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%UxL**--«~»>>^^« + + +,~*J(***tfp-
SHAKSPEKE'S HOLINSHED
Molmsta £} f\<x/pk<xeJ.
SHAKSPEKE'S HOLINSHED
THE CHRONICLE
AND THE HISTORICAL PLAYS COMPARED
BY
W. G. BOSWELL-STONE
NEW YORK
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
LONDON AND BOMBAY
1896
[All rtgktt reMtntd)
... i /
YW
G-3
-,., * 80*. "»"*••
LIBRUM HUNC
QUEM SI APUD NOS HODIE VERSARETUR
IPSIS MANIBU8 ACCIPERE DEBUTT
IN MEMORIAM MATRIS OPTIMAE
QUOD RE8TAT, DEDICO.
CONTENTS.
Preface
AVTHOSniXS BSPSftfcKD TO IN THIS BOOK
Cobbections and Additions .
MOB
hear
Li .
. 1
n •
,, iii, II. iv. 4
i» *
iy. vii— v
iii 6
Cymbeline III. i. . .
. 7
it
V. iii . ,
. 15
Macbeth
Li. . .
. 18
„ UL— II. i
II. iv. .
ii 22
. 81
III. iii. .
. 88
IV. L .
. 85
ii "• •
. 86
,r..HL •».
. 87
V, U.— V11L
. 40
John .
I. 1 . .
. 46
*» ■
IL— III.
. . 61
II *
IV. . . .
. 60
II •
V. i. . .
. 68
• 1 •
„ii. .
. 68
»l •
it iii- •
. 71
II •
■A? iT' '..
V. v.— vii
. 73
II •
. 78
Mich. II.
Li . .
. . 77
„ ii. . .
. 84
„ iii. .
. 86
,, IT. . .
. 89
ILL. .
. 01
n ii .
. 97
H iii. .
. 100
» ir. .
. 102
IIL L .
. 104
n ii •
. 106
>i »*i -
. . 107
.. !▼. .
. 110
IV. i .
ii
V. i .
. 120
„ ii.— iii.
• ii
i, ir—v.
. 124
„ Ti. .
. 126
lffen.ir.1. i
. 180
it
ii "i .
. 188
lffen.IV.
2 Sen. IK
Hen. V.
PAQE
IF. iii .
. 186
>, iv- .
• ii
III. i .
. 187
,, ii .
. 189
IV. i .
. 142
ii ii. - ■
. 148
ii iii .
V. i. .
• ii
• • ii
„ ii-iv.
. 144
i, ▼. .
. 147
Li. . .
. 148
„ iii .
• ii
II. iii .
. 149
III. i .
. 150
IV. i— ii.
• ti
,, iii .
. 155
i> *▼• •
. 166
n ▼- .
. 168
V.ii .
. 161
„ V. .
. 164
LProi .
. 165
i,i .
. 167
ii ii . .
II. Chorus
. 168
. 178
» ii* -
• »•
II. IT. .
. 177
IIL Chorus
. 179
ii i . -
• ii
ii ii . .
. 180
„iii . .
• ii
ii ▼; - .
. 182
11 *i • •
. 183
„ Tii . .
. 185
IV. Chorus
. 186
ii i * •
. 187
,i ii. - .
. 188
„ iii . .
. 189
n »▼. -
. 191
„ vi. .
. 192
„ Tii . ,
• ii
Sen. V. IV. Tiii .
„ V. Chorus
ii ii "
1 Hen. FIX
2 Hen.
•iU.
i .
ii
iii
)■
:;*
T. — Ti
i\X
i, ii.
ii iii
„i*
ii ▼.
III. i.
ii ii
ii iii.
ii i».
IV. i
•i it-
V. i
ii ii
» iii
,, it.
»▼.
VIA. i .
•iii
ii iii
„ It.
ILi
i> ii-
,. iu.
n >▼.
III. i
i. ii
» iii
IV. i
,i ii.
>i hi-
ii iv.
*i v.
-vii
PAOB
iz
xvii
xriii
. 195
. 197
. 199
. 205
. 209
. 212
. 218
. 215
. 216
. 217
. 218
. ii
. 219
. 220
. 224
. 226
. 228
• ii
. 280
. 284
. 286
. 287
. 288
. 241
. 242
. 248
• ii
. 252
. 268
. 265
. 258
. 261
. 262
. 266
. 269
. 270
. 271
. 272
. 278
. 275
V1U
.
CONTENTS.
PAOI
PAGE
PAOE
•n.VI, IV. vi. .
. 275
3fl«i,K/.IV.viil .
. 332
Rich. III. IV. at .
. 894
.» n vii. •
. 276
,, V. i. .
. 833
n i* iv. -
. 897
■i „ viii..
. 279
ii i.ii- •
. 337
it .» v. .
. 406
„ „ ix. .
. 281
i, » iii- •
• i»
„ V. L .
. 409
I* ■• x. •
. 288
ii i. iv. • •
. 338
»i it ". •
. 410
V. i. .
. 284
ii v. .
• ii
t> >t iii- •
• ii
„ „ ii.— iii.
. 288
>> „ vi- •
. 840
ii iv. .
. 418
m.n.lA. .
. 289
n ,i vii. .
. . 341
it ii v. .
• ii
ii » «•
. 295
Rich. III. t i.
. 843
Hen.VIII.l. i. . .
. 424
m i> iii. .
. 297
ii ii ii>
. 345
tt ,t ii* >
. 431
»» » iv. -
. 298
ii i, iii. •
. 346
n iii. •
. 489
II. i. .
. 800
ii „ iv.
. 348
it it iv. .
. 440
.. ,, ii. .
. 308
II. i. .
• ii
„ II. i. .
. 446
h it in- .
. 305
,i "■ .
. 350
.1 "• •
. 454
,1 V. .
. 306
n iii- •
. 353
it iii- .
. . 455
,» vi. •
. 807
t» iv. .
• »i
,, iv. .
ii
III. L .
. 308
III. i. .
. 356
III. i. .
. 466
i. ,» «• •
. 309
ii ii- .
. 362
•i tt ii- •
. 469
*i » i". -
. . 312
„ ,, iii. .
. 368
IV. i. .
. 482
IV. i. .
. 318
.1 iv. .
• • ii
ti ti ii- >
. 487
„ ii.— iii.
. 322
ti ii v. .
. . 378
„ V. i. .
. 498
ti i. iv. •
. 324
n ii vL .
. . 376
i> t» "• •
. 498
** » v. •
• ii
it n vii..
. . 377
n i«. •
. 499
i» vi. .
. 326
IV. i. .
. . 886
.t if v. .
. 505
„ „ TIL .
. . 330
ii 11 -
. . 387
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. lie there described himself as "Raphael Hollynshed of
Bromecote [Bramcott] in the County of Warrfwick] " ; 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, 1582.1
The first edition of Ilolinshod'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,3 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 bo 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.
1 Camden's AnnaU, I. cxlix, cL For conjectures touching Holinshed's kindred, see
the Dictionary of National Biography^ under bis name.
2 In the story of Lear more lean a dozen textual changes were made. I give two
examples: that yon hane alicaies borne toxcard* me] ed. 2 (p. 3 below), thai towards me
yon have alway$ borne ed. l.scardie] ed. 2 (p. 4 below), vnneth ed. 1.
X PREFACE.
FIolinshed, ed. 2.
HoUNBHED, Ctl 1.
Plat.
wild] p. 23.
fcrltft
wilde] MacK I. iii. 40.
In this yeare . . . vnknowne
Not in ed. 1.
Rich. U, II. iv. 8,
went] p. 103.
pickthanks] p. 140.
ii
1 Hen. IV., III. ii. 25.
In this year* . . . to be seme.]
p. 158.
allcdge euer against the kings of
• »
2 Hen. IV., IV. iv. 125.
allcdge to defeate the Kyngs of
There is no barre
England in barre of their titst
England of their iust . . ,
To make against your High-
title] p. 160.
title
ness* daime] Hon. V., L iL
34, 35.
dishonest) p. 160.
vnhoncst
dishonest] Hen. V., I. ii. 40.
who rsvrjutl) p. 170.
which usurped
who rsurpt] Hen. V., L ii. 69.
Numbers] p. 171.
Humeri
Numbers] Hen. V., I. ii. 98.
should shake the waltes of the
shoulde breake and batter downs
That all the Courts of France
best court in France, p. 173.
the roofes of hie houses about
will be disturb'd] Hen. V.,
hys earcs.
I. ii. 265.
desolation] p. 177.
destruction
desolation] Hen. V., IL iL 173.
offenses] p. 177.
Not in ed. 1.
offenses] Hen. V., II. ii. 181.
die your tawnie ground with
make red your tawny ground
We shall your tawny ground
your red bloud.] p. 185.
with the effusion of christian
with your red blood
bloud.
Discolour: . . .] Hen. V., III.
tL 170, 171.
In time of this siege . , . hcrr*
after followeth.] pp. 210-
Not in ed. 1.
IHen. VI. , I. ii.
212.
forhir pranks. . . and witches.]
>>
1 Hen. VI., V. iv.
pp. 238, 239.
Edward the th t'rd . . . his grand-
pi
3 Hen. VI., II. ii. 10-20.
sire / . . .J p. 256.
Lionell the third . . . died with-
u
2 Hen. VI., II. ii. 34-38.
out issue,] p. 257.
And the said . . . same king
I I
2 Hen. VI., Ii. ii. 44-52.
Edward.] p. 258.
a taper in hir hand.] p. 261.
II
2 Hen. VI., II. iv. 16 (S. D.).
created the lord Thomas... saint
Rich. III., I. iii. 255, 256.
Edwards chamber.] p. 347.
wishing and . . . casting away. \
II
Rich. III.,V. ii. 20, 21.
p. 410.
The oration . . . his armie.] p.
414.
The oration . . . Me armie.] p.
II
Rich. III..V. iii. 236 (S. D.).
II
Rich. III., V. iii 313 (S. D.
416.
inQq.).
moothers mcancs, . . .] p. 417.
brothers mcanes
Mothers costf] Rich. III., V.
iii. 324.
The second edition of Holmshed must have been employed for those
parts of Henry VIII. which are baaed on Cavendish's Life of Wohcy ; 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, Cymlcfo'ne, and the historical plays preceding 1 Henry
VI., 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 IIe?u IV. (pp.
PREFACE.
XI
139 n. 2, 141 n. 2); 2 Sen, IV, (p. 163); Sen. V. (pp. 172, 173 n. 1,
185 n. 3, 186, 188).
As most of the quotations from Holinshed, illustrating the three Parte
of Scnry VI.t are paraphrases of Halle, it is generally impossible to
determine which of these authorities was used, and 1 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 ia
not paraphrased or copied in the second edition of Holinshed.1 It is clear
that the dramatist of The First Part of Scnry VI. 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 Sen. VI,y V. i. 6, 6. Iu the passage illustrating
those lines (p. 234 below), both editions of Holinshed read peace for concordc.
Holinshed has: ''exhorting them . . . to conforme themselues to reason,
. . . so that, in concluding a godlie peace, they might receiue profit and
quietnosso heere in this world," &c. The equivalent words of Halle are :
"exhorting , . . them, . . . that they would . . . conforme themselfes to
reason, and to Godly concordc, by the whicho they should receaue honor,
profitc, and continuall quietnesse in the workle," &c, LI. 83 and 95, 96,
Act III. sc. ii. (pp. 225, 226), were probably derived from Holinshed.
Fabyan may have yielded some details in Act I. sc. iil (p. 213), Act III.
sc L (p. 221), and Act III. sc ii. (p. 225), LL 61-/1, Act IV. sc. vii.
(p. 233), were copied from an epitaph published by Croinpton and Brooke
in 1599 and 1619, respectively.2
The reviser who turned Tfie Contention into The Second Part of Scnry
VI, was indebted to Holinshed or Stow for York's full pedigree3 (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 Richard II. (pp. 271, 272, 272 n. 2, 273 n. 4, 277, 278). Recourse
to Holinshed (p. 251) is indicated by II. 163, 164, Act I. sc. iil ; and a hint
for the Entry at Act II. 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 JlatUy 256 ("This deadly," &c., p. 306), the last cluuse of Iltdle, 293 (p. 334),—
including the words "periured duke,A— and Halle, 300 (p. 338), are in the first edition
of Holinshed. 2/atte,296 (p. 337) and 295 (p.338, n. 2), are slightly changed in Hal,e&. 1.
8 Slight verbal resemblances suggest that the text of the inscription given by Brooke
was the immediate sonrco of these lines. Sec p. 233, n. 1, below.
8 The pedigree in The Contention (1594) is very erroneous and defective. In T)\e
Whole Contention (1619) some mistakes were corrected, but York's descent from
Philippa, daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence, was not traced.
Xll
PREFACE.
original and enlarged form. Tho same may be said of the quotations from
Fabyan,1 at pp, 24G, 268, 276, and 286 \ though, in I. L 114, the reviser uses
a phraso — not, however, an uncommon one— which occurs verbatim in that
chronicler (p. 245). A doubtful instance of resort to Ilardyng 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 Part of Henry VI is, as a rule, based on Halle or on his
paraphraser Holinahcd ; but tho dramatist appears to have profited also
by Stow and parts of Ilolinshed'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 III Halle and
Grafton contain the story mentioned in III. v. 76-79 (p. 374). In an Entry
at III. vii. 94 (p. 303) Halle or Grafton's continuation of Hardy ng was
turned to account.
Tim primary authorities dramatized in Henry VIII are Halle, Stow,
Polydoro 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 wore derived from Foxe.
Valuable as Ilolinshod'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 tho late and mostly fictitious Historia
Briionum with authentic notices of British affairs, taken from Roman
writers. (See pp. 7-13 below.) A few meagre factB recorded by Marianus
Scottus, Tighornac, the Ulster Annals, and the Saxon Chronicle embrace
nearly all that we know about the real Macbeth, but Holinshed presented
to the reader a circumstantial romance composed by Hector Boecc. From
tho scant genuine particulars extant, wo may, I think, conjecture that
Macbeth was not regarded as "an vntitled Tyrant" (Ma-cb. IV. iii. 104)
among his own Gaelic countrymen dwelling north of Edinburgh, though, in
tho Anglicized region of Lothian, his rival Malcolm— who had adopted tho
customs of strangers — was doubtless preferred.* It is certain at least that
1 Hollc (846, i). 8) is a more likely source of I. i. 159 than Fab.} whom I have qnoted
in the text (246). From HaUe (247, n. 2) also, perhaps, rather than from Hol.'s reprint
of Stow (247j, came I. i. 191-193.
• These facts, recorded in the Saxon Chronicle (ed. Ingrain, p. 307), are signiGcnnt :
Malcolm III., and Margaret, his English wife, died in 1093. Lhsroeardra^ tho claim of
their sons, "the Scots [the Gaell then chose Dufenal [DonalbainT to king, Melcolm's
brother, and drove out all the English that formerly were with the king Melcolm."
PREFACE.
XI U
Macbeth ruled for fourteen years j l from the time when young ■ Duncan
was murdered to the day when Si ward triumphed. Three of the stories
commonly associated with Macbeth — the weird sisters' predictions, Birnam
Wood coming to Dunsinane, and his death at the hand of a foe not born
of woman — were first narrated by Andrew Wyntoun, Prior of St. Serf, who
finished his Or&nykil of Scotland about 1424. According to Wyntoun,
Macbeth saw the weird sisters in a dream (p. 24, n. I, below), and was
slain by a "knycht," whose name is not given. Subjected to the fancy of
Boccc, 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 fourteenth century, — and Wyntoun, first make
mention of Macduff. Banquo and Flcancc were, I suppose, creatures of
Boece's imagination. Of Gruoch, Macbeth's wife, there is one contemporary
memorial. It is a copy of a charter whereby "Machbet filius finlach . . .
& gruoch filia bodhe rex et rcgina Scotor«m " gave Kyrkenes to the Culdees
of St Serfs monastery on Loch Leven ; free of all obligations save the duty
of praying for the donors.8
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 Holin&hed.
I warn the reader (if a caution be needed) to take with a large grain of
salt what Holin&hed, Halle, and others relate concerning the youthful
follies of Henry V., 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, 1 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 eon of Malcolm by a prior union — assembled on Anglo- Norman army
and deposed Donalbain. " But the Scots afterwords gathered some force together, ana
slew full nigh all his men ; and be himself with a few 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, Dunelm. (Pertz, xix. 608), Siward dethroned Macbeth,
who, however, was speedily reinstated. A revolt seems to have broken out on behalf
of Duncan's sons, lor under the vear 1045 we find the following entry : " Battle
between the Albanich on both sides, in which Crinan, abbut of Dunkeld [Duncan's
father], was slain, and many with him, viz. nine times twenty heroes." — Tiyhtrnac
(Skene), 78.
* Dreaming of Duncan's murder, Lady Macbeth says : " yet who would haue thought
the olde man to haue had so much blood in him " (V, i 43-46). The historical Duncan I.
was slain "immature ctatc.*— Tighernac (Skene), 78.
s Liber Ourturum Prwrattu Sancti Andree in Scotia (Bonnatyne Club), ed. T.
Thomson, 1841, n. 114.
XIV
PREFACE.
Anjou'a guilty love for Suffolk is sheer fiction; or was perhaps inferred
from expressions which describe him as a minister whom she trusted.
"By the queencs meanes," we are toldf Suffolk was "aduanced so in
authorise, that he ruled the king at his pleasure" (HoL iii. 626/1/43.
Halle, 207). She is said also to have " ititierlie loued the duke " (Hoi, iii.
632/1/9. Halle, 218). Moreover, Halle (219, om. HoL) employed a phrase
capable of injurious construction when ho called Suffolk "the Quencs
dearlynge." There can be little doubt that Richard III. was unscrupulous
in gratifying his ambition, but he was not a flawless villain, who loved evil
for its own sake, apart from its results. Just before the armies joined
battle at Bosworth he is alleged to have thus disclosed to his followers
remorse for his nephews' murder : " And although in the adoption and
obtcigning of the garland, I, being seduced and prouoked by sinister
counsel! 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 tho same offense: which abominable crime I require
you of frendship as cleerelie to forget, as I dailie romember to deplore and
lament the same" (Hoi. iii. 750/i/iS. Halle, 415). Other parts of his
speech were worked into the play (pp. 416, 417 below), but this passage
was ignored, and some prelusive wordB,1 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 Iiib
last night
The plan of Shalespcre's Holinshcd requires brief explanation. The
historical excerpts arc arranged in tho dramatic order, and the action
of the play which they illustrate is briefly described, I quote the second
edition (1587) of Ilolinahcd'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 Ilolinshed
are cited as HoL i. H. E* (Holinshed, vol L, Historic of England), HoL ii.
H. S. (Holinshed, vol. ii., Historic of Scotland), and HoL iii. (Holinshed,
voL iii). The line-numbere of the Globe Shakespeare (1891) are followed
1 " Let not our babling Dreames affright our soules :
Conscience is but a word that Cowards vbc,
Deuia'd at flret to keepe the strong in awe :
Our strong amies be our Conscience, Swords our Law 1
March oil ioyne brauely, let vs to't pell mell ;
If not to heauen, then hand in hand to Hell ! "
(V. iii. 308-313. Q. reading of 1.
PREFACE.
XV
in quoting or referring to the plays. Identical words are italicized both
in the excerpts and the plays compared.1
New sidenotes, and additions to the original text or sidenotes of the
chronicles quoted, are bracketed. The original punctuation of the excerpts
from Holirifihed's Chrcrriicles, given on pp. 1-32, has been slightly modified,
but, in subsequent pages, I have freely altered, augmented, and — in
comparatively few cases — retrenched it
The assistance and advice of Mr. P. A. Daniel, Dr. F. J. Furnivall, and
the late Dr. Brinsley Nicholson have been of great service to me. I am
much beholden to Mr. James Gairdner 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. 06, 390, below. Mr. Oswald Barron and Mr. Halliday Sparling
supplied me with those citations of public records which have appended
to them the initials O. 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. Courtenay's Commentaries on the Historical Plays of fiJiakspeare, and
to Mr. G. R. French's Shakspeareana Genealagica, I have had the ad-
vantage of consulting Sir James II. Ramsay's Lancaster and York, and
the published volumes of Mr. J. II. Wy lie's History of England under
Henry the Fourth.
Walteh George Boswell-Stone.
Beckenham, July 29, 1890.
1 The original black-letter sidenotes have been Bet in italic. A few words — for
example, Remtiem (p. 128 below)— have been left in the original italic. Italic has been
substituted for the Roman type which, in copies of Holinsned, distinguish writers'
names— for example, GalfriJ (p. 14)— from the black-letter text.
AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK.
An asterisk (*) indicates that an authority is contemporaneous or nearly contemporaneous with
the event related below. A dash (— ) precedes the last date of an authority, when the first year
is not given.
* Ann. BurUm. Annales de Burton. 1004 — 1263. IL R. Luard. (Chronicles and
Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages. Annates Monastic!.
VoL l.)
* Ann. Dunelm. Annalcs Dunelmcnses. 995—1199. U. H. Pertz. (Monument*
Gennnniae Historica. Vol. 19.)
* Ann. Marg. Annates de Margan. 1066 — 1232. H. R. LuanL (Chron. and
Mem. Annales Monastic!. Vol. 1.}
* Aim. R. II. — H. IV. Annales Ricardi Secundi et Henrici Qnarti. 1392—1406.
H. T. Riley. (ChroiL and Mem. Chronica Monasterii S. Albani. Vol. 4.)
* Ann, Theok. Annales de Theokesberia, 1066 — 1263. II. B. Luard. (Chron.
and Mem. Annalcs Monastici. Vol. 1.)
* Ann. Waved. Annales de iWaverleia. 1—1291. II. R. Luard. (Chron. and
Mem. Annalcs Monastic!. Vol. 2.)
Anselme. Anselme de la Vierge Marie [P. de Gibours], Histoire genealogique et
chronologique de la Maison Royale de France, &c., continue* par M. Du Fourny.
1726—1733.
Archaeot. Archaeologia ; or, Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity, published
by the Society of Antiquaries of London. Vol. 20.
Ann/Id. Chronicle of the Customs uf London. R. Arnold. (7) 1502. F. Douce.
1811.
* Arrival. Historic of the Arrival! of Edward IV. in England and the fundi
recouerye of his kingdomes from Henry VI. a.d. M.CCCC.LX.XI. J. Bruce. (Caiml.n
Society, No. 1.)
* A-8. Chron. (M. H. B.). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1—1154. II. IVtrie and
J. Sharpe. (Monumenta Historica Britannica.— 1066.)
* Avtsbnry. Roberti de Avesbury Historia de Mimbilibus Gestis Edwardi III.
130B-1350. T. Uearne. 1720.
Bacon's Henry VIT. The History of the Reign of King Henry Uie Sevnth.
F. Bacon. 1622. J. R. Lumby. 1889. (Cambridge University Press.) Cited by page
and first line.
BartholommtJ. Gazetteer of the British Isles. J. Bartholomew. 1887.
* Becking/ton's Embassy. Journal of Bishop Beckington's Embassy in 1442. N. II
Nicolas. 1828.
ft
XV111
AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK.
* Benedict, Gesta Regis Henrici Secuiuli Benedicti Abbatis. 11C9— 1193. W.
Stubbs. (Chron. and Mem.)
Boece. Scotorum Historiae. —1460. H. Boece. 1575. Continued by Giovanni
Ferrerio, in this 2nd ed., to the year 1488.
Brewer. The Reign of Henry VIII. J. S. Brewer. 1884.
* Calendar (Ben. VIII.). Calendar of State Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII.
J. S. Brewer and J, Gairdner. (Chron. and Mem.) Cited by volume, part, and numbered
document. When p. precedes numerals, the reference is to the page.
* Calend. RR. PP. Calendarium Rotulorum Patentium. 1201—1483. (Record
Commissioners' Publications.)
Camden's Annals. Guilielmi Camdeni Annalee Rerum Anglicorum et Hibcrnicanun
regnante Elizabetha. T. Hearne, 1717.
* Cavendish. The Life of Cardinal Wolsey. G. Cavendish. S. W. Singer. 1825.
Cavendish was Wolaey's gentleman usher.
* Chrun. Auci. hjn. Chronieon Rerum Gestarum in Monasterio S. Alhani, (a.d.
1422— 1431,) a quodam auctore ignoto compilatum. R. T. Riley. (Chron. and
Mem. Annates Monasterii S. Albani, a Johanne Ainnndesham, Monacho, ut videtur,
conscripti. Vol. I.)
* Citron, de la PucelU. Chrnnirjne de la Pucelle. 1422—1429. G. Cousinot dc
Montreuil. J. A. Buchon, (Collection dee Chroniques Nationales Francoises.)
* Chron. Gile*. Incerti Scriptoria Chronieon 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. Normande. Chronique de la Pucelle . . . uuivie de la Chronique
Normande de P. Cochon. 1403—1430. Vallet de Viriville. 1859.
* Chron. Rich. II. — Hen. VI. A Chronicle of the Reigns of Richard IL, Henry IV.,
V., and VI. 1377—1461. J. S. Davies. (Camden Society, No. 64.)
* Coffgeshall. Radulphi de Coggesball Chronieon Anglicanum. 1066—1225. J.
Stevenson. (Chmn, and Mem.) The last event recorded by Coggeshall (the banishment
of Fawkes de Breauti?) took place in 1225.— M. Paris (Wend<n<cr\ iii. 94.
Collim. The Peerage of England. A, Collins, 1714.
* Cont. Orotjl. Alia Historiae Croylandensis Continnatio. 1459—1486. T. Gale
and W. Fulman. 1684. (Scriptores Rerum Anglicarum. Vol. 1.)
Contention. The First part of the Contention betwixt the two famou* Houses of
Ynrke and Lancaster. 1594. F. J. FurnivalL 1889. (Shakepere Quarto Foe-simile.)
* Creton. (Archaeul.). 1399 — 1401. Archaeoloaut, 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 Isabella's return to France in 1401. — Arrhacol xx. 226 ; 416.
D. K. Rep. 3. Third Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Records.
* De Canssy. Chmniqacs de Mnthieii de Ooussy (d'Escouchy). 1444 — 1461. J. A.
Buchon. (Collection des Chroniques Nationales Francoises.)
* JMce.to. Radulphi de Diceto Decani Lundoniensis Opera HiBtorica. YmagineB
llistoriarum, 1148—1202. W. Stubbs. {Chron. and Mem.)
Doyle. The Official Baronage of England. J.E.Doyle. 1886,
* Dh Ctereq. Memoires dc Jacques dn Clercq. 1448 — 1467. J. A. Buchon.
(Collection des Chroniques Nationales Francoises.)
Lh'.jdaU. The Baronage of England. W. Dugdale. 1675—1676.
AUTH0RITIK3 REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK.
XIX
Edward III. King Edward III. Doubtful Plays of William Shakespeare. Max
Moltke. 1869. TauchniU. Vol. 1041.
Eiton, (p. 154 below). Tboiaas Otterbourne. See <~>tt.
* EllU. Original Letters illustrative of English History. H. Ellu. 1825—1846.
Cited by series, volume, and page.
» Elmham. Thomas de Elmbam Vita et Gesta Henrici Quinti, Anglorum Regis.
138&— 1422. T. Hearne. 1727.
Escouehy, Muthieu d'. See De Goiunj.
* Enlog. Eulogium Historiarum. Vol. III. 1364—1413. F. S. Haydon. (Chron.
and Mem.)
* Ew. Monacbi de Evesham Historia Vitae et Regni Ricardi II. 1377—1402,
T. Hearne. 1729.
* Excttfttft Jlistoriai. Excerpta Historica, or, Illustrations of English History.
&Bentley. 1831.
* Exchajucr Issue*. Issues of the Exchequer. F. Devon. 1837. (Record
Commissioners' Publications.)
Fab. The New Chronicles of England and France. —1495. R. Fabyan. 1510.
H. Ellia. 1611. (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, 1613.
Famovs Victories. The Famovs Victories of Henry the fifth. 1598. P. A. Daniel.
1887. (Shakspere Quarto Fac-similes.)
Fotdun. Joannis de Ferdun Scotichronicon. W. Qoodall. 1759. Fordun wrote
after 1377 ; see Scotich ronicon> ed. Goodall, XI. xiv. 151, note. (Cited by book, chapter,
and page.)
Foxe. Actca and Monumente* of the Churche. J. Foxe. 1576. Cited by page
and column.
French. Shakspeareana Genealogica. G. R. French. 1869.
* Frois. Chroniqucs de Jean Froissart. 1327—1400. J. A. Buchon. (Collection
des Chroniq ues Nationale* Francoises.)
Gent. Mag. Gentleman's Magazine. First issued in 1731.
* Gesta. Henrici Quinti, Angliae Regis, Uesta. 1413—1416. B. Williuius. (Eugliwh
Historical Society.) Written by a chaplain of Henry V., about 1418 ; see Gesta, 6. Tin-
work was continued to 1422.
Godmn. A Catalogue of the Bishops of England. F. Godwin. 1615.
Grafton, A Chronicle at large, and mecrc history of the aHayres of Englando, &c.
—1568. R. Grafton. Ed. 1809. (Read with the ed. of 1569.)
* Grant*. Grants from the Crown temp. Edward V. J. G. Nichols. (Camden
Society, No. 60.)
* Grey. Gregory's Chronicle. 1189 — 1469. Historical Collections of a Citizen of
London in the Fifteenth Century. J. Gnirdner. (Camden Society, N. 8. 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.
Halle. The Vnion of the two noble and ill untie famelies of Lancastre and Yorke,
&c.~ 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.)
Hardynt?. The Chronicle of Iohn Hardyng. —1461. H. Ellis. 1812. (Read
with the ed. of 1543, entitled: "The chronicle of Iohn Hardyng in metre," &c.)
Hardyng was born in 1378 (JIar>t\jn.j 351), and was writing in 14C3 (lb. 410).
Hardytuf-Grqfton. A Continuacion of the Chronicle of England, bogynnyng wher
XX
AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO 15 THIS BOOK.
Iohn Harrtyng left, &c. 1461—1543. R. Graaon. 1543. H. Ellis. 1812. (Read
with the continuation of " The chronicle of Iohn Hardyng in metre," &c.)
Uenr. Hunt. {M.H.B.). Henrici Arehidiaconi Huntendunensis Htstoriae Anglornm
Libri Octo. — 1154. (Monument*. Historic* Britannic*. — 1066.)
Hist. Britt. Galfredi Monumetenais Historia Britonum. J. A. Giles. (Caxton
Society.) Geoffrey's dedication of Hid. Britt was written before 1147.
* Hovedeti. Chronica Magiatri Rogeri de Honedcne. 732 — 1201. W. Stubbs.
(Chron. and Mem.)
* Itinerarhtm. Itineraria Symonis Simeonis et Willelrai de Worcester. J. Nasraith.
1778.
* Itinerant. Itinerary of King John. T. D. Hardy. 1835. (With Hardy's
Description of the Patent Rolls, ono of the Record Commissioners1 Publications.)
* Jean de Troyes. Chronique de Jean de Troyes. 1460 — 1483. C. B. Petitot.
(Collection Complete des Memoires relatifs a l'Histoire de France, Premiere Sene,
Tome 14.)
* Journal. Journal d'un Bourgeois de Paris. 1409 — 1449. J. A. Buchon. (Col-
lection dee Chronique Nationales Francoises.)
* Juv. Histoire de Charles VI. 1380—1422. Jean Juvenal des Ursins. D.
Godefroy. 1653.
Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of England. S.Lewis. 1833.
* Lirius. Titi Livii Foro-Julicnsis Vita Henrici Quinti, Regis Angliae. 1388 — 1422.
T. Hearae. 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.
Lords' Journals. Calendar of the Journals of the House of Lord*.
M. H. B. Monument* Historic* Britannic*. H. Petrie and J. Sharpe. 1848.
* M. Paris (Wendover). Matthaei Parisiensis, Monachi Sancti ALbani, Chronica
Major*. Vol. II. 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. Scottus (Pertz). Man an i Scotti Chronicon. 1—1082. G. Waltz. (Monument*
Germaniae Historica. Vol. 5. G. II. Pertz was the general editor of M, O. H.)
Marianas Scottus was bom in 1028 and died in 1082.
* Mons, Chroniques d'Engiierrand de Monstrelet. 1400—1444. J. A. Biic-hon.
(Collection des Chroniques Nationales Francoises.)
More. The history of King Richard the Ibirdc. 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 Mure's Workes, 1567. From the title we learn that More
wrote thw book about 1513, but its authorship has been attributed to Cardinal Morton,
who died in 1500,
* Oflfc Duo Rernm Anglicarum Scriptores Veteres, viz. Thumns Otterbourne et
Johannes Whethanntede. Ott. —1420. * Wketh. 1455—1461. T. Hearne. 1732.
* Pnfft. Poem on the siege of Rouen. J. Page, Historical Collections of a Citizen
of London in the Fifteenth Centnry. J. Gairdner. (Camden Society, N. S. No. 17.)
Page was present at the siege (1).
* Padon. The Paston Letters. 1422—1509. J. Gairdner. 1872—1875. (Arber's
Annotated Reprints.)
* Pol. Poems. Political Poems and Songs relating lo English History. T. Wright.
(Chron. and Mem.)
PdytL Vtrtj. Polydori Vergilii Anglicae Historiae Libri XXVII. (a.c. 55— a.d.
AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK.
1537.) Basileae. 1555. Cited by page and 6rst line. His first work, Proverbiorum
LibelhUj web published in 1498. He died before 1555.
* Prod*. Chronique et Proces de la Pucelle d'Orleane. J. A. Bachnn. (Collection
des Chroniqnes Nationalea Francoises.)
* Proe. Priv. Co. Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England.
N. H. Nicolas. 183-1—1837. (Record Commissioners' Publications,)
Qukherat. Proces de Condamnation et de Rehabilitation de Jeanne d'Arc. Jules
Qtiicherat. 1841—1849. (Societd de l'Histoire de France.)
Redman. Vita Henrici V. Roberto Redinanuo auctore. 1413 — 1422. C. A. Cole.
(Chron. and Mem.) Written between 1530 and 1544.
Reg. Sacr. Anal. Regiatruin Sacrum Anglicanum. An attempt to exhibit the course
of Episcopal Succession in England. W. Stubbs. 1858.
* Rot. Pari. Rotuli Parliamentorum. Vols. III. — VI. Cited by page, and column
or section. (Record Commissioners' Publications.)
* Rous. Jnnnms Rossi Antiqnarii Warwicensis Historia Regum Angliae. —1485.
T. Hearne. 1745 (ed. 2). Rous died in 1491.
Row Rol. The Roll of the Warwick Family. J. Rows. W. Courtbopc. 1845.
* Rymer. Foedera, Conventions*, Literae, et aliu Acta Publico inter Reges Angliae
et alios Principes. T. Rymer. 1704—1735.
* St. Denya. Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Dcnya. 1380 — 1422. M. L. Bellagnet.
(Collection de Documents Inedita sur l'Histoire de France.)
* SaintRemy. Memoiros de Jean Lefevre, Seigneur de Saint- Rcmy. 1407—1435.
J. A. Buehon. (Collection dea Chroniqnes Nationales Francoises.)
Sandford. A Genealogical History of the Kings and Queens of England, . . . From
the Conquest ... to the year 1707. F. Sandford. S. Slebbins. 1707.
* Stance* du ConseU de Charles VIII. Proces- Verbaux dea seances da Conseil do
Regence du Roi Charles VIII. pendant les mois d'aout 1484 a Janvier 1485. A. Bernier.
(Collection de Documents Inedita snr THUtoire de France.)
Solly-Flood. The Story of Prince Henry of Monmouth and Chief-JuKlice Gawoign.
F. Solly-Flood. 1886. (Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. Vol. 3. Part I.)
* Statutes. The Statutes or 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. (Chron.
and Mem.)
Stow. The Annales nf England . . . vntill tins present yeare 1605. J. Stow.
St type's Oranmer. Memorials of . . . Thomas Cranmcr, . . . Archbishop of Canter-
bury. J. Strype. P. E. Barnea. 1840.
T.-A. Time-Analysis of the Plots of Shakapere's Plays. P. A. Daniel. (The New
Shakspere Society's Transactions. 1877—1879.)
* Three Chronicles. Three Fifteenth-Century Chronicles. J. Gairdner. (Camden
Society, N. S. No. 28.) Two of these chronicles are cited thus: S. E. 0. = A Short
KnglUh Chronicle, and B, L. C. = A Brief Latin Chronicle. The former ends in 1465,
the latter embraces the period 1422—1471.
* Ti'jhernae (Skene). Annals of Tighernac. —1088. Chronicles of the Picts, . . .
and other early Memorials of Scottish History. W. F. Skene. (Chronicles and
Memorials of Scotland.)
T. R. The Troublesome Raigne of Iohn King r.f England. Two Parts. 1591.
F.J, Furnivull, 18S8. (Shakspere Quarto Fac-eimilcs.)
XX11
AUTHORITIES REFERRED TO IN THIS BOOK.
* Trait. Chronique de la Traison et la Mort de Richard Deux. 1398 — 1400.
B. Williams. (English Historical Society.) References to French text and translation.
T. T. The True Tragedie of Richard Duke of Yorke, and the death of good King
Henrie the Sixt. 159S. T. Tyler. 1891. (Shakspcrc Quarto Fac-similea.)
*Utk. Chronicon Adae do Usk. 1377—1404. E. M. Thompson. 1876. References
to Latin text and translation.
Var. iS3i. The Plays and Poems of William Sliakspeare, E. Malone and J. Boawell.
1621.
* Yen, State PJP. Calendar of State Papers relating to English Affairs in the
Archives of Venice. Rawdon Brown. (Chron. and Mem.)
Wake, State of the Church and Clergy of England. W, Wake. 1703.
* Wals. Thoxnae Walaingham Historia Anglicana. 1272—1422. H. T. Riley.
(Chron. and Mem. Chronica Monasterii S. Albani)
* Warkw. A Chronicle of the first thirteen years of King Edward the Fourth.
1461—1474. J. Warkworth. J. O. HalliweU, (Camden Society, No. 10.)
* Wantrin. Recueil des Oroniques . . . de la Grant Bretaigne, , . . par Iehan de
Waurin. — A.D. 1471. W. Hardy and E. L. Hardy, (Chron. and Mem.) Cited by
volume, book, and page.
Weexer. Ancient Funeral Monuments of Great Britain, Ireland, and the Islands.
J. Weever. 1767.
Wheth. See Oft,
Whole Contention.
Lancaster and Yorke.
Quarto Fac-similea.)
Wylie. History of England under Henry the Fourth. J. H. Wylie. 1884—1896.
Wyntoton. The Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland. A. Wyntown. —142a D.
Macpherson. 1795.
* W\tre. Wilhelmi Worcestrii Annales Rernm Anglicamm. 1324—1468. T.
Hearne. 1774. (Liber Niger Scaccarii, &c Vol. 2.)
* York Record*. Extracts from the Municipal Records of the City of York, during
the reigns of Edward IV., Edward V., and Richard III. R. Davies. 1843.
The Whole Contention
Two Parts. Q 3. 1619.
betweene the two Famous Houses,
F. J. Fnmivall. 1886. (Shakspere
CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS.
Page 15, line 18, fur Loncart read Loncarty
„ 29, „ 4 from foot, for Loncart read Loncarty
„ 41, „ 2 from foot, /or 1092 rW 1093
„ 85, „ 1,/or wmie read fame
„ 90, „ 6, for Iohn Bagot read William Bagot
„ 118, last line but one. u Richard, King of the Majorcas" (Majttricarnm)
is unknown in history. Richard Il.'a godfather was James, titular King of
Majorca.— FroiataH, od. Buchon (Pantheon Litlcraire), i. 521. This Jame*,
son of James XI. King of Majorca, was the third husband of Joanna I., Queen
of Naples.
Page 122, line 3 from foot,/wr Hugh -read Thomas
„ 135, „ 20, for brother i*ad cousin. See pedigree of Scrope in WyHe,
ii. 197.
Page 150, line 3, for Dauid lord Fleming read Sir Dauid Fleming
„ 159, „ 17, delete as Fabyan asserts. See his words at 160 n 1 talow.
„ 176, „ 3 of note 1, for 1584 read 1685
„ 182, „ 19, vnfought withalL Cp. Hen. V, III. v. 2, 12.
„ 186, „ 2 of note I, for quod read quod
„ 210, „ 14. Glansdale. So Fi. Ulasdale may lie the right form. In
a list of captains of Norman towns (dated 1417) occurs the name of "William
Glasdall Bsguier."— Qtsta, 278.
Page 210, last line (also last sidenote, and p. 21 1, I. 1), for Are read Arc
„ 213, line 13. the great chamber, "y* grene chambre.* — RoL Pari.
iv. 298/1.
Page 240, line 4 of note 1, for voulsit read voulsit
„ 258, „ 8. Lord Qrey of Ruthin was released on payment of a large
ransom. Ellis, II. i. 9.
Page 342, line 9, for son rend grandson
„ 342 „ 13. The red rose was not a badge of Henry VI., but we learn
from a grant (dated Nov. 23, 1461) that Edward IV. 's emblem ("Divisam
noatram ") was a white rose. — Rymcr,, xi. 480. Edward's father l>ore " by the
Castle of Clyfford ... a Whyto Roose."— Digby MS. No. 82, Bodleian
(ArcJiaeol. xvii. 226).
Page 375, note 3. Collation of "y* rufflyng " (p. 375, 1. 14).
„ 377, sidenote 3, for Lady read Dame
„ 416, note 2, for Hoi. read Q, awl for Halle read F
XXIV
CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS.
Page 489, Hue 1. January 2 whs the day of Chapuys's arrival at Kitubolton.
— Calendar (Hen. VIII.\ X. 28.
Page 499. The late Mr. Watki&s Lloyd ehuwed (Notes and Queries, 7th S.
vii. 203, 204) that Halle was the source of the following passage in the Lord
Chancellor's address to Cramuer (V. iii. 10 — 16) :
we all are men,
la oar owne natures fraile and capable
Of our flesh ; few are Angela: out of which frailty
And want of wisdome, you, that best should teach vs,
Haue misdemean'd your selfe, and not a little,
Toward the King first, then his Lawes, . . .
Parallel phrases exist in a speech made on September 1, 1531, by John
Stokesley, Bishop of London (Halle, 783), under these circumstances : Soon
after Wolsey's death lvgol proceedings were commenced against the spiritual
peers on the ground that the clergy had incurred the penalties of a preiuunire
through supporting the Cardinal's exercise of his legatiue powers. Convocation
averted a trial of the cope by voting Henry .£100,000 for hia pardon (Halle,
774). When soliciting the help of the priests of hia diocese in raising the
sum, Stokesley said :
My frendes all, yoa knowe well that wee bee menfrayU o/condicion and
no Angela, and by frayltie and lacke of wystdom* wee hane misdemeaned
oar selfe toward the kyng our Soaeraygne Lord and his laxces, so that all wee
of the Cleargy were in the Premunixe , . . .
I. KING LEAR.
Holinstted's Chronicles, and a play of untraced authorship, entitled
The True Chronicle History of King Leir, 1606,1 were the chief and
most accessible sources whence Shakspere might have derived the main
plot of his drama.1
The fountain-head for the story of Lear and his three daughters
is the Historia Britonum, a chronicle which GeofFrey of Monmouth
professed 3 to have translated from a very ancient book written in the
British tongue.
Comparison with the subjoined excerpt from Holinehed shows that
the madness of the dramatic Lear, and the fate which befell him and
his daughter, are important alterations of the original story. No
source for these changes of plot has yet been discovered.4
[Hoi. L H. E. I2/2/59.I Leir the sonne of Baldud was admitted uirtu 10.
rvUr.
ruler ouer the Britaines, in the yeare of the world 3105, at what
time Joas reigned in Juda. This Leir was a prince of right noble
demeanor, gouerning his land and subjects in great wealth. He
1 Reprinted in Stccvens's TwefUy of the Plays of Shakespeare, Ac.. 1766, vol
iv., and m Hazlitt'a Shakespeare's Library, Pt. ft. vol. ii. pp. 307-387.
' Some other sources are: Fabyan's Chronicles, 1516 (ed. Ellis, i. 14-16) ;
William Warner's Albums England, 1586 (ed. 1612, pp. 65, 66) ; The firsts
Parte of the Mirour for Magutrutes, 1587 (ed. Haslewood, i. 123-132) ; Ths
Faerie Qneene, 1590-96, II. x. 27-32.
8 See his dedication of the Historia Britotwm to Robert Earl of Gloucester
(ob. Oct. 31, 1147.— Ann. Marg., 14).
* Mrs. Lennox (ShaJcespeare Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 302) first drew attention
to a ballad entitled "A Lamentable Song of the Death of King Lear and his
Three Daughters" (reprinted in Percy's Reliques), 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 Shakppere's Lear
(Variorum Shakspere, 1821, z. 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 Lear's deposition by his sons-in-law, the chronicler then proceeds
(Flores Historiantm, ed. 1601, p. 16): "Rex igitnr ignarus <juid ageret,
deliberauit tandem film adire, qmhus rejrnum deuiserat, vt si fieri posset, sibi
dum viueret & 40. mililibus suis stipendia ministrarent Quie, cum indigna-
tione verbum ex ore ipsiua capientea, dixerunt euin senem ease, delirum, &
mendicum, nee tanta familia digimui. Bed si vellet, relictis casteris cum solo
B
s
KING LEAR.
Mat. TTat.
LeiceaterU
made the towne of Caerleir now called Leicester, which standeth
vpon the riuer of Sore. It is written that he had by his wife
K^tJST" three daughters without other issue, whose names were Gonorilla,
Regan, and Cordeilla,1 which daughters he greatly loued, but
specially Cordeilla the yoongest farre aboue the two elder. When
this Leir therefore was come to great yores, & began to waxe
vnweldie through age, lie thought to vnderstand the affections of
his daughters towards him, and preferre hir whome he best loued,
to the succession ouer the kingdome.8 Whervpon he first asked
Bt tow I
OadriDa
beiL]
Oat. Man.
milite remaneret," The following lines in The Mirour for Magistrate* (ed.
Haslewood, stanza SI) may lead one to conjecture that John Higgins — who
wrote " Queene Cordila " for the Mirour — had seen the above-quoted passage
from Matthew of Westminster :
"Eke at what time nee [Leire] aak'd of them [Albany and Gonorell] to
haue his g&rd,
To gard his noble grace where so he went :
They cal'd him doting foole," &c.
Albany and Gonorell had deprived Lear of his servants, save one.
1 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 Analie, Esq., of Lee (ob. July 10, 1604), and
Awdry'his wife (ob. Nov. 25, 1691).— Notes and Queries* Cth S. v. 465. The
form " Cordell " occurs in the Mirour for Magistrate* (ed. Hasle wood), stanza
7. " Cordelia " is the spelling in the older -Lett*.
3 According to Hist. Brit I. II. xi. 30, Lear "cogitavit regnmu suum ipna
divide re," and wished to ascertain the measure of each daughter's love for him,
" ut scixet quae iilarum najori regni parte dignior csset" Cp. Lear-, I. i 38, 39;
49-54:
"... Enow that we haue diuided
In three our Kingdome : . . .
Tell me, my daughters, . . .
Which of you shall we say doth loue vs most ?
That we oar largest bountie may extend
Where Nature doth with merit challenge?*
So the Mirour for Magistrates (i. 125):
"Bat minding her that loud him best to note,
Because he had no sonne t'enjoy his laud,
He thought to guerdon most where favour most hefaud."
The Faerie Queene and the old play make Lear propose to divide his kingdom
equally between his three daughters. Percy pointed ont (Tar. Sh. 1821, x. 2)
tli.it. Lear's te.H of his daughters' love, and their answers, are details paralleled
in the fallowing story :
" Ina, King of West Saxons [688 — 728J had three daughters, of whom, upon
a time, ho demauded whether they did love him, and so would during their
lives, above all others ; the two either swore deeply they would \ the youngest,
but the wisest, told her Father, without flattery, 'That albeit she did love,
honour, and reverence him, and bo would whilst she lived, as much as duty
and daughterly love at the uttermost could expect, yet she did think that one
I. KING LEAK.
Gonorilla the eldest, how well she loued him: who calling hir
gods to reoord, protested Ihnt she loued him moro than hir owno
life, which by right and reason should he most deerc 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
him more than toong could cxpresse, and farre aboue all other
creatures of the world.
Then called ho his yoongest daughter Cordeilla before him,
and asked of hir what account she made of him, vnto whoine she
made this answer as followeth: "Knowing the great loue and
"fathcrlie zeale that you haue alwaics borne towards me (for the
" which I maie not answere you otherwise than I thinke, and as
"my conscience leadeth me) I protest vnto you, that I haue loued
"you ever, and will continuallie (while I Hue) loue you as my
" naturall father. And if you would more vnderstand 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,
married his two eldest daughters, the one vnto Hennmus the duke
of Corncwall, and the other vnto Maglanus the duke of Albania,1
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 i but for the third daughter
Cordeilla he reserued nothing.
Neuertheless it fortuned that one of the princes of Gallia
A trialtof
tout.
I The uiiwer
of in.- eldest
dA or bier.)
(The i
of tlie tccond
dinghler.]
qfth*
ynanytrt
Thetteo
tUlttt
daughter/
art maritd.
Thermlmt u
promimi |»
At* too
daughter*.
day it would come to pass that she should affect another more fervently/
meaning her Husband, * when she was married, who, being mode one flesh with
her, as God by commandement had told, and nature had taught her, she was
to cleave fast to, forsaking Father and Mother, kiffe and km.'" — Camden's
Remains concerning Britain, 1674, under "Wise Speeches" (Library of Old
Authors, pp. 254, 255).
1 " The third and last part of the Hand he [Brute] allotted vnto Albanact
his yoongest sonne. . . . This later parcell at the first, tooke the name of
Albanactus, who called it Albania. But now a small portion onelie of the
region (being vnder the regiment of a duke) reteineth the said denomination,
the rest being called Scotland, of certeine Scots that came ouer from Ireland
to inhabit in those quarters. It is diuided from Lboegres [England! also by
the Solue and the Firth, yet some doo note the Humber ; so that Albania (ss
Brute left it) conteined all the north part of the Hand that is to be found
beyond the aforesaid streame, vnto the point of Cnthneese." — Harrison*!
Description of Britain (in Hoi. i. II6/2/4).
KINO LEAR.
[Afwlppus
wljhed to
iiuurjr Cor-
defllA. Leir
would give
her no
dowex.]
[Aganippus
■MTrtBflMT.
the tAint
Qalliaa*
Gat. Stan.
fLelr's mm<
I n-lftw rebel
against him,
ftnduslgn
him a por-
tion to liTfl
on.]
[Th* ankmd-
ctu of his
daughters
wheij he
Tisited
them. They
scarcely
allow him
one servant
at last.]
(which now is called France) whose name was Aganippus, hearing
of the beautie, womanhood, and good conditions of the said
Cordeilla, desired to haue hir in manage, and sent ouer to hir
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
sisters 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
amiable vertues. This Aganippus was one of the twelue kings
that ruled Gallia in those daies, as in the British historic it is
recorded. But to proceed.
After that Leir was fallen into age, the two dukes that had
married his two eldest daughters, thinking it long yer the gouern-
ment of the land did come to their hands, arose against him in
armour, and reft from him the gouernance of the land, vpon
conditions to be continued for terme of life : by the which he was
put to his portion, that is, to liuo after a rate assigned to him
for the maintenance of his estate, which in processe of time was
diminished as well by Maglanus as by Henninus. But the
greatest griefe that Leir tooke, was to see the vnkindnesse of
his daughters, which seemed to thinke that all waa too much
which their father had, the same being neuer so little : in so much
that going from the one to the other, he was brought to that
miserie, that Bcarslie they would allow him one soruant to wait
vpon him.1
In the end, such was the vnkindnesse, or (as I maie saie) the
vnnaturalnesse which he found in his two daughters, notwithstand-
1 We learn from Hist. Brilt. 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 Gonorilla filia 06 muliititdinem militum ejus, qui
eonvicia ministru inferebant, quia eis profuaior epinomia non praebebatur "
(cp. Lcart 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 the retainers of the several households, and Regan dismissed
all save five of Lear's knights. He returned to Gonorilla, who allowed him
one knight. This last wrong caused Lear's departure to France. The Mirowr
for Magistrates mentions the successive reductions of Lear's followers ; but
none of the sources which I have enumerated above has anght to say about
the dissensions between Lear's knights and his sons-in-laws' households.
I. KING LEAR.
ing their faire and pleasant words vttorcd in time past, that being
constreined of necessitie, he fled the land, & sailed into Gallia,
there to seeke some comfort of his yongest daughter Cordeilla,
whom before time ho hated. The ladic Cordeilla hearing that
he was arriued in poore estate, she first sent to him priuilie a
certeine Bumme of inonie to apparell himselfe withall, and to
reteine a certeine number of seruants that might attend vpon
him in honorable wise, as appertained 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 beeno king of the
whole countrie himselfe.
Now when he had informed his sonne in law and his daughter
in what sort he had bcene vsed by his other daughters, Aganippus
caused a mightie armie to be put in a readincsse, and likewise
a great uauie of ships to be rigged, to passe ouer into Britaine
with Leir his father in law, to Bee him againe restored to his
kingdome. It was accorded, that Cordeilla should also go with
him to take possession of the land, the which ho promised to
leaue rnto hir, as the rightfull inheritour after his decesse, not-
withstanding any former grant made to hir Bisters or to their
husbands in anie manor of wise.
Hereupon, when this armie and nauie of ships were roadie,
Leir and his daughter Cordeilla with hir husband tooke the sea,
and arriuing in Britaine, fought with their cnimics, and dis-
comfited them in battell, in the which Maglanus and Henninus
were Blaine ; and then was Leir restored to his kingdome, which
he ruled after this by the space of two yecres, and then died,
fortie yeeres after he first began to reigne.1
1 Shakepcre was perhaps indebted to Holinshed for something more than
the etory of Lear: a There being (according to Hoi. i. H. S. 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). Holinsbed also says
(H. E, 14/1/37) that Lear'a grandson, Canedag, built a temple "to Apollo m
Cornewall. /3 Lear's comparison of himself to a dragon (Lear^ I. i. 123, 1S4)
may have been suggested by the fact that a later British king "was surnomed
Pendragon, ... for that Merline the great prophet likened him to a dragons
[ II C fl«!«* tO
Cordeilla, In
Gallia, and
is kindly
N ■■■•■ ,■ d.]
[AfStlipl-Qf!
prepare J a
iiiikUty army
ana great
navy, where-
with to
restore Leir
to hii king-
dom.]
[Leir
CordeUU his
aolebelrrs*.)
[Leir and
Cordeilla
fight a battle
with hfa
tont-ln-law,
who are de-
feated and
alain. Leir
ruled two
yean after
bla restor-
ation, and
then (Led. I
6
H. CYMBELTXE.
Cordeilla succeeded Lear, and reigned for fire years, during which
time her husband died. At the close of this period, the rebellion of
Margan the son of Oonorilla and Cunedag the son of Regan ended with
her imprisonment by her nephews. Having no hope of release, and
being "a woman of a manlie courage/' she slew herself. — Hoi. i 27. E.
13/2/4S-
II. CYMBELINE.
Holixshed'b Chronicles contain all the historical or paeudo- historical
matter which appears in 8hakspere's TYagedie of Cymbeline.
The historic Cunobelinus, son of Tasciovanus,1 was a King of the
Britons,2 whose capital was Camulodunum 3 (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.4 Cunobelin was dead when, in a.d. 43, Aulus
Plautius was sent by Claudius to subdue Britain ; and the Romans
were opposed by tbe late king's sons Togodumnus and the renowned
Caractacus.0 Those are the sole authentic particulars relating to
Cunobelin, beside the evidence derived from his coins.
Act III. so. i. — In the following passages Holinshed has given an
untrustworthy account of Cymbeline, mixed with genuine information
head, that at the time of his natiuite maruelouslie appeared in the firmament
at the corner of a blazing star, a* is Teported. But otners suppose he was bo
called of his wisdome and serpentine suhtiltie, or for that ho gano the dragon*
head in his banner" (Hal. i. H. E. 87/2/7).
1 In 1844 Mr. Birch commuuicated a paper to the Numismatic Society
(Num. Chron, vol. vii. p. 78), showing that the reverse legends of some of
Cunobeline's coins should be read : tasciovani. r.; that ia, Tasciovani Ftit'tu.
— See Evans's Coin* of the Ancient Briton*, pp. 821, 327. Other reverses read
tasc. f., and TAScnovANii. r. — Evan*, pp. 308, 328. Of the latter form it
may be necessary to remark that tascti— is probably equivalent to tabcb — ;
the double 1 being ofteu used, on British coins, for E (JSvans pp. 203, 206, 258,
372). The termination — VAitri gives a variant nominative Tasciovanius.
Mr. Birch compared these legends with avovstvs Dm r., on coins of Augustus.
* So styled by Suetonius, in his biography of Caligula, cap. xliv. Cunobe-
line's capital was Camulodunum, whicn we learn from Ptolemy (Gtogrophia^
lib. II. cap. iitj was the town (irtfXic) of the Trinobantcs ; a people who once
inhabited Middlesex and Essex. The obverse of a copper coin oi Cunobeline
bears the legend cvkobelixvs rex. See Evans's Coins of the Ancient Britontt
p. 33-\
1 "ro Kaiu>v\6dovvov ro row KwofitWivov paoiXiiov" — Dion Cassiue, ed.
Reimur, lx. 21. A copper coin of Cunobeline, found at Colchester, has the
obverse legend cawvl-odvno. — Evans's Coin* of the Ancient Briton*, p. 337.
" Suet. Calia. xliv.
6 Dion Oa**iu*y lx. 20. Claudius followed Plautius, and was present at
the capture of Camulodunum by the Romans.
II. CYMBELINE.
touching the circumstances of the Empire and Britain during the reign
of Augustus.
[Hoi L H. S. 32/2/3.] Kymbelino or Cimbelinc the sonne of
Theoraantius ■ was of the Britaina made king after the deccasse
of his father, in the yeare of tho world 3944, after the building
of Rome 728, and before the birth of our Sauiour 33. This man
(as some write) was brought vp at Rome, and there made knight
by Augustus Cesar,* vnder whome he serued in the warres, and
was in such fauour with him, that he was at libertie to pay his
tribute or not . . . Touching tho continuance of the yeares of
Kymbelincs reigne, some writers doo varie, but tho best approoued
affirme, that he reigned 35 years and then died, & was buried
at London, leaning behind him two sonnes, Guiderius and
Aruiragus.8
IT But here is to be noted, that although our histories doo
affirme, that as well this Kymbeline, as also his father Theomuntius
liued in quiet with the Romans, and continuallie to them pitied
the tributes which the Britains had couenanted with Julius Cesar
to pay, yet we find in the Romano writers, that after Julius Cesars
death, when Augustus had taken vpon him the rule of the empire,
the Britains refused to paic that tribute : whereat as Cornelius
Tacitus reporteth, Augustus (being otherwise occupied) was con-
tented to winke ; howbeit, through earnest calling vpon 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 Baid Theomantius, Augustus made proutsion to passe with an
aimie ouer into Britaine, & was come forward vpon his iouruie
1 "Tenantiua" (the spelling in Cymb. L i. 31) occurs as a variant form in
Hoi i. R. E. 32/1/58 above, Shakspere seems to have adopted Fab,* a con-
jecture (reported in Hoi, i H. S. 31/2/23) that 0*uibelan, Androgens, and
Tenanting were sons of Lud, Cymbchnc's grandfather ; for Cymbeline is
reminded by Lucius that tribute was imposed by Julius Caesar on " Cassibulun,
thine Unkle" (Oymb. III. i. 5). Hohushed preferred the supposition that
Cassibelan was Lud's brother (Hot. L 11. & 23/2/12).
» Cp. Oymb. HI. i. 70:
a>nm;«.
Foiinn out
o/Omi'lo <U
Colunna.
(Cjrmheline
knighted by
Augustus,
ana not
nbtlgwl t}
p*y tribute.]
CM
vfeiie
Tun, md
left tiro
B"U», Ouidfl-
rius sod
Arvingtu.)
[Roman
writers uj
that the
Britons re-
fused to \mj
tribute to
Augustus.]
0>r. TocUuj,
in vita /«.
Apr.
[Augustus
fmMM
D invsdo
DriUlu 1
" Thy Ccesar Knighted me
Much vnder him rt ; . . .
my youth 1 spent
* We learn from Juvenal {Sat. IV. 124-127) that a British prince named
Arviragus was a contemporary of Domitian.
H. CYMBELLVE.
IHonCmmuj.
m-.l bf a
rebellion of
the Pannonf-
aoi and Dai-
mat inns. )
[T knew not
rW iff
Cyinbcline
or »otne
other Brittih
prlno* rent-
ed tribute,
bnt Cym-
beLne WU
friendly to
'.))•■ llnmnn*,
and wiihed
the British
YOUUl I- l»>
brought up
HMMri
th*m/j
rrhepMMof
the Roman
Empire
while
Align »tui
raltd ]
into Gallia Celtica: or as we raaie saie( into these hither parts
of France.
But here receiuing aduertiBements that the Pannonians, which
inhabited the countrie now called Hungarie, and the Dalmatians
whome now we call Slauons had rebelled, he thought it best first
to Bubdue those rebells neere home,1 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. . . .
But whether this controuersie which appeareth to fall forth
betwixt the Britans and Augustus, was occasioned by Kyinbeline,
or some other prince of the Bri tains, I haue not to auouch : for
that by our writers it is reported, that Kymbeline being brought
vp in Rome, & knighted in the court of Augustus, euer shewed
himselfe a friend to the Romans, & chieflie was loth to breake
with them, because the youth of the Britaine nation should not
be depriued of the benefit to be trained and brought vp among
the Romans, whereby they might learne both to bcliaue them-
selues like ciuill men, and to atteine to the knowledge of feats
of warre.2
But whether for this respect, or for that it pleased the
almightie God so to dispose the minds of men at that present,
not onlie the Britains, but in manner all other nations were
contented to be obedient to the Romane empire. That this was
* Cymbeline replies to Lucius (Cfymo. III. i. 73-75):
..." I am perfect,
That the Pannonians and Dalmatians for
Their Liberties are now in Armes " : ...
* Cp. Poethumus's words {Oymb. II. iv. 20-26) :
. . . " Our Countrymen
Axe men more order'd then when Julias Cees&r
Smil'd at their Uxckt of skilly but found their courage
Worthy his frowning at : Their discipline
(Now mingled [wing-led F] with their courages) will make
known
To their Approuera, they are People such
That mend vpon the world."
Aa to the military strength of Britain at the time of Caesar's invasion, Hoi,
says (u., The first inhabitation of Ireland, 6I/1/14): . . . "the British nation
ten vnskilfull, and not trained to feats of war, for the Britons then being
was
onelie vsed to the Picts and Irish enimies, people halfe naked, through lacke of
skill easilie gaue place to the Romans force," . . ,
II. CYMBELINE.
true in the Britains, it is euident enough by Strabos words, which
are in effect as followeth. "At this present (saith he) certeine
"princes of Britaine, procuring by ambassadors and dutifull
"demeanors the ami tie of the emperour Augustus, hauo offered
■ in the capitoll vnto the gods presents or gifts, and haue ordeined
" the whole lie in a manner to be appertinent, proper, and familiar
"to the Romans. They arc burdened with sore customs which
"they paie for wares, either to be Bent foorth into Gallia, or
"brought from thence, which are commonlie yuorie vessels,
"sheeres, ouches, or eareringB, and other conceits made of amber
"& glasses, and such like manner of merchandize."
Holinshed (Hoi, ii. //. S. 45/i/55) records an embassy from
Augustus to Cymbeline, which may have given Shakspere a hint for
the lees peaceful mission of Caiua Lucius.
[Ed. ii. E. 8. 45/1/55.] About the same time [?25 kc]
also there came vnto Kimbaline king of the Britains an
ambassador from Augustus the emperor, with thanks, for that
entring into the gouernemont of the British state, he had kept
his allegianco toward the Romano empire : exhorting him to*
keepe his subiects in peace with all their neighbors, sith the
whole world, through meanes of tho same Augustus, was now in
quiet, without all warres or troublesome tumults.
Oaius Lucius demands a yearly tribute of three thousand pounds,
which had been imposed on Cassibelan and M his Succession " l by
Julius Caesar, but had been " lately . . . left vntender'd " by Cym-
beline, Cassibelau'a nephew (Cymb, IIT. i. 2 — 10). This pretension to
tribute arose when Caesar, after defeating Cassibelan,3 blockaded the
residue of the British levies, so that—
[EoL i. E. £. 30/2/73.] Cassibollano in tho end was forced
to fall to a composition, in couenanting to paie a yearlie tribute
of three thousand pounds.
1 Tenanting whom Cymbeline succeeded, "paid the tribute to the Romans
which Gossibellane [Tenantius's immediate predecessor! had irranted." — Hot. L
E. E. 32/1/73.
* Holinshed's authorities are Hid. Britt. IV. x. 67, and Matthew of West-
minster (ed. 1001, 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, "obsides
imperat, et, quid in annos singulos vectigalis populo Romano Britannia
penderet, constituit" (De Bclto Gallko, V, 22).
Strab. Qeog.
[Rwpeet
shown to
Auguatiia by
the lintiflh
princei.]
[LninriM
hn ported by
Britain.]
Kimbaiint
king of the
Britain*.
I An UJMaV
aador frurn
Kflgmftoi
for hla loyal-
ty to the
HUM !
(CftuibelM
•grwatopay
a yearly
tribnt*.!
BoaaUh
Campion,
but GuVrid
Menu, taitk
Jliu thou-
aand.
II. CYMBEUNE.
QuidtrivM.
|Oin.)rrnn.
Mfcm tri-
bute to the
Shakspere forsook his authority in making Cyoibeline refuse
tribute.1 The refusal came from Guiderius, as the following excerpt;
shows.
[Hoi. L H. E. 33/1/63.] Guiderius the first sonne of Kymbcliuo
(of whom Harwn saieth nothing) began his reigne in the seucn-
tenth yeere after th' incarnation of Christ Thin Guiderius being
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 G-yldas saith.2
In Holinshed's second volume, Ouiderius's rebellion is thus narrated.
BrtLttmt
GuuUriui
Ou BritUh
[Hol. ii H. jS 45/2/42.] . . . Kimbnlinc king of the Britains
died, who for that he had beene brought vp in Rome, obserued
his promised obedience towards the empire ; but Guiderius suc-
ceeding, disdained to see the libertie of his countrie oppressed
by the Romans, and therefore procuring the Britains to assist
■tramiM*?* n^m» assembled a power, and inuaded the Romans with such
violence, that none escaped with life, but such as saued themselues
within castels & fortresses.
The next point to be noticed is Cloten's rejection of tribute because
"Britaine's a world by it Belfe" (Cymb. ILL i. 12, 13); a view which
Shakspere may have gathered from one or all of the following passages.
Unto tchat
portuyn
Britain* u
[HoL L Description of Eritaine, 2/1/30.] And whereas by
Virgil [ , who] — speaking of our Rand — saith ;
St penil&a toto diuism orbc Britanno*,*
And some other authors not wiwooilhie to bo rend and perused,
it is not oerteine vnto which portion of the earth our Hands, and
Thule, with aundric the like scattered in the north seas should
be ascribed, bicause they excluded them (as you seo) from the
rest of the whole earth : 1 haue thought good, for facilitie sake
1 In The Faerit Quettie, II. x. 50, the Romans are said to have made war
on Cvmbeline because " their tribute he refusd to let be payd." "Soone after"
the birth of Christ this war began. In the next stanza Arviragus is spoken of
as CriubeUue's brother.
• Gildas records Boadieea's revolt (Hisloria GUdae, IV.)- Hia book
contains no mention of Guiderius.
3 Eel I. 67.
H. CYMBELIXE.
11
of diuision, to refer them all which lie within the first minute
of longitude, set downe by Ptolome, to Europa.
[Hoi. L IT. E. 34/I/IO.] The souldicrs [of Aulus Plauthis]
hearing of this voiage [to Britain], were loth to go with him,
as men not willing to make warre in another world.
Holinshed's Chronicle* include a panegyric by Claudius Mamertinus,
whose congratulations were offered to the Emperor Maximum I., upon
the reunion of Britain to the Empire, after the fall (a.d. 296) of the
British Emperor Allectus, the panegyrist calling to mind how Caesar
[Hoi. L H. E. 57/2/60.] writ that he had found an other
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.] Glorie you therefore, inuincible
emperour, for that you haue as it were got an other world, &
in restoring to the Romano puissance the glory of conquest by
sea, haue added to the Romane empire an element greater than
all the compasse of the earth, that is, the mightic maine ocean.
Clot-en having renounced tribute, the Queen — scornfully appraising
the value of that " kiude of conquest" which '* Caesar made heere" — ■
declares (III. i. 26—29) how
hia Shipping
(Poore ignorant baubles !) on our terrible Seas,
Like Egge-shels tnou'd vpon their Surges, crack 'd
As easily 'gainst our Roc Ices,
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 him 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 Bello
O'aUico, IV. 23-31).
[Hoi. L H. E. 25/2/60] Peace being thus established after
the fourth day of the Romans airmail in Britain, the 18 ships
which (as ye haue heard) were appointed to couuey the horssemen
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, sudden lie
there arose so great a tempest, that none of them was able to
[OaeMf
BriUiD
moihai
world.]
IBv tl Tl
tjlll -*t fj
Britain
Muimiin
1ms rained
another
world.]
(CMUfi 19
transport*
are *e«n off
th-i f.ttlFt of
Britain.]
12
II, CYMBELIXE.
(They ire
dispersed by
■ temp«art]
IThflHliij'* ;.l
anchor an
pttifollio
are
out
to tea, and
(i thpn are
Dearalnk-
lng-J
[C*rvir
hears tha
ships have
htt 'i bhibI
this
keepe his course, so that they were not onelie driuen in Bunder
(some being caried againe into Gallia., and some westward) but
also the other ships that lay at anchor, and had brought ouer
the armie, were so pitifullie beaten, tossed and shaken, that a
great number of them did not onelie lose their tackle, but also
were caried by force of wind into the high sea; the rest being
likewise so filled with water, that they were in danger by sinking
to perish and to be quite lost.1
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 Hello Gallieo, V. 8, 9).
[Hoi i. H. E. 28/2/2.] The next day, as he had sent foorth
such as should haue pursued the Britain*, word came to him from
on
the shore.]
tSjpeaVand Qu^us Atrius,2 that his nauie by rigour of a sore and hideous
tempest was grecuouslie molested, and throwne vpon the Bhore,
so that the cabels and tackle being broken and destroied with
force of the vnmercifull rage of wind, the raaisters and mariners
were not able to helpe the matter.
The Queen's assertion (I. 26), that Caesar was " twice beaten " by
the Britons, rests on the authority of chroniclers whose truthfulness
was perhaps doubted even in Shakspere's day, though he found their
narratives quoted along with the Commentaries upon One Gallic War.
Caesar's account of his first expedition to these shores having been set
forth by Hotinshed, there follows what professes to be the British
version of the events of this campaign.
[Hoi. I H. E. 27/i/iS] T Thus writeth Cesar touching his
But the British historic (which
AmpA
btilo QixUico,
w.«. ' first iournie made into Britain*
1 Below we read that "not hauing other stufle to repaire his ships, he
[Caesarl caused 12 of those that were vtterlie past recouerie hy the hurts
receiueu through violence of the tempest, to be broken, wherewith the other
fin which some recouerie was perceiuea) might be repaired and amended." —
Hoi. i. H. E. 26/1/31. (The famous words, " Veni, Vidi, Vici," arc translated
" I came, I saw, I ouercame," in the life of Julius Caesar in North's Plutarch,
ed. 1679, p. 787.) It is possible that, before writing the Queen's harangue, —
the aim of which is to show how Caesar's prosperity deserted him in Britain, —
Rhakspere glanced at Caesar's remark upon the unforeseen lack of cavalry to
pursue the retreating Britons, after the legionaries had effected their landing :
"And this one thing seemed oneHe to disappoint the luckie fortune that was
accustomed to follow Cesar in all his other enterprises." — Hoi. i. H. E. 26/2/28
(B. G. IV. 26).
* Whom Caesar had left in charge of the fleet.
II. CYMBEUNE.
13
Polydor calleth the new historic) t declareth that Cesar in a pitcht (£* JL^
(•tory
slam Htti
field was vanquished at the first encounter, and so withdrew backe c
into France.
beatan In a
pitched
batUe. and
his second invasion was also contradicted, ObuL]
Caesar's account of
another victory being claimed by the Britons.
[HoL i. U. E. 30/2/9.] Thus according to that which Cesar
himselfe and other autentike authors haue written, was Britaine
made tributarie to the Romans by the conduct of the same Ceaar.
IF But our histor[i]es farre differ from this, affirming that Ceaar
oomming the second time, was by the BritainB with valiancie and
martiall proweBse 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
entred the riuer, were perished and lost. And after his comming
a land, he was vanquished in battel!, and constrained to flee into
Gallia with those ships that remained.
The Queen also says that Caesibelan "was once at point ... to
master Ciesaxs Sword"* (Cyinb. III. i. 30, 31). According to the
Historia Britvnxvm — referred to below as "The same historic" — Caesar
actually lost his sword during the battle in which he met with the first
of those defeats whereof the Queen reminds Caius Lucius.
[Hoi. I H. K 27 1 1/40.I The same historic also maketh icaeaario*
hiaiwonl.]
mention of . . . Nonius brother to Cassibellane, who in fight
happened to get Cesars swoord fastened in his shield by a blow
which Cesar stroke at him.
Oal. ifM.
MatL Hut.
ITIhs British
hlitory
ifflnii* that
Cae*ar'a
iwoad 1dv&-
■ion was
repelled, and
tir rlnl U»
OaoLJ
1 The " new historie/' aa Polydore Vergil calls it, is, I believe, the Hidoria
Briionum; which contains (IV. iii. 58, 69) particulars of the "pitcht field."
There is more ahout this victory, taken from Bote* (31/40-80), in HoL i.
H. E. 27/1/73, && PoathumuB's father Sicilius (Gymb. I. i. 29, 30),—
'* who did iovriB hie House
Against the Romanes with Cassibulan ■
, — no douht took port in this battle, where also, as HoL records, Tenon tiua was
present, from whom Sicilius "had his Titles'1 (L 31).
1 The Queen's expression — "at point to matter desar's Sword" — implies
that his sword was nearly wrested from him by force, not caught by accident ;
and she hoe, it will be observed, attributed to Cassibelan the honour of this
partial success. Caesar's sword was placed by Cassibelan in a saroophagns,
with the body of Nennius, who died fifteen days after the battle from a wound
inflicted by this weapon, which was named ■ Crocea mors, quia mi II us evadebat
vivus qui eo vulnerabatur " {Uitt. Britt. IV. iv, 60).
14
II. CYMBELINE.
Caesar's second defeat was attended by rejoicings which the Qtt— 1
connects with the Britons' first victory, when he lost his sword.
[Hoi, L H. B. 30/2/22.] For ioy of this second victorie (saith
il/rid) Cassibellane mai
did sacrifice to the gods.
[Th# Brttiih
TietoiTM0nd Ga(fr*d) Cassibellaue made a great feast at London, and there
The scene of these rejoicings was " Luds-Towne," {Cymb. III.
i. 32), known as Troinovant until it became the special care of Lud,
Cassihelau's elder brother.
The name of
Troinouant
[Hoi L H. E. 23/1/59.] By reason that king Lud so much
Jgf-*"* esteemed that citie1 before all other of his realuie, inlarging it
so greatlie as he did, and continnallie in manner remained there,
the name was changed, so that it was called Caerlud, that is
to saic, Luds townc : and after by corruption of speech it was
named London.
Courteously, hut firmly, Cymbeline rejects the Roman demand, and
bids Lucius say to Augustus (III. i. 56 — 62) :
Our Ancestor was that Mulmutius, which
Ordain 'd our Lawes, ....
Who was the first of Brttaine, which did put 60
His browes within a golden Crowne, and call'd
Himsclfe a king.
Holinshed relates how, after the deaths of Ferrez and Porrox,2 the
last acknowledged descendants of Brutus, Britain was plunged into
civil war, then became subject to a pen tare hy of kings, and was finally
reunited under one Bceptre by Muhnucius Dunwallon, Bon of Cloton
King of Cornwall. Among the great deeds of Muhnucius these are
recorded ; 3
[Hoi. i. H. E. I5/2/34.] He also made manie good lawes,
tbyMuJuni- which were long after vsod, called Mulinuciua lawos, turned out
1 Lud built there "a faire temple neere to his . . , palace, which temple
(rh gome take it) was after turned to a church, and at this daie called Paulea."
— Hoi. i. H. E. 23/1/59. Perhaps the temple in "Luds-Towne," — assij^ned by
Shakspere to "great Iupiter,'' — where Cymbeline ratified peace with the
Romans (Oymo- V. v. 481-483).
1 Sons of Gorboduc, King of Britain. Their history is dramatized in our
earliest tragedy, written by Thomas Sack vi lie and Thomas Norton, and acted
on January 18, 1661.
• The chapter containing these passages (bk. III. chap. i. p. 15) is headed ;
"Of Mnlmucius the first king / of Eritaine, who was crowned / with a golden
crowne, his lawes, / his foundations, with other / his acts and deeds." Mulmu-
cius "began his reigne ouer the whole monarchic of Britaine, in the yeere of
the world 3529, after the building of Rome 314, and after the deliuerance of
the Israelites out of captiuitie 97, and about the 26 yeere of Darius Artaxerxes
Longimanua, the fift king of the Persians,"— Ibid.
Matth.WtMt
II. CYMBEL1NE,
15
of the British speech into the Latine by Gildas Pi-ueus,1 and long
time after translated out of latine into english by Alfred king ^fj^4 bT
of England, and mingled in his statutes, . , .
After he had established his land, and set his Britains in good ,"'/*«*'**
and conuenient order, he ordeined him by the aduise of his lords JJSS*"*
a crowne of gold, & caused himselfo with great solemnitie to be
crowned, according to the custom of the pagan lawen then in vse :
& bicause he was the first that bare a crowne hecre in Britaine,
after the opinion of some writers, lie is named the first king of
Britaine, and all the other before rehearsed are named rulers,
dukes, or gouernors.
V. iii. — Another part of Cymbeline for which Holinshed furnished
matter is the description given by Posthumus (V. iii. 3 — 68) of the
means whereby victory was transferred from the Romans to the
Britons. The prowess of Belarius, and his adopted children, Guiderius
and Arviragus, has a parallel in an exploit attributed to a Scottish
husbandman named Hay, who, with his two sons' help, routed the
Banes at the battle of Loncart, fought a.d. 976. Before quoting the
passages of HolinBhed 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.8
[Hoi ii. H. S. I55/1/48.] Which maner being noted of the 2;£j.rte
Danes, and perceiuing that there was no hope of life but in
victorie, they rushed foorth with such violence vpon 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
1 Generally known as Gildas Sapiens, born about a~d. 516.
• Two more possible traces of Shakspere's Holinahcd-reading may be
noticed, a In Oymb. III. v. S3, the king speaks of chariots as a British arm.
Shakspere would find their use in warfare described by. Hoi. (t H. E. 86/2/11),
who took his account from Caesar (De Bdlo Gallico, IV. 38). 0 When Aulua
Plautiua was Bailing to invade Britain, "the marrinera and men of wane"
were encouraged by seeing "a fierie leame [light] to ehoot out of the east
toward the wxwt, which way their course lay, . . . (Hoi. L H. E. 34/2/9).
Op. Philarmonus'a answer to Gains Lucius, who asked for the soothsayer's
dream ■ of this warres purpose" {Cymb. IV. ii. 348-362) :
" I saw Ioues Bird, the Roman Eagle, wing'd
From the apmigy South to this part of the West,
Then vanish 'd in the Sun-beames : which portends
(Vnlesse my sinnes abuse my diuination)
Successe to th' Roman hoast"
Scots
ift
£■*,
iii. a.]
16
II. OYMBELINK.
Hoi, vilk A,.
aidtbo King,
who m
flfht 'hr in
Sftl u.MU-
wanlj.
I Near the
battle-flcid
«u along
lane, where
the Duet
dm £■
Boots in
heaps (cp.
tomb. IV.
ill. «— 14V1
/finV ttaitd
tJuBeoUfro
running
avajr
['ami spared
. . . teach.'
CP.CVNI&.
IV. ULS5—
Wfri driutn
UtKtxr
The Dane*
fitd toteonU
thtir ftllowu
in grtat Ju-
order.
needes haue remained with the Danes, had not a renewer of the
battcll come in time, by the appointment (as is to be thought)
of almightie God.
For as it chanced, there was in the next field at the same time
an husbandman, with two of his sons busie about his worke,
named Haie, a man strong and stifle in making and shape of
bodie, but indued with a valiant courage. This Haie beholding
the king with the most part of the nobles, lighting with great
valiancie in the middle ward, now destitute of the wings, and in
great danger to be oppressed by the great violence of his enimies,
caught a plow-bcamc in his hand, and with the same exhorting
his Bonnes to doo the like, hasted towards the battcll, there to
die rather amongest other in defense of his countrie, than to
remaine aliue after the discomfiture in miserable thraldome and
bondage of the cruell and most vnmercifull enimies. There was
neere to the place of the battell, a long lane fenscd on the sides
with ditches and walles made of turfe, through the which the
Scots which fled were beaten downe by the enimies on heapes.
Here Haie with his sonnes, supposing they might best staie
the Sight, placed themselues ouerthwart the lane, beat them backe
whome they met fleeing, and spared neither friend nor fo: but
downe they went all such as came within their reach, wherewith
diuerse hardie personages cried vnto their fellowes to returne
backe vnto the battell, for there was a new power of Scotchmen
come to their succours, by whose aid the victorie might be easilie
obteined of their most cruell aduersaries the Danes: therefore
might they choose whether they would bo slaLne of their owne
fellowes comming to their aid, or to returne againo to fight with
the enimies. The Danes being hero staied in the lane by the
great valiancie of the father and the sonnes, thought verely there
had beene some great succors of Scots come to the aid of their
king, and therevpon ceassing from further pursute, fled backe in
great disorder vnto 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 vnto the place of the battell right
fiercelie. Wherevpon Kenneth perceiuing his people to be thus
II. CYMBEMXE.
17
reconiforted, and his enimies parfclio abashed, called Tpon bia men *J££f
to remember their duties, and now sith their adversaries hearts JJ^J,J°
begau (aa they might perceiue) to faint, he willed them to follow ***********
vpon them manfully, which if they did, he assured them that the
victorie vndoubtedlie should be theirs. The Scots incouraged
with the kings words, laid about them so earnestlie, that in the
end the Danes were constreined to forsake the field, and the Scots n< **»«
fartakt tht
egerlie pursuing in the chase, made great slaughter of them aa &**•
they fled. This victorie turned highlie to the praise of the Scotish
nobilitie, the which fighting in the middle ward, bare still the
brunt of the battel!, continuing manfullie therein euen to the end.
But Haie, who in such wise (as is before mentioned) staied them rrhoTictory
' > ' wu won
that fled, causing them to returne againe to the field, deserued ?£J^jh
immortal! fame and commendation : for by his meanes chioflic 2eLVj
was the victorie atchiued,
I conclude with a list of personal names found in Cymbeline, which
Shakspere may have picked up here and there from the pages of
Holinshed's Chronicle*.
Cadwall, pseudonym of Arviragua (Cymb. III. iii. 95). Cadwallo
King of Britain ; began to reign a.d. 636 {Hot. i. H. E. 11 2/ 1/65).
Cloten (Cymb. I. ii.). Cloton,1 a king of Cornwall, father of
Mulinucius Dunwallon {Hoi. i. H. E. 15/2/21).
Cornelius, a physician (Cymb. I. v.). The name of Cornelius
Tacitus, the historian, occurs in Hoi. i. H. E. 51/ 1/60, et pa$sim.
Helens or Helen, Imogen's woman (Cymb. II. ii. 1). Helen,
daughter of Coell King of Britain, and mother of Constantino the
Great (HoL I H. E. 62/1/57).
Imogen {Cymb. I. i.). Innooen,8 wife of Brute, first ruler of
Britain (HoL I H. E. 8/2/48).
Lucius, ambassador from Augustus (Cymb. III. L). Lucius King
of Britain, who began to reign a.d. 124 (Hot i. //. E. 51/ 2/40). Also
Lucius, a Roman "eapteine" in Gaul, vanquished by Arthur King of
Britain (HoL i. H. E. 9I/1/39).
Morgan or Meruax,3 pseudonym of Belarius (Cymb. HI. iii 106 ;
Y. v. 332). Mabgan, joint king of Britain, son of Henninus Duke
of Cornwall, and Gonorilla eldest daughter of King Leir (Hoi. i. H. E.
13/2/56).
Polidore or Paladoub (the latter spelling in Cymb. ILL iii. 86),
1 On the same page hi* name appears aa "Cloteuua." As "Clotyn Duke
of Cornewall " he is a character in Gorboduc (1st ed., 1065).
* ** Innogen," the wife of Leonatua, is in the first Entry of Much Ado (Qi,
1600). Cymbdine was probably written about 1610.
3 Spelt " Morgan" in Holinshed's "second table for the historic of Britaine
and England." In the old Leir, Kagan's husband is Morgan King of Cambria.
^i^***
****
.««*■
7&>*
\***. ixA «% T&**1
m
^^V*?*;**
*<*
iT?t»
V)
asm
kfl
Otf*
Sw<
I
r&^&ssgfr*
>\l»c
■0
<i-
ue*
fi. s
c»»e
otx°
0s -J^-^ri.
toe*.
tftft*
g^-Toi **
A,
w
^^ V o**
*&*
HP
t»t°
\\c*
•P
ti&©
A^le^L^e
i\\e
tOftt\^e
i\v* tVe ^v*1**' , aa \**e
-*£*£-
•»«* f:> »w
(at*1'
\)tt«
4*
tfj£
«*»«'
-*°°^ -oft fttV
eft*
ok
of*
TCI
,t\e
A **
tore.
iVi*1
bo
a**
—A ^ . .-uteft^10
AO**
i\\Ve
tffi
^^"..^^
e\Vit>ft
t\ve^
i**
M^r^A^r^^
ni^\.
::^«^
III. MACBETH.
19
the one had too much of clemencie, and the other of crueltie, the
meane vertue betwixt these two extremities might haue reigned
by indifferent partition in them both, so should Duncano haue
proued a woorthie king, and Makbeth an excellent capteine. The
beginning of Duncans reignc was verie quiet and peaceable,
without anie notable trouble; but after it was perceiued how
negligent he was in punishing offenders, manie misruled persons
tooke occasion thereof to trouble the peace and quiet state of the
common-wealth, by seditious commotions which first had their
beginnings in this wise.
Banquho the thane of Lochquhaber, of whom the house of the
Stewards is descended, the which by order of linage hath now for
a long time inioied the crowne of Scotland, euen till these our
daies, as he gathered the finances due to the king, and further
punished somewhat sharpelie such as were notorious offendors,
being assailed by a number of rebels inhabiting in that countrie,
and spoiled of the monie and all other things, had much a doo
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 court, where making his complaint to the king in most
earnest wise, he purchased at length that the offendors were sent
for by a Bergeant at armes, to appeare to make answer vnto such
matters as should be laid to their charge : but they augmenting
their mischiefous act with a more wicked deed, after they had
misused the messenger with sundrie kinds of reproches, they
finalise slue him also.
Then doubting not but for such contemptuous demeanor
against the kings regall authorise, they should be inuaded with
all the power the king could make, Makdowald one of great
estimation among them, making first a confederate with his
neerest friends and kinsmen, tooke vpon him to be chiefe capteine
of all such rebels as would stand against the king, in maintenance
of their grieuous offenses latelie committed against hint. Manie
slanderous words also, and railing tants this Makdowald vttered
against his prince, calling him a faint-hearted milkesop, more meet
to gouerne a sort of idle moonks in some cloister, than to haue the
[Duaean wu
negligent In
pandufeog
offender!.]
Banqvktt
than* if
LnckiptXaixr.
Tht hnu*e of
theSuicartU.
A mutinit
amonptt tht
peoptt of
MMiMin
A mutant at
armtM alaimt
bj tht rtbtla.
MaMpaaU
offtrttk A'm-
tflft to ft
capteine of
tht rebel*.
I He ealli
Dun ran a
faint-hearted
milksop.]
20
in. MACBETH.
(People from
the western
inlet, ami
kenm will
gallow-
tUuaetfrom
Ireland, help
kiro. Cp.
Mart. I. t
IS, 13.)
ffntvtsk twit I
titki*ff$
Tki ratal
tkiloftXt
king in wr-
it ±e ajfairti.
offer
(to itibdoe
the rebels. In
concert with
Bttii.pji'].
mnt twain*
tktrtUU.
TktrtMi
fartakt tktir
captaM.
JfitrtfaraM
tlaieth kit
ttift and
cfcilrfrm, 4
laittit Aim*
ff/fr.
rale of such valiant and bardie men of warre as the Scots were.
He Tsed also such subtill persuasions and forged allurements, that
in a Bmall time he had gotten togither a mightie power of men :
for out of the westerne lies there came vnto him a great multitude
of people, offering thcmselues to assist him in that rebellious
quarell, and out of Ireland in hope of the spoile came no small
number of Kernes and Galloglasses, offering gladlie to scrne vnder
him, whither it should please him to lead them.
Makdowald thus haning 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
woonderfull feare, by reason of hie small skill in warlike affaires.
Calling therefore his nobles to a council, he asked of them their
best aduise for the subduing of Makdowald & other the rebels.
Here, in sumlrie heads (as euer it happeneth) were sundrie
opinions, which they vttered according to euerie man his skill.
At length Makbeth speaking much against the kings softnes, and
ouermuch slacknesse in punishing offendors, whereby they had
such time to assemble togither, he promised notwithstanding, if
the charge were committed vnto him and vnto 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
suffered 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
III. MACBETH.
21
heart tn\l 14
Uu king.
MakbtOC*
Cru<lU(.
Justice «fr
fair rutortd.
to other. Makbeth entring into the castell by the gates, as then
net 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 cruoll nature with that pitifull sight, he
caused the head to be cut off, and set vpon a poles end, and so
sent it as a present to the king, who as then laic at Bertha.1 The
headlesse trunke he commanded to bee hoong vp Tpon an high
paire of gallows. . . . Thus was iustice and law restored againe
to the old accustomed course, by the diligent means of Makbcth,
Immediatlic wherevpon woord came that Sueno king of Norway
was arriued in Fife with a puissant armie, to subdue the whole
realm e of Scotland.
The army raised to resist Sueno was divided into three m battels " ;
the van and rear being assigned to Macbeth and Banquho respectively,
while Duncan commanded the main body. The events of the sub-
sequent campaign — which ended with an overwhelming defeat of the
Danes 2 — are not dramatized. Sueno, accompanied by a few survivors
of the expedition, escaped to Norway. — Hoi. ii. II. S. I69/2/61 — I7O/2/4.
[Hoi. ii. H. S. 170/2/21.] The Scots hauing woone so notable ^iSEX*"
a victorie, after they had gathered & diuided the spoile of the Jjj££*
field, caused solemnc processions to be made in all places of the
realme, and thanks to be giuen to almightie God, that had sent
them bo faire a day 8 ouer their eiumies. But whilest the people
were thus at their processions, woord was brought that a new fleet i^^^ut
of Danes was arriued at Kingcorne,* sent thither by Canute king "ii^KJ!1*
of England, in reuenge of his brother Suenos ouerthrow. To
1 According to Bote* (278/45 b) the site of thw town was near the modern
Perth, founded by William the Lion to replace Bertha, which was destroyed
by an inundation in 1210.
1 The Scots won the victory by dragging the Danes, who incautiously
accepted from Duncan a present of ale and bread, compounded with " the iuice
of mekilwoort berries." — Hoi. ii. H. 8. 1 70/1/41. In the Clarendon Pres* ed.
of Macbeth, it is conjectured that " mekilwoort " is the u insane Root," spoken
of by Banqno (I. iii. 84). The following description of the plant called by
Boece "Solatium atnentiale," and here engliahed as "mekilwoort," was omitted
by Hol.y and Bellcnclen, the translator of Boeoe : * herba est ingentia quantita-
tis, acinoa principio viridea, ac mox vH matnnierint purpurens & ad nigredinem
vergentea habena, ad caul em enatos & enb foliia lalentea aes&iue quaai retm-
hentea, vimque aoporifcram, aut in amentiain agendi si alfatiin eumpaeria
habentea, magna vbertate in Scotia proueniena." — 248/59 *>■
1 Cp. Mactwth's words (I. iii. 37): "80 foule and faire a day I haue
not seene,"
* Kinghorn, Fife, on the Firth of Forth.
I. u< I.
22
HI. MACBETH.
vanqMiMtud
lv BiMrtl
In A
resist these enimies, which were alreadie landed, and busie in
spoiling the countrie, Makbeth and Banquho were sent with the
kings authoritie, who hauing with them a conuenient power,
iucountred the enimies, Blue 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
friends as were slaine at this last bickering, might be buried in
saint Colmea Inch.1
Act I. sc. iii. — II. iii. — It is possible that some passages in
Holinshed, 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 Bea-captain whose wife had
insulted her (11. 18—25). Duff could
JJJSJ* t [Sol ii. H. S. 149/2/2.] not sleepe in the night time by anie
mm)**7 prouocations that could be deuised,3 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
magicall art, practised by a sort of witches dwelling in a towne
of Murrey land, called Fores.8
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 informed of these revelations, examined the
witch's daughter, who acknowledged that what he had been told
was true,
[Hoi ii. H S, H9/2/59,] Wherevpon learning by hir confes-
sion in what house in the towne it was where they wrought their
1 Inchcolm (8. Columba's Island), Firth of Forth. Cp. Macbeih, I. ii.
62-65 :
"Sweno, the Norwayes King crauea composition ;
Nor would we deigae him buriall of his men,
Till he disbursed, at Saint Colmea ynch,
Ten thousand dollars to our generall vse."
* Cp. Macbeth, I. iii 19, 80 :
" Sleepe shall neyther Night nor Day
Hang vpon his Pent-house Lid ; " &c
1 Forres is about half way between Elgin and Nairn, and not far from the
Moray Firth.
Wiicku in
Forti.
TKt iritchti
nr« found
III. MACBETH.
23
tnischiefous tnysterie, he sent foorth souldiers about the middcst
of the night, who breaking into the house, found one of the witches
roe ting rpon a woodden broch an image of wax at the tier, resem-
bling in each feature the kings person, made and deuised (as is to
be thought) by craft and art of the diuell : an other of them sat
reciting certeine words of inchantment, and still basted the image
with a certeine liquor verie busilie.
The souldiers finding them occupied in this wise, tooke them
togither with the image, and led them into the castell, where
being streictlie examined for what purpose they went about such
manner of inchautment, they answered, to the end to make away
the king: for as the image did waste afore the fire, so did the
bodie of the king brcake foorth in sweat And as for the words
of the inchantment, they Bcrued to keepe him still waking from
sleepe, so that as the wax euer melted, so did the kings flesh : by
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 (Hoi, ii. U. S. 170/2/45), a perpetual
peace was established with the Danes.
[Hoi ii. H. S. 170/2/52.] Shortlie after happened a strange and
vncouth woonder, which afterward was the cause of much trouble
in the realme of Scotland, as ye shall after hcaro. It fortuned
as Makbeth and Banquho iournied towards Fores, where the king
then laie, they went sporting by the waie togither without other
companie, saue onelie themaelues, passing thorough the woods and
fields, when suddenlie in the middcst of a laund,1 there met them
three women in strange and wild apparell, resembling creatures
of elder world, whome when they attentiuelte beheld, woondering
much at the sight, the first of them spake and Baid : " All haile,
'* Makbeth, thane of Glammis 1 " 9 (for he had latelie entered into
that dignitie and office by the death of his father Sinell). The
second of them Baid: " Haile, Makbeth, thane of Cawdor I"
An imagt of
mi rrntxng
•it l/.rjlrf.
TKt witcha
WTf«-
The vhni*
matter u
confuted.
[The spall
kept tU
king fmm
■leaping; u
tlie was
invited, so
did hu flesh.)
(Macbeth
and Han-
quo meet
three
women, in
strange and
tnld ap-
parel. Cp.
■":■■',. I. 111.
40.J
yhtt\t of
thru women
ruppcainp to
be Oit weird
tiMttrtOT
fkirici.
1 "Medio repente campo" {Boeee, p. 249/42).
* Glamia is hve and a naif miles S.W. of Forfar.— Bartholomew.
* Cawdor Castle is five and a half miles S.W. of Nairn.— Bartholomew.
24
HI.
MACBETH.
A thing to
at.
[Macbeth (in
jflit) called
King Of
Scotland.]
MajtOTtho tht
fatter of
nunii kitifft,
[Th« woojon
ware
goddesata of
dMtini*.
nymi.JkB, or
btriea.)
The thane of
■€on-
M..,-r, ft
■ma tum
a/QMNlir.
But the third said: "All haile, Makbeth, that heereafter shalt
"be king of Scotland l"1
Then Banquho : " What manner of women " (saith he) " are you,
"that seeme so little fauourable rnto me, whereas to my fellow
" heere, besides high offices, ye assign c also the kingdome, appoint-
" ing foorth nothing for me at all ? " "Yes" (saith the first of them)
"we promise greater benefits rnto thee, than vnto him, for he
"shall reigne in deed, but with an vnluckie end: neither shall
"he leaue auie issue behind him to succeed in his place, where
"oontrarilie thou in deed shalt not reigne at all, but of thee those
"shall be borne which shall gouerne the Scotish kingdome by long
"order of continuall descent" Herewith the foresaid women
vanished immediatlio out of their sight This was reputed at
the first but some vainc fantasticall illusion by Mackbeth and
Banquho, insomuch that Banquho would call Mackbeth in iest,
king of Scotland ; and Mackbeth againe would call him in sport
likewise, the father of mania kings. But afterwards the common
opinion was, that these women were either the weird sisters, that
is (as ye would say) the goddesses of destinie, or else some
nymphs or feiries, indued with knowledge of prophesie by their
necromanticall science, bicause euerie thing came to passe as they
had spoken. For shortlie after, the thane of Cawder being con-
demned at Fores of treason against the king committed ; his lands,
liuings, and offices were giuen of the kings liberalitie to Mackbeth.1
1 The following passage in Wyntoun (VI, xviii. 13-26) gives the earliest
known form of this story (about 1424) :
A nycht he [Macbeth] thowcht in hys dremyng,
Dat syttand ne wee besyd £e B.yng [Duncan]
At a Sete in hwntyng ; swa" 15
In-til his Leisch had Grewhundya twit.
He thowcht, nubile he wes swi evttand,
He sawe th re We men by gangana ;
And \>&i Wemen f?an thowcht he
Thre Werd Systrys mast lyk to be. 20
Da fyrst be hard say gangand by,
11 Lo, yhondyr f>e Thavne of Crwmhawchty " [Cromarty].
De to^ir Woman sayd agayne,
"Of Morave [Moray] Thondyro I se >o Thayno."
De thryd »>an sayd" UI se f»e Kyng." 25
All |?is lie herd in hys dremyng.
These thanedoms were afterwards conferred upon Macbeth by Duncan
(II. 87, 38). * Cp. Afaebtth, I. ii. 63-67 ; ui. 105-116.
in. MACBETH.
25
The same night after, at supper, Banquho iested with him and
said s "Now Mackbeth thou hast obteined thoso tilings which the
" two former sisters prophesied, there remaineth onelie for thee to
" purchase that which the third said should come to passe." Where-
rpon Mackbeth reuoluing the thing in his mind, began euen then
to deuise how he might atteinc to the kingdome : but yet he
thought with himselfe that he must tarie a time, which Bhould
aduance him thereto (by the diuine prouidence) as it had come
to passe in his former preferment But shortlie after it chanced
that king Duncane, hauing two sonnes by his wife which was the
daughter of Siward earle of Northumberland, he made the elder
of them, called Malcolme, prince of Cumberland, as it were thereby
to appoint him his successor in the kingdome, immediatlie after
his deceasse. Mackbeth sore troubled herewith, for that ho saw
by this means his hope sore hindered (where, by the old lawes of
the realme, the ordinance was, that if he that should succeed were
not of able age to take the charge vpon himselfe, he that was next
of blood vnto him should be admitted) he began to take counsell
how he might rsurpe the kingdome by force, hauing a iust quarell
so to doo (as he tooke the matter) for that Duncano did what in
him lay to defraud him of all manor of title and claiine, which
he might in time to come, pretend vnto the crowne.1
The woords of the three weird sisters also (of whom before
ye haue heard) greatlie incouraged him herevnto, but speciallie his
wife lay sore vpon him to attempt the thing, as she that was verte
ambitious, burning in mquenchable desire to beare the name of
a queene. At length therefore, communicating his purposed
intent with his trustie friends, amongst whome Banquho was the
chiefest, vpon confidence of their promised aid, he slue the king
at Enuerns,2 or (as some say) at Botgosuane, in the aixt yoaro of
Maektx*
tUuiMUi how
he might
atteinttk*
kingdom*.
The daughter
fi/Si»ird
tartt of
TfortA u m fur •
land, vrift
to king
[M*l<*i1m la
made Princo
of Cumber-
liinl and
Macbeth'a
nocaulon
to the throne
la thua
endangered. ]
Maekbtth
ituduth
vhich vxtf ht
forc$.
Prnj\Xftic»
woouf turn
to rvdnvrfu.il
MttmpU.
Women de-
rirotu nfhiak
tita'c-
Maekbetk
ittattX king
Dunceuu
(with U*n-
qoo'i run-
ni ranee).
1 Cp. Macbeth, I. iv. 37; 48:
M King. . , . We will establish our Estate vpon
Our eldest, Maleolroc ; whom we name hereafter,
The Prince of Cuml>erland " : . . .
. . . Macb. [aside! The Princeof Cumberland !— that isaHtep
On which I must fall dowuc, or else o'er-leapo,
For in my way it lyea,"
* ■ Enuern[e]s " = Inverness.
26
m. MACBETH.
■fiwlldl
innrpttk tht
crown*.
Duncants
bunall.
1046. //. ft
his reigne. Then hauing a companie about him of such as he had
made priuie to his enterprise, he caused himsclfe to be proclamed
king, and foorthwith went vnto Scone, where (by common consent)
he receiued the inuesturo of the kingdome according to the
accustomed manor.1 The bodie of Duncaiie was first conueied
vnto Elgine, & there buried in kinglie wise ; but afterwards it
was remoued and conueied vnto ColmekiLI,2 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 Holinabod in regard to
(1) the weird sisters' apparition and predictions; (2) the effect on
Mocbeth's mind of Malcolm's recognition as Prince of Cumberland,
or heir apparent ; and (3) Lady Macbeth's urgency in prompting her
husband to attempt Duncan's murder. Sliakspere assumed that
Cawdor's treason — the nature of which is not speci6ed 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 " (II. 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,
[Hoi. ii. £T. S. I5O/1/39.] concerned such an inward malice towards
the king (though he shewed it not outwardlic at the first) that
* Cp. Macbeth, II. iv. 31, 32 :
"Boise. . . . Then 'tis most like
The Soueraienty will fall vpon Macbeth.
Macd. He is already nam'd, and gone to Scone
To be inuested.0
" Iona. Cp. Macbeth, II. iv. 32-35:
" Bosae, Where is Duncan's body 1
Macd. Carried to Cohuekill,
The Sacred Store-house of his Predecessors
And Guardian of their Bones."
3 Hfector] B[occe*s] date is wrong.
(Pcrtz, v. 557).
Duncan was slain in 1040.— 3f. Scottus
I1L MACBETH.
27
the same continued still boiling in his stomach, and ceased not,
till through setting on of his wife, and in reuenge of such
vnthankcfulnesse, hee found meanes to murthcr the king within
the foresaid castell of Fores where he vsed to soiourne. 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 bo hangod, could not
but shew manifest tokens of groat griefe at home amongst his
familie : which his wife perceiuing, ccassed not to trauell with
him, till she vnderstood what the cause was of his displeasure.
Which at length when she had learned by his owne relation, she
aa 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 vsed to lodge in his
house without anie gard about him, other than the garrison of the
castell, which was wholie at his commandement) to make him
awaie, and shewed him the meanes wherby he might soonest
accomplish it.
Donwald thus being the more kindled in wrath by the words
of his wife, determined to follow hir aduiso in the execution of
so heinous an act. Whervpon deuising with himselfe for a while,
which way hee might best accomplish his curssod intent, at length
gat opportunities and sped his purpose as followeth. It chanced
that the king vpon the daie bofore he purposed to depart foorth
of the castell, was long in his oratorie at his praicrs, and there
continued till it was late in the night. At the last, comming
foorth, he called such afore him as had faithfullie scrued him
in pursuto and apprehension of the rebels, and giuing them heartie
thanks, he bestowed sundrie honorable gifts amongst them, of the
which number Donwald was one, as he that had beene euer
accounted a most faithfull seruant to tho king.
At length, hauing talked with them a long time, he got him
into his prime chamber, onelie with two of his chamberlains, who
hauing brought him to bed, came foorth againe, and then fell to
Donteai-t
mmImJ
hatrtd
optii'tuf tkc
l-\HQ.
DontraltU
icift cewft-
ttlU,i \im to
mnr(Kcr IA«
king.
[She thownd
DonwiiM
how the
king might
when lodg-
ing At Forres
Cutis. )
Tkt. vomajti
ruitt eoutueU
tifolloMd.
Sa night
ore the
King WU
to leftTB
tho aw tiff ha
■hUWl Utfl
uht»
prmyeri.]
Tkt king
rttranUd kit
fritnds.
T'.<
kirn*
to bet.
28
IIL MACBETH.
[Inrtlffrted
by bis wife,
DonwaM ea-
ngw foar of
hii ierranti
to commit
NnUMilfltf
an*
ThrHngku
bur, all.
fnAoren ars
krpt hin*if
IH
hankctting with Donwald and his wife, who had prepared diucrsc
delicate dishes, and sundrie sorts of drinks for their rearo supper
or collation, wherat they sate rp so long, till they had charged
their stomachs with such full 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 greatUe in heart,
yet through instigation of bis wife heo called foure of his seruants
vnto him (whome he had made priuie to his wicked intent before,
and framed to his purpose with large gifts) and now declaring
vnto them, after what sort they should worke the feat, they gladlie
obeied his instructions, & speedilie going about the niurther,
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 immediatlio by a posterne gate
they caried foorth the dead bodie into the fields, and throwing it
Tpon an horsse there prouided readic for that purpose, they conuey
it vnto a place, about two miles distant from the castcll, where
they staied, and gat certeine labourers to helpo them to turne 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 vp with stones and grauell so closeHe, that
setting the water in the right course againe, no man could perceiue
that anie thing had beene newtie 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 niurther. If 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 Blue them whose hclpe
they vsed herein, and streightwaies therevpon fled into Orknie.
Donwald, about the time that the murther was in dooiug, got
him amongst them that kept the watch, and so continued in
1 Bustling, noise. " Nullo prope strepitu" (Boccc^ 222/40).
III. MACBETH.
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
sides of it, he foorthwith slue the chambcrleins, as guiltio of that
heinous murthor, and then like a mad man running to and fro, he
ransacked euerie corner within the castell, as though it had beene
to haue seene if he might haue found either the bodie, or anie
of the murtherers hid iu anie priuie place : but at length comming
to the postorne gate, and finding it open, he burdened the
chamberleins, whome he had slaine, with all the fault, they hauing
the keies of the gateH committed to their keeping all the night,
and therefore it could not be otherwise (said he) but that they
were of counsell in committing of that most detestable murtlier.
Finallie, such was his ouer earnest diligence in the seuere
inquisition and triall of the oftendors heerein, that some of the
lords began to mislike the matter, and to smell foorth shrewd
tokens, that he should not be altogither cleare hiinselfe. But for
so much as they were in that countrie, where he had the whole
rule, what by reason of his friends and authentic togither, they
doubted to vtter what they thought, till time and place should
better serue therernto, and heero vpon got them awaie euerie man
to his home.
it,** mM
a *CTM
distembUr
{: he ran-
■acked every
corner of the
ciutle to find
tlie king"!
body, and
■lew the two
chamber-
Uitis, U
guilty of Uie
murder].
8mm mm*
than <rthrr.
TKt matter
nwjMMM.
The circumstances of Duff's murder, related above, have their dra-
matic parallels iu (1) Duncan's presence as a guest in Macbeth'* 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 chamber-
lains ; (5) the suspicion caused by his over-acted horror when the
murder was discovered.
We have seen how, in Cymbelins, Shakspere used a tradition of the
three Hays' prowess at the battle of Loncart, fought in the reign of
Kenneth IIL, King of Scots. A story told of this Kenneth furnished,
it has been conjectured,1 a hint for some words of Macbeth (II. ii. 35 ;
41 — 43), uttered in the first agony of remorse for Duncan's murder :
1 By Dr. Furnew. See his variorum Macbeth, p. 369.
30
IH. MACBETH.
I Jttfi
A voict
heard hf
thtklHff.
[After hear-
ing lhU
VMM iv
Bag pond
a aleepleu
DlgbL.)
Me thought I heard ft voyce cry, u Sleep no more I " . . .
Still it cry'd " Sleepe no more I " to all the House :
" Glamis hath murther'd Sleepe, and therefore Cawdor
" Shall sleepe no more ; Macbeth 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.
[Hoi iL H. S. 158/ 1/9.] Thus might he seeme liappie to all
man, hailing the louc both of his lords and commons: bat yet
to himselfe be seemed most vnbappie, as he that could not but
still liue in continuall feare, least his wicked practise concerning
the death of Malcohne Duffe should come to light and knowledge
of the world. For so comnioth it to passe, that such as are
pricked in conscience for anio secret offense committed, haue euer
an vnquiet mind. And (as the fame gocth) it chanced that a
voice was heard as he was in bed in the night time to take his
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 cternall
"God: thou art he that didst conspire the innocents death, euter-
" prising by traitorous meanes to doo that to thy neighbour, which
"thou wouldest haue reuenged by crucll punishment in anic 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 vengeance 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 maie inioy this kingdome which thou doost indeuour
"to assure vnto thine issue."
The king with this voice being striken into great dread and
terror, passed that night without anie sleepe commiug in his eies.
All now leave the stage except Duncan's sons, Malcolm and
Donalbain, who, after a brief colloquy, resolve to fly from Scotland
(II. iii. 141—152). Holinshed says that
[Hoi h\ H. 8, 171/1/73] Malcolme Cammorc and Donald
in. MACBETH.
31
Bane the sons of king Duncane, for feare of their liues (which Matntvu
Camtnort
they might well know that Mackbeth would seeke to bring to J^JJJfJJ,
end for his more sure confirmation in the estate) fled into Cumber- Sow^*
land, where Malcolme remained, till time that saint Edward the SSIIlrfiy
sonne of Ethelred rccouered the dominion of England from the o/sngtamt.
Danish power, the which Edward receiued Malcolme by way of
most friendlie enterteinment : but Donald passed ouer into
Ireland, where he was tenderlie cherished by the king of that
land*
Act II. ac. iv. — Ross 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. S. 151/I/I2.] For the space of six moneths
togither, after this heinous murther thus committed, there
appeered no sunne by day, nor moone by night in anie part of
the realme, but still was the skie couored with continuall clouds,
and sometimes such outragious winds8 arose, with liglitcuings
and tempests, that the people were in great feare of present
destruction. . . .
[Hoi. ii. H. S. 152/1/9.] Monstrous sights also that were
scene within the Scotish kingdome that yeere were these : horsses
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
owle. Neither was it anie lesse woonder that the sunne, as
before is said, wascontiuuallie couered with clouds for six moneths
/v-.* yinu
v*aOur.
[So tun or
mooniHD
for in
months,
ortat wind*.
CAor OW1M
A tparhmtlm
ttrangltd fry
an mrtt .
1 Malcolm says : ■ lie to England." Donalbain determines otherwise ;
" To Ireland, I ; our seperated fortune
Shall keepe vs both the safer : where we are,
There's daggers in men's Smiles : the neere in blood,
The neereroloudy."
II. 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, IV. iii. 43, and John, III. iv. 8.
' Compare what Lennox says (II. iii. 69, 60), just before Duncan's murder
is discovered :
" The Night ha'a been vnruly : where we lay,
Our Chimneys were blowne downe" ; . . ,
III. MACBETH.
litxrulitic.
MttUtA
ttmmtfX to
ituticw.
A kinetic
ttuttuuur.
(If Mufatth
udbeea *
UwIUl king,
and if he hail
not prored a
tyrant at
kiLh«
might ha t«
be«n ac-
counted one
ofthtbest
of princea.]
WOT nil
■MtisgWI
tfuitu.
space. But all men vnderstood that the abhominable murther of
king Duffe was the cause heereof. . . .l
Two months — the utmost dramatic time, including intervals,8 which
can fairly be assigned to this play — left Sbakspere no room to set forth
Duncan's murderer as other than a graceless tyrant, 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. iL H. S. 171/2/9.] Mackbeth, after the departure thuB
of Duncanes Bonnes, vsed great liberalitie towards the nobles of
the real me, thereby to win their fauour, and when he saw that no
man went about to trouble him, he set his whole intention to
muiutcine iustice, and to punish all enormities and abuses, which
had chanced through the feeble ami slouthfull administration of
Duncane. . . . Mackbeth shewing himselfe thus a most diligent
punisher of all injuries and wrongs attempted by nine 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 themselucs in vertuouB
manere, and men of the church to attend their diuine seruice
according to their vocations. . . .
To bo briefe, such were the woorthio dooings and princelie acta
of this Mackbeth in the administration of the realme, that if he
had attained therevnto by rightful! means, and continued in
vprightnesse of iustice as he began, till the end of his reigne,
he might well haue beene nuinbred amongest the most noble
princes that anie where had reigned. He made manie holesomo
laws and statutes for the publike weak of his subjects. . . .
These aud the like commendable lawes 3 Makbetb caused to
be put as then Ln vse, gouerning the realme for the space of ten
yearea in equal! iustice.
1 An account of the execution of DufPs murderers is followed by these
words: " ThiB dread full end had Donwatd and hia wife, before he saw anie
sunne after the murtber was committed, and that by the appointment of the
moat righteous God, the creator of that heauenlieplonet and all other things,
who suffereth no crime to be vnreueiiged." — Hoi. ii. H. S. IM/2/43. Cp.
Macbeth^ II. iv. 6-7.
1 T-A., 807, 208.
■Given in Hoi. it E. 8. pp. 171, 172, under this heading: "Lawes made
by kiug Makbclh set / foorth according to Hector / Boetius.''
Ill
{HtL £ H 5. 172. 2 2+] But this wis but a couaterfet leak
theft by the &mr of Ike people. Sbortbe after. We
v what he was, in stead of eqajbe pmttiisiag eraehie.
to mare, mast he should be served of the same cup. a* he
to his predecessor. Tie words also of the thro*
would not oat of his mind, which as they
so Ekewise did they promise it at the
into the posteritie of Banquha He willed therefore the
Baa^nho, with his sonne named Flcaace, to come to a sapper
he had prepared for theta j which was in deed, as he had
death at the hands of certeine murderers, whom
he hired to execute that deed ; appointing them to meete with the
same Banquho and his sonne without the palace, as thej returned
to their lodging*, and there to slea them, so that he would not
haae hat house slandered, but that ia time to come he might cleare
hrawwrfr, if anie thing were laid to his charge rpoa anie suspicion
that might arise1
It chanced jet by the benefit of the darke night that though
the lather were amine, the sonne jet bj the belpe of ahnigbtie God
reatxulag him to better fortune, escaped that danger ; and after
wards having some inkfling (bj the admonition of some friends
which be bad in the court) bow bis life was sought no lease than
his fathers, who was slaine not bj chancemedlk* { us bj the handling
of the matter Makbeth woould baue had it to appeared but euen
Tpoo a prepensed deoise: wherevpon to auoid further perill he
fled into Wales.
ear
«at«avai4C
~**w
tab the men (III. i. 13M33\ who had mwfteftakea to akr
and IVaxice, that the murder
"mm%m>im*lft4
A«t something freta the Pattace ; *1 wares
Tnat I require a eleareneaae * :
34
III. MACBETH.
[Nothing
prapciM
with Mac-
beth after
Buquo'g
miirtler.J
MakMkt
drxad.
Hit crugttii
cautnl
tkrofjk
Jtart.
When the guests have retired from the supper to which Banquo
had been invited, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth converse (III, iv.
128-130):
Macb. How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person
At our great bidding T
Lady M. Did you send to him, Sir 1
Macb. I hoar© it by the way ; but I will send : . . .
Act III. sc. vi.1 — Lennox enquires the issue of Macbeth's summons
(11. 4043): "Sent he to Macduff?" And the Lord, with whom
Lennox talks, replies :
He did : and with an absolute " Sir, not I,"
The clowdy Messenger turnes me his backe,
And hums, as who should say, " You'l rue the time
"That clogges me with this Answer."
Macduff *3 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.
[Hal. IL H. S. 174/1/26.] But to returne vnto Makbeth, in
continuing the historic, and to begin where I left, yo shall vnder-
stand that, after the contriued slaughter of Banquho, 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 manic, in such sort that he
began to make those awaie by one surmized cauillation or other,
whome he thought most able to worke him anic displeasure.
At length he found such sweetnesse by putting 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 hec thought) hereby : for first they were rid out of the way
whome he feared, and then againe his cofTers were inriched by
their goods which were forfeited to his vso, whereby he might
better mainteine a gard of armed men about him to defend his
person from iniurie of them whom he had iu anie suspicion.
Further, to the end he might the more cruellie oppresse his
subiects with all tyrantlike wrongs, he builded a strong castell
1 Aa to the impossibility of fixing the time of this scene, see T-A.t 203.
IH. MACBETH.
35
on the top of an hie hill called Dunsinane, situate in Gowrie, ten
miles from Perth, on such a proud height, that, standing there
aloft, a man might behold well neere all the countries of Angus,
Fife, Stermoiul, and Eraedale,1 as it were lieng vndenieath him.
This castell, then, being founded on the top of that high hill, put
the realrae to great charges before it was finished, for all the
stuffe necessarie to the building could not be brought vp without
much toile and businesse. But Makbeth, being once determined
to haue the worke go forward, caused the thanes of each shire
within the realme, to come and helpe towards that building, each
man his course about.
At the last, when the turne fell vnto Makduffe, thane of Fife, to
build his part, he sent workemen with all needful I prouiaion, and
commanded them to shew such diligence in euerie behalfe, that no
occasion might bee giuen for the king to find fault with him, in
that he came not himselfe as other had doonc, which he refused
to doo, for doubt least the king, bearing him (as he partlie vnder-
stood) no great good will, would laie violent hands vpon him, as
he had doone vpon diuerse other. Shortlie after, Makbeth
comming to behold how the worke went forward, and bicause
he found not Makduffe thcro, he was sore offended, and said :
"I perceiue this man will neuer obeie my commandements, till he
" be ridden with a snaffle ; but I Bhall prouide well inough for him."
Act IV. sc. i. — In the columns immediately preceding the excerpt
which begins with the words " But to returne," Shakspere would find
James VI. 's descent traced from Banquo.2 Part of this genealogy
may have suggested the stage direction, "A shew of eight Kings"
(IV. i. 111). Banquo's chief descendants, in successive generations,
were : Fleance ; Walter, " who was made lord steward of Scotland " ;
Alan ; Alexander ; John ; and Walter, who " maried Margerie Bruce
daughter to king Robert Bruce, by whome he had issue king Robert the
second." The lineal successors of Robert II. — first of the Stewards
who wore the crown, and first in the "shew of eight Kings" — were :
Robert III. (2) ; James I. (3) ; James II. (4) ; James III. (5); James
IV, (6) ; James V. (7) ; Mary ; and James VI. (8), who, ere thiB play
was acted, had become the first King of Great Britain and Ireland.
J " Stermond and ErnedaU" are Slormont and Strathern, districts of
Perthshire.
1 This descent is fictitious. Chalmers (Caledonia, L 572-574) has deduced
the Fitz-Aians and the Stewards from a common ancestor, Alan, who was a
contemporary of onr Henry I.
Thcciuftft of
Dominant
bviUUd.
puebatt
Ml t!io
thanes
come to
Duniinane,
and overlook
the building
of the
caitle.]
Mahtvft
thane o/ Fijk
tacnt work-
men but
refused to
com i! him-
self, became
Macbetli
would iclie
him.]
Mikbtlh is
aflmdtd with
Mabivfft.
[, who told
aim to
bew»re of
liftcJulT).
VM liira
that no
born
of wom&n
hIi'uW il(ty
hlra, nor
should he be
vanqulihed
til] Birmra
Wood owe
to Dami-
nuieCutle.I
Angered by the Thane of Fife's refusal to assist personally at the
building of Dunsinane Castle, Macbeth could not
[Hoi. ii. H. S. 174/2/4] afterwards abide to looke vpan the
said Makduffe, either for that he thought his puinsance ouer great;
either else for that he had learned of ccrteine wizzards, in whose
words he put great confidence, (for that the prophesie had hap-
pened so right, which the three furies or weird sisters had declared
vnto him,) how that he ought to take heed of Makduffe, who in
time to come should seeke to destroie him.
And suerlie hcrevpon had he put Makduffe to death, but that
a certeine witch, whome hec had in great trust, had told that he
should neucr be slaine with man borne of anie woman, nor van-
quished tilt the wood of Be-rannc came to the castelt of Dunsinane.
By this prophesie Makbcth 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 vnpoa-
sible for anie man to vanquish him, and by the other vnpossible to
slea him. This vainc hope caused him to doo manie outragious
things, to the greeuous oppression of his Bubiects. At length
Makduffe, to auoid perill of life, purposed with himselfe to passe
into Englaud, to procure Malcolms Cammore to claims the crowne
of Scotland. But this was not so Becrctlio dcuiscd by Makduffe,
but that Makbeth had knowledge giucn him thereof: for kings (as
is said) hauc sharpe sight like vnto Lynx, and long ears like vnto
Midas. For Makbeth had, in euerie noble mans house, one site
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.1
Act IV. 8c. 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 forme this resolve (IV, i. 150-153) :
The Castle of Macduff, I will surprize ;
Seizo vpon Fife ; giue to th' edge o1 th' Sword
His Wife, his Babes, and all vnfortunate Soules
That trace him in his Line.
1 Cp. MuIhOi, III. iv. 131, 13S ;
11 There's not a one of them but in his house
I keepe a Seruant Feed."
III. MACBKTH.
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.] Immediatlie then, being aduertised
whereabout Makduffe went, he came hastily with a great power
into Fife, and foorthwith besieged the castell where Makdutfe
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 cuilL But neuerthelessc Makboth moat
cruellie caused the wife and children of Makduffe, with all other
whom he found in that castell, 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
escaped out of danger, and gotten into England vnto Malcolino
Cammore, to trie what purchuse hee might make by means of his
support, to reuengc the slaughter so cruellie executed on his wife,
his children, and other friends.
Act IV. 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 -de traction. With these clauses compare the lines
in Act rV\ sc. iii., indicated by the following references : (1) 11. 57-76,
(2) 76-90, (3) 91-114, (4) 114-132.
[Vncbcth
Mini -
cautle, bat
i* admitted
without
resuunc«. |
MakixtAt
CTMUil MMJ
apatntt
ftMkilu.
IfiMMH
tacnpeih info
Btiglawi
vnto
Mateotw*
CMMMV
[Hot. ii. H. S. 174/2/53.] At his comming vnto Malcolme, he
declared into what great miserie the estate of Scotland was brought,
by the detestable cruelties exercised by the tyrant Makbeth, hauing
committed manic horrible slaughters and murders, both as well of
the nobles as commons ; for the which ho was hated right mortallie
of all his liege people, desiring nothing more than to be deliuered
of that intollerable and most hcauic yoke of thraldome, which they
Busteined at such a caitifes hands.
Malcolme, hearing Makduffes woords, which he vttered in verie
lamentable sort, for meere compassion and verie ruth that pearsed
his sorowfull hart, bewailing the miserable state of his countrie, he
fetched a dcepe sigh ; which Makduffe perceiuing, began to fall
most earnestlic in hand with him, to enterprise the deliuering of
wonit vnto
MWbmm
I, daeavfag
Mac hrth's
cruelty].
MaUotmt
Mac4
Inff
ur^wl that
the eater-
]>rlae tu
■MtflM
Malcolm-
38
HI. MACBETH.
title was
gOOd, and
tm paqplt
hated
KMMU
(But, though
Malcolm wu
•iirry for tits
countrymen,
be diaaem-
blcd, rearing
thatMaoduff
might bean
■HtMty
Macbeth. 1
Cnmmnrt
hit aruwtr.
