Henry of Monmouth, Volume 1

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

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[Footnote 106: King RICHARD II. Act v. scene 3.

_Boling._--"Can no man tell of my unthrifty son?"
_Percy._--"My Lord, some two days since I saw the
Prince," &c.]

[Footnote 107: The commons at the same time, of
their own free will, offered to pay as much as they
had formerly paid to King Richard.]

[Footnote 108: An exception by name is made of Owyn
Glyndowr, and also of Rees ap Tudor, and William ap
Tudor. These two brothers, however, surrendered the
Castle of Conway, and William with thirty-one more
received the royal pardon, dated 8th July 1401.
Pardons in the same terms had been granted on the
6th May to the rebels of Chirk; on the 10th, to
those of Bromfield and Oswestry; on the 16th, to
those of Ellesmere; and, upon June 15th, to the
rebels of Whityngton.]

This communication of Henry Percy, as remarkable as it is (p. 104)
interesting, appears to fix to the year 1401 the date of the following,
the very first letter known to exist from Henry of Monmouth. It is
dated Shrewsbury, May 15, and is addressed to the Lords of the Council,
whom he thanks for the kind attention paid by them to all his wants
during his absence in Wales. The epistle breathes the spirit of a
gallant young warrior full of promptitude and intrepidity.[109] It may
be surmised, perhaps, that the letter was written by the Prince's
secretary; and that the sentiments and turn of thought here exhibited
may, after all, be no fair test of his own mind. But this is mere
conjecture and assumption, requiring the testimony of facts to confirm
it: and, against it, we must observe, that there is a simplicity, a
raciness and an individuality of character pervading Henry's letters
which seem to stamp them for his own. Especially do they stand out in
broad contrast, when put side by side with the equally characteristic
despatches of Hotspur.

LETTER OF PRINCE HENRY TO THE COUNCIL.

"Very dear and entirely well-beloved, we greet you much from our
whole heart, thanking you very sincerely for the kind attention
you have given to our wants during our absence; and we pray of
you very earnestly the continuance of your good and friendly (p. 105)
services, as our trust is in you. As to news from these parts,
if you wish to hear of what has taken place, we were lately
informed that Owyn Glyndowr [Oweyn de Glyndourdy] had assembled
his forces, and those of other rebels, his adherents, in great
numbers, purposing to commit inroads; and, in case of any
resistance to his plans on the part of the English, to come
to battle with them: and so he boasted to his own people.
Wherefore we took our men, and went to a place of the said Owyn,
well built, which was his chief mansion, called Saghern, where we
thought we should have found him, if he wished to fight, as he
said. And, on our arrival there, we found no person. So we caused
the whole place to be set on fire, and many other houses around
it, belonging to his tenants. And then we went straight to his
other place of Glyndourdy, to seek for him there. There we burnt
a fine lodge in his park, and the whole country round. And we
remained there all that night. And certain of our people sallied
forth, and took a gentleman of high degree of that country, who
was one of the said Owyn's chieftains. This person offered five
hundred pounds for his ransom to save his life, and to pay that
sum within two weeks. Nevertheless that was not accepted, and he
was put to death; and several of his companions, who were taken
the same day, met with the same fate. We then proceeded to the
commote of Edirnyon in Merionethshire, and there laid waste a
fine and populous country; thence we went to Powys, and, there
being in Wales a want of provender for horses, we made our people
carry oats with them, and we tarried there for ---- days.[110]
And to give you fuller information of this expedition, and all
other news from these parts at present, we send to you our
well-beloved esquire, John de Waterton, to whom you will be
pleased to give entire faith and credence in what he shall report
to you on our part with respect to the above-mentioned (p. 106)
affair. And may our Lord have you always in his holy keeping.--Given
under our signet, at Shrewsbury, the 15th day of May."

[Footnote 109: The original, in French, is
preserved in the British Museum.--Cotton, Cleop.
viii. fol. 117 b.]

[Footnote 110: The original is here imperfect.]

