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FKOPBRTT OP THB
i •
^ # •
migm
•5»7
A R T E S SCIENTIA VERITAS
:dby
Google
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THE SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY.
GENERAL EDITOR PROFESSOR
I. GOLLANCZ, LITT.D.
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SHAKESPEARE'S HOLINSHED
THE CHRONICLE AND THE
HISTORICAL PLAYS COM-
PARED BY W. G. BOSWELL-
STONE
y^Lf^^-nQ ^-^i-<^ ^ ^\^J<-fJ ^ n c c
c w
CHATTO AND WINDUS, PUBLISHERS
LONDON MCMVII
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Hi
Fira Edition^ 1896 ; Second Edition, igof
AU rigitt ratrved
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LIBRUM HUNO
QUEM SI APUD N08 HODIE VEBSARETUR
IPSIS MANIBUS AiXaPERB DEBXJIT
IN MEMORIAM MATRI8 OPTIMAE
QUOD RESTAT. DEDICX).
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CONTENTS.
pAoa
PSIFACB • • • •
• •
• • .
,
• •
• . .
ix
AUTHOBITISS &EFBBKBD TO IN THIS BoOK .
•
, ,
• . .
xvii
CosBionoNS AND Additions
. .
• • •
•
• a
. • .
xxiu
pAcn
PAOB
Lear . LL ... 1
\Een.ir,lLm, .
. . 186
ffen, F.
IV. viii. .
. . 196
„ . „ia. ILiir. 4
„ . IV.vk— V.iii. 6
., iir. .
* * ff
i#
V. Chorus
. . 197
lir.L .
. . 187
II
.. ii .
. . 199
Oymbdine III. i. .
. . 7
„ ii. .
. . 189
1 ffen, FIX I . .
, . 205
„ V. iii .
. . 16
IV. L .
. . 142
)«
„ii .
. . 209
Madbeth L L . .
. . 18
» ii. .
. . 148
1}
„iii .
. . 212
,,iii.-IL]
„ II. iv. . ,
lit 22
M iii. .
V.i. .
• * i>
ff
II iv. •
. . 218
. 81
* * II
tf
fi.r^-
. . 216
III. iii. .
. . 88
„ ii-iv.
. . 144
II
. . 216
IV. i. . .
. 86
.. T. .
. . 147
ft
.. a. .
. . 217
" »i S; •
. 86
2JJ«Ji/r.Li. . .
. . 148
II
..iii. .
. 218
„ ,, HI. .
V. ii-Tiil
. . 87
niii. .
h.iii. .
• • »»
II
„ ir. .
• II
. 40
. . 149
II
„ T. .
. 219
J(^n . I. i . .
. 46
III. i. .
. . 160
}f
Ill.i. .
. . 220
„ . IL-III.
. . 61
IV. i— ii.
* * If
II
„ ii. .
. 224
„ . IV. . . .
. 69
.. iiL .
. . 166
. . iii. .
. 226
„ . V. i. . . .
. 68
. . 166
11
II
II *"• •
1, iv. .
. 228
M . „ii. . .
. 68
„ T. .
. . 168
II
IV. i . .
• II
,. . „iii . .
. 71
V. a. .
. . 161
II
„ ii— vii.
. 280
„ . V. ▼.— vii
. 72
„T. .
. . 164
II
V.i .
. . 234
. 78
HmM
I. ProL .
. . 165
II
II ii .
. . 236
Rieh,IL Li . .
. . 77
»i. .
. . 167
II
iiiii . ,
. 287
„ „ ii. . . ,
. 84
,,ii. .
. . 168
II
,1 iT. .
. 238
M ,,iii.. . .
. 86
II. Chonis
. . 178
II
1, T. . .
. 241
:: ii!i: : .
. 89
M ii. .
* * II
2ffen,FLl.l . . .
. 242
. 91
II. iv. .
III. Chonis
. . 177
. 179
II
II
,,111. .
. 248
. 97
• 11
M „ ill . .
. 100
„
» i. .
• • II
II
II iv. .
. . 262
„ „ iv. . .
. 102
„ ii. .
. . 180
r»
II. i . .
. 253
III. i. .
. 104
»iii. .
„ V. .
• • II
. . 182
II
II
„ii . ,
„ m. . ,
. 255
. 106
. 258
)i )) iii •
. . 107
» ▼i. •
. . 183
II
I. iv. .
. 261
»» >> ^'* •
. . 110
„ vii. .
. . 186
II
Ill.i .
. . 262
, IV. i .
• »»
IV. Chorus
. . 186
II
II ii .
. 266
„ V. L .
. 120
„ i. .
. . 187
11
,1 iii. .
iV.i .
. 269
» ii.-iii.
• >»
1. ii. .
. . 188
tt
. 270
„ „ iv.— V.
. . 124
„ iii .
. . 189
II
II ii. .
. 271
M » ^ •
. 126
„ IV. .
. . 191
II
„ uL . ,
. 272
iHaLir.1.1 . .
. 180
») vi- .
. . 192
II
M iv. .
. 273
„ „ iii . ,
. 188
MTii. .
• • If
II
1, V. .
. 276
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vm
CONTENTS.
2ffen.FJ.lY.yl .
„ ,» vii. .
„ „ yiii..
II II 3C. •
u V. i .
„ „ iL— iil
SiTew. F7. 1.L .
.. ii.
II
II
If
91
II
II
II
II
»»
II
It
II
„iii .
II iv. •
ILL .
II ii- •
II ^ •
II ▼: .
„ VL .
IILL .
II "• .
„ iil .
IV. i.
„ ii.— iiL
11 iv. . .
II v..
„ viL
PAOB
. 276
. 276
. 279
. 281
. 288
. 284
. 288
. 289
. 295
. 297
298
. 800
. 808
. 805
. 806
. 807
. 808
. 809
. 812
. 818
. 822
. 824
• II
. 826
. 880
^
IV.TiiL
V. L
II ii.
„iiL
„iv.
II ▼.
II ▼»:
11 M vii.
Rich. Ill I. i.
II ii-
II iii.
„iv.
ILL
II ii.
II iii.
II iv.
IIL L
II ii.
II iii.
II i^.
II ▼:
II vi.
11 vii.
IV. L
.. ii.
>i
i>
II
II
If
II
II
II
II
If
II
i>
II
II
II
II
II
II
PAOB
. 882
. 838
. 887
• II
. 888
• II
. 840
. 841
. 843
. 845
. 846
. 848
! 850
• 858
• i»
. 856
. 862
. 868
! 8^8
. 876
. 877
. 886
. 887
Bich,
Hen,
III. IV. iii
„ iv.
» ▼.
V. L
II »*•
II ill.
„iv.
I, V.
K///.LL .
„ ii.
I, ill.
I, iv.
ILL
II ii.
II iil.
II iv.
IIL L
„ iL
IV. L
„ ii.
V. L
II ii.
II iii.
II ▼.
PAOR
. 894
. 3P7
. 406
. 409
. 410
• »»
. 418
'. 424
. 431
. 439
. 440
. 446
. 454
. 455
• i»
. 466
. 469
. 482
. 487
. 498
. 498
. 499
. 505
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PREFACE.
About the compiler of the chronicles whence most of the historical
excerpts in this book have been taken, we know nothing save what his
will reveals. He there described himself as "Raphael Hollynshed of
Bromecote [Bramcott] in the County of Wa]pr[wick] ** ; and bequeathed all
his property to " Thomas Burdett of Bromecote aforesaid Esq.," whom he
calls "my Master." The will was made on October 1, 1578, and proved
on April 24, 1582.i
The first edition of Holinshed's Chronicles appeared in 1577. John
Hooker alias Vowell, Abraham Fleming, Francis Thynne, and others,
produced a second edition, bringing down the English annals to January,
1587. In this second edition the text was altered or modernized,^ and
many new passages were added.
The historical authority used for some of the plays (when other works
were not consulted) was apparently the second edition of Holinshed. In
the subjoined parallel columns certain different readings of the two
editions are collated, and a few enlargements of the second edition are
noted. The left-hand column's references indicate the pages of this book,
where the later readings or fresh matter will be found. The right-hand
column gives references to the plays which have readings identical with or
like the readings presented by the text of the second edition, or which
embody matter added to that edition.
* Camden's Annals, I. cxlix, cl. For conjectures touching Holinshed's kindred, see
the Dictionary of National Biography^ under his name.
• In the story of Lear more tnan a dozen textual changes were made. I give two
examples: ihat you ha/ite ahoaies home towards me\ ed. 2 (p. 3 below), thai towards.me
you Kaue always home ed. V. — sea/rdie] ed. 2 (p. 4 below), vnneOi ed. 1.
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HouKSHi&D, ed. 2.
toi^p. 28.
In ikla yea/re . • • mknowne
tfuand p. 103.
piekihanisl p. 140.
In th%$ yeare , , , to he seene.]
p. 168.
altedge euer against the hinge of
England in barre of their iust
taie] p. 169.
dishonest] p. 169.
wJio wwtjfed] f. 170.
Kunibers] p. 171.
shotUd shake the walles of the
best court in France, p. 178.
desolation] p. 177.
offenses] p. 177.
die your taumie ground with
your red bloud,] p. 186.
In time of this siege . . . here-
after folUnoeth,] pp. 210-
212.
forhir pranks, . . and vHtehes,]
pp. 288, 289.
Edward the third . . . his grand-
sire; . . .] If. 266.
Lionell the third . . . died with-
out issue.] p. 267.
And the said . . . same king
Edward,] p. 268.
a taper in hir liaruL] p. 261.
erecUed the lord Thomas... saint
Edwards chamber,] p. 847.
wishing and . . . eastifng avjoy,]
p. 410.
The oration , . , his armie,] p.
414.
The oration , , , his armie.] p.
416.
moothers meanes, . . .] p. 417.
PREFACE.
HoLiKSHSD, ed. 1.
ferly
Not in ed. 1.
aUedgeto
England
tuu
the Kyngs of
their i%ut . . .
vnhonest
whiehvsurped
Nwmeri
shouldehreake and hatter doume
the roofes of his houses about
hy scares,
destruction
Not in ed. 1.
make red your tawny ground
with the effusion of christian
hloud.
Not in ed. 1.
brothers meanes
Play.
wUde] Macb. I. iii 40.
Rich. XL, II. iv. 8.
1 Hen. IV.. III. ii. 25.
2 Hen. IV., IV. iv. 126.
There is no barre
To make against your Eigh-
nesse claime] Hen. V., I. iL
84, 86.
dishonest] Hen. V., I. ii. 49.
who vsurpt] Hen. V., I. ii. 69.
Numbers] Hen. V., I. ii. 98.
That cUl the Courts qf France
will be disturbed] Hen. V.,
I. ii. 266.
desolation] Hen. V., II. ii 178.
offeTises] Hen. V., II. ii. 181.
W'e shall your tawny ground
with your red blood
Discolour: . . .] Hen. V., III.
vi. 170, 171.
1 Hen. VI.. I. iL
1 Hen. VI., V. iv.
2 Hen. VI., II. ii. 10-20.
2 Hen. VI., II. ii 84-88.
2 Hen. VI., II. ii 4462.
2 Hen. VI., II. iv. 16 (S. D.).
Rich. III., I. iii 266, 266.
Rich. III.,V. ii. 20, 21.
Rich. III., V. iii 286 (S. D.).
Rich. III., V. iii 818 (S. D.
inQq.).
Mothers costf] Rich. IIL, V.
iii 824.
The Becond edition of Holinshed must have been employed for those
parts of Hen/n/ VIII. which are based on Cavendish's Life of WoUey; if
the dramatist did not resort directly to Stow, in whose Chronicles of
England (1580) selections from this biography were first published.
With regard to the wider question of sources, the reader will find
that, in Lear, Cynibeline, and the historical plays preceding 1 Jlenry
FI, most of the borrowed action and dialogue can be illustrated by
excerpts from Holinshed^ Passages in the following plays — not traceable
to Holinshed — are compared with other likely sources at the references
given below: John (pp. 48-51); Richard II, (p. 118); 1 Hen. IV. (pp.
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PREFACE. XI
139 n. 2, 141 n. 2); 2 Een. IF. (p. 163); Hen. V. (pp. 172, 173 n. 1,
185 n. 3, 186, 188).
As most of the quotations from Holinshed, illustrating the three Parts
of Henry F/., are paraphrases of Halle, it is generally impossible to
determine which of these authorities was used, and I have therefore in
such cases added a reference to the latter chronicler. But, when Halle
alone is cited, the reader will understand that the subsequent excerpt is
not paraphrased or copied in the second edition of Holinshed.^ It is clear
that the dramatist of The Fvrst Pari of Henry VL availed himself of
accounts of Jeanne Dare, given by Holinshed (see pp. 210-212, 238, 239),
which are not in Halle ; and we may conjecture that Holinshed's paraphrase
of Halle was the source of 1 Hen. VI., Y. i. 5, 6. In the passage illustrating
these lines (p* 234 below), both editions of Holinshed read peace for cancorde.
Holinshed has : " exhorting them ... to conforme themselues to reason,
... so tiiat, in concluding a godlie peace, they might receiue profit and
quietnesse heere in this world," &a The equivalent words of Halle are :
"exhorting . • . them, . . . that they would . . . conforme themselfes to
reason, and to Godly concords, by the whiche they should receaue honor,
profite, and continuall quietnesse in the worlde," &c. LI 83 and 95, 96,
Act III. so. il (pp. 225, 226), were probably derived from Holinshed.
Fabyan may have yielded some details in Act L sc. iii (p. 213), Act III.
Bc. I (p. 221), and Act IH. sc. ii (p. 225). U. 61-71, Act IV. sc. vii.
. (p. 233), were copied from an epitaph published by Crompton and Brooke
in 1599 and 1619, respectively.'
THie reviser who turned TTie CorUention into The Second Part of Henry
VI. was indebted to Holinshed or Stow for York's fiill pedigree ^ (pp. 256-
258). Amalgamated with the dramatic version of Cade's revolt are many
particulars — ^recorded by these chroniclers — of the villeins' outbreak in the
reign of Itichard II. (pp. 271, 272, 272 n. 2, 273 n. 4, 277, 278). Recourse
to Holinshed (p. 251) is indicated by IL 163, 164, Act L sc. iii. ; and a hint
for the Entry at Act H. sc. iv. 1. 16, was probably taken from his chronicle
(p. 261). The excerpts from Holinshed (pp. 246-249, 281), and from Stow
(pp. 253, 261), may be regarded as possible sources of the play both in its
1 HaOt, 256 ("This deadly," &c.,p. 306X the last clause of Halle, 293 (p. 334)^—
including the words "periured dnke,^ — and RoMe, 300 (p. 338), are in the first edition
of Holinshed. HcMe, 296 (p. 337) and 295 (p. 338, n. 2), are slightly changed in Hoi, ed. 1.
* Slight verbal resemblances suggest that the text of the inscription given by Brooke
was the immediate source of these lines. See p. 233, n. 1, below.
« The pedigree in The Contention (1694) is very erroneous and defective. In The
Whde (kmtention (1619) some mistakes were corrected, but York's descent from
Philippa, daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence, was not traced.
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XU PREFACE,
original and enlarged fonn. The same may be said of the quotations from
Fabyan^ at pp. 246, 268, 276, and 286 ; though, in I. i. 114, the reviser uses
a phrase — ^not, however, an uncommon one — ^which occurs verbatim in that
chronicler (p. 245). A doubtful instance of resort to Hardyng will be
found at p. 262. Neither Halle nor Holinshed gives Sir Thomas More's
story of the sham miracle at St. Albans (pp. 253-255) ; dramatized in both
forms of the play.
The Third Fart of Henry F/. is, as a rule, based on Halle or on his
paraphraser Holinshed ; but the dramatist appears to have profited also
by Stow and parts of Holinshed's compilation which were not drawn from
Halle. See pp. 291 n. 3, 293, 295, 296, 299, 302, 309.
Holinshed was the chief historical source of Richard HI. Halle and
Grafton contain the story mentioned in HI. v. 76-79 (p. 374). In an Entry
at TIL vii. 94 (p. 383) Halle or Qrafton's continuation of Hardyng was
turned to account.
The primary authorities dramatized in Henry VIIL are Halle, Stow,
Polydore Vergil, Foxe, and Cavendish. These materials — ^Foxe excepted
— are brought together in the second edition of Holinshed. Most of the
Fifth Act and some other portions of the play were derived from Foxe.
Valuable as Holinshed's Chronicles were as a store-house of our national
history, the method pursued by the editors was uncritical. Thus, Raphael
and his successors interwove the late and mostly fictitious Historia
Britonum with authentic notices of British affairs^ taken from Roman
writers. (See pp. 7-13 below.) A few meagre facts recorded by Marianus
Scottus, Tighernac, the Ulster Annals, and the Saaon Chronicle embrace
nearly all that we know about the real Macbeth, but Holinshed presented
to the reader a circumstantial romance composed by Hector Boece. From
the scant genuine particulars extant, we may, I think, coiyecture that
Macbeth was not r^arded as " an vntitled Tyrant " (Macb. IV. iil 104)
among his own Gaelic countrymen dwelling north of Edinburgh, though, in
the Anglicized region of Lothian, his rival Malcolm — who had adopted the
customs of strangers — was doubtless preferred.^ It is certain at least that
» Halle (246, n. 2) is a more likely souroe of I. i. 159 than Fab.^ whom I have quoted
in the text (246). From HaUe (247, n. 2) also, perhaps, rather than from Hcl.'s reprint
of iStot; (247}, came 1. 1191-193. ^ _
J significant:
the claim of
, ^ ^ _j „ — ig, Melcolm's
brother, and drove out all the Knglish that formerly were with the king Melcolm.'*
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PBEFACB. Xm
Macbeth ruled for fourteen years ;^ from the time when young' Duncan
was murdered to the day when Siward triumphed. Three of the stories
commonly associated wiili Macbeth — the weird sisters' predictions, Bu*nam
Wood coming to Dunsinane, and his death at the hand of a foe not bom
of woman — were first narrated by Andrew Wyntoun, Prior of St Serf, who
finished his CronykU of Scotland about 1424. According to Wyntoun,
Macbeth saw the weird sisters in a dream (p. 24^ n. 1, below), and was
slain by a "knycht^" whose name is not given. Subjected to the fancy of
Boece, the dream became an apparition ; and the nameless knight assumed
definite shape as Macduff, Thane of Fife. Fordun, — who was writing in
the last quarter of the fourte^ith century, — and Wyntoun, first make
mention of Macduff. Banquo and Fleance were, I suppose, creatures of
Boece's imagination. Of Gruoch, Macbeth's wife, there is one contemporaiy
memorial. It is a copy of a charter whereby "Machbet filius finlach . . ,
& gruoch filia bodhe rex et regina Scotort^TTi " gave Eyrkenes to the Culdees
of St Serfs monastery on Loch Leyen ; free of all obligations save the duty
of praying for the donors.'
The purpose of this book does not include a detailed examination of
the evidence which a dramatist found in the printed chronicles of his
times, and I therefore say no more anent the materials used by Holinshed.
I warn the reader (if a caution be needed) to take with a large grain of
salt what Holinshed, Halle, and others relate concerning the youthful
follies of Henry Y., the evil life and death of Cardinal Beaufort, and the
crimes of Cardinal Wolsey. The shameful charges against Jeanne Dare
need, of course, no comment Before, however, closing these prefatory
words, I shall briefly notice two cases in which treatment of character has
far exceeded such historical warrant as was easily accessible. Margaret of
Duncan II. — a son of Malcolm by a prior nnion— assembled an Anglo-Norman army
and deposed Donalbain. ** But the Scots afterwiurds fathered some force together, and
slew fiul nigh all his men ; and he himself with a tew made his escape. Afterwards
they were reconciled, on the condition that he never again brought into the land English
or French." See pp. 41, 42 below.
1 In 1046, according to Ann. Dundm. {Fertz^ xiz. 508), Siward dethroned Macbeth,
who. however, was spe^ily reinstated. A revolt seems to have broken out on behalf
of Puncan's 6on% for under the vear 1045 we find the following entry : *' Battle
between the Albanich on both sides, in which Crinan, abbot of Dunkeld rDuncan's
father! was slain, and many with him, viz. nine times twenty heroes." — Tighemae
(iSObenO, 78.
* Dreaming of Duncan's murder, Lady Macbeth savs : " yet who would haue thought
the olde man to haue had so much blood in him " (Y. i. 43-45). The historical Duncan I.
was slain "immatura etate."— T^^emoc (/Sfcewe), 78.
' Liber Oartarum Prioratm Sancti Andru in Scotia (Bannatyne ClubX ed. T.
Thomson, 1841, p. 114.
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ZIV FREFACB.
Anjou's guilty love for Suffolk is sheer fiction; or was perhaps inferred
from expressions which describe him as a minister whom she trusted.
**Bj the queenes meanes," we are told, Suffolk was "aduanced so in
authoritie, that he ruled the king at his pleasure" (Hoi. in. 626/1/43.
Halle, 207). She is said also to have " intierlie loued the duke " (HoL iil
632/1/9. Halle, 218). MoreoYer, Halle (219, om. Hoi.) employed a phrase
capable of injurious construction when he , called Suffolk ''the Queues
dearlynge." There can be little doubt that Richard III. was unscrupulous
in gratifying his ambition, but he was not a flawless villain, who loTed evil
for its own sake, apart from its results. Just before the armies joined
battle at Bosworth he is allied to have thus disclosed to his followers
remorse for his nephews' murder : " And although in the adeption and
obteigning of the garland, I, being seduced and prouoked by sinister
counsell and diabolicall temptation, did commit a wicked and detestable
act, yet I haue with streict penance and salt tears (as I trust) expiated
& cleerelie purged the same offense : which abominable crime I require
you of frendship as cleerelie to forget, as I dailie remember to deplore and
lament the same'' (Hoi. iii. 756/i/i8. Halle, 415). Other parts of his
speech were worked into the play (pp. 416, 417 below), but this passage
was ignored, and some prelusive words,^ well becoming the superhuman
impiety of the dramatic Richard, were invented. Still, he was false to
himself once, and a parallel of this passage is, perhaps, to be found in
the confession (V. iii. 193-200) wrung from him by the dreams of his
last night
The plan of Shak^peris Holinshed requires brief explanation. The
historical excerpts are arranged in the dramatic order, and the action
of the play which they illustrate is briefly described. I quote the second
edition (1587) of Holinshed's Chronicles. Each excerpt is preceded by
a bracketed reference to the volume, page, column, and first line of the
quotation, as it stands in that edition. The three volumes of Holinshed
are cited as Mol. L H. E. (Holinshed, voL L, Histarie of England), Hoi. ii.
H. S. (Holinshed, vol. ii., Historie of Scotla'nd), and Hoi. iii. (Holinshed,
voL iii). The line-numbers of the Olobe Shakespeare (1891) are followed
^ '* Let not our babh'ng Dreamee affirigbt our aonlet :
Conscience is but a word that Cowards vse
Beois'd at first to keepe the strong in awe:
Onr strong armes be onr Consdenoe, Swords our Law !
March on, ioyne branely, let vs to't pell mell ;
If not to heauen, then hand in handfto Hell ! "
(V. iii. 80&^13. Q. leading of L 309.)
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PREFACE. XV
in quoting or referring to the plays. Identical words are italicized both
in the excerpts and the plays compared^
New sidenotes, and additions to the origmal text or sidenotes of the
chronicles quoted, are bracketed. The original punctuation of the excerpts
from Holinshed's OhrarUcles, giyen on pp. 1-32, has been slightly modified,
but^ in subsequent pages, I have freely altered, augmented, and — ^in
comparatiyely few cases — ^retrenched it
The assistance and advice of Mr. P. A. Daniel, Dr. F. J. Fumiyall, and
the late Dr. Brinsley Nicholson have been of great service to me. I am
much beholden to Mr. James Gktirdner for his responses to various
questions touching historical matters. I am also obliged to Mr. James E.
Doyle and the Rev. S. J. Johnson for the communications which are given
at pp. 66, 396, below. Mr. Oswald Barron and Mr. Halliday Sparling
supplied me with those citations of public records which have appended
to them the initials 0. B. and H. S. To my brother I am indebted for the
dedicatory inscription of this book, and my thanks are due to my sister for
reading proofs.
I would here acknowledge my general obligations to the Right Hon.
T. P. Courtena/s CaiamerUaries on the Hidoriccd Plays of Shakspeare, and
to Mr. O. B. French's Shakapeareana Oenealogica. I have had the ad-
vantage of consulting Sir James H. Ramsay's Lancaster and York, and
tiie published volumes of Mr. J. H. Wylie's Mistory of England under
Henry the Fowrth.
Walter George BoswELirSTONE,
Beehenhamy July 29, 1896.
* The original black-letter sidenotes have been set in italic. A few words— for
example, BemUem (p. 128 below) — have been left in the original italic. Italic has been
substituted for the Roman type which, in copies of Holinshed, distinguish writers'
names— for example, Qalfrid (p. 14)— from the black-letter text^
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AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK.
An asterisk (*) indicates that an anthority is contemporaneous or nearly contemporaneous with
the event rdated below. A dash ( — ) precedes the last date of an authority, when the first year
is not given.
* Arvn. Burton, Annales de Barton. 1004 — 1263. H. R. Lnard. (ChTonides and
Memorials of Qreat Britain and Ireland daring the Middle Ages. Annales Monastic!.
Vol. 1.)
* Ann, Drmdm. Annales Dunelmenses. 995 — 1199. G. H. Pertz. (Monamenta
Ckmianiae Historica. Vol. 19.)
* Ann. Marg, Annales de Margan. 1066 — 1232. H. R. Luard. (Chron. and
Mem. Annales MonasticL Vol. 1.)
* Ann, JR. IL—H. IV, Annales Ricardi Secandi et Henrici Qaarti. 1392—1406.
H. T. Rilej. (Chron. and Mem. Chronica Monasterii S. Albani. Vol. 4.)
* Ann, Theok. Annales de Theokesberia. 1066—1263. H. R. Luard. (Chron.
and Mem. Annales Monastid. Vol. 1.)
* Ann. Waveri, Annales de Waverleia. 1 — 1291. H. R. Laard. (Chron. and
Mem. Annales Monastid. VoL 2.)
Ansdme, Anselme de la Vierge Marie [P. de Qibours]. Histoire g^n^ogiqae et
chronologiqae de la Maison Rojale de France, &c, contina6e par M. Da Foamj..
1726—1733.
Arehaecl. Archaeologia ; or, MisceUaneoas Tracts relating to Antiqaitj, pablished
by the Sodety of Antiqaaries of London. Vol. 20.
AmM. Chronide of the Customs of London. R. Arnold. (?) 1502. F. Douce.
1811.
* Arrhdl, Historic of the Arrivall of Edward IV. in England and the finall
recoaerye of his kingdomes from Henry VI. a.d. M.CCCC.LXXI. J. Brace. (Camden
Sodety, No. 1.)
* A'S. Chr(m. (M. H, B,). The Anglo-Saxon Chronide. 1—1154. H. Petrie and
J. Sbarpe. (Monamenta Historica Britannica. — 1066.)
* Avethury, Roberti de Avesbory Historia de Mirabilibas Qestis Edwardi III.
1308—1356. T. Heame. 1720.
Bacon's Hen/ry VII, The History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh.
F. Bacon. 1622. J. R. Lamby. 1889. (Cambridge University Press.) Cited by page
and first line,
BarQuHomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles. J. Bartholomew. 1887.
* Beekington*8 Embassy, Journal of Bishop Beckington's Embassy in 1442. N. H.
Nicolas. 1828.
h
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XVm . AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK.
* Benedict. Qesta Regis Henrici Secondi Benedict! Abbads. 1169 — 1192. W.
Stubbs. (Chron. and Mem.)
Boece, Scotonun Historiae. —1460. H. Boece. 1576. Continued by Giovanni
Ferrerio, in this 2nd ed., to the year 1488.
Brewer, The Reign of Henry VIII. J. S. Brewer. 1884.
* Calenda/r (Hen, VIIL). Calendar of State Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII.
J. S. Brewer and J. Qairdner. (Chron. and Mem.) Cited by volume, part, and numbered
document When p. precedes numerals, the reference is to the page.
* Ckdend, ER, FF. Calendarium Rotulorum Patentium. 1201—1483. (Record
Commissioners' Publications.)
€hmden*8 AnnaU, Guilielmi Camdeni Annales Rerum Anglicarum et Hibemicarum
regnante Elizabetha. T. Heame. 1717.
* Ocmnddtk, The Life of Cardinal Wolsey. G. Cavendish, S. W. Singer. 1825.
Cavendish was Wolsey's gentleman usher.
* Chron, Auct, Ign. Chronicon Rerum Gestarum in Monasterio S. Albani, (a.d.
1422—1431,) a quodam auctore ignoto compilatum. R. T. Riley. (Chron. and
Mem. Annales Monasterii S. Albani, a Johanne Amundesham, Monacho, ut videtur,
conscript! VoL 1.)
* Chron, de la PuceUe. Chronique de la Pucelle. 1422—1429. G. Cousinot de
MontreuiL J. A. Buchon. (Collection des Chroniques Nationales Fran9oise8.)
* Chron, OUes, Incerti Scriptoris Chronicon Angliae. 1399—1455. J. A. Giles.
1848. Cited by paginal references to the three Parts, which contain the respective
reigns of Henry IV., V., and VI.
* Chron. Lond, A Chronicle of London. 1089—1483. N. H. Nicolas. 1827.
* Chron, NorvMinde, Qironique de la Pucelle , , . suivie de la. Chronique
Normande de P. Cochon. 1403—1430. Vallet de Viriville. 1859.
* Chron, BAch, II.— -Hen, VL A Chronicle of the Reigns of Richard II., Henry IV.,
v., and VI. 1377—1461. J. S. Daviea. (Camden Society, No. 64.)
* CoggetMU, Radulphi de Coggeahall Chronicon AngUcanum. 1066—1225. J.
Stevenson. (Chron. and Mem.) The last event recorded by Coggeshall (the banishment
of Fawkes de Breaut^) took place in 1225.— If. Farts (Wendover), ilL 94.
CdUim. The Peerage of England. A. Collins. 1714.
* ConL OroyL, Alia Historiae CroylandensLs Continuatio. 1459—1485. T. Gale
and W. Fulman. 1684, (Scriptores Rerum Anglicarum. Vol. 1.)
Co^ntention, The First part of the Contention betwixt the two famous Houses of
Yorke and Lancaster. 1594. F. J. FumivalL 1889. (Shakspere Quarto Fac-similes.)
* Creton, (Archaed,), 1399 — 140L Archaeciogiay vol. xx. (references to French
text and translation), contains the narrative of Creton, a Frenchman, who accompanied
Richard II. to Ireland in 1399, and returned with him. Creton gives an account (from
hearsay) of Isabelle's return to France in 1401,— Archaecl. xx. 226 ; 416.
JD. K, Bep, 3. Third Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Records.
* De Couny, Chroniques de Mathieu de Coussy (d'Escouchy). 1444—1461. J. A.
Buchon. (Collection des Chroniques Nationales Fran9oises.)
* Diceto, Radulphi de Diceto Decani lAindoniensis Opera Historica. Ymagines
Historiarum. 1148—1202. W. Stubbs. (Chron. and Mem.)
DoyU. The Official Baronage of England. J. E. Doyle. 1886.
* Du Clercq, M^oires de Jacques da Clercq. 1448 — 1467. J. A. Buchon.
(Collection des Chroniques Nationales Francoises.)
Dugdcde. The Baronage of England. W. Dugdale. 1675—1676.
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AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK. XIX
Edward III. King Edward III. Donbtfol Plajs of William Shakespeare. Max
Moltke. 1869. Tanclinitz. VoL 1041.
EiUm (p. 154 below). Thomas Otterbonme. See Ott.
* EUis. Original Letters illustrative of English History. H. Ellis. 1825—1846.
Cited by series, volume, and page,
* Mrnham. Thomas de Elmham Vita et Gesta Henrid Quinti, Anglorum Regis,
1388—1422. T. Heame. 1727.
Escouchy, Mathieu d'. See De Ocusay.
* Evlog. Eulogium Historiarum. Vol. III. 1364—1413. F. S. Haydon. (Chron.
and Mem.)
* Eves. Monachi de Evesham Historia Vitae et R^;ni Ricardi II. 1377 — 1402.
T. Heame. 1729.
* Excerpta Histcrica. Excerpta Historica, or, Illustrations of English History.
S. Bentley. 1831.
* Exchequer Issues. Issues of the Exchequer. F. Devon. 1837. (Record
Commissioners* Publications.)
Fah. The New Chronicles of England and France. —1495. R. Fabyan. 1516.
H. Ellis. 1811. (Read with the ed. of 1516. The irregular capital letters have as far
as possible been retained.) Fabyan's will was proved on July 12, 1513.
Famovs Victaries. The Famovs Victories of Henry the fifth. 1598. P. A. Daniel
1687. (Shakspere Quarto Fac-similes.)
Fordun. Joannis de Fordun Scotichronicon. W. Qoodall. 1759. Fordun wrote
after 1377 ; see Scotiehranicony ed. Gtoodall, XI. xiv. 151, note. (Cited by book, chapter,
and page.)
Faxe. Actes and Monumentes of the Churche. J. Foxe. 1576. Cited by page
and column.
French. Shakspeareana Genealogica. G. R. French. 1869.
* Frois. Chroniques de Jean Froissart. 1327 — 1400. J. A. Buchon. (Collection
des Chroniqfies Nationales Fran9oiBes.)
Gent. Mag. Gentleman's Magazine. First issued in 1731.
* Oesta. Hemici Quinti, Angliae Regis, Gesta. 1413—1416. B. Williams. (English
Historical Society.) Written by a chaplain of Henry V., about 1418 ; see OestOy 5. The
work was continued to 1422.
Godwin. A Catalogue of the Bishops of England. F. Godwin. 1615.
Grafton. A Chronicle at large, and meere history of the affayres of Englande, &c
—1568. R. Grafton. Ed. 1809. (Read with the ed. of 1569.)
* Gromis. Grants from the Crown temp. Edward Y. J. G. Nichols. (Camden
Society, No. 60.)
* Greg. QTegprfs Chronicle. 1189 — 1469. Historical Collections of a Citizen of
London in the fifteenth Century. J. Gairdner. (Camden Society, N. S. No. 17.)
W. Gregory's will was proved on Jan, 23, 1467. Another chronicler recorded events
down to 1469, in which year the work ends abruptly.
ffaUe. The Vnion of the two noble and illostre famelies of Lancastre and Yorke,
&e.-~1398~1547. E. Halle. 1550. (I have quoted the text of 1550, and given paginal
references to the ed. of Halle's Chronicle published in 1809.)
Hardyng. The Chronicle of lohn Hardyng. —1461. H. Ellis. 1812. (Read
with the ed. of 1543, entitled: ''The chronicle of lohn Hardyng in metre ''&c)
Hardyng was bom in 1378 {Hardyng 351), and was writing in 1463 {Ih. 410).
Hardyng-Grafion. A Continuadon of the Chronicle of England^ begynnyng wher
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XX AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK.
lohn Hardyng left, &o. 1461—1543. R. Grafton. 1643. H. Ellis. 1812. (Read
with the continuation of ** The chronicle of lohn Hardyng in metre/' &c.)
Hervr. Htmt, (M. H. B.), Henrici Archidiaconi HnntendunensiB Historiae Anglorum
Lihri Octo. — 1154. (Monnmenta Historica Britannica. — 1066.)
Hist. BriU, Qalfredi Monumetensis Historia Britonmn. J. A. Qiles. (Caxton
Society.) QeoflErey's dedication of Hist. BriU. was written before 1147.
* H<mden. Chronica Magistri Rogeri de Houedene. 732—1201. W. Stubbs.
(Chron. and Mem.)
* Itiixerarium, Itineraria Symonis Simeonis et Willelmi de Worcester. J. Nasmith.
1778.
* Itinera^, Itinerary of King John. T. D. Hardy. 1835. (With Hardy's
Description of the Patent Rolls, one of the Record Commissioners' Publications.)
* Jetm de Troyes, Chronique de Jean de Troyes. 1460—1483. C. B. Petitot
(Collection Complete des M^moires relatifs a THistoire de France. Premiere S^rie.
Tome 14.)
* Journal. Journal d'un Bourgeois de Paris. 1409 — 1449. J. A. Buchon. (Col-
lection des Chronique Nationales FTan9oi8es.)
* Jwv. Histoire de Charles YI. 1380—1422. Jean Juvenal des Ursins. D.
Godefroy. 1653.
Lewis. A Topographical Dictionary of England. S. Lewis. 1833.
* Livvus. Titi Livii Foro-JuHensis Vita Henrici Quinti, Regis Angliae. 1388 — 1422.
T. Heame. 1716. The closing words of this life (95) show that Livius wrote after
Gloucester's resignation of the Protectorate in 1429, and before the Duke's death in 1447.
Lards* Jaumals. Calendar of the Journals of the House of Lords.
M. H. B. Monumenta Historica Britannica. H. Petrie and J. Sharpe. 1848.
* M. Fa/ris (Wendover), Matthaei Pansiensis, Monachi Sancti Albani, Chronica
Majora. VoL IL 1067—1216. H. R. Luard. (Chron. and Mem.) Roger of Wend-
over's chronicles were revised and augmented by Matthew Paris, and continued by the
latter from 1235 to 1259.
* M. Scattus (Fertz), Mariani Scotti Chronicon. 1 — 1082. Q. Waitz. (Monument,
Germaniae Historica. Vol. 5. G. H. Pertz was the general editor of M. 0. H.)
Marianus Scottus was born in 1028 and died in 1082.
* Mans. Chroniques d'Enguerrand de Monstrelet. 1400 — 1444. J. A. Buchon.
(Collection des Chroniques Nationales Francoises.)
Mare. The history of King Richard the thirde. T. More. 1513. J. R. Lumby,
1883. (Cambridge University Press.) Cited by page and first line in the ed. of 1883.
Read with the text printed in More's Workes, 1557. From the title we learn that More
wrote this book about 1513, but its authorship has been attributed to Cardinal Morton,
who died in 1500.
* Ott. Duo Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores Veteres, viz. Thomas Otterboume et
Johannes Whethamstede. Ott. —1420. ♦ Wheih. 1455—1461. T. Heame. 1732.
* Fa^e. Poem on the siege of Rouen. J. Page. Historical Collections of a Citizen
of London in the Fifteenth Century. J. Gairdner. (Camden Society, N. S. No. 17.)
Page was present at the siege (I).
* Fastwi. The Paston Letters. 1422—1509. J. Gairdner. 1872—1875. (Arber's
Annotated Reprints.)
* Fd. Foems. Political Poems and Songs relating to English History. T. Wright
(Chron. and Mem.)
Pofyd. Verg, Polydori VeigUii Anglicae Historiae Libri XXVII. (a.c. 55— a.d.
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AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK. XXI
1537.) Basileae. 1555. Cited bj page and first line. His first work, Fraverbiorum
LiMhUy was published in 1498. He died before 1 555.
* Prods. Chronique et Proc^ de la Pncelle d'Orl^ans. J. A. Bucbon. (Collection
des Cbroniqnes Nationales FTan9oi8e8.)
* Froe. Frvo, Co, Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England.
N. H. Nicolas. 1834 — 1837. (Record Commissioners' Publications.)
QuicheraJb, Proc^ de Condamnation et de Rehabilitation de Jeanne d'Arc. Jules
Quicherat 1841—1849. (Soci^t^ de PHistoire de France.)
JSedmon. Vita Henrici V. Roberto Redmanno auctore. 1413 — 1422. C. A. Cole.
(Chron. and Mem.) Written between 1536 and 1544.
Beg. 8acr, Angl. Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum. An attempt to exhibit the course
of Episcopal Succession in England. W. Stubbs. 1858.
* Bot FaH. Rotuli Parliamentorum. Vols. III. — VL Cited by page, and column
or section. (Record Commissioners* Publications.)
* Baus. Joannis Rossi Antiquarii Warwicensis Historia Regum Angliae. — 1485.
T. Heame. 1745 (ed. 2). Rous died in 1491.
Bows Bd, The Roll of the Warwick Family. J. Rows. W. Courthope. 1845.
* Bymer, Foedera, Conventiones, Literae, et alia Acta Publica inter Reges Angliae
et alios Principes. T. Rymer. 1704—1735.
* 8t.Deny8, Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys. 1380—1422. M. L. Bellaguet.
(Collection de Documents In^dits sur THistoire de France.)
* Saint'Bemy, M^moires de Jean Lefevre, Seigneur de Saint-Remy. 1407 — 1435.
J. A. Buchon. (Collection des Chroniques Nationales Francoises.)
Scmdford, A Genealogical History of the Kings and Queens of England, . . . From
the Conquest ... to the year 1707. F. Sandford. S. Stebbins. 1707.
* Sdwnces du ComeU de Charles VIII, Proc^-Verbaux des stances du Conseil de
R^gence du Roi Charles VIII. pendant les mois d'aoiit 1484 k janvier*1485. A. Bemier.
(Collection de Documents In^ts sur THiBtoirc de France.)
SdUy-Flood. The Story of Prince Henry of Monmouth and Chief-Justice Qascoign.
F. SoUy-Flood. 1886. (Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. Vol 3. Part 1.)
* Statutes^ The Statutes of the Realm, • • . from Magna Charta to the end of the
reign of Queen Anne. 1810—1828.
* Stevenson, Letters and Papers illustrative of the Wars of the English in France
during the Reign of Henry the Sixth, King of England. J. Stevenson. (Chrou,
and Mem.)
Stow, The Annales of England • • • vntill this present yeare 1605. J. Stow.
Strype^s Oranmer, Memorials of . . . Thomas Cranmer, . . . Archbishop of Canter-
bury. J. Strype. P. R Barnes. 1840.
T,'A, Time-Analysis of the Plots of Shakspere's Plays. P. A. Daniel. (The New
Shakspere Society's Transactions. 1877—1879.)
* Three Chronides, Three Fifteenth-Century Chronicles. J. Qairdner. (Camden
Society, N. S. No. 28.) Two of these chronicles are cited thus : S. K C. =a A Short
Engli^ Chronicle, and B. L. C. =* A Brief Latin Chronicle. The former ends in 1465,
the latter embraces the period 1422 — 1471.
* Tighemac (Skene), Annals of Tighemac. —1088. Chronicles of the Picts, . . .
and other early Memorials of Scottish History. W. F. Skene. (Chronicles and
Memorials of Scotland.)
T, B. The Troublesome Raigne of lohn King of England. Two Parts. 1591.
F. J. FumivalL 188a (Shakspere Quarto Fac-similes.)
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XXU AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK.
♦ Trais, Chronique de la Traison et la Mort de Ridiard Deux. 1398 — 1400.
B. Williams. (English Historical Society.) References to French text and translatioiL
T. T, The True Tragedie of Richard Duke of Yorke, and the death of good King
Henrie the Sixt 1595. T. Tyler. 1891. (Shakspere Quarto Fac-similes.)
*U$k, Chronicon Adae de Usk. 1377—1404. E. M. Thompson. 1876. References
to Latin text and translation.
Vwr, Sk, The Plays and Poems of William Shakspeare. E. Malone and J. BoswelL
1821.
♦ Ven, State FF, Calendar of State Papers relating to English Affairs in the
Archives of Venice, Rawdon Brown. (Chron. and Mem.)
Wak^ State of the Church and Clei^ of England. W. Wake. 1703.
♦ Wals, Thomae Walsingham Historia Anglicana. 1272—1422. H. T. Riley.
(Chron. and Mem. Chronica Monaaterii S. Albani)
♦ Wa/rkw, A Chronicle of the first thirteen years of King Edward the Fourth.
1461—1474. J. Warkworth. J. 0. HalliwelL (Camden Society, No. 10.)
♦ Wcmrin, Recueil des Croniques . . . de la Grant Bretaigne, . . . par lehan de
Waurin. — a.d. 1471. W. Hardy and E. L. Hardy. (Chron, and Mem.) Cited by
volume, book, and page,
Weefoer, Ancient Funeral Monuments of Great Britain, Ireland, and the Islands.
J. Weever. 1767.
Wheih. SeeOtt.
Whole Contention. The Whole Contention betweene the two Famous Houses,
Lancaster and Yorke. Two Parts. Q 3. 1619. F. J. FumivalL 1886. (Shakspere
Quarto Fac-similes.)
WyUe. History of England under Henry the Fourth. J. H. Wylie. 1884—1896.
Wyntoum. The Oiygynale Cfonykil of Scotland. A. Wyntown. — 1420. D.
Macpherson. 1795.
♦ Wyrc Wilhelmi Worcestrii Annales Rerum Anglicarum. 1324 — 1468. T.
Heame. 1774. (Liber Niger Scaccarii, &c Vol 2.)
♦ York Becords, Extracts from the Municipal Records of the City of York, during
the reigns of Edward IV., Edward V., and Richard IIL R. Davies. 1843.
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I. KING LEAK.
Holinshed's Chronicles, and a plaj of imtraced autborsliip, entitled
The True Chronicle History qf King Levr, 1605,^ were the diief and
most accessible sources whence Shakspere might have derived the main
plot of his drama.^
The fountain-head for the story of Lear and his three daughters
is the Historia Britonwn, a chronicle which Geoffrey of Monmouth
professed ^ to have translated from a very ancient book written in the
British tongue.
Ck>mparison with the subjoined excerpt from Holinshed shows that
the madness of the dramatic Lear, and the fate which befell him and
his daughter, are important alterations of the original story. Ko
source for these changes of plot has yet been discovered.^
[Hoi L H. E, 12/2/59.] Leir the sonne of Baldud was admitted i«ir liuio.
ruler ouer the Britaines, in the yeare of the world 3106, at what
time Joas reigned in Juda. This Leir was a prince of right noble
demeanor, goueming his land and subiects in great wealth. He
1 Reprinted in Steevens's Twenty of the Flays of Shakespeare^ &c., 1766, vol.
iv. ; in fiazlitVs Shakespear^s Library, Pt II. vol. ii. pp. 307-387, and in The
8hakespea/re Classics, edited by Mr. Sidney Lee.
« Some other sources are: Y&hjmV Gironides, 1516 (ed. Ellis, 1 14-16) ;
William Warner's Albions EngUmd, 1686 (ed. 1612, pp. 65, 66) ; The f/rste
Forte of the Mirour for Magistrates, 1587 (ed. Haslewood, i 123-132) ; The
Faerie Queene, 1690-96, II. x. 27-32. „ , . ^,
< See his dedication of the Historia Briioivum to Robert Earl of Gloucester
(ob. Oct. 31, 1147.—uinn. Marg., 14).
* Mrs. Lennox {Shakespeare lOustrated, voL iii. p. 302) first drew attenUon
to a ballad entitled «* A Lamentable Song of the Death of King Lear and his
Three Daughters " (reprinted in Percy's iJeligwes), which makes mention of:
(1) Lear's loss of his retinue through Regan's unkindness ; (2) his madness, and
his death immediately after the battle which restored to him his crown ; (3)
Cordelia's death in the battle fought for Lear's restoration. Dr. Johnson con-
jectured that this ballad might have been the source of Shakspere's Lear
(Variorum Shakspere, 1821, x. 291); but later critics believe that the play was
the earlier composition. According to Matthew of Westminster, an epithet,
impeaching Lear's sanity, was applied to the old king by his daughters. After
relating Jjeaa^s deposition by his sons-in-law, the chronicler then proceeds
(Flares Historiarum, ed. 1601, p. 16): "Rex igitur iguarus juid ageret,
deliberaoit tandem filias adire, jinbus regnum deuiserat, vt si fien posset, sibi
dnm viueret & 40. militibus suis stipendia ministrarent Qu», cum indigna-
tione verbnm ex ore ipsius capientes, dixerunt eum senem esse, delirum, &
mendicnm, nee tanta femilia dignum. Sed si vellet, relictis cateris cum solo
n
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2 I. KING LEAK.
Mat, wett. made the towne of Caerleir now called Leicester, which standeth
LticesUr it
buiuud. vpon the riuer of Sore. It is written that he had by his wife
SSriitoS^ three daughters without other issue, whose names were Gonorilla,
Began, and Cordeilla,^ which daughters he greatly loued, but
HeioTed specially Cordeilla the yoongest farre aboue the two elder. When
Cordellla f . ^ . i « . . a i
i>Mt.] this Leir therefore was come to great yeres, & began to waxe
G<d, Man, ynwcldie through age, he thought to vnderstand the affections of
his daughters towards him, and preferre hir whome he best loued,
to the succession ouer the kingdome.' Whervpon he first asked
milite remaneret.'' The following lines in The Mirow for MaqxstraUs (ed.
Haslewood, stanza 21) maj lead one to conjecture that John Higgins — who
wrote **Queene Cordila'' for the Afiroiir— had seen the aboTe-qnoted passage
from Matthew of Westminster :
*<£ke at what time hee [Leire] ask'd of them [Albany and Qonorell] to
haue his gard,
To gard his noble grace where so he went :
They cal'd him doting foole,'' &c.
Albany and Qonorell had depriyed Lear of his servants, save one.
* The earliest occurrence of the familiar spelling "Cordelia'' is, I believe,
to be found in the Faerie Queene, II. x. 29. In the old churchyard at Lee,
Blackheath, there is a monument erected by CordeU Lady Hervey, to the
memory of her parents, Bryan Anslie, Esq., of Lee (ob. July 10, 1604), and
Awdry his wife (ob. Nov. 26, l691),—Note8 cmd Queries^ 6th S. v. 466. The
form "Cordell" occurs in the Mvrov/r for Maaidmtes (ed. Haslewood), stanza
7. " Cordelia '^ is the spelling in the older Letr.
* According to Hiet, BriU. IL xL 30, Lear ^'cogitavit regnum suum i^sis
dividere," and wished to ascertain the measure of each daughter's love for him,
" ut scixet quae illarum majart regni parte dignior easet" Q>. Lear^ L i. 38, 39;
49-64:
** . . . Enow that we haue diuided
In three our Eingdome : • • •
Tell me, my daugnters, . . .
Which of you shall we say doth lone vs most ?
That we our laraed hountie may extend
Where Nature aoth unth merit chaUengef
So the Mirourfor Magistrates (i 126):
" But mindins her that lou*d him best to note.
Because he had no sonne t'ei^'oy his land,
He thought to guerdon most where fauour most hefandf
The Faerie Qveene and the old play make Lear propose to divide his kingdom
equally between his three daughters. Percy pointed out (Far, j8^. 1821, x. 2)
that Ijear's test of his daughters' love, and their answers, are details parallelea
in the following stoinr :
'* Ina, King of West Saxons [688—728], had three daughters, of whom, upon
a time, he demanded whether they did love him, and so would during their
lives, above all others ; the two elder sware deeply they would ; the youngest,
but the wisest, told her Father, without flattery, 'That albeit she did love,
honour, and reverence him, and so would whilst she lived, as much as duty
and daughterly love at the uttermost could expect, yet she did thiz^ that one
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I. KING LBAB. 8
Qonorilla the eldest, how well she loued him: who calling hir AtrUM<^r
gods to record, protested that she loued him more than hir owne ^^,^'5^
life, which by right and reason should be most deere vnto hir. ^^^^-^
With which answer the father being well pleased, turned to the
second, and demanded of hir how well she loued him: who
answered (confirming hir saiengs with great othes) that she loued ^^*!IS^4
him more than toong could expresse, and farre aboue all other ^*^^-^
creatures of the world
Th4realm«i4
promitedta
hUttco
damghUri.
Then called he his yoongest daughter Cordeilla before him, ^^
and asked of hir what account she made of him, vnto whome she S^l^u^-.
made tins answer as foUoweth: "Knowing the great loue and
" fatherlie zeale that you haue alwaies borne towards me (for the
"which I male not answere you otherwise than I thinke, and as
''my conscience leadeth me) I protest ynto you, that I haue loued
"you eyer, and will continuallie (while I line) loue you as my
" naturall father. And if you would more ynderstand of the loue
"that I beare you, assertaine your selfe, that so much as you
" haue, so much you are worth, and so much I loue you, and no
"more." The father being nothing content with this answer, JJ^^
married his two eldest daughters, the one vnto Henninus the duke Sir?IS2«i.
of Comewall, and the other ynto Maglanus the duke of Albania,^
betwixt whome he willed and ordeined that his land should be
diuided after his death, and the one halfe thereof immediatlie
should be assigned to them in hand : but for the third daughter
Cordeilla he reserued nothing.
Neuertheless it fortuned that one of the princes of Gallia
day it would come to pass that she should affect another more fenrently,'
meaning her Husband, 'when she was mairied, who,beinff made one flesh with
her, as Uod by commandement had told, and nature haa taught her. she was
to cleave fast to, forsaking Father and Mother, kiffe and kin.'" — Camden's
BemavM concerning Britam, 1674, under "Wise Speeches" (Library of Old
Authors, pp. 254, 255).
1 '* The third and last part of the Hand he [Brute] allotted ynto Albanact
his yoongest sonne. . . . This later pEorcell at the first, tooke the name of
Albanactus, who called it Albania. But now a small portion onelie of the
region (being ynder the regiment of a duke) reteineth the said denomination,
the rest being called Scotland, of certeine ^ots that came ouer from Ireland
to inhabit in those (quarters. It is diuided from Lhoegres [England! also by
the Solue and the Firth, yet some doo note the Humber ; so that Albania (as
Brute left it) conteined all the north part of the Uand that is to be found
beyond the aforesaid streame, ynto the point of Cathnesse.'' — Harrison's
Description of Britain (in HU, i. II6/2/4).
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4 I. KING LEAB.
l^iS^T" (^Mch now IB called France) whose name was Aganippus, hearing
^nS^Leir of the beautie, womanhood, and good conditions of the said
bwno ^^ Co^deilla, desired to haue hir in mariage, and sent ouer to hir
dower. 3
father, requiring that he might haue hir to wife : to whome answer
was made, that he might haue his daughter, but as for anie dower
he could haue none, for all was promised and assured to hir other
muiieS£?i ^^^^ alreadie. Aganippus notwithstanding this answer of deniall
to receiue anie thing by way of dower with Cordeilla, tooke hir
to wife, onlie moued thereto (I saie) for respect of hir person and
SSSJT**' amiable Yertues. This Aganippus was one of the twelue kings
SS^M that ruled Gallia in those dales, as in the British historic it is
«»a. ^ recorded. But to proceed.
[Leir-f sons- After that Leir was fallen into age, the two dukes that had
in-law rebel ^ , .
Jnd M«i^' married his two eldest daughters, thinking it long yer the gouem-
u^ratJuTe Tf^Qnt of the land did come to their hands, arose against him in
^^ armour, and reft from him the gouemance of the land, vpon
conditions to be continued for terme of life : by the which he was
put to his portion, that is, to line after a rate assigned to him
for the maintenance of his estate, which in processe of time was
mwjnwnd- diminished as well by Maglanus as by Henninus. But the
whe?iw" greatest griefe that Leir tooke, was to see the vnkindnesse of
them!^They his daughters, which seemed to thinke that all was too much
Xw'hTm which their father had, the same being neuer so little : in so much
at last] that going from the one to the other, he was brought to that
miserie, that scarslie they would allow him one seruant to wait
vpon him.^
In the end, such was the ynkindnesse, or (as I male saie) the
ynnaturalnesse which he found in his two daughters, notwithstand-
1 We learn from Hist, BrUt II. xii. 31 that, after the duke's revolt,
Albany maintained Lear and a retinue of sixty knights. But, when two years
had elapsed, '' indignata est Gk)norilla filia ob muUitudinem mUUum e^, qui
cormcia ministrU inferebant, quia eis profusior epinomia non praebebatur "
(cp. Lear, I. iv. 220-224 ; 262-267). Albany reduced Lear's attendance to
thirty knights. Lear then went to live with Cornwall, but strife broke
out between tbe retainers of the several households, and Regan dismissed
all save five of Lear's knights. He returned to Gk)norilia, who allowed him
one knight. This last wrong caused Lear's departure to France. The Mirour
for Magistrates mentions the successive reductions of Lear's followers ; but
none of the sources whicb I have enumerated above has aught to say about
the dissensions between Lear's knights and bis sons-in-laws' households.
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I. KING LEAR 5
ing iheir faire and pleasant words vttered in time past, that being ^^"^^
constrained of necessitie, he fled the land, & sailed into Gallia, g ^'^7**
there to seeke some comfort of his yongest daughter Cordeilla, '^^^^J
whom before time he hated. The ladie Cordeilla hearing that
he was arrined in poore estate, she first sent to him prioilie a
certeine smnme of monie to apparell himselfe withall, and to
reteine a certeine number of seruants that might attend ypon
him in honorable wise, as apperteined to the estate which he
had borne : and then so accompanied, she appointed him to come
to the court, which he did, and was so ioifullie, honorablie, and
louinglie receiued, both by his sonne in law Aganippus, and also
by his daughter Cordeilla, that his hart was greatlie comforted :
for he was no lesse honored, than if he had beene king of the
whole countrie himselfe.
Now when he had informed his sonne in law and his daughter ^fgj^JJJ*^
in what sort he had beene Ysed by his other daughters, Aganippus ^^J^^
caused a mightie armie to be put in a readinesse, and likewise ^'to^*^^
a great nauie of ships to be rigged, to passe oner into Britaine tous ung-
with Leir his father in law, to see him againe restored to his
kingdome. It was accorded, that Cordeilla should also go with
him to take possession of the land, the which he promised to ^.m|^^
leaue ynto hir, as the rightfoU inheritour after his decesse, not- "oi^h^irew-i
withstanding any former grant made to hir sisters or to their
husbands in anie manor of wise.
Herevpon, when this armie and nauie of ships were readie, rLeiruid
Leir and his daughter Cordeilla with hir husband tooke the sea, ^^^^*
and arriuing in Britaine, fought with their enimies, and dis- ^^^
comfited them in battell, in the which Maglanus and Henninus 2!dnf ^
were slaine: and then was Leir restored to his kingdome, which yean after
he ruled after this by the space of two yeeres, and then died, ation, and
•r # J then died.]
fortie yeeres after he first began to reigne.^
^ Shakspere was perhaps indebted to Holinshed for something more than
the story of Lear: a There being (according to HoL i. JET. E. I2/2/55) a
"temple of Apollo, which stood in the citie of Troinouant'' (London), may
explain why Lear swears by that deity {Lear, I. i 162). Holinshed also says
(JU. E. 14/1/37) that Lear's grandson, Canedag, bnilt a temple *< to Apollo in
Comewall.*' /§ Lear's comparison of himself to a dragon (iiear, I. i 123, 124)
may have been suggested bv the fact that a later British king '* was sumamed
Pendragon, . • • f or that Merline the great prophet likened nim to a dragons
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n. CYMBELINB.
Gordeilla sacceeded Lear, and reigned for five years, during which
time her husband died. At the close of this period, the rebeUion of
Margan the son of Gonorilla and Gunedag the son of Began ended with
her imprisonment by her nephews. Having no hope of release, and
being ** a woman of a manlie courage/' she slew herself. — Rol, i ff. E,
13/2/45.
II. CYMBELINE.
Holinshed's Ghronides contain all the historical or pseudo-historical
matter which appears in Shakspere's Tragedie of Cymbelme,
The historic Cunobelinus, son of Tasciovanus,^ was a Eling of the
Britons,' whose capital was Camulodunum ^ (Colchester). In a.d. 40
Cunobelin's son Adminius, whom he had banished, made a submission
to Caligula which the Emperor affected to regard as equivalent to a
surrender of the whole island, but nothing was then done to assert the
imperial authority.^ Cunobelin was dead when, in a.d. 43, Aulus
Plautius was sent by Claudius to subdue Britain; and the Bomans
were opposed by the late king's sons Togodumnus and the renowned
Caractacus.^ These are the sole authentic particulars relating to
Cunobelin, beside the evidence derived from his coins.
Act III. sc. i. — ^In the following passages Holinshed has given an
untrustworthy account of Cymbelme, mixed with genuine information
head, that at the time of his natiuite marueloualie appeared in the firmament
at the comer of a blazing star, as is reported. But otners suppose he was so
called of his wisdome and serpentine subtiltie, or for that be gane the dragons
head in his banner" (Hd. L Ji. E. 87/2/7).
^ In 1844 Mr. Birch communicated a paper to the Numismatic Society
CNum, Chron, voL viL p. 78), showing that the reverse legends of some of
Cunobeline's coins should be read : tasoiovanl f.; that is, Tasdovani FUiua,
— See Evanses Cbmi of the Ancimt Briioru^ pp. 221, 327. Other reverses read
TASO. F., and TASonovAKn. v.^Evam, pp. 308, 328. Of the latter form it
may be necessary to remark that TASon — is probably equivalent to tasob — ;
the double I bein^ often used, on British coins, for b {EvcmSy pp. 203, 206, 258,
872). The termmation — ^VANn |;ives a variant nominative Tasdovanius.
Mr. Birch compared these legends with avgvstvs nivi f., on coins of Augustus.
* So styled by Suetonius, in his biography of Caligula, cap. xliv. Cunobe-
line's capital was Camulodunum, which we learn from Ptolemy (Geographioy
lib. II. cap. iii^ was the town (r Ace) of the Trinobantes ; a people who once
inhabited Midolesex and Essex. The obverse of a copper coin of Cunobeline
bears the legend ovuobelinvs rbz. See Evans's Coins of the Ancient Briions^
p. 332.
' *^ro Ha/iovkSiovvov rb rov KvvoPtWivov PafflXiiop.'* — Dion Casnus^ ed.
Reimar, Ix. 21. A copper coin of Cunobeline, found at Colchester, has the
obverse legend oamvl-odvmo.— Evans's Coins of the Ancient Britons, p. 337.
* Suet Calig. xliv.
* Dion Cassi'usy Ix. 20. Claudius followed Plautius, and was present at
the capture of Camulodunum by the Romans.
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II. CYMBELINB. 7
toucluBg the circumstances of the Empire and Britain during the reign
of Augustus.
[HoL L H. R 32/2/3.] Eymbeline or Cimbeline the sonne of ifyinw^.
Theomantios ^ was of the Britains made king after the deceasse
of his father, in the yeare of the world 3944, after the building
of Rome 728, and before the birth of our Saoiour 33. This man J^o*^****
(as some write) was brought Tp at Rome, and there made knight {^J^SStae
by Augustus Cesar,* ynder whome he serued in the warres, and 5S?*^^^
was in such fauour with him, that he was at libertie to pay his ^uged to
tribute or not . . . Touching the continuance of the yeares of ^^
Eymbelines reigne, some writers doo yarie, but the best approoued [Cymbeiine
affirme, that he reigned 35 years and then died, & was buried Tein,and
at London, leaning behind him two sonnes, Quiderius and ^J^JJ^****
Aruiragus.' Arviwgoi.i
T But here is to be noted, that although our histories doo
affirme^ that as well this Eymbeline, as also his father Theomantius
lined in quiet with the Romans, and continuallie to them paied
the tributes which the Britains had couenanted with Julius Cesar [Roman
to pay, yet we find in the Romane writers, that after Julius Cesars thatthe"^^
BritoM re-
death, when Augustus had taken ypon him the rule of the empire, ^'^J^^^^
the Britains refused to paie that tribute: whereat as Cornelius o^^\
Tacitus reporteth, Augustus (being otherwise occupied) was con- ^2ji!^^^
tented to winke ; howbeit, through earnest calling ypon to recouer
his right by such as were desirous to see the vttermost of the
British kingdome ; at length, to wit, in the tenth yeare after the
death of Julius Cesar, which was about the thirteenth yeare of
the said Theomantius, Augustus made prouision to passe with an [Angmtos
armie oner into Britaine, & was come forward ypon his iournie STtn^e
1 1 Britain.]
^ "Tenantius'' (the spelling in Oymb, L i. 31) occurs as a variant form in
H6L L H, E, 32/1/58 above. Shakspere seems to have adopted Fabh con-
jectare (reported in Hoi. i H, E. 3I/2/22) that Cassibelan, Androgens, and
Tenantias were sons of Lud, Cymbelme's grandfather; for Cymoeline is
(flbl. i B. E. 23/2/12).
« Cp. Cywb. III. i 70 :
"Thy Gsesar Knighted me ; my youth I spent
Much vnder him" ; • . .
» We learn from Juvenal {Sat. IV. 124-127) that a British prince named
Arviiagos was a contemporary of Domitian.
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8 n. CYMBELINE.
DUmoauiut. into Gallia Celtica: or as we male sale, into these hither parts
of France.
SSidby » ^^^ ^®^ receiuing aduertisements that the Pannonians, which
S^rISS^. inhabited the countrie now called Hungarie, and the Dalmatians
^'tu^] ' whome now we call Slauons had rebelled, he thought it best first
to sabdae those rebells neere home,^ rather than to seeke new
countries, and leaue such in hazard whereof he had present
possession, and so turning his power against the Pannonians and
Dalmatians, he left off for a time the warres of Britain. . . .
SbShS""** B^* whether this controuersie which appeareth to fall forth
OT^^^ betwixt the Britans and Augustus, was occasioned by Eymbeline,
prinoe wtoB- OT somo othor priucc of the Britains, I haue not to auouch : for
ed tribute,
bdin??M ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ writers it is reported, that Kymbeline being brought
She aJmi^ vp in Rome, & knighted in the court of Augustus, euer shewed
^iM^A himselfe a friend to the Romans, & chieflie was loth to breake
K^Vi^ ^ith them, because the youth of the Britaine nation should not
iSmo be depriued of the benefit to be trained and brought yp among
the Romans, whereby they might leame both to behaue them-
selues like ciuill men, and to atteine to the knowledge of feats
of warre.^
tS'i^SL*" But whether for this respect, or for that it pleased the
wSfi'^ almightie Qod so to dispose the minds of men at that present,
t^^} not onlie the Britains, but in manner all other nations were
contented to be obedient to the Romane empire. That this was
1 Cymbeline replies to Lucius (Oymb. III. L 73-75):
. . , " I am perfect,
That the Pannonians and Dalmatians for
Their Liberties are now in Armes": • • •
« Cp. Posthumns's words {Oymb, II. iv. 20-26) :
. . . "Our Countrymen
Are men more order'd then when Julius Osesar
Smiled at their lacke of skill, but found their courage
Worthy his frowning at: Their discipline
(Now mingled [wing-led F] with their courages) will make
knowne
To their Approuers, they are People such
That mend vpon the world."
As to the military strength of Britain at the time of Caesar's invasion, Hoi,
says (ii., The first inhahitabion of Irelandj 6I/1/14): . . . "the British nation
was then Tnskilfull, and not trained to feats of war, for the Britons then being
onelie vsed to the Picts and Irish enimies, people halfe naked, through lacke of
$hiU easilie gaue place to the Romans force,'' . • •
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n, CYMBELINE. 9
trae in the Britains, it is euident enough by Strahos words, which «**^- ^'"v-
are in effect as foUowetL " At this present (saith he) certeine ^^^^
"princes of Britaine, procuring by ambassadors and dutifull uSfSfSh^
"demeanors the amitie of the emperour Augustus, haue offered ^^^^^^^^^
*^m the capitoll ynto the gods presents or gifts, and haue ordeined
" the whole He in a manner to be appertinent, proper, and familiar
"to the Romana They are burdened with sore customs which jSj^Sbj
"they paie for wares, either to be sent foorth into Gallia, or ^™^^
"brought from thence, which are commonlie yuorie vessels,
"sheeres, ouches, or earerings, and other conceits made of amber
"& glasses, and such like manner of merchandize."
Holinshed {Hoi, ii. H, S, 46/1/55) records an embassy from
Augustus to Cymbeline, which may have given Shakspere a hint for
the less peaceful mission of Gains Lucius.
[Hoi ii H. 8. 45/i/SS.] About the same time [125 B.C.] ]^^
also there came vnto Eimbaline king of the Britains an f^!^;^
ambassador from Augustus the emperor, with thanks, for that A^st^
entring into the gouemement of the British state, he had kept for hii 107*1.
his allegiance toward the Romane empire: exhorting him to nomuia.]
keepe his subiects in peace with all their neighbors, sith the
whole world, through meanes of the same Augustus, was now in
quiet, without all warres or troublesome tumults.
Gains Lucius demands a yearly tribute of three thousand pounds,
which had been imposed on Gassibelan and "his Succession"^ by
Julius Gaesar, but had been " lately . . . left vntender'd " by Gym-
beline, Gassibelau's nephew (Cymb, III. L 2 — 10). This pretension to
tribute arose when Gaesar, after defeating Gassibelan,^ blockaded the
residue of the British levies, so that — [CaasitMian
agrees to pay
[Hol I JT. K 30/2/73.] Cassibellane in the end was forced yS^j
to fall to a composition, in couenanting to paie a yearlie tribute aJ^in,
of three thousand pounds. ^SL?^^
^ Tenantios, whom Gymbeline succeeded, "paid the tribute to the Romans
which Cassibellane [Tenantias's immediate preaecessor] had granted."— ^oZ. i
JET. B, 32/1/73.
* Holinshed's authorities are Higt. Britt, lY. z. 67, and Matthew of West-
minster (ed. 1601, p. 38). According to them this success was the result of
a third invasion by Caesar. The authentic account is that the Romans' second
invasion of Britain closed with the submission of Cassivellaunus (or Cassi-
belan) ; and that Caesar, before leaving Britain for the last time, " obsidea
imperat, et, quid in annos singulos vectigalis populo Romano Britannia
pendeietj constituit" (De BeUo Qailico, V. 22).
•and.
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10 II. OYMBEUNE.
Shakspere forsook his authority in making Cymbeline refuse
tribute.^ The refusal came from Guiderius, as the following excerpt
3hows.
ouidiHui. [ffoi I H. E. 33/1/63.] QuideriuB the first sonne of Kymbeline
(of whom Hanson saieth nothing) began his reigne in the seuen-
^^ftuMUi ^^^^ yeere after th' incarnation of Christ This Guiderius being
J2|^^^^ a man of stout courage, gaue occasion of breach of peace betwixt
the Britains and Romans, denieng to paie them tribute, and
procuring the people to new insurrections, which by one meane
or other made open rebellion, as Oyldas saith.'
In Holinshed's second volume, Guiderius's rebellion is thus narrated*
Brii
died, who for that he had beene brought Tp in Rome, obserued
his promised obedience towards the empire ; but Guiderius suo-
«^ySI [^^^- n.H.8. 45/2/42.] . . . Kimbaline king of the Britains
ceeding, disdamed to see the libertie of his countrie oppressed
v!im^ by the Romans, and therefore procuring the Britams to assist
JjJg^Uj^** him, assembled a power, and inuaded the Romans with such
yiolence, that none escaped with life, but such as saued themselues
within castels & fortresses.
RtmumM.
r^fkfTtdm
The next point to be noticed is Gloten's rejection of tribute because
•*Britaine'B a world by it selfe" (Cymb. UL i. 12, 13); a view which
Shakspere may have gathered from one or all of the following passages.
Unto what [Hoi L Description of Britaine, 2/1/30.] And whereas by
Ajto^i* Virgil [ , who] — speaking of our Hand — saith ;
Et penih^ toto diuisos orhe BritcmnoSj*
And some other authors not vnwoorthie to be read and perused,
it is not certeine vnto which portion of the earth our Hands, and
Thule, with sundrie the like scattered in the north seas should
be ascribed, bicause they excluded them (as you see) from the
rest of the whole earth : I haue thought good, for facilitie sake
1 In The Faerie Queene^ II. x. 50, the Romans are said to have made war
on C^beline because " their tribute he ref usd to let be payd." " Soone after "
the birth of Christ this war began. In the next stanza Arviragos is spoken of
as Cymbeline's brother.
* Qildas records Boadicea*s revolt (Hidoria OUdae, IV.). His book
contains no mention of Guiderius.
» Eel I. 67.
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n. CYMBELINB. 11
of diuision, to refer them all which lie within the first minute
of longitude, set downe by Piolome^ to Ewropa.
[Hoi. L H. E. 34/1/10.] The sonldiers [of Aulus Plautius]
hearing of this Yoiage [to Britain], were loth to go with him,
as men not willing to make warre in another world.
Holinshed's Chronicles include a panegyric by Claudius Mamertinus,
whose congratulations were offered to the Emperor Mayimiau L, upon
the reunion of Britain to the Empire, after the fall (a.d. 296) of the
British Emperor AUectus, the panegynst calling to mind how Oaesar
[Hoi. I H. E. 57/2/60.] writ that he had found an other i^^
world, supposing it to be so big, that it was not compassed with ^^
the sea^ but that rather by resemblance the great Ocean was ^**^^
compassed with it.
Subsequently Maximian is thus addressed :
[Hoi. L H. E. 59/2/59.] Qlorie you therefore, inuincible ^Jj^®**^
emperour, for that you haue as it were got an other world, & ^iSJuin
in restoring to the Bomane puissance the glory of conquest by 2^^°^
sea, haue added to the Romano empire an element greater than ^^ ^
all the compasse of the earth, that is, the mightie maine ocean.
Oloten having renounced tribute, the Queen — scornfully appraising
the value of that " kinde of conquest " which " Caesar made heere " —
declares (IIL i. 26—29) how
his Shipping
(Poore ignorant baubles I) on our terrible Seas,
Like Egge-shels mou'd vpon their Surges, crack'd
As easily 'gainst our Bockes.
Caesar, when he first invaded Britain, landed without his cavalry ;
the eighteen transports conveying those troops not having, pursuant
to his orders, followed the fleet which bore hun and the foot-soldiers.
Failing in their attempt to prevent his disembarkation, the Britons
sued for peace, and complied with his demand for hostages {De BeUo
GaUico, IV. 23-31).
[Hoi. L H. E. 25/2/60.] Peace being thus established after [Caesar'gis
the fourth day of the Romans arriuall in Britain, the 18 ships B^eseenofr
•^ * * the cowt of
which (as ye haue heard) were appointed to conuey the horssemen B"***^i
oner, loosed from the further hauen with a soft wind. Which
when they approched so neere the shore of Britaine, that the
Romans which were in Cesars campe might see them, suddenlie
tiiere arose so great a tempest, that none of them was able to
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12 n- OYMBBLINB.
rni«y are keepe his course, so that they were not onelie driuen in sunder
a tempest] (some being caried againe into Qallia, and some westward) but
also the other ships that laj at anchor, and had brought ouer
[Theihiiwat the armie, were so pitifullie beaten, tossed and shaken, that a
anchor are
i^toS^ great number of them did not onelie lose their tackle, but also
JJj;;;^ were caried by force of wind into the high sea ; the rest being
ttb^m likewise so filled with water, that they were in danger by sinking
fn^ to perish and to be quite lost.^
The same misfortune befell Caesar on his second expedition to
Britain. He landed unopposed, and, marching inland with the bulk
of his forces, drove the Britons from a stronghold where they awaited
his attack {De BeUo Gallico, V. 8, 9).
[Caeaar [Hol. l H, E. 28/2/2.] The ucxt day, as he had sent foorth
bM?^h ^^^ ^ should haue pursued the Britains, word came to him from
SSpwtJ'iid Q^iiit^ Atrius,^ that his nauie by rigour of a sore and hideous
«b!^^] tempest was greeuouslie molested, and throwne vpon the shore,
so that the cabels and tackle being broken and destroied with
force of the ynmercifuU rage of wind, the maisters and mariners
were not able to helpe the matter.
The Queen's assertion (1. 26), that Caesar was " twice beaten " by
the Britons, rests on the authority of chroniclers whose truthfulness
was perhaps doubted even in Shaksi>ere's day, though he found their
narratives quoted along with the Commentariea upon the GaUic War,
Caesar's account of his first expedition to these shores having been set
forth by Holinshed, there follows what professes to be the British
version of the events of this campaign.
oxmirdi [Hol. L H. E. 27/i/iS.] T Thus writeth Cesar touching his
m. 4. ' first ioumie made into Britaine. But the British historic (which
^ Below we read that **not hauing other stnffe to repaire his ships, he
[Coesarl caused 12 of those that were vtterlie past recouerie by the hurts
receiuea through violence of the tempest, to be broken, wherewith the other
(in which some recouerie was perceiu^) might be repaired and amended."—
H6L i jar. E. 26/1/31. (The iamous words, " Veni, Vidi, Vid,'' are translated
" I came, I saw, I ouercame," in the life of Julius Caesar in North's FluJUiaxh^
ed. 1679, p. 787.) It is possible that, before writing the Queen's harangue, —
the aim ot which is to show how Caesar's prosperity deserted him in Britain, —
Shakspere glanced at Caesar's remark upon the unforeseen lack of cavalry to
pursue the retreating Britons, after the legionaries had effected their landmg :
" And this one thing seemed onelie to disappoint the luckie fortune that was
accustomed to follow Cesar in all his other enterprises.'^— J3bl. i H, E. 26/2/28
{B. G. IV. 26).
* Whom Caesar had left in charge of the fleet.
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n. OYMBELINE. 18
Polydor calleth the new historie) ^ declareth that Cesar in a pitcht [2S,5^di;^
field was yanquished at the first encounter, and so withdrew backe of^^
into France. pitched
UUIe^and
Caesar's account of his second invasion was also contradicted, Gwao^***
another victory being claimed bj the Britons.
[Hoi L H. K 30/2/9.] Thus according to that which Cesar
hunselfe and other autentike authors haue written, was Britaine
made tributarie to the Romans by the conduct of the same Cesar.
T But our historpjes farre diflfer from this, aflSrming that Cesar ^^^
comming the second time, was by the Britains with valiancie and
martiall prowesse beaten and repelled, as he was at the first, and
speciallie by meanes that Cassibellane had pight in the Thames
great piles of trees piked with yron, through which his ships being gJJ^Jtbat
entred the riuer, were perished and lost And after his comming 2S^w
a land, he was vanquished in battell, and constrained to flee into n^ij![d|and
Gallia with those ships that remained. gmL]
The Queen also says that Cassibelan ^^ was once at point ... to
master CawMtrs Sword"* (fiymh. III. i. 30, 31). According to the
Historia BrUormm — ref errcni to below as " The same historie " — Caesar
actually lost his sword during the battle in which he met with the first
of those defeats whereof the Queen reminds Gains Lucius.
[Hoi. L H. E, 27/1/40.] The same historic also maketh rc^ewioMi
mention of . . . Nenius brother to Cassibellane, who in fight "^'^^^^'^J
happened to get Cesars swoord fastened in his shield by a blow
which Cesar stroke at him.
* The "new historic,'* as Polydore Veigil calls it, is, I believe, the Historia
BriUmum; which contains (IV. iii. 68, 69) particulars of the "pitcht field."
There is more about this victory, taken from Boece (3I/40-80}, in Hoi, i«
H. E. 27/1/73, Ac- Posthumus's iather Sicilius {Gyrnb. I. L 29, 30),—
" who did ioyne his House
Against the Romanes vath Cassibulan "
, — ^no doubt took part in this battle, where also, as Hd, records, Tenantius was
present from whom Sicilius "had his Titles" (L 31).
* The Queen's expression — " at point to master CsBsar^s Sword " — implies
that his sword was nearly wrested from him by force, not caught by accident ;
and she has, it will be observed, attributed to CasdbeLm the honour of this
partial success. Caesar's sword was placed by Cassibelan in a sarcophagus,
with the body of Nennius, who died fifteen days after the battle from a wound
inflicted by tnis weapon, which was named " Crocea mors, quia nullus evadebat
vivus qui eo vulnerabatur" (Hid, Britt, IV. iv. 60).
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14 n. CYMBBLINB.
Caesar's second defeat was attended by rejoicings which the Queen
connects with the Britons' first victory, when he lost his sword*
[Tiie British [Hol. i H. E. 30/2/22.] For icy of this second victorie (saith
ttjjriieaond Qalfrid) Cassibellane made a great feast at London, and there
did sacrifice to the gods.
The scene of these rejoicings was " Luds-Towne," {Gymh, III.
i. 32), known as Troinovant until it became the special care of Lud,
Cassibelan's elder brother.
J5j*^^Y [Hol. I H. E, 23/1/S9.] By reason that king Lud so much
^Jgp*"**^ esteemed that citie^ before all other of his realme, inlarging it
^^^"^^^ so greatlie as he did, and continuallie in manner remained there,
the name was changed, so that it was called Caerlud, that is
to sale, Luds towne : and after by comiption of speech it was
named London.
Courteously, but firmly, Cymbeline rejects the Boman demand, and
bids Lucius say to Augustus (HL i 55 — 62) :
Our Ancestor was that Mulmutius, which
Ordain'd our Lawes, ....
Who was the first of Britaine, which did put 60
His browes within a golden Chrowne, and call'd
Himselfe a king.
Holinshed relates how, after the deaths of Ferrex and Porrex,* the
last acknowledged descendants of Brutus, Britain was plunged into
civil war, then became subject to a pentarchy of kings, and was finally
reimited under one sceptre by Mi:dmucius Dunwallon, son of Cloton
Eling of ComwalL Among the great deeds of Mulmucius these are
recorded:*
Mauh. Wat [HoL 1. H. E. 15/2/34.] He also made manie good lawes,
Lawcs made
iJyMi^u. which were long after vsed, called Mulmucios lawes, turned out
^ Lud built there **a faire temple neere to his . . . palace, which temple
(as some take it) was after turned to a church, and at this dale called Paules."
—flbl. i. H. E. 23/1/59. Perhaps the temple in " Luds-Towne,"— assigned by
Shakspere to "great lupiter,"— where Cymbeline ratified peace with the
Romans (Oxfmb, V. v. 481-483).
' Sons of Qorboduc, King of Britain. Their history is dramatized in our
earliest tragedy, written by Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton, and acted
on January 18, 1561.
' The chapter containing these pasea^ (bk. III. chap, i p. 15) is headed :
•*0f Mulmucius the first king / of Britaine, who was crownea / with a golden
CTowne, his lawes, / his foundations, with other / his acts and deeds." Malmu<
cius ** began his reigne ouer the whole monarchie of Britaine, in the yeere of
the world 3529, after the building of Rome 314, and eiter the deliuerance of
the Israelites out of captiuitie 97, and about the 26 yeere of Darius Artazerxea
Longimanus, the fift king of the Persians.'' — Ibid,
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n. CfTMBELINE. 15
of the British speech into the Latine by Gildas Priscus} and long
time after translated ont of latine into english by Alfred king ^SSl*^^
of England, and mingled in his statutes. . . .
After he had established his land, and set his Britains in good ^SifSi^
and oonuenient order, he ordeined him by the aduise of his lords TgM^^*'^
a crowne of gold, & caused himseUe with great solemnitie to be *"''''**'
crowned, according to the custom of the pagan lawes then in Tse :
& bicause he was the first that bare a crowne heere in Britaine,
after the opinion of some writers^ he is named the first king of
Britaine, and all the other before rehearsed are named rulers,
dukes, or gouemors.
V, liL — Another part of Cyrnhdine for which Holinshed furnished
matter is the description given by Posthumus (Y« iii. 3 — 58) of the
means whereby victory was transferred from the Romans to the
Britons. The prowess of Belarius, and his adopted children, Quiderius
and Arviragus, has a parallel in an exploit attributed to a Scottish
husbandman named l^y, who, with his two sons' help, routed the
Danes at the battle of Lonoarty, fought a.i>. 976. Before quoting the
passages of Holinshed which relate to this event, I must premise that,
while the issue of the battle was doubtful, the Scots embarrassed
themselves by beheading those Danes who had fallen.^
[Hoi. il H. S. 155/1/48.] Which manor being noted of the JJ^;^^
Danes, and perceiuing that there was no hope of life but in ^^^
victorie, they rushed foorth with such violence ypon their aduer- * ^ **^
saries, that first the right, and then after the left wing of the
Scots, was constreined to retire and flee backe, the middle-ward
stoutly yet keeping their ground: but the same stood in such
danger, being now left naked on the sides, that the victorie must
^ Qenerally known as Qildas Sapiens, bom about a.d. 516.
* Two more possible traces or Shakspere's Holinshed-reading may be
noticed, a In Oymb, III. v. 23, the king speaks of chariots as a British arm.
Shid^spere would find their use in warfare described bv Hoi. (L H, E, 86/2/11),
who took his account from Caesar (De Bdlo ChUicOj iV. 33). fi When Anlus
PlautiuB was sailing to invade Britain, '^the marriners and men of warre"
were encouraged by seeing **a fierie leame [liffht] to shoot out of the east
toward ihe wed, which way their course lay," • • . (H6L i. JET. E. 34/2/9).
dp. PhOarmonos's answer to Cains Lucius, who asked for the soothsayer's
dream **of this warres purpose" {Oymb. IV. ii. 348-352) :
** I saw loues Bird, the Roman Eagle, wing'd
From the spnn^ South to this part of the West,
Then vanisn'd m the Sun-beames : which portends
gSTnlesse my sinnes abuse my diuiuation)
uccesse to th* Roman boast"
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16 n. CYMBEUNB.
needes haue remained with the Danes, had not a renewer of the
battell come in time, bj the appointment (as is to be thought)
of almightie Qod.
S?*™*" For as it chanced, there was in the next field at the same time
two ionnti '
an husbandman, with two of his sons busie about his worke,
named Haie, a man strong and stiffe in making and shape of
SdtbfKiiig. ^^^^> ^^^ indued with a yaliant courage. This Haie beholding
flgbtf^J^in the king with the most part of the nobles, fighting with great
ward]. ^ yaliancie in the middle ward, now destitute of the wings, and in
great danger to be oppressed by the great yiolence of his enimies,
caught a plow-beame in his hand, and with the same exhorting
his sonnes to doo the like, hasted towards the battell, there to
die rather amongest other in defense of his countrie, than to
remaine aliue after the discomfiture in miserable thraldome and
CtSLflSd ''^o'^dage of the cruell and most vnmercifull enimies. There was
SSaTwhSe iioere to the place of the battell, a long lane fensed on the sides
^ tST* with ditches and walles made of turfe, through the which the
heap«cep. Scots which flcd wero beaten downe by the enimies on heapes.
JJSiSlJ'^ the flight, placed themselues ouerthwart the lane, beat them backe
r25 spared whomc they met fleeing, and spared neither friend nor fo: but
Op! ^6.' downe they went all such as came within their reach, wherewith
ssi diuerse hardie personages cried vnto their fellowes to retume
2w aSU b^tc '^to the battell, for there was a new power of Scotishmen
UMM ^^™® *^ ^^^ succours, by whose aid the victorie might be easilie
^'^'*^^ obteined of their most cruell aduersaries the Danes: therefore
might they choose whether they would be slaine of their owne
fellowes comming to their aid, or to retume againe to fight with
/mSS^ the enimies. The Danes being here staled in the lane by the
li^I^'^ great yaliancie of the father and the sonnes, thought yerely there
had beene some great succors of Scots come to the aid of their
king, and thereypon ceassiug from further pursute, fled backe in
great disorder ynto the other of their fellowes fighting with the
middle ward of the Scots.
The Scots also that before was chased^ being incouraged here-
with, pursued the Danes ynto the place of the battell right
fiercelie. Whereypon Kenneth perceiuing his people to be thus
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II. CYMBELINB, 17
recomforted, and his enimies partlie abashed, called ypon his men f^J^^
to remember their duties, and now sith their aduersaries hearts 5*L~***
began (as they might perceine) to fidnt, he willed them to follow <*«*'<«**<^
▼pon them manfully, which if they did, he assured them that the
Tictorie Tndoubtedlie should be theirs. The Scots incouraged
with the kings words, laid about them so eamestlie, that in the
end the Danes were constreined to forsake the field, and the Scots £^^S?^
egerlie pursuing in the chase, made great slaughter of them as •^^'^
they fled This Tictorie turned highlie to the praise of the Scotish
nobilitie, the which fighting in the middle ward, bare still the
brunt of the battell, continuing manfiillie therein euen to the end.
But Haie, who in such wise (as is before mentioned) staled them [ThiTictoiy
that fled, causing them to retume againe to the field, deserued ^^^
immortall fame and commendation: for by his meanes chieflie ggl'j
was the victorie atchiued.
I conclude with a list of personal names found in Gymhelins, which
Sbakspere may have picked up here and there from the pages of
Holinshed's Chronicles.
Cabwall, pseudonym of Arviragus {Cymb. III. iii. 95). Cadwallo
King of Britain; began to reign A.D. 635 (ffol i. ff. B, II2/1/65).
Olotbn (Cymb, L ii.). Cloton,^ a king of Cornwall, father of
Mulmucius Dunwallon {ffoL i. H. E. I5/2/21).
Ck>BNBLnjs, a physician (Ct/mb. I. t.). The name of Gobnelius
Tacitus, the historian, occurs in Hoi, L R, E, 51/i/6o, ei passim.
Hblbnb or Helen, Imogen's woman {Gymh, II. ii. 1). Helen,
daughter of Coell 'King of Britain, and mother of Constantine the
Great {Hoi. i. H. E. 62/1/57).
Imogen (Cymb. I. i.). Innogen,* wife of Brute, first ruler of
Britain {Hoi. I H. E. 8/2/48).
Lucius, ambassador from Augustus {Cymb. HI. i.). Lucius King
of Britain, who began to reign a.d. 124 {Hoi. i. H. E. 5I/2/40). Also
Lucius, a Boman '^capteine ^ in Gaul, vanquished by Arthur King of
Britain {Hoi. i. H. E. 9I/1/39).
Moboan or Mbboan,' pseudonym of Belarius {Cymb. TJL iii 106 ;
Y. ▼. 332). Maboan, joint king of Britain, son of Henninus Duke
of Cornwall, and Gononlla eldest daughter of King Leir (Hoi i. H. E.
13/2/56).
PounoBE or Paladoub (the latter spelling in Cymb. IIL iiL 86),
1 On the same page his name appears as "Clotenus." As "Clotyn Duke
of Comewall " he is a character in Cforboduc (1st ed., 1565).
• "Ixmogeu," the wife of Leonatus, is in the first Entry of Much Ado (Qi,
1600). Oymbdine was probably written about 1610.
• Spelt '•Moijan'' in Holinshed's << second table for the historie of Britaine
and Ei^land." In the old Levr, Ragan's husband is Morgan King of Cambria.
0
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18 in. MACBETH.
pseudonym of Guiderius. The name of Folydob Yirgily the historian,
occurs in HoL i. H, E. 85/1/34, et passim.
PosTHUMUS {Cymb. I. i.). Posthuhus, a son of Aeneas and Lavinia,
bom after his father's death {Ed. i. ff. E. 7/1/40).
SioiLLiUB, father of Posthumus {Cyrnh. L i. 29). Sicilius Eling of
Britain, began to reign b.o. 430 {HoL i. H. E. 1 9/2/46).
III. MACBETH.
Thb historic time embraced by The Tragedie of Macbeth begins in
1040, when Duncan was slain, and ends with Macbeth's defeat by
Siward on July 27, 1054. The historic Macbeth, however, escaped
from the battle, and was killed in August, 1057.
Act L sc. iL — ^The following excerpts contain the materials for this
scene. Shakspere was perhaps induced to make " the Norweyan lord "
an ally of Macdonwald because Holinshed says that Sueno invaded
Scotland^ "immediately" after the suppression of the rebellion.
Steevens conjectured that the mere official title (" sergeant at armes ")
of the messenger, who was sent to command the rebels' presence at
Court, gave Shakspere a hint for introducing a sergeant, from whom
Duncan learns the latest news of the revolt (1. ii. 2, 3).
5<««»»«\, \Hol. VL H. S. I68/2/12.] After Malcolme succeeded his
<^8eouand nephuc DuDcane the sonne of his daughter Beatrice : for Malcome
had two daughters, the one which was this Beatrice, being giuen
in mariage Tnto one Abbanath Crinen, a man of great nobilitie,
and thane of the lies and west parts of Scotland, bare of that
mariage the foresaid Duncane; the other called Doada, was
[ooDflinto maried vnto Sinell^ the thane of Glammis, by whom she had issue
Ifaobefh].
MaHith one Makbeth a valiant gentleman, and one that if he had not
somewhat ° bceno somewhat cmell of nature, might haue beene thought most
woorthie the gouemement of a realme. On the other part, Duncane
Duncan 0/ was SO soffc and gentle of nature,^ that the people wished the
'^^^'vrc. inclinations and manors of these two cousins to haue beene so
tempered and interchangeablie bestowed betwixt them, that where
^ These fictitious invasions of Sueno and Canute are, I believe, mentioned
tlus description compare Macbeth's epithe
(III. i. 66).
by no writer earlier than Boece^ 247/55 b, &c«
* This name is variously spelt Fordw^s spelling is "Pinele" (IV. xlix.
233), whence perhaps came Boic^s " Synel " (246/64 b).
^ With this description compare Macbeth's epithet, <Hhe graaious Duncan"
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III. MACBETH. 19
tiie one had too much of clemencie, and the other of craeltie, the
meane yertue betwixt these two extremities might haue reigned
by indifferent partition in them both, so should Duncane haue
proued a woorthie king, and Makbeth an excellent captctne. The
beginning of Duncans reigne was yerie quiet and peaceable,
without anie notable trouble; but after it was perceiued how
negligent he was in punishing offenders, manie misruled persons JP'^J!^^^
tooke occasion thereof to trouble the peace and quiet state of the S^^i
common-wealth, by seditious commotions which first had their
beginnings in this wise.
Banquho the thane of Lochquhaber, of whom the house of the SSHS^
Stewards is descended, the which by order of linage hath now for ^J^*^*
a long time inioied the crowne of Scotland, euen till these our '*««««»*^
dales, as he gathered ihe finances due to the king, and further
punished somewhat sharpelie such as were notorious offenders,
being assailed by a number of rebels inhabiting in that countrie, tHHH^fiu
and spoiled of the monie and all other things, had much a doo f^Sl^iAabtr.
to get awaie with life, after he had receiued sundrie grieuous
wounds amongst them. Yet escaping their hands, after hee was
somewhat recouered of his hurts, and was able to ride, he repaired
to the courts where making his complaint to the king in most
earnest wise, he purchased at length that the offenders were sent
for by a sergeant at armes, to appeare to make answer Tuto such
matters as should be laid to their charge : but they augmenting
their mischiefous act with a more wicked deed, a>fter they had
misused the messenger with sundrie kinds of reproches, they i^JJfSJi^
finallie slue him also. if<*«wWfc
Then doubting not but for such contemptuous demeanor
against the kings regall authoritie, they should be inuaded with
all the power the king could make, Makdowald one of great ^^JJ^S-
estimation among them, making first a confederacie with his ^^J^o/
neerest friends and kinsmen, tooke ypon him to be chiefe capteine ^''^^^
of all such rebels as would stand against the king, in maintenance
of their grieuous offenses latelie committed against him. Manie
slanderous words also, and railing tants this Makdowald yttered ^^
against his prince, calling him a faint-hearted milkesop, more meet J^So^!]^
to goueme a sort of idle moonks in some cloister, than to haue the
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20
in. MACBETH.
rpeoplefrom
thewectem
isles, and
kerns and
gallow-
Klsssesfrom
Ireland, help
him. Cp.
M€Ub.tl
12, 18.1
Makdowttd
di»eom/lUth
theHng*
ThgtwuU
akUqftJU
king in war'
lUt^fflatiru.
MaJcbttkt
rto subdue
the rebels, in
concert with
Banqno].
MakbeOi<md
Banquhoart
aentagaintt
thtreb€l$,
ThtnbeU
ftynaitthiir
captein*.
MaMowOd
riaietkhit
wi/kand
Uuai$hiw^
rule of such valiant and bardie men of warre as the Scots were.
He Ysed also such subtill persuasions and forged allurements, that
in a small time he had gotten togither a mightie power of men :
for out of the westeme lies there came vnto him a great multitude
of people, offering themselues to assist him in that rebellious
quarell, and out of Ireland in hope of the spoile came no small
number of Eemes and Qalloglasses, offering gladlie to serue vnder
him, whither it should please him to lead them.
Makdowald thus hauing a mightie puissance about him, incoun-
tered with such of the kings people as were sent against him into
Lochquhaber, and discomfiting them, by mere force tooke their
capteine Malcolme, and after the end of the battell smote off his
head. This ouerthrow being notified to the king, did put him in
woonderfuU feare, by reason of his small skill in warlike affaires.
Calling therefore his nobles to a councell, he asked of them their
best aduise for the subduing of Makdowald & other the rebels.
Here^ in sundrie heads (as euer it happeneth) were sundrie
opinions, which they yttered according to euerie man his skill
At length Makbeth speaking much against the kings softnes, and
ouermuch slacknesse in punishing offenders, whereby they had
such time to assemble togither, he promised notwithstanding, if
the charge were committed ynto him and ynto Banquho, so to
order the matter, that the rebels should be shortly vanquished
& quite put downe, and that not so much as one of them should
be found to make resistance within the countrie.
And euen so it came to passe : for being sent foorth with a new
power, at his entring into Lochquhaber, the fame of his comming
put the enimies in such feare, that a great number of them stale
secretlie awaie from their capteine Makdowald, who neuerthelesse
inforced thereto, gaue battell vnto Makbeth, with the residue
which remained with him : but being ouercome, and fleeing for
refuge into a castell (within the which his wife & children were
inclosed) at length when he saw how he could neither defend the
hold anie longer against his enimies, nor yet vpon surrender be
Buffered to depart with life saued, hee first slue his wife and
children, and lastlie himselfe, least if he had yeelded simplie, he
should haue beene executed in most cruell wise for an example
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IIL MACBETH. 21
to other. Makbeth entring into the castell by the gates, as then
set open, found the carcasse of Makdowald lieng dead there
amongst the residue of the slaine bodies, which when he beheld,
remitting no peece of his cruell nature with that pitifiill sight, he
caused the head to be cut off, and set ypon a poles end, and so Maidtmaurt
sent it as a present to the king, who as then laie at Bertha.^ The ^^^^,^
headlesse trunke he commanded to bee hoong yp ypon an high <''*(«(^
paire of gallows. . . . Thus was iustice and law restored againe jnaut^
to the old accustomed course, by the diligent means of Makbeth.
Immediatlie wherevpon woord came that Sueno king of Norway sutMtin^
was arriued in Fife with a puissant armie, to subdue the whole jSgJf^^
realme of Scotland.
The army raised to resist Sueno was divided into three " battels '' ;
the van and rear being assigned to Macbeth and Banquo respectively,
while Duncan commanded the main body. The events of the sub-
sequent campaign — ^which ended with an overwhelming defeat of the
Duies * — are not dramatized. Sueno, accompanied by a few survivors
of the expedition, escaped to Norway. — H6L ii. H, S. I69/2/61 — I7O/2/4.
[Hoi iL H. S. 170/2/21.] The Scots hauing woone so notable soumupr.-
a victorie, after they had gathered & diuided the spoile of the
field, caused solemne processions to be made in all places of the
realme, and thanks to be giuen to almightie Qod, that had sent
them so faire a day' oner their enimies. But whilest the people
were thus at their processions, woord was brought that a new fleet ^JSI^TSi^
of Danes was arriued at Eingcome,^ sent thither by Canute king
of England, in reuenge of his brother Suenos ouerthrow. To
* According to Boece (278/45 ^) ^^® ^** ^^ ^bi" *<^"^^ ^^ ^c*^ *be modem
Perth, founded by William tne laon to replace Bertha, which was destroyed
by an inundation in 1210.
* The Scots won the victory bv drugging the Danes, who incautiously
accepted from Duncan a present of ale and bread, compounded with 'Hhe iuice
of mekilwoort berries."— JSToZ. ii H. 8. I70/1/41. In the Clarendon Press ed.
of MacbetKy it is conjectured that ** mekilwoort '^ is the "insane Root," spoken
of by Banquo (I. iii 84). The following description of the plant called by
Boeee ^ Solatium amentiide,'' and here englished as "mekilwoort," was omitted
by Hdif and Bellenden, the translator of Boece : "herba est ingentis quantita-
tis, acinos prindpio virides, ac moz vbi maturuerint purpureos £ad nigredinem
vergentes habens, ad caulem enatos & sub foliis latentes sesdque quasi retra-
hentes, vimque soporiferam, aut in amentiam agendi si affatim sumpseris
habentes, magna vbertate in Scotia proueniens." — 248/59 b.
' Cp. Macbeth's words (I. iii 37) : "jSo foule and faire a day I haue
not seene."
4 Kiughom, Fife, on the Firth of Forth.
9ietarU
ffoUtn.
oiKi
outqf.
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22 HL MACBETH.
resist these enimies, which were alreadie landed, and bosie in
^^l^SSSd spoiling the countrie, Makbeth and Banquho were sent with the
j2i/5ISf* kings authoritie, who hauing with them a conuenient power,
^^"^ incountred the enimies, slue part of them, and chased the other
to their ships. They that escaped and got once to their ships,
obteined of Makbeth for a great summe of gold, that such of their
£«f*cSSiSf fri^^ds ^ ^^^ slaine at this last bickering, might be bnried in
^**** saint Colmes IncL^
Act L 8C. iii. — ^n. iii — It is possible that some passages in
Bblinshed, describing the bewitchment of Duff King of Scots, were in
Shakspere's mind when he wrote the couplets detailing the First
Witch's projects of revenge upon the sea-captain whose wife had
insulted her (IL 18—25). Duff could
L^*ri2^at [^^^- "• ^' ^' 149/2/2.] not sleepe in the night time by anie
mSSJ?f*°^ prouocaijions that could* be deuised,*but still fell into exceeding
sweats, which by no means might be restreined. • . . But about
that present time there was a murmuring amongst the people, how
the king was vexed with no naturall sicknesse, but by sorcerie and
wudkmim magicall art^ practised by a sort of witches dwelling in a towne
of Murrey land, called Fores.'
Becoming aware of this rumour, Duff sent certain trustworthy
agents to the castle of Forres, which was held by his lieutenant
Donwald, of whom we shall hear again. It chanced that a soldier
in the garrison of the castle had a mistress by whom he was made
acquainted with the practices and designs of her mother, who was one
of the suspected witches, leagued with others for the destruction of
Duff. Donwald being iiiformed of these revelations, examined the
witch's daughter, who acknowledged that what he had been told
was trua
Ji/T2S3" [^^^- ^^ ^- ^- 149/2/59.] Wherevpon leammg by hir confes-
•**• sion in what house in the towne it was where they wrought their
1 Inchcolm (S. Columba's Island), Firth of Forth. Cp. MacbeO^, I. ii.
62-65 :
•*Sweno, the Norwayes King cranes composition ;
Nor would we deigne him buriall of his men,
Till he diebureed, at Saint Colmes ynch.
Ten thousand dollars to our generall vse.'
« Cp. Macbeth, I. iii. 19, 20 :
" Sleepe shall neyther Night nor Day
Hang vpon his Pent-house Lid ; ** &c.
* Forres is about half way between Elgin and NairUi and not far from the
Moray Firth.
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did his flesh.]
in. MACBETH. 23
mischiefons mysterie, he sent foorth Bouldiers about the middest
of the night, who breakmg into the house, found one of the witdies
rosting ypon a woodden broch an image of wax at the fier, resem- ^mmoffeo/
bling in each feature the kings person, made and deuised (as is to ''^ ^-^-
be tiiought) by crafb and art of the diuell : an other of them sat
reciting certeine words of inchantment, and still basted the image
with a certeine liquor yerie busilie.
The souldiers finding them occupied in this wise, tooke them TKtvdtdui
togither with the image, and led them into the castell, where oM^Md.
being streictlie examined for what purpose they went about such
manner of inchantment, they answered, to the end to make away Tkewhou
tfie king : for as the image did waste afore the fire, so did the «<>n/i«Md.
bodie of the king breake foorth in sweat And as for the words rnu ipeu
of the inchantment, they serued to keepe him still waking from JJ^« f^? „
sleepe, so that as the wax euer melted, so did the kings flesh : by mdto^i
the which meanes it should haue come to passe, that when the
wax was once cleane consumed, the death of the king should
immediatlie follow.
I now resume the thread of Macbeth's fortunes, from the time
when, according to Holinshed {ffoL iL H. S. I7O/2/45), a perpetual
peace was established with the Danes.
[Hoi, iL H, S. 170/2/52.] Shortlie after happened a strange and
Tncouth woonder, which afterward was the cause of much trouble
in the realme of Scotland, as ye shall after heare. It fortuned
as Makbeth and Banquho ioumied towards Fores, where the king ^^
then laie, they went sporting by the waie togither without other Jg^***
companie, sane onelie themselues, passing thorough the woods and J^^^d
fields, when suddenlie in the middest of a laund,^ there met them pftrei?^cp.
Maeb, L m.
three women in strange and wild apparell, resembling creatures «o.]
of elder world, whome when they attentiuelie beheld, woondering
much at the sight, the first of them spake and said: "All haile, ^^^jr^
" Makbeth, thane of Qlammis 1 " * (for he had latelie entered into JJJ^JJS^
that dignitie and office by the death of his father SineU). The ^H?*
second of them said: "Haile, Makbeth, thane of Cawderl" •^*'^
* "Medio repente campo** (Boece, p. 249/42).
* Glamis is five and a naif miles STW. of Forfar. — BarUhdomew.
* Cawdor Castle is five and a half miles S.W. of l^eihn,— Bartholomew.
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24 III. MACBETH.
But the third said: ''AH haile, Makbeth, that heereafber shalt
''be king of Scotland 1 " ^
Then Banqoho : " What manner of women " (saith he) " are you,
"that seeme so little fauourable vnto me, whereas to my fellow
"heere, besides high offices, ye assigne also the kingdome, appoint-
" ing foorth nothing for me at all ? " "Yes" (saith the first of them)
"we promise greater benefits vnto thee, than vnto him, for he
"shall reigne in deed, but with an vnluckie end: neither shall
"he leaue anie issue behind him to succeed in his place, where
"contrarilie thou in deed shalt not reigne at all, but of thee those
"shall be borne which shall goueme the Scotish kingdome by long
"order of continuall descent" Herewith tike foresaid women
^^^JJ*y to vanished immediatlie out of their sight This was reputed at
the first but some vaine fantasticaU illusion by Mackbeth and
Banquho, insomuch that Banquho would call Mackbeth in iest,
^^j^ king of Scotland ; and Mackbeth againe would call him in sport
i^i^d.] likewise, the father of manie kings. But afterwards the common
jhSS^ ^ opinion was, that these women were either the weird sisters, that
[The women ig (as ye would say) the goddesses Of destinie, or else some
gjgjj«« 0' nymphs or feiries, indued with knowledge of prophesie by their
^^^ necromanticall science, bicause euerie thing came to passe as they
aSLdl^wS^ had spoken. For shortlie after, the thane of Cawder being con-
demned at Fores of treason against the king committed ; his lands,
linings, and offices were giuen of the kings liberalitie to Mackbeth.'
MadOnth
matUtMan
1 The following pa88a«;e in Wyntaun (VL xviii. 13-26) gives the earliest
known form of this story {about 1424) :
A nycht he [Macbeth] thowcht in hys dremyng,
Dat syttand he wes besyd t>e Kyng [Duncan]
At a Sete in hwntjmg ; swd 15
In-til his Leisch luid Qrewhundys twd.
He thowcht, quhile he wes swd svttand,
He sawe thre Wemen by gangand ;
And l^i Wemen )«n thowcht he
Thre Werd Syst^ m^ lyk to be. 20
De fyrst he hard say gangand by,
" Lo, yhondyr J>e Thayne of Crwmbawchty " [Cromarty].
De U>\>\T Woman sayd agayne,
" Of Morave [Moray] yhondyre I se |>c Thayne."
De thryd >an sayd, ** I se |>e Kyng." 25
All l^is he herd in hys dremyng.
These thanedoms were afterwards conferred upon Macbeth by Duncan
(11. 27, 28). * Cp. MaebUh, I. il 63-67 ; iii 105-116.
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m. MACBETH. 25
The same night after, at supper, Banquho iested with him and
said : "Now Mackbeth thou hast obteined those things which the
'* two former sisters prophesied, there remaineth onelie for thee to
''purchase that which the third said should come to passe." Where- MaMetk
ypon Mackbeth reuoluing the thing in hia mind, began euen then kt might
to deuise how he might atteine to the kingdome: but yet he tft^^fdom*,
thought with himselfe that he must tarie a time, which should
aduance him thereto (by the diuine prouidence) as it had come
to passe in his former preferment But shortlie after it chanced lujm^ut
that king Duncane, hauing two sonnes by his wife which was the ^^jfaimur'
daughter of Siward earle of Northumberland, he made the elder Jj'&^
of them, called Malcolme, prince of Cumberland, as it were thereby vSH^SSm it
to appoint him his successor in the kingdome, immediatlie after of comber-
* * " land, and
his deceassa Mackbeth sore troubled herewith, for that he saw j^^JJJ^J
by this means his hope sore hindered (where, by the old lawes of JjSS^**'**"*
the realme, the ordinance was, that if he that should succeed were •"^'•'*«"^J
not of able age to take the charge ypon himselfe, he that was next
of blood ynto him should be admitted) he began to take counsell
how he might vsurpe the kingdome by force, hauing a iust quarell ^jjj^gjf*
so to doo (as he tooke the matter) for that Duncane did what in Jj^j^^jjj
him lay to defraud him of all maner of title and claime, which ^!!t^^
he might in time to come, pretend vnto the crowne.^
The woords of the three weird sisters also (of whom before Prapkuiu
ye haue heard) greatlie incouraged him herevnto, but speciallie his JJ^J^SJJJ*'^
wife lay sore ypon him to attempt the thing, as she that was yerie
ambitious, burning in vnquenchable desire to beare the name of ^S^^^h
a queene. At length therefore, communicating his purposed **^'^t^
intent with his trustie friends, amongst whome Banquho was the SStSi^
chiefest, vpon confidence of their promised aid, he slue the king 5?o^^:
at Enuems,* or (as some say) at Botgosuane, in the sixt yeare of ^"^^^
1 Cp. Macheih, I. iv. 37 ; 48:
" King, • . • We will eetablish our Estate vpon
Our eldest, Malcolme ; whom we name hereafter,
The Prince of Cumberland *':,..
. . . Ma6b.\a8ide[, The Prince of Cumberland !— that is a step
On which I must fall downe, or else o'er-leape.
For in my way it lyea,"
• "Enuem[e]8" «■ Inyemess.
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26
Maekbtth
9narp€tkth4
Duncami
bwriaU.
1046. H. B.
JSL MACBETH.
his reigne. Then hauing a companie about him of such as he had
made priuie to his enterprise, he caused himselfe to be proclamed
king, and foorthwith went vnto Scone, where (by common consent)
he receiued the inuesture of the Idngdome according to the
accustomed maner.^ The bodie of Duncane was first conueied
vnto Elgine, & there buried in kinglie wise; but afterwards it
was remoued and conueied vnto Colmekill,' and there laid in a
sepulture amongst his predecessors, in the yeare after the birth
of our Sauiour, 1046.*
On comparing the foregoing passages with the play, the reader will
observe how closely Shakspere agrees with Holinshed in regard to
(1) the weird sisters' apparition and predictions; (2) the effect on
Macbeth's mind of Malcolm's recognition as Prince of Cumberland,
or heir apparent ; and (3) Lady Macbeth's m'gency in prompting her
husband to attempt Duncan's murder. Shakspere assumed that
Cawdor's treason — the nature of which is not specified by Holinshed —
consisted in secretly aiding the Norwegians. Banquo's fate could not
have moved our pity, if the Chronicles had been followed in making
him know of, perhaps even share, Macbeth's crime ; and adherence to
authority in this respect must have caused Macbeth to appear less
sinful by comparison with his old associate, who, as Shakspere repre-
sents the matter, strenuously resisted those *^ cursed thoughts " (11. i. 8)
which the weird sisters' prophecies had suggested.
No particulars of Duncan's murder are given. For these Shakspere
turned to the murder of King Duff by Donwald. Duff (as we have
seen) suffered from the effects of witchcraft. Regaining his former
health after the witches' charm had been broken, he put to death the
instigators of the sorcery practised against him. Among those thus
executed were some kinsmen of Donwald, who, having vainly craved
their pardon,
[HoL il H. S, 150/1/39.] conceiued such an inward malice to-
wards the king (though he shewed it not outwardlie at the first) that
» Cp. Macbeth, II. iv. 31, 32 :
^^ Basse. . . . Then 'tis most like
The Soueraignty will fall vpon Macbeth.
Macd, He is already nam'd, and gone to Scone
To be inuested."
« lona. Cp. Macbeth, II. iv. 32-36 :
" Eosse, Where is Duncan's body I
Macd, Carried to Colmekill,
The Sacred Store-house of his Predecessors
And Guardian of their Bones."
* H[ectoT] B[oece's] date is wrong.
{Fertz, V. 667).
Duncan was slain in 1040.— Af. ScoUui
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m. MACBETH. 27
the same continued still boiling in his stomach, and ceased not, D<mwaid
till through setting on of his wife, and in reuenge of such ***^j;^^
ynthankefulnesse, hee found meanes to murther the king within '^*^-
the foresaid castell of Fores where he Ysed to soioume. For the
king being in that countrie, was accustomed to lie most commonlie
within the same castell, hauing a speciall trust in Donwald, as
a man whom he neuer suspected.
But Donwald, not forgetting the reproch which his linage had
susteined by the execution of those his kinsmen, whome the king
for a spectacle to the people had caused to be hanged, could not
but shew manifest tokens of great griefe at home amongst his
familie: which his wife perceiuing, ceassed not to trauell with ^^^
him, till she vnderstood what the cause was of his displeasure. JSj^k^'Itt?
Which at length when she had learned by his owne relation, she ^^'
as one that bare no lesse malice in hir heart towards the king, for
the like cause on hir behalfe, than hir husband did for his friends,
counselled him (sith the king oftentimes ysed to lodge in his rahe showed
house without anie gard about him, other than the garrison of the ]^^Lj^
castell^ which was wholie at his commandement) to make him ^^]^.
awaie, and shewed him the meanes wherby he might soonest outiL^^"^
accomplish it
Donwald thus being the more kindled in wrath by the words ntwrnam
of his wife, determined to follow hir aduise in the execution of i^f/Momd.
so heinous an act. Whervpon deuising with himselfe for a while,
which way hee might best accomplish his curssed intent, at length
gat opportunities and sped his purpose as foUoweth. It chanced
that the king ypon the dale before he purposed to depart foorth
of the castell, was long in his oratorio at his praiers, and there rrhenicgit
continued till it was late in the night. At the last, comming ^^^
foorth, he called such afore him as had faithfullie serued him SlJjSdSto*
in pursute and apprehension of the rebels, and giuing them heartie ^^^n^
thanks, he bestowed sundrie honorable gifbs amongst them, of the Thtung
which number Donwald was one, as he that had beene euer Aicndi.
accounted a most faithfull seruant to the king.
At length, hauing talked with them a long time, he got him riuhh^f
into his priuie chamber, onelie with two of his chamberlains, who
hauing brought him to bed, came foorth againe, and then fell to
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28
la MACBETH.
Bii chamber-
UiruveiUto
bttnktttimfft
[Imtfgatod
bj his wife,
Donwftld en-
mgetfonrof
niBMmnU
tooommit
the murder.]
Th4tu!bomed
•emanUeut
th«Hng$
tkroU, -
Thikinghit
hmriaU,
Thtpo&r*
labortnart
Donwaid
amofiffitthg
banketting with Donwald and his wife, who had prepared diuerse
delicate dishes, and sundrie sorts of drinks for their reare supper
or collation, wherat they sate yp so long, till they had charged
their stomachs with such fiill gorges, that their heads were no
sooner got to the pillow, but asleepe they were so fast, that a man
might haue remooued the chamber ouer them, sooner than to haue
awaked them out of their droonken sleepe.
Then Donwald, though he abhorred the act greatlie in heart,
yet through instigation of his wife hee called foure of his seruants
ynto him (whome he had made priuie to his wicked intent before,
and framed to his purpose with large gifts) and now declaring
ynto them, after what sort they should worke the feat, they gladlie
obeied his instructions, & speedilie going about the murther,
they enter the chamber (in which the king laie) a little before
cocks crow, where they secretlie cut his throte as he lay sleeping,
without anie buskling ^ at all : and immediatlie by a posteme gate
they caned foorth the dead bodie into the fields, and throwing it
ypon an horsse there prouided readie for that purpose, they conuey
it ynto a place, about two miles distant from the castell, where
they staled, and gat certeine labourers to helpe them to tume the
course of a little riuer running through the fields there, and
digging a deepe hole in the chanell, they burie the bodie in the
same, ramming it yp with stones and grauell so closelie, that
setting the water in the right course againe, no man could perceiue
that anie thing had beene newlie digged there. This they did by
order appointed them by Donwald as is reported, for that the
bodie should not be found, & by bleeding (when Donwald should
be present) declare him to be guiltie of the murther. IT For such
an opinion men haue, that the dead corps of anie man being
slaine, will bleed abundantlie if the murtherer be present But
for what consideration soeuer they buried him there, they had no
sooner finished the worke, but that they slue them whose helpe
they ysed herein, and streightwaies thereypon fled into Orknie.
Donwald, about the time that the murther was in dooing, got
him amongst them that kept the watch, and so continued in
1 BuBtling, noise. *'Niillo prope strepitu" (Boeee, 222/40).
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m. MACBBTH. 29
companie with them all the residue of the night. But in the
morning when the noise was raised in the kings chamber how the
king was slaine, his bodie conueied awaie, and the bed all beraied
with bloud; he with the watch ran thither, as though he had
knowne nothing of the matter, and breaking into the chamber,
and finding cakes of bloud in the bed, and on the floore about the j^^JJ^
sides of it, he foorthwith slue the chamberleins, as guiltie of that ^'S^^
heinous murther, and then like a mad man running to and fro, he ^S^SnZ
ransacked euerie comer within the castell, as though it had beene the king's
to haue scene if he might haue found either the bodie, or anie •lew'tiutwo
of the murtherers hid in anie priuie place : but at length comming ^^^^ ^
to the posteme gate, and finding it open, he burdened the °^'»^^
chamberleins, whome he had slaine, with all the fault, they hauing
the keies of the gates committed to their keeping all the nighty
and therefore it could not be otherwise (said he) but that thej
were of counsell in committing of that most detestable murther.
Unallie, such was his oner earnest diligence in the seuere AMMwOer
thorn oiher,
inquisition and triall of the offendors heerein, that some of the 25,223^
lords b^an to mislike the matter^ and to smell foorth shrewd
tokens, that he should not be altogither cleare himselfe. But for
BO much as they were in that countrie, where he had the whole
rule, what by reason of his friends and authoritie togither, they
doubted to Ytter what they thought, till time and place should
better seme thereynto^ and heere ypon got them awaie euerie man
to his home.
The circumstances of Duff's murder, related above, have their dra-
matic parallels in (1) Duncan's presence as a gnest in Macbeth's castle;
(2) the part taken by Lady Macbeth in urging and planning the
murder ; (3^ the drunken sleep of Duncan's chamberlains on the night
of the murder ; (4) Macbeth's precautionary slaughter of the chambsr-
lains; (5) the suspicion caused by his over-acted horror when the
morder was discovered.
We have seen how, in Cymheline, Shakspere used a tradition of the
three Hays' prowess at the battle of Loncarty, fought in the reign of
Kenneth m., King of Scots. A story told of this Kenneth furnished,
it has been conjectured,^ a hint for some words of Macbeth (IE. ii. 35 ;
41 — 43), uttered in the first agony of remorse for Duncan's murder :
^ By Dr. Furness. See his varionim Macbelh, p. 359.
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so m. MACBETH.
Me thought I heard a voyoe cry, "Sleep no more ! " . • .
Still it cr/d " Sleepe no more 1" to all the House :
" Qlamis hath murther'd Sleepe, and therefore Cawdor
** Shall sleepe no more ; Macheth shall sleepe no more ! "
In order to obtain his son's succession Kenneth had secretly
poisoned his nephew Malcolm, — son of the late King Duff, — who, by
Scottish law, was the rightful heir to the throne. Kenneth ruled well ;
and his sole guilty deed remained undiscovered.
lukhi^ [Hoi u, H. S, 158/1/9.] Thus might he seeme happie to all
c(m9ei€nc€, man, hauing the loue both of his lords and commons : but yet
to himselfe he seemed most vnhappie, as he that could not but
still liue in continuall feare, least his wicked practise concerning
the death of Malcolme Duffe should come to light and knowledge
of the world. For so commeth it to passe, that such as are
pricked in conscience for anie secret offense committed, haue euer
an Tnquiet mind. And (as the fame goeth) it chanced that a
A9oie$ Yoice was heard as he was in bed in the night time to take his
tkTkinp. rest, vttering vnto him these or the like woords in effect : " Thinke
''not Kenneth that the wicked slaughter of Malcolme Duffe by
''thee contriued, is kept secret from the knowledge of the etemall
" Qod : thou art he that didst conspire the innocents death, enter-
"prising by traitorous meanes to doo that to thy neighbour, which
''thou wouldest haue reuenged by cruell punishment in anie of
"thy subiects, if it had beene offered to thy selfe. It shall there-
"fore come to passe, that both thou thy selfe, and thy issue,
"through the iust yengeance of almightie God, shall suffer
"woorthie punishment, to the infamie of thy house and familie
"for euermore. For euen at this present are there in hand secret
"practises to dispatch both thee and thy issue out of the waie,
" that other male inioy this kingdome which thou doost indeuour
r.m^v^ "to assure ynto thine issue."
r After hear-
wfJ?th6 '^^ ^^S ^th this Yoice being striken into great dread and
terror, passed that night without anie sleepe comming in his eies.
KingpasMd
a sImdIms
nighO
All now leave the stage except Duncan's sons, Malcolm and
Donalbain, who, after a brief colloquy, resolve to fly from Scotland
(11. iii 141—152). Holinshed says that
[Hoi. iL H, S. 171/1/73.] Malcolme Cammore and Donald
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III. MACBETH. 31
Bane the sons of king Duncane, for feare of their lines (which JJj^jJjJ
they might well know that Mackbeth wonid seeke to bring to S^^gJ^
end for his more sure confirmation in the estate) fled into Cumber- mm£!!^
land, where Malcolme remained, till time that saint Edward the reeehmtbv
lld.tBa.nl IsH/r
Sonne of Ethelred recouered the dominion of England from the ^Mngiand.
Danish power, the which Edward receiued Malcolme by way of
most friendlie enterteinment : but Donald passed oner into
Ireland, where he was tenderlie cherished by the king of that
land.1
Act n. 8C. iv. — ^Boss and an old man enter and talk of certain
portents connected with Duncan's murder (1 — 20). Similar occurrences
attended the murder of Duff, as my next excerpt shows.
[Hoi ii. H. 8. I6I/1/12.] For the space of six moneths 22S?^
togither, after this heinous murther thus committed, there ]S!miem
appeered no sunne by day, nor moone by night in anie part of ^^^
the realme, but still was the skie couered with continuall clouds, 40.]
and sometimes such outragious winds ^ arose, with lightenings
and tempests, that the people were in great feare of present
destruction. • • •
[ffol. u, H. S. 152/1/9.] Monstrous sights also that were
seene within the Scotish kingdome that yeere were these : horsses ff<'rimeau
in Louthian, being of singular beautie and swiftnesse^ did eate ^^^^
their owne flesh, and would in no wise taste anie other
meate. . . . There was a sparhawke also strangled by an ^^S^StdS*
owla Neither was it anie lesse woonder that the sunne, as "***^
before is said, was continuallie couered with clouds for six moneths
^ Malcolm says z** lie to England.** Donalbain determines otherwise :
^ To Ireland, I ; our seperated fortune
Shall keepe vs both tne safer : where we are^
There's daggers in men's Smiles: the neere m blood,
The neerer bloody."
IL iii 143-147. By "England" and " Ireland' the kings of those countries
are, I suppose, meant. Shakspere several times uses " England " in this sense:
see, for example, Macbeth, lY. iii. 43, and John, III. iv. 8.
* Compare what Lennox says (IL iii. 59, 60), just before Duucan's murder
is discovered:
** The Niijht ha's been vnruly : where we lay.
Our Chimneys were blowne downe " ; . . .
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32
in. MACBETH,
JiaekbfO*
UUralitU,
MaMeth
ttudUthto
aduanc*
iuttiet*
Akktfffte
rifMftclMith
hftd been a
Uwftil king,
and if he had
not proved a
tyrant «(
last, he
might haTe
bera ao-
coimted one
of the beet
of princes.]
iioHttkt
C(mnUrfHt
twUand
equitit.
space. But all men ynderstood that the abhominable murther of
king Duffe was the cause heereof. . . .^
Two months — ^the utmost dramatic time, including intervals,^ which
can fairly be assigned to this play — left Shakspere no room to set forth
Duncan's murderer as other than a graceless tjrrant, led rapidly on
from crime to crime. But the following passages witness that ten of
the seventeen years of Macbeth's reign were distinguished by a just
though rigorous government, harmful to none save lawbreakers and
oppressors of the weak.
[Hoi ii. H. S, 171/2/9.] Mackbeth, after the departure thus
of Duncanes sonnes, vsed great liberalitie towards the nobles of
the realme, thereby to win their fauour, and when he saw that no
man went about to trouble him, he set his whole intention to
mainteine iustice, and to punish all enormities and abuses, which
had chanced through the feeble and slouthfuU administration of
Duncane. • • . Mackbeth shewing himselfe thus a most diligent
punisher of all iniuries and wrongs attempted by anie disordered
persons within his realme, was accounted the sure defense and
buckler of innocent people ; and hereto he also applied his whole
indeuor, to cause yoong men to exercise themselues in vertuous
manors, and men of the church to attend their diuine seruice
according to their vocations. • • •
To be briefe, such were the woorthie dooings and princelie acts
of this Mackbeth in the administration of the realme, that if he
had atteined therevnto by rightfuU means, and continued in
vprightnesse of iustice as he began, till the end of his reigne,
he might well haue beene numbred amongest the most noble
princes that anie where had reigned. He made manie holesome
laws and statutes for the publike weale of his subiects. • • •
These and the like commendable lawes' Makbeth caused to
be put as then in vse, goueming the realme for the space of ten
yeares in equall iustice.
^ An account of the execution of Duff's marderers is followed by these
words : *' This dreadfull end had Donwald and his wife, before he saw anie
Bunne after the murther was committed, and that by the appointment of the
most righteous God, the creator of that heauenliepfanet and all other things,
who suffereth no crime to be vnreuenged." — Hcl. ii H. 8. I51/2/43. Cp.
Macbeth, XL iv. 5-7.
« T'A., 207, 208.
' Given in Hoi, ii H 8. pp. 171, 172, under this heading: '^Lawes made
by king Makbeth set / foorth according to Hector / Boetius.''
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III. MACBETH. 33
Act m. 8C. iii — ^These words conclude all that is recorded in
Macbeth's praise; and we then enter upon the second period of his
reign, which is said to have begun '* shortlie after " the close of his
ten years of good rule.
[Hoi, iL H, S, 172/2/24.] But this was but a counterfet zeale
of equitie shewed by him, partlie against his naturall inclination,
to purchase thereby the fauour of the people. Shortlie after, he
began to shew what he was, in stead of equitie practising crueltie.
For the pricke of conscience (as it chanceth euer in tyrants, and MaJtbeou
such as atteine to anie estate by ynrighteous means) caused him conjunct,
euer to feare, least he should be serued of the same cup, as he
had ministred to his predecessor. The woords also of the three rHeremem-
weird sisters would not out of his mind, which as they promised u^o'^of
him the kingdome, so likewise did they promise it at the same ^t^^
time ynto the posteritie of Banquho. He willed therefore the
same Banquho, with his sonne named Fleance, to come to a supper
that he had prepared for them ; which was in deed, as he had H^Srt^iUa
deuised, present death at the hands of certeine murderers, whom ^ISS^
he hired to execute that deed ; appointing them to meete with the imLnce],
same Banquho and his sonne without the palace, as they returned k^°^^
to their lodgings, and there to slea them, so that he would not ^^f^
haue his house slandered, but that in time to come he might cleare S?tSi2^
hunselfe, if anie thing were laid to his charge vpon anie suspicion iLcb^i
Ai. X • 1.x • 1 might be
that might anse.^ ><eid gout-
It chanced yet. by the benefit of the darke night, that, though ^„^,j^^^
the &ther were slaine, the sonne yet, by the helpe of almightie Ood i^|^^'
reseroing him to better fortune, escaped that danger ; and after- "•^^^p***-
wards hauing some inkeling (by the admonition of some firiends
which he had in the court) how his life was sought no lesse than
his &thers, who was slaine not by chancemedlie (as by the handling
of the matter Makbeth woould haue had it to appeare) but euen
vpon a prepensed deuise: wherevpon to auoid further perill he Sj;S!S<w
fled mto Wales. SS^^.
1 Macbeth tells the men (III. i. 131-133), who had undertaken to slay
Banqno and Fleance, that the murder
" must be done to-Night,
And something from the PaUace ; alwayes thought,
That I require a dearenease ^ : . . .
D
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34
ni. MACBETH.
[Nothing
prospered
with Mrc-
beth after
Banquo'i
murder.]
MaJebtthi
dread.
HUenultU
cavMd
throgh
fian.
When the guests have retired from the supper to which Banquo
had been invited, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth converse (IIL iv.
128-130) :
Maxib. How sa/st thou, that Macduff denies his person
At our great bidding %
Lady M, Did you send to him, Sir 1
Macb, I heare it by the way ; but I will send : • • •
Act IIL sc. vi^ — Lennox enquires the issue of Macbeth's summons
(11. 40-43): "Sent he to Macduff 1" And the Lord, with whom
Lennox talks, replies :
He did : and with an absolute " Sir, not I,"
The dowdy Messenger tumes me his backe,
And hums, as who should say, " You'l rue the time
"That clogges me with this Answer."
Macduff's refusal to personally superintend the building of Dunsinane
Castle may be held to stand for the affront which the dramatic
Macbeth receives from the answer brought him by his "clowdy
Messenger." This is the sole point of comparison with the following
excerpt.
[Hoi iL H. S. 174/1/26.] But to retume vnto Makbeth, in
continuing the historie, and to begin where I left, ye shall vnder-
Btand that, after the contriued slaughter of Banqoho, nothing
prospered with the foresaid Makbeth : for in maner euerie man
began to doubt his owne life, and durst vnneth appeare in the
kings presence ; and euen as there were manie that stood in feare
of him, so likewise stood he in feare of manie, in such sort that he
began to make those awaie by one surmized cauillation or other,
whome he thought most able to worke him anie displeasure.
At length he found such sweetnesse by patting his nobles thus
to death, that his earnest thirst after bloud in this behalfe might
in no wise be satisfied : for ye must consider he wan double profit
(as hee thought) hereby : for first they were rid out of the way
whome he feared, and then againe his coffers were inriched by
their goods which were forfeited to his vse, whereby he might
better mainteine a gard of armed men about him to defend his
person from iniurie of them whom he had in anie suspicion.
Further, to the end he might the more cruellie oppresse his
subiects with all tyrantlike wrongs, he builded a strong castell
^ Ab to the impoBsibility of fixing the time of this scene, see T-A,^ 205.
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in. MACBETH. 35
on the top of an hie hill called Dunsinane, situate in Gk)wrie, ten ^^^^
miles from Perth, on such a proud height, that, standing there ^^^w**-
aloft, a man might behold well neere all the countries of Angus,
Fife, Stermond, and Emedale,^ as it were lieng yndemeath him.
This castell, then, being founded on the top of that high hill, put
the reabne to great charges before it was finished, for all the
stuffe necessarie to the building could not be brought Tp without rHaobeth
much toile and businesse. But Makbeth, being once determined tb«°««
to haue the worke go forward, caused the thanes of each shire j^^^^
within the realme, to come and helpe towards that building, each Sftte ""^^
man his course about.
At the last, when the tume fell vnto Makduffe, thane of Fife, to ifouit^
build his part, he sent workemen with all needfiill prouision, and ^*iJ^^"
commanded them to shew such diligence in euerie behalfe, that no ^S^Ju^
occasion might bee giuen for the king to find fault with him, in ^^iiST^
that he came not himselfe as other had doone, which he refused would mim
him.)
to doo, for doubt least the king, bearing him (as he partlie ynder-
stood) no great good will, would laie Tiolent hands Tpon him, as
he had doone Tpon diuerse other. Shortlie after, Makbeth
comming to behold how the worke went forward, and bicause
he found not Makduffe there, he was sore offended, and said: MaJAeihu
"I perceiue this man will neuer obeie my commandements, till he '««*«'«ur«.
''be ridden with a snaffle ; but I shall prouide well inough for him."
Act TV, 80. i. — ^In the colomns immediatelj preceding the excerpt
which begins with the words " But to retume/' Shakspere would find
James YI.'s descent traced from Banqno.^ Part of this genealogy
may have suggested the stage direction, "A shew of eight Kings''
(PT. L 111). Banquo's chief descendants, in successive generations,
were : Eleance ; Walter, " who was made lord steward of Scotland " ;
Alan ; Alexander ; John ; and Walter, who " maried Margerie Bruce
daughter to king Bobert Bruce, by whome he had issue king Robert the
second.'' The lineal successors of Bobert 11. — first of the Stewards
who wore the crown, and first in the " shew of eight Kings " — were :
Robert HI. (2) ; James I. (3) ; James IL (4) ; James HI. (5) ; James
rV. (6) ; James V. (7) ; Mary ; and James VI. (8), who, ere this play
was acted, had become the first King of Great Britain and Ireland.
^ ''Stermond and Emedale" are Stormont and Strathem, districts of
Perthshire.
* This descent is fictitious. Chalmers (CaUdorUay i 572-574) has deduced
the Fitz- Alans and the Stewards from a common ancestor, Alan, who was a
eontemporary of onr Henry L
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36
ni. MACBETH.
MakbetJu
eo^fldenee in
%n$tard»
I who told
him to
beware of
Macduff].
[Awitoh
told him
that no
man bom
of woman
should slay
him, nor
should he be
vanquished
tUl Birnam
Wood came
to Dunsi-
nane Castle.]
[Maodnff
resolTes
upongoinK
toBn^^a,
and inviting
Maloolmto
claim the
Scottish
Macbeth
hears of
this.]
IfnxieU*
OMdMidat'
[Macbeth
had spies
in every
nobleman's
house.]
Angered by the Thane of Fife's refusal to assist personally at the
building of Dunsinane Castle, Macbeth could not
[Hoi il K S. 174/2/4.] afterwards abide to looke vpon the
said Makduffe, either for that he thought his puissance oner great ;
either else for that he had learned of certeine wizzards, in whose
words he put great confidence, (for that the prophesie had hap-
pened so right, which the three faries or weird sisters had declared
ynto him,) how that he ought to take heed of Makduffe, who in
time to come should seeke to destroie him.
And suerlie herevpon had he put Makdufie to death, but that
a certeine witch, whome hee had in great trust, had told that he
should neuer be slaine with man borne of anie woman, nor van-
quished till the wood of Bemane came to the castell of Dunsinane.
By this prophesie Makbeth put all feare out of his heart, supposing
he might doo what he would, without anie feare to be punished
for the same, for by the one prophesie he beleeued it was ynpos-
sible for anie man to vanquish him, and by the other ynpossible to
slea him. This vaine hope caused him to doo manie outragious
things, to the greeuous oppression of his subiects. At length
Makduffe, to auoid perill of life, purposed with himselfe to passe
into England, to procure Malcolme Cammore to claime the crowne
of Scotland. But this was not so secretlie deuised by Makduffe,
but that Makbeth had knowledge giuen him thereof: for kings (as
is said) haue sharpe sight like vnto Lynx, and long ears like ynto
Midas. For Makbeth had, in euerie noble mans house, one slie
fellow or other in fee with him, to reueale all that was said or
doone within the same, by which slight he oppressed the most part
of the nobles of his realme.^
Act lY. sc. ii. — ^Macduff's flight to England is reported to Lennox
by a Lord, who enters in a previous scene (III. vi. 29-31). As soon as
the witches vanish, Macbeth hears the same news from Lennox, and
thereupon forms this resolve (lY. i. 150-153) :
The Castle of Macduff, I will surprize ;
Seize vpon Fife ; giue to th' edge o' th' Sword
His W^e, his Babes, and all vciortunate Soules
That trace him in his Line.
1 Cp. Macbeth, III. iv. 131, 132:
" There's not a one of them but in his house
I keepe a Seroant Feed."
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IfoMi^
in. MACBETH. 37
On comparing the following passage with Act IV. sc. ii. 11. 80-85,
it will be noticed that Shakspere did not allow Macbeth to personally
direct the slaughter.
[Hoi. ii H. S. 174/2/37.] Immediatiiie then, being aduertised KSy?
whereabout Makduffe went, he came hastily with a great power SLu^bnt
into Fife, and foorthwith besieged the eastell where Makduffe without
lotiftuioa.]
dwelled, trusting to haue found him therein. They that kept the
house, without anie resistance opened the gates, and suffered him
to enter, mistrusting none euilL But neuerthelesse Makbeth most ^JjJ^J^^
cruellie caused the wife and children of Makduffe, with all other
whom he found in that eastell, to be slaine. Also he confiscated
the goods of Makduffe^ proclamed him traitor, and confined him
out of all the parts of his realme ; but Makduffe was alreadie SSlSttinto
escaped out of danger, and gotten into England vnto Malcolme ^
Cammore, to trie what purchase hee might make by means of his c&mmon.
support, to reuenge the slaughter so cruellie executed on his wife,
his children, and other friends.
Act lY. sc. iii — ^The dialogue which succeeds the account (quoted
below) of Macduff's meeting with Malcolm is freely paraphrased in this
scene. In Holinshed the dialogue contains four clauses, namely:
Malcolm's confessions of (1) incontinence, (2) avarice, (3) faithlessness,
— each clause including Macduff's answers, — and (4) Malcolm's dis-
avowal of his self-detraction. With these clauses compare the lines
in Act IV. sa iii., indicated by the following references : (1) IL 57-76,
(2) 76-90, (3) 91-114, (4) 114-132.
[Hoi ii H. S. 174/2/53.] At his comming vnto Malcolme, he ^^"Jj^
declared into what great miserie the estate of Scotland was brought, ^S^dl^g
by the detestable cruelties exercised by the tyrant Makbeth, hauing cro^ '
committed manie horrible slaughters and murders, both as well of
the nobles as commons ; for the which he was hated right mortallie
of all his liege people, desiring nothing more than to be deliuered
of that intollerable and most heauie yoke of thraldome, which they
Busteined at such a caitifes hands.
Malcolme^ hearing Makduffes woords, which he vttered in verie MaUmtmt
lamentable sort, for meere compassion and verie ruth that pearsed ^1^'*^"
his sorowfull hart, bewailing the miserable state of his countrie, he ^f^^*
fetched a deepe sigh; which Makduffe perceiuing, began to fall £^^^
most eamestlie in hand with him, to enterprise the deliuering of Maiuoim'i
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38 ni. MACBETH.
title wM the Scotish people out of the hands of so cruell and bloudie a
good, and * *
gUJg^p*^ tyrant, as Makbeth by too manie plaine experiments did shew
Macbeth.) himselfo to be : which was an easie matter for him to bring to
passe^ considering not onelie the good title he had, but also the
earnest desire of the people to haue some occasion ministred,
whereby they might be reuenged of those notable iniuries, which
they dailie susteined by the outragious crueltie of Makbeths mis-
rout, though gouemance. Though Malcolme was verie sorowfiiU for the oppres-
Bonyforhii siou of his countriemeu the Scots, in maner as Makduffe had
conntrTmen,
wed*'touing ^^^larcd ; yet doubting whether he were come as one that ment
Sriifh^i*' vnfeinedlie as he spake, or else as sent from Makbeth to betraie
frSiT^ him, he thought to haue some further triall, and therevpon,
dissembling his mind at the first, he answered as foUoweth :
G^iS£^ "I am trulie verie sorie for the miserie chanced to my countrie
kitomtwer. u ^f Scotland, but though I haue neuer so great affection to relieue
" the same, yet, by reason of certeine incurable Tices^ which reigne
i^Loiitr' ''in me, I am nothing meet thereto. First, such immoderate lust
"and Toluptuous sensualitie (the abhominable founteine of all
"yices) followeth me, that, if I were made king of Scots, I should
"seeke to defloure your maids and matrones, in such wise that
"mine intemperancie should be more importable vnto you, than
" the bloudie tyrannic of Makbeth now is." Heereynto Makduffe
uaid^/rei answered: "This suerlie is a verie euill fault, for manie noble
"princes and kings haue lost both lines and kingdomes for the
"same; neuerthelesse there are women enow in Scotland, and
"therefore follow my counselL Make thy selfe king, and I shall
"conueie the matter so wiselie, that thou shalt be so satisfied
" at thy pleasure, in such secret wise that no man shall be aware
"thereof"
(Maiooim't ^^^ ^^ Malcobuc, " I am also the most auaritious creature
A^iri^/ " on the earth, so that, if I were king, I should seeke so manie
" waies to get lands and goods, that I would slea the most part
" of all the nobles of Scotland by surmized accusations, to the end
" I might inioy their lands, goods, and possessions ; . . • There-
"fore" saith Malcolme, "suffer me to remaine where I am, least,
" if I atteine to the regiment of your realme, mine vnquenchable
" auarice may prooue such that ye would thinke the displeasures,
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III. MACBETH. 39
"which nowgrieue you, should Beeme easie in respect of the vnmeasur-
''able outrage, which might insue through my comming amongst you."
Makduffe to this made answer, how it was a far woorse fault [Maoduri
answer:]
than the other: "for auarice is the root of all mischiefe, and for onuumt-
"that crime the most part of our kings haue beene slaine and JJS^J^
"brought to their finall end. Yet notwithstanding follow my
"counsell, and take ypon thee the crowne. There is gold and
"riches inough in Scotland to satisfie thy greedie desire." Then
said Malcolme againe, "I am furthermore inclined to dissimula- JJJ^q*'"
" tion, telling of leasings, and all other kinds of deceit, so that I SS^SJ^
"haturallie reioise in nothing so much, as to betraie & deceiue 1^^*^
"such as put anie trust or confidence in my woords. Then sith
"there is nothing that more becommeth a prince than constancie,
"veritie, truth, and iustice, with the other laudable fellowship of
"those faire and noble vertues which are comprehended onelie in
"soothfastnesse, and that lieng ytterlie ouerthroweth the same;
"you see how vnable I am to goueme anie prouince or region:
" and therefore, sith you haue remedies to cloke and hide all the
"rest of my other Tices, I praie you find shift to cloke this Tice
"amongst the residue."
Then said Makduffe : "This yet is the woorst of all, and there Matdttjru
€XcloittuUioii»
" I leaue thee, and therefore sale : Oh ye ynhappie and miserable
"Scotishmen, which are thus scourged with so manie and sundrie
"calamities, ech one aboue other 1 Ye haue one curssed and
"wicked tyrant that now reigneth oner you, without anie right or
"title, oppressing you with his most bloudie crueltie. This other,
" that hath the right to the crowne,^ is so replet with the inconstant
1 In 11. 108-111, Macduff refers to the samtly parents of Malcolm, who was
''the truest Issue" of the Scottish throne. Perhaps Shakspere transferred to
Malcolm's father, and to his mother,— of whom we know nothing, — the virtues
which Malcolm himself possessed, and which were shared with him, in larger
measure, by his wife Margaret. H6L says (ii. H, 8, VI8/2/44) :
. . . ''kiug Malcolme (speciallie hy the good admonishment and exhortation ^_
of his wife queene Mar^ret, a woman of great zeale vnto the religion of McScoims,
that time) gaue himselfe in maner altogither ynto much deuotion, and workes ^tt!^^^
of mercie ; as in dooing of almes deeds, by prouiding for the poore, and such ^fjui!^^
like godlie exerdses : so that in true vertue ne was thought to excell all other ^mtth
princes of his time. To be brief, herein there seemed to be in maner a cer- ^^^^
teine strife betwixt him and that vertuous aueene his wife, which of them ^ ^^^^
should be most feruent in the loue of Qod, so that manie people by the ttri/i.
imitation of them were brought ynto a better life."
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40
in. MACBETH.
Mahdi^fe
MaleoltM
conforUth
MaMufftA
Mateolnu
imbraetech
other.
[Eadward'i
gift of
prophecy,
and power
of healing
the king's
evil.]
wHteth
UtUntohU
ftritndtin
ScoUandU
" behauiour and manifest yices of Englishmen, that he is nothing
" woorthie to inioy it ; for by his owne confession he is not onelie
''auaritious, and giuen to ynsatiable lust, but so false a traitor
''withall, that no trust is to be had vnto anie woord he speaketh.
''Adieu, Scotland, for now I account my selfe a banished man for
"euer, without comfort or consolation:" and with those woords
the brackish teares trickled downe his cheekes verie abundantlie.
At the last, when he was readie to depart, Malcolme tooke him
by the sleeue, and said: ''Be of good comfort, Makduffe, for I
"haue none of these vices before remembred, but haue iested
" with thee in this manner, onelie to prooue thy mind ; for diuerse
"times heeretofore hath Makbeth sought by this manner of
^meanes to bring me into his hands, but the more slow I haue
"shewed my selfe to condescend to thy motion and request, the
"more diligence shall I vse in accomplishing the same." Incon-
tinentlie heereypon they imbraced ech other, and, promising to be
faithfiill the one to the other, they fell in consultation how they
might prouide for all their businesse, to bring the same to good
eflTect.
For the matter of the loyal digression (IV. iii. 140-169) which
precedes Boss's entrance, Shakspere might have turned to Holinshed's
first volume, where the subjoined account of Eadward the Confessor's
miraculous gifts is to be found.
[Hoi. I E. K 195/1/50.] As hath beene thought, he was
inspired with the gift of prophesie, and also to haue had the gift
of healing infirmities and diseases. He vsed to helpe those that
were vexed with the disease, commonlie called the kings euill, and
left that vertue as it were a portion of inheritance vnto his
successors the kings of this realme.
The latter part of sc. iii., Act IV., from Boss's entrance, is wholly
of Shakspere's invention, for, according to Holinshed, the slaughter of
Lady MacdufE and her children was known to Macduff before he joined
Malcolm.
Act V. sec. ii-viii. — The following excerpts illustrate the last Act
of Macbeth.
[Hoi iL H. 8. 175/2/35.] Soone after, Makduffe, repairing to
the borders of Scotland, addressed his letters with secret dispatch
vnto the nobles of the realme^ declaring how Malcolme was con-
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m. MACBETH, 41
federat with him, to come hastilie into Scotland to claime the
crowne, and therefore he required them, sith he was right inheritor
thereto, to assist him with their powers to recouer the same out of
the hands of the wrongful! Tsurper.
In the meane time, Malcolme purchased such fauor at king ^'J^t!!!!^
Edwards hands, that old Siward earle of Northumberland was [S^^^th
appointed with ten thotcsand men to go with him into Scotland, to to'taxnKnt
support him in this enterprise, for recouerie of his right^ After J^jj^,
these newes were spread abroad in Scotland, the nobles drew into Tki%Mu<^f
*■ Scotland
two seuerall factions, the one taking part with Makbeth, and the diuuud.
other with Malcolme. Heerevpon insued oftentimes sundrie
bickerings, & diuerse light skirmishes; for those that were of
Malcolmes side would not leopard to ioine with their enimies in
a pight field, till his comming out of England to their support
But after that Makbeth perceiued his enimies power to increase,
by such aid as came to them foorth of England with his aduersarie
Malcolme, he recoiled backe into Fife, there purposing to abide in ^akuth
TtCOUttk [to
campe fortified, at the castell of Dunsmane, and to fight with his g^SS*"**
enimies, if they ment to pursue him ; howbeit some of his friends
aduised him, that it should be be9t for him, either to make some
agreement with Malcolme, or else to flee with all speed into the Maaethu
eoun$elUdto
lies, and to take his treasure with him, to the end he might wage ^^^ ^
sundrie great princes of the realme to take his part, & reteine
strangers, in whome he might better trust than in his owne
subiects, which stale dailie from him ; but he had such confidence
in his prophesies, that he beleeued he should neuer be vanquished, Matbetht
till Bimane wood were brought to Dunsmane ; nor yet to be slaine j'*^*«^
with anie man, that should be or was bom of anie woman.
It has been conjectured that Shakspere was thinking of a later
passage in the Chronicles when he made Macbeth call Malcolm's
English allies "Epicures" (Y. iii. 8). Malcolm HI. (Oamnore),
Macbeth's successor, offended his Gaelic subjects by his partiality to
English ideas and manners. On his death, in 1093, his brother
Donalbain — ^who had lived under very different conditions — came
» Malcolm tells Macduff (IV. iii 133-135) :
..." before thy [they F.] heere approach,
Old Seywardy vnth ten thouscmd warlike tnetij
Already at a point, was setting foorth."
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42
ni. MACBETH.
Thifuptct
that the
peopUhad
tor«e«i%u
Donald Ban$
forthtk-
hoped he
would put
down
English
gonnandls-
fngand
riotoos
manners].
[Malcolm
cornea to
Birnam
Wood.]
BrcMcheiof
trea [home
by Mal-
colm's
soldiers
as they
advance
against
Dunsinane].
[Macbeth
remembers
the pro-
phet abont
Birnam
Wood.]
Maibeth
tettethhU
men in order
ofbaUeU,
Makbeth
JUeth^ikU
punuedof
MakdvjFt,
forward as the representative of the old Scottish nation, and was
chosen king, in exclusion of Malcolm's sons. To a people of few wants
the standard of living adopted by a more luxurious society might
appear to be mere sensual indulgence; and Donalbain owed some of
his success to this feeling.
[Hoi. ii JT. S. I8O/1/61.] For mania of the people, abhorring
the riotous maners and superfluous gormandizing brought in
among them by the Englishmen, were willing inough to receiue
this Donald for their king, trusting (bicause he had beene brought
vp in the lies with the old customes and maners of their ancient
nation, without tast of the English likerous delicats) they should
by his seuere order in gouemement reoouer againe the former
temperance of their old progenitors.
I resume the illustrative excerpts from the point where we are told
of Macbeth's trust in a prophecy that he could not be slain by any man
who " was borne of anie woman."
[Hoi. ii K S, 176/1/1.] Malcolme, following hastilie after
Makbeth, came the night before the battell vnto Birnane wood ;
and, when his armie had rested a while there to refresh them, he
commanded euerie man to get a bough of some tree or other of
that wood in his hand, as big as he might beare, and to march
foorth therewith in such wise, that on the next morrow they might
come closelie and without sight in this manner within view of his
enimies. On the morrow when Makbeth beheld them comming in
this sort, he first maruelled what the matter ment, but in the end
remembred himselfe that the prophesie which he had heard long
before that time, of the comming of Birnane wood to Dunsinane
castell, was likelie to be now fulfilled.^ Neuerthelesse, he brought
his men in order of battell, and exhorted them to doo valiantlie ;
howbeit his enimies had scarselie cast from them their boughs,
when Makbeth, perceiuing their numbers, betooke him streict to
flight ; whom Makduffe pursued with great hatred euen till he came
^ There are stories, belonging to other times and places, of armies bearing
leafy boughs while advancing ^on the forces opposed to them. See Fumess's
ed. of Mcu^beth^ pp. 379-381. The removal of feimam Wood seems, however,
to have been a tradition in Wynt(ywiCs age (fourteenth century), for he says
(VI. xviu. 379, 380) :
« De fl yttand Wod )>ai callyd ay
Dat [Birnam Wood] lang tyme eftyrehend J^at day,''
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in. MACBETH. 43
vnto Lnnfannaine, where Makbeth, perceiuing that Makduffe was ^fnnSt^
hard at his backe, leapt beside his horsse, saieng: ''Thou traitor, Ma^%be
''what meaneth it that thou shouldest thus in vaine follow me ^i°b^ro*o7
"that am not appointed to be slaine by anie creature that is borne *^^°*°"
'* of a woman ? come on therefore, and receiue thy reward which
" thou hast deserued for thy paines ! " and therwithall he lifted yp
his swoord, thinking to haue slaine him.
But Makduffe, quicklie auoiding from his horsse, yer he came
at him, answered (with his naked swoord in his hand) saieng : " It ^t^nuii
"is true, Makbeth, and now shall thine insatiable crueltie haue an boi??fUi
"end, for I am euen he that thy wizzards haue told thee of; who ripped out of
•' her womb.]
"was neuer borne of my mother, but ripped out of her wombe :
therewithall he stept vnto him, and slue him in the place. Then 5J^***
cutting his head from his shoulders, he set it Tpon a pole, and
brought it ynto Malcolme. This was the end of Makbeth, after he
had reigned 17 yeeres ouer the Scotishmen. In the beginning of
his reigne he accomplished manie woorthie acts, yerie profitable to
the conmion-wealth (as ye haue heard) but afterward, by illusion of
the diuell, he defamed the same with most terrible crueltie. He los^. lo, ma
was slaine in the yeere of the incarnation, 1057, and in the 16 ^°^^' ^'^'
yeere of king Edwards reigne ouer the Englishmen.
8. H. B.
When Earl Siward hears of his son's death, he asks : '^ Had he his
hurts before % " And on Ross answering, " I, on the Front," the old
warrior exclaims (V. viii. 46-50) :
Why, then Gods Soldier be he I
Had I as many Sonnes as I haue haires,
I would not wish them to a fairer death :
And so, his Knell is knoll'd.
This event was derived from another account of the war with
Macbeth, given in Holinshed's first volume.
[Hoi L E. E. 192/1/27.] About the thirteenth yeare of king MaiOt. wt^t,
Edward his reigne ^ (as some write) or rather about the nineteenth ^^^^^^^
or twentieth yeare, as should appeare by the Scotish writers,
^ John Mair or Major, a Scottish divine and historian, whose Historia
Oentis Scotorum appeared in 1521. He died ahout 1549. His date (1057) for
Macbeth's death is confirmed by M, Scottus (Fertz^ v. 558).
* Eadward was crowned on Easter Day (April 3), 1043. — A-S* Chron.
(3f. H. 5.x 434.
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44
III. MACBETH,
Siward the noble earle of Northumberland with a great power
of horssemen went into Scotland, and in battell put to flight
Mackbeth^ that had Tsurped the crowne of Scotland, and, that
doone, placed Malcolme sumamed Camoir, the sonne of Duncane,
sometime king of Scotland, in the gouemement of that realme, who
afterward slue the said Mackbeth, and then reigned in quiet . . .
It is recorded also, that, in the foresaid battell, in which earle
Siward vanquished the Scots, one of Siwards sonnes chanced to
be slaine, whereof although the father had good cause to be
sorowfuU, yet, when he heard that he died of a wound which he
had receiued in fighting stoutlie, in the forepart of his bodie, and
that with his face towards the enimie, he greatlie reioised thereat,
to heare that he died so manfullie. But here is to be noted, that
not now, but a little before (as Henrie Hunt, saith) * that earle
Siward went into Scotland himselfe in person, he sent his sonne
with an armie to conquere the land, whose hap was there to be
slaine: and when his father heard the newes, he demanded
whether he receiued the wound whereof he died, in the forepart
of the bodie, or in the hinder part : and when it was told him that
he receiued it in the forepart : '' I reioise (saith he) euen with all
"my heart, for I would not wish either to my sonne nor to my
"selfe any other kind of deatL"
Malcolm's closing speech (V, viii. 60-75) is illustrated by the
subsequent passage, which comprises the names of several characters
who appear in Macbeth,
[ffol. ii K S. 176/1/47.] Malcolme Cammore thus recouering
the relme (as ye haue heard) by support of king Edward, in the
SconS? ** ^^ yeere of the same Edwards reigne, he was crowned at Scone *
1 Macbeth was defeated by Siward on Juljr 27, 1054. — AS. Chron.
(M, H, B.y 453). Macbeth's escape from the battle is recorded in the Cottonian
MS. (Tiberius, B. 1.) of the A-S. Chron,
2 Henr. HwU (M, H. B., 760 B) : " Circa hoc tempus [1052] Siwardus
Consnl fortissimus Nordhnmbre . . . misit filinm suum in Scotiam con-
quirendam.'' The passage given in my excerpt from Holinshed ("whose hap
was . . . kind of death ^) is taken from Henry, who proceeds thus : " Siwardus
igituT in Scotiam proficiscens, regem hello yidt^ regnum totum destruxit,
destructum sibi subjugavit"
> Cp. the closing lines of Jif oc&et^ .*
*< So thankes to all at once, and to each one
Whom we inuite to see vs Crown'd at Scone."
[Siward
went into
ScotUnd
with an
army,
defeated
Macbeth,
and placed
Malcolm on
the Scottish
tiirone.]
aiwion, Ihm.
M. Wwt,
EnthiB
ittlewith
Macbeth,
a son of
Siward was
slain, bat
Siward re-
joiced when
told that his
son's death-
wonndwas
in front.]
[It Is also
reported
that Si-
ward's son
invaded
Scotland
before this
battle, and
was slain,
whereupon
his father
Otearinc of
the deaui-
wonndin
front) said
that neither
of them
would wish
any other
kind of
death.]
Maleolmt,
[Malcolm
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IV. JOHN.
45
, the 26 day of Aprill, in the yeere of our Lord 1067. Immediatlie i^^^^
after his coronation he called a parlement at Forfair, in the which
he rewarded them with lands and linings that had assisted him
against Makbeth, adnancing them to fees and offices as he saw
canse, & commanded that speciallie those, that bare the surname
of anie offices or lands, should haue and inioy the same. He
created manie earles, lords, barons, and knights. Manie of them, ^J^Ji i^^o
that before were thanes, were at this time made earles, as Fife,
Menteth, . . . Leuenox, . . . Cathnes, Bosse, and Angus. These
were the first earles that haue beene heard of amongst the
Scotishmen^ (as their histories doo make mention.) Manie new
surnames were taken Tp at this time amongst them, as Cauder,
. . . Seiton, . . . with manie other that had possessions giuen
them, which gaue names to the owners for the time.
MfiM.
Sumameg,
IV. JOHN.
The Shaksperian play entitled The life amd death of King lohn
opens shortly after the King's first coronation, on Ascension Day (May
27), 1199; and closes with his death on October 19,^ 1216. This is
also the time embraced by an anonymous writer's Troublesome Baigne
of John King of England, 1591 ; a play which Shakspere has closely
followed, without making any independent use of historical sources.
The author of The Trouhlesome Raigne probably derived most of his
historical matter from Holinshed ; from whose Chronicles the larger
part of the succeeding excerpts is taken.
Act I. sc. i. — I begin with the excerpts which form the sources of
the opening scena
[HoL iii. 157/I/II.] John the yoongest son of Henrie the AnnoRegA.
second was proclaimed king of England, beginning his reigne
the sixt dale of April,* in the yeare of our Lord 1199. .• . This ^^- ^»»««*
* ^^Mal, . . . My Thanes and Kinsmen,
Henceforth be Earles, the first that ener Scotland
In such aa Honor nam'd."
* Or October 18. The words in M, Paris (Wendover), ii. 668, are : " Qui
[Johannes] postea, in nocte quae diem sancti Lucae Evai^gelistae proxime secuta
est^ ex hac vita migrayit'' Coggeshale (184) says that John died about mid-
night, *'in festo Sancti Lucae evangelistae."
' The date of Richard I.'s death. But John's regnal years are computed
^m his coronation on Ascension Day (May 27)i 1199.
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46 rv. JOHN.
man, so soone as his brother Richard was deceassed, sent Hubert
archbishop of Canturburie, and William Marshall earle of Striguill
(otherwise called Chepstow) into England, both to proclaime him
king, and also to see his peace kept ; togither with Geffrey Fitz
Peter lord cheefe iostice, and diuerse other barons of the realme ;
whilest he himselfe went to Chinon where his brothers treasure
f^ laie, which was foorthwith deliuered vnto him by Robert de
S^!!^l^^ Tumeham: and therewithall the castell of Chinon and Sawmer
R^di and diuerse other places, which were in the custodie of the fore-
[. and] "^ Baid Robert But Thomas de Fumes nephue to the said Robert
Sawmer. *
^;^^ de Tumeham deliuered the citie and castell of Anglers vnto
SSh^red Arthur duke of Britaine. For, by generall consent of the nobles
^S?*^ and peeres of the countries of Anion, Maine, and Touraine, Arthur
knowielged was rccciued as the li^e and souereigne lord of the same
Maln^ and COUUtricS.
Tourame.]
Strife For euen at this present^ and so soone as it was knowne that
MBOttfftt the
B^iuhtub- king Richard was deceased, diuerse cities and townes, on that
J(J^J^*«^ side of the sea belonging to the said Richard whilest he lined, fell
at ods among themselues, some of them indeuouring to preferre
king lohn, other labouring rather to be vnder the gouemance of
t^'^Sfl^'* Arthur duke of Britaine : considering that he seemed by most
tojotnj^' right to be their cheefe lord, forsomuch as he was sonne to Geffrey
elder brother to lohn. And thus began the broile in those
quarters, whereof in processe of time insued great inconuenience,
and finallie the death of the said Arthur, as shall be shewed
hereafter.
Now whilest king lohn was thus occupied in recouering his
brothers treasure, and traueling with his subiects to reduce them
[Eleanor to his obedicnce, queene Elianor his mother, by the helpe of
gj'^j*^* Hubert archbishop of Canturburie and other of the noble men
toSSiSj^*^ ^^^ barons of the land, trauelled as diligentlie to procure the
English people to receiue their oth of allegiance to be true to
king lohn. . . .
KJm^^ [flb^. iil 158/1/42.] And all this was doone cheeflie by
biSTo^ the working of the kings mother, whom the nobilitie much
honoured and loued. For she, being bent to prefer hir sonne
lohn, left no stone yntumed to establish him in the throne, com-
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IV. JOHN.
47
paring oftentimes the difference of gouernement betweene a king
that is a man, and a king that is but a child. For as lohn was
32 yeares old, so Arthur duke of Britaine was but a babe to
speake o£ . . .
Surelie queene Elianor the kings mother was sore against hur
nephue Arthur, rather mooued thereto by enuie conceiued against
his mother, than ypon any iust occasion giuen in the behalfe of the
child, for that she saw, if he were king, how his mother Constance
would looke to beare most rule within the realme of England, till
hir Sonne should come to lawfull age, to goueme of himselfe^ . . .
When this dooing of the queene was signified vnto the said
Constance, she, doubting the suertie of hir sonne, committed him
to the trust of the French king, who, receiuing him into his tuition,
promised to defend him from all his enimies, and foorthwith
furnished the holds in Britaine with French souldiers.
There is no historical authority for Chatillon's embassage ; nor did
Philip demand that England and Ireland should be yielded to Arthur.
Immediately after Hichard I.'s death, Anjou, Maine, and Touraine
acknowledged, as we have seen, Arthur's right, while England passed
without question under the dominion of John. Such was the position
of affairs at the coronation of John, shortly after which event the
action of both plays begins with Chatillon's embassy.
Ghatillon having departed, John says (I. L 48, 49) :
Our Abbies and our Priories shall pay
This expeditions charge.
Fauloonbridge is commissioned to wring from ^'hoording Abbots"
the money needed (III, iii 6-11), and afterwards we hear that he is in
England, "ransacking the Church" (ILL iv. 171, 172). Shakspere
merely tells us what the older dramatist brings on the stage, in a scene
when the Bastard visits a Francisoan friary, to collect money for John.
Perhaps Shakspere's precursor embellished a case recorded by Holinshed,
which gave the regular clergy special ground to complain of John's
harshness. In 1200^ he ordered that horses and cattle belonging to
" the white moonks " (Cistercians), and left by them in his forests after
October 13, should be forfeited to him.
1 Eleanor to Constance (II. 1 122, 123) :
^ Out, insolent ! thy hastard shall be King,
That then maist be a Queen, and checke the world ! '*
• In 1210, aftpr his return from an expedition into Ireland, John extorted
;£100,000 from the r^rnlar dergy and military orders. " The moonks of the
Cisteanx order, otherwise called white moonks, were constreined to paie 40
thousand pounds of siluer at this time, all their priuileges to the contrarie
notwithstanding.*'—flbL iii 174/2/6i (If. Paris, ii 530, 531).
[She urged
that John
was 82,
Arthur hut
abaheto
q^eakof.]
enuU itffaintt
Arthur,
OontUmee,
dutehasecif
Britaine
[wonld rule
in Bngland,
If Arthur
were king].
[Arthur
entrusted by
Constance
to Philip's
care.]
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48
IV. JOHN.
[TheCister-
ciaxM would
give John
nottdng
towards the
payment of
the iB80,000
(80,000
marks.—
OoggukaU,
101. 103)
which be had
promised
FMip.]
Phmpldng
diehard*
baUardmm
ilU4th4
vieauntof
Limogu,
[HoL iii. I62/1/44.] The cause that mooued the king to
deale so hardlie "with them was, for that they refused to heipe
him with monie, when before his last going ouer into Normandie,
he demanded it of them towards the paiment of the thirtie
thousand pounds which he had couenanted to pay the French
king.
King John is then required to hear the appeal of Eobert Faulcon-
bridge, who claims his paternal inheritance, on the ground that his
elder brother, Philip, is illegitimate. Concerning Philip (or Bichard)
Faulconbridge's historic original, Holinshed records that, in the year
1199,
[Eol iil I6O/2/69.] Philip, bastard sonne to king Richard,^ to
whome his father had giuen the castell and honor of Coinacke,
killed the vicount of Limoges, in reuenge of his fathers death,
who was slaine (as yee haue heard) in besieging the castell of
Chains Cheuerell.
Faulconbridge's choice is the chief subject of the scene in which he
is first presented to us, and he is best remembered in connexion with
this supreme moment of his life. A like choice was made by the
renowned Dunois, the Bastard of Orleans, whom we meet with in the
First Part of Henry VL It is possible that the earlier dramatist
(whose Faulconbridge was inherited by Shakspere) availed himself of
the main situation in Dunois's case ; to which more effect was given by
bringing on the stage a legitimat-e younger brother, who vehemently
urges his right, and is supported by his mother, who is anxious to
conceal her shame. These additions are, as the reader will perceive,
the most important modifications in the following story, which is
narrated by Halle (6th of Hen. VI., pp. 144, 145).
Lewes Duke of Orleance (murthered in Paris * by Ihon Duke
of Burgoyne) . . . was owner of the Castle of Coney, on the
Frontiers of Fraunce toward Arthoys ; whereof he made Constable
the lord of Cauni, a man not so wise as his wyfe was fayre ; and
1 Mr. Watkiss Lloyd {Essays on Shdksperey ed. 1875, p. 196) saw a re-
semblance both in name and character between Faulconbndge and Falco de
Brenta or Faukes de Breaut^, whom HoL calls Foukes de Brent. Hoi. relates
how Faukes served John in the barons' war (1215-16), and afterwards aided
the royalists in their struggle with Lewis. Another bastard Fauconbridse — ''a
man of no lesse corage then andacitie " (see illustration of 3 Hen, VL, 1. 1. 239),
"a stoute harted manne" {Hardyng-Urafion, 459) — was a contemporary of
Edward IV.
* In 1407. Lewis Buke of Orleans was brother to Charles VI. John Duke
of Burgundy, their first cousin, is present — but does not speak — ^in Henry V,
IIL V.
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of Orleance, as of her husband. Betwene the duke and her ^^l^^
husbande (I cannot tell vho was father) she concerned a child, ^o!^^^
IV. JOHN. 49
yet she was not so faire, but she was aswell beloued of the duke [The wife of
•^ ' the Lord of
was
dby
Duke
tana.
and brought furth a prety boye called Ihon ; whiche chylde beynge Sth rboy *
of the age of one yere, the Duke disceased, and not longe after E^^^?
the mother and the lorde of Cawny ended their lyues. The next Su^to^
of kynne to the lord Cawny chalenged the enheritaunce, which hastaid.]
was worth four thousand crownes a yere, alledgyng that the boye
was a bastard : and the kynred of the mothers syde, for to saue
her honesty, it plainly denyed. In conclusion, this matter was in j^^^*^'*
contentio?i before the PresidcTites of the parliament of Paris, and SSfow SJ^
there hanged in controuersie tyll the child came to the age of .yi\j. ^mlf^^
yeres old. At whiche tyme it was demaunded of him openly of*pari8r
[p, 145] whose sonne he was: his frends of his mothers syde K®^.
aduertised him to requyre a day, to be aduised of so great an ^JJ^*^
answere ; whiche he asked, & to hym it was graunted. In the ^^J^
meane season his sayed frendes persuaded him to claime his ^^^"'^
inheritaunce, as sonne to the lord of Cawni, which was an
honorable liuinge, and an auncient patrimony ; affirming that, if
he said contrary, he not onely slauTulered hys mother, shamed
himself, & stayned hys bloud, but also should haue no lyuyng, nor
any thynge to take to. The scolemaister, thinking that hys dis-
ciple had well learned his lesson, & woulde reherse it according
to hys instmccio?^, brought hym before the ludges at the daye
assigned; and, when the question was repeted to him again, he
boldly answered, "my harte geueth me, and my noble corage ^^^^^
** telleth me, that I am the sonne of the noble Duke of Orleaunce ; !5f*H
' ' wti not
"more glad to be his Bastarde, wyth a meane liuyng, then the ^SSSd
"lawful sonne of that coward cuckolde Cauny, with hys foure SSH^wn,
"thousande crounes [a year]." The iustices muche merueyled nobie Duke's
at his bolde answere, and his mothers cosyns detested him for
shamynge of his mother; and his fathers supposed^ kinne
reioysed in gayninge the patrimony & possessions. Charles, Duke
of Orleance, hearynge of thys iudgement, toke hym into his family
and gaue him great offices & fees, which he wel deserued, for
^ ? supposed father's.
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50
IV. JOHN.
[Charles
Duke of
Orleans pro-
vided for the
boy, who
afterwards
did the
Dakegood
service.]
Morgan, a
biuUnrd [son
of Henry
Ihl eUeUd
Bjfthopp^of
Dwham,
[The Pope
would have
consecrated
him, ifhe
had denied
the King's
blood.]
[Richard
tore oat a
lion's heart]
SUditpotl'
tUmitf
(duiTng his [the Duke's] captiuitie) ^ he [Dunois] defended his
[the Duke's] landes, expulsed thenglishmen, & in conclusion
procured his deliueraunce.
Stow (256) has a similar story :
Morgan, Prouost of Beuerley, brother to K lohn, was elected
byshop of Durham, but he comming to Rome to be consecrated,
returned againe without it, for that he was a bastard, and E. Henry,
father to K lohn, had begotten him of the wife of one Radulph
Bloeth ; yet would the Pope haue dispensed with him, if he would
haue called himselfe the son of the knight, and not of the king. But
he, using the aduise of one William of Lane his Clarke, aunswered,
that, for no worldly promotion, he would deny the kings blood.
King Bichard, says the younger Faulconbridge (L i. 99-101), took
advantage of Sir Bobert's absence
in an Embassie
To Germany, there, with the Emperor
To treat of high affairs touching that time.
Perhaps Sir Bobert Faulconbridge usurped the mission of William
Longchamp, Bishop of Ely and Chancellor ; sent by Bichard, in 1196,
to confer with the Emperor Henry VL, who was anxious to prevent
peace being made between the ^ng and Philip of France {Hoi, iii.
148/1/25). Or we may imagine that Sir Bobert was one of the
** diuerse noble men " who represented Bichard at the coronation of the
Emperor Otto IV., in 1198 {Hoi. iii. I52/2/69). The objection, that
neither of these dates is consistent with Faulconbridge's dramatic age,
need not trouble us, for Bichard — ^who sent Sir Bobert to Germany —
began to reign in 1189, and Faulconbridge could not therefore have
numbered more than ten historic years at the opening of Act I. in 11 99.
The Bastard would not have lus mother sorrow for her weakness,
because (L i 268, 269),
He, that perforce robs lions of their hearts.
May easily winne a womans.
A reference to a well-known story, which Fabyan thus notices (304) :
It is red of this Rycharde, that, durynge y* tyme of his Inprysone-
ment [in Germany], he shuld sle a lyon, & tere y Harte out of his
body, where through he shuld deserue y* name of Rycharde Cure
de Lyon,^ . . .
^ In England, from 1415, when he was taken prisoner at Agincourt, to his
release in 1440.
* Hoi. (iii. 1 56/1/60) ffives another reason for this name :
'* As he was comelie of personage, so was he of stomadi more couragious and
fierce, so that, not without cause, he obteined the surname of Oueur de lion,
that is to saie, ' The lions hart.' **
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IV. JOHK. 51
Acts n.-nL — ^The historic time of Acts 11. and III. extends to
nearly three years ; beginning at the interview of John and Philip *^ on
the morrow after the feast of the Assumption of onr ladie " (August
16), 1199, and ending <<on Lammas dale" (August 1), 1202, when
Arthur was taken prisoner by John. Since these Acts contain so much
warfare for the possession of Angers, I quote here Holinshed's mention
of the winning of this place by Eleanor in 1199 ; and also his account
of its capture by John in 1206.
[Hoi iii. 158/2/2$.] In [1199] ... his mother queene
Elianor, togither with capteine Marchades, entred into Anion, and
wasted the same, bicanse they of that conntrie had receiued
Arthur for their sonereigne lord and gonemour. And, amongst
other townes and fortresses, they tooke the citie of Angiers, due ^j!^^
manie of the citizens, and committed the rest to prison. **'*^
[Rol. iii 170/1/27.] [In 1206 John] entred into Anion, gX^
and, comming to the citie of Angiers, appointed certeine bands ^**y*^-
of his footmen, & all his light horssemen to compasse the towne
about, whilest he, with the residue of the footmen, & all the men
of armes, did go to assault the gates. Which enterprise with fire f^j^^
and sword he so manfdllie executed, that the gates being in a J^^Jg^*'
moment broken open, the citie was entered and deliuered to the
souldiers for a preie. So that of the citizens some were taken,
some killed, and the wals of the citie beaten flat to the ground.
Holinshed records nothing which warrants Constance's aspersion of
Queen Eleanor's fair fame (IL i. 129-131) :
My boy a bastard I by my soule, I thinke
His father neuer was so true begot :
It cannot be, and if thou wert Lis mother.
In 1151 Eleanor was divorced by Lewis VIL of France, and was soon
afterwards married to Henry II., — then Count of Anjou, — " contrary "
(says Fabyan) ''to the commauTulement of his Fader, for he hadde
shewed to hym that he had lyen by her, whan he was y* sayd Kynges
Steward."— 281. According to Stow (213), "she was defamed of
adultery with an Infidell, &c," ^
Provoked by Constance's railing, Eleanor asserts that a will exists
which "barres the title" of Arthur (IL L 192). This will was made
by Richard, who
[HoL iii. 155/2/69.] feeling himselfe to wax weaker and
weaker, preparing his mind to death, which he perceiued now to
^ Cp. also the ballad entitled "Queen Eleanor's Confession,'* in Percy's
Bdiques.
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52 IV. JOHN.
fftwrdeindh be at hand, he ordemed his testament, or rather reformed and
added sundrie thmgs ynto the same which he before had made, at
the time of his going foorth towards the holie land.
Secwm^ [2?. 166] Unto his brother lohn he assigned the crowne of
j^^^^ England, and all other his lands and dominions, causing the
Nobles there present to sweare fealtie ynto hiuL
I now resume Holinshed's narrative of the events which followed
John's coronation.
Arthur dMke [Rol. ill I6O/2/4.] king Philip made Arthur duke of Britaine,
madsknighL kuight, and receiued of him his homage for Anion, Poictiers,
Maine, Touraine, and Britaine. Also somewhat before the time
that the truce should expire; to wit, on the morrow [Aug. 16]
after the feast of the Assumption of our ladie, and also the day
next following, the two kings talked by commissioners, in a place
betwixt the townes of Buteuant and Guleton.^ Within three
Nk>imand daics after, they came togither personallie, and communed at full
meet^ of the Variance depending betweene them. But the French king
j^^rench ^i^Q^Q^ himselfe stiffe and hard in this treatie, demanding the
whole countrie of Veulquessine * to be restored vnto him, as that
which had beene granted by Geffrey carle of Anion, the father of
king Henrie the second, vnto Lewes le Grosse, to haue his aid
then against king Stephan. Moreouer, he demanded, that
Poictiers, Anion, Maine, and Touraine, should be deliuered and
wholie resigned vnto Arthur duke of Britaine.
But these, & diuerse other requests which he made, king lohn
would not in any wise grant vnto, and so they departed without
conclusion of anie agreement.
About two months after this fruitless interview, William des Eoches,
Arthur's general, stole Arthur away from Philip, and efEected a
temporary reconciliation between the uncle and nephew. Des Boches
also surrendered Le Mans to John, who entered the town and there met
Constance and Arthur. But, being warned that John meant to
^ Boteavant, near Portmort, Normandy, and le Qoulety in the same duchy.
« Cp. John's gift to Lewis (IL i 527-629) :
"Then do I glue Volquessen, Toraine, Maine,
Poyctiers, and Aniow, these fiue Prouinces,
With her to thee *';...
Shakspere follows T. iJ., L 29.
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IV. JOHN. 53
imprison him, Arthur fled with Constance to Angers (Angiers), where
she repudiated her second husband Ranulph, Earl of Chester, and
married Guy de Thouars. This third marriage took place in the very
year (1199) when the dramatic Constance may be supposed to give
Austria ^ " a widdows thanks " (IL i. 32) for championing Arthur. —
Eavedm, iv. 96, 97.
Blanch of Castile was not present at the interview between John
and Philip, — ^which took place in August, 1199, — or at their later
meeting described below; and the circumstances of her subsequent
betrot^l— on May 23, 1200— bore no resemblance to those imagined
by the dramatists. What Holinshed says of the later conference
between the two kings should be compared with Shakspere's version
(11. i. 484-530), which is based on the older play.
[Eol iii 161/1 /S 3.] Finallie, vpon the Ascension day in ^^^u^iug.i
this second yeare of his reigne, they came eftsoones to a com-
munication betwixt the townes of Vernon and Lisle Dandelie ; ^
where finallie they concluded an agreement, with a marriage to fi£St^
be had betwixt Lewes the sonne of king Philip, and the ladie *'**''''*'^
Blanch, daughter to Alfonso king of Castile the 8 of that name,
& neece to K. lohn by his sister Elianor.
In consideration whereof, king lohn, besides the summe of ^^
thirtie thousand markes in siluer, as in respect of dowrie assigned [Bianch'a
to his said neece, resigned his title to the citie of Eureux, and also
Tnto all those townes which the French king had by warre taken
from him, the citie of Angiers onelie excepted, which citie he [Angen
° x- -7 restored
receiued againe by couenants of the same agreement The French *<> joiuli
king restored also to king lohn (as Bafe Niger writeth) the citie a*. Niger
of Tours, and all the castels and fortresses which he had taken
^ The dramatic " Austria '' has not even a nominal historic existence : he is
a compound of Leopold Duke of Austria and Widomar Viscount of Limoges.
The former — who imprisoned Bichard (Cogqeshale, 66) — died on December 26,
1195 (fioggeshdUj 66) ; four years prior to the opening of this play. Richard
was mortally wounded while besieging Widomar's castle of Chalux Chabrol
(CoggethdU, 95), and died on April 6 {DicetOy ii. 166) or April 7 (CoggeshdUj
96). 1199.
' In January, 1200, Philip and John ** convenerunt ad colloquium inter
AndeU et Qwallun*' [Anddiy Normandy, and QaiUon, Vexin], where they made
this agreement — Hovedeny iv. 106. On May 22 they met again between Bote-
avant and le Gk)ulet — Hoveden, iv. 114. (As to Moveden's probable error in
naming Midsrmimer Day for Ascension Day, see Dr. Stubbs's note in his ed. of
Haveden, iv. 114.) A third meeting of John and Philip took place at Yemon
Sormandy) on May 23, and Arthur then did homage to John for Brittany.
L the same day liewis and Blanch were betrothed at Portmort. — Hoveden,
iv. 115. (According to Itinerary John was at Butavant on May 16, and at
Eoche-Andely from May 17 to May 25.)
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54
IV. JOHN.
.John did
homage to
Philip for
Brittany,
and received
homage for
the same
flrom
Arthur.)
[TerrftoTy
surrendered
by John.]
PUfdOTm
ThtUM
Artkmrdiiht
i^f Britain*
dothh4mtafft
to the king
qfSngUmd.
[Arthnr,
miatnuting
John, re«
tamed with
Philip.)
within Touraine : . . • The king of England likewise did homage
ynto the French king for Britaine, and againe (as after you shall
heare) receiued homage for the same countrie, and for the countie
of Bichmont, of his nephue Arthur. . . .
By this conclusion of marriage betwixt the said Lewes and
Blanch, the right of king lohn went awaie ; which he lawfuUie
before pretended vnto the citie of Eureuz, and ynto those townes
in the confines of Berrie, Chateau Boux or Baoul, Cressie
and Isoldune, and likewise vnto the countrie of Veuxin or
Yeulquessine, which is a part of the territorie of Gisors: the
right of all which lands, townes and countries was released to the
king of France by K. lohn, who supposed that by his afllnitie, and
resignation of his right to those places, the peace now made would
haue continued for euer. And, in consideration thereof, he pro-
cured furthermore, that the foresaid Blanch should be conueied
into France to hir husband with all speed. That doone he
returned into England*
Arthur's homage to John for Brittany — referred to in my last
excerpt — ^was performed on May 23, 1200,^ when
[ffol iii. 162/1/22.] king lohn and Philip king of France
met togither neere the towne of Vernon, where Arthur duke of
Britaine (as vassall to his vncle king lohn) did his homage Tnto
him for the duchie of Britaine, & those other places which he
held of him on this side and beyond the riuer of Loir, and after-
ward, still mistrusting his Tncles curtesie, he returned backe againe
with the French king, and would not commit himselfe to his said
yncle, who (as he supposed) did beare him little good will
Perhaps this is the ceremony which has received such a liberal
expansion in John's promise (II. i. 551-552) :
. , . wee'l create yong Arthur duke of Britaine,
And Earle of Bichmond, • • •
When Pandulph enters (HL i 134) and demands, in Pope
Innocent's name, why John continues to
Keepe Stephen Langton, chosen Archbishop
Of Canterbury, from that holy Sea t
we are transported from the day of Lewis's betrothal (May 23, 1200)
^ See note 2, p. 53.
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IV. JOHN. 55
to the summer of 1211. The dispute which caused Innocent III.'s
complaint arose after the death (on July 13, 1205. — CoggeshcUe, 156) of
Hubert Archbishop of Oanterbury. To £111 Hubert's place had been
elected Beginald Sub-Prior of the conventual church at Canterbury,
and Walter de Grey Bishop of Norwich, John's chaplain and nominee
for the vacant archbishopric
[Hoi iil 170/2/74.] But [p. 171] after the pope was fuUie f^^
informed of the manner of their elections, he disanulled them JJ^S^*
both, and procured by his papall authoritie the moonks of Cantur- h^r^p!»*
burie (of whome manie were then come to Rome about that ^4*"
matter) to choose one Stephan Langton the cardinall of S.
