Henry of Monmouth, Volume 2

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This advice appears to have been followed by Henry
throughout.

The Minutes of Council, February 2, 1415, after
stating the measures proposed for the safeguard of
the sea, and the marches of Scotland and Wales, &c.
during the King's absence, record this remarkable
advice: that Henry would direct his treasurer to
bring a clear statement of his debtor and creditor
account, the demands of the treasury, and the
income; also the debts incurred since the
coronation, and the annuities to which he was
pledged; "in order that, before the departure of
the King, such provision may be made in every part,
according to the amount of the charges, that the
mind and soul of the King might be set at ease and
comfort, that he might depart like a Christian
Prince with a good government, and the better
accomplish his voyage, to the pleasure of God, and
the singular comfort of all his faithful
lieges."--Acts of Privy Council, vol. ii. p. 148.]

[Footnote 80: A renewed charge of hypocrisy,
brought against Henry by the same pen, will call
for a renewed inquiry; and whatever further remarks
may be made on that topic, are reserved for the
page in which we shall shortly enter upon the
investigation of the charges.]

There remains the charge of impiety, which is made to rest on Henry
having called the Almighty to witness a falsehood, and quoted
Scripture in support of what he affirmed. It was undoubtedly too much
the practice then, as unhappily it is now, for Christians, on trivial
occasions, to appeal to Heaven, and to quote the sanction of Scripture
in very questionable matters of worldly policy. But Henry does not
appeal presumptuously, nor quote lightly; he appeals solemnly, and he
quotes reverently, in a matter of very great importance to both
kingdoms, and in a cause which he believed to be founded in right and
justice. He appealed to Heaven to witness what he regarded as true.
The page we have been examining accuses Henry of falsehood, hypocrisy,
and impiety: the evidence of facts, and the testimony of his
contemporaries, represent him to us in the character of an honest,
undisguised, and pious King.

On Tuesday, April 16, Henry held a council at Westminster, at (p. 104)
which the Chancellor, Henry Beaufort, briefly explained the
proceedings of the great council, enumerating the causes which induced
their King, in the name of God, to undertake in his own person an
expedition for the recovery of his inheritance. On the next day the
Chancellor informed the council that the King had appointed the Duke
of Bedford to be lieutenant of England[81] during his absence; with
the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Winchester, and other
prelates and lay lords to form his council.

[Footnote 81: Hall says, that "he left for governor
behind him his mother-in-law, the Queen." And
Goodwin (referring for his authority to Hall and
Pat. 3 Hen. V. p. 2. m. 41.) states that he made
her regent, and the Duke of Bedford protector. But
this seems to have originated in mere mistake.]

As early as May 26, an order was issued to suspend the assizes through
England during the King's absence, lest his lieges who accompanied him
might be subjected to inconvenience and injustice. The defence of the
country towards Scotland and Wales was provided for, and the rate of
wages payable to his retinue and soldiers was fixed. Every duke was to
receive 13_s._ 4_d._, every earl 6_s._ 8_d._, every baron 4_s._, and
every knight 2_s._, every esquire being a man-at-arms 12_d._, every
archer 6_d._ each day; whilst for every thirty men-at-arms a reward
was assigned of one hundred marks a quarter; together with some other
stipulations.

In the spring and summer the King issued[82] commissions to hire (p. 105)
ships from Holland and Zealand; to press sailors to navigate his
vessels; to provide workmen to make and repair bows; to procure carts
and waggons for the conveyance of his stores; also a supply of masons,
carpenters, and smiths, together with the materials of the respective
trades. The sheriffs of different counties were ordered to buy cattle;
and the sheriff of Hampshire was to cause bread to be baked, and ale
to be brewed, at Winchester and Southampton, and the parts adjacent,
for the use of the army.

[Footnote 82: The particulars of these commissions
may be found in Rymer, or in Sir Harris Nicolas's
"Battle of Agincourt," to whom the reader is
referred for more minute information on the
subject.]

The King not only thus took effective measures for the transport and
supply of his forces, but commanded also the Archbishop and the other
prelates to array the clergy for the defence of the kingdom at home
during his absence. Every sheriff also was to proclaim that a nightly
watch should be kept till All-Saints' Day; and no taverner was to
allow any stranger to remain in his house more than one day and night,
without knowledge of the cause of his delay; and all suspicious
persons were to be committed to prison.

