Henry of Monmouth, Volume 2

J >> J. Endell Tyler >> Henry of Monmouth, Volume 2

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30

[Footnote 12: Minutes of Council, 29 June 1413.]

Among the various causes to which historians have been accustomed to
attribute the general anticipations of good from Henry's reign, which
pervaded all classes, is the appointment of Gascoyne to the high
station of Chief Justice immediately upon his ascending the throne.
But we have already seen that, however gladly an eulogist would seize
on such an exalted instance of magnanimity and noble generosity, the
truth of history forbids our even admitting its probability in this
place. Henry certainly did not re-appoint Gascoyne. But, whilst we
cannot admit the tradition which would mark the true character of
Henry's mind by his behaviour to the Chief Justice, there is not
wanting many an authentic record which would amply account for his
almost unprecedented popularity at the very commencement of his reign.
Among these we must not omit to notice the resolution which he put in
practice of retiring for an hour or more every day, after his early
dinner, to receive petitions from any of his subjects, however (p. 011)
humble,[13] who would appeal to him for his royal interposition;
to examine and consider the several cases patiently; and to redress
real grievances. Indeed, numberless little occurrences meet us on
every side, which seem to indicate very clearly that he loved the
right and hated iniquity; and that he was never more happy than whilst
engaged in deeds of justice, mercy, and charity. He seems to have
received the golden law for his rule, "See that they who are in need
and necessity have right;" and to have rejoiced in keeping that (p. 012)
law himself, and compelling all within the sphere of his authority and
influence to observe it also.

[Footnote 13: Many original petitions addressed to
Henry are still preserved among our records. In
one, which may serve as a specimen of the kind of
application to which this custom compelled him to
open his ear, Richard Hunt appeals to him as a
"right merciable lord, moved with pity, mercy, and
grace." "In great desolation and heaviness of
heart," the petitioner states that his son-in-law,
Richard Peke, who had a wife and four children, and
had been all his life a true labourer and innocent
man, and well-beloved by his neighbours, had been
detected in taking from a vessel goods not worth
three shillings; for which crime his mortal enemies
(though they might have their property again) "sued
to have him dead." He urges Henry to grant him
"full noble grace," at the reverence of Almighty
God, and for passion that Christ suffered for all
mankind, and for the pity that he had on Mary
Magdalene. The petitioner then promised (as
petitioners now do) to pray for endless mercy on
Henry; he adds, moreover, what would certainly
sound strange in a modern petition to a monarch,
"And ye, gracious and sovereign lord, shall have a
good ox to your larder." Henry granted the
petition. "The King woll that this bill pass
without any manner of fine, or fees that longeth to
him."]

Another incident recorded of Henry of Monmouth at this period,
strongly marking the kindness and generosity and nobleness of his
mind, was the removal of the remains of Richard II. from Langley to
Westminster. Without implying any consciousness, or even suspicion of
guilt, on the part of his father as to Richard's death, we may easily
suppose Henry to have regarded the deposition of that monarch as an
act of violence, justifiable only on the ground of extreme necessity:
he might have considered him as an injured man, by whose fall his
father and himself had been raised to the throne. Instead of allowing
his name and his mortal remains to be buried in oblivion, (with the
chance moreover of raising again in men's minds fresh doubts and
surmises of his own title to the throne, for he was not Richard's
right heir,) Henry resolved to pay all the respect in his power to the
memory of the friend of his youth, and by the only means at his
command to make a sort of reparation for the indignities to which the
royal corpse had been exposed. He caused the body to be brought in
solemn funeral state to Westminster, and there to be buried,[14] with
all the honour and circumstance accustomed to be paid to the earthly
remains of royalty, by the side of his former Queen, Anne, (p. 013)
in the tomb prepared by Richard for her and for himself. The diligent
investigator will discover many such incidents recorded of Henry V;
some of a more public and important nature than others, but all
combining to stamp on his name in broad and indelible letters the
character of a truly high-minded, generous, grateful, warm-hearted
man.