Two days only after the date of this epistle, Hotspur despatched
another letter from Denbigh, which seems to convey the first
intimation of his dissatisfaction with the King's government; a
feeling which rapidly grew stronger, and led probably to the
subsequent outbreaking of his violence and rebellion. Hotspur presses
upon the council the perilous state of the Welsh Marches, at the same
time declaring that he could not endure the expense and labour then
imposed upon him more than one month longer; within four days at
furthest from the expiration of which time he must absolutely resign
his command.

In less than ten days after this despatch of Percy, the King's
proclamation mentions Owyn Glyndowr by name, as a rebel determined to
invade and ravage England. The King, announcing his own intention to
proceed the next day towards Worcester to crush the rebellion himself,
commands the sheriffs of various counties to join him with their
forces, wheresoever he might be. At this period the rebels entered
upon the campaign with surprising vigour. Many simultaneous assaults
appear to have been made against the English in different parts of the
borders. On the 28th of May a proclamation declares Glyndowr to be in
the Marches of Caermarthen; and, only ten days before (May 18th), (p. 107)
a commission was issued to attack the Welsh, who were besieging
William Beauchamp and his wife in the Castle of Abergavenny; whilst,
at the same time, the people of Salop were excused a subsidy, in
consideration of the vast losses they had sustained by the inroads of
the Welsh.

CHAPTER VI. (p. 108)

GLYNDOWR JOINED BY WELSH STUDENTS OF OXFORD. -- TAKES LORD GREY
PRISONER. -- HOTSPUR'S FURTHER DESPATCHES. -- HE QUITS WALES. --
REFLECTIONS ON THE EVENTFUL LIFE AND PREMATURE DEATH OF ISABELLA,
RICHARD'S WIDOW. -- GLYNDOWR DISPOSED TO COME TO TERMS. -- THE KING'S
EXPEDITIONS TOWARDS WALES ABORTIVE. -- MARRIAGE PROPOSED BETWEEN HENRY
AND KATHARINE OF NORWAY. -- THE KING MARRIES JOAN OF NAVARRE.

1401.

When Owyn Glyndowr raised the standard of rebellion in his native
land, and assuming to himself the name and state and powers of an
independent sovereign, under the title of "Prince of Wales," declared
war against Henry of Bolinbroke and his son, he was fully impressed
with the formidable power of his antagonists, and with the fate that
might await him should he fail in his attempt to rescue Wales from the
yoke of England. Embarked in a most perilous enterprise, a cause of
life or death, he vigorously entered on the task of securing every
promising means of success. His countrymen, whom he now called his
subjects, soon flocked to his standard from all quarters. Not only (p. 109)
did those who were already in the Principality take up arms; but
numbers also who had left their homes, and were resident in distant
parts of the kingdom, returned forthwith as at the command of their
prince and liege lord. The Welsh scholars,[111] who were pursuing
their studies in the University of Oxford, were summoned by Owyn, and
the names of some who obeyed the mandate are recorded. Owyn at the
same time negociated for assistance from France, with what success we
shall see hereafter; and sent also his emissaries to Scotland and "the
distant isles." On those of his countrymen who espoused the cause of
the King, and refused to join his standard, he afterwards poured the
full fury of his vengeance; and in the uncurbed madness of his rage,
forgetful of the future welfare of his native land, and of his own
interests should he be established as its prince, unmindful also of
the respect which even enemies pay to the sacred edifices of the
common faith, he reduced to ashes not only the houses of his opponents,
but Episcopal palaces, monasteries, and cathedrals within the
Principality.

[Footnote 111: See Ellis's Original Letters, second
series, vol. i. p. 8.]