Chrysogon, an Englishman borne, and of good estimation and
learning in the court of Rome, to be their archbishop. . . .
The king, sore offended in his mind that the bishop of Norwich
was thus put beside that dignitie, to the which he had aduanced
him, . . . wrote his letters ynto the pope, giuing him to ynder- jriv
stand for answer, that he would neuer consent that Stephan, which ^ j**^
had beene brought yp & alwaies conuersant with his enimies the Sg,^^^*
Frenchmen, should now inioy the rule of the bishoprike and dioces
of Canturburie. Moreouer, he declared in the same letters, that
he maruelled not a little what the pope ment, in that he did not
consider how necessarie the freendship of the king of England was ^^^
to the see of Rome, sith there came more gains to the Romano ^^iwu^
church out of that kingdome, than out of any other reahne on this
side the mountaines. He added hereto, that for the liberties of SJjforthe^^
his crowne he would stand to the death, if the matter so required, t^^ro^]
In 1208 Innocent,
[Hoi iil 171/2/67.] perceiuing that king lohn continued still in 1208.
his former mind (which he called obstinacie), sent oner his bulles ^f^ ^
into England, directed to William bishop of London, to Eustace ^j*^j,^^^.
bishop of Elie, and to Mauger bishop of Worcester, commanding iJ|jotoMd
them that, ynlesse king lohn would suffer peaceablie the archbishop ^'d^^
of Canturburie to occupie his see, and his moonks their abbie, they Langton
"^ ' "^ were not
Ito
the
should put both him and [p. 172] his land vnder the sentence rocrewd
^ »-* -* occupy 1
of interdiction, denouncing him and his land plainelie accurssed. ^^bmn.
The bishops then had an audience of John, whom they warned of
the charge which they had received, but he refused to obey Innocent
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56 IV. JOHN.
and dismissed them with threats. The interdict having been imposed,
John foresaw that Innocent might
SithtaSS [JBToL iiL 172/1/65.] proceed further, and absolue all his
iwa^ived Bubiects of their allegiance which they owght to him, and that his
•uegianceby lords would happilic rcuolt and forsake him in this his trouble.
Iimooent.) *^'^
In the summer of the year 1211,^
iXHSu^'^ [JJb/. iii. 176/1/8.] the pope sent two* legats into England, the
K^JiS?*^ one named Pandulph * a lawier, and the other Durant a templer,
^Jtua who, comming vnto king John, exhorted him with manie terrible
manie words to Icauo his stubbome disobedience to the church, and to
terrible '
o^tie*^ reforme his misdooings. The king for his part quietlie heard
^<;S^'iJ^^ them, and, bringing them to Northampton, being not farre distant
"qnieS^' from the place where he met them vpon his retume foorth of
yid£] ^^ Wales, had much conference with them ; but at length, when they
perceiued that they could not haue their purpose, neither for
restitution of the goods belonging to preests which he had seized
vpon, neither of those that apperteined to certeine other persons,
which the king had gotten also into his hands, by meanes of the
controuersie betwixt him and the pope, the legats departed,
^Ind'^ leaning him accursed, and the land interdicted, as they found it
his land x xi. * *
acenned.] at their commmg.
The following passages should be compared with two speeches of
Pandulph (IIL L 172-179 ; 191-194), in which he pronounces a subject
** blessed " who forswears '* Allegeance to an heretique '' ; and exhorts
Philip, if John continue obstinate, to ** raise the power of Erance vpon
his head."
Poijfdor. [Hol. iii. 176/2/17.] In the meane time pope Innoeent, after
the retume of his legats out of England, perceiuing that king
lohn would not be ordered by him, determined, with the consent
^ John met the legates at Northampton, on August 30, 1211. — Ann, Waveri,,
268 (cp. Ann. Burton, 209, and Itinerary, an. 13).
* Jroft. says (318) : "y« Pope sent ii. Legattys ; or, after some wryters, one
Legat, named Pandnlphos,** . . .
* In answer to Pandulph, John, speaking with the month of Henry YIII.,
claims spiritual supremacy (III. i 155-158). Perhaps the parallel speech in
T. R, was an anachTonistic development of an opinion held by a contemporary
of John, a theologian named Alexander the Mason, who asserted ''that it
apperteined not to the pope, to haue to doo concerning the temporall possessions
of any kings or other potentate touching the rule and gouemment of their
subiects" (Bbl. iii 174/i/7),
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IV. JOHN. 57
of his cardinals and other councellonrs, and also at the instant suit {^^^^
of the English bishops and other prelats being there with him, to ^ocent
depriue king lohn of his kinglie state ; and so first absolued all his J^n!uid
subiects and vassals of their oths of allegiance made Tnto the same ^p •^^
king, and after depriued him by solemne protestation of his kinglie ^J^TS)
administration and dignitie, and lastlie signified that his depriua- h^'asa^
tion ynto the French king and other christian princes ; admonishing enimie to
them to pursue king lohn, being thus depriued, forsaken, and con- church."!
demned, as a common enimie to God and his church. He ordeined t^'^^^
^ also con-
furthermore, that whosoeuer imploied goods or other aid to van- SSSfwho
quish and ouercome that disobedient prince, should remaine in ^^f£^
assured peace of the church, as well as those which went to visit aiuiie
benefits as
the sepulchre of our Lord, not onlie in their goods and persons, ^,5^*jyj^
but also in sufirages for sauing of their soules. &p^i^^
But yet, that it might appeare to all men, that nothing could
be more ioifiill vnto his holinesse, than to haue king lohn to
repent his trespasses committed, and to aske forgiuenesse for the
same, he appointed Pandulph, which latelie before was returned padnipk
to Rome, with a great number of English exiles, to go into France, fjjjg^^^
togither with Stephan the archbishop of Canturburie, and the other Jtfal^Hiv
English bishops ; giuing him in commandement that, repairing vnto dS^-i^um,
the French king, he should communicate with him all that which
he had appointed to be doone against king lohn, and to exhort
the French king to make warre vpon him, as a person for his
wickednesse excommunicated.
Pursuing the course of history we have now reached 1212,^ but the
action of the play brings us back to August 1, 1202.^ In the latter
year' war again broke out between France and England, and Arthur,
1 The year in which John was deposed.
' In a letter addressed '' omnibus baronibus suis," John says that he reached
Miiabeau ** ad festum beati Petri ad Vincula ** (August 1), and there took Arthur
OTisoner. This letter, preserved by Ooggeshale (137, 138), was englished by
So/, (iii 166/1/9, Ac.). ^j^ v / -e j ■
« Eel. (m, 164/I/4Q, Ac.), citing M. Farts (ii. 477), says : " In the yeare 1202
king lohn neld his Christmasse at Argenton in Normandie, and in the Lent
foUoydng he and the French king met toffither, neere vnto the castell of
Qulleton Pe Qoulet], and there in talke had betweene, he commanded king
lohn with no small arrogancie, and contrarie to his former promise, to restore
Tnto his nephne Arthur duke of Britaine, all those lands now in his possession
on that side the sea. which king lohn eamestlie denied to doo, whereypon the
French king immediatlie after began war against him,'' ...
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58
IV. JOHN.
Queent
Miamorlgai
her into
lilimbeao,
and sent to
John for
•peedy
SQcoonr].
[Arthur (ris
some say)
took her
prisoner.]
Matih. Paris
Matth, Wat
[say that she
was not
taken
prisoner].
Poljfdor.
K.Iokn
commtth
9p<m his
stiimUt not
loohtdM.
[Arthur's
soldiers put
to flight, and
Mlrabeaa
captured.]
With the help of two hundred knights (milttea) supplied him by Philip,
was enabled to reduce Foitou, Touraine, and Anjou. Queen Eleanor's
narrow escape from the enemies who " assayled " her in John's " Tent,"
and Arthur's capture (IH. ii. 5-7), are dramatic versions illustrated by
my next excerpts, which give the issue of Arthur's temporary success.
[Eol, iii. 164/2/1 3.] Queene Elianor, that was regent in
those parties, being put in great feare with the newes of this
sudden sturre, got hir into Mirabeau, a strong towne situat in the
countrie of Anion, and foorthwith dispatched a messenger with
letters vnto king lohn, requiring him of speedie succour in this hir
present danger. In the meane time, Arthur following the victorie,
shortlie after followed hir, and woone Mirabeau, where he tooke
his grandmother within the same ; whom he yet intreated yerie
honorablie, and with great reuerence (as some haue reported).
|ir But other write far more trulie, that she was not taken, but
escaped into a tower, wiihin the which she was straitlie besieged.
Thither came also to aid Arthur all the Nobles and men of armes
in Poictou, and namelie the ... earle of March,^ according to
appointment betwixt them : so that by this meanes Arthur had a
great armie togither in the field.
King lohn, in the meane time, hauing receiued his mothers
letters, and vnderstanding thereby in what danger she stood, was
maruellouslie troubled with the strangenesse of the newes, and
with manie bitter words accused the French king as an vntrue
prince, and a fraudulent league-breaker ; and in all possible hast
speedeth him foorth, continuing his ioumie for the most part both
day and night to come to the succour of his people. To be briefe,
he Ysed such diligence, that he was ypon his enimies necks yer
they could ynderstand any thing of his comming, or gesse what the
matter meant^ when they saw such a companie of souldiers as he
brought with him to approch so neere the citie. . . .
And hauing . . . put them [the Poitevins] all to flight, they
[the English] pursued the chase towards the towne of Mirabeau,
into which the enimies made yeiie great hast to enter ; but such
speed was ysed by the English souldiers at that present, that they
* Hugh le Bran, CJount of La Marcbe. His hostility was caused by John's
marriage with Isabella of Angoul^me, who had been betrothed to Hngh. —
Ooggeshalef 136.
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IV. JOHN. 59
entred and wan the said towne before their enimies could come
neere to get into it. Qreat slaughter was made within Mirabeau
it selfe, and Arthur, with the residue of the armie that escaped ^/^^^
with life jfrom the first bickering, was taken ; who, being herevpon ^Smmt.
committed to prison, first at Falais, and after within the citie of ^^^^^^
Rouen, lined not long after, as you shall heare. . . . ^*^
[Hoi, iii I65/1/31.] The French king, at the same time lieng in
siege before Arques, immediatlie ypon the newes of this ouerthrow,
raised from thence, and returned homewards, destroieng all that retarned
' ^ to his own
came in his waie, till he was entred into his owne countrie. country.]
Act IV. — The sources of Act IV. sc. i., and IV. iL, as far aa L 105,
are contained in the following excerpts. The reader will observe how
much the historical Arthur ^ differed from the gentle^ unambitious boy
of the play.
[Eol, iii 165/i/3S.] It is said that king lohn caused his jnnoiuff.i.
nephue Arthur to be brought before him at Falais, and there went todr»w
Arthnr away
about to persuade him all that he could to forsake his freendship fromPwiip.]
and aliance with the French king, and to leane and sticke to him,
being his naturall yncle. But Arthur, like one that wanted good (^J^J^ot
counsell, and abounding too much in his owne wilfull opinion, d^^^^^
made a presumptuous answer ; not onelie denieng so to doo, but t^ragedto
also commanding king lohn to restore ynto him the realme of
England, with all those other lands and possessions which king
Richard had in his hand at the houre of his deatL For, sith the
same apperteined to him by right of inheritance, he assured him,
except restitution were made the sooner, he should not long con-
tinue quiei King lohn, being sore mooued with such words thus ^^^^^
Yttered by his nephue, appointed (as before is said) that he should j^^^y^
be Btraitlie kept in prison, as first in Falais, and after at Roan ^^'^''^^
within the new castell there. Thus by means of this good
successe, the countries of Poictou, Touraine, and Anion were
recouered.
^ortlie after, king lohn, comming oner into England, caused J^*^-^^^
himselfe to be crowned againe at Canturburie by the hands of g;gg^
1 He was then more than fifteen years old, having heen horn on March 29,
IISI. —Benedict^ i 361. The Arthur of T. JJ. was a youth, if one may judge
from his speeches in the scene which is the source of Jdfvn, IV. i
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60 IV. JOHN.
Hubert the archbishop there, on the fourteenth day of Aprill,^ and
then went backe againe into Normandie, where, immediatlie ypon
J^/k Cog. his arriuall, a rumour was spred through all France, of the death
of his nephue Arthur. True it is that great suit was made to
haue Arthur set at libertie, as well by the French king, as by
(I2!^made ^^^^^"^ ^^ Richcs a valiant baron of Poictou, and diuerse other
wS/hS'"' Noble men of the Britains, who when they could not preuaile in
JSi2Me°^* their suit, they banded themselues togither, and, ioining in con-
^' federacie with Robert earle of Alanson, the vicount Beaumont,
William de Fulgiers, and other, they began to leuie sharpe wars
against king lohn in diuerse places, insomuch (as it was thought)
that^ so long as Arthur lined, there would be no quiet in those
parts : whereypon it was reported that king lohn, through persua-
sion of his counoellors, appointed certeine persons to go vnto
SSledl^put ^^''^ where Arthur was kept in prison, vnder the charge of
ejMj'***" * Hubert de Burgh, and there to put out the yoong gentlemans eies.
[BatAithor But tluTough such rcsistanco as he made against one of the
Hnbert'de tormcutors that came to execute the kings commandement (for
Burgh ^ ^
deujerod thc othcr* rather forsooke their prince and countrie, than they
would consent to obeie the kings authoritie heerein) and such
lamentable words as he yttered, Hubert de Burgh did preserue
him firom that iniurie ; not doubting but rather to haue thanks than
displeasure at the kings hands, for deliuering him of such infamie
as would haue redounded vnto his highnesse, if the yoong gentle-
man had beene so crueUie dealt withalL For he considered, that
king lohn had resolued ypon this point onelie in his heat and
furie (which moueth men to yndertake manie an inconuenient
enterprise, ynbeseeming the person of a common man, much more
reprochfull to a prince, all men in that mood being meere foolish
and furious, and prone to accomplish the peruerse conceits of their
ill possessed heart ; . • .) and that afterwards, ypon better aduise-
^ This must be the ceremony which John calls his " double Corronation "
(IV. ii 40). But we learn from his Itvnerary that, on April 14, 1202, he was
at Orival near Rouen. John's second coronation took place on October 8,
1200.— JEToveden, iy. 139. On March 25, 1201, he was crowned for the third
and last time. — Hovtden^ iy. 160.
* John bade three of his sergeants ('^prsecepit . . . tribus suis seryienti-
bus 'O go to Falaise, and carry out this order. But two of the men fled his
Court rather than obey him. — CoggttihaU^ 139.
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IV. JOHN. 61
menty he would both repent hunselfe so to haue commanded, and {h^|ht that
giue them small thanke that should see it put in execution. 1%^^
Howbeit, to satisfie his mind for the time, and to stale the rage oMerVooid
have imall
of the Britains, he caused it to be bruted abroad through the ^tawdsi
countrie, that the kings commandement was fulfilled ; and that
Arthur also through sorrow and greefe was departed out of this iSu^or'g
life. For the space of fifteene dales this rumour incessantlie ran a^oi^ed,
and the
through both the realmes of England and France, and there was nimov
ringing for him through townes and Tillages, as it had beene for ^^^ ^^
his funerals. *^**-^
Historic time vanishes when, after John's barons have departed, he
is informed bj a messenger that the French '* are all arriu'd " (lY. ii
115) : news which transports us from 1202 to 1216. But when, after
brief question, John is apprized of his mother's death on " the first of
ApriU " (IL 119-121), we are borne back to 1204,^ in which year
[HoL iii. 167/2/73.] queene Elianor the mother of king John [Q.Biwmor's
departed this life, consumed [p. 168] rather through sorow and
anguish of mind, than of any other naturall infirmitie.
The entry of Faulconbridge with Peter of Fomfret makes 1212 the
historic date of 11. 132-157.
[Hoi iiL I8O/1/28.] There was in this season an heremit, i^J^SipLf
whose name was Peter, dwelling about Yorke ; a man in great SJ^^iSwd
reputation with the common people, bicause that, either inspired ViS^haiu,
with some spirit of prophesie, as the people beleeued, or else tovuMt^
hauing some notable skill in art magike, he was accustomed to
1 Eleanor died on April 1, 1204. — Ann, Waveri.t 256. Perhaps Shakspere
chose April 1 for the day because a celestial appearance— of such sort as was
belieTed to forebode the departure of great persons — is mentioned under the
same year, and on the samepage, which contains the record of her decease.
HdL says (iii. I67/1/40): "This yeare [1204] the aire toward the north and
east parts seemed to be on a bright fire [? the wurora borealis^ sometimes seen
in our latitudes] for the space of six houres togither. It began about the first
watch of the night, on the first of Aprill.*' The date of Constance*s death —
rumoured to have happened "three dayes before" (L 123) Eleanor's — is not
given by Hd. According to Hoi>eden (iv. 174) she died in 1201. H6i,*8
authority for the following passage (iiL I66/1/12), from which we learn that
she survived Arthur, was probably Fclyd, Verg.j 267/6.
**But king PhiliD, after he was aduertised of Arthur's death, tooke the
matter verie greeuouslie, and, vpon occasion thereof cited king lohn to appeare
before him at a certeine day, to answer such obiections as Constance the omttanet.
duches of Britaine. mother to the said Arthur, should lay to his charge, touch- <a« mother
ing the murther 01 hir sonne. And bicause king lolm appecured not, he was ^^SSS?
condemned in the action, and adiudged to forieit all that he held within the aeeuntk
precinct of France, as well NormancBe as all his other lands and dominions." ^^ ^***'
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62 IV. JOHN.
tell what should follow after. And for so much as oftentimes his
saiengs prooued true, great credit was giuen to him as to a yerie
[John (80 prophet : . . . This Peter, about the first of lanuarie ^ last past, had
Peter told jt »
Wethro^ told the kmg that, at the feast of the Ascension, it should come to
A8?enrion pass©, that hc should be cast out of his kingdome. And (whether,
^^•^ to the intent that his words should be the better beleeued, or
Seredto "^^hether ypon too much trust of his owne cunning) he offered him-,
BuffOT death g^j£^ j^ suffcr death for it, if his prophesie prooued not true.
SuSf^ Herevpon being committed to prison within the castell of Corf,
i^Jf^fei when the day by him prefixed came, without any other notable
thatcuS^.] damage vnto king lohn, he was, by the kings commandement,
TJuKertmit drawue firom the said castell vnto the towne of Warham, & there
ixndhiiionne .11.
*<»'v»d. hanged, togither with his sonne.
Having heard Faulconbridge's account of Peter's doings, John bids
Hubert " away with " the prophet to prison. During Hubert's absence
on this business, 1216 becomes again the historic date, but when, at his
return, he speaks of the five moons, time runs back to the year 1200,
for under the latter date Holinshed records that
[Hoi, iii. I63/1/44.] About the moneth of December, there
nu€ iMona, were scene in the prouince of Yorke fine moones, one in the east,
the second in the west, the third in the north, the fourth in the
south, and the fift as it were set in the middest of the other ;
hauing manie stars about it, and went fine or six times incom-
passing the other, as it were the space of one houre, and shortlie
after vanished awaie.
If speeches referring to the Dauphin be excluded, the rest of Act
TV, may bear the historical date of April, 1203, about which time
Arthur disappeared. Omitting a sentence which does not illustrate the
play, I resume my quotations at the point where, in the last excerpt
relating to Arthur^ the bell-ringing *' for his funerals " is mentioned
(p. 61 above).
[Hoi. iii. I66/2/43.] But when the Britains were nothing
pacified, but rather kindled more vehementlie to worke all the
* " Sub his . , . diebus," in the year 1212, waa the time when, according
to if. Faris^ Peter flourished as a prophet ; '* et publico asserebat, quod non
foret [Johannes! rex in die Dominicse Ascensionis proximo seouentis neo
deinceps ; sed die ilia coronam AnglisB ad alium transferri pr8eaixit.''^Af.
ParU {Wer\dor)er\ ii 536. Peter's prediction must have been made after
Ascension Day (May 3), 1212, and waa fulfilled on the Vigil of Ascension
Day (May 22), 1213, on which day John surrendered his crown to Pandulph.
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IV. JOHN. 63
mischeefe they could deoise, in reuenge of their souereignes death, ^r^^our
there was no remedie but to signifie abroad againe, that Arthur ^^^J^
was as yet lining and in healtL Now when the king heard the ^^^i^
truth of all this matter, he was nothing displeased for that his SS^n^
commandement was not executed, sith there were diuerse of his notdi*.*^
pleased,
capteins which vttered in plaine words, that he should not find g^^*»«
knights to keepe his castels, if he dealt so cruellie with his nephue. ^^^ ^'
For if it chanced any of them to be taken by the king of France ^^iroil^to
or other their aduersaries, they should be sure to tast of the like inghie^^
cup. T But now touching the manor in yerie deed of the end of
this Arthur, writers make sundrie reports. Neuerthelesse certeine pioone
it is, that, in the yeare next insuing, he was remooued from Falais ArSbv^,
vnto the castell or tower of Rouen, out of the which there was not th«tjfa?***^
attempibiff
any that would confesse that euer he saw him go aline. Some ^^^^^'*®
haue written, that^ as he assaied to haue escaped out of prison, and §^ ^
proouing to clime ouer the wals of the castell, he fell into the ^^^e,
riuer of Saine, and so was drowned. Other write, that through droinled.]
yerie greefe and languor he pined awaie, and died of naturall
sicknesse. But some aflSrme, that king lohn secretlie caused him
to be murthered and made awaie, so as it is not throughlie
agreed ypon, in what sort he finished his daies ; but yerelie king
lohn was had in great suspicion, whether worthilie or not, the
lord knoweth.*
Act V. sc. i. — ^Act V. opens on the Yigil of Ascension Day ^ (May
22, 1213). In the preceding year John had been deposed by Lmocent,
and Pandulph was commissioned to request Philip's armed help in
effecting the dethronement (see p. 57 above). Philip
[ffol iii 176/2/20.] was easilie persuaded thereto of an inward
hatred that he bare ynto our king, and thereypon with all diligence m Prtnck
made his prouision of men, ships, munition and yittell, in purpose ^olSfto
to passe ouer into England : • . . sngumd.
John assembled a large fleet and army, and, in the spring of 1213,
he was awaiting the French at Barham Down, Kent.^
* According to Ann, Marg, (27) John slew Arthur at Rouen, on April
3, 1203.
' This date must be accepted with a reservation of dramatic time, for the
words of Pandulph and John (V. i 22, 25-27 ; cp. IV. IL 151-157) show that
Act V. opens on Ascension Day.
• M, Fari$ (Wendover), ii 539. John's preparations must have begun soon
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64 IV. JOHN.
Poiyd<^ ^fff^l iii, 176/2/6$.] But as he lay thus readie, neere to
the coast, to withstand and beat backe his enimies, there arriued
TwihnigiiU at Doner two Templers, who, comming before the king, declared
to )^w ^^^ ^^^ '^^ *^®y ^^^^ ^^^^ °^ Pandmph the popes legate who
Ptodajh, £^j jjjg profit coueted to talke with him; for he had (as they
^^^] affirmed) meanes to propone, whereby he might be reconciled
both to Ood and his church, although he were adiudged, in the
court of Rome, to haue forfeited all the right which he had to
his kingdome.
IJ^^gj^ [p, 177] The king, ynderstanding the meaning of the messengers,
^j^ sent them backe againe to bring oner the legat, who incontinentlie
came oner to Doner ; of whose arriuall when the king was aduer-
tised, he went thither, and receiued him with all due honour and
reuerence. Now after they had talked togither a little, and cour-
teouslie saluted each other (as the course of humanitie required)
the legat (as it is reported) yttered these words following.
I omit " The sawcie speech of proud Fandulph, the popes lewd legat,
to king John, in the presumptuous popes behalfe," since it was not
used by either dramatist. Matthew Paris, Holinshed's authority here,
enumerates four reasons ^ which moved John to submit. One, which
probably had much weight, was Fandulph's assertion — in the course of
his " sawcie speech " — that Philip
[TheEngiish [EoL ill 177/i/43.] hath (as he sticketh not to protest openlie
tenityto to the world) a charter made by all the cheefest lords of England
touching their fealtie and obedience assured to him.
The result of Pandulph's threats I give in my next excerpt, which
should be compared with Y. i. 1-4.
[HoL m, 177/1/60.] These words being thus spoken by
the legat, king lohn, as then vtterlie despairing in his matters,
when he saw himselfe constreined to obeie, was in a great per-
plexitie of mind, and as one full of thought, looked about him
with a frowning countenance ; waieng with himselfe what counsell
after March 3, 1213, when he issued writs for the assembly of a fleet at Ports-
mouth in Mid-Lent (Mid-Lent Sunday fell on March 24X — M. FarU {Wend-
over\ ii 538.
^ ^ Quartam vero causam aliis omnibus plus timebat ; instabat enim dies
Doroinic»Ascensioni3,in qua juxta prophetiam Petri heremit«, . . . cum ipsa
vita regnum tam temporale quam setemum amittere yerebatur.'' — M, FarU
(Wendover)^ iL 541.
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IV. JOHN. 65
were best for him to follow. At length, oppressed with the
burthen of the imminent danger and mine, against his will, and
yerie loth so to haue doone, he promised vpon his oth to stand ^^q^JT**^
to the popes order and decree. Wherefore shortlie after (in like ^^*»<*<«*-i
manner as pope Innocent had commanded) he tooke the crowne
from his owne head, and deliuered the same to Pandulph the aaf^ithhu
legat ; neither he, nor his heires at anie time thereafter to receiue p^Sii^
the same, but at the popes hands.^ ...
[col. 2] Then Pandulph, keeping the crowne with him for the ^"J^J^*;^^
space of fine daies in token of possession thereof, at length (as S^^JJ^J^*
the popes ricar) gaue it him againe.'
As Pandulph departs *' to make the French lay downe their Armes "
(Y. i. 24), — an errand denoting that historic time has again advanced to
the year 1216, — John remembers Peter's prophecy, now fulfilled.
John's reflection upon the manner of its fulfilment, and a hint that the
prediction had caused him some uneasiness (Y. L 25-29), are illustrated
by the following passage, completing the excerpt which ends with
the information that Peter was '* hanged, togither with his sonne "
(p. 62 above).
[ffol. iil 180/ 1/67.] The people much blamed king lohn for gJJ^^Sf^
this extreame dealing, bicause that the heremit was supposed ™v™tfi
to be a man of great Tertue, and his sonne nothing guiltie or«bS^^
of the offense committed by his father (if any were) against W j^****
the king. Moreoner, some thought that he had much wrong to to innocent)
die, bicause the matter fell out euen as he had prophesied ; for,
the day before the Ascension day, king lohn had resigned the
Buperioritie of his kingdome (as they tooke the matter) vnto the
pope, and had doone to him homage, so that he was no absolute
king indeed, as authors affirme. One cause, and that not the least
^ John, Pandulph, and the nobles of the realm met at the Templars' house
near Dover, " decima quinta die Mali, in vigilia scilicet Dominicae Ascensionis ;
ubi idem rex juxta quod Bomae fuerat sententiatum resignavit coronam suam
cum r^nis Angliae et Hybemiae in manus domni Papae, cnjus tunc vices
Srebat Pandulnis memoratus." — M. Paris (Wendover), ii. 544. The date
[av 15) is wrong, for in 1213 the VigU of the Ascension fell on May 22.
* In Act V. 8c. i the i
redelivery of the crown by Pandulph to John im-
mediatelv ensues its surrender to the Legate by the King. InT.R there is an
interval between a scene which closes before noon on Ascension Day, — when
John goes oat to surrender his crown, — and the opening of another scene with
the redelivey of the crown to him by Pandulph. This interval comprises the
meeting of Lewis and the English nobles at St. Edmundsbury, and Falcon-
bridge*8 joumies to and from £e same place (see T,E, ii. pp. 12, 15, 19, 20, 24).
F
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66
IV. JOHN.
[Oneottuw
of John'!
lubmiision
tolnnoeent
was fear of
Peter-i
prophecy.]
AOoked
jrilffHmafft,
which mooued king lohn the sooner to agree with the pope, rose
through the words of the said heremit, that did put such a feare
of some great mishap in his hart, which should grow through the
disloialtie of his people, that it made him yeeld the sooner.
Historic time embraced by the rest of the action ranges from May
1216 to September 1217, if Y. i. 38-43,— where Arthur's death is
spoken of as a recent occurrence, — ^be excepted. These dates mark the
arrival and departure of Lewis, the latter of which events took place
nearly a year after John's decease. At the historic date reached in Y.
i. 1-4, when John surrenders his crown to Pandulph, the French, as we
have seen, were on the eve of invading England. Diverted from his
purpose by John's submission, Philip turned his arms against Ferrand
Count of Flanders, who had made a treaty with John, and Ferrand's
appeal to his ally for help led to a war which closed with Philip's
victory over the combined Flemish, Qerman, and English forces, at
Bouvines, on July 27, 1214.^ This blow, and the failure of an attempt
to recover Poitou and Brittany ,.so weakened John that the opportunity
was seized by a party of his barons, whose projects for restraining the
royal power finally took shape in the Great Charter of June 15, 1215.
The ''cloked Pilgrimage" (see next excerpt) of these barons to the
shrine of Saint Edmund at Bury, on November 20 (?) , 1214,^ was a first
step towards their idtimate triumph, but the dramatic turn given to
this meeting by the old playwright associates it with Lewis's invasion in
1216, and attributes to the barons, as a chief motive for joining Lewis,
their desire to be avenged on John for the murder of Arthur.* Amid
such complexity of dates and facts a reader must choose what historical
time he pleases for sc. ii.. Act Y., which opens shortly after these
"distemper'd Lords" arrive at St. Edmundsbury, whither they are
bound when they leave Faulconbridge in lY. iii. 115.
[Hoi. iiL I83/2/45.] The Nobles, supposing that longer
delaie therein was not to be suffered, assembled themselues
togither at the abbeie of Burie (vnder colour of going thither to
doo their deuotions to the bodie of S. Edmund which laie there
1 M. Farts (Wendover), ii 681.
* John returned to England in October, 1214. {M, Faris gives Oct. 19 as
the date of the King's return, bat it appears from the Itinerary that John was at
La Kochelle on Oct. 2 and at Dartmouth on Oct 15.) " Sub eadem tempestate "
his earls and barons met at St. Edmundsbury ; <^ quasi orationis gratia, licet in
causa aliud fuisset.**— Jtf. Faris {Wmdover)^ iL 682. Mr. James E. Doyle
wrote to me : ** Wendover savs that the barons assembled at St Edmundsbury
* as if for religious duties,'— that is, for duties that were well Imown, and there-
fore afforded an obvious and perfectly innocent motive for the gathering. Now
the feast of the Patron Saint of that church and locality, St Edmimd, King
and Martyr, took place on Nov. 20, and furnished the excuse required."
* If The Troublesome Baigne had been lost, we should have wondered why
the Lords expected to meet Lewis at St Edmundsbury (IV. iii 11), for
Shakspere says nothing about the 'Moked Pilgrimage."
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IV. JOHN. 67
inBhrined) where tbey yttered their complamt of the kings
tyrannicall maimers, • . .
And therfore, beimr thus assembled in the queere [p. 184] of the [The nouet
' ^ * ^ swore thst,
church of S. Edmund, they receiued a solemne oth vpon the altar J^J^S their
tiiere, that, if the king would not grant to the same liberties, with S£*^^d
others which he of his owne accord had promised to confirme to um tiin[e'"^
tiiem, ihej would from thencefoorth make warre ypon him, till
they had obteined their purpose, and inforced him to grant, not
onelie to all these their petitions, but also yeeld to the confirma-
tion of them ynder his scale, for euer to remaine most stedfast and
inuiolable.
Eetoming now to the dramatic order of events, my next excerpt
illustrates Faulconbridge's announcement (Y. L 30-34) that
All Kent hath yeelded ; nothing there holds out
But Doner Castle : London hath receiu'd,
like a kinde Host, the Dolphin and his powers :
Your Nobles will not heare you, but are gone
To offer seruice to your enemy, . . .
[ffol iii. 191/2/2$.] Lewes, . . . imbarking himselfe with his SL*"******'
people, and all necessarie prouisions for such a ioumie, tooke
the sea^ and arriued at a place called Stanchorre in the He of inKau.
Tenet^^ ypon the 21 day of Male * [1216] ; and shortlie after came
to Sandwich, & there landed with all his people, where he also
incamped ypon the shore by the space of three dales. In which
meane time there came vnto him a great number of those lords
and gentlemen which had sent for him ; and there euerie one apart
and by himselfe sware fealtie and homage vnto him, as if he had ^j[jj^,
beene their true and naturall prince. vmohim.
King lohn, about the same time that Lewes thus arriued, came
to Doner, meaning to fight with his aduersaries by the way as they
should come forward towards London. But yet, ypon other aduise-
ment taken, he changed his purpose, bicause he put some doubt in
the Flemings and other strangers, of whome the most part of his ^<'*^
armie consisted, bicause he knew that they hated the French men
no more than they did the English. Therefore, furnishing the
castell of Doner, with men, munition, and yittels, he left it in the
1 Stonar, Isle of Thanet « Jlf. Paris {Wendcver\ ii. 653.
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68
IV. JOHN.
fJohn left
DoTerCutle
in charge of
Habertde
Bargh,aiMl
rptireafhnn
Kent]
commtthto
London.
IfobUmen
rewlHnff
fr6 K. lokn
vntoLetKi.
keeping of Hubert de Burgh, a man of notable prowesse &
yaliancie, and returned himselfe Tnto Canturburie, and from thence
tooke the high waie towards Winchester. Lewes, being aduertised
that king lohn was retired out of Kent, passed through the
countrie without anie incounter, and wan all the castels and holds
as he went, but Doner he could not win. . . .
[Afterwards] he came to London, and there receiued the
homage of those lords and gentlemen which had not yet doono
their homage to him at Sandwich.
Act V. 8C ii. — ^The following excerpts — which, in Holinsbed,
immediately succeed my last quotation — should be compared with
the Entry and first eight lines of Act Y. sc. ii.
[Hoi. iiL 191/2/60.] On the other part he [Lewis] tooke
an oth to mainteine and performe the old lawes and customes of
the realme, and to restore to euerie man his rightfuU heritage and
lands; requiring the barons furthermore to continue faithfuU
towards him, assuring them to bring* things so to passe, that the
realme of England should recouer the former dignitie, and they
their ancient liberties. Moreouer he Tsed them so courteouslie,
gaue them so faire words, and made such large promises, that they
beleeued him with all their harts. . . •
The rumour of this pretended outward courtesie, being once
spred through the realme, caused great numbers of people to come
flocking to him ; among [p, 192] whome were diuerse of those which
before had taken part with king lohn, as William earle Warren,
William earle of Arundell, William earle of Salisburie, William
Marshall the yoonger,^ and diuerse other ; supposing Terelie that
the French kings sonne should now obteine tiie kingdome.
Pand alphas speech and Lewis's answer (Y. ii 69-102) take us back
to a time preceding the tatter's invasion. John repudiated his grant as
soon as he had collected a mercenary force to levy war on his barons,
and he also appealed from them to Innocent, who annulled the Charter,
and finally excommunicated its supporters. Hard pressed by John's
soldiers, Uie barons
1 Son of William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. " Pembroke,* in both plays,
is, I suppose, the younger MarshaL He was one of the twenty-five barons
" swome to see the liberties granted and confirmed by the kiiig [magna Charta
and Charta de Foresta] to be in euerie ^int obsemed, but, if he went a^nst
ihe same, then they should haue authoritie to compell him to the obserumg of
euerie of them." — Hoi. iii I86/1/19.
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IV. JOHN. 69
[Hoi. iii. 190/I/S3.] resolued with themselues to seeke for aid ]2mi'^
at the enimies hands ; and therevpon Saer earle of Winchester, ^!S^!^
and Robert Fitz Walter, with letters ynder their seales^were c2f^^>!^
sent ynto Lewes the sonne of Philip tiie French king, offering
him the crowne of England, and sufficient pledges for performance
of the same, and other couenants to be agreed betwixt them;
requiring him with all speed to come ynto their succour. This
Lewes had married (as before is said) Blanch daughter to Alfonse [Lewis's
nutrriags to
king of Castile, neece to king lohn by his sister Elianor. sumch.]
Now king Philip, the father of this Lewes, being glad to haue
such an occasion to inuade the relme of England, which he neuer
looued, promised willinglie that his sonne should come vnto the ^ **"*""'
aid of the said barons with all conuenient speed ; (but first he •<^«<»p*^i
receiued foure and twentie hostages which he placed at Campaine
for further assurance of the couenants accorded ; ) and herewith he
prepared an armie, and diuerse ships to transport his sonne and
his armie ouer into England. . . .
{Hoi. iiL I9I/1/14.] The pope, desirous to helpe king lohn ^^~» ^•
all that he might (bicause he was now his vassall), sent 'his SJJST'*
legat Gualo into France, to disswade king Philip from taking anie f^
enterprise in hand against the king of England. But king Philip, The Prencx
though he was content to heare what the legat could sale, yet hj tumttotke
no meanes would be turned from the execution of his purpose ; ^•**^-
alledging that king lohn was not the lawfull king of England,
hauing first vsurped and taken it awaie from his nephue Arthur the [John an
*^ luoiper, and
lawfull inheritour, and that now sithens, as an enimie to his owne JiJ^a of*3ie
roiall dignitie, he had giuen the right of his kingdome awaie to the ^Sul
pope (which he could not doo without consent of his nobles) and ^**^
therefore through his owne fault he was worthilie depriued of all
his kinglie honor. . . •
Lewes, on the morrow following, being the 26 of Aprill^ [1216], ^^
by his fathers procurement, came into the councell chamber, and '^^^ ^
with frowning looke beheld the legat ; where by his procurator he J^StSISk
defended the cause that moued him to take vpon him this ioumie iuut^Su^
into England, disprouing not onelie the right which king lohn had j^n^
> M. Paris {Weiuiaver), ii. 651, 652.
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70 IV. JOHN.
to the crowne, but also alledging his owne interest, not onelie by
his new election of the barons, but also in the title of his wife,
whose mother the queene of Castile remained onelie aliue of all
the brethren and sisters of Henrie the second, late king of England.
In further illustration of Y. iL 69-102 I quote passages relating to
a time not long after Lewis's arrival, and beginning when he and his
English allies hoped to make their cause good through the arguments
of those ambassadors who had been sent " in all hast vnto the court of
Rome."
Eii??^ i^oi' ^ 192/i/iS.] But this auailed them not, neither
curttow.1 t^te iiig excuse any such eflFect as he did hope it should ; for
those ambassadors, that king lohn had sent thither, replied against
their assertions, so that there was hard hold about it in that court :
albeit that the pope would decree nothing till he hard further from
his legat Qualo, who, the same time, (being aduertised of the pro-
gauigiMiij ceedings of Lewes in his iournie,) with all diligence, hasted ouer
^*^ into England, and, passing through the middle of his aduersaries,
^^^^'^ came ynto king lohn, then soiouming at Qlocester ; of whome he
was most ioifullie receiued, for in him king lohn reposed all his
hope of victorie.
Before Midsummer,^ 1216,
[Hoi, iiL 192/1/73.] letters came also vnto Lewes from his
procurators, whom he had sent to the pope. . . .
Tiupokui The cheefest points (as we find) that were laid by Lewes his
«*v i|^» procurators against king lohn were these : that, by the murther
Lv^been Committed in the person of his nephue Arthur, he had beene con-
«£ n^^ demned in the parlement chamber, before the French king, by the
^ArtS^? peeres of France ; and that, being summoned to appeare, he had
iS!mtdhiB obstinatelie refused so to doo, and therefore had by good right
iiJto hid forfeited not onelie his lands within tiie precinct of France, but
■™********^-^ also the realme of England, which was now due ynto the said
Lewes, as they alledged, in right of the ladie Blanch his wife,
daughter to Elianor queene of Spaine. But the pope refelled all
1 The letter from Lewises procurators was written on or ahout May 10,
1216.— Jtf. Paris (Wendover)^ u. 656, 657. Lewis, "instante nativitate sancti
Johannis Baptistae " (the next date given), h^^an the siege of Dover Castle.—
M, Paris {TTendover), ii. 664.
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IV. JOHN. 71
such allegations as they produced for proofe hereof, & seemed to [^JJ^S^
defend king lohns cause verie pithilie; but namelie, in that he was ^^^
ynder the protection of him as supreme lord of England. ^o^*^
Act V. sc. iii. — " Alarums " may possibly represent the decisive
battle of Lincoln, fought on May 20, 1217,^ when the French and their
English allies were defeated by William Marshal Earl of Pembroke,
who commanded the army of the boy-king Henry m. If the general
disregard of historic time in this play be remembered, such a conjec-
ture is not affected by the qualification that it involves John's entry
some seven months after the date which historians fix for his death.
Before John leaves the field, a messenger has bidden him (Y. iiL
9-11):
Be of good comfort ; for the great supply y
That was expected by the Dolphin heere.
Are wrack'd three nights ago on Goodwin sands.
Allowing for altered circumstance and antedating, we may suppose
this " great supply " to be the reinforcements sent by Philip of France,
about three months after the battle of Lincoln. These needful succours
never reached Lewis, for
[Hoi iii. 201/1/36.] the earle of Penbroke, and other the lords J^S"
that tooke part with king Henrie, hauing aduertisement, that
a new supplie of men was readie to come and aid Lewes, Ihey
appointed Philip de Albenie and lohn Marshall to assodat with
them the power of the cinque ports, and to watch for the comming gj^ ^p*
of the aduersaries, that they might keepe them from landing ; who a^]^
on saint Bartholomews ^ day set forth from Caleis, in purpose to
arriue in the Thames, and so to come vp the riuer to London.
Howbeit Hubert de Burgh, capiteine of the castell of Doner,
togither with the said Philip de Albenie and lohn Marshall, with
other such power as they could get togither of the cinque ports,
hauiug not yet aboue the number of 40 ships great & small, vpon
the discouering of the French fleet, (which consisted of 80 great
ships, besides other lesser vessels well appointed and trimmed,)
made foorth to the sea. And, first coasting aloofe from them, till J^vXftrtdi
they had got the wind on their backs, came finallie with their 5ySS%3f
maine force to assaile the Frenchmen, and, wilh helpe of their
crossebowes and archers at Ihe first ioining, made great slaughter
of their enimies ; and so, grapling togither, in the end the English-
* Coggeshale, 185.
» August 24, 1217.— Jtf. ParU (Wendaver), iii 26.
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72
IV. JOHN.
ThiFrtneh
fleet U
vanquiihtd.
Mata,
Parii.
ofMtluiu
dUoouenih
tJUvurpoH
TJUvietmnt
cfMeluiu
dittk.
TIU English
nobilitU
beginnethto
nUMkeqfthe
nuttdk which
thtyhad
matUfHth
Lemi.
men bare themselnes so manfullie, that they yanquished the whole
French fleet, and obteined a famous victorie.
Act Y. sc. iv. — Melon's confession, and its result in detaching the
English barons from Lewis, form the subject of this scene. The date
— ^referred to in the following excerpt by the words " About the same
time" — is probably August, 1216.^
[RoL iii 193/2/6.] About the same time, or rather in the
yeare last past as some hold, it fortuned that the yicount of
Melune, a French man, fell sicke at London, and, perceiuing that
death was at hand, he called ynto him certeine of the English
barons, which remained in the citie, ypon safegard thereof, and to
them made this protestation : " I lament" (saith he) "your destruc-
"tion and desolation at hand, bicause ye are ignorant of the perils
" hanging ouer your heads. For this ynderstand, that Lewes, and
''with him 16 earles and barons of France, haue secretlie swome
" (if it shall fortune him to conquere this realme of England, & to
** be crowned king) that he will kill, banish, and confine all those
"of the English nobilitie (which now doo seme vnder him, and
"persecute their owne king) as traitours and rebels ; and further-
"more will dispossesse all their linage of such inheritances as they
"now hold in England. And bicause" (saith he) "you shall not
"haue doubt hereof, I, which lie here at the point of death, doo
"now affirme ynto you, and take it on the perill of my soule,
"that I am one of those sixteen that haue swome to performe
"this thing: wherefore I aduise you to prouide for your owne
"safeties, and your realmes which you now destroie ; and keepe
"this thing secret which I haue yttered ynto you." After this
speech was yttered he streightwaies died.
When these words of the lord of Melune were opened ynto the
barons, tiiey were, and not without cause, in great doubt of them-
selnes, for they saw how Lewes had alredie placed and set French-
men in most of such castels and townes as he had gotten, the
right whereof indeed belonged to them. And againe, it greened
them much to ynderstand, how, besides the hatred of their prince,
they were euerie sundaie and holiedaie openlie accursed in euerie
1 After recording the homage of Alexander II. King of Scots to Lewis, in
AuguRt, 1216, Wend(yoer (M. Paris, ii. 666) dates Melan's illness as having
happened "hiac tempestate."
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IV. JOHN. 73
cburcb, 80 that manie of them inwardlie relented, and could haue
bin contented to haue returned to king lohn, if they had thought
that they should thankfullie haue beene receiued.
Subsequently Holinshed observes :
[Hot, iiL 197/2/40.] It is reported by writers, that amongst
other things, as there were diuerse, which withdrew the hearts of JJJun*,^'
the Englishmen from Lewes, the consideration of the confession ®<>*^«^<»"^J
which the * vicount of Melune made at the houre of his death, IJ^J^i
was the principalL
Act V. sec. V. — ^vii. — ^With sc. v., Act Y., the excerpts given in
relation to sc. iiL, Act Y., should be compared. The rest of the play
(save Y. vii. 82-95; 101-118) is illustrated by my next quotations,
which date from October, 1216, when John, according to Holinshed,
was marching northwards, after spoiling Peterborough and Orowland.
[Hoi, iiL 194/1/45.] Thus, the countrie being wasted on
each hand, the king hasted forward till he came to Wellestreme
sands, where passing the washes he lost a great part of his armie,
with horsses and carriages ; so that it was iudged to be a punish- ^^^/^
ment appointed by God, that the spoile, which had beene gotten "■*''*'^
and taken out of churches, abbeies, and other religious houses,
shodld perish^ and be lost by such means togither with the spoilers.
Tet the king himselfe, and a few other, escaped the violence of Mcatk,
the waters, by following a good guide. But, as some haue written, MSik,
he tooke such greefe for the losse susteined at this passage, that
immediatlie therevpon he fell into an ague; the force and heat Kingiokn
whereof, togither with his immoderate feeding on rawe peaches, 5J^J^*-
and drinking of new sider, so increased his sicknesse, that he was ^^'^
not able to ride, but was faine to be carried in a litter presentlie
made of twigs, witii a couch of strawe vnder him, without any bed
or pillow, thinking to haue gone to Lincolne ; but the 'disease still
so raged and grew vpon him, that he was inforced to stale one
night at ihe castell of Laford, and, on the next day with great w^rd.
paine, caused himselfe to be caned vnto Newarke, where, in the ]^2a.
castell, through anguish of mind, rather than through force of sick- ^'''^'
nesse, he departed this life the night before the nineteenth day of Kinffiohn
October, in the yeare of his age fiflie and one, and after he had J^'*'*'''***
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74
IV. JOHK.
(John said
he would
make corn
deer in
England,
wberenpon
a monk
poisoned
him.]
OaxUm,
(He was
buried at
Worcester.]
reigned seauenteene yeares, six moneths, and seauen and twentie
daies.
T There be which haue written, that, after he had lost his
armie, he came to the abbeie of Swineshead in Idncolneshire, and,
there Tnderstanding the cheapenesse and plentie of come, shewed
himselfe greatlie displeased therewith, as he that for the hatred
which he bare to the English people, that had so traitorouslie
reuolted from hun ynto his aduersarie Lewes, wished all miserie
to light ypon them ; and therevpon said in his anger, that he would
cause all kind of graine to be at a farre higher price, yer manie
daies should passe. Wherevpon a moonke, tiiat heard him speake
such words, being mooued with zeale for the oppression of his
countrie, gaue the king poison in a cup of ale, wherof he first
tooke the assaie, to cause the king not to suspect the matter, and
so they both died in manner at one time. « . .
The men of warre that serued Tuder his ensignes, being for the
more part hired souldiers and strangers, came togither, and march-
ing foorth with his bodie, each man with his armour on his backe,
in warlike order, conueied it ynto Worcester, where he was pom-
pouslie buried in the cathedrall church before the high altar ; not
for that he had so appointed (as some write) but bicause it was
thought to be a place of most suertie for the lords and other of
his freends there to assemble, and to take order in their businesse
now after his deceasse.
Nearly a year elapsed between the accession of Henry III. and the
departure of Lewis, shortly after the royalists' great naval victory in
August, 1217. Holinshed's account of how the French reinforcements
were destroyed (see p. 71 above) is followed by the ensuing passages,
which bear upon Y. viL 82-95.
r After the
toeeofhit
reinforce-
ments,
LewiVi
liopes feU.]
Ann
bttwixt
K.HmrU
d Ltwci,
[Hot. iil 201/2/8.] But Lewes, after he vnderstood of this
mischance happening to his people that came to his aid, began
not a litle to despaire of all other succour to come vnto him at
any time heerafter : wherfore he inclined tiie sooner vnto peace, so
that at length he tooke such offers of agreement as were put Tuto
him^ and receiued furthermore a sum of monie for the release of
such hostages as he had in his hands, togither with the title of the
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IV. JOHN. 75
kingdome of England, and the possession of all such castels and
holds as he held within the reahne. . . ^
This peace was concluded on the eleuenth day of September^ SS?'*****°
[1217], not farre from Stanes, hard by tiie riuer of Thames, where ^^^^
Lewes himselfe, the legat Quallo, and dinerse of the spiritualtie,
with the earle of Penbroke, lord gouemor of the realme, and
others, did meet and talke abont this accord. Now, when all
things were ordered and finished agreeable to the articles and
conenants of the peace, so farre as the time present required,
the lords of the realme (when Lewes should depart homeward)
attended him to Doner in honorable wise, as apperteined, and
there tooke leaue of him, and so he departed out of the realme ^Jj£je.]
about ihe feast of saint MichaelL'
The revival of patriotic feeling, which placed Henry m. on the
throne, is exhibited when Faulconbridge and Salisbury — ^the dramatic
characters who severally represent the royalist and baronial parties —
unite in proffering allegiance to their youthful sovereign (V. vii. 101-
107). Holinshed says :
[Eol iil 197/1/12.] Immediatlie after the death of his [^^John's
father king lohn, William Marshall earle of Penbroke, generall of ^^^
his fathers armie, brought this yoong prince with his brother and p^ib^ie
sisters vnto Qlocester, and there called a councell of all such lords kemrio
as had taken part with king lohn. Anon, after it was once openlie
knowne, that the sonnes and daughters of the late deceassed
prince were brought into a place of safetie, a great number of the
lords and cheefe barons of the realme hasted thither (I meane not [rhiuier
onelie such as had holden with king lohn, but also dinerse other, who had
® ' * held with
which, vpon certeine knowledge had of his death, were newlie JSJlf^^J^,
reuolted from Lewes) in purpose to aid yoong king Henrie, to J^m Lewis.
whome of right the crowne did apperteine.
In a speech delivered to the assemblage at Gloucester, Pembroke
vindicated Henry's title :
[Kol. iil 197/2/17.] When the barons had heard this carles
words, after some silence and conference had, they allowed of
1 September 11.— Jtf. Paris (Wendaver\ iii 30. September 13.-=--4nn.
Theok 63.
* Lewis returned to France on September 28, 1217.— -inn. Theok, 63.
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76
IV. JOHN.
[Henry pro-
obUmed
Kins of
EDgland,
and after-
wards
crowned.]
[John's
person and
character.]
[Some say
tluthewas
asreat
prince, but
unfortunate :
liberal to
strangers,
but an
oppressor
ofnisown
people.]
[The cleicy
vilified him
because he
was no
fHend to
[John
wanted
nothing but
fUthftiT
lutlJectB.]
g[e resisted
e clergy's
usurpation
of his
princely
preroga-
Uts.]
his saiengs, and immediatlie, with one consent, proclaimed the
yoong gentleman king of England ; whome the bishops of Winches-
ter and Bath did crowne and annoint unth all due solenmities at
Glocester, vpon the day of the feast of the apostles Simon & lude,
in presence of the legat
Holinshed adds to his chronicle of John's reign the following general
remarks on the King's disposition, and dealings with the clergy.
[Hoi. iii. 196/1/4.] He was comelie of stature, but of looke
and countenance displeasant and angrie ; somewhat cruell of nature,
as by the writers of his time he is noted ; and not so hardie as
doubtfull in time of perill and danger. But this seemeth to be
an enuious report vttered by those that were giuen to speake no
good of him whome they inwardlie hated. Howbeit some giue
this witnesse of him (as the author of the booke of Bemewell
abbeie and other) : that he was a great and mightie prince, but yet
not yerie fortunate, much like to Marius the noble Romane, tasting
of fortune both waies ; boimtifull and liberall vnto strangers, but
of his owne people (for their dailie treasons practised towards him)
a great oppressour ; so that he trusted more to forreners than to
them, and therfore in the end he was of them Ttterlie forsaken.
T Verelie, whosoeuer shall consider the course of the historic
written of this prince, he shall find, that he hath beene little
beholden to the writers of that time in which he lined; for
scarselie can they afoord him a good word, except when the trueth
inforceth them to come out with it as it were against their willes.
The occasion whereof (as some thinke) was, for that he was no
great freend to the clergie. . . .
Certeinelie it should seeme the man had a princelie heart in
him, and wanted nothing but faithfull subiects to haue assisted
him in reuenging such wrongs as were doone and offered by the
French king and others.
Moreouer, the pride and pretended authoritie of the cleargie
he could not well abide, when they went about to wrest out of his
hands the prerogatiue of his princelie rule and gouernement
True it is, that to mainteine his warres which he was forced to
take in hand, as well in France as elsewhere, he was constreined
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V. RICHARD n. 77
to make all the shift he could deuise to recouer monie, and, bicause [He took
money flrom
he pinched their pureses, they conceiued no small hatred against ^jj**^
him ; which when he perceiued, and wanted peraduenture discretion JhSr^Sld
to passe it ouer, he discouered now and then in his rage his b^^^
immoderate displeasure, as one not able to bridle his affections, '^^^
(a thing yerie hard in a stout stomach,) and thereby missed now
and then to compasse that which otherwise he might yerie well
haue brought to passe.
Pandulph is spoken of as he '* who (as before is expressed) did the
message so stoutlie from pope Innocent to king lohn" (ffol iii.
202/1/65). Hubert de Burgh — ''a right yaliant man of warre as was
any where to be found" (Hoi. iii. 1 69/2/50) — showed "singular
constancie" in defending Doyer Castle against Lewis (ffol iii.
193/1/45). The dramatic character is a person of much lower degree
than was this historical Hubert, the Justiciar of England, as he is
entitled in the treaty of peace between Henry lEL and Lewis ; the
three names preceding his own in that document being those of the
Legate Gualo, the King, and William Marshal. — Eymer, L 222.
V. RICHARD II.
Act I. sc. i. — The first scene in 27te Tragedie qf King Richard the
second^ opens on April 29,* 1398, at Windsor, where a day for combat
was assigned to BoHngbroke and Mowbray (L i. 199). On March 12,
1400,5 a body, officially declared to be Kichard IL's, was exhibited at
St. Paul's. The latter historic date marks the close of the action, when
Bolingbroke sees his *' buried feare " (Y. yi. 31) in the coffin which
Exton presents to him.
In the first scene King Bichard enters, and thus addresses John of
Gaunt (L i. 1-6) :
Oyld lohn of Gaunt, time honoured Lancaster,
Hast thou, according to thy oath and bande.
Brought hither Henrie Herford thy bolde sonne,
Here to make good the boistrous late appeale, 4
Which then our leysure would not let ys heare.
Against the Duke of Norf olke, Thomas Moubray I
^ I quote the text of Qi (1597), from the Shakspere Quarto Facsimile of
Mr. HotVs copy. In the Parliament Scene (IV. i 162-318) the text of Fi is
quoted.
» Eot. Fori, iii 383/i. » TraiB., 103 ; 261.
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78
V. RICHARD IL
The duke cif
ffcttfoTn
apptaUtk
aedukt<^
Tkom, Walt,
[Bolhig-
broke'8
aocQsation
denied by
Mowbray.]
[Tho aoduut'
tion repeated
by BoUng-
broke,]
[andflflain
deniedby
Mowbray.]
TKtdMk*<^
SurrU,
manhaU,
and tJUdukt
HjfAftmarUj
contiableof
BngUmd
r and the
Dolceaof
Lancaster
and Tork,
became
pledges for
brokes
appearance;
bat Mow-
bray was
Bolingbroke's ''late appeale" was made in a Parliament which
reassembled at Shrewsbury on January 27, 1398, and was dissolved on
January 31. On January 30, 1398,^
[ffol. iii. 493/2/16.] . , . Henrie, duke of Hereford, accused
Thomas Mowbraie, duke of Norfoike, of certeine words which he
should vtter in talke had betwixt them, as they rode togither
latelie before betwixt London and Brainford; sounding highlie
to the kings dishonor. And for further proofe thereof, he pre-
sented a supplication to the king, wherein he appealed the duke .
of Norfoike in field of battel!, for a tndtor, false and disloiall to
the king, and enimie vnto the realme. This supplication was
red before both the dukes, in presence of the king ; which doone,
the duke of Norfoike tooke rpon him to answer it, declaring that
whatsoeuer the duke of Hereford had said against him other than
well, he lied falselie like an vntrue knight as he was. And, when
the king asked of the duke of Hereford what he said to it, he,
taking his hood off his head, said : ** My souereigne lord, euen
"as the supplication which I tooke you importeth, right so I
"saie for truth, that Thomas Mowbrcde, duke of Norfoike, is a
" traitour, false and disloiall to your roiall maiestie, your crowne,
** and to all the states of your realme."
Then the duke of Norfoike being asked what he said to this,
he answered: "Right deere lord, with your fauour that I make
" answer ynto your coosine here, I saie (your reuerence saued)
" that Henrie of Lancaster, duke of Hereford, like a false and
"disloiall traitor as he is, dooth lie, in that be hath or shall say
"of me otherwise than well" "No more," said the king, "we
"haue heard inough''; and herewith commanded the duke of
Surrie, for that tume marshall of England, to arrest in his name
the two dukes: the duke of Lancaster, father to the duke of
Hereford, the duke of Torke, the duke of Aumarle, constable
of England, and the duke of Surrie, marshall of the realme,
vndertooke as pledges bodie for bodie for the duke of Hereford ;
but the duke of Northfolke was not sijffered to put in pledges,
and so ynder arrest was led vnto Windsor castell, and there
» Eves., 142-145. Cp. Bot Pari, iii 382/i.
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V. RICHARD II. 79
garded nfith keepers that were appointed to see him safelie }^^
kept. c«ti*i'
Now after the dissolaing of the parlement at Shrewsburie,
there was a daie appointed about six weeks after, for the king to appointed
come vnto Windsor, to heare and to take some order betwixt the ^J^!°g^j
two dukes, which had thus appealed ech other. There was a 7»«<mier<tr
tJU procetd-
great scaffold erected within the castell of Windsor^ for the king J^^j^^J^
to sit with the lords and prelats of his realme ; and so, at the
daie appointed, he with the said lords & prelats being come,
thither and set in their places, the duke of Hereford appellant,
and the duke of Norfolke defendant, were sent for to come &
appeare before the king, sitting there in his seat of iustice. And
then began sir lohn Bushie to speake for the king ; declaring to
the lords how they should ynderstand, that where the duke of
Hereford had presented a supplication to the king, who was there
set to minister iustice to all men that would demand the same> as
apperteined to his roiall maiestie, he therefore would now heare
what the parties could say one against [p. 494] an other : and withall
the king commanded the dukes of Aumarle and Surrie, (the one i^^
being constable, and the other marshall,) to go Tuto the two dukes, 25* if Jj^''*
appellant and defendant, requiring them, on his behalfe, to grow ^^^em't^
to some agreement; and, for his part, he would be readie to toMch
pardon all that had been said or doone amisse betwixt them, gJ^'^^J^,
touching anie harm or dishonor to him or his realme ; but they
answered both assuredlie, that it was not possible to haue anie
peace or agreement made betwixt them.
When he heard what they had answered, he commanded that
Ed aatbority for this account of the pro-
I rt retouma da parlement de Scrembory
( le Januier et xl jours apres fut la joumee
j mrs lesquelz auojent appelle Ian lautre
( ave followed the computation of flVaw.,
Uchard*8 presence at Windsor. The dis-
e (Ajpril 29) given by Bat. Pari, for the
Eplained by supposing that the writer of
19, 1398, when Bolingoroke and Mowbray
id it was decided that their cause should
J Chivalrie."— JBo«. Pari, iii 383/i. On
fore Richard at Oswestry, and were then
him at Windsor on April 28, 1398. On
» of battle were fixed. — Ibid,
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80
RICHARD 11.
[Then he
called them
before him,
and asked
them to
makepeace
together,
but Mow«
bray would
not consent
to do so.]
[Thereapon
Rlchnrd
commanded
Bolingbroke
to specify
Mowbray's
offences.]
agaituttht
duke of
NorJMJet:
[(1) that he
emoezaded
money doe
to the garri-
son of
Cahds;
(3) that he
had been the
prime-morer
ofaUthe
treason
devised In
England for
the past
eighteen
years;
(8) and that,
by evil
suasestlon
andcounsel,
he caused
Gloucester's
death.]
[To prove
oliaiges,
Bolingbroke
demanded
batUe
asainst
Mowbray.]
[Mowbray's
spokesman
answered
that Boling-
broke had
lied; and
they should be brought foorthwith before his presence, to heare
what they would say. Herewith an herald in the kings name
with lowd Toice commanded the dukes to come before the king,
either of them to shew his reason, or else to make peace togither
without more delaie. When they were come before the king and
lords, the king spake himselfe to them, willing them to agree, and
make peace togither : ** for it is " (said he) " the best waie ye can
take." The duke of Norfolke with due reuerence herevnto
answered, it could not be so brought to passe, his honor saued.
Then the king asked of the duke of Hereford, what it was that he
demanded of the duke of Norfolke, '' and what is the matter that
''ye can not make peace togither, and become friends?"
Then stood foorth a knight^ who, asking and obteining licence
to speake for the duke of Hereford, said: ''Right deare and
"souereigne lord, here is Henrie of Lancaster, duke of Hereford
"and earle of Derbie, who saith, and I for him likewise say, that
"Thomas Mowbraie, duke of Norfolke, is a false and disloiall
"traitor to you and your roiall maiestie, and to your whole
"realme : and likewise the duke of Hereford saith, and I for him,
"that Thomas Mowbraie, duke of Norfolke, hath receiued eight
" thousand nobles to pay the souldiers that keepe your towne of
" Calis ; which he hath not doone as he ought : and furthermore
" the said duke of Norfolke hath beene the occasion of all the
" treason that hath beene contriued in your realme for the space
"of these eighteene yeares, &, by his false suggestions and
"malicious counsell, he hath caused to die and to be murdered
"your right deere vncle, the duke of Glocester, sonne to king
" Edward. Moreouer, the duke of Hereford saith, and I for him,
"that he will proue this with his bodie against the bodie of the
" said duke of Norfolke within lists." The king herewith waxed
angrie, and asked the duke of Hereford, if these were his woords ;
who answered: "Right deere lord, they are my woords; and
"hereof I require right, and the battell against him."
There was a knight also that asked licence to speake for the
duke of Norfolke, and, obteining it, began to answer thus : "Right
"deere souereigne lord, here is Thomas Mowbraie, duke of
" Norfolke, who answereth and saith, and I for him, that all which
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V. RICHABD II. 81
" Henrie of Lancaster hath said and declared (sauing the reuerence ™ »^jo'
^ ^ ^ to Richard
" due to the king and his councell) is a lie ; and the said Henrie gJJJid.]
''of Lancaster hath falselie and wickedlie lied as a false and
''disloiall knight, and both hath beene, and is, a traitor against
"you, your crowne, roiall maiestie, & realme. This will I proue
"and defend as becommeth a loiall knight to doo with my bodie
"against his: right deere lord, I beseech you therefore, and your
"councell, that it maie please you, in your roiall discretion, to
" consider and marke, what Henrie of Lancaster, duke of Hereford,
"such a one as he is, hath said.''
The king then demanded of the duke of Norfoike, if these
were his woords, and whether he had anie more to saie. The
duke of Norfolke then answered for himselfe : " Right deere sir, jSl3w£*A^
" true it is, that I haue receiued so much gold to paie your people mSSSj^T
"of the towne of Calls; which I haue doone, and I doo auouch Lad paid the
* floldiem of
"that your towne of Calis is as well kept at your commandement caiaie their
" JT .> wages, and
"as euer it was at anie time before, and that there neuer hath J^^Jto
" beene by anie of Calis anie complaint made vnto you of me. Sfln^wt-
"Right deere and my souereigne lord, for the voiage that I made ^m^wn^
"into France, about your marriage, I neuer receiued either gold hehad'iwS
"or siluer of you, nor yet for the voiage that the duke of Aumarle JJ^bJJSS?
"& I made into Almane, where we spent great treasure. Marie, ^^t'he
"true it is, that once I laid an ambush to haue slaine the duke of ^?i^^foS^
'^Lancaster, that there sitteth: but neuerthelesse he hath par- Lancaster,
^ butthe
" doned me thereof, and there was good peace made betwixt vs, ^Ji^^
"for the which I yeeld him hartie thankes. This is that which *^^l
" I haue to answer, and I am readie to defend my selfe against
"mine aduersarie; I beseech you therefore of right, and to haue
"the battell against him in ypright iudgemenf
After this, when the king had communed with his councell a
little, he commanded the two dukes to stand foorth, that their [Appellant
and defend-
answers might be heard. The K then caused them once againe J^][i^^^
to be asked, if they would agree and make peace togither, but ^Jf^J^^
they both flatlie answered that they would not : and withall the ^S^roke
duke of Hereford cast downe his gage, and the duke of Norfolke hia^^d
Mowbray
tooke it yp. The king, perceiuing this demeanor betwixt them, JJJJJJ^'^P;
Bware by saint lohn Baptist, that he would neuer seeke to make ^><^^^
Q
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82
V. RICHARD II.
•ware that
he would
nerer more
■eekto
reconcile
them.]
Thieombat
appointed to
bedoontat
OotierUrie.
The French
pamphlet.
lohn 6tffw,
Fabia/n,
[Bichtfd
ordered
Mowbray to
despatch
Gloucester
secretly.]
[Mowbray
hesitated,
whereupon
Richard
threatened
him with
death.]
peace betwixt them againe. And therfoi*e sir lohn Bushie in
name of the king & his councell declared, that the king and his
councell had commanded and ordeined, that they should haue a
daie^ of battell appointed them at Couentrie. IT Here writers
disagree about the dale that was appointed : for some saie, it was
ypon a mondaie in August; other ypon saint Lamberts dale,
being the seuenteenth of September; other on the eleuenth of
September: but true it is, that the king assigned them not onelie
the dale, but also appointed them listes and place for the combat,
and thereypon great preparation was made, as to such a matter
apperteined.
Nothing in this scene needs further historical illustration except
Mowbray's rather equivocal answer to the charge of having been
Gloucester's murderer (I. i. 132-134) :
For Glocesters death,
I slewe him not ; but (to my owne disgrace)
Neglected my swome duety in that case.
To explain these words a reference to some events in the preceding
year is necessary. Towards the end of June, 1397, Gloucester, Derby
(Henry Bolingbroke), Nottingham (Thomas Mowbray), and others, met
at Arundel Castle, and there agreed that, on a day in the following
August, they wotdd seize and imprison the King and his uncles the
Dukes of Lancaster and York, and wotdd put to death the rest of the
Kmg^B Council. Nottingham revealed this plot to Bichard, and after-
wards, by the King's order, arrested Gloucester and brought him to
Calais.^ Hearing that Gloucester's guilt was proved, Bichard
[ffol iii 489/1/64.] sent vnto Thomas Mowbraie, earle
marshall and of Notingham, to make the duke secretlie awaie.
The earle prolonged time for the executing of the kings com-
mandement^ though the king would haue had it doone with all
expedition, wherby the king conceiued no small displeasure, and
» September 16,— Rot FarL, iii 383/1. « The French nami)hlet," referred
to, in the sidenote, as an authority for the date, " a monoaie in August/' is
Trais, (17 ; 149). It belonged to John Stow. The date in Evea., 146, is St.
Lambert's day. September II.— Fah,^ ii. 644. Bolingbroke and Norfolk were
ordered to leave the realm " dedeins le jour de le oeptas de Seint Edward le -
Confessonr [October 201 prochein venant.*' — Rot FarLy iiL 383/2. The bur-
Eof Lowestoft informed Richard that Norfolk embarked "le Samady
jer 19] proschein apres la fest de Seynt Edward, Tan de vosire regne vynt
mn^^—Rot, Farl,, ill 384/i. It seems {Usk, 35 ; 149) that Bolmgbroke
went into exile on the feast (October 13).
' In Traii, (3 ; 121) there is a full account of this plot to imprison
Bichard.
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V. RICHARD II. 83
Bware that it should cost the earle his life if he quickly obeied not
his coinmaiidemen& The earle thus, as it seemed, in maner
inforced, called out the duke at midnight, as if he should haue
taken ship to passe ouer into England, and there in the lodging
called the princes In, he caused his seruants to cast featherbeds SS^S^JJj
ypon him, and so smoother him to death ; or otherwise to strangle
him with towels (as some write.) This was the end of that* noble ^^Jj^gter.]
man, fierce of nature, hastie, wilfuU, and giuen more to war than * fwuw<u
ton tea
to peace : and in this greatlie to be discommended, that he was JJjg JJ^
etier repining against the king in all things, whatsoeuer he wished ^"^'
to haue forward. . . • His bodie was afterwards with all funerall
pompe conueied into England, and buried at his owne manor of
Plashie within the church there ; in a sepulchre which he in his life gj JpJ^
time had caused to be made, and there erected. naeiiey.]
In October, 1399, after Richard had been deposed, and Bolingbroke
had ascended the throne. Sir William Bagot, one of the late, Sling's
favourites, ** disclosed manie secrets ^ vnto the which he was priuie ;
and being brought on a daie to the barre [of the Commons], a bill was
read in English which he had made, conteming certeine emll practises
of king Bichard " ; . . . The following clause formed part of Bagot's
revelations :
[Hoi iiL 6II/2/59.] It was further conteined in that bill, that
as the same Bagot rode on a daie behind the duke of ISTorfolke in
the Sauoy street toward Westminster, the duke asked him what
he knew of the manner of the duke of Qlocester his death, and he
answered that he knew nothing at all : ** but the people " (quoth ^^Jf^JT
he) "doo sale that you haue murthered him." Wherevnto the duke £j^^
sware great othes that it was vntrue, and that he had saued his ^^JJ^*"'^
life contrarie to the will of the king, and certeine other lords, by JJbJd'***
the space of three weeks, and more ; affirming withall, that he ^S!^]S*
was neuer in all his life time more afiraid of death, than he was at cn^cMter.]
his comming home againe from Calls at that time, to the kings
presence, by reason he had not put the duke to death. ''And ^^^
"then** (said he) "the king appointed one of his owne seruants^ topS**
"and certeine other that [p. 512] were seruants to other lords to to death in
" go with him to see the said duke of Glocester put to death ; ** pwwnoe.1
1 See pp. 110, 111 below.
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84 V. RICHARD II.
swearing that, as he should answer afore God, it was neuer his
mind that he should haue died in that sort,^ but onelie for feare
of the king and sauing of his owne life.
Act L 8C. ii — Gaunt, on his way to Coventry (1. 56), has visited the
Duchess of Gloucester.
As they enter he says to her (11. 1-3) :
Alas, the part I had in Woodstockes bloud
Doth more sollicite me than your exclaimes.
To stirre against the butchers of his life 1
In February, 1397, Richard was alarmed and angered by a rough
censure from Gloucester because Brest had been surrendered to John
Duke of Brittany, on the repayment of the money for which the town
was a pledge.
[Rol iii. 488/i/8.] Upon this multiplieng of woords in such
presumptuous manor by the duke against the king, there kindeled
such displeasure betwixt them, that it neuer ceassed to increase
into flames, till the duke was brought to his end. . . .
[Afterwards Richard] determined to suppresse both the duke
and other of his complices, and tooke more diligent regard to the
saiengs & dooings of the duke than before he had doone. And as
it commeth to passe that those, which suspect anie euill, doo euer
iRichard deomo the worst : so he tooke euerie thing in euill part, insomuch
oloacMter'i *^** ^® complaiuod of the duke vnto his brethren the dukes of
^^doiw'g' Lancaster and Yorke, in that he should stand against him in all
^<^r things and seeke his destruction, the death of his counsellors, and
ouerthrow of his realme.
SHiSSS^i The two dukes of Lancaster and Yorke, to deliuer the kings
auSiS^ lotimd of suspicion, made answer, that they were not ignorant, how
tjuking, their brother of Glocester, as a man sometime rash in woords,
would speake oftentimes more than he could or would bring to
effect^ and the same proceeded of a faithfull hart, which he bare
towards the king; for that it grieued him to vnderstand, that
the confines of the English dominions should in anie wise be
diminished : therefore his grace ought not to regard his woords,
sith he should take no hurt thereby. These persuasions quieted
the king for a time, till he was informed of the practise which the
1 that 9oH] Hoi. ed. 1. the fort Hoi. ed. 2.
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V. RICHARD IL 85
duke of GloceBter had contriued (as the fame went among diuerse
persons) to imprison the king. For then the duke of Lancaster {^^^*^
and Yorke, first reprouing the duke of Glocester for his too SSJ^SJer
liberall talking, . . . and, perceuing that he set nothing by their !^l£!L.]
woords, were in doubt least, if they should remaine in the court ^^^J^
still, he would, vpon a presumptuous mind, in trust to be borne ^i^dmed
out by them, attempt some outragious enterprise. Wherefore mwiiee,
they thought best to depart for a time into their countries, that ooort]
by their absence he might the sooner leame to stale himselfe for
doubt of further displeasure. But it came to passe, that their
departing from the court was the casting awaie of the duke of (Their
Glocester. For after that they were gone, there ceassed not such as
deptftore
QloaoesUrr's
bare him euill will, to procure the K to dispatch him out of the way. roJ*.i
The Duchess of Gloucester's reproaches (I. ii. 9-34) have more
weight if, as would seem from the following excerpt, Gaunt and Tork
were at first disposed to avenge their brother's death.
[HoL iii. 489/2/68.] The parlement was summoned to begin mtorii
at Westminster the 17 of September,^ and writs therevpon directed «wMi»«or.
littwwrmtr
to euerie of the lords to appeare, and to bring with them a ^iJrLfwSl
sufiScient number of armed men and archers in their best arraie ; "»*»»*«^i-
for it was not knowen how the dukes of Lancaster and Yorke (AdoaM
M to bow
would take the death of their brother, . . . Suerlie the two dukes 2*^*"»*
' York wooM
when they heard that their brother was so suddenlie made awaie, JJSi^i'
they wist not what to sale to the matter, and began both to be pS^,
sorowfull for his death, and doubtfull of their owne states : for rnwy
sith they saw how the king (abused by the counsell of euill men) ^^^^
absteined not from such an heinous act, they thought he would Jjj^"
afterwards attempt greater misorders from time to time. There- J]^|*^/
fore they assembled in all hast great numbers of their seruants, ^^^
freends, and tenants, and, comming to London, were receiued into {^^i^^
the citie. For the Londoners were right sorie for the death of !SSlSLg$.
the duke of Glocester, who had euer sought their fauour; in ^mo^ST^
somuch that now they would haue beene contented to haue ioined S^^nm.]
with the dukes in seeking reuenge of so noble a mans death, • • .
1 This Parliament was adjourned on September 29, 1397, and reassembled
at Shrewsbury on January 27, 1398.— ^i;e<., 141, 142 ; Utiky 17 ; 123.
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86 V. RICHARD II.
^edniKs Here the dukes and other fell in counsell, and manie things
whether ^^^® proponed. Some would that they should bj force reuenge
teavra^ the duke of Glocesters death ; other thought it meet that the earles
orSrM^ Marshall and Huntington, and certeine others, as cheefe authours
othei^biit of all the mischeefe, should be pursued and punished for their
^Svrtheir ^^^^''i^s > hauing trained vp the king in vice and euill customes,
^J^Y* ®^®^ fr^™ ^^s youth. But the dukes (after their displeasure was
somewhat asswaged) determined to couer the stings of their griefes
for a time, and, if the king would amend his maners, to forget also
the iniuries past.
Act L so. iii. — Mj next excerpt supplied the material for this scene.
JwMXeg. [ffol iii 494/2/41.] At^ the time appointed the king came to
wpotot^* Couentrie, where the two dukes were readie, according to the
SjdSkee"** order prescribed therein ; comming thither in great arraie, accom-
^nte7> panied with the lords and gentlemen of their linages. The king
had been causcd a sumptuous scaffold or theater, and roiall listes there to
moiinff- be erected and prepared. The sundaie before they should fight,
leeve^of after dinner, the duke of Hereford came to the king (being lodged
wore^^ about a quarter of a mile without the towne in a tower that
combat, and belonged to sir William Bagot) to take his leaue of him. The
moT^ (the mQjQ^ t^T, being the day appointed for the combat, about the
Sattie) ^ spring of the dale, came the duke of Norfolke to the court to take
alio bade Icauc likcwisc of the king. The duke of Hereford armed him in
the King
itoewen.1 his tent, that was set vp neere to the lists; and the duke of
[Arming Norfolkc put ou his armor, betwixt the gate & the barrier of the
peiiant and towuc, lu a bcautifuU housc, hauiug a faire perclois of wood
towards the gate, that none might see what was doone within the
house.
The duke of Aumarle that daie, being high constable of England,
and the duke of Surrie, marshall, placed themselues betwixt them,
well armed and appointed ; and, when they saw their time, they
lids^f first entered into the listes with a great companie of men
SbeUaiM^ apparelled in silke sendall, imbrodered with siluer, both richlie and
1 The original authority for this excerpt is IVats., 17-23 ; 149-168. HaUe
(3-5) added several details to this account (e. g, the appeurel of the Dukes),
which Hd, copied.
Th4ardir<^f
tk4
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V. KICHARD 11^ 87
curionfllie, euerie man hauing a tipped staffe to keepe the field in
order. About the houre of prime, came to the barriers of the Lri^J*
listes the duke of Hereford, mounted on a white courser, barded fi^n^roke
with greene & blew veluet imbrodered sumptuouslie with swans bMriew, and
° ^ Anmerle and
and antelops of goldsmiths woorke ; armed at all points. The ^^^^j^
constable and marshall came to the barriers, demanding of him Zu^^^
what he was. He answered : ** I am Henrie of Lancaster, duke of {JJJ|j}f •
"Hereford, which am come hither to doo mme indeuor against »m^«-i
"Thomas Mowbraie, duke of Norfolke, as a traitor vntrue to God,
"the king, his realme, and me." Then incontinentlie he sware (Having
**' ' taken an
Tpon the holie euangelists, that his quarrell was true and iust, and ^^l^^^^fj^''
ypon that point he required to enter the lists. Then he put yp ^J^the
his sword, which before he held naked in his hand, and, putting dlinnomit.
downe his yisor, made a crosse on his horsse : and, with speare in umaeif on a
' > ^ r chair, await-
hand, entered into the lists, and descended from his horsse, and J^g^S„y,
set him downe in a chaire of greene veluet, at the one end of the
lists, and there reposed himselfe, abiding the comming of his
aduersarie.
Soone after him, entred into the field with great triumph king g|^^
Richard, accompanied with all the peeres of the realme, . . . The SwHS-*^*
king had there aboue ten thousand men in armour, least some fraie b^f^TpMn
or tumult might rise amongst his nobles, by quarelling or partaking. ^^ "*^
When the king was set in his seat, (which was richlie hanged and ^^^^en
adorned,) a king at armes made open proclamation, prohibiting ^^^
all men in the name of the king, and of the high constable and ^^^^o^^
marshall, to enterprise or attempt to approch or touch any part of r^int«i
the lists ypon paine of death, except such as were appointed to the aeid)
order or marshall the field. The proclamation ended, an other bidden to
approach or
herald cried : " Behold here Henrie of Lancaster, duke of Hereford, Jgj^ **»
"appellant, which is entred into the lists roiall to doo his deuoir [Boung.
"against Thomas Mowbraie, duke of Norfolke, defendant; ypon o^auenge.]
"pauie to be found false and recreant I "
The duke of Norfolke houered on horssebacke at the entrie of
the lists, his horsse being barded with crimosen veluet, imbrodered
richlie with lions of siluer and mulberie trees ; and, when he had
made his oth before the constable and marshall that his quarrell
was iust and true, he entred the field manfullie, saieng alowd :
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88
EICHARD II.
[When
Mowbraf
had been
sworn, he
entered the
liRta, erring,
" Ood aid
him that
hath the
right I "and
thendis-
monntinff,
seated htm-
self on a
ohair.]
[Afterward*
their spears
were
delivered
to the
combatants,
and they
were com-
manded to
monnt their
hoxBet.]
toling-
okeset
forward six
or seven
paces, but
Mowbray
lingered.]
Thseombat
ttaUdbvUu
king.
TJUkinffhU
dome bttieixt
the two
(BoliDg-
broke was
exiled for
ten years,
and Mow-
bray for
Ufa.]
[Richard
was to levy
money from
Mowbray's
lands, to
pay the
wages of the
nrrisonof
Calais.]
" God aid him that hath the light ! " and then he departed from
his horsse, & sate him downe in his chaire, which was of crimosen
veluet, courtined about with white and red damaske. The lord
marshall viewed their speares, to see that they were of equall
length, and deliuered the one speare himselfe to the duke of
Hereford, and sent the other vnto the duke of Norfolke by a
knight Then the herald proclamed that the trauerses & chaires
of the champions should be remooued ; commanding them on the
kings behalfe to mount on horssebacke, & addresse themselues to
the battell and combat.
The duke of Hereford was quicklie horssed, and closed his
bauier, and cast his speare into the rest, and when the trumpet
sounded set forward couragiouslie towards his enimie six or seuen
pasea The duke of Norfolke was not fuUie set forward,^ when the
king cast downe his warder, and the heralds cried, " Ho, ho I "
Then the king caused their speares to be taken from them, and
commanded them to repaire againe to their chaires, where they
remained two long houres, while the king and his councell deliber-
atlie consulted what order was best to be had in so weightie a
cause. Finallie, after they had deuised, and fiiUie determined
what should be doone therein, the heralds cried silence ; and sir
lohn Bushie, the kings secretarie, read the sentence and determina-
tion of the king and his coimcell, in a long roll, the effect wherof
was, that Henrie duke of Hereford should within fifteene daies
depart out of the realme, and not to retume before the terme of
ten yeares were expired, except by the king he should be repealed
againe, and this vpon paine of death ; and that Thomas Mowbraie,
duke of Norfolke, bicause he had sowen sedition in the relme by
his words, should likewise auoid the realme, and neuer to retume
againe into England, nor approch the borders or confines thereof
ypon paine of death ; and that the king would stale the profits of
his lands, till he had leuied thereof such summes of monie as the
duke had taken yp of the kings treasuror for the wages of the
garrison of Calls, which were still ynpaid.
^ " le due de Noruolt ne se bonga ne ne fiat semblant de soy deffendre." —
Tmu., 21.
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V. RICHARD n. 89
When these iudgements were once read, the king called before |JJ^«- .
hun both the parties, and made them to sweare that the one USJ^L,
* ' were sworn
should neuer come in place where the other was, wiUinglie ; nor tomeSfSf'^
keepe any company to gither in any forren region ; which oth they ^Ibrir
both receiued humblie, and so went their waies. The duke of SiSTtT^
Norfolke departed sorowfullie out of the relme into Almanie, and udatust
at the last came to Venice, where he for thought and melan- where i^
cholie deceassed : for he was in hope (as writers record) that he Jj^^^gg^
should haue beene borne out in the matter by the king, which J®^^^*
when it fell out otherwise, it greened him not a little. The duke ^^^
[Boling-
of Hereford tooke his leaue of the king at Eltham, who there Droke^gexiie
^° ' WM reduced
released foure yeares of his banishment: so he tooke his iomie Hcwentto"
oner into Calls, and from thence went into France, where he ^"^^^
remained.
Act L 8C. iy. — Bichard enters with Bagot, Greene, and Aumerla
Bolingbroke's " courtship to the common people " (I. iv. 24, ^.), which
Bicha^ has noticed, is not mentioned in the Chronicles, but the
following paragraph shows that the Duke left many friends behind him.
[Hoi. iii 495/2/25.] A woonder it was to see what number of
people ran after him in euerie towne and street where he came,
before he tooke the sea ; lamenting and bewailing his departure, as
who would sale, that when he departed, the onelie shield, defense, Heriford
btlouedo/
and comfort of the commonwealth was yaded and gone. theptopu.
Dismissing all thought of Bolingbroke, Greene advises Bichard to
take prompt measures for the subjugation of ** the rebels which stand
out in Ireland " (L iv. 37-41). Holinshed says :
[Hoi iii 496/2/70.] In this meane time ^ the kmg being aduer- Poiydor.
tised that the wild Irish dailie wasted and destroied the townes [^^d^
and Tillages within the English pale, and had slaine manie of the .^^^
souldiers which laie there in garison for defense of that [p. 497] JJfe^JJ^f
countrie, determined to make eftsoones a yoiage thither, & prepared ^1^ in
all things necessarie for his passage now against the spring.
^ Roger fourth Earl of March was slain by the Irish on July 20, 1398. —
Ukfe, 19; 126- "Cujus morte cognita, Rex statuit vindicate personaliter
mortem ejus, Hibemiensesque domare." — Wals, ii. 229. Roger was Richard's
Lieutenant in Ulster, Oonnaught, and Meath.— Oalend. R B. F P., 19 Ric.
IL, 230/2/7.
the Spring.]
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90
ThinaltM
Utto/amu
bpihtting.
BUmkt
charUri,
(Blank
oharten.]
V. RICHABD II.
Holinshed mentions the farming of England bj Richard (I. iv. 46 ;
and cp. II. i. 57-64, 109-113, 256) :
[Hoi iii. 496/1/64.] The common bnite ran, that the king had
set to fanne the realme of Ekigland ynto sir William Scroope, earle
of Wiltshire, and then treasuror of England, to sir lohn Bushie, sir
William Bagot^ and sir Henrie Qreene^ knights.^
Of "blanke charters" (L iv. 48-51) as sources of revenue, we
have the following account. In 1398 a reconciliation was effected
between Eichard and the Londoners,^ with whom he had been deeply
offended.
[HoL iiL 496/1/1 1.] But yet to content the kings mind, manie
blanke charters were deuised, and brought into the citie, which
manie of the substantial! and wealthie citizens were faine to seale,
to their great charge, as in the end appeared. And the like
charters were sent abroad into all shires within the realme, whereby
great grudge and murmuring arose among the people : for, when
they were so sealed, the kings officers wrote in the same what
liked them, as well for charging the parties with paiment of monie,
as otherwise.
In April, 1399,^ large fines were exacted from the inhabitants of
seventeen counties, who had aided the Duke of Gloucester in the coup
cTiUU of 1387, and a new oath of allegiance was required.
[Hoi iii 496/2/30.] Moreouer, they were compelled to put
their hands and scales to certeine blankes,^ wherof ye haue heard
before ; in the which, when it pleased him, he might write what he
thought good.
Holinshed does not name the object to which the money thus
raised was applied. Shakspere inferred (L iv. 43-52) that the cost of
the Irish war obliged Richard to farm the revenues and issue blank
charters. That Bichard was accused of extorting money for such a
^ Fob, (545), HoVs authority, says that this rumour was current in the
22nd year of Richard's reign (June 21, 1398— June 20, 1399).
' Accordiiig to Faib. (545) this reconciliation was effected after the adjourn-
ment of Parliament on Sieptember 29, 1397. Richard's ire was moved by the
Londoners' opposition to " certeyne actys " of that Parliament
» " dto post Pascha" (March 30).— OW., 199. Cp. Wals., u. 230, 231.
^ It appears from Otty 200, and WaU.^ 231^ that these blank charters (albcu
charias) were contemporaneous with the fines imposed upon the counties. But
according to Eves, (146, 147) these fines and blank charters were in operation
about Michaelmas, 1398.
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V. KICHARD 11. 91
purpose^ appears from one of the articles exhibited against him in the
Parliament by which he was deposed.
[Hoi iii. 502/2/56.] 10 Item, the spiritualitie alledged against g^^
him, that he, at his going into Ireland, exacted manie notable ^l^*^
summes of monie, beside plate and iewels, without law or custome, i^^d!i^
contrarie to his oth taken at his coronation.
Act n. sc. i. — ^While Bichard devised means to pay for his Irish
expedition he was entreated to visit John of Gaunt, who lay at Ely
House, " grieuous sicke " (I. iv. 54-68). Qaunt's death is thus briefly
recorded by Holinshed
[Hoi iii 496/1/22.] In this meane time [Feb. 3, 1399],* the gj'^g*/
duke of Lancaster departed out of this life at the bishop of Elies
place in Holbome.
The particulars of Qaunt's death (11. i. 1-138) were imagined by
Shakspere, but for the rest of this scene he found some material in
Holinshed. The ensuing excerpt illustrates 11 160-162 ; 201-208.
[Hoi iii 496/1/26.] The death of this duke gaue occasion of C^^J?^
increasing more hatred in the people of this realme toward the increMed
^ -^ ^ became he
king, for he seized into his hands all the goods that belonged to J^^^^
him, and also receiued all the rents and reuenues of his lands ^o?hild
Lancatter.
tie's
which ought to haue descended vnto the duke of Hereford by c£^^
lawfull inheritance : in reuoking his letters patents, which he had auow
granted to him before, by vertue wherof he might make his Jj^^^f^
attomeis generall to sue liuerie for him, of any maner of inherit- JJi?]^*''
ances or possessions that might from thencefoorth fall vnto him ; ' 2^ vto^
and that his homage might be respited, with making reasonable
fine: whereby it was euident^ that the king meant his vtter
vndooing.
Shakspere had Holinshed's authority for York's resentment of such
injustice, and consequent departure from Court (II. i. 163-214).
[Hoi iiL 496/1/40.] This hard dealing was much misliked of
all the nobilitie, and cried out against of the meaner sort; but
* OIL (197) saprs that during Lent, 1399, Richard exacted money, &c., for
the Irish expedition.
« "in crastino Praificationis beatas Marise'' (Feb. 3).— 0«., 198. "in
ciastino Sancti BlassU" (Feb. 4).— U«fc, 23 ; 132.
* See p. 102 below.
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92 V. RICHARD II.
namelie the duke of Yorke was therewith sore mooued ; who, before
£^^ this tune, had borne thuigs with so patient a mmd as he could,
Gi^^r't though the same touched him yerie neere, as the death of his
^lin^^ brother the duke of Glocester, the banishment of his nephue the
unishment, said dukc of Hereford, and other mo iniuries in great number :
bat was sore . o »
Ric^SiJ which, for the slipperie youth of the king, he passed ouer for the
Sf^iS?^" *i™^> ^^^ did forget aswell as he might But now perceiuing that
^httrtunoe.] neither law, iustice, nor equitie could take place, where the kings
wilfuU will was bent vpon any wrongfull purpose, ... he thought
it the part of a wise man to get him in time to a resting place, . . .
r^k!^ Herevpon he with the duke of Aumarle his sonne went to his
^^lA house at Langlie.
One of the wrongs which York had borne patiently was (II. L 167,
168)
• . . the preuention of poore Bullingbrooke
About his mariadge, • . •
What York refers to is thus narrated by Holinshed :
[HoL iii. 495/2/31.] At his [Bolingbroke's] comming into
France, king Charles [VI.], hearing the cause of his banishment
Hertford u (which hc estccmed to be yerie light), receiued him gentlie, and
is^&j^ him honorablie interteined, in so much that he had by fauour
u^^t obteined in manage the onelie daughter of the duke of Berrie,
the Duke ^ yuclc to the Frcuch king, if king Richard had not beene a let in
dmurf^^ that matter ; who, being thereof certified, sent the earle of Salisburie^
!ra£dthe ^^'^ *^ speed into France ; both to surmize, by yntrue suggestion,
m*tch.) heinous offences against him, and also to require the French king
that in no wise he would suffer his cousine to be matched in
manage with him that was so manifest an offender.
As Richard leayes the stage he announces his intention of sailing
for Ireland * to morrow next ' ; and appoints York " Lord gouernour
of England" (II. i. 217-220). The "iusts" performed at Windsor
" a little before " Richard's embarkation (HoL iii. 49 7/ 1/3) may be
alluded to in II. i. 223 :
1 The date of Salisbury's mission was, perhaps, March, 1399. Soon after
(** assez t6t apr&s ") his return to firigland, a royal proclamation directed that
a tournament should be held at Windsor. After this tournament Richard
made preparations for going (**ordonna aller ") to Ireland. He left the Queen
at Windsor, and went tnence to Bristol {FroU,, xiv. 163, 164).
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V. RICHARD II. 93
IHol iii. 497/1/8.] When these iusts were finished, the king The king
departed toward Bristow, from thence to passe into Ireland; {JJJJ^'^JJ^
leaning the queene with hir traine still at Windesor ; he appointed ^'^'^
for his lieutenant generall in his absence his vncle the duke of oa^^*^
Yorke : and so in the moneth of Aprill,^ as diuerse authors write, <ir r«xr*»
lieuUnant
he set forward from Windesor, and finallie tooke shipping at fftn«raiiqf
Milford, and from thence, with two hundred ships, and a puissant J^^
power of men of armes and archers, he sailed into Ireland. irtiand.
Three passages in Holinshed may have suggested to Shakspere the
conversation of Northumberland, Ross, and Willoughby (11. 241-248),
who remain on the stage after Richard's exit. Northumberland seems
to glance at (U. 241-245) an act of the subservient Parliament of 1397 ;
which Holinshed thus records :
[Hoi. iil 493/1/40.] Finallie, a generall pardon was granted
for all offenses to all the kings subiects (fiftie onelie excepted) {^^^^
whose names he would not by anie meanes expresse, but reserued |^^^
them to his owne knowledge, that when anie of the nobilitie ^S^an.}
offended him, he might at his plesure name him to be one of the
number excepted, and so keepe them still within his danger. . . .
Manie other things were doone in this parlement, to the dis-
pleasure of no small number of people ; namelie, for that diuerse
rightfull heires were disherited of their lands and liuings, by ^J^*
authoritie of the same parlement : with which wrongfull dooings <"«*«^'«^
the people were much offended ; so that the king, and those that
were about him, and cheefe in councell, came into great infamie
and slander.
Large grants had been obtained from his Parliaments by Richard
II. ; and the oppressive poll-t€« — to which we may suppose Ross refers
— caused the commons' rebellion in 1381. Of that impost Holinshed
[Hoi iii 428/2/36.] There was a new and strange subsidie or jmytwmt
taske granted to be leuied for the kings vse, and towards the
charges of this armie that went ouer into France with the earle of
Buckingham; to wit, of euerie preest secular or regular, six
* **po8fc Pentecosten proximo sequens"* [read sequentem or understand
festuml—Eves., 148. "circa festum Pentecostes."— 0^., 200. Wals., 231.
In 1399 Whit Sunday fell on May 18. Fab. (545)— quoted by Hoi in the
marginal note — gives "y« moneth of Aprell" as the date.
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94
RICHARD II.
[A Poll Tax
of Pour
pence, orj
mmuJUMU
[it, levied].
New
exactioiu.
Th« pabiunt
<ifthe»eJtne$
wucaueda
ptuanetoM
ittpertto
pUoitthtK.
wUhaU,but
fmme
ditpUaaad
wenihut
eonttnvMd
topaU
mlUt.
AAiftto
rteofur
mtmU
shillings eight pence, and as much of euerie nunne, and of euerie
man & woman married or not married, being 16 yeares of age,
(beggers certenlie knowne onlie excepted,) foore pence for euerie
one. Great grudging & manie a bitter cursse followed about the
leuieng of this monie, & much mischeefe rose thereof, as after it
appeared.
In illustration of 11. 247, 248, 1 quote the passage noticed above
(p. 90) concerning the fines levied from seventeen shires.
[Hoi. iil 496/2/9.] Moreouer, this yeare [1399] he caused
seuenteene shires of the realme, by waie of putting them to their
fines, to paie no small summes of monie, for redeeming their
offenses, that they had aided the duke of Glocester, the earles of
Arundell, and Warwike, when they rose in armor against him.
The nobles, gentlemen, and commons of those shires were inforced
also to receiue a new oth to assure the king of their fidelitie in
time to come; and withall certeine prelats and other honorable
personages were sent into the same shires to persuade men to this
paiment^ and to see things ordered at the pleasure of the prince :
and Buerlie the fines which the nobles, and other the meaner
estates of those shures were constreined to paie, were not small,
but exceeding great, to the offense of manie.
After " blanckes," Willoughby mentions ** beneuolences " as one of
the " new exactions " devised by Bichard (IL i. 250). A " benevo-
lence " was — in name, at least — the conception of a later king.^ In
1473 Edward lY. was meditating an expedition to France :
[HoL iil 694/1/43.] But bicause he wanted monie, and could
not well charge his commons with a new subsidie, for that he had
receiued the last yeare great summes of monie granted to him by
parlement, he deuised this shift, — ^to call afore him a great number
of the wealthiest sort of people in his realme ; and to them declar-
ing his need, and the requisite causes thereof, he demanded of
euerie of them some portion of monie, which they sticked not to
1 Of those inhabitants of seventeen counties who paid fines to Richard in
1399, WaHs, sa^ (ii 230, 231) : ** coacti snnt Regi concedere • . . importabiles
summas pecnniss, pro htnevclinJtia 9wi recnpeTanaa." Ott, says (199) : " Yocab-
antor itaqne tales suromsD, sic levatso de singulis comitatibus, U pleata/uncej^
Cp. HcV$ sidenote, " The paiment^" &c
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V. RICHARD n. 95
giue. And therefore the king, willing to shew that this their
liberalitie was verie acceptable to him, he called this grant of ^^jv.
monie, "A beneuolence " : notwithstanding that manie with grudge ^tenevo-
gaue great sums toward that new found aid, which of them might ^*^^*^
be called, " A maleuolence."
When Willoughby demands what has become of the money thus
exacted by Richard, Northumberland answers (11. 252-254) :
Wars hath not wasted it, for warrde he hath not.
But basely yeelded vpon compromise
That which his noble auncestors atchiued with blowes.
Shakspere may have been thinking of Richard's cession of Brest to
John Duke of Brittany (see p. 84 above) ; a step which was censured
by Gloucester, who bluntiy said to the King :
[Hoi, iii. 487/2/65.] Sir, your grace ought to put your bodie [J^^^"^
in paine to win a strong hold or towne by feats of war, yer you S^'J^^i
take ypon you to sell or deliuer anie towne or strong hold gotten ]^mI^
with great aduenture by the manhood and policie of your noble
progenitours.
Northumberland hints that deliverance is near, and, being urged
to speak out, says :
I haue from le Port Blan
A Bay in Brittaine receiude intelligence.
That Harry duke of Herford, Rainold L. Cobham
That late broke from the Duke of Exeter
His brother,^ archbishop late of Ganterburie,
Sir Thomas Erpingham, Sir John Ramston,
Sir John Norbery, Sir Robert Waterton, and Francis Coines ; 284
All these well furnished by the Duke of Brittaine
With eight tall shippes, three thousand men of warre^
Are making hither with all due expedience,
And shortly meane to touch our Northeme shore ; 288
Perhaps they had ere this, but that they stay
The fmst departing of the King for Ireland.
During Richard's sojourn in Ireland,
[Sol iii 497/2/57.] . . . diuerse of the nobilitie, aswell prelats
as other, and likewise manie of the magistrats and rulers of the
cities, townes, and communaltie, here in England, perceiuing dailie
how the realme drew to vtter mine, not like to be recouered to the
* " Hia brother," i e. Richard Earl of Aninders brother. Ritson suggested
that the missing line was taken almost literally from Hcl., and ran thns:
" The son and heir of the late earl of ArundeL"— Var. 8h. xvi 65.
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96 V. RICHARD 11.
Theduk*<tf former state of wealth whilest king Richard lined and reigned, (as
^^^ikilZ they tooke it,) deuised with great deliberation, and considerate
S^^SliSJf aduise, to send and signifie by letters vnto duke Henrie, whome
^h^u they now called (as he was in deed) dnke of Lancaster and
Hereford, requiring him with all conuenient speed to conueie
himselfe into England ; promising him all their aid, power, and
assistance, if he, expelling K Richard, as a man not meet for the
office he bare, would take ypon him the scepter, rule, and diademe
of his natiue land and region.
He, therefore, being thus called ypon by messengers and letters
from his freends, and cheeflie through the earnest persuasion of
Thomas Arundell,^ late archbishop of Canturburie, who . . . had
beene remooued from his see, and banished the realme by king
Th4dMk€<ff Richards means, got him downe to Britaine, togither with the said
totti^S^ archbishop; where he was ioifiillie receiued of the duke and
cfianeatter. duchcssc, and fouud such frecndslup at the dukes hands, that
there were certeine ships rigged, and made readie for him, at a
Th*dvi€of place in base Britaine ^ called Le port blanc, as we find in the
hUadMerenu chrouiclcs of Britaiuc ; and, when all his prouision was made
^^jjjjg* readie, he tooke the sea, togither with the said archbishop of
UMcjf ^'^ Canturburie, and his nephue Thomas Arundeli, sonne and heire to
the late earle of Arundeli, . . • There were also with him,
Additunuto Reginald lord Cobham, sir Thomas Erpingham, and sir Thomas
[.ghSngthe Ramston, knights, lohn Norburie, Robert Waterton, & Francis
SSSentaj. Coint, csquircs : few else were there, for (as some write) he had
[Yariont not past fiftcene lances, as they tearmed them in those dales, that
accounts of
S^"%' ^ ^ ^^^^> ^^^ ^^ armes, furnished and appointed as the yse then
^S^^wau, ^^^ ^ ^®* other write, that the duke of Britaine deliuered vnto
SjJJa/^t 1^°* *''*''®® thousand men of warre, to attend him, and that he had
hldSSw*'^* eight ships well furnished for the warre, where Froissard yet
mjmj^Mids gpgj^^^j.|j Ij^j ^f three. Moreouer, where Froissard and also the
^''^*^*^^ chronicles of Britaine auouch, that he should land at Plimmouth,
by our English writers it seemeth otherwise : for it appeareth by
wMnff. their assured report, that he, approching to the shore, did not
* Thomas Arundel (or Fitz-Alan), was exiled on September 24, 1397. —
Exes., 139.
* La Basse Bretagne ; lower, or western, Brittany,
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V. RICHARD II. 97
streight take land, bat lay houering aloofe, and shewed himselfe (BoUng.
Drok6 did
now in this place, and now in that, to see what countenance was J^^J^**
made by the people, whether they meant enuiouslie to resist him, J^^ ^^'
or freendlie to receiue him. ^SeTtiMt
In my excerpt from the play I retain the line-order and pimctua- ^^SwSdbe
tion, as well as the text, of Qi. In none of the original texts of receiTed.]
Richard 11. is mention made of '< Thomas Arundell, sonne and heire to
the late earle of AmndeU." But the following passage shows that
Thomas Axundel must have been named in a preceding line as having
'* late broke from the Duke of Exeter."
[Rol. iiL 496/i/68.] About the same time, the earle of
Arundels sonne, named Thomas, which was kept in the duke of
Exeters house, escaped out of the realme^ by meanes of one
William Scot, mercer ; and went to his vncle Thomas Arundell,
late archbishop of Canturburie, as then soiouming at CuUen^
[Cologne].
The reader will also note that Bolingbroke delayed his landing in
order " to see what countenance was made by the people " ; not because
he awaited, as Northumberland conjectured (11. i. 290),
The first departing of the King for Ireland.
This deviation from his authority accords with Shakspere's annihi-
lation of time in the present, and the preceding, scene. As one day
only can be allowed for both scenes, — cp. the opening of the last scene
of Act Ly with its close, connecting it with the first scene of Act IL, —
Bolingbroke could not have left England; yet, at the close of the
present scene, we learn that he is returning from exile. Richard's
absence from England, which lasted about two months, is ignored. For
it is evident that, when this scene ends, Richard had not even em-
barked; and, moreover, in the next scene — ^between which and the
present one we may admit an interval of a day or two — Greene hopes
« the King is not yet shipt for Ireland " (IL ii. 42).a
Act IL sc ii — The Queen enters with Bushy and Bagot. They
are joined by Greene (L 40), and York (L 72). When Northumber-
land had told his news, he, accompanied by Ross and Willoughby, set
forth to meet Bolingbroke (IL i. 296-300). Greene announces tiieir
flight and Bolingbroke's landing at Ravenspur (11. 49-55). Scene il
is, in general, a dramatic version of the useless, though, doubtless,
more formal, deliberations of the council to which York summoned
Richard's favourites.
[Hoi iii 498/1/36.] When the lord gouemor, Edmund duke
of Yorke, was aduertised, that the duke of Lancaster kept still the
1 From Fab. 645 (an. 22 Ric XL). « T-4., 266.
H
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98
V. RICHARD n.
[WbenTork
neardthat
Bolingbroke
might land
anywhere,
he called a
oonncilof
war, to
which the
Earl of
Wiltahire,
BnshT,
Bagot,aiid
Greene were
■ommoned.]
FThelrnM-
lessadrice
to collect an
army at St.
Albans.]
Tht
eommSt
dmUto
ruitttki
dmkeqf
Th4diike<ff
lOdtthiat
RaTena-
? or] in
arkahirt,
AddUicnsto
Polydiron.
[Among the
lint who
came to him
were
Willoaghby,
Rob, and
Beaomont.]
sea, and was readie to arriae, (but where he ment first to set foot
on land, there was not any that vnderstood the certeintiej he sent
for the lord chancellor, Edmund Stafford, bishop of Excester, and
for the lord treasuror, William Scroope, earle of Wiltshire, and
other of the kings priuie counceU, as lohn Bushie, William Bagot,
Henrie Greene, and lohn Russell, knights : of these he required to
know what they thought good to be doone in this matter, concern-
ing the duke of Lancaster, being on the seas. Their aduise was,
to depart from London ynto S. Albons, and there to gather an
armie to resist the duke in his landing ; but, to how small purpose
their counsell serued, the conclusion thereof plainlie declared, for
the most part that were called, when they came thither, boldlie
protested, that they would not fight against the duke of Lancaster,
whome they knew to be euill dealt withalL • • •
The duke of Lancaster, after that he had coasted alongst the
shore a certeine time, & had got some intelligence how the peoples
minds were affected towards him, landed about the beginning of
lulie ^ in Yorkshire, at a place sometime called Rauenspur, betwixt
Hull and Bridlington ; and with him not past threescore persons,
as some write : but he was so ioifullie receiued of the lords,
knights, and gentlemen of tfiose parts, that he found means (by
their helpe) forthwith to assemble a great number of people, that
were willing to take his part The first that came to him were
the lords of Lincolneshire, and other countries adioining ; as the
lords Willoughbie, Ros, Darcie, and Beaumont
The defection, or resignation, of the Earl of Worcester, which
Greene next announces (IL 58-61), occurred soon after Richard's return
to Wales, late in July, 1399.' Holinshed says :
[Hoi iil 499/2/74.] Sir Thomas Persie, earle of Worcester,*
1 On June 28, according to Uidb, 24; 134. '* circa festum [Jnne 24J S.
Johannis BaptdstsB." — Evts,^ 151. ''circa festnm [July 4] translationis sancti
Martini."— 0«, 203.
* Richard landed in Wales on July 22, according to TJslc^ 27 ; 137. Evet^B
(149) date is July 25. In Trait, (46 ; 194) the date assigned to Richard's
landing is August 13.
• We learn from one chronicle (fiit.y 206, 207) that when Richard, soon
after landing, withdrew to Flint, — ^in EvXog.y iii 381, Conway is, with more
^bability, the place named, — he left his household in Worcester's care.
Worcester, weeping most bitterly, broke his staff, and dismissed the royal
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V. RICHABD II. 99
lord [p. 600] steward of the kings house, either being so com- ^^SS-'*'
manded by the king, or else vpon displeasure (as some write) for ji^^ j^a
that the king had proclaimed his brother the earle of Northumber- ^^^^^
land, traitor, brake his white staffe, (which is the representing signe
and token of his office,) and without delaie went to duke Henrie.
When the kings seruants of [the] houshold saw this (for it was
doone before them all) they dispersed themselues, some into one
countrie, and some into an other.
A servingman enters, and says to York : " My Lord, your son was
gone [to Ireland] before I came " (IL ii. 86). When Richard was at
Dublin,!
[Hoi iii. 497/2/29.] the duke of Aumarle, with an hundred JJJjJJS^
saile, arriued, of whose comming the king was right ioifull ; and, KwSj^
although he had vsed no small negligence in that he came no l!$!£y^
sooner according to order before appointed, yet the king (as he
was of a gentle nature) courteouslie accepted his excuse. Whether ^c^*^
he was in fault or not, I haue not to sale ; but verelie he was dwi^*«»-
greatlie suspected, that he dealt not well in tarieng so long after
his time assigned.
This seryingman, whom York would send to Pleshey, to borrow
money from the Duchess of Gloucester, answers : '' An houre before I
came the Dutchesse died " (IL ii. 97). Holinshed (514/2/3) records her
death.2
" What, are there no Posts dispatcht for Ireland 1 " exclaims York
(n. ii. 103). So Qi (1597). Q2 (1698) reads « ttoo Posts," and Fi
has " What, are there postes dispatcht for Ireland 1 " The reading of
Q2 is at variance with the following excerpt from Holinshed, which
shows that but one opportunity occurred of sending news to Ireland of
servants. Weds, (ii 233) says that Worcester was authorized by Richard to
release them from their duties till hetter times should come. Frois, (xiv. 167)
has a story — to which, I suppose, Hd. refers — that RicharcL hefore going to
Ireland, published a sentence of hanishment against Northumberland and
Henry Percy, and thereby angered Worcester ; who is not, however, said by
Frois, to have done anythmg to revenge the injury. Cp. Bich, IL, II. iii 26-30.
1 I cannot reconcile the date when, according to tireton {Arekaeol, xz. 27,
1, after a few days, became a march to Dublin,
(Ten by him. Hoi. (497/2/ sidenote 2), on the
, a MS. printed in Camden's BrUanMOf ed.
he date of Richard's arrival at Dublin, and
imerle arrived on the same day ; a date quite
quent scheme of time.
nb in Westminster Abbey shows that the
9.
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newtoune
toBiohMd
ttOOk
[When
iMtbe
at
100 V. RICHABD n.
Bolingbroke's lauding. As Bushy soon afterwards (1. 123) remarks
that "the winde sits faire for newes to go to Ireland/' the reading " no
Posts " conveys a rebuke for tardiness.
[Hoi ill 499/1/14.] But here you shall note, that it fortuned
0^^^ at the same time in which the duke of Hereford or Lancaster
jSSS^**** (whether ye list to call him) arriued thus in England, the seas were
[(creton'i SO troubled by tempests, and the winds blew so contrarie for anie
fl^^ passage to come ouer foorth of England to the king, remaining
[For Biz still in Ireland, that, for the space of six weeks, he receiued no
weekmo
aduertisements from thence : yet at length, when the seas became
calme, and the wind once turned anie thing fauourable, there came
ouer a ship ; whereby the king vnderstood the manner of the dukes
arriuall, and all his proceedings till that daie in which the ship
tkui^^ departed from the coast of England : wherevpon he meant foorth-
ta^s with to haue returned ouer into England, to make resistance
would have agaiust the duke ; but through persuasion of the duke of Aumarle
Ntomed to
SSfiSSerie (^ ^^ thought) he staied, till he might haue all his ships, and
{^'^^t^j other prouision, fiiUie readie for his passage.
My next excerpt shows how, after attending the fruitless council
mentioned above (p. 98), Bichard's evil counsellors took to flight.
(Pp. n. ii 135— Ul.)
[Hoi. iii 498/1/56.] The lord treasuror, Bushie, Bagot, and
[PerceiTing Qrcene, perceiuing that the commons would cleaue vnto, and take
moiu? misd, part with, the duke, slipped awaie ; leaning the lord gouemour of
e8c«p«ito the realme, and the lord chancellor, to make what shift they could
Ireland, and ' ' "^
GroSe toSk ^^^ themsclues. Bagot got him to Chester, and so escaped into
£ul{^i^ Ireland ; the other fled to the castell of Bristow,^ in hope there to
^^'^^^ be in safetie.
Act n. sc. iii. — ^The scene is laid near Berkeley Castle (11. 51-63) ;
and, as the excerpt given below proves, can be dated Sunday, July 27,
1399, St. James's Day (July 25) having, in that year, fallen on a
Friday.*
[Hoi. iii. 498/2/3.] At his [Bolingbroke's] comming vnto
Doncaster, the earle of Northumberland, and his sonne, sir Henrie
^ The swift action of the play establishes the Lord Treasurer (Earl of
Wiltshire) in Bristol Castle before Bichard's favourites separate. Cp. II. iL
136, 136.
' The authority for this date is Sves.^ 152.
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V. RICHARD II. 101
Persie, wardens of the marches against Scotland, with the earle of TJud^inf
Westmorland, came vnto him ; where he sware vnto those lords, JJJ^^
that he would demand no more, but the lands that were to him JfSit*JJ
descended by inheritance from his father,^ and in right of his wife. Jo more**™
Moreoner, he Tndertooke to cause the paiment of taxes and inhtdtanee.
He also
tallages to be laid downe, & to bring the king to good gouemment, V^^^'^
& to remooue from him the Cheshire men, which were enuied of {Jj^^.
manie ; for that the king esteemed of them more than of anie ^^^^^^
other; happilie, bicause they were more faithfull to him than ^^
other, readie in all respects to obeie his commandements and Ssbandthe
, , Chesbire-
pleasure. From Doncaster, hauing now got a mightie armie about mon-l
him, he marched foorth with all speed through the countries, (Hemaxohed
comming by Euesham vnto Berkelie : within the space of three gj^^^
dales, all the kings castels in those parts were surrendred vnto
him.
The duke of Torke, whome king Richard had left as gouemour
of the realme in his absence, hearing that his nephue the duke of
Lancaster was thus arriued, and had gathered an armie, he also
assembled a puissant power of men of armes and archers; (as ThiHaruo/
before yee haue heard ;) but all was in yaine, for there was not a MUbtnt
man that willinglie would thrust out one arrow against the duke of ff^JSJ*^
Lancaster, or his partakers, or in anie wise offend him or his ]^^^
freends. The duke of Yorke, therefore, passing foorth towards a'eM^
Wales to meet the king, at his comming foorth of L*eland, was
receiued into the castell of Berkelie, and there remained, till the Si^^^^
* ' Berkeley
comming thither of the duke of Lancaster, [to] whom (when he <^^^^
perceiued that he was not able to resist, on the sundaie, after the
feast of saint lames, which, as that yeare came about, fell ypon the
fridaie) he came foorth into the church that stood without the
* Cp. Northumberland's words (II. iii. 148, 149) :
" The noble Duke hath swome his comming is
But for his owne ; " . . .
Cp. also what Hotspur (1 Hen, IV., IV. iii 60-66), and Worcester (1 Hen. IV, ^
v. i. 41-46), afterwards said about Bolingbroke's oath. The chaise of having
transgressed this limitation, ratified by oath at Doncaster, is contained in the
first article of the Percies' " qnarell " ; a document presented to Henry IV. on
the day before the battle of Shrewsbury. — Hard,, 352. But it appears from
the excerpt quoted in the text that Shakspere wronged Bolingbroke, who
undertook national reformation also.
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102 V. KICHARD IL
[Meeting of castell, Eod there communed with the duke of Lancafiter. With
Bolinsbroke
and York.] the duke of Yorke were the bishop of Norwich, the lord Berkelie,
tboMwho the lord Seimour, and other; with the duke of Lancaster were
YofiL) these: Thomas Arundell, archbishop of Oanturburie, (that had
tboMw£> beene banished,) the abbat of Leicester, the earles of Northumber-
Boi^ land and Westmerland, Thomas Arundell, sonne to Richard, late
tocdce.]
earle of Arundell, the baron of Qreistoke, the lords Willoughbie
and Ros, with diuerse other lords, knights, and other people, which
[LoveorfiBtf dailie came to him from euerie part of the realme: those that
niAde people
gjjj*j came not were spoiled of all they had, so as they were neuer able
^^••1 to recouer themselues againe, for their goods, being then taken
awaie, were neuer restored. And thus, what for loue, and what
for feare of losse, they came flocking vnto him from euerie part
Justifying his return from banishment, Bolingbroke says to York
(IL iii. 129, &c.) :
I am denyed to sue my Liuery here,
And yet my letters pattents giue me leaue : . • • 130
And I challenge law : Attumies are denied me ;
And therefore personally I lay my claime
To my inheritance of free descent. 136
This complaint formed the subject of an article exhibited against
Richard in the Parliament which deposed him.
[Sol iil 6O2/2/16.] 10 Item, before the dukes departure, he
moihiff. [Richard] ynder his broad scale licenced him [Bolingbroke] to
attornies to makc attumics to prosecute and defend his causes : the said king,
after his departure, would suffer none attumie to appeare for him,
but did with his at his pleasure.^
Act n. so. iy. — ^From what follows, Shakspere constructed the
dialogue between Salisbury and " a Welch captaine " (EL iv.), whose
countrymen, after waiting " ten dayes ** (1. 1) in arms, have dispersed,
believing Blchard to be dead. Richard, as we have seen (p. 100 above),
delayed his return from Ireland " till he might haue all his ships, and
other prouision, fullie readie for his passage." ^
[Hoi iii. 499/1/32.] In the meane time, he sent the earle of
* See p. 91 above.
* Creton says {Archaeol.y xx. 65-58, 312, 313) that Aumerle treacherously
«ive Richard this adyice ; and also suggested that Salisbury should oppose
Bolingbroke in the field, while the royal preparations for return were being
made.
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V. KICHARD n. 103
Salisburie oner into England, to gather a power togither, by helpe f^*^^^
of the kings freends in Wales, and Cheshire, with all speed g^^^Jfow
possible ; that they might be readie to assist him against the duke, ]^^'*
ypon his arriuall, for he meant himselfe to follow the earle, within
six dales after. The earle, passing oner into Wales, landed at
Conwaie, and sent foorth letters to the kings freends, both in
Wales and Cheshire, to leauie their people, & to come with all
speed to assist the K, whose request, with great desire, & very
willing minds, they fulfilled, hoping to haue foimd the king him-
self at Conwaie ; insomuch that, within foure dales space, there were
to the number of fortie thousand^ men assembled, readie to march [Forty
with the king against his enimies, if he had beene there himselfe in men ^
person.
But, when they missed the king, there was a brute spred raatwiieii
amongst them, that the king was suerlie dead ; which wrought such ^J^^lJ^^^^.
an impression, and euill disposition, in the minds of the Welshmen ^^^^^i^e
and others, that, for anie persuasion which the earle of Salisburie w"»^
might Yse, they would not go foorth with him, till they saw the himfonrteeo
king : onelie they were contented to stale foureteene dales to see if dispersed.]
he should come or not ; but, when he came not within that tearme,
they would no longer abide, but scaled & departed awaie ; wheras
if the king had come before their breaking yp, no doubt, but they
would haue put the duke of Hereford in aduenture of a field : so
that the kings lingering of time, before his comming oner, gaue
opportunitie to the duke to bring things to passe as he could haue
wished, and tooke from the king all occasion to recouer afterwards
anie forces sufficient to resist him.
The Welsh Captain makes partial mention (II. iv. 8^ of a portent
which may have happened not long before the time of this scene.
[Hoi. ill 496/2/66.] In this yeare in a manner throughout all 6%^^
the realme of England, old bale trees withered, and, afterwards, ^^'^^'
1 Cp. Richard's words (III. ii 76, 77) when he hears that the Welshoien
have dispersed:
" But now the bloud of 20000. men
Did triumph in my face, and they are fled " ; . . .
Salisbury had told him (L 70) that the Welshmen numbered twelve thousand.
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104 V. KICHARD n.
[B^^MB contrarle to all mens thinking, grewgreene againe ; a strange sight,
and supposed to import some ynknowne enenb
Act m. sc. i. — July 29, 1399,^ is the historic date on which the
Third Act opens. " (^ the morow after " the day (July 27) when
York met Bolinghroke at Berkeley,
|2j^j^<«^ [Hoi iii. 498/2/61,] the forsaid dukes, with their power, went
JJJJ^ ^ towards Bristow, where (at their comming) they shewed themselues
before the towne & castell ; being an huge multitude of people.
There were inclosed within the castell, the lord William Scroope,
earle of Wiltshire and treasuror of England, sir Henrie Greene,
and sir lohn Bushie, knights, who prepared to make resistance ;
but, when it would not preuaile, they were taken and brought
foorth bound as prisoners into the campe, before the duke of
Lancaster. On the morow next insuing, they were arraigned
before the constable and marshall, and found giltie of treason, for
misgoueming the king and realme ; and foorth with had their heads
smit off.
At the close of so. L, Act IILi Bolinghroke says :
Come, Lords, away.
To fight with Glendor and his oampl%ce$ :
A while to worke, and, after, holiday 1
Theobald suspected that the second line of this quotation had been
interpolated, because (1) the first and third lines ryme ; (2) the second
line is, historically, quite out of place. It is true that the earliest
recorded foray of Glendower must be dated about a year later than the
time with which we are now concerned ; but Shakspere was not bound
by chronological fetters. Perhaps the following account of Glendower's
attack on Lord Grey of Buthin — ^in the summer of 1400 — is the source
of this line, for Holinshed, it will be observed, applied the term
'^ complices '' to those who joined the raid.
ThtWiiMk- [Sol iiL 6I8/2/53.] In the kings [Henry IV. 's] absence,
^oSS^^ whilest he was foorth of the realme, in Scotland, against his enimies,
eumumer. ^q Welshmen tooke occasion to rebell vnder the conduct of their
capteine Owen Glendouer; dooing what mischeefe they could
1 According to Eves, (153),— whom HcL follows, — Scrope, Bosby, and
Qreene were arraigned on July 29 ; and (fiot ParL, iii 656/i ; condemned to
death on the same day. Cp. Ott,y 205. Bnt Utk ^24 ; 134) says that Boling-
hroke did not reach Bristol till July 29. Adam of Usk was at Bristol when
Bolinghroke was there in July, 1399 (25 ; 135).
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V. KICHARD II. 105
deuise Tnto their English neighbours. This Owen Glendouer ^J* ^'^•
was Sonne to an esquier of Wales, named Qriffith Vichan: 2£!uJJ^.
he dwelled in the parish of Conwaie, within the countie of
Merioneth in Northwales, in a place called Glindourwie, which
is as much to sale in English, as "The vallie by the side of
the water of Dee;" by occasion whereof he was sumamed
Glindour Dew.
He was first set to studie the lawes of the realme, and became ff«J2« ^
' admitted to
an vtter barrester, or an apprentise of the law, (as they terme him,) SSSSSttbe
and serued king Richard at Flint castell, when he was taken by £^^
Henrie duke of Lancaster; though other haue written that he Richard at
, Flint Cattle.
serued this king Henrie the fourth, before he came to atteine the some say
^ ' that he was
crowne, in roome of an esquier ; and after, by reason of variance ^^;
that rose betwixt him and the lord Reginald Greie of Ruthin, "^"'^ .
about the lands which he [p. 519] claimed to be his by right of [oien.
inheritance, when he saw that he might not preuaile, finding no qoMwi with
Lord Grey of
such fauor in his sute as he looked for, he first made warre Ruthin.]
against the said lord Greie, wasting his lands and possessions with 22^^^^
fire and sword, cruellie killing his seruants and tenants. The king, **»<*» «w«.
aduertised of such rebellious exploits,^ enterprised by the said 2^.^^
Owen, and his ynrulie complices, determined to chastise them, as ZulSngto
disturbers of his peace, and so with an armie entered into Wales ; iS^^
but the Welshmen with their capteine withdrew into the mounteines
of Snowdon, so to escape the reuenge, which the king meant
towards them. The king therefore did much hurt in the countries
with fire and sword ;'sleing diuerse that with weapon in hand came
foorth to resist him, and so with a great bootie of beasts and
cattell he returned.^
^ Full particulars of Glendower's lebellion reached Henry at Northampton,
abont September 12-19, 1400. The campaign began soon or immediately after
September 26, and was over before October 19, 1400.— TFi/Ite (i 146-148),
citmg public Teeords.
' According to one story Qlendower <* serued king Richard at Flint castell,
when he was taken by Henrie Duke of Lancaster." I venture to suggest that
Shakspere — assuming from these words that Qlendower was personally attached
to the Kinff — ^turned the border strife with Lord Grey of Rutnin into war&re on
Richard's behalf. The lines which I c[Uote above (III. i 42-44) might have
introduced this lost or omitted portion of the J>lay, but they are now, I
suspect, imperfect and disarranged : the ryming Imes — which should end the
scene — ^being out of place, and two half lines, at least, having been lost
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106 V. RICHARD II.
Act in. sc. ii. — ^My next excerpt continues the history of Richard's
fortunes, from the time when the Welshmen dispersed.
[Rol iii. 499/1/66.] At length, about eighteene dales after
that the king had sent from him the earle of Salisburie, he tooke
the sea^ togither with the dukes of Aumarle, Excester, Surrie, and
diuerse others of the nobilitie, with the bishops of London,
Lincolne, and CarleilL They landed neere the castell of Barclowlie *
nt^S^t in Wales, about the feast of saint lames the apostle, and staied a
andkmdeth while iu the same castell, being aduertised of the great forces
which the duke of Lancaster had got togither against him;
Tkcm. waiM, whorewith he was maruellouslie amazed^ knowing certeinelie
that those, which were thus in armes with the duke of Lancaster
against him, would rather die than giue place, as well for the
iMving hatred as feare which they had conceiued at him. Neuerthe-
be went to' Icsse he, departing from Barclowlie, hasted with all speed towards
Conwaie, where he vnderstoode the earle of Salisburie to be
f^^!^ still remaining.
He therefore taking with him such Cheshire men as he had
with him at that present (in whom all his trust was reposed) he
doubted not to reuenge himselfe of his aduersaries, & so at the
^2ei*"*f ^^* ^^ passed with a good courage; but when he Tnderstood,
tlhl^rt of ^ ^® ^®°* ^'^^ forward, that all the castels, euen from the
oSSSl^ borders of Scotland vnto Bristow, were deliuered vnto the duke of
beheading of Lancaster; and that likewise the nobles and commons, as well
ouionat of ihc Bouth parts, as the north, were fullie bent to take part
Bristol. 1
with the same duke against him ; and further, hearing how his
K. jttoiard, trustie councellors had lost their heads at Bristow, he became so
<iMpa^ greatlie discomforted, that sorowfullie lamenting his miserable
retomto^ State, he vtterlie despaired of his owne safetie, and calling his
theirbomet.] ^rmie togither, which was not small, licenced euerie man to
depart to his home.
» "Castrum de Hertlowli in Wallia."— JBcm., 149. WiUiams {Trais. 188,
note) supposed this place to be Harlech Castle, Merionethshire. According
to Usk (27 ; 137), and the text of Trais. (41 ; 188), Bichard landed at
Pembroke. The Lebaud and Ambassade MSS. of Trais. (Trots. 41, note
6), Creton {ArchaeoLxT.1b ; 321), and OU. (206) have Milford aa Richard's
landing-place.
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V. BICHAIO) 11. 107
Tbe Bouldiers, being well bent to fight in his defense, besought rniongh
him to be of good cheere, promising with an oth to stand with him J^,^
against the duke, and all his partakers vnto death ; but this could ^£au»vL
not incourage him at all, so that, in the night next insuing, he !SS^>y«m
stole from his armie, and, with the dukes of Excester and andtaJMh
Surrie, the bishop of Carleill, and sir Stephan Scroope, and about Flint.
halfe a score others, he got him to the castell of Conwaie,^ where
he found the earle of Salisburie; determining there to hold
himselfe, till he might see the world at some better staie; for
what counsell to take to remedie the mischeefe thus pressing
ypon him he wist not.
Act m. sc. iii. — ^The scene is laid before Flint Castle. After
relating the cause of Richard's departure from Conway, and describing
the ambush on the journey (see note 1), Holinshed proceeds :
[SoL iii. 500/2/71.] Edng Richard being thus come vnto the
castell of Flint, on the mondaie, the eighteenth of August, and the ^f^^^uo
duke of Hereford being still aduertised from houre to houre by isqS!)/^'
posts, [p. 601] how the earle of Northumberland sped, the morow
following being tuesdaie, and the nineteenth of August,^ he came
thither, & mustered his armie before the kings presence; which [SoUnff.
yndoubtedlie made a passing faire shew, being verie well ordered mnstered
by the lord Henrie Persie, that was appointed gcnerall, or rather Jj[gj ^^^
(as we maie call him) master of the campe, vnder the duke, ^^^^i
of the whole armie. . . .
^ In a 8idenote against this passage Kichard is said to have withdrawn to
" the castell of Flinty" after deserting his army ; and at the close of sc ii., Act
III., he exclaims:
" Go to Flint Castle, there lie pine away 5 . . •
That power I haue, discharge," . . .
We learn from Creton {Archaed. xx. 129-149 ; 349-366), whom Hoi sub-
sequently follows, that Northmnberland decoyed Richard irom Conway Castle
to a part of the road between Conway and Flint, where an ambosh was laid.
On reaching this spot the Eling was obliged to proceed to Flint, which was in
the possession of xTorthmnberland's troops. TroM, (47-62 ; 196-201) has the
same stoiy, with less detail. These authorities place the meeting of Richard
and Bolingbroke at Flint Castle. Usk (27 ; 138, 139), Ott. (207, 208), and
WaU, (ii 233, 234), agree that Richard left Conway and met Bolingbroke at
Flint Castle. But, according to Eves,, Richard, forsaking his army, betook
himself to Flint Castle (150), whence, after some negotiation, he departed to
Conway Castle, where Bolii^broke met him (154, 155).
* Tliis date is derived from Eves,^ 155.
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108 V. RICHARD IL
[Richard The king . . . was walking aloft on the braies ^ of the wals, to
watched ° ^ '
*l!?^?~l 1 behold the commmg of the duke a farre off
Shakspere altered the time, place, and piirpose of Northumberland's
mission. That mission had for its object the beguilement of Bichard
from Conway to Flint, where he would be in Bolingbroke's power. I
begin the following excerpt — ^which contains the outline of III. iii.
31-126 — at the time when Northumberland — entrusted with the
difficult task of persuading Richard to leave Conway Castle —
[Hoi iii. 6OO/2/14.] came before the towne, and then sending
an herald to the king, requested a safe conduct from the king, that
he might come and talke with him ; which the king granted, and so
N^S^Sk^' the earle of Northumberland, passing the water, entred the castell,
ioffttoikt and comming to the king, declared to him, that, if it might please
w^i^ his >grace to vndertake, that there should be a parlement assembled,
^^^^^ in the which iustice might be had against such as were enimies to
2d ^Srt ** the common-wealth, and had procured the destruction of the duke
aMi^ of Qlocester, and other noblemen, and herewith pardon the duke
BoiW^k« of Hereford of all things wherin he had offended him, the duke
5^^"S, would be readie to come to him on his kneesJ^ to crane of him
Jiionard a
au^ect] forgiuenesse, and, as an humble subiect, to obeie him in all dutifull
sendees.
The excerpt illustrating the rest of the scene is an account of what
happened at Flint, on a later date. When Bolingbroke approached the
castle, he
[Hoi. iii 501/1/62.] compassed it round about^ euen downe to
the sea, with his people ranged in good and seemelie order at the
L^i^n to ^^^^ ^^ *'^® mounteins: and then the earle of Northumberland,
SSJhSd'iaw passing foorth of the castell to the duke, talked with him a while
]^k?aann7 1^ Bight of the king, being againe got vp to the walles, to take
ibe^^ better view of the armie, being now aduanced within two bo we
* Creton — H6l*8 authority for this passage — says that Richard " monta sur
le8 mors dudit chastel [of Flint], G[ai sont grans & larges par dedens"
(Archaeol. xx. 370). Cp. the stage direction (1. 61} : " The trumpets sound,
jRichard appearelh on tne ioalU,^
« Cp. m. iii. 112, &c. :
" His comming hither hath no further scope
Then for his lineall roialties, and to beg
Infranchisement immediate on his hneea.**
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V. KICHARD n. 109
shootes of the castelL to the small reioising (ye may be sure) of and North-
the Borowfull king. Tlie earle of Northumberland, returning to ^^ ^*^
the castell, appointed the king to be set to dinner (for he was
fasting till then) and, after he had dined, the duke came downe
to the castell himselfe, and entred the same all armed, his SSt^*©?
bassenet onelie excepted; and being within the first gate, he ^u^roko
staied there, till the king came foorth of the inner part of the mchul]
castell vnto him.
The king, accompanied with the bishop of Carleill, the earle
of Salisburie, and sir Stephan Scroope, knight,^ (who bare the
sword before him,) and a few other, came foorth into the vtter 2*th^ooStor
ward, and sate downe in a place prepared for him. Foorthwith, ^'^^^
as the duke got sight of the king, he shewed a reuerend dutie 22J»^Ifto
as became him, in bowing his knee,^ and, comming forward, did ^^^^^
so likewise the second and third time, till the king tooke him '"****'v-
by the hand, and lift him yp, saieng: '^ Deere cousine, ye are
"welcome." The duke, humblie thanking him, said: "My soue- Tktdvhu
'*reigne lord and king, the cause of my comming at this present, fcJ^Si
"is (your honor saued) tohaue againe restitution of my person, ESSfknd
"my lands and heritage, through your fauourable licence." The ^g^ited
king hervnto answered : " Deere cousine, I am readie to accom-
"plish your will, so that ye may inioy all that is yours, without
" exception."
Meeting thus togither, they came foorth of the castell, and the
king there called for wine, and, after they had dronke, they mounted and thfduH
on horssebacke, and rode [ — halting at eleven places on the way — ^ ^jjjj
to London : . . . L(md4m.
^ York, 'whom Shakspere brings into this scene, was not at Flint. He was
then, perhaps, at BristoL—flbZ. 500/i/i2 ; Eves. 163. Before the date of this
scene, Aumerle — who is named amongst Richard's friends in III. ii. 27 — went
over to Bolingbroke.— Cp. Ed. 500/1 /57, &c : Trais. 46; 194: Eves. 154.
Anmerle was present at a meeting between Richard and Archbishop Arundel,
which took place after Richard had been " walking aloft on the braies," and
before Bolingbroke drew near and surrounded Flint Castle. When the con-
ference was ended, Aumerle returned with Arundel to Bolingbroke. — JEToi.
501/1/8, &c. : Arckaed. xx. 157-159; 370, 371.
« Cp. III. iii. 190, 191 :
" Faire coosen, you debase your princely knee,
To make the base earth proud with kissing it : " . • .
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110 V. MCHAKD n.
Act m. 8C. iv. — This scene — ^which is wholly of Shakspere's in-
vention— has been laid by editors at King's Langley (Herts.), the seat
of York, to whom Bolingbroke says (UL L 36) : " Yncle, you say the
Queene is at your house." The gardener's words (UL iv. 68-70) show
that the historic time is shortly before September 30, 1399, the day of
Eichard's deposition. Queen Isabelle was then, perhaps, at Wallingford
Castle, Berks.i
Act rV. sc. L — " Enter Bullingbrooke with the Lords to parlia-
ment," is the stage direction which heads the Fourth Act. A
Parliament, summoned in Bichard's name, met at Westminster on
September 30, 1399, deposed the King, elected Bolingbroke as his
successor, and dissolved on the same day. On October 13, Henry IV.
was crowned, and, on the following day, a new Parliament, summoned
in his name, assembled at Westminster.^ If we regard Act lY., sc. i.,
11. 1-90, from a historical point of view, the latter Parliament was
sitting when Bolingbroke enters, and, calling for Sir William Bagot,
thus addresses him :
Now, Bagot, freely speake thy mind ;
What thou doest know of noble Gloucesters death,
Who wrought it with the King, and who performde 4
The bloudy office of his timeles end.
We lost sight of Bagot on the eve of his flight to Ireland (XL ii.
141). Thence he had been brought fettered to London, and im-
prisoned.' On Thursday, October 16, 1399, the Commons '' rehearsed
all the errors of the last parlement holden in the one and twentith
yeare of king Bichard [1397-98], & namelie in certeine flue of them."
Of these ''errors" the third was that ''the duke of Glocester was
murthered, and after foreiudged" {Hoi. 6II/2/14). On the same day
Bagot was placed at the bar of the House, and a statement,^ drawn up
by him, was read, from which I quote two clauses illustrating lY. i
10-19 ; adding thereto the sources of IL 33-90.
[Eol, iii. 512/1/6.] . . . there was no man in the realme to
whom king Richard was bo much beholden, as to the duke of
1 On July 12, 1399, the Queen was at Wallingford Castle, Berks.— -jRymer,
viiL 83. On January 6, 1400, she was at Sonning, Berks,— OW., 226.
* Eves., 156, 157, 160, 161. Parliament was summoned, in Heniy's name,
to meet on October 6, but no business was done on that day. — Bot, FarL^ iii.
415/1-2.
^ Usk, 28 ; 140. Fob. (565) says that Bagot was a prisoner in the Tower
at this time.
* The excerpts relating to Bagof s charges, and the subsequent appeals, are
in MS. BodL 2376. 1 ccvii b. a sect., traDslated in ArchaeoL xx. 275, &c.
That part of the MS. which contained the chaijges themselves is missing, but
the portion embracing my excerpt beginning with the words " On the satur-
daie," is perfect Comparison of what is left shows that Hoi, followed this
authority. FMa account (565-567) of the Bagot incidenti though varying in
details, is substantially the same as Hci.^i,
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V. RICHARD n. Ill
Amnarle : for he was the man that, to fulfill his mind, had set him ^^^^^^^
in hand with all that was doone against the said duke, and the b^i^lfn-
other lords. . . . There was also conteined in the said bill, that o^^^^r's
Bagot had heard the duke of Aumarle saj» that he had rather than ^^^^
twentie thousand pounds that the duke of Hereford were dead ; not h?£S*****
for anie feare he had of him, but for the trouble and mischeefe 8o,om
that he was like to procure within the realme. BXfbroke
'^ were dead.]
After that the bill had beene read and heard, the duke o{ Tkedutec/
Aumarle rose yp and said, that as touching the points conteined a$itwervnto
in the bill concerning him, they were Ytterlie false and vntrue ;
which he would proue with his bodie, in what manner soeuer it
should be thought requisit . • .
On the saturdaie next insuing [Oct. 181 ^^ William Bagot and ^*<^
the said John Hall ^ were brought both to the barre, and Bagot was «> <*« &«^
examined of certeine points, and sent againe to prison. The lord
Fitzwater herewith rose yp, and said to the king, that where the
duke of Aumarle excuseth himselfe of the duke of Qlocester's luhrd
death, "I say** (quoth he) "that he was the verie cause of his ^^^
"death" ; and so he appealed him of treason, offering by throwing ^JJJIJJ^^
downe his hood as a gage to proue it with his bodie. There were SSSSS's
twentie other lords also that threw downe their hoods, as pledges ^!^d^
to proue the like matter against the duke pf Aumarle. The duke ISSl}
of Aumarle threw downe his hood to trie it against the lord ^^^
Fitzwater, as against him that lied falselie, in that he had charged same.
him with, by that his appeale. These gages were deliuered to the ^g^
constable and marshall of England, and the parties put vnder SoSgebj
arrest. ^^^
The duke of Surrie stood yp also against the lord Fitzwater, ^^^^
auouching that where he had said that the appellants were causers
of the duke of Qlocesters death, it was false, for they were con- [Snnwiaid
strained to sue the same appeale, in like manner as the said lord waiter's
'^■^ ' charge was
Fitzwater was compelled to giue iudgement against the duke of SJ?wdSJn
Glocester, and the earle of Arundell; so that the suing of the ^^^^^
appeale was doone by constraint, and if he said contrarie he lied :
* A former valet of Thomas Mowbrav, Duke of Norfolk. Hall was, by his
own confession, present at the murder of Qloucester.— i2o^. FaH,, iii. 453/1.
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112 V. KIOHARD n.
and therewith he threw downe his hood. The lord Fitzwater
answered herevnto, that he was not present in the parlement
[Amnerie house, when iudgement was giuen against them, and all the lords
^mwld bare witnesse thereof. Moreouer, where it was alledged that the
^to duke of Aamarle should send two of his seruants to Calls, to
Norfolk, murther the duke of Qlocester, the said duke of Aumarle said, that
who * ^
^^^^ if the duke of Norfolke affirme it, he lied falselie, and that he
to mmto** would proue with his bodie ; throwing downe an other hood which
S^^irw ^® ^^ borowed. The same was likewise deliuered to the
rel^^t^t constable and marshall of England,^ and the king licenced the
mu^^hii duke of Norfolke to retume, that he might arraigne his appeale.
In agreement with the last sentence of these excerpts, Shakspere
makes Bolingbroke promise that Norfolk shall be recalled from exile,
to answer Amnerle's challenge. Oarlisle says that Norfolk is dead
(IV. i. 86-102). Norfolk's death is thus noticed by Holinshed : »
^^^ [Hoi ill 514/1/73.] This yeare [1399] Thomas Mowbraie, duke
NcTffoikt. of NorflFolke, died in exile at Venice ; whose death might haue
beene worthilie bewailed of all the realme, if he had not beene
consenting to the death of the duke of Glocester.
Holinshed does not tell us that Norfolk joined crusades
Against black Pagans, Turkes, and Saracens ;
but Shakspere may have transferred to Bolingbroke's foe the honour,
which Bolingbroke had himself acquired through warfare with
<< miscreants." In 1390 a small corps of Englishmen formed part of
an army— commanded by Lewis Di&e of Bourbon, uncle of Charles
VI. — ^which besieged Africa, a fortress seventy miles distant from
Tunis.
fPoiydow [Eol. iii. 473/1/69.] Where, by Polydor Virgil it may seeme,
t^Boiing. that the lord Henrie of Lancaster, earle of Derbie,^ should be
mandedthe caplcine of the English men, that (as before ye haue heard) went
Englishmen ^ o r \ ^ /
S^cUr '^^^ Barbaric with the Frenchmen, and Qenowais. It should
Bal
^ Northumberland was Constable.— Dti^cioZe, i. 278/i. The Marshal was
Iph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland.— Du^dole, i 298/i.
« Norfolk died on September 22, 1399.— Iti^. p, m. 1 H. IV— 71 (0. B.).
' Pdyd. Vera, has the support of 8t Denys (L 662), — written by a contem-
porary of Bolinffbroke, — whicn records that a small band of Englishmen went
to the sie^e of Africa *'cam comite Delby (sic) anglico, filio daois Lencastrie.'*
Froi$. (xii. 255) — whom Hci, had previously cited — does not mention Boling-
broke*6 presence, but says that ^'messire Jean, dit Beaufort, fils bUtard au due
de Lancastre '* was at ttte siege of Africa in 1390.
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V. EICHAKD IL 113
oiherwise appeare by other writers, who af&nne that the said earle tuwuo/
made a ioumie in deed the same time against the miscreants ; not ^Sl^utn
into Barbarie, but into Frutzenland, where he shewed good proofe a^iM< ou
of his noble and yaliant courage : S!?**'
The appeals of battle having been adjourned (11. 104-106), York
enters with the news that Richard has abdicated. On August 31 (?),
1399» the day after his arriyal in London, Eichard was conveyed to
the Tower,^ where
[Hoi iiL 6O3/1/47.] diuerse of the kings seruants, which by
licence had accesse to his person, comforted him (being with sorrow
almost consumed, and in manner halfe dead) in the best wise they
could, exhorting him to regard his health, and saue his life.
And first, they aduised him willinglie to suffer himselfe to be n«Hv it
perntadtd to
deposed, and to resigne his right of his owne accord, so that the retiffiuthe
CFOWtii to M4
duke of Lancaster might without murther or battell obteine the ^^^
scepter and diademe, after which (they well perceiued) he gaped :
by meane whereof they thought he might be in perfect assurance
of his life long to continue. Whether this their persuasion pro-
ceeded by the suborning of the duke of Lancaster and his
fituourers, or of a sincere affection which they bare to the king, as
supposing it most sure in such an extremitie, it is vncerteine ; but
yet the effect followed not, howsoeuer their meaning was : notwith-
standing, the king, being now in the hands of his enimies, and
vtterlie despairing of all comfort, was easilie persuaded to renounce
his crowne and princelie preheminence, so that, in hope of life
onelie, he agreed to all things that were of him demanded. And
so (as it should seeme by the copie of an instrument hereafter
following) he renounced and voluntarilie was deposed from his
roiall crowne and kinglie dignitie ; the mondaie being the nine and
twentith dale of September, and feast of S. Michaell the archangell, imdhud
in the yeare of our Lord 1399, and in the three and twentith yeare Bt. mchB^
-,. . ^ Day. 1899.)
of his reigna
The news, that Bichard has yielded his sceptre to Bolingbroke
(IL 107-110), should be compared with the testimony of witnesses
present at the abdication, as to what followed the King's reading aloud
of the instrument mentioned in the preceding excerpt.
1 Eves,, 165, 156.
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114 V. EICHARD IL
[EoL iii. 6O4/2/39.] Now foorthwith, in our presences and
others, he subscribed the same, and after deliuered it ynto the
[Richaiti archbishop of Canturbnrie, saieng that if it were in his power, or
I^^Seltod^ at his assignement, he would that the duke of Lancaster there
broke.] prcscut should bc his successour, and king after him . . .: desiring
and requiring the archbishop of Yorke, & the bishop of Hereford,
to shew and make report vnto the lords of the parlement of his
Toluntarie resignation, and also of his intent and good mind that
he bare towards his cousin the duke of Lancaster, to haue him his
successour and their king after him.^
When York has announced Eichard's abdication, Bolingbroke says
(1.112):
In Gods name lie ascend the regaU throne.
With reference to these words I quote the following passages,
showing how, on September 30, after hearing the sentence of Eichard's
deposition read. Parliament elected Bolingbroke as his successor.
[Hoi iil 505/2/28.] Immediatlie as the sentence was in this
wise passed, and that by reason thereof the realme stood void
without head or gouemour for the time, the duke of Lancaster,
rfioHngw rising from the place where before he sate, and standing where all
up, and thosc iu the housc might behold him, in reuerend manner made a
crossed °
*»**°»^l signe of the crosse on his forhead, and likewise on his brest, and,
after silence by an officer commanded, said vnto the people, there
being present^ these words following.
The duke of Lancaster laieth challenge
or daime to the croume,
"In the name of the Father, and of the Sonne, & of the Holie-
^ Richard and the commissioneTs appointed to receive his abdication met
in the forenoon of September 29, — the abdication took place in the afternoon
of the same day, — " where was rehearsed vnto the king by the mouth of the
foresaid earle of Northumberland, that, before time at (jonwaie [1 Flint] in
Northwales, the king being there at his pleasure and libertie, promised ynto
the archbishop of Canterburie, then Thomas Amndell, and vnto the said earle
of Northumberland, that he, for insufficiende which he knew himselfe to be
of to occupie so great a charge as to coueme the realme of England, he would
gladlie leaue of and renounce his right and title, as well of that as of his title
to the crowne of France, and his maiestie roiall, vnto Henrie Duke of Here-
ford ; and that to doo in such conuenient wise, as by the learned men of this
land it should most sufficientlie be deuised and ordeined." — HoU, bOZ/2/46
(Rot. Pari, iii. 416/2).
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V. KICHARD n. 115
"ghost I Henrie of Lancaster claime the realme of England and
" the crowne, with all the appurtenances, as I that am descended bj
''right line of the blood comming from that good lord king Henrie
"the third ; and through the right that Qod of his grace hath sent
"me, with the helpe of my kin, and of my freends, to recouer the
"same, which was in point to be vndoone for default of good
"gouemance and due iustice/'
After these words thus by him yttered, he returned and sate
him downe in the place where before he had sitten. Then the SkS^'**^
lords hauing heard and well perceiued this claime thus made by ^^^^
this noble man, ech of them asked of other what they thought "^"^^
therein. At length, after a little pausing or staie made, the arch- ^^^J^^
bishop of Canturburie, hauing notice of the minds of the lords, oSSStX^ru
stood yp & asked the commons if they would assent to the lords, ^nmtmt,
which in their minds thought the claime of the duke made, to be
rightfull and necessarie for the wealth of the realme and them all :
whereto the commons with one voice cried, "Yea, yea, yea!" J^mow
After which answer, the said archbishop, going to the duke, and ^jm^^
kneeling downe before him on his knee, addressed to him all his
purpose in few words. The which when he had ended, he rose, &, ^^^^ ^^
taking the duke by the right hand, led him vnto the kings seate, set^/Mi ^
(the archbishop of Yorke assisting him,) and with great reuerence jgjjj^
set him therein, after that the duke had first ypon his knees made *• "*J
his praier in deuout manner vnto almightie Qod
Sbakspere has antedated Carlisle's speech,^ if we assume it to have
been delivered on or about " wednesdaie following " the day (Saturday,
October 18, 1399) on which Aumerle was appealed by Fitz-Walter.
My next excerpt comprises the part of Carlisle's speech paraphrased
by Shakspere (lY. i. 117-135).
[Hoi. iii. 6I2/2/29.] On wednesdaie [Oct 22, 1399] following,
speech is doubtful. According to the writer of
athority for it — the speech was delivered on
■e to understand '* lenoemain ** as having refer-
I immediately preceding. Bat, as Mr. Williams
), Carlisle's protest seems more apposite if we
October 23, when, in a secret committee, North-
wh&t should be done with Richard lately King,
inry wished by all means to be held sacred 1 " —
:erpt, " On wednesdaie . • • was granted,'' is in
279, 280).
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116
RICHARD n.
lohn Stov.
Th4reguat
of the
HaU.
About
biskopand
Carlisle,
whotfKUed
Sithat
cbaid
being their
sorereign,
the Lords
eonld not
Judge him;
(S) it were
uAJnstto
condemn
him in his
absence].
rWhen
Carlisle hod
ended his
speech, he
was
arrested.)
request was made by the commons, that sith king Richard had
resigned, and was lawfullie deposed from his roiall dignitie, he
might hane indgement decreed against him, so as the realme were
not troubled bj him, and that the causes of his deposing might be
published through the realme for satisfieng of the people : which
demand was granted. Whereypon the bishop of Carleill, a man
both learned, wise, and stout of stomach, boldlie shewed foorth
his opinion concerning that demand; aflirming that there was
none amongst them woorthie or meet to giue indgement ypon so
noble a prince as king Richard was, whom they had taken for their
souereigne and liege lord, by the space of two & twentie yeares
and more : "And I assure you " (said he) "there is not so ranke a
"traitor, nor so errant a theef, nor yet so cmell a murtherer
"apprehended or deteined in prison for his ofiense, but he shall be
"brought before the iustice to heare his indgement; and will ye
"proceed to the indgement of an anointed king, hearing neither
" his answer nor excuse ? I say, that the duke of Lancaster, whom
"ye coil king [Cp. L 134], hath more trespassed to K. Richard &
"his realme, than king Richard hath doone either to him, or
"vs:" . . . As soone as the bishop had ended this tale, he was
attached by the earle marshall, and committed to ward in the
abbeie of saint Albons.
When Carlisle has been arrested, Bolingbroke says :
Fetch hither Eichard, that in common view
He may surrender ; so we shall proceede 166
Without suspition.
Afterwards Northmnberland desires Bichard to read
These Accusations, and these grieuous Crymes
Committed by your Person, and your followers, 224
Against the State and Profit of this Land ;
That, by confessing them, the Soules of men
May deeme that you are worthily depos'd.
The official acts, which have been dramatized in <' the Parliament
Sceane," are thus described :
[Hoi iii. 504/2/60.] Upon the morrow after, being tuesdaie,
and the last dale of September, all the lords spirituall and
temporall, with the commons of the said parlement, assembled at
Westminster, where, in the presence of them, the archbishop of
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V. RICHARD II. 117
Yorke, and the bishop of Hereford, according to the kings request, [^Jjj*'»
shewed ynto them the voluntarie renouncing of the king, with the ^^ bJuJ^'?
fauour also which he bare to his cousme of Lancaster to haue him |SJ[^^]§^
his successour. And moreouer shewed them the schedule or bill to^Siu^
of renouncement, signed with king Richards owne hand; which
they caused to be read first in Latine, as it was written, and after
in English. This doone, the question was first asked of the lords,
if thej would admit and allow that renouncement : the which when
it was of them [p. 606] granted and confirmed, the like question was ^^^H^
asked of the commons, and of them in like manner confirmed. f^J^HJ^.^
After this, it was then declared, that, notwithstanding the foresaid
renouncing, so by the lords and commons admitted and confirmed, JJjSJSwtfc
it were necessarie, in auoiding of all suspicions and surmises of SSS^were
euill disposed persons, to haue in writing and registred the mani- upfSnd ^
fold crimes and defaults before doone by king Richard, to the end raid.)
that they might first be openlie declared to the people, and after
to remaine of record amongst other of the kings records for euer.
All this was doone accordinglie, for the articles, which before yee
haue heard, were drawne and ingrossed yp, and there shewed readie
to be read ; but, for other causes more needfiill as then to be pre-
ferred, the reading of those articles at that season was deferred.
Holinshed thus prefaces the "Articles" which Northumberland
desires Richard to "reade o're*' (L 243) :
[JIbZ.iii. 602/1/8.] . . . manie heinous points of misgouemance
and iniurious dealings in the administration of his kinglie office,
were laid to the charge of this noble prince king Richard : the
which (to the end the commons might be persuaded, that he was
an vnprofitable prince to the common-wealth, and worthie to be ^Jt? S*
deposed) were ingrossed yp in 33 solemne articles. ^ articiei.]
Perhaps Richard's manual surrender of his crown (IL 181-189) is a
dramatic version of a symbolical transfer made by him in the Tower,
on September 29, after he had expressed a wish that Bolingbroke — who
was present — ^might be his successor.
[Eol. iiL 504/2/45.] And, in token heereof, he tooke a ring of
gold from his finger, being his signet, and put it ypon the said
dukes [Bolingbroke's] finger, • • •
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118 V. RICHARD II.
But Froissart (ziv. 222, 223) describes how, in the presence of
** lords, dukes, prelates, erles, barones, and knyghts, and of the notablest
men of london k of other good townee," Bichard, " aparelled like a
king in his robes of estate, his sceptre in his hand, k his croun on his
bed," delivered the sceptre to Bolmgbroke, and then " toke the crowen
fro his head with both his hands, and set it before him, k sayd : ' Fair
IS djnet^'** * cosyn, Henry duke of Lancaster, I geue and deliuer you this crowne
liDiriipoD * wherewyth I was crowned king of England, and therewith all the
broke^ 'right there to dependynge.' " — ^Berner's Froissart^ 1525, voL iL foL
to««.l cocziiiL
On the afternoon of September 29, 1399, Bolingbroke, Northumber-
land, William, Abbot of Westminster, and other witnesses, met '* in
the cheefe chamber of the kings lodging," at the Tower {Hot, iii. pp.
503, 504), before whom Bichard,
[Hoh iii 504/1/19.] with glad countenance . • . said openlie
that he was readie to renounce and resigne all his kinglie maiestie
in maner and forme as he before had promised. And although he
had and might sufficientlie haue declared his renouncement by the
reading of an other meane person ; yet, for the more suertie of the
matter, and for that the said resignation should haue his full force
and strength, himselfe therefore read the scroll of resignation, in
maner and forme as followeth.
By this official document, — which has a remote general likeness to
his speech in lY. i. 204-215, — Bichard absolved his subjects from their
allegiance, resigned his crown and lordships, renounced the style and
honours of a king, and acknowledged that he was justly deposed.
In regard to Bichard's words (U. 255-257), —
I haue no Name, no Title,
No, not that Name was giuen me at the Font,
But tis vsurpt, —
the late Bev. W. A. Harrison pointed out (Trcmsactions of the New
Shdkepere Society ^ 1880-82, p. 59*) two passages in Traiaon, whence it
appears that Bichard, after his abdication, was styled ''lehan de
Bdrdeaulx qui fu nomme Boy Bichart Dengleterre" (71, 72), and
<' lehan de Londres lequel fu nomme Bichart" (94). After his capture
the Londoners called him a bastard (Trais,, 64) ; and Bolingbroke,
conversing with the fallen King in the Tower, before the abdication,
spoke of Bichard's illegitimacy as a common rumour {Froia,^ ziv. 219,
220). We learn from Arm, R, IL—H. IV. (237, 238) that Bichard,
being in danger of death, was hastily baptized by the name of John,
but afterwards, in compliment to his godfather Bichard King of the
Majorcas,^ '' oonfirmatus fait per Episoopum, vocatusque ' Bicardus/ "
^ '* Richard, King of the Majorcas" (Majoricarum) is unknown in history.
Richard IL's godfather was James, titular King of Majorca. — Froissart, ed.
Buchon (Pantn^n littdndre), i 521. This Jamei, son of James II. King of
Majorca, was the third husband of Joanna I., Queen of Naples.
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V. RICHARD II. 119
I have not found this story anent Richard's name in chronicles
published before 1608, when the Parliament Scene was first printed.
While he is gazing into the mirror (IL 281-283), Bichard says :
Was this Face the Face
That euery day, vnder his House-hold Eoofe,
Did keepe ten thousand men f
Holinshed speaks thus of the Sling's lavish household expenditure :
[Hoi. ill 608/i/S.] He kept the greatest port, and mainteined Earding.
the most plentifull house, that euer any king in England did either
before his time or since. For there resorted dailie to his court riunobk
aboue ten thousand pecBons that had meat and drinke there *^Jl^J^
allowed them.
Shakspere has postdated Richard's committal to the Tower (1. 316).
According to Holinshed :
[HoL iii 6OI/2/63.] The next day after his comming to Sl^to
London, the king from Westminster was had to the Tower,^ and *** *'**^*
there committed to safe custodie.
I know not why Bolingbroke should "solemnly set downe" his
coronation on " Wednesday next " (IL 319, 320). He was crowned on
Monday, October 13, 1399 ; as appears from Holinshed, who records
Bolingbroke's coronation on " saint Edwards daie, and the thirteenth
of October" (6II/1/24), and says (5II/1/71): "The solemnitie of the
coronation bemg ended, the morow after being tuesdaie, the parlement
began againe."
The first Parliament of Henry lY. entailed the crown upon him
and the heirs of his body. Holinshed relates this settlement, and thus
alludes to the impending plot of the Abbot of Westminster^ broached
at the close of Act lY.
[Hoi iii 6I4/1/22.] By force of this act king Henrie thought
himselfe firmelie set on a sure foundation, not needing to feare any
storme of aduerse fortune. But yet shortlie after he was pat in [The Abbot
danger to haue beene set besides the seat^ by a conspiracie b^un ^^J,^^^^
in the abbat of Westminsters hoiise, which had it not beene ^Jteoned
hindredy it is doubtfdll whether the new king should haue inioied ^Si
^ According to Bve$, (156) Richard reached London on Saturday, August
30, 1399, and was taken to the Tower on the following day. Ann, B, IL—H.
IV. (251) and Otb. (208, 209) give September 1 as the date of his arrival in
London, and add that on ^ptember 2 he was removed from the pdace of
Westminster, by water, to the Tower. With hesitation I accept the dates of
the monk of Evesham, whose authority concerning the events of IUchard*s last
year deserves great regard.
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120
V. RICHARD n.
[Richard wu
conveyed to
Leeds, and
aftervrtrdi
toPomfr«t^
where bd
dM.1
rtedmng
imiolandon.
his roialtie, or the old king (now a prisoner) restored to his
principalitie.
Act Y. 8c. i. — ^There was no such parting of Kichard and Isabella as is
here represented. They never met again after Bichard left Windsor ; ^
not long before he sailed for Ireland. Between the two historical
events which this scene connects — Bichard^s transference to Pomfret,^
and Isabelle's return to France — an interval of more than a year elapsed.
Bichard's captivity in the Tower is ignored. Northumberland enters,
and thus addresses the deposed King (11. 51, 52) :
My Lord, the minde of Bullingbrooke is changde ;
You must to Pomf ret, not vnto the Tower.
Bichard was sent to the Tower on or about August 31, 1399 ;
whence,
[Hoi. iii 6O7/2/64.] shortlie after his resignation, he was con-
ueied to the castell of Leeds in Kent, & from thence to Pomfret,
where he departed out of this miserable life (as after you shall
heare).
Moreover, Northumberland tells the Queen that she '' must away
to France " (1. 54). She was, however, detained by Bolingbroke ; and
did not, when returning to France, leave London — where this scene is
laid—until June 28, 1401.«
Act Y. sec. ii., iii. — ^The description which York gives of Boling-
broke's reception by the Londoners (Y. ii. 7-17) has full warrant from
the following excerpt.
[Hoi. iii 501/2/44.] As for the duke, he was receiued with all
the ioy and pompe that might be of the Londoners, and was
lodged in the bishops palace, by Paales church. It was a woonder
to see what great concursse of people, & what number of horsses,
came to him on the waie as he thus passed the countries, till his
^ When in the Tower, Richard commanded that the Queen might be sent
for, to speak to him ; but Bolinebroke, who was present, pleaded the Council's
auUiority as an excuse for disooedience.— Traw., 66 ; 217. Richard married
her in 1396 ; and, at the historic date of Act Y. sc. i, she was about twelve
years of age.--C^r<m. R IL—H. IV., 129 (Appendix).
s Richard was removed from the Tower on the Morrow of SS. Simon and
Jude Opct 29, 1399), soon after midnight.— u4nn. U. II.— H. IV,, 313. Ott.,
223. In Trais, (76 ; 227) the date given for his removal from the Tower is
October 31, 1399. According to Ann. B. IL—H. IV. (313) and OU. (223) the
place of his subsequent imprisonment was then, at least, a state secret ; but
the writer of Chron. OUes tells us (Hen. IV., 10) that Richard was taken from
the Tower to Leeds Castle in Kent, and was thence conveyed to Pomfret
Castle.
s Usk, 61 ; 185. Adam of Usk was an eye-witness of her departure from
London.
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V. RICHARD n. 121
comming to London, where (ypon his approch to the citie) the
maior rode foorth to receiue him, and a great number of other
citizens. Also the cleaigie met him with procession , and such ioj
appeared in the countenances of the people, yttering the same also
with words, as the like [had] not lightlie beene scene. For in (Joy in the
euerie towne and Tillage where he passed, children reioised, women ^^
clapped their hands, and men cried out for ioy. But to speake of J^^The
the great numbers of people that flocked togither in the fields and g^tlof
streets of London at his comming, I here omit; neither will I tbroi«HL)
speake of the presents, welcommings, lauds, and gratifications
made to him by the citizens and communaltie.
When Richard was removed from Westminster to the Tower (p. 119
above), he narrowly escaped an outbreak of hatred far exceeding
what York noticed (Y. ii 5, 6 ; 27-30) on the day befora
[ffol iii 501/2/66.] Manic euill disposed persons, assembling
themselues togither in great numbers, intended to haue met with [Ad^ignto
him, and to haue taken him from such as had the conueieng of g^^^
him, that they might haue slaine him. But the maior and alder- ^iS***
men gathered to them the worshipfuU commoners and graue AilmSSi]
citizens, by whose policie, and not without much adoo, the other
were reuoked firom their euill purpose : . . .
As York ends with a firm profession of loyalty to Bolingbroke, the
Duchess of York exclaims : " Here comes my Sonne ^ Aumerle I " to
which the Duke replies (11. 41-43) :
Aumerle that was ;
But that is lost for being Bichards friend,
And, Madam, you must call him Butland ^ now :
By Parliament sitting on November 3, 1399,
[Hoi iii 513/2/1.] it was finallie enacted, that such as were
appellants in the last parlement against the duke of Glocester and ^^Jf
oiher, should in this wise following be ordred. The dukes of eSS'/^^
Aumarle, Surrie, and Excester, there present, were iudged to loose d^iedo/
thiirtiUet,
^ Aumerle's mother was Isabel, daughter of Pedro the Cruel, King of
Castile and Leon. She died in 1394.— Hoi. 481/i/28 (WaU,, ii. 214, 215).
York was sarvived by his second wife, Joan Holland, daughter of Iliomas
Holland, second Earl of Kent.
> Earl of Rutland was his former title. He was created Duke of Albemarle
on September 29, 1397 ; on which day the Parliament wherein he appealed
Gloucester was prorogued. — Eves,, 141.
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122
V. RICHAKD n.
ffaU,
What
WMfUCd th€
aUattf
Wutmintter
to cofupirt
aaahutthe
Tlulordt
thaie<m-
tpirtd
offointttht
[MAQdelen,
apiiett,
naembled
BicbanL]
their names of dukes, togither with the honors, titles, and dignities
thereynto belonging.
The historic date of January 4, 1400,^ — the day on which York
detected Aumerle's treason, — can be given to such portions of scenes ii
and iii., Act Y., as have for their subject the discovery of the Abbot's
plot. The material for these portions was chiefly furnished by the
closing sentence of the third, and the whole of the fourth, paragraph
quoted below.
[Hoi. iil 514/2/10.] But now to speak of the conspiracie,
which was contriued by the abbat of Westminster as cheefe instru-
ment thereofl Ye shall vnderstand, that this abbat (as it is
reported) vpon a time heard king Henrie sale, when he was but
carle of Derbie, and yoong of yeares, that princes had too little^
and religious men too mucL He therfore doubtmg now, least if
the king continued long in the estate, he would remooue the great
beame that then greened his eies, and pricked his conscience,
became an instrument to search out the minds of the nobilitie, and
to bring them to an assemblie and councell, where they might con-
sult and common togither, how to bring that to effect, which they
eamestlie wished and desired ; that was, the destruction of king
Henrie, and the restoring of king Richard. For there were diuerse
lords that shewed themselues outwardlie to fauor king Henrie,
where they secretlie wished & sought his confusion. The abbat,
after he had felt the minds of sundrie of them, called to his house,
on a day in the terme time,^ all such lords & other persons which
he either knew or thought to be as affectioned to king Richard, so
enuious to the prosperitie of king Henrie ; whose names were :
lohn Holland earle of Huntington, late duke of Excester ; Thomas
Holland earle of Kent, late duke of Surrie; Edward earle of
Rutland) late duke of Aumarle, sonne to the duke of Yorke ; John
Montacute earle of Salisburie ; Thomas lord Spenser, late earle of
Qlocester ; Thomas ^ the bishop of Carleill ; sir Thomas Blunt ; and
Maudelen^ a priest, one of king Richards chappell^ a man as like
^ Aumerle went to dine with bis father ** le premier Dimenche de Ian "
[1400] ; and, havingseated himself, laid the letter containing evidence of the
plot on the table.— 2Vaii., 80 ; 233.
* The conspirators met at the Abbot of Westminster's chambers, on
December 17, 1399.— Traw., 77 ; 229. » Thomas} John HoL
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V. EIOHARD IL 123
him in stature and proportion in all lineaments of bodie, as ynlike
in birth, dignitie, and conditions.
The abbat highlie feasted these lords, his speciall freends, and,
when they had well dined, they withdrew into a secret chamber,
where they sat downe in councell, and, after much talke & con-
ference had about the bringing of their purpose to passe concerning
the destruction of king Henrie, at length by the aduise of the earle
of Huntington it was deuised, that they should take ypon them a
solemne iusts to be enterprised betweene him and 20 on his part, ^J^^^j^
& the earle of Salisburie and 20 with him, at Oxford ; to the which ^J^"*
triumph K Henrie should be deshred, &, when he should be most i^^^ke
busilie marking the martiall pastime, he suddenlie should be slaine sSL, ud
Riehudihos
and destroied, and so by that means king Richard, who as yet ^J*2^^*?
lined, might be restored to libertie, and haue his former estate &
dignitie. It was further appointed, who should assemble the
people ; the number and persons which should accomplish and put
in execution their deuised enterprise. Hervpon was an indenture ^*J^
sextipartite made, sealed with their scales, and signed with their ^^^"^^^
hands, in the which each stood bound to other, to do their whole
indeuour for the accomplishing of their purposed exploit. More-
ouer, they sware on the holie euangelists to be true and secret each
to other, euen to the houre and point of death.
When all things were thus appointed, the earle of Huntington
came to the king vnto Windsore, eamestlie requiring him, that he ^*'**^
would vouchsafe to be at Oxenford on the daie appointed of their •««*«<«<«•
iustes; both to behold the same, and to be the discouerer and
indifferent iudge (if anie ambiguitie should rise) of their couragious
acts and dooings. The king, being [j?. 51 5] thus instantlie required of
his brother in law,^ and nothing lesse imagining than that which
was pretended, gentlie granted to fulfill his request Which thing
obteined, all the lords of the conspiracie departed home to their J^^J^
houses, as they noised it, to set armorers on worke about the gJS^
trimming of their armour against the iusts, and to prepare all
other furniture and things readie, as to such an high & solemne
1 « Our trusty brother in law " {Rich. IL, V. ill 137), John Earl of Hunt-
ingdon, married Elizabeth, aiBter german of £olingbroke.
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124
V. RICHARD II.
[TheyaU
met at
Oxford,
except
Rutland.
[Rutland
had the
indenture in
hisboiom.]
Tk4dtiktqf
T&rke taketh
tkt indenture
fivmhitton.
tTork
reviled his
son,— for
whom he
had become
surety,— and
rode on to
Windsor, to
wamBoling-
broke.]
(Rutland
outstripped
York.1
TheearUof
Ruamtd
vttTtthr
vhoUcon-
ipiraciito
tkeHng.
(Afterwards
cameTork
with the
indenture.]
triumph apperteined. The earle of Huntington came to his house
and raised men on euerie side, and prepared horsse and hamesse
for his compassed purpose ; and, when he had all things readie, he
departed towards Oxenford, and, at his comming thither, he found
all his mates and confederates there, well appointed for their
purpose, except the earle of Rutland, bj whose follie their practised
conspiracie was brought to light and disclosed to king Henrie.
For this earle of Rutland, departing before from Westminster to
see his father the duke of Yorke, as he sat at dinner, had his
counterpane of the indenture of the confederacie in his bosome.
The father, espieng it, would needs see what it was ; and, though
the Sonne humblie denied to shew it, the father, being more earnest
to see it, by force tooke it out of his bosome ; and perceiuing the
contents therof, in a great rage caused his horsses to be sadled out
of hand, and spitefuUie reproouing his sonne of treason, for whome
he was become suertie and mainpemour for his good abearing in
open parlement,^ he incontinentlie mounted on horssebacke to ride
towards Windsore to the king, to declare vnto him the malicious
intent of his complices. The earle of Rutland, seeing in what
danger he stood, tooke his horsse,^ and rode another waie to
Windsore in post, so that he got thither before his father, and,
when he was alighted at the castell gate, he caused the gates to be
shut, saieng that he must needs deliuer the keies to the king.
When he came before the kings presence, he kneeled downe on his
knees, beseeching him of mercie and forgiuenesse, and, declaring
the whole matter vnto him in order as euerie thing had passed,
obteined pardon. Therewith came his father, and, being let in,
deliuered the indenture, which he had taken from his sonne, vnto
the king, who thereby perceiuing his sonnes words to be true,
changed his purpose for his going to Oxenford.
Act V. sec, ir. and v. — Scene iv., Act Y., and the latter part ' (11.
1 Cp. lUcK IL, Y. ii. 44, 45.
* Snakspere has made Aumerle take York's horse ; for, according to all the
texts of Rick. JJ., V. ii 111, the Duchess exclaims : '* After, Aumeue ! mount
the vpon his horse."
' What a groom, who had once served Richard, says about " Roane Bar-
barie *' (U. 76-80), and the fallen King's comment thereon (U. 84-86), may
possibly have been suggested to Shakspere by a story of a greyhound named
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V. BICHARD !!•
125
95-117) of the next scene, faithfully represent one of the several
accounts of Richard's death.
[Hoi. iii. 517/1/7.] One writer/ which seemeth to haue great ^^^'^^
knowledge of king Richards dooings, saith, that king Henrie, ^^^^S[a%L
sitting on a daie at his table, sore sighing, said: ''Haue I no ^^^ic^h
"faithfull freend which will deliuer me of him, whose life will be i^Hngbroke
" my death, and whose death will be the preseruation of my life 1 "
This saieng was much noted of them which were present, and
especiallie of one called sir Piers of Exton. This knight incontin-
entlie departed from the court, with eight strong persons in his
•ay].
[Berner^B
Froimaartf
ed. 10528-
26), VOL il.
toLc
Mathe ; though the dog's abandonment of his old master was deliberately cruel,
while Barbary was, as Bichard admits, "created to be awed by man,'' and
"borne to beare."
And, as it was enformed me, kynge Richarde had a grayhounde
called Mathe, who alwayes wayted vpon the kynge, and wolde
knowe no man els. For, whansoner the kyng dyde ryde, he that
oo&zii.] kept the grayhounde dyde lette hym lose, and ne wolde strei^ht
rynne to the kynge and fawne vpon hym, and Icape with nis
fore fete vpon the kynges shnlders. And as the kynge & the erle
of Derby talked togyder in the courte [of Flint Castlel the
crayhounde, who was wont to lepe vpon the kyng, left the kynge
& came to the erle of Derby, duke of Lancastre, and made to
hym the same frendly countinaunce & chere as he was wonte
to do to the kyng. The duke, who knewe nat the grayhounde,
demaunded of the kyng what the grayhounde wolde do. " Cosyn,"
quod the kyng, "it is a gret good token to you, and an yuvll
"sygne to me." "Sir, howe knowe you thatr' quod the dufce.
" I knowe it well," quod the kyng : " The grayhounde maketh
"you chere this day as kynge of Englande: (as ye shalbe, and I
**8halbe deposed:) the grayhounde nath this knowledge natur-
"ally, therfore take hym to you ; he wyll folowe you & forsake
"me." The duke vnderstode well those wordes, and cherisshed
the grayhounde, who wolde neuer after folowe kyng Eicharde,
but folowed the duke of Lancastre.
Usk says (39, 40 ; 155) that the dog once belonged to Thomas Holland Earl of
Kent, on whose death it came to Richard, whom it had never before seen.
After leaving Richard it went to Shrewsbury, and there Ush saw it fawn upon
Henry.
1 The writer, I suppose, of Trais. (93-96 ; 248-250). Sol had a MS. of
Traw., which he cites as "The French pamphlet" (see p. 82, note 1, above).
But Mr. Williams pointed out (TraU.,\ note 3) that a MS. of Froissart's
fourth book (No. 8323 Regius, Biblioth^ue du Roi) has an addition containing
the familiar story of Richard's murder by Exton, the writer of which addition
says that he was informed of its truth "par homme digne de foy, nomm^
Creton " (li.). The only important difference between Hd.U version, and the
original stoiy as narrated by Creton and the writer of TraU. is that, according
to the latter authorities, Bolingbroke expressly ordered Exton to slay Richard :
the aside which gave Exton his cue (" Haue I no ... of my life ") first occur-
ring, I believe, in SaUe (20), whose account of Richard's murder agrees in
other particulars with what Hot. relates.
[Richard had
a greyhound
oiSled
Mathe, who
would
foUow no
oneelae.]
[At Flint
CaaUe,
Mathe left
Richard,
andfi&wned
on Boling-
broke.]
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126
V. RICHARD n.
[Exton went
ioPomfret
with eight
followers ;
and ordered
the sewer
not to taste
Richard's
food.]
[When the
reftiaedto
taste the
food,
Richard
stnick him,
and bade the
doTil take
him and
Doling*
broke.
Then the
mnrderers
entered.]
Tki duperat
fMnkoodof
Hno
Aiekard,
K.RUkard
murthered.
(Bxton*s
remorse.)
companie, and came to Pomfret, commanding the esquier, that was
accustomed to sew^ and take the assaie before king Richard, to doo
80 no more^ saieng : ''Let him eat now, for he shall not long eat"
King Richard sat downe to dinner, and was serued without
courtesie or assaie ; whereypon, much maruelling at the sudden
change, he demanded of the esquier whie he did not his dutie :
"Sir" (said he) "I am otherwise commanded by sir Piers of
"Exton, which is newlie come from K Henrie." When king
Richard heard that word, he tooke the keruing knife in his hand,
and strake the esquier on the head, saieng: "The diuell take
** Henrie of Lancaster and thee togither I " And with that word,
sir Piers entred the chamber, well armed, with eight tall men
likewise armed, euerie of them hauing a bill in his hand.
King Richard, perceiuingthis, put the table from him, &, stepmg
to the formost man, wrung the bill out of his hands, & so valiantlie
defended himselfe, that he slue foure of those that thus came to
assaile him. Sir Piers, being half dismaied herewith, lept into the
chaire where king Richard was woont to sit, while the other foure
persons fought with him, and chased him about the chamber.
And in conclusion, as king Richard trauersed his ground, from one
side of the chamber to an other, & comming by the chaire, where
sir Piers stood, he was felled with a stroke of a poUax which sir
Piers gaue him ypon the head, and therewith rid him out of life ; ^
without giuing him respit once to call to God for mercie of his
passed offenses. It is said, that sir Piers of Exton, after he had
thus slaine him, wept right bitterlie, as one striken with the
pricke of a giltie conscience, for murthering him, whome he had so
long time obeied as king.
Act Y. Bc. vi. — ^This scene is postdated, for the reyolt was sup-
pressed before Richard's death. Wlien so. vi opens, 'Hhe latest
newes " which Bolingbroke has heard is that the rebels have burnt
^ " sew . . . assaie ** = serve and remove the dishes, and taste the food in
them.
> Fehmanr 14^ 1400, is the usoally accepted date of Eichard*s death (see
Evea.y 169) ; but, on January 29, 1400, Charles VI. referred to him as Eichard
late King of England, whom Qod nudon. — Rymer^ viii 124. Wylie (i 114^
115) cites docnmentary evidence from which he infers that Richard was
murdered about the middle of January, 1400.
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V. RICHARD IL
127
Cirencester; but whether they had been '<tane or slaine" was un-
known. As Holinshed's account of the rebellion was not dramatized,
an epitome of the chief facts recorded by contemporary chroniclers
will suffice. The rebel lords marched to Windsor, hoping to sur-
prise Henry. Warned in time, he fled by night (Jan. 4-5) to
London, and raised forces to oppose them. The rebels retreated, and
arrived at Cirencester on January 6. At midnight, the townsmen
attacked them in their lodgings, and, after a struggle which lasted for
many hours, obliged them to surrender. The lords were then confined
in the abbey. About vespers a chaplain attached to them set fire to
some houses in Cirencester, in order that the prisoners might escape
while the townsmen were extinguishing the flames. But the men of
Cirencester, paying no heed to the fire, brought the rebels out of the
abbey, and beheaded the Earls of Salisbury and Kent about sunset, on
January 7, UOO.—Usk, 40, 41; 156. Traison, 80-82; 233-235.
Arm. B. II.—H, /F., 323-326.
Holinshed's narration of what befell the other conspirators should
be compared with U. 7-29.
[Hoi. iii. 6I6/2/16.] The lord * Hugh Spenser,^ otherwise called
earle of Glocester, as he would haue fled into Wales, was taken
and carried to Bristow, where (according to the earnest desires of
the commons) he was beheaded. . . . Manie other that were
priuie to this conspiracie, were taken, and put to doath, some at
Oxford, as sir Thomas Blunt, sir Benet Cilie, knight, . • • but sir
Leonard Brokas, and [others] . . . , were drawne, hanged, and
beheaded at London. There were nineteene in all executed in
one place and other, and the heads of the cheefe conspirators were
set on polles ouer London bridge, to the terror of othera Shortlie
afber, the abbat of Westminster, in whose house the conspiracie
was began, (as is said,) gooingbetweene his monasterie & mansion,
for thought fell into a sudden palsie, and shortlie afber, without
speech, ended his life.' The bishop of Carleill was impeached, and
condemned of the same conspiracie ; but the king, of his mercifull
• Tkama
Spenter
.ed.3
Sail,
AmmUouCi
of Blunt,
Brocas, and
othen].
Tho.
Waltina,
Hail.
[Tbe chief
consplra-
tors'heMli
set on
London
Bridge.]
TUatlbatof
WestmintUr
tuddUU.
Thorn, Wali,
> Qq. I, 2, 3, 4, read : '* The heades of (krford, Salisbury, Blunt and Kent"
(V. vi. 8). Fi has : « The heads of Salsbury, iSSpencer, Blunt, and Kent." As
Aubrey ae Vere, Earl of Oxford, had no share in the rebellion, the reading of
Fi should be preferred.
' William Colchester, Abbot of Westminster, was a prisoner in the Castle
of Reigate on January 25, 1400,— Clous: 1 H. IV. pars i. m. 19 (0. B.). He
must have soon r^ained his freedom. — Awn, B, II . — H, IV, ^ 330 ; and CSotM,
1 H. IV. pars ii m. 6 (0. B.). He was probably the William Abbot of West-
minster present at Pisa in 1408. — Mart^ne's Thesawrus Novus Anecdotorm^ ii
1395 C. According to Dogdale (Mon(utic(yt^ ed. 1817-30, i 275, 276) Colchester
was Abbot of Westminster until' some date in October, 1420.
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128
RICHARD II.
TkibUhopof
OaarUUl<Ue&
tkrouffk
ftotrt% or
roiktr
ikor&ugk
grttftof
UUwidfced
proiperatke
tooHiL
HaU.
rRidiard'B
body con-
veyed from
Pomfretto
London.]
Thtdead
bodUq/K.
Mekard
brvuffkt to
[Funeral
rfteeat
Westminster
and St.
Faol'i.]
Hitperion-
age.
clemencie, pardoned him of that offense ; although he died shortlie
after,^ more through feare than force of sicknesse, as some haue
written.
The excerpt quoted aboye (pp. 125, 126) contains all that Holinshed
has recorded touching Ezton. From the subjoined description of
Kichard's funeral, it appears that Bolingbroke paid as much respect to
the late King's memory as may warrant the closing lines of this scene.