IBItTlOMi
J. Lust)
M,:J,'.._r„
[ Malcolm' •
Zod vice:
Avaricr.]
the Scotish people out of the bunds of so cruel! and btoudic a
tyrant, as Makbcth by too manie plainc experiments did shew
himselfe to be : which was an casie 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 ministrcd,
whereby they might be reuenged of those notable injuries, which
they dailie susteined by the outragious crueltic of Makbeths mis-
gouernance. Though Malcolme was verie sorowfull for the oppres-
sion of his countriemcu the Scots, in maner as Makduffe had
declared ; yet doubting whether he were come as one that raent
vnfeinedlie as he spake, or else as sent from Makbeth to betraie
hiiu, he thought to haue some further triall, and thcrevpon,
dissembling his mind at the first, he answered as followeth :
"I am trulie verie sorie for the miserie chanced to my countrie
"of Scotland, but though I haue neuer so great affection to relieue
"the same, yet, by reason of certeine incurable vices, which reigne
" in me, I am nothing meet thereto. First, such immoderate lust
"and voluptuous sensualitic (the abliominablo founteinc of all
"vices) followeth mo, that, if I were made king of Scots, I should
"seeko to defloure your maids and matrones, in such wise that
"mine intemperancie should be more importable vnto you, than
" the bloudie tyrannie of Makbeth now is." Ileerevnto Makduffo
answered: "This suerlie is a verie euill fault, for mauie noble
"princes and kings haue lost buth liues and kingdomes for the
"same; neuerthelesse there are women enow in Scotland, and
"therefore follow my counselL Make thy selfe king, and 1 shall
"conucie the matter so wiselie, that thou sbalt be so satisfied
"at thy pleasure, in such secret wise that no man shall be aware
"thereof."
Then said Malcolme, " I am also the most auaritious creature
" on the earth, so that, if I were king, I should seeke so manie
"waiestoget lands and goods, that I would slea the most part
"of all the nobles of Scotland by sunnized accusations, to the end
" I might iuioy their lands, goods, and possessions ; . . . Thcre-
"fore" saith Malcolme, "suffer me to rcmainc where I am, least,
"if I atteine to the regiment of your realme, mine vnquenchable
"auarice may prooue such that ye would thinkc the displeasures.
III. MACBETH.
39
"which nowgrieueyou, should Beeme easie in respectof thevnmeasur-
"ablc outrage, which might insuo through my comming amongst you."
Makduffe to this made answer, how it was a far woorsc fault
than the other: "for auarice is the root of all mischiefe, and for
"that crime the most part of our kings haue beene Blaine and
"brought to their finall end. Yet notwithstanding follow my
"counsel^ and take vpon 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 dissimuta-
" tion, telling of lcasings, and all other kinds of deceit, bo that I
"naturallie reioise in nothing so much, us to betraie & deceiue
"such as put anie trust or confidence in my woords. Then sith
"there is nothing that more becommeth a princo than conBtancie,
"veritie, truth, and Justice, with the other laudable fellowship of
"those faire and noble vertues which are comprehended onelie in
" soothfastnesse, and that Heng vtterlie ouerthroweth the same;
"you see how vnable I am to gouerne anie prouince or region:
"and therefore, sith you haue remedies to clokc and hide all tho
" rest of my other vices, I praie you find shift to clokc this vice
"amongBt the residue."
Then said Makduffe : "This yet is the woorst of all, and there
" I leaue thee, and therefore saio : Oh ye vnhappic and miserable
" Scotishmen, which are thus scourged with so niauie and sundrie
"calamities, ech one aboue other! Yo faauc one cursscd nnd
" wicked tyrant that now reigneth ouer you, without anie right or
"title, oppressing you with his most bloudie crueltie. This other,
" that hath the right to the crowne,1 is bo replet with the inconstant
EJbofeTi
•niwer :)
CouitoMa-
MM m
rooto/aU
[Malcolm's
rtc«iofl
Hon and
cUtiting in
lie*.
'■f'i'lM'lf.'JI.
1 In II. I08-Illf Macduff refers to the saintly 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, JIoL says (ii. U. 8. 17 8/2/44) :
. . . "king Malcolme (special He by the good admonishment and exhortation
of his wife queene Margaret, a woman of great aeale vnto the religion of
that time) gaue himselfe in mtmer altogither vnto much deuotion, and workes
of mercie ; as in dooing of almeB deeds, by prouiding for the poore, and such
like godlie exercises : so that in true vertue he was thought to excel! all other
princes of his time. To be brief, herein there seemed to be in maner a cer-
te:ne strife betwixt him and that vertuous oucene his wife, which of them
should be must ferui-nt in the loue of Goa, so that manie people by the
imitation of them were brought vnto a better life."
King
Malcolm*,
through
tihortalkm
Of kit wtft,
giuttk
kimtttftto
Jruotton.
Ag+Un
40
III. MACBETH.
MUM
Malcolmt
atmJbrttU
Nalcolmc
oO*r.
" behauiour and manifest vices of Englishmen, fchab he is nothing
"woorthie to inioy it; for by his owne confession he is not onelie
"auaritious, and giuen to vnsatiable lust, but so false a traitor
"withall, that no trust is to be had vnto anio woord he speaketh.
"Adieu, Scotland, for now I account my selfe a banished man for
"eucr, without comfort or consolation:" and with those woords
the brackish teares trickled downe his cheekes verie abundantlie.
At the last, when ho was readie to depart, Malcolnie tooke him
by the sleeue, and said: "Be of good comfort, Makduffe, for I
"hauc none of these vices beforo remembrcd, but hauc icsted
"with thee in this manner, onelie to prooue thy mind ; for diuersc
"times lice retof ore hath Makbeth sought by this manner of
" meanes to bring me into his hands, but the more slow I hauc
"shewed my selfe to condescend to thy motion and request, the
"more diligence shall I vse in accomplishing the same." Incon-
tinentlie heerevpon they imbraced ecu other, and, promising to be
faithful! the one to the other, they fell in consultation how they
might prouidc for all their businessc, to bring the same to good
effect.
[Efclwanl'i
girt of
prophecy,
and power
of hc«Ung
aril. J
Mahtufft
vritttJ*
U tier i to kit
fritnda i j*
$rvtiamt.
For the matter of the loyal digression (TV. iii. 140-159) 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 H. E. 195/i/50.] As hath beenc thought, he was
inspired with the gift of prophesie, and also to hauc had the gift
of healing infirmities and diseases. He vsod to helpe those that
were vexed with the disease, eommonlie called the kings euill, and
left that vertue as it were a portion of inheritance vnto his
successors the kings of this renhno.
The latter part of sc. iii., Act IV., from Ross's entrance, is wholly
of Shakspere's invention, for, according to Holinshed, the slaughter of
Lady Macduff and her children was known to Macduff beforo he joined
Malcolm.
Act V. sec. ii.-viii. — The following excerpts illustrate the last Act
of Macbeth,
[HoL ii. H, S. 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 Malcolmc was con-
III. MACBETH.
41
federat with him, to come hastilie into Scotland to clnime the
crowne, and therefore he required them, sitli he was right inheritor
thereto, to assist him with their powers to recouer the same out of
the hands of the wrongfull vsurper.
In the meone time, Malcolme purchased such fauor at king
Edwards bands, that old Siuvrd earle of Northumberland was
appointed with ten thousand nun to go with him into Scotland, to
support him in this enterprise, for recoueric of his right1 After
these newes were spread abroad in Scotland, the nobles drew into
two seuerall factions, the one taking part with Makbeth. and the
other with Malcolme. Heerevpon insued oftentimes sundrio
bickerings, & diuerse light skirmishes ; for those that were of
Malcolmes side would not ieopard to ioine with their enimies in
a pight field, till his comming out of England to their support.
But after that Makbeth perreiued his enimies power to increase,
bj such aid as came to them foorth of England with his aduersarie
Malcolme, he recoiled backe into Fife, there purposing to abide in
campe fortified, at the castell of Dunsinane, and to fight with his
enimies, if they ment to pursue him ; howbeit some of his friends
aduised him, that it should be best for him, either to make some
agreement with Malcolme, or else to flee with all speed into the
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,
till Birnane wood were brought to Dunsinane ; nor yet to be slaine
with anie man, that should be or was born of ante 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" (V. iii. 8). Malcolm III. (Guunore),
Macbeth** successor, offended his Gaelic subjects by his partiality to
English ideas and manners. On his death, in 1092, his brother
DoriAlbain — who had lived under very different conditions — rame
U<iH*k
M
JfoMclfci*
miriM »-
lit*.
tnutim
1 Malcolm tells Macduff (IV. iii. 133-135) :
. . . "before thy [they F.] heere approach,
Old Seyuxtrd, with Un thousand warlike men*
Already at a point, waa setting foorth."
42
III. MACBETH.
T»« nsptet
iknttk*
ptopU had
to rem«<
Donald Brnut
fin- their
tinf [was,
that they
hoped be
would put
BOW
dlx-
corouui
fag ni
IWHMU
(Malcolm
comes to
Binurn
VoodL]
Brnnrk/M of
trtu (bonus
ty Kftl
colm'i
■old ten
m they
advance
against
Dunsioane].
(Macbeth
nimemtier*
the pro-
phecy about
lilrnam
Wood.)
Makbeth
sttUtA hi*
men in order
of batted.
MakixUt
jleetA.&U
pHMud Oj
Makdnffc
forward as tho 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 H, & I8O/1/6 1.] For manio 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 gouerncment recouer 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 anio woman."
[Hoi. ii. H. S* l/6/i/i.] Maleolme, 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, lie
commanded euerie man to get a bough of some tree or other of
that wood in his hand, as big as he might beure, 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
cnimies. Ou 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 prophestc which he had heard long
before that time, of the comming of Birnane wood to Dunsinane
castell, was likelie to be now fulfilled.1 Neuerthclesse, he brought
his men in order of battell, and exhorted them to doo valiant-lie ;
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
1 There are stories, belonging to other times and places, of armies bearing
leafy boughs while advancing upon the forces opposed to them. See Funiess's
ed. of Macbeth, pp. 379-361. The removal of Birnam Wood seems, however,
to have been a tradition in Wyttionn*a age (fourteenth century), foT he saya
(VI. xviii. 379, 380) :
* Dfl n yttanu Wod pai callyd ay
Dat [Birnam Wood] lung tyme cftyiehcnd Jmt day."
III. MACBETH.
43
Tnto Lunfannaine, where Makbeth, perceiuing that Makduflo was
hard nt bin backe, leapt beside his horsae, saieng: "Thou traitor,
"what menneth it that thou shouldcst thus in vaine fallow me
u that am not appointed to be slaine by anie creature that is borne
"of a woman? come on therefore, and rcceiue thy reward which
" thou hast deserued for thy painest " and therwithall he lifted vp
his swoord, thinking to haue slaine him.
But Makduffe, quicklie auoiding from his horese, yer he came
at him, answered (with his naked swoord in his hand) saieng : " It
11 is true, Makbeth, and now shall thine insatiable crueltie haue an
" end, for 1 am eueu he that thy wizzards haue told thee of; who
" was neucr borne of my mother, but ripped out of her wombe : "
therewithal! he stept vnto him, and slue him in the place. Then
cutting his head from his shoulders, he set it vpon a pole, and
brought it vnto Malcolme. This was the end of Makbeth, after he
had reigned 17 yeeros ouer the Scotishnien, In the beginning of
his reigne he accomplished manic woorthie acts, verie profitable to
the common-wealth (as ye ltaue heard) but afterward, by illusion of
the diucll, he defamed the same with most terrible crueltie. He
was slaine in the yeere of the incarnation, 1057, and in the 16
yeere of king Edwards reigne ouer the Englishmen,
[Macbeth
cannot (as
he tellf
Macduff) b*
■lain by any
one boro of
a woman.]
[MaolufT
answers that
he was not
bom of lita
mother, but
rij>|K!doutof
liar wotob.]
MakbttK fa
l/at'»f.
3057. lo. UA
lOfll. H.B.
8. ff. B.
When Earl Siward hears of his son's death, he asks ; " Had he his
hurts before 1" 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. i. H. E. I92/1/27.] About the thirteenth yeare of king M<%uh.waL
Edward his reigne 2 (as some write) or rather about the nineteenth //<rtor ^f
or twentieth yeare, as should appeare by the Scotish writers,
1 John Stair or Major, a ScottiBh divine and historian, whose HUUrria
OentU ticotorum appeared in 1521. He died about 1549. His date (1057) for
Macbeth'^ death is confirmed by Af. Seottw (Pcrtz, v. 558).
a Kadward was crowned on Easter Day (April 3), 1043.— AS. Chron.
(M. H.B.I 434.
44
III. MAL'UETII.
[Siw.rd
went into
millHMd
within
■nny.
deft-nted
Macbeth,
Wl(l iilncwl
Malcolm on
t h« ScotUth
throne.)
Smon. /hi*.
[In this
IwtUewlUi
KMbakk,
■ ton of
Riwird wu
■Iain, lint
Siwird rc-
jolced when
told that Mb
ion's death-
wound WR*
in boot]
[It in alto
muurted
that Si-
ward'a ion
inraded
BwUomI
before thla
battle, and
wu •lain,
whereupon
hti father
ihe<le*UV
tn
front) aald
that neither
of them
wnuM WlHll
tin? ..Hi. i
kind Of
death.)
tfatnhM,
[Kilsobn
crowned at
Bcone.)
Si ward the noble earle of Northumberland with a great power
of horssemen went into Scotland, and in battell put to flight
Mackbeth * that had vsurped the erowne of Scotland, and, that
doone, placed Malcolme surnamed Camoir, the sonne of Duncanc,
sometime king of Scotland, in the gouernement of that real mo, 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
sorowfull, yet, when he heard that he died of a wound which he
had receiued in fighting stoutlio, in the forepart of his bodie, and
that with his face towards the enimie, he greatlie reioiHed thereat,
to hcarc that he died so maufullic. But here is to be noted, that
not now, but a little before (as Hcnrie Hunt, saith) 2 that earle
Siward went into Scotland himsclfe in person, he sent his sonne
with an armie to conquere the land, whose hap was there to be
slaine : and when his fathor heard the ncwes, 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 death."
Malcolm's closing Hpeeeh (V. viii. 60-75) is illustrated by the
subsequent passage, which comprises the names of several characters
who appear in Macbeth.
[Hoi. ii. H. S. 176/1/47.] Malcolme Cammore thus recouering
the relmo (as ye haue heard) by support of king Edward, in the
16 yeorc of the same Edwards rcignc, ho was crowned at Scone a
1 Macbeth was defeated by Siward on July 27, 1064.— AS. Chron.
(M. U. B.t 453). Macbeth'* escape from the battle is recorded in the Cotton ian
MS. (Tiberius, B. 1.) of the A-8. Chron,
> Bcnr. Hunt (Af. H. B.% 760 B) : "Circa hoc tempus [1052] Siwardm
Consul fortiesimus Nordhumbre . . . mieit filium suum in Scotiam con-
quirendam." The pa**W given in my excerpt from Holinshed ("whose hap
was . . . kind of death ' ) is taken from Henry, who proceeds thus : " Siwardus
igitur in Scotiom proficiscens, regem bello vicit, regnum totum destruxit,
destmctum sibi subjngavit"
1 Cp. the closing lines of Macbeth:
" So tfaankes to all at once, and to each one
Whom we inuite to see v a Crown'd at Scone."
IV. JOHN.
45
, the 25 day of April!, in the yecre of our Lord 1057- Immediatlie £ J$£f*(
after hi* coronation he called a parlement at Forfair, in the which
he rewarded them with lands and liuinga that had assisted him
against Makbeth, aduancing them to fees and offices as he saw
cause, & commanded that speciallie those, that bare the surname
of anie offices or lands, should hauc and inioy the same. He
created manic earles, lords, barons, and knights. Manic of them, J£njid i
that before were thanes, were at this time made earles, as Fife,
Menteth, . . . Leuenox, . . . Cathnes, Rosse, and Angus. These
were the first earles that haue beene heard of amongst the
Scotishmen1 (as their histories doo make mention.) Manic new
surnames were taken vp 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.
i |g
tarlo.
IV. JOHN.
The Shaksperian play entitled The life and death of King Iohn
opens shortly after the King's first coronation, on Ascension Day (May
27), 1199 ; and closes with his death on October 19,2 1216. This is
also the time embraced by an anonymous writer's Troublesome Haigiie
of John King of England, 1591 ; a play which Shakspere has closely
followed, without making any independent use of historical sources.
The author of TJte Troublesome Raigne probably derived most of his
historical matter from Holinshed ; from whose Chronicles the larger
part of the succeeding excerpts is taken.
Act L sc. i. — I begin with the excerpts which form the sources of
the opening scene.
[Hoi. iii. 157/i/u.] Iohn the yoongest son of Henrie the -<»*>^-i
second was proclaimed king of England, beginning his reigno
the sixt daie of April,3 in the ycare of our Lord 1199. . . . This ** HoH4j
1 "Mai . . . My Thanes and Kinsmen,
Henceforth be Earlee, the first that euer Scotland
In such an Honor nam'd."
J Or October 18. The wordB in M. Paris {Wendowr), ii. 668, are : "Qui
[Johannes] posten, in nocte quite diem sancti Lucae EvangelUtae proximo sccuta
eat, ex hac vita migravit." Cogge*hale (184) Bay* that John died about mid-
night, "in festo Sancti Lucae evangelistae."
' The date of Richard I.'a death. But John's regnal yean are computed
from hia coronation on Ascension Day (May 27), 1199.
46
IV. .10 FIX.
Matth.
Pari*.
Chine* [de-
livered to
John by|
Robert de
Turntkam.
t.and]
Tktmat de
Fume*
delivered
torim IJo
Arthur.
Arthur Ac-
knowledged
in A'ljmi,
Blaine, and
Ton mine.]
Strife
awtongit Uu
BmgUm mo*
Ue a on rA«
©rt«r mc/c q^
UCMO.
[Arthur ton
to Geoffrey,
elder brother
to John.]
[Eleanor
■trove to
make the
realty
U Juhn,]
[John owed
nil crown
• h .il', |o
Hi JBKfl I
man, so soone as his brother Richard was deceassed, sent Ilubert
archbishop of Canturburie, and William Marshall earle of Striguill
(otherwise called Chepstow) into England, both to proclaims him
king, and also to see his peace kept; togithcr with Geffrey Fitz
Peter lord checfu iustieo, and diuerse other barons of the rcalmc ;
whilcat he himselfc went to Chinon where his brothers treasure
laie, which was foorthwith deliuered viito hint by Robert de
Tumeham : and therewithal! the castell of Chinon and Sawmer
and diuerse other places, which were in the custodie of the fore-
said Robert. But Thomas de Funics nephue to the said Robert
de Tumeham deliuered the citie and castell of Augiers vnto
Arthur duke of Britaine. For, by generaLl consent of the nobles
and peeres of the countries of Aniou, Maine, and Touraine, Arthur
was receiued as the liege and souercigne lord of the same
countries.
For euen at this present, and so soone aa it was knowno that
king Richard was deceased, diuerse cities and towues, on that
side of the sea belonging to the said Richard whilcat he Uued, fell
at ods among themaelues, some of them indeuouring to proferre
king Iohn, other labouring rather to be vnder the governance of
Arthur duke of Britaine : considering that he seemed by most
right to be their chcefe lord, foraomuch as he was sonno to Gefrroy
elder brother to Iohn. And thus began the broilo in those
quarters, whereof in processe of time insued great inconuenience,
and finallie the death of the said Arthur, aa shall be shewed
hereafter,
Now wltilest king Iohn was thus occupied in recouering his
brothers treasure, and truucling with bis subjects to reduce them
to his obedience, queeno Elianor his mother, by the helpe of
ITubert archbishop of Canturburie and other of the noble men
and barons of the land, trauelled as diligentlie to procure the
English people to receiue their oth of allegiance to be true to
king Iohn. . . .
[Hoi. iii. 158/1/42.] And all this was doone cheeflie by
tho working of the kings mother, whom the nobilitie much
honoured and louod. For she, being bent to prefer liir aonne
Iohn, left no stone vnturned to establish him in tho throne, com-
IV. JOHtf.
47
paring oftentimes the difference of gouernemcnt betwceno a king
that is a man, and a king that is but a child. For as Iohn was
32 yeares old, so Arthur duke of Britaine was but a babe to
speake of. . . .
Surelie queene Elianor the kings mother was sore against hir
nephue Arthur, rather mooued thereto by enuie concerned against
his mother, than vpon 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 reaime of England, till
hir sonne Bhould come to lawfull age, to gouerne of himselfe1. . . .
When this dooing of the queene was signified vnto the said
Constance, she, doubting the suertie of hir aonne, 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 Bntaine with French souldiers.
isi,.- mti
tlml Johll
Win32,
Arthur but
I btfei la
speak of. ]
Qutrne
KHnneirt
enwit affatmt
Arthur.
titttclUMM Of
Britain*
[would rule
b Bnad nd,
If Arthur
were king J.
[Arthur
entrusted by
ConitUnoe
to Philip's
'.■iUV.j
There is no historical authority for Chatilton's embassage ; nor did
Philip demand that England and Ireland should be yielded to Arthur.
Immediately after Richard I.'s death, Anjou, Maiiu1, aud 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.
Chatillon having departed, John says (I. i, 48, 49) :
Our Alibied and our Priories shall pay
This expeditions charge.
Faulconbridge is commissioned to wring from " hoording Abbots"
the money needed (111. iii. 6-11), and afterwards we hear that he is in
England, "ransacking the Church" (111. iv. 171,172). Shakspere
merely tells us what the older dramatist brings on the stage, in a scene
when tho Bastard visits a Franciscan 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 1 200 8 he ordered that horses and cattle belonging to
" the white raoouks " (Cistercians), and left by them in his forests after
October 13, should be forfeited to him.
1 Eleanor to Constance (II. i. 122, 123) :
"Oin\ insolent I thy bastard shall be King,
That thou maist be a Queen, and checke the world ! "
* In 1210, after his return from an expedition into Ireland, John extorted
.£100,000 from the regular clergy and military orders. "The moonks of the
Ciste&ux order, otherwise called white moonks, were constrained to paie 40
thousand pounds of niluer at thin time, all their priuileges to the contrarie
notwithstanding."— Hoi iii. 174/2/6i (M. Pari*, ii. 530, 531).
18
IV. JOHN,
[The Clitor-
ciwm would
gl*e John
nothing
wwmrd* the
payment of
the £30,000
(SO.000
marks.—
101 IDS)
which ho luul
promised
Philip.]
PkUip king
SieHarUi
tltutto
rtcovnt <y*
Limofiti.
[Hoi. iii. UJ2 i i-i J The cause that mooued the king to
deale so hardlic with them was, for that they refused to helpe
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 coucnanted to pay the French
king.
King John is then required to hear the appeal of Robert Faulcon-
bridge, who claims his paternal inheritance, on the ground that his
elder brother, Philip, ia illegitimate. Concerning Philip (or Richard)
Fa u Icon bridge's historic original, Holinshed records that, in the year
[Hoi. iii. I6O/2/69,] Philip, bastard aonne to king Richard,1 to
whomo his father had giucn the castcll and honor of Coinacke,
killed the vicount of Limoges, in reuenge of his fathers death,
who was elaine (as yoe haue heard) in besieging the castell of
ChaluB Cheuercll.
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 VI, It is possible that tho earlier dramatist
(whose Faulconbridge was inherited by Shakspere) availed himself of
the main situation in Dunois's case j to which more effect was given by
bringing on the stage a legitimate younger brother, who vehemently
urges lus 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 Orlcance (murthcred in Paris 2 by Ihon Duke
of Burgoyne) . . . was owner of the Castle of Coucy, 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 (JSssay* on Shaksptre, e<L 1875, p. 196) i&w a re-
semblance both in name and character between Faulconbridge and Faleo ds
Brenta or Faukcs de Breaute, whom Hoi. calls Foukes de Brent. Hoi relates
how Faukcs served John in the barons' war (1215-16), and afterwards aided
the royalists in their struggle with Lewis. Another bastard Fauconbrid^e — "a
man of no lesse corage then audncitie ■ (see illustration of 3 Hen, VJ.t I. L 239),
"a stoute harted manne" ( Hard yiig -Grafton, 459) — was a contemporary of
Edward IV.
s In 1407. Lewis Duke of Orleans was brother to Charles VI. John Duke
of Burgundy, their first cousin, is present — but does not speak — in Henry V.
III. v.
iv. joijn.
49
jet she was not so faire, but she was aswell bcloued of the duke
of Orleance, as of her husband. Betwene the duke and her
husbande (I cannot tell who was father) she concerned a child,
and brought furth a prety boye called Ihon ; whiche chylde beynge
of the age of one yere, the Duke disceased, and not longe after
the mother and the lorde of Cawny ended their lyues. The next
of kyune to the lord Cawny chalenged the enheritauncc, which
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 dcnyed. In conclusion, this matter was in
contention before the Presidentes of the parliament of Paris, and
there hanged in controuersie tyll the child came to the age of .viij,
yeres old. At whiche tyme it was demaunded of him openly
[p. 145] whose sonne he was : his frends of his mothers syde
aduertised him to requyre a day, to be aduised of so great an
answere ; whiche he asked, & to hym it was graunted. In the
meane sea&on his sayed frendes persuaded him to claime his
iuheritaunco, as sonne to the lord of Cawni, which was an
liouorable liuinge, and an auncient patrimony ; affirming that, if
he said contrary, he not onely slaundered 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 instruccion, brought hym before the Iudges 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 ;
"more glad to be his Bastarde, wyth a meaue liuyng, then the
" lawful sonne of that coward cuckolde Canny, with hys foure
"thousande crounes [a year]." The iustices muche merueyled
at his bolde answere, and his mothers cosyns detested him for
Bhamynge of his mother ; and his fathers supposed l 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
[The wtfh of
the Lord of
Cauny waa
I-wm BUM
of Orleaoi.
She brought
f..rth * boy,
[whom her
next of kl it
toapd bi
be*
hutanL]
rm lien's
legitimacy
»«« dftbewd
before the
PMldtttt
or the
lVlli'. Infill.
or Pari.,
and, when
he wu
eight, he
wu called
upon by
them to amy
■ hOtt MM
he m]
(The boy
HHffwld
that he
wu not
coward
euokold
Cauny'a
lawful «o«,
but the
Udtk I)uk'-"s
baeUnl.]
1 T supposed father's.
50
IV. JOHN'.
[Charlfs
Duke of
OrlMDi pro-
vUSed fur the
boy, who
dltlUw
Duke good
servlco.]
•Ota
of Henry
ll.l rHeUd
BftkopfHOf
Durham.
(The Pop*
wonld h*r«
liiu.. If 1»
K-ui AnM
blood.]
[Hir]iat-1
tore oat »
lion' i heart.]
(duryng his [the Duke's] captiuitio) l he [Dunois] defended his
[the Duke's] landes, eipulsed thenglishmen, & in conclusion
procured his deliueraunce.
Stow (256) has a similar story :
Morgan, Prouost of Beuerley, brother to KL Iohn, wm elected
byshop of Durham, but he comming to Rome to be consecrated,
returned againe without it, for that he was a bastard, and K Henry,
father to K. Iohn, had begotfceu him of the wife of one Radulph
Bloeth ; yet would the Pope hauc 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 Richard, says the younger Faulconbridge (I. i. 99-101), took
advantage of Sir Robert's absence
in on Embassie
To Germany, there, with the Emperor
To treat of high affairs touching that time.
Perhaps Sir Robert Faulconbridge usurped the mission of William
Longchamp, Bishop of Ely and Chancellor ; sent by Richard, in 1196,
to confer with the Emperor Henry VI., who was anxious to prevent
peace being made between the King and Philip of France {Hoi. iii.
148/1/25). Or we may imagine that Sir Robert was one of the
« diuerse noble men " who represented Richard 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 Fauleonbridge's dramatic age,
need not trouble us, for Richard — who sent Sir Robert 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 1 199.
The Bastard would not have his mother sorrow for her weakness,
because (I. L 268, 2M)>
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 Inprysono-
ment [in Germany], ho shuld slo a lyon, & tcro y* Harte out of his
body, where through he shuld deserue y* name of Rycharde Cure
de Lyon,2 . . .
Hit dlspjii-
lion Of
mind.
1 In England, from 1415, when he was taken prisoner at Agincourt, to his
release in, 1440.
1 HU. (iii. 156/1 /60) give* another reason for this name :
** As he was coroelie of personage, so was he of stomach more couTagious and
fierce, so that, not without causa, he obteined the surname of Otuur de lion,
that is to Baie, ' The lions hart.' "
IV. JOHN.
51
Acts II.-III. — The historic time of Acts II. 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 our ladie" (August
16), 1199, and ending "on Lammas daie " (August 1), 1202, when
Arthur was taken prisoner by John. Since these Acts contain so much
warfare for the possession of Angel's, 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.
[Sol. Hi. 158/2/25.] In [1199] ... his mother queeno
Elianor, togither with capteinc Marchadcs, entrcd into Aniou, and
wasted the same, bicansc they of that countrio had rcceiued
Arthur for their souereigne lord and gouernour. And, amongst
other townes and fortresses, they tooke the citie of Anglers, slue JV^S? ^
manie of the citizens, and committed the rest to prison.
[Sol. iil 170/1/27.] [In 1206 John] entred into Anion, £•;££*
and, comming to the citie of Angiers, appointed certeine bands pot*dor-
of his footmen, & all his light horssemen to compasse the towno
about, whilcst he, with tho residue of the footmen, & all the men
of amies, did go to assault the gates. Which enterprise with fire %£*£?£&
and sword he so manfuUie executed, that the gates being in a ^^jf"**
moment broken open, the citie was entered and deliuered to tho
souldiere 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'B fair fame (IL i. 129-131) ;
My boy a bastard ! by my soule, I thinke
His father neuer was bo true begot :
It cannot he, and if thou wort his mother.
In 1151 Eleanor was divorced by LewisVII. of France, and was soon
afterward* married to Henry II., — then Count of Anjou, — " contrary "
(says Fabyan) " to the comiuauwdenieiit of his Fader, for he hadde
shewed to hym that he had lycn by her, whan ho was ye sayd Kynges
Steward." — 281. According to Stow (213), "she was defamed of
adultery with an Inndell, &c." l
Provoked by Constance's railing, Eleanor asserts that a will exists
which "barres the title" of Arthur (II. i. 192). This will was made
by Richard, who
[Sol. iii. I65/2/69.] feeling himselfe to wax weaker and
weaker, preparing hiB mind to death, which he perceiued now to
1 Cp. also the ballad entitled "Queen Eleanor's Confession," in Percy's
JIlHfWWL
52
IV. JOHX.
Bt ortUinttA
Anttita-
»rtt.
[He Assigned
the crown of
Kn^lwul to
John.]
[John and
Philip
meet.)
Tktfrcnck
ktmgt
be at hand, he ordeined his testament, or rather reformed and
added sundrie things vnto the same which he before had made, at
the time of his going foorth towards the holie land
[p. 156] Unto his brother Iohn he assigned the crowne of
England, and all other his lands and dominions, causing the
Nobles there present to sweare fealtie vnto him.
I now resume Holinshed's narrative of the events which followed
John's coronation.
jrtxur a*t* [Hoi. iii. IGO/2/4.] king Philip made Arthur duke of Britaine,
pf Britaine
m<Mj< knitfkt. knight, and receiued of him his homage for Aniou, Poictiers,
Maine, Touraine, and Britaino. 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 bj commissioners, in a place
betwixt the townes of Buteuant and Guleton.1 Within three
daies after, they came togither personallie, and communed at full
of the variance depending betweene them. But the French king
shewed hiniselfc stifle and hard in this treatie, demanding the
whole countrie of VeulquesBine 2 to be restored vnto him, as that
which had boene granted by Geffrey earle 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, Aniou, Maine, and Touraine, should be deliuered and
wholie resigned vnto Arthur duke of Britaine.
But these, & diuerse other requests which he made, king Iohn
would not in any wise grant vnto, and so they departed without
conclusion of ante agreement.
About two months after this fruitless interview, William des Roches,
Arthur's general, stole Arthur away from Philip, and effected a
temporary reconciliation between the uncle and nephew. Des Roches
also surrendered Le Mans to John, who entered the town and there met
Constance and Arthur. But, being warned that John meant to
1 Botmvant, near Portmort, Normandy, and le Qoultf, in the eame duchy.
8 Cp. John's gift to Lewis (IL i. 527*529) :
"Then do I giue Volquesaen, Torain*, Maine,
Poyctiers, and Aniow, these fine Prouincea,
With her to thee ■ ; . . .
Shakepere followa T. JR., i. 29.
IV. JOUX.
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
Austria1 "awiddows thanks " (II. i. 32) for championing Arthur. —
Hoveden, ir. 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
betrothal— 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
(II. L 484-530), which is based on the older play.
[Hoi. iii. I6I/1/53.] FinaUie, vpon the Ascension day in
this second yeare of his reigne, they came eftsoones to a com-
munication betwixt the townes of Vernon and Lisle Dandelie;*
where finallic they concluded an agreement, with a marriage to
be had betwixt Lewes the Bonne of king Philip, and the ladie
Blanch, daughter to Alfonso king of Castile the 8 of that name,
& neece to E. Iohn by his sister Elian or.
In consideration whereof, king Iohn, besides the summe of
thirtie thousand markes in siluer, as in reaped of dowrie assigned
to his said neece, resigned his title to the citie of Eureux, and also
vnto all those townes which the French king bad by warre taken
from him, the citie of Angiers onelie excepted, which citie he
receiued againe by couenants of the same agreement The French
king restored also to king Iohn (as Baft Niger writeth) the citie
of Tours, and all the castels and fortresses which he had taken
j»»*
a aaa ■**
Matt*.
Pari:
r Bliii eh' 1
dowry. I
(Anger*
rr»t..rr<l
lu Johii.I
Jta. Jiigrr
1 The dramatic " Austria " has not even a nominal historic existence : he ia
a compound of Leopold Duke of Austria and Widomor Viscount of Limoges.
The former— who imprisoned Richard (Cogaealiale, 56) — died on December 26,
1195 {CogtjeihaUj 66) ; four years prior to the opening of this play. Richard
was mortally wounded while besieging Widomar's castle of Clialuz Chahroi
(Cogguhale, 95), and died on April 6 (Diceto, ii. 166) or April 7 {Coygeahalc,
96). 1199.
■ In January, 1200, Philip and John "corivenerunt ad colloquium inter
Andeli et Gwallun" [Andeli, Normandy, and Qaillon, Vexin], where they mode
this agreement — Sweden, iv. 106. On May 22 they met again between Bote*
avant and le Goulet, — Ilovcden, iv. 114. (As to Hovtden's probable error in
naming Midsummer Day for Ascension Day, see Dr. Stubbs's note in his ed. of
Hoveden, iv. 114.) A third meeting of John and Philip took place at Vernon
(Normandy) on May 23, and Arthur then did homage to John for Brittany.
On the same day Lewis and Blanch were betrothed at Portmort.— iftnecfen,
iv. 115. (According to Itinerary y John was at Butavant on May 16, and at
Roche-Andely from May 17 to May 25.)
54
rv. joiin.
[John did
homage Id
Philip tat
BritUny.
mud received
homage for
the same
from
Arthur.)
PhoNi r.'
(■ 1" ..1
by John.]
Polydor.
Tkt king
eomtth hacke
again* into
England.
Arthur dutt
of Britain*
doth homage
totht king
of England.
(Arthur,
mistruHting
J.'tir,, r. .
(n: . ■ ■) » it!|
Philip.}
within Tourainc : . . . The king of England likewise did homage
vnto the French king for Britaino, and againe (as after you shall
heare) receiued homage for the same countrie, and for the countie
of Richmont, of his nephue Arthur. . . .
By this conclusion of marriage betwixt the said Lewes and
Blanch, the right of king Iohn went awaic ; which he lawfullio
before pretended vnto the citie of Eureux, and vnto those townos
in the confines of Berrie, Chateau Roux or Raoul, Crcssie
and Isolduue, and likewise vnto the countrie of Vcuxin or
Vculqucssine, which is a part of the terrifcorie of Gisors : the
right of all which lands, townes aud countries was released to the
king of France by K. Iohn, who supposed that by his affiuitie, and
resignation of his right to those placeB, 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, 1200,1 when
[Eol, iii. 162/1/22.] king Iohn and Philip king of France
met togi titer neere tho towne of Vernon, where Arthur duke of
Britaine (as vassal! to his vncle king Iohn) did his homage vnto
him for the ductile of Britaine, & thoso other places which he
held of him on tliiw side aud beyond tho riuer of Loir, and after-
ward, still mistrusting his vncles curtosio, he returned backe againe
with the French kinir, and would not commit himselfe to' his said
vncle, 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 E&rle of .Richmond, . . .
When Pandulph enters (IIL i. 134) and demands, in Pope
Innocent's name, why John continues to
Keope Stephen Langton, chosen Archbishop
Of Canterbury, from that holy Sea 1
we are transported from the day of Lewis's betrothal (May 23, 1200)
1 Sec note 2, p. 53.
IV. JOHN.
55
to the Bummer of 1211. The dispute which caused Innocent IH.'s
complaint arose after the death (on July 13, 1205.— Coggeshale, 156) of
Hubert Archbishop of Canterbury. To fill Hubert's place had been
elected Reginald 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 waa fullio
informed of the manner of their elections, he disanulled them
both, and procured by his papall authoritie the moonka of Cantur-
burie (of whome manie were then come to Rome about that
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 adnanced
him, . . . wrote his letters vnto the pope, giuing him to rndor-
stand for answer, that he would neuer consent that Stephan, which
had beene brought vp k alwaica conuersant with his enimies the
Frenchmen, should now inioy the rule of the bishoprike and dioces
of Canturburie. Moreouer, he declared in the -same letters, that
he maruclled not a little what the pope menfc, in that, he did not
consider how necessarie the frcendship of the king of England was
to the see of Rome, sith there came more gains to the Romanc
church out of that kingdom e, than out of any other realme on this
side the mountaines. He added hereto, that for the liberties of
his crowne he would stand to the death, if the matter so required.
In 1203 Innocent,
[Hoi. iil 171/2/67.] perceiuing that king Iohn continued still in
his former mind (which he called obstinacie), sent oner his bulles
into England, directed to William bishop of London, to Eustace
bishop of Elie, and to Mauger bishop of Worcester, commanding
them that, vnlesse king Iohn would suffer peaceablie the archbishop
of Canturburie to occupie his see, and his moonks their abbie, they
should put both him and \jk 172] bis land vnder the sentence
of interdiction, denouncing him and his land plamelie aecurssed.
The bishops then had an audience of John, whom they warned of
the charge which they had received, but he refused to obey Innocent
Langton
chotn arc*-
trUkop of
t'antuHjurtt
09 r papa
appoint'
vtati.
King
Iohn ttriUth
vnto tkt
pope [, refus-
ing to «C£«l>t
LSDgtOD].
Ho* painfull
Rngtanit wrtA
to the court
[John wnnld
die for Iho
liberties of
the crown.]
120".
Thtp&pt
trrtUtk to tkt
buhapi
(, command-
Irk tbem **
lay John Slid
his realm
tinder an
Interdict, if
Langton
were not
suffered to
occupy the
see of
Canterbury].
Matt. Pari*
Ifie. Trtutt.
56
IV. JOHN.
(John foarcd
thit hii uub-
lecii might
bo absolved
of their
allejttanoe by
Innocent.)
Pandulpk tt
ihinxnj the
pop** UgaU.
Potyter.
[They
exhorted
John, ■ with
manic
terrthlo
•orris," to
obey tht
Church, but,
though he
InN UmM
" quietlfp,"
he would not
yield.]
FifevVr.
and dismissed them with throats. The interdict having been imposed,
John foresaw that Innocent might
[Hoi iii. 172/1/65.] proceed further, and absolue all his
Bubiecta of their allegiance which they owght to him, and that his
lords would happilie reuolt and forsake him in this his trouble.
In the summer of the year 121 1,1
[Hoi. iii. 176/1/8.] the pope sent two2 legate into England, the
one named Pandulph " a lawier, and the other Duraut a templer,
who, comming vato king John, exhorted him with manic terrible
words to leaue his stubborne disobedience to the church, and to
reformo his misdooings. The king for his part quietlie heard
them, and, bringing them to Northampton, being not farrc distant
from the place where he met them vpou his returue foorth of
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 ami the pope, the legate departed,
leauing him accursed, and the land interdicted, as they found it
at their comming.
The following passages should be compared with two speeches of
Pandolph (III. i. 172-179 ; 191-194), in which he pronounces a subject
" blessed" who forswears " AJIegeance to au heretique" ; and exhorts
Philip, if John continue obstinate, to " raise the power of France vpon
his head."
[Hoi iii. 175/2/17.] In the meane time pope Innocent, after
the returne of his legato out of England, porceiuing that king
Iohn would not be ordered by him, determined, with the consent
1 John met the legates at Northampton, on August 30, 1811. — Ann. JVaveH.,
868 (cp. Ann. Burton, 209, and itinerary, an. 13).
* Fah. says (318): "y« Pope sent ii. Legattys; or, after some wry tars, one
Legat, named Pandulphup," . . .
8 In answer to Pandulph, John, speaking with the mouth of Henry VII T^
claims spiritual supremacy (III. L 155-158). Perhaps the parallel speech in
T. R. was an anachronistic 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 government of their
•ubiects" (Ed. iii. m/1/7).
IV. JOIIN.
57
of his cardinals and other councelloura, and also at the instant suit
of the English bishops and other prclats being there with him, to
depriue king Iohu of his kinglie state ; and so first absolued all his
subiects and vassals of their oths of allegiance madevnto the same
king, and after depriued him by solemne protestation of his kinglie
administration and dignitio, and histlie signified that his ricpriiiA-
tion vnto the French king and other christian princes ; admonishing
them to pursue king Iohn, being thus deprived, forsaken, and con-
demned, as a common enimic to God and his church. He ordeined
furthermore, that whosoeuer imploied goods or other aid to van-
quish and ouercome that disobedient prince, should remaine in
assured peace of the church, as well as those which went to visit
the sepulchre of our Lord, not onlie in their goods and persons,
but also in suffrages for sauing of their soules.
But vet, that it might appeare to all men, that nothing could
be more ioifull vnto his holinesse, than to haue king Iohn to
repent his trespasses committed, and to aske forgiuenesse for the
same, he appointed Pandulph, which latelie before was returned
to Rome, with a great number of English exiles, to go into France,
togither with Stephan the archbishop of Canturbnrie, and the other
English bishops; giuing him in cotnmandement that, repairing vnto
the French king, he should communicate with him all that which
he had appointed to be doone against king Iohn, 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 1212,1 but the
action of the play brings us back to August 1, 1202.8 la the latter
year 3 war again broke out between France and England, and Arthur,
| AflT tllO
return,
Innocent
denoted
John, tnd
exhorted
Philip and
other
ChmtfMi
prince* to
mike war on
Urn "u *
common
eoiralo to
God uid hit
church."!
[Innocent
aJjo con-
ferred on
t how who
helped to
overthrow
John the
■anio
bcneflU M
were enjoyed
by pihrrlnm
to the Holy
Sepulchre.]
P&dutph
$tnt into
Fro.nct U>
praeti*t with
the/rich
king, for Hug
Iohn hi*
Jrttrvciion.
1 The year in which John was deposed.
* In a letter addressed " omnibus baronibus gnu,* John says that he reached
Mirabcau '* ad festum beati Petri ad Vincula ■ (August 1), and there took Arthur
prisoner. This letter, preserved by CoggethaU (137, 138), was englished by
Hoi. (iii. I66/1/9, &c).
* RoL (iii. 164^1/40, Ac.), citing M. Paris (ii. 477), says : " In the yeare 1202
king Iohn held his Christmaese at Argenton in Normandie, and in the Lent
following he and the French king met togither, noere vnto the castell of
Gulleton [le Goulet], and there in talke had betweene, he commanded king
Iohn with no small arrogaiicie, and contrurie to his former promise, to restore
vnto his nephue Arthur duke of Britaine, all those lands now in his possession
on that side the sea, which king Iohn earnestlie denied to doo, wherevpon the
French king immediatlie after began war against him/' . . .
58
IV. JOHN.
Quttne
SLianar (gat
h'T hfto
UnfaM,
and tent to
JoliTi f.jr
■peody
■MOW]
f Arthur (u
aoro* say)
twk her
.1
[H] OtttdH
wax not
taken
prfaonerl.
ftqwfar,
A". /oAn
vptm Ail
rKinw «o(
*ooJt**/or.
I Arthur's
■ol iter* put
to Biglit, and
Mtrabaan
captorM.]
with the help of two hundred knights (mititei) supplied him by Philip.
was enabled to reduce Poitou, Tonraine, and Anjou. Queen Eleanor's
narrow escape from the enemies who " assayled M her in John's u Tent,"
and Arthur's capture (ITI. ii. 5-7), are dramatic versions illustrated by
my next excerpts, which give the issue of Arthur's temporary success.
[Hoi. iiL 164/2/1 3.] Quecne Elianor, that was regent in
those parties, being put in great feare with the newes of this
sadden sturre, got hir into Mirabcau, a strong towne situat in the
countrie of Anion, and foorthwith dispatched a messenger with
letters vnto king Iohn, requiring him of specdie succour in this hir
present danger. In the meanc time, Arthur following the victorie,
shortlie after followed hir, and woone Mirabeau, where he tooke
his grandmother within the same ; whom he yet intreated verie
honorablie, and with great reuerence (as some haue reported).
1 11 But other write far more trulie, that she was Dot taken, but
escaped into a tower, within the which she was straitlio besieged.
Thither came also to aid Arthur all the Nobles and men of amies
in Poictoo, and mimetic the . . . earlc of March,1 according to
appointment betwixt them : so that by this meanes Arthur had a
groat armie togitber in the field.
King Iohn, in the meanc time, hauing receiued his mothers
letters, and vnderstanding thereby in what danger she stood, was
marucllouslic troubled with the strangenesso of the newes, and
with manic bitter words accused the French king as an vntnie
prince, and a fraudulent league-breaker; and in all possible hast
speedeth him foorth, continuing his iournie for the most part both
day and night to come to the succour of his people. To be briefe,
he vsed such diligence, that ho was vpon his euimies necks yer
they could vnderstand any thing of his comming, or gesse what the
matter meant, when they saw such a companie of souldiers as ho
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 verie great hast to enter ; but such
speed was vsed by the English souldiers at that present, that they
1 Hugh le Bran, Count of La Marche. HU hostility was caiiBed hy John's?
marriage with Isabella of AngouUme, who had been betrothed to Hugh. —
Coggtthalt, 135.
IV. JOHN.
59
entred and wan the said towne before their enimics could come
neere to get Into it Great slaughter was made within Mirabeau
it selfe, and Arthur, with the residue of the armie that escaped $$£„£?*
with life from the first bickering, was taken ; who, being herevpon
committed to prison, first at Falais, and after within the citie of
Rouen, liued not long after, as you shall heare. . . .
[HoL iii. 166/1/31.] The French king, at the same time lieng in
siege before Arquea, immediatlie vpon the newes of this ouerthrow,
raised from thence, and returnod homewards, destroieng all that »ta£«i
0 to hli 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. ii., as far as 1. 105,
are contained in the following excerpts. The reader will observe how
much the historical Arthur l differed from the gentle, unambitious boy
of the play.
f.U-
jwwhwt.
Xattk.
Pari*.
(Pllflip
[Hoi. iii. I65/1/35.] It is said that king Iohn caused his
nephue Arthur to be brought before him at Falais, and there wont
about to persuade him all that ho could to forsake his freendship
and aliance with the French king, and to leane and sticke to him,
being his naturall vncle. But Arthur, like one that wanted good
counsell, and abounding too much in his owne wilfull opinion,
made a presumptuous answer ; not onelie denieng so to doo, but
also commanding king Iohn to restore vnto him the realmo of
England, with all those other lands and possessions which king
Richard had in his hand at the houre of his death. For, sith the
same apperteincd to him by right of inheritance, he assured him,
except restitution were made the sooner, he should not long con-
tinue quiet King Iohn, being sore mooued with such words thus
vttered by his nephue, appointed (as before is Baid) that he should
be straitlie kept in prison, as first in Falais, and after at Roan
within the new castell there. Thus by means of thia good
suocesse, the countries of Poictou, Touraine, and Aniou were
recouered.
Shortlie after, king Iohn, comming ouer into England, caused
himselfc to be crowned againe at Canturburie by the hands of
Anno Reg, 4.
[ John tried
to draw
Arthur awjir
fhxn Philip.]
[Arthur
would act
liiten, bnt
demanded
all that had
belonged to
K. Richard.)
[John
ordered that
Arthur
ahonld be
imprisoned. ]
MaUk.
Paris,
King John
rilmi -
jrwmmi
1 He wa8 then more than fifteen years ulil, having been born on March 29,
1187.— Benedict, i, 361. The Arthur of T. R, was a youth, if one may judge
from hie speeches in the scene which is the source of John, IV, i.
60
IV. JOHN.
I^l r-v
I Divert
btrcmi made
war on John,
bOCAOM ho
would not
release
Arthur.]
[John pur-
posed to put
oat Arthur's
«je*.l
I But Arthur
TMtetod, and
Hubert do
Burgh
delivered
him.]
Hubert the archbishop there, on the fourteenth day of Aprill,1 and
then wont backo againe into Normaudie, where, immcdiatlie vpon
his annual I, 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
William de Riches a valiant baron of Poictou, and diuerse other
Noble men of the Britains, who when they could not preuaile in
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 Bharpe wars
against king Iohn in diuerse places, insomuch (as it was thought)
that, so long as Arthur lined, there would be no quiet in those
parts: wherevpon it was reported that king Iohn, through persua-
sion of his councillors, appointed certeine persons to go vnto
Falais, where Arthur was kept in prison, vnder the charge of
Hubert de Burgh, and there to put out the yoong gentlemans eies.
But through such resistance as he made against one of the
tormentors that came to execute the kings commandement (for
the other* rather forsooko their prince and countrie, than they
would consent to obeie the kings authorise heerein) and hucIi
lamentable words as he vttered, Hubert de Burgh did preseme
him from that iniurie ; not doubting but rather to haue thanks than
displeasure at the kings hands, for delluering him of such infamie
as would haue redounded rato his higlmesse, if the yoong gentle-
man had beene so cruellie dealt with all. For he considered, that
king Iohn had resolued vpon this point onelie in his heat and
furie (which moueth men to vndertake manic an inconuenient
enterprise, vnbeseeining the person of a common man, much more
rcprochfull to a prince, all men in that mood being meere foolish
and furious, and prone to accomplish the penierse conceits of their
ill possessed heart; , . .) and that afterwards, vpon better aduise-
1 This must be the ceremony which John calls hi* " double Corronation "
(TV. it 40). Bnt we learn from his Itinerary that, on April 14, 1S0S, he was
at Orival near Ronen. John's accond coronation took place on October 6,
1200. — Hoveden, iv. 139. On March 25, 1201, he was crowned for the third
and last time, — Hoveden, iv. 160.
* John bade three of hia sergeant* ("prcecepit . . . tribus snis servient; -
bus") go to Falaise, and carry out this order. But two of the men fled hia
Court rather than obey htm. — CoggethaU^ 139.
IV. JOHN.
61
ment, he would both repent himaelfe so to haue commanded, and
giue them small thanke that should see it put in execution.
Howbeit, to satisne his mind for the time, and to fttaie the rage
of the Britains, he caused it to be bruted abroad through the
countrie, that the kings commandement was fulfilled ; and that
Arthur also through sorrow and greefe was departed out of this
life. For the space of nfteene daies this rumour incessantlic ran
through both the realmes of England and France, and there was
ringing for him through townes and villages, as it had beene for
his funerals.
Historic time vanishes when, after John's barons have departed, he
is informed by a messenger that the French " are all arriu'd " (IV, 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
Aprill " (U. 1 19-121), we are borne back to 1204,1 in which year
[Hoi. iii. I67/2/73.] queene Elianor the mother of king Iohn
departed this life, consumed [p. 168] rather through sorow and
anguish of mind, than of any other natural! inurmitic.
The entry of Faulconbridge with Peter of Pomfret makes 1212 the
historic date of 11. 132-167.
[Hoi. iii. I8O/1/28.] There was in this season an heremit,
whose name was Peter, dwelling about Yorke ; a man in great
reputation with the common people, bicause that, either inspired
with some spirit of prophcsic, aB the pcoplo beleeued, or else
hauing some notable skill in art magike, he was accustomed to
[BBbfltf
thought that
those who
bfeqj <sl
John"*
order would
have amall
thaiiki
afterwarda.]
[But
Arthur'*
death ni
announced,
and thr
rumour
spread
through
En#l*nd and
France. ]
[Q. Eleanor' a
death.)
An hrrmit
named Ptttr
0/ Pontfrtt,
or WoJctJUtd
mrtUra
St* M. Fax,
tome first,
pag. 381.
1 Eleanor died on April 1, 1204. — Ann. Waveri., 256. Perhaps Shakspere
chose April 1 for the day because a celestial appearance — of such sort as was
believed to forebode the departure of great persona — is mentioned under the
same year, and on the samopage, which contains the record of her decease.
Hot. says (iii IC7/1/40): "This yeare [1204] the aire toward the north and
east parts seemed to be on a bright fire \l the aurora borealisy 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 ■ (I. 123) Eleanor's — is not
given by Hoi. According to Hotxden {iv. 174) she died in 1201. Hol.'a
authority for the following passage (iii. 1 66/1/1 2), from which we learn that
she survived Arthur, was probably Folyd. Verg., 267/6.
"But king Philip, after he was aduertised of Arthur's death, tooke the
matter verie greeuouslie, and, vpon occasion thereof, cited king Iohn to appeare
before him at a certeine day, to anawer such objections as Constance the otmttanct,
d unties of firitaine. mother to the said Arthur, should lay to his charge, touch- w* mother
ing the mnrther or hir sonne. And bicause king Iohn appeared not, he was ^r^?
condemned in the action, and adjudged to forfeit all that he held within the acnued
precinct of France, as well Normandie as all his other lands and dominions," ***v ***•
G2
IV, JOHN.
hlrajwwto
at next
Ascension
n»M
[Peter
ode rod to
■offer deaUl
if the
£ZiT
[No great
liar hi Lcf«l
John on
that day.]
Tkehtramii
and kit ten nt
hanffttL
tell what should follow after. And for so much as oftentimes his
saiengs prooucd true, great credit was giuen to him as to a verie
prophet : . . . This Peter, about the first of Ianuarie l last past, had
told the king that, at the feast of the Ascension, it should come to
passe, that he should be cast out of his kingdomc. And (whether,
to the intent that his words should be the better belecued, or
whether rpon too much trust of his owne cunning) ho offered him-
eelfo to suffer death for it, if his prophesie prooued not true.
Herevpon being committed to prison within the castell of Corf,
when the day by him prefixed came, without any other notable
damage vnto king Iohn, he was, by the kings coram an dement,
drnwne from the Birii] castell vnto the towne of Warham, & there
hanged, togithcr with his sonne.
Having heard Fauleonbridge'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 fire 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
n*u «ux»u». were scene in the prouince of Yorke fiue 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 ;
hauiug manic stars about it, and went fiue 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 bo excluded, tho rest of Act
IV. 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).
[Mot. iii. I65/2/43.] But when the Britains were nothing
pacified, but rather kindled more vehementlie to worke all the
1 "Sub his . . . diebufl," in the year 1212, was the time when, according
to M. Paris, Peter nourished aa a prophet ; " et publice asaerebat, quod non
foret [Johannesl rex in die Dominica* Aacenaionia proximo semientis nee
deincepa ; aed die ilia coronam Angliae ad alium trausferri predixit." — M,
Paris (FPencfuw), ii. 535. Peter's prediction must have been made after
Ascension Day (May 3), 1212, and was fulfilled on the Vigil of Ascension
Day (May 22), 1213, on which day John surrendered his crown to Pandulpu.
IV, JOHN.
69
[Tim rumour
of Arthur's
death wo
contra-
dicted, in
order to
jMcifj Um
Bretons,
John wu
iiotdi»-
pleased,
munke
hsdbeea
Uild thst his
cruelty
would pre-
vent knights
from keep-
ing his
■JjBaVJj
mischeefe they could deuise, in rouenge of their souereigncB death,
there was do reniedie but to signifie abroad againe, that Arthur
was as yet liuing and in health. Now when the king heard the
truth of all this matter, he was nothing displeased for that his
comniaodoment was not executed, sith there were dinerse of his
capteins which vttered in plaine words, that he should not find
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
or other their aduersaries, they should be sure to tast of the like
cup. IT But now touching the inancr in verie deed of the end of
this Arthur, writers make sundrie reports. Neuorthelosse certeine
it is, that, in the yeare next insuing, he was remooued from Falais
vnto the caste 11 or tower of Rouen, out of the which there was not
any that would confesse that euer he saw him go aliue. 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
riuer of Saine, and so was drowned- Other write, that through
verie greefe and languor he pined awaie, and died of naturall
sicknesse. But some affirme, that king Iohn secretlie caused him
to be murthered and made awaie, so as it is not thruughlie
agreed vpou, in what sort he finished his daies ; but verelie king
Iohn was had in great suspicion, whether worthilie or not, the
lord knoweth,1
Act V, sc. i. — Act V. opens on the Vigil of Ascension Day 2 (May
22, 1213). In the proceding year John had been deposed by Innocent,
and Pandulph was commissioned to request Philip's armed help in
effecting the dethronement (see p. 57 above). Philip
[ffoL iil 176/2/20.] was easilie persuaded thereto of an inward
hatred that he bare vnto our king, and therevpon with all diligence n< j«w»<*
made his prouision of men, ships, munition and vitteli, in purpose j«wi
to passe ouer into England ; . . .
John assembled a large fleet and army, and, in the spring of 1213,
he was awaiting the French at Barham Down, Kent.8
[No one
knows how
Arthur died,
but soma say
thnt, In
Attempting
to climb the
Willi uf
Rouen
Outle.be
f.-ii Mi
the Seine,
end wss
drowned. 1
inu.utt
1 According to Ann. Mary. (27) John slew Arthur at Rouen, on April
3, 1203.
1 This date must be accepted with a reservation of dramatic time, for the
words of Pandulph and John (V. L 2S> 26-27 ; cp. IV. it 161-157) show that
Act V. open* on Ascension Day.
5 Af, Pari* ( Wendvver), ii. 539. John's preparations must have begun soon
64
IV. JOHN.
Palfttart.
oftkt tcmpU
Site John
raoifc i
Puululpb,
who b*d
terms to
prqpenj
The tepat
PnnUmtpk
conutA
[TV EnglUlt
lord* offered
fwlty to
PhJDp.]
[Hol. iii. 176/2/65.] But as he lay thus readie, neere to
the coast, to withstand and beat backe his enimies, there arriued
at Douer two Tempters, who, comming before the king, declared
vato him that they were sent from Pandulph tlie popes legat, who
for his profit coueted to talke with him ; for he had (as they
affirmed) meanes to propone, whereby he might be reconciled
both to God and his church, although he were adiudged, in the
court of Rome, to haue forfeited all the right which he had to
his kingdome.
[p, 177] The king, vnderstanding the meaning of the messengers,
sent them backe againe to bring oner the legat, who incontincntlie
came ouer to Douer; of whose arriuall when the king was aduer-
tised, he went thither, and recciucd 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) vttered these words following.
I omit "The sawcie speech of proud Pandulph, the popes lewd legat,
to king lohn, in the presumptuous popes behaLfe," since it was not
used by either dramatist. Matthew Paris, Holinshed's authority here,
enumerates four reasons l which moved John to submit. One, which
probably had much weight, was Pandulph's assertion — in the course of
bis " sawcie speech " — that Philip
[Hol. iii. 177/i/43.] hath (as he sticketh not to protest openlie
to the world) a charter made by all the cheefest lords of England
touching their fealtio and obedience assured to him.
The result of Pandulph's threats I give in my next excerpt, which
should be compared with V. i. 1-4.
[Hol. iii. l77/i/6o.] 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 24)^ — M, Pari* {Wend-
owr), ii. 538.
1 "Quartern vero caueam aliis omnibus plus timebftt ; instabat enim dies
Dorainicce Ascenaionis, in qua juxta prophetiam Petri herein it do, . . . cum ipsa
vita regnum tain temporaJe quara rcternum amittere verebatur.*— Af. Port*
(Wcn4over)j ii. 641.
IV. JOHN.
65
were best for him to follow. At length, oppressed with the
burthen of the imminent danger and ruine, against his will, and
verie loth so to hauo dooue, he promised vpon his oth to stand
to the popes order and decree. Wherefore shortlie after (in like
manner as pope Innocent had commanded) he tooke the crowne
from his owne head, and deliuered the same to Pandulph the
lcgat ; neither ho, nor his hcires at anie time thereafter to receiue
the same, but at the popes hands.1 . . .
[col. 2] Then Pandulph, keeping the crowne with him for the
space of fiue daics in token of possession thereof, at length (as
the popes vicar) gaue it him againe.8
Aa Pandulph departs " to make the French lay downe their Armea "
(V. i. 24), — an errand denoting that historic time has again advanced to
the year 121 6, — John remembers Peter's prophecy, now fulfilled.
John's reflection upon the manner of its fulfilment, and u hint that the
prediction had caused him some uneasiness (V. i. 25-29), are illustrated
by the following passage, completing the excerpt which ends with
the information that Peter was "hanged, togither with hit* &onne"
(p. 62 above).
[Hoi. iii. 180/ 1/67.] The people much blamed king Iota for
this extrcamc dealing, bicause that the hercmit was supposed
to be a man of great vertue, and his sonne nothing guiltie
of the offense committed by his father (if any were) against
the king. Moreouor, some thought that ho had much wrong to
die, bicause the matter fell out cnen as lie had prophesied; f«r,
the day before the Ascension day, king Tohn had rosigned the
supcrioritio 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 aflintic. One cause, and that not the least
[John
to obey
btfkMMfcJ
K.Iokn
detiurrtth Kit
crorH< mto
PamlmlpK.
paiutulph
rtiltrrttk iKr
croirnt ti^tm
to (Ac lt*tf.
■ silrt
that Peter
w.»* wrong-
fully ] ut to
dentil, for.
on tl»" 1 1
Of Ajicemlon
Day J *j1i 11
di'l bouiaga
t ■ I.lT,i«'..i|-.j
1 John, Pandulph, and the nobles of the realm met at the Templars1 house
near Dover, "decimaquinta die Maii, in vigilia scilicet Dnminicae Ascensinins ;
ubi idem rex juxta quod Romae fuerat sententiatum resignavit coronam suain
cum regnw Augliae et Hyberniae in manue domni Papae, cujua tunc vices
gerebat PandulfuH BjHOOMtaa** — M. Paris (Wemfonr), ii, 544. The date
(May 15) is wrong, fur in 1213 the Vigil of the Ascension fell on Mar 22,
* Tn Act V. sc. i. tin: redelivery of the crown by Pandulph to John im-
mediately ensues its surrender to the Legate by the king. In T. R. there is an
interval between a scene which closes before noon on Ascension Day, — when
John goes out to surrender bis crown,— and the opening of another scene with
the redelivery of the crown to him by Pandulph. This interval comprises the
meeting of Lewis and the English nobles at St. Edmundsbury, and Falcon-
bridgu's juurnies to and from the same place (see TM. ii. pp. 12, 15, Id, 20, 24).
66
IV. JOHN.
[^j««?» which nioouetl king Iohn the sooner to agree with the pope, rose
toinnllSnt through the words of the said heremit, that did put such a feare
JJJ.?"of of some great mishap in his hart, which should grow through the
disloialtie of his people, that it made him veeld the sooner.
Historic time embraced by the rest of the action ranges from May
121G to September 1217, if V. I 3843,— where Arthur's death is
Bpoken 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 V.
i. 1-4, when John surrenders his crown to Pandulph, the French, as we
liave 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 in ado 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, German, and English forces, at
Bouvines, on July 27, 1S14.1 This blow, and the failure of au 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 (?) , 1214,2 was a first
step towards their ultimate 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.3 Amid
such complexity of dates and facts a reader must choose what historical
time he pleases for sc. ii., Act V., winch opens shortly after these
" distemper' d Lords" arrive at St. Edmundsbury, whither they are
bound when they leave Faulconbridge in IV. iii. 115.
[Hoi. iii. 183/2/4$.] The Nobles, supposing that longer
delaie therein was not to be suffered, assembled themselues
togither at the abbcie of Burio (vnder colour of going thither to
doo their deuotious to the bodie of 8. Edmund which laie there
Actolnl
1 M. Paris (Wcndover), ii. 581.
a John returned to England in October, 1214. (3f. Paris gives Oct 19 as
the date of the King's return, but it appears from the Itinerary that John was at
La Rochelle cm Oct. 2 and at Dartmouth on Oct. 15.) " Bub eodein tempestate "
his earls and barons met at St. Ednuindsbury ; u quasi orationis gratia, licet in
causa aliud fuissct." — M. Part* { Wtndovtr\ ii 582. Mr. James E. Doyle
wrote to me : u Wendover Bays that the barons assembled at St, Edmundsbury
' as if for religious da tics,* — that is, fur duties that were well known, 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. Edmund, King
and Martyr, took place on Nov. 20, and furnished the excuse required."
5 If The TrwtMesome Kaigne 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 "cloked Pilgrimage."
IV. JOHN.
07
[The noble*
•wore that,
if John
rtfuied I heir
.1. samta,
tliejr would
make war on
I. ini. till he
yielded. ]
hishrincd) where they vttercd their complaint of the kings
tyrannicall manners, . . .
And therfore, being thus assembled in the queerc [p. 184] of the
church of 8. Edmund, they rccciucd a solemnc oth vpon the altar
there, that, if the king would not grant to the same liberties, with
others which he of his owne accord had promised to confirme to
them, they would from thencefoorth make warre vpon him, till
they had obteincd their purpose, and inforced him to grant, not
ouelie to all these their petitions, but also yeeld to the confirma-
tion of them vnder his scale, for euer to remaine most stedfast and
muiolnblo.
Returning now to the dramatic order of events, my next excerpt
illustrates Fauleonbridge's announcement (V. L- 30-34) that
All Kent hath yeelded ; nothing there holds out
But Douer Castle : London hath receiu'd,
Like a kinilo Host, the Dolphin and his jwwers :
Your Nobles will not hoare you, but axe gono
To offer sendee to your enemy, . . .
[Hoi iii. I9I/2/25.] Lewes, . . , imbarking himselfe with his *<«*«*«*«
people, and all ncccssarie prouisions for Buch a iournic, tooko
the sea, and arriued at a place called Stanchorro in the lie of J£Hl
Tenet,1 vpon the 21 day of Maic* [121G] ; and shortlio after came
to Sandwich, & there landed with all his peoplo, where ho also
incamped vpon the shore by the space of three daies. In which
incane time there came vnto him a grcnt number of those lords
and gentlemen which had sent for him ; and there eucrie one apart
and by himselfe sware fealtic and homage vnto him, as if he had
beene their true and natural! prince.
King Iuhn, about the same time that Lewes thus arriued, came
to Douer, meaning to fight with his aduersaries by the way as they
should come forward towards Loudon. But yet, vpon other aduise-
ment taken, he changed his purpose, bicause lie put some doubt in
the Flemings and other strangers, of whome the most part of his J***
armie consisted, bicause lie knew that they hated the French men
no more than they did the English. Therefore, furnishing the
castoll of Douer, with men, munition, and vittcls, he left it in the
TktlorJ*
ttov kvmitft
vn(o Aim.
1 Stonar, Isle of Thanei.
1 M. Pans (ffVm/orrr), ii. 653.
68
IV. JOHN.
(John loft
Dowr Casllfl
in stem •'■'
ITnberfdo
Burgh, and
retired from
Kent.]
f..,., 'fifth tO
ITobltnun
revolting
frt K. hhn
keeping of Hubert dc Burgh, a man of notable prowesse &
valiancie, and returned himselfe vnto Cantiirl^urie, and from thence
tooke the high waie towards Winchester. Lewes, being aduertised
that king Iohn was retired out of Kent, passed through the
countric without anie incounter, and wan all the castels aud holds
as ho went, but Douer ho 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 hira at Sandwich.
Act V. sc. ii. — The following excerpts — which, in Holinshed,
immediately succeed my last quotation — should be compared with
the Entry and first eight lines of Act V. sc. ii.
[Hoi iii. 191/2/60.] On the other part he [Lewie] tooke
an oth to niainteinc and performe the old lawos and customes of
the realmc, and to restore to cuerie man his rightfull heritage and
lands ; requiring the barons furthermore to continue faitlifull
towards him, assuring them to bring tilings so to passe, that the
realmc of England should reoouor the former diguitie, and they
their ancient liberties. Moreouer he vsed them bo courtoouslie,
gaue them so faire words, and made such large promises, that they
beleeued bun with all their harts. . . .
The rumour of this pretended outward courtesie, being once
spred through the reulme, caused great numbers of people to come
flocking to him ; among [p, 192] whome were diucrse of those which
before had taken part with king Iohn, as William carle Warren,
William earle of Arundcll, William earle of Salisburic, William
Marshall the yoonger,1 and diuerse other; supposing verelie that
the French kings soune should now obteine the kingdomo.
Pandulph's speech and Lewis's answer (V. ii. 69-102) take us back
to a time preceding the latter's invasion. John repudiated his grant as
soon as ho 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, the 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
"swornc to see the liberties granted and confirmed by the king [Magna Charts,
and Charia dt Foresta] to be in euerie point obserued, but, it he went againat
the same, then they should haue authoritie to compell him to the obseruing of
euerie of them." — Hoi. iii. 186/1/19.
IV. JOHN.
69
[Hoi iii. 190/1/53.] resolued with thcmselues to sceke for aid
at tlu* Guimics hands ; and thorevpon Saer carle of Winchester,
and Robert Fitz Walter, with letters vuder their seales, were
Bent vnto Lewes the sonne of Philip the French king, offering
him the crowno 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 vnto their succour. This
Lewes had married (as before is said) Blanch daughter to Alfonso
king of Castile, neece to king lohn by his sister Elianor.
Now king Philip, the father of this Lewes, being glad to haue
bucIi an occasion to inuade the relme of England, which ho neuer
looued, promised uillinglio that his sonuo should come vnto the
aid of the said barons with all conucnicnt speed ; (but first he
recciued fourc and twentic hostages which he placed at Campaino
for further assurance of the couenants accorded ; ) and herewith he
prepared an armie, and diuerse ships to transport his souuc and
his armie ouer into England. . . .
[Hoi. iii. 191/1/14.] The pope, desirous to helpe king lohn
all that he might (bicause he was now his vassall), sent his
legat Gualo into France, to disswadc king Phihp from taking anie
enterprise in hand against the king of England. But king Philip,
though he was content to hcare what the legat could saie, yet by
no meanes woidd bo 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
lawfull inheritour, and that uow sithens, as an enimio to his amfefl
roiull dii;nitiet he had giuen the right of his kingdome awiiic to the
pope (which he could not doo without consent of his nobles) and
therefore through his owne fault he was worthilie depriued of all
his kinglic honor. . . .
Lewes, on the morrow following, being the 26 of Aprill ' [1210],
by his fathers procurement, came into the couucell chamber, and
with frowning looke beheld the legat ; where by his procurator he
defended the cause that moued him to take vpon him this ioumie
into England, disprouing not ouelie the right which king lohn had
Tkt tavlM
MtAtl tntlu
frtnd* tinffi
tOUHt, Ojfftf
ing to him
the crown*.
[lrwi»'«
BUnch.]
[Tlie baron •'
■
accepted.)
Anno. Rtff,
10.
Otrdinait
Gualo.
MatOu
PariA.
Tf>t Pmch
tinpi ntliffa-
twtutotke
)*)** t*o*t
Gualo,
[John ad
iwuriwr. «nd
A wmild-bfl
vusi) of the
Pop*.]
M'Utk.
Wat,
Mnitk.
Pari*.
Prick
kings mum
maintcintth
Am prtU-mtvi
■ !'t<
eront tif
England.
1 AT, Paris (Waidover), u. 661, 652.
70
IV. JOHN.
(Failure nf
Lewis's pro-
cumuiri.j
Canlinall
Qualo
eoftnuth
oner into
England.
Tk* pfiintt
Una Iohn.
wcu ckargtd
[: John
tuTiiig been
declared by
the French
peers km illy
of ArtYiur's
death, hn<l
lorMM Hi
dominium,
to which
Lewis had
succeeded.]
to the crownc, but also allcdging his owne interest, not onelie by
bis now election of the barons, but also in the title of his wife,
whose mother the queeno of Castile remained onelie aliue of all
the brethren "and sisters of Ilenrie the second, late king of England
In further illustration of V. ii, 69-102 I quote passages relating to
a time not long after Lewis's arrival, and Beginning when he and his
Knglish 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."
[Hoi. iil 192/i/iS] But this auailed them not, neither
tooke his excuse any such effect as he did hope it should ; for
those ambassadors, that king John 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 ho hard further from
his legat Gualo, who, the same time, (being aduertiscd of the pro-
ceedings of Lewes in his iournie,) with all diligence, hasted oner
into England, and, passing through the middle of his aduersarics,
came vnto king Iohn, then soiouming at Glocester; of whome ho
was most ioifullie receiued, for iu him king Iohn reposed all his
hope of victoric.
Before Midsummer,1 1216,
[Hoi. iil 192/1/73.] letters came also vnto Lewes from his
procurators, whom ho had sent to the pope. . . .
The chcefest points (as we find) that were laid by Lewes his
procurators against king Iohn were these ; that, by the murfcher
committed in the person of Ids nephue Arthur, he had beene con-
demned in the parlement chamber, before the French king, by the
pecres of France ; and that, being summoned to appearc, he had
obstinatclie refused so to doo, and therefore had by good right
forfeited not onelie his lands within the precinct of France, but
also the realme of England, which was now due vnto the said
Lewes, as they alledged, in right of the ladie Blanch his wife,
daughter to Elianor queene of Spaino. But the pope refelled all
1 The letter from Lewis's procurators was written on or about May 10,
1216.— AT Paris (Wcndover), 11. 656, 657. Lewis, "instants nativitate sancti
Johnnnia Baptistae " (tbo next date given), began the siege of Dover Castle. —
Af. Parti {}Vendover)t ii. 664.
IV. JOHN.
71
such allegations as they produced for proofe hereof, & seemed to
defend king Iohns cause veric pithilie; but nnmclic, in that he was
vnder the protection of him as supreme lord of England.
Act V. sc. iii. — "AlarumB" may possibly represent the decisive
battle of Lincoln, fought on Mny 20, 1217,1 when the French and their
English allien were defeated by William Marshal Earl of Pembroke,
who commanded the army of the boy-king Henry ITT. If the general
disregard of historic time in this play be remembered, such a conjec-
ture ia 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 (V. iii.
9-11):
Be of good comfort ; for the great wpjfyt
That wad expected by the Dolphin heere,
Are wrnck'd three nights ago on Goodwin sands.
Allowing for altered circumstance and antedating, we may suppose
this u great supply " to be the reinforcements sent by Philip of France,
about three month.** after the battle of Lincoln. These needful succours
never reached Lewis, for
[Hoi. iiL 2OI/1/36] the carle of Penbrokc, and other the lords
that tooke part with king Hcnrie, bailing aduertiscment, that
a new 9MgpH$ of men was readies to come and aid Lewes, they
appointed Philip de Albenie and Iohn Marshall to associat with
them the power of the cinque ports, and to watch for the comming
of the aduersaries, that they might keepe them from landing; who
on saint Bartholomews2 day set forth fro?^ Caleis, in purpose to
arriuo in the Thames, and so to come vp the riuer to London.
Howbcit Hubert de Burgh, capiteine of the castell of Douer,
togithcr with the said Philip de Albenie and Iohn Marshall, with
other such power as they could get togithcr of the cinque ports,
hauiug not yet aboue the number of 40 ships great & small, rpon
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
they had got the wind on their backs, came finallie with their
limine force to assailc the Frenchmen, and, with hclpe of their
crosscbowes and archers at the first ioining, made great slaughter
of their cnimies ; and so, grapling togithcr, in the end the English-
[Inrm.-rrit
iinaweml
that John
was under
ti... M ■]. ,'■
tiuiL]
Maltk,
Paz-iM.
(Watch kept
for the
Frriwh
fleet]
Surtfh
'■l-HI I.'. t» l> "
FrxischJUtt.
1 Coggejfaae, 185,
* Augnat 24, 1217.— AT. raru (JFewtowr), iii. 20.
72
iv. john.
Th* Frtnth
jltti t'j
Vattk
fan*.
of .V.*
Ham fr-tk
tht pvrpo*
vf MM*.
©/ ,Ve/uM
htffinntth to
vUstikt qf Uu
motrk vkU-K
' wtlh
U*t$.
men bare themselues so manfullie, that they vanquished the whole
French fleet, and obteincd a famous victorie.
Act V. bc. iv. — Melun'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 w About the same
time" — is probably August, 1216.1
[HoL iii. 193/2/6.] About the same time, or rather in the
yearo last past as aomo hold, it fortuned that the vicount of
Mclune, a French man, fell sickc at London, and, pcrceiuing that
death was at hand, lie called vnto him ccrtcino of the English
barons, which remained in the citie, vpon safegard thereof, and to
them made this protestation : " I lament" (saith he) "your destruc-
tion and desolation at hand, bicause ye arc ignorant of the perils
"hanging ouer your heads. For this vnderstand, that Lewes, and
"with him 16 carles and barons of Franco, haue secretlie sworne
"(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 serue vnder him, and
"persecute their owne king) as traitours and rebels ; and further-
"uiore 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 vnto you, and take it on the pcrill of my soule,
"that I am one of those sixteen that haue sworne to performe
"this thing: wherefore I aduise you to prouide for your owne
"safeties, and your realities which you now destroic ; and kcepe
" this thing secret which I haue vttered vnto you." After this
speech was vttered he streightwaics died.
When these words of the lord of Melune were opened vnto the
barons, they were, and not without cause, in great doubt of them-
selues, for they saw how Lewes had alredie placed and set French-
men in most of such castels and townes as he had gotten, tho
right whereof indeed belonged to them. And againe, it greeued
them much to vnderstand, how, besides tho hatred of their prince,
they were euerie sundaie and holiedaie openlio accursed in euerlo
1 After recording the homage of Alexander II. King of Scots to Lewi*, in
August,, 121fi, Wnvfover (M. Pari*, ii 666) dates Melun's illness as having
happened " hoc tempestate.''
IV. JOHN.
73
church, so that manic of them inwardlie relented, and could haue
bin contented to haue returned to king Iohn, if they had thought
that they should thankfullie haue beeno receiued.
Subsequently Holinshed observes :
[Hoi iii. 197/2/40.] It is reported by writers, that amongst
other things, as there were diuerse, which withdrew the hearts of BJJJJ*
the Englishmen from Lewes, the consideration of the confession con/eMl<>n-i
which the * vicount of Melune made at the houre of his death, \n*c£?i
was the principal!.
Act V. sec. v. — vii. — With sc. v., Act V., the excerpts given in
relation to sc. iii.. Act V., should be compared. The rest of the play
(save V. vii. 82-95 j 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 Crowland.
[Hoi iii 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 becne gotten
and taken out of churches, abbeies, and other religious houses,
should perish, and be lost by such means togi titer with the spoilers.
Yet the king himselfe, and a few other, escaped the violence of
the waters, by followiug a good guide. But, as some haue written,
he tooke such grcefe for the lossc sustcined at this passage, that
immediatlie therevpon he fell into an ague ; the force and heat
whereof, togitker with his immoderate feeding on rawe peaches,
and drinking of new sider, so increased his sicknesse, that he was
not ablo tn ride, but was faine to be carried in a litter prcsentlie
made of twigs, with a couch of strawe vndcr 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 inforccd to Btaie one
night at the castell of Laford, and, on the next day with great
paine, caused himselfe to be caried vnto Newarke, where, in tho
castell, through anguish of mind, rather than through force of sick-
nesse, he departed this life the night before the nineteenth day of
October, in the ycarc of his age fiftie and one, and after he had
Tkt 'out of
the kni'jt
earriafftt.
MMffc
Pari*.
Mattk.
WuL
King fokn
falltth iirl*.
of in rtffmt,
Matth.
fori*.
Mntth.
Wt»L
Mattk.
Pari*.
King fahn
departed tki$
tyt.
74
IV. JOHN.
(John A&iil
he would
make corn
dear fn
En^'ln-ul,
Wkmwpaa
a monk
mImmnI
htm.)
Caiton.
2i. wm
dried at
Wore eater.]
Bcmewtll.
reigned seaucntecne yeares, six nioncths, an<l seauen and twentio
daies.
If There be which haue written, that, after ho had lost his
armie, he came to the abbeie of Swineshead in Lincoloeshirc, and,
there vnderstanding the cheapenesBe and plentie of corne, shewed
hi nisei fc greatlie displeased therewith, as ho that for tins hatred
which he bare to the English people, that had so traitorouslio
reuolted from him vnto his aducrsarie Lewes, wished all miserio
to light vpon them ; and thcrevpon said in his anger, that lie would
cause all kind of graine to be at a farre higher price, ycr manie
daies should passe. Wlierevpon a mooukc, that heard him speako
such words, being mooued with zealo for the oppression of his
countrio, gaue the- king poison in a cup of ale, wherof he first
tooko the assaio, to cause the king not to suspect the matter, and
so they both died in manner at one time. . . .
The men of warre that serucd vnder his ensignes, being for the
more part hired souldiers and strangers, came togither, and march-
ing foorfch with his bodie, each man with his armour on his backe,
in warlike order, conueied it vnto 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 bicausc it was
thought to be a place of most suertio for the lords and other of
his freends there to assemble, and to take order in their busincsso
now after his deccasse.
Nearly a year elapsed between the accession of Henry ITL and the
departure of Lewis, shortly after the royalists' great naval victory in
August, 1217. Holinahed's account of how the French reinforcements
were destroyed (see p. 71 above) is followed by the ensuing passages,
which bear upon V. vii. 82-95.
t After tho
TTlrnU,
Lewla'i
bqpoiN.]
An nrtwJ
bitwUt
kX. Haiti*
[Eol. iii. 201/2/8.] But Lewes, after he mderstood of this
mischance happening to his people that came to his aid, began
not a title to despairo of all other succour to come vnto him at
any time hecrafter: wherforc ho inclined tho sooner vnto peace, so
that at length ho tooke such offers of agreement as were put rnto
him, and rocciued furthermore a sum of monie for the release of
such hostages as ho had in his hands, togither with the title of the
IV. JOHN.
75
kingdome of England, and the possession of all such casfccls and
holds as he held within the rcalme. . . .
This peace was concluded on the eleucnth day of September l [)<n3£ln*lon
[1217], not farre from Stanos, hard by the riuer of Thames, where p**WLl
Lewes himselfe, the legat Guallo, and diucree of the spiritualtie,
with the carlo of Penbrokc, lord gouernor of the realme, and
others, did meet nnd talke about this accord. Now, when all
things were ordered and finished agreeable to the articles ami
couenants of the peace, so farre as the time present required,
the lords of the realme (when Lewes should depart homeward)
attended him to Douer in honorable wise, as apperteiued, and
there tooke leaue of him, and so he departed out of the rcalmo [^Jjj^.j
about tho feast of saint Michael].'-1
The revival of patriotic fooling, which placed Henry IIT. on the
throne, is exhibited when Faulconbridge and Salisbury — the dramatic
characters who severally represent the royn-Hst and baronial parties —
unite in proffering allegiance to their youthful sovereign (V. vii. 101-
107). Holinshed says :
[HoL iii. 197/i/i2.] Immediatlie after tho death of his
father king Iohn, William Marshall carle of Pembroke, generall of
his fathers armie, brought this yoong prince with his brother and
sisters vnto Glocester, and there called a counccll of all such lords
as had taken part with king Iohn. Anon, after it was once openlio
knowne, that the sonncs and daughters of the late deceassed
prince were brought into a place of aafotic, a great number of tho
lords and chcefe barons of the realme hasted thither (I nicano not
onclio such as had holdon with king Iohn, but also diuerse other,
which, vpon certeine knowledge had of his death, were newlie
reuolted from Lewes) in purposo to aid yoong king Henric, to
whomc of right tho crowno did appcrtcine.
In a speech delivered to the assemblage at Gloucester, Pembroke
vindicated Henry's title :
[Hoi. iil 197/2/17.] When the barons had heard this earles
words, after some silence and conference had, they allowed of
[ A Her Julius
•'■• '"'.I
WUtium
MnrtMaU,
*arU qf
Paiftrookt
[, brooch t
Henry to
Gloucester J.
(Tlilttipr
came nohlrn
who lu'l
held wlOl
John, and
others Intel/
revoUed
Cram Lewis.
1 September 11.— AT Paris (JFcnrforcrX iii. 30. September 13. — Ann,
Th,->k. 63.
1 Lewis returned to France on September 28, 1217. — Ann. Thcok. 63.
76
rv. JOHN.
his saiengs, and immediatlie, with one consent, proclaimed tho
[H«nry pro- yoong gentleman king of England ; whome the bishops of Winches-
Kinuof ter and Bath did crowne and autioint with all duo solemnities at
England,
w-ST*'" Glocestcr, vpon the day of the feast of the apostles Simon & Iude,
crowned.] m pre8ence 0f tlic Icgat.
Holinshed adds to his chronicle of John's reign the following general
remarks on the King's disposition, and dealings with the clergy.
[John'*
penonand
character. ]
BtJM HI
that be wan
a prat
pnnce. but
unfortunate
Hbeml to
etrangert,
but an
nj.r>r> s^.'r
of nit own
people. |
(Tho clergy
villtlod him
becauaeho
was no
friend lo
tbom.]
[John
nothing but
faith ruT
anbjecte-I
[He miited
thr i Irrk'.'w
mnn
ofhla
princely
EST
{Hoi, iii. 196/ 1/4.] He was comelie of stature, but of looke
and countenance displeasant and angrie j 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 sccmeth to be
an enuioue report vtterod by thoso that were giuen to spcake no
good of him whome they inwardlie hated. Howbcit some giuc
this wituesso of him (as the author of the bookc of Bcrnewell
abboie and other) : that he was a great and mightie prince, but yet
not verie fortunate, much like to Marius the noble Romano, tasting
of fortune both waies ; bountifull and liberal! vnto strangers, but
of his owne people (for their dailie treasons practised towards him)
a great oppressour ; so that he trusted more to forrenors than to
them, and thcrfore in tho end he was of them vtterlie forsaken.
IT Verelie, whosoeuer shall consider the course of the historic
written of this prince, he shall find, that ho hath beene little
beholden to the writers of that time in which ho liuod ; for
scarselie can they afoord him a good word, except when the trueth
inforceth them to conic out with it as it were against their willes.
The occasion whereof (as some thinko) was, for that he was no
great froend to tho clergio. . , .
Certeinelie it should aeemc tho man had a princclio heart in
him, and wanted nothing but faithful! subiocts to hauc assisted
him in reuenging such wrongs as were doone and offered by tho
French king and others.
Moreouer, the pride and pretended authorise of the cleargie
he could not well abide, when they went about to wrest out of his
hands the prcrogatiuo of his princelie rule and goucrnement
True it is, that to maintoine his warres which he was forced to
take in hand, as well in France as elsewhere, he was constreincd
V. RICHARD II.
77
to make all tbc shift he could deuise to recouer moiiie, and, bicause (He took
■8MB in
ho piuuhed their pursses, they concerned no small hatred against them tow
him ; which when he perceiued, and wanted peraduenture discretion JJ^1^^
to passe it ouer, he diacouercd now and then in his rage his J^uS
immoderate displeasure, as one not able to bridle his affections, ™*e"1
(a thing verie hard in a stout Btomach.) and thereby missed now
and then to compasse that which otherwise ho might verie well
haue brought to passe.
Fandulph is spoken of as he H who (as before is expressed) did the
message so stout lie from pope Innocent to king Iohn" (J Jul. iii.
202/1/65). Hubert de Burgh — "a right valiant man of warre as was
any where to be found" (HoL iii. 1 69/2/50) — showed "singular
constancie " in defending Dover Castle against Lewis (Ifol. iii.
I93/1/45). The dramatic cliaracter is a person of much lower degree
than was thin historical Hubert, the Justiciar of England, as he is
entitled in the treaty of peace between Henry HI. and Lewis ; the
three names preceding his own in that document being those of the
Legate Gualo, the King, and William Marshal. — Rymer, i. 222.
V. RICHARD II.
Act I. sc. i. — The first scene in The Tragedie of King Richard the
second l opens on April 29,fi 1398, at Windsor, where a day for combat
was assigned to Bolingbroke and Mowbray (I. i. 199). On March 12,
1400,3 a body, officially declared to be Richard II.'s, was exhibited at
St. Paul's. The latter historic date marks the close of the action, when
Bolingbroke sees his "buried feare" (V. vi. 31) in the coffin which
Exton presents to him.
In the first scene King Richard enters, and thus addresses John of
Gaunt (L i. 1-6) ;
Ovid Iohn 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 appeal©, 4
Which then our leysure would not let vs heare,
Against the Duke of Norfolke, Thomas Moubray ?
1 I quote the text of Qr (1597), from the Shakspore Quarto Facsimile of
Mr. IlutVa copy. In the Parliament Scene (IV. i. 102-318) the text of Fx is
quoted.
* Rot. Fart., iii. 383/i. * Trait., 103 ; 261.
■
73
V. RICIIAKD II.
Tke duke of
Utrt/ord
tkrd*bs<tf
Iforftttk oj
fr«*on.
Thorns Ilo/J.
IBoling-
brokvi
ftOCUMttoll
MuwW*jr.]
|T1id ftccomi-
tion n>i<eit«<l
by Doting-
broke,]
denied by
Mowbray.]
T\e Jukt aS
Surric,
tHarthttll,
and thtdu.be
of AumarU,
tamttabtt of
ftfCnd
(, and the
l>nki.-» of
I An out tor
Mid York,
bccjuuu
jiledirai fur
TS*
brokeU
ni.i- HUM ;
but Mow.
braj vu
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, 1398,1
[Hoi. iii. 493/2/i6.] . . . Hcnrie, duke of Hereford, accused
Thomas Mowbraie, duke of Norfolko, of ccrtcine words which lie
should vtter in talke had betwixt them, as they rode together
latelie before betwixt Loudon and Brainford ; sounding liighlle
to the kings dishonor. And for further proofe thereof, he pre-
sented a supplication to the king, wherein he appealed the duke
of Norfolko in field of battel), for a traitor, false and disloiall to
the king, and enimie vnto the realme. This supplication was
red before both the dukcB, in presence of the king ; which doonc,
the duke of Norfolko tookc vpon him to answer it, declaring that
whatsoeuor the duke of Hereford had said against Mm other than
well, he lied falselic like an to true 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 ; u My souorcigne lord, cuen
"as the supplication which I tookc you importcth, right so I
"saie for truth, that Thomas Mowbraie, duke of Norfolke, is a
"traitour, false and disloiall to your roiall maiestic, your crowne,
"and to all the states of your realme."
Then the duke of Norfolke being asked what ho said to this,
he answered: "Right decre lord, with your fauour that I make
"answer vnto your coosine here, I saie (your rouerence saued)
" that nenrie of Lancaster, duke of Hereford, like a false and
"disloiall traitor as ho is, dooth lie, in that he hath or shall say
"of me otherwise than well." "No more," said the king, "we
"banc hoard inough"; and herewith commanded tlie duke of
Some, for that turnc mnrshall of England, to arrest in his name
the two dukes : the duke of Lancaster, father to the duke of
Hereford, the duke of Yorke, the duke of Aumarle, constable
of England, and the duke of Surrie, marshall of the realme,
vndertooke as pledges bodie for bodio for the duke of Hereford ;
but the duke of Northfolke was not suffered to put in pledges,
and so vnder arrest was led vnto Windsor castell, and thero
1 Evcs.t 142-146. Cp. Hot. Pari, iii. 382/ 1.
RICHARD n.
79
garded with keepers that were appointed to see him safelie
kept.
Now after the dissoluing of the parlement at Shrewaburie,
there was a daio appointed about six weeks after, for the king to
come vnto Windsor, to hcaro and to take some order betwixt the
two dukes, which had thus appealed ech other. There was a
great scaffold erected within the castell of Windsor1 for the king
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 Xorfolke defendant, were sent for to come &
appeare before the king, sitting there in his scat of justice. And
then began sir lohn Bushio to spcako for the king; declaring to
the lords how they should vnderstand, that whore 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
appertoined to his roiall maiestie, he therefore would now hearc
what the parties could say one against [p. 494] an other : and withall
the king commanded the dukes of Aumarle and Surrie, (the one
being constable, and the other marshal!,) to go vnto the two dukes,
appellant and defendant, requiring them, on his behalfe, to grow
to somo agreement; and, for his part, he would be readie to
pardon all that had been said or doone amisse betwixt them,
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
kept in
Wfodaor
CMllf.J
[A day
apjw.inted
for the
hearing of
the appeal]
The onUr of
tite yroctwi-
inff in (kit
appeatt.
(Richard
ml t"
U-'luittbroke
ami Mow-
bray, desir-
ing them to
be reconoiltd
to each
other, but
llwy reftiard
hi* rt quest]
1 According to TmU. — the original authority for this account of the pro-
ceedings at Windsor—" le Roy Rich art rotourna dn parlement dc Scrcmbory
en Ian mil ccc iiij" ct xviij ou inoys dc Januier et x\ jours aprea fut lu journec
a Windesore pour ouir les deux seigneurs lesquels auoyent appelle Iun 1 autre
de Iraison " (p. 13). Hoi. seems to hare followed the computation of TVata.,
regarding the " daie appointed " for Richard's presence at Windsor. The dis-
agreement of this date with the date (April 29) given by Rot. Ptvi. for the
Windsor assembly, may perhaps be explained by supposing that the writer of
Trais, counted forty days from March 19, 1398, when Bolingbroke and Mowbray
appeared before Richard at Bristol, and it was decided that their cause should
be tried conformably to the "Ley de Chivalrie."— Bat Pari, iii. 363/ 1. On
February 23, 1398, thoy appeared before Richard at Oswestry, and were then
ordered to present themselves before him at Windsor on April 28, 1398. On
the next day (April 29) time and place of battle were fixed. — Ibid,
80
KICHARD IL
...i ■■! tbn
before him,
and asked
them to
m.tkrr pMM
together,
bat Mow.
bray would
not consent
tudoio.]
[Thereupon
Rlchanf
coin man-led
Bulingbroke
to specify
Mow bray '■
Tht ofti«r.
OiWi.njf (Ac
[(1) that ho
embeulod
money due
to the garri-
lull of
(3) that he
liad bee □ the
pntnc -mover
of aU the
tMismi
derieodin
Kn gland for
tlic i-*Jt
•JajRaag
Ei'd that,
il
■oavectlon
and counsel,
he caused
Gloucester's
(To prore
these
chargea,
Boluigbrvke
demanded
battle
aeinst
owbraj.j
[Mowbrty'a
spokesman
■fjajaand
that Bollng-
bioke ha<)
lied; axid
they should be brought foorthwith before his presence, to he are
what thej would say. Herewith au herald in the kings name
with lowd voice 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 reucrencc 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 ftiorth a knight, who, asking and obteiuhig licence
to speake for the duke of Hereford, said: i[ Right deare and
"sonereigne lord, here is Henrie of Lancaster, duke of Hereford
"and carle of Derbie, who saith, and I for him likewise say, that
"Thomas Mowbraic, 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
"Calls; which he hath not dooue as he ought: and furthermore
"the said duke of Norfolke hath becne the occasion of all the
" treason that hath becne contriued in your reatme for the space
"of these eightcene ycares, &, by his false suggestions and
11 malicious counsel!, he hath caused to die and to be murdered
"your right doero vnclo, the duke of Glocestcr, sonue to king
"Edward. Moreouer, the duke of Hereford saith, and I for him,
"that he will prouo this with his bodic against the bodtc of the
"aaid 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, obtehiing it, began to answer thus: "Right
"deere Bouereigne lord, hero is Thomas Mowbraie, duke of
" Norfolke, who answercth and saith, and I for him, that all which
RICHARD II,
81
rinttcrr (■■>-
kimMtft:
| (1) thai l:e
lint)
" Henrie of Lancaster hath said aiid declared (sailing tlie reucrence wwatmitur
"due to the king and his couneell) is u lie ; and the said Henrie "^^
"of Lancaster hath falsclie and wiekedlie 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 becomnieth a loiall knight to doo with my bodie
"against his: right deere lord, I beseech you therefore, and your
"couneell, that it male please you, in your roiall discretion, to
" consider and inarke, what Henrie of Lancaster, duke of Hereford,
"such a one as he is, hath said."
The king then demanded of the duke of Norfolke, if these
were his woords, and whether he had anie more to saie. The
duke of Norfolke then answered for himselfe : "Right deere sir, j^jJVi
" true it is, that I haue receiued so much gold to paie your people
"of the towne of Calis ; which I Imue doone, and I doo auouch b
" that your towne of Cans is as well kept at your conimandement caimaiheir
"as euer it was at anie time before, aud that there neuer hath ^J^JJ^1
"beene by anie of Calis anie complaint made vnto you of me. SolnhSSt
" Right deere and my souereigne lord, for the voiage that I made "Iltui.uuXi
__ _ | _ .1.1 » i °' Mm, but
"into r ranee, about your marriage, 1 neuer receiued cither sold i«hadnot
" ' & bwn repaid
" or siluer of you, nor yet for the voiage that the duke of Aumarle [J "J^^JJ"*
"& I made into Almane, where we spent great treasure. Marie, (Sj^Viw
" true it is, that once I laid an ambush to haue slainc the duke of SSLhff
" Lancaster, that there sittcth ; but neuerthelesse he hath par- Un«m
1 l.ul the
"doned me thereof, and there was good peace made betwixt vs, Pu*"h>a
"for the which I yeeld him hartie thaukes. Tliis is that which him-]
" 1 haue to answer, and I am rcadie to defend my solfe against
" mine aduersarie ; I beseech you therefore of right, and to haue
"the battell against him in vpright judgement."
After this, when the king had communed with his couneell a
little, he commanded the two dukes to stand foorth, that their [Appciunt
and uefcuo-
answera might be heard. The K. theu caused them once againe "^JJ^h
to be asked, if they would agree and make peace togither, but "
tbey would
make peact!
tiiey both flatlie answered that they would not: and withall the BoUo«bn>ka
duke of Hereford cast downe his gage, and the duke of Norfolke hi* ***'.•**
6 ^ Mowbray
tooke it vp. The king, perceiuing this demeanor betwixt them, ^^"j;,;
sware by saint Iohn Baptist, that he would neuer Bceke to make ■**"
82
V. RICHARD II.
■ware Uint
ho warn
never diuio
reconcile
t»icu.-l
Tktcmntxtt
appnuitfft to
U doom iU
OmKntric
TU French
pampMtt,
John Stow,
fabian.
Mowbray to
f1e«p*l<-h
Olourxater
■ocrvtly.]
{Mowbray
bnfUtwl,
whereupon
BUcm
threatened
hlia with
peace betwixt them againe. And therfore sir Iohu Bushie in
name of the king & his councell declared, that the king and his
couiicell had commanded and ordcined, that they should haue a
daic1 of battell appointed them at Coucntrie. ^ Here writers
disagree about the daie that was appointed : for some saief it was
vpon a mondaie in August ; other vpon saint Lamberts daie,
being the seuenteenth of September ; other on the eleuenth of
September: but true it is, that the king assigned them not onelie
the daie, but also appointed them listes and place for the combat,
and there vpon great preparation was made, as to such a matter
apperteincd.
Nothing in this scene needs further historical illustration except
Mowbray's rather equivocal answer to the charge of having beeu
Gloucester's murderer (I. i. 132-134) :
For Glocesters death,
I slewe him not ; but (to my owne disgrace)
Neglected my sworne 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), Nottingliaiu (Thomas Mowbray), and others, mot
at Arundel Castle, and there agreed that, on a day in the following
August, they would seize and imprison the King and his uncles the
Dukes of Lancaster and York, and would put to death the rest of the
King's Council. Nottingham revealed this plot to Richard, and after-
wards, by the Kiug's order, arrested Gloucester and brought him to
Calais.- Hearing that Gloucester's guilt was proved, Richard
[Hoi. iii. 489/1/64.] sent vnto Thomas Mowbraic, earle
marshall and of Notinghaui, to make the duke sccretlie awaie.
The earle prolonged time for the executing of the kings coin-
mandement, though the king would haue had it doone with all
expedition, wherby the king conceiued no small displeasure, and
1 September 16.— fit* Pari., iii. 383/1. "The French pamphlet," referred
to, in the sidenote, as an authority for the date, " a monuaie in August," is
Ml, (17 ; 140). It belonged to "John Stow. The date in Et**., 146, is St,
Lambert^ day. September 11.— Fab.} ii. 544. Bolingbroke and Norfolk were
ordered to leave the realm " dedeins lc jour de le ocptas de Seint Edward le
Confcasour [October 20] prochcin vennnt."— Rot Pari, iii. 3R3/2. The bur-
5 esses of Lowestoft informed Richard that Norfolk embarked "le Somady
October 19] proscheiu aprva la feat de Seynt Edward, Tan de vostre re^ne writ
I secounde.1'— Rot. /W/.,iii, 384/1. It seems (Utk, 35 ; 149) that Bolingbroke
went into exilfl on the feast (October 13).
* In Teals. (8; 121) there is a full account of this plot to imprison
Richard.
RICHARD II
83
Plttbey.)
aware that it should cost the earle his life if lie quickly obeied not
his commaudenient. The earle thus, as it seemed, in uiauer
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 semants to cast featherbcdB ^S^in
vpoii him, and so smoother him to death ; or otherwise to strangle
him with towels (as some write.) This was the end of that* noble yj||^!H.|
man, fierce of nature, hastie, wilfull. and giuen more to war than * Fork***
' ° ton to a
to peace : and in this greatlie to be discommended, that he was ^ j^
euer repining against the king in all things, whatsoeuer he wished *"*
to haue forward. . . . His bodie was afterwards with all funerall
pompe conuoicd into England, and buried at his owne manor of
Plashie within the church there ; in a sepulchre which he in his life {Jjj,jyjt
time had caused to be made, nnd there erected.
In October, 1399, after Richard had been deposed, and Bolingbroke
had a&cended the throne, Sir William Bagot, one of tho late King's
favourites, " disclosed manie secrets 1 vnto the which he was priuie ;
and being brought on a daie to the bar re [of the Commons], a bill was
read in English which he had made, containing certeine euill practises
of king Richard " ; . . . The following clause formed part of Bagot's
revelations :
[Hoi. iii. 5H/2/59.] It was further conteiued in that bill, that
as the same Bagot rode on a daie behind the duke of Norfolke in
the Sauoy street toward Westminster, the duke asked him what
he knew of the manner of the duke of Glocester his death, and he
answered that he knew nothing at all: "but the people" (quoth
he) "doosaie that you haue murthered him." Wherevnto the duke
eware great othes that it was vntrue, and that he had saued his
life contrarie to the will of the king, and certeine other lords, by
the space of three weeks, and more ; affirming withall, that he
was neuer in all his life time more nflruid of death, than he was at
his comming home againe from Calis 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,
"and certeine other that [p. 612] were seruants to other lords to
"go with him to see the said duke of Glocester put to death ;"
(A con.iuoii
fniiir Dint.
Norfolk luil
murdervd
GIoui'tiLt'r.]
[Norfolk
a wore that
lie hid
rMwd Ml
own life
to live
(BoomA i I
(Itioliard
■ppotorti t
servant*
to p"t
i.i!..u i |BH
to death id
Norfolk's
yiewiu-e, J
* See pp. 110, 111 beluw.
84
RICHAUD II.
com pli tiled
to
QlMMatafli
brethren of
the dakt'i
Tht duku of
LancatUr <fr
Yorti tre\LH
tk* d%k* of
Qtoeuttr (•
tht ting.
swearing that, as he should answer afore God, it was ucuer his
niiiui that he should haue died in that sort,1 but onelie for feare
of the king and sauing of his owne life.
Act L sc. ii. — (Jaunt, 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 Woodetockes bloud
Doth more sollieito me than your exclaimed,
To stirre against the butchers of his life I
Tn 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.
[IIol, iii. 488/t/8.] Upon this multiplieng of woords in such
presumptuous xiiuner by the duke against the king, there kindeled
such displeasure betwixt them, that it neuer ceaascd 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 comineth to passe that those, which suspect anie euill, doo euer
deeme the worst ; so tie tooke eueric thing in euill part, insomuch
that he complained of the duke vnto his brethren the dukes of
Lancaster and Yorke, in that lie should stand against him in all
things and seeke his destruction, the death of his counsellors, and
ouerthrow of his real me.
The two dukeB of Lancaster and Yorke, to deliuer the kings
mind of suspicion, made answer, that they were not ignorant, how
their brother of Glocester, as a man sometime rash in woorda,
would speakc 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,
eith he should tukc no hurt thereby. These persuasions quieted
the king for a time, till he was informed of the practise which the
1 that aort] Hoi. ed. 1. the fori Hoi. ed. 2.
m
RICHARD IT.
85
duke of Gloeester had contriued (as the same went among diuerse
persons) to imprison the king. For then the duke of Lancaster
and Yorke, first reprouing the duke of Gloeester for his too
liberall talking, . . . and, perccuing that he sot nothing by their
woords, were in doubt least, if they should rcmaine in the court
still, he would, vpon a presumptuous mind, in trust to be borne
out by them, attempt some outragious enterprise. Wherefore
they thought best to depart for a time into their countries, that
by their absence he might the sooner learne to staie 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
Gloeester. For after that they were gone, there ceassed not such as
bare him euill will, to procure the K. to dispatch him out of the way.
The Duchess of Gloucester's reproaches (I. ii. 9-34) have more
weight if, as would seem from the following excerpt, Gaunt and York
were at first disposed to avenge their brother's death.
[Hoi. iii. 469/2/68.] The parlement was summoned to begin
at Westminster the 17 of September,1 and writs thereupon directed
to euerie of the lords to appeare, and to bring with them a
sufficient number of armed men and archers in their best arraie ;
for it was not knowen how the dukes of Lancaster and Yorke
would take the death of their brother, . . . Suerlie the two dukes
when they heard that their brother was so suddenlic made awaie,
they wist not what to saie to the matter, and began both to be
sorowfull for his death, and doubtfull of their owue &tates : for
sith they saw how the king (abused by the counsel I of euill men)
abate i ued not from such an heinous act, they thought he would
afterwards attempt greater misorders from time to time. There-
fore they assembled in all hast great numbers of their seruants,
frcends, and tenants, and, comming to London, were recoiued into
tho eitie. For the Londoners were right sorie for the death of
the duke of Gloeester, who had euer sought their fauour ; in
somuch that now they would haue beenc contented to haue ioincd
with the dukes in seeking rcuenge of so noble a mans death, . . .
f Op tmt mul
York
reproved
Otnnroater
fof hH
ruhnctt.)
[Fearing
rl»*' I.
would be
mnholdcned
by their
presence.
Court.]
[Their
departure
ftftUUXl
ruin.)
n» lord*
appointed to
fttnu in war-
likt mnnntr
to L'te parlt-
mtt[htWut.
OilDStci).
[A doubt
as to how
Osnnt And
York wfmM
Ukp th»ir
brxther'i
death.)
Polydor.
[They
ariL'Vcl for
bli -terth.
nod faired
fur thrni-
Mlve*.]
The dvitt fd
Tort*
unmMi
Iheir fatrrr
lf> rtlirt Ikt
tirt(t>
Htnli*Q».
(Gloucester
beloved
by tbo
Londoner*. ]
1 This Parliament was adjourned on September 29, 1397, and reassembled
at Shrewsbury on January 27, 1398.— £*«*., 141, 142 ; Uak, 17 ; 123.
8G
RICHARD II.
[The dtikea
took counwl
iu to
whether
thpy should
he Avenged
of Richard,
or of Mow-
brav »nd
others, but
at last they
renolved to
fnnrlve their
brother's
death.)
Anno Rig.
n.
{At the time
appointed,
Richard and
the dukes
Coventry,
•where lists
had been
erected.]
(Boling-
hroke took
leave of
Richard on
tlte Sunday
before the
combat, and
nn the
morrow (the
day ap-
pointed for
battle)
Wowbray
also bade
the King
fare we 11.1
T Arming
of the ap-
Srllaut and
.r- pjdairf )
The order «/
Ml eombat.
[Anmerlo
and BiiTTny
first entered
the lists.]
Here the dukes and other fell in counsell, and manie things
were proponed. Some would that they should by force reuengo
the duke of Glocesters death ; other thought it meet that the earles
Marshal] and Huntington, and certeine others, as cheefe authours
of all the mischeefe, should bo pursued and punished for their
demerites ; bailing trained vp the king in vice and euill customes,
euen from his youth But the dukes (after their displeasure was
Bomewhat asswaged) determined to couer the stings of their griefes
for a time, and, if the king would amend his maners, to forget also
the inmrics past.
Act I. &c. iii. — My next excerpt supplied the material for this scene.
[Hoi. iii. 494/2/41.] At1 the time appointed the king came to
Couentrie, where the two dukes were readie, according to the
order prescribed therein ; comming thither in great arraie, accom-
panied with the lords and gentlemen of their linages. The king
caused a sumptuous scaffold or theater, and roiall listes there to
be erected and prepared. The sundaio before they should fight,
after dinner, the duke of Hereford came to the king (being lodged
about a quarter of a mile without the towne in a tower that
belonged to sir William Bagot) to take his leaue of him. The
morow after, being the day appointed for the combat, about the
spring of the daie, came the duke of Norfolke to the court to take
leaue likewise of the king. The duke of Hereford armed him in
his tent, that was set vp neero to the lists ; and the duke of
Norfolke put on his armor, betwixt the gate & the barrier of the
towne, in a beautifull house, hauing 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 Sumo, marshal], placed themsclues betwixt them,
Wall nnned and appointed ; and, when they saw their time, they
first entered into the lisfcea with a great companie of men
apparelled in silke sendall, imbrodered with sillier, both richlie and
1 The original authority for this excerpt is Trait., 17-23 ; 149*158. Hall*
(3-5) added several details to this account (a. a. the apparel of the Dukes),
which Hoi. copied,
V. RICHARD II.
87
curiouslie, eucrie man hauing a tipped stafle to keepe the field in
order. About the houre of prime, came to the barriers of the
listes the duke of Hereford, mounted on a white courser, harried
with greeue & blew veluet imbrodered sumptuouslio with swans
and antelops of goldsmiths woorke ; armed at all points. The
constable and marshal) came to the barriers, demanding of him
what he was. He answered : " I am Henrie of Lancaster, duke of
"Hereford, which am come hither to doo mine indeuor against
11 Thomas Mowbraie, duke of Norfolkc, as a traitor vntrue to God,
"the king, his realme. and me." Then incontinentlie he sware
vpon the holie euangelists, that his quarrell was true and iust, and
vpon that point he required to enter the liHts. Then he put vp
his sword, which before ho held naked in his ham), and, putting
downe his visor, made a crosse on his horsse ; and, with speare in
hand, entered into the lists, and descended from his horsse, and
set him downe in a chaire of greene veluet, nt the one end of the
lists, and there reposed himsolfe, abiding the comming of his
aducrsarte.
Soone after him, entred into the Held with great triumph king
Richard, accompanied with all the pecrea of the realme, . . . The
king had there aboue ten thousand men in armour, least some fraie
or tumult might rise amongst his nobles, by rjuarelling r»r partaking.
When the king was set in his scat, (which was richlie hanged and
adorned,) a king at armes made open proclamation, prohibiting
all men in the name of the king, and of the high constable and
marshall, to enterprise or attempt to approch or touch any part of
the lis tB vpon painc of death, except such as were appointed to
order or marshall the field. The proclamation ended, an other
herald cried ; " Behold here Henrie of Lancaster, duke of Hereford,
"appellant, which is entred into the lists roiall to doo his deuoir
"against Thomas Mowbraie, duke of Norfolkc, defendant; vpon
14 paino to bo found falso and recreant! "
The duke of Norfolke houered on horssebacke at the entrio of
the lists, his horsse being barded with crimoson veluet, imbrodered
richlio with lions of sillier and mulberic 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 :
[About
prime
(6— Oa.m.)
H'.'lliittoruko
rode to thr
l-arriers, and
Atmi.Tlc and
Bvtng
demanded
what lie
WIS.]
[Bollng-
bnAtn
answer.]
[Htvintr
taken an
oath that Ilia
quarrel wai
Just, lie
entered the
liala, and
di amount-
ing, seated
himself on a
chair, await-
ing hia
adversary.]
riVn
Ririi in!
entered the
Held, ac-
companied
by the |*«rs
of the realm.
ITefc
thotiasnd
armed men
to keep the
peace.)
(All (except
those who
weTe
appointed
to marshal
the Held)
wore for-
bidden to
approach or
touch tbo
lists.]
(Bollng-
brokes
challenge j
88
V. RICHARD II.
[When
Mowlmj
had ).(-.-r.
■worn, be
antarad the
lliU. crying,
"God aid
hfm tliat
bath Oh
right!" and
then dia-
monnting,
seated htm-
awlf on a
chair.]
(Afterwards
their ip«»ra
were
(Mivered
to the
combaUnti,
and they
were coal-
man d*d U»
mount their
bona.]
[Boling-
hrokaaet
forward alx
or seven
paces, but
Mowbray
lingered. ]
Tkt tembat
Itnirt *> the
king.
TXfkinglii*
dam M*uct
On two
duku.
Boltns-
e i tied for
unyearri.
and Mow-
bray for
life.)
T Richard
waa to levy
money from
Mowbray's
lands, to
m-iuti I ■ I I
oarrlaoTi of
Calais.]
"God aid him that hath Lite right! * and then he departed from
his horsse, & sate him downe in his chaire, which was of crimosen
veluet, courtincd about with white and red damaske. The lord
marshall viewed their speares, to Bee that thej were of equall
length, and deliuered the one spearo 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 & chairea
of the champions should be rcmooued ; commanding them on the
kings behalfe to mount on horssobacke, & addresse themsclues to
the battel! and combat.
The duke of Hereford was quicklie horssed, and closed his
bauier, and cast his spearo into the rest, and when the trumpet
Bounded set forward emiragiouslio towards his enimie six or seucn
pases. The duke of Norfolke was not fallie set forward,1 when the
king cast downe bis warder, and the heralds cried, "Ho, ho!"
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-
ate consulted what order was best to be had in bo weightie a
cause. Finallie, after they had deuised, and fullie determined
what should be doono therein, the heralds cried silence ; and sir
John Bushie, the kings secretaire, read the sentence and determina-
tion of the king and his councell, b a long roll, the effect wherof
was, that Henrie duke of Hereford should within fifteene daies
depart out of the roalme, and not to returne 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 ho had sowen sedition in the rehne by
his words, should likewise auoid the realme, and neuer to returne
againe into England, nor approch the borders or confines thereof
vpon panic of death; and that the king would stale the profits of
his lauds, till ho had leuicd thereof such summes of monie as tho
duko had taken vp of the kings treasuror for the wages of the
garrison of Calis, which were still vnpaid.
1 "le due de Noruolt ne m bouga ue ne fist semblant de boy deffendre.
TraU, 81. *
HICHARD IT.
89
[ Holing -
broke and
Mowbray
ware a worn
not willingly
to met* in
any foraljpi
eountry.j
(Mowbray
went tn
Germanv,
and at lut
to Venice,
when) he
died, fin
hud hoped
that Richard
would hare
fa von red
him.]
►ke'a exile
waa reduced
tn six year*.
Ho wont to
Franc*. |
When tlie8G iudgeraenta were once read, the king called before
him both the parties, and made them to sweare that the one
should neuer come in place where the other was, willinglie ; nor
keepe any company to gither in any forren region; which oth they
both reoeiued humblie, and bo went their waics. The duke of
Norfolke departed sorowfullie out of the relme into Almanic, and
at the last came to Venice, where he for thought and melan-
cholic deceassed i for he was in hope (as writers record) that he
should haue becne borne out in the matter by the king, which
when it fell out otherwise, it greeued him not a little. The duko
of Hereford tooke his leauc of the king at Kltham, who there
released foure yeareB of hia banishment: so he tooke his ioniie
oner into Calis, and from thence went into France, where he
remained.
Act I. m. iv. — Richard enters with Bagot. Greene, and Anmerle.
Bolinghroke's •* courtship to the common people M (I. iv. 24, dVc.), which
Richard has noticed, is not mentioned in the Chronicles, but the
following paragraph shows that the Duke left man}' friends behind him,
[UoL iii. 495/2/25.] A woonder it was to Bee what number of
people ran after him in euerie towne and street where he came,
before ho tooke the sea ; lamenting and bewailing his departure, as
who would saie, that when he departed,, the onelie shield, defense, m<h
and comfort of the commonwealth waa vaded and gone. tM*p*pu.
Dismissing all thought of Bolingbroke, Greene advises Richard to
take prompt measures for the subjugation of " the rebels which stand
out in Ireland" (I. iv. 37-41). Holinahed says :
[Hoi. iii. 496/2/70.] In this roeane time 1 the king being aduer-
tised that the wild Irish dailic wasted and destroied the townea
and villages within the English pale, and had slain e manic of the
souldiers which laie there in gariBon for defense of that [p. 497]
countrie, determined to make eftsoones a voiage thither, & prepared
all things necessarie for his passage now against the Bpring.
Potior.
[ReTolt of
the wild
Irian.]
(Richard
reaolved nn
an expedi-
tion to
Ireland In
ti*: Ijitngl
1 Roger fourth Earl of March was slain by the Irish on July 20, 1398. —
Utk% 19; 126. "Cujus morte cognita, Rex statuit vindicate peraonaliter
mortem ejua, Hiberm*nse*<pie domare."— WaU. ii. 239. Roger was Richard's
Lieutenant in Ulster, Connaught, and Meath .— Cb/«nrf, R K P P>, W Ric.
II., 830/1/7.
90
Tht rtnlme
Ut t a farms
*jr tf.e ting.
B'anU
alarm
[Blank
V. RICHARD EC
Holinshed mentions the farming of England by Richard (I. iv. 45 ;
and cp. II. i. 57-64, 109-113, 256) :
[Hal. iii. 496/1/64.] The common brute ran, that the king had
set to farnio the realme of England vnto sir William Scroope, earle
of Wiltshire, and then treaauror of England, to sir Iohn Buahie, Bir
Iohn Bagot, and sir Henrie Greene, knights.1
Of " blanke charters" (L iv. 48-51) as sources of revenue, we
have the following account. In 1398 a reconciliation was effected
between Richard and the Londoners,2 with whom he liad been deeply
offended.
[HoL iii. 406/i/ti.] But yet to content the kings mind, manie
blanko charters were deuised, and brought into the citie, which
manie of the substantial! and wcalthic citizens were faine to scale,
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 bo scaled, the kings officers wrote in the same what
liked them, as well for charging the parties with paiment of monie,
as otherwise.
In April, 1399,3 large 6nes were exacted from the inhabitants of
seventeen counties, who had aided the Duke of Gloucester in the coup
il'r tnt 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,4 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 (I. iv. 43-52) that the cost of
the Irish war obliged Richard to farm the revenues and issue blank
charters. That Richard was accused of extorting money for such a
1 Fab. (545J, HoI.'b authority, says that this rumour was current in the
22nd year of Richard's reign (June 21, 1398— June 20, 1399).
• According to Fab. (546) this reconciliation was effected after the adjourn-
ment of Parliament on September 29, 1397. Richard's ire was moved by the
Londoners7 opposition to ■ certeyne actya " of that Parliament.
* '« cito post Pascha" (March 30).— OH., 199. Cp. Wats., ii. S30, 231.
4 It appears from Ott~, 200, and JVaJs.t 231, that these blank charters (alba*
chartas) were contemporaneous with the fines imposed upon the counties. But
according to Er*s. (143, 147) these fines and blank charters were in operation
about Michaelmas, 1398.
V. RICHARD II.
91
Tkt deatJt of
tkt dult ,tf
Lancaster.
purpose 1 appears from one of the articles exhibited against him in the
Parliament by which he was deposed.
[Hoi. iii. 502/2/56.] 19 Item, the spiritualise alledged against jjjj^w
him, that he, at his going into Ireland, exacted manie notable jJJ^-s
summes of monie, beside plate and iewels, without law or cuBtorae, iSJfi/i*0
contrarie to his oth taken at his coronation.
Act II. sc. i. — While Richard 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). daunts death is thus briefly
recorded by Holinshed.
[Hoi iii. 496/1/22.] In this meane time [Feb. 3, 1399],2 the
duke of Lancaster departed out of this life at the bishop of Eliea
place in Holborne.
The particulars of Gaunt's death (II. 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/i/26.] The death of this duke gaue occasion of
increasing more hatred in the people of this rcahnc toward the
king, for he seized into his hands all the goods that belonged to
him, and also recciued all the rents and rcucnues of his lands
which ought to haue descended vnto the duke of Hereford by
1 awful 1 inheritance ; in reuoking his letters patents, which he had
granted to him before, by vertue wherof he might make his
attorneis general! to sue liuerie for him, of any mancr of inherit-
ances or possessions that might from thencefonrth fall vnto him ;8
and that his homage might be respited, with making reasonable
fine : whereby it was euident, that the king meant his vtter
vndooing.
Shakspero had Holinshed' s authority for York's resentment of such
injustice, and consequent departure from Court (II. i. 163-214).
[Hoi. iii. 496/1/40.] This hard dealing was much misliked of
all the nobilitio, and cried out against of the meaner sort; but
Jle'f
lined
Richard fa
fcMtMMfl
because be
confiscated
the rente
and goods
which had
belonged to
Gaunt, and
refuaed to
allow
Bolinghrnke
to roe livery
lt^- attorney
aa Qannt'a
heir.]
The. Watrt.
1 <>ft, (197) RR^a that during Lent, 131)1), Richard exacted money, &c., for
the Irish expedition.
1 "in craetino Purificationis beat-re Maria* " (Feb. 3).
creatine. Sancri Blawii " (Feb. 4).— Usk, 23 ; 132.
» See p. 102 below.
OIL, 108. "in
93
V. RICHARD II.
[Terkned
gjjwilfr
onrtka
Glm**tt«r'i
brokV§
baniitiment,
bat wu ton
ssovedby
Richard*
confiscation
of Baling-
brokc'i
iolwHuncc]
Tftt dttit of
Tttrkt m u-
Uk<tk On
irt A- pot (A
lf<rtford U
ImmIHi
fofrrf«m«f
w <<A f A«
/WiuA falter
I; and mipjit
haw mured
the I >iiLe of
fivrit
daughter, tf
Ricliard had
nntprp-
vmtliul the
match.)
/Wiawrri.
namelie the duke of Yorke was therewith sore mooued ; who, before
this time, had borne things with so patient a mind as he could,
though the same touched him rerie aeero, as the death of his
brother the duke of Glocester, the banishment of his nephue the
said duko of Hereford, ami other mo injuries in great number;
which, for the slipperie youth of the king, he passed ouer for the
time, and did forget aswell as he might But now perceiujng that
neither law, justice, nor equitie could take place, whore the kings
wilfull will was bent vpon any wrongful! purpose, ... he thought
it the part of a wise man to get him in time to a resting place, . . .
Hereypon he with the duke of Aumarlo his sonno went to his
house at Langlie.
168)
One of the wrong* which York had borne patiently was (II. i. 167,
. . . the preuontinn of poore Kullingbrooko
About his muriadge, . . .
What York refers to is thus narrated by nourished :
[Hoi. iii, 495/2/31.] At his [Bolingbroke's] comming into
France, king Charles [VI], hearing the cause of his banishment
(which he esteemed to be verie light), receiucd him gentl'ie, and
him honorablie intortcined, in so much that he had by fnnonr
obteincd in manage the onelie daughter of the duke of Berrie,
vnclc to the French king, if king Richard had not beene a let in
that matter ; who, being thereof certified, sent the earle of Salisbnrie1
with all speed into France; both to surmize, by vntrue suggestion,
heinous offences against him, and also to require the French khg
that in no wise he would Buffer his cousine to be matched in
marlage with him that was so manifest an oflfendor.
As Richard leaves 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 " iusta " performed at Windsor
"a little before " Richard's embarkation (Ifvf. iii. 497/1/3) may he
alluded to in II. L 223 :
1 The date of Salisbury's mission was, perhaps, March, 1399. Soon after
(" asrejs tot aprca ") hie return to England, a royal proclamation directed that
a tournament should be held at Windsor. After this tournament Richard
made preparations for going ("ordonna slier ") to Ireland. He left the Queen
at Windsor, and went thence to Bristol (Froia., xiv. 163, 164),
RICHARD II.
93
Tht king
KbUtA outr
into inland
tritA a yrtat
arm!*.
Polyum.
Thidwh
of Yorkt
tUv tenant
gentrall o/
England,
tht ling
>•< i '"/ in
Inland.
[Hvl. iii. 497/1/8.] When these iusts were fiuished, the king
departed toward Bristow, from thence to passe into Ireland ;
leauing the queene with hir traine still at Windesor : he appointed
for his lieutenant generall in his ahsence his vucle the duke of
Yorke : and ho in the moneth of Aprill,1 as diuerse authors write,
he set forward from Windcsor, and finallie tooke shipping at
Milford, and from thence, with two hundred ships, and a puissant
power of men of annea and archers, he sailed into Ireland.
Three passages in Holinshed may have suggested to Shakspere the
conversation of Northumberland, Rosa, and Willoughby (11. 241-248),
who remain on the stage after Richard's exit. Northumberland seems
to glance at (11, 241-245) an act of the subservient Parliament of 1397 ;
which Holinshed thus records :
[Hoi. iii. 493/1/40.] Final lie, a generall pardon was granted
for all offenses to all the kings subiects (fiftie onelie excepted) 'JJJJJJ^
whose names he would not by anie meanes cxpresse, but reserued ™£!["t»i
them to his owne knowledge, that when anie of the nobilitie ^molj
offended him, he might at his plc&ure name him to be one of the
number excepted, and so kcepc them still within his danger. . . .