Though parliament had granted a liberal supply, the King, finding his
expenses to exceed his means, made a direct and powerful appeal to all
his loving subjects for a loan, with promise of repayment; and (p. 106)
a considerable sum was raised in consequence of that appeal, but
still not enough. He was, therefore, compelled to pawn his plate and
jewels, (as he had done with his small stock in early youth during the
Welsh rebellion,) and to have recourse to all expedients for raising
the necessary sums. These expedients were often totally incompatible
with our present notions of the royal dignity; but no intimation
appears anywhere of the least unfair and dishonourable dealing on the
part of the King. His appeals to the people much resembled those of
Charles I, under still more urgent circumstances, in after ages.

A curious fact is recorded in the minutes of a council held May 25,
1415, respecting a demand for money from the companies of foreign
merchants resident in London. They were summoned before the council,
and informed that it was usual for merchants who traded in any other
country than their own to lend the government such sums as they could
bear, or else be committed to prison during pleasure. This custom was
justified on the ground of many and great privileges secured to them
in their traffic by the King's favour, from which they derived great
wealth. Certain sums were demanded, and sufficient pledges of gold,
silver, and jewels were offered; but the merchants of Florence,
Venice, and Lucca [de Luk] refused to comply, and were committed to
the custody of the warden of the Fleet Prison. From the merchants (p. 107)
of Florence was required 1,200_l._, from those of Venice 1,000_l._,
from those of Lucca 200_l._ These strong measures seem to have worked
their intended effect, for all those guilds granted loans afterwards.

Having now effected every preparation in his power, the King passed
through London, accompanied by the Mayor and citizens (who attended
him as far as Kingston); and having made an offering at St. Paul's,
and taken leave of his mother-in-law the Queen, he proceeded on his
way towards Southampton, where all his ships and contingents were
directed to await his arrival.

Reaching Winchester, he remained there for some days from June 26th,
probably to give audience to the French ambassadors, who were
presented to him on the 30th. The Archbishop of Bourges headed that
embassy, and the Bishop of Winchester was Henry's representative and
spokesman. Much of negociating and bartering ensued, and at first many
conciliatory communications were made on both sides; the French
yielding much, the English adhering to their original demands, or
remitting little from them. At length, the reply of the Archbishop put
an abrupt end to further discussion; and Henry commanded the
ambassadors to depart, with a promise that he would soon follow them.

It is here again painful to read the unkind and unjustifiable language
of the same author, whose triple charge against Henry's religious (p. 108)
and moral character we have just investigated, when he describes the
surprise of the French monarch and his court on the return of these
ambassadors. "Until that moment," he says, "the French court, either
_cajoled_ by Henry's _hypocrisy_, or lulled into security by a
mistaken estimate of his power, had neglected every means for
resisting the storm which was about to burst upon their country."
Henry stands convicted of no hypocrisy; and his accuser alleges no
evidence on which an impartial mind would pronounce him guilty. It is
curious as it is satisfactory to lay side by side with this unguarded
calumny the version of the circumstances of that time, made by an
unprejudiced foreigner, and a very sensible well-versed historian.[83]
"France was then governed by the Dauphin Louis, a young and
presumptuous prince, who had up to this point thought himself able to
amuse Henry by feigned negociations. Nevertheless, the preparations
going on in England having opened the eyes of his council, a
resolution was taken to send to England twelve ambassadors, at the
head of whom was the Archbishop of Bourges."

[Footnote 83: Abrege Historique des Actes publics
d'Angleterre.]