[Hoi iil 6I7/1/49.] After he was thus dead, his bodie was
imbalmed, and seered, and couered with lead, all saue the face, to
the intent that all men might see him, and perceiue that he was
departed this life : for as the corps was conueied from Pomfret to
London, in all the townes and places where those that had the
conueiance of it did stale with it all night, they caused dirige to be
Boong in the euening, and masse of Bequiem in the morning ; and
as well after the one seruice as the other, his face discouered, was
shewed to all that coueted to behold it
Thus was the corps first brought to the Tower, and after
through the citie, to the cathedrall church of saint Paule, bare
faced ; where it laie three daies togither, that aU men might behold
it There was a solemne obsequie doone for him, both at Paules,
and after at Westminster, at which time, both at dirige ouemight^
and in the morning at the masse of Bequiem, the king and the
citizens of London were present When the same was ended, the
corps was commanded to be had ynto Langlie, there to be buried
in the church of the friers preachera
The following excerpts bear upon the characters of Bichard II.,
Edmund Duke of York, and Sir John Bushy.
In summing up the general aspect of society in Richard's time,
Holinshed says, with regard to the King :
[Hoi iil 507/2/68.] He was seemelie of shape and fauor, & of
nature good inough, if the wickednesse & naughtie demeanor of
such as were about him had not altered it
His chance verelie was greatlie infortunate, which fell into such
calamitie, that he tooke it for the best wale he could deuise to
renounce his kingdome, for the which mortall men are accustomed
1 He lived several years after this time. See W^ie (1 109, 110) for an
account of Carlisle's fortunes subsequent to the rebellion.
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V. RICHARD n. 129
to hazard [p. 508] all they haue to atteine therevnto. But such mis-
fortune (or the like) oftentimes falleih ynto those princes, inrhich,
when they are aloft, cast no doubt for perils that maie follow. [He was
He was prodigall, ambitious, and much giuen to the pleasure J^i^^^
of the bodie. . • . ^^^
[Hoi. iii 6O8/1/32.] Furthermore, there reigned abundantlie S^JJJL*'*
the filthie sinne of leacherie and fornication, with abhominable
adulterie, speciallie in the king.^
York, says Holinshed,
[Hoi. iii 464/2/49.] being verelie a man of a gentle nature, nrwVi
wished that the state of the common-wealth might haue beene "^^^^^i
redressed without losse of any mans life, or other cruell dealing.
He
[Hoi. iii 486/2/25.] was a man rather coueting to line in J^'^
pleasure, than to deale with much businesse, and the weightie »°*ittoa«-i
affaires of the realme.^
When John of Gaunt married Katharine Swinford, the Duke of
Gloucester,
[Hoi iii 486/1/20.] being a man of an high mind and stout raioaoester
stomach, misliked his brothers matching so meanlie, but the duke ^^^
of Yorke bare it well inough. 2SS^i
The Speaker of the " Great Parliament " (September, 1397) was
[Hoi. iii. 490/2/28.] sir lohn Bushie, a knight of Lincolneshire, ^^J^
accompted to be an exceeding cruell man, ambitious, and couetous v««*«r.
beyond measure.
While discharging the office of Speaker at this Parliament,
1 Bolingbroke charges Bushy and Greene with tempting Richard to commit
this sin (111. i 11-15).
^ Hardyng thus describes him (340, 341) :
, . . Edmonde hyght of Langley of good chere,
Glad and mery and of Ms owne ay lyued,
Without wronge, as chronicles haue bieued.
When all the lordes to councell and parlyament
Went, he wolde to hunte and also to hawekyng,
All gentyll disporte as to a lorde appent,
He vsed aye, and to the pore supportyng
Where euer he was in any place oidyng,
Without suppryse, or any extorcyon
Of the porayle, or any oppressyon.
K
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130 VI. FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
[Hol. iii 490/2/57.] Sir lohn Bushie, in all his taike, when he
proponed any matter vnto the king, did not attribute to him titles
of honour, due and accustomed ; but inuented ynused termes, and
such strange names as were rather agreeable to the diuine
impuonu maiestie of God, than to any earthlie potentate. The prince,
Sir jobn being desirous inough of all honour, and more ambitious than was
Bushy liked ° ^* , '
by mchard]. requisite, seemed to like well of his speech, and gaue good eare to
his talke.
Richard was very unfortunate in his choice of favourites, for
[Hol iii. 492/2/72.] such as were cheefe of his councell were
[The com. estcemcd of the commons to be the woorst creatures that might
N^SSj'aad l>® ; ^ [P- 493] the dukes of Aumarle, Norfolke, and Excester, the
i^'^^lrai^ earle of Wiltshire, sir lohn Bushie, sir William Bagot, and sir
giH^Lted Henrie^ Qreene: which three last remembred were knights of the
Bag^'a^ Bath, against whom the commons yndoubtedlie bare great and
VI. FIKST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
Act L so. i — A more precise date than the year 1402 * camiot be
assigned to the opening scene in Ths Historie qf Hervry the /ovrth ; '
because, though but ** yesternight " (L 36) a post had brought tidings
of Sir Edmund Mortimer's capture by Glendower, on June 22, 1402,^
Sir Walter Blunt has since arrived with news of the Scots' defeat at
Homildon (IL 67-73) ; which happened on September 14, 1402.« The
last historic event of the play is the battle of Shrewsbury ; fought on
July 21, 1403.«
Of Mortimer's captiure Holinshed gives the following account :
[Hol iii 620/1/64.] Owen Glendouer, according to his accus-
tomed manner, robbing and spoiling within the English borders,
caused all the forces of the shire of Hereford to assemble togither
against them, vnder the conduct of Edmund Mortimer, earle of
» HenrU] Thoma* Hol.
* For an excerpt relating to tlie proposed crusade, of which Henry speaks
in this scene (IL 18-29), see p. 159 below.
s I quote the text of Qi (1598).
* Uak, 75; 200. * Ott., 238. • Uilfc, 80; 206.
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Vr. FIRST PABT OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH. 131
March.* But, comming to trie the matter by battell, whether by ^^^,J^
treason or otherwise, so it fortuned, that the English power was JJ^^i
discomfited, the earle taken prisoner, and aboue a thousand of his priSneria
people slaine in the place. The shameful! yillanie ^ vsed by the owm ^
Welshwomen towards the dead carcasses, was such as honest [Thewei^-
eares would be ashamed to heare, and continent toongs to speake rml^.}
thereof. The dead bodies might not be buried, without great
summes of monie giuen for libertie to conueie them awaie.
A Scottish army having been defeated on June 22, 1402,^ while
retumiDg from a border foray,
[Hoi. iiL 620/2/40.] Archembald, earle Dowglas, sore displeased
in his mind for this ouerthrow, procured a commission to inuade
England, and that to his cost, as ye may likewise read in the
Scotish histories. For, at a place called Homildon, they were so 5to<t«m-
fiercelie assailed by the Englishmen, vnder the leading of the lord ^<«»<'<'«»-
Persie, sumamed Henrie Hotspur,* and George earle of March,^that
with violence of the English shot they were quite vanquished and
^ In 1402, Edmund Mortimer, fifth Earl of March, being a minor, was
Henry's ward. — Usky 21 ; 127. Glendower'a prisoner was Sir Edmund Mor-
timer, brother to Ro^er Mortimer, fourth Earl of March (see p. 134, note 4, below),
and uncle to the fifth Earl. HclJs mistake misled ShaKspere (1 Hen. IV.^
I. iii. 84). On December 13, 1402, Sir Edmund Mortimer wrote to his tenants,
informing them that he had joined in a quarrel raised by Owen Qlendower,
" of which the object is, if King Richard be alive, to restore him to his Crown,
and if not, that my honoured nephew, who is the right heir to the said Crown,
shall be King of England (la quelle est tielle, qe si le Roy Richard soit en vie
de luy restorer a sa coronne, et sinoun qe mon honore Neuewe q'est droit heir
al dit coronne seroit Roy d'Engleterre). — j&Z^m, II. i. 24.
* I shall imitate Shakspere's reticence (I. i. 43-46) in regard to the Welsh-
women's " villanie." Hd. (528/1/36-48) gives full details.
* Hd. 620/2/34. They were defeated at Nisbet, Roxburghshire. " Nesbit-
more in Marchia." — Fordwij ii. 433. Hd. does not mention the date of
Mortimer's capture, which, as the reader will perceive, coincides with the
overthrow of tne Scots in the summer of 1402. If it were iK)ssible that Shak-
spere could have known the former date, we might conjecture that he rolled
into one the defeats at Nisbet and Homildon, in order that the post bringing
tidings of Glendower's victory should reach London about the same time as Sir
Walter Blunt arrived with the consoling news of Scottish disaster.
* The Earl of Northumberland had two sons, '* the one named Henrie, and
the other Rafe ; verie forward and lustie gentlemen. This Henrie, being the
elder, was sumamed, for his often pricking, Henrie Hotspur, as one that
seldome times rested, if there were anie seruice to be doone abroad." — Hd.
H. 8. 249/1/30. According to DugddU (i. 278/2) Northumberland had three sons,
named Henry, Thomas, and Ralph.
» Shakspere's " Lord Mortimer of Scotland " (1 Hen. IV., III. ii 164). See
p. 142 below.
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132 VI. FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
put to flight, on the Rood daie in haniest, with a great slaughter
j^ m»«6«- made by the Englishmen. . . . There were slaine . . . three and
twentie knights, besides ten thousand of the commons; and of
2^^« prisoners among other were these : Mordacke earle of Fife, son to
the gouemour, Archembald earle Dowglas,^ (which in the fight lost
one of his eies,) Thomas erle of Murrey, George ^ earle of Angus,
and (as some writers haue) the earles of AthoU & Menteith ; • with
fine hundred other of meaner degrees.
I supplement my last excerpt by quoting from Holinshed's ITtatorie
of Scotland another account of the battle of Homildon.
"S^i^l^ [E^ol. il K S. 254/1/57.] Archembald, earle of Dowglasse, sore
JS^SSl displeased, and woonderfullie wroth in his mmd for this ouerthrow
[at Nisbet], got commission to inuade England with an armie of
ten thousand men ; and, hauing the same once readie with all things
necessarie for his yoiage, he set forward, and entering into England,
burnt and harried the countrie, not staieng till he came as farre as
seooandin NewcastclL lu this armie there was with the Dowglasse, Murdocke
thit ttrmii.
(eldest Sonne to duke Robert) earle of Fife, Thomas erle of Murrey,
Benrie Qcorgo earle of Angus ; with manie other lords and nobles of
2jJ3[^^ Scotland. At the last, when they were returning homewards with
a preie of infinit goods and riches, Henrie Hotspur, and George
earle of March, with a great power of men, met them, and assailed
1 In the original text of Hd, (ed. 2^ this sentence stands thus : '* Mordacke
earle of Fife, son to the gouemour Archembald earle Dowglas *' ; and in the
1st ed. of Hcl. also the words " gouemour Archembalde " are unpunctuatcd.
The corresponding lines (70-72) of 1 Hen. IV, (ed. 1), I. i. are :
" .... of prisoners, Hotspur tooke
Mordake [the] Earle of Fife, and eldest sonne
To beaten Douglas ;'*...
and Bubseouent editions have the same reading. Steevens believed (JTwr, 8h.
xvi 187) tnat the omission of a comma after " gouemour '* misled Shakspere ;
because the " gouemour,** or Regent, of Scotland was Robert Steward, Duke of
Albany, whose eldest son was "Mordacke earle of Fife." But as in the play
Murdach Steward is called '* eldest sonne,'* it would seem that Shakspere must
have known one or both of the excerpts relating to the battle of Homildon,
which I quote from Holinshed's Historie of Scotland,
* Qeorae\ Robert Hoi.
' Hdl/s slip has misled Shakspere (cp. I. i. 73). " Menteith *' was another
title of Murdoch Steward, who, in Hoi, (IL H, 8, 259/2/65, is called " Mordo
Steward earle of Fife and Menteith " ; a description confirmed by Hoi, ii H, 8.
262/2/54, and H, 8. 419/1/32.
SooUat
Hcmildon,
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VI. FIKST PART OP KING HENRY THE FOURTH. 133
them BO with such incessant shot of arrowes, that where the earle Tht8eot$,
thTOUOh
of Dowglas with his armie had the adoantage of an hill, called ^^^^
Homildon, he was constreined to forsake the same ; and, comming ouki^^^^
downe ypon the Englishmen, was neuerthelesse put to the woorsse,
the most part of his people being either taken or slaine. . • .
Archembald earle of Dowglas, Murdocke Steward, eldest sonne PrUtmen
to duke Robert the gouemour, George erle of Angus, . . .
with the most part of all the barons of Fife and Louthian,
were taken prisoners. This battell was fought on the Rood ^<«<^ i^oi»
day in haruest, in the yeere 1403 [1402], ypon a Tuesday. ^*^^ "•^'
Act I. sc. iii. — ^This scene and 11« 91-99, sc. i Act I., are illustrated
by my next excerpts.
[Hoi, iii 621/1/1. L] Henrie, earle of Northumberland, with raorumm.
his brother Thomas, earle of Worcester, and his sonne the lord Hotqmr
were
Henrie Persie, sumamed Hotspur, which were to king Henrie, in ^gSetn
the beginning of his reigne, both faithfull freends, and earnest slS^di
aiders, b^an now to enuie his wealth and felicitie ; and especiallie ra^^SSiied
they were greened, bicause the king demanded of the earle and to whom the
his Sonne such Scotish prisoners as were taken at Homeldon and ^^^^
Nesbit : for, of all the captiues which were taken in the conflicts ^•"^^^'^lj
foughten in those two places, there was deliuered to the kings
possession onelie Mordake earle of Fife, the duke of Albanies
Sonne ; though the king did diners and sundrie times require
deliuerance of the residue, and that with great threatnings:
wherewith the Persies being sore ofibnded, (for that they claimed
them as their owne proper prisoners, and their peculiar preies,) by
the counsell of the lord Thomas Persie, earle of Worcester, whose tworoerters
nuuceoftte.]
studie was euer (as some write) to procure malice, and set things
in a broile, came to the king ynto Windsore, (ypon a purpose to
prooue him,) and there required of him, that either by ransome or Tkirtm^
otherwise, he would cause to be deliuered out of prison Edmund [.that Henry
' * would
Mortimer earle of March, their cousine germane,^ whom (as they
* Henry IV. and Hotspur were cousins, Henry's grandfather, Henry Planta-
genet Duke of Lsmcaster, being brother german to Mary, Hotspur's grandmother.
Perhaps Halle {Hoi's authority) alluded to the common descent of the two
Percies, and Edmund fifth Earl of March, &om Henry III.
mniom
Mortimer].
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134 VI. FIRST PART OP KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
reported) Owen Glendouer kept in filthie prison, shakled with
irons ; onelie for that he tooke his part^ and was to him faithfull
and true.
1^^ The king began not a little to muse at this request, and not
J^J^" without cause : for in deed it touched him somewhat neere, sith
this Edmund was sonne to Roger earle of March, sonne to the
ladie Philip, daughter of lionell duke of Clarence, the third sonne
QibeBui of of king Edward the third ; which Edmund, at king Richards going
JJ2!iJiheir. ^°*^ Ireland, was proclamed heire apparant to the crowne and
ffiJSSj^ realme ; ^ whose aunt, called Elianor,* the lord Henrie Persie had
married ; and therefore king Henrie could not well beare,' that
anie man should be earnest about the aduancement of that linage.
^^SStA The king, when he had studied on the matter, made answer, that
would not the earle of March was not taken prisoner for his cause, nor in his
ransoDi
wboluMf' B^^^» ^^^ willinglie suffered himselfe to be taken, bicause he would
J!^^ not withstand the attempts of Owen Glendouer, and his complices ;
^'££^ & therefore he would neither ransome him, nor releeue him.^
The Persies with this answer and fraudulent excuse were not a
uHl^JI ^"^® fimaed, insomuch that Henrie Hotspur said openlie : "Behold,
"the heire of the relme is robbed of his right, and yet the robber
" with his owne will not redeeme him I" ^ So in this fiirie the
1 JEToI. has, I believe, copied a mistake of HaXU (27). On August 6, 1385,
Parliament recognized Edmund's father— Roger fourth Earl of March— as
heir-presumptive to the crown. — Eidog.. iii. 361.
'Elizabeth. — Bymer^ viii. 334. She was the sister of Sir Edmund
Mortimer, and the wife of Hotspur.— .EuZo^., iii. 396.
' beare] heare Hoi. edd. 1, 2.
* In the last article of their " quarell '' the Percies, addressing Henry IV.,
said that "Edmundus Mortymere, frater Rogeri Mortymere nuper comitis
Marchie et Ultonie, fuit captns per Owinum Ulendore in mortali hello cam-
pestri, et in prisona ac vinculis ferreis adhuc erudeliter tentus, in causa tua,
quem tu prodamasti captum ex dolo, et noluisti pati deliberacionem suam per
se nee per nos consanguineos suos et amicos.'' — Hardyng^ 353. Op. p. 131,
n. 1. above, where a letter is quoted in which Eclmimd Mortimer speiEJu of his
nepnew. As to Roger, fourth Earl of March, and father of Edmund, fifth
Earl, see p. 89, n. I, above. HaUe's version of this article (30) has " Edmond
Mortimer earle of Marche and Ulster," to represent " Edmundus Mortymere,
frater Rogeri Mortymere nuper comitis . . . Ultonie."
^ We learn from Evlog, (iiL 395, 396) that, in 1403, Hotspur desired Henry
IV. to ransom Sir Edmund Mortimer. An altercation ensued, and the King
drew his dag^. " • Non hie,' dixit Henriciw [Percy], * sed in campo.' Et
recessit." This open quarrel can hardly be assigned to an earlier date than
June, for on June 2G, 1403, Northumberland wrote a friendly letter to Henry.
—Froc, Friv, Co. i. 201.
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VL FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH. 135
Persies departed, minding nothiDg more than to depose king Henrie
from the high type of his roialtie, and to place in his seat their
coosine Edmund earle of March, whom they did not onelie deliuer Ttuetm-
out of captiuitie, but also (to the high displeasure of king Henrie) 2tt**S2SJ
entered in league with the foresaid Owen Glendouer. . . . fftoKtoiwr.
Bang Henrie, not knowing of [p. 622] this new confederacie, ^^™
and nothing lesse minding than that which after happened, ^X\^^
gathered a great armie to go againe into Wales ; whereof the earle
of Northumberland and his sonne were aduertised by the earle of
Worcester, and with all diligence raised all the power they could n* p«r«i«t
make, and sent to the Scots, which before were taken prisoners at !><>*«»*
Homeldon, for aid of men : promising to the earle of Dowglas the J^y/JS;*^
towne of Berwike, and a part of Northumberland, and, to other
Scotish lords, great lordships and seigniories, if they obteined the
ypper hand. The Scots, in hope of gaine, and desirous to be
reuenged of their old greefes, came to the earle with a great
companie well appointed.
The Persies, to make their part seeme good, deuised certeine ^^^
articles, by the aduise of Richard Scroope, archbishop of Yorke, itJiJi^vi<A
brother* to the lord Scroope, whome king Henrie had caused to Sii^i?S^"
be beheaded at Bristow.
The Chronicles contain this notice of the marriage of Sir Edmund
Mortimer ; whom Shakspere, misled by Holinshed, makes Henry call
" that Earle of March " (I. iii. 84) :
\Eol. iii 621/1/2 1.] Edmund Mortimer, earle of March,
prisoner with Owen Glendouer, whether for irkesonmesse of cruell
captiuitie, or feare of death, or for what other cause, it is vncerteine, S^** ^
agreed to take part with Owen against the king of England ; and ^^^^
tooke to wife the daughter of the said Owen.^ Sf^dtmcr.
Believing that Glendower's prisoner was Edmund Earl of March,
Holinshed thus comments upon Henry's unwillingness to ransom a
dangerous rival (Cp. 1 Hen, IV., L iii. 158, 159) :
[Hoi. iii 620/2/s.] The king was not hastie to purchase the
♦ ** brother " should be " cousm." See pedigree of Scrope in Wylie, ii. 197.
* ^Eodem anno [1402] Dominus Edmundus Mortimer, . . . circa featum
S. Andieae Apoetoli [Nov. 30], filiam praadicti Owyni Glyndore desponsavit
maxima cum solemnitate, & (sicut vulgariter dicitar) conversos est totaliter ad
WaUicoB."— itiM., 182.
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186 VL FIRST PABT OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
Thttiu- deliuerance of the earle March, bicause his title to the crowne was
^•^jll^ well inough knowen, and therefore suffered him to remaine in
"SSJ^SIS^ miserable prison ; wishing both the said earle, and all other of his
linage, out of this life, with Gtod and his saincts in heauen, so they
had beene out of the waie, for then all had beene well inough as
he thought
Act n. 8c. iii. — ^The Lord, whose temporizing letter roused Hot-
spur's scorn (n. iii. 1-38), was, no doubt, one of the " noblemen " or
** states of the realme " to whom the Percies' articles were submitted.
[HoL iii 622/1/19.] These articles being shewed to diuerse
Thm, jFok. noblemen, and other states of the realme, mooued them to fauour
their purpose, in so much that manie of them did not onelie
promise to the Persies aid and succour by words, but also by their
writings and scales^ confirmed the same. Howbeit, when the
(The FerctM matter came to triall, the most part of the confederates abandoned
wereftban-
d<»f^^'i them, and at the dale of the conflict left them alone. Thus, after
noblet who ' '
gf^^j*** that the conspirators had discouered themselues, the lord Henrie
Persie, desirous to proceed in the enterprise, ypon trust to be
assisted by Owen Glendouer, the earle of March [t. e. ^ Edmund
Mortimer], & other, assembled an armie of men of armes and
archers foorth of Cheshire and Wales.
Act XL sc. iv. — ^The Prince of Wales was at a tavern in Eastoheap
when Falstaff — ^reporting to him the news of the rebeUion, brought by
a nobleman of the Court — says : " Worcester is stolne away to night
(1. 392). We learn from Holinshed that, as soon as Hotspur had made
the first move, by assembling '' an armie of men of armes and archers,''
wilSSitf Wol iii 622/1/32.] his vncle Thomas Persie, earle of
Su^iita^'^ Worcester, that had the gouemement of the prince of Wales,
who as then laie at London, in secret manner conueied' himselfe
HqU,
1 Bardyng tells us (351, prose addition ; 361) that he saw the sealed letters
by which these noblemen bound themselves to join the Percies' revolt The
liord, whose letter is read in II. iii., was ''well contented to bee" at the
gathering-place, "in respect of the lone " he bore the Percies* house, but what
followed was a tacit refusal of help.
* "the {>rince . . . manner conueied.** I have altered the punctuation
here by pladnga comma after '' London,'' and removing a comma which stood
after '' manner. HolJa punctuation — which is the same in both editions of
his Chronicles — might lead one to infer that the Prince had come to town to
enjoy himself clandestinely, and Shakspere perhaps so understood the sentence.
Comparison with Ott, (240) shows that the words *' in secret manner" apply to
Worcester.
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VL FIRST PART OP KING HENRY THE FOURTH. 137
out of the princes house ; and comming to Stafford (inrhere he
met his nephue) they increased their power by all vaies and
meanes they could deuise.
Act ni. sc. i — ^The first scene of Act HE. is laid at the Archdeacon
of Bangor's house, where Hotspur, Mortimer, and Glendower have met
to partition between them King Henry's realm. Before going to
business, Hotspur and Glendower talk of certain portents attending
the latter's nativity (U. 13-40). I do not find in Holinshed any birth
recorded which was marked by such signs, but it is possible that a
horrible prodigy associated with Mortimer's entrance into the world
set Shakspere's imagination working to devise marvels suited to the
fairer fortunes of the Welsh prince.
[Eol. iii 621/1/27.] Strange wonders happened (as men
reported) at the natiuitie of this man, for, the same night he was
borne, all his fathers horsses in the stable were found to stand in ^^^^^S^g
bloud vp to the beUies.! *^^
Malone conjectured that Shakspere transferred to the time of
Glendower's birth a portent recorded in the ensuing excerpt :
1402
[Eol. iii. 519/2/59.] In the moneth of March [1402] appeared
a biasing starre, first betweene the east part of the firmament and jjj^^
the north, flashing foorth fire and flames round about it, and, ^^^
la8tlie,8hooting foorth fierie beams towards the north ; foreshowing w2!^^^"
(as was thought) the great effusion of bloud that followed, about iwruaidi'
the parts of Wales and Northumberland. For much about the
same time, Owen Qlendouer (with his Welshmen) fought with the
lord Qreie of Ruthen, conmung foorth to defend his possessions,
which the same Owen wasted and destroied ; and, as the fortune
of that dales worke fell out, the lord Qreie was taken prisoner,
* f5k« lord
and manie of his men were slaine. This hap lifted the Welshmen £|^
into high pride, and increased meruelouslie their wicked and jH^i^^o^
presumptuous attempts. eundautr.
I According to Eves. (179), Chron. OUea (Hen. IV. 11), and Eulog. (398),
Mortimer'B birui was thus signalized. But, as in jEToZ., the paragraph immedi-
ately preceding— which records Mortimer's marriage, and is quoted hj me at
p. 136 above — ends with the words "the said Owen,*' "this man'* might be
understood to mean Glendower. Wals. (ii 263, 254) — from whom Hoi. derived
both paxagraphB — meant, perhaps, that Glendower was the man at whose
nativity horses "were found to stand in bloud vp to the bellieai'*
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138 VI. FIBST PART OP KING HBNBY THE FOURTH.
Glendower claims to have thrice sent Henry "weather beaten
backe " to England (IIL i. 64-67). The first of these luckless expedi-
tions was made in 1400 (see an account of it at p. 104 above). Henry's
second failure was ascribed to the " art magike/' in which Glendower
professes to be so deeply skilled (ILL i. 46-49). Holinshed says :
[Hoi. iii 620/2/19.] About mid of August [1402],^ the king, to
chastise the presumptuous attempts of the Welshmen, went with a
great power of men into Wales, to pursue the capteine of the
Welsh rebels,* Owen Glendouer; but in effect he lost his labor,
for Owen coueied himselfe out of the waie into his knowen lurking
places, and (as was thought) through art magike, he caused such
inumpirat foule Weather of winds, tempest, raine, snow, and haile to be
(caused by raised, for the annoiance of the kings armie, that the like had not
•oKtaeji, beene heard of: in such sort, that the king was constreined to
retume home, hauing caused his people yet to spoile and burne
first a great part of the countrie.
The third expedition has been antedated. It was undertaken in
1405,^ after the suppression of Archbishop Scrope's revolt, when
Henry
Jj^^lj. [ffol iil 630/2/70.] tooke his ioumie directlie into Wales,
^^ where he found fortune nothing fauourable vnto him, for all his
mipo$ethKu attempts had euill successe ; in somuch that, losing fiftie of his
Htritwneth, cariagcs through abimdance of raine and waters, he returned.
Waiving further discussion of supernatural matters, Glendower
draws Hotspur's attention to a map, upon which Mortimer points out
the intended partition of England and Wales between the confederates
81. 70-77). According to Holinshed, Northumberland, Hotspur, and
lendower,
[Hoi iiL 621/2/57.] by their deputies, in the house of the
archdeacon of Bangor, diuided the realme amongst them ; causing
dSu!^ a tripartite indenture to be made and sealed with their scales, by
the couenants whereof, all England from Seueme and Trent, south
^^£St*"^ and eastward, was assigned to the earle of March: all Wales, &
tkejfhodnot. |.|jg lands beyond Seuerne westward, were appointed to Owen
1 Wals, il 250. Usky 76 ; 201. Ott. 235.
« rebels] Hoi. ed. 1. reMl Hoi. ed. 2.
» Wals. 11211.
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VI. FIRST PART OF KING HBNRY THE FOURTH. 139
Glendouer : and all the remnant from Trent northward, to the lord
Persie.^
Hotspur scoffs at a prophecy (U. 149-165) which seems to have had
much weight ; for Holinshed, speaking of the partition described in my
last excerpt, says :
[Hoi iiL 521/2/67.] This was doone (as some haue said)
through a foolish credit giuen to a yaine prophesie,' as though king ^ v«|m
Henrie was the moldtuarpe, curssed of Gods owne mouth, and they
three were the dragon, the lion^ and the woolfe, which should diuide
this realme betweene them.
Act ILL sc. iL — In this scene Prince Henry is reproached by his
father for devotion to ignoble pleasures and base associates. The
Prince answers (IL 18-28) :
So please your Maiestie, I would I could
Quit all offences with as clear excuse,
As well as (I am doubtlesse) I can purge 20
My self e of many I am chargd witlmll :
Tet such extenuation let me beg,
As, in reproofe of many tales deuisde
(Which oft the eare of greatnes needs must heare) 24
By fimiling pickthcmks, and base newesmongers,
I may, for some things true, wherein my youth
Hath faulty wandred and irregular.
Find pardon on my true submission. 28
1 This alliance was made after Hotspur's death. On February 28, 1405,
" Henricus, comes Northumbriae, fecit leffiam et confoederationem et amicitiam
cum Owino Qlendore, et Edmundo de Mortuomari, filio quondam Edmundi
comitis Marchiae [the third Earllin certis articulis continentibus formam quae
sequitur et tenorem.** — Qtron, Giles (Hen. IV, 39). In the following pages
of Chroti. Oiles (40, 41) the tripartite division of England and Wales is set
forth.
* This prophecy is in MSS. Bodl. 1787 (printed in Archaeol., xx. 258). The
'' talpa ore l)ei maledicta " was to suffer for ner past misdeeds ; and '* terra rever-
tetur ad asinum [Richard II.], vel aprum, vel draconem, vel leonem.'' Hotspur
was angered by hearing from Qlendower
"... of M« Mcidwarp and the Ant,
Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies, . . •
And of a Dragon . . .
A couching Idon, Ac"
HaUe says (28): "a certayne writer writeth that this earle of Marche, the
Loide Percy and Owen Qlendor wer vnwysely made beleue by a Welsh Pro-
Sheder, that king Henry was the Moldwan)e, ... by the deuiacion and not
euinacion of that mawmet Merlyn,'^ A clause in the indenture between
Northumberland, Mortimer and Qlendower runs thus : " Item, si disponente
Deo, appareat praefatis dominis ex processu temporis^ quod ipi sint' eaedem
personae, de quibns jpropheta loqnitur, inter quos regmien Bntanniae majoris
divididebeatet partin,-tunc ipsi laborabunt, et qnilibet ipsorum laborabit juzta
posse, quod id ad effectum efScaciter perducatur."— CS^on. QiUs {Hen, IV, ^ 40).
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140 VI. FIBST PART OP KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
The Prince's reference to the slanders of certain " pickthanks," who
accused him of a more serious transgression than that of keeping loose
company, seems to anticipate a misonderstanding which arose between
the father and son towards the end of Henry lY/s reign. In 1412,
the
a^^Pj^ [ffol. iiL 539/1/1.] lord Henrie, prince of Wales, eldest sonne
^f^;^ to king Henrie, got knowledge that certeine of his fathers semants
were busie to giue informations against him, whereby discord
lohnsum, might arise betwixt him and his father: for they put into the
kings head, not onelie what euill role (according to the course of
youth) the prince kept to the offense of manie, but also what
great resort of people came to his house ; so that the court was
nothing furnished with such a traine as dailie followed the prince.
Thetuf These tales brought no small suspicion into the kings head, least
^^^ his Sonne would presume to vsurpe thfe crowne, he being yet aliue ;
^^^^^ through which suspicious gelousie, it was perceiued that he
fauoured not his sonne, as in times past he had doone.
The Prince (sore offended with such persons as, by slanderous
reports, sought not onelie to spot his good name abrode in the
realme, but to sowe discord also betwixt him and his father) wrote
his letters into euerie part of the realme, to reprooue all such
slanderous deuises of those that sought his discredit. And to
cleare himselfe the better, (that the world might ynderstand what
wrong he had to be slandered in such wise,) about the feast of
n^oHKM Peter and Paule, to wit, the nine and twentith daie of June, he
^^^t^^ came to the court with such a number of noble men and other his
great traifu.
freends that wished him well, as the like traine had beene sildome
seene repairing to the court at any one time in those daiea
At Westminster Prince Henry made his peace with the King, by
whom "he was dismissed with great loue and signes of fatherlie
affection." I give the passage following these words, because it
contains the epithet " pickthanks," which occurs in the lines quoted
above ; and also elucidates the Prince's avowal that " some things "
were " true," wherein his youth had " faulty wandred."
0
tha^- "^ [Hol. iii. 639/2/28.] Thus were the father and the sonne
•JJjJ*^ reconciled, betwixt whom the said picJdhanks had sowne diuision,
»ng^*^*^ insomuch that the sonne, vpon a vehement conceit of vnkindnesse
Houy.] sproong in the father, was in the waie to be worne out of fauour.
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VI. FIRST PART OP KING HENRY THE FOURTH. 141
Which was the more likelie to come to passe, by their informations
that priuilie charged him with riot ^ and other ynciuill demeanor g^^
ynseemelie for a prince. Indeed he was youthfuUie giuen, growne ^»J>*^o«^^J
«.. 1111 t • • 11 i» Ahr, Fl. out
to audacitie, and had chosen him companions agreeable to his age ; "^^^
with whome he spent the time in such recreations,^ exercises, and ^^^
delights as he fansied. But yet (it should seeme by the report of diSSon"in
some writers) that his behauiour was not oflTensiue or at least ^^'^
tending to the damage of anie bodie ; sith he had a care to auoid
dooing of wrong, and to tedder his affections within the tract of
vertue ; whereby he opened vnto himselfe a redie passage of good
liking among the prudent sort, and was beloued of such as could
disceme his disposition, which was in no degree so excessiue, as
that he deserued in such vehement maner to be suspected.
Continuing to rebuke his son, the King says (U. 32, 33) :
Thy place in counsell thou hast rudely lost,
Which by thy yonger brother is supplide.
Holinshed briefly mentions the well-known story* that Prince
Henry once struck Chief-Justice Qascoign ; and adds :
[Hoi. iil 543/2/17.] The king after expelled him out of his [oiarence
priuie councell, banisht him the court, and made the duke of {jJJ^^^c?/
Clarence (his yoonger brother) president of councell in his steed. SSSSf ^'
&
Henry.
^ I find nothing to warrant this charge, but it is said that Eastcheap — the
Shaksperian Prince HaVs old haunt — was once disturbed by a riot in connexion
with which Prince John — FalstaflPs "yong sober blouded boy** (2 Hen, IV,f
IV. iii 94) — is mentioned. Under 1410, Stow writes (560) : " Vpon the eenen
of Saint lohn Baptist [June 23], Thomas and lohn, the Mngs sonnes, being in
East-cheap at London, at supper, after midnight, a great debate hapned betwcene
their men, and men of the court, lasting an houre, till the Maior and SherifTes
with other Citizens ceased the same." The riot is thus chronicled by Oreo,
(106) : ^< And the same tyme [1410] was the hurlynge in Estechepe by the lorde
Thomas and the lorde John, the kyngys sone, &c."
•^ * One of these "recreations" is thus described by Stoio (657) : * He [Prince
Henry] lined somewhat insolently, insomuch that, whilest his father lined,
being accompanied with some of lus yong Lords and gentlemen, he would
waite in disguised aray for his owne leceiuers, and distresse them of their
money ; and sometimes at such enterprises both he and his company were
surely beaten : and when his receiuers made to him their complaints how they
were robbed in their comming vnto him, hee would giue them discharge of so
mi[ch money <u they had lost; amdy besides that, tfiey should not d^>art from
him withovJt great rewa/rdsfor their trouble and vexation; especially they should
be rewarded that best had resisted him and his company, and of whom he had
receiued the greatest and most strokes.' With the words italicized cp. what
Prince Henry says in regard to the booty taken from the travellers on Gadshill :
"The money shall bee paid backe againe with aduantage " (1 Hen. IV., II.
iv. 599). « See p. 161, below.
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142 VI. FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
Shakspere has used a dramatist's freedom in making Henry lY.
speak of Hotspur as "being no more in debt to yeares" tbiui the
Prince (1. 103). Whether Shakspere was ignorant of, or chose to
disregard, the chronological aspect of this matter, I know not, but
from a comparison of two passages in his authority (ffoL ii. H, S. 249/
2/7, <Sec., and iii. 5II/2/9, &c.) he could have learnt that in 1388 H!arry
Percy was old enough to command the English forces at Otterbume,
while in 1399 Harry Monmouth was only twelve years of age. Indeed
it is probable that Hotspur was older than the King. Henry TV, was
bom on April 3, 1367 (Compottis Hugonia de WaterUm, cited in I^otes
ik Queries, 4th S. xi. 162) ; and WaMngham tells us (i. 388) that, on
November 25, 1378, Hotspur displayed his pennon for the first time
(''prime • • • suum vezillum displicuit") at the siege of Berwick
Castle.
When the Prince has succeeded in gaining his father's confidence,
and has been promised a command in the royal army. Sir Walter
Blunt enters and announces that news of the rebels' gathering at
Shrewsbury has been sent by " Lord Mortimer of Scotland " (1. 164).
In the following excerpt George of Dunbar, Earl of the IVl^ux^h of
Scotland,^ is called " the Scot, the earle of March " ; an appellation
^ which might have led Shakspere to believe that the Scottish Earls of
March were akin to the English Mortimers, Earls of March.
[Hoi. iii 622/2/39.] King Henrie, aduertised of the proceedings
of the Persies, foorthwith gathered about him such power as he
might make, and, being eamestlie called vpon by the Scot, the
earle of March, to make hast and giue battell to his enimies, before
their power by delaieng of time should still too much increase, he
Tk4 JtinffM passed forward with such speed, that he was in sight of his enimies,
^Sugenet, Ueng ill canipe neere to Shrewesburie, before they were in doubt of
anie such thing ; for the Persies thought that he would haue staled
at Burton vpon Trent, till his cooncell bad come thither to him to
giue their aduise what he were best to doo. But herein the enimie
was deceiued of his expectation, sith the king had great regard of
expedition and making speed for the safetie of his owne person ;
wherevnto the earle of March incited him, considering that in
delaie is danger, & losse in lingering.
Act lY. sc. i. — A messenger brings Hotspur news that Northum-
berland ''is grieuous sicke" ^ 16), and delivers a letter containing the
Earl's excuses for not coming hmiself or sending the expected rein-
forcements. After speaking of the efforts made by Hotspur and
Worcester to increase their strength (p. 137 above), Holinshed says :
1 He is called " George de Dunbarre, Erie of the Marche of Scotland," in
the indenture (dated July 25, 1400) by which he engages to transfer hia allegi-
ance from Hobert IH. to Henry I y. — Bymery viii. 15^
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VI. FIRST PART OP KING HENRY THE FOURTH. 143
[Hol. iii 522/1/39.] The earle of Northumberland himselfe was [North-
not with them, but, being sicke, had promised ypon his amende- pnTented
ment to repaire vnto them (as some write) with all conuenient SSSotSS
speed. Woroerter.J
Act TV. so. ii. — ^If, in Shakspere's day, there were some captains
who ''misused the kinges presse damnablie " (1. 13), contemporaries of
Sir John Falstaff had also enriched themselves by a like practice. In
1387, Bichard Earl of Arundel, — to whom the command of an English
fleet had been given, —
[Eol. iii 454/1/53.] ynderstanding that the duke of Qlocester,
and manie other noblemen would see the muster of his men, vsed
all diligence, and spared for no costs, to haue the most choisest
and pikedst fellowes that might be gotten ; not following the euill
example of others in times past, which receiued tag and rag to fill
vp their numbers,, whom they hired for small wages, and reserued Agma
amui in
the residue to their pursses. tSS£i,
Act lY. 8c. iii. — Shakspere assigned to Sir Thomas Blunt the
^ mission (IL 41-61) which, as my next excerpt shows, was entrusted to
the Abbot of Shrewsbury and a clerk of the Privy Seal
[HoL iii 523/1/35.] The next dale in the morning earlie,
being the euen of Marie Magdalene [July 21, 1403], they set their
battels in order on both sides, and now, whilest the warriors looked
when the token of battell should be giuen, the abbat of Shrewes-
burie, and one of the clearks of the priuie scale, were sent from ThtHnff
the king vnto the Persies, to offer them pardon, if they would pard4mki$
come to any reasonable agreement. By their persuasions, the
lord Henrie Persie began to giue eare vnto the kings offers, & so
sent with them his vncle the earle of Worcester, to declare vnto
the king the causes of those troubles, and to require some effectuall
reformation in the same.
Act V. sc. i. — Holinshed's epitome of the Percies* charges is inter-
woven with the speeches of Hotspur (IV. iii 60-62 ; 90-96) and
Worcester (V. i 41-58). I have transposed the order of the passages
in Holinshed concerning the Abbot of Shrewsbury's mission, and the
delivery of the Percies' articles to Henry. " The next daie " — ^when,
as appears from the preceding excerpt, the Abbot offered Henry's terms
to the rebels — was the day after that on which Hotspur's esquires were
sent to the royal camp with these articles.
[Hol, iii 523/1/8.] Now when the two armies were incamped,
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Pr^ewnrtA
proUeton a^f
tKteommon-
144 VI. FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
lUPtnUi the one afi^ainst the other, the earle of Worcester and the lord
jj{*g» <<> Persie with their complices sent the articles (whereof I spake
before), by Thomas Caiton, and Roger ^ Saluain, esquiers, to king
Kjtiffffmru Henrie, ynder their hands and scales; which articles in effect
ehargtd with ' ...
P«riuri4, charged him with manifest periurie, in that (contrarie to his oth
receiued ypon the euangolists at Doncaster, when he first entred
the realme after his exile) he had taken ypon him the crowne and
roiall dignitie, imprisoned king Richard, caused him to resigne his
title, and finallie to be murthered. Diuerse other matters they
laid to his charge, as leuieng of taxes and tallages, contrarie to his
promise, infringing of lawe8'& customes of the realme, and suffering
the earle of March to remaine in prison^ without trauelling to haue
him deliuered.^ All which things they, as procurors & protectors of
the common-wealth, tooke ypon them to prooue against him, as
they protested ynto the whole world.
King Henrie, after he had read their articles, with the defiance
Tk€tfng$ which they annexed to the same, answered the esquiers, that he
aimwr to iht
was readie with dint of sword and fierce battell to prooue their
quarrell false, and nothing else than a forged matter ; not doubting,
but that God would aid and assist him in his righteous cause,
against the disloiall and false forswome traitors.
Act V. Bc. ii.— On the day of battle (July 21), Hotspur, after
hearing Henry's proposals, sent back their bearer, the Abbot of
Shrewsbury, accompanied by Worcester, to the King (see p. 143aboye).
Holinshed left Worcester's treachery unexplained, but Shakspere has
supplied a motive for it (U. 4-23).
[Hoi. iiL 623/1/48.] It was reported for a truth, that now
1 Boger] Thomas Hoi.
* All these charges are made in Hotspur's or Worcester's speech. (They
are contained in the Percies* " quarell," cited at p. 134, n. 4, above.) Hotspur
says that Henry **ta8kt the whole state** (IV. iii. 92), and reformed "certaine
edicts " and " streijht decrees " (IV. iii. 79) ; words which embody the accusa-
tions of having levied *' taxes and tallages,*' and infringed " lawes and customes
of the reiJme. * Worcester's complaint that they were in danger of their lives
from Henry's jealousy (V. i. 69-64)— cp. what Hotspur says (IV. lit 98) —
occurs in some letters which, besides the articles, were sent abroad by the
Percies, wherein they aflfirmed that " where through the slanderous reports of
their enimies, the king had taken a greeuous displeasure with them, they
durst not appeare personallie in the iinm presence, vntill the prelats and
barons of the realme had obteined of the king licence for them to come and
!>urge themselues before him, bv lawfuU triall of theirpeeres, whose iudgement
as they pretended) they would in no wise refuBe.''-~JEfo{. iii 522/1/52.
that (fraught
thtartielu.
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VI. FIRST PART OP KING HENRY THE FOURTH. 145
when the king had condescended ynto all that was resonable at
his hands to be required, and seemed to humble himselfe more
than was meet for his estate, the earle of Worcester (vpon his ^^<^
retume to his nephue) made relation deane contrarie to that the 2S^<»
king had said, in such sort that he set his nephues hart more in ^^%n^ tju
displeasure towards the king, than euer it was before ; driuing him '**^***^-
by that meanes to fight whether he would or not
The armies are on the point of joining battle when Hotspur thus
encourages his followers (V. ii 82-89) :
O Gentlemen, the time of life is short I
To spend that shortness basely were too long,
If life did ride ypon a dials point, 84
Still ending at the arriual of an houre.
And if we Hue, we Hue to tread on kings.
If die, braue death, when princes die with vs t
Now, for our consciences, the armes are faire, 88
When the intent of bearing them is iust.
The ensuing excerpt contains a speech attributed to Hotspur, which
has less martial ardour than is displayed in these lines.
Henry's rapid advance obliged the rebels to desist
Tht Ptrtict
[Sol. ui. 622/2/60.1 from assaulting the towne of Shrewesburie, *roM«d
which enterprise they were readie at that instant to haue taken in JSlSS?*"
hand; and foorthwith the lord Persie (as a capteine of high ^j^»ml
courage) began to exhort the capteines and souldiers to prepare ^SS«te*
themselues to battell, sith the matter was growen to that point, JJSwF^
that by no meanes it could be auoided, "so that" (said he) 'Hhis
''dale shall either bring ys all to aduancement & honor, or else, if
''it shall chance ts to be ouercome, shall deUuer ts from the kings
"spitefuU maUce and cruell disdaine : for plaieng the men (as we
''ought to doo), better it is to die in battell for the common-
" wealths cause, than through cowardlike feare to prolong life,
"which after shall be taken from ts, by sentence of the enimie."
Act V. sc. u. U. 97-101 ; sc. Hi. U. 1-29 ; sc. iv. U. 1-86.— Hotspm*,
deceived by Worcester's false report of Henry's words, resolyes to
fight:
\Hol iu. 523/1/57.] then suddenlie blew the trumpets, the
kings part crieng, "S. George I vpon them ! " the aduersaries cried,
"Esperance I Persie ! " and so the two armies furiousHe ioined. The
archers on both sides shot for the best game, laieng on such load
L
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146 VI. FIRST PART OP KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
with arrowes, that manie died, and were driuen downe that never
rose againe.
i^oo. The Scots (as some write), which had the fore ward on the
Persies side, intending to be reuenged of their old displeasures
doone to them by the English nation, set so fiercelie on the kings
fore ward, led by the earle of Stafford, that they made the same
draw backe, and had almost broken their aduersaries arraie. The
TtuWdA- Welshmen also, which before had laine lurking in the woods,
5^j^ mounteines, and marishes, hearing of this battell toward, came to
the aid of the Persies, and refreshed the wearied people with new
succours. The king perceiuing that his men were thus put to
distresse, what with the yiolent impression of the Scots, and the
tempestuous stormes of arrowes, that his aduersaries discharged
freely against him and his people, — it was no need to will him to
stirre : for suddenlie, with his fresh battell, he approched and
relieued his men; so that the battell began more fierce than
Sijoorof before. Here the lord Henrie Persie, and the earle Dowglas, a
otspturand
Douglas.] right stout and bardie capteine, not regarding the shot of the kings
battell, nor the close order of the ranks, pressing forward togither,
bent their whole forces towards the kings person ; comming ypon
ntwruof him with speares and swords so fiercelie, that the earle of March,
S^J^m the Scot, perceiuing their purpose, withdrew the king from that
the field ^ side of the field (as some write) for his great benefit and safegard
^and (as it appeared) ; for they gaue such a yiolent onset ypon them that
fought]. stood about the kings standard, that, slaieng his standard-bearer
[Sir Walter sir Walter Blunt, and ouerthrowing the standard, they made
ulr^of slaughter of all those that stood about it ; as the earle of Stafford,
slain?] that dale made by the king constable of the realme, and diuerse
other.
HcM. The prince that dale holpe his father like a lustie yoong gentle-
^^tkH^Snp T^^^ } for although he was hurt in the face with an arrow, so that
^^not ^ diuerse noble men, that were about him, would haue conueied him
Tetire
tboagh foorth of the field, yet he would not suffer them so to doo, least
he was
wounded.] his departure from amongst his men might happilie haue striken
some feare into their harts : and so, without regard of his hurt, he
continued with his men, & neuer ceassed either to fight where the
battell was most hot, or to incourage his men where it seemed
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VL FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH. 147
most need. This battell lasted three long houres, with indifferent J^orthaaai
fortune on both parts, till at length, the king, crieng, ''saint **t»inuintd.
''George ! yictorie ! " brake the arraie of his enimies ; and aduen-
tured so ferre, that (as some write) the earle Dowglas strake him S^^JJi^*
downe^ & at that instant slue sir Walter Blunt, and three other, Sm^
apparelled in the kings sute and clothing, saieng : " I maruell to ^'tt^
" see so many kings thus suddenlie arise one in the necke of an ^w^"
" other.** The king, in deed, was raised, & did that daie manie a Sl^"*^'
noble feat of armes, for, as it is written, he slue that daie with his l^fX&t^r
owne hands six and thirtie persons of his enimies. The other on ^**^*
his part, incouragedby his dooings, fought valiantlie, and slue the Th$iord
lord Persie, called sir Henrie Hotspurre.^ ilS^
Act V. 8c. V. — ^Touching the numbers slain (11. 6-10), and the fates
of Worcester and Vernon Q^ 14), Holinshed says :
[Hoi. iii 523/2/52.] There was idso taken the earle of Th€wru<^
Worcester, the procurer and setter foorth of all this mischeefe, sir to*«^
Richard Vernon, and . . . diuerse other. There were slaine vpon '»wf*«» ^
the kings part, beside the earle of Stafford, ... sir Hugh Shorlie, «>v» jwt
sir lohn Clifton, ... sir Robert^ Gausell, sir Walter Blunt,' . . .
There died in all vpon the kings side sixteene hundred, and foure
thousand were greeuouslie wounded. On the contrarie side were
slaine, besides the lord Persie, the most part of the knights and
esquiers of the countie of Chester, to the number of two hundred, 2i<,iwir«/
besides yeomen and footmen : in all there died of those that fought 2a^ *^
on the Persies side, about fine thousand. This battell was fought **"*"•
on Marie Magdalene euen, being saturdaie. Upon the mondaie
folowing, the earle of Worcester, . . . and sir Richard Vernon ... Tk«wru<^
were condemned and beheaded, [p. 524] The carles head was and^thtn
sent to London, there to be set on the bridge.
Douglas is then released, '' ransomlesse and free" (IL 27-31).
Holinshed thus ends his account of the battle:
* "Inter quos [the slain] Henricus Percy corraife interemptus, dabium
cuius manu, sois, ignorantibus ejus casom, putantibus, i^um regem captasse
vel occidisse. QnamobTem se cohortantes, damabant ingementes, 'Henry
Perc;^ Einge.' Quorum damores rex intelli^ens, ne yana spe deduct! certarent
ulterius, . . • clamavit et ipse voce qua valuit, ' Mortuus est Henricus Percy.' "
— Ott., 243. « Boheri\ Nicholas Hoi
» "Sherly, Stafford, Blunt" (V. iv. 41). "Sir Nicholas Gawsey . . ,
aiAon*' (V. IV. 45, 46).
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148 VII. THE SECOND PART OP KING HENRY IV.
[Hoi iiL 523/2/46.] To conclude, the kings enimies were
Tiu earu Tanquished, and put to flight ; in which flight, the earle of Dowglas,
taken for hast, falling from the crag of an hie mounteine, brake one of
his cullions, and was taken, and for his valiantnesse, of the king
frankelie and freelie deliuered.
Vn. THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV
The Second part of Henrie thefowrth is separated from the preceding
play by a historic interval of nearly two years, which elapsed between
the battle of Shrewsbury (July 21, 1403) and Archbishop Scrope's
rebellion (May — June, 1405). Dramatic action pauses while Morton is
speeding to the Earl of Northumberland with the news of Hotspur's
defeat and death. The historic period dramatized in the two Farts of
Henry IV. closes with Henry V.'s coronation on April 9, 1413.
Act L sc. i. — ^For the brief space of time filled by Morton's warning
— ^that a "speedy power" (1. 133) has been sent against Northum-
berland— historic and dramatic dates coincide. Though Sir Bobert
Waterton — ^not Prince John — was Westmoreland's colleague, we may
fairly identify the " power " spoken of by Morton with the " armie "
which, as the ensuing passage shows, was 'got on foot' to meet
Northumberland.
\Hoh iil 624/1/3.] The earle of Northumberland was now
marching forward with great power, which he had got thither,
either to aid his Sonne and brother (as was thought) or at the
least towards the king, to procure a peace; but the earle of
Westmorland, and sir Robert Waterton, knight, had got an armie
on foot, and meant to meet him. The earle of Northumberland,
Tkt%iifrU9f
Wutmtr-
CkpOWtT
earu$ taking neither of them to be his freend, turned suddenlie backe,
land. and withdrew himselfe into Warkewoorth castelL
Northumberland's submission, however, averted a battle, and peace
was restored until he gave countenance to Archbishop Scrope's revolt
in 1405.
Act I. sc. iii — Archbishop Scrope and his fellow-conspirators
discuss their chances of success, and resolve to move at once, without
waiting for Northumberland. Nothing in this scene admits of histori-
cal comment except Basting's report (U. 70-73) that the King's
• . . diuisions, as the times do brawle.
Are in three heads : one power against the French,
And one against Glendower ; perforce a third
iMust take vp vs : . • .
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Vn. THE SECOND PART OP KING HENRY IV. 149
The third power is commanded by Prince John ^ and Westmoreland,
the King and Prince Henry will encounter the Welsh, but " no certaine
notice " has been obtained of the leader who will oppose the French
(11. 82-85).
Shakspere seems to have antedated some assistance rendered by the
French to Qlendower in the summer of 1405, after Archbishop Scrope's
revolt had been suppressed. About this time ^
[Hoi, iil 631/1/8.] the French king had appointed one of the bm.
marshals of France, called Montmerancie, and the master of his
TkemanihaU
MdtwurdeU
crosbowes, with twelue thousand men, to saile into Wales to aid owm
Owen Glendouer. They tooke shipping at Brest, and, hauing the
wind prosperous, landed at Milford hauen, with an hundred and
fourtie ships, as Thomas WdlsingTiam saith ; though Enguerwat de
Monstrelkt maketh mention but of an hundred and twentie.
Failing to capture Haverfordwest,
[Hoi iii. 631/1/37.] they departed towards the towne of ^^^
Denbigh, where they foimd Owen Glendouer abiding for their '^'^^^^^
comming, with ten thousand of his Welshmen. Here were the
Frenchmen ioifuUie receiued of the Welsh rebels, and so, when all %«*«!*•
things were prepared, they passed by Qlamorganshire towards ***'^
•' *. ^ o [The French
Worcester, and there burnt the suburbes : but, hearing of the kings J^^*»
approch, they suddenlie returned towards Walea 7^^^
Act IL sc. iii. — ^Moved by the prayers of his wife and daughter-in-
law the Earl of Northumberland determines to seek refuge for a while
in Scotland, though he would fain "go to meete the Archbishop"
(1. 65). But the historical fact is that Scrope was executed before
Henry marched against Northumberland, who,
\Hol, iii 530/2/35.] hearing that his counsell was bewraied,
and his confederats brought to confusion, through too much hast
of the archbishop of Yorke, with three hundred horsse got him to
Berwike. The king comming forward quickelie, wan the castell of
1 Wrongly styled "Duke of Lancaster" (1. 82) by Shakspere. This title
was home by Henry Prince of Wales. — Bot Fori., iii. 428/i.
* In a writ addressed to the Sheriff of Hereford, and dated from Pomfret
Castle, " vii die August! " [1405], Henry says that the arrival of the French at
Milford Haven "ad nostrum jamnoviter pervenit intellectum." — Bymer, viii.
405. The French embarked about the end of July, 1405. When the wind
favoured them, they set sail, and landed at Milford Haven. — St, Denya, iii
328. According to Chron. Normande (370), they sailed on July 22, 1405, and
remained in Wales until November 1 next following.
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150 VIL THE SECX)ND PART OP KING HENRY IV.
jKJaiSl^ Warkewoorth. Wherevpon the earle of Northumberland, not
gjd (tnd thinking himselfe in suertie at Berwike, fled with the lord Berdolfe
SSlS^'* into Scotland, where they were receiued of sir Danid Fleming.^
SootlAikL]
Act IIL sc. i. — A note of time occurs at 1. 60, which, if we could
ignore historic and dramatic contradictions, would enable us to say
that the Third Act opens in 1407. Henry calls to mind how "eight
yeares since," — that is, in 1399, — ^Northumberland had been his
trustiest friend. Yet this memory presents itself in the historical year
1405, before the end of Archbishop Scrope's rebellion was known. We
need not, however, concern ourselves about years, for but a few drama-
tic days have elapsed since the battle of Shrewsbury.^ Chronology
being thus travestied, the news that " Qlendour is dead " (L 103) is not
liable to question because he survived Henry ; nor is anything gained
if we accept the erroneous date ^ given in the following excerpt :
(h»en [ffol. iil 636/i/i.l The Welsh rebell Owen Glendouer made
^S^ an end of his wretched life in this tenth yeare [1408-9] of king
■•**^ Henrie his reigne ; being driuen now in his latter time (as we find
recorded) to such miserie, that, in manner despairing of all comfort,
he fled into desert places and solitarie caues ; where, being destitute
of all releefe and succour, dreading to shew his face to anie
creature, and finallie lacking meat to susteine nature, for meere
hunger and lacke of food, [he] miserablie pined awaie and died.
Act lY. sec. i.-iL — From the ensuing passages were derived the
scenes in which the suppression of Archbishop Scrope's revolt is
dramatized. Before the rebellion broke out ** the king was minded to
haue gone into Wales against the Welsh rebels, that, vnder their
cheefteine Owen Glendouer, ceassed not to doo much mischeefe still
against the English subiects'' {Hoi iii 529/i/5i).
* Northumberland sealed a letter written at Berwick-upon-Tweed on June
11, 1406.— A)*. Farly iii. 605/i. Before his flight he delivered Berwick to the
Scots. — Ott, 257. In the same month of June, ere Henry reached Berwick,
the Scots burnt the town and retreated.— iiot. FaH.^ iii 6O6/2. Ott, 257.
« T'A., 286.
• Pennant says, without citing any authority, that Qlendower died on
September 20, 1416.— Totw in WaleSy 1778, p. 368. But in the following year
Sir Gilbert Talbot was licensed to receive Glendower's submission. On
February 24, 1416, powers were granted by Henry V. *' ad Oommunicandum
& Tractandum cum Meredith ap Owyn, I^ilio Owyni de Glendouidy. de &
super oertis Materiis, praefato Giloerto per Nos injunctiB & declaratis, Et tkm
ad nraedictum Owinum, qnlim alios Rebelles nostios Wallenses, ad Obedientiam
& Uratias noBtra& si se ad eas petendum optulerint, nomine nostro Admitten-
dum & Recipiendum," . . . RyrMr^ ix. 330, 331. Mr. Gairdner wrote to me :
*' But his [Giendower's] obit was no doubt observed in some churches in Wales,
by which the day of his death would have been long preserved, while the year,
I take it, was a mere false inference on Pennant's part."
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Vn. THE SECOND PART OP KING HENRY IV. 151
[Hoi. iii. 629/i/s6.] But at the same time, to his further dis- j^^
quieting, there was a conspiracie put in practise against him at y^iJ^"^
home by the earle of Northumberland, who had conspired with ^^^^SEm^-
Richard Scroope, archbishop of Torke, Thomas Mowbraie, earle ^^Siii
marshall, sonne to Thomas duke of Norfolke, (who for the quarrell
betwixt him and king Henrie had beene banished, as ye haue
heard,) the lords Hastings, Fauconbridge,^ Berdolfe, and diuerse
others. It was appointed that they should meet altogiiher with
their whole power, ypon Torkeswold, at a daie assigned, and that
the earle of Northumberland should be cheefteine ; promising to PJfj^°^'
bring with him a great number of Scots. The archbishop, accom- ^'y!^***
panied with the earle marshall, deuised certeine articles of such ^b^or
matters, as it was supposed that not onelie the commonaltie of the S^^
Realme, but also the nobilitie found themselues greened with: artioies
which articles they shewed first ynto such of their adherents as ^Sae
* grievances
were neere about them, & after sent them abroad to their freends ^^mtyand
further off; assuring them that, for redresse of such oppressions, «<>"^<>'"J
they would shed the last drop of blood in their bodies^' if need
were.
The archbishop, not meaning to staie after he saw himselfe Thtarek'
accompanied with a great number of men, that came flocking to ^^l^ ^^
Yorke to take his part in this quarrell, foorthwith discouered his «»Hpi«»tor«.
enterprise ; causing the articles aforesaid to be set yp in the publike
streets of the citie of Yorke, and ypon the gates of the monasteries,
that ech man might Tuderstand the cause that mooued him to rise
in armes against the king: the reforming whereof did not yet
apperteine vnto him.' Herevpon, knights, esquiers, gentlemen,
yeomen, and other of the commons, as well of the citie townes
and countries about, being allured either for desire of change, or
1 In Rot, Parl.^ iii 604/i, John ** Fauconberge," Ralph Hastings, and John
"Colvyle de Dale," are styled "Chivalers."
* With "they would shed the Uut drop of blood in their bodies,** cp.
Mowbray's threat (IV. ii. 43, 44) that, if the articles were rejected,
"... we ready are to trie our fortunes,
To the laH mau.**
* Westmoreland, addressing the Arehbishop, denies the "neede of any sucb
redresse " as Scrope speaks o^ and adds (IV. i 98} : " Or if there were, ii not
hd<mg$ to you,**
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152 Vn. THE SECOND PART OP KING HENRY IV.
else for desire to see a reformation in such things as were
mentioned in the articles, assembled togither in great numbers ;
TUarek- and the archbishop, comming foorth amongst them clad in armor,^
«'"^* incouraged, exhorted, and (by all meanes he could) pricked them
foorth to take the enterprise in hand, and manfullie to continue in
their begun purpose; promising forgiuenesse of sinnes to all them,
whose hap it was to die in the quarrell : and thus not onelie all
the citizens of Yorke, but all other in the countries about^ that
were able to beare weapon, came to the archbishop, and the earle
jiumMmo. marshalL In deed, the respect that men had to the archbishop
mm had t^ causcd thcm to like the better of the cause, since the granitic of
^^^ his age, his integritie of life, and incomparable learning, with the
reuerend aspect of his amiable personage, mooned all men to haue
him in no small estimation.
The king, aduertised of these matters, meaning to preuent
them, left his ioumie into Wales, and marched with all speed
uuiorfKtr towards the north parts. Also Rafe Neuill, earle of Westmorland,
gj^«jjgf that was not farre off, togither with the lord lohn of Lancaster the
^Sn^ kings sonne, being informed of this rebellious attempt, assembled
pStXiL togither such power as they might make, and, togither with those
ndM tiu which were appointed to attend on the said lord lohn to defend
mimu$. the borders against the Scots, (as the lord Henrie Fitzhugh, the
lord Rafe Eeuers, the lord Robert XJmfreuill, & others,) made for-
ward against the rebels ; and, comming into a plaine within the
^^^^^ forrest of Galtree,* caused their standards to be pitched downe in
like sort as the archbishop had pitched his, oner against them,
being farre stronger in number of people than the other ; for (as
some write) there were of the rebels at the least twentie thousand
men.
When the earle of Westmorland perceiued the force of the
aduersaries, and that they laie still and attempted not to come
^ Prince John lepioves the Archbishop for appearing '*here, an yron man'*
(ly. ii. 8). With the Prince's complimentary words (11. 16-22), cp. what is
said of Scrope in the last passage of ttds paragraph, '* In deed, the respect,*' &c.
* The two armies met on May 29, 140G, at *^Shupton [Shipton] sur le More,
bien pres la Citee d'Evenrjk/'^Bot. FaH., iii 605/i. Qaltres Forest formerly
reached from York to Aldborongh. — BarthciomeWf $,v.
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Vn. THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV. 153
forward ypon him, he subtillie deuised how to quaile their purpose ; Tketubtui
and foorthwith dispatched messengers ynto the archbishop to ^^^
ynderstand the cause as it were of that great assemblie, and for ^^'^
what cause (contrarie to the kings peace) they came so in a[r]mour.
The archbishop answered, that he tooke nothing in hand against
the kings peac$} but that whatsoeuer he did, tended rather to tu cota-
oUhopt pro-
aduance the peace and quiet of the common-wealth, than other- jjj^j^'
wise; and where he and his companie were in armes, it was for **"*«*«•
feare of the king, to whom he could haue no free accesse, by reason
of such a multitude of flatterers as were about him ; and therefore
he mainteined that his purpose to be good & profitable, as well for
the king himselfe, as for the realme, if men were willing to ynder-
stand a truth : & herewith he shewed foorth a scroll, in which the gcrope tent
articles were written wherof before ye haue heard. umd aicrou
• ^^ contaming
The messengers, returning to the earle of Westmerland, shewed t»»«rti«ie«-i
him what they had heard & brought from the archbishop. When
he had read the articles, [p. 530] he shewed in word and countenance
outwardly that he liked^ ot the archbishops holie and yertuous rwestmore.
, land affected
intent and purpose ; promising that he and his would prosecute the [^u)»
same in assisting the archbishop, who, reioising hereat, gaue credit
to the earle, and persuaded the earle marshall (against his will as
it were) to go with him to a place appointed for them to commune (Mowbnj
U^ther. Here, when they were met with like number on either suadedbj
part, the articles were read ouer, and, without anie more adoo, ^^^^
the earle of Westmerland and those that were with him agreed ^'^^
to doo their best^ to see that a reformation might be had, according
to the same.
The earle of Westmerland, ysing more policie than the rest : ^^^^Swi
"Well" (said he) "then our trauell is come to the wished end; 5Jj[^
"and where our people haue beene long in armour, let them depart
"home to their woonted trades and occupations: in the meane v^^
" time let vs drirJce togitJier • in signe of agreement, that the people ^^'**"'^
^ The Archbishop says to Prince John (IV. 11. 31) : " I am not here against
your fathers peace.'*
* Prince John says of the articles (IV. ii. 54) : "I like them all, and do
allow them well."
* Cp. Prince John's words (lY. ii 63) : ** Let$ dritike together friendly, and
embrace."
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IhtearU
wuurtkaU
armUd,
154 Vn. THE SECOND PART OP KING HENRY IV.
togethwin *'oii both sides maie see it, and know that it is true, that we be
tight of the ' '
twoannies.] "light at a point" They had no sooner shaken hands togither,
pietnwhne bttt that a knight was sent streight waies from the archbishop, to
tffiXu ^™8 ^ord to the people that there was peace concluded ; com-
^^^ manding ech man to laie aside his armes, and to resort home to
^!S^m iheir houses. The people, beholding such tokens of peace, as
shaking of hands, and drinking togither of the lords in louing
manner, they being alreadie wearied with the ynaccustomed trauell
SSidtagiy ^^ warre, brake vp their field and returned homewards ; but, in the
fl^d^at meane time, whilest the people of the archbishops side withdrew
laS'ifoms awaie, the number of the contrarie part increased, according to
order giuen by the earle of Westmorland ; and yet the archbishop
TJuarck- pcrceiued not that he was deceiued, vntill the earle of Westmer-
J^^fi^ land arrested both him and the earle marshall, with diuerse other.
Thus saith Walsingham.
I quote another account which Holinshed gives, because two details
were taken from it by Shakspere ; namely, that the conference of the
royal officers with Scrope and Mowbray was held — as Westmoreland
proposes — " iu$t distance tweene our armies " (TV. L 226) ; and that
the rebels submitted to Prince John.
FU4m. [Hoi. iil 630/1/38.] But others write somwhat otherwise of
it^tte this matter ; aflSrming that the earle of Westmorland, in deed, and
^krence the lord Rafe Eeuers, procured the archbishop and the earle
brtweenthe marshall, to come to a communication with them, ypon a ground
iust in the midwaie betwixt both the armies; where the earle of
Westmorland in talke declared to them how perilous an enterprise
^ti?e^ they had taken in hand, so to raise the people, and to mooue
tar suhmS^ warro against the king ; aduising them therefore to submit them-
jSK »©ltt68 without further delaie vnto the kings mercie, and his sonne
the lord lohn, who was present there in the field with banners
spred, redie to trie the matter by dint of sword, if they refused
this counsell: and therefore he willed them to remember them-
selues well ; &, if they would not yeeld and crane the kings pardon,
he bad them doo their best to defend themselues.
Herevpon as well the archbishop as the earle marshall sub-
mitted themselues ynto the king, and to his sonne the lord lohn
Aat was there present^ and returned not to their armie. Where-
annles,
WMtmoTO-
landper-
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Vn. THE SECOND PART OF KINO HENRY IV. 155
ypon their troops scaled and fled their waies ; but, being pursued, O^J^jJ^d*
manie were taken, manie slaine, and manie spoiled of that that g^^^^^
they had about them, & so permitted to go their waies. Howso- dM^^
euer the matter was handled, true it is that the archbishop, and S^]^
the earle marshall were brought to Pomfret to the king, who in
this meane while was aduanced thither with his power ; and from
thence he went to Yorke, whither the prisoners were also brought, ^J^J^
and there beheaded the morrow after Whitsundaie [June 8, 1406] 22*i2l
in a place without the citie : that is to vnderstand, the archbishop fSSii%t to
himselfe, the earle marshall, sir John Lampleie, and sir William^ aw, fl o«t
Plumptoa f Unto all which persons, though indemnitie were ^;^-
promised, yet was the same to none of them at anie hand performed. ^^^
Act rV. sc. iii — ^The surrender of Sir John Colevile of the Dale * to
Falstaff is a oomic incident which appears to have been suggested by
the mere record of Colevile's execution at Durham, when Henry was
marching against Northumberland.
[Eol. iiL 630/2/31.] At his [Henry's] comming to Durham, the nuundt
lord Hastings, the lord Fauconbridge, sir John Colleuill of the ^^f^^|'
Dale, and sir John Qriffith, being conuicted of the conspiracie, ^^^
were there beheaded.
Whether the historic time of this scene be 1405' or 1412 is
doubtful, for, shortly before leaving the stage, Prince John says (1. 83) :
I heare the King my father is sore sick.
1 Wmiam\B6bermo\.
^ It appears that in the month of May, — but before the Archbishop and
Earl Marshal were arrested, — the rehels under Sir John Fauconherg, Sir Ralph
Hastings, and Sir John Colvrle de Dale, were embattled near Topcliff, until
(<*tan que") Prince John and Westmoreland **eax fesoit voider le champ, &
enx myst a fuyte & sor lour faier feurent pris." On May 29 the troops of
Prince John and Westmoreland were ranged in order of l>attle upon Shipton
on the Moor, confronting the forces of Sciope and Mowhray, **armes & arraies
a ffdre de guerre, . . . <s en tiel arraie les ditz Richard [Scrope] & Thomas
BCowbrav] & autres lour complices feuront pris mesme le jonr sur le dit
ore."— ifce. FaH,, iii. 604/2 ; 606/1.
s HdUt (35) makes contemptuous mention of a story that " at the howre of
the execucion of" Archbishop Scrope, ** the kyng at the same tyme syttyng at
dyner . • . was incontinently striken with a leprev,** and (45) denies that the
** sore sodayn disease" which caused Henry's death was a ** Lepry stryken by
the handes of Gk)d as folysh Friers before declared " (see p. 160 below). Accord-
ing to Eidog, (408) the king, immediately after »crope*s execution (June 8,
1405), '* quasi leprosus apparere cepit." Another account is that, in 1408,
Henrv, after his return from York, where he had been occupied with punish-
ing I^Torthmnberland's accomplices, *<decidit in languorem et extasim con-
aequenter, ita ut mortuus putaretur apud Mortlake.*^— Ot^.^ 263.
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156 Vn. THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV.
Under the latter date Holinshed first makes mention of the sickness
which eventually proved fatal to Henry.
[JIol iii 540/2/72.] He [Henry] held his Christmas this yeare
a^jj*^^ at Eltham, being sore vexed with sicknesse, so that it was thought
*'«**'^ sometime, [p. 641] that he had beene dead: notwithstanding it
pleased God that he somwhat recouered his strength againe, and
80 passed that Christmasse with as much ioy as he might
Act IV. so. iv.— Henry died on March 20, 1413 (Wals,, ii. 289),
about which time we might suppose this scene to open, if dramatic
chronology were reconcilable with historic dates. Soon after entering
the King says to Clarence (IL 20-26) :
How chance thou art not with the prince thy brother t 20
He loues thee, and thou dost neglect bim, Thomas ;
Thou hast a better place in his iSection
Then all thy brothers : cherrish it, my boy ;
And noble offices thou maist effect 24
Of mediation, after I am dead,
Between his greatnesse and thy other brethren.
It is just possible that a hint for these lines was taken from part
of a long speech addressed by Henry lY. to his eldest son (Stow, 654-
556), in which the King — who was then on his deathbed — expressed a
fear lest Clarence's ambition and the Prince's haughtiness might cause
strife between the two brothers.
The King advises Clarence to refrain from chiding Prince Henry
for faults,
Till that his {>assions, like a whale on ground,
Confound themselues with working.
Perhaps the source of this metaphor was the following accoimt of a
stranded whale :
[Hoi iii. 1259/2/32.] The ninth of lulie [1674. 1673 accord-
ing to Harrison's Chronologie {Shakspere* s England, ed. F. J.
Fumivall, App. I. Ivi.)], at six of the clocke at night, in the He
Ma!u^ of Thanet besid[e]8 Ramesgate, in the parish of saint Peter vnder
SjJJm*''^ the cliflfe, a monstrous fish or whale of the sea did shoot himselfe
jS^hS^^ on shore ; where, for want of water, beating himselfe on the sands, he
w^uUdi* died about six of the clocke on the next morning, before which
head and
not in kit time he roared, and was heard more than a mile on the land.
As Westmoreland announces Prince John's success (11. 83-87), time
recedes until 1405 is again the historic date, but, when Harcourt brings
tidings that Northtmiberland and Bardolph, ^^ijoith a great power of
Engl^h and of Scots," have been overthrown by the Sheriff of York-
shirie (11. 97-99), we are transported to the historical year 1408.
Northumberland's defeat is thus described :
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VII. THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV. 157
[Eol iii. 534/1/20.] The earle of Northumberland, and the i*08
lord Bardolfe, after they had beene in Wales, in France, and
Flanders, to purchase aid against king Henrie, were returned
backe into Scotland, and had remained there now for the space of
a whole yeare : and, as their euill fortune would, whilest the king
held a councell of the nobilitie at London, the said earle of North- jSJfl5£&^a;
umberland and lord Bardolfe, in a dismall houre, with a gi^eat ^^^
power of Scots, returned into England ; recouering diuerse of the earls s^dl *^^
castels and seigniories, for the people in great numbers resorted
vnto them. Heereypon, incouraged with hope of good successe,
they entred into Yorkeshire, & there began to destroie the
countrie. At their comming to Threske, they published a pro-
clamation, signifieng that they were come in comfort of the English
nation, as to releeue the common-wealth ; willing all such as loued
the libertie of their countrie, to repaire vnto them, with their
armor on their backes, and in defensible wise to assist them.
The king, aduertised hereof, caused a great armie to be
assembled, and came forward with the same towards his enimies ;
but, yer the king came to Notingham, sir Thomas, or (as other
copies haue) Rafe Rokesbie, shiriflFe of Yorkeshire, assembled the 5j>W»
forces of the countrie to resist the earle and his power ; comming JhTtoSau)/
to Grimbaut brigs, beside Knaresbourgh, there to stop them the S^rSSt*^
passage ; but they, returning aside, got to Weatherbie, and so to *^***"^
Tadcaster, and finallie came forward vnto Bramham more, neere
to Haizelwood, where they chose their ground meet to fight vpon.
The shirifie was as readie to giue battell as the earle to receiue it, m»kard
and so, with a standard of S. George spred, set fiercelie vpon the J^f^
earle, who, vnder a standard of his owne armes, incountred his
aduersaries with great manhood. There was a sore incounter and
cruell conflict betwixt the parties, but in the end the victorie fell to
the shiriffe. The lord Bardolfe was taken, but sore wounded, so oatd
that he shortlie after died of the hurts. T As for the earle of taken.)
Northumberland, he was slaine outright : • . • This battell was a^(a?]^^
fought the ninteenth day of Februarie [1408]. **"
Hardly has the news of Northumberland's defeat been uttered ere
the King swoons, and historic time is again as it was when the scene
opened.
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158 VII. THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV.
While the King is unconscious, Clarence mentions a portent^
(1. 125) :
The riuer hath thrice flowedi no ebbe between,
Holinshed says :
[ffol ill 540/1/45.] In this yeare [1411], and vpon the twelfth
o/jpJLn^* day of October, were three flouds in the Thames, the one following
^r^^odt ^^^ *^® other, & no ebbing bety?eene : which thing no man then
^^iH^ liuing could remember the like to be seene.
betWHH,
Act rV. sc. V. — My next excerpt is the well-known story which is
dramatized in the " Crown Scena''
Hau [Hoi. iil 541/1/22.] During this his [Henry IV. 's] last sick-
nesse, he caused his crowne (as some write) to be set on a pillow
t^jjjTiv. at his beds head ; * and suddenlie his pangs so sore troubled him,
fo!fd^^^^ that he laie as though all his yitall spirits had beene from him
"^^In departed. Such as were about bim, thmking yerelie that he had
^^^'^ beene departed, couered his face with a linnen cloth.
ThtprkK^ The prince, his sonne, being hereof aduertised, entered into the
taltth awaie x- » > o »
JJ<^<J5J« chamber, tooke awaie the crowne, and departed. The father, being
^^*^ suddenlie reuiued out of that trance, quicklie perceiued the lacke
of his crowne ; and, hauing knowledge that the prince his sonne
He u blamed had taken it awaie, caused him to come before his presence,
qf the king,
requiring of him what he meant so to misuse himselfe. The
Etitnuver, priuco, with a good audacitie, answered: "Sir, to mine and all
"mens iudgements you seemed dead in this world ; wherefore I, as
"your next heire apparant, tooke that as mine owne, and not as
Affuiitie "yours." "Well, faire sonne" (said the king with a great sigh),
^^^ 0/ " what right I had to it, God knoweth." " Well " (said the prince),
^;^ " if you die king, I will haue the garland, and trust to keepe it
"with the sword against all mine enimies, as you haue doone."
* Recorded by Fab. (576) under the 13th year of Henry IV. Clarence
speaks of a threefold tide which occurred ** a little time before '^ Edward IIL's
aeath, and Qloucester is alarmed hy " vnfather'd heires, and lothly hirths of
nature" (IV. ir. 121-128), lately ohserved. I find no records of these latter
portents. There may he an allusion to the wet summer of 1594— cp. Mids,
if, JD., II. i. 82-114— in Qloucester's remark that '*the seasons change their
manners," &c (E 123, 124).
* Mons. (ii. 435), who was, I suppose, HaJWs authority for the following
story, says that, *< comme il est accoutum^ de faire an pays," the crown was
placed "sur une couche assez pr^s de lui" [Henry].
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Vn. THE SECX)ND PART OF KING HENRY IV. 159
Then said the king, " I commit all to God, and remember you to
"doo well" With that he turned himselfe in his bed, and shortlie nt death €/
HenrUtk€
after departed to God in a chamber of the abbats of Westminster A>»^
called lenisalem, the twentith daie of March, in the yeare 1413,
and in the yeare of his age 46 : when he had reigned thirteene
yeares, fine moneths, and od dales, in great perplexitie and little
pleasure. . • •
The King's "very latest oounsaile" (1. 183) to Prince Henry is
illustrated by two passages from Kolinshed. Advising engagement in
"forraine quarrells" as an expedient for occupying the ''giddie
mindes " of unfaithful subjects, Henry says (11. 210-213) that he
had a purpose now
To leade out manie to the Holy Land,
Lest rest and lying stil might make them looke 212
Too neare vnto my state.
Holinshed thus describes the warlike preparations which were made
with the design of reconquering Jerusalem : ^
[Hoi. iii 540/2/60.] In this fourteenth and last yeare of king Fabian.
Henries reigne, a councell was holden in the white friers in London ; to hauTI^
at the which, among other things, order was taken for ships and a0<^n*t m
gallies to be builded and made readie, and all other things neces-
sarie to be prouided for a voiage which he meant to make into the
holie land, there to recouer the citie of Jerusalem from the
Infidels. • • •
[Eol. iil 541/1/5.] The morrow after Candlemas daie began a uis
parlement, which he had called at London, but he departed this ApaxUmtm,
life before the same parlement was ended : for now that his pro-
uisions were readie, and that he was furnished with sufScient
treasure, soldiers, capteins, vittels, munitions, tall ships, strong
gallies, and all things necessarie for such a roiall ioumie as he
1 These preparations have perhaps been postdated, and their object (an
expedition against France) misunderstood. On April 18, 1412, a patent
{Eymer^ viii. 730) was issued to press sailors "ad Deserviendum noois in
quodam Viagio supra Mare infra breve faciendo''; and on July 12, 1412,
Henry acknowledces the loan of a thousand marks from the Aiichhishop of
Cimterbuiy, for ttie eacpenses which "Nos, pro communi Commodo, circa
Prosecutionem k Adeptionem Juris nostri (Deo dante) in partibus Aquitannies,
ac alibi, in partibus Transmarinis, infra breve £acere oportebit/' — Rymer^ viii
760. In Aueust, 1412, the Duke of Clarence was sent with a strou^ force
"l^'manu valida'^ to the assistance of the Annngnac faction. — WaU.^ li 288.
•n August 10 he landed at la Hogue-Saint- Vast— -CAror*. Narmcmdej 418.
s
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160
Vn. THE SECOND PART OF KINO HENRY IV.
of an
Fabian,
(Heniy
swooned
while pray-
ing at the
ihrineof
Bdwardtho
Confesior.]
should
depart this
life in Jem*
Bolem.]
pretended to take into the holie land, he was eftsoones taken with
a sore sicknesse, which was not a leprosie, striken by the hand of
God (saith maister Hall) as foolish friers imagined ; but a yerie
apoplexie, of the which he languished till his appointed houre, and
had none other greefe nor maladia
As the scene ends Henry recognizes the fulfilment of a prophecy
that be " should not die but in Jenisalem " (1. 238). Holinshed relates
how this prediction was accomplished :
[ffol. iil 541/1/63.] We find, that he was taken with his last
sickenesse, while he was making his praiers at saint Edwards
shrine, there as it were to take his leaue, and so to proceed foorth
on his ioumie : he was so suddenlie and greeuouslie taken, that
such as were about him, feared lest he would haue died presentlie ;
wherfore to releeue him (if it were possible) they bare him into a
chamber that was next at hand, belonging to the abbat of West-
minster, where they laid him on a pallet before the fire, and Tsed
all remedies to reuiue him. At length, he recouered his speech,
and, vnderstandmg and perceiuing himselfe in a strange place
which he knew not, he willed to know if the chamber had anie
particular name ; wheroTuto answer was made, that it was called
lerusalem. Then said the king : "Lauds be giuen to the father of
"heauen, for now I know that I shall die heere in this chamber;
"according to the prophesie of me declared, that I should depart
" this life in lerusalem." ^
* Fab. (576) says that, by a council held at White Friars on November 20,
1412, it was " concluded, that for the kynges great loumaye that he entendyd
to tak^ in vysy tynge of the holy Sepulcie of our Lord, certayne Galeys of warre
shuld be made, & other purueaunce concemynge the same loumay.'* Fab*
then tells the story — ^which I quote from flU.— of Henry's death in the Jeru-
salem Chamber. There can hardly be a doubt, however, that Hennr accom-
plished a pilgrimage to Jerusalem before he ascended the throne. On Novembw
18, 1392, the Venetian Senate granted the request of ** Lord Henry of Lancaster,
Earl of Derby, Hereford, and Northampton, . . . the eldest son of the Duke
of Aquitaine" [John of Gaunt], that he might have '* the hull of a galley, with
all necessary tackle, to visit the holy places.** — Ven, State PP.^ L 33/107. On
November 30, 1392, the Senate decreed the expenditure of a sum of public
money to honour the Earl of Derby, the eldest son of the Duke of Lancaster,
'' the intimate friend of our Signoiy, on this his coming to Venice, bound for
the Holy Sepulchre.**— ilbie?., 33/io8. And on March 31, 1393, the Grand
Council ordamed that one hundred golden ducats of public money should be
expended to " honour the Earl of D^by, son of the Duke of I^incastcr, on this
his return.**— JWd., 34/iia
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V.
came to the
throne Iw
Vn. THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV. 161
Act Y. sc. ii. — ^The new King hears a vindicatory speech of the
Lord Chief-Justice (11. 73-101), by whom, in time past, he had been com-
mitted to prison for a gross act of lawlessness. I have mentioned above
(p. 141) an insult offeriBd by Prince Henry to the Chief-Justice, and I
here quote the account which Holinshed gives of this matter. After his
coronation Henry Y. is said to have dismissed his unworthy associates,
[Hoi. ill 543/2/10.] and in their places he chose men of g^
grauitie, wit, and high policie, by whose wise coonsell he might
at all times rule to his honour and dignitie ; calling to mind how SSSJdS^i
once, to hie offense of the king his father, he had with his fist tonee, when
striken^ the cheefe iustice for sending one of his minions (vpon FrinM,he
, , Btmekthe
desert) to prison : when the iustice stoutlie commanded himselfe 9^'
also streict to ward, & he (then prince) obeied.
In his answer to the Chief -Justice the King repeats Henry IY.'b
words (IL 108-112) :
Happie am I that haue a man so bold.
That dares do iustice on my proper sonne ;
And no lesse happie, hauing such a sonne,
That would deliuer vp his greatnesse so.
Into the hands of Iustice 1
The story of Prince Henry's rudeness to the Chief-Justice made its
earliest known appearance in Sir Thomas Elyot's GouemofiTf 1531 ^
(ff. 122-123 verso). Stow copied Elyot (557, 558). I quote I%e
Gouerrumr because it contains the remark attributed to Henry IY.9
which Holinshed omitted.
^ The following passage in Redman (11) is the earliest known authority for
the blow given by Prince Hemy to the Chief-Justice, and the consequent
supersession of the Prince in the Council by the Duke of Clarence : *' Senatu
movebatur, neo in curiam aditus ei patebat ; et illius fj&ma hcBsit ad metas,
quod Bummum judicem, litibus dirimendis et causarum cocnitionibus prsd-
positumj manu percuteret^ cum is unum in custodiam tradidisset ex cujus
nuniliantate voluptatem mirificam Henricus perciperet. Eam dignitatem, quam
is amisit, Tbomas illius frater, Dux Ciarensis, est consecutus." Mr. Cole
proves that Bedman's Vita Hen, V. was " composed between 1536 . . . and
1644."— IWd., pp. ix., X.
N. H.N[
' Sir N. H. Nicolas pointed out {PlacUorum Abbreviation pp. 256, 257) a
iixel^r source for this fiction ; and in an exhaustive paper entitlea ^* The Story
of Pnnce Henry of Monmouth and Chief-Justice Gasooign," Mr. F. Solly-Flood
has given detaus from which it appears that^ on account of a judgment
delivered towards the dose of Edward I.'s reign, in the case of Itoger de
Hengham venue William de Brews, the Chief-Justice of the King's Bendi was
reviled in open court by the defenaant. The record (Rot coram B^e, m. 33,
34 Ed. I., m. 75) of the Court's judgment against De Brews for his mis-
behaviour contains the following passage : " Quss quidem, videlicet contemptus
et inobedieniia [cp. the words— " contempt and disobedience"— attributed by
Elyot to ike Chief-Justice] tam mimstris ipsius Domini Begis ^uam sibi ipsi
aut curin suss facta valde simt odiosa et hoc nuper apparuit cum idem Dominus
Bex filium auum primogenitum et carisfdmum Edwardum Principem Wallieo
M
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162 Vn. THE SECOND PART OP KING HENRY IV.
The moste renomed prince kinge Henry the fifte, late kynge of
Englande, dnrynge the life of his father was noted to be fierce [fol.
gn«or 122 verso] and of wanton courage: it hapned that one of his
j^2j«^^ seruantes, whom he well fauored, for felony by hym committed
^^?B** ^^ arrayned at the Eynges benche, wherof he being aduertised,
^^.]^^ and incensed by light persones aboute hym, in furious ragd came
rnieFrinoe hastily to the barre, where his seruant stode as a prisoner, and
5«Md^ commaunded hym to be vngyued and sette at libertie ; where at
tbereleaM
of Us
servant]
niie Chief-
jQstioe
edmontshefl
all men were abasshed, reserued the chiefe iustice, who humbly
exhorted the prince to be contented that his seruaunt mought be
ordred aocordyng to the auncient lawes of this realme, or, if he
totot^ wolde haue hym saued from the rigour of the lawes, that he shuld
ooaT8e,ar optaiuc, if he moughto, of the kynge his father his gracious
pttdonfrom pardon, wherby no lawe or iustice shulde be derogate. With
CThePrinoe whichc auswcrc the prince nothynge appeased, but rather more
to takeaway inflamed, eudeuorcd hym selfe to take away his seruaunt The
iuge (consideringe the perilous example and inconuenience that
moughte therby ensue) with a valiant spirite and courage oom^
[aad, betng mauudcd the prince, ypon his alegeance, to leue the prisoner and
to desist, departe his way. With whiche commandemcTit the prince being
g^«^p to, set all in a fury, all chafed & in a terrible maner, came yp to the
jQstioeina place of {/ol. 123] iugement; (men thinkyng that he wolde haue
slayne the iuge or haue done to hym some damage;) but the
Sd«r. iuge, sittyng styll without mouynge, declarynge the maiestie of
with<^ the kynges place of iugement, and with an assured and bolde
2J^ws countenance, hadde to the prince these wordcs folowyng :
g^, "Sir, remembre your selfe : I kepe here the place of the king
npreseni- .
attveu
pro 60 quod qasedam verba grossa et acerba coidam minietro sno dixerat et
Dospido suo fere per dimidium annum amovit nee ipsum filiiun sunm in con-
Bpectn Buo venire permisit qnoasque predicto minlBtro de predicta transcres-
aone satisfeceiat.'' — SotXy-Flood^ 106. Here we have evidence of verbal abuse
bestowed on a royal officer by the first Prince of Wales, whose punishment
resembles that which, according to Redman, Prince Henry suffered Tor striking
the Chief- Justice. JpP* *' ^^ ui curiam aditos ei patebat,*' p. 161, note 1,
above.) Mr. Solly-Flood informs us that the Botnli coram Eege and the Con-
trolment rolls embrace every commitment by the King's Bench either ad
respondendum or inpenam. He carefuUv examined all the entries made
during the reign of Henry IV. on these rolls, — which are perfect throughout
this reign, — and found no record of Prince Henry's commitment for any
offence, or of the commitment of any one during Henry IV.'s reicn for the
offences attributed to the Prince by Elyot and Redman. ~iSc;2l3^JF7oo^ 102.
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Vn. THE SECOND PAET OP KING HENBY IV. 163
"your Boueraigne lorde and father,^ to whom ye owe doable
" obedience ; wherfore eftsones in his name I charge you desiste
"of your wilfiihies and vnlaufull entreprise, & from herisforth gyue
''good example to those whiche hereafter shall be your propre gDMibade
"subiects. And nowe for your contempt and disobedience go you s^^^^j^^
"to the prisone of the kynges benche, where vnto I committe you ; gjjg" j
"and remayne ye there prisoner yntill the pleasure of the kyng
"your father be further knowcTi."
With whiche wordes beinge abasshed, and also wondrynge at m^wuM
the meruailous grauitie of that worshipful lustice, the noble prince, Jj^^****
layinge his waipon aparte, doinge reuerence, departed, and wente ^i^nt,
to the kynges benche as he was co;7tmaunded. Wherat his ^S^
seruantea, disdainyng, came and shewed to the kynge all the hole before the
affaire. Whereat he a whiles studienge, after, as a man all 2lSJied
rauisshed with [fol. 123 verso] gladnesse, holdyng his eien and *^*^
handes yp towarde heuen, abrayded, sayinge with a loude voice : hS^jSd«
piei
have
"0 mercifull god, how moche am I, aboue all other men, JJS,tered
" bounde to your infinite goodnes I specially for that ye haue S^Sda
" gyuen me a iuge who feareth nat to ministre iustice, and also ^t^Jt
"a Sonne who can suffire semblably and obey iustice I "
Before leaving the stage Henry says (1. 134 ; 141, 142) :
Now call we our high court of parliament : • • •
Our coronation done, we wil accite
(As I before remembred) all our state.
Holinshed briefly notices the first Parliament of Henry V.
[Hoi. iii 643/2/44] Immediatlie after Easter he called a ^JjjK^
parlement, in which diuerse good statutes, and wholesome ordin- ^^^^
* I then did VBe the person of your father ;
The imi^e of his power lay then in me : . •
Four Highnesse pleased to forget my place,
The maiestie and power of law and mstice,
The image of the King whom I presented,
And strooke me in my very seate of indgement ; . . • 80
The writer of The Fcmcm Victories of Henry the fifth, 1698, made the Judge-
to whom Prince Heniy had riven "a Doxe on the eare"— say (sc iv, 11. 99-102,
p. 14) : " in striking me in this place, you creatly abuse me, and not me onely,
out also your £ftther : whose liuely person here in this place I doo represent '^
This assertion has — accidentally, no doubt — the same scope as the doctrine laid
down by the Court of King's Bench in regard to William de Brews's contempt:
" Et quia sicut honor et reverentia qui ministris ipsius Domini Begis ratione
officii sui [fiunt] ipsi Regi attribuuntur, sic dedecus et contemptus ministris suis
facta eidem Begi attribuuntur."— j8ofly-J7o(xi, 106.
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164 Vn. THE SECOND PART OP KING HENRY IV.
ances, for the preseruation and aduancement of the common-
wealth were deuised and established.
Act V. Bc. V. — Falstaff interrupts the royal procession on its return
after Henry's coronation, and is sent by the King into banishment
with Henry's other '' misleaders " ; all of whom have been forbidden to
come within " ten mile " of * our person ' ; though they are to receive
pensions now for " competence of life/' and ^' aduancement " in future,
if they reform themselves QL 67-74). Holinshed thus records Henry's
coronation and altered behaviour :
Tked^^ [Sol, iii 643/I/S4.] He was crowned the ninth of Aprill,
!£!SnaS!!!^ being Passion sundaie, which was a sore, ruggie, and tempestuous
tmptnuaui day, with wind, snow, and sleet; that men greatlie maruelled
thereat^ making diuerse interpretations what the same might
signifie. But this king euen at first appointing with himselfe, to
shew that in his person princelie honors should change publike
manners, he determined to put on him the shape of a new man.
i^!S^^ For whereas aforetime he had made himselfe a companion vnto
•iMorOif migruiie mates of dissolute order and life, he now banished them
&1
HiiftafMig.
[His
ibeoaMT all from his presence (but not vnrewarded, or else vnpreferred);
^^Md hit inhibiting them vpon a great paine, not once to approch, lodge, or
"''"J' soioume within ten miles of his court or presence : . . .
The following sketch of Henry lY.'s character and circumstances
may have afforded Shakspere some hints.
[HoL iil 641/2/20.] This king was of a meane stature, well
proportioned, and formallie compact ; quicke and liuelie, and of a
stout courage. In his latter dales he shewed himselfe so gentle,
that he gat more loue amongst the nobles and people of this
realme, than he had purchased malice and euill will in the
beginning.
But yet to speake a truth, by his proceedings, after he had
atteined to the crowne, what with such taxes, tallages, subsidies,
and exactions as he was constreined to charge the people with ;
and what by punishing such as, mooued with disdeine to see him
vsurpe the crowne (contrarie to the oth taken at his entring into
this land, vpon his retume from exile), did at sundrie times rebell
against him ; he wan himselfe more hatred, than in all his life time
(if it had beene longer by manie yeares than it was) had beene
possible for him to haue weeded out & remooued.
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0
Vm. HBNBY V. 165
VIII. HENRY V.
Henbt Y. appears to have received the Dauphin Lewis's ^ gift of
tennis-balls in Lent, 1414.^ This date marks the commencement of
historic time in The Life qf Hmry the Ftft; and the play ends with
Katharine of Yalois's betrothal in May, 1420.
Act L Prologue. —
for a Muse of Fire, that would ascend
The brightest Heauen of Inuention,
A Kingdome for a Stage, Princes to Act,
And Monarchs to behold the swelling Scene I 4
Then should the Warlike Harry, like himselfe,
Assume the Port of Mars ; and at his heeles
(Leasht in, like Hounds) should Famine, Sword, and Fire
Crouch for employment. 8
A speech ^ attributed to the " Warlike Harry " contains a parable
which may have suggested the picture of these crouching hounds of
Famine, Sword, and Fire. On January 2, 1419, Bouen, despairing of
succour, after five months' siege,^ yielded to the pressure of famine so
far as to open communication with Henry through ambassadors.
{Hoi iii 667/1/39.] One of them, scene in the ciuill lawea,
was appointed to declare the message in all their names ; who,
shewing himselfe more rash than wise, more arrogant than learned, ^;^*^
first tooke ypon him to shew wherin the glorie of yictorie consisted ;
aduising the king not to shew his manhood in famishing a multi-
1 Lewis was a contemporary of the events dramatized in Hen, F., Acts
I. -IV. He died on December 18, 1415.~Jlfon«., iii 366 ; Jowmal^ xv. 210.
His brother, the Dauphin John, died on April 8 (./bunial, 216) or 4 {M(m»,^
iiL 408), 1417. Daring the historic time embraced by Act Y. the Dauphin
was Charles, who afterwards reigned as Charles YII., and is a character in
1 Hen. VI.
> "Eodem anno [1414] in Quadragesima rege existente apud Eenilwortb,
Earolus \k, Ludovicus], regis Francorum filius, Dalphinus vocatus, mifiit pilaa
Parisianas ad ludendnm cum pueris.*'— 0^., 274. In 1414 Ash Wedn^day fell
on February 21.
> A speech, similar in outline, is attributed to Henry by Bedmo^ (55). I
quote from it a passage which has some resemblance to that in whidi Henry
takes credit to himself for employing the " meekest maid *' to punish Kouen :
** Benigne et clementer omnia me administrare nemo est qui non intelligat,
cum fame potius quam flanmia, ferro, aut sanguine, Rotomagum ad deditionem
perpello."
^ The forces blockading Boaen were ordered to take up their positions on
Augnst 1, 1418.— Po^c, 6. On January 2, 1419, Henry gave audience to the
ambassadors from Rouen. — Fage^ 26-28. Bouen opened her gates on January
19, 1419.— Po^e, 41, 42. Page was present at the siege.— Po^a, 1.
At
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166 Vin. HENRY V.
^eaij i^d® o{ poore, simple, and innocent people, but rather suffer such
S^^M^if^ miserable wretches, as laie betwixt the wals of the citie and the
wiOitto trenches of his siege, to passe through the campe, that they might
^^ got their lining in other places ; and then, if he durst manfiillie
g^] assault the citie, and by force subdue it^ he should win both
worldlie fame, and merit great meed at the hands of almightie
God, for hauing compassion of the poore, needle, and indigent
people.
When this orator had said, the king, who no request lesse
suspected, than that which was thus desired, began a while to
muse ; and, after he had well considered the crafde cautell of his
Thekingt euimics, with a fierce countenance, and bold spirit, he reprooued
tkiijmmd them ; both for their subtill dealing with him, and their malapert
presumption, in that they should seeme to go about to teach him
what belonged to the dutie of a conquerour. And therefore, since
it appeared that the same was vnknowne vnto them, he declared
that the goddesse of battel!, called Bellona, had three hand-
maidens, euer of necessitie attending vpon hir, as blood, fire, and
[He has famine. And whereas it laie in his choise to yse them all three,
gji^jjj;^ (yea, two or one of them, at his pleasure,) he had appointed onelie
2^^^|^2[1 the meekest maid of those three damsels to punish them of that
SwS!f* citie, till they were brought to reason.
And whereas the gaine of a capteine, atteined by anie of the
said three handmaidens, was both glorious, honourable, and
woorthie of triumph: yet, of all the three, the yoongest maid,
which he meant to yse at that time, was most profitable and
pftiM commodiou& And as for the poore people lieng in the ditches,
jjjJtiMi if they died through famine, the fault was theirs, that like cruell
^^^ tyrants had put them out of the towne, to the intent he should
B^!i^^^ slaie them; and yet had he saued their lines, so that, if anie
MAintj lacke of charitie was^ it rested in them, and not in him. But to
their cloked request, he meant not to gratifie them within so
much ; but they should keepe them still to helpe to spend their
vittels. And as to assault the towne, he told them that he
[He win would they should know, he was both able and willing thereto,
eoonelT^ as hc should SCO occasiou *. but the choise was in his hand, to
win the
«<^i tame them either with blood, fire, or famine, or with them all;
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Vm. HBNEY V. 167
whereof he would take the choise at his pleasure, and not at
theirs.
Act I sc. i. — ^Henry Chichele Archbishop of Canterbury tells John
Fordham Bishop of Ely ^ that a bill for disendowing the Church, which
nearly passed in the eleventh year of Henry IV.'s reign, has been
revived. If this bill were carried, the clergy must lose ** the better
half e " of their *' Possession " :
For all the TemporaU Lands, which men deuout
By Testament haue giuen to the Church,
Would they strip from vs ; being valu'd thus :
As much as would maintainef to the Kings honor, 12
VvliJifteene Ea/rlea, djuiffteme hundred Knighte,
Six thousand and two hundred good Esquvree ;
And, to relive qfLeaiKTB, and weake age
Of indigent faint Soules, past corporall toyle, 16
A hundred Abnes-hotues, right well supply'd ;
And to the Coffers of the King, beside,
A thouscmd pounds by th'yeere. Thus runs the Bill.
Holinshed took from Halle (49) the following account of the
renewal of this bill:
[Hoi iii 545/2/6.] In the second yeare of his reigne, king Annoiug.f,
Henrie called his high court of parlement, the last daie of April!,
in the towne of Leicester ; in which parlement manie profitable IIlSm^^.
lawes were concluded, and manie petitions mooued were for that
time deferred. Amongst which, one was, that a bill exhibited in
the parlement holden at Westminster, in the eleuenth yeare of king
Henrie the fourth (which by reason the king was then troubled
with ciuill discord, came to none effect), might now with good
deliberation be pondered, and brought to some good conclusion*
The effect of which supplication was, that the temporaU lands Aua
(deuoutlie giuen, and disordinatlie spent by religious, and other g^^yg^y
spirituall persons) should be seized into the kings hands; sith the ^^^
same might sufSce to mainteine, to the honor of the king, and
defense of the realme, fifteene earles, fifteene hvmdred Tcnights, six
thousand and two hundred esquiers, and a hundred aJmesse-hotises,
for relitfe onelie of the poore, impotent, and needie persons; and
the king to haue cleerelie to his coffers twentie thousand pounds:
with manie other prouisions and values of religious houses, which
I passe ouer.
» Bishop of Ely from 1388 to 1426.— OWu;in, 274.
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168
Vm. HENRY V.
[The
nsolTed
HeniT's
attention
from the die-
endowment
blU.)
bltkoptf
Ocmharimkt
CT€HtiO% iM
tJUiKirii-
My next excerpt shows how the danger was averted t
[HoL iil 545/2/29.] This bill was much noted, and more feared,
among the religions sort, whom snerlie it touched yerie neere; and
therefore to find remedie against it, they determined to assaie all
waies to put by and ouerthrow this bill : wherein they thought best
to trie if they might mooue the kings mood with some sharpe
inuention, that he should not regard the importunate petitions of
the commons.^ Wherevpon, on a daie in the parlement, Henrie
Chichelie archbishop of Canturburie made a pithie oration, wherein
he declared, how not onelie the duchies of Normandie and Aqui-
taine, with the counties of Anion and Maine, and the countrie of
Gascoigne, were by yndoubted tiUe apperteining to the king, as
to the lawfuU and onelie heire of the same ; but also the whole
realme of France, as heire to his great grandfather king Edward
the third.*
Act L sc. ii. — ^In presence of the assembled English peers, Henry
calls upon Chichele to show whether the Salic law '< or should or should
not ^ bar the King's daim to France. I exhibit in parallel columns
Holinshed's version' of the Archbishop's speech and Shakspere's
paraphrase of it. Chichele inveighed
PmUmHH
parlktikt
IMHJMUVP
fmttpaijf*
plpammU
bm r M* yen
MmrptlU
JUL
amonge other thynges, the foresayd Bylle [Fdb.y 576, 576] put vp by tiie
Commons of the lande, for the Temporalties beynge in the Churche, as it is
before [towchid in the zi yere of the iiiith Henry], was agayne mynded.
In fere wherof, lest the kynge wolde therunto gyae any Comfortable Audy-
ence, as testyfye some wiyters, certayne Bysshoppes and other hede men of
the Churche put y« kyng in mynde to claymehisryghtin Fraunce; &for
the exployte therof they offrede vnto hym great & notable summes. By
reason whereof y« sayd byll was agayne put by, and the kynge sette his
mynde for the Kecouery of the same ; . . . — Fab., 578.
When I said (Emry K,, revised ed.. New Sh. Soc, p. vii^ that " Hall seems
to be the sole authority for the revival of the confiscation scheme in Henry the
Fifth's reign," this passage in Fab. was unknown to me.
> There is not so much as an Elusion to these claims of Hennr in the
accounts of the Leicester Parliament's proceeding given by Bot FarL and
Elmham (cap. xviL). When Parb'ament met at Westminster, on November
19, 1414, the Chancellor (Henry Beaufort) opened the session by a sermon in
which he announced that the Eang had determined to resort to war with
France, and therefore needed a large subsidy.— iJot Farlf iv. 34. It does
not appeur from Bat. Farl (iv. 16/ 1) that Chichele was one of the triers of
petitions in the Leicester Parliament, but we learn from the same authority
{Bot. Pwrl iv. 35/1) that he held the office of trier in the Parliament of West-
minster. He was translated from S. David's to Canterbury. — Chdwin, 518.
The Pope's confirmation of Chichele's election was requestea by Henry in a
letter dated on March 23, 1414.— JRymer, iz. 119. The temporalities were
restored on May 30, 1414.— iMd. 131.
* HoL abridged and turned into the third person a speech which Haile
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Vni. HENKY V.
169
[Ed. iii. 545/2/46.] against the
surmised and false fained law
Salike, which the Frenchmen
alledge euer against the kings of
England in harre of their inst
title to the crowne of France,
The yerie words of that supposed
law are these : * In terram Salicam
'mulieres ne attccecUmt;* that is
to saie, *Inio the Salike land let
'not women succeed.* Which the
French gloBsers expound to he the
reahne qf France, a/nd that this law
was made hy king Pharamond;
whereas yet their ottme authors
ajffvrme, that the land Salike is in
Germanie, hetweene the riuers qf
Elbe and Sola; and that when
Charles the great had ouercome the
Saxons, he placed there certeine
Frenchmen^ which hauing in dis-
deine the dishonest maners qf the
Germane women, made a lawj that
the females should not succeed to
any inheritance withtn that land,
which at this date is called Meisen :
so that, if this he true, this Uw)
was not made for the reaXme of
France, nor the Frenchmea pos-
sessed the land Salike, tiU foure
hundred and one a/nd twevUie yeares
ofiM* the death qf Pharam<mdy the
supposed maker of this Salike law ;
for this Pharamond deceassed in
There is no larre
To make against your Highnesse
Clayme to France,
But this, which they produce from
Pharamond :
"/n terram Salicam Mulieres n$
auecedani,**
** No Woman ahall succeed in Salike
Land:"
Which Salike Land, the French
yninstly gloze
To he the JRealme of France, and
PTiaramond
The foonder of this Law, and
Female Barre.
Tei their owne Authors futhfully
affirme.
That the Land Salike is in
Oermanie,
Betweene the Flouds of Sola and of
Flue;
Where Charles the Qreat, hauing
subdu'd the Saaons,
There left behind, and settled
eertaine French,
Who (holding in disdaine the
Qerman Women,
For some diskvnest manners 0^ their
life)
Establisht then this Law; to wit,
'* If o Female
** Should be Inheritrix in Salike
Land:"
Which Salike, (as I said,) 'twixt
£lue and Sala,
Is at this day in Germanie ealTd
Meiaen,
Then doth it well appeare, the
Salike Law
Was not deuised for the Realme qf
France;
Nor did the French possesse the
Salike Land
Yntillfowe hundred one and twewtie
yeeres
After defunction of King Phara"
m/ytid,
(Idly sujppos'd the founder qf this
Law^
So law.
40
n^nkhthe
Fmuw ny
thfttPhaift-
44 mood made
the law for
France, the
BaUcUmiliB
in Germany,
when
Charles the
Great plaeed
eertain
Frenchmen,
long after
Phaia-
mond's
death.]
Mulma
[Misena,
lleisw^.
48
62
56
aasims to Chichele (60-62). On his deathbed Henry protested that neither
ambition nor the desire of fame prompted him to undertake war with France ;
"but OTidie that, in prosecuting his lust title [to the French crown, through
Edward III.], he might in the end atteine to a perfect peace, and come to
emoie those peeces of his inheritance [from Henry IL], which to him of right
belonged : and that, before the begriming of the same warres, he was fuilie
persuaded by men both wise and of great holinesse of lif(^ that vpon such
intent he might and ought both begin the same warres, and follow them," &c.
This last clause has the following sidenote: "CQieeflie Chichelie archb. of
^^^' for dashing y« bill agahiflt the cleargie,** &c Cp. Henry's appeal to
Chichele (I. ii 13-32 ; 96). ^ *^*^
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170
Vin. HENRY V.
[Pippin
taioedhii
title to tlM
Vftneh
crown
throngli the
female Une,
and eo alto
didHqali
niMrefSare
the Una of
Bngland
cannot be
barred from
claiming
France
the f/eair$ 426, and Charles the great
subdued the Saacona^ and placed the
Frenchmen in those parts beyond
the riuer of Sola, in the yea/re 805.
Moreouer, it appeareth by their
owne writers, that king Pepvne,
which deposed ChUderike, claimed
the craume qf France, as heire
generaU, for that he was descended
qf BlUhUd, daughter to king Clo-
thair [p. 546] the first. Hugh
Capet also, (who vsurped the crowns
vpon Charles duke qf Loraine,
the sole Jnevre male qf the line
and stocks of Charles the great,)
to make his title seeme true, and
appeare good, (fhough in deed it
was Starke naught^ conueied him-
self e ^ heire to the ladie Lingard,
daughter to king Charlemaine, sonne
to Lewes the emperour, that was son
to Charles the great. King Lewes
also, the tenth,^ (otherwise called
saint Lewes,) being verie heire to
the said vsurper Hugh Capet, could
neuer be satisfied in his conscience
how he might iustlie keepe and
possesse the crowns of France^ till
he was persuaded and fullie in-
structed, thai queene IsabeU his
grandmotherwas lineal^e descended
qf the ladie Frmengard, daughter
and heire to the aboue named
Charles duke of Loraine; by the
which marriage, the bloud and line
qf Charles the great was againe
vnited and restored to the crawne
k scepter qf France : so thai more
cUere than the sunne it openlie
oppeareiAip that the title of king
Who died with«ii ike yeere of our 60
Bedemption
Foore hundred twentie six; and
Charles the Cfreat
Suhdu'd the Saxom, and did seat
theFreneh
Beyond the Riuer Sola, in the yeere
Eight hundred fine. Besides, their 64
WrUereBAj,
King Pipin, which depoaBd Chit*
Did, ae Heire Cfenerall, (bebg
descended
OfBlithUd, which was Daughter to
King Clothair,)
Make Clayme and Title to ^ 68
Orowne qf France,
Hugh Capet also, (wJio vsurpt the
Crowne
Of Charles the Duke qf L&raine, sole
KHremale
Qfthe traeXiiM and Stock of Charles
the Cfreat,)
To find his Title with some shewea 72
of trath,
(ThougJi, in pore truth, it was
coiropt and naught,)
Conuey*d kimse^e as th* ffeire to th'
Lady Lingare,
Daughter to Charlemaine, who was
Xh&Sonme
To Lewes the Emperowr, and Lewes, 76
iheSon/ns
Of Charles the Chreat. Also King
Lewes the Tenth,
Who was sole Heire to the Vsurper
Could not keepe quiet in his
eonsdSnce,
Wearing the Croume of France, *till 80
satisfied
That faire Queene JsaM^ his Grand-
mother.
Was LineaU qf the Lady Ermengare,
Daughter to Charles the foresaid
Duke qf L&raine :
By the which Marriage, the Lyne of 84
Charles the Cfreat
Was Te-vnited to the Crowne qf
France.
So that, as dears ea iathe Summers
Sunne,
King Pepina Title^ and Hugh Capets
Clayme.
King Lewes his satisfaction, all 88
appeare
To hold in Right and Title of the
Female:
^ HciJs slip misled Shakspere.
ninth" (61).
HaUe has: **Eyng Lewes also the
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Vm. HENRY V.
171
Pepinf the dame of Ifugh Capet,
the possession of Letoes; jesk, and
the French kings to this date, are
deriued and oonaeied from the
heire /amoZa; though they voatdd,
ynder the colour of such a fained
law, barre the kings and princes
of this realme of England of their
right and lawf ull inheritance.
The archbishop further alledged
out of the booke qf NumJbere this
saieng : ' When a man die^ with-
'out a sonne^ Ut the inheritance
' descend to his daughter.'
ibzoQgh
theume
line of
dMoent]
So doe the Kings of Fiance yn^ this
day;
Howbeit ihey would hold yp this
SaliqueXati?
To Itam yonr Highnesse ckyming 92
from the Female ;
And rather chnse to hide them In a
Net,
Then amply to imbarie their
crooked Titles
Ysurpt from yon and your Pro-
genitois.
King. May I, with right and 96
conscience, make this claim f rrhe book of
Cfant, The sinne ypon my head, Numbers.)
dread Soueraigne t
For in the Booke of Numbers is it
writ,
« When the man dyea, let the Inr
heriiancs
" Descend vnto the DaugUer.'* 100
Ghichele then reminds Henry how Edward m., ''on a HUt^
stood "; watching the Black Prince defeat " the full Power of France,"
with but half of &e English army (I. ii 105-110). Holinshed records
(iii. 372/2/27) how a knight, sent to ask Edward for reinforcements,
came "where" the King ** stood aloft on a windmill hiU," surveying
the battle.^
When Westmoreland says that the hearts of the EngHsh nobles are
in France, Ghichele exclaims :
O let their bodyes follow, my deare liege.
With Blood and Sword and Fire, to win your Eight/
In ayde whereof, we 0/ the SpifrituaUie 182
Will rayse your Highnesse such a mightie Svmms,
As neuer did the Clergie at one time
Bring in to any of your Ancestors.
Ghichele,
[Hoi iii 646/1/30.] haning said sofficientlie for the proofe of
the kings iust and lawfull title to the crowne of France, he
exhorted him to adoance foorth his banner to fight for his right, to
conquer his inheritance, to spare neither hloud, sword, nor fire; sith
his warre was iust, his cause good, and his claime true. And to
the intent his loumg chapleins and obedient subiects of the
spvritualtie might shew themselues willing and desirous to aid his
maiestie, for the recouerie of his ancient right and true inheritance,
the archbishop declared that, in their spirituall conuocation, they
[OUebele
Hinged Henry
to make
war, and
promised
Aim a larger
■am of
money than
the clergy
haderer
paid to any
prinee.]
1 An incident which Gharles VI. reminds his nobles of (^en. V., II. iv.
53-62).
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172 Vni. HENRY V.
had granted to his Mghnesse such a smnmie of monie, as nmer by no
spirituall persons \?as to any prince before those daies ginen or
aduanced.^
Chichele answers Henry's fear, that the Scot might pour down upon
defenceless England, by recalling the day (October 17, 1346) when
David II. was vanquished and taken prisoner, during Edward HI/s
absence in France. — Aveshwry^ 145, 146. For the unhistorical assertion
that David was sent to France (1. 161), Shakspere was perhaps indebted
to the play of King Edward IIL^ where (Act IV. sc. ii. p. 63) we find
Edward resolving to summon Copeland, David's captor,
hither out of hand.
And with him he shall bring his prisoner king.
In the last scene (Act Y. sc. 1. p. 71), which is laid at Calais, Copeland
enters, " and Eling David."
To Chichele's instance Westmoreland replies (IL 166-168) :
But there's a saying very old and true :
" If that you wUl Framce win,
" Then wUh Scotland first begin"
After recording Chichele's speech, and offer of a subsidy, Holinshed
adds:
[Hoi iii. 546/1/44.] When the archbishop had ended his T^re-
Tjumruqf pared tale, Rafe Neuill, earle of Westmorland, and as then lord
^m^^ Warden of the marches against Scotland, vnderstanding that the
JJjvto^^ king, vpon a couragious desire to recouer his right in France, would
^^'*"*** suerlie take the wars in hand, thought good to mooue the king to
begin first with Scotland; and therevpon declared how easie a
matter it should be to make a conquest there, and how greatlie
the same should further his wished purpose for the subduing of
the Frenchmen ; concluding the summe of his tale with this old
saieng: that, "Who so vnll France mn, must tidth Scotland first
** begin."
War with France being resolved on, audience is given to ambas-
sadors from the Dauphin. They present to the King a '' Tun ^ of
^ The Convocation of Canterbury met on October 1, 1414, and broke up on
October 20, 1414, after granting Henry two whole tentha.— IFo^ 350, 351.
This convocation was summoned for the settlement of matters relating to
church discipline, as the mandate CPTctkey Appendix, 87) shows.
* Perhaps "Tunne*' = a cup, Higins {Nomendator, 1585^ p. 233, coL 1)
defined '* Ob8C3rphium " as "a tun, or nut to drinke in." In The Famova
Victories, sc ix., p. 29, the ambassador's action is described by this stage
direction : " He deliuereth a Tunne of Tennis Balles." Henry says : " What, a
guilded Tunne 1 I pray you, my Lord of Yorke, looke what is in it" York
answers: '* Here is a Carpet and a Tunne of Tennis balles.*'
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Vra. HENRY V. 173
Treafiure" (1. 255), contaming tenms-balls (1. 258) ; a gift which their
master deems '' meeter for " Henry's '' spirit " than French dukedoms.
Of this incident Holinshed gives tJie following account :
[Hoi. ill 646/i/i.] Whilest in the Lent season the king laie at ^'"^
Eillingworth, there came to him from Charles [sc. Lewis] Dolphin f^
of France certeine ambassadors, that brought with them a barrell mw
of Paris balles ; which from their maister they presented to him for |™jj^
a token that was taken in yerie ill part, as sent in scome, to
signifie, that it was more meet for the king to passe the time with
such childish exercise, than to attempt any worthie exploit
Part of Henry's answer (IL 264-266) to the ambassadors —
Tell him, ** he hath made a match with such a Wrangler,
<< That all the CauHa of France will be disturb'd
"WithChaces"
— may be derived from the concluding portion of this excerpt :
[Eol. iii. 646/i/9.] Wherfore the K wrote to him, that yer
ought long, he would tosse him some London balles that perchance [^^
should shake the walles of the best court in France.^ uuei-'j
Act n. Chorus. — ^When Shakspere wrote U. 8-10|^
For now sits Expectation in the Ayre ;
And hides a Sword, from Hilts vnto the Point,
With Orownes Imperiall, Crownes, and Coronets
, — ^he may have been thinking of a woodcut-portrait of Edward m.,* —
engraved on page 174, — ^which appeared in the first edition of Holinshed
(1577, vol. iii. p. 885).
Act II. sc. ii — ^This scene is laid at Southampton, in August, 1416.'
* Cp. the rest of the passage in OU, (cited above, p. 166) : " Cui rex
Anglorom rescripsit, dicens, se in brevi Dilas missuram Ijondoniamm quibns
terreret Ftereret] & confanderet sua tecta.*^ Henry*B threat that the Dauphin's
balls Bhall become ** Gun-stones " (I. ii 282) may be Shakspere's reminiscence
of Caxton {Chronicle^ ed. 1482, aign. t. 6), who says that Henry " lete make
tenys balles for the dolphyn in al the hast that they myjt be made, and they
were grete aotvne stones for the Dolphyn to playe with alL" But a cannon-
shot was called a gunstone in Shakspere's time. See examples in the revised
ed. of Henry V. (New Sh. Soc.), p. 162. In a contemporary poem, ascribed to
Lydgate, Henry speaks of a ^ game at tynes " which his guns " shall play with
Harflete."— OAron. Land., 220.
* In Bastell's Faslwne of FeopLe^ 1529, Edward IlL is portrayed at full
length, holding a sword encircled by two crowns. For a comparison with II.,
Chorus, L 6, — ^where Henry is styled *' the Mirror of all Christian Kings,'' —
see p. 205, note 2, below.
'The treason of Cambridge, Scrope, and Grey was *<publisshid and openli
knowe" at Southampton, on August 1, 1415.— Cfcron. Rll.—H FI., 40. On
August 2, a jury found the conspirators guilty {Bot Pari. iv. 65), and, on
August 5, dlarence was commissioned to pass sentence on Cambridge and
Scrope (BymeTy ix. 300).
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174 Vin. HENRY V.
All the historic negotiation which preceded Henry's departure for
France was passed over or postdated, and the event placed next to the
tennis-halls' incident is the conspiracy of Camhridge, Scrope, and Qrey.
TluiarU<^
[Ed. iil 648/1/66.] When king Henrie had fullie furnished
his nauie with men, munition, & other prouisions, [hej perceiuing
that his capteines misliked nothing so much as delaie, determined
his Bouldiors to go a ship-boord and awaie. But see the hap I the
night before the daie appointed for their departure, he was crediblie
informed, that Richard earle of Cambridge, brother to Edward
duke of Torke, and Henrie lord Scroope of Masham, lord treasuror,
with Thomas Graie, a knight of Northumberland, being confederat
^SuSnEmb"* togiiher, had conspired his death : wherefore he caused them to be
TSrSSSi^ apprehended.
Neither Holinshed nor, I believe, any chronicler published in Shak-
spore's day ^ relates that the conspirators were led on by Henry to doom
themselves (11. 39-51). The speech (11. 79-144) in which Henry upbraids
1 £^int-i2ef7iy— whose Mimoire$y from 1407 to 1422, were first published
in 1663 — says— as do other chroniclers— that the conspirators sought to make
the £arl of March an accomplice by offering to place him on the throne, but
that he revealed their design to Henry. Sait^-iienw adds (vii. 488-489) that
the Elinff thereupon called a council of his nobles, and after telling them that
he hadheard, tnough he could not believe, that some of his suojects were
engaged in a plot to deprive him of his crown, asked, if the report were true,
what should be done to these traitors. The question was put to each lord in
succession, and the conspirators answered that such traitors ought to suffer a
death so cruel as to be a warning to others. Every one present having given
his opinion, Henry confronted March with the ^ilty men, who owned their
treasonable project. TTounn (Y. i 177-179) gives the same account of the
conspirators'^ detection.
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VIIL HBNEY V. 175
the traitors was 'wholly Shakspere's work^ except that part of it where
Scrope's dissimulation and ingratitude is denounced (IL 93-142). The
germ of these lines lay in the following passage :
[Hoi. ill. 648/2/3.] The said lord Scroope was in such fauour
with the king, that he admitted him sometime to be his bedfellow ;
in whose fidelitie the king reposed such trust, that, when anie Tj,am. wau
priuat or publike councell was in hand, this lord had much in the ^^^'
determination of it. For he represented so great grauitie in his s^^j
countenance, such modestie in behauiour, and so yertuous zeale to
all godlinesse in his talke, that whatsoeuer he said was thought for
the most part necessarie to be doone and followed. Also the
said sir Thomas Graie (as some write) was of the kings priuie
councelL
The formal words used by Exeter in arresting Gambridge seem to
have been taken from Holinshed : '' I arrest thee of High Treason, 5y
Ae name of Eichard Earh qf Ccmhridge" Holinshed says (iii. 549/
1/26) : '' indicted he was hy ihe name of Eichard earb qf Cambridge of
Oonnesburgh in the countie of Yorke, knight.'^
Gambridge qualifies his guilt (11. 155-157) :
For me : the Gold of France did not seduce;
Although I did admit it as a motiue.
The sooner to effect what I intended.
The motive which is supposed to have really influenced him was of
a different sort.
\Hol iii 548/2/72.] Diuerse write that Richard earle of
Cambridge did not conspire with the lord Scroope & Thomas
Qraie for the murthering of king Henrie to [p. 549] please the
French king withall, but onelie to the intent to exalt to the crowne rchumvuge
his brother in law Edmund earle of March as heire to lionell duke toSe* ******
of Clarence : after the death of which earle of March, (for diuerse intenrt, imt
hiSTMl
secret impediments, not able to haue issue,) the earle of Cambridge ottieotwas
was sure that the crowne should come to him by his wife, and to ^£2^
his children, of hir begotten. And therefore (as was thought) he b^^
rather confessed himselfe for need of monie to be corrupted by the •'""^^^^
French king, than he would declare his inward mind, and open his
verie intent and secret purpose, which if it were espied, he saw
plainlie that the earle of March should haue tasted of the same
cuppe that he had drunken, and what should haue come to his
owne children he much doubted. Therefore destitute of comfort
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176 Vm. HENRY V.
& in despaire of life to saue his children, he feined that tale ;
desiring rather to sane his succession than himselfe, T^hich he did
in deed ; for his sonne Bichard duke of Yorke not priuilie but
openlie claimed the crowne, and Edward his sonne both claimed
it, Sd gained it, as after it shall appeare.
Having heard Grey's^ confession (II. 161-166), Henry dooms the
traitors :
K» Qod quit you in his mercy I Hear your sentence 1
Tou haue corupir^d against Our Boyall person,
Ioyn*d with an enemy proclaimed, and from his Coffers 168
Receyu'd the Golden leanest of Our death ;
Wherein you would haue sold your King to slaughter,
His Princes and his Peeres to seruitude,
His Subiects to oppression and contempt, 172
And his whole Kmgdome into deaolatiath.
Touching our person, seeke we no reuenge ;
But we our Kingdomes safety must so tender,
Whose ruine you haue ^ sought, that to her Lawes 176
We do delluer you. Get you iher^ore hence,
(Poors fnieerable wretches 1) to your death 1
The taste whereof, God, qfhis mercy , giue
Tou patience to indure, and true E^pentance 180
Q/'aU your deare offences I — Beare them hence i
These lines should be compared with the following speech, taken by
Holinshed from Halle :
[Hoi. iil 548/2/15.] These prisoners, Tpon their examination,
confessed, that for a great summe of monie which they had
receiued of the French king, they intended verelie either to haue
deliuered the king aliue into the hands of his enimies, or else to
haue murthered him before he should arriue in the duchie of
BM. Normandie. When king Henrie had heard all things opened,
which he desired to know, he caused all his nobilitie to come
before his presence ; before whome he caused to be brought the
offenders also, and to them said: ''Hauing thus conspired the
^ Johneon pointed out {Var. 8h., xvii. 314) a resemblance between Grey's
words (1. 166J, — " My favU, but not my body, pardon, Soueraigne," — and an
expression of Dr. William Parry, executed on March 2, 1586, for plotting the
death of Elizabeth. In a letter addressed to the Queen, Parry saia : " I naue
no more to sale at this time, but that with my hart & soule I doo now honour
& loue TOU, am inwardlie sorie for mine offense, and readie to make you
amends by my death and patience. Discharge me A culpa but not A poena^
good ladie.**— Jol. iiu 1387/i/57.
* you hoMe] Qq. you three ¥2, you Fi.
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Vin. HENRY V. 177
''death and destraction of me, which am the head of the realme ^^^^^
"and gouemour of the people, it maie be (no doubt) but that you «»-'»«<«^
''likewise baue sworne the confusion of all that are here with me,
"and also the desolation of your owne countrie. To what horror
"(0 lord!) for any true English hart to consider, that such an
"execrable iniquitie should euer so bewrap you, as for pleasing of
"a forren enimie to imbrue your hands in your blond, and to mine
"your owne natiue soile. Beuenge herein touching my person,
"though I seeike not ; yet for the saf^ard of you my deere freends,
"& for due preseruation of all sorts, I am by office to cause
"example to be shewed. Get ye hence therrfore, ye poore miserable
"wretches, to the receiuing of yow iust reward; wherein Gods
"maiestie giue you grace of his mercie, and repentance of your TJUmHaf
"heinous offenses.'* And so immediatlie they were had to «^M<otiUr
execution. tmuM.
The general purport of Hemr/s final speech (IL 182-193) is the same
as the " words few" which he is said to have spoken after the traitors
<< were had to execution.''
[ffol iii 648/2/43.] This doone, the king, calling his lords
againe afore him, said in words few and with good grace. Of his ^l^\^
enterprises he recounted the honor and glorie, whereof they with ^IJ^
him were to be partakers; the great confidence he had in their ^S^t^to
noble minds^ which could not but remember them of the famous "•^^"^-^
feats that their ancestors aforetime in France had atchiued, whereof
the due report for euer recorded remained yet in register. The
great mercie of God that had so gratiouslie reuealed vnto him the
treason at hand, whereby the true harts of those afore him [were]
made so eminent b apparant in his eie, as they might be right sure
he would neuer forget it The doubt of danger to be nothing in
respect of the certeintie of honor that they should acquire ; wherein
himselfe (as they saw) in person would be lord and leader through
Qods grace. To whose maiestie> as cheeflie was knowne the equitie
of his demand, euen so to his mercie, did he onelie reconmiend
the successe of his trauels.
Act n. sc iy. — ^A dramatic date should perhaps be given to the
council over which Charles YL is presiding when tiie English ambas-
sadors Grave admittance (II. 66-66). Henry — ^who> we learn, " is footed
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178 Vni. HENRY V.
in this Land already" (L 143) — disembarked near Harflenr on August
14, 1415.^ In February, 1415, Exeter was an ambassador to the
French Court, associated with others in negotiating a marriage between
Henry and Katharine.' But the message here delivered by Exeter
QL 77-109) substantially, and, to some sUght extent, literally, repro-
duces the terms of a despatch addressed to Charles YL, which must
have been received about the time of the invasion, for, before putting
to sea, Henry,
[HoL iil 548/1/44.] first princelie appointing to aduertise the
Sl^from French king of his comming, therefore dispatched Antelope his
to^fno^^ purseuant at armes with letters to him for restitution of that which
i^^to he wrongfully withheld ; contrarie to the lawes of God and man :
the king farther declaring how sorie he was that he should be thus
compelled for repeating of his right and iust title of inheritance, to
make warre to the destruction of christian people ; but sithens he
had offered peace which could not be receiued, now, for fault of
iustice, he was forced to take armes. Neuerthelesse exhorted the
French king, in the hotoels of lesu Christ,^ to render him that which
was his owne ; whereby effusion of Christian bloud might be
auoided. These letters, cheeflie to this effect and purpose, were
written and dated from Hampton the fifb of August. When the
same were presented to the French king, and by his councell well
perused, answer was made, that he would take aduise, and prouide
therein as time and place should be conuenient : so the messenger
[was] licenced to depart at his pleasure.
Two passages may have served as authorities for the talk concerning
' defensive measures which precedes Exeter's entrance (IL 1-49). When
news of Henry's preparations for invasion reached Frsince,
[Hoi iil 547/2/7.] the Dolphin, who had the gouemance of
the realme, bicause his father was fallen into his old disease of
^ ChstOf 14. ^'Eidecaws" — Henry's landing-place— is about three nules
distant from Harfleur. — Ibid.y 13.
* Their powers are dated December 5, 1414.— jBynwr, ix. 184, 185. They
had not conduded their miRsion on Februanr 17, 1415. — Ibid,y 201. An
account of this embassy — taken from HaUe (67) — was given by Hd. (iiL
546/2/37). Cp. Mons., iii. 273, 274, 289.
3 Henry bids Charles (II. iv. 102, 103),
^ . . , inihe BotoeU of the Lord,
Peliver vp the Crowne," , , ,
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VIIL HENRY V, 179
frensie, sent for the dukes of Berne ^ and Alanson, and all the other [The
lords of the councell of France : by whose aduise it was deter- gJ^gj^JJ^^
mined, that they should not onelie prepare a sufficient armie to ^{^
resist the king of England, when so euer he arriued to inuade oouToii.
France, but also to stuffe and furnish the townes on the frontiers IdviM i^
. . - the defence
and sea coasts with conuenient garrisons of men : • • • orFnnee.]
At a later date :
[ffol. m. 549/2/55.] The French king, being aduertised that rnie
king Henrie was arriued on that coast, sent in all hast the lord de f^d other
la Breth constable of France, the seneshall of France, the lord "^^J^^
Bouciqualt marshall of France, the seneshall of Henault, the lord ^^'"^^^
Lignie, with other ; which fortified townes with men, victuals, and
artillerie, on all those frontiers towards the sea.
Act m. Chorus. — Shakspere thus sums up the answer which
Exeter — '' th'Embassador from the French" — ^brings to Henry (IL
29-31) :
That the King doth offer him
Katherine his Daughter, and with her, to Dowrie,
Some petty and ynprofitable Dukedomes.
This offer was made by William Bouratier, Archbishop of BourgeSy
the spokesman of an embassy charged with the answer of the French to
Hemys demanda At Winchester,'
[Hoi. iil 547/2/34.] before the kings presence, sitting in his
throne imperiall, the archbishop of Bulges made an eloquent and
a long oration, dissuading warre, and praising peace ; offering to
the king of England a great summe of monie, with diuerse
countries, being in yerie deed but base and poore, as a dowrie with
the ladie Catharine in manage; so that he would dissolue his ^ctn
armie, and dismisse his soldiers^ which he had gathered and put in •«! • dowry
, offered to
a readinesse. maaj.]
Act UL sc. i. — Henry encourages a storming-party, which has been
repulsed, to mount again a breach in the walls of Harfleur. Holinshed's
^ John Duke of Berri is present, and the Ck>n8table speaks (see next
excerpt), in sc iy., Act II. At this council it was resolved that the Arch-
bishop of Bourges should be sent to Henry {Eel, iil 6i7l2/i7), See next
note.
* The ambassadors left France on June 17, 1415.— jS^. DenySy v. 512. On
July 26, 1415, they reported, in Charles's presence, the ill success of their
mission.— jS^. 2)cny«, v. 530.
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(The Prenoh
coanter-
iiiinet.1
TUut
180 Vin. HENRY V.
'words (iiL 649/2/69), " -^^ <^^i^® ^"^*^ *^® towne assaulted," may have
suggested to Shakspere the King's speech (11. 1-34).
Act m. sc. ii. — Gower bids Fluellen " come presently to the Mynes ;
the Duke of Gloucester would speake with you " (U. 68-60). Fluellen
answers that 'Hhe Mynes is not according to the disciplines of the
Warre:* . . . th'athuersarie • . • is digt himself e foure yard vnder
the Countermines." Holinshed says that
[Hoi iii 549/2/70.] the duke of Qlocester, to whome the
SJJ**^* order of the siege was committed, made three mines vnder the
ground; and, approching to the wals with his engins and ordinance,
would not suffer them within to take anie rest.
[p. 660] For although they with their countermining somwhat
disappointed the Englishmen, & came to fight with them hand to
band within the mines, so that they went no further forward with
that worke ; yet they were so inclosed on ech side, as well by
water as land, that succour they saw could none come to them.
Act m. sc. iiL — ^In the last scene a parley ^ was sounded from
Harfleur (IIL it 148). Now King Henry enters and summons the
Governor to yield "to our best mercy" (L 3). On September 18,
1416,' the besieged made a conditional offer of submission.
[Hoi iiL 66O/1/38.] The king, aduertised hereof, sent them
word, that^ except they would surrender the towne to him the
[Annnocm- Hiorow uext iusuiug, without anie condition, they should spend no
■nrrender of more time iu talke about the matter. But yet at length through
demaadod.] the camest sute of the French lords, the king was contented to
grant them truce vntill nine of the clocke the next sundaie, being
AMfdaUi the two oud twentith of September : with condition, that, if in the
meane time no rescue came, they should yeeld the towne at that
boure, with their bodies and goods to stand at the kings pleasure.
We may suppose that this scene opens on September 22, — ^the day
fixed for yielding Harfleur, if no relief came, — and therefore the
Governor thus answers Eling Henry's summons (U. 44-47) :
* It seems that "the disciplines of the Warre" really were violated, for,
contrary to the jjroliibition of ^gidius Romanus, the mines were begim in
sight of the besieged, who of course countermined them. — Oestc^, 24, 26.
JE^dinB Romanus wrote for Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1363-1404),
De Begimine Principumy a part or which is entitled " De re militari veterum."
^0€8ta,p. 16, note 2.
* HciJs account of the first overture for surrender has this sidenote : "The
seuenteenth of September they within Harflue praie parlee.'*
* The truce was ratified on September IS.— OesUi, 30. The beaded asked
for a parley " about midnight," September 17.—H61. iii 65O/1/23.
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Vm. HBNRY V. 181
Our expectation hath this day an end :
The Dolphin, whom of Succours we entreated,
Betumes vs '* thai his Powers are yet not ready
" To rayse bo gnat a Siege.**
During the truce,
[Hal. iil 550/1/68.] the lord Bacqueuill was sent Tnto the
French king, to declare in what point the towne stood. To whome
the Dolphin answered, that the kings potoer was not yet assembled, {^S^W
in such number as was conuenient to raise so great a siege. This dmipUh.]
answer being brought ynto the capteins within the towne, they
rendered it yp to the king of England, after that the third due
was expired ; which was on the daie of saint Maurice, being the
seuen and thirtith daie after the siege was first laid. The souldiors ^<^^ ^
ftddtdand
were ransomed, and the towne sacked, to the great gaine of the '"^^
Englishmen.
Henry then commands Exeter (11. 52, 53) to enter Harfleur;
there remaine,
And f ortifie it strongly 'gainst the French : * • . .
On September 22,
[Hal iil 550 2/30.] the king ordeined capteine to the towne nbeter
his yncle the duke of Excester, who established his lieutenant gJ^^Y
there, one sir lohn Fastolfe ; with fifteene hundred men, or (as
some haue) two thousand, and thirtie six knights.
Harfleur being disposed of, Henry says (11. 54-56) :
For vs,.deare Ynckloy
(The Winter comming on, and Sicknesse growing
Vpon our Souldiers,) we will retyre to GaUs.
Holinshed names several Englishmen of rank who died during the
siege, or were licensed to return home on account of sickness ; and adds :
[Hol. iii. 550/2/44.] King Henrie, after the winning of Harflue,
determined to haue proceeded further in the winning of other
townes and fortresses ; but, bicause the dead time of the winter
approched, it was determined by adnise of his councell, that he
should in all conuenient speed set forward, and march through the ^^g^
countrie towards Calls by land, least his retume as then home- '««*^<«i
* In making Henry say to Exeter, "Vse mercy to them all" fl. 64\
Shakspere ignored jBoI.*« report (iii. 55O/2/5) that the Kins expellea from
Harfleur *' parents with their children, yooDg maids and old rolke, and filled
their places with English immigrants. Higden's Polychronicon (edd. Bahington
and Lumhy, yiii. 550} is Ifo{.'t authority.
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182
Vni. HENKY V.
Onatdealk
TktFrmek
kinge6tult'
tkhamto
rBngUtk-
TktFrtfuX
dtfUutct to
hmgBenrii.
Aebariot)
wards should of slanderous toongs be named a running awaie ;
and yet that ioumie was adiudged perillous, by reason that the
number of his people was much minished by the flix and other
feuers^ which sore vexed and brought to death aboue fifteene
hundred persons of the armie : and this was the cause that his
retume was the sooner appointed and concluded.
Act ITT, sc. y. — Henry left Harfleur on October 8,^ and crossed the
Somme on October 19.^ The following excerpt illustrates this scene,
which opens after Charles YL has received sure tidings that Henry
<<hath past the Bluer Some'' (L 1) :
[ffol. iiL 552/1/42.] The French king, being at Rone, and
hearing that king Henrie was passed the riuer of Some, was
much displeased therewith, and, assembling his councell^ to the
number of fine and thirtie, asked their aduise what was to be
doone. There was amongst these fine and thirtie, his sonne the
Dolphin, calling himselfe king of Sicill ;^ the dukes of Berrie and
Britaine, the earle of Pontieu the kings yoongest sonne, and other
high estates. At length thirtie of them agreed, that the English-
men should not depart vnfought withall,^* and fine were of a
contrarie opinion, but the greater number ruled the matter : and
BO Montioy king at armes was sent to the king of England to
defie him as the enimie of France, and to tell him that he should
shortlie haue battelL
Charles commands the French princes to '' goe downe vpon " (I. 53)
Harry England ;
And in a Chariot, Captiue into Eoan,^
Bring him our Prisoner 1
Touching the assurance of victory which the French had on the
night before their defeat at Agincourt, Holinshed says :
[Hoi. iil 554/1/7.] The noble men had deuised a chariot,
wherein they might triumphantlie conueie the king captiue to the
» QutOy 86 (cp. note 4). « Oesta, 43.
' To leconcue a subBequent date (see p. 184, n. 2, below) we must sappoee
that this council was held on October 19, not, as Mona. says (iiL 32^), on
October 20.
* Hd. has been misled by HaUe (64). Mons. (ill 330) does not mention
the presence of the Dauphin at this coundLbut says that ** le roi Loois" was
there. Lewis was titular Kins of Sicily. He was the son of Lewis Duke of
Anjou, Charles yi.'s eldest uncle ; and father of Bj&ai, whose daughter Margaret
married our Henry VL ** Cp. Hen. F., IIL v. 2, 12.
* C^rio^ Cbpttue] P.A. Daniel conj. And in a CapUtie Chariot into RoanYh
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Vm. HENRY V, 183
citie of Paris ; crieng to their soldiers : '' Haste you to the spoile,
"glorie and honor!" little weening (God wot) how soone their
brags should be blowne awaie.
The Dauphin's presence at Aginconrt (ill. vii.), despite his father's
injunction to remain at Bouen (III, v. 64}^ is unhistoricaL^
[Hoi, iii 662/1/72.] The Dolphin sore desired to haue beene S^pjj^
at the battell, but he was prohibited by his father. b^lf*
Act m. sc. vi — Gower is told by Fluellen that '' the Duke of
Exeter . . . keepes the Bridge most valiantly, with excellent discipline "
(11. 6-12). The fighting of which Fluellen speaks occurred at the
Temoise, and is thus described by Holinshed :
[Hoi. iii 662/2/3.] The king of England, (hearing that the
Frenchmen approched, and that there was an other riuer for him
to passe with his armie by a bridge, and doubting least, if the
same bridge should be broken, it would be greatlie to his hinder-
ancOi) appointed certeine capteins with their bands, to go thither
with all speed before him, and to take possession thereof and so
to keepe it, till his comming thither.
Those that were sent, finding the Frenchmen busie to breake rrhe French
downe their bridge, assailed them so vigorouslie, that they dis- JJ^^^'
comfited them, and tooke and slue them ; and so the bridge was mS^^
preserued till the king came, and passed the riuer by the same Ttenoiie.]
with his whole armie. This was on the two and twentith day of
October.*
Pistol then enters and asks Fluellen to intercede with Exeter for
Bardolph, whom the Duke has sentenced to be hung for stealing a
" Pax • of Httle price " (IL 42-51). During Henry's march there was no
1 In the Q. version of Henry V. " Burbon * has the part in Act III. sc vii
and Act lY. sc v. which F. assigns to the Dauphin. As to this matter, and
also Johnes's coigecture that Shakspere confounded Sir Quichard Dauphin (see
p. 196 below) with the Dauphin of France, see Mr. Daniel's Introduction to the
roflraXUl TexU of Eenrv ^ (New Sh. Soc), p. xiii
' LMut (15) gives the date October 22, wrongly adding that it was the day
of S. Bomanus, Confessor. This saint^s day is kept on October 23. Elmham
savs (66) that Henry crossed the Temoise on the morrow of S. Bomanus (Oct
24). On October 23, according to another authority, Henry was marching
towards the Temoise, which he crossed on October 24. — Cfesta, 46. We may,
I think, fedrly infer that the bridge was seized on the day before Henry's
transit
* MmKam (63), Liviua (13), and Oeda (41), a^pree that a pyx was stolen.
D'Amis's Lexicon ManuaUf 1866, has these denaitions : '* Pax— Tnstrumentum
quod inter Missarum solemnia populo osculandum praebetnr ; instrvment que
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184 Vin. HENRY V.
jiutiMM [Hoi iii. 652/i/33.] outrage or oflfense doone by the English-
tbe^hof men, except one, which was^ that a souldionr took a pix out of
a church, for which he was apprehended, & the king not once
remooued till the box was restored, and the offender strangled.
Hearing from Fluellen of Bardolph's sentence^ Henry says (11. 113-
117) : ''Wee would haue all such oiSendors so cut o&: and we giue
expresse charge that, in our Marches through the Countrey, there be
nothing compelled from the Villages ; nothmg taken but pa/d for."
At some time between August 14— the date of Henry's lajiding near
Harfleur — and August 17,^ the Eling
2Yittf [Hoi ill 549/2/28 J caused proclamation to be made, that no
A^dk^^Htabu P®^^^ should bc 80 hardic^ on paine of death, either to take anie
S^Jf**^ thing out of anie church that belonged to the same ; or to hurt or
doo anie yiolence either to priests, women, or anie such as should
be found without weapon or armor, and not readie to make
resistance: • • •
One hardship of the march from Harfleur was lack of victuals :
gS^« [Hoi iii. 552/1/30.] Yet fai this great necessitie, the poore
people of the countrie were not spoiled, nor anie thing taken of
them without paiment, • • •
Tume thee back, 148
And tell thy King, I doe not eeeke him now,
Goe, bid thy Master well aduise himselfe 168
If we may passe, we will ; if we be hindred,
We shall your tcwmie groimd tvith your red blood
Discolour: ...
I have quoted above parts of Henry's answer to Montjoy^ (U. 148,
U pritre prAenU d haUer; ol[im] poMc" "Pyxis — Vas in quo reponnntur
hostisB consecrato ad viaticum ; pyxis, hcite d hostiesJ* For more imormation
on this point see For. ^.^ 1821, xvii 362, 363 ; Nares^s Qhssaryy s. w. " Pax "
and " Pix » ; Dyce's Oloamry, a. v. " Pax " ; and Frmchy 108-110. According
to (lesta (41) the thief ** anspensus interiit" on October 17.
1 Gesta, 14, 15.
* On October 20, Heniv was informed by three French heralds that the
Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon would give him battle before he reached Calais.
—Oestoy 44, 45. According to Elmham (64) the three heralds who delivered
this message were sent from the Constaole, the Dukes of Orleans, Brabant,
Bourbon, Alenoon, and Bar. Perhaps Montjoy— whom HaUe makes the sole
bearer of the French challenge— was one of these heralds. We learn from
Mons. (iii 331, 832} that, daring the interval which elapsed between the
decision of the council and the batue (Oct 25), the Constable sent Monljoy to
Aire, a place not fax distant from Agincourt.
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Vm. HENRY V. 185
149 ; 168-171) ; italicizing words found in Holinshed's paraphrase of
the speech attributed to the Eang by Halle (64).
[Hoi. iii 652/I/S6.] King Henrie aduisedlie answered: "Mine ^JH^nu
" intent is to doo as it pleaseth God : I will not seeke your maister *^<''«^
"at this time ; but, if he or his seeke me, I will meet with them,
" Qod willing. If anie of yonr nation attempt once to stop me in
"my ionmie now towards Calls, at their ieopardie be it; and yet
"wish I not anie of you so ynadoised, as to be tiie occasion that
" I die yov/r tcmnie ground with your red hloud."
When he had thus answered the herald, he gaue him a princelie
reward,^ and licence to depart
Act HL 8c. viL — ^Two of the French leaders named below — the
Constable and Bambnres — take part in the dialogue which may have
been suggested to Shakspere by the closing words of my next excerpt.
[HoL iii 652/2/50.] The cheefe leaders of the French host g^;^^
were these : the constable of France, the marshal!^ the admerall,^
the lord Bambnres, maister of the crosbowes, and other of the
French nobilitie ; which came and pitched downe their standards
and banners in the conntie of saint Paule, within the territorie of
Agincourt, ...
They were lodged euen in the waie by the which the English-
men mnst needs passe towards Calls ; and all that night, after their
comming thither, made great cheare, and were verie merie, pleasant, rciM F^eh
and full of game.' «f gima."]
Midnight is past when a messenger enters and says (U. 136, 136) :
** My Lo]^ high Constable, the English lye within fif teene hundred
paces of your Tents." According to Holin^ed, the French were
> ** There's for thy labour, Mountioy. . • . Thankes to your Highnesse*
(U. 167, 176).
* Maishal Boucieaut) and the Admiral Jacques de Ch&tillon.
* The Constable says that the EngUsh will " ficht like Deuils,'' if they hare
** great Meales of Beiefe.'' Orleans observes: "I, but these English are
slmwdly out of Beefe." The Constable rejoins: *<Then shall we finde to
morrow, they haue only stomackes to eate, and none to fight'' — IL 161-166.
HaUe (66^ makes the Constable encourage the French captains — ^when they
were awaiting a signal to join battle — ^by laying down this maxim : '* For you
must vnderstand, y* kepe an Englishman one moneth from hys warme bed,
fieit hefey and stale drynke, and let him that season tast colde and suffre hunger,
you then shaU se his courage abated, hys bodye waxe leane and bare, and euer
desirous to zetome into hys own countrey." Cp. Famam Victoriet, ziii 39 ;
1 Hen. VL^ I. ii, 9 ; and Eduxird UL, III. iii pp. 43, 44.
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186 Vm. HBNEY V.
French and
Bngllsh
ounps.]
gte^oe^ [Rol iiL 652/2/48.] incamped not past two hundred and fiftie
pases distant from the English.
Act lY. Chorus. — In describing the two camps as they appeared by
night, the Chorus bids us observe how (11. 8, 9)
Fire answers fire, and through their paly flames
Each Battaile sees the others vmber'd face.
When the English encamped,
^ounp- [Eol iii 552/2/47.] fiers were made to giue light on euerie
side, as there likewise were in the French host^ . . .
The confident and ouer-lustie French 18
Doe the low-rated English play at Dice ; • « •
The French,
[Hoi. iii. 554/1/3.] as though they had beene sure of victorie,
made great triumph ; for the capteins had determined before how
Di^ed^^ to diuide the spoile, and the soldiers the night before had plaid
£gusb.] the Englishmen at dice.^
In the other camp (IL 22-28) :
The poore condemn^ English,
like Sacrifices, by their watchf ull Fires
Sit patiently, and inly ruminate 24
The Mornings danger ; and their gesture sad,
Inuesting lanke-leane Cheekes, and Warre-wome Coats,
Fresenteth ^ them vnto the gazing Moone
So many horride Ghosts. 28
Steevens compared these lines with Tacitus's description (Ann. L
Izv.) of the night before a battle between the Homans and the Germans,
in A.i>. 15, when Arminius was endeavouring to prevent Caecina from
reaching the Bhine. The different aspect of the hostile camps is thus
portrayed in Grenewey's translation (ed. 1698, p. 26) of this passage :
^tonutt The night was vnquiet for diners respects: the barbarous
enimie, in feasting and banketting, songs of ioie and hideous
outcries, filled the vaUeies and woodsy which redoubled the sounde
(The Roman agaiuo. The Romaus had small fires, broken voices, laie neere the
trenches, went from tent to tent; rather disquieted, and not able
to sleepe, then watchfulL
1 This is mentioned in the Oesta (49) as a report: "Et nt dicebatnr tam
securos se reputabant de nobis, qndd regem nostmm et nobiles suos nocte iUft
aubjactu ale» posnernnt" Bambnres asks (IIL vii 93^ 94) : '* Who will goe
to Hazard with me for twentie Prisoners t"
' 27. PremUeih] Hanmer. Pretented F.
oampk]
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Vin. HBNEY V. 187
Holinshed gives a somewhat brighter picture :
[Hoi ill 552/2/63.] The Englishmen also for their parts were
of good comfort, and nothing abashed of the matter ; and yet they [DemMnonr
were both hongrie, wearie, sore trauelled, and vexed with manie Bnguah.)
cold diseases. Howbeit, reconciling themselues with God by
hoossell and shrift, requiring assistance at his hands that is the
onelie giuer of victorie, they determined rather to die, than to
yeeld, or flee.
Act lY. sc. i. — ^Henry and Gloucester enter, and are soon joined by
Bedford and Sir Thomas Erpingham. In the third scene of this Act^
Exeter, Westmoreland, and SiJisbury take parts, and Warwick has a
short speech (L 20) in the eighth scena Gloucester ^ and Exeter ^ were
at Agincourt. Erpingham had the honour of beginning the battle.'
Bedford and Westmoreland were not at Agincourt. Westmoreland
was a member of a council assigned to Bedford,^ who was appointed
"Gustos" of England during Henry's absence.^ The presence of
Salisbury and Warwick at Agincourt is not, I believe, mentioned by
any chronicler. I do not know an authority for the association of
'* Talbot" — doubtless the celebrated soldier of that name is meant —
with those whom Henry speaks of (TV, iii 51-65) as sharers in the fame
of the coming battle.
Gower calls out " Oaptaine fluellen ! *' (1. 6^, and, being reproved
by the Welshman, promises to *' speake lower " (L 82). On the previous
day (October 24), Henry, after crossing the Temoise, beheld the French
approaching.^ Expecting an attack, he disposed his troops for battle.
Subsequently the Engli^ continued their march until they reached a
village in which they encamped.^
[Rol iii 552/2/41.] Order was taken by commandement from rriMBngiish
the king, after the armie was first set in battell arraie, that no noise tSmot.}
or clamor should be made in the host ; so that^ in marching foorth
to this village, enerie man kept himselfe quiet : . . .
The hour of battle is drawing near when Henry prays (11. 309-312) :
Not to day, O Lord,
0 not to day, thinke not vpon the fault
My Father made in compassing the Growne I
1 Richards body haue interred new ; • . .
Soon after ascending the throne, Henry
1 Oesta, 58, 59. Mons,, iii 341. s Ifona., iii. 341.
> The English attacked ; " before whome there went an old knight, sir
Thomas Erpmgham (a man of great experience in the warre) with a warder in
his hand " (HoL iii 654/1/53).
* Uywiar, ix. 223. « Bymer, ix. 305.
« QtstOy 46. Blmham, 57. ^ Cfeda, 46-4a Bhnham, 57-59.
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188 Vm. HENRY V.
riaichaid'i [Hoi iil 643/2/58.] caused the bodie of [p. 544] Jking Bii^ard
^^ to be remooued with all fdnerall dignitie conuenient for his estate,
yJ^^^ from Langlie to Westminster ; where he was honorablie interred
°**'****''^ with queene Anne his first wife, in a solemne toome erected and
set yp at the charges of this king.
Henry also pleads (11. 315-319) :
Fine hundred poore I hane in yeerely pay,
Who twice a day their withered hands hold vp
Toward Heauen, to pardon blood ; and I haue built
Two Chauntries, where the sad and solemne Priests
Sing still for Eichards Soule.
, Fabyan records (577) Henry's provision that there should be, on
Richard's behalf,
one day in the weke a Solempne Dirige, and ypon the morowe a
[Awe|^ Masse of Requiem by note ; after which Masse endyd, to be gyuen
■^™*J wekely ynto pore people. xL «. viiL d. in pens : & vpon y* day of
[Ayeariy his Auniuersary, after y* sayd masse of Requiem is songe, to be
yerely Destrybuted for his soule. xx. Zi in .d.
Henry founded three ^ houses of religion,
[Fab., 589.] for asmoche as he knewe well that his Fader had
laboured the meanes to depose the noble Prynce Richarde the
Seconde, and after was consentyng to his deth ; for which offence
his said Fader had sent to Rome, of that great Cryme to be
[Henij IV. assayled, and was by y« Pope enioyned, that lyke as he had beraft
the^pe% hym of his naturall and bodely lyfe for euer in this world, that so,
hATBCOn-
^^i»^*» his Soule to lyue perpetuelly in the Celestyall worlds.
ttrniAi by contynuel prayer and Suffiragies of the Churche, he shuld cause
■oqL]
Act lY. sc. IL— << The Sunne is high " (L 63) when the Constable
exclaims (11. 60-62) :
I stay but for my Guard. On ! To the field ! «
I will the Banner from a Trumpet take.
And vse it for my hasta
Henry is said to have received a message from the French leaders,
inviting him to fix his ransom (see p. 191 below).
[Hoi. iii. 554/1/23.] When the messenger was come backe to
the French host, the men of warre put on their helmets, and
* One of the houses was dissolved by Heniy V. — Fab., 689,
« I . . . Chtard: onTo . . . k*e,] Fi.
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Vni. HBNRY V. 189
caused their trumpets to blow to the battelL They thought them-
selues so sure of yictorie, that diuerse of the noble men made such
hast towards the battell, that they left manie of their seruants and
men of warre behind them, and some of them would not once stale
for their standards : as, amongst other, the duke of Brabant, when
his standard was not come, caused a baner to be taken from a rrhe
trumpet and fastened to a speare ; the which he commanded to be baimeTosed
borne before him m steed of his standard. ttandwd.]
Act TV. 80. iiL — ^The English leaders converse before each goes to
his charge. Speaking of the French, Westmoreland says (1. 3) :
Of fighting men they haue full threescore thousand.
This was Halle's^ computation, according to whom they had
[Eol. iii. 552/2/56.] in their armie (as some write) to the ^^^ll^jl^
number of threescore thousand horssemen, besides footmen, ^1^^
JSnffuemU,
wagoners, and other.
Exeter remarks (L 4) :
There's fine to one ; besides they all are fresh.
Shakspere made large allowance for losses on the march, and
invalided soldiers. After crossing the Somme, Henry
[Hoi. iiL 552/1/15.] determined to make haste towards Calls,
and not to seeke for battell, except he were thereto constreined;
bicause that his armie by sicknesse was sore diminished : in so
much that he had but onelie two thousand horssemen, and n^Hnpt
ihirteene thousand archers, bilmen, and of all sorts of other Sm.^^
footmen.
When the King enters, Westmoreland cries (IL 16-18) :
O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England,
That doe no worke to day I
Henry expresses another view of the matter (IL 20, 21) :
If we are markt to dye, we are enow
To doe our Countrey losse ; • • •
These words comprise all that Shakspere took from a speech
1 Thouffh in the sidenote Hcl. refers to ** Enguerant "* (Monstrelet) as an
authority tor 60,000, this estimate is really derived from HaUe (65). But
Mons. — ^whom, to judge from the context^ HaUe followed— savs (iii 335) that
<* les Francois fussent bien cent cinquante mille chevaucheurs.*'
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190 Vm. HENRY V.
attributed to Henry by livius^ (Forojuliensis), and englisbed by
Holinshed. Tbis speecb^ sbould be contrasted witb lY. iii. 21-67.
[Hoi, iii 553/2/44.] It is said, that as he heard one' of the
J ^^^^ host ytter his wish to another thus : " I would to God there were
AfuMe ''with Ys now so manie good soldiers as are at this houre within
^^ "England! " the king answered : "I would not wish a man more
"here than I haue ; we are indeed in comparison to the enimies
"but a few, but if God of his clemencie doo fauour ys, and our
" iust cause, (as I trust he will,) we shall speed well inough. But
"let no man ascribe yictorie to our owne strength and might, but
" onelie to Gods assistance ; to whome I haue no doubt we shall
[If our " worthilie haue cause to giue thanks therefore. And if so be that
nn^tbe "for our offenses sakes we shall be deliuered into the hands of our
^letsioM "enimies, the lesse number we be, the lesse damage shall the
^g^d "realme of England susteine; but if we should fight in trust of
"multitude of men, and so get the yictorie, (our minds being prone
" to pride,) we should thervpon peraduenture ascribe the yictorie
"not so much to the gift of God^ as to our owne puissance, and
"thereby prouoke his high indignation and displeasure against ys :
"and if the enimie get the ypper hand, then should our realme
"and countrie suffer more damage and stand in further danger.
"But be you of good comfort, and shew your selues yaliant I God
"and our iust quarrell shall defend ys, and deliuer these our proud
"aduersaries with all the multitude of them which you see (or at
"the least the most of them) into our hands.^
As Henry dismisses the English leaders to their posts, he is
> LvoiuSf 16, 17.
* Part of another speech of Henry to his " capteins and soldiers "—epitom-
ized by Eol. (553/2/32) from HaUe (67, 68)— has a more Shaksperian tone :
*' To condnde, manie words of courage he yttered, to stirre them to doo man-
foUie, assuring them that Ensland should neuer he charged with his ransome,
nor anie Frenchman triumpn ouer him as a captiue ; for either hy famous
death or glorious yictorie would he (by Qods grace) win honour and fame.**
> Sir Walter Hungerford. This wish was uttered on October 24, after the
English had crossed the Temoise and were expecting an attack. Henry's
chaplain — an ear-witness, as the words I ^uote indicate — says: "Et inter
cetera quss tunc dicta notayi, quidam dommus Walterus Hungyrford miles
imprsDcaDatur ad faciem regis quod habmsset ad illam paucam familiam qnam
ibi nabuit, decem mUlia de meiioribus sagittariis Anghso, qui secum desidera-
rent esse. Cai rex, . . . nollem habere etsi possem plures per unum qukm
habeo.''— C;«to,47.
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Vm. HENRY V. 191
addressed by Montjoy, whom the Constable has sent with a message
0179-81):
Once more I come to know of thee. King Harry,
If for thy Bansome thou wilt now compound,
Before thy most assorb'd Ouerthrow : • . •
In his answer Henry recounts his soldiers' vow that (11. 116-121)
yet ere Night
They'le be in fresher Bobes ; or they will pluck
The gay new Goats o're the French Souldiers heads.
And tume them out of seruica If they doe this,
(As, if God please, they shall,) my Bansome then
WiU soone be leuyed.
And adds (11. 122-125) :
Gome thou no more for Bansome, gentle Herauld 1
They shall haue none, I sweare, but these my ioynts.
Which if they haue as I will leaue vm them.
Shall yeeld them little, tell the Gonstable 1
This incident is based on the following story :
[Sol. iii 664/1/13.] Here we may not forget how the French, ^"^
thus in their iolitie, sent an herald to king Henrie, to inquire what ^i«d °
ransome he would offer. Whereynto he answered, that within two o<rerthem«
or three houres he hoped it would so happen, that the Frenchmen ^^
should be glad to common rather with the Englishmen for their ^^^
ransoms, than the English to take thought for their deliuerance ; ^t^t™*
promising for his owne part, that his dead carcasse should rather baTenothinff
be a prize to the Frenchmen, than that his lining bodie should ^><^1
pale anie ransome.
As the scene closes, York^ enters and craves a boon (11. 129, 130) :
My Lord, most humbly on my knee I begge
The leading of the Yaward I
Holinshed says that Henry
[Rol iii 653/i/SS.] appointed a vaward, of the which he made rroA^
capteine, Edward duke of Yorke, who of an haultie courage had yawud.
desired that office, . • .
Act lY. sc. iv. — ^That Pistol was able to win a ransom shows how
utterly the French were defeated. As some warrant for the possibility
of such luck as befel " this roaring diuell i'th olde play " (lY. iv. 75,
76), I quote a passage from Holinslied, who thus describes the result of
1 Aumerle in Bich. IL Lydgate tells us that Tork " fell on kne " to beg
this command &om Henry. — Vhroth Lond.^ 226.
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192 Vin. HENEY V.
a threatening movement made by Henry against the French rearwardL
(The closing words of this excerpt should be noted.)
TkiFrwHek [ffol. ill 654/2/30.] When the Frenchmen perceiued his intent,
di»e(m\U4d. they were suddenlie amazed and ran awaie like sheepe ; without
order or arraie. Which when the king perceiued, he incouraged
his men, and followed so quickelie vpon the enimies, that they ran
hither and thither, casting awaie their armour: manie on their
knees desired to haue their lines saued.
Act rV. sc. vL — " Enter the King and his trayne, with Prisoners."
Henry says Qu 2) that " all's not done ; yet keepe the French the field."
By and bye an alarum is heard, and he exclaims (IL 35-38) :
But, hearke 1 what new alarum is this same t
The French haue re-inf orc'd their scattered men :
Then euery souldiour kill his Prisoners ;
Giue the word through 1
Act IV. sc. Tii — ^We now learn what had happened. Fluellen
enters, speaking to Gower (11. 1-4) : *' Elill the poyes and the luggage !
'Tis expressely against the Law of Armes : 'tis as arrant a peeoe of
knauery, marke you now, as can bee off ert : in your Conscience now, is
it not f " Oower answers : *' 'Tis certaine there's not a boy left aliue ;
and the Cowardly Bascalls that ranne from the battaile ha' done this
slaughter : besides, they haue burned and carried away all that was in
the Kings Tent ; wher^ore the King, most worthily, hath caus'd euery
soldiour to cut his prisoners throat."
When the French van and centre had been overthrown, their
rearward put to flight, and
[ffol iiL 554/2/38.] the Englishmen had taken a great number
of prisoners, certeine Frenchmen on horssebacke, whereof were
capteins Robinet of Bomeuill, Bifflart of Clamas, Isambert of
Agincourt, and other men of armes^ to the number of six hundred
horssemen, (which were the first that fled,) hearing that the English
tents & pauilions were a good waie distant from the armie, without
anie sufiicient gard to defend the same, either vpon a couetous
meaning to gaine by the spoile, or Tpon a desire to be reuenged,
S^^' entred ypon the kings campe ; and there spoiled the hails, robbed
the Mrmta the teuts, brake Tp chests, and caried awaie caskets, and slue such
kiiiMQ- seruants as they found to make anie resistance. ...
[Tbeoateiy But whou the outcrio of the lackies and boies, which ran awaie
uokiettnd for fearo of the Frenchmen thus spoiling the campe, came to the
DOTS woo TBll
•wajeune kiugs earcs^ he, (doubting least his enimies should gather togithei
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VIII. HENRY V. 193
againe, and begin a new field; and mistrusting further that the toHenryi
prisoners would be an aid to his enimies, or the verie enimies to
their takers in deed if they were suffered to line,) contrarie to his
accustomed gentlenes, commanded by sound of trumpet, that
euerie man (vpon paine of death) should incontinentlie slaie his auvu
prisoner. «««««*
''Alarum. Enter King Harry with Burbon and prisoners.^
Flourish." As so. v., Act IV., ends, Bourbon and the other French
leaders rush out, hoping to retrieve the day or at least sell their lives
dearly. Entering now with the prisoners taken during this renewal of
the conflict, Henry speaks thus (11. 58-68) :
I was not angry since I came to France,
Vntill this instant. — Take a Trumpet, Herald ;
Bide thou vnto the Horsemen on yond hill : 60
If they will fight with vs, bid them come downe.
Or voyde the field ; they do offend our sight :
If they'l do neither, we will come to them.
And make them sker away, as swift as stones 64
Enforced from the old Assyrian slings :
Besides, wee'l cut the throats of those we haue ;
And not a man of them that we shall take.
Shall taste our mercy ! Go and tell them so !
The prisoners spoken of here (1. 66) are evidently those who have
been captured with Bourbon, not those who entered in sc. vi., Act IV.
The existence of an entry showing that a second batch of prisoners was
taken disposes of Johnson's stricture on IV. vii. 66 : "The King
is in a very bloody disposition. He has already cut the throats of his
prisoners, and threatens now to cut them again." ^ Moreover, Shak-
spere had authority — as the following excerpt shows — for a renewal of
the battle after the prisoners previously taken were massacred.
[Rol. iii 554/2/74.] When this lamentable slaughter was ended,
the [p. 555] Englishmen disposed themselues in order of battel!,
readie to abide a new field, and also to inuade, and newlie set on,
their enimies : with great force they assailed the earles of Mario ^5^?*
and Fauconbridge, and the lords of Louraie, and of Thine, with
six hundred men of armes ; who had all that daie kept togither,
but [were] now slaine and beaten downe out of hand.
Immediately after this passage comes Holinshed's account (see next
excerpt) of the means adopted to rid the field of the lingering French-
men, wnom Shakspere made Henry threaten with the slaughter ** of
those " prisoners " we haue " (IV. vii. 66).
* Enter . . . prisoners] Enter King Ha/rry and Burbon vjUh prisoners. Fi.
2 Var. 8h,, xviL 440.
O
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194 VIII. HENRY V.
[ffoL iii. 555/1/7.] Some write, that the king, perceiuing his
enimies in one part to assemble togither, as though they meant to
giue a new battell for preseruation of the prisoners, sent to them
an herald, commanding them either to depart out of his sight, or
ArigjUiriH else to come forward at once, and giue battell : promising herewith,
dudungti^ that, if thcj did offer to fight againe, not onelie those prisoners
which his people alreadie had taken, but also so manie of them as,
in this new conflict, which they thus attempted, should fall into his
hands, should die the death without redemption.
The Frenchmen, fearing the sentence of so terrible a decree,
without further delaie parted out of the field.
The bearer of Henry's message to the French horsemen goes out,
and Montjoy, entering, begs (11. 74-76)
for charitable License,
That we may wander ore this bloody field,
To booke our dead, and then to bury tiiiem ; . . •
Henry is not sure " if the day be ours, or no " (1. 87) ; and, when ,
Montjoy says, " The day is yours," asks, " What is this Castle calFd
that stands hard by f " Montjoy answers : " They call it Agincourt."
Henry replies (1. 93) : " Then call we this the field of Agincourt."
Shakspere rightly altered the date which my next quotation assigns to
Montjoy's replies.^
^JISSSTj^ve [Sol. iii. 555/1/36.] In the morning, Montioie king at armes
d^i^^^ and foure other French heralds came to the K., to know the
whom the number of prisoners, and to desire buriall for the dead. Before
belonged.] he mado them answer (to vnderstand what they would sale) he
demanded of them whie they made to him that request ; considering
that he knew not whether the victorie was his or theirs ? When
Montioie by true and iust confession had cleered that doubt to the
high praise of the king, he desired of Montioie to ynderstand the
name of the castell neere adioining : when they had told him that
jJ«J^|^<^ it was called Agincourt, he said, "Then shall this conflict be called
"the battell of Agincourt."
" Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus 1 " adds Henry, when he
has named the battle. After telling us how the English behaved on
the night of October 24 (see p. 187 above), Holinshed continues :
* Accordin;? to Mons, (iii. 346) both these replies were given on the day of
the battle. He does not say that Montjoy asked leave to bury the dead.
The French dead were left unburied till Henry quitted Agincourt, on October
26.— ilfoTW., iii 357.
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Vm. HENRY V. 195
[ffol iii. 652/2/70.] The daie following was the fiue and nehatuuoj
tweutith of October in the yeare 1415 ; being then fridaie, and the ^^^^
feast of Crispine and Crispinian : a day faire and fortunate to the "^
English, but most sorrowfull and vnluckie to the French.
Permission having been granted to register and bury the French
dead, Montjoy departs, accompanied, as Henry directs, by some English
heralds (1. 121). Holinshed relates that Henry
[Hoi. iii. 555/1/48.] feasted the French officers of armes that
daie^ and granted them their request ; which busilie sought through
the field for such as were slaine. But the Englishmen suffered E^,JJ^<5j*
them not to go alone, for they searched with them, & fotmd manie ^^^^
hurt, but not in ieopardie of their lines ; whom they tooke prisoners, ^uvSa^
and brought them to their tents.
For the accomplishment of a practical joke, Henry gives Fluellen a
glove, saying (11. 161-163) : "when Alanson and my selfe were downe
together, I pluckt this Gloue from his Helme." Bef erence is here made
to an encoimter which Holinshed thus describes :
[Rol. 554/2/20.] The king that daie shewed himselfe a valiant ^^S^^%^^
knight, albeit almost felled by the duke of Alanson ; yet with ^S
plaine strength he slue two of the dukes companie, and felled the ^^^"'****^^
duke himselfe ; whome, when he would haue yelded, the kings gard
(contrarie to his mind) slue out of hand.
Act IV. sc. viii. — A herald presents to Henry a note containing
"the number of the slaughtered French" (1. 79). From Exeter the
King leams ** what Prisoners of good sort " have been taken. I give
below, in parallel columns, Shakspere's metrical roll of the French
prisoners, and of those slain on either side, for comparison with
Holinshed's lists.
[Eol iii. 555/2/30.] There were Exe. CharUa Duke of OrleaTM, ilSJil!!?
iAkm ^risonera: Charles duke qf ^^^^^^^^^'' ^ ,. ^ ^^"^^
OrUaJe, nephvs to ths French ^^%^^^!"^' '""^ ^
hi/ng; lohn duke of Bmrhon; the Cfoth&r Lords and Barons, KnighU
lord JSouciqualt, one of the mar- and Squires,
shals of France (he after died in ^nilMfiene hundred, besides common 84
England) ; with a number o/oth^ j^^^ Tj^ N^te doth teU me qf
lords, knights, amd esquwrs, at the ten thousand French,
least ffieemjs hundred, besides the That in the field lye slaiw : of
common people. There were slaine ^ Princes, m this nwnber, tu number
in all of the JV.710A part to the And Nobl^ 6«.n«^ i?ann«^, there '^^^^
number of ten thousand men; One hundred twenHe six : Sidded to 88
whereof were princes and noble these.
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196
Vm. HBNBY V.
men bearing boners one htmdred
twentie and six; to these, qf knights,
esquiers, <md gentlemen, so manie
as made vp the number of eight
thousand and fowe hundred (of
the which fiue hundred were dubbed
knights the night before the
battell) : M as, of the meaner
sort, not past sixteene hundred.
Amongst those of the nobilitie
that were slaine, these were the
cheef est : Charles lord de la Breth,
high constable qf Frwnce; laquas
qf Chatilon, lord of Dampier,
admeraU of France ; the lord Rofm-
bures, master qf the crossebowes;
sir Guischard Dolphin, great master
qf France ; John duke qf Alanson ;
Anthonie duke qf Brabant, brother
to the duke qf Burgognie ; Edward
duke qf Bar ; the earle of Neuers,
an other brother to the duke of
Burgognie; with the erles qf
Marie, Vaudemont, Beaumont,
Orcmdpree, Eoussie, FauconbergCt
Fois, and Lestrake; beside a great
number of lords and barons of
name.
Qf EnglishmoDy there died at
this battell, Edward duke o/^
Yorke ; the earle of Suffolke ; sir
Richard Kikelie; and Dauie Gamme,
esquier ; and, qfall other, not aboue
Jiue aoid twentie persons, • • •>
0/ Knights, Esquires, and gallant
OerUlemen,
Eight thousand and fours hundred ;
of the which,
Fius hundred were but yesterday
dtU>b*d Knights :
So that, in these ten thousand they 92
haue lost,
There are but sixteens hundred
Mercenaries ;
The rest are Princes, Barons, Lords,
Knights, Squires,
And Gentlemen of bloud and
qualitie.
The Names of those their Nobles 96
that lye dead :
Charles Delabreth, Sigh Constable qf
France;
laquss qf Chatilion, AdmiraU of
Francs ;
The Master of the Crosse-botoes,
Lord Ramhures;
Great Master qf France, the braue 100
Sir Ouichard Dolphin ;
John Duke of Alanson; Anthonie
Duke of Brdbant,
The Brother to the Duke of
Burgundie ;
And Edward Duke qf Barr : qf
lustie Earles,
Orandpree and Roussie, Fauconbridge 104
and Foyes,
Beaumont and Marie, VaudSmoiU
and Lestrale,
Here was a Royall fellowship of
death!
Where is the numboT of our English
dead I —
Edward the Duke qf Yorke, the 108
Earle of Suffolke,
Sir Richard Ketly, Dauy Gam,
Esquire:
Kone eliBe of name ; and, of all other
men,
Bxxt fue and ttoentie.
The death-rolls read, and solemn acknowledgment made that the
victory is due to God alone, Henry says (1. 128) :
Let there be sung N'on nobis, and Te Dewnu
These thanksgivings are recorded by Holinshed :
\Hol iil 555/1/2 1.] And so, about foure of the clocke in the
after noone, the king, when he saw no apperance of enimies, caused
1 In Mot, the sidenote " Englishmen slaine '* is printed twice : here, and
also immediately after the sidenote ending *< French part"
* dvke of Yorhe\ HoL ed. 1. dukt Yorke HoL ed. 2.
» «as some doo report" (says Hot) ; ** but other writers of greater credit **
(Qrafton and Livius) raised the numbers of the slain*
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<tro
VIII. HENRY V. 197
the retreit to be blowen ; and, gathering his armie togither, gaue
thanks to almightie God for so happie a victorie ; causing his Tkamkt
prelats and chaplains to sing this psahne: "In exitu Israel de ^JJJ^
" Aegypto ; " and commanded euerie man to kneele downe on the
ground at this verse : ** Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini £|2S*^
" tuo da gloriam." Which doone, he caused Te Beum, with certeine ^^
anthems to be soong; giuing laud and praise to God, without
boasting of his owne force or anie humane power.
Naught remains save the burial of the dead,
And then to Callice, and to England then : . • •
The resumption (on October 26 ^) of Henry's march to Calaia is
thus chronicled:
[EoL iii. 555/1/55.] When the kmg of England had well
refreshed himselfe, and his souldiers, (that had taken the spoile of
such as were slaine,) he, with his prisoners, in good order, returned gjSj**^
to his towne of Calls.
Act V. Chorus. — ^The Chorus plays a historic " interim," beginning
on October 29,^ 1415, when the audience must imagine Henry at
Calais (11. 6,7), and ending on August 1, 1417, the date of his "backe
retume againe to France " * (11. 39-43). Nothing is said touching his
second campaign, which lasted about four years, and was brought to a
close by the treaty of Troyes, in 1420.
Shakspere's figure of (11. 11-13)
the deep-mouth'd Sea,
Which, like a mightie Whiffler 'fore the King,
Seemes to prepare his way,
was perhaps suggested by Holinshed's mention of the gale which
Henry's fleet encountered on its return to England.
[Hoi. iii 656/i/i6.] After that the king of England had nw.
refreshed himselfe, and his people at Calls, . . . the sixt [16th]
dale of Nouember,^ he with all his prisoners tooke shipping, and
the same daie landed at Doner, ... In this passage, the seas [The teas
were so rough and troublous, that two ships belonging to sir lohn
1 Oesta, 60.
* The date of Henry's arrival at Calais.— Gcsto, 60.
* He landed near Touque Castle, in Normandy, on August 1, 1417. —
Gfe«*a,lll.
* Henry, ** die Sahbati post sancti Martini solennia, . . . per portum
DoyoricB . . . remeavit in Angliam."— Oe«<a, 60. In 1416 S. Martin's Day
(Nov. 11) fell on a Monday.
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198 VIII. HENRY V.
Cornewall, lord Fanhope, were driuen into Zeland; howbeit^
nothing was lost, nor any person perisht
Henry having landed, and '* set on to London/'
Ton may imagine him vpon Black-Heath, 16
Where that his Lords desire him to haue borne
His bruised Helmet, and his bended Sword,
Before him, through the Citie : he forbids it.
Being free from vain-nesse and selfe-glorious pride ; 20
Qiuing full Trophee, Signall, and Ost^nt,
Quite from himself e, to God. But now behold,
Li the quick Forge and working-house of Thought,
How London doi£ powre out her Citizens ! 24
The Maior and all his Brethren, in best sort,
(Like to the Senatours of th'dntique Bome,
With the Plebeians swarming at their heeles
Goe forth and fetch their Oonqu'ring Csesar in : . . • 2d
Holinshed gives the following account of Henry's reception and
demeanour :
(Heniymet [Eol. ill 556/i/28.1 The maior of London, and the aldermen,
on Black- l / # j
Mft JZa* apparelled in orient grained scarlet, and foure hundred commoners
lSSSSo ^ clad in beautifiill murrie, (well mounted, and trimlie horssed, with
rich collars, & great chaines,) met the king on Blackheath ;^ reioising
at his retume : and the clergie of London, with rich crosses, sump-
tuous copes, and massie censers, receiued him at saint Thomas of
Waterings with solemne procession.
^^ The king, like a graue and sober personage, and as one remem-
biing from whom all victories are sent, seemed little to regard such
vaine pompe and shewes as were in triumphant sort deuised for
^Jff^^ his welcomming home from so prosperous a ioumie: in so much
[He would that he would not suffer his helmet to be caned with him, whereby
his betoet might haue appeared to the people the blowes and dints that were
with him] tQ \yQ geene in the same ; neither would he suffer anie ditties to be
made and soong by minstrels of his glorious victorie, for that he
would wholie haue the praise and thanks altogither giuen to God.
The last occurrence of the Literim is that (11. 38, 39)
The Emperour's comming ^ in behalf e of France,
To order peace betweene them ; . • •
» On November 23.— G'estoj 61.
* ** Emperoui's comming "="Empepour is comming'' : assuming "As yet
• . . between them ^ (IL 36-39) to be a parenthesifl.
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Vin. HENRY V. 199
On or about May 1, 1416,i
[ffoL iii 556/2/27.] the emperour Sigismund . . . came into Th!l£^
England, to the intent that he might make an attonement ^^^IHatto
betweene king Henrie and the French king: . . .
Act Y. 8C. iL — ^This scene ends with Katharine of Yalois's betrothal
to Henry V. (11. 376-397), on May 21, 1420. The Duke of Burgundy
who speaks in this scene, and who, as appears from my next excerpt,
sent " ambassadours ... to mooue " Henry " to peace," was Philip the
Good, son of John the Fearless, whom Charles YI. addresses in UL y*
42.2 In September (1),' 1419, while Henry was at Bouen,
[Hoi iii. 572/1/18.] there came to him eftsoones ambassadours
from the French king and the duke of Burgognie to mooue him to
peace. The king, minding not to be reputed for a destroier of the
countrie, which he coueted to presenie, or for a causer of christian £jV;2Sld?
bloud still to be spilt in his quarell, began so to incline and giue ^^^
eare vnto their sute and humble request, that at length, (after often ^^^'^
sending to and fro,) and that the bishop of Arras, and other men of
honor had beene with him, and likewise the earle of Warwike, and
the bishop of Rochester had beene with the duke of Burgognie,
they both finallie agreed ypon certeine articles ; so that the French
king and his commons would thereto assent
Now was the French king and the queene with their daughter
Katharine at Trois in Champaigne ; gouemed and ordered by them,
which so much fauoured the duke of Burgognie, that they would
not, for anie earthlie good, once hinder or pull backe one iot of
such articles as the same duke should seeke to preferre. And
therefore what needeth manie words ? a truce tripartite was accorded ^JUSa
betweene the two kings and the duke, and their countries ; and
order taken that the king of England should send, in the companie
of the duke of Burgognie, his ambassadours Tnto Trois in
Champaigne ; suflScientlie authorised to treat and conclude of so
great matter. The king of England, being in good hope that all
his affaires should take good successe as he could wish or desire,
* According to Chran, Lond, (103) : " the firste day of Maij, at nyght, he
[Sigismund] landed at Dovorr.*'
' Philip was then (October, 1415) Count of Charolois. He is addressed by
Charles VI. (III. v. 45).