[Footnote 14: The Pell Rolls acquaint us with the
very great expense incurred on this occasion.]

Another instance of the same feeling, carried, perhaps, in one point a
step further in generosity and Christian principle, was evinced in his
conduct towards the son of Sir Henry Percy, Hotspur, the former
antagonist of his house. This young nobleman had been carried by his
friends into Scotland, for safe keeping, on the breaking out of his
grandfather's (Northumberland's) rebellion; and was detained there, as
some say, in concealment, till Henry V. made known his determination
to restore him to his title and estates. The Scots, who were in
possession of his person, kept him as a prisoner and hostage; and
although Henry might have considered a foreign land the best home for
the son of the enemy of his family, yet so bent was he on effecting
the noble design of reinstating him in all which his father's and his
grandfather's treason had forfeited, that he consented to exchange for
him a noble Scot, who had been detained in England for thirteen years.
Mordak of Fife, son and heir of the Duke of Albany, had been taken
prisoner at the battle of Homildon Hill, in 1402, (it is curious to
remark,) by Hotspur, and his father Northumberland; and now (p. 014)
Henry V. exchanges this personage for Hotspur's son, the heir of
Northumberland. This youth was only an infant when his father fell at
the battle of Shrewsbury; his mother was Elizabeth, eldest daughter of
Edmund Mortimer,[15] Earl of March: and thus a king, under the
circumstances of Henry, but with a less noble mind, might have
regarded him with jealousy on both sides of his parentage, and been
glad (without exposing himself to the charge of any positive act of
harshness) to allow him to remain in a foreign country deprived of his
honours and his estates. But Henry's spirit soared above these
considerations; and, in the orphan of a generous rival, he saw only a
fit object on whom to exercise his generosity and Christian charity. A
negotiation was carried on between Henry and some who represented
young Percy; care being taken to ascertain the identity of the person
who should be offered in exchange for Mordak. After certain prescribed
oaths were taken, and pledges given, and the payment of a stipulated
sum, 10,000_l._, the young man was invited to come to Henry's court
with all speed.

[Footnote 15: Dugdale's Baronage.]

There seems to have intervened some considerable impediment to this
proposed exchange.[16] The commission to John Hull and William
Chancellor to convey Mordak to the north bears date 21st of (p. 015)
May; and yet instructions for a negotiation with his father, the Duke
of Albany, then Regent of Scotland, for the exchange, were issued to
Sir Ralph Evre and others, as late as the 10th of the following
December. At the parliament, however, held March 16, 1416, Henry
Percy, in the presence of the King himself, does homage for his lands
and honours. And, before Henry's death, the Pell Rolls record payments
to this Earl of Northumberland, appointed guardian of Berwick and the
East March, as regularly as, in the early part of Henry IV.'s reign,
issues had been made to his father Hotspur, and his grandfather, the
aged Earl, for the execution of the same duties. The lands of the
Percies, on their attainder, were confiscated, and given to the King's
brother, the Duke of Bedford; to whom, on restoring his lands and
honours to the young Earl, Henry made an annual compensation in part
at least for the loss.[17]

[Footnote 16: Minutes of Council, 21 May and 10
Dec. 1415. Addit. MS. 4600. Art. 147.]

[Footnote 17: Pell Rolls, Mich. 4. Hen. V. Many
documents also in Rymer refer to this transaction.]