Several contemporary writers, as well as general tradition, state
that, on occasion of one of the various embassies sent to and fro
between the courts of London and Paris, the Dauphin, then about
eighteen or nineteen years of age, sent an insulting present (p. 109)
to Henry of a tun of tennis-balls, with a message full of contempt and
scorn,[84] implying that a racket-court was a more fit place for him
than a battle-field. It is well observed, that such an act of wilful
provocation must have convinced both parties of the hopelessness of
any attempts towards a pacific arrangement; and, since the
negociations were carried on to the very last, some discredit has
thence been attempted to be thrown on the story altogether. But it
must be remembered (as the author of the Abrege Historique justly
remarks) that these negociations were continued, on the part of
France, merely to gain time, and withdraw Henry from his purpose;
whilst Henry, on the other side, by his renewed proposals for the hand
of Katharine, (an union on which he appears from the first to have
been heartily bent,) kept up in his enemies the hope that, to gain
that object, he would ultimately relax from many of his original
demands. Henry certainly afterwards challenged the Dauphin to single
combat, as though he had a quarrel with him personally; and nothing
can fairly be inferred against the truth of the tradition, from the
silence in the challenge on the point of such an insult having been
offered. On the whole, the evidence is decidedly in favour of the
reality of the incident; whilst Henry's reported answer is very
characteristic: "I will thank the Dauphin in person, and will (p. 110)
carry him such tennis-balls as shall rattle his hall's roof about his
ears." And they, says the contemporary chronicler,[85] were great
gunstones for the Dauphin to play withal.

[Footnote 84: Otterbourne says Henry received the
tennis-balls whilst he was keeping his Lent at
Kenilworth.]

[Footnote 85: Cotton MS. Claudius, A. viii.]

* * * * *

Anxious to proceed in our narrative without further allusion to such
sweeping and unsupported charges, we must, nevertheless, here
introduce (though reluctantly) the remarks which have been suffered to
fall from the same pen, as its chief comment on the closing words of
Henry's last Will, made at this time.[86] He signed that document at
Southampton, July 24th, just three days after discovering the
conspiracy of which we must soon speak. Probably a sense of the
uncertainty of life, and the necessity of setting his house in order
without delay, were impressed deeply upon him by that unhappy event.
He felt not only that he had embarked in an enterprise the result of
which was doubtful, in which at all events he must expose his life to
numberless unforeseen perils; but that the thread of his mortal
existence might at a moment be cut asunder by the hands of the very
men to whom he looked for protection and victory. Compared with the
wills of other princes and nobles of that day, there is nothing (p. 111)
very remarkable in Henry's. From first to last it is tinctured with
the superstitions of the corrupt form of our holy religion, then
over-spreading England.[87]

[Footnote 86: His very last will is not known to be
in existence. This testament was made seven years
before his death, and was probably soon cancelled.]

[Footnote 87: Among the saints to whose custody he
bequeaths his soul, his favourite and patron, John
of Bridlington, finds a place. Among the legacies
connected with his family history, we meet with a
bequest, to the "Bishop of Durham, of the Missal
and Portophore which he had received as a present
from his dear grandmother Joan, Countess of
Hereford." To the same countess a gold cyphus,--a
proof that in 1415 his maternal grandmother was
still alive. It may be worth observing that, in
this will, there is no legacy to the Queen, his
father's widow. He had, however, on the 30th June
preceding, "granted of especial grace to his
dearest mother, Joanna, Queen of England, licence
to live, during his absence, in his castles of
Windsor, Wallingford, Berkhamstead, and Hertford."]

The subscription to this testament is couched in these words: "This
is my last Will subscribed with my own hand. R.H. Jesu Mercy and
Gramercy Ladie Mary Help:" and on these words the same author makes
this observation: "According to all the biographers of Henry,
extraordinary piety was a leading trait in his character, from which
feeling the addition to his Will appears to have arisen. It seems
indeed difficult to reconcile the _lawless ambition_, much less the
_hypocrisy_,[88] which Henry displayed in his negociations, with an
obedience to the genuine dictates of Christianity; but as he (p. 112)
rigidly observed every rite of the church, was bountiful towards its
members, and uniformly ascribed success to the Almighty, it is not
surprising that his contemporaries should have described him as
eminently pious."

[Footnote 88: In a few pages further, the same
writer thinks himself justified in adding this note
on a letter of Henry to Charles, "A translation of
this _hypocritical_ letter is given in the
Appendix."]

On this passage the biographer of Henry had rather that his readers
should form their own comment, than that he should express the
sentiments which he cannot but entertain: he invites, however, the
lover of truth to compare this charge of _lawless ambition and
hypocrisy_ with the actual conduct of Henry at this very time.