» Mons., IV. 203-207. The murder of John the Fearless, on September 10,
1419 {Mons,, iy. 179), caused his son to take this step.
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200 Vni. HENRY V.
-Jj^««a*>« sent to the duke of Burgognie, his vncle the duke of Excester, the
fw^kSJ earle of Salisburie, the bishop of Elie, the lord Fanhope, the lord
Fitz Hugh, sir Tohn Robsert, and sir Philip Hall, with dinerse
doctors, to the number of fine hundred horsse; which in the
companie of the duke of Burgognie came to the citie of Trois the
eleuenth of March. The king, the queene, and the ladie Katharine
them receiued, and hartilie welcomed ; shewing great signes and
tokens of lone and amitie.
Thtaruau After a few dales they fell to councell. in which at length it was
j^JjJjlJJ*^ concluded, that king Henrie of England should come to Trois, and
^^^St marie the ladie Katharine ; and the king hir father after his death
**^' should make him heire of his realme, crowne, and dignitie. It was
also agreed, that king Henrie, during his father in lawes life, should
in his steed haue the whole gouemement of the realme of France,
as regent thereof: with manie other couenants and articles, as after
shall appeere.
Burgundy begins an appeal for peace by reminding the sovereigns
of England and ^:unce (U. 24-28) how he has laboured to bring them
Vnto this Barre and Eoyall enterview, . . .
Perhaps Shakspere supposed that the same course was taken at
Troyes as had been adopted at Meulan, where, on May 29, 1419,^ Henry,
Queen Isabelle, the Princess Katharine, and John Duke of Burgundy,
met to hold a personal conference which, it was hoped, might lead
to a peace between England and France. Henry then had his ground
[Henij'i [Sol. iii. 569/2/2.] barred about and ported, wherin his tents
^^J^ were pight in a princelie manor.
Burgundy winds up his speech by desiring to know " the Let " (1.
65) which hinders the return of Peace to fVance. Henry answers
(11. 68-71) :
If, Duke of Burgonie, you would the Peace,
Whose want giues growth to th'imperfections
Which you haue cited, you must buy that Peace
With full accord to aU our iust demands, . . .
Shakspere may have been thinking of the unsuccessful close of the
conference at Meulan, when Henry,
[The Met' to [ffol iii. 669/2/43.] mistrusting that the duke of Burgognie
desins.] ^^s the vcric let and stop of his desires, said vnto him before his
departure : " Coosine, we will haue your kings daughter, and ail
* Bymer, ix. 769.
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VIIL HBNRY V. 201
"things that we demand with hir, or we will driue yonr king and
"you out of his realma"
Charles VT. then retires to scrutinize the treaty of peace ; and is
attended hy some members of the English Council, whom Henry thus
names (11. 83-85) :
Goe, Vnckle Exeter,
And Brother Clarence, and you, Brother Gloucester,
Warwick, and Huntington, goe with the King ; . • •
Henry went to Troyes,
[Hoi iii 672/2/8.] accompanied with his brethren the dukes ^'^J'jgj*'*
of Clarence and Glocester, the earles of Warwike, Salisburie, HS^to*
Huntington, . . .^ ^^^-^
A revision of the treaty, after Henry's arrival at Troyes, is noticed
by Holinshed, who says that
[ffol. iii. 572/2/32.] the two kings and their councell assembled
togither diuerse dales ; wherein the first concluded agreement was P*j^*y
in diuerse points altered and brought to a certeinetie, according to
the efiect aboue mentioned.*
Queen Isabelle desires to have a voice in discussing the treaty ;
whereupon Henry asks that the Princess Katharine may remain with
him:
She is our capital! Demand, comprised
Within the fore-ranke of our Articles. — 11. 96, 97.
The first article of the treaty of Troyes runs thus :
[Sol, iii 573/ 1/6 1.] 1 First, it is accorded betweene our father
and vs, that forsomuch as by the bond of matrimonie made for the
good of the peace betweene vs and our most deere beloued
Katharine,' daughter of our said father, & of our most deere
1 Charles (St. Denysy vL 410), Isabelle, and Clarence (Juv., 480), were at
Troyes when Henry married Katharine. On December 30, 1419, Qloucester
was appointed Warden of England because Bedford had been summoned to
join Henry. — Rymer^ ix. 830. Gloucester was to hold office dnring the King's
absence. — Ibid, From what Exeter says in a letter written at Troyes, on May
23, 1420, 1 infer that he was present at the convention and betrothal. — RymeTf
ix. 907, 908. On June 4, 1420, Henry resumed his campaign {Gesta, 142) ;
and, in July, 1420, he had with him, at the siege of Melun, Clarence, Bedfoid)
Exeter, Huntingdon, and Warwick.— OestOy 144. Weds,, ii. 335.
* See excerpt at p. 200 above.
* In May, 1419, Katharine was at Menlan (p. 200 above), having been
broncht thither " by hir mother onelie to the intent that the king of England,
beholding hir excellent beantie, should be so inflamed and rapt in hir lone,
that he, to obteine hir to his wife, should the sooner agree to a gentie peace
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202 VIII. HENRY V.
moother Isabell his wife, the same Charles and Isabell beene made
{^iJJ^^ our father and moother : therefore them as our fistther and moother
Hra^to we shall haue and worship, as it fitteth and seemeth so worthie a
Ptfeiita.T' prince and princesse to be worshipped, principallie before all other
temporall persons of the world.
Soon after the re-entry of Charles, Isabelle, Burgundy, and the rest,
Exeter points out that an article of the treaty has not yet been
subscribed (IL 364-370) : " Where your Maiestie demands, * That the
King of France, hauing any occasion to umie for matter of Graunt,!
ahcUl name your Highnesse in thia forme, and with this addition, in
French: Nostra treecher JUz Henry, Roy cTAngleterre, Heretere de
FrcMmce ; and thus in Laime : Frasclarisaimua Filiua noeter ffenrictu,
Rex AnglicB, <fc Heres FrancioiJ "
This article appears in Holinshed with the same mistranslation of
treschier ' as is f oimd in Shakspere's text.
[Eol m. 57il2l6g.] 25 Also that our said father, during his
life, shall name, call, and lorite vs in French in this maner : Nostre
SS7hrtr** ^^^*^^ fi^ Henry toy d*Engleterre heretere de Franjce. And in
of Prance.] x^i^e in this maner: Prceclarissimus filius nosier Henricus rex
Anglice & hceres Francice.
Isabelle having invoked Qod's blessing on the wedlock which is to
bring with it the union of England and France (11. 387-396), Henry
says (11. 398-400) :
Prepare we for our Marriage t on which day,
My Lord of Burgundy, wee'le take your Oath,
And all the Peeres, for suretie of our Leagues.
On reaching Troyes, Henry rested a while, and then
Ktnffffmru [Hol. ill 572/2/26.] Went to visit the French king, the queene,
^^^ ftnd the ladie Katharine, whome he found in saint Peters churclL
where was a verie ioious meeting betwixt them ; (and this was on
^XSr** the twentith dale of Male ;) * and there the kmg of England and the
d!!u^i!t^ ladie Katharine were affianced.
and louing concord." — Hd, iil 569/2/1 1. The conferences at Meulan led to
no result, '* saue onlie that a certeine sparke of burning lone was kindled in
the kings heart by the sight of the ladie Katharine."— ifol. iii 569/2/38.
1 By article 23 it is stipulated that, as a rule, *' grants of offices and nfts
• . . shall be written and proceed vnder the name and seale of ** Charles vl.
— JETol. 674/2/51.
* PrcBcIaWwiwMi*] HoL edd. 1 and 2. Fredarissimus Halle (ed. 1550).
Frecharissimus Halle (edd. of 1548).
* May 21. In a letter ¥rritten at Troves on May 22, 1420, and addressed
to the Duke of Gloucester, Warden of England, Henry says : " Upon Moneday,
the XX. day of this present Moneth of May, wee arrived in this Towne of
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VnL HENRY V. 203
When the terms of the treaty were finally settled,
[Hoi iii 572/2/37.] the kings sware for their parts to obserue
all the couenants of this league and agreement. Likewise the
duke of Burgognie, and a great number of other princes and nobles
which were present, receiued an oth, . . .
I close the excerpts illustrating this play with the panegyric of
Henry, which Holinshed derived from Halle.
[HoL iiL 683/ 1 /S9.] This Henrie was a king, of life without spot ; ^^S^SSJi
a prince whome all men loued, and of none disdained ; a capteine %^^
against whome fortune neuer frowned, nor mischance once spumed ; -^p^^^y
whose people him so seuere a iusticer both loued and obeied, Emiiiti
(and so humane withall,) that he left no offense ynpunished, nor
freendship Tnrewarded; a terrour to rebels, and suppressour of
sedition; his yertues notable, his qualities most praise-worthie.
In strength and nimblenesse of bodie from his youth few to ^^^
him comparable ; for in wrestling, leaping,^ and running, no man jSimifcMj
well able to compare. In casting of great iron barres and heauie
stones he excelled commonlie all men ; neuer shrinking at cold, nor
slothfull for heat ; and, when he most laboured, his head commonlie
yncouered ; no more wearie of hamesse than a light cloake ; verie
▼aliantlie abiding at needs both hunger and thirst ; so manfull of
mind as neuer seene to quinch at a wound, or to smart at the
paine ; to tume his nose from euil sauour, or to close ' his eies
from smoke or dust ; no man more moderate in eating and drinking,
with diet not delicate, but rather more meet for men of warre, than
Troyes ; And on the Morowe hadden a Convention betwix our Moder the
Queene of France, and our Brother the Due of Bnrgoigne (as Commisaairs of
tiie Kingj of France our Fader for his Party) and Ua in our own Personne, for
our Partie : And th' Accorde of the . . . Pees Perpetueli was there Swome by
both the sayde Commiseaires, yn name of our foresaid Fader ; And semblably
by Us in oure owne Name : . . . Also at the saide Convention was Manage
betrowthed betwixt Us and oure Wyf, Doghter of our forsaid Fader the King
of France." — Bymer^ ix. 906, 907. The date of the marriage is given in a
private letter written at Sens by " Johan Ofort," on June 6, 1420: *'And, as
touchyng Tydynges, The Kyng owre Sovereyn Loord was Weddid, with greet
Solempnitee, in the Cathednde Chirche of Treys, abowte Myd day on Tnnite
Sunday " [[June 2].— i2ym«r, ix. 910.
^ In his wooing of Katharine, Henry says (V. ii. 142-145) : " If I could
winne a Lady at Leiape-£rogge,or by vawting into my Saddle with my Armour
on my backejTvnder the correction of bra^^ing be it spoken,) I should quickly
leape into a Wife.''
* to tume .,,orto dose] not to tume . . . nor close, HoL
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204 Vin. HENRY V.
[Anjiio&eit for princes or tender BtomachB. Euerie honest person was per-
tolfml?*^ mitted to come to him, sitting at meale ; where either secretlie or
MdhJ"**' openlie to declare his mind. High and weightie causes, as well
w^MBM^ betweene men of warre and other, he would gladlie heare ; and
either determined them himselfe, or else for end committed them
[He slept to othcrs. He slept verie little, but that yerie soundlie, in so
J2^7^ much that when his soldiers soong at nights, or minstrels plaied,
he then slept fastest ; of courage inuincible, of purpose ynmutable ;
so wisehardie alwaies, as feare was banisht from him ; at euerie
alarum he first in armor, and formost in ordering. In time of
warre such was his prouidence, bountie and hap, as he had true
intelligence, not onelie what his enimies did, but what they said
[nigmt and intended: of his deuises and purposes, few, before the thing
"nxhn,} ^as at the point to be done, should be made priuie.
He had such knowledge in ordering and guiding an armie, with
such a gift to incourage his people, that the Frenchmen had
constant opinion he could neuer be vanquished in battelL Such
wit, such prudence, and such policie withall, that he neuer enter-
prised any thing, before he had fullie debated and forecast all the
maine chances that might happen ; which doone, with all diligence
and courage, he set his purpose forward. What policie he had in
finding present remedies for sudden mischeeues, and what engines
in sauing himselfe and his people in sharpe distresses, were it not
that by his acts they did plainlie appeare, hard were it by words
to make them credible. Wantonnesse of life and thirst in auarice
had he quite quenched in him ^ ; vertues in deed in such an estate
rpntdom of souercigntic, youth, and power, as verie rare, so right commend-
wantonneM able in the highest degree. So staied of mind and countenance
awtee.] beside, that neuer iolie or triumphant for victorie, nor sad or
[Bqnanimiiy damped for lossc or misfortune. For bountifiilnesse and liberalitie,
eTii *" no man more free, gentle, and franke, in bestowing rewards to all
[Bonntiftii. P^'^o^s, according to their deserts: for his saieng was, that he
'^^^i neuer desired monie to keepe, but to giue and spend.
Although that storie properlie semes not for theme of praise
or dispraise, yet what in breuitie may well be remembred, in truth
* Hcl. (ed. I) and HaUe read : "he . . . diddc continually absteyne . . .
from lasciuioos lyning and blynde auarice.*'
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IX. HENRY VI. PART I. 205
would not be forgotten by sloth ; were it but onlie to remaine as a
spectacle for magnanimitie to haue alwaies in eie, and for incour-
agement to nobles in honourable enterprises. Ejiowen be it there-
fore, of person and forme was this prince rightlie representing his ^^'mS^]
heroicall affects ; of stature and proportion tall and manlie, rather
leane than grose, somewhat long necked, and blacke haired, of
countenance amiable ; eloquent and graue was his speech, and of
great grace and power to persuade : for conclusion, a maiestie was
he that both lined & died a pateme in princehood, a lode-starre ^ in JJ^j^^jJ^^^
honour^ and mirrour* of magnificence ; the more highlie exalted in ^^£2?'"
his life, the more deepelie lamented at his death, and famous to p^®^^
the world alwaie.
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
If the range of The first Fart of Hen/ry the Sixt * were measured by
historic dates, not by the order in which occurrences are dramatized, it
might be said that the time embraced by the action extended from
Henry V.'s funeral, on November 7, 1422,* to Talbot's death on July
17, 1453. But the dramatist has made the latter event precede Jeanne
Dare's capture in 1430 ; as well as the despatch of Suffolk to Tours in
1444, for the purpose of espousing Margaret and conducting her to
England.
Act I. sc i. — The fimeral of Henry Y. is disturbed by the entrance
of a messenger who announces a series of calamities (11. 57-61), some of
which are fictitious, while others are antedated.^ Orleans and Poitiers
1 In the Epilogue (Hen. F., L 6) he is called * This Starre of England.'
« The Chorus of Act II. (L 6) styles Ilenry " the Mirror of all Christian
Kings." The original, which Hoi, paraphrased, is " the mirror of Christen-
dome."— Hofle, 113.
» In quoting the three Parts of Henry VL, I follow the text of Fi (1623).
* This date is given ii^ Fab. (692), and Wyrc. (ii 454). The F. entry is :
" Enter the FunenJl of King Henry the Fift, attended on by the Duke of
Bedford, Regent of France; the Duke of Qloster, Protector; the Duke of
Exeter, Warwicke, the Bishop of Winchester, and the Duke of Somerset" The
corresponding personages in Hot, iii. 584/i/i9 (Halle, 114) are: ** Thomas
duke of Excester, Richard [Beauchamp] earle of Warwike, ... the earle of
Mortajgne, Edmund Beaufort [afterwiurds Duke of Somerset], ..."
* The 1st Mess, anticipates the loss of Eheims (1. 60) and Gisors (1. 61).
Charles VII. received the keys of the former place in 1429 ( Waurin, V. iv.
315) ; the latter was surrendered to the French in 1449 (J^venaon, II. ii
622). Paris opened her gates to them in 1436. To the series of calamities
Gloucester prophetically adds Rouen (L 65), which we lost in 1449.
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206
IX. HENRY VL PART I.
rChtflet
were not in our possession at Henry V.'s death ; and Guienne — ^the
last left of our continental dominions save Calais — was not lost till
1451. Perhaps the messenger's report is an embellishment of the
succeeding excerpt : ^
J death [3^ol. iil 585/2/13. Halle, 15.] And suerlie the death of this
^^J^**** king Charles caused alterations in France. For a great manie of
revoiti ^^Q nobilitie, which before, either for feare of the English puissance,
or for the loue of this king Charles, (whose authoritie they followed,)
held on the English part, did now reuolt to the Dolphin ; with all
indeuour to driue the English nation out of the French territories.
Whereto they were the more earnestlie bent^ and thought it a
thing of greater facilitie, because of king Henries yoong yeares ;
whome (because he was a child) they esteemed not^ but with one
consent reuolted from their swome fealtie : . • •
His assertion, that these reverses were caused by ** want of Men
and Money " (1. 69) and " Factions " (L 71) among the English nobles,
seems to embody a remark of Holinshed on the loss of Paris in 1436.
[Hoi. iiL 612/2/6$. HcUle, 179.] But heere is one cheefe
point to be noted, that either the disdeine amongest the cheefe
peeres of the realme of England, (as yee haue heard,) or the
negligence of the kings councell, (which did not foresee dangers
to come,) was the losse of the whole dominion of France, betweene
the riuers of Somme ^ and Mame ; and, in especiall, of the noble citie
of Paris. For where before, there were sent ouer thousands for
defense of the holds and fortresses, now were sent hundreds, yea,
and scores; some rascals, and some not [p. 613] able to draw a
bowe, or carrie a bill : . . .
A second messenger brings tidings (1. 92) that
The Dolphin Charles is crowned King in Eheimes.
[BiUiarthe
dissension
of the chief
Bnglish
peers, or the
Oponoil's
select to
send rein-
foroementSi
caused the
loss of
France.]
^ If 80, the dramatist ignores what Hoi. adds (585/2/30) : " The duke of
Bedford, being greatlie mooued with these sudden changes, fortified his townes
both with garrisons of men, munition, and vittels ; assembled also a great armie
of Englishmen and Normans ; and so effectnouslie exhorted them to continue
faith full to their liege and lawful! lord yoong king Henrie, that manle of the
French capteins willinglie sware to king Henrie fealtie and obedience ; by
whose example the communaltie did the same. Thus the people quieted, and
the conntrie established in order, nothing was minded but warre« and nothing
spoken of but conquest ** Their defeat at Vemeuil —related by Hoi. — in 1424
was nearly as disastrous to the French as Agincourt had been ; and the tide of
our success did not turn till we besieged Orleans in 1428-29.
* Somme] Halle. Sane Hoi ed. 2. Soane Hoi ed. 1.
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IX. HENRY VI. PART I. 207
This ceremony was not performed till 1429,^ but, if the second
messenger's words be construed freely, the following passage is sufficient
warrant for his news :
[Hoi. iil 685/2/42. Halle, 116.] The Dolphin, which lay the
same time in the citie of Poitiers, after his fathers deceasse,' caused ESpWn
himselfe to be proclamed king of France, by the name of Charles ESg^"**
the seuenth ; and, in good hope to recouer his patriraonie, with an ^
haultie courage preparing war, assembled a great armie : and first
the warre began by light skirmishes, but after it grew into mains
battels.
The third messenger's report is noticeable as showing how historic
time is dealt with in this play. The battle which he describes (11. 110-
140) took place at Fatay. On June 18, 1429,^ about six weeks after
the siege of Orleans — dramatized in two subsequent scenes — ^had been
raised, Joan, Alen9on, and Dunois, followed by an army numbering
[Hoi iil 6OI/2/17. Halle, 601.] betweene twentie and three
and twentie thousand men,
. . . fought with the lord Talbot (who had with him not past indM,
six thousand men) neere vnto a village in Beausse called Pataie : {JJJJS^
at which battell the charge was giuen by the French so vpon a «»**^<^
sudden, that the Englishmen had not leisure to put themselues [^J^^J^
in araie, after they had put vp their stakes before their archers ; so ^S£^Siium
that there was no remedie but to fight at aduenture. This battell ^teT
continued by the space of three long houres ; for the Englishmen, arohm]
though they were ouerpressed with multitude of their enimies, yet
they neuer fled backe one foot, till their capteine the lord Talbot ciubotwu
W0111M16Q in
was sore wounded at the backe, and so taken. ^^^ ,
and teken.]
Then their hearts began to faint, and they fled ; in which flight ortattom
were slaine about twelue hundred, and fortie taken, of whome the jj^ ^^
lord Talbot^ the lord Scales,* the lord Hungerford, & sir Thomas ^SSi,^
Rampston were cheefe. . . . From this battell departed without
* Hoi. iii. 6OI/2/74, Charles VII. was crowned at Poitiers, in 1422 ; " et
de ce jour [the day of Charles VL's death] en avant, par tous ceux tenant son
parti, fut nomm^ roi de France, comme ^toit son p^re en son vivant." — Mons.^
V. 10. Charles VII. was crowned at Eheims on July 17, 1429.-— ^ounn V.
iv. 317.
« Charles VL died on October 21, 1422.— Jlfotw., iv. 415.
» Ckron. de la PuceUe, ix. 334.
* Thomas Scales, Lord Scales, a character in 2 Hen. VL, IV. v.
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208
IX. HENRY VI. PART L
[Sir John
Fartolfe
retreated
*withoQt
anie stroke
striken.']
HUadmim
rtohis
brethren
and nobles,]
vpoM Ai<
duath ML
(He willed
th«n(l)to
live in con-
cord, and (2)
to nuttntain
flriendship
with the
Dnkeof
Buivnndy ;
and (8) he
forbade
them to
yield any
territory to
Charles the
Dauphin, or
(4) to release
the Duke of
Orleans and
the other
princes.
He advised
(1) that
Gloucester
be Protector
of Bng^and
during
Henry YL's
nonage: and
(2) Bedford
Regent of
France, with
0argandy*B
help. He
anie stroke striken sir lohn Fastolfe;^ the same yeare for his
valiantnesse elected into the order of the garter.
Towards the close of the scene, Exeter says (11. 162-164) :
Eemember, Lords, your Oathes to Henry swome :
Eyther to quell the Dolphin vtterly,
Or bring him in obedience to your yoake.
When Henry V. lay ardying at Bois de Vincennes, he was visited by
[Eol. iii. 683/1/4- Abridged from Halle, 111.] the dukes of
Bedford and Glocester, & the earles of Salisbarie and Warwike,
whome the king louinglie welcomed, and seemed glad of their
presence.
Now, when he saw them pensife for his sicknesse and great
danger of life wherein he presentlie laie, he, with manie graue,
courteous, and pithie words, recomforted them the best he could ;
and therewith exhorted them to be trustie and faithfiiU vnto his
Sonne, and to see that he might be well and vertuouslie brought
yp. And, as concerning the rule and gouemance of his realms,
during the minoritie and yoong yeares of his said sonne, he willed
them to ioine togither in freendlie loue and concord, keeping con-
tinuall peace and amitie with the duke of Burgognie ; and neuer to
make treatie with Charles that called himselfe Dolphin of Yienne,
by the which anie part, either of the crowne of France, or of the
duches of Normandie and Guieu, may be lessened or diminished ;
and further, that the duke of Orleance and the other princes
should still remaine prisoners, till his sonne came to lawfuU age ;
least, returning home againe, they might kindle more fire in one
dale than might be quenched in three.
He further aduised them, that if they thought it necessarie,
that it should be good to haue his brother Humfreie duke of
Glocester to be protector of England, during the nonage of his
sonne, and his brother the duke of Bedford, with the helpe of the
duke of Burgognie, to rule and to be regent of France ;^ commanding
^ The dramatist was not content with making a messenger relate Fastolfe's
cowardice, but must needB exhibit it in some fictitious skirmish near Rouen
(III. il 104-109) ; which one might have suspected to be Patay refought, had
not Sir John, alluding possibly to that disastrous battle, said, " We are like to
haue the ouerthrow againe."
s Under the year 1422 : " The duke of Bedford was deputed regent ol
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IX. HENRY VI. PART I. 209
him with fire and sword to persecute the Dolphin, till he had ehMged
either brought him to reason and obeisance, or else to driue and ^^^ ^
expell him out of the realme of France. . . . SJtl?^
The noble men present promised to obserue his precepts, and to p^^f
performe his desires ; but their hearts were so pensife, and replen- ^^^,g^
ished with sorrow, that one could not for weeping behold an other. w^SJh^thSS^
behfesta.]
Two more speeches call for remark. Exeter had been '' ordayn'd ''
Henry VI.'s "speciall (Jouemor" (1. 171), but my next excerpt shows
that Winchester held a similar post ^ and was therefore not a ** lack out
of Office "0-175).
[Hoi. in. 586/1/28. Halle, 115.] The custodie of this yoong meUruA
prince was appointed to Thomas duke of Excester, & to Henrie ^^^ ^f
Beauford bishop of Winchester. fenSrvLj
Ere leaving the stage, Winchester expresses an intention to steal
the King from Eltham (U. 176, 177). About four years after Henry
V.'s funeral, Gloucester charged Winchester with this design.
[Hoi iii. 591/2/5. Halle, 131.] 2 Item, my said lord of
Winchester, without the aduise and assent of my said lord of
Glocester, or of the kings councell, purposed and disposed him to (windieiter
set hand on the kings person, and to haue remooued him from gJJ?^^^
Eltham, the place that he was in, to Windsor, to the intent to put ™^i
him in gouemance as him list
Act L sc. ii. — ^Neither Charles VIL nor Bend of Anjou was present
at the siege of Orleans, but Dunois (the Bastard of Orleans) commanded
the French garrison, and Alen^on — accompanied by Joan — led the
relieving force which rescued the city. The following account of a
sally made by Dunois was perhaps transmuted into the fruitless attempt
of Charles, Alen^on, and Ben^, to succour Orleans. (The stage direc-
tion after L 21 is : " Here Alarum ; they are beaten back by the English,
with great losse.")
[Hoi. iil 599/1/30. Halle, 145.] After the siege had continued
full three weekes,^ the bastard of Orleance issued out of the gate of
France, and the dnke of Qlocester was ordeined protectoor of England" ; • • •
—HcH. iii. 586/1/30.
* According to Oesta (159), one of Henry's last instructions was : " Avun-
cnlum meum ducem Exoniae et avnncnlam menm Henricum episcopum
Wintoniae un^ cum comite Warwici circa regimen filii mei . . . attendentes
fore volo et decemo.** With this agrees C^ron. Oile$ (Hen. VL')^ 3.
* HaUe (145V— JJol.'« anthority— was mistaken. The bndffe-tower was
captured on October 24, 1428, and the attack was made by the English. — Chron,
de la PueeUe, ix. 284. The siege began on October 12, 1428.— Ibid., ix. 281.
P
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210 IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
[Dosoii'B the bridge, and fought with the Englishmen ; but they receiued
npoiied.] }|iiii Yfifii go fierce and terrible strokes, that he was with all his
companie compelled to retire and flee backe into the citie. But
the Englishmen followed so fast, in killing and taking of their
Ahdwfrie cuimies, that they entered with thent T The bulworke of the
taiten [by the bridge, with a great tower standing at the end of the same, was
BiucUsb*] __
taken incontinentlie by the Englishmen, who behaued themselues
right valiantlie ynder the conduct of their couragious capteine, as
at this assault, so in diuerse skirmishes against the French ; partlie
to keepe possession of that which Henrie the fift had by his mag-
nanimitie & puissance atchiued, as also to inlarge the same. . . .
In this conflict, manie Frenchmen were taken, but more were
[Thebai. slaine ; and the keeping of the tower and bulworke was committed
toidg^ower to William Gla[n]Bdale * esquier. By the taking of this bridge the
wi^j^ passage was stopped, that neither men nor vittels could go or come
by that waie.
The siege of Orleans, began by Salisbury on October 12, 1428, was
raised on May 8, 1429 ;^ and he was mortally wounded (Act I. sc. iv.)
about four months prior to Joan's first meeting with Charles;' the
event which is dramatized in this scene. I quote the account given of
her by Holinshed :
w. p. [Sol iii. 6OO/2/2.] In time of this siege at Orleance (French
TuuL stories sale), the first weeke of March 1428[-29], vnto Charles the
La Tronic. Dolphui, at Chinou, as he was in verie great care and studio how
to wrestle against the English nation, by one Robert^ Ba[u]dricourt,
unotUr capteine of ya[u]couleur[s], (made after marshall of France by the
^''*>^ Dolphins creation,*) was caried a yoong wench of an eighteene
Fuleudt^ y cores old, called lone Arc,* by name of hir father (a sorie
* Glansdale. So PL Glasdale may be correct. In a list of captains of
Norman towns (1417) is the name of ** William Qlasdall Esouier."— Gsssto, 278.
1 The eiege was raised on May 8, 1429.— Chron, dt la PuceUe, ix. 321.
* Joan reached Chinon on March 6, 1429. — Continuation of Quillanme de
Nansis (Quicherat^ iv. 313). Her first audience of Charles was deferred until
the third day (March 9) after her arrivaL— Letter of De Boulainvilliers to Filippo
Maria Visconti {Quicheratj v. 118 ; cp. iii. 4). » Bobert] Peter Hoi.
* An error. Bohert's son (Jean de Baudricourt) was made a marshal of
France by Charles VIII.— -itweZtwe, vii. 113.
* The earliest instance of "d'Arc" occurs in 1576. — NouveUea recherehes
tur lafamiUe ettwrle nom de Jeanne Dare, par M. Vallet de Viriville, p. 30.
M. de Viriville cites letters of ennoblement, dated December, 1429, and addressed
"Puellae Joannae Dare de Dompremeyo.** — Ibid, p. 16, In this document
her father is called " Jacobum Dare"
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IX. HENRY VI. PART L 211
sheepheard) lames of Arc, and Isabell hir mother; brought yp
poorelie in their trade of keeping cattell; borne at Domprin invua
(therefore reported by Bale, lone Domprin) vpon Meuse in
Lorraine, within the diocesse of Thoule. Of fauour was she i^^^
' aspect,
counted likesome, of person stronglie made and manlie, of courage J^^?„1i
great, hardie, and stout withall : an ynderstander of counsels though ^'^^''^^'i
she were not at them ; great semblance of chastitie both of bodie
and behauiour; the name of lesus in hir mouth about all hir
businesses ; humble, obedient ; and fasting diuerse dales in the
weeke. A person (as their bookes make hir) raised yp by power
diuine, onelie for succour to the French estate then deepelie in
distresse; in whome, for planting a credit the rather, first the
companie that toward the Dolphin did conduct hir, through places '^^^^
all dangerous, as holden by the English, (where she neuer was felSi*
afore,) all the waie and by nightertale safelie did she lead : then at ^^^^
the Dolphins sending by hir assignement, A*om saint Eatharins (Her sword
church of Fierbois in Touraine, (where she neuer had beene and Amoo^oid
' ^ iron at St.
knew not,) in a secret place there among old iron, appointed she S^"t*'
hir sword to be sought out and brought hir, (that with fine floure S!^am
delices was grauen on both sides,^) wherewith she fought and did ^'
manie slaughters by hir owne hands. On warfar rode she in * From lutui
armour ♦ cap a pie & mustered as a man ; before hir an ensigne all Jj^jjs ^"^
white, wherin was lesus Christ painted with a floure delice in his ^S^giu]
hand.
Unto the Dolphin into his gallerie when first she was brought ; {J^'^e
and he, shadowing himselfe behind, setting other gaie lords before ^i^ before
him to trie hir cunning, from all the companie, with a salutation, picifedhi^
(that indeed marz all the matter,) she pickt him out alone ;' who ^Tkutaiuta.
thereypon had hir to the end of the gallerie, where she held him ^^^IT^
an houre in secret and priuate talke, that of his priuie chamber p. 889,
was thought verie long,^ and therefore would haue broken it off; [hii
but he made them a signe to let hir sale on. In which (among ^ouguVhat
other), as likelie it was, she set out ynto him the singular feats (for ,^^^/^^
sooth) giuen hir to ynderstand by reuelation diuine, that in yertue if grand
chrwUe.
1 Op. 1 Hen, VL, I. ii 98-101. « Cp. 1 Hen. VL, I. ii. 60-67.
• ^^Jieigneir. My Lord, me thinkee, is very long in iaWfe."— 1 Hen, VI,, I.
ii. 118.
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1.3
212 IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
of that sword shoe should atchiue ; which were, how with honor and
^ romiied victorie shoo would raiso the siege at Orleance, set him in state of
mmUJI *and *t® crowne of France, and driue the English out of the countrie,
^u^ thereby he to inioie the kingdome alone. Heereypon he hartened
Fnmoe.] at fiill, appointed hir a sufficient armie with absolute power to lead
{^ll^an them, and they obedientlie to doo as she bad them. Then fell she
BberaueYed to worko, and first defeated, indeed, the siege at Orleance ; by and
OrleaoB, and
Muied bim by incouragcd him to crowne himselfe king of France at Reims,
that a little before from the English she had woone. Thus after
pursued she manie bold enterprises to our great displeasure a two
yeare togither : for the time she kept in state yntill she were taken
and for heresie and witcherie burned ; as in particularities hereafter
followeth.
Act I. 80. iii. — I preface this scene by quoting what Holinshed says
about the open dissension of Gloucester and Winchester. In 1425
[Hoi. iii 590/2/60. Halle, 130.] fell a great diuision in the
realme of England ; which of a sparkle was like to haue grown to a
Dimnikm great flame. For whether the bishop of Winchester, called Henrie
diOBtqf Beaufort, (sonne to lohn duke of Lancaster by his third wife,)
^«*«^^ enuied the authoritie of Humfreie duke of Glocester, protectour of
the realme; or whether the duke disdained at the riches and
pompous estate of the bishop ; sure it is that the whole realme
was troubled with them and their partakers : . . •
The action was partly developed from the first article in a series of
five charges against Winchester, preferred by Gloucester at some time
after February 18, and before March 7, 1426.^
[Hoi. iii. 591/1/68. Halle, 130.] 1 First, whereas he, being
protectour, and defendour of this land, desired the Tower to be
[Riehaid opcnod to him, and to lodge him therein, Richard Wooduile^
woodvile .xi. 1 • 11 «ii.
gywto- esquier (haumg at that time the charge of the keepmg of the
* Parliament met at Leicester on February 18, 1426.-— iJoi. Parl,^ iv. 295/i.
Ou March 7, 1426, Qloucester and Winchester agreed to submit ^eir differ-
ences to the arbitration of a committee of the Upper House. — Eot, Pari.f iv.
297/2. Qloucester's five articles are not in Bot PaH.f but Winchester's answers
to articles 4 and 5 appear there (298/1-2).
« Created Earl Rivers on May 24, 1466.— DuflfdoZe, iii. 231/i. Father of
Elizabeth Woodvile, who married Sir John Grey, and (secondly) Edward
IV. Woodvile's son Anthony is Earl Rivers in JRich. IIL
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IX. HENRY VI. PART I. 213
Tower) refused his desire ; and kept the same Tower against him S;^^^
vndulie and against reason, by the commandement of my said lord ^SSL«ter
A ttr* 1 X wfthin the
of Wmchester ; . . . xower.i
Winchester styles Qloncester a " most vsurping Proditor " (1. 31).
Gloucester retorts (11. 33, 34) :
Stand back, thou manifest Conspirator,
Thou that contriued'st to murther our dead Lord ; . . .
The fourth article of Gloucester's charges contains this accusation :
[Hoi. iii. 691/2/33. Halle, 131.] 4 Item, my said lord of
Olocester saith and affirmeth, that our souereigne lord, his brother,
that was king Henrie the fifb, told him on a time, (when our
souereigne lord, being prince, was lodged in the palace of West-
minster, in the great chamber,^) by the noise of a spaniell, there was
on a night a man spied and taken behind a ^tapet of the said •(h-Ampw
chamber ; the which man was deliuered to the earle of Arundell to [Wbichestw
be examined ypon the cause of his being there at that time ; the nutn to ^
which so examined, at that time confessed that he was there by pnnceof
the stirring and procuring of my said lord of Winchester ; ordeined g'*"^
to haue slaine the said prince there in his bed : wherefore the said
earle of Arundell let sacke him ^ foorthwith, and drowned him in {J,^'^^
the Thames. 2^1 *
Obeying their master's command (1. 54), ** Glosters men beat out the
Cardi nails men, and enter in the hurly-burly the Maior of London and
his Officers." The Mayor directs an officer to make ** open Proclama-
tion" against rioting, and threatens also to ** call for Clubs" (11. 71,
84). Gloucester and Winchester then retire.
Affcer describing (ii 595) how, on October 30, 1425, possession of
London Bridge was contested by the followers of Gloucester and
Winchester, Fabyan says (ii. 596) :
And lykely it was to haue ensued great E£Eucyon of blode shortly
therupon, ne had ben the discressyon of the Mayre and his SffejJSST
Brother, that exorted the people, by all Polytike meane, to kepe GiS^ILMd.]
the kynges peas.
Act L sc. iv. — ^Lords Salisbury, and Talbot, Sir William Glansdale,
Sir Thomas Gargrave, and others enter '' on the Turrets " of the bridge-
tower captured by the English (see p. 210 above), whence, through "a
secret Grate," they can "ouer-peere the Citie" (11. 10, 11). Talbot's
narrative of his captivity and ransom (11. 27-56) contains nothing
authentic save the exchange by which he obtained his freedom. But
1 «y« grene chambre."— 22o*. Farl, iv. 298/i.
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214
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
Tkilord
Talbot rm
CTalbotsk
the siege of
Orltant.]
(TbeBngllsb
oaptaini
naedtoTiew
Orleuia
from A
grated
wtedoir In
thabridflfr-
tower. The
besieged
pohiteda
gim againit
thlB tooting
bole (ipy*
boleX)
[One day,
when
tfaliabnry,
OargntTO
and Qlani-
dale were
looking ont
attbe
window, the
gunner's eon
fired, and
mortally
wounded
Balisboiy
and
GargrsTe.]
TkitarUof
AUiiburk
he was not released until. 1433 ^ (Holinshed was wrong in sapng that
Talbot was ransomed *' with out delaie "), and the historic date of this
scene is 1428. In 1431 an English force defeated some French troops
at Beauvais.' Many of the Frenchmen were taken.
[Eol. iil 606/2/34« Hcdle, 164.] Amongst other of the cheefest
prisoners, that valiant capteine, Poton^ de Santrails, was one ; who
without delaie was exchanged for the lord Talbot, before taken
prisoner at the battell of Pataie.
But Talbot's association with Salisbury, in the siege of Orleans, is
nnhistorical. Salisbury was dead, and the battle of Patay — which
deprived Talbot of his liberty — had not been fought, when Bedford
[Hoi iii. 699/2/48. ffalle, 146.] appointed the earle erf
Suffolke to be his lieutenant and eapteine of the siege ; and ioined
with him the lord Scales, the lord Talbot^^ sir lohn Fastolfe, and
diuerse other right valiant capteins.
The following excerpt shows that the circumstances of Salisbury's
and Gkirgrave's deaths (IL 1-22 ; 60-88) are faithfully presented :
[Eol. iil 599/2/5. EalU, 145.] In the tower that was taken
at the bridge end (as before you haue heard) there was an high
chamber, hauing a grate full of barres of iron, by the which a man
might looke all the length of the bridge into the citie ; at which
grate manie of the cheefe capteins stood manie times, viewing the
citie, and deuising in what place it was best to giue the assault.
They within the citie well perceiued this tooting hole, and laid a
peece of ordinance directlie against the window.
It so chanced, that the nine and fifbith daie ^ after the siege was
laid, the earle of Salisburie, sir Thomas Gargraue, and William
01a[n]sdale, with diuerse other went into the said tower, and so into
the high chamber, and looked out at the grate; and, within a short
space, the sonne of the maister-giumer, perceiuing men looking out
at the window, tooke his match, (as his father had taught him ; who
was gone downe to dinner,) and fired the gun ; the shot whereof
brake and shiuered the iron barres of the grate, so that one of the
same bars strake the earle so violentlie on the head, that it stroke
1 Bymer, x. 536. * Journal, xv. 427, 428.
• Poton] Fouton HoL
* Talbot and the others left Jaigeau for Orleans on December 29, 1428.-^
Chron, de la Pwdle, ix. 287. * See p. 209, n. 2, above.
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K. HENRY VI. PART 1. 21 5
awaie one of his eies, and the side of his cheeke.^ Sir Thomas (and sir
Thomas
Gargraue was likewise striken, and died within two daies. SSST^^^
After a messenger brings news that Charles and Joan are coming
to raise the siege (U. 100-103), and during the two remaining scenes of
Act L, historic time must be supposed to have advanced from October,
1428— its position in sc. iv. 11. 1-97— to April 29-May 8, 1429. When
Joan had received " a sufficient armie " (p. 212 above), she
[ffol iii 600/2/68. Halle, 148.] roade from Poictiers to Blois,
and there found men of warre, yittels, and munition, readie to be
conueied to Orleance.
Heere was it knowne that the Englishmen kept not so diligent
watch as they had been accustomed to doo, and therefore this
maid (with other French capteins) comming forward in the dead
time of the [p. 601] night, and in a great raine and thunder, ^Joy^y|«»"
[Cp, L iv. 97] entred into the citie * with all their vittels, artillerie,
and other necessarie prouisions. The next daie the Englishmen
boldlie assaulted the towne, but the Frenchmen defended the
walles, so as no great feat worthie of memorie chanced that daie S^^Jf^'**
betwixt them, though the Frenchmen were amazed at the valiant ^'^•"■•^
attempt of the Englishmen: whervpon the bastard of Orleance
gaue knowledge to the duke of Alanson, in what danger the towne
stood without his present helpe ; who, comming within two leagues
1 Mons. (v. 194) says that Salisbury '* uinsi blessd, . . . v^quit Tespace de
huit jours.*' He dieil at Meung, " au bout de huit jours de sadite blessure.'* —
Ibid. If this limit of time be accepted, we must suppose that Salisbury was
mortally wounded on or about October 27, for it appears from various inquisi'
tions iMM^ mortem dated in January, 1429, — ^which were examined by Mr.
Oswald Barron,— that the Earl died on November 3, 1428. The date Nov. 3
Bgrees with the following record of a contemporary chronicler : " le r^nt de
Inimce . . . partist de Paris . . . le mercredi, yeille de Saint-Martin d'yyer
[Not. 10] mil quatre cent vingt-huit. Et le comte de Salcebry estoit mort la
sepmaine devanf* — Joumcdf xv. 379. The date Oct 27 is not, however,
reconcileable with M<ma.*8 assertion (v. 194) that Salisbury was wounded on
the third day of the siege. According to the more exact Uhron, de la PuceUe
the siege began on October 12 (ix. 281, 282) ; the bridge-tower was taken by
the English on October 24 (ix. 284, 285) ; and, on October 25, the French
fortified their end of the bridge and planted guns to batter the tower (ix. 285,
286). After October 25 "advint un jour** on which Salisbury was mortally
wounded (ix. 286). It does not necessarily follow that, because Mons, gave a
wrons prior date, — the third day of the sieee, — ^he was therefore mistaken in
regard to the length of time during which Salisbury lingered between life and
death. The beginning of the si^e is vaguely dated by Mom. "environ le
mois d'octobre."— V. 192.
• On April 29, 1429.— Chiron, de la Pucdle, ix. 309.
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216 IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
of the citie, gaue knowledge to them within, that they should be
readie the next daie to receiue him.
[2ii^'.] This accordinglie was accomplished : . . .
The relief of Orleans was speedily followed by the recapture of the
tower at the bridge-foot. But, when the French assailed Talbot's
bastile, he " issued foorth against them, and gaue them so sharpe an
incounter, that they, not able to withstand his puissance, fled (like
sheepe before the woolf e) againe into the citie, with great losse of men
and small artillerie." — Hoi, iii. 6OI/1/34. This may be represented by
the entry (sc. v.) : '* Here an Alarum againe, and Talbot pursueth the
Dolphin, and driueth him'' ; if we allow for a transposition of the French
victory at the bridge-foot (denoted by ''Then enter loane de Puzel,
driuing Englishmen before her") and subsequent repulse. After Talbot's
successful defence, the English vainly offered battle on open ffround,
and retired "in good order" from Orleans {Hoi. iii. 6OI/1/22-S3).
Their departure is indicated by " Alarum, Retreat, Flourish " ; but the
preceding alarums and skirmish (IL 26, 32) are mere stage business.
Act II. sc. i. — ^Talbot's recapture of Orleans is fictitious, but, on
May 28, 1428,^ Le Mans was regained under circumstances somewhat
like those dramatized in this scene. We learn that "diuers of the
cheefe rulers " of Le Mans agreed with Charles VII. to admit the French
into their city. The enterprise proved successful, and the English
[Hal, iii 698/1/70. Halle, 143.] withdrew without any tarri-
ance into the castell, which standeth at the gate of saint Vincent^
whereof was constable Thomas Gower esquier ; whither also fled
manie Englishmen ; so as for vrging of the enimie, prease of the
[Soffoik number, and lacke of vittels, they could not haue indured long :
tiMcastte, wherfore they priuilie sent a messenger to the lord Talbot, which
•ndaent a
toTkibSt. ^^^^ ^^® ** Alanson, certifieng him in how hard a case they were.
^^^^ The lord Talbot, hearing these newes, like a carefiill capteine, in all
hast assembled togither about seuen hundred men; & in the
euening departed from Alanson, so as in the morning he came to a
castell called Guierch, two miles from Mans, and there staled a
l^^JI^ while, till he had sent out Matthew ♦ Gough,' as an espial], to
ynderstand how the Frenchmen demeaned themselues.
•oocu. Matthew *Gough so well sped his businesse, that priuilie in
the night he came into the castell, where he learned that the
Frenchmen verie negligentlie vsed themselues, without taking heed
1 M7 authority for this date is Journal^ xv, 374, 375. Ohronique de la
PuedU (iz. 272-274) contains detaib given in my excerpt, and not mentioned
in Jowrrud,
< Slain by Jack Cade's followers. See the entiy of S Een, FT., IV. TiL
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IX. HBNEY VI. PART L 217
to their watch, as though they had beene out of all danger : which [ikibot
well ynderstood, he returned againe, and within a mile of the citie ^^JiT^*^*
met the lord Talbot, and the lord Scales, and opened vnto them Sj^i^
all things, according to his credence. The lords then, to make k^S^u.
hast in the matter, (bicause the daie approched,) with all speed ^oeS^iere-
possible came to the posterne gate; and, alighting from their ^^p<^^
horsses, about six of the clocke in the morning, they issued out of gj^
the castell, crieng, " saint George ! Talbot ! " thS^"^
Hie Frenchmeii^ being thus suddenlie taken, were sore amazed ; |£i^
in so much that some of them, being not out of their beds, got yp ^Hettd,
in their shirts, and lept ouer the walks} Other ran naked out of the ^S^S! ^^
gates to saue their lines, leaning all their apparell, horsses, armour, authey
and riches behind them : none was hurt but such as resisted. P*^°?
them.]
The scene closes with the entry of " a Souldier, crying * a Talbot, a
Talbot ! ' " Charles, Joan, Alen9on, Ren6, and Dunois, " flye, leaning
their Clothes behind." The soldier remarks (11. 78-81) :
He be so bold to take what they haue left.
The Cry of Talbot serues me for a Sword ;
For I haue leaden me with many Spoyles,
Vsing no other Weapon but his Name.
Holinshed says that
[Ed, iii 697/2/14. Halle, 141.] lord Talbot, being both of
noble birth, and of haultie courage, after his comming into France,
obteined so manie glorious victories of his enimies, that his onelie
name was & yet is dreadfiill to the French nation; and much |J|^^
renowmed amongst all other people. SpS^
Act II. 8C. ii. — On the tomb which Salisbury is to have in Orleans
shall be engraved, says Talbot, '' what a terror he had beene to France "
(1. 17). Sedisbury's martial ability was thus extolled by Halle, whose
words Holinshed copied :
[Hoi iii 698/2/S8. Halle, 144.] This earle was the man at
that time, by whose wit^ strength, and policie, the English name
was much fearefull and terrible to the French nation ; which of
himselfe might both appoint, command, and doo all things in
manner at his pleasure ; in whose power (as it appeared after his
1 Cp. the stage directions (L 88): "Cry: *a. €korge!' *A Talbot/' The
French leape ore the tootles in (heir Mrts."
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218
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
Mfontaeuu death) a great part of the conquest consisted : for, suerlie, he vas
fS^SSliid ^ ^^^ ^^^ painefiill, diligent, and readie to withstand all
dangerous chances that were at hand, prompt in counsell, and of
courage inuincible ; so that in no one man, men put more trust ;
nor any singular person wan the harts so much of all men.
Act II. 8c. ill — ^No source for this scene has yet been discovered.
The Countess of Auyergne's surprise at the mean aspect (11. 19-24) of *
" the Scourge of France " (L 16), with whose " Name the Mothers still
their Babes " (L 17), does not accord with Halle's description of Talbot.
[Halle, 230.] This man was to the French people a very scarge
and a daily terror ; ^ in so muche that as his person was fearfiill and
terrible to his aduersaries present, so his name and fame was
spitefull and dreadfull to the common people absent ; in so much
that women in Fraunce, to feare their yong children, would crye,
"the Talbot commeth, the Talbot commethi*
Act II. sc. iv. — ^No one has pointed out a source for this scene and
its sequel (III. iv. 28-45; lY. i 78-161). From the next scene we
ascertain (cp. II. v. 45-50, 111-114) that Richard Plantagenet and
"Somerset" must have quarrelled on January 19, 1425, the historic
date of Mortimer's death.' John Beaufort, then Earl of Somerset, was
older than Richard, who calls him <' Boy " H. 76) ; th^ former being at
that time nearly twenty-one,' while the latter was about thirteen.^
The subsequent action, however, shows that "Somerset" is John's
brother, Edmund Beaufort, whom Richard, in 1452, openly accused of
treason.^ Edmund Beaufort was about six years older than Richard.'
According to Halle, these nobles were foes in 1436, when Richard, who
had been appointed to the chief command in France, was embarrassed
(Tklbota
■oouTKeaiid
terror to the
FMnch.]
(Theimme
ofTUbot
employed
to Mare
ohildren.]
• Cp. the address of the French general, summoned by Talbot to snnender
Bordeaux (1 Ben. VL, IV. ii 16, 16) :
" Thou ominous and fearefull Owle of death,
Our Nations terror , and their bloody 9cmtrgt ! "
« Esch. 3 Hen. VI. No. 32 (JProc. Frvc. Oo^ lit 169, note).
• John Beaufort completed nis twenty-first year on March 25. 1425. Ina
pro6. etoew. 4 H. VI. No. 63 (O.B.). > '^•
^ On December 12, 1416, Richard Plantagenet was of the age of throe years
and upwards.— Jno. p. m. 3 H. V. No. 46 (O.B.).
» See p. 287 below.
• An Inq. p. m., taken at Bedford, shows that John Beaufort Duke of
Somerset died on May 27, 1444.— /n^. p. m. 22 H. VI. 19 (O.B.). On that
day— as appears from an Inq. p. m. taken at Whitechapel, Middlesex, on
August 21, 1444— his heir male, Edmund Beaufort Marquis of Dorset, was of
the age of thirty-eight years and upwards.— Ing. p, m. 22 H. VL 19 (O.B.).
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IX. HBNET VI. PART L 219
by Edmund Beaufort's opposition. Upon this matter Halle made the
following comment, the paraphrase of which by Holinshed I quote : ^
[Hoi, iii. 6I2/2/22. HcUle, 179.] The duke of Yorke, perceiuing (Enmitrof
bia euill will, openlie dissembled that which he inwardlie minded, riuitagenet
andEdmand
either of them working things to the others displeasure ; till, through Betnfort]
malice and diuision betweene them, at length by mortall warre
they were both consumed, with almost all their whole lines and
ofspring.
Act U. sc ▼. — ^The historical Edmund Mortimer, fifth Earl of
March, was, in his youth, under the care and control of Henry Prince
of Wales.' He was not imprisoned when Henry succeeded to the
throne, — as was the dramatic Mortimer (IL 23-25), — but served in
France, and bore offices of trust.* On April 27, 1423,* he was
appointed Lieutenant in Ireland, and held that post until his death on
January 19, 1425. The ''Nestor-like ag6d" Mortimer, with "Feet,
whose strength-lesse stay is numme " (11. 6, 13), was taken from a brief
obituary notice of him, under the year 1424.
[Hoi, iii 589/2/73. HcUle, 128.] During the same season,
Edmund Mortimer, the last earle of March [p. 590] of that name, rrheittt
(which long time had beene restreined from his libertie, and finallie S^'^^j^
waxed lame,^) deceassed without issue ; whose inheritance descended ut^heE^
^ The passage immediately preceding this qaotation is given at p. 252
below.
* In 1409 the ** cnstodia et gnbematio ** — i, e. the iailorship, as the context
shows— of March was transferred from Sir John Pelnam to Henry Prince of
WaleB.—Bym&r, viii 608 ; cp. viii. 639.
* The muster-roll of the army which went to France in 1417 shows that
March was followed by 93 lances and 302 archers. — Oesta^ App. 266. In the
same year he was captain of Mantes.— J&td., 277. At Katharme's coronation
(February 21, 1421) ne was **knelvng on the hye deys on the ryght syde of
the quene and held a ceptnre in hys bond of the quenys."— Otigf., 139. To
the same effect Fob,, 586. During the year 1423 March's presence in the
Council is often recorded. — Proe, Priv, Od., iii. 21, ebvumm,
* Froc, Friv, Od., iii. 68. His patent is dated May 9, 1423.— J2ytn«r, x.
282-285. He died at Trim Castle, Co. Meath.— G^e^., 158. March was a
dangerous possible rival of the House of Lancaster on account of his inh«^rited
title to the throne ; and we find that Henry Y. did not suffer him " comitivam
r^iam ezcedere.'* When, therefore, March attended the Parliament of 1423-24
wiUi a very larce retinue, the Council had misgivings, and sent him into
honourable bimisnment as Lieutenant of Ireland. — Chron. OiUs (Hen. VL\ 6.
He had been appointed to this post in 1423, but it appears from Burner (z.
319) that ships for his transport to Ireland were not oraered until February
14, 1424.
^ I suspect that Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, has been confounded
with Sir John Mortimer, who, according to J7aZ2e (128) was the Earrs cousin.
Sir John Mortimer had been imprisoned in the Tower, whence, about April,
1422, he escaped. Having been soon captured, he was committed to Pevensey
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220
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
Bichard to the loid Bichard Plantagenet. sonne and heire to Richard earle
i^^i of Cambridge, beheaded (as before yee haue heard) at the towne
of Southampton.
Mortimer says to Eichard (L 96) :
Thou art my Heire ; the rest I wish thee gather.
Halle — who was Holinshed's authority for Mortimer's imprisonment
^adds a few words touching Kichard's subsequent course :
[Halle, 128.] Whiche Richard, within lesse then .xxx. yeres,
Plantagenet 08 Jieire to this crlc EdmoTid, in open parliament claimed the
heir to Earl ^ ^
Bdmand.] crounc and scepter of this realme, as hereafter shall more
manifestly appere.^
Act III. sc. i.— I have quoted above (pp. 209, 212, 213) three of the ^
articles exhibited against Winchester by Qloucester j which, in the
opening lines of this scene, the former calls " deepe premeditated
liines," and "written Pamphlets studiously deuis'd." Gloucester
brands his rival with sundry vices ^ (11. 14-20), and then makes a
specific charge (11. 21-23) :
And for thy Trecherie, what's more manifest t
In that thou layd'st a Trap to take my life.
As well at London Bridge as at the Tower.
"Winchester, as we have seen (p. 209 above), had been accused in
the second article of a design to remove the Bling from Eltham ; and
the third article contained the charge in 11. 21-23, arising out of the
purposed abduction of Henry VI.
[Hoi iiL 691/2/12. Halle, 131.] 3 Item, that where my said
Castle, and was afterwards sent again to the Tower. — Exchequer Isaues, 373,
377, 384, 389. From a petition, addressed by him to the Commons of the
Parliament which assembled at Westminster on Dec. 1, 1421, we learn that he
was heavily ironed during his confinement in the Tower. — Bot, Pari.^ iv.
160/2. Another petition — coniecturaUy assigned by Nicolas to the year 1421
— was preferred by his wife Eleanor to the Duke of Bedford and the Council,
** stating that her husband was imprisoned underground in the Tower, where
he had neither light nor air, ana could not lon^ exist; praying that he
might be removed to the prison above-ground, m custody, as he was on
his first committal, whence he would not attempt to escape.''— Proc. Priv,
Oo.y ii., pp. xxxiii., 311, 312. In February. 1424, he was charged with
having asserted "that the erle of Marche shulde be kyng, by rrght of
Enheryt&unce, and that he hymselfe was nezte ryghtfull heyre to the sayd
Crowne, after the sayde Erie of Marche ; wherfore, if the sayd Erie wold nat
take vpon hym the Crowne, & rule of the Lande, he sayd that he ellys wolde.**
— jPa6., ii. 593. On Feb. 26, 1424, judgment was delivered against Sir John.
— Eot Farl,f iv. 202/2. On the same day, apparently, he was beheaded. —
Chrtm. Auc Ign,^ 6, 7. HaUe records (128) the execution, but says nothing
about the imprisonment, of Sir John Mortimer.
* See p. 256 below.
* Halle's character of Winchester is given in an excerpt illustrating 2 JTen*
n., III. iiL (p. 269 below).
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IX. HENEY VI. PART I. 221
lord of Glocester, (to whome of all persons that should be m the
land, by the waie of nature and birth, it belongeth to see the
gouemance of the kings person,) informed of the said vndue
purpose of my said lord of Winchester, (declared in the article next [J^®^**'
abouesaid,) and, in letting thereof, determining to haue gone to sriS^with
Eltham vnto the king to haue prouided as the cause required ; my SSJ^iS?*'
said lord of Winchester, yntrulie, and against the kings peace, to de^of
the intent to trouble my said lord of Olocester going to the king, who was
purposing his death, in case that he had gone that waie, set men |jj^t*®
of armesand archers at the end of London bridge next Suthworke; reSvaLj'
and, in forebarring of the kings high waie, let draw the chaine of
the stoupes there, and set yp pipes and hurdles in manner and
forme of bulworks ; and set men in chambers, cellars, & windowes,
with bowes and arrowes and other weapons, to the intent to bring
finall destruction to my said lord of Qlocester's person, as well as
of those that then should come with him.
While Henry preaches peace to his unruly uncles, a " noyse within,
*Down with the Tawny-Ooats I ' ", is heard; followed by a "noyse
againe, ' Stones ! Stones ! ' " The Mayor of London entering announces
(IL 78-83) that
The Bishop and the Duke of Glosters men,
Forbidden late to carry any Weapon,
Haue fiU'd their Pockets full of peeble stones, 80
And, banding themselues in contrary parts,
Doe pelt so fast at one anothers Pate,
That many haue their giddy braynes knockt out : • • •
Fabyan says (596) that the Parliament which witnessed the
reconciliation of Gloucester and Winchester
was clepyd of the Comon people the ParlyamcTit of Battes : the
cause was, for Proclamacyons were made, that men shulde leue
theyr Swerdes & other wepeyns in theyr Innys,^ the people toke (When other
great battes & stauys in theyr neckes, and so folowed theyr lorded wST^bid-
and maisters Tuto the Parlyament And whan that wepyn was g^*5jJH^*
Inhybyted theym, then they toke stoni/s & plummettes of lede, & JSS^'tb^
trussyd them secretely in theyr sleuys & bosomys. SJST**^
1 When Qloucester's and Winchester's servants ''skirmish againe,^ the
Mayor is obliged " to make open Proclamation,*' whereby they are forbidden
" to weare, handle, or vse any Sword, Weapon, or Dagger hence-forward, vpon
paine of death."— 1 Hen. VL, I. iii 71, &c Cp. p. 213 above.
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222
IX. HENRY VI. PART L
[The
Londoners
obliged to
■hot their
•hope.]
nnnches-
ier's excul-
potion.]
(Glonees-
ter'e
answer.]
[Then they
were to take
each other
hy the
hand.]
The Mayor complains also that
Our Windowes are broke downe in euery Street, 84
And yf^yfwfea/re^ compelFd to shut our Shops,
In 1425, when Gloucester and Winchester were at open strife,
[Hoi iiL 590/2/69. HaUe, 130.] the citizens of London were
faine to keepe dailie and nightlie watches, and to shut yp their
shops, for feare of that which was doubted to haue insued of their
[Gloucester's and Winchester's] assembling of people about them.
Several columns of Holinshed are filled with the formal documents ^
pertaining to the reconciliation of Gloucester and Winchester (II. 106-
143). The quarrel was submitted to the arbitration of a committee of
the Lords, which wound up the matter by a decree
[Hoi iii. 595/1/64. Halh, 137.] that the said lord of Win-
chester should haue these words that follow ynto my said lord of
Glocester : "My lord of Glocester, I haue conceiued to my great
"heauinesse, that yee should haue receiued by diuerse reports
''that I should haue purposed and imagined against your person,
"honor, and estate, in diners maners; for the which yee haue
" taken against me great displeasure : Sir, I take God to my
" witnesse, that what reports so euer haue beene to you of me,
" peraduenture of such as haue had no great affection to me, God
"forgiue it them!) I neuer imagined, ne purposed anie thing that
" might be hindering or preiudice to your person, honor, or estate ;
" and therefore I praie you, that yee be vnto me good lord from
" this time foorth : for, by my will, I gaue neuer other occasion, nor
" purpose not to doo hereafter, by the grace of God." The which
words so by him said, it was decreed by the same arbitrators, that
my lord of Glocester should answer and saie: "Faireyncle, sith
"yee declare you such a man as yee saie, I am right glad that it
"is so, and for such a man I take you." And when this was
doone, it was decreed by the same arbitrators, that euerie each of
my lord of Glocester, and Winchester, should take either other by
the hand, in the presence of the king and all the parlement, in
signe and token of good loue & accord ; the which was doone, and
the parlement adiomed till after Easter.
1 The reconciliation of Qloncester and Winchester took place on March 12,
1426.- JJoe. Faii., iv. 297/1.
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IX, HENRY VL PART I. 223
Gloucester and Winchester having made a truce, Henry wills that
*' Richard be restored to Lis Blood " (1. 159), and therefore creates him
"Princely Duke of Yorke" (1. 173). Passing from the subject of
Gloucester's reconciliation with Winchester, Holinshed proceeds thus :
[Hoi iii 695/2/30. HaUe, 138.] But, when the great fier of
this dissention, betweene these two noble personages, was thus by
the arbitrators (to their knowledge and iudgement) ytterlie
quenched out, and laid ynder boord, all other controuersies
betweene other lords, (taking part with the one partie or the other,)
were appeased, and brought to concord ; bo that for ioy ^ the king
caused a solemne fest to be kept on Whitsundaie ; on which daie
he created Richard Plantagenet, sonne and heire to the erle of ^^
Cambridge, (whome his fitther at Southhampton had put to death, ^^^f
as before yee haue heard,) duke of Yorke ; ' not foreseeing that this ^"^^
preferment should be his destruction, nor that his seed should of
his generation be the extreame end and finall conclusion.
Having reinstated Richard Plantagenet, Henry accepts Gloucester's
advice " to be Grown'd in France " (1. 180) without delay ; and hears
that the ships which form the royal fleet " alreadie are in readinesse "
(1. 186). Gloucester and Winchester were reconciled during the
session of a Parliament which met at Leicester on February 18, 1426,
and Henry was crowned at Paris on December 16, 1431.^
All now depart except Exeter, who stays to anticipate the renewal
of dissension, and the fulfilment of a '< fatall Prophecie " (IL 195-199),
Which, in the time of Henry nam'd the Fift,
Was in the mouth of euery sucking Babe ;
That ffenry home at Monmouth should winne all,
And H&fvry home at Windsor loose all.
The prophecy is thus recorded :
[Hoi iiL 501/1/68. Halle, 108.] This yeare [1421], at TTmdsore,
1 Henry was then about five years old. The dramatist did not much
exceed his authority by making the King mediate so eloquently between
Winchester and Gloucester.
> That Richard was not created Duke of York at the Parliament of
Leicester— which met on February 18, 1426 — appears from a patent dated
February 26, 1425, whereby the Emg grants to Queen Katharine a house in
London formerly belonging to Edmund Earl of March, *' in manibus noetris
latione l^oris cotatis canssimi Consanguinei nostri Duds Eborum existens,
Habendum ft Tenendum eidem Matri nostras Hospitium preedictum, durante
MinoTi sDtate prsedicti Duels," . . . — Bymery x. 342. Bapm suggested {Hitt,
Eng.y ed. Tindal, 1732, vol. i p. 645, col. 1) that the mistake arose from
Richard haring been made a knight at Leicester, in May, 1426 (JSymer, z. 356,
cp. X. 358). > Joxmudf xv. 433, 434.
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224
IX. HENRY VI. PART L
wind$ore, OH the dale of saint Nicholas [Dec. 6], in December, the queene
*Mv^«« was deliuered of a sonne named Henrie ; whose godfathers were
lohn duke of Bedford, and Henrie bishop of Winchester, and
laquet, or (as the Frenchmen called hir) laqueline, of Bauier,
countesse of Holland, was his godmother. The king, being certified
hereof, as he laie at siege before Meaux, gaue God thanks ; in that
it had pleased his diuine prouidence to send him a sonne, which
might succeed in his crowne and scepter. But, when he heard
reported the place of his natiuitie, were it that he [had been]
KingBtivru wamcd bj somc prophesie, or had some foreknowledge, or else
qfhititmnt. iudgcd himselfc of his sonnes fortune, he said vnto the lord Fita
Hugh, his trustie chamberleme, these words : " My lord, I Henrie^
** borne at Monmouth, shall small time reigne, & much get; and
** Henrie, home at Windsore, shall long reigne, and all loose : but, as
"God will, so be it."
Act in. so. ii. — No date can be assigned to this scene. Chronology
and facts are utterly scorned. Bouen was not surprised and recovered,
but willingly received Charles VII. within its walls on October 19,
1449.^ Joan, by whom the dramatic capture of Bouen is effected, was
burnt there on May 30, 1431 ;^ and on December 16 of the same year
took place the coronation of Henry at Paris, which Talbot proposes
attending (11. 128, 129). If 1431 be accepted as the time of this
scene, — the real circumstances attending our loss of the Norman capital
being ignored, — ^Bedford's death at Bouen (11. 110-114) is antedated,
for that event happened on September 14, 1435.^
The fictitious capture of Bouen was, perhaps, an adaptation of a
story told by Holinshed, upon Halle's (197) authority. In 1441 *
AntxUUmt
fintiHin
want[; a
casUe token
by meftiiB of
sue men
diflini^edas
peasants,
and an
ambush].
[ffol iii. 6I9/2/69. ffalle, 197.] Sir Francis the Arragonois,
hearing of that chance [the loss of Evreux], apparelled six strong
fellowes, like men of the countf ie, with sacks and baskets, as cariers
of come and vittels ; and sent them to the castell of Comill, in tiie
which diuerse Englishmen were kept as prisoners ; and he, [p. 620]
with an ambush of Englishmen, laie in a vallie nigh to the fortresse.
The six counterfet husbandmen entered the castell vnsuspected,
1 Journal, xv. 550. * Frock$, ix. 186-188.
• JoxM-noX, XV. 465. Or between 2 and 3 a.m. on the 15th.— (?regf., 177.
^ It appears from HdSU (197) that not much time had elapsed between the
surrender of Evreux to the French and the surprise of this castle by the
English. Evreux was yielded by us on September 14, 1441.— Jburtuij,
XV. 618.
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IX. HENRY VL PART I. 225
and streight came to the chamber of the capteine, & laieng hands
on him, gaue knonvledge to them that laie in ambush to come to
their aid The which suddenlie made foorth, and entered the
castell, slue and tooke all the Frenchmen, and set the Englishmen
atlibertie: . . .
Fabjan's account of this stratagem (615) may also have been con-
sulted. He says that Sir Francis
sette a Busshement nere ynto y* sayd Castell, and in the Dawnynge [Acastie
^^ tnrpriMd l>y
of the momynge arayed .iiii.^ of his Sowdyours in Husbandemennes J^JJ3f^®"
Aray, and sent theym with Sakkes fylled with dyuers Frutes to oflTer ^^'^SSiy-
to sell to the Occupyers of the CastelL The whiche, whan they i^ ^2^.
were comyn to the Gate, and by the langage taken for Frenshmen, *^^
anone withoute Susspicion were taken in, and seynge that fewe
folkes were stirrynge, helde the Porter muet whyle one gaue the
foresayd Busshment knowlege, . . .
An incident of the betrayal of Le Mans to the French (see p. 216
above) may have suggested the means employed by Joan to apprize
Charles that the gates of Bouen were open. Compare, with the closing
words of my next excerpt, the stage direction after 1. 25 (''Enter
Pucell on the top, thrusting <nU a Torch hummg "), and 11. 21-30. The
French
[ffoL iii 598/i/4d ScUle, 142.] in the night season approched
towards the walles, making a little fire on an hill, in sight of the {^^^
towne, to signifie their comming ; which perceiued by the citizens ^^^^^
that neere to the great church were watching for the same, a
hummg cresset was shewed oiU of the steeple ; which suddenlie was
put out and quenched.
Talbot swears to recover Eouen or die.
As sure as in this late betray^ Towne,
Great Cordelions Heart was buryed (U. 82, 83).
Bichard I.
[Ed, iii I66/1/11.] willed his heart to be conueied vnto 3£<uih.
Rouen, and there buried ; in testimonie of the loue which he had rRiohud i/s
euer borne vnto that citie for the stedfast faith and tried loialtie at Bonen.]
at all times found in the citizens there.
» In Act III., Bc. ii., Joan enters " with fawre Souldiers." She answers the
watchman's challenge with a few words spoken in French (1. 13).
Q
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226 IX. HENRY VL PART I.
Bedford, who has heen *' hrought in sicko in a Chayre " (L 40),
determines to ''sit before the Walls of Eoan" (L 91^, awaiting the
issue of an attempt to regain the city, for he has " read ''
That stout Pendragon, in his Litter, aickf
Came to the field, and vanquished his foes :
Me thinkes I should reuiue the Souldiers hearts
Because I euer found them as my selfe. — 11. 95-98.
Geoffrey of Monmouth (VJJLl. zzii. 154, &c,) attributes this heroic
deed to Uter Pendragon, but Boece's version (152/49 b, &c.) of the story
— which Holinshed followed — is that Pendragon's brother, Aurelius
Ambrosius,
Jg^^ [Hoi ii E. 8. 99/1/67.] euen sicke as he was, caused himselfe
S^dsick *o be caried forth in a liiter; with whose presence his people were
tetiiiT' ^ 80 incouraged, that^ incountring with the Saxons, they wan the
victorie, . . .
Act III. 8C. iii. — ^In August, 1435, representatives of England and
France met at Arras to discuss terms of peace. When this negotiation
failed. Burgundy, whose attachment to his English allies had long been
cooling, alMtndoned their cause, and soon afterwards turned his arms
against them.^ September 21, 1435, is the date ^ of the instrument by
which he made peace with Charles YII. Joan — who is the dramatic
agent of their reconciliation— died on May 30, 1431.^
Joan proposes inducing Burgundy to forsake Talbot (U. 17-20).
Charles answers (U. 21-24) :
I, marry, Sweeting, if we could doe that,
France were no place for Henryes Warriors ;
Nor should that Nation boast it so with vs,
But be eoairpUd from our Prouinces.
Alen^on adds :
For euer should they be expMd from Franco, « • •
Perhaps these lines echo part of a speech which Halle — ^translating
Polydore Vergil (485/ 16-24) — ^makes Charles address — ^in or about
1435 — ^to Burgundy, whom the Sang complimented by saying that now
there could be no question
m<h?iiei [Ealle, 177.] hid by your helpe and aide, we shall expell, cleane
^iib?^'** P^^ 'op ly the rootes, and put out, all the Englyshe Tuidon, out of
^"^ our realmes, territories, and dominions.
Joan's appeal to Burgundy's patriotism shakes him, and he yields
when she uses the following argument as a proof that the English paid
no regard to his interests (11. 69-73).
1 He besieged Calais in 1436. — Mons^^ vL 286-310.
• Afofw., VL 221. » See p. 224 above.
France.]
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IX. HENRY VL PART I. 227
Was not the Duke of Orleance thy Fo^l
And was he not in England Prisoner ?
But, when they heard he was thine Enemie,
They set him free without his Ransome pay'd,
In spight of Burgonie and all his friends.
My next excerpt shows that these lines are at variance with historic
facts:
[Eol iiL 6I8/2/11. Ealle, 192.] Philip, duke of Burgognie,
partlie mooued in conscience to make amends to Charles duke of
Orleance (as yet prisoner in England) for the death of duke Lewes [Bnrpndy
his father, whome duke lohn, father to this duke Philip, cruellie '^'
OrleuM
murthered in the citie of Paris ; and partlie intending the aduance- ^^^
ment of his neece, the ladie Marie, daughter to Adolfe duke of
Cleue, (by the which aliance, he trusted, that all old rancor should
ceasse,) contriued waies to haue the said duke of Orleance set at
libertie, ypon promise by him made to take the said ladie Marie
vnto wife. This duke had beene prisoner in England euer since ^|^' "**
the battell was fought at Agmcourt, ypon the daie of Crispine and S^^iSs to
Crispinian, in the yeare 1415, and was set now at libertie in the ^^'^
moneth of Nouember, in the yeare 1440;* paieng for his ransome
foure hundred thousand crownes, though other saie but three
hundred thousand.
The cause whie he was deteined so long in captiuitie, was to J^^^JJJ
pleasure thereby the duke of Burgognie : for, so long as the duke bi^SSJ^.j
of Burgognie continued faithfiill to the king of England, it was not
thought necessarie to suffer the duke of Orleance to be ransomed,
least ypon his deliueranoe he would not ceasse to seeke meanes to
be reuenged ypon the duke of Burgognie, for the old grudge and
displeasure betwixt their two families ; and therefore such ransome
was demanded for him as he was neuer able to pay. But, after the ^poniiii
duke of Burgognie had broken his promise, and was turned to tho ^^
French part^ the councell of the king of England deuised how to J^S^S^'*
deliuer the duke of Orleance, that thereby they might displeasure c^i^S^so
the duke of Burgognie.* Which thing the duke of Burgognie per- piddT^
1 Orleans was released from custody on October 28, 1440, at Westminster.
— JBym«r, x. 823. He was out of England (cp. 1 Hen. VL, III. iii. 70) on
November 12, 1440.— IWd, 829.
* MaUCf 194. 1 know not HaUe's authority for attributing this design to
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228 IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
Oriels'" ceiuing, doubted what might follow if he were deliuered without
his knowledge, and therefore to his great cost practised his deliuer-
ance, paid his ransome, and ioined with him amitie and aliance by
manage of his neece.
Act in. 8C. iy. — Talbot presents himself before his sovereign, who
rewards his services by creating him Earl of Shrewsbury (11. 25, 26).
The new Earl is bidden to Henry's coronation (1. 27), though that
ceremony took place in 1431, and Talbot's advancement — recorded in
the passage quoted below — ^is placed by Holinshed among the events
of 1442.
johnun^ [Hol ill 623/2/9. Halle, 202.] About this season, lohn, the
ertatedearu valiaut lord Talbot, for his approued prowesse and wisdome, as well
^«^ in England as in France, both in peace & warre so well tried, was
created carle of Shrewesburie;^ and with a companie of three
thousand men sent againe into Normandie, for the better defense
of the same.
Act rv*. so. i. — "Enter King, Glocester, Winchester, Torke,
Suffolke, Somerset, Warwicke, Talbot, Exeter, and Gouernor of
Paris."* This entry should be compared with the list given by
Holinshed of those present at Henry's coronation in Paris.^
pamesof [HoL ill 6O6/1/20. Halle, 160.] There were in his companie
pment of his owuc nation, his vncle the cardinall of Winchester, the
rt*pSS!r*^ cardinall and archbishop of Yorke, the dukes of Bedford, Yorke,
and Norffolke, the carles of Warwike, Salisburie, Oxenford,
Huntington, Ormond, Mortaigne, and Suffolke.
KingHenru [Hol. ill 6O6/1/44. HalU, 161.] ho was crowttod king of
France, in our ladie church of Paris, by the cardinall of Winchester :
the bishop of Paris not being contented that the cardinall should
doo such an high ceremonie in his church and iurisdiction.
the Council. Burgundy did not disdiarge Orleans's ransom, but merely
authorized the Duchess of Burgundy to make herself responsible for the pay-
ment of 30,000 crowns, — which formed part of the ransom, — if the Dauphm
Lewis &ilea to become Orleans's pledge for the acquittance of that amount —
Bymer, x. 788.
i On May 20, 1442.— C^oreer-roM, 1-20 H. VI. (0. B.).
• Exeter^ and Owiemor of Paris,] and Gouernor Exeter. Fi,
* Gloucester was in England when Henry was crowned at Paris. He was
appointed Lieutenant of England during the King's absence from the realm. —
Proc Priv, Co,, iv. 40. »* Somerset" was Edmund Beaufort, then Earl of
Mortain. Talbot was a prisoner of war in 1431 (see pp. 213, 214 above).
Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, died about five years before Henry's corona-
tion at Paris (see p. 235 below). The French Governor of Paris (11. 3-8) is a
fictitious personage.
tketixt
erowiMdtn
Parii,
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IX. HENRY VI. PART L 229
Opinion was converted into very vigorous action when Talbot tore
the Garter from the leg of ** Falstaffe " (so spelt in the entry, I. 8).
Holinshed merely says that, '* for doubt of misdealing " at the battle of
Patay (see pp. 207, 208 above), Bedford took from Sir John Fastolfe
[Eol. iii 601/2/SO. HalU/UO,] the image of saint George, KtoSito'
and his garter; though afterward, by meanes of freends, and ^■•***"'^^
apparant causes of good excuse, the same were to him agame
deliuered against the mind of the lord Talbot^
Falstaffe had brought with him a letter from Burgundy ; ^* plaine
and bluntly ** addressed '' To the King" whom the Duke does not call
'< his Soueraigne" QL 51, 62). Gloucester reads the letter, which runs
thus ^ 55-60) ;
I haue, vpon especiall cause,
Mou'd with compassion of my Countries wracko,
Together with the pittif uU complainta
Of such as your oppression feedes vpon,
Forsaken your pemitious Faction,
And ioyn'd with Charles, the rightf ull king of Franca
Having made peace with Charles,
[Hoi iii. 611/2/ss, ffalle, 177.] the duke of Burgognio, to ^^^^^^
set a Telle before the king of Englanda eies, sent Thoison Dore his ^t^^
cheefe herald to king Henrie with letters ; excusing the matter by ^rgu!S!Sr^i
way of information, that he was constreincd to enter in this league mSSng
with K Charles, by the dailie outcries, complaints, and lamenta* cuuicil)
tions of his people, alledging against him that he was the onlie
cause of the long continuance of the wars, to the vtter impouerish*
ing of his owne people, and the whole nation of France. • • •
. . . The superscription ofthis letter was thus : "iTo^A^ high and [^•52J^
"mightie prince, Henrie, by the grace of God, king of England, bis ^^«**"l
** welbeloued cousine." Neither naming him king of France, nor his
souereigne lord, according as (euer before that time) he was accus-
tomed to doo. This letter was much maruelled at of the councell,
after they had throughlie considered all the contents thereof, &
they could not but be much disquieted ; so far foorth that diuerse ^^!^
of them stomaked so muche the vntruth' of the duke, that cLu^]
they could not temper their passions, but openlie called him traitor.
1 The restoration of the Qarter to Fastolfe caused << grand d^baf' between him
and Tidbot, tdter the latter's release from captivity in 1433. — Mans,, v. 230.
> them stomaked so mtiche the vnJtruiK\ HoL ed. 1. them offended so much
wih ihe vntruih Hoi. ed. 2.
and
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280
(iDTIikNIflf
Aruon by
Turk and
Somenet.)
{knicn and
Maine
r»T«gedbj
York and
BomerMt.]
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
When tlie letter has been read, Henry bids Talbot march against
Burgundy ** straight/' and make him feel '' what offence it is to flout
his Friends" (1. 75). Toison d'Or was sent back to his master with the
verbal message that, ** what a new reconciled enimie was in respect of an
old tried freend," Burgundy "might shortlie find" (Ifol iii. 6I2/1/30).
After playing the part of umpire in the strife of the Boses^ Henry
says (IL 162-168):
Cosin of Yorkoy we institute your Grace
To be our Begent in these parts of France :
Andy good my Lord of Somerset, vnite
Your Troopes of horsemen with his Bands of f ooto ;
« • • • • • •
Go cheerefully together, and digest
Your angry ChoUer on your Enemies.
There is some historical warrant for this speech. In 1443, John
Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, received military commands in France and
Gnienne, without prejudice to the authority of York, who was then
lieutenant-General and Governor of France and Normandy. An
invasion of Normandy by the French was apprehended, and York was
desired to assist Somerset.^ I give excerpts wherein mention is made
of a joint campaign conducted by York and Somerset ; premising that
the date (20th of Henry VL) is too early, and that Halle — ^whom
Holinshed followed — ^wrongly attributed to Edmimd Beaufort (the
dramatic " Somerset ") operations which were carried out by Edmund's
brother, John Beaufort.
[Hoi iii 619/1/2. ffalle, 194.] In the beginning of this
twentith [xix. — HcUle] yeare, Richard duke of Yorke, regent of
France, and gouemonr of Nonnandie, determined to inuade the
territories of his enimies both by eundrie armies, and in seuerall
places, and therevpon without delaie of time he sent the lord of
Willoughbie with a great crue of soldiers to destroie the countrie
of Amiens ; and lohn lord Talbot was appointed to besiege the
towne of Diepe; and the regent himselfe, accompanied with
Edmund duke of Summerset, set forward into the duchie of
Anion. • • •
The dukes of Yorke and Summerset • • . entered into Anion
and Maine, and there destroied townes, and spoiled the people, and
with great preies and prisoners repaired againe into Normandie, . • .
Act lY. sec. ii.-vii. — Since the historical time of the last scene
ranges from 1431 to 1443, it is impossible to determine the historic
» Froe. Priv. Co.^ v. 256 ; 269-261. Cp. CoiU. Croyl, 519.
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IX. HENRY VI. PART I. 231
interval between sc. i., Act lY., and the scenes in which Talbot's
expedition to Goienne is dramatized. The dramatic interval being of
uncertain length, an audience might suppose that, after chastising
Burgundy, as the King bade (see p. 230 above), Talbot rashly undertook
to widen the circle of English conquest by the reduction of Bordeaux.
But Bordeaux had belonged to us for nearly three centuries before it
was annexed by the French in 1451.^ The leaders of an English
party asked us to return, and, their offer having been accepted, Talbot
was sent to win back Guienne. Bordeaux opened its gates to him : the
larger portion of the Bordelois was speedily recovered, together with
Castillon in Perigord.^ Talbot was at Bordeaux when he heard that a
French army was besieging Castillon, and on July 17, 1453, he brought
relief to the garrison.' At his approach, the French
[Eol. iil 640/2/46. HcUle, 229.] left the siege, and retired in
good order into the place which they had trenched, diched, and
fortified with ordinance. The earle, aduertised how the siege was
remoued, hasted forward towards his enimies, doubting most least
they would haue beene quite fled and gone before his conuning.
But they, fearing the displeasure of the French king (who was not
far ofi) if they should haue fled, abode the earles comming, and so ^j/^'
receiued him : who though he first with manful! courage, and sore SJJJJJ^'
fighting wan the entrie of their campe, yet at length they com- 3Swl"^
passed him about, and shooting him through the thigh with an
handgun, slue his horsse, and finallie killed him lieng on the
ground ; whome they durst neuer looke in the face, while be stood
on his feet
Scenes ii.-iv. are imaginary. The story of young Talbot's devotion
to his father — dramatized in scenes v., vi. — is thus related :
[Eol. iii 640/2/61. ffalle, 229.] It was said, that after ho
perceiued there was no remedie, but present losse of the battell,
he counselled his sonne, the lord Lisle, to saue himselfe by flight,
sitb the same could not redound to anie great reproch in him, this
being the first ioumie in which he had beene present Manie
words he vsed to persuade him to haue saued his life ; but nature 2i'*J?^d
so wrought in the son, that neither desire of life, nor feare of S^j****^
1 A campaign which lasted about three months closed with the surrender
of Bsyonne to Sie French in August, 1461.--DU Clercq, xii 89, 112.
* Du Gercq, xiii 6-7. De Goussy, xi. 2, 3.
• This date is confinned by a letter written two days after the battle. —
BibUoiMgue de ViScde des Charles, 2nd series, voL iii pp. 246, 247.
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232
nubot
advised lils
BOD to flee.]
Aiporfhf
taieing qfa
IX HENEY VL PART I.
deatb, could either cause him to shrinke, or conueie himselfe out
of the danger, and so there manfullie ended his life with his said
father.
A few lines of old Talbot's appeal to his son (Act IV., sec. v., vi)
have parallels in a speech attributed to the former by Halle (229).
Thou neuer hadst RenownOi nor canst not lose it (v. 40).
And leaue my followers here to fight and dye?
My Age was neuer tainted with such shame (v. 45, 46).
Flye, to reuenge my death, if I be alaine (v. 18).
My Deaths Reuenge, thy Youth, and Englands Fame :
All these are sau'd, if thou wilt flye away (vi. 39, 41).
In the quasi-historical speech, Talbot urges that he — " the terror and
scourge of the Frerwjh people " (cp. p. 218 above) — cannot die " without
great laude," or flee " without perpetuall shame " ; and he then thus
counsels his son :
" But because this is thy first ioumey and enterprise, neither
"thi flyeng shall redounde to thy shame, nor thy death to thy
"glory; for as hardy a man wisely flieth as a temerarious person
"folishely abidethe: therfore y* fleyng of me shalbe y* dishonor
''not only of me & my progenie, but also a discomfiture of all my
''company; thy departure shal saue thy lyfe, and make the able
" another tyme, if I be slayn, to reuenge my death, and to do honor
" to thy Prince and profit to his Realme."
Dunois would hew to pieces the bodies, and hack asunder the bones,
of Talbot and young John (vii. 47). Charles's dissent from this savage
proposal,
Oh, no, f orbeare ! For that which we haue fled
During the life, let vs not wrong it dead,
resembles an answer made by Lewis XL to "certeine vndiscreet
persons " who advised the defacement of Bedford's tomb at Rouen.
[Eol iiL 612/I/S4. Balk, 178.] " What honour shall it be to
"vs, or to you, to breake this monument, and to pull out of the
"ground the dead bones of him, whome in his life neither my
"father nor your progenitours, with all their power, puissance, and
"freends were once able to make flee one foot backward; but by
" his strength, wit, and policie, kept them all out of the principall
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a. HENRY VL PART L 233
^'dommionB of the realme of France, and out of this noble and
"famous duchie of Normandiel Wherefore I saie, first, God haue
"his soule 1 and let his bodie now lie in rest ; which, when he was
"aliue, would haue disquieted the proudest of ys alL^
The *' silly stately stile "—as Joan calls it — of Talbot's dignities,
enumerated by Sir William Lucy when asking for " the great Alcides
of the field," agrees almost literally with an epitaph on Talbot in
!Richard Grompton's Mcmaion qf Magncmimiitie, 1599, sign. E ^} I
give the epitaph and IL 60-71 in parallel columns.
Here lieth the right noble knight, But wheie's the great Alcides of the 60 /hkHpHo*
lohn TaJboti E(vrU of Shrewsbury, Valiant Lord TallUy Earle of Shretoa- ^ii>kii%nt
Washford, Water/ord, cmd Valence, huryt SJS^
Lard Taiboi qf Ooodrige, and ^^^ ^^' ^ ~^ «^*^^ ^
Vrcheng^fieldf Lord Stra/nge qf the Great Earle of Waahford, Waterford^
Nac&e Me^, Lard Verdm of ^JJ^y^ Wrv ««<i KnAin- 6*
AUon, Lord CrumweU qf Wing- fidd.
Add, Lord Louetoft of Worsop, ^J^^'^^.f Blackmere, Lord
•^ » •« . »» ^ m n* 11 r 3 Verdon of Alton,
Lord FvrrwuaU qf Sheffield, Lord Zord Cromwell of Wingefidd, Lord
Fa/ulc(ynMiS^e,hMgUofihemoB\» FurniuaU of Sheffeild,
%7 J /a ^ oivrTT The thnce Victorious iorii of ^a&«wi-
fwibU order qf S.George, S.MtchaeU, bridge;
and the Golden fleece. Great Mar- Knight of ike Noble Order of S. 68
ehaU to )smg Henry the Bixtqf hie yfo^%, Michael, and the Oolde^
realme of France : who died in the Fleece ;
battell of Burdeanx in the yeare S'^,^^^^'^ ^ ^^r» *i* •^ ,
-r-i^itn (yallAw Warres within the JUahne
of our Lord 1453. qf France f
^ In his Cataiog^u and Succession qffhe KingSy Princes, Dukes, Marquesses,
Larles, and Viscou/nts of this Bealme of England, ed. 1619, p. 196, Ralph
Brooke says of Talhot : " This lohn heing slaine ... his hody was huried in
a Toomhe at Boane in Normandy, whereon this Epitaphe is written.*' The
epitaph which these words preface is the same as that given hy Grompton ;
with three slight exceptions. After ''Earle of Shrewsbury^' Brooke has **^aHe
of Weshford, Wateiford and Valence." Brooke also omits "the" before
•^Blakmere,*' and " most » before " Noble Order of S. George." From Leland
{lUnerarjg, ed. Heame, 1744, vol. iv., pt 1, p. 23, fol. 40) we learn the follow-
ing particulars concerning the first interment of Talbot's body, and its sub-
sequent removal to Engutnd : " This John [3rd Earl of Shrewsbury] had
emong his Brethem one cauUid Gilbert Talbot, after a Knight of Fame, the
which buried the Erie his Grandfathers Bones browght out of Fraunce at
Whitechirche in a fair Ghapelle, wher he is also buried hymself." Leland adds
Sin,, vol viL, pt. 1, p. 8, foL 16): " Talbot Erie of Shrobbesbyri and his Sonne
id Lisle sla}[ne in Fraunce. This Erles Bones were browght out of Nor-
mandy to Whitchurche in Shrobbeshire." On April 9, 1874^ the bones of
Talbot were discovered by some workmen engaged m repairing his monument
at Whitchurch. These remains were solemmy re-inteired on April 17, 1874.
— Notes d: Queries, 5th S. I. 399 ; cp. 258. Cfrompton is the earliest known
authority for the epitaph I have quoted in my texC He cites in a preceding
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234 IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
Act V. sc. i. — Letters have arrived from the Pope (Eugenius IV.)
and the Emperor (Sigismund), whereby Henry is entreated (11. 5, 6) :
To haue a godly peace concluded of
Betweene the Bealmes of England and of France.
In 1435, during the session of the Council of Basle,
(The [ffd, iil 6II/1/7. E'alle, 174.] motion was made among Sigifl-
^0^ mund the emperour and other christen kings . . . that, sith such
^^ horror of bloudshed betweene the two nations continuallie so lament-
bi^jSr ^^^^ raged in France, some mediation might be made for accord : . . .
France.) *° The impiety of war between " Professors of one Faith*' (L 14) is ex-
pressed in a speech which forms my next quotation ; and this speech also
contains the words " a godlie peace," occurring in the lines quoted above.
The English, French, and Burgundian plenipotentiaries having met
at Arras in August, 1435,^ *' the cardinall of S. Crosse," who represented
Eugenius IV.,
[Hoi. iii 6II/1/40. HaUe, 175.] declared to the three parties
the innumerable mischeefes, that had followed to the whole state
of the christian common-wealth by their continuall dissention and
(The dailie discord : exhorting them, for the honour of God, & for the
Cardinal's .
to^froS ^^^^ which they ought to beare towards the aduancement of his
p««>«-* faith and true religion, to conforme themselues to reason, and to
laie aside all rancor, malice, and displeasure ; so that, in concludmg
a godlie peace,^ they might receiue profit and quietnesse heere in
this world, and of God an euerlasting reward in heauen.
Gloucester informs Henry that, ''the sooner to effect and surer
binde " a peace between England and France, the Earl of Armagnac
Proffers his onely daughter to your Grace
In marriage, with a large and sumptuous Dowrie. — ^11. 19, 20.
The proffer here announced was made in 1442,^ — not 1435, our last
marginal note " Camden 462." The reference shows that he used the eii. of
Camden's Britcmma which was published in 1594, because no previous ed.
contains any mention of Talbot at p. 462, and the next ed. did not appear till
1600. But at p. 462 of the ed. of 1694 Camden merely notices Talbot's tomb
at Whitchurch, and does not even quote another epitaph on Talbot once exist-
ing at Whitchurch, and having much less resemblance to the lines in 1 Henry
FT. thaa is displayed by the Rouen inscription.
* Iforw., vi. 178. Mom. says (vi 161) : ** de par notre Saint-P^re le pape,
le cardinal de Saint-Croix.** • See p. xL above.
» On May 28, 1442, Robert Roos, Knight, Master Thomas Bekyngton, and
Edward HuU, Gentleman, were empowered to choose one of the daughters of
the Count of Armagnac, and espouse her to Henry.^Bymer, xi 7. Bekyngton
and the other ambassadors embarked at Plymouth on July 10, 1442. — Seek'
ingto^i's Embassy, 10. He returned in the following year; landing at Fahnouth
on February 10, l^Z.—Beckington'8 Embassy, 89.
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IX. HENRY VL PART L 285
historical date, — and John Count of Armagnac had, as the following
excerpt showSi a very different motive for desiring an alliance with
Henry.i
[Ed, m. 623/2/S7, Ralle, 202.] In this yeare* died m Guien
the countesse of Comings, to whome the French king and also the
earle of Arminacke pretended to be heire, in so much that the
earle entred into all the lands of the said ladle. And bicause he
knew the French king would not take the matter well, to haue a
Rouland for an Oliuer he sent solemne ambassadours to the king ^,^**'
of England, o£fering him his daughter in mariage, with promise to §J[JJ^^
be bound (beside great summes of monie, which he would giue i^^f^iHth
with hir) to deliuer into the king of Englands hands all such dowar.and
castels and townes, as he or his ancestors deteined from him tdvimS^i
within anie part of the duchie of Aquitaine, either by conquest of
his progenitors, or by gift and deliuerie of anie French king ; and
further to aid the same king with monie for the recouerie of other
cities, within the same duchie, from the French king ; or from anie
other person that against king Henrie [p. 624] yniustlie kept^ and
wrongfuUie withheld • them.
This offer seemed so profitable and also honorable to king
Henrie and the realme, that the ambassadours were well heard,
honourablie receiued, and with rewards sent home into their
countrie. After whome were sent, for the conclusion of the ^^M
AnHinacki
marriage, into Guien, sir Edward Hull, sir Robert Ros, and lohn ^*^
Grafton,* deane of S. Seuerines ; the which (as all the chronographers ^^ ^*^^^
agree) both concluded the mariage, and by proxie affied the yoong
ladie.
Though Winchester was a Gardinal when so. iii., Act I., was before the
audience, Exeter is surprised at finding him '' install'd " in that dignity,
and recollects a prophecy of Henry V. about the Bishop (11. 32, 33) ;
If once he come to be a Cardinall,
Hee'l make his cap coequaU with the Crowne.
Exeter died in 1426 (ffol. iii. 695/2/73), but Winchester was not
made a Cardinal until 1427.* " Whyche degree," says Halle (139),
1 But what HaUe says about Armagnac's proffer is inaccuiate See Beck-
ingtcm's EmboMy, pp. xxxvii-xli.
> The Countess of Cominges died in 1443. — AnBdme, IL 637.
* withheld} wUhholden Hoi.
* Gra/tonJ Halle. Oralton HoL
* He received his hat on March 26, 1427. — Chron. L<md,f 116,
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236 IX. HENRY VI, PART I.
jHeniyv. Kjiige Hcnrj the fifth, knowynge the haute corage, and the
Tu^***** ambicious mynde of the man [Winchester], prohibited hym on hys
hatttcbe allegeaimce once either to sue for or to take; meanynge that
vrijum',] Cardinalles Hattes shoulde not presume to bee egall wUh Princes.^
Holinshed copied from Halle a second series of articles containing
charges against Winchester, which were preferred by Gloucester in
1440.^ The first article was :
S37nlt C^^- ^ 620/1/62. HaUe, 197.] 2 First, the cardinaD, then
wmcberter being bishop of Winchester, tooke vpon him the state of cardinall,
^i^naio^* which was naied and denaied him by the king of most noble
memorie, my lord your father (whome God assoile) ; saieng that he
had as leefe set his crowne beside him, as see him weare a cardinals
hat, he being a cardinalL For he knew full well, the pride and
ambition that was in his person, then being but a bishop, should
faaue BO greatlie extolled him into more intoUerable pride, when
that he were a cardinall : . . •
There is, I believe, no authority for representing Winchester as
having obtained a cardinalate by bribing the Pope (U. 51-54); but
perhaps the Bishop's subsequent wealth led to the inference that a large
sum must have been asked for the
Tk*hUk<^<^ [Hcl. iii 596/2/1. Halle, 139.] habit, hat, and dignitie of a
•wjga cardinally with all ceremonies to it apperteining : which promotion,
w, p. the late K (right deeplie persing into the vnrestrainable ambitious
mind of the man, that euen firom his youth was euer [wont] to checke
at the highest ; and [having] also right well ascerteined with what
intoUerable pride his head should soone be swollen vnder such a
hat) did therefore all his life long keepe this prelat backe firom that
presumptuous estate. But now, the king being yoong and the
regent his freend, he obteined his purpose, to his great profit, and
twinehwter the impoucrishing of the spiritualtie of this realme. For by a bull
Secure 1^ legatiuo ', which he purchased firom Rome, he gathered so much
legatine.] trcasurc, that no man in manor had monie but he : so that he was
called the rich cardinall of Winchester.
Act Y. sc. ii. — Charles has heard that '' the stout Parisians do
^ Henry *' would not that CardinalB hats shoulde in anye wise presume to
bee tqiujU, with regall crownes.*' — Hot, ed. 1.
* Arnold (279-286) contains the earliest printed text of these articles.
* legaiine] legantine HoL
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IX. HENRY VL PART I. 237
reuoli " (1. 2) ; and Alen^n thereupon advises a march to Paris. Paris
was lost by the English before the play began (I. L 61), but the Fourth
Act opened with Henry's coronation thera A sentence which concludes
Holinshed's account of the loss of the city in 1436 may be compared
with Charles's words.
[Hoi. m. 6I3/1/73. RalU, 180.] Thus was the dtie of Paris gjf„^
brought into possession of Charles the French king,^ through the ^m u^
yntme demeanour of the citizens, who, contrarie to their oths, and
promised allegiance, like false and inconstant people, so reuolted
from the English.
Act V. sc. iii. — The action of this scene passes in Anjou (1. 147),
near the ** Castle walles" of Ben^ (1. 129), assumed by editors to be
those girdling Angers. May 23, 1430, is the historic date of Joan's
captura On that day she accompanied a sally from Compi^gne, — ^then
besieged by the English and Burgundians, — and was taken before she
could re-enter the town.* Bedford was " Begent " (1. 1) at the time,
but the dramatist killed him in Act III. sc. ii. York — whose prisoner
she becomes in this scene — held no such post until 1436, when he
received the chief command in Franca'^
Suffolk's proxy-wooing of Margaret (11. 45-186) is, of course,
fictitious, but he arranged the marriage between her and Henry. In
1444,
[ffol iii. 624/1/61. ffalle, 203.] England was ynquieted, • • •
and France by spoile, slaughter, and burning sore defaced; (a
miscbeefe in all places much lamented;) therefore, to agree the
two puissant kings, all the princes of christendome trauelled so j^^^^^
effectuouslie by their oratours and ambassadours, that a diet was ap- ^^{Tu
pointed to be kept at the citie of Tours in Touraine ; where for the Bngiand
king of England appeared William de la Poole earle of Suffolke, . . .
» On April 13, 1436.— Journal, xv. 471.
* In a letter to Henry VI., the Duke of Burgundy announces her capture
on May 23.— C^ron. Ij<md,, 170.
* In the address of a letter from Henr^, dated on May 12 (1436, wrongly
placed under 1438), York is styled '* oure lieutenant of cure reume of France
and duchie of Normandie.'*— jSfewmscm, II., part 1, Ixxiii. In this letter York
is urged to assume his government without longer delay. The issue roll (cited
in Bamsay's York andj[icmc(uter,i, 484, note 6) shows that he must have sailed
soon after May 24, 1436. On April 7, 1437, the indentures, by which York
agreed to xmaertake the lieutenancy of France and Normandy, had nearly
expired, but he was asked to remain at his post until a successor should be
appointed.— Proc. Friv, Co,, v. 6, 7. The appointment of his successor, Richard
Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, is dated July 16, 1437.— 2ij/mer, x. 674. War-
wick died in office on April 30, 1439 (Ohron. Lond^y 124); and, on July 2,
1440, York was made Lieutenant-Qeneral and Governor of France, Normandy,
&C., tor a term of five years ending at Michaelmas, 1445.— i^ymer, x. 786.
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238 IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
Failing to agree upon the terms of a peace, the commissioners
negotiated a truce.
[Hoi iii 624/2/18. Salle, 203.] In treating of this truce, the
carle of Soffolke, aduenturing somewhat ypon his commission, with-
out the assent of his associats, imagined that the next waie to
[^^^^^ come to a perfect peace was to contriue a manage betweene the
g^^^ French kings kinsewoman,^ the ladie Margaret, daughter to Reiner
i^d'^^.) duke of Anion, and his souereigne lord king Henrie.
Act V. 80. iv. — Entering fully into the spirit of the following
passages, the dramatist was not satisfied to avail himself of the worst
charges which they contain, but taxed his invention to make Joan deny
her father (11. 2-33). About five months after her capture, she was
delivered to the English,^ and
[Hoi iii 6O4/2/23.] for hir pranks so vncouth and suspicious,
the lord regent, by Peter Chauchon bishop of Beauuois, (in whose
diocesse she was taken,) caused hir life and beleefe, after order of
[jotn htw, to be inquired vpon and examined. Wherein found though a
^md pMy virgin, yet first, shamefullie reiecting hir sex abominablie in acts
cnft, and and apparoll, to haue counterfeit mankind, and then, all damnablie
toi^^^ faithlesse, to be a pernicious instrument to hostilitie and bloudshed
^^^^ in diueUsh witchcraft and sorcerie,' sentence accordmglie was pro-
nounced against hir. Howbeit, ypon humble confession of hir
iniquities with a coimterfeit contrition pretending a carefull sorow
for the same, execution spared and all mollified into this, that
from thencefoorth she should cast off hir vnnaturall wearing of
mans abilliments, and keepe hir to garments of hir owne kind,
abiure hir pernicious practises of sorcerie and witcherie, and haue
life and leasure in perpetuall prison to bewaile hir misdeeds.
Which to performe (according to the manor of abiuration) a
solcmne oth verie gladlie she tooke.
But herein (God helpe vsl ) she fiillie afore possest of the feend,
* Niece to Mary of Anjou, Queen of France, who was Rent's siBter.
* Froc^ (Dissertation), ix. 217, n 1.
> In 1434, Bedford, defending his conduct as Resent of France, said that
the loss of territory, which befel the English after Salisbury was slain at the
siege of Orleans, was " caused(£e in greete partye as I trowe of lak of sadck be
leve and of unlieful doubte bat bei had<2e of a disciple and leme of ]?* fende
cslledde b« Pucelle }?at nsedde fals enchantemente« and sorcerie," — Proc Frw.
Co., iv. 223.
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IX. HBNRY VI. PART I. 239
not able to hold her in anie towardnesse of grace, falling streight ^•^ ^
waie into hir former abominations, (and yet seeking to eetch out [Harfng
life as long as she might,) stake not (though the shift were shame- souj^t to
full) to confesse hir selfe a strumpet, and (vnmaried as she was) to £,^^J'?J
be with child.^ For triall, the lord regents lenitie gaue hir nine ^«»eJ>*w.i
moneths stale, at the end wherof she (found herein as false as
wicked in the rest, an eight daies after, ypon a further definitiue
sentence declared against hir to be relapse and a renouncer of hir
oth and repentance) was therevpon* deliuered ouer to secular i^jJ^f^^gJe
power, and so executed by consumption of fire in the old market JSSSJi^***
place at Rone, in the selfe same steed where now saint Michaels ^rS^
church stands : hir ashes afterward without the towne wals shaken
into the wind. Now recounting altogither, hir pastorall brining yp,
rude, without any vertuous instruction, hir campestrall conuersation ^JJ^JJg^^
with wicked spirits,' whome, in hir first salutation to Charles the Dol- ^**^
phin, she vttered to be our Ladie, saint Katharine, and saint Anne, spbitsgaTe
atw eoiU'-
that in this behalfe came and gaue hir commandements firom gJ^lLt hJj
Qod hir maker, as she kept hir fathers lambs in the fields^ . . . Slmtej
[p. 605, col 1.] These matters may yerie rightfullie denounce
vnto all the world hir execrable abhominations, and well iustifie
the iudgement she had, and the execution she was put to for the
same. A thmg yet (Qod wot) verie smallie shadowed and lesse ^cS^!^
holpen by the verie trauell of the Dolphin, whose dignitie abroad f^^ um.
[was] foulie spotted in this point, that, contrarie to the holie d^ee lorceriei.]
of a right christen prince (as he called himselfe), for maintenance
of his quarels in warre would not reuerence to prophane his sacred ^^Jj^
estate, as dealing in diuelish practises with misbeleeuers and witches.
When Joan has been led out to execution, Winchester enters and
greets York (L 95)
1 This lie was the source of 1 Hen. VL, V. iv. 60-86.
* vxu iherevpon] was she therevpon Hoi.
* This sentence may have given the dramatist a hint for V. iii. 1-23, where
his Joan entreats the help of certain " Fiends,*' whom she has summoned.
* Cp. I. ii 76, &c :
** Loe, whilest I wayted on my tender Lamhes, . . .
€k)ds Mother deigned to apj^re to me,
And, in a Vision full of Maiestie,
Will'd me to leaue my base Vocation,
And free my Countrey from Calamitie.'*
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240 IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
With Letters of Commission from the King ;
which emhody those <' conditions of a friendly peace" hetween
England and France, drawn up hy Henry's order (v. i. 37-40), in
response to an appeal from " the States of Ghristendome *' (Y. iv. 96-99).
Charles then enters, accompanied by his lords, and says (U. 116-119) :
Since, Lords of England, it is thus agreed
That peacef uU truce shall be proclaim'd in France^
We come to be informed by your selues.
What the conditions of that league must be.
Winchester answers (11. 123-132) :
Charles, and the rest, it is enacted thus :
That, in regard King Henry giues consent^ 124
Of meere compassion and of lenity,
To ease your Countrie of distressefuU Warre,
And suffer you to breath in fruitfuU peace.
You shall become true Liegemen to his Crowne : 128
And, Charles, ypon condition thou wilt sweare
To pay him tribute, and submit thy selfe.
Thou shalt be plac'd as Viceroy vnder him.
And still enioy thy Eegall dignity. 132
The terms of peace here announced were, according to Halle,
Holinshed's authority, offered at the conference of Arras, in 1435.
^ [ffol ill 611/i/SS. Ealle, 175.] The Englishmen would that
tenni.] king Charles should haue nothing but what it pleased the king of
England, and that not as dutie, but as a benefit^ by him of his
[Th« French ^^6^ liberalitio giuen and distributed. The Frenchmen, on the
**™*'^ other part, would that K Charles should haue the kingdome
franklie and freelie, and that the king of England should leaue the
name, armes, and title of the king of France, and to be content
with the dukedomes of Aquitaine and Normandie, and to forsake
Paris, and all the townes which they possessed in France, betweene
the riuers of Some and Loire ; being no parcell of the duchie of
Normandie. To be breefe, the demands of all parts were betweene
them so farre out of square, as hope of concord there was none
at all.
1 If " benefit ' = bene/icium, fief, the English terms were as extravagant as
those dictated by Winchester to Charles (V. iv. 124-132). But Jlfotu.— whom
HdUe seems to have had before him — gives the French terms alone, which were
that *' le roi Henri d'Angleterre se voulcdt d^porter et d^sister de lui nommer
roi de France, moyennant que, par certaines conditions, lui seroient accord^
les seigneuries de Quienne et Normandie ; laquelle chose les Anglois ne
voulorent point accorder."— vi 180.
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IX. HENRY VL PART L 241
Act V. 8C. V. — ^The opposite views of Suffolk and Gloucestep
touching Henry's marriage are here brought forward. After a truce
between England and France had been arranged (see p. 238 above),
[Hoi. ill 624/2/45. Balle, 204.] the earle of Suflfolke with his
companie returned into England, where he foi^t not to declare
what an honourable trace he had taken, out of the which there
was a great hope that a finall peace might grow the sooner for that
honorable manage, which he had concluded ; omitting nothing that |SoSd th«
might extoll and set foorth the personage of the ladie, or the ^^^^
nobiHtie of hir kinred. "^ "^^
But although this manage pleased the king and diuerse of his ^^{^^<«^
ccmncell, yet Humfrie duke of Glocester protector of the realme JJJ^^
was much agiunst it ; ^ alledging that it should be both contrarie to JJ^UJ^
the lawes of Qod, and dishonorable to the prince, if he should
breake that promise and contract of mariage, made by ambas-
sadours sufficientlie thereto instructed, with the daughter of the
earle of Arminacke, vpon conditions both to him and his realme, as
much profitable as honorable. /But the dukes words could not be saffoik*!
heard, for the earles dooings were onelie liked and allowed preTaood.]
Having urged that (1. 34)
A poore Earles daughter is vnequall oddes
for Henry, Suffolk thus answers Gloucester's objection that Margaret's
" Father is no better than an Earle " :
Tes, my Lord, her Father is a King,
The King of Na/pUs and lerusalem; • • • 40
Holinshed says :
named
[Ed. iil 624/2/24. HaUe, 204.] This Reiner duke of Anion m^es
led himselfe king of Sicill, Naples, and lerusalem ; hauing onlie •^^i
1 Qloacester might have disliked this marriage, bat he expressed a formal
approval of it. On June 4, 1445, the Speaker of the Commons recommended
Suffolk to Henry's ''good Qrace," for having — besides rendering other services
to the State— concluoed a mairiage between Henry and Maigaret ; wherefore
the Commons '' desyred the said declarations, laboures, and demenynff of my
said Lord of Suff', to be enacted in tbys present Parlement, to his true
acquitail and discharge, and honour of hym in tyme to come ; uppon the
whiche request thus made to the Kvng our Soveraigne Lorde, and to the
Lordes Spirituell and Temporell, by the Communes, my Lorde of Gloucestr',
and many other Lordys Spirituell and Temporell abovesaid, arose of their
setis, and besoghtyn humbly the Kyng of the f>ame as they wer prayed be
the said Communes, to pray and to beseche his Highnesse to do " ; . . . — Eot
Pati.^ V. 73.
B
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242
X. HENRY VL PART II.
[Cluuacter
of Queen
Margaret]
[Hugaret's
manly
courage,]
the name and stile of those realmes, without anie penie, profit, or
foot of possession.
Suffolk's praise (11. 70, 71) of Margaret's
. . . valiant cowrage and vndaunted spirit.
More then in women commonly is seene,
may be compared with Halle's description of her (p. 208; abridged in
UoL iii. 626/2/44):
But on the other parte, the Queue his [Henry's] wyfe was a
woman of a great witte, and yet of no greater wytte then of haute
stomacke ["a ladie of great wit, and no lesse courage'' — ^Hol.];
desirous of glory and couetous of honor ; and of reason, pollicye,
counsaill, and other giftes and talentes of nature belongyng to a
man, full and flowyng: of witte and wilinesse she lacked nothyng,
nor of diligence, studie, and businesse she was not vnexperte ; but
yet she had one poynt of a very woman, for, often tyme, when she
was vehement & fully bente in a matter, she was sodainly, lyke a
wethercocke, mutable and tumyng.
Compare also a remark upon her, copied by Holinshed from Halle
(205) :
[Hoi iii. 625/1/34.] This ladie excelled all other, as well in
beautie and fauour, as in wit and policie ; and was of stomach and
courage more like to a man than a woman.
X. HENRY VI. PART II.
HiSTOBio time in The Second Part of Henry the Stxt commences
shortly before Margaret's coronation (I. i. 74) on May 30, 1445, and
ends on May 22, 1455, when the battle of St. Albans ^ was fought. As
this Second Part of Henry VL is a recast of T/ie First part of the
Contention hettoixt the two fa/moue hotuies of Yorke and Lancaster, my
excerpts are really illustrations of the latter drama.
Act I. sc. i. — During the interval which divides the First and
Second Farts of this play, Suffolk has escorted Margaret to England
(cp. 1 Hen. VL., V. v. 87-91). He now presents her to Henry, whom
he thus addresses (IL 1-9) :
^ Called the first battle of St. Albans. A second battle was fought there on
February 17, 1461.
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X. HENRY VI. PART U. 243
As by your high Imperiall Maiesty
I had in charge at my depart for France,
As Procurator to your Excellence,
To marry Piinces Margaret for your Grace ; 4
So, in the Famous Ancient City Toures,
(In presence of the Kings of France, and Sicill,
The Dukes of Orleance, Calaber, Britaigne, and Alanson,
Seuen Earles, twelue Barons, & twenty reuerend Bishops,) 8
I haue performed my Taske, and was espous'd : . . .
In November, 1444,^ Suffolk and a splendid retinue
[Hoi iii. 626/1/ 1 8. Halle, 205.] came to the citie of Tours Anno Reg.
in Touraine, where they were honorablie receiued both of the ^^
French king and of the king of SicilL The marquesse of Su£foIke, [Margaret
espoused by
as procurator to king Henrie, espoused the said ladie in the church ^^\
of saint Martins. At the which manage were present the father i£p/j^'
and mother of the bride ; the French king himselfe, which was
vncle to the husband; and the French queene also, which was
aunt to the wife. There were also the dukes of Orleance, of
Calabre, of Alanson, and of Britaine, seauen earles, twelue barons,
twentie bishops, beside knights and gentlemen. When the feast^
triumph, bankets and iusts were ended, the ladie was deliuered to
the marquesse, who in great estate conueied hir through Normandie [She is
coDToyed by
vnto Diepe, and so transported hir into England, where she landed g"*^*^*^
at Portesmouth in the moneth of AprilL
Suffolk hands to Gloucester
the Articles of contracted peace,
Betweene our Soueraigne and the French King Charles^
For eighteene moneths concluded by consent. — 11. 40-42.
Suffolk's mission, in February, 1444,^ was to establish peace between
England and France,
[Hd, iii. 624/2/1 1. Halle, 203.] but, in conclusion, by reason
of manie doubts which rose on both parties, no full concord could
be agreed vpon ; but, in hope to come to a peace, a certeine truce,
as well by sea as by land, was concluded by the commissioners for ii^ISSiiJl
eighteene moneths ; which afterward againe was prolonged to the
yeare of our Lord, 1449.
1 Suffolk left England on November 6, 1444, and returned on April II,
1446, having been absent 167 days.— Issue Roll, Easter, 23 Hen. VI., 20th July
(cited in Ovron. Rich. II.— Hen. VI., 192J.
' He was appointed ambassador on Febrnary 11, 1444. — Bymer^ xi. 60.
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244
HENRY VI. PART IL
eoiOMttioii.)
[Soffolk
yielded
AqJouftDd
lUiDe,aiid
demaiKled
no dowry for
Mursuet]
madidulM,
It is provided by the first article (11. 46-50) that "Henry shal
espouse the Lady Margaret, daughter vnto Reignier King of Naples,
Sicillia, and lerusalem ; and Crowne her Queene of England, ere the
thirtieth of May next ensuing." Holinshed says :
[Hot. iiL 625/1/58. Salle, 205.] Upon the thirtith of Maie
next following, she was crowned queene of this realme of England
at Westminster, with all the solemnitie thereto apperteining.
Another article is read by Cardinal Beaufort (11. 57-62) : " It is
further agreed betweene them. That the Dutchesse [Duchies] of Anion
and Maine shall be released and deliuered ouer to the Eling her Father,
and shee sent ouer of the King of Englands owne proper Cost and
Charges, without hauing any Dowry." Suffolk's project for effecting
a peace through Margaret's marriage to Henry was coldly received
by the French ;
[Hd. iil 024/2/29. HaUe, 204.] and one thing seemed to be
a great hinderance to it ; which was, bicause the king of England
occupied a great part of the duchie of Anion, and the whole
oountie of Maine, apperteining (as was alledged) to king Reiner.
The earle of Su£folke (I cannot sale), either corrupted with
bribes, or too much affectioned to this vnprofitable manage, con-
descended, that the duchie of Anion and the countie of Maine
should be deliuered to the king the brides father ; ^ demanding for
hir manage neither penie nor farthing : as who would sale, that
this new affinitie passed all riches, and excelled both gold and
pretious stones.
Henry then (May, 1445) creates his procurator ^Hhe first Duke of
SufiPolke " (L 64). Three historical years,^ however, were yet to elapse
before
[Hot. iiL 627/2/34. ScUle, 210.] the marquesse of SnflTolke, by
great fanour of the king, & more desire of the queene, was erected
to the title and dignitie of duke of Suffolke, which he a short time
inioied.
Addressing York, Henry says (11. 66-68) :
We heere discharge your Grace from being Regent
I'th parts of France, till terme of eighteene Moneths
Be full expyr'd.
1 '< Should he released and ddiuered to the kyng her father *" (Halle, 204).
" Shall be released and deliuered ouer to the King her Fciher ** (2 Hen. VI., I.
I 69, 60).
* He was created Duke of Suffolk on June 2, 1448.— Pat ; 26 H. VI. p. ii.
m. 14. (H.S.)
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X. HENRY VI. PART n. 245
This "terme" was, perhaps, the eighteen months' truce (p. 243
above). Compare the next passage (Hok iii 625/2/29), quoted at
pp. 250, 251 below.
[Eol. iil 625/2/25. Ealle, 205.] During the time of the truce, ^^^;X^u>
Richard duke of Yorke and diuerse other captains repaired into fi^S^tLo
England ; both to visit their wiues, children, and freends, and also ^^
to consult what should be doone, if the truce ended.
Qloucester censures Suffolk for giving Anjou and Maine
Ynto the poore King Heignier, whose large style
Agrees not with the leannesse of his purse. — U. Ill, 112.
Suffolk,
[Rol. iii 625/1/9. ffalle, 205.] with his wife and manie honor-
able personages of men and women richlie adorned both with
apparell & iewels, hauing with them manie costlie chariots and
gorgeous horslitters, sailed into France, for the conueiance of the
nominated queene into the realme of England. For King Reiner
hir father, for all his long stile, had too short a pursse to send his ^Hi^d^
daughter honorablie to the king hir spousa ^^
Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury,^ cries out against the surrender
of Anjou and Maine, because (1. 114)
These Counties were the Keyes qf Normandie.
Compare Fabyan (617) :
And for that Maryage to brynge aboute, to the . . . kynge of K2!2""'3i
Cecyle was delyuered the Duchye of Angeou & Eriedome of nSndj!*i ^''
Mayne, whiche are called the keyes of Norifnandy.^
It is *' a proper iest,*' says Gloucester,
That Suffolke should demand a whole Fifteenth
For Costs and Charges in transporting her I — 11. 132-134.
^ The revived Earldom of Salisbury was bestowed on Richard Neville in
1429.— DoyZe, iii 243. Hd, (64I/2/71), copying HaOe (231), says that Richard
Neville Earl of Salisbury '* was second son [i. e. son by a second marriage] to
Rafe Neuill earle of Westmerland, whose daughter the duke of Yorke had
marled, and the said Richard was espoused to ladie Alice, the onelie child and
sole heire of Thomas Montacute earle of SaUsburie, slaine at the siege of
Orleance (as before is declared), of which woman he begat Richard, lohn [after-
wards Marquess Montague], and George [afterwards Archbishop of lork].
Richard the eldest Sonne espoused Anne, the sister and heire of the entire
bloud to lord Henrie Beauchamp, earle and after duke of Warwike, in whose
right and title he was created and named earle of Warwike.** Regarding
Tork'spolitical alliance with the Nevilles, see pp. 283, 288 below.
* Md, (626/ 1 /6p) verbally repeats HaUe^s similes (205) for Anjou and
Maine (205) : " which countnes were the verie stales and backestands to the
duchie of Normandie.*' Neither of these similes occurs in the ContenHon or
Whoh Ooniention.
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246
HENRY VI. PART U.
An ominouM
nuuriage.
[Suffolk
demanded a
fifteenth.]
["Thegond
Duke of
Glouces-
ter. »'J
[Gloneef-
ler't
character.]
[Hewaa
beloved of
the
coinmoDB.]
Suffolk,
Bucking-
ham,
Cardinal
Beaufort,
and
Archbishop
Kenipe
conspire
against
Gloucester.]
One reason, which caused ** manie " to deem Henry's marriage to
Margaret " both infortunate and vnprofitable to the realmeof England/'
was that
[Hoi. iii. 626/1/64. Halle, 206.] the king had not one penie
with hir ; and, for the fetching of hir, the marquesse of Suffolke
demanded a whole fifteenth ^ in open parlement.
Gloucester goes out, whereupon Cardinal Beaufort impugns the
Protector's loyalty ;
• . . though the common people fauour him,
Calling him " Humfrey, the good Duke o/Gloster, . . ."«— 11. 168, 169.
According to Fabyan (619) :
This [man] for his honourable & lyberall demeanure was sur-
named y* Good duke of Glouceter.
In Holinshed Gloucester's character is thus summed up :
[Hoi. iil 627/2/9] But to conclude of this noble duke : he
was an ypright and politike gouemour, bending all his indeuours
to the aduancement of the common-wealth, yerie louing to the
poore commons, and so beloued of them againe ; learned, wise,
full of courtesie ; void of pride and ambition : (a Tertue rare in
personages of such high estate, but, where it is, most commendable).
Humphrey Stafford Duke of Buckingham,' Edmund Beaufort Duke
of Somerset, and Cardinal Beaufort now make an alliance for the
piurpose of driving Gloucester from power ; and the Cardinal departs to
mform Suffolk of their cabal (U. 167-171). Under the years 1446-47,
Holinshed, on Halle's authority, relates that, by Queen Margaret's
<< procurement,^ diuerse noble men conspired against " Gloucester.
[Hoi iil 626/2/74. Halle, 209.] Of the which diuerse writers
[p. 627] affirme the marquesse of Suflblke, and the duke of
Buckingham to be the cheefe; not vnprocured by the cardinall
of Winchester, and the archbishop of Yorke.
1 On April 9, 1446, the Commons gave Henry a fifteenth and a tenth {Bot
Pad..^ V. 69/i) ; but, in specif^ng the purposes to which these grants were to
be applied, they did not mention the ** costs and charges" of bringing Margaret
to England or any other expenses connected with her marriage.
« *' called the good duke of Gloucester."— ^otte, 209. Not in Hd,
* Created Duke of Buckingham in 1444. — Doyle, i. 254. His father was
Edmund Earl of Stafford, slain at the battle of Shrewsbury, on July 21, 1403.
See p. 146 above. Edmund Beaufort was created Duke of Somerset in 1448. —
Dujdale, ii 123/2.
* Halle's correspondiiu; words are (209) : "so that, by her permissioti and
fauor, diuerse noble men, • • «
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X. HfiNRY Vt PART It 247
Buckingham and Somerset having departed, Salishury, his son
Warwick,^ — the future "Kingmaker," — and York, are left on the
staga In proposing that they three should form a counter-league
against Suffolk, Cardinal Beaufort, Somerset, and Buckingham,
Salisbury encourages Warwick by reminding him that (U. 191-193)
Thy deeds, thy plainnesse, and thy house-keeping,^
Hath wonne ihe greatest fauour of the Commons,
Excepting none but good Duke Humfrey.
At a later time of his life than the date of this scene, Warwick waa
[Holm. 678/1/33.] one to whom the common-wealth was ^^j^**
much bounden and euer had in great fauour of the commons of ^^ ^^-
TJu torUof
this land, by reason of the exceeding houshold which he dailie ^J^^Jfa^**
kept in all countries where euer he soioumed or laie : and when '"^
he came to London, he held such an house, that six oxen were
eaten at a breakefast, and euerie taueme was full of his meat, for
who that had anie acquaintance in that house, he should haue had
as much sod and rost as he might carrie vpon a long dagger. . • •
Addressing the Duke, Salisbury says (11. 194-198) :
And, Brother Yorke, thy Acts in Ireland,
In bringing them to ciuill Discipline,
Fabian,
Haue made thee fear'd and honor'd of the people : • • •
* Richard Neville, bom on November 22, 1428 {Bows Rol,, 67), was made
Earl of Warwick in 1449 {Dugdalcy i. 304/ 1). What the dramatic Warwick
says touching his share in the French war (I. i. 119, 120 ; iii. 176, 177) shows
that — so far as these allusions apply — he is for a moment confounded with
Richard Beauchamp, who was appomted Lieutenant-Qeneral and Governor of
Fiance, &c., on July 16, 1437 (Rymer, x. 674, 676) ; and died at Rouen on
April 30, 1439 (Giron, Lond,, 124). But, despite this fleeting identification
with Richard Beauchamp, we can hardlv doubt that the ** Warwicke'* who
takes Richard Plantagenet's part in the Temple Qarden scene (1 Berk VI., II.
iv.) is the same Warwick who is a character in the 2nd and 3rd Parts of Hetiry
VI. (** Warwick's'' assertion that he conquered Aigou and Maine is a dramatic
embellishment).
« Warwick's other virtues are recorded by HaUe (231, 232): " This Rycharde
was not onely a man of maruelous qualities, and facundious facions, but aJso
from bis ^outh, by a certayn practise or naturall inclinaciom so set them
forward, with witte and gentle demeanour, to all persones of hign and of lowe
degre, that emong all sortes of people he obteynecL great loue, muche fauour,
apu more credence: whiche thinges daily more increased by his abundant
Hberalitie and plentyfull house kepynge, then bv hys ryches, aucthoritie, or
hy^h parentage. By reason of whiche dovnges he was m suche fiauour and
estimadon emongest the common people, that thev iudged hym able to do all
thinges, and Uia^ without hym, nothmg to be well done. For whiche causes
his aucthoritie shortly so uist increased that whiche waie he bowed, that
waye ranne the streame, and what part he auaunced, that syde gat the
superioritie,**
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248
HBNKY VI. PART U.
inlrdand
armoom'i
Salisbury, speaking in the histoiical year 1445, anticipates York's
snccessful administration of Ireland in 1448-50.^ Afterwards (Act III.,
80. i., U. 282-284) " a Foste " announces the rebellion which caused the
government of Ireland to be conferred on York. Holinshed records
that, about the year 1448,
[Hd. iii. 629/2/26. HcUle, 213.] began a new rebellion in
Ireland ; but Richard duke of Yorke, being sent thither to appease
the same, so asswaged the fiirie of the wild and sauage people
diere, that he wan him such fauour amongst them, as could neuer
be separated from him and his linage ; which in the sequele of this
historie may more plainelie appeare.^
Act I. sc. ii. — We here find that Eleanor Oobham, Gloucester's
second wife, looks forward to a day when she and her husband shall
reign instead of Henry and Margaret. The historic Queen Margaret
was not troubled by any ambitious hopes which the Duchess may have
cherished ; for Eleanor Oobham did penance in November, 1441, and
Margaret was, as we have seen, crowned on May 30, 1446.
Act L sc. iii — ^The Queen enters with Suffolk. Peter, an
<< Armorers Man,'' presents a petition ^1. 28, 30) against his '* Master,
Thomas Homer, for saying, That the Duke of Yorke was rightfull
Heire to the Growne." Holinshed merely records that, in 1446,
[ffd, iii 626/2/19.] a certeine armourer was appeached of
treason by a seruant of his owne.'
The petitioners having retired, Margaret tells Suffolk (IL 53-57)
that, when he ran a tilt at Tours in honour of her love,-^oubtle8S a
reminiscence of those "iusts*' which Holinshed says (iii. 626/1/30)
were held to celebrate her prozy-marriage, — she thought her husband
had resembled her champion* But all King Henry's mind
is bent to Holinesse,
To number Aue-Maries on his Beades ;
His Champions are the Prophets and ApostleSy
His Weapons holy Sawes of sacred Writ,
His Studie is his Tilt-yard, and bis Loues
Are brazen Images of Can6nized Saints. — ^IL 58-63.
^ According to HaUe. (213), HoVs authority, York went to Ireland in the
27th year of Henry VI. (Sept. 1, 1448— Aug. 31, 1449). A warrant,— dated
February 10, 1449, — ^for the payment of York's salary as Lieutenant in Ireland,
shows that his ten years' term of office was to begin on September 29, 1447.-—
SUvemony I. 487, 488. He returned to England m 1450. See p. 282 below.
* See p. 282, n. 1, and p. 296 (below).
' Stow (635) gives these particulars: '<Iohn Dauid PDavy] appeached his
master William [John] Catur, an aimorer dwelling in S. Dunstons parish in
Fleetstieet, of treason.^ The year was 1447. Cp. JBxchequer Istues^ 458, 459.
The dramatic servants name is Peter Thumpe (2 Hen, FJ., II. iii. 82-84).
The surname of one of the sherifls of the year (25 Hen. yx.| 1446-47) was
Home.— JP'ob., 6ia
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X. HENRY VI. PART IL 249
Henry is tbus described by Holinsbed :
[ffd. iiL 691/1/69.] He was plaine, vpright, farre from fraud, [Henryt
wholie giuen to praier, reading of scriptures^ and almesdeeds ; . . •
Halle (303) says :
Kyng Henry was of stature goodly, of body slender, to whicb Tht de»eHp-
proporcion al other members wer correspondent : his face beautiful, «»rr <*«
in y* which continually was resydent the bountie of mynde wyth [mivxiflr
whych he was inwardly endued. He dyd abhorre of hys owne [HoUnen.i
nature al the yices, as wel of the body as of the soule ; and, from
hys verye infanoye, he was of honest conuersacion and pure
int^ritie; no knower of euil, and a keper of all goodnes; a
dispiser of al thynges whych were wonte to cause the myndes of
mortall menne to slyde, or appaire. Besyde thys, pacyence was so (Fatie&M.]
radicate in his harte that of all the iniuries to him commytted
(which were no smal nombre) he neuer asked vengeaunce nor
punishement, but for that rendered to almightie Qod, his creator,
hartie thankes, thinking that by this trouble and aduersitie his
sinnes wer to him forgotten and forgeuen.
Henry and his Ooort enter, debating whether York or Somerset
shall be appointed Begent of France ; a question which gives Margaret,
and the four nobles who made an alliance in Act L, sc. i, an opportu-
nity of attacking Gloucester. Cardinal Beaufort accuses him of having
<<rackt" the << Commons^ (1. 131); and Somerset adds (IL 133, 134)
that the Protector's " sumptuous Buildings " and " Wiues Attyre"
Haue cost a masse of publique Treasurie.
In 1446-47, according to Halle (208, 209), Gloucester's enemies
perswaded, incensed, and exhorted the Queue, to loke wel vpon
the expenses and reuenues of the realme, and thereof to call an
accompt: affirmyng playnly that she should euidently perceiue
that the Duke of Gloucester had not so muche aduanced & pre- ^^^^^
ferred the commonwealth and publique vtilitie as his awne priuate putit^*^^*"*
thinges & peculiar estate. mowyj
Buckingham thus assails Gloucester (11. 135, 136 ; cp. IH. i. 58,
59; 121-123):
Thy Orueltie in execution
Ypon Offenders hath exceeded Law, . , .
Under the same date (1446-47) we find that Gloucester was charged
with this transgression.
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250 X. HENKY n. PAKT U.
[Hoi iii. 627/1/4. ffalU, 209.] Diueree articles were laid
The faint agaiost him in open councell, and in especiall one:^ That he
^S to the had caused men, adiudged to die, to be put to other execution,
Qiocater. than the law of the land assigned. Suerlie the duke, verie well
tniegai learned in the law ciuill, detesting malefactors, and punishing
^1S£)^' offenses in seueritie of iustice, gat him hatred of such as feared
condign reward ' for their wicked dooings.
Lastly, Margaret imputes to him (L 138) the "sale of Offices and
Townes in Prance."
Perhaps Gloucester has been made to change places with Cardinal
Beaufort, whom, in 1440, he accused of this misconduct. A long series
of criminatory articles (referred to above, p. 236) were then exhibited
by Gloucester against Beaufort. In the 22nd article Henry was asked
[Rol, ill 622/21 J y, Halle, 201.] to consider the . . . lucre of
the . . . cardinall, and the great deceipts that you be deceiued' in
by the labour of him & of the archbishop [of York, John Eempe],
aswell in this your realme as in your realme of France and duchie
romihiti ^^ Normandie, where neither office, liuelode, nor capteine may be
Wfort-i jjj^ without too great good ^uen vnto him ; wherby a great part
°"^^^ of all the losse that is lost, they haue beene the causers of; for
who that would giue most, his was the price, not considering the
merits, seruice, nor sufficiance of persons.
Making no reply to his adversaries, Gloucester withdraws a while,
and, on his return, delivers his opinion in regard to the Regency (11.
163, 164) :
I say, my Soueraigne, Tarke is nuetest man
To be your Regent in the Realme of Fnmce.
Suffolk — who had previously (I. iii. 36-39) sent for Horner — now
seizes a chance of opposing Gloucester and thwarting York through the
accusation of treason brought against the armourer. Holinshed copied
from Halle (206) a passage which records that, in 1446,
[Hoi, iii. 625/2/29.] a parlement^ was called, in the which it
^no Reg. ^^ espcciallie concluded, that by good foresight Normandie might
be so furnished for defense before the end of the truce, that the
* in eitpeciaU one] Halle, in espedaUyone HoL
* In 2 Hen, Vi.y III. i. 128-130, Gloucester says that he never gave
^condigne punishment' to any one, save a murderer or a highway rohl^.
» decevued] Halle, receiued Hoi.
^ This must have heen the Parliament which began on Februaiy 25, 1445
{Bot. Pati,, V. 66/1) ; and was sitting on June 4, 1445, and April 9, 1446 (see
p. 241, n. 1, and p. 246, n. 1, above).
1446
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X. HENRY VI. PART II. 251
French king should take no aduantage through want of timelie
prouision : for it was knowne, that, if a peace were not concluded,
the French king did prepare to imploie his whole puissance to TheduUof
make open warre. Heerevpon monie was granted, an armie SS^L
leuied, and the duke of Summerset appointed to be regent of andVk^d'^
Normandie,^ and the duke of Yorke thereof discharged. ditcharfftd.
From a chronicler ^ who wrote in Hemry VI.'8 reign, Holinshed
derived the information that Suffolk aided Somerset to obtain the
Regency.
[Hoi. iil 625/2/41.] I haue scene in a register booke belonging
sometime to the abbeie of saint Albons, that the duke of York
was established regent of France, after the deceasse of the duke of ^ork
Bedford, to continue in that office for the tearme of fine jeares ; p^n^^
which being expired, he returned home, and was ioifiilHe receiued "^® ^**"'^
of the king with thanks for his good seruice, as he had full well
deserued in time of that his gouemement : and, further, that now,
when a new regent was to be chosen and sent ouer, to abide ypon
safegard of the countries beyond the seas as yet subiect to the
English dominion, the said duke of Yorke was eftsoones (as a man jri^i^jct^f
most TTuet to supplie that roome) appointed to go ouer againe, as l^inud to
regent qf France^ with all his former allowances. SJ^ST
But the duke of Summerset, still maligning the duke of Yorkes „
[Somerset
aduancement, as he had sought to hinder his dispatch at the first ^^^
when he was sent ouer to be regent, (as before yee haue heard,*) he jPigj^*"®"*
likewise now wrought so, that the king reuoked his grant made to ^^^^.^t,
the duke of Yorke for enioieng of that office the terme of other aj^^Ii^i,
fine yeeres, and, with helpe of William marquesse of SuflFolke, Sfsi^X?'
obteined that grant for himselfe. SSSlhr^
* On November 12, 1446, the government of France and Normandy was
in commission, York being absent. — Report on Foederd, App. D. 623. On
November 11, 1447, he is styled Lieutenant-General and Governor of France
and Nonnandy. — Ibid., 635. By December 20, 1447, Somerset had been
appointed " to goo oure lieutenannt into oure duchie of Normandie." — Stevenson^
I. 477, 478. On January 31, 1448, he is styled " oure lievetenaunt in our
reame of Fraunce, duchees of Nonnandie and Quyenne." — Stevejisaiiy I. 479,
480. The latter appointment should be regarded as the historical parallel of
Gloucester's " doome *' on the dramatic second day : <* Let Somerset be Begent
o're the French."— 2 Hen. VL, I. iii 209.
> John de Whethamstede {ed, Heame, pp. 346, 346).
' See next page.
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252 X. HBNEY VI. PART U.
Fork says (U. 170-175) :
... if I be appointed for the Place,
My Lord of Somerset will keepe me here.
Without Discharge, Money, or Furniture,
Till France be wonne into the Dolphins hands :
Last time, I danc't attendance on his will
Till Paris was besieged, famisht, and lost.
Holinshed, paraphrasing Halle (179), illustrates this complaint of
Edmund Beaufort's malice in 1436, when York was appointed to
succeed Bedford (see p. 219 above).
[Hoi. iii. 6I2/2/14, Halle, 179.] Although the duke of Yorke
was worthie (both for birth and courage) of this honor and prefer-
ment, yet 80 disdeined of Edmund duke of Summerset, (being
cousine to the king,) that by all meanes possible he sought his
fPiritioat hinderance, as one glad of his losse, and sorie of his well dooing:
B^JSi by reason whereof, yer the duke of Yorke could get his dispatch,
hind^ Paris and diuerse other of the cheefest places in France were
dMpfttoh.] gotten by the French king.
Act L sc. It. — Id. this scene the Duchess of Gloucester causes a
spirit to be raised, from whom she learns the future fates of Henry,
Suffolk, and Somerset.^
Examination of the charges brought against Cardinal Beaufort by
Gloucester in 1440 (see pp. 236, 250 above) was committed to Henry's
[Hoi. iil 622/2/58. Halle, 202.] councell, whereof the more
part were spirituall persons ; so that, what for feare, and what for
fauour, the matter was winked at, and nothing said to it : onelie
faire countenance was made to the duke, as though no malice had
beene conceiued against him. But yenem will breake out, &
inward grudge will soone appeare, which was this yeare to all men
(Ooy«ri apparaut : for diuers secret attempts were aduanced forward this
made upon season, against this noble man Humfreie duke of Glocester, a far
OloooMter.]
off, which, in conclusion, came so neere, that they beereft him both
of life and land ; as shall hereafter more plainelie appeere.
K'SSS' For, first, this yeare, dame Eleanor Cobham, wife to the said
tDtuidiiig duke, was accused of treason ; ^ for that she by sorcerie and inchant-
^ For the pTophecies concerning the deaths of Suffolk and Somerset see
p. 270, n. 2, and p. 289.
• She was arrested in the latter nart of July, 1441. — Chron. Bich. IL —
Hen. Vl.y 67, 68. Wyrc, 460. The discrepancy of these authorities, and the
inaccuracy of Chron. Bieh. II.— Hen. VI. with r^;ard to the days of the week,
do not allow a moie precise date to be given.
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X. HENRY VI. PART II. 253
ment intended to destroie the king, to the intent to aduance hir to destroy
^ Henry by
husband vnto the crowne. ... [p. 623, eol 1.] At the same •oTcerj.j
season were arrested, arreigned, and adiudged giltie, as aiders to
the duchesse, Thomas Southwell priest, and canon of S. Stephans iSS^S'i
at Westminster, lohn Hun priest, Roger Bolingbrooke a cunning -^1^^^^*
necromancer (as it was said), and Margerie lordeine, surnamed the
witch of Eie. ^^^
The matter laid against them was, for that they (at the request g*^"^«
of the said duchesse) had deuised an image of wax, representing ®*'**''°***^^
the king, which bj their sorcerie by little and little consumed;
intending thereby in conclusion to waste and destroie the kings
person.
There is not even an allusion in the play to the offence for which,
according to Halle, the Duchess and her confederates were arraigned.
But Stow (627) says that
Roger Bolingbroke was examined before the Eangs Counsaile, J°*^^
where he confessed that he wrought the said Negromancie at the oJ!^to
stirring and procurement of the said Dame Elianor, to knowe what tSS^^
should befall of hir, and to what estate she should come, . . .
Act n. sc. i. — Sir Thomas More's dyalogt . . . Whvryn he trsatyd
dffuers maters aa qf the veneracyon & worshyp of ymagys de relyquea
prayng to sayrUis <k goynge on pylgrymage (2nd ed.,^ 1530, bk. I. chap,
xiv. leaf 25) contains the earliest accoimt of the sham miracle at St.
Albans. The dramatic version of this story presents no important
change save that the rogue is made to feign lameness as well as
blindness ; a variation which leads up to his being whipped off the
stage. The following excerpt from More's Dialogue should be compared
with Act II., 8c. i., IL 60-160:
... I remember me that I haue herde my father tell of a
begger that, in kynge Henry his dayes the syxte, came wyth hys
wyfe to saynt Albonys. And there was walkynge about the towne
^ So in HaXLe (202) and in The Contention, Though the name rjmes to
" Mxun " in 2 Hen. F/., I. ii 88, the spelling is " Hume** thronghout scenes ii
and iv., Act I. In Fab, (614) and Stow (628) the name is spelt << Hum."
* "Newly ouersene" by More. Mere's stoiy of the sham miracle was
copied by Orafton (i. 630) and Fooce (li, 679/2). Foxe — I know not on whose
authority — says that the cheat was discovered in Henry VI.'s "young dayesj"
when the King was "yet vnder the gouemaunce of this Duke Humfrey his
protector.** Weever (321, 322) gives an epitaph " penciled ** on the waJl near
Gloucester's tomb in St. Alban's Abbey ; recording the Duke's detection of the
man who feigned blindness.
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254 X. HENRY VI. PART IL
[A be^r beggyng a fyue or syxe dayes before the kyngys commynge thyther;
st^libans ^^y^g^ *^^^ ^^ ^^ borne blynde, and neuer saw in his lyfe. And
VL^™*"'^ was warned in his dreame that he shold come out of Berwyke
thJI^^ (where he sayd he had euer dwelled) to seke saynt Albon ; and that
Sd tiS^ he had ben at his shryne, and had not bene holpen. And therfore
buS«MSd, he wold go seke hym at some other place ; for he had herde some
J^iSfb^* saye, syns he came, that saynt Albonys body sholde be at Colon :
^^ ^ X and in dede suche a contencyon hath there bene. But of trouth,
Berwick to •' '
St. Aibana.] ^s I am surcly informed, he lyeth here at saynt Albonys ; sauyng
being somc relyqucs of hym, whiche they there shew shryned. But to
heAledf be
c^o^*"**** tell you forth: when the kyng was comen, and the towne full,
Si?IJed*™* sodaynly this blynde man, at saynt albonys shryne, had his syght
bJ>^^ ^^.? agayne : and a myracle solemply rongen and te deum songen ; so
g^ King ^Ijj^ij nothynge was talked of in all y® towne but this myracle. So
^&M happened it than that duke Humfi7 of gloucester, a great wyse
and pJSpie man and very well lerned, hauynge greate loy to se such a myracle,
that a called y* pore man vnto hym. And fyrst shewynge hym selfe
mimclehad .^ x •f ^ ^ o ^
^° ] loyouse of goddys glory, so shewed in the gettynge of his syght ;
[Gloucester and cxortyng hym to mekenes, and to none ascrybyng of any parte
exborted the i 1 1» i <• i
huffie*^ ^ ^^ worssyp to hym selfe , nor to be proude of the peoples prayse,
whiche wolde call hym a good and a godly man therby. At last
rand asked he lokcd wcl vpou his eyen, and asked whyther he coulde neuer se
could ever nothyugc at all in all his lyfe before. And, whaTi as well his wyfe
see anything "^ *=* " ''
before.) ^8 hymsclfc aflTermed fastely "no," than he loked aduysedly vpon
and his wife his eycu agayu, & sayd: **I byleue you very well, for me thynketh
«*no";yet, "that yc cau not se well yet" "Yes, syr," quod he, "I thanke
"god and his holy marter^ I can se nowe as well as any man."
[when "Ye can," quod the duke, "what colour is my gowne?" Than
nTe could anone the begger, tolde hym. "What colour," quod he, "is this
SJionra^ *^* "mannys gowne?" He tolde hym also ; and so forth, without any
[Thw ^ styckynge, he tolde hym the names of all the colours that could be
^5S wS^ shewed hym.^ And, whan my lord saw that, he bad * hym, " walke,
!eu§?n'iS" " fay toure ! " and made hym be set openly in the stockys. For,
though he coulde haue sene sodenly by myracle y* dyfference
1 With " I byleue . . . shewed hym," cp. 2 Hen. F/., II. L 106-112.
» 6<wi] ed. 1. hadodi. 2.
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X. HENRY VI. PART II. 255
bytwene dyuere colours, yet coulde he not by y* syght so sodenly ^^^^
tell the names of all these colours, but yf he hadde knowen them brnJi^hT
before, no more than the names of all the men y^ he shold sodenly £2?© ,^e
named
rs,
rhhe
se. [Lf. XXV. sign. f. L] SotSh'i
might have
Act n. 8c. ii. — At the close of sc. iv., Act I., after the Duchess of guish^
Gloucester and her confederates had been arrested, York sent Salisbury vxem,]
and Warwick an invitation to sup with him " to morrow Night " ;
that is, the night of the day on which Gloucester exposed the sham
miracla Supper ended, York desires to have his guests' opinion of his
title to " Englands Crowne" (XL ii. 1-5). Warwick says Ql. 7, 8) :
Sweet Yorke, begin : and if thy clayme be good,
The Neuills are thy Subiects to command.
The dramatic time of sc. ii.. Act II., is brought into close relation
with Eleanor Gobham's arrest in 1441, but Holinshed's authority Halle
records (210) among the events of 1447-48 that
[Eol. iiL 627/2/37.] Richard, duke of Yorke, (being greatlie
alied by his wife to the chiefe peeres and potentates of the realme,
beside his owne progenie,) perceiuing the king to be no ruler, but
the whole burthen of the realme to rest in direction of the queene,
& the duke of Suffolke, began secretlie to allure his friends of the TkedMttqf
nobilitie ; ^ and priuilie declared ynto them his title and right to the tempering
crowne, and likewise did he to certeine wise gouemours of diuerse ^^^'^^
cities and townes. Which attempt was so politikelie handled, and
so secretlie kept, that prouision to his purpose was readie, before
his purpose was openlie published ; and his friends opened them-
selues^ yer the contrarie part could them espie : for in conclusion
all shortlie in mischiefe burst out, as ye may hereafter heare.
On October 16, 1460, "a writyng,* conteignyng the clayme and
title cf the right " which York laid " unto the Corones of Englond and
of Fraunce, and Lordship of Ireland,'' was read before the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal assembled in Parliament at Westminste.\
This document, or a similar one, was printed by Stow in his Annales
(679, 680) ; and from Stow it was transferred to the pages of Holinshed.*
It sets forth York's pedigree. I quote in parallel columns II. ii. 10-20,
and the corresponding passage in Holinshed. York thus prefaces his
claim :
* For passages in which Salisbury and Warwick are spoken of as York's
friends, see pp. 283, 288 below.
« Printed in -Bo*. Parly v. 375.
' A prefatory sidenote thus describes Hol*8 reprint of this document :
"Abifaham] Fl[eming] ex I.S [John Stow], pag. 700, 701, &c in Quart."
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256 X. HENKY VI. PART II,
[Edward {ffol. iii. 657/2/47.1 Edward Edward the third, my Lorda, had
the ihvrd had issue, Edwa/rd pnnoe The first, Edward the Black-Prince^
qfWalee; WiUiam of Eafjield, his ^^^"^^^^J^J , „ .^ .^ t«
second sonne; LtaneU the thtrd, Ksi^ihelkird,
duke of GUvrence; lohn of Gant, Lionel Duke if Clarewe: next to
ioxiri^diikeqfLammster; Edmwnd ^^^^^^^^ ^ Q^ufU, ihB Duke qf
of Langleief ffty duke of Yorhe; Laneaster;
Thomas qfWoodstoke,8txt, duke if The m ^^ Ednumd Langley, Duke
Glocester; and Wuliamqf Windsor, The noj^ was Thomas of Woodstock, 16
aeauerUh. J^^^'^?^J ^v .^
-« .J w. . . # W^aZiam of »^imiwr was the ««e«UA
The said EduKMrd prince of and last
Wales, which died in the life time Edward the Black-Prince dyed hefore
[BiohudiL) of Aw father, had issue Eichard, ^^^ i^^ tehinde him jBicftarrf, his
which succeeded Edward the Viird onely * Sonne,
hisgrandsire; . . . ^i^SMl^f .'^T'**^"'^ **
I now quote four lines immediately following my last excerpt from
York's statement of his title :
TiU Hervry Bullingbrooke, DvJce of Lancaster,
The eldest Sorme and Heire of lohn qf Gaunt,
Crown'd by the Name of Henry the fourth,
Seiz'd on the Bealme, depos'd the rightf uU King, . • • 24
Though these lines contain matter of common knowledge, they may
have been prompted by the ensuing fragments of a speech which,
according to Halle (245, 246), York delivered from the throne to the
Peers assembled at Westminster in 1460 :
(RicbMdiL [JffoZ. iii. 666/1/1.] Which king Richard, of that name the
uiw-l . second, was lawfiillie & iustlie possessed of the crowne and diadem
of this realme and region, till Herme of Derbie dvks of Lancaster
(Hfluydiike and Hereford, sonne to Idhn of Gant . . . wrongfiillie vsurped
■jft_^ and intmded vpon the roiall power, and high estate of this realme
and region ; taking vpon him the name, stile, and auUioritie of
king and gouemour of the same.
Salisbury interjects (1. 33) :
But William of Hatfield dyed without an Heira
1 The corresponding passage in the 3rd (1619) ed. of The ConUnUon stands
thus (23) : " Now Edwara the blacke Prince dyed before his Father, leauinff
behinde him two sonnes, Edward borne at Angolesme, who died young, ana
Richard that was after crowned King,'' . . . Hoi. ^iii397/i 756) says: **Inthe
nine and thirtith yeere of king Edwajrds reigne, ana in the moneth of Febroarie
[1365], in the citie of Angolesme, was borne the first sonne of prince Edward,
and was named after his lather, but he departed this life the seuenth yeare of
his age."
Qturpo-.]
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X. HENRY VI. PART 11, 257
In my last quotation from the pedigree printed by Holinshed the
line is carried down to Richard IL, who '' succeeded Edward the third •
his grandsire." The next words are :
[Hoi. iii. 667/2/56.] Richard died without issue ; William of ^^^^^
Hatfidd^ the second sonne of Edward the third, died vnihoiU
issue; . • •
The continuation of York's speech (H 34-38) I place beside the
parallel passage in Holinshed :
[RoL iii. 657/2/58.] lionell the The third Sonne, Duke qf Clarence, rTorVs
third Sonne of Edward the third, from whose Line UoSS dS?
duke of Chrmce, had issue Philip l dayme the Crowne, had Issue, o^ciMwicej
his daughter and heire, which Phillip, % Daughter,
was coupled in matrimonie vnto tth.^ wi«w^^^ kw-^^^ ir.^v^^ qa
JSamv/ML MoTwuMT |_«iJraj ea/rije oj w unf m Jm'
Mcvrch, and had issue Roger Mor- ^, '^ , , , , ' ^ ^ ,
timer [4th] ea,rU qf Ma^rch, hir ^^^^^^ ^ ^'^^ ^^ ^^ ^f
Sonne and heire ; which Roger had ^areh;
issue Edmund 1 [5thl erle of March, ^(fr had Issue, Edmond, Anne, and
Roger Mortimer, Arme, Mianor; Elianot.
which Edmund, Roger, and Elianor
died without issue.
Salisbury again interrupts York (IL 89, 40) :
This Edmond, in the Reigne of Bullingbrooke,
As I haue read, layd dayme vnto the Growne ; . • •
The speech from the throne, attributed by EEalle to York (see p. 256
above), has the same misstatement.
[Hoi, iii 666/1/54.] Edmund earie of March, my most welbe- ggj^^i^^
loued Tncle, in the time of the first vsurper, (in deed, but not by ^SSdthe
rights called king Henrie the fourth,) by his coosines the earle of ^^^^
Northumberland, & the lord Persie, (he being then in captiuitie
with Owen Glendouer the rebell in Wales,) made his title &
righteous daim^ to the destruction of both the noble persona.
Salisbury adds (U. 41, 42) that Edmund,
. . . but for Owen Glendour, had beene King,
Who kept him in Captiuitie till he dyed.
Here the inevitable confusion between Sir Edmund Mortimer and
Edmund Mortimer fifth Earl of March ^ is worse confounded. These
lines apparently sprang from the dramatist's vague remembrance of
Halle (23), who — in a sentence immediately preceding the assertion
that Glendower
^ had issue Edmund] had issue of Edmund HoL
* See p. 131, n. 1, above.
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258 X. HENRY VI. PART II.
made warre on lorde Edmond Mortimer erle of Marche, . • • and
SfptirS^' toke hym prisoner, and, feteryng hym in chaynes, cast hym in a
depe and miserable dongeon —
says that Reginald Lord Grey of Buthin — another prisoner to
Glendower — was promised freedom conditionally upon marrying his
captor's daughter :
(Lord orey'i ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ father in lawe^ this yntrew, ynhonest, and periured
captivity.) pergone^ jcept hym with his wyfe still in captiuitee till he dyed.*
The conclusion of York's speech (IL 43-52) and his pedigree as given
by Holinshed are here displayed in parallel columns. The fifth Earl of
March's
^.^ [Hoi iii 657/2/67.] And the eldest Siater, Aniu,
mother wu said Anns coupled in matrimonie Mj Mother, being Heire ynto the 44
iiSJSmw.j ^ Richa/rd earle qf Cambridge, the Crowne,
Sonne of Edmund of Langleie, the u&rTjedHiehard Earle qf Cambridge;
fift sormeot Edtoard^ the third, and ^j^^ ^^^ ^^i
had issue Richard Plantag^^ ^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^
commonlie called duke of Yorke ; » . , ^ - © a
... To the which Richard duke IMrdBfiftSonne.^
of Yorke, as sonne to Anne, By her I clayme the Kingdome : ahe
daughter to Roger Mortimer ea/rle ^^ Heire
qf March, eorme and heire of the To Soger Earle qf March, who was 48
said Philip, daughter and heire of the Sonne
the said lAoneU, the third sonne of Qf Edmond Mortimer, who marryod
rrhe inne of king Edward the third, the right, Phillip
^^^' title, dignitie roiaU, and estate of ^^^ j^^j^ ^^^ ^.^ I,„^^ „f
^oyw «»o- the crownes of the realmes of
5^^°"* England and France, and the lord- ^^arence:
gaunt'. ghip of Ireland, perteineth and So, if the Issue of the elder Sonne
belongeth afore anie issue of the Succeed before the younger, I am 52
said lohn of Gant, the fourth King.
sonne of the same king Edward.
Act n. sc. iii. — In the opening lines of this scene Henry passes
sentence on Eleanor Duchess of Gloucester, and her confederates,
Margery Joiurdain, Southwell, Hume, and Bolingbroke. To the latter
Henry says (11. 6-8) :
You f cure, from hence to Prison back againe ;
From thence vnto the place of Execution :
The Witch in Smithfield shall be burnt to ashes,
And you three shall be strangled on the Gallowes.
Holinshed gives the following account of what bef el them :
♦ Lord Grey of Ruthin was released on payment of a large ransom — Ellis,
II. L 9.
1 son] Howe. om. Fi. « Sonne] Theobald. Bonnes 8onm Fi.
' Edward the third] Henrie (he third Hoi.
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X. HENRY VI. PART U. 259
[Hot. iii. 623/1/20. Ealle, 202.] Margerie Tordeine was burnt gjjj^*'**
in Smithfield, and Roger Bolingbrooke was drawne to Tibome, and SS^Jf^"
hanged and quartered ; taking ypon his death that there was neuer *^'^
anie such thing by them imagined. lobn Hun had his pardon,^ and
Southwell died in the Tower the night before lus execution : . . .
Ilenrj then addresses the Duchess of Gloucester (11. 9-13) :
You, Madame, for you are more Nobly bome^
Despoyled of your Honor in your life.
Shall, after three ^ dayes open Penance done,
Liue in your Countrey here in Banishment,
With Sir lohn Stanly, in the He of Man.
The Duchess of Gloucester
[Hoi iil 623/I/I. Ealle, 202.] was examined in saint Stephana
chappell before the bishop of Canturburie, and there by examina-
tion conuict^ and iudged to doo open penance in three open places i^dMMor
within the citie of London. . • . and after that adiudged to per- m^^/'
petuall imprisonment in the lie of Man, vnder the keeping of sir
Thomas Stanlie * knight
Gloucester is about to withdraw, overwhelmed with sorrow for his
wife's disgrace, when Henry speaks (11. 22-24) :
Stay, Humfrey Duke of Gloster : ere thou goo,
Glue yp thy Staffe 1 Henry will to himselfe
Protector be ; . . .
This dismissal of Gloucester from the office of Protector is a
dramatic representation of a political change effected in 1446 47 by
Margaret,^ who,
« This fact— which is recorded by Hcdle (202), Fab. (616), and Stow (628)
— may account for the dramatic Hume having heen represented as a traitor
Fab. (614) says that Hmne was the dachess's cnaplain.
' tux)] Contention. Fab. says nothing about the Duchess's penance. Stoio
gives the dates of the three days on which it was performed. See p. 261 below.
' lohn StariUy Halle (202). Thomas Sta/rdey Fab. (614), Stow (628). In
1446 it was ordei^d that letters under Henry's privy seal should be directed to
Sir Thomas Stanley, authorizing him to convey Eleanor Cobham to the Isle of
Man.— Proc Pm. Co., vi. 61. In 1443 she was removed from Chester Castle
to Eenilworth Castle. — Rymer, xi 46.
^ In 1441, according to Fab. (614). '< began Murder [murmur] and Grudge
to breke at lai^e, that before hadde oen kept in mewe, atweneparsones nere
aboute the kynse, and his vncle the famous Humfre^r duke of Qlouceter and
Protectour of the lande ; agayne whom dyuers Coniecturis were attempted
a farre, whiche after were sette nere to hym, so that they left nat tyll they
hadde brought hym vnto his confucion.'' In the next paragraph Fab. narrates
the treason of Eleanor Cobham and her accomplices.
llenry was crowned at Westminster on November 6) 1429 {Bo^, PaH,, iT«
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260 X. HENRY VI, PART U.
c^SlSf [5o?. iiL 626/2/ SI. Ealle, 208, 209.] disdaining that hir
^^.^ husband should be ruled rather than rule, could not abide that the
S2?to ^*^ dttk© of Glocester should doo all things concerning the order of
weightie affaires, least it might be said, that she had neither ^it
nor stomach, which would permit and suffer hir husband, being of
most perfect age, like a yoong pupill,^ to be gouemed by the direc-
tion of an other maa Although this toy entered first into hir
InJSST*^' braine thorough hu* owne imagination, yet was she pricked forward
np!^n her ^ ^^^ matter both by such of hir husbands counsell, as of long
impftttence.] ^.^^ j^^^ bomc malicc to the duke for his plainnesse vsed in
declaring their yntruth (as partlie ye haue heard), and also by
counsell from king Reiner hir father ; aduising that she and the
king should take vpon them the rule of the realme, and not to be
lUquHnt kept ynder, as wards and mastered orphanes.
Kirth/^^ What needeth manie words? The queene, persuaded by these
anddit- meanes, first of all excluded the duke of Glocester from all rule
ekargitk tht
ow^. and gouemance, . . .
Soon after Gloucester's exit. Homer and Peter present themselves
in the manner described by the following stage direction : ** Enter at
one Doore the Armorer and his Neighbors, drinking to him so much
that hee is drunke ; . . • and at the other Doore his Man, . • • and
Prentices drinking to him/'
As Holinshed's account of this judicial combat (ffol, iii. 626/2/21)
is not a mere paraphrase of Halle, — the dramatist's chief authority, —
and differs in some respects from what we find in the play, I quote
Halle (207, 208) :
[The At the dale assigned, the frendes of the master bromrht hym
SSSghthim Malmesey and Aqua vite, to comforte hym with all ; but it was the
SS^S cause of his and their discomforte. For he poured in so muche
that, when he came into the place in Smithfielde^ where he should
337/1), and Gloucester resigned the Protectorate on November 16, 1429. — Ibid,
But Hennr was nearly 16 when, on November 13, 1437, he assumed the
responaibmty of government by appointing the members of a privy council
for the transaction of ordinary business ; reserving to himself the power of
deciding weighty questions and also those matters which might cause the
disagreement of half or two-thirds of his council. — Froc. Fri/v. Co,, vi.
313-314.
» Cp. Margaret's words (2 Hen, VI,, I. iiL 49, 50) :
"What, shall King Henry be a FupHH still
Vnder the surly Qlosters Gouemance ? "
Cp. also 2 Hm. VI,^ II. iiL 28, 29.
laqtia
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X. HBNEY VI. PART H. 261
fjght, bothe his wytte and strength fayled hym: and so he, beyng ^ndmide
a tall and a hardye personage, ouerladed with hote drynkes, was ^Jjuwi^
yanqueshed of his seniaunte, beyng but a cowarde and a wretche ;* SjI^^^sT
whose [the armourer^s] body was drawen to Tyborne, & there ^S*"***
hanged and behedded. McnserJ
Act IL 8c. iv, — Glonoester watches " the comming of" his '* punisht
Duchesse" (1. 7). The historic dates of her "three dayes open
Penance'' (IL iii. 11) were November 13, 15, and 17, 1441.* I quote
the stage direction of 2 Hvn, YI.^ 11. iv. 16 : " Enter the Duchesse in
a white Sheet, and a Twpvr burning in her hcmd, with the Sherif e and
Officers.'' > None of the particulars given in this stage direction are
mentioned by Halle or Fabyan. In the second edition of Holinshed
the following detail of her penance is recorded {Sol. iii. 623/1/5) :
Polychronieon saith she was inioined to go through Cheapside
with a taper in Mr hand.
Ahr. FL tx
Polptknm.
[The
DttcbeM
carried a
tai»er.J
Stow says (628) :
On Monday the 13. of Nouember, she came from Westminster,
by water, and landed at the Temple bridge, from whence, with a ^S,eMor
taper of waxe of two pound in hu* hande, she went through Fleete- S^fJ^
Btreete, hoodlesae (saue a kerchefe) to Pauls, where she offered hir r!^
taper at the high altar. ... On Fryday she landed at Queene
Hiue, and so went through Cheape to S. Michaels in Comehill, in ^^^
forme aforesaid : at all which times the Maior, sherifes, and crafts ESJ^Sl!?*
' ' was accoin-
of London, receiued hu* and accompanied hir. This being done Se i^^.
she was committed to the ward of Sir Thomas Stanley, . . . hauing ^^^r"^
London.]
1 As to Peter's cowardice and Homer's knowledge of fence, — not mentioned
by J3bl.,— see 2 Hen. VI., II. iii 66-68 ; 77-79. H6L (686/2/28) says that the
armourer *' was slaine without guilt," and that '' the false servant . . . lined
not long ynpnnished ; for being conuict of felonie in court of assise, he was
indged to be hanged, and so was, at Tibume.'' In 2 Hefih. FJ., II. iii 96,
Homer confesses treason, and Henry promises to reward Peter, whom Homer
"thought to haue murther'd wrongfully'* (II. iii 107, 108).
> /S^oio, 628. Qrtg., 184. Chron. Lond., 129. According to one of 8toto*i
authorities {Chron, Rich. II, — Hen, VI.^ 69, 60) the days of penance were
November 9, 16. and 17.
s The stage direction in The Contention (27) runs as follows : ^ Enter Dame
Elnor Cobham bare-foote, and a white sheete about her, with a waxe candle in
her hand, and verses written on her backe and pind on. and accompanied with
the Sheriffes of London, and Sir lohn Standlj, and Officers, with billes and
holbards." In the Lament of the Duchess of Gloucester— a poem which Wright
believed to be of contemporary date— she is made to say : *' I went bare &te
on my fette.*'— Pol. Foems, ii 207, and 206 note 2.
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262 X. HENRY VI. PART IL
[She had a yeerelj 100. markes assigned for hir finding,^ . • . ^hose pride,
assigned f^lse couetise * and lecherie, were cause of hir confusioa
Iter, and was ' '
committed rjij^^ Duchess blames Qloucester for not resenting her disgrace 01.
sfaSSlJJ's 23-25; 42-47); and he prays her "sort" her "heart to patience'' (I.
ward.] 68). After recording the fates of the Duchess's confederates (p. 259
above), Holinshed says (iii. 623/1/27) :
(Gloucester's The duke of Qlocester bare all these things patientlie, and said
"^^ little {Halle, 202).
Act III. sc. i. — Henry wonders why Gloucester comes not to the
Parliament assembled at Bury St. Edmunds ^ (11. 1-3). Margaret asks
(U. 4-8) :
Can you not see ? or will ye not obserue
The strangenesse of his altered Countenance f
With what a Maiestie he beares himselfe,
How insolent of late he is become.
How prowd, how peremptorie, and vnlike himself el
What Hardyng says (400) about Gloucester's changed demeanour
after Eleanor Cobham's trial may possibly be the source of these lines :
Then was the kyng come vnto mannes age,
ISSISiIhe Wherfore the lordes wolde no protector,
S^f'*^***^ Wherfore the duke loste his great auauntage
And was no more then after defensour ;
But then he fell into a greate errour,
Moued by his wyfe Elianor Cobham
To truste her so, men thought he was to blame.
(Eleanor He waxed then straunge echo day vnto y® kyng;
Cobham's -_ , <• * i i «
condemnn- For caoso sho was fonudged for sossery,
ifonmade t
SidtoiaJdi ^^^ enchaun[t]mentee8, that she was in workyng
^•""y-^ Agayne the churche, and the kyng cursedly,
By helpe of one mayster Roger Oonly :
And into Wales he went of frowardnesse
And to the kyng had greate heuynesse.
While Margaret and her allies are striving to lessen Henry's esteem
for Gloucester, Somerset — ^lately appointed Begent of France * — enters
and announces that " all is lost " (1. 85).
1 Stanley assures her that she shall be treated " Like to a Duchesse, and
Duke Humfreyes Lady " (2 Hen. VL, II. iv. 98).
* fals conetwe] Chron. Rich. II. — Hen. VI., 60. false, couetise Stow.
» Opened on February 10, 1447.— -Rot. PaH.y v. 128/i.
* A dramatic interval of about two months has elapsed since his appoint-
ment in Act I., sc. iii— T-Jl., 307-310.
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X. HENRY VI. PART 11. 263
Suffolk's knee, negotiated in 1444, was renewed^ from time to
time until it was broken on our side by the treacherous seizure of
Fougk^s in March, 1449.^ A subsequent fifteen months' war^ made
the French masters of Normandj; the reconquest of which was
achieved at the surrender of Cherbourg on Au^^ 12, 1450.* When
a year later Bordeaux and a few other places in Guienne were added
to Charles VIL's dominions (see p. 231 above), no foreign territory was
left us save Calais and the Channel Islands.* Somerset's share in the
war ended with his surrender of Caen on July 1, 1450.* Thence he
departed to Calais,^ and returned to England in October, 1450.^
The Begent's blunt announcement causes York to murmur, aside
(11. 87-90) :
Cold Newes for me ; for I had hope of France,
As firmely as I hope for fertile England.
Thus are my Blossomes blasted in the Bud,
And Caterpillers eate my Leaues away ; • . .
Holinshed paraphrased BEalle's assertbn (216) that Somerset's
surrender of Caen
Thf
[Hol. iii 6d0/2/i8 ] kindled bo great a rancor in the dukes t^^S^^
heart and stomach, that he neuer left persecuting the duke of (eaiuedby
Summerset, vntill he had broi]^t him to his fataU end & ]S^^
confusion.
Gloucester now enters the Parliament to which he was summoned
in a preceding scene (IL iv. 70, 71), and is immediately arrested by
Suffolk for high treason (U. 95-97). According to Halle (209), flolin-
shed's authority, Gloucester's exclusion from power in 1446 (see p. 260
above) was virtually a sentence of death.
[Rol. iii 627 111 1 5*] But, to auoid danger of tumult that might
be raised, if a prince so well beloued of the people should be
openlie executed, his enimies determined to worke their feats in
his destruction, yer he should haue anie warning. For effecting ^^^
whereof, a parlement was summoned to be kept at Berrie ; whither itf^^T^
resorted all the peercs of the realme, and amongst them the duke iJu! ^
^ The renewals are set forth in Rymer's FoederOf vol. xi.
> De Couny, x. 133.
' Reckoning from the surprise of Pont de-PArche by the French, on May
16, 1449.— De Om^y, x. 141 ; Du Clercq, xii. 10.
* Du Clmq, xii. 81.
* These islands formed part of the Duchy of Normandy.
* Du GLercqy xiL 73.
T De Couagy, x. 2R3, 284.
* Wyrc.<t 473. Somerset's return to England in October was wrongly
placed by Wyrc. under the year 1449, but the context shows that the year
should be 1450.
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264 X. HENRY VI. PART 11.
of Glocester, which on the second daie of the session^ was by the
lord Beaumont, then high constable of England, (accompanied with
gjjj^^'^ the duke of Buckingham, and others,) arrested, apprehended, and
put in ward, and all his seruants sequestred from him, and thirtie
two of the cheefe of his retinue were sent to diuerse prisons, to
the great admiration of the people.
As Suffolk has specified no charge which might warrant the arrest,
Gloucester asks, " wherein am I guiltie 1 " York answers (11. 104-106) :
'Tis thought, my Lord, that you tooke Bribes of France,
And, being Protector, stay'd the Souldiers pay ;
By meanes whereof his Highnesse hath lost France.
This accusation resembles one of the <' Articles proponed by the
commons against the Duke of Suffolke,'' on February 7, 1450.'
[Suffolk V^o^' iii- 631/2/S8. Halle, 218.] 9 Item, when armies haue
from charie! beeue prepared, and souldiers readie waged, to passe ouer the sea^
amies going to dcalo with the kings enimies: the said duke, corrupted by
to France.] ' r ¥
rewards of the French king, hath restreined & staled the said
armies to passe anie further.
In a speech condemning his accusers' malice, Gloucester reveals the
hidden motive which prompted one of them (IL 158-160) :
. . . dogged Yorke, that reaches at the Moone,
Whose ouer-weening Atrme I haue pluckt back.
By false accuse doth leuell at my Life : . . .
The following reflection upon the consequences of Qloucester's
death may have suggested these lines :
[Ed. iii. 627/1/68. Halle, 210.] Oft times it hapneth that a
man, in quenching of smoke, bumeth his fingers in the fire : so the
queene, in casting how to keepe hir husband in honor, and hir selfe
in authoritie, in making awaie of this noble man, brought that to
passe, which she had most cause to haue feared ; which was the
deposing of hir husband, & the decaie of the house of Lancaster,
which of likelihood had not chanced if this duke had lined : for
1 February 11 was the second day of the session {Bot Fari., v. 129/9) ; but
according to Oreg, {188) Gloucester was arrested on February 18. In a con-
temporaneously written memorandum of the Parliament of Bury, Gloucester's
arrest is dated February 18 (Chron^ Etch. IL—Hen. VL, 116).
* This is HoVs tide. The charges are given in Rot. Parl,^ v. 177-179,
where the article which I quote from Hd. is the 26th. My authority for the
date of Suflfolk's impeachment is Bot, Pari,, v. 177/i.
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X. HENRY VL PART IL 265
ihen dnrst not the duke of Torke haue attempted to set foorth his E'?!?>2^
title to the crowne, as he afterwards did, to the great trouble of J^^i^S™*
the realme, and destruction of king Henrie, and of many other ^|S^^
noble men beside.
Gloucester closes his speech with a recognition that his fate is sealed
ai 168-171) :
I shall not want false Witnesse to condemne me,
Nor store of Treasons to augment my guilt ;
The ancient Frouerbe will be well effected :
*' A Staffe is quickly found to beat a Dogge.''
We have seen (p. 250 above) that '' diuerse articles were laid against
him in open councelL" Defence was useless, for
[Hot. iii 627/I/II. Ealle, 209.] although the duke suflScientlie j^<m«»tori
answered to all things against him obiected ; yet, because his death l!^^^^
was determined, his wisedome and innocencie nothing auailed.
A "Poste" from Ireland enters, bringing news " that Hebels there
are vp " (11. 282, 283). The task of subduing them is assigned to
York, who thus obtains the armed force which he needs to serve his
ambition (IL 341-347). The dramatist sent York to Ireland, as
Lieutenant, before the opening of the Second Fwr% of Henry the Sixths
since in Act I., so. L, Salisbury applies to an imaginary former term
of office praise which belongs to the historic administration of 1448-50 ;
undertaken by York in this scene. (See p. 248 above.)
All now go out save York, who thereupon unfolds his policy (U.
348-359; 374,375):
Whiles I in Ireland nourish a mightie Band, 348
I will stirre vp in England some black Storme
Shall blowe ten thousand Soules to Heauen or Hell :
And this fell Tempest shall not cease to rage,
Yntill the Golden Circuit on my Head, 352
like to the glorious Sunnes transparant Beames,
Do calme the f urie of this mad-bred Flawe.
And, for a minister of my intent,
I haue seduc'd a head-strong Kentishman, 356
lohn Cade of Ashf ord,
To make Commotion, as full well he can,
Ynder the title of lohn Mortimer. ...
By this I shall perceiue the Commons minde, 374
How they affect the House and Clayme of Yorke.
Cade's rebellion broke out at the end of May, 1450.^ Its origin is
thus described :
^ Septima in Pentecoste [septimcma Fentecostes Heame conj.] incepit
communis inBurreccio in Kancia." — Wytx., 469. In 1450 Whit Sunday fell
on May 24.
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266
HENRY VL PART II.
lacktOada
r^>eUionin
KmL ITo
gnin
adherents,
he called
himself
Mortimer.]
GlocnUr
auddtnlU
Sdv. Halt,
I2M.]
[Hol iii. 632/1/63. Ealle, 220.] Those that feuoured the
duke of Torke, and wished the crowne vpon his head, for that (as
they iudged) he had more right thereto than he that ware it, pro-
cured a commotion in Kent on this manner. A certeine yoong
man, of a goodlie stature and right pregnant of wit, was iotised to
take ypon him the name of lohn Mortimer, coosine to the duke of
Yorke; (although his name was lohn Cade, or, of some, lohn
Mend-all, an Irishman, as Polychronicon saith ;) and not for a small
policie> thinking by that surname, that those which fauoured the
house of the earle of March would be assistant to him. [Cp. p.
282. n. 2, below.]
Act ni. sc. ii. — " Enter two or three running ouer the Stage, from
the Murther of Duke Humfrey." Afterwards (L 121) : " Noyse within.
Enter Warwicke, [Salisbury], and many Commons." Warwick informs
Henry that, the murder of Gloucester by means of Suffolk and Cardinal
Beaufort having been reported, the Commons demand to "heare the
order " of Duke Humphrey's death. Gloucester's body is therefore
exhibited on the stage, and Warwick points out these signs of murder
(11. 168-170) :
But see, his face is blacke and full of blood,
His eye-balles further out than when he lined,
Staring full gastly, like a atrcmgled man ; . . .
Gloucester's sudden death gave rise to sinister conjectures :
[Hol iii 627/1/29.] The duke, the night after he was thus
committed to prison [p. 264 above], being the foure and twentith
of Februarie/ was found dead in his bed, and his bodie shewed
to the lords and commons,^ as though he had died of a palsie,
or of an imposteme.
But all indifferent persons (as saith Hall) might well Tnder-
Btand that he died of some violent death. Some iudged him to be
strangled, some affirme that an hot spit was put in at his funda-
* February 23. — Oreg,, 188. TFyrc, 464. From the memorandum of the
Bury Parliament {Ohron, Etch, IL — Hen, VL, 117) it appears that Gloucester
** deyde sone appon iii on the belle at aftrenone '' of February 23. H6L pro-
bably followed Stow (635^ in giving February 24 as the date of Gloucester's
death. HaUe (209), the aramatist's chief authority, says that Gloucester '* the
night after his emprysonment was found dedde in his bed." Henc« 1 con-
jecture that between scenes i. and ii., Act III., there is not a dramatic interval
of one clear day from midnight to midnight. See T-A,, 310.
• "And on the Frydav [February 24, 1447] next folewyng [Gloucester's
death], the lordes spirituelle and temi)orelle, also kny3tes of the parlement, and
whosoeuer wolde come, saugh hym [Gloucester] dede.** — Memorandum of the
Bury Parliament {Chron, Etch. IL—Hm, VL, 117).
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X. HENEY VI. PAKT IL 267
meni other write that he was smouldered ^ betweene two feather- pome
' jadged him
beds ; and some haue affirmed that he died of verie greefe, for ^^^i^
that he might not come openlie to his answer. th^uy^M
smothered.]
Subsequently an attempt to enter the Upper House is made by the
Commons who had remained '' within.'' Salisbury keeps them back,
and becomes their spokesman (11. 243-253) :
Dread Lord, the Commons send you word by me,
Ynlesse Lord Suffolke straight be done to death, 244
Or banished faire Englands Territories,
They will by violence teare him from your Pallace^
And torture him with grieuous lingring death.
They say, by him the good Duke Humfrey dy'de ; 248
They say, in him they f eare your Highnesse death ;
And meere instinct of Loue and Loyaltie
(Free from a stubbome opposite intent,
As being thought to conti^dict yomr liking) 252
Makes them thus forward in his Banishment.
The excerpts I quote seem tame beside such a message as this;
enforced by a threat from the impatient Commons that they " will all
breake in." There are no materials for judging whether Suffolk was
innocent or guilty of the crimes laid to his charge, but hatred and
mistrust of him were widely spread. In 1449-50 people
[Sol. iii 631/i/i6. Jffalle, 217.] began to make exclamation ^
against the duke of Soffblke, charging him to be the onelie cause ^
of the deliuerie of Anion and Maine, the cheefe procurer of the iJJ^X
duke of Glocester's death, the verie occasion of the losse of Nor-
mandie, the swallower yp of the kings treasure,' the remoouer of
good and yertuous councellours from about the prince, and the
aduancer of yicious persons, and of such as by then* dooings
shewed themselues apparant aduersaries to the common-wealth.
The queene hereat, doubting not onelie the duke's destruction, th4
but also hir owne confusion, caused the parlement, before besrun at ^v^
" fro Lcndofi
the Blackfriers,' to be adioumed to Leicester ; thinking there, by aJdM^*
force and rigor of law, to suppresse and subdue all the malice and ]^^^/«r.
* The Contention (35) has the following Btage-direction before Suffolk's first
speech (2 Hen. VL, III. ii. 6): **Then the Curtaines being drawne, Duke
Mmnphrey is discoueied in his bed, and two men lying on his brest and
smothering him in his bed. And then enter the Duke of Snffolke to them."
« In 2 Hen. VL, 17. i 73, 74, the "Lieutenant" thus addresses Suffolk:
" Now will I dam vp this thy yawning mouth,
For swallowing the Treasure of the Kealme: '^ . , ,
» Parliament met at Westminster on November 6, 1449, and was adjourned
to meet at Black Friars on the following day. — Bat J^arl^ v. 171/i.
COPtMSt
txdctm
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268 X. HENRY VI. PART H.
euill will concerned against the duke & hir. At which place few
of the nobilitie would appeare : wherefore it was againe adioumed
to Westminster, where was a full appearance. In the which
session the commons of the nether house put yp to the king and
Edv. HaXL the lords manie articles of treason, misprision, and euill demeanor,
against the duke of Suffolke : . • .
I have cited above (p. 264) one of the *' Articles proponed by the
commons against the Duke of Suffolke." The most important of these
articles accuse him of treasonable dealings with the French, but in
none of them is Qloucester even mentioned.^ Under the year 1 447
Fabyan relates (619) that
[Suffolk the Grudge and Murmour of y* people ceasid nat agayne the
of bemg Marquys of SuiBFolke, for the deth of the good Duke of Qlouceter,
muderer.j of whosc murdrc he was specially susspected.
Henry directs Salisbury to tell the Commons that, if they had not
urged this matter,
Yet did I purpose as they doe entreat ;
and, addressing Suffolk, says (11. 295-297) :
If after three dayes space thou here bee'st found,
On any ground that I am Ruler of,
The World shall not be Bansome for thy Life.
According to Halle (219), Holinshed's authority,
[Hoi, iil 632/1/23.] the parlement was adioumed to Leicester,*
whither came the king and queene in great estate, and with them
(The the duke of Suffolke, as cheefe counoellour. The commons of the
Commona
puniiSnwft ^^^^^ house, not forgetting their old grudge, besought the king,
yfiSSr *^° that such persons, as assented to the release of Aniou, and deliuer-
^S.]""^ ance of Maine, might be dulie punished. . . . When the king
perceiued that there was no remedie to appease the peoples fiirie
* But in 1451 the Commons assembled at Westminster, after praying Henry
to attaint Suffolk (then dead) for the treasons of which the Duke had been
accused by the Commons in 1450, ended their petition thus : " Yonre grete
Wysdome, rightwisnesse, and high discretion considering, that the seid William
de ]a Pole hath nought only don and commytted the forseid Treasons and
mischevous dedes, but was the cause and laborer of the arrest, emprisonyng,
and fynall destruction of the most noble vaillant true Prince, youre right
Obeissant Uncle the Duke of Qloucestre, whom God pardon," . , . — Bat,
Fori, V. 226.
* The Parliament which met first at Westminster on November 6, 1449
{Bot PorZ., V. 171/1) was adjourned to Leicester for April 29, 1450 {Bot Pati^
y. 172/1 1). But Suffolk was banished on March 17, 1450 (see next note).