Another example of generous behaviour in the young King towards those
whom he had in his power, and of whom less noble minds would have
entertained suspicion and jealousy, is seen in his conduct towards the
Earl of March.[18] This young nobleman, by the law of (p. 016)
primogeniture, was rightful heir to the throne; being descended from
Lionel Duke of Clarence, third son of Edward III. And so much was he a
cause of apprehension and uneasiness to Henry IV. and his council,
that it was thought necessary to keep him in close custody, and also
near the person of the King, whenever the court removed towards the
borders of the kingdom. It was in the name of this young man that his
uncle Edmund Mortimer excited all his tenantry and dependents to join
Owyn Glyndowr in rebellion against Henry IV; and on all occasions the
malcontents of the whole country, supposing Richard to be dead, held
forth the Earl of March as their liege sovereign. Henry V. could not
have been charged with unwarrantable suspicions or severity, had he
continued the same system of watchfulness over this formidable
personage, which had been observed under the reign of his predecessor.
Provided only that he treated him with kindness, few would have
wondered or complained if he had still kept him as a prisoner on
parole.[19] But Henry, to whose guardianship, whilst Prince (p. 017)
of Wales, the young Earl had been intrusted, was no sooner seated on
the throne, than he admitted this young man into a full share of his
confidence; not with the suspicion of a rival, nor with the fear of an
enemy, but with the openness of an acknowledged and kind master
towards a trustworthy and devoted servant. The references to (p. 018)
him which are found in the authentic records of that time (and they
are not a few) all tend to establish this point.[20] Henry immediately
gave him, on his coming of age, full and free possession of all his
manors, castles, lands, advowsons, and honours; and seems to have had
him continually in his retinue as a companion and friend. On one
occasion we may suppose that Henry's suspicions and apprehensions of
danger from the young Earl must have been roused; and yet we find him
still continued in his confidence, and still left without any
restraint or estrangement. When the conspiracy against Henry was
discovered at Southampton, the Earl of Cambridge, (as we shall see
more in detail hereafter,) in his letter of confession, declares it to
have been the intention of the conspirators to carry the Earl of March
into Wales, and to proclaim him as their lawful king. How far the
young Earl was privy to this conspiracy, or to what extent he was "art
and part" in it, does not distinctly appear. An expression, indeed, in
the early part of the Earl of Cambridge's letter, "Having the Earl of
March by his own consent, and by the assent of myself," should seem to
imply that he was by no means ignorant of the plans of the
conspirators, nor averse to them. How far, moreover, Henry thought him
guilty, is matter of doubt; but certain it is, that he deemed (p. 019)
it necessary to have the King's pardon regularly signed in the usual
manner for all treasons, felonies, and misdemeanors. The instrument
bears date August 7, 1415, at Southampton. This document, however, by
no means proves his guilt: on many occasions such patents of pardon
were granted to prevent malicious and vexatious prosecutions.
Nevertheless, at all events, it shows that Henry's thoughts must have
been especially drawn to the relative circumstances under which
himself and the Earl of March were placed; and yet he continued to
behave towards him with the same confidence and friendship as before.
Two years afterwards, Henry appointed him his lieutenant at sea, with
full powers; yet so as not to supersede the privileges and authority
of the high admiral, the Duke of Exeter.[21] The following year, in
the summer, he was made lieutenant and guardian-general of all
Normandy; and in the December of the same year he was commissioned to
receive the homage and oaths of all in that country who owed suit and
service to the King. He fought side by side with Henry at the field of
Agincourt; and there seems to have grown stronger and riper between
them a spirit of friendship and mutual confidence.[22]

[Footnote 18: Roger Mortimer, fifth Earl of March,
son and heir of Philippa, daughter and heiress of
Lionel Duke of Clarence, third son of Edward III,
died in 1398; leaving two sons, Edmund, of whom we
are here speaking, then about six years of age, and
Roger, about a year younger.]

[Footnote 19: In a previous section of these
Memoirs, brief mention has been made of the
abortive attempt to carry off into Wales this young
Earl of March and his brother, and of the generous
conduct of Henry of Monmouth in his endeavour to
restore the Duke of York to the King's favour,
which he had forfeited in consequence of his
alleged participation in that bold design. A
manuscript has since been brought under the
Author's notice, which places in a very strong
light the treasonable and murderous purpose of
those who originated the plot, and would account
for the most watchful and jealous caution on the
part of the reigning family against a repetition of
such attempts. Henry must have been fully aware of
his danger; and the fact of his throwing off all
suspicion towards the young Earl, and receiving him
with confidence and friendship, enhances our
estimate of the generous and noble spirit which
actuated him. The document, in other points
curious, seems to deserve a place here:

