant
conduct in that field of his faithful servant, whom he despatched with
his letter, has been thought to sanction a belief, that Henry was an
eyewitness of the engagement. But from this doubt the mind turns with
full satisfaction to the religious sentiments which are interwoven
throughout the epistle, and to Henry's considerate and humane treatment
of his prisoner. He would, no doubt, have felt a satisfaction and pride
in immediately placing a high chieftain of Wales in the hands of the
King, on the very day of battle and victory; but he shrunk from
gratifying his own wishes, when his pleasure involved the pain of a
fellow-creature, though that person was his prisoner. Many an incident
throughout his life tends to justify Shakspeare, when he makes Henry
IV. speak of his son's philanthropy and tenderness of feeling:

"He hath a tear for pity, and a hand
Open as day for melting charity."
2 HENRY IV. act iv. sc. iv.

Those united qualities of valour and mercy, of courage and kindness of
heart, which are so beautifully ascribed to a modern English warrior,
were never blended in any character of which history speaks in more
perfect harmony than in Henry of Monmouth:

"A furious lion in battle; (p. 206)
But, duty appeased, in mercy a lamb."

The lesson thus taught him during his early youth in the field of
Grosmont, whether by personal experience of that conflict, or by the
representation of his gallant companions in arms, of what may be
effected by courage and discipline against an enemy infinitely
superior in numbers, was probably not forgotten, ten years afterwards,
at Agincourt.

CHAPTER X. (p. 207)

REBELLION OF NORTHUMBERLAND AND BARDOLF. -- EXECUTION OF THE
ARCHBISHOP OF YORK. -- WONDERFUL ACTIVITY AND RESOLUTION OF THE KING.
-- DEPLORABLE STATE OF THE REVENUE. -- TESTIMONY BORNE BY PARLIAMENT
TO THE PRINCE'S CHARACTER. -- THE PRINCE PRESENT AT THE COUNCIL-BOARD.
-- HE IS ONLY OCCASIONALLY IN WALES, AND REMAINS FOR THE MOST PART IN
LONDON.

1405-1406.

Whilst the Prince was thus exerting himself to the utmost in keeping
the Welsh rebels in check, the King resolved to go once again in person
to the Principality with as strong a force as he could muster; and with
this intention he set forward, probably about the end of April. On the
8th of May he was at Worcester, when he was suddenly informed of the
hostile measures of his enemies in the north. The preface to "The Acts
of the Privy Council" gives the following succinct and clear account
of the proceedings:--"The most memorable event in the sixth year of
Henry IV. was the revolt, in May 1405, of the Earl Marshal, Lord Bardolf,
and the Earl of Northumberland, who had been partially restored to the
King's confidence after the death of his son and brother in (p. 208)
1403.[203] Henry was at that moment at Worcester; and the earliest notice
of the rebellion is contained in a letter from the council to the King,
which, after treating of various matters, concluded by stating that they
were then just informed by his Majesty's son, John of Lancaster, that
Lord Bardolf had privately withdrawn himself to the north; at which they
were much astonished, because the King had ordered him to proceed into
Wales. To guard against any ill consequences which might arise from
this suspicious circumstance, the council instantly despatched in the
same direction Lord Roos and Sir William Gascoyne, the Chief Justice,
as the individuals in whom the King placed most confidence; and,
thinking that Henry might be in want of money, the council borrowed
and sent him one thousand marks. With his accustomed promptitude and
activity, the King lost not a moment in setting off for the north, to
meet the rebellious lords in person; and on the 28th of May he wrote
to his council from Derby, acquainting them with the revolt, and (p. 209)
desiring them to hasten to him at Pomfret with as many followers
as possible."

[Footnote 203: A review of this "aged Earl's"
behaviour, from the first occasion on which he is
introduced to our notice in these Memoirs to the
day of his death, supplies only a melancholy
succession of acts of broken faith. On the 7th of
February 1404, before the assembled estates of the
realm, on receiving the King's pardon for the past,
he most solemnly swore upon the cross of Canterbury
to be true and faithful to his sovereign Henry IV:
he "swore also, on the peril of his soul, that he
knew of no evil intentions on the part of the Duke
of York, or of the Archbishop; and that the King
might place full trust and confidence in them as
his liege subjects."]

The Editor of the Proceedings of the Privy Council says nothing of Scrope,
Archbishop of York, who had risen in open rebellion against the royal
authority; but we cannot pass on without some notice of him. Early in
June, King Henry laid hands on that unfortunate prelate, surrounded by
followers, and armed in a coat of mail; and he commanded Gascoyne, who
was with him, to pass sentence of death upon his prisoner in a summary
way. The Chief Justice refused,[204] with these words: "Neither you,
my lord the King, nor any of your lieges acting in your name, can
lawfully, according to the laws of the kingdom, condemn any bishop to
death." The King then ordered one Fulthorp to sentence him to
decapitation, who forthwith complied; and the Archbishop was carried
to execution with every mark of disgrace, on Whitmonday, June 8th.
Many legends shortly became current about this warlike prelate, who
was one of the most determined enemies of the House of Lancaster. Of
the stories propagated soon after his death, one declares that in the
field of his last earthly struggle the corn was trodden down, and
destroyed irremediably, both by his enemies, who were preparing for
his execution, and by his friends and poor neighbours, who came (p. 210)
to weep and bewail the fate of their beloved chief pastor. The Archbishop,
seeing the destruction which his death was causing, spoke with words
of comfort to the multitude, and promised to intercede with heaven
that the evil might be averted. The field, continues the story, brought
forth at the ensuing harvest six-fold above the average crop. The same
page tells that the King was smitten with the leprosy in the face on
the very hour of the very day in which the Archbishop was beheaded.
The manuscript adds, that many miracles were shown day by day by the
Lord at the tomb of this prelate, to which people flocked from every
side. The enemies of the King endeavoured to exalt this zealous son of
the church into a saint; and to propagate the belief that the King's
disease, which never left him, was a signal and miraculous visitation
of Heaven, avenging the foul murder of so dauntless a martyr.[205]

[Footnote 204: Gascoyne does not appear to have
been even suspended from his office in consequence
of his refusal to sentence the Archbishop; he
continued Chief Justice till after the King's
death.]

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