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X. HENRY VI. PART H. 269
by anie colourable waies, shortlie to pacific bo long an hatred, he
first sequestred the lord Saie, (being treasuror of England,) and
other the dukes adherents, from their offices and roomes ; and after
banished the duke of Suffolke, as the abhorred tode and common [Sairoik
I* n t • banished by
noiance of the whole realme, for tearme of fine yeares : ^ meamng Honry for
by this exile to appease the malice of the people for the time, and
after (when the matter should be forgotten) to reuoke him home
againa
Act HL 8c. iii. — Cardinal Beaufort was " at point of death " in the
last scene (III. ii. 369). He is now visited by Henry, Salisbury, and
Warwick. The dying man does not know his sovereign, and exclaims
(1L2-4):
If thou beest death, He giue thee Englands Treasure,
Enough to purchase such another Island,
So thou wilt let me Hue, and f eele no paine !
I quote Halle's summing up (210, 211) of Cardinal Beaufort's life,
which contains a death-bed speech whence these lines were derived*
On April 11, 1447,«
Henry Beaufibrd, byshop of Wynchester, and called the ryche {^J^i^^
Cardynall, departed out of this worlde, and was buried at Wyn- ^^"jj^j
Chester. This manne was sonne to Ihon of Qaunte duke of
Lancaster; disccTMled on an honorable lignage, but borne in ^d*'***^*^
Baste; more noble of bloud then notable in leamyng; haut in '^^**'**'*«'l
stomacke, and hygh in countenaunce ; ryche aboue measure of all
men, & to fewe liberal ; disdaynfull to his kynne and dreadfull to
his loners ; preferrynge money before frendshippe ; many thinges
begynning and nothing perfourmyng. His couetise ' insaciable, and
hope of long lyfe, made hym bothe to forget God, his Prynce, and
hymself, in his latter dales. For doctor Ihon Baker, his pryuie [Or. Baker's
' JT .^ report of
counsailer and hys chapellayn, wrote that he, lyeng on his death 2^"^°^^
bed, said these wordes: ''Why should I dye, hauing so muche
**ryches [that], if the whole Realme would sane my lyfe, I am able
"either bypollicie to get it, or by ryches to bye it? Fyel wyll Death be°
hired, nor
**not death be hyered, nor will money do nothyng? When my JJ^i^JJJfJi
* On March 17, 1460, Suffolk was banished for a term of five years, begin-
ning on May 1 next ensuing.— iJot. Farrl,y v. 182/2, 183/i.
* C^rofk B/ich, IL—Rm, VL, 63. Wyrc, 464 On April 16, 1447,
permission to elect Beanfort's successor in the See of Winchester was granted.
Mymer, xi 162, 163. EaUe (210) wrongly placed Beaufort's death in 1448.
* eouetiae] eoueUnu Halle.
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270 X. HENEY VL PART IL
whMi^ "nephew of Bedford died, I thought my selfe halfe vp the whole ;
^^^^ ** but when I saw© myne other nephew of Gloucester disceased,
myiHur
aqiuQof
1 of^ ** then I thought my selfe able to be equale with kinges^ and so
'thought to encrease my treasure in hoope to haue wome a tryple
''Croune. But I se nowe th^ worlde &yleth me, and so I am
"deceyued: praiyng you all to pray for me." Of the gettyng of
thys mannes goodes, both by power legatine ^ or spiritual bryberie,
[Hopinsto I wil not speake: but the kepynge of them for his ambicious
bS^^ purpose, aspyryng to ascend to the papisticall sea, was bothe great
5S2rihich losse to his naturall Prynce, and natyue countrey ; for his hidden
^![uS^dthe riches might haue wel holpen the kyng, and his secrete treasure
common- might hauo releued the commonaltie, when money was scante, and
importunate charges were dayly imminent
Act IV. Bc. i. — "Alarum. Fight at Sea. Ordnance goes off."
Suffolk enters as a prisoner, and is beheaded ere the scene closes. The
historic date of the latter event was May 2, 1450.^ Henry had resolved,
when Suffolk's term of banishment expired, "to reuoke him home
againe" (p. 269 above).
Eol. m. 632/1/45. ffcUle, 219.] But Gods iustice would not
that so vngratious a person should so escape ; for, when he shipped
in Suffoike, intending to transport hlmselfe oner into France, he
was incountered with a ship of warre, apperteining to the duke of
Excester, constable of the Tower of London, called the Nicholas
of the Tower.' The capteine of that barke with small fight entered
* legatine] legcmtye Halle.
> WYre.y 469. On April 30, 1450, Safiblk was intercepted and obliged to
transfer himself to the ificholas of the Tower. There he remained nntu May
8, when *'he was drawjn ought of the grete shippe yn to the bote,** and
beheaded " by oon of the lewdeste of the shippe.''— iWon, i 124, 125.
' Suffolk's ransom is assigned by the Lieutenant to one Walter Whitmore
{Water Whichmore^ Contention, 43). The Duke starts when he hears this name,
and says (11. 33-35) :
** Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is death*
A cunning man did calculate my birth,
And told me that by Water I should dye '':.••
(Op. the Spirit's prediction in 2 JSen. VL^ I. iv. 36.) It appears that a pro*
phecy of Suffolk's death really met with a like unforeseen fulfilment On
May 5, 1450, William Lomner wrote thus to John Paston: **Also he [Suffolk]
asked the name of the sheppe, and whanne he knew it, he remembred Stacy
that seid, if he myght eschape the daunger of the Towr, he should be saffe ;
and thanne his herte faylyd hym, for he thowghte he was desseyvyd," . . .
— Pcutony L 125. John Stac^, called *^ Astronomns," was also '*magnu8
Necromanticus.'' He was associated with Thomas Burdet, a valet of G^rge
Duke of Clarence, and was executed in 1477. — ChiU, OrcyL,^ 561. Suffolk was
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X. HENRY VI. PART IL 271
into the dukes ship, and, perceiuing his person present, brought ^^^^^^^
him to Doner road, and there, on the one side of a cock bote, ^Jjj^
caused his head to be striken off, and left his bodie with the head
lieng tiiere on the sands. Which corps, being there found by a
chapleine of his, was conueied to Wingfield college in Suffolke, and
tiiere buried.
Act rV. 80. ii. — ^The dramatic version of the Kentishmen's rising
in 1450 contains some gleanings from Holinsbed's account of the
villeins' revolt in 1381. A proposal to kill all the lawyers (11. 83, 84)
was not, so far as we know, made at the former date, but in 1381,
when the rebels had gained strength, they
[Hoi. iil 430/1/65.] began to shew proofe of those things which f^;^^
they had before conceiued in tiieir minds, beheading all such men ^a^j^ to
of law, iustices, and iurors, as they might catch, and laie hands ^!^t^^
vpon, without respect of pitie, or remorse of conscience : aUedging
that the land could neuer enioy hir natiue and true libertie, till all
those sorts of people were dispatched out of the waie
Wat Tyler demanded from Richard II.
[Rol iiL 432/1/56.] a commission to put to death all lawiers, 25llw^u«
escheaters, and other which by any oflBce had any thing to doo JJiSLi
with the law ; for his meaning was that, hauing made all those
awaie that vnderstood the lawes, all things should then be ordered
according to the will and disposition of the common people.
Some of Cade's men bring forward "the Clarke of Chattam," ^ who
has been taken ''setting of boyes Copies" (1. 95). Cade sentences
him to be hung " with bis Pen and Inke-bome ' about his neoke."
Holinsbed says that in 1381 the rebels obliged
committed to the Tower on January 28, 1460 (Rot Farl.y v. 177/i) ; before
which time he had asked ** of on that was an astronomer, what sholde falle of
him, and how he sholde ende his lif ; and whanne the said astronomer hadde
labonrid therfore in his said craft, he ansuerde to the duke and said that he
sholde die a shameful deth, and counselid him alwey to be war of the tour ;
wherfor be instaunce of lordis that were his frendis, he was sone delyuerid out
of the said tour of Londoun."— OAron. Rick, IL—JSen. VLy 69.
* Chattam] Qi. Chartam Fi. Chartham is 2^ miles S.W. of Canterbury.
— Bartholomew. A "parishe Clearke" of "Chetham" figures in a legend of
our Lady of Chatham, told in Lambarde's FerambvlaHan of Kent (repr. 1826,
p. 324).
* Pen cmd Inke-horneYFi, penny-inckhome Qi. Cp. " penner and inke-
home " in excerpt from Bol. In 1381 the rebels, "if they found any to haue
pen and inke, they pulled off his hoode, and aU with one voice of crying, * Hale
him out» and cut on his head.' "— /Stou;, 453.
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272 X, HENRY VI. PART II.
roranmai- [ffd. lii. 4d6/i/9.] teachers of children in grammar schooles ^
forbiddoL] to sweare neuer to instruct any in their art • • • it was dangerous
nt^I^if^ * among them to be knowne for one that was lemed, and more
i^iS^ dangerous, if any men were found with a penner and inkhorne at
^^m.]^ his side : for such seldome or neuer escaped from them with life.
Cade thus animates his followers to encounter the Staffords (IL
193, 194):
Now shew your selues men, 'tis for Liberty I
We will not leaue one Lord, one Qentleman : • • •
In June, 1381, John Ball exhorted the people assembled at
Blackheath
[Eol iil 437/1/73.] to consider that now the time was come
appointed to them by God, in which they might (if they would)
cast off the yoke of bondage, & recouer libertie. He counselled
them therefore to remember themselues, and to take good hearts
Tuto them, that, after the manner of a good husband that tilleth
his ground, and riddeth out thereof such euiU weeds as choke and
[Onutiord* destroie the good come, they might destroie first the great lords'
^mm^ of the realme, and after the iudges and lawiers, questmoongcrs,
thatmaiity and all other whom they yndertooke to be against the commons ;
Mcorad.] for so might they procure peace and suertie to themselues in time
to come, if, dispatching out of the waie the great men, there should
be an equalitie in libertie, no difference in degrees of nobilities but
a like dignitie and equall authoritie in all things brought in among
them.
Act rV. 8c. iii. — " Alarums to the fight, wherein both the Staffords
are slaine. Enter Cade and the rest." The historic date of this fight
1 Cade to Lord Say (2 Hen, VL^ IV. vii. 35-37) : " Thou bast most traiter-
ously corrupted the youth of the Realme, in erecting a Qrammar Schoole.''
^ Ball was wont to say : '* A, good people, matters go not wel to passe in
England in these dayes, nor shall not do vntill enery thing be common, and
that there be no VUleynes nor gentlemen, . . . We be ful come from one
father and one mother. Adam and Ene." — Qrafton^ i. 417, 418. His theme
when preaching at Blackheath was :
^ When Adam delu'd, and Eue span
Who was then a gentleman ?*'— Hoi., iil 437/1/63.
Cp. John Holland's assertion (2 Bm, VL, IV. ii 9, 10) : ** Well, I say it was
neuer merrie world in England since Gentlemen came vp." Cp. also Cade's
retort to Sir Humphrey Stafford (TV. ii. 142) : " And Adam was a Qardiner.**
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X. HENRY VL PABT II. 273
was June 18, 1450.^ Cade declined an engagement with a large force
which had been collected to oppose him, and retired from Blackheath.^
[HoL ill 634/i/si. ffalle, 220.] The queene (that bare rule),
being of his retrait aduertised, sent sir Humfreie Stafford knight,
and William his brother, with manie other gentlemen, to follow
the Kentishmen, thinking that they had fled: but they were Thtsunf-
deceiued, for at the first skirmish both the Staffords were slaine, ^^^^
& all their companie discomfited. ^^"^
Cade's words — "This Monument of the victory will I beare"'
(L 12) — are explained by the ensuing quotation :
[ffol. m. 634/1/69. ffalle, 220.] lacke Cade, vpon victorie ccade
against the Staffords, apparelled himselfe in sir Humfreies brigan- ^^^^
dine set fiill of guilt nailes, and so in some glorie returned againe S^jj^^^ ^
toward London : diuerse idle and yagarant persons, out of Sussex,
Surreie and other places, still increasing his number.
Just before the Kentishmen set forth on their march to London,
Dick Butcher says (IL 17, 18) : "If we meane to thriue, and do good,
breake open the Gaoles, and let out the Prisoners " In July, 1450,
after his repulse from London Bridge (see p. 280 below). Cade,
[Hoi, iii 635/1/41. Salle, 222.] for making him more friends,
brake vp the gailes of the kings Bench and Marshalsie ; ^ and so coade broke
were manie mates set at libertie verie meet for his matters in 8»>i^i
hand.
Act rV. so. iy. — As this scene opens the King enters " with a
Supplication " ; and soon afterwards Buckingham asks (11. 7, 8) :
"What answer makes your Grace to the Bebells Supplication t '' '^
Early in June, 1450, Cade — ^who was then encamped on Blackheath —
[Hoi. iii. 632/2/73. Halle, 220.] sent ynto the kmg an humble ^^^^^
supplication, affirming that his comming was not against his grace,
[p, 633] but against such of his councellours, as were loners of
* The date of Sir Humphrey Staflford'a death given in the Inquisition post
morkm, 28 Hen. VL, No. 7. (Paston, I. p. Hi note 3.)
« Wyrc, 470. Cheg., 191.
• This , . . heare] 2 Hen. VI. om. Contention.
* In 1381 also the rebels *^ brake yp the prisons of the MaT8haI8e£^ & the
Kings bench, set the prisoners at libertie, & admitted them into their com-
panie.**— Hoi. 430/2/53. ** They also brake yp the prisons of newgate, and of
tx>th the counters, destroied the books, and set prisoners at libertie." — Hoi,
iii. 431/2/43.
• Enter the Kiixg reading of a Letter] Contention. From it he learns that
the Staffords haye been slain, and that the rebels are marching to London. The
question, " What . . . Supplication," is not in Contention.
T
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274
X. HENRY VI. PART II.
[Ambas-
■idors fh>in
Henry sent
to Cade.]
[Cade
demanded
A personal
conference
with Henry.]
[Henrr
retired to
Kenilworth,
leaying Lord
Scales to
defend the
Tower.]
[Cade
entered
Sooth walk,
and lodged
at the White
Hart]
themselues, aud oppressoi*8 of the poore commonaltie ; flatterers
of the king, and enimies to his honor ; suckers of his pnrse, and
robbers of his subiects ; parciall to their freends, and extreame
to then* enimies ; thorough bribes corrupted, and for indifferencie
dooing nothing.
A messenger annonnces that Cade is master of Southwark (L 27).
Buckingham counsels Henry's retirement "to Elillingworth/' until a
power can be raised for putting down the rebels (IL 39, 40), As the
scene closes the King goes out to take horse and away thither. The
historical order of events was as follows: disregarding the rebels'
supplication, Henry marched against them. Oade retreated, and, on
the day of Henry's arrival at Blackheath, the Staffords — who had
advanced in pursuit of the rebels — ^were overthrown. (June 18, see
pp. 272, 273 above.) The King then returned to London, and sub-
sequently went to Kenilworth. His army broke up.^ On or about
June 29,3 Cade
[Hoi. iii. 634/2/2. HaHe, 220.] came againe to the plaine of
Blackheath, & there stronglie incamped himselfe ; to whome were
sent from the king, the archbishop of Canturburie, and Humfreie
duke of Buckingham, to common with him of his greefes and
requests.
These lords found him sober in talke, wise in reasoning,
arrogant in hart, and stiiBTe in opinion ; as who that by no means
would grant to dissolue his armie, except the king in person would
come to him, and assent to the things he would require. The
K, vpon the presumptuous answers & requests of this villanous
rebell, begining asmuch to doubt his owne meniall seruants, as his
Tnknowen subiects, (which spared not to speake, that the capteins
cause was profitable for the common-wealth,) departed in all hast
to the castell of Killingworth in Warwikeshire, leaning onlie
behind him the lord Scales to keepe the Tower of Londoa The
Kentish capteine, being aduertised of the kings absence, came first
into Southwarke, and there lodged at the white hart, prohibiting
to all his retinue, murder, rape, and robberie ; by which colour of
well meaning he the more allured to him the harts of the common
people.
1 Fob., 622, 623. Wyrc., 470.
« "the xxix. daye of luny."— JV»6., 623. ** after seint Petres day."— C^ron.
LoruL, 136.
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X, HENRY VI, PAET 11. 275
Act IV. 80. V. — "Enter Lord Scales vpon the Tower, walking.
Then enters two or three Citizens below." Lord Scales asks (LI):
" How now ! Is lacke Cade slaine 1 " The Ist Citizen answers : " No,
my Lord, nor likely to be slaine ; for they haue wonne the Bridge,^
killing all those that withstand them : the L. Maior craues ayd of your
Honor from the Tower to defend the City from the Bebels.^ Lord
Scales replies :
Such ayd as I can spare you shall command ; • • • 7
But get you to Smithfield, and gather head, 10
And thither will I send you Matthew Goffe j . • •
The 1st Citizen cannot be supposed to speak of the fight for the
possession of London Bridge, on July 5, 1450 (see p. 280 below). No
resistance was offered to Cade when he crossed London Bridge and
entered the City on July 2 or 3.^ But his robbery of two householders
—one of whom was an alderman — alarmed the wealthier Londoners,
and on July 4 *
[ffol iil 634/2/62. Ealle, 221.] the maior and other the [The mayor,
magistrates of London perceiuing themselues neither to be sure of ^^^>
goods, nor of life well warranted, determined to repell and keepe S^^^^irt?^
out of their dtie such a mischieuous caitife and his wicked g£[iU*i
companie. And, to be the better able so to doo, they made the ^*^*^
lord Scales, and that renowmed capteine Matthew * Gough, priuie •orrathtr
both of their intent and enterprise ; beseeching them of their helpe
and furtherance therein. The lord Scales promised them his aid, (i«»ds^iefl
'^ ' promiMd his
with shooting off the artillerie in the Tower ; and Matthew Gough Jl^iSted
was by him appointed to assist the maior and Londoners in all oS^Z
that he might, • • • Imndoners.]
Act rV. 8C. vi. — Cade enters with " the rest." He " strikes his
1 In ly. iv. 49, this news is brought to Henry by a second messenger,
who adds:
" The Rascall People, thirsting after prey,
loyne with the Traitor*'; . . .
Cade committed two robberies in London. At the first << were present many
Score men of the Cytie, whiche at suche tymes been euer redy in all places to
0 harme, where suche Riottes been done." — jPa&., 624. As a consequence of
these robberies,' '* the porayll and nedy people drewe vnto hym, & were
parteners of y* Ille."— IWd.
* According to Qreg. (191) Cade entered the City on "Fryday [Jnly 3] a
gayn evyn." Fab. says (623, 624) that Cade entered on July 2, in the
" aftemoone, abonte .v. of y« Clok.'*
' The citizens' resolve to exclade Cade, and the Mayor's communication
with Lord Scales, are recorded by Fab, (625) after the account of Cade's
second robbery, on July 4, and before July 6, when London £ridge was
defended against him.
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276 X. HENRY VI. PART n,
staffe on London stone " ; and cries : " Now is Mortimer Lord of this
CUy / " On July 2 or 3, Cade
^^d<^* [^^^- ^^- 634/2/25. Halle, 221.] entred into London, cut the
stone,) ropes of the draw bridge, & strooke his sword on London stone j
Baieng : " Now is Mortimer lord of this citie ! "
Seated on London Stone, Cade declares (11. 6-7) that " henceforward
it shall be Treason for any that calles me other then Lord Mortimer."
Whereupon a soldier enters " running," and crying, " lacke Cade I
lacke Cade I " Cade says : " Knocke him downe there ! " The soldier is
killed ; and one of the rebels {Smith mod. edd.) observes : '< If this
Fellow be wise, heel neuer call yee lacke Cade more : I thinke he hath
a very faire warning." The incident was probably suggested by a
tradition that Cade put to death some
rc^knied [Hoi ill 634/2/59. Halle, 22L] of his old acquaintance, lest
hS^^i* ^^^ should bewraie his base linage, disparaging him for his
Mortimer.j ygufped sumame of Mortimer.
Fabyan gives precise details (624) :
(Bnyiy wnt And the samo tyme [July 4] ^ was there also behedyd an other
leitbe man, called Baylly; the cause of whose dethe was this, as I haue
should ^ *i '
Sd!lijft«e ^^^^^ s^™® ^^^ reporte. This [Then ed. 1616] Baylly was of the
uneage.] famylyer & olde acquayntaunce of lak Cade, wherfore, so soon as
he espyed hym commynge to hym warde, he cast in his mynde that
he wolde dyscouer his lyuynge & olde maners, and shewe of his
vyle kynne and lynage.
Act lY. sc. viL — '' Alarums. Mathew Goffe is slain, and all the
rest. Then enter lacke Cade, with his Company." The dramatic
locality of this scene is Smithfield (cp. IV. vi. 13-15V But the
historical conflict in which Matthew Qough fell was wagea on London
Bridge. The citizens, having determined to resist Cade (see p. 275
above),
[Hoi iii. 635/t/i. Halle, 221.] tooke ypon them in the night
to keepe the bridge, and would not suffer the Kentishmen once to
approch. The rebels, who neuer soundlie slept for feare of sudden
assaults, hearing that the bridge was thus kept, ran with great hast
to open that passage, where betweene both parties was a fierce and
cruell fight
* The date of Lord Say's decapitation (see p. 278, n. 3 below) was also
that on which Bayly was beheaded, according to TFyrc. (471), Qreg, (192), and
Fob. (624).
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X. HENRY VI. PART IL 277
Matthew *Gough, perceiuing the rebels to stand to their •orratjur
tackling more manfullie than he thought they would haue doone, TheAirmUk
aduised his companie not to aduance anie further toward South- dtiMemand
warke, till the dale appeared ; that thej might see where the place ^^f^''*'^
of ieopardie rested, and so to prouide for the same : but this little
auailed. For the rebels with their multitude draue back the
citizens from the stoops at the bridge foot to the draw bridge, &
began to set fire in diuerse houses. . • . Yet the capteins, not
sparing, fought on the bridge all the night Taliantlie : but, in con-
clusion, the rebels gat the draw bridge, and drowned manie ; and
slue lohn Sutton alderman, and Robert^ Heisand, a hardie citizen, Matanw
with manie other, beside Matthew * Gough, a man of great wit famou»M
hit QCtt
and much experience in feats of chiualrie, the which in continuall ^SSfi!*^
warres had spent his time in seruice of the king and his father. lods bridge.
After Matthew Cough's defeat. Cade says (11. 1-3) : " So, sirs : now
go some and pull down the Sauoy ; others to th'Iones of Court ; downe
with them all ! '' Here is a (bamatio postdating of what happened
in the villeins' revolt. On June 13, 1381,^ they went to John of
Gaunt's
[Hoi. iii 43I/1/18.] house of the Sauoie, to the which, in J^^^J^
beautie and statelinesse of building, with all manor of princelie wJ^^^
furniture, there was not any other in the realme comparable; *^'**'**^
which, in despite of the duke, (whom they called traitor,) they
set on fire, and by all waies and means indeuoured vtterlie to
destroie it . . •
Now after that these wicked people had thus destroied the
duke of Lancasters house, and done what they could deuise to his
reproch, they went to the temple; and burnt the men of lawes Thiiawien
lodgings, with their bookes, writings, and all that they might lay gjj^^**
hand vpon. *'**^
Addressing Cade, Dick Butcher says (11. 4 ; 7, 8) : "I haue a suite
vnto your Lordship. . , . that tlie Lcvwea of England may come out qf
your mouth.** Cade answers : " I haue thought vpon it, it shall bee so.
Away, hume aU the Records of the Realme ! my mouth shall be the
Parliament of England." On June 14, 1381, Wat Tyler, it is alleged,*
boasted,
1 Roger {Fab.^ 626). * Wals.^ i 466. » WaU., I 463, 464.
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278 X. HENRY VI. PART U.
[Thtim [Hol, liL 432/1/63.] putting his hands to his lips, thai within
Tj^^^ foure daies all the Uvms of England should caint foorth of his
'^^''^^ mouth.
To illustrate Oade's order I quote an assertion that^ in 1381|
t^J^SL [^^^' ^ 430/1/73.] the common vplandish people, . • . pur-
^^ posed to hume and destroie ail records, euidences, court-roUes, and
fAH reoofda *
Domt] other muniments, that, the remembrance of ancient matters being
remooued out of mind, their landlords might not haue whereby to
chalenge anie right at their hands.
Touching this policy, Holinshed asks if they could
d^^ [JToZ. iii 436/i/ii.] haue a more mischeefous meaning, than
^^SSSt^' to burne and destroie all old and ancient monuments, and to
'^'^ murther and dispatch out of the waie all such as were able to
conunit to memorie, either any new or old records?^
A messenger announces the capture of Lord Say (11. 23-25) ; *' which
sold the Townes in France " (L 23). The Commons iu the Parliament
of 1450 charged with being principal parties to the cession of Anjou
[LnrdStfa and Maine
pHTty totiM
cession of
AiUoaand
Maine.]
[Eol. iii. 632/1/3 1.] the duke of Suffolke, with William « bishop
of Salisburie, and sir lames Fines, lord Sale, and diuerse others.
The same messenger also speaks of Lord Say as having '' made vs
pay one and twenty Fifleenes, and one shilling to the poimd, the last
Subsidie." CSade induced the Kentishmen to rebel by pointing out that,
[ffol. iii. 632/2/14. Ealle, 220.] if either by force or policie
they might get the king and queene into their hands, he would
cause them to be honourablie Ysed, and take such order for the
riboutionor punishing and reforming of the misdemeanours of their bad
councellours, that neither ffteens should hereafter be demanded,
nor once anie impositions or taxes be spoken of
Lord Say's murder is thus related : on July 4,' 1450, Cade
[Hol iii. 634/2/31. EaUe, 22L] caused sir lames Fines, lord
I « at Westminster . . . they brake open the escheauer, and destroied the
ancient bookes and other records there, aooing what they could to suppresse
law, and by might to beate downe equitie and right.*' — Ed, iii. 431/2/47.
> fRUiam] ib^ Hol.
* The inscription on Lord Say's mvestone recorded that he died on July
4. 1450.— Register of the Sepulchral Inscriptions in the Church of the Qrey
Friars, London (Nichols's Cotkctanea Topographica et Genealogical v. 279).
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X. HENRY VI. PART H. 279
Saie, and treasuror of England, to be brought to the Guildhall,
and there to be arreigned ; who, being before the kings iustices put
to answer, desired to be tried by his peeres, for the longer delaie
of his life. The capteine, perceiuing his dilatorie plee, by force
tooke him from the officers, and brought him to the standard ia Tk« lord
Cheape, and there (before his confession ended) caused his head ^^^£f^
to be striken ofiF, and pitched it ypon an high pole, which was J%^**
openlie borne before him thorough the streets.
Cade bids the ezecationers strike ofE Lord Say's "head presently;
and then breake into his Sonne in Lawes house. Sir lames Cromer,
and strike off his head, and bring them hoth yppon two poles hither."
On the re-entry of " one with the heads," Cade gives a fmrther oi*der (II.
138-140; 143-145): "Let them kisse one another, for they lou'd well
when they were aliua . . . with these boms before vs, in steed of
Maces, will we ride through tlie streets, & at euery Comer haue them
kissa" Cade afterwards
[Eol. iiL 634/2/42. Ralle, 221.] went to Mile end, and there
apprehended sir lames Cromer, then shiriffe of Kent, and sonne in
law to the said lord Sale ; causing him likewise (without confession §!^i^^
or excuse heard) to be beheaded, and his head to be fixed on a ^'^^'^^
pole ; and with these two heads this bloudie wretch entred into ^^idsllfy
the citie againe, and as it were in a spite caused them in euerie J^es
street to kisse togither, to the great detestation of all the ^f^\^
beholders.
Act lY. sc. viii — ^The Entry runs thus : " Alarum, and Retreat.
Enter againe Cade, and all his rabblement." Cade cries : " Yp Fish-
streete I downe Saint Magnes comer ! Kill and knocke downe I throw
them into Thames!*'^ These orders are succeeded by "a parley,"
which annoimces the entrance of Buckingham and old Clifford. Their
offer of pardon makes the Kentishmen warer ; and, in recalling his
followers to obedience. Cade asks (U. 23-26) : *' Hath my sword there-
fore broke through London gates, that you should leaue me at the
White-heart (sic) in South warke V Comparison with the next excerpt
might warrant a supposition that, when this scene opens, the Londoners
^ In defending London Bridge ^' many a man was drowned and slajne." —
Fab,i 625. " many a man was slayne and easte in Temjs, hamys, body, and
alle.*'— -Ore^., 193. According to Fah. f625} the battle was confined to a space
not much exceeding the northern end of the central draw-bridge and the
" Bulwerke at the Brydgefote " (the stoops in Southwark. I presume). That
the rebels penetrated to St Magnus's comer rests on Holies authority (222).
^ These lines {Hath . . . Souihivarhe f) and the preceding Quotation
(Alantm . • . Thames/) are not in the ConUntion. Cade ^'lodgea at the
white hart." See p. 274 above.
kiB8.]
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280 X. HENRY VI. PART IL
are being " beaten backe to Saint Magnus comer '' ; but that tbey
have rallied, and driven the rebels "to the stoops in Southwarke,"
before Cade complains of being left at the White Hart. As however
no interval occurs during which the rebels could have been repulsed,
Mr. DanieFs stricture {T-A,, 312) that — ^the combatants " seem to be
on both sides of the river at one time " — is unanswerable. Waiving
this difficulty we may assume that 11. 1-3 dramatize the battle which^
beginning at 10 o'clock in the evening of Sunday, July 6, 1460,^
[ffol, iii. 635/1/32. ffalle, 222.] indured in doubtfiill wise on
i^^m *'^® bridge, till nine of the clocke in the morning : for somtime, the
^riSS uiJ Londoners were beaten backe to saint Magnus comer : and sud-
B^Swuk.] denlie againe, the rebels were repelled to the stoops in South-
warke, so that both parts being faint and wearie, agreed to leaue
iJ^^ off from fighting till the next daie; vpon condition, that neither
Londoners should passe into Southwarke, nor Kentishmen into
London.
Buckingham thus discharges the commission entrusted to him and
old aifPord (11. 7-10) :
Know, Cade, we come Ambassadors from the King
Ynto the Commons, whom thou hast misled ;
And heere pronounce free pardon to them all.
That will forsake thee, and go home in peaca
Holinshed took from Halle (222) the ensuing account of the rebels'
dispersal
\Eol. iii. 635/1/45.] The archbishop of Canturburie,' being
chancellor of England, and as then for his suertie lieng within the
Tower, called to him the bishop of Winchester, who for some safe*
gard laie then at HaliwelL These two prelats, seeing the fiirie of
the Kentish people, by their late repulse, to be somewhat asswaged,
passed by the riuer of Thames from the Tower into Southwarke ;
bringing with them, vnder the kings great scale, a generall pardon
ynto all the offendors, and caused the same to be oponlie published.
1 On the "evyn* of July 6 **Londyn dyd a rysse and cam owte uppon
hem [the Kentishmenl at x [ofl the belle, beyng that tvme hyr captaynys the
goode olde lorde Schalys and Mathewe Qoughe. And from that lyme unto
the morowe viij of belle they were ever fygbtynge uppon London Brygge." —
Qreg,y 193, Wyrc, (471), Fab, (626), and Chrw^ Lond. (136), agree that the
connict b^^an on the night of July 6.
' John Kempe, then Archbishop of York, was Chancellor in July, 1450.
He received the Great Seal on January 31, 1450 {Bot, Pari,, v. 178/i), and
retained it till his death in March, 1454 {Bot. PoH., v. 240/2). The Bishop of
Winchester was William of Waynflete.
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X. HBNRY VI. PART II. 281
The poore people were so glad of this pardon, and so readie to ^^ma-^
receiue it, that, without bidding farewell to their capteine, they ^Jp^S.
withdrew themselues the same night euerie man towards his home.
Deserted, and fearing treachery from his former adherents, Cade
runs away. Buckingham exclaims (IL 68-70) :
What, is he fled ) Qo some, and follow him ;
And he that brings his head vnto the King,
Shall haue a thousand Crownes for his reward !
After relating the dispersal of the rebelSi — ^* euerie man towards
his home," — ^Holinshed continues :
[Eol. iii 635/I/S9.] But lacke Cade, despairing of succours, ^ & 2;^f*
and fearing the reward of his lewd dealings^ put all his pillage and ^liirt^ ^
goods that he had robbed into a barge, and sent it to Rochester
by water, and himselfe went by land, and would haue entred into
the castle of Quinborow with a few men that were left about him ;
but he was there let of his purpose : wherefore he, disguised in
strange attire, priuilie fled into the wood countrie beside Lewes in ^^'*
Sussex, hoping so to scape. The capteine & his people being thus
departed, not long after proclamations were made in diuerse places
of Kent, Sussex, and Southerie, that, whosoeuer could take the
foresaid capteine aliue or dead, should haue a thousand markes o(^^^
for his trauelL ^
Act IV. sc. ix — " Multitudes " of the rebels enter " with Halters
about their Neckes." Old ClilEord tells Henry that they yield ;
And humbly thus, with halters on their neckes,
Expect your Highnesse doome, of life or death. 12
Henry ends a gentle speech to them by saying (IL 20, 21) :
And so, with thankes and pardon to you all,
I do dismisse you to your seuerall Oountries.
It was not until after Cade's death— dramatized in the next scene—
that
tent
[Hd. iil 635/2/71. ffalle, 222.1 the king himselfe came into [Henry nt
injadgmi"*
Eentv and there sat in iudgement ypon the ofiendors;^ and, if he ^j^^
had not mingled his iustice with mercy, more than flue hundred
by rigor of law had beene iustlie put to [p. 636] execution. Yet
1 On August 17, 1450» the ArchblBhop of York and the Dnke of Buck-
ingham went to Rochester to try the Kentish rebels. — ^JP<uton, i 139.
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282 X. HENRY VI. PART U.
l£S?wIre ^^* punishing onelie the stubbome heads, & disordered ringleaders,
pMdaned.) pardoned the ignorant and simple persons, to the great reioising of
all his subiecta
A messenger enters, and, addressing Henry, says (11. 23-30) :
Please it your Qrace to be adu^rtis^d,
The Duke of Yorke is newly come from Ireland, 24
And, with a puissant and a mighty power
Of Qallow-glasses and stout Kernes,^
Is marching hitherward in proud array ;
And still proclaimeth, as he comes along, 28
His Armes are onely to remoue from thee
The Duke of Somerset, whom he tearmes a Traitor.
York did not take up arms for the purpose here announced until
some time had elapsed after his return from Ireland. I give the
following excerpt as an illustration of the messenger's news ; premising
that, by "this yeare," the year 1451 is meant. The date of York's
return was September, 1450.*
* In 2 Hen, VLy Act V. opens with this stage direction : ** Enter Yorke,
and his Army of Irish, vdtb Drum and Colours." The ConUiniion has : " Enter
the Duke of Yorke with Drum and souldiers " ; preceding 1. 1, spoken by
York: '*In Armes from Ireland comes Yorke amaine.' The messenger's
speech (IV. ix. 23 30) is not in Oofdenbum, When, in October, 1459, a
temporary Lancastrian success caused York's flight to Ireland, " he was with
all loy and honour gladlie receiued, all the Irish offering to liue and die with
him ; as if they had beene his li^e subiects, and he their lord and prince
naturallie borne.''— J5b{. iii. 650/2 /23. This passage may have been the source
of York's "Army of Irish*; composed of " Qallow-glasses " and "Kernes."
Cp. also the excerpt at p. 248 above, where his beneficial government of Ireland
is recorded.
* In the beginning of September (" in Principio mensis Septembris '*), 1450,
Henry received news of York's sudden arrival in Wales. — TFyrc, 473. Chron.
Land, has a notice of the Kentish rebellion and Cade's death, which is
succeeded by the following passage (136, 137) : *' And after, in the same yere,
Richard Plantagenet duke of Yorke came out of Irland unto Westm', with
roial people, lowely bisechyng the kyng that justice and ezecucion of his lawes
myght be hadde upon alle such persones about him and in al his real me, frome
the nighest degree unto the lowist, as were long tyme noisid and detectid of
high treason ageinst his persone and the wele of his realme, offring hymself
therto, and his service at the kings comaundement, to spend bothe his body
and goodes : and yet it might not be perfourmed." The attainder of York by
the Lancastrian Parliament which met at Coventry in November 1459 contains
this article : "First, he [York] beyng in Irland, by youre paunte youie Lieu-
tenaunt there, at which tyme John Cade, otherwise called Jakke Cade youre
grete Traitour, made a grete insurrection ayeuAt youre Highnes in youre Shire
of Kent, to what entent, and for whome it was after confessed by some of hem
his adherentes whan they shuld dye, that is to sey, to have exalted the seid
Due, ayenst all reason, lawe and trouth, to the estate that Qod and nature hath
ordeyned you and youre succession to be bom to. And within short lyme
after, he comme oute of Ireland with grete bobaunce and inordinate people, to
J cure Paleis of Westmynster unto youre presence," . . . — BU, P(Mii.^ v. 346/i,
loreover, wo learn from Rot Pavl,^ v. 211/2 that^ on September 22, 1450,
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X. HENRY VI. PAET H. 283
[Eol iil 637/i/So. ffalle, 226.] The duke of Yorke, pretend- ^^^^^
ing (as yee haue heard) a right to the crowne, as heire to Lionell JJ^JJ^^ ^
duke of Clarence, came this yeare out of Ireland vnto London, in SSSTfro^*
the parlement time/ there to consult with his speciall freends : as eonsnithiB
lohn duke of Northfolke, Richard earle of Salisburie, and the lord
Richard, his sonne, (which after was earle of Warwike,) Thomas
Courtneie earle of Deuonshire, & Edward Brooke lord Cobham.
After long deliberation and aduise taken, it was thought expedient [itwM
to keepe their cheefe purpose secret : and that the duke should that York
•^ rr ^ / should raise
raise an armie of men, vnder a pretext to remooue diuerse conn- ^^^»
cellors about the king, and to reuenge the manifest iniuries doone f^!^^
to the common-wealth by the same rulers. Of the which, as ^I2^on
principall, the duke of Summerset was namelie accused, both for King, ouef
that he was greatlie hated of the commons for the losse of Nor- yhom wai
mandie ; and for that it was well knowne, that he would be alto*
gither against the duke of Yorke in his chalenge to be made (when
time serued) to the crowne ; • • •
Act rV. 8c. X. — Cade climbs into a garden belonging to '* Alexander
Ident an Esquire qf Kent " (1. 46) ; whom he chaUqnges to mortal
combat, and by whom he is slain. Iden resolves to bear Cade's hecul
'<in triumph to the King," leaving the ''trunke for Crowes to feed
vpon"(ll. 89, 90).
Cade was slain before July 15, 1450.^ Halle's account^ (222) is
that, when the Kentishmen withdrew to their homes, Cade,
desperate of succors, whiche by the frendes of the duke of Yorke
William Tresham, being tben at Sywell, NorthamptonsMre, was " purposyng
by tbe writyng direct imto bym of the right high and myghty Frince, the
Ihike of York, to ride on the morowe for to mete and speke with the seid
Duke"; . . .
^ Parliament was opened at Westminster on November 6, 1450. — Rot. Farl,f
y. 210^1. York returned before this date. See foregoing note.
* The date of an order to pay Iden 1000 marks for Cade's head. — Rymety
xi 275. Cade was slain on July 12 {Qreg.t 194), or on July 13 {Three
ChranicUsy 8. E. 0., 68). In Bot. Fart. (y. 224/2) the latest date assigned to
his movements is July 11.
* On comparing the excerpt in my text with Hol.'s account — derived from
Stow (647) — the r^er will observe that the latter is less like the dramatic
version. After a reward had been offered for Cade, "a gentleman of Kent,
named Alexander Eden, awaited so his time, that he tooke the said Cade in a
garden in Sussex : so that there he was slaine at Hothfield [Heathfield, Sussex],
and brought to London in a cart, where he was quartered ; his head set on
London bridge, and his quarters sent to diners places to be set vp in the shiro
of Kent."— fl^ol. iii. 635/2/64.
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JOfCitCade,
284 X. HENRY VL PABT II.
jOide^ wer to him promised, and seing his company thus without hys
wj^*J^ knoT?Iedge sodainly depart, mistrustyng the sequele of y* matter,
S^usand ^®P^^*®d secretly, in habite disguysed, into Sussex : but all hys
jjjgjjj^^^ metamorphosis or transfiguracion little preuailed. For, after a
JJ^ST Proclamacion made that whosoeuer could apprehende the saied
f^d^a ^^ ^^^^ should haue for his pain a M. markes, many sought for
gj^^wd jjym^ Ij^j f^^ espied hym, til one Alexander Iden, esquire of Kent,
^eunder f^^j^j ]^j^ jjj |^ garden, and there in hys defence manfully slewe
SS^^V ^® caitife Cade, & brought his ded body to London, whose hed
was set on London bridge.
Act Y. so. i. — Buckingham and Somerset were present when Henry
learnt that York was in arms for the purpose of removing Somerset
from the royal counsels. Hoping to disappoint York's enmity, the
King said (IV. iv. 36-40) :
I pray thee, Buckingham,^ go and meete him.
And aske him what's the reason of these Armes.
Tell him He send Duke Edmund to the Tower ; —
And, Somerset, we will commit thee thither,
Vntill his Army be dismist from him.
Buckingham now enters, and, in return to York's question (V. i. 16),
Art thou a Messenger, or come of pleasure}
answers :
A Messenger from Henry, our dread Liege,
To know the reason of these Armes in peace ; • • •
York explains :
The cause why I haue brought this Armie hither,
Is to remoue proud Somerset from the King, 86
Seditious to his Grace and to the State. • • •
Buckingham replies :
The King hath yeelded vnto thy demand : 40
The Duke of Somerset is in the Tower. . . •
York responds :
Then, Buckingham, I do dismisse my Powres. . • • 44
And let my Soueraigne, vertuous Henry, 48
Conmiand my eldest sonne, nay, all my sonnes.
As pledges of my Fealtie and Loue ;
He send them all as willing as I liue :
1 In May, 1456, **the king, when first he heard of the duke of Yorks
approch [to St. Albans], sent to him messengers, the duke of Buckingham,
and others, to vnderstand what he meant by his comming thus in maner of
warre,"— floL iii 643/1/34.
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X. HENRY VI. PART II. 285
Lands, Goods, Horse, Armor, any thing I haue, 52
Is his to vse, so Somerset may die.
Though many months had elapsed since York's return from Ireland
in September, 1450, Somerset's control of the state was undiminished.
Tork therefore determined to effect a change by force, and soon after
February 3, 1452,^
[Hoi. iii. 637/21 S> Halle, 225.] he assembled a great hoast, to wiuu^ui,
the number of ten thousand able men, in the marches of Wales ; T^S^tx
publishing openlie, that the cause of this his gathering of people !U(m«ri<v
was for the publike wealth of the realme. The king, much astonied n^cnmH
at the matter, by aduise of his councell raised a great power, and
marched forward toward the duke. But he, being thereof aduer-
tised, turned out of that way, which by espials he vnderstood that
the king held, and made streight toward London; and, hauing
knowledge that he might not be suffered to passe through the
citie, he crossed ouer the Thames at Eangston bridge, and so kept
on towards Kent, where he knew that he had both freends & well-
willers, and there on Burnt heath, a mile from Dertford, and [Tork
twelue miles from London, he imbatelled, and incamped himselfe near
yerie stronglie, inuironing his field with artillerie and trenches. s^J^i^.
The king hereof aduertised, brought his armie with all diligence
ynto Blackeheath, and there pight his tents.
Whilest both these armies laie thus imbattelled, the king sent wMkam-
the bishop of Winchester, and Thomas Bourchier, bishop of Elie, [Henry 8«nt
Richard Wooduile, lord Riuers, and Richard Andrew, the keeper touk t^
of his priuie scale, to the duke : both to know the cause of so (rreat Tork's^
appearanoe
a commotion, and also to make a concord ; if the requests of the inurms.)
duke and his companie seemed consonant to reason. The duke, nuduka
annoer to
hearing the message of the bishops, answered : that his comming ^ ^'^«
was neither to damnific the king in honour, nor in person, neither
yet anie good man; but his intent was, to remooue from him
* A letter from York, addressed to the Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Commons of
Shiewsbuij, and written at Ludlow Castle on Febrnary 3, 1452, contains these
words: **I signify unto you that ... I, after long sufferance and delays,
nhouffh it bef not my will or intent to displease my sovereign Lord, seeing
that the said Duke [of Somerset! ever prevaueth and ruleth about the King's
person, that by this means the land is Ukely to be destroyed, am fully con-
cluded to proceed in all haste against him, with the help of my kinsmen and
friends" ; . . .— ^tti», I. i 12, 13.
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286
X. HENRY VI. PART II.
[York
offered to
disband his
army if
Somerset
were com-
mittedto
ward.]
certeine euill disposed persons of his councell, bloud-succours of
the nobilitie, pollers of the cleargie, and oppressours of the poore
people.
Amongst these, he cheeflie named Edmnnd duke of Summerset,
^home if the king would commit to ward, to answer such articles
as against him in open parlement should be both proponed and
proued, he promised not onelie to dissolue his armie, but also
offered himselfe (like an obedient subiect) to come to the kings
presence, and to doo him true and faithfull seruice, according to
his loiall and bounden dutia
Henry apparently accepted this condition, and
[Hoi. iil 639/1/23. Halle, 226.] it was so agreed vpon by
aduise, for the auoiding of bloudshed, and pacifieng of the duke
and his people, that the duke of Summerset was committed to
ward, as some say ; or else commanded to keepe himselfe priuie in
his owne house for a time.
Satisfied with the result he had obtained,
[Hoi. iii. 639/1/46. HaJle, 226.] the duke of Yorke, the first
of March, dissolued his armie, [and] brake yp his campe, . • .
His embassy having been successful, Buckingham says (IL 64| 55) :
Yorke, I commend this kinde submission :
We twaine will go into his Highnesse Tent.
Henry then enters and receives York's excuse, but shortly after-
wards Somerset comes forward with Queen Margaret. Her responsi-
bility for Somerset's liberation in 1455 is asserted by Fabyan (628),
from whom we learn that
[Somajet all Contrary the Kynges promyse, by meanys of the Quene,^ which
the Queen.) than bare y* cure & charge of the lAnde, the Duke of somerset
* In December^ 1453, Somerset was "sent to the Tower of London";
Henry being then m a state of mental imbecility. " Bat, when the king was
amended againe [Christmas, 1454.— Pcw^on, i. 315], and lesamed to him his
former gouemement, either of his owne mind, or by the queenes procurement
the duke of Summerset was set at libertie ; by which doing great enuie and
displeasure grew."— ^ol. iii 642/1/19, 41. JBoUe, 232. (Comparison of Bot.
Farly ▼. 248/2, Bymer, xi. 361, 362, and fTyrc., 477, shows that Somerset was
sent to the Tower in 1453, not in 1454 ; the date under which this proceeding
is recorded by Halle and JBbl.) Somerset was in the Tower for more than a
year and ten weeks prior to Feb. 7} 1455. — Bymer, xi 362.
Citmniitted
toward.]
[Tork'f
anny
disaolfwU
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X. HENKY VI. PART n. 287
was set at large, . . • and had as great rule about the Kyng as he
before dayes had ; • • •
Enraged at this treachery, York unbosoms himself (1. 87, &o.) :
How now ! is Somerset at libertie 1 . • .
False ELing ! why hast thou broken faith with me.
Knowing how hardly I can hrooke ahuse ) • • • 92
Heere is a hand to hold a Sceptre vp
And with the same to acte controlling Lawes :
Giue place ! by heauen thou shalt rule no more 104
O're him whom heauen created for thy Buler 1
Somerset exclaims (IL 106, 107) :
0 monstrous Traitor I I arrest thee, Yorke,
Of Capitall Treason 'gainst the King and Crowne : • • •
The historical authority has not been far overstepped here. After
York " brake vp his campe," he
[Hoi. iii. 639/1/47. Halle, 226.] came to the kings tent, where judmkt^
contrarie to his expectation, & against promise made by the king aecu$^tk uu
(as other write) he found the duke of Summerset going at large ««««^
and set at libertie, whome the duke of Yorke boldlie accused of chZ!^
treason, briberie, oppression, and manie other crimes. The duke tSSMS.
of Summerset not onelie made answer to the dukes obiections, but sZ^merut,
also accused him of high treason; affirming, that he with his tr^aun,
fautors and complices had consulted togither, how to come by the
scepter and regall crowne of this realme.
Threatened with arrest by Somerset, York turns to an attendant
and says (IL 111-113):
Sirrah, call in my 8onne[s] to be my bale :
1 know, ere they will haue me go to Ward,
They'l pawne their swords for ^ my infranchisement.
The message quickly brings Edward and Richard Plantagenet to
their father's assistanca The historical Bichard was unborn at the
date (March 1) * of this part of sc. i., Act V. ; but there is warrant for
Edward's intervention on York's behalf. York found himself a
prisoner when his army was disbanded, and, even if his life were not
imperilled, he ran some risk of a long and close detention. He was
obliged to return with Henry to London, where the government held
debate as to what should he done with their formidable captive.^
» /or] F2. o/Fi.
* Richard was bom on October 2, 1452. — Wyrc,, 477. Edward was bom
in April, 1442.— fTyrc., 462.
» Fab,, 627. Chr(m. Lond^y 138.
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288 X. HENRY VI. PART II.
i^> [ffol Hi 639/2/17. Halle, 227.] Wlulest the councell treated
rAmmonr of sauuig OF dispatching of this duke of Torke, a rumor sprang
Earl of through Loudon, that Edward earle of March, sonne and heire
2"^ ^ apparant to the said duke, with a great armie of Marchmen, was
London.] commiug toward London : which tidings sore appalled the queene
and the whole councell.
York therefore was set free, after taking an oath of allegiance to
Henry.i
In the play York has a more commanding position. His part is
taken by Ina ** two braue Beares," Salisbury and Warwick, whom he
calls for when Margaret's summons brings the Cliffords to Henry's
aid. A sketch of York's policy in the year 1454 records his leaning
toward the Nevilles :
TkidMH^ [Ed. iil 641/2/S6. Halle, 231.] The duke of Yorke (aboue
S^SSw ^ things) first sought means how to stir vp the malice of the
Bummentt, people agalust the duke of Summerset ; imagining that, he being
made awaie, his purpose should the sooner take effect He also
practised to bring the king into the hatred of the people, as that
he should not be a man apt to the gouemment of a realme,
wanting both wit and stomach sufficient to supplie such a rooma
Manie of the high estates, not liking the world, and disalowing the
dooings both of the king and his councell, were faine inough of
some alteration. Which thing the duke well vnderstanding,
mbandid chiefelie sought the fauour of the two Neuils; both named
the neuiu. Richard, one earle of Salisburie, the other earle of Warwike, the
first being the father, and the second the sonne.
When the Nevilles enter (L 147), old Clifford tauntinp^ly asks York,
** Are these thy Beares ) " In an altercation with Clifford, Warwick
exclaims (11. 202, 203) :
Now, by my Fathers badge, old Neuils Crest,
The rampant Beare chain'd to the ragged staffe, • • •
Warwick assumed, but did not inherit, the badge of the bear and
ragged staff. He acquired a claim to it through his marriage with
Anne de Beauchamp, sister of Henry de Beauchamp, Duke of Warwick
(see p. 245, n. 1 above).
Act V. sec. ii., iii — The first battle of St. Albans — ^fought on May
^ The oath is recited in the Act of Attainder passed against York by a
Parliament which met at Coventry on November 20, 1459.— iiJoe. FarL, v. 346/2.
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XI. HENRY VI. PART IIL 289
22| 1466 ^ — ^is dramatized in scenes ii and iii.^ Act Y. As at Dartford
in 1462, so at St. Albans in 1466, the Dukes of York and Somerset
met to try the fortune of war ; but at St. Albans their rivalry ended
with the defeat and death of Edmund Beaufort. These scenes contain
no historic matter save the bare fact that Somerset and Thomas Lord
Clifford > (old Clifford) are killed. The former falls by the sword of
the dramatic Eichard, who thus taunts the slain man (IL 66-69) :
So, lye thou there ;
For vndemeath an Ale-house' paltry signe.
The Castle in S. Albons, Somerset
Hath made the Wizard famous in his death.
Halle, speaking of the Lancastrian losses at St. Albans, reported a
story (233) which I quote from Holinshed :
[Hoi. iii 643/2/Q. Halle, 233.1 For there died vnder the ThtdMkto/
Bigne of the castell, Edmund duke of SmnmerBet, who (as hath ^"^
beene reported) was warned long before to auoid all caatels : ' . • •
XI. HENRY VI. PaKT III.
Bbtwebn The third Fart qf Henry the Sixt,—A recast of I^ true
Tragedie of Eichard Duke qf Yorke, — and the Second part, there is a
dramatic interval sufficient for a rapid march from St. Albans to
London, after the battle at the former placa But the historic time of
the Third Part begins on October 24, 1460, — ^when York was declared
heir apparent, — and closes with the death of Henry YI. on May 21,
1471.
Act I. so. i — ^The Yorkists enter and boast of their victory. " Lord
1 P(U^ L 887. A full account of the battle follows.
^ Amonff those slain at St Albans, Bio/w (661) specifies 'Hhe olde Lord
Clifforde." ("olde" first appears in the ed. of 1692, p. 651.) Lord Clifford is
not, Ibelieye, called" old ^ m any other chronicle printed before the date of
this play ; and he is not thus distinguished from his son in the Contention, In
8 jBTetk ri. we find " old OUfford'* jEntry, IV. viii. 6), and « Old aif:* is pre-
fixed to several speeches in v. i His son is '* young Clifford " in the Content
tion and 2 Ben, vl. The son's name does not appear in a contemporary list
{Fadon, L 332^ 333) of the chief persons present at the battle of St Albans,
and I do not know of any book or MS. which records that he was there.
* "Thys sayde Edmond duke of Somerset had herde a fantastyk prophecy
that he shuld ay vndre a castelle ; wherefore in as meche as in him was, he
lete the kyng that he sholde nat come in the castelle of Wyndsore, dredyng
the seyde prophecy ; but at Sejut Albonys ther was an hostry haujng the
Sgne of a castelle, and before that hostry he was slayne." — Chron. Bu^, 11, —
en. VI,, 72.
U
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290
XI. HENRY VI. PART HI.
[The slain at
St. Albans.]
Tkomai lord
$aiih Who-
[FagitlTei
ht>mSt.
Albans.]
Clifford^ and Lord Stafford" charged the Yorkists' ''maine Battailes
Front," and were slain by "common Souldiers." Buckingham was
"either slaine or wounded dangerous" by Edward; and Warwick's
brother, John Neville, afterwards Marquess Montague,' shows " the
Earle of Wiltshires blood" (11. 7-16). These particuLsLrs are dramatic
additions to a simple record that, on the battle-field of St. Albans,
[Hoi. ill 643/2/12. Halle, 233.] laie Henrie, the second of
that name, earle of Northumberland; Humfrie earle of Stafford,
Bomie to the duke of Buckingham ; Thomas ' lord Clifford ; . . .
Humfreie, duke of Buckingham, being wounded, and lames
Butler, earle of Ormond and Wilshure, . . . seeing fortune thus
against them, left the king alone, and with a number fled awaie.
Henry's flight after the battle of St. Albans (U. 1-3) is fictitious.
He remained in the town, and there accepted the excuses of York, who,
on the following day, escorted him to London.^ Parliament met at
Westminster on July 9, 1455, and, after passing an Act of indemnity
for Tork and his associates, was adjourned until November 12. Oii
November 19, 1455, York was appointed Protector, Henry having
during the adjournment again become imbecile. Early in the year
1456 the Eling recovered, and on February 25 York's I^tectorate was
cancelled.^ On March 25, 1458, in pursuance of an award made by
Henry, York, Salisbury and Warwick were formally reconciled to the
sons of those nobles who had been slain at St. Albans.* Some months
later the peace was broken by an affray from which Warwick barely
escaped unharmed.^ On July 10, 1460, the Yorkists' victory at North-
ampton left Henry their prisoner. He was conveyed to London, and a
1 In 2 Heik VL, V. ii. 28, he Is slain by York.
* On May 23, 1461, summoned to Parliament as Baron de Montague. —
Doyle, ii 612. (1460 is the year according to DugddU, i 307/3.) (Seated
Marquess Montague in 1470 (DugdaUy L 308/i}.
> Thomas] Icm HoL
* Faston,!. 330, 331, 333.
* Parliament opened on July 9. — Bat Pari.^ v. 278/i, Act of indemnity.
— Ibid,, 281, 282. Prorogation of Parliament to November 12, 1455.— J£dki.
283/1-2. In a letter written on October 28^ 1455, James Qresham tells John
Paston that "summe men ar a ferd that he [the King] is seek a^eyn."— Pcufon,
i 352. By a conmiission dated November 11, York was authorized to hold the
Parliament adjourned to the following day ; because, " propter certas justas &
rationabiles causaB," Henry could not be present in person. — Bat ParLy v.
284/2. For York's appointment as Protector see Bot. FaH,, v. 288/i ; for his
discbarge from that oflSce see Bot, Fati.^ v. 32y2.
' Henry's award, dated March 24, is given in Wheiih,, 422 sqq. The agree-
ment was celebrated, on March 25, 1458, by a procession of the King, Queen,
and nobility at St FmVs.—Fab., 633.
T According to Okron. Bieh, II. — Hen, VI., 78, this afi^ray happened on
November 9, 1468, but Fab. (633) dates it "aboute the feest of CJandlelmasse,"
1459. July 4, 1459, is the date assigned by the Lancastrian Parliament of
Coventry to the Yorkists* first act of rebellion,— iJo*. Fori., v. 349.
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XI. HENRY VI. PART HL 291
Parliamont assembled at Westminster on October 7, 1460.^ Here we
rejoin the course of the drama.
York is seated on the throne when Henry enters with the Lancas-
trian nobles. Turning to them the Eling exclaims (11. 50, 61) :
My Lords, looke where the sturdie Bebell sits,
Euen in the Ohayre of State I
York is said to have made this, or a similar, public demonstration
of his right, soon after the assembly of Parliament in October, 1460.^
[Hoi. iii 655/1/73.] Maiflter Edward Hall in his chronicle [245]
maketh mention of an oration, which the duke of Yorke yttered, [Torkin
sitting in the regall seat^^ there in the chamber of the peeres, either Mat/*]
at this his first comming in amongst them, or else at some one
time afier : the which we haue thought good also to set downe ;
though lohn WhdJiamsted, the abbat of saint Albons, who lined in
those daies, and by all likelihood Was there present at the parle-
ment^ maketh no further recitall of anie words, which the duke
should ytter at that time in that his booke of records, where he
intreateth of this matter.^ But for the oration (as maister HaU
hath written thereof) we find as followeth : T During the time ^f^g^**
(saith he) of this parlement, the duke of Yorke with a bold '^'^*^*^^
countenance entered into the chamber of the peeres, and sat
downe in the throne roiall, ynder the cloth of estate^ (which is the
1 Fah.y 636. Rot. Pari., v. 373/i.
* The " writyng" which set forth York's title was read before the Peen on
October 16, 1460.— JBof. Fmly v. 375/i.
* Warwick says (I. i 25, 26) :
" This is the PaJlace of the fearefull King,
And this the BegaU Seat: possesse it, York " ; • • •
** the regall seat " is HoL'a phrase, not HcM$. York, answering Warwick (L 29X
says : " hither we hane broken in by force." In October, 1460. York " went
to the most principall lodging that the king had within all nis pakce [of
Westminster], breaking yp the lockes and doores, and so lodged himselfe
therein,'* . . .—JHol. iu. 666/1/63 Ofrom Whefih.y 485). JToKe Sas not this
passage.
* The passage referred to {Wheih.f ^^184) is thus translated in Hci. iii,
655/1/37, &c. : " At his [York's] comming to Westminster he entred the palace,
and, passing foorth directlie through the great haU, staled not till he came to
the cnamber where the king and lords vsed to sit in the parlement time, . . .
and, being there entred, stept vp vnto the throne roiall, and there, laieng his
hand vpon the doth of estate, seemed as if he meant to take possession of that
which was his right, (for he held his hand so vpon that doth a good pretie
while,") and, after withdrawing his hand, turned nis face towards the people,
beholaing their preassing togither, and marking what countenance they
made."
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292
XL HENRY VL PART HI.
S^tetbe ^'^'^ peculiar seat,) and, in the presence of the nobilitie, as well
d2dZI^*hi q>uitaall as temporall (after a pause made), he began to declare
titto.]
(Tbe
Loodoncn
tkfcnnd
York.]
his title to the crowne, in this forme and order as insueth.
excerpts from York's speech at pp. 256-258 aboye.]
[See
Northumberland and Clifford wish to ^'assayle the Family qf
Torke " ^ (L 65), but Henry demurs :
Ah, know you not the Citie f auours them, • • •
This partiality was of service to York in (f) 1456, when Queen
Margaret perceived that
[Hoi. iil 645/2/66. Halle, 236.] she could attempt nothmg
against him neere to London;' because the duke was in more
estimation there, than either the king hir husband, or hir
seUe: . • •
Henry fails in an attempt to prove his title to the crown,' and,
alarmed by the sudden appearance of Yorkist soldiers, proposes a
compromise, which is accepted (U. 170-175) :
Henry, My Lord of Warwick, heare me but one word :
Let me for this my life time reigne as King.
Plant, Confirme the Growne to me and to mine Heires, 172
And thou shalt reigne in quiet while thou liu*6t.
Htfniry, I am content : Kichard Plantagenet,
Enioy the Kingdome after my decease.
On October 16, 1460, York's claim to the crown was, as we have
seen (p. 255 above), brought before Parliament.
\Hd. iil 657/1/69. HaXU, 249.] After long debating of the
JJjJf^^ matter, and deliberate consultation amongest the peeres, prelate,
^iS&^oLgi^ ^^d commons ; vpon the vigill of All saints,^ it was condescended :
[the] enwiM. j^^ ^^ much as king Henrie had beene taken as king by the space
1 « Thomas Thorpe, second Baron of thexchequer, mate frende to the
house of Lancaster, and extreme enemie to the Famylie ofXorke/* — HaUe, 245.
^ After the second battle of St. Albans (p. 301 below) Maigaret retired to
the north of England ; '* hauinc little tmst in Essex, and lesse in Kent, but
least of all in London."— HoL liL 661, coL 1, L 40. HalUy 253. As to the
Yorkist feeling in Kent, see p. 296 bslow.
» Previously Heniy said to York (L 105) : " Thy [Afy Fi] Father was. as
thou art, Duke of Yorke." York's rather was Bichard Earl of Cambridge,
younger son of Edmund of Langley. The Earl of Cambridge was executed
dnring the lifetime of his elder broUier Edward Duke of York.
* Hemy accepted the Peers* arbitrament on October 25. — Bot Pad., v.
377/2. On October 31 York came to the Upper House, and there, in the
$re8ence of Henry and the Peers, took an oath of fidelity to the Eiag,—JRaL
^oH., V. 379. See next page.
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XI. HENRY VI. PART HI. 293
of thirtie and eight yeares and more, that he should inioy the (Henry to be
name and title of king, and haue possession of the reahne during ^'^/^^|^
his naturall life. And, if he either died, or resigned, or forfeited ^* ^^^'^
the same, by breaking or going against anie point of this concord,
then the said crowne & authoritie roiall should immediatlie be
deuoluted and come to the duke of Torke, if he then lined ; or
else to the next heire of his linage.
Henry makes a stipulation (11. 194-200) :
I here entayle
The Crowne to thee and to thine Heires for euer ;
Conditionally, that heere thou take an Oath 196
To cease this Ciuill Warre ; and, whil'st I liue.
To honor me as thy King and Soueraigne,
And neyther by Treason nor Hostilitie
To seeke to put me downe^ and reigne thy selfe. 200
The agreement ^ by which York was declared heir apparent to the
crown contained the following provision :
[Ed. iil 658/1/33.] Item, the said Richard duke of Torke,
shall promit and bind him by his solemne oth, in manor and forme
as foUoweth :
*' In the name of God, Amen : I, Richard duke of Torke, promise Tiuotki^
** and Bweare by the faith and truth that I owe to almightie God, ^^
** that I shall neuer consent^ procure, or stirre, directlie or indirecUie,
"in priuie or apert^ neither (as much as in me is) shall suffer to be
''doone, consented, procured, or stirred, anie thing that may sound
'' to the abridgement of the naturall life of king Henrie the sixt, or
"to the hurt or diminishing of his reigne or dignitie roiall, by
" violence, or anie other waie, against his fireedome or libertie : " . • •
When all except Henry and Exeter have left the stage. Queen
Margaret enters with her son Edward Prince of Wales. She upbraids
Henry with his cowardice, and points out its uselessness (11. 238-241) :
Warwick is Cbancelor, and the Lord of Callice ;
Sterne Faloonbridge commands the Narrow Seas ;
The Duke is made Protector of the Sealme ;
And yet shalt thou be safe)
Halle (233) and Holinshed (iii 644/2/17) record that, in the
Parliament wmch met soon after the first battle of St. Albans,
» The articles of agreement between Henry and York (Rot. FarL v. 878,
379), containing this oath, are not in HaUe. They were taken by Mol. from
Stow (679^83).
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294 XI. HENRY VI. PART ni.
Warwick's father — Bicliard Neville, Earl of Salisbury — ^was appointed
Ohancellor, while Warwick himself received the Captaincy of Calais.^
** Falconbridge " is perhaps a Lancastrian Yice-Admiral of later date ;
fThe bastard [EalU, 301.] ono Thomas Neuel, bastard sonne to William'
bri^' lord Fauconbridg[e], the valyant capitajne ; a man of no lesse corage
then audacitie. . . • This bastard was before this tyme [1471]
[madevic^. appoyntod by the erle of Warwycke to be Yyce-admirall of the
admiral of
tbe sea.] sea, and had in charge so to kepe the passage betwene Doner and
Caleys, that none which either fauoured kinge Edward or his
frendes should escape vntaken and vndronned.*
Holinshed, on Halle's authority (249), relates the proclamation of
York's third protectorship.*
ThMdutetif [jJTi?^. iiL 659/1/30.] And ypon the saturdaie [November 8,
Yorkt pro*
clamed keirt 1460] uoxt lusuing [All Sauits' Day], Richard duke of Yorke was
apparantS
proUeUmr </
(A<
by sound of trumpet solemnelie proclamed heire apparant to the
crowne of England, and protectour of the realme.
Margaret tells Henry that the " Northerne Lords " will follow her
colours; and she and her son are about to go — for *'our Army is
ready *' — when the King says (L 259) :
Gentle Sonne Edward, thou wilt stay with ^ me t
Queens. I, to be murther'd by his Enemies. 260
Prince, When I retume with victorie from • the field.
He see your Qrace : till then, He follow her.
My next excerpt shows that, though York had been declared heir
apparent, his position was not secure :
[Hoi. iii 659/1/44. Halle, 249.] The duke of Yorke, well
nj^rH knowing that the queene would spume against all this, caused
to H^Jyr** both hir and hir sonne to be sent for by the king. But she, as
woont rather to rule, than to be ruled, and thereto counselled by
but
bled ax
army.)
^ In the corresponding lines of T, T., Warwick's appointments as Chan-
cellor and **LoTd'^of Cakis are not mentioned. Salisboiy's Chancellorship
preceded the battle of St. Albans. He received the seals on April 1 (April 2,
the date given in my authority, fell on a Tuesday), 1454, and suirendered them
on March 7, 1465.— Proc. Friv. Co,, vi. 355-359. Warwick was made Captain
of Calais on August 4, 1455.— Bot. ParL, v. 309/2.
* WHUam] Tkomoi Halle.
* This appointment must have been made in 1470, after Warwick had
broken with Edward IV.
^ It appears from Wyre. (484) that York became heir apparent and
**Regens'*Dy virtue of the same agreement According lo Chron, Mich. 11. —
Hen. VI. (106) and Chron. LoncL (141) York was made Protector in 146a
* tottfc] (Qq) F2. om. Fi.
• /iwn] (Qq) F2. to Fi.
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XI. HENRY VI. PART 111. 295
the dukes of Excester and Summerset, not onelie denied to come,
but also assembled a great armie ; intending to take the king by
fine force out of the lords hands.
Act L sc. ii — ^When York heard that a Lancastrian army was
gathering in the North, he
[Eol iii. 659/1/52. Halle, 260.] assigned the duke of Norffolke,
and erie of Warwike, his trustie freends, to be about the king/ while
he, with the earles of Salisburie and Rutland, and a conuenient
number, departed out of London the second daie of December,^
northward ; and appointed the earle of March his eldest sonne to
follow him with all his power. The duke came to his castell of jrorkat
*^ Sandal
Sandall beside Wakefield on Christmasse eeuen,* & there began caatie.)
to make muster of his tenants and freends.
The scene opens at Sandal Castle. Bichard argues (11. 22-27) that
Henry, being an usurper, could not lawfully impose an oath upon Tork.
York is convinced and resolves to " be King or dye." Holinshed — ^in
a passage derived from Whethamstede (491) — says that many deemed
York's miserable end
[Eol. iii. 659/2/58.] a due punishment for breaking his oth of ^rhe Pop«
allegiance ynto his souereigne lord king Henrie : but others held yIt'^u^
him discharged thereof, bicause he obteined a dispensation from ^p^rchau
the pope, by such suggestion as his procurators made vnto him ; %^vrith
whereby the same oth was adiudged void, as that which was tl^^.
receiued vnaduisedlie, to the preiudice of himselfe, and disheriting
of all his posteritie.
York then takes steps to warn his friends of his intended revolt
(IL 40-42) :
You, Edward, shall vnto my Lord Cobham,
With whom the Kentishmen will willingly rise :
Li them I trust ; . . .
Edward Brooke, Lord Cobham, was one of York's " speciall freends "
(see p. 283 above). When — about three weeks before the battle of
Northampton — a Yorkist army, commanded by the Earls of March,
Salisbury, and Warwick,^ was passing
1 " Warwicke, Cobbam, and the rest," were left by York, " Protectors of the
King."— 3 Hen. VL, I. ii. 66, 67.
* HaUe, 260. December 9.—€h'eg., 210. ** a lytelle before Crystynmas."—
Chran. Bich. II.^Hen. VI., 107.
« HdUey 250. December 21.— TTyrc., 484.
* They landed at Sandwich on June 26, 1460.— -Mis, III. i. 91 compared
with B5-88. The battle of Northampton was fought on July 10, 1460.
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296
XL HENRY VI. PART IIL
Wh4tham'
ited
1460
Abr.PUm.
[The
Kentishmen
were
TorUite.]
AW, FL ear
/[ohn
£[tow].
jxv. 097.
Kent tent to
OaliMfortKt
mrltt.
[Maigaret's
armyoame
before
Bendalfind
offered
tattle to:
York.]
[Hot. iil 653/2/71. JIalle, 243.] through Kent, there came to
them the lord Cobham, lohn Gilford, William Pech, Robert Home,
and manie other gentlemen ; . . .
The Yorkist leaders were enoouraged to land in Kent, because
[Ed. iii. 653/2/43.] the people of that countrie and other parts
were altogither bent in their fauor ; and no lesse addicted to doo
them sendee both with bodie and goods, than the Irishmen ^ seemed
to be at their receiuing of the said dnke of Torke, and his yoonger
Sonne Edmund earle of Rutland ; whom they so highlie honoured,
that they offered to line and die in their quarrelL . . .
But it is to be read in a late writer, that the commons of Kent
• . . sent priuilie messengers to Calis to the foresaid erles ; beseech-
ing them in all hast possible to come to their succour. Wherevpon
the said carles sent ouer into Kent the lord Fauconbridge, to know
if their deeds would accord with their words : ' so that anon the
people of Kent, and the other shires adioining, resorted to the said
lord Fauconbridge in great number.
A messenger enters hastily and addresses York (II. 49-52) :
The Queene with all the Northeme Earles and Lords
Intend here to besiege you in your Castle :
She is hard by with twentie thousand men ;
And therefore f ortifie your Hold, my Lord.
Hearing of York's arrival at Sandal Oastle, Margaret
[Hoi, iil 659/i/6i. ffalle, 250.] determined to cope with him
yer his succour were come.
Now she,'hauing in hir companie the prince hir sonne, the
dukes of Excester and Summerset, the earle of Deuonshire, the
lord Clifford, the lord Ros, and in effect all the lords of the north
parts^ with eighteene thousand men, or (as some write) two and
twentie thousand, marched from Torke to Wakefield, and bad base
to the duke, euen before his castell gates.
York now welcomes his uncles^ — Sir John and Sir Hugh Mortimer,
— and adds (1. 64) :
1 See p. 282, n. 1 above. "Inshmen . • . qnarreU." Not in JSoOe, or in
Hoi ed. 1.
* words] Stow. vx)od$'\ HoL
* Queen Margaret waa not present at the battle of Wakefield. After the
battle she came from Scotland to York. — Wyrc,y 485.
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XL HENRY VI. PART ni. 297
The Annie of the Queene meane to besiege vs.
loKn, Shee shall not neede ; wee'le meete her in the field.
Yorht, What, with fine thousand men 1 . . .
Fine men to twentie I though the oddes be great, 72
I doubt not, Vnckle, of our Victorie.
Many a Battaile haue I wonne in France,
When as the Enemie hath beene tenne to one :
Why should I not now haue the like successel 76
Words as confident as these were, we learn from Halle (250),
uttered by York when Margaret's army appeared before Sieindal
Oastle. The Duke,
hauyng with hym not fuHy fine ihousande persones, determined nrork deter-
incontinent to issue out, and to fight with his enemies ; and all ^^j^j^
though sir Dauy Halle, his old seniant and chief counsailer, auysed th^^^ir
him to kepe hys Castle, and to defende the same with his smal j^^^ILS^him
numbre, till his sonne the Erie of Marche wer come with his power casue!?
of Marchemen and Welshe souldiours^ yet he would not be coun-
sailed, but in a great fiuy saied: ''a, Dauy, Dauyl hast thou
"loued me so long, and now wouldest haue me dishonored 1 Thou
''neuer sawest me kepe fortres when I was Regent in Nonnandy,
''when the Dolphyn hymself, with his puissaunce, came to beside
''me, but, lyke a man, and not like a birde included in a cage, I ^y^'^
"issued and fought with myne enemies, to their losse euer (I uuiewfth
the PreDoh.
"thanke God) and to my honor. . • . wouldest thou that I, for •^T^?^.
"dread of a scolding woman,^ • • • should incarcerate my self, and g^ou
"shutmygatesr ^^SJSS?']
Act I. sc. iii — ^Rutland and his Tutor enter, fleeing from Clifford.
They are overtaken and separated, the Tutor crying out (U. 8, 9), as he
is dragged off by soldiers.
Ah, Clifford, murther not this innocent Child,
Least thou be hated both of God and Man !
Rutland pleads for mercy, but Clifford is obdurate (1. 47) :
Thy Father slew my Father ; therefore, dye I
Halle relates (261) that, while the battle of Wakefield
was in fighting, a prieste called sir Robbert Aspall, chappelain and [Aspon,
scbole master to the yong erle of Rutland, (.il sonne to the aboue ^JJ^.^'*
1 Richard thus encourages his fSeither to accept Margaret's challenge (3 Hen,
VLf I. ii 68) : "A Woman^s geneiall ; what should we feaie 1 *
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298 XL HENRY VL PART IIL
named duke of Yorke, sca[r]ce of the age of .xil yeres,* a faire
gent\emn,n and a maydoTilike person,) perceiuyng that f[l]ight was
[secreuy moro sauegard than tariyng bothe for hym and his master, secretly
convoyed
^nJwlJ conueyd therle out of the felde, by the lord Cliffordes bande,
batuo.fleid.1 toward the towne ; but, or he coulde entre into a house, he was by
tcMfford ^^ the sayd lord Clifford espied, folowed, and taken, and, by reson of
2JJ^^ his apparelt, demaunded what he was. The yong gentelman, dis-
^auand maycd, had not a word to speake, but kneled on his knees, implor-
merej, y^g morcy and desiryng grace, both with holding yp his handes and
making dolorous countinance, for his speache was gone for feare.
entreaties " Sauc him," saydc his Chappelein, "for he is a princes sonne, and
p«*g^^ " peraduenture may do you good hereafter." With that word, the
(difrordsaid lord Clifford marked him and sayde : "by Gods blodel thy &ther
to Rutland: ¥ f 0
^jThy^^ftther "slew myne, and so will I do the and all thy kyn 1 " and, with that
" th?e1^d^ woord, stacke the erle to the hart with his dagger, and bad his
^^ Chappeleyn here the erles mother & brother worde what he had
done and sayde. In this acte the lord Clyfford was accompted a
tyraunt and no gentelman, for the propertie of the Lyon^ (which is
a furious and an ynreasonable beaste) is to be cruell to them that
withstande hym, and gentle to such as prostrate or humiliate them
selfes before hym. Tet this cruel Clifforde, & deadly bloudsupper,
SKircro [^^] ^0* content with this homicyde or chyldkyllyng,* . . .
Act I. so. iv. — ^York enters and tells his defeat (11. 1-4) :
The Army of the Queene hath got the field :
My Ynckles both are slaine in rescuing me ;
And all my followers to the eager foe
Tume backe, and flye, . . .
The Lancastrian victory of Wakefield was won on December 30,
1460.* Though York
^ Edmund Earl of Rutland, York's thiid son, waa bom in May, 1443, and
was therefoie more than seventeen years of a£;e at this date. — WyrCf 462.
After the battle he fled, but was overtaken and sLain by CUffoid on the bridse
at Wakefield.— TTyra, 485. Rutland was "one the beste dysposyd lorde m
tbys londe.*'— C^regf., 210.
' Rutland compares Clifford to 'Hhe pent-vp Lvon • • • insoltinff o're hia
Prey."— 3 Hen. Vl,, I. iii 12, &c
» In 3 Hen. VLy II. ii. 112, Richard calls Clifford " that cruell Chfld-killer.*
(After " chyld-kyllyng," Clifford's unworthy treatment of York's dead body ia
related. See next page.)
* Rot. Farl, v. 466/2. Wyrc. (485) gives December 29, and Chron. Rich.
II.—Hen. VI. (107), December 31, as the date of the battle.
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XI. HENRY VI. PART HI. 299
[ffol iii. 659/2/10. EaUe, 250.] fought manfiiUie, yet was he JJJ^g^^
within half an houre slaine and dead, and his whole armie discom-
fited : with him died of his trostie freends, his two bastard vncles,
sir lohn and sir Hugh Mortimer, sir Dauie Hall, sir Hugh
Hastings, sir Thomas Nenill, William and Thomas Aparre, both
brethren ; and two thousand and eight hundred others, whereof ^JJ^****
manie were yoong gentlemen, and heiros of great parentage in the J^JS^^^
south parts : whose kin reuenged their deaths within foure moneths Jm!'*^^
next^^ as after shall appeare.
Being unable to escape, York becomes Queen Margaret's prisoner,
and is subjected by her to indignities. Addressing Clil^ord and North-
umberland, she says (IL 67 ; 94, 95) :
Come, make him stand vpon this Mole-hill here, . • •
A Orowne for Yorke ! and. Lords, bow lowe to him f
Hold you his hands, whilest I doe set it on.
Of this matter Holinshed gave two versions, both of which I quote.
The former is an abridgment of Halle (251) ; the latter — whence we
learn that York <' was taken aliue, and in derision caused to stand vpon
a molehill" — ^is, in part, a translation from Whethamstede (489).
According to Halle, OUfford, not satisfied with Rutland's murder,
[Eol. iii 659/2/37. Halle, 251.1 came to the place where the nrork'ihead
■ stniok off,
dead corpse of the duke of Yorke laie, caused his head to be !2Jr°**
*■ ' with paper,
striken oflT, and set on it a crowne of paper,* fixed it on a pole, and MntSto
presented it to the queene, not lieng farre from the field, in great *^*'**'^^
despite, at which great reioising was shewed : but they laughed
then that shortlie after lamented, and were glad then of other
mens deaths that knew not their owne to be so neere at hand.
T Some write that the duke was taken aliue, and in derision wufham-
MittL
caused to stand ypon a molehill ; on whose head they put a garland [tim lah-
in steed of a crowne, which they had fashioned and made of sedges m«d« ^ork
^ stand upon
or bulrushes ; and, hauing so crowned him with that garland, they J^nT^^i^.
kneeled downe afore him (as the lewes did ynto Christ) in scome, ^l^JII"*
saieng to him: "Haile, king without rulel haile, king without b^J^^
and derided
» At the battle of Towton.
• Richard afterwards reproached Maigaret for crowning his father's " War-
like Brows with Paper."— Uicfc. IIL, I. iii. 175. The Qq. and F. have no
stase direction against 3 Hen, Vl.y I. iv. 96. Wyrc. (486) says that the dead
hodies of York and his friends were decapitated, and their heads were placed
in different parts of the city of York. The Duke's head was crowned with
paper (carta), in contempt. AU this was done at the lords' instance.
him.]
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800 XI. HENRY VI. PART HI.
"heritage I haile^ duke and prince without people or possessions I **
And at length, hauing thus scorned him with these and diuerse
other the like despitefiill words, they stroke off his head, which (as
yee haue heard) they presented to the queene.
York is at last slain by the hands of Clifford and Margaret, where-
upon the Qaeen cries (IL 179-180) :
Off with his Head, and set it on Yorke Gates ;
So Yorke may ouer-looke the Towne of Yorke t
The following excerpt illustrates these lines :
[Hoi iii. 659/2/65. Halle, 251.] After this victorie by the
queene, the earle of Salisburie and all the prisoners were sent to
Tk$ Pomfret, and there beheaded ; whose heads (togither with the duke
fSlSZ of Yorkes head) were conueied to Yorke, and there set on poles
ouer the gate of the citie, in despite of them and their linage.
Act II. so. i. — "A March. Enter Edward, Richard, and their
power." The brothers are talking of their father — of whose fate they
are ignorant — until Bicbard says (11. 21, 22) :
See bow the Morning opes her golden Qates,
And takes her f arwell of the glorious Sunne ! • • •
JSd, Dazle mine eyes, or doe I see three Sunnes 1
Rtch, Three glorious Sunnes, each one a perfect Sunne ;
Not seperated with the racking Clouds,
But seuer'd in a pale cleare-shining Skye. 28
See, see 1 they ioyne, embrace, and seeme to kisse,
As if they voVd some League inuiolable :
Now are they but one Lampe, one Light, one Sunne.
In this the Heauen figures some euent. 32
Edward answers (IL 39, 40) :
What ere it bodes, hence-forward will I beare
Ypon my Targuet three faire shining Sunnes.
After collecting an army on the borders of Wales, Edward had
begun his march thence when
[HoL iii. 66O/1/14. Halle, 251.] newes was brought to him,
that lasper earle of Penbroke, halfe brother to king Henrie, and
lames Butler, earle of Ormund and WUshire, had assembled a
great number of Welsh and Irish people to take him : he, herewith
ThtMoi^ quickned, retired backe and met with his enimies in a faire plaine
neere to Mortimers orosse, not far from Hereford east,^ on Candle
tifMorUwuTB
1 '< The field of the batUe of Mortimer's Cross is in the parish of Kingdand,
five miles north-west by west from Leominster, dose to the fifth mile-stone of
the tum-pike road, leading from Leominster to Wigmore and Knighton " . . .
Brooke's VisiU to Fidds cfBcMe, 1857, p. 74.
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XI. HBNKY VI. PART IIL 301
masse daie^ [Feb. 2, 1461] in the morning. At which time the
Sonne (as some write) appeared to the earle of March like three
sonnes, and suddenlie ioined altogither in one. Upon which sight
he tooke such courage, that he, fiercelie setting on his enimies, put
them to flight: and for this cause men imagined that he gaue the i^^^]
sunne in his fuD brightnesse for his badge or cognisance. Mghtiunm.
The arrival of a messenger, who brings news to Edward of York's
death, is soon followed by i£e entry of Warwick with an army. From
Warwick Edward hears of the Yorkist defeat at the second battle of
St. Albans, fought on February 17, 1461.' As the combined forces of
Edward and Warwick reached London on February 26, 1461,^ their
meeting — dramatized in this scene — ^must have taken place on some
historic day between these dates. Alter Warwick's defeat at St.
Albans, the Lancastrians purposed marching to London, but they
retired to the north of England when
[Hoi. m. 66I/1/33. Edlle, 252.] true report came not onelie [Meeting or
to the queene, but also to the citie; that the earle of March, wanricko
hauing yanquished the carles of Penbroke and Wilshire, had met
with the earle of Warwike (after this last battell at saint Albons)
at Chipping Norton by Cotsold; and that they with both their
powers were comming toward London.
Warwick gives an account of what happened after he had received
tidings of the conflict at Wakefield (11. 111-121) :
I, then in London, keeper of the King,
Muster'd my Soldiers, gathered flockes of Friends, 112
And, verie well appointed, as I thought,^
Marcht toward S. Albons to intercept the Queene,
Bearing the King in my behalfe along ;
For by my Scouts I was adu^rtis^, 116
That she was comming with a full intent
To dash our late decree in Parliament,
Touching King Henries Oath, and your Succession.
Short Tale to make, we at S. Albons met, 120
Our Battailes ioyn'd, and both sides fiercely fought : . • •
1 According to Chron. Bich, 11, — Hen, VI, (110) the three suns were seen
about 10 a.ro., on Februaiy 2, 1461 ; and the battle of Mortimer's Oioss was
fought on the following day. In Qrtg, (211) and Thru Chronicles (8, E, 0.,
77) the battle and the appearance of three suns are dated February 2.
« Bot, FaH., V. 476/2.
» Grw., 216. Fab., 639. Three Chronicles {8. E. 0., 77). February 27.—
Three Chronides (B. L, a, 172). February 28.— C^ron. Bich, IL—Hen. FJ.,
110. Edward and Warwick met at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. —
Wyrc., 488.
* 113. And . . . ihovght} T. T. Not in 3 Hen. VL
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• 302 XI. HENRY VI. PART IIL
But the Lancastrians prevailed ;
So that we fled ; the King vnto the Queene (1. 137) ; . . .
Halle relates (252) that, after the hattle of Wakefield, Queen
Margaret
[Mar«ret stlll csmc fofwarde with her Northren people, entendyng to sub-
!S!^^^ uerte and defaict all conclusions and agrementes enacted and
uniiuSS assented to in the last ParliameTit. And so after her long iomey
•ettiement g^e came to the town of sainct AlboTts ; wherof the duke of North-
of the
"^'^-^ folke, the erle of Warwycke, and other, (whom the duke of Yorke
>oi^ ^^ had lefte to goueme the kyng in his absence,) beyng aduertised,
[gathered an by the asscut of y* kyng, gathered together a great hoste, and set
^{i2d to forward towarde saincte Albons, hauyng the kyng in their company,
St> Albans,
•ocompanied as thc head and chefetayn of the warre ; and so, not myndyng to
differre the tyme any farther, ypon shrouetuesday, early in the
roefeatedby momyug, set vpon their enemyes. Fortune that day so fauored
ih^rfoi^^k the Queue, that her parte preuayled, & the duke and the erle were
fl«<i.i discomfited, and fled, leaning the king . . •
The Yorkist soldiers might (Warwick conjectures) have been
dispirited hy
the coldnesse of the King, 122
Who look'd full gently on his warlike Queene, . • •
Holinshed says that, when the soldiers, who had charge of Henry,
fled from the field, the Yorkist
[Eol. iii. 66O/2/14.] nobles that were about the king, perceiuing
how the game went, and withall saw no comfort in the king, but
^^^^^ rather a good will and aflTection towards the contrarie part, . . .
oastrLiB.]' withdrew • . • , leaning the king . • .
Now after that the noble men and other were fled, and the
king left in manor alone without anie power of men to gard his
[Henry pcrsou, he was counselled by an esquier called Thomas Hoo, a man
jd?^^ well languaged, and well scene in the lawes, to send some con-
(Lancaa- ucnieut mcssouger to the northeme lords, aduertising them, that
tiian) lords.] «=» »
he would now gladlie come vnto them, (whome he knew to be his
yerie freends, and had assembled themselues togither for his
seruice,) to the end he might remaine with them, as before he had
remained ynder the gouernement of the southeme lords. . • .
[The Lancastrian lords conyeyed Henry to Clifibrd's tent], and
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XI. HENRY VI. PART IH. 303
brought the qneene and hir Bonne prince Edward ynto his giectingof
presence, whome he ioifullie receiued, imbracing and kissing them ]5ld?ri^
in most loning wise ; and yeelding hartie thanks to almightie God, ^^^'^'^^
whome it had pleased thus to strengthen the forces of the
northeme men, to restore his deerelie belooued and onelie sonne
againe into his possession.
Warwick tells Edward (11. 145-147) that George — afterwards Duke
of Clarence —
was lately sent
From your kinde Aunt, Dutchesse of Burg\mdie>
With ayde of Souldiers to this needf ull Warra
Isabella of Portugal, a grand-daughter of John of Gaunt,^ and
consequently a distant cousin of Edward, was Duchess of Burgundy
in 1461. A passage derived by Holinshed from Halle (253) shows
that George was not in England during the historic time of sc. i,
Act II.
[EoL ill 66I/1/45.] The duches of Yorke, seeing hir husband ^^^*
and Sonne slaine, and not knowing what should succeed of hir ^Sc^^^
eldest sonnes chance, sent hir two yonger sonnes, George and i^ivedat
Richard, ouer the sea, to the citie of Utrecht in Almaine, where the Duke of
Burgundy.]
they were of Philip duke of Burgognie well receiued; and so
remained there, till their brother Edward had got the crowne and
gouemement of the realme.
Act n. sc. ii. — ^Henry, at Margaret's bidding, knights Prince
Edward (L 61). The Prince was knighted on an earlier historic date
than that wluch must be assigned to this scene. After the second
battle of St. Albans Queen Margaret
[Eol. iii. 66O/2/64. Ealle, 252.] caused the king to dub hir pnne*
Sonne prince Edward, knight ; with thirtie other persons, which the »wd«*»»^«-
day before fought on hir side against his part
A messenger now warns the Lancastrians that Edward and
Warwick "are at hand" (L 72). In the preceding scene Warwick
said that the Lancastrians had gone to London, and he therefore pro-
posed marching thither to give them battle (II. i. 174-185). But before
sc. i ended he learnt from a messenger sent by Norfolk that
The Queene is comming with a puissant Hoast ; . • •
* Daughter of John I., King of Portugal. Her mother Philippa was the
daughter of Blanch of Lancaster, John of Qaunt's first wife. The dramatist
may have been thinking of Edward IV.'s sister, Margaret Duchess of Burgtmdy,
who assisted the adventurer known as Perkin Warbeck, for the real or ostensible
reason that he was her nephew, Richard Duke of York.
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304 XI. HENRY VI. PART m.
Scene iL is laid at the gates of York (11. 1-4, cp. I. iv. 179). We
may suppose perhaps that Margareti being refused an entrance into
London, turned northwards, and, on her march to York, passed near
the Duke of Norfolk's position ; which was '' some six miles off " the
place where Warwick met Edward (IL i 144). Advised by Norfolk of
the Queen's change of plan, Edward and Warwick followed her, and
in scene ii. they reach York. The historic facts are that the Lancas-
trians withdrew to the north, after the second battle of St. Albans,
but Edward and Warwick made for London, where Edward was
elected King. Soon after his election Edward marched northwards
and won the battle of Towton, which established him on the throne.^
No sooner has the near approach of Edward and Warwick been
announced than Olifford breaks forth (11. 73, 74) :
I would your Highnesse would depart the field !
The Queene hath best successe when you are absent.*
Holinshed took from Halle (262) a remark that Queen liargarel was
sdw. EM [Hoi, iil 66O/2/60.] fortunate in hir two battels [Wakefield
[HeniTi t^i^d 2nd S& Albans], but ynfortunate was the king in all his enter-
K^^ prises: for where his person was present, the Tictorie still fled
from him to the contrarie part
The wrangle which succeeds the entry of Edward, Richard, and
Warwick admits of little illustration from historical sources. A
spirited utterance of the Prince invites Bichard's comment (IL 133, 134) :
Who euer got thee, there thy Mother stands ;
For, well I wot, thou hast thy Mothers tongue ;
and Edward suggests that her '' Husband may be Menelaus '' (1. 147).
When Prince Edward was bom. Queen Margaret
rAmmoxir [Hol. iii. 641/i/54. Halle, 230.] susteined not a little slander
^^"^▼M and obloquie of the common people, who had an opinion that the
^^^ king was not able to get a child ; and therefore sticked not to saie,
that this was not his sonne, with manie slanderous words, greatlie
sounding to the queenes dishonour; much part perchance Tntrulie.*
1 Qreg., 214-216.
* While watching the battle of Towton, Henry says (3 JBTen. VI,^ IL
V. 16-18):
* For MaT|;aiet my Queene, and Cliffoid too,
Haue chid me from the Battell ; swearing both
They prosper best of all when I am thence."
' iMUch . • . vn^rulie.] HoL noMck here nede not to he rehersed,] Halle, 831.
'* the common people " said that Prince Edward " was not the natoiall sone of
Eynge Heniye, but chaunsyd in the cradelL" — Fab., 628. Another slanderous
romoor circulated " that he that was called Prince was nat hir H his, t. e.
Henry's] sone, but a bastaid goten in avoutry," — Chron, B. il. — Hen,
VI., 79.
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XL HENRY VL PART IH. 305
Act n. 8c. iii — ^The action of this and the remaining scenes of Act
n. cover the two days' fighting which ended at Towton on March 29,
1461.^ A preliminary skirmish at Ferrybridge, where Clifford discom-
fited the Yorkists, has been magnified into the serious reverse lamented
by Edward and G^rge, when this scene opens (U. 6-13). Bichard
enters and cries to Warwick (IL 14-16) :
Ah, Warwicke 1 why hast thou withdrawn thy selfef
Thy Brothers ^ blood the thirsty earth hath drunk,
Broach'd with the Steely point of Cliffords Launce ; . • •
Warwick responds:
Then let the earth be drunken with our blood :
Be kill my Horse, because I will not flye 1
In the conflict at Ferrybridge was slain
[Hoi iii 664/i/6o. Halle, 255.] the bastard of Salisburie, (,fj^^
brother to the earle of Warwike, a valiant yoong gentleman, and 25So ^^
of great audacitie.
When the earle of Warwike was informed hereof, like a man
desperate he mounted on his backnie, and hasted pufiBng and
blowing to king Edward, saieng: ''Sir, I praie God haue mercie of
''their Bonles, which in the beginning of your enterprise haue lost
"their lines I And bicause I see no succors of the world but in
"God, I remit the vengeance to him our creator and redeemer."
With that he alighted downe, and slue his horse with his sword, ^^J^"^
saieng : " Let him flee that will, for suerlie I will tarrie with him J^^jJ^,
"that will tarrie with me" : and kissed the crosse of his sword as
it were for a tow to the promise.
As Warwick and the three brothers are going forth to renew the
battle, George says (11. 49-53) :
Yet let vs altogether to our Troopes,
And giue them leaue to flye that will not stay;
And call them Pillars that will stand to vs ;
And, if we thriue, promise them such rewards
As Victors weare at the Olympian Games : • . . .
After the slaughter of the horse,
[Hoi. iil 664/1/74. Halle, 255.] King Edward, perceiuing the
1 The date from Bot PaW., v. 477/2. The fighting began early on Mai-ch
28, when Clifford took Ferrybridge £rom the Yorki8t8.~G^e^.}216 ; cp. HaUe^
254 255.
> In the corresponding lines of T. T,, Bichard announces the death of
Warwick's father, the Earl of Salisbury. Sidisbury was put to death after the
battle of Wakefield.— ^vrc, 485.
* In T. T. George advlBes that they should "hiely promise to remunerate "
those who stood by them.
X
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306
XI. HENRY VI. PART in.
soldiers '
depart, but
promising
rewards to
those who
stayed.]
[Bbband
flow of
baUle at
Towton.]
Aprodama- courago of his tfustie friend the earle of Warwike, made proclamar
[licensinir ^Jq^^ ^]^^^ ^^ jjj^q ^liich wcFc afraid to fight should depart : and,
to all those that tarried the battell, he promised great rewards ;
with addition, that anie souldier which yoluntarilie would abide,
and afterwards, either in or before the fight should seeme to flee
or tume his backe, then he that Could kill him should haue a
great reward and double wages.
Act II. sc. y. — ^Viewed from afar the battle appears to King Henry
(IL 5-12)
like a Mighty Sea
Forc'd by the Tide to combat with the Winde ; . . .
Sometime the Flood preuailes, and than the Winde ; . • •
Yet neither Conqueror nor Ck)nquered : ^ . . . 12
The long struggle at Towton is spoken of by Halle (256) in terms
not unlike these :
This deadly battayle and bloudy conflicte continued .x. houres
in doubtful yictorie, the one parte some tyme flowyng, and
sometime ebbyng, . . .
There enter (U. 54, 79) " a Sonne that hath kill'd his Father, . . .
and a Father that hath kill'd his Sonne ; " in both cases unwittingly.
Each then recognizes his foeman's face, and laments the cruel chance of
ciyil war.
Halle says of Towton (256) :
This conflict was in manor ynnaturall, for in it the sonne fought
agaynst the father, the brother agaynst the brother, the nephew
against the yncle, and the tenaunt agaynst his lord, . . •
At the close of this scene Margaret, Prince Edward, and Exeter*
rush in from the field where the Lancastrians haye been defeated. The
Queen cries to Henry (I 128) :
Mount you, my Lord ! towards Barwicke post amaine I
When the battle of Towton was decided,
^Z^^ [5b/. iii. 666/1/41. Halle, 256.] King Henrie, after he heard
Afi^T^ of the irrecouerable losse of his armie, departed incontinentlie with
^X>^ his wife and sonne to the towne of Berwike ; and, leaning the duke
[FamllY and
aocialties
broken at
Towton.]
1 Not in T. T.
* "the dakes of Summerset [Henry Beaufort] and Excester [Henry
Holland] fled from the field and aaued themselues."— Hoi. iii. 666/1/31
{HalUy 256). ^^
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XI. HENRY VL PART IlL 307
of Summerset there, went into Scotland, and, comming to the king
of Scots, required of him and his councell, aid and comfort.
Act II. 8c. vi. — "Enter Clifford wounded, with an arrow in his
necke," ^ is the opening stage direction of this scene in THa True
Tragedie. On March 28, 1461,^ Clifford blocked the passage of the
Aire at Ferrybridge. After the proclamation made by £dward (see p.
306 above), a Yorkist force passed the Aire
[Eol. iii 664/2/12. HaJle, 255.] at Castelford, three miles
from Ferribridge, intending to haue inuironed the lord Clifford and
his companie. But they, being therof aduertised, departed in great
hast toward king Henries armie ; yet they met with some that they
looked not for, & were so trapt yer they were aware. For the lord
Clifford, either for heat or paine, putting off his gorget, suddenlie
with an arrow (as some saie, without an head) was striken into the ^^
throte, and immediatlie rendred his spirit;' . . . '^'^
By order of Warwick, — who enters subsequently (1. 30) with
Edward, George, and Richard, — Clifford's bead is to be fixed where the
head of Edward's father << stands^ (L 86). Edward reached York on
March 30,*
[Hoi. iiL 666/1/36. ffalle, 266.] and first he caused the heads ^^^ ^^
of his father, the carle of Salisburie, and other his freends, to be nm^ed
taken from the gates, and to be buried with their bodies: and ^t?.]^^^^
there he caused the earle of Deuonshire, and three other, to be
beheaded, and set their heads in the same place.
Clifford's head being provided for, "Warwick says to Edward (IL 87,
88):
And now to London with Triumphant march,
There to be crowned Englands Iloyall King .* . . .
Edward assents, and thus addresses his brothers (11. 103, 104) :
Bichard, I will create thee Duke of Qloucester,
Ajid George, of Clarence : . • •
In June^ 1461 Edward
[Hd, iii 665/2lg, Halle, 267, 268.] returned, after the manor
and fashion of a triumphant conquerour, with great pompe ynto
1 A lowd cdarum. Enter (Xifford Womided,] 3 Hen, VI,
» Oreg.y 216. HaUe, 254, 265 {Hoi iii. 664/1/37).
» On Palm Sunday (Marcb 29), 1461.— Jug. p, m. 4 E. IV. No. 52 (0. B.).
* PcuUm^ ii. 5.
* On June 27 Edward rode from the Tower to Westminster. — Three
Chronicles {B. L. C), p. 174.
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308 XI. HENRY VI. PART IH,
London ; ii?here, according to the old cuatome of the realme, he
called a great assemblie of persons of all degrees ; and the nine &
twentith dale of lune ^ was at Westminster with solemnitie orotoned
lS?JUid.i and annointed Ai?^^'. . . .
[George Also, after this, he created his two yoonger brethren dnkes ;
Duke of that is to saic, lord George, duke of Clarence, lord Richard, duke
Sfw ^^ Qlocester ; . . .
Gloucester.]
Richard is rather loth to accept this title (1. 107) :
For Glosters Dukedome is too ominous.
Holinshed derived from Halle (209) the following remark on
Humphrey Duke of Gloucester's death:
Dukuof [ffd. iiL 627/1/52.] Some thinke that the name and title of
vn/ortunau. Gloccstcr hath becne vnluckie to diuerse, which for their honours
haue beene erected by creation of princes to that stile and dignitie ;
as Thomas ^ Spenser, Thomas of Woodstoke, sonne to king Edward
the third, and this duke Humfreie : which three persons by miser-
able death finished their dales ; and after them king Ridiard the
third also, duke of Glocester, in ciuill warre slaine.
Act m. sc. i.— After L 12 (3 Hen, 71.) the stage direction in Th$
TrvA Tragedie is : '' Enter king Henrie disguisde" ^ Henry begins a
soliloquy by saying:
From Scotland am I stolne euen of pure loue,
To greet mine owne Land with my wishf ull sight.^
He is overheard by two keepers, one of whom whispers to the other
(1.23):
This is the quondam King ; let's seize vpon him.
Henry asks the Second Keeper (1. 74) :
Where did you dwell when I was K. of England 1
Hum. \See. Keep.]. Heere in this Country, where we now remaine.
King. I was annointed King at nine monthes old ; 76
My Father and my Grandfather were Kings,
And you were swome true Subiects vnto me :
And tell me, then, haue you not broke your Oathesf
" Not long before " Henry's death,
1 Edward was crowned on June 28, 1461.— CJ^c^., 218. Another con-
temporary chronicle (Cottonian MS.. Vitellius, A. xvi.)— cited in Fattonf it
18, note— gives June 28 as the date of Edward's coronation.
« Thomas] H^tgh Hoi.
• Enter me Kinq mth a Prayer hocke.] 3 He^i, VI.
^ To . . . nght^ 3 Hen. Yl. And ihm disguisde to greete my natine
land.—T. T.
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XI. HENRY VI. PART IIL 309
[Hot. iii 691/2/33. Stow, 706.] being demanded whie he had
BO long held the crowne of England vniustlie, he replied: "My (Henry vl's
"father was king of England, quietlie inioieng the crowne all his
"reigne ; and his father, my grandsire, was also king of England ;
"and I euen a child in my cradell was proclamed and crowned
"king without anie interruption; and so held it fortie yeares
"well-neere; all the states dooing homage vnto me, as to my
"antecessors."
The keepers arrest him ; and, in the next scene, we find that he has
been brought to the " Pallace Gate " of King Edward, who, on receiving
this news, bids the messenger (III. ii. 120)
See that he be conuey'd vnto the Tower : • •
About four historical years after the battle of Towton, — probably
in July, 1465,1— Henry,
[Ed. iii. 667/1/26. ffalle, 261.] whether he was past all feare ;
or that hee was not well established in his wits and perfect mind ;
or for that he could not long keepe himselfe secret, in disguised
at[t]ire boldlie entred into England.
He was no sooner entred, but he was knowne and taken of one /^^**^
Cantlow, and brought toward the king ; whom the earle of Warwike
met on the way by the kings commandement, and brought him
through London to the Tower, & there he was laid in sure hold.
Act in. sc. ii. — Edward and his brothers enter, accompanied by
Lady Grey, whose business the King thus explains to Bichard (11. 1-7) :
Brother of Gloster, at S. Albons field
This Ladyes Husband, Sir Richard Grey, was slaine^
His Land then seiz'd on by the Conqueror :
Her suit is now to repossesse those Lands ; 4
Which wee in lustice cannot well deny,
Because, in Quarrell of the House of Yorke,
The worthy Gentleman did lose his Life.
In the next historical drama (Rich, IIL, I. iiL 127, 128), she is
reminded by Bichard that, when he was a zealous servant of Edward,
she and her
Husband Grey
Were factious for the House of Lancaster ; • • •
And he demands :
1 Heniy was arrested about June 29. I4!d6.— Thru Chron. (B. L. 0.), 18(^
181. He was brou^t to the Tower on July 24.— Oi^., 232, 233.
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restore her
Jolntare.]
310 XL HENRY VI. PART IIL
Was not your Husband,
In Margarets Battaile, at Saint Albons, slaine )
The truth of these taunts appears from the following excerpt. In
1464 1 0)
DwfMmitor [Hol, ill. 726/ 1 /20. Halle, 365.] there came to make a sute
if Srjoto y petition to the kmg dame Elizabeth Qreie, which was after his
2j?iilS\t q^eene, at that time a widow, borne of noble bloud*by hir mother,
SitSof St. duches of Bedford yer she maried the lord Wooduile, hir father.
Howbeit^ this dame Elizabeth hir selfe, bemg in seruice with
queene Margaret, wife ynto king Henrie the sixt, was maried vnto
one lohn Greie, an esquier, whome king Henrie made knight
ypon the field that he had on Bamet heath by saint Albons,
against king Edward. But litle while inioied he that knighthood :
j^»»^ed for he was at the same field slaine. • . . this poore ladie made
humble sute vnto the king, that she might be restored vnto such
small lands as hir late husband had giuen her in iointure.
Farther to illustrate this scene I quote passages describing the
circumstances and result of Lady Grey's petition to Edward. We are
told that
[Hol. iiL 668/1/1. Halle, 264.] the king, being on hunting in
the forrest of Wichwood besides Stonistratford, came for his
recreation to the manor of Grafton, where the duchesse of Bedford
then soioumed, wife to sir Richard Wooduile lord Riuers ; on
Thtiadu whome was then attendant a daughter of hirs, called the ladie
^i\S^ * Elizabeth Graie, widow of sir lohn Graie knight^ slaine at the last
^""^^ battell of saint Albons, . . .
This widow, hauing a sute to the king for such lands as hir
husband had giuen hir in iointure, so kindled the kings affection
towards hir, that he not onelie fauoured hir sute, but more hir
person ; for she was a woman of a more formall countenance than
of excellent beautie ; and yet both of such beautie and fauour,
1 After "manie a meeting" and "much wooing" (Hd, iii. 726/1/46),
Edward was privately married to Lady Grey on May 1, 1464.— (?re^., 226.
Warkw,^ 3.
> In 3 Hen, FJ., lY. i 69, 70, the Queen, addressing Clarence, Qloucester,
and Montagu, says :
** Doe me but right, and yon must all confesae
That I was not ignoble of Descent '^ ; • • •
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XI. HEKEY Vl. PART III. 311
thai with hir sober demeanour, sweete looks, and comelie smiling, [Edward feii
^ ' ^ ' °' in love with
(neither too wanton, nor too bashfoll,) besides hir pleasant toong ghJ',S&ed
and trim wit, she so allured and made subiect mto hir the heart ^^^,
of that great prince, that, after she had denied him to be his to^rh^r
paramour, (with so good maner, and words so well set as better
could not be deuised,) he finallie resolued with himselfe to marrie
hir; not asking counsell of anie man, till they might perceiue it was
no bootie to aduise him to the contrarie of that his concluded
purpose; . . .
Other passages supplied fuller material for the dialogue between
Edward and Lady Grey (11. 36-98) : compare especially the words '< as
she wist ... be his concubine" with 11. 97, 98 :
I know I am too meane to he your Queene,
And yet too good to he your GoncubiiM.
I resmne my quotations at the point where it is related that Edward
heard the personal suit of Lady Grey :
[Hoi iii. 726/1/36. Halle, 365, 366.] Whome when the king
beheld, and heard hir speake, as she was both faire and of a [2dw«rd
goodlie fauour, moderate of stature, well made, and yerie wise: o^yliSd^
he not onelie pitied hir, but also waxed inamoured of hir. And, Imoitio^
, to her.]
taking hir afterward secretlie aside, began to enter in talking more
familiarlie. Whose appetite when she perceiued, she yertuouslie
denied him.
But that did she so wiselie, and with so good maner, and words
so well set, that she rather kindled his desire than quenched it.
Andy finallie, after manie a meeting, much wooing, and many great
promises^ she well espied^ the kings affection toward hir so greatlie
increased, that she durst somewhat the more boldlie sale hir mind ;
as to him whose hart she perceiued more feruentlie set, than to
fiJl off for a word. And, in conclusion, she shewed him plaine, ^ »*«« ,
that, as she wist hir selfe too simple to he his wife, so thought she ^,^
hir selfe too good to he his concuinne. The king, much maruelling at '^'^^
hir constancie, (as he that had not been woont elsewhere to be so
stiffelie said naie,) so much esteemed hir continencie and chastitie,
that he set hu* yertue in the steed of possession and riches : and
* espied] Halle, espieng HoL
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312 XI. HENRY VI. PART in.
thus, taking counBell of his desire, determiaed in all possible hast
to marie her.
[Wh«n their Now after he was thus appointed, and had betweene them
was sefued, twaine insured hir ; then asked he counsell of his other freends,
Edward
fri!^^' and that in such maner, as they might then perceiue it booted not
advice about greatUo to say naie.
Edward's final argument (11. 102-104)—
Thou art a Widow, and thou hast some Children ;
And, by Oods Mother, /, being but a BcUchelor,
Haut other-0om6 —
was, it is said, his answer to an objection of his mother (Cecily Duchess
of York) that he disparaged himself by marrying a widow instead of a
maid :
[Lady Grey \Eol, iU. 726/2/68. JTo/fo, 367.] That she is a widow, and
and 80 have hath alreadic children; hy Gods blessed ladie, / am a bacheler, and
haiu some too, and so ech of ts hath a proofs that neither of Ts is
like to be barren.
Act III. sc. iii. — Since the close of scene vi., Act IL, Queen
Margaret and Prince Edward have repaired to France. In scene iii.
Act IIL, they are welcomed by Lewis XI., from whom Margaret craves
help towards her husband's restoration. So much of this scene as
precedes Warwick's entrance (U. 1-42) may be historically dated about
a year after the battle of Towton ;i when Henry, being
Qumu [Eol iii. 665/1/58. Halle, 257 A somwhat setled in the relme
vitkMr of Scotland, . . . sent his wife and his sonne into France to king
into^rmce. Reiner hir father; trusting by his aid and succour to assemble an
armie, and once againe to recouer his right and dignitie : but he in
the meane time made his aboad in Scotland, to see what wale his
firiends in England would studie for his restitution.
[Margaret Tho queeue, being in France, did obteine of the yoong French
Lewis's king, then Lewes the eleuenth, that all hir husbands friends and
favour for °
^Biiucas- those of the Lancastriall band, might safelie and suerlie haue
resort into anie part of the realme of France : prohibiting all other
of the contrarie faction anie accesse or repaire into that countrie.
In Act n., sc. vi., 11. 89, 90, Warwick proposed going to France
1 On April 16, 1462, Margaret arrived in Brittany. After visiting Ren^
at Angers, she betook heiself to Lewis with the view of obtaining his assistance.
— Wyre., 493.
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. XI. HENRY VI. PART IIL 313
after Edward's coronation (June 28, 1461), for the purpose of arranging
a ^narriage between his new sovereign and Lady Bona. Entering now,
Warwick offers Lewis <' a League of Amitie" ; to be confirmed
With Nuptiall Knot, if thou vouchsafe to graunt
That yertuous Ladj Bona, thy f aire Sister,
To Englands King in lawful! Marriage. — IL 55-57.
Holinshed derived from Halle (263, 264) the following account of
this negotiation* In 1464, when Edward had brought England
[HoL iiL 667/2/51.] into a good & quiet estate, it was thought
meet by him and those of his councell, that a marriage were pro-
uided for him in some conuenient place ; and therefore was the
earle of Warwike sent ouer into France, to demand the ladie Bona,
daughter to Lewes duke of Sauoie, and sister to the ladie Carlot,
then queene of France; which Bona was at that time in the
French courb
The earle of Warwike, comming to the French king, then lieng 52r!!S£^
at Tours, was of him honourablie receiaed, and right courteouslie F^i^^linrnt
interteined. His message was so well liked, and his request [between
thought so honourable for the aduancement of the ladie Bona, that ^^^^
hir sister queene Carlot obteined both the good will of the king ^■^^l'
hir husband, and also of hir sister the foresaid ladie : so that the
matrimonie on that side was cleerelie assented to, and the erle of
Dampmartine appointed (with others) to saile into England, for
the fuU finishing of the same.
Margaret warns Lewis not to ally himself with an usurper; and
Warwick, on the other hand, asserts her son to be no more a prince
than she is a queen. Whereupon Oxford remarks (11. 81, 82) :
Then Warwicke disanulls great lohn of Gaunt,
Which did subdue the greatest part of Spaine ; . • •
Warwick might well have exposed this misrepresentation. John of
Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, claimed Oastile in right of his second wife
Ck)n8tance, elder daughter of Pedro the Cruel, The Duke, however,
failed to dethrone John I., son of Pedro's bastard brother Henry IL ;
and obtained but a few transient successes by his invasion of Spanish
territory.^
In tiie Third PaH of Hwvry VI. Oxford wonders how Warwick can
1 Mr. Daniel suggests that popular belief may have ma^ified these suc-
cesses ; as, on April 11, 1601, nenslowe ^id earnest for a play entitled *Hhe
conqueste of spayne by John a Gant" — Hendoux's Dia/ry (Old Sh. See.), p.
185. The facts concerning John of Gannt's Spanish expedition might have
been ascertained from Qiaium or Holinshed, but the dramatist was not bound
to regard historical authority.
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314 XI. HENKY YL PART HL
speak against King Henry after " thirtie and six yeeres " of obedience
(IL 95-97). But in ITts True Tragedie Oxford assumes that Warwick
has been obedient during Henry's " thirtie and eight " regnal years : a
term ending on August 31, 1460. Warwick was attainted by the
Lancastrian Parliament which met at Ck)yentry on November 20, 1459 ;
and his allegiance was merely formal after Uie attempt made on his
life some eight or ten months previously.^ In the interval between
the battles of Northampton and St. Albans (July 10, 1460 — February
17, 1461) he acted with the supposed sanction of Henry YL, who was
then under Yorkist controL
Warwick bids Oxford " leaue Henry, and call Edward Bling."
Oxford indignantly replies (101-107) :
Gall him my King by whose iniurious doome
My elder Brother, the Lord- Aubrey Vere,
Was done to death 1 and more then so, my Father,
Euen in the downe-fall of his mellowed yeeres, 104
When Nature brought him to the doore of Death f
No, Warwicke, no ; while Life vpholds this Arme,
This Arme vpholds the House of Lancaster 1
In February, 1462,^
goto^M [Eol. iii. 665/2/20. Ifalle, 258.] the earle of Oxford far striken
te^^hii ^° ^®' ^^^ ^ Sonne and heire the lord Awbreie Veer, either
ei^to?uier through malice of their enimies, or for that they had offended the
^Muted.] king, were both, with diuerse of their councellours, attainted, and
put to execution ; which caused lohn earle of Oxford euer after to
rebelL»
Having requested Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford to
stand aside, Lewis demands of Warwick (IL 114, 115) :
Is Edward your true Eling f for I were loth
To linke with him that were not lawf ull chosen.
In The True Tragedie Lewis asks :
Is Edward lawfuU king or no f for I were loath
To linke with him that is not lawful heir.
1 I take the date of the Coventiy Parliament from RoL Pari., v. 345/i.
For the date of the attempt on Warwick's life see p. 290, n. 7, above.
« Wyrc., 492. Fab.y 662.
* John de Vere, thirteenth Earl of Oxford (the merchant Philipaon in
Anne of Oeierstein), did not rebel until 1470. In 1464 he addresaed to Par-
liament a petition wherein he called himself Edward's " true Liegeman " ; and
styled Hen^ IV. the "late Erie of Derby," who "toke uppon hym to reigne
by Usurpation as Kyng of Enj^ond."— iJo*. Parl.y v. 649/i, 2. Oxford was
arrested on suspicion of treason in November, 1468^ but was released.— Pa6.,
657. About ApriL 1470, he followed Warwick and Clarence to France,
whence he returned in September, 1470, as an avowed supporter of Heniy,
—Fab., 658.
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XI. HENRY VI. PAET IIL 315
Although Edward claimed the throne as heir of Lionel Duke of
Clarence, his title was strengthened by the people's direct vote. Par-
liament was not sitting when, soon after the second battle of St. Albans,
Edward summoned a great council of lords spiritual and temporal, who
determined that Henry had forfeited the crown ;
[Sol. iii 66I/2/2. ffcUle, 263, 264.] and incontinentlie was ^^^"^
Edward earle of March, sonne and heire to Richard duke of Yorke, ^^J^cn
by the lords in the said counceU assembled, named, elected, and sptrttolu^d
admitted for king and gouemour of the realme.
On which dale, the people of the earles part being in their
muster in S. lohns field, and a great number of the substantiall
citizens there assembled to behold their order, the lord Faucon- ^ ^^^
bridge, who tooke the musters, wiselie anon declared to the people toepeopie*^
the offenses and breaches of the late agreement, committed by ^^t j^t
king Henrie the sixt ; and demanded of the people, whether they whether
would haue him to rule and reigne anie longer ouer them ? To have Henry
^ ^ or Bdward
whome they with whole yoice answered : "Naie, naie ! " Then he ^^*****'
asked them, if they would serue, loue, honour, and obeie the erle
of March, as their onlie king and souereigne lord? To which
question they answered: "Yea, yea I" crieng, "King Edward 1"
with manie great showts & clapping of hands in assent and
gladnesse of the same.
The lords were shortlie aduertised of the louing consent which
the commons frankelie and freelie had giuea Whervpon, inconti- [The lords
nentlie, they all with a conuenient number of the most substantiall ^iwdthat
they hftd
commons repaired to the erle at Bainards castell ; making iust and ^^^^
true report of then* election and admission, and the louing assent ^» ^^
of the commons. . . . Z^t!^
[Hoi. iii. 663/1/64. ffcUle, 264.] After that this prince Edward ^«wife^.i.
earle of March had taken ypon hitn the gouemement of this
realme of England (as before ye haue heard), the morow next
insuing, being the fourth of March, he rode to the church of
saint Paule, and there offered; and, after Te Deum soong, with ^Mn«<ir
great solemnitie ho was conueied to Westminster, and there Jjj^^,
set in the hall with the scepter roiall in his hand : whereto people
in great numbers assembled. His claime to the crowne was de- ^^^
clared to be by two manor of waies ; the first, as sonne and heire to
duke Richard his father, right inheritor to the same ; the second,
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316
XI. HENRY VI. PART HI.
by authoritie of parlement, and forfeiture committed by king Henrie.
SmmoM Whereypon it was againe demanded of the commons, if they would
to^iS^t admit and take the said erie as their prince and souereigne lord ;
eiectioiLi ^hich all with one yoice cried : ** Yea, yea I "
Finally Lewis assents to the proposed marriage. But this agree-
ment is soon of no worth, for a "Poste" enters with letters from
which Lewis and Warwick learn that Edward has wedded Lady Grey.
Lewis is deeply angered^ and Warwick renounces allegiance to Edward
(IL 134-194). My next excerpt shows how Edward's breach of faith
was taken :
[Hoi iii. 668/1/50. Halle, 266.] The French king was not
well pleased to be thus dallied with ; but he shortlie (to appease
the greefe of his wife and hir sister the ladie Bona) married the
said ladie Bona to the duke of Millan.
Now when the earle of Warwike had knowledge by letters sent
to him out of England from bis trustie friends, that king Edward
had gotten him a new wife, he was not a little troubled in his
mind; for that he tooke it his credence thereby was greatlie
minished, and his honour much stained, namelie, in the court of
France : for that it might be iudged he came rather like an espiall,
to mooue a thing neuer minded, and to treat a marriage determined
before not to take effect Suerlie he thought himselfe euill Ysed,
that when he had brought the matter to his purposed intent and
wished conclusion, then to haue it quaile on his part ; so as all
men might thinke at the least wise, that his prince made small
account of him, to send him on such a sleeuelesse errand.
All men for the most part agree, that this marriage was the
onlie cause, why the earle of Warwike conceiued an hatred against
king Edward, whome he so much before fauoured.
The discredit brought upon his embassy makes Warwick speak of
another wrong, which he had condoned (L 188) :
Did I let passe th'abuse done to my Neece 1
We have seen that Edward's marriage was generally belieyed to
haye alienated Warwick.
[Lewis wai
displeased
with
Edward's
manisge.]
TJie enrU (^
lyairuike
tiUkinffi
mariagt.
[Hol iiL 668/1/73. HaJle, 265.] Other afBrme other causes,
and one speciallie : for that king Edward did attempt a thing once
[BdwsM
tried to
Tiolate
da^rteror in the oarlcs house, which was much agamst the earles honestie ;
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XL HENRY VI. PAET HI. 817
(whether he would haue defloured his daughter^ or his neece, the
certeintie was not for both theh* honours openlie reuealed ;) for,
Buerlie, such a thing was attempted by king Edward ; . . .
The Post is made the bearer of threatening messages to Edward
from Lewis, Margaret, and Warwick. Lewis then says to "Warwick
(IL 234-239) :
Thou and Oxford, with fine thousand men.
Shall crosse the Seas, and bid false Edward battaile }
And, as occasion semes, this Noble Queen 236
And Prince shall follow with a fresh Supply.
Yet, ere thou go, but answer me one doubt,
What Pledge haue we of thy firme Loyalty 1
Warwick replies :
This shall assure my constant Loyalty, 240
That if our Queene and this young I^nce agree,
lie ioyne mine eldest daughter and my loy
To him forthwith in holy Wedlocke bands.
Queen Margaret and Prince Edward assent. Lewis adds :
Why stay we now t These soldiers shalbe leuied ;
And thou. Lord Bourbon, our EEigh Admirall, 252
Shall waft them ouer with our Eoyall Fleete.
Historical time is annihilated in these speeches. Warwick did not
devote himself to Henry VI. 's restoration until 1470. The King-
maker withdrew to France after the failure — in March, 1470 — of a
rebellion which he had prompted;' and was graciously received by
Lewis at Amboise.
[Sol. iii 674/2/ SS. Halle, 281.] When queene Margaret^ that J^J'^
Boioumed with duke Reiner hir father, heard tell that the earle of ^^*to
Warwike was come to the French court, with all diligence shoe wuwick.]
came to Ambois to see him, with hir onelie sonne prince Edward.
With hir also came lasper earle of Penbroke, and lohn earle of ^*^<tr
Oxford, which, after diuerse imprisonments latelie escaped, fled out SJjJ'^th
of England into France, and came by fortune to this assemblie. *'"«'^^
These persons, after intreatie had of their affaires, determined by
^ Fclyd, Verg, meiely tells ujs (514/i4^ that Edwaid was said "tentasae . . •
neecio quid in domo comitis, quod ab nonestate omnino abesset"; and this
information is followed by a remark on the King's lasdvious nature. The
otherparticulars are given by Halle. In Lord Lvtton's Last of iht Ba/rons
S)k. VIII., chap, vii) the afiFront is offered to Anne Neville, Warwick's younger
aughter.
* Warkw., 8, 9. Confession of Sir Robert Welles {Excerpta Historica.
282-284). Edward's proclamation of Clarence and Warwick as rebels and
traitors is dated March Zh—Warkw., 59. Eot. Pari., vi 233.
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318
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
A kague.
Sdtoard
priTieeqf
Wala
maried[Xo
Warwick's
second
daughter].
[The Lords
swore to
make Henry
or his son
King of
Igor
{land.]
Engl
[Bourbon,
Admiral of
France,
ordered to
convoy the
I^ancas-
trioLS.]
meanes of the French kmg to conclude a league and amitie
betweene them. And first to begm withall, for the sure foundation
of their new intreatie, Edward prince of Wales wedded Anne
second daughter^ to the earle of Warwike, which ladie came with
hir mother into France. After which manage, the duke [of
Clarence] and the carles tooke a solemne oth, that they should
neuer leaue the warre, till either king Henrie the sixt, or his
Sonne prince Edward, were restored to the crowne : and that the
queene and the prince [p. 675] should depute and appoint the
duke and the earle [of Warwick] to be gouemors & conseruators
of the common wealth, till time the prince were come to estate. . . .
The French king lent both ships, men, and monie vnto queene
Margaret, and to hh* partakers ; and appointed the bastard of
Burbon,^ admerall of France, with a great nauie, to defend them
against the nauie of the duke of Burgognie ; which he laid at the
mouth of the riuer Saine, readie to incounter them, being of
greater force than both the French nauie and the English fleet.
Act rV. sa L — ^Edward and his newly-wedded Queen enter. By
his invitation Clarence, Gloucester, and Montagu tell him freely what
they think of his marriage. Montagu regrets the abandonment of an
alliance with France ; but Hastings would have England trust to Qod
and the " fence impregnable " of her seas,
And with their helpes onely defend our seluee ;
In them and in our selues oiu: safetie lyes.
Clarence sarcastically comments (11. 47, 48) :
For this one speech. Lord Hastings well deserues
To haue the Heire of the Lord Hungerf ord. 48
King, I, what of that ) it was my will and graunt ;
And, for this once, my Will shall stand for Law.
Rich, And yet me thinks your Grace hath not done well.
To giue the Heire and Daughter of Lord Scales 52
Vnto the Brother of your louing Bride ;
Shee better would haue fitted me or Clarence :
But in your Bride you burie Brotherhood.
Cla/r, Or else you would not haue bestow'd the Heire 56
Of the Lord Bonuill on your new Wines Sonne,
And leaue your Brothers to goe speede elsewhere.
^ In 3 H. VL (III. iii. 242) and T. T, the marriace of Prince Edward
and Warwick's "eldest daughter " is arranged. Isahel, the elder of Warwick's
two daughters, married Clarence.
« *' Lord Bourhon, our High AdmiralL"— 3 E. VI, (III. iii. 262) and T. T.
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XI. HENRY VI. PART III. 319
Holinshed, on Halle's authority (271), relates that, in 1468,
[Hoi. iii. 671/2/48.] the earle of Warwike, being a far casting fJJJj;;^^^
prince, perceiued somewhat in the duke of Clarence, whereby he SjJSJJtion
iudged that he bare no great good will towards the king his *<> Edward.]
brother ; and therevpon, feeling his minde by such taike as he of
purpose ministred, vnderstood how he was bent, and so wan him
to his purpose : • • •
Holinshed did not copy or paraphrase the subjoined passage in
Halle (271), containing Clarence's answer to Warwick's murmurs at
£dward'8 ingratitude.
The erle had not halfe tolde his tale, but y^ duke in a greate
fury answered: "why, my lorde, thynke you to haue hym kynd to [How can
"brother? thynke you that frendship will make hym kepe promise jSdSdto
"where neither nature nor kynred in any wise can prouoke or ^r^q
"moue him to fauor his awne blond? Thynke you that he will
"exalte and promote hys cosin or alie, whiche litle careth for the
"fall or confusioTi of hys awne line and lignage? This you knowe ^^ *>~
"well enough, that the heire of the Lorde Scales he hath maried |JJ^^
"to his wifes brother, the heu*e also of the lorde Bonuile and ^'^e^
"Haryngton he hath genen to his wifes sonne,^ and theu*e of the bu^'^'
"lorde Hungerford he hath graunted to the lorde Hastynges:' ^ZT^'^
"thre mariages more meter for hys twoo brethren and kynne then Jj^,*^^
"for Buche newe foundlynges as he hath bestowed theim on. Ha^SSfoid
"But, by swete saincte George, I sweare, if my brother of bStOT^on
"Gloucester would ioyne with me, we would make hym knowe ^^^^.
" that wee were all three one mannes sonnes, of one mother and jShTm? we
'' lignage discended, which should be more preferred and promoted Edwwdto
" then strauDgers of his wifes blond." mtherthMi
" ttrangon.]
The Post — who in Act m., sc. iii., brought letters to Warwick,
Lewis, and Margaret — enters and repeats to £dward their verbal
answers; ending with the news (1. 117):
1 "hir brother, lord Anthonie, was married to the sole heire of Thomas
lord Scales: sir Thomas Qraie, somie to sir lohn Qraie^ the queenes first
husband, was created marques Dorset, and married to Cicelie, heire to the lord
Bonuille."— Hot. iii 668/1/46. HaUe, 264.
' The heiress of Lord Hungerford married Edward Lord Hastings, son of
William Lord Hastings, whom Clarence sneers at (U. 47, AS),—Dugdalef iii.
211/1 ; cp. DoyUy ii. 149, 150.
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[Ckrence
married to
Warwick's
320 XL HENRY VI. PART III.
That yong Prince Edward marryes Warwicks Daughter.
Clarence says :
Belike the elder ; Clarence will haue the younger. —
Kow, Brother King, farewell, and sit you fast,
For I will hence to Warwickes other Daughter; ... 120
Tou that loue me and Warwicke, follow me 1
In the next scene Clarence joins Warwick, who welcomes him and
adds (1. 12) : "my Daughter shall be thine."
On July 11, 1469,1 the
14^ [Eol. ul 671/2/70. Halle, 272.] duke of Clarence, being come
AnnojUff.9. to Calis wlth the earle of Warwike, after he had swome on the
sacrament to keepe his promise and pact made with the said earle
whole and inuiolate, he married the ladie Isabell, eldest daughter
^^ter.] [P- ^72] to the earle, in our ladies church there.
The challenge — " Tou that loue me and Warwick, follow me " — ^is
succeeded by this stage direction: "Exit Clarence, and Somerset
followes." As Clarence's ally has evidently been a subject of Edward,
we may suppose that " Somerset" is Henry Beaufort, the third Duke,
who, about Christmas, 1462, abandoned the Lancastrian party and was
taken into Edward's favour.^ Henry Beaufort soon rejoined the
Lancastrians, and was beheaded by the Yorkists on May 15, 1464,
after the battle of Hexham. But the historical peer who is called
"Somerset" in 3 ffen. VL, Act V., waa Henry's brother Edmund, the
fourth Duke, who was always a staunch limcastrian. He and his
brother, however, make one dramatic " Somerset " (tee p. 335 below).
Holinshed (iii 666/1/45) or Halle (259) might have supplied the
fact that in 1463 — seven years before Clarence's rebellion — Henry
Beaufort " reuolted from King Edward, and fled to Eling Henrie." •
When Clarence and Somerset have departed, Edward gives an order
to resist Warwick's invasion (U. 130-133) :
Pembrooke and Stafford, you in our behalf e
Goe leuie men, and make prepare for Warre ;
They are alreadie, or quickly will be, landed : 132
My selfe in person wiU straight follow you.
At the historical date on which we may suppose this order to have
been given, there was no open hostility between Edward and Warwick.
Warwick, however, had secretly fomented a rebellion, which broke out
soon after Clarence's marriage to his daughter^ (J^7 ^h 1469).
Whereupon
^ This date is ^ven in Collection of Ordinances amd EcgrdatwM for the
Oovemment of the Jtoydt Household (Society of Antiquaries), 98.
« Wyrc,, 495. Oreg., 219.
> In these chronicles Somerset's return to the Lancastrians appears to be
antedated by some six months. He deserted Edward *a-boute CiyEtysmas,'
1463 {Greg., 223) ; and was beheaded on May 15, 1464 (Oreg.^ 224, 2S5).
* Wa/rkw.f 6. Pembroke was defeated at Edgcote, on July 26, 1469.— IWci.
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XL HENRY VI, PART UI. 821
[Hol. iii. 672/i/6o. Halle, 273.] King Edward, hauing perfect
knowledge of all the dooings of the earle of Warwike, and of his
brother the duke of Clarence, was by diuerse letters certified of
the great armie of the northeme men, with all speed comming
toward London; and therefore in great hast he sent to William 1^1^^
lord Herbert^ whom (as yee haue heard) ^ he had created earle of ^n^I"^
Penbroke ; requiring him without delaie to raise his power, and
incounter with the northeme men. . . .
And, to assist him with archers, was appointed Humfrie lord ^^Jj^
Stafford* of South wike, named but not created earle of Deuonshire i^T^
by the king ; in hope that he would seme yaliantlie in that ioumie : F^i^ke].
he had with him eight hundred archers.
Edward lingers until Montague and Hastings have assured him of
their loyalty. The former exclaims (1. 143) :
So Qod helpe Mountague as hee proues true 1
Such a fervid protestation must have misrepresented his real
feeling ; though he was not induced by his brother
[Hol. iii. 670/2/3O. Halle, 270, 271.] to take anie part against
king Edward of a long time, till the earle had both promised him
great rewards and promotions, and also assured him of the aid
and power of the greatest princes of the realme. And euen as
the marques was loth to consent to his vnhappie conspiracie, so
with a faint hart he shewed himselfe an enimie ynto king Edward ;
which double dissimulation was both the destmction of him and
his brethren.
When, in July, 1469, a commotion, arising from local discontent,
began in Yorkshire, Montague caused the leader of the rebels to be
beheaded.' This procedure occasioned speculation :
[Hol. iii. 672/1/38. Halle, 272.] Some sale he did it, to the
* " in reproofe of lasper [Tudor, Henry VI.'s half-brother,] earle of Pen-
brooke, he [Edward IVJ created William lord Herbert earle of tne same place.*
—Hci. iii. 667/1/4. HaUe, 261. Herbert was created Earl of Pembroke in
lASS.—DugdaUj iii 266/1-2 ; op. DoyUy iii. 16.
' In T. T. Edward's order la given to Pembroke alone, and Stafford is not
mentioned.
* HaJEUy 272. Halle was mistaken in supposing that this movement in
Yorkshire sprang horn the Nevilles' intrigues. John Neville (Montague) was
then Eajl of Northumberland, and the fact (recorded in Three CwronicUsy
B. L. C.y 183) that one demand of the Yorkshire rebels was the restoration of
this earldom to the Percies explains his action.
T
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322 XI. HENEY VL PABT III.
[Two ex. intent to seeme innocent and faultlesse of his brothers dooings.
planationsof i i i. i . n i
nda^' But other iudge that he did it, for that, contrane to his promise
made to his brother, he was determined to take part with king
Edward, with whome (as it shall after appeare) he in small space
entered into grace and fauour.^
Act rV., sec. ii, iii.* — " Enter Warwicke and Oxford in England,
with French Souldiors" (sc. ii.).
Warwick is confident of success (11. 1, 2) :
Trust me, my Lord, all hitherto goes well ;
The common people by numbers swarme to vs.
Though the rest of sc. ii., and parts of sc. iiL, dramatize an event
which happened in the Summer of 1469, the historical date of
Warwick's remark must be August or September, 1470;* when, as
the chronicler notes:
[Hoi. iii. 675/1/63. ffcUle, 282.] It is almost not to be
Sdwdte beleeued, how manie thousands men of warre at the first tidings
Warwick.) ^£ ^j^^ earfcs landing resorted ynto him.
They are joined by Clarence and Somerset; the former of whom
Warwick thus addresses (11. 13-17) :
And now what rests but, in Nights Couerture,
Thy Brother being carelessely encamp'd.
His Souldiors lurking in the Towne about,
And but attended by a simple Guard,
Wee may surprize and take him at our pleasure t
In sc. iiL " Warwicke, Clarence, Oxford, Somerset, and French
Souldiors," enter, " silent all ** ; put to flight the royal " Guard " ; —
composed of three " Watchmen " ; — and seize Edward, who demurs at
* In the Sprinc; of 1470, after Warwick's withdrawal to France (see p. 317
above), Edward "began seriously to immagine who were his frendes, and who
were ms foes, . . . many, tmstyngto the kynges pardon, submitted and yelded
theimselils] to the Kynges clemencye. Emongest whome Ihon Marques Mon-
tacute humbly yelded hymself, and vowed to bee euer true to the kyng (as
he had doen liefore tyme); whom he [Edward] with muche humanitie and faire
wordes did receiue and intertain," . . . — Haue^ 280. Hd, iii. 674/2/48.
* The True Tragedie has one scene here, opening thus : "Enter Warwike
and Oxford, with souldiers." The talk between three "Watchmen** — with
which scene iiL opens in 3 Hen. VL — is not in the earlier text, nor are they
mentioned in it. The entry of Warwick and the others (sc. iii.), with " French
SonldieiB, silent all," is not in T. T.
* On August 6 the landing of Clarence and Warwick was expected " eyyiye
daye.** — Pastony ii. 406. August was the month in which, according to «fohn
Hooker (Hd, iii. 676/2/63), they landed. Other chroniclers give the following
dates : about September 8 (Three ChronicUe, B. L, C, 183) ; September 13
{8taw,*J0l) ; " a lytelle before Michaelmesse" (Wwrhw.^ 10).
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XI. HENRY VL PART HI. 828
being spoken of by Warwick as " the Duke." The King-maker answers
(11. 32-34) :
When you disgrac'd me in my Embassade,
Then I degraded you from being King,
And come now to create you Duke of Yorke.
After Warwick's landing, in 1470,
[Hoi iii. 675/1/58. Halle, 282.] he made proclamation in the [Warwick
name of king Henrie ^ the sixt, vpon high paines commanding nnd SldSwgili
charging all men able to bear armor, to prepare themselues to US^S"*^*
fight against Edward duke of Yorke, which contrarie to right had ^'^t
Ysurped the crowne.
" But Henry now shall weare the English Crowne," says Warwick,
taking — accordmg to the stage direction in 3 Henry VL — the crown off
Edward's head. Warwick then provides for his late sovereign's
detention (11. 51-53) :
My Lord of Somerset, at my request,
See that forthwith Duke Edward be conuey'd
Vnto my Brother, Arch-bishop of Yorke.
The Earl has still to fight '' with Pembrooke and his fellowes " ;
though, if historic chronology be worth regarding, the army of which
Warwick speaks was not in the field when 'Edward was captured. On
July 26, 1469, Pembroke was defeated by the Northern rebels at
Edgcote.2 After this battle Edward
[Hd, iii 673/1/50. Halle, 275.] assembled his power, and
was comming toward the earle, who, being aduertised thereof, sent
to the duke of Clarence, requiring him to come and ioine with
him. The duke, being not farre off, with all speed repaired to the
earle, and so they ioined their powers togither, and vpon secret ^^Jjf^
knowledge had, that the king (bicause they were entered into JJJJ^^Sff**
termes by waie of communication to haue a peace) tooke small JSteok
heed to himselfe, nothing doubting anie outward attempt of his touawe^]
enimies.
The earle of Warwike, intending not to leese such opportunitie
^ '' Aj^plaud the Name of Henry with your Leader ! '^ is the order addressed
by Warwick to the soldiers, when they are setting forth to surprise Edward
(3 Hen. VL, IV. ii. 27). In 3 Hen, VL this line is followed by the stage
direction : " They all cry * Hemr I ' " In T. T. the soldiers, unbidden, shout,
" A Warwike, a Warwike ! " Halle says (283) that when Warwick loaded, in
1470, "al the tonnes and al the countrey adiacent [Lincolnshire] was in a
great rore, and made fiers and sange songes; criyng, 'kingHenry, kyng
Henry I a Warwycke, a Warwycke I *^ * iVarhto.^ 6.
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324
XI. HBNRY VI. PART ni.
King
vritoner
?, conTered
XolMiddU-
[. and kept
there by the
Archbialiop
ofToik).
K,Biward*
Quetn*
of aduantage, in the dead of the night, with an elect companie of
men of warre, (as secretlie as was possible,) set on the kings field,
killing them that kept the watch, and, yer the king was ware, (for
he thought of nothing lesse than of that which then hapned,) at a
place called Wolnie [1 Honiley,^ Warwickshire], foure miles from
Warwike, he was taken prisoner and brought to the castell of
Warwike. And, to the intent his friends should not know what
was become of him, the earle caused him by secret ioumies in the
night to be conueied to Middleham castell in Torkeshire ; and
there to be kept vnder the custodie of the archbishop of Yorke,'
and other his freends in those parties.
Act IV. so. iv. — Queen Elizabeth and Kivers enter. More than a
historic year has elapsed since Edward's capture, but she has just had
news of this mischance. Being with child she resolves to take
sanctuary (1. 31). When, in the Autumn of 1470, Edward's flight
from England was known, all his
[Eol, iil 677 his* Halle, 285.] trustie freends went to diuerse
sanctuaries, and amongst other his wife queene Elizabeth tooke
sanctuarie at Westminster, and there, in great penurie, forsaken of
all hir friends, was deliuered of a faire son called Edward.
Act IV. sc. V. — Gloucester discloses to Lord Hastings and Sir
William Stanley a plan for rescuing Edward (11. 4-13):
you know our King, my Brother, 4
Is prisoner to the Bishop here, at whose hands,
He hath good vsage and great liberty ;
And, often but attended with weake guard,
Gomes hunting this way to disport himself e. 8
I haue adu^rtis'd him by secret meanes
That, if about this houre he makes this way,
Vnder the colour of his vsuall game.
He shall heere finde his Friends with Horse and Men, 12
To set him free from his Captiuitie.
In October, 1469, Edward recovered the liberty which he had lost
soon after Edgcote field ^ (July 26, 1469). His escape is thus narrated :
[Hoi iii 673/1/73. Halle, 275.] King Edward, being thus in
» Qwb. Maq.y 1839, ii. 616.
* ihi arcMnshop of Yorke\ Hoi. the Archehiskop of
Halle, 275.
YorV^ hys brother]
• On September 29, 1469, Edward was at York, and virtually a prisoner. —
Warkw,, 7 ; cp. Cont Croyl, 552. On October 13, 1469, he was in London,
and free.— Poiion, ii. 389. (Mr. Gairdner informed me that the privy seal dates
show Edward to have been m London as early as October 13.)
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XI. HENEY VI. PART ni. 325
captiuitie, spake euer faire to the archbishop, and to his other [Edward
Aftd MATS to
keepers, so that he had leaue diuerse daies to go hunt. . . . ^^^l
. • . Now, on a daie, vpon a plaine, when he was thus abrode,
there met with him sir William Stanleie, sir Thomas a Borough, ^j^***
and diuers other of his friends, with such a great band of men, J^JJ^
that neither his keepers would, nor once durst, moue him to ^plfuuu.
retume vnto prison againe. Some haue. thought that his keepers
were corrupted with monie, or faire promises, and therfore sufired
him thus to scape out of danger.
Edward and a Huntsman enter. The Eling's question — *' whether
shall we 1 " — is answered by Hastings (11. 20, 21) :
To Lyn, my Lord,
And ship from thence to Flanders.
Edward's escape from the Nevilles' custody (October, 1469), and his
flight after Warwick's landing (September, 1470), are here fused into
one event. During the historic interval Edward was formally recon-
ciled to Warwick,^ and in March, 1470, suppressed a revolt which the
Earl had stirred up (see p. 317 above). On the failure of this attempt,
Warwick and Clarence withdrew to France, whence they invaded
England in September, 1470 (see p. 3^ above). Edward was unable
to oppose them,
[Hoi. iii. 675/1/73. Salle, 283.] and therefore, being accom- [Edwudfl^i
witb
panied with the duke of Qlocester his brother, the lord Hastings ^^'^^^
his chamberlaine, (which had maried the earles [Warwick's] sister, HMtings.!
and yet was euer true to the king his maister,) and the lord Scales,
brother to the queene, he departed into Ldncolneshire. And,
bicause he vnderstood that all the realme was vp against him, and
some part of the earle of Warwiks power was within halfe a daies
ioumie of him, following the aduise of his counsell, with all hast
possible, he passed the Washes in great ieopardie, & comming to ^|J2J*to
Lin found there an English ship, and two hulkes of Holland, i^jt^^ip
readie (as fortune would) to make saile. iJiT*****^
Wherevpon he, with his brother the duke of Glocester, the lord Thihrd
Scales, and diuerse other his trustie firiends, entered into the ship. f^ijjj||i^"
The lord Hastings taried a while after, exhorting all his acquaint- BugiSid to
ance, that of necessitie should tarie behind, to shew themselues ^wes^^'"'
1 Cont, Oroyl, 552.
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thatpautd
king
Bdward.
326 XI. HBNRY VI. PART m.
fHoidsof openlie as friends to king Henrie^for their owne safegard, but
Henr}]. hartilie required them in secret to continue faithfull to king
Edward. This persuasion declared, he entered the ship with the
other, and so they departed ;* being in number in that one ship and
Thinumh^ two hulkcs, about seuen or eight hundred persons, hauing no
furniture of apparell or other necessarie things with them, sauing
apparell for warre.
Act IV. 80. vi — ^This scene opens with Henry's deliverance from
the Tower. I quote an account of his liberation and reassumption of
kingly state. In the beginning of October,' 1470, Warwick
Kingfftnrk [Hol. HI 677/2/40. ffolle, 285.] rodo to the Tower of London,
ouTotcer^t aud thcro deliuered king Henrie out of the ward, where he before
TtMtOTtd to
kukinffiu ^ ^ag kept, and brought him to the kings lodging, where he was
serued according to his degree.
On the fine and twentith day of the said moneth, the duke of
Clarence, accompanied with the earles of Warwike and Shrewes-
burie, the lord Strange, and other lords and gentlemen, some for
feare, and some for loue, and some onelie to gaze at the wauering
world, went to the Tower, and from thense brought king Henrie,
apparelled in a long gowne of blew veluet, through London to the
^ When the Mayor hesitates to open the gates of York to Edward, Hastings
says (3 Hen, VL, IV. vii. 28) : ** Open the Qates ; we are King Henries
friends." In HciU (283) the passage which I quote in my text (HoL iiL
675/2/14, &c) runs thus: ''The lord Chamberlayne taried a while after,
exhortyng al his acquaintaunce, that of necessitie should tarje behinde, to
shew themselffl openly as frendes to the parte aduerse for their owne saue*
gard,** . . .
> On (Warhw,^ 11) or about (Ckmt. Oroyl., 654^ September 29, 1470.
' On October 6, according to Stow (702), Warwick removed Henry from the
Tower to the Bishop of London's palace at St Pauls. On October 13 Henry
"went a procession crowned in Paules Church.'' — IbicL Cont, Oroyl (554)
also gives October 13 as the date of this public function, but the plaoe is not
named. HaUe (285), H6l.*8 authority, makes October 12 the date on which
Warwick removed Henry from a ward in the Tower to the royal lodgings
therein ; whence, on October 25, the King was publicly escorted to the Bishop
of London's palace. Fab, (659) says that, on October 13, Clarence, " accompanyed
with the Eriys of Warwyke, of Shrowysbury, and the lord Stanley, rode vnto
the Tower, and there with all honour and reuerence fet out kynge Henry, and
oonueyed nym to Paulys, and there lodgyd hym in the Bysshoppes Pal^s, A
BO was than admytted and taken for kynge thoru^h all the l^de." 8tau/$
early date— probably derived from Three Chronicles (B. L. C), 183-~for
Henir's removal from the Tower is to be preferred, because the restored
King% writs for the election of coroners were dated on October 9. — Bymer^
xi. 661.
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XI. HENRY VL PART III. 327
church of samt Paule; the people on euerie side the streets [Hemr
reioismg and crieng, " God sane the king 1 " as though ech thing ^J«J,„
had succeeded as they would haue had it: and, when he had to^t.*pi^s,
offered (as kings vse to doo), he was conueied to the bishops SSdifiSdi«d
palace, where he kept his houshold like a king. Bishop's
Having resolved to lead a private life, Henry conmiits the govern-
ment of I^gland to Warwick and Clarence (1. 41) :
I make you both Protectors of this Land, . . •
Halle (286) was Holinshed's authority for representing that
Warwick
[Eol. iii 678/1/43.] was made gouemour^ of the realme, with ^»Sf£**'^
whom as fellow was associat George duke of Clarence. ywrnwur q/
Warwick accepts the charge, and says to Clarence (11. 53-57) :
now then it is more then needful!,
Forthwith that Edward be pronouno'd a Traytor,
And all hia Lands and Ooods be eonfiaoate.*
Cla/r, What else ) and that Succession be determined. 56
Wcvrk. I, therein Clarence shall not want his part.
The following excerpt forms the source of these lines, which are not
in The True Tragedie;
[Hoi. iil 677/2/71. Ealle, 286.] When king Henrie had thus
readepted and eftsoons gotten his regall power and authoritie, he
called his high court of parlement^ to begin the six and twentith AparUmmt
day of Nouember, at Westminster; in the [p. 678] which king ^^S^Sfin
Edward was adiudged a traitor to the countrie, and an vsurper of iuShi»
the realme. His goods were confiscate and forfeited. . . . SoSwu.
Moreouer, . . . the crownes of the realmes of England and
France were by authoritie of the same parlement intailed to king ntcrowm
Henrie the sixt, and to his heires male ; and, for default of such Hen^, with
heires, to remaine to George duke of Clarence, & to his heires c*»^««3-
male : and, further, the said duke was inabled to be next heire to
^ Folyd. Verg. (521) was HaUe^s authoritj for Clarence's association with
Warwick in the govenunent of England. *' The roll of the parliament which
met on the 26th November 1470 is not known to be in existence ; probably
it was destroyed in 1477, when all the proceedings of that parliament were
annulled {Bat Pa/rl, vL 191)."— -irriiwZ, 41. From the writer of The Arrival
of Edioard IF, (1, 8) we learn that Warwick was appointed by Henry,
" lieTetenaunte of England."
* he eonfiscaie] Malono. confiscate 3 Hen. VL
* al ^ia gooddes were car^fiscaie] Halle, 286.
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328 XI. HENRY VL PART III.
his father Richard duke of Yorke, and to take from him all his
landes and dignities, as though he had beene his eldest sonne at
the time of his deatL
Henry entreats Warwick and Clarence (11. 58-61) to rank " with
the first of all '* those ** chiefe affaires " needing despatch,
That Margaret your Queene and my Sonne Edward
Be sent for, to retume from France with speed ; . • •
They had news of the change in England, but their return was
delayed.
(WhenMftiw [Hoi. iil 678/i/49. Edlle, 286, 287.] When queene Margaret
ofttieLui. ynderstood by hir husbands letters, that the victorie was gotten
oafltriani* ,
n|&^i8he by their freends, she with hir sonne prince Edward and hir traine
SSS^df) ^ ^i^tered their ships, to take their voiage into England : but the
winter was so sharpe, the weather so stormie, and the wind so
contrarie, that she was faine to take land againe, and to deferre
hir ioumie till another season.^
Henry then says (IL 65, 66) :
My Lord of Somerset, what youth is that,
Of whom you seeme to haue so tender care t
Somera. My Liege, it is young Henry, Earle of Kiohmond.
Laying his hand on Bichmond's head, Henry predicts that " this
prettie Lad " * is
Likely in time to blesse a Begall Throne.
Make much of him, my Lords, for this is hee
Must helpe you more then you are hurt by mee.
A story which Holinshed copied from Halle (287) has here been
dramatized. In 1471,'
jiunvwu [-^^^' ^^- ^7^/^/S7J J^P©r ®arl© of Penbroke went into Wales,
^^^ to yisit his lands in Penbrokeshire, where he found lord Henrie,
**^ sonne to his brother Edmund earle of Richmond, hauing not ftdl
ten yeares of age ; ^ he being kept in maner like a captiue, but
1 Lack of ** stable wethar to passe with '' detained her from March 24 till
April 13, 1471.—^mwiZ, 22.
* Henry VII. was " of a woonderfull beautie and faire complexion." — Hoi.
ill. 797/i/so. HoZZe, 504. He was **80 formed and decoratdi with all gifts
and lineaments of nature that he seemed more an angelicall creature than a
terrestriaU personage.**— Hbl. iii. 767/1/5^. HaXUy 416.
' Pembroke seems to have gone to Wales about the time when Maigaret was
awaiting a passage. — Halle^ 287. Cp. ArrvoaX^ 24.
^ Henry was bom in 1457. — Doyle, iii. 119.
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XL HENRY VL PART IH. 829
honorablie brought yp bj the ladie Herbert, late wife to William
earle of Penbroke, . . •
The earle of Penbroke tooke this child, being his nephue, out
of the custodie of the ladie Herbert, and at his returne brought
the child with him to London to king Henrie the sixt ; whome
when the king had a good while beheld, he said to such princes as SJ^*^JJ^
were with him : *' Lo, suerlie this is he, to whom both we and our ^eSkof
''aduersaries, leaning the possession of all things, shall hereafter ^^!^
^'giue roome and place." So this holie man shewed before the mmcho.
ohance that should happen, that this earle Henrie, so ordeined by
Qod, should in time to come (as he did indeed) haue and inioj the
kingdome and whole rule of this realme of England.
The dramatic fusion which made one event of Edward's escape from
his subjects' custody, and his flight from England, has a strange result
when "a Poste " tells Warwick (II. 78, 79) :
That Edward is escaped from your Brother,
And fled (as he heares since) to Burgundie.^
Half of this news (L 78) takes us back to October, 1469 ; the other
half (I. 79) transports us to September, 1470 (see p. 325 above).
Ail now go out save Somerset, Richmond, and Oxford. Somerset
fears what may befall Richmond in the conflicts which are sure to
follow Edward's escape :
Therefore, Lord Oxford, to preuent the worst.
Forthwith wee'le send him hence to Brittanie,
Till stormes be past of Ciuill Enmitie. — 11. 96-98.
The battle of Tewkesbury was fought on May 4, 1471.* About
four months ^ after this date Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke,
[Hoi iil 693/I/S3. Halle, 303.] was conueied to Tinbie, ^^S^"^
where he got ships, and with his nephue, the lord Henrie earle of Xl^^iiu
Richmond, sailed into Britaine, where, of the duke, they were xSl/^
1 The order of events differs in T, T, and 3 Hen, VL In the former we
have :JEd ward's escajje (^., IV. v.) ; Queen Elizabeth's witJidrawal to sanctuary
' * ^ " ' " {F,t IV. vii.) ; Henry's release and prophecy
(F., IV. iv.) ; Edward's return (J ,
touching Bichmond (F., IV. vi). Immediately after Henry's presageful wor
have b^ uttered, there enters "one with a letter to Warwike." I^m
this letter Warwick learns that Edward has landed and is marching to London
(F., IV. viii).
' Writing on September 28, 1471, Sir John Paston announces a report that
" the Erie of Penbroke is taken on to Brettayn ; and men saye that the Kynge
schall have delyvere off hym hastely, and som seye that the Kynge off France
woU se hym saffe, and schall sett hym at lyberte ageyn."— Po^on, iii. 17,
Bichmond is not mentioned in the letter.
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330 XI. HENRY VL PART IH.
poiHouer courteouslie interteined ; with assurance made, that no creature
Britaint, should doo them anie wrong or iniurie within his dominions.
Act rV. sc. vii. — " Flourish. Enter Edward, Biohard, Hastings,
and Souldiers." In The True Tragedie Edward, Richard, and Hastings
enter " with a troope of Hollanders." ^ Edward has " hronght desirid
helpe from Burgundie" (1. 6) ; and has now "arriu'd,"
From Banenspurre Hauen, before the Gates of Torke, . . •
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy,
un [Hoi, iii 678/2/72. HcUle, 290.] would not consent openlie to
Htaiddh aid king Edward ; but yet secretlie ynder hand by others he lent
^fid^hand Yoto him fiftie thousand florens of the [«. 679] crosse of S. Andrew,
[with money >* -•
•ndabipe]. and further caused foure great ships to be appointed for him in
the hauen of de Yeere, otherwise called Camphire in Zeland, which
in those dales was free for all men to come ynto, and the duke
hired for him fourteene ships of the Easterlings well appointed,
& for the more suertie tooke a bond of them to seme him tnilie,
till he were landed in England, and fifteene dales after.
On March 14, 1471,^ Edward landed at Eavenspur, and moved
towards York {HdOe, 290, 291).
The gates have been " made fast " (1. 10). Hastings knocks " once
more, to summon " the magnates of the city. In response : " Enter,
on the Walls, the Maior of Yorke and his Brethren." A colloquy
succeeds (11. 17-24) :
Maior. My Lords, we were fore-warned of your oomming,
And shut the Gates for safetie of our selues ;
For now we owe allegeance vnto Henry.
Edw. But, Master Maior, if Henry be your King, 20
Yet Edward, at the least, is Duke of Yorka
Maior, True, my good Lor^, I know you for no lesse.
Edw, Why, and I challenge nothing but my Dukedome,
As being well content with that alona 24
The Mayor accepts Edward's explanation, and the gates are opened.
To illustrate this part of sc. vii., I quote Halle » (291, 292) :
Kyng Edward, without any wordes spoken to hym, cam peace-
ably nere to Yorke [on March 18,* 1471], of whose commynge,
^ Fah, (660) says that Edward landed at Ravenspur " with a small oom*
pany of Flemynges and other.'*
» Arrival^ 2.
' The account which Hd, gives of Edward's campaign in 1471 was chiefly
taken from The Arrival of Edw, IV, This pamphlet contains a great deal
which is not in HaUe, whom the writer of The True Tragedie followed.
* Arrival, 6.
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XI. HENRY VI. PART IH. 331
when the citiezens wer certefied, without delay they armed them-
selfe, and came to defend the gates ; sendyng to hym two of the
chiefest Aldermen^ of the citie, whych emestly admonished hym [Twoiuder-
on their behalfe to come not one foote nerar, nor temerariouslye to JS^JJJJ^
enter in to so great ieopardy ; consideringe that they were fully SSiSJ
determined and bent to compell hym to retract with dent of Id^tum
swourd. Kyng Edward . . . determined to set forward neither gates.]
with army nor with weapoTi, but with lowly wordes & gentel
entreatynges ; requyryng moste hartely the messengers that were
sent to declare to the citizens that he came neither to demaund [EdwaM
answered
the reahne of England, nor the superiorities of the same, but onely ^^^^^^^
the duchie of Yorke, his olde enheritance ; the which duchie, if he bat w?™'
might by their meanes readept and recouer, he would neuer let toSj*^
passe out of hys memorie so great a benifite, and so frendly a
gratuitie to hym exhibited. And so with fayre wordes and flatter-
ynge speche he dismissed the messengers, and with good spede he SS^S*
and his folowed so quickly after that they were almost at y* gates y^"*^***
as sone as the Ambassadors. The citezens, heryng his good fouowed,
and assimd
answere, that he ment nor entended nothynge preiudiciall to kynge ^ dtuens
Henry nor his royall authoritie, were much mitigated & cooled, & nottSL
b^an to common with him from their walles, willyng him to conuey ^T^^^i
hym self into some other place without delay, which if he did they •"*****'**^-^
assured hym that he should haue neither hurte nor damage ; but ^u>yed^^
he, gently speakyng to all men, and especially to suche as were Sl,mSlr*^
Aldermen, (whome he called worshipfull, and by their proper 2Q«]E[mto
names them saluted,) after many fayre promises to them made, ^^^"^
exhorted & desyred them that by their fauourable frendshyp & £3^^^
frendly permission he might enter into his awne towne, of the which ^^ ^®'^^
he had both his name and title. All the whole daye was consumed
in doutful communication & emest interlocution. The citiezens, [^^id^tD*^
partely wonne by hys fayre wordes, & partly by hope [p. 292] of on SSSm^n
hys large promises, fell to this pact & conuencion, that, yf kyng shooid^ose
toem well.
Edward woulde swere to entertayne his citiezens of Yorke after a JJl**^®?^
gentell sorte & fashyon, and here after to be obedient and faytbfrdl
* In 3 BetL VI^ IV. vii 34, the Mayor opens the gates of York, and entew
helow with ** two Aldermen." In T. T. he enters alone.
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332 XI. HENRY VI. PART m.
to all kyng Henryes commaundementes and preceptes, that tiien
they woulde recejue hjm in to their eitie, & ayde and comfort hym
with money. . . . When kyng Edward had appesed the citiezens,
and that their fury was past, he entred in to the citie, &, clerely
(Bat when forgettinge his othe, he first set a garrison of souldiers in the
j^^^tod towne,^ to the entent that nothyng should be moued agaynst hym
^SJriMou ^7 ^^^ citezens, & after he gathered a great host, by reason of his
money.
When Edward has taken the keys of York from the Mayor, a march
is heard, and Sir John Montgomery enters " with Drumme and
Souldiers." Edward's question — " why come you in Armes " — is thus
answered by Sir John (11. 43, 44) :
To helpe King Edward in his time of storme.
As euery loyall Subiect ought to doe. 44
Edw, Thankes, good Mountgomerie ; but we now forget
Our Title to the Crowne, and onely clayme
Our Dukedome till Qod please to send the rest.
Mount, Then fare you well, for I will hence again : 48
I came to serue a King and not a Duke. —
Drummer, strike vp, and let vs march away 1
Edward is soon persuaded to reassume his royal style ; whereupon
Hastings cries (U. 69, 70) :
Sound Trumpet 1 Edward shal be here proclaim'd :
Gome, fellow Souldior, make thou proclamation I
[Flovriah. Sound,
Soul, Edward the Fourth, by the Grace of God, King of England
and France, and Lord of Ireland, kc,
Edward left York on March 19, and arrived at Nottingham a few
days later ; * where
Bdf»,HiaL [Eel. iiL 68O/2/49. HalUy 292.] there came to him sur Thomas
Mon^!!^ Burgh, & sir Thomas Montgomerie, with their aids ; which caused
nomufbat him at their first comming to make proclamation in his owne
name, to wit, of K Edward the fourth : boldlie aflirming to him,
that they would serue no man but a king.
Act IV. sc. viii. — King Henry, Warwick, Montague, Glarence,
* When the Mayor has yielded the keys of York, he is told that " Edward
will defend the Towne and thee."— 3 Em, VL, IV. vii. 38.
* Arrival^ 6, 7. Sir Thomas Montgomery is not mentioned in Anvoal or
Warkw. According to the former (and better) authority Edwaid was "receyvyd
as Kynge" at Warwick, on or about April 2 ; "and eo made his proclamations
from that tyme forthe wards."— -irriral, 9. Warkw, (14) agrees with Halle in
assigning an earlier date to Edward's proclamation as King, and in making
Nottingham the scene of that step.
a king.]
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XI. HENRY VI. PART IH. 833
Oxford, and Somerset meet to take counsel, since news has come that
Edward
With hastie Germanes, and blunt Hollanders,
Hath pass'd in safetie through the Narrow Seas,
And with his troupes doth march amaine to London ; . • . 4
Warwick will muster up friends in Warwickshire,^ while the other
Lords do the same in different parts of England. All are to meet at
Coventry (1. 32). These arrangements made, they bid Henry farewell,
and dejMurt. llie scene is carried on, or a new scene begins,' with
Henry's remark:
Here at the Pallace [of the Bishop of London] will I rest a while.
His army is already in the field, and he speaks confidently of his
subjects' affection for him. Before Exeter — whom Henry has been
addressing — can reply, they hear shouts, which are immediately
followed by the entrance of Edward, Bichard, and Torkist soldiers.
Edward exclaims (11. 53, 54, 58) :
Seize on the shamefaced Henry, beare him hence.
And once againe proclaime vs ELing of England ! . • •
Hence with him to the Tower ; let him not speake !
Edward received a voluntary offer of submission from the Mayor,
aldermen, and leading citizens of London.'
When, says Halle (294),
the duke of Somerset,^ and other of kynge Henryes frendes, saw
the world thus sodaynly chaunged, euery man fled, and in haste
shifted for hym selfe, leuinge kyng Henry alone, as an hoste that
shoulde be sacrificed, in the Bishops palace of London adioyninge
to Poules churche ; not knowyng of whom, nor what, counsayll to
aske, as he which wyth troble and aduersitie was clerely dulled j[^^ffgj^
and appalled: in whych place he was [, on April 11,*^] by kyng Si^SS^
Edward taken, and agayne committed to prison and captiuitie.
Act V. sc. i. — At the close of the last scene, after Henry has been
led out, Edward declares the next step to be taken (lY. viii. 59, 60):
And, Lords, towards Coventry bend we our course.
Where peremptorie Warwicke now remaines : . . .
* He was in Warwickshire when Edward landed. — Hcl, iii.680/i/5 ; HaUey
291. A letter (printed in Oman's King-maker^ 221, 222) contains a postscript
written by the jfiarl at Warwick, on March 25, 1471.
' Mr. Daniel begins another scene here, and allots a separate day to it.
— T-^., 320. » An^val, 16.
^ In April, 1471, Queen Margaret's landing was expected, and, with the
desicn of collecting men to assist her, Somerset left London for the west of
England some days before April 11, when Edward entered the city. —
Amval, 14, 16. • Arrival, 17,
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334 XI. HENRY VL PART UI.
la this scene he appears before Coventry, and sommons Warwick
to the walls. Warwick marvels (v, i. 19, 20) :
Where slept our Scouts, or how are they seduc'd,
That we could heare no newes of his repay re )
The dramatic action brings Edward from Tork to London, and
then from London to Ck)ventry ; but the latter movement is fictitious.
Edward was bound for London when— on March 29, 1471 ^ — he
[Edward [Halle, 293.] auauTiced hys power toward Couentre, & in a
wanfick playn by the citie he pytched bis felde. And the next daye after
gain befure that he Came thither, hys men were set forwarde, and marshalled
wo^d'no*"^ in array, & he valiantly bad the erle battayle : which mistrusting
foifSl] ^^^^ he should be deceaued by the duke of Clarem^e (as he was in
dede) kept hym selfe close within the Walles.
Warwick rejects with bitter scorn Edward's offer of grace, which
Kichard presses (11. 21-52). According to Halle (293), after CWence
had been reconciled to Edward,
[After
SJSJi^n' was it concluded emongest the .iii. brethren to attempt therle of
Sreitowf Warwicke, if by any fayr means he might be recoTiciled or by any
to attempt a promiso allured to their parte. To whom the duke of Clarence
reconcilia- !•-■/•
S?^^, sent diuers of hys secrete frendes, first to excuse him of the act
WarwiGK.]
that he had done, secondarely to require him to take some good
exooaed endo uow, while he might, with kyng Edward.
iSd^^S^^ When the erle had hard paciently the dukes message, lorde,
rMcm^t how he detested & accursed him I crienge out on him that he,
Bdwardj Contrary to his oth, promise, & fidelitie, had shamefully turned hys
[Warwick &ce from his confederates & alies. But to the dukes messengers
^uiewas he gaue none other answere but thys: that he had leuer be
TOriured alwayes lyke him selfe then lyke a false and a periured^ duke;
SSlJ^wSIS?) ^^ ^^^^ h® ^^ ^^y determined neuer to leue war, tyll eyther he
had lost hys owne natural! lyfe, or vtterly extinguished & put
vnder hys foes and enemies.
The forces of Oxford, Montague, and Somerset ' now march into
* Arrival^ 9.
' When Clarence is welcomed by Edward and Richard, Warwick exclaims
(3 Hen, VL, V. i 106) : " Oh passing Traytor, pervur^d and vniust 1 "
• Somerset was not at Coventry. He went westward before Edward
entered London (see p. 333, n, 4, above); met Queen Margaret at Ceme Abb^,
Dorset, on April 16 (Arrival, 28) ; and mustered the forces which marched to
Tewkesbury {Ibid,),
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arwick'i
armv were
Exeter,
XL HENRY VL PART IH. 335
Coventry. Each leader, as he enters the city, cries that he is " for
Lancaster I "(11* ^9-72).
The noblemen, who afterwards fought on Warwick's side at Bamet,
were, as Halle relates (295) :
Henry ^ duke of Excester, Edmond Erie of Somerset,* Ihon erle ^'^
of Oxenford, and Ihon Marques Montacute, whom y^ erle his sJ^Swiei,
brother wel knewe not to be well mynded (but sore agaynste hys Montagu*]
stomacke) to take part with these lordes ; and therefore stode in a wM^^to
doubt whether he at this tyme might trust him or no ; but the with^
fraternal loue betwene them washed awaye and diminished all %^^^\^^
suspicion [cp. 3 mn. VI^ V. ii. 33-47]. triiSdWj
As Somerset enters Coventry, Bichard observes (11. 73-75) :
Two of thy Name, both Dukes of Somerset,
Haue sold their liues vnto the House of Torke ;
And thou shalt be the third, if this Sword hold.
The dramatist has here remembered that three historical Dukes of
Somerset lost their lives through opposing the House of Tork : (1)
Edmund Beaufort the elder, slain at the first battle of St. Albans ; (2)
Henry, his son, beheaded after Hexham field ; — a battle which is not
even alluded to in the play ; — and (3) Henry's brother german Edmund,
who met the same fate after the battle of Tewkesbury ^ (see p. 320
above).
Lastly, Clarence, approaching the walls of Coventry with a large
force, repudiates his oath of allegiance to Henry (11. 89-91), and turns
to Edward and Richard, by whom he is gladly welcomed* (11. 100-105).
Halle (293) relates that Warwick, before shutting himself up in
Coventry, sent hastily
^ '' [Wanriek
for the duke of Clarence to ioyne with hym ; which had conscribed cure^
& assembled together a great host about London. But when he aL^bieda
perceiued that the duke lyngered, & dyd al thinges negligeTitly, as rciarenoe's
though he were in doubt of warre or peace, he then began somwhat wSiS?***
to suspect that the Duke was of hys bretheme corrupted & lately miagiTiDgs.]
chaunged ; ... yet he had perfect worde that the duke of wp'^hU
Clarence came forward toward hym with a great army. Kyng anny^d
Edward, beynge also therof enformed, raysed his campe, & made JJJJJ^
toward y* duke. . . . When eche host was in sight of other, ^^^
» JETenry] lAon Halle.
* Hoi. — who copied Arrival^ 12-— does not mention Somerset's presence.
* "Three Dukes of Somerset'* are counted by Edward among his slain
foemen (3 Hen. VLy V. vii. 5).
^ Clarence met bis brothers near Warwick, in April ; not later than the
4th of that month.—^mtxil, U-13.
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336 XL HENRY VI. PART IIL
[Whenfht Rychard duke of Gloucester, brother to them both, as though he
oi^Mter ^^ "^^^ made arbitrer betwene them, fyrst rode to the duke, and
SSJj^ with hym commoned very secretly: from hym he came to kyng
^^TiS^""^ Edward, and with lyke secretnes so ysed hym that in conclusion no
ynnaturali warre, but a fratemall amitie, was concluded and pro-
rand at uat claymed; and then, leuyng all armye and weapon a syde, bothe
brouien the brethemc louyngly embraced, and familierly commoned
embnMed.] together.
Addressing Warwick, Clarence gives a reason for abandoning
Henry (11. 83-85) :
I will not ruinate my Fathers House,
Who gaue his blood to lyme the stones together, Si
And set vp Lcmcaster, Why, trowest thou, Warwicke,
That Clarence is so harsh, so blunt, ynncUuraU,
To bend the f atall Instruments of Warre
Against his Brother and his lawf ull King t 88
This view had been urged on Clarence when he was a refugee in
France, about a year before his desertion of Warwick. A ** damosell/'
who professed to have been sent from England, by Edward, for the
purpose of making terms with the Earl of Warwick,
|2r^^ [Eaile, 281.] perswaded the duke of Clarence that it was
ftlSfi^* neither Tiaiwall nor honorable to hym, either to condiscende, or
ukepart take parte, against the house of Yorke, (of which he was lineally
againat ^'« , , - '
and itT* descended,) and iosetvp again the house of Lancaster, . . .
Lancaiter.j After welcoming Clarence, Edward challenges Warwick to " leaue
the Towne and fight." Warwick answers (IL 110, 111) :
I will away towards Bamet presently.
And bid thee Battaile, Edw£u:*d, if thou dar'st.
Edw, Yes, Warwicke, Edward dares, and leads the way. — 112
Lords, to the field ! Saint C^rge and Yictorie !
[Exetmt, March, Warwicke and his cornpcmie/oUawes.
On April 5, 1471, Edward again offered Warwick battle before
Coventry.! As the Earl would not stir,
[Bdwiid [Ealky 293-295.] kyng Edward, thus beyng [, by Clarence's
^S^ alliancej furnished of a strong hoste, went without any manor
^"^^^^^ [p, 294] of diflBdence or mistrust toward LondoTi. . . . Therle of
Warwycke, pondering that the gain of the whole battail stode in
makyng hast, with al diligence followed his enemies ; hopynge (that
* Arriwdy 13. Edward entered London on April 11.— Jrrival, 17. On
April 13 he encamped on Bamet field.-— .Imwil, 18.
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XI. HENRY VI. PART IIL 337
yf they wer neuer let bo lytle -with any stop or tariyng by y* waye) [Warwick
to fight with them before thei should come to LondoTi [p, 295]. . . . ^^^j^g
[After resting awhile at St. Albans] he remoued to a village in the ^'•'•'^
meane waye betwene London & saynct Albones, called Bamet, gJ^J^J*
beyng tenne myle distaunt from bothe the tounes.
Act Y. 8C iL — " Alarum and Excursions. Enter Edward bringing
forth Warwicke wounded." The True Tragedie has : " Alarmes, and
then enter Warwike wounded." From the former stage direction,
and the succeeding lines (1-4), — ^which are not in The True Tragedie^ —
one may infer that Warwick has been mortally wounded by Edward.
For Warwick's death at Edward's hand I find no authority. Halle
tells us (296) that, towards the close of the battle of Bamet, — ^fought
on Easter Day, April 14, 1471,^ — ^Warwick,
[Halle, 296.] beyng a manne of a mynde inuincible, rushed
into the middest of his enemies, whereas he (auentured so farre
rWanrifik
from his awne compaignie, to kill & sley his aduersaries, that he died uniting
in tbd inidfv
could not be rescued) was, in the middes of his enemies, striken Jjjjj^.
doune & slain. The marques Montacute, thynkynge to succor his l^'^^*^
brother whiche he sawe was in greate ieoperdy, & yet in hope JJ^^cm^
to obtein the victory, was likewise ouerthrowen and slain. ***™-^
Edward leaves Warwick to die. Soon Oxford and Somerset enter
They have just had news that (1. 31)
The Queene from France hath brought a puissant power ;
and, as the scene ends, Oxford cries :
Away, away, to meet the Queenes great power I
Queen Margaret, having heard of Edward's return,
[ffalle, 297.] gathered together no small compaignie of hardy [Mtistnt't
and valiaunt souldiours, determined with all haste and diligence, ^^^/®'
with Prince Edwarde her sonne, to saile into Englande ; but yet ^SSlT^*
once again (suche was her destinie) beyng letted for lacke of pros- ^^^
perous wynde, & encombered with to[o] muche rigorous tempeste, S^^J^ied*
"a daie after the faire," (as the common prouerbe saieth,) landed "'^'^^-i
at the Port of Weymouth, in Dorsetshire [, on April 14, 1471].*
Act Y. sc. iii. — ^The historical date of this scene must be April 14,
1471, if we look solely at the fact that the battle of Bamet is just over.
* Arrival^ 19.
> Arrival^ 22. Warhw.f 17. The battle of Bamet was fought on the same
day. — Arrival^ 19.
Z
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338
XI. HENRY VI. PART IIL
nranrlck's
defaat over-
whelmed
Maiigaret]
But Edward already knows that Queen Margaret's troops ** doe hold
their course toward Tewksbury " (1. 19) ; and he resolves to go thither
** straight." We learn from The ArrivaU qf King Edward TF, that
news of lier landing reached him on April 16 ; and on April 24 he
marched from Windsor in search of her army. He did not ascertain
the Lancastrians' purpose to give him battle at Tewkesbury until May
3, though before leaving Windsor he was satisfied that they were not
coming directly towards London, but were keeping to the north-west,
in hope of gathering reinforcements from Wales and Lancashire.^
Act V. sc. iv. — The dramatist has disregarded his authority in
making Queen Margaret address her confederates with such assurance
of future triumph ^ (11. 1-38) ; for Halle says (297) that, when news of
Bamet field came,
she, like a woman al dismaied for feare, fell to the ground, her
harte was perced with sorowe, her speache was in manor passed,
all her spirites were tormented with Malencoly.
Margaret would have deferred a battle, but she yielded to Somer-
set's advice that war should be renewed without delay (HaUe, 298, 299).
Act V. sc. V. — ^Li ITie True Tragedie this scene opens with the
following stage direction : " Alarmes to the battell, Yorke flies, then
the chambers be discharged. Then enter the King, Gla. <& Glo. <& the
rest, <& make a great shout, and crie, for Torke, for Torke, and then
the Queene is taken, <& the prince, k Ozf. k Som. and then sound
and enter all againe." These instructions — ^which I print with the
punctuation unaltered — show that a retreat and victorious re-entry of
the Yorkists were exhibited on the stage. At Tewkesbury field,
Bichard — as we learn from Halle (300) — led the Yorkist vaward
against that part of the entrenched Lancastrian camp which was
defended by Somerset. Failing to carry the position by assault,
Bichard, "for a very politique purpose, wyth all hys men reculed
backe." Somerset followed the Yorkists who, turning, discomfited
their pursuers, and, supported by Edward's division, entered the camp.
The I^castrians who remained there were soon routed. *< The Quene
was founde in her Charriot almost deade for sorowe." * The Prince
was ''apprehended," and Somerset was '' by force " taken prisoner.
^ These partdcnlars, with the dates of April 16, 24, and May 3, are given in
Arrival^ 22, 24, 25, and 28.
* Her speech just before the armies join battle (3 Hen, FZ, V. iv. 77-81)
has a slight general resemblance to Warwick's oration when be was on the
point of engaging Edward's troops at Bamet. The Earl told his men that
*' they fight not onely for the libertie of the countreye agaynste a tiraunte,
which wrongfullye and againste all right bad inuaded and subdued thys
realme, but they fyght in the queiel of a true and vndubitate IdDff against a
cruell man and a torcious vsurper ; in the cause of a Godly and a pitiful
Prince against an abhominable manqueller and bloudy boutcher ; . • . In
which cause beyng so good, so godly, & so iast^ Qod of veiy iustice must nedes
be their shilde and delence.''--J7aZ{e, 295.
• On May? Edward heard that she had been found in " a powre religiows
place" near Worcester, where she stayed during the battle.— Amixil, 31.
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XI. HENRY VI. PART III. 339
The victory won, Edward immediatelj disposes of two Lancastrian
leaders (IL 2, 3) :
Away with Oxford to Hames Castle straight 1
For Somerset, off with his guiltie Head I
Oxford shared the Lancastrians' defeat at Barnet, but he was not
with them when they were vanquished at Tewkesbury, on May 4, 1471.
It was not until February 15, 1474,^ that
[Eol. ill. 693/2/20. Halle, 304.] lohn earle of Oxford, which fUmrUi^r
after Bamet field both manfullie and valiantlie kept saint Michaels j^^^^^
mount in Comewall, either for lacke of aid, or persuaded by his JSS^.'^
friends, gaue vp the mount, and yeelded himselfe to king Edward {S^T^J^of
(his life onelie saued), which to him was granted. But, to be out 147^*04743
of all doutfull imaginations, king Edward also sent him ouer the
sea to the castell of Hammes, where, by the space of twelue yeeres,
hee was in strong prison shut vp and warilie looked to.
On May 6, 1471,*
[Halle, 301.] was Edmond duke of Somerset . . . behedJed gjJJ^I^,
in the market-place at Tewkesbury.
As Oxford and Somerset are led out, Edward asks (11. 9, 10) :
Is Proclamation made. That who finds Edward
Shall haue a high Howard, and he his Life 1
Scarcely have these words been uttered when Prince Edward is
seen approaching. The King thus addresses his rival (11. 14-16) :
Edward, what satisfaction canst thou make
For bearing Armes, for stirring vp my Subiects,
And all the trouble thou hast tum'd me to t 16
Prvnce. Speake like a Subiect, prowd ambitious Yorke I
Suppose that I am now my Fathers Mouth ;
Besigne thy Ghayre, and, where I stand, kneele thoU|
Whil'st I propose the selfe-same words to thee, 20
Which, Traytor, thou would'st haue me answer to I
1 Escaping from the rout at Bamet, John Earl of Oxford went first to
Scotland and afterwards to France.— Wwrhw,, 16, 26 ; Arrival, 20. On April
10, 1473, he was at Dieppe, purposing, as was supposed, to sail for Scotkno. —
FcuiUm, ilL 88. He landed at St Ossyths in Essex on May 28, 1473, but soon
reemba^ked. — Pastony m, 92. On September 30, 1473, he took posBession of
St. Michael's Mount in Oomwall, which be defended against the royal forces
until February 16, 1474, when the defection of his garrison obliged him to
surrender. He was then brought as a prisoner to Edward, who immediately
sent him to Hammes Castle (Calais).— fFarfctr., 26, 27 j Fdyd, Vera,, 632/44.
William of "Worcester {ItineraHvm, 122) and fVarhw. differ as to tne length
of the siege, and the former gives Feb. 19 as the date of surrender.
« Arnval, 31. Warkw., 19.
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340 XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
The Prince repeats .his claim to sovereignty (11. 33-37), and is
forthwith murdered :
Edw. Take that, thou ^ likenesse of this Bayler here !
[Stabs htm.
Rich. Sprawl'st thou 1 take that, to end thy agonie !
[Rich, stabs him.
Clan'. And ther's for twitting me with periurie ! 40
[Cla/r. stabs hvm.
The account of Prince Edward's death here dramatized is given by
Holinshed, whose authority was Halle (301).
[Hoi. iii 688/2/7.] After the field was ended, proclamation
was made, that whosoeuer could bring foorth prince Edward aliue
or dead, should haue an annuitie of a hundred pounds during his
life, and the princea life to be saued, if he were brought foorth
g^ig^^ aliue. Sir Richard Crofts [the Prince's captor], nothing mistrusting
^J5;2ft?* ^^ kings promise^ brought foorth his prisoner prince Edward,
j|^*1j23/** being a faire and well proportioned yoong gentleman ; * whom when
MHtd, king Edward had well aduised, he demanded of him, how he durst
so presumptuouslie enter into his realme with banner displaied 1
Wherevnto the prince boldlie answered, saieng : " To recouer
" my fathers kingdome & heritage, from his father and grandfather
prtnM '^ to him, and from him after him to me, lineallie descended." At
murtkend. which words king Edward said nothing, but with his hand thrust
him from him, or (as some saie) stroke him with his gantlet ; whom,
incontinentlie, George duke of Clarence, Richard duke of Glocester,
Thomas Greie marquesse Dorcet, and William lord Hastings, that
stood by, suddenlic murthered : . . .