Manie other things were doonc in this pariement, to the dis-
pleasure of no small number of people ; immelie, for that diuerse
riirhtfull heires were disherited of their lands ami linings, by ^^u
authoritie of the same pariement: with which wrongful! dooings dUKtrittd-
the people were much offended ; so that the king, and those that
were about him, and cheefc in councell, came into great infamie
and slander.
I^irgo grants had been obtained from his Parliaments by Richard
U. ; and the oppressive [»o11-tnx — to which we may suppose Ross refers
— caused the commons' rebellion in 1381. Of that impost Holinshed
says :
[Hoi iii. 428/2/36] There was a new and strange subsidie or
taske granted to be leuicd for the kings rse, and towards the
charges of this armie that went oner into France with the earle of
Buckingham ; to wit, of eucrie preest secular or regular, six
MM
../.:.
1 "post Penteweten proximo eequena" [read scayenUm or understand
fest\tm\—Eru.t 148. "circa fe&tura Pentecuete*."— Ott., 200. Walt., 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.
y4
HICHAM) 1L
mtfmr
BSi-1
UCkviadJ.
shillings eight pence, and as much of euerie nunne, and of euerie
man & woman married or not married, being 16 yeares of age,
(beggers certenlic knowne onlic excepted,) foure pence for euerie
one. Great grudging & manie a bitter cursse followed about the
leuicng of this inonie, & much mischeefe rose thereof, as after it
appeared.
In illustration of II. 247, 248, I quote the passage noticed above
(p. 90) concerning the fines levied from seventeen shires.
Mr*
■asHsM
Tit ynfwwHt
wo* HSM «*
ii an ■
pi€OM tkt X.
wUAall, but
tint
W€Tt tk*m
Hpmie
A*iflU>
[Hoi iii 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 wttball 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 suerlie the fines which the nobles, and other the meaner
ttnr estates of those shires were constrained to paie, were not small,
but exceeding great, to the offense of manie.
After " blanckes," Willoughby mentions M bene violences M as one of
the *'new exactions" devised by Richard (IL i. 250). A "benevo-
lence" was — in name, at least — the conception of a later king.1 In
1473 Edward IV. was meditating an expedition to France:
[Hoi. iii. 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, WtUi. says (ii 230, £31) : "coacti sunt Regi concedere . . . importabiles
eummas pecuniae, pro benevolent in mta recuperanda." Ott. Niys (199) : "Vocab-
uutur ituque tales sumuiffi, sic lcvatos de singulis coimtatibua, Ic plensanncr"
Cp. BoV* eidenote, "The paiment," &c.
RICHARD II.
95
tan
gmintti.]
giue. Ami therefore the king, willing to show that this their
liberalise was verie acceptable to him, he called this grant of kwJ,v
monie, "A beneuoleuce " : notwithstanding that manie with grudge ^^v«.
gaue great suras toward that new found aid, which of them might eno*
be called, "A maleuolence."
When Willoughby demands what has became 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.
Sliakspere may have been thinking of Richard's cession of Brest to
John Duke of Brittany (see p. 8-t above) ; a step which was censured
by Gloucester, who bluntly said to the King ;
[Hoi iii. 487/2/65.] Sir, your grace ought to put your bodic [J™™*1'1
in paine to win a strong hold or towne by feats of war, ycr you SJ^^h
take vpon you to sell or deliuer anie towne or strong hold gotten nyC"
with great aduenture by the manhood and policie of your nolle
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, Iiainold L. Cobhain
That late broke from the Duke of Exeter
His brother,1 archbishop late of Canterburie,
Sir Thomas Erpiughain, Sir John Raniston,
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 ineane to touch our Northerne shore : 288
Perhaps they had ere this, but that they stay
The first departing of the King for Ireland.
During Richard's sojourn in Ireland,
[Hoi iii. 497/2/57.] . . . diucrsc of the nobilitic, aawell prelate
as other, and likewise uianie of the magistrats and rulers of the
cities, towncs, and communaltie, here in England, perceiuing dailic
how tho realme drew to vtter ruine, not like to be recouered to the
1 "Hie bruther," i.e. Richard Earl of Arundel's brother. Ritson suggested
that the missing line was taken almost literally from I2vl,y and ran thus:
" The eon and heir of the late earl of Arundel,"— Fur. Sh. xvi. 65.
96
V. RICHARD II.
TUt dul* of
LancatUr
oolieitai to
tjptll ttimo
Jtickard, and
t. ;.ii IpM
Aim tki
rtj/iiiunt.
Tk4 dukt of
SritaitM a
ffrtat fritiUt
to th* itukt
of Lu.hmUt.
Tht it»it of
LtiACiUtirr A
I.U adhrrcntt
Mi.i. into
|. »UrUn«
rromLtport
bUuc].
Addition* to
Poltickron.
[. gtvmg ttao
BHMi f r
other
atlUtieiiU).
(Virions
ri'i-uiiliU af
BoliDg-
bruUet
forces,]
TioiK- Walt.
Chron. Brit,
(records thst
li-ilmu broke
had 3000
turn, sJid 8
siaiNL]
FroiuarxL
TU.
H'atiinp,
former state of wealth whitest king Richard liued and reigned, (as
they tooke it,) deuised with great deliberation, and considerate
aduise, to send and signifie by letters vntu duke Henrie, whonie
they now called (as he was iu deed) duke of Lancaster and
Hereford, requiring him with alt conuenient speed to oonueie
himself e into England ; promising hint all their aid, power, and
assistance, if he, expelling K. Richard, as a man not meet for the
office he bare, would take rpon him the scepter, rule, and diademe
of his natiuc land and region.
lie, therefore, being thus called vpon by messengers and letters
from his freends, and cheeflie through the earnest persuasion of
Thomas Aruudell,1 late archbishop of Cauturburie, who . . . had
beeue remooued from his see, and banished the reahne by king
Richards means, got him downe to Britaine, togither with the said
archbishop ; where he was ioifullie receiued of the duke and
duchesse, and found such freendship at the dukes hands, that
there were certeine ships rigged, and made readie for lum, at a
place in base Britaine - called Le port blanc, as we find in the
chronicles of Britaine ; and, when all his prouisiou was made
readie, he tooke the sea, togither with the said archbishop of
Cauturburie, and his ncphue Thomas Arundcli, sonno and heire to
the late earle of Arundell, . , , There were also with him,
Reginald lord Cobham, sir Thomas Erpiugham, and sir Thomas
Ramston, knights, Iohn Norburie, Robert Waterton, & Francis
Coint, esquires : few else were there, for (as some write) he had
not post fifbeene lances, as they tearmed them in those daies, that
is to saie, men of annes, furnished and appointed as the vse then
was. f Yet other write, that the duke of Britaine deliuered vnto
htm three thousand men of warre, to attend him, and that he had
eight ships well furnished for the warre, where Frois&ard yet
speaketh but of three. Moreouer, where Fraissard and also the
chronicles of Britaine uuouch, that he should land at Plimmouth,
by our English writers it seemeth otherwise ! for it appeareth by
their assured report, that he, approching to the shore, did not
1 Thomas Arundel (or FiU-AJun), was exiled on September 24, 1337.—
Era, 139.
1 La Basce Bretagne ; lower , or western, Brittany.
RICHAKD II.
97
streight take laud, but lay houering aloofe, aud shewed hiniselfe
now in this place, and now in that, to see what countenance was
made bj the people, whether they meant enuiouslie to resist him,
or frecndlie to rcceiue him.
In my excerpt from the play I retain the line-order and punctua-
tion, as well as the text, of Qi. In none of the original texts of
Richard II. is mention made of " Thomas Arundell, sonne and heire to
the late earle of Arundell." But the following passage shows that
Thomas Arundel must have been named in a preceding line as having
" late broke from the Duke of Exeter."
[Hoi. iii. 496/i/68.] About the same time, the earle of
Arundela sonne, named Thomas, which was kept in the duke of
Exeters house, escaped out of the realnie, by meanes of one
William Scot, mercer ; and went to hia vncle Thomas Arundell,
late archbishop of Canturburie, as then soiourning at Cullen1
[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 (II. i. 290),
The first departing of the King for Ireland.
This deviation from his authority accords with Shakapere'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 L, with its close, connecting it with the first scene of Act IX, —
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 J 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).-
Act IL bc. ii— The Queen enters with Bushy and Bagot. They
are joined by Greene (L 40), and York (1, 72). When Northumber-
land had told his news, he, accompanied by Ross and Willoughby, set
forth to meet Bolingbroke (II. i. 296-300). Greene announces their
flight and Bolingbroke's landing at Ravenspur (11. 49-55). Scene ii.
is, in general, a dramatic version of the useless, though, doubtless,
more formal, deliberations of the council to which York summoned
Richard's favourites.
[Hnl. iii. 498/1/36.] When the lord gouernor, Edmund duke
of Yorke, was aducrtised, that the duke of Lancaster kopt still the
broke did
not Und at
onre, but
»liowed him-
self Id
<U Beirut
I'lActj, that
he might
judg* BOW
he ihould be
itttlvcd,]
1 From Fab. 545 (an. 22 Ric. II.).
» T-X, 2G5.
i>8
RICHARD II.
[Wbta York
hoard Out
Bolumbmko
might lud
anywhere,
bit called a
council of
wu, to
which the
Karl or
Wiltshire,
Buihr,
Bogus, and
Greenowcrc
lumiuuDed.]
I Their tue-
es» advice
to collect in
anny at 8t
)
Tkt
dtnUto
rmUk 111
dusxof
ImimHtr,
Thtduktaf
Lancaster
IdikthltX
Kavens-
y u r | in
Yarktkirt.
Additions to
PoiycA.-o*.
[Among the
llrat who
came to him
were
WUlou^hbr,
Boa, and
BcAiimouL]
sea, and was readie to arriuo, (but where he moot first to set foot
on land, there was not any that vnderstood the certeintie,) he sent
for the lord chancellor, Edmund Stafford, bishop of Excester, and
for the lord trcasuror, William Scroope, carle of Wiltshire, and
other of the kings priuie councetl, as Iohn Bushie, William Bagot,
Henrie Greene, and Iohn 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 vnto S. Albons, and there to gather an
armic to resist the duke in his landing ; but, to how small purpose
their counsell serucd, the conclusion thereof plainlio declared, for
the most part that were called, when they came thither, boldlie
protested, that they would not fight against the duke of Lancaster,
whomc 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
Iulio ■ 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 those parts, that he found means (by
their hclpe) 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 (11. 58-61), occurred soon after Richard's return
to Wales, late in July, 1399.2 Holinshed says :
[Hoi. iii. 499/2/74.] Sir Thomas Persie, earle of Worcester,3
1 On June 28, according to Usfc, 24; 134. "circa featum [June 24] S.
Juhannis EaptisUe,"— Stt$.f 151. "circa featuui [July 4] transiationia sancti
Martini."— Ort , 203.
■ Richard landed in Wales on Julv 22, according to U*k> 27 ; 137. Eivx.'s
(149) date is July 25. In Trais. (40 ; 194) the date assigued to Ricliard'a
landing i« August 13.
1 We learn from one chronicle (OIL, 206, 207) that when Richard, soon
after" landing, withdrew to Flint,— in Eitlog.^ iii.>381, Conway is, with mure
probability, the place named,— he left his household in Worcester's care.
Worcester, weeping most bitterly, broke his staff, and dismissed the royal
RICHARD II.
99
lord [p. 500] steward of the kings house, either being so com- ^^^
manded by the king, or else vpon displeasure (as Borne write) for j??,!* jlJc*
that the king had proclaimed his brother the earle of Northumber- toth*dukt-
land, traitor, brake his white staffe, (which is the representing signe
and token of hia office,) and without delate went to duke Hcnrie.
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 seryingiunn enters, and says to York : " My Lord, your son was
gone [to Ireland] before I came (II. ii. 86). When Richard was at
Dublin/
[Hoi. ill. 497/2/20.] the duke of Aumarle, with an hundred ™< <*«**•/
saile> arriued, of whose camming the king was right loifull; and, ^51,^^
although he had vsed no small negligence in that he came no jjj££y*'
sooner according to order before appointed, yet the king (as he
was of a gentle nature) eourtcoualie accepted his excuse. Whether [HIibikki
ho was in fault or not, I hauc not to saie ; but vcrclie he was dotted.
grcatlie suspected, that he dealt not well in tarieng so long after
his time assigned.
This servingman, whom York would send to Pleshey, to borrow
money from the Duchess of Gloucester! answers : " An houre before I
came the Dutchesse died " (II. ii. 97). Ilolinshed (5H/2/3) records her
death.2
" What, are there no Posts dispatcht for Ireland t n exclaims York
(II. ii. 103). 80 Qi (1597). Q2 (1598) reads "two 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. Wal$. (it 233) says that Worcester was authorized by Richard to
release them from their duties till better times should come. Froi*. (xiv. 167)
has a story — to which, 1 suppose, Hoi. refers — that Richard, before going to
Ireland, published a sentence of banishment against Northumberland and
Henry Percy, and thereby angered Worcester ; who is not, however, said by
JVoi*. to have done anything to revenge the injury. Cp. Rich. II. t II. iii. 26-30.
1 I cannot reconcile the date wheu, according to Creton {Archawl. xx. 27,
293), the campaign began, — which, after a few days, became a march to Dublin,
— with the dates subsequently fciven by him. Hoi. (497/2/ aidenote 2), on the
authority of Annates Hibcrtiitte, a MS. printed in Camden's Britannia, cd.
1607, p. 832, Rives June 28 as the date of Richard's arrival at Dublin, and
Creton says (laid. 45, 309) that Aumerlc arrived on the same day ; a date 'pule
irreconcilable with Cretan's subsequent scheme of time.
3 The inscription on her tomb iu Westminster Abbey shows that the
Duchess died oa October 3, 1399.
LOO
MCHARD II.
•y
It uq
that u
■ivsta
(WW*
BX
t/«»'l
BS?
Hereford
'whether ye list to call kin) airined tints in England, the
so troubled by tempests, and the winds blew so contrarie Cor anie
passage to come oner foorth of Reghrad to the
still in Ireland, that, for the space of six weeka, he
adaertisetnefiU from thence : yet at length, when the
ealme, and the wind once turned anie thing fanonrable, there
uoer a ship ; whereby the king rnderstood the manner of the Jakes
arriuail, and all his proceedings till that daie in which the ship
departed from tbe coast of England : whererpon he meant foorth-
with to baue returned oner into England, to make resistance
against the duke ; but through persuasion of the duke of Aumarle
(as was thought) he staicd, till he might haue all his ships, and
other proubuou, fullie readie for his passage.
My next excerpt shows how, after attending the fruitless council
mentioned abore (p. 98), Richard's evil counsellors took to flight.
(Cp. II. ii, 135-141.)
[Hoi. iii. 4&8/I/56.] The lord treasurer, Bushie, Bagot, and
Greene, perceiuing that the commons would cleaue vnto, and take
part with, the duke, slipped awaie ; leauing the lord gouernour of
the realme, and the* lord chancellor, to make what shift they could
for thcmsclucM. Bagot got him to Chester, and so escaped into
Ireland ; the other fled to the castell of Bristow,1 in hope there to
In: in sufctie.
Act M. Hk iii, — The scene is laid near Berkeley Castle (11. 61-63) ;
and, as tbe excerpt given below proves, can be dated Sunday, July 27,
1390, St. James's Day (July 25) having, in that year, fallen on a
Friday. s
[//'//. iii. *108/2/3. ] At his [Bolingbroke's] comming vnto
DoiieaiUr, tlio earle of Northumberland, and his sonne, sir Henrie
1 Tim nwift istlefl of ths piny establishes the Loix! Treasurer (Earl of
Wiltshire') in Bristol Castle before Richani'B favourites separate. C'p. II. ii.
133. 136.
* The itiilhority for Oil dale is Ews.t 152.
V. RICHARD II.
101
Persic, wardens of the marches against; Scotland, with the earle of
Westmorland, came vnto him ; where he aware vnto those lords,
that he would demand no more, but the lands that were to him
descended by inheritance from his father,1 and in right of his wife.
Moreouer, he vndertooke to cause the paiment of taxes and
tallages to be laid downe, & to bring the king to good goiicrnment,
& to remooue from him the Cheshire men, which were cnuied of
manic ; for that the king esteemed of them more than of anie
other; happilie, bicause they were more faithful! to him than
other, readie in all respects to obeio his commandoments and
pleasure. From Doncaster, hauing now got a mightio arniie about
him, he marched foorth with all speed through the countries,
comming by Euesham vnto Berkelie : within the space of three
daies, all the kings castcls in those part1) were surrendred vnto
him.
The duke of Yorke, whome king Richard had left as gouernour
of the realme in his absence, hearing that his nephuc 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
before yee haue heard ;) but all was in vaine, for there was not a
man that willinglie would thrust out ono arrow against the duke of
Lancaster, or his partakers, or in anio wise offend him or his
frcenda The duke of Yorko, therefore, passing foorth towards
Wales to meet the king, at his comming foorth of Ireland, was
recciued into the castell of Berkelie, and there remained, till the
comming thither of the duko 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 yearo came about, fell rpoo the
fridaie) he came foorth into the church that stood without the
The duJtt ctf
laeaitrrt
c<k to I Me
limit thnt
auUd Aim
[, that he
would claim
no mare
Uuutbta
Inheritance.
He also
fravJavd
l) to
rcdure
taxation ;
(2) to raako
RtcJurd
eorrrn
Jnrtly:
(S)auf to
disband Dm
Chwtnirf-
inen.]
(H« mtrclif d
fmm Don-
ranter to
Bcikulrj.]
Th< \*rU of
IX- amnion*
vhotit felt I
to IhtduUof
LnnauUr
fraud
Yorki
■oldlrrs
would nf>t
fight with
fVoi-k *t
Bt-zVrlrf
CUit.C. |
1 Cp> Northumberland's words {II. iii. 148, 149):
" The noble Duke hath aworne hid comming ia
But for hia owne ; " . . .
Cp. also what Hotspur (1 Hen. TV.JV. iii. 60-65), and Worcester (1 Thn. TV.,
V. i. 41-46), afterward? Raid about Rolinghroke's oath. The charge of hiring
transgressed this limitation, ratified by oath at Doncaster, ia contained in the
first article of the Pereies' 4i nxiarell " : a document presented to Henry IV. on
the day before the battle of Shrewsbury. — Hard., 352. But it appears ErtQ
the excerpt quoted in the text that Shakspere wronged Bolingbroke, who
undertook national reformation also.
102
RICHARD II.
pf Mtlng of
Bollngbrokft
Mid York.)
tS*me» or
ttaOM who
were with
Tort.)
(Ninira of
those who
were with
Mfafr
broke.}
(Lore nr fww
,., ,'. j...,].;,.
flock to
Bglfa*
broke]
•Uornlwto
■fatakb
• I
castell, and there communed with the duke of Lancaster. With
the duke of Yorke were the bishop of Norwich, the lord Berkelie,
the lord Seimour, and other; with the duke of Lancaster were
these : Thomas Arundell, archbishop of Canturburie, (that had
beene banished,) the abbat of Leicester, the earles of Northumber-
land and Westmorland, Thomas Arundell, sonne to Richard, late
earle of Arundel 1, the baron of Greistoke, the lords Willoughbio
and Rob, with diuerse other lords, knights, and other people, which
dailie came to him from euerie part of the realme : those that
came not were spoiled of all they had, so as they were neuer able
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
(II. iii. 129, &c.):
I am denyed to sue my Liuery here,
And yet my letters pattents giue me leaue : . . . 130
And I challenge law : Atturnies are denied me ;
And therefore personally I lay my claims
To my inheritance of free descent. 136
This complaint formed the subject of an article exhibited against
Richard in the Parliament which deposed him.
[EoL iii. 502/2/i6.] 10 Item, before the dukes departure, he
[Richard] vmler his broad seale licenced him [Bolingbroke] to
make atturnies to prosecute and defend his causes : the said king,
after his departure, would suffer none atturnie to appeare for him,
but did with his at his pleasure.1
Act II. sc. iv. — From what follows, Shakspere constructed the
dialogue between Salisbury and u a Welch captaine " (II. iv.), whose
countrymen, after waiting " ten dayes" (1. 1) in arms, have dispersed,
believing Richard 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 prouiaion, fullie readie for his passage." 8
[Hoi. iii. 499/1/32.] In the meane time, he sent the earle of
1 See p. 91 above.
■ Creton says (Archaeol.,xx. 55-58, 312, 313) that Aumerle treacherously
gave Richard this advice ; and also suggested thai Salisbury should oppose
Bolingbroke in the field, while the royal preparations for return were ocing
made.
IUCFIARD II.
103
Salisburie ouer into England, to gather a power togither, by helpe
of the kings freends in Wales, and Cheshire, with all speed
possible ; that they might be readie to assist him against the duke,
vpon his arriuall, for he meant himsclfc to follow the earle, within
six daies after. The carle, 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, whoso request, with great desire, & very
willing minds, they fulfilled, hoping to haue found the king him-
self at Conwaie ; insomuch that, within foure daies space, there were
to the number of fortie thousand l men assembled, readie to march
with the king against his cntmioSj if he had beene there himselfe in
person.
But, when they missed the king, there was a brute spred
amongst them, that the king was suerlie dead ; which wrought such
an impression, and euill disposition, in the minds of the Welshmen
and others, that, for anie persuasion which the earle of Salisburie
might vse, they would not go foorth with him, till they saw the
king : onelie they were contented to staie foure teene daies to see if
he should come or not ; but, when he came not within that tearme,
they would no longer abide, but scaled & departed awaic ; wheras
if the king had come before their breaking vp, no doubt, but they
would haue put the duke of Hereford in aducnturc of a field : so
that the kings lingering of time, before his comming ouer, gaue
i| |H»rtumtie to the duke to bring things to passe as he could haue
wished, and tookc from the king all occasion to recoucr afterwards
anie forces sufficient to resist him.
[KalUhnry
wu sent to
gather an
anny before
Arrival.]
(Forty
BMMftd
men
(But when
BtfaN
came oot, a
rumour went
anion gat
them that he-
was dead,
ao, after
waiting for
hi tn fourteen
days, they
(Lajmreetl. ]
The Welsh Captain makes partial mention (II. iv. 8) of a portent
which may have happened not long before the time of this scene.
[Soli iii. 496/2/66.] In this yeare in a manner throughout all 4'^£uoy|
the roahne of England, old baie trees withered, and, afterwards, ££*'***
1 Cp. Richard's words (III. ii. 76, 77) when he hears that the Welshmen
have diflpereed:
■ But now the bloud of 20000. men
Did triumph in my face, and they are fled*' ; . . .
Salisbury had told him (1. 70) that the Welshmen numbered twelve thousand.
104
RICHARD II,
TKe Dvtt of
Lantatttr
M«vA«A to
lir.tfoi-.
contrarie to all mens thinking, grewgreene againc ; a strange sight,
and supposed to import some vnknowne cuenl
Act III. sc. i.- — July 29, 1399,1 is the historic date on which the
Third Act opens. "On the morow after" the day (July 27) when
York met Bolingbroke at Berkeley,
[Rot. iii. 498/2/61.] the forsaid dukes, with their power, went
towards Bristow, where (at their coniming) 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 treasurer of England, sir Hcnric Greene,
and sir Iohn 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
misgoucrning the king and realme; and foorth with had their heads
smit off.
At the close of sc. i., Act III., Bolingbroke says :
Come, Lords, away,
To 6ght with Glendor and hia complices :
A while to worke, and, after, holiday !
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 Shaksperc was not bound
by chronological fetters. Perhaps the following account of Glendower'a
attack on Lord Grey of Ruthin — 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 rui<l.
TkMWeUh- [Hoi. iii. 518/2/53.1 In the kings [Henry IWs] absence,
men rtbell by
a*«tu*go* whilest he was foorth of the realme, in Scotland, against his enimies,
cicwtowr. th.e Welshmen tooke occasion to rebell vnder the conduct of their
capteine Owen Glendouer ; dooing what misehcefe they could
1 According to Kvcs. (153), — whom Hd. follows, — Scrope, Bushy, and
Greene were arraigned on July 29 ; end (Ret. Pati.i iii. 666/0 condemned to
death on the same day. Cp. Ott.% 205. But Usk (24 ; 134) says that Boling-
broke did not reach Bristol till July 29. Adam of Usk was at Bristol when
Bolingbroke was there In July, 1399 (25 ; 133).
RICJIARD II.
105
deuise vnto their English neighbours. This Owen Glendouer
was sonne to an esquier of Wales, named Griffith Vichan :
he dwelled in the parish of Conwale, within the countie of
Merioneth in Northwales, in a place called Glindourwie, which
is as much to saie in English, as "The vallie by the side of
the water of Dee ; " by occasion whereof he was surnamed
Glindour Dew.
He was first set to studio, the lawes of the realme, and became
an vtter barrestcr, or an apprentise of the law, (as they terme him,)
and serued king Richard at Flint castell, when he was taken by
Ilcnrie duke of Lancaster; tiiough other haue written that he
serued this king Hcnrie the fourth, before he came to atteine the
crowne, in roome of an eaquiar ; 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
inheritance, when he saw that he might not preuaile, finding no
such fauor in his sute as he looked for, he first made warre
against the said lord Greie, wasting his lands and possessions with
fire and sword, cruellie killing his seruants and tenants. The king,
aduertised of such rebellious exploits,1 enterprised by the said
Owen, and his vnrulie amtjtlkes, determined to chastise them, as
disturbers of his peace, and so with an armic entered into Wales ;
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.2
A*** Stow.
Oven
Ulendovtr,
(Hawni
Admitted t«
j>T*ctlne
without Uw
Engliih
tar; and
•erred.
Rlchftrd at
FHnl Caatle.
Some lay
thathflWM
Mte
broke a
"■1'lllT ]
Tko. Wit'*;.
(01*o-
doWPf'i
mum) wllh
Lord Grey of
Ruthin. |
The (uyitifin
tbnt wuxnud
him to rtbttL
Tke king
tnfrttM into
H../.,,
■uaafaf t*
rhtutiM y
1 Full particulars of Glendower's rebellion reached Henry at Northampton,
About September 12-10, 1400. The campaign began soon or immediate!* after
Septemlier 26, and was over before October 19, 1400.— Wylie (i. 146-148),
oiling public records.
8 According to one story Olendower "serued king Richard at Flint castell,
when he was taken hy Henrio Duke of Lancaster." I venture to anggest that
Shakspere — assuming from these words th«t Olendower was personally attached
to the King— turned the border strife with Lord Grey of Ruthin into warfare on
Richard's behalf. The line? which I quote above (III. i. 42-44) might hare
introduced this lost or omitted portion of the play, but they are now, I
suspect, imperfect and disarranged : the ryming lines — which should end the
scene — being ont of place, and two half lines, at least, having been lost.
10G
RICHARD n.
K. Rirkartt
rftmm<-tk out
and tandtlA
.1 Wmtm.
f%tm WmU
BsnhnvBt,
he went to
Conway. J
Ad>Htion4 to
[XftWI CMDrt
nf lhf> ]..-« of
hm m»tl«-«,
the revolt of
nobles *u4
beheading of
his cotin-
■fflon »t
Brlatol.)
in vlttr
dttjtairt.
[Ilwiirwl his
soldiers to
return to
tbeir homes ]
Act m. sc. ii. — My next excerpt continues the history of Richard's
fortunes, from the time when the Welshmen dispersed.
[Hoi. iiL 499/i/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, Exceater, Surrie, and
diueree others of the nobilitie, with the bishops of London,
Lincolne, and CarlcilL They landed neere the castell of Barclowlie l
in Wales, about the feast of saint lames the apostle, and staied a
while in the same castell, being aduertised of the great forces
which the duke of Lancaster had got togither against him ;
wherewith he was maruellouBlie amazed, knowing certeinelie
that those, which were thus in amies with the duke of Lancaster
against him, would rather die than giue place, as well for the
hatred as feare which they had conceiued at him. Neuerthe-
lesse he, departing from Barclowlie, hasted with all speed towards
Conwaie, where he vnderstoodc the earle of Salisburie to be
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 himselfc of his aduersaries, & so at the
first he passed with a good courage ; but when he understood,
as ho went thus forward, that all the castels, euen from the
borders of Scotland vnto Bristow, were deliuered vnto the duke of
Lancaster; and that likewise the nobles and commons, as well
of the south parts, as the north, were fullie bent to take part
witli the same duke against him ; and further, hearing how his
trustie councellors had lost their heads at Bristow, he became so
greatlie discomforted, that sorowfullie lamenting his miserable
state, he rtterlic despaired of his owno safe tie, and calling his
armic togither, which was not small, licenced euerie man to
depart to his home.
1 "Castrum do Hertlowli in Walha."— Eves., 149. Williams (Trais. 188,
note) supposed this place to be Harlech Castle, Merionethshire, According
to Uak (87 ; 137), and the text of Trow. (41 ; 188), Richard landed at
Pembroke. The Lebaud and Ambassade MS8. of Trait. (Trais. 41, note
6), Creton (Anhatol ix.7& ; 321), and Ott. (206) have Milford as Richard's
landing-place.
KICUARB II.
107
The souldiers, being well bent to fight in his defense, besought
him to be of good cheere, promising with an oth to stand with him
against the duke, and all his partakers vnto death ; but this could
not incourage him at all, so that, in the night next insuing, he
stole from his armie, and, with the dukes of Excester and
Surrie, the bishop of Carleill, and sir Stephan Scroope, and about
halfe a score others, he got him to the castell of Conwaie,1 where
he found the earle of Salisburie ; determining there to hold
himselfe, till he might see the world at some better stale ; for
what counsell to take to remedte the mischeefe thus pressing
vpon him he wist not
Act III. 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), Hoiinahed proceeds:
[Hoi. iii. 5OO/2/71.] King Richard being thus come vnto the
castell of Flint, on the mondaie, the eighteenth of August, and the
duke of Hereford being still aduertised from houre to houre by
posts, [p. 501] how the earle of Northumberland sped, the morow
following being tuesdaie, and the nineteenth of August,2 he came
thither, & mustered his armie before the kings presence ; which
vndoubtedlie made a passing faire shew, being verie well ordered
by the lord Henrie Persie, that was appointed generall, or rather
(as we maie call him) master of the campe, vnder the duke,
of the whole armie. . . -
[Though
they wer«
r < iv i v to
fight Tor
Mm,)
JT. H'rkant
iUaUth
hii Sfltfa
and ttitttk
0u ctuUll <ff
Flint.
( Richard «t
Flint Cutis
(Aug. 18,
13M.)1
[BollDg.
broke
l.iiisf.-r. fl
his »nnr
be fort the
cutla, on
Aug. 19.]
1 In a sidenote against this passage Richard is said to have withdrawn to
"the castell of Flint," after deserting his army ; and at the close of sc. ii., Act
III., he exclaims:
" Go to Flint Castle, there lie pine away ; . - .
That power I haue, discharge," . , ,
We learn from Creton (AreJuteoi. U. 129-140; 349-366), whom Hoi. sub-
sequently follows, that Northumberland decoyed Richard from Conway Castle
to a part of the road between Conway and Flint, where an ambush was laid.
On reaching this spot the King was obliged to proceed to Flint, which was in
the possession of Northumberland's troops. Trait. (47-52 ; 196-201) has the
same story, with less detail. These authorities place the meeting of Richard
and Bolinsbroke at Flint Castle. Vtk (27 ; 138, 139), OU. (207, 206), and
WaU. (ii. 233, 234), agree that Richard left Conway and met Bolingbroke at
Flint Castle. But, according to £««., Richard, forsaking his army, betook
himself to Flint Castle (150), whence, after some negotiation, he departed to
Conway Castle, where Bolingbroke met him (154, 155),
1 T/his date is derived from Brts., 155.
108
V. RICHARD fl.
(R'.u..i Tlie king . . . was walking aloft on the braies1 of the wals, to
oMtemy j k^old fcne comming of the duke a farre off.
Hhakspere altered the time, place, and purpose of Northumberland's
mission. That mission had for its object the beguilement of Richard
from Conway to Flint* where be would be in Bolingbroke's power. I
begin the following excerpt — which contains the outline of ILL iii.
31-1 26 — at the time when Northumberland — entrusted with the
difficult task of persuading Richard to leave Conway Castle —
[Hoi. iii. 500/2/14.] came before the towne, and then sending
an herald to the king, requested a safe conduct from the king, that
he might come and talkc with him ; which the king granted, and so
the carle of Northumberland, passing the water, entred the castell,
and comming to the king, declared to him, that, if it might please
his grace to vndertake, that there should be a parlement assembled,
in the which Justice might be had against such as were enimies to
the common- wealth, and had procured the destruction of the duke
of Glocester, and other noblemen, and herewith pardon the duke
of Ilereford of all things wherin he had offended him, the duke
would be readie to come to him on his knees,* to cmue of him
forgiuenesse, and, as an humble subiect, to obcie him in all dutifull
seruices.
*,fft laOu
time: [It
RicW
migrant
Bollngtiiuko
.f., II
BteaanTi
ptajffiaBjl
[Agiin
wr mlinp to
thr walls,
Rtrlunt MW
BoUnc-
broke ■ anny
tm circling
tbrcuUfl,
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, ho
[Hoi. iii. 5OI/1/62.] compassed it round about, euen downe to
the sea, with his people ranged in good and seemelie order at the
foot of the mountains: and then the carlo of Northumberland,
passing foorth of the castell to the duke, talked with him a while
in Bight of the king, being againc got vp to the wallos, to take
better view of the armie, being now aduanced within two bowe
1 Crcton— Tlnl.'a authority for this passage — say a that Richard u innnta Bur
1*** mum dudit cliostol [of Flint], qui sont grans & large* par dt.*dens"
(Archotoi xx. 370). Cp. the stage direction (1. 61): "The trumpets sound,
liih'irJ njrpenrclh on ike ivolU.*1
* Cp. III. iii. 112,4c:
■ Ilia comming hither hath no further scope
Then for his lineall mini ties, and to beg
Iniranchiuement immediate on his fctteei."
r.lCLIAIU) II.
109
shootcB of the castell, to the Biiiall remising (ye may be sure) of
the sorowfull king. The earlc of Northumberland, returning to
the castell, appointed the king to be set to dinner (for ho was
fasting till then) and, after he had dined, the duko came downo
to the castell himsclfe, and entred the same all armed, his
bassenet onelie excepted ; and being within the first gate, he
staied there, till the king camo foorth of the inner part of the
castell vnto hint
The king, accompanied with the bishop of CarEeill, the earle
of Salisburie, and sir Stephan Seroope, knight,1 (who bare the
sword before hiiu,) and a few othor, came foorth into the vttcr
ward, and sate downe in a place prepared for him. Foorthwitli,
as the duke got sight of the king, he shewed a reuerend dutie
as became him, in bowing his knee,2 and, comming forward, did
so likewise the second and third time, till tho king tooke him
by the hand, and lift hiin vp, saicng; "Deere cou&ine, ye are
"welcome." The duke, humblie thanking him, said: "My soue-
"reigne lord and king, the cause of my comming at this present,
"is (your honor saued) to haue againe restitution of my person,
"my lands and horitage, through your fauourable licence." The
king hervnto answered : " Deere cousine, I am readie to accom-
plish your will, so that ye may iuioy all that is yours, without
" exception."
Meeting thus togithcr, they came foorth of the castell, and the
king there called for wine, and, after they had dronke, they mounted
on horssebacke, and rode [ — halting at eleven places on the way — ]
to London : , . .
and North.
u uilwr 1*1*1
talking with
him.]
| Within the
tint gate of
Die caiitlr,
BaUn^bnu
awaital
RlclialU.)
|Thej m**t
In tin outer
wanLI
Tk*d*kt»
Ukauiour to
the ting at
their
vutting.
Tk€ duJtti
demand
[—restitu-
tion of hi*
person,
lands, and
hcrlU«r—
was printed
by Richard. I
The ling
and the dttkt
itntmu
toffitKtr
f PWOI '$
CmuIm*,
1 York, whom Shakspere brings Liitu this scene, was not at Flint, He waa
then, perhaps, at Bristol.— Hot. 6OO/1/12 ; £irt. 153. Before the date of thin
acene, Aumcrle — who ia named amongst Richard'n friende in III. ii. ill — went
over to Bolingbroke.— Cp. JIol. dOO/i/57, Ac: Trati. 46; I&4: Eves. 154.
An merle waa present at a meeting between Richard and Archbiahop Arundel,
which took place after Richard had been " walking aloft on the bnuea," and
before Bolingbroke drew near and surrounded Flint Castle. When the con-
ference waa ended, Aumerle returned with Arundel to Bolingbroke. — Mui.
&01/l/8,4c. : Archacal. xx. 157 159; 370, 371.
* Cp. III. iii. 1W), 1»1 :
" Fuire cooeen, you debase your princely knee,
To make the base earth proud with kiusing it : " . . .
110
V, UICHAKD II.
Act III. sc. iv. — This scene — which is wholly of Shakapere's in-
vention— has been laid by editors at King's Langley (Herts.), the seat
of York, to whom Bolingbroke says (III. i. 36) : ** Vncle, you say the
Queene is at your house," The gardener's words (III. iv. 68-70) show
that the historic time is shortly before September 30, 1399, the day of
Richard's deposition. Queen Isabelle was then, perhaps, at Wallingford
Castle, Berks.1
Act IV. ac. i. — " Enter Bullingbrooko with the Lords to parlia-
ment," is the stage direction which heads the Fourth Act. A
Parliament, summoned in Richard's name, met at Westminster on
September 30, 1399, deposed the King, elected Bolingbroke a3 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.3 If we regard Act IV., sc. i.,
11. 1-90, from a historical [joint 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,
AY ho wrought it with the King, and who perfonude 4
The bloudy office of his timeles end.
We lost sight of Bagot on the eve of his flight to Ireland (II. ii.
141). Thence he had been brought fettered to London, and im-
prisoned.3 On Thursday, October 10, 1399, the Commons "rehearsed
all the errors of the last parlement holden in the one and twentith
yeare of king Richard [1397-98], A* namelie in certeine nue of them."
Of these "errors" the third was that "the duke of Glocester was
murthered, and after f oreiudged " (Hoi. 5II/2/14). On the same day
Bagot was placed at the bar of the House, and a statement,4 drawn up
by him, was read, from which 1 quote two clauses illustrating IV. i.
10-19 ; adding thereto the sources of 11. 33-90.
[Hoi. iii. 512/i/6.] . . . there wom no iium in the realine to
whom king Richard was bo much beholden, as to the duke of
1 On July 12, 1399, the Queen was at Widlingford Castle, Berks.— ifymer,
viii. 83. On January 6, 1400, she was at Sonning, Berks.— Ott., 225.
a Eves,, 156, 157, 160, 161. Parliament was suminuned, in Henry's name,
to meet on October 6, but no business was done on that day. — Rot. Pari., iii.
415/1-2.
* Uakt 28 ; 140. Fab. (560) says that Bagot was a prisoner in the Tower
at this time.
' The excerpts relating to Bagot's charges, and the subsequent appeals, are
in MS. Bodh 237fi. f. ccvii. b. & sea., translated in Archaeol, xx. 275, &c
That part of the MS. which contained the charges 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. Fab.'s account (565-567) of the Bagot incident, though varying in
details, is substantially thu tame as HoI.'b.
V. RICHARD II.
Ill
Aumarle : 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
other lords. . , . There was also conteined in the said bill, that
Bagot had heard the duke of Aumurle say, that he had rather than
twentie thousand pounds that the duke of Hereford were dead ; not
for anie feare he had of hint, but for the trouble aud mischeefe
that he was like to proeure within the realme.
After that the hill hud heene read unl heard, the duke of
Aumarle rose vp and said, that as touching the points conteined
in the bill concerning him, they were vttcrlie false and rntrue ;
which he would proue with his bodie, in what manner soeuer it
should be thought requisit. . . .
On the saturdaic next insuing [Oct, 18]. sir William Bagot and
the said John Hall ! were brought both to the barrc, and Bagot was
examined of certeinc points, and sent againe to prison. The lord
Fitzwater herewith roso vp, and said to the king, that where the
duke of Aumarle excuseth himsclfe of the duke of Glocester'a
death, "I say" (quoth he) "that he was tho verie cause of his
M death " ; and so he appealed him of treason, offering by throwing
downe his hood as a gage to proue it with his bodie. There were
twentie other Lords also that threw downe their hoods, as pledges
to proue the like matter against the duke of Aumarle. The duke
of Aumarle threw downe his hood to trie it against the lord
Fitzwater, as against him that lied falselie, in that he had charged
him with, by that his appeale. These gages were deliuered to the
constable and marshall of England, and tho parties put vnder
arrest,
The duke of Surrie stood vp also against the lord Fitzwater,
auouching that where he had said that the appellants were causers
of the duke of Gloeesters death, it was false, for they were con-
strained to sue the same appeale, in like manner as the said lord
Fitzwater was compelled to giue iudgemont against the duke of
Glocester, and tho earlc of Arundell ; so that the suing of the
appeale was doone by constraint, and if he said coutrarie he lied :
Tkeduktof
actumt [of
being con-
cerned In
Gloucester*!
death;)
(and of
saying that
he hod
rathrr than
30,000
pounds that
»'■! Mftwtl
wen dead.]
Thtd*k*of
AumarU Ai'j
aruicfr vato
B&jvti bill.
Baffot and
Halt brought
to th*
Tit tart
fiUteaUr
■Ml ■'■ (A
OuJukdtf
AuimarUof
fnaem [. la
conspiring
Gloucester's
death ; and
throws down
* M Qfl
battle.)
(Twenty
other lords
did the
same.
Auinrrle
answered
Flu-
Walter's
challenge by
I Ji rowing
down a
gage..)
(Surrey said
thai FiLe-
Walter's
obbbmi m
fals* ; and
threw down
eta^e. J
1 A former valet of Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. Hall was, by hie
own confession, present at the murder of Gloucester. — Rot. P»ri.t hi. -453/1.
Ill
KICHARD U.
El
at
U
... 1 1 ■
Nuif.tlk,
Who
«.M<1|«. .| III. II
•>r Mb4lnj
I Hi, I
i. u, ii. i
|N<.(f..ik KM
i.'itint Uiti
In lit I* lit
•iiklgi* M*
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l(V.h.l...v
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anil therewith ho threw downe his hood. The lord Fitzwater
mWHl hrrovnto, that he was not present in the parlement
Iioumo, when judgement wa» giuen against them, and all the lords
bare witnoHKe thereof. Moreouer, where it was alledged that the
(Ink*1 or Aumarfo hhniilil Hcnd two of his scruants to Calis, to
imirthcr tin- duke uf (.ilueoster, the said duke of Aumarle said, that
if thl dulv of Norfolk^ ufHnne it, he lied falselie, and that he
Mimld pnMti with Ml lnwlic ; throwing downe an other hood which
he hud burowed. The huuio was likewise deliuered to the
niiihtiihle urn! uturalmll of England,1 and the king licenced the
duke of Ni»rfolko to returno, that he might arraigne Iub appeale.
Iti iifrriHuuimt with the last sentence of these excerpts, Shakspere
make* BoUngbrokt promise that Norfolk shall be recalled from exile,
ftp. un «•>! Auiiii-i U ■'.-. I'luUluuge. Carlisle says that Norfolk is dead
{W I 86402), Nnrf.tlk's death is thus noticed by HoliDshed:2
[Hoi iii. M-l/1/73.] This ycaro[13D9] Thomas Mowbraie, duke
df Norftolke, died In exile at Venice; whose death might haue
berue wordiilie bewailed of all the realmo, if he had uot beene
couseutiug to tlie death of the duke of Glocester.
Ili-limdiod Im uot tell us that Norfolk joined crusades
Against black IV^ans, Turkes, and Saracens;
but Slmksik«ro may bine transferred to Boliugbroke'e foe the honour,
Brhifih Boliasbroko had hfffitnlf acquired tlirough warfare with
" mincreauta,' In KUM) a small corps of Englishmen formed part of
an armr — commanded by Lewis Duke of Bourbon, uncle of Charles
\ I which besieged Africa, a fortress seventy miles distant from
Tunis.
[//.</. iii. 478/1/6$.] Where, by JUydor Virgil it may seeme,
that the lord llenrie of Lancaster, earle of Derbie,3 should be
euploine of the KngU&h wen, that ^as before ye haue heard) weut
iuto Harbarto with the Frenchmen, and Geuowais. It should
\ rtbuiwlvrUnvl was CbiuUble.— Dmdali, i 878.1. The iUrahal w
Balnb imor»Uad.~l)Me4al^i S96Vi.
N rUl di*l on tWptesabrr 21 Itt* - /•* p. at. 1 H IV Tl (a B.1
1 IVJua. I'em. has the support vt Hi. / V*ya (I M2\— writ wn by a uuaausa
ttorarj of K4uwbiw*A— which records that a ttuall bead of Kn^nSin— ves*
• ***** of Africa "cum casait* Delby C«k) aagUeu, ttao decs* Leacsatne.*
•W)— whom JM. bad pr*vioi*ly cit*U— does ast
da LaavaMre
eaeaea, but says that *s»inite U
He * «** al is* •*** el Afrk* in
Jean* Uil Beeufctt, 6b
ft****
Sj M
V. RICHARD II.
113
otherwise appeare by other writers, who affirine that the said earle
made a iountie in deed the same time against the miscreants ; not
into Barbarie, but into I'rutzenlaud, where he shewed good proofe
lit' his noble and valiant courage :
The appeals of battle having been adjourned (11. 104-106), York
enters with the news that Richard ha:* abdicated. On August 31 (?),
1399, the day after his arrival in London, Richard was conveyed to
the Tower,1 where
[Hoi. iil 503/i /47.] diuerse of the kings seruunts, which by
licence had nccesse to his person, comforted him (being with sorrow
almost consumed, and in manner hulfe 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 hiinselfe to be
deposed, and to resigue his right of his owue accord, so that the
duke of Lancaster might without murther or battell obteiue 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
fauourcrs, 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 i notwith-
standing, the king, being now in the hands of his enimies, and
vtterlie despairing of all comfort, was easilie persuaded to renounce
his cruwno and princelie preheminence, so that, in hope of life
onelie, he agreed to all things that were of him demanded. And
bo (as it should seeme by the copio of an instrument hereafter
following) he renounced and voluntarilie was deposed from his
roiall crowne and kinglie diguitie ; the mondaie being the nine and
twentith daie of September, and feast of S. Michaell the arehangell,
in the yeare of our Lord 1399, and in the three and twentith yeare
of his reigno.
The news, that Richard has yielded his sceptre to Bolingbroke
(11. 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.
Tlutm. WaU.
Tttt tarU of
thrbu AtJ
<rploit> in
hit loumtt
nyuntt £4«
niAittli of
lartJ.
The iinff u
}KTgnmirA to
rrtijm* th<
ertntnt to tht
tlute.
(Richard
Abdicated on
HI. MiclineU
Day, 1S».|
1 Evei., 135, 150.
RICHARD II.
[ItuhiJ
wtohedtobe
succeeded
by Boliog-
broke.]
IBoling-
MM llMd
up, and
himicir.]
[Hul, iii. 504/2/39.] Now foorthwith, in our preaencea and
others, he subscribed the same, and after deliuered it vnto the
archbishop of Canturburie, Baieng that if it were in his power, or
at his assign e meat, he would that the duke of Lancaster there
present should be his Bucceasour, mid 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 hia
Toluntarie resignation, and also of hia intent and good mind that
he bare towards his cousin the duke of Lancaster, to haue him his
successour and their king after him.1
When York has announced Richard's abdication, Bolingbroke Bays
(1.112):
In Gods name lie ascend the regall throne.
With reference to these words I quote the following passages,
showing how, on September 30, after hearing the sentence of Richard's
deposition read, Parliament elected Bolingbroke as his successor.
[Hoi. iii. 505/2/28.] Imincdiatlie as the sentence was in this
wise passed, and that by reason thereof the realme stood void
without head or gouernour for the time, the duke of Lancaster,
rising from the place where before he sate, and standing where all
those in the house might behold him, in reuerend manner made a
eigne of the crosse 011 his forhead, aud likewise on his brest, aud,
after silence by an officer commanded, said vnto the people, there
being present, those words following.
The duke of Lancaster laieth challenge
or claim? to the. crovme.
" In the name of the Father, aud of the Sonne, & of the Holie-
1 Richard and the com misat oners 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 C-ouwaie ['? Flint] in
Northwales, the king being there at his pleasure and libertie, promised vnto
the archbishop of Canterburie, then Thomas AruudeH, and vnto the said earle
of Northumberland, that he, for insufficiencie which he knew himaelfe to be
of to occupie so great a charge as to eouerne the realme of England, he would
gladlie leaue of and renounce his right and title, na well of that as of hia title
to the crowne of France, and hia maiestie roiall, vnto Henrie Dnke 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." — HW. 503/2/46
(Hot. Pari, iii. 410/2).
RICHARD II.
115
"ghost. I Henrie of Lancaster claime the realme of England and
"the crowne, with all the appurtenances, as I that am descended by
"right line of the blood cornming from that good lord king Heurie
"the third ;. and through the right that God of his grace hath Hcnt
"me, with the lielpe of my kin, ami of my frccnda, to rccoiicr the
"same, winch was in point to be vndoone for default of good
"gouernance and due iustice."
After these words thus by him vttcred, he returned and sate
him downe in the place where before he had Bitten. Then the
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 ataie made, the arch-
bishop of Canturburie, hauing notice of the minds of the lords,
stood vp & asked the commons if they would assent to the lords,
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, ycal"
After which answer, the said archbishop, going to the duke, and
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,
(the archbishop of Yorke assisting him.) and with great reuerence
set him therein, after that the duke had first fpon his knees made
his praier in dcuout manner vnto almightie God.
Shakspere has antedated Carlisle's speech,1 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 (IV. i. 117-135).
[Hoi. iii. 512/2/29.] On wedneBdaie [Oct. 22, 1399] following,
1 The authenticity of this speech is doubtful. According to the writer of
Trais,— the earliest known authority for it — the speech was delivered on
October 1 (70 ; 220) ; if we are to understand " lendemain " as having refer-
ence to September 30, the date immediately preceding, But, as Mr. Williams
pointed out (Traits 221, note), Carlisle's protest seems more apposite if we
suppose that it was made on October 23, wnen, in a secret committee, North-
umberland asked the peers, " what should be done with Richard lately King,
savins his life, which King Henry wished by all means to be held sacred 1 " —
Rot. Pari., iii. 426/2. The excerpt, "On wednesdaie . . . was granted," is in
BodL MS. 2376 (Archaeol. xx. 279, 280).
•notber'i
tii-- bUb, j
The demand
0/ (A* arch-
Htfcsp*
OemtmrburU
to ttkt
comment.
[Tho
commons
cried " Ym,
r«,y«al"]
Tkoni. Wats.
Th< duJtt of
Hertford
placid in tht
rtfjatt
throw. [Op.
1. 112.)
116
RICHARD II.
Mm >/.*■_
Tkt mnutt
of tkt
/Ml.
A bold
bitkap uml
o faithful
(WM
Carlisle,
WllO ftruwl
(1) lh*t
BWWd
1*1 im tbclr
'.>''.,,iL|l,
til-* Lohh
could not
Jiwl^e lilm ;
(3) it »1 IV
'I IjI'.I t to
a i .I'li.ti
■ l.VHciJ,
Culialc h*l
nutod Ui
«jw*ch, be
request wan made by the commons, that situ king Richard had
resigned, and was lawful lie deposed from Ilia roiall dignitie, he
might hauc iudgement decreed against him, so as the realme were
not troubled by him, and that the causes of his deposing might be
published through the realme for satisfieng of the people : which
demand was granted. Wherevpon the bishop of Carleill, a man
both learned, wise, and stout of stomach, boldlie shewed foorth
his opinion concerning that demand ; affirming that there was
none amongst them woorthie or meet to glue iudgement vpon so
noble a prince as king Richard was, whom they had taken for their
souereignc and liege lord, by tlio space of two & twentie yeares
and more : " And I assure you " (said he) ■ there is not so ranko a
"traitor, nor so errant a theef, nor yet so cruell a murthcrer
"apprehended or detained in prison for his offense, but he shall be
" brought before the justice to heare his iudgement ; and will ye
"proceed to the iudgement of an anointed king, hearing neither
" his answer nor excuse ? I say, that the duke of Lancaster, whom
"ye call king [Cp. I. 134], hath more trespassed to K. Richard &
"his realme, than king Richard hath doonc either to him, or
"vs:" ... As soone as the bishop had ended this tale, he was
attached by the carle marshal!, and committed to ward in the
abbeie of saint Albons.
When Carlisle has been arrested, Boiingbroko says !
Fetch hither Richard, that in common view
He may surrender; so we filial! proceed e
Without suspition.
15G
Afterwards Northumberland desires Richard to read
These Accusations, and these grieuous thymes
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 deposed.
The official acts, which have been dramatized in M the Parliament
Bceane," are thus described ;
[Hoi. iii. 504/2/6o.] Upon the morrow after, being tuesdaie,
and the last daie of September, all the lords spirituall and
temporal!, with the commons of the said parlement, assembled at
Westminster, where, in the presence of them, the archbishop of
V. RICHARD II.
117
Yorkc, nnd the bishop of Hereford, according to tbc kings request,
shewed vnto them the voluntarie renouncing of the king, with (he
fauour also which he bare to his cousine of Lancaster to haue him
his successour. And moreouer shewed them the schedule or bill
of renouncement, signed with king Richards owne hand; which
they caused to be read first in Latin e, as it was written, and after
in English. This doone, the question was first asked of the lords,
if they would admit and allow that renouncement : tho which when
it was of them [p. 505] granted and confirmed, the like question was
asked of the commons, and of them in like manner confirmed.
After this, it was then declared, that, notwithstanding the foresaid
renouncing, so by the lords and commons admitted and confirmed,
it were necessarie, in auoiding of all suspicions and surmises of
euill disposed persons, to haue in writing nnd registred tho
manifold crimes and defaults before dooiie by king Richard, to tho
end that they might first be openlie declared to the people, and
after to remaine of record amougst other of the kings records for
euer.
All this was doone accordinglie, for the articles, which before
yee haue heard, were drawne and ingrossed vp, and there shewed
readie to be read ; but, for other causes more needfull as then to
be preferred, the reading of those articles at that season was
deferred.
Holinshed thus prefaces the "Articles" which Northumberland
desires Richard to "reade o're" (1. 243);
[Rir-nan!'*
•Miration,
aM hi* wmh
tlial Bolhut-
brolce might
SBOOMNl Win,
announced
to Parlia-
ment.]
f.\r1 (4 ..
M-tllntf f.»ith
Ri.luud*
crime*, wcro
1" be drawn
up, awl
pQolil ly
reed.)
on I-'-! -
[ZTnL iii. 502/i/8.] . . . manie heinous points of misgoucrnancc
and injurious dealings in the administration of his kinglic office,
were laid to the charge of this noble prince king Richard : the
which (to the end the commons might be persuaded, tlmt he was
an Miprofitablc prince to the commonwealth, and worthie to be "gwjjjtw
deposed) were ingrossed vp in 33 solemne articles. tt*meu*.i
Perhaps Richard's manual surrender of m°6 crown (11. 181-189) is a
dramatic version of a symbolical transfer made by him in the Tower,
on September 29, after he had expressed a wUh that Bolingbroke — who
was present — might be his successor.
[Hoi iil 504 '2/45.] And, in token bcereof, he tooke a ring of
118
RICHARD IT.
tnfevi
gold from his finger, being his signet, and put it vpon the said
dukes [Bolingbroke's] finger, . . .
But Froissart (xiv. 222, 223) describes how, in the presence of
" lords, dukes, prelates, erles, barones, and knyghta, and of the notables!
men of london & of other good townee," Richard, " aparelled like a
king in his robes of estate, his sceptre in his hand, <fc his croun on his
hed,!* delivered the sceptre to Bolingbroke, and then " toke the crowen
fro his head with both his hands, and set it before him, A sayd : * Fair
l^icJi*rd tput * co6yu» Henry duke of Lancaster, I geue and deliuer you this crowne
upon ' wherewyth I was crowned king of England, and therewith all the
'right there to dependynge.'" — Bemer's Froiesart, 1525, vol. ii. foL
cccxiiii.
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 (Hoi. iii. pp.
503, 504), before whom Richard,
[Hoi. iii. 504/i/i9,] with glad countenance . . . said opcnlie
that he was readie to renounce and resigne all his kinglie majestic
in maner and forme as he before had promised. And although he
had and might sufficient lie haue declared his renouncement hy the
reading of an other mcanc person ; yet, for the more suertic of the
matter, and for that the said resignation Bhould haue his full force
and strength, hitnaelfe therefore read the scroll of resignation, in
maner and forme as followcth.
By this official document, — which has a remote general likeness to
his speech in IV. i. 204-215, — Richard absolved his subjects from their
allegiance, resigned his crown and lordships, renounced the style and
honours of a king, and acknowledged t lint, he was justly deposed.
In regard to Richard's words (11. 256-257), —
I haue no Name, no Title,
No, not that Name was giuen me at the Font,
But tis vsurpt, —
the late Rev. W. A. Harrison pointed out ( Transactions 0/ the New
Shakspere Society, 1880-82, p. 59*) two passages in Traison, whence it
appears that Richard, after his abdication, was styled " Iehan de
Bordeaulx qui fu nomwic Roy Richart Dengleterre " (71, 72), and
H Iehan de Londres lequel fu noimne Richart" (94). After his capture
the Londoners called him a bastard (Traie., 64) ; and Bolingbroke,
conversing with the fallen King in the Tower, before the abdication,
spoke of Richard's illegitimacy as a common rumour (Frois., xiv. 219,
220). We learn from Aim, li. II— H. FT. (237, 238) that Richard,
being in danger of death, was hastily baptized by the name of John,
but afterwards, in compliment to his godfather Richard King of the
Majorcas, " confirmatus fuit per Episcopum, vocatusque ' RicarduV"
RICHARD II.
119
I have not found this story anent Richard's name in chronicles
published before 1608, when the Parliament Scene was 6rst printed.
While he is gazing into the mirror (11. 281-283), Richard says :
Was this Face the Face
That euery day, vnder his House-hold Roofe,
Did keepe ten thousand men?
Holinshed speaks thus of the King's lavish household expenditure :
[Hoi. iii. 508/ 1 /S-] He kept the greatest port, and mainteined a*rdi*g.
the most plentifull house, that euer any king in England did either
before his time or since. For there resorted dailie to his court ntw*t*
aboue tea thousand persons that had meat and drinke there jg^-**
allowed them.
Shakspere has postdated Richard's committal to the Tower (1. 316).
According to Holinshed :
[Hoi. iii. 6OI/2/63.] The next day after his comming to ;^£fte
London, the king from Westminster was had to the Tower,1 and '** ***""
there committed to safe custodie.
I know not why Bolingbroke should "solemnly set downe " his
coronation on n Wednesday next " (11. 319, 320). He was crowned on
Monday, October 13, 1399; as appears from Holinshed, who records
Bolingbroke's coronation on " saint Edward** daio, and the thirteenth
of October" (5II/1/34), and says (6II/1/71) : "The solemnitie of the
coronation being ended, the morow after being tueedaie, the parlement
began againa"
The first Parliament of Henry IV. 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 IV.
[Hoi. iii. 514/1/22.] By force of this act king Henrie thought
himselfc firmelie set on a sure foundation, not needing to feare any
storme of aduerse fortune. But vet shortlie after he was put in rrh« Abbot
* r of W«t-
danger to haue beene set besides the seat, by a conspiracic begun ",'"£[ ^
in the abbat of Westminsters house, which had it not beene SJthron«d
hindred, it is doubtfull whether the now king should haue inioied bnkeT
1 According to £tr*. (156) Richard reached London on Saturday, August
30, 1399, and was taken to the Tower on the following day. Ann. B. II. — H.
IV. (251) and Oft, (206, 209) give September 1 as the date of his arrival in
London, and add that on September 2 he was removed from the palace of
Westminster, by water, to the Tower. With hesitation I accept the dates of
the monk of Evesham, whose authority concerning the events of Richard's last
year deserves great regard.
I»
V. RICHARD II.
||,.,| |
I:;.;;';:...*
his roialtie> or the old king (now a prisoner) restored to his
principalitic.
Act V. go. i- — There was no such parting of Richard and Isabelleas is
hrre represented. They never met again after Richard left Windsor;1
HOt long before he sailed for Ireland. Between the two historical
rv.nts which this scene connects — Richard's transference to Pomfret,1
;.ml Isabella's return to France — an interval of more than a year elapsed.
Itirhard'a captivity in the Tower is ignored. Northumberland enters,
Hid thus addresses the deposed King (11. 51, 52) :
My Lord, the minde of Bullingbrooke in changde ;
You must to Pomfret, not vnto the Tower.
Richard was sent to the Tower on or about August 31, 1309 ;
whence,
\l!oL iii. 507/2/64.] short lie after his resignation, he was con-
ncir<l to the castetl of Leeds in Kent, & from thence to Pomfret,
win-re he departed out of this miserable life (as after you shall
hraro).
Muhvv.t, Northumberland tells the Queen that she "must away
to Kruno© " (I. 54). She was, however, detained by Bolingbroke ; and
,li.l not, whan returning to Franco, leave London — where this scene is
laid "t.til Jung 96, 1401."
AH. V. §00. ii., iii. — The description which York gives of Boling-
ooption by the L<»ndonors (V. ii. 7-17) has full warrant from
ii,,. following notrpt,
I //"/ iii §01/3/44] As for the duke, he was receiued with all
tin ioy and pompo that might bo of the Londoners, and was
lodgiMl in (In- bi-fioji.^ palace, by FnuloR church. It was a woonder
in nw what, great concurssc of people, & what number of borsses,
him OD the waie as he thus passed the countries, till his
1 \\ 1, i'<iwtT, Richard commanded that the Queen might be sent
■ ISoliugbrnke, who was present, pleaded the Council's
niilhorHv •*■ ■» <»mmr for disobedience. — TVaw.,66^ 217. Richard married
l1p I, 1 ,...|, al ill'- historic date of Act V. sc. i., 6he was about twelve
It //.-ff. iT.JS9 (Appendix)
1
I In
Ml Imi II i:
■ lltHPI]
■l.fl! I l*A.
novod from the Tower on the Morrow of SS. Simon and
icr midnight,— Ann. R. II— H. IV., 313. Otf.,
.■.■; I the date given for his removal from the Tower is
SOtdiog to Ann. It. II— H. IV, (313) and Ott. (223) the
risonnient was then, at least, a state secret ; but
IN us (Jffen. IK, 10) that Richard was taken from
(Wsis iu Kent, and was thence conveyed to Pomfret
AiUtt of V*k was an eye-witness of her departure from
UIUIAKD IT.
121
conuniug to London, where (vpon hia approeh to the citie) the
maior rode foorth to receiuc him, and a great number of other
citizens. Also the cleargie met him with procession ; and such ioj
appeared in the countenances of the people, vttering the same also
with words, ns the like [had] not lightlie beene secne. For in
euerie towne and village where he passed, children reioised, women
clapped their hands, and men cried out for ioy. But to speake of
the great numbers of people that flocked togithcr in the fields and
streets of London at his comming, I here omit; neither will 1
speake of the presents, wekrounnings, lauds, and gratifications
made to him by the citizens and tommuimltie.
When Richard was removed from Westminster to the Tower (p. 119
above), he narrowly escaped an outbreak of hatred far exceeding
what York noticed (V. ii. 5, 6 ; 27-30) on the day before.
[HoL iii. 501/2/66.] Manie euitl disposed persons, assembling
themselues togither in great numbers, intended to hauc met with
him, and to haue taken him from such as had the conueieng of
him, that they might hauc stainc him. But the maior and alder-
men gathered to them the worshipfull commoners and graue
citizens, by whose policie, and not without much adoo, the other
were reuoked from their euill purpose : , . .
As York ends with a firm profession of loyalty to Bolingbroke, the
Duchess of York exclaims: "Here comes my sonne1 Aumerle ! " to
which the Duke replies (11. 41-43) :
Aumerle that was;
But that is lost for being Richards friend,
And, Madam, you must call him Rutland a now ;
By Parliament sitting on November 3, 1399,
[Hoi. iii. 513/2/l] it was finallte enacted, that such as were
appellants in the last parlement against the duke of Glocester and
other, should in this wise following be ordred. The dukes of
Aumarle, Surrie, and Exceeter, there present, were iudged to loose
1 Aumerle'a mother was Isabel, daughter of Pedro the Cruel, King of
Castile and Leon. She died in 1394.— Hoi. 481/1 ,'28 {Wed*., ii. 214, 215).
York was survived by his second wife, Joan Holland, daughter of Thomas
Holland, second Carl 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 waa prorogued.— Eves., 141.
(Jot in the
towns and
tlmm-li
which h*
potted. Tie
r.i W * and
street! of
Londrtn
[A •Vvj.-n Id
waylay and
murder
Richard
faBtntad
S'thr
aror and
4m smb.]
DuiMfnf
Surrey, and
V.Xttrr, ] and
otMtr»,
rfejKiw*/*/
122
V. RICHABD II.
Roll.
What
mooned (A*
ohbatof
tocofupirs
acntiut (*«
n< In*
UolCM-
AfHMfUf £/W
rfttfe.
[Wi'irlHrn.
a plii «!,
Hiclianl.)
their names of dukes, togither with the honors, titles, and dignities
therevnto belonging.
The historic date of January 4, 1400,1 — the day on which York
detected Aumerle's treason, — can be given to such portions of scenes ii.
and iiL, Act V., 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. iii. 514/2/10.] But now to speak of the conspiracie,
which was contriued by the abbat of Westminster as cheefe instru-
ment thereot Ye shall vnderstand, that this abbat (as it is
reported) vpon a time heard king Henrie sale, when he was but
earle of Derbie, and yoong of yeares, that princes had too little,
and religious men too much. He therfore doubting now, least if
the king continued long in the estate, he would remooue the great
beame that then greeued his eies, and pricked his conscience,
became an instrument to search out the minds of the nobilitie, and
to bring them to an asscmbtie and couneell, where they might con-
sult and com men togither, how to bring that to effect, which they
earaestlie 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,2 all such lords & other persons which
he cither knew or thought to be as affectioncd to king Richard, so
enuious to the prosperitie of king Henrie ; whose names were :
Iohn Holland earle of Huntington, late duke of Excester ; Thomas
Holland earle of Kent, late duke of Surrie ; Edward earle of
Rutland, late duke of Anmarle, sonne to the duke of Yorke ; Iohn
Montacute earle of Salisburie ; Hugh lord Spenser, late earle of
Glocester ; Thomas 3 the bishop of Carleill ; sir Thomas Blunt ; and
Maudelen, a priest, one of kiug Richards chappell, a man as like
1 Aumerle went to dine with hia father ■ le premier Dimefiche de Ian "
[1400] ; and, having seated himself, laid the letter containing evidence of the
plot on the table,— Traw., 80 ; 233.
* The conspirator* met at the Abbot of Westminster's chambers, on
December 17, 1399.— Trais,, 77; 229. s Thomas'] John Hoi.
RICHARD IT.
123
him in stature and proportion in all lineaments of bodie, as vnlike
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 Hcnrio, at length by the ariuise of the carlo
of Huntington it was dcuised, that they should take vpou them a
solemne iusts to be enterprised betwecne him and 20 on his part,
& the earle of Salisburie and 20 with him, at Oxford ; to the which
triumph K Hcnrie should be desired, &, when he should be most
busilie marking the martiall pastime, he suddenlie should be slaine
and destroicri, and so by that means king Richard, who as yet
liucd, might be restored to libcrtic, and banc 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 deuiscd enterprise. Hervpon was an indenture
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 swarc on the holic euangelists to be true and secret each
to other, eucn to the hourc and point of death.
When all things were thus appointed, the earle of Huntington
came to the king vnto Windsorc, carnestlic requiring him, that he
would vouchsafe to be at Qxenford on the daie appointed of their
iustes; both to behold the same, and to bo the discouerer and
indifferent iudgc (if anie ambiguitic should rise) of their couragious
acts and dooings. The king, being [p. 515] thus instnntlic required of
his brother in law,1 and nothing lessc imagining than that which
was pretended, gentlic granted in fulfill his request Which thing
obtcined, all the lords of the conspiracic departed home to their
houses, as they noised it, to set armorers on worke about the
trimming of their armour against the iusts, and to prepare all
other furniture and things readie, as to such an high & solemne
A tutu
deuiaed to ht
kotdtnat
Oxford
t, where
Bollng broke
wu to be
a I kid. and
aichATd thus
reinstated In
the throne.)
An inden-
turt «jfi-
partiU.
He ItdttirtH
to com< and
tee tkt iuju.
(The con-
spirator*'
Ere para.
CM.
1 "Out trusty brother in law ■ [MIA. 77.V. hi. 137), John Earl of Hunt-
ingdon, married Elizabeth, sister gennon of Bolingbroke.
124
V. RICHARD II.
[Tbey ill
met at
Oxforrt,
exrent
HatUfld
(Rutland
had the
indenture In
his bosom.)
T»rht laixtk
IMt tndtniurt
fromkis$*n.
[Tork
reviled his
son, — for
whom he
had become
■uretjL— «nrl
mde off to
Windsor, to
na Bans
bTDke.)
[BoOiSd
— UtiUiinil
York.]
Tketor!t nf
fiMtlamt
rllrrlk f
tp.rn-it to
ike t tng.
(Aflfirwanls
csme York
willi the
Indenture.)
triumph appertained The earle of Huntiugton came to hie house
and raised men on eucrie side, and prepared horsse and harnesso
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, by 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 bosomc.
The father, espicng it, would needs see what it was ; and, though
the sonne humblie denied to shew it, the father, being more earnest
to see it, bj force tooke it out of his bosome ; and perceiuing the
contents thcrof, in a great rage caused his horsses to be sadled out
of hand, and spitefullie reproouing his sonne of treason, for whome
he was become suertie and ntainpernour for his good abeariiig in
open parlement,1 he incontinentlie mounted on horssebaeke 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,2 and rode another waie to
Windsore in post, so that he got thither before his father, aud,
when be 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, lie kneeled downe on his
knees, beseeching him of mcrcie and forgmeuosse, and, declaring
the whole matter vnto him in order as euerie thing had passed,
obteincd pardon. Therewith came his father, and, being let in,
deliuercd the indenture, which he had taken from his sonne, vnto
the king, who thereby perceiuiug his sonne* words to be true,
changed his purpose for his going to Oxenford.
Act V. sec. it. and v. — Scene iv.f Act V., and the Utter part 8 (11.
1 Cp. Kich. ILt V. ii. 44, 45.
s Snakspere has made Auinerle take York's horse ; for, according to all the
terte of Rich. //,, V. ii. Ill, the Duchess exclaimB : " After, Aumerle ! mount
the vpon his horse."
5 What a groom, who had once served Richard, says about " Roane Bar-
baric" (11. 76-80), and the fallen King's comment thereon (11. 64-86), may
possibly have been suggested to Shakspere by a story of a greyhound namod
V. RICHARD II.
125
95-117) of the next scene, faithfully represent one of the several
accounts of Richard's death.
[Hoi. iii. 617/1/7.] One writer,1 which seemeth to haue great
knowledge of king Richarda dooings, aaith, that king lienrie,
sitting on a daie at his table, sore Bighing, said: "Haue I no
** faithful! freend which will deliuer mo of him, whose life will be
"my death, and whose death will be the preseruiition of my life?"
This saieng was much noted of them which were present, and
especiallie of one called sir Piers of Ex ton. This knight incontin-
entlie departed from the court, with eight strong persons in his
ibrten, a
mwrUrrrr •/
l.ny Rukard
[, bfcmuw of
wordi which
ho heanl
Boltngbroke
J-roiMurt,
ed. 1 (1583-
2S), vol. U.
ftrt. CCC.KU.]
Ma the ; though the dog's abandonment of his old master was deliberately cruel,
while Barbary was, as Richard admit*, "created to be awed by man/' and
"borne to bearo."
And, as it was enformed me, kynge Ricliarde had a grayhounde
called Mathe, who alwayes wayted vpon the kynge, and WoUb
knowe no man els. For, whansouer the kyng dyde 1
kept the grayhounde dyde lette hym lose, and he woldo straight
rynne to the kynge and fawuo vpon hym, and lcapc with Mi
fore fete vpon the kyuges shulders. And as the kynge & the erle
of Derby talked togyder in the courte [<>f Flint Castle], the
ryhounde, who was wout to lepe vpon the kyng, left the kynge
came to the erle of Derby, duke of Lancastre, and made to
hyiu the same freudly coimtinaunce & chere as he was wonte
tu do to the kyng. The duke, who knewe nat the grayhounde,
dentaunded of the kyng what the grayhonnde wolde do. "Cosyn,"
quod the kyng, " it is a gret good token to von, and an yuvll
"symie to me." "Sir, howe knowe you thatV' quod the duke.
"I knowe it well," quod the kyng: "The grayhonnde inaketh
"yon chere this day as kynge of Knglande: (as ye dial be, and I
"shalbe deposed:) the grayhounde nath this knowledge nntur-
"ally, therfore take hym to yon; lie wyll folowe yon tit forsake
"me." The duke vnderstode well those wordes, and cherisshed
the grayhounde, who wolde ncuer after folowe kyng Richarde,
but folowcd the dnke nf 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 U*k Baw it fawn upon
Henry.
1 The writer, I suppose, of Trait. (93-90 ; 218-250). Hal. had a MS. of
Trai*., which he cites as "The French |>ampnlet " (see p. 82, note I, above).
But Mr. Williams pointed out (Trow., L, note 3) that a MS. of Froissarta
fniirth book (No, 8323 Regius, Bibliotheqnedu Roi) has an addition containing
the familiar story of Richard's murder by Exton, the writer nf which additiuti
says that he was informed of its truth "par hoiinne ditrne Al toy, nomme*
Cretan" (li.). The only important difference between Xfcj.'s version, and the
original story as narrated by Creton and the writer of TrnU. is that, according
to the latter authorities, Bolingbroke expressly ordered Exton to slay Richard :
the aiide which gave Exton his cne (" Haue I no ... of my life ") first occur-
ring, I believe, in Hall* (90), whose account of Richard'? murder agrees in
other particulars with what Hoi. relates.
fUtrlumllifcd
■ Kreyhound
riuletl
It attic, who
won I>1
follOW DO
one ttic]
(At Fliat
Castle,
M attic left
Richard.
nii'l fawned
on Bol.ng-
[This was an
omen that
Bolinght'okc
choul'l be
King Of
EnfUail )
I Mb the
wuuld ucwr
att. t btbm
RlchanL]
12«
V. RICHAKD U
fWW.
rc.
Sum
a- HdUri
[Exttmi
r, and came to Putufret, com mam ling the esqoier, that was
to sew ' and take the iiiir before king Richard, to doo
ao ao more, aaieng : " Let him eat now, for be ahall not long eatM
King Richard tat do woe to dinner, and was aerued without
or aaaaie ; wbererpon, much maruelling at the sadden
be demanded of the esquier whie he did not bis dutie :
"Sir" (said be) "I am otherwise commanded bj air Piers of
" Extoo, which is newlie come from K. Henrie." When king
Richard heard that word, be tooke the keruing knife in his hand,
and fit rake the esquier on the head, aaieng: "The diuell take
" Henrie of Lancaster and thee togither! " And with that word,
air Piers entred the chamber, well armed, with eight tall men
likewise armed, euerie of tbem hauiog a bill in his hand.
Stag Richard, perceiuing this, put the table from him, &, steping
to the fonnost man, wrung the bill out of his hands, & so valianthe
defended himselfc, that he slue foure of those that thus came to
aaaaile him. Sir Piers, being half dismaied herewith, lept into the
chaire where king Richard was woout 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, & coniming by the chaire, where
sir Pier* stood, lie wan felled with a stroke of a pollax which sir
Piers gaue him vpon 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 hlaine 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 V. sc. vi. — This scene is postdated, for the revolt was sup
pressed before Richard's death. When sc. vi. opens, " the latest
newee " which Bolingbroke has beard is that the rebels have burnt
KW
them.
serve and remove the dishes, and taste the food in
* February 14, 1400, is the usually accepted date of Richard's death (aee
EvtM,, 109) ; but, on January 29, 1400, Charles VI. referred to him as Richard
late King of England, whom God pardon.— Rym*r% viii. 124. Wyli* (i. 114,
IIS) cites documentary evidence from which he infers that Richard was
murdered about the middle uf January, 1400.
V. RICHARD II.
127
Cirencester; but whether they had been " tane or alaine" 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 tire, brought the rebels out of the
abbey, and beheaded the Earls of Salisbury and Kent about sunset, on
January 7, U0Q.~U*k, 40, 41; 156. JVdiaon, 80-82; 233-235.
Airu. R. II.— II. IV., 323-326.
liulinshed's narration of what befell the other conspirators should
be compared with 11. 7-29.
[Hot. iii. 616/2/ 1 6.] The lord • Hugh Spenser,1 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 death, 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 uiiieteene in all executed in
one place and other, and the heads of the chcefe conspirators were
set on polles ouer London bridge, to the terror of others. Shortlie
after, the abbat of Westminster, in whose house the conspiracie
was begun, (as is said,) gooingbetweene his monasterie & mansion,
for thought fell into a sudden palsie, and shortlie after, without
speech, ended bis life.1 The bishop of Carleill was impeached, and
condemned of the same conspiracie ; but the king, of his mercifull
* Thorn*
Spenter
toith U'o.1. *
other*.
[SpesMr
belicwfoL)
Holt.
Rnr*tion(*
1 -f Blunt,
Heel;,
Brocas, *n4
others).
Tho.
Msfttft
Hall.
pftiaasi
coMjitrs-
tonbesds
Mftjaj
Tht altjat of
WtAtminMltx
dieth
iwUUIit.
Thorn. Wall.
1 Q«l- i» 2, 3, 4, read : ■ The heades of Oxford, Salisbury, Blunt and Kent n
(V. vi_ 8). Fi has : "The heads or Salsbury, Spencer, Blunt, and Kent." As
Aubrey de 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.— daus: 1 H. IV. pan i. m. 19 (0. B.). He
must haTe soon regained his freedom.— Ann. H. II — H. iK.,330 ; and C&nu,
1 H. IV. pare ii. m. 6 (O. B.). He was probably the William Abbot of West-
minster present at Pisa in 1408. — Martene'a TKtmnrv* Novus Anecdotorum, ii.
1395 C. According to Dugdale (Motuuticon, ed. 1817-30, 1 275, 276) Colchester
was Abbot of Westminster until some date in October, 1420,
128
V. KICHABD II.
Tktbith
OaHtxU
tkrouyh
/Vttn, or
ratktr
grotft of
mimd, to *e
tktvicktd
jumper ai Ac
faofeiC.
//ait
(RlrTunl'i
body con-
veyed from
Tnnifrtt u>
Lomluii.J
*/">/ clemencie, pardoned him uf that offense ; although he died shortlie
after,1 more through feare than force of aicknesse, as some haue
written.
Tho excerpt quoted above (pp. 125, 12G) contains nil tliat Hoi in shed
has recorded touching Exton. From tho subjoined description of
Richard's funeral, it appears that Bolinghroko paid U much respect to
the late King's memory as may warrant the closing lines of this scene.
[Hoi iii. 517/i/49] After he was thus dead, lag hodie was
imbalmed, and secred, and cowered with lead, all saue the face, to
tho intent that all men might see him, and porceiue that he was
departed this life ; for as the corps was conucied from Pomfret to
London, in all the townes and places where those that had the
connciance of it did staie with it all night, they caused dirige to be
soong in tho euening, and masse of Requiem iu 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 tho citic, to the cathcdrall church of saint Paule, bare
faced ; where it laie three daies togither, that all 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 ouernight,
and in the morning at the masse of Requiem, the king and the
citizens of Loudou were present When the same was euded, the
corps was commanded to be had vnto Langlie, there to be buried
in the church of the friers preachers.
The following excerpts bear upon the characters of Richard IL,
Edmund Duke of York, and Sir John Bushy.
L11 summing up the general aspect of society in Richard's time,
Holinsbed says, with regard to the King :
m* person- [Hoi. iii. 507/2/68.] He was seemelie of shape and fauor, & of
nature good iuough, if the wickednesse & naughtie demeanor of
such as were about him had not altered it
His chance verelie was greathe infortunate, which fell into such
calamine, that he tookc it fo r the best waic lie could deuise to
renounce his kingdom e, for the which mortall men are accustomed
Tht rf«ni
hodie of K,
Kirhnnf
brought to
If 7cvrr.
rtteiftt
ffl Mufti i
vmISL
* He lived several years after this titae. Sue Wylit (i. 109, 110) for an
account of Carlisle's fortunes subsequent to the rebellion.
V. RICHAKD II,
129
to hazard [_p. 508] all they haue to atteine thercvnto. But bucIi mis-
fortune (or the like) oftentimes falleth vnto those princes, which,
when they arc aloft, cast no doubt for perils that maic follow.
He was prodigall, ambitious, and much giucn to the pleasure
of the bodie. . . .
[Hoi. iii. 5OO/1/32.] Furthermore, there reigned abundantlie
the lilthie simie of leachorie and fornication, with auhominable
adultcric, speciallie in the king.1
York, says Holinshed,
[Hoi. iii. 464/2/49.] being verolie a man of a gentle nature,
wished that the state of the common-wealth might haue beene
redressed without lossc of any mans life, or other crucll dealing.
He
[Hoi. iii 485/2/25.] was a man rather coueting to liuc in
pleasure, than to deale with much businesse, and the weightie
afTaires of the realme.3
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 [Qiooewt«
stomach, misliked his brothers matching so meanlie, but the duke J"^"^
of Yorke bare it well inough. £™2!'
The Speaker of the " Great Parliament M (September, 1397) was
[Hoi. iii 490/2/28.] sir Iohn Bushie, a knight of Lincolneshire, *£,{£•
accompted to be an exceeding cruell man, ambitious, and couetous $Ptatrr-
beyond measure.
While discharging the office of Speaker at this Parliament,
[Hswu
I-n-ilii.nl,
■mil 1 oo%
uicl (|M >■
Inlr.)
[Tit* vu «n
adulterer.]
lYork'i
gentle
attars.)
(Tor* wu
Dot
n:<i!...tn.iii ]
1 Bolingbroke charges Bushy and Greene with tempting Richard to commit
this sin (III. i. 11-15).
a Hardyng thus describes him (340, 341) :
. . . Kdmonde hyght of Langley of good chere,
Glad and mery and of Ma owne ay lyued,
Without wronge, an chronicles haue breued.
When all the lordes to councell and parlyaraent
Went, he wolde to hunte and also to hawekyng,
All gentyll dUporte as to a lorde appeut,
II- vied aye, and to the pure supportyng
Whew euer he was in any place bidyng,
Without suppryse, or any extorcyon
Of the porayle, or any oppreaiyon.
130
VI.
PART OF KINO HENRY THE FOUUTii.
[Hoi. iii. 490/2/57.] Sir Iolin Bushie, in all his talkc, when he
proponed any matter vnto the king, did not attribute to him titles
of honour, due and accuatomed ; but inuented vnused terraes, and
such strange names as were rather agreeable to the diuine
impuftmt maiestie of God, than to any earthlie potentate. The prince,
sir John boinjr. desirous inough of all honour, and more ambitious than was
Btuhy liked f % ^ .
by RicUnij. 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
[Hoi. iii. 492/2/72.] such as were chcefe of his councell were
esteemed of the commons to be the woorst creatures that might
be ; as [p. 403] the dukes of Aumarle, Norfolke, and Excester, the
earle of Wiltshire, sir lohn Bushie, sir William Bagot, and sir
Henrie1 Greene: which three last remembred were knights of the
Bath, against whom the commons vndoubtedlic bare great and
priuie hatred.
[The com-
mons l.rl.l
AuiihtIp.
Norfolk, mid
WHUUire, to
be 1 1* wont
of men* mid
itl? feted
Ikgot,' and
Greene (Cp.
Ril. II li.
1*7— 13ff.))
great
Buin
VI. FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
Act I. se. i. — A more precise date than the year 1402 2 cannot be
assigned to the opening scene in The Jliatorie of Henry the fourth ; 3
because, though but "yesternight" (1. 36) a post had brought tidings
of Sir Edmund Mortimer's capture by Gleudowcr. on June 22, 1402,4
Sir Walter Blunt has since arrived with news of the Scots' defeat at
Homildon (11. 67-73); which happened on September H, 1402.5 The
last historic event of the play is the battle of Shrewsbury ; fought on
July 21, 1403.fl
Of Mortimer's capture Kolinshed gives the following account :
[Hoi iii 520/1/64.] 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 togithcr
against them, vnder the conduct of Edmund Mortimer, earle of
1 Henrie] Thomas Hoi.
* For au excerpt relating to the proposed crusade, of which Henry speaks
in this scene (1L 18-29), see p. 159 below.
* I quote the text of Qi (1598).
* Uiky lb ; 200. * Oit.t 239. • Usk, 80 ; 20C.
Vt. FIRST PART OF KIXG HENRY THE FOURTH.
131
Tht tartt of
Marvh [Sir
IvlLhllTl.l
Mortimer]
taken
priiontr in
baUtt by
Ovtn
QtcnJoutT.
[Tho WcUh-
Women's
vUUuij-.J
March.1 But, cowming to trie the matter by battell, whether by
treason or otherwise, so it fortuned, that the English power was
discomfited, the carle taken prisoner, and aboue a thousand of his
people slaine in the place. The shameful! villanie 2 vsed by the
Welshwomen towards the dead carcasses, was such as honest
eares would be ashamed to heare, and continent toonga to speake
thereof The dead bodies might not be buried, without great
summes of mouie giuen for libertie to conueio them awaie.
A Scottish army having been defeated on Juno 22, 1402,3 while
returning from a bordor foray,
[Hoi. iii. 520/2/40.] Archembald, earle Dowglas, sore displeased
in his mind for this oucr throw, procured a commission to inuade
England, and that to his coat, as yo may likewise read in the
Scotish biatoriea, For, at a place called Homildon, they were so &»uwa*-
quithtd at
fiercelie assailed by the Englishmen, vnder the leading of the- lord Btmuaon.
Persic, surnamed llenric Hotspur/ and George carle of March, K that
with violence of the English shot they were quite vanquished and
1 In 1402, Edmund MortimcT, fifth EbtI of March, being n minor, was
Henry's word.— Utk, 21 ; 127. Glendower's prisoner was Sir Edmund Mor-
timer, brother to Roger Mortimer, fourth Earl of March (see p. 134, note 4, below),
and uncle to the fifth Earl. Hrtl.** mistake misled ShaVspere (1 Hen. IV.t
I. iii. 84). On December 1.1, 1405, Sir Edmund Mortimer wrote to his tenants,
informing them that he had joined in a quarrel raised by Owen GlenHower,
*'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 eoit en vie
de luy restorer a sa coronne, et mi on J 1 qe mon nonnre Nenewe q'est droit heir
al dit coronne seroit Roy d'Engleterre). — EUi*t II. i, 24.
a I shall imitate Shakspere'a reticence (I. i. 43-4fi) in regard to the Welsh-
women's " villanie." Hal. (528/1/36-48) gives full details.
8 Hoi. 52O/2/34. They were defeated at Niabet, Roxburghshire. " Nesbit-
more in Marehia." — Fordnn, ii. 433. Hot. does not mention the date of
Mortimer's capture, which, as the reader will perceive, coincides with the
overthrow of the Scots in the summer of 1402. If it were possible that Shak-
apere 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 Glendowcr*s victorv should reach London about the same time as Sir
Walter Blunt arrived with the consoling news of Scottish disaster.
4 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 surimnii.il, fur his often pricking, Henrie HoUpur, as one that
seldome times rested, if there were anie seruice to be doone abroad." — Hoi.
JI. ft 249/ 1 /30. According to IhtgdaU (i. 278/2) Northumberland had three sous,
named Henry, Thomas, and Ralph.
6 Shakspere's M Lord Mortimer of Scotland ■ (1 jETen. IV., til. ii. 164). See
p. 142 below.
I
132
Vf. FIRST PART OF K1XG HENRY THE FOURTH.
Tie n timber
ttaine.
Mmim
DotcgtAM
inmultth
England.
Thi nollti of
Scotland in
this jrmtV.
Hotspur ami
the tarle of
Marvh
oMttiit the
SxUat
HomUdon.
put to flight, on the Rood dale in haruest, with a great slaughter
made by the Englishmen. . . . There were slaine . . . three and
twentie knights, besides ten thousand of the commons ; and of
prisoners among other were these : Mordacko enrle of Fife, son to
the gouernour, Archembald earle Dowglas,1 (which in the fight lost
one of his eies,) Thomas erle of Murrey, George 2 earle of Angus,
and (as some writers hauo) the carles of Atholl & Menteith ; 3 with
fme hundred other of meaner degrees,
1 supplement ray last excerpt by quoting from HoHnshed's Historic
of Scotland another account of the battle of Homildon.
[Hot, ii. H. & 254/i/57.] Archembald, carlo of Dowglassc, sore
displeased, and woonderfullie wroth in his mind for this ouerthrow
[at Nisbct], got commission to inuadc England with an armie of
ten thousand men ; and, hauing the same once rcadio with all things
nocessaric for his roiage, ho set forward, and entering into England,
burnt and harried the countrie, not staieng till he came as farre as
Ncwcastcll. In this armie there was with the Dowglasse, Murdocke
(eldest sonne to duke Robert) earle of Fife, Thomas erle of Murrey,
George earle of Angus ; with manie other lords and nobles of
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 nssailcd
1 In the original text of Hoi. (eri\ 2) thia sentence stands thna : " Monlacko
earle of Fife, son to the gouernour Archembuhi earle Dowglas " j ami in the
1st ed. of //';/. alio the words " gouernour Archembalde * arc unpuucLimted.
The corresponding lineB (70-72) of 1 Hen. IV. (ed. 1), I. i. are:
" .... of prisoners, Hotspur tonke
Monlake [the] Earle of Fife, and eldest Bonne
To beaten Douglas ; n . . .
and flubsconent editions have the same reading. Steevens believed (Var. 5a.
xvi. 187) tnat the omission of a comma after ■ gouernour " misled Shaksperc ;
because the '* gouernour," or Recent, of Scotland was Robert Steward, Duke of
Albany, whose eldest »»n was ■ Mordacke earle of Fife." But, as in the play
Murdoch Steward is called li eldest Sonne," it would seem that Shakspere must
have known one or both of the excerpts relating to the battle of liomildoa,
which I quote from Hulinshed'a Historic of Scotland.
1 Geotge] Robert Hoi.
1 Hoi's slip has Rririod Shakspere (cp. T. i. 73). " Menteith " was another
title of Murdoch Steward, who, in Hoi. (ii. H. 8. 259/2/65, *9 (yiH°d " MorJo
Steward earle of Fife and Menteith" ; a description confirmed by Hoi. ii. H. S.
262/2/54, and H, X. 419/1/32.
VI. FIKST PART OF KING HENRY TIIK FOTRTil.
133
tlicm so with such incessant shot of arrowes, that where the earle
of Dowglaa with his armie had the aduautage of an hill, culled
Homildon, he was constrained to forsake the same ; and, comming
downe vpon the Englishmen, was neuerthelessc put to the woorese,
the most part of his people being either taken or slaine. . . .
Archembald carlo of Dowglaa, Murdocke Steward, eldest souuo
to duke Robert the gouernour, George crle of Angus, . . .
with the most part of all the barons of Fife and Louthian,
were token prisoners. This battell was fought on the Rood
day in hamest, in the yeere 1403 [1402], vpon a Tuesday.
Act I. so. iii. — This scene and 11. 01-99, sc. i. Act I., are illustrated
by my next excerpts.
[Hoi iii. 521/1/1. L] Ilenrie, earle of Northumberland, with
his brother Thomas, carle of Worccstor, and his sonne tlio lord
Henrie Persie, surnamed Hotspur, which were to king Ilcnrio, m
the beginning of his reignc, both faith full frcends, and earnest
aiders, began now to enuic his wealth and fclicilie ; and cspeiiallie
they were greeued, bicausc the king demanded of the carle and
his sonno such Scotish prisoners as were taken at Homeldon and
Nesbit: for, of all the captiues which were taken in the conflicts
foughtan in those two places, there was dcliucrcd to the kin^s
possession ouello Mordako carle of Fife, the duko of Albanies
sonne ; though the king did diucrs and Bimdrie times require
dcliueranco of the residue, and that with groat threatnings:
wherewith the Persies being sore offended, (for that they churned
Attn as their ownc proper prisoners, and their peculiar preies,) by
the counscll of the lord Thomas Persie, earle of Worcester, whose
studie was eucr (as some write) to procure malice, and sot things
in a brotfe, came to the king vnto Windsorc, (vpon a purpose to
prooue him,) and there required of him, that cither by ransom o or
otherwise, he would cause to be dcliuered out of prison Fdmund
Mortimer earle of March, their cousine germane,1 whom (as they
tkrouf/k
fore* t>f Uu
»kot. ■/,
a* uu
Pri*tntri
takn.
S»eh. 1401.
uoa ff.B,
[Northnm-
lw<H*nil fin<l
HoUjmr
v,« n
H :■ r-l
beenOMall
tkatr
SvoUlili
pfftaowi
wpreclalnwd
by the Riiik,
to wham tli*
K»rl of Klfo
nlotir h(vl
Ixwn
delivered.)
(Wi.p-<i«tM *
m«kcb«U |
Th* rtmuut
nf tkt r*rti*t
l.tlii.tll.iMy
WlHlM
ranitotn
1 Henry IV. and Hotepnr were cousins, Henry'n grandfather, Henry Planta-
jrenctDukcof Lancaster, being brother uermun to Mary, Hutapur's grandmother.
Perhaps HalU (UoVa authority) alluded to the common descent of the two
Perries, and Edmund fifth Earl of March, from Henry III.
134
VI. FIRST FART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH,
•bout this
nqoiifc]
[TtuD Earl of
M arch had
been pro*
claimed betr-
»Iij«xf nt by
Richard.)
[Henry
RHWI '"t
tlist lie
would Dot
nujJtntu
M'Hi.iiii r,
who h*d
willingly
•uffcml
himwirto
be Ukeo.)
TKt taitnff o/
the L. Pertit.
reported) Owen Glendouer kept in filthie prison, shaklcd with
irons ; onclie for that he tooke his part, and was to him faithful L
and true.
The king began not a little to muse at this request, and not
without cause : for in deed it touched him somewhat necrc, ait,h
this Edmund was sonne to Roger earle of March, sonne to the
ladie Philip, daughter of Lionell duke of Clarence, the third sonne
of king Edward the third; which Edmund, at king Richards going
into Ireland, was proclamed heire apparanfc to the crowne and
realme ; l whose aunt, called Elianor,2 the lord Henric Persic had
married ; and therefore king Henric could not well bearc,3 that
anie man should be earnest about the aduancement of that linage.
The king, when he had studied on the matter, made answer, that
the earle of March was not taken prisoner for his cause, nor in his
seruice, but willinglie suffered Fiimselfe to be taken, bicause he would
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
little fumed, insomuch that Henrie Hotspur Baid openlie : "Behold,
" the heire of the relme is robbed of his right, and yet the robber
"with his owne will not redeemc him!"6 So in this furie the
1 Hoi, has, I believe, copied a mistake of Halle (37). On August 6, 1385,
Parliament recognized Edmund's father— Koger fourth Eart of March— as
hcir-prcMimptivy to the crown. — Bulog., iii. 361.
* Elizabeth. — Byrner, viii. 334. She was the sister of Sir Edmund
Mortimer, and the wife of Hotspur. — Etdog., iii 396.
* beare] heart Hoi. edd. 1, 2.
4 In the last article of their "quarell " the Percies, addressing Henry IV.,
said that u Edmundus Mortymere, frater Roger! Mortymere nuper comitis
Marehie et TJltonie, fu.it captus per Owinuui Glendore in mortaJi bello cam-
peatri, et in prisona ac vmculis ferreis adhuc cnideliter tentus, in causa tua,
quem tu proclamasti captmn ex dolo, et noluiati pati deliberactoneui suam per
ae nee per noa conBangnineos suos et amicos." — iTar<Jyn<i, 363. Cp. p. 131,
n. 1. above, where a letter is quoted in which Edmund Mortimer speaks of bis
nephew. As to Roger, fourth Earl of March, and father of Edmund, filth
Earl, seep. 89, n. 1, above. Salle's version of this article (30) has " Eduiond
Mortimer earle of Marche aud Ulster/' to represent " Edmundua Mortymere,
frater Rogeri Mortymere nuper comitis . . . Ultonie."
5 We learn from JSulog. (lil 395, 39(S) that, in 1403, Hotspur desired Henry
IV. to ransom Sir Edmund Mortimer. An ul terra tiun ensued, and the King
drew his dagger u* Non hie,' dixit Henricus [IVrcy], 'sed in campo.' Et
reeesait.'' This open quarrel can hardly be assigned to an earlier date limn
June, for on June 26, 1403, Northumberland wrote a friendly letter to Henry.
— Proe. Priv, Go. i. 204.
VI. FIUST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOUKTH.
135
Persies departed, minding nothing more than to depose king Dearie
from the high type of his roialtie, and to place in his seat their
cousine Edmund carle of March, whom they did not onelie dcliucr
out of captiuitie, but also (to the high displeasure of king Hcnrie)
entered in league with the foresaid Owen Glendouer. . . .
King Ilenrie, not knowing of [p. 522] this new confederacie,
and nothing Ic6se minding than that which after happened,
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
make, and sent to the Scots, which before were taken prisoners at
Homeldon, for aid of men : promising to the earle of Dowglas the
towne of Berwike, and a part of Northumberland, and, to other
Scotish lords, great lordships and seigniories, if they ohteiiiod the
vpper 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 secmc good, deuised certeine
articles, by the aduise of Richard Scroope, archbishop of Yorke,
brother to the lord Scroope, whonie king Hcnrie had caused to be
beheaded at Bristow.
Tkt con-
apirtuk* of
the Per*iU
■ifill o . ,•
i*i. tdvMr.
(Hoary wu
unaware of
the Perctes
plot.]
Tht Persx*
rait* thtir
poiecri.
Tktp crau4
.ii ( vj tola,
The arth-
bishop of
Torkt of
coutucll trith
the Per tit* in
coufpirade.
The Chronicles contain this notice of the marriage of Sir Edmund
Mortimer ; whom Shftkopare, misled by Holinehed, makes Henry call
M that Earlu of March" (I. iii. 84) :
[Hoi. iii. 521/i/2i.] Edmund Mortimer, carlo of March,
prisoner with Owen Glendouer, whether for irkesomncsse of cruell
captiuitie, or fcare of death, or for what other cause, it is vncerteine, ]£££u **
.«- J a- a-1 a _*al. n : a at 1.: C IP I J . J marieth the
(fro/
tooke to wife the daughter of the said Owen.1
Ovtn
fftmdfeMh
Believing that Glendower'a prisoner was Edmund Earl of March,
Holinshed thus comments upon Henry's unwillingness to ransom a
dangerous rival (Cp. 1 lien. IY„ L iii. 158, 159) ;
[Hoi. iii. 520/2/5.] The king was not hastie to purchase the
1 " Eodem anno [1402] Dominun KdimiTidu* Mortimer, . . . circa festum
S. Andreae Apostoli [Nov. 30J, filiam praedict-i Owyni Glyndore de*ponsavit
maxima cum solemnitate, & (sicut vulgariter dicilur) conversus eat totahter ad
Wallicos."— Eves., 182.
13G
VL FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
TAtfiu-
pteion «f
X. iftnrk
ffrtntmtrtt
vpo a puiltlt
Tk i . M'.i'.-.
[Tbc Percioi
went ftb&n-
fl ■! bg
nobles who
promised to
■M ! hem.)
to
the pnaer,
IS,
deliueranco of the earle March, bitwise his title to the crowne was
well inough knowen, and therefore suffered hint to remaiue in
miserable prison ; wishing both the said earle, and all other of his
linage, out of this life, with God and his saincts in heuuen, so they
had beene out of the waif, for then all had beene well inough as
he thought
Act II. rc. iii. — The Lord, whose temporizing letter roused Hot-
spur's scorn (II. iii. 1-38), was, no doubt, one of the M noblemen'' or
" states of the realme " to whom the Percies' articles were submitted.
[Hoi. iii. 522/1/19.] These articles being shewed to diuerse
noblemen, and other states of the realme, mooned them to fauour
their purpose, in so much that mauie of theni did not onelie
promise to the Persies aid and succour by words, but also by their
writings and seales1 confirmed the same. Howbeit, when the
matter came to triall, the most part of the confederates abandoned
them, and at the daie of the conflict left them alone. Thus, after
that the conspirators had discouered tliemselues, the lord Ilcnrio
Persie, desirous to proceed in the enterprise, vpon trust to be
assisted by Owen Glemkmcr, the carlo of March [i.e. 8tr Edmund
Mortimer], & other, assombled an armie of men of urines and
archers foorth of Cheshire and Wales.
Act II. sc. iv. — The Prince of Wales was at a tavern in Eastcheap
when Falataff — reporting to him the news of the rebellion, 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,'1
[Hoi. iii, 522/1/32.] his vncle Thomas Persie, enrlo of
Worcester, that had the goucrnement of the prince of Wales,
who as then laic at Loudon, in secret manner conueied 2 himselfe
1 H<trtiifltg tells us (351, prose addition ; 361) that he saw Ihe sealed letters
by which these noblemen bound tbemeelvei to Join the Percies* revolt The
Lord, whose letter is read in II. iii., was "well contented to bee" at the
pa the ring- place, "in respect of the loue " ho bore the Percies1 house, but what
followed was a tacit refusal of help.
1 "the prince . . . manner conueied. " I have altered the punctuation
here by placing a comma after " London," and removing 0 comma which stood
after " manner." Hoi.'* punctuation — which is the same in both editions of
his Chronicles — might lead one tn infer that tlip Prince had come to town to
enjoy himself clandestinely, and £hnk*pfn oBUdtNtood the sentence.
Comparison with OM. (240) show* that the words " in secret m«nner " apply to
Worcester.
TL FIRST PART OF KING HEMKT THE FOUKKL
137
out of the princes boose ; and
met his nephoe) thej increased
meaues they could d
to Stafford (where be
power bj all vaies and
Act III. 9c i.— The nm «cene of Act IIL is laid at tne Archdeacon
of Bangor's house, where Hotspur, Mortimer, sad Glendower have met
to partition between them King Henry* realm. Before going to
business, Hotspur and Glendower talk of certain portents attending
the tatter'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.
[Hoi. iii. 521; 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 ^SSSett
bloud vp to the bellies.1
Malone conjectured that Shak&pere transferred to the time of
Glendower' & birth a portent recorded in the ensuing excerpt :
[Hoi. iii. 519/2/59.] In the moneth of March [1402] appeared
a biasing starre, first betweene the east part of the firmament and
the north, flashing fourth fire and flames round about it, and,
lafitlie, shooting foorth fieric beams towards the north ; foreshewing
(as was thought) the great effusion of bloud that followed, about
the parts of Wales and Northumberland. For much about the
same time, Owen Glendoucr (with his Welshmen) fought with the
lord Greie of Ruthen, commiug foorth to defend his possessions,
which the same Owen wasted and destroied ; and, as the fortune
of that (lilies wurke fell out, the lord Greie was taken prisoner,
aud manic of his men wore slaine. This hap lifted the Welshmen
into high pride, and increased meriicluuslic their wicked and
presumptuous attempts.
Mrtk.1
I4M
A Wan"*
ttarrt [, foir-
M.**L*hcd ID
Nortlium-
berUo'l}.
QtVii nf
JtuOun
l«Wn in
Jtgkt kp Owt
GUnd*ttr.
1 According to Svu, (179), Chron, OiUs (Hen. IV. 11), and guiog.
Mortimer's birth was thus signalized. But, as in Hoi, the paragraph immedi-
ately preceding — which records Mortimer's marriage, and is quoted by me at
p. 135 Above — ends with the words "the said Owen," " this man" might be
understood to mean Glendower. Wak. (ii. 253, 234) — from whum Hoi. derived
both paragraphs— meant, perhaps, that Glendower was the man at whose
nativity horsea ■ were found to stand in bloud vp to the bellies.1'
138
VL FIKST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
Intemperal
MMtffcw
Otaadower'a
Glendower claims to have thrice sent Henry " weather beaten
backe " to England (III. 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,'1 in which Glendower
professes to be so deeply skilled (ILL L 46-49). Holinshed says :
[Hoi. iil 520/2/19.] About mid of August [1-I02],1 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,2 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
foule weather of winds, tempest, raine, snow, and haile to be
raised, for the annoiance of the kings armie, that the like had not
be eric heard of: in such sort, that the king was constrained to
returne 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
[JIoL iii. 530/2/70.] tooke his iouruie diroctlie into Wales,
where he found fortune nothing fauourablc vnto him, for all his
H*tMMiAAu attempts had euill successe ; in sotnuch that, losing fiftie of his
cariages through abundance of mine 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
(11. 70-77). According to Holinshed, Northumberland, Hotspur, and
Glendower,
[Hoi. iii 521/2/57.] by their deputies, in the house of the
archdeacon of Bangor, diuided the rcalme amongst them ; causing
a tripartite indenture to be made and scaled with their scales, by
the couenants whereof, all England from Seuerne and Trent, south
ikSrSSk^ aQ(* casfcward» waa assigned to the earle of March \ all Wales, &
tkt9kadwat. fac lands beyond Seuerne westward, were appointed to Owen
1 WaU ii. 250. Utkt 76 ; 201, OH. 235
* rtbth] Hoi. ed. 1, rebdl Hoi. cd. 2.
1 ITab.ii.371.
pasMtk into
jr«ta
Btrttumttk.
tripartita.
A MUM
VI. FIRST PAKT OK KINO HENRY THE FOURTH. 139
Glendoucr : and all the remnant from Trent northward, to the lord
Persie.1
Hotspur scoffs at a prophecy (11. 149-155) which seems to have had
much weight ; for Holinshed, speaking of the partition described in my
last excerpt, says :
[Hoi. iii. 521/2/67.] This was doone (as some haue said)
through a foolish credit giuen to a vaine prophesied as though king
Ilenrie was the moldwarpe, cursscd of Gods owne mouth, and they
three were the dragon, the lion, and the woolfe, which should diuidu
this realme bctweene them.
Act HL sc. ii. — In this scene Prince Henry is reproached by his
father for devotion to ignoble pleasures and base associates. The
Prince answers (11. 18-28):
So please your Maiestic, I would I could
Quit all offences with as clear excuse,
As well as (1 am doubtlcsse) I can purge 20
My selfe of many I am chargd withall :
Yet such extenuation let me beg,
Ah, in reproofe of many tales deuisdo
(Which oft the eare of great nes needs must heare) 24
By smiling picktftanto, and base newesmongers,
I may, for some things true, wherein my youth
Hath faulty waudred 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 legiam et confoederationem et amicitiam
cum Owino Qleudore, et Kdmundo de Mortuomari, filio quondam Kdmundi
comitis Marcliiae [the third Earl], in certis articulis continentibus formam quae
sequitur et tenoreni." — Cftron. QiUs (Hen. IV. 39). In the following pages
of Qwvn. Giles (40, 41) the tripartite division of England and Wales is set
forth.
* This prophecy is in MS3. Bodl. 1787 (printed in ArchatoU xx. 258). The
41 talpa ore Dei nialedieta " was to suffer for her past misdeeds ; and " terra rever-
tetur ad asinum [Richard II.], vel aprum, vel draconem, vel leunem." Hotspur
was angered by hearing from Olendower
"... of Mr Moldivarp and the Ant,
Of the dreamer Merlin and hid prophecies, . . .
And of a Dragon . . .
A couching Lion, &C,'1
Halle says (28): "a certayne writer writeth that this carle of Marche, the
Lorde Percy and Owen Glendor wer vnwynely made beleite by a Welsh Pro-
pheo.ier, thatking Henry was the Moldwarpe, . . . bv the deuiacion and not
deuinacion of that mawmet AfeWya.'' A clause in the indenture between
Northumberland, Mortimer and Glendower runs thus : " Item, si disponents
Deo, appareat praefatis dominis ei proceseu temporis, quod ipsi eint eaedem
perBonae, de quibus prophcta loquitur, inter quos regimen Bntanniae majoria
dividi debeat et partiri, tunc ipsi laoorabunt, et quilibct ipeorum laborulit juxla
posse, quod id ad eflectuw emcaciter perducatur."— Caron. GHu (Hen, IV.t 40).
140
VI. FIRST PART OF KING HENRY TUK FOURTH,
The prinet
mtvmtft to
k,tuUk„.
John Mo*.
Thtwus-
jtriout
fftttnutt of
tht kin /
TJUl
T^t print!
gotth to the
jficnt traiiu.
The Pi*ince's ruference to the slanders of certain " pickthanks," who
accused him of a more serious transgression than that of keeping loose
company, seems to anticipate a mi sunder a tun ding which arose between
the father and son towards the end of Henry IV. 's reign. In 1412,
the
[Hoi. iii. 539/i/ 1.] lord Henric, prince of Wales, eldest sonne
to kiug Henric, got knowledge that certeine of his fathers seruants
were busie to giue informations against him, whereby discord
might arise betwixt him and his father: for they put into the
kings head, not onclio what euill rule (according to the course of
youth) the prince kept to the offense of mauie, 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.
These tales brought no small suspicion into the kings head, least
his sonne would presume to vsurpe the 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 onclie to spot his good name abrode in the
realme, but to sowo discord also betwixt him and his father) wrote
his letters into euerie part of the roalme, to reproouo all such
slanderous deuisos of those that sought his discredit And to
clearo himselfe the better, (that the world might vnderstand what
wrong he had to be slandered in such wise,) about the feast of
Peter and Paule, to wit, the nine anil twentith dale of June, he
came to the court, with such a number of noble men and other his
freendu that wished him well, as the like traine had beene sildome
scene repairing to the court at any one time in those daies.
At Westminster Princo Henry made his peace with the King, by
whom u he was dismissed with great loue and signes of fatherlie
affection." ■ I give the passage following these words, because it
contains the epithet u pick-thanks," which occurs in the lines quoted
above ; and also elucidates the Prince's avowal that " some things "
wore "true," wherein his youth hud *4 faulty wandred."
bud
[Hoi lit 530/2/28.] Thus wore the father and the sonne
reconciled, betwixt whom the said jnckthankn had howiio diuision,
insomuch thai il,. -,.mii. vpoti a vehement conceit of vnkindnesse
inks ■
■ownl
batwttt ibf
Kill* HlHl
dMtJ sproong in tin luih. r. WM in llm waio to bo worne out of fauour.
VI. FIRST PART OF KINO HENRY THE FOURTH.
141
Which was the more likelie to come to passe, by their informations
that prhrifie changed him with riot1 ami other vnciuill demeanor
vnseemelic for a princo. Indeed he was youthfuilie giueu, growne
to audacitie, and had chosen him companions agreeable to his age ;
with whome he spent the time in such recreations,8 exercises, and
delights as he fansied. But yet (it should secme by the report of
some writers) that his behauiour was not oflbnsiue or at least
tending to the damage of anie bodie ; sith he bad a care to auoid
dooing of wrong, and to tedrler his affections within the tract of
vertue ; whereby he opened vnto liimselfo a rodie 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 nianer to be suspected.
Continuing to rebuke his son, the King says (II. 32, 33) :
Thy place in ooiuisell thou hast rudely lost,
Which by thy yonger brother is aupplido.
Holinshed briefly mentions the well-known story 3 that Prince
Henry once struck Chief -Justice Gascoign ; and adds :
[Hot. iii. 543/2/17.] The king after expelled him out of his
priuie councell, bauisht him the court, and made the duke of
Clarence (lua yoonger brother) president of councell in his steed.
1 I find nothing to warrant this charge, but it is said that Eastcheap— tho
Shaksperian Prince Hal'a old haunt — was once disturbed by a riot in connexion
with which Prince John — FalstaiTs "yong sober blonde*! boy p (2 Men. IV.f
IV. iii. 94) — is mentioned. Under 1410, Stow writes (550) : "Vpou the eeuen
of Saint Iohn Baptist [June 23], Thomas and luhn, the kings sonnes, being in
East-cheap at London, at snpper, after midnight, a great debate hapucd betweene
their men, and men of the court, lasting an hotire, till the Maior and Sheriflea
with other Citizens ceased the. same." The riot is thus chronicled by Greg.
(106) : "And the Fame tyme [1410] was the hurlynge in Estechepe by the lorue
Thomas and the lorde John, the kyngys sonc, &c."
2 One of these " recreations" is thus described by Simo (557) : ' He [Princo
Henry] Hued somewhat insolently, insomuch that, whilest his father lined,
being accompanied with some of his yong Lords and gentlemen, he would
wuiUi in disguised aray for his owne receiuere, and distresse them of their
money ; and sometimes at such enterprises both he and his company were
surely beaten : and when his receiuers mnde to him their complaints how they
were robbed in their comming vnto him, Am would gt\t* them discharge of so
much money as iixey had lost; awl, betides that, Uiey should not depart from
him inthmttijrritt ,..,,,,,/. for &M tn,uUe ami rrndion; especially they should
be rewarded that best had resisted him and his company, and of whom he had
receined the greatest and most strokes.1 With the words italicized cp. wliat
Prince Henry says in regard to the booty taken from the travellers on Gadsliill :
le money ehall bee paid backe againe with aduantage ■ '
Henry'i
behaviour,]
Abr, ft. pi- I
e/ Aitfft.
jir<tliji.
[Note
Kgnliiflt
"TIiM . . .
diuiiion" in
orfg.]
[(?lnrene«
ihmIp
in—Msnt -.'f
Mir Council
in-t. ".'I nf
Princo
Henry.
IV. 609).
(1 Hen. IV., II.
■ See p. 161, below.
142
VI. FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOUHTH.
ttlm.kspere has used a dramatist's freedom in making Henry IV.
speak of Hotspur as "being no more in debt to yearos" than the
Prince (I. 103). Whether Sbakspere 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 (Hoi. ii. 17, S. 249/
2/7, &c,t and iii. 511/2/9, ^c*) UG could have learnt that in 1388 Harry
Percy was old enough to command the English forces at Otterburne,
while in 1399 Harry Monmouth was only twelve years of age. Indoed
it is probable that Hotspur was older than the King. Henry IV. was
horn on April 3, 1367 (Compotu* Jfuyonis de WaUrton, cited in Notu
<£ Qucric$t 4th 8. xi. 162) ; and Wnlsingham tells na (i. 388) that, on
November 26, 1378, Hotspur displayed his pennon for the first time
(" primo . . . suurn vexillum dtsplicuit ") at the siege of Berwick
Oastle.
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
Nuewabury has been sent by "Lord Mortimer of Scotland" (1. 164).
In |fa| M lowing excerpt Oeorgo of Dunbar, Earl of the March of
Scotland,1 is called "the Scot, the carle of March"; an appellation
which might have led Shakspere to believe that the Scottish Earls of
March were akin to tho English Mortimers, Earls of March.
I //"/. iii. f*22/2/39.] King Ilenrie, aducrtised of the proceedings
of the Persies, foorthwitli gathered about him such power as he
Blight make, and, being earnestlie called vpon by the Scot, the
eurln of Murrh, to make hast and giue battel 1 to his enimies, before
their pOWOT bj deUbSoog of time should still too much increase, he
passed lor ward with such speed, that ho was in sight of his enimies,
lii-ng in HUBpe nooro to Shrcwesburie, before they were in doubt of
iinir nafa tiling ; for tin- IVrsics thought that ho would haue staied
at BttrtOB vpon Trent, till Ills couneell had come thither to him to
giue their uduisc what ho were best to doo. But herein the enimio
was domiiod of his expectation, sitli the king had great regard of
expedition and making speed for the safctie of his owne person;
ffhtrOTIlto the carlo of March incited him, considering that in
delnie is danger, & losso in lingering.
Art IV. so. i. — A messenger brings Hotspur news thnt Northum-
bnlniid " i* grieumis sieko " (I. 16), and delivers a letter containing the
Karl's excuses for not coming himself or Bonding the expected rein-
i:hhIm. Afu-i ipuVing of tho efforts made by Hotspur and
Worcester to increase their strength (p. 137 above), Holinshed says:
1 He in mllrti " (leurye de Dimborre, Erie of the MarcUe of Scotland," in
tho IndentON (dab .1 July 2ft, MOO) by which he engage* to transfer his allegi-
ance from HoUirt III. to Henry iv\— Jtyww, viii. 1B3.
VI. FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
143
[Hoi. iii 522/1/39.] Th° carle of Northumberland himselfo was
not with them, but, being sicke, had promised vpon his amende-
mcnt to repaire vnto them (as some write) with all conuenient
speed.
Act IV. sc, 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, Richard Earl of Arundel, — to whom the command of an English
fleet had been given, —
[HoL iii. 454/1/53.] vrulerstaiiding that the duke of Glocester,
and manie other noblemen would sec the muster of his men, vsed
all diligence, and spared for no costs, to hnuo the most choisest
and pikedst fcllowes that might be gotten ; not following the euill
example of others in times past, which recciued tag and rag to fill
vp their numbers, whom they hired for small wages, and reseriicd
the residue to their pursses.
Act IV. sc. iii. — Shakspcre assigned to Sir Thomas Blunt the
mission (11. 41-51) which, as my next excerpt shows, was entrusted to
the Abbot of Shrewsbury and a clerk of the Privy Seal.
[Hoi iii. 523/1/35.] The next daie in the morning earlie,
being the euen of Marie Magdalene [July 81, 140.1], they set their
battels in order on both sides, and now, whitest the warriors looked
when the token of battell should be giucn, the abbat of Shrewes-
burie, and one of the clearks of the priuie seale, were sent from
the king vnto the Persies, to offer them pardon, if they would
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 carlo 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 Perciea' 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 Perciea' articles to Henry. '* The next daio " — 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.
[Hoi. iii. 523/1/8.] Now when the two armies were incamped,
Worth-
nmberlAnd
K raven led
> •Irkuesi
from joining
Hatsjiarand
WorcMt«r.l
A preat
flraM in
(■'••'<•- <■/
km! tliers.
TJU king
aJfrrctA to
pardtm his
■Aynsftat
144
\X FIRST PART OF KIXG HENRY THE FOURTH.
King Hrwrit
rknrytt vi'fA
TKt Hnfft
nwifcr to Ou
mtmtnotrt
that brought
tktarhdu.
the one against the other, the carle of Worcester and the lord
Persic with their complices Bent the articles (whereof I spake
before), by Thomas Caitou, and Roger ' Saluain, esquiers, to king
Henric, vndor their hands and seales ; which articles in effect
charged him with manifest periurie, in that (contrarie to his oth
receiued vpon the euangeliats at Doncaster, when he first entred
the realme after Ids exile) he had taken vpon him the crowne and
roiall dignitie, imprisoned king Richard, caused him to resigne his
title, and finallie to be murthered Diuerse otlier matters they
laid to his charge, as lcuieng of taxes and tallages, contrarie to his
promise, infringing of lawcs & customcs of the realme, and suffering
the earle of March to remaine in prison, without trauelling to haue
him deliuered.2 All which things they, as procurors & protectors of
the common-wealth, tooke vpon them to prooue against him, as
they protested vnto the whole world.
King Henrie, after he had read their articles, with the defiance
which they annexed to the same, answered the esquiers, that he
was readic with dint of sword and fierce battell to prooue their
quarrcll false, and nothing else than a forged matter ; not doubting,
but that God would aid and assist him in his righteous cause,
auainst the disloiall and false forsworne traitors.
Act V. sc, ii. — On tho day of battle (July 21), Hotspur, after
hearing Henry's proposals, sent back thoir bearer, tho Abbot of
Shrewsbury, accompanied by Worcester, to tin- King (sue p. 143 above).
Holinshed left Worcester's treachery unexpUiiuvl, but Hhukspere has
supplied a motive for it (IL 4-23).
[Hoi, iii. 523/I/48.] It was reported for a truth, that now
wr] Thonuu Hoi.
• All these charges are made in Hotspur*!) or Worcester's speech. (They
are contained in the Persies' "quarell," cited at p. 134, n. 4, above.) Hotspur
say a that Henry "taritt the whole wtate*' (IV. iii. 92), and reformed "certaine
edicts " and "straight decrees ■ (IV. iii. 79) ; word* which embody the accusa-
tions of having levied " taxes ana tallages,'' and infringed " lawes and cuatomea
of the realme.'' Worcester's complaint that they were in danger of their Uvea
from Henry's jealousy (V. L 59-64) — cp. what Hotspur says (IV. iii. 98) —
occurs in some letters which, l>esides trie articles, were sent abroad by the
Percies, wherein they affirmed that " where through the slanderous reports of
their eniinifs, the king had taken a greeuotu displeasure with them, they
durst not appears personallie in the kinp* presence, vntill the prelats and
barons of the realme had obteined of the king licence for tlicm to come and
purge themselues before him, by lawful] trial] of theirpeeres, whose iudgeinent
(as uiey pretended) they would in no wise refuse."— Jtol. iii. O22/1/52.
VI. FIRST PART OF KING UENRY THE FOURTH.
145
when the king had condescended vnto all that was resonable at
his hands to be required, and seemed to humble himselfe more
than was meet for his estate, the carle of Worcester (vpon his
returne to his nephue) made relation clcane contrario to that the
king had said, in such sort that he set his nephues hart more in
displeasure towards the king, than euer it was before ; driuing him
by that tneanes 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 vpon a dials point, 84
Still ending at the arriual of an houre.
And if we liue, we Hue to tread on kings,
If die, braue death, whon princes die with vs !
Now, for our consciences, the arraes 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 jr displayed in these lines.
Henry's rapid advance obliged the rebels to desist
[Hoi. iii. 522 '2/60.] from assaulting the townc of Shrewesburie,
which enterprise they were readie at that instant to haue taken in
hand ; and foorthwith the lord Persic (as a capteinc of high
courage) began to exhort the capteiucs and souldiers to prepare
themselucs to battel I, sitli the matter was growen to that point,
that by no meanes it could be auoided, "so that" (said he) "this
" daie shall either bring vs all to aduancement & honor, or else, if
"it shall chance vs to bo oucrcome, shall deliuer vs from the kings
"spitefull malice and cruell disdaine: for plaicng the men (as wc
"ought to doo), better it is to die in battell for the common-
" wealths cause, than through cowardlike feare to prolong lifo,
"which after shall be taken from vs, by sentence of the enimie."
Act V. sc. ii. 11. 97-101 ; sc. iii. 1L 1-29 ; sc. iv. 11. 1-86.— Hotspur,
deceived by Worcester's false report of Henry's words, resolves to
fight:
[Hoi iii. 693/1/57.] then suddenlic blew the trumpets, the
kings part crieng, "S. George ! vpon them ! " the aduersaries cried,
" Etffxtrance ! Persic I " and so the two armies furiouslie joined. The
archers on both sides shot for the best game, laieng on such load
L
Thi *arU of
Woreutert
■
thaling in
■tcrong
r f porting tht
king* worth.
The PtrtUt
with tht
InngM tuddrn
■■■fait
The lord
Ptrtit
vchorieth hit
CM (0
ihct- to Uuir
luctU.
14G
VI. FIRST PART OF KDJG HENRY THE FOURTH.
Ilntl.
TV Scots.
Tht ITWiA-
mcn roiM to
ant thr
Ptrtit*.
[Yftlour of
IJi«tn]tnr mm\
il..|-,lll.v I
The tarU of
March
[wltklrow
EUwi bran
UM nh of
tiw flcM
*lwrv H"t-
■ii mi
T\o. Waist.
ISlr W»H*r
HI tint ami
!lu I :\ D|
8UfTonl
• Lain.)
ML
it/* the ttoonp
princ* [, wbo
Wcililil no I
JOtlro
ii,..-,. h
be was
with arrowes, that manic died, and were driucn downc that never
rose againe.
Tlie Scots (as some write), which had the fore ward on the
Persies Bide, intending to be reucnged of their old displeasures
doone to them bj the English nation, set so fiercelie on the kings
fore ward, led by the carle of Stafford, that they made the same
draw backc, and had almost broken their aduersaries arraie. The
WflkbmflO also, which before had laine lurking in the woods,
mounteincs, 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
distressc, what witli the violent 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 suddcnlie, with his fresh battell, he approched and
relieucd his men-, so that the battell began more fierce than
before. Here the lord Ilcnrie Persic, and the earle Dowglas, a
right stout and hardio captcino, not regarding the shot of the kings
battell, nor the close order of the ranks, pressing forward togithcr,
bent their whole forces towards the kings person ; conuning vpon
him with spcares and swords so fiercelie, that the earle of March,
the Scot, perceiuing their purpose, withdrew the king from that
side of the field (as some write) for his great benefit and safegard
(as it appeared) ; for they gaue such a violent onset vpon them that
stood about the kings standard, that, slaieng his standard-bearer
sir Walter Blunt, and oucrturowing the standard, they made
slaughter of all those that stood about it; as the earle of Stafford,
that daie made by the king constable of the realme, and diuerse
other.