Owyn Glyndowr was in a short time so well supported by an army,
undisciplined no doubt, and in all respects ill appointed, but yet
devoted to him and their common cause, that he was emboldened to try
his strength with Lord Grey in the field. A battle, fought (as it (p. 110)
should seem) in the very neighbourhood of Glyndowrdy,[112] terminated
in favour of Owyn, who took the Earl prisoner, and carried him into
the fastnesses of Snowdon. The precise date of this conflict is not
known; probably it was at the opening of spring: the circumstances
also of his capture are very differently represented. It is generally
asserted that a marriage with one of Owyn's daughters was the condition
of regaining his liberty proposed to the Earl; that the marriage was
solemnized; and that Owyn then, instead of keeping his word and releasing
him, demanded of him a most exorbitant ransom. It is, moreover, affirmed,
that the Earl remained Glyndowr's prisoner to the day of his death.
Now, that Lord Grey fell into the Welsh chieftain's hands as a prisoner,
is beyond question; so it is that he paid a heavy ransom: but that he
died in confinement is certainly not true, for he accompanied Henry V.
to France, and also served him by sea. The report of his marriage with
Owyn's daughter, might have originated in some confusion of Lord Grey
with Sir Edmund Mortimer; who unquestionably did take one of the Welsh
chieftain's daughters for his wife.[113] It is scarcely probable that
both Owyn's prisoners should have married his daughters; and still (p. 111)
less probable that he should have exacted so large a ransom from his
son-in-law as to exhaust his means, and prevent him from acting as a
baron of the realm was then expected to act. Dugdale's Baronage gives
the Earl two wives, without naming the daughter of Glyndowr. Hardyng,
in his Chronicle presented to Henry VI, thus describes the affair:

Soone after was the same Lord Gray in feelde
Fightyng taken, and holden prisoner
By Owayne, so that hym in prison helde
Till his ransom was made, and fynaunce clear,
Ten thousand marks, and fully payed were;
For whiche he was so poor then all his life,
That no power he had to war, nor stryfe.

[Footnote 112: Lingard places the site of Owyn's
victory over Lord Grey on the banks of the
"Vurnway."]

[Footnote 113: The Monk of Evesham reports that
Lord Grey was released about the year 1404, having
first paid to Owyn five thousand marks for his
ransom, and leaving his two sons as pledges for the
payment of five thousand more. The same authority
informs us that Edmund Mortimer espoused the
daughter of Owyn with great solemnity. The Pell
Rolls (1 Henry V. June 27) leave us in no doubt as
to the fact of that marriage.]

Another letter from Henry Percy to the council, dated June 4, 1401, is
very interesting in several points of view. It proves that the
negociations "carried in and out," mentioned in a letter written by
the chamberlain of Caernarvon to the King's council, had been
successful, and that the Scots had sent aid to the Welsh chieftain: it
proves also that Hotspur himself was at this time (though bitterly
dissatisfied) carrying on the war for the King in the very heart of
Wales, and amidst its mountain-recesses and strongholds; and that Owyn
was at that time assailed on all sides by the English forces, a (p. 112)
circumstance which might probably have led to his "good intention to
return to his allegiance," at the close of the present year. Henry
Percy declares to the council that he can support the expenses of the
campaign no longer. He informs them of an engagement in which, assisted
by Sir Hugh Browe and the Earl of Arundel, the only Lords Marchers who
had joined him in the expedition, he had a few days before routed the
Welsh at Cader Idris. News, he adds, had just reached him of a victory
gained by Lord Powis[114] over Owyn; also that an English vessel had
been retaken from the Scots, and a Scotch vessel of war had been
captured at Milford. Another letter, dated 3rd July, (probably the
same year, 1401,) reiterates his complaints of non-payment of his
forces, and of the government having underrated his services; it
expresses his hope also that, since he had written to the King himself
with a statement of his destitute condition, should any evil happen to
castle, town, or march, the blame would not be cast on him, whose
means were so utterly crippled, but would fall on the heads of those
who refused the supplies. Henry IV. had certainly not neglected this
rebellion in Wales, though evidently the measures adopted against the
insurgents were not so vigorous at the commencement as the (p. 113)
urgency of the case required. His exchequer was exhausted, and he had
other business in hand to drain off the supplies as fast as they could
possibly be collected. He was, therefore, contented for the present to
keep the rebels in check, without attempting to crush them by pouring
in an overwhelming force from different points at once.

[Footnote 114: This nobleman, John Charlton, Lord
Powis, died on the 19th of October following, and
was succeeded by his son Edward, who, on the 5th of
August, (probably in 1402 or 1403,) applied to the
council for a reinforcement.--Min. of Coun.]