Act V. sc. vi. — Having helped to slay Prince Edward, Richard
posts off " to London on a serious matter " (V. v. 47). Scene vi. is
laid at the Tower. Richard enters with Henry, whom, after some con-
ference, he stabs to death (1. 57) with a sword (1. 63). Henry died on
May 21 or 22, 1471.» He was
» 38. ihou] Whole Contention (Q^). the 3 Hon. VI.
* being a . . . qentleman] Hoi. oeynge a good Femenine & a wel feautered
youn^e gendema/n Halle, 301. Edwaid apostrophizes him as "thou likenesse
of this Kayler here *' [Queen Mai^ret].
• Warkw. (21) says : " And the same nvghte that Kynge Edwarde came to
Londone, Kynge Herry, beynge inwarde [? in ward] in presone in the Toure
of Londone, was putt to dethe, the xxj. day of Maij, on a tywesday nyght,
hetwyx xj. and xij. of the cloke, beynge thenne at the Toure the Duke of
Gloucetre, brothere to Kynge Edwarde, and many other"; . . • From a
chronicle (MS. Arundel, Mus. Brit 28, fol. 25, v<», cited in Warkw., xiii) we
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XI. HENRY VL PART IH. 841
[Hoi iii 690/2/61.] in the Tower spoiled of his life, by Richard
duke of Glocester, (as the constant fame ran,) who (to the intent Sf^j^^*^
that his brother king Edward might reigne in more suertie) oJ^**^
murthered the said king Henrie with a dagger. ^SS^t&HS.*^
Edward is ignorant of Bichard's sudden resolve to despatch Henry
(1. 83). More — whose narrative I here give in Halle's words (343)
— ^asserts that Eicbard
slewe in the towre kynge Henry the sixt; saiynge: "now is there KyngEtnrf
itJu towai
fRiehord
"no heire male of kynge Edwarde the thirde but wee of the house inuutowar
* of Yorke ! " ^ whyche murder was doen without kyng Edward his <*« «/•"
assent ; which would haue appointed that bocherly office to [too
Halle] some other rather then to hys owne brother.
Act V. sc. vii. — We may suppose this scene to be laid in the Palace
at Westminster. There are present King Edward, Queen Elizabeth,
Clarence, Qloucester, Hastings, and the infant Prince Edward, of whom
a nurse has charge. Clarence demands (11. 37-40) :
What will your Grace haue done with Margaret !
Begnard, her Father, to the King of France
Hath pawn'd the Sicils and lerusalem.
And hither haue they sent it for her ransome. 40
King. Away with her, and waft her hence to France !
An interval of more than four historic years elapsed between the
dates of Margaret's ransom and the battle of Tewkesbury; though,
according to. dramatic time, the latter event is very recent. In 1475 '
the agreement was made by which
learn that Henry "decessit" on May 21. According to Three Chroniclea
(B. L, C), 184, he died " feliciter " on May 22. A fourth chronicle (MS. Laud.
674 (B. 23) foL 11, 1*, cited in Warkw,, xi.) records that Henry "moriebatur"
on May 22. A fifth chronicle (MS. Bib. Reg. 2 B. xv. foL 1, r<», cited in
Warkw., xi.) fixes the time of his death between (" inter**) the 2l8t and 22nd
of May. Finally, the Yorkist writer of Arrival (38) asserts that Henry died
on May 23, "ofpure displeasure, and melencoly.*'
» Glo. The ToMoer, man, the Tower; He root (hem out,] T. T. Rich. [The]
Tower, the Toioer, 3 Hen. VI., V. v. 50. The words *'now is . . . of Yorke '^
are in HaUe, but not in Hot.
* The articles of this agreement—" adnisez par et entre Le Roy de Fiance
dune part Et messires lehan seigneur de Hauart et Thomas seigneur de mon-
gomery chtwilers conseillers du Roy dangleterre Touchant le bail et deliur-
ance de dame marguerit fille du Roy de Secille " — are dated October 2, 1476.
Her ransom was 50,000 crowns of gold. The original articles, signed by
Lewis's own hand, are preserved in the British Museum. An order, dated
November 13, 1475, and addressed to Sir Thomas Montgomery, authorizes him
to receive Margaret from Thomas Thwaytes and deliver her to Lewis or to
such persons as shall be chosen by Lewis and Montoomeiy in Edwaid's name.
— Bymer, zii 22. Her ransom was to be paid witiun five years (RymeTf xii.
51) ; and, on March 21, 1480, Edwaid gave Lewis a full acquittance.— i^ymer,
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Provence.]
342 XIL RIGHAED m.
jRen^ptid [Halle, 301.] King Reiner her father raunsomed her wttA
S^iiwta '^oney, which summe (as the French writers afferme) he borowed
|dik?^d of tyng Lewes y* xi. ; and, because he was not of power nor abilitie
to repaye so greate a dutie, he soldo to the French kyng & his
heyres the kingdomes of Naples and both the Sciciles, wyth the
couTitie of Prouince. . • •
There is another unhistorical personage in this play besides the
dual " Somerset." " Westmerland " is a hot Lancastrian in 3 Hen. VL,
I. L, but the historical second Earl — grandson of Ealph Neville, the
first Earl — ^kept aloof from civil strife.^
*' Exeter," in the First and Third Parts of Henry F/., is, I suspect,
the same person; though the historical Thomas Beaufort, Duke of
Exeter, died in 1426, and, during the war of the Koses,^* this title was
borne by Henry Holland. Holland was a staunch Lancastrian ; but the
dramatic "Exeter" accepted the arrangement which reduced Henry
VL to the position of King by the grace of Richard Plantagenet.
French {Shakspearecma ifenealogica, p. 199) conjectured that
"Summerfield" {T. T.) or "Someruile" (3 Hen. VL, V. i. 7-15) was
meant for Sir Thomas Somerville, who died 16 Henry VIL, 1500.
XII. RICHARD III.
Thb Tragedy of Richa/rd the Third * is not separated from The third
Fart of Henry the Sixt by a dramatic interval of one clear day. For
although Clarence's arrest — the first incident of the former drama —
occurred in 1477,* the action of so. ii, Act L, takes us back to May
xii. 112. In consideration of the ranaom, Ren6 agreed that Provence should
be united to the French crown after his death, and Margaret confirmed the
cession.— Jean de Troyesy 36, 37.
1 The dramatist might have been misled by finding in HcMe (256) or H6L
(ilL 666/1/27) that " the earles of Northumberland and "Westmerland " were
dain at Towton. John Lord Neville— a brother of Ralph Neville, second Earl
of Westmoreland— was killed in this battie, fighting on the Lancastrian side.
^BoU Fail., V. 477/2.
1* The red rose was not a badge of Henry VL, but we learn from a grant
(dated Nov. 23, 1461) that Edwam IV.*s emblem ("Divisam nostram ") was a
white rose,— -Bymer, xi. 480. Edward's father bore "by the Castle of Clyflford
... a Whyte Rooae."— Digby MS. No. 82, Bodleian {Archaed., xvil 226).
« I quote the text of Fl
* We do not know when Clarence was arrested, but a probable date is baaed
on the following facts : On May 20, 1477, Burdett and Stacy, dependents of '
Clarence, were executed for constructive treason. — D. K. Bep, 3, appendix ii
p. 214k On May 21, Clarence came to the Council Chamber at Westminster,
accompanied by a priest named Godard, who read before the Council the
declarations of innocence made by Burdett and Stacy previous to execution.
Resenting this interference, Edward summoned Clarence to appear " certo die "
at the palace of Westminster, and there, in the presence of the civic dignitaries
vehementiy censured him. The Duke was put " sub custodift,'' and remained
a prisoner till lus death.— Cbnt Oroyl,, 661, 562. Edward's privy seals show
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Xn. RICHARD m. 343
23, 1471, when Henry's corse was conveyed to Chertsey (p. 345, n. 2,
below). Henry died on May 21 or 22 (p. 340, n. 3, above) j but, even
if we assume that May 21 was the date of bis death, we can hardly
refer the closing scene of 3 Hemfry VI, to the same day. TJu Tragedy
qf Richard the Third ends with the battle of Bosworth, fought on
August 22, 1485.1
Act I. sc. i. — Richard enters and soliloquizes. Two serious
obstacles may, he trusts, soon be removed from his path.
Plots haue I laide. Inductions dangerous,
By drunken Prophesies, Libels, and Dreames,
To set my Brother Clarence and the King
In deadly hate, the one against the other. — 11. 32-35.
News (11. 136, 137) that
The King is isickly, weake, and melancholly,
And hia Physiticma f eare him mightily,'
leads to further anticipations (11. 145-152) :
He cannot Hue, I hope ; and must not dye
Till George be pack'd with post-horse vp to Heauen.
lie in, to vrge his hatred more to Clarence,
With Lyes well steeVd with weighty Arguments; 148
Ajid, if I faile not in my deepe intent,
Clarence hath not another day to Hue :
Which done, God take King Edward to his mercy,
And leaue the world for me to bussle in I 152
" Some wise men " weened that Bichard's
\Eol. iii 712/2/28. More, 6/29.] drift, couertlie conueied, DSom*^
lacked not in helping foorth his brother of Clarence to his death : ^J^
which he resisted openUe, howbeit somewhat (as men deemed) oS^^s
more faintHe than he that were hartlHe minded to his wealth. ^^<^
And they, that thus deeme, thinke that he long time in king wdto^
sncoeedlng
Edwards life forethought to be king; in case that the king his Bdirard.]
brother (whose Ufe he looked that mill ctie^ ^should shorten) should
that on May 26 he was at Greenwich, ou May 27 at Greenwich and West-
minster, and on May 28 at Greenwich attain. — 0. B. May 27, then, is a date
in accoraance with the testimony of the Croyland continuator, who, as he teUs
us himself {Cont, Oroyl,^ 557, siaenote), was in 1471 or 1472 a member of the
CounciL Clarence was attainted by tne ParHament which met at Westminster
on January 16, 1478.— iJo*. FaH.f vi 167/i ; 193-195.
» Fah,, ii 672.
* Edward perceived 'Hhat there was Httle hope of recoueiie in the conning
of hMjohyndana " {Hcl. iii 7O8/2/35. Not in MaUe).
* Op. what Richard says of Edward (1. L 139, 140) :
*' 0, he hath kept an emK diet long.*
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844
XIL BICHARD HI.
prophecy.]
PropJUiitt
diwUih
fnntiuitt.
[The Queen
and her
kindled
hated
Edward's
lineage.]
happen to deceasse (as in deed he did) while his children were
yoong. And they deerae, that for this intent he was glad of his
brothers death the duke of Clarence, whose life must needs haue
hindered him so intending ; whether the same duke of Clarence had
kept him true to his nephue the yoong king, or enterprised to be
king himselfe.
If expectation fail not,
This day should Clarence closely be mew'd vp,
About a Prophesie, which eayes that G
Of Edwards heyres the murtherer shall be. — 11. 38-40.
And Clarence, entering on his road to the Tower, informs Richard
(11. 55-59) that Edward
. . . from the Crosse-row pluckes the letter G,
And sayes a Wizard told him that by G 56
His issue disinherited should be ;
And, for my name of George begins with G,
It foUowes in his thought that I am he.
Humour declared that Clarence's death
[Hoi iil 703/1/46. ffaile, 326.] rose of a foolish prophesie,
which was, that, after E. Edward, one should reigne, whose first
letter of his name should be a G. Wherewith the king and
queene were sore troubled, and began to conceiue a greeuous
grudge against this duke, and could not be in quiet till they had
brought him to his end. And, as the diuell is woont to incumber
the minds of men which delite in such diuelish fantasies, they said
afterward, that that prophesie lost not his effect, when, after king
Edward, Glocester Ysurped his kingdome.
Bichard accuses Queen Elizabeth of having sent Clarence to the
Tower (11. 62-65). Another rumoured cause of Clarence's death was
his projected marriage to Mary Duchess of Burgundy, heiress of Charles
the Bold.
[Hoi. iii 703/1/61. HcUle, 326.] Which marriage king Edward
(enuieng the prosperitie of his brother) both gainesaid and dis-
turbed, and thereby old malice reuiued betwixt them : which the
queene and hir blond (euer mistrusting, and priuilie barking at the
kings linage) ceassed not to increase.
However,
[Holm, 712/1/46. Mare, 5/13,] . . . were it by the queene and
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Xn. MCHAKD in. 845
lords of hir bloud, which highlie maligned the kings kinred, (as
women commonlie, not of malice, but of nature, hate them whome
their husbands loue,) or were it a proud appetite of the duke
himselfe, intending to be king ; at the least wise heinous treason
was there laid to his charge : . • •
I do not find that Hastings— who enters (1. 121) after his release
from the Tower— either actually suffered imprisonment through the
enmity of Queen Elizabeth and E.ivei*s, or regained his liberty by
petitioning Mistress Shore (11. 66-77). But the Queen disliked
Hastings, and he was once in great peril owing to the accusation of
Bivers. See p. 366 below.
Act I. sc. ii — " Enter the Ck)ar8e of Henrie the sixt with Halberds
to guard it, Lady Anne being the Mourner.'' The bier is set down for
a while till Lady Anne says (11* 29, 30) :
Come now towards Chertsey with your holy Lode,
Taken from Paules to be interr^ there ; . . .
Soon after Bichard enters she cries to the guards (11. 55, 56) :
Oh, Gentlemen, see, see ! dead Henries wounds
Open their congealed mouthes and bleed afresh !
Holinshed (iii. 69O/2/73) gives the following account of Henry's
funeral, and the bleeding of the corpse :
[HoL ui, 690/2/73.] The dead corps, on the Ascension euen ntfUfuand
[May 22, 1471], was conueied with billes and glaues pompouslie (if ^^ i^^
[p. 691] you will call that a funerall pompe) from the Tower to [Henry's
the church of saint Paule, and there, laid on a beire or cofFen bare s^'^^l®^
' ' from the
faced, the same in presence of the beholders did bleed : ^ where it pJ^S^JJl**
rested the space of one whole daie. From thense he was caried toCh^iMy.
to the Blackfriers, and bled there likewise: and, on the next stPaoii
daie ^ after, it was conueied in a boat, without priest or clerke, Biackfrfan.i
torch or taper, singing or saieng, vnto the monasterie of Chertseie,
distant from London fifteene miles, and there was it first
buried: . . •
The historical Lady Anne did not attend Henry YI.'s funeral ; and
the dialogue between her and Bichard (11. 46-225) is imaginary. She
^ This excerpt was partly derived from HaUe (303), but lie does not mention
the bleeding of Henry's corpse.
« Henry's body was conveyed to Chertsey on Ascension Day (May 23). —
Fab.f ii. 662, and a London chronicle (BibL Cotton. Vitell A xvi fol. 133, if*)
cited in Warhw.^ xii. Scl, was wrong if the words *' where it rested . . • next
daie after " mean that the body was conveyed to Chertsey on May 24.
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346 Xn. RICHARD UI.
married Richard in 1472.^ From Holinshed (iii. 75I/1/45) Sbakspere
might have learnt that she was
[Anne, [EoL ill. 751/i/4S. ffolk, 407.] the same Anne, one of the
jjni^ daughters of the earie of Warwike, which, (as you haue heard
S^-^ce before,) at the request of Lewes the French king, was maried to
BdwMd.i ppijj(5Q Edward, sonne to king Henrie the sixt
Richard's entreaty that she would go to Croshy Place, and receive
a visit from him there (11. 213-217), was perhaps suggested by the
mention (HoL iii 72I/2/70) of his having "kept his houshold," as
Protector, at " Crosbies in Bishops gates street." A slip of the pen, or
a compositor's error, may account for Richard's order that the body be
taken to White-Friars, not to Chertsey (11. 226, 227). We have seen
(p. 345 above) how Henry's corpse, after its removal from St. Pauls,
rested at Black-Friars,^ and was thence conveyed to Chertsey.
Act L sc. iii. — Queen Elizabeth tells Rivers (IL 11-13) that her
son's
minority
Is put vnto the trust of Richard Qlouster, 12
A man that loues not me, nor none of you.
Eiu. Is it concluded he shall be Protector t
Qu. It is determin'd, not concluded yet :
But so it must be, if the King miscarry. 16
Edward died on April 9, 1483,* and Richard was appointed Pro-
tector before the middle of May in the same year.^ When — on May
4, 1483 ^ — Edward V, entered London,
[Hoi. iii 7I6/2/S3. Mare, 22/31.] the duke of Qlocester bare
him in open sight so reuerentlie to the prince, with all semblance
of lowlinesse, that, from the great obloquie in which he was so late
before, he was suddenlie fallen in so great trust, that at the
councell next assembled he was made the onelie man, chosen and
1 In a letter written on February 17, 1472, Sir John Fasten reports Clarence
to have said "that he [Richard] may weell have my Ladye [Anne] hys
[Clarence'sl euster in lawe, butt they schall parte no lyvelod.'* — Piuton^ id. 38.
A petition for the reversal of the attainder of John Lord Neville was presented
to the Parliament which met at Westminster on October 6, 1472, and was
prorogued on November 30, 1472. This petition contains a salvo that nothing
asked for shall be prejudicial to "Richard Duke of Gloncestf and Anne
Dnches of Gloucestr his wyfe.** — Rot. FaH.y vi. 25/i. It appears, therefore,
that Richard and Anne must have been marri^ on some date between February
17 and November 30, 1472.
^ HaUe (803) does not mention the deposit of Henry's body at Blackfiiars.
» Cont. Oro^ 564.
* In commissions of the peace, dated May 14, he is styled Protector of
England. — Rot. Pat Edw. V. in doiso (cited in Grants of Edward V^ ed.
J. Q. Nichols, xiii., xxxi). If the entry on the Patent Roll can be trusted, he
was Protector on April 21.— Qairdner^s Life of Eichard 111.* ed. 2, p. 69.
* Fab., 668.
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xn. RICHARD m. 347
thought most meet to be protector of the king and his realme ; so riudukeof
that (were it destinie or were it follie) the lambe was betaken to '^'^
the woolfe to keepe.
The ensuing dialogue (U. 17-319) is fictitious. Margaret — who is
one of the spes^ers — ^left England soon after November 13, 1475, and
died on August 25, 1482.^ But as this scene cannot be historically
dated before April 9, 1483, there is point in the rebuke (11. 255-256) which
she is made to give Dorset, who pronounced her to be '* lunaticke."
Peace, Master Marquesse, you are malapert !
Tour fire-new stampe of Honor is scarce currant.
Barely eight years had elapsed since Edward— on April 18,
1475 «—
[Hoi. iii. 702/2/8.] created the lord Thomas, marquesse Dorset, rrhdmu
before dinner ; and so in the habit of a marquesse aboue the habit Marquess
of his knighthood he began the table of knights in saint Edwards
chamber.
She calls Richard a *' rooting Hogge " (I. 228). In the second year
of Richard's reign (1484), William (jollingbome published the couplet :
[Sol, iii 746/2/10. EcUU, 398.]
The Caty the Bat, and Louell our dog,
Bule all England vnder an hog.
Meaning by the hog, the drei^dfiill wild boare, which was the [The wild
kings cognisance. But, bicause the first line ende(l in dog, the ^J^Jg^
metrician could not (obseruing the regiments of meeter) end the ^^*
second yerse in boare, but called the boare an hog.
Although, as I have said, the dialogue of this scene is fictitious,
Shakspere may have taken a hint for it from the following passage, in
which Bichard is accused of fomenting strife between the two factions
at Court. The writer has been speaking of a man named Pettier, who,
on hearing of Edward's death, straightway inferred that Bichard would
be King.
[Hoi iii. 712/2/68. More, 7/26.] And forsomuch as he [Richard]
^ The date of Margaret's death is taken from Ansdme, i. 232. Cp.
Baudier's Hvttory of the Calamities of Margaret of Anjou Queen of England,
1737, pp. 191, 192. As to the date of MaigaieVs departure from England,
see p. 341, n. 2, above.
' 1 take this date horn Stow (718), Hdh authority for the passage in
which Grey's elevation to the dignity ox marquess is recorded.
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348 XXL RIOKARD HI.
rBefore woll wist and hoipe to mainteine a long contmued grudge and
Edward's o o o
iUSid hftd teart-buming betweene the queens kinred and the kings bloud,
eiumiS^ either partie enuieng others authoritie, he now thought that their
kS^d^of^ diuision should be (as it was in deed) a furtherlie beginning to
QMen?^ the pursuit of his intent.
Nay, he was resolued, that the same was a sure [p. 713] ground
[Aftenrards for the fouudatiou of all his building, if he might first (vnder the
he resolved *" ^ ^
tomake pretext of reuenging of old displeasure) abuse the anger and ignor-
l^^ ance of the tone partie to the destruction of the tother ; and then
ambition.] ^.^ ^^ j^j^ purposo as mauio as he could, and those, that could
not be woone, might be lost yer they looked therfore. For of one
thing was he certeine, that, if his intent were perceiued, he should
soone haue made peace betweene both the parties with his owne
bloud.
Act I. 8c. iv. — In this scene two murderers, sent by Bichard, slay
Clarence, though Edward's order for the Duke's death had been reversed
(II. i. 86). The First Murderer exclaims, as he stabs Clarence (L iv.
276, 277) :
Take that, and that I if all this will not do,
He drowne you in the Malmesey-But withhi.
I quote a passage containing the only detail of sc. iv. which
Shakspere did not invent. Edwai'd's hatred of Clarence reached such
a pitch
jnnoEeff. [Hol. Ui. 703/ 1 /40.] that finallie the duke was cast into the
17 f 18 Stow\
George duke Towcr, aud therewith adiudged for a traitor, and priuilie drowned
tbUnt/'' ^ ^ ^^^^ ^^ malmesie, the eleuenth of March, in the beginning of
maimeHe. jj^^ seueuteuth ycarc of the kings reigna^
Act IL sc. L — Edward, who now daily expects death, has made, as
he hopes, an " vnited League'' between the two parties which divided
his Court. Hastings exchanges assurance of friendship with Bivers ^
» Hd. took this date (March 11) from Stow (717). The rest of the passage
is derived from EaUe (326). Fab. (666) says that Clarence was put to deSi
on February 18, 1478 ; a date confirmed by Inq. p. m. 18 E. IV. 46 & 47
(O. B.). More {Hd., iii. 712/1/54), Fab., JTotte, and Stow, agree that the Dnke
was drowned — or, as Stow puts it, "made his ende"— in a butt ("a vessell "
Stow) of malmsey. Instead of " drowne you . . . within," the Qq. of Bich.
III. read : " chop thee . . . But in the next roome.*'
* In F. (II. i. 7) Dorset and Rivers— who were not foes— are commanded
by Edward to take each other's hand. In the Qq. I^e TTing gives this order
to Rivers and Hastings. In both texts U. 9-10 and 11 have tiie respective
prefixes Riu. EoiL
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Xn. RICHARD IIL 349
and Dorset ; and kisses Queen Elizabeth's hand, which she gives him as
a sign of amity. Buckingham professes zealous regard for the Queen
and her kindred (11. 1-40).
Of this brief truce we have the following account :
[flbZ. iiL 713/I/IO. More, 8/15.] King Edward, in his life, ^S^^
albeit that this dissention betweene his freends somewhat irked Edward
him ; yet in his good health he somewhat the lesse regarded it : fw the^fe
bicaose he thought, whatsoeuer businesse should fall betweene gJ^J^j
them, himselfe should alwaie be able to rule both the parties. ■
But, in his last sicknesse, when he perceiued his naturall J^^gtebJi,
strength so sore infeebled, that he despaired all recouerie, then he, ^^%i^
considering the youth of his children, albeit he nothing lesse mis- themT*
trusted than that that hapned, yet well foreseeing that manie
harmes might grow by their debate, while the youth of his children
should lacke discretion of themselues, & good counsell of their
freends, of which either parfcie should counsell for their owne
commoditie, & rather by plesant aduise to win themselues fauor,
than by profitable aduertisement to doo the children good, he
called some of them before him that were at Tariance, and in
especiall the lord marquesse Dorset, the queenes sonne by bir first
husband.
So did he also William the lord Hastings, a noble man, then ^^*
lord ehamberleine, against whome the queene speciallie grudged, JJS^2?Sr
for the great fauour the king bare him: and also for that she Mr^SST**
thought him secretlie familiar with the king in wanton companie.
Hir kinred also bare him sore, as well for that the king had made
him capteine of Calls, (which office the lord Biuers, brother to the
queene, clamed of the kings former promise,) as for diuerse other
great gifts which he receiued, that they looked for. When these
lords, with diuerse other of both the parties, were come in presence,
the king, lifting yp himselfe, and vnderset with pillowes, as it is
reported, on this wise said ynto them. [I omit '"The oration of
the king on his death-bed.'']
[Eol. iii 714/1/22. More, II/30.] And therewithal! the king,
no longer induring to sit yp, laid him downe on his right side, his
face towards them : and none was there present that could refraine
from weeping.
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350
Xn. RICHARD IIL
But the lords, recomforting him with as good words as they
could, and answering for the time as they thought to stand with
his pleasure, there in his presence, as by their words appeared, ech
ifS^^** forgaue other, and ioined their hands togither ; when (as it after
cOCTMnir^ appeared by their deeds) their hearts were farre asunder.
When Buckingham has Yowed peace, Bichard enters and quickly
seizes an opportunity to let Edward know that a royal order counter-
manding Clarence's death arrived too late (11. 75-90). Then comes the
** Earle of Derby," ^ beseeching pardon for his servant, who has been
guilty of homicide. Edward exclaims (11. 102-107) :
Haue I a tongue to doome my Brothers death.
And shall that tongue giue {Mirdon to a slaue t
My Brother kilFd no man ; his fault was Thought, 104
And yet his punishment was bitter death.
Who sued to me for him 1 Who (in my wrath)
Kneel'd at my feet, and bad ' me be aduis'd )
After Clarence's removal,
[ffol. iii 703/1/66. Eaile, 326.] although kmg Edward were
consenting to his death, yet he much did both lament his infer-
[Wheni tunate chance, & repent his sudden execution: insomuch that^
Ed^llrdh?* ^^®^ ^^5® person sued to him for the pardon of malefactors con-
u^ttbat demned to death, he would accustomablie sale, & openlie speake:
uM^j "Oil infortunate brother, for whose life not one would make
suter
for
CUienoe.]
Act II. 8C. ii. — Shakspere might have learnt from Holinshed that
" the old Dutchesse of Yorke ** was grandmother to " the two children
of Clarence/'^ with whom she enters in this scene. Holinshed has
also an account (iii. 703/2/2) of the "two yoong infants" left by
Clarence ; whose names were Edward ^ and Margaret.
The Duchess and her grandchildren speak of Clarence's death
(February, 1478) as a recent event. Their talk is interrupted by the
entrance of Queen Elizabeth, distracted with grief for the loss of King
Edward (April 9, 1483). Bivers and Dorset accompany the Queen
(1. 33). Soon the characters already assembled are joined by Bichard,
Buckingham, and Hastings (L 100),
* In some other scenes of the Qq. and F. he is rightly called Stanley.
Thomas Lord Stanley was created Earl of Derby by Henry VII., on October
27, I486.— DuflfdoZe, ui. 248/2.
* Kned'd at . , . and bad] Qi. Zneel'd and . . . cmd hid Fi.
> ** In this verie season [1495] departed to Gk>d Cicilie duchesse of Yorke,
moother to king Edward the fourth." — Hd, iii. 780/i/i.
^ In F. Edw, is prefixed to the first speech of Clarence's son. Afterwards
—and through«)ut this scene in the Qq.— -he is called Boy,
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xn. RICHARD m. 351
Buckingham reminds the lords present of their late reconciliation,
and adds (U. 120-122) :
Me seemeth good, that, with some little Traine, 120
Forthwith from Ludlow, the young Prince be fet
Hither to London, to be crown'd our King.
jRiuers, Why *• with some little Traine," my Lord of Buckingham 1
Bue, Marrie, my Lord, least, by a multitude, 124
The new-heal'd wound of Malice should breake out ;
Which would be so much the more dangerous,
By how much the estate is greene and yet vngouem'd : . . .
Rivers and Hastings accept Buckingham's advice (11. 134-140).^
Richard says : ** Then be it so " (1. 141).
The position of affairs at Edward's death, and Richard's intrigues
to gain possession of the young King, are described in the following
excerpts :
[Hoi, iii. 714/1/36. Mare, 12/6.] As scone as the king was [^JJ*^
departed, the noble prince hia sonne drew toward London ; which LudioJrf **
at the time of his deceasse kept his houshold at Ludlow in
Wales, ...
To the gouemance and ordering of this yoong prince, at his
sending thither, was there appointed sir Anthonie Wooduile, lord {S^^^*
Riuers, and brother vnto the queene ; a right honourable man, as k°^«^<>*^^-
valiant of hand as politike in counselL Adioined were there vnto
him other of the same partie ; and in effect euerie one as he was
neerest of kin vnto the queene, so was he planted next about the
prince. That drift by the queene not vnwiselie deuised, whereby
hir blond might of youth be rooted into the princes fauour, the
duke of Glocester turned vnto their destruction ; and vpon that
ground set the foundation of all his vnhappie building. For JJj^^*
whome soeuer he perceiued either at variance with them, or bearing [tiliSS?
himselfe their fauour, he brake vnto them, some by mouth, & some q^md-s^^
1 ... kindred].
by wntmg. ...
[Eol. iii 714/2/35. More, 14/6.] With these words and
writings, and such other, the duke of Glocester soone set on fire
them that were of themselues easie to kindle, &, in especial!,'
twaine, Henry ' duke of Buckingham, and William lord Hastings,
then chamberleine ; both men of honour & of great power : the one
» 123-140. Riuers. Why . . . wy Jl F. Not in Qq.
• in apeciaU] More, in especiaUie Hoi. « Mcnry] Edward Hoi.
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352 Xn. RICHARD HL
A etnueni bj long Buccession from his ancestrie, the other by his office and
fj^jjj^ the kings fauour. These two, not bearing ech to other so much'
siSriS^ lone, as hatred both ynto the queenes part, in this point accorded
aSbJSi togither with the duke of Glocester; that they would vtterlie
Sra^o^ remoue from the kings companie all his mothers freends, ynder
the Queen's
wendifrom the name of their enimie&
thejonng
K»n«i Upon this concluded the duke of Glocester, vnderstanding that
the lords, which at that time were about the king, intended to
bring him yp to his coronation accompanied with such power of
their freends, that it should be hard for him to bring his purpose
to passe, without the gathering and great assemblie of people and
in manor of open warre, whereof the end (he wist) was doubtfiill ;
and in which, the king being on their side, his part should haue the
[Bidiaid face and name of a rebellion : he secretlie therfore by diners means
^^m ^ caused the queene ^ to be persuaded and brought in the mind, that
tefel^^ it neither were need, and also should be ieopardous^ the king to
••®****^ come vp strong.
For whereas now euerie lord loued other, and none other thing
studied ypon, but about the coronation and honor of the king; if
the lords of hir kindred should assemble in the kings name much
people, they should giue the lords, betwixt whome and them had
beene sometime debate, to feare and suspect, least they should
gather this people, not for the kings safegard, (whome no man
impugned,) but for their destruction ; hauing more regard to their
old yariance, than their new attonement For which cause they
should assemble on the other partie much people againe for their
defense, (whose power she wist well far stretched,) and thus should
all the realme fall on a rore. And of all the hurt that thereof
should insue, (which was likelie [p. 715] not to be little, and the
most harme there like to fall where she least would,) all the world
would put hir and hir kindered in the wight, and sale that they
had Tuwiselie and vntrulie also broken the amitie & peace, that
the king hir husband so prudentlie made, betweene his kin and
> In the plaj Queen Elizabeth is not asked to give her opinion abont the
number of her son's escort Richard merely requests her and his mother to
deliver their << censures" touching the persons who are to be sent post to
Ludlow (II. il 141-144).
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xn. RICHARD m. 353
hirs in his death bed, and which the other partie faithfullie
obseraed.
The queene, being in this wise persuaded, such word sent vnto
hir Sonne, and vnto hir brother, being about the king, and ouer that
the duke of Glocester himselfe and other lords, the chiefe of his
bend, wrote ynto the king so reuerentlie, and to the queenes freends
there so louinglie, that they, nothing earthlie mistrusting, brought [So the King
the king yp in great hast, not in good speed, with a sober Ltidiow°^
compame. oompwiy.i
Act II. so. iii. — Three London Citizens meet and discuss the news
of Edward's death, which is not jet generally known (IL 7, 8). Before
they go out, the Second Citizen remarks (IL 38, 40) :
Truly, the hearts ^ of men are full of f eare :
Tou cannot reason almost with a man
That lookes not heauily, and full of dread. 40
3 [Ct^.J. B^ore the dayes of Change, still is it so :
By a diume instinct mens mindes mistrust
Pursuing danger ; as, by proof, we see
The Water stSell b^ore a boyst'rous storma 44
These lines contain reminiscences of a passage describing public
feeling in June, 1483 ; ' when
[Eol iil 721/2/57. More, 43/19.] b^an there, here and there
abouts, some maner of muttering among the people, as though all
should not long be well, though they neither wist what they feared,
nor wherefore : were it, that, be/ore such great things, mens hearts ni^^nrDed
of a secret instinct of nature misgiue them ; as the sea without imoS^
wind tweUeth of himselfe sometime he/ore a tempest : * • • • diehaDges!]
Act n. sc. !▼. — ^Thomas Botherham, Archbishop of Tork, imparts to
Queen Elizabeth news of her son's journey to London (IL 1-3) :
Last night, I heare, they lay at Northhampton ;
At Stonistratford will they be to night :
To morrow, or next day, they will be here.
In a previous scene (IL ii 146-154) Richard and Buckingham
resolved to leave London,^ and meet the King on his way to the capitaL
My next excerpt concerns the two Dukes' arrival at Northampton.
* hearts'] F. soules Qq.
* When the several conncils were held (see p. 363 below).
^ asihesea . . . tempest] HoL as the sotdh ivynde somtyme sweUeth ofhym
sdfe hefiyre a tempests Halle (358).
* On receivingnewB of Edward's death, Richard left York for London, and
met the Duke of JBuckingham at Northampton. Thence the two Dukes went
A A
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354 Xn. RICHARD IIL
[Ed. iiL 715/1/15. More, I6/23.] Now was the king in his
waie to London gone from Northampton, when these dukes of
Badiingh&m Glocestor and Buckingham came thither ; where remained behind
CtID6 to
NortoMD^ the lord Riuers the kings Tncle, intending on the morrow to follow
Si?o?^ the king, and to be with him at Stonie Stratford, certeine miles
stoSord.] thence, earlie, yer he departed.
I have quoted above the reading of the Quartos (Qi). The Folio
has (U. 1-3) :
Last night I heard they lay at Stony Stratford ;
And at Korthampton they do rest to night :
To morrow, or next day, they will be heere.
London is nearer Stony Stratford than Northampton,^ but the Folio
reading may be, perhaps, defended,' on the ground that Bichard and
Buckingham, after arresting Rivers, Grey, and Yaughan, brought the
King back from Stony Stratford to Northampton.^ These arrests made,
[ffol, iii. 715/2/51. More, I8/26.] the duke of Glocester tooke
(Richard's ^ou himselfc the order and gouemance of the yoong king, whome
d^^oor.] with much honor and humble reuerence he conueied ypward
(The Queen towards the citio. But, anon, the tidings of this matter came
newsofher hastilio to the quecue a little before the midnight following, and
to»*a^i*her that iu the sorest wise: that the king hir son was taken, hir
•n«^l brother, hir sonne, & hir other freends arrested, and sent, no man
wist whither, to be doone with God wot what . . .
Now came there one in likewise not long after midnight from
the lord chamberleine [Hastings], to doctor Rotheram the arch-
bishop of Yorke, then chancellor of England, to his place not farre
from Westminster. And for that he shewed his seruants that he
had tidings of so great importance, that his maister gaue [p. 716]
him in charge, not to forbeare his rest, they letted not to wake
f^^,Q]ii,{s]^ him, nor he to admit this messenger in, to his bed side. Of whom
hadnewBof hc heard that these dukes were gone backe with the kings grace
wttirnto* from Stonie Stratford vnto Northampton. "Notwithstanding, sir"
^on.} (quoth he) "my lord sendeth your lordship word, that there is no
to Stony Stratford, where they found the King.— Po^yd Verg., 539, 640.
Richard was appointed Lieutenant-G^eral against the Scots, Jane 18, 1482. —
Eymer, xil 167, 168.
^ The difference is fourteen miles. — Lewis,
• This explanation is, however, inconsistent with the fact that Botherham
is made to speak unconcernedly or the King's return to NorUiampton.
» Hd. iii 7I6/1/48— 2/3a More, I6/20-I8/7.
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xn. EicHAKD m. 355
"feare: for he assureth yon that all shall be well" "I assure
"him" (quoth the archbishop) "be it as well as it will, it will
"neuer be so well as we haue seene it"
Thus, according to the historical narratiye, Queen Elizabeth had
learnt all before Eotherham receiyed his information, jet in the play
she accepts what he tells her as news.
The young Duke of York is entertaining the Queen and Duchess
with his waggish humour when a messenger ^ announces (11. 42-45) that,
by " the mighty Dukes, Gloucester and Buckingham,"
Lord Riuers and Lord Grey are sent to Pomfret,
With ^ them Sir Thomas Vaughan, Prisoners.
Both Dukes took part in the arrests {HoL iii. 715/i/6i ; 2/27.
More, I6/32 ; I8/4), but Eichard alone
[HoL iii. 7I6/2/46. More, I8/21.] sent the lord Riuers, and n^dtajontf
the lord Richard, with sir Thomas Vaughan, into the north ^2£^^
countrie, into diuerse places to prison; and afterward all to ^<«**^J-
Pomfret, where they were in conclusion beheaded.
Hoping to save her younger son from destruction, the Queen says
(1. 66) :
Gome, come, my Boy ; we will to Sanctuary. . . •
Arch. My gracious Lady, go ; 68
And thether beare your Treasure and your Goodee.
For my part, He resigne vnto your Grace
The S^le I keepe : and so betide to me
As well I tender you and all of yours I 73
(Jo, He conduct you to the Sanctuary.
On hearing what had befallen her elder son. Queen Elizabeth,
[Eol, iii 715/2/60. More, 19/i.] in great fright & heauinesse,
bewailing hir childes reigne, hir freends mischance, and hir owne
infortune, damning the time that euer she dissuaded the gathering
of power about the king, gat hir selfe in all the hast possible with
hk yoonger sonne and hir daughters out of the palace of West-
minster, (in which she then laie,) into the sanctuarie ; lodging hir 3^ mmm
selfe and hir companie there in the abbats place. tometfunru.
After the departure of Hasting's messenger, Botherham
[Hoi iiL 7I6/1/11. More, 19/25.] caused in all the hast all
his seruants to be called yp, and so, with his owne houshold about
him, and euerie man weaponed, he tooke the great scale with him, ^^^*^^
and came yet before dale ynto the queene. About whom he found J^J^nnj
1 Li the Qq. Dorset is the bearer of these tidings.
* 43. Wiih £/iem] Q. amd vyiiOi them F.
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356 xn. RICHARD m.
foimdmeii much heauinesso, rumble^ hast, and basinesse; cariage and con-
^^^a«^* neiance of fair stuffe into sanctuarie ; chests, coffers, packs, fardels,
totHs trussed all on mens backs ; no man Tnoccupied, some lading, some
MnetiiAiy.] g^j^g^ somc discharging, some comming for more, some breaking
downe the walles to bring in the next waie, and some yet drew to
them that holpe to carrie a wrong waie : . . .
itaLlySf ^® queene hir selfe sate alone alow on the rushes all desolate
•"••^ and dismaid, whome the archbishop comforted in best manner he
could ; shewing hir that he trusted the matter was nothing so sore
as she tooke it for, and that he was put in good hope and out
of feare by the message sent him from the lord chamberleine.
"Ah, wo woorth him I" (quoth she) "for he is one of them that
"laboreth to destroie me and my bloud" "Madame" (quoth he)
"be yee of good cheere, for I assure you, if they crowne anie other
"king than your sonne, whome they now haue with them, we shall
"on the morow crowne his brother, whome you haue here with
[HeMiii. "you. And here is the great scale, which in likewise as that noble
iSmSniA^ "prfuce your husband deliuered it vnto me; so here I deliuer it
^^•^ "ynto you, to the yse and behoofe of your sonne:" and therewith
he betooke hir the great scale, and departed home againe, yet in
the dawning of the daie.
Act IIL so. i. — After receiving the congratulations of Buckingham
and Bichard upon his entrance into London, the young Eling says (1. 6) :
I want more Ynkles ^ heere to welcome me.
Bichard answers :
Those Ynkles which you want were dangerous ; 12
Your Grace attended to their Sugred words.
But look'd not on the poyson of their hearts :
• Qod keepe you from them, and from such false Friends !
Frin, Qod keepe me from false Friends I but they were none. 16
Bichard and Buckingham arrested Bivers before they left North-
ampton. At Stony Stratford they overtook the King, and arrested in
his presence Sir Bichard Grey, whom they accused of plotting witb
Bivers and Dorset to obtain supreme control of the realm.
JTbj^g^ [Sol. iiL 7I6/2/21. More, 17/31.] Vnto which words the king
iBBooence of auswcrcd: "What my brother marquesse hath doone I cannot
* Sir Richard Grey was the King's half-brother. See the excerpt quoted to
illustrate IL 6 ; 12-16. Rivers. Grey, and Yaugban were arrested on April 30.
1483.-am*. avyl.,566.
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xn. KiOHARD m. 857
^'saie, but in good faith I dare well answer for mine vncle Riuers Rivmand
' ° Grey, bat
" and my brother here, that they be innocent of anie such matter." 2?d^'**°*
"Yea, my liege" (quoth the duke of Buckingham) "they haue SSSSSi?"
" kept their dealing in these matters farre fro the knowledge of ^fSi^'
"your good grace."
The "Lord Maior" enters, and is introduced to the King by
Richard (1. 17) :
My Lord, the Maior of London comes to greet you.
Edward V.'s reception by the Lord Mayor is thus described :
[Eol. iii. 7I6/2/46. More, 22/24.] When the king approched
neere to the citie, Edmund Shaw, goldsmith, then maior, with
William White, and lohn Matthew, shiriffes, and all the other
aldermen in scarlet, with fine hundred horsse of the citizens, in
violet, receiued him reuerentlie at Hamesie; and riding frou) TUHnffi
comnun^ to
thence accompanied him into the citie, which he entered the fourth ^««*»-
dale of Male, the first and last yeare of his reigne.
The Xing is chafing at the absence of his mother and brother when
Hastings comes to announce (11. 27, 28) that
The Queene your Mother, and your Brother Yorke,
Haue taken Sanctuarie : . . •
Addressing Hotherham,^ and then turning to Hastings, Buckingham
gays (11. 32.36) :
Lord Cardinal!, will your Grace
Perswade the Queene to send the Duke of Yorke
Vnto his Princely Brother presently 1 —
If she denie. Lord Hastings, goe with him.
And from her iealous Armes pluck him perforce 1
Botherham promises to try the effect of his oratory upon the Queen ;
« but," he adds (U. 39-43),
if she be obdurate
To milde entreaties, God in heauen ^ forbid 40
We should infringe the holy Priuiledge
Of blessed Sanctuarie ! not for all this Land
Would I be guiltie of so great a sinne.
1 The prelate, who is sent to bring^the Duke of York out of sanctuimr, is
styled a Cardinal in the Qq. and F. According to More (25/28), Mcl'i
authority, the Cardinal \Fho undertook this mission was Rotherham, Archbishop
of York. Editors have adhered to More in deciding that the Cardinal (Qq.) or
Archbidiop (F.) of Act II. sc. iv. is Kotherham, hire they have followed thnt.
Oroyl. (566), Fab. (668), Polyd. Verg. (542/ii}, or MaUe (352), in making
Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, the Cardinal of Act III. sc. i. I agree
with Mr. Daniel in donbting " whether the dramatist intended to present more
than one personage."— T-A,, 328, note. * in heauen] Q. om. F.
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358 Xn. RICHARD IIL
Buckingham replies (IL 48-56) that to seize the Duke of York
cannot be a breach of sanctuary :
The benefit thereof is alwayes granted 48
To those whose dealings haue deseru'd the place,
And those who haue the wit to clayme the place :
This Prince hath neyther claym'd it nor deseru'd it j
And ther^ore, in mine opinion, ccmnot haue it : [See p. 360 below.] 52
Then, taking him from thence that is not there.
You breake no Priuiledge nor Charter there.
0/i haue I heard qf Sanciuarie men;
But Sanctuarie children ne^re till now. [See p. 360 below.] 56
These quotations (11. 32-56) embody portions of speeches delivered
by Bichard, Cardinal Botherham, and the Duke of Buckingham, at a
council held on or about June 16, 1483.^ Having pointed out what
evils might arise from the Duke of York's detention in sanctuary,
Bichard concluded:
[Eol iiL 717/1/42. Mare, 24/2$.] "Wherefore me thinketh it
"were not worst to send vnto the queene, for the redresse of this
"matter, some honorable trustie man, such as both tendereth the
Tkt lord "kings weale and the honour of his councell, and is also in fauour
eardinall ^ '
jwSliii'to "ai^d credence with hir. For all which considerations, none
o^i^ "seemeth more meetlie, than our reuerend father here present,
^!^Siivqr " W ^^^^ cardinal!, who may in this matter doo most good of anie
** man, if it please him to take the paine ; " . • .
"And if she be percase so obstinate, and so preciselie set ypon
"hir owne will, that neither his wise and faithfull aduertisement
[ifahewfli "can not mooue hir, nor anie mans reason content hir; then shall
not 811TPH1*
d« b«»on, " ve, by mine aduise, by the kings authoritie, fetch him out of that
fetched ont] «« prison, and bring him to his noble presence, in whose continuall
"companie he shall be so well cherished and so honorablie
"intreated, that all the world shall to our honour and hir reproch
"perceiue, that it was onelie malice, frowardnesse, or follie, that
"caused hir to keepe him there."
Botherham
[Bocherhun [Hol. iiL 717/2/8. MoTe, 26/30.] tooke vpon him to mooue hir,
and therein to doo his vttermost deuoir. Howbeit, if she could be
in no wise intreated with hir good will to deliuer him, then thought
iigSnit^tbe he, and such other as were of the spiritualtie present, that it were
wulT' not in anie wise to be attempted to take him out against hir will
* See p. 361, n. 1, below.
but could
notasBeni
to York's
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xn. RICHARD m. 359
For it sbould be a thing that would turne to the great grudge setuom
of all men, and high displeasure of God, if the priuil^e of that J^^^^
holie place should now be broken, which had so manie yeares be ^ JJfJiJ^
Kep^ . • • tanciuarU,
He protested against the employment of force :
[Hcl. iil 717/2/28. More, 26/i6.] "God forbid that anie man m^ forbid
"should, for anie thing earthlie, enterprise to breake the immunitie ^'^Jl^^'*^
"& libertie of the sacred sanctuarie, that hath beene the safegard "M»ct»»«yn
''of so manie a good mans life. And I trust** (quoth he) "with
" Gods grace, we shall not need it But, for anie manor need, I
" would not we should doo it."
A long reply from Buckingham on the abuse of sanctuary contains
the following passages, which should be compared with IL 4S-56. Let
sanctuaries, said he, be respected
\Hol iii. 7I8/2/3. More, 30/S.] "as farre foorth as reason
"will, which is not fullie so farre foorth, as may seme to let
"ys of the fetching foorth of this noble man to his honor and
"wealth, out of that place, in which he neither is, nor can be, a
"sanctuarie man. . . .
"But where a man is by lawfull means in perill, there needeth
"he the tuition of some speciall priuilege; which is the onelie
"ground and cause of all sanctuaries.
"From which necessitie, this noble prince is farre, whose lone
'' to his king, nature and kinred prooueth ; whose innocencie to all
"the world, his tender youth prooueth; and so sanctuarie, as for (The Duke
"him, neither none he needeth, nor also none can haue. Men needrno
"come not to sanctuarie, as they come to baptisme, to require it JJ^^I^
"by their godfathers ; he must aske it himselfe that must haue it <^^*^^^i
"And reason, sith no man hath cause to haue it, but whose con-
" science of his owne fault maketh him fain need to require it
" What will then hath yonder babe, which, and if he had discretion CJ^j***
"to require it^ if need were, I dare say would now be right angrie* ''^^^JJ}^
"with them that keepe him there? . . . SSSi'SSl)
* he, been, hee More.
> Hastings tells the King (III. i. 29, 30) that Tork
" Would faine hane come with me to meet vour Qrace,
But by his Mother was perforce with-heli**
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360
Xn. RICHARD m.
[I never
heard of
sanctTuury
ohildnn.]
[The Duke
ofTorkhai
neither wiU
to ask, nor
malice to
deaerre,
sanotOMy.l
reptumn
MTdhuUL
[Rotherham
waasentto
eaaaythe
remoral of
Tork with
the Qaeen'a
goodwill.]
rrork
brought
to the
Protector.]
0 diirimula-
Uon.
"And verelie, IJume oftQn heard of sanctiiarie men, Imt I neuer
" heard earat of mnduarie children" ^
During a subsequent conference with the Queen in the sanctuary,
Botherham warned her that there were '' manie " who thought
[Hoi. iii 720/1/4, More, 36/2.] "he can haue no priuilege in
" this place, which neither can haue will to aske it, nor malice to
"deserue it And therefore, they reckon no priuilege broken,
" though they fetch him out ; which, if yee finallie refuse to deliuer
"him, I verelie thinke they will"
Beplying, she contemptuously stated his argument before meeting it :
[Eol. ill 720/1/20. More, 86/17.] "But my sonne can deserue
"no sanctuarie, and therefore he can not haue U'* *
Botherham yields to Buckingham's arguments, and goes out with
Hastings Q. 60). Soon the two envoys return with the Duke of York
(1. 94). Meanwhile Bichard, in answer to the King's query (1. 62),
Where shall we soioume till our Ck>ronation 1
proposes the Tower, and obtains a reluctant assent from his victim
(U. 64, 65 ; 149, 150). More says that, after Buckingham's speech, the
majority of the council
[Ed. iii. 719/1/2. More, 32//.] condescended in eflTecti that, if
he were not deliuered, he should be fetched. Howbeit, they
thought it all best, in the auoiding of all manor of rumor, that the
lord cardinall should first assaie to get him with hir good will
Wherevpon all the councell came ynto the Starre chamber at
Westminster; and the lord cardinall, leaning the protector with
the councell in the Starchamber, departed into the sanctuarie to
the queene, with diners other lords with him : . • .
[Eol. iii 721/1/42. More, 41/2.] When the lord cardinall, and
these other lords with him, had receiued this yoong duke, they
brought him into the Star chamber, where the protector tooke him
in his armes and kissed him with these words: "Now welcome, my
" lord, euen with all my verie heart 1 " And he said in that of
likelihood as he thought. Therevpon, foorthwith they brought him
1 Cp. III. i. 66, 66, p. 368 above.
* Cp. IIL i 62, p. 868 above.
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Xn. RICHARD lU. 361
vnto the king his brother into the bishops palace at Paules, and
from thense thorough the citie honourablie into the Tower/ out of J^^f
the which after that daie they neuer came abroad. tSe Tower!?
The King and his brother leave the stage (1. 150) ; followed by all
the persons present except Hichard, Buckingham, and Gatesby. At
some time preceding this scene, — ^perhaps, as Mr. Daniel conjectures,'
during the journey to London, and after the arrests had been effected, —
the dnimatic Buckingham became aware of Bichard's intention to usurp
the throne. (See IIL L 157 — 164.) But More — as my next excerpt
shows — ^believed that Buckingham was not apprized of Richard's
purpose until the young Princes were safely lodged in the Tower*
[EoL iil 721/1/52. More, 4I/12.] When the protector had
both the children in his hands, he opened himselfe more boldlie,
both to certeine other men, and also cheeflie to the duke of
Buckingham. Although I know that manie thought that this ^£i>^^<^
duke was priuie to all the protectors counsell, euen from the ^^^^
beginning ; and some of the protectors freends said, that the duke ^"SL^t
was the first moouer of the protector to this matter ; sending a f^S^
priuie messenger ynto him, streict after king Edwards death.
But others againe, which knew better the subtill wit of the
protector, denie that he euer opened his enterprise to the duke, rorwaa
yntill he had brought to passe the things before rehearsed. But |^^^,
when he had imprisoned the queenes kinsfolks, & gotten both hir
Bonnes into his owne hands, then he opened the rest of his purpose
with lesse feare to them whome he thought meet for the matter,
and speciallie to the duke, who being woone to his purpose, he
thought his strength more than halfe increased.
Though Gatesby is sure of Hastings's love for the young King,
Buckingham resolves to test this conviction, and therefore says
(U. 169-171):
goe, gentle Gatesby,
And, as it we/re/arre off? sound thou Lord Hastings,
How he doth stand affected to our purpose ; . . .
^ Mwt erred in saving that the Duke of York was brought to the Bishop's
palace at St Paul's. We learn from Qoid. Oroyl (566) and Stallworthe's letter
{Exeerota Historica. 16, 17) that York left sanctuary on June 16, 1483, and
went tnence to the Tower. A letter given under the King's signet shows that
Edward V. was in the Tower on May 19.— OratUsy viii., 15.
• The "story** (II. iL 149), therefore, concerned Bichard*8 purposed
assumption of the protectorate.
• afairre off] Q.
Prfnoetwerc
in the
Tower.]
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362 xn. RiOHABD ni.
We learn from More (45/3) ^^^
[ffol iiL 722/1 /41.] the protector and the duke of Buckingham
made yerie good semblance Tnto the lord Hastings, and kept him
much in companie. And Tndoubtedlie the protector loued him
well, and loth was to haue lost him, sauing for feare least his life
should haue quailed their purpose.
[Richaid For which cause he mooued Catesbie to prooue with some
moved *
w^^^ words cast out a farre off, whether he could thinke it possible to
^^"^^'^'^ \vin the lord Hastings vnto their part.
Catesby haying departed, Bichard promises Buckingham a reward
(U. 194-196) :
And, looke, when I am King, clayme thou of me
The Earledome of Hereford, and all the moueables
Whereof the King my Brother was possest.
After the Princes had been conyejed to the Tower,
[Ed. iiL 721/2/31. More, 42/30.] it was agreed, that the
protector should haue the dukes aid to make him king, . . . and
mMrewardi that the protector should grant him the quiet possession of the
5J^g2d earldome of Hereford, which he claimed as his inheritance, and
iS^^ could neuer obteine it in king Edwards time.
Besides these requests of the duke, the protector, of his owne
mind, promised him a great quantitie of the kings treasure, and of
his houshold stuffe.
Act ni. sc. ii. — " Vpon the stroke of foure " (1. 5) in the morning
of the dramatic day next after that on which the action of the last
scene passes,— or at midnight of the historic June 12-13, 1483, — a
message is brought to Hastings from Stanley, who ** this Night "
Dreamt the Bore had rased off his Helme :
Besides, he sayes there are two Councels kept ; 12
And that may be determined at the one.
Which may make you and him to rue at th'other.
Therefore he sends to know your Lordships pleasure,
If you will presently take Horse with him, 16
And with all speed post with him toward the North,
To shun the dajiger that his Soule diuines.
Hast. Goe, fellow, goe, retume ynto thy Lord ;
Bid him not feare the seperated Councells ; ^ 20
* counceU] Q. Councdl F.
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xn. EicHARD m. 363
His Honor and mj self e are at the one,
And at the other is my good friend ^ Gatesby ;
Where nothing can proceede, that toucheth ts.
Whereof I shall not haue intelligence. 24
When Richard and Buckingham had come to terms,
[ffol, iii 721/2/42. More, 43/6.] they went about to prepare
for the coronation of the yoong king, as they would haue it seeme.
And that they might tume both the eies and minds of men from
perceiuing of their drifts other-where, the lords, being sent for from
all parts of the realme, came thicke to that solemnitie. But the
protector and the duke, after that they had sent the lord cardinall
[Bouchier], the archbishop of Yorke, then lord chancellor, the
bishop of Elie, the lord Stanleie, and the lord Hastings, then lord
chamberleine, with manie other noble men, to common & deuise irhe ^
gepanta
about the coronation in one place, as fast were they in an other ooquoub.]
place, contriuing the contrarie, and to make the protector king.
To which coimcell • • • there were adhibited verie few, and
they were secret: . • •
The rumoured existence of a cabal produced general uneasiness, and
caused
[Hoi. iii 722/1/8. More, 44/8.] some lords eke to marke the
matter and muse thereon ; so farre foorth that the lord Stanleie,
(that was after earle of Derbie,) wiselie mistrusted it, and said
ynto the lord Hastings, that he much misliked these two seuerall
councels. ''For while we" (quoth he) ''talke of one matter in
" the tone place, little wot we wherof they talke in the tother ^^^,
"place."
**My lord" (quoth the lord Hastings) "on my life, neuer doubt ^fj|^g^,
"you: for while one man is there, which is neuer thense, neuer ^J^S^
"can there be thing once mooued, that should sound amisse S^by
"toward me, but it should be in mine eares yer it were well out of
"their mouths." This ment he by Catesbie, which was of his
neere secret councell, and whome he verie familiarlie vsed, and in
his most weightie matters put no man in so speciall trust ; reckoning
himselfe to no man so liefe, sith he well wist there was no man so
^ goodfriendVF, seruant Q. The Q leading perhaps better characterizes
the relative social positions of Hastings and Catesby.
tlM
it.1
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S64 xn. RiOHABD ni.
oauMi much to him beholden as was this Catesbie, which was a man well
and hit
con^iiont learned in the lawes of this land, and, by the speciall fauonr of the
lord chamberlaine, in good authoritie, and much rule bare in all
the countie of Leicester, where the lord chamberlains power
cheefelie laie.
But suerlie great pitie was it, that he had not had either more
truth, or lesse wit. For his dissimulation onelie kept all that
[Hastings mischecfc vp. In whome if the lord Hastings had not put so
bircatesby.] spcciall trust, the lord Stanleie & he had departed with diuerse
other lords, and broken all the danse ; for manie ill signes that he
saw, which he now construes all to the best. So suerlie thought
he, that there could be none harm toward him in that councell
intended, where Catesbie was.
Having given a reason for not fearing " the seperated Oouncells/'
Hastings aidverts to Stanley's dream (11. 26-33) :
And for his Dreames, I wonder bee's so simple
To trust the mock'ry of vnquiet slumbers :
To flye the Bore, before the Bore pursuesi 28
Were to incense the Bore to follow vs,
And make pursuit where he did meane no chase.
Goe, bid thy Master rise and come to me ;
And we will both together to the Tower, 82
Where, he shall see, the Bore will vse vs kindly.
Mesa, He goe, my Lord, and tell him what you say. [Exit,
Hastings had a warning of his fate when, on
[ffol. iii. 723/1/35. More, 48/i9.] the selfe night next before
his death, the lord Stanleie sent a trustie messenger ynto him at
midnight in all the hast, requiring him to rise and ride awaie with
him, for he was disposed vtterlie no longer to bide, he had so
Thtiard fearfuU a dreame; in which him thought that a boare with his
Stanld$$
tuskes so rased them both by the heads, that the bloud ran about
both their shoulders. And, forsomuch as the protector gaue the
boare for his cognisance, this dreame made so fearefiill an impres-
sion in his heart, that he was throughlie determined no longer to
tarie, but had his horsse readie, if the lord Hastings would go with
him, to ride so farre yet ^ the same night, that they should be out
of danger yer daie.
* 80 far yet] More, yet ao farre HoL
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Xn. BICHABD JIL 365
'' Ha^ good Lord I " (quoth the lord Hastings to this messeDger)
"leaneth my lord thy maister so much to such trifles, and hath [b»^^
''such faith in dreames, which either his owne feare fEmtasietlL or stiSieT'i
dream.]
"doo rise in the nights rest by reason of his dides thoughts Tell
''him it is plaine witchcraft to beleeue in such dreames, which if
''they were tokens of things to come, why thinketh he not that we
" might be as likelie to make them true by our going, if we were
"caught & brought backe, as freends faile fliers ; for then had the
" boare a cause likelie to rase vs with his tusks^ its folke that fled
"for some falsehood. . . . And therefore go to thy maister (man)
" and commend me to him, & praie him be merie & haue no feare :
"for I insure him I am as sure of the man that he woteth of, as I
"am of mine owne hand." "Qod send grace, sirT' (quoth the
messenger) and went his waie.
Stanley's messenger gone, Catesby enters, and answers Hastings's
demand for news " in this our tott'ring State," by saying (IL 38-40) :
It is a reeling World indeed, my Lord ;
And, I beleeue, will neuer stand vpright.
Till Bichard weare the Qarland of the Bealme.
Hastings replies (11. 43, 44) :
He haue this Crown of mine cut from my shoulders,
Before He see the Growne so foule mis-plac'd !
He is no mourner for the news — which Catesby brings from the
Protector — of the impending execution of the Queen's kindred at
Pomfret, on " this same very day ";
But, that Be giue my voice on Bicbards side,
To barre my Masters Heires in true Descent,
Qod knowes I will not doe it, to the death 1
Catesby, — who had, as we have seen (p. 362 above), been charged to
sound Hastings, —
[ffoL iii. 722/i/SO. Marej 46/ii.] whether he assaied him, or [cuasi^
assaied him not, reported vnto them, that he found him so fast, ^rttna*!
and heard him speake so terrible words, that he durst no further
breake.
Stanley now enters (1. 73), and, after being reassiued by Hastings,
departs with Catesby. As they are leaving the stage, a pursuivant
enters, and is accosted by Hastings (1. 98) :
How now, Sirrha ! how goes the World with thee 1
Furs, The better that your Lordship please to aske.
East, I tell thee, man, 'tis better with me now, 100
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366 XII. RICHABD m.
Then when thou met'st me last where now we meet :
Then was I going Prisoner to the Tower,
By the suggestion of the Queenes Allyes ;
But now, I tell thee, (keepe it to thy selfe !) 104
This day those Enemies are put to death.
And I in better state then ere I was.
Of this incident we have the following account :
|a««jg, [ffd. iiL 723/2/31. More, 6O/9.] Upon the verie Tower wharfe,
SS^**' 80 neare the place where his head was oflf soone after, there met he
"^^"^^ with one Hastings,^ a purseuant of his owne name. And, at their
meeting in that place, he was put in remembrance of another time,
in which it had happened them before to meet in like manner
[HMtings togither in the same place. At which other time the lord chamber-
^^^ leine had beene accused vnto king Edward by the lord Riuers, the
^^ti^ queenes brother, in such wise, as he was for the while (but it lasted
of Riven.) ^^^ j^^^gj f^^^ fallen into the kings indignation, & stood in great
[Hastings feare of himselfe. And, forsomuch as he now met this purseuant
the imr^ in the same place, that ieopardie so well passed, it gaue him great
pleasure to talke with him thereof; with whom he had before
talked thereof in the same place, while he was therein.
And therefore he said: "Ha, Hastings! art thou remembred
"when I met thee here once with an heauie heart?" "Yea, my
"lord" (quoth he) "that remember I well, and thanked be God,
"they gat no good, nor you no harme thereby." " Thou wouldest
"say so" (quoth he) "if thou knewest as much as I know, which
" few know else as yet, and mo shall shortlie." That meant he by
[The Queen's *^® ^^^^ of the queeucs kinred that were taken before, and should
USr*''"' that daie « be beheaded at Pomfret : which he well wist, but nothing
^day.]^ ware that the ax hung ouer his owne head. "In faith, man"
1 Enter JRadm, a Pwnswmt,^ Q. Enter a Fursuiuant. F.
* Hastings was executed on June 13 {Cont Croyl,^ 566); but Rivera's will
was made at Sheriff Hutton (Yorkshire), on June 23. — Excerpta Historica,
246. A Latin obituary calendar of saints (Cottonian MS. Faustina, B. VIII.),
written in the 14th century, has later additions at the side. On leaf 4 back,
at the side of " lunij 25,'' is written, in a 16th or late 15th century hand,
" Anthonij Ryvera " ; an entry which probably means that the obit of Earl
Bivers was kept on June 25. This calendar is cited in Excerpta JEistaricck,
244 (Dr. Fumivall, who examined the MS., tells me that it is not, as
was supposed, an obituary calendar belonging to St. Stephen's Chapel,
Westminster.^ Cp. also York Becords, 156, note, and ConL Oroyl. (567), for
proof that the execution of Rivers, Grey, and Yaughan took place after
June 13.
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Xn. RICHARD III. 367
(quoth he) ''I was neuer so sorie, nor neuer stood in so great dread
** in my life, as I did when thou and I met here. And, lo, how
" the world is turned I now stand mine enimies in the danger, (as
"thou maiest hap to heare more hereafter,) and I neuer in my life ]J*^5«"'"
" so merrie, nor neuer in so great suertie I ** oonfldeiica.]
The pursuivant's departure is succeeded by the entry of a priest, in
whose ear Hastings is whispering^ when Buckingham appears and
exclaims (11. 114-116):
What, talking with a Priest, Lord Chamberlaine t
Tour friends at Pomfret, they doe need the Priest;
Your Honor hath no shriuing worke in hand.
In the morning of June 13, ere Hastings was up, there
[ffol. ill 723/2/6. More, 49/26.] came a knight^ vn to him, as it ^^ ^^
were of courtesie, to accompanie him to the councell, but of truth ^iiJaent
sent by the protector to hast him thitherwards ; with whome he HaSS^'r
was of secret confederacie in that purpose : a meane man at that
time, and now of great authoritie.
This knight (I say) when it happened the lord chamberleine by
the waie to stale his horsse, & common a while with a priest whom
he met in the Tower street, brake his tale, and said merilie to
him: "What, my lord, I pray you come on, whereto talke you So phelm!g^l^
" long with that priest ? you haue no need of a priest yet " : and ^S"**Sg5*^
therwith he laughed vpon him, as though he wauld say, " Ye shall SJS^!] *
" haue soone." But so little wist the tother what he ment, and
so little mistrusted, that he was neuer merier, nor neuer so full
of good hope in his life ; which selfe thing is oft scene a signe of
change.
> JJe whispers in his tare,] Q (against L 113). om. F.
* "eie he [Hastings] were vp from his bed . . . , there came to him Sir
Thomas Haward. sonne to tiie lorde Haward, (whyche lord was one of the
priueyest of the lord protectouis counsaill and doyng,) as it were of curtesye
to accompaignye hym to the counsaile, but of truthe sent by the lorde pro-
tectour to hast him thetherward/— JJoWe, 361. Thomas Howaid was knighted
at the child-marriage of Anne Mowbray and Richaid Duke of York, second son
of Edward IV. — Treewr, 656. The Duke of York was married on January 15,
lA1S.—8an4ford, 416, 416. On June 28, 1483, Richard III. created Sir Thomas
Howaid Earl of Surrey.— DayJe, il 689. On February 1, 1514, the dukedom
of Norfolk was conferred on Surrey by Henry VIII.— iWcL, 590. Writing
about 1513 More might justly say that the " meane man" of Edward V.'s time
was *' now of great authoritie ' ; for in the above-named year Surrey commanded
our anny at Flodden.
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368 XU. RIOHABD in.
As ihe scene closes Hastings and Buckingham go out on their way
to the Tower.
Act III. sc. iii.— " Enter Sir Richard Ratcliffe, with ^ Halberds,
carrying the Nobles to death at Pomfret." The historical date of
Eivers's execution could not have been earlier than June 23 (see p. 366
above, n. 2) ; but, according to dramatic time, Rivers and Hastings
were beheaded on the same day (June 13). Shakspere followed the
narrative which Holinshed took from More (55/25), who says :
[Sol. iii. 725/i/SS. More, 66/25.] Now was it so deuised by
the protector and his councell, that the selfe daie, in which the
lord chamberleine was beheaded in the Tower of London, and
about the selfe same houre, was there (not without his assent)
beheaded at Pomfret, the foreremembred lords & knights that
were taken from the king at Northampton and Stonie Stratford.
Which thing was doone in the presence, and by the order, of sir
abrxiAatd Richard Ratcliffe, knight; whose seruice the protector speciallie
[deMribed]. yged in that councoll, and in the execution of such lawlesse
enterprises; as a man that had beene long secret with him,
hauing experience of the world, and a shrewd wit, short & rode
in speech, rough and boisterous of behauiour, bold in mischiefe,
as far from pitie as from all feare of God.
This knight bringing them out of the prison to the scaffold, and
shewing to the people about that they were traitors, (not suffering
them to declare & speake their innocencie, least their words might
haue inclined men to pitie them, and to hate the protector and
his part,) caused them hastilie, without iudgement, processe, or
Tht lord manor of order to be beheaded ; and without other earthlie irilt,
but onelie that they were good men, too true to the king, and too
nigh to the queene.
Act III. sc. iv. — ^The historical date of this scene is June 13, 1483.*
* Enter . . . n>Uh (he Lo, jBiwer«, Qray^ and Vaughan, prisoners,'] Q.
Vauchan says (III. iii 7) : " You liue that ehall cry woe for this heercafter" ;
and Kivers asks Qod to remember Margaret's curse upon Hastings, Bucking-
ham, and Richard (11. 17-19). HaUe added to Morels narrative a passage (364)
wherein Vaughan appeals Richard ** * to the high tribunal of God for his wrong-
ful murther & our true innocencye.' And then Ratdyffe sayed : * you haue
well apeled ; lay doune youre head.' * Ye,' quod sir Thomas, * I dye in rights
beware you dye not in wrong.* **
* Hastings was beheaded on Friday, June 13, 1483.— CW. Oroyl. 666.
Simon Stallworthe, writing on Saturdav, June 21, to Sir William Stonor,
says: ''on fryday last was the lord Qiamberleyn [Hastings] hedded sone
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XII. RICHARD m. 369
In a room in the Tower are assembled Buckingham, Stanley, Hastings,
the Bishop of Ely,. Batcliffe, and Level. Hastings says (U. 1-3) :
Now, Noble Peeres, the cause why we are met
Is, to determine of the Coronation.
In Qods Name, speake ! when is the Eoyall day)
Buck. Are^ all things ready for the Boyall timel 4:
Darb, [Stan,] It is, and wants but nomination.
Ely, To morrow, then, I iudge a happie day.
Discussion is prevented by Bichard's entrance and greeting
(U. 23, 24):
My Noble Lords, and Cousins all, good morrow I
I haue beene long a sleeper : . , .
Soon he addresses the Bishop of Ely (U. 33-35) :
When I was last in Holbome,
I saw good Strawberries in your Garden there :
I doe beseech you, send for some of them.
£ly, Mary, and wUl, my Lord, with all my heart. 36
[Bxit Bishop,
Taking Buckingham aside, Richard tells him of Catesb/s failure to
seduce Hi^tings (IL 38-42). Bichard and Buckingham then withdraw.
Business is resumed by Stanley's proposal that the coronation be
deferred until a later date than to-morrow (11. 44-47). Whereupon the
Bishop of Ely re-enters and asks (11. 48, 49) : ** Where is my Lord the
Duke of Gloster ) I haue sent for these Strawberries."
Ha. His Grace looks chearf ully & smooth this morning ;
There's some conceit or other likes him well.
When that he bids good morrow with such spirit. 62
Stanley distrusts Richard's cheerful mien. Hastings replies, but
fails to convince his friend (Q.}> and the Protector re-enters with
Buckingham (IL 56-60). Richara immediately demands (IL 61-64) :
I pray yon all, tell me what they deserue
That doe conspire my death with diuellish Plots
Of damned Witchcraft, and that haue preuail'd
Ypon my Body with their Hellish Charmes 1 64
ffaat. The tender loue I beare your Grace, my Lord,
Makes me most forward in this Princely presence
To doome th' Offenders : whosoe're they be,
I say, my Lord, they haue deseruSd death. 68
Eieh. Then be your eyes the witnesse of their euill I
Looke how I am bewitch'd ; behold mine Axme
apone noon." — Excerpta Historical 16. To reconcile this piece of news with
ibe high authority of the Croyland continuator, we must suppose that Stall-
worthe meant Friday-week. More^ although he gave no oates, made the
execution of Hastings succeed York's remoi^ from sanctuary, but according
to Oont. OroyL (566) the latter event took place on the Monday (June 16)
following Hastings's death ; a date confirmea by Stallworthe (see p. 361, n. 1,
above), if we assume that " fryday last " ■■ Friday- week.
» Are] Q. Is F.
BB
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370 xn. RICHARD m.
Is, like a blasted Sapling, withered vp !
And this is Edwards Wife, that monstrous Witch, 72
Consorted with that Harlot Strumpet Shore,
That by their Witchpraft thus haue marked me !
Hast. If they haue done this deed, my Noble Lord, —
Rich. " If " ! thou Protector of this damned Strumpet I 76
Talk'st thou to me of " If s " 1 Thou art a Traytor I—
Off with his Head ! — Now, by Saint Paul I sweare,
I will not dine vntill I see the same ! —
liouell and Ratdiffe, looke that it be done : — 80
The rest, that loue me, rise and follow me.
[ExewU. Mane[n]t Louell and Ratcliffe, unth the Lord Hastings.^
Soon after Catesby had sounded Hastings ;
AnatmMu [ffol. iii. 722/1/6$. Morc, 45/24.] that is to wit, on the fridaie
Su'^iw [being the thurteenth of June],' manie lords assembled in the Tower,
»bo^^ and there sat in councell, deuising the honourable solemnitie of
the kings coronation ; of which the time appointed then so neere
approched, that the pageants and subtilties were in making daie
& night at Westminster, and much vittels killed therfore, that
afterward was cast awaie. These lords so sitting togither com-
[Biohiid iii^uiing of this matter, the protector came in amongst them, first
SSd M^it*** about nine of the clocke, saluting them courteouslie, and excusing
El^roTer- himselfe that he had beene from them so long ; saieng merilie that
Mir.] he had beene a sleeper that daie.
[Heuked After a little talking with them, he said vnto the bishop of
SfB^rto*^ Elie: '*My lord, you haue yerie good strawberies at your garden
meLof" '*in Holbom, I require you let vs haue a niesse of them."
SSSwitS* "Gladlie, my lord "(quoth he) "would God I had some better
^'^'^ " thing as readie to your pleasure as that 1 " And therewithall in
* Exeunt . . . Hadhigs.'] F. Eommt, fiiand Oat with JEa, Q. Sc iii.
Act IlL accords with More (see p. 368 above) in making Ratcliffe supervise
the execution of Bivers, Qrey, and Vaughan, at Pomnret; and the same
authority is followed in assigning the deaths of Hastings and his enemies to
the same day. In the F. version of sc v. Act III. (L 13), Catesby enters with
the Lord Mayor, who was presumably sent for after Hastings's arrest Then
(III. V. 21) liovel and Batcuffe enter, with Hastings's head. In the Q. veraion
of this scene no one accompanies the Lord Mavor, whose entry precedes the
appearance of Catesby bearing Hastings's he^. In both versions, after the
Lord Mayor's entry, Richard bids Catesby *« o'erlook the walls " (1. 17). Thus,
while the F. allows Batcliffe to be present at Pomfret and London on the
same day, the Q. represents Catesby as being addressed while absent firom the
' friday the day of many] More. The date (June 18), and the
brackets enclosing it, appear in Hol.*$ reprint of More.
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XII. KICHARD IlL 371
all the hast he sent his seruant for a messe of strawberies. The i%< 6aai^r
€f the lard
protector set the lords fast in communing, & thereypon, praieng g]^^J2Siwi«
them to spare him for a little while, departed thense. And soone [ihUnh^
after one houre, betweene ten & eleuen, he returned into the '•*''™^^
chamber amongst them, all changed, with a woonderfuU soure
angrie countenance, knitting the browes, frowning, and fretting ^ and
gnawing on his lips : and so sat him downe in his place.
All the lords were much dismaid, and sore maruelled at this
maner of sudden change, and what thing should him aile. Then,
when he had sitten still a while, thus he began : ** What were they {|g^^^
** worthie to haue that compasse and imagine the destruction of £^^
"me, being so neere of bloud vnto the king, and protector of his ^SiSTwi
" roiall person and his realme ? '' At this question, all the lords ^
sat sore astonied, musing much by whome this question should be
meant, of which euerie man wist himselfe cleere. Then the lord
chamberlaine (as he that for the loue betweene them thought he £^^^
might be boldest with him) ^ answered and said, that they were ^S^i^be
worthie to be punished as heinous traitors, whatsoeuer they were. Liton.] "
And all the other affirmed the same. " That is " (quoth he) [Wohari
^ -^ ^ aocosed the
"yonder sorceresse my brothers wife, and other with hir " (meaning SK^V*^
the queene.)
At these words manie of the other lords were greatlie abashed,
that fauoured hir. But the lord Hastings was in his mind better
content, that it was mooued by hir, than by anie other whome he
loued better : albeit his heart somewhat grudged, that he was not
afore made of councell in this matter, as he was of the taking of
hir kinred, and of their putting to death, which were by his assent
before deuised to be beheaded at Pomfret this selfe same daie ; in (The Queen's
which he was not ware that it was by other deuised, that he him- J5jfait*i^
selfe should be beheaded the same daie at London. Then said the
protector: " Ye shall all see in what wise that sorceresse, and that
" other witch of hir councell. Shores wife, with their affinitie, haue,
* hrowesy frouming a/ndfrotvng and hna\JDing\ More.
* Hastings proposes to give a proxy-vote for Richard in the matter of
fixing a day for tne King's coronation. Toaching this offer Richard says
(III. iv. 80, 31) :
** Then my Lord Hastings no man might be bolder ;
His Loraship knowes me well, and loues me well/
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372
XII. RICHARD in.
[Biehftrd
showed Ui
arm,
withered (as
he said) hy
iheOneen
and Shore's
wife.]
kept Shore's
wife.]
[Hastings
repUedthat
they
deterred
punishment.
tfthevhad
so hemoQslj
done.]
[Richard •
cried out at
Hastings's
"ito,-and
caUedhima
traitor.]
[Hastings
arrested.]
[Richard
would not
dinetiU
Hastings
was
beheaded.)
" by their sorcerie and witchcraft, wasted my bodie." And therwith
he plucked yp his dublet sleeue to his elbow, ypon his left anne,
where he shewed a weerish withered arme, and small ; as it was
neuer other.
Hereypon euerie mans mind sore misgane them, well perceiuing
that this matter was but a quarelL For they well wist that the
queene was too wise to go about anie such follie. And also, if she
would, yet would she, of all folke least, make Shores wife of hir
counsell ; whome of all women she most hated, as that concubine
whome the king hir husband had most loued. And also, no man
was there present, but well knew that his arme was euer such since
his birth. Naithlesse, the lord chamberlaine (which from the death
of king Edward kept Shores wife, on whome he somewhat doted in
the kings life, sauing, as it is said, he that while forbare hir of
reuerence toward the king, or else of a certeine kind of fidelitie to
his freend) answered and said : ''Certeinelie, my lord, if they haue
''so heinouslie doone, they be worthie heinous punishment"
"What" (quoth the protector) "thou seruest me, I weene, with
"*ih' and with 'ands': I tell thee they haue so doone, and that
'' I will make good on thy bodie^ traitor 1 " and therewith, as in a
great anger, he clapped his fist ypon the boord a great rap. At
which token one cried, [p. 723] " Treason I " without the chamber.
Therewith a doore clapped, and in come there rushing men in
hamesse, as manie as the chamber might hold. And anon the
protector said to the lord Hastings: "I arrest thee, traitor I '*
"What me, my lord?" (quoth he.) "Yea, thee, traitor!" quoth
the protector. . . •
Then were they all quickelie bestowed in diuerse chambers,
except the lord chamberleine, whome the protector bad speed and
shriue him apace, "for, by saint Paule" (quoth he) " I will not to
" dinner till I see thy head off 1 " It booted him not to aske whie,
but heauilie he^tooke a priest at aduenture, and made a short skrift:^
for a longer would not be suffered, the protector made so much
* Kel More. om. HoL
' " tia, \Oai, Q.]Come, come, dispatch I the Duke would be at dinner :
Make a short Shrift; he longs to see your Head."
-^Bich, IILj III. iv. 96, 97.
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XII. EIOHARD nL 873
hast to dinner, which he might not go to, yntill this were doone,
for sauing of his oth.
While Hastings lingers to muse on his sudden downfall, he recalls
an incident till now unheeded (11. 86-88) :
Three times to day my Foot-Cloth-Horse did stumhlCi
And started, when he look'd vpon the Tower,
As loth to heare me to the slaughter-housa
[ffol. iii. 723/I/7I. More, 49/i8.] Certeine is it also, that in ^^^^
riding towards the Tower, the same morning in which he was U*SKS5
beheded, his horsse twise or thrise stumbled with him, almost to ^*'*^^'
the falling.
At the close of this scene Hastings is led out to execution* I quote
a passage which gives particulars of his death :
[ffol. iil 723/1/19. More, 48/ii.] So was he brought foorth fg^tw
to the greene beside the chappell within the Tower; and his head i^^l^
laid downe vpon a long log of timber, and there striken off, . . •
Act in. sc. y. — "Enter Richard and Buckingham, in rotten
Armour, maruellous ill-fauoured." ^ They feign great timidity (11. 14-
21). Addressing the Lord Mayor, — who has been sent for to hear an
explanation of the step which they have taken, — Bichard speaks thus
of Hastings (11. 29-32) :
So smooth he dawb'd his Vice with shew of Yertue^
That, his apparant open Guilt omitted,
gmeane, his Oonuersation with Shores Wife,)
e liu'd from all attainder of suspect.' 82
When Hichard sent for " manie substantiall men out of the citie '*
(see next page), he despatched to the city a herald with a proclama-
tion (the same which the scrivener produces in sc. vi.. Act IIL),
giving particidars of the alleged conspiracy, and accusing Hastings of
[ffol. iii 724/1/43.] vicious liuing and inordinate abusion of his
bodie, both with manie other, and also speciallie with Shore's wife, S^SSlSS'
which was one also of his most secret counsell in this most heinous s^'i
treason; with whom he laie nightlie, and namelie the night last
past next before his death.'
Buckingham asks the Mayor (U. 35-39) :
Would you imagine, or almost beleeae,
(Wert not that, by great preseruation, 86
> EnUr Bicha/rd . . . ] F. Enter Duke of Oloceiter and Bwkingham in
armowr, Q.
' ftMpecil Q. tutpeeWF.
' wWi whom . . . his death,] Halle (362). om. More.
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374 XII. RICHARD lU.
We line to tell it,) that the subtill Traytor
This day had plotted, in the Gouncell-House,
To murther me and my good Lord of Glosterl
The succeeding excerpt shows that Hastings was not represented to
have confessed his treason (11. 57, 68). The " substantial! men " were,
however, outwardly as acquiescent as the credulous dramatic Mayor,
who answers Bichard thus (11. 62, 63) :
But, my good Lord, your Graces word ^ shal serue,
As well as I had scene and heard him speake : . • •
[ffol. iil 723/2/74. More, 6I/14.] Now flew the fame of this
lords death [p. 724] swiftlie through the citie, and so foorth
further about, like a wind in euerie mans eare. But the protector,
immediatlie after dinner, intending to set some colour ypon the
matter, sent in aU the hast for manie substantiall men out of the
citie into the Towre.
[The Now, at their comming, himselfe with the duke of Buckingham
wh^^ stood harnessed in old ill faring briganders, such as no man should
JtoSd* weene, that they would vouchsafe to haue put vpon their backs,
m^^ except that some sudden necessitie had constreined them. And
oid^&ring ^^^ ^^ protector shewed them, that the lord chamberleine, and
[Richud other of his conspiracie, had contriued to haue suddenlie destroied
he 0^^ him, and the duke, there the same day in the counceU. And what
hf^MbM^^ they intended further, was as yet not well knowne. Of which their
deethfrom trcasou he neuer had knowledge before ten of the clocke the same
ft plot of °
H*«tto«».i forenoone; which sudden feare draue them to put on for their
defense such hamesse as came next to hand. And so had God
^^ holpen them, that the mischiefe turned vpon them that would haue
E3f^?&u doone it. And this he required them to report.
^dLttd^^ Euerie man answered him faire, as though no man mistrusted
toxepoit.]™ the matter, which of truth no man beleeued.
Bichard now bids Buckingham follow the Lord Mayor to Guildhall,
and there seize an opportunity of decrying Edward lY. in the citizens'
presence. As a proof of the late King's tyrannical humour Buckingham
is to
Tell them how Edward put to death a Citizen, 76
Onely for saying he woiUd make his Sonne
Heire to the Growne ; meaning indeed his House,
Which, by the Signe thereof, was tearm^ so.
* word] Q. words F.
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Xn. RICHAKD IIL 375
In a speech deliyered at the Guildhall, on June 24, 1483,^ Bucking-
ham accused Edward of having turned "small trespasses into mispri8[i]on,
mi8pri8[i]on into treason"; and, to prove his charge, cited the following
case as being well known:
[ffol. iil 728/2/35. More, 67/26.] Whereof (I thinke) no man
looketh that we should remember you of examples by name, as
though Burdet were forgotten, that was for a word spoken in hast surdtL
cruellie beheaded, by the miscontruing of the laws of this realme,
for the princes pleasure.
Between the words "beheaded** and "by,** Halle ^ inserted the
subjoined peurenthetical comment (369) :
This Burdet was a marchaunt dwellyng in Chepesyde at y* signe P^J^^
of y*croune, which now is y* signe of y® floure de luse, ouer agaynst ^^hi^**
Boper lane. This man merely, iny^rufflyng time of king Edward oSS^d?.]
y* .iiij. his raign,^ sayd to his owne sonne that he would make him
^ According to Fab. (669^ Shaw's sermon (eee p. 379 below) was preached
on June 15, — the Sunday following Hastings's execution on June 13,— and
Buckingham's SDeech was delivered on Tuesday, June 17. These dates agree
with Mere's order of events (cp. 66, 67, 63, 66). But Stallworthe — writing
from London on Saturday, June 21, and mentioning, amongst other news,
Hastings's execution— says not a word about Shaw's sermon {Eoccerpta His-
tariea^ 16, 17). Besides, as the eermon was a complete unveiling of Kichard's
purpose, we can hardly suppose that such a haziurdous step would be taken
Wore June 16, when the Duke of York was conveyed to the Tower.
* In Grcfion (ii 107) the same storjr is foisted into Morels narrative.
Hd, records, under the year 1476, that " Thomas Burdet, an esquier of Arrow
in Warwikeshire, . . . was beheaded for a word spoken in tms sort King
Edward in his progresse hunted in Thomas Burdets parks at Arrow, and slue
manie of his deere, amongst the which was a white bucke, whereof Thomas
Burdet made great account And therefore when he vnderstood thereof, he
wished the buckes head in his bellie that moued the kins to kill it Which
tale being told to the king, Burdet was apprehended and accused of treason,
for wishing the buckes head (homes and all) in the kings bellie : he was con-
demned, djawne from the Tower of London to Tibume, and there beheaded,
and then buried in the Qreie friers church at London." — Hoi. iii 703/i/6.
» y] Halle (1648). om. Halle (1660).
^ raign] Ed. rage Halle. The six editions of HaXU belonging to the
British Museum have the wrong reading " rage." Li one of these editions
(60O4, ed. 1648), a corrector has written n upon the 6 ; a change which
substitutes the reading *'ragn" (» reign) for '*rage." Crotchets enclose
«*This Burdet . . . Chepesyde* in the edd. of (1) 1642, and 1648, but
these words are not marked as a parenthesiB in the edd. of 1660, or in
Orafion. Part of HalWs addition was thus expanded by Qrafion (ii 107) ;
^ This man merily, in the ruffling time, betweue king Edward the fourth, and
king Henry the sixt, said to his owne sonne," ... In Halle and QrafUm a
comma is placed after <* spoken." In More and Hd, " spoken " is unpunctu-
ated, and m Mere a comma follows '* hast" Hardung-Qrafton has not HcM$
addition. The punctuation of Ifore was evidently changed to suit HaU^$
version of Burdet's offence.
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376
Xn. EICHARD nL
[He said
that he
would make
hit wm heir
to*'ThA
(For this
JestBdwaxd
Burdetto
dieft
traitoi's
death.]
[Shaw tnd
Penker
described.]
Thttwo
prineetthut
tpimclou
inheritor of y* croune, meaning his owne house, but these wordes
king Edward made to be misconstrued & interpreted that Burdet
meant the croune of y* realme: wherfore, within lesse space ^ then
.iiij. houres, he was apprehended, iudged, drawen and quartered in
Chepesyde, by the misconstruynge of the lawes of the reahne for
the princes pleasure, • . •
When Buckingham has departed, Bichard says (U. 103-105) :
Qoe, Louell, with all speed to Doctor Shaw ;
[To CaU,] Qoe thou to Fryer Penker ; bid them both 104
Meet me within this houre at Baynards Castle.'
Among those whom Bichard employed to advocate his right to the
throne were
[Hoi in. 726/2/30. More, 67/4-] loh^ Shaw, clearke, brother
to the maior, and frier Penker, prouinciall of the Augustine friers ;
both doctors of diuinitie, both great preachers, both of more
learning than yertue, of more fame than learning.
Left alone, Bichard mentions his resolve (U. 108> 109)
... to giue order, that no manner person
Haue any time recourse vnto the Princes.
When Bichard became King (June 26,^ 1483),
[ffol. iii. 736/1/37. More, 83/i6.] foorthwith was the prince
and his brother both shut vp, & all other remooued from them ;
onelie one (called Blacke Will, or William Slaughter) excepted, set
to seme them and see them sure.
Act III. sc. vi. — '^ Enter a Scrivener with a paper in his hand " (Q.
mth . • . hand om. F.). He thus addresses the audience (11. 1-9) :
Here is the Indictment of the good Lord Hastings ;
Which ina $et ffcmd fairely is engross'd.
That it may be to day read o're in Paules.
And marke how well the sequell hangs together : 4
Eleuen houres I haue spent to write it ouer,
For yester-night by Catesby was it sent me ;
The Precedent was full as long a doing :
And yet within these fine houres Hastings liu'd 8
Yntaintedi vnexaminM, free, at libertie.
1 space] Halle (1648). place Halle (1550).
s LI 103-105 are not in Q.
* The Memoranda Rolls of the Exchequer in Ireland contain a letter from
RichaTd IIL to his Irish subjects, who were, it appears, uncertain al>oat the
exact date of bis accession. The King informs them that his reign began on
June 26, 1483.— NicoWs Chronology of Hiitory, 326, 327. See also CofU.
Ckoyl,t 566, and Tofk Beeordij 157, note.
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XIL RIOHABD lU. 377
The proclamation of Hastings's treason and vicious life (see p. 373
above) was
[Ed. ill 724/1/62. More, 62/31.] made within two houres
after that he was beheaded, and it was so cariouslie indicted, & so
faire written in parchment, in so well a set Jiand, and therewith of
it selfe 80 long a processe, that euerie child might well perceiue 255^'^
that it was prepared before. For all the time, betweene his death ^^^
and the proclaming, could scant haue sufficed vnio the bare writing dH^f"
alone, all had it bene but in paper, and scribled foorth in hast at
aduenture. So that, vpon the proclaming thereof, one that was
BchoolemaiBter of Powles, of chance standing by, and comparing
the shortnesse of the time with the length of the matter, said vnto (jestaof »
them that stood about him: ''Here is a gaie goodlie cast, foule masterandft
menhani.]
" cast awaie for hast" And a merchant answered him, that it was
written by prophesie.
Act in. sc. vii. — ^The scene is laid at Baynard's Oastle. Since sc. v.
closed Buckingham had harangued the citizens at Guildhall. Bichard
now asks (1. 4) :
Toucht you the Bastardie of Edwards Children 1
Buck. I did ; with his Contract with Lady Lucy,
And his Oontrdct by deputie in France ; ^
Th'vnsatiate greedinesse of his desire.
And his enforcement of the Citie Wiues ; * . • •
Buckingham reminded the citizens at Guildhall how on Sunday
(June 22) Dr. Shaw
[J9W. iiL 729/2/53. Mare, 70/21.] "groundlie made open vnto ^•^jftJJJ
"you, the children of king Edward the fourth were neuer lawfullie tL,™^-!.
^'begotten; forsomuch as the king (leaning his verie wife dame
'' Elizabeth Lucie) ' was neuer lawfullie maried vnto the queene their ^^"^'^
"mother," . • •
1 We do not learn from More that Warwick's marriage-making embassy
was noticed in Buckingham's speech at the GuildhalL The Shaksperian
Baddngham lefeie to this matter again (IIL viL 179-182), together with
EdwarcTs supposed contract to Lady Lucy. LL 6, 6 (hie • • . iVance), are
not in Q.
> 8. And . . . Wiuei'j F. om. Q.
< The Parliament which met on Januarjr S3, 1484, ratified a petition— no
doubt presented to the Protector at Baynard's Castle— settms forth reasons for
Richara's assumption of the crown. One of the petitioneTar objections to the
validity of Edward lY.'s union with Elizabeth Qiey was ''that at the tyme of
contract of the same pretensed Manage, and bifore and longe tyme after, the
Iward WM
befcrottiedto
Dame
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378
XII. EICHABD m.
HtdirteUth
feommun-
altUtifth4
eitU Uitlio
sufTered
most
through
Edwaid'i
Buckingham also declared that
[Ed. iii. 729/1/58. More, 1657, pp. 62, 63.] " the kings ^ greedie
''appetite was insatiable, and euerie nrhere ouer all the realme
** intollerable.
"For no woman was there anie where, yoong or old, rich or
''poore, whome he set his eie ypon, in whome he anie thing liked,
"either person or fauour, speech, pase, or countenance, but, with-
"out anie feare of God, or respect of his honour, murmur or
** grudge of the world, he would importunelie pursue his appetite,
** and haue hir, to the great destruction of manie a good woman,
** and great dolor to their husbands, . . . And all were it that,
** with this and other importable dealing, the realme was in euerie
" part annoied, yet speciallie yee heere, the citizens of this noble
** citie, as well for that amongest you is most plentie of all such
''things as minister matter to such iniuries, as for that you were
" neerest at hand ; sith that neere heere abouts was commonlie
"his most abiding."
Bichard had prescribed Edward's illegitimacy as a topic for Buck-
ingham's speech ; adding, however (III, v. 93, 94) :
Yet touch this sparingly, as 'twere farre ofiE ;
Because, my Lord, you know my Mother Hues.
Buckingham therefore
attention to Edward's
reports (IIL vii 9-14) having drawn
seid King Edward was and stode maryed and trouth plight to cone Dame
Elianor Sutteler, doughter of the old Earl of Shreweebury [H John Tdbot, the
first Earl] with whom the same Eine Edward had made a precontracte of
Matrimonie, longe tjme bifore he made the said pretensed Manage with the
said Elizabeth Grey, in maner and fourme abovesaid." — Bot Pan., ri. 241 /i.
The first Parliament of Henry VII. ^1485) ordained that this petition should,
*'for the false and seditious ymaginacions and untrouths thereof ... be taken
and avoided out of the Boll and fiecords of the said Parliament of the said late
Ein^ [Richard III.], and brente, and utterly destroyed.*' Parliament idso
ordained ** that every persoune, haveing anie Coppie or Bemembraunces of the
said Bill or Acte [the petition], bring unto the Ohauncellor of England for the
tyme being, the same t)oppies and Bemembraunces, or utterlie destrue theym,
dfore the Fest of Easter next comen, upon Peine of ympnssonment, and
makeing fyne and ransome to the Einge atte his will.*' — Eot, PaH.^ vi. 289/1.
More, writing about 1513, does not speak of Dame Eleanor Butler, but tcJlB
us (6I/33) that the Duchess of York objected to her son's marriage with Elint-
beth Grey because **the kinge was sure to dame Elisabeth Lucy and her
husband before god." Dame Elizabeth Lucy, however, cimfessed that she and
Edward " were neuer ensured." — Ibid. 62/ia
^ the kings . • • their husbands] om« reprint of More, p. 69*
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3LIL BICHARD IH. 379
owne Bastardiei
As being got, your Father then in France,
And his resemblance, being not like the Duke : ^
Withall I did inferre your Lineaments, [See next page.] 12
Being the right Idea of your Father,
Both in your forme and Noblenesse of Minde ; ^
In his speech at the Guildhall, Buckingham alluded to
[Rol, iii. 729/2/69. Mare, 70/32.] other things which the said
worshipfull doctor rather signified than fiillie explaned, & which .
things shall not be spoken for me, as the thing wherein euerie man ^^y^^J^
forbereth to say that he knoweth [p, 730] ; in auoiding dis- SuJSSd'to.)
pleasure of my noble lord protector, bearing (as nature requireth) a
filiall reuerence to the duchesse his mother.
Richard and his Oouncil resolved that Dr. Shaw should broach
Edward Y.'s deposition
[ffol. iii. 725/2/53. Mare, 67/24.] in a sermon at Paules crosse ;
in which he should (by the authoritie of his preaching) incline the
people to the protectors ghostlie purpose. But now was all the
labor and studie in the deuise of some conuenient pretext, for
which the people should be content to depose the prince, and
accept the protector for king. In which diuerse things they
deuised. But the cheefe thing & the weightiest of all that inuen- ^^^^
tion rested in this, that they should alledge bastardie, either in ^^h\o
king Edward himselfe, or in his children, or both. So that he ti^in
should seeme disabled to inherit the crowne by the duke of himMir
Yorke, and the prmce by hmi. children.)
To laie bastardie in king Edward sounded openlie to the [siuiww«8
" *^ to touoli
rebuke of the protectors owne mother, which was mother to them JJfeS^
both ; for in that point could be no other color, but to pretend S5!^S
that his owne mother was an adultresse ; which, notwithstanding, to p^^^jtof's
further this purpose, he letted not. But neuerthelesse he would ^ huLiSj
ofBdwttd't
that point should be lesse and more fauourablie handled: not chfldreniras
'*' to D6 fully
euen fiillie plaine and directlie, but that the matter should be d««i«'«^i
touched aslope, craftilie ; as [p. 726] though men spared in that
t 11. And . . . Duke] F. cm. Q.
* " Layd open all your Victoriee in Scotland," is the next line. Bucking-
ham's speech, in More and HaUe, contains no allasion to these victories.
Bicbard^s Scottish campaign is related by Hd, iii. 705-708.
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380 Xn. BICHABD IIL
point to speake all the truth, for feare of his displeasure. But
the^ other point, concerning the bastardie that they deuised to
surmize in king Edwards children, that would he should be openlie
declared and inforced to the vtterraost.
So instructed, Shaw, after denying the legitimacy of the late King's
children, told the people that
[Noither [ffol. iii. 727/2/50. More, 64/26.] neither king Edward him-
ciarcBce sclfc, uor the dukc of Clarence, among those that were secret in
was deemed ' ' ^
uiSy^ the houshold, were reckoned verie suerlie for the children of the
K^aSU noble duke ; as those that by their fauours more resembled other
ToriL]^ knowne men than him From whose yertuous conditions he said
also that the late king Edward was far off.
(The Pro- ^^* *^^ ^^^^ protcctor, he said, the verie noble prince, the
th^taJSfof speciall pateme of knightlie prowesse, as well in all princelie
^****^ behauiour, as in the lineaments ^ and f auour of his visage, represented
the verie face of the noble duke his father. " This is ** (quoth he)
" the fathers owne figure, this is his owne countenance, the verie
'' print of his visage, the sure vndoubted image, the plaine expresse
'^likenesse of that noble duke."
Buckingham thus concludes his report (U. 20-41) :
And, when my Oratorie drew toward end,
I bid them, that did loue their (Countries good,
Cry, '' God saue Eichard, Englands Boyall Eling
Rich. And did they so 1
Bitek. No, so God helpe me, they spake not a word ; 24
But like dumbe Statuas,^ or breathing Stones,
fitar'd each on other, and look'd deadly pale.
Which when I saw, I reprehended them ;
And asked the Maior what meant this wilf uU silence : 28
His answer was, the people were not vsed
To be spoke to but by the B6corder.
Then he was vrg'd to tell my Tale againe,
** Thus sayth the Duke, thus hath the Duke inferred ; " 32
But nothing spake ^ in warrant from himselfe.
When he had done, some followers of mine owne,
At lower end of the Hall, hurld vp their Caps,
And some tenne voyces cry*d, " God saue King Bichard I " 86
And thus I tooke the vantage of those few,
"Thankes, gentle Citizens and friends," quoth I ;
" This generall applause and chearef ull showt,
—
» Op. III. vii 12, p. 379 above.
« Staintas] Steevens (Reed). Statues. Q. F,
' ipake] Q. spckc F.
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Xn. RICHARD lU. 381
" Argues your wisdome, and your loue to Eichard : " 40
And euen here brake off, and came away.
More's account of Buckingham's speech contains details which were
omitted by Shakspere. The citizens' silence caused Buckingham —
"somewhat lowder" — to broach ''the same matter againe in other
order, and other words." Howbeit the people remained ** as still as the
midnight." After the Becorder's address, Buckingham whispered to
the Mayor, — " this is a maruellous obstinate silence " (cp. HI. vii. 28),
— and then told his hearers that, though the lords, and the commons of
other parts, could do what was asked, yet regard for the citizens was a
motive for seeking their consent also. Hence he required an answer.
Thereupon a whispering began among the people, '' as it were the sound
of a swarme of bees," till at last were heard iiie shouts proceeding from
" an ambushment of the dukes seruants."
[Eol. iiL 730/1/7 1. More, 72/i6.] When the duke had said,
and looked that the people, whome he hoped that the maior had
framed before, should, after this proposition made, haue cried,
"King Richard, king Richard I " all was husht and mute, and not S^^^j
one word answered thereynto. . . .
When the maior saw this [the failure of Buckingham's second
speech], he with other partners of that councell drew about the
duke, and said that the people had not beene accustomed there to
be spoken ynto, but by the recorder, which is the mouth of the 2^^"
citie, and happilie to him they will answer. With that the l^^^^eir
recorder, called Fitz William, a sad man, & an honest, which was ^wuuam,
so new come into that office, that he neuer had spoken to the r^^^ved
people before, and loth was with that matter to begin, notwith- hm^'
standing, thermto commanded by the maior, made rehearsall to
the commons of that the duke had twise rehearsed to them
himselfe. E?*''*^
William
But the recorder so tempered his tale, that he shewed euerie ^^^
thing as the dukes words, and no part his owne. But all this ^^
nothing^ no change made in the people, which alwaie after one ^JS^Jho
stood as they had beene men amazed. . . . S^***^
[When Buckingham demanded an answer] the people began KSSngham
to whisper among themselues secretly, that the voice was neither 2?^^.]
lowd nor distinct, but as it were the sound of a swarme of bees ;
till at the last, in the nether end of the hall, an ambushment of
^ noihing] More, noting Eol. Hhys no ehcvung$ made Halle.
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382 XII. RICHARD IIL
the dukes seruants, and one Nashfield/ and other belonging to the
protector, with some prentisses and lads that thrust into the hall
^ieH^"^' ^^^^gs** ^^^ prease, began suddenlie at mens backes to crie out,
^J^^ as lowd as their throtes would giue: "King Richard, king
i^^^ " Richard 1 " and threw vp their caps in token of ioy. And they,
Bid^ that stood before, cast backe their heads, maruelling thereof, but
Bichardi"] nothing they said. Now when the duke and the maior saw this
manor, they wiselie turned it to their purpose, and said it was a
[Buokhig- goodlie crie, & a ioifull, to heare euerie man with one voice, no
aiflnnedthat man saicug uaic.
expressed "Whereforc, friends" (quoth the duke) "sith we perceiue it
BtiBOM,} <«ig all your whole minds to haue this noble man for your king,
" (whereof we shall make his grsice so effectuall report, that we
"doubt not but it shall redound vnto your great weale and com-
** moditie,) we |j>. 731] require ye, that ye to morrow go with vs, and
" we with you, vuto his noble grace, to make our humble request
"vnto him in maner before remembred." And therewith the
lords came downe, and the companie dissolued and departed, . . .
The historical date of the rest of this scene (IL 45-247) is June 26,
1483.* The Lord Mayor is now at hand, so Richard departs in order to
show himself presently on the leads of Baynard's Castle. When the
Mayor and citizens enter they find Buckingham apparently waiting for
an audience. Catesby then brings what purports to be the Protector's
answer (11. 59-64) :
He doth entreat your Grace, my Noble Lord,
To visit him to morrow or next day : 60
He is within, with two right reuerend Fathers,
Diuinely bent to Meditation ;
And in no Worldly suites would he be mou'd.
To draw him from his holy Exercise. 64
Catesby is despatched to ask again for an audience, but Eichard
sends him back with another excuse (11. 84-87) :
He wonders to what end you haue assembled
Such troopes of Citizens to come to him,
His Grace not being wam'd thereof before :
He f eares, my Lord, you meane no good to him.
1 and one Nashfidd {Nashfedde)] Halle, and Nasf[fields Hoi and
NaahefddeB More.
* The morrow of Buckingham's speech at the Guildhall. See p. 375, note
1, above. Scenes ii.-vii, Act III., make one dramatic day. — T-A.^ 328-331.
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XII. RICHARD in. 383
Beceiving Buckingham's profession of good faith, Catesbj goes out,
and thereupon Richard enters " aloft, betweene two Bishops " ^ (1. 94).
I must premise (1) that nothing said by More, or any other historical
authority, supplied a hint even for the dramatic Richard's refusal of an
audience on the ground of preoccupation with " holy Exercise " : (2) the
words " with a byshop on euery hand of him '* — which I have placed
between square brackets — were added by Halle or Grafton to More's
text.
I resume More's narrative at the point when, <' on the morrow after "
Buckingham's speech,
[Ed. iii. 731/I/II. More, 74/2;.] the maior with all the ^SJJSS^
aldermen,^ and chiefe commoners of the citie, in their best maner fSS^^to
apparelled, assembling themselues togither, resorted vnto Bainards ^ueir.
castell, where the protector laie. To which place repaired also,
(according to their appointment,) the duke of Buckingham, and
dinerse noble men with him, beside manie knights and other g^^^*^
gentlemen. And therevpon the duke sent word vnto the lord 5132^15 that
protector, of the being there of a great and honourable companie, l^^y
to mooue a great matter vnto his grace. Whereypon the protector ^eu^c^n
made difficultie to come out vnto them, but if he first knew some Imt matter.]
part of their errand, as though he doubted and partlie mistrusted SMUned to
the comming of such a number ynto him so suddenlie, without ^ewsome-
thing of thoir
anie warning, or knowledge whether they came for good or harme. buaineM.)
Then the duke, when he had shewed this to the maior and
other, that they might thereby see how little the protector looked
for this matter, they sent vnto him by the messenger such louing
message againe, and therewith so humblie besought him, to vouch-
safe that they might resort to his presence to propose their intent^
of which they would vnto none other person anie part disclose ;
that at the last he came foorth of his chamber, and yet not downe [Aftur
' *' another
ynto them, but stood aboue in a gallerie ouer them [with a byshop SSmX^
on euery hand of him], where they might see him, and speake to I^dl^j *°
him, as though he would not yet come too neere them till he wist
what they meni
1 94 Enter Eichard dlofiy . . . Bishops.] F. Enter Bich. vnth two bishops
aloft (a loste Qi).] Q. Richard's summons of Shaw and Penker to meet him
at Baynard's Castle (III. v. 103-105) is not in the Qq. See p. 376 above.
* In the F. version of III. vii. 66, " the Maior and Aldermen " desire a
conference with Richard. The Q. reads: 'Hhe Maior and Cittizens;'' and F.
has (L 55) : *' Enter the Maior, and Citizens.''
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384
Xn. RICHARD in.
[Baddng-
hitmoraTed
Rlclutfd's
pftrcUm
Mforehand
for the
Intent of
their
coming.]
[Siehtrd
nve
Buddngham
leaTeto
ipeak.]
Speaking on behalf of the Major and citizens, Buckingham thus
addresses Richard (11. 100-103) :
Famous Flantagenet, most gracious PrincOi
Lend f auourable eare to our requests ;
And pardon ys the interruption
Of thy Deuotion and right Christian Zeale.
Sichard asks "what is your Qraces pleasure]" and Buckingham
answering (11. 109, 110),
Euen that (I hope) which pleaseth Qod aboue,
And all good men of this vngouem'd He ;
proceeds, after some flattery, to make known their suit (IL 130-136) :
we heartily solicite
Tour gracious self e to take on you the charge
And Kingly Gouemment of this your Land ; 132
Not as Protector, Steward, Substitute,
Or lowly Factor for anothers gaine ;
But as successiuely, from Blood to Blood,
Your Right of Birth, your Empyrie, your owne. 136
Richard's answer (IL 141-173) contains nothing resembling the
speech attributed to him by More, save in IL 148-150; 171. With
these lines compare the passage, " Notwithstanding, he not onlie . . .
to the prince." If, says Richard, I elect to keep silence, you might
deem that I consented ;
If to reproue you for this suit of yours, 148
(So seasoned with your faithful! loue to me,)
Then, on the other side, I check'd my friends.^ , . .
On him [Edward V.] I lay that you would lay on me, . . . 171
[JIoL iii. 731/1/39. More, 75/20.] And thervpon the duke of
Buckingham first made humble petition ynto him on the behalfe
of them all, that his grace would pardon them, and licence them
to propose ynto his grace the intent of their comming, without his
displeasure; without which pardon obteined, they durst not be
bold to mooue him of that matter.
In which albeit they ment as much honor to his grace, as
wealth to all the realme beside, yet were they not sure how his
grace would take it ; whome they would in no wise offend. Then
the protector (as he was verie gentle of himselfe, and also longed
sore to wit what they ment) gaue him leaue to propose what him
liked ; yerelie trusting (for the good mind that he bare them all)
none of them anie thing would intend ynto him ward, wherewith he
ought to bee greeued. When the duke had this leaue and pardon
to speake, then waxed he bold to shew him their intent and
1 148-150. y . . . friends] F. cm. Q.
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xn. KiCHABD in. 385
purpose, with all the causes moouing them thereynto (as ye before
haue heard) ; and finallie to beseech his grace, that it would like
him, of his accustomed goodness and zeale ynto the realme, now [Riohaid
with his eie of pitie to behold the long continued distresse and ununetho
* ^ ^ Boverelgnty
decaie of the same, and to set his gratious hands to redresse and ^Lu^^
amendment thereof. '••^^
All which he might well doo, by taking Tpon him the crowne
and gouemance of this realme, according to his right and title
lawfullie descended vnto him ; and to the laud of Qod, profit of
the land, & ynto his noble grace so much the more honour, and
lesse paine, in that, that neuer prince reigned ypoa anie people,
that were so glad to line ynder his obeisance, as the people of this
realme ynder his. When the protector had heard the proposition,
he looked yerie strangelie thereat, and answered : that all were it
that he partlie knew the things by them alledged to be true, yet
such entire loue he bare ynto king Edward and his children, & ^
so much more regarded his honour in other realmes about, than ^j^^JJJjf?;
the crowne of anie one, (of which he was neuer desirous,) that ^Si^j^
he could not find in his hart in this point to incline to their Bocidil.
desire T^^
Notwithstanding, he not onlie pardoned them the motion that spate other-
they made him, but also thanked them for the loue and hartie f^ ^
•^ ' ^ [, when he
fauour they bare him ; praieng them for his sake to giue and beare giSSSr****™
the same to the prince, . . . ul?U*Sn
Buckingham replies^ by urging the illegitimacy of Edward lY.'s
children (IL 177-180):
You say that Edward is your Brothers Sonne :
So say we too, but not by Edwards Wife ;
For first was he contrdct to Lady Lucie,
(Your Mother Hues a Witnesse to his Yow,) . . .
When Edward lY. made known his betrothal to Lady Grey, the
Duchess of York
^ d: 90 fMich] Halle, that to tMich Hoi. (More).
s In this speech (III. vlL 189) Buckinffham says that Edward was seduced,
by a fancy for Lady Greyi " To base declension and loath'd Bigamie" The
linchess of York told Edward that Ladjr Grey's widowhood should be a
sufficient deterrent, for it was '* a verie blemish and high disj^ragement to the
sacred maiestie of a prince, that ought as nigh to approch priesthood in clean-
nesse as he dooth in dignitie, to be defiled with bigamU in his first manage."
— flbl. iii 726/2/21. More^ 6O/12.
C C
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386 Xn. RICHABD IIL
Eiizabtth [Hoi. iii. 727/1/16. More, 61/31.] openlie obiected against his
Lwie [was— \ , .<i.i i.t. • viii.
^^^ ^, manage, (as it were in discharge of liir conscience,) that the king
2^t^_ was sure to dame Elizabeth Lucie and hir husband before God.
^TOd]. ^ As Eichard still affects to hesitate, the petitioner uses a final
argument (11 214-217) :
Yet whether ^ you accept our suit or no,
Your Brothers Sonne shall neuer reigne our King ;
But we will plant some other in the Throne, 216
To the disgrace and downe-fall of your House : . • •
Bichard yields; declining all responsibility for his acquiescence
(IL 227-236). Buckingham exclaims (IL 239, 240) :
Then I salute you with this Boyall Title :
Long Hue King Bichard, Englands worthie King I
The following passages illustrate the rest of this scene :
[HoL iii 731/2/30. More, 77 ji i.] Upon this answer giuen, the
duke, by the protectors licence, a little rowned aswell with other
noble men about him, as with the maior and recorder of London.
And after that (vpon like pardon desired & obteined) he shewed
alowd Tnto the protector for a ' finall conclusion : that the realme
rBnddne- was appointed K. Edwards line should not anie longer reigne Tpon
TheyVSSid' them, both for that they had so farre gone, that it was now no
not luffer
Srto** Buertie to retreat, as for that they thought it for the weale
«rfgn.l Tniuersall to take that waie, although they had not yet begun it
Wherefore, if it would like his grace to take the crowne vpon him,
they would humblie beseech him therevnto. If he would giue
[If RichMd them a resolute answer to the contrarie, (which they would be loth
renued their
shOTiidlSk ^ heare,) then must they needs seeke and should not faile to find
oto^Jbie s^™® other noble man that would. . . .
w^pt*itf [When Richard accepted the crown] there was a great shout,
'^mnS"*' c™°g • " ^^^ Richard, king Richard 1 "
KiSg ' ^ Act TV. sc. i. — Queen Elizabeth, the Duchess of York,* the Mar-
RicfiMdi'*! quess of Dorset, Anne Duchess of Gloucester, and Lady Margaret
Flanti^enet (Clarence's daughter), meet before the Tower ; piuposing
to visit the Princes. They are informed by the Lieutenant of the
* yet wkeHher] Q. yet know, where F.
« for a] Halle, that for a HoL (More).
* As this scene closes the Duchess of York says (1. 96):
" Eigbtie odde yeeres of sorrow hane I seene," , . .
The historical Duchess was bom on May 3, 1415 (Wyrc, 453) ; and was there-
fore about eighty years of age when she died in 1495 (see p. 350, n. 3, above).
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XII. RICHARD ni. 387
Tower that Bichard will not suffer their visit (U. 16-17 ; cp. p. 376
above). In the previous scene (III. vii. 242-244) Bichard's coronation
was appointed for to-morrow. Stanley now enters, and, addressing
Anne, sajs (IL 32, 33) :
Come, Madame, you must straight to Westminster,
There to be crown^ Eichards Boyall Queene.
On July 6, 1483,^ — nearly a fortnight after the election at
Baynard's Castle, — Bichard and Anne ascended their thrones in
Westminster Abbey,
[Sol. iil 734/1/3. HcUle, 376.1 where the cardinall of Cantur- neUng
4 gueeite
burie, & other bishops them crowned according to the custome of crvmud.
the realme, . . .
Queen Elisabeth then bids Dorset begone (11. 42, 43) :
If thou wilt out-strip Death, goe crosse the Seas,
And Hue with Bichmond, from the reach of HeU : • • •
Dorset went with Queen Elizabeth into sanctuary at Westminster,*
and left it to join the rebellion raised by Buckingham in October,
1483.' Buckingham, before his capture, hoped either to collect a new
army, ^* or else shortlie to saile into Britaine to the earle of Bichmond "
(ffol, iii. 743/2/56. ffalle, 394). Dorset, more fortunate, was one of
those who " fled by sea," and " arriued sal elie in the duchie of Britaine "
(ffol. iii. 743/2/68. ffcUl6, 394). When Bichmond returned to
Brittany, after his fruitless attempt to succour the rebellion,
X-Hbf. iii. 746/1/55. ffaile, 396.] he was certified by credible
information, that the duke of Buckingham had lost his head ; and
that the marquesse Dorset, and a great number of noble men of monetiii
England, had a little before inquired and searched for him there, Bearchinifor
Kohmond.]
and were now retomed to Vannes. . . .
When they knew that he was safelie returned into Britaine,
Lord, how they reioised I for before that time they missed him, and [nonet
knew not in what part of the world to make inquirie or search for ^J^W?**
him. For they doubted and no lesse feared least he had taken SSS^^nd's
land in England, & fallen into the hands of king Richard, in whose "^^^^'^
person they knew well was neither mercie nor compassioa
Wherefore in all speedie manor they galoped toward him, and rrheir meet-
him reuerentlie saluted. ^hmondi
Act IV. sc. ii. — ^Bichard enters " crownd ** (Q.) ; attended by Buck-
ingham, Catesby, a Page, and others. The King requires Buckingham's
"consent" that the young Princes shall die (1. 23). Buckingham
» Oont. Oroyl,, 567. « Polyd. Verg., 540/39.
» Hoi. iii. 743/1/59 (HaUe, 393).
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388 XII. RICHARD ni.
craves ''some litle breath, some pawse/' ere he can "positively speake
in this" (11. 24, 25); and goes out. Angered by Buckingham's
hesitation, Bichard calls the Page and asks (IL 34, 35) :
Know'st thou not any whom corrupting Gold
Will tempt vnto a close exploit of Death 9
Page, I know a discontented Gentleman, 36
Whose humble meanes match not his haughtie spirit :
Gold were as good as twenUe Orators,
And will (no doubt) tempt him to any thing.
Rich. What is his Namel
Page, His Name, my Lord, is Tirrell. 40
Rvch. I partly know the man : goe, call him hither, Boy.
After the Page's exit, Bichard hears from Stanley of Dorset's flight.
The King then says (IL 51-53) :
Gome hither, Gatesby : rumor it abroad
That Anne, my Wife, is very grieuous sicke ; *
I will take order for her keeping close.
In March, 1485,* Bichard
ArwMmt [JJb/. iii. 761/1/1 8. ff (die, 407.] procured a common rumor
aroMgnMiMt (but he would not haue the author knowne) to be published and
JJjyj^gjr spred abroad among the common people, that the queene was
^^^^^''"^ dead ; to the intent that she, taking some conceit of this strange
fame, should fall into some sudden sicknesse or greeuous maladie :
and to prooue, if afterwards she should fortune by that or anie
otlier waies to lease hir life, whether the people would impute hir
death to the thought or sicknesse, or thereof would laie the blame
to him.
Gatesby departs, and Bichard communes With himself (IL 61, 62) :
I must be marryed to my Brothers Daughter,
Gr else my Kingdome stands on brittle Glasse.
In 1485, Bichmond heard that Bichard
[Eol, iii 752/2/47. Halle, 409.] intended shortlie to marie the
ladie Elizabeth, his brothers daughter; . . .
The Page now returns with Tyrrel, who at once undertakes to
despatch the Princes (U. 78-81).
Let me haue open meanes to come to them,
And soone lie rid you from the feare of them.
Rich, Thou sing'st sweet Musique. Hearke, come hither, Tyrrel :
Goe, by this token : rise, and lend thine Eare : . • • 80
[Whispers.
^ if aieke and like to die] Q. > See p. 396, n. 3, below.
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XII. KICHARD ni. 389
Tyrrel's work is to be done " straight " (F.), or before Bichard
sleeps (Q.).
The ensuing excerpts form the source of IL 841 ; 66-86.
[Hoi iiL 734/2/38. More, 8I/15.] King Richard, after his
coronation, taking his waie to Qlocester to yisit (in his new honour)
the towne of which he bare the name of his old, deuised (as he
rode) to fulfill the thing which he before had intended. And for- nuduoti
Bomuch as his mind gaue him, that, his nephues liuing, men would ^^^'^
not reckon that he could haue right to the realme, he thought "J*^!
therefore without delaie to rid them ; as though the killing of his
kinsmen could amend his cause, and make him a kindlie king.
Whervpon he sent one lohn Qreene (whom he speciallie trusted) f^^^j^
Tuto sir Robert Brakenberie, constable of the Tower; with a letter ^^
and credence also, that the same sir Robert should in anie wise £?£|%i.
put the two children to death. VoiMrf
This lohn Greene did his errand Tnto Brakenberie, kneeling
before our ladie^ in the Tower. Who plainelie answered, that he Tkemmiker
would neuer put them to death to die therefore. With which yoong
princtt iet
answer lohn Qreene returning, recounted the same to king Richard <>^»^
at Warwike, yet in his waie. Wherewith he tooke such displeasure
& thought, that the same night he said Tnto a secret page of his :
''Ah! whom shall a man trust? Those that I haue brought yp
** myselfe, those that I had weent would most suerlie seme me, euen
*' those faile me, and at my commandement will doo nothing for
"me.** "Sir" (quoth his page) "there lieth one on your pallet
"without, that I dare well saie, to doo your grace pleasure, the
"thing were right hard that he would refuse." Meaning this by
sir lames Tirrell, which was a man of right goodlie personage, and %J^
for natures gifts worthie to haue serued a much better prince ; if *'**'**'•
he had well serued Qod, and by grace obteined as much truth and
good will as he had strength and wit.
The man had an high heart, & sore longed Tpward, not rising ^j2J^^
yet so fast as he had hoped, being hindered & kept vnder by the {fRSdiOb
meanes of sir Richard Ratcliffe, [p. 736] and sir William Catesbie, w^SS^
which, (longing for no mo parteners of the princes fauour ; and, pioAeml
1 Kneeling in prayer before an image of our Lady.
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390 Xn. RICHARD UL
namelie, not for him, whose pride they wist would beare no peere,)
kept him by secret drifts out of all secret trust: which thing this page
well had marked and knowne. Wherefore, this occasion offered, of
yerie speciall friendship he tooke his time to put him forward, and
by such wise doo him good, that all the enimies he had (except the
deuill) could neuer haue doone him so much hurb For vpon this
pages words king Richard arose, (for this communication had he
sitting at the draught, a conuenient carpet for such a councell,) and
came out into the pallet chamber, on which he found in bed sir
lames and sir Thomas Tirrels, of person like, and brethren of
bloud, but nothing of kin in conditions.
Then said the king merilie to them : ''What, sirs, be ye in bed
[RicjiArd ''so soonel" And calling yp sir lames, brake to him secretlie his
TjmfB~ mind in this mischeeuous matter. In which he found him nothing
TUtmuuMi strange. Wherefore on the morow he sent him to Brakenberie
dMimtk^ with a letter, by which he was commanded to deliuer sir lames all
UktktUt to ' •>
^^.^j^ the keies^ of the Tower for one night; to the end he might there
^^i£i!Sdf accomplish the kings pleasure, in such things as he had giuen him
commandement. After which letter deliuered, & the keies receiued,
sir lames appointed the night next insuing to destroie them;
deuising before and preparing the meanes.*
When Tyrrel is gone^ Buckingham re-enters and makes a demand
(IL 91-94) :
My Lord, I clayme the gift, my due by promise,
For which your Honor and your Faith is pawn'd ; 92
1 The men sent to murder Clarence have a commission addressed to
Brakenbury, who, after reading it, delivers to them the keys. — Bich, IIL, I.
iv. 90-96.
^ Assuming this account to be true, the Princes were murdered about the
middle of August, 1483. Richard lll.'s privy seals show tiiat he was at
Warwick from August 8 to August 14. On August 15 he was at Coventry
{H, 8,), At Warwick Qrene reported Brakenbury^ answer (Morey 8I/33). On
the day followingQrene*s arrival at Warwick, Tjrrel was despatchea to take
the keys of theTTower from Brakenbury (Morey 82/2, 88/2). The de«i was
done on *' the night nexte ensuing " the dehverv of the keys to Tyrrel (Afore,
83/6). Warwick Ib 90 miles distant by road from London.— Xetm. In
Richard's reign messengers could post 100 miles a day.— Otm*. Oroyl,^ 571. If
Tyrrel were sent from Warwick, the latest date for his departure must have
been Aucust 14, and he could reach London the same day. Wlien Bucking-
ham's rebellion began (October), there was a rumour that the Princes were
dead,— OwU. OrayLy 668.
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XII. RICHARD IIL 391
Th'Earledome of Herford,^ and the moueables,
Which you haae promised I shall possesse.
While carrying out a purpose of contemptuously ignoring Buck-
ingham's demand, Bichard, vouchsafing no response, addresses Stanley
(11 96, 96) :
Stanley, looke to your Wife : if she conuey
Letters to Richmond, you shall answer it.
In 1484,a
[Sol. iiL 746/1/56. HcUle, 398.] nothing was more mamelled
at, than that the lord Stanleie had not beene taken and reputed
as an enimie to the king ; considering the working of the ladie
Margaret his wife, moother to the earle of Richmond. But, forso-
much as the enterprise of a woman was of him reputed of no
regard or estimation, and that the lord Thomas hir husband had
purged himselfe sufficientlie to be innocent of all dooings and
attempts by hir perpetrated and committed ; it was giuen him in ^3^
charge to keepe hir in some secret place at home, without hauing m^SLSS*
anie seruant or companie : so that from ihense foorth she should ^i^HHwm
neuer send letter or messenger ynto hir sonne, nor anie of his fnmSSung
freends or confederats, by the which the king might be molested
or troubled, or anie hurt or preiudice might be attempted against
his realme and communaltie.
Still apparently unmindful of Buckingham, Richard soliloquizes
about Henry YI.'s prophecy that Richmond should be King (see p. 329
above), which leads to a reflection on the prophet's unforeseen death,^
and is followed by a disagreeable reminiscence (U. 106-110) :
Richmond 1 When last I was at Exeter,
The Maior in curtesie showd me the Castle,
And called it Ruge-mount : at which name I startedi 108
Because a Bard of Ireland told me once,
I should not Hue long after I saw Richmond.^
1 Herford] Q. Eertfard F. erh of Herfardes landei Halle (382), but (387)
Earle of Martfardea landes. See p. 450, n. 2, below.
> This general feeling of surprise at Staoiley's freedom Ib spoken of by
Halle (397, 398) as having been |>revalent about the time when Richard's sole
Parliament was sitting. The session opened on January 23, 1484 — Bot FaH,^
vi 237/1.
* '* How chance the prophet could not at that time
Haue told me, I being by, that I should kill him?'* (Q. om. F.)
The dramatic Richard of 3 Men, VI, was, like the histozic character, absent
from England during Henry*s brief restoration.
^ 106-110. Bichmond/ . . • Bickmond,] Q. om. F.
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392 xn. RICHARD m.
In November, 1483,^ Exeter was visited by Richard,
SSi rw5!' t^^^* ^' 5'46/i/i.] whome the maior & his brethren in the best
^JSiSh^ maner they could did receiue, and then presented to him in a purse
u?SSSiS^ two hundred nobles ; which he thankefuUie accepted. And during
^rt$ent», his abode here he went about the citie, & viewed the seat of the
same, & at length he came to the castell ; and, when he Tuderstood
that it was called Rugemont, suddenlie he fell into a dumpe, and
ArropKeOt, (as oue astonied) said: ''Well, I see my dales be not long." He
a^SuSt spake this of a prophesie told him, that, when he came once to
Hr^g»$piriu. Richmond, he should not long line after : which fell out in the end
to be true ; not in respect of this castle, but in respect of Henrie
earle of Richmond, who the next [i.e. second] yeare following
met him at Bosworth field, where he was slaine.
Buckingham again solicits attention to his demand for the promised
earldom (114, 115). He supported Richard at Northampton in April,
1483]
[Hoi. iiL 736/1/2 1. More, 86/29.] and from thense still con-
tinued with him partner of all his deuises ; till that, after his
coronation, they departed (as it seemed) yerie great freends at
Glocester. From whense as soone as the duke came home, he so
lightlie turned from him, and so highlie conspired against him, that
a man would maruell whereof the change grew. And, suerlie, the
occasion of their variance is of diuerse men diuerselie reported.
d^%J^ Some haue I heard say, that the duke, a little before his corona-
S'jkSI^ tion, among other things, required •of the protector the erle* of
famngimL Hercfords lands, to the which he pretended himselfe iust inheritor.
And, forsomuch as the title, which he claimed by inheritance, was
somwhat interlaced with the title to the crowne by the line of king
^^^ Henrie before depriued, the protector conceiued such indignation,
togiYB that he reiected the dukes request with manie spitefull and mina-
Baddngliain
the Eafl of torie words. Which so wounded his heart with hatred and mis-
Hereford's
i*nda.] trust, that he neuer after could indure to looke aright on king
Richard, but euer feared his owne life ; . • .
^ Buckingham was beheaded on November 2, 1483 ^see p. 410 below).
On the following day Eichard left Salisbury and marchea westwards till he
reached Exeter.— Ccm^. Oroyl,^ 568. About the end of November the King
returned to London. — Oont Crayl,^ 670.
« erU] HaUe. duke Hoi. (More).
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XU. RICHARD III. 393
Bicbard rejects his former ally's demand with studied insult ; and
all leave the stage save Buckingham, who lingers a moment to muse
(U. 123-126) :
And is it thus 9 repayes he my deepe seruice
With such contempt) made I him King for this!
.0, let me thinke on Hastings, and be gone
To Brecnock, while my f earef ull Head is on I
In the Summer of 1483, '' soone after " Buckingham's
[Hoi. iii. 736/2/3. More, 88/12] comming home to Brecknocke, [BucHng-
hauing there in his costodie, by the commandement of king gj^jj,^
Richard, doctor Morton, bishop of Elie, . . . [Buckingham] waxed Sendi^ui
with him familiar ; whose wisedome abused his pride to his owne ^' ^^^^^^^
deliuerance, and the dukes destruction.
Halle's Chronicle contains (387) what professes to be an account of
this matter given by Buckingham himself to Dr. Morton, during the
time of the Bishop's detention at Brecknock Castle. When, said
Buckingham, Eichard
[Hoi. iil 739/1/74.] was once crowned king, and in full posses- ntpHnd-
sion of the whole realme, he cast awaie his old conditions as the ^*J^J^^
adder dooth hir skin, verifieng the old prouerbe, "Honours change ^^^
manners," as the parish preest remembreth that he was neuer^ S^«h»v
parish clearke. For when I my selfe sued vnto him for my part ScSSS?'**
of the earle of Herefords lands, which his brother kincr Edward r^ection of
'^ the Duke's
wrongfiillie deteined and withheld from me ; and also required to ^fj^ ^^
haue the oflSce of the high constableship of England, as diuerse of SSSSf^d
my noble ancestors before this time haue had, and in long descent ^bi^pof
continued: in this my first sute shewing his good mind toward *°*^^'^
me, he did not onelie first delaie me, and afterward denaie me,
but gaue me such ynkind words, with such tawnts & retawnts, ye,
in manner checke and checkemate, to the Tttermost proofe of my
patience : as though I had neuer furthered him, but hindered him ;
as though I had put him downe, and not set him vp. . . .
But when I was crediblie informed of the death of the two
yoong innocents, his owne naturall nepbues, contrarie to his faith
and promise ; to the which (God be my iudge I) I neuer agreed, nor twhen
condescended; 0 Lord, how my veines panted, how my bodie J^^*^**
trembled, and how my heart inwardlie grudged I insomuch that I ^iS^i^^
BO abhorred the sight, and much more the companie, of him, that ^^SU,)
* (?) never remembreth that he was ever.
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394 XIL BICHABD m.
be left ^ I could 110 longer abide in liis courts except I should be openlie
Court.] reuenged : the end whereof was doubtfulL
Act lY. sc. iiL — ^The Princes have been smothered while abed by
Dighton and Forrest^ at the instance of Tyrrel, who now enters and
describes his agents' remorse (U. 3-21). Bichard, entering, learns from
Tyrrel that " the thing " commanded " is done "; and asks (I. 27) :
But did'st thou see them dead I
Tir. I did, my Lord.
Rich, And buried, gentle Tirrelll 28
Tir. The Ghaplaine of the Tower hath buried them ;
But where (to say the truth) ^ I do not know.
Haying undertaken to make away with the Princes,
[Eol iil 735/1/45. More, 83/23.] sir lames Tirrell deuised,
that they should be murthered in their bed& To the execution
Z^A^en whereof, he appointed Miles Forrest, one of the foure that kept
J^^*^ them, a Mloyr fleshed^ in murther before time. To him he ioined
one lohn Dighton, his owne horsBekeeper,abig, broad^ square, and
strong knaue.
Then, all the other being remooued from them^ this Miles
Tktyotmg Forrest, and lohn Dighton, about midnight, (the seelie children
brother mur- lieug iu their beds,) came into the chamber, &, suddenlie lapping
^J^S! *^®"^ ^P ^^^^ *te clothes, so to bewrapped them and intangled
nuTMotr. them, keeping downe by force the fether-bed and pillowes hard
ynto their mouths, that, within a while, smoothered and stifled,
their breath failing, they gaue vp to Qod their innocent soules into
the ioies of heauen ; leaning to the tormentors their bodies dead in
the bed. Which after that the wretches perceiued, first by the
Btrugling with the paines of death, and after long lieng still, to be
thoroughlie dead, they laid their bodies naked out vpon the bed,
and fetched sir lames to see them ; which, Tpon the sight of them,
caused those murtherers to burie them at the staire foot, meetlie
deepe in the ground, ynder a great heape of stones.
Then rode sir lames in great hast to king Richard, and shewed
[Richftrd him all the maner of the murther ; who gaue him great thanks,
^u. M ''^ ^^^ (^ some saie) there made him knight. But he allowed not
^^^ (as I haue heard) the burieng in so yile a corner ; saieng, that he
* where (to say the truth)] F. how or in whai place Q.
« Tyrrel calls both the murderers ''flesht Villainea'* (IV. iiL 6).
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xn. BiCHABD m. 395
would haue them buried in a better place, bicause they were a
kmgs Bonnes. . . . Whervpon, they sale that a priest of sir
Robert Brakenberies tooke yp the bodies againe, and secretlie ^e
interred them in such place, a% by the occasion of his death, which bo<S<» neyer
onelie knew it, could neuer since come to light.
When he is alone Bichard recounts what has happened since the
close of sc. ii, Act IV. He had purposed (IIL v. 107) secretly
To draw the Brats of Clarence out of sight.
Afterwards he remarked (lY. iL 66) :
The Boy is foolish, and I f eare not him.
Now (IV. iii 36) he says :
The Sonne of Clarence haue I pent vp close.
Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, son of George Duke of
Clarence^ was executed in November 1499, for having shared Ferkin
Warbeck's plot to escape from the Tower.^ Warwick
[Eol iil 7^7/2/1$. ffalle, 490.] had beene kept m prison sdwmd
within the Tower almost from his tender yeares ; that is to sale, ^^L^
from the first yeare of the king [Henry VII.], to this fifteenth JSSp,,^.
yeare, out of all companie of men & sight of beasts ; insomuch
that he could not disceme a goose from a capon, . . •
Within a day or two after the battle of Bosworth, Henry YIL sent
[Eol iii. 762/1/6. Ecdle, 422.] sir Robert Willoughbie, knight,
to the manour of Sheriffehuton in the countie of Yorke, for Edward
Plantagenet, earle of Warwike, sonne and heire to George duke of
Clarence ; then being of the age of fifteene yeares : whome king [Warwiek
Richard had kept there as prisoner during the time of his vsurped L?^!^^
• o Htrtton by
reigne.' Richard.]
A few dramatic hours have elapsed since Gatesby departed^ at
Richard's bidding, to
Inquire me out some meane poore Gentleman,
Whom I will marry straight to Clarence Daughter. — ^lY. ii 64, 56.
Both obstacles are now removed. Clarence's son is '' pent vp close";
His daughter meanly haue I matcht in marriage. — ^lY. iii. 37.
1 Hatte, 491.
> Richard was at Tork in September, 1483 (York Bee&i-ds, 171-173) ; and
there knighted the young Earl of Warwick (Bows Bd, 60).
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396
Xn. EICHAKD IIL
proposed
marryiDg
Cicely
Flantagenet
to a man of
unknown
lineage.]
Thequeene,
MOumrdtlu
1Mrd,tud-
deidUdmd.
Margaret Plantagenet, Ooimtess of Salisbury, Clarence's daughter,
was about twelve years of age at the time of Bichard's death.^ She
married Sir Bichard Pole, Chief Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to
Prince Arthur.' The Dramatist has, apparently, confounded her
with her first cousin. In 1485, the rumour that Bichard would
marry his niece was accompanied by a report that he meant also
[Hoi iii. 752/2/48. Ealle, 409.] to prefer the ladle Cicilie
hir sister to a man found in a cloud, and of an ynknowne linage
and familie.
Bichard proceeds (11. 38, 39) :
The Sonnes of Edward sleepe in Abrahams bosome.
And Anne my wife hath bid this world good night.
Bichard was, as we have seen (p. 388 above), accused of spreading a
false report of Anne's death. Hearing of this rumour, she feared that
Bichard '' had iudged hir worthie to die," and so
[Hoi iiL 751/1/40. Ealle, 407.] either by inward thought and
pensiuenesse of hart, or by infection of poison (which is affirmed
to be most likelie), within few dales after the queene departed out
of this transitorie life.'
Bichard's meditations are interrupted by the entrance of Batcliffe
{CoiUshy Q.), announcing (L 46),
Bad news, my Lord : Mourton is fled to Bichmond.
John Morton, Bishop of Ely, though he became a confidant of his
jailor Buckingham's plots against Bichard,
[Hoi iiL 741/1/71. Halle, 390.] did not tarrie till the dukes
* She was bom in August, 1473. — Bows JBol, 61.
* " Margaret Plantagenet . . . became the Wife of Sir Richard Pole Kt
(Son of Sir Jeffrey Pole Kt descended from a Family of ancient Gentry in
Wales) who having valiantly served King Henry the Seventh, in his Wars of
Scotland H in 1497 : see Bacon's Hewry VIL^ 158/2], and being a Person much
accomplished, was made chief Qentleman of the Bed-Chamber to Prince
Arthur, and Kt. of the Qarter; whereupon attending him into Wales, he
receiv'd Command to Govern in those Parts.'' — Scmdfiyrd^ 441. As her son
Henry Pole had livery of his lands on July 6, 1613 {Oalendar, Hen, VIIL,
I. 4325), the year of her marriage could not have heen later than 1492.
* The writer of Oont. Oroyl (672) says that Queen Anne's death occurred
about the middle of March, 1485 ; "in die magnae ecclipsis solis.*' The Rev.
S. J. Johnson, Vicar of Melj^lash, Dorset, wrote thus in response to my enquiir
anent the precise date of this eclipse : "The eclipse to which you refer took
flace on 16 March 1485. On making a rough calculation of it some years ago,
found 9 digits or three-fourths of the Sun would be eclipsed at London
about half-past three in the afternoon. In the Mediterranean it would be
total" 8taw (782) gives March 16, 1485, as the date of Anne's death.
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xn. RicHAKD nL* 397
companie were assembled, but, secretlie disguised, in a night ^^^^^/
lotki
departed, (to the dukes great displeasure,) and came to his see ^
of Elie ; where he found monie and freends ; and so sailed into mS^mnd.
Flanders, where he did the earle of Richmond good seruice.^
Ilatcli£fe continues (IL 47, 48) :
And Buckingham, backt with the hardy WelshmeUi
Is in the field, and still his power encreasetL
Buckingham was
[Hoi, iii 743/2/10. Halle, 394.] accompanied with a great nu d^ateo/
power of wild Welshmen, whom he (being a man of great courage ^^|2i2^
and sharpe speech) in maner against their willes had rather thereto l^jSaS^
inforced and compelled by lordlie and streict commandement, than ^^
by liberall wages and gentle demenour ; which thing was the verie
occasion why they left him desolate, & cowardlie forsooke him.
The duke, with all his power, marched through the forrest of Deane,
intending to haue passed the riuer Seuerne at Glocester, & there
to haue ioined his armie with the Courtneis, and other westeme
men of his confederacie and affinitie. Which if he had doone, no
doubt but king Richard had beene in great ieopardie, either of
priuation of his realme, or losse of his life, or both.
Richard orders RatclifEe to " muster men " (1. 56) for immediate
action, and the scene closes.
Buckingham's revolt was seconded by simultaneous risings in
different parts of England,^ but
[Hoi iii. 743/1/70. Halle, 393.] king Richard, (who in the '• JUchardt
meane time had gotten togither a great strength and puissance,) f^S^^""^
thinking it not most for his part beneficiall, to disperse and diuide
his great armie into small branches, and particularlie to persecute
anie one of the coniuration by himselfe, determined (all other SSSSSed
things being set aside) with his whole puissance to set on the ^^t^
chiefe head, which was the duke of Buckingham. ham.]^
Act lY. sc. iv. — ^Richard's forces have been mustered, and he enters
"marching, with Drummes and Trumpets" (Q.). He is met by the
* Richard says (IV. iii 49, 60) :
** Ely with Richmond tronblee me more neere,
Then Buckingham and his rash leoied Strength."
* See p. 403 below.
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398 xn. RICHARD ni.
Duchess of York and Queen ElizabetL His mother goes out, laying
her '' most greeuous Curse " upon him ; but he detains his sister-in-law,
and sues for the hand of his niece the Princess Elizabeth. In pleading
his cause, he says (11. 311-314) :
Dorset your Sonne, that, with a f earf ull soule, .
Leads discontented steppes in Forraine soyle, 312
This faire Alliance quickly shall call home
To high Promotions, and great Dignity.
After long railing at him the Queen is so far appeased by his fair
words as to ask (L 426) :
Shall I go win my daughter to thy will t
Etch, And be a happy Mother by the deed.
Qu, I go. Write to me very shortly, 428
And you shal vnderstand from me her mind.
Bich, Beare her my true loues kisse ; and so, farewell !
[£xU Q[ueen].
Earlier in the eventful dramatic day which embraces scenes ii — ^v.,
Act lY., Richard sent Oatesby to spread a rumour of Anne's mortal
sickness. Soon we hear from him of her death, and he adds (lY. iiL
40-43):
Now, for I know the Britaine Richmond aymes
At yong Elizabeth, my brothers daughter,
And, by that knot, lookes proudly on the Crowne,
To her go I, a iolly thriuing wooer.
In the Autumn of 1483 the Countess of Richmond and Queen
Elizabeth communicated through the agency of Lewis, the Countess's
physician, whose profession fdlEorded him a convenient pretext for
visiting the sanctuary at Westminster, where the Queen still abode.
Acting under instructions obtained from the Countess, Lewis broached
to Queen Elizabeth a proposal — ^which was accepted — ^for muting the
rival Houses : ^
* Folyd, Verg., 550/9. Richard Ill.'fl privy seals ahow that he was at
Gloucester on August 2-4, 1483 (H. 8,); and there Buckiugham left bim
(Afore, 88/i i). Thence Buckingham went to Brecknock Castle, where he had
the custody of John Morton, Bishop of Ely.— More, 87/21—88/15. The
result of a conference at Brecknock between Buckingham and Morton was
that the former promised to aid Henry Earl of Richmond in obtainins the
crown, if the Earl agreed to marrv Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV.
By Morton's invitation, Beginald Bray, one of the household of Margaret
Countess of Derby, Richmond's mother, came from Lancashire — where she
was then residing — to Brecknock; and, after conferring with Buckingham,
returned to the Countess and informed her of the Duke's promise. — Hardyng-
Orafion, 526 ; Halle, 390. Thereupon she sent her physician Lewis to the
Queen Dowager, who was then in the sanctuary at Westminster ; instructing
him to propose the matrimonial alliance as though it were an idea of his own.
'^Harayng-Qrafion, 526 ; JETotte, 390, 391. Allowing time for the joumies
and previous negotiations, we may fairly refer Lewis's share in the latter to
the earlv autumn of 1483. Before October 12, 1483, Buckingham had rebelled,
and Richard was marching against him. — ElUs, II. i 159. 160.
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xn. RICHARD m. 399
[Hoi. iii. 742/1 /I. Halle, 391.] "You know verie well, 2^^"*-
"madame, that, of the house of Lancaster, the earle of Richmond 5S;2Jto**
"is next of bloud, (who is liumg, and a lustie yoongbatcheler,) and %%ilt*
"to the house of Yorke your daughters now are heires. If you
"could agree and inuent the meane how to couple your eldest
"daughter with the yoong earle of Richmond in matrimonie, no
"doubt but the vsurper of the realme should be shortlie deposed,
"and your heire againe to hir right restored.''
On Christmas Day, 1483, Richmond was at Rennes, where he swore
to marry the Princess Elizabeth after his accession to the throne, and
received oaths of fidelity from the refugees who had espoused his cause.^
Early in the year 1484,*
[Hoi iii 750/1/27. Halle, 406.] king Richard was crediblie
aduertised, what promises and oths the earle and his confederates
had made and sworn togither at Rennes,' and how by the carles
means all the Englishmen were passed out of Britaine into France.
Wherefore, being sore dismaid, and in a manor desperate, bicause
his crafbie chieuance * tooke none effect in Britaine, he ima^ned & k. ludkards
deuUeto
deuised how to infringe and disturbe the earles purpose by an ^"^"^
other meane ; so that, by the marriage of ladie Elizabeth his neece, ^^
he should pretend no claime nor title to the crowne. . . . pwyw*.
[Richard therefore] determined to reconcile to his fauour his
brothers wife queene Elizabeth, either by faure words, or liberall
promises ; firmelie beleeuing, hir fauour once obteined, that she
would not sticke to commit (and louinglie credit) to him the rule '^*^tmand
and gouemance both of hir and hir daughters; and so by that ^J^SS^to
meanes the earle of Richmond of the aflinitie of his neece should iSui^
be Ttterlie defrauded and beguiled. . . . ii«*«<md.
[Richard] would rather take to wife his cousine and neece the
1 Pclyd, Verg. 663/44.
* On March 1, 1484, Richard took a solemn oath— peers spiritual and
temporal with the Lord Mayor and aldermen of London being present — to
ensure the personal safety and welfare of his nieces if they, leaving sanctuary,
would commit themselves to his care. — Ellis, II. i. 149. Before Richard
opened the negotiations with the Queen which placed her daughters in his
power, he had considered the expediency, if he Rhould become a widower, of
marrying the Princess Elizabetii and thus forestalling Richmond.~Po/i/d
Vera, 666/2.
" Benkes] Benes Halle. Beimea HoL
* To detain Richmond in Brittany.
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400
Xn. RICHARD nL
(Bichftrd'f
mothrefor
marnring
UzabetL]
[RIohaM
•entmeuen-
anntotbe
Qaeen,
eZCQSiBg
pMtiqjnrlM
tnd making
vromisesto
berand
Doraet.]
Queent
BUtabith
aUurfthkh-
mmtulht
wiarqw$H
Dantlhonu
Fnmet*
ladie Elizabeth,^ than for lacke of that affinitie the whole realme
should run to rume ; as who said, that, if he once fell from his
estate and dignitie, the mine of the relme must needs shortlie
insue and follow.^ Wherefore he sent to the queene (being in
sanctuarie) diuerse and often messengers, which first should excuse
and purge him of all things before against hir attempted or pro-
cured, and after should so largelie promise promotions innumer-
able, and benefits, not onelie to hir, but also to hir sonne lord
Thomas, Marquesse Dorset, that they should bring hir (if it were
possible) into some wanhope, or (as men sale) into a fooles
paradise.
The messengers, being men both of wit and grauitie, so per-
suaded the queene with great and pregnant reasons, & with^
faire and large promises, that she began somewhat to relent, and
to giue to them no deafe eare; insomuch that she faithfullie
promised to submit and yeeld hir selfe ftdlie and frankelie to the
kings will and pleasure. . • .
After she sent letters to the marquesse hir sonne, (being then at
Paris with the earle of Richmond,) willing him in anie wise to leaue
the earle, and without delaie to repaire into England, where for
him were prouided great honours, and honourable promotions;
ascerteining him further, that all ofienses on both parts were for-
gotten and forgiuen, and both he and she highlie incorporated in
the kings heart.
After Anne's death, in March, 1485, the
^ There can be no doubt that mmoor attributed this purpose to Richard.
A little before Easter, 1485 (Easter fell on April 3), at the Priory of St John
of Jerusalem, Clerkenwell, in the presence of me Mayor and citizens of
London, the King absolntely repudiated the design of marriage with his niece
Elizabeth. — Cont. Oroyl.y 572. In a letter to the Mayor and Aldermen of
York, dated April 5 (1485), Richard spoke of various ways by which "sedicioos
and evil disposed personnes" sowed *<8ede of noise and disclanndre agaynest
oar persone^; and added: '*for remedie wherof, and to thentent the troth
opintye declared shuld represse all snche false and contrived invendons, we
now of late called before us the Maire and Aldermen of our Citie of London,
togidder wtt^ the moste sadde and discrete persones of the same Citie in grete
nombre, being present many of the lorde^ sntrt^el and temporel of our land,
and the substance of all our honsland, to wnome we laigely showed our trae
entent and mynd in all suche thinge^ as the said noise and disdaundre renne
upon in suche wise as we doubt not all wel disposed personnes were and be
therwtt^ right wele content •* ; . . ,—Yorh Records, 209,
« Cp. Rich. IIL, IV. iv. 406-411.
' with] Halle, tohat with Hoi.
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Xn. RICHARD ni. 401
[Eol. iil 761/1/49. HcUle, 407.] king thus (according to his ^^^^
long desire) lo[o]8ed out of the bonds of matrimonie, began to cast ^^^
a foolish fEmtasie to ladie Elizabeth his neece ; making much sute ^^a^.
to haue hir ioined with him in lawfull matrimonie.
Queen Elizabeth's exit is followed by the entrance of Batcliffe with
the announcement (U. 433-439) that
on the Westeme Coast
Rideth a puissant Nauie ; . . •
'Tis thought that Richmond is their Admirall ; 437
And there they hull, expecting but the aide
Of Buckingham to welcome them ashora
Richard gives Oatesby a message for the Duke of Norfolk (11. 448-
460) :
bid him leuie straight
The greatest strength and power that he can make^
And meet me suddenly at Salisbury.
Starting from London, Richard
[HoL iil 743/2/s. HcdU, 394] tooke his ioumie toward g^^
SaUsburie, to the intent that in his ioumie he might set on the ^aut^.]
dukes [Buckingham's] armie, if he might know him in anie place
incamped, or in order of battell arraied
While Ratcliffe is speaking historic time has not advanced beyond
October, 1483, but, were it not for the rendezvous appointed, we might
suspect that the message with which Oatesby is charged should be dated
August, 1485 ; when, on hearing of Richmond's landing, Richard
[Hol.m. 754/1/53. JTaZfo, 412.] sent to lohn duke of Norflfolke, 2iS^
Henrie earle of Northumberland, Thomas earle of Surrie, and to ^^[^m^
other of his especiall & trustie friends of the nobilitie, which he ^^^^^^
iudged more to preferre and esteeme his wealth and honour, than
their owne riches and priuate commoditie ; willing them to muster
and view all their seruants and tenants, and to elect and choose
the most couragious and actiue persons of the whole number, and
with them to repaure to his presence with all speed and diligence.
Ratcliffe's news is confirmed by Stanley, who pretends to know
merely "by guesse" that Richmond
• • • makes for England, here to dayme the Crowne (1. 469).
The rebellion of Buckingham and his adherents began on October
18, 1483.^ They were to be supported by Richmond, who had
^ This is the date (jiven in the attainder of Buckingham and his con-
federates.— Bat, Pari., yi. 245/i, &c. But Norfolk, writing from London on
nun.
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402
XIL KICHAED IH.
Riekmondi
preparation
4^9hip§ and
9tnUi(tt«n U>
HUmu
WhatmMi
fnenK,
Riekard
moHtnU-
tnuUd,
[HegftTO
least cre-
dence to
Stanley.]
[Eol iii. 744/2/48. Ralle, 395.] prepared an armie of fiue
thousand manlie Britons, and fortie well furnished ships. When
all things were prepared in a readinesse, and the dale of departing
and setting forward was appointed, which was the twelfe dale of
the moneth of October [1483], the whole armie went on shipbord,
and halsed yp their sailes, and with a prosperous wind tooke
the sea.
Bichard taunts Stanley with a design of joining Bichmond (11. 476-
478). Stanley asks permission to depart and collect men for the King's
service (488-490). Richard yields a conditional assent (IL 496-498) :
Goe, then, and muster men ; but leaue behind
Your Sonne George Stanley : looke your heart be firme,
Or else his Heads assurance is but fraila
Holinshed copied from Halle (408) a passage whence we learn that»
among those whom Richard
[Hoi iii 751/2/5.] most mistrusted, these were the principall :
Thomas lord Stanleie, sir William Stanleie his brother, Gilbert
Talbot, and six hundred other : of whose purposes although king
Richard were ignorant,^ yet he gaue neither confidence nor cre-
dence to anie one of them ; and least of all to the lord Stanleie,
bicause he was iomed in matrimonie with the ladie Margaret,
mother to the earle of Richmond, as afterward apparantlie yee
may perceiue. For when the said lord Stanleie would haue
departed into his countrie to visit his familie, and to recreate and
refresh his spirits, (as he openlie said, but the truth was, to the
intent to be in a perfect readinesse to receiue the earle of Richmond
at his first arriuall in England,) the king in no wise would suffer
him to depart, before he had left as an hostage* in the court Geoige
Stanleie, lord Strange, his first begotten sonne and heire.
When Stanley is gone, four messengers enter successively with news
of the revolt, llie first messenger announces (IL 600-504) a rising in
Devonshire, headed by
Sir Edward Courtney, and the haughtie Prelate
Bishop of Exeter, his brother there,^ . . •
The " Guilfords," a second messenger reports (U. 506-507), have
Octoher 10, 1483, tells John Fasten. " that the Eentysshmen he up in the
weld, and sey that they wol come ana rohhe the cite, which I shall lett yf I
may."— Pcwfcn, iii. 808.
^ were ignormmt] Halle, ivere noi ignora/nJk Hoi*
' hroiher there] Q. dder Brother F.
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XU. RICHARD m. 403
taken up arms in Kent. A fourth messenger brings tidings of another
outbreak (U. 520, 521) :
Sir Thomas Louell and Lord Marquesse Dorset,
'Tis said, mj liege, in Yorkeshire are in Armes.
The rebellion was well-concerted, for Buckingham had
[Hoi. iiL 743/1 /S6. Halle, 393.] persuaded all his complices
and partakers, that euerie man in his quarter, with all diligence,
should raise vp people & make a commotion. And by this means,
almost in one moment, Thomas marques Dorset came out of
sanctuarie, (where since the begin[n]ing of K Richards daies he had
continued, whose life by the onelie helpe of sir Thomas Louell ^
was preserued from all danger & perill in this troublous world,) ^^JJ^Jl"
[and] gathered together a great band of men in Yorkeshire.
Sir Edward Courtneie, and Peter his brother,* bishop of
Ezcester, raised an other a[r]mie in Deuonshire and ComewalL IJjJ^if*'^
In Kent, Richard Gilford and other gentlemen collected a great ^^ ^"^^
companie of souldiers, and openlie began warre.
The news of a third messenger
Is, that by sudden Floods and fall of Waters, 612
Buckinghams Armie is dispersed and scattered ;
And he himself e wandred away alone.
No man knowes whither.
Buckingham meant to cross the Severn, and effect a junction with
his allies in the west (p. 397 above), but before
[Hoi. iil 743/2/25. HaUe, 394.] he could atteine to Seueme
side, by force of continuall raine and moisture, the riuer rose so i^JS/*^
high that it ouerflowed all the countrie adioining ; insomuch that do^ mnek
men were drowned in their beds, and houses with the extreame thtduktor
yiolence were ouertumed, children were caried about the fields gnout
swimming in cradels, beasts were drowned on hille& Which rage
of water lasted continuallie ten daies^ insomuch that in the countrie
adioining they call it to this daie,' "The great water"; or, "the
duke of Buckinghams great water." By this floud the passages
were so closed, that neither the duke could come ouer Seuem to
1 The tranelator of this passage from PcHycL Verg. (551/^0 substituted
** sir Thomas lonell esquyer'* for plain Thomas Rowell (" Rouelli").
« Cousin.— ^mic^ 248.
' The account of this flood was added to the translation of Polyd, Verg,
(652}m£raa«.
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404 xn. EiCHARD in.
his adherents, nor they to him. During the which time, the
SJ^dlr^"'*' Welshmen, lingring idelie, and without monie, vittels, or wages,
P**"*^^ suddenlie scattered and departed: and, for all the dukes faire
promises, threatnings, and inforcements, would in no wise either
go further nor abide.
(Backing. The dukc (being thus left almost post alone) was of necessitie
compelled to fiie, • . •
Now when it wasknowne to his adherents, (which were redie to
rBncUng- P^^ battcll,) that his host was scatred, and had left him almost
2SS flSi *'" alone, and [he] was fled, & could not be found, they were sud-
hi^ u!Lt denlie amazed & striken with a sudden feare, that euery man like
be found.] persous dcspcrate shifted for himselfe & fled.
Richard asks (IL 517, 518) :
Hath any well-aduised friend proclaym'd
Beward to him that brings the Tray tor in 1
Mess, Such Proclamation hath been made, my Lord.
From Leicef^r, on October 23, 1483,^ Kichard
A prodama- [Hol iii. 744/i/2i. Halle, 394.] made proclamation, that what
2^»^«^ person could shew and reueale where the duke of Buckingham
1S!^tl!iffhd, ^*®» should be highlie rewarded : if he were a bondman, he should
J^SiSlto b© infranchised and set at libertie ; if he were of free bloud, he
h^JSI^ should haue a generall pardon, and be rewarded with a thousand
pounds.
The fourth messenger's doubtful report of Dorset's appearance in
arms is counterbalanced by better and certain news (11. 523-529) :
The Brittaine Nauie is dispersed by Tempest : *
Hichmond, in Dorsetshire, sent out a Boat 624
Ynto the shore, to aske those on the Banks,
If they were his Assistants, yea or no f
Who answer'd him, they came from Buckingham
Ypon his partie : he, mistrusting them, 528
Hbys'd sayle and made his course againe for Brittaine.
On October 12, 1483, Richmond put to sea ''with a prosperous
wind " (p. 402 above) :
[Hot. iil 7iil2lSS. Halle, 396.] But toward night the wind
changed, and the weather turned, and so huge and terrible a
* I take the date from Bymer^ xii 204, where the proclamation Is printed.
« by Tempest] F. om. Q.
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Xn. RICHARD UL 405
tempest so suddenlie arose, that, with the verie power and strength ^fJ^JJ^
of tlie storme, the ships were disparkled, seuered & separated ^vt*m]puL
asunder : some b; force were driuen into Normandie, some were
compelled to retume againe into Britaine. The ship wherein the
earle of Richmond was, associat onelie with one other barke, was
all night tossed and turmoiled.
In the morning after, (when the rage of the furious tempest was
asswaged, and the ire of blustering wind was some deale appeased,)
about the houre of noone the same dale, the earle approched to
the south part of the realme of England, euen at the mouth of the g^^^^
hauen of Pole, in the countie of Dorset ; where he might plainelie -SSJ*****
perceiue all the sea bankes & shores garnished and furnished with *'*'*'***
men of warre and souldiers, appointed and deputed there to defend
his arriuall and landing. . . • Wherefore he gaue streict charge,
and sore commandement, [p. 745] that no person should once pre-
sume to take land, and go to shore, yntill such time as the whole
nauie were assembled and come togither. And, while he taried and ^1^^
lingered, he sent out a shipboate towsu^d the land side, to know "i!^!^^
whether thej, which stood there in such a number, and so well ^^aSU um,
furnished in apparell defensiue, were his foes and enimies, or else
his freends and comforters.
They, that were sent to inquire, were instantlie deshred of the
men of warre keeping the coast, (which thereof were before
instructed & admonished,) to descend and take land ; affirming that 4f?^*^
they were appointed by the duke of Buckingham there to await **^"^
to intrap iht
t»gen,
and tarie for the arriuall and landing of the earle of Richmond,
and to conduct him safelie into the campe, where the duke, not far
of[f|, laie incamped with a mightie armie, and an host of great
strength and power, to the intent that the duke and the earle,
ioining in puissances and forces togither, might prosecute and
chase king Richard being destitute of men, and in manor desperate;
and so, by that meanes, and their owne labours, to obteine the end
of their enterprise which they had before begun.
The earle of Richmond, suspecting their flattering request to be SSbStod*
but a fraud (as it was in deed), after he perceiued none of his ships tton^tTuSid.
to appeare in sight, he weied vp his anchors, halsed vp his sailes, ^ft"]*^*^
&, hauing a prosperous and streinable wind, and a fresh gale sent
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406 xn. RiCHAED nL
euen by God to deliuer him from that perill and ieopardie, arriued
safe and in all securitie in the duchie of Nonnandie ; where he (to
arriutikiii refresh and solace his soldiers and people) tooke his recreation by
^f^^ ^ the space of three daies, and cleerelie determined with part of his
^^^If companie to passe all by land againe into Britaine.
Catesby — whom Hichard had despatched (lY. iv. 444-450) to
smnmon the Duke of Norfolk to Salisbury — ^now re-enters with the
latest advices (U. 533-536) :
My Liege, the Duke of Buckingham is taken ;
That is the best newes : that the Earle of Richmond
Is, with a mighty power, landed at Milford,
Is colder tidings^, but yet they must be told.
Here Shakspere annihilates the historical time which intervened
between Buckingham's luckless rebellion and Bichmond's victorious
enterprise. Buckingham was captured in October, 1483. Richmond,
[Hoi. iil 753/1/23. Halle, 410.] being accompanied onelie
with two thousand men, and a small number of ships, weied vp his
anchors, and halsed vp his sailes in the moneth of August [1485],
and sailed from Harfleet with so prosperous a wind, that, the
Thteoru scuenth dale* after his departure, he arriued in Wales in the
jH^^^ euening, at a place called Milford hauen, and incontinent tooke
land, . . .
Act IV. sc. V. — Stanley enters with Christopher TTrswick, to whom
he says (11. 1-5):
Sir Christopher, tell Richmond this from me :
That, in the stye of the most deadly Bore,
My Sonne George Stanley is f rankt vp in hold :
If I reuolt, off goes yong Greorges head ; 4
The f eare of that holds off my present ayda
In August, 1485, '<a daie or two before" Richmond sojourned at
Lichfield,
[Hot. iil 753/2/73. Halle, 41 1.] the lord Stanleie, hauing in his
band almost fine thousand men, lodged in the [p, 754] same towne.
The lord But, hearing that the erle of Richmond was marching thitherward,
StanUitM ^
deuiMU gaue to him place, dislodging him and his, and repaired to a
» tiding8]Q. NeuxsF.
' Fdtfd. Verg, says (559/45) that Richmond sailed from the mouth of the
Seine on August I (*' Calend. Augnsti"), and reached Milford Haven seven
days after his departure, ahont sunset According to Cont, Oroyl, (573) August
1 was the date of Richmond's arrival at Milford Haven. Bou$ (218) gives
August 6 as the date on which Richmond arrived at Milford Haven.
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Xn. EIGHABD UL 407
towne called Aderstone; the reabiding the commmg of the earle. awMt
And this wilie fox did this act, to auoid all suspicion on king ^^^f^^^
Richards part m,i^m
For the lord Stanleie was afraid, least, if he should seeme
openlie to be a fautor or aider to the earle his sonne in law, before
the da; of the battell, that king Richard, (which yet Ttterlie did not
put in him diffidence and mistrust,) would put to some cruell death
his Sonne and heire apparant, George lord Strange, whome king
Richard (as you haue heard before) kept with him as a pledge or
hostage, to the intent that the lord Stanleie his father should
attempt nothing preiudiciall to him.
Until the day before the battle of Bosworth, Richmond
[Hoi. iiL 754/2/54. Halk, 413.] could in no wise be assured
of his father in law Thomas lord Stanleie, which, for feare of the [Few for ui
destruction of the lord Strange his sonne (as you haue heard), as Stanier hold
yet inclined to neither partie. For, if he had gone to the earle, iwt]
and that notified to king Richard, his sonne had beene shortlie
executed.
Stanley also asks (L 6)
But, tell me, where is Princely Richmond nowt
Chri. At Fenbroke, or at Harford-west,^ in Wales.
Stem, What men of Name resort to him ) 8
Chri. Sir Walter Herbert, a renown^ Souldier ;
Sir Gilbert Talbot, Sir William Stanley ;
Oxford, redoubted Pembroke, Sir lames Blmit,
And Rice ap Thomas, with a valiant Crew ; 12
And many other of great name and worth :
And toward London do they bend their power.
If by the way they be not fought withaU.'
The Earls of Oxford and Pembroke sailed with Richmond from
Normandy. On the day after his arrival at Milf ord Haven, Richmond,
*< at the sunne rising, remooued to Hereford west " {Hoi. iii 753/ 1/33.
Halle, 410). While there he received a
[Hoi. iil 753/1/44. Halle, 410.] message from the inhabitants {^
message
the
of the towne of Penbroke, . . . that the Penbrochians were readie ^^f£^^
to serue and giue their attendance on their naturall and immediat ^
lord lasper earle of Penbroka
» Ha/rford-west] Q. Hertford West F.
' 6-15. At . . , wiihaU. I have taken theae lines in the order of the Qq.
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408 XIL KIGHARB m.
Advancing farther, Bicbmond
[Rol, iiL 753/2/10. Halle, 411.] was b; his espials ascerteined,
[Sir Walter that sif Walter Herbert, and Rice ap Thomas were in hamesse
Herbert and
Riceap before him; readie to incounter with his armie, and to stop their
Thomas in ' ' ^
gj^^j passage. Wherefore, like a valiant capteine, he first determined to
set on them, and either to destroie or to take them mto his &uoar ;
and after, with all his power and puissance, to giue battell to his
$€na€th9eer«t mortall enimie king Richard But, to the intent his fireends should
wordtohit
jgJJ«^ know in what readinesse he was, and how he proceeded forward,
^27^/^ be sent of his most secret and faithfiill seruants with letters and
^^tT^ instructions to the ladie Margaret his mother, to the lord Stanleie
^!^Sid} and his brother [Sir William Stanley], to sir Gilbert Talbot, and to
etntftrmet. othcr his trustic freends ; declaring to them that he, being succoured
and holpen with the aid and reliefe of his freends, intended to
passe ouer the riuer of Seueme at Shrewesburie, and so to passe
directlie to the citie of London.
Wherefore he required them, (as his speciall trust and con-
fidence was fixed in the hope of their fidelitie,) that they would
meet him by the waie with all diligent preparation ; to the intent
that he and they, at time and place conuenient, might communicate
togither the deepnesse of all his doubtfdll and weightie businesse.
When the messengers were dispatched with these commandements
and admonitions, he marched forward towards Shrewesburie : and,
^^^ in his passing, there met and saluted him Rice ap Thomas,
^^^2^ with a goodlie band of Welshmen ; which, making an oth and
{S^^uu promise to the earle, submitted himselfe wholie to his order and
commandement
earUqf
In the evening of the day on which Richmond encamped near
Newport,
[Hoi. iiL 763/2/59. Eaile, 411.] came to him sfar Gilbert
Talbot, with the whole power of the yoong earle of Shrewesburie,
then being in ward ; which were accounted to the number of two
thousand men. And thu% his power increasing, he arriued at the
jttbT"^ towne of Stafibrd, and there paused.
Tttibotand There also came sir William Stanleie accompanied with a few
Sir William *^
Stanley.! perSOUS.
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Xn. RICHARD m. 409
In 1484,1
[Hoi. iil 749/i/i^ RcUle, 405.] lohn Vere, earle of Oxford, f^^^j,^
which (as you haue heard before) was by king Edward kept in g^S^^^
prison within the castell of Hammes, so persuaded lames Blunt, SiHc^
capteine of the same fortresse, and sir lohn Fortescue, porter of SsiiwriSng
0116—] OO to
the towne of Calis, that he himselfe was not onelie dismissed and ^]f^^
set at libertie, but they also, abandoning and leaning their fruitfull
offices, did condescend to go with him into France to the earle of
lUchmond, and to take his part
The historic date of this scene must be August, 1485, but Stanley
gives Urswick a message relating to a matter which had been settled in
1483 (p. 399 above) :
Retoume vnto thy Lord ; commend me to him :
Tell him, the Queene hath hartelie consented
He shall espouse Elizabeth her daughter. — ^11. 16-18. (Qi).
When the marriage between Eichmond and the Princess Elizaheth
had been arranged,
[Hoi. iii 742/1/58. Haile, 392.] the countesse of Richmond
tooke into hir seruice Christopher Urswike, an honest and wise Tkeetmntem
priest, aud (after an oth of him for to be secret taken and swome) %t€reAi^
she vttered to him all hir mind and counsell ; adhibiting to him the ^I^Sm^
more confidence and truth, that he all his life had fauoured and J!S!T&
taken part with king Henrie the sixt, and as a speciall iewell put '^^'^
to hir seruice by sir Lewes hir physician. So the mother, studious
for the prosperitie of hir son, appointed this Christopher Urswike
to saile into Britaine to the earle of Richmond, and to declare and
reueale to him all pacts and agreements betweene hir & the queene
agreed and concluded
Act V. sc. i. — ^When sc. iv., Act IV., closed, Richard was setting
out toward Salisbury, whither he commanded that Buckingham should
be brought. Buckingham now enters on his way to execution. He
asks the sheriff (L 1) :
* Oxford probably joined Richmond in October, 1484. We learn from the
minutes of Obarles YllL's Council, sitting at Montargis, that Richmond bad
left Brittany before October 11, 1484— /SKwicm du (hnseU de OharUi VIIL,
128. The Clouncil remained at Montargis until October 26, 1484. — Ibid., 142.
According to Fcilyd. Verg. (566/13), Richmond, after escaping from Brittany,
went to Angers and thence to Montargis, where Oxford, J^unt, and Fortescue
came to him.
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arrtiffmitor
410 XIL EIOHAIO) m.
Will not King Bichard let me speake with him t
Sher, No, my good Lord ; therefore be patient.
Assured, in answer to his enquiry, that it is All Souls' Day, the
Duke says (L 12) :
Why, then Al-60ules day is my bodies doomsday.
Buckingham,
^i^^ [Sol iii 744/2/13. EaUe, 395.] ypon All soules dale, without
arreigment or iudgement, . . . was at Salisburie, in the open
market place, on a new scaffold, beheaded and put to deatL
, oh All
tools* Day). Act Y. sc. ii — ^Richmond and his adherents enter. One of the
stages of his march was "the towne of Tamworth" {ffol, iiL 754/2/32.
ffdUle, 413) ; and scene ii. is laid in or near that place (1. 13). Blunt
depreciates Richard's strength (11. 20, 21) :
He hath no friends but what are friends for f ear.
Which in his deerest neede will flye from him.
Holinshed copied Halle's mention (413) of some who joined Rich-
mond during the march between Lichfield and Tamworth ; but altered
the sense of the next passage.^ I quote this latter passage as it stands
in Holinshed :
[Sol. iii 754/2/42. JSalle, 413.] Diuerse other noble person-
m^who ages, which inwardlie hated king Richard woorse than a tode or
Richud a serpent^ did likewise resort to him with all their power and
came to blia
ttj^ngh strength, wishing and working his destruction; who otherwise
would haue beene the instrument of their casting away.
On the day of battle,
[Eol. iii 757/1/26. ffcdle, 416.] such as were present (more
for dread than loue) kissed them openlie, whome they inwardlie
[TraJtonin hated. Other sware outwardlie to take part with such whose
Richard's -^
•™y'l death they secretlie compassed, and inwardlie imagined. Other
promised to inuade the kings enimies, which fled and fought with
fierce courage against the king. Other stood still and looked on,
intending to take part with the victors and ouercommers.
Act y. sc. iii. — Richard enters with his partisans, and says (L 1) :
Here pitch our tentes,^ euen here in Bosworth field.
On August 21, 1485,8
1 "Diuerse . . . strength" is HaUe'a translation of Folyd, Verg. (561 /45,
46). Hoi., not perceiviog that " him '^ refers to Richmond, added the words
" wiehine . . . away. • tenUs] Q. Tent P.
* I take the date from Oont. Oroyl.f 573.
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Xn. BICHARD m. 411
[Eol. iii. 755/1/36. Eaile, 413.] king Richard, which was
appointed now to finish his last labor by the very diuine iustice &
prouidence of God, (which called him to condigne punishment for
his mischiefous deserts,) marched to a place meet for two battels to
incomiter, by a village called Bosworth, not farre from Leicester '- ^JSSSed
and there he pitched his field on a hill called Anne Beame, Boinrorth.]
refreshed his souldiers, and tooke his rest
Norfolk is among those who are in attendance. Richard asks (L 9) :
Who hath descried the number of the Traitors !
I^or, Six or seuen thousand is their ytmost power.
JRich. Why, our Battalia ^ trebbles that account : . • •
When the two armies were drawn up for action, Richmond's
[HoL iii 755/2/57. SaUe, 414] whole number exceeded not [Biohmond
fine thousand men, beside the power of the Stanleies, wherof three ?iS^b^
thousand were in the field, vnder the standard of sur William t£f^oto
0110,1
Stanleie. The kings number was double so much and more.
Richard returns from surveying " the vantage of the ground " (Y.
iii. 15), and takes up his quarters in the royal tent. He gives some
orders ; one being (1 64) :
Saddle white Surrey for the Eield to morrow.
On or about August 19, 1485,'
[Eol. iii 754/2/20. EaUe, 412.] he, (inuironed with his gard,)
with a frowning countenance and cruell visage, mounted on a great ^f^^'
white courser, . . • entered the towne of Leicester after the sunne ^"""^-^
set> . . .
Richard then demands of RatclifEe (1. 68) :
^ battalion Q.
* After Richmond's arriyal at Lichfield, Richard left Nottingham for
Leicester.— Po/yd. Vefy., 66I/1 1-39. The King proposed leaving Nottingham
on August 16 (Pattonj iii. 320) ; but a messenger— who was at York on
August 19 — found Richard at Bestwood (York Records, 216). Bestwood is
four miles north of Nottingham. — BaHholomeu}. This messenger might have
ridden as swiftly as one who seems to have been at Bosworth neld on August
22, and, on the following day, brought news of the battle to York. — York
BecordSy 218. Such a feat was surpassed by Bernard Calvert, who, on July
17, 1619, rode— with relays of horses— 140 miles in 9 hours.— StoVs ArmaleSf
ed. 1631, p. 1032, coL 2. In Richard's reign messengers could, within two
days, ride post for 200 miles. — Cont, OroyL, 571. The distance between
Nottingham and Leicester is twenty-two miles in a straight line. Riduurd, as
we have seen, departed from Leicester on August 21. (In regard to Mr.
Dayies*s conjecture, York Becords, 216, note^ that for BestwcK)d we should read
Prestwould, see Mr. Qairdnefs Bkhard III,, p. 294, note.)
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412 Xn. RICHARD nL
SaVst tHou the melancbolly Lord Northumberland t
Eat, Thomas the Earle of Surrey, and himself e,
Much about Gockshut time, from Troope to Troope
Went through the Army, chearing vp the Souldiers.
Here Malone quoted the following passage, prefacing it with the
explanation that "Bichard calls him [Northumberland] melancholy^
because he did not join heartily in his cause." — Var, Sh,t adz. 213.
Among those who submitted to Richmond after the battle
[Hoi. ill 759/2/43. Halle, 419.] was Henrie the fourth earle
of Northumberland, which (whether it was by the commandement
of king Richard, putting diffidence in him ; or he did it for the
I2ri!^d^k loue and fauour that he bare vnto the earle) stood still with a
tbBtwttie.] great companie, and intermitted not in the battell, . . •
It is now '^ darke night " (L 80). Richmond is in his tent, which
has been pitched at the other side of the field. He is secretly visited
by Stanley, who promises, " in this doubtf ull shocke of Armes," such
aid as may not endanger George Stanley (IL 91-96). Stanley then says
(11.97-100):
Farewell ! the leysure and the f earf ull time
Cuts ofE the ceremonious Vowes of Loue,
And ample enterchange of sweet Discourse,
Which so long sundred Friends should dwell vpon ;
and goes out with the lords who have the charge of conducting him to
his ** Regiment." Richmond, left alone, prays and sleeps (IL 108-117).
On or about August 20, 1485,^ in the daytime, Richmond went
Thtiord [Hol iiL 755/1/17. Halle, 413.] to the towne of Aderston,
SS*^*** where the lord Stanleie and sir William his brother with their
oci^Tm^ bands were abiding. There the erle came first to his father in
wM¥iL law, in a litle close, where he saluted him, and sir William his
brother: and after diuerse and freendlie imbracings, each reioised
of the state of other, and suddenlie were surprised with great ioy,
comfort, and hope of fortunate successe in all their afikires and
dooings. Afterward they consulted togither how to giue battell to
king Richard if he would abide, whome they knew not to be farre
oflf with an huge host . . .
[Hol iii. 755/2/22. Halle, 414.] After that the earle of
Richmond was departed from the communication of his freenda
(as you haue heard before) he began to be of a better stomach,
* Folyd, Verg.j 662/i6, 24, 42.
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xn. BiCHAKD in. 413
and of a more yaliant courage, and with all diligence pitched his [J^^^
field iust by the campe of his enimies, and there he lodged that ^^^ .
night
Richard and Bichmond sleep, each in his tent. Their dreams bring
before them Prince Edward, Henry VI., Clarence, Rivers, Grey, and
Yaughan, Hastings, the young Princes, Anne, and Buckingham, who —
visible and audible to those present at the play— ^nter successively the
space between the armies. While promising victory to Bichmond, the
ghosts bid their murderer despair and dia When Buckingham
vanishes, *' Bichard starts out of his dreame " (1. 176).
Bichard encamped near the village of Bosworth on August 21,
1485 (p. 410 above).
[Hoi. iii 755/1/45. Halle, 414.] The fame went, that he had ^«^
the same night a dreadfull and terrible dreame : for it seemed to 1^%^
him being asleepe, that he did see diuerse images like terrible ^juf^T
diuels, which pulled and haled him, not suffering him to take anie
quiet or rest The which strange vision not so suddenlie strake
his heart with a sudden feare, but it stuffed his head and troubled
his mind with manie busie and dreadfull imaginations. For incon*
tinent after, his heart bemg almost damped, he prognosticated
before the doubtfull chance of the battell to come ; not vsing the
cUacritie and mirth of mind ^ and countenance as he toas accustomed
to doo before he came toward the battelL And least that it might [Biohtid
^ was delected
be suspected that he was abashed for feare of his enimies, and for ^J^j
that cause looked so pitiouslie; he recited and declared to his
familiar freends in the morning his wonderfuU vision and fearefiill
dreame.
The night is past. ** Enter the Lords to Bichmond, sitting in his
Tent " (1. 222). He asks (1. 234) :
How f arre into the Morning is it. Lords t
Lor, Ypon the stroke of f oure.
jRich. Why, then 'tis time to Arme, and giue direction.
Bichmond's procedure before the battle is thus described :
[Hoi. m. 755/2/27. HcUle, 414.1 In the morning betimes, he [Biohmondf
soldiert
caused his men to put on their armour, and apparell themselues JJ^^j^
readie to fight and giue battell ; . . . betimw.)
1 Before he sleeps Richard says (V. iH 7S, 74) :
^ I hane noi that Alacrity of Spirit,
Nor cheere of Minde that I vxu wont to haue.''
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414 xn. BicHARD m.
« His Oration to Ina Sonldiers " ensues (11. 237-270) :
God, and onr good ccMse, Jight vpon onr side ; . . • 240
Eichard except, those whom we fight against 243
Had rather haue vs win then him thej follow :
For what is he they follow 1 Truly, GentlemeUi
A bloudy Tyrant and a Homicide ; • . .
One that made meanes to come by what he hath, 248
And slaughtered those that were the meanes to help him ; . . .
K you do stoeate ^ to put a Tyrant downe, 255
You sleepe in peace, the Tyrant being slaine ;
If you do fight against your Countries Foes,
Your Countries Fat shall pay your painea the hyre ; . . •
Then, in the name of God and all these rights, 263
Adtumce your SUmdarda, draw your willing Swords!
For me, the ransome of my bold attempt
Shall be this cold Corpes on the earth's cold face ; • • •
God and Saint George I Bichmond and Victory ! 270
I give excerpts from " The oration of king Henrie the Seauenth to
his armie," ^ for comparison with V. iiL 240-270 :
[Hoi iii. 757/2/14. Halle, 416.] I doubt not, but God will
rather aid ys (yea and fight for yb) than see yb Yanquished and
ouerthrowne by such as neither feare him nor his laws, nor yet
regard iustice or honestie.
TKiearia Our cause is 80 iust, that no enterprise can be of more Yortue,
alright, A both by the lawes diuine & ciuilL For what can be a more honest,
^^•/ goodlie, or godlie quarrell, than to fight against a capteine, being
««<»«^ an homicide and murtherer of his owne bloud or progenie, an
extreame destroier of his nobilitie, and to his and our countrie and
the poore subiects of the same a deadlie mallet, a firie brand, and
a burthen intoUerable ? . . .
\Hol. iii 757/2/49. Halle, 417.] Beside this, I assure you,
[Riohaid that there be yonder in the great battel!, men brought thither for
M^idien.] feare, and not for loue ; souldiers by force compelled, and not with
good will assembled ; persons which desire raiher the destruction
than saluation of their maister and capteine : . . .
rw^ [Hoi iii 758/i/7. Haile, 417.] What mercie is in him that
friend*. J sleieth his trustie freends as well as his extreame enimies? . . .
[Hoi iii 758/i/S9. Halle, 417.] Therefore labour for your
gaine, & sweat for your right. While we were in Britaine, we had
^ W)eate\ Q. mjoeare F. * The . . . armie,] HoL om. Halle.
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Xn. RICHARD IIL 415
small liuings and little plentie of wealth or welfare, now is the rrheraward
time come to get aboundance of riches, and copio of profit ; which
is the reward of your seruice, and merit of your paines. . . .
[Hoi. iii. 758/2/23. Salle, 418.] And this one thing I assure [Riciimond
you, that in so iust and good a cause, and so notable a quarrell, ^EtiX
you shall find me this dale rather a dead carrion rpon the cold
ground, than a free prisoner on a carpet in a ladies chamber. • . .