"The Friday after St. Vallentyne's day, anno 6
Henrici Quarti, ye Erll of Marche's sons was
secretly conveyd out of Wyndsor Castell yerly in ye
morninge, and fond af[ter?] by diligent serche. But
ye smythe, for makyng the key, lost fyrst his
lands; after, his heed. Ye Lady Spenser, wydow to
the Lord Spenser executed at Bristow, and syster to
ye Duke of York, was comytted cloase prysonner,
whare she accused her brother predict for the
actor, for ye children predict; and that he sholde
entend to breake into the King's manor att Eltham
ye last Crystmas by scaling the walles in ye
nighte, and there to murther ye Kinge; and, for
better proaffe hereof, that yf eyther knight or
squyer of England wold combatt for her in the
quarrell, she wold endure her body to be burned yf
he war vanquished. Then W. Maydsten, one of her
sqyres [undertook?] his Mrs. quarrell with gage of
his wheed [so], and was presently arrested by Lord
Thomas, ye Kyng's son, to the Tower, and his goods
confyscatt. Thomas Mowbray, Erll Marshall, accused
to be privy to the same, butt was
pardoned."--Lansdown, 860 a, fol. 288 b.]

[Footnote 20: 14 Nov. 1414. MS. Donat. 4600.
Reference is made there to June 9, 1413, not three
months after Henry's accession.]

[Footnote 21: 1417, July 20, at Porchester. 1418, 2
June, at Berneye. December 1418, in the camp before
Rouen. 11 June 1416.--Rymer.]

[Footnote 22: In the summer after the battle of
Agincourt the King "takes into his especial care
William of Agincourt, the prisoner of his very dear
cousin Edmund Earl of March."]

These are a few among the many examples upon record of the (p. 020)
generous and noble spirit of Henry; whilst history may be challenged
to bring forward any instances of cruelty or oppression to neutralize
them. Sir Matthew Hale confessed that he could never discover any act
of public injustice and tyranny during the Lancastrian sway; and the
inquirer into Henry of Monmouth's character may be emboldened to
declare, that he can discover no act of wanton severity, or cruelty,
or unkindness in his life. The case of the prisoners in the day and on
the field of Agincourt, the fate of Lord Cobham, and the wars in
France, require each a separate examination; and in our inquiry we
must not forget the kind, and gentle, and compassionate spirit which
appears to breathe so naturally and uniformly from his heart: on the
other hand, we must not suffer ourselves to be betrayed into such a
full reliance on his character for mercy, as would lead us to give a
blind implicit sanction to all his deeds of arms. In our estimate of
his character, moreover, as indicated by his conduct previously to his
first invasion of France, and during his struggles and conquests
there, it is quite as necessary for us to bear in mind the tone, and
temper, and standard of political and moral government which prevailed
in his age, as it is essential for us, when we would estimate his
religious character, to recollect what were in that age (p. 021)
throughout Christendom the acknowledged principles of the church in
communion with the see of Rome.

On Monday, April 30, 1414, Henry met his parliament at Leicester.[23]
Why it was not held at Westminster, we have no positive reasons
assigned in history;[24] and the suggestion of some, that the
enactments there made against the Lollards were too hateful to be
passed at the metropolis, is scarcely reasonable.[25] The Bishop of
Winchester, as Chancellor, set forth in very strong language the
treasonable practices lately discovered and discomfited; and the
parliament enacted a very severe law against all disturbers of the
peace of the realm and of the unity of the church. It is generally
said that the reading of the Bible in English was forbidden in this
session under very severe penalties; but no such enactment (p. 022)
seems to have been recorded. The prelates, however, were the judges of
what heresy was; and to study the Holy Scriptures in the vernacular
language might well have seemed to them a very dangerous practice; to
be checked, therefore, with a strong hand. The judges, and other state
officers, were directed to take an oath to exert themselves for the
suppression of Lollardism.