The prince that daie holpo his father like a lustio yoong gontlc-
man ; for although he was hurt in the face with an arrow, so that
diuerse noble men, that were about him, would haue conueied him
foorth of the field, yet he would not suffer them so to doo, least
his departure from amongst his men might bappilio haue striken
some feare into their harts: and so, without regard of his hurt, he
continued with his men, & neuer coassed either to fight where the
battell was most hot, or to incourage his men where it seemed
VI. FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE FOURTH.
147
most need. Tins battel! lasted three long houres, with indifferent
fortune on both parts, till at Length, the king, cricng, "saint
"George! victorie!" brake the arraic of his enimics ; and aduen-
tured so fane, that (as some write) the earle Dowglas strake him
downe, & at that instant slue sir Walter Blunt, and three other,
apparelled in the kings sute and clothing, saieng; "I maruell to
" see so many kings thus suddonlie arise one in the necke of an
" other." The king, in deed, was raised, & did that daie manic a
noble feat of annes, for, as it in written, he sine that daie with his
owno hands six and thirtie persons of his cnimiea The other on
his part, incouraged by his dooings, fought valiantlie, and slue the
lord Persie, called sir llenrie Hotspurre,1
Act V. sc. v.— Touching the numbers slain (11. 610), and the fates
of Worcester and Vernon (1. 14), Holinshed says ;
[Hoi. iu. 623/2/52.] There was also taken the earle of
Worcester, the procuror and setter foorth of all this liusdieefe, sir
Richard Vernon, and . . . diuerse other. There wore slaine vpon
the kings part, beside the earle of Stafford, . . . sir Hugh Shorlic,
sir John Clifton, . . . sir Robert2 GausctI, sir Walter Blunt,3 . . .
There died in all vpon the kings side sixtccne hundred, and foure
thousand wore greeuoualio wounded. On the contrario Bide wcro
slaine, besides the lord Persie, the most part of the knights and
esquiers of the countie of Chester, to the number of two hundred,
besides yeomen and footmen : in all there died of those that fought
on the Persies side, about flue thousand. This battell was fought
on Marie Magdalene euen, being saturdaic. Upon the mondaio
folowiag, the earle of Worcester, . , . and sir Richard Vernon . . .
were condemned and beheaded. \jh 524] The earles head was
sent to London, there- to be set on the bridge.
Douglas is then released, "ransomlesso and free" (II. 27-31).
Ilolinshed thus ends his account of the battle :
A tort bnttclt
d- trtlt
mi internal.
The rattan f
JffUHiJM Of
the rarU
l>.'tr,?l,IM.
[ lie ■> w
Blunt uid
i.l r M OthH
who wore
!!,-■ Daft
ciwl.l
The high
«i i nhotxt of
tht king.
The lord
PertU
ffatiw.
The tarle of
ir»"'L«T
take*.
Knight*
tlaine on tht
ktngt pOTU
The
tlaughler of
ChttJiirt nun
at (An
hit tell.
Th* earl* of
WvrcetUr
tin-/ i>l .rrt
behtatSeA,
1 "Inter qnos [the slain] Henrietta Percy corruit interemptus, dnbiuin
cuius maim, aiiia, ijrriorantiliua ejus casuni, putantibua, ipaura regem capUsse
vel occidi^ee. Quamnbreni ae cohortantea, ckmabant ingementea, * Henry
Percy Kinge.' Quorum clamores rex intelligent, ru.- vana epe deducti certarent
ulteriua, . . . clamant et ipse voce qua valuit, ' Mortuus est I [eiiricna Percy.' "
— Ott., 243. * Rohrrt] Mrholus Hoi.
» "Sherry, Stafford, Blunt" (V. iv. 41). "Sir Nicliolae Gaweey . . f
Clifton'' (V. iv. 45, 46).
148
Thf rnrtc
tahrn
Vn. THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV.
\Hoh iii. 623/2/46.] To conclude, the kings enimies were
vanquished, and put to flight; in which flight, the earlc of Dowgla**,
for hast, falling from the crag of an hie mounteine, brake one of
his cullions, and was taken, and for his valiantncsse, of the king
frankelie and freclie deliuered.
Wtrtmcr-
land raiuth
a pawr
agaimt the
earte qf
VH. THE SECOND PABT OF KING HENRY IV.
T/ts Second part of ITenrie the fourth is separated from the preceding
play by a historic interval of nearly two years, which elapsed between
the l«*ttlo of Shrewsbury (July 21, 1403) and Archbishop Scrope'a
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 Parts of
Henry IV. closes with Henry V.'s coronation on April 9, 1413.
Act I. sc. i. — For the brief space of time filled by Morton's warning
— that a *' speedy power" (I. 133) has been sent against Northum-
berland— historic and dramatic dates coincide. Though Sir Robert
Waterton — not Prince John — was Westmoreland's colleague, we mAy
fairly identify the H power " spoken of by Morton with the "armie
which, as the ensuing passage shows, was ' got on foot ' to meet
Northumberland.
[Hoi iii. 524/i/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,
taking neither of them to be hits freend, turned Buddcnlio backe,
and withdrew himselfe into Warkowoorth 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 North um1>er]and. Nothing in this scene admits of histori-
cal comment except Hasting's report (11. 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
Must take vp vs : . , .
A\
VIL THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV.
149
The third power is commanded by Priuce John J am] 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
(II. 82-85).
Shakspere seems to have antedated some assistance rendered by the
French to Glendower in the summer of 1405, after Archbishop Scrape's
revolt had been suppressed. About this time a
[Hoi. iii. 531/1/8.] the French king had appointed one of the ftau.
marshals of France, called Montmcrancie, and the master of his MttwrLu
crosbowes, with twelue thousand men, to saile into Wales to aid owe*'
tilrmtotLcr,
Owen Glendouer. They tooko shipping at Brest, ami, baaing the
wind prosperous, landed at Mil ford hauen, with an hundred and
fourtie ships, as Thomas Walsingham saith ; though Engiurant ds
Moiistrelht inakcth mention but of an hundred and twentic.
Failing to capture Haverfordwest,
[Hoi. iii. 531/i/37.] they departed towards the towne of
Denbigh, where they found Owen Glendouer abiding for their
comming, with ten thousand of his Welshmen. Here were the
Frenchmen ioifullie recciuod of the Welsh rebels, and so, when all
things were prepared, they passed by Glamorganshire towards
Worcester, and there burnt the suburbes : but, hearing of the kings
approch, they suddenlie reLumed towards Wales.
Act II. bc 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"
(I. 65). But the historical fact is that Scrope was executed before
Henry marched against Northumberland, who,
[//»/. iii. 530/2/35.] hearing that his counscll was bewraied,
and his confederals brought to confusion, through too mueli hast
of the archbishop of Yorke, with three hundred horsso got him to
Berwike. The king comming forward quiekclie, wan the castcll of
IT;.. I ... \
QtaMomi
U DaaMg]
The tukurbn
Hf Worcester
6wm(.
[TI>o French
mm WelKh
retreated
when Henry
approached.
1 Wrongly styled "Duke of Lancaster" (1. 82) by Shakspere. This title
was borne by Henry Prince «j[ Walea,— Hot. Pad., iii. 428/i.
* In a writ addressed tn the Sheriff of Hereford, and dated from Pomfret
Castle, ** vii die Augusti" [1405], Henry say a that the arrival of the French at
Milford Haven "au nnatruin jainiiuviter pervenit int*lNalmn."— iiymer, viii.
405. The French embarked about the end of July, 1405. When the wind
favoured them, they set sail, and landed at Milfnrd Haven. — St. jDeni/s, iii.
328. According to Chron. Normande (370), they eailed on July 22, 1406, and
remained in Wales until November 1 next following.
150
VII. THE SECOND TART OF KING HENRY IV.
Tht tarU Of
tamd [adcI
Bnplolph
fled to
Scotland.]
Out*
Qtnulauer
rniUth his
life in yrtoA
Warkewoorth. Wliercvpon the carlo of Northumberland, not
thinking liimsclfc in Buertie at Bcrwike, fled with the lord Bcrdolfe
into Scotland, whore they were receiued of Dauid lord Fleming.1
Act IXL 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 Scropo'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.5 Chronology
being thus travestied, the news that M Glendour is dead " (1. 103) is not
liable to question because he survived Henry ; nor is anything gained
if we accept the erroneous date3 given in the following excerpt ;
[Hoi iii. 536/i/l] The Welsh rebcll Owen Glendouer made
an end of his wretched life in this tenth ycaro [1408-9] of king
Henrio his reigne; being driiion now in his latter time (as we find
recorded) to such miserio, that, in manner despairing of all comfort,
he fled into desert places and solitaric cauca ; where, being destitute
of all releefe and succour, dreading to shew his face to anie
creature, and finallie lacking meat to susteine nature, for nice re
hunger and lacke of food, [he] miscrablie pined awaie and died.
Act IV. sec. i.-ii. — From the ensuing passages were derived the
scenes in which the suppression of Archbishop Scropo'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 " (IIol iii. 529/1/51).
1 Northumberland aealed a letter written at R«rwick-upon-Tweed on June
11, 1405. — Hot. Pari.,, iii, 605/]. Before Ins ilight he delivered Berwick to the
Scots. — Ott.y 257. In the same month of June, ere Henry reached Berwick,
the Scots burnt the town and retreated.— Hot. Pari., iii. 605/2. OU% 257.
9 T-A.f 285.
* Pennant aayn, without citing anv authority, that Glendower died on
September 20, 1415.— Tonr in Wales, 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 hy Henry V. "ad Cnmmunicandnm
& Tractandum cum Meredith ap Owyn, Filio Owyni do Glendourdy. de k
euper certie Matariia, praefato Gilbcrto per Noa injunctia & deelaratis, Et tarn
«d praedietum Owinuin,uuam alios Kebcllcs nostros WaUenses,ad Obedientiam
& Gratia* nostras, si so nd cas petendum oplulerint, nomine noatro Admitten-
diun & RenpuMt'lum," . . . Rymer, ix, 330, 331. Mr. Gairdner wrote to mo :
M But his [Glendower's] obit was no doubt observed in some churches in Wales,
by which the day of his death wmild have been long preserved, while the year,
I take it, was a mere falee inference on Pennant'? part."
VII. THE SECOND PART OF KINti HENRY IV,
151
[Hal. iii. 529/i/56.] But at the B&ine time, to liia further dis-
quieting, there was a conspiracie put iu practise against him at
home by the earle of Northumberland, who had conspired with
Richard Scroope, archbishop of Yorke, Thomas Mowbraie, carlo
marshal!, sonne to Thomas duke of Norfolke, (who for the quarrcll
betwixt him and king Ilenrie had bceue banished, as ye haue
heard,) the lords Hastings, Fauconbridge,1 Berdolfe, and diuerso
others. It was appointed that they should meet altogether with
their whole power, vpon Yorkeswold, at a daie assigned, and that
the carlo of Northumberland should be chocftoine ; promising to
bring with him a great number of Scots. The archbishop, accom-
panied with the carle marshal!, dcuUcd certcine articles of such
matters, as it was supposed that not onelic the commonaltie of the
Realine, but a!so the nobilitie found themselues greeued with :
which articles they shewed first rnto such of their adherents as
were neere about them, & after sent them abroad to their freends
further off; assuring them that, for redresso of such oppressions,
they would shed the last drop of blood in their bodies,2 if need
were.
The archbishop, not meaning to staic after he saw liimsclfe
accompanied with a great number of men, that came flocking to
Yorke to take his part in this quarrcll, foorthwith discouered his
enterprise ; causing the articles aforesaid to be set vp in the publike
Btreete of the citie of Yorke, and vpon the gates of the monasteries,
that ech man might vnderstand the cause that mooued him to rise
in amies against the king: the reforming whereof did not yet
appcrtuine vuto tun.1 Here vpon, knights, csquicrs, gentlemen,
yeomen, and other of the commons, as well of the citie townes
and countries about, being allured cither for desire of change, or
■A HMC CWJI*
against tinff
Ittnri* '/y
the rarle of
Kiirthu.Atltr.
other*.
(Northum-
bctlnd
promlMd to
join them
with*
uumlmruf
Scots.
Scroj*
deviied
article!
«--Miii,'
forth the
KTlnvmncei
ofUm
nobility ami
common*.]
Tht arrh-
huht>i> nf
Tarkt ont nf
Ou dU0l
COrupinttort.
1 In Hot /W , iii. 004 i, Join * Fauconberge," Ralph Hasting*, and John
*' Oolvyle dfl Dale," are stylud '* I 'liivnlera.'*
1 With "thry w.-uM rind tin la&t 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 fortune*,
To the last man."
3 Westmoreland, addressing the Archbishop, denies the "neede of any such
redress* " as Scrope speaks of, and adds (IV. i. US) : "Or if there were, it not
bfloiuji fti i/ou*
152
VII. THE SECOND PART OF KING HESRY IV.
Th* arch-
bishop in
armor.
TKt e*t mix-
tion which
men had of
the arch-
bishop of
Tori*.
Tht tnrle of
Westmor-
land owl the
lord Iohn of
Lancaster
the i 1 H;U
tonne pre-
pare them-
eetuea to
rttut the
kings
enimits.
The forest of
Oatlrtt.
else for desire to see a reformation in such things as were
mentioned in the articles, assembled togitlier in great numbers ;
and the archbishop, comming foorth amongst them clad in armor,1
incouraged, exhorted, and (by all ineaiies 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,
whoso hap it was to die in the quarrell : and thus not onelie all
the citizens of Yorkc, but all other in the countries about, that
were able to beare weapon, came to the archbishop, and the carlo
marshalL In deed, the respect that men had to the archbishop
caused them to like the better of the cause, since the grauitie of
his age, his intcgritie of life, and incomparable learning, with the
reuerend aspect of his amiable personage, moouod all men to haue
him in no small estimation.
The king, aduertised of these matters, meaning to preuent
them, left his iournie into Wales, and marched with all speed
towards the north parts. Also Rafo Ncuill, carle of Westmorland,
that was not farrc off, togitlier with the lord Iohn of Lancaster the
kings sonne, being iuformod of this rebellious attempt, assembled
togither such power as they might make, and. togither with those
which were appointed to attend on the said lord Iohn to defend
the borders against the Scots, (as the lord Henrie Fitzhugk, the
lord Rafe Eeuers, the lord Robert Umfrcuill, & others,) made for-
ward against the rebels; and, comming into a plaine within the
forrest of Galtrec,2 caused their standards to be pitched downe in
like sort as the archbishop had pitched his, ouer 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 enrle of Westmorland pcrceiued the force of the
aducrsaries. and that they laie still and attempted not to come
1 Prince John reproves the Archbishop for appearing "here, an yron man11
(IV. ii. 8). With the Priuc#*s complimentary words (U. 16 22), c'p. what U
said of Rcrope in the last passage of this paragraph, " In deed, the respect/' &c.
■ The two armies net uu May 21), 140ft, at ■ Shu p Lou [Sliiplou] sur le More,
bten pres la Citec d'Ev<Twyk.r— Rot. Pari, iii. 605/i. Goitres Forest formerly
reached from York to Aid borough.— Bart h olomete, t.v.
Vn. THE SECOND PART OF KING T1ENRY IV.
153
forward vpon him, ho subtillie deuised Low to quaile their purpose ;
and fourth with dispatched messengers vnto the archbishop to
vnderstand the cause as it were of that groat nsKomhlie, and for
what cause (contraric to the kings peace) they came so in a[r]mour.
The archbishop answered, that ho tooke nothing in hand against
the kings fieace} but that whatsoeuer ho did, tended rather to
aduanco the peace and quiet of the common-wealth, than other-
wise ; and where he and his companie were in armes, it was for
feare of the king, to whom he could hauo no free accesse, by reason
of such a multitude of flatterers as were about him ; and therefore
he mainteincd that his purposo to be good & profitable, as well for
the king hiniselfc, as for the realme, if men were willing to vnder-
stand a truth : & herewith lie thawed foorth a scroll, in which the
articles were written wherof before ye haue heard.
The messengers, returning to the carle of Westmorland, shewed
him what they had heard & brought from the archbishop. When
he had read the articles, [p. 530] lie shewed in word and countenance
outwardly that lie K&ed'of tho archbishops holic and vcrtuous
intent and purpose; promising that he and his would prosecute the
eame in assisting the archbishop, who, reioising horeat, gauo credit
to I he earle, and persuaded the earle marshall (against his will as
it were) to go with him to a place appointed for them to commune
togither. Here, when they were met with like number on either
part, the articles were read ouer, and, without anie more adoo,
the earle of Westmorland and those that were with him agreed
to doo their best, to see that a reformation might be had, according
to the same.
Tho earle of Westmorland, vaing more policlo than the rest:
"Well" (said he) "thou our trnuell is come to the wished end;
"and where our people haue becne long in armour, let them depart
"home to their woonted trades and occupations: in the moane
"time let vs drinke togithtr* in signeof agreement, that the people
r*i mmh
pntieit of i A e
tarU of
IFestrtur*
lairiL
The arch-
bithopM pro-
tl.'liUifil .tr), y
he hail on
hit* UlTKJ,
[Scroiw tent
Westmore-
land ft scroU
4'ontiifniug
the articlci.)
[WiMtuioif-
luinl affected
to Hk«
tbam.]
[Mnwhraj
BUAllill t'V
■oropi i"
attA *\t\\
WMtnm*
lMKll
The earte of
Wul.ncr Id'U
pol'Uiki
titaling.
tn« pro-
I<i»rd that
they should
dnuk
1 The Archbiahnp says to Prince John (IV. ii. 31) : u I am tint here against
your fathers pmeeP
1 Prince John Bays of the articles (TV. ii. 54): ll T like them all, and do
•llow them well."
* Cp. Prince John's words (IV. ii. 63) : " Lets drinke together friendly, anil
embrace."
154
VII. THE SECOND TART OF KING HENRY IV.
ofUn
[Wt*uwhiJ«
a M Mfl
ww Mac to
UMTObaU
Uut they
mfcht
depart, for
wu
J
Th«y
•cronlingly
Ml the
flald, but
WcjUnorti-
IaikI'i forces
Increased.]
TkeanK-
buAop of
Yorkt and
thft.xrlt
iMHtafl
■MMi
" on both Hides inaie see it, and know that it is true, that we be
"light at a point" They had no sooner shaken hands togither,
but that a knight was sent streight waics from the archbishop, to
bring word to the people that there was peace concluded ; com-
manding ech man to laie aside his armes, and to resort home to
their houses. The people, beholding such tokens of peace, as
shaking of hands, aud drinking togither of the lords in louing
manner, they being alreadie wearied with the vnaccustomed trauell
of warre, brake vp their field and returned homewards ; but, in the
meano time, wbilest the people of the archbishops side withdrew
awaie, the number of the contrarie part increased, according to
order giuen by the earle of Westmorland ; and yet the archbishop
perceiued not that he was deceiued, vntill the earle of Westmor-
land arrested both him and the earle marshall, with diuerse other.
Thus saith Wahlngham.
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 — " iust distance tweene our armies" (IV. L 226); and that
the rebels submitted to Prince John.
Siton.
[Another
account is
that, in A
MMM
midway
between tan
armies,
land !■■ i-
Bcronc and
Mow bray to
trust the
Finn's merry
by sabmia-
•ion to
Prince
John]
[Hoi iii. 530/1/38.] But others write somwhat otherwise of
this matter ; affirming that the earle of Westmorland, in deed, aud
the lord llafe Eeuers, procured the archbishop and the earle
marshall, to come to a communication with them, rpon a ground
iud in the midwaie betwixt both the annus; whero the earle of
Westmorland in talke declared to them how perilous an enterprise
they hud taken in hand, bo to raise the people, and to mooue
warre against the king ; aduiuing thorn therefore to submit them-
seluos without further delaie vnto the kings mcrcie, and his sonne
the lord Iohu, who was present there in the field with banners
spred, redie to trie the matter by dint of sword, if they refused
this counsel 1 : and therefore ho willed them to remember them-
selues well ; &, if they would not yeeld aud craue the kings pardon,
he bad them doo their best to defend theinselucs.
Jlercvpou as well the archbishop as the carle marshall sub-
mitted thcmsclues vnto the king, and to his sonne the lord Iohn
that was there present, and returned not to their armie. Where-
VH. THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV.
155
vpon tlicir troops scaled and fled their waies ; but, being pursued,
manic were taken, manie slaine, and rnanie spoiled of that that
they had about them, & so permitted to go their waies. Howbo-
euer the matter was handled, true it is that the archbishop, and
the earle niarshall were brought to Pomfret to the king, who in
this meanc while was aduancod thither with his power ; and from
thence he went to Yorke, whither the prisoners were also brought,
and there beheaded the morrow after Whitsundaie [June 8, 1405]
in a place without the citic : that is to vnderatand, the archbishop
himselfc, the carle niarshall, sir Iohn Lamplete, and sir William1
Plumpton. IT Unto all which persons, though indemuitie were
promised, yet was the aameto none of them at anie hand performed.
Act IV. sc. iii. — The surrender of Sir John Colevilo of the Dale 2 to
Falstaff is a comic incident which appears to have been suggested by
the mero record of Colovile'a execution at Durham, when Henry was
marching against Northumberland.
[Rot. iii. 630/2/31.] At his [Henry's] cowming to Durham, the
lord Hastings, the lord Fauconbridge, sir John Cullcuill of the
Dale, and sir Iohn Griffith, being conuicted of the conspirncie,
were there beheaded.
Whether the historic time of this scene be 1406 s or 1412 ia
doubtful, for, shortly before leaving the stage, Prince John says (L 83) :
1 heare the King my father is sore sick.
[The rebcli
napinafl
becauM
Berone acd
Uvmwaa
<Li<i not
return to
t be 111.]
Th* nrcft.
MAsfl ••(
Tor**, (he
tarlt tiuxr-
shall, tt
other* put to
death.
Abr. Fl.o*t
Of Thorn.
Wmkto,
Hypod. paa.
163.
The fords
I— and Kir
John Cole-
Tile of the
Dftle— )
m dm
* William] BoberlHol
* It appears tbut in the month of May, — but before the Archbishop and
Earl Marshal were arrested, — the rebels under Sir John Fauconberg, Sir Ralph
Hastings, and Sir John Colvrle de Dale, were embattled near TopclilT, until
("tan qnen) Prince John aiul Westmoreland "eux feaoit voider le champ, &
eux myst a fuyte & but lour fuier feurent pris." On May 29 the troops of
Prince John and Westmoreland were ranged in order of battle upon Shipton
on the Moor, confronting the forces of Scrupe and Mowbray, "armes & arraiea
a faire de guerre, ... a en liel arraie lea ditz Richard [Scrope] & Thomas
[Mowbray] & antnts lour complices feuront pris mesme le jour sur le dit
More."— Mot. Part., iii. 60-1/2 ; 605/1.
1 Halle (35) makea contemptuous mention of a story that " At the howro of
the czecucion of" Archbishop Scrope, uthe kyng at the same tvinu eyttyng at
dyner . . . was incontinently striken with a leprey," and (45) aenies that the
*' sore aodayn disease" which cauaed Henry's death was a ■ Lepry stryken by
the hand eg of God as folysb Friers before declared " (see p. 160 below). Accord-
ing to EuUmj. (408) the king, immediately after Scrope 's execution (June 8,
1405), "quasi leprosus apparere cepit." Another account is that, m 1408,
Henry, after his return from York, where he had been occupied with punish-
ing Northumberland's accomplices, "dec-id it in laneuorcm et cxtasim con-
seqnenter, ita ut mortuus pntaretnr apud Mortlake. — OM.,263.
Ml. THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV,
£»
txxst
■
ber the Utter date Holinshed first makes mention of the sickness
which eveutually proved fatal to Henry.
[Hoi. iii B 10 a .72.] He [Henry] held his Christmas this yearc
at Kit ham. being sore vexed with sicknesse, so that it was thought
**Hiu.*uuu\ [/». fill] i.!i:ii he had beene dead: DotwiQiBtendtng it
fh*iR\l God that he Bomwhnt recouered his strength againe, and
•o pawed that Christmasso with as much ioy as he might
All -ll.n.y died on March 20, 1413 (Walt., ii. 289^,
about wit1.. !i time wo ought suppose this scene to open, if dramatic
.'■ ' .-\ wen< tveoncilahlo willi historic data, BOOD affttt Bntflring
th* King «ttyh toCBamn (11 20-26) :
II. iw rlunuv thou ml not with the prince thy brother? 20
ii. Loom thae, and tfaoa doit neglect him, Thomas;
Thou bust n better pbuM in Ins u flection
Then :ill thy hrolhe-rs: chtTrinh it, my boy;
\uil noble oilirr thou untist olivet 24
( M' mediation, lifter I am dead,
iVtweon hi* great nest«v and tliy other brethren.
ju«t DONlMl *lint A hint tor t hose linos was taken from part
, |>< , ii addressed by Henry IV. to his eldest son {Stow, 554-
,l,i, I. the Km- w u on his death bed — expressed a
iiiubition and the Prince's haughtiness might cause
... ,ii the two Mothers,
I ho Ktiuj ndvinvn rioronoo to refrain from chiding Prince Henry
IMl i liui In ■ ] :> whale on ground,
,d lliein elm- with working.
IV, t mvr o) (In metaphor was the following account of a
trauiM i '
| ttxu. lil IMB/S/33 1 Hw nb& of lulic [1574. 1573 accord-
,,, ii,, '■* <'hrt)Holotjic (Shidxpcres England., ed. F. J.
u ,11 V|>p I IvL)], Ht nix of the clockc at night, in the He
^1 ||llU,.( Ih lillojrt Hnimwgatr, in the parish of saint Peter ruder
,i mnimtrous (fall <»r whale of the sea did shoot himselfe
,,, m ud. 1 1* water, beating himselfe on the sands, he
; uhoul *>\ irf Uw clnoko on the next morning, before which
I M)d »i»N heard more than a mile on the land.
v NV imoieUnd mmomice* Prince John's RMOattflL B8-87), time
11 the historic date, but, when Harcourt brings
.[ uid Hardnlph, " with a ijreM pottvr of
11 overthrown by tlie Sheriff of York-
* wit *r* transported to the historical year 1408.
ill. VI ('I'll "' "", ' .. j rf
VII. THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV.
157
[Uul. iii. 534/I/20.] The carle of Northumberland, ami the
lord Bardolfe, after they had becne in Wales, in France, arid
Flanders, to purchase aid against king Henrie, were returned
backe into Scotland, and had remained there now for the space of
awholeyeare: and, as their cuill fortune would, whilcst the king
held a councell of the nobilitic at London, the said earlc of North-
umberland and lord Bardolfe, in a dismall houre, unth a gixat
po-icer of Scots, returned into England ; recouering diuerse of the earls
castek and seigniories, for the people in great numbers resorted
vnto them. Hccrevpon, incouraged with hope of good success©,
they entrcd into Yorkcshire, & there began to destroie the
countrie. At their comming to Threske, they published a pro-
clamation, siguifieng 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 thorn, with their
armor on their backes, and in defensible wise to assist them.
The kiug, aduertised hereof, caused a great armie to be
assembled, and came forward with the same towards his cnimies;
but, ycr the king came to Notingham, sir Thomas, or (as other
copies haue) Rafe Rokesbic, shiriffe of Yorkeshire, assembled the
forces of the countrie to resist the carle and his power; comming
to Grimbaut brigs, beside Knaresbourgh, there to stop them the
passage ; but they, returning aside, got to Wcatherbie, and so to
Tadcaster, and liuallie came forward vnto Brarnlmm mure, noore
to Uaizelwood, where they chose their ground meet to fight vpon.
The shiriffe was as readie to giue battell as the earle to receiuo it,
and so, with a standard of S. George spred, set ficrcelic vpon the
carle, who, vnder a standard of his owne armes, incountred his
aduersaries with great manhood. There was a sore uicouuter and
crucll conflict betwixt the parties, but in the end the victorie fell to
the shiriffe. The lord Bardolfe was taken, but sore wounded, so
that ho shorttio after died of the hurts. IT As for the earle of
Northumberland, he was slaine outright: , . . This battell was
fought the ninteenth day of Februarie [1408].
Hardly has the news of Northumberland's defeat been uttered ere
tin1 King swoons, and historic time is again as it was when the scene
opened.
UM
The tart* of
rtortkumb.6
thetonl
BarxMJt
return* into
EnaLid.
The thiiifft
of Yorktthirt
( use tabled
tlw fnrrM of
the county
toreiiit
tlieiuj.
Bit hnnt
forage to
Aifht.
[Lonl
llarUnlph
taken.]
Tht earle of
Aorthuhiltr-
land ttatnr.
158
VII. THE SECOND PART OK KING HKNRY IV.
Ahr. Ft out
e/Fatiuui
pag.ii*.
Tkruflood*
* it/, OHt
tbhing
Hall.
tllcnrflV.
• wminM,
aiitl wm left
n.r.I.vl,
with h:i
IiiUuw.)
The privet
taktth am
htfvrthU
fmtkrr mu
Ht u hJttnu,!
of Ifu imp.
It.' MUMT.
A puUtd
titrciiiiti* Of
tietrum
pinehttti
While the King is unconscious, Clarence mentions a portent1
(I. 125) :
The riuer hath thrice flowed, no ebbe between*
Holinshed says :
[Hoi. iii. 540/1/45.] In this yeare [1411], and vpou the twelfth
day of October, were three (louds in the Thames, the one following
vpon the other, & no eMing bctireene : which thing no man then
liuing could remember the like to be seene.
Act IV. hc. v. — My next excerpt is the well-known story which is
dramatized in the " Crown Scene."
[Hoi iii. Ml/1/22.] During this his [Henry IV.'s] last sick-
nessc, lie caused his crowne (as some write) to be set on a pillow
at his beds head ; - and suddenlie his pangs so sore troubled him,
that he laic as though all his vital! spirits had beene from him
departed. Such as were about Inm, thinking verelie that he had
beene departed, couered his face with a linncn cloth.
The prince, his sonne, being hereof nduertised, entered into the
chamber, tooke awaie the crowne, and departed. The father, being
suddenlie reuiued out of that trance, quicklio pcrceiued the lacke
of his crowne ; and, hailing knowledge that the prince his sonne
had taken it awaie, caused him to come before his presence,
requiring of him what he meant so to misuse himsclfe. Tlie
prince, 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 aB mine owne, and not as
"yours," "Well, faire sonne" (said the king with a great sigh),
"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 euimies, as you haue doone."
1 Recorded by Fab. (576) under the 13th year of Henry IV. Clarence
speaks of a threefold tide which occurred "ft little time before" Edward III. 'a
death, and Gloucester is alarmed by "vnfatherM heires, and lotlilv births of
nature" (IV. iv. 121-128), lately observed. I find no records of these latter
portent*. There may be an allusion to the wet summer of IB94 — cp. Mills.
If. £., II. i. 82 114— in Gloucester's remark thai "the seasons change their
manners/* &c. (11. 123, 124).
1 Mtm*. (ii. 43f>), who was, I suppose, Holies authority for the following
story, pays that, " commc U est occoutume de faire an pays," the crown waa
placed "sur une couche assex pres de lui** [Henry].
-TSQ HENRY IV.
159
remember you to
i his bed, and short He rv *»<*•/
Umrutkt
the abbats of Westminster /<""*-
March, in the ycare 1413,
i lie had reigned thirteene
•■4 in great perplcxitie and little
ile" (1. 183) to Prince Henry is
Holinshed. Advising engagement in
spedient for occupying the " giddie
Henry says (11. 210-213) that he
had a purpose now
ae to the Holy Land,
Htil might make them looke 212
my state.
i itjes the warlike preparations which were made
rte* — with the design of reconquering Jerusalem :
2/60.] In this fourteenth and last year© of king
/'.-'. ML
■ inneell washoldcn in the white friers in London ; to laiu»mu
■ long other things, order was taken for ships and <vwm*i i»i
B huilded and made roadie, and all other things neeea-
->>uidcd for a voiage which he meant to make into the
there to recouer the citie of Ierusalem from the
Sol iii. 541/1/5.] The morrow after Candlemas daie began a
foment, which he had called at London, but he departed this
I'-; before the same parlcment was ended : for now that his pro-
■ns were readie, and that he was furnished with sufficient
treasure, soldiers, capteins, vittcls, munitions, tall ships, strong
gallies, and all things necessarie for auch a roiall iournic as he
1413
AparUmtnt.
1 These preparation.* hare perhaps been postdated, and their object (an
expedition against France) misunderstood. On April 18, 1412, 11 luU-ent
(Hyrner, viii . 730) was issued to press sailors "ad Doserviendum nobis in
unodain Viagio supra Mare infra breve faciendo"; and on July 12, 1412,
II 'Miry acknowledge the loan of a thousand marks from the Archbishop of
Canterbury, (or the expenses which "Not, pro communi Com mod o, circa
Proeecutxonem & Adeptionera Juris nustri (Deodantc) in partibus Aquitanniae,
ac alibi, in partibus Tran smarm is, infra breve facere oportebit." — Hynier, viii,
760. In August, 1412, the Duke of Clarence was st-nt with a strong force
mann valida") to the assistance of the Armagnuc faction. — ICa/*., ii. 288.
n August 10 he landed at la Hogue- Saint- Vast— Ghrtm. Nornwnd9} 418.
S
ICO
VII. THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV.
III**™
■ «•'. .(.Ml
ll.tf -• 1U
fclwtnl Uw
pretended to take into the holie land, be was eftsiMmes talked with
a Bore sicknesBe, whieh was not a leprosic, striken by the hand of
God (saith inaUter Hall) as foolish friers imagined; but a vcrie
apoplexie, of the which he languished till hb appointed houre, and
had none other greefe nor maladie.
As the scene ends Henry recognizes the fulfilment of a prophecy
that he " should not die but in Jerusalem *' (L 238). Holin&hed relates
how this prediction was accomplished :
[Hoi, iii. 541/J/63.] We find, that he was taken with his last
HickeneHse, while he was making his praiers at saint Edwards
shrine, there as it were to take his leauc, and so to proceed foorth
011 his iournie: he was so suddenlie and greeuouslie taken, that
nHb «h were about him, feared lest he would haue died prcscntlic;
Ifbtrfm bo rnltillll b|S0 (if it were possible) they bare him into a
rhfiiiilMr that was next at hand, belonging to the abbat of West-
minster, where they laid him on a pallet before the fire, and vsed
all n-nirilicH to reuiuc him. At length, he recouered his speech,
hiti], vinlerstjiuding and pcrcciuhig himselfc in a strange place
which hr knew nut, he willed to know if the chamber hud iinie
i'ii 1 1 ik(u r ii.11110; wluTtrvnlo answer was made, that it was called
brMHitlcm. Then witd the king: "Lauds be giuen to the father of
lii'uiiiii, lor now I know that I shall die hecre in this chamber;
"according t*t the prophesie of me declared, that I should depart
" iIiIm iiin in loruttlem." l
1 /''«/». (570) nay" tlmt, by I OOQBCil haU at White Friars on November 20,
III', H ■ U " ■ DIM linl«"l, iluit fop the kynges great Ionrnaye that he entendyd
In Uiaulu V/iytynge of the holy Sepals* of our Lord, eertayne Galcys of warre
uliii! 1 &other pnraeaancc oonoemYngi the same Iournny." Fab.
then telle t vim h I •jiioii- fh.ui Hot.— of HcnTy'a death in the Jeru-
Mlan Oban ill" r, There can hardly ho a doubt, however, tlmt Henry accom-
nllihfil M I'll "i 1 n 1. 1 ■•< ■ i- ■ Ji 1 11 iilri 1 ■!.• beuoenoed the throne. On November
.11 Small' [.'lunh <| tlio request of ,l Lord Henry of Lancaster,
Karl u I Derby. Hereford, and Northampton, . . . the eldest son of the Duke
Ilia " [John of Gaunt], that be might have "the hull of a galley, with
nil 11 I thr Imly I'l.i. .■ \,,\.St,ih /'/', i. 33 107. On
November BO, I3;ni, llir S.'iutr thvrced the eipendiinre nf 1 «im of public
in \ 1 1 honour the Karl nf Derby, the eldest »»n of the Duke of Lancaster,
" Uia Intlm its friend t>l our Sifjnnry, on thai hi* turning to Venice, bound for
11 il) : |..l Im. Jbid.t 33 108. And 08 Maivli 31, 1393, the Grand
1-ounoil orlrtiiiml that one hundred t^>Mru ducats of public money should be
ev|MMnli <i bo " hot, ih. i Derby, sou of the Duke of Lancaster, on this
hit return."— Jbid.t 34/ no.
VII. THE SECOND PART OF KING HEXRY IV.
161
Act V. ac. ii.— The new King hear* 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. 1 have mentioned above
(p. 141) an insult offered by Prince llenry to the Chief-Justice, and I
here quote the account which Holinahed given of this matter. After his
coronation Henry V. is said to have dismissed his unworthy associates,
[Hoi. iil 543/2/ 1 o.] and in their places he choee men of
grauitie, wit, and high policio, by whose wise counscll he might
at all times rule to his honour and dignitio ; calling to mind how
once, to hie offense of the king his father, he had with his fist
striken 1 the cheefe iusticc for sending one of his minions (vpon
desert) to prison : when the iustice stoutlie commanded himselfe
also streict to ward, & he (then priuce) obeied.
In his answer to the Chief -Just ice the King repeats Henry IV. 's
words (11. 108-112):
Happie am I that haue a man so bold.
That dares do iustice on my proper Sonne ;
And no lease happie, hatting each a Bonne,
That would deliuer vp his greatnesse so,
Into the hands of Iustice !
The story of Prince Henry's rudeness to the Chief-Justice made its
earliest known appearance in Sir Thomas Elyot's Gouemour, 1531 8
(ff. 122-123 verso). Stow copied Elyot (657, 558). I quote The
Gouernour because it contains the remark attributed to Henry IV.,
which Holinshed omitted.
[When
Henry V.
came to t V
throne he
chow) wIm
ciinnieltora.
[Otioe,
MWU
l*nnce, rie
h truck the
Chief-
JkafltM )
1 The following passage in Retiman (11) is the earliest known authority for
the blow given by Prince Henry to the Chief- Justice, and the consequent
supersession of the Prince in the Council by the Dnke of Clarence : "Senatu
movehatur, nee in curiam aditus ei patebat ; et illius fa ma hsesit ad metas,
quod summum judiccm, litibus dirimendis et causarum cotrnitionibna prse-
positum, manu pereuteret, cum is uniini in eustodiam tradidi&%t ex enjus
faniiliaritate voluptiitcin mirificara Henrietta perciperct Earn dignitatem, quam
is amisit, Thomas illius frater, Dux Clarenais, est con»ecutus." Mr. Cole
proves that Redman's Vila Beit. V. was "composed between 1536 . . . and
1544."— Ibid., po. ix., x.
1 Sir N. H, Nicolas pointed ont (Flaeitorum Abbrtriatio, pp. 256, 257) a
likely source for this fiction ; and in an exhaustive paper entitled "The Rlory
of Prince Henry of Monmouth and Chief-Justice Gaseoign," Mr. F. Solly- Flootl
has given details from which it appears that, on account of a judgment
delivered towards the close of Edward I. a reign, in the case of R'imr de
Hengham vermu William de Brews, the Chief-Justice of the King's Bench was
reviled in open court by the defendant. The record (Rot coram Rege, m. 33,
34 Ed. I., in. 75) of the Court's judgment against De Brews for hla mis-
behaviour contains the following passage : "Quae qnidfiin, videlicet contemvtvs
et inohedientia [en. the wnrda — "contempt and disobedience"— attributea hy
Elyot to the Chief-Justice] tarn ministris ipsins Domini Regis quam aibi ipai
nut curiae suoo facta valde sunt odiosa et hoc nuper apparuit cum idem Dominus
Rex filium snnm primogenitum et carissimum Edwardum Principem Walliro
M
162
VII. THE SECOND PART OP KING HENRY IV.
[One of
Prince
Heniy'e
Nftn t . m
■rmlpiir-d ni
the Klajr'n
B«ncb for
felony.)
[Tho Prince
cunti to Uw
oar and
demanded
tbe rvle*M
or hfs
servant.)
[Thfl Chtof-
Jimtice
admonished
tho Princo
to let tbe
)rw Uke its
course, or
obtain a
lMtrdorj from
the King]
(The Princ*
rndwvouml
to take awny
liii servant,
['M.1. btfaM
commanded
to
[went up to
the Chief-
Justice in a
inenncins;
manner.]
|Ri:t tha
Chlef-
Justlee,
■jritl.urt
W.-tictiiiiy,
asserted his
authority
uUte
KiiiK-8
rntm nt-
The mostc renomed princo kingc Henry tlie fifte, late kjngc of
Englande, duryngc the life of his father was noted to be fierce [fol,
122 verso] and of wanton courage: it hapned that one of his
seruantes, whom he well fauored, for felony by hyra committed
was arrayned at the Kynges benche, wherof he being aducrtised,
and incensed by light persones aboute hym, in furious rago came
hastily to the barre, where his seruant stode as a prisoner, and
commaunded hym to bo vngyued and sette at libortie ; where at
all men were abasshed, rescrued the chiefc iustice, who humbly
exhorted the prince to be contented that his seruaunt mought be
ordred accordyng to the auncient lawea of this realme, or, if ho
wolde hauo hym saucd from the rigour of the lawea, that he ahuld
optame, if he moughte, of the kynge his father his gracious
pardon, wherby no lawe or iuatice shulde be derogate. With
whiche answere the prince nothynge appeased, but rather more
inflamed, endcuorcd hym selfo to take away his seruaunt. The
iuge (consideringe the perilous example and inconucnience that
moughte therby ensue) with a valiant spirite and courage com-
maunded the prince, vpon his alegeauce, to leue the prisoner and
departe his way. With whiche commandement the prince being
set all in a fury, all chafed & in a terrible manor, carae vp to the
place of [fol. 123] iugement; (men th inky rig that he wolde haue
slayiie the iuge or hauo done to hym Home damage ;.) but the
iuge, sittyng styll without mouyngc, dcclaryngo the maiestio of
the kynges place of iugement, and with an assured and bolde
countenance, hadde to the prince these wordts folowyng ;
M Sir, romentbre your selfe : I kepe here the place of the king
pro eo quod qiucdam verba groesa et acerba cuidam minietro suo dtxerat ct
hospicio buo fere per dimidium annum amovit nee ipRum filium (mum in con-
spectu buo venire permisit quousque predicto ininistro de predicta traiwres-
eione aatiafecerat/ — Solty-Flooa\ 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 for striking
tbe Chief-Justice. (Cp. "nee in curiam aditus ei patebat," p. 161, note 1,
above.) Mr. Solly-Flood informs ns that the Rotnli coram Rege and the Con-
trolment rolls embrace every commitment by the Kind's Bench either ad
renpondemlum or inpenam. He carefully examined all the entries made
during the reign of Henry IV. on these rolls, — whicb are perfect throughout
this reign, — and found no record of Prince Henrv'a commitment for any
offence, or of the commitment of any one during Henry IV.'s reign for the
offences attributed to the Prince by E'lyot and Redman.— Sully-Flood, 102.
v"II. THE SECOND FACT OF KES'G HENRY IV.
163
"your soueraigne lorde and father,1 to whom ye owe double
" obedience ; wherfore eftsoncs in his name I charge you desiste
" of your wilfulncs and vnlaufull entreprise, & from hcnsforth gyue
"good example to those whiche hereafter shall be your propre
"subiects. And nowe for your contempt and disobedience go you
" to the prisone of the kynges benche, where vnto I committe you ;
"and remayne ye there prisoner vntill the pleasure of the kyng
"your father be further knowe/i."
With whiche wordes beinge abasshed, and also wondrynge at
the meruailous grauitie of that worshipful Iustice, the noble prince,
layinge his waipon a parte, doinge reuerence, departed, and wcnte
to the kynges benche as he was commaunded. Wherat his
seraante'3, disdainyng, came and shewed to the kynge all the hole
affaire. Whereat he a whiles studienge, after, as a man all
rauisshed with [fol. 123 verso] gladnesse, holdyng his eien and
handes vp towarde heuen, abrayded, nayinge with a loude voice :
"0 mercifull god, how moche am I, aboue all other men,
"bounde to your infinite goodnesl specially for that ye haue
"gyucn me a iuge who feareth nat to ministre iustice, and also
"a sonne who can suffre 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 re me inbred) all our state.
Holinshed briefly notices the first Parliament of Henry V.
[Hoi. iii 543/2/44.] Immcdiatlie after Easter he called a
parlcment, in which diuerse good statutes, and wholesome ordin-
Bnfl la*
the Prince
go to the
Erltton of the
lu i.-li ]
[ThePriDee
d) • ftAj
whereat his
ninuiti,
bsiog
indknaDt.
Uld the
whale
matter
before the
King. King
Heury
answered
that
[lie wu
happy to
have a judge
who
ministered
Justice fear-
lcesly, and a
■on who
Bbmd
juatice.]
,4 bm
(ealled. by
Henry V.J.
1 I then did vse the person of your father ;
The image of his power lay then in me : . . .
Your liighnesEc pleased to forget my place,
The maiestie ana power of law and iustice,
The image of the King whom I presented,
And atrooke me in my very seate of Judgement ; . . . 80
The writer of The Famors Victories of Henry tfajifthy 1398, made the Judge —
to whom Prince Henry had given "a ooze on the eare"— say (sc. iv. U. 99102,
p. 14) : "in striking me in this place, you greatly abuse me, and not me onely,
out also your father : whose liuely person here in this place 1 doo represent."
Ttis 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 aicut honor et reverentia qui nunistris ipeius Domini Regis ratione
officii sui [fiunt] ipsiRegi attribuuntur, sicdedecuset contemptus ministris suis
facta eideia Regi attribuuntur."— Solly- Flood, 106.
ir,4
TO. TIIE SECOND PART OP KING HENRY IV.
Ifti
> Bmrim
exumpU qf
pnnei
I, who, whrn
he been ma
Kii.tr.
bAimhed his
unruly
uuitea).
Nit HaUrt.
[Hit
character 1
anccs, for the preseruation and aduanceuient of the common-
wealth were deuised aud established.
Act V. hc. ▼. — Falstaff interrupts the royal proeesflion on its return
after Henry's coronation, and ia aent by the King into banishment
with Henry's other u misleadors " j all of whom have been forbidden to
come within " ten mile '* of ( our person f ; though they are to receive
pensions now for " competence of life," and " aduancement " in future,
if they reform themselves (11. 67-74). Holinshed thus records Henry's
coronation and altered behaviour :
[Hoi iii. 543/I/54-] He was crowned the ninth of April!,
being Passion sundaic, which was a sore, ruggie, aud tempestuous
day, with wind, snow, and sleet; that men grcatlie maruelled
thereat, making diuersc interpretations what the Bame might
signifie. But this king euen at first appointing with himselfc, to
shew that in his person priucelie honors should change publike
maimers., he determined to put on him the shape of a new man.
For whereas aforetime he had made himselfe a companion vnto
misrulie mates of dissolute order and life, hc now banished them
all from his prcBcuce (but not vnrcwarded, or else vn preferred);
inhibiting them vpon a great paine, not once to approch, lodge, or
soiourne within ten miles of his court or presence ....
The following sketch of Henry IV.'s character and circumstances
may have afforded Shakspere some hints.
[IFoL iii. 541/2/20.] Tliis king was of a meano stature, well
proportioned, aud fonnallie compact j quicke and liuelie, and of a
stout courage. In his latter daies he shewed himselfe so gentle,
that he gat more louo amongst the nobles and people of this
realme, than he had purchased malice and cuill will in the
beginning.
But yet to speakc a truth, by his proceedings, after he had
atteined to the crowne, what with such taxes, tallages, subsidies,
and exactions as he was constrained to charge tlie people with ;
and what by punishing such as, raooued with disdeine to sec him
vsurpe the crowne (contraric to the oth taken at his cntriug into
this land, vpon his returne from exile), did at aundrie times rcbell
against him ; he wan himselfe more hatred, than in all his life time
(if it had beene longer by manie ycares than it was) had beenc
possible for him to haue weeded out & remooued.
VIII. HKNRV V.
165
VIII. HENRY V
0
Henry V. appears to have received the Dauphin Lewis's 1 gift of
tennis-balls in Lent, 141-4.- This date marks the commencement of
historic time in The Life qf Hettry the Fijt ; and the play ends with
Katharine of Valois's betrothal in May, 1420.
Act I. 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 3 attributed to the n Warlike Harry " contains a parable
which may have suggested the picture of these crouching hounds of
Famine, Sword, and Fire. On January 2, 1419, Rouen, despairing of
succour, after fivo months' siege,4 yielded to the pressure of famine so
far as to open communication with Henry through ambassadors.
[Hoi iii. 567/i/39] One of them, Beene in the ciuill lawes,
was appointed to declare the message in all their names ; who,
shewing himselfe more rash than wise, more arrogant than learned, j
first tooke vpon him to shew wherin the glorie of victorie consisted ;
aduising the king not to shew his manhood in famishing a multi-
A prt-
1 Lewis was a contemporary of the events dramatized in lieu. V., Acts
1.-1V. He died on December IP, 1415.— JuViw., iii 366; Journal, xv. 210.
Hi* brother, the Dauphin John, died on April 3 (Jwtrnalt 816) or 4 (Mrms.,
iii. 408), 1417. During tbe historic time embraced by Act V. the Dauphin
was Charles, who afterwards reigned aa Charles VII., and is a character in
1 Ben. VI.
i " Eodem anno [1414] in Quadragesima rege existente a pud Kenilworth,
Karolus [sc. Ludovicus], regis Francorum Alius, Daluhinus vocatus, misit piliix
Parisianas ad ludenduxu cum pueritJ." — Qtt.t 274. In 1414 Ash Wednesduy fell
on February 21.
* A Bpeech, «imilnr in outline, is attributed to Henry by Redman (55). I
quote from it a passoce which has some resemblance to that in which Henry
takes credit to himself for employing the "meekest maid* to punish Rouen :
■ Benigne et clementer omnia me administiare nemo eat qui non intelligat,
cum fame potius quam tionimo, ferro, aut sanguine, Rotomagum ad deditiuiiem
perpello."
4 The forces blockading Rouen were ordered to take up their positions on
August 1, 1418.— Page, 6. On January 2, 1419, Henry gave audience to the
ambassadors from Rouen. — Pagr, 26-28. Rouen opened her gates on January
ID, 1419.— Page, 41, 42. Page was present at the siege. — Page^ L
IM
VIII. HENRY V.
wOkto
E5h t
ItiN
r
tudo of poore, simple, and innocent people, but rather suffer such
miserable wretches, as Iaie betwixt the wals of the citie and the
Uvui-lut of his siege, to passe through the campe, that thej might
got thoir liuing in other places; and then, if he durst manfullie
atwault the citie, and by force subdue it, he should win botli
ttorhllio finuo, arid merit great meed at the hands of almightie
0 td f»r hailing compassion of the poore, ncedie, and indigent
ptoplfc
Whon thiH orator had said, the king, who no request lesse
AtiMpootod, limit that which was thus desired, began a while to
immo, and, after ho hud well considered the craftic cautell of his
oulmli >\ with n fierce countenance, and bold spirit, he reprooued
1 1 | lu.tli faf their subtill dealing with him, and their malapert
ufpimmpUon, in Unit thoy should seeme to go about to teach him
s.ltti belonged In thu ilutiu of a couquerour. And therefore, gince
U hppMTtd that the huino was vnkuowno vnto them, he declared
MuU tho |oddim of battel!, called Bell&na, had three hand-
maiden* i »■ i ..I necoHttitto attending vpon hir, as blood, fire, and
limine And wboroaa it lala In his choise to vse them all three,
h|fc *»" "• ,,",, nl thoin, at his pleasure) he had appointed onelie
ilu> titeoltext maid of those three damsels to punish them of that
x in, nil id* v word brought to reaaon.
\\w\ whttrotui tlio gaino of a capteino, atteined by anie of the
three handmaidens, was both glorious, honourable, and
• hie «if triumph; yet, of all the three, the yoongest maid,
,.iii to yho at that time, was most profitable and
Ma^iodloUH Vnil a* Ini the poore people lieng in the ditches,
lod through famine, the fault was theirs, that like cracll
i, | ,| i-ni iliiun out of the towne, to the intent he should
iml m i hail he sailed their Hues, so that, if anie
it rented in them, and not in him. But to
t . until bi Ptmt not to gratifie them within so
yuuu^ Vw* W^ »huuhl keopo them still to helpe to spend their
s mnanlt the towne, he told them that he
. I U,.*., ho was both able and willing thereto,
ft*
■
hut the choise was in his hand, to
famine, or with them all;
VIII. HENRY V.
1G7
whereof he would take the choiBe at his pleasure, and not at
theirs.
Act L sc. i. — Henry Chichele Archbishop of Canterbury tells John
Fordham Bishop of Ely i 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 M the better
halfe " of their " Possession " :
For all the Tetnporall Lands, which men deuout
By Testament haue giuen to the Church,
Would they strip from vs ; being valu'd thus :
As much as would maintains, to the Kings tumor, 12
Full jytcenc Earles, and j\ft&me hundred Knights,
Six thousand and two hundred good Esquires ;.
And, to relief e o/'Lazars, and weake age
Of indigent faint Soules, past corporal] toyle, 16
A hundred Almes-houses, right well supply'd 's
And to the Coffers of the King, beside,
A thousand pounds by th'yeere. Thus runs the Bill.
Holinfihed took from Halle (49) the following account of the
renewal of this bill :
[Hoi iii. 545/2/6.] In the second ycare of his rcigiie, king ^w%i
Henrie called his high court of parlement, the IaBt daie of Aprill,
in the towne of Leicester; in which parlement manic profitable LuilSter.
lawes were concluded, and manic petitions mooued were for that
time deferred. Amongst which, one was, that a bill exhibited in
the parlement holdcn 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 4MB
Ctt% it/it (il fo
(deuoutlie giuen, and disordinatlie spent by religious, and other ttup*rumit
spiritual! persons) should be seized into the kings hands; sith the cltr*u-
same might suffice to maijUcine, to the honor of the king, and
defense of the realme, fifleene carles, fftcene hundred knights, six
thousand and two hundred esquiers, and a hundred almcsse-houses,
for reliefe onelie of the poore, impotent, and needie persons ; and
the king to haue cleerelie to his coffers twentie thousand pounds:
with manic other prolusions and values of religious houses, which
I passe oucr.
1 Bishop of Ely from 1388 to 1426.— Godwint 274.
166
VIII. HENUY V.
(The clergr
tMolved to
divert
Henry's
n't- sum
lm iii-'i li
endowment
bill]
The arc*.
bishop Of
Canturburiti
oratinn in
tht parU-
vunthoum.
ParliamH
of L'ycttrr.
At icA.fAf
partiaikt
KOJ put vp
y* Bvlte
vAicAc tea*
put vpat y»
ptyamtnt
in r* xi. ftrt
Henry tht.
ML
My next excerpt shows bow the danger was averted :
[Hoi ill. 545/2/29.] This bill was much noted, and more feared,
among the religious sort, whom auerlie it touched verie neere ; and
therefore to find remedie against it, they determined to asaaie 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
inuontion, that he should not regard the importunate petitions of
the commons.1 Wherevpon, on a daie in the parlement, Henrie
Chichelie archbishop of Canturburic made a pithie oration, wherein
he declared, how not onelio the duchies of Normandie and Aqui-
taine, with the counties of Aniou and Maine, and the couutrie of
Gascoigne, were by undoubted title apporteining to the king, as
to the lawfiill and onelie heire of the same ; but also the whole
realme of France, as heire to his great grandfather king Edward
the third.2
Act I. 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 claim to France. T exhibit in parallel columns
Holinshed's version3 of the Archbishop's speech and Shakspere's
paraphrase of it. Chichele inveighed
1 And this ycre [1414] the kyng helde hw Pari y a men t at Leyceter, where,
amonge other thynges, the foresayd Bylle [Fnb.t 575, 576] put vp by the
Commons of the lande, for the TemporalticR bcynge in the Chnrchc, as it 13
before [towchid in the xi yere of the iiiith Henry], was agayne mynded.
Iu fere wherof, lest the kynge wolde theranto gyue any Comfortable Audy-
ence, as testyfye some wryters, certayne Bysshoppes and other hede men of
the Churche put y* kyng in mynde to clayuie liis ryght in Fraunce; & for
the erployte therof they offrede vnto hym great & notable sumnies. By
reason whereof y" sayd byll was agayne pnt by, and the kynge sette his
mynde for the Recouerv of the same ; . . . — Fob., 578.
When I said (Henry r.f reviBed ed., New Sh. Soc, p. viii) that " Hall seems
to be the sole authority for the revival of the confiscation scheme in Henry the
Filth's reign," this passage iu Fab. was unknown to me.
* There is not so much as an allusion to these claims of Henry in the
accounts of the Leicester Parliament's proceedings given by Rot Pari, and
Elmham (cap. xvii.). When Parliament met at Westminster, on November
19, 1414, the Chancellor (Henry Beaufort) opened the session by a sermon in
which he announced that the King had determined to resort to war with
France, and therefore needed a large subsidy. — Rot Pari.) iv. 34. It does
not appear from Rot. Fart (iv. 16/ 1) that Chichele was one of the triers of
petitions in the Leicester Parliament, but we learn from the same authority
{Rot Pari. iv. 35/ 1 ) that he held the office of trier in the Parliament of West-
minKhr. He was translated from S. David's to Canterbury.— Goiimwi, 514.
The Pupe'a confirmation of Chichele's election was requested by Henry in a
letter dated on March 33, 1414.— Rymer, ix. 119. The temporalities were
restorer! on May 30, 1414.— Ibid. 13*1.
3 Hoi. abridged and turned into the third person a speech which Halle
VIII. HENRY V.
169
[Hoi. iii. 545/2/46.] against the
surmised and false fained law
Salike, -which the Frenchmen
alledge euer against the kings of
England in barre of their iust
title to the crowne of France.
The verie words of that supposed
law are these : ' In terram Salicam
1 mulisres ne succedant ; ' that is
to saie, ' into the Salike land let
1 not women succeed.' Which Uie
French glossers expound to be tins
realms of France, ami that tltis lata
was made by king Pliararnond ;
whereas yet their owne authors
ajjirmc, that the land Salike is in
Germanis, between* the riuers of
Elbe and Sola; and that when
Charles the great had ouercoine the
Saxons, he placed there certeine
Frenchmen, which haning in dis-
deine the dishonest ituxner* of the
Germane women, made a law, that
the females should not succeed to
any inheritance witht'n that land,
which at this date is called Meisen ;
bo that, if this be true, this Una
was not made for tJte reaime of
France, nor tlte Frenchman /as-
sessed the land Salike, till foure
hundred and one and twentie years*
after the death of Pharamond, the
supposed maker of this Salike Uiw ;
for this Pharamond deceassed in
There U no barre
To make against your Highness*
Clayine to France,
But this, which they produce from
Pharamond :
*'/ti terrain Salient* hfulieres ne
nurnVit"
*' No Woman shall succeed in. Salike
Land : ■
Which SaUko Land, the French
vniustly gloze
To be the Reaime of France, and
Pharamond
The founder of this Late, and
Female Barre.
Yet their owne Author* faithfully
ajinne.
That the Land Salike is in
Germanic,
Between* the Flouda of Sola and of
Slue ;
Where Charles ths Great, hauing
tiubdu'd the Saxtms,
There left behind, and settled
certaine French,
Who (holding in disdaine the
Qerman Women,
For some dishonest manners of their
MM
EsUblisht then this Law ; to wit,
" N
"Should bo Inheritrix in Salike
Land:"
Which Salike, (as I said,) 'twixt
Elue and S .1 1 11 ,
Is at this day in Gormanie caWd
Meisen.
Then doth it well appeare, the
Salike Law
Was itot deuiaed for the Realms of
Prance ;
Nor did the French posseste the
Salike Lantl
Yuti'lfaure hundredone and twentie
yccrrs
After defunetion of King Phara-
inond,
(Idly sujypos'd the founder of this
Late,)
„. Th* Sntitt
36 taw.
M
[Though tlrO
French toy
that Fbara-
41 mottd marid
Ua law for
Fiance, the
Balic laiHl La
Id Gtrruativ,
whan
Char lea the
Groat placed
certain
Frenchmen,
48 Phara-
111 owl's
death. 1
Matna
51
M
tHiacna.
leiawn].
assigns to Chichele (50-52). On his deathbed Henry protested that neither
ambition nor the desire of fame prompted him to undertake war with France ;
" but onelie that, in prosecuting hia lust title [to the French crown, through
Kdward III.], he might in the end atteine to a perfect pence, and come to
enioie those peeces of his inheritance [from Henry II.], which to hiiu of right
belonged : and that, before the beginning of the came warres, he was fullie-
persuaded by men both wise and of great holiness* of life, that vpon such
intent he might and oughl both liegin the same warres, and follow them," &c.
This last clause has the following sidenote : " Cheeflie Chicbehe archb. of
Csntur. for dashing y* bill against the cleargie," &c. Cp. Henry's appeal to
Chichele (I. ii 13-32 j 96).
170
Vm. HEN'RY V.
(Pippin
tiwdhU
title to lb*
tad
Cpet.J
the year* 426, and Charles the great
subdued the Saxons, and placed the
Frenchmen in those putt beyond
the riuer of Sola, in the years 805.
Moreouer, it appeareth by their
owne xrri/ers, that king Pepme,
which deposed ChUderikc, claimed
the crowns of France, as heire
Drajpytht generoQ, for that he was descended
of Blithild, daughter to king Cle-
thair [p. 546] the first. Hugh
Capet also, (\cho veurped the crowns
vpon Charles duke of Loraine,
the sole lieire male of the line
and stocks of Charles the great,)
to make his title seeme true, and
appeare good, (though in deed it
teas starke naught?) conueied him-
eelfe as heire to the ladie Lingard,
daughter to king Cftarlemainetsonne
to Lewes the emperour, that was son
to Charles the great. King Lewes
also, the tenth,1 (otherwise called
saint Lewes,) being verie heire to
the said veurper Hugh Capet, could
neucr be satisfied in his conscience
how he might iustlie keepe and
possesse the crovme of France, till
he was persuaded and fultie in-
structed, that queens lsabell his
grartdmotlterwas lineallie descended
of the ladie Ermengard, daughter
and heire to the aboue named
Charles duke of Loraine; by tfie
whieh marriage, tits bloud and line
• harUs the great was againo
ff^g^ *»fr'f **4 rwtorad to the crowns
**aUe> V frames: $0 that more
m dk nmuut it openlie
if»n » U«. *m imk ei king
Who died withs* the yeert of our 60
Foare hamdiwl twtntie aix ; ami
CkmrUs the Great
BsAdud the Sams, and did seat
the French
Beyond tke Riuer Sola, im the years
Eight hundred fine. Betides, their 64
Writer* mj.
King Pepin, vhich deposed Chit'
Did, as Beirt Ommrali, (being
descended
Of Blilhiid, which was Daughter to
King CInthair.)
Hake Clayrae and Title to (A* 63
Crovme of Francs.
Hugh Capet also, {who tmurpi the
Crovme
Of Charts* the Duke of Loraine, sots
Heir* male
Of tht true Line and Stock of Charles
the Great,)
To find his Title with some shewas 72
of truth,
{Though, in pure truth, it ww
corrupt and nau^A*,)
Conuey'd kimselfe as ta' Scire to th'
Lady Lingoes,
Daughter to Charlemaine, who was
the Sonne
To Lcwcs the Emperour t and Lewee, 76
the Sonne
Of Charles the Great. Also King
Lcwcs the Tenth,
Who was sole Beirc to the Fsurper
Capet,
Could not keepo quiet in his
eonsciincf,
Wearing the Crowns of France, 'till 80
satisfied
That fairs Queene Isabel, his Grand-
mother,
Was Lineal! of the Lady Ermsngare,
Daughter to Charles the foresaid
Duke of Loraine ;
By the which Marriage, the Lyne of 84
Charles the Great
Was Tovnited to the Crowns of
France,
So that., as cleare as is the Summers
Sunns,
Xing Pepins Title, and Hugh Capets
Clayme*
King Lewes his satisfaction, all 88
appears
To hold in Right and Title of the
Female;
Vin. HENRT V.
171
Peptn, the claime of Hugh Capet,
the possession of Lewes ; yea, and
the French kings to this daie, are
deriued and conueied from the
heire female ; though they would,
\nder the colour of such a fained
law, barre the kings and princes
of this realme of England of their
right and lawful! inheritance.
The archbishop further alledged
out of the books of Numbers this
saieng : * When a man dieth with-
*out a sonne, lei the inheritance
* descend to his daughter.'
So doe the Kings of France rnio this
HowbcsTtfey would hold vp this
Saliqne lav
To barrt your Highnesse cUymlng 9%
from the Female ;
And rather chose to hide them In a
Net,
Then amply to imbarre their
crooked Titles
Viurpt from yon and your Pro-
genitors.
King. May It with ri*ht and 96
conscience, make this claim 1
Cant. The sinne rpon my head,
dread Sooeraigne 1
Fur in the Book* of Number* is it
writ,
" irhen the man dyes, let the in-
" Iksctnd Tulo the LaughUr." 100
thmorti
(ft* bum
Ihwof
Nan
bnokftf
■mA-it.\
Chichelo then reminds Henry how Edward ULr " on a IHU,
stood " ; watching the Black Prince defeat " the full Power of France,"
with but half of the English army (L 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 battle1
When Westmoreland says that the hearts of the English nobles are
in France, Chichele exclaims :
O let their bodyes follow, my deare Liege,
With Bloo*l and Sword and Fire, to win your Right /
In ayde whereof, we of the Spiritualtie 132
Will rayse your Highnesse such a mightie Summe,
As neuer did the Clergie at one time
Bring in to any of your Ancestors.
Chichele,
[Hoi iiL 546/1/30.] hauing said Bufficientlie for the proofe of
the kings iust and lawfull title to the crowne of France, he
exhorted him to aduance foorth his banner to fight for his right, to
conquer his inheritance, to spare neither bloud, sword, dot fire ; sith
his warre was iust, his cause good, and his claime true. And to
the intent his louing chaplcins and obedient subjects of the
tepiriixvaltic 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
(ChlrMc
urgtri Henry
to make
war, and
•MBflpI
hi HI B
iuin tif
money than
the eferfty
h»<i 'v< r
I*i'l to tny
prince.)
1 An incident which Charles VI. reminds his nobles of {Hen, V.t 11. iv,
BM1 -
172
Tht r.arU of
Wtttmer-
Uimlprr-
king to (A<
Scotland.
VIII. HENRY V.
had granted to his highnmc such a wmnc of tnonic, a$ Tieiter by no
spirituall persons was to any prince before those daies giuen or
aduauced.1
ChieheJe answors 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 III.'s
absence in France. — Avetbury, 145, 146. For the unhistorical assertion
that David was Bent to France (1. 161), Shakspere was perhaps indebted
to the play of King Edtoard ///., where (Act IV. bc. 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 V. sc. i. p. 71), which is laid at Calais, Oopeland
enters, " and King David."
To Chichele's instance Westmoreland replies (11. 166-168) ;
But there's a saying very old and true :
" If that you will France win,
H Then with Scotland first begin."
After recording Chichele's speech, and offer of a subsidy, Holinshed
adds:
[HoL iii. 546/ 1/44.] When the archbishop had ended lim pre-
pared tale, Rafe Ncnill, carle of Westmorland, and as then lord
Warden of the marches against Scotland, vnderstanding that the
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 thereupon 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 bo will France win, must with 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 3 of
1 The Convocation of Canterbury met on October 1, 1414, and broke up oft
October 20, 1414, after granting Henry two whole tenths.— Wake, 350, 861.
This convocation was summoned for the settlement of matters relating to
church discipline, as the mandate (IKufc, Appendix, 87) shows.
2 Perhaps "Tunne" - a cup. Higina (Nomenclator, 1565, p, 233, col. 1)
denned ''OoBcvphium w as "a fun, or nut to drinke in," In The Farmnm
Victories^ sc ix., p. 29, the ambassador's action is described by this sUge
din-rtinn : " He deliuereth a Tunne of Tennis Balles.*' Henry soys : " 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 bailee.*'
VIII. HENRY V
173
Treasure " (!. 255), containing tennis-balls (L 258) ; a gift which their
master deems "meeter for" Henry's "spirit" than French Uukedoniu.
Of this incident Holinshed gives the following account :
[Hoi. iii. 545/i/i.] Whitest in tho Lent season the king laie at
Killingworth, there came to him from CharleB [«c. Lewis] Dolphin
of France certeine ambassadors, that brought with them a barrell
of Paris Italics ; which from their maistcr they presented to him for
a token that was taken in verie ill part, as sent in seorne, to
signifie, that it was more meet for the king to passe the time with
such childish exercise, than to attempt any worthie exploit
Fart of Henry" s answer (11. 264-266) to the ambassador*—
Tell him, " he hath made a match with such a Wrangler,
" That all the Court* of France will be disturbs
"WithCbacee"
— may be derived from the concluding portion of this excerpt :
[Hol.'uL 545/1/9] Wherfore the K wrote to him, that y<;r
ought long, he would toase him some London bnllea that perchance
should shake the walles of the beat court in Francs.1
Act IL Chorus. — When Shakspere wrote 11. eVIO,—
For now sits Expectation in the Ayre ;
And hides a Sword, from HilU vnto th' I'-.int,
With Crownes Imperial], Crown**, ■
, — he may hare been thinking of a woodcut-portrait of Kdward rif,,*—
engraved on page 1 74, — which appeared in the first edition of Holinahed
(1577, voL iii. p. 885).
Act LL ac ii. — This scene is laid at Southampton, in August, 141C.1
Si ton.
/Mil
CP'"
It- (;.!, I »,
* V*rim
I
1 Cp the rest of the pssnge ia Ott. (cited abort, p, 1M) ; MCuJ rex
Anglcrum rescript dieent, *e in brevi ptfas mismrnro lsmA*mmmm ^
terreret [tereret] A eonftrederet to* tecta* Henry's truant that the !>aa j.». > I s
halls shall beeotse «* Con-atone* * (I. ii. Mf) nay U tthakapera's fawjtaUsenei
of Oaxsen (Okrwsncfe, ed. 14M, sign. L 6), who say* that Maury Ml«te m*e*
tenys hallea for the dolphya in al the bast that tlwy wyjt U mad*, kw\ lU* y
were grete oonas atone* for tb« Dolphyn to play* with all." Hut m car
■hot was called a cnnstone fax Shakmera's tie**, 9m exasaelai la the revtesd
(New 8b. Soe.), p. 162. In a r/numeonry poera, a*rriU,l u,
apeak* of a M (cam* at tyats " which Wsgmns M*h«)l \,Wj with
ed.ofJ7«ary P.
Lydcat*. Henry speaks
rlsriete M-Cfcrr>n Lm4n ttf).
« la Beateir* faatvsw of Pml*, 1600, Edward MI i« j*/rlrar*l
length, kjolvsag a *w**H enrfrrled ty two esowne. For a ftWliehsoh witli I J ,
1. «,— where Henry u alyUd -«* Mim/r <* mil Christie* Bssfs/
and Gray was Hp*Lli«h<d ami «t~*li
,Ul*'-CLm.H If II VI , I
enflty (HM Part, to. *
o ass* eanteae* 00 Ou*hn4«* end
■ee p KJ6, aefte «,
■ Tbe
at
(«-x«r, b. Mfc
174
VIII. 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-balls' incident is the conspiracy of Cambridge, Scrope, and Grey.
[Hoi. iii. 648/i/66.] When king Henrie had fullie furnished
his nauie with men, munition, & other pro ui si oris, pie,] perceiuing
that his capteines misliked nothing so much as delaie, determined
his souldiors to go a Bhip-boord and awaie. But see the hap t the
night before the dale appointed for their departure, ho was crediblio
informed, that Richard carlo of Cambridge, brother to Edward
duke of Yorke, and Henrie lord Scroope of Mosham, lord treasurer,
ThetarUof w'*^ Thomas Graie, a knight of Northumberland, being confederal
SC^SS* together, had conspired his death : wherefore ho caused them to be
}!?££? apprehended.
Neither Holinshed nor, I believe, any chronicler published in Shak-
spere's day a 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 Saint-Remy— whose JtfeWire*, from 1407 to 1422, were first published
in 1603 — says — us do other chroniclers — that the conspiratore sought to make
the Earl of March an accomplice by offering to place him on the throne, but
that he revealed their design to Henry, Saint-jHemy adds (viL 488-489) that
the King thereupon called a council of his nobles, and after telling them that
he had neard, toough he could not believe, that some of his subjects were
engaged in a plot to deprive him of his crown, asked, if the report were true,
what should he 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 guilty men, who owned their
treasonable project. Warn-in (V. i, 177-179) gives the same account of the
conspirators' detection.
VTH. HENRY V.
175
the traitors was wholly Shakspere's work, except that part of it where
Scrope's dissimulation ami ingratitude is denounced (11. 93-142), The
germ of these lines lay in the following passage :
[Hoi. iii. 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 tad*, wau.
priuat or publike councell was in hand, this lord had much in the [{J^ln*
determination of it. For lie represented so great grauitie in his sSSUj
countenance, such modestie in behauiour, and bo Tortuous zeale to
all godlinesse in his talke, that whatsoeuer he said was thought for
the most part neccssarie to Lo doono 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 Cambridge seem to
have been taken from Holinshod : " I arrest thee of High Treason, by
the rvwie of Richard Earle of Cambridge." Holinshed says (iii. 549/
1/26) : M indicted he was by the name of Richard earle qf Cambridge of
Connesburgh in the countie of York©, knight."
Cambridge 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.
[Ifvl. iiL 548/2/72.] Diuorse write that Richard earle of
Cambridge did not conspire with the lord Scroope & Thomas
Graie for the murthering of king Henrie to [p. 549] please the
French king withall, but onelie to the intent to exalt to the crowne
his brother in law Edmund carle of March as heire to Lioncll duke
of Clarence : after the death of which earle of March, (for diuerse
secret impediments, not able to haue issue,) the earle of Cambridge
was sure that the crowne should come to him by his wife, and to
his children, of hir begotten. And therefore (as was thought) he
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 wero espied, he saw
plain] ic that the earle of March should haue tasted of the same
cuppe that he had drunken, and what should haue come to his
owno children ho much doubted. Therefore destitute of comfort
(Cambridge
feigned to be
In the
French
tnten nt, bat
hiii real
object ?u
to mooh
tltr crown
fur M .ii'h,
whom he
hoped to
H -. . ..t ]
176
Hntt.
Vm. HENRY V.
& in despnirc of life to saue his children, he feined that tale ;
dcsiriug rather to saue his succession than himselfe, which he did
in deed ; for his sonne Richard duke of Yorke not priuilie but
openlie claimed the crowne, and Edward his sonne both claimed
it, & gained it, as after it shall appearo.
Having heard Grey's1 confession (II. 161-165), Henry dooms the
traitors :
K. God quit you in his mercy ! Hear your sentence !
You haue consjnr'd against Our Royall person,
Ioyn'd with an enemy proclaim'd, and from bis Coffers 168
Receyu'd the Gulden Earnest of Our death ;
Wherein you would haue sold your King to slaughter,
His Princes and his Peeres to seruitude,
His Subieets to oppression and contempt, 172
And his whole Kingdomo into desolation.
Touching our person, seeke we no reuenge ;
But we our Kjngdomes safety must so tender,
'Whose mine you haue 2 sought, that to her Lawes 176
We do deliuer you. Get you there/ore hence,
(Poore miserable wretches J) to your death !
The taste whereof, God, of his mercy , giue
You patience to indnre, and true Repentance 180
Of oil your deare offences/ — Beare them hence !
These lines should be compared with the following speech, taken by
Holinshed from Halle :
[Hoi. iii. 548/2/15.] These prisoners, vpon 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 mitrthereil him before ho should arriuo in the duchie of
ISormandie. When king Hemic 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
offendors also, and to them said : " Hauing thus conspired the
1 Johnson pointed out (Far. Sh., xrii. 314) a resemblance between Grey's
words (1. 16B), — " My fault, but not my body, pardon, Soueraigne," — and an
expression of Dr. William Parry, executed on March 2, 1584, for plotting the
death of Elizabeth. In a letter addressed to the Queen, Parry said : ■ I haue
no more to saie at this time, but that with my hart & soule I doo now honour
& loue vou, am inwardlie sorie for mine offense, and roadie to make you
amends by my death and patience. Discharge me A culpa bnt not A poena,
good ladie.*— Hof. iii. 1387/1/57.
1 you Kane] Qq. yon three F2. you Fi.
Vin. HKSKY V.
177
I* (Ac
"death and destruction of me, which am the head of the raalrae
" and gooeruour of the people, it mate be (no doubt) but that you
" likewise haue sworne the confusion of all that are here with roe,
"and also the deflation of tout owne counthe. To what horror
"(0 lord!) for any true English hart to consider, that such an
"execrable ioiquitie should euer so bewrap you, as for pleasing of
" a forren enimie to imbrue tout hands in jour bloud, and to mine
■ your owne natiuc soile. Revenge herein tow-king my person,
m though I seeke not ; yet for the safegard of you my deere freenda,
* & for due preseruation of all sorts, I am by office to cause
" example to be shewed. Get ye hence therefore, ye poore miserable
"wretches, to the receiuing of your iust reward; wherein Qods rumru^
" maiestie giue you grace of his mercis, and repentance of your ^^^
asttM
"heinous offenses." And so immediatlie they were had to un*£
execution.
The general purport of Henry's final speech (11. 182-193) is the same
as the ** words few " which he is said to have spoken after the traitors
*' wore had to execution."
[/7b/. iii. 540243] This doone, the king, calling his lords
againe afore him, said in words few and with good grace. Of his tHenry'i
enterprises he recounted the honor and glorie, whereof they with Jjj^.°jjj*
him were to be partakers ; the great confidence he had in their ^Jj^hld to
noble minds, which could not but remember them of the famous exetnrtkm*1
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 rata him the
treason at hand, whereby the true harts of those afore him [were]
made so eminent & apparant in his cie, 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
Gods grace. To whose inaiestie, as cheeflie was knownc the cquitie
of his demand, euen so to his mercie, did he onelio recommend
the successc of his trauels.
Act II. sc. iv. — A dramatic date should perhaps he given to the
council over which Charles VI. in presiding when the English ambas-
sadors crave admittance (11. 65-66). Henry — who, we learn, u is footed
N
178
VIII. HENRY V.
(Mm
■tiling from
fk-UtllJIIUI^
ton, Beurr
despatched
totter* to
Cturlea VI.]
in this Land already" (1. 143) — disembarked near Harfleur on August
11, MIT*.1 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
(11. 77-109) substantially, and, to some slight extent, literally, repro-
duces the terms of a despatch addressed to Charles VI., which must
have been received about the time of the invasion, for, before putting
to sea, Henry,
[Hoi. iii 548/1/44] first princelie appointing to aduertise the
French king of his comming, therefore dispatched Antelope his
purseuant at amies with letters to him for restitution of that which
he wrongfully withheld ; contrarie to the lawes of God and man :
the king further 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
justice, ho was forced to take amies. Neuerthclesse exhorted the
French king, in the bowels of lean Christ,8 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 fift of August. When the
same were presented to the French king, aud by his councell well
perused, answer was made, that he would take aduirie, and prouide
therein as time and place should be conuenient : so the messenger
[was] licenced to depart at Iuh pleasure.
Two passages may have served as authorities for the talk concerning
defensive measures which precedes Exeter's entrance (11. 1-49). When
news of Henry's preparations for invasion reached France,
[Hoi. iii. 517/2/7.] the Dolphin, who had the gouernance of
the realme, bicuuse his father was fallen into his old disease of
1 Otsta, 14. " Kidecnws "—Henry's landing-place— U about three miles
di3tant from Harfleur. — Ibid.. 13.
8 Their powers are dated December 5, 1414.— Rymtr, ix. 184, 185. They
had not concluded their minion on February- 17, 1410. — Ibid., 201. An
account of this embassy — taken from Halle (57)— was given by Hoi. (iii.
546/2/37). Cp. Mom., iii. 273, 274t 289.
3 Henry bids Charles (II. iv. 102, 103),
" . . . in, the Botoeli of the Lord,
Deliver vp the Crowne," , . .
>
vni.
HEXRY V.
179
frensie, sent for the dukes of Berrie l and Alanson, and all the other m»e
• • OllUpllllI
lords of the connccH of France : by whose aduiso it was deter- ■«■'
J ■ Puke of
mined, that they should not onelie prepare a sufficient annie t<>
resist the king of England, when so euer he arriuod to inuadc oLSon,
France, but also to stuffe and furnish the townes on the frontiers mMmt*
and sea coasts with conucment garrisons of men : . . . or ftmwo.j
At a later date :
[HbL iii. 649/2/55.1 The French king, being aduertisod that m.*
CoDi table
kinjr Hcnrie was arriued on that coast, sent in all hast the lord de fwiothor
° ' lords pro-
la Breth constable of France, the seneshall of France, the lord J^^Iir'"
Bouciqualt marshall of France, the seneshall of Henault, the lord FrnllCC',
Lignie, with other ; which fortified townes with nieu, victuals, and
artillerie, on all those frontiers towards the sea.
Act III. Chorus.— Shakspcro thus sums up tbo answer which
Exeter — " th'Einbassador from the French" — brings to Henry {11.
29-31) :
That the King doth offer him
Katherine his Daughter, and with her, to Dowrie,
Some petty and vnprofitable Dukedonies.
This offer was made by William Bouratier, Archbishop of Bourges,
the spokesman of an embassy charged with the answer of the French to
Henry's demands. At Winchester,2
[Hoi. iii. 547/2/34.] before the kings presence, sitting in his
throne impcriall, the archbishop of Burges 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 verie deed but base and poore, as a dowrie with
the ladie Catharine in manage ; so that he would dissolue his £?£■«■
annie, and dismisse his soldiers, which he had gathered and put in »n«» a.iowry
• r offered t«
a readinesse. Henry.]
Act III. sc. i. — Henry encourages a storming-party, which has been
repulsed, to mount again a breach in the walls of Ilarileur. Hotinshed's
1 John Duke of Bern is present, and the Constable apeak a (see next
excerpt), in sc. iv., Act II. At this council it was resolved that the Arch-
bishop of Bourges should be sent to Henry {Hoi. iii. 547/2/ 17). See next
note.
1 The ambassadors left France on June 17, 1415.— St. Denya, v. 512. On
July 26, 1415, they reported, in Charles's presence, the ill success of their
mission.— St. Deny*, v. 530.
L80
Vin. HENRY V.
[Glon«stcr*»
llllUCtt.]
[The Prrnoli
O'lihtiT-
mlne*.j
Ltuim,
m,
•i
** ^w» Mltfv
words (iii. 549/2/6o), " And daitie waa the towne assaulted," may haye
suggested to Shakspere the King's speech (11. 1-34).
Act T 1 1. m, ii. — Gower bids Fluellen " come presently to the Mynes ;
the Duke of Gloucestor would speake with you " (II. 58-80). Fluellen
answers that "the Mynes is not according to the disciplines of the
Warre ; l . , . th'nthuersarie ... is digt himselfe foure yard vnder
the Countermines." Holinshed says that
[Hoi, iii. 549/2/70.] the duke of Glocester, to whome the
order of the siege was committed, made three mines vndcr the
ground; and, approching to the wals with his engins and ordinance,
would not suffer them within to take anie rest.
[p. fi50] For although they with their countermining somwhat
disappointed the Englishmen, & came to fight with them hand to
hand within the mines, so that they went no further forward with
that worke ; yet they were bo inclosed on ech side, as well by
water as land, that succour they saw oould none come to them.
Act m. sc. iii. — In the last scene a parley a was sounded from
ITarfleur (III. n. 148). Now King Henry enters and summons the
Governor to yield "to our best mercy" (1. 3). On September 18,
1 1 KV * hn besieged made a conditional offer of submission.
[JIol. iii. 550/1/38.] The king, aduertised hereof, sent them
word, that, except they would surrender the towne to him the
ninrtiw no\t insuing, without anie condition, they should spend no
more time in talkc about the matter. But yet at length through
the earnest suto of the French lords, the king was contented to
grant them tnur nihil nine of the clocke the next sundaie, being
the two and twentith of September ; with condition, that, if in the
BfltM fchW no rescue came, they should yeeld the towne at that
lumro. with their bodies and goods to stand at the kings pleasure.
\\ i' m:iv Mipponfl that this scene openn on September 22, — the day
fixed for yioMitij; llurflcur, if BO relief came, — and therefore the
Govwtuu* thus answers King Henry's summons (11. 44-47):
1 It seem* that "tho discipline of tho Warre" really were violated, for,
©ottttnrv to the prohibition of .Kgidius Romanuft, the mines were begun in
wght .vf tlw braicyod, who of course countermined them. — oVjta, 24, S5.
lit* Homanni wrote for Philip the* Bold, Puke of Burgundy (1303-1404),
/ V Krymitw /YtWijmin, a part of which is entitled M Do re mili'uri veterum."
(tat* \\ 16, note 3.
v '> a.vount of tho first overture for surrender has this sidenote : u The
f»M*nt*»nth of 9»pt*mWr they within Hartine praie tutrix. p
truosw^raUM<*8eps»mber >&— <Jos*«, SO, Tho besieged asked
for a |«rl*t ■ iWM midnight,* September IT,— At iii. 650 I, 23.
VUI. 1IKNKV V.
181
Our expectation hath this day an end :
The Dolphin, whom of Succours we entreated,
Returnee vs " Umt his Powers are yet not ready
11 To rayae so great a Siege."
During the truce,
[Hoi. iii. 650/i/68.] the lord Bacqueuill was sent vnto the
French king, to declare in what point the towne stood. To whome
the Dolphin answered, that the kings power was not yet assembled,
in such number as was conuenient to raise so great a sitge. This
answer being brought rnto the capteins within the towner they
rendered it vp to the king of England, after that the third daie
was expired ; which was on the daie of saint Maurice, being the
scuen and thirtith daie after the siege was Erst laid. The souldiors
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 fortifie it strongly 'gainst the French : l . . .
On September 22,
[Hoi. iii. 550/2/30.] the king ordcincd capteine to the towne
his vnclc the duke of Excester, who established his lieutenant
there, one sir lohn Fastolfe ; with Sfteene hundred men, or (as
some haue) two thousand, and thirtie Bix knights.
Harfleur being disposed of, Henry says (II. 54-56) :
For vs, deare Vnckle,
(The Winter comming on, and Sicknease growing
Vpon our Souldiers,) we will retyre to Calis.
HoKnshed names several Englishmen of rank who died during the
siege, or were licensed to return home on account of sickness ; and adds :
[Hoi. 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 aduise of his couuccll, that ho
should in all conuenient speed set forward, and march through the
countrie towards Calis by land, least his roturne as then home"
[Succour
i.-ru-->l by
the
Dauphin.)
ttarfiut
fnOled and
mckttl.
[Exeter
made
Cupula of
Harthur.]
[A march
loCatam
resolved on.]
1 In making Henry say to Exeter, " Vse mercy to them all ■ fl, 54),
Shakspere ignored Hol.'s report (iii. 550/2/5) that the Kinc expelled from
Harflenr u parents with their children, voong maids and old l'olke, and filled
their places with English immigrants, Jligden's Polychron icon (edd. Babii
and Luniby, viii. 550) is JJo/.'a authority.
\S-2
VIII. HKXRY V.
Gnat ibtatk
I., t>„- hi*
M]f tAtJli*.
Tht Fr<*rh
ting eCtult'
ttk hotc to
deal* teith
y English-
ting of
BkUt,
K tn.btk
A cluuiot)
wards should of slanderous toongs be named a running awaie ;
and vet that iournie was adiudged perillous, by reason that the
Dumber of Ul people was much minished by the flix and other
feucrs, which sore vexed and brought to death aboue fifteeue
hundred persons of the armie : and this was the cause that hie
returne was the sooner appointed and concluded.
Act III. sc. v. — Henry left Harfleur on October 8,1 and crossed the
Somme on October 19.* Tho following excerpt illiiRtratee this scene,
which opens after Charles VI, has received sure tidings that Henry
"hath past the Riuer Some" (1. 1) :
[HoL iii. 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 councell8 to the
number of fiue and thirtio, asked their aduiso 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
Britain®, the earlc of Pontieu the kings yoongest soime, and other
high estates. At length thirtie of them agreed, that the English-
men should not depart vnfought withall, and fiue were of a
contrarie opinion, but the greater number ruled the matter : and
so 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 " (1. 53)
Harry England ;
And in a Chariot, Captiue into Roan,5
Bring him our Prisoner !
Touching the assurance of victory which the French had on the
night before their defeat at Agincourt, Holinshed says :
[Hoi. iil 654/1/7.] The noble men had deuised a chariot,
wherein they might triumphantlie conueie the king captiue to the
1 Oetia, 36 (cp. note 4). f Octta, 43.
* To reconcile a subsequent date (see p. 164, n. % below) we must suppose
that this council was held on October 19, not, as Mo tin. says (iii. 330), on
October 20.
* Hoi. has been misled by Halle (64). Mon*. (iii. 330) docs not mention
tin* |»n ' ii.t .-!' f]n< Dinplin :if i'.i, ■"«— fff. 'ml *iy- ilrit ll !-■ r-.i Losfa" Ml
thai Lswii was titular King of Sicily. He was the eon of Lewis Duke of
Anj.ni, Charitf VI.'h eldest uncle ;and father of Rene, whose daughter Margaret
man 11 I 001 Henry VI.
* ChnrwttGnptiu*]P.A. Daniel conj. And in a Captive Chariot into RoanTi.
VIII. 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 Agincourt (III. vii.), despite hia father's
injunction to remain at Rouen (III. v. 64), is unhistorical.1
[Hoi. iii. 552/1/72.] The Dolphin Bore desired to hauo beene
at the battell, but he was prohibited by his father.
Act III. 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 specks occurred at the
Ternoise, and is thus described by Holinshed :
[Hoi iii. 562/2/3.] 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 bo broken, it would be greatlie to his hinder-
ance,) 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 comtning thither.
Those that were sent, finding the Frenchmen busie to breake
downe their bridge, assailed them so vigorouslie, that they dis-
comfited them, and tooke and slue them ; and so the bridge was
preserued till the king came, and passed the riuer by the same
with his whole armie. This was on the two and twentith day of
October.9
Pistol then enters and asks Fluellen to intercede with Exeter for
Bardolph, whom the Duke has sentenced to be hung for stealing a
" Pax s of little price " (11. 42-61). During Henry's march there was no
[The
Inuphin
n riint Hie
buttle.]
[The French
defeated in
an attempt
to break
down the
bridge ovir
the
Ternolie.]
1 In the Q. version of Henry V. " Burbon ■ has the part in Act III. sc. vii.
and Act IV. sc. v. which F. assigns to the Dauphin. As to this matter, and
also Johnes's conjecture that Shakspere confounded Sir Guichard Dauphin (see
p. 196 below) with the Dauphin of France, see Air. Daniel's Introduction to the
FaraUel Texts of Henry V, (New Sh. Soc), p. xiii.
* Livius (15) gives the date October 22, wrongly adding that it was the day
of S. Ttomanna, Confessor. This saint's day is kept on October 23. Elmham
says (56) lhal Henry crossed the Ternoipe on the morrow of S. Romanus (Oct
24). On October 23, according to another authority, Henry was marching
towards the Ternoipe, which he crowed on October 24. — Gesta, 46. We may,
I think, fairly infer that the bridge was seized on the day before Henry's
transit.
3 Elmham (53), Livius (13), and Gtsia (41), agree that a pyx was stolen.
D'Arnis's Lexicon Manual?, 1866, has these definitions : u Pax — Instrnmentum
quod inter Missarum solemnia populo oeculandum praebetur ; instrument g«e
184
VIII. HEXRY V.
Itutit* i»
w»rr- |. for
the theft of
Tittu
A eharital/U
proclama-
Attn Wu
paid for.]
[Sol iii. 552/1/33.] outrage or offense doone by the English-
men, except one, which was, that a souldiour took a pix out of
a church, for which he was apprehended, & the king not once
remoouod till the box was restored, and the offendor strangled.
Hearing from Fluellen of Bardolph't* sentence, Henry says (11. 1 1 3-
117): "Wee would haue all such offendors so cut off: and we giue
expresse charge that, in our Marches through the Conn trey, there be
nothing compell'd from the Villages ; nothing taken but pey'd for."
At some time between August 14 — the date of Henry's landing near
Harfleur — and August 17,1 the King
[Sol iil 549/2/28.] caused proclamation to be made, that no
person should be so bardie, on painc of death, either to take anie
thing out of anie church that belonged to tho same ; or to hurt or
doo anie violence cither 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 :
[Sol. iii. 552/1/30.] Yet in this great nccessitie, the poore
people of the countrie were not spoiled, nor anie thing taken of
them without pairaent, . . .
Turne thee back, 148
And tell thy King, / doe not sake him now,
Goe, bid thy Master well aduise himself o 168
If we may passe, we will ; if wo be hindred,
We shall your tavmie ground with your red blood
Discolour : . . .
I have quoted above porta of Henry's answer to Montjoy* (II. 118,
le pritre prfante d baiter; ol[im] paix." " Pyxia— Vas in quo reponuntur
hostioe consecrate ad viaticum ; pyxis, boite a hodiet" For more information
on this point see Var. Kh., 1821, x'vii. 362, 363 ; Nares's Glossary, s. w. " Pax "
and " Pix " ; Dyce's Glossary, a. v. " Pax * ; and French, 108-110. According
to Gesta (41) the thief "suspensus interiit" on October 17.
1 Gesta, 14, 15.
1 On October 20, Henry was informed by three French heralds that the
Dukes of Orleans and Bourbon would give him battle before he reached Calais.
— Gesta, 44, 45. According to Sltnham (54) the three heralds who delivered
this message were sent from the Constable, the Dukes of Orleans, Brabant,
Bourbon, Alcncon, and Bar. Perhaps Monljoy— whom HaUe makes the sole
bearer of the French challenge — was one of these heralds. We learn from
Aftmj. (iil 331, 332) that, during the interval which elapsed between the
decision of the council and the battle (Oct. 25), the Constable sent Montjoy to
Aire, A place not fat distant from Agincourt.
VIII. HENRY V.
185
149; 16S-171); italicizing words found in HoUnahed'a paraphrase of
the speech attributed to the King by Halle (64).
[Hoi. iii. 552/1/56.] King Henrie aduiscdiie answered: "Mino
" intent is to doo as it pleaseth God : / will not seek* your maister
"at this time; but, if he or his seeke me, I will meet with them,
"God willing. If anie of your nation attempt once to stop me in
"my iournie now towards Calis, at their ieopardio be it ; and yet
" wish I not anie of you so vnaduised, as to be the occasion that
" I die your tavmie ground leilh your red blond**
When he had thus answered the herald, he gaue him u princelio
reward/ and licence to depart.
Act III. bc. vii. — Two of the French lender? named below— the
Constable and Rnmbures — take part in the dialogue which may have
been suggested to Sliakspere by the closing words of my next excerpt.
[Hoi. iii. 552/2/50.] The cheefe leaders of the French hont
were these: the constable of France, the marshal!, the ad meruit, -
the lord Kamburcs, maister of the crosbowes, and other of the
French nobilitio; which came and pitched dowuo their HtnririnrdH
and banners in the countio of saint Paule, within the territories of
Agincourt, . . .
They were lodged euon in the waie by the which the flklgUdl
men must needs passe towards Calis ; and alt that night, after their
comining thither, made great cheare, and were vcrie mono, pleasant,
aud full of game.3
Midnight is past when a messenger enters and nays (11. 135, 130) :
"My Lord high Constable, the English lye within tiftwno bmifavd
paces of your Tents." According to Holinshed, the French were
A' IfrnrUM
ilMWtr t; the
iltjifinct.
rtht r..». 1
ii ,i.i. 1. I
Wl»l« " full
1 "There's for thy labour, Muuntioy. . . . Thanke* to v«'»r HighnNM*
(U. 167, 176).
1 Marshal Boucicaut, and the Admiral Jacques de Cnutillnii.
8 The Constable aaya that the English will " light like bruit*,* if tln-y Imvn
"great Meale* of Beefc." Orleans observes: " 1, hut thane English urn
shrewdly out of Beefe* The Constable rejoin a : "Then shall w< Bndl bo
morrow, they haue only stomackes to en to, and none to light."— II. 101 16&
HalU (6C) makes the Constable encourage the French captains — wlx-n tln-y
were awaiting a signal to join battle — by laying down this maxim : " F«.r jrofl
must vnderatand, yl kepe an Butfluhinaji one inoneth from hya worme bod,
fat beff, and stale drynke, and let him that season last colde and suiTre hunger,
you then ahall se his courage stated, hys bodye waxc leone and bare, and «uer
desirous to returne into hyB own conntrev.'' Op Famous Victoria*, xiii. 30 ;
1 Hen. FL, L ii. 9; and Edward III, III. iii. pp. 43, 44.
186
VIII.
HENRY V.
(D1«Unr«
between the
French ud
Eriffliih
M1BJM ]
F!Bm map-
ATM.]
(Thd French
JiUyrd 4k*
or the
[The German
camp.)
K.nuriii
[Hot. ill. 552/2/48.] iacamped not past two hundred and fiftio
pases distant from the English.
Act IV. Chorus. — In describing the two campa as they appeared by
night, the Chorus bids us observe how (II. 8, 9)
Fire answers fire, and through their paly flames
Each Battaile sees the others vmber'd face.
When the English encamped,
[Hoi. iil 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. iil 554/1/3.] M though they had beene sure of victoria,
made £reat triumph ; for the capteins had determined before how
to diuitle the spoilo, and the soldiers the night before had plaid
the Englishmen at dice.1
In the other camp (IL 22-28) :
The poore condemned English,
Like Sacrifices, by their watchfull Fires
Sit patiently, and inly ruminate 24
The Mornings danger ; and their gesture sad,
Inuesting lanke-leane Cheekes, and Warre-worne Coats,
Presenteth 2 them vnto the gazing Moone
So many horride Ghosts. 28
Steevens compared these lines with Tacitus's description (Ann. L
lxv.) of the night twfnro a battle between the Romans and the Germans,
in a.d. 15, when Arminius was endeavouring to prevent Caeeina from
reaching the Rhine. The different aspect of the hostile camps is thus
portrayed in Grenewey's translation (ed. 1598, p. 26) of this passage :
The night whb vnquiet for diuers respects: the barbarous
enimic, in feasting and banketting, songs of ioie and hideous
outcries, filled the valloies and woods, which redoubled the sounde
againe. Tlie Romans liad 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 OtJtta (49) as a report: "Et ut dicebatnr tarn
securoa ee reputabant de nobis, quod regrm nostrum et nobilee suns nocte ilia
Bubjactu aletc posuerunt," Ramburea oaks (III. vii. 93, 94): "Who will goe
to Hazard with me for twentie Prieonera ?n
* 27. PrtmiMK] Hanmer, PretenUd F.
VIII. HENRY V.
187
m CMi our
Holinshed gives a somewhat brighter picture :
[HoL iil 552/2/63.] The Englishmen also for their parte were
of good comfort, and nothing abashed of the matter ; and yet they [iv
were both hungrie, wearie, sore trauelled, and vexed with manie EngiuM
cold diseases. Howbeit, reconciling themsclues with God by
hoossell and shrift, requiring assistance at his hands that is the
onelie gtuer of victorie, thoy determined rather to die, than to
yeeld, or flee.
Act IV. 8c. 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 Salisbury take parts, and Warwick has a
short speech (I, 20) in the eighth scene. Gloucester l and Exeter3 were
at Agincourt. Erpingham had the honour of beginning the battle.8
Bedford and Westmoreland were not at Agincourt. Westmoreland
was a member of a council assigned to Bedford,4 who was appointed
" Custos " of England during Henry's absence.5 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 (IV. iii. 51-55) as sharers in the fame
of the coming battle.
Gower calls out " Captaine THnellonl" (I. 64), and, being reproved
by the Welshman, promises to u speake lower " (1. 82). On the previous
day (October 24), Henry, after crossing the Temoise, beheld the French
approaching.6 Expecting an attack, he disposed his troops for battle.
Subsequently the English continued their march until they reached a
village in which they encamped.7
[Hoi iii. 552/2/41.] Order was taken by coramandement from m* Engii*
the king, after the armie was first set in battell tirraie, that no noise ulcus.]
or clamor should bo made in the host ; bo that, in inarching fourth
to this village, euerie man kept himsclfo 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 Crowne !
1 Richards body haue interred new 5 , . .
Soon after ascending the throne, Henry
1 Goto, 58, 59. Jkfon*., iii. 341. « M<msn iii. 341.
3 The English attacked; "before whome there went an old knight, sir
Thomas Erpingham (a man of great experience in the warre) with a warder in
his hand" (Hoi iii. 554/1/53).
* Kymer, ix. 223. * rtymer, ix. 305.
• GmIo, 40. Elmham, 57. ' Gtsta, 46-4& Elmham, 57-59.
188
VIII. HENUY V.
(Richard's
body
:-"i;i..vr.«!
from
J
almtgiring.)
[Henry IV.
t rOottied by
the Pope to
bare con-
tinual
imyer made
for Ricoud'a
wall
[Hoi. iil 543/2/58.] caused the bodie of [p. 544] king Richard
to be remooued with all funerall dignitie conueuient for his estate,
from Langlie to Westminster ; where he was honorablie interred
with queene Anne his first wife, in a solemno toonie erected and
sot vp at the charges of this king.
Henry also pleads (11. 315-319) ;
Fiue hundred poore I haue in yeerely pay,
Who twice a day their wither1 d hands hold vp
Toward Heauen, to pardon blood ; and 1 haue built
Two Chauntries, where the 3ad and solemno Priests
Sing still for Richards Soule.
Fabyan records (577) Henry's provision that there should be, on
Richard's behalf,
one day in the weke a Solempne Dirige, and vpon the morowc a
Masse of Requiem by note ; after which Masse endyd, to be gyuen
wekely vnto pore people, xi. s. viii. d, in pens : & vpon yB day of
his Anniuersary, after y' sayd masse of Requiem is songe, to be
yeroly Destrybuted for his soule. xx. li. in .d.
Henry founded three l houses of religion,
[Fab., 589.] for asmoche as he knewe well that his Fader had
laboured the meanes to depose the noble Prynco Richarde the
Seeonde, and after was consenting to hia deth ; for which offence
his said Fader had sent to Rome, of that great Cry me to bo
assay led, and was by y" Pope cnioyncd, that lyko as he had bcraft
hym of his uaturall and bodoly lyfe for euer in this world, that so,
by corttynuel prayer and Suflfragies of the Churche, he shuld cause
hia Soule to lyuo perpetuelly ia the Celestyall worlds.
Act TV. sc. ii.— " The Sunne is high " (L 63) when the Constable
exclaims (11. 60-62) :
I stay but for my Guard. On ! To the field ! f
I will the Banner from a Trumpet take,
And vse it for my haste.
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, tho men of warre put on their helmets, and
1 One of the houses was dissolved by Henry V. — Fab., 589.
1 I . . . Guard: on To . . . take,] Fi.
VTTT. HENRY t.
189
TA* muvtbfr
mi thrti
■mumnA
caused their trumpets to blow to the battell They thought them-
selues so sure of victorie, that diuerse of the noble men made such
hast towards the battell, that they left mauie of their seruauts and
men of warre behind them, and some of them would not once staie
for their standards : as, amongst other, the duke of Brabant, when
his standard was not come, caused a baner to be taken from a rnw
trumpet and fastened to a speare ; the which he commanded to be tunmiMi
borne before him in steed of his standard. lundM*.]
Act TV. sc. iiL — The English lenders converse before each goes to
his charge. Speaking of the French, Westmoreland says (1. 3) :
Of fighting men they bane full threescore thousand.
This was Halle's1 computation, according to whom they had
[Hoi. iiL 552/2/56.] iu their annie (as some write) to the
number of threescore thousand horsscmen, besides footmen,
wagoners, and other.
Exeter remarks (1. 4) :
There's Hue 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 /i 5.] determined to make haste towards Calia,
and not to geeke for battell, except he were thereto constreined ;
bienu.se that his annie by sieknesse was sore diminished : in so
much that he had but onelie two thousand horsscmen, and n*
thirteene thousand archers, oilmen, and of all sorts of other isaoo.
footmen.
"When the King enters, Westmoreland cries (11. 16-18) :
0 that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England,
That doe no worke to day !
Henry expresseB another view of the matter (11. 20, 21) :
If we are markt to dye, we are enow
To doe our Countrey loss© ; . . .
These words comprise all that Shakspero took from a speech
1 Though in the sidenote Hal. refers to "Enguerant*1 (Monstrelet) as an
authority for 60,000, this estimate is really derived from Halle (6ft). Bnt
Man*. — whom, to judge from the context, Halle followed— savs (iii. 336) that
" les Francois fussent bien cent cinquante inille cheraucheun.*'
192
VIII. HENKY V.
rtmeard
.' . ...■.,'*• i
Th< king*
the actrvant*
VIM r. =i^t..i
k.ll.-lj.
[TV natrry
of the
Uc kit* and
boy b wbo ran
■way caiuc
a threatening movement made by Henry against the French rearward.
(The closing Words of this excerpt should he noted.)
[Hoi. iil 554/2/30.] When the Frenchmen pcrcciued his intent,
they were suddenlic amazed and ran awaie like sheepe ; without
order or arraio. Which when the king porceiucd, he incouraged
liia men, and followed, so quickelie vpon the cnimics, that they ran
hither and thither, casting awaie their armour: nianic on their
knees desired to lmue their liues saucd.
Act TV. sc. vi. — " Enter the King and his trayne, with Prisoners."
Henry says (1. 2) that u all's not done ; yet keepo the French the field."
By and bye an alarum is hoard, and he exclaims (11. 35-38) :
But, hearke I what new alarum is this same ?
The French haue re-inf ore'd their scatter'd men :
Then euery souldionr kill his Prisoners 3
Qiue the word through !
Act IV, sc. vii. — We now learn what had liappened. FluoLlen
enters, speaking to Gower (11. 1-4) : " Kill the poyes and the luggage ]
*Ti« expressely against the Law of Armes : 'tis as arrant a peece of
k nattery, marke you now, as can bee offert : in your Conscience now, is
it not?" Gower answers : '• 'Tis certaine there's not a boy left aliue;
and the Cowardly Rascalls that ranne from the battaile ha' done this
slaughter : besides, they haue burned and carried away all that was in
the Kings Tent ; wherefore tho 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
[Hoi. iil 554/2/38.] the Englishmen had taken a great number
of prisoners, certeine Frenchmen on horsscbacke, whereof were
capteins Robinet of Borneuill, IiifHart of Clamos, Isambcrt of
Agincourt, and other men of armes, to the numbor of six hundred
horssemen, (which were the first that fled,) hearing that the English
tents & pauilions were a good waie distant from the annio, without
anie sufficient gard to defend tho same, either vpon a couctous
meaning to gaine by the spoile, or vpon a desire to bo reuenged,
entred vpon the kings campo; und there spoiled the hails, robbed
the tents, brake vp chests, and caried awaie caskets, and slue such
scruants as they found to make anie resistance. . , •
But when the outcrie of the hickies and boies, which ran awaie
for feare of the Frenclunen thus spoiling the campe, tame to the
kings eares, ho, (doubting least his euiuiics should gather togither
VIII. HKXHV V
193
againc, and begin a new field; and mistrusting further that tlic toHemyi
prisoners would be an aid to his enimics, or the vcrie eniniies to
their takers in deed if they were suffered to Hue,) contrarie to his
accustomed gent] ones, commanded by sound of trumpet, that
euerie man (vpon paine of death) should incontinentlie slaie his au t\<
• WIKMIfrl
prisoner. wain*.
"Alarum. Enter King Harry with Burbon and prisoners.1
Flourish." As sc, 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 thoy'l do neither, we will come to them,
And make them sker away, as swift as stones 04
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 theui so 1
Hie 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 butch of prisoners was
taken disposes of Johnson's Btricture 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." a Moreover, Shak-
8pere had authority — as the following excerpt shows — for a renewal of
the battle after the prisoners previously taken were massacred.
[Hoi, iii. 554/2/74.] When this lamentable slaughter was ended,
the [p. 555] Englishmen disposed themselues in order of battell,
readie to abide a new field, and also to inuade, and newlie set on,
their eniniies : with great force they assailed the carles of Marie ^T*
ami Fauconbridge, and the lords of Louraie, and of Thine, with
six hundred men of amies ; who had all that daie kept togither,
but [were] now alaiuc and beaten dowue 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, whom Shakspere made Henry threaten with the slaughter " of
those " prisoners " we haue n (IV, vii. 66).
1 Enter . . . pritontrn] Enter King Harry and Burbon with prittmert. Fi,
« Var. 8h., xvii 440.
O
194
VI II. HENRY V.
Afiffktmtm
chniUngt trf
tht ting.
totantta
dead. Henry
n-k.nl 1. 1
whom the
f| ti.n*
belonged.)
Thtbatttllo/
Agincourt.
[Sol. iii. 555/1/7.] Some write, that the king, pcrcoiuing his
eiiimies 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
else to come forward at once, and giue battell : promising herewith,
that, if they did offer to fight againo, not onolie those prisoners
which his people alrcadic had taken, but also so manic 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 them ; . . .
Henry is not sure u if the day be ours, or no" (1. 87) ; and, when
Montjoy says, "The day is yours/' asks, " What ia this Castle call'd
that stands hard by I " Montjoy answers : " They call it Agincourt."
Henry replies (1. 93) : M Then call we this the field of Agincourt."
Shakspere rightly altered the date which my next quotation assigns to
Montjoy' s replios.1
[Hoi. iii. 555/1/36.] In the morning, Montioie king at armes
and foure other French heralds came to the K,, to know the
number of prisoners, and to desire buriall for the dead. Before
he made them answer (to vnderntaml what they would saie) he
demanded of them whie they made to him that request ; considering
that ho know not whether the victorie was his or theirs? When
Montioie by true and mat confession had clcercd that doubt to the
high praise of the king, he desired of Montioie to vnderstand the
name of the castell neere adiointng : when they had told him that
it was called Agincourt, he said, "Then shall this conflict be called
■ the battell of Agincourt/1
fi Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus ! " 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 :
1 According to Mvm. (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 wore left unburied till Henry quitted Agincourt, on October
26.— Afon*., in. 357.
VIII. HENRY V.
195
[Hoi iii. C52/2/70.] Tbe daie following was the fiue and riubatuii^
twentith of October in the yeare 1415 ; being then fridaio, and the ^J^f
feast of Crispine and Crispinian : a day faire and fortunate to the ™
English, but most sorrowfiill and vnluckio 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 amies that
daie, and granted them their request ; which busilie sought through
the field for such as were slaine. But the Englishmen suffered [^]^rfDr0clh
them not to go alone, for they searched with tliem, & found manie J^J*1***
hurt, but not in ieopardie of their Hues ; whom they tooke prisoners, 5?ri&Jf
and brought them to their tents.
For the accomplishment of a practical joke, Henry gives Fluellen a
glove, saying (11. 161-1 G3) : " when AJanson and my selfe were downe
together, I pluckt this Glotie from his Helmo." Reference is here made
to an encounter which Holinshed thus describes :
fUoi, 554/2/20.] The kiiiff that daie shewed himsclfe a valiant a valiant
L * tinff> iin"
knight, albeit almost felled by the duke of Alanson; yet with jjjjjttl,t*r
plaine strength he slue two of tho dukes coinpanie, and felled the AkD*,m-l
duke himsclfe ; whome, when ho would liaue yclded, the kings gard
(contrarie to his mind) Blue out of hand.
Act IV. sc. via. — A horald presents to Henry a note containing
" the number of the slaught'red French M (I. 79). From Exeter the
King learns "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'a lists.
[Hoi. iii. 555/2/30.I There were
taken prisoners: Charles duke of
Orleance, nephue to tfte French
king ; John duke of Iinrbon ; the
lord Bouciqualt, one of the mar-
shals of France (he after died in
England) ; with a number of other
lords, knights, and esquiers, at the
least fifteen* hundred* besides the
common people. There were slaine
in all of the French part to the
number of ten thousand men ;
whereof were princes and noble
Em Charles Duke of Orleance, Nobi* mm
Nephew to the King ; prisoner*.
John Duke of Burhon, and Lord
Bouehiguald :
Of other Lords and Barons, Knight*
and Squirts,
Full fifteen* hundred, besides evmmem 84
men.
King. This Note doth tell me of
ten thousand French,
That in the field lye shine : of
Princes, in this number,
And Nobles bearing Banner?, there
lye dead
One hundred twtntie six : added to 83
thcset
TV itwm&tr
4/(14*1 tm the
Fremh part.
196
VIIL HENRY V.
Fftflltikmtn
alaint.1
men bearing baners one hundred
twentie and six ; to these, qf kniglUs,
esquiers, and gentlemen, so manie
as made vp the number of eight
tftousand and /owe hundred (of
the which Jiue hundred toere dubbed
knights the night before the
battell) ; so aa, of the meaner
sort, not past sirteene hundred.
Amongst those of the nobilitie
that were slaine, these were the
cheefest : Charles lord de la Breth,
7h constable of France ; laques
Chatihn, lord of Dampier,
adineraU of France ; tJte lord Ram-
bures, master of the crossebowes ;
sir Guischard Dolphin, great master
of France ; John duke of Alanson ;
Anthonie duke of Brabant, brother
to the duke of Burgognie ; Edward
duke qf Bar ; the earle of Neuers,
an other brother to the duke of
Burgognie ; with tb.8 erles qf
Marie, Vaudemont, Beaumont,
Qrandpree, Roussie, Fauconberge,
Fois, and Lestrake ; beside a great
number of lords and barons of
name.
Of Englishmen, there died at
this battell, Edward duke qf%
York* ; the earle of Suffolke ; sir
Richard Kikelie; and Dauie Oamme,
esquier ; and, of all other, not aboue
fiue and twentie persons, . . .8
Of Knights, Esjuires, and gallant
GerUUmen,
Eight thousand and fours hundred ;
of the which.
Fine hundred were but yesterday
dubb'd Knights :
So that, in these ten thousand they 02
bane lost,
There are bat sixteene hundred
Mercenaries ;
The rest are Princes, Barons, Lords,
Knights, Squires,
And Gentlemen of blond and
ciualitie.
The Names of those their Nobles 95
that lye dead :
Charles Deldbreth, Sigh Constable of
France ;
laques of ChatUion, AdmiraZl of
France ;
The Master of the Crosse-bowes,
Lord Rambures ;
Great Master of France, the braue 100
Sir Guichard Dolphin;
John Duke of Alanson; Anthonie
Duke of Brabant,
The Brother to the Duke of
Burgundie ;
And Edward Dttke of Barr : of
Inatie Earles,
Qrandpree and Rau&sic, Fauambridgt 104
and Foyes,
Beaumont and Marie, Vaudemont
and Lestrale.
Here was a Roy all fellowship of
death 1
Where is the number of our English
dead ? —
Edward the Duke qf Torke, the 108
Earle of Sujfolke,
Sir Richard Ketly, Dauy Gam,
Ksquire :
None else of name ; and, of all other
men,
But/ue and twentie.
The death-rolls read, and solemn acknowledgment made that the
victory is due to God alone, Henry says (1. 128) :
Let there be sung Non nobis, and Te Deum,
These thanksgivings are recorded by Holinshed :
[Hoi iii. 555/I/2I.] And so, about foure of the clocke in the
after noone, the king, when he saw no appcrance of eoimiea, caused
1 In Hot. the aidenote " Englishmen slaine" iB printed twice : here, and
also immediately after the aidenote ending *l French part."
1 duke of Yorke] HoL ed. 1. duke Yorke Hoi. ed. 2.
* "aa some doo report" (saya Hot.) ; " but other writers of greater credit ■
(Grafton and Livius) raised the numbers of the slain.
VIII. HENRY V.
197
the rotreit to be blowen ; and, gathering his armie togither, gaue
thanks to almightie God for so hnppie a victorie ; causing his ^JJ^J, Q^d
prelats and chapleins to sing this psalnte : M In exitu Israel de -Jj^
" Aegypto ; " and commanded euerie man to kneele downe on the
ground at this verse : u Non nobis. Doniine, non nobis, sed nomini a we»rtku
example of a
"tuo da gloriam." Which doone, he caused Te Deum, with certeine *%**
an thorns to bo 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 l) of Henry's march to Calais is
thus chronicled :
[Hoi. iii. 555/i/5S.] When the king of England had well
refreshed htmselfe, and his souldiers, (that had taken the spoile of
such as were slaine,) he, with his prisoners, iu good order, returned ractunito
to his townc of Calls.
Act V. Chorus. — The Chorus plays a historic "interim," beginning
on October 29,s 1415, when the audience must imagine Henry at
Calais (II. 6, 7), and ending on August 1, 1417, the date of his "baoke
retume againe to France" s (11. 39-43^. Nothing is said touching his
second campaign, which lasted about tour years, and was brought to a
close by the treaty of Troyes, in 1420.
Shakspere'a 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 Holinahed's mention of the gale which
Henry's fleet encountered on its return to England.
[Hoi iii. 556/i/id] After that the king of England had ro.ii.
refreshed himselfe, and his people at Calls, , . . the sbtt [16th]
daie of Nouember,4 he with all his prisoners tooke shipping, and
the same daie landed at Douer, ... In this passage, the seas [The sou
were so rough and troublous, that two ships belonging to sir Iohn W6WTOnfi
1 Qedat 60.
• The date of Henry's arrival at Calaia — Qesta> 60.
8 He landed near Touque Castle, in Normandy, on August 1, 1417.*—
Gesta IU.
1 Henry, *' die Sabbati post sancti Martini Bolemtio, . . - per portum
Dovorite . . . remeavit in Angliam.* — Oesta, 60. In 1415 S. Martin's Day
(Nov. 11) fell on a Monday,
198
VIII. HENRY V.
Cornewall, lord Fanhope, were driuea into Zeland ; howbeit,
nothing was lost, nor any person perisht
Henry having landed, and " set on to London,"
You may imagine him vpon Black-Heath,
Where that his Lords desire him to haue borne
His bruised Helmet, and his beaded Sword,
Before him, through the Citio : ho forbids it,
Being free from vain-nesse and selfe-glorious pride ;
Giuing full Trophee, Signal!, and Ost^nt,
Quite from himselfe, to God. But now behold,
In the quick Forge and working-house of Thought,
How London doth powre out her Citizens !
The Maior and all his Brethren, in best sort,
(Like to the Senatours of th'antiquc Rome,
With the Plebeians swarming at their heeles,)
Goe forth and fetch their Conqu'ring Caesar in : . . .
Holinshed gives the following account of Henry's reception and
demeanour :
16
BO
'21
2*
[Honrymt [HoL iii. S06/1/28.I The maior of London, and the aldermen,
on Bluck-
hcrtiibytoa apparelled in orient grained scarlet, and fourc hundred commoners
tSSST °f cm{* *n Dcaut'fu^ "mrrie, (well mounted, and trimlio lioreaed, with
rich collars, & great chaines,) met the king on Bluckheatli j1 reioising
at his returne : anil the clcrgie of London, with rich crosses, sump-
tttous copes, and masste censers, recetued him at saint Thomas of
Waterings with solemn© procession.
Tho king, like a grane and sober personage, and as one remem-
bring from whom all victories aro sent, seemed little to regard such
vaine pompe and showes aa wore in triumphant sort deuked for
his waioomming home from so prosperous a iournie : in so much
that ho would not suffer his helmet to be caricd with him, whereby
might haue appeared to the people the blowes and dints that were
to bo scene in the same ; neither would he suffer anie ditties to be
made and aoong by minstrels of his glorious victoric, for that ho
would wholie haue the praise and thanks altogether giuen to God.
The last occurrence of the Interim is that (U. 38, 39)
The Emperour*s comming a in behnlfe of France,
To order peace betweene them ; . . .
Titu$
I ill. wi.
Thtffnat
nvxlutit sf
tktking.
[He wniiM
not raffttr
hli helmet
to be carried
wiUi him.)
1 On November 23.— fferfo, 61.
* u Eiiiperour'a comming " = " Emperour U comming"
. between them " (11. 36-39) to be a parenthesis.
assuming "As yet
VIII. IIE35KY V.
190
On or about May 1, H16,1
[Ifol, iii 556/2/27.] the emperour Sigismund . . . came into
England, to the intent that he might make an attonement
hetweene king Henrie and the French king: . . ,
Act V. so. ii. — This scene ends with Katharine of Valois'e betrothal
to Henry V. (11. 376-397), on May 21, 1420. The Duke of Burgundy
who Rpe&ks in this scene, and who, as appears from my next excerpt,
sent " umbiiHsadours ... to niooue " Henry " to peace," was Philip the
Good, son of John the Fearless, whom Charles VL addresses in IIL v.
42. 2 In September (?),8 1419, while Henry was at Rouen,
[Hoi. iii. 572/i/i8.] there came to him eft&oones ambassadours
from the French king and the duke of Burgognie to mooue him to
peace. The king, minding not to be reputed for a dcstroier of the
countrio, which he coueted to prcserue, or for a causer of christian
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 vpon certeine articles ; so that the French
king and his commons would thereto assent.
Now was the French king and the quccne with their daughter
Katharine at Trots in Champaignc ; gouerned and ordered by them,
which so much favoured 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 ueedeth manic words ? a truce tripartite was accorded
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 vnto Trois in
Champaigne ; sufficientlie 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,
1 According to Cfiron, Lotui. (103) : "the firstc day of Maij, at nyght, ho
[Sigismund] landed at Dovorr."
■ Philip wae then (October, 1415) Count of Charolois. Ho is addressed by
Charles VI. (III. v. 45).
3 Aforw., iv. 203-207. The murder of John the Fearless, on September 10,
1419 (Mvns.M iv. 179), caused bis son to take this step.
A nnn Jttg. A.
TKt emperor
Bifftimund
commriM tnio
Kino MnHl
0MHtnns%
etXtoa
iruitaoj
peace.
Atruce
Mptrtta
200
VIII. HENRY V.
A mbaaxulort
fromK.
ffenrie to the
French king.
The articles
ofthtptfKt
ccnelmltti
betnene ting
ffenru and
the French
king.
ground
■Wnd
■boat.' J
[Tho'let'to
Henry"*
terin*.]
Bent to the duke of Burgognic, his vncle the duke of Excester, the
earle of Salisburie, the biahop of Elie, the lord Fanhope, the lord
Fitz Hugh, sir Iohn Robsert, and sir Philip Hall, with diuerse
doctors, to the number of fiue hundred horsBe ; which in the
companie of the duke of Burgogme came to the citie of Trois the
eleuenth of March. The king, the queenc, and the ladie Katharine
them recciued, and hartilie welcomed ; shewing great signes and
tokens of loue and ami tie.
After a few daics they fell to counccll, in which at length it was
concluded, that king Hcnrie of England should come to Trois, and
marie the ladie Katharine ; and the king hir father after his death
should make him heire of hie realme, crowue, and dignitie. It was
also agreed, that king Hcnrie, during his father in lawea life, should
in his steed haue the whole gouernement 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 France (11. 24-28) how he has laboured to bring them
Vnto this Barre and Royall enterview, . , ,
Perhaps Shakspcre supposed that the same course was taken at
Troyes as had been adopted at Meulan, where, on May 29, 1419, l Henry,
Queen Isabolle, 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
[Hoi iii. 569/2/2.] barred about and ported, wherin his tents
were pight in a princelie maner.
Burgundy winds up his speech by desiring to know "the Let " (1.
65) which hinders the return of Peace to France. Henry answers
(11. 68-71):
If, Duke of Burgonie, you would the Peace,
Whose want giues growth to th'imperfections
Wlucli you haue cited, you must buy that Peace
With full accord to all our iust demands, . . .
Bhakspere may have been thinking of the unsuccessful close of the
conference at Meulan, when Henry,
[Hoi iii. 569/2/43.] mistrusting that the duko of Burgognie
was the verie let and stop of his desires, said vnto him before his
departure: "Coosine, we will haue your kings daughter, and all
1 RymeT) ix. 769.
I
VIII. HENRY V.
201
" things that we demand with hir, or we will driuc your king and
"you out of his realme."
Charles VL then retires to scrutinize the treaty of peace ; and is
attended by 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, goo with the King ; . - •
Henry went to Troyes,
[Hoi. iiL 572/2/8,] accompanied with his brethren the dukes rrbeEngUih
of Clarence and Glocester, the earles of Warwike, Salisburie, Hwirt?
Huntington, . . .l Tror<*1
A revision of the treaty, after Henry's arrival at Troyes, is noticed
by Holinshed, who says that
[HoL iii. 572/2/32.] the two kings and their councetl assembled
togither diuerse dates; wherein the first concluded agreement was [ThetrMtj
in diuerse points altered and brought to a certeinctio, according to
the effect aboue mentioned.2
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 capitall Demand, eompria'd
Within the fore-ranke of our Articles. — 11. 06, 07.
The first article of the treaty of Troyes runs thus :
[HoL iii. 573/i/6i.] 1 First, it is accorded betweene our father
and vb, that forsomuch as by the bond of matrimonii made for the
good of the peace betweene vs and our moat deere bcloued
Katharine,8 daughter of our said father, & of our most deere
1 Charles (St. Denys, vi. 410), Isabelle, and Clarence (Jnv., 480), were at
Troyes when Henry married Katharine. On December 30, 1419, Gloucester
was appointed Warden of England because Bedford bad been summoned to
join Henry. — Rym*r% ix. 830. Gloucester was to hold office during the King's
absence, — Ibid. From what Exeter wiy« in a letter written at Troyes, on May
23, 1420, I infer that he was present at the convention and betrothal. — Rymcr^
ix. 907, 908. On June 4, 1420, Henry resumed his campaign (Getta, 142) ;
and, in July, 1420, he had with him, at the siege of Melun, Clarence, Bedford,
ExeteT, Huntingdon, and Warwick.— Qttta, 144. Wal$.t ii. 335.