[Eol. iii 758/2/50. Ealle, 418.] And therefore, in the name of ^J^^ ,,
Ood and 8. George, let euerie man couragiouslie advance foorth bis
standard/
In the opposite camp Norfolk enters exclaiming (1. 288) :
Arme, arme, my Lord ! the foe vaunts in the field !
Bichard thereupon declares how the royal troops are to be marshalled
(11. 291-300) :
I will leade forth my Soldiers to the plaine,
And thus my Battell shal be ordered : 292
My Foreward shall be drawne out all-in length.
Consisting equally of Horse and Foot ;
Our Archers shall be placed in the mid'st :
lohn Duke of Norfolke, Thomas Earle of Surrey, 296
Shall haue the leading of the Foot and Horse.
They thus directed, we will follow
In the maine Battell, whose puissance on either side
Shall be well-winged with our cheefest Horse. 300
On August 22, 1485,
[HoL iii 755/2/7. Halle, 414] king Richard, bemg furnished xin^
with men & all ablejnents of warre, bringing all his men out of ^ng«*^aii
' ^ ° hit men into
their campe into the plaine, ordered his fore-ward in a maruellous ^i^**^^
length, in which he appointed both horsmen and footmen, to the
intent to imprint, in the hearts of them that looked a farre off, a
sudden terror and deadlie feare, for the great multitude of the
armed souldiers : and in the fore-front he placed the archers like a
strong fortified trench or bulworke. Oner this battell was capteine,
lohn duke of Norflfolke, with whome was Thomas earle of Surrie, ^i^<^
his Sonne. After this long vant^rd, followed king Richard him- ^%^
selfe with a strong companie of chosen and approued men of warre, ^^"^"^
hauing horssemen for wings on both sides of his battelL
1 oit^ oW] Qi. The rest omit
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416
Xn. BIOHARD ni.
rNorfolk
warned bj ft
rime to
refhdn from
the field.]
BickanL
[NorfolTe
fldelity to
Rlehard.]
[Rieliftrd
diipanged
Richmond's
follower!.]
Norfolk shows the King a paper, saying (L 303) :
This found I on my Tent this Morning.
The paper contains the ensuing couplet (IL 304, 305) :
lockey qf NcrfoQce^ he not too hold^^
For Dickon thy maister is bought and $cld.
From Halle (419) Holinshed copied a story that Norfolk
{Eol, iii 759/2/3.] was warned by diuerse to refrain from the
field, in so much that the night before he should set forward
toward the king, one wrote this rime ypon his gate :
lacke of ITorffolke he not too hold,
For *Dikon thy maister is bought and sold.
Tet all this notwithstanding, he regarded more his oih, his
honor, and promise made to king Richard, like a gentleman ; and,
as a faithfull subiect to his prince, absented not himselfe from his
maister ; but as ho faithfiillie liued vnder him, so he manfullie died
with him, to his great fame and laud.
Soon Richard's " Oration to his army " * is delivered, From this
speech (11. 314-341) I give the following extracts :
Remember whom you are to cope withall ; 315
A sort of Vagabonds, Rascals, and Ru/nrowayes^
A scum of I^ittaines, and base Lackey Pezants, • • •
You hauing Lands, and blest with beauteous wiues^ 321
They would restraine the one, distaine the other.
And who doth leade them but a paltry Fellow, 323
Long kept i/n BritavM at our Mothers cost ?
A MUke-sop, . . .
If we be conquered, let men conquer vs, 332
And not these bastard Briiames ; whom owr Fathers
Haue, in their owne Land, beaten, bobb'd, and thump'd,
And, on Record, left them the heires of shame.
''The oration of king Richard the third to the chief teins of his
armie " contains the subjoined passages, which should be compared with
the lines quoted above :
[Hoi. iii 756/1/60. Halle, 415.] Ye see ... , how a compimie
of traitors, theeues, outlawes, and runnagates of our owne nation,
be aiders and partakers of his [Richmond's] feat and enterprise,
readie at hand to ouercome and oppresse vs.
You see also, what a number of beggerlie Briia/ns and faint-
1 to6\ Capell. to Qq. 6-8. so Qq. 1-5 Ft
■ His . . . armyil Q. om. F.
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xn. BiOHARD m. 417
hearted Frenchmen be with him arriued to destroie vs, our miies
and children. . . .
[ffol. iii. 756/2/17. JScUle, 415.1 And to begin with the erle TheK,wnM
pinuadikii
of Richmond, capteine of this rebellion, he is a Welsh milkesop, a ^|^^'
man of small courage, and of lesse experience in martiall acts and ^^Jj^^
feats of warre ; brought vp by my moothers ^ meanes, and mine,
like a captiue in a close cage, vi the court of Francis duke of
BrUaine; . • •
[Hoi iii. 756/2/43. Halle, 415.1 And as for the Frenchmen Frmu^nun
and Britans, their valiantnesse is such, that our noble progenitors, j;^^*^
and your yaliant parents * haue them oftener yanquished and oner- ««'*^
come in one moneth, than they in the b^inning imagined possible
to compasse and finish in a whole yeare.
Almost immediately after Norfolk's last entrance, Bichard sent for
Stanley's contingent (1. 290). The King demands of a messenger who
now enters (1. 341) :
What sayes Lord Stanley? will he bring his power 1
Mes, My Lord, he doth deny to come.
Kwiff, Off with his sonne Georges head ! 344
Nor. My Lord, the Enemy is past the Marsh:
After the battaile let George Stimley dye.
Halle, Holinshed's authority, says :
[Hoi. iii 76O/1/59. Halle, 420.] When king Richard was come
to Bosworth, he sent a purseuant to the lord Stanleie, commanding
him to aduance forward with his companie, and to come to his
presence ; which thing if he refused to doo, he sware, by Christes
passion, that he would strike off his sonnes head before he dined.
The lord Stanleie answered the purseuant that, if the king did so,
he had more sonnes aliue ; and, as to come to him, he was not then I^JSmm
so determined. When kmg Richard heard this answer, he com- ick.
Siehcurds
manded the lord Strange incontinent to be beheaded : which was imm»«»«»»^-
at that verie same season, when both the armies had sight ech of 5^1^!^
other. But the councellors of king Richard pondered the time a^m
and cause, (knowing also the lord Strange to bo innocent of his ezeontira
fathers offense,) & persuaded the king that it was now time to fight, t>fttt]e.]
& no time to execute.
1 mootherBlRoL (ed. 2). hrolihen Halle. Hoi. (ed. 1).
• parenU] HoL ed. 1. parts Hoi. ed. 2.
EB
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418 xn. RICHARD m.
Besides that, they aduised him to keepe the lord Strange as
prisoner till the battell were ended, and then at leisure his pleasure
might be accomplished. So (as God would) king Richard brake
his holie oth, and the lord was deliuered to the keepers of the
kings tents, to be kept as prisoner.
Bichard attacked as soon as Bichmond's right flank was no longer
protected hj the marsh of which Norfolk speaks.
^BteT* [^^^- "^ 768/2/6$. Halle, 418.] Betweene both armies there
mondjt right ^^ ^ ^^^ marish then (but at this present, by reason of diches
cast, it is growne to be firme ground) ^ which the earle of Richmond
left on his right hand ; for this intent, that it should be on that
Stwu!*^ side a defense for his part, and in so dooing he had the sunne at
his backe, and in the faces of his enimies. When king Richard
[Blohmond ' . .
™^ttuw saw the carles companie was passed the marish, he did command
gj^j*^ with all hast to set vpon them.
Accepting Norfolk's counsel Richard cries (11. 348-350) :
Aduance our Standards, set vpon our Foes ;
Our Ancient word of Courage, faire S, Oeorge^
Inspire vs with the spleene of fiery Dragons !
Compare some closing words in the speech attributed by Halle to
Bichard, from which I have given excerpts above (pp. 416, 417).
[ffoL iii. 757/1/16. Halle, 416.] Now saini George to borow,
let vs set forward, . . .
Act Y. sc. iv. — ^Fortune has turned against Bichard, and, when the
King enters calling for a horse, Catesby answers (1. 8) :
"Withdraw, my Lord ; He helpe you to a Horse.
Etch. Slaue, I haue set my life vpon a cast,
Ajid I will stand the hazard of the Dye 1
Bichard might have fled, for
[Hoi. iiL 759/2/73. Halle, 419.] when the losse of the battell
FA swiA was imminent and apparant, they brought to him a [p. 760] swift and
grmuht to a ught horsse, to conueie him awaie. He which was not ignorant of
the grudge and ill will that the common people bare toward him,
casting awaie all hope of fortunate successe and happie chance to
come, answered (as men sale) that on that dale he would make an
^ereftased ^^^ ^f ^^ battels. Or clsc there finish his life.
Act Y. sc. V. — In Y. iv. 1-6, Catesby appealed to Norfolk for rescue :
* then . • . ground} Not in PolycL Verg,, 663/19.
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XII. RICHARD in. 419
Besoue, my Lord of Norfolk, rescue, rescue !
The King enacts more wonders then a man.
Daring an opposite to euerj danger :
His horse is slaine, and all on foot he fights, 4
Seeking for Bichmond in the throat of death.
Rescue, faire Lord, or else the day is lost !
The entry of scene v. (F.) runs thus : " Alarum. Enter Kichard and
Richmond ; they fight. Richard is slaine." While the vanguards of
the two armies were hotly engaged,
[Hoi, iil 759/1/26. Halle, 418.] king Richard was admonished
by his explorators and espials, that the earle of Richmond (accom-
panied with a small number of men of armes) was not far off.
And, as he approched and marched toward him, he perfectlie knew
his personage by certeine demonstrations and tokens, which he
had learned and knowen of others that were able to giue him full
information. Now, being inflamed with ire, and vexed with out- ^, ^ _,
[Ricoarann
ragious malice, he put his spurres to his horsse, and rode out of h?S5**"
the side of the range of his battel!, leaning the vant-gard fighting ; Bie£^d.]
and like a hungrie lion ran with speare in rest toward him. The
earle of Richmond perceiued well the king furiouslie comming SaSSiti^
toward him, and, bicause the whole hope of his wealth and purpose ^InSmnter^
was to be determined by battell, he gladlie proffered to incoonter J^*®
with him bodie to bodie, and man to man.
King Richard set on so sharplie at the first brunt, that he
ouerthrew the earles standard, and slue sir William Brandon ^ his §JJ!S?*~
standard-bearer, (which was father to sur Charles Brandon, by king •'****^
Henrie the eight created duke of Suffolke,) and matched hand to
hand with sir lohn Cheinie, a man of great force and strength,
which would haue resisted him : but the said John was by him ^, ^ ^
manfullie ouerthrowen. And so, he making open passage by dint ^^.i^at
of sword as he went forward, the earle of Richmond withstood his ^toT^^
violence, and kept him at the swords point, without aduantage, ha?et«ra
longer than his companions either thought or iudged : which, being [Biehmond't
almost in despaire of victorie, were suddenlie recomforted by sur fo^'bysir
1 WflliMtt
Staaley.l
1 Sir William Brandon was not slain at Bosworth. Fdyd^ Verg, (663/38)
merely eays that Richard overthrew hoth standard and standard-beiurer. A
petition presented by Brandon in the first Parliament of Henry VII. (November,
1485) shows that fear of Richard obliged him to keep sanctuary at Gloucester
from Michaelmas 1484 "unto youre comeing into this Reame, Soveralne
Lord''— Uot. FaH., vi 291/2.'
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420 XU. BIGHABD UL
William Stanleie, which came to his succors with three thousand
^i£j^ tall men. At which verie instant, king Richards men were driuen
puehard backc and fled, & he himselfe, manfullie fighting in the middle of
his enimies, was slaine ; and (as he worthilie had deserued) came to
a bloudie death, as he had lead a bloudie life.
A " Betreat and Flourish " precede the re-entry of Bichmond, who
went out after slaying Bichard. Stanley follows ''bearing the
Crowne," which he offers to Bichmond (11. 4-7) :
Loe, heere, this long vsurped roialtie,^
From the dead Temples of this bloudy Wretch
Haue I pluck'd off, to grace thy Browes withall :
Weare it, enioy it,* and make much of it I
Bichmond's extemporaneous coronation was the last event of the
day. At the close of his second speech to his army (see next page),
[Hd. iil 760/1/42. HcUle, 420.] the people reioised, and clapped
their hands, crieng yp to heauen, '' King Henrie, king Henrie 1 "
When the lord Stanleie saw the good will and gladnesse of the
people, he tooke the crowne of king Richard, (which was found
Thehrd amongst the spoile in the field,) and set it on the earles head; as
MMAf* though he had beene elected king by the Yoice of the people, as in
i^Henritt anciout timos past in diuerse realmes it hath beene accustomed ; . . .
After his coronation Bichmond asks (1. 9) :
But, tell me, is yong George Stanley liuing !
Der, [Stan.] He is, my Lord, and safe in Leicester Towne ;
Whither, if it please you, we may now withdraw vs.*
George Stanley, Lord Strange, was, as we have seen (p. 418 above),
** deliuered to the keepers of the kings tents, to be kept as prisoner."
[ffol iil 760/2/6. Ralle, 420.] Which, when the field was
doone, and their maister slaine, and proclamation made to know
p^,^^^^!^^^ where the child was, they submitted themselues as prisoners to the
M^i^^m ^^^^ Strange, and he gentlie receiued them, and brought them to
hrdBirunffi. ^j^^ ^^^ proclamod king ; where, of him and of his father, he was
receiued with great ioy. After this the whole campe remooued
jHenry ^th bag and baggage.
Ldoerter on The samo night, in the euenmg, king Henrie with great pompe
the erening , r r •
after the camo to the towne of Leicester ; . . •
beiUe.] [
* this . . . roialtie] Q. ihese . . . Boyalties F.
* enioy it]Q. i, 2. The rest omit.
^ if it please you toe twoy now wUhdraw vs"] Q. {if you please) toe may
wOihdrawvs F.
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xn. BiCHAED m. 421
To Richmond's enquiry (1. 12),
What men of name are %laine on either aide f [see sidenote to 759/2/i].
Stanley replies :
lohn Duke of Norfolke, Walter Lord Ferrers,^
Sir Robert Brakenbury,^ and Sir William Brandon.^
Halle (419) and Holinshed record that
[Hoi. iii 769/2/1.] of the nobilitie were slaine John duke of SS^^au
NorflFolke, ... ^^
' ^ What
There were slaine beside him, Walter lord Ferrers of Chartleie, JJ2m1«C
sir Richard RadcliflFe, and Robert Brakenberie, lieutenant of the «!!?***
Tower, .and not manie gentleman more. tide.
The play ends with a speech of Richmond, which represents in a
measure his address to his soldiers before Stanley placed the crown on
his head (p. 420 above). 1 quote two excerpts partly illustrating the
commencement of the dramatic oration (11. 15-17) :
Interre their Bodies as become their Births :
Proclaime a pardon to the Soldiers fled,
That in submission will retume to vs : • • •
The victory won, Richmond
[Hoi. iii. 760/I/3S. Halle, 420.] ascended vp to the top of a
little mounteine, where he not onelie praised and lauded his valiant ^SlS wJ
souldiers, but also gaue vnto them his hartie thanks, with promise ^^!^m
of condigne recompense for their fidelitie and valiant facts ; willing ^^^d
and commanding all the hurt and wounded persons to be cured, toieDoi-
and the dead carcasses to be deliuered to the sepulture.
[Hoi. iii. 759/2/32. Halle, 419.] Of captiues and prisoners
there were a great number. For, after the death of king Richard
was knowne and published, euerie man, in manner vnarming him-
selfe, & casting awaie his abilinients of warre, meekelie submitted
themselues to the obeisance and rule of the earle of Richmond : of [After their
the which the more part had gladlie so doone in the beginning, if death
they might haue conuenientlie escaped from king Richards espials, J^bSSttedto
which, hauing as cleere eies as Lynx, and open eares as Midas, *"«*»°»<»^J
ranged & searched in euerie quarter.*
1 Ferrers] Capell. Fenia Qa. Ft
* BrackerHmry] F4. Brokmbwry Qq. 3—8. Ff. 1—3.
* Brandon was not slain. See p. 419, n. 1, above.
* In V. iii 221, 222, Richard goes out with Ratcliffe ; saying,
" Vnder our Tents lie play the eaves-dropper [F4. Ease-dropper F.l
To beare if any meane to shrinke from me."
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422 Xn. BICHARD m.
Lastly I quote passages describing the characters and personal traits
of Edward lY., George Duke of Clarence, Richard IIL, and Eichmond.
Edward
^pjjgj^ [Sol. iii. 711/1/46. More, 2/17.] was a goodlie personage, and
thtjburth, princelie to behold, of heart couragious, politike in counsell, in
cbMBoter.] aduersitie nothing abashed, in prosperitie rather ioifull than proud,
in peace iust and mercifull, in warre sharpe and fierce, in the field
bold and bardie, and natheles no further (than wisdome would)
aduenturous ; whose warres who so well considered, he shall no
lesse commend his wisedome where he voided, than his manhood
Lpp!M«Aee.] ^^^^ t® vanquished. He was of visage louelie, of bodie mightie,
strong, and cleane made : howbeit, in his latter dales, with ouer
^SSta^^r^ liberall diet^^ somewhat corpulent and boorelie, and nathelesse
^P,^^^^ not vncomelie. He was of youth greatlie giuen to fleshlie
toJiSSr wantonnesse:^ . . .
otatveduH [Hol. Hi. 7l2/i/4i. MoTc, 5/9.] George duke of Clarence was
a goodlie noble prince, and at all times fortunate, if either his
owne ambition had not set him against his brother, or the enuie of
•kadnoitti his enimies * his brother against him.
[Hol. iii. 712/1/S9. More, 5/2$.] Richard, the third sonne, of
whome we now intreat, was in wit and courage equall with either
tiont^ of them, in bodie and prowesse farre vnder them both; litle of
<A<»L stature, ill featured of limmes, crooke backed, his left shoulder
appeamnce.) much higher than his right,' hard fauoured of visage,* and such as
is in states called warlie, in other men otherwise : he was malicious,
TOthftai, wrathfull, enuious, and from afore his birth euer froward. It is for
envious.] ^^^j^ reported, that the duchesse his mother had so much adoo in
hir trauell, that she could not be deliuered of him vncut ; and that
[Hff
PgrttentouB he came into the world with the feet forward, as men be borne
outward, and (as the fame runneth also) not vntoothed.*^ . . .
1 Cp. Rich. Ill, 1. i. 139-141.
* Op. 3 Hen. VI., II. L 41, 42 ; and the asides of Clarence and Richard in
3 Hen. VL, III. u.
« Cp. 3 Hen. VL, III. ii. 153-162 ; BicK, III., I. i 14-23.
* " Hardjcmcn'd Richard »* (3 Hen. VI., V. v. 78).
» Cp. 3 flew. VI., V. vi 49-64, 70-75 ; Bich. III., II. iv. 27-29 ; IV. iv.
162—168.
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xn. RicHAED m. 423
None euill capteine was he in the warre, as to which his dis- [Agood
gexienl.]
position was more meetly than for peace. Sundrie victories had
he, & sometimes ouerthrowes; but neuer on default as for his
owne person, either of hardinesse or politike order. Free was he [Lii^rMia
called of dispense, and somewhat aboue his power liberall : with *°^^
large gifts he gat him vnstedfast freendship^ for which he was
faine to pill and spoile in other places, and got him stedfast hatred.
He was close and secret, a deepe dissembler, lowlie of countenance, [a diMem-
arrogant of heart, outwardlie companiable where he inwardlie
hated, not letting to kisse whome he thought to kill : despitious [Ambition
made Um
and cruell, not for euill will alway, but ofter for ambition, and orueu
either for the suertie or increase of his estate.
Friend and fo was much what indifferent, where his aduantase [uidim.
*^ ■orapolouB.]
grew ; he spared no mans death whose life withstoode his purpose.
Holinshed also contains the subjoiDod description of Richard,
which was freely translated by Halle from Folydore Vergil (Angl,
Hist, 666/ s):
[ffol. iii. 760/2/52. Ralle, 421.] As he was small and little of tju daeHp-
stature, so was he of bodie greatlie deformed; the one shoulder itichard,^
higher than the other; his face was small, but his countenance L^^l^ce.]
cruell, and such, that at the first aspect a man would iudge it to
sauour and smell of malice, fraud, and deceit. When he stood Swtoffi?
musing, he would bite and chaw busilie his nether lip ; ^ as who mvSng.]
said, that his fierce nature in his cruell bodie alwaies chafed,
stirred, and was euer ynquiet : beside that, the dagger which he
ware, he would (when he studied) with his hand plucke yp &
downe in the sheath to the midst, neuer drawing it fuUie out : he
was of a readie, pregnant, and quicke wit, wilie to feine, and apt iCbaMcter.i
to dissemble : he had a proud mind, and an arrogant stomach, the
which accompanied him euento his death; rather choosing to suffer
the same by dint of sword, than, being forsaken and left helplesse rwouidnot
of his ynfaithfull companions, to preserue by cowardlie flight such byfught.]
a fraile and yncerteine life, which by malice, sicknesse, or condigne
punishment was like shortlie to come to confusion.
Richard's remorse for his nephews' murder is thus pictured :
1 Cp. Rich. IIL, IV. ii. 27. See p. 371 above.
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424 Xni. HENRY VIIL
[HoL iii 735/2/39. More, 85/19.] I haue heard by credible
JSSw^fOT '^P^rt ^f ^^^^ ^ ^®^® secret with his chamberleine, that, after this
ml^SST"^ abhominable deed doone, he neuer had a quiet mind. . . .
SSSSw? ^® neuer thought himselfe sure. Where he went abroad, his
^j;^^ eies whirled about, his bodie priuilie fensed,^ his hand euer vpon
^^^1^^ his dagger, his countenance and maner like one alwaies readie to
strike againe; he tooke ill rest a nights, laie long waking and
musing, sore wearied with care and watch, rather slumbered than
wrtiJ^^^" slept^ troubled with fearefull dreames^ suddenlie sometime start
°*^*^^ vp, lept out of his bed, and ran * about the chamber ; * . . .
Bichmond
Theperton [ffol. iii. 757/i/53. ffolle, 416.] was a man of no great
0/mhmond stature, but so formed and decorated with all gifts and lineaments
of nature, that he seemed more an angelicall creature, than a
terrestriall personage. His countenance and aspect was cheerefiill
and couragious, his haire yellow like the burnished gold, his eies
graie, shining, and quicke : prompt and readie in answering, but of
such sobrietie, that it could neuer be iudged whether he were more
dull than quicke in speaking (such was his temperance.)
XIII. HENRY VIII.
The meeting of Henry and Francis — June, 1520 ^ — ^is a recent event
when The Famous History of the Ufe qf King Henry the Eight opens.
The action is brought to an end on September 10, 1533, the day of
Elizabeth's christening ; ^ but Cramner's appearance before the Council
— July, 1544 — ^is dramatized in a preceding scene (Act Y. sc. iii.).
Act I. sc. i. — Enter Norfolk, Buckingham^ and Abergavenny.
Buckingham says (IL 4-7):
An vntimely Ague 4
Staid me a Prisoner in my Chamber when
Those Sunnes of Glory, those two Lights of Men,
Met in the vale qf Andren.
Nor, 'Twixt Guynes and Arde :
I was then present, saw them salute on Horsebacke ; 8
1 feneed] Rol (More), feinted Halle.
« ran] HoL (More), loked Halle.
» Cp. Rich. III., V. iii. 159, 160.
* June 7, 1520, was the date of their first meeting (floKe, 608) ; and they
took leave of each other on Jane 24 {HaUe^ 620). * HaUe, 805.
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XIII. HENRY vin. 425
Beheld them, when they lighted, how they clung
In their Embracement, as they grew together ; . • •
On June 7, 1520,
[Eol. iii. 858/i/33. Salle, 608.] the two kings met in the vale JJ^*^^
of Andren, accompanied with such a number of the nobilitie of Sj^j^^/"
both realmes, so richlie appointed in apparell, and costlie iewels, ^*^'*~-
as chaines, collars of S S, & other the like ornaments to set foorth
their degrees and estates, that a woonder it was to behold and
view them in their order and roomes, which euerie man kept
according to his appointment.
The two kings meeting in the field, either saluted other in
most louing wise, first on horssebacke, and after alighting on foot
efksoones imbraced with courteous words, to the great reioising of \^^^
the beholders : and, after they had thus saluted ech other, they «™^>«««^J
went both togither into a rich tent of cloath of gold, there set vp
for the purpose, in the which they passed the time in pleasant
[Th67
talke, banketting, and louing deuises, till it drew toward the departed,
Henry to
euening, and then departed for that night, the one to Guisnes, the ^^^'^
other to Ard. ^^i'
The historical Buckingham was not hia "Chambers Prisoner"
(1. 13) on June 17, 1520 ; for on that day, — after Francis had taken
leave of Queen Katharine and her ladies, —
[Hoi. iiL 86O/2/64. Halle, 616.] The lord cardinal!, in statelie gJ^^^^K-
attire, accompanied with the duke of Buckingham, and other great ^LSS*^ '
lords, conducted forward the French king, and in their way they
incountered and met the king of England and his companie right lu two
in the vallie of Andeme, apparelled in their masking apparell ; [in^T^
which gladded the French king. Andemei.
But Thomas Howard, second Duke of Norfolk, was in England ^
while Henry and Francis were displaying the magnificence which the
dramatic "Norfolk " saw and describes (11. 16-38).
Though Buckingham asks who arranged the pageantry, he is able,
on learning that Wolsey ordered all (11. 45-51), to give the following
proof of the Cardinal's absolute control therein (11. 72-80) :
Buc. Why the Diuell, 72
Ypon this French going out, tooke he vpon him
(Without the priuity o*th*King) t'appoint
1 Calendar {Hen, VIIL\ III. i. 873, 895.
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426 Xin. HENBY vnL
Who should attend on himf He makes vp the File
Of all the Gentry ; for the most part such 76
To whom as great a Charge, as little Honor
He meant to lay vpon : and his owne Letter
(The Honourable Boord of Councell out)
Must fetch him in the Papers.
I quote passages illustrating Buckingham's words, and noticing his
hatred of Wolsey :
f^^ywes [ffoL iii. 866/2/1. Polyd. Verg. 669/3.] The peeres of the
EltoTwim- realme (receiuing letters to prepare themselues to attend the king
kS^ ^ in this ioumie, and no apparant necessarie cause expressed, why
oQttL nor wherefore) seemed to grudge, that such a costlie ioumie
eanctioiL] should be taken in hand to their importunate charges and
expenses, without consent of the whole boord of the councelL
But namelie the duke of Buckingham (being a man of a lofiie
U^^- courage, but not most liberall) sore repined that he should be at
!^ve^.] BO great charges for his furniture foorth at this time, saieng : that
he knew not for what cause so much monie should be spent about
the sight of a vaine talke to be had, and communication to be
ministred of things of no importance. Wherefore he sticked not
to saie, that it was an intoUerable matter to obeie such a Tile and
importunate person.^
Qrtai liatnd The duko indeed could not abide the cardinal!, and speciallie
^Suivhi ^® ^*^ ^^ ^^ conceiued an inward malice against him for sir
Jj**«**'v- William Bulmer's cause, whose trouble was onelie procured by the
cardinall; who first caused him to be cast in prison.* Now
such greeuous words, as the duke thus vttered against him, came to
the cardinalls eare ; wherevpon he cast before hand all waies possible
to haue him in a trip, that be might cause him to leape headlesse.
In response to Norfolk's opinion that the peace is of little worth
(U. 87-89), Buckingham says (11. 89-94) :
Euery man,
After the hideous storme that followed, was
* HaUe merely says (600^ that the proiect of an interview ** was often
tymes hard and litle regarded, but yet by the meanes of the Cardinall at the
last, in the ende of February [1520] it was agreed that the kyng in person
should passe the sea to his castell and lordshyp of Guisnes, & there in Maie
next comming, betwene Quisnes and Arde, the kyng and the Frenche kyng
shoald mete."
* See p. 438, n. 1, below.
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XHL HENEY VIIL 427
A thing Inspired ; and, not consulting, broke
Into a generall iSrophesie : That this Tempest, 92
Dashing the Garment of this Peace, aboaded
The sodaine breach on't.
This supposed portent occurred about a week before the final leave-
taking of Henry and Francis.
[Eol. ill. 86O/2/74. Halle, 616.] On mondaie, the eighteenth ^^J^ftSI^
of lune, was such an hideous storme of wind and weather, that JJJlJ^c^^
manie coniectured it did prognosticate trouble and hatred shortlie **"**"**
after to follow betweene princes.
" Which," adds Norfolk, referring to the portent,
is budded out;
For France hath flawed the League, and hath attached
Our Merchants goods at Burdeux.
Abur, Is it therefore 96
Th' Ambassador is silenced )
Nor, Marry, is't.
The historic Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, was beheaded
on May 17, 1521 ; some ten months before the event here spoken of.
On March 6, 1522,
[ffoL iii. 872/2/47. Halle, 632.] the French king commanded ^J^;^
all Englishmens goods, being in Burdeaux, to be attached and put £2^^,^^^
vnder arrest, . . . [Halle, 633.] The Merchauntes of England, Sa^
that had factors at Burdeaux, complayned to the King of England,
and shewed hym how the Frertch king, contrary to his league and
his safeconduyte vnder hys seal, by hys people, had taken their
goodes, and emprisoned their factors and frendes, and can haue no
remedy.^
This outrage was met by retaliatory measures ; and the French
[Halle, 634.] Ambassador was commaunded to kepe his house [The French
, .-- - ftinlNundor
in silence,^ and not to come m presence till he was sent for, . . . taenced.]
Wolsey crosses the stage ; and, " in his passage, fixeth his eye on
Buckingham, and Buckingham on him, both full of disdaine ** (1. 114).
Fearing that the Cardinal is gone to Henry for some malicious purpose,
Buckingham is about to follow, but Norfolk detains the angry Duke,
who then asserts (IL 163-167) that Wolsey
1 The substance of this excerpt from Halle and the words *' league * and
« merchants" are in HolJ$ epitome (872/2/73) of HaUe 633, but not in one
> m aiUnce] Halle, om. HoL
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428 xm. HENRY vm.
Only to shew his pompe, as well in France
As here at home, suggests the King our Master 164
To this last costly Treaty, th'enteruiew,
That swallowed so much treasure, and like a glasse
Did breake i'th'wrenching.
Noff, Faith, and so it did.
Buck. Pray giue me fauour, ^r 1 This cunning Gardinall, 168
The Articles o'th'Combination drew
As himself e pleas'd ; • . *
According to Polydore Vergil (658/34), whom Holinshed translated,
Francis,
[ffol. iii. 853/ 1 /i I.] desirous to continue the friendship latelie
begun betwixt him and the king of England, made meanes vnto
the cardinall, that they might in some conuenient place come to
an interuiew togither, that he might haue further knowledge of
[Woisey*! king Henrie, and likewise king Henrie of him. But the fame
love of pomp , ,
made him ^eut that the cardiuall desired greatlie, of himselfe, that the two
desire to ° ' '
JJ^g^J*^* kings might meet ; who, mesuring by his will what was conuenient^
H^ry uid thought it should make much with his glorie, if in France also, at
'^*^*^^ some high assemblie of noble men, he should be scene in his vaine
ambiuoM pompe and shew of dignitie : hee therefore breaketh with the king
casrdinaii^ of that matter, declaring how honourable, necessarie, and con-
uenient it should be for him to gratifie his friend therein ; and thus
[He was ^^^^ ^^® pcrsuasions the K began to conceiue an earnest desire to
IS w5h^ see the French king, and therevpon appointed to go oner to Calis,
vn^} and so in the marches of Guisnes to meet with him.
It having been
ThiiOiou [Hoi. iii. 853/2/10. Halle, 601.] concluded, that the kings of
kS^So England and France should meet (as yee haue heard), then both
tot^^ the kings committed the order and manner of their meeting, and
how manie dales the same should continue, & what preheminence
each should giue to other, vnto the cardinall of Yorke, which, to
set all things in a certeintie, made an instrument,^ conteining an
order and direction concerning the premisses by him deuised and
appointed.
^ In the instrument Wolsey uses these words : ** we hane made, declared,
and ordeined certaine oHidea accepted & approoued by the same princes
respectiuelie,*' &C.—H0I. iii. 853/2/64. HaHe^ 601.
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Xni. HENRY VHL 429
After attributing the costly and useless interview to Wolsey's love
of ostentation, Buckingham makes a more serious charge (11. 176-190) :
Charles the Emperour, 176
Ynder pretence to see the Queene hie Aunt,
(For 'twas indeed his colour, but he came
To whisper Wolsey,) here makes visitation :
His feares were, that the Interview betwixt 180
England and France might, through their amity.
Breed him some preiudice ; for from this League
Peep'd harmes that menac'd him : he ^ priuily
Deales with our Cardinal ; and, as I troa, — 184
Which I doe well ; for, I am sure, the Emperour
Paid ere he promised; whereby his Suit was granted
Ere it was ask'd ; — but, when the way was made
And pau'd with gold, the Emperor thus desir'd : 188
That he would please to alter the Kings course,
And breake the foresaid peace. Let the King know
(As soone he shall by me) that thus the Cardinall
Does buy and sell his Honour as he pleases, 192
And for his owne aduantage.
On the Eve of Whit Sunday (May 26, 1520) Charles landed at
Dover, where, on the following day, Henry met him.
\Hol.m. 866/ 1 /SI. Halle, 604.] On Whitsundaie, earlie in The emperor
the morning, they tooke their horsses, and rode to the citie of ^^^J^
Canturburie, the more to keepe solemne the feast of Pentecost, Ji^'*'^
but speciallie to see the gueerie of England his aunt was the [ChariM
emperour his intent; of whome ye may be sure he was most I!^^^
ioifullie receiued and welcomed. . . . aunt]'
[Hal iiL 856/i/70. Polyd, Verg. 66O/4S.] The chiefe cause,
that mooued the emperour to come thus on land at this time, was
to persuade that by word of mouth, which he had before done
most eamestlie by letters ; which was, that the king should not
meet with the French king at anie interuiew : for he doubted least,
if the king of England & the French king should grow into some
great friendship and faithfull bond of amitie, it might tume him to
displeasure.
But, now that he perceiued how the king was forward on his lumpenr
ioumie, he did what he could to procure that no trust should be *i»«fer«*«
conmiitted to the faire words of the Frenchmen : and that, if it »»»««»^*^-
were possible, the great friendship, that was now in breeding
betwixt the two kings, might be dissolued. And, forsomuch as he
1 Ke\ F2. om. Fi.
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430
Xni. HBNRY vin.
[Wolser
insisted
that the
interview
shooldffo
forfrara, but
accepted
Chanea's
bribe to
dissolve the
friendship of
Henry and
Francis.]
Bdv. Hall
[Arrest of
Backing-
Hopkins,
Deiaoourt,
andPerke.]
Anno Xeg,
knew the lord cardinal! to be woone with rewards, as a fish witib a
bait, he bestowed on him great gifts, and promised him much
more ; so that hee would be his friend, and helpe to bring his
purpose to passe. The cardinal! (not able to susteine the least
assault by force of such rewards as he presentlie receiued, and of
such large promises as on the emperours behalfe were made to
him) promised to the emperour, that he would so Tse the matter,
as his purpose should be sped: onelie he required him not to
disalow the kings intent for interuiew to be had ; which he desired
in anie wise to go forward, that he might shew his high magnificence
in France, according to his first intention.
An officer named Brandon ^ now enters (1. 197), preceded by " a
Sergeant at Armes " and " two or three of the Guard." At Brandon's
bidding Buckingham and Abergavenny are arrested ; it being Henry's
pleasure that they shall both to the Tower (11. 198-214). Brandon also
(11. 217 — 221) shows a warrant from
The King, t'attach Lord Mountacute ; and the Bodies
Of the Dukes Ck>nfessor, lohn de la Car,
One Gilbert Pecke, his chancellor,* —
Buck. So, so ;
These are the limbs o'thTlot : no more, I hope. 220
Bra. A Monke o'th'Ghartreuz.
Buck. O ! Nicholas Hopkins ? *
Bra. Ha
Buckingham having been accused of treasonable designs
[ffol. iii. 863/i/2i.] was sent for vp to London, &, at his
comming thither, was streightwaies attached, and brought to the
Tower by sir Henrie Mameie, capteine of the gard, the sixteenth
of Aprill [, 1521]. There was also attached the . . . Chartreux
monke [, Nicholas Hopkins], maister lohn de la Car alias de la
Court, the dukes confessor, and sir Gilbert Perke, priest, the
dukes chancellor.
After the apprehension of the duke, inquisitions were taken in
diuerse shires of England of him; so that, by the knights and
^ Perhaps *' sir Thomas Brandon, master of the kings horsse," who appeared
in the royal train on the day before Henry VIII.^s coronation. — ffci. iii.
801/2/1. JBaffe, 608.
* dianceUar^ Pope, ed. 2 (Theobald). CounceUour F. It appears from
Buckingham's mdictment that the chancellor's name was Robert Qubert. By
Halle (623) he was named Qylbert Perke.
> J^ic/ioJat] Pope, ed. 2 (Theobald). MiehaeUF.
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Xni. HENRY VIII. 431
gentlemen, he was indicted of high treason, for certeine words riudukt^f
spoken ... by the same duke at Blechinglie, to the lord of *^^^^
Abnrgauennie ^ and therewith was the same lord attached for S^^ySSJ
concelement^ and so likewise was the lord Montacute, and both led ^S^SSiLd
to the Tower. towo
Act I. sc. ii. — Henry enters, *' leaning on the Oardinals shoulder/'
whom he thanks for detecting Buckingham's treason (11. 1-4). The
King wishes to hear in person the evidence which Buckingham's sur-
veyor has laid before Wolsey (11. 4-8); but at this moment Queen
Katharine enters, ushered by the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk. She
is a petitioner for Henry's subjects, who
Are in great grieuance : there haue beene Commissions 20
Sent downe among 'em, which hath flaw'd the heart
Of all their Loyalties : wherein, although,
My good Lord Gardinall, they vent reproches
Most bitterly on you, as putter on 24
Of these exactions, yet the King, our Maister,
Siose Honor Heauen shield from soile !) euen he escapes not
guage vnmannerly, yea, such which breakes
The sides of loyalty, and almost appeares 23
In lowd Bebellion.
Nor/. Not ** almost appeares,"
It doth appeare ; for, vpon these Taxations,
The Clothiers all, not able to maintaine
The many to them longing, haue put off 32
The Spinsters, Carders, Fullers, Weauers, who,
Vnfit for other life, compeld by hunger
And lack of other meanes, in desperate manner
Daring th'euent to th'teeth, are all in vprore, 86
And danger serues among them.
Besuming her petition Queen Katharine explains (11. 56-60) that
The Subiects griefe 56
Comes through Commissions, which compels from each
The sixt part of his Substance, to be leuied
Without delay ; and the pretence for this
Is nam'd, your warres in France : . . .
Previous to her entry historic time has not reached the date of
Buckingham's trial (May 13, 1521),^ but as soon as she begins to speak
we are transported to the historic year 1525,^ when Henry,
[Hoi. ill 89I/1/31. Halle, 694.] being determined ... to
make wars in France, & to passe the sea himselfe in person, his
councell considered that aboue all things great treasure and
plentie of monie must needes be prouided. Wherfore, by the
1 See pp. 434, 435, below. « Stow^ 862. » EaUe, 694.
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432
xni. HENRY vm.
[WolMT*!
■ions.]
ThtttMpart
o/tiurU
rWoliey
laboured to
obtain the
moncj.]
[The com-
mons were
moved to
rebellion.]
ArebOlUm
the ffHeuout-
nMMttfOu
Thtduk«<tf
XforffoOct
eOnuihwiih
apowr
offoinitlke
BvJToUx,
PouirtUand
lf$e$atUU
capteiMt<tf
th4ttMUtm,
cardinal! there was deuised strange commissions, and sent in the
end of March into euerie shire, and commissioners appointed, and
priuie instructions sent to them how they should proceed in their
sittings, and order the people to bring them to their purpose:
which was, that the sixt part of euerie mans substance should be
paid in monie or plate to the king without delaie, for the furniture
of his war. Hereof followed such cursing, weeping, and exclama-
tion against both king & cardinall, that pitie it was to heare. . . .
[Hoi. iii. 891/1/70. Hcdle, 697.] The cardinall trauelled
eamestlie with the maior and aldermen of London, about the aid
of monie to be granted, and likewise the commissioners, appointed
in the shires of the realme, sat vpon the same : but the burthen
was so greeuous, that it was generallie denied, and the commons
in euerie place so mooued, that it was like to grow to rebellion. . . .
[Hoi iii. 891/2/8. HcUle, 699.] The duke of Suffolke, sitting
in commission about this subsidie in Suffolke, persuaded by
courteous meanes the rich clothiers to assent therto : but, when
they came home, and went about to discharge and put from them
their spinners, carders, fullers, weauers, and other artificers, (which
they kept in worke afore time,) the people began to assemble in
companies. . . . And herewith there assembled togither, after the
manor of rebels, foure thousand men of Lanam [Lavenham],
Sudberie, Hadleie, and other townes thereabouts ; which put
themselues in harnesse, and rang the bels alarme, and began still
to assemble in great number. . . .
The duke of Norffolke,^ being therof aduertised, gathered a
great power in Norffolke, and came towards the commons, &,
sending to them to know their intent, receiued answer, that they
would line and die in the kings causes, and be to him obedient
Herevpon he came himselfe to talke with them, and, willing to
know who was their capteine, that he might answer for them all,
it was told him by one lohn Greene, a man of fiftie yeares of age,
that Pouertie was their capteine, the which, with his cousin
Necessitie, had brought them to that dooing.
Henry exclaims (11. 67, 68) :
* The third Duke. The second Duke died in June, 1624.— JToUe, 697.
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Xin. HENRY VIII. 433
B J my life,
This is against our pleasure !
Ga^d. And for me^ 68
I haue no further gone in this, then by
A single voice ; and that not past me, but
By learnt approbation of the Judges. . . .
Turning to Wolsey the King says (11. 91-102):
Haue you a President^
Of this Commission f I beleeue, not any. 92
We must not rend our Subiects from our Lawes,
And sticke them in our Will. Sixt part of each 1
A trembling Contribution ! . . .
... To euery County
Where this is question'd, send our Letters, with
Free pardon to each man that has deny'de 100
The force of this Commission I pray looke to't ;
I put it to your care !
Card, [aside to his Secrefart/] A word with you !
Let there be Letters writ to euery Shire,
Of the Elings grace and pardon. The greened Commons 104
Hardly conceiue of me : let it be nois'd
That, through our Intercession, this Eeuokement
And pardon comes : . . .
The Suffolk rebels having dispersed, Henry
[ffol. iii. 891/2/64. Ealle, 700.] came to Westminster to the [Henry pro-
cardinals palace, and assembled there a great councell, in the JSi'tJ'S^
which he openlie protested, that his mind was neuer to aske anie Sil55Jai;Jf
thing of his commons which might sound to the breach of his ^m who
lawes ; wherefore he willed to know by whose meanes the commis- the commia.
•ion.]
sions were so streictlie giuen foorth, to demand the sixt part of
euerie mans goods.
The cardinall excused himselfe, and said, that when it was jiueor.
mooued in councell how to leuie monie to the kings vse, the kings forked
councell, and namelie the iudges, [p. 892] said, that he might law- •^•touching
fullie demand anie summe by commission, and that by the consent ^^^^^
of the whole councell it was doone ; and tooke Qod to witnes that mw judges
said that the
he neuer desired the hinderance of the commons, but like a true 2SSI?l!!!2^
' wereutwmLj
councellor deuised how to inrich the king. The king indeed was [Henry was
much offended that his commons were thus intreated, & thought «t^ wrong
•=• done to tiie
it touched his honor, that his councell should attempt such a «ommons.]
doubtfull matter in his name, and to be denied both of the
* " President "« precedent.
F F
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434
Xin. HENRY vin.
getimiill«d
leom-
inifltioiii bj
letter, and
pardoned
Iboeewho
hadreftiMd
to pay the
tax.]
[Woliey
■preada
report tbat
tluaeraoe
waadneto
hiainteroes-
aioiL]
The eoT'
(Knott d«-
dutntctUm
qfUUdukt
hom{,hj
meanaoi
Knyret].
spiritualtie and temporaltie. Therefore he would no more of
that trouble, but caused letters to be sent into all shires, that the
matter should no further be talked of: & he pardoned all them
that had denied the demand openlie or secretlie. The cardinally
to deliuer himselfe of the euill will of the commons, purchased by
procuring & aduancing of this demand, affirmed, and caused it to
be bruted abrode,^ that through his intercession the king had
pardoned and released all things.
Historic time runs back to the year 1521 when Charles Knyvet,
Buckingham's surveyor, enters, and, at Henry's command, proceeds to
give evidence of the Duke's treason:
Sur. First, it was vsuall with him, euery day
It would infect his Speech, that if the King
Should without issue dye, hee'l carry it so
To make the Scepter his : these very words
I'ue heard him vtter to his Sonne in Law,
Lord Aburgany ; to whom by oth he menac'd
Beuenge vpon the Gardinall. . . .
Ztn. Speake on !
How grounded hee his Title to the Growne,
Ypon our f aile 1 to this poynt hast thou heard him
At any time speake ought f
Sur. He was brought to this
By a vaine Frophesie of Nicholas HerUon,
Xin, What was that Henton )
Sitr, Sir, a Ghartreuz Fryer,
His Confessor, who fed him euery minute
With words of Soueraignty.
On the authority of Polydore Yergil (665/i i) Holinshed relates that
[Hal. iil 862/2/53.] the cardinall, boiling in hatred against the
duke of Buckingham, & thirsting for his blond, deuised to make
Charles Eneuet (that had beene the dukes surueior, and put from
him ^ . . .) an instrument to bring the duke to destruction. This
Kneuet, being had in examination before the cardinall, disclosed
132
136
144
148
^ HaUe says (701) that " letters were sent to all commissioners to cease,
with instruccions how to declare the kynges pardon. In whiche declaracion
was shewed that the Cardinal neuer assented to the first demannde [for a
sixth. Henry afterwards asked for what his subjects would willingly give
him. — HaUey 697] ; and in the instruccions was comprehended that the lordes
and the Judges, and other of the kynges counsaiU, diuised the same dematmde,
and that the Cardinall folowed the mynd of the whole counsaill : these two
poyntes were contrary one to another, whiche were well marked. And fcffther
the instruccions were that, at the humble peticion and supplicadon of the
Cardinall, the saied greate sommes, whiche were demaunded by the kyngs auctho-
ritie royall, were clerely pardoned and remitted," ... * See p. 437 below.
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xni. HENRY vin. 435
all the dukes life. And first he vttered, that the duke was
accustomed, by waie of talke, to saie how he meant so to yse the [Bjwwngham
matter, that he would atteine to the crowne, if king Henrie SttJ^wn
chanced to die without isme: So that he had talke and conference '^^^^ont
of that matter on a time with Qeorge Neuill, lord of Abur- ^""^^
gauennie, vnto whome he had giuen his daughter in marriage ;
and also that he threatned to punish the cardiuall for his manifold
misdooings, being without cause his mortall enimie.
The cardinally hauing gotten that which he sought for, incour- ^JL^
aged, comforted, and procured Kneuet, with manie comfortable ^JJ^T***
words and great promises, that he should with a bold spirit and ^[^ ^
countenance obiect and laie these things to the dukes charge, with
more if he knew it when time required. Then Eneuet [p. 86dX
partlie prouoked with desire to be reuenged, and partlie mooued {^^^^
with hope of reward, openlie confessed, that the duke had once ^J^^
fullie determined to deuise meanes how to make the king away, ^^^
being hrougJU into a full hope that he should be king, by a vaine ^®^"^^
prophme which one Nicholas Hopkins, a monke of an house of the
Chartreux order beside Bristow, called Henton, sometime his
confessor, had opened ynto him.
The cardinall, hauing thus taken the examination of Eneuet^ SJiuJli.
went ynto the king, and declared vnto him, that his person was in dSSSV^
danger by such traitorous purpose, as the duke of Buckingham u^mkit^
had conceiued in his heart, and shewed how that now there is
manifest tokens of his wicked pretense : wherefore, he exhorted
the king to prouide for his owne suertie with speed. The king,
hearing the accusation, inforced to the yttermost by the cardinall,
made this answer : '' If the duke haue deserued to be punished,
''let him haue according to his desertB.**
Elnyyet then explains how he knew of Nicholas Hopkins's prophecy
(IL 151-171) :
&ur. Not long before your Highnesse sped to France,
The Duke being at the Rose, within the Parish 152
Saint Laurence PouUney, did qf me demand
What was the speech among the Londoners,
Goneemvng the French loumey : I replide,
Men fear'd ^ the French would proue perfidious, 166
^ fear'dl'Po]^. feare¥.
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436
Xni. HENRY VUI.
[Backing-
hAm asked
Knyret
what the
Londoners
said of
Journey.]
[KnjTet'a
answer.]
Thtdnki
diiooutrtth
tlUttencU
maUerto
hUowtu
vndooing.
To the Kings danger. Presently, the Duke
Said, 'twas the feare, indeed ; and that he doubted
'Twould proue the verity of certaine words
Spoke by a holy Monks ; " that oft," sayes he, 160
" llaih aerU to me, wishing me to permit
" John de la Car, my Choline, a choyce howre
" To heare from him a matter of some moment :
" Whom after, vnder the Confessions ^ Seale, 164
** He soUemnly had swome, that, what he spoke,
" My Chaplaine to no Creature liuing, but
" To ms, should vtter, with demure Confidence
" This pausingly ensu'de : * Neither the King, nor^s Ueyres 168
*• (Tell you the Duke) shall prosper : bid him striue
* To gain ^ the loue oth^CorhmonaUy : the Dvke
* Shall gouerne England/ "
One of the charges in Buckingham's ^ indictment ^ was that
[ffol. iii 864/2/12. Stow, 861.] the same dvJce, the tenth of
Male, in the twelfe yeare of the kings reigne [1520], at London in
a place called the Bose, within the parish of saint Laurence PouUnie
in Canwike street ward, dem/inded of the said Charles Eneuet
esqiuer, what was the talke amongQ^^, the Londoners concerning the
kings ioumde beyond the seas ? And the said Charles told him,
that manie stood in doubt of that iourneie, least the Frenchmen
meant some deceit towards the king. Whereto the duke answered,
that it was to be feared least it would come to passe according
to the toords of a certeine h^lie moonke : " For there is " (saith he)
''a Chartreux moonke, that diuerse times hath sent to me, willing
** me to send ynto him my chancellor : and I did send ynto him
"John de la Court my chapleine, vnto whome he would not declare
"anie thing, till de la Court had swome ynto him to keepe all
"things secret, and to tell no creature liuing what hee should
"heare of him, except it were to me.
^ Oonfes9ions\ Theobald. Obmmtmons F. Theobald justified his emend-
ation by quoting Hd, iil 863/2/52: **The duke in talke told the monke
[Hopkins] that he had doone verle well to bind his chapleine lohn de la Court,
xnder the seale of confession^ to keepe secret such matter " : . . .
* gadn^ F4. om. F. Malone supported this insertion by quoting "that
I should mdeuor my selfe to purchase the good wils of the commumdtie of
England " (see close of next excerpt).
^ On July 20, 1517, Hopkins prophesied ^ that before Christmas next there
should be a chaxige, & that the duke should haue the rule and gouemement of
all England.*'— flo2. iii. 864/1/31. StoWy 860.
* The indictment, as it appears in StoWy is prefaced by the remark that he
had *<8een and read " it (859).
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xra. HENRY vm. 437
"And then the said moonke told de la Conrt, that neitJier the [Hopuns's
propheey.]
^^king nor his heires should prosper, and that I should indeuour my
" selfe to purchase the good wils of the communaltie of England ;
'' for I the same duke and my bloud should prosper, and haue the
"rule of the realme of England"
At this point Queen Katharine interposes with an appeal to
Knyvet's conscience (U. 171-175) :
If I know you well,
You were the Dukes Surueyor, and lost your Office 172
On the complaint o'th'Tenants : take good heed
You charge not in your spleene a Noble person,
And spoyle your nobler Soule 1
In 1520
[HoL iii 856/1/7. Polyd. Verg, 66O/33.] it chanced that the
duke, comming to London with his traine of men, to attend the
king into France, went before into Kent Tuto a manor place which
he had there. And, whilest he staid in that countrie till the king rBaddng-
set forward, greeuous complaints were exhibited to him by his tenuta
*^ ^ , "^ complained
farmars and tenants against Charles Eneuet his surueiour, for such ^l^**
bribing as he had ysed there amongest theuL Wherevpon the ^ESwd''
duke tooke such displeasure against him, that he depriued him of ^'^
his office; not knowing how that in so dooinghe procured his owne
destruction, as after appeared.^
Resuming his evidence Knyvet says (11. 178-186) :
I told my Lord the Duke, by th^DvueU illusions
The Monke might he deceived ; and that 'twas dangerous for him '
To ruminate on this so farre, vntill 180
It forg'd him some designe, which, being beleeu'd.
It was much like to doe: he answered, ''Tush 1
" It can doe me no damage "; adding further,
T?uU, had the King in his last Sicknesse faild, 184
The Cardinals and Sir Thomas Louds heads
Should ha/ae gone off.
To illustrate these lines I quote the rest of the charge concerning
Buckingham's talk with Knyvet on May 10, 1520 :
* The excerpt "it chanced . . . appeared" is preceded by the following
passajje : " Now in this meane while [Spring of 1520], the cardinall ceassed not
to bring the duke out of the kings fauour by such forged tales and contriued
surmises as he dailie put into tibe kings head : insomuch that (through the
infelicitie of his fate) diuerse accidents fell out to the aduantage of the
cardinall ; which he not omitting, atchiued the thing whereat he so stndiouslie
(for the satisfieng of his canckered & malicious stomach) laid full aime." —
Hot, iii. 855/2/73. « Wm] Rowe. ihis P.
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438 xin. HENRY vin.
SS^t ^^^^' "^' ^^^1^1 i7' ^^^» ^^2.] Then said Charles Kneuet:
2j^^ " The moanke male be deceitted through the divsls illusian : " and
gJdl^i^ that it was euill to meddle with such matters. "Well " (said the
Pi^^ duke) " it cannot hurt me ; ** and so (saith the indictment) the duke
^^M seemed to reioise in the moonks woords. And further, at the same
[; thoogii he time, the duke told the said Charles, thcU, if tJie king had miscaried
S^fdohim ^^^ *^ ^^ ^^ sicknesse, he would haue chopped off the heads of
no harm]. ^^ cardinall, of sir Thomas Louell knight, and of others ; and also
Ba(
iMA SS. said, that he had rather die ipr it, than to be vsed as he had beene.
BockiiiguAiii
Jadhav© Questioned by Henry, Knyvet gives an instance of Buckingham's
SeLads'of truculeut mood :
iL^l*"^ i^tir. BemgaiOremwich, 188
After your Highnesse had reprou^d the Duke
About Sir William Btdmer,^ —
Kin, I remember
Of such a time : being my sworn seruant.
The Duke retein'd him his. But on I what hencot 192
Sur. " If" (quoth he) " I for this had beene committed,
** As, to the Tower, I thought, I would haue plaid
" The Part my Father meant to act vpon
" Th'Vsurper Richard; who, being at Salebvry, 196
'< Made suit to corns in's presence ; which if granted,
** {As he made semhUmce of his duty,) would
" Ilaue put his knife into him."
Kin. A Gyant Traytor I
Card, Now, Madam, may his Highnes liue in freedome, 200
And this man out of Prison f
Queen, God mend all I
Kin, Ther's somthiDg more would out of thee ; what say'st 1
Swr. After " the Duke his Father," with ''the knife,"
He stretched him, and, with one hamd on his dagger, 204
Another spread on's breast, mounting his eyes.
He did discharge a horrible Oath ; whose tenor
Was, were he euill vs'd, he would outgoe
His Father, by as much as a performance 208
Do's an irresolute purpose.
In his indictment Buckingham was accused of having,
[Hoi, iil 864/1/64. Stow, 861.] on the fourth of Nouember,
in the eleuenth yere of the kings reigne [1519], at east Oreenwich
Kpro^ in the countie of Kent, said vnto one Charles Eneuet esquier,
toniiMng (flftcT that the king Aai reprooued the duke for r^^ning William
v.] BtUmer, knight, into his seruice,^ that, t^ he had perceiued that he
* Bulmer] Hoi. Blumer F.
' In November, 1519, '* the king speclallie rebuked air William BulmeTi
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xm. HENRY vni. 439
should haue beene committed to the Toioer (as he doubted hee should [Backing-
haue beene), hee would haue so wrought, that the principall dooers J^J^^^^
therein should not haue had cause of great reioising : for he toould ^^ j
haue plated the part which his father intended to haue put in
practise against king Richard the third at ScUisburie; who Tiiade shUu
earnest svie to haue come vnto the presence of the same king diehard the
Richard : which sute if he might haue obteined, h^ hauing a knife ^^^
secretlie about him, wotUd haue thrust it into the bodie of kins: thoi^ve
^ done to the
Richard as he had mude semblance to kneele downe before him. ^^^l
Henry anke
And, in speaking these words, he maliciouslie laid his hand yipon J^S^^SSS"
his dagger ^ and said, that, if he were so euUl vsed^ Tie would doo his mc^m.]
best to accomplish his pretensed jmrpose; swearing to confirme his
word by the bloud of our Lord.
Act I. 8c. iii. — The Lord Chamberlain and Lord Sandys censure the
Gallic airs of those courtiers who went to France with Henry in 1620.
The Lord Chamberlain says (11. 5-10) :
As farre as I see, all the good our English
Haue got by the late Yoyage, is but meerely
A fit or two o'th' face ; {but they are shrewd ones ; )
For when they hold 'em, you would sweare directly, 8
Their very noses had been Councellours
To Pepin or Clotharius, they keepe State so.
Sir Thomas Lovell entering brings tidings of a
new Proclamation
That's clapt vpon the Court Gate.
L. Cham. What is't for 1
Lou. The r^ormation of our trauel'd Gallants,
That fill the Court with quarrels, talke, and Taylors. 20
X. Cham. I'm glad 'tis there : now I would pray our Monsieurs
To thinke an English Courtier may be wise,
And neuer see the Louure.
Mr. Boyle supposes the " trauel'd Gallants " of James L's reign to
be ridiculed in this scene {Henry VIII. in New Sh. Soc.'s Trans., 1880-
86, p. 461), but the following excerpt shows that they had their pre-
decessors. When, in 1519,^ " diuerse yoong gentlemen of England,"
who resided awhile at the French Court,
[Hoi. iii. 850/1/1/. Halle, 597.] came againe into England,
knight, bicause be, heing his aeruant woome, lefosed the kings seniice, and
became semant to tlie Duke of Buckinfibam." — Hci. iii. 852/2/72. HaUe, 599.
1 After recording our surrender of Toumay on February 8, 1519, HaUe
describes the conduct of these ;^onng centlemen at Paris, " during this time " ;
and then speaks of their behaviour when they returned to England (597).
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440 XIII. HENRY VllL
they were all French, in eating, drinking, and apparell, yea, and
in French vices and brags, so that all the estates of England were
by them langhed at, the ladies and gentlewomen were dispraised ;
BO that nothing by them was praised, but if it were after the
^^5i>h"* French tume ; which after turned them to displesure, as you shall
"^^ heare.
In May 1619 Henry's Council complained to him of "certeine
yoong men in his priuie chamber,'' who, ** not regarding his estate or
degree, were so familiar and homelie with him, that they forgat
themselues."
[EoL iii 852/2/7. Halle, 698.] To whome the king answered,
that he had chosen them of his councell, both for the maintenance
of his honour, and for the defense of all things that might blemish
the same : wherefore, if they saw anie about him misuse them-
ceruinecf sclucs, he Committed it vnto their reformation. Then the kings
f^<"*^^ . councell caused the lord chamberleine to call before them diuerse
been to the ^f jjj^ prfuie chamber, (which had beene in the French court,) and
^^1^^ banished them the court for diuerse considerations ; laieng nothing
thHrrooTM^ particularlic to their charges, & they that had offices were com-
manded to go to their offices. Which discharge out of court
greened sore the hearts of these yoong men, which were called the
kings minions.
In a passage omitted by Holinahed, Halle adds (598) :
g^« These young mmions, which was thus seuered from the kyng,
low^iS**" ^^^ bene in Fraunce, and so highly praised the Frenche kyng and
^xtfkT^^ his courte, that m a maner they thought litle of the kyng and his
court in comparison of the other, they were so high in loue with
the Frenche court ; wherefore their fall was litle moned emong
wise men.
Act I. sc. iv. — Towards the close of so. iii., Act L, the Lord
Chamberlain remembers an invitation of Wolsey :
This night he makes a Supper, and a great one, 62
To many Lords and Ladies ; there will be
The Beauty of this Kingdome, He assure you.
While going out to his barge, accompanied by Lord Sandys, the
Lord Chamberlain says (11. 66, 67) :
For I was spoke to, with Sir Henry Guilford,
This night to be Comptrollers.
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XIII. HENRY vm. 441
Sc. iv., Act I., opens thus :
" Hoboies. A small Table vnder a State for the Cardinal], a longer
Table for the Guests. Then Enter Anne Bullen, and diners
other Ladies, k C^entlemen, as Guests, at one Doore ; at an other
Doore, enter Sir Henry Guilford."
After 1. 34 : " Hoboyes. Enter Cardinall Wolsey, and takes his
State."
The historical date of sc. iv. was January 3, 1527.^ The excerpts
illustrating sc. iv. were taken by Stow from Cavendish's Life of Wolsey ^
and transferred from Stow to the pages of Holinshed. Cavendish —
who was present when Henry came disguised to Wolsey's banquet —
thus describes the ceremony observed :
[Hoi ill 922/I/I. Stow, 845.] First, yee shall vnderstand that Sl^iu*.
the tableswere set in the chamber of presence banquetwise couered,^ tabuwua
& the lord cardinall sitting vnder the cloth of estate^ there hauing
all his seruice alone : and then was there set a ladie with a noble
man, or a gentleman and a gentlewoman, throughout all the tables ^
in the chamber on the one side, which were made and ioined as it gj^ ^^
were but one table : all which order and deuise was doone by the q^im^
* This banquet is noticed by Halle (719), who tells us that, on the night of
January 3, 1527, ** the kyng and many young gentelinen with hym came to
Bridewell, & there put hym and xv. other all in Maekyng apparell, and then
toke his Barjge, and rowed to the Cardinalles place, where wer at supper a
great compaignie of lordes and ladies; and then the Mrskers daunced, and
made coooly pastyme, and, when they had well danced, the Ladies plucked
away wieir visors, and so they were all knowen, and to the kyng was made a
great banket** Qasparo Spinelli, Venetian Secretary in London, writing to
his brother Ludovlco on January 4, 1627, says : " Last evening I was present
at a very sumptuous supper given by Cardinal Wolsey, there being amongst
the guests the Papal, French, and Venetian ambassadors, and the chief nobility
of the English Court . . . During the supper the King arrived, with a gallant
companv of masqueraders, and his Majesty, after presenting himself to the
Cardinal, threw a main at dice and then unmasked, as did all his companions ;
whereupon he withdrew to sup in one of the Cardinal's chambers, the rest of
the guests continuing their repast, with such variety of the choicest viands and
wines as to be marvellous.'' After supper the Menaechmei was acted in
another hall, and Latin verses were recitcKl to Henry by the actors. *' Having
listened to them alL the King betook himself with the rest of the guests to the
hall where they haa all suppled, the tables Ut which they seated themselves in
the same order as before) being spread with every sort of confection, whereof
they partook." A pageant was then displayed, in which six damsels appeared,
each of whom was subsequently *' taken by the hand by her lover, and to the
sound of trumpets they performed a very beautiful dance. On its termination
the King and his favourites commenced another with the ladies there present,
and with this the entertainment and the night ended, for it was already
day-break.**— Fen. State PR, IV. 4.
* hcmquetwise covered] Cavendish, iust couered HoL and Stow,
* The Lord Chamberlain to Lord Sandys (I. iv. 22, 24) :
" Two women, plac'd together, makes cold weather : . • .
Pray, sit betweene these Laoies.''
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442 xin. HBNEY vnL
rregniated lord Sandes, then lord chamberleine to the king, and by sir Henrie
banquet] Gilford, comptroUor of the kings maiesties house.
Soon after Wolse/s entrance comes the stage direction: ''Drum
and Trumpet, Chambers dischargd" (L 49). Attendants leave the
stage in obedience to the Lord Chamberlain's command, '< Looke out
there, some of ye "; and one of them, re-entering, announces
A noble troupe of Strangers ;
For so they seems : th'haue left their Barge and landed.
And hither make, as great Embassadors
From/orraigne Princes,
Card, Good Lord Chamberlaine, 56
Go, giue 'em welcome 1 you can speake the French tongue ;.
And, pray, receiuc *em Nobly, arid conduct 'em
Into our presence, where this heauen of beauty
Sh€Ul shine at full vpon them. — Some attend him I 60
[Exit Chamberlain, attended.] [All rise, and Tables remou'd.
— You haue now a broken Banket ; but wee'l mend it.
A good digestion to you all ! and once more
I showre a welcome on yee ; welcome all 1
Hoboyee. Enter King and others, as Maskers, habited Uke
ShepheardSf vsher'd by the Lord Chamberlaina They passe
directly b^ore the CardinaU, and gracefully salute him.
A noble Company 1 what are their pleasures 1 64
Cham. Because they speak no FngUsh, thus they praid
To tell your Grace : That, hauing heard by fame
0/ this so Noble and so f aire assembly,
This night to meet heere, they could doe no lesse, 68
(Out of the great respect they beare to beauty,)
JBut leaue their Flockes ; and, trndcr your faire Conduct^
Crave leaue to view these Ladies, and entreat
An houre of Beuels with *efin.
Card, Say, Lord Chamberlaine, 72
They haue done my poore house grace ; for which I pay 'em
A thousand thankes, and pray 'em take their pleasures I
Wolse/s
Tiu cor. [Hoi. iii. 921/2/45. Stow, 844.] house was resorted to with
WBtawijMu noblemen and gentlemen, feasting and banketting ambassadors
^Jjjj^^^ diuerse times, and all other right noblie. And when it pleased
the king for his recreation to repaire to the cardinals house, (as he
did diuerse times in the yeare,) there wanted no preparations or
furniture : bankets were set foorth with maskes and mummeries,
in so gorgeous a sort and costlie maner, that it was an heauen to
behold. There wanted no dames or damosels meet or apt to
danse with the maskers^ or to garnish the place for the time : then
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xin. HBNBY vni. 443
was there all kind of musike and harmonie, with fine voices both
of men and children.
On a time the king came suddenlie thither^ in amaske, with a Amatkeand
dozen maskers all in garments like sheepheards, made of fine cloth ^j^
of gold, and crimosin sattin paned, & caps of the same, with ^S!!'SlJ^ud»
visards of good physnomie, their haires & beards either of fine *^^*^
goldwire silke, or blacke silke ; haning sixteene torch-bearers,
besides their drums and other persons with visards, all clothed
in sattin of the same color. And, before his entring mto the hall,
he came by water to the water gate without anie noise ; where
were laid diuerse chambers and guns charged with shot, and at his ||g^{^~
landing they were shot off, which made such a rumble m the aire,
that it was like thunder : it made all the noblemen, gentlemen,
ladies, and gentlewomen, to muse what it should meane, comming
so suddenlie, they sitting quiet at a solemne banket, . . .
[HoL iil 922/1/11. Stow, 845.] Then immediatlie after, the
great chamberleine and the said comptrollor [were] sent to looke
what it should meane (as though they knew nothing of the matter) ;
who, looking out of the windowes into the Thames, returned againe
and shewed him, that it seeTned they were noblemen and strangers
that arriued at his bridge, comming as amiassadours from some
forren prince.
With that, quoth the cardinall, "I desire you, bicause you ^^UJ"^
"can speaJu French, to take the paines to go into the hall, there to )£J*S!«*II
*'receiue thewi according to their estates, and to conduct them vrUo ***»***^-
"this chamber, where they shall see vs, and all these noble person-
"ages being merie at our banket; desiring them to sit downe with
"vs, and to take part of our fare." Then went he incontinent [JJ^J^^JJ
downe into the hall, whereas they receiued them with twentie new ctaSSS-
torches, and conueied them vp into the chamber, with such a noise ^"^^
of drums and flutes, as seldome had beene heard the like. At
their entring into the chamber, two and two togither, they went
directlie lefore the cardinall, where he sate, and salutQA. him
reuerentlie.
^ On , , . Mther] Hoi. (Stow). I have seen the king suddenly come in
thUher Cavendiah, i 49.
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444
XIII. HENRY Vin.
Tk*
cardinall
renerentlie
MoUOedtff
thinuuken.
[Their
request,
made
through
the Lord
Chamber-
lain.]
To whom the lord chamberleine for them said: "Sir, for as
''much as they be strangers, and can not apeake English, they haue
" desired me to declare Tnto you, that they, hauing vnderstanding
*^of this your triumphant banket, where was assembled such a
" number of excellent dames, they could doo no lesse, vnder support
" of your grace, biU to repaire hither, to view as well their incom-
'* parable beau^ie, as for to accompanie them at mum-chance, and
" then to danse vnth them : and, sir, they require of your grace
"licence to accomplish the said cause of their comming." To
whom the cardinall said he was verie well content they should
so doo.
The masquers " choose Ladies." Henry takes Anne Boleyn's band
(1. 75). " Musicke, Dance " is the next stage direction. Then Wolsey
addresses the Lord Chamberlain (11. 77-81) :
Card. My Lord !
Cham. Your Grace 1
Card. Pray tell 'em thus much from me :
Tliere should he one amongst 'em, by his person,
More worthy this place then my self e ; to whom
(If I but hMV) him) with my lone and duty 80
/ wouM surrender it.
Cham^ I will, my Lord. Whisper[8 the Maskers.]
Card. What say theyl
Cham^ Such a one, they all coi\fesse,
There is indeed ; which they would haue your Grace
Find outf and lie will take it.
Card. Let me see, then. — 84
By all your good leaues. Gentlemen ; heere lie make
My royall choyce.
I^in. Ye haue found him, Cardinall : . . .
Having played at mumchance with the guests, the masquers poured
out what coin they had before Wolsey, who won it all by a single cast
of the dice.
a [Wolsey] [Hoi. lu. 922/1/5/. Stow, 846.] Then quoth the cardinall to
that nuking the lord chamberleine, "I praie you" (quoth he) "that you would
SS*«£^ *' ^'^^^ them, that me seemeth there should be a nobleman amongst
'* them, who is m/yre meet to occupie this seat and place than I am ;
" to whome I would most gladlie surrender the same according to
" my dutie, if I knew him.^*
Then spake the lord chamberleine to them in French, and they
rounding him in the care, the lord chamberlein said to my lord
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xni. HENKY vm. 445
cardinall: "Sir" (quoth he) *Hhey confesse, that among them there ^^^^^^
''is such a noble personage, whome, if your grace can appoint him J^J^f ^*°*
''out from the rest, he is content to disclose himselfe, and to
"accept your place." With that the cardinall taking good aduise-
ment among them, at the last (quoth he) " me seemeth, the gentle-
"man with the blacke beard should be euen hee":^ and with that
he arose out of his chaire, and offered the same to the gentleman
in the blacke beard, with his cap in his hand. The person to mtoMkiiu
whom he offered the chaire was sir Edward Neuill, a comelie ^J^
knight, that much more resembled the kings person in that maske
than anie other.
The king, perceiuing the cardinall so deceiued, could not for- TUhing
dimitardeth
beare laughing, but pulled downe his visar and master Neuels also, hu face and
it vtrit
and dashed out such a pleasant countenance and cheere, that all i^'w*****-
the noble estates there assembled, perceiuing the king to be there
among them, reioised verie much.
Henry learns that his partner is the daughter of Thomas Boleyn,
"Viscount Rochford" (1. 93). The King kisses her and demands a
health ; whereupon Wolsey speaks (11. 98, 99) :
Sir Tliomas Louell, is the Banket ready
rth'Priuy Chamber?
Lou. Yes, my Lord.
Card, Your Grace
I feare, with dancing, is a little heated. 100
Kin, I feare, too much.
Card, There's fresher ayre, my Lord,
Li the next Chamber.
Henry proposes to drink the healths of the ladies, and dance again
(11. 105-107). Then they all go out, " with Trumpets."
The historical Wolsey, after failing to detect the King,
[Hoi. iii 922/2/1 1. Stow, 846.] eftsoons desired his highnesse ^^^^^^^'
to take the place of estate. To whom the king answered, that he aJpaSu]'
would go first and shift his apparell, and so departed into my lord
cardinals chamber, and there new apparelled him : in which time
the dishes of the banket were cleane taken yp, and the tables
spred againe with new cleane perfumed cloths ; euerie man and
woman sitting still, vntill the king with all his maskers came
among them againe all new apparelled.
^ hee] Stow, he HoL
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446 Xin. HENBY VUL
Anewhanktt Then the king tooke his seat vnder the cloth of estate, com-
vpontJu
««^^»|^ manding euerie person to sit still as they did before : in came a
S^He^ry ^^^ banket before the king, and to all the rest throughout all the
KtaurMd). tables, wherein were serued two hundred diuerse dishes, of costlie
deuises and subtilties. Thus passed they foorth the night with
banketting, dansing, and other triumphs, to the great comfort of
the king, and pleasant regard of the nobilitie there assembled.
Act n. 8c. L — ^Two gentlemen enter, one of whom (Sec Gent.) is on
his way to Westminster HalL There — as be learns from the other
gentleman fFirst Gent,) — ^Buckingham has already been tried and
condemned (11. 1-8). The First Qentleman gives a brief account of the
trial, at which he was present (IL 11-22) :
The greAt Buke
Came to the Bar; where, to hie accusations, 12
He pleaded still, not guilty, cmd aOeadged
Many sharpe reasons to defeat the Law.
The Kings Attumey, on the contrary,
Vrg'd on the KxaminationSy proqfes, confessions 16
Of diuers witnesses ; which the Duke desir'd
To haue^ brought, yiua voce, to his face :
At which appeared against him, his Surueyor ;
Sir Gilbert j^{;^his Ghancellour ; and lohn Car, 20
Confessor to him 7 with that Diuell Monke,
Hopkins, that made this mischiefe.
2. That was hee
That fed him uM his Prophecies f
1. The sama
All these accus'd him strongly ; which he/aine 24
Woidd haue flung from him, but, indeed, he could not :
And so his Peeres, vpon this euidence,
H^Ane found him guiUy qfhigh Treason. Much
He spoke, and learnedly, for life ; but all 28
Was either pittied in lum, or forgotten.
2. After all this, how did he beare himself el
1. When be tvas brought agen to th' Bar, (to heare
His Elnell rung out, his Judgment,) he was stir'd 32
With such an Agony, he stoeat eztreamly.
And somthing spoke in choller, ill, and hasty :
But he fell to himself e againe, and, sweetly.
In all the rest shew'd a most Noble patienca 36
The judges appointed to try Buckingham met at Westminster Hall
on May 13, 1521.^ Their president was Thomas Howard, second Duke
of Norfolk.
1 have] F4. Mm F.
* The date from Stow, 862. The other particulars from HaOe, 623.
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xin. HENRY vm. 447
[Hoi liL 865/1/20. Halle, 623.] When the lords had taken gSfpS&ed
their place, the duke was brought to the harre, and, vpon his ^Sl^'an
arreignement, pleaded not guiMie^ and put himselfe vpon his peeres. S^mj
Then was his indictment read, which the duke denied to be true,
and (as he was an eloquent man) ^ alledged reasons to falsifie the ^y*^%.
indictment; pleading the matter for his owne iustification yerie [nekiiig'f
pithilie and eamestlie. The kings attoitmeie, against the dukes '^'^^^^
TeaBonB,B\iedged the examinationa, confessions, 2Lnd proof es of tmtn^ j^**
The duke desired that the witnesses might bee brought foortL rciMwii-
PftWM whom
And then came before him Charles Kneuet, Perke, De la Court, Jjj^^^^
& Hopkins the monke of the priorie of the Charterhouse beside ^^j^
Bath, which like a false hypocrite had induced the duke to the
treason vnth his &lse foiled prophesies. Diuerse presumptions and
accusations were laid vnto him by Charles Kneuet ; which he would
faine haue couered. The depositions were read, & the deponents
deliuered as prisoners to the officers of the Tower. Then spake
the duke of Norffolke, and said : " My lord, the king our souereigne g^j |*gj
'* lord hath commanded that you shall haue his lawes ministred ^*'*^
^ with fauour and right to you.^ Wherefore, if you haue anie other
"thing to say for your selfe, you shall be heard." Then he was
commanded to withdraw him, and so was led into Paradise, a
house so named. The lords went to councell a great while, and
after tooke their places.
Then said the duke of NorflTolke to the duke of Suffolke: ^Hj^j^
"What say you of sir Edward duke of Buckingham, touching the ^tS^
** high treasons ? '' The duke of Suffolke answered : " He is giltie " :
& so said the marques [of Dorset] and all the other earls and lords.
Thus was this prince, duke of Buckingham, fownd giUie of high
treason, by a duke, a marques, seuen carles, & twelue barons.' The
1 "he . . . man."— Polyd Verg., 666/34. In I. ii 111, Henry says of
Buckingham :
" The Gentleman is Leam'd, and a most rare Speaker "; . • •
* Cp. Henry's last words anent Buckingham (I. ii. 211, 212} :
" if he may
Finde mercy in the Law, 'tis his"; . . .
' Op. Buckingham's admission (II. i 118, 119) :
«*Ihadmy Tryall,
And, must needs say, a Noble one"; . . •
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448
XnL HENRY VIIL
believed
to have
procured
Bacldng-
ham't
death.]
[Wolsey
resolved to
■end Surrey
out of the
wayj
[Enmity
between
Wolsey and
Surrey.)
duke was brought to the harre sore chafing, and atoet marueUouslie ;
&, after he had made his reuerence, he paused a while. The duke of
Norffolke, as iudge, said: "Sir Edward, you haue heard how you
''be indicted of high treason; you pleaded thereto not giltie,
*' putting your selfe to the peeres of the realme, which haue found
"yougUtie."
The Second Cfentleman's remark — (1. 40) ^* the Cardinall is the end
of this'' — may be compared with the words of Holinshed, who,
declining to examine the truth or falsehood of Buckingham's
indictment, adds :
[HoL iii 864/2/68.] Sauing that (I trust) I male without
offense sale, that (as the rumour then went) the cardinall chieflie
procured the death of this noble man, no lesse fauoured and
beloued of the people of this realme in that season, than the
cardinall himselfe was hated and enuied. Which thing caused the
dukes fall the more to be pitied and lamented, sith he was the
man of all [p. 865] other that chieflie went about to crosse the
cardinall in his lordlie demeanor, & headie proceedings.
In response to the Second Gentleman's positive assertion that
Wolsey was " the end of this," the First Gentleman says (IL 40-44) :
1. Tie likely, 40
By all coniectures : first, Kildares Attendure,
Then Deputy of Ireland ; who remou'd,
Earle Surrey was sent thither, and in hast too,
Least he should helpe his Father.
On the authority of Polydore Yergil (659/2o) Holinshed relates
that Wolsey, enraged by Buckingham's " greeuous words " (see p. 426
above), sought the Duke's destruction, but
[Hoi. iii. 855/2/25.] bicause he doubted his freends, kinnesmen,
and alies, and cheeflie the earle of Surrie, lord admerall, (which
had married the dukes daughter,) he thought good first to send
him some whither out of the waie, least he might cast a trumpe in
his waie. There was great enimitie betwixt the cardinall and the
earle,^ for that, on a time, when the cardinall tooke vpon him to
checke the earle, he had like to haue thrust his dagger into the
cardinall.
1 Afterwards (1524) 3rd Duke of Norfolk. In III. ii. 275-277, the dramatic
" Surrev " (see p. 474, n. 1, below) professes to be deterred hj naught save
Wolsey's priesthood m>m answering the Cardinal's rebuke with the sword.
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Xin. HENRY VIII. 449
At length there was occasion offered him to compasse his
purpose, by occasion of the earle of Kildare his comming out of
Ireland. For the cardinally knowing he was well prouided of [KUdare'i
monie, sought occasion to fleece him of part thereof. The earle Bngund.]
of Eoldare, being ynmarried, was desirous to haue an English
woman to wife ; and, for that he was a suter to a widow, contrarie
to the cardinals mind, he accused him to the king, of that he had
not borne himselfe yprightlie in his office in Ireland, where he was
the kings lieutenant. Such accusations were framed against him, ThstarUt^
KiUUtn COW'
when no bribes would come, that he was committed to prison, and 2jJd[?*»nd
then by the cardinals good preferment the earle of Surrie was sent to^i5d°ai
into Ireland as the kings deputie, in lieu of the said earle of ^^^^
Eoldare ; there to remaine rather as an exile than as lieutenant [Suney
knew that
to the king, euen at the cardinals pleasure, as he himselfe well ^^^^
perceiued.^ woiiey.i
The two gentlemen's converse is interrupted by the entrance of
'' Buckingham from his Arraignment ; Tipstaues before him ; the Axe
with the edge towards him ; Halberds on each side : accompanied with
Sir Thomas Louell, Sir Nicholas Yaux, Sir William^ Sands, and common
people, <fec." Addressing those who are following him the Duke says
(n.i.):
I haue this day receiu'd a Traitors iudgement,
And by that name must dye : yet, Heauen beare witnes,
(And if I haue a Conscience, let it sincke me 60
Euen as the Axe falls,) if I be not faithful! 1
The Law I beare no mallice for my death ;
Vh&s done, vpon the premises, but lustice :
But those that sought it I could wish moi*e Christians : 64
Be what they will, I heartily forgiue 'em : . . •
For further life in this world I ne're hope.
Nor will I sue, although the King haue mercies
More then I dare make faults. You few that lou'd mo,
And dare be bold to weepe for Buckingham, 72
His Noble Friends and Fellowes, whom to leaue
Is only bitter to him, only dying,
Goe with me, like good ^gels, to my end ;
And, as the long diuorce of Steele fals on me, 76
Make of your Rayers one sweet Sacrifice,
And lift my Soule to Heauen !
1 In JII. ii. 260-264, " Surrey*' accuses Wolsey of this.
« William] Theobald. Walt&r F. Created Lord Sandys on April 27,
1523. — 8toWf 874. In Act I., scenes iii and iy., he appears as Lord
Sandys.
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450
XIII. HBNBY Vm.
rBodking'
bun's spMoh
*ft«r
Mllt6&00*l
(The edge of
the axe WM
turned
towards
UflL]
rBaeUnff-
nun Bsia :
"Now I am
ImtBdwaid
Bohnn.**
He was
recefredat
the Temple
stairs bj
Vanxand
Sandys.
He desired
the people to
A speech to this effect was made by Buckingham ^ on May 13, after
Norfolk had pronounced sentence of death.
[HoL uL 866/1/68. Halle, 624.] The duke of Buckingham
said, ''My lord of Norffblke, you haue said as a traitor should be
''said vnto, but I was neuer anie : but, my lords, I nothing maligne
"for that you haue doone to me, but the etemall God forgiue you
"my death, and I doo. I shall neuer sue to the king for life, how-
"beit he is a gratious prince, and more grace may come from him
" than I desire. I desire you, my lords, and all my fellowes, to
"pray for me." Then was the edge of the axe turned towards
him, and he led into a barge.
Sir Thomas Lovell resigns the custody of Buckingham QL 95-97) :
To th' water side I must conduct your Grace ;
Then giue my Charge vp to Sir Nicholas Yauz, 96
Who vndertakes you to your end.
Vaux, Prepare there.
The Duke is comming : see the Barge be ready ;
And fit it with such furniture as suites
The Greatnesse of his Person.
Buck. Nay, Sir Nicholas, 100
Let it alone ; my State now will but mocke me.
When I came hither, / tocu Lord High Constable
And Duke qf Buckingham ; now, poore Edward Bohun ; • . •
When Buckingham was " led into a barge"
[HoL iil 865/2/4. HalU, 624.] Sir Thomas Louell desu-ed
him to sit on the cushins and carpet ordeined for him. He said,
'* nay ; for when I went to Westminster / woe duke of Buckingham;
"now I am but Edward Bohune,^ the most caitife of the world.'*
Thus they landed at the Temple, where receiued him sir Nicholas
Yawse & sir William Sands, baronets, and led him through the
citie ; who desired euer the people to pray for him, . . .
^ He was beheaded on May 17, 1521.— ^oZZe, 624. As the *'last home"
of the dramatic Buckingham has oome in this scene (II. L 132), it is evident
that the dates of Ms sentence and execution have been unified.
' Buckingham's surname was Stafford. His descent from the Bohuns is
thus traced by Francis Thynne : " Humfrie de Bohune, the eight [seventh] &
last erle of Hereford of that surname of Bohune, . . . had issue two daughters
and heires, Eleanor the eldest, maried to Thomas of Woodstocke ; and Marie the
second, married to Henrie of BoUingbrooke, after king of England, . . .
He [Thomas] had issue R)y his marriage with Eleanor de Bohun] . . . foure
daughters : . . . The foure daughters, heires to Thomas of Woodstocke,
• . . were Anne the eldest, mamed to Edmund Stafford erle Stafford,^ . . .
Hoi. iii. 867/2/2q. Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, was tiie great-
great-grandson of Edmund Earl Stafford.— OoUtm, iL 37-40.
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tenumUvnto
xm. HENBY vm. 451
Buckingham compares his lot with that of his father Hemry, who
waa also betrayed by a servant, but was not, like the speaker, tried
by his peers (U. I 107-111 ; 118-123).
After the desertion of his troops (p. 404 above), Henry Duke of
Buckingham
[EoL iii 743/2/49. Halle, 394.] conueied himselfe into the ^^^^
house of Humfireie Banaster, his seniant, beside Shrewesburie ; hS'^^^I^S?^
whome he had tenderlie brought yp, and whome he aboue all men
loued, fauoured, and trusted : now not doubting but that in his
extreame necessitie he should find him faithfull, secret, and
trustie; . . *
[HoL ill 744/i/So. HcUle, 395.] Humfreie Banaster (were it ^|w|^
more for feare of life and losse of goods, or allured & prouoked by
the auaricious desire of the thousand pounds) ^ . . . bewraied his
guest and maister to lohn Mitton, then shiriffe of Shropshire ; . • *
Contrasting his treatment by his late sovereign and present King,
Buckingham notes that Henry YII. had restored him to his honours,
but Henry Vlll. deprived him of life and all which belonged to it (11.
112-118}.
In the first Parliament of Henry YIL (November, 1485),
[Hoi. iii 763/I/2S. Halle, 424.] Edward Stafibrd, eldest
Sonne to Henrie late duke of Buckingham, he [Henry VH.] ^Sm
restored to his name, dignitie, & possessions^ which by king irf* dukedom
Richard were confiscat and atteinted. >»»>•]
When Buckingham and his Train have departed, the two gentlemen
resume their discourse. The Second Gentleman asks (11. 147-149) :
Did you not of late dayes heare
A buzzing, of a Separation 148
Betweene the King and Elatherine 1
1. Yes, but it held not :
For when the King once heard it, out of anger
He sent command to the Lord Mayor straight
To stop the rumor, and allay those tongues 152
That durst disperse it.
In the Summer of 1527 *
1 See p. 404 above.
* On June 2, 1627, news of the sacking of Borne reached Windsor. On
July 3, Wolsey, who had been appointed aoibassador to France, paeeed through
London. — HaUe, 727, 728. Between these dates occurs mention in HaUe (728)
of the rumour touching Henry's marriage, prefaced by the Words: "This
season began a fame in London that the kmges confessor," &c.
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people 1
undDg
the
of
452 XHL HENBY YHI.
[ffoL ill 897/1/65. ffalU, 728.] rose a secret brute in London
Tiuunfft that the kings confessor, doctor Longland, and dinerse other great
hnmgktim clcrks, had told Uie king that the marriage betweene him and the
ladie Ejttharine, late wife to his brother prince Arttinr, was not
lawfdll : whererpon Uie king should sne a dinorse, and marrie the
dochesse of Alanscm, sister to the French king, at the towne of
Calis, this snnmier : and that the yiconnt Rochford had brought
^u7ib|Mto with him Uie picture of the said ladie. The king was offended
p'v^'^^l^ widi diose tales, and sent for sir Thomas Seimor, maior of Uie
citie of London, secretlie charging him to see that the people
oeassed from such talka
The Second Gentleman replies (IL 153-161) :
2. But that slander, Siri
Is found a truth now : for it growes agen
Fresher than e're it was ; and held for certaine
The King will venture at it. Either the Gardinall, 156
Or some about him neere, haue, out of malice
To the good Queene, possest him with a scruple
That will vndoe her : to confirme this too,
Cardinall Gampeius is arriu'd, and lately ; 16#
As all thinke, for this busines.
1. Tis the Cardinall ;
And meerelj to reuenge him on the Emperour,
For not bestowing on him, at his asking,
The Archbishopricke of Toledo, this is purposed. 164
In the first of the ensuing paragraphs Holinshed records — ^as though
it were a suspicion generally entertained — Polydore Yergil's unfounded
assertion (685/9) ^bat Wolsey was the author of Henry's matrimonial
scruple:
[ffol. iii. 9O6/2/24.] Te haue heard how the people talked a
little before the cardinals going ouer into France, the last yeare,
Doctor long- that the king was told by doctor Longland^ bishop of lincolne, and
?^AmSdttie ^^^^'^ ^^^ ^ marriage with queene Katharine could not be
g^^,<^ good nor lawfulL The truth is, that, whether this doubt was first
"■"^^^ mooned by the cardinall, or by the said Longland, being the kings
confessor, the king was not onelie brought in doubt, whether it
was a lawfull marriage or no ; but also determined to haue the
case examined, cleered, and adiudged by learning, law, and
whynuear^ suflicient authoritio. The cardinall verelie was put in most blame
iutptettd u for this scruple now cast into the kings conscience, for the hate he
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XIII. HENBY vni. 453
bare to the emperor, bieause he would not grant to him the arch- J|mvw*»m«
bishoprike of Toledo, for the which he was a suter. And therefore ««'»*«^-
he did not onelie procure the king of England to ioine in freend-
ship with the French king, but also sought a diuorse betwixt the ^^^
king and the queene,^ that the king might haue had in marriage ^!^^
the duchesse of Alanson, sister vnto the French king: and (as Sl^S?'
some haue thought) he trauelled in that matter with the French ^^n^r.
king at Amiens, but the duchesse would not giue eare thereynto.^
But howsoeuer it came about that the king was thus troubled ^^^jf*^
in conscience concerning his manage, this followed, that, like a
wise & sage prince, to haue the doubt cleerelie remooued, he
called togither the best learned of the realme ; which were of SlilS!!tou
seuerall opinions. Wherfore he thought to know the truth by iJu^^Mmt
indifferent iudges, least peraduenture the Spaniards, and other umekingku
also in fauour of the quecne, would sale, that his owne subiects
were not indifferent iudges in this behalfe. And therefore he
wrote his cause to Rome, and also sent to all the yniuersities in
Italic and France, and to the great clearkes of all christendome,
to know their opinions, and desired the court of Rome to send
into his realme a legat, which should be indifferent, and of a
great and profound iudgement, to heare the cause debated.
At whose request the whole consistorie of the college of
Rome sent thither Laurence Campeius, a preest cardinall, a oampeiut
man of great wit and experience,* . . . and with him was sngiand.
^ Polyd. Verg. does not say that Wolsey's revenge was to counsel Henry's
divorce, but asserts that the Cardinal wanted a Queen whose disposition
resembled his own, since Katharine, although she had done him no harm,
'*eius . . . malos oderat mores, quos ut continentia emendaret, identidem
benign^ monebat.*' — 685/i2.
* Wolsey was ambassador to France in July — September, 1527. — HaUs,
728-733. Margaret Duchess of Alen(^n married Henry King of Navarre in
January, 1527.— Fen. State PP., IV. 7, 17. These dates are irreconcilable
with Pdyd, Verges supposition ifi^lji) that Wolsey endeavoured while at
Amiens to arrange a marriage between Henry and Margaret.
* Cp. Wolsey's praise of the course which Heniy took in regard to
Katharme (II. il 90-97) :
" The Spaniard, tide by blood and fistuour to her,
Must now confesse, if they haue any goodnesse,
The Tryall iust and Noble. All the Clerkes
gmeane the learned ones) in Christian Kinsdomes
aue their free v(^ces : Rome, the Nurse of Iudgement,
Inuited by your Noble selfej hath sent
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454
Xm. HENRY YUL
^iS3
KAthuine
tohftTetlM
baftekrki
iorlMr
eoanML]
ioined in commission the cardinall of Yorke and l^at of
England.^
This cardinall came to London in October,' and did intimate
both to the king & queene the cause of his comming: which
being knowne, great talke was had thereof.
Act IL sc. ii. — I find no historical authority for the letter (11. 1 — 10)
which the Lord Chamberlain is reading as he enters. After 1. 73 the
Oardinals enter and have a priyate audience of Henry. Wolsey
assumes that E^atharine is not to be denied what
A Woman of lesse Place might aske by Law : 112
SchoUers allowed freely to argue for her.
JTm. I, and the best she shall haue ; and my fauour
To him that does best : God forbid els ! . . .
We learn from Halle (756) that, after Christmas 1528, and tUl
Easter 1529, ''was none other thing commoned of but ondy of the
kinges manage."
[Hoi. iiL 907/1/2. HcUle, 756.] And bicause the king meant
nothing bnt yprightlie therein, and knew well that the queene
was somewhat wedded to hir owne opinion, and wished that she
should do nothing without counsell, he bad hir choose the best
clearks of his realme to be of hir counsell, and licenced them to
doo the best on hir part that they could, according to the truth.
Addressing Wolsey, Henry says (IL 115-117) :
Cardinall,
Frethee call Gardiner to me, my new Secretary:
I find him a fit fellow.
Henry and Gardiner go aside and converse in whispers. Drawing
WoIseVs attention to the King's new secretary, Campeggio asks (IL
122, 123) :
Camp, My Lord of Yorke, was not one Doctor Pace
In this mans place before him 1
One g^enerall Tongue vnto ys, this good man,
This lust and learned Priest, Cardnall Campeius "; . . .
Wifh "the Clerkes . . . Christian Eingdomes** cp. "profound derkes . • .
all christendome " (p. 479 below).
^ In II. ii. 104-107, Campeggio tenders to Henry the
..." Commission ; by whose vertue,
The Court of Rome commanding^ you, my Lord
Cardinall of Yorke, are ioyn*d with me their Seruant
In the vnpartiall iudging of this Businesse."
* Campeggio had his first audience of Henry on October 22, 162S,— Calendar
(Tfeik rilL), IV. il p. 2100 (cp. no. 4879, p. 2111).
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XIIL HENEY VnL 455
Wol. Yes, he was.
Camp, Was he not held a learnt man t
WoL Yes, surely. 124
Camp, Beleeue me, there's an ill opinion spread, then,
Euen of joor selfe. Lord OardinalL
Wol. How! of me?
Camp, They will not sticke to say, you enuide him ;
And, fearing he would rise, (he was so vertuous,) 128
Kept him a forraigne man still ; which so greeu'd him,
That he ran mad, and dide.
About the year 1529,^
[Hoi, ill. 907/ 1/20. Folyd. Verg. 687/20.] the king receiued gj^jj
into fauour doctor Stephan Gardiner, whose seniice he vsed in ^^•
matters of great secrecie and weight, admitting him in the roome Doeu^paee
of doctor Pace, the which, being continuallie abroad in ambassages, ^i^uT^^
and the same oftentimes not much necessarie, by the cardinals
appointment,^ at length he tooke such greefe therewith, that he
fell out of his right wits.
Act II. sc. iii. — ^In this scene the Lord Chamberlain announces to
Anne Boleyn that
the Elings Maiesty 60
Commends his good opinion of you to you ; ' and
Doe's purpose honour to you no lesse flowing
Then Marchionesse of Pembrooke ; to which Title,
A Thousand pound a yeare, Annuall support, 64
Out of his Qrace he addes.
Halle (790) was Holinshed's authority for the following passage :
[Hoi, iii. 928/2/30.] On the first of September [, 1632,] being Tktuau
sundaie, the K, being come to Windsor, created the ladie Anne Jjjjjjy^
Bullongne marchionesse of Penbroke, and gaue to hir one yjJj^JJl^
thousand pounds land by the yeare.
Act II. sc. iv. — ^In Act II., sc. ii., 11. 138-141, Henry directs that
the trial of his marriage shall be held at Black-Eriars, and he bids
1 After November 17, 1529, Gardiner is spoken of as Henry's " newly made
Secretary."— IToWe, 760.
* Foxe says (ii. 963/i) : " But as the laude, and the renowmed prayse of
men, for their worthy proweses, commonly in this world neuer go vnaccom-
panyed without some priuye canker of enny & disdayne folow^g after, so the
singular industry of Pacie, as it wanne much commendation with many, so it
could not anoyde the secret styn^ of some Serpentes. For the conceaued
hatred of this Cardinall so kyndled against him that he neuer ceased till first
he brought him out of the kynges fauour, and at last also, out of his perfect
iwittes."
• of yoxi^to you'\ F. to ym* Pope, ofyaa Capell.
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456 XIII. HENRY VIIL
Wolsey see that the place be ** f umish'd." Scene iv. opens with the
ensuing stage direction :
Trumpets, Sennet, and Comets.
Enter two Vergers, with short siluer wands ; next them, two Scribes,
in the habite of Doctors ; after them, the Bishop of Canterbury
alone ; after him, the Bishops of lincolne, Ely, Bochester, and
S. Asaph: Next them, with some small distance, foUowes a
Gentleman bearing the Purse, with the great Seale, and a
Cardinals Hat : Then two Priests, bearing each a Siluer Crosse :
Then a Ctentleman Ysher bareheaded, acoompanyed with a
Sergeant at Armes, bearing a Siluer Mace : Then two Gentlemen
bearing two great Siluer Pillers : After them, side by side, the
two Cardinals; two Noblemen, with the Sword and Mace.
The King takes place vnder the Cloth of State. The two
Cardinalls sit vnder him as Judges. The Queene takes place
some distance from the King. The Bishops place themselues on
each side the Court, in manner of a Consistory ; Below them,
the Scribes. The Lords sit next the Bishops. The rest of the
Attendants stand in conuenient order about the Stage.
The arrangements made for the trial are thus described :
Ami4>jU0. ^ff^i III 907/1/27.] The place where the cardinals should sit,
i!mi^ to heare the cause of matrimonie betwixt the king and the queene,
[Ahauat was ordeiued to be at the Blacke friers in London : where in the
Black-Frian
^^J»^ great hall was preparation made of seats, tables, and other fiir-
^■^^1 niture, according to such a solemne session and roiall apparance.
AW, Fi.tx, The"^ court was platted in tables and benches in manner of a con-
iJ: ^^* sistoriey one seat raised higher for the iudges to sit in. Then as
2u*jttS5S]^ it were in the midst of the said iudges, aloft, aboue them three
pSinagtcf degrees high, was a cloth of estate hanged, with a chaire roiall
hupiac$. Tnder the same, wherein sat the king; and, besides him, som^
distance from him sat the queene, and ynder the iudges feet sat
the scribes and other officers: the cheefe scribe was doctor
Steeuens,^ and the caller of the court was one Cooke of
Winchester.
Then before the king and the iudges, within the court, sat the
^ The . . .fimiished (pp. 466, 457).] Stow, 912 (Cavendish, i 147).
* Stephen Gardiner. "The chief scribe there was Dr. Stephens, (who was
after Bisnop of Winchester) ; " . . . — Oaveridish, i. 147. As to Gardiner being
known as Stevens or Stev^ see a note in Cavendish (2oc cU,). Brewer eays
(v.. 245, note 1) : " Gardiner alwavs writes his own name Steven Gardiner, but
Wolsey and others call him by his Christian name Stevens (t. e. StephanusX
Steven or Stevens being the same name."
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Xm. HENRY vnL 457
archbishop of CaDturburie, Warham, and all the other bishops.
Then stood at both ends within, the counsellors learned in the
spirituall laws, as well the kings as the queenes. The doctors of
law for the king . • • had their canuenierU roomes. Thus was the
court furnished.
In obedience to Henry's command, that she should ''choose the
best dearks of his realme to be of hir counsell" (p. 454 above), Katharine
TJuqtume
[ffol. iiL 907/1/9. Salle, 756.] elected William Warham, Jji^^
archbishop of Canturburie, and Nicholas West, bishop of Elie, ^^^'^
doctors of the laws ; and lohn Fisher, bishop of Rochester, and
Henrie Standish, bishop of St Assaph, doctors of diuinitie ; and
manie other doctors and well learned men, which for suertie, like
men of great learning, defended hir cause, as farre as learning
might mainteine and hold it yp.
Part of the stage direction — "a Gentleman bearing . . . great
Siluer Fillers" — ^is taken from a description of Wolsey's "order in
going to Westminster hall dailie in the tearme."
[ffol. iiL 921/1/63. Stow, 844.] Before him was borne, first f;Jj2^^
the broad scale of England, and his cardinals hat, by a lord, or ^^^^Srf^
some gentleman of worship, right solemnlie : &, as soone as he ^^
was once entered into his chamber of presence, his two great
crosses were there attending to be borne before him : then cried
the gentlemen yshers, going before him bare headed, and said:
"On before, my lords and maisters, on before; make waie for
"my lords grace!" Thus went he downe through the hall with
a sergeant of armes before him, bearing a great mace of siluer,
and two gentlemen carieing two great pillers of siluer.
After Wolsey had been appointed legate,
[Hoi, iii 92O/1/14. * Stow, 841.] had he his two great crosses [Woteey*!
of siluer, the one of his archbishoprike, the other of his legacie, i»«««»-i
borne before him whither soeuer he went or rode, by two of the
tallest priests that he could get within the realme.
When all who have entered are in their places, Wolsey says (II. iv.
1—10) :
Car. WhU*st our commiasion from Home is read,
Let silence be commanded /
King. What's the need 1
It hath already publiquely bene read.
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458
xnL HENBY vm.
andeusau
caUtaUUo
rKAtharine
knelt at
foet.]
And on all sides th' Authority alloVd ; 4
You may, then, spare that time.
Car, Bee't so. — ^Proceed !
Scri. Say, *^ Hen/ry, K. qf Englcmd^ come into the Caurt/^^
Crier. *^ Henry, King qf JEngland," d;c.
King. Heere!
Scribe, Say, ^^ Katherine, Queene of England, come into the Court P*
Crier. " Catherine, Queene o/£ngkmd,** dee,
[The Queene makes no answer, rises out of her Chaire, goes
about the Court, comes to the King, and kneeles at his
Feete; then speakee.
On June 21, 1629, Henry and Katharine appeared personally before
theCourt.^
[Eol. iil 907/1/50. Stow, 912.] The iudges commanded silence
whitest their commission was read, both to the court and to the
people assembled. That doone the scribes commanded the crier
to call the king by the name of ^'king Henrie of Engtand, come
**into the court,'^ &c. With that the king answered and said,
** Heere /" Then called he the queene by the name of "Katharine,
queene of England, come into the court," &c. Who made no ansioer,
but rose out of Mr chaire.
And, bicause shoe could not come to the king directlie, for
the distance seuered betweene them, shee went ahout by the court,
and came to the king, kneeling downe at his feet, to whome she
said in effect as followeth : '
I exhibit in parallel columns Katharine's speech as it appears in
Holinshed, and the version of it given in Henry VIIL, Act II. sc iv.
11. 13-57 :
Quitne
Katharinu
[Hot, iii. 907/1/63. Stow, 912.]
"Sir** (quoth she) "/ desire you
'' to doo me iustice amd right, and
Sir, I desire you do me lUght and
Justice;
And to bestow your piUy on me : for
I am a most poors Woman, and a
Stranger,
1 The Court met for the first time on June 18, 1529, and adjourned to the
2l8t Katharine was present on the 18th, but Henry was on that day repre-
sented by proxies.— CWetwfcw (Hen, VIIL), IV. iii. 5694, 5707.
* This speech was taken by Stow from Cavendish (i 149-152). According
to HaUe (757), " the Quene departed without any thing saiyng.** We learn,
however, from a letter of Campeggio that on June 21 — ^the day on which he
was writing — Katharine " interposed a very full anpeal and supplication to the
Pope and withdrew ; but first she knelt there oefore the seat of judraient|
although the King twice raised her up, asked permission of the Bang that as
it was a question which concerned the honour and conscience of herself and of
the house of Spain, he would grant her full permission to write and send
messengers to [the Emperor] ana to his HolinesB,*' . . . — Brewer, ii. 491.
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xin. HENRY vm.
459
''take some pUie vpon iM^for I
" am a poors woman, cmd a stranger ,
'^home out of your dominion;
**hauing heere no indifferent coun-
** sell, & lesse assvrcmce o/freend-
'* ship, Alas, sir, [in] wluit ?ume I
" offended you, or what occasion of
"displeasure haue I shewed you;
''intending thus to put ms from
"you after this sort 1 I take Gk)d
"to my iudge, / hatbe heene to you
"a true <£s hrnnhle w\fe, euer cofir
**/ormahle to your wiUsjad pleasure;
"that neuer contraried or gaine-
'* said any thing thereof, and, being
" alwaies contented with all things
"wherein you had any delight,
"whether little or much, without
"grudge or displeasure, I loued
"for your sake all them whome
"you loued, whether they were
"my freends or enimies.
"/ hav^e heene your wife these
" twmtie yeares and more, <fe you
" ha/us had by me diuerse children.
" j[^ there be anie iust cause that
"you can alleage against me,
"either of dishonestie, or matter
"lawfull to put me from you, I
"am content to depart to my
" shame and rebuke : and if there
" be none, then I praie you to let
"me haue iustice at your hand.
" The king your father was in his
"time of excellent wit, and the
"hmg qf Spaine, my father, Fer-
" dirumdo, was reckoned one of the
"wisest princes that reigned in
'* Spaine manie yeares h^ore. It
"is not to he doubted, but that they
"had gatliered as wise counaeZlors
" YJito them qf euerie realme, as to
"their wisedoms they thought
"meet, who deemed the marriage
Borne out qf your Dominions ; hauing 16 and vUhU
heere tpetekin
No Judge indigermd, nor no more ^S!to!wL
assurance
0/equall Friendahifi and Proceeding.
A MS, Sir,
In what haue I offended you f what
cause ridetlreyou
Hath my behauiour giuen to your 20 to do me
displeasure, teShk^^t
That thus you should proceede to put J^^d
me off, yoal]
And take your good Grace from me f
Heauen witnease,
/ hmie hens to you a true and hurrible
W^e,
At all times to your wiU conformable ; 24 P J*?JJj**^
Euer in feare to kindle your Dislike, tife!]
Yea, subiect to your Countenance;
Glad, or sorry,
As I saw it iucUn'd ! When was the
houre
I euer contradicted your Desire, 28
Or made it not mine too t Or which
of your Friends
Haue I not stroue to loue, although
I knew
He were mine Enemy I what Friend
of mine,
That had to him deriu'd your Anger, 82
did I
Continue in my Likiug t nay, gaue
notice Cm Uried
He was from thence dlscharg'd t Sir, S^^t!^^
call to minde, yean.]
That / haue heene your Wife, in this
Obedience,
Vpward of twenty yeares, and haue 86 [if there be
Dene blest a real caiue
With many Children hy you : if, in S^^ i
the course ^ willrnibmit;
And processe of this time, you can ifnot^let
report, Pt?*^?
And proue it too, against mine Juaucej
Honor aught,
My bond to Wedlocke, or my Loue 40
and Dutie,
Against your Sacred Person, in God's jj^ n^gg^u
name iuttvuth the
Tume me away I and let the fowl'st ' jy^"^
Contempt ^ IkthSiwere
Shut doore ypon me, and so giue me vp wise men,
To the sharpest kinds of Justice! 44 and they
Please you, Sir, ^^^
The King, your Father, was reputed SwSlj
for
A Prince most Prudent, ^ an excellent
And vnmatch'd Wit, and ludgement :
Ferdinand,
My Father, King qf Spaine, was 48
reckon* d one
The wisest Prince, that there had
reign d, by many
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460
Xm. HENKY VIIL
ri desire a
leepitetUl
I can hare
coonselfirom
my friends
in Spain.]
^ betweene you and me good and
** lawfully &c, IVherqforet I hum-
'*blie desire you to spare me, viUill
"/ may know what counsell my
^^/reends in Spaine will aduertise
" me to take, and, if you will not,
**tlien your pleasure be/ulfiUed,**
A yeare before : U is not to he
question'd,
TmU they had gathered 9k vnseCouneeU
to them
Of every Realme, that did debate this 52
BusiDesse,
Who deerrCd onr Marriage laufuiU
Wherrfore I humbly
Beseech yoti. Sir, to spareme, till I may
Be, by my Friends in Spaine, adois'd ;
whose CJounsaile
I will implore. jlJ^noe,i'th'nameofGod, 66
Four pleasure be fulfilTd /
Wolsey and Campeggio object to a delay of the trial (11. 67-68).
Katharine ^ then brings an accusation against Wolsey (IL 75-84) :
I do beleeue
(Induc'd by potent Circumstances) that 76
You are mine Enemy ; and make my Challengei
You shall not be my Judge : for it is you
Haue blowne this Coale betwixt my Lord, and me ;
(which Gods dew quench ! ) Therefore, I say againe, 80
I vtterly ahhorre, yea, from my Soule,
Refuse you for my ludge ; whom, yet once more,
I hold my most malicious Foe, and thinke not
At aU a Friend to truth !
Wolsey denies the charge (IL 84-105) ; but Katharine is unmoved
(11.118-121):
I do refuse you for my ludge ; and heere,
Before you all. Appeals vnto the Pope,
To bring my whole Cause 'fore his Holinesse, 120
And to he iudg*d by him /
The source of this part of scene iv. (11. 68-121) is the following
passage, derived by Holinshed from Polydore Vergil (688/4) •
^ In November, 1528, the two legates visited Katharine at Bridewell, and
told her that they had been appointed judges of the l^ality of her marriage.
After maintaining its lawfulness, she said : " ' But of thys trouble I onely may
thanke you, my lorde Cardinall of Torke ; for because I haue wondered at
your hygh pride & vainglory, and abhorre your volmpteous life and abhomin-
able Lechery, and litle refl;ard your presumpteous power and tiranny, therfore
of malice you haue kindled thys tyre and set tnys matter a broche ; & in
especial for y« great malice that you beare to my nephew the Emperour, whom
I perfectly know you hate worse then a Scorpiwi, because he would not satisfie
your ambicion and make you Pope by force ; and therfore you haue eayed
more then once that you would trouble him and hys frendes, and you haue
kept hym true promyse, for, of al hys warres and vezacions, he only may
thanke you. and as for me, hys poore aunte and kynswoman, what trouble you
put me to oy this new found aoubt, Qod knoweth, to whom I commyt my
cause accordmg to the truth.* The cardinall of Yorke excused himself, saying,
that he was not the begynner nor the mouer of the doubte, & that it was sore
agaynst h^s wyl that euer y* manage should come in question ; but he sayd
that, by his superior, the Bishop of Rome, he was deputed as a ludge to heare
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xm. HENRY vin. 461
[Hoi iii. 908/I/3S.] Heere is to be noted, that the queene in Thtqwetu
presence of the whole court most greeuouslie accused the cardinall ^^^
of yntruth, deceit, wickednesse, & malice ; which had sowne dis-
sention betwixt hir and the king hir husband: and therefore
openlie protested, that she did vtterlie dbhorre, refuse, and forsake
such e^ Judge, as was not onelie a most malicious enimie to hir, but
also a manifest aduersarie to all right and iustice ; and therewith
did she appeals vnto the pope, committing hir whole cause to he skeappOith
judged of him.
Katharine's refusal of Wolseyas her judge (11. 118-121) is succeeded
hj this stage direction : " She Curtsies to the King, and offers to
depart." C^unpeggio draws attention to her movement, whereupon
Henry cries (1. 125) :
Kin. Call her againe I
Crier. Koithervne, Q. of England, come into the Court t
Qent, Ush. Madam, you are cold backe.
Que, What need you note it 1 pray you, keep your way :
When you are cald, retume ! (Now the Lord helpe.
They veze me past my patience !) Piay you, passe on 1
I unUnot tarry; no, nor euer more
Ypon this businesse my appearance make
In any of their Courts I
[Exeunt Queene, and her Attendants.
In the play Katharine's departure is preceded by her dispute with
Wolsey (11. 68-121), but, after Cavendish's report of her speech to
Henry, the passage which forms my next excerpt immediately ensues :
[Hoi iii. 907/2/21. Stow, 913.] With that she arose vp, [KathMine
making a lowe curtesie to the king, and departed from thence. S^eSf
The king, being aduertised that shoe was readie to go out of
the house, commanded the crier to call hir againe; who called hir TKeqmiM
deparimg
by these words: ** Ksttharine, queene of England, come into the ^^^
''couH!" With that quoth maister Griffith,^ ''Madame, you be ^J^
"called againe." **0n, on" (quoth she) "it maketh no matter, /
''urUl not tarrie, go on you/r waies!'* And thus she departed,
the cause, which he sware on his professyon to heare indifferently ; hut, what-
fioeuer was said, she heleued hym not, and so the Legates toke their leaue of
her & departed. These wordes were spoken in lYenche, and written by
Cardinall Campeius secretary, (which was present,) and by me translated as
nere as I could." — HaUe^ 755.
^ Cavendish says (i. 152) that Katharine *' took her way straight out of the
house, leaning (as she was wont always to do) upon the arm of her General
Receiver, called Master QrifGith.''
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462 XIIL HENRY VIIL
without anie farther answer at that time, or anie other, and neuer
would appeare after in anie court.
When Elatharine is gone Henry doses a speech in her praise bj
saying (IL 141-143) :
Shee*8 Noble borne ;
And, like her true Nobility, she ha's
Carried her selfe towards me.
Wolsey then addresses Henry (IL 143-149) :
WoL Most gracious Sir,
In humblest manner / require your Highnes, 144
That it shall please you to decU^e, in hearing
Of all these eares, (for where I am rob'd and bound,
There must I be ynloos'd, although not there
At once and fully satisfide,) whether euer / 148
Did broach this busines to your Highness ; • • •
I continue to quote excerpts derived by Holinshed from Stow's
paraphrase of Cavendish :
[Hoi iii 907/2/33. Stow, 913.] The king, perceiuing she was
departed, said these words in effect: ''For as much" (quoth he)
''as the queene is gone, I will in hir absence declare to you all,
l^j^' "that shoe hath beene to me as true, as obedient, and as conform-
^*****'*°^^ "able a wife, as I would wish or desire. She hath all the vertuous
" qualities that ought to be in a woman of hir dignitie, or in anie
"other of a baser estate ; she is also surelie a noble woman borne;
" hir conditions will well declare the same." ^
nuear- With that quoth Wolseie the cardinall : ''Sir, I most humblie
dinaUrf
jj^^gjto «« require your highnesse, to declare before all this audience, whether
jJjgS^ " / haue beene the cheefe and first moouer of this matter vn^ yotcr
SSST^* "maiestie or no, for I am greatlie suspected heerein."
Henry's oration (11. 155-209 ; 217-230) and the intervening answer
of Longland Bishop of Lincoln (11. 211-217) follow Wolsey's request :
Kin. My Lord CardincUl,
I doe excuse you ; yea, vpon mine Honour, 156
1 On November 8, 1528, at Bridewell, Henry spoke thus of Katharine to
an assemblage of nobles, judges, counsellors, and others whose attendance had
been commanded : ** I assure you all that, beside her noble parentage of the
whiche she is discended, (as you weL know,) she is a woman of moete gentienes,
of moste humilitie and buzumnes ; yea, and of al good qualities apperteignynge
to nobilitie she is wythoute comparyson, as 1 this .xx. yeres almoste haue had
the true experiment ; so that yf i were to mary agayne, if the manage myght
be ^ood, I would surely chose her aboue al other women." — HaUe, 756. In
II. IV. 137-139, Henry praises her '< sweet gmUene$se,*^ meekness, and obedience.
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xni. HBNEY vm. 463
I free you from't ; . . .
But will 70U be more iustifi'de t Tou euer
Haue wii^'d the sleeping of this busines ; . • •
My Conscienoe first receiu'd a tendemes,
Scruple, and pricke, on certavne Speeches vtter'd
By th* Bishop qf Bayon^ then French Ernbasaador ; 172
Who had beene hither sent on the debating
A ^ Marriage 'twixt the Duke of Orlea^fusey and
Our Daughter Mary : rth'Progresse of this busines,
Ere a determinate resolution, hee 176
(I meane the Bishop) did require a respite ;
Wherein he might the King his Lord aduhfisey
Whether our Daughter were legitimate,
Bespecting this our Ma/rriage with the Dowager, 180
Sometimes our Brothers Wife. This " respite " shooke
The bosome^ o/my Conscience, enter'd me,
Yea, with a splitting ^ power, and made to tremble
The region of my Breast ; which forc'd such way, 184
That many maz'd considerings did throng,
And prest in with this Caution. First, me thought
I stood not in the smile of Heauen ; who had
Commanded Nature, that my Ladies wombe, 188
If it conceiu'd a male-child by me, should
Doe no more Offices of life to't then
The Graue does to th' dead : for her Male Issue
Or di^de where they were made, or shortly c^fier 192
This uH)rld had ayr'd them. Hence I tooke a thought,
This was a Judgement on me ; that my Elingdome
(Well worthy the best Heyre o'th* World) should not
Be gladded in't by me : then foUowes, that 196
I weigh'd the da/nger which my EealmeB stood in
By this my issues faile ; and that gaue to me
Many a groaning throw. Thus hulling in
The wild Sea of my Conscience, I did steere 200
Toward this remedy, whereupon we are
Now present heere together ; that's to say,
/ meant to rectifie my Conscience (which
I then did feele full sicke, and yet not well) 204
By all the Beuerend Fathers of the Land,
Ajid Doctors learn'd. — ^First, I began in priuate
With you, my Lord qf Lincokie ; you remember
How vnder my oppression I did reeke, 208
When I first mou'd you.
B. Lin, Very well, my Liedge.
Kin* I haue spoke long : be pleas'd your selfe to say
How f arre you satisfide me.
Lin, So please your Highnes,
The question did at first so stagger me, 212
» A] Rowe (ed. 2). And F.
* bottom] Theobald. Cp. next excerpt from Hoi. » splitting] F2. spitting F.
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464 Xni. HENRY VHL
(Bearing a State of mighty moment in*t,
And consequence of dread,) that I committed
The daringst Counsailo which I had, to doubt ;
And did entreate your Highnes to this course^ 216
Which you are running heere.
Kin. / then mov!d you,
My Lord qf Canierbury ; and got your leaue
To make this present Summons : vnsolicited
I left no Beuerend Person in this Court ; 220
But by particular consent proceeded
Vnder yowr hands and SecUes : therefore, goe on ;
For no dislike i'th' world against the person
Of the good Queene, but the sharpe thorny points 224
Of my alleadg^ reasons, driue' ^ this forward :
Proue but our Mctrriage lawf uU, by my Life
And Kingly Dignity, we are contented
To weare our mortall State to come with her, 228
(Katherine our Queene,) before the primest Creature
That's Parragon'd o'th' World !
With these lines compare the speeches of Henry and Longland, as
they appear in Holinshed :
S^JShtte Wol ui. 907/2/46. Stow, 914.] *'My lord cardinaU" (quoth
Snemri the king) " /can well eoccuse you in this matter, marrie " (quoth he)
tobe ^ ''you haue beene rather against me in the tempting heereo^ than
*' a setter forward or moouer of the same. The speciall cause, that
''mooued me vnto this matter, was a certeine scrupulositie that
** pricked my conscience, rpon certeine words spoken at a time
" Jy the bishop * of Baton, the French arnbdssador,^ who had beene
** hither sent, rpon the debating of a marriage to be concluded
"betweene our daughter the ladie Marie, and the duke of Orleancf,
*' second son to the king of France.
"Upon the resolution and determination whereof, he desired
*'respit to aduertise the king his maister thereof, whether our
™cc" ** daughter Marie should be legitimate in respect of this my
SSSSSSd.] *' marriage with this woman, being sometimes my brothers wife.
Tfukinff a Which words, once conceiued within the secret bottome of my
^iSi^ *' conscience, ingendered such a scrupulous doubt, that my con-
1 drive"] Pope, drittes F
* time by the bishop^ Cavendish, time token it was, by the bishop Hoi. and
• A mistake. The ambassador to whom these words were ofl&cially attributed
was Gabriel de Grammont, Bishop of Tarbes.
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XDL HENEY VIIL 465
"science was incontinentlie accombred, vexed, and disquieted; JJ^^S^,
"whereby I thought my selfe to be greatlie in danger of God's ««-'*v«.
"indignation. Which appeared to be (as me seemed) the rather,
" for that he sent ys no issue male, and all such issuer male, as my said ^ ^ ^
•^ [He had no
"wife had by me, died incontinent after they came mto the world; iMieiwue.]
" so that I doubted the great displeasure of Qod in that behalfe.
"Thus, my conscience being tossed in the wanes of a scrupulous
" mind, and partlie in despaure to haue [p, 908] anie other issue than
" I had alredie by this ladie now my wife, it behooued me further to
"consider the state of this realme, and the danger it stood in for SSTin*^
"lacke of a prince to succeed me. /thought it good in release of uSfSl"
''the weightie burthen of my weakectm^cieTice, . . . to attempt the ra^«d
"law therin, whether I may lawfiillie take another wife more
"lawfiillie, ... not for anie displeasure or misliking of the
" queenes person and age ; with whome I would be as well consented
*'to continue, Hour mariage may stand with the laws of God, as
"with anie woman aliue.
" In this point consisteth all this doubt that we go about now
"to trie by the learning, wisedome, and iudgement of you our
"prelats and pastors of all this our realme and dommions, now
"heere assembled for that purpose; . . . Wherein, after that I
"perceiued my conscience so doubtfull, I mooued it in confession
" to you, my Lord of Lincolne, then ghostlie father. And, for so S^SSSw
" much as then you your selfe were in some doubt, you mooued me S l^^*^
" to aske the counsell of all these my lords : wherevpon / mooued Si&im^
"yow, my lord of Canturburie, first to haue your licence, in as much tojritfrom
"as you were metropolitane, to put this matter in question, and JJJ,|^
"so I did of all you, my lords : to which you granted vnder your
'* scales, heere to be shewed."
At the close of Henry's speech Gampeggio says (U. 230-235) :
Camyp, So please your Highnes,
The Queene being absent, 'tis a needfull fitnesse,
That we odicmrM this Court tiU further day ; 232
Meane while must be an earnest motion
Made to the Qusene, to call backe her Appeals
She intends vnto bis Holinessa
Holinshed omitted a dispute between Warham and Fisher, which
succeeded the royal speech, and was silenced by Henry.
[Hoi. iiL 9O8/1/33. Stow, 915.] After that the king rose S^o^^j
yp, and the court was adioumed Yntill another daie.
HH
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466 Xin. HENKY VHL
Notwithstanding Elatharine's appeal,
[ffol iii 908/I/4S. Folyd. Verg., 688/1 1.] the legats sat
weekelie, and euerie daie were arguments brought in on both
parts, and proofes alleaged for the ynderstanding of the case, and
IJ^jStooJi still they adsaied if they could by anie meanes procure the queene
appeaT to call backe hir appeale, which she ytterlie refused to doo.
Campeggio's proposal to adjourn is accepted by Henry (L 240), but
not without an aside (11 235-237) :
Kin. I may perceiue
These Cardinals trifle with me : I abhorre 235
This dilatory sloth, and trickes of Home.
Holinshed copied Polydore Yergil's remark (688/14) ^bat the
Thihinc [HoL iii. 9O8/1/50.] king would gladlie haue had an end in
^!uSSi^ the matter, but, when the legats draue time, and determined vpon
"^ no certeine point, he conceiued a suspicion that this was doone
of purpose, that their dooings might draw to none effect or
conclusion.
Act in. sc. L — " Enter Queene and her Women, as at worke." A
Gentleman announces that
the two great Cardinals 16
Wait in the presence.
Queen, Would they speake with me ?
OerU, They wil'd me say so, Madam.
Katharine bids her Gentleman invite them to "come neere " (1. 19) ;
and presently the Cardinals enter.
The court at Black-Eriars closed its sessions in the latter part of
July, 1 529.^ It was opened, as we have seen (p. 458, n. 1 , above) on June
18. Time passed in fruitless discussion, until one day, after the court
had adjourned, Henry's impatience obliged Wolsey and Campeggio to
make a direct appeal to Katharine.^
Wols, Peace to your Highnesse I
Queen. Your Graces find me heere part of a Houswife : 24
I would be all, against the worst may happen.
WTuU are your pleasures with me, reuerent Lords f
WoL May it please you, Noble Madam, to withdraw
Into your priuate Chamber, u)e shall giue you 28
The full ocmse qf our comming.
Queen. Speake it heere :
There's nothing I haue done yet, o' my Conscience^
Deserues a Comer : would all other Women
* • Cardinall Campeins sayd y* they myght not syt after July, tyll October,
all whyche season was a vacacyon in the Courte of Borne, and, their court
beynge a member of the Courte of Rome, they must nedes do the same.*' —
HaXU, 768. « Cavwdish, i. 160, 16L
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Xni. HENEY VIU. 467
Gould speake this with as free a Soule as I doe I 32
My Lords, I care not, (so much I am happy
Aboue a number,) if my actions
Were tri'de by eu'ry tongue, eu'ry eye saw 'em,
Enuy and base opinion set against 'em, 86
I know my life so euen. . . •
Out with It boldly ! . . •
Ccvrd, {Wot] Tanta est erga te mentis integritas, Begina
serenissima, — 41
Queen, 0, good my Lord, no Latin I . • .
Fray, speake in English I
Wolsey replies (11. 64-61) :
We come not by the way of Accusation,
To taint that honour euery good Tongue blessei^
Nor to betray you any way to sorrow ; 66
(You haue too much, good Lady I) but to know
How you stand minded in the waighty difference
Betweene the King amd you ; and to deliuer,
like free and honest men, our iust opinions, 60
And comforts to your ^ cause.
Camp. Most honour'd Madam,
My Lord of Yorke, (out of his Noble nature,
Zeale and obedience he still bore you/r Grace,)
Forgetting, like a good man, your late Censure 64
Both of his truth and him, which was too farre,
Offers, as I doe, in a signe of peace,
His Seruice and his Counsell
"To betray me," Katharine murmurs. Then she addresses the
Cardinals (U. 68-80) :
My Lords, I thanks you both /or your good with ;
Ye speake like honest men ; (pray God, ye proue so !)
But how to make ye sodainXy an Answers,
In such a poynt of weight, so neere mine Honour,
(More neere my Life, I feare,) with my weake wit, 72
And to such men of grauity and learning,
Li truth, I know not. / was set at wcrke
Among my Maids ; full Utile (God knowes) looking
Either for such men, or such businesse. 76
For her sake that I haue beene, (for I feele
The last fit of my Greatnesse,) good your Graces,
Let me haue time and Councell for my Cause.
Alas, I am a Woman frendlesse, hopelesse ! 80
Wol. Madam, you wrong the Kings loue with these feares :
Your hopes and friends are infinite.
Queen. In England
But little/or f?jy profit : can you thinks, Lords,
That any English man dare giue me Councell t 84
* your] F2. owk Fi.
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468 xra. HENEY vin.
Or he A laiowne friend, *gamsi his Highnes pUamurey
(Though he be growne so desperate to be honest,)
And Hue & Sulnect f Nay^foTBOoih, my Friends,
They that must weigh out my afflictions, 88
Th^y that r^y trust must grow to, Hue not heere :
They are (as all my other comforts) far hence,
In mine oume Cou/ntrey, Lords.
Quunt [Hoi iiL 9O8/2/2. Stow, 916.] The cardinals being In the
<md Oi queenes chamber of presence, the gentleman usher aduertised the
mUnieSSon V^^^^^ *^** ^^^ cardiuals were come to speake with hir. With
SalS^**** that she rose vp, &, with a skeine of white thred about hir necke,
nxS^ came into hir chamber of presence, where the cardinals were
thSmto attending. At whose comming quoth she, '' What is yourpleeure
^^nw '* toith met" ** ff t^ please your grace " (quoth cardinall Wolseie)
"^ go into yowr priuie chmrAer, we will shew you the cause of our
** comming!' "My lord" (quoth she) "if yee haue anie thing to
^'saie, vpeake U openlie before all these folke ; for I feare nothing
"that yee can sale against me, but that I would all the world
"should heare and see it, and therefore speake your mind.'' Then
(WoiMT began the cardinall to speake to hir in Latine. "Naie, good my
her in ** lord** (quoth she) ** speake to me in Englishr^
[He and "Forsooth" (quoth the cardinall) "good madame, if it please
M^St^ ''yon, we come both to know your mind how yov, are disposed to
mind in "doo in this matter hetweene the king and you, and also to declare
vflsaiu to uio
"OMj^ "secretlie our opinions and counsell vnto you: which we doo
^miMiher.i "^^^1^© ^^^ YQue zeole and obedience we beare rnto your grace.**
TktquMM '^ ^y ^d" (quoth she) "J tJianJce you for your good tvill; hut to
222n1«^ *^m4ike you answer in your request I cannot so suddenlie, for / was
vtightua^ "set among my maids ai worke, thinking full little of anie such
? iSehid "^^^^f wherein there needeth a longer deliberation, and a better
"head tEan mine to make answer : for I need counsell in this case
jnjwtthiier ^^jj^ji^ touchcth me so neere, & for anie counsell or freendship
"that I can find in England, they are not for my profit. What^
[siwsaid ^'thinke you, my lords, will anie Englishman counsell me, or he
^ $peake tome in English, for I can (I thanke Ood) both gpmke and vuder-
stand English, although I vnd^^iand some latin,] Stow., om. HoL Cp. Katha-
rine's words (IIL i. 43, 44) :
"I am not such a Truant since my comming,
As not to know the Langnage I hane liu'd in ": . • •
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the
xra. HBNBY vin. 469
^^fremd to me against the Kpngs] pleasure that is his suibiect f ^S^SSi
** Naie, forsooth. And as for my counsell in \rhom I will put my fiends wen
** t9iist, they be rtot here, they be in Spaine in my owns countrie.
''And, my lords, I am a poore woman, lacking wit, to answer ^^
"to anie such noble persons of wisedome as you be, in so weightie «^J«^
" a matter, therefore I praie you be good to me, poore woman,
"destitute of freends here in a forren region," . . .
Gampeggio responds by offering his counsel (IL 93-97) :
Put your maine cause into the King's protection ;
Hee's louing and most gracious : 'twill be much
Both for your Hanotir belter, and your Cause ;
For, if the tryaU qf the Law o'retake ye, 96
You'l part away disgraced.
The object of the Oardinals' mission to Katharine was
[Eol. iii. 9O8/1/70. Stow, 916.] to persuade with hir by theur I^JJJ
wisdoms, and to aduise hir to surrender the whole matter into the ^{^^
kings hands by hir owne consent & will, which should be mrich JmT^*
better to hir honowr, than to stand to the triall of law, and thereby qoesttonto
to be condemned, which should seeme much to hir dishonour.
Katharine's anger is roused by this perfidious advice, but, growing
calm at last, she says, as the scene ends (11. 181, 182) :
Gome, reuerend Fathers,
Bestow yowr Gownceih on me 1
We are not told by Cavendish how Katharine received the legatee'
proposition.* After her appeal, — " I praie you be good to me, poore
woman, destitute of freends here in a forren region," — she added :
[Hoi iii. 9O8/2/41. Stow, 917.] " and your counsell also I will be S&^^
"glad to heare." And therewith she tooke the cardmall [Wolsey] ^^^
by the hand, and led him into hir priuie chamber with the other
cardinall, where they tarried a season talking with the queene.
Act m. sc. ii. — ^Norfolk, Suffolk, " Surrey," and the Lord Chamber-
lain enter. Norfolk says (11. 1-3) :
If you will now vnite in your Complaints,
And force them with a Constancy, the Cardinall
Cannot stand vnder them : . . .
Suffolk explains how Wolsey has forfeited Henry's favour (IL
30-36) :
* Oavendiah says (L 164) that ** we, in the other chamber, miffht sometime
hear the queen speak very loud, but what it was we could not^derstand."
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470 XTTL HENRY VHI.
The Oardinals Letters to the Pope miscarried.
And came to th'eye o'th'Eing : wherein was read,
How that the Cardinall did intreat his Holinesse 32
To stay the Judgement o'th'Diuorce ; for if
It did take place, " I do " (quoth he) " perceiue
*' My King is tangled in affection to
** A Creature of the Queenes, Ladj Anne Bullen.'' 86
After a while Wolsej enters and soliloquizes upon his intention of
uniting Henry to the Duchess of Alen9on,^ for the purpose of prevent-
ing the King's marriage to Anne Boleyn (11. 85-101). Soon Henry
enters and elicits from Wolsey great professions of loyalty, which the
King brings to a cbse by giving the Cardinal two papers, with these
words (IL 201-203) :
Bead o're this ;
And after, this [the Letter to the Pope] ; and then to Breakfast with
What appetite you haue 1
[Exit King, frowning vpon the Cardinall: the Nobles
throng after him, smiling and whispering.
Polydore Vergil (688/16) was the original authority for part of my
next excerpt, down to the sentence ending, '^ honor and dignitie.'' He
asserts that, while the lawfulness of Henry's marriage was being
debated at Black-Eriars,
Tjuhhiffi [Hbl. iiL 9O8/2/70.] the cardinall of Torke was aduised that
j2«^^«o the king had set his affection vpon a yoong gentlewoman named
^22^ Anne, the daughter of Sir Thomas Bullen, vicoont Rochford, which
did wait vpon the queene. This was a [p. 909] great griefe ynto
fKHeniy the Cardinall, as he that perceiued aforehand, that the king would
woSd^iiy marie the said gentlewoman, if the diuorse tooke placa Wherfore
bS^jb.] he began with all diligence to disappoint that match, which, by
reason of the misliking that, he had to the woman, he iudged
ThtMcrti ought to be auoided more than present death. While the matter
*jjj^j»^ stood in this state, and that the cause of the queene was to be
w^l^o heard and iudged at Rome, by reason of the appeale which by hir
^^]!^ was put in, the cardinall required the pope by letters and secret
messengers, that in anie wise he should defer the iudgement of
the diuorse, till he might frame the kings mind to his purpose.
Howbeit he went about nothing so secretlie, but that the same
^J^J^JJf" came to the kings knowledge, who tooke so high displeasure
''''^tju ^th such his cloked dissimulation, that he determined to abase
[onfhii his degree, sith as an ynthankefull person he forgot himselfe and
Mooimtji
^ An anachronism. See p. 453, n. 2, above.
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xmL HENRY vm. 471
his dutie towards him that had so highlie aduanced him to all
honor and dignitie. When the nobles of the realme perceiued the Biv, hm
cardinal! to be in displeasure, they began to accuse him of such
offenses as they knew might be proued against him, and thereof <sM6a«i
they made a booke conteining certeine articles, to which diuerse f^i^'^
of the kings councell set their hands. nowesj.
Before Wolsey entered, Suffolk mentioned (U. 56-60) a circumstanee
which would be sure to confirm the resentment felt by Henry on
discovering the letter to the Pope.
Cardinall Campeius
Is stolne away to Home ; hath ta'ne no leaue ;
Ha's left the cause o'th'Eling vnhandled ; and
Is posted, as the Agent of our Cardinall,
To second all his plot.
When the day came for the Legates' judgment to be delivered,
Gampeggio thus addressed the Court assembled at Black-Friars : ^
[Eol. iiL 908/2/57. Stow, 917.] "I will not giue iudgement g»rg*^
''till I haue made relation to the pope of all our proceedings; Jf^Jj^
"whose counsell and commandement in this case I will obserue: *<«^^<****'
"the case is verie doubtfuU, and also the partie defendant will
"make no answer here, but dooth rather appeale from vs, suppos-
"ing that we be not indifferent. Wherfore I will adioume this
"court for this time, according to the order of the court of Rome."
And with that the court was dissolued, and no more doone. This mw ooart
WM (US-
protracting of the conclusion of the matter, king Henrie tooke ^^^i^
verie displeasantlie. Then cardinall Campeius tooke his leaue of E^me!] ^
the king' and nobilitie, and returned towards Rome.
From my last excerpt it appears that Gampeggio took leave of Henry
before returning to Rome. The Legate's clandestine departure was
perhaps inferred by the dramatist from the somewhat misleading ex-
pressions used by Foxe,' who says (ii. 967/2) that Campeggio
1 On July 23 Campeggio prorogued the Court to October 1, 15%9,-^Ccdendar
{Hen. VIII), IV. iil p. 2689.
' Campeg^o took leave of Henry at Grafton Regis, on September 20^ 1529.
— AlwardtolSromwell (ElUs, I. i 309). Cavendiih, I 179. The testimony of
Alward and Cavendish — both of whom accompanied Wolsey to Grafton — aoes
not differ save in regard to the time of the day when Campeggio and Wolsey
took leave of Henry.
* At the end of the paragraph which contains my quotation, Foxe gives as
a reference, <<Ex Hallo.'' MaUe (759) records Ciunpeggio's farewell of
Henry.
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472 Xm. HENEY vin.
^^ii^^o craftily shifted hym self out of the realme before the day came
dStoS^id.] appoynted for determination, leaning his snttle felow behynd hym
to wey with the king in the meane time, while the matter might
be brought yp to the court of Rome.
In a subsequent reference to the same subject Foxe adds (ii. 1023/i)
that, when the Legates observed the dangerous tendency of the question
which they were expected to decide,
[Henry had & especially because the Cardinall of Yorke perceaued the kyng
to cast fauour to the Lady Anne, whom he knew to be a Luiheran}
they thought best to winde them selues out of that brake by tyme,
Boleyn, who
WHSS
lAthenm.]
oaurdinau & SO Cardinal Campeius, dissemblyng the matter, conueyed him-
/3fS?Arv. ^®^® ^ovdQ to Rome agayne, . . .
While "Wolsey was musing, Henry entered " reading of a Scedule "
(1. 106). Showing it to Norfolk and Suffolk the King said, with
reference to Wolsey (U. 120-128) :
This morning, 120
Papers of State he sent me to peruse,
As I required : and wot you what I found
There, (on my Conscience, put vnwittinglyf )
Forsooth, an Inuentory, thus importing, 124
The seuerall parcels of his Plate, his Treasure,
Rich Stuffes, and Ornaments of Houshold, which
I finde at such proud Rate, that it out-sp^ikes
Possession of a Subiect.
Steevens pointed out {Vcvr, Sh,, xix. 412) that a somewhat similar
mischance befel Thomas Ruthal, Bishop of Durham, who had two books
precisely like in outward appearance, one describing '< the whole estate
of the kingdome,'' the other containing an account of his private means.
Henry VIIL sent Wolsey for the former book, and Ruthal inadvert-
ently gave the private volume
[Hoi iu. 796/2/60.] to the cardinall to beare vnto the kmg.
1 When Wolsey is soliloquizing on the necessity of preventing Anne Boleyn
horn becoming Queen, he says (HI. ii 97-101) :
''What though I know her vertuous
And well deseruing? yet I know her for
A spleeny Lidheran; and not wholsome to
Our cause, that she ^ould lye T th' bosome of
Our hard rul'd King."
Elsewhere (ii 1056/i^ Foxe speaks thus of Anne Boleyn: ''But because
touchyng the memoraole vertues of this worthy Queene, partly we haue sayd
some thynff before, partly because more also is promised to be declared of her
vertuous life (the Lord so permittjug) by other who then were about her, I
will cease in this matter further to proceede." I find no mention in HaUe or
Sol of her Lutheranism.
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Xni. HBNKY VIIL 473
The cardinall, haumg the booke, went from the bishop, and after
(in his studio by himselfe) ynderstanding the contents thereof, he
greatlie reioised ; haning now occasion (which he long sought for)
o£fered ynto him to bring the bishop into the king's disgrace.
Wherefore he went foorthwith to the king, deliuered the booke ^^^**j£»
into his hands, and breefelie informed the king of the contents ^JJJJ^S^
thereof; putting further into the kings head, that if at anie time **«^«-
he were destitute of a masse of monie, he should not need to seeke
further therefore than to the cofers of the bishop, who by the
tenor of his owne booke had accompted his proper riches and
substance to the value of a hundred thousand pounds.
The ''Scedule,'' which Henry entered reading, is the first of the
two papers examined by Wolsey when the King and Nobles are gone.
It proves to be
th'Accompt
Of all that world of Wealth I haue drawne together
For mine owne ends ; indeed, to gaine the Popedome, 212
And fee my Friends in Rome.
In February, 1529, false news of the Pope's death reached England.^
Wolsey aspired after the Papacy, and therdFore wrote to Gardiner,
[FoxCf ii. 963/2.] willing hym to sticke for no coste, so farre S?SSe
as sixe or seuen thousand poundes woulde stretche : for more he ^^2
sayd he would not gene for the triple crowne.'
Finding the second paper to be the letter to the Pope, Wolsey
despairs of regaining Henry's confidence (U. 220-227). Then re-enter
1 Calendar (Hm. VIIL), IV. iii 6269.
• Qardiner was journeying towards Rome in January, 1629. — Calendar
(Hen. VIIL), IV. ill. 6237. He reached it on February 16, 1529.— CWendar
(Hen. VIIL), IV. iiL 6294. In February, 1629, Henry, believing Clement to
be dead, sent instructions to Qardiner and others that they should, if necessary,
endeavour to procure Wolseys election as Pope by "promises of spiritual
promotions, offices, dignities, rewards of money, and other things, to show them
iil 6270. Faxfy ii 966/2. Henry hoped thus to be divorced from Katharine
by Pap^ sanction, which Wolsey would grant — Ibid. Foxe printed a letter
from Wolsey to Gardiner (ii 964/i. Calendar (Hen. VIIL), IV. iii. 6272) in
which ^nend directions to make promises are given, but no specific sum of
money is named. I suspect Fox^s 6000 or 7000 pounds for the Popedom to
be the 6000 or 6000 ducats offered by Wolsey for bulls to hold Wiudiester.—
Wolsey to Sir Gregory Casale and Peter Vannes, Feb, 20, 1529 (Calendar
(Ben. FIJI.), IV. m. 6313). ^
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474
xni. HENRY vm.
ifuUlUlotk
to JfOlf^ ffot^
tktarmi
(He was
ordered to
depertto
BAer.]
[Hede-
mendedthe
dukes'
enthoKttj.]
^Andreftiied
to fomnder
theOrwt
8eal,wld<di
Heniybed
given
forlU
rorlifo.]
(in. il) "the Dukes of Norfolke and Suffolke, the Earle of Surrey,* and
the Loixi Chamberlaine."
Nor, Heare ihs Ki/ng's pUaswre^ Cardinall : who commands you
To render vp the Great Seale presently
IfUo our Jumds; and to Confine your selfe
To Asher-house, my Lord 0/ Wincheeier^^
Till you heare further from his Highnesse.
Cor. Stay: 232
Where's your Commission, Lords t words cannot carrie
Authority so weighty.
Si{f. Who dare crosse 'em,
Bearing the Kings will from his mouth ezpressely )
Car. Till I finde more then will or words to do it, 236
fmeane your malice,) know, Officious Lords,
dare, and must deny it. . . .
That Seale,
You aske with such a Violence, the King,
(Mine and your Master,) with his owne hand, gaue me ;
Bad me enioy it, with the Place and Honors, 248
During my life ; and, to confirme his Qoodnessei
Ti'de it by Letters Patents ; . . .
On October 16 (t), 1529,
[Eol. iii 909/1/39. Stow, 918.] the king sent the two dukes
of Norfolke and Suffolke to the cardinals place at Westminster,
who went as they were commanded, and, finding the cardinall
there, they declared that th^ kings pleasure was that he should
Bxarmder vp the great seale into their hands, and to depart simplie
Tn^ Asher, which was an house situat nigh ynto Hampton court,
belonging to the bishoprike of Winchester. The cardinall de-
manded of them their commission that gaue them such authoritie;
who answered againe, that they were sufficient commissioners, and
had authoritie to doo no lesse by the kings mouth. Notwithstand-
ing, he would in no wise agree in that behalfe, without further
knowledge of their authoritie, saieng : that the great seale was
deliuered him by the kings person, to inioy the ministration
thereof, with the roome of the chancellor for the terme of his life,
whereof for his snertie he had the kings letters patents.
1 Norfolk and ** Surrey " are historically one; the dramatic twain form-
ing the historical third Duke of Norfolk, whose '* Father-in-law '^ was '' Noble
Buckingham" (IIL ii 256).
* The BiBhopric of Winchester became vacant by the death of Richard
Foxe in 1628. — Godwin, 246. Wolsey afterwards held the see in eommendam^
and was succeeded by Steven Gardiner.^Ibui., 247. Gardiner is, perhaps,
the dramatist's "Lord of Winchester."
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xin. HENRY vm. 475
Kolinslied — copying Stow (919), whose authority was CJavendish
(L 181) — tells us that Wolsey steadily refused to surrender the Great
Seal to Norfolk and Suffolk ; so that, after the matter had been
[Eol ilL 909/i/s8. Stow, 919.] greatlie debated betweene ^^^
them with manie great words,^ ... the dukes were faine to depart ^|^^
againe without their purpose, and rode to Windsore to the king, J^SS.*/'***
and made report accordinglie ; but the next dale they returned
againe, bringing with them the kings letters. Then the cardinal! TUemrd-
deliuered ynto them the great seale,* and was content to depart ^^^■'ve^y
simplie, taking with him nothing but onelie certeine prouision for
his house : and after long talke betweene him and the dukes, they
departed with the great scale of Englajid, and brought the same
to the king.
" Surrey " reviles Wolsey, and at last desires Norfolk to produce
certain articles which have been framed against the GardinaL But, as
these articles are " in the Kings hand " (I, 299), the nobles rehearse
them from memory, ** Surrey " beginning : •
[1] Firat, That, without the Kings assent or knowledge,
You wrought to he a ZegcUe ; hy which power
You maim'd the lurisdiction qf aU Bishops, 312
[2] Nor. Then, That in aU you writ to Rome, or else
To Forrcdgne Prinoea, ** JEgo ds Rex mens "
Was still inscrib'd ; in which you brought the King
To be your Semcmt.
[4] Stif. Then, That, w<A<w< the knowledge 316
Either of King or Gouncell, when you went
Ambassctdor to the Emperor, you made bold
To carry into Flanders the Great Seate,
[5] Sur. Item, You sent a large Commission 320
To Gregory de Cassado, to condude,
Withovi the Kings will, or the States allowance,
A Leagvs betweene his Highnesse cmd Ferrcvra,
* grtat amd heinous words] Stow (919). stout words Cavendish (L 182).
« On October 17, 1529.— CWenior {Hen, VIIL), IV. iii 6025.
> Surrey prefaces the articles by saying (III. ii 294-296) :
" lie startle you
Worse then the Sacring Bell, when the biowne Wench
Lay kissing in your Armes, Lord Cardinall 1 ''
Boswell (y'ar, 8h,, zix. 424) illustrated these lines by a story of *' a cardynall
of Rome '* [the Legate John of Crema], who caused much scandal ; << for, m J^
euenyng, after he had lewdely blowen his home, & sayd it was a detestable
synne to aryse from y* syde of a Strumpet, & socre y« Body of Cryste, he was
taken with a strumpet, to his open shame and rebuke.''— i^a&., 259. Henry of
Huntingdon (ed. Savile, 1596, p. 219)— who was, perhans, Fab,*s authority^
places this event under the year 1125.
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r«te
476 Xm. HBNBY VIIL
[7] Saf. I^cUf out of meere Ambition, you haue caused 324
Your Kolj-HcU to he stampt an the Kings Caine.
[9] Sur. Then, That you haue sent innumerable substanee
(Bj what meanes got, I leaue to your owne conscience)
To furnish Eome, and to prepare the wayee 328
You haue for Dignities ; to the meere vndooing
0/all the Kingdome. Mcmy more there are ;
Which, since they are of you, and odious,
I will not taint my mouth with. 832
In December, 1529,^
[Hoi, iii.-912/2/iS. Halle, 767.] was brought downe to the
commons the booke of articles, which the lords had put to the
king against the cardinall ;^ the chiefe wherof were these :
ArHeu$ 1 FiTsi, th(U ho wUhotU the kings assent had procured to le a
«g«fa«<y< legat, by reason whereof he tooke awaie the right of all bishops and
spirituall persons.
2 Item, in all writings which he wrote to Borne, or anie other
foreign prince, he wrote Ego & rex metes, I and my king : as who
would sale that th^ king were his seruant} . . .
4 Item, he vnthotU the kings assent carried the kings great seals
with him into Flanders, when he was sent ambassador to the emperour.
5 Item, he, without the kings' assent, sent a commission to sir
Oregorie de Co^soio/ knight, to conclude a league betweem the king
& the duke of Ferrar, without the kings knowledge. . . .
7 Item, that he caused the cardinals hat to be put on the kings
eoine. . . .
9 Item, that he had sent innumerahle substance to Bome, for the
obteining of his dignities ; to the great impouerishment of the realme.
These articles, with Tnanie more, read in the common house,
and signed with the cardinals hand, was [^ic] confessed by him.
Before the nobles leave Wolsey, Suffolk adds (11. 337-344) :
S^f, Lord Oardinall, the Kings further pleasure is,
(Because aU those things you haue done of late,
1 December 1 is the date of the Articles.— CWendor {Ben. VIIL\ IV. iii
p. 2714. Parliament was prorogued on December VI,— Halle, 768.
« See p. 471 above.
> Halie has misquoted this article. Wolsey was accused (4) of '* having in
divers letters and instructions to foreign parts used the expression, ' the mng
and I,' . . . using himself more like a fellow to your Highness than a
subject"— Calendar {Hen, VIIL), IV. iil p. 2712.
* Sir Gregory Casale.
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dtmiitdina
xni. HENKY vin. 477
By your patoer Legatine} within this Kingdome,
Fall tnto ^A'compasse o/'a Pfdmimirtf,) 840
That therefore such a Writ be sued against you ;
To forfeit aU your Goods, Lands, Tenements,
CcUalles,^ and whatsoeuer, and to he
Out of the Kings protection. This is my Charga 344
In October, 1529,»
[HoL ill. 909/1/32. Ealle, 760.] the king (being informed
that all those things, that the cardinall had doone by his potoer
legatine^ wUhin this realme, were in the case of the premunire and Sau^Hii
prouision) caused his attumeie Christopher Hales to sue out a writ mSSZ
of premimire against him; in the which he licenced him to make
his attumeie.
After Wolsey's retirement to Esher,
\Eol. iil 909/2/43. Ealle, 760.] in the kings bench, his ^^^^1^
matter for the premunire, being called vpon, two attumeis, which fl^wSaey'i
he had authorised by hia warrant signed with his owne hand, con- ^^^^
fessed the action;^ and so had iudgement to forfeit all his lands,
tenements, goods, and cattels, and to he out of the kings protection : . • .
"Wolse/s soliloquy on his fall (U. 351-372) succeeds the nobles'
departura Then Thomas Cromwell enters; and, in response to
Wolse/s question, "What Newes abroad?" answers (11. 393, 394)
that Sir Thomas Moore is chosen
Lord Chancellor in your place.
On October 26, 1629,^
[Hoi. iii. 910/2/6. Halle, 761.] was sir Thomas Moore made ^J^^
lord chancellor.
At the close of the trial-scene (IL iv. 238-240) Henry muttered:
My leam'd and welbelou^d Seruant, Cranmer,
Prethee, retume : with thy approch, I know.
My comfort comes along.
In this scene (HE. ii 64-67) Suffolk told Norfolk that Cranmer
is retum'd in his Opinions ; which 64
Haue satisfied the King for his Diuorce,
* LegatineVRowe (ed. 2). Legatiue F.
* CataUesyUeMe. CastUs'F. ChatteU Theohsld.
^ October 9 is the date of the bill of indictment preferred by Hales against
Wolsey.— CWendor (Hen. VIIL), IV. iii 6035.
* legaHne] legantine HoL
» On October 30, 11^29.— Calendar (Hen. VIIL), IV. iii. 6035.
* Calendar (Hen, VIIL), IV. iii. 6025.
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478 xni. HENRY vin.
Together with all famous OoUedges
Almost in Ghristendome : . . .
Suffolk then (1. 74) declared that Granmer's services were to be
rewarded with an archbishopric; and now (11. 401, 402) Cromwell
answers Wolsey's request for more news hj the information
That Cranmer is retum'd with welcome ; 400
Installed Lord Arch-byshop of Canterbury.
We learn from Foxe (ii 1754/i) that Cranmer was employed by
Henry to write a book in defence of
his [Cranmer's] opinion, whiche was this : that the Bishop of Rome
had no suche authoritie as whereby he might dispence with the
rrheaties- word of Qod and the Scripture. . . • And thus, by meanes
»^»jwg^ of D. Cranmers handlyng of this matter with the Kyng, not
^^4j^ onely certane learned men were sent abroade to the most part
abaneo^ of the Yniuersitios in Christendome, to dispute the question,
but also the same beyng by Commission disputed by the diuines
Thehnffei in both the yniuersities of Cambridge and Oxforde, it was
^MfJlSrd ^^^^ concluded that no suche matrimonie was by the word
^Jl^^ of Qod lawfulL Whereupon a solemne ambassage was then pro-
JgJ^Sir pw^d a^id sent to the Bishop of Rome, then [March, 1630]^ beyng
**"*** at Bonony, wherin went the Earle of Wiltshiere, D. Cranmer, D.
dourionu Stokesley, D. Came, D. Benet, and diners other learned men
& gentlemen.
When the embassy returned to England, Cranmer went to Germany,
and discussed the question of Henry's marriage with *' diners learned
men " of that nation ;
SSSSTth© [-^<w:«, ii 1754/2.] who, verye ambiguouslye heretofore con-
^^^ ceiuyng the cause, were fully resolued and satisfied by hym.
^^^ This matter thus prosperyng on Doct. Cranmers behalfe, as-
emt'} well touchyng the kinges question as concernyng the inualiditie of
the bishop of Romes authoritie. Bishop Warrham, then Archbishop
of Canterbury, departed this transitory life, wherby that dignity,
jff^^f^^ then beyng in the kynges gift and disposition, was immediatly
SSrSirv giucTi to Doctour Cranmer,* as worthy, for his trauaile, of suche
omu a promotion.
1 HdUe, 769.
* Cranmer was consecrated Archhishop of Canterhury on March 30, 1533.
— Beg, 8acr, Angl, 76.
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xiiL HENRY vni. 479
Suffolk, as we have seen (p. 478 above), speaks of the sanction
given to Henry's divorce by ''famous Oolledges" abroad. These
"determinations" were made known to the Commons on March 30,
1531, by Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor, who, after reminding the
House of the doubtful legality of Henry's marriage, proceeded thus :
[Hoi. liL 923/2/28. Rcdle, 775.] "Wherefore the king, like a
" vertuous prince, willing to be satisfied in his conscience, & also
''for the Buertie of his realme, hath, with great deliberation, con-
" suited with profound clerkes, & hath sent my lord of London jjjj^j
"here present, to the chiefe vniuersities of all christendome, to rj^gtoket.
"know their opinion and iudgement in that behalfe. And ^\^^i
"although that the vniuersities of Cambridge and Oxford had
"beene sufficient to discusse the cause, yet, bicause they be in his
"realme, and to auoid all suspicion of parcialitie, he hath sent
"into the realme of France, Italie, the popes dominions, and
" Yenecians, to know their iudgement in that behalfe, which haue
"concluded, written, and sealed their determinations according as
"you shall heare read."
Before Wolsey's entrance the Lord Chamberlain asserted that
Henry had ** already " married Anne Boleyn (HI, ii. 41, 42). Suffolk
believed that " shortly " the King's
second Marriage shall be publishd, and 68
Her Coronation. Catherine no more
Shall he caWd Queene, hut Princesee Dowager,
And Widdow to Prince Arthur,
The last piece of news which Cromwell tells Wolsey is
that the Lady Anne,
Whom the King hath in secrecie long married,
This day was view*d in open as his Queene, 404
Going to Chappell ; and the voyce is now
Onely about her Corronatibn.
The exact date of Anne Boleyn's marriage cannot be ascertained.^
1 Cranmer — writing on June 17, 1533, to our ambassador at the Emperor's
Conrt — says : ** But nowe Sir you may nott ymagyn that this Coronacion
Knne Boleyn's coronation, described in a previous part of the letter] was
fore her mariege, for she was maried muche about sainte Panles daye last
[January 25, 1533], as the condicion therof dotbe well appere by reason she ys
nowe sumwhat bygg with chylde. Notwithstandvng yt hath byn reported
thorowte a greate parte of the realme that I maried her ; whiche was playnly
false, for I myself knewe not therof a fortenyght after yt was donne.'^JKWf,
I. ii. 39. According to Stow (946) Henry was privately married to Anne
Boleyn on January 25, 1533. On April 9, 1533, Norfolk told the Imperial
ambassador, Eustace Chapuys, that Henry had married Anne more than two
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480
Xin. HBNEY vin.
According to HaUe, Henry, after taking leaye of Francis on October
30, 1632,
[Hoi. iii. 929/1/56. Halle, 794.] staied at Calis for a con-
uenient wind till tuesdaie the twelfth ^ of Nouember at midnight,
Thehinort- and then taking his ship, landed at Doner the next daie aboat fine
Htnuthhito
^Jj^l!^ of the clocke in the morning. And herewith vpon his retome, he
^^y married priuilie the ladie Anne Ballongne the same daie, being iiie
^^"'^^^"^^ fourteenth daie of Nouember, and the feast daie of saint Erken-
wald ; which marriage was kept so secret, that verie few knew it
till Easter next insuing, when it was perceiued that she was with
chUd.
On April 12 (Easter Eve), 1533, Anne Boleyn
[Hoi. iiL 929/2/40. Halle, 795.] went to hir closet openlie as
queene ; and then the king appointed the daie of hir coronation to
be kept on Whitsundaie next following : . . •
In 1533,^ it was enacted by Parliament
[HoL iiL 929/2/29. Halle, 795.] that queene KcUharine should
no more be called queene, hut princesee Dowager^ as the widow of
prince Arthwr.
Dismissing Cromwell, Wolsey says :
eoroDfttloii
"•St
iaikarint
pTinct$$t
Seeke the King ;
(That Sun, I pray, may neuer set 1) I haue told him
What, and how true, thou art : he will aduance thee ; . .
Cromwell answers :
Beare witnesse, all that haue not hearts of Iron,
With what a sorrow Cromwel leaues his Lord !
The Eling shall haue my seruice ; but my prayres,
For euer and for euer, shall be yours.
416
424
months ago.— Friedmann's An/ne Boleyn^ il, appendix, note D, p. 339 (citing
Vienna Archives, P.C. 228, i. foL 41). On May 10, 1533, Chapuys wrote that
the marriage was generally believed to have taken place on Jannaiy 25. — Urid.
(citing Vienna Archives, P.O. 228, 1 fol. 61).
^ thirteenth] Hoi. Tuesday was Novemoer 12. Hcl. was misled by a mis-
take in HaUen94\, whereby we read that Henry '* landed at Doner the
morowe after [Tuesa^l beyng the .xiiii. daie of Nouember.'' As November
14 is the feast of S. ErJkenwala, Hoi, was betrayed into the further error of
assigning Henry's landing and marriage to " the same daie.'* HaUe says (794) :
" The kyn^, after his retnme, marled prinily the lady Anne Bulleyn, on sainct
Erkenwaldes daie," • . •
* EaUe, 795. The act is 25 Hen. VIIL e. 22 (StoMes, iii 472).
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Xin. HENRY VIIL
481
Oromwell was in Wolse/s service^ for
[Foxe, ii II6O/2.] a certayne space of yeares, growing vp 2SSS^
in office and authoritie, till at length he was preferred to be %^„^^
sollidtonr to the CardinalL
In Lent, 1530,« "diuerse" of Wolsey's
[Ed. iiL 913/2/17. HcUle, 769.] seroants departed from him gJJJJ^Jy
to the kings seruice, and in especiall Thomas Cmmwell, one of his JJSIIS?'*'
diiefe coonsell, and chiefe dooer for him in the suppression of •**"***•
abbeies.
Haying obtained a seat in the Parliament which met on November
3y 1529, (>omwell answered every charge made against Wolsey in the
Commons ; and thus, for his
[Stow, 926. Cavendish, L 208.] behauior in his Masters cause,
he grew into such estimation in euerie mans opinion, that hee was
esteemed to be the most^ faithfull seruaunt to his Master of all pnnedfor
other ; wherein hee was greatlie of all men commended. to woney.]
Erom the some source (Stow, 930; Ccwendishy i. 229) we learn
that Gromwell was esteemed not only for his ability, but also for his
tme and faithfull demeanor towards his lord and master.
After again commending Oromwell to Henry's service, Wolsey says :
prythee, leade me in :
There take an Inuentory of all I haue,
To the last peny ; 'tis the Kings : . . • 452
On October 17, 1529, when Norfolk and Suffolk had departed with
the Great Seal, Wolsey
[Hoi iii 909/1/69. Stow, 919.] called all his officers before
him, and tooke accompt of them for all such stuffe, whereof they
had charge. And in his gallerie were set diuerse tables, where-
vpon laie a great number of goodlie rich stuffe, as whole peeces of
1 A petition nlaced after the grants of December 1524 is addressed to
** Master Oromwell, councillor to the lorde Legate." — Calendar {Hen. VIIL)^
IV. i 979. There are earlier papers in Cromwell's handwriting relating to
Wolsej's public business ; for example, a draft of a petition dated September
22, 1524.— CWendar {Hm. VIIL), tV. i. 681.
• In Lent, 1530, Wolsey was ordered by Henry to reside in the province of
York. — HaXU, 769. Cromwell then left Wolsey and became Henry's servant.
— BAd. Wdlsey set forth on his journey northwards in the beginning of
Passion Week (April 11, \h^,)— Cavendish, L 241.
• odtiM, he grew . , . ihe most] Cavendish, cause, grew so in euerie mans
opinion^ how tnat hee was ihe most Hoi. and Stow.
I I
nUemrdi'
ithaUMt
tttHeento
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482 XUL HENBY VIIL
silke of all colours^ yeluet^ sattiii, damaske, taflkta^ grograine, and
other thiiigs. Also, there laie a thousand peeces of fine Holland
cloth,
[intmuviei There was laid on euerie table, bookes reporting the contents
•tafli] ' of the same, and so was there inuentaries of all things in order
against the kings comming. . . .
twoMTB Thus were all tilings prepared, [Wolsey] giuing charge of tiie
iiuthiiift-
toSmfor d^^^^l thereof unto the king, to every officer within his office:
gy^*" for the order ^ was such, that euerie officer was charged with the
•"""•^^ receipt of the stuffe belonging to his office by indenture.
Wolsey's reflections on his fall close with these memorable words :
O Gromwel, Gromwel I
ff<»d I but $eru'd my God with half e the Zeale
/ seru'd my King, he wovld not in mine Age 466
Haiue left me naked to mine Enemies I
On November 29, 1530, when Wolsey was dying, he said to Sir
William Kingston, Constable of the Tower :
tutmu- [Hol, iil 917/1/45. Stow, 940.] "I see the matter how it is
wg'^Mjk M* « firamed ; ' but if I had serued God as diligentlie as / haue doone
''the king, he would not hatce giuen me ouer in my greie haires :
''but it is the iust reward that I must receiue for the diligent
"paines and studio that I haue had to doo him seruice; not
"regarding my seruice to Qod, but onelie to satisfie his pleasure.**
Act lY. sc. i. — ^The two Gentlemen, who appeared in Act IL so. L,
meet again. Their ** last encounter '' was when Buckingham ** came
from his Triall ** (U. 4, 5). They now take their stand to see Anne
Boleyn '' passe from her Corronation " (IL 2, 3). Between these events
a historic interval of more than twelve years elapsed.
The First Qentleman has in his hand a list
Of those that claime their Offices this day,
By cnstome of the Coronation. 16
The Duke of Suffolke is the first, and claimes
To be High Steward ; next, the Duke of Norf olke,
He to be Earle Marshall : you may reade the rest.
[Hol. iii 930/1/35. Halle, 798.] In the begmning of Male
[1533], the king caused open proclamations to be made, that all
* charge of . , , for the order"^ Cavendish, charge of oil ihe $aid duffe^
vnOi ail other remaining in euerte office, to he ddiuerei to ihe king, to make
anewer to their charge : for the order lIoL and Stow.
' Wolsey presaged the tmth ; which was, that Kingston had heen sent to
convey him to the Tower.— CbwndwAi i. 304, &o» The date of Wolsey's death
is given hy Cavendish (i. 319).
PrpdamO'
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ThtMueraU
XUI. HENRY vin. 483
men that claimed to doo anie sendee, or execate anie office at the ^fMoKem
solemne feast of the coronation by the waie of tenure, grant, or ^^^^
prescription, should put their grant three weekes after Easter in
the Starrechamber before Charles duke of Suffolke, for that time
high steward of England, and the lord chancellor, and other com-
missioners. The duke of Norffolke claimed to be erle marshal],
and to exercise his office at that feast ; • . • JSipSwZ
The Second Gentleman asks :
But, I beseech 70a, what's become of Katherine,
The Princesse Dowager ) How goes her businesse t
1 That I can tell you too. The Archbishop 24
0/ Ccmterhwry^ accompanied with other
Leamisd and Reuerend Fathers of his Order,
Held a late Court at Dv/Mtahley sixe miles off
From AmpthiU, where the Princesse lay ; to which 28
She toas often cyted by them, but appeared not :
And, to be short, /or not Appearance, and
The Kings late Scruple, by the maine assent
0/ all iihese Lea/med men she toas ditwre'd, 32
And the late Marriage made o/none effect : . . •
The Parliament which reassembled, after prorogation, on February
4, 1533, passed an act forbidding appeals to Eome j^
[HoL iil 929/2/58. Ralle, 796.] for that in ancient councels
it had beene determined, that a cause rising in one prouince
should be determined in the same.
This matter was opened with all the circumstances to the ladie ^^ng.
Katharine Dowager (for so was she then called), the which per-
sisted still in hir former opinion, and would reuoke by no meanes
hir appeale to the court of Rome. Wherevpon the archbishop of
Ganturhme, accompanied wUh the bishops of London, Winchester,
Bath, Lincolne, and diners other learned men in great number,
rode to Dunstable^ which is six miles from Ampthill, where the
princesse Dowager laie; and there by one Doctor Lee she was cited
to appeare before the said archbishop in cause of matrimonie in
the said towne of Dunstable, and at the daie of appearance she ntuau
appeared not, but made default; and so she was called peremptori[li]e ^^^»
O. 930] euerie daie fifteene dales togither, and, at the last, for ^gf^"
> EaOe, 789, 795. The act is 25 Hen. VIIL, c. 22 {StaMes, iii. 472, 473).
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484 xm. HENRY vm.
omuMi'f lacke of appearance^ hy the assent of all the lea/med men there
p™g>M»^ present^ she was diuorsed^ from the king, and the manage declared
The trumpets now sound, and the procession enters in the manner
06t forth bj Uie following stage direction :
The Order of the Coronation.
1 A liuely Flourish of Trumpets.
2 Then, two ludgee.
3 Lord CJumoeUor, with Purse and Mace before him.
4 Quirristers, singing, Musicke.
6 Maior of London, bearing the Mace, Then Gartevy in his Coate qf
Armes, and on his head he wore a Gilt Copper Crowne.^
6 Marquesse Dorset^ bearing a Scepter of Gold, on his head a Demj
Ooronall of Gold. With him, the Earb qf Surrej, bearing the Rod
of Siluer with the Done, Crowned with an Earles Coronet. Collars
of Esses.
7 Duke of SuffoUce, in his Robe qf Estate, his Coronet on his head,
bearing a long white Wand, as High Steward, With him, the Duke
of Norfolke, with the Rod qf McvrshailshAp, a Coronet on his head.
Collars of Esses.
8 A Camopy home hy fowre of the Cinque-Por^ / vnder it, the Queens
in her Rche ; in her haire richly adorned with Pearle, Crowned. On
each side her, the Bishops qf London and Winchester.
9 The Olde Dutchesse of Norfolke, in a Coronall of Gold, wrought with
Flowers, bearing the Queenes Trains,
10 Certaine Ladies or Countesses, with plaine Circlets of Gold without
Flowers .8
Anne Boleyn was crowned on June 1, 1533.^ In the morning of
that day a procession was formed which escorted her from Westminster
Hall to a throne placed between the choir and high altar of the Abbey.
Thtwmdu [Sol, iii 933/1/1. Halle, 802.] First went gentlemen, then
S^MOf^ esquiers, then knights, then the aldermen of the citie in their
^rf<^MMr«( cloks of scarlet, after them the ittdges in their mantels of scarlet
Mtdtgm, and coiflfes. Then followed the knights of the bath being no lords,
euerie man hauing a white lace on his left sleeue ; then followed
1 On May 23, 1533, as we learn from Cranmer's letter (cited at p. 479, n. 1,
above).— J^Ww, I. ii. 36.
* Before the procession returned to Westminster Hall, ^euerie king of
armesput on a crowne of coper and guilt."— jHoI. iil 933/i/7o. HdUe, 803.
^ When the kin^ of arms put on crowns of copper gUt^ " euerie countesse
[donnedl a plaine circlet of gold without flowers." — HoL iii. 933/1/69. JSaUe^
803. These crowns and circletB <' were wome till night."— lH(i
« jSotte, 802.
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xnL HENRY vm. 485
barons and yicounts in their parlement robes of scarlet After ^^
them came earls, marquesses, and dukes in their robes of estate of
crimsin yeluet furred with ermine, pondered according to their
degrees. After them came the lord chancellor in a robe of scarlet ngjiifrd
open before, bordered with lettise; after him came the kings prhagfag*!,
chapell and the moonks solemnelie singing with procession, then ^^]
came abbats and bishops mitered, then sargeants and officers of
armes ; then after them went the maior of London with his mace, Slc^mTi
and garter in his cote of armes; then went the Tnarquesse Dorset in [Outer.]
a robe of estate, which bare the sceptre of gold; and the ea/rle of S^SST"
Arundell, which bare tfie rod ofinone with the done ; both tegither.
Then went alone the earle of Oxford, high chamberleine of g[^j|^
England, which bare the crowne ; after him went the dvJce of SuffoUce Jjf^^
in his robe of estate also, for that daie being high steward of England, ^SStiBg
hauing a long white rod in his hand ; and the lord William Howard ^ Noifbik.] ^
toith the rod of the marshalship ; and euerie knight of the garter had
on his collar of the order. Then proceeded foorth tJie gueene in a ^U*^
cireot and robe of purple yeluet fiirred with ermine, in hi/r here,
coiffe, and circlet as she had the saturdaie ; and oner hir was borne ^SSu^ru.
the canppie byfoure of the fine ports, all crimsin with points of blue [TteBUhopi
and red hanging on their sleeues ; and tJie bishops of London and ^^^j^,
Winchester bare yp the laps of the queenes robe. Tfie gueenes (^^^ .
trains, which was verie lon& was borne by tJie old duches of ^^j^^
Norffclke; after hir folowed ladies being lords wines. SSSli^'^
The procession passes oyer the stage, and goes out with a great
flourish of trumpets. An interyal is supposed te elapse before a Third
Gentleman enters, and, joining the twain who haye hitherto played
chorus, giyes them an account of the coronation :
The rich streame
Of Lords and Ladies, hauing brought the Qaeene
To a prepared place in the Quire, fell off 64
A distance from her ; while her Qrace sate downe
To rest a while, some half e an houre or so,
In a rich Chair e of State, . . .
At length, her Grace rose, and with modest paces
Game to the Altar ; where she kneel'd, and. Saint-like,
^ In the Queen'sprocession from the Tower to Westminster Hall, on May
31, '^Tode the lord William Howard with the marshalles rod, deputie to hiis
brother the dnke of Norffolk, marshall of England ; which was ambassador
then in France."— Bbi. 931/2/4a EaUey 800. Hd. has this sidenote : "The
two dukes of Norffolke and Simolke in their offices.*
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486 Xm. HKNEY VIII.
Oast her faire eyes to Heauen, and pray'd denouUy : 84
Then rose againe, and bow'd her to the people :
"When, by the Arehbyekop of Ccmterhury,
She had all the Boyall makings of a Queene ;
As, holy Oyle, Edward Confessors Croume, 88
The Rod, and Bird of Peace, and all such Emblemes^
Laid Nobly on her : which performed, the Quire,
With all the choysest Musicke of the Kingdome,
Together sung " Te Deum.*' So she parted, 92
And with the same full State pac'd backe againe
To Yorke-Place, where the Feast is held.
The ceremony subsequent to the procession is thus described :
TJUMMrqr [Hoi. lil 933/i/47. Ealle, 803.] When she was thus hroughi
tt€MMMr' ^^ ^^ ^^^ P^^^^ made in the middest of the church, betweene the
qiceere and the high altar, she was set in a rich chaire. And after
that she had r^ed a while, she descended downe to the high altar,
and there prostrate hir selfe while the archbishop of Canturburie
y^J^ said certeine collects : then she rose, and the bishop annointed hir
I^S^^S^ on the head and on the brest, and then she was led yp againe ;
SiS*"' where, after diuerse orisons said, the archbishop set the croume of
saint Edward on hir head, and then deliuered hir the scepter of
rriMaaire 8<>M in hir right hand, and the rod of iuorie with the done in the
J|j2^ left hand ; and then all the gpieere soong Te Deum, &c. • • •
When the queene had a little reposed hir, the companie
md^u^ returned in the same order that they set foorth; and the queene
a^JHitpt ^^^^ crowned, and so did the ladies aforesaid. . . . Now when
^Ji^inrter ^he was out of the sanctuarie and appeered within the palace, the
^*"^ trumpets plaied maruellouslie freshlie ; then she was brought to
Westminster hall, & so to hir withdrawing chamber : • . •
The last speaker's wrong designation of Henry's new palace is
corrected by ihe First G^tleman:
Sir,
You must no more call it Yorke-Plaee, that's past ;
For, since the Oardinall fell, that Title's lost : 96
'Tis now the Kings, and call'd White-HalL
In January, 153 1,^ Henry
[Hoi. iii. 923/i/i i. Halle, 774.] came to his manour of West-
minster, which before was called Yorke place : for after that the
» After keeping Twelfth Night, 1531, at Greenwich.— Ba««, 774.
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Xni. HENBY VIIL 487
cardinall was attainted in the premunire, & was gone northward,
he made a feoffement of the same place to the king, and the
chapiter of the cathedrall church of Torke by their writing con-
firmed the same feoffement ; & then the king changed the name rw<a»^u
and called it the kings manor of Westminster.^ and no mare Torke abods eiai«i
^^ ' no mon
place. Ya*Ptaot.l
The Second Gentleman asks :
What two Eenerend Byshops
Were those that went on each side of the Queene ) 100
3 Stokesley and Qardiner ; the one of Winchesteri
Newly preferred from the Elings Secretary;
The other, London.
Gardiner was consecrated Bishop of Winchester on December Z,
1631.' In 1530 the bishopric of London
[Hot. iii 909/2/5 5. Halle, 761.] was bestowed on doctor gj^gj^^
Stokesleie,' then ambassadour to the yniuersities beyond the sea for ^^^»^^^
the kings mariage.
The Second Gentleman remarks upon Gardiner's dislike to Granmer,
The Third Gentleman answers that Cranmer will find an ally in
Thomas Cromwell ; 108
A man in much esteeme with th'King, and truly
A worthy Friend. The King ha's made him Master
O'th'Iewell House,
And one, already, of the Priuy GouncelL
After Anne Boleyn's coronation had been ordained to take place on
Whit Sunday, 1533, the assessment of fines payable by those who
should refuse knighthood
[Hoi. iiL 929/2/46. Halle, 795.] was appointed to Thomas [Oromwdi
^ , , rf
Cromwell, maister of the kings iewell house,^ & councellor to the theuac's
king, a man newlie receiued into high fauour. imm.}
Act rV. sc. iL — ^In Act lY. sc. i. the First Gentleman, after relating
the circumstances of Katharine's divorce, added (11. 34, 35) :
1 By the Act 28 Hen. YIII., cap. 12 (Statutes^ iiL 668) this former leddence
of the Archbishops of York was annexed to the old palace of Westminster, and
tiie whole was to be known as "the Kynges Paleys at Westmynster.* The
index to Halle has: "York Place called now whyt hall.'' In 1630 a petition
is spoken of as having been made to Wolsey " when he lay at the White Hall,
then called York's Place.''— OWendar (JBTetk VIIL), IV. in. p. 2969.
« Beg. 8acr. Angl, 76.
* Stokesley was consecrated Bishop of London on November 27, 1630. —
Beg. Saer. Analy 76.
^ Cromwell was made Master of the Jewel House on April 14, 1632.— Pat.
23 H. VIII., p. 2, m. 36 (H. S.).
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488 XIII. HENRY VIIL
Since which, she was remon'd to Kymmalton,
Where she remaines now sicke.
The second scene of Act IV. opens with the following stage
direction :
Enter Katherine, Dowager, sicke; lead [led] betweene
Griffith, her G^tleman Ysher, and Patience, her
Woman.
About the middle of the scene a messenger announces to Katharine
(L 106),
A Qentleman, sent from the King, to see you.
Griffith goes out and re-enters with Eustace Ghapu js, the Imperial
ambassador, whom Katharine thus addresses :
If my sight faile not, 108
You should be Lord Ambassador from the Eknperor,
My Boyall Nephew, and your name Capuchius.
Ohapuys's reasons for presenting himself at Kimbolton are :
First, mine owne seruice to your Grace ; the next^
The Kings request that I would visit you ; 116
Who greeues much for your weaknesse, and by me
Sends you his Princely Commendations,
And heartily entreats you take good comfort.
Before dismissing the ambassador, Katharine says to her woman :
Patience, is that Letter,
I caus'd you write, yet sent away 1
Fat. No, Madam. 128
Kath, Sir, I most humbly pray you to deliuer
This to my Lord the King.
Cap. Most willing, Madam.
Kath. In which I haue commended to his goodnesse
The Modell of our chaste loues, his yong daughter, 132
(The dewes of Heauen fall thicke in Blessings on her 1)
Beseeching him to nue her vertuous breeding ;
(She is yong, and of a Noble modest Nature ;
I hope she will deserue well ;) and a little 136
To loue her for her Mothers sake, that lou'd him,
Heauen knowes how deerely ! My next poore Petition
Is, that his Noble Grace would haue some pittie
Ypon my wretched women, that so long 140
Have followed both my Fortunes faithfully :
Of which there is not one, I dare auow,
(And now I should not lye,) but will deserue,
For Yertue, and true Beautie of the Soule» 144
For honestie, and decent Oarriage,
A right good Husband, let him be a Noble :
And, sure, those men are happy that shall haue 'em.
The last is, for my men ; (they are the poorest, 148
But pouerty could neuer draw 'em from me ;)
That they may haue their wages duly paid 'em,
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xni. HENRY vra. 489
And something oner, to remember me by :
If Heauen had pleas'd to hane ginen me longer life, 152
And able meanes, we had not parted thus.
These are the whole Contents : • • •
In December, 1635,^ the
15M.
Tktta4U
[Hot. iii 939/2/13. Folyd. Verg. 690/6.] princesse Dowager
lieng at Kimbalton, fell into hir last sicknesse, whereof the king
being aduertised, appointed the emperors ambassador that was
legier here with him, named Eustachios Caputius, to go to visit
hir, and to doo his commendations to hir, and will hir to be of
good comfort The ambassador with all diligence did his duetie (SMmTto
therein, comforting hir the best he might ; but she, within six dales Hsmy.]
after, perceiuing hir selfe to wax yerie weake and feeble, and to
feele death approching at hand, caused one of hir gentlewomen to
write a letter to the king, commending to him hir daughter and toSmry.]
his, beseeching him to stand good father vnto hir : and further
desired him to haue some consideration of hir gentlewomen that
had serued hir, and to see them bestowed in marriage. Further, .
that it would please him to appoint that hir seruants might haue
their due wages, and a yeeres wages beside. This in effect was all
that she requested, and so immediatlie herevpon she departed this
life the seuenth* of lanuarie at Eimbalton aforesaid, and was
buried at Peterborow.
The messenger, who announced Chapuys's arrival, did not kneel.
She rebuked the ''sawcy Fellow" for his lack of reverence; and
Griffith told him that he was to blame,
Knowing she will not loose her wonted Qreatnesse,
To vse so rude behauiour.
The messenger then entreated her ** Highnesse pardon "; his '' hast "
made him " vnmannerly.'' Katharine, however, demanded that she
should never see him again (IL 100-108).
This incident may have been suggested by the latter clause of the
1 Hearing that Katharine was very HI, Eustace Chapuya, Charles Y.'s am-
bassador, *' went to aak the King for leave to visit her, which he obtained, with
some tronble.'*^Cbl«niar {Hen, V1IL\ X. 60. Chapuys set off on December
30, 1535, arrived at Kimbolton on January 2, 1536, and left again on January
5. — OaUvkdar {Htfi^ ym\ ^ 2& 59. She gave him audience twice on the
day of his arrival, and afterwards he had one audience on each day of his
attendance at Kimbolton. She died on January 7, 1536. — Ibid,
' UMLeniK\ Calendar, eight HoL
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490 xin. HENRY vm.
ensuing excerpt. On December IT, 1633,^ Henry sent to Katharine the
Duke of Suffolk^ who
[Hoi. iil 036/2/7. HaUe, 808.] discharged a great sort of hir
honBhold semaiits^ and yet left a conuenient number to seme hir
like a prim^esse ; which were swome to serue hir not as queene, but
[KMiMuiiM as princesse Dowager. Such as tooke that oth she ytterlie refused,
■ervMito and would none of their sendee : so that she remained with the
whu did not
gjjij' •■ lesse number of seruants about hir.
Before she entered Katharine had learnt from Griffith that WoIbgv
was dead (11. 6-7). To her question how the Cardinal died Griffiw
answered:
Well, the voyce goes, Madam :
For after the stout Earle Northumberland 12
Arrested him at Yorke, and brought him forward
(As a man sorely tainted) to his Answer,
He fell aieke sodainly, and grew so HI
He could not sit his Mule.