[Footnote 23: This parliament was summoned to be at
Leicester on the 29th of February, but was
prorogued to the 30th of April. At this period
parliaments were by no means uniformly held at
Westminster.]

[Footnote 24: In this parliament we find a petition
loudly complaining of the outrages of the Welsh.]

[Footnote 25: About this time there seems to have
been entertained by the legislature a most
determined resolution to limit the salaries of
chaplains in private families. Many sumptuary laws
were made on this subject. Provisions were made
repeatedly in this and other parliaments against
excessive payments to them. The origin of this
feeling does not appear to have transpired.
Probably it was nothing more than a jealousy
excited by the increasing wealth of the
church.--Parl. Rolls, 2 Henry V.]

Again and again are we reminded, through the few years of Henry's
reign, that the cause of liberty was progressive; and any
encroachments of the royal prerogative upon the liberties of the
Commons were restrained and corrected, with the free consent and full
approbation of the King. A petition in English, presented to him in
this parliament, in many respects a curious document, with the King's
answer, bears testimony to the same point. "Our sovereign lord,--your
humble and true lieges that been come for the commons of your land,
beseech unto your right righteousness, that so as it hath ever been
their liberty and freedom that there should be no statute nor law made
otherwise than they gave their assent thereto, considering that the
commons of your land (the which is and ever hath been a member of your
parliament) been as well assenters as petitioners, that from this time
forward, by complaint of the commons of any mischief asking remedy by
mouth of their Speaker, or else by petition written, that there never
be no law made thereupon, and engrossed as statute and law, (p. 023)
neither by addition, neither by diminution, by no manner of term or
terms, the which should change the sentence and the intent asked by
the Speaker's mouth, or the petitions before said, given up in writing
without assent of the aforesaid commons." To this petition the
following answer was made: "The King, of his grace especial, granteth,
that from henceforth nothing be enacted to the petitions of his
commons that be contrary to their asking, whereby they should be bound
without their assent; saving alway to our liege lord his real
prerogative to grant or deny what him lust of their petitions and
askings aforesaid."

This parliament was adjourned from Leicester, and re-assembled at
Westminster on the Octaves of St. Martin, 18th November 1414. The most
gratifying record of this great council of the realm is that which
informs us of the restoration of Henry Percy to his estates and
honours. The most important subject to which the thoughts of the peers
and commons were drawn was the King's determination to recover his
rights in the realm of France.

The motives which influenced Henry to undertake this extraordinary
step can be known only to the Searcher of hearts. Some writers, in
their excessive zeal for Protestantism, anxiously bent on stamping
upon Henry the character of an ambitious tyrant and a religious
persecutor, employ no measured language in their condemnation (p. 024)
of his designs against France. Milner thus gives his summary of the
proceedings of this reign at home and abroad. "Henry Chicheley, now
Archbishop of Canterbury, continued at the head of that see from
February 1414, to April 1443. This man deserves to be called the
firebrand of the age in which he lived. To subserve the purposes of
his own pride and tyranny, he engaged King Henry in his famous contest
with France, by which a prodigious carnage was made of the human race,
and the most dreadful miseries were brought upon both kingdoms. But
Henry was a soldier, and understood the art of war, though perfectly
ignorant of religion; and that ardour of spirit, which in youth[26]
had spent itself in vicious indulgences, was now employed under the
management of Chicheley in desolating France by one of the most unjust
wars ever waged by ambition, and in furnishing for vulgar minds matter
of declamation on the valour of the English nation. While this scene
was carrying on in France, the Archbishop at home, partly by exile,
partly by forced abjurations, and partly by the flames, domineered
over the Lollards, and almost effaced the vestiges of godliness in the
kingdom."

[Footnote 26: When his determination to recover his
rights was announced in parliament, he was
twenty-seven years of age.]

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30