Towards the middle of this summer, the King marched in person to
Worcester. He had directed the sheriffs to forward their contingents
thither; but, when he arrived at that city, he changed his purpose and
soon returned to London. Among the considerations which led to this
change in his plans, we may probably reckon the following. In the
first place, he found his son the Prince, Lord Powis, and Henry Percy,
in vigorous operation against the rebels; his arrival at Worcester
having been only three or four days after the date of Percy's last
letter. In the next place, the council had urged him not to go in
person against the rebels: besides, almost all the inhabitants of
North Wales had returned to their allegiance, and had been pardoned.
He was, moreover, naturally anxious to summon a parliament, with a
view of replenishing his exhausted treasury, and enabling himself to
enter upon the campaign with means more calculated to insure success.

In a letter to his council, dated Worcester, 8th June 1401, the King
refers to two points of advice suggested by them. "Inasmuch as (p. 114)
you have advised us," he says, "to write to our much beloved son, the
Prince, and to others, who may have in their possession any jewels
which ought to be delivered with our cousin the Queen, (Isabella,)
know ye, that we will send to our said son, that, if he has any of
such jewels, he will send them with all possible speed to you at our
city of London, where, if God will, we intend to be in our own person
before the Queen's departure; and we will cause to be delivered to her
there the rest of the said jewels, which we and others our children
have in our keeping." In answer to their advice that he would not go
in person against the rebels, because they were not in sufficient
strength, and of too little reputation to warrant that step, he said
that he found they had risen in great numbers, and called for his
personal exertions. He forwarded to them at the same time a copy of
the letter which he had just received from Owyn himself. Not from this
correspondence only, but from other undisputed documents, and from the
loud complaints of French writers,[115] we are compelled to infer
something extremely unsatisfactory in the conduct of Henry IV. with
regard to the valuable paraphernalia of Isabella, the maiden-widow of
Richard. To avoid restoring these treasures, which fell into his hands
on the capture of that unfortunate monarch, Henry proposed, in (p. 115)
November 1399, a marriage between one of his sons and one of the
daughters of the French monarch. In January 1400 a truce was signed
between the two kingdoms, and the same negociators (the Bishop of
Durham and the Earl of Worcester) were directed to treat with the
French ambassadors on the terms of the restitution of Isabella; and so
far did they immediately proceed, that horses were ordered for her
journey to Dover. But legal doubts as to her dower (she not being
twelve years of age) postponed her departure till the next year. She
had arrived at Boulogne certainly on the 1st of August 1401; and was
afterwards delivered up to her friends by the Earl of Worcester, with
the solemn assurance of her spotless purity.

[Footnote 115: Many of our own historians have,
either in ignorance or design, very much misled
their readers on the subject.]

It is impossible to glance at this lady's brief and melancholy career
without feelings of painful interest:--espoused when yet a child to
the reigning monarch of England; whilst yet a child, crowned Queen of
England; whilst yet a child, become a virgin-widow; when she was not
yet seventeen years old, married again to Charles, Earl of Angouleme;
and three years afterwards, before she reached the twentieth
anniversary of her birthday, dying in childbed.[116]

[Footnote 116: It is not generally understood,
(indeed, some of our historians have not only been
ignorant of the fact, but have asserted the
contrary,) that this princess was the elder sister
of Katharine of Valois, married thirteen years
after Isabella's death to Henry of Monmouth.
Katharine was not born till after Isabella's
restoration from England to her father's home.
Isabella was born November 9, 1389; was solemnly
married by the Archbishop of Canterbury to Richard
II. in Calais, November 4, 1397 (not quite nine
years old); was crowned at Westminster on the 8th
of January following; was married to her second
husband, 29th June 1406; and died at Blois, 13th
September 1409.--Anselme, vol. i. p. 114.]