* See excerpt at p. 200 above.
* In May, 1419, Katharine was at Meulan (p. 200 above), having been
brought thither " by hir mother onelie to the intent that the king of England,
beholding hir excellent beautie, should be so inflamed and rapt in hir loue,
that he, to obtcine hir to his wife, should the sooner agree to a gentle peace
202
VIII. HENRY V.
(Filial
Tcven'iiro
di»' fr.UTl
Henry to
Knthnrine'e
parents.]
tn*>nrytol»
ht\ In! heir
of France.]
King IhnrU
cvmmtth lo
Trott (0 iht
FrrneK king.
Kinp llenrit
■id u->
moother Isabel! his wife, the same diaries and Isabell beene made
our father and moother : therefore them as our father and moother
wo shall haue and worship, as it fitteth and seemcth so worthie a
prince and prineesse 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 (11. 364-370) i " Whore your Maiestie domands, * That the
King of France, hauing any occasion to write for matter of Graunt,1
shall name your Highnesse in this forme, and with this addition, in
French: Nostre IrescJter jtfz Henry, Roy <? Angtetsrre^ Hertttre de
Frattnce ; and thus in Latin**. : Praclarissimus Filius 7ioster Hcnricue,
Rex Anglim, <fe litres Francice.1 *'
This article appears in Holinshed with the same mistranslation of
treschier 3 as is found in Bhakspere's text.
[Hoi. iiL 574/2/69.] 25 Also that our said father, during his
life, shall name, call, and icrite vb in French in this manor : Nostre
treschier filz Henry roy iTEnghierre herders de France. And in
Latins in this maner: Pradaris&imus Jiiiits noster Henricus rex
Anglvr, <£ heercs Franeics,
Isabelle having invoked God'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 ! 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
[Hoi. iii. 572/2/26.] went to visit the French king, the quecne,
and the Indie Katharine, whome he found in saint Peters church,
where was a verie ioious meeting betwixt them ; (and this was on
the twentith daie of Maie ;) ■ and there the king of England and the
ladie Katharine were affianced
and louing concord,"— HU. in. 569/a/n. The conferences at Meulan led to
no result, "sane onlie that a certeine sparke of burning lotie was kindled in
the kings heart by the eight of the ladie Katharine. "—Hot. iii. 569/2/38.
1 By article S3 it is stipulated that, as a rule, "grants of offices and gifU
. , . shall be written and proceed vnder the name and seale of " Charles VL
—Hoi 574/2/51.
1 Praxlarimmne] Hoi. edd. 1 and 2. Prtchtrissimns Halle (ed. 1550).
Prccharusimnu Halle (edd. of 1548).
3 May 21. In a letter written at Troves on May 22, 1420, and addressed
to the Duke of Gloucester, "Warden of England, Henry says : " Upon Moneday,
the zx. day of this present Moueth of May, wee arrived in tais Towno of
VIII. HENRY V.
203
When the terms of the treaty were finally settled,
[Hoi. iii. 572/2/37.] the kings aware for their parts to obserae
all the couenants of this league and agreement. Likewise the
duke of Burgognio, 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 Holinsbed derived from Halle.
[Hoi. iii 683/1/59.] This Henric was a king, of life without spot ;
a prince whome all men loued, and of none disdained ; a capteine
against whome fortune neuer frowned, nor mischance once spurned ;
whose people him so seuere a iusticer both loued and obeied,
(and so humane witball,) that he left no offense vnpunished, nor
freendship vnrewarded ; a terrour to rebels, and suppressour of
sedition ; his vertues notable, his qualities most praise- worth ie.
In strength and nimblenesse of bodto from his youth few to
him comparable ; for in wrestling, leaping,1 and running, no man
well able to compare. In casting of great iron barres and beauie
stones he excelled commonlie all men ; neuer shrinking at cold, nor
slothfull for heat; and, when he most laboured, his head oommonlic
vncouered ; no more wearie of harnesse than a light eloake ; vcrie
valiant-lie abiding at needs both hunger and thirst; so manfull of
mind as neuer scene to quinch at a wound, or to smart at the
paine; to turne his nose from euil sauonr, or to close2 his eies
from smoke or dust ; do man more moderate in eating and drinking,
with diet not delicate, but rather more meet for men of warre, than
Tht com-
of Inn 'j
Btnrit the
fifl.tui*
■gmuM 9%
rnatj fieri
Haiti, \V2\.
IBWTf'a
htr. mjgm,
ability, and
endurance]
Troyes ; And on the Morowe hadden a Convention betwix our Moder the
QoMoe of France, and nnr Brother the Due of Burgoi^ne (aa Commissairs of
the King of France our Fader for hiB Party) and Us in our own Pcraonne, for
onr Partie : And th' Accorde of the . . . Pees Perpetuell was there Sworne by
both the aayde Com miaea ires, yn name of our foresaid Fader ; And semblubly
by Us in cure owne Name : . . . AUo at the saide Convention was Mariagc
betrnwthed betwixt Ue and onre Wyf, Doghter of our forsaid Fader the King
of France." — Jtymer, ix. 906, 907. The date of the marriage is given in a
private letter written at Sena by " Johan OforL" on June 6, 1420 : - And, as
touchyng Tydynees, The Kyng owre Sovereyn Loord was Weddid, with greet
Solempnitee, in the Cathedrule Chirche of Treys, abowte Myd day on Trinite
Sunday " [June a].— Rymtr, ix. 910.
1 In his wooing of Katharine, Henry saya (V. ii. 142-145) : " If I could
winne a Lady at Leape-frogge,or by vawting into my Saddle with my Armour
on my backe, (vnder the correction of bragging be it spoken,) I should quickly
leane into a Wife."
% to turnc . . . or to cIom] not to turne . . . nor clem HoL
204
VIII. HENRY V.
[Any honest
pcnon
ii. rig mmk
t . Qn .-a
mealtime*,
and be
would tfadly
hoarcauSM
birnaetf.]
!!!•■ rtqpl
little, but
very
[Hlaprcat
ability la
warfare.)
t Ft.---.--1i iTJ".
from
wantonness
and
avarice. 3
(Equanimity
in good or
evil
fortune.]
ISonntifol-
UCS».)
for princoB or tender stomachs. Euerie honest person was per-
mitted to come to him, sitting at mealo ; where either secretlie or
opcnlie to declare his mind. High and wcightie causes, as well
betwecne men of warro and other, he would gladlie hearo ; and
cither determined them himeelfe, or else for end committed them
to others. He slept verie little, but that vcrie soundlie, in so
much that when his soldiers soong at nights, or minstrels plaied,
he then slept fastest ; of courage iauinciblc, of purpose immutable ;
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 the; said
and intended : of his deuises and purposes, few, before the thing
was at the point to be done, should be made priuie.
He had such knowledge in ordering and guiding an armic, with
Buch a gift to incourage his people, that the Frenchmen had
constant opinion he could neuer be vanquished in battel! Such
wit, such prudence, and such policie withatl, that lie neuer e-nter-
priscd any thing, before he had fullie debated and forecast all the
maine chances that might happen ; which doono, 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 sailing 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 htm l ; vcrtucs in deed in such an estate
of souereigntie, youth, and power, as verie rare, so right commend-
able in the highest degree. So staied of mind and countenance
beside, that neuer iolie or triumphant for victoric, nor sad or
damped for losse or misfortune. For bounttfulnesse and liberalise,
no man more free, gentle, and franke, in bestowing rewards to all
persons, according to their deserts : for his saieng was, that he
neuer desired monie to keepe, but to giue and spend.
Although that storie properlie Berues not for theme of praise
or dispraise, yet what in breuitie may well be romembrod, in truth
1 Hcl. (od. \) and Halle read : "he . . . didde continually absteyne . . .
from laeciuious lyuing and blynde nuance.''
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
205
would not be forgotten by sloth ; were it but onlie to remaine as a
spectacle for magnaninritie to baue alwaies in eie, and for incour-
agement to nobles in honourable enterprises. Knowen be it there-
fore, of person and forme was this prince rightlie representing his J^SScm
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 Bpeech, and of
great grace and power to persuade : for conclusion, a maiestie was
he that both liued & died a paterne in prlncehood, a lode-starre l in t^Jf^
honour, and mirrour2 of magnificence ; the more highlie exalted in
his life, the more decpelio lamented at his death, and famous to prl
the world alwaie.
• * min»ur '
to ut lirr
1
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
If the range of T/ieJir$t Part of Hairy the Sixt a were measured by
historic dates, not by the order in which occurrences aro 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 funeral of Henry V. 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,6 Orleans and Poitiers
1 In the Epilogue (Hen. F.f L 6) he is called ' This Starre of England.'
a The Chorus of Act II. (L 6) styles Uenry "the Mirror of all Christian
Kings." The original, which Hoi. paraphrased, is "the mirror of Christen-
dome."— HaJU, 113.
s In quoting the three Parts of Henry FT., I follow the text of Fi (1023).
4 This date is given in Fab. (593), and Wyre. (it 454). The F, entry is :
"Enter the Funerall of King Henry the Fift, attended on by the Duke of
Bedford, Regent of France ; the Duke of Gloster, Protector ; the Duke of
Exeter, Warwicke, the Bishop of Winchester, and the Duke of Somerset" The
corresponding personages in Hoi. iii. oH-TViq (Halle, 114) are: "Thomas
duke of ExcesU'r, Richard [Reauchamp] earle of Waxwike, . . . the earle of
Mortaij/ne, Edmund Beaufort [afterwards Duke of Somerset], ..."
* The 1st Mesa anticipates the loss of Rheims (1. 60) and Gisors (1. 61).
Charles VII. received the keys of the former place in 1429 (fVaurin, V. iv.
315) ; the latter was surrendered to the French in 1449 (SUeenxm, 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.
206
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
[Cfculei
VI.'i
diiposwl the
French to
revolt)
(EiUiwth*
dissension
of the chief
Eiipllfih
]>r . I | M Mj,i
Council'*
neglect to
■end rcin-
fonvnmntji,
**an«d the
1 - < of
France.]
wore not in our possession at Henry V/s death; and Guienno — 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 : 1
[Hoi, iii. 685/2/13. Halle, 15.] And suerlie the death of this
king Charles caused alterations in France. For a great manie of
the 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 ; witli all
indeuour to driue the English nation out of the French territories.
Whereto they were tho more earnestlie bent, and thought it a
thing of greater facilitic, because of king Henries yooug ycares ;
whome (because ho was a child) they esteemed not, but with ono
consent reuolted from their swome fealtie : . . .
His assertion* that these reverses were caused by " want of Men
and Money " (I. 69) and " Factions" (1. 71) among the English nobles,
seems to embody a remark of Holinshed on the loss of Paris in 1436.
[Hoi. iii 6I2/2/65. Halle, 179.] But heere is one cheefe
point to bo noted, that either the disdeine amongest the cheefe
peerea of tho realine of England, (as yee haue hoard,) or the
negligence of the kings coimcell, (which did not foresee dangers
to come,) was the Iorso of tho whole dominion of Franco, betweene
the riuera of Somme 9 and Marnc ; and, in especial], 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 carrio a bill : . . .
A second messenger brings tidings (1. 92) tliat
The Dolphin Charles is crowne*d King in Rheimes.
1 If so, the dramatist ignores what Hoi. adds (585/2/30) : " The duke of
Bedford, being grcatlie mooned with these sudden changes, fortified his townes
both with garrisons of men, monition, and vittels ; assembled also a great arm in
of Englishmen and Normans ; and so effectuouslie exhorted them to continue
faith full to their liege and lawfull lord yuong king Heitrie, that manie of the
French capteins willinglie sware to king Henri e fealtie and obedience ; by
whose example the cummunaltie did the same. Thus the people quieted, and
the countrie established in order, nothing was minded but warre, and nothing
spoken of but conquest." Their defeat at Verneuil — 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,
' tiurmnc] Ualle. Sone Hoi. ed. 2. Soane Hoi. ed. 1.
IX* HENRY VL PART I.
207
This ceremony was not performed till 1429,1 but, if the second
messenger's words bo construed freely, the following passage is sufficient
warrant for his news :
[Sol. Hi. 585/2/42. SaUe, 115.] The Dolphin, which lay the
same time in the citie of Poitiers, after his fathers deceasse,3 caused gjj ' Wn
himselfe to be proclamed king of France, by the name of Charles KSjS1*4
the seuenth ; and, in good hope to recoucr his patrimonii*, with an
haultic courage preparing war, assembled a great annie : and first
the warre began by light skirmishes, but after it grew into uiaine
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 Patay. On June 13, 1429,3 about six weeks after
the siege of Orleans — dramatized in two subsequent scenes — had been
raised, Joan, Aloncon, and Dunois, followed by an army numbering
[Sol. iii. 6OI/2/17. Salic, 601.] betweene twentie and three
and twentie thousand men,
. . . fought with the lord Talbot (who had with him not past
six thousand men) neere vnto a village in Bcausse called Pataie :
at which battoll the charge was giucn by the French so vpon a
sudden, that the Englishmen had not leisure to put thcniselues
in araie, after they had put vp their stakes before their archers ; so
that there was no remedie but to fight at aduenture. This battell
continued by the space of three long houres ; for the Englishmen,
though they were ouerpressed with multitude of their enimies, yet
they neuer fled backe one foot, till their capteine the lord Talbot
was sore wounded at the backe, and so taken.
Then their hearts began to faint, and they fled ; in which flight
were alaine about twelue hundred, and fortie taken, of whomo the
lord Talbot, the lord Scales,* the lord Ilungerford, & air Thomas
Rampston woro cheefe. . . . From this battell departed without
tfichoL
Mm
hm
§aUk Hail.
[Thu Enj,-1 sh
tt/iii m>t t:nic
U> form,
after atakea
had 1mm
planted
iwfnre their
archer*.)
[Talbot was
wouwU'd In
the back,
and taken.)
OrtatlaaM
on y KnijUth
tuU. Th*
Umis Talbmt,
Statu, «•*./
Ifunfferjtird
taken.
1 Hoi. iii. 6OI/2/74. Charlea VII. was crowned at Poitiers, in 1482 ; * et
de ce jour [the day of Charles VI. 'a death] en avant, par toua ceux tenant Ron
purti, fut uoramd roi de France, comma etoit son pere en lion vivant." — Mons.,
v. 10. Charlea VII. was crowned at Rheims on July 17, 1439. — H'fiMrm, V.
iv. 317.
* Charlea VL died on October 81, 1422.— A*W., iv. 416.
• CKron. de la PuceUe, ix. 334.
4 Thomas Scales, Lord Scales, a character in 2 Hen. VI,, IV. v.
208
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
[Sir J aim
Fastolfe
rctreatnd
' without
ante stroke
atrikcn.']
Hit aiiuise
(to hi*
brethren
ud nobles,]
tpon hit
dtath btd.
(He willed
Uicm(l)to
livu in con-
cord, and (2)
to maintain
friendship
with the
Duke or
Burgundy;
and <S> be
tnmim
tli-rn to
yield any
territory to
Charles the
Dauphin, or
( 0 to release
the Duke of
QriNM hihI
prince*.
He advised.
(l)that
Qlonceiter
be Protector
of England
during
Henry VL'b
nonage: ami
h) Bedford
Regent of
France, with
Burgundy's
help. Be
anie stroke striken air Iolut Fastolfe;1 the same ycare for his
valiantnesse elected into the order of the garter.
Towards the close of the scene, Exeter says (11. 162-164) :
Remember > Lords, your Oathes to Henry sworne ;
Eyther to quell the Dolphin vtterly,
Or bring him in obedience to your yoake.
When Henry V. lay a-dying at Bois de Vincennea, he was visited by
[Hoi iil 583/1/4- Abridged from HalU, 111.] the dukes of
Bedford and Glocester, & the earles of Salisburie and Warwike,
whome the king louinglie welcomed, and seemed glad of their
presence.
Now, when ho saw thorn ponsife for his aicknesse and great
danger of life wherein he presentlie lair, he, with manie graue,
courteous, and pithie words, recomforted them the best he could ;
ami therewith exhorted them to be trustic and faith I'm II vnto his
sonno, and to soo that ho might be well and vcrtuouslic brought
yp. And, as concerning the rule and gouernanc© 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-
tinual! peace and amitie with the duke of Burgognie ; and neuer to
make treatie with Charles that called himselfe Dolphin of Vienao,
by the which airio part, cither of the crowne of France, or of the
duches of Normandic and Guien, may be lessened or diminished ;
and further, that the duke of Orlcanco and the other princes
should still remaino prisoners, till his sonne came to lawfull age ;
least, returning home againe, they might kindle more fire in one
daie than might be quenched in three.
He further aduiscd 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 bo regent of France;8 commanding
1 The dramatist was not content with making a messenger relate FaatoUVs
cowardice, but must needs exhibit it in some fictitious skirmish near Rouen
(III. ii 104-100) ; which one might have suspected to be Pntay refought, had
not Sir John, alluding possibly to that disastrous battle, said, " We are like to
haue the ouerthrow againe,"
* Under the year 1422; "The duke of Bedford was deputed regent of
IX. HENRY VI, PART I.
209
l*im with fire and eword to persecute the Dolphin, till ho had
either brought him to reason and obeisance, or else to driue aud
ei.pt'11 him out of the rcalnie of France. . . .
The noble men present promised to obserue his precepts, and
to performo his desires ; but their hearts were so pensifo, and
replenished with sorrow, that one could not for weeping behold an
other.
Two more speeches call for remark. Exeter had been "ordayn'd"
Henry "VX's "speciall Gouernor" (1. 171), but my next excerpt shows
that Winchester held a similar post 1 and was therefore not a " lack out
of Office "(1- 175).
[Hoi. iii. 585/1/28. Halle, 115.] The custodie of this yoong
prince was appointed to Thomas duke of Excester, & to Hcnrie
Bcauford bishop of Winchester.
Ere leaving the stage, Winchester expresses an intention to steal
the King from Eltham (11. 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
Olocester, or of the kings counccll, purposed and disposed him to
set hand on the kings person, and to haue rcmooued him from
Eltham, the place that he was in, to Windsor, to the intent to put
him in gouernance as him list.
Act I. bc. ii. — Neither Charles VII. nor Ren6 of Anjou was present
at the siege of Orleans, but Dunois (the Bastard of Orleans) commanded
the French garrison, and Alencon — 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, Alencon, and Rene, to succour Orleans. (The stage direc-
tion after 1. 21 U : " Here Alarum ; they are beaten back by the English,
with great losse.")
[Hoi. iii. 599/1/30. Halle, 145.] After the siege had continued
full three weekes,2 the bastard of Orleance issued out of the gate of
ford (3)
t*> bring U»
Dan phi a to
..fw),.?. -i ,
or to expel
l.lm !r...iu
France.)
[All
prom I Bed
CUIll|>llBDC«
Wit]. thrflo
t*Mta]
[Eif ter and
Winchester
appointed
guardians of
Henry VX1
[WIrtfcpjhi
meant to
remove the
K :111c from
Eltham.)
France, and the duke of Olocester was ordeiued protectour of England " ; . • .
— lid. iii. 585/1 /30.
1 According to Oesta (159), one of Henry's last instructions was : " A vin-
culum menm duceni Exoniae et arunoulum zueum Henricum episcopum
Wintoniae una. cum comite Worwici circa regimen 111 ii tnei . . . attendeutes
fore volo et deccrno." With this agrees CHron. OiUs {Hen. VI. )t 8.
3 HalU (146) — Hol.'s authority — was mistaken. The bridge
e-tower was
P
210
HENRY VI. TART I.
[LHinotl's
•ally
It I'll ad ]
A tntlworke
at Orlranct
(ai.rn fljj the
Engli*li.J
[Thcbul.
wark and
bmhje-tower
entrimtod to
Will Mil
■]
W. P.
am it
TUUt.
Xri cMronir.
tie Bvttaiyn*.
if iMfer
cafltOt him
Jtobcrt.
Jtm* *i* Art
l-HStll ,l<
dine
the bridge, and fought with the Englishmen ; but they receiued
him with so 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
enimies, that they entered with them. 13 The hulworke of the
bridge, with a great tower standing at the end of the same, was
taken incontincntlie by the Englishmen, who hchaued themselnes
right raliantlie vndcr the conduct of their couragious captcine, aa
at this assault, so in diuerse skirmishes against the French ; partlie
to keepe possession of that which Hcnrie the fift had by his mag-
nanirnitie & puissance atchiued, as also to inlarge the same. . . .
In this conflict, manie Frenchmen were taken, but more were
Blaine; and the keeping of the tower and bulworkc was committed
to William Gla[n]sdale esquicr. By the taking of this bridge the
passage was stopped, that neither men nor vittels could go or come
by that waio.
The siege of Orleans, begun by Salisbury on October 12, 1428, waa
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;2 the
event which is dramatized in this scene. I quote the account given of
her by Ilolinshed :
[Hoi. iii. GOO/2/2.] In time of this siege at Orleance (French
stories saie), the first weeke of March 1428[-29], vnto CharloB the
Dolphin, at Clnnou, as he was in verie great care and studio how
to wrestle against the English nation, by one Robert3 Ba[u]drieourfc,
captcine of Vafujcouleurfs], (made after marshall of France by the
Dolphins creation,*) was caried a yoong wench of an eightecne
yeeres old, called lone Are,6 by name of hir father (a Borie
captured on October 24, 1428, and the attack was made by the English. — Chron.
iU la Pnrdlej ix, 284. The siege began on October 12, 1428.— Ibid., ix. 281.
1 The siege was raised on May 8, 1429. — Citron, de la Pucdlt\ ix. 321.
1 Joan reached Chinon on March 6, 1429. — Continuation of Guillaume de
Nanzia (Quicherat, iv. 313). Her first audience of Charles waa deferred until
the third day (March 9) after her arrival. — Letter of De Boulainvilliers toFilippo
Maria Visconti [Qnicherat, v. 118 ; cp. iii. 4). s Robert] Veier Hoi.
. • * An error. Hubert's son (Jean de Baudricourt) was made a marshal of
France by Charles VIII.— Anselme> vii. 113.
* The earliest instance of **d'Arc" occurs in 1576. — NonveUes reefterehes
anr lafamilU rt tut le nam d* Jeanne Daret par M. V&llet de Viriville, p. 30.
M. de Viriville cites letters of ennoblement, dated December, 14-20, and addressed
" Puellae Joannae Dare de Dompremcyo." — Ibid, p, 16. In this document
her father is called "Jacobum Dare."
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
211
shccpheard) lames of Arc, and Isabell hir mother ; brought yd
poorelie in thoir trade of keeping cattell; borne at Domprin
(therefore reported by Bale, lone Domprin) ypon Mcuse in
Lorraine, within the diocessc of Thoule. Of fauour was Bhe
counted likcsome, of person stronglie made and manlie, of courage
great, bardie, and stout withall i an vuderstander of counsels though
she were not at them ; great sembtnnce of chastitie both of bodio
and behauiour ; the name of Iesus in hir mouth about all hir
businesses ; humble, obedient ; and fasting diueree daies in the
weeke. A person (as their bookes make hir) raised vp by power
diuinc, onelie for succour to the French estate then deepclie 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 sho neuer was
afore,) all the waie and by nightertale safelie did she lead : then nt
the Dolphins sending by hir assignement, from saint Katharins
church of Fierbois in Touraine, (where she neuer had beene and
knew not,) in a secret place there among old iron, appointed she
hir sword to be sought out and brought hir, (that with Hue floure
delices was grauen on both sides,1) wherewith she fought and did
manie slaughters by hir owne hands. On warfar rode she in
armour * cap a pie & mustered as a man ; before hir an ensigne all
white, wherin was Iesus Christ painted with a floure delice in his
hand.
Unto the Dolphin into his gallcrie when first she was brought ;
and he, shadowing himsclfe behind, setting other gaie lords before
him to trie hir cunning, from all the companie, with a salutation,
(that indeed marz all the matter,) Bhe pickt him out alone ; 2 who
therevpon had hir to the end of the gallerie, where she held him
on houre in secret and priuate talke, that of his prluie chamber
waB thought verie long,3 and thcreforo would hnue broken it oflF;
but he made them a signe to let hir saie on. In which (among
other), as likelie it was, Bhe set out vnto him the singular feats (for
sooth) giuen hir to vnderstand by renelation diuine, that in vertue
J Cp. 1 Hen. VI., I. H. 98-101. » Cp. 1 Hen. VI., I. ii. 60 67.
• " JUigneir. My Lord, me thinkes, is very long m talke" — 1 Ben. VI.t I.
it 116.
/» rita
rmMmi
[Joan'i
aspect,
clatrToyant
power, and
IHer
perilous
juurne) to
Charlu's
Court.]
(Her «word
wim found
HUM "M
ii. i -i Bt
Kntharitto't
afcank ii
1. :t. ..-.|
Grand ckro,
4.
■ From Ittad
tO foot |«M
she clad la
armour).
[Her
en sign.)
made aome
of hli JoHi
stand Ik Fore
Ma, t.ut »ue
pftojtad iimi
out}
Thit ittlnta-
Uon appear-
ftA ttflcr
k*m. {See
u | ■>.
below.]
(Hla
(vmrtirra
thought that
alic held
t'lmrli s l.iug
In talk.]
In p rami
chrame.
212
IX.
HEXRV VI. PART I.
IflN
iiroumm
Orlwuit, and
drive the
English
from
France.]
[Charles
gave bor an
army, and
jiIi.- r-lu v..i
Orleans, and
mined him
to be
crowned at
]
Dittcntian
betwUtUu
dnktof
Qloct»ter ami
the hishojl of
UiHchattr.
(by Win-
obtmUtt'a
of that sword shee should atchiuc ; which were, how with honor and
victoria shee would raise the siege at Orleance, set him in state of
the crownc of France, and driue the English out of the countrie,
thereby ho to inioie the kingdome alone. Heercvpon he hartcned
at full, appointed hir a sufficient arraio with absolute power to lead
them, and they obedientlie to doo as she bad then. Then fell she
to worke, and first defeated, indeed, the siege at Orleance ; by and
by incouraged him to crowne himsclfe king of France at Reims,
that a little before from the English she had woone. Thus after
pursued she manic bold enterprises to our great displeasure a two
yeare togither : for the time she kept in state vntill she were taken
and for heresie and witcherie burned ; as in particularities hereafter
followeth.
Act I. bc. iii. — I preface this scene by quoting what Holtnehed saya
about the open dissension of Gloucester and Winchester. In H25
[Sol iii. 590/2/6a Salle, 130.] fell a great diuision in the
rcalmc of England ; which of a sparkle was like to haue grown to a
great flame. For whether the bishop of Winchester, called Henrie
Beaufort, (sonne to Iohn duke of Lancaster by his third wife,)
enuicd the authorise of Ilumfreie duke of Glocester, protoctour of
the rcalme; 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, 1426.1
[JM iii. 591/1/68. Salle, 130.] 1 First, whereas he, being
protectour, and defendour of this land, desired the Tower to be
opened to him, and to lodge him therein, Richard Wooduile*
esquicr (hauing at that time the charge of the keeping of the
1 Parliament met at Leicester on February 18, 1426. — Rot. Pari, iv. 295/1.
On March 7, 1426, Gloucester and Winchester agreed to submit their differ-
ences to the arbitration of a committee of the Upper Hou*e, — Rot. Pari, iv.
897/2. Gloucester's five articles are not in Rot. Pari., but Winchester's answers
to articles 4 and 5 appear there (298/1-2).
1 Created Earl Rivers on Muy '24, 1466.— Dwjdale, iii. 231/r. Father of
Elizabeth Wondvile, who married Sir John Grey, and (secondly) Edward
IV. Woodvile's son Anthony is Earl Rivera in Rich. III.
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
213
within the
Tower. J
Tower) refused his desire ; and kept the same Tower against him JJjJjjJj to
vnduhe and against reason, by the commandement of my said lord JJiouLster
of Winchester; . . .
Winchester styles Gloucester a " most vsurping Proditor" (L 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 ill. 591/2/33. Halle, 131.] 4 Item, my said lord of
Glocestcr saith and affirmeth, that our souereigne lord, his brother,
that was king Hcnrie the fift, 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 spaniel), there was
on anight a man spied and taken behind a *tapct of the said
chamber ; the which man was deliuered to the earle of Arundell to
be examined vpon the cause of his being there at that time ; the
which so examined, at that time confessed that he was there by
the stirring and procuring of my said lord of Winchester ; ordeincd
to haue slaine the said prince there in his bed : wherefore the said
earle of Arundell let sacke him l foorthwith, and drowned him in
the Thames.
Obeying their master's command (1. 54), " GIoRters men beat out the
Cardinalls 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.
After 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 EfFucyon of blode shortly
therupon, ne had ben the discressyon of the Mayre and his
Brother, that exorted the people, by all Polytike meane, to kepe
the kynges peas.
Act L sc. iv. — Lords Salisbury, and Talbot, Sir William GlansdaJe,
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" (U. 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
• Or hang-
ing.
(Winchester
suborned *
man to
murder lbs
Prince of
Wales,
•.it. rwwdi
neurj V.J
1 1 < tanai
hlio to bt
put tn a
sack.]
[The Mayor
i.f Lonissj
eBfjftj t<4
loodshod.1
214
IX. HISXKY VI. PART I
The lard
Talbot ron-
*>9
he was not released until 1433 l (Holinshed was wrong in saying that
Talbot was ransomed " with out delaie "), and the historic date of this
scene is 1423. In 1431 an English force defeated some French troops
at Beaurais.2 Many of the Frenchmen were taken.
[Hoi. iii. 6O6/2/34. Halle, 164.] Amongst other of the cheefest
prisoners, that valiant capteine, Poton 3 dc 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
unhistorical. Salisbury was dead, and the battle of Patay — which
deprived Talbot of his liberty — had not been fought, when Bedford
[Hoi. iii. 599/2/48. Halle, 146.] appointed the earle of
Suffolko to be his lieutenant and capteine of the siege ; and ioined
with him the lord Scales, the lord Talbot/ sir Iohn Fastolfe, and
diucrse other right valiant capteins.
The following excerpt shows that the circumstances of Salisbury's
and Gargrave's deaths (U. 1-22 \ 60-88) are faithfully presented :
[Hoi iii. 599/2/5. Halle, 145.] In the tower that was taken
rrhjKngH*b aj tfie bridge end (as before you haue heard) there was an high
OriSuS**** chamber, hauing a grate full of barres of iron, by the which a man
from ■
grated
window in
iTmlbotfct
the ulego of
(Mhu]
might looke all the length of the bridge into the citie ; at which
JhTwdR^ grate manic of the checfe 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
pcece of ordinance directlie against the window.
It bo chanced, that the nine and fiftith daic 5 after the siege was
laid, the earle of Salisburie, sir Thomas Gargraue, and William
Gla[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-gunner, pereeiuing men looking out
at the window, tooke his match, (as his father had taught him; who
was goue 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
frfMM 1
jrun tgalnrt
tin* tooting
hole (ij>y-
h t-.-j. 1
[One day,
when
BalUbury,
■ndGlAM-
dale were
looking out
»tt»w
window, thi
ion
■ •• ■!. nri
mortally
woandfd,
Salmlmry
and
0»rgrmvc]
Tlit utrU of
&att4'jun<
1 itymtr, x. 536. ■ Journal, xv. 427, 428.
■ Poton] Ponton Hoi.
* Talbot and the others left Jargeau for Orleans on December 29, 1428.—
Chron. dt In Puozlle, ix. 287. * See p. 209, Q. 2, above.
IX. HENRY VI. PART I,
215
awaie one of his eit\s. and the nde of his cheeke.1 Sir Thomas [«nd8ir
Thoinu
Gargraue was likewise striken, and died within two dales. SS^**1
After a messenger bringB news that Charles and Joan are coming
to raise the siege (11. 100-103), and during the two remaining scene* of
Act I., 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 aruiie" (p. 212 above), she
[27b/. iii. 600/2/68. Halle, 148.] roade from Poictiers to BIoIb,
and there found men of warre, vittels, and munition, readie to be
conueied to Orleance.
Heere was it knowno 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 \jt. 601] night, and in a great rainc and. thunder, rj<*n«it«i»
[Cp. L iv. 97] entred into the citie s with all their vittels, artillerie,
and other neccssarie prouislons. The next daie the Englishmen
boldlio assaulted the towne, but the Frenchmen defended the
wallea, so as no great feat worthie of memorie chanced that daie [^u^lfllW,
betwixt them, though the Frenchmen were amazed at the valiant 0rieM1*]
attempt of the Englishmen : whervpon the bastard of Orleance
gaue knowledge to the duke of Alanson, in what danger tlio towne
Btood without his present helpe ; who, comming within two leagues
1 Mmis. (v. 194) snys that Salisbury "ninsi bleewj, , , . vequit l'espace de
huit jours." He died at Meung, uau bout de huit jours de saditc bleBeure," —
Ibid. If tbia 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 post mortem dated in January, 1429, — whicn were examined by Mr.
Oswald Barron,— that the Earl died on November 3, 1428. The date Nov. 3
agree* with the following: record of a contemporary chronicler ; '* le regent de
France . . . partial de Paris . . . le mercredi, veille de Saint-Martin d'yver
[Nov. 10] mil quatre MKtt viugt-huit. Et le comte de Salcebry estoit mort la
aepmaine devant." — Journal, xv. 379. The date Oct. 27 ia not> however,
n-coneileable with Alans.'* assertion (v. 194) that Salisbury was wounded on
the third day of the siege. According to the more exact Chron. rfe la Pweile
the siege began on October 12 (ix. 281, 2B2) ; the bridge-tower was taken bv
the English on October 24 (ix. 284, 285) ; and, on October 25, the French
fortified their end of the bridge and planted guns to tatter the lower (ix. 285,
286). After October 25 "adviut un jour" on which Salisbury was mortally
wi Minded (ix. 286). It does not necessarily follow that, because Mens, gave a
wron-; MM itiTlt], — the third day of the siege, — he was therefore mistaken in
regard lo the length of time during which Salisbury lingered between life and
death. The beginning of the siege is vaguely dated by Mon». "environ le
mois d'octobre." — v. 192.
1 On April 29, 1429.— Chron. de la Puctlle, ix. 309.
216
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
ntterodj
[Suffolk
withdrew to
the rutle,
and tent a
mecMOger
to Tidbot.
ask;ng for
help.]
• Or t-athtr
Gvcht.
Qocht.
of the citie, gaue knowledge to them within, that they Bhould be
readie the next daie to receiue him.
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 sharpo an
incounter, that they, not able to withstand his puissance, tied (like
sheepe before tin* woolfe) againe into the citie, with great losso of men
and small artillorie." — Hoi, iii. 601/1/34. 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 Ioane de Puzel,
driuing Englishmen before her") and subsequent ropulso. After Talbot's
successful defence, the English vainly offered battle on open ground,
and retired "in good order" from Orleans {Hot. iii. 6OI/1/22-53).
Their departure is indicated by " Alarum, Retreat, Flourish " ; but the
preceding alarums and skirmish (11. 26, 32) are mere stage business.
Act II. sc. i. — Talbot's recapture of Orleans is fictitious, but, on
May 28, H28,1 Le Mans was regained under circumstances somewhat
like those dramatized in this scene. We learn that u diuers of the
cheefe rulers " of Le Mans agreed with Cliarles VII. to admit the French
into their city. The enterprise proved successful, and the English
[Hoi iii. 698/1/70. HalU, 143.] withdrew without any tarri-
ance into the castoll, which standeth at the gate of saint Vincent,
whereof was constable Thomas Gowcr esquier ; whither also flod
mania Englishmen ; so as for vrging of the enimie, prease of the
number, and lacke of vittcla, they could not haue indured long :
wherforo they priuilio sent a messenger to the lord Talbot, which
then laie at Alanson, certifieng him in how hard a case they were.
The lord Talbot, hearing these newos, like a carcfull captoine, in all
hast assembled togither about scuen hundred men ; & in the
euening departed from Alanson, bo as in the morning he came to a
castell called Guierch, two miles from Mans, and there staicd a
while, till lie had sent out Matthew * Gough,* as an espial!, to
Tnderstand how the Frenchmen demeaned themselues.
Matthew * Gough so well sped his busincsse, that priuilie in
the night ho came into the castell, where he learned that the
Frenchmen vcrie negligcntlie vacd themselues, without taking heed
1 My authority for this date is Journal^ iv. 374, 373. CarontyiM de la
PvctlU (ix. 272-274) contains details given in my excerpt, and not mentioned
in Journal.
1 Slain by Jack Cade's followers. See the entry of 2 Hen, VLt IV. vii.
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
217
to their watch, as though they had beeno out of all danger : which
well vndcrstood, he returned agnine, and within a mile of the citie
met the lord Talbot, and the lord Scales, and opened vnto them
all things, according to his credence. The lords then, to make
hast in the matter, (bicause the daie approched,) with all speed
possible came to the posterne gate ; and, alighting from their
horsses, about six of the clocke in the morning, they issued out of
the castell, cricng, "saint George! Talbot!"
The Frenchmen, being thus suddenlie taken, were sore amazed ;
in so much that some of them, being not out of their beds, got vp
in their shirts, and lept oiier the wallet} Other ran naked out of the
gates to saue their Hues, lcauing all their appnrell, horsses, armour,
and riches behind them : none was hurt but such asresisted.
The scene closes with the entry of " a Souldier, crying ' a Talbot, a
Talbot ! ' " Charles, Joan, Alen^on, Rene, and Dunois, ** flye, leauing
their Clothes behind." The soldier remarks (11. 78-81):
He be so bold to take what they haue left.
The Cry of Talbot semes me for a Sword ;
For I haue loatlen me with many Spoyles,
Vaing no other Weapon but his Name.
Ilolinshdd says that
[Hoi iii. 597/2/14. Ealle, 141.] lord Talbot, being both of
noble birth, and of haultie courage, after his comming into Franco,
obteined so manic glorious victories of his mimics, that his onelio
name was & yet is drcadfull to the French nation ; and much
rcnowmed amongst all other people.
Act II. sxs. 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). Salisbury's martial ability was thus extolled by Halle, whose
words Holinshed copied :
[Hoi. iii. 598/2/58. Ealk, 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
pntfbot
entered the
cast I* with A
relieving
force, and,
before the
Preach
knew of hii
coming,
tuned there-
from end
fell upon
Uietn. Some
of the
French
1 wiped orer
the waJle
In their
■hirts.]
ifwu
^Others Bed
naked,
1 wiving
nil the?
hind
tl.om.J
rui^t
Taihot,n
vofianl
eapttine.
1 Cp. the stage directions (1- 38) ■ " Cry
French leapo ore the vxtll&i in their shirt*."
& George!1 'A Talbot!' The
218
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
Montac\it< death) a great part of the conquest consisted : for, suerlie, he was
^J5**^2S*^Jli*** a man tnrth painerull, diligent, and readie to withstand all
dangerous chances that were at hand, prompt in counsel], 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 IT. sc. iii. — No source for this scene has yet been discovered.
The Countess of Auvergne's surprise afc the mean aspect (11. 19-24) of
M the Scourge of France " (L 15), with whose " Name the Mothers still
their Babes " (I. 17), does not accord with Halle's description of Talbot.
[HalU, 230.] This man was to the French people a very scorge
and a daily terror ; x in so niuche that as his person was fearfull and
terrible to his aduersaries present, so his name and fame was
spitefull and drcadfull to the common people absent ; in so much
that women in Fraunce, to feare their yong children, would cryc,
"the Talbot commeth, the Talbot commethl"
Act II. sc. iv. — No one has pointed out a source for this scene and
its sequel (III. iv. 28-46 ; IV. i. 78-161). From the next scene we
ascertain (cp. II. v. 45-50, 111-114) that Richard Plantagenct and
"Somerset" must have quarrelled on January 19, 1425, the historic
date of Mortimer's death.9 John Beaufort, then Earl of Somerset, was
older than Richard, who calls him u Boy " (1. 76) ; the former being at
that time nearly twenty-one,3 while the latter was about thirteen.*
The subsequent act-ion, however, shows that " Somerset " is John's
brother, Edmund Beaufort, whom Richard, in 1452, openly accused of
treason. B Edmund Beaufort was about six years older than Richard.6
According to Halle, these nobles were foes in 1436, when Richard, who
had been appointed to the chief command in France, was embarrassed
nubctft
■cuurge and
terror to the
Uranft ]
[The mm*
0* Taltnit
to «cnrc
rtlMiw j
1 Cp. the address of the French general, summoned by Talbot to surrender
Bordeaux (1 lltn. VL, IV, ii. 15, 16) :
■ Thou ominous and fearefull Owle of death,
Our Nations terror, aud their bloody scourge!"
■ Esch. 3 Hen. VI. No. 32 (Proc. Priv. Co., iii. 169, note).
* John Beaufort completed bis twenty-first year on March 25, 1425. — Inq.
prob. etatit. 4 H. VI. No. 53 (O.B.).
1 On December 12, 1416, Richard Plantagenet was of the age of three years
and upwards.— Inq. p. m. 3 H. V. No. 45 (O.B.).
6 See p. 287 below.
a An Inq. p. in., taken at Bedford, fuowb that John Beaufort Duke of
Somerset died ou May 27, 1444— Inq. p. m. 22 H. VI. 19 (O.B.). Ou that
day — as appears from an Inq. p. m. taken at Whilechapel, Middlesex* on
August 21, 1444 — his heir male, Edmund Beaufort Marquis of Dorset, was of
the age of thirty-eight years and upwards.— Inq. p. m. 22 H. VI. 19 (O.B).
IX. HENRY VI. PAKT I,
219
by Edmund Beaufort's opposition. Upon this matter Halle made the
following comment, the paraphrase of which by Holinshed I quote : l
[Rot. iii. 6 12/2/22. Halle, 179.] The duke ofYorke, perceiuing [Bnmitrar
his euill will, openlio di»Hembled that which he inwardlio minded, FUntunti
and Edinuuil
either of them working things to the others displeasure ; till, through Bemforti
malice and diuision hetweene thoni, at length by mortall warre
they wore both consumed, with almost all their whole lines and
ofspring.
Act II. sc. v. — The historical Edmund Mortimer, fifth Earl of
March, was, in his youth, under the care and control of Henry Prince
of "Wales.8 He was not imprisoned when Henry succeeded to the
throne, — as was the dramatic Mortimer (11. 23-25), — but served in
France, and bore offices of trust.8 On April 27, 1423,4 he was
appointed Lieutenant in Ireland, and held that post until his death on
January 19, 1425. The "Nestor-like aged" Mortimer, with "Feet,
whose strength-lease stay is numme " (11. 6, 13), was taken from a brief
obituary notice of him, under the year 1424.
[Hoi, iii. 589/2/73. Halle, 128.] During the same season,
Edmund Mortimer, the last carle of March [p. 590] of that name, rn»i«i
, . ... . Mortimer
(which long time had beene restreincd from his libertie, and finallie E^.j^^,
waxed lame,6) declassed without issue ; whose inheritance descended ^^Vm
1 The passage immediately preceding this quotation is given at p. 252
below.
* In 1-400 the u custodia et gubernatio '* — t. e. the jailonhip, aa the context
Bhows — of March was transferred from Sir John Peliiam to Henry Prince of
Wales.— Rymer, Tin. 606 ; cp. viii. 639.
8 The muster-roll of the army which went to France in 1417 bqows that
March was followed by 93 lances and 302 archers, — G'wiu, App. 266. In the
same year he was captain of Mantes. — Ibid., 277. At Katharine's coronation
(February 21, 1421) he was **knclyng on the bye deys on the ryght syde of
the queue and held a cepture in nys bond of the quenys." — Greg., 139. To
the same eifect Fab., 586. During the year 1423 March's presence in the
Council is often recorded. — Proe. Priv. Co., iii. 21, et passim.
* Proc. Priv. Cv.t iii. 68. His patent is dated May 9, 1423.— Rymer, x.
282-285. He died at Trim Castle, Co. Meath.— Otto., 158. March was a
daugerous possible rival of the House of Lancaster on account of his inherited
title to the throne ; and we find that Henry V. did not suffer him "comitivam
reciam excedore." When, therefore, March attended the Parliament of 1423-24
with a very largo retinue, the Council had misgivings, and sent him into
honourable banishment as Lieutenant of Ireland. — Chron. Qilts (Hen. VI), 6.
He had been appointed to this post in 1423, but it appears from Rymer (x.
S19) that ships tor his transport to Ireland were not ordered until February
14, 1424.
6 I suspect that Edmund Mortimer, Karl of March, has been confounded
with Sir John Mortimer, who, according to ffntf* (128) was the Earl's 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
220
IX. HENRY VI. PART t.
RIohjiM
PUntago-
net]
[Rich/ml
to the lord Richard Plantagenet, sonne and heire to Richard earle
of Cambridge, beheaded (as before yee haue heard) at the towno
of Southampton.
Mortimer says to Richard (1. 96) :
Thou art my Heir* ; the rest I wish theo gather.
Halle — who was Holinshed's authority for Mortimer's imprisonment
— adds a few words touching Richard's subsequent course :
[Halle, 128] Wliicho Richard, within lesse then .xxx. yerea,
as heire to this erle Edmond, in open parliament claimed the
crouno and scepter of this realiue, as hereafter shall more
manifestly appere.1
Act III. sc. i.— I liave quoted above (pp. 209, 212, 213) three of the
articles exhibited against Winchester by Gloucester ; which, in the
opening lines of this scene, the former calls " deepe premeditated
Lines," and " written Pamphlets studiously deuis'd." Gloucester
brands his rival with sundry vices3 (11. 14-20), and then makes a
specific charge (11. 21-23) :
And for thy Trecherie, what's more manifest ?
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 King from Eltham ; and
the third article contained the charge in 11. 21-23, arising out of the
purposed abduction of Henry VI.
[Hoi. iii. 591/2/12. Halle, 131.] 3 Item, that where my said
Castle, and was afterwards sent again to the Tower. — Exchequer Issues* 373,
377, 384, 389. From a petition, addressed by him to tho Commons of the
Parliament which assembled at Westminster on Dec. 1, 1421, we learn that he
was heavily ironed during his confinement in tbe Tower. — B*tt. Pari.7 iv.
160/a. Another petition— conicclurally assigned by Nicolas to the year 1 121
— 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 lijit nor air, and could not long exist ; praying that he
might be removed to the prison above-ground, in custody, as he was on
his first committal, whence he would not attempt to escape." — Proe. Priv.
Co., ii., pp. xxxiii., 311, 312. In February, 1424, he was charged with
having asserted "that the erle of Marche shulde be kyng, by rvght of
Enherytaunce, and that he hymselfo was nextc ryghtfull heyre to the sayd
Crowne, after the aayde Erie of Marche ; wherfore, if the sayd Erie wold nat
take vp- in hym the Crowne, & rule of tbe Lande, he sayd that he ell ys wolde.'1
— Fab.t ii. 693. On Feb. 26, 1424, judgment was delivered against Sir John.
— Rot. Pari.., iv. 202/a. On the same day, apparently, he was beheaded. —
Chrtm. Ave Ign., 6, 7. Halle records (126) the execution, but says nothing
about the imprisonment, of Sir John Mortimer.
1 See p. 256 below.
* Halfe's character of Winchester is given in an excerpt illustrating 2 Ucn.
Vl+ III iii (p. 289 below).
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
221
beset
London
Bridge with
■ ■■ . - ! it. i ;,,
PVpMlU
tteroby the
death of
Olouceitcr,
who wu
going to
EltUin to
prevent
Henry Vl.'i
removal-]
lord of Glocestcr, (to whotne of all persons that should be in the
land, by the waie of nature and birth, it belongeth to see the
gouornanco of the kings person,) informed of the said vndue
purpose of my said lord of Winchester, (declared in the article next
aboucaaid,) and, in letting thereof, determining to haue gone to
Eltham vnto the king to haue prouided as the cause required ; my
said lord of Winchester, vntrulie, and against the kings peace, to
the intent to trouble my said lord of Glocester going to the king,
purposing his death, in case that he had gone that waie, set men
of amies and archers at the end of London bridge next Suthworke ;
and, in forebarriug of the kings high waie, let draw the chaine of
the stoupes there, and set vp pipes and hurdles in manner and
forme of bulworks ; and set men in chambers, cellars, & windowes,
with bowos and arrowea and other weapons, to the intent to bring
finall destruction to my said lord of Glocester'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-Coats I ' ", is heard; followed by a "noyse
againe, ' Stones I Stones ! ' " The Mayor of London entering announces
(U. 78-83) that
The Bishop and the Duke of Glosters men,
Forbidden late to carry any Weapon,
Haue fill'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 brayntM knockt out : . . .
Fabyan says (596) that the Parliament which witnessed the
reconciliation of Gloucester and Winchester
was clepyd of the Comon people the Parlyament of Battes : the
cause was, for Proclamacyons were made, that men shulde leue
theyr Swerdes & other wepeyns in theyr Innys,1 the people toke [Whm other
great battes & stauys in theyr neckos, and so folowed theyr lordes «« forbid-
and maisters vnto the Parlyament And whan that wepyn was {JJ|,t*?Jlt
Inhybyted thoym, then they toke stony s & plummettcs of lede, & SSauwE
trusayd them secretely in theyr sleuys & bosomys.
MrfMwlth
1 When Gloucester's and Winchester's servants "skirmish agaire," the
Mayor is obliged ■ to make open Proclamation," whereby they are forbidden
u to weare, handle, or vae any Sword, Weapon, or Dagger hence-forward, vpon
paine of death/'— 1 Hen. VL% I. iii. 71, &c.
Cp. p. 213 above.
222
IX. HKXRY VI. PART I.
[The
Ixindonrni
obliged to
■hut their
fthuj*.]
r"» excul-
pation]
[Then tliey
were to Uke
each othur
by the
hand.)
The Mayor complains also that
Our Windowes are broke downe in euery Street, 84
And YfG,f&r/eare, conipell'd to ahul our Shope.
In 1425, when Gloucester and Winchester were at open strife,
[Hoi. iii. 59O/2/69. Halle, 130.] the citizens of London were
fainc to keepe dailie and nighfclie watches, and to shut yp their
shops, for fearc 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 l
pertaining to the reconciliation of Gloucester and Winchester (11. 106-
143). The quarrel was submitted to the arbitration of a committee of
the Upper House, 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 vnto my said lord of
Glocester: "My lord of Glocester, I haue concerned, to my great
" heauiuessc, that yee should haue receiued by diuerso reports,
" that I should haue purposed and imagined against your person,
" honor, and estate, in diuers mancrs ; for the which yce haue
"taken against me great displeasure: Sir, I take God to my
"witnessc, that what reports bo euer haue beene to you of me,
11 (peraduenture of such as haue had no great affection to me, God
"forgiue it them I) I neuer imagined, ne purposed ante thing that
"might be hindering or preiudice to your person, honor, or estate ;
" and therefore I praie you, that yco 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: "Faire vncle, sith
"yee declare you such a man as yee saie, I am right glad that it
"is 80, and for such a man I take you." And when this was
doonc, 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 parlemeut, in
signe and token of good loue & accord ; the which was doone, aud
the parlemeut adiomed till after Easter.
1 The reconciliation of Gloucester and Winchester took place on March 12,
1426.- ita. Part, iv. 297/1.
IX. HENRY VI. PART I. 223
Gloucester and Winchester having made a truce, Henry willa that
" Richard be restored to hia Blood " (1. 159), and therefore creates him
"Princely Duke of Yorke" (1. 173). Passing from the Bubject of
Gloucester's reconciliation with Winchester, Ilolinshed proceeds thus :
[Hoi iil 595/2/30. Halle, 138.] But, when the great fier of
this dissention, betweene these two noble personages, was thus by
the arbitrators (to their knowledge and judgement) vtterlie
quenched out, and laid vnder boord, all other controucrsics
betweene other lords, (talcing part with the one partie or the other,)
were appeased, and brought to concord ; so that for ioy l the king
caused a solernno fest to be kept on Whitsundaie; on which daie
he created Richard Plantagenet, soune and heire to the erle of Bjjffj
Cambridge, (whome his father at Southhampton had put to death, ^™,
as before yee haue heard,) duke of Yorke ;* not foreseeing that this TortLl
preferment should be his destruction, nor that his seed should of
liiB generation be the extreame end and (inall conclusion.
Having reinstated Richard Plantagonet, Henry accepts Gloucester's
advice "to be Crown'd in France" (1. 180) without delay; and hears
that the ships which form the royal fleet " alreadio 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 n (11. 195-199),
Which, in the time of Henry nam'd the Fift,
Was in the mouth of euery sucking Babe ;
That Henri/ borne at Monmouth should winne all,
Awl Henry borne at Windsor loose all.
The prophecy is thus recorded :
[Hoi. iil 581/1/68. Halle, 100.] This yeare [1421], at Windsore,
1 Henry was then about five yeari 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 King grants to Queen Katharine a house in
London formerly belonging to Edmund Earl of March, " in manibus nostris
ratione Minoris fetalis carissimi Consani^iinei nostri Ducis Eboram existens,
Habendum & Tenendum eidem Matri nostra Hospitinm pradictam, durante
Minori mtato prcedicti Ducia," . . . — Rymerl x. 342. Rapin suggested (Hist.
£mj„ ed. Tindat, 1732, vol i. p. 545, col. 1) that the mistake arose from
Richard having been made a knight at Leicester, in May, 1426 (Rymer, x. 356
cp. x. 358). 3 Journal, XT. 433, 434.
224
IX. HE.VEY VI- PART L
Th*t,.rtk.f
JCinf RrnrU
frmpkmttk
•/Au
An tirtltent
/n*i3t in
CuUo taken
■•f
cii».'ii !»«•«] ah
ambush].
on the date of saint Nicholas [Dec 6], in December, the queene
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) Iaqueline, of Bauier,
countesse of Holland, was his godmother. The king, being certified
hereof, as be 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 be [had been]
warned by some prophesie, or had some foreknowledge, or else
iudged himselfe of his sonnes fortune, he said rnto the lord Fitz
Hugh, his trustie charnberleinc, these words: "My lord, I Henrie,
"borne at Monmouth, shall small time reigne, & much get; and
" Henrie, borne at Windsore, shall long reigne, and all loose: but, as
"God will, so be itM
Act III. sc. ii. — No date can be assigned to this scene. Chronology
and facts are utterly scorned. Rouen was not surprised and recovered,
but willingly received Charles VII. within its walls on October 19,
1449.1 Joan, by whom the dramatic capture of Rouen is effected, was
burnt there on May 30, 1431 ;3 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 Rouen (11. 110-114) is antedated,
for that event happened on September 14, 1435.3
The fictitious capture of Rouen was, perhaps, an adaptation of a
story told by Holinshed, upon Halle's (197) authority. In 1441 *
[Hoi iii. 619/2/69. Halle, 197.] Sir Francis the Arragonois,
hearing of that chance [the loss of Evreus], apparelled six strong
fellowes, like men of the countrie, with sacks and baskets, as caricrs
of corne and vittels ; and sent them to the can tell of Cornill, in the
which diucrse 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 castcll vnsuspected,
" Journal, xv, 550. * Proch, ix. 186-168.
* Journal, iv, 466, Or between 2 and 3 a.m. on the 15th.— Grtg^ 177.
4 It appears from Halle (197) (fast not much time had elapsed between the
mirrender of Evreux to the French and the surprise of this castle by the
English. Evreux waa yielded by ua on September 14, 1441.— Journal,
xv. MB.
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
225
ch.]
and streight carae to tbo chamber of the captcine, & laicng hands
on him, gaue knowledge to them that laie in ambush to come to
their aid. The which suddcnlie made foorth, and entered the
castell, slue and tooke all the Frenchmen, and set the Englishmen
at libertie : . . .
Fabyan's account of this stratagem (615) may also have been con-
sulted. He says that Sir Francis
sette a Biisshement nere vnto yc sayd Castell, and in the Dawnyngc i* enUi
" * * ° »nrpnswl by
of the momynge araycd .iiii.1 of his Sowdyours in Husbandemewnes J^J^fu™
Aray, and sent theym with Sakkos fylled with dyucrs Frutes to offer J^I*^.
to sell to the Occupyere of the CastelL The whiche, whan they u* m3i
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 Rouen were open. Compare, with the closing
words of my next excerpt, the stage direction after 1. 25 (" Enter
Pucell on the top, thrusting out a Torch burning "), and 1L 21-30. The
French
[Hoi. iii. 598/1/46. Halk, 142.] in the night season approched
towards the walles, making a little fire on an hill, in sight of the J^JftJ*
towne, to signifie their comming; which perceiued by the citizens
that neere to the groat church were watching for the same, a
burning cresset was shewed out of the steeple ; which suddenlie was
put out and quenched.
TVlbot swears to recover Rouen or die,
As sure as in thiB late betrayed Towne,
Great Cordelions Heart was buryed (11. 82, 83).
Richard I.
[Hoi. iii. 156/t/n.] willed his heart to bo conueied vnto
Pari:
Rouen, and there buried ; in testiraonie of the loue which he had [nichwd 1 ■■
eucr borne vnto that citie for the stedfast faith and tried loialtie ataomiL)
at all times found in the citizens there.
1 In Act III,, sc. ii., Joan enters " with/crurc 3ou]die^8.,, She answers the
watchman's cballenge with a few words spoken in French (1. 13).
Q
22C
Bedford, who has been "brought in sicke in a Chayre" (1. 40),
determines to M sit before the Walla of Koan" (1, 91), awaiting the
issue of an attempt to regain the city, for he has "read
That stout Pendragon, in his Litter^ etrA;
Came to the field, and vanquished his foes :
Me thinkes I should reuiue the SouMiers hearts
Because I euer found them as my selfe.— 11. 95-98.
Geoffrey of Monmouth (Till. xzii. 154, £*c.) attributes this heroic
deed to TJter Pendragon, but Boece's version (152/49 b, *fcc.) of the story
— which Holinshed followed — is that Pendragon's brother, Aurelius
Ambrosius,
dnwwST" [Hot, iL H. S. 99/1/67.] cucrt sicke as ho was, caused himselfe
S^dtick *° bo caried forth in a litter ; with whose presence hia people were
battS) *° so incouraged, that, iucountring with the Saxons, they wan the
rictorie, . . .
Act EEL sc. 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, abandoned their cause, and soon afterwards turned his arms
against them.1 September 21, 1435, is the date 2 of the instrument by
which he made peace with Charles VII. Joan — who is the dramatic
agent of their reconciliation— died on May 30, 1431.3
Joan proposes inducing Burgundy to forsake Talbot (11. 17-20).
Charles answers (II. 21-24) :
I, marry, Sweeting, if wo could doe that,
France were no place for Henryes Warriors j
Nor should that Nation boast it so with vs,
But be extirpad from our Prouinces.
Alenoon adds :
For euer should they be expuls'd from France, . . .
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 King complimented by saying that now
there could be no question
(By Bur-
jdy'i help
[Halle, 177] bid by your helpe and aide, we shall expell, clc&nc
ShJrSj11*11 pull vp by the rootes, and put out, all the Engljshe nation, out of
our realmes, territories, and dominions.
expelled
from
France.]
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.— Mon*,, vi.
1 Mw*., vi. 221.
285-310.
3 See p. 224 above.
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
227
"Was not the Duko of Orleanco thy Foe f
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:
[Hoi. iii 6I8/2/11. Halle, 192.] Philip, duke of Burgognie,
partlie mooued in conscience to make amends to Charles duke of
Orleance (as yet prisoner in England) for the dcatli of duke Lewes
his father, whome duke Iohn, father to this duke Philip, cruellie
murthored in the citie of Paris ; and partlie intending the aduance-
ment of his neece, the ladic Marie, daughter to Adolfe duko of
Cleue, (by the which aliance, he trusted, that all old rancor should
ceasse,) continued waies to liaue the said duke of Orleance set at
libertie, vpon promise by him made to take the said ladie Marie
vnto wife. This duke had beene prisoner in England euer since
the bat tell was fought at Agincourt, vpon the daie of Crispine and
Crispinian, in the ycare 1415, and was set now at libertie in the
moneth of Noucmber, in the yeare 1440 ;l paieng for his ransome
foure hundred thousand crownea, though other saie but three
hundred thousand.
The cause whic he was deteined so long in captiuitie, was to
pleasure thereby the duke of Burgognie : for, bo long as the duke
of Burgognie continued faith full to the king of England, it was not
thought necessarie to suffer the duke of Orleance to be ransomed,
least vpon his deliuerance he would not ceasse to seeke me fines to
bo reuenged vpon the duke of Burgognie, for the old grudge and
displeasure betwixt their two families j and therefore such ransome
was demanded for him as he was ueuer able to pay. But, after the
duke of Burgognie had broken his promise, and was turned to the
French part, the councell of the king of England douised how to
deliuer the duke of Orleance, that thereby they might displeasure
the duke of Burgognie.2 Which thing the duke of Burgognie per-
[Bnmidy
release
Orleans
fruin
captivity.]
[Orleans had
been
prisoner
from Ml
1440.)
[He was
detained
tfl plMM
Bngndy*]
S~h punish
uiyundy
fur hii
desertion,
the English
proposed
MNobsj
Orleans, so
n nafa
paid
1 Orleans was released from custody on October 28, 1440, at Westminster.
— Rymer, x. 823. He was out of England (cp. 1 Hen. VI, III. iii. 70) on
November 12, 1440.— Ibid., 829.
1 HalUj 194. I know not Holies authority for attributing this design to
228
IX. HEXRY VI. TART I.
Orleans's
raoftoui-]
/oA t* lortt
vrMMMru
b*r if.
(Ncwies of
UMM
present
when Henry
wu crowned
fttFtflt,)
JTm? Henrit
tfuiist
crowned in
Paris.
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 III. sc. iv. — Talbot presents himself before his sovereign, -who
rewards his services by creating him Earl of Shrewsbury (11. 26( 26).
The new Earl is hidden 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.
[Hoi. iii. 623/2/9. Salle, 202 ] About this season, Iohn, tho
valiant lord Talbot, for his approucd prowesse and wisdome, as well
in England as in Franco, both in peace & warro so well tried, was
created earle of Shrewesburie ; l and with a companie of three
thousand men sent agaiue into Normandie, for the better defense
of the same.
Act IV. bc. i. — " Enter King, Glocester, Winchester, Yorke,
Suffolke, Somerset, Warwicko, Talbot, Exeter, and Gouemor of
Paris." a This entry should be compared with the list given by
Holinshed of those present at Henry's coronation in Paris.8
[Hoi. iii. 6O6/1/20, Halle, 160.] There were in his companie
of his owne nation, his vncle the cardinall of Winchester, the
cardinall and archbishop of Yorke, the dukes of Bedford, Yorke,
and Norffblke, the earles of Warwike, SaliBburie, Oxenford,
Huntington, Ormond, Mortaigne, and Suffolke.
[Sol. iii. 606/ 1/44. Halle, 161.] he was crowned 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 discharge 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 Dauphin
Lewis failed to become Orleans's pledge for the acquittance of that amount. —
Bymer, x. 768.
1 On May 20, 1442.— Charier-raU, 1-20 H. VI. (0. B.).
* Exeter, and Oouernor of ParU.] and Governor 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. —
Proe. Priv. Co., iv. 40. "Somerset'' was Edmund Beaufort, then Earl of
Mortain. Talbot was a prisoner of war in 1431 (see pp. 213, S14 above).
Thomas Beaufort, Duke ol Exeter, died about five years before Henry's corona-
tion at Paris (see p. 235 below). The French Governor of Paris (fi. 3-8) is a
fictitious personage.
IX. HKNItY VI. PART I.
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
[Rot. iii. 6OI/2/50. Halle, 150.] the image of saint George,
and his garter; though afterward, by inclines of freends, and
apparant causes of good excuse, the same were to him againe
deliuered against the mind of the lord Talbot1
Falstaffe had brought with him a letter from Burgundy ; "ploine
and bluntly" addressed " To the King," whom the Duke does not call
" his Soueraigne " (11. 51, 52). Gloucester reads the letter, which runs
thus (11. 55-60) :
I haue, vpon especial 1 cause,
Mou'd with compassion of my Countries wracke,
Together with the pittifull complaints
Of such as your oppression feedes vpon,
Forsaken your pernifcimia Faction,
And ioyn'd with Charles, the rightfull king of France.
Having made peace with Charles,
[Hoi iil 611/2/55. Halle, 177.] the duke of Burgognie, to
set a veile before the king of Englands eies, Bent Thoison Dore his
chcefe herald to king Henrie with letters ; excusing the matter by
way of information, that he was conBtreincd to enter in this league
with K Charles, by the dailie outcries, complaints, and lamenta-
tions of his people, alledging against him that he was the onlie
cause of the long continuance of the wars, to the vtter impouerisb-
ing of his owne people, and the whole nation of France. . . .
. . . The superscription of this letter was thus: " To the high and
" mightie prince, Henrie, by the grace of God, king of England, his
" welbeloued cousme." Neither naming him king of France, nor his
souereigne Iord^ according aB (euer before that time) he was accus-
tomed to doo. This letter was much maruelled at of the councell,
after they had tbroughlio considered all the contents thereof, &
they could not but be much disquieted ; so far foortb that diueree
of them Htomakcd so muche the vntruth" of the duke, that
they could not temper their passions, but openlie called him traitor.
[The Garter
rMWtfe.]
[Toisrm d'Cr
brought
Henrys
letter,
containing
Burgundy' a
irjiftohB for
making
iwace with
Charles.]
•rnjiti.in of
thcletUr.J
( Pttmay and
anger of
Henry 'i
Council]
1 The restoration of the Garter to Faatolfe caused "grand ddbat" between him
and Talbot, after the latter's release from captivity in 1433.— Mow., v. 230.
* them stvmtiked $0 muthe the mtntth] Hnl. ed, 1. them offended $0 mneh
with the mtrvth Uol. ed. 2.
230
IX. HENRY VL PART L
[IdvuIoh of
Aujou by
Turk Bii<l
Bomcnci.)
ikfiJMi »r,-l
impl b|
York and
Somerset!
When the 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'Grwas 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 " {Hoi. iii. 6I2/1/30).
After playing the part of umpire in the strife of the Roses, Henry
Bays (11- 162-168):
Cosin of Yorke, we institute your Grace
To be our Regent in those parts of France :
And, good my Lord of Somerset, vnito
Your Troopes of horsemen with his Bands of foote j
Go cheerefully together, and digest
Your angry Chollcr on your Enemies.
There is some historical warrant for this speech. In 1443, John
Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, received military commands in France and
Guienne, 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.1 I give excerpts wherein mention is made
of a joint campaign conducted by York and Somerset; premising that
the date (20th of Henry VI.) is too early, and that Halle — whom
Holinshed followed — wrongly attributed to Edmund Beaufort (the
dramatic " Somerset ") operations which were carried out by Edmund's
brother, John Beaufort.
[Hoi. iil 619/1/2. Halle, 194.] In the beginning of this
twentith [xix, — Halle] yeare, Richard duke of Yorko, regent of
France, and gouernour of Normandie, determined to inuade the
territories of his enjmics both by sundrie armies, and in seuerall
places, aud therevpon without delaic of time he sent the lord of
Willoughbie with a great cme of soldiers to destroie the countrie
of Amiens ; and Iohn 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
Aniou. . , .
The dukes of Yorke and Summerset . . . entered into Aniou
and Maine, and there destroied townea, and spoiled the people, and
with great prcies and prisoners repaired againe into Norwaudio, . . .
Act IV, sec. ii.-vii. — Since the historical time of the last scene
ranges from 1431 to 1443, it is impossible to determine the historic
1 Proc. JVir. Co., v. 255 ; 259-261. Cj>. Cent. Croyl, 519.
IX. IIENKY VI. PART I.
23 L
interval between sc. i., Act IV., and the scenes in which Talbot's
expedition to Guienne 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 1451.1 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.2 Talbot waa at Bordeaux when he heard that a
French army was besieging Castillon, and on July 17, 1453, he brought
relief to the garrison.8 At his approach, the French
[Hoi. iil 640/2/46. Halle, 229.] left the siege, and retired in
good order into the place which they had trenched, dichcd, and
fortified with ordinance. The earle, aduertised how the siege was
remoued, hasted forward towards his euimies, doubting most least
they would haue beene quite fled and gone before his comming.
But they, fearing the displeasure of the French king (who was not
far off) if they should haue fled, abode the earles comming, and so tu «*n«nt
receiued him : who though he first with man full courage, and sore JJJJJJ'JJJj*
fighting wan the entrto of their enmpo, yet at length they com- J^T^"'*
passed liim about, and shooting him through the thigh with an
handgun, slue his horsse, and finallie killed him liong on tho
ground ; whome they durst neuer looke in the face, while he 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:
[Hoi. iii. 640/2/61. Halle, 229.] It was said, that after he
perceiued there was no romedio, but present losse of the battell,
he counselled his sonne, the lord Lisle, to saue himselfe by flight,
sith the same could not redound to anie great reproch in him, this
being the first iournie in which he hail becne present Mania
wordB he vsed to persuade him to haue saued his life ; but nature J™!?^
so wrought in the son, that neither desire of life, nor feare of JJid,e,,rt
1 A campaign which lasted about three months closed with the surrender
of ttayonne to the French in August, 1451,— Ita Clereqt iii. 89, 112.
1 £ht (Zcro/fi xiiL 5-7. Dt tWay, xi. 2, 3.
3 This date is confirmed by a letter written two days after the battle. —
Biblioth&quc dc lEcolc dc» Charter 2nd series, vol. iil Dp, 246, 247.
232
[Talbot
■Mad Hi
•on to flee]
A uorthp
tairing oft
■•■.« frtmt*
JX. HENHY VI. PART I.
death, could either cause him to shrinke, or conueie himselfc out
of the danger, and so there inanfullie 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 Renowne, nor canst not lose it (v. 40).
And leaue my followers here to fight and dye 1
My Age was neuer tainted with such shame (v. 45, 46).
Flye, to reuenge my de<itht if I be shine (v. 18).
My Deaths Reuenge, thy Youth, and Englands Fame :
All these are aau'd, if thou wilt flye away (vi. 39, 41).
In the quasi-historical speech, Talbot urges that he — " the terror and
scourge of the French people " (cp. p. 218 above) — cannot die *' without
great laude," or flee M without perpetuall shame " ; and he then thus
counsels his son :
"But because this is thy first iournoy and enterprise, neither
*' tfai flyeng shall redoundc to thy shame, nor thy death to thy
" glory ; for as hardy a man wisely flieth as a temerarious person
" folishety 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 siat/n, to reuenge my death, and to do honor
"to thy Prince and profyt 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, forbeare \ For that which we haue fled
During the life, let vs not wrong it dead,
resembles an answer made by Lewis XI. to ** certeine vndiscreet
persons " who advised the defacement of Bedford's tomb at Rouen.
[Hoi. iii. OI2/1/54. Halle, 178.] "What honour shall it be to
" vs, or to you, to broako this monument, and to pull out of the
"ground the dead bones of him, whomo 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
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
233
"dominions of the realrne of France, and out of this noble and
"famous duchio of Normandie? Wherefore I saie, first, God hauo
"hia soulei and let his bodie now lie in rest; which, when he was
"aliue, would haue disquieted the proudest of vs alL"
The " sally stately stile " — as Joan calls it — of Talbot's dignities,
enumerated by Sir William Lucy when asking for " the groat Alcides
of the field," agrees almost literally with an epitaph on Talbot in
Richard Croropton'B Maneicm of Magnanimity 1599, sign. E 4.1 I
give the epitaph and 11. 60-71 in parallel columns.
Here licth the right noble knight,
Iohn TalboU EarU qf Shrewsbury,
Washford, Waterford, and Valence,
Lord Talbot qf Goodrige, and
Vtxhengfietd, Lord Strange of the
blacke Meeret Lord Verdon qf
Alton, Lord CrumweU of Winy'
field, Lord Louetoft of WorBOp,
Lord Funiiuall qf Sheffield, Lord
FatUconbri[d]ye, knigfu of the most
noble order o/S. George, S. Michaell,
and the Golden fieeee, Great Mar-
shall to king Henry the sift qf hit
realrne of France: who died in the
battell of Burdeaux in the yeare
of our Lord 1453.
But whcrc's the great Alcidos of the 60 fmeriptien
Beld
Valiant Lord Talbot, Bark of Shrews-
bury!
Created, for his rare success* in
Armos,
Great Earle of Wasltford, IFattrford,
and Valence ;
Lord Talbot of Ooodrig and Vrchin* 64
JUld,
Lord Strange of Blaekmere, Lord
Verdon of Alton,
Lord Cromtcell of Wingrfield, Lord
Furniuall of Sheffeild,
The thrice victorious Lord of Falcon-
bridge ;
Knight ^ the Noble Order qf S. 68
George,
Worthy S. Michael, and the Golden
Flrtee ;
Great Marshall to Henry the sixt
Qf all his Wanes within the Realvie
of Frame* I
on H* '.>.;i*
of loknfirtt
Enrle of
1 In his Catalogue and Shtcccssion of the Kings, Princes, Dtikes, Marquesses^
Farley and Viscounts of this Realrne of England, ed. 1619, p. 196, Ralph
Brooke saya of Talbot: " This Iohn being slaine ... his body was buried in
a Toombe at Roane in Normandy, whereon this Epitapbc is written." Tho
epitaph which these words preface is the same as that given by Crompton ;
with three slight exceptions. After " Earle of Shrewsbury ' Brooke has "aarle
of Weahford, WaterTurd and Valence." Brooke also omits "the" before
^Blakmerc," and H most " before « Noble Order of S. George." From Leland
{Itinerary, cd. Hcarnc, 1744, vol. iv., pt. 1, p. 23, fol. 40) we learn the follow-
ing particulars concerning the 6rst interment of Talbot's body, and ita sub-
sequent removal to England: "This John [3rd Earl of Shrewsbury] had
emong his Brethern one caullid Gilbert Talbot, after a Knight of Fame, the
which buried the Erie his Grandfathers Bones browght out of Fraunce at
Whitcehirc.hc in a fair Chnpelle, wher ho is also buried hymself." Leland adds
(/fin.., vol. vii., pt. 1, p. 8, fol. 15): " Talbot Erie of Bhrobbesbyri and his Sonne
Lord Lisle slayno in Fraunce. This Erlea Bones were browght ont of Nor-
mandy to Whitcburehe in Shrobbeshire." On April 0, 1874, the bones of
Talbot were discovered by some workmen engaged in repairing his monument
at Whitchurch. These remains were solemnly re-interred on April 17, 1874.
— Notes d- Queries, 5th S. I. 399 ; cp. 268, Crompton is the earliest known
authority for the epitaph I have quoted in my text. He cites in a preceding
234
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
[Tha
i-.SIllM
ami other
Mb m
desired
rod i at inn
between
England and
France]
|Th«
f-'anlionl'i
exhortation
lO "ft Jt'Kllifl
peace.')
Act V. ac. i. — Letters have arrived from the Pope (Eugenius IV.)
and the Emperor (Sigismund), whereby Henry is entreated (11. 5, 6) :
To haue a godly jieace concluded of
Betweene the Realmes of England and of France.
In 1435, during the session of the Council of Basle,
[Hoi. iii. Cll/1/7. Halle, 174.] motion was made among Sigis-
mund the emperour and other cliristen kings . . . that, aith such
horror of bloudshod betweene the two nations continuallie bo lament-
ablie raged in France, some mediation might be made for accord : . , .
The impiety of war between u 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 Arraa in August, 1435,1 " the cardinall of S. Crosse," who represented
Eugenius IV.,
[Hoi. iii. 6 11/ 1/40. Halle, 175.] declared to the three parties
the innumerable mischeefes, that had followed to the whole state
of the christian common-wealth by their continuall distention and
dailie discord ; exhorting them, for the honour of God, & for the
loue which they ought to bcare towards the aduanccment of his
faith and true religion, to conformc themselues to reason, and to
laie aside all rancor, malice ami displeasure ; so that, in concluding
a godlie peace-, they might receiuo profit and quietnesse heerc in
this world, and of God an euerlasting reward in bcaueu.
Gloucester informs Henry that, " the sooner to effect and surer
binde " a peace between England and Franco, 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 1442,2 — not 1435, our lust
marginal note "Camden 462," The reference shows that he used the eJ. of
Camden's Britannia which was published in 1594, because no previous ed.
contains any mention of Talbot at p. 462, and tbc next ed. did not appear till
1600. But at p. 462 of the ed. of 1594 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 fitftry
VI. thau is displayed by the Rouen inscription.
1 Mons,, vi. 178. Mons. says (vi. 161) : "de par notre Saint-Pere le pape,
lo cardinal de Saint-Croix."
1 On May 28, 1442, Robert Roos, Knight, Master Thomas Bekyngton, and
Edward Hull, Gentleman, were empowered to choose one of the daughters of
the Count of Armagnac, and espouse her to Henry.— JJymer, xi. 7. Bdcjuton
and the other ambassadors embarked at Plymouth oa July 10, 1448. fiflfe
ingtons Embassy, 10. He returned in the following year ; lauding at Falmouth
on February 10, 1443.— Beckington'i Embassy, 89.
IX. HENRY VL PART I.
historical dato, — and John Count of Armagnac had, as the following
excerpt shows, a very different motive for desiring an alliance with
Henry.1
[lid. Hi. 623/2/57. Balle, 202.] In this ycaro3 died in Guien
the conntessc of Comings, to whomc the French king and also the
earlc of Arminackc pretended to be hciro, in so much that the
carlo entred into all the lands of the said ladic. And bicause he
knew tlio French king would not tako the matter well, to hauc a
Rouland for an Oliuer ho sent solenino ainbassadours to the king
of England, offering him his daughter in manage, with promise to
be bound (beside great summes of monie, which he would giuo
with hir) to deliuer into the king of Englands hands all such
castels and towncs, as he or his ancestors deteined from him
within anic part of tho duchie of Aquitaine, either by conquest of
his progenitors, or by gift and deliuerie of aide French king ; and
further to aid the same king with monie for the recouerie of other
cities, within the same duchie, from tho French king ; or from anio
other person that against king Henrie [j>. 624] vniustlie kept, and
wrongfullie withheld 8 them.
This offer seemed so profitable and also honorable to king
Henrie and the rcalmn, that the ambassadours were well beard,
honmtrablie recoiucd, and with rewards sent home into tlieir
countrie. After whome were sent, for the conclusion of the
marriage, into Guien, sir Edward Hull, sir Robert Ros, and Iolin
Grafton,* dcane of S. Scucrincs ; the which (as all the chronographcrs
agree) both concluded the ninringe, and by proxie afGcd tho yoong
ladio.
Though Winchester was a Cardinal when sc. iii., Art I., was hefore the
audience, Exeter is surprised at finding him " install 'd " in that dignity,
and recollects a prophecy of Henry V. about the Uishop (11. 32, 33) :
If once he come to be a Cardinall,
Hee'l make his cap coequal/ witft the Crowne.
Exeter died in 1126 (/To/, iii. 595/2/73), but Winchester was not
made a Cardinal until 1427.s " Whyche degree," says Halle (139),
[Tho Eail of
Ariwurnu
ntU-r^I )il£
(laughter in
marriage to
Henry, with
dower, wl
contingent
advantage.]
Tto tatie of
Arvtinaclg
ilii.i-i!.!--r
0m ftwrk
1 But what IJalle aaya about Armagnac's proffer is inaccurate
ington's Embassy, pp. xxxvii-xli.
a The Countesa of Cominges died in 1443. — An$elmc, ii. 637.
1 tcithheld] xdthkolden Hoi.
« Grafton) Halle. Gralton Hoi.
8 He received his hat on March 25, 1427.— Chron. Lond.t 115.
See Beck-
23G1
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
[Henry V.
wMlaaot
siiT.-r
OnrdtaiV
hat* to bfl
equal with
l'MIl '-■•'. J
[Henry Y.
would not
allow
Winchester
to be made a
Cardinal.]
The biahop of
WincktiUr
m&Ua
tantinat/.
W.P.
[Winclirrtcr
»:itl;t T. I
treasure by
• trail
Kynge Henry the fifth, knowynge the hauto corage, and the
ambictous mynde of the man [Winchester], prohibited hyin on hys
allegeanfice once either to sue for or to take; meanynge that
Cardinalles Hattcs shouldo not presume to bee egall with Princes.1
Holinahcd copied from Halle a second series of articles containing
charges against Winchester, which were preferred by Gloucester in
1440.a The first article was :
[Hoi \\l 620/1/62. Halle, 197.] 2 First, the cardinal], then
being bishop of Winchester, tooke vpon him the state of cardinal I,
which was naied and denaied him by the king of most noble
memorie, my lord your father (whome God assoile) ; saieng that ho
had as leefe set his crowne beside him, as sec him wearo a cardinals
hat, lie being a cardinal! For ho knew full well, the pride and
ambition that was in his person, then being but a bishop, should
hauc so greatlie extolled him into more intolerable pride, when
that he were a cardinal! t . . .
There is, I believe, no authority for representing Winchester as
having obtained a cardinalnte by bribing the Pope (11. 51-64) ; but
perlmpH the Bishop's subsequent wealth led to the inference that a large
sum must have been asked for the
[Hoi iii. 590/2/ 1. Halle, 139.] habit, hat, and dignitie of a
cardinal!, with all ceremonies to it appcrteining: which promotion,
the late K. (right deoplie persing into the vnres trainable ambitious
mind of the man, that euen from his youth was cuor [wont] to checko
at the highest ; and [having] also right well ascertemed with what
intolerable pride his head should soone be swollen vnder such a
hat) did therefore all his life long keepe this prelat backc from that
presumptuous estate. But now, the king being yoong and the
regent his frcend, ho obtcincd his purpose, to his great profit, and
the impouerishing of the spiritualtio of this realine. For by a bull
legatinc 3, which he purchased from Rome, he gathered so much
treasure, that no man in maner had monie but he : bo that he was
called the rich cardinall of Winchester.
Act V. 8c. ii. — Charles has heard that H the stout Parisians do
1 Henry "would not that CardiiiiUa hats shoulde in auye wise presume to
bee eqwdl with recall eruwucs." — Uol. ed. I.
* Arnold (279-286) contains the earliest printed text of these articles.
* Ugathte]leganiine Hoi
IX. HENRY VI. PAttT I,
1237
reuoh " (1. 2) ; and Alencon thereupon advises a march to Paris. Paris
was lost by the English before the play began (I. i. 61), but the Fourth
Act opened with Henry's coronation there. A sentence which concludes
Holinshed's account of the loss of the city in 1436 may be compared
with Charles's words.
[Hoi, iii. 6I3/1/73. Halle, 180.] Thus was tho citie of Paris
brought into possession of Charles the French king,1 through the
vntruo demeanour of the citizens, who, contrarie to their oths, and
promised allegiance, like false and inconstant people, so reuolted
from the English.
Act V. so. iii. — The action of this scene passes in Anjou (1. 147),
near the "Castle walles" of Rentf (1. 129), assumed by editors to be
those girdling Angers. May 23, 1430, is the historic date of Joan's
capture. On that day she accompanied a sally from Compiegne, — then
besieged by the English and Burgundians, — and was taken before she
could re-enter the town.2 Bedford was "Regent" (1. 1) at the time,
but tho dramatist killed him in Act IIL sc. ii. York — whose prisoner
she becomes in this ncene — held no such post until 1436, when he
received the chief command in France.8
Suffolk's proxy-wooing of Margaret (11. 45-186) is, of course,
fictitious, but he arranged the marriage between her and Henry. In
1444,
[JfoL iii. 624/i/6i. Halle, 203] England was vnquicted, . . .
and France by spoile, slaughter, and burning sore defaced ; (a
mischcefo in all places much lamented;) therefore, to agree the
two puissant kings, all the princes of christendome trauelled so
effectuoustie by their oratoure and ambassadours, that a diet was ap-
pointed to be kept at the citie of Tours in Touraine ; where for the
king of England appeared William dels Poole carle of Suflblke, . , .
[The
Parisiani
]• v.i]r. ,1
from the
English.)
TKt ditt at
Tounjbr a
ptarx tote
had Mveent
England
1 On April 13, 1436.— Jourtwl, xv. 471.
* In a fetter to Henry VI., the Duke of Burgundy announces her capture
on May 23.— CHron. Loiul., 170.
3 In the address of a letter from Henry, dated on May IS (1436, wrongly
placed under 1438), York is styled "onre lieutenant of oure reume of France
and dnchie of Normandie." — Sttvcnton. II., part 1, lxxiii. In this letter York
is urged to assume his government without longer delay. The issue roll (cited
in liuinsay's York and Lancaster, i. 484, note 5) shows that he must have sailed
soon after May 24, 1436. On April 7, 1437, the indentures, by which York
agreed to undertake the lieutenancy of France and Normandy, had nearly
expired, hui lie was asked to remain at his post until a successor should be
appointed.— Proc. Priv. Co., v. 6, 7. The appointment of his successor, Richard
Hcauchainp, Earl of Warwick, is dated July 16, 1437.— .ftymrr, x. 674. War-
wiek died in office on April 30, 1439 (C/iron. Lond.t 124); and, on July 8,
1440, York was made Lieutenant-General and Governor of France, Normandy,
&c, for a term of five years ending at Michaelmas, 1 445.— Rymcr, x, 7B6.
238
IX. HEKRY VI. PART I.
arranged a
kntttWft
between
Itanral
and tlenrj.]
[Joan
examined,
found pulltj
of witch-
craft, and
condemned
to perpetual
Imprison-
ment.]
Failing to agree upon the terms of a peace, the commissioners
negotiated a truce.
[Hoi. iiL 624/2/i8. Halle, 203.] In treating of this truce, the
earle of Suffolke, aduenturing somewhat vpon his commission, with-
out the assent of his associate, imagined that the next waie to
come to a perfect peace was to contriue a mariage betweene the
French kings kinse woman,1 the ladie Margaret, daughter to Reiner
duke of Aniou, and his souereigne lord king Henrie.
Act V. sc. iv. — Entering fully into the spirit of the following
passages, the dramatist was not satis6ed to avail himself of the worst
charges which they contain, but taxed his invention to make Joan deny
her father (11. 2-33). About live 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 Bcauuois, (in whose
diocesse she was taken,) caused hir life and beleefc, after order of
law, to bo inquired vpon and examined. Wherein found though a
virgin, yet first, shamcfullie meeting hir sex abominablie in acts
and apparcll, to haue counterfeit mankind, and then, all damnablie
faithlesse, to be a pernicious instrument to hostilitie and bloudshcd
in diuelish witchcraft and aorcerie,8 sentence accordinglie was pro-
nounced against hir. Howbeit, vpon humble confession of hir
iniquities with a counterfeit 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,
ubiure hir pernicious practises of sorcerie and witcherie, and haue
life and Icasure in pcrpetuall prison to bewaile hir misdeeds.
Which to performe (according to the manor of abiuration) a
solcmnc oth vcric gladlie she tooke.
But herein (God helpe vsl ) she fullie afore possest of the feend,
1 Niece to Mary of Anjou, Queen of France, who was Renews sister.
8 Prods (Dissertation), ix. 217, n 1.
3 In 1434, Bedford, defending his conduct as Recent of France, said that
the loss of territory, which befel the English after Salisbury was slain at the
siege of Orleans, was " causedrfe in tfreete partye as I trowc of Ink of sadrfe be
U'vc and of milium 1 double bat bei hiidtfc of a disciple and lerae of ]j* fende
calleddc Y Pucelle |nft usedo* fals enchantenieuU* and sorcerie^— Proc. Pri-v.
Co.. iv. 223.
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
2X0
not able to hold her in auie towardnesse of grace, falling streight
waie into hir former abominations, (and yet seeking to cctch out
life as long as she might,) stake not (though the shift were shame-
full) to confesse hir selfe a strumpet, and (vnmnried as she was) to
be with child.1 For trial!, the lord regents lenitie gaue hir nine
moneths stale, at the end wherof sho (found herein as false as
wicked in the rest, an eight daica after, vpon a further definitiue
Bentence declared against hir to be relapse and a renouncer of hir
oth and repentance) was therevpon 2 deliuered ouer to secular
power, and so executed by consumption of fire in the old market
place at Rone, in the selfe same steed where now saint Michaels
church stands : hir ashes afterward without the towno wals shaken
into the wind. Now recounting altogither, hir pastorall bringing vp,
rude, without any rertuous instruction, hir canipes trail conuersation
with wicked spirits,3 whome, in hir first salutation to Charles the Dol-
phin, she vttered to be our Ladie, saint Katharine, and saint Anne,
that in this behalfe came and gaue hir commandemeuts from
God hir maker, as she kept hir fathers lambs in the fields* . . .
[p. 605, col. L] These matters may vorie rightfullic denounce
vnto all the world hir execrable abhominations, and well iustifie
the iudgcraent she had, and the execution she was put to for the
same. A thing yet (God wot) verie smallie shadowed and lesse
holpen by the verie trauell of the Dolphin, whose dignitie abroad
[was] foulie spotted in this point, that, contrarie to the holic degree
of a right christen prince (as he called hiinsclfc), for maintenance
of his quarels in warre would not reuerence to prophane his sacred
estatei as dealing in diuelish practises with misbeleeuers and witches.
When Joan has been led out to execution, Winchester enters and
greets York (1. 05)
Pnlrto 23,
i*H. a.
[Having
roUjwtd, the
mhH tn
proWa lift
by declaring
liirti-lf In l»
with child.]
I After da*
respite, ah*
«u burnt lit
R'-uen.l
Ui grand
ekron.
Letffrandta
chronic. U I.
Hurt.
(Wicked
•plriU gare
her com-
mands while
fli« kept her
f.ther'i
hunba.J
[Charles— a
DtoM in,
King-
availed him-
self of her
.-i f'lIU'-. J
flMfJja*
iitimvi rex.
1 Tliis lie was the source of 1 lien. FL, V. iv. 60-85.
1 i/vi* tturerpon] tea* she fAerrvptm Hoi.
3 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.
* (>. I. ii. 76, Ac:
" Loe, whilcst T wayted on my tender Lambca, , , .
Gods Mother deigned to appeare to roe,
And, in a Vision full of Maie«tie,
WllTd me to leaue my base Vocation,
And free my Conn trey from Calamitie."
240
IX. HENRY VI. PART I.
[The
Engllih
tcrinh J
IThe French
terms.}
With Letters of Commission from the King ;
which embody those "conditions of a friendly peace" between
England and France, drawn up by Henry's order (v. i. 37-40), in
response to an appeal from " the States of Christendome " (V. iv. 96-99).
Charles then enters, accompanied by his lords, and says (11. 116-119) :
Since, Lords of England, it is thus agreed
That peaceful 1 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 glues consent, 124
Of meere compassion and of lenity,
To ease your Countrie of distreflaefull Warre,
And suffer you to breath in fruitful! peace,
You shall become true Liegemen to his Crowne : 1 28
And, Charles, vpon condition thou wilt sweare
To pay lit in tribute, and submit thy selfe,
Thou shalt be placed as Viceroy vnder him,
And still euioy thy Regal 1 dignity. 132
The terms of peace here announced were, according to Halle,
Holinshed's authority, offered at the conference of Arras, in 1436.
[Hoi IB. 6 11/ 1/5 5. Balk, 175] The Englishmen would that
king Charles should haue nothing but what it pleased the king of
England, and that not as dutie, but as a benefit1 by him of his
meere liberalitie giuen and distributed. The Frenchmen, OD the
oilier part, would that K. Charles should haue the kingdome
franklie and freelie, and that the king of England should leaue tlio
name, amies, and title of the king of France, and to bo content
with the dukedomes of Aqultaine and Norniandie, and to forsake
Paris, and all the towncs which they possessed in France, betweene
the riuers of Some and Loire ; being no parcell of the duchie of
Normandie. To be brecfe, 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 * = benefieinm, fief, the English terniB were as extravagant as
thufe dictated by Winchester to Charles (V. iv. 124- 132). But Mvns— whom
JJalU seems to have had before him — gives the French terms alone, which were
that " le roi Henri d'Angleterre se vonlait d^portcr et debater de lui nommer
roi de France, moyennant que, par ccrtaincs conditions, lui seroient accordees
lea seigneuries de Quienne et Normandie ; Iaquelle chose les Angloia ne
voulurent point accordcr."— vi. 180.
IX. ITKXRY VI. FART I.
241
[BafTolk
extolled Hi a
« l.i.l.
hA in.-!- .
*i.J<t,.
maUm 1 1
tkt tkmgt
«Mir,.(;r,-
Act V. sc. v. — The opposite views of Suffolk and Gloucester
touching Henry's marriage are here brought forward. After a truce
between England and France bad been arranged (see p. 238 above),
[Hoi iil 024/2/45. Halle, 204.] the earle of Suffolko with his
companie returned into England, where he forgat not to declare
what an honourable truce he had taken, out of the which there
was a great hope that a fiimll peace might grow the sooner for that
honorable nmriuge, which he had concluded ; omitting nothing that
might cxtoll and set foorth the personage of the ladie, or the
nobilitie of hir kinrcd.
But although this mariagc pleased the king and diuerse of his
conncell, yet Humfrie duke of Glocester protector of the realmc
was much against it ; l allcdging that it should be both contrarie to
the lawes of God, and dishonorable to the prince, if he should
breake that promise and contract of manage, made by ambas-
Badours sufficientlie thereto instructed, with the daughter of the
earle of Arminacke, rpon conditions both to him and his realme, as
much profitable as honorable. But the dukes words could not be
heard, for the earles dooings were onelie liked and allowed.
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 " :
Yes, my Lord, her Father is a Ring,
The King of Naplts and Ier\t**ifan ; • . . 40
Holinshed says :
[Hoi. hi 624/2/24. Halle, 204.1 This Reiner duke of Aniou nw-.
ku.trlv
named himselfe king of Sicill, Naples, and Ierusalem ; hauing onlie rtr* J
(Bat
Suffolk "•
j.rrva V.! J
1 Gloucester might have disliked this marriage, but he expressed a formal
approval of it. On June 4, 1445, the Speaker of the Commons recommended
Suffolk to Henry's " good Grace," for having — besides rendering other services
to the State — concluded a marriage between Henry and Margaret ; wherefore
the Commons ■ desvred the said declarations, laboures, and aemenyug of my
said Lord of Sun* , to be enacted in tbys present Parlement, to hia true
acquitail and discharge, and honour of hyin in tynie to come; uppou the
w fuche request thus made to the Kvng our Soveraigne Lurdc, ana to the
Lordes Spirituell and Temporell, by the Communes, my Lorde of Glourestr*,
and many other Lord y 11 SinrKii-'ll and T* m pore 11 abovesaid, arose of their
setis, and besogbtyn humbly the Kyng of the same as they wer prayed be
the said Communes, to pray and to beaeche hia Highnt
PaH^ v. 73.
tu do
.-Hot
242
X. HENRY VI. TART U.
[Character
Margaret.)
OMHgtJ
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 courage aud vndauntod spirit,
More then in women commonly is seene,
may be compared with Halle's description of her (p. 208; abridged in
Hoi, iii. 626/2/44):
But on the other parte, the Queue his [Henry's] wyfo waa a
woman of a great wittc, and yet of no greater wytte then of haute
stomacke ["a ladie of great wit, and no lease courage" — Hoi.];
desirous of glory and couetous of honor ; and of reason, pollicye,
counsaill, and other giftes and talentes of nature belongyug 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 turnyng.
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.
Historic time in The Second Part of Henry tfte Suet 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 l was fought. As
this Second Part of Henry VI, is a recast of Tfie First part of the
Contention betwixt the ttco famous houses 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 Ports of this play, Suffolk has escorted Margaret to England
(cp. 1 I/en. VI., V. v. 87-91). He now presents her to Henry, whom
he thus addresses (11. 1-9) :
1 Called the first battle of St. Albans. A second battle was fought there on
February 17, U6l,
FIENRY VI. PART II.
243
As by your high Iiuperiall Maiesty
I had in charge at my depart for France,
As Procurator to your Excellence,
To marry Princes 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 Earlee, twelue Barons, & twenty reuerend Bishops,) 8
I haue perform'd my Taske, and was espous'd : . . .
In November, 1444,1 Suffolk and a splendid retinue
[HA iii. 625/I/I3. Halle, 205.] came to the citie of Tours
in Touraine, where they were honorablie receiued both of the
French king and of the king of Sicill. The marquesse of Suffolke,
as procurator to king Henrie, espoused the said ladie in the church
of saint Martins. At the which manage were present the father
and mother of the bride ; the French king bimselfe, 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 Norniandie
vnto Diepe, and so transported hir into England, where she landed
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. — II. 40-42.
Suffolk's mission, in February, 1444,* was to establish peace between
England and France,
[Hoi. 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 certeiue truce,
as well by sea as by land, was concluded by the commissioners for
eighteene moneths ; which afterward againe was prolonged to the
yeare of our Lord, 1449.
Antut Reg.
2S.
Hi.
[Margsrtt
tapooatd to
ButTnlk,
Henry'i
1 jirocura-
tor.'l
(She In
conveyed by
Suffolk to
I
A tr*r< f«r
1 8uffolk left England on November 6, 1444, and returned on April 11,
1445, having been absent 107 days.— Issue Roll, Easter, 23 Hen. VI., 30th July
(cited in Ckr<m. Rick. IL—Hen. F/., 192).
1 He was appointed ambassador on February 11, 1444.— Rymtr, xi. 60.
24 4
X. HENRY VI. PART II.
[Margxrrt'i
[Suffolk
yielded
Anj' u and
Maine, and
no duwry for
MwglUTt.)
smMtt
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 Ierusalem ; and Crowne her Queene of England, ere the
thirtieth of May next ensuing." Holinshed says :
[Hoi. iil 625/1/58. Halle, 205.] Upon the thirtith of Maie
next following, she was crowned queene of this realnie of England
at Westminster, with all the soleumitie thereto apperteining.
Another article is read by Cardinal Beaufort (11. 57-62) : " It is
further agreed betweene them, That the Dutchesse [Duchies] of Aniou
and Maine shall be released and deliuered ouer to the King her Father,
and shoe sent ouer of the King of Englands owne proper Cost and
Charges, without hauing any Dowry.'1 Suffolk's project for effecting
a peace through Margaret's marriage to Henry was coldly received
by the French ;
[Hoi. iii. 024/2/29. Halle, 204.] and one thing seemed to be
a great hinderance to it ; which was, hi cause the king of England
occupied a great part of the duchic of Aniou, and the whole
countio of Maine, apperteining (as was alledgcd) to king Reiner.
The earle of Suffolke (I cannot sale), either corrupted with
bribes, or too much aflfectioned to this vnprofitable manage, con-
descended, that the duchie of Aniou and the countie of Maine
should be deliuered to the king the brides father ; 1 demanding for
hir mariage neither penie nor farthing : as who would saie, that
this new affinittc passed all riches, and excelled both gold and
pretioua stones.
Henry then (May, 1445) creates his procurator "the first Duke of
Suffolke " (1. 64). Three historical years,2 however, were yet to elapse
before
[Hoi iii. 627/2/34. Halle, 210.] the marquease of Suffolke, by
great fauour of the king, & more desire of the queene, was erected
to the title and diguitic 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 M 8hould be relented and deliuered to titc kyng her father " (Halle, 204).
" Shall be rebated and delivered ouer to the King her Father ■ (2 Hen. VI., I.
i. 59, 60).
1 He was created Duke of Suffolk on June 2, 1 448.— Fat ; 26 H. VI. p. ii.
m. 14. (H.S.)
X HENRY VI. PART II.
This "terme" was, perhaps, the eighteen months' truce (p. 243
above). Compare the next passage {IIoL iii. 625/2/29), quoted at
pp. 250, 251 below.
[Hoi iii. 625/2/25. H(dlct 205.] During the time of the truce,
Richard duke of Yorke and diuerse other captoina repaired into
England ; both to visit their wiues, children, and freends, and also
to consult what should be doone, if the truce ended.
Gloucester censures Suffolk for giving Anjou and Maine
Vnto the poore King Reignier, whose large style
Agrees not with the leannesse of his purse. — II. Ill, 112.
Suffolk,
[Hoi. iii. 025/i/g. ITatU, 205.] with his wife and raanie honor-
able personages of men and women richlie adorned both with
apparell & iewels, hauing with them manie costlie chariota and
gorgeous horalittcrs, sailed into France, for the conueiance of the
nominated quecne into the rcalme of England. For King Reiner
liir father, for all his long stile, had too short a pursse to send his
daughter honorablie to the king liir spouse.
Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury,1 cries out against the surrender
of Anjou and Maine, because (1. 114)
These Counties were the Keyet of Xormattdie.
Compare Fabyan (617) :
And for that Maryage to brynge aboute, to the . . . kynge of
Cecyle was delyuered the Duchye of Angeou & Erledonie of
Mayne, whichc are called the keyes of Normandy*
It is "a proper iest," says Gloucester,
That Suffolk© should demand a whole Fifteenth
For Costs and Charges in transporting her !— 11. 132-134.
1 Tim revived Earldom of Salisbury was bestowed on Richard Neville in
1429.— Doyle, iii. 243. Hoi. (64I/2/71), copying Halle (231), says that Richard
Neville Earl of Salisbury "wos second son [i.e. son by a second marriage] to
Rale Neuill earle of Westmorland, whose daughter the duke of Yorke had
niaried, and the said Richard was espoused to ladie Alice, the onelie child and
sole heire of Thomas Montacute earle of Saliaburie, slaine at the siege of
Orleance (as before ib declared), of which woman he begat Richard, Iohn [after-
wards Marquess Montague], and George [afterwards Archbishop of York].
Richard the eldest sonne espoused Anne, the siater and heire of the entire
bloud to lord Henrie Beauchump, earle and after duke of Warwike, in whose
right and title be was created and named earle of Warwike/ Regarding
York'spolitical alliance with the Nevilles, see pp. 263, 288 below.
3 Hoi. (625/1/60,) verbally repeats Halle's similes (205) for Anjou and
Maine (205) : "which countries were the verie staics and backestanda to the
duchic of Normandie," Neither of these similes occurs in the Contention or
Whole Contention.
IVorit
£ upland
during Uiq
trace]
[R*T1*'» l.JBff
utile and
alii j it puree. I
Hair!?"
k«ys of Nor-
mandy."]
246
HENRY VI. PART II.
a* mtbmm
(Suffolk
rf*»maml«*I h
fifteenth J
I ' ' The e<K*l
Duke or
Glouces-
ter.']
[Glonc©*-
character.}
[He wu
l.. i..vt-i t.r
the
M8UMM>]
(Suffolk,
Bur k lug-
htm.
Cardinal
Beaufort,
and
Archbishop
Ivt ml-
ron«i)(re
apminrt
Oloaceater.J
One reason, which caused "manic" to deem Henry's marriage to
Margaret" both infortunate and vnprofitable to the realmeof England/'
was that
[Hoi iii. 025/ 1/64, Hatle, 205] the king had not one penie
with hir ; and, for the fetching of hir, the marquesse of Suffolke
demanded a whole fifteenth x 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 qfGlosUr, . . ."*— IL 158, 159.
According to Fubyan (619) :
Thia [man] for his honourable & lyberall demeanure was sur-
named y* Good duke of Glouceter.
In Holinshed Gloucester's character is thus summed up :
[HoL iii. 627/2/9-] But to conclude of this noble duke: he
was an vpright and politikc goucruour, bending all his indeuours
to the aduancement of the common-wealth, verie louing to the
poore commons, and so beloued. of them againe ; learned, wise,
full of courtesie ; void of pride and ambition : (a vertue rare in
personages of such high estate, but, where it is, most commendable).
Humphrey Stafford Duke of Buckingham,3 Edmund Beaufort Duke
of Somerset, and Cardinal Beaufort now make an alliance for the
purpose of driving Gloucester from power ; and the Cardinal departs to
inform Suffolk of their cabal (11. 167-171). Under the years 1446-47,
Holinshed, on Halle's authority, relates that, by Queen Margaret's
w procurement,4 diuerse noble men conspired against " Gloucester.
[Hoi. iii. 626/2/74. Halkt 209.] Of the which diuerse writers
[p. 627] affirme the marquesse of Suffolke, 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 (Eat.
PaW., v. 69/i ) ; but, in specifying the purposes to which these grants were to
be applied, they did not mention the " cobIb and charges" of bringing Margaret
to England ot any other expenses connected with her marriage.
* "called the good duke of Gloucester."— Halle, 209. Not in Hoi.
■ Created Duke of Buckingham in 1444. — Doyle, i. 254. His father was
Edmund Earl of Stafford, Blain at the battle of Shrewsbury, an July 21, 1403.
See p. 146 above. Kdinund Beaufort was created Duke of Somerset in 1446. —
Dugdale, ii. 123/2.
* Halle's corresponding words are (209) : "so that, bv her permiwio?* and
fauor, diuerse noble men, . . .
1IEMIY VI. PART II.
247
Buckingham and Somerset having departed, Salisbury, his son
Warwick,1 — the future ** Kingmaker/' — and York, are left on the
stage. In proposing that they three should form a counter-league
against Suffolk, Cardinal Beaufort, Somerset, and Buckingham,
Salisbury encourages Warwick by reminding him that (11. 191-193)
Thy deeds, thy plainnesse, and thy house-keeping,3
Hath wonne the greatest fauonr of the Commons,
Excepting none but good Duke Humfrey.
At a later time of his life than the date of this scene, Warwick was
[Hoi. iil 6/8/1/33.] one to whom the common-wealth was
much bounden and euer had in great fauour of the commons of
this land, by reason of the exceeding houshold which he dailie
kept in all countries where euer he soiourned or laie : and when
he came to London, ho held such an house, that biz oxen were
eaten at a breakefast, and cueric 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 (II. 194-198) :
And, Brother Yorke, thy Acts in Ireland,
In bringing them to ciuill Discipline,
Abr. F\, tz
I. 8 pay.
Ttt.723.
Tk£ tar it of
Warvrikt <-\$
htnutkttp*
inff.
Fabian.
Haue made thee fear'd and honor'd of the people
1 Richard Neville, born on November 22, 1428 (/tows RoL, 57), vw made
Earl of Warwick in 1449 (DugdaU, i. 304/ 1). What the dramatic Warwick
tays touching his Mi are in the French war (I. i. 119, ISO ; iii. 176, 177) show*
that — so far as these allusions apply — he is for a moment confounded with
Ric.hnrd Beauchamp, who was appointed Lieutenant- General and Governor of
France, &c, on July 16, 1437 (R\tmtr, x. 674, 675) ; and died at Rouen on
April 30, 1439 {Chron. Lotui^ 124). But, despite this fleeting identification
with Richard Beauchamp, we can hardly doubt that the "Warwicke" who
takes Richard Plantagenet's part in the Temple Garden Bcene (I flew. VI.t II.
iv.) is the same Warwick who ia a character in the 2nd and 3rd Parta of JYeiin/
VI. ("Warwick's" assertion that he conquered Anjou and Maine is a dramatic
embellishment).
8 Warwick a other virtues are recorded by Hatfe (23 1,232); "This Rv chortle
was not oncly a man of maruelous qualities, and facundious facions, but also
from his youth, by a certayn practise or naturall inclinacion, so set them
forward, with witte and gentle demeanour, to all persones of high and of lowe
degre, that emong all sortes of people he obteyned great lone, muclic fauour,
and more credence: whiche thingea daily more increased by his abundant
liberalitic and plcntyfull house kepynge, then by bye ryches, aucthoritie, or
hygh parentage. By reason of whiche dovnges he was in eucbe fauour and
estimacion emongest the common people, that they iudged hym able to do all
thinges, and that, without hym, nothing to be well done. For whiche causes
hia aucthoritie shortly so fast increased that whiche waie he bowed, that
waye ranne the stream*, and what part he auaunced, that ayde gat the
superioritie/'
2i-
HEnY VX F-UtT 1L
MM
•trrtM.]
ill
■nrl44fc
1448-50.1
Sft i. &»»»*) "a Po*te~aimo«n«stf*i
fnisininMil of Ireland to be conferred oq York,
that, about the year 1443,
[fife/, iil 629 2 26, HaJU3 2ia] began a sew rebellion
Ireland; bat Richard duke of Yorke, being sent thither to appease
the same, so aasvaged the nine of the wild and saaage people
there, that be wan him such faooar amongst then, as etmld neuer
be separated from him and his linage ; which in the seqaeJe of this
historic may more plainebe appeare.1
Act Lac a-We here find thai Eleanor Cobban. Gloucester's
second wife, looks forward to a day when she and her bnshand shall
reign instead of Henry and Margaret The historic Queen Margaret
was not troubled by any ambitious hopes which the Duchess may hare
cheruhed ; for Eleanor Cobham did penance in November, 1441, and
Margaret was, as we hare seen, crowned on May 30, 1445.
Act L sc. iiL — The Queen enters with Suffolk. Peter, an
■ Armorers Man," present* a petition (11. 23, 30) against his ■ Master,
Thomas Horner, for sari np. That the Duke of York© was rightfull
Heire to the Crowne." Holinabed merely records that, in 1446,
[Hoi. iiL 626/2/19.] a certeine armonrer was appeached of
treason by a seruant of his owne.3
The petitioners baring retired, Margaret tells Suffolk (11. 53-57)
that, when he ran a tilt at Tours in honour of her love, — doubtless a
reminiscence of those "iusts" which Holinshed says (iiL 625 1 30)
were held to celebrate her proxy-marriage, — she thought her husband
had resembled her champion. But all King Henry's mind
is bent to Holinesse,
To Dumber Aue-Maries on his Beades ;
His Champions are the Prophets and Apostles,
His Weapons holy 3a we* of sacred Writ,
His Studie is his Tilt-yard, and his Loues
Are brazen Images of Canonized Saints. — 11. 5*M53.
1 According to BalU (213), Hot.'a authority, York went to Ireland in the
87th year of Henry VI. (Sept. 1, 1448— Aug". 31, 1448). A warrant,-dated
February 10, 1449,— for the payment of York's salary as Lieutenant in Ireland,
■hows that his ten year*1 term of office was to begin on September 29, 1447. —
3townjon, I. 487, 488. He returned to England in 1450. See p. 2*2 below.
■ See p. 282, n. 1, and p. 296 f below).
1 MfoicteaA) gives these particulare : "Iohn Dan id rDavy] appeached his
mailer Willium [John] CaLur, an armorer dwelling in S. Dnnstona parish in
flMQttanfftj of treason." The year was 1447. Op. Exchequer lames, 458, 459.
Tin .Iramatic Rervant'fi name is Peter Thumps (2 Hen. VI.y II. iii. 82-84).
Ihe (uminme of one of the sheriffs of the year (25 Hen. VI., 1446-47) was
Home.— JW...C18.
HEXRY VI. PART IL
249
Henry is thus described by Holinsbed :
[Hoi. iii. 69I/1/69.] He was plaine, vpright, farre from fraud,
wholic giucn to praicr, reading of scriptures, and almesdeeds ; . . .
Halle (303) says :
Kyng Henry was of stature goodly, of body slender, to which
proporcion al other members wer correaponde7it : his face beautiful,
in y* which continually was resydent the bountio of mynde wyth
whych he was inwardly endued. He dyd abhorre of hys owne
nature al the vices, as wel of the body as of the soule ; and, from
hys verye infancye, he was of honest conuersacion and pure
integritie ; no knower of cuil, and a keper of all goodnes ; a
dispiser of al thynges whych were wonte to cause the myndes of
mortall inenne to slyde, or appaire. Besyde thys, pacyenco was so
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 God, his creator,
hartie tlmnkcs, thinking that by this trouble and aducrsitie his
sinnes wer to him forgotten and forgeuen.
Henry and his Court enter, debating whether York or Somerset
shall bo appointed Regent of France ; a question which gives Margaret,
and the four nobles who made an alliance in Act L, sc. L, an opportu-
nity of attacking Gloucester. Cardinal Beaufort accuses him of having
" rackt" the "Commons" (I. 131); and Somerset adds (11. 133, 134)
that the Protector's "sumptuous Buildings" and " Wiuea Attyre"
Haue cost a masse of publiquo Treasurie.
In 1446-47, according to Halle (208, 209), Gloucester's enemies
perswaded, incensed, and exhorted the Quene, to loke wel vpon
the expenses and reuenues of the realme, and thereof to call an
accompt : affinnyng playnly that she should euidently perceiue
that the Duke of Gloucester had not so muche aduanccd & pre-
ferred the commonwealth and publique vtilitie as his awne priuate
thinges & peculiar estate.
Buckingham thus assails Gloucester (11. 135, 136; cp. III. i. 58,
69; 121-123):
Thy Crueltio in execution
Vpon Offenders hath exceeded Law, . , ,
Under the same date (1446-47) we find that Gloucester was charged
with this transgression.
[HrniVt
■MM.]
m
ffrmrptAt
[Hb bodily
«p*ct)
HMtam.]
[Gloucester
nccuwl uf
intMiTipljing
public
rnnnrj-.l
250
I1KNRY VL PART II.
d*ktof
(/locator.
execution of
crimin*Js.J
[Oudlmt]
ll**iif..rt*g
nleof
1
[JEW. iii. C27/1/4. 27a//i, 209.] Diuerse articles were laid
against him in open councell, and in especiall one : l That he
had caused men, adiudged to die, to be put to other execution,
than the law of the land assigned. Suerlie the duke, verie well
learned in the law eiuill, detesting malefactors, and punishing
offenses in seueritio of iusticc, gat him hatred of such as feared
condign reward2 for their wicked dooings.
Lastly, Margaret imputes to him (l. 138) the "sale of Offices and
Townes in France."
Perhaps Gloucester has been made to change places with Cardinal
Beaufort, whom, in 1 440, 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
[Hoi. iil 622/2/ 1 7. Halle, 20L] to consider the . , . lucre of
the . . . cardinall, and the great doceipts that you bo decerned3 in
by the labour of him & of the archbishop [of York, John Kempe],
aswell in this your reahne as in your realmo of France and duchie
of Normandie, where neither office, liuelode, nor capteine may be
had, without too great good giuen vnfco 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
meritp, seruice, nor sufflciance of persons.
Making no reply to his adversaries, Gloucester withdraws a while,
and, on his return, delivers his opinion in regard to the Regency (ll.
163, 164):
I say, my Soneraigno, York* is mcetost mm
To be your Regent in the Real me of France,
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. Ilolinshed copied
from Halle (206) a passage which records that, in 1446,
[Hoi. iii. 625/2/29,] a parlement* was called, in the which it
was especiallie concluded, that by good foresight Normandie might
be bo furnished for defense before the end of the truce, that the
1 in cepccitUl one] Halle, in especially one Hoi.
1 In 2 JTc». Pi., III. i. 128-130, Gloucester says that he never gave
'condujne punishment' to any one, save a murderer or a highway robber.
1 deceiwd] Halle, rceeiued HbL
• This must have been the Parliament which began on February 25, 1440
(Rot, Part., v. 66/1) 1 and was sitting on Juno 4, UK\ and April 9, 1446 (set
p. 241, n. 1, and p. 246, n. I, above).
HENRY VI. FART II.
251
French king should take no aduantage through want of timelic
prouision : for it was knowne, that, if a peace were not concluded,
the French king did prepare to imploie his whole puissance to
make open warre. Heerevpon monie was granted, an armie
leuied, and the duke of Summerset appointed to be regent of
Normandie,1 and the duke of Yorke thereof discharged.
From a chronicler2 who wrote in Henry VI. 's reign, Holinshed
derived the information that Suffolk aided Somerset to obtain the
Regency.
[Hoi. iii. 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
Bedford, to continue in that office for the tearme of fiue yeares ;
which being expired, he returned home, and was ioifullie receiued
of the king with thanks for his good scruice, as he had full well
deserued in time of that his gouernemeiit : and, further, that now,
when a new regent was to be chosen and sent ouer, to abide vpon
safegard of the countries beyond the seas as yet subiect to the
English dominion, the said duke of York* was eftsoones (as a man
most meet to supplie that roome) appointed to go ouer againe, as
regent of France* with all his former allowances.
But the duke of Summerset, still maligning the duke of Yorkos
aduancement, as he had sought to hinder his dispatch at the first
when he was sent ouer to bo regent, (as before yee haue heard,3) ho
likewise now wrought so, that the king relinked bis grant made to
the duke of Yorke for enioicng of that office the termc of other
fiue yeeres, and, with helpe of William nmrquesso of Suffolke,
obteined that grant for himselfe.
Tht ditbeof
8mmm*ratt
mod* rtfftnt
and tkAduJu
nf Y>nlt
[Tot*
Franco for
Ave years.]
TKt dul't qf
York*
tippointfi tfl
y charge
ojpiint.
(Bonerwt
catMcd
York'i
Ajinoiutnafnt
to 1>a
revoked.]
Tht appoint-
mil dit-
appointed,
and painted
t* (•ic| at
mmnmm '•/
SnJetU.
1 On November 12, 1446, the government of France and Normandy was
in commission, York being absent. — Report on fotUern, A pp. D. n23. On
November 11, 1447, he is styled Lieutenant-General and Governor of Krone*
and Normandy.— Ibid., 535. By December 20, 1447, Somerset had been
appointed " to goo oure lientenaunt into oure duchie of Normandie." — 8Uwn$tmt
I. 477, 478. On January 31, 1448, he ia styled "oure lievetcnaunt in OUT
re&me of Fraunce, dncheea of Normandie and Gnyenne."— Skevensmi, I. 479,
480. The latter appointment should be regarded as the historical parallel of
Gloucester'* " doome " on the dramatic spcond day : " Let Somerset De Regent
ore the French."— 2 Hen, VI., I. iii. 200.
1 John de Wnethamrtede (ed. Hearne, pp. 345, 340).
* See next page.
252
X. HENRY VI. PART II.
Fuiikwt
K ■ 1 1 1 > 1 1 r 1 1 1
BcAufnrt
ti.i toad
York'.
<!■ qpM 1
[Oerart
upon
OtoMamr.]
|K i-nmr
Cobluun
Moused of
intend! Dg
irork says (11. 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, 1 danc't attendance on his will
Till Paris was beaieg'd, famisht, and lost.
Holinshed, paraphrasing Halle (179), illustrates this complaint of
Edmund Beaufort's malice in 143G, when York was. appointed to
succeed Bedford (see p. 219 above).
[HoL iil 6 12/2/ 1 4. Halle, 179.] Although the duke of Yorke
was worthie (both for birth and courage) of this honor and prefer-
ment, yet bo diademed of Edmund duke of Summerset, (being
cousine to the king,) that by all meanes possible he sought bis
hinderance, as one glad of his losse, and sorie of his well dooing:
by reason whereof, yer the duke of Yorke could get his dispatch,
Paris and diuerae other of the cheefest places in France were
gotten by the French king.
Act L sc. iv. — In this scene the Duchess of Gloucester causes a
spirit to be raised, from whom she learns the future fates of Henry,
Suffolk, and Somerset.1
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
beeue concerned against him. But venem will breake out, &
inward grudge will aoono appoaro, which was this yearo to all men
apparant : for diuers secret attempts were aduanced forward this
season, against this noble man Humfreio duke of Glocester, a far
off, which, in conclusion, came so neere, that they beereft him both
of life and land ; as shall hereafter more plaiuelie appeere.
For, first, this ycare, dame Eleanor Cobham, wife to the Baid
duke, was accused of treason ; 2 for that she by sorcerie and inchant-
1 For the prophecies concerning the deaths of Suffolk and Somerset Bee
p. 270, n. 2, and p. 2S9.
* She was arrested in the Utter nart of July, 1441.— Ckron. Rich. II.—
Hen. VI., 57, 58. Wyrc., 460. The fliscrt-uancy of these authorities, and the
inaccuracy of Ckron. &ith. II.— Hen, VI. with regard to the days of the week,
do not allow a mure precipe date to be given.
X. HENRY VI. PART II.
253
sent intended to destroie the king, to the intent to adunnce hir
husband vnto the crowne. ... [p. 623, col. I.] At the same
season were arrested, arrcigncd, and adiudgcd giltie, as aiders to
the duchesse, Thomas Southwell priest, and canon of S. Stephana
at Westminster, Iohn Hun priest, Roger Bolingbrooke a cunning
necromancer (as it was said), and Margcrie Iordeine, surnamed the
witch of Eie.
The matter laid against them was, for that they (at the request
of the said duchesse) had deuised an image of wax, representing
the king, which by 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 Kings Counsaile,
where he confessed that he wrought tho said Negromancie at the
stirring and procurement of the said Dame Elianor, tu knowe what
should befall of hir, and to what estate she should come, . . .
Act 11. sc. i. — Sir Thomas More's dyaloge . . . VHieryn be treatyd
dyuers maters as of the veneracyon <£• worshyp of ymayys <C* rtfyques
prayng to suyntis & goynge on pylgrymage (2nd ed.,3 1530, bk. L chap.
xiv. leaf 25) contains the earliest account of the sham miracle at St.
Albans. Tho dramatic version of this story presents no important
change save that the rogue is made to feign lameness as well aa
blindness; a variation which leads up to his being whipped off the
stago. The following excerpt from More's Dialogue should be compared
with Act II., w. i., U. 60-160:
... I remember me that I Imue herde my father toll of a
begger that, in kynge Henry his dayes the syxte, came wyth hys
wyfe to saynt Albonys. And there was walkynge about the towno
to <k*truy
Henry by
•orrery. J
[Her eon-
f-.li nit< | )
Alias /cAn
//MM.1
[A
II n. v iuii.li-
to be
Mununcd.1
{Boling-
broke
. n,].l.i\..i
by Duls
El i' an or
Cohliftm to
reveal lier
future.]
1 So in HaUe (202) and in The Contention. Though the name rymes to
" Mum " in 2 Hen. P/., I. ii. 88, the spelling is a Hume " throughout scenes ii.
and iv., Act I. In Fab. (614) and Stow (628) the name is spelt " Hum."
* "Newly ouerwne" by More. More's story of the sham miracle was
copied by Grafton (i. 630) and Fuxe (i. 079/2). Fvxe — I know not on whose
authority — *ay» that the cheat was discovered in Henry Vl.'a "young dayea,"
when the King was "yet vnder tho gouemaunce of this Duke Humfrey his
Erotector." Weever (321, 322) give* an cpitaoh " penciled ■ on the wall near
llouccster's tomb in St. Alban's Abbey ; recoruing the Duke's detection of the
man who feigned blindness.
L'JI
HKNRY VI. PART II.
■uAUMrift
eime to
St. Albans
When Henry
VI. WSJ
expected
there. 1
(The beggar
said that he
was born
blind, and.
warned by a
dream, liacl
Journeyed
from
Berwick to
8t. Albana.]
(But, not
being
healed, be
was going to
OoioiMKj
where aome
btlimd
& Alban'i
body lay.)
[When King
Henry
arrived,
the beggar
could tee ;
and people
Hi boh (
that a
miracle had
wrought.]
[Gloucester
exhorted the
beggar to bo
humble,
[and naked
him If he
could ever
aee anything
be font. 1
[The beggar
and his wife ,
answered
"no"; yet.
[when
questioned,
[heeould
name all the
colours
shown him.)
[Then
(Jljuceater
called him
a rogue, and
art him fn
the stocks.]
keggyng a fyueor syxedayes before the kyngys eommynge thytlier;
saynge that he was borne blynde, aud neuer saw in his lyfe. And
was warned in his dreame that be shold come out of Berwyke
(where he sayd he had euer dwelled) to seke saynt Albon ; and that
he had ben at his shryne, and had not bene holpen. And therfore
he wold go seke hym at some other place ; for he had herde aome
saye, syns he came, that saynt Albonys body sholde be at Colon :
and in dede suche a contencyon hath there bene. But of troutb,
as I am surely informed, ho lyeth here at saynt Albonys ; sauyng
some relyques of hym, whiche they there shew shryned But to
tell you forth : when the kyng was comen, and the towne full,
sodaynly this blynde man, at saynt albonys shryne, had his syght
agayne : and a myracle solemply rongen and te deum songen ; so
that nothynge was talked of in nil y° towne but this myracle. So
happened it than that duke Hunifry of glouceBter, a great wyse
man and very well lerned, hauynge grcatc loy to se such a myracle,
called ye pore man vnto hym. And fyrst shewynge hym selfe
Ioyouse of goddys glory, so shewed in the gettynge of his syght ;
and exortyng hym to mekenes, and to none ascrybyng of any parte
the 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
be loked wel vpon his eyen, aud asked whyther he coulde neuer se
nothynge at all in all his lyfe before. And, \\\mu as well his wyfe
as hymselfe afFermod fastely "no," than he loked aduysedly vpon
his eyen agayn, & sayd : " I byleue you very well, for me thynketh
"that ye can not se well yet" "Yes, syr," quod he, " I thanke
"god and his holy marter, I can se nowe as well as any man."
"Ye can," quod the duke, "what colour is my gowne?" Than
anone the begger, tolde hym. "What colour," quod he, "is this
"ma?tnys gowne?" He tolde hym also; and so forth, without any
styckynge, he tolde hym the names of all the colours that could be
shewed hym.1 And, whan my lord saw that, ho bawl2 hym, "walke,
" faytoure I " 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/' op. 2 Hen. VI., II. i. 10G-112.
» bad] ed. I. had ed. 2.