Whilst resident in the Abbey of Tichfield,[89] about ten miles from
Southampton, he despatched to the Council of Constance, addressing
himself chiefly to the Emperor Sigismund and the other princes
assembled there, copies of the treaties between Henry IV. and the
French court relative to the restoration of Aquitain to the English
crown; remarking upon the wrong that was done to him by the gross
violation of those treaties. This shows at all events that he was not
conscious of being actuated by lawless ambition, or of acting the part
of a hypocrite; it proves that he was desirous of having the merits of
his quarrel with France examined and understood: and he seems to have
felt an assurance that those who made themselves acquainted with the
real grounds of his intended invasion would pronounce his quarrel to
be just. Otherwise he would scarcely have gone out of his way to (p. 113)
draw the eyes of assembled Europe, (not to the boldness of an
enterprise, nor to the splendour of conquests, but) to a calm
investigation of the righteousness of his cause.[90]

[Footnote 89: See Cott. MS. Julius, E. iv. f. 115.]

[Footnote 90: The Emperor, in the league which he
made with Henry, records his resolution to assist
him in the recovery of his just rights.]

The words of his chaplain in recording this measure of Henry deserve a
place here. Indeed, every page of contemporary history proves that the
King himself had no misgivings as to the uprightness and justice of
his cause, and was ready to refer the whole to the judgment of
Christendom. "The King caused transcripts of all treaties to be
forwarded to the general council, to the Emperor Sigismund and other
Catholic princes, to the intent that all Christendom might know how
great injuries the duplicity of the French had inflicted upon him, and
that he was, reluctantly and against his will, compelled, as it were,
to raise his standard against the rebels."[91]

[Footnote 91: Here we cannot but recal the words
with which Henry afterwards, it is said, addressed
the Cardinal des Ursins, who was sent by the Pope
to mediate between him and Charles just before he
laid siege to Rouen. "See you not that God hath
brought me here as it were by the hand? There is no
longer a King in France. _I have a legal right over
that realm._ All is in confusion there; and no one
dreams of opposing me. Can I have a more sensible
proof that God, who disposes of crowns, has decreed
that I should place on my head the crown of
France?" And in his mandate to the Archbishop of
Canterbury to array the clergy against the enemies
of the church and of the faith, should any appear
in his absence, he says, "We are now going to
recover our inheritance and the rights of our
crown, now a long time, as is _evident to all_,
unjustly kept from us."--Sloane, p. 52.]

Nor can we here omit to observe, (though it be anticipating what (p. 114)
must hereafter be again referred to in the course of the history,)
that the behaviour of the Emperor, when, in the spring of the
following year, he made a personal voyage to England on purpose to
visit Henry, and the solemn declaration of the Duke of Burgundy, (of
whose sincerity, however, no one can speak without hesitation,) "that
he had at first thought Henry unjust in his demands, but was at length
convinced of their justice," show that in the estimation of
contemporaries, and those neither churchmen nor his own subjects, who
may be suspected of partiality, Henry's character deserved better than
to be stamped with the imputation of "lawless ambition and hypocrisy."
It is very easy for any one to charge a fellow-creature with immoral
and unchristian motives; and it may carry with it the appearance of
honest indignation, and of an heroic love of virtue, religion, and
truth, when one can tear off the veil of conquest and martial glory
from the individual, and expose his naked faults to pity, or contempt,
or hatred. But a good judge, in forming his own estimate of the
motives which may have given birth to acts which fall under his
cognizance, or in guiding others to return a righteous verdict, will
not consider the most ready method of solving a difficulty to be
always the safest. Take for granted that Henry's conduct towards (p. 115)
France is intelligible on the ground of lawless ambition and gross
hypocrisy, (though there is no proof of either,) it is equally, at
least, intelligible on the supposition of his full and undoubting
conviction of his right to all he claimed. And just as open would any
individual plaintiff be to the charge of hypocrisy, who, after having
insisted upon his full rights, and given notice of trial, and
collected his witnesses, should, on the very eve of the issue being
tried, write to the defendant, urging him to yield, and avoid the
expense and irritation of a protracted law-suit, offering at the same
time a remission of some portion of his claim,--as Henry is in
fairness chargeable with hypocrisy because he wrote to his "adversary
of France," urging him to yield, and avoid the effusion of blood. On
the very eve of his departure for the shores of Normandy, many facts
and circumstances assure us that Henry acted under a full persuasion
that he demanded of France only what was in strict justice his due
when he laid claim to those territories and honours which had been so
long withheld from the Kings of England, his predecessors. Facts are
decidedly against the charge of hypocrisy; but, even were the facts
doubtful, his general character for honesty, and openness, and manly
straightforward dealing, (to which history bears abundant evidence,)
would make the scale of justice preponderate in his favour.