By the above letter of the King, which led to this digression, (p. 116)
we are informed that the Prince was neither with his father, nor in
London; for the King promised to write to him to send the jewels to
London. He was probably at that time on the borders of North Wales; or
engaged in reducing the Castles of Conway and Rhees, and in bringing
that district into subjection. Indeed, that the Prince was still
personally exerting himself in suppressing the Welsh towards the north
of the Principality, seems to be put beyond all question by the
records of the Privy Council, which state that "certain members of the
Prince's council brought with them to the King's council the indenture
between the said Prince and Henry Percy the son (Chief Justice) on one
part, and those who seized the Castle[117] of Conway on the other (p. 117)
part, made at the time of the restitution of the same castle."[118]

[Footnote 117: One of these, Wm. ap Tudor, with
thirty-one others, was pardoned July 8. In his
petition he suggests that in all disputes between
the burgesses and themselves, there ought to be a
fair inquest, half Welsh and half English. This is
supposed to have been the usual law; but probably
in these turbulent times it might too often have
been dispensed with for a less impartial mode of
trial. Besides, among the many severe enactments
against the Welsh, the King, in 1400, had assented
to an ordinance proposed by the Commons, to remain
in force for three years, that no Englishman should
have judgment against him at the suit of a
Welshman, except at the hands of judges and a jury
entirely English.]

[Footnote 118: The castles in Wales were at this
time very scantily garrisoned; indeed, the
smallness of the number of the men by whom some of
them were defended is scarcely credible. And yet,
in the exhausted state of the treasury of the King,
of the Prince, of Henry Percy and others, those
castles, even in the miserably limited extent of
their establishments, could with difficulty be
retained. When besieged, the garrison could never
venture upon a sally. For example, Conway had only
fifteen men-at-arms and sixty archers, kept at an
expense of 714_l._ 15_s._ 10_d._ annually:
Caernarvon had twenty men-at-arms and eighty
archers: Harlech had ten men-at-arms and thirty
archers.--See Sir H. Ellis's Original Letters.]

Owyn appears to have left his own country, in which the spirit of
rebellion had received a considerable though temporary check; and to
have been at this period exciting and heading the rebels in South
Wales, especially about Caermarthen and Gower.

* * * * *

Hotspur himself left Wales probably about the July or August of this
year, 1401; for on the 1st of September he was appointed one of the
commissioners to treat with the Scots for peace; and he was present at
the solemn espousals which were celebrated by proxy at Eltham, April
3, 1402, between Henry IV. and Joan of Navarre. We must, therefore,
refer to a subsequent date the information quoted by Sir Henry Ellis
from an original paper in the British Museum, "that Jankin Tyby of the
north countri bringthe lettres owte of the northe country to (p. 118)
Owein, as thei demed from Henr. son Percy." Soon after the departure
of Percy, a proclamation, dated 18th September 1401, notifies the rapid
progress of disaffection and rebellion among the Welsh: whether it was
secretly encouraged by him at this early date, or not, is matter only
of conjecture. His growing discontent, visibly shown in his own letters,
this vague rumour that Jankin Tyby might be the confidential messenger
for his treasonable purposes, and his subsequent conduct, combine to
render the suspicion by no means improbable. The proclamation states
that a great part of the inhabitants of Wales had gone over to Owyn,
and commands all ablebodied men to meet the King at Worcester on the
1st, or, at the furthest, the 2nd of October. Perhaps this, like his
former visit to Worcester, was little more than a demonstration of his
force.[119] Historians generally say that he made the first of his
expeditions into Wales in the July of the following year; the Minutes
of Council prove at all events that he was there in the present autumn,
but how long or with what results does not appear. The council met (p. 119)
in November 1401, to deliberate, among other subjects, upon the affairs
of Wales, "from which country (as the Minute expressly states) our
sovereign lord the King hath but lately returned,[120] having appointed
the Earl of Worcester to be Lieutenant of South Wales, and Captain of
Cardigan."[121]

[Footnote 119: The Monk of Evesham states expressly
that, towards the end of this year, the King,
intending to hasten to Wales for the third time,
came to Evesham on Michaelmas-day, September 29,
but not with so large a force as before; and on the
third day, after breakfast, he proceeded to
Worcester, whence, after the ninth day, with the
advice of his council, he returned through Alcester
to London.]

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