X. HENRY VI. PART IT
i W» 1
bytwene dyners colours, yet coulde he not by f syght so sodenly P^?>Jj
tell tbe names of all these colours, but yf he hadde knowen them JJJJ^
before, no more than the names of all the men y1 he shold sodenly JJ^a m
se. [Lf. xxr. sign. £ L]
Act II. sc ii. — At the close of se. iv., Act I., after the Duchess of
Gloucester and her confederates had been arrested, York sent Salisbury
and Warwick an invitation to sup with him " to morrow Night " ;
that is, the night of the day on which Gloucester exposed the sham
miracleL Supper ended, York desires to have his guests* opinion of his
title to ■ Englands Crowne" (IL ii. 1-5). Warwick says (11. 7, &) :
Sweet Yorke, begin : and if thy clayme be good,
The Neuills are thy Subiects to command.
The dramatic time of sc. ii., Act IL, is brought into close relation
with Eleanor Cobham's arrest in 1441, but Holinshed 's authority Halle
records (210) among the events of 1447-43 that
[Hoi, 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 progenia,) 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 r*« Ju±t 0/
nobilitie : l and priuilie declared vnto them his title and right to the tampering
r ^ about An
crowne, and likewise did he to certeine wise gouernours of diuerse ff[**a*
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 niischiefo burst out, as ye may hereafter hcarc.
On October 16, 1460, "a writyng,3 conteignyng the clayme and
title of 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 Westminster.
This document, or a similar one, was printed by Stow in his AnnaUt
(679, 680) ; and from Stow it was transferred to the pages of Holinshed.3
It seta forth York's pedigree. I quote in parallel columns II. ii. 10-20,
and the corresponding passage in Holinshed. York thus prefaces his
claim 1
1 For passages in which Salisbury and Warwick are spoken of as York's
friends, Bee pp. 283, 288 below.
* Printed m Rot. Pari., v. 375.
3 A prefatory sidenote thus describes Hel*$ reprint of this document ;
"Abraham] Fleming] ex I.S [John Stow], pag. 700, 701, &c. in Quart.''
25G
HENRY VI. PART II.
'Edward
lll.'aaona.)
[Richard II J
[Hoi. iii. 657/2/47.] Edward
the third had issue, Edward prince
of Wales; William of Hatfield, bis
meeond son tie; LioneU the third,
duke of Clarence; John of Gant,
iowrthtdtiJce of Laticaster ; Edmund
of Laivjleie, fft% duke of Yorke ;
Thomas 0/ Woodstoke, sixt, duke of
Glocester; and William of Windsor,
seauenth.
The said Edward prince of
Wales, which died in the life time
of his father, had issue Richard,
which succeeded Edward the third
his grandsire ; . . .
(Richard II.
waa a. lawful
ITTcnry duke
of Lancnaltir
waa a
usurper.]
rd the third, my Lords, hod
scueu Bonnes :
The first, Edicard the Black-Prince,
Prince of Wales ;
The second, William of Hatfield; 12
and the third*
Lionel Duke of Clartne* : next to
whom
Was John of Gaunt, the Jhtke of
Lancaster ;
The f/t waa Edmond Lanolcy, Jhtke
of Yorke ;
The sixt was Thomas of Woodstock, 1«
Duke of Glostcr ;
n'llham of Windsor waa the seventh
and last.
Edward the Black-Prince dyed before
his Father,
And left behinde him Richard, hie
onoly l Sonne,
Who, after Edward the third?* death, 20
rmign'd aa King : . .
I now quote four lines immediately following my last excerpt from
York's statement of his title :
Till Henry Bullingbrooke, Luke of Lancaster,
The eldest Sonne and Heire of John of Gaunt,
Crown'd by the Name of Henry the fourth,
Seiz'd on the Reahne, depos'd the right full 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 :
[Hoi iii. 666/1/ 1.] Which king Richard, of that name the
second, was lawfullie & iustlic possessed of the crowne and diadem
of this reahne and region till Renrie of Derbie duke of Lancaster
and Hereford, sonne to John of Gant . . . wrongfullie vaurped
and intruded vpon the roiatl power, and high estate of this realme
and region ; taking vpon him the name, stile, and authoritie of
king and goucrnour of the same.
Salisbury interjects (1. 33) :
But William of Hatfield dyed without an Heire,
1 The corresponding passage in the 3rd (1610) ed. of The Contention stands
thu8 (23): "Now Edward the blacke Prince dyed before his Father, leaning
behinde him two sonnes, Edward borne at Angolesmc, who died young, and
Richard that was after crowned King," . . . Hot, (iii. 397/i/s6) says: " In the
nine and thin ii h yeere of king Edwards reigne, and in the moueth of Februarie
[13(35], in the citie of Angolesme, was borne the first sonne of prince Edward,
and was named after his father, but he departed this life the seuenth yeare of
his age."
X. HENRY VI. PART IT,
257
In my last quotation from the pedigree printed by Holinshed the
line is carried down to Richard II. , who n succeeded Edward the third
his grandsire." The next words are :
[Hoi. iii. 657/2/56] Richard died without itisue ; William of E^0'
Hatfield, the second sonne of Edward the third, died without
issue ; . . .
The continuation of York's speech (11. 34-38) I place beside the
parallel passage in Holinshed :
[Hoi iii. 657/2/58.] Lionell the
third sonne of Edward the third,
duke of Clarence, had issue Philip
his daughter and heire, which
was coupled in matrimonie vnto
Edmund Mortimer [3rd] earle of
March, and had isstte Roger Mor-
timer [4th] earle of March, hir
sonne and heire ; which Roger had
issue Edmund ' [5th] erle of March,
Roger Mortimer, Anne, Elianor ;
which Edmund, Roger, and Elianor
died without issue.
The third Sunue, Duke, of Clarence,
from whose Line
I clayme the Crowne, had Issue,
Phillip, a Daughter,
Who marryed Edmond Mortimer, 36
Earle of Mar eke ;
Edmond had Issue, Soger Earle of
if arch ;
Roger had Issue, Edmond, Anne, and
Elianor.
[TorVt
descent from
Lionel dake
of Clarence.]
Salisbury again interrupts York (11. 39, 40) :
This Edmond, in the Reigne of Bullingbrooke,
As I haue read, layd clayme vnto the Crowne ; . . .
The speech from the throne, attributed by Halle to York (see p. 256
above), has the same misstatement.
[Hoi, iii. 656/I/54-] Edmund earle of March, my moBt welbe- J,^^"^,
loued vncle, in the time of the first vsurper, (in deed, but not by J5£££dth«
righfc, called king Henric the fourth,) by hie coosines the earle of CTomn]
Northumberland, & the lord Pereie, (he being then in captiuitie
with Owen Glendouer the rebell in Wales,) made his title &i
righteous claimt to the destruction of both the noble persona.
Salisbury adds (11. 41, 42) that Edmund,
. . . but for Owen Olendour, had beene King,
Who kept him in Captiuitie till he dyed.
Here the inevitable confusion between Sir Edmund Mortimer and
Kd in 11 nd Mortimer fifth Earl of March 2 iH 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
1 hait issue Edmund] had issue of Edmund Hoi,
* See v, 131, u. 1, above.
358
HESUY VI. PART U.
made warre on lorde Edinond Mortimer erle of Marche, . . . and
JJjJ^JJ^1 toke bym prisoner, and, feteryng hym in chaynes, cast hym in a
depe and miserable dongeon —
says that Reginald Lord Grey of Ruthin — another prisoner to
Glendower — was promised freedom conditionally upon marrying his
captor's daughter :
But this false father in lawe, this rntrew, mhonest, and per-
il^ Gr«r'» iured persone, kept hym with his wjrfe still in capiiuiUt till he
dyed.
The conclusion of York's speech (1L 43-52) and his pedigree as given
by Holinsbed are here displayed in parallel columns. The nftb Earl of
March's
| Tort',
motbar wu
Mortinnr.
[HoL iii. 657/1/67.] And the
said Anne coupled in matrimonie
to Richard earie of Cambridge, the
Sonne of Edmund of LangUie, the
fift sonne. of Edward a tfte t/tird, and
had issue Richard Plantageuet,
common lie called duke of Yorke ;
... To the which Richard duke
of Yorke, as sonne to Anne,
daughter to Roger Mortimer earle
of March, sonne and heire of the
said Philip, daughter and heire of
the said Lioneil, the third sonne of
of king Edward the third, the right,
•jn^jj^ title, dignitie roiall, and estate of
the crownes of the realmes of
England and France, and the lord-
ship of Ireland, perteineth and
belongeth afore ante issue of the
said Iohn of Cant, the fourth
sonne of the same king Edward.
I The :%i
Uooal
j •■ ..r
(Uuot'i
iMIUj
eldest Si-ter, Atuu,
My Mother, being Heire rnto the 44
Crowrje,
Marryed Richard Sari* */ Cambridge ;
who was son '
To Ednvmd Langiey, Edward Of
thirds fift Sonne*
By her I clayiue the Kingdoms i she
was Heire
To Roger Earl* of March, who was 48
the Sonne
Of Edinond Mortimer, who marry nl
Phillip,
Sole Daughter to to Lionel Duke of
Clarence :
So, if the Insue of the elder Sonne
Succeed before the younger, I am 52
King.
Act II. sc. iii. — In the opening Hues of this scene Henry passes
sentence on Eleanor Duchess of Gloucester, and her confederates,
Margery Jourdain, Southwell, Hume, and Bolingbroke. To the latter
Henry says (11. 5-8) ;
You foure, from hence to Prison back againe ;
Froiu thence vnto the place of Execution :
The Witch in Smithfield shall be burnt to ashes,
And you three shall be strangled on the Gallowes,
Hull 11 shed gives the following account of what befel them :
1 §ori] Rowe, om. Fi. * SotitwI Theobald. Smmes Sonne Fi
1 Edward the third] Uenrie the third Hoi,
X. HENRY VI. PART II.
259
[Hoi. iii. 623/1/20. Hall?t 202.] Margerio Ionlcine was burnt iF*t«<rfu*
in Smitbfield, and Roger Bolingbrooke was drawue to Tiborne, and ^JjJJJJ**1-
hanged and quartered ; taking vpon his death that there was neuer utVMi
anie such thing by them imagined, lohn llun had his pardon,1 and
Southwell died in the Tower the night before his execution : . . .
Henry then addresses the Duchess of Gloucester (11. 9-13) :
You, Madame, for you are more Nobly borne,
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 lie of Man.
The Duchess of Gloucester
[Hoi. iii. 623/i/r. Halle, 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 SlS*tio(
within the citie of London. . . . and after that adiudged to per- MSt!££) *
petuaO imprisonment in the He of Man, viuler 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 goe,
Giue vp thy Staffe ! 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,4 who,
1 This fact— which is recorded by Halle (202), Fab. (615), and Stow (628)
— may account for the dramatic Hume having been represented as a traitor.
Fab. (614) says that Hume was the duchess's chaplain.
1 tiro] Contention. Fab. says nothing about the Duchess's penance. Stow
gives the dates of the three days on which it was performed. See p. 261 below.
3 John Stanley Halle (202). Thomas Stanley Fab. (614), Stow (628). In
1446 it was ordered that letters under Henry's privy seal should be directed to
Sir Thomas Stanley, authorizing him to convey Eleanor CoMiam to the Isle of
Man. — Proe. Priv. Co., vi. 61. In 1443 she was removed from Chester Castle
to Kenil worth Castle. — Bymert xi. 45.
4 In 1441, according to Fab. (614), "began Murder [murmur] and Grudge
to brake at large, that before hadde ben kept in me we, utwene jparsones nere
aboute the kynge, and his vncle the famous Humfrey duke of Glouecter and
Protectour of the lande ; agayne whom dyuera Coniecturis were attempted
a farre, whichc after were eette nere to hym, so that they left nat tyll they
hadde brought hym vnto his eonfueion." In the next paragraph Fab. narrates
the treason of Eleanor Cobham and her accomplices.
Henry was crowned at Westminster on November 6, 1429 {Rot. Pari., iv.
2C0
U£NKY VI. PART II.
[Ifaummt
0M)d not
abide
Henry'*
» ubmisii ve
m •■ to
Gloucester.]
[Gloucester's
eneiuica
work wl
upon her
impatience,,]
7TI* V* tent
tabtth i pan
Mr Vkt
ffOMtrntiktnt,
and ttii-
chary. tA tht
tiuki 0/
(lloctittr.
[Tlie
amiuurer's
friends
brought him
sislmsnj
and nqtia
»it*e;l
[Hoi iii. 626/2/51. Halle, 208, 209.] disdaining that hir
husband should be ruled rather than rule, could not abide that the
duke of Glocester should doo all things concerning the order of
weightie affaires, least it might be said, that she had neither wit
nor stomach, which would permit and suffer hir husband, being of
most perfect age, like a yoong pupill,1 to be gouerued by the direc-
tion of an other man. Although this toy entered first into hir
braine thorough hir owne imagination, yet was she pricked forward
to the matter both by such of hir husbands counsel!, as of long
time had borne malice to the duke for his plainnesse vsed in
declaring their yntruth (as partlie ye hauo heard), and also by
counsell from king Reiner hir father ; aduising that she aud the
king should take vpon them the rule of the realme, and not to be
kept Tnder, aa wards and mastered orphancs.
What needeth manic words? The queene, persuaded by these
inclines, first of all excluded the duke of Glocester from all rule
and gouernance, . . .
Soon after Gloucester's exit, Ilorner and Peter present themselves
in the manner described by the following stage direction : " Enter at
one Doore the Armorer and hia 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 {Hoi. 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) :
At the daie assigned, the frendes of the master brought hym
Malincscy and Aqua vite, to comforte hym with all ; but it was the
cause of hia and their discomforte. For he poured in so muche
that, when he camo into the place in Smith flelde, where he should
337/i), and Gloucester resigned the Protectorate on November 15, 1429.— Ibid.
But Henry was nearly 16 when, on November 13, 1437, he assumed the
responsibility 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. — Proc. Priv. Co.. vi.
312-31-1.
1 Cp. Margaret's words (2 Hen. FT, t iii. 49, 50) :
" What, shall King Henry be a PupiU still
Vmlcr the surly Glosters QoMQOOee I "
Cp. also 2 Hen. VI.t II. iii. 28, 20.
IIKNRY VI. PART II.
261
fyght, bothe his wytte and strength faylcd hyin : and so he, beyng t*nd
a tull and a liardye personuge, ouorladed with hote dryukes, was |J|^>mi
Ynnqucshcd of his senmunt e, beyng but a cowarde and a wrctche ; l JJ^1^
whose [the armourer's] body was draw en to Tyborne, & there i^i"**1
hanged and bekedded. accuser.]
Act II. ac. iv. — Gloucester watches n the eomming of" hie " punisht
Duehesae" (I. 7). The historic dates of her "three dayes open
Penance" (II. iii. 11) were November 13, 15, and 17, 1441. 3 1 quote
the stage direction of 2 /fen. VI. f II. iv. 16 : H Enter the Duehesae in
a white Sheet, and a Taper burning in fier Iiatult with the Sharif e and
Officers." * None of the particulars given in this stage direction are
mentioned by Halle or Fa by an. In the second edition of Holinshed
the following detail of her penance is rouorded (llol. iii. 623/1/5) :
Polychronicon saith she was iuioined to go through Cheapsido
with a taper in hir ka7id.
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
taper of waxe of two pound in hir handc, she went through Fleete-
streete, hoodlesse (saue a kerchefe) to Pauls, where she offered hir
taper at the high altar. ... On Fryday she landed at Queene
Hiue, and so went through Clieape to 8. Miehaels in Cornehill, in
forme aforesaid: at all which times the Maior, sherifes, and crafts
of London, rece'med hir and accompanied hir. This being done
she was committed to the ward of Sir Thomas Stanley, . . . hauing
4*r F| rt
Potfehron.
[Tbfl
0 IT', fl I
t*I«c.]
tTho
Hill he*s flf
Olnn.wter
bore ik tM]«r
through
Flret
Street.]
(On eub
d«.y of her
pen&neeslM
WMACCOtU-
[:. 1 I- i \-\
the Mayor,
Sheriff* and
crnfUof
London. J
1 As to Peter's cowardice and Horner's knowledge of fence, — not mentioned
by ZTol.,— see 2 Hen. VI., II. iii. 5*56 : 77-79. Hoi. (626/2/28) says that the
armnnrer " was plnine without guilt," and that " the false servant . . . liued
not long vnpunUhed ; for being connict of felonie in court of assise, he was
iud^ed to be hanged, and so was, at Tiburne." In 2 Hen. VI., II. iii. 9<>,
Horner confesses treason, and Henrv promises to reward Peter, whom Horner
" thoupht to baue uiuriher'd wrongfully " (1 1, iii. 107, 108).
* Stow, 628. <?rw/.. 184. Ofiron. Loud., 129. According to one of Siotv's
authorities (Cfiron. Rich, II. — Hen. FX, 59, 60) the days of penance were
November 9, 15, and 17.
3 The Btage direction in The Contention (27) runs as follows : M Enter Dame
Elnor Cobham bare-footc, and a white sheete about her, with a waxe candle in
her hand, and verses written on her bncke and pind on, and accompanied with
the Sheriffs of Londuii, mid Sir Iohn Standly, and Officers, with billes and
holbardn." In the Lament of the Duchess of Gloucester — a poem which Wright
believed to be of contemporary date — she is m "I went bare tote
on my fettc."— Pol. Poem*, li. 207, and 205 note 2.
262
X. HENRY VL TART II.
[SI r bid n
pension
her, and was
committed
to Sir
torn*
Stanley's
ward.)
{ Gloucester's
patience.)
[Gloucester
rmtgmi ttii
Protector-
ate.]
[Gleaner
Cohham'a
condemna-
tion mad*
Gloucester
cold towards
Henry.)
yeerely 100. markes assigned for hir finding,1 . . . whose pride,
false couetise,2 and lecherie, were cause of hir confusion.
The Duchess blames Gloucester for not resenting her disgrace (11.
23-25 ; 42-47) ; and ho prays her " sort " her M heart to patience " (1.
68). After recording the fates of the Duchess's confederates (p. 259
above), Uolinshed says (iii. 623/ 1/27) ;
The duke of Glocester 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. Edmunds3 (11. 1-3). Margaret asks
(11. 4-8) :
Can you not see 1 or will ye not obserue
The strangenesse of his alter'd Countenance?
With what a Majestic he beares himselfe,
How insolent of late he is become,
How prowd, how peremptorie, and vnlike himselfe?
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 como vnto mannes age,
Wherforc the lordes wolde no protector,
Wherforo the duke loste his great auauntage
And was 110 more then after defensour ;
But then he fell into a greato errour,
Moucd by his wyfc Elianor Cobham ;
To truste her so, men thought lie was to blame.
He waxed then straungc echo day vnto y* kyng,
For cause Bhe was forjudged for sossery,
For enchaun[t]mentees, that she was in workyng
Agayne the churcho, and the kyng cursedly,
By helpe of one niayster Roger Oonly :
And iuto Wales he went of frowarduesse
And to the kyng had greato heuyuesse.
While Margaret and her allies are striving to lessen Henry's esteem
for Gloucester, Somerset — lately appointed Regent of France4 — enters
and announces that "all is lost " (1. 85).
1 Stanley assures her that she shall be treated " Like to a Duehesse, and
Duke Humfreyes Lady ■ (2 Sen. VI., II. iv. »8).
1 fats couctuel Chron. Rich. II. — Hen. VI., 60. faUe, cowOm Stow.
3 Opened on February 10, 1447.— Rot. Pari., v. 128/ 1.
4 A dramatic interval of about two months has elapsed since hia appoint-
ment in Act I., sc. iii.— T-A., 307-310.
HKNRY VI. PART II.
2G3
Suffolk's truce, negotiated in 1444, was renewed1 from time to
time until it was broken on our side by the treacherous seizure of
Fougeres in March, 1449.u A subsequent fifteen months' war3 made
the French masters of Normandy ; the reconquest of which was
achieved at the surrender of Cherbourg on August 12, 1450.4 When
a year later Bordeaux and a few other places in Guienne were added
to Charles VII. 's dominions (see p. 231 above), no foreign territory was
left us save Calais and the Channel Islands.6 Somerset's share in the
war ended with his surrender of Caen on July 1, 1450.fl Thence he
departed to Calais,7 and returned to England in October, 1450. 8
The Regent'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 eato my Leaucs away j - . .
Holinshed paraphrased Halle's assertion (216) that Somerset's
surrender of Caen
The invcon-
tflWii hat*
[Hoi. iiL 630/2/ 1 8.] kindled bo great a rancor in the dukes N
heart and stomach, that he neuer left persecuting the duke of [HZSSif
um n»
Summerset, vntill he had brought him to his fatall end & roofer of
, Cmo).
confusion.
Gloucester now enters the Parliament to which he was summoned
in a preceding scene (II. iv. 70, 71), and is immediately arrested by
Suffolk for high treason (11. 95-97). According to Halle (209), Holin-
shed's authority, Gloucester's exclusion from power in M46 (see p. 260
above) was virtually a sentence of death.
[Hoi iii. 627/1 /i 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 featB in
his destruction, yer he should haue anie warning. For effecting '^7
whereof, a parlement was summoned to be kept at Berrie ; whither ^ J^,*"**"'
resorted all the peercs of the realmo, and amongst them the duke £t"**'
1 The renewals are set forth in Rymer'a Foedcra, vol, xi.
* De Qnuunf, t. 133,
* Reckoning from the surprise of Pont de-1'Arche by the French, on May
16, 1449.— Dt Cotugj/y 1. 141 ; Du Clercq, iii. 10.
1 Ihi CUreqt xii. 81.
6 These islands formed part of the Duchy of Normandy.
* Du Oercg, xii. 73.
1 Dt Gotusy, x. 283, 284.
* Wyrt.y 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.
264
I1KNKY VI. PAKT H.
i (folk
g
VII. lo rtay
of (ilocoster, winch on the second dnic of the session l was by the
lord Beaumont, then high constable of England, (accompanied with
iSrMUid i°r ^° ^uke °f Buckingham, and others,) arrested, apprehended, and
put in ward, and all his seruants sequestred from him, and thirtic
two of the cheefe of his retinue wore 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 ) " York answers (II. 104-106) :
Tia thought, my Lord, that you tooke Bribes of France,
And, being Protector, stay'H the Souldiors pay ;
By xneanes whereof his Highnesse bath lost France.
This accusation resembles one of tho " Articles proponed by the
commons against the Duke of Suffolke," on February 7, 1450.2
[Hoi. iii. 631/2/58. Halle, 218.] 9 Item, when armies haue
beene prepared, and souldiers readie waged, to passe ouer the sea,
uiuiusoSg to deale with the kings eniniies: tho said duke, corrupted by
to foam ) t * *
rewards of the French king, hath restreined & Btaied the said
armies to passe anie further.
In a speech condemning his accusers' malice, Gloucester reveals the
hidden motive which prompted one of them (11. 158-160) :
. . . dogged Yorke, that reaches at the Moone,
Whose ouer-weening Arme I haue pluokt back,
By false accuse dotli leuell at my Life : . . .
The Following reflection upon the consequences of Gloucester's
death may have suggested these lines :
[Hoi. iii. 627/I/6S. Halle, 210.] Oft times it hapaeth that a
man, in quenching of smoke, burnetii his fingers in the fire: so the
queeno, in casting how to keepe hir husband in honor, and hir selfe
iu authorise, 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 1 1 was the second day of the session (Bat. Pari, v. 129/9) I bnt
according to ihtg. (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 (Ohnm. Rich. IL—Hen. VI., 1 16).
» This is HoL'i title. The charges are given in Rot. Pari, v. 177-179,
where the article which I quote from //.V. u the 86th. My authority f<-r the
date of Suffolk's impeachment is Hot. Pari, v. 177/f.
\.
HENRY VT. PART IT.
265
then durst not the duke of Yorke liaue attempted to set foorth his in owm-
title to the crownc, as he afterwards did, to the great trouble of j£ toS!*1*
the realrae, and destruction of king llenrie, and of many other ^Uj010
uoblc meu beside.
Gloucester closes his speech with a recognition that, his fate is sealed
(11. 168-171):
I shall not want false Witnesse to condemne me,
Nor store of Treasons to augment my guilt ;
The ancient Prouerbe will be well effected :
" A StafFe is quickly found to beat a Dogge."
We have seen (p. 250 above) that " diuersc articles were laid against
him in open councell." Defence was useless, for
[Hoi, iii. 627/i/n. Halle, 209.] although the duke sufficientlie IJgJJJ^1
answered to all things agauist him obiected ; yet, because his death ^jSj^f j
was determined, his wisedomc and innucencie nothing auailcd.
A "Poste" from Ireland enters, bringing news " that Rebels there
•re 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 (11. 341-347). The dramatist sent York to Ireland, as
Lieutenant, before the opening of the Second Part of Henry tlte Sixth,
since in Act I., sc. i., 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 (11.
348-359; 374,375):
Whiles I in Ireland nourish a mightie Band, 348
I will stirre vp in England some black Stoxme
Shall blowe ten thousand Soules to Heauen or Hell :
And this foil Tempest shall not cease to rage,
Vntill the Golden Circuit on my Head, 352
Like to the glorious Sunnos transparant Beanies,
Do calmo the furie of this mad-bred Flawe.
And, for a minister of my intent,
I haue sodue'd a head-strong Kentifihman, 366
Iohn Cade of Ashford,
To make Commotion, as full well he can,
Vnder the title of Iohn Mortimer. . . .
By this I shall perceiue the Commons uiinde, 374
How they affect the Houbo and Clayme of Yorke.
Cade's rebellion broke out at the end of May, 1450.* Its origin ia
thus described :
1 Septima in Pcntecostc [txplimana P&iUcoatu Hearne oonj.] incepit
communis insiirrecrio in Kancin."— M'yrc., 469. In 1450 Whit Sunday nil
on May 21.
2G6
HKNRY VI. PART II.
tack* Cariti
rebellion in
Kent. [To
adherent*.
ha rjtllcil
bimielf
Mortimer. ]
G'ocater
pwMmHi
EA*. Halt.
I3W.J
[Eol. iii. 632/1/63. Halle, 220.] Those that fauoured the
duke of Yorkc, 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 gondlie stature and right pregnant of wit, was intised to
take vpon him the name of Iohn Mortimer, coosine to the duke of
Yorko ; (although his name was Iohn Cade, or, of some, Iohn
Mend-all, an Irishman, as Pol yc.hr onicon 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 III. ae. ii. — '* Enter two or throe running ouer tho Stage, from
the Murther of Duke Humirey." Afterwards (1. 121) ; " Noyse within.
Enter Wurwicke, [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 blacks and full of Mood.
His cye-balles further out than when he liued,
Staring full gastly, like a strangled man ; . . .
Gloucester's sudden deatli gave rise to sinister conjectures :
[Eol. iiL 627/1/29] The duke, the night after he was thus
committed to prison [p. 264 above], being the foure and twentith
of Februarie,1 was found dead in his bed, and his bodie shewed
to the lords and commons,2 as though he hud died of a palsie,
or of an imposteme.
But all indifferent persons (as saith Hall) might well vnder-
stand 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-
1 February 23. — Greg., 188. Wgrc,, 464. From the memorandum of the
Bury Parliament (Chron. Rich. II,— Hen. VI.t 117) it appears that Gloucester
11 deyde sone appon iij on the belle at nftrenone " of February 23. Ilol. pro-
bably followed Stow ?636) in giving February 24 as the date of Gloucester's
death. Halle (209), the dramatist's chief authority, says that Gloucester "the
night after hU emprysonment was found dedde in his bed." Hence I con-
jecture that between scenes i. and ii., Act IIL, there is not a dramatic interval
of one clear day from midnight to midnight. See T-A.t 310.
* "And on the Fryday [February 24, 1447] next folewyng [Gloucester's
death], the lordes spirituellc and temporelle, also knyjtes of tbe parlement, and
whosoeuer wolde come, saugh hym [Gloucester] dede." — Memorandum of the
Bury Parliament (Chron. Rich. II.—Htn. FT, 117).
X. HENTtY VI. PAKT IT.
267
ment, other write that he was smouldered1 betweene two feather-
beda ; and some hauo affirmed that he died of verie greefe, for
that he might not come openlic to his answer.
Subsequently an attempt to enter the Upper House is made by the
Commons who had remained H within." SaliHbury keeps them back,
and becomes their spokesman (II. 243-253) :
Dread Lord, the Commons send you word by me,
Vnlesse Lord Suffolk© 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 feare your Highnesse death ;
And meero instinct of Loue and Loyaltie
(Free from a stubborne opposite intent,
As being thought to contradict your liking) 252
Makes them thus forward in his Banishment.
The excerpts I qnoto sppm tamo hoside 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
[ffoLm. 631/i/i6. Halle, 217.] began to make exclamation
against the duke of Suffblko, charging him to be the onclio cause
of the deliuerie of Anion and Maine, the cheefe procuror of the
duke of Gloceaters death, the verie occasion of the losse of Nor-
mandte, the swallower vp of the kings treasure,2 the rcmoouer of
good and vertuous councellours from about the prince, and the
aduancer of vicious persons, and of such as by their dooings
shewed themaelucs appamnt aduersaries to the cnmnion-wealth.
The queene hercat, doubting not onetic the duke's destruction,
but also hir owne confusion, caused the parlement, before begun at
the Blackfriers,3 to be adioumed to Leicester ; thinking there, by
force and rigor of law, to suppresse and Bubdue all the malice and
1 The Contention (35) has the following stage-direction before Suffolk's first
speech (2 Hen. FY., III. ii. 6): "Then tbc Curtaines being drawnc, Duke
Humphrey is discouered in his bed, and two men lying on his hrest and
smothering liim in his bed. And then enter the Duke of Suffolke to them,"
* In 2 Hen. VL, IV. i. 73, 74, the "Lieutenant" thus addresses Suffolk:
" Now will I dam vp this thy yawning mouth,
For swallowing the Treasure of the Kealme:" . . .
s Parliament met at Westminster on November 6, 1449, and was adjourned
to meet at Black Friars on the following day. — Rot. Fori., v. 171/r.
[Some
mrtgiMl Mb
to be
ttrangttd,
otbwi write
thithewu
■Mttend.]
Thf
eommd*
tMlame
onaintt y"
<i*ktnf
The
ptirleirJt
n/'t.-n' '■!'.■'
fro London
to Ltirettrr,
and from
thtne* to
Wt*lm\ftr
268
1IKXRY VI. PART II.
fff*r. Hall.
[Suffolk
soapocted
of being
Olnnrester's
murderer. J
[The
Common*
desired the
punishment
of thMe who
yielded
Anjoti and
MiUie.]
euill will coucciucd against the duke & hir. At which place few
of the nohilitie would appeare : wherefore it was againe adiourned
to Westminster, where was a full appearance. In the which
session the commons of the nether house put vp to the king and
the lords manic articles of treason, misprision, and euill demeanor,
against the duke of Suffolke : . . .
I have cited above (p. 264) one of the " Articles proponed by tho
commons against the Puke of Suffolke." The most important of these
articles accuse him of treasonable dealings with the French, but in
none of them is Gloucester even mentioned.1 Under the year 1447
Fabyan relates (619) that
the Grudge and Murmour of y* people ceaaul nat agaync the
Mnrqtiys of Suffolke, for the deth of the good Duke of Glouccter,
of whose murdrc he was specially sus3pected.
Henry directs Salisbury to tell the Commons that, if they bad not
urged this matter,
Yet did 1 purpose as they doe entreat ;
and, addressing Suffolk, Bays (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 Ransome for thy Life.
According to Halle (219), Holinshed's authority,
[Sol iii. 632/1/23.] the parlemont was adiourned to Leicester,2
whither came the king and queene in great estate, and with them
the duke of Suffolke, as cheefe councellour. The commons of the
lower house, not forgetting their old grudge, besought the Maft
that such persons, as assented to the release of Anion, and dcliuer-
ance of Maine, might be dulie punished. . . . When the king
porceiued that there was no remodic to appease the peoples furie
1 But in 1451 the Commons assembled At Wfuttminster, after praying Henry
to attaint Suffolk (then dead) for the treasons of which the Duke had been
MCtued by the Commons in 1450, ended their petition thus : " Youre grt!to
Wysdome, rightwisnesse, and high discretion considering, that the seid Wiflisni
de )a Pole hath nought only don and commyttcd the forseid Treasons and
mischevous dedes, but was the cause and laborer of the arrest-, emprisunyn^,
and fynall destruction of the most noble vaillant true Frincc, yuiire ri.lit
Obciftsant Uncle the Duke of Gloucestre, whom God pardon," . . . — Rot.
Pari, v. 22fi.
* The Parliament which mot first at Westminster on November 6, 1449
(Rot. flari., v. 171/i) va* adjourned to Leicester for April 29, 1450 (lint. F-nl,
v. 172 1 1). But Suffolk was banished on March 17, 1450 (see next a
IIENUY VI. PART n.
2CD
by anio colourablo wales, shortlie to pacific so long an hatred, ho
first sequestred the lord Saie, (being treasuror of England,) and
other the dukoa adherents, from their officuH and roomes; uud after
banislied the thilco of Snffolkc, as the abhorred tode and common [Suffolk
iioiancc of the whole realrne, for tearme of fiuc yeares: l meaning Henry for
flrejean.]
by this exile to appease the malice of the people for the time, and
after (when the matter should bo forgotten) to reuoko him homo
againe.
Act III. rc. ill. — Cardinal Beaufort was "at point of death " in the
List scene (III. ii. 369). He is now visited by Henry, Salisbury, and
Warwick. The dying man does not know his sovereign, and exclaims
(IL 2-4) :
If thou beest death, He giue thee Englands Treasure,
Enough to purchase such another Island,
So thou wilt let me liue, and feele no palne I
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 II, 1447,*
Henry Beauffbrd, bjsliop of Winchester, aud called the ryche tBwrarort
Cardynall, departed out uf this worlde, and was buried at Wyn- ^!»^]
cheater. This rrianuo was amnio to Bum of Gaunte duke of
Lancaster; discorded on an honorable lignago, but borne in J,™'""*6*
Baste; more noble of bloud then notable in Icarnyng; haut in ciuu*ct<tr-J
stomacke, and hygli in countcnaunce ; ryche abouc measure of all
men, & to fewc liberal ; disdaynfull to his kynnc and dreadfull to
his loucrs ; prcferrynge money before frcndsbippc ; many thingos
begynning and nothing pcrfounnyng. His couctisc * insaciable, and
hope of long lyfo, made hym botho to forget God, his Prynco, and
hyinseir in his latter daies. For doctor Ihon Baker, his nryuie [nr. RaWi
. "port of
counsailer and hys chapellayn, wrote that ho, lyeng on his death /J^1!?"*
bed, said these wordos: "Why should I dyo, hauing so inuche
"rychos [that], if the whole Roalme would sauo my lyfo, I am ablo
"either by pollicio to get it> or by ryehes to byo it? Fyo! wyll Dt*thbo°
lil ml, nor
"not death be hycred, nor will money do nothyng? When my Jm£r,ne?,
1 On March 17, 1450, Suffolk was banished for a term of five years, begin-
ning on May 1 next ensuing. —Hot. IWf., v. 182/2, 183/ 1.
* Chroti. Rich. II.— Hen. VL, 63. Wyrc, 464. On April 15, 1447,
ncrraUfiion to elect Beaufort's successor in the See of Winchester was granted,
Kymcr, xi. 1G2, lf>3. HtUU (210) wrongly placed Beaufort's death in 1148.
* couetUe] cautious Halle.
270
HENRY VL PART IL
Gloocwter
died, I
thought
njMM tin
OtfO
[Hoping to
vlitolntho
IWT.
Beaufort
b dried
ricttM wfalch
would Iwvo
nUareil the
wwiUot tlio
eommon-
"nephew of Bedford died, I thought my selfe halfo vp the whele;
11 but when I sawe myne other nephew of Gloucester disceased,
" then I thought my selfe able to be cquale with kiuges, and so
" thought to encrease my treasure in hoope to haue worne a tryple
"Crouno. But I se nowe the worlde fayleth me, and so I am
"deceyued: praiyng you all to pray for rao." Of the gettyng of
thys mannes goodes, both by power legatine 1 or spiritual bryberie,
I wil not apeake: but the kepyngo of them for his ambicious
purpose, aspyryng to ascend to the papisticall sea, was bothe great
losse to his imturall Prynco, and natyuo countrey ; far his hidden
riches might haue wel holpen the kyng, and his secrete treasure
might haue releued the commonaltie, when money was Bcante, and
importunate charges wore dayly imminent
Act IV. bc. L — " 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.a Henry had resolved,
■when Suffolk's term of banishment expired, " to reuoke him home
againe" (p. 269 above).
Hoi iil 632/1/45. Halle, 219.] But Gods iustice would not
that so vngratious a person should so escape ; for, when he shipped
in Suffolke, intending to transport himselfe ouer into Franco, he
was iucountored with a ship of warre, appertoining to the duke of
Excester, constable of the Tower of London, called the Nicholas
of the Tower.8 The captoine of that barke with small fight entered
1 legatinr] Icganiyv Halle.
1 Wyrc.t 469. On April 30, 1450, Suffolk was intercepted and obliged to
transfer himself to the Nicholas of the Tower. There he remained untu May
2, when " he was drawyn ought of the ffrete shippe yn to the bote," and
beheaded " l>y oon of the lewdeste of the shippe." — .ration, i. 124, 125.
3 Suffolk's ransom is assigned by the Lieutenant to one Walter Whitmi.ro
(Water JVhickmons} Contention, 43). The Duke starts when he hears this name,
and bays (II. 33-35):
11 Thy nnmo affrights me, in who?e sound is death.
A cunning man did calculate my birth.
And told me that by Water I should dye" : . . .
(Cp. the Spirit's prediction in 2 lien. VI., 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 : M Also he [Suffolk]
asked the name of the sheppe, and whanne he knew it, lie remembred Stacy
that wid, if he mytfht cschapc the daunger of the Towt, he should be satfe ;
and thannc his herle faylyd hym, for ho thowghte he was desBeyvyd," . . .
— Ptuton, i. 125. John Stacy, colled '' Astronomus," was also "magnua
Necromanti<iin.*' He was associated with Thomas Burdet, a valet of George
Duke of ClarcmjL*, and was executed in 1477.— Cunt Vroyi.t 561. Suffolk was
X. HKNHV VI. PART II.
271
into the dukes ship, and, pereeiutug his person present, brought
him to Douer road, and there, on the one side of a cock bote,
caused his head to be striken off, and left his budie with the head
lieng there on the minds. Winch corps, being there found by a
chapteinc of his, was couueicd to Winglicld college in Suifolke, and
there buried.
Act IV. sc. ii. — The dramatic version of the Kentiahmen's rising
in 1450 contains some gleanings from Holinshed'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. iii. 430/1/65.] began to shew proofe of those things which
they had before concerned in their minds, beheading all such men
of law, iustices, and iurors, as they might catch, and laie hands
vpon, without respect of pitie, or remorse of conscience : allcdging
that the land could ncuer enioy hir natiue and true libertie, till all
those sorts of people were dispatched out of the wniu.
Wat Tyler demanded from Richard II.
[Sol. iii. 432/1/56.] a commission to put to death all lawiera,
cscheaters, and other which by any office had any thing to doo
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-horne2 about his necko."
Hotinahed says that in 1381 the rebels obliged
Tht wrtUhtd
death 6fUu
dui< of
Suffblh,
Laititrt,
iutticet A>
iurort
brought to
blockham
ft<ut by tkt
rtlttlt.
Th< rt'tfw
Would ha at
alt law
nlitlrtsf
committed to the Tower 011 January 28, 1450 (Rot. Pari., v. 177/1) ; before
which time he had asked " of on that was an astronomer, what aholde udle of
him, and how he sholde ende his 1 if ; and whanne the said astronomer hadde
labourid therfore in his said craft, he anauerde to the duke and said that he
aholde die a shameful detU, and counsel id him ahvey to be war of the tour;
wherfor be inataunce of lordia that were his frendis, he was eonu delyuerid out
of the said tour of Loudoun." — Vhron. Huh. Il. — lhu. I 1 ., fin.
b l Outturn] Qi. Chattam Fi. Chartham is 2$ miles S.W. of Canterbury.
— Bartholomew. A " parwhe Clearke ■ of " Ohetham ,J figures in a legend of
our Lady of Chatham, told in Lambarde's Perambulation of Kent (repr. 1886,
p. 324).
* Pen and Inke-horne] Fi. penny inckhorne Qi. Cp. "penner and inke-
horne " in excerpt from Hoi. In 1381 the rebels, "if they found any to haue
ix! 11 and inke, they nulled off his hoode, and all with one voice of crying, ' Hale
him out, aud cut oil his head.' "Stow. 453.
[Qramnmr-
tMCttu
forbidden.]
Anno Riff, 6.
[It WO
J*u«troU9
tobeut
p«n-case tnd
liiklmni-l
X. HENRY VI. PART I J.
[IIvl, iii. 436/1/9.] teachers of children in grammar sckoolcs 1
to sweare neuer to instruct any in their art. ... it was dangerous
among them to be knowne for one that was lerned, and more
dangerous, if any men were found with a penner and inkhorne at
his side : for such seldome or ncuer escaped from them with life.
Cade thus animates his followers to encounter the Staffords (11.
193, 194):
Now shew your seluee men, 'tis for Liberty I
We will not leaue one Lord, one Gentleman : . . .
In June, 1381, John Ball exhorted the people assembled at
Blackheath
[Hoi. iii. 437/i/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 libcrtie. He counselled
them therefore to remember themselues, and to take good hearts
vnto them, that, after the manner of a good husband that tilleth
his ground, and riddeth out thereof such ouill weeds as choke and
[anitionia destroie the good cornc, they might destroie first the great lords8
NboDfcf^e'* of the realmo, and after the fudges and lawiers, questmoongers,
tut quality and all other whom they vndertooke to be against the commons ;
■***» ,. . . , , . . - -
■ccured.) for ao might they procure peace and suertie to themselues m time
to come, if, dispatching out of the waie the great men, there should
be an equalitie in libcrtie, no difference in degrees of nobilitie, but
a like dignitte and equall authorise in all things brought in among
them.
Act IV, sc. iii. — " Alarums to the fight, wherein both the Stafford*
are slaLne. .Enter Cade and the rest." The historic date of this fight
1 Cade to Lord Say (2 Hen. VI., IV. vii. 36-37) : " Thou hast most traitor-
ously corrupted the youth of the Rcalmc, in erecting a Grammar Schonlc.'1
* Ball was wont to say : "A, good people, matters go not wel to passe in
England in these dayes, nor shall not do vntill euery thing be common, and
that there be no Villeynes nor gentlemen, . . . We be all come from one
father and one mother, Adam and Eue." — (Tra/fon, i. 417, 418. Uis theme
when preaching at Blackheath was:
u When Adam delutf, and Eue span
Who was then a gentleman V — Hol.r iii 437/1/63.
Cp. John Holland's assertion (2 Hen. FJ., IV. ii. 9, 10) : "Well, I say it was
neuer merri« world in England since Gentlemen came vp." Cp. also Cade's
retort to Sir Humphrey Stafford (IV. ii. 142) : "And Adam was a Gardiner."
HENRY VI. PART II.
273
was June 18, 1450.1 Cade declined an engagement with a large force
which had been collected to oppose him, and retired from lilackheath,-
[Hoi. iii. 634/ 1/5 1. Halle, 220.] The quconc (that bare rule),
being of his retrait aduertised, sent sir Humfreie Stafford knight,
and William his brother, with manic other gentlemen, to follow
the Kentishmcn, thinking that they had fled : but they were
decerned, 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 " 8
(1. 12) — are explained by the ensuing quotation ;
[Hoi. iii. 634/1/69. Halle, 220.] Iacke Cade, vpon victorie
against the Staffords, apparelled himselfe in sir Humfrcics brigan-
dine set full of guilt nailes, and so iu some glorie returned againe
toward Loudon : diuerse idle and vagarant persons, out of Sussex,
Surreie aud other places, still increasing his number.
Just before the Kentishmen set forth on their march to London,
Dick Butchor says (11. 17, 18) : M 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/I/4I. Halle, 222.] for making him more friends,
brake vp the gailes of the kings Bench and Marshalsie ; 4 and so
were nianio mates set at libertic verie meet for his matters in
hand.
Act IV. sc. iv. — 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 Rebells Supplication 1 " 5
Early in June, 1450, Cade — who was then encamped on Black heath —
[Hoi. iii. 632/2/73. Halle, 220.] sent vnto the king an humble
supplication, affirming that his comming was not against his grace,
[p. 633] but against Buch of his councellours, as were louers of
1 The date of Sir Humphrey Stafford's death given in the Inquisition pod
mortem, 28 Hen. VI., No. 7. (Porion, I. p. Hi. note 3.)
* rVyre.,470. Greg., 191.
1 This . . . beare] 2 Hen. VI. om. Contention.
* In 1381 also the rebels "brake vp the prisons of the Marshalsea, & the
Kings bench, set the prisoners at libertb, & admitted them into their com-
pftnie.''— Hoi. 430/2/53. "They also brake vp the prison* of newgate, and of
both the counters, destroied the books, and set prisoners at libertie." — Hoi.
iii. 431/2/43.
6 Enter the King reading of a Letter] Contention. From it he learns that
the Staffords have been slain, and that the rebels are marching to London. The
question, " What . . . Supplication," is not in Contentioit,
T
fcT<i* tiaiftt
•\> taHh
by lack
Va.lt.
[Cade
■ppartNi -1
hiinbelf fa
SirH.
Stafford's
brigs Am J
fCiiIe lirnjto
njien the
gaols.]
|Cail«'i «ap-
plicatioii.)
274
X. HEXRV VI. PART II.
[Ambas-
sadors from
Honr>- sent
M OiMh]
[Cwte
demanded
b personal
cunfyrenro
with Henry.]
( Henry
retired to
Kent] worth,
lMYiag Lord
Scales to
defend thf
Tower. 1
[Odin
South wark,
uid lodged
it the White
Hart]
themselues, and oppressors of the poore cominonaltio ; flatterers
of the king, and mimics to his honor ; suckers of his purse, ami
robbers of his subiects ; parciall to their freends, and extreame
to their enimies ; thorough bribes corrupted, and for indifferencie
dooing nothing.
A messenger announces that Cade is master of Southwark (1. 27).
Buckingham counsels Henry's retirement "to Killingworth," until a
power can be raised for putting down the rebels (XL 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. Code retreated, and, on
the day of Henry's arrival at Blackheath, the Staffords — who had
advanced in pursuit of the rebels — were overthrown. (Juno 18, see
pp. 272, 273 above.) The King then returned to London, and sub-
sequently went to Kenilworth. His army broke up.1 On or about
June 29,2 Cade
[Sol. iii. 634/2/2. Halle, 220.] came againe to the plaine of
Blackheath, & there stronglie incamped himselfe ; to whome were
sent from the king, the archbishop of Canturburie, and Humfreio
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 stiffb 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 ho would require. The
K., vpon the presumptuous answers & requests of this villanous
rebell, begining asmuch to doubt his ownc luciiiall seruants, as his
vnkuowen subiects, (which spared not to speake, that the capteins
cause was profitable for the common- wealth,) departed in all hast
to the eostoll of Killingworth in Warwikeshirc, leauing onlie
behind him the lord Scales to keepe the Tower of London. The
Kentish capteine, being aduertised of the kings absence, came first
into South warko, and there lodged at the white hart, prohibiting
to all his retinue, murder, rape, and robberio ; by which colour of
well meaning lie the more allured to him the harts of the common
people.
1 Fab., 622, 623. JTW, 470.
1 " the xxU. daye of Iuny ."— Fob.. 623. " after scint Petres day."— Citron.
Land., 136.
IIEXRY VI. PART II.
275
Act IV. sc. v. — "Enter Lord Scales vpon the Tower, walking.
Then enters two or throe Citizens below." Lord Scales asks (L 1) ;
41 How now ! Is Iacke Cade slaine? " The 1st Citizen answers : H No,
my Lord, nor likely to be slaine ; for they haue wonne the Bridge,1
killing all those that withstand them : the L. Maior craues ayd of your
Honor from the Tower to defend the City from the Rebels." Lord
Scales replies :
Such ayd as I can spare you shall command ;
But get you to Smithfield, and gather head,
And thither will I send you Matthew Goffe ;
7
10
The 1st Citizen cannot be supposed to speak of the light 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.s But his robbery of two householders
— one of whom was an alderman — alarmed the wealthier Londoners,
and on July 4 3
[Hoi. iil 634/2/62. HalU% 221.] tho maior and other the
magistrates of London pcreeiuing thcmeclucB neither to bo sure of
gooda, nor of life well warranted, determined to repcll and keepe
out of their citie such a miachieuous caitifc and his wicked
companie. And, to be the better able so to doo, they made the
lord Scales, and that renowmed capteine Matthew * Gough, priuie
both of their intent and enterprise ; beseeching them of their helpe
and furtherance therein. The lord Scales promised them his aid,
with shooting off the artillerie in the Tower ; and Matthew Gough
was by him appointed to assist the maior and Londoners in all
that he might, . . .
Act IV. sc. vi. — Cade enters with " the rest." He " strikes his
Ebe iDiyor,
resolved to
ket- p OMt
out of the
city, asked
Lord
Scales'*
help.]
• Or rattier
000*4.
(Lord Scale*
promised hi*
•id, and
appointed.
Matthew
Cough to
isaw Oh
Londoners.]
1 In IV. iv. 49, this news is brought to Henry by a second messenger,
who adds:
" The Rascall people, thirsting after prey,
Ioyne with tne Traitor"; . . .
Cade committed two robberies in London. At the first "were present many
poore men of the Cytie, whicbe at sucbe tymes been euer redy in all places to
do hanne, where suche Riottes been done." — Fab., 624. As a consequence of
these robberies, " the porayll and nedy people drewe vnto hyin, & were
parteners of y* Ille."— Ibid.
* According to Qrtg. (191) Cade entered the City on "Fryday [July 31 a
gayn evyn." Fab. says (623, 624) that Cade entered on July 2, in the
" afternoone, aboute .v, of y* Cl»»k.''
a The citizens' resolve to exclude Cade, and the Mayor's communication
with Lord Scales, are recorded by Fab. (026) after tbe account of Cades
second robbery, on July 4f and before July 6, when London Bridge was
defended against him.
27C
X. HENRY VI. PART II.
TC*d« at
I lull
Stone]
ICade killed
tkewe who
know that
in- wu not ft
Mortimer.]
Bayly wu
1- -t he
shiiulil
OUnm
staffe on London stone " ; and cries ; " Now t* Mortimer Lord of this
City!" On July 2 or 3, Cade
[Hoi ill 634/2/25. Halle, 221.] entred into London, cut the
ropes of the draw bridge, & strooke his sword on Loudon stone ;
saieng : "Now is Mortimer lord of this citie /"
Seated on London Stone, Cade declares (II. 5-7) that u henceforward
it shall be Treason for any that calles me other then Lord Mortimer."
Whereupon a soldier enters "running," and crying, " Iacke Cade!
Iacke Cade I " Cade says : " Knocke him downe there 1 " The soldier is
killed ; and one of the rebels (Smith mod. odd.) observes : " If this
Fellow be wise, hee'l neuer call yee Iacke Cade more : I thinke he hath
a very faire warning." The incident was probably suggested by a
tradition that Cade put to death some
[Hoi iii. 634/2/59. Halle, 221.] of his old acquaintance, lest
they should bewraie his base linage, disparaging him for his
vsurped Biirname of Mortimer.
Fabyan gives precise details (624) :
And the same tyme [July 4] ! was there also behedyd an other
man, called Baylly ; the cause of whose dethe was this, as I haue
herde some men reporte. This [Then ed 1516] Baylly was of the
famylyer & olde acquayntaunce of Iak Cade, wherfore, bo soon as
he espyed hym comwiynge to hym warde, he cast in his mynde that
he wolde dyacouer his lyuynge & olde maners, and shewe of his
vyle kynne and lynage.
Act IV, sc. vii. — " Alarums. Mathew Goffo is slain, and all the
rest. Then enter Iacke Cade, with his Company." The dramatic
locality of this scene is Smithfield (cp. rV. vi. 13-15). But the
historical conflict in which Matthew Gough fell was waged on London
Bridge. The citizens, having determined to resist Cade (see p. 275
above),
[Hoi. iii. 635/i/i. Halle, 221.] tooke vpon them in the night
to keepe the bridge, and would not suffer the Kentishmen once to
approch. The rebels, who neuer soundlic 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.
1 The date of Lord Say's decapitation (see p. 278, n. 3 below) was also
that oti which Bayly was beheaded, according to Wyrc. (471), Gre$. (192), and
Fob. (624).
^^m
HKNKY VI,
I'.UIT II.
277
Matthew • Gough, perceiuing tlie rebels to stand to their
tackling more maufullie than he thought they would haue doone,
aduised his companie not to aduanco nnie further toward South-
warke, till the daio appeared ; that they might see where the place
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, &
begau to set fire in diucrse houses. . . . Yet the capteins, not
sparing, fought on the bridge all the night valiantlie : but, in con-
clusion, the rebels gat the draw bridge, and drowned inanie ; and
slue lobn Sutton alderman, and Robert1 Ilcisand, a hardio citizen,
with manie other, beside Matthew * Gough, a man of great wit
and much experience in feats of chiualrie, the which in continuall
warres had spent his time in seruice of the king and his father.
• Ornahtr
Goetu.
Tht akirmUk
tutwtnt tht
fit lictu and
Ihertbda
vpon London
bridge
MMMM
!.■>-,
fmmtmjmr
Am acts
abroad, now
ttai*4 on
Ud&bndfjt.
TKt Saw***,
tkt <t*Jr<af
Lanauttrt
kou*e, burnt
bftht nbtU.
After Matthew Gough's defeat, Cade says (U. 1-3) : "So, sirs: now
go some and pull down tho Sauoy ; others to th'Innes of Court ; downe
with thom all ! * Here is a dramatic postdating of what happened
in tho villeins' revolt. On June 13, 1381,* they went to John of
Gaunt's
[Hoi. Hi. 431/i/i8.] house of the Sauoie, to the which, in
bcautie and statelinesse of building, with all maner of princclio
furniture, there was not any other in the realme comparable ;
which, in despite of the duke, (whom they called traitor,) they
Bet 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 douise to his
reproch, they went to the temple; and burnt the men of lawes i%it**tern
lodgings, with their bookes, writings, and all that they might lay J •*?£*•
hand vpon. rtMu
Addressing Cade, Dick Butcher says (11. 4 ; 7, 8) : "I hauo a suite
vnto your Lordship. . . . that the Lateen of England may come out of
your mouth." Cade answers : " I haue thought vpon it, it shall bee so.
Away, burne all the Records of the Realme ! my mouth shall be the
Parliament of England." On Juno 14, 1381, Wat Tyler, it is alleged,*
boaettd,
Roger (Fab.t 625),
» WaU.t i. 45(i.
5 Walt.t i. 463, 4C4.
273
X. HENRY VI. PART II.
frwti Wat
Tyler'a
mouth.]
Thtntit (My
to eztin^utA
[All r»eorda
burnt]
rat* onfj
■Uin.|
[Lord Say a
party to tbo
cession of
Anjtni dti'l
Maine)
[ Mm litit ii of
[/To/, iii. 432/1/63.] putting his bands to his lips, thai within
fourc daies all the lawts of England should come foorth of his
mouth.
To illustrate Cade's order I quote an assertion that, in 1381,
[Hoi. iii. 430/1/73.] tho common yplandish people, . . . pur-
posed to burnt and destroie all retards, euidences, court-rolles, and
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
[Hoi. iii. 436/i /i 1.] haue a more mischeefous meaning, than
to burne and destroie all old and ancient monuments, and to
murther and dispatch out of the wa'te all such as were able to
commit to memorie, either any new or old records?1
A messenger announces the capture of Lord Say (11. 23-25) ; " which
sold the Townes in France " (1. 23). The Commons in the Parliament
of 1450 charged with boing principal parties to the cession of Anjou
and Maine
[Hoi, iii. 032/1/3 1,] tho duke of Suffolke, with William a bishop
of Salisburie, and sir lames Fines, lord Saie, and diuerso others.
The same messenger also speaks of Lord Say as having " made va
pa)' one and twenty Fiftcenes, and one shilling to tho pound, the last
Subsidie." Cade induced the Kentishmen to rebel by pointing out that,
[Hoi iii. 632/2/i4_ Halle, 220.] if either by force or policic
they might get the king and queenc into their hands, he would
cause them to be honourable vsed, and take such order for the
punishing and reforming of the misdemeanours of their bad
counceliours, that neither fiftcttis should hereafter be demanded,
nor once anie impositions or taxes be spoken of.
Lord Say's murder is thus related : on July 4,8 1450, Cade
[Hoi iii. 634/2/31. Halle, 221.] caused sir lames Fines, lord
1 "at Westminster . . . they hrake open the eschcmier, and destroied the
ancient bookes and other records there, aooing what they could to puppre&se
law, and by nii^ht to beate downe equitie and right." — Hal. iii. 431/2/47-
* Witliam]lohn HI.
8 The inscription on Lord Say's gravestone recorded that he died on July
4, 1450. — Rp(nster of the Sepulchral Inscriptions in the Church of the Grey
Friartt, London (Nichols's CUUetanta Topogrnphica et Qenealagiea, v. 279).
X. IJKNKY VI. TAUT II.
17'J
Saie, aud treasurer of England, to be brought to the Guildhall,
and there to be arreigned ; who, being before the kings iuatices put
to answer, desired to be tried by his peoros, for the longer dclaio
of his life. The capteino, perceiuing his dilatoric plee, by force
tooke him from the officers, and brought him to the standard in r»« *<**
Cheape, and there (before his confession ended) caused his head JfjJJ*-*
to be striken off, and pitched it vpon an high pole, which was '<$£%?'*
openlie borne before him thorough (he streets.
Cade bida the executioners strike off Lord Say's " head presently ;
and then breake into his Sonne in LaweH house, Sir lames Cromer,
and strike off his head, and bring them both vpjion two poles hither."
On the re-entry of " one with the heads/' Cade gives a further order (11.
138-140 ; 148-140) : " Let them kisse one another, for they load well
when they were aliue. . . . with these borne be/ore vs, in steed of
Maces, will wo rid© through the streets, *fe at enery Corner haue them
kisse." Cade afterwards
[Hoi. in. 034/2/42. HalU, 221.] went to Mile end, ami there
apprehended sir lames Cromer, then shiriffe of Kent, and sonne in
law to the said lord Saie ; causing him likewise (without confession croalJr'"
I'i'hcft'lf 1 1
or excuse heard) to bo beheaded, and his head to be fixed on a
pole; and with these two heads this bloudie wretch entred into ffSntity
the citie agaiue. and as it were in a spite caused them in euene J«nw
street to kisse togither, to the great detestation of all the jr,*,,,ll0
beholders.
Act IV. sc. viii. — The Entry runs thus: "Alarum, and Retreat.
Enter againe Cade, and all his rabblement." Cade cries: " Vp Fish-
streete ! downe Saint Magnes corner ! Kill and knocke downe ! throw
them into Thames ! " l These orders are succeeded by " a parley,"
which announces the entrance of Buckingham and old Clifford. Their
offer of pardon makes the Kentishmen waver; and, in recalling his
followers to obedience, Cade asks (11. 23-26) : " Hath my sword there-
fore broke through London gates, that you should leaue me at the
White-heart («>) in 8outhwnrke t " 2 Comparison with the next excerpt
might warrant a supposition that, when this scene opens, the Londoners
kiu.]
1 In defending London Bridge * many a maa was drowned and slayne." —
Fall., 025. " many a man was slavne and caste in Temye, haxnys, body, and
alle."— Qrtg.y 193. According U> Fab. (02G) the battle was confined to a space
not much exceeding the northern end of the central draw-bridge and the
" Bulwcrke at the Brydpefote" (the stoops in Southward I presume). That
the rebels penetrated to St. Magnus's corner rests on Halle* authority (222).
1 These lines (Hath . . . Southvarket) and the precodina quotation
(Alarnm . . . Thames!) are not in the Contention. Cade "lodgea at the
while hart." See p. 274 above.
280
HKXRY VI. TART II.
A ttait fty
VUert.
are being " beaten backe to Saint Magnus corner " ; but that they
have rallied, and driven the robels "to the stoops in Southwarke,"
before Cade complains of being left at the White Hart. As however
no interval occurs during wluch the rebels could have been repulned,
Mr. Daniel's stricture (T-A.t 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 IT. 1-3 dramatize the battle which}
beginning at 10 o'clock in the evening of Sunday, July 5, 1450,1
[Hoi. iii. 635/1/32. Halle, 222.] indurcd in doubtfull wise on
rrh« htttie the bridge, till nine of the clocke in the moming : for somtime, the
swan from 0 » & 1
w™S?.u£ Londoners wcro beaten backe to Baint Magnus corner : and sud-
BontSwark.] dcnlic agaiue, the rebels were repelled to the stoops in South-
warke, bo that both parts being faint and wearie, agreed to Icauo
off from fighting till the next daie ; vpon condition, that neither
Londoners should passe into Southwarke, nor Kentiahmen into
London.
Buckingham thus discharges the commission entrusted bo him and
old Clifford (11. 7-10) :
Know, Cade, we come Ambassadors from the King
Vnto the Commons, whom thou hast misled ;
And h^ore pronounce Free pardon to them all,
That will forsake thee, and go home in peace.
Ilnlinshed took from Halle (222) the ensuing account of the rebels'
dispersal.
[Hoi iii. 635/1/45.] The archbishop of Canturburie,2 being
chancellor of England, and a3 then for his suertio 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 furie of
the Kentish people, by their late repulse, to be somewhat asswaged,
pansed by the riucr of Thames from tho Tower into Southwarke ;
bringing with them, vndcr the kings great scale, a general 1 pardon
vnto all the offendors, and caused the same to be openlie published.
1 On the "evyn" of July 0
hem [the Kentiehmen] at x [of 1
5 "Lotidyti dyd a rysae and cam owte uppon,
*] the belle, beyng that tyrae hyr captaynys the
goode olde lorde Schalya and Mathewe Goughe. And from that tyme unto
the inomwe viij of belle they were ever fyghtynge nppon London Bryg^e." —
0rw.t 193. Wyrc. (471), Fah. (625), and OKtoh. Lond. (136), agree that the
conflict began on the night of July 5.
a John Kempe, then Archbishop of York, was Chancellor in July, 1450.
He received the Great Seal on January 31, 1450 (Rot. Fad., v. 173/1 ), and
retained it till his death in March, 1454 [Hot. fori., v. 240/2). The Bishop of
Winchester was William of Waynllete,
X. HENRY VI. PART II.
281
The poorc people were so glad of this pardon, and so readie to
receiue it, that, without bidding farewell to their capteine, they
withdrew themselues the same night euerie man towards his home.
Deserted, and fearing treachery from his former adherents, Cade
runs away. Buckingham exclaims (11. 68-70) :
What, is he fled 1 Go some, and follow him ;
And ho that brings his head vnto the King,
Shall haue a thousand Crownes for his reward !
After relating the dispersal of the rebels, — " euerie man towards
his home," — Hotinshed continues :
[Hoi. iii, 635/ 1 /59.] But Iacke Cade, despairing of succours,
and fearing the reward of bis lewd dealings, put all bis pillage and
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 fow men that were left about him ;
but be was there let of his purpose : wherefore he, disguised in
strange attire, priuilie fled into the wood countrio beside Lewes in
Sussex, hoping ao 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
for his trauell.
Act IV. bc. ix — "Multitudes" of the rebels enter "with Halter*
about their Necke?." Old Clifford tolls 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 (11. 20, 21) ;
And so, with thankes and pardon to you all,
I do dismisse you to your eeuerall Countries.
It was not until after Cade's doath — dramatized in the next scene —
that
[Hoi. iii. 635/2/71. Halle, 222.] the king himselfe came into
Kent, and there sat in iudgement vpon the ofTendors ; 1 and, if he
had not mingled his iustice with mercy, more than fine hundred
by rigor of law had boeno iustlie put to [p. 636] execution. Yet
(c* of pardon
<!ijt<t Mfli
Abr. Ft. tx
...[ I . I
Quart
[CMt'i
night |
(1000 markt
offered for
hi in. |
[H>nry ut
in Jtidgmnt
rebel*.]
1 On Augurt 17, 1450, the Archbishop of York and the Duke of Buck-
ingham went to Rochester to try the Kentish rebels. — PwiUm, L 139.
ptostnr
MtdflBH*]
X. HENRY VI. PART II.
he, punishing ouelic the stubborne heads, & disordered ringleaders,
pardoned the ignorant and simple persons, to the great reioising of
all his subiects.
A messenger enters, and, addressing Henry, says (U. 23-30) :
Please it your Grace to be aduertised,
The Duke of Yorke is newly come from Ireland, - 1
And, with a puissant and a mighty power
Of Gallow-glasseB and stout Kerne*/
Is marching hitherward in proud array ;
And still proclaiineth, 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 arcns 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 ; promising
that, by *' this yeare," the year 1451 is meant. The date of York's
return was September, 1450.3
1 In 2 Jfen, I'L, Act V. opens with this stage direction: "Enter Yorke,
and his Army of Irish, with Drum and Colairs." 2V»e Contention has : " Enter
the Duke of Yorke with Drum and sonldiers"; preceding 1. 1, spoken by
York: "In Armes from Ireland comes Yorke amaine." The messenger's
speech (IV. ix. 23 30) is not in Contention. When, in OcUiber, 1459, a
temporary Lancastrian nuccess caused York's flight to Ireland, u lie was with
all ioy and honour gladlie reeeiued, all the Irish ottering to liue and die with
him ; as if they had bcene his liegs subiects, and he their lord and prince
naturallie borne," — Hot. iii. 65O/2/23. This passage may have been the source
of York's '* Army of Irish * ; composed of " Gallow -glasses " and " Kernes."
Cp. aUo the excerpt at p, 248 above, where his beneficial government of Ireland
is recorded.
a In the beginning of September ("in Principio memus Septembris"), 1450,
Henry received news of York's Btidden arrival in Wales. — JFyre., 473. Chron.
Lond. 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 y> n-,
Richard Plantagenet duke of Yorke came out of Irland unto Weatin', with
roial people, lowely bisechyng the kyng that justice and execucion of his lawes
mycht l»e hadde ii])on alle such iwrsones about him and in al his realrue, fromc
the nighest degree unto the lowist, as were long tyme noisid and detectid of
high treason ageinst his persone and the wele of his realmc, offring hyinself
thurto, and his service at the kings comaundement, to spend bothe his body
and goodes : and yet it might not be perfourmed." The atLainder of York by
the Lancastrian Parliament which met at Coventry in November 1459 contains
this article : "First, he [York] beyng in Irland, by youre grounte youre Lieu-
tenaunt there, at which tyme John Cade, otherwise called Jaklce Cade yuiiro
grete Traitour, made a gretc insurrection ayenst youre Highnes in youre Shire
of Kent, to what entent, and for whotne it was after confessed by some of ham
his adhercntcs whan they shuld dye, that is to sey, to have exalted the seid
Due, ayenet all reason, lawe and trouth, to the estate that God and nature hath
ordeyned you and youre succession to be born to. And within short tyme
after, he comrae oute of Ireland with grete bobaunco and inordinate people, to
youre Pnleif of We*tmyn$t<<r mi'" youre presence," . . . — ]!'•'. JW., v. I
Moreover, we learn from Bot, /WM v. gll/a that, M tt-ptemher B2, 1450,
X. HENRY vr. PART II.
2S3
[Hoi iii. 637/i/SO. Halle, 225.] The duke of York c, pretend-
ing (as yee haue heard) a right to the crowne, as heire to Lionell
duke of Clarence, came this yeare out of Ireland vnto London, in
the parlenient time,1 there to consult with his special! freends: as
Iohn duke of Northfolke, Richard earle of Salisburie, and the lord
Richard, his sonne, (which after was earle of Warwike,) Thomas
Courtneie earle of Devonshire, & Edward Brooke lord Cobham.
After long deliberation and aduise taken, it was thought expedient
to keepe their checfo purpose secret ; and that the duke should
raise an armio of men, vnder a pretext to remooue diuerse coun-
collors about the king, and to rcuenge the manifest iniuries doone
to the common-wealth by the same rulers. Of the which, as
principall, the duke of Summerset was namelio accused, both for
that ho was grcatlio hated of tho commons for the losse of Nor-
niiimlie; and for that it was well knowno, that ho would bo alto-
githcr against the duke of Yorke in his chalenge to be made (when
time scrued) to the crowno ; . . .
Act IV. bc. x. — Cade climbs into a pardon belonging to " Alexander
Iden, an Esquire of Kent " (1. 46) ; whom he challenges to mortal
combat, and by whom he is slain. Iden resolves to bear Code's head
u in triumph to the King," leaving the "trunke for Crowes to feed
vpon " (II. 89, 90).
Cade was slain before July 15, 1450- Halle's account3 (222) is
that, when the Kentishmen withdrew to their homes, Cade,
desperate of succors, wbiche by tho frcnilos of the duke of Yorke
Tit didm of
Vo.U
—aire f A
clmm* to tkt
crome. (Us
CAitir from
Inland to
consult Ms
frieudi ]
(It WM
ranfrtd
tUt Tork
should ralM
ma army,
mi wri I
dlvtn
c^'iuiiullori
nrwitil the
Kit IK, chief
among
wlutni wait
Ronans t i
William Tre&hain, Winy then at Sywell, Northamptonshire, was " purposyng
by the writyng direct unto byra of the right high and myghty Prince, the
Duke of York, to ride on the xuorowc for tu mete and spoke with the seid
Duke *';...
1 Parliament was opened At Westminster on November 6, 1450.— Rot. Part.,
v. 210/1. York returned before this date. See foregoing note.
* The date of an order to pav Iden 1000 marks ibr Cade's bead. — Rymer,
xi. 275. Cade was slain on July 12 (Ami 194), '»r on Jnly 13 (Three
CAroniVfa, & E. C, 68). In Rot. Pari. (v. 224/2) the latest date assigned to
his movements is July 11.
1 On comparing the excerpt in my text with Hol.fs account — derived from
8t*nv (647)— the reader will observe that the latter is lesa like the dramatic
versiou. After a ivward had been offered for Cade, "a gentleman "of Kent,
named Alexander Eden, awaited so his lime, that he tooke the said Cade in a
g.irdeu in BoflMt : so that there he was slaine at Hoth field [Heatbfield, Sussex],
and bfooghl to London in a cart, where he was quartered ; his head set on
London bridge, and hU quarters sent to diners places to be set vp in the ehino
Of hVnl." — Si, iii. 635/2/64-
284
X. HENRY VI. PART II.
[Cftde
betook
himself in
diagoiae to
Bumcx.1
[A thousand
murks
offered for
his tppro-
JiMuiun.]
(Howai
found in a
gnrden, and
■lain by
Alexander
Iden.I
Tktmitcr-
ablt *ndt rtf
Jack* (Wi.
wer to him promised, and seing his company thus without hys
knowledge sodainly depart, mistrustyng the soquele of y* matter,
departed secretly, in habite disguysed, into Sussex: but all hys
metamorphosis or transnguracion little preuailed. For, after a
Proclamacion made that whosoeuer could apprehende the saied
lac Cado should haue for his pain a M. markes, many Bought for
hym, but few espied hym, til one Alexander Ident esquire of Kent,
fnund hym in a garden, and there in hys defence manfully slewe
the caitife Cade, & brought his ded body to London, whose hed
was set on Loudon bridge.
Act T. bc. 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. 3640) :
I pray thee, Buckingliam,1 go and meete him,
And aske him what's the reason of these Armes.
Tell him lie send Duke Edmund to the Tower;- —
And, Somerset, we will commit thee thither,
Yntill 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 1
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 Annie hither,
Is to remoue proud Somerset from the King, 36
Seditious to his Grace and to the State. . . .
Buckingham replies :
The King hath yeelded vnto thy demand :
The Duke of Somerset is in the Tower. . . .
York responds :
Then, Buckingham, I do dismisse my Powres. ,
And let my Soueraigne, vertuouB Henry,
Command my eldest sonne, nay, all my sonnos,
As pledges of my Fealtie and Loue ;
lie send them all as willing as I lino :
40
44
48
1 In May, 145G, " the king, when first he heard of the duko of York«
appmch [to St. Albans], sent to him messengers, the duke of Buckingham,
and other** to vnden>tand what he meant by his comming thus in maner of
warre."— H«L iii. 643/1/34.
HENRY VI. TAUT H.
285
Loads, Goods, Horse, Armor, any thing I haue,
Is his to vse, so Somerset may die.
52
Though many months had elapsed since York's return from Ireland
in September, 1450, Somerset's control of the state was undiminished.
York therefore determined to effect a change hy force, and soon after
February 3, 1452,1
[Hoi. iii. 637/2/5. Halle} 225.] ho assembled a great hoast, to
the number of ten thousand able men, in the inarches of Wales ;
publishing openlie, that the cause of this his gathering of people
was for tho publike wealth of the realme. The king, much astonied
at the matter, by aduise of his couneell 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 straight toward London ; and, hauing
knowledge that ho might not be suffered to passe through the
citio, he crossed ouer the Thames at Kingston 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
twelue miles from London, he imbatellcd, and incamped himselfe
vcrio stronglie, inuironing his field with artillerie and trenches.
The king hereof aducrtiBed, brought his armie with all diligence
ynto Blackehcath, and there pight his tents.
Whitest both these armies laie thus imbattelled, the king sent
tho bishop of Winchester, and Thomas Bourchier, bishop of Elie,
Richard Wooduile, lord Riucrs, ami Richard Andrew, the keeper
of his prime scale, to the duke : both to know the cause of so great
a commotion, and also to make a concord ; if the requests of the
duke and his companie seemed consonant to reason. The duke,
hearing the message of the bishops, answered : that his comming
was neither to dammfio the king in honour, nor in person, neither
yet anie good man ; but his intent was, to remooue from him
Tktduktof
York* rmtttk
a power, for
rrfOKTW Of
hit riff tit to
Uucromu.
[Tork
cmUttlrtl
near
Uartfunl,
lletirv kt
UUck'litath.|
[Ii«nnr »nt
an tioway
to iuk Die
caum of
York'i
in arm*.]
Tht JuttM
tti%ncer tv
th'ting*
viaafft.
1 A letter from York, addressed to the Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Commons of
Shrewsbury, and written at Ludlow Castle on February 3, 1452, contains these
words: ** I signify unto you that ... I, after long sufferance and delays,
[though it bef not my will or intent to displease my sovereign Lord, seeing
that the said Dnke [of Somerset] ever prtTtAth and ruleth about the King's
person, that by this means the land is likely to be destroyed, am fully con-
cluded to proceed in all haste against him, with the help of my kinsmen and
friends"; . . .— EUU, I. i. 12,13.
HENRY VI. PAKT U.
[Turk
offered U>
distend his
array If
Boraenet
were com*
mitlwl to
ward]
certeine euill disposed persons of hw councell, bloud-snccoure of
the nobilitie, pollers of the cleargie, and oppressours of the poore
people.
Amongst these, he cheeflie named Edmund duke of Summerset,
whome 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 diasolue his arniie, but also
offered himsclfe (like an obedient subiect) to come to the kings
presence, and to doo him true and faithful 1 seruice, according to
his loiall and bounden dutie.
[Somerset
CilRlDlfttt*d
to ward.)
[York*
finny
nlnMd by
the Queen.)
Henry apparently accepted this condition, and
[Hoi. iii. 639/1/23. Halht 226.] it was so agreed ypon by
aduise, for the auoiding of bloudshcd> 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 himself© priuie in
his owne house for a time.
Satisfied with the result he had obtained,
[Hoi. iii. 639/1/46. Halle, 226.] the duke of Yorke, the first
of March, dissolued hia armie, [and] brake vp his campe, . . .
His embassy having been successful, Buckingham says (!1. 54, 55) :
Yorke, I commend this kindo submission :
We twaine will go into his Highne&se 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
all contrary the Kynges promysc, by meanys of the Quene,1 which
than bare ye cure & charge of the La?ide, the Duke of somerset
1 In December, 1453, Somerset way "sent to the Tower of London";
Henry being then in a state of mental imbecility. "But, when the king was
amended againe [Christmas, 1464. — Fatten, i. 315], and resumed to him hia
former gouernement, 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.*— 2M. iii. 642/t/i9, 41. HaUe, 232. (Comparison of Rot.
Pari., v. 248f2, Rymer, xi. 361, 362, and JPyrc., 477, shows that Somerset was
pent to the Tower in 1453, not in 1454 ; the date under which this proceeding
is recorded by Halle and lid.) Somerset was in the Tower for more than a
year and ten weeks prior to Feb, 7, 1465.— Jtymert xi 362.
HENRY VI. PART II.
287
was set at large, . . . and had as great rule about the Kyng as he
before dayea had ; . . .
Enraged at this treachery, York unbosom* himself (1. 87, Ac.):
How now ! is Somerset at libertie? . . .
False King ! why hast thou broken faith with me,
Knowing how hardly I can brooke abuse? ... 92
Heore is a hand to hold a Sceptre vp
And with the same to acte controlling Lawes :
Giue place ! by heauen thou slialt rule no more 104
O're him whom heauen created for thy Ruler ]
Somerset exclaims (1L 106, 107) ;
O monstrous Traitor ! I arrest thee, Yorke,
Of Capitall Treason 'gainst the King and Crowne : . . .
The historical authority has not been far overstepped here.
York M brake vp his campe," he
After
[Hoi. iii. 639/1/47. JTallc, 220. ] came to the kings tent, where
contrario to his expectation, & against promise made by the king
(as other write) he found the duke of Summerset going at largo
and set at libertie, whome the duke of Yorke boldlie accused of
treason, briberie, oppression, and manic other crimes. The duke
of Summerset not onelic made answer to the dukes obiections, but
also accused him of high treason ; affirming, that he with his
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 (11. 111-113):
Sirrah, pall in my sonnefs] to be my hale :
1 know, ere they will haue me go to Ward,
They'l pawne their swords for1 my infranchisement.
The message quickly brings Edward and Richard Flantagenet to
their father's assistance. The historical Richard was unborn at the
date (March 1) 2 of this part of sc. 1., 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.3
The ilukt of
Torkt
accuttth lh<
SAnurttt.
A mutual
charge
hrttPten jT
lire i/ufaj,
Yvrkt aw J
0/ hu
u
1 for] F2. 0/F1.
* Richard was hum on October 2, 1452.— ffytr., 477.
in April, 1442, — Wyrt,, 462.
3 Fab., C27. Chrnn. low/., 133.
Edward was born
288 X. HENRY VI. PART II.
ma [Hoi. iii. 639/2/17. Halle, 227.] Whilest the councell treated
(a rumour of sailing or dispatching of this duke of Yorke, a rumor sprang
th*t K-l ward
K«nof through London, that Edward earle of March, sonne and heire
anSSfr toth aPParan' t° the ^^ duke, with a great armic of March men, was
Lond(«.) comming 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.1
In the play York has a more commanding position. HU part is
taken by his u two braue Beares," Salisbury and Warwick, whom lie
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 :
rwui»y [Hoi. iil 641/2/56. Halle, 231.1 The duke of Yorke (aboue
^tiTdX'i/ all things) first sought means how to stir vp the malice of the
Ml
people against 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
ho should not bo a man apt to the gouernment of a realme,
wanting both wit and stomach sufficient to supplie such a roome.
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,
th tnmttd chiefelie sought the fauour of the two Xeuils ; both named
tk€ S€mu$. Richard, one earle of Salisburie, the other earle of Warwike, the
first being the father, and the second the sonne.
When the Nevilles enter (1. 147), old Clifford tauntingly asks York,
11 Are these thy Boares 1 " 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 Beaucbamp, sister of Henry de Beauehamp, Duke of Warwick
(see p. 24fi, n. 1 above).
Act V. sec. ii., iii — The 6rst battle of St. Albans — fought on May
1 The oath ia recited in the Act of Attainder passed against York by a
Parliament which met at Coventry on November 20, 1459.— Rot. Pari, v. 346/2.
XT. HENRY VI. PAKT HL
S89
22, 1455 l — is dramatized in scenes ii. and iii., Act V. As at Dartford
in 1452, bo at St. Albans in 1455, 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 Richard, who thus taunts the slain man (11. 66-69) ;
So, lye thou there ,
For vnderneath an Ale-house' paltry eigne,
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. C43/2/9. Halle, 233.] For there died vnder
signe of the castell, Edmund duke of Summerset, who (aa h
beene reported) waa warned long before to auoid all castels : * .
XI. HENRY VI. Part ill.
Between The third Part of Henry the *Sfcrff — a recast of The true
Tragedie of Richard Duke of 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 place. 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 VI. on May 21,
1471.
Act I. sc. i,— The Yorkists enter and boast of their victory. " Lord
1 Potion, L 327. A full account of the battle follows.
* Among those slain at St. Albans, Stoic (661) specifies "the- ohle I*ord
Clifforde." ("olde" first appears in the ed. of 1592, p. 651.) Lord Clifford is
not, I believe, called "old in any other chronicle printed before the date of
this plav ; and be U not thus distinguished from his son in the Contention. la
2 Hen. VI. we find " old Clifonl h /Entry, IV. viii. 5), nnd " Old CHf." is pre-
fixed to several speeches in V. i. His son is M young Clifford " in the Conten-
tion and 2 Ben. VI. The son's name does not appear in a contemporary list
{Potion, i 232. 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.
3 "Thys sayde Ed in on d duke of Somerset had herde a fantastyk prophecy
that he shuld dy vndrc a castelle ; wherefore in as ineche as in him was, he
lete the Vyng that he eholde nat come in the castelle of Wyndsore, drvdyug
the seyde prophecy ; bnt at Seyut Albonys ther was an hostry huuyng the
sygne of a castelle, and before that hostry he was slayne."— Chron. Mich. II. —
Hen. VI. t 72.
290
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
(The ilain nt
.St. Alhani. j
Thorn n t lord
ft ;.ii,.',
KutA Wktt-
|Fu-it;w
from St.
Albans. J
Clifford l and Lord Stafford M charged the Yorkists' u maine Battalias
Front," and were slain by "common Souldiers." Buckingham waa
"either slaine or wounded dangerous" by Edward; and Warwick's
brother, John Neville, afterwards Marquess Montague," shows "the
Eu-leof Wiltshires blood" (11. 7-15). These particulars are dramatic
additions to a simple record that, on the battle-field of St. Albans,
[llol. iii. 643/2/12. Hoik, 233.] laio Henrie, the second of
that name, earle of Northumberland ; Hiunfrie earle of Stafford,
sonne to the duke of Buckingham ; Thomas8 lord Clifford ; . . .
Humfreie, duke of Buckingham, being wounded, and lames
Butler, earle of Ormond and WBlbiTO, . . . seeing fortune thus
against them. left the king atone, and with a number fled awaie.
Henry's flight after the battle of St. Albans (11. 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.4 Parliament met at
Westminster on July 9, 1455, and, after passing an Act of indemnity
for York and his associates, was adjourned until November 12. On
November 19, 1455, York was appointed Protector, Henry having
during the adjournment again become imbecile. Early in the year
1456 the King recovered, and on February 25 York's Protectorate was
cancelled.5 On March 25, 1458, in pursuance of an award made by
Henry, York, Salisbury and Warwick wero formally reconciled to the
sons of those nobles who had been slain at St. Albans. fl Some months
later the peace was broken by an affray from which Warwick barely
escaped unharmed.7 On July 10, 1460, the Yorkists' victory at North-
ampton left Henry their prisoner. He was conveyed to London, and a
1 In 2 Hen. VI. > V. ii. 28, ho is slain by York.
1 On May 23, 1461, summoned to Parliament as Baron dc Montague. —
Doyle, ii. 512. (1460 is the year according to Ihujdale, i. 307/z.) Created
Marquess Montague in 1470 (Dwjdale, i. 308/i).
s Thomas] Iohn Hoi.
* Paston, L 330, 331, 333.
6 Parliament opened on July 9. — Rot. Pari., v. 278/i. Act of indemnity.
—Ihid., 281, 282. Prorogation of Parliament to November 12, 1455.— Ibid.,
283/1-2. In a letter written on October 28, 1455, James Gresham tella John
Paston that"8umme men arafcrd that he [the King] is seek a^ym*'— Paston,
i. 352. By a commission dated November 11, York was authorized to hold the
Parliament adjourned to the following day ; because, " propter certaa justai &
rationabiles causa*," Henry could not be present in person. — Rot. ParL, v.
S84/2. For York's appointment as Protector see Hot. Pari., v. 288/1 ; for his
discharge from that office see Rnt. Petri., v. 321/2.
* Henry's award, dated March 24, is given in Wketh., 422 aqq. The agree-
ment wan celebrated, on March 25, 1458, by a procession of the King, Queen,
and nobility at St. Paul's.— Fab., 633.
7 According to Chron. Rich. II. — Hen. VI , 78, this affray happened on
November 9, 1458, but Sab. (633) dates it "aboute the feast of CandelmasM/*
1459. July 4, 1459, is the date assigned by the Lancastrian Parliament of
Coventry to the Yorkists' first act of rebellion.— Rot. Pari., v. 349.
XI. HENRY VI. PART IIL
291
Parliament assembled at Westminster on October 7, 1460.1 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 King exclaims (11. 50, 51) ;
My Lords, looke where the sturdie Rebel 1 sits,
Euen in the Chayre of State I
York is said to have made this, or a similar, public demonstration
of liia right, soon after the assembly of Parliament in October, 1460.'
[Hoi. iii. 655/I/73-] Maister Edward Hall in his chronicle [245]
uiaketh mention of an oration, which the duke of Yorke vttered, [To* to
sitting in the rcgall seat* there iu the chamber of the pccrcs, either «»t*'i
at this his first coinming in amongst them, or else at some one
time after: the which wc hauc thought good also to set downe ;
though Iohn JFhctJtamsted, the abbat of saint Albons, who liued in
those daies, and by all likelihood was there present at the parle-
tnent, maketh no further recitall of anie words, which the duke
should vtter at that time in that his booke of records, where he
intreateth of this matter.4 But for the oration (as maister Hull
hath written thereof) we find as followeth : If During the time J,,"-8ff'j£'"
(saith ho) of this parlcmcnt, the duke of Yorkc with a bold <*«^.***
countenance entered into the chamber of the peeres, and sat
downe in the throne roiall, vnder the cloth of estate, (which is the
1 Fab.y 636. Rot. Pari., v. 373/i.
* The u writyng" which set forth York's title was read before the Peers on
October 10, 1460.— Hot Pari, v. 376/1.
* Warwick says (I. i. 26, 26) :
■ This ia the Pallace of the fearefull Kine,
Ami this the Eegall Seat ; possesse it, York " ; . . .
11 the regall Beat " is H oVs phrase, not Halle's. York, answering Warwick (1. 29),
says: u hither we bane broken in by force/* In October, 1460. York "went
to the moat principall lodging that the king hod within all his palace fof
Westminster], hreattirju vp the lockes and a 00 res, and so lodged himselfe
therein," . . .—Hoi. in. 666/1/63 (from W^eth.y 486). Halle has not thia
passage.
* The passage referred to (Wheth., 484) is thus translated in Hoi. iii.
666/1/37, oc.: "At hia [York's] comniing to Westminster he entred the palace,
and, pawing foorth direct lie through the great hall, staied not till he came to
the chamber where the king and lords veed to sit in the parlement time, . . .
and, being there entred, stept vp vnto the throne roiall, and there, laieng hia
hand vpon the cloth of estate, seemed as if he meant to take possession of that
which was his right, (for he. hold his hand so vpon that cloth a good pretie
while,} and, after withdrawing his hand, turned hie face tuwards the people,
beholding their preaseing togithcr, and marking what countenance tney
made,"
292
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
kings peculiar Beat,) and, in the presence of the nobilitie, as well
spiritual] as temporal! (after a pause made), he began to de<
[See
(York »t
do
*££££ hi spirituall as temporal! (after a pause made), he began to declare
title.] jt|fi t^-i 4blo to the crowne, in this forme and order as insueth.
excerpts from York's speech at pp. 256-258 above.]
Northumberland and Clifford wish to "assayle- thu Family of
Torke " l (1. 66), but Henry demurs :
Ah, know you not the Citie fauours them, . . .
This partiality was of service to York in (?) 1456, when Queen
Margaret perceived that
[Hoi. iii. 645/2/66. Halle, 236.] she could attempt nothing
£mdoticn agamB*; him neere to London ; 2 because the duke was in more
YorkT* estimation there, than either the king hir husband, or hir
selfe: . . .
Henry fails in an attempt to prove his title to the crown,9 and,
alarmed by the sudden appearance of Yorkist soldiers, proposes a
compromise, which is accepted {11. 170-175):
Hewn/. My Lord of Warwick, heare me but one word :
Let me for this my life time reigne as King.
Plant. Confiime the Crowne to me and to mino Heires, 172
And thou shalt reigne in quiet while thou liu'st.
Henry. I am content ; Richard Plantagenet,
Enioy the Kingdom? after my decease.
On October 16, 1460, York's claim to the crown was, as we have
seen (p. 255 above), brought before Parliament
%*%*£ f [Hoi iii. 657/1/69. Hath, 249.] After long debating of the
iUt'&ern. matter, and deliberate consultation amongest the peeres, prelats,
'iifiau'np or and commons ; vpon the vigill of All saints/ it was condescended ;
[the] m*™. for go mucjj ^ \^ig Henrie had beene taken as king by the space
1 "Thomas Thorpe, second Baron of thex chequer, greatc frende to the
house of Lancaster, and extreme enemie to the Famtjlit of Yorice." — Hio/2«,846.
1 After the second battle of St. Albans (p. 301 below) Margaret retired to
the north of England ; ■ hauing little trust in Essex, and lease in Kent, but
least of all in London."— if of. iii. 661, col. 1, L 40. Hatte, 253. As to the
Yorkist feeling in Kent, f*ee p. 296 below.
s Previously Henry said to York (1. 105) : " Thy [My Pi] Father was, as
thou art, Duke of Yorke." York's father was Richard Earl of Cambridge.
younger win of Edmund of LangVy. The Earl of Cambridge was executed
during the lifetime of his elder brother Edward Duke of Yore.
1 Henry accepted the Peers' arbitrament on October 25. — Rot ParL, v.
377/2. On October 31 York came to the Upper House, and there, in the
presence of Henry and the Peers, took an oath of fidelity to the King. — Rot.
Pari,, v. 379. See next page.
XI. HENRY VI. PAUT III,
293
of thirtto and eight yearcs and more, that he should inioy the ^*n,Jl2bf
name and title of king, and haue possession of the realme during IJ-^J*^
his naturall life. And, if he either died, or resigned, or forfeited hilh,,rl
the same, by breaking or going against anie point of this concord,
then the said crowne & authorise roiall should immediatlie be
deuoluted and come to the duke of Yorke, if lie then liued ; or
else to the next heire of his linage.
Henry makes a stipulation (II. 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 Hue,
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 l by which York was declared heir apparent to the
crown contained the following provision :
[Hoi. iii. 658/1/33.] Item, the said Richard duke of Yorke,
shall promit and bind him by his solcmne oth, in maner and forme
as followeth :
u In the name of God, Amen : I, Richard duke of Yorke, promise »• <xa -y
Siekmrd
"and sweare by the faith and truth that I owe to almightie God, <{«*v
H that I shall neuer consent, procure, or stirre, directlie or indirectlie,
" in priuie or apert, neither (as much as in me is) shall Buffer to be
" doone, consented, procured, or stirred, anie thing that may sound
11 to the abridgement of the naturall life of king Ilenrie the sixt, or
"to the hurt or diminishing of his reigne or dignitie roiall, by
M violence, or anie other waie, against his freedome 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 uselessnesa (11. 238-241) :
Warwick is Chanoelor, and the Lord of Callioe ;
Sterne Falconbridge commands the Narrow Seas ;
The Duke is made Protector of the Realme ;
And yet shalt thou be safet
Halle (233) and Holinsbed (iii. €44/2/17) record that, in the
Parliament which met soon after the first battle of St. Albans,
Torkt.
1 The articles of agreement between Henry and York (Rot -P*rfj v- 378,
379), containing this oath, are not in HatU. They were taken by Hoi. from
Stout (679-683).
294
XI. mCTRT VI. PART III.
[Tim h*
|mUr Vn*»-
•Til—tour nf
tht fWlM.
1
litll ••MHIl
■
Warwick's father — Richard Neville. Ear\ of Salisbury — was appointed
Chancellor, while Warwick himself received the Captaincy of Calnis,1
" Falconbridge " is perhaps a Lancastrian Vice- Admiral of later date ;
[Hallf. 301.] one Thomas Xeuel, bastard sonne to William -
lord FauconKriil^[c], the valyant capitayne ; a man of no lease corage
then auilacitie. . . . This bastard was before this tyme [14/1]
appovnted by the erle of Warwycke to be Vyce-admirall of tltt
sea, and had in charge so to kepe the passage betwene Doucr and
Caleys, that none which either fauoured kinge Edward or his
freudes should escape tu taken and vndrouned.3
Holiushed, on Halle's authority (249), relates the proclamation of
York's third protectorship.4
[Sol. iii. 659/1/30.] And vpon the saturdaie [November 8,
1460] next iusuing [AH Saints' Day], Richard duke of Yorke was
by sound of trumpet solemnelie proclamed heire apparant to the
crownc of England, and protectour of the rcalme.
Margaret tells Henry that the M Northerne Lords" will follow her
colours ; and she and her Bon are about to go — for H our Army is
ready " — when the King says (L 259) :
Gentle 8onne Edward, thou wilt stay with 5 me ?
Qufuc. I, to be murther'd by his Enemies. 260
Print*. When I returne with victorie from 6 the field,
He see your Grace : till then, lie follow her.
My next excerpt shows that, though York had been declared heir
apparent, his position was not secure :
[mi. iii, 659/1/44- #*fc 249.] The duke of Yorkef well
knowing that the queene would spume against all this, caused
both hir an«l liir sonne to be sent for by the king. But she, as
vroont rather to rule, than to be ruled, and thereto counselled by
1 In the corresponding lines of T. T., Warwick's appointments as Chan*
0 and "Lord' of Calais are not nmtfamad. Salisbury's Chancellorship
Bi 1 lie battle of St. Albans. He received the seals on April 1 (April 2,
t« date given in my authority, fell on a Tuesday), 1454, and surrendered them
ifamfa 7, 1455, — Proc. Priv. Co., vi. 355-359. Warwick was made Captain
of Calai* on August 4, 1455.— Rot. Pari, v. 309/2.
1 UAtuim] Thomn* Halle.
appointment must have been made in 1470, after Warwick had
iii Edward IV.
irs from Wyrc. (484) tlmt York became heir apparent and
%i H*£vii« l»v virtue of the immu agreement According to Chron. Rich. II. —
■ 106) and Chron, Lond. (141) York was made Protector in 1460.
to Fi
XI. HENRY VI. TAUT III.
295
the dukes of Excester and Summerset, not onelie denied to come,
but also assembled a great annie ; intending to take the king by
fine force out of the lords hands.
Act I. sc. ii. — When York heard that a. Lancastrian army was
gathering in the North, he
[Hot. iii. 659/1/52. Halle, 250.] assigned the duke of Norffolke,
and erle of Warwike, his trustie freends, to be about the king,1 while
he, with the earles of Salisburie and Rutland, and a conuonicnt
number, departed out of London the second daie of December,2
northward ; and appointed the earle of March his eldest sonne to
follow him with aU his power. The duke came to bis castell of
Sandall beside Wakefield on Christmasse eeuen,3 & there began
to make muster of his tenants and freends.
The scene opens at Sandal Castle. Richard argues (11. 22-27) that
Henry, being an usurper, could not lawfully impose an oath upon York.
York is convinced and resolves to " bo King or dye." Holinshed — in
a passage derived from Whethamstede (491) — says that many deemed
York's miserable ond
[//"/. iii. 659/2/58.] a due punishment for breaking his oth of
allegiance vnto his soueroigno lord king 1 leurie ; but others held
him discharged thereof, bicause he obteined a dispensation from
the pope, by such suggestion as his procurators made vnto him;
whereby the same oth was adiudged void, as that which was
receiucd vnaduiscdlic, to the prejudice of himselfe, and disheriting
of all his postcritic.
York then takes steps to warn his friends of his intended revolt
(11. 40-42) :
You, Edward, shall vnto my Lord Cobhnm,
"With whom the KentUhmen will willingly rise:
In them I trust; . . .
Kdward 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,4 was passing
(York lit
MUKUl
Ca-Ue.]
(Th« Pnjn
■ t mMi
York!
o-th.l
A pu.rch<ut
of Goto
rurut tmlA
fpOJM*
1 M Warwick©, Cobham, and the rest," were left by York, " Protector* of the
King."— 3 Hen, VI., I. ii. 56, 57.
* HatU, 260. December 9.— &•*?., 210. " a lytelle before CrystynmoB."—
Chron. Huh. II.— Hen. VL, 107.
■ Halle, 260. December 21.— Wt/rc., 484.
4 They landed at Sandwich on June iti, 1460.— Ell i*. III. i 91 compared
with 8&-6e. The battle of Northampton was fought on July 10, 1460.
206
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
jnittkarri-
urn
Jbr. Fl<m.
rThe
KflntUlimrD
»ero
Yorkiita.]
Ahr. Ft. ex
fi(tow|.
pag. 097.
The mm of
Kent tent to
Calii for Ml
tarlts.
[lUrgaret'i
anny came
before
Sandal , and
offered
battle to
Tort]
[Hot. iii. 653/2/71. ifti/fe, 243.] through Kent, there came to
them the lord Cobham, Iohn Gilford, William Pech, Robert Home,
and manic other gentlemen ; . . .
The Yorkist leaders were encouraged to land in Kent, because
[Hoi. iii. 653/2/43.] the people of that countrio and other parts
were altogither bent in their fauor ; and no lease addicted to doo
them seruice both with bodie and goods, than the Irishmen l seemed
to be at their receiuing of the said duke of Yorke, and his yoonger
sonne Edmund carle of Rutland ; whom they so highlie honoured,
that they offered to Hue and die iu their quarrelL . . .
Rut it is to be read in a late writer, that the commons of Kent
. . . sent priuilio messengers to Calis to the foresaid cries ; beseech-
ing them in all hast possible to come to their succour. Wherevpon
the said earles sent ouer into Kent the lord Fauconbridge, to know
if their deeds would accord with their words:2 so that anon the
people of Kent, and the other shires adioiuing, resorted to the said
lord Fauconbridge in great number.
A messenger enters hastily and addresses York (11. 49-52) :
The Queene with all the Northerne Earles and Lords
Intend here to besiege you in your Castle :
She is bard by with twentie thousand men ;
And therefore fortifio your Hold, my Lord.
Hearing of York's arrival at Sandal Castle, Margaret
[Hoi. iii. 659/i/6 1. Halle, 250.] determined to cope with him
yer his succour were come.
Now she,8 hauing in hir companie the prince hir sonne, the
dukes of Excester and Summerset the earle of Deuonsliire, the
lord Clifford, the lord Ros, and in effect all the lords of the north
parts, with eighteen?, thousand men, or (as some write) two and
twentie thousand, marched from Yorke 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. I above. " Irishmen . . . quarrelL" Not in BalU. or in
HU. ed. f.
* ioortW] Stow, tooocb] II ol.
* Queen Margaret was not present nt the battle of Wakefield. After the
battle she came from Scotland to York.— Wyrc, 4H.V
XI. HENRY VI. TART III,
297
The Armie of the Queene meane to besiege vs.
lohn. Shoe sha.ll not neede ; woe'le meete her in the field.
Yarke. What, with fiue thousand men 1 . . ,
Fine men to twentie ! though the oddes be great, 72
I doubt not, Vnckle, of our Victorie.
Many a Battaile haue I wonne in France,
When as the Knemie hath beene tenne to one :
Why should I not now haue the like successet 76
Words as confident as these were, we learn from Halle (200),
uttered by York when Margaret's army appeared before Sandal
Castle. The Duke,
hauyng with hyra not fully fiue thousandc pereoncB, determined
incontinent to issue out, and to fight with his enemies ; and all
though sir Dauy Halle, his old seruant and chief counsailer, auysed
him to kepe hys Castle, and to defende the same with bis smal
numbrc, till his sonne the Erie of Marche wer come with his power
of Marchonien and Welshe souldiours, yet he would not be coun-
sailed, but in a great fury saied : " a, Dauy, Dauy 1 hast thou
" loued me so long, and now wouldest haue me dishonored? Thou
" neuer sawest me kepe fortres when I was Regent in Normandy,
"when the Dolphyn hymself, with his puissaunce, came to besiege
"me, but, lyke a man, and not like a birde included in a cage, I
"issued and fought with myne enemies, to their losse euer (I
" thanke God) and to my honor. . . . woiddest thou that I, for
"dread of a scolding woman,1 . . . should incarcerate my self, and
"shut my gates?"
Act I. sc. iii. — Rutland aud his Tutor enter, fleeing from Clifford.
They are overtaken and separated, the Tutor crying out (11. 8, 9), as he
is dragged off by soldiers,
Ah, Clifford, murthor 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 (251) that, while the battle of Wakefield
was in fighting, a prieste called sir Robbert Aspall, chappelain and
whole master to the yong eric of Rutland, (.ii. sonne to the aboue
(York deter-
mined to
meet hu
eoemioa in
the Held.
though Sir
hv n»n«
adriwd hitn
to dr fend tha
castle.]
(Yirkiind
never
avoided a
hattla with
Hi Kmn-lt,
and Would
not ahnt hit
cute* "for
On 1. 1 i<fi
hoMIm
woman/']
[At**,
yming
R'tliMif!'*
aihnol-
moaUr,
1 Richard thus encourage* liia father to accept Margaret's challenge (3 Htn.
VI., I. ii. 68) : "A Woman a generall ; what should we feare?''
208
XI. HENUY VI. TAUT III.
(■mhUj
conveyed
the Earl
from the
battle-field.]
{Clifford
ruiiowH ted
overtook
the in.)
(It'illnml
imiikred
merer.
[uid his
entreaties
were itip-
ported by
AipalL ]
(Clifford laid
to Rutland :
"Thy father
Blew mine,
and so will I
tin thee and
all thy
kin.")
[Clifford »
child-killer.]
named tluke of Yorke, sea[r]ce of the age of .xii. yerus,1 a faire
gentleman and a maydealike person,) pcrcciuyng that f[l]ight was
more sauegard than tariyng bothe for liym and his master, secretly
conueyd therle out of the feldc, by the lord Cliffordes bande,
toward the towne ; bub, or he couldo ontre into a house, he was by
the aayd lord Clifford espied, fulowed, and taken, ami, by reson of
his apparell, demaunded what he was. The yong geutelman, dis-
mayed, had not a word to tipeake, but kneled on liis knees, iroplor-
yng mercy ami desiryng grace, both with holding vp his batides and
making dolorous conntinancc, for his .speacho was gone for feare.
"Saue him," say do his Chappclein, "for lie is a princes sonnc, and
"peraduenture may do you good hereafter." With that word, the
lord Clifford marked him and sayde : "by Gods blodcl thy father
"slew mync, and so will I do the and all thy kyn 1 " and, with that
woord, stacke the erle to the hart with his dagger, and bail Ins
Chappeleyu here the cries mother & brother worde what he had
done and sayde. In this acto the lord Clyfford was accompted a
tyraunt and mi geutelman, for the propcrtiu of the Lyon - (which is
a furious and an rurcasnnablc beaste) is to be crucll to them that
withstande hym, and gentle to such as prostrate or humiliate them
8elfes before hym. Yet this cruel Clifforde, & deadly bloudsuppcr,
[was] not content with this homicyde or chyldkyllyng,8 . . .
Act I. 8C. iv. — York enters and tella his defeat (I!. 1-4) :
The Army of the Quoenc hath got the field :
My Vnckles both are slaiue in rescuing me ;
And all my followers to the eager foo
Turne backe, and flye, . . .
The Lancastrian victory of "Wakefield was won on December 30,
1460.4 Though York
1 Edmund Earl of Rutland, York's third son, was horn in May, 14-13, and
was therefore more than seventeen years of age at this date. — Wyrc.} 4(52.
After the battle he fled, but was overtaken and plain by Clifford on the bridge
at Wakefield. — Wyrc, 485. Rutland was " one the beste dysposyd lorde in
thys loade."— Grey., 210.
* Rutland compares Clifford to "the pent-vp Lyon . , . insulting o're his
Prey."— 3 Hen. VI, I. iii. 12, Ac
* In 3 Hen, VI., II. ii. 112, Richard calls Clifford " that cniell Child-kilK r."
(After "chyld-kyllyng," Clifford's unworthy treatment of VoiVb dead body is
related. See next Page.)
* JRot. Pari., v. 466/2. Wyrc. (485) gives December 29, and CTiron. ittcA.
IL—Htn. VI. (107), December 31, as the date of the battle.
XI. 1IKXRY VI.
PART ITT.
299
[Hoi iii. 659/2/IO. Halle, 250.] fought manfullie, yet was he
within half an houro slaine and dead, and his whole amiie diseom-
6tcd : with htm died of his trustic freends, his two bastard vncles,
sir lohn and sir Hugh Mortimer, sir Dauie Hall, sir Hugh
Hastings, sir Thomas Neuill, William and Thomas Aparre, both
brethren ; and two thousand and eight hundred others, whereof
manic were yoong gentlemen, and beires of great parentage in tho
south parts : whose kin reuenged their deaths within foure inoneths
next,1 as after shall appeare.
Being unable to escape, York becomes Queen Margaret's prisoner,
and is subjected by her to indignities. Addressing Clifford and North-
umberland, she says (11. 67 ; 04, 95) :
Come, make him stand vpon this Mole-hill here, . . .
A Crowne for Yorke 1 and, Lords, bow lowe to him !
Hold you his hands, whitest I doe set it on.
Of this matter Holinshed gave two versions, both of which I quote,
Tho 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, Clifford, not satisfied with Rutland's murder,
[Hoi. iii. 609/2/37. Hath, 251.] came to the place where the
dead corpse of the duke of Yorke laie, caused his head to be
striken off, and set on it a crowne of paper," fixed it on a pole, and
presented it to the quoeno, not licng farrc from the field, in great
despite, at which great reioising was shewed : but they laughed
then that short! io after lamented, and were glad then of other
mens deaths that knew not their owne to be so neerc at hand.
f Some write that the duke was taken aliue, and in derision
caused to stand vpon a molehill ; on whose head they put a garland
in steed of a crowne, which tlu-v had fashioned and made of sedges
or bulrushes ; and, hailing so crowned him with that garland, they
kneeled downe afore him (as the Icwes did vnto Christ) in scorne,
saicng to him: "Hailc king without rule! haile king without
1 At the buttle of Towton.
* Richard afterwards reproin-hi'd Mir^arcl f»>r crowning his father's "War-
like Browb with Pmr.*- Kick. IILt I. iii. 17ft. The Qq. and F. have no
triage direction ogainst 3 Hen. FT, I. iv. 9ft. Wyre. (480) Bays that the dead
bodies of York and hie friends were decapitated, and their heads were placed
in diflVient parts of the city of York. The Duke's head was crowned uith
paper {carta), in contempt. All this was done at the lords' instance.
Y<h kt iUwnt.
Onttit faun
hitwuiml
mutAenu
men tailk
IfhrtkaM-
sUd.
IV' -ik* 1 lirA-1
struck off,
OTWMd
with paper,
■ad ]■■'
voted t'i
Margaret.)
K'MAwn-
tttd.
[TbiLan-
i:a»tiian«
made York
•t*ii«J npoB
a molehill;
wi'l, rrowD-
inz him with
bulroahc*,
they knelt
be fur© him
arnl drrid»d
him.)
300
XI. HEXRY VI. PAKT IIL
The
tKfuadtd.
J%4 batUtl
0/ Mortimer*
crour.
"heritage! tiaile duke and prince without people or possessions! "
And at length, hauing thus scorned him with these and diuerse
other the like despitefull words, they stroke off his head, which (as
yee haue heard) they presented to the queene.
York is at last slain by tho hands of Clifford and Margaret, where-
upon the Queen cries (11. 179-180) ;
Off with his Uead, and Bet it on Yorke Gates ;
8o Yorke may ouer-looke the Towne of Yorke !
The following excerpt illustrates these lines :
[Hoi. iii. 659/2/65. Halle, 251.] After this victorie by the
queene, the carle of Salisburie and all the prisoners were sent to
Pomfret, and there beheaded ; whose heads (togither with the duke
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. sc. i. — "A March. Enter Edward, Richard, and their
power." The brothers are talking of their father — of whose fate they
are ignorant — until Richard says (11. 21, 22) t
See how the Morning opes her golden Gates,
And takes her farwell of the glorious Sunne 1 . . •
Ed. Dazle mine eyes, or doe I see three Snnnes ?
Itinh. Three glorious Sunnes, each one a perfect Sunne ;
Not separated with the racking Clouds,
But seuer'd in & pale cleare-shining Skye.
See, see ! they ioync, embrace, and seeme to kisse,
As if they vow'd some League inuiolable :
Now are they but one Lainpe, one Light, one Sunne.
In this the Heauen figures some euent.
Edward answers ( I) . 39, 40) :
What ere it bodes, hence-forward will I beare
Vpon my Targuet three faire shining Sunnes.
After collecting an army on the borders of Wales, Edward had
begun his march thence when
[Hoi. iii. 66O/1/14. Ilallc, 251.] newc3 was brought to him,
that Iasper earle of Penbroke, halfe brother to king ilenrie, and
lames Butler, earle of Ormund and Wilshire, had assembled a
great number of Welsh and Irish people to take him : he, herewith
quick ned, retired backe and met with his enimies in a faire plaine
neere to Mortimers crosse, not far from Hereford east,1 on Candle
28
32
1 uThe field of the battle of Mortimer's Cross is in the parish of Kingsland,
five links north- w-t hy west from Leominster, close to the fifth mile-stone of
the turn pike rood, leading from Leominster to Wigmore and Knighton," . . .
Brooke's ViriU to FUids of Battle^ 185V, p. 74.
XI. HENRY VI. TART III.
301
Tht coff%\-
■da .-f (Ili»-|
bright
masse daie1 [Feb. 2, 1461] in the morning. At which time the
sunne (as some write) appeared to the carle of March like three
sunncs, and suddenlic joined altogithcr in one. Upon which sight
he tooke such courage, that he, fiercelie setting on his enimics, put
them to flight : and for this cause men imagined that he gaue the
sunne in his full brightnesse for his badge or cognisance.
The arrival of a messenger, who brings news to Edward of York's
death, is soon followed by the 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. After Warwick's defeat at St.
Albans, the Lancastrians purposed marching to London, but they
retired to the north of England when
[Hoi. iii. 66I/1/33. Halle, 252.1 true report came not ouelie rMoeuneor
to the queene, but also to the citie ; that the earle of March, w*rwkk.]
hauing vanquished the carles of Penbroke and Wilshire, had met
with the carle 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,*
Marcbt toward S. Albons to intercept the Queene,
Bearing the King in my behalfe along ;
For by my Scouts I was adueVtised, 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. Rich. II.— Hen. VI. (110) the three suns were seen
about 10 a.m., on February 2, 1461 ; and the battle of Mortimer's Crow waa
fought on the following day. In Orcj. (211) and Three Chronicle* tfi E. <.'.,
77) the battle and tin* uppearance of three suns are dated February 2.
* Rot. Pari., v. 476/a.
B Qreg., 215. Fab., 639. Three Chronicle* (8. E. C, 77). February 27.—
Three Chronicle* (B. L. C.t 172). February 28.— Chron. Rich. It— Hen. VIt
110. Edward and Warwick met at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. —
Wyre.t 488.
* 113. And . . . thought] T. T. Not in 3 Hen. VI.
302
XI. HKNRY VI. PART III.
[Margaret
BOUtllWAnL
ii't" -I'lmgto
Mui ii ] the
Torkiat
aettlciuent
of the
crown.)
(Tlw Yorkist
utdi
I lathered an
winy, mui
marched to
St. Albans,
accomjiRnlcd.
by Henry. 1
fDefeRted by
Margaret,
they forsook
Henry ud
fUxLj
But the Lancastrians prevailed ;
So that we fled ; the King vnto the Queene (1. 137) ; . . .
Halle relates (252) that, after the battle of Wakefield, Queen
Margaret
still camo forwarde with her Northren people, entendyng to sub-
ucrte aud defaict all conclusions and ngrementes enacted and
assented to in the last Parliament. And so after her long iorney
she camo to the town of sainct Albo?ts ; wherof the duke of North-
folke, the eric of Warwyckc, and other, (whom, the duke of Yorke
had lefto to gouornc the kyng in his absence,) beyng aduertised,
by the assent of y° kyng, gathered together a great hoste, and set
forward towards saiuctc Albons, hauyng the kyng in their company,
as the head and chefetayn of the warre ; and so, not myndyng to
diiferre the tyme any farther, vpon slirouetuosday, early in the
mornyng, set vpon their enemyes. Fortune that day so fauored
the Queue, that her parte preuayled, & the duke and the erle were
discomfited, and fled, leauing the king . . .
soldiers might (Warwick conjectures) have been
122
fRcnry had
U€\i4\ will
tii the Laii'
caaLriaua.]
[He un-
advised to
join the
north ltd
(l*u ou-
trun)
lord..]
The Yorkist
dispirited by
the coldness© of the King,
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
[Hoi. iii. C6O/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 affection towards the contraric part, . . .
withdrew . . . , leaning the king . . .
Now after that the noble men aud other were fled, and the
king left in maner alouo without anie power of men to gard his
person, he was counselled by an esquier called Thomas Hoo, a man
well languaged, and well seene in the lawes, to send some con-
uenient messenger to the northerne lords, aduertising them, that
he would now gladlie come vnto them, (whomc he knew to be his
verie freends, and had assembled themsclues togither for his
eeruice,) to the end he might rcmainc with them, as before he had
remained vndcr the gouernement of the southeruc lords. . . .
[The Lancastrian lords conveyed Henry to Clifford's tent], and
XL HENRY VI. PART OI.
303
brought tlie queene and bir sonne prince Edward vnto his
presence, whome he ioifullie receiued, imbracing and kissing them
in most louing wise ; and yeelding hartic thanks to almightie God,
whome it had pleased thus to strengthen the forces of the
northcrne men, to restore his deerelio bclooucd and onclie sonnc
againe into his possession.
Warwick tolls Edward (11. 146-147) that George— afterwards Duke
of Clarence-
was lately sent
From your kinde Aunt, Dutchesse of Burgundio,
"With ayde of Souldiers to this needFull Warre.
Isabella of Portugal, a grand -daughter of John of Gaunt,1 and
consequently a distant cousin of Edward, was Duchess of Burgundy
in 1461. A passage derived by Holinshed from Hallo (253) showa
that George was not in England during the historic time of so. i.,
Act II.
[HvL iil 66I/1/45] The duches of Yorke, seeing hir husband
ami sonne slaine, and not knowing what should succeed of hir
eldest sonncs chance, sent hir two yonger soiines, George and
Richard, ouer the sea, to the citie of Utrecht in Almaiue, where
they were of Philip duko of Burgognie well receiued ; and so
remained there, till their brother Edward had got the crowne and
goucrnement of the rcahne.
Act II. sc. ii. — Henry, at Margaret's bidding, knights Prince
Edward (1. 61). The Prince was knighted on an earlier historic date
than that which must be assigned to this scene. After the second
battle of St. Albans Queen Margaret
[Hoi iii. 66O/2/64. Hulk, 2"»2] caused the king to dub hir
sonne princo Edward, knight ; with thirtie other persons, which the
day before fought on hir side against his part.
A messenger now warns the Lancastrians that Edward and
Warwick "are at hand" (I. 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
bc. i. ended he learnt from a messenger sent by Norfolk that
The Queene is comming with a puissant Hoast ; . . .
[ Meeting of
Henry,
Wurjnwrt,
nil. 1 mm
Kdward.]
[K*1»arU*.
broil* rm,
OaOMB uri'i
Richard,
were
receiTed at
1 b«sM >'\-
tnc Duke *»f
Prina
Bdmrnt
made knight.
1 Daughter of John T., King of Portugal. Her mother Phil inns was the
daughter of Ulaneh of Lancaster, John of Haunt's first wifi*. Tin- dramatist
may have been thinking of Edward I Ws sister, Margaret Duchess of Burgundy,
who assisted the adventurer known as Perkin War beck, for the real or ostensible
reason that he was her nephew, Richard Duke of Vork.
H
304
XI. HENRY VI. I'AItT III.
Blw. Halt
[> »2J.
(Henry's
l»re»etice
brouglit
dcfe*.t.|
[A rumour
tt.nl lYInM
Edward m
not King
Henry'*
mm.]
Scene ii. is laid at the gates of York (11. 1-4, cp. I. iv. 179). Wo
may suppose perliaps that Margaret, 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 (II. 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 battlo of Towton, which established him on the throne.1
No sooner has the near approach of Edward and Warwick been
announced than Clifford breaks forth (II. 73, 74) I
I would your Highnesse would depart the field 1
The Queene hath best success© when you are absent.9
Holinshed took from Halle (202) a remark that Queen Margaret was
[Hoi. iii. 66O/2/60.] fortunate in hir two battels [Wakefield
and 2nd Si Albans], but vnfortunate was the king in all his enter-
prises : for where his person was present, the victorie 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 Richard's comment (11. 133, 134) :
Who euer got thee, there thy Mother stands ;
For, well I wot, thou hast thy Mothers tongue ;
and Edward suggests that her M Husband may be Menelaus n (1. 147).
When Prince Edward was born, Queen Margaret
[Hoi. iii. 64I/1/54. Halle, 230.] susteincd not a little slander
and obloquie of the common people, who had an opinion that the
king was not able to get a child ; and therefore Bticked not to saie,
that this was not his soune, with manie slanderous words, greatlie
sounding to the queenes dishonour; much part perchance rntrulie.3
1 Greg., 214-216.
8 While washing the battle of Towton, Henry says (3 Hen. VL, II.
v. 16-1 B):
■ For Margaret my Queene, and Clifford too,
Haue chid me from the Battel! ; swearing both
They prosper best of all when I am thence.''
* mttrn . ■ . vntrulie.] Hoi. which here nede not to be reheated.] Halle, 231.
u the common people " said that Prince Edward M was not the natnrall sone of
Kynge Henrye, but chauugyd in the cradell." — Fab., 628. Another slanderous
rumour circulated "that he that was called Piiuce was nat hir [? his, i.e.
Henry's] sone,
VL, 79.
but a bastard goten in avoutry." — Chrvn
hir [? 1
. M. II.
XI. HENRY VI. PART in.
305
Act II. sc. iii. — Tbe action of this and the remaining scenes of Act
II. cover tbe two days' fighting which ended at Towton on March 29,
1461. l A preliminary skirmish at Ferrybridge, where Clifford discom-
fited the Yorkists, has been magnified into the serious reverse lamented
by Edward and George, when this scene opens (11. 6-13). Richard
enters and cries to Warwick (U. 14-16) :
Ah, Warwicke ! why hast thou withdrawn thy selfet
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 :
He kill my Horse, because I will not flye !
In the conflict at Ferrybridge was slain
[Hoi. iiL 664/i/6o. HalUt 255.1 the bastard of Saliaburie, (Abwturd
*■ * brother of
brother to the earle of Warwike, a valiant yoong gentleman, and Ji^?0*
of great audacitie.
When the earle of Warwike was informed hereof, like a man
desperat, he mounted on his backnie, and hasted puffing and
blowing to king Edward, saieng: "Sir, I praie God haue mercie of
" their soules, which in the beginning of your enterprise haue lost
"their Hues I And bicause I see no succors of tbe world but in
"God, I remit the rengeance to him our creator and redeemer."
With that he alighted downe, and slue big horse with his sword, J^JJJ^
saieng: "Let him flee that will, for Buerlie I will tarrie with him ^Jhortci.
" that will tarrie with me " : and kissed the crosse of his sword as
it were for a vow 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 gine 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 iii. 664/1/74- Halle, 255.] King Edward, perceiuing the
1 The date from Rot. Pari, v. 477/a. The fighting I egan early on March
28, when Clifford took Ferrybridge from the Yorkists.— tfrrj.,216 ; cp. Built*
234,250.
■ In the corresponding lines of T. T., Richard announces tbe death of
Warwick's father, the Karl of Salisbury, Salisbury was put to death after the
battle of Wakefield.— JFyrc, 485.
* In T. T. George advises that they should "hiely promise to remunerate"
those who stood by them.
30G
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
A HNMM
turn
[bcenifng
•ri Idler* to
depart, but
reward* to
tho** who
■toy* J
courage of hia trustie friend the earle of Warwike, made proclama-
tion, that all men which were afraid to fight should depart: and,
to all those that tarried the battell, he promised great rewards ;
with addition, that anie souldier which voluntarilie would abide,
and afterwards, either in or before the fight should seeme to flee
or turno his backe, then he that could kill him should haue a
great reward and double wages.
Act II. sc. v. — Viewed from afar the battle appears to King Henry
(11. 5-12)
like a Mighty Sea
ForcM by the Tide to combat with the Winde ; . . .
Sometime the Flood preuailes, and than the Winde ; . . .
Yet neither Conqueror nor Conquered : l ... 12
The long struggle at Towton is spoken of by Halle (256) in terms
not unlike these :
fEbb *nd
flow of
Mm at
Towton.]
(Family And
social Uei
broken at
TutMB.)
This deadly battayle and bloudy conflicte continued .x. houres
in doubtful victorie, the one parte some tyme flowyng, and
sometime ebbyng, . . .
There enter (11. 64, 79) " a Sonne that hath kill'd hia 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
civil war.
Halle says of Towton (256) :
This conflict was in maner vnnaturoll, for in it the sonne fought
agaynst the father, the brother agaynst the brother, the nephew
against the rncle, and the tenaunt agaynst his lord, . . .
At the close of this scene Margaret, Prince Edward, and Exeter2
rush in from the field where the Lancastrians have been defeated. The
Queen cries to Henry (1. 128) :
Mount you, my Lord ! towards Barwicke post amaine !
When the battle of Towton was decided,
[HoL hi. 665/ 1/4 1. Halle, 256.] King Henrie, after he heard
King Henrit
ttitkdramih
•va******' °f tne irrecouerable losse of hia armie, departed incontinentlie with
aJuand'0 his wife and sonne to the towne of Berwike ; and, leauing the duke
1 Not in T. T.
* "the dukes of Summerset [Henry Beaufort] and Excester [Henry
Holland] fled from the field and uaued theraselues."— Hoi, iii, 665/1 Mi
[Halle, 256).
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
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. sc. vi. — w Enter Clifford wounded, with an arrow in his
necke," ] is the opening stage direction of this scene in The True
Tragedie. On March 28, 146 1,2 Clifford blocked the passage of the
Aire at Ferrybridge. After the proclamation made by Edward (Bee p.
306 above), a Yorkist force passed the Aire
[Hoi. iil 664/2/12. Halle, 255.] at Castelford, three miles
from Ferribridge, intending to haue inuironed the lord Clifford and
his companio. But they, being therof aduertiscd, 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
throtc, and immediatlie rendred his spirit;3 . . .
By order of Warwick,— who enters subsequently (1. 30) with
Edward, George, and Richard, — Clifford's head is to be fixed where the
head of Edward's father ''stands" (1. 8G). Edward reached York on
March 30/
[Hoi iii. 665/1/36. Halh, 256.] and first he caused the heads ££££ rf
of his father, the earle of Salisburie, and other his freends, to be £S"«i
taken from the
(lifford
gates, and to be buried with their bodies: and g»tT] °
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 (11. 87,
88):
And now to London with Triumphant march,
There to be crowned Englanda Royal 1 King ....
Edward assents, and thus addresses his brothers (11. 103, 104) :
Richard, I will create thee Duke of Gloucester,
And George, of Clarence : . . .
In June6 1461 Edward
[Hoi. iil 665/2/9. Halle, 257, 25a] returned, after the maner
and fashion of a triumphant conquerour, with great pompe vnto
1 A toted alarum. Enter Clifford Wounded.] 3 Ben. VI.
* (W, 216. Batle^ 254, 2fi5 {Hoi. iii. 664/ 1/37).
* On Palm Sunday (March 29), 1461.— Inq. p. m. 4 E. IV. No. fi2 (O. B.).
4 Paston, ii. 5.
* On June 27 Edward rode from the Tower to Westminster.— Thrtc
Chronicles (B, L. C), p. 174.
308
XI. HENRY VI. PART III,
[Edward
crowned.]
[George
mM
Duke of
CUren««,
Kichard.
Duke of
Gloacrster.)
Duixiof
Olocutrr
m/ortvnatt.
London ; where, according to the old custome of the realme, he
called a great assemblie of persons of all degrees ; and the nine &
twentith daie of Iune l was at Westminster with solemnitie crowud
and annointed king, , . .
Also, after this, he created his two joonger brethren dukes ;
that is to saie, lord George, duke of Clarence, lord Richard, duke
of Glocester ; . . •
Richard is rather loth to accept this title (1. 107) :
For Glosters Dukedome is too ominous.
Holiushed derived from Halle (209) the following remark on
Humphrey Duke of Gloucester's death :
[Hd. iii. 627/1/52.] Some thinke that the name and title of
Glocester hath beene vnluckie to diuerse, which for their honours
haue beene erected by creation of princes to that stile and dignitie ;
as Thomas 2 Spenser, Thomas of Woodatoke, sonne to king Edward
the third, and this duke Humfreie : which three persons by miser-
able death finished their daies ; and after them king Richard the
third also, duke of Glocester, in ciuill warre slaino.