In dismissing this subject, parallel with these modern accusations (p. 116)
of Henry on the ground of "cajoling hypocrisy" we may lay the
testimony borne by his contemporary, Walsingham,[92] to the
unsuspecting simplicity of his mind, which exposed him to the (p. 117)
overreaching designs of the unprincipled and crafty. In his Ypodigma
Neustriae, a work expressly written for the use and profit of Henry,
and with a view of putting him upon his guard against the intrigues
of foreign courts, he refers to his "innocence liable to be (p. 118)
circumvented, and his noble character likely to be deceived, by the
cunning craftiness and hypocritical fraud and false promises of his
enemies."

[Footnote 92: The Dedication of the Ypodigma
Neustriae claims for itself a place in this work;
and to no part can it be more appropriately
appended than to this, in which modern charges
strongly contrasted with his view are examined. The
following is a literal translation of the
introduction to this work of Walsingham:--"To the
most noble and illustrious King of the French and
English, Henry, conqueror of Normandy, most serene
Prince of Wales, Lord of Ireland and Aquitain, by
God's grace always and everywhere victor, the
humblest of his servants who pray for him, Brother
Thomas of Walsingham, monk of the monastery of St.
Alban, who was first of the English martyrs, with
lowly recommendation wisheth health in Him who
giveth health to Kings. Whilst I reflected, among
the contemplative studies of the cloister, with how
great talents of virtue, and titles of victory, God
Almighty hath exalted,--with what gifts of especial
grace He hath abundantly filled you,--so that even
your enemies proclaim your wisdom, admire and
everywhere extol your discretion, and celebrate
your justice by the testimony of their praise, I
confess that I have been filled with pleasure and
inward joy, more gratifying far than the choicest
dainties. But, in the midst of this, there arises
in my mind a kind of cloud, which throws a shade on
the glad thought of my heart, whilst I am compelled
to fear the general habits of a nation which very
often has trifled with the publicly plighted vows
and their oath solemnly pledged. And whilst I
meditate on past days,--recalling the frauds,
crimes, factions, and enormities committed by your
enemies,--my soul is made anxious, and my heart is
disquieted within me, and my life has well-nigh
failed from grief, knowing that to-morrow base
deeds may be done as well as yesterday. And fearing
lest by any means your innocence may be
circumvented, I revolved in my mind what would best
minister to your safety in the midst of so many
dangers. At length it occurred to me to write
something to your Highness (whom my soul cordially
loves) by which you may be made more safe at once
and more cautious. Love conquers all things; ah! it
has wrought in me not to fear, though in an
uncultivated and unpolished style, to offer to so
wise and glorious a Prince what I reflected upon in
my mind, and to open to your serene Highness as I
best may what I have conceived in my heart for your
royal safety. Hence it is that I have endeavoured
to draw up a brief table of events from the
commencement of the conquest of Neustria [Normandy]
by the Normans down to their conquest of England;
which I have carried on to the time when your
Majesty, with power and victory, compelled the same
Normandy, alienated against right and justice from
your ancestors for about two hundred and twenty
years, to come under your yoke, and royally to be
governed according to your desire. Wherefore, my
redoubted Lord and King, in this little work I
offer to your inspection past deeds, various wars,
mutual covenants of peace; leagues, though
confirmed by an oath, violated; the promises,
pledges, offerings, treacherously made to your
predecessors; the deceit and hypocrisy of the
enemy; and whatever the antagonist could with
exquisite craftiness invent, by which they might
entrap your noble spirit. Wherefore, since it
becomes no one to possess knowledge more than a
Prince, whose learning may be most beneficial to
his subjects,--I, a poor and humble votary, offer
(if it be your will) this volume to the inspection
of your Highness; giving it the name of Ypodigma
Neustriae, because it especially portrays the events
and falls of that country from the time of Rollo
the first Duke down to the sixth year of your happy
reign, which may God Almighty of his great mercy
crown with peace, and preserve in all prosperity!
Amen."]

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