Kath, Alas, poore man ! 16
Qfif. At last, with easie Bodes, he came to LeteeeteTf
Lodg'd in the Abbey ; where the reuerend Abbot,
With aU hie Couenty honourably receiu*d him ;
To whom he gaue these words, " O, Father Abbot, 20
** An old man, broken with the stormes of State,
** Is come to lay his weary bones among ye ;
*' Giue him a Uttle earth for Charity 1 "
So went to bed : where eagerly his sicknesse 24
Pursu'd him still ; and, three nights after this.
About the houre of eight, (which he himselfe
Foretold should be his last,) full of Bepentance,
Continuall Meditations, Teares, and Sorrowes, 28
He gaue his Honors to the world agen,
His blessed part to Heauen, and slept in peace.
On November 4, 1530, Wolsey was arrested at Cawood Castle
(Yorkshire), by Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland.^ The Cardinal
left Cawood, under arrest, on November 6,^ and on November 8
reached Sheffield Park, where for a fortnight he enjoyed the hos-
pitality of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury.* On November 22
Sir William Kingston, Constable of the Tower, arrived at Sheffield
Park, charged with the duty of conveying Wolsey to London. On the
same day — but before he knew of Kingston's arrival — Wolsey was
seized with a sudden illness.^
» Calendar (Hen. VIIL), VI 1541. « CavwdiO^ i. 268, 276.28a
* Cav&ixii^ 283, 284, 288. « Cavwdidk, 293, 2d9.
* Oavendith, 299^302. As to this date cp. 310, 311, 3l3.3ia
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xra. HENRY vni. 491
Though his disorder increased he began his journey to London,
and, on November 26, rode from Nottingham^
[Hoi. iil 917/1/10. Stow, 940.] to Leicester abbeie, and by
the vaie waxed so sicke that he was ahnost fiallen from his mule;
so that it was night before he came to the abbeie of Zeieester, vJiere
at his comming in at the gates, the (Mat wUh aU his eanuewt met
him with diuerse torches light ; whom they hoTiorMie receiued and
welcomed.
To whom the cardinall said : ** Father abbot, I am come hither
**to lay my honee am^ong you**; riding so still vntill he came to the
staires of the chamber, where he allighted from his mule, and
master Kingston led him Tp the staires, and as soone as he was
in his chamber he went to led. This was on the Saturday at night ;
and then increased he sicker and sicker, yntill mondaie, that all
men thought he wotdd haue died : so on tuesdaie, saint Andrewes
euen, master Kingston came to him and bad him good morrow, (for
it was about six of the clocke,) and asked him how he didi
Li less than two hours after Kingston's morning salutation, Wolsey
was at the point of death :
[Hoi iii. 017/1/65. Stow, 940.] & incontinent the clocke
stroke eighty and then he gaue yp the ghost, and departed this [Wdii^died
present life: which caused some to call to remembrance how ho tbo morning,
as he hid
said the dale before, that at eight of the clocke they should loose piloted.]
their master.
Having heard how Wolsey died, Katharine says :
So may he rest ; his Faults lye gently on him !
Yet thus farre, Griffith, giue me leaue to speake him, 32
And yet with Oharity. fie wa$ a man
Ofa^ vnbounded eiomaoke, euer ranking
Himeeffe with Princes; one that, by suggestion,
ly de all the Kingdome : Symonie was faire play ; 86
His owns Opinion was his Law : HtKpreswice
He would say vntruths ; trnd be euer doMe
Both in his words and meaning : he was neuer
^ut where he meant to Kuine) piU\fuU : 40
His Promises were, as he then was, Mighty ;
But his performance, as he is now, Nothing :
1 Catoenduk, i 311-3ia
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492 xni. HENRY vm.
Ofhu owne hody Kb woi ill, and ga/us
The GUrgy ill example.
With Eaiharine's leave, Griffith thus proceeded to '^Bpeake"
Wolsey's " good ":
This CardinaU, 48
Though from an humble Stooke, vndovbtedly
Was fafehion*d to much Honor from hia Cradle.
He was a Scholler, and a ripe and good one ;
Exceeding Moiee^fai/re spoken, and perswading : 52
Lqfty and sowre to them that lou'd him not ;
But, to those men that sought him, sweet as Summer.
And though he were ynsatisfied in ^^^ting,
(Which was a sinne,) yet in bestomng, Madam, 56
He was most Princely : euer witnesse for him
Those twinnes of Leiu*ning, that he rais'd in yon,
Ipswich and Oaiford I one of which fell with him,
Yn willing to out-liue the good that did it ; 60
The other (though iJur^isKd) yet so Famous,
So excellent in Art, and still so rising.
That Christendoms shall euer speake his Yertue.
His Ofierthrow heap'd Happinesse ypon him ; 64
For then, and not till then, he f elte himself e,
And found the Blessednesse of being little :
And, to adde greater Honors to his Age
Then man could giue him, he dj'de fearing God. 68
For comparison with Katharine's unfavourable judgment of Wolsey
I quote the following passage, taken by Holinshed from Halle (774) :
[Holjiii. 922/2/48.] This cardinall • • . vxis of a great Stomachy
^JbS. for te compted himself e equall with princes, & 6y crafitie suggestion
2&S^p. gat into his hands innumerable treasure: he forced little on
fonUNou. simonie, and toas not pittifull, and stood affectionate in his oume
opinion : in open presence he would lie and saie vniruth, and was
donile both in speach and meaning: he would promise much &
performe little : he was vicious of his bodie, & gaue the dergie euill
example: . . •
Griffith's defence should be compared with another estimate of
Wolsey, which forms my next quotation:
«« Awrcp. ^jjqI iii 917/2/20.] This cardinall (as Edmund Campian in
wiSS^tei his historic of Ireland ^ describeth him) was a man vndovbtedly borne
^^"^^ to honor: I thinke (saith he) some princes bastard, no butchers
1 In the dedication of an account of Ireland {Hd, iLV Raphael Holinshed
acknowledged his obligation to Campian's *' two bookes or the Irish historiea.*
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Xin. HENRY VIIL 493
Sonne ; exceeding wise ; faire spoken ; high mmded ; fiill of reuenge ;
yitiouB of his bodie ; loftie to his enimies, were they neuer so big ;
to those that accepted and sought his freendship woonderfull
courteous ; a ripe schooleman ; thrall to affections ; brought a bed
with flatterie ; insatiable to get, and more princelie in hestomng, as
appeareth by his two colleges at Ipswich and Oxenford, the one [WoSs^s
ouerthrowne with his fall, the other vnjinished, and yet, as it lieth ^^ "^^
for an house of students, considering all the appurtenances, incom-
parable thorough Ohristendome ; whereof Henrie the eight is now
called founder, bicause he let it stand. He held and inioied at Wm bene-
once the bishopriks of Torke, Duresme, & Winchester, the digni-
ties of lord cardinall, legate & chancellor, the abbeie of saint
Albons, diuerse priories, sundrie fat benefices "In commendam : "^ ^o^'**"
a great preferrer of his seruants, an aduancer of learning, stout in ^^>^]
euerie quarell, neuer happie till this hds ouerthrow. Wherein he
shewed such moderation, and ended so perfectlie, that the houre of
his death did him more honor than all the pompe of his life passed. pUutm^]
ActY. 80. L — (Gardiner and Lovell meet. Hearing from Lovell
that Queen Anne is in labour and in great extremity, (^urdiner wishes
that she, together with Cranmer and Cromwell, were dead. '^ As for
Cromwell," answers Lovell, he
Beside that of the lewell-House ^ is made Master
O'th'BoUes, and the Kings Secretary ; . . .
[Hoi iii. 938/1/6. Stow, 962.] The one and twentith of Sep- ^XSL
tember [16341 doctor Tailor, master of the roUes, was discharged ^^^^^-^
of that office; and Thomas Cromwell swome in his place, the
ninteenth of October.'
In Holinshed, iii. 94O/1/15 (Stow, 964), "Thomas Cromwell secre-
taries is mentioned as being one of the four persons who brought
Anne Boleyn to the Tower on May 2, 1536 ; but I find no record
of his appointment in Halle, Holinshed, Stow, or Foxe.^
1 I have snbstitnted quotation commas for the original italics of In
commendam,
' See p. 487, n. 4, above.
* Cromwell was made Master of the Bolls on October 8, 1534.— Paf. 26
H. VIII. p. 2, m. 1 (H. S.).
* A letter from Hemy Marquis of Exeter to Cromwell, dated April 7, 1534,
is addressed : *• Master SecTet&rj.'*— Calendar (Hen, VIIL), VII. 446. In a
document dated April 12, 1534^ appointing Cromwell to be one of the pleni-
potentiaries for concluding peace with Scotland, he is called '^Primarius
Secretarius noster."— jRymer, xiv. 536.
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494 XIU. HENRT VIU.
<* Th* Irchbyshop," adds Lovell,
Is the Elings hand and tongue ; and who dare speak
One syllable against him t
Touching the folly of those persons who hoped to ruin Granm^
through the conspiracy which is dramatized in sc. iiL Act Y., Foze
remarks (ii. 1760/i) :
iuun0a And it was muche to be mameiled that they would goe so farre
ptru^ with hym, thus to seeke his vndoyng, this well ynderstandyng
before, that the kyng moste entirely loued him, and alwaies would
stande in his defence, who soeuer spake againste hym : as many
other tymes the kynges pacience was, by sinister informations,
against hym tried.
Gardiner replies that there are some who dare accuse Cranmer ;
and I my self e haue ventured 40
To speake my minde of him : and, indeed, this day,
(Sir, I may tell it you,) I thinke I haue
Inoenst the Lords o'th'Oounoell, that he is
(For so I know he is, they know he is) 44
A most Arch-Heretique, a Pestilence
That does infect the Land : with which they moued,
Haue broken with the King ; who . . .
hath commanded,
To morrow Morning to the Oouncell Boord
He be conuented. 53
In (t) 1544,1
wiiSS?*" [Foxe, ii. 1769/1.] certaine of the Counsaile, whose names
bj Gtfdiner noede not to bee repeated, by the entisement and prouocation
of his [Cranmer's] auncient enemy the Bishop of Winchester,
and other of the same secte, attempted the Kyng againste hym ;
declaryng plainely that the realme was so infected with heresies
and heretickes, that it was daungerous for his highnesse farther
^ According to Fooce (ii. 1759/i) these counsellors attacked Cranmer " not
long after ^ the time when Cromwell was in the Tower. Cromwell was com-
mitted to the Tower on June 10, 1640 {Lordi Jcwmdls, i. 143/2), and remained
there until he was beheaded on the 28th of July. — HalUy 839. IBut the attempt
to ruin Cranmer is placed under the year 1544 by Stry^ who, in r^gf^ to
the latter date, says : ** I leave Fox to follow [Ralpn] Morice, the Archbishop's
secretary, in his manuscript declaration of the said Archbishop."— Stripe's
Oranmer, i 176. Of the authority cited Strype speaks thus : ^ There is an
original writing of this Morice's hand, preserved in the Benet-librar^ [the
library of Corpus Christi, Cambridge], entitled, A deda/rationj dtCy which he
drew out for the use, and by the command, of Archbishop Parker.** — Strype's
Orammer^ L 616.
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Tower.]
XIII. HENRY VIII. 495
to permit it vnreformed, . . . [1769/2]. The kyng, perceiuyng theiprwd
their importune sute against the Archebishoppe, (but yet meanyng JJ|^^^
not to haue hym wronged, and vtterly giuen ouer Tnto their j^^^'
handes,) graunted to them that they should, the nexte daie, S^^f^
committe hym to the Tower for his trialL Stt?^
Qardiner goes out and Henry enters with Suffolk (1. 56). Suffolk's
exit is followed by the entrance of Sir Anthony Denny, who thus
addresses the King (IL 80, 81) :
Sir, I haue brought my Lord the Arch-byshop,
As you commanded me.
As Henry desires Cranmer's immediate presence, Denny goes out
and re-enters with the Archbishop. The Kmg then bids Lovell and
Denny " Auoyd the Gallery." When they are gone Henry says to
Cranmer, who has knelt :
Pray you, arise.
My good and gracious Lord qf Ccmterburie, 92
Gome, you and I must walke a tume together ;
I haue Netoes to teU you : . . .
I haue, and most vnwillingly, of late
Heard many greeuous, I do say, my Lord,
Greeuous complaints of you ; which, being considered,
Haue mou'd Vs and our Gouncell, that you shall 100
This Morning come before vs ; where, I know.
You cannot with such freedome purge your self e.
But that, till further Trial in those Gharges
Which will require your Answer, you must take 104
Your patience to you, and be well contented
To make your house our Towre : you a Brother of vs,
It fits we thus proceed, or eke no u)Unesee
Would eoTM against you.
Cran, I humbly thanke your Highnesse; 108
And am right glad to catch this good occasion
Most throughly to be winnowed, where my Ghaffe
And Gome shall flye asunder : for, I know.
There's none stands vnder more calumnious tongues, 112
Then I my self e, poore man I
King. Stand vp, good Ganterbury :
Thy Truth and thy Integrity is rooted
In vs, thy Friend. Giue me thy hand, stand vp :
Prythee, let's walke. Now, by my Holydame, 116
What mcmner qfman are you ? My Lord, / look'd
You would lume giuen me your Petition, that
I should haue tone some paines to bring together
Your selfe (vnd yow Accusers ; and to haue heard you, 120
WUhotU indurcmce, further. . . .
Know you not
How your elate stands t'th'world, with the whole world f
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496 XHL HENRY VIIT,
Your Enemies ore many, and not small ; their practises 128
Must beare the same proportion ; and not euer
The Justice and the Truth o'th'question carries
The dew o'th' Verdict with it : at whcU ease
Might corrupt mindes prooure Knauee as corrupt 132
To sweare against you I such things haue bene done.
You are Potently oppos'd ; and with a Malice
Of as great Size. Weene you of letter hicke,
(I meane, in periur'd Witnesse,) then your Master, 136
(Whose Minister you are,) whiles heere he liu'd ^
Ypon this naughty Earth ) Qo to, go to :
You take a Precepit for no leape of danger.
And wooe your owne destruction. ... 140
Be of good cheere ;
They shaU no more preuaih then we giue way to.
Keepe comfort to you ; and this Morning see 144
You do appeare before them : if they shall chance.
In charging you with matters, to commit yot^
The best perswasions to the contrary
Faile not to vse, and with what vehemencie 148
Th'occasion shall instruct you : i/ intreaties
Will render you no remedy, this Ring
Deliuer them, and your Appeale to vs
There make before them. (Looke, the good man weeps ! 152
He's honest, on mine Honor. Qods blest Mother 1
I sweare he is true-hearted ; and a soule
None better in my Kingdome !) Get you gone.
And do as I haue bid you. [Exit Cranmer. 166
I resume my historical excerpts from the point where we learn that
Cranmer's enemies had obtained permission to " committe hym to the
Tower for his triall" (p. 495 above).
2%iKhiff [Foxe, iL 1759/2.] When Nighte came, the Kyng sent Sir
^^KfiM- ^^^^^^ Denie, aboute Midnight, to Lambeth, to the Archbishop,
2^^^ willyng hym forthwith to resorte ynto hym at the Courte. The
message doen, the Archbishop speedily addressed hym self to
the Court, and commyng into the Galerie where the kyng walked,
and taried for hym, his highnesse saied: "Ah, my Zorde of
S*o3ii^ " Canterburie, I can tell you neives. For diners waightie consider-
^Jl^^^ "ations it is determined by me and the Connsaile, that you to
to^^ "morrowe at nine of the clocke shall bee committed to the
"Tower, ... the Counsail haue requested me ... to suffer
"them to commit you to the Tower, or els no man dare come
"forthe, as wUnesse in these matters, you beyng a CJounsellour."
When the kyng had said his minde, the Archbishop kneeled
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Xni. HENRY VIII. 497
donne, and saied : " I am content, if it please your grace, with all ^tJ^?*'
" my harte, to go thether at your highnes commaundemente ; and JJ^JJIJ**
** I moste humbly thanke your Maiestie that I male come to my
''triall, for there bee that haue many waies sclaundered me, and
"nowe this waie I hope to trie my self not worthy of suche
"report"
The Kyng, perceiuyng the mannes vprightness, ioyned with suche
simplicitie, saied : "Oh Lorde, what maner a man be you? What [HBwywM
" simplicitie is in you ! / had thought that you would rather Jiaue ^J'^JJ^"
" sued to YS to haue taken the paines to haue heard you and your
'* accusers together, for your triaU, without any suche indurance.
" Doe not you knotve what state you bee in with the whole worlds,
"and how many greate enemies you hauel Doe you not consider
*'whai an easie thyng it is to procure three or fewer false Jcnaues
" to witnesse againste you f Thinke you to haue better lucke that
"waie then your Maister Christe had? I see by it, you will runne
" headlonge to your vndoyng, if I would suffer you. Your enemies ^Ijjgjj*
"shaU not so preuaUe against you, for I haue otherwise deuised ^J^^
" with my selfe, to keepe you out of their handes. Yet, notwith- 2?IiSC*^
" standing, to morrowe, whe^i the Counsaile shall sitte, and sonde cSSlSv^.
"for you, resort vnto them, and if, in chargyng you with this
** router, they doe commit you to the Tower,^ . . , vse for your selfe
** as good persuKisiovs ... as you maie deuise, and, if no intreaiie
" or reasonable request will seme, then detvuer vnto them this my
^^ryng;*" (whiche then the Kyng deliuered vnto the Archbishoppe;) TUKUy
. , . "for,** (saied the Kyng then vnto the Archbishoppe,) "so tign^tinih*
" sone as thei shall see this my ryng, thei knowe it so wel that ^2j^
"they shall vnderstande that I haue resumed the whole cause ******'***^
"into myne owne handes and determination, and that I haue
"discharged them thereo£"
The Archebishoppe, perceiuyng the kynges benignite so muche (pmimar
to him wardes, had muche a doe to forbeare teares. "Well," saied 5i«?*<>
the kyng, " goe your waies, my Lorde, and doe as I haue bidden *«*'^"l
"you." My Lorde, humblyng hym self with thankes, tooke his rne thanked
leaue of the kynges highnesse for that night. depiSod!]^
» See p. 600, n. 1, below.
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498 xm. HENRY vra.
An "Olde Lady"— who appeared with Anne Boleyn in sc. iii.,
Act IL — ^now enters and tells Henry that a daughter has been bom to
him (V. i. 158-165).
The birth of Elizabeth is thus recorded :
JS^,3 [Hoi. iii 934/2/1. Haile, 805.] The seuenth of September
[1533], being sundaie, betweene three & foure of the clocke in the
aftemoone, the queene was deliuered of a faire yoong ladie, • • .
Act Y. sc. ii — Cranmer is discovered at the door of the Council
Ohamber. He says (11. 1-4} :
I hope I am not too late ; and yet the Gentleman,
That was sent to me from the Councell, pray'd me
To make great hast. — All fast ) What meanes this f — ^Hoa !
Who waites there 1 Sure, you know me )
Enter [Door-]Eeeper.
Keep. Yes, my Lord ;
But yet I cannot helpe you.
Cran. Whyt
Keep. Your Grace must waight till you be calFd for.
Dr. Butts enters, and, witnessing the affront offered to Granmer,
murmurs to himself :
This is a Peece ^ of Malice. I am glad 8
I came this way so happily : the King
Shall vnderstand it presently. [Exit Buts.
Cfran, [aside] 'Tib BfOe,
The Kinge Physiticm ; . • •
Butts re-enters with the King, '< at a Windowe aboue," and says :
Bute. He shew your Grace the strangest sight —
King. What's that, Buts t 20
Butts, I thinke your Highnesse saw this many a day.
Kin. Body a me ! where is it )
Butts, There, my Lord :
The high promotion of his Grace of Canterbury \
Who holds his State at dore, 'mongst Purseuants, 24
Pages, and Foot-boyes !
Ki/n. Ha ! 'Tis he, indeed.
Is this the Honour they doe one another ?
'Tis well there's one aboue 'em yet. I had thought
They had parted so much honesty among 'em, 28
(At least, good manners,) as not thus to suffer
A man of his Place, and so neere our favour.
To dance attendance on their Lordships pleasures,
And at the dore too, like a Post with Packets. 32
By holy Mary, Butts, there's knauery :
Let 'em alone, and draw the Curtaine close :
We shall heare more anon.
> Peece] Fetre F.
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for » whito J
xnL HENRY vra. 499
The Incident here dramatized is thus related by Foze (ii. 1769/2) :
On the morowe, about ix. of the clock before noone, the Coun- riuAnh^
saile sent a gentleman Husher for the Archebishop, who, when he &t^
came to the Counsail chamber dore, could not bee let in, but of oowua,
mad€to
purpose (as it seemed) was [l760/i] compelled there to waite ^Jjj^,***
among the Pages, Lackei% and seruyng men, all alone. Doctor ^^^^
BtUtes, the kynges Phidtion, resortyng that waie, and espijng howe •'^'^'
my Lorde of Canterburie was handled, went to the kynges highnesse
and saied: "My lorde of Canterbury, if it please your grace, is Jjj^
'* well promoted : for nowe he is become a lackey or a seruyng J^^f**"
"man; for yonder he standeth this halfe hower, without the "KS?^***
** Counsail chamber doore, amongest them." "It is not so," qt^^th ^S^LUwry
the kyng, "I trowe; nor the Counsaile hath not so little dis- merwaa '
treated].
"cretion as to vse the Metropolitane of the Bealme in that sort,
" specially beyng one of their owne number : but let th«m dUme ** [Hemy
(saied the kyng) **and we shall heare more sone." to interfere
Act V. so. iii. — ^The scene is laid in the Council-Chamber. When
the counsellors are seated, *' Norfolk " addresses the door-keeper :
Who waits there 1 4
Keep. Without, my Noble Lords?
Giird, Yes.
Keep. My Lord Archbishop ;
And ha's done halfe an houre to know your pleasures.
Chan. Let him come in.
Keep. [To Cran.] Your Qrace may enter now.
Cranmer [enters and] approches the Councell TabW
The Lord Chancellor then censures Cranmer, because
you, that best should teach vs,
Haue misdemean'd your selfe, and not a little.
Toward the King first, then his Lawes, in filling
H^ whole Bealme J by your teaching <t your Chaplames, 16
(For so we are informed,) with new opinions,
Diuers and dangerous ; which are ffereeiee,
And, not reformed, may proue pernicious.
Gardiner adds :
... If we suffer 24
(Out of our easinesse and childish pitty
To one mans Honour) this contagious sicknesse,
Farewell all Physicke 1 and what foUowes then!
Commotions, vprores, with a general Taint 28
Of the whole State : as, of late dayes, our neighbours,
^ See Additional Note on p. 507.
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500
Xm. HENRY vin.
[TbeUta
coiniDotioiig
inGennany
diMtoher-
biftkop . . .
aeeu»9dto
of^«acbuig
heresy].
[IfCnmmer
mot
totlM
witneaiM
would not
apMtf
■giinst
Mm.}
The vpper Germcmy, can deerely witnesses
Yet freshly pittied in our memories.
When Granmer's enemies drew Henry's attention to the spread
of heresy in England, they urged (see pp. 494, 496 above) <Hhat it
was daungerous for his highnesse farth^ to permit it"
[Foose, ii. l759/i.] vnreformed, lest peraduenture, by long
Bufferyng, suche co^ttention should arise and ensue in the realme
among his subiectes, that thereby might spryng horrible commotions
and vprares^ like as in some partes of Germanie it did not long
agoe: the enormitie whereof they could not impute to any so
muche as to the Archbishop of Canterburie, who, hy his own
preachyng and his Chapleins, had filled ihe whole realme full of
diners pernicious heresies.
Cranmer's speech in answer to this charge closes with the request
That, in this case of Justice, my Accusers,
Be what they will, may stand forth face to face,
And freely vrge against me ! ^
Suff. Nay, my Lord, 48
That cannot be : you are a Counsellor^
And, by that vertue, tw man dare acctise you.
Gard, My Lord, because we haue busines of more moment,
"We will be short with you. 'Tis his Highnesse pleasure, 52
And our consent, for better tryall of you.
From hence you be committed to the Totoer ;
Where, being but a priuate man againe,
You shall know many dare accuse you boldly, 66
More then (I f eare) you are prouided for.
Having been informed that Cranmer " had filled the whole realme
full of diuers pernicious heresies," Henry " would needes knows " the
Archbishop's
\Foxe, VL 1759/2.] accusers. Thei [Cranmer's enemies]
aunswered that, forasmuche as he was a Counseller, no m^in durst
take vpon hym to cuxiise him ; but, if it would please his highnesse
to commute hym to the Tower for a tyme, there would bee
accusations and proofes enough againste him ; for otherwise iuste
testimonie and witnesse against hym would not appeere; "and
* During their private conference, Henry said to Oranmer (see p. 497 above) :
'< if, in chaigyin^ you with this matter, they [the Council] doe commit you to
the Tower, require of them, because you are one of them a Counaell^, that
you maie haue your accusers brought before them, and that you maie aunswere
their accusationB before them, without any further induraunce, and vee for your
selfe as good perswasions that waie, as you maie deuise,'' • . •
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xm. HENRY vin. 501
" therefore yoor highnesse " (saied they) "muste needes giue vs the
" Counsaill libertie and leaue to commit hym to duraunce."
Cranmer's committal to the Tower is delayed through an altercation.
Angered by Cromwell's mild censure for being "a Uttle too sharpe'*
with the Archbishop, Qardiner retorts :
Doe not I know you for a Fauourer 80
Of this new Sect ) ye are not sound.
Crom. Not sound t
Gard, Not sound, I say.
Crom. Would you were halfe so honest I
Mens prayers then would seeke you, not their f eares.
Foxe says of Cromwell (ii. 1159/2) :
In this worthy and noble person, besides diuers other eminent Tkm
vertues, iij. thinges especially are to bee considered, to wytte, StT*
florishyng authoritie, excellyng wysedome, and foment zeale to J-SJ^
Christ & to lus Qospell.^ First as touching his foment zeale in J;,;^**^
settyng forward the sinceritie of Christen fayth, . . . more can
not almost be wyshed in a noble man, and scarse the lyke hath
bene sene in any.
[II6O/2] Thus, • . . as he was labouring in the common wealthy
and doyng good to the poore afliicted Saintes, helpyng thoTTi out
of trouble, the malice of his enemies so wrought, continuallye
huntyng for matter agaynst hym, that they neuer ceased till in the
end they, by false traynes and crafty surmises, brought him oat
of the kinges fauour.
The chiefe and principal enemie against him was Steaen 8u,e<iT-
Gardiner, Byshop of Winchester, . . . tHZkSf*
ofGwdliMr.]
Foxe gives the following description of Gardiner (ii. 1679/i) :
He was of a proude stomake and high minded, in his owne [oiianot«r
opinion and conceite flatteryng hym selfe to muche ; in wit craftie
and subtile ; toward his superiour flattering and faire spoken ;'
to his inferiours fierce; against his equal stout and enuious,
namely if in iudgement and sentence hee any thyng withstode him :
* " This Cromwell was at that tyme [1538] the chief frend of the Qoe-
pellers."— JPoxc, 1097/2.
« Cp. the rebuke addressed by Heniy to Qardiner (V. iii 126, 127) :
" To me you cannot reach, you play the Spaniell,
And thinke with wagging of your tongue to win me ; " . • •
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haldoontm-
dieUof
hewMft
502 xm. HENRY vin.
[HcMuid as appered betwene the good Lord Cromwell and hym in the
ware stout reigne of king Henry, beyng of like hautines of stomacke, . . .
Cromwell's taunt — "would you were halfe so honest" — ^may be
illustrated by a passage (ii. 1679/i) in which Foxe pointed out the
apparent contradictions of Gardiner's teaching:
And as touching diuinitie, he was so variable waueryng with tyme,
that no constant censure can be geuen what to make of hyuL If
[»|^ff his doyngs & writynges were accordyng to his conscience, no
man can rightlye say whether he was a right protestant or Papist
If he wrote otherwise then he thought, for feare, or to beare wit&
time, then was he a double dope dissembler before God and man,
to say & ynsay, to write & vnwrite, to sweare and forsweare,
so as he did.
The Lords of the Council agree that Cranmer shall be sent to the
Tower (IL 87-92). He asks :
Is there no other way of mercy,
But I must needs to th' Tower, my Lords 1
The Bishop of Winchester answers slightingly, and calls for the
Guard, to whom he commits Cranmer. Cnrnmer then replies :
Stay, good my Lords,
I haue a little yet to say. Looke there, my Lords ;
By vertue of that King, / take my ccmM
Out of the gripes of cruell men, amd giue it 100
To a most Noble ludge, the King my Maister.
At their interview on the night before the council-meeting, Henry
bade Cranmer, " if no intreatie or reasonable request will serue, then
deliuer vnto ih&m this my ryng " (p. 497 above) ;
[Cruunar [Foxe, il 1759/2.1 and sale vnto them: "if there be no
WMtO
•gp«J^^ "remedie, my Lordes, but that I must needes goe to the Tower,
totkeKing.] "then/ rouoko my cause from you, and appeale to the Eynges
" owne persone, by this his token vnto yon all,^' . . .
Henry had foreseen what would happen. After waiting a ^ halfe
hower " (see p. 499 above),
^«*" [Foxe, il 1760/1] the Archbishop was called into the
M«amii- Counsaill Chamber: to whom was alledged, as before is re-
fsuoMm- hearsed. The Archbishop aunswered in like sort as the kyng had
Mmc^iffMt aduised hym : & in the ende, when he perceiued that no manor
^^^ of perswasion or intreatie could serue, he deliuered to them the
^f!SS^ Eynges rynge, reuoking his cause into the Eynges handes.
" ^^^ Becognizing the ring, Suffolk exclaims ;
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helMd
vwmed
them not to
Mekwitn«M
Xm. HBNKY vnL 503
Tis the right Ring, by Heau'n I / told ye all,
W?ien we first put this dangerous stone a rowling 104
'Twold fall vpon our selues.
Norf . Doe you thinke, my Lords,
The King wiU wffter but the little finger
Of this man to be vex'd 1
Cham, Tis now too certaine :
How much more is his L\fe in value with him 1 108
"Would I were f airely out on't I
Crom, My mind gaue mo
In seeking tales and Informations
Against this man, ...
Ye blew the fire that burnes ye : . . •
Foxe relates (ii. 1760/i) that, Cranmer having delivered to them
Henry's ring, and the
whole Counsaile beyng thereat somewhat amased, the Erie of ^moi
Bedford, with a loude voice, confirmyng his woordes with a solenme gj^^
othe, saied : *'when jon first began this matter, my Lordes, I tolde
"you what wovM come of it Doe you thinke that th^ Kyng will
" suffer this manner finger to ake ? mmtike mme (I warraTtt you)
" wil he defende his life against brablyng varlettes. You doe but
"comber your selues to heare tahs & fables again^ hym.**
Immediately after Cromwell's speech (L 113) Henry enters,
''frowning on them, takes his Seate." The King sternly answers
(U. 122-129) a flattering address from Gardiner (IL 114-121), reassures
Cranmer (11. 130-133), and then says :
/ had thought I had had men of some vnderstanding
And wisedome of my Councell ; but Ifimde nona 186
Was it discretion, Lords, to let this man.
This good man, (few of you deserue that Title,)
This honest man, wait like a lowsie Foot-boy
At Chamber dare f and one as great as you are f 140
Why, what a shame was this I Did my Commission
Bid ye so f arre forget your selues 1 / gaue ye
Power, as he was a Counsellour, to try Atm,
ITot as a Groome : there's some of ye, / see, 144
More out of Malice then Integrity,
Would trye him to the vtmost, had ye meane ;
Which ye shall neuer haue while I liue.
Chan. Thus f arre,
My most dread Soueraigne, may it like your Grace, 148
To let my tongue excuse all. What was purpos'd
Concerning his Imprisonment, was rather
(If there l^ faith in men) meant for his Tryatt,
And faire purgation to the world, then maUoe, 152
I'm sure, in me t
Kin. WeU, weU^ my Lords, respect him ;
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504
Xni. HENBY vin.
[TiMOoiniiell
■vrandered
Gnnmer*!
rto
Hemr*!
dNtofim.]
Ikthimgu
wontefo
UUcownr
[TbeezeiiBe
ofltoedlqr
*'<m6or
twooofthe
ehlefest of
theOoon-
HUlerdti
taiUotadto
httftimda
biikcp.
Take him, and vse him weU, he^s toarthy of it.
I will say thus much for him, if a Ptinoe
May he beholding to a Subiect, I
Am, for his loue and seruioe, so to him.
Make me no more culoe, but all embrace him.
156
After recording the Earl of Bedford's speech, Foze iMX>oeedB thus
(ii 1760/1) :
And 80, incontinently Tpon the receipt of the kynges token, ihei
al rose, and caried to the king his ring ; surrendering that matter,
as the order and Tse was, into his own handes.
When thei wer all come to the kynges presence, his higimes^
with a seuere countenaunce, said ynto them: "Ah, my lordes, /
** thought I had had wiser men of my caunsaUe then now / finds
''you. What discretion vxis this in you, thus to make the Primate
'' of the Bealme, & one o{ you in office, to waite at the Counsail
"chamber dore amongest seruyng men I Tou might haue co9i-
" sidered that he was a Counseller as well as you, and you had no
" Buche commission of me so to handle hym. I was content that
''you should trie him as a Counseller, and not as a meane subiect
"But now / well perceiue that things be doen against him
"maliciously, and, if som^ ofjon might haue had your minds, you
** would haue triedi him to the vti^rmost. But I do you aU to wit,
" and protest, that if a Prince mme bee beholdyng ynto his subieete ";
and so (soIem[n]ly laiyng his hande ypon his breaste) saied : "by
"the faithe I owe to God, I take this man here, my Lorde of
"Canterburie, to be of al other a moste faithfull subiecte ynto ts,
" and one to whom we are muche beholding": giuyng hym greate
commendations otherwise. And with that one or twoo of the
chiefest of the Counsaile, making their excuse, declared, that^ in
requesting his induraunce, it was rather m^eante for his triall, and
his purgation against the common fame and sclaunder of the
worlde, then for any m/dice conceiued against him : " Well, well,
**my Lordes,*' quoth the kyng, "take hym and well vse hym, as
"he is worthie to be, and make no more ado'* And with that
euery man caught hym by the hand, and made faire weather of
altogethers, whiche might easely be doen with that man.
Henry <<once more" bids Gardiner embrace Oranmer; and, observing,
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xni. HENKY vin. 505
as this command is obeyed, the Archbishop's ''ioyfull teares," remarks
(IL 176-178) :
The common voyce, I see, is verified
Of thee, which sayes thus : " Doe my Lord qf GanUrhury
**A shr&wd tvms, and bee's your/nmd for euer."
According to Foze (iL 1766/i) Cranmer*s forgiving disposition was
■o notorions
that it came into a eomm^on prouerbe : " Do vnto my Lord of Canter- tornimM'i
" hury displeasure or a sh/rewed tume, and then you may be sure JJ^J^
" to haue him your/rend whiles he lyueth." ^SnA,}
Act V. sc. V. — ^In sc. iii.. Act V., Henry desired Cranmer to be the
godfather of '^ a faire young Maid that yet wants Baptisme'' (1. 162) ;
adding: ''You shall haue two noble Partners with you; the old
'' Dudiesse of Norf olke, and Lady Marquesse Dorset : " . • .
The return of the christening party to the Palace is set forth in the
following stage direction, with which sc. v. opens :
Enter Trumpets, sounding: Then two Aldermen, L. Maior,
Qarter, Cranmer, Duke of Norfolke with his Marshals
Staffe, Duke of Suffolke, two Noblemen bearing great
standing Bowles for the Christening Guifts : Then f oure
Koblemen bearing a Canopy, vnder which the Dutchesse of
Korfolke, Qodmother, bearmg the Childe richly habited in
a Mantle, dK>., Traine borne by a Lady : Then followes the
Marchionesse Dorset, the other Godmother, and Ladies.
The Troope passe once about the Stage, and Garter speakea
Oart. Heauen, from thy endlesse goodnesse, send prosperoug
life, long, and euer happie, to the high and Mighty Frinceeee qf
England, Elizabeth/
Flourish. Enter King and Guard.
Addressing the godparents, Henry says (11. 13-15) :
My Noble Gossips, y*haue beene too Prodigall :
I thanke ye heartily ; so shall this Lady,
When she ha's so much English,
The christening
[Hoi. iil 934/2/5. Ealle, 806, 806.] was appointed on the ^^^.^
wednesdaie next following [Elizabeth's birth on Sunday, Sept 7, •"«'***«*»kJ
1533] ; and was accordinglie accomplished on the same dale, with
all such solemne ceremonies as were thought conuenient. The god- [Bar god-
father at the font was the lord archbishop of Canturburie, the god- ^^*^
mothers, the old dutohes of Norffolke, & the old marchionesse
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506
XTTT. HENBY VIIL
Miw.BdU,
0cx9ij, [806.]
rrheLocd
MATOrtlMl
AlaeroMn
of London
imMaittt
Mrehrii
Inc.]
fTheoM
DOOlMMOf
Norfolk
■ad the
Doketof
Norflidkttid
Suffolk wtra
in the pro*
eenlonto
the ehnroh.]
hameouer
ikifoong
[Gartn"!
prodUma-
tion.]
giittmtotkt
[Thepro-
wturikod in
the MOM
Dorset, widowes ;^ and at the coDfirmation the ladie marchionesse
of Excester was godmother : the child was named Elizabe^L
Upon the daie of the christenuig, the maior, sir Stephan
Peacocke, in a gowne of crimsm veluet, with his collar of S S, and
aU the aldermen in scarlet, with collars and chaines, and all the
councell of th^ citie with them, tooke their barge after dinner, at
one of the clocke, and the citizens had another barge ; and so
rowed to Greenwich, where were manie lords, knights, and gentle-
men assembled.
When the procession to the church was formed
[Sol. iii. 934/2/47. Halle, 805, 806.] the old dutches of Nor-
ffolke bare the child in a mantell of purple veluet, with a long traine
furred with ermine. The duke of Norffolke with his marshall rod
went on the right hand of the said dutches, and the duke of
Suffolke on the left hand, and before them went the officers of
armes. The countesse of Kent bare the long traine of the childs
mantell ; and betweene the countesse of Kent and the child went
the earle of Wilshire on the right hand, and the earle of Darbie
on the left hand, supporting the said traine : in the middest, ouer
the said child, was borne a canopie by the lord Rochford, the
lord Husee, the lord William Howard, and by the lord Thomas
Howard the elder; after the child followed manie ladies and
gentlewomen. . . .
When the ceremonies and christening were ended. Garter,
oheefe king of armes, cried alowd, " God of his infinite goodnesse
**8md prosperom life & long to the high and mightie princesse of
*' England, Elizabeth:'' & then the trumpets blew. Then the
archbishop of Canturburie gaue to the pmioesse a standing cup
of gold : the dutches of Norffolke gaue to hir a standing cup of
gold, fretted with pearle : the marchionesse of Dorset gaue three
gilt boUes, pounced, with a couer: and the marchionesse of
Excester gaue three standing holies, grauen, aU gilt, with a
couer. . . . [Hoi iil 935/i/3. Halle, 806.] Then they set for-
wards, the trumpets going before in the same order towards the
kings palace, as they did when they came thitherwards, saoing
^ tim^ouwa] Halle, vfidow HoL
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Xm. HENRY VIIL 507
that the gifts that the godfather and the godmothers gaue were
borne before the child by foure persons, that is to saie : Firsts sir mc hmn
lohn Dudleie bare the gift of the ladle of Excester. the lord S^SS^to
Thomas Howard the yoonger bare the gift of the ladie of Dorset,
the lord Fitzwater bare the gift of the ladie of Norffolke,
and the earle of Worcester bare the gift of the^ archbishop of
Canturburie, . . •
In this order they broaght the princesse to the Q[aeen's] C^?^*^
chamber, & tarried there a while with the maior & his brethren gSfSi^
the aldermen, and at the last the dnkes of NorflTolke & Suffolke Si taf
came out from the K, thanking them hwrtUie; who commanded Sm]'
them to giue thanks in his name : which being doone, with other
courtesies^ they departed, & so went to their barges.
ADDITIONAL NOTE
Page 499. The late Mr. Watkiss Lloyd showed (Note$ and Queries, 7fch S.
vil 203, 204) that Halle was the source of the following passage in the Lord
Chancellor's address to Oranmer (V, iii. 10--15) :
toe oU are m«fi|
In our owne natures yVxitltf and capable
2f our flesh ; few are Angels: out of which /rotZ^
nd want o/vHsdome, you, that best should teach va,
Haue mdsdemean'd your sdfe, and not a little,
Toward the King firsts then his Lowes, . . .
Parallel phrases exist in a speech made on September 1, 1531, by John
Stokesley, Bishop of London (HaUey 783), under these drcnmstances : Soon
after Wolsey's death legal proceedings were commenced against the spiritual
peers on the ground that the clergy had incurred the penalties of a premunire
through supporting the Cardinal's exercise of his legatine powers. Convocation
averted a trial of the case by voting Henry ^^00,000 for his pardon (HaUe,
774). When soliciting the help of the priests of his diocese in raising the
sum, Stokesley said :
My frendes all, you knowe well that wee bee menfrayle of condicion and
no Angds, and by frayltie and lacke of wysedome wee haue misdemeanee
our selfe touMrd t^ hyng our Soueraygne Lord and his lawes^ so that all wee
of the Cleargy were in the Premunire ; • • »
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INDEX.
Abb
Absbgayxmnt, George Neville, Baron (1491 —
1535), arrested, 481
" ablements," habiliments, 415
"abrayded,^' started, 168
"accnstomablie," habitually, 850
"adeption," acquiring, xiv.
Africa (Mahadiaii), Tunis, 112
Aganippus, a prince of Qallia. See France,
King of
Albany, Duke of (Maglanus), marries Gonorilla,
8 ; lUklf of Britain bequeathed to him, ib, ;
rebels against Lear, and assigns him a portion
to live on, 4 ; defeated and slain, 5
, Bobert Steward, Duke of, father of
Murdach Steward, 182, 133
Albemarle (Aumerle), Edward Duke of (1897-
99), becomes bail for Bolingbroke, 78 ; sent
by Bichard to make peace oetween Boling-
broke and Norfolk, 79; spent money in
Bichard's service, 81 ; oflBdates as high con-
stable \jk the lists at Coventry ; 86 — 88 ; retires
to King's Langley, 92 ; brings reinforcements
to Ireland, 99 ; his loyalty doubted, ib, ; per-
suades Bichard to linger m Ireland, 100, 102
n 2 ; returns with Bichard, 106 ; deserts him,
109 n 1 ; accused by Bagot, 111 ; accepts Fitz-
Walter's challenge, ib. ; challenges Norfolk,
112 ; his mother, 121 n 1 ; deprived of his
dukedom, 121, 122 ; reprobated by the com-
mons, 180. See Butland, Edward Earl of
Albeigati, Nicholas. Cardinal of Santa Croce,
counsels ''a godlie peace," 284. {Op, 1 Hen,
F/., V. i 5)
Albret, Charles d'. See Constable of France
Alenfon, John L, Duke of (1404-15), gives
advice for the defence of France, 179 ; promises
battle to lltmy Y., 184 n 2; encounters
Henxy, 195 ; slain, 195, 196
, John II., Duke of (1415-76), relieves
Orleans. 215, 216; present at Margaret's
espousals, 248
Alexander tiie Mason denies the pope's authority
in temporal matters, 56 n 8
"alongst," along, 98
*'alow,'Mow down. 856
" altogethers " « altogether, 504
"ands," ift, 872
Angers(Angiers)d6liveredto Arthur, 46; taken
Aett
by Eleanor, 51 ; taken by John, ift. ; Con*
stance and Arthur flee to, 58; restored to
John, ib,
Angus, George Douglas, Earl of, taken piisoner
at Homildon, 182, 138
Anjou yields allegiance to Arthur, 46 ; Arthur's
homage for, 52 ; possession of^ demanded for
Arthur, ift. ; recovered by John, 59 ; ravaged
by York and Somerset, 280 ; ceded to Ben^
244 ; a key of Normandy, 245
, Ben< Duke of (1434-80), 182 n 4; his
daughter Margaret's marriage arrani^d, 238 ;
his kingly style, 241 ; present at Margaret's
espousals, 243 ; could not pay for her journey
to England, 245 ; advises her to discard
Gloucester's authority, 260 ; visited by her,
812 n 1 ; ransoms her, 342
Anne (Neville), wife of Bichard JIT., married to
Edward (Lancastrian) Prince of Wales, 318,
846 ; date of her marriage to Bichard, 845,
846 ; crowned, 887 ; rumour of her death
spread by Bichard, 888 ; dies, 896 ; eclipse
of the sun at her death, 396 n 8
"antecessors," ancestors, 809
Antelope, Henry Y.'s pursuivant, sent to
Charles YI., 178
"apert, in," openly, 293
Apollo, Lear's oath by, 5 n 1
"appaire," deteriorate, 249
''appent," belonged, 129 ft^2
Armagnac, John lY., Count ot^ proffers his
daughter in marriage to Heniy YI., 235
Armourer, an, appeached of treason by his
servant, 248 ; who overcomes him in a judicial
duel, 260, 261 ; his servant was perjured,
261 nl
Arras, representatives of England and Franca
meet at, 226 ; and are exhorted to make peace,
234 ; terms proposed at, 240
Arthur. See firittany, Arthur Duke of
Articles devised by the Percies, 185 ; which win
approval but no help, 186; presented to
Henry lY., 144
Arundel, Bichard Fitz- Alan, Eari of (1876-97),
rebels against Richard II., 94; careM in
choosing soldiers, 143
, Thomas Fitz-Alan, Earl of (1400-15),
joins Bolingbroke's invasion, 96; *' broke
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510
INDEX.
Aru
Bkd
from the Duke of Exeter," 97 ; goes with
Boliugbroke to meet York, 102 ; " tot saeke "
a man ordained to murder Prince Henij, 213
Arondel, William Fits-Alan, Earl of (15»-44),
in the coronation procession of Anne Boleyn,
486. (His place is filled by the dramatio
"Surrey")
(or Fits-Alan), Thomas, Archbishop of
Canterbury, persuades Bolingbroke to de-
throne Bichara II., 96 ; joins Bolingbroke's
inyasion, ib, ; goes with Bolingbroke to meet
York, 102 ; meets Bichard at Flint Castle,
109 n 1 ; scroll of Bichard's abdication de-
livered to, 114 ; places Bolingbroke in "the
regall throne," 115 ; lends money to Henry
IV., 169 « 1
Anrira^, son of the legendary Cymbeline, 7 ;
a British prince named A., 7 n 8 ; Spenser
made A. a brother of Cymbeline, 10 n 1
Ascension Day (May 27, 1199), date of John's
coronation, 46 ; prophecy that John would
not be king on, m 1218 ("^uod non foret
rex in die Dominicae AscensioniSi" — ^M. Paris,
ii 586), 62
"aslope,*' indirectly, 879
Aspall, Bobert, tries to save Butland, 297, 298
"aasaie, take the," taste the food, 126
"assayled,"as8oaed, 188
Athol, Walter Steward, Earl of^ taken prisoner
at Homildon, 182
Audley, Sir Thomas. 486. See Chancellor, Lord
Augustus knights the legendary Cymbeline, 7,
8 ; prepares to invade the Britons, who re-
fasea tribute, 7 ; turns his arms against the
Pannonians and Dalmatians, 8 ; the British
princes seek his amity, 9 ; sends an ambassador
to Cvmbeline, i&.
Aumerle. See Albemarle, Butland, and York
Aurelius Ambrosius borne to battie in a litter,
226. See Uter
Aurora Borealis, (t) appearance of, 61 % 1. Op,
137
"Austria," a composite character, 58 n 1. See
Limoges, 48
Bagot, Sir William, talks with Norfolk about
Gloucester's death, 88 ; his tower a lodging
for Bichard II., 86; fiimis England, 90;
ffives advice for resisting Bolingbroke, 98 ;
flees to Ireland, 100 ; accuses Aumerle, 110,
111 ; hated by the oomroons, 180
Baker, John, reports Cardinal Beaufort's last
words, 269
Baldud ?Bladud), fiither of Leir, 1
Ball, John, exhorts the villeins at Blackheath,
272
Banaster, Humphrey (Balph), betrays Heniy
Duke of BuckmghAm, 461
Bangor, Archdeacon or Dean of (David Daron),
tripartite division of England framed at his
house, 138
" banquetwise," as for a banquet, 441
Banj^uo, thane of Lochaber, a fictitious person,
ziii. ; supposed ancestor of the Stewaras, 19, |
86; wounded by rebels 19 ; complains to Dun-
can, ib, : sent a^^ainst Macdowald, 20 ; com-
mands the rear m the war with Sueno, 21 ;
defeats the Danes sent by Canute, 22 ; meets
the weird sisters, 28, 24 ; jests with Macbeth
about their prophecy, 24, 25; connives at
Duncan's muraer, 25 ; murdered by Macbeth^
order, 88
Bar, Edward Duke o( promises battle to Heniy
v., 184 » 2; slain, 196
Bardolf^ Thomas Bardolf^ Baron, conspires
against Heniy lY., 161 ; invades England
imd is defeated, 167
"bare him sore," had a grudge against him,
849
Barkloughly (Qi and Fi. Barehwlie HoU
Harlech Williams coig.), Bichard II. lands
there, 106
Barons form a league against John at Bury St.
Edmunds, 66, 67; excommunicated by In-
nocent, 68 ; offer the English crown to Lewis,
69 (cp, 67, 68) ; their ruin plotted by Lewis,
72 ; become averse to Lewis, 72, 78 ; giTS
allegiance to Henxy III., 75, 76
"baste," bastardy, 269
" Battes " (dubs). Parliament o( 221
Bay trees wither, 108
Bayly beheaded for knowing Cade's base lineage,
Bayonne, Bishop of. See Gabriel de Gnmmont,
464 n 8
Beaufort, Henry, Bishop of Lincoln (1898 —
1405), Winchester (14(1^1447), and Caidinal
(1427), returns with Bichard II. from Ireland,
106 ; informs parliament of Henry Y.'s pro-
jected war with France, 168 n 2 ; appointed
guardian of Heni^ YL, 209 ; accused by
Gloucester of plottm^ Henry's sbduction, ib. ;
dissension betwixt bun and Gloucester, 212 ;
orders the Tower to be kept against Gloucester,
212, 218 ; who accuses him of plotting Prince
Henry's murder, 218 ; and obstructing London
bridge, 220, 221 ; truce between, and Glou-
cester, 222 ; god&ther to Henry YI., 224 ;
crowns Heniy YI. at Paris, 228; made a
cardinal, 286, 286; conspires against Glou-
cester, 246 ; accused of selling offices, 250 ;
his character, 269 ; Ust words, 269, 270
" Beaumont," Earl of, slain at Airincourt, 196.
Kot in Monstrelefs lists or in Harleian MS.,
782. (See "Fois" and "Leetrake") Per-
haps Henri II., Comte de Blamont, is meant
(irofw. iu. 849)
Beaumont, Heiuy Beaumont^ Baron, joins
Bolingbroke, 98
— , John Beaumont, Visoonnt, airests
Gloucester, 264
Bedford, JobA Duke of, not at Aginoonr^ 187 ;
at the siege of Melun, 201 n 1 ; secures the
Kormans' allegiance to Henry YL, 206 % 1 ;
at Heniy Y.'s death-bed, 208; appointed
Be^nt of France, ib, ; appoints Suffolk to
besieffe Orleans, 214 ; petition to, from Eleanor
Merger, 219 » 5 ; godfather to Henry YL,
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INDEX.
511
Bed
224 ; date of his death, «&. ; attends Henry
Y1,'b coronation in Paris, 228 ; takes the
Garter from Fastolfe, 229 ; his tomb, Lewis
XL adyised to deface, 232; orders Jeanne
Dare's examination, 288 ; calls her a *'limb
of the fiend," 288 n 8. See John of Lancaster
Bedford, John Bossell, Earl of (1660-56), warned
the connoil not to molest Cnuimer, 508
Bellona, goddess of battle, and her three hand-
maidens, 166
"bend," band, 868
" BeneTolenoe," a, giyen to Edward IV. 94, 95
Berkeley, Thomas de Berkeley, Baron, goes with
York to meet Bolingbroke, 102
Berri, John Dnke o( his daughter's marriage
to Bolingbroke preyented, Si; giyes adyice
for the defence of France, 179 ; at the council
summoned after Henry Y. crossed the Sonune,
182
Bertha, Perth, 21 » 1
<<betooke," deliyered, 856
Bimam Wood, Macbeth reassured by a prophecy
about, 86, 41 ; its remoyal a tradition, 42 n 1
Bishop, a, on each hand of Bichard Duke of
Gloucester, 888
Black-Friars, arrangement of the court at, for
trying Heniys cause, 456, 457 ; court at, ad-
journed, 465 ; dosed, 471
Blanch of Castile marries Lewis, 58, 69 ; her
dower, 58
Blank charters issued by Bichard XL, 90
Blithild, fictitious ancestress of Pippin, 170
Blood, one of Bellona's handmaidens, 166
Blunt, James, captain of Hammes Castle, joins
Richmond, 409
, Sir Thomas, conspires sgainst Henry lY.,
122 ; beheaded, 127
, Sir Walter, slain by Douglas, 146, 147.
The historic messengers (148) were Thomas
Prestbury, Abbot of Shrewsbury, and a clerk
of the pnyy seal
"bobaunce," pride, 282 n 2
Boleyn, Anne, made Marchioness of Pembroke,
455; captiyates Henry, 470; a Lutheran,
472 ; married to Henry, 479 n 1, 480 ; ac-
knowledged as queen, 480 ; in her coronation
procession, 485 ; crowned, 486
Bolingbroke. See tueoeseively Derby, Hereford,
Lancaster, and Henry lY.
(aliaa Oonly), Roger, accused of sorcery,
258; confesses his guilt, ib,; recants, but
is executed, 259 ; was an accomplice of the
Duchess of Gloucester, 262
Bona (Bonne), daughter to Lewis Duke of
Sayoy, her marriage to Edward I Y. negotiated,
818 ; married to Galeano Maria Sforza, Duke
of Milan, 816
Bonyile and Harington, William Bonyile,
Baron, his heiress married Marquess Dorset,
819 nl
Bordeaux, EngUshmen's goods at, seized by
Francis I., 427
"borow," surety, 418
Botgosusne (Botgoeuana Boece 250/9. Bothgo-
Bbi
wanan, the smith's bothr,— Robertson's Scot-
land under her Early Kvnge, L 115 note), 25
Bouchier, Thomas, Bishop of Ely (1448-54),
Archbishop of Canterbury (1454-86), and
Cardinal (1464), enyoy (in 1452) to York,
285 ; takes part in Edward Y.'s coronation
council, 868 ; crowns Richard III., 887
Boudcault, John le Meingre, Marshal, proyides
for the defence of France, 179 ; encamps at
Agincourt, 185 ; taken prisoner, 195
Bouratier, William, Archbishop of Bourges,
offers terms ofpeace to Henry Y., 179
Bourbon, John Duke of, in the Q. of ffen, F*.,
183 n 1 ; promises battle to Henry Y., 184
n 2 ; taken prisoner at Agincourt, 195
, Lewis bastard o( admiral of France,
appointed to assist the I^ancastrians, 318
Brabant, Anthony Duke of, promises battle to
Henry Y., 184 » 2 ; uses a trumpet-banner
instead of his standard, 189 ; shun, 196
"braies," 108. "Braye ... An adyanced
E pet surrounding the main rampart " — New
fish DidionaTy
B," (!) thicket, 472. Perhaps a machine
for confining tiie less of unruly horses
Brakenbury, Sir Robert, refuses to murder
Richard IIL's nephews, 889 ; deliyers the
keys of the Tower to Tyrrel, 890 ; slain at
Bosworth field, 421
Brandon, Sir Thomas, (1) Brandon in Henry
rilL, 430 n 1
, Sir William, Richmond's standard-
bearer, oyertlm>wn by Richard, 419 ; was not
slain at Bosworth, 419 n 1
Breaut^ Faukesde, compared with the dramatb
Faulconbridge, 48 » 1
Bretons leyy war u^ainst John on Arthur's
behidf, 60 ; enragea by the rumour of Arthur's
death, 62, 68 ; their character, 417 eidenoU 2
** breued," recorded, 129 n 2
Brews, William de, his contempt of court, 161
»2
Bridce-tower at Orleans taken by the English,
210 ; Salisbury wounded in the, 214, 215
"briffandine," 278, " briganders," 874, coats of
scaie-armour
Britain conquered by Claudius, 6 ; Augustus
prepares to inyade, 7 ; tribute imposed on,
by Cae«r, 9 » 2 ; "a woride by it selfe," 10.
11 ; recoyered by Maximian I., 11 ; goyemed
by a pentarchy of kings, 14 ; re-united by
Mulmudus, i&.
Britons reftise tribute to Augustus, 7 ; their
youth brought up among the Romans, 8 ;
their "lack of skill "^ to oppose Julius Caesar,
8 » 2 ; their princes seek the friendship of
Augustus, 9 ; their imports, %b, ; used
chariots, 15 n 2
Brittany, Arthur Plantagenet Duke of, Anfjers
deliyered to, 46; acknowledged in Amou,
Maine, and 'Touraine, ib, ; son of John's elder
brother, ib, ; much younger than John, 47
{ep. 59 » 1} ; placed m Philip's charges ib, ;
is knighted by and does homage to Philip,
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512
INDEX.
Bbi
63 ; reoonoOed to John, ib. ; flees from John,
68 ; does homage to John, and retorns with
Philip, 64 ; takes Mirabeau, 68 ; captured by
John, 69 ; demands possession of Kichard's
dominions, i&. ; imprisoned, ib. ; persnAdes
Hubert de Burgh to save him from olinding,
60; his blinding and death rumoured, 61 ;
rumour of his death contradicted, 68 ;
Tarious accounts of his death, ib, ; his
murder attributed to John, 70 {ep, 61 n 1)
Brittany, Constance Duchess of, entrusts Arthur
to PhUipj 47 ; repudiates her second husband
and mames Guy de Thenars, 68 ; dies, 61 » 1 ;
accused John of Arthur's murder, ib,
, John v., Duke of (1864-99), Brest sur-
rendered to, 84, 96 ; aids Bolingbroke, 96
, John VI., Duke of (1899—1442), at the
councfl summoned after Henry Y. crocked the
Somme, 182
, Fnnda I., Duke of (1442-60), present at
Margaret of Anjou's espousals, 243
, Francis XL, Duke of (1468-88), receives
the earls of Pembroke and Richmond, 829,
830; Richmond brought up in his court,
417
Brocas, Sir Leonard, conspirator against Henry
IV., beheaded, 127
**broch,"«6., sfit, 28
Buckingham, Humphrey Stafford, Duke of
(144^0), conspires against Gloucester, 246 ;
when made duke, 246 n 8 ; present at Glou-
cester's arrest, 264 ; sent to York before the
battle of St Albans, 284 » 1 ; wounded at
St Albans, 290
, Henry Stafford, Duke of (1460-88), aids
Gloucester in removing the queen's mends
from Edward Y., 861, 862 ; aids Gloucester
to eet possession of Eidward at Stony Strat-
ford, 864; asserts that York needed no
sanctuary, 869, 860 ; was he in Richard's con-
fidence from the first ! 861 ; courts Hastings,
862 ; promises made him by Richard, w. ;
takes part in Richard's secret council, 868 ;
his speech at the Guildhall on Richard's
claim to the crown, 877—879 ; was received
with silence, 881 ; accepts packed applause as
an answer, 882 ; invites Kichard to assume
the crown, 888—886; vainly demands the
earldom of Hereford, 892 {qf, 862, 460 n 2) ;
relates his wrongs to Morton, 898; rebels,
897 ; promised to support Richmond, 898 nl ;
stopped by a flood, 403 ; his armv deserts him,
404 ; beheaded, 410 ; meant to have stabbed
Richard, 439 ; betrayed by Banaster, 461
, Edward Stafford, Duke of (1486— 1621),
escorts Francis I. in the vale of Andren, 426 ;
grudged the charges of attending the kin^
mterview, 426 ; hated Wolsev, 5. ; arrested,
480 ; En^f s evidence against, 436—489 ;
hfui dismissed Enyvet, 487 ; tried and found
ffuilty, 447, 448; Wolsey blamed for his
death, 448 ; denies that he was a traitor, 460 ;
the edge of the axe turned towards him, ib, ;
says that he is now '^but Edward Bohune,"
Cab
ib, ; his dukedom restored by Hennr YIL,
461
Bulmer, Sir William, his imprisonment bj
Wolsey, 426 ; Buckingham's threat in con*
nection therewith, 438, 489
Burdett, Thomas, executed, 842 n 8 ; and wbj.
876, 876 n 2
Buigundy, John the Fearless, Duke of (14<M-
19), murders Lewis Duke of Orleans, 48 ;
murdered, 199 n 8 ; conferred with Henry Y.
at Meulan, 200; was the <^let" of Henry's
desires, ib,
, Philip the Good, Duke of (1419-e7),
offers peace to Henry Y., 199; concludes a
truce with Henrv, ib. ; accompanies Henry's
ambassadors to Iroyes, 200 ; swears to observe
the trea^ of Troyes, 208 ; makes peace with
Charles YIL, 226 ; besi^ Oahus, 226 » 1 ;
obtains Orleans's release, and why, 227, 228 ;
his excuse for deserting Henry YL, 229;
receives the Duchess of York's sons, 808
, Charles the Bold (U Umdraire), Duke of
1467-77), secretly aids Edward lY/s restoim-
tion,880
Bushy, Sir John, spokesman for Richard IL
regarding Bolingoroke's appeal, 79; an-
nounces the decision to settle Bolingbroke's
by battle, 82 ; reads the sentences of
igbroke and Norfolk, 88 ; fiums Endaad,
S'ves advice for resisting Bolingbroke,
90;
08;
104
180
lees to Bristol, 100; beheaded there,
his character, 129 ; flatters Richard IL,
hated by the commons, ib.
"buskling,*' bustling, noise, 28
Butler, Dame Eleanor, betrothed to Edward
lY., 877w8
Buttes, Dr. William, tells Heniy that Cranmer
waits outside the council-chamber, 499
*<by," about, concerning, 868, 871, 889
Cade (alias Mend-all), John, date of his rebel-
lion, 266 ; called himself Mortimer, 266 ; a
feeler for York, 266, 282 » 2; defeats the
Staffords, 278 : dons Sir H. Stafford's briAn-
dine, ib, ; releases prisoners, ib. ; sends a
supplication to Henry, 278, 274 ; confen
with Henry's messengers, 274 ; lodges at the
White Hart in Southwark, ib, ; robs, 276
n 1 ; enters Lond<m unopposed, 276 n 2 ;
strikes his sword on London stone, 276 ; kiUs
those who knew his base lineage, ib. ; tries to
seize London bridge, 276, 27/ ; thedramatio
a and Wat Tyler, 277, 278 ; propoeea to
abolish fifteenths, 278 ; puts to death Li»d
Saye and Sir James Cromer, 278, 279 ; makes
their heads kiss, 279 ; his followers disperse
and he flies, 280, 281 ; reward offerea for
him, 281, 284; date of his death, 288; slain
by Iden, 284
Caesar, C. Julius, imposes % tribute on Britain,
9 » 2 ; calls Britain ''another world," 11 ;
his ships wrecked, 12 ; his fl»od luck fails
him in Britain, 12 » 1 ; the British account
of his invasions, 12, 18 ; loses his sword, 18
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513
Cak
" cakes," «&., clots, 29
Calabria ("Calaber"), John of Anjou, Duke of,
present at his sister Margaret's espousals,
248
Calvert, Bernard, his ride, 411 n 2
Cambridge, Richard Earl of, treason of, made
public, 178 n 8 ; found guilty, ib, ; his con-
spiracy detected, 174 ; led to doom himself,
174 n 1 ; his real motive for conspiring, 175,
176 ; says that he was bribed by France, 176 ;
doomed by Henry, 176, 177
Campeggio, Lorenzo, Cardinal, sent to try
Henry's cause of matrimony, 468, 464 ; closes
the court at Black-Friars, 471 ; takes leave
ofHenry, 471, 472
" campestral!," cham|)aign, 289
Camp-fires, the, at Agincourt, 186
Canterbury, Archbishop of, in Henry F. See
Chichele
Capuchins, 488. (Eustace Chapuys)
Carlisle, Bishop of rThomas Merkes), returns
with Richard II. trom Ireland, 106 ; accom-
panies Richard to Conwav, 107 ; present when
iUchaxd met Bolingbrole, 109 ; speaks on
Richard's behalf, 116, 116; attacked by
Westmoreland, i&. ; conspires against Henry
lY., 122, 128 ; his subseauent history, 127,
128
Cassibelan, eldest son of Lud {Fab, 84), or
Lud's brother, 7nl (Eol.) : agrees to pay the
Romans tribute, 9; obstructs the Thames
with piles, 18; was "at point to master
Cffisars Sword" (Oynib.) 18 n 2; celebrates
his second defeat of Caesar, 14
**cast," contrivance, 877
Castle, the, in St. Albuis, Somerset slain there,
289
Catesbjr, Sir William ("the Cat," 847), moved
by Richard to sound Hastings, 862 ; present
at Richard's secret council, 868 ; was trusted
and advanced by Hastings, 868, 864 ; reports
Hastings's loyalty, 866 ; hindered Tyrrel's
advancement, 889, 890
Calur, John, an armourer, appeached of treason
by his servant, 248 n 8
Cawdor, where, 28 n 8 ; the thane of, con-
demned for treason, 24 ; made an earMom,
46
"Cawny, the lorde of" (Aubert Le Flamenc,
seigneur de Cany), supposed father of Dunois,
49
Chamberlain, Lord, of the Household, 489,
440, 442-446, 464, 469, 608. Within the
historic rauffe of ffen. Fill. (1620-44) this
office was neld by (1) Charles Somerset,
Earl of Worcester; (2) William Sandys,
Baron Sandys of the Yme ; and (8) William
Paulet, Baron Seint John, afterwards Earl
of Winchester. The respective dates of
their appointments were: 1609, 1626, and
1648
Chamberlains, Duff's two, made drunk by Don-
wald and his wife, 27, 28 ; slain by Donwald,
29
Cla.
"chambers," small cannon, 448
Chancellor, Lord (Sir Thomas Audley), in the
coronation procession of Anne Bokyn, 486 ;
Thomas 0<x>diick, Bishop of Ely, in ffen.
VIIL V. iii. (p. 499). The dramatic character
is probablv Sir Thomas More
"chanoemedlie," manslaughter by mlsadven*
ture, 88
"Change ... a diuine instinct" warns men
of, 868
Chapuys, Eustace, Charles Y.'s ambassador,
visits Katharine. 489.
Chariots used by the Britons, 16 n 2
"Charlemaine, king," Charles the Bald, 170
Charles Y., the Emperor, visits Katharine, 429 ;
bribes Wolsey to dissolve the friendship be-
twixt Heniy and FranoiB, 429, 480
YL, King of France, receives Bolingbroke
courteously, 92; desired \s^ Richard II. to
prevent Bolingbroke's marriage, i&. ; urged
oy Heniy Y. to resign France peaceably, 178 ;
temporarily insane, 178, 179 ; advised to
interrupt Henry's march, 182 ; concludes a
truce with Heniy, 199; receives Henry's
ambassadors at Troyes, 200 ; at Troyes when
the treaty was revised, 201 ; and when his
daughter married Henry, 201 n 1, 202;
swears to observe the treaty of Troyes, 208 ;
his death inclined the French to support his
son, 206 ; date of his death, 207 n 2
YIL, youngest son of Charles YL, present
at the council dramatized in Em, K III. v.,
182; proclaimed king, 207; crowned at
Poitiers, 207 n 1 ; and at Rheims, ib, ; meets
Jeanne Dare, 211, 212 ; appoints her an army,
212 ; welcomes Burgundy, 226 ; re-established
in Paris, 287 ; impiously availed himself of
Jeanne Dare's help, 289; present at Margaret's
espousals, 248
Chltillon, Jacoues de, seigneur de Dampierre,
Admiral of France, encamps at Agincourt,
186; slain 196
ChichcJe, Heniy, Archbishop of Canterbury,
saves the clergy^s endowments by advising
Henry Y. to claim France, 168 ; translated
from S. David's, 168 n 2 ; argues that the
Salic law was not made for France, 169—171 ;
cites Numbers xzvii 8, 171 ; promises a large
subsidy from the clergy, 171, 172
"chieuance," bargain, 899
"Christes passion, bj," Richard IIL's oath,
417
Clarence, Thomas Duke of (1411-21), made
president of the council instead of Prince
Henry, 141 and 161 n 1 ; concerned with a
riot in Eastoheap, 141 n 1; invades Nor-
mandy, 169 n 1 ; sentences Cambridge and
Scrope, 178 n 8; present when Henry Y.
married Katharine, 201 » 1 ; at the siege of
Melun, lb
— , George Duke of (1461-77), sent to
Utrecht by his mother, 808 ; dukedom con-
ferred on, 808 ; joins the Lancastrian league,
818 ; angered by Edward's disposal of heir-
L L
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INDEX.
Clb
DB8
, 819 ; mnrries Isabel, elder danffhter of
Warwick, 820 ; invades England with War-
wick, 822 n 8 ; aids Warwick in captoring
Edward, 828 ; releases Henry ftrom the Tower,
826 ; made governor of England and heir to
the crown in remainder, 827 ; nrges Warwick
to make peace with Edward, 884 ; his recon-
ciliation with his brothers, 885, 886 ; had
been urged not to supplant his own lineage,
886 ; helps to murder Prince Edward, 840 ;
probable date of Ms arrest, 842 » 8; the
'* G " prophecy a rumoured cause of his death,
844 ; his marriage to Mary of Burgundy op-
posed by Edwam, ib, ; hated by the queen's
kindred, 844, 846 ; put to deatii, 848 ; his
fortune, 422
** clepyd," named, 221
Clifford, Thomas Clifford, Baron (1422-55),
« old Cliffoid," 289 n 2 ; slain at St Albans,
290
, John Clifford, Baron (1455-61), at
Wakefield, 296 ; kills Rutland, 298 ; insults
York's corpse, 299 ; defeats the Yorkists at
Ferrybridge, 805 ; slain, 807
Clifton, Sir John, slain at Shrewsbury, 147
Cobham, Edward Brooke, Baron, a supporter of
York's claim, 283 ; joins the Yorkist lords,
296
, Eleanor. See Gloucester, Eleanor Duchess
of
of Sterborough, Reginald Cobham, Baron,
joins Bolingbroke*8 invasion, 96
<<Coinacke," Cognac, 48
Coint, Francis, joins Bolingbroke's invasion, 96
Colchester, William. See Westminster, Abbot of
Colevile of the Dale, Sir John, beheaded for
rebelling against Henry lY., 155 ; in arms at
Topclifie, 155 n 2
Colli ngborne, William, ridicules Richard III. in
a couplet, 847
"Colon," Cologne, 254
Constable of France, the (Charles d'Albret),
fortifies towns against Henry Y., 179; pro-
mises battle to Henry, 184 » 2 ; encamps at
Agincourt, 185 ; slain, 196
Constance. See Brittany, Constance Duchess of
Copeland, John, captures David IL, 172
Cordeilla's answer to Lear, 8 ; disinherited by
him, lb. : marries Aganippus, 4 ; receives
Lear kindly, 5 ; made his sole heiress, and
returns with him to Britain, i&. ,* succeeds
Lear, 6 ; her nephews rebel against her, ib. ;
she slays herselr, ib,
Cordelia, the name so spelt in the Faerie
Queenet 2nl
Cornwall, Duke of (Henninus), marries Regan,
8 ; half of Britain bequeatned to him, ib, ;
rebels against Lear and assigns him a portion
to live on, 4 ; defeated and slain, 5
"counterpane," counterpart of a deed, 124
Courtenay, Ed^Eurd Courtenay, Baron, aids
Buckingham's reMlion, 408
, Peter, Bishop of Exeter, aids Bucking-
hfim's rebcdlion^ 409
Courtiers return from France with Frendi pre-
dilections, 489, 440
Cranmer, lliomas, Archbishop of Canterbury,
in favour of Henry's divorce, 478 ; made
archbishop, ib. ; on the date of Anne Boleyn's
marriage, 479 n 1 ; divorces Katharine, 488,
484 ; crowns Anne Boleyn, 486 ; beloved by
Heniy, 494 ; accused to Henry of spreading
heresy, 494, 495, 500 ; his committal to the
Tower urged, and licensed by Henry, 495,
500, 501 ; instructed by Heniy how to meet
his foes, 496, 497, 502 ; obliged to wait out-
side the council-chambea*, 499 ; shows Henry's
ring to the council, 502 ; and justifies Bed-
ford's warning, 508 ; his placable temper was
proverbial, 505 ; godfather to the princess
Elizabeth, 505
Crema, John of, legate, taken with a strumpet,
475 n 8
'* Crocea mors," name of Caesar's sword, 18 » 2
Cromer, Sir James, beheaded and his head
borne on a pole, 279
CromweU, Thomas, in Wolsey's service, 481 ;
enters Henry's service, %b.; fidthftil to
Wolsey, ib, ; made master of the jewel house,
487 ; master of the rolls and Henry's secretary,
493 ; favoured the Protestante, 501 ; his chief
enemy was Gardiner, ib,
"cuUions," testicles, 148
Cymbeline, authentic particulars concerning, 6;
the legendary C. Imighted by Augustus, 7,
8 ; who sends an ambassador to him, 9 ;
refuses tribute to the Romans, 10 n 1
Cymbeline, names in Md, occurring there,
17, 18
" damnifie," injure, 285
*'damninff," censuring, 855
Danes, the, defeated, at Loncarty, 16, 17 ;
drugged with "mekilwoort," 21 « 2 ; their
dead buried at Inchcolm, 22 ; make peace
with the Scots, 28
Daron, David. See Bangor, Archdeacon ofl
188
Dauphin, Guichard, seigneur de Jaligny, Grand
Master of the King's Household, ('^&>uv«min
Mattre de rHotel du ^oL'^—Anaelme, viiL
846), confounded by Shakspere witi^ the
Dauphin, 188 n 1 ; slain, 196
David II., King of Scoti^ taken prisoner at
Neville's Cross, 172
Davy, John, armourer's servant, appeaches his
master of treason, 248 n 8
Delacourt, John, arrested, 480 ; hears Hopkins's
nrophe^, 486, 487 ; brought forth at Buck-
ingbam^ trial, 447
Denny, Sir Anthony, requires Cranmer's attend-
ance on Hemy, 496
Derby, Henry Eiarl of, joins a conspiracy agi^nst
Richard II., 82 ; was a crusader in Prusda,
not in Barbery, 112, 118; anti-clerical in
youth, 122 ; made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem,
160 n 1. See Hereford, Henry Duke of
Despencer, Thomas Despencer, Baron, conspires
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INDEX.
515
Dio
Elb
against Henry IT., 122, 128 ; beheaded, 127
Dignton, John, a murderer of Edward IV.'s
children, 894
Dinner hour, the, temp. Bichard III. (!) 11
a.m. Cp. 871, 872, 878
"diaparkled," scattered, 405
" Domprin," Domremy, 211
Donalbain, son of Duncan I., chosen king of
Scots, xii n 2, 41, 42 ; takes refage in Ireland,
81
Donwald detects the witchcraft practised a^ndnst
Duff, 22, 28 ; has a blood feud with Duff,
26, 27 ; counselled hy his wife to murder
Duff, 27 ; who visits Forres Castle, ib. ; they
make Duff's chamberlains drunk, 28 ; Don-
wald*s servants slay Duff, and hide the body,
ib, ; searches the castle, and kills Dufirs
chamberlains, 29 ; Donwald's zeal suspected,
ib.
Dorset, Thomas Beaufort, Earl of. See Exeter
, Thomas Grey, Marquess of (1476 — 1601),
married to the heiress of Lord Bonville, 819
n 1 ; heliw to murder Prince Edward, 840 ;
date of his marquessate, 847 ; his reconcilia-
tion with the king*s friends, 849 ; joins Rich-
mond in Brittany, 887 ; promises made to
him (through his mother) by Bichard, 400;
aided Buckugham's rebellion, 403
, Thomas Grey, Marquess of (1601-80),
found Buckingham ffuilty, 447
, Henry Grey, Man^uess of (1680-61), in
the coronation procession of Anne Boleyn,
486
, Margaret (Mrs. Medley, bom Wotton)
dowager Marchioness of, godmother to the
Sriucess Elizabeth, 606, 606 ; her gift, 606
oubte,'' fear, 288 n 8
Douglas, Archibald Douglas, Earl of, defeated
at Homildon, 181 — 188 ; his help solicited
by the Percies, 186 ; makes Henry IV. the
object of his attack at Shrewsbury, 146 ; fells
Henry, 147 ; slays Sir Walter Blunt and three
who wore Henry's coat, ib. ; released without
ransom, 148
Duff, King of Soots, kept sleepless by witch-
craft, 22 ; the sorcery practised a^^st him
discovered, 22, 28 ; executes kmsmen of
Donwald, who meditates reven(|e, 26, 27 ;
lodges at Forres Castle, 27 ; and is murdered
there by Donwald's servants, 28 ; his body
hidden, ib, ; portents after Duff's murder,
81,82
"dumpe," reverie, 892
Duncan L, King of Scots, slain in his youth,
xiii » 2 ; his parentage, 18 ; character, ib. ;
his leniency encourages sedition, 19 ; sends
for some who had wounded Banquo, ib. ; asks
his nobles' advice for the subduing of Mac-
dowald, 20 ; blamed for slackness by Macbeth,
ib. ; commands the main body in the war
with Sueno, 21 ; gives the thanedoin of
Cawdor to Macbeth, 24 ; confers Cumberland
on Malcolm, 26 ; murdered by Macbeth, ib, ;
buried at lona, 26
Duncan II., King of Scots, son of Malcolm III.,
deposes Donaldbain, xil n 2; promises to
abjure foreigners, ib.
Dunois, John, Count of, bastard of Lewis Duke
of Orleans, 48 ; hia legitimacy auestioned,
49 ; chooses to be called Orleans s bastard,
ib. ; befriended by Charles Duke of Orleans,
ib. ; requites the Duke's kindness, 60 ; makes
a siillv from Orleans, 209, 210 ; craves speedy
help from Alenfon, 215
Eadward the Confessor receives Malcolm Can-
more, 81 ; healed the king's evil, 40 ; orders
Siward to assist Malcolm, 41 ; when crowned,
48 n 2 ; his feast the date of Bolingbroke's
exile, 82 n 1 ; his shrine visited by Henry
IV., 160
Edward I. punished his son Edward for reviling
a royal officer, 161 n 2
III. watched the battle of Cr^ from a
hill, 171 ; in France when David II. was
captured, 172 ; woodcut portrait of, in Holin-
shed, 178, 174
IV. (Earl of March, 1446-60 ; Duke of
York, 1460-61), date of his birth, 287 n 2 ;
comes to his fatiier's rescue, 288 ; in arms with
his father, 295 ; welcomed by the Kentishmon,
296, 296; sees three suns at Mortimer's
Cross, 800, 801 ; takes the sun as his cognis-
ance, 801 ; joined bv Warwick, ib. ; his pro-
clamation to his soldiers at Towton, 806, 806 ;
removes his fisither's head from York gates
and sets Devonshire's there, 807; crowned,
807. 808; gives dukedoms to George and
Richard, 808; wooes Elizabeth Grey, 810,
811 ; gives a reason for marrying her, 812 ;
was an elected king, 816, 816; insults a
relative of Warwick, 816, 817 ; his disposal
of heiresses, 819 ; appoints Pembroke and
Stafford to suppress the northern rebellion,
821 ; captured by Warwick, 828, 824 ; escapes,
824, 826 ; dethroned, 826, 826 ; returns, 880 ;
beguiles the citizens of York, 880—882 ;
obliged by Montoomery to prodaku himself
king, 882 ; bids Warwick battle at Coventry,
884 ; marches thence to Ix>ndon, 886 ; wins
the battles of Bamet and Tewkesbury, 887
888 ; suffers Prince Edward to be murdered,
840; troubled by the "G" prophecy, 844;
opposed Clarence's marriage to Mary of Bur-
gtmdy, ib, ; date of his death, 846 ; on his
death-bed tried to reconcile the parties in his
court, 849, 860; sorrowed for Clarence's
hasty death, 860 ; lived chiefly in London,
878 ; his person and character, 422
v., bom in sanctuary, 824 ; leaves Lud-
low for London, 861 ; his governor was Rivers,
ib. ; had a small escort to London, 868 ; his
journey interrupted, 864 ; asserts the inno-
cence of Rivers and Grey, 866, 867 ; enters
London, 867 ; conveyed to the Tower, 860,
861 ; in the custody of Slaughter, 876 ;
murdered, 894 ; his body never found, 896
Eleanor wins England for John, 46 ; jealous of
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INDEX.
Eli
Foi
Constance, 47 ; takes Anders, 51 ; scandal about
her, ib, ; besieged in Mirabeau, 58 ; dies, 61
Elizabeth (widow of Sir John Grey, afterwards
married to Edward IV.)) a suitor to Edward,
810 ; refuses to be his paramour, 811 ; is be-
trothed to him, 812 ; her son Edward bom in
sanctuaiy, 824 ; troubled by the " G " pro-
phecy, 844; hated Edward's kindred, 844, 845 ;
persuaded to lessen her son's escort to London,
852, 858 ; hears that his journey had been
interrupted, 854 ; takes sanctuaiy with her
children, 855; reoeiyes the great seal from
Rotherham, 855, 856 ; answers his advice to
part with York, 860 ; suffers York to go, ib. ;
accused of witchcraft by Gloucester, 871 ;
union between Richmond and her daughter
TOopoeed to her, 898, 899; beguiled by
RicLard II I. 'a promises. 400
, eldest daughter of Edward IV., project
for her marriage to Richard III., 888, 899,
400, 401 ; Richmond swears to marry her, 899
, daughter of Henry VIII., bom, 498 ;
her god-parents, 505, 506 ; bearers of her
canopy in her christening' procession, 506
(Baron Rochford, t Baron Hussey of Sleford,
Baron Howard of EMngham, and Lord
Thomas Howard); bearer of her train, ib.
(Anne, Oountess of Kent); her proclama-
tion, ib, ; gifts to, ib.
Ely, Bishop of, 167 n 1 (John Fordham)
English, the, given to eormandiang, 42 ; paid
for food on the mardi to Calais, 184 ; can't
fight on an empty stomach, 185 n 8 ; their
camp and the Romans' compared, 186 ; their
demeanour on the eve of Affincourt, 187 ;
silent when marching to tneir camping-
groand, ib. ; number of, at Agincourt, 189 ;
setroh for wounded French after the battle,
195 ; number of, slain at Agincourt, 196 ;
repulse Dunois's sally from Orleans, 210;
adopt French habits, 489, 440
Ermengarde of Lorraine (170), ancestress of
Lewis IX. through AJix of Namur, whose
ffrand-daughter Isabelle married Philip II.,
Kinff of Aance
Erpingnam, Sir Thomas, joins Bolin^broke*s in-
vasion, 96; begins the battle of Agmcourt, 187
** Esperance 1 Percy 1 " (battle-cry of the Percies),
*'Everwyk,"York, 152i»2
Exeter, John Holland, Duke of (1897-99),
had the custody of Thomas Fits-Alan, 97 ;
letoms with Richard II. from Ireland, 106 ;
accompanies Richard to Conway, 107 ; de-
prived of his dukedom, 121, 122 ; reprobated
oy the commons, 180. See Huntingdon
, Thomas Beaufort (Earl of Dorset, 1412-
16 ; Duke of Exeter, 1416-26), ambassador to
France, 178 ($e$ Bouratier, 179) ; captain of
Harfleur, 181 ; a negotiator of the treaty
of Troyes, 200 ; (!) present at Henry V. s
betrothal to Katharine, 201 n 1 ; attends on
Henry V.'s funeral, 205 n 4; appointed
guardian of Henry VI., 209
Exeter, Henry Holland, Duke of (1447-78), his
shipinten^ts Suffolk, 270 ; advises Margaret
to opnose York, 294, 295 ; at Wakefield, 296 :
flees from Towton, 806 n 2 ; with Warwick
at Bamet, 885
" Exeter," the dramatic, 842
Exton, Sir Piers of, moved by Bolingbroke's
words to slay Richard, 125 ; murders &chard,
126 ; his remorse, ib.
** facundious," eloouent, 247 n 2
Famine, one of BeUona's handmaidens, 166
'*fastely." stedfastly, 254
Fastolfe, Sir John, lieutenant of Harfleur,
181 ; withdraws from the battle of Patay,
207, 208 ; a K.G., 208 ; joined with others
in the siege of Orleans, 214; the Garter
restored to, 229
Fauconben;, the bastard (son of William Keville,
Baron l^uconberg, afterwards Earl of Kent),
made vice-admiral^ 294
Faulconbridge, Philip, collects money from the
clergy, 47 ; his inheritance elaimed by his
younger brother, 48 ; chooses to be called
Richard's bastaid, ib.; historic parallels of
his choice, 48 — 50
, Sir Robert, (?) ambassador to the
Emperor, 50
Fauquembergue, Waleran Omnt of, holds his
men together at Agincourt, 198 ; defeated
andslauL ib., 196
" faytoure,'* rogue, 254
"feare," terrify, 218
** fenscd," (?) was protected by a mail-coat, or
" feinted," flinche<r424
Ferrers of CharUev, Walter Devereux, Baron,
slain at Bosworth field, 421
Fife, Murdoch Steward, Earl of, taken prisoner
at Homildon, 182, 188; wrongly called
** eldest son to " Douglas, 182 n 1 ; was Earl
of Menteith, 182 n 8 ; delivered to Heniy IV.
by the Percies, 188
Fire, one of BeUona's handmaidens, 166
Fisher, John, Bishop of Rochester, Katharine's
counsel, 457
Fitz-Alans, they and the Stewards descended
from Alan (temp. Hen. I.), 85 n 2
Fits-Walter, Walter Fits- Walter, Banm, appeals
Aumerle of treason, 111 ; cludlenged by
Surrey, ib. ; replies to Surrey, 112
Fitzwilliam, Thomas, recorder of London, re-
hearses Buckingham's speech, 881 ; present
at Baynard's Castle, 886
Fleanoe, son of Banquo, a fictitious person, xiii ;
esoajMS Maobeth's plot, and flees to Wales,
88 ; in the genealogy of the Stewards, 85
**flix," flux, dysentery, 182
** flyttand Wod," Bimam Wood, 42 n 1
«Fois"(Foy09F.),£arlof,slainatAgincourt, 196.
No Comte de Foix is mentioned in Monstrelet^s
lists (iii 848—856). The list given in Har-
leian MS. 782, fol. 48 verso, coL 2 (quoted in
Nicolas's Agincourij ed. 2, p. 867;, places
"The Countie de fois" among the slain
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INDEX.
Fob
517
Qlo
"forced," cared for, 492
" forebarring," impeding, 221
" foreiudged," judged beforehand, 110, 262
"formall," regular, 810
"fonnaUie compact," well made, 164
Forres an abode of witches, 22; the weird
sisters apj^ar on the way there, 28 ; DufT
mnrderea in the castle of, 28
Forrest, Miles, a murderer of Edward IV.'s
children, 894
"forsake," deny, 461
France, Eingof (Aganiupus), marries Gordeilla,
4 ; restores Lear to tne throne, 5 ; dies, 6
Francis I. meets Henry YIII. in the vale of
Andren, 425; seises Englishmen's goods,
427 ; wished to meet Henry. 428
French, the, "full of game on the eye of
Agincourt, 185 ; encamped near the EngUsh,
186 ; played dice for the English, ib, ; their
camp and the Oermans' compared, ib, ; make
ereat haste to the battle, 189 ; number of, at
Agincourt, ib.; invite Henir Y. to fix his
ransom, 191 ; their rearward fl^, 192 ; some
of, rob Henry's camp, ib,; list of, made
prisoners or slain, 195, 196 ; inclined to sup-
port Charles YIL, 206 ; but are reclaimed by
Bedford, 206 n 1 ; surprised at Le Mans,
217 ; reconquer Normandy, 268 ; their cha-
racter, 417 aidenoU 2
"fretting," firoting, chafing, 871
"furtherlie," serviceable, 848
"G" prophecy, ih^ 844
Gamme, l)avy, slain at Agincourt, 196
Gardiner, Stephen, Bishop of Winchester, re-
ceives a place near Henry^ 455 ; his name,
456 n 2; in the coronation procession of
Anne Boleyn, 485, 487; attacks Cranmer,
494 ; the chief enemy of Cromwell, 501 ; his
character, ib, ; vacillating in divinity, 502
Gaigrave, Sir Thonuis, mortally wounded jbX
Orleans, 214, 215
Garter (Sir Thomas Writhe or Wriothesley), in
the coronation procession of Anne Boleyn,
485 ; proclaims the princess Elizabeth, 506
Gascoign, Sir William, Chief-Justice of the
King^s Bench, punishes Prince Henry for
contempt, 162, 168
Gaunt, John o£ See Lancaster
GauseU {"Gaws6y")i Sir Robert, slain at
Shrewsimiy, 147
"Georgel St., Talbot i (217)
„ „ to borow I (418)
If 99 ▼POQ ihem 1 (145)
., victoriel"(147)
Germans, the, and the F^oh, aspect of their
camps compared, 186
"ghostUe," inward, 879
Glansdale (or Glasdale), William, entrusted
with the bridge-tower at Orleans, 210 ; views
Orleans therefrom, 214.
Glendower, Owen, what he was, 105 ; wars
upon Lord Grey of Ruthin ib,; attacked
by Heniy lY., ib,; defeats Sir Edmund
Mortimer, 180, 181 ; is joined by Mortimer,
181 n 1; his daughter marries Mortimer,
185 ; dramatic portents connected with, 187 ;
defeats Lord Grey of Ruthin, ib, ; and im-
prisons him, 258 ; foils Henry lY. ^sorcery,
188 ; a party to the indenture dividing Henry
lY.'s realm, 188, 189 ; encouraged by a pro-
phecy, 189 ; meets his French allies at Den-
Digh, 149 ; his last days, 150 ; date of his
death, 150 n 8
Gloucester, the title of, unlucky, 808
Gloucester, Thomasof Woodstock, Duke of (1885-
97), Norfolk aocmsed of causing his death,
80 ; joins a conspiracy against Richard II.,
82, 84, 85 ; arrested, 82; put to death, 88 ; his
character, 88, 129 ; buned at Pleshey, 88 ;
rebukes Richard II. for surrendering Brest,
84, 95 ; reproved by his brothers for rash
talking, 85 ; the Londoners sorry for his
death, <b, ; rebelled against Richaid II., 94 ;
his murder caused oy Aumerle, 111 ; his
appellants degraded, 121, 122
, Eleanor de Bohun, Duchess of, dies,
99
, Humphrey, Duke of (1414-47), mines
Harfleur, 180 ; in England when Henry Y.
was affianced to Katharine, 201 n 1 ; at
Henry's death-bed, 208 ; appointed Protector
of England, ib. ; accuses Beaufort of plotting
Henry YI.'s abduction, 209 ; dissension be-
twixt him and Beaufort, 212; kept out of
the Tower by Beauforfs order, 212, 218;
accuses Beaufort of plotting Prince Henry's
murder, 218 ; and of obstructing London
Bridge, 220, 221 ; truce between, and Beau-
fort, 222 ; Lieutenant of England, 228 » 8 ;
disapproves of Henry YI.*s marriage, 241 ;
his character, 246 ; conspiracy against, ib. ;
charges against, 249, 250 {ep, 259 n 4) ; his
wife accused of treason, 252, 258 ; detects a
rogue at St. Albans, 258, 254 ; this event
recorded in his epitaph, 258 n 2 ; resigns the
protectorate, 259 n 4; deprived of power,
260; his patienoe, 262; resents his wife's
disj^ace, &.; arrested at Bury, 268, 264;
his death ^ve scope to York's ambition,
264, 265 ; ms defence disregarded, 265 ; dies,
266, 267
, Eleanor, Duchess of, accused of treason,
252, 258 ; condemned to open penance and
imprisonment, 259; committed to the
custody of Stanley, ib. and 261; her
penance described, 261
, Richard, Duke of (1461-88), date of
his birth, 287 n 2 ; sent to Utrecht by his
mother, 808; dukedom conferred on, 808;
flees with Edward from England, 825; makes
peace between Edward and Clarence, 885,
886 ; his strategy at Tewkesbury, 888 ; helps
to murder Prince Edward, 840; murdered
Henry YI., 841 ; looked forward to being king,
848, 844 ; date of his marriage to Anne, 845,
846 ; lived at Crosby Place, 846 ; made pro*
tector, ib, ihiB reverential bearing to Edward
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God
v., 846, 347 ; fosters strife in his blotter's
court, 847» 848 ; intrigues with Buckingham
and Hastings to remove the queen's friends
from Edwara V., 851--858; gets possession
of Edward at Stony Stratford, 854; asks
Botherham to bring York from sanctuary,
858 ; receives York joyfrilly, 860 ; was Buck-
in^iam in his confidence fr^om the first ! 861 ;
seeks to win Hastings, 862 ; his promises to
Buckingham, ib. ; held secret councils, 868 ;
caUs Hastings to the coronation council,
867 ; asks for strawberries and leaves the
council, 870, 871 ; returns and denounces
Hastings, 871, 872 ; tells the Londoners that
Hastings had plotted his death, 874 ; was the
image of his father, 880 ; invited to assume
the crown, 888 — 885 ; his answer, 885 ; ac-
cepts the crown, 886. See Richard IIL
** Godsbleased ladie, by," Edward IV. 'soath, 812
OonorUla, her answer to Lear, 8 ; marries Mag-
lanus, i&. ; diminishes Lear's retinue, 4
Oough (or Ooche), Matthew, obtains news of
the French in Le Mans, 216, 217 ; appointed
to assist the Londoners against Cade, 275 ;
slain, 277 ; his militarv renown, ib,
Grammont, Gabriel de, bishop of Tarbes, ques-
tioned the Princess Mary's legitimacy, 464 n 8
Grand-Pr^, Edward Count ot, slain at Agin-
court, ld6
Great Chamber, the, in Westminster Palace,
Prince Hem j^s peril there, 218 ; called the
** green chamoer," 218 n 1
Greene, John, brin&s Brakenbury an order to
murder Richard III/s nephews, 889 ; reports
Brakenbury's refusal to Richard, ib. Cp.
890 n 2
, Sir Henry, Sums England, 90; giyes
advice for resisting Bolingbroke, 98 ; flees to
Bristol, 100 ; beheaded there, 104 ; hated by
the commons, 180
Grey of Ruthin, Reginald, Baron, warred upon
by Glendower, 105 ; defeated by Glendower,
187 \y^^ imprisoned, 258 ; confounded with
Sir Edmund Mortimer, ib, ; released from
prison on payment of a ransom, 258 n*
Gr^, Sir Ridiard, arrested by Glouoester and
Buckingluun, 854, 856 ; sent to Pomfret and
beheaded, 855
~— , Sir Thomas, treason of, made public,
178 n 8 ; found guilty, ib. ; his conspiracy
detected, 174 ; led to doom himself, U4 n 1 ;
was of the privy council, 175 ; says that he
was bribed by France, 176 : doomed by Henry,
176, 177
Griffith (Griffin Richardes), leads Katharine out
of the court at Black- Friars, 461
"Grimbant brigs," Grimbald Bridge, 157
<*groundUe," solidly, 877
Gruooh, Macbeth's vdfe, gives Kirkness to the
Culdeee, ziii
Gnalo (Walo) tries to prevent Lewis from in-
vading England, 69 ; visits John, 70 ; present
at the conclusion of peace with Lewis, 75 ;
a party to the treaty of peace with Lewis, 77
INDEX.
Hen
Guiderius, son of the legendary Cymbeline,
rebels against the Romans, 10
Guildford, Richard, aids Buckingham's rebel-
lion, 403
, Sir Henry, regulated Wolsey's banquets,
441, 442
"Gun-stones," cannon-balls, 178 n 1
** hails," pavilions, 192
"HaliweU" (Holy WeU, afterwards Sadler's
Wells), 280
Harlech Castle, 106 n 1. Richard II. landed
near ! See Biarkloughly
"Hamesie," Homsey, 857
Hastings, a pursuivant, meets Lord Hastings on
Tower wharf, 866
Hastings, William Hastings, Baron (1461-88),
flees with Edward IV. horn England, 825,
826 ; heliM to murder Prince Edward, 840 ;
his reconciliation with the queen's friends, 849 ;
aids Gloucester in removing the queen's
friends from Edward Y., 851, 852 ; takes part
in the coronation council, 368; feared not
the secret council while Catesby attended it,
ib. ; trusted and advanced Catesby, 868, 864 ;
despises Stanley's dream, 865 ; refuses to
make Richard king, ih, ; had been endangered
by Rivera's accusation, 866; of which he
cheerily reminds a pursuivant, 866, 867 ;
sent for bv Gloucester, 867 ; talks with a
priest on his way to the Tower, %b. ; kept
Jane Shore, 872 ; denounced by Gloucester
and beheaded, 872, 878 {$ee 868 n 2) ; omen
of his fate, 878 ; a proclamation of his vidoua
life, ib. ; prepared before his death, 877
, Edward Hastinm, Baron (1497—1506),
married the heiress of Lord Hungerford, 319n2
H^ and his sons check the l^ts' fli^t at
Loncarty, 16
Henninus. See Cornwall, Duke of
Henry lY., his first expedition against Glen-
dower, 105 ; his coronation-day, 119 ; the
crown entailed upon his heirs, tb. ; the abbot
of Westminster's conspiracy against, 122 —
124 ; is revealed to him l^ Rutland, 124 ;
complains of peril from Richard, 125 ; flees
from Windsor, 127; present at Richard's
frmeral, 128 ; demands the Percies* Scottish
prisoners, 163 ; refuses to ransom Sir Edmund
Mortimer, 184 ; threatens Henry Percy, 184
% 5 ; ignorant of the Percies* conspiracy, 185 ;
why he would not ransom the Eurl of March
(i. e. Sir Edmund Mortimer), 185, 186 ; his
second and third expedition against Glen-
dower, 188 ; his realm partition^ 188, 189 ;
prophesied of as the mold warp, 189 ; distnists
nis son Henry, but is reassiured, 140 ; dis-
graces Prince Henry, 141 ; his rapid advance
against Hotspur, 142; offers terms to the
Percies, 148 ; reads the Percies* articles and
offers battle, 144 ; relieves his men at Shrews-
bury, 146 ; withdrawn from the main attack
at Shrewsbury, ib. ; breaks the enerav's
ranks, 147 ; felled by Douglas, ib. ; fi(g^ta
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Hkic
Taliantly, ib, ; takes Warkworth, 149, 150 ;
ScFope and Mowbray brought as prisoners to
him, 155 ; struck with leprosy, 155 n 8 (ep.
160) ; loses consdousness, ib. ; Yezed with
siclmess, 156 ; fears dissension between Prince
Henry and Clarence, ib, ; his crown remoyed
by Prince Henry, 158 ; dies, 159 ; his pre-
parations for a cmsade, 159, 160, 160 n 1 ;
for an expedition to France, 159 n 1 ; his
death caused by apoplexy, 160 ; taken with
his last sickness at Edward the Confesaor's
shrine, ib, ; died in the Jerusalem Cluunber,
ib, ; had made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem,
160 n 1 ; his person and character. 164 (m.
142^ last sentence of excerpt) ; bill for dis-
endowing the clergy in his reign, 167 ; en-
joined by the Pope to have prayer made for
Richard IL'ssouC 188
Henry Y., chooses wise counsellors after his
coronation, 161 ; calls his first parliament,
168, 164 ; his coronation, 164 ; banishes his
former misleaders, ib. ; besieffes Rouen, 165 ;
his answer to an orator's ]^ea for Rouen,
166 {(p, 165 n 8) ; summons jMurliament to
Leicester, 167 ; advised to claim the crown
of France, 168^172 ; his dying declaration
that his war with France was lawful, 168 n 8 ;
promised a large subsidy from the cleigy>
171, 172 ; adrised to conquer Scotland, 172 ;
receives tennis-balls from the Dauphin, 178 ;
conspiracy against, detected, 174 ; dooms the
traitors, 176, 177 ; encourages his lords, 177 ;
lands near Harfleur, 177, 178; urges Charles VI.
to resign France peaceably, 178; gives audience
to the French proposals for peace, 179 ; grants
a truce to Harfleur, 180 ; Harfleur surrendered
to, 181 ; sacks Harfleur, ib, ; makes Exeter
(Dorset) captain of Harfleur, ib, ; colonizes
Harfleur with English folk, 181 n 1 ; resolves
on a inarch to Calais, 181, 182 ; crosses the
Somme, 182 ; was to be borne captive in a
chariot, 182, 188 ; crosses the Temoise, 188 ;
executes a soldier for stealing a pyx, 184 ;
forbids theft and violence, ib. ; pays for food,
ib. ; answers Montjoy's defiance, 185 ; orders
silence on the inarch to the camping-ground,
187 ; removes Richard 11. 's body to West-
minster, 188 ; ffives alms and founds chantries
on Richard's behalf ib, ; speech before the
battle attributed to, 190 ; refhses to fix his
ransom, 191 ; overthrows the French rear-
ward, 192 ; his camp robbed, ib, ; orders his
men to slay their prisoners, 192, 198 ; his
men renew the battle, 198 ; Inds the lingering
French fiffht or decamp, 194; quesdons
Kontjoy, %b. ; names the battle, %h. ; date
of the battle, 195; grants burial to the
French dead, ib, ; encounters Alenfon, ifr. ;
gives thanks to Qod for his victoiy, 196, 197 ;
reaches Calais, 197 ; his return to France in
1417, ib, ; lands at Dover after a rou^ pas-
sage, 197, 198 ; his welcome at Bladuieath,
198 ; his humility, ib, ; peace offered to him
by Philip the CkK>d, 199 ; concludes a truce
Hen
with Philip, ib, ; sends ambassadors to Troyes,
199, 200 ; his marriaf^e with Katharine ar-
ranged, 200 ; made heir of France, ib. ; con-
ference with, at Meulan, ib. ; snubs the
** let " of his desires (John the Fearless), 200,
201 ; at Troyes when the treaty was revised,
201 ; fidls in love with Katharine at Meulan,
201 » 8 ; styled heir of France, 202 ; aflSanoed
to Katharine, ib. ; date of his marriajge, 202
n 8 ; swears to observe the treaty of Troyes,
208 ; his bodily nowers, and character, 208,
204 ; military skill, 204 ; aspect and speech,
205 ; an example to princes, ib. ; his funeral,
205 » 4 ; his dving iigunctions and advice,
208, 209 ; prophecy touching his son, 224
Henry VI., guardians of, 209 ; kniehts Richard
Duke of York, 228 (ep, n 2) ; birth of, at
Windsor, 223, 224; his godparents, 224;
prophecy about, ib, ; crowned at Paris, 228 ;
deserted hv Burgundy, 229 ; loses Paris, 237
(ep, 205n5); hismarriagetoMaigaretarranged,
288 ; espiMised to her by Suffolk, 248 ; his char-
acter, 249 ; date of his coronation at Westmins-
ter, 259 n 4 ; begins to govern, ib. ; banishes
Suffolk, 268, 269 ; receives a supplication from
Cade, 278, 274 ; marches against him, 274 ;
retires to Kenilworth, ib. ; tries CJade's fol-
lowers, 281, 282 ; inarches against York, 285 ;
sends envoys to York, ib, ; becomes insane,
286 n 1, 290 ; defeated at St Albans, 288,
289 ; reconciles the Yorkist and Lancastrian
parties, 290 ; defeated at Northampton, ib, ;
m custody of Norfolk and Warwick, 295,
802 ; released by the Yorkists' defeat at St.
Albans, 802, 803 ; knights his son, 808 ; his
presence brought defeat, 804 ; flees from Tow-
ton, 806 ; justified his riffht to reign, 809 ;
returns secretly to England, ib. ; arrested and
sent to the Tower, ib. ; had been in Scotland,
812 ; his regnal years, 818, 814 ; deposed by
popular vote, 815 ; restored, 826, 827 ; his
parliament attaints Edward and makes
Clarence heir in remainder, 827 ; prophesies
that Richmond shall be king, 829 ; again
imprisoned, 338 ; date of his death, 340 n
3 ; his murderer supposed to be Oloucester,
341 ; his corpse bled at his funeral, 345
VII. restored the dukedom to Bucking-
ham, 451
YIII. meets Brands L in the vale of
Andren, 425 ; silences the French ambassador,
427 ; tax of a sixth demanded for him, 431,
432 ; repudiates the tax, 438, 434 ; his answer
to Wolsey's accusations of Buckingham, 485
(cp. Hen, FIJI. I. u. 211—213) ; a rumour
that his marriage was unlawful, 452 ; bids
the lord mayor silence such talk, ib. ; takes
steps to have the matter sifted, 452—454 ;
deores that Katharine should have the best
counsel, 454 ; called into court, 458 ; Katha-
rine's appeal to, 458—460; commends her,
462 ; his reasons for submitting the lawful-
ness of his marriage to trial, 464. 465 ; sua-
pects that the legates mean to do nothing.
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INDEX.
Hbe
Jea
466 ; sends them to Katharine, ib. ; in love
with Anne Boleyn, 470 ; angered by Wolsey's
secret opposition to his divorce, 470, 471 ; oy
chance sees Rnthal's private acconnts, 472,
478 ; sends to Wolsey for the great seal, 474 ;
marries Anne Boleyn, 479, 480 ; changes
the name of York Place, 486, 487 ; attached
to Cranmer, 494; is told that Cranmer
spreads heresy, 494, 495, 500; licenses
(^anmer's committal to the Tower, 495 ; in-
stnicts Cranmer how to meet the accusers,
496, 497, 502 ; hears that Cranmer waits
outside the council-chamber, 499; rebukes
the council for insulting Cranmer, 504 ; to
whom he is much beholden, ib. ; bids the
counsellors be friends with Cranmer, ib. ;
sends thanks to the lord mayor for attcoiding
Elizabeth's christening, 507
Herbert, Sir Walter, in arms for Richard III., 408
Hereford, Henry, Duke of (18^7-99), appeals
Norfolk of treason, 78 ; bail taken for him,
tb, ; reftises to make peace with Norfolk, 79,
81 ; his specific charges against Norfolk, 80 ;
casts down his ga^e, 81 ; day and place of
battle appointed him, 82 ; date of his exile,
82 n 1 ; takes leave of Richard II. near
Covenlry, 86 ; arms for the battle, ib. ; enters
the lists, 87 ; his spear delivered to him by
Surrev, 88 ; sets forward against Norfolk, ib, ;
banished for ten years, io. ; swears that he
will keep apart from Norfolk, 89 ; his exile
reduced to six years, ib. ; goes to France, ib. }
beloved of the people, ib. See Lancaster
Hertlowli (Barkloughly), Richard IL landed
near the castle of, 106 n 1
"heuynesse," displeasure, 262
Holinshed, Raphael, his will, ix; 2nd ed.
of his chronicles the source of some plays, ix,
X ; used unauthentic materials, xii ; names
in Cynib. occurring in his chronicles, 17, 18
Hopkins, Nicholas, arrested, 480 ; lived at
Henton, 485 ; his prophecy about Buckingham,
487 ; brought forth at Buckingham's tri^, 447
Horses eat their own flesh, 81 ; immersed in
blood, 187
'*ho8te " (hostia), victim, 888
Howard, John Howard, Baron, one of Qlou-
cester's trustiest counsellors, 867 n 2. See
Norfolk, John Duke of
, Lord Thomas, son of Thomas 2nd Duke
of Norfolk, and Agnes Tilney ("the old
dutches of Nor£folke "), bearer of the princess
Elizabeth's canopy, 506
— of Efl^gham, William Howard, Baron
(1554-78), deputy in the coronation procession
of Anne Boleyn, 485 ; bearer of the princess
Elizabeth's canopy, 506
, Sir Thomas, laughs at Hastings for
lingering with a priest, 867 ; when knighted,
867 n 2. See Surrey, Thomas Earl of, and
Norfolk, 2nd Duke of
Hubert, difierence between the dramatic and
historic H., 77. See Kent for the historic
Hubert
Hume (or Hun), John, accused of sorcery, 258 ;
pardoned, 259 ; was the Duchess of Glouces-
ter's chaplain, 259 n 1
HungerforcC Sir Walter (afterwards Baron
Hungerford), wishes for more soldiers at Agin-
court, 190 n 8 ; taken prisoner at Patay, 207
, Thomas (son of Robert 8rd Baron
Hunfferford), his heiress married Lord
Hastings, 819 n 2
Huntingdon, John Holland, Earl of (1887—
1400), misled Richard II., 86 ; conspires
against Henry lY., 122, 128 ; devises Henry's
death at a justs, 1SS8 ; requests Henry to be
present, ib, ; raises men and joins his confed-
erates, 124. See Exeter, John Holland
, John Holland, Earl of (1416-48}, present
at Henry Y.'s betrothal to Katharine, 201 ; at
the sle^of Melun, 201 n ; attends Henry YI.'8
coronation at Paris, 228
"hurlynge," strife, 141 n 1
Hussey of Sleford, John Hussey, Baron, (?)
bearer of the princess Elizabeth's canopy, 506
Iden (or Eden) slays C!ade, 284 {ep. 288 n 3)
"importable," intolerable, 878
** imposteme," aposteme, abscess, 266
Ina, King of Wessex, his daughters' answers
touching their love for him, 2 n 2
<< incensed," insensed, instructed, 249
Innocent IIL causes Langtou to be chosen
Archbishop of Canterbury, 55 ; threatens
John with an interdict, ib.; sends Pandulph to
John, 56 ; deposes John, 57 ; commands
Philip to make war on John, ib. ; John does
homage to, 65 ; sides with John against the
English barons, 68 ; tries to prevent Lewis
from invading England, 69 ; aefends John's
title, 70, 71
"insane Root," the, possibly ** mekflwoort,"
21 n 2
"intreatie," conference, 817, 818
Irish, the, war with the Britons 8 n 2 ; invade
the English pale, 89 ; atUched to York, 248,
282 n 1, 296 ; and RuUand, 296
Isabel, daughter of Pedro the Cruel, was
Aumerle's mother, 121 n 1
Isabelle of Bavaria, wife of Charles YI., receives
Henry Y.'s ambassadors at Troyes, 200 ;
present at the conference of Meulan, ib, ; at
Troyes when Katharine was married, 201 n 1 ;
brought Katharine to Meulan, 201 n 8
of Flanders. See Ermengarde
of Yalois, second wife of Richard II.,
her marriage mentioned, 81 ; her residences,
110 n 1 ; leaves London 120
" Isoldune," Issoudun, 54
James, titular king of Majorca, was Richard
II. 's godfather, 118. See oorrection, p. xxiii
Jeanne Dare brought to Charles YIL, 210 ; date
of her first aucuence, 210 n 2 ; her surname,
210 n 5 ; narentage and condition, 210, 211 ;
person ana character, 211 ; journey to Charies,
ib, ; sword, ib, ; ensign, ib, ; first talk with
Charles, ib. ; an army appointed her by
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JOH
LlN
Charles, 212 ; her exploits and death, ib, ;
raises the siege of Orleans, 215, 216 ; the
dramatic Jeanne takes Rouen, 224, 225 ;
historic date of her capture, 237 ; examined
hy Cauchon, 288 ; called ** the Pucelle," 238
n3 ; relapses, 239 ; burnt, tb. ; her visions, ib,
John, Richard II., baptized as, 118
"John Baptist, by St.," Richard II. 's oath, 81
John, King of England, his regnal years com-
puted from Ascension Day, 45 n 8 ; proclaimed
king, 46 ; Chinon and Saumur delivered to,
ib. ; owed his crown chiefly to Eleanor, ib. ;
exacted money fix>m the clergy, 47, 48 ;
takes Angers, 51 ; England bequeatiied to,
52 ; rejecte Philip IL's terms, tb. ; recon-
ciled to Arthur, ib. ; cedes and regains
territory, 58, 54 ; does homage to Philip and
receives Arthur's homage, 54; returns to
England, ib. ; refuses to confirm Langton's
election, 55 ; gives audience to Pandulph, 56 ;
formally deposed by Innocent, 57 ; refuses to
surrender his transmarine dominions to
Arthur, 57 n 3 ; recaptures Mirabcau, 58, 59 ;
takes Arthur prisoner, and offers friendship
to him, 59 ; imprisons Arthur, ib. ; recrowned,
59, 60; orders the blinding of Arthur, 60;
accused bv Constance of Artnur's murder, 61
n 1 ; his deposition prophesied, 62 ; imprisons
and hangs reter of Pomfret, ib.; glad to hear
that Arthur was not blinded, 63; suspected
of beinff Arthur's murderer, ib. ; prepares to
resist Pnilip's invasion, ib. ; receives a mes-
sage from Pandulph, 64 ; confers with Pan-
dulph and yields to Innocent, 64, 65 ; delivers
his crown to Pandulph, 65 ; blamed for hang-
ing Peter, ib. ; influenced by Peter's prophecy,
65, 66 ; his forces defeated by Philip at Bon-
vines, 66 ; fSEdls to recover Poitou and Brittany,
ib, ; league against him formed by his barons,
66, 67 ; retreats from Lewis, 67, 68; repudiates
the Great Charter, 68 ; his crown offered to
Lewis, 69; his procurators oppose Lewis's
claim, 70 ; receives Gualo, ib. ; loses his
baggage in the Wash, 73 ; sickens and dies,
ib. ; said to have been poisoned, 74 ; buried
in Worcester Cathedral, ib, ; his person and
character, 76 ; quarreled with the clergy, ib. ;
hated by his subjects for pinching their
purses, 76, 77
of Lancaster, 8rd son of Henry IV., con-
cerned with a riot in Eastcheap, 141 n 1 ;
inarches against Archbishop Scrope, 152 ;
receives the submission of Scrope and Mow-
bray, 154. See Bedford, John Duke of
*'ioUe," joyful, 204
Jourdain, Margery, accused of sorcery, 253 ;
executed, 259
Katharine of Arragon visited by Charles V.,
429 ; rumour that her marriage was unlawful,
452 ; the best clerks were to be her counsel,
454 ; their names, 457 ; called into court,
458 ; her appeal to Henry, 458—460 ; accuses
Woltey, 461 ; leaves the court, 461, 462 ; will
not recall her appeal to the pope, 466, 488 ;
visited by the two cardinals, 468, 469 ; who
advise her to surrender her cause to Henry's
decision, 469 ; styled princess dowager, 480 ;
divorced, 483, 484 ; visited by Chapuys,
489 ; her letter to Henry, ib. ; dies, ib, ;
would be served as a queen, 490
Katharine of Valois, her marriage to Henry V.
broached, 178 ; her dowry offered, 179 ;
receives Henry's ambassadors at Troyes, 200 ;
her marriage with Henry arranged, ib. ;
present at the conference of Menlan, ib, ;
affianced to Henry, 202 ; date of her marria^,
202 n 8 ; grant to, of house inherited by
York, 223 n 2 ; her son bom, 223, 224
Kenneth III., King of Scots, defeats the Danes
at LoncarW, 16, 17 ; reproached by a noctur-
nal voice for the murder of Malcolm Duff, 80
Kent, Anne (bom Blennerhasset), Countess of,
bears the train of the princess Elizabeth, 506
, Hubert de Bnr^, Earl of, would not
blind Arthur, 60 ; yet gives out that Arthur
was blinded and was dead, 61 ; holds Dover
Castle against Lewis, 68, 77 ; assists in
defeating Lewis's reinforcements, 71, 72 ; a
party to the treaty of peace with Lewis, 77
, Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of, his
daughter married York, 121 n 1 ; story of his
dog Mathe, 124 n 8
, 8rd Earl of, conspires against Henry
IV., 122, 123 ; beheaded, 127. See Surrey,
Thomas Holland
Kentishmen were Yorkists, 296
"kiffe,"kith, 2n2
Kikelie (KeUy F.), Sir Richard, slain at Agin-
court, 196. "Le S' de Richard Kykelley,"
Harleian MS. 782, foL 49, col. 1 (quoted in
Nicolas's Agincaurt, ed. 2, p. 369)
Kildare, Gerald Fitzgerald, 9th Ea^l of, com-
mitted to prison, 449
Kuyvet, Charles, Buckingham's surveyor, pro-
cured by Wolsey to accuse Buckingham, 484,
435; his evidence, 436—439; had been dis-
missed by Buckingham, 437 ; brought forth
at Buckingham's mal, 447
Lady, a, bearing the train of the princess
Elizabeth, 506. (Anne, Countess of Kent)
Lady Macbeth (Graoch), xiii
"Laford,"Sleaford,78
Lancaster, John of Gaunt, Duke of, becomes
bail for Bolingbroke, 78 ; ambush laid against
him by Norfolk, 81 ; excuses Glouoester to
Richard II., 84; reproves Gloucester, and
leaves the court, 85 ; comes to London with a
power, ib, ; forj^ives Gloucester's death, 86;
dies, 91 ; lus third marriage disliked by Glou-
cester, 129 ; his house (t)ie Savoy) bumt by the
villeins, 277 ; his Spanish expedition, 313
, Henry of Bounffbroke, Duke of, his
inheritance confiscated, 91, 102 ; his mar-
riage prevented, 92; invited to dethrone
Ricnard II., 96; sails from Brittany, ib. ;
delays landing in England, 96, 97;
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Lak
Mao
York's leyies will not resist liiin, 98, 101 ;
lands at Bavenspur, 98 ; joyfully received,
ib, ; his oath to the lords at Doncaster, 101 ;
marches to Berkeley and meets York, 101,
102; adherents flock to him, 102; Richard's
favourites brought before him at Bristol, 104;
goes to Flint, 107, 108 ; meets Richard
there, 109 ; rides with him to London, ib. ;
present at Richard's abdication, 114, 118;
claims the crown, 114, 115; his claim con-
firmed by parliament, 115 ; ring put on his
finger by Richard, 117, 118 ; the crown
delivered to him by Richard, 118 ; was
joyfully received by the Londoners, 120,
121 ; followed by Richard's greyhound, 124
n 8. See Henry IV.
*' Lancastrian," Lancastrian, 812
Lane, the long, at Loncarty, 16
Langton, Stephen, chosen Archbishop of Canter-
bury, 55 ; rejected by John, ib. ; goes with
Pandulph to Philip II., 67
" lauiid,''^»6. plain, 23
<'leame,"«6. l^ht, 15 n 2
Lear (Leir), sources for the story of, 1 ; madness
0^ ib, ; built Leicester, 2; his daughter's
answers touching their love for him, 2, 8; gives
his elder daughters in marria^, and makes
their husbands his heirs, but disinherits Corde-
lia, 8; deposed, and his retinue diminished, 4 ;
flees to Cordelia and is kindlv received, 5 ;
makes her his sole heiress, ih, ; restored to
the throne by Aganippus, ib, ; dies, ib. ;
swears by Apollo, 5 » 1 ; compares himself
to a dragon, ib,
" legacie," leeatcshrp, 457
Leicester, Abbot of (Richard Pezal), receives
Wolsey as his guest, 491
<'Lestrake" (LestrdU F.), Earl of; slain at
Agincourt, 198. Ko similar title occurs in
Monstrelet's lists (iii. 848—856). The list
given in Harleian MS. 782, fol. 48 verso, col.
2 (quoted in Nicolas's Agincowri, ed. 2, p.
867), places ''The Conntie de Lestrake"
among the slain
"lettise," grey fiir, 485
Leuenoz, Lennox, 45
" lewdeste," most iUiterate, 270 n 2
Lewis, son of Philip II., King of France,
betrothed to Blanch of Castile, 58 ; invades
England, 67 ; many Englishmen do homage
to nim, 67. 68 ; he makes them large pro-
mises, 68 ; ids TOocurators defend his title to
the crown of £ni^land, 69, 70 ; his army
defeated at Lincom, 71 ; the reinforcements
sent him destroyed, 71, 72 ; his plot against
the English barons, 72 ; makes peace with
Henry III., and leaves England, 74, 75
, Dauphin of France, eldest son of Charles
VI., sends tennis-balls to Henry Y^ 165,
178 ; seeks advice for the defence of Prance,
178, 179 ; refuses succour to Harfleur, 181 ;
prevented by his &ther from being at Agin-
court, 188 ; at Agincourt according to the F.
text of iJen. r.» 188 n 1
Lewis XL, King of France, refuses to deface
Bedford's tomb, 282, 233 ; favours the Lan-
castrians, 812 ; assents that Bona shall many
Edward lY., 818 ; leagues with the Lancas-
trians, 817, 818 ; lends Ken^ money to ransom
Maigaret, 842 {cp, 841 n 2)
Lewis, the Countess of Richmond's physician,
proposes to Queen Elizabeth an alliance of
Lancaster and York, 898, 899
Limoges, Widomar Yiscount of, slain by Richard
L's bastaid, 48. See Austria, 58 n 1
Lingard, fictitious ancestress of Hugh Capet, 170
Lisle, John Talbot, Yiscount, refiues to desert
hU father, 231, 232
Lists not to be touched, 87
" lode-starre in honour," Henrr Y. a, 205
London, Mayor of, in 1 ffen. VI. (John
Coventre), prevents rioting, 218. See aim Sir
Edmund Shaw and Sir Stephen Peacock
London, rejoicing there to celebrate Caesar's
defeat, 14 ; took its name from Lud, tb, ;
temple there—afterwards St. Paul's— built
by Lud, 14 n 1 ; Le?ris (son of Philip II.)
there, 68 ; the citizens of, sorry for Glou-
cester's death, 85 ; joyful reception of Boling-
broke there, 120, 121 ; balls, Henry V.'s, 178;
mayor of, welcomes Henry Y., 198 ; troubled
by the strife of Gloucester and Winchester,
222 ; mayor of, asks for hel]{ against Cade,
275; bridge, conflict on, with Oide, 276,
277, 279 n 1, 280 ; &vours the Yorkists,
292 ; Edward lY.'s chief residence, 878
Longland, John, Bishop of Lincoln, asserts
that Henry's marriaire was unlawful, 452
*<Lovell, Sir Thomas,^' 408 n I, See Bowell,
Thomas
, Sir Thomas, attends Buckingham to
the Temple stairs, 450
Lucy, Dame Elizabeth, her alleged betrothal
to Edward lY., 877
Lud, King of Britain, much esteemed London,
14 ; which took its name from him, ib, ;
built a temple there, turned to St. Paul's
church, 14 n 1
Lynx, Lynceus the Aigonaut, 86, 421. But cp.
a marg. note in HaUe (54) : " Lynx is a beast
like to a wolfe, whose sighte dooeth peroe all
thinges"
Macbeth probably not regarded as an usurper,
xii; stories about, xiii; his wife's name
was Gruoch, ib. ; temporarily dethroned,
xiii n 1 ; rebellion against, %b, ; his parent-
age, 18 ; character, ib, ; blames Duncan's
leniency, 20 ; sent affsinst Macdowald, whom
he defeats, tb, ; sends Maodowald's head to
Duncan, 21 ; commands the van in the war
with Sueno, ib. ; defeats the Danes sent by
Canute, 22 ; (prants burial tp tjiair dead, ib, ;
meets the weird sisters, (^, ^p(ep. xiii) ;
jests with Banquo about tfisiKproj^ecy, 24 ;
made thane of Cawdor, ib. ; resolves to seize
the kingdom, 25 ; urged thereto by his wife,
ib. \ murders Duncan, ib. ; is inade king^
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26 ; rules well for ten years, S2 ; his laws,
ib. ; causes Banquo to be murdered, 88 ;
becomes a cruel tyrant, 84 ; builds a castle
on Dunsinane, 34, 35; is angered by Macduff's
refusal to visit Dunsinane, 85; warned to
beware of Maoduff, 86 ; trusts in a witch's
prophedes^^l^iGl^ keeps spies in his nobles'
houses, SoJ^^Iays MacaufTs wife and
children, 87 ; tries to entrap Malcolm, 38,
40 ; some of his nobles take part with Mal-
colm, 41 ; retires to Dunsinane, ib. ; his
friends* advice, ib. ; sees the approach of
Bimam Wood, 42 (cp ziii) ; flies from
Dunsinane, ib. ; slain by Macduff in 1057
{q>. xiii), 48; length of his reign, xiii,
43 ; escapes from the battle with Siward, 44
nl
Macdowald (Macdonwald Macb.) rebels against
Duncan, 19 ; obtains men from the western
isles, 20 ; defeats Duncan's people, ib. ;
defeated by Macbeth, and slays himself,
ib. ; his head sent to Duncan, 21
Macduff, thane of Fife, refuses to visit Dunsi-
nane, 85 ; destined to slav Macbeth, 86
(cp. ziii) ; resolves to join lulcolm Canmore
in England, ib. ; his wife and children slain
by Macbeth, 87 ; acquaints Malcolm with
Macbeth's cruelty, ib. ; urges Malcolm to
attempt Macbeth*s overthrow, 88 ; answers
Malcolm's self-accusations, 88, 89 ; despairs
when he hears of Malcolm's dissimulation, 89 ;
is undeceived by Malcolm, 40 ; requires the
Scotti^ nobles to support Malcolm, 40, 41 ;
pursues Macbeth to Lumphanan, 42; was
ripped from his mother's womb, 48 ; slays
Macbeth, ib. ; made earl of Fife, 45
Maglanus, Duke of Albania. See Albany,
Duke of
Maine yields allegiance to Arthur, 46 ; Arthur's
homage for, 52 ; possession of, demanded for
Arthur, ib. ; ceded to Ben6 of Aigou, 244 ;
a key of Normandy, 245
" mainpemour," surety, 124
Malcolm III. (Canmore) made prince of Cum-
berland, 25 ; takes refuge with Eadward the
Confessor, 81 ; hears from Macduff of Mac-
beih's cruelty, 87 ; tests Macduff's sincerity
by accusing himself of vices, 88, 89; his
piety, 89 n 1 ; undeceives Macduff, 40 ; ob-
tains the assistance of Siward, 41 ; attached
to English habits, ib. {cp. xii) ; Ids soldiers
take branches from Bimam Wood, 42; is
presented with Macbeth's head, 48 ; crowned
at Scone, 44 ; calls a iwrliament at Forfar,
45 ; (dves earldoms to his thanes, ib.
March,1Sdmund Mortimer, fifth Earl of (1898—
1425), confounded with his uncle Edmund,
181 % 1, 184 n 4, 257, 258 ; reveals Cam-
bridge's conspiracy to Henry V., 174 n 1 ;
date of his death, 218 ; chaige of, entrusted
to Prince Henry, 219 ; not a state prisoner,
ib. ; his offices, ib. ; Halle's obituary notice
of, ib. ; (!) confounded with Sir John Mor-
timer, 219 n 5
MOR
Plantagenet,
523
Eail of: See
March, Edward
Edward IV.
, George de Dunbar, Earl of ("Lord
Mortimer of Scotland "), defeats the Scots at
Homlldon, 131—133 ; urgea Henry IV. to
attack Hotspur without delay, 142 ; engages
to become Henry's subject, 142 nl; with-
draws Henry from the main attack at Shrews-
bury, 146
Margaret of Aigou, her intri^e -vnth Suffolk a
fiction, xiii, xiv ; her marriage to Henry VI.
arranged, 288 ; her character, 242 ; her es-
pousals, 243 ; conveyed to England, ib. ;
crowned, 244; was dowerless, ib. {cp. 246);
favours the conspiracy against Gloucester,
246 ; deprives him of power, 260 ; ruined by
his death, 264, 265 ; tries to screen Suffolk,
267, 268 ; sends the Staffords against Cade,
278 ; releases Somerset from warn, 286, 287 ;
refuses to join Henry, and raises an army, 294,
295 ; York's head presented to, 299 ; with-
draws to the north, 801, 304 ; defeated the
Yorkists at St. Albans, 302; reunited to
Henry, 302, 808 ; fortunate in two battles,
804 ; defamed, ib. ; seeks help from Lewis
XI., 812 ; visits Ren^, 812 n 1 ; leagues with
Warwick, 817, 818 ; her return to England
delayed by weather, 328 ; met Somei-set at
Ceme Abbey, 884 n 3 ; landed at Weymouth,
887 ; her despair after Warwick's defeat, 388 ;
a prisoner after Tewkesbury field, ib. ; ran-
somed, 841 n 2, 342 ; date of her death, 347
Marie, Robert de Bar, Count of, holds his men
together at Agincourt, 193; defeated and
slain, ib., 196
Mathe, Richard II. 's greyhound, story of, 12 n 8
*'mawmet," puppet, 139 n 2
"meane stature,'^ middle height, 164
Melun, Adam, Viscount of, confesses Lewis's
plot against the English Imrons, 72 ; his con-
fession averts them from Lewis, 72, 73
Merlin likens Utherpendragon to a di'agon's
head, 5 n 1 ; his prophecy about the mold-
warp, 189 n 2
** messe, a," four persons' share, 370
"mewe, in," encaged, concealed, 259 n 4
Minions, the king's, courtiers who had been in
France, 440
"mirrour of magnificence,** Henry V. a, 205
Montague, Henry Pole, Baron, arrested, 481
, John Neville, Baron and afterwards
Marquess, 290 n 2 ; loth to revolt from Edward,
821, 822; with Warwick at Barnet, 835;
sUin, 337
Montgomery, Sir Thomas, obliges Edward IV.
to proclaim himself king, 882
Montgoy, Herald of France, sent to defy Henry
v., 182; sent to Aire, 184 n 2; receives
HeniVs answer to his defiance, 185 ; craves
burial for the dead, 194; answers Henry's
questions, ib.
Moons, five seen at once in John's reign, 62
Moray, Thomas Dunbar, Earl of, taken prisoner
at Homildon, 182
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Mob
Nob
More, Sir Thomas, made lord chancellor, 477 ;
informs the commons of the universities'
opinions of Henry's marriage, 479
Morgan, Provost of Beverley, chooses to be
called Henry II. 's bastard, 50
Mortain. See Somerset, Edmund 2nd Duke of
Mortimer, Elizabeth, wife to Hotspur, 134 n 2
, Sir Edmund, defeated by Glendowcr,
180, 181 ; confounded with the fifth Earl of
March, 181 n 1, 134 n 4 ; joins Qlendower,
1^1 n 1, 185 ; was Glendower's prisoner, 133,
184; marries Glendower's daughter, 135; por-
tent at his birth, 187 ; a party to the indent-
ure dividing Henry IV. 's realm, 139 n 1 ;
encouraged by a prophecy, 139 ; confounded
with Lord Grey of Ruthin, 257, 258
, Sir Hugh, slain at WakeEeld, 299
, Sir John, (I) confounded with Edmund
5th Earl of March, 219 n 5 ; account of, ib, ;
his name assumed by Cade, 266
, Sir John, slain at Wakefield, 299
Morton, John, Bishop of Ely, takes part in the
coronation council of Edward V., 368 ; sends
for strawberries at Gloucester's request, 870,
871 ; hears the tale of Buckingham's wrongs,
898 ; escapes from Buckingham's custoay,
896, 897 ; obtained Buckingham's promise to
support Richmond. 898 n 1
Mnl mucins Danwallon becomes monarch of
Britain, 14 ; his laws, 14, 15 ; the first who
wore a crown in Britain, 15
"mum-chance," 444. "Chance: ... the
game at dice called Mumchance, or such
another. " — Cotgrave
Murderer, a, detected by the bleeding of the
corpse, 28
" murrie," dark red, 198
Nashfield, a retainer of Richard Duke of
Gloucester, 882
Necessity, cousin of Poverty, caused the rebel-
lion in Suffolk, 482
Nennius, Cassibelan's brother, causes the loss
of Caesar's sword, 18
"nephue," grandson, 18
Nevers, Philip, Count of, slain at Agincourt,
196
Neville, Cecilia. See York, Cecilia Duchess of
, George, Archbishop of York (1464-76),
has the custody of Edward IV., 824
, Isabel, marries Clarence, 820
, John Neville, Baron, slain at Towton,
342 n 1 ; his attainder reversed, 346 n 1
"Nicholas of the Tower," Suffolk intercepted
by the, 270
"mghtertale," night-time, 211
"Non nobis," sung after Agincourt, 197
Norbury, John, joins Bolingbroke's invasion,
96
Norfolk, Affues (bom Tilney), dowager Duchess
of, in the coronation procession of Anne
Boleyn, 486; ^mother to the princess
Elizabeth, 505 ; m the christening procession
of Elizabeth, 506 ; her gift, ib.
Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of (1397-
99), denies Bolingbroke's charge of treason,
78 ; arrested and put in ward, i6. ; refuses
to make peace with Bolingbroke, 79, 80, 81 ;
denies Bolingbroke's specihc charges, 80, 81 ;
spent money in Richard's service, 81 ;
takes up Bolingbroke's ga£[e, <&.; day and
Elace of battle appointed him, 82 ; date of
is exile, 82 n 1 ; denies having murdered
Gloucester, 83 ; takes leave of Richard II.
near Coventry, 86 ; arms for the battle, ib. ;
enters the lists, 87, 88 ; his spear sent to him
by Surrey, 88 ; delays setting forward against
Bolingbroke, ib, ; banished for life, ib. ;
swears that he will keep apart from Boling-
broke, 89 ; dies at Venice, w, and 112 ; hoped
that Richard would favour him, 89 ; Ucensed
to rettim and answer Aumerle's challenge,
112 ; reprobated by the commons, 180
Norfolk, John Mowbray, 2nd Duke of (1424-32),
2nd son of Thomas, attends Henry YL'a
coronation in Paris, 228
, John Mowbray, 8rd Duke of (1482-61),
son of John, a supporter of York's claim to
the crown, 283 ; chaiged with Henry's
custody, 295, 802 ; defeated at St. Albans,
302
, John Howard, 1st Duke of (1483-85),
summoned to oppose Richmond, 401 ; com-
mands the vawara at Bosworth, 415 ; warn-
ing couplet addressed to, 416 ; slain, 421. See
Howard, John
, Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of (1514-24),
by Henrjr VIII.'s creation, 867 n 2 ; not at
the meetmg of Henry and Frauds, 425 ; date
of his deatn, 432 n 1 ; presides at Bucking-
ham's trial, 446—448. Su Howard, Sir
Thomas, and Surrey, Thomas Howard
, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of (1524^54),
talks with John Greene, one of the Suffolk
rebels, 432 ; commands Wolsey to surrender
the great seal, 474 ; receives it after much
debate, 475 ; claims to exercise his office as
earl marshal, 488 ; represented by his half-
brother (Howard of Effingham) in the coro-
nation }>rocession of Anne Boleyn, 485 ; in
the christening procession of the princess
Elizabeth, 506
Northumberland, Henry Percy, Earl of (1877 —
1408), proclaimed a traitor bv Richard II.,
99 ; receives Bolingbroke's oath at Doncaster,
100, 101 ; ffoes with him to meet York, 102 ;
decovs Richard II. into an ambush, 107 n
1; bears Bolingbroke's terms to Richard,
108 ; at Flint Castle, 109 ; receives the gages
of Aumerle and other lords. 111, 112 ; pre-
sent at Richard's abdication, 118 ; bis Scot-
tish prisoners claimed by Hemy IV.. 138 ;
requires Henry to ransom Sir ildwaia Mor-
timer, xb, ; joins Glendower, 185 ; obtains
aid from Uie Scots, ib. ; a party to the in-
denture dividing Henry IV.'s realm, 188,
1^9 ; encoura^^ed by a prophecy, 189 ; pro-
joining HotBpor at
vented by sickness from ,
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Nob
Pbt
Shrewsbury, 148; submits to Henry IV.,
148 ; flees to Berwick, 149 ; and thence to
Scotland, 150 ; delivers Berwick to the Scots,
150 n 1 ; his conspiracy against Henry lY.,
151 ; returns with Scottish forces to England,
157 ; craves help from his countrymen, ib, ;
defeated and slam, ib,
Northumberland, Henry Percy, Earl of (1415-
55), slain at St Albans, 290
, Henry Percy, Earl of (1455-61), slain at
Towton, 342 n 1
Northumberland, John Neville, Earl of (1464-
70), local feeling against, 321 n 3. (Afterwards
Marquess of Montagu)
, Henry Percy, Earl of (1470-89), sum-
moned to oppose Richmond, 401 ; took no
part in the battle of Bosworth, 412
, Heniy Percy, Earl of (1527-87), arrests
Wolsey, 490
, Si ward, Earl of. See Siward
Nottingham, Thomas Mowbray, Earl of (1383-
97), joins a conspiracy against Richard II.,
82 ; reveals it to Richard, ib, ; arrests Glou-
cester, ib. ; delays Gloucester's death, ib, ;
despatches him, under Richard's compulsion,
88 ; misled Richard, 86. See Norfolk, Thomas
Mowbray, Ist Duke of
, Thomas Mowbray, Earl of (1399—1405),
elder son of Thomas, conspires against Henry
IV., 151 ; persuaded to confer with West-
moreland, 153 ; arrested bv Westmoreland,
154 ; said to have yielded fireely, tb, ; beheaded,
155
Oonly, Roger, 262. See Bolingbroke, Roger
*• orient grained," brightly dyed, 198
Orleans, Lewis Duke of (1391—1407), murdered
by John Duke of Burgundy, 48 ; father of
DnnoiB. 49
, Charles Duke of (1407-65), befriends
Dunois, 49 ; a captive in England, 50 ;
promises battle to Henry V., 184 n 2 ; taken
prisoner, 195 ; released, 227 ; present at
Margaret's espousals, 243
*' Oxford," wrong reading in the Qq. texts of
Jiich. II., V. lo. 8, 127 n 1
Oxford, John de Vere, Earl of (1417-62), be-
headed, 814
, John de Vere, Earl of (1462—1613),
embittered by his father's execution, 814 ;
date of his rebellion, 314 n 8 ; joins the
Lancastrian league, 317, 818 ; with Warwick
at Bamet, 835 ; defends St Michael's Mount,
839 ; imprisoned in Hammes Castle, ib, ;
joins Richmond's invasion, 407 ; had escaped
from Hammes, 409
Pace, Richard, kept abroad by Wolsey, 465
Page, a, recommends Tyrrel to Richard IIL's
service, 389, 890
Pandulph, sent to John, 56 ; sent to bid Philip
make war on John, 57 ; obtains John's sub-
mission to Innocent, 64, 65 ; receives John's
crown, 65 ; did Innocent's message stoutly, 77
"paned,** striped, 443
"papisticall."270
"raradise," a house near Westminster Hall,
447
Parley, a, from Harfleur (ffen, V,, III. ii. 148),
180 n 2
Parry, Dr. William, begs Elizabeth to forgive
his fault but not his punishment, 176 n 1 ;
executed in 1585, ib,
"Paul, by St," Richard IIL's oath, 872
Pax, definition of a, 183 n 8
Peacock, Sir Stephen, Lord Mayor of London,
in the coronation procession of Anne Boleyn,
485 ; at the christening of the princess Eliza-
beth, 506, 507
Pembroke, William Marshal (the elder), Earl
of, sent to proclaim John, 46 ; defeats Lewis's
army at Lincoln, 71 ; ]^re8ent at the con-
clusion of peace with Lewis, 75 ; brings John's
children to Gloucester, and asserts Henry
III.'s title, ib. ; a party to the treaty of peace
with Lewis, 77
, William Marshal (the younger), Earl of,
forsakes John for Lewis, 68 ; a Guardian of
the Great Charter, 68 n 1
, Jasper Tudor, Lancastrian Earl of, de-
feated at Mortimer's Cross, 800, 801 ; joins
the Lancastrian league, 317, 818 ; meets
Heniy Tudor, Earl of Richmond, 828, 829 ;
takes him to Brittany, 329, 830 ; joins Rich-
mond's invasion, 407
, William Herbert, Yorkist Earl of (1468-
69), defeated at Edgcote, 320 n 4 ; had been
appointed to suppress the northern rebellion,
821
Pendragon. See Uter
Penker, Friar, his character, 876
"penner," pen-case, 272
"perclois," screen, 86
Percy, Henry, surnamed ** Hotspur," banbhment
of, by Richard II., 98 n 3 ; receives Boling-
broke's oath at Doncaster, 100, 101 ; mar-
shals Bolingbroke's army before Flint Castle,
107; why called "Hotspur," 131 » 4; de-
feats the Scots at Homildon, 131—133 ; his
Scottish prisoners claimed by Henry IV.,
183 ; requires Henry to ransom Sir Edmund
Mortimer, ib, ; his sneech when Henry re-
fused, 184 ; threatened by Henry, 134 n 5 ;
joins Glendower, 135 ; obtains aid from the
Scots, ib, ; assembles an army, 186 ; joined
by Worcester, 136, 187; was much older
than Prince Henry, 142; commanded at
Otterboume, ib, ; his first military service,
ib, ; did not expect Heniy IV.'s rapid advance
upon Shrewsbury, ib, ; sends Worcester to
parley with Henry, 143 ; driven to fight by
Worcester's false report of Heniys words,
145 ; his speech to his followers, w, ; makes
Henry IV. the object of his attack at
Shrewsbury, 146 ; slain, 147
Perke, Gilbert (Robert Gilbert), arrested, 480 ;
brought forth at Buckingham's trial, 447
Peter of Pomfrot prophesies John's dethrone-
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Phi
Rio
ment, 61, 62 ; imprisoned and hanged, 62 ;
suffered unjustly, 65
Philip, bastard of Kichnrd I., kills the Viscount
of Limoges, 48
Philip II. (Augustus), King of France, takes
charge of Arthur, 47 ; knights Arthur and
receives his homage, 52 ; proposes terms to
John, ib. ; concludes a peace with John, 53 ;
receives John's homage, 64; exhorted hy
Innocent to make war on John, 57 ; demands
John's transmarine dominions for Arthur,
57 91 8 {ep. 52) ; aids Arthur, 57, 58 ; craves
Arthur's liberty, 60; cites John to answer
the charge of Arthur's murder, 61 n 1 ; pre*
rares to invade England, 63 ; attacks Ferrand
Count of Flanders, 66 ; defeats John's forces
at £k>uvines, <b, ; accepts the offer ef John's
barons, 69 ; argues that John is an usurper,
ib. ; sends reinrorcements to Lewis, 71
** physnomie," physiognomy, 448
"pikedst," choicest, 148
Plantagenet, Cicely, a mean marriage purposed
for her by Richard III., 896
"platted," arranged, 456
Plautius, Aulas, sent to subdue Britain, 6 ; his
soldiers loth to follow him, 11 ; a portent of
his success, 15 n 2
Pole, Sir Richard, married Margaret Planta-
genet, Countess of Salisbury, 896
**porayle, the," the poor, 129 n 2 ; 275 n 1
Posting in Richard Ill.'s reign, 890 n 2
"pounced," ornamented with perfurationi or
indentations, 506
Poverty, captain of the Suffolk rebels, 482
"powdered," sprinkled, 485
"Praeclariflsimus," mistranslation of "tresch-
ier," 202
Prestbury, Thomas, Abbot of Shrewsbury, sent
to offer terms to the Percies, 148
*' pretended," intended, 160
Pnest, a ("Chaplains of the Tower"),
buries the bodies of Edward IV. 's children,
895
Princes' Inn, the, Calais, scene of Gloucester's
murder, 88
"promit," promise, 298
Proverbs and phrases: — "kings • • . haue
sharpe sight like vnto Lynx, and long ears
like vnto Jdidas," 86 {ep, 421) ; left no stone
vntumed, 46; "tag and rag," 148; "shot
for the best ^me," 145 ; " Who so will France
win, must with Scotland first begin," 172 ; "to
haue a Rouland for an Oliuer," 285 ; "block-
ham feast," 271 MenoU 2 ; " When Adam
delu'd, and Eue span, / Who was then a
gentleman ? " 272 n 2 ; "a sleeuelesse errand,"
816 ; "a dale after the faire," 887 ; "broken
all the danse," 864; "freends faile fliers,"
865 ; " Honours change manners," 898 ; " the
parish priest never remembreth that he was
ever parish clerk," ib. : "checke and checke-
mate," ib, ; "he could not disceme a ffoose
from a capon," 895; "a man found in
a cloud," 896; "a fooles paradise," 400;
"left . . . poet alone," 404; "Frenchmen*
Britans great bosters small rosters," 417 side-
note 2; "bag and baggage," 420; "haue
him in a trip," 426 ; "cause him to leape
headlesse," ib, ; "cast a trnmpe in his waie,"
448; "made hire weather of altogethers,"
504
Pyx (box for preserving the host), a soldier
strangled for stealing a, 184
" quaile," fail, 816
"quarell," list of chaiges, 101 « 1 ; 134 n 4 ;
Queene Hiue, Queenhithe, 261
" questmoongers," jurymen, 273
"quinch," start, 208
Quoint, Frands, 96. SeeCoiat
"radicate," rooted, 249
Rambures, David seigneur de, Grand Master of
the Crossbowmen, encamps at Aginooort,
185 ; slain, 196
Ramston, Sir Thomas, joins Bolingbroke'a
invasion, 96
Ratcliffe, Sir Richard ("the Rat," 847), super-
intends the execution of Rivers, Grey, and
Vaughan, 868 ; his character, ib, ; hindered
Tyrrel's advancement, 889, 890; slain at
Bosworth, 421
" reare supper," second supper, 28
"leculed back," fell back, 838
Regan, her answer to Lear, 8 ; marries Hen-
ninus, ib. ; diminishes Lear's retinue, 4
"reserued," except, 162
"retawnts," repetition of taunts, 898
Rice ap Thomas joins Richmond, 408
Richanl I., King of England, date of hia death.
45 n 8; slain at Cnaluz, 48; why calleii
Ctieur de Lion, 50; bequeaths England to
John, 52 ; his heart buried at Rouen, 225
II., present when Bolingbroke accuses
Norfolk oSf treason, 78; orders the dukm'
arrest, ib. ; endeavours to reconcile them, 79,
80, 81 ; hears the appeal of treason, 80, 81 ;
swears that he will cease endeavouring to
reconcile the dukes, 81 ; appoints time and
Elace for their combat, 82 ; conspiracy against
im in 1897, ib. ; orders Nottingham to
despatch Gloucester, on pain of death, 82, 88;
rebuked by Gloucester for surrendering Brest,
84, 95 ; complains of Gloucester's enmity ;
84 ; persuaded to desp«tdi Gloucester, 85 ;
summons a parliament, ib. ; ffoes to Coventry,
86 ; Bolingbroke and Norfolk take leave of
him, ib, ; enters the field at Coventry, 87 ;
stavs the combat, 88 ; banishes Bolingbroke
and Norfolk, ib, ; makes them swear that
thev will keep apart, 89 ; shortens Boling-
broke's exile, ut. ; resolves on a campaign in
Ireland, 89; sets England to turn, 90;
reconciled to the Londoners, ib, ; issues blank
charters, ib, ; imposes fines and a new oath,
ifr. , 94 ; exacts money from the clergy for his
Irish campaign, 91 ; confiscates Bolingbroke'a
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inheritance, %b, ; prevents Bolingbroke's mar-
riage, 92 ; appoints York lieutenant-general,
98 ; goes to Ireland, ib, ; excepts nobles from
panlon, tb, ; disinherits heirs, ib. ; a poll-tax
levied for, 98, 94; proclaims Northumber-
land a traitor, 99 ; receives news (delayed by
contrary winds) of Bolingbroke's landine,
100 ; persnaded to defer his return, ib, ; sends
Salisbur^r to gather an armv, 102, 108 ; Olen-
dower said to have served him, 105 ; lands in
Wales, 106; dismisses and leaves his army, 106,
107 ; at Conway, 107 ; an ambush laid for
him, 107 n 1 ; sees Bolingbroke's army
approaching Flint, 107, 108; dines, 109; meets
Bolingbroke, ib, ; rides with him to London,
ib. ; persuaded to abdicate, 118 ; reads
and signs the scroll of his abdication. Hi,
118 ; which is read in parliament, 117 ; his
crimes set forth in articles, ib, ; puts his ring
on Bolingbroke's finger, 117, 118; delivers
Ids crown to Bolingbroke, 118 ; named John,
ib,; his "noble housekeeping," 119; com-
mitted to the Tower, ib, ; design to waylay
him, 121 ; plot to restore him, 122—124 ;
his greyhound Mathe, 124 n 8 ; murdered,
126 ; date of his death, 126 n 2 ; his funeral,
128; buried at King's Langley, ib,; his
person and character, 128, 129 ; flattered by
Bushy, 180 ; his heir presumptive was Roger
Earl of March, 134 (cp. n 1); his body
removed to Westminster, 188
Richard III. expresses remorse for his nephews'
murder, xiv (cp. 424) ; date of his birth,
287 n 2 ; his cognisance called a hog, 847 ;
date of his accession, 876 n 8 ; crowned, 887 ;
spreads a rumour of Anne's death, 888 ; in-
tends to marry his niece Elizabeth, i&., 899-
401 ; plans his nephews' murder, 889, 890 ;
charges Stanley to prevent Richmond's mother
from plotting, 891 ; prophecy that Richmond
would be fatal to him, 892 ; refused to give
Buckingham the earldom of Hereford, ib,,
898 {ep, 862, 450 n 2) ; thanks Tyrrel for
murdering his nephews, 894 ; but disapproves
of their sepulture, 894, 895 ; his plan for
suppressing Buckingham's rebellion, 897 ;
makes overtures to Elizabeth, 899, 400;
denies that he meant to marrv his niece, 400
n 1 ; marches against Buckingham, 401 ;
after Richmond's landing summons his friends
to muster forces, ib, ; the persons whom he
most mistrusted, 402 ; ofiers a reward for
Buckingham's apprehension, 404 ; hostility
or indifference among his followers, 410 ;
encamps near Bosworth, 411 ; outnumbered
Richmond, ib, ; his white courser, ib, ; his
dream, 418 ; draws up his army, 415 ; com-
mands the main body at Bosworth, ib. ; his
speech to his army, 416, 417 ; his summons
r^ected by Stanley, 417 ; defers the execution
of George Stanley, 417, 418; joins battle,
418 ; refused to fly when defeated, ib, ; as-
sails Richmond, overthrowing those who
opposed him, 419; slain, 420; his soldiers
submit to Richmond, 421 ; his person and
character, 422, 423 ; portentous birth, 422 ;
habit of biting his lip, 423
Richmond, Henry Tudor, Earl of, Henry VI.'s
prophecy about, 328, 829 ; his person and
character, 828 n 2, 424; date of his birth,
828 n 4 ; taken to Brittany, 829, 830 ; Dorset
joins him there, 887 ; hears that Richard will
marry the Princess Elizabeth, 888 ; promises
to marry her, 899 ; sails with an army to
join Buckingham, 402 ; his fleet dispersed
by a tempest, 404, 405 ; treacherously invited
to land at Poole, 405 ; returns to Normandy,
405, 406 ; hmds at Milford, 406 ; could not
depend on Stanley's help, 407 ; his army in-
creases, 407, 408 ; meets Stanley, 412 ; en-
camps, 412, 418 ; his speech before the battle,
414, 415 ; a marsh on his right flank, 418 ;
keeps Richard at bay, 419; crowned after
Bosworth field, 420; removes to Leicester,
ib, ; his speech after the battle, 421
, Margaret, dowager Countess of, com*
municates with her son, 891 ; broaches his
marriage to the Princess Elizabeth, 398
Rivers, Richard Woodvile, Earl, envoy (in
1452) to York, 285 ; his daughter Elizabeth
wooed by Edward IV., 810, 811
, Anthonv Woodvile, Earl, flees with
Edward lY. m>m England, 825 ; governor of
Edward's elder son, 851 ; his character, ib, ;
arrested by Gloucester and Buckingham, 354 ;
sent to Pomfret and beheaded, 855 ; date of
his execution, 866 n 2. See Scales, Anthony
Rochford, George Boleyn, Baron, besrer of the
princess Elizabeth's canopy, 506
RoKesby, Sir Thomas, sheriff of Yorkshire,
defeats Northumberland and Bardolf, 157
Romans, the, and the English, aspects of their
camps compared, 186
'*rongen," rung, 254
"rore," commotion, 823 n 1, 852
Ros, William de Ros, Baron, joins Bolingbroke,
98 ; goes with him to meet York, 102
Rotherham, Thomas, Archbishop of York,
Cardinal, and Chancellor, hears that Edward
y .'s journey had been interrupted, 854, 355 ;
takes the great seal to Elizabeth, 855, 356 ;
asked to brinff York from sanctuary, 358
(q), 357 n 1) ; his answer, 858, 859 ; advises
Elizabeth to part with York, 860; brinffs
him from sanctuary, 860 ; takes part in the
coronation council, 863
Roussy, John Count of^ slain at Agincourt, 196
RoweU, Thomas ("sir Thomas Louell") saves
Dorset's life, 408 n 1
"rowned," whispered, 886
Rushes a floor covering, 856
Ruthal, Thomas, Bishop of Durham, his private
accounts accidentally seen by Henry Y I II.,
472, 473
Rutland, Edward Earl of, conspires against
Henry IV., 122, 128; detected bv York,
124 ; obtains Henrv's pardon, ib. See Albe-
marle, and York, Edward Duke of
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Siw
Rutland, Edmund, Earl of, in arms with Richard
Duke of York, 295; beloved by the Irish,
296 ; his tutor tries to save his life, 297, 298 ;
slain by Clifford, 298 ; his age, 298 n 1 ;
character, ib.
*'8acke, let," caused to be put in a sack, 218
** sacre," consecrate, 475 n 3
"sad," grave, 881, 400 w 1
"sadde,^'firm, 288i»8
St. Maur, Ridiard de St. Maur, Baron, goes
with York to meet Bolingbroke, 102
St. Paule, St Pol, 185
Sainte-Traille (Xaintrailles), Potou de, ex-
changed for Talbot, 214
Salisbury, the bastard of (son of Richard Earl
of Salisbury), slain at Ferrybridge, 305
, William Lungesp^e, Earl of, forsakes
John for Lewis, 68
, John de Montagu, Earl of, employed to
prevent Bolingbrok^s marriage, 92 ; gathers
an armjT to await Richard's return, 103;
meets him at CJonway, 107; present when
Richard met Bolingbroke, 109; conspires
against Henry IV., 122, 128 ; beheaded, 127
, Thomas de Montagu, Earl of, son of
John, a negotiator of the treaty of Troyes,
200 ; at Troyes when Henry Y. was affianced
to Katharine, 201; at Henry's death-bed,
208 ; mortally wounded, 214, 215 ; date of
his death, 215 n 1 ; martial renown of, 217,
218
f Richard Neville, son-in-law of Thomas,
Earl of, attends Heniv YL's coronation in
Paris, 228 ; married Alice de Montagu, 245
n 1 ; his children, i&. ; a supporter of York's
claim, 288, 288 ; reconciled to the Lancas-
trians, 290 ; his chancellorship, 294 nl; in
arms with York, 295 ; welcomed in Kent,
295, 296 ; beheaded, 800 ; his head removed
from York gates, 307
, Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of
(1499—1539), married Sir Richard Pole, 896 ;
date of her birth, 896 n 1
"sanctuarie children" unheard of, 360
Sandys, William Sandys, Baron, regulated
Wolsey's banquets, 441, 442; date of hia
creation, 449 n 2; attends Buckingham's
execution, 450
Say & Sele, James Fiennes, Baron, removed
from office, 269 ; charged with ceding Anjou
and Maine, 278; beheaded, 278, 279; his
head borne on a pole, 279
Scales, Thomas Scales, Baron, taken prisoner
at Patay, 207; joined with others in the
siege of Orleans, 214 ; at the retaking of Le
Mans, 217 ; charged to keep the Tower i^ainst
Cade, 274 ; promises help to the Londoners
in resisting him, 275
, Anthony Woodvile, Baron (1462-69),
married the heiress of Thomas, Baron Scales,
819 n 1. Sea Rivers, Anthony Woodvile,
Earl of
Scots, the, expel Malcolm's English followers,
xii n 2 ; came from Ireland, 3 n 1 ; defeat
the Danes at Loncarty, 16, 17; defeat
Sueno, King of Norway, 21 ; and Canute's
power, 22; make peace with the Danes,
23; abhorred English excesses, 42; de-
feated at Nisbet and Homildon, 131—133 ;
join the Percies, 135 ; attack Henry IV.'s
van at Shrewsbury, 146 ; defeated at Neville's
Cross, 172
Scrope of Masham, Henry Scrope, Baron,
treason of, made public, 178 n 8 ; found
guilty, ib. ; his conspiracy detected, 174 ;
led to doom himself, 174 n 1 ; high character
of, 175 ; says that he was bribed by France,
176 ; doomed by Henry, 176, 177
Scrope, Richard, Archbishop of York, directed
to report Richard's abdication to parliament,
114, 116, 117 ; devises the Percies' articles,
135, 151 ; conspires against Henry IV., 151 ;
wears armour, 152 ; his character, ib, ; at
Galtres Forest, ib, ; confers with Westmore-
land, ir)3, 154; aiTested by Westmoreland,
154 ; said by others to have yielded freely,
ib.
, Sir Stephen, accompanied Richard II. to
Conway, 107 ; present when Richard met
Bolingbroke, 109
"seelie," innocent, 394
Seely, Sir Bennet, conspirator against Henry
IV., beheaded, 127
"Seimour, the lord." See St Maur
"sendall, 8ilke,"86
** sentence," opinion, 501
Sergeant-at-arras, Duncan's, slain by rebels, 19
(cp. 18)
** sew," serve at table, 126
Seyton (Seiton), name assumed in Malcolm
IIL's time, 45
Shaw, Dr. John or Ralph, his character, 376 ;
~ his arguments for Gloucester's claim to the
crown, 877, 879, 880
, Sir Edmund, Mayor of London, receives
Edward V., 857 ; present during Bucking-
ham's speeches at the Guildhall, 381, 882,
and at Baynard's Castle, 383
Shirley, Sir Hugh, slain at Shrewsbury, 147
Shore, Jane, accused of wasting Gloucester by
sorcery, 371, 372; kept by Hastings, 872,
873
Shrewsbury, John Talbot, Earl of (1442-58),
appointed to besiege Dieppe, 230 ; sent to
recover Guienne, 231 ; slain, ib. ; advised his
son to flee, 231, 232; his words to his son,
232 ; epitaph, 233 ; his bones brought to
England, 233 n 1 ; and found at Whitchurch,
ib.
Sicilius, father of Posthumus {Oymb.)f aids in
Caesar's defeat, 13 n 1 ; name in ffd,, 18
Sigismnnd, the Emperor, comes to make peace
between Henry V. and Charles VL, 199;
seeks to make peace between England and
France, 234
Sinell, thane of Glamis, father of Macbeth, 18
Siward, Earl of Northumberland, temporarily
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Sod
dethrones Macbeth, ziii n 1 ; ordered to
assist Malcolm, 41 ; defeats Macbeth, 44 ; his
speech when his son was slain, ib,
"sod," boiled, 247
Somerset, John Beaufort, 1st Dnke of, his age
at Mortimer's death, 218 ; date of his death,
218 n 6 ; ravines A^jon, 280
, Edmund Beaufort (Earl of Mortain, 1481,
Earl of Somerset, 1444), 2nd Duke of, brother
•f John, attends Henry Y.'s funeral, 205 n 4 ;
the "Somerset" of 1 & 2 ffen. FL, 218
(cp. 885) ; his age at Mortimer's death, ib. ;
enmity between him and York, 218, 219 ;
attends Henr^ YL's coronation in Paris, 228 ;
conspires against Gloucester, 246 ; when made
duke, 246 n 8 ; supersedes York in the lieu-
tenancy of France, 251 ; date of his lieuUn-
ancy, 251 n 1 ; retards York's departure to
France, 252 ; surrenders Caen, 263 ; blamed
for the loss of Normandy, 288 ; his committal
to ward demanded by York, 286 ; released
by Margaret, 286, 287; accuses York of
treason, 287 ; slain, 289
Somerset, Henr^r Beaufort, 8rd Duke of, son of
Edmund, adyises Maigaret to oppose York,
294, 295; at WakeEeld, 296; flees from
Towton, 806 n 2; deserts and rejoins the
Lancastrians, 820 ; beheaded, ib.
, Edmund, 4th Duke of, brother of Henry,
meets Margaret on her return to England,
888 n 4, 884 n 8 ; with Warwick at Bamet,
885 ; taken prisoner at Tewkesbuiy, 888 ;
beheaded, 889
Somerville, Sir Thomas, perhaps "Someruile"
in 8 ffen, FL, 342
"songen," sung, 254
** Southerie," Surrey, 281
Southwell, Thomas, accused of sorcery, 258 ;
dies in the Tower, 259
Si>arhawk, a, strangled by an owl, 31
'^Spencer." (F. reading in Eich. II. V. vi 8),
127 n 1. See Despencer
Stafford, Edmund Stafford, 6th Earl of, com-
mands Henry lY.'s yan at Shrewsbury, 146 ;
slain, ib. ; made Constable on the day of the
battle, ib.
, Humphrey Stafford, Earl of, son of
Humphrey Duke of Buckingham, slain at St.
idbans, 290
•, Humphrey Stafford, Baron S. of South-
wick, appointed to suppress the northern
rebellion, 321
, Sir Humphrey, and his brother, defeated
by Cade, 272, 273
Standish, Henry, Bishop of St Asaph, Katha-
rine's counsel, 457
Stanley, Sir Thomas, has the custody of the
Ducness of Olouoester, 259, 261
, Sir William, aids Edward IV. 's escape
firom theNeyilles, 825 ; distrusted by Richard
III., 402 ; comes to Richmond, 408 ; his con-
tingent, 411 ; meets Richmond, 412 ; his
succour giyes Richmond yictoiy at Bosworth,
419, 420
Sum
Stanley, Thomas Stanley, Baron, "Derby" in
Richard II L, 850 ; talces part in the corona-
tion council, 868; mistrusts the separate
councils, ib. ; his dream, 864 ; charged hj
Richard to preyent his wife firom communi-
cating with Richmond, 891 ; his son de-
manded from him as a hostage, 402 ; afraid
to befriend Richmond openly, 407; meets
Richmond, 412 ; rejects Richard's summons,
417 ; crowns Richmond after Bosworth field,
420
Star, a blazing, seen in 1402, 187 {ep. 61 n 1)
"states," persons of high rank, 422
Stewards, Boece's genealogy of the, 35 ; they
and the Fitz-Afiins descended from Alan
(temv. Hen. I.), i&. n 2
StokesW, John, Bishop of London, asks his
clergy^s aid in buying pardon of the pre-
munire, 507 ; in tne coronation procession of
Anne Boleyn, 486, 487
Storm, portentous, before the leaye-taking of
Henry and Francis, 427
"stoupes," 221, "stoops," 277, stulpes, short
posts
Strance, George Stanley, Baron, a hostage to
Richard IIL, 402; narrowly escaped execu-
tion before Boswortib field, 417, 418 ; brought
to his fkther after the battle, 420
"streinable," vehement, 405
Sueno, King of Norway, inyades Scotland, and
is defeated, 21 ; ransoms his dead {Maeb,),
22nl
Suffolk, Michael de la Pole, third Earl of, slain
at A^court, 196
^, William de la Pole, Duke of, brother of
Michael, his intrigue with Margaret ficti-
tious, ziii, xiy ; appointed to besiege Orleans,
214 ; attends Henry YI.'s coronation in Paris,
228; ambassador at Tours, 287; arranges
Henry VL's marriage, 238 ; returns to Eng-
land, 241 ; his services acknowledged by
Parliament 241 n 1 ; procurator for espous-
ing Margaret to Henry, 243 : conveys her to
England, ib. ; dispenses with her dowiy, 244;
cedes Ai^jou and Maine to Ren^, ib. ; created
Duke of Suffolk, ib. ; sent to bring Margaret
frt)m France, 245 ; demands a fifteenth, 246 ;
conspires against Oloucester, ib. ; aids
Somerset to ootain the lieutenancy in France,
251 ; accused of taking bribes from France,
264 ; and of other crimes, 267, 268, 278 ; sus-
pected of Gloucester's murder, 268 ; banished,
269 ; murdered, 270, 271 ; prophecy of his
iate, 270 n 8
, Charles Brandon, Duke of (1514-45), a
commissioner for levying a sixth, 432 ; found
Buckingham guilty, 447 ; commands Wolsey
to surrender the groat seal. 474 ; receives it
alter much debate, 475; high steward for
the coronation of Anne Boleyn, 483 ; in the
procession, 485 ; dismissed many of Katha-
rine's servants, 490 ; in the christening pro-
cession of the princess Elizabeth, 506
Summer, wet, in 1594, 158 n 1
M M
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Wal
Sun obscured after Duffs mnrder, 81 ; ap-
pears as three sons at Mortimer's Cross, 301 ;
eclipse of; at Qaeen Anne's death, 396 n 8
" sappTyse," oppression 129, n 2
" Sorrey " in tne coronation procession of Anne
Boleyn, 484. See Amndel, William Fits
Alan, 485
, Thomas Holland, Duke of^ arrests
Bolingbroke and Norfolk, 78 ; becomes bail
for Bolingbroke, ib. ; sent by Richard II.
to make peace between Bolingbroke and
Norfolk, 79 ; officiates as marshall in the
liits at Coventry, 86 — 88; returns with
Richard from Ireland, 106 ; accompanies
Richard to Conway, 107; challeziges Fitz-
Walter, 111, 112 ; deprived of his dukedom,
121, 122. See Kent, 3rd Earl of
Surrey, Thomas Howard,Earl of (1488— 1614), by
Richard III.'s creation, 867 n 2 ; summoned
to oppose Richmond, 401 ; in the vaward
at Bosworth, 415. See Howard, Sir Thomas,
and Norfolk, 2nd Duke of
, Thomas Howard, Earl of (1514-24), was
near stabbing Wolsey, 448. See Norfolk,
8rd Duke of
Surrienne, Francois de, le Arragonnois, mC"
prises the Castle of "Comill," 224, 226.
(Source for the fictitious surprise of Rouen,
1 ffm, VL, IIL il)
Talbot, John Talbot, Baron, defeated at Patay,
207 ; exchanged for Poton de Sainte-Traille,
214; joined with others in the siege of
Orleans, ib, ; retakes Le Mans, 216, 217 ;
dreaded by the French, 217 ; a scare to
children, 218 ; created Earl of Shrewsbury,
228. See Shrewsbury
, Sir Gilbert, joins Richmond, 408
"tapet." hanging, 213
"Te Deum" sung after Agincourt, 197
" tempering," experimenting, 256 sidenoU
"Temple-giffden'' scene, characters in the, 218,
247 nl
Tenantius, form of the name, 7 n 1 ; aids in
Cesar's defeat, 18 n 1
Thanes of Scotland made earls, 45
Thomas of Lancaster. See Clarence, Thomas
Duke of
Thomas, St., of Waterings, Southwark, 198.
A brook or spring dedicated to St Thomas k
Becket.— Cunningham's ffandbook of London,
1850, p. 498, coL 2
Thorpe, Thomas, Baron of the Exchequer, an
enemy ** to the fomylie of York," 292 n 1
"thought," sorrow, 127
"Thoiae,"Toul, 211
•Threske,"Thir8k,157
Tides, three continuous, in the Thames, 158
Toison d'Or brings Burgundy's letter to Henry
VL, 229
"tooting hole," spyhole, 214
" torcious," wrongml, 838 n 2
Troinovant (London), temple to Apollo in, 5 n
1 ; called London, 14 marg, note
Troyes, treaty of, its terms, 200, 201 ; 1st article
of, 201, 202; 25th article of; 202; 23Td
article of; 202 n 1 ; sworn to, 208
Tun, drinking-cup, 172 n 2
** tuition," protection, 47, 869
Tyler, Wat, says that he will give laws to
England, 277, 278
" type," tip, summit, 185
" tyrantlike," 84
Tyrrel, Sir James, his character, 389; kept
under by Ratcliffe and Cateslnr, 889, 890;
agrees to despatch Richard Ill's nephews,
890 ; carries out the business, 894 ; thanked
by Richard, ib.
, Sir Thomas, quite unlike his brother
Sir James, 890
* ' underset," propped up, 849
** undertooke," understood, 272
Universities, foreign, consulted about Henry
YIIL's marriage, 479
" unlieful," unbelieving, 288 n 8
Urswick, Christopher, a messenger to Richmond
from the Countess, 409
Uter (or Uther), called Pendragon, 5 1» 1 ; borne
to battle in a litter, 226
" utter barrester," 105. '< And they [barristers]
are called Utter Barridere, i.e. Pleaders
without the Bar, to distinguish them from
Benchers, or those who have been Readers, who
are sometimes admitted to plead within the
Bar ; as the King, Queen^ or Prince's Counsel
are." — Cowel's Law JHUionary, 1727, #. v.
Yaudemont, Feiri de Lorraine, Count of, slain
at Agincourt, 196
Yaughim, Sir Thomas, arrested by Gloucester
and Buckingham, 854 ; sent to Pomfret and
beheaded, 856 ; his last words, 868 n 1
Yaux, Sir Nicholas, attends Buckingham's
execution, 450
Yenetian Senate assist Bolingbroke in his pil-
grimage to Jerusalem, 160 n 1
Yere, Aubrey de (heir of John, twelfth Earl of
Oxford), beheaded, 314
Yemen, Sir Richard, taken prisoner at Shrews-
bury and beheaded, 147
« Yemquessine, Yexin, 62, 54
"Yici," translated "I ouercame," in North's
Plutarch, 12 n 1
YilleiDS* revolt and Cade's rebellion dramatically
amalgamated, xi ; villeins kill lawyers,
schoolmasters, and nobles, 271, 272 ; release
prisoners, 273 n 4 ; bum the Siavoy, and the
Uwyers' lodgings in the Temple, 277 ; destroy
records, 278
Wales, Edward Prince of (afterwards Edward
II.), punished by his lather for reviling a
royal officer, 161 n 2
, Edward Prince of (the Black Prince),
defeats the French at Crtey, 171
, Henry Prince of, deserted by Worcester,
186 ; distrusted by his father, 140 ; whose con-
fidence he regains, i&. ; his youthful vagaries.
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141 ; disgraced by hia father, ib. and 161 n 1 ;
robs his reoeiyers, 141 n 2 ; was much younger
than Hotspur, 142 ; wounded at Shrewsbury,
but continues fighting, 146 ; remoyes his
father's crown, 158; strikes chief-justice
Gascoign, 161, 168 n 1 ; insults Gascoign,
162; at whose bidding he ^oes to prison,
168 ; in danger from an assassin, 218 ; charge
of Mortimer entrusted to, 219. See Henry v
Wales, Edward, Lancastrian Prince of, meeting
between, and his finther, 808 ; dubbed knight,
ib. ; said not to be Henry's son, 804 ; espoused
to Anne Keyille, 818 ; returns to England,
887 ; murdered after Tewkesbury field, 840
.Edward, Yorkist PriHoeof. iSte Edward V.
"wanhope," despair, 400
Warham, William, Archbishop of Canterbury,
Katharine's counsel, 457
"warlie," warlike, 422. «*The erle of Hunt-
yngdon also this yere [1488] was sent into
f^unce with a toarly company."— ^a5. it
608
Warwick, Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of (1869—
1401), rebels a«»inst Richard II., 94
, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of (1401-89),
son of Thomas, enyoy from Henry V. to Philip
the Good, 199 ; at Troyes when Henry was
aflSanced to Katharine, 201 ; at the si^;e of
Melun, 201 n 1; attends on Henry V.'s
funeral, 205 n 4 ; at Henry's death-bed,
208 ; appointed guardian of Henry YI., 209
n 1 ; attends Henry's coronation in Paris,
228 ; his lieutenancy in France, 287 n 8 ;
death, ib. ; 247 n 1
, Henry Beaucham]», Duke of (1444-45),
son of Richard, his sister married Richard
Neyille (the King-maker), 245 n 1
, Richard NeyiUe, Earl of (1449-71), his
hospitality, 247 ; when bom, and made earl,
247 n 1 ; the dramatic " Warwick," ib,; his
character, 247 n 2; a sanporter of York's claim,
288, 288 ; assumed the Beauchamp badge,
288 ; reconciled to the Lancastrians, 290 ;
escapes from a Lancastrian riot, ib, ; made
captain of Calais, 294 n 1 ; charged with
HenrVs custody, 295, 802; welcomed by
the Eentishmen, 295, 296 ; joins Edward,
801 ; defeated at St. Albans, 802 ; sl^s his
horse at Ferrybridge, 805 ; conducts Henry
YI. to the Tower, 809; negotiates the
marriage of Bona to Edward, 818 ; angered by
Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Grey, 816 ;
and by Edward's insult to a relatiye, 816,
817 ; leagues with Margaret, 817, 818 ; his
daiu;hter Anne espouses Edward Prince of
Wales, 818 ; tempted Clarence to reyolt, 819 ;
his daughter mbel marries Clarence, 820 ;
secretly foments a rebellion, ib. ; his inyasion
fayoured, 822, 828 n 1 ; date thereof, 822 n 8 ;
proclaims Henry YI., 828 ; captures Edward,
828, 824 ; releases Henry from the Tower,
826 ; made goyemor of England, 827 ; in
Warwickshire when Edward landed, 888 n 1 ;
refnses Edward's offer of battle at Coyentry,
884 ; rejects Clarence's offer of peace, ib, ;
follows Edward's march ftx>m Coyentry, 886,
887 ; slain, 887 ; his speech before Bamet
field, 888 n 2
Warwick,Edward Plantagenet, Earl of (1490-99),
his long imprisonment, 895 ; was " a yerie
innocent," ib,
Washford, Wexford, 288
Waterton, Sir Robert, joins Bolingbroke's inya-
sion, 96; marches against Northumberland, 148
"weeriah," shrunk, 872
** weird sisters," 24
Welshmen disperse, belieying Richard 11. to
be dead, 108 ; rebel, led by Glendower, 105,
187 ; aid the Percies at Shrewsbury, 146 ;
desert Buckingham, 404
Weldiwomen mutilate the slain, 181
West, Nicholas, Bishop of Ely, Katharine's
counsel, 457
Westminster, Abbot of (William Colchester),
present at Richard's abdication, 118 ; author
of a conspiracy against Henry lY., 122, 128 ;
his subsequent history, 127
Westmoreland, Ralph NeyiUe, Earl of (1397-
1425), receiyes Bolinebroke's oath at Doncas-
ter, 100, 101; goes with him to meet York, 102;
receiyes the gages of Aumerle and other lords,
111, 112 ; attaches Carlisle, 116 ; marches
against Northumberland, 148 ; and against
.^hbishop Scrope, 152; quells Scrope's
reyolt by politic dealing, 152 — 154 ; another
account of his procedure, 154, 155; adyises
Henry Y. to conquer Scotland, 172 ; not at
Agincourt, 187
, Ralph, NeyiUe, Earl of (1425-84), grand-
son of the first earl, and the dramatic
Westmoreland, 842
Whale stranded, 156. (Simile in 2 Sen, IF.
lY. iy. 40, 41.)
"whiffler,"fifer, 197
White Hart in Southwark, Cade lodges at the,
274
White rose, Edward lY.'s emblem, 842
"wij;ht," blame, 852
Wilham of Lane (*'de Lanum." — Graystanes,
Surtees Soa ed., p. 85) adyises Morgan, not
to deny the king's blood, 50
Willoughby of Eresby, William Willoughby,
Baron, joins Bolingbroke, 98 ; goes with him
to meet York, 102; sent to rayage near
Amiens, 280
WUtshire and Ormond, James Butler, Earl of,
attends Henry YI.'s coronation in Paris, 228 ;
fled from St. Albans, 290 ; defeated at
Mortimer's Cross, 800, 801
Wiltshire, William Scrope, Earl of, farms
England, 90 ; giyes aclyice for resisting
Bolinffbroke, 98 ; flees to Bristol, 100 ; be-
headed there, 104 ; reprobated by the com-
mons, 180
Winchester, Bishop of. See Beaufort, Henry
Winds, great, after Duff's murder, 81
«« wisehardie," 204
Witch, reyenge of the First (Maeb,), 22;
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532
INDEX.
Wrr
witches at Forres, 22, 23 ; prophecies of a,
to Macbeth, 86
" witcherie," witchcraft, 212
Wolsey, Thomas, escorts Francis I. in the vale
of Andren, 425 ; angered by Backingham's
abnse, 426; imprisons Bolmer, ib. ; per-
suades Henry to meet Francis, 428 ; regulates
their interview, ib. ; bribed by Charles V. to
dissolve their MendjBhip, 429, 480 ; devises a
tax of a sixth, 431, 482 ; excuses himself for
projecting it, 433 ; claims credit for its
remission, 484 ; procnres Enyvet to accuse
Buckingham, 484, 485 ; his stately banquets,
441 ; great resort to his house, 442 ; to one
of his banauets Henry comes masqued,
accompanied by masquers, 448--446 (ep, 441
n 1) ; olamed for Buckingham's death, 448 ;
sends Surrey (8rd Duke of Norfolk) awajr to
Ireland as lieutenant, 449 ; blamed for im-
pugning Henry's marriacre to spite the emperor,
452, 458; wished Henry to mairy the
Duchess of Alen^n, 458 ; in commission
with Campeggio, 463, 454 ; blsuned for keep-
ing Pace abroad, 455 ; his usual procession
to Westminster Hall, 457 ; his two cross-
bearers, ib, ; accused by Katharine, 461 ;
asks Henry to acquit him of her charge,
462; hears of Henry's affection for Amie
Boleyn, 470 ; desires thepope to defer Henry's
divorce, ib, {ep, 472) ; his duplicity resented
by Heniy, 470, 471 ; his enemies frame
articles against him, 471 ; deliyers RuthaTs
private accounts to Henry, 478 ; his bid for
the papa(^, tb, ; surrenders the great seal
after much debate, 474, 475 ; the articles
framed against him, 476 ; condemned in a
premunire, 477 ; takes account of his goods
forfeited to Henry, 481, 482 ; wishes that he
had served God better, 482; arrested by
Northumberland, 490 ; comes to Leicester
Abbey and dies there, 491 ; his character,
foundations, and preferments, 492, 498
Woodvile, Richard ^ther of Richard, Earl
Rivers), keeps the Tower against Gloucester,
212, 213
Worcester, Thomas Percy, Earl of, dismisses
Richard II. 's household, 98, 99 ; prompts his
brother and nephew to demand Mortimer's
ransom, 138 ; informs them of Henry lY.'s
proposed absence in Wales, 185 ; deserts
rrince Henry and joins Hotspur, 136, 137 ;
sent to parley with Henry I Y., 143 ; mis-
reports to Hotspur the words of Henry, 144,
145 ; taken prisoner and beheaded, 147
Xaintndlles, 214. 8e$ Sainte-Traille
York, Cecilia (Cecily), Duchess of, sends her
sons George and Richard to Utrecht, 803 ;
disapproyes of Edward's marriage to a widow,
312 ; and calls it bigamy, 885 n 2; dates of
her birth and death, 886 n 8 ; slandered in
Shaw's sermon, 379 ; asserts that Edward was
betrothed to Elizabeth Lucy, 886
Yo»
York, Edmund, Duke of, becomes bail fo-
Bolingbroke, 78 ; excuses Gloucester to Richard
II., 84; reproves Gloucester, and leaves thi
court, 85 ; comes to London with a power
ib, ; forgives Gloucester's death, 86 ; angere<
by the confiscation of Bolingbroke% inherit
anoe, 91, 92 ; retires to King's Langley, 92
appointed lieutenant-general of England, 93 .
takes counsel to resiBt Bolingbroke, 97, 98 .
his levies refuse to fight, 98, 101; meet-
Bolingbroke at Berkeley Castle, 101, 102
goes with Bolingbroke to Bristol, 104 ; hu
two mairiages, 121 n 1 ; detects Rutland'^
treason, 124; reveals it to Henry lY., ib. .
his character, 129
, Edward Duke of; receives command o^
the vaward at Agincourt, 191 ; slain, 196
, Richard, Duke of, his age at Mortimer'^
death, 218; enmity between him anc
Edmund Beaufort, 218, 219 ; was Mortimer'^
heir, 219. 220 ; knighted by Henry YL, 22r>
{^. n 2) ; attends Heuy's coronation iii
raris, 228 ; ravages Anjou, 280 ; his lieu-
tenancies in France, 287 n 8 ; in England
durinff the truce, 245; married Cecilia.
Neyille, 245 % 1 ; ingratiates himself witl
*the Irish, 248 («». 282 n 1, 296) ; date of hi»
lieutenancy in Ireland, 248 n 1 ; superseded
by Somerset in the lieutenant^ of France,
251 ; his departure to France retarded hy
Edmund Beaufort, 252 ; wins support for his
claim to the crown, 255 ; his pedigree, 255—
258 ; supposed speech to the peers, 256 — 258,
291 ; angered by Somerset s surrender of
Caen, 268 ; his ambition served bj Glon-
cesters dea^ 264, 265 ; his friends instigate
Cade's rebellion, 266, 282n2; dateof his return
from Ireland, 282 ; consults his friends about
claiming the crown, 283 ; marches against
Henry, 285 ; answers Henry's envoys, 285,
286 ; demands Someraef s committal to ward,
286 ; dissolves his army, ib, ; finds Somerset
at laitte, 287 ; becomes a prisoner, ib, ;
released through his son Ed ward'sinterventioii,
288 ; defames Henry and Somerset, ib, ;
seeks the Nevilles' favour, ib. ; wins the
battle of St Albans, 288. 289 ; his protector-
ates, 290, 294; reconciled to the Lancas-
trians, 290; breaks into Henry's lodging,
291 n 8 ; steps up unto the throne, 291 n 4 ;
declared heir apparent, 292—294 ; his
oath, 298 ; prepares for war, 295 ; at Sandalt
ib, ; absdved from his oath, tb. ; would not
avoid battle at Wakefield, 297 ; his death,
299, 800; bis head set on York gates, 800 ;
but removed by Edward, 807
, Edward, Duke of. See Edward IV.
1 Richard, Duke of (1474-83), taken ttom
sanctuary to the Tower, 860, 361 ; was
married to Anne Mowbray, 867 n 2 ; in the
custody of Slaughter, 876 ; murdered, 894 ;
his body never found, 395
York Place caUed White Hall, 487 n 1
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