Act III. sc. i.— After 1. 12 (3 Hen. 77.) the stage direction in The
True Tragedie is : * Enter king Henrie disguiede." s Henry begins a
soliloquy by saying :
From Scotland am I stolne euen of pure loue,
To greet mine owne Land with my wiahfull sight.4
He is overheard by two keepers, one of whom whispers to the other
(1. 23) :
This is the quondam King ; let's seize ypon him.
Henry asks the Second Keeper (1. 74) :
Where did you dwell when I was K, of England t
Hum. [Sec. 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 sworne true Subiects vnto me :
And tell me, then, haue you not broke your Oathes ?
" Not long before " Henry's death,
* Edward was crowned on June 28, 146].— Greg., 218. Another con-
temporary chronicle (Cottonian MS., Vitellius, A. xvi.j— cited in Pastor^ ii.
18, note— gives June 28 a* the date of Edward's coronation.
1 Thomas] Hugh Hoi.
* Enter the King with a Prayer booke.] 3 Hen. VI.
4 To . . . eight.} 3 Hen. VI. And thus diagmwlA to greeie my native
land.— T. T.
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
BOfi
[Hoi. ill. 69I/2/33. Stow, 706.] being demanded whie he had
bo long held the crowne of England vniustlie, he replied: "My [Hrtnyvrt
"father was king of England, quietlie inioieng the crowne all his
"reigne ; and his father, my grandaire, 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 ray
*' antecessors."
The keepers arrest him ; and, in the next scene, we find that he has
been brought to the" Fallace Gate " of Ring 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,
[Hoi. iii. 667/1/26. Halle, 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 cntrcd 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 Warwiko
met on the way by the kings commandement, and brought him
through London to the Tower, & there he was laid in sure hold.
Act III. sc. ii. — Edward and his brothers enter, accompanied by
Lady Grey, whose business the King thus explains to Richard (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 Iustice cannot well deny,
Because, in Quarrel] of the House of Yorke,
The worthy Gentleman did lose his Life.
In the next historical drama (Rich. III., I. iii. 127, 128), she is
reminded by Richard 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 Henry was arrested about June 89, 1465— Thrte GKron. (B. L. C), 180.
l&l. He was brought to the Tower on July 24.-01*0., 23ft, 233.
310
XL HENRY VI. PAKT HI.
bttk Qrrit
[was widow
of air John
Grey, who
WUlltlQlt
ON ■.■-..!
UttleofSt.
I.)
[She ulced
Edward to
NifcOH Mi
Ittotoi i
"Was not your Husband,
In Margarets Battaile, at Saint Albons, shine 1
The truth of these taunts appears from the following excerpt. In
1464' (?)
[Hoi. iii. 726/ 1 /20. Halle, 365,] there came to make a aute
by petition to the king dame Elizabeth Greie, which was after his
quceue, at that time a widow, borne of noble bloud - by hir mother,
duchea of Bedford yer she maried the lord Wooduile, hir father.
Howbeit, this dame Elizabeth hir selfe, being in seruice with
queeue Margaret, wife vnto king Ilcnrie the si\t, was maried vnto
one Iohn Greie, an esquier, whome king Henrie made knight
vpon the field that he had on Barnet heath by saint Albons,
against king Edward. But litle while inioied he that knighthood :
for ho was at the same field slaine. . . . this poore ladie made
humble Bute vnto the king, that she might be restored vnto such
small lands as hir late husband bad giuen her in iointure.
Further to illustrate this scene I quote passages describing the
circumstances and result of Lady Grey's petition to Edward. We are
told that
[Hoi. iii. 668/1/1. Halk, 264.] the king, being on hunting in
the forrest of Wichwood besides Stonistratford, camo for his
recreation to the manor of Grafton, where the duchesse of Bedford
then soiourned, wife to sir Richard Woodiiile lord Riuers ; on
whome was then attendant a daughter of hire, called the ladie
■^it*tolh*d * Elizabeth Graie, widow of sir Iohn Graie knight, slaine at the last
Wwtn 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,
r ., Mb
1 After "manie a meeting" and "much wooing" (Hoi. UL 726/1/46),
Edward was privately married to Lady Grey on May 1, 1464. — Qreg., 226.
TTarJhc., 3.
* In 3 Hen. TV., IV. i. 69, 70, the Queen, addressing Clarence, Gloucester,
and Montagu, says ;
" Doe me but right, and you must all confeoM
That I was not ignoble of Descent " ; . . .
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
311
that, with hir sober demeanour, aweete looks, and comclie smiling, [Edw»nt feu
' ' ' &l in love with
(neither too wanton, nor too bashful],) besides hir pleasant toong ^'^m^ST
and trim wit, she so allured and made subiect vnto hir the heart JJJJl,^
of that great prince, that, after she had denied him to be his to SSH^v
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 counsel! 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 be your Queene,
And yet loo good to be your Concubine.
I resume my quotations at the point where it is related that Edward
heard the personal suit of Lady Grey :
[ffol iil 726/1/36. Halle, 365, 366.] Whomo when the king
beheld, and heard hir speake, as she was both faire and of a [Ed*™*
goodlfe fauour, moderate of stature, well made, and verie wise: o™rl2rtJ,
he not onelie pitied hir, but also waxed inamoured of hir. And, uudtior*
to bar)
taking hir afterward secretlie aside, began to enter in talking more
familiarllc. Whose appotite when she perceiued, she vertuouslie
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
And, finallie, after manie a meeting, much wooing, and many great
promises, she well espied l the kings affection toward hir so greatlie
increased, that she durst somewhat the more boldlie saie hir mind ;
as to him whose hart she perceiued more feruentlie set, than to
fall off for a word. And, in conclusion, she shewed him plaine,
that, as she wist hir selfe too simple to be his wife, so thought she
hir selfe too good to be his concubine. 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 net hir vertue in the steed of possession and riches : and
A WtM
nna\rcrnfa
cJuut a *.t
rnmlimmt
(adit.
t*pitd] Ilnllc. *mi$HQ IIoL
312
XI. HENRY VT. PABT in.
thus, taking counsell of his desire, determined in all possible bast
to marie her.
iwj^n their Now after be was thus appointed, and had betweene them
w« ■JftiM, twaine insured hir ; then asked he oounsell of his other freends,
uk«d w* and that in such maner, as they might then perceiue it booted not
■djrioo »bout greatlie to say naie.
Edward's final argument (11. 102-104)—
Thou art a Widow, and thou hast some Children ;
And, by Gods Mother, /, being but a Batchdor,
Haue other-»om« —
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 :
y [Hoi iii. 726/2/68. Halls, 367] That she is a widow, and
JSamSJ? natn alreadie children; by Gods blessed ladie, 7 am a bacheler, and
haue some too, and so ech of vs hath a proofs that neither of vs is
like to be barren.
Act HI. sc. iii. — Since the close of scene vi., Act II., Queen
Margaret and Prince Edward have repaired to France. In scene iii..
Act III., they are welcomed by Lewis XL, from whom Margaret craves
help towards her husband's restoration. So much of this scene as
precedes "Warwick's entrance (11. 1-42) may be historically dated about
a year after the battle of Towtou ;l when Henry, being
[Hoi. iii. 665/1/58. Halle, 257] somwhat setled in the relme
of Scotland, . . . sent his wife and his sonne into France to king
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 waie his
friends in England would Btudie for his restitution.
The queene, being in France, did obteine of the yoong French
king, then Lewes the eleuenth, that all hir husbands friends, and
those of the Lancastrian 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 II., sc. vi., 11. 89, 90, Warwick proposed going to France
OVWM
i/Offfartt
with Kir
tonn*i
met.
u ffottA
frantc
(tftfgtMt
obUlntd
Lewis' i
favour for
the L*nc**-
triiM.]
1 On April 16, 1462, Margaret arrived in Brittany. After visiting Rene"
at Angers, she betook herself to Lewis with the visw of obtaining his awnistance.
— JTyrc, 493.
XL HENBY VI. PART III,
313
after Edward's coronation (June 28, 1461), for the purpose of arranging
a marriage between his new sovereign and Lady Bona. Entering now,
Warwick offers Lewis "a League of Amitie" ; to be confirmed
With Nuptial! Knot, if thou vouchsafe to graunt
That vertuous Lady Bona, thy faire Sister,
To England* King in lawfull Marriage. — 11. 55-57.
Holinshed derived from Halle (263, 264) the following account of
this negotiation. In 1464, when Edward had brought England
[Hoi. iii. 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 quociic of France ; which Boua was at that time in the
French court
The earle of Warwike, comming to the French king, then lieng
at Tours, was of him honourablie receiued, and right courteouslie
interteined. Hia message was so well liked, and his request
thought so honourable for the aduancement of the ladie Bona, that
hir BiBter queene Carlot obteined both the good will of the king
liir husband, and also of hir sister the foresaid ladie : so that the
matrinionie on that side was cleerelie assented to, and the erle of
Dampmartine appointed (with others) to saile into England, for
the full 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 diaanulls great Iohn of Gaunt,
Which did subdue the greatest part of Spaine ; . • •
Warwick might well have exposed this misrepresentation. John of
Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, claimed Castile in right of his second wife
Constance, elder daughter of Pedro the Cruel. The Duke, however,
failed to dethrone John L, son of Pedro's bastard brother Henry II. ;
and obtained but a few transient successes by his invasion of Spanish
territory.1
In the Third Pari qf Henry VI. Oxford wonders how Warwick can
TbtarUof
Warwik*
tent into
Fra*rt about
[between
tMwtrd an<l
Bom, Levis
Xt.'i i liter-
in-U*)-
1 Mr. Daniel suggest* that popular belief may have magnified these sue-
ts, on April 11, 1601, Henalowe paid earnest for a play entitled "the
conquest* of spayne by John a Oant" — ifautotat's Diary (Old Sh. Soc.), p.
185. The facts concerning John of Gaunt1* Spanish expedition might have
been ascertained from Grafton or Holinshed, but the dramatist was not bound
to regard historical authority.
314
XI. HENRY VI. TART III.
speak against King Henry after " thirtie and six yeeres " of obedience
(11. 95-97). But in The True Tragedxe 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 Coventry on November 20, 1459 ;
and his allegiance was merely formal after the attempt made on hi*
life some eight or ten months previously.1 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 VX, who was
then under Yorkist control.
Warwick bids Oxford u leatie Henry, and call Edward King."
Oxford indignantly replies (101-107) :
Call him my King by whose injurious doome
My elder Brother, the Lord Aubrey Vere,
Was done to death? and more then so, my Father,
Euen in the downe-fall of his mellow'd yeeres, 104
When Nature brought him to the doore of Death %
No, Warwicke, no \ while Life vpbolds tliis Arme,
This Arme vpholds the House of Lancaster !
In February, 1462,8
[Sol. iii. 605/2/2O. Halle, 258.] the earle of Oxford far striken
in age, and his Bonne and heire the lord Awbreie Veer, either
•wUrbrotLr through malice of their enimies, or for that they bad offended the
ex™ut«d.] king, were both, with diuerae of their councellours, attainted, and
put to execution ; which cauBed Iohn carle uf Oxford euer after to
rcbelL8
Having requested Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford to
stand aside, Lewis demands of Warwick (11. 114, 115) :
Is Edward your true King ? for I were loth
To linko with him that were not lawful I chosen.
In The True Trayedie Lewis asks :
Is Edward lawfull king or no t for I were loath
To linke with him that is not lawful heir.
[Ma Bmi
of Oxford
nbtiM
hi*
1 I take the date of the Coventry Parliament from RoL Part., v. 345/i.
For the date of the attempt on Warwick's life see p. 290, n. 7, above.
* IFyrc., 492. Fob., 652.
3 John de Vere, thirteenth Earl of Oxford (the merchant Philipeon in
Anne of Geierttein), did not rebel until 1470. In 1464 he addressed to Par-
liament a petition wherein he called himself Edward's " true Liegeman " ; and
etyled Henrv IV. the "late Erie of Derby," who "toke uppon hym to reigne
by Usurpation as Kyng of Englond." — Rot. Pari., v. 54tt/i, 2. Oxford was
arrested on suspicion of treason in November, 1468, but was released. — Fab.t
667. About April, 1470, he followed Warwick and Clarence to France,
whence he returned in September, 1470, as an avowed supporter of Henrv.
— Fab., 658.
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
315
Although Edward claimed the throne aa 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 ;
[I Int. iii. 66 1/2/2. Halk, 253, 254.] and incontineutlie was
Edward earle of March, sonne and heire to Richard duke of Yorke,
by the lords in the said cotincell assembled, named, elected, and
admitted for king and gouernour of the realme.
On which daie, the people of the carles part being in their
muster in S. Iohns 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
the offenses and breaches of the late agreement, committed by
king Henrie the sixt ; and demanded of the people, whether they
would haue him to rule and roigne anie longer ouor them 1 To
whome they with whole voice answered ; " Naie, naie ! " Then he
asked them, if they would serue, loue, honour, and obeie the erle
of March, as their onlic king and soueroigno lord ? To which
question they answered: "Yea, yoal" crieng, "King Edward!"
with manie great showts & clapping of hands in assent and
gladnesse of the same.
The lords were shortlie aduertised of the Iouiug consent which
the commons frank el ie and freelie had giuen, Whervpon, inconti-
nence, they all with a conuenient number of the most substantiall
commons repaired to the erle at Bainards castell ; making iust and
true report of their election and admission, and the louing assent
of the commons. . . .
[Hoi. iii. 663/1/64. Halle, Ml] After that this prince Edward
earle of March had taken vpon him the gnuernemeiit of this
realmc 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 Dtum soong, with
great solemnitie he was conueied to Westminster, and there
set in the hall with the scepter roiall in his hand : whereto people
in great numbers assembled. His claiine to the crown e was de-
clared to be by two maner of waies ; the first, as sonne and heire to
duke Richard his father, right inheritor to the same ; the second,
TtutarUnf
March
eltctfri king
[by a council
of the lords
spiritual and
temporal].
TKt lord
Fauctm-
t>ri.ioi [ukf A
the people
assembled
In St John's
Firld
whether
tbey would
have Henry
nr Edward
to be their
King].
(The lorda
Edward that
they had
chosen him
to bo their
King, with
the
common**
•stent.)
Anno fUff 1.
TketarUof
Mnrth
Utketm
Kim <u
b*f.
Hu tittt
316
XI. HEXBY VI. PART III.
by authoritie of parlement, and forfeiture committed by king Henrie.
oommoDs Wherevpon it was againe demanded of the commons, if they would
ISEaJIrti adroit and take the said erle as their prince and souereigne lord ;
<Ucction-1 which all with one voice cried : M Yea, yea ! "
Finally Lewis assents to the proposed marriage. But this agree-
ment is soon of no worth, for a "Poate'* 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
(11. 134-194). My next excerpt shows how Edward's breach of faith
was taken :
[Levi* wu
diaplMMd
with
Edward's
nufftagi )
Tht rartt of
WarirU;?
Offtndtd tCttA
Outing*
[Hot. ill. 66*8/1/50. Halle, 265.] 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 Bent
to him out of England from his 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 vsed,
that when he had brought the matter to his purposed intent and
wished conclusion, then to haue it quaile on his part; bo 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 concerned 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 Neecel
We have seen that Edward's marriage was generally believed to
have alienated Warwick.
r. unT'i
[Hoi. iii. 668/1/73. HalU, 265.] Other affirme other causes,
and one speciallie \ for that king Edward did attempt a thing once
*«gw*ror in the earles house, which was much against the earles honestie ;
[F..W*r.
tried to
m
XI.
HENRY VI. PART III.
317
(whether he would haue defloured his daughter1 or his neece, the
certeintie was not for both their honours openlie reuealed ;) for,
Muerlie, 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
(11. 234-239) :
Thou and Oxford, with fiuo thousand men,
Shall crosse the Seas, and bid false Edward battaile ;
And, as occasion semen, this Noble Queen 236
And Prince shall follow with a fresh Supply.
Tet, ere thou go, but answer me oue doubt,
What Pledge haue we of thy firme Loyalty t
Warwick replies :
This shall assure my constant Loyalty, 240
That if our Queene and this young Prince agree,
He ioyne mine eldest daughter and my Ioy
To him forthwith in holy Wedlock e bands.
Queen Margaret and Prince Edward assent. Lewis adds :
Why stay we now T These soldiers shalbe leuied ;
And thou, Lord Bourbon, our High Admirall, 252
Shall waft them ouer with our Royal! 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 ; a and was graciously received by
Lewis at Amboise.
[Hoi. iii. 674/2/55. Halle, 281.] When queene Margaret, that l**rg£^
aoiourned with duke Reiner hir father, heard tell that the earle of JST2
Warwlke was come to the French court, with all diligence shee w«£riek.i
came to Ambois to see him, with hir onelie sonne prince Edward.
With hir also came Iaspcr earle of Penbroke, and lohn earle of n«««rie»o/
Oxford, which, after diueree imprisonments latelie escaped, fled out SJl1^*
of England into Franco, and came by fortune to this assemblie. "*r^rHi-
These persons, after intreatie had of their affaires, determined by
1 Polyd. Verg. merely tells us (51 4/14) that Edward was said " tmtawte . . .
nescio quid in douio cotnitis, quod ab hnnertute omnino abesset"; and this
information is followed by a remark on the King's lascivious nature. The
other particulars are given by Halle. In Lord Lvtton's Lad of the Baivn*
(bk. Vlll., chap, vii.) the affront is offered to Anne Seville, Warwick's younger
daughter.
■ Warkie., 8, 9. Confession of Sir Robert Welles {Exctrpta Historian
282-264). Edward's proclamation of Clarence and Warwick as rebels and
traitors is dated March 31.— Wartoc, 69. Rot. Part., vt 233.
318
IIENIlY VI. I'ART III.
A i-.-'j. |
iwincr of
Wolf
maritd [to
Warwick'*
•econd
(The Lnrdi
■won to
tnhkt Hrnry
or tils ion
King of
Ktiglii lid.]
A Jiaiml of
PMmm
crd-:i'--! M
convoy the
Luicaa-
trims.]
nieancs of the French king to conclude ft league and amitie
betweene them. And first to begin withal 1, for the sure foundation
of their new intreatie, Edward prince of Wales wedded Anne
second daughter1 to the earle of Warwike, which ladie came with
hir mother into France. After which manage, the duke [of
Clarence] and the earles tooke a solcmne 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
quecne and the prince [p. G7o] should depute and appoint the
duke and the earle [of Warwick] to be gouernors & 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 hir partakers ; and appointed the bastard of
Burbon,2 admerall of France, with a great nauie, to defend them
against the uauie 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 TV. bc. I. — 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 God
and the " fence impregnable " of her seas,
And with their helpes onely defend our selues ;
In them and in our selues our safetie lyes.
Clarence sarcastically comments (11. 47, 48) :
For this one speech, Lord Hastings well deserues
To haue the Heire of the Lord Hungerford. 48
King. I, what of that f 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 ;
Shoe better would haue fitted me or Clarence :
But in your Bride you burie Brotherhood.
Clar. Or else you would not haue bestow'd the Heire 56
Of the Lord Bonuill on your new Wiues Sonne,
And leaue your Brothers to goe speede elsewhere.
1 In 3 H. VI. (I IT. iii. 242) and T. T. the marriage of Prince Edward
and Warwick's "eldest daughter " is arranged. Isabel, toe elder of Warwick's
two daughters, married Clarence.
* " Lord Bourbon, our High Admirall."— 3 H. VI. (III. iii. 262) and T. T.
XI. nEXTlY VI.
Holinshed, on Halle's authority (271), relates that, in 1468,
[Hoi. iii. 671/2/48.] the earle of Warwike, being a far casting
prince, pcrceiued somewhat in the duke of Clarence, whereby he
iudged that he bare no great good will towards the king his
brother; and therevpon, feeling his minde by such talke as he of
purpose ministrcd, ynderstood how he was bent, and so wan him
to hie purpose : . . .
Holinehed did not copy or paraphrase the subjoined passage in
Halle (271), containing Clarence's answer to Warwick's murmurs at
Edward's ingratitude.
The erle had not halfc tofrle Ins tale, but y* duke in a grcatc
fury answered : " why, my lorde, thynke you to haue hym kynd to
"you, that is vnkynd, yea, and vnnatural to me, beyng his awne
"brother? thynke you that frendship will make hym kepo promise
"where neither nature nor kynred in any wise can prouoke or
" moue him to fauor his awne bloud ? Thynke you that he will
"exalte and promote hys cosin or alio, whiche title careth for the
"fall or confusion of hys awne line and lignage? This you knowe
" well enough, that the heire of the Lorde Scales he hath maried
"to his wifes brother, the heire also of the lordo Bonuile and
"Haryngton he hath geuen to his wifes sonne,1 and theirc of the
"lorde Hungerford he hath graunted to the lorde Hastynges:*
"dire manages more meter for hys twoo brethren and kymie then
"for suche newe foundlyngeB as he hath bestowed theim on.
"But, by swete saincte George, I sweare, if my brother of
"Gloucester would ioyne with me, we would make hym knowe
" that wee were all three one mannes sonnes, of one mother and
"lignage discended, which should be more preferred and promoted
"then straungers of his wifes bloud."
The Post — who in Act III., sc. iii., brought letters to Warwick,
Lewis, and Margaret — enters and repeats to Edward their verbal
answers; ending with the news (1. 117):
1 " hir brother, lord Anthouie, was married to the sole heire of Thomas
lord Scales: air Thomas Graie, soune to fir Iohn Graie, the queenes first
husband, was created marques Dorset, and married to Cicelie, heire to the lord
Bonuille."— HoL iii 668/1/46. HalU, 264.
1 The heiress of Lord Hungerford married Edward Lord Hastings, son of
William Lord Hastings, whom Clarence sneers at (11. 47, 48). — Lhajdalc, iii.
211/i ; cp. Itoj/fe, ii. 149, 150.
beitowed 00
Hutlngs.]
(IfOlouen-
ter would
Join m«, we
would teach
Edward to
320
XI. HEXKY VI, PART III.
1409
Anno Btg. 9.
[Clwnce
married to
Warwick'*
tld«r
.UHj.ht.-I. |
That yong Prince Edward marryes Warwicks Daughter.
Clarence says :
Belike the elder ; Clarence will haue the younger. —
Now, Brother King, farewell, and sit you fast,
For I will hence to Warwickes other Daughter ; . . . 120
You that loue me and Warwicke, follow me 1
In the next scene Clarence joins Warwick, who welcomes him and
adds (I. 12) : "my Daughter shall be thine."
On July 11, 1469,1 the
[Hoi. iii. 671/2/70. Ealle} 272.] duke of Clarence, being come
to Calis with the earle of Warwike, after he had Bworne on the
sacrament to keepe his promise and pact made with the said earle
whole and inuiolate, he married the ladie Isabel!, eldest daughter
[p. 672] to the earle, in our ladies church there.
The challenge — " You 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.2 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 Hen. VI. , Act V., was Henry's brother Edmund, the
fourth Duke, who was always a staunch Lancastrian. He and his
brother, however, make one dramatic " Somerset " (see 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 King Henrie."'
When Clarence and Somerset have departed, Edward gives an order
to resist Warwick's invasion (II. 130-133) :
Pembrooke and Stafford, you in our behalfe
Ooe leuie men, and make prepare for Warre ;
They are alreadie, or quickly will be, landed : 132
My selfe in person will 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 daughter4 (July 11, 1469).
Whereupon
1 This date is riven in Collection of Ordinance* and Regulations for the
Government of the Royal HmueJtotd (Society of Antiquaries), 98.
1 rFyre., 49fi. Greg., 219.
8 In these chronicles Somerset's return to the Lancastrians appears to be
antedated by some six month*. He deserted Edward 'a- bout e Cryetysmas,'
1463 (Greg., 223) ; and was beheaded on May 15, 1464 (Greg., 224, 225).
* Warkw., 6. Pembroke was defeated at Edgcote, on July 26, 1469.— Ibid.
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
321
[Hot. iii. 672/1 /6o. Halle, 273.] King Edward, bailing 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 northerne men, with all speed comming
toward London ; and therefore in great hast he sent to William J£j£S£ #/
lord Herbert^ whom (as yee haue heard) l he had created earle of [TJrabSii*1
Penbroke ; requiring him without delaie to raise his power, and
incounter with the northerne men. . . .
And, to assist him with archers, was appointed Humfrie lord ™£*£$
Stafford 2 of Southwike, named but not created earle of Deuonshire ^atii0
by the king ; in hope that he would senie valiantlie in that iournie : F*mi»«k«).
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 God 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
[Hoi. iii. 670/2/30. 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 realrae. And euen as
the marques was loth to consent to his vn hap pie conspiracie, so
with a faint hart he shewed himselfo an enimie vnto king Edward ;
which double dissimulation was both the destruction of bim and
bis brethren.
When, in July, 1469, a commotion, arising from local discontent,
began in Yorkshire, Montague caused the leader of the rebels to be
beheaded.11 This procedure occasioned speculation:
[Hoi iii. 672/1/38. Halle, 272] Some saie he did it, to the
1 "in reproofe of Jasper [Tudor, Henry VI.'s half-brother,] earle of Pen-
brooke, he [Edward I V.J created William lord Herbert earle of the some place."
—Hal. iii. 667/1/4. Halle, 261. Herbert was created Earl of Pembroke in
1468.— Ihigdale, iii 256/1-2 ; cp. DoyU, iii. 16.
1 In T. T. Edward's order ia given to Pembroke alone, and Stafford is not
mentioned.
3 ITotta, 272. Halle was mistaken in supposing that this movement in
Yorkshire sprang from the Nevilles' intrigues. John Neville (Montague) was
then Earl of Northumberland, and the fact (recorded in Three Chronicler
B. L. C, 183) that one demand of the Yorkshire rebels was the restoration of
this earldom to the Perciea explains his action.
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
[Two «i. intent to seeine innocent and faultiest of his brothers dooings.
£U nations of
owSuoti * ®u* °'ner iudge that he did it, for that, contrarie 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 Bpace
entered into grace and fauour.1
Act IV., sec. iL, iii.a — " 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 ewarme to vs.
Though the rest of sc. ii.f and parts of sc. iii., dramatize an event
which happened in the Summer of 1469, the historical date of
"Warwick's remark must be AuguBt or September, 1470;3 when, as
the chronicler notes :
[Soldier*
locked t..
Warwick )
[Hoi iii. 670/1/63. Hallet 282] It is almost not to be
beleeued, how manie thousands men of warre at the first tidings
of the carles landing: resorted vnto 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 encump'd,
His Souldiors lurking in the Towne about,
And but attended by a simple Guard Y
Wee may surprize and take him at our pleasure 1
In sc. iii. "Warwicke, Clarence, Oxford, Somerset, and French
Souldiors," enter, "silent all"; put to flight the royal "Guard"; —
composed of three n Watchmen " ; — and seize Edward, whe demurs at
1 In the Spring of 1470, after Warwick's withdrawal to France (sec p. 317
above), Edward ■ Legan seriously to immagine who were his frendes, ana who
were his foes, . . . many, trustyng to the kynges pardon, submitted and y elded
theimsi'] l[s] to the Kynges clemencye. Eniongeet whome Ihon Marques Mon-
tacute humbly yelded hymself, and vowed to bee euer true to the kyng (as
he had doen before ty me); whom he [Edward] with muche humanitie and faire
wordes did recciue and intertain," . . . — Halle, 280. Hoi. iii. 674/2/48.
* 77k True Tragedie has one wene here, opening thus : " Enter Warwike
and Oxford, with w.»uldiers." The talk between three "Watchmen"— with
which scene iii. opens in 3 Hen. VI — is not in the earlier text, nor are they
mentioned in it. The entry of Warwick and the others (sc. iii.), with " French
Sou Id ten, silent all/' is not in T. T.
3 On August 5 the landing of Clarence and Warwick was expected " evyrye
daye." — Paston, ii. 40G. August was the month in which, according to John
Hooker (Hoi. iii. 676/2/63), they landed. Other chroniclers give the following
dates: about September 8 (Three CKrvnide$t B. L. C.t 183} ; September 13
(Stow, 701) ; " a lytellt before Michaelmesse" {Warkw.t 10).
XI, HENRY VI. PAKT in.
3^3
being spoken of by Warwick as" the Duke." The King-maker answers
(11. 32-34) ;
When you disgrac'd me in my Embassage,
Then I degraded you from being King,
And come now to create you Duke of Yorke.
After Warwick's landing, in 1470,
[Hoi, iii. 675/1/53. Halle, 282.] he made proclamation in the
name of king Henrie 1 the sixt, vpon high paines commanding and
charging all men able to bear armor, to prepare themselues to
fight against Edward duke of Yorke, which contrarie to right had
vsurped the crowne.
" But Henry now shall weare the English Crowne," saya Warwick,
taking — according to the stage direction in 3 Henry VI — 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 couuey'd
Ynto my Brother, Arch-bishop of Yorke.
The Earl has still to fight "with Pembrooke and his fellowee";
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.3 After this battle Edward
[Hoi. iii. 673/i/so. Halle, 275.] assembled his power, and
was comxning 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 mined their powers togither, and vpon secret
knowledge had, that the king (bicause they were entered into
termes by waie of communication to haue a peace) tooke small
heed to himselfe, nothing doubting anie outward attempt of his
enimies.
The earle of Warwike, intending not to leese such opportunitie
[Warwick
Erm lniinul
leDIT VI.,
Mr! noamd
men to fight
(Uftlngt
Edward
Daks of
TlTlL]
[The annlei
of Warwick
and Clarencfl
were near
Edward,
who took
■mall heed
to himself.)
1 u Applaud the Name of Henry with your Leader ! " ia the order addressed
hv Warwick to the soldiers, when they are setting forth to surprise Edward
(3 Htn. VI., IV, ii, 27). In 3 Hen. VI. this line is followed by the stage
direction : u They all cry * Henry ! ' " In T. T. the soldiers, unbidden, shout,
" A Warwike, a Warwike ! " Hallt says (283) that when Warwick landed, in
1470, "al the tounea and al the couatrey adiacent [Lincolnshire] was in a
great rore, and made fiera and sange eonges ; crijng, ' king Henry, kyng
Henry J a Warwycke, a Warwycke I ,y' * Warkw.f 6.
XI.
tl r.
*•*
btbdnd of the
(» tecrrtlie a*
tint kept the
he thoagbt of nothing leste tins erf that
place cmlled Wolnie [? HotdW,1 W
Warwike, be vu taken
U arwike. And, to the
of him, tbeearie cn&eed nimby
night to be eosraeied to ITiddlefcam cnsteD
there to be kept rader the CMtodie of the
and other hk freends is those
Art IV. ie. iv Qoeen Wisnheth sad Hirers eater. More
year has elapaed since Edward's capture, but she has jnat bad
of this sniarhaace. Being with child the resolves to take
sanetoary (L 31). When, in the Autumn of 1470, Edward's flight
from England was known, all his
[Hoi iiL 077 2 5 HalU, 285.] trust ic freends went to dinene
and amongst other his wife qneene Elisabeth tooke
Banctuarie at Westminster, and there, in great peoorie, forsaken of
all hir friends, waa deliuered of a faire son called Edward.
Act TV. sc. v. — Gloucester discloses to Lord Hastings and Sir
William Stanley a plan for rescuing Edward (1L 4-13):
jou know our King, my Brother. 4
la prisoner to the Bishop here, at whose hands,
He hath good rsage and great liberty ;
And, often hut attended with weeks- guard.
Comes hunting this way to disport himselfe. 8
I haue aduertis'd him by secret meanes
That, if about this hours he makes this way,
Vnder the colour of his vsuall game,
Ue shall heere Cade 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 Edgoote field ■ (July 26, 1469). His escape is thus narrated :
[Hoi. iii. 673/1/73. Hallt., 275.] King Edward, being thus in
1 Gent. Mag., 1839, ii. 616.
• the nrchbishvp of Yorke] Hoi. the Archbishop 0/ Fori* Jtyi brother]
Halle. 276.
a On September 29, 1469, Edward was at York, and virtually a prisoner. —
Warkw., 7 ; cp. Cont. Ctoyl, 662. On October 13, 1469, he was in London,
and frep.— Parton, ii. 389. (Mr. Gairdner informed me that the privy teal dates
show Edward to have been in London as early a« October 13.)
XI. HENRY VI. PAKT III.
325
captiuitie, apake euer fairo to the archbishop, mid to his other fEJward
keepers, so that he had leaue diuerBe daies to go hunt. . . . hunt 1
- . . Now, on a daie, vpon a plaine, when he was thus abrode,
there met with him sir William Stanleie, sir Thomas a Borough, f^ltUam
and diuers other of his friends, with such a great band of men, J'JSjJ
that neither his keepers would, nor once durst, moue him to t^SLitk.
returne vnto prison againe. Some haue thought that his keepers
were corrupted with inonie, or faire promises, and therfore suffred
him thus to scape out of danger.
Edward and a Huntsman enter. The King'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,1 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. 322 above). Edward was unable
to oppose them,
[Hot. ill. 675/1/73. Halle, 283.] and therefore, being accom-
panied with the duke of Glocester his brother, the lord Hastings
his chamborlaiuc, (which had maricd tho carles [Warwick's] sister,
and yet was cucr true to tho king his maister,) and the lord Scales,
brother to the queene, he departed into Lincolneshire. And,
bicausc he vnderstood that all the realme was vp against him, and
some part of the earle of Warwiks power was within halfe a daies
iournie of him, following the aduise of his counsel!, with all hast
possible, he passed the Washes in great ieopardie, & comming to
Lin found there an English ship, and two hulkes of Holland,
readie (aH fortune would) to make saile.
Wherevpon he, with his brother the duke of Glocester, the lord
Scales, and diuerse other his trustie friends, entered into the ship.
The lord Hastings taried a while after, exhorting all his acquaint-
ance, that of neceseitie should tarie behind, to shew themselues
[HnH Bad
with
GIouoMtcr
anrl
Hinting*.]
King
Edward
cdmtth to
Li.-i mi if
taJxtA a&ip
to pout «t*«r
tea*.
The Utnt
Mattings
ft M ];,- -, -
■mMmmi
left In
England to
feign the.;;-
1 Con/. Croyl., 552.
326
XI- HENRY VI. TART III-
rh*Ddiof openlie as friends to king Henrie1 for their owne safegard, but
Henn]. 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 ;s being in number in that one ship and
n< numb*- two hulkes, about scuen or eight hundred persons, hailing no
furniture of apparell or other necessaric things with them, sauing
Hal
ou.tr tettX
Edward. apparell for warre
SLi cut
To***
rutnrtd to
Su kttyti*
foutnumtnt.
Act IV. sc. 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,3 1470, Warwick
[ffol. iii. 677/2/40. Halk, 285.] rode to the Tower of London,
and there deliuered king Henrie out of the ward, where he before
was kept, and brought him to the kings lodging, where he was
eerued according to his degree.
On the line and twentith day of the said moneth, the duke of
Clarence, accompanied with the carles 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 theuse brought king Henrie,
apparelled iu a long gowne of blew veluet, through London to the
1 Winn the Mayor hesitates to open the pfttea of York to Edward, Hastings
mp (3 Em. FT. IV. vii. 88) : " Open the Gates ; we are King Henries
tnonU" In ifaiu (283) the passage which I quote in my text (Hoi iii.
67A i/14, &0.) runs thus: "The lord Chamberfayne toned a while after,
•thortTng nl hi* iOqualAtatmoa, that of neceasitie should tarye behinde, to
tMSMtlfc ttymlf tw frendoa to the parte aduerse for their owne saue-
tf»rd," ■ . .
1 On { H'arkw.t II) or about (Cont. Croyl, 554) September 29 1470
» On Ovlober 6, according to Stow (702), Warwick removed Henry from the
Tower to the BUhop of London's walae* at St. PauU. On October 13 Henrr
"Viftj a MMIgiBB OQWMd in IVilc* Church."— Ibid. Con*. Oroyl. (554)
alto |Itm UtoMr *;' •■»• daUof thi« public function, but the place i* not
Hot .< nmhnrtty, mitkea October 12 the date on which
.■n...v..,l ll,iu> ln.m a ward in the Tower to the roval lodging
!"(;.\ 'T l**' lW: Kin8 *'iV* publicly eacorted to the Buhop
myeu
vnto
_ and
e Byashoppea Palays, &.
djtvd hvni ...
■" " lm>lti'd and Ukeii I >r kvngi thoruga all *the lande." Stou/*
»'rtr,.V ™ a,M\,.i from 7W CKronidto (B. L. C) 183-for
|I-"'V- removal fMin lh« IW I ... Ip pafatnd, because the rested
KimM *TW Pn Uu lltrij • d wnn fHH dated on October 9 — Jfymer
ii ft]
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
327
church of saint Paule ; the people on euerie side the streets
reioising and crieng, "God saue the king I" as though ech thing
had succeeded as they would haue had it : and, when he had
offered (as kings vse to doo), ho was conueied to the bishops
palace, where he kept his houshold like a king.
Having resolved to lead a private life, Henry commits the govern-
ment of England to Warwick and Clarence (I. 41) ;
I make you both Protectors of this Land, . . .
Halle (286) was Holinshed's authority for representing that
Warwick
[Hoi. iil 678/1/43.] was made gouernour1 of the realme, with
whom as fellow was associat George duke of Clarence.
Warwick accepts the charge, and says to Clarence (11. 53-57) !
now then it is more then needfull,
Forthwith that Edward be pronoune'd a Traytor,
And all his Lands and Goods be conjiaoate.2
Clar. What else i and that Succession be determined. 56
Wark. I, therein Clarence shall not want his part.
The following excerpt forms the source of these lines, which are not
in The TVue Tragedie;
[Hal. iii, 677/2/71. Halle, 288.] When king Henrie had thus
readepted and eftsoons gotten Ma rcgall power and authoritio, he
called his high court of parleraent, to begin the six and twentith
day of Nouember, at Westminster; in the [p. 678] which king
Edward was adiudged a traitor to the countrie, and an vsurper of
the realme. His goods were confiscat 8 and forfeited . . .
Moreouer, ... the crownes of the realities of England and
France were by authoritie of the same parlement intailed to king
Henrie the sixfc, and to his heires male ; and, for default of such
heires, to remaine to George duke of Clarence, & to his heires
male : and, further, the said duke was inabled to be next heire to
[Hanrr
brought
Bvovfti
Loudon in
roral statv
to St. Paula,
and *fter-
warda lodged
at the
Biihnp'g
u
Tht tarU of
Warwii*
itUtituUd
ffoturnour c/
tht reatnt.
A parUnunt.
r. Bfiward
adiudgml aft
[, and hla
KOOdBCOQ'
lil.-.itrd].
T\» cnwnt
tntailtd (to
Henry, with
nauunder to
Clirenca},
1 Po'ytL Verg. (521) wa.i Halle* a authority for Clarence's association with
Warwick in the government 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 (Rot, Parl.t vt 191).'— Arrival, 41. From the writer of The Arrival
of Edward IV. (1, 8) we learn that Warwick was appointed by Henry,
11 Lievetenaunte of England."
* be eonjiscate] Malon?. tonjUcate 3 Hen. VI.
3 a1 hii qnoHdt* were cotyfUfate] Halle, 286.
328
XI. HENRY Vf. PART III.
[When Hut-
«nt heard
of Die Lftn-
ewtriani'
meoMi ihe
purpowd
returning to
latpermrU
.>- haftrafei
fia«t Heary
Tudor J.
his father Richard duke of Yorke, aud to take from him all his
landes and dignities, as though he had beene his eldest sonne at
the time of his death.
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 returne from France with speed ; * • .
They had news of the change in England, but their return was
delayed,
[Hoi. iii. 6/8/1/49. Halle, 286, 28?.] When queene Margaret
ynderstood by hir husbands letters, that the victorie was gotten
by their freends, she with hir sonne prince Edward and hir traine
entered their ships, to take their voiage into England : but the
winter was so sharpe, the weather so stormio, and the wind so
contrarie, that she was faino to take land againe, and to deferrc
hir iournie till another season.1
Henry then says (11. 65, 66) :
My Lord of Somerset, what youth is that,
Of whom you seeme to haue so tender care ?
Somers. My Liege, it is young Henry, Earle of Richmond.
Laying his hand on Richmond's head, Henry predicts that "this
prettie Lad " 2 is
Likely in time to blesae a Regall Throne.
Make much of him, my Lords, for this is he©
Must helpe you more then you are hurt by mee.
A story which Holinahed copied from Halle (287) has here been
drama tixed. In 1471,1
[Hoi. iii. 678/i/S7.] Jasper earle of Penbroke went into Wales,
to visit his landa in PenbrokeBhire, where ho found lord Henrie,
sonne to his brother Edmund earle of Richmond, bailing not full
ten yeares of age ; * he being kept in manor like a captiue, but
1 Lack of "stable wethar to passe with" detained her from March 24 till
April 13, 1471.— Airitxd, 22.
1 Henry VII. was "of a woonderfull beautie and faire complexion.*' — Hoi.
iii. 797/1/50. Halle, 504. He was "so formed and decorated with all gifts
and lineaments of nature that he seemed more an angelicall creature than a
terrestrial! personage." — Hoi. iii. 757/T/5V Hall*, 416.
3 Pembroke seems to have gone to Wales about the time when Margaret was
awaiting a passage,— Halle, 287. Cp. Arrival, 24.
4 Henry was born in 1 157.— Doyle, iii. 110.
XI. HENUV VI. fAKT III.
329
honorablie brought vp by the ladio Herbert, late wife to William
earle of Penbroke, . . .
The earle of Peubroke tooke this child, being hia nephue, out
of the custodie of the ladie Herbert, and at his returne brought
the child with him to London to king Uenrie the sixt ; whome
when the king had a good while beheld, he said to audi princes aa
were with him : " Lo, Hiiorlie this is he, to whom both we and our
" aducrsaries, leauing the possession of all things, shall hereafter
"giue roome and place.1' So this holie man shewed before the
chance that should happen, that this earle Hcnrie, so ordeined by
God, should in time to come (as he did indeed) haue and inioy 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 (11. 78, 79);
That Edward is escaped from your Brother,
And fled (as he heares since) to Burgundie.1
Half of this news (1. 78) takes us back to October, 1469 ; the other
half (L 79) transports us to September, 1470 (see p. 326 above).
All 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 Enmitio.— 11. 96-98.
The battle of Tewkesbury was fought on May 4, 1471.* About
four months s after this date Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke,
[Sot. iii. 693/1/53. Halle, 303.] was conueied to Tinbie,
where he got ships, and with his nephue, the lord Henrie earle of
Richmond, sailed into Britaine, where, of the duke, they were
Tht taictyaf
king Henrxe.
the lixt, of
Henri* of
Kirhmoml,
Oflrr h«0
Henru tht
Tkt tarlf of
Pinbrokt
rilA Am
ntpkwt (he
•arlt of
RicJkinond
1 The order of events differs in T. T. and 3 ITen. VI. In the former wc
have : Edward's escape (F., IV. v.) ; Queen Elizabeth's withdrawal to sanctuary
{F., IV. iv.) ; Edward's return (J**., IV. vii.) ; Henry's release and prophecy
touching Richmond (f!, IV. vL). Immediately after Henry's presageful words
have been uttered, there enters "one with a letter to Warwike." From
tliis letter Warwick learns that Edward has landed and is marching to London
(F, IV. viii.)-
* j4m'nZ,28.
1 Writing on September 28, 1471, Sir John Paston announces a report that
" the Erie of Penbroke is taken on to Brettayn ; and men save that the Kynge
schail have delyvere off hyra hastily, and som seye that the Kynge off France
woll se hym saffe, and schail sett liym at lyberte agcyn." — Fastoti, iii. 17.
Richmond is not mentioned in the letter.
330
XI. HENRY VI. PART III,
po,'## MM
MMn
lit aidttk
K. Bdxard
vwiiT hand
[with money
and alilpt ].
courteoualie interteineJ ; with assurance made, that no creature
should doo them anie wrong or iuiurio within his dominions.
Act IV. bc. vii. — w Flourish. Enter Edward, Richard, Hastings,
and Souldiers." In The True Tragedie Edward, Richard, and Hastings
enter " with a troope of Hollanders." l Edward has " brought desired
lielpe from BurgundieM (1. 6) ; and has now "arriu'd,"
From Rauenspurre Hauen, before the Gates of Yorke, . . .
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy,
[Hoi, iii. 678/2/72. Halle, 290.] would not consent openlie to
aid king Edward ; hut jet secretlie vndor hand by others he lent
vnto him fiftie thousand llorcns of the [p, 679] crosse of S. Andrew,
and further caused foure great ships to be appointed for him in
the hauen of de Veere, otherwise called Camphire in Zeland, which
in those duies was free for all men to come vnto, 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 trulic,
till ho were landed in England, and fifteene daies after.
On March 14, 1171."- Edward landed at Ravenspur, and moved
towards York (Halle, 290, 291).
The gates nave been " made fast M (1. 10). Hastings knocks *' once
more, to summon " the magnates of the city. In response : n Enter,
on the Walls, the Maior of Yorke and his Brethren." A colloquy
succeeds (U. 17-24) :
Maior, My Lords, we were fore-wai-ued of your comming,
And shut the Gates for safetie of our selues ;
For now we owe allegeance vnto Henry.
Edw. But, blaster Maior, if Henry be your King, 20
Yet Edward, at the least, is Duke of Yorke,
Maior, True, my good Lord, I know you for no lesse.
Edw. Why, and I challenge nothing but my Dukedome,
Ab being well content with that alone 24
The Mayor accepts Edward's explanation, and the gates are opened.
To illustrate this part of bc. vii.t I quote Halle 3 (291, 292) :
Kyng Edward, without any wordes spoken to hym, cam peace-
ably nero to Yorke [on March 18,4 1471], of whose conimyngo,
1 Fab. (660) says that Edward lauded at Ravenspur * with a small com-
pany of Flemyngea and other."
* Arrival, 8.
1 The account which Sol, 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 Halle, whom the writer of The True Tronedie followed.
4 Arrival % 5.
XI. HENRY VT. PART ITT.
331
when the citiezens wer certefied, without delay they armed tbem-
selfe, and came to defend the gates ; sendyng to hym two of the
chicfcst Aldermen ' of the citie, whych ernestly admonished hym
on their behalfe to come not one foote nerar, nor temerariouslye to
enter in to ho great ieopardy ; consideriuge that they were fully
determined and bent to compel! hym to retract with dent of
swourd. Kyng Edward . . . determined to set forward neither
with army nor with weapon, but with lowly wordes & gentel
entreatynges ; requyryng moate hartely the messengers that were
sent to declare to the citizens that he came neither to demaund
the realme of England, nor the superiorities of the same, but onely
the duchie of Yorke, hia olde enheritance ; the which duchie, if he
illicit by their meanes readept and recouer, he would neuer let
passe out of hys memorie bo great a benifite, and so frendly a
gratuitic to hym exhibited. And so with fayre wordes and flatter-
ynge apoche ho dismissed the messengers, and with good spede he
and his folowed so quickly after that they were almost at y* gates
as soue as the Ambassadors. The citezcns, heryng las good
answere, that he ment nor entended nothynge preiudiciall to kynge
Henry nor his rojall authoritie, were much mitigated & cooled, &
began to cowmen with him from their walles, willyng him to conuey
hym self into some other place without delay, which if he did they
assured hym th"t he should haue neither hurtc nor damage; but
he, gently spcakyng to all men, and especially to suche as were
Aldermen, (whome he called worshipfull, and by their proper
names them saluted,) after many fayre promises to them made,
exhorted & desyred them that by their fauourable frendshyp &
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 & ernest interlocution. The citiezens,
partcly wonnc by hys fayre wordes, & partly by hope [p. 292] of
hys large promises, fell to this pact & conuencion, that, yf kyng
Edward wouldc swere to entertayne his citiezens of Yorke after a
gentell sorte & fashyon, and here after to be obedient and faythfull
[Torn eliter-
i lien of York
were wot to
tell Edwaxa
that the
c.ttzmi
would not
Admit him
within their
f*te*.)
□Unrd
that he came
not to claim
the realm,
but his
iMfln ol
York.]
rWhenlltt
aldermen
retaniM to
York,
Edward
followed,
and aaaured
the cltlsens
that he
meant
nothing
diKllcial
Irnry'a
• uUiunty.J
[The eitiacnt
; si t..[
with fclwajJ
from the
walla. dciT-
ing him to
remove else-
where, but
he mildly
peralated In
aaklng bi
enter York.]
(At last they
yielded to
hii reqaoBt,
on condition
that he
should tiJW
tliem well,
and be loyal
to Henry.]
! In 3 Hen. FT., IV. vii. 34, the Mayor opens the gate? of York, and enters
hel^iw wilh "two Aldermen." In T. T. ho enter* alone.
332
XI. HENRY VI. PART III,
[But when
E*1wnrd tu
admitted
Into Tork,
beieta
garrison
Iherc]
Bdw. ffait.
(Sir Thoma*
■MteBB v
would serve
no man bat
■ king.]
to all kyng Henrjres coininaundeinentos and preceptes, that then
they woulde receyue hyni in to their citic, & aydc and comfort hym
with money. . . . When kyiig Edward had apposed the citiezens,
and that their fury was past, he entred in to the citie, &t clerely
forgettinge his othe, he first set a garrison of souldiers in the
towne,1 to the entent that nothyng should be moued agay7ist hym
by the citczens, & 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 Armey " — is thus
answered by Sir John (11. 43, 44) :
To helpe King Edward in his time of storme,
As euery loyal 1 Subiect ought to doe. 44
Edw. Thankes, good Mountgomerie ; but we now forget
Our Title to the Crowne, and onely clayme
Our Dukedome till God 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 !
Edward is soon persuaded to reassume his royal style j whereupon
Hastings cries (11. 69, 70) :
Sound Trumpet ! Edward shal be here proclaim'd :
Come, fellow Souldior, make thou proclamation I
[FT&urish. Sound.
SottL Edward the Fourth, by the Grace of God, King of England
and France, and Lord of Iroland, <fcc.
Edward left York on March 19, and arrived at Nottingham a few
days later ; s where
[Hoi. iii. G8O/2/49, Halle, 292.] there came to him sir Thomas
Burgh, & sir Thomas Montgomerie, with their aids ; which caused
him at their first comming to make proclamation in his owne
name, to wit, of K, Edward the fourth : boldlie affirming to him,
that they would seme no man but a king.
Act TV. sc, viii. — King Henry, Warwick, Montague, Clarence,
1 When the Mayor has yielded the keys of York, he is told that "Edward
will defend the Towne and thee."— 3 Hen, FX, IV. vii. 38.
* Arrival, ft, 7. Sir Thomas Montgomery is not mentioned in Arrival or
Warkw. According to the foTmer (and better) authority Edward was * rrcey vyd
as Kynge" at Warwick, on or about April 2 ; "and so made his proclamations
from that tymc forthe wards.* — Arrival, 9. Warktv. (14) agrees with Hallt in
assigning an earlier date to Edward's proclamation as King, and iu making
Nottingham the scene of that step.
XI.
HENRY VI. PART III.
339
Oxford, and Somerset meet to take counsel, since news has come that
Edward
With hastie Germanes, and blunt Hollander.",
Hath posa'd in safetie through the Narrow Seaa,
And with his troupes doth march amaine to London ; . . , 4
Warwick will muster np friends in Warwickshire,1 while the other
Lords do the same in different parts of England. All are to meet at
Coventry (I. 32). These arrangements made, they bid Henry farewell,
and depart. The scene is carried on, or a new scene begins,5 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, Richard, and Yorkist soldiers.
Edward exclaims (1L 53, 54, 58) :
Seize on the shamefaced Henry, beare him hence,
And once againe proclaime vs King 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.8
When, says Halle (294),
the duke of Somerset,* and other of kynge Henryes frendes, saw
the world thus sodaynly chaunged, eaery man fled, and in haste
shifted for hym selfe, leaingc kyng Henry alone, as an hoste that
Buoulde be sacrificed, in the Bishops palace of Loudon adioyningo
to Poulcs churche ; not knowyng of whom, nor what, counsnyll to
aske, as he which wyth troble and aduersitic was clerely dulled Kfn9Btnry
and appalled: in whych place he was [, on April ll,6] by kyng SiSSST"
Edward taken, and agayne committed to prison and captiuitie. primm.
Act V. sc. L — At the close of the last scene, after Henry has been
led out, Edward declares the next step to be taken (IV. viii. 59, 60):
And, Lords, towards Coventry bend we our course,
Where peremptorie Warwick© now remainee ; * . ,
1 He was in Warwickshire when Edward landed.— Hoi. UX68O/1/5 ; Halle,
291. A letter (printed in Oman's King-maker, 221, 222) contains a postscript
written by the Earl at Warwick, on March 25, 1471.
1 Mr. Daniel begins another scene here, and allots a separate day to it.
— T -A., 320. * Arrival, 16.
4 In April, 1471, Queen Margaret's landing was expected, and, with the
design of collecting men to assist her, Somerset left London for the weet of
England Mine days before April 11, when Edward entered the citv. —
Arrival 14, 15. * Arrival, 17.
334
XI. UE511Y VI. FART III.
[Edward
bade
Warwick
battle in *
plain before
Coventry,
but the Karl
would not
come
forth.]
{ktUr
i Ur.r„V»
the three
hfi t bra
determined
to attempt a
reconcilia-
tion with
Warwick. |
[Clarence
exciued.
hioiMir
to Warwick,
and advised
the Earl'e
reconcilia-
tion with
Edward.]
[Warwick
aniwered
that he wa*
not like a
j" rimed
Duke, and
would never
la this scene he appears before Coventry, and summons Warwick
to the walls. Warwick marvels (v. i. 19, 20) :
Where Blept our Scouts, or how are they eedue'd,
That we could heare no newes of his repayre t
The dramatic action brings Edward from York to London, and
then from London to Coventry ; but the latter movement is fictitious.
Hi 1 ward was bound for London when — on March 29, 1471 * — he
[Halle, 293.] auaunced hys power toward Couentre, & in a
playn by the citie ho pytched his feldc. And the next daye after
that he came thither, hys men were set forwarde, and marshalled
in array, & he valiantly bad the erle battayle : which mistrusting
that he should be deceaued by the duke of Clarence (as he was in
dede) kept hym aelfe close within the Walles.
Warwick rejects with bitter scorn Edward's offer of grace, which
Richard presses (11. 21-52). According to Halle (293), after Clarence
had been reconciled to Edward,
was it concluded emongest the .iii. brethren to attempt therle of
Warwicke, if by any fayr means ho might be reconciled or by any
promise allured to their parte. To whom the duke of Clarence
sent diuers of hys secrete frendes, first to excuse him of the act
that he had done, secondarely to require him to take some good
ende now, while he might, with kyng Edward.
When the erle had hard paciently the dukes message, lordc,
how he detested & accursed him 3 crienge out on him that he,
contrary to his oth, promise, & fi deli tic, had shamefully turned hys
face from his confederates & alies. But to the dukes messengers
he gaue none other answere but thys : that he had leuer be
alwayes lyke him selfe then lyke a false and a paitircd* duke ;
and that he was fully determined neuer to leue war, tyll eyther he
had lost hys owne natural! lvfe, or vtterly extinguished & put
vnder hya foes and enemies.
The forces of Oxford, Montague, and Somerset3 now march into
1 Arrival, 9.
* When Clarence ib welcomed by Edward and Richard, Warwick exclaims
(3 Hen. VI^ V. i. 106) : " Oh passing Troytor, perivr'd aud vniuat I "
1 Somerset was not at Coventry, He went westward before Edward
entered London (see p. 333, n. 4, above] ; met Queen Margaret at Cerne Abbey,
Dorset, on April 15 (Arrival^ 28) ; and mustered the forces which marched to
Tewkesbury {Ibid.),
XI. flENUY \I. PART III.
335
Coventry. Each lender, as he enters the city, cries that he is " for
Lancaster ! " (11. 59-72).
The noblemen, who afterwards fought on Warwick's side at Bamet,
were, as Halle relates (295) :
Henry ■ duke of Excester, Edmond Erie of Somerset,2 Ihon erle
of Oxenford, and Ihon Marques Montacute, whom y* erle his
brother wel knewe not to be well mynded (but sore agaynate hya
stomacke) to take part with these lordes ; and therefore stode in a
doubt whether he at this tyme might trust him or no ; but the
fraternal loue betwene them washed awaye and diminished all
suspicion [cp. 3 Hen. VI^ V. iL 33-47]-
As Somerset enters Coventry, Richard observes (11. 73-75) :
Two of thy Name, both Dnkes of Somerset,
Haue sold their Lines vnto the House of Yorke ;
And thou ahalt be the third, if this Sword hold.
The dramatist has here remembered that three historical Dukea of
Somerset lost their lives through opposing the House of York ; (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 gerxnan Edmund,
who met the same fate after the battle of Tewkesbury a (see p. 320
above).
Lastly, Clarence, approaching the walls of Coventry with a large
force, repudiates bis oath of allegiance to Henry (11. 89-91), and tarns
to Edward and Richard, by whom be is gladly welcomed « (IL lOO-Utf).
Halle (293) relates that Warwick, before shutting himself op in
Coventry, sent hastily
for the duke of Clarence to ioyne with bym ; which had conscribed
& assembled together a great host about London. But when he
perceined that the duke lyngered, k dyd al thinges negligently, as
though be were in doubt of warre or peace, he then began somwhat
to suspect that the Duke was of bys bretherne corrupted & lately
chaunged ; , . . yet be bad perfect worde that the duke of
Clarence came forward toward bym with a great army. Kyng
Edward, beynge also therof euforraed, raysed his campe, k made
toward y* duke . . . When eche host was in sight of other,
11°
Warwick'*
»nnv ware
Exeter,
Boiu tract,
Orf« .id, and
Montagu.]
ptatap
waa Uitti to
take part
w.th tit*
1 I .Kill, I- lit
Warwick
ImaU'Jltlui.J
1 Hmry) Hum Ha He.
* HoL- wao eoesed Arrival, 1!
a "Tares Dakes of Somexset
C* Bm. VU V. vii. *).
«tWt*#u
.—JfTttof, 11-13.
tab skia
Warwick, in April \ not later than the
M6
XL HENRY VI. PART III.
armies * en
hi Mgt*
Bdwird and
Ohms*
[sod it lut
UMtiro
[Clarence
w*j per-
suaded that
It WU tin ■
in turn] to
take piirt
against I'll
own hntiae,
and sot ii 1 1
(hi h„ i*, ,.f
r.)
PHwwd
llinli Im*1
Wwarda
Loudon.]
Rvchard duke of Gloucester, brother to them both, as though he
had bene made arbitrer betwene them, fyrst rode to the duke, and
with hym commoned very secretly: from hym he came to kyng
Edward, and with lyke secretnes so vsed hym that in conclusion no
vunaturall warre, but a fraternall amitie, was concluded and pro-
claymcd ; and then, leuyng all armye and weapon a syde, bothe
the bretherne louyngly embraced, and familierly commoned
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 lyroe the stones together, 84
And set vp Lancaster. Why, trow eat thou, Warwicke,
That Clarence is so harsh, so blunt, mnaturaff,
To bend the fatall Instruments of Warre
Against his Brother and his lawfull King ? 88
This view had been urged on Clarence when he was a refugee in
France, about a year before his desertion of Warwick. A "damoeell,"
who professed to have been sent from England, by Edward, for the
purpose of making terms with the Earl of Warwick,
[Halle, 281.] perswaded the duke of Clarence that it was
neither naturall nor honorable to hym, either to condisccnde, or
take parte, against the house of Yorke, (of which he was liueally
descended,) and to set vp again the house of Lancaster, . . .
After welcoming Clarence, Edward challenges Warwick to " leaue
the Towne and fight." Warwick answers (U. 110, 111) :
I will away towards Barnet presently,
And bid thee Battaile, Edward, if thou dar'st.
Edw. Yes, Warwicke, Edward dares, and leads the way.— 112
Lords, to the field I Saint George and Victorie I
[Exeunt. March, Warwicke and Ai» companie foUowes.
On April 6, 1471, Edward again offered Warwick battle before
Coventry.1 As the Earl would not stir,
[Halle, 293-295.] kyng Edward, thus beyng [, by Clarences
alliance,] furnished of a strong hoste, went without any maner
[p. 294] of diffidence or mistrust toward London.. . . . Therle of
Warwycke, pondering that the gain of the whole battail stode in
tnakyng hast, with al diligence followed his enemies ; hopynge (that
1 Arrival^ 13. Edward entered London on April 11. — Arrival^ 17.
April 13 he encamped on Barnet field.— Arrival^ 18
On
XL HENRY VI. PART III.
jf they wer neaer let so lytle wit/t any stop or tariyng by y* wnyc) iw*nriok
follow wl
to fight with thewt before thei should come to Londo/t [p. 2051. . . . »>*<"•'.
[After resting awhile at St. Albans] he remoued to a village in the hj"*11*11*
meane waye bctweno London & saynct Albones, called Barnet, (>*u«i»i
beyng tcnne mylc distaunt from bothc the tounes.
Act V. bc. ii. — *' Alarum and Excursions. Enter Edwitrd bringing
forth Warwicke wounded." The True Tragedie has : " Alarmes, nml
then enter Warwike wounded." From the former stago direction,
and the succeeding lines (1-4), — which are not in The True Tragtttlie, —
one may infer that Warwick lm» been mortally wounded by Edwnrd.
For Warwick's death at Edward's hand I find no authority. Hallo
tells us (296) that, towards the close of the battle of Barnet, — fought
on Easter Day, April 14, 1471,1 — Warwick,
[ffalUt 296.] beyng a murine of a mynde iuuincible, rushed
into the middest of his enemies, whereas he (auenturcd so farro
from his awne compaignie, to kill & sley his aduersariea, that he om nihutt*
could not be rescued) was, in the middes of his enemies, striken <rfw»
doune & slain. The marques Montacute, thynkynge to succor his iMontm
brother whiche he sawe was in grcate ieoperdy, & yet in hope jj1
to obtcin the rictory, was likewise ouerthrowen and slain, hiM]
Edward leaves Warwick to die. Soon Oxford and Somerset enter.
They have just had news that 0- 31)
The Queene from France hath brought a puissant power ;
and, as the scene ends, Oxford cries :
Away, away, to meet the Qneenes great power !
Queen Margaret, having heard of Edward's return,
[Halle, 297] gathered together no small compaignie of hardy
and valiaunt souldiours, determined with all haste and diligence, jj^r*
with Prince Edwarde her sonne, to saile into Englande ; but yet Jj£7bl*
once again (suche was her destinie) beyng letted for lacke of pros- SJJ'jJ"*
perous wynde, & encombered with to[o] muche rigorous tempeste,
"a daie after the faire," (as the common prouerbe saiethj landed
at the Port of Weymouth, in Dorsetshire [, on April 14, 1471]-*
Act T. ac. iii, — The historical date of this scene must be April 14,
1471, if we look solely at the fact that the battle of Barnet U just over.
vb*n »t tut
■J« rurrfnd
J
1 Arrival, 19.
1 JrrimUy XX. WTariv., 1!
d*y.— ^rrmO, 19.
Tbe battle of
im fought on the
B
338
XI. HENRY VI. PART in.
[W»nHck'i
defeat ovtr-
vtoteid
M*rjf»n.t ]
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 Arrivall of King Edward IV. that
news of her 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 wore keeping to the north-west,
in hope of gathering reinforcements from Wales and Lancashire.1
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 Bays (297) that, when news of
Barnet field came,
she, like a woman al dismaied for feare, fell to the ground, her
harte waa perced with sorowe, her speache was in mauer 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 (HaUet 298, 299).
Act V. sc. v. — In The True Tragedie tins scene opens with the
following stage direction: " Alarmes to the battell, Yorke flies, then
the chambers be discharged. Then enter the King, Cla. & Glo. & the
rest, & make a great shout, and crie, for Yorke, for Yorke, and then
the Queene is taken, & the prince, & Oxf. & 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,
Richard — 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,
Richard, "for a very politique purpose, wyth all hys men reculed
bucko." Somerset followed the Yorkists who, turning, discomfited
their pursuers, and, supported by Edward's division, entered the camp.
The Lancastrians who remained there were soon routed. "The Quene
was founde in her Charriot almost deade for sorowe." s The Prince
was " apprehended," and Somerset was " by force " taken prisoner.
1 These particulars, with the dates of April 16, 24, and May 3, are given in
Arrival, 22, 24, 25, and 28.
1 Her speech just before the armies join battle (3 Hen. VI., V. iv. 77-81)
has a slight general resemblance to Warwick's oration when he was on the
point of engaging Edward's troops at Barnet. 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 had inuaded and subdued thys
real me, but they fyght in the querel of a true and vndubitate king against a
cruell man and a Cordons 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 iust, God of very iustice must nedes
be their shilde and defence."— uaUe, 295.
3 On Slav 7 Edward heard that she had been found in ■ a powre religiowa
place" near Worcester, where she stayed during the battle.— Arrival, 31.
XI. HENRY VI. PART III.
339
The victory won, Edward immediately disposes of two Lancastrian
leaders (11. 2, 3) :
Away with Oxford to Haines Castle straight !
For Somerset, off with his guiltie Head !
Oxford shared the Lancastrians' defeat at Barnet, but ho was not
with them when they were vanquished at Tewkesbury, on May 4, 1471.
It was not until February 15, 1474,1 that
[SoL iii. 693/2/20. HaUt\ 304.] Iohn earle of Oxford, which
after Burnet field both inanfullte and valiantlie kept saint Michaels
mount in Cornewall, either for lacko of aid, or persuaded by his
friends, gaue vp the mount, and yeelded hiinaelfe to king Edward
(his life onelie saued), which to him was granted. But, to bo out
of all doutfull imaginations, king Edward also sent him ouer the
sea to the castell of I [amines, where, by the space of twelue yeeres,
hee was in Btrong prison shut rp and warilie looked to.
On May 6, 1471,a
[Halle, 301.] was Edmond duke of Somerset „ . . behedded
in the market-place at Tewkesbury.
As Oxford and Somerset are led out, Edward asks (11. 9, 10) :
la Proclamation made, That who Buds Edward
Shall haue a high Reward, and he his Life f
Scarcely have these words been uttered when Prince Edward ia
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 turn'd me to \ 15
Prince. Speak e like a Subiect, prowd ambitious Yorke 1
Suppose that I am now my Fathers Mouth ;
Resigne thy Chayre, 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 !
TK4 tar It of
Oxford \m\it-
rendered St,
Michul'i
Mount, and
wu im-
frisoocd In
tie cattle of
HtmineiJ.
UTS [MT4]
bcliotded. |
1 Escaping from the rout at Barnet, John Earl of Oxford went first to
Scotland and afterwards to France. — Warkw., 16, 26 ; Arrival^ 20. On April
10, 1473, he was at Dieppe, purposing, as was supposed, to sail for Scotland, —
Paston, iii. 88. He landed at St. Ossyths in Essex on May 28, 1473, but soon
reembarked. — Podon, iii. 92. On September 30, 1473, be took possession of
St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, which he defended against the royal forces
until February 15, 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 Hanimea Castle (Calais). — Warktc, 26, 27 ; Polyd. Verg* 538/44.
William of Worcester (Itinerarium, 122) and iVarkw. differ as to the lengta
of the siege, and the former gives Feb. 19 as the date of surrender.
s Arrival, 31. Warkw., 19.
340
XI. HENRY VI. FART III.
Sir Richard
Crofli iU-
huertth (A«
princt in
KojH tkat Kim
life thonl.1
kaut bttM
Sdmrd
tH*rtk€Tt*J,
The Prince repeats hia claim to sovereignty (11. 33-37), ami ia
forthwith murdered :
Edw. Take that, thou * likeness© of this Rayler here !
[Stab* him.
Rich. Sprawl'st thou 1 take that, to end thy agonie 1
[Rich, utaba him.
Clar. And ther's for twitting me with periurie \ 40
[Clar. stabs him.
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 aline
or dead, should haue an aimuitie of a hundred pounds during his
life, and the princes life to be saned, if he were brought foorth
aliuc. Sir Richard Crofts [the Prince's captor], nothing mistrusting
the kings promise, brought foorth hi3 prisoner prince Edward,
being a faire and well proportioned yoong gentleman ; 2 whom when
king Edward had well aduised, he demanded of him, how he durst
so presumptuouslie enter into his roalme with banner displaiedl
Wherevnto the prince boldlie answered, saieng: "To recouer
" my fathers kingdome & heritage, from his father and grandfather
"to him, and from him after him to mc, lineallie descended." At
which words king Edward said nothing, but with his hand thrust
him from him, or (as some saie) stroke him with his gantlet ; whom,
incontinenttie, George duke of Clarence, Richard duke of Glocester,
Thomas Greie marque sec Dorcet, and William lord Hastings, that
stood by, suddenlie murthered: . . .
Act V. bc. 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, ho stabs to death (1. 57) with a sword (1. 63). Henry died on
May 21 or 22, 1471.3 He was
1 38. thou] Whole Contention (Q3). the 3 Hen. VI,
7 being a . . . gentleman] Hoi. beynge a good Femenine & a wel feautered
younge gentleman Halle, 301. Edward apo&trophixea him as "thou likenesse
of thiB Rayler here * [Queen Maisaret].
3 WaTktc. (21) Bays : " And the same nvghte that Kynge Edwarde came to
London*, Kynge Herry, beynge iuwarde [f in ward] in preaone in the Tonre
of Londone, was putt to dethe, the xxj. day of Maij, on a tywesday nyght,
hetwyi xj. and xij. of the cloke, btynge thenue 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
XI. HENRY VI. PART 111.
341
[Hoi. Hi. 690/2/6i.] in the Tower spoiled of his life, by Richard
duke of Glocester, (as the constant fame ran,) who (to the intent Sjj^*^*
that his brother king Edward might reigne in more suertie)
murthered the said king Hemie with a dagger.
r n
*ff Henri*
thitUt
Mr Tower.
fry JtickaM
Edward is ignorant of Richard's sudden resolve to despatch Henry
(1. 83). More — whose narrative I here give in Halle's words (343)
— asserts that Richard
elewe in the towre kynge Henry the sixt ; Baiynge : " now is there xy*4 ihnry
"no heire male of kyngo Edwartle the thirde but wee of the house feti*
fry Jlid
"of Yorke ! " l whyche murder was doen without kyng Edward Iuh ■»*
assent ; which would haue appointed that bocherly office to [too
nalle] 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, Gloucester, 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 pnwn'd the Sieils and Jerusalem,
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 J
the agreement was mad© by which
learn that Henry "dewaeit" on May 21. According to Three Chronirks
{B. L. G), 184, he died " feliciter " on May 22. A fourth chronicle (MS. Laud,
674 (B. 23) fol. 11, r°, cited in Warkw.t xi.) records that Henry "muriebatur"
on May 22. A fifth chronicle (US. Bib. Reg. 2 B. xv. fol. 1, r», cited in
Warkw., xl.) fixes the time of his death between ("inter") the 2 1st and 22nd
of May. Finally, the Yorkist writer uf Arrival (38) asserts that Henry died
on May 83," ofjuire displeasure, and melencoly."
1 Glo. The Totrer, man, the Tmoer; lie root them out.] T. T. Eich. [The]
Totoer, the Toiper. 3 Hen. VI., V. v, 50. The words "now is . , . of Vurke ■
are in HalU> but not in Hoi.
1 The articles of this agreement— "aduisez par et entre Le Roy de Franco
dune part Kt nieasires Iehan seigneur de Hanart et Thomas seigneur de innn-
gomery entailers conseillera du Roy danglcterrc Touchant le nail et deliur-
anoe de dame marguerit fi]le du Roy de Secille " — are dated October 2, 1475.
Her ransom was 60,000 crowna of gold. The original articles, signed by
Lewis's own hand, are preserved in the British Museum. An order, datea
November 13, 1475, and addressed to Sir Thomas Montgomery, authorizes him
to receive Margaret from Thomas Thwaytes and deliver her to Lewia or to
such persons as shall be chosen by Lewis and Montgomery in Edward's name.
— Burner, xii. 22. Her ransom was to bo paid within five years (Rynurf xii.
61) ; and, on March 21, 1480, Edward gave Lewis a full acquittance.— Symer,
342
XXL RICHARD III.
BLen4pti4
vgarefs
by
[Halkt 301.] King Reiner her father rauw-aomed her wttA-
money, which summc (as the French writers afferme) he borowed
s&il&IS of kyng Lewes y6 xi. ; and, because he was not of power nor abilitie
to repaye ao greate a dutie, he soldo to the French kyng & his
heyrea the kingdomes of Naples and both the Sciciles, wyth the
countie of Prouince, . . .
There is another unhistorical personage in this play besides the
dual " Somerset." M Westmorland " is a hot Lancastrian in 3 Hen. VI.,
I, i., but the historical second Earl — son of Ralph Neville, the first Earl
— kept aloof from civil strife.1
" 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 1420, and, during the war of the Roses, this title was
borne by Henry Holland. Holland was a staunch Lancastrian ; but the
dramatic "Exeter" accepted the arrangement which reduced Henry
VI. to the position of King by the grace of Richard Plantagenet.
French (Sfaikspeareana Genealooica, p. 199) conjectured that
"Summerfieid" (T. T.) or "Someruile " (3 lien. VI., V. i. 7-15) was
meant for Sir Thomas Somerville, who died 16 Henry VII., 1500.
XII. RICHARD III.
THE Tragedy of Richard the Third2 is not separated from The third
Part 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,s the action of sc. ii., Act L, takes us back to May
xii. 112. In consideration of the ransom, Rene" agreed that Provence should
be united to the French crown after his death, and Margaret confirmed the
cession. — Jean de Troy?*, 36, 37.
1 The dramatist might have been misled by finding in Halle (256) or Hoi.
(iii. 665/t;27) that "the carles of Northumberland and Westmorland '' were
slain at Tow ton. John Lord Neville— a brother of Ralph Neville, second Earl
of Westmoreland — was killed in this battle, fighting on the Lancastrian aide.
— Rot ParLt v. 477/2.
* I quote the text of Fi.
8 Wc do not know when Clarence was arrested, but a probable date is based
on the following facta : On May 20, 1477, Burdett and Stacy, dependents of
Clarence, were executed for constructive treason. — D. K. Rep. 3, appendix ii.
p. 214, 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 M
at the palace of Westminster, and there, in the presence of the civic dignitaries,
vehemently censured Him. The Duke was put "sub custodift," and remained
a prisoner till his death.— Cbn/. Croy1., 561, 682. Edward's privy seals show
XII. RICHARD IIT.
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) ; but, even
if we assume that May 21 was the date of his death, we can hardly
refer the closing scene of 3 Henry VI. to the same day. The Tragedy
of 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.
Kews (U. 136, 137) that
The King is sickly, weake, and melancholly,
And his Phy&itiane feare him mightily,2
leads to further anticipations (11. 145-152) :
He cannot line, I hope ; and must not dye
Till George be pack'd with post-horse vp to Heauen.
He in, to vrge his hatred more to Clarence,
With Lyes well steel'd with weighty Arguments; 148
And, if I faile not in my decpo intent,
Clarence hath not another day to liue :
"Which dono, God take King Edward to his mercy,
And leaue the world for me to bussle in 1 152
" Some wise men " weened that Richard's
\_Hol. iii. 712/2/28. More, G/29.] drift, couertlie conueied,
lacked not in helping foorth his brother of Clarence to his death :
which he resisted openlie, howbeit somewhat (as men deemed)
more faintlie than ho that were hartitie minded to his wealth.
And they, that thus dceme, thinko that ho long time in king
Edwards life forethought to be king ; in case that the king his
brother (whose life he looked that cuill diet3 should shorten) should
[Soma be*
lievod that
Richard
covertly
MWMJ
CUrcnce**
dt*t>i. and
faMl MM
looked for-
ward to
ftoccocdloj;
Edward.J
that on May 26 he was at Greenwich, on May 27 at Greenwich and West-
minster, and on May 28 at Greenwich again. — 0. B> May 27, then, is a date
in accordance with the testimony of the Croyland cemtinuator, who, as he tells
us himself (Cont. Groyf., 557, sidenote), was in 1471 or 1172 a member of the
Council. Clarence was attainted by the Parliament which met at Westminster
on January 16, 1478.— Rot. Pari., vi. 167/1 ; 193-195.
1 Fab.t ii. 672.
* Edward perceived "that there was little hope of recouerie in the cunning
of his physician* " (Hoi. iii. 7O8/2/35. Not in Halle).
8 Cp. what Richard says of Edward {I. i. 139, 140) :
■ 0, he hath kept nr\ enill did long."
344
:ard hi.
rrhs"0"
prophecy. J
Fropkttut
ttiuHuh
fantaiit*.
[The Quc*n
anil her
ktaited
Edward's
happen to deceasse (as in deed he did) while his children were
yoong. And they decme, 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 cnterprised to be
king himselfe.
If expectation fail not,
This day should Clarence closely be mew'd vp,
About a Prophesie, which sayes that O
Of Edwards hoyres the murthorer shall be.— 11. 38-40.
And Clarence, entering on his road to the Tower, informs Richard
(11. 55-69) that Edward
. . . from the Crosse-row pluckos 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 followes in his thought that I am he.
Rumour declared that Clarence's death
[Hoi. iii. 703/f/46. Halle, 320.] rose of a foolish prophesie,
which was, that, after K. Edward, one should reignc, whose first
letter of his name should be a G. Wherewith the king and
queene were sore troubled, and began to conceiue a grecuous
grudge against this duke, and could not be in quiet till they had
brought him to hia end. And, as the diuell is woont to incumber
the minds of men which delite in such diuclish fantasies, they said
afterward, that that prophesie lost not his effect, when, after king
Edward, Glocester vsurped his kingdome.
Richard 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. iiL 703/i/6i. Halle, 320.] 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) ccassed not to increase.
However,
[Hoi. iii. 712/1/46. More, 5/13.] . . . were it by the queene and
XII. RICHARD in.
345
lords of hir bloud, which highlic maligned the kings kinred, (as
women comnionlie, not of malice, but of nature, hate them whome
their husbands loue,) or were it a proud appetite of the duke
himselfo, 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 Queon Elizabeth and Rivers, 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
Rivers. 8eo p. 366 below.
Act I. sc. ii. — " Enter the Coarse of Henric the sixt with Halberds
to guard it, Lady Anno 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 interrtid there ; . . .
tSoon after Richard enters she cries to the guards (11. 55, 56) :
Oh, Gentlemen, see, see 1 dead Henries wounds
Open their congeaTd inouthes and bleed afresh !
Hollnshed (iii. 69O/2/73) gives the following account of Henry's
funeral, and the bleeding of the corpse :
[Hoi iiL 600/2/73.] Thc dead corps, on the Ascension euen
[May 22, 1471], was couuoiod with bilks and'glauos poinpouelie (if
[p. 691] you will call that a funerall pompc) from the Tower to
the church of saint Panic, and there, laid on a bcire or coffbn bare
faced, the same in presence of the beholders did bleed : l where it
rested the space of one whole daio. From thense he was caried
to the Blackfricrs, and bled there likewise: and, on the next
daie 3 after, it was conueied in a boat, without priest or elerke,
torch or taper, singing or saieng, vnto the monasterie of Chcrtseie,
distant from Loudon liftccne miles, and there was it first
buried: . . .
The historical Lady Anne did not attend Henry VI. 'a funeral ; and
the dialogue between her and Richard (11. 46-225) is imaginary. She
The unit and
'wnd'rA of
Made, |A
wrong date. ]
(Henry'i
body was
from the
Tower to St.
Paula, and
Afterward*
tn Cliertaer-
It bled at
Si. Paula
and the
Blackfriara |
1 This excerpt was partly derived from HaUe (303), but he does not mention
the bleeding of Henry's corpse.
* Henry's body was conveyed to CherUey on Ascension Day (May 23). —
Fab., ii. 6«3, and a London chronicle (Bibl. Cotton. Vitell. A. xvi. fol. 133, 1*)
cited in ITarfcv., xii. Hot. was wrong if the words " where it rested . . . next
daie after " mean that the body was conveyed to CherUey on May 34.
346
XII. RICHARD III.
I Ami.. ,
W»nricV»
younger
daughter,
nuuTied first
tn Prinpu
Edward. 3
married Richard in 1472.1 From Holinshed (iii. 75I/1/45) Shakapere
might have learnt that she was
[Hoi. iii. 751/1/45. M(dlc, 407-] the same Anne, one of the
daughters of the earle of Warwike, which, (as you haue heard
before,) at the request of Lewes the French king, was maried to
prince Edward, sonne to king Henrie the sixt
Richard's entreaty that she would go to Crosby Place, and receive
a visit from him there (11. 213-217), was perhaps suggested by the
mention (Hoi. 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 (1L 226, 227). We have seen
(p. 345 above) how Henry's corpse, after its removal from St. Pauls,
rested at Black-Friars,2 and was thence conveyed to Chertsey.
Act I. ac. iii. — Queen Elizabeth tells Rivers (11. 11-13) that her
son's
minority
Is put vnto the trust of Richard Glouster,
A man that lones not me, nor none of you.
Riu. Is it concluded he shall l>e Protector T
Qu. It is determin'd, not concluded yet :
But so it must be, if the King miscarry.
Edward died on April 9, 1483,3and Richard was appointed Pro-
tector before the middle of May in the same year.* When — on May
4, 1483 b — Edward V. entered London,
[Hoi iii 716/2/53. Mortt 22/31.] the duke of Glocester bare
him in open sight ho reuerontlie to the prince, with all semblance
of lowlinossc, that, from the great obloquic 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 onclie man, chosen and
13
16
1 In a letter written on February 17, 1472, Sir John Paston reports Clarence
to have said " that he [Richard] mny wcell have my Ladye [Anne] hys
[Clarence's] Buster in Jawe, butt they Bchall parte no lyvelod,'' — PoHoji, hi. 38.
A petition for the reversal of the attainder of John I^oid 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 Gloucestr* and Anne
Duches of Gloncestr his wyfe." — Rot. Pari., vi. 25/ 1. It appears, therefore,
that Richard and Anne must have heen married on some date between February
17 and November 30, 1472.
2 Halle (303) does not mention the deposit of Henry's body at Blackfriars.
■ Cont. Vroyl., 564.
4 In commissions of the peace, dated May 14, he is styled Protector of
England. — Rot. Pat. Edw. V. in dorso (cited in Grants of Edtoard F., ed.
J. 0. Nichols, xiii., xxxi.). If the entry on the Patent Roll can be trusted, he
was Protector on April 21.— Gairdner's Life of Richard III^ ed. 2, p. 69,
• Fab., 668.
XII. RICHARD III.
347
thought most meet to be protector of the king and his realme ; bo n< <****<>/
that (were it destiuie or were it follie) the lambe was betaken to 2JJ*,ffV"
the woolfe to keepe.
The ensuing dialogue (11. 17-319) is fictitious, Margaret — who is
one of the speakers — left England soon after November 13, 1475, and
died on August 25, 1489.1 But as this scene cannot be historically
dated before April 9, 1 483, there is point in the rebuke (11. 255-256) which
she is made to give Dorset, who pronounced her to be " lunaticke."
Peace, Master Marquess©, you are malapert !
Your fire-new stampe of Honor is scarce currant.
Barely eight years had elapsed since Edward — on April 18,
1475 s—
[Hoi. iii. 702/2/8.] created the lord Thomas, marqueBse Dorset, rThouui
before dinner ; and so in the habit of a marqucssc nbouc the habit MuquMi
of his knighthood he began the table of knights in saint Edwards
chamber.
She calls Richard a " rooting Hogge " (1. 228). In the second year
of Richard's reign (1484), William Collingborne published the couplet :
[Hoi iii. 746/2/IO. Halle, 398.]
The Cat, the Rat, and Louell our dog,
Rule all England vnder an hog.
Meaning by the hog, the dreadfull wild boare, which was the r™|?Jud
kings cognisance. But, bicause the first line ended in dog, the JJJJJlEjj^
metrician could not (obseruing the regiments of meeter) end the J^11
second verse in boare, but called the boare an hog.
Although, as I havo said, the dialogue of this scene is fictitious,
Shakspere may have taken a hint for it from the following passage, in
which Richard is accused of fomenting strife between the two factions
at Court. The writer has been speaking of a man named Pottier, who,
on hearing of Edward's death, straightway inferred that Richard would
be King.
[Hoi iii. 712/2/68. More, 7/26,] And forsomuch as ho [Richard]
1 The date of Margaret's death is taken from Antvlme, i. 232. Op.
Baudier's Higtory of the Calamities of Margaret of Anjou Queen of Eivjlarui,
1737, pp. 191, ld2. As to the date of Margaret's departure from England,
see p. 341, n. 2, above.
> I take this date from Stw (713), Hoi.'s authority for the passage in
which Grey's elevation to the dignity of marques* ij recorded.
Mfl
XII. KICHAKD III.
[Before
Edward's
death,
Richard hid
fostered
enmity
betwixt the
kindred of
the King and
Qoten.)
ha rvaolved
to make
their
Tartarjce
aerre liia
aruLItiou.J
well wist and holpe to maiutciuc a long continued grudge and
heart-burning betweene the queens kinred and the kings bloud,
either partie enuieng others authoritie, he now thought that their
dtuision should be (as it was in deed) a further-lie beginning to
the pursuit of his intent.
Nay, he was resolucd, that the same was a sure [p. 713] ground
for the foundation of all his building, if he might first (vndor the
pretext of reuenging of old displeasure) abuse the anger and ignor-
ance of the tone partie to the destruction of the tother ; and then
win to his purpose as manie as he could, and those, that could
not be woonc, might be lost ycr they looked thcrfore. For of one
thing was he certeine, that, if his intent were perceiued, he should
soonc haue made peace betweene both the parties with his ownc
bloud.
A*no Jttp.
17 f!8 *!njrl.
Oeorgcdulx
o/ Clartnrt
c?rtnM«f tn
nUtt
Act L sc. iv. — In this scene two murderers, sent by Richard, slay
Clarence, though Edward's order for the Duke's death hod been reversed
(II. i. 86).
276, 277) :
The First Murderer exclaima, as he stabs Clarence (I. iv.
Take that, and that I if all this will not do,
lie drowne you in the Malmesey-But within.
1 quote a passage containing the only detail of sc. iv. which
Rhakspare did not invent. Edward's hatred of Clarence reached such
a pitch
[Hoi. iii. 703/1/40.] that final] ic the duke was cast into tho
Tower, and therewith adtndged for a traitor, and priuilie drowned
in a butt of malmcsie, the cleucnth of March, in the beginning of
the seucntcnth yeare of tho kings reignc.1
Act IL sc. i. — 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 Kivers s
1 Hoi. took this date (March 11) from Stow (717). The rest of the passage
is derived from Halle (326). Fab. (666) Bays that Clarence was put to death
on February 18, 1478 ; a date confirmed by Inq. p. m. 18 E. IV. 46 & 47
(0. B.). Afore (Hoi., iii. 7 18/ 1/54), Fab.t UalU, and Stow, agree that the Duke
was drowned — or, as Stow puts it, "made his ende" — in a butt ("a vessell g
Stow) of malmsey. Instead sf "drowne you . . . within," the Qq. of Rich.
III. read : "chop thee . . . But in the next roome.':
1 In F. (II. i. 7) Dorset and Rivers— who were not foes — arc commanded
by Edward to take each other's hand. In tho Qq. the King gives this order
to Rivera And Hastings. In both texts 11. 910 and 11 baro the respective
prefixes Riv. Hast
XII. RICHAKD IIL
349
and Dorset ; aud kisses Queen Elizabeth's liand, which she gives him as
a sign of amity. Buckingham professes zealous regard for the Queen
and her kindred (II. 1-40).
Of this brief truce we have the following account :
[Hoi. iii. 713/i/ic More, 8/15.] King Edward, in his life,
albeit that this distention bctweene his freends somewhat irked
him ; jet in his good health he somewhat the lesse regarded it :
bicause he thought, whatsoeucr businesse Bhould fall betwecne
them, himselfe should alwaie be able to rule both the parties.
But, in his last sicknessc, when ho perceiued his naturall
strength bo sore infeebled, that he despaired all recouerie, then he,
considering the youth of his children, albeit he nothing lessc mis-
trusted than that that hnpned, yet well foreseeing that manie
harrnes might grow by their debate, while the youth of his children
should lacke discretion of thcmselues, & good counsel] of their
freends, of which either partie should counsell for their owne
comruoditie, & rather by plesant aduise to win thcmselues fauor,
than by profitable aducrtisement to doo the children good, he
called some of them before him that were at variance, and in
especiall the lord marquesse Dorset, the queencs Sonne by hir first
husband.
So did lie also William the lord Hastings, a noble man, then
lord chambcrleiue, against whome the queenc speciallic grudged,
for the great fauour the king bare him ; and also for that she
thought him secrctUe familiar with the king in wanton coinpanie.
Hir kinrcd also bare him sore, as well for that the king had made
him captcinc of Calis, (which office the lord Riuers, brother to the
quccne, clamed of the kings former promise,) as for diuerse other
great gifts which he receiueil, that they looked for. When these
lords, with diuorsc other of both the parties, were come in presence,
the king, lifting vp himselfe, and vndersct with pillowes, as it is
reported, on this wise said Tnto them. [I omit "The oration of
the king on his death-bed."]
[Hoi iii 714/1/22. More, H/30.] And therewithall the kiug,
no longer induring to sit vp, laid him downe on his right side, his
face towards them : and none was there present that could refraine
from weeping.
[ Wftllr lift
wmi In imkmI
faeiUtl)
Edward
mi ml little
for His ilrife
of the two
1 wirt it* it
hi « Court.)
(But in »ii»
last ■Scknru
be trier! to
lufcke pe*ct
between
the in.)
fffUflHtfl
(Ac 1
I',- M
I.
350
RICHARD I]
A tounler/tt
and pre-
(Wlicm a
pardon wu
craved from
Eilward he
wouM
1m urn t that
no oue h»d
Mlted mercy
for
Clarence. J
But tlie lords, rccomfurting him with as good words as the/
could, and answering for the time as they thought to stand with
his pleasure, there in his presence, as by their words appeared, ech
forgaue other, and ioined their hands togither ; when (as it after
appeared by their deeds) their hearts were farre asunder.
When Buckingham Las vowed peace, Richard 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
M Earle of Derby," l beseeching pardon for his servant, who has been
guilty of homicide. Edward exclaims (11. 102-107) :
Haue I a tongue to doom© my Brothers death,
And shall that tongue giue pardon to a slaue?
My Brother kill'd no man ; his fault was Thought, 104
And yet his punishment was bitter death.
Who sued to me for him ? "Who (in my wrath)
Kneel'd at my feet, and bad • me be aduis'df
After Clarence's removal,
[Hoi. Iii 703/i/66. Halle, 326] although king Edward were
consenting to Lis death, yet he much did both lament his infor-
tunatc chance, & repent his sudden execution : insomuch that,
when anie person sued to him for the pardon of malefactors con-
demned to death, he would accustomablie saie, & openlie speake :
"Oh infortunate brother, far whoac life not ono would make
"Bute!"
Act II. sc. ii. — Shakspero might havo learnt from Holinshed that
" the old Dutchesse of Yorke " was grandmother to " the two children
of Clarence," 3 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 4 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 9t 1483). Rivers and Dorset accompany the Queen
(1. 33). Soon the characters already assembled are joined by Richard,
Buckingham, and Hastings (1. 100).
1 In some other scenes of the Qq. and F. he ia rightly called Stanley.
Thomas Lord Stanley was created Earl of Derby by Henry VII., on October
27, 1485 .— Vugdale, iii. 2-18/2.
* KneeVd at , . . and bad] Ql. Kneel'd and . . . and bid Fi.
* " In this verie season [1495] departed to God Cicilie duchesse of Yorke,
mootlier to king Edward the fourth." — Hoi. iii. 780/i/i,
* In F. Edw. is prefixed to the first speech of Clarence's son. Afterwani*
— and throughout this Bcene in the Qq.— he ia called Boy.
XII. RICHARD III.
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.
fitters. Why w with some little Traine," my Lord of Buckingham ?
JBuc. Marrie, my Lord, least, by a multitude, 124
The new-heal'd wound of Malice should breako out ;
Which would be so much the more dangerous,
By how much the estate is grcene and yet vngouern'd : . . .
Rivers and Hastings accept Buckingham's advice (11. 134-140).1
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. More, 12/6.] As soone as the king was
departed, the noble prince his sonne drew toward London ; which
at the time of his dcceasse kept his houshuld at Ludlow in
Wales, . . .
To the gouernance and ordering of this yoong priuce, at his
sending thither, was there appointed sir Anthonie Wooduile, lord
Riuers, and brother vnto the queene; a right honourable man, as
valiant of hand as politike in counsell. Adioined were there vnto
him other of the same partio ; and in effect euerie one as ho was
neerest of kin vnto the queene, so was he planted next about the
prince. That drift by the queene not vnwiselic deuised, whereby
hir bloud 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
whome soeuer he perceiued either at variance with them, or bearing
himselfe their fauour, he brake vnto them, some by mouth, & some
by writing. . . .
[Hoi iii. 7H/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 themsolues easie to kindle, &, in especially
twaine, Henry 3 duke of Buckingham, and William lord Hastings,
then chamberleine ; both men of honour & of great power : the one
[The PrinM
kupthU
houMbold ml
Ludlow. I
Lord Riven
[WuhU
governor].
Tht dult of
Olortttat
iotiritatioti •
(to thv f re-
mit* of the
Qui rii's
Bated!
1 123-140. Riuers. Why . . . tay 71 F,
- in speciall] More, in evpeciallie HoL
Not in Qq.
3 Henry] Edward Hoi.
352
Xn. RICHARD III.
A MMMi
tomrkt
(UtWtrrU
Riehtrd,
Bucking-
ham, and
Hurting.
They agreed
to rem ota
the Qaecn'i
Mono Quo
the jronng
[Mehvd
pfmuded
the Queen
tout her ion
ought not to
lav i I.t H
escort.)
by long succession from his ancestrieJ the other by his office and
the kings fauour. These two, not bearing ech to other so much
loue, as hatred both vnto the queenes part, in this point accorded
togither with the duke of Glocester ; that they would vtterlie
remoue from the kings companie all his mothers freends, yhder
the name of their enimieB.
Upon this concluded the duke of Glocester, mderstanding that
the lords, which at that time were about the king, intended to
bring him vp 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 maner of open warre, whereof the end (he wist) was doubtful! ;
and in which, the king being on their side, his part should haue the
face aud name of a rebellion : he secretlie therfore by diuers means
caused the queene * to be persuaded and brought in the mind, that
it neither were need, and also should be ieopardous, the king to
come vp strong.
For whereas uow euerio lord loued other, and none other thing
studied vpon, 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
becne Bometimo debate, to feare and suspect, least they should
gather this people, not for the king3 safegard, (whome no man
impugned,) but for their destruction ; hauing more regard to their
old variance, titan their new attonement For which cause they
should assemble on the other partie much people againc for their
defense, (whose power she wist well far stretched,) and thus should
all the realme fall on a rorc. 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 kiudered in the wight, and aaie that they
had vuwisclic and vntrulie also broken the amitie & peace, that
the king hir husband so prudentlic made, betweene his kin and
1 In the play Queen Elizabeth is not asked to give her opinion about the
number of her son's escort. Richard merely requests her and his mother to
deliver their "censure*" touching the persons who ire to be sent post to
Ludlow (II. ii. 141-144).
XII. RICHARD III.
353
hirs iu his death bed, and which the other partie faithfullie
obserucd.
The quecne, 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 hirasclfe and other lords, the chiefe of his
bend, wrote vnto the king so reuerentlie, and to the queenes freends
there so louinglie, that they, nothing earthlie mistrusting, brought
the king vp in great hast, not in good speed, with a sober
companie.
Act II. so. iii. — Three London Citizens meet and discuss the news
of Edward's death, which is not yet generally known (11. 7, 8). Before
they go out, the Second Citizen remarks (11. 33, 40) :
Truly, the hearts l of men are full of feare :
You cannot reason almost with a man
That lookes not heauily, and full of dread. 40
3 [CitX Before the dayes of Change, still is it so :
By a diuine instinct mens mindes mistrust
Pursuing danger ; as, by proof, we see
The Water swell be/ore a boyst'rous storme. 44
These lines contain reminiscences of a passage describing public
feeling in June, 1483 ; 3 when
[Hot. iii. 721/2/57. More, 43/19.] began there, here and there
abouts, some inaner 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, before such great things, mens hearts
of a secret instinct of nature misgiue them ; as the sea without
wind swelhth of himselfe sometime before a tempest : 3 , . .
Act II. 8c. iv. — Thomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York, imparts to
Queen Elizabeth news of her son's journey to London (1L 1-3) :
Last night, I heare, they lay at Northhampton ;
At Stoni stratford will they be to night :
To morrow, or next day, they will be here.
In a previous scene (II. 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*
1 hearts) F. sotdes Qq.
* When the several councils were held (see p. 363 below).
3 tin the sea . , . tempest] Hoi. as the south toynde somtyme tnrdUtk of hym
ulfe before a tempeste Halle (358).
* On receivingnews of Edward's death, Richard left York for London, and
met the Duke of Buckingham at Northampton. Thence the two Dukes went
A A
[So the KiDjj
went from
Ludlow
Willi A BID »11
company.]
I Vtn warned
by b Muret
Instinct of
great politi-
cal changer]
354
XII. RICHAItD III.
{Riehtrd fetid
Buckingham
citne to
Jforthump-
ton after the
Kinghtd
Iff* for
StOUT
Stntford.)
[Ritrhard't
loyal
demMnour.]
[TheQuan
had »tiwly
new» of ber
•no's cap-
ture ana bcr
frienda'
arrcat]
[Archblihop
Botherhun
had titwi of
the King's
return to
KortbAinp.
too.)
[Hol. iii. 715/i/i5. Mare, I6/23.] Now was the king in his
waie to London gone from Northampton, when these dukes of
Glocester and Buckingham came thither ; where remained behind
the lord Riuers the kings vnclc, intending on the morrow to follow
the king, and to be with him at Stonie Stratford, certeine miles
thence, earlie, yer he departed.
I have quoted above the reading of the Quartos (Qi). The Folio
has (1L 1-3) ;
Last night I heard they lay at Stony Stratford ;
And at Northampton they do rest to night :
To morrow, or next day, they will be heere.
London in nearer Stony Stratford than Northampton,1 but the Folio
reading may be, perhaps, defended,9 on the ground that Richard and
Buckingham, after arresting Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan, brought the
King back from Stony Stratford to Northampton.3 These arrests made,
[Eol iii. 7*5/2/5 1. More, I8/26.] the duke of Glocester tooke
vpon himselfe the order and gouernance of the yoong king, whome
with much honor and humble reuerence he conueied vpward
towards the citie. But, anon, the tidings of this matter came
hastilic to the queene a little before the midnight following, and
that in the sorest wise : that the king hir son was taken, hir
brother, hir sonne, & hir other freenda 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 chamberleme [Hastings], to doctor Rotheram the arch-
bishop of Yorko, then chancellor of England, to his place not farre
from Westminster. And fur that he shewed hia seruants that ho
had tidings of so great importance, that his matster gauc [p. 710]
him in charge, not to forbeare his rest, they letted not to wake
him, nor he to admit this messenger in, to his bed side. Of whom
he heard that these dukes were gone backe with the kings grace
from Stonie Stratford vnto Northampton. " Notwithstanding, sir "
(quoth he) " my lord sendeth your lordship word, that there is no
to Stony Stratford, where tbey found the King.— Pdyd. Verg., 539, 540.
Richard was appointed Lieutenant General against the Scots, June 12, 1488.—
Rymtr, xii. Ifi7, 158.
1 The difference is fourteen miles. — Letcis.
1 This explanation is, however inconsistent with the fact that Rotherham
is made to speak unconcernedly of the King's return to Northampton.
3 Hol. iii. 715/1/48—2/30. More, 16/ao— 18/7.
XII. KHHAUU III.
355
"feare: for he assureth you that all shall be well." "I assure
"him "(quoth the archbishop) "be it as well as it will, it will
" neuer be bo well as we haue seene it"
Thus, according to the historical narrative, Queen Elizabeth had
learnt all before Rotherham received his information, yet 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 L announces (11. 42-46) that,
by " the mighty Dukes, Gloucester and Buckingham,"
Lord Kiuers and Lord Grey are sent to Pomfret,
With * them Sir Thomas Vaughan, Prisoners.
Both Dukes took part in the arrests (Hoi. iii. 715/i/6i; 2/27.
More, I6/32 ; 18/4), but Richard alone
[Hoi. iii. 715/2/46. Afore, 1 8/21.] sent the lord Riuers, and
the lord Richard, with sir Thomas Vaughan, into the north
countrio, into diuerse places to prison ; and afterward all to
Pomfret, where they were in conclusion beheaded.
Hoping to save her younger son from destruction, the Queen says
(L 66) ;
I Come, come, my Boy ; we will to Sanctuary. . . .
Arch. My gracious Lady, go ;
And thether beare your Treasure and your Goodes.
For my part, lie resigne vnto your Grace
The Seale I keepe : and so betide to me
As well I tender you and all of yours !
Go, lie conduct you to the Sanctuary.
On hearing what had befallen her elder son, Queen Elizabeth,
[Hoi. iii. 715/2/6o. More, 19/ 1.] in great fright & heauinesse,
bewailing hir childes reigne, hir freends mischance, and hir owne
infortunc, damning the time that euer she dissuaded the gathering
of powor about the king, gat hir selfe in all the hast possible with
hir yoonger sonnc and hir daughters out of the palace of West-
minster, (in which she then laie,) into the sanctuarie ; lodging hir
selfe and hir companie there in the abbats place.
After the departure of Hasting' s messenger, Rotherham
iii. 710/1/ 1 1. More, 19/25.] caused in all the hast all
his serum its to be called vp, and bo, with his owne houshold about
m, and eueric man weaponed, he tooke the great scale with him,
can lore daie mto the queenc. About whom he found
rut *Uatk «/
tktlord
Itinera &
offer ft
Pomfret].
68
72
Tht
toktth
lanctnarit.
fTlw Arch-
bbhop vent
to Wcat-
rahutor, and
icarer of these tiding*.
th thtm]Q. etui iciih them?.
S5G
XII. KICHARD III.
nmovtDK
the Qono'i
Ml fr..ui
Ihc J«lftCC
to tie
i*Dctmuy,J
■fo(« o/ f A (
gucntc.
[He com-
forted her,
•ad «m ber
tbtOrwt
SmI.]
of
much heauinesse, rumble, hast, and businesse ; cariage and con-
ueiance of hir stuffe into sanctuarie ; chests, coffers, packs, fardels,
trussed all on mens backs ; no man vnoccupied, some lading, some
going, some discharging, some comming for more, some breaking
downe the walk's to bring in the next waie, and some jet drew to
them that holpe to carrie a wrong waie : , . .
Tin qucene hir selfe sate alone alow on the rushes all desolate
and dismaid, whome the archbishop comforted in best manner ho
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] " (quoth she) "for he is one of them that
"laboreth to deatroie me and my bloud." "Madame" (quoth he)
" be yee of good cheere, for I assure you, if they crownc anie other
"king than your sonne, whome they now hauo with them, we shall
"on the morow crowne his brother, whome you hauo here with
"you. And hero is the great scale, which in likewise as that noble
" prince your husband deltuered it vnto me ; so here I deliuer it
"vntoyou, to the vse and behoofe of your sonne;" and therewith
he betooke hir the great scale, and departed home againe, yet iu
the dawning of the daie.
Act III. 8C. i. — After receiving the congratulations of Buckingham
and Richard upon his entrance into London, the young King says (I. 6) :
I want more Vnkles l heere to welcome me.
Richard an ewers :
Those Vnkles which you want were dangerous ; 12
Your Grace attended to their Sugred words,
But look'd not on the poyson of their hearts :
God keepe you from them, and from Buch false Friends !
Prin, God keepe me from false Friends I but they were none. 16
Richard and Buckingham arrested Rivers before they left North-
ampton. At Stony Stratford they overtook the King, and arrested in
his presence Sir Richard Grey, whom they accused of plotting with
Rivers and Dorset to obtain supreme control of the realm,
[Hoi. iiL 715/2/21. Mare, 17/3 1-] Vnto which words the king
answered: "What my brother mnrquesse hath doono I cannot
1 Sir Richard Grey was the King's half-brother. See the excerpt quoted to
illustrate 11. 6 ; 13*16. Rivers, Grey, and Vauglian were arrested on April 30,
1483.— Cant Croyl, 565.
XII.
RICHARD III.
357
"saie. but in good faith I dare well answer for mine micle Riucrs Rhren«Ki
' ° i Grey, but
" and ray brother here, that they be innocent of anie such matter* j^Vh/t*1*'11
"Yea, my liege" (quoth the duke of Buckingham) "they haue SSUSJf1'
" kept their dealing in these matters farre fro the knowledge of c<JJl?'
"your good grace."
The "Lord Major" enters, and is introduced to tho King by
Richard 0,17):
My Lord, the Maior of London cornea to greet you.
Edward V.'s reception by the Lord Mayor is thus described :
[Hoi. iii. 7 1 6/2/46. More, 22/24.] When the king approched
neere to the citie, Edmund Shaw, goldsmith, then maior, with
William White, and Iohn Matthew, shi rifles, and all the other
aldermen m scarlet, with fiue hundred horsse of the citizens, iti
violet, roceiued him rcuercntlie at Harnesie ; and riding from ThtKw
camming Uf
thence accompanied him into tho citio, which ho entered tho fourth ^"d™*
daie of M air, the first and last yearo of his reigne.
The King 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 Rotherham,1 and then turning to Hastings, Buckingham
says (11. 32-36) :
Lord Cardinall, will your Grace
PerBwade 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 Amies pluck him perforce t
Kotherham promises to try the effect of his oratory upon the Queen ;
" but," he adds (11. 39-43),
if she be obdurate
To milde entreaties, God in heauen 2 forbid 40
We should infringe the holy Priuiledge
Of blessed Sanctuarie 1 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 san.tuary, is
styled a Cardinal in the Qq. and F. According to More (25/28), Hol.'a
authority, the Cardinal who undertook this mission was Rutherham, Archbishop
of York. Editors have adhered to More in deciding that the Cardinal (Qq.) OS
Archbishop (F.) of Act II. sc. iv. h Rotherhani, but they have followed Cant.
Oroyl. (566), Fab. (668), Polyd. Verg. (542/ 11), or Huilc (352), in making
BourcMer, Archbishop of Canterbury, the Cardinal of Act III. sc i. I agree
with Mr. Daniel in doubting "whether the dramatist intended to present more
than one personage."— T-A.t 328, note. % in heaven] Q. om. F.
858
XII. RICHARD III.
The loM
thought the
JttUtt man to
dtntt teilk
thtqwctne
for the *«r-
rtndrinoc/
hir tonnt.
(If flirt will
not inmn-
der her son,
let him be
fetched out)
wonld oic
■rvrmi.i t,
but could
Dot MBfTlt
to York'a
mo oral
ARRlnst tbe
will.]
Buckingham replies {II. 48-56) that to seize the Duke of York
cannot be a breach of sanctuary ;
The benefit thereof is al waves granted 48
To those whose dealings haue deseru'd the place,
And those who haue the wit to clayme the place :
This Prince hath neither claym'd it nor deseru'd it ;
A »ui Uterefore, in mine opinion, cannot haue it : [Sec p. 360 below.] 52
Then, taking him from thence that is not there,
You breake no Priuiledge nor Charter there.
Oft haue I heard of Xanctuarie men ;
But Sanctuarie children ne're till now. [See p. 360 below.] 56
These quotations (II. 32-56) embody portions of speeches delivered
by Richard, Cardinal Rotherham, and the Duko of Buckingham, at a
council held on or about June 16, 1483. l Having pointed out what
evils might arise from the Duke of York's detention in sanctuary,
Richard concluded :
[Hoi. iiL 717/1/42. More, 24/25.] "Wherefore me thinketh it
"wero not worst to send! vnto the quccne, for the rcdresse of this
"matter, some honorable trustie man, such as both tenderoth the
"kings wcale and the honour of his councell, and is also in fauour
"and credence with hir. For all which considerations, none
"seemcth more incetlie, than our reucrend father here present,
"my lord cardinal!, who may in this matter doo most good of anie
" man, if it please him to take the paino ; " . . .
" And if she be percase so obstinate, and so preciselie set vpon
" hir owne will, that neither his wise and faithful! aduertisement
" can not mooue hir, nor anie mans reason content hir ; then shall
"we, by mine aduise, by the kings authentic, fetch him out of that
"prison, and bring him to his noble presence, in whose contiuuall
"companie he shall be so well cherished and so honorablie
" intreated, that all the world shall to our honour and hir reproch
"pcrceiue, that it was onelic malice, frowardnesse, or follie, that
"caused hir to keepe him there."
Rotherham
[Hoi. iii. 717/2/8. More, 25/30.] tooke vpon him to mooue hir,
and therein to doo his vtterinost deuoir. Howbeit, if she could bo
in no wise intreated with hir good will to deliuer him, then thought
he, and such other as were of the spiritualtio present, that it were
not in anie wise to be attempted to take him out against hir will.
1 Sec p. 3fil, n. 1, below.
XII. RICHARD III.
359
For it should be a thing that would tnrno to the great grudge
of all men, and high displeasure of God, if the priuilege of that
holie place should now be broken, which had so manie yeares be *
kept, . . .
He protested against the employment of force :
[Eol. iiL 717/2/28. More, 26/i6.] "God forbid that anie man
"should, for anie thing earthlio, enterprise to breake the immunitie
"& libertie of the sacred sanctuarie, that hath bcene the safegard
"of bo manie a good mans life. And I trust" (quoth he) "with
"Gode grace, wo shall not need it. But, for anie maner 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 1L 48-56. Let
sanctuaries, said he, be respected
[Hoi. iii, 7I8/2/3. More, 30/5.] "as farre foorth as reason
" will, which is not fullie so farre foortb, as may serue to let
"vs of the fetching foorth of this noble man to his honor and
"wealth, out of that place, in which he neither i.s, ntir can be, a
"sanctuarie man. . . .
"But where a man is by lawfull means in pcrill, there necdeth
"he the tuition of some special! priuilege; which is the onelie
"ground and cause of all sanctuaries.
"From which necessitie, this noble prince is farre, whose loue
"to his king, nature and kinred prooueth ; whose innocencie to all
" the world, his tender youth prooueth ; and so sanctuarie, as for
"him, neither none he needcth, nor also none can haue. Men
"come not to sanctuarie, as they come to baptisme, to require it
"by their godfathers ; he must aske it hiuisclic that must haue it.
" 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
"to require it, if need were, I dare say would now be right angrie*
" with them that keepe him there? . . .
1 fee, been, bee More.
* Hastings tells the King (III. i. 29, 30) that York
■ Would faine hane come with me to meet your Grace,
But by his Mother was perforce with-held."
Kecions
[oraittedl
vAy it hi
not thought
vutt to filch
tht qv*tn*
ton o*t of
•anWuaro.
[God forbid
that any
man :>li"tiM
TioUto
sanctuary !]
[The DuVfl
of York
needs no
•anntujuy,
and there-
fore cam ot
claim it.]
[If he had
discretion ho
would be
•J>gT7 with
tho« who
detain hiui]
360
XII. RICHARD III.
[ I n*vor
t: t -i t.l of
smjetiimrjr
cMMreii.l
;Tli« Duke
of York Una
ncl titer wtll
to mk, nor
malice to
deserve,
umctuary.l
Tkeguttnu
VuUrd
cardinal.
[Ri'tbeThiui
wu tent to
esMy the
removal of
York with
the Qurco'i
goodwill.]
[York
brought
totlie
Pruteetor.]
0 4'atimi Io>
lion.
"And verelie, I hauc often heard of sanctuarie men, but I n
"heard caret of sanctuaric children" l
During a subsequent conference with the Queen in the sanctuary,
Rotherham warned her that there were " manie " who thought
[Hoi. iii. 720/1/4. More, 36/2.] "he can hauc no prhiilege in
" this place, which neither can haue will to aske it, nor malice to
"dcserue it. And therefore, they reckon no priuilege broken,
" though they fetch him out ; which, if vee finallie refuse to deliuer
"him, I vcrclie thinke they will."
Replying, she contemptuously stated his argument before meeting it :
[Hoi. iii. 720/1/20. More, 36/17.] "But mv sonne can deseme
"no sanctuarie, and therefore he can not hauc it" %
Rotherham yields to Buckingham's arguments, and goes out with
Hastiugs {I. 60). Soon the two envoys return with the Duke of York
(1. 94). Meanwhile Richard, in answer to the King's query (1. 62),
Where shall we eoiourne till our Coronation ?
proposes the Tower, and obtains a reluctant assent from his victim
(11. 64, 65 ; 149, 150). More says that, after Buckingham's speech, the
majority of the council
[Hoi iii. 719/1/2. Morct 32/7.] condescended in effect, that, if
he were not deliuered, ho should be fetched. Howbeit, they
thought it all best, in the auoiding of all maner of rumor, that tho
lord cardinal! should first assaie to get him with hir good will.
Wherevpon all the eouncell came vnto the Starre chamber at
Westminster; and the lord cardinal I, lcnuing the protector with
the councell in the Sfcarchamber, departed into the sanctuarie to
the quecne, with diners other lords with him : . . .
[Hoi. iii. 72I/1/42. Moret 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 amies and kissed him with these words: ,lNow welcome, my
" lord, ouen with all my verio heart I " And he said in that of
likelihood as he thought. Therevpon, foorthwith they brought him
1 Cp, 111. i. 55, 56, p. 358 above.
* Cp. III. i. OS, p. 358 above.
XII. RLCHARD HI.
361
vnto the king bis brother into the bishops palace at Paules, and
from thcuse thorough the eifcie honourablie into the Tower,1 out of
the which after that daie they nouer came abroad.
The King and his brother leave the stage (1. 150) ; followed by all
the persons present except Richard, Buckingham, and Catesby. At
some time preceding this scene, — perhaps, as Mr. Daniel conjectures,2
during the journey to London, and after the arrests had been effected, —
the dramatic Buckingham became aware of Richard's intention to usurp
the throne. (See III. i. 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.
[Hoi. iii. 721/i/S2. More, 41/i 2.] When the protector had
both the children in his hands, he opened himsclfe more boldlio,
both to certciue other men, and also cheeflic to the duke of
Buckingham. Although I know that manie thought that this
duke was priuie to all the protectors counsell, cuen from the
beginning ; and some of the protectors freends said, that the duke
was the first moouer of the protector to this matter ; sending a
priuie messenger vnto him, streict after king Edwards death.
But others againe, which know better the subtill wit of the
protector, denio that he etier opened his enterprise to the duke,
vntill he had brought to passe the things before rehearsed. But
when he had imprisoned the queenes kinsfolks, & gotten both hir
sonncs into his owne hands, then he opened the rest of his purpose
with lesse fcare to them whome he thought meet for the matter,
and speciallic to the duke, who being wooue to his purpose, he
thought his strength more than halfo increased.
Though Catesby is Buro of Hastings's love for tho young King,
Buckingham resolves to test this conviction, and therefore says
(11. 169-171):
goe, gentle Catesby,
And, as it were/arr« off? sound thou Lord Hastings,
How he doth stand affected to our piu-pose ; . . .
[The King
and York
conveyed to
the Tower. 1
[Opinion!
differed as
to wli ether
Buckingham,
knew
Hicharf'a
purpose
from the
Ant,
[or waa
tynflrant of
it until the
Prince* wer»
In the
Tower.]
1 More erred in saving that the Duke of York was brought to the Bisbop'B
palace at St Paul's. We learn from Cont. Oroyl, (566) and Stall worthe's letter
{&jccerpta Historicat 16, 17) that York left Banctuary on June 16, 1483, and
went tfience to the Tower. A letter given under the King's signet shows thut
Edward V. was in the Tower on May 19. — Qrantet viii., 15.
* The "story" (II. ii. 149), therefore, concerned Richard b purposed
assumption of the protectorate.
3 a f aire off] Q.
362
XII. RICHARD III,
[Mated
Bcm4
Cafeaby to
mum)
H ml tings.)
We learn from More (45/3) that
[Hoi. iii. 722/1/4 1.] the protector and the duke of Buckingham
made verie good semblance vnto the lord Hastings, and kept him
much in companie. And vndoubtedlie the protector loued him
well, and loth was to haue lost him, sailing for feare least his life
should haue quailed their purpose.
For which cause he mooued Catesbie to prooue with some
words caBt out a farrt off, whether lie could thinke it possible to
win the lord Hastings vnto their part.
Catesby having departed, Richard promises Buckingham a reward
(II. 194-196):
And, looke, when I am King, clayrue thou of me
The Earledome of Hereford, and all the moueables
Whereof the King my Brother was possest.
After the Princes had been conveyed to the Tower,
[Hoi. iii. 721/2/31. Mort% 42/30.] it was agreed, that the
protector should haue the dukes aid to make htm king, . . . and
wi!£hewfcrTlt *'na* **ne proctor should grant him the quiet possession of the
JJJjJU^j earldome of Hereford, which he claimed as his inheritance, and
h^T6' could neuer obteine it in king Edwards time.
Besides these requests of the duke, the protector, of his owno
mind, promised him a great quantitic of the kings treasure, and of
his houshold stulFe,
Act III. sc. ii. — u 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 Jane 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 determin'd 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 danger that his Souio diuines.
Hatt, Goe, fellow, goe, returne vnto thy Lord ;
Bid him not feare the seperated Councells : ! 20
cwneel*) Q. Councell F.
*
XII. RICHARD III.
3G3
His Honor and my eelfe are at the one,
And at the other in my good friend I Catesby ;
Where nothing can proceede, that toucheth vsf
Whereof I shall not haue intelligence.
When Richard and Buckingham had come to terms,
94
[Hol iii. 72I/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 turne both the eies and minds of men from
percetuing of their drifts other-where, the lords, being sent for from
all parts of the rcalme, came thicko to that solcmnitie. But the
protector and the duke, after that they had Kent the lord cardinall
[Bouehier], the archbishop of Yorkc, then lord chancellor, the
bishop of Elie, the lord Stanleic, and the lord Hastings, then lord
chamberleine, with manic other noble men, to common & deuise [The
separate
about the coronation in one place, as fast were they in an other «h»cii».i
place, continuing the contrarie, and to make the protector king.
To which councell . . . there were adhibited verie few, and
they were secret: . . .
The rumoured existence of a cabal produced general uneasiness, and
caused
[Hol. iii. 722/i/8. More, 44/8.] some lords cko to marko the
matter and muse thereon ; bo farre foorth that the lord Stanleie,
(that was after carle of Derbic.) wiselie mistrusted it, and said
vnto the lord Hastings, that he much misliked these two seuerall
councels. "For while we" (quoth he)"talko 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
"you: for while one man is there, which is neuer thonso, ncuer
"can there be tiling once mooued, that should Hound nmissc
" toward me, but it should be in mine cares ycr it were well out of
"their mouths." This ment he by Catesbie, which was of his
neere secret councell, and whome lie verie familiarlie vsed, and in
his most weightie matters put no man in so apecinll trust ; reckoning
hitneelfe to no man so liefe, sitli he well wist there was no man bo
1 good friend] F. truant Q. The Q reading perhaps better characterizes
the relative social positions of Hastings and Catesby.
[Stanley
dialiked tlio
separate
■dAJ
[HMfltafl
did not fear
tilt' HP .■■■:'*
eotincU,
while
attooricd it.
364
CattJbic
and his
cm U im
much to linn bcholdea as was this Catesbie, which was a man well
teamed in fcbe lawes of this land, and, by the spcciall fauour of the
lord dmmberlnine, in good authoritio, and much rule bare in all
the countio of Leicester, where the lord chamberlains power
eheefelic laic.
But suerlie great pitie was it, that he had not had either more
truth, or lease wit For his dissimulation onelie kept all that
mischeefe vp. In whonie if the lord Hastings had not put bo
bycitetby.) speciall trust, the lord Stanleie & he had departed with diuerse
other lords, and broken all the- danso ; for mania ill signcs that he
saw, which he now construes all to the best So suorlic thought
he, that there could be none harm toward him in that councell
intended, where Catcsbie was.
Having given a reason for not fearing " the separated Councells,"
Hastings adverts to Stanley's dream (11. 26*33) :
And for his Dreames, I wonder hee's so simple
To trust the mock'ry of vnquiet slumbers :
To flye the Bore, before the Bore pursues, 28
Were to incense the Bore to follow vs,
And make pursuit where he did men no no chase.
Goe, bid thy Master rise and come to me ;
And we will both together to the Tower, 32
Where, he shall see, the Bore will vse vs kindly.
Mete. lie goe, my Lord, and tell bim what you say. [Exit.
Hastings had a warning of his fate when, on
[Hot. iii. 723/I/3S. Afore, 48/19.] the solfe night next before
his death, the lord Sfcanleic sent a trustie messenger vnto 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
fearfull a dreame ; in which him thought that a boare with his
tuskes so rased them both by the heads, that the bloud ran about
both their shoulders. And, forsomuch as the protector guue the
boare for his cognisance, this droame made so fcarcfull an impres-
sion in his heart, that he was throughlie determined no longer to
tarie, but had his horsse rcadie, if the lord Hastings would go with
him, to ride so farre yet1 the saino night, that they should be out
of danger yer dale.
Thtlorri
drraru.
1 so far [/€t] More, yet so/am Hoi,
XII. RICHARD III.
3G5
" Ha, good Lord ! " (quoth the lord Hastings to this messenger)
"leaneth my lord thy maister so much to such trifles, and hath
11 such faith in dreames, which either his owne feare fantasieth, or
"doo rise in the nights rest by reason of his daies thought? Tell
" him it is plaine witchcraft to beleeue in such dreames, which if
"they were tokens of things to come, why thiukcth he not that we
"might be as likelie to make them true by our going, if we were
" caught & brought backo, as freends faile fliers ; for then had the
" boare a cause likelie to rase vs with his tusks, as folke that fled
"for some falsehood. . . . And therefore go to thy maister (man)
" nnil commend me to him, & prnie him be merio & hauo no feare :
11 for I insure him I am as sure of the man that he woteth of, as I
"am of mine owne hand/1 "God send grace, sir!" (quoth the
messenger) and went his waie.
Stanley's messenger gone, Catesby enters, and answers Hastings's
demand for news M in this our tott'ring State," by saying (11. 38-40) :
It is a reeling World indeed, my Lord ;
And, I beleeue, will neuer stand vpright,
Till Richard weare the Garland of the Realme.
Hastings replies (11. 43, 44) :
He hauo this Crown of mine cut from my Rhoulders,
Before He see the Crowne so foule mis-plac'd !
He is no mourner for the news — which Cateaby brings from the
Protector — of the impending execution of the Queen's kindred at
Pomfret, on u this same very day";
But, that He giue my voice on Richards bide,
To barre my Masters Heires in true Descent,
God 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, — ■
[Hoi. iii. 722/I/50. More, 45/u.] whether he assaied him, or
assaied him not, reported vnto them, that he found him so fast,
and heard him speake so terrible words, that he durst no further
breake.
Stanley now enters (1. 73), and, after being reassured 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 ?
Purs. The better that your Lordship please to aske.
Hast. I tell thee, man, 'tis better with me now, 100
[TTiiMiy
OHptMO
Stanley'!
diwun.)
[Cfttmttjr
report** I
Iltitiafiit'a
loyalty.)
36o'
XII. RICHARD III,
[3utiu;i
Uift ft jmr.
f uivan t of
bit own
.]
12 S3
Kin in
IfaMQgfe ■
.! EttTOT I
(Hastings
mftml
the purwi-
VADt Of thU. ]
jThe Qocen'i
kindred wero
to be
ritvuUd OD
that (Uy.J
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 1)
This day thoso Enemies are put to death,
And I in better state then ere I was.
104
Of this incident we have the following account :
[Hoi. iii 723/2/31. More, 50/9.] Upon the verie Tower wharfe,
so neare the place where his head waa off sooue after, there met he
with one Hastings,1 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
togither in the same place. At which other time the lord chamber-
leine had beeue accused rnto king Edward by the lord Riuers, the
queenes brother, in such wise, as he was for the while (but it lasted
not long) farre fallen into the kings indignation, & stood in great
feare of himselfe. And, forsomuch as he now met this puracuant
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 hcauie heart?" "Yea, ray
"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 lords of the queenes kinred that were taken before, and should
that daie 2 be beheaded at Pomfret : which he well wist, but nothing
ware that the ax hung ouer his owne head. " In faith, man ■
1 Enter Hastin. a PurttiiantA Q. Enter a PurauiiianL F.
* Hastings was executed on June 13 {Cont. Oroyl., 566); but Rivere's will
was mode at Sheriff Hutloa (Yorkshire), on June 23. — Excerpta Histvrica,
246. A Latin obituary calendar of sain Li (Cottoniau MS. Faustina, B. VIII.),
written in the 14th century, has later addition 9 at the nide. On leaf 4 hack,
at the side of " Iunij 25," is written, in a 16th or late 15th century hand,
"Anthonij Ryvers*; an entry which probably means that the obit of Earl
Rivers waa kept on June 25. This calendar 1*3 cited in Excerpta Historic**,
244. (Dr. Furnivall, who examined the MS., tells me that it is not, aa
waa supposed, an obituary calendar belonging to St Stephen's Chape],
Westminster.) Cp. also York Eecvrda, 156, note, and Cont Oroyl. (567), for
proof that the execution of Rivers, Grey, and Vaughan took place after
June 13.
XII. RICHARD III.
367
(quoth he) M 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 ! now stand mine enimies in the danger, (as
"thou maiest hap to hcare more hereafter) and I neuer in my life [Hastings't
r J Joy und
"so merrie, nor neuer in so great sucrtiel " confidence.]
The pursuivant's departure is succeeded by the entry of a priest, in
whose ear Hastings is whispering 1 when Buckingham appears and
exclaims (11. 114-116):
What, talking with a Priest, Lord Chamberlaine ?
Your friends at Pomfret, they doe need the Priest;
Youx Honor hath no shriuing worke in hand.
In the morning of June 13, ere Hastings was up, there
[ITvL iii. 723/2/6. More, 49/26] came a knight2 vnto him, as it
were of courtesie, to aeeom panic him to the cotuiccll, but of truth
sent by the protector to hast him thitherwards ; with whome he
was of secret confederate 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 state 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
"long with that priest? you hauo no need of a priest yet": and
therwith he laughed vpon him, as though he would say, "Ye shall
" haue soone." But so little wist the tother what he ment, and
bo little mistrusted, that he was neuer merier, nor neuer so full
of good hope in his life ; which selfe thing is oft seene a signe of
chanse.
[In tbe
morning of
J one IS
Rio hfirtl sent
a knight for
Hastings.]
[The knight
jested at
I listings for
etoppinjr tr>
apeak with a
priest 1
1 Bt ithuptrs in his tart.] Q (against 1. 1 13), om. F.
* "ere he [Hastings] were vp from hia bed . . , , there came to him Sir
Thomas Haward, sonne to the lorde Haward, (wbyuhe lord waa one of the
priueyest of the lord protectoura counsaill and doyxig,) aa it were of curteaye
to accompaignye hym to the coun&aile, but of trnthe Bent by the lorde pro-
tectour to hast him thetherward." — J/aZEc, 361. Thomas Howard was knighted
at the child -marriage of Anne Mowbray and Richard Duke of York, second son
of Eil ward IV. — Weever, 656. The Duke of York was married on January 15,
1478.— Sandford^ 415, 416. On June 28, 1483, Richard III. created Sir Thomaa
Howard Earl of Surrey.— Doyle, ii. 589. On February 1, 1514, the dukedom
of Norfolk was conferred on Surrey by Henry VIII. — Ibid** 590. Writing
about 1513 More might justly pay that the ■ meane man ■ of Edward V.'a time
waa " now of ffreat authoritie ' ; for in the above-named year Surrey commanded
our army at Flodden.
368
XII. RICHARD III.
Sir Rickard
[teaHM
Tht tord
JUMtrtd-
otkrr
As iho scene closes Hastings and Buckingham go out on their way
$o the Tower.
Act III. 6C. iii.— " Enter Sir Richard Ratcliffe, with J Halberds,
carrying the Nobles to death at Pomfret." The historical date of
Rivers'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), wn0 ^J8 '•
[Hoi. iii. 725/1/55. More, 55/25.] Now was it so deuised by
the protector and his couneell, 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 & knight* that
were taken from the king at Northampton and Stonie Stratford.
Which thing was doone in the presence, and by the order, of sir
Richard Ratcliffe, knight; whose seruice the protector specialise
vsed in that councell, and in the execution of such lawlesse
enterprises ; as a man that had becne long secret with him,
hauing experience of the world, and a shrewd wit, short & rude
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 & spcako their innocencie, least their words might
hauo inclined men to pitie them, and to hate the protector and
his part,) caused them hostilie, without judgement, processe, or
manor of order to be beheaded; and without other earthlie gilt,
but onelie that they were good men, too true to the king, and too
nigh to the quecne.
Act III. sc. iv. — The historical date of this scene is June 13, 1483. *
1 Enter . . . with the Lo. Riuers, Gray, and Vaugkan, prisoners.] Q.
Vaughan says (III. iii. 7) : " You hue that shall cry woe for this heereafter" ;
and Kivers asks God to remember Margaret's cun»e upon Hastings, Bucking-
ham, and Richard (11. 17-19). Halle added to Move's narrative a passage (364)
wherein Vaughan appeals Richard " * to the high tribunal of God for his wrong-
ful murther & our true innocencye.' And then Ratclyffe saved : * you haue
well apcled ; lay doune youre head/ ' Ye,' quod sir Thomas, * I dye in right,
beware you dye not in wrong.' "
1 Hastings was beheaded on Friday, June 13, 1483. — Cant. Oroyl. 566.
Simon Stallwortbe, writing on Saturday, June 21, to Sir William Stonor,
says: "on fryday last was the lord Chamhwleyn [Hastings] hedded sone
XII. UICHARD III.
369
In a room in the Tower are assembled Buckingham, Stanley, Hastings,
the Bishop of Ely, iUitcliffe, and Lovel. Hastings says (II. 1-3) :
Now, Noble Peores, the cause why we are met
Is, to determine of the Coronation.
In GodB Name, speake 1 when is the Royall day T
Buck. Are l all things ready for the Royall time ? 4
Darb. [Stan.] It is, and wants but nomination.
Ely. To morrow, then, I iadge a happie day.
Discussion is prevented by Richard's entrance and greeting
(IL 23, 24):
My Noble Lords, and Cousins all, good morrow I
I haue beene long a sleeper : . , .
Soon he addresses the Bishop of Ely (11. 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.
Ely. Mary, and will, my Lord, with all my heart. 36
[Exit Bishop.
Taking Buckingham aside, Richard tells him of Catesby's failure to
seduce Hastings (11. 38-42). Richard 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 k smooth this morning ;
There's some conceit or other likes him well,
When that he bids good morrow with such spirit. 52
Stanley distrusts Richard's cheerful mien. Hastings replies, but
fails to convince his friend (Q.), and the Protector re-onters with
Buckingham (IL 56-60). Richard immediately demands (11. 61-64) :
I pray you all, tell mo what they deserue
That doe conspire my death with diuellish Plots
Of damned Witchcraft, and that haue preuail'd
Vpon my Body with their Hellish Charmes t 64
Hast. The tender loue I beare your Grace, my Lord,
Makes me most forward in this Princely presence
To doome th' Ofifendors : whosoe're they be,
I say, my Lord, they haue deserucd death. 68
Rich. Then be your eyes the witnesse of their euill !
Looke how I am bewitoh'd ; behold mine Arme
apone noon." — Exurpta Hutorica, 16. To reconcile this piece of news with
the high authority of the Croyland continuator, we must suppose that Stall-
worthe meant Friday-week. More, although he gave no date*, made the
execution of Hustings succeed York's removal from sanctuary, but according
to Qont. Croyl. (666) the latter event took place on the Monday (June 16)
following Hastings's deaLh ; a date confirmed by Stallworthe (see p. 361, n. 1,
above), if we astume that " fryday last * = Friday-week.
1 Art] Q. Is F.
B H
370
XII. RICHARD III.
An auemblii
of lord* in.
tht Tower
[toderUe
■bout Die
COTODfttkiTl].
[Richard
entered Ute.
ami MOtp
cize.i
Mfta|
slept h
•eir.j
ov»r-
iMi-
( He uked
tf,*- Btafaop
of Ely to
gfvethema
flnw-
berrlM, and
then with-
drew,]
Is, like a. blasted Sapling, wither'd vp !
And this is Edwards Wife, that monstrous Witch, 72
Consorted with that Harlot Strumpet Shore,
That by their Witchcraft thus haue marked me !
Hast. If tbey haue done this deed, my Noble Lord, —
Rick. " If" 1 thou Protector of this damned Strumpet 1 76
Talk'st thou to me of " Ifs " 1 Thou art a Traytor !—
Off with his Head ! — Now, by Saint Paul I Bweare,
I will not dine vntill I see the Bame ! —
Louell and Ratcliffe, looke that it be done : — 80
The rest, that loue me, rise and follow ma
[Exeunt. Mane[n]t Louell atvd Ratcliffe, with the Lord Hastings.1
Soon after Catesby had sounded Hastings ;
[ffoL Hi. 722/1/65. More, 45/24.] that is to wit, on the fridaie
[being the thirteenth of lunc],2 manie lords assembled in the Tower,
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 therforc, that
afterward was cast awaie. These lords so sitting togither com-
muning of this matter, the protector came in amongst them, first
about nine of the clocke, saluting them courtcouslie, and excusing
himselfe that he had beene from them so long ; saieng merilie that
he had becue a sleeper that daie.
After a little talking with them, he said vnto the bishop of
Elie: "My lord, you haue verie good Btrawberics at your garden
"in Holborn, I require you let va haue & messe of them.*'
"Gladlie, my lord" (quoth he) "would God I had some better
" thing as readie to your pleasure as that 1 " And therewithal! in
1 Extunt . . . Hastingt.] F. Ihwmf manet Cat. with Ha. Q. Sc. iii.
Act III. accords with More (see p. 368 above) in making Ratcliffe supervise
the execution of Rivers, Grey, and Vauglian, at Pomfret ; 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. (1. 13), Catesby enters with
the Lord Mayor, who was presumably sent for after Hastings's arrest Then
(III. v. 21) Level and Ratcliffe enter, with Hasting*** head. In the Q. version
of thiB scene no one accompanies the Lord Mayor, whose entry precedes the
appearance of Catesby bearing Hastdnes's head. In both versions, after the
Lord Mayor's entry, Richard bids Catesby "overlook the walla" (I. 17). Thus,
while the F. allowe Ratcliffe to he present nt Pomfret and London on the
same day, the Q. represents Catesby as being addressed while absent from the
stage.
* friday the day of many] More. The date (June 13), and the
brackets enclosing it, appear in Hol't reprint of More.
XII. RICHARD III.
371
all the hast he sent his seruant for a messe of strawberieB. The
protector set the lords fast in communing, & therevpon, praieng
them to spare him for a little while, departed the use. And Boone
after one houre, betweene ten & eleuen, he returned into the
chamber amongst them, all changed, with a woomlerfull soure
angrie countenance, knitting the browes, frowning, and fretting l and
gnawing on his lips : and bo sat him downe in his place.
All the lords were much dismaid, and sore maruelled at this
maner of Budden change, and what thing should htm aile. Then,
when he had sitten still a while, thus he began : " What were they
" worthie to haue that compaese and imagine the destruction of
"me, being so neere of blond vnto the king, and protector of his
fl roiall person and his realmo 1 " At this question, all the lords
sat sore astonicd, musing much by whome this question should be
meant, of which euerie man wist himselfo cleere. Then the lord
chamberlaine (as he that for the loue betweene them thought he
might be boldest with him) 2 answered and said, that they were
worthie to be punished as heinous traitors, whatsoeuer they were.
And all the other affirmed the same. " That is " (quoth he)
"yonder sorceresse my brothers wife, and other with hir" (meaning
the queene.)
At these words manic of the other lords were greatlie abashed,
that fauoured hir. But the lord Hastings was in his mind bettor
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
which he was not ware that it was by other deuiaed, that he him-
selfo should be beheaded the same daie at London. Then said the
protector: " Ye shall all Bee in what wise that sorceresse, and that
" other witch of hir councell, Shores wife, with their affinitio, haue,
/v., MUmfcr
4/ (A* ford
■rMMiir h
ihr ONMlAttl
of (A* (anU
[vhn i"
returned].
[Richard
ultcd what
should be
. ■■il!' t'<
those who
luumlned hlf
death.]
■amrw
tlut they
oafcM to be
monUbmA »«
traitors.]
[Richard
taaamt Ubi
Queen and
others.]
[Tlic Qacen's
kindred
beheaded on
that day.]
1 brovxtj frowning andfroting and knotting] More.
1 HastingB proposes to give a proxy-vote for Richard in the matter of
fixing a day for the King's coronation. Touching this offer Richard Bays
(III. iv. 30, 31):
" Then my Lord Hastings no man might be bolder ;
His Lordship knowes me well, and louea me well."
372
XIT. RICHARD III.
■howedhii
arm,
wKber*d (u
he Mid) by
UMQrieen
irtbj
(Hftitiagi
fa i :t Mm
wife]
[Hurting*
rt- piled Uut
tfcoj
• ■ ~, rvM
puniihiuetit,
Ff they h*d
■o faelnoualy
ttOttC.)
[Richard •
erladoct at
'tta,"a»d
amatad.]
[Richard
would not
dltir till
waa
J
" by their sorcerie and witchcraft, wasted my bodie." And therwith
he plucked vp his dublet aleeue to his elbow, vpon his left arme,
where he shewed a weeriah withered arme, and small ; as it was
neuer other.
Herevpon euerie mans mind sore misgaue them, well pencilling
that this matter was but a quarelL For they well wist that tlio
qucene was too wise to go about anio such follie. And also, if she
would, yet would she, of all folke least, make Shores wife of hir
counsell ; whomc 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, sailing, as it is said, he that while forbare hir of
rouerence toward the king, or else of a ccrteinc kind of mJclitic to
his frcend) answered and said: " Certeinelie, my lord, if they haue
"bo heinoustie doone, they be worthie heinous punishment"
"What" (quoth the protector) "thou seruest me, I weene, with
" 'ifs* 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 vpon 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
harnesse, as mnnie as the chamber might hold. And anon tho
protector said to the lord Hastings : " I arrest thee, traitor 1 "
"What me, ray lord?" (quoth he.) "Yea, thee, traitor!" quoth
the protector. . . .
Then were they all quickclie bestowed in diuersc 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! " It booted him not to aske whie,
but heauilie he1 tooke a priest at aduenturo, and made a short shrift:*
for a longer would not be suffered, the protector made bo much
1 Jw] More. om. Hoi.
1 M Ra. [Cat. Q.] Come, come, dispatch J the Duke would be at dinner
Make a short SKrifi ; he longs to see your Head."
— JHefc. ZJZ, DX ir. 96, 07.
XII. RICHARD III.
373
hast to dinner, which he might not go to, vntill thia were doone,
for sailing of his otb.
While Hastings lingers to muse on his sudden downfall, he recalls
an incident till now unheeded (II. 86-58) :
Three times to day my Foot-CIoth-Horse did stumble,
And started, when be look'd vpon the Tower,
As loth to beare mo to the slaughter-house.
[Hal. ill. 723/ 1/7 1. More, 49/ 18.] Certeine is it also, that in
riding towards the Tower, the same morning in which he was
beheded, his horsse twise or tbrise stumbled with him, almost to
the falling.
At the close of thia scene Hastings is led out to execution. I quote
a passage which gives particulars of his death :
[Sol. ill. 723/1/19. More, 48/n.] So was he brought foorth
to the grecno beside the chappell within the Tower ; and his head
laid downe vpon a long log of timber, and there striken off, . . .
Act III. sc. v. — u Enter Richard and Buckingham, in rotten
Armour, marucllons ill-fauoured." 1 They feign great timidity (U. 14-
21). Addressing the Lord Mayor, — who has been sent for to hear an
explanation of the step which they have taken, — Richard speaks thus
of Hastings {11. 29-32) :
So smooth he dawb'd his Vice with shew of Vertue,
That, his apparant open Quilt omitted,
(I meane, his Conversation with Shores Wife,)
He liu'd from all attainder of suspect.2 32
When Kichard 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 III.),
giving particulars of the alleged conspiracy, and accusing Hastings of
[Sol. iii. 724/1/43.] vicious lining and inordinate abusiou of bis
bodio, both with manie other, and also specialise with Shore's wife,
which was one also of his most secret counsel! in this most heinous
treason ; with whom he laic nightlie, and namelio the night last
past next before his death.3
Buckingham asks the Mayor (11. 35-39) :
Would you imagine, or almost beleeue,
(Wert not that, by great preeeruation, 36
fort loktns
of imminmt
tniifnrfvii*
taOulord
ilastiny*.
Lord
Hastings,
lord thium-
brrleiiu,
'>-,'.. tdtst.
[Hastings' ■
"conucra*-
ti<>n "with
Shore's
Wife]
1 Enitr Richard
armour. Q.
1 suspect] Q. suspects F.
1 with whom . . . his death.] Halle (362)
] F. Enter Duke of Glocester and Buckingham in
om. More.
374
XII. RICHARD III.
(The
citlsens,
wlmm
Richard sent
for, found
him and
Buclcingham
arrayed " in
old ill-faring
brigan-
derm.")
[Richard
said that
be and
Baddngliam
had barely
escaped
death from
a plot of
Hastings.]
rrhe
•rttMal
to
ieve tills
tale, which
Richard
■ li-''i ii Han
tv report]
We liue to tell itt) that the subtill Traytor
This day had plotted, in the Councell-House,
To inurther me and my good Lord of Gloster 1
The succeeding excerpt shows that Hastings was not represented to
have confessed his treason (U. 57, 58). The " substantial! men " were,
however, outwardly as acquiescent as the credulous dramatic Mayor,
who answers Richard thus (11. 62, 63) :
But, my good Lord, your Graces word l elial seruo,
As well as I had seene and heard him speake : . , .
[Hoi. iiL 723/2/74- More, 6I/14.] Now flew the fame of this
lords death [p. 724] swifllie through the citie, and so foorth
further about, like a wind in euerie mans care. But the protector,
immediatlie after dinner, intending to set some colour vpon the
matter, sent in all the hast for manic substantial! men out of the
citie into the Towre.
Now, at their comming, himselfe with the duke of Buckingham
stood harnessed in old ill faring brigamlcrs, such as no man should
wecne, that they would vouchsafe to haue put vpon their backs,
except that some sudden nccessitie had constrained them. And
then the protector shewed them, that the lord chamberleine, and
other of bis conspiracie, had contriued to haue suddenlie destroyed
him, and the duke, there the same day in the counccll. And what
they intended further, was as yet not well knowne. Of which their
treason he neuer had knowledge before ten of the clocke the Bame
foronoone ; which sudden feare draue them to put on for their
defense such harnesse as came next to hand. And so had God
hoi pen them, that the mischiefe turned vpon them that would haue
doonc it. And this he required them to report
Euerie man answered him faire, as though no man mistrusted
the matter, which of truth no man beleeucd.
Richard now bids Buckingham follow the Lord Mayor to Guildhall,
and there seize an opportunity of decrying Edward IV. 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 would make his Sonne
Heire to the Crowne ; meaning indeed his House,
"Which, by the Signe thereof, was tearmed so.
1 word] Q. wonU F.
■
XII. RICHARD III. 375
In a speech delivered at the Guildhall, on June 24, 1483,1 Bucking-
ham accused Edward of having turned "small trespasses into misprision,
misprision into treason"; and, to prove hia charge, cited the following
case as being well known :
]Hol iii. 720/2/3S. 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 aunt*.
cniellie beheaded, by the miseontruing of the laws of this realine,
for the princes pleasure.
Between the words " beheaded " and "by," Halle5 inserted the
subjoined parenthetical comment (369) ;
wu
uwrcluuit
This Burdet was a marchaunt dwellyng in Chepesyde at y* signe I^JJjJj
of y*crounc, which now is yc eigne of y'8 fltniro dc luse, ouer agaynst n^"1**1
soper lane. This man merely, in y* mfflyng time of king Edward cEm^iwm
y'1 -11 ij _ his raign,4 sayd to his owne sonne that he would make him
1 According to Fob. (669) Shaw's sermon (see p. 379 below) was preached
on June 15, — the Sunday following Hastings's execution on June 13, — and
Buckingham's speech was delivered on Tuesday, June 17. These dates agree
with More's order of events (cp. 66, 57, 63, 66). But Stallworthe— writing
from London on Saturday, Juno 21, and mentioning, amongst other news,
Hastings's execution— lays not a word about Shaw's sermon (Excerpta. Bis-
toricoy 16, 17). Besides, as the sermon was a complete unveiling of Richard's
purpose, we can hardly suppose that such a hazardous step would be taken
Wore June 16, when the Duke of York was conveyed to the Tower.
* In Grafton (ii. 107) the same story ia foisted into More's narrative.
Hoi. records, under the year 1476, that " Thomas Burdet, an esquier of Arrow
in War wikes hire, . . . was beheaded for a word spoken in this sort. King
Edward in his progresse hunted in Thomas Burdets parke at Arrow, and slue
manie of his deere, amongst the which was a white burke, whereof Thomas
Burdet made great account And therefore when he vnderstood thereof, he
wished the buckes head in his bellie that moued the king to kill it. Which
tale being told to the king, Burdet was apprehended ana accused of treason,
for wishing the buckes head (homes and all) in the kings bellie : he was con-
demned, dniwne from the Tower of London to Tiburne, and there beheaded,
and then buried in the Greie friers church at London." — Hoi. iii. 703/1/6.
» 1/] Halle (1648). otn. Halle (1550).
4 raiqn] Ed. rage Halle. The six editions of Halle belonging to the
British Museum have the wrong reading "rage." In one of these editions
(6004, ad. 1548), a corrector has written n upon the e ; a change which
substitutes the reading "ragn" (=s reign) for "rage." Crotchets enclose
"This Burdet . . . Chepesyde" in the edd. of (?) 1542, and 1548, but
these words are not marked as a parenthesis in the edd. of 1550, or in
Grafton. Part of Hallt's addition was thus expanded by Grafton (ii. 107) ;
" This man merily, in the ruffling time, betwene King EdwnrH the fourth, and
king Henry the eixt, said to his owne sonnt*,'' ... In Halt* and Grafton a
comma is placed after "spoken." In Afore and Hoi. "spoken" is unpunclu-
ated, and in Afore a comma follows " hast." B •/ton hfli not Hulls'*
addition. Tho punctuation of More was evidently changed to suit HalU't
version of Burdet'a offence.
376
XII. RICHARD III.
Hr i.W.l
es
would make
hi! ton heir
to"Tbf»
Crown.")
[Fnrthii
jort KM ward.
cau*ed
Bunlstto
diet
trailor**
death.)
(Shaw and
P«nta
deacrbedj
priiwvi lAttt
ij» in cUm<
hold.
inheritor of y* croune, meaning his owne house, but these wordes
king Edward made to be misconstrued & interpreted that Runlet
meant the croune of y* realme ; wherfore, within lesse space l then
.iiij. houres, he was apprehended, iudged, drawen and quartered in
Chepesyde, by the mi&construyuge of the lawes of the realme for
the princes pleasure, . . .
When Buckingham has departed, Richard says (11. 103-106) :
Goe, Louell, with all Bpeed to Doctor Shaw ;
[To CaUJ] Goe thou to Fryer Penker ; bid them both 104
Meet me within this houre at Baynards Castle.3
Among those whom Richard employed to advocate his right to the
throne were
[Sol. iii. 725/2/30. More, 57/4-] I°nn 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 vertue, of more fame than learning.
Left alone, Richard mentions his resolve (11. 108, 109)
... to giuo order, that no manner person
Haue any time recourse vnto the Princes.
When Richard became King (June 26,3 1483),
[Hoi, iii. 735/i/37. Mors, 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.
with . . . hand om. F.). He thus addresses the audience (11. 1-9) :
Here is the Indictment of the good Lord Hastings \
Which in a set Hand fairely is engross'd,
That it may be to day read o're in Paules.
And marke how well the sequell hangs together : 4
Klonon houres I haue spent to write it ouer,
For y ester-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
Vntainted, vnexamin'd, free, at libertie.
1 space] Halle (1548). plact Halle (1550).
• tl. 103-105 are not in Q.
3 The Memoranda Rolls of the Exchequer in Ireland contain a letter from
Richard III. to his Irish subjects, who were, it appears, uncertain about the
exact date uf Lis accession. The King informs them that his reign began on
June 2(5, 1483.— Nicolas'* Chrmwlooy of History, 326, 327. See also Con*.
Crot/i, 566, and York Records, 157, note.
XII. RICHARD III.
377
The proclamation of Hastings's treason and vicious life (see p. 373
above) was
[Hoi. iii. 724/1/62. More, 52/31.] made within two houres
after that he was beheaded, and it was so curiouslie indicted, & so
faire written in parchment, in so well a set Jtand, and therewith of
it selfe so long a processe, that eucrie child might well perceiue
that it was prepared before. For all the time, betweene his death
and the proclaim ug, could scant baue sufficed vnto the bare writing
alone, all had it bene but in paper, and scribled foorth in hast at
aducuturo. So that, vpon the proclaming thereof, one that was
schoolcmaister of Powles, of chance standing by, and comparing
the shortnosse of the time with the length of the matter, said vnto
them that stood about him: "Hero is a gaie goodlie cast, foule
" cast awaie for hast. " And a merchant answered him, that it was
written by prophesio.
Act III. sc. vii. — The scene is laid at Baynard's Castle. Since sc. v.
closed Buckingham had harangued tho citizens at Guildhall. Richard
now asks (1. 4) :
Toucht you the Bastardie of Edwards Children 1
Buck. I did ; with his Contract with Lady Lucy,
And his Contract by deputie in France ; *
Th'vnsatiate greediness© of his desire,
And his enforcement of the Citie Wiues ;9 . . . 8
Buckingham reminded the citizens at Guildhall how on Sunday
(June 22) Dr. Shaw
[Hoi, iil 729/2/53. More, 70/2 1.] "groundlic made open vnto
"you, the children of king Edward tho fourth were ncucr lawfullie
"begotten; forsomuch as the king (Icauing his verie wife dame
" Elizabeth Lucie) 8 was ncuer lawfullie maried vnto the queene their
"mother." . . .
(The procl«.
mat ion waa
]"■• pin -i
Wore
death.]
(Jwtaofa
t hmUt and a
nit re bant.]
J tUutdtrwu
M tmfirmti
\ that
Edward ma
hetruthed to
Lad J Lucyl
1 We do not learn from More that Warwick's mamnge-niaking embassy
was noticed in Buckingham's speech at the Guildhall. The Shaksperian
Buckingham refers to this matter again (III. vii. 179-182), together with
Edward a supposed contract to Lady Lucy. LI. 6, G (Aw . . . France), are
not in Q.
8 8. And . . . Wives) F. om. Q.
* The Parliament which inut on January 23, 1484, ratified a petition — no
doubt presented to the Protector at Baynard's Castle — settinu forth reasons for
Richard's assumption of the crown. One of the [»etitionerir objections to the
validity of Edward IV.'s union with Eliiabcth Grey was "that at the tyme of
contract of the same pretensed Manage, and bifore and longe tyme after, the
378
XII. KIC1IAUD 1IL
He dirtekth
}>.* qmrt to
((/((> n/fA<r
cilic [, who
suffered
nioct
through
YA want's
lull]
Buckingham also declared that
[Hoi. iii. 729/1/58. Jtfbre, 1557, pp. 02, 63.] "the kings Tgreedie
"appetite was insatiable, and cucrie where oucr all the realm e
" intollerable.
"For no woman was there anie where, yoong or old, rich or
"poore, whome he set his eie vpon, 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
"grudgo of the world, he would importunelie pursue his appetite,
"and hauo 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 realmo was in euerie
" part annoied, yet specialise yec 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 injuries, as for that you were
"neerest at hand; sith that neere heere abouts was oommonlie
"his most abiding."
Richard 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 off ;
Because, my Lord, you know my Mother Hues.
Buckingham therefore reports (IIL vii. 9-1 4) having drawn
attention to Edward's
seid King Edward was and stode maryed and trouth plight to oone Dame
Elianor Bultelcr, dough ter of the old Earl of Shrewesbury [? John Talbot, the
first Earl] With whom the same King Edward hod made a precontract* of
Matrimonii longe tyme bifore he made the said pretensed Manage with the
said Elizabeth Grey, in maner and fourme abovesaid." — Hot. JPan.y vi. 24 1 / 1 .
The first Parliament of Henry VII. (1486) ordained that this petition should,
" foT the false and seditious ymaginactona and untroutha thereof, . . . betaken
and avoided out of the Roll and Becords of the said Parliament of the said late
Kinff [Richard III.], and brente, and utterly destroyed." Parliament also
ordained " that every persoune, haveing anie Ooppie or Reineinbraunces of the
said Bill or Acte [the petition], bring unto the Chauncellor of England for the
tyme being, the same Coppiea and Reinembraunces, or utterlie deatrue theym,
afore the Feat of Easter next comen, upon Peine of ymprissonment, and
makeing fyne and ransome to the Kinge atte hiB will." — Rot. Pari., vi. 289/i.
More, writing about 1&13, does not speak of Dame Eleanor Butler, but tells
us (6I/33) that the Duchess of York objected to her sou's marriage with Eliza-
beth Grey because "the kingc was snre to dame Elisabeth Lucy ami her
husband before god." Dame Elizabeth Lucy, however, confessed that she and
Edward "were ncuer ensured." — Ibid. 62/ia
1 the kings . . . &eir husbands] om. reprint of More, p. 09.
XIL KICUARD III.
379
owne Bastardie,
.8 being got, your Father then in France,
And his resemblance, being not like the Duke : ]
Withal 1 1 did inferre your LinmtnenU, [See next page.] 12
Being the right Idea of your Father,
Both in your forme and Noblenesse of Hinde ; 8
In his speech at the Guildhall, Buckingham alluded to
[Hoi. iii. 729/2/69. More, 70/32.] other things which the said
worshipfull doctor rather signified than fullie explaned, & which
things shall not be spoken for me, as the thing wherein euerie man Jy1.™^.
forbereth to say that he knoweth [p. 730] ; in auoiding dis- SiSl5rto.]
pleasure of my noble lord protector, bearing (as nature requireth) a
filiall reuerence to the duchesse his mother.
Richard and his Council resolved that Dr. Shaw should broach
Edward V.'s deposition
[Hoi. iii. 725/2/53. More, 57/24] 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 inucn-
tion rested in this, that they should alledge bastardie, either in
king Edward Iiimsolfe, or in his children, or both. So that he
should secmo disabled to inherit the crownc by the duke of
Yorke, and the prince by him.
To laic bastardie in king Edward sounded openlie to the
rebuke of the protectors owne mother, which was mother to them
both ; for in that point could be no other color, but to pretend
that his owne mother was an adultresse ; which, notwithstanding, to
further this purpose, he letted not But ncuertholesse he would
that point should be lesse and more fauourablio handled : not
euen fullie plaine and dircctlie, but that the matter should be
touched aslope, craftilie ; as [p. 726] though men spared in that
TkeeXi^fut
dfUtM tO
■'■l-'l- (>■■?
prim* I :to
aUam dm*
tardy in
Edward
hilr.-rlf
and hit
children. J
(Shaw waa
to touch
ltL-MIr on
the Ant
point, for
rrvrrrnco
ofUw
prot«ctor*a
moUirr ; bat
the taaatnplr
of Edward'a
children waa
to be fullr
declared.]
1 11. And . . . Duke]F. om. Q.
* ** Layd open all your Victories in Scotland," is the next line. Bucking-
ham's speech, in More and Utility contains no allusion to these victories.
Richard's Scottish campaign is related by Hoi. iii. 705-706.
880
XII. RICHARD IIL
pfelthftr
Bdwwd nor
Clarence
wa» devilled
to bo cer-
tainly the
■on of
R:rhard
i>/*« •■(
York.]
[Th* Pro-
tector wu
the Image of
Tork.J
point to sponke all the truth, for feare of his displeasure. But
the other point, concerning the bastardie that they deuised to
surmize iu king Edwards children, that would he should be openlie
declared and inforced to the vttermost.
So instructed, Shaw, after denying the legitimacy of the late King's
children, told the people that
[Hoi. iii. 727/2/50. More, 64/26.] neither king Edward him-
Belfe, nor the duke of Clarence, among those that were secret in
the houshold, were reckoned verie suerlie for the children of the
noble duke ; as those that by their fauours more resembled other
knowne men than him. From whose vertuoua conditions he said
also that the late king Edward was far off.
But the lord protector, he said, the verie noble prince, the
Bpeciall paterne of knightlie prowesse, as well in all princelie
behauiour, as in the lineaments1 andfauour of his visage, represented
the verie face of the noble duke his father. "ThiB is" (quoth he)
" the fathers ownc figure, this is his owno countenance, the verie
"print of his visage, the sure vndoubted image, the plaine espresso
"likenesso of that noble duke."
Buckingham thus concludes his report (11. 20-41) :
And, when my Oratorie drew toward end,
I bid them, that did loue their Countries good,
Cry, u God saue Richard, Englands Royall King 1 "
Bich, And did they so 1
Buck. No, so God helpe me, they spake not a word ; 24
But like dumbe Statuas,2 or breathing Stones,
Star'd each on other, and look'd deadly pale.
Which when I saw, I reprehended them ;
And asked the Maior what meant this wiJfull silence : 28
His answer was, the people were not vsed
To he spoke to but by the Recorder.
Then he was vrg'd to tell my Tale againe,
" Thus sayth the Duke, thus hath the Duke inforr'd;" 32
But nothing spake 3 in warrant from himselfe.
When he had done, some followers of mine owne,
At lower end of the Hal], hurld vp their Caps,
And some tenne voyces cry'd, " God saue King Richard I J' 36
And thus I tooko the vantage of those few,
"Thankes, gentle Citizens and friends," quoth I ;
"This generall applause and cheorefull showt,
1 Cp. II L vii. 12, p. 379 above.
* Statna*] Steerena (Reed), Utaluu. Q. F.
1 spake] Q. spoke F.
XII. RICHARD III.
381
"Argues your wisdome, and your loue to Richard : " 40
And euen here brake off, and came away.
More's account of Buckingham's Bpeech contains details which were
omitted by Shakapere. 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/1 After the Recorder'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 the shouts proceeding from
" an ambushment of the dukes seruants."
[Eol. iiL 730/ 1/7 1. More, 72/ 1 6.] When the duke had said,
aud looked that the people, whome he hoped that the maior had
framed before, should, after this proposition made, haue cried,
11 King Richard, king Richard ! " all was hush t and mute, and not
one word answered therernto. . . .
When the maior saw thia [the failure of Buckingham's second
speech], lie with other partners of that councell drew about the
duke, and said that the people had not beene accustomed there to
be spoken vnto, but by the recorder, which is the mouth of the
citie, and hnppilie to him they will answer. With that the
recorder, called Fitz William, a sad man, & an honest, which was
so new come into that office, that he neuer had spoken to the
people before, and loth was with that matter to begin, notwith-
standing, thermto commanded by the maior, made rehearsall to
the commons of that the duke had twine rehearsed to them
himselfe.
But the recorder so tempered his tale, that ho shewed cuerie
thing as the dukes words, and no part his owne. But all this
nothing l no change made in the people, which alwaie after one
stood as they had beene men amazed. . . .
[When Buckingham demanded an answer] the people began
to whisper among themselues secretly, that the voice was neither
lowd nor distinct, but as it wore the sound of a swarme of bees ;
till at the last, in the nether end of the hall, an ambushment of
[The cltiwiw
were Bileot.)
[Tbe Mayer
Mid Hint
Hit- >• might
answer their
re con] or.]
f.UH'iUiam,
rttordtr
[, rtthrAraed
BMizSf>
llADl'B
spwclij.
[BntFIU-
Wtiliam
spoke a«
Bucking-
ham'a
mouth*
piece.]
[Still th*
c it irr in ware
atlcnt]
[when
Buckingham
demanded
an aniwer.]
1 nutfting] More, noting Hoi. thys no chnniujt made Halle.
382
XII. RICHARD III.
JT. RickanU
tttrtitm pn-
tttm w
ccmfedtmcU
us?*
iriari
H
[Bucking
hum
w) that
iftMftl
ml tula.]
the dukes soman ts, and one Nashfield,1 and other belonging to the
protector, with some prentisses and lada that thrust into the hall
amongst the prease, began suddenlie at mens backes to crie out,
as lowd as their throtes would giue: "King Richard, king
M Richard ! " and threw vp their caps in token of ioy. And they,
that stood before, cast backe their heads, maruelling thereof, but
nothing they said. Now when the duke and the maior saw this
maner, they wiselie turned it to their purpose, and said it was a
goodlie crie, & a ioifuli, to heare euerie man with one voice, no
man saieng naie.
"Wherefore, friends" (quoth the duke) "sith we perceiue it
" is all your whole minds to haue this noble man for your king,
" (whereof we shall make his grace bo effectuall report, that we
" doubt not but it shall redound vnto your great weale and com-
"tnoditie,) we \j>. 731] require ye, that ye to morrow go with vs, and
M wo with you, vnto his noble grace, to make our humble request
"vnto him in maner before reme inbred." And therewith the
lords came downe, and the companie dissolued and departed, . . .
Tho historical date of the rest of this scene (11. 45-2-47) is June 25,
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 audienca Catesby then brings what purports to be the Protector's
answer (1L 59*64) ;
He doth entreat your Grace, my Noble Lord,
To visit him to morrow or next day :
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.
60
64
Catesby is despatched to ask again for an audience, but Richard
sends him back with another excuse (11. 84-87) :
He wonders to what end you haue assembled
8uch troopes of Citizens to come to him,
His Grace not being warn'd thereof before :
He feares, my Lord, you ineane no good to him.
1 and one Ncuhjidd {Nadkfeelde)] Halle, and Na*}\fields Hoi and
Nathtfdiits More.
8 The morrow of Buckingham's speech at the Guildhall. See p. 375, note
1, above. Scenes ii.-yji., Act III., make one dramatic day.— T-A.t 328-331.
XII. RICHARD III.
383
Receiving Buckingham^ profession of good faith, Catesby goes out,
and thereupon Richard enters "aloft, betweene two Bishops " J (1. 94).
I must premise (I ) 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 M : (2) the
words u with a byshop on euery hand of him " — which I have placed
between square brackets — were added by Halle or Grafton to Mora's
text.
I resume Mora's narrative at the point when, " on the morrow after "
Buckingham's speech,
[Hoi. iii. 731/i/u. More, 74/27.] the maior with all the
aldermen,* and cliiofe commonore of the citie, in their beat maner
apparelled, assembling themselues togither, resorted vnto Bainards
castcll, where the protector laie. To which place repaired also,
(according to their appointment,) the duke of Buckingham, and
diuerse noble men with him, beside manie knights and other
gentlemen. And therevpon the duke sent word vnto the lord
protector, of the being there of a great and honourable companie,
to mooue a great matter vnto his grace. Wherevpon the protector
made difficultio to come out vnto them, but if he first knew some
part of their errand, as though he doubted and partlie mistrusted
the comming of such a number vnto him so Buddenlie, without
anie warning, or knowledge whether they came for good or harme.
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 humblio 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 downo
vnto them, but stood aboue in a gallerio ouer them [with a byshop
on euery hand of him], where they might see him, and speake to
him, as though he would not yet come too neere them till he wist
what they ment
Tk< motor »
Cfniiining (O
Btunardt
eruttlt, rata
Ox lord
jmtUclvr.
Sock Ing-
ot ».-nt
ward to
Richard that
■ great
coiupiuiy
desired an
audience on
an Import-
ant nutter.)
[Richard
declined to
coma till ha
knew •otne-
thinK of their
baslneta.)
[After
another
menace he
earn* forth
and lUiod la
e gallery.)
1 94. Enter Richard aloft, . . . BUhopa.] F. Enter Rich, with ttco bishops
aloft (a lotU Qi).] Q. Richard's summons of Shaw and Penker to meet him
at Barnard's Castle (III. v. 103-105) is not in the Qq. See p. 370 above.
1 fn the F. version <»f lit. vii. 66, "the Maior and Aldermen " desire a
conference with Richard. The Q. reads: "the Maior and Cittizens;" and F.
baa (1. 56} : " Enter the Maior, and Citizens.'*
384
XII. KICHAKI) HI.
[ Bar kin p-
mb nmi
Blchnrd'a
Mr don
bfenMad
for the
f nteu t of
their
turning ]
(Richard
lMTfl tO
•peak. J
Speaking on behalf of the Mayor and citizens, Buckingham thus
addresses Richard (11. 100-103) :
Famous Plantagenet, most gracious Prince,
Lend fauourable eare to our requests ;
And pardon vs the interruption
Of thy Deuotion and right Christian Zeale.
Richard asks "what is your Graces pleasure t" and Buckingham
answering (11. 109, 110),
Kuen that (I hope) which pleaseth God aboue,
And all good men of this vngouern'd lie ,
proceeds, after some flattery, to make known their suit (11. 130-136) :
we heartily solicits
Your gracious selfe to take on you the charge
And Kingly Gouerament 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 (11. 141-173) contains nothing resembling the
speech attributed to him by More, save in 11. 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 reprouo you for this suit of yours, 148
(So season'd with your faithfull loue to me,)
Then, on the other side, I check'd my friends.1 . . ,
On him [Edward V.] I lay that you would lay on me, . . .171
[Hoi. iii. 731/1/39. More, 75/20-] And thervpon the duke of
Buckingham first made humble petition ynto him on the behnlfe
of them all, that his grace would pardon thcni, and licenco them
to propose vnto his grace the intent of their comming, without his
displeasure; without which pardon obteined, they durst not be
bold to moouG him of that matter.
In which albeit they nient 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 vcrio gentle of himselfe, and also longed
sore to wit what they mont) gaue him leaue to propose what him
liked ; vcrelie trusting (for the good mind that he bare them all)
none of them anie thing would intend into himward, 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
148-150. If . . . friend*\F. ora. Q.
XII. IUCIUKD ni,
:JS5
purpose, with all the causes raoouing them tlierevnto (aa ye before
hauc heard) *. and finallie to beseech his grace, that it would like
him, of his accustomed gooduess and zeale vnto the realme, now
with his eie of pitie to behold the long coutinued distrcs.se and
decaie of the same, and to set his gratious hands to redresse and
amendment thereof.
All which he might well doo, by taking vpon him the crowne
and gouernance of this realme, according to his right and title
lawfullie descended vnto him ; and to the laud of God, profit of
the lain], & vnto his noble grace so much the mora honour, and
lesse patnc, in that, that neuer prince reigned vpon anie people,
that were so glad to liue vnder his obeisance, as the people of this
realme vnder his. When the protector had heard the proposition,
he looked verie strangclic 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 vnto king Edward and his children, & l
so much more regarded his honour in other rcalmes about, than
the crowne of anie one, (of which he was neuer desirous,) that
he could not find in his hart in this point to incline to their
desire. . . .
Notwithstanding, he not onlie pardoned them the motion that
they made him, but also thanked them for the loue and hartie
fauour they bare him ; praieng them for his sake to giue and beare
the same to the prince, . . .
Buckingham replies8 by urging the illegitimacy of Edward IV/a
children (1L 177-180):
You say that Edward ia your Brothers Sonne ;
80 say we too, but not by Edwards Wife ;
For first was he contract to Lady Lucie,
(Your Mother liuee a Witnesso to his Vow,) . . .
When Edward IV. made known his betrothal to Lady Grey, the
Duchess of York
[Rwlianl
entreated to
&muiii« t)«
.,,-.■•■,. jpfa
of tliia
mkmmM
realm.]
0 lingular
ditnmuta'
tion 0/ king
Jttfhanl {, In
refusing
Hue Icing*
Lun'i offer (1
JT. Richird
tpalct t\ liter-
irtw than Ac
meant
I, when ha
pmy*l then
tram for
their love to
hU nephew J.
1 d- jo much] Halle, that to much Hoi. (More).
' In tin's speech (111. vii. 189) Buckingham says tli/it Edward was seduced,
by a fancy for Lady Grey, "To base declension and loath 'd Biyamie" The
Duchess of York told Edward that Lady Grey's widowhood should be a
sufficient deterrent, for it was " a verie blemish and high disparagement to the
sacred maiestie of a prince, that ought as nigh to approch pnesthuod in clean-
neeee as he dooth in aignitie, to be defiled with bigamit in his first manage.'
— HU, iii. 726/2/21. Man, CO/12.
C O
386
XII. RICHARD III.
Luci* Iwm—
«... ili.-
r»'i« iwm of
York
MMrted-
bctroUw*l to
Gnekinjr-
ni'* rejilr:
Tboy Wi»uM
not iUlfcr
Edwurd'i
tine to
reign.)
[IfRlcUM
refosH Uieir
offer, thay
ihooJd seek
for tome
other noble
who would
•cceptltj
[A ibont :
" King
Iti.-li.'inl,
King
Uicfard
H
[Hol. iii. 727/i/i6. More, 6I/31.] openlie obiected against his
manage, (as it were in discharge of liir conscience,) that the king
was sure to dame Elizabeth Lucie and hir husband before God.
As Richard still affects to hesitate, the petitioner uses a Coal
argument (11. 214-217):
Yet whether a you accept our suit or no,
Your Brothers Sonne shall neuor reigno our King ;
But we will plant some other in the Throne, 216
To the disgrace and downe-fall of your House : . . .
Richard yields ; declining all responsibility for his acquiescence
(11. 227-236). Buckingham exclaims (11. 239, 240) :
Then I salute you with this Royall Title :
Long Hue King Richard, England's worthie King I
The following passages illustrate the rest of this scene :
[Hoi iii. 73I/2/30. More, 77/1 1.] 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 Loudon.
And after that (vpon like pardon desired & obteined) he shewed
alowd Tnto the protector for a 2 finall conclusion : that the rcalme
was appointed K. Edwards line should not anie longer reigne vpon
them, both for that they had so farre gone, that it was now no
suertie to retreat, as for that they thought it for the weale
vniuersall to take that waie, although they had not yet begun it
Wherefore, if it would like his grace to take the crowue vpon him,
they would humblie beseech him therevnto. If he would giue
them a resolute answer to the contrarie, (which they would be loth
to heare,) then must they needs eeeke and should not faile to find
some other noble man that would. . . .
[When Richard accepted the crown] there was a great shout,
crieng : "King Richard, king Richard ! "
Act IV. ec. i. — Queen Elizabeth, the Duchess of York,3 the Mar-
quess of Dorset, Anne Duchess of Gloucester, and Lady Margaret
Plautagenet (Clarence's daughter)* moot before the Tower ; purposing
to visit the Princes. They are informed by the Lieutenant of the
1 vet whether] Q. yet know, where F.
» for a] Ball* that for a Hol. (More).
s As this scene closes the Duchess of York says (1. 96) :
" Eightie odde yeeres of sorrow haue I seene," . . .
The historical Duchess was horn on May 3, 1415 ( JKyre., 4B3) ; and waB there-
fore about eighty years of age when site died in 1495 (see p. 350, n. 3, above).
Xn. RICHARD III.
387
Tower that Richard will not suffer their visit (11. 15-17; cp. p. 376
above). In the previous scene (III. vii. 242-244) Richard's coronation
waa appointed for to-morrow. Stanley now enters, and, addressing
Anne, says (11. 32, 33) :
Come, Madame, you must straight to Westminster,
There to be crowned Richards Royall Queene.
On July 6, 1483,1 — nearly a fortnight after the election at
Baynard's Castle, — Richard and Anne ascended their thrones in
Westminster Abbey,
[Hoi. iii. 734/1/3. Halle, 376.] where the cardinal! of Cantur-
burie, & other bishops them crowned according to the custome of
the realme, . * .
Queen Elizabeth then bids Dorset begone (II. 42, 43) ;
If thou wilt out-strip Death, goe crosse the Seas,
And Hue with Richmond, from the reach of Hell : . . .
Dorset went with Queen Elizabeth into sanctuary at Westminster,2
and left it to join the rebellion raised by Buckingham in October,
1483.3 Buckingham, beforo his capture, hoped either to collect a new
army, "or else shortlie to saile into Britaine to the earlo of Richmond"
(Hoi. iii. 743/2/56. Halle, 394). Dorset, more fortunate, was one of
those who " fled by sea," and M arriued safelie in the duchie of Britaine "
(Hoi. iii. 743/2/68. Halle, 394). When Richmond returned to
Brittany, after his fruitless attempt to succour the rebellion,
[Hol. iii. 745/1/55. Halle, 396.] he waa 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
England, had a little before inquired and searched for him there,
and were now returned to Vannes. . . .
When they knew that he was safelie returned into Britaine,
Lord, how they reioised ! for before that time they missed him, and
knew not in what part of the world to make iiiquirie or search for
him. For they doubted and no losse feared least he had taken
land in England, & fallen into the hands of king Richard, in whose
person they knew well was neither mercie nor compassion.
Wherefore in all speedie maner they galoped toward him, and
him reuerentlie saluted.
Act IV. sc. ii. — Richard 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
Tkekinff
erown*>L
(Dorset In
Brittany,
Marching for
Richmond.]
rporift
nntl the
Lanes* trians
rrjolced to
hear of
Richmond"!
safety. J
[Their meet-
ing with
Richmond.]
Cant. Oroyi.t 567.
» EoL iii. V43/I/59 {Halle, 393)
* Polyd. Verg.t MO/39.
388
XII. RICHARD III.
A
ly r<ii HfMH
of (Ac qntrnrt
death : at
the procure-
ment of king
Volar*
craves "some litle breath, some pawse," ere he can "positively speake
in this " (11. 24, 25) ; and goes out. Angered by Buckingham's
hesitation, Richard calls the Page and asks (11. 34, 35) :
Know'st thou not any whom corrupting Gold
Will tempt vnto a close exploit of Death 1
Page. I know a discontented Gentleman, 36
Whose humble meanes match not his haughtie spirit :
Gold were as good as twentie Orators,
And will (no doubt) tempt him to any thing.
Rich, What is his Name 1
Page. His Name, my Lord, is Ttrrell. 40
Rich. I partly know the man : goo, call him hither, Boy.
After the Page's exit, Bichard hears from Stanley of Dorset's flight.
The King then says (1L 51-53) ;
Come hither, Cntesby : rumor it abroad
That Anne, my Wife, is very grieuous sicke ; '
I will take order for her keeping close.
In March, H85,2 Richard
[Z7o/. iii. 75I/i/i8. Halle, 407.] procured a common rumor
(but he would not haue the author knownc) to be published and
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 sickiics-sc or greeuous maladic :
and to prooue, if afterwards she should fortune by that or anic
other waies to lease hir life, whether the people would impute hir
death to the thought or sicknesse, or thereof would laic the blame
to him.
Catesby departs, and Richard communes with himself (11. 61, 62) :
I must be marryed to my BrotJters Daughter,
Or else my Kingdome stands on brittle Glasse.
In 1485, Richmond heard that Richard
[Hoi. iii 752/2/47. Halle, 409.] intended shortlie to mario the
ladie Elizabeth, his brothers daughter ; . . .
The Page now returns with Tyrrel, who at once undertakes to
despatch the Princes (II. 78-81).
Let me haue open meanes to come to them,
And soone lie rid you from the feare of them.
Rich. Thou stng'st sweet Musiquo. Ilearke, come hither, Tyrrel :
Goe, by this token : rise, and lend thine Euro : . . . 80
[Wliiepers.
1 i» sicke and like to die] Q.
* See p. 396, n. 3, below.
XII. RICHARD HI.
389
Tyrrel's work is to be done "straight" (F.), or before Richard
sleeps (Q.).
The ensuing excerpts form the source of 11. 8-41 ; 66-85.
[Hoi iil 734/2/38. More, 8I/15.] King Richard, after his
coronation, taking his waic to Glocester to visit (in his now honour)
the towne of which ho bare the name of his old, douised (as he
rode) to fulfill the thing which he before had intended. And for-
Bomuch as his mind gaue him, that, hi* ncphues liuing, men would
not reckon that he could haue right to the realme, he thought
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 Iohn Greene (whom he specialise trusted)
vnto sir Robert Brakenberio, constable of the Tower ; with a letter
and credence also, that the same sir Robert should in anie wise
put the two children to death.
This Iohn Greene did his errand vnto Rrakenberic, kneeling
before our ladio * in tho Tower. Who plainclio answered, that he
would neuer put them to death to die therefore. With which
answer Iohn Greene 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 vnto a secret page of his :
"All! whom shall a man trust? Those that I haue brought vp
" myselfe, those that T had woent would most suerlie serue me, euen
" those fuile 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 TirrcIL which was a man of right goodlie personage, and
for natures gifts worthie to haue serued a much better prince ; if
he had well serued God, and by grace obtciued as much truth and
good will as he had strength and wit
The man had an high heart, & sore longed vpward, not rising
yet so fast as he had hoped, being hindered & kept rnder by the
mcanes of sir Richard Ratcliffe, [p. 73.r>] and sir William Catesbie,
which, (longing for no mo partoucrs of tho princes fauour ; and.
[RirhiM
detenninod
tO lUTT tUS
nephewi
nW.u.)
Ms Awm
[wntto
round)
Towrr.
Th4 nmrtttr
nftkt two
yoong
prtixca Kf
abrock.
Sir famtM
TirrUl
iflHrfW.
Mtarn
lo*tlh no
rtnrrt
lUMiffc
kvptTyml
1 .mt. of em*
1-lnyatBlJ.
_
Kneeling in prayer before an image of our Lady.
390
XII. RICHARD III.
(Richard
smB| I teal
(^(A« Towr
dttiuerHM
tiuMnto
Mir lama
TirrtU rport
t'.r i.,t,jA
mxnt.
nameiie, not for him, whose pride they wist would beare do 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
Terie speciall friendship he tookc 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 doonc him so much hurt For Tpon this
pages words king Richard aroso, (for this communication had he
sitting at the draught, a conuenient carpet for suchacounccll,) 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
"so Boone?" And calling vp sir lames, brake to him secretlie his
mind in this mischeeuous matter. In which he found him nothing
strange. Wherefore on the morow he sent him to Brakenberie
with a letter, by which he was commanded to deliuer sir lames all
the keies l of the Tower for one night; to the end lie might there
accomplish the kings pleasure, in such things as he had giuen him
commandement. After which letter doliuered, & tho keies recoiued,
sir lames appointed the night next insuing to destroie them ;
deuising before and preparing the meanes.2
When Tyrrol is gono, Buckingham re-enters and makes & demand
(U. 91-94) :
My Lord, I cLiyme 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. — Rich. III.f I.
iv. 90-96.
* Assuming this account to be true* the Princes were murdered about the
middle of August, 1483. Richard III.'s privy seals show that he was at
Warwick from August 8 to August 14. On August 1ft he was at Coventry
(H. 8.). At Warwick Qrcne reported Brakenburjrs answer {More, 8I/33). On
the day followineGrene's arrival at Warwick, Tyrrel was despatched to tAke
the keys of the Tower from Brakenbury {More, 82/2, 83/2). The deed was
done on " the night nexte ensuing " the aelivery of the keys to Tyrrel (More,
83/6). Warwick is 90 miles distant by road from London. — Lewis. In
Richard's reign messengers could post 100 miles a day. — (hid. QroyLt 571. If
Tyrrel were sent from Warwick, the latest date for his departure must have
been August 14, and he could reach London the same day. When Bucking-
ham's rebellion began (October), there was a rumour that the Princes were
dead.— (font. €royl.t 668.
I
XII. KICHAKI.) III.
391
TVEarlcdome of Ilerford,1 and the moueables,
Which you haue promised I shall poaaesae.
Wliile carrying out a purpose of contemptuously ignoring Buck-
ingham's demand, Richard, vouchsafing no response, addresses Stanley
(11. 96, 96) :
Stanley, looke to your Wife : if she oonuey
Letters to Richmond, you shall answer it.
In 1484,*
[Hoi. iii. 746/1/56. Halle t 398.] nothing was more maruelled
at, than that the lord Stanleie had nut beene taken and reputed
as an cnimio to the king ; considering the working of the ladie
Margaret his wife, moother to tho carlo 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 hhnselfe sufficientlie to be innocent of all dooings and
attempts by hir perpetrated and committed ; it was giucn him in
charge to kcepe hir in some secret place at home, without hauing
anie seruant or companie : so that from thense foorth she should
neuor send letter or messenger vnto hir sonnc, nor anie of his
freends or confederate by the which the king might be molested
or troubled, or anie hurt or prejudice might be attempted against
his realme and communaltte.
King
MUm4
kttpt
ilV in
if if* in *»«•<
pi,
from tUnling
against him.
Still apparently unmindful of Buckingham, Richard soliloquizes
about Henry VI. s prophecy that Richmond should be King (see p. 329
above), which leads to a reflection on the prophet's unforeseen death,3
and is followed by a disagreeable reminiscence (II, 106-110) :
Richmond I When last I was at Exeter,
The Maior in curtesie showd me the Castle,
And called it Ruge-mount : at which name I started, 106
Because a Bard of Ireland told me once,
I should not liue long after I saw Richmond.4
I Ilerford] Q. JTtrtfvrd F. trie of Htrfordca httidts Halle (382), but (387)
Baric of Ihii tfnrdts landet. See p. 450, n. 2, below.
* This general feeling of surprise at Stanley's freedom is spoken of by
Tftilh (397, 39£) as having heen prevalent about the time when Richard's Aole
Parliament was sitting. The session opened on January S3, UM. tint. i'.iW.,
vi. 237/1.
4 " How chance the prophet could not at that time
Ifuue told me, I being by, that I afcotUd kill him ?" (Q. om. F.)
The dramatic Richard of 3 lien. VI. was, like the historic character, absent
from England during Henry's brief restoration.
* 106-110. Richmond 1 . . . Richmond.] Q- om. F.
392
XII. RICHARD III.
M* Hooler,
aJu'u Vok'I.
K. Hiehani
SxctiUr, ami
Unceinud
A pH^Amk,
whtnofdut
appall (kt
tinfft tpiriU.
Cnufti of tAe
duJtt of Burt-
imatuua and
X. JtichanU
falling out.
[Rlcbmnl
reftuod,
with threats,
togtvo
BiicVinc;Iiiiin
the K .r 1 of
Hereford'!
UikU.1
In November, 1433,1 Exeter was visited by Richard,
[Hoi. iii. 746/ 1 / 1.] whome the maior & his brethren in the best
manor they could did receiue, and then presented to him in a purso
two hundred nobles; which he thankefuliie accepted. And during
his abode here he went about the citie, & viewed the seat of the
same, & at length he came to the castell ; and, when he vnderstood
that it was called Rugemont, suddenlie he fell into a dumpe, and
(as one astonied) said i " Well, I see my daies be not long." lie
spake this of a prophesie told him, that, when he came once to
Richmond, he should not long liue after: which fell out in the end
to be true ; not in respect of this castle, but in respect of Henrio
earle of Richmond, who the next [i.e. second] yeare following
met him at Boaworth field, where he was slaine.
Buckingham again solicits attention to his demand for the promised
earldom (114, 115). Ue supported Richard at Northampton in April,
1483;
[Hoi. iii. 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) vcrie great freends at
Glocester. From whense as soouo as the duke came home, he so
lightlie turned from him, and so highlie conspired against him, that
a man would luarncll whereof the change grew. And, sucrlie, the
occasion of their variance is of diucrso men diuorselie reported.
Some haue I heard say, that the duke, a little before his corona-
tion, among other things, required of tho protector the erle2 of
Hcrcfords lands, to the which he pretended himselfe iust inheritor.
And, forsomuch as the title, which he claimed by inheritance, was
8omwhat interlaced with tho title to tho crowne by the line of king
Henrie before depriued, the protector conceiued such indignation,
that he reiected the dukes request with manic Bpitefull and mimi-
toric words. Which so wounded his heart with hatred and mis-
trust, that ho neuer after could induro to looke aright on king
Richard, but euer feared his owne life ; . . .
1 Buckingham was beheaded on November 2, 1483 (ece p. 410 below).
On the following day Richard left Salisbury and marched westwards till he
reached Exeter.— CmU. Ont/L 568. About the end of November the King
returned to London. — Cont. Croyl., 570.
1 eric] Halle, dnkc Hoi. (More).
XII. BICHARD III.
393
Richard rejects his former ally's demand with studied insult ; and
all leave the stage save Buckingham, who lingers a moment to muse
(1L 123-126):
And is it thus? repayea he my deepe serutre
With such contempt 1 made I him King for this I
O, let me thinke on Hastings, and be gone
To Brecnock, while my fearefull Head is on !
In the Summer of 1483, " soone after " Buckingham's
[Hoi iil 736/2/3. More, 88/12] comming home to Brecknocke,
hauing there in his custodie, by the oommandcment of king
Richard, doctor Morton, bishop of Elic, . . . [Buckingham] waxed
with him familiar; whose wisedome abused his pride to his owne
dcliucraucc, aud the dukes destruction.
Hallo's Chronicle contains (387) what professes to be an account of
this matter given by Buckingham himself to Dr. Morton, during the
time of tho Bishop's detention at Brecknock Castle. When, said
Buckingham, Richard
[Hoi. iii. 739/1/74] was once crowned king, and in full posses-
sion of tho whole realmc, he cast awaio his old conditions as the
adder dooth hir skin, verifieng the old prouerbe, " Honours change
manners," as the parish prccst remembreth that he was neucr1
parish clearke. For when I my sclfe sued vnto him for my part
of the earle of Herefords lands, which his brother king Edward
wpongfullie detcined and withheld from me ; and also required to
hauc the office of the high constableship of England, as diuerse of
my noble ancestors before this time haue had, and in long descent
continued : in this my first suto shewing his good mind toward
me, he did not onelie first dclaie me, and afterward denaie me,
but gauo mo such vnkind words, with such tawnts & retawnts, ye,
in manner checke and checkemato, to the vttermost proofe of my
patience : as though I had neuor furthered him, but hindered him *,
as though I had put him downc, and not set him yp. . . .
But when I was crediblie informed of the death of the two
yoong innocents, his owne natural! nephucs, contrnric to his faith
and promise ; to tho which (God be my iudgo !) I neucr agreed, nor
condescended ; O Lord, how my veines panted, how my bodie
trembled, and how my heart inwardlie grudged I insomuch that I
so abhorred the sight, and much more the com panic, of him, that
fis.i. kit „-•
huii re-
tornfd to
Ilrw knock,
imd heouDO
friendly with
Dr. Morton.]
Tht princi-
pal oi«*r
why iht tlnle
c/ iluetinp-
ham c6ctintd
•wrJk inwnrd
A^oifuf king
JUdutfl[waM
Richanl'i
taornfal
rrjwtioo of
ttif Duke'a
claim to the
Earl of
Hfrtford'i
]«fs'N, and
theCun-
staldethlp of
England.)
heard
rrinen'
mnrdrr, (to
which h<
n*T«r
,1*1" '1.1
1 (?) never remembreth that he waa ever.
394
XII. RICHARD III.
he left
Rlcharrl'a
Court.]
The (wo
murthtrert
Of tkr ttCO
prinem
appointed.
brother mur-
thrred in
thtir bfdt at
midnight in
the TWer.
g»re Tyrnsl
ureal tliauki
Icp. u. sa,
I could no longer abide in his court, except I Bhould bo openlic
reuenged : the end whereof was doubtfull.
Act IV. so. iii. — The Princes have been smothered while abed by
Dighton and Forrest, at the instance of Tyrrel, who now enters and
describes his agents' remorse (11. 3-21). Ilichard, entering, learns from
Tyrrel that ■ the thing n commanded ■ is done "; and asks (1. 27) :
But did'st thou see them dead I
Tir. I did, my Lord.
Rich. And buried, gentle Tirrell 1 28
Tir, The Chaplaine of the Tower hath buried them ;
But where (to say the truth) ] I do not know.
Having undertaken to mako away with the Princea,
[Hot. iii. 735/i/4S. Mare, 83/23.] sir lames Tirrell deuised,
that they should be murthered in their beds. To the execution
whereof, he appointed Miles Forrest, one of the foure that kept
them, n fellow fteshed 2 in murther before time. To him he ioined
one Iohn Dighton, his ownu horssekeeper, a big, broad, squaro, and
strong knauc.
Then, all the other being rcmooucd from them, this Miles
Forrest, and lohn Dighton, about midnight, (the seelie children
lieng in their beds,) camo into the chamber, &, suddenlie lapping
them rp among the clothes, so to bewrapped them and intangled
them, keeping downe by force the fether-bod and pillowes hard
viitu their mouths, that, within a while, stnoothered and stifled,
their breath failing, they gauc vp to God their inuocont soulcs into
the ioies of heauen ; leauing to the tormentors their bodies dead in
the bed. Which after that the wretches perceiuod, first by the
strugling with the paines of death, and after long lieng still, to be
thoroughlio dead, they laid their bodies naked out vpon the bed,
and fetched sir lames to see them ; which, rpon the sight of them,
caused those murtherers to burie them at the staire foot, mcctlic
deepe in the ground, vnder a great heape of stones.
Then rode sir lames in great hast to king Richard, and shewed
him all the manor of the murthcr ; who gauo him great thanks,
and (as some save) there made him knight. But he allowed not
(as I haue heard) the burieng in so vile a corner; saieng, that ho
1 frfiere (to say the tntlh)'] F. how or in what place Q.
J Tyrrel calls both the murderers "jka/U Villainea" (IV. iii. C).
XII. RICHARD HI.
395
would haue them buried in a better place, bicause they were a
kings sonnes. . . . Whervpon, they Baie that a priest of sir
Robert Brakenberies tooko vp the bodies againe, and secretlie
interred them in such place, as, by the occasion of his death, which
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. Ho had purposed (III. v. 107) secretly
To draw the Brats of Clarence out of sight.
Afterwards he remarked (IV. ii. 56) :
The Boy is foolish, and I feare 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 Perkin
Warbeck's plot to escape from the Tower.1 Warwick
[Hoi. iii. 787/2/1 5. Halle, 490.] hod beene kept in prison
within tho Tower almost from his tender ycares ; that is to Baie,
from the first yeare of the king [Henry VII.], to this fifteenth
yeare, out of all companie of men & Bight of beasts ; insomuch
that he could not discerne a goose from a capon, . . .
Within a day or two after the battle of Bosworth, Henry VII. sent
[Hoi. iii. 762/1/6. Halle, 422.] sir Robert Willoughbie, knight,
to the manour of SheriiFehuton in the countie of Yorke, For Edward
Plantagenet, carle of Warwikc, sonne and heire to George duke of
Clarence ; then being of the age of fifteene yeares : whome king
Richard had kept there as prisoner during the time of his vsurped
reigne.2
A few dramatic hours have elapsed since Catesby departed, at
Richard's bidding, to
Inquire tne out some meanc poore Gentleman,
Whom I will marry straight to Clarence Daughter.— IV, ii, 54, 55.
Both obstacles are now removed. Clarence's son is "pent vp close";
His daughter meanly haue I matcht in marriage. — IV. iii. 37.
[The
Prinew'
bodies never
found.]
Biltrard
Plantagtnet,
milt of
Wnnexkt, a
xtri4
innoctnt.
[Warwick
nBctMud
st Sheriff
1 1 1 . 1 1 . .i 1 by
l&i- I11H.I
1 Balk, 491.
a Richard was at York in September, 1483 (York Record*, 171-173) ; and
there knighted the young Earl of Warwick (Rouv Rol, GO).
896
[Htend
proponed
■aaiJil
Cieelj
Plantagonot
to ft inui of
nn known |
nana,]
T\< MMUL
WiM U kino
RirtKtr.1 tht
(Am/, $u,i-
dtnli* > W.
XII. EICHARD III.
Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury, Clarences daughter,
was about twelve years of age at the time of Richard's death.1 She
married Sir Richard Pole, Chief Gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to
Prince Arthur.8 The Dramatist has, apparently, confounded her
with her first cousin. In 1-185, the rumour that Richard would
marry his niece was accompanied by a report that he meant also
[Hoi iii. 752/3/43. Halle, 409.] to prefer the ladie Cicilie
Iiir sister to a man found in a cloud, and of an vnknowne linage
and familie.
Richard proceeds (11. 3d, 39) :
The Sonnes of Edward sleope in Abrahams bosome,
And Anne my wife hath bid this world good night.
Richard was, as we have seen (p. 388 above), accused of spreading a
false report of Anne's death. Hearing of this rumour, she feared that
Richard " had iudged hir worthie to die," and so
[Hoi. iii. 751/1/40. Hallet 40/.] either by inward thought and
pensiuencssc of hart, or by infection of poison (which is affirmed
to be most likolie), within few daics after the queene departed out
of Uiis transitorie life.3
Richard's meditations are interrupted by the entrance of Ratcliffe
{Catesby Q.), announcing (L 46),
Bad news, my Lord : Mourton is fled to Richmond.
John Morton, Bishop of Ely, though he became a confidant of his
jailor Buckingham's plots against Richard,
[Hoi. iii. 741/I/7I. Halle, 390.] did not tan-ie till the dukes
1 She was born in August, 1473. — Rmv$ Bol, 61.
1 "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 TFenry the Seventh, in his Wars of
Scotland H in 1497 : see Bacon's Henry rJL, 158/2], and being a Person much
accomplished, was mode chief Gentleman of the Bcd-Charaher to Prince
Arthur, and Kt. of the Garter ; whereupon attending him into Wales, he
receiv'd Command to Govern in those Parte.11 — Sawtford, 441. As her eon
Henry Pole had livery of his lauds on July B, IblZ (Calendar, lien. VIII.,
I. 4325), the year of her marriage could not have been later than 1492.
5 The writer of Cunt. CroxjL (572) says that Queen Anne's death occurred
•bout the middle of March, 1485 ; "in 5ie magnae ecclipsia aolia1' The Rev.
S. J. Johnson, Vicar of Mel plash, Dorset, wrote thus in response to my enquiry
ancnt the precise date of this eclippc : "The eclipse to which you refer took
iilace cm 16 March 1485. On milking a rough calculation of it some years ugn,
found J) digits or three-fuurlli* of the Sun would be eclipsvd at London
about half-past three in the alirrnofn. In the Mwlilfrrauenn it would he
total." Stvw (782) gives March 16, 1480, as the date of Anne's death.
XIL RICHARD HI,
397
conipnnie were assembled, but, secretlie disguised, in a night
departed, (to the dukes great displeasure,) and came to his see
of Elie; where he found monie and freenda; and so sailed into
Flanders, where he did the earle of Richmond good seruice.1
Ratcliffe continues (II. 47, 48) :
And Buckingham, backt with the hardy Welshmen,
Is in the field, and still his power encreaseth.
Buckingham was
[Hoi. iii. 743/2/IO. Halle, 394.] accompanied with a great
power of wild Welshmen, whom he (being a man of great courage
and sharpe speech) in maner against their willes had rather thereto
inforced and compelled by lordlie and streict commandement, than
by liberall wages and gentle denienour ; 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 Dcane,
intending to liaue passed the riuer Seuerne at Glocester, & there
to haue ioined his armie with the Courtneis, and other wostemo
men of his confederacie and nffinitic. Which if he had doone, no
doubt but king Richard had beene in great ieopardie, either of
priuation of hia realme, or losse of his life, or both,
Richard orders Ratcliffe to " muster men " (L 56) for immediate
action, and the scene closes.
Buckingham's revolt was seconded by simultaneous risings in
different parts of England,9 but
[Hoi. iii. 743/1/70. Halle, 393.] king Richard, (who in the
meane time had gotten togither a great strength and puisBauce,)
thinking it not most for his part bencQciall, to disperse and diuide
his great armie into small branches, and particulate to persecute
anic one of the coniuration by himselfe, determined (all other
things being set aside) with his whole puissance to set on tho
chiefe head, which was the duke of Buckingham.
Act IV. 8c. iv. — Richard's forces have been mustered, and he enters
t( marching, with Drummes and Trumpets " (Q.). He is met by the
1 Richard says (IV. iii. 49, &0) :
" Ely with Richmond troubles me more neere,
Then Buckingham and his rash Ieuied Strength."
* See p. 403 below.
Tht bithap of
Etif taitttk
into Ftan-
dere to the
Richmond.
The duke 0/
Buckinph&l
}>over4fi*Ud
ll'rhhuten
{ faitehttrteil)
doofiuU
him.
K. A'i.7..-n.<«
dnft in tJu
ditpoting of
hit armie.
[RiulmnI
.Irt 1 liJini. 1
U> march
agaiait
Burking-
luitii.l
398
XIL RICHARD in.
Duchess of York and Queen Elizabeth. His mother goes out, laying
her " most greeuous Cur bo " 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 fearfull 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 (1. 426) ;
Shall I go win my daughter to thy will I
Rich. 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.
A'/t/j. Beare her my true loues kiase ; and so, farewell 1
[Exit Q[ueeri].
Earlier in the eventful dramatic day which embraces scenes ii. — v.,
Act IV., Richard sent Catesby to spread a rumour of Anne's mortal
sickness. Soon we hear from him of her death, and he adds (IV. iii.
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 afforded 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 uniting the
rival Houses : l
1 Polyd, Verg.j 550/9. Richard III, 'a privy seals show that he was at
Gloucester on August 2-4, 1483 (H. A); and there Buckingham left him
(More, 88/ 1 1). Thence Buckingham went to Brecknock Castle, where he had
the custody of John Morton, Bishop of Ely.— Jlfore, 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 obtaining the
crown, if the Earl agreed to marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV.
By Morton's invitation, Reginald 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.— iTarrfyni/-
Grafton, 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-Grvtfton, 526; Unite, 390, 391, Allowing time for the journies
and previous negotiations, we may fairly refer Lewis's share in the latter to
the early autumn of 14B3. Before October 12, 1483, Buckingham had rebelled,
and Richard was marching against him. — Ellis, II. i. 159, 160.
Xn. RICHARD III.
S99
[Hoi. iii. 742/i/L Halle, 391.] "You know Terie well,
" madame, that, of the house of Lancaster, the carlo of Richmond
"is next of bloud, (who is liuing, and alustie yoongbatcheler,) and
M to the house of Yorke your daughters now are heirea. If you
"could agree and inuent the meanc how to couple your eldest
" daughter with the yoong earle of Richmond in inairimonie, no
"doubt but tho VBurper of the rcalmo should bo shortlie deposed,
"aud 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.1
Early in the year H84,a
[Hoi iii. 750/1/27. Halle, 406.] king Richard was crediblie
aducrtiscd, what promises and oths the earle and his confederates
had made and sworn togither at Rcnncs,9 and how by tho earlcs
means all tho Englishmen were passed out of Britaine into France.
Wherefore, being sore dismnid, and in a maner desperate, bicause
his craftic chieuance * tooke none effect in Britaine, he imagined &
dcuised how to infringe and disturbe the carles purpose by an
other meane ; so that, by the marriage of ladie Elizabeth his necco,
he should pretend no claime nor title to the crowne. . . .
[Richard therefore] determined to reconcile to his fauour bin
brothers wife queeno Elizabeth, either by fairo words, or liberall
promises; firmelio bclceuiug, hir fauour once obteined, that she
would not sticke to commit (and louinglie credit) to him the rule
and gouernance both of hir and hir daughters; and so by that
nieanes the carle of Richmond of the atlinitic of his necce should
be vtterlie defrauded and beguiled. . . .
[Richard] would rather take to wife his cousino and neecc tho
Tki tvni-unf
tion tff Hit
ti+ofamtfu*
awwwif to
tkt (l. I.ytht
ilmijr !'•
i*/rt*fit and
Aitkm&h
ptirpou.
A rut/till and
trmt practU4
0/ kin if
MicKanl to
tarUr>/
Art wm/.
I FolycL Very. 553/44-
s On March I, 1484, Richard took a solemn oath— peers spiritual and
temporal with the Lord Mayor and aldermen of London being present — to
ensure the personal mfatj and welfare of his nieces if they, leaving sanctuary,
tt'.mld commit themselves to his care. — El lit, IJ. i. 149. Before Richard
opened the negotiations with the Queen which placed her daughters in his
power, he had considered the expediency, if he should become a widower, of
marrying the Princess Elizabeth and thus forestalling Richmond. — FolytL
Very. 550/2
* Rtnnts] Jknes Halle. Rtime* Hoi.
* To detain Richmond in Brittany.
400
xn. RicnARD ni<
(Rlrtuinl't
motive for
wuarftam
KIIabatL]
tRkhud
r-i.t mmmoF
miUthtt
Queen,
rTi-t!MJi.*
j*st Injuries
»nJ making
imnaJMN Uj
her whI
DOTMUJ
JfeteMI
atlurttk hir
MMH SU
Band mm
out of
ladie Elizabeth,1 than for lacko of that aflimtie the whole realme
should run to mine ; us who said, that, if he once fell from his
estate and dignitie, the mine of the relnie must needs shortlie
insue and follow.3 Wherefore he sent to the queene (being in
sanctuaric) diucrse and often raesscngcrs, 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 wanhopo, or (as men saie) into a foolea
paradise.
The messengers, being men both of wit and grauitie, so per-
suaded the queene with great and pregnant reasons, & with3
faire and large promises, that she began somewhat to relent, and
to giue to them no deafe eare ; insomuch that sho faithfullie
promised to submit and yeeld hir sclfe fullie and frank el ie to the
kings will and pleasure. . • •
After she sent letters to the marquesse hir sonno, (being then at
Paris with the carle of Richmond,) willing him in anie wise to leaue
the earle, and without delaie to rcpaire into England, where for
him were prouided great honours, aud honourable promotions ;
ascerteining him further, that all offenses on both parts were for-
gotten and forgiuen, and both he and she liighlie incorporated in
the kings heart.
After Anne's death, in March, 1485, the
1 There can be no doubt that rumour 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 the Mayor and citizens of
Loudon, the King absolutely repudiated the design of marriage with his niece
Elizabeth. — Cont. Oroyl., 672. In a letter to the Mayor and Aldermen of
York, dated April 5 (1485), Richard spoke of various ways by which " sedicious
and evil disposed personnel" sowed "sede of noise and diflclanndre agayneat
out p#rsone"; ana added : "for remedie wherof, and to thentent the troth
opinlye declared shuld reprease all suche false and contrived inventions, we
now of late called before us the Maire and Aldermen of our Citie of London,
togidder wttA the most* sadde and discrete persoiies of the same Citie in grete
noinbre, being present many of the lorde* spiWtuel and temporel of c*ur land,
and the substance of all our houslanrf, to wuome we largely showed our true
entent and mynd in all suche thmge* as the said noise and disclaundrc renne
upon in suche wise as we donbt not all wel disposed personnes were and be
therwitA right weJe content" ; . . .—York Records, 209.
" Cp. Jii^A. III., IV. iv. 406-411.
' with] Halle, what with Hoi.
XII. RICHARD III.
401
[Hoi. iii. 761/1/49- Halle, 407.] king thus (according to his £;*£*££*
long desire) Io[o]sed out of the bonds of matrimonii began to cast JJJJ^Jj!
a foolish fantasie to ladie Elizabeth his neece ; making much sute J££?j&,
to haue hir ioined with him in lawfull matrimonie.
Queen Elizabeth's exit is followed by tho entrance of Ratcliffe with
the announcement (11. 433-439) that
on the Weeteme Coast
Kideth a puissant Nauie ; « . .
Tis thought that Richmond is their Admirall ; 437
And there they hull, expecting but the aide
Of Buckingham to welcome them ashore.
Richard gives Catesby a message for the Duke of Norfolk (11. 448-
450):
bid him leuie straight
The greatest strength and power that he can make,
And meet me suddenly at Salisbury.
Starting from London, Richard
[Hoi. iii. 743/2/5. Hallct 394.] tooke his iournie toward gjjg*
Salisburie, to the intent that in his iournie he might set on the anbury]
dukes [Buckingham's] annie, if he might know him in anie place
incampcd, 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 Catesby is charged should be dated
August, 1485 ; when, on hearing of Richmond's landing, Richard
[Hoi iii 754/1/53. Halle, 412.] sent to Iohn duke of Norffolke, £$*
Henrie earle of Northumberland, Thomas earle of Surrie, and to ffi-ffEJIn
other of his especiall & trustie friends of the nobilities, 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 actiuc persons of the whole number, and
with them to repaire to his presence with all speed and diligence.
Ratcliffe's news ia confirmed by Stanley, who pretends to know
merely " by guesse " that Richmond
. . , makes for England, here to clayme the Crowne (1. 469).
The rebellion of Buckingham and his adherents began on October
18, 1483.1 They were to be supported by Richmond, who had
povrrttf
1 Thia is the date given in the attainder of Buckingham and his con-
federates— Hot, Pari,, vi. 245/j, &c But Norfolk, writing from London on
D D
402
XII. RICHARD III.
Th* tart* of
preparation
of tkip§ amt
fvMirrt to
the tea.
W\at nob It
m#* AT.
Ru-hard
matt mi»-
trutttd.
|!Ji pM
iMuit cre-
dence to
8t*nlc)-.)
[Hoi iii. 744/2/48. Halle, 395.] prepared an armie of fiue
thousand mantle Britons, and fortio well furnished ships. When
all thingB were prepared in a readinesse, and the daie of departing
and setting forward was appointed, which was the twelfe dak' of
the tnoneth of October [1483], the whole armie went on shipbord,
and halsed vp their sailes, and with a prosperous wind tooko
the sea,
Richard taunts Stanley with a design of joining Richmond (11. 476-
478). Stanley nsks permission to depart and collect men for the King's
service (48&-490). Richard yields a conditional assent (11. 496-498) j
Goe, then, and muster men ; but leaue behind
Your Sonne George Stanley : looke your heart be firme,
Or else his Heads assurance is but fraile.
Holinshed copied from Halle (408) a passage whence we learn that,
among those whom Richard
[Hot. iii. 75I/2/5.] moat mistrusted, these were the principall :
Thomas lord Stanleie, sir William Stun hue his brother, Gilbert
Talbot, and six hundred other : of whose purposes although ting
Richard were ignorant,1 yet he gaue neither confidence nor cre-
dence to anie one of them ; and least of all to the lord Stanleie,
bicause he was ioined 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 George
Stanleie, lord Strange, his first begotten sonne and heire.
When Stanley is gone, four messengers enter successively with news
of the revolt. The first messenger announces (11. 500-504) a rising in
Devonshire, headed by
Sir Edward Courtney, and the haughtie Prelate
Bishop of Exeter, his brother there,2 . . .
The 4t Guilfords," a second messenger reports (11. 605-507), have
October 10, 1433, tells John Pastou, "that the Kentyeshmen be up in tlie
weld, aud sey that thev wol come and robbe the cite, which I shall lett yf I
may."— Pattern, iii. 308.
1 \oere tgmoraimt] Halle, were not ignorant Hoi.
3 brother there] Q. elder Brother F.
XII. RICHARD III.
408
taken up arms in Kent. A fourth messenger brings tidings of another
outbreak (11. 520, 521):
Sir Thomas Louell and Lord Marques.se Dorset,
Tis said, my Liege, in Yorkeshire are in Arinee.
The rebellion -was well-concerted, for Buckingham had
[Hoi. iii. 743/1/56. Halle, 393.] persuaded all his complices
and partakers, that euerie man in his quarter, with all diligence,
should raise vp people & make a commotion. Ami by this means,
almost in one moment, Thomas marques Dorset came out of
satictuarie, (where since the bcgin[n]ingof K. Richards dates he had
continued, whose life by the onelte hclpe of sir Thomas Louell '
was presented from all danger & peril) in this troublous world,)
[and] gathered together a great band of men in Yorkeshire.
Sir Edward Courtneie, and Peter his brother,2 bishop of
Excester, raised an other a[r]mie in Deuonshire and CornewalL
In Kent, Richard Gilford and other gentlemen collected a great
coin panic of souldters, and openlie began warre.
The news of a third messenger
Is, that by sudden Floods and fall of Waters, 512
Buckinghams Annie is diapers' d and scattered ;
And he himself e wandred awny 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
[Ilt.>?. iii. 743/2/25. Halle, 304.] he could atteine to Seuerne
Bide, by force of continuall raine and moisture, the riuer rose so
high that it ouerflowed all the countrie adioining ; insomuch that
men were drowned in their beds, and houses with the eitreamc
violence were ouerturned, children were caried about the fields
Bwimming in cradels, beasts were drowned on hilles. Which rage
of water lasted continuallie ten dates, insomuch that in the countrie
adioining they call it to this daie,8 "The great water"; or, "the
duke of Buckinghams great water.1* By this floud the passages
were so closed, that neither the duke could come oner Seuern to
[Rimes Id
T"'k*ltiro,
[Deronihlre,
OoniwBil,
fcnd Kent]
A mrt Jtoud,
or Kiffk
water,
4*ai*e much
hmrm^rtUd
BtuHmpkAs
ffrtat
1 The translator of this passage from Poiyd. Very, f&Sl^c) substituted
" sir Thomas louell esquyer" for plain Thomas Rowell (" Rouelu").
J Cousin.— French, 248.
* The account of this flood was added to the translation of Polyd. Vtrg,
(S52) in Halle.
404
XII. RICHARD III.
(The Wclih-
men de-
puted. J
[Bucking-
S , flcL]
entailed
when they
heard that
he eould not
b« fuund.)
A proclaiM
turn /or tilt
apprtktn-
Mum ttftht
dutt a f
Bvctinpfi-i,
tcith targt
m-M it I,.
the apprt-
htndor.
his adherents, nor they to him. During the which time, the
Welshmen, lingring idelie, and without monie, vittels, or wages,
Buddenlie scattered and departed : and, for all the dukes faire
promises, threatnings, and inforcements, would in no wise either
go further nor abide.
The duke (being thus left almost post alone) was of necessitie
compelled to flie, , . .
Now when it wasknowne to his adherents, (which were redie to
giue battoll.) that his host was scatred, and had left him almost
alone, and [he] was fled, & could not be found, they wore sud-
denlie amazed & striken with a sudden feare, that euery man like
persons desperate shifted for himselfo & fled.
Richard asks (11. 517, 618):
Hath any well-aduised friend proclaymM
Reward to him that brings the Traytor int
Mess. Such Proclamation hath been made, my Lord.
From Leicester, on October 23, 1483,1 Richard
[Hoi. iil 744/i/2i. Halle, 394] made proclamation, that what
person could shew and reuealc whore the duke of Buckingham
was, should be highlie rewarded : if he were a bondman, he should
be infranchised and set at libertie ; if he were of free bioud, he
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 (li. £23-529) :
The Brittaino Nauie is dispors'd by Tempest : a
Richmond, in Dorsetshire, Bent out a Boat 524
Vnto the shore, to aske those on the Banks,
If they were his Assistants, yea or not
Who answer'd him, they came from Buckingham
Ypon his partie : he, mistrusting them, 528
Hoys'd sayle and made his course againe for Brittaine.
On October 12, 1483, Richmond put to sea "with a prosperous
wind " (p. 402 above) :
[Hoi. iii. 744/2/55. Halle, 396] But toward night the wind
changed, and the weather turned, and so huge and terrible a
1 I take the date from Hymer, xii. 204, where the proclamation is printed.
* by Tempest] F. om. Q.
XII,
RICHARD III.
105
/wrmMfrf
tempest so suddenlie arose, that, with the vcrie power and strength *« **Jj^
of the storme, the ships were disparklcd, seuered & separated *' **»*«■*•
asunder : some by force were driuen into Normandie, somo were
compelled to returne 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
asa waged, and the ire of blustering wind was some deale appeased,)
about the houre of noone the same daie, the carle approched to
the south part of the realme of England, euen at the mouth of the £**l<\*fL
hauen of Pole, in the countie of Dorset ; where he might plainclio
perceiuc all the sea bankes & whores garnished and furnished with
men of warre and souldiers, appointed and deputed there to defend
his airmail and landing. . . . Wherefore he gaue etreict charge,
and sore coimnandement, [p. 745] that no person should once pre-
sume to take land, and go to shore, vntill such time as the whole
nauiewere assembled and come togither. And, while he tariedand J'^JJ*1*
lingered, ho sent out a shipboate toward the land side, to know ^'UVua''
whether they, which stood there in such a number, and so well «^i«i w».
furnished in apparell defensiuc, were his foes and enimies, or else
his freends and comfortors.
They, that were sent to inquire, were instantlie desired of the
men of warre keeping the coast, (which thereof were before
instructed & admonished,) to descend and take land ; affirming that
they wore appointed by the duke of Buckingham there to await
and tarie for the arriuall and landing of the carlo of Richmond,
and to conduct him safolie into the campe, where the duke, not far
of[f], laie incamped with a mightie armio, and an host of great
strengtli and power, to the intent that the duke and the earle,
mining 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 obtcine the end
of their enterprise which they had before begun.
The earle of Richmond, Buspccting their flattering request to be \fi£*™™f
but a fraud (as it was in deed), after he pcrcciucd none of his ships tlJS/tTiMci
to appcare in Bight, he weied rp his anchors, halsed vp his sailes, m/*"*1
k, hauing a prosperous aud streinable wiud, and a fresh gale sent
Ajbrgtdtal*
to imtmp ikt
tarlt* nst-
trngert.
406
XII. RICHARD IH.
ThttarU
arritittA in
tiitntntuiir
(fr ]MiifU by
land iAUi
Britaint
again*.
Thi UXrli
amuttX at
MUford
Tmtlord
Btanltit*
d€\UH 10
euen by God to deliuer hira from that perill aud ieopardie, arriued
safe and in all securitie in the duchie of Normtuidic ; where he (to
refresh and solace his soldiers and people) tooke his recreation bj
the space of three daies, and cleerelie determined with part of his
companie to passe all by land againe into Britaine.
Catesby — whom Richard had despatched ( IV. iv, 444-450) to
summon the Duke of Norfolk to Salisbury — now re-enters with the
latest advices (11. 533-536):
My Liege, the Duke of Buckingham is taken ;
That is the best newes : that the E&rle of Richmond
Is, with a mighty power, landed at Milford,
Is colder tiding*1, but yet they must be told.
Here Shakspere annihilates the historical time which intervened
between Buckingham's luckless rebellion and Richmond's victorious
enterprise. Buckingham was captured in October, 1483. Richmond,
[Hoi. Hi. 7S3/1/23. Halle, 410.] being accompanied onelie
with two thousand men, and a small number of ships, weied vp his
anchors, and halscd vp his sailes in tho moncth of August [1485],
and sailed from Harflect with so prosperous a wind, that, the
seuenth daies after his departure, he arriued in Wales in the
cucuiug, at a place called Milford hauen, and incontinent tooke
laud, . . .
Act IV. sc. v. — Stanley enters with Christopher Urswick, to whom
he says (II. 1-5):
Sir Christopher, tell Richmond this from me :
That, in the stye of the most deadly Bore,
My Sonne George Stanley is frankt vp in hold :
If I reuolt, off goes yong Georges head ; 4
The feare of that holds off my present ayde.
In August, 1485, "adaie or two before" Richmond sojourned at
Lichfield,
[Hoi iil 763/2/73. Halle, 411.] tho lord Stanleie, hauing in his
band almost hue thousaud men, lodged in the [?'. 754] same towne.
But, hearing that the erle of Richmond was marching thitherward,
gaue to him place, dislodging him and his, and repaired to a
1 tidings] Q. XevxsF.
1 Folyd. Very, says f559/A$) that Richmond sailed from the month of the
Seine on August 1 ("Calend. AugiiBti,f), and reached Milford Haven seven
days after his departure, about sunset According to Ckmt. Oroyl. (573) Auguat
I was the date of Richmond's arrival at Milford Haven. Rous (218) gives
August 6 as the date on which Richmond arrived at Milford Haven.
XII. RICHARD HL
407
towne called Aderstone ; the reabiding the comming of the earle. ■■>«>_
jricion of S.
And this wilie fox did this act, to auoid all suspicion on king *'^»2**
Richards part. £»™ufi.
For the lord Stanleie was afraid, least, if he should seeme
open lie to be a fautor or aider to the earle his sonne in law, before
the day of the battcll, that king Richard, (which yet vtterlie 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 iii. 754/2/54. Halk, 413.] could in no wise be assured
of his father in law Thomas lord Stanleie, which, for feare of the (Fw^iiii
destruction of the lord Strange his sonne fas you haue heard), as Stanley hold
, „ _ .. . _ \ , it tack lotto
yet inclined to neither partie. For, if he had gone to the earle, ****■!
and that notified to king Richard, his sonne had beene shortlie
executed.
Stanley also asks (1. 6) :
But, tell mo, where is Princely Richmond nowt
CM. At Penbroke, or at Harford- west,1 in Wales.
Stan. What men of Name resort to him ? 8
CM. Sir Walter Herbert, a renowned Souldier ;
Sir Gilbert Talbot, Sir William Stanley;
Oxford, redoubted Pembroke, Sir lames Blunt,
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 withall.*
The Earls of Oxford and Pembroke sailed with Richmond from
Normandy. On the day after his arrival at Milford Haven, Richmond,
"at the BLinne rising, remooued to Hereford west " (Hot. iii. 753/1/33.
Halle, 410), While there he received a
[Hal. iii. 753/1/44. Halle, 410.] message from the inhabitants &,^*"
of the towne of Penbroke, . . . that the Penbrochians were readie LrXra*01*
to serue and giue their attendance on their naturall and immediat TO
lord Iasper earle of Penbroke.
1 Harford-west] Q. Hertford West F.
* 615. At . . . ioithall. I have taken these lines in the order of the Qq.
40S
XII. RICHARD in.
gir Walter
erbert and
Rloe tp
Tbomu in
•rnu for
Hirliani.]
Tkeertt
mother amd
Other hu
frtntdt, thai
he nttant a
dirrctpcu-
•agt to
London, A
Ri&ap
TKomai
tveartth
feat lie and
tmiee to th4
mrlt ttf
Richmond.
Advancing farther, Richmond
[Hoi iii. 753/2/10. Halle, 411.] was by his espials ascerteined,
that sir Walter Herbert, and Rice ap Thomas were in hamesse
before him ; readie to incounter with bis armie, and to stop their
passage. Wherefore, like a valiant capteine, he first determined to
set on them, and either to destroie or to take them into his fauour ;
and after, with all his power and puissance, to giue battell to his
mortall enimie king Richard. But, to the intent his freends should
know in what readinesse he was, and how he proceeded forward,
he sent of his most secret and faithfull seruants with letters and
instructions to the Ladie Margaret his mother, to the lord Stanleie
and his brother [Sir William Stanley], to sir Gilbert Talbot, and to
other his truBtie freends ; declaring to them that he, being succoured
and holpen with the aid and rcliefo of his freends, intended to
passe oucr the riucr of Seuerae at Shrewesburie, and so to passe
directlio to the citio 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 donbtfull 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,
with a goodlie band of Welshmen ; which, making an oth and
promise to the earle, submitted himselfe wholie to his order and
commandement.
IRichmninJ
jninwl hy
Sir Gilbert
Tilbnt and
Sir William
fiumler.f
In the evening of the day on which Richmond encamped near
Newport,
[Hoi. iii. 753/2/59. Halle, 411.] came to him sir 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 thus, his power increasing, he arriued at the
towne of Stafford, and there paused.
There also came sir William Stanleie accompanied with a few
persons.
XII. RICHARD III.
409
Sir Ioh*
Vtrt tarit (if
Ojford
Qtttttk out of
prison, A Me
with atkert
\Jvsm
Blunt being
one — 1 go to
tkt earle of
Richmond.
In U84,1
[Hal. iii 749/I/I7- HalU.t 405.] Iohn Vere, earle of Oxford,
which (aa you liauo heard before) was bj king Edward kept in
prison within the caatell of Harames, so persuaded lames Blunt,
captcine of the same fortresse, and sir Iohn Forteacue, porter of
the towne of Calls, that he himselfc was not onelie dismissed and
sot at libertie, but they also, abandoning and leaning their fruitful!
offices, did condescend to go with him into France to the earle of
Richmond, and to take his part.
The historic date of this scene must be August, 1485, but Stanley
gives Urswick & message relating to a matter which had been settled in
1483 (p. 399 above):
Retourne vnto thy Lord ; commend me to him :
Tell him, the Queene hath harteiie consented
He shall espouse Elizabeth her daughter. — 11. 16-18. (Qi).
When the marriage between Richmond and the Princess Elizabeth
had been arranged,
[Hoi iii. 742/1/58. Halle, 392.] the countesse of Richmond
tooko into liir Beruice Christopher Urawike, an honest and wise nf«««(««
priest, and (after an oth of him for to be secret taken and sworne) rturtih ou
r » v - matter to
she vttered to him all hir mind and counsell ; adhibiting to him the 22ft **"
more confidence and truth, that he all his life had fauourcd and JSTJJ'S
taken part with king Ilenrie the sixt, and as a speciall iewell put MmL
to hir seruice by sir Lewes hir physician. So the mother, studious
for the prosperitio of hir son, appointed this Christopher Urswike
to saile into Britaino to the earle of Richmond, and to declare and
reueale to him all pacts and agreements betweenc hir & the quocno
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 (1. 1) :
1 Oxford probably joined Richmond in October, 1484. We learn from the
minutes of Charles ^III/s Council, sitting at Jfontargia, that Richmond had
left Brittany before October 11, 1484.— S&mce* du Constil de CharU* VIII.,
128. The Council remained at Montargis until October 25, 1484.— Ibid., 142.
According to PaJyd. Verg. (556/13), Richmond, after escaping from Brittany,
went to Angers and thence to Montargia, where Oxford, Blunt, and Forlescue
came to him.
410
XII.
IUCHAKD III.
nuartiV
without
[. m All
i*n
Enrae who
ted
Riclurd
came to Iiim
ttnvp
toar.J
(TndtorB In
Richard" •
army.]
Will not King Richard let me speake with himt
S/ter. No, my good Lord ; therefore be patient.
Assured, in answer to his enquiry, that it is All Souls' Day, the
Duke says (1. 12):
Why, then Al-soules day is my bodies doomsday.
Buckingham,
[Hoi. iii. 744/2/13. Halle, 395.] vpon All soules daio, without
arreignient or iudgement, . . . was at Salisburie, in the open
market place, on a new scaffold, beheaded and put to death.
Act V. bc. ii. —Richmond and his adherents enter. One of the
stages of his march was " the towue of Tamworth " {Hot. iii. 754/2/32.
Halle, 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 hut what are friends for fear,
Which in his deerest neede will flyc 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.1 I quote this latter passage as it stands
in Holinshed :
[Hoi, iii. 754/2/42. Halle, 413 ] Diuerse other noble person-
ages, which inwardlie hated king Richard woorse than a todo or
a serpent, did likewise resort to him with all their powor and
strength, wishing and working his destruction; who otherwise
would haue beene the instrument of their casting away.
On the day of battle,
[Hoi. iii. 767/i/26. Halle, 416.] such as were present (more
for dread than louc) kissed them opcnlic, whome they inwardlie
hated. Other sware outwardlio to take part with such whose
death they sccrctlte 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 V. sc. iii. — Richard enters with his partisans, and says (1. 1) :
Here pitch our fcentes,3 euon here in Bosworth field.
On August 21, 148V
1 "Diueree . . . strength" is Halits translation of Polyd- Vtrg. (561 /4J,
46). Hoi., not perceiving that "him" refers to Richmond, added the words
" wishing . . . away. ■ Unlet] Q. TerU F.
3 I take the date from Cont. Croyl., 573.
XII. RICHARD III.
411
[Sol, iii. 755/i/3G, Ihdte, 413.] king Richard, which was
appointed now to finish his last labor by the very diuine iustice &
prouidence of God, (which called him to coiidigne punishment for
his mischiefous deserts,) marched to a place meet for two battels to
incounter, by a village called Bosworth, not farre from Leicester 1
and there he pitched his field on a lull called Anne Beame,
refreshed ids souldiers, and tooke his rest.
Norfolk is among those who are in attendance. Richard asks (1. 9) :
Who hath descried the number of the Traitors t
Nor. Six or seuen thousand is their vtmost power.
Rich. Why, our Battalia 1 trebblea that account : . . .
When the two armies were drawn up for action, Richmond's
[Hoi. iii. 755/2/57. Halle, 414.] whole number exceeded not
fiue thousand men, beside the power of the Stan lei as, wherof three
thousand were in the field, vnder the standard of air William
Stanleie. The kings number was double so much and more.
Richard returns from surveying " the vantage of the ground " (V.
iii. 15), and takes up his quarters in the royal tent. He gives some
orders ; one being (L 64) :
Saddle white Surrey for the Field to morrow.
On or about August 19, 1485,2
[Hoi iii. 754/2/20. Halle, 412.] he, (inuironcd with his gardj
with a frowning countenance and cruell visage, mounted on a great
white courser, . . . entered the towne of Leicester after the sunnc
set, . . .
Richard then demands of Katcliffe (1. 68) :
[Richard
encamped
imir
Botworth. )
[8Mb m
wu mit-
namborrd
bjr mora
ttuui two to
one.)
[Richard*!
white
cour»r.)
1 battalion Q.
* After Richmond's arrival at Lichfield, Richard left Nottingham for
Leicester. — Rotyd. Verg., f>61/i 1-39. The King proposed leaving Nottingham
on August 16 (Faston, 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. — Bartholomew. This messenger might have
ridden as swiftly as one who seems to have been at Bosworth field on August
22, and, on the following day, brought news of the battle to York. — York
Records, 218. Such a feat was surpassed by Bernard Calvert, who, on July
17, 1619, rode — with relays of horses — 140 miles in 9 hours.— Stow^s Annates,
ed. 1631, p. 1032, coL 2. In Richard's reign messengers could, within two
days, ride post for 200 miles. — Con/. OroyL, 571. The distance between
Nottingham and Leicester is twenty-two mile** in a straight line. Richard, as
we have seen, departed from Leicester on August 21. (In regard to Mr.
Davies's conjecture, York Records, 216, note, that for Bestwood we should read
Preetwould, see Mr. Gairdner's Richard ///., p. 294, note.)
412
:chaku
[Nnrthtini*
fcerUnd took
no put in
the fettle.]
Th$ lord
SlOAleU, tkt
tar U of
Jltchmorui. (£•
othrrt mttt, ■
tmbrart, and
conduit.
Saw'st thou the melancholly Lord Northumberland t
Bat. Thomas the Earle of Surrey, and himselfe.
Much about Oockshut 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 " Richard calls him [Northumberland] malancholy,
because he did not join heartily in his cause." — Var. 8Ht six. 213.
Among those who submitted to Richmond after the battle
[Hoi. iiL "09/2/43. Halle, 419.] was Henrie the fourth carle
of Northumberland, which (whether it was by the commandement
of king Richard, putting diffidence in him ; or he did it for the
loue and fauour that he bare vnto the earle) stood still with a
great companie, and intermitted not in the battel!, . . .
It is now " darke night " (1. 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 doubtfull shocke of Armes," such
aid as may not endanger George Stanley (11. 91-96). Stanley then says
(U. 97-100):
Farewell ! the leyaure and the fearfull time
Cuts off 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 (1L 108-117).
On or about August 20, 1485,1 in the daytime, Richmond went
[Hoi. iil 755/1/17. Halle, 413.] to the towne of Aderston,
where the lord Stanleie and sir William his brother with their
bauds were abiding. There the erle came first to his father in
law, in a litlo close, where he saluted him, and sir William his
brother : and after diuerse and freendlio imbracings, each reioised
of the state of other, and suddenlie were surprised with great ioy,
comfort, and hope of fortunate successc in all their affaires and
dooings. Afterward they consulted togither how to giue battell to
king Richard if he would abide, whome they knew not to be farre
off with an huge host . , .
[Hoi. iii. 755/2/22. Halle, 414.] After that tho earle of
Richmond was departed from the communication of his freends
(as you haue heard before) he began to be of a better stomach,
1 Pohff. r 24, 43.
XII. RICHARD III.
413
and of a more valiant courage, and with all diligence pitched his
field iust by the campe of his enimies, and there he lodged that
night
Richard and Richmond sleep, each in his tent. Their dreams bring
before them Prince Edward, Henry VI., Clarence, Rivers, Grey, and
Vaughan, Hastings, the young Princes, Anne, and Buckingham, who —
visible and audible to those present at the play — enter successively the
space between the armies. While promising victory to Richmond, the
ghosts bid their murderer despair and die. When Buckingham
vanishes, " Richard starts out of his dreame " (1. 176).
Richard encamped near the village of Bosworth on August 21,
1485 (p. 410 above).
[Hot. iiL 755/I/4S. Halle, 414.] The fame went, that he had
the Bame night a dreadful! and terrible dreame : for it seemed to
him being asleepe, that he did see diuersc images like terrible
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 fearc, but it stuffed his head and troubled
his mind with manic busio and dreadfull imaginations. For incon-
tinent after, his heart being almost damped, he prognosticated
before the doubtful! chance of the battell to come ; not vsing the
alacritu and mirth of mind1 and countenance as he ivas accustomed
to doo before he came toward the battell. And least that it might
be suspected that he was abashed for fcare of his enimies, and for
that cause looked so pitiouslie ; he recited and declared to his
familiar freends in the morning his wonderfull vision and fearefull
dreame.
The night is past, " Enter the Lords to Richmond, sitting in his
Tent " (1. 222). He asks (L 234) :
How farre into the Morning is it, Lords f
Lor. Vpon the stroke of foure.
Hick. Why, then 'tis time to Arme, and giue direction.
Richmond's procedure before the battle is thus described :
[Richmond
near
Richard.)
The dreamt
of ting
Aichard the
tkird,fbrt~
telling Mm
of hi* end.
[Richard
wm delected
by Mm
dream.)
In the morning betimes, he rftteiunond'i
caused his men to put on their armour, and apparell themselues "med
[Hoi iii. 755/2/27. Halle, 414.]
sed his men to put on their
readie to fight and giue battell ;
BOMUdllM
MftNL]
Before he sleeps Richard says (V. iii. 73, 74) :
" I hmie not that Alacrity of Spirit,
Nor cheere of Mindc that I u«« wont to kaue."
414
XII. RICHARD in.
The tarltt
tauat iK«(
and right, *t
tkertfort
lUtfl'it of
good
luectut.
[Richard
cannot trust
ki* soldier*. )
(Hlcbanl
an hh
frtond*,]
* Hie Oration to his Souldiers" ensues (11. 237-270) ;
fforf, and our good cause, fight vpon our side J . . . 210
Richard except, those whom we fight against 243
Had rather haue vs win then him they follow :
For what is he they follow ? Truly, Gentlemen,
A bloudy Tyrant and a Homicide / . . .
One that made meanee to come by what he hath, 248
And slaughter'd those that were the meanes to help him ; . . .
If you do jneeate l 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 paints the hyre ; . . .
Then, in the natne of God and all these rights, 263
Advance your Standards, 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 Richmond and Victory ! 270
I give excerpts from " The oration of king Henrie the Seauenth to
his armie," 3 for comparison with V. iii. 240-270 :
[Hoi. iii. 757/2/14. Halle, 416.] I doubt not> but God will
rather aid vs (yea and fight for vs) than see vs vanquished and
ouerthrowne by such as neither fearc him nor his laws, nor yet
regard iustice or honestie.
Our eauu is so hist, that no enterprise can be of more vcrtue,
both by the lawes diuine & ciuill. For what can be a more honest,
goodlie, or godlie quarrel), than to fight agaiust a capteine, being
an homicide and nmrtherer of his owne bloud or progenie, an
extreame destroier of his nobilitie, and to his and our countrie and
the poorc subjects of the same a deadlie mallet, a firie brand, and
a burthen intolerable ? . . .
[Hoi. iii 757/2/49. HalU, 417.] Beside this, I assure you,
that there be yonder in the great battell, men brought thither for
feare, and not for loue ; souldiers by force compelled, and not with
good will assembled ; persons which desire rather the destruction
than saluation of their maister and capteine : . . .
[Hoi iii. 758/i/7. Halle, 417.] What mercie is in him that
sleieth his trustie freends as well as his extreame enimies? . . .
[Hoi. iii 758/1/59. Halle, 417.] Therefore labour for your
gaine, & sweat for your right While we were in Britaiue, we had
1 ntxate] Q. su*arc F.
* The „ . , flfnu'e.] Hoi. om, Halle,
XII. RICHARD III.
415
small liuings and little plentie of wealth or welfare, uow is the m»r»w»M
° r of rlctonr.)
time eome to get aboundance of riches, and copie of profit ; which
is the reward of your seruice, and merit of your painc$. . . .
[Hoi iii. 768/2/23. Halle, 4ia] And this one thing I assure <IUc*""2ld
you, that in so iust and good a cause, and bo notable a quarrcll, JJ^Jj1-
von shall find me this daie rather a dead carrion xyon tfte cold
ground, than a free prisoner on a carpet in a ladies chamber. . . .
[Hoi. iii. 758/2/50. Halle, 418.] And therefore, in the name of ffi™* 1]
God and S. George, let eucrie man couragiouslie aduance fourth his
standard!
In the opposite camp Norfolk enters exclaiming (L 288) :
Arme, arme, my Lord I the foe vaunts in the field !
Richard thereupon declares how the royal troops are to be marshalled
(U. 291-300):
I will leads forth my Soldiers to the plaine,
And thus my Battel! shal be ordered : 292
My Foreward shall be drawne out all 1 in length,
Consisting equally of Horse and Foot ;
Our Archers shall be placed in the mid'st :
Iohn 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 Bat tell, whose puissance on either side
Shall be well-winged with our cheefest Horse. 300
On August 22, 1485,
[Hoi iii 755/2/7. Halle, 414.] king Richard, being furnished **•#,
with men & all ablements of warre, bringing all his men out of J?*^^
their campe into the plaine, ordered his fore-ward in a maruellous at*tmSm'
length, in which he appointed both horsmen and footmen, to the
intent to imprint, in the hearts of them that looked a farrc off, a
Budden terror and deadlie feare, for the great multitude of the
armed Bouldiers : and in the fore-front he placed the archers like a
strong fortified trench or bulworke. Ouer this battel! was capteine,
Iohn duke of Norffolke, with whome waB Thomas earle of Surrie, 3£y£|Jj^
his sonne. After this long vant-gard, followed king Richard him- yjjjjj^*
selfe with a strong companie of chosen and approued men of warre, fui*KhartU
hailing horssemen for wings on both sides of his battell.
1 vtU alt] Qi. The rest omit.
XII. BICHARD III.
[ffOfblh
wunedbya
rime to
irtrmin from
th« Geld.]
* RitkaKl.
{Norfolk* ■
tidtiitrto
Mini]
I Richard
Richmond' I
follower!.)
Norfolk shows the King a paper, saying (1. 303) :
This found I on my Tent this Morning.
The paper contains the ensuing couplet (11. 304, 305) :
Iockey of NorfoUoet be not too bold,1
For Dickon thy maiater is bought and sold.
From Halle (419) Holinshed copied a story that Norfolk
[Hoi. iiL 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 vpon his gate :
Iacke of NorffoUce be not too bold,
For *Dikon thy maister is bought and sold.
Yet all this notwithstanding, he regarded more his oth, 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 he faitlifullie liued vnder him, so he manfullie died
with him, to his great fame and laud.
Soon Richard's " Oration to his army " 8 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 Run-awayest
A scum of Brittaines, and base Lackey Pezants, . . .
You hauing Lands, and blest with beauteous tciuts, 321
They would restrain© the one, distaine the other.
And who doth leade them but a paltry Fellow, 323
Long kept in Britaine at our Mvtfters cost 1
A Mtihe-sop, . . .
If we be conquered, let men conquer vs, 332
And not these bastard Britaine* ; whom our Fathers
Haue, in their owne Land, beaten, bobb'd, and thump'd,
And, on Record, left them the heires of shame.
i( The oration of king Richard the third to the chiefteins of hit
armie " contains the subjoined passages, which should be compared with
the lines quoted above :
[Hoi, iii. 756/i/6o. Ilalk, 415.] Ye see ... , how a companie
of traitors, theeues, outlawes, and runnagales of our owne nation,
be aiders and partakers of his [Richmond's] feat and enterprise,
roadie at hand to ouercomc and oppresBe vs.
You Bee also, what a number of beggerlie Britans and faint-
1 too] Clipel 1.
» B is
to Qq. 6*8. soQa. 1*5 Ff.
army.] Hoi. om. Halle.
xn. mruAWJ in.
41
hearted Frenchmen be with him arriued to destroio vs, our wiius
and children. . . .
[Sol. iii. 756/2/17. SalU, 415.] And to begin with the erle
of Richmond, capteine of this rebellion, he is a Welsh milkesop, a
man of small courage, and of lesse experience in martiull acts and
feats of warre ; brought vp by my tnooDiers l mcanes, and mine,
like a captiuc in a close cage, in the court of Francis duke of
Britainc ; . . .
[Hoi. iii. 756/2/43. Halle, 415.] And as for the Frenchmen
and Britain, their valiantnesse is such, that our noble progenitors,
and your valiant pare /its ' haue them oftener vanquished and ouer-
come in one moneth, than they in the beginning imagined possible
to compasse and finish in a whole yeare.
Almost immediately after Norfolk's last entrance, Richard sent for
Stanley's contingent (1. 290). The King demands of a messenger who
now enters (1. 341) :
What sayos Lord Stanley? will he bring hia power?
J/m. My Lord, he doth deny to come.
King. Off with his sonne Georges head ! 344
Nor. My Lord, the Enemy is past the Marsh :
After the battaile let George Stanley dye.
Halle, Holmsbed's authority, says :
[Sol. iii. 760/ 1/59. Salkf 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 ho dined.
The lord Stanleie answered the purseuant that, if the king did so,
he had more sonnes aliue ; and, as to come to him, ho was not then
so determined. When king Richard heard this answer, he com-
manded the lord Strange incontinent to be beheaded : which was
at that verie same season, when both the armies had sight ech of
other. But the councellors of king Richard pondered the time
and cause, (knowing also the lord Strange to be innocent of his
fathers offense, )& persuaded the king that it was now time to fight,
& no time to execute.
Tkt K. trouid
ptrruadt kis
capleiiu that
tktmritof
Richmond a
FrtHChmt.i
l Mm
..... J I vt.. ,
tnatt
ruiTrri.
7\t lord
bold aiuvtr
to X.
Richards
[Richinl
Dm
necutfot
till *fU r lb*
Utile. I
> moother$] Hoi. {cd. S). brothers Halle. Hoi. (ed. 1).
* parents] HoL ed. 1. part* HoL ed. 2.
I E
418
xn. RICHARD m.
(The marsh
on Rich-
mond's right
Buik.]
The polieit of
thf mrU.
t Richmond
wm itUcked
when be had
pawed the
maxah.]
[A twill
horse waa
kVMgH t-j
bimj
iHe refmed
ofly.)
Besides that, they aduised him to keepe the lord Strange as
prisoner till the hattell 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.
Richard attacked as Boon as Richmond's right flank was no longer
protected by the marsh of which Norfolk speaks.
[Hoi. iii. 758/2/65. Halle, 418.] Betweeno both armies there
was a great marish then (but at this present, by reason of diches
cast, it is growne to be ftrme ground) l which the earle of Richmond
left on his right hand; for this intent, that it should be on that
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
saw the earles companie was passed the marish, he did command
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. George,
Inspire vs with the sploene of fiery Dragons !
Compare some closing words in the speech attributed by Halle to
Richard, from which I have given excerpts above (pp. 416, 417),
[Hoi. iii. 757/i/i6. Halle, 416.] Now saint George to borow,
let vs set forward, . . .
Act V. sc. iv. — Fortune has turned against Richard, and, when the
King enters calling for a horse, Catesby answors (1. 8) :
Withdraw, my Lord ; lie helpe you to a Horse.
Rich. Slaue, I haue set my life vpon a cast,
And I will stand the hazard of the Dye !
Richard might have fled, for
[Hoi iii. 759/2/73. Halle, 419.] when the losse of the battell
was imminent and apparant, they brought to him a [p. 760] swift and
a light horsse, to conuete himawaie. 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 saie) that on that daie he would make an
end of nil battels, or else there finish his life.
Act V. sc. v. — In V. iv, 1-6, Catesby appealed to Norfolk for rescue :
1 then . . , ground] Not in Polyd. Vcrg^ 563 19.
XII. KICHARD III.
419
lloscup, my Lord oF Norfolk, rescue, reacue !
The King enacts more wonders then a man,
Daring an opposite to euery danger :
His horse is slaine, and all on foot he fights, 4
Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death.
Rescue, faire Lord, or else the day is lost !
The entry of scone v. (F) runs thus : " Alarum, Enter Richard and
Richmond ; they fight. Richard is slaine." While the vanguards of
the two armies were hotly engaged,
[Hot. iii. 759/i/26. Halle, 418.] king Richard was admonished
by his exploratory 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 lie
had learned and knowen of others that were able to giuo him fiill
information. Now, being inflamed with ire, and vexed with out-
ragious malice, he put his spurres to his home, and rodo out of
the side of the range of his battell, leaning the vant-gard fighting ;
and like a hungric lion ran with spoare in rest toward him. The
earle of Richmond perceiuod well the king furiouslie comming
toward him, and, bicause the whole hope of his wealth and purpose
was to be determined by battell, he gladlie proffered to incounter
with him bodie to bodie, and man to man.
King Richard set on bo sharplie at the first brunt, that he
ouerthrew the carles standard, and slue sir William Brandon l his
standard-bearer, (which was father to sir 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 lohn was by him
manfullie oucrthrowen. And so, he making open passage by dint
of sword as he went forward, the carle of Richmond withstood his
violence, and kept him at the swords point, without aduantage,
longer than his companions either thought or iudged : which, being
almost in despairo of victorie, were suddenlie recomforted by sir
I Richard ran
with ipw
In rest
toward
R;chmoDd.]
Thi tarlt of
Htfhmoiui
proffenth to
, • u.ni,t(>r
A". Richard
bodit (0
bodir.
Sir William
Brandon
Mlatne.
1 Sir William Brandon waa not slain at Bosworth. Polyd. Very. (563/38)
merely says that Richard overthrew both standard and standard-bearer. A
petition presented by Brandon in the first Parliament of Henry VII. (November,
1485) shows that fear of Richard obliged him to keep nanctuary at Gloucester
fmm Michaelmas 1484 "unto yourc comeing into this Rcatue, Soveraino
Lord,"— Rot. Pari., vi 291/2.
( Richmond
kept
Richard at
the «word'«
point longer
than might
have been
eapected.
[ Richmond's
array rein-
forced by Hir
William
Stanley.]
xzl «nu*i» m.
1 thi* . . . roidti*} Q. CAcm . . .
* enioy ii] Q. i, 2. The re* omit.
' ' «l pUaat yov «rt way «ov
F.
XII. RICHARD 111.
421
To Richmond's enquiry (1. 12),
Wltat men of name are slaine on either aide t [see Bidenote to 759/ 2/1].
Stanley replies :
Iohn Duke of Norfolke, Walter Lord Ferrers,1
Sir Robert Brakenbury,2 and Sir "William Brandon.3
Halle (419) and Holinshed record that
[Hoi iii. 759/2/l] of the nobilitie were Blaine Iohn duke of
Norfolke, . . .
There were slaine beside him, Walter lord Ferrers of Chartleie,
sir Richard Radcliffe, and Robert Brakenberie, lieutenant of the
Tower, and not manie gentleman more.
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). I quote two excerpts partly illustrating the
commencement of the dramatic oration (11. 15-17) :
Interre their Bodies as become their Births ;
Proclaim© a pardon to the Soldiers fled,
That in submission will returne to vs : . . .
The victory won, Richmond
[Hoi. iii. 760/1/35- Halle, 420.] ascended vp to the top of a
little mounteine, where he not onelie praised and lauded his valiant
Houldiers, but also gaue vnto them his hartio thanks, with promise
of condigne recompense for their fidelitie and valiant facts ; willing
and commanding all the hurt and wounded persons to be cured,
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 hiin-
selfc, & casting awaic his abilimonts of warre, meekelic submitted
themselues to the obeisance nnd rule of the earle of Richmond : of
the which the more part had gladlie so doone in the beginning, if
they might haue conuenientlie escaped from king Richards espials,
which, hauing as cleere eies as Lynx, and open cares as Midas,
ranged & searched in euerie quarter,4
1 Ferrers] Capell Ferris Qa. Ff.
2 Brackenbtint] h\ Brokeixbury Qq. 3—8. Ff. 1—3.
s Brandon was not slain. See p. 419, n. 1, above.
4 In V. iii. 221, 222, Richard goes out with Ralclifle ; saying,
" Vnder our Tents lie play the eaves-dropper [F4. Ease-dropptr F.J
To heare if any mesne to shrinke from tne."
*Utint in the
JUU.
What
pertont of
me m •-"!
king
Jtichanb
tidt.
[RichniPTnl
j> raised his
soldiers, and
commanded
that the
sI&Jd tlmuM
b« Av.\ I VI T.--1
to sepul-
ture.)
[After their
master's
death
Richard's
soldJois
raluBtttad to
Richmond.)
422
XII. KICUARD I1L
■;.V
(Hit
clwrmctw.)
[ Per»«n*l
nppeanuu*.]
(Owf li>- rnl
diet In hie
Ittlor days.)
[FleaMy
wnnUioTirM
In youth.]
Lastly I quote passages describing the characters and personal traits
of Kdwara IV., George Duke of Clarence, Richard ILL, and Richmond.
Edward
[Hoi. iii. 7II/1/46. More, 2/17.] was a goodlie personage, and
princelie to behold, of heart couragious, politiko in counsel], in
nduersitie nothing abashed, in prosperitie rather ioifull than proud,
in peace iust and mercifull, in warre sharpe and fierce, in the field
bold and bardic, and natbcles no further (than wisdoine would)
aducnturous ; whose warres who bo well considered, he shall no
lease commend his wisedome where he voided, than his manhood
where he vanquished. He was of visage louelie, of bodie tuightie,
strong, and cleane made: howbeit, in his latter daies, with ouer
liberall diet,1 somewhat corpulent and boorelie, and nathelesse
not vncomelie. He was of youth greatlie giuen to neshlic
wantonnosse : * . . .
OwrjM duirt
[Hot. iii. 712/1/41. More, 5/9.] George duke of Clarence was
a goodlie noble prince, and at all tiniea fortunate, if either his
owne ambition had not set him against his brother, or the enuie of
• kvdMtKt his enimies * his brother against him.
Tkt dttrrtp-
lion of
JtirXnrd Iht
tAird.
fVSnoMd
■ppeannce ]
iMkliciuiic,
writhru),
f-nvioui.]
UliH
JMtrtfiitouB
fetkj
[ITol. iii. 712/I/S9. More, 6/25.] Richard, the third sonne, of
whome we now in treat, was in wit and courage equal! with either
of them, in bodic and prowesse farre vndcr them both ; litle of
stature, ill featured of limmes, crooke backed, his left shoulder
much higher than his right,3 hnrd fawitred of visage,4 and such as
is in states called warlic, in other men otherwise ; he was malicious,
wrathfull, cnuious, and from afore his birth euer froward. It is for
truth reported, that the duchesse his mother had so much adoo in
ltir traucll, that she could not be dcliuered of him vncut; and that
lie came into the world with the feet forward, as men be borne
outward, and (as the fame runneth also) not vntoothed.5 . . .
1 Cp. Rich. Ill, I. i. 139-141.
* Cp. 3 Htn. VI.t II. i. 41, 42 ; and the asides of Clarence and Richard in
3 Hen, VU HI. u.
8 Cp. 3 Htn, VL, HI. ii- 153-162 ; Rich. III., I. i. 14-23.
4 "Hardjauor'd Richard " (3 Hen. VI.t Y. v. 78V
8 Cp. 3 Htn. VI, V. vi. 49 54, 70 75 ; Rich. III., II, iv. 27-29 ; IV. iv.
162—168.
Xll. RICHABD III.
423
None euill capfceine was ho in the warre, as to which his dis-
position was more meetly than for peace. Sundrie victories had
he, & sometimes ouerthrowes ; bat neaer on default as for his
owne person, either of hardinesse or politike order. Free was he
called of dispense, and somewhat abone 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,
arrogant of heart, outwardlie companiablo where he inwardlio
hated, not letting to kisse whome he thought to kill : despitious
and cruell, not for euill will alway, but ofter for ambition, and
either for the suertie or increase of his estate.
Friend and fo was much what indifferent, where his aduantage
grew ; he spared no mans death whose life withstoode his purpose.
Holinshed also contains the subjoined description of Richard,
which waa freely translated by Hallo from Polydore Vergil (Angl.
[Hoi iii. 760/2/52. Halle, 421.] As he was small and little of
stature, so was he of bodic greatlic deformed ; the one shoulder
higher than the other; his face was small, but his countenance
cruell, and such, that at the first aspect a man would iudgo it to
sauour and smell of malice, fraud, and deceit. When he stood
musing, he would bite and chaw busilie his nether lip ; l as who
said, that his fierce nature in his cruell bodie alwaies chafed,
stirred, and was euer vnquiet : beside that, the dagger which he
ware, ho would (when he studied) with his hand plucke vp &
downe in the sheath to the midst, neuer drawing it fullie out : he
was of a roadie, pregnant, and quickc wit, wilic to foine, and apt
to dissemble: he had a proud mind, and an arrogant stomach, the
which accompanied him euen to his death; rather choosing to suffer
the same by dint of sword, than, being forsaken and left helplesse
of his ynf&ithfuLl companions, to prcserue by cowardlie flight such
a fraile and vncerteiue life, which by malice, sicknesse, or condigno
punishment was like shortlie to come to confusion.
Kichard'a remorse for his nephews1 murder is thus pictured :
[i K<-M
gcnenl.J
[Libonil rn
tore]
(AdiMtts-
blor.]
[Ambition
Inn'lr hilU
CTUOll
{■11(1 lift-
■crupuiou* ]
7** darrip-
Hon of king
KieAard.
[Penon&l
appearance. I
[W« wgst
tobiUWs
Up white
mailuf.]
IOmmIm i
[Would not
save his Ufa
l.y flight |
1 Cp. Rich. IIL, IV. u. 27. See p. 371 above.
424
XIII. HENRY VJII.
[Rirlianl'R
remorae for
hi* nephews'
murder.)
Tht outward
ami inward
tnmbUiqf
tyrant* by
frudfrinp
coHicxmce.
[Hr took ill
rtit 4
night*.]
Tkipertnn
.■* *\> m Ei
nfBUmtmm
ducriM.
[Hol iii. 735/2/39. More, 85/19.] I haue heard bj credible
report of such as were secret with his chambcrlcine, that, after this
abhominable deed doone, he neuer had a quiet mind. . . .
He neuer thought himselfe sure. Where he went abroad, his
eies whirled about, his bodie prtuilie fensed,1 his hand euer vpon
liia 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
.slept, troubled with fearefull dreames, suddeulie sometime start
vp, lept out of his bed, and ran 2 about the chamber ; * . . .
Richmond
[Hol. iii. 757/i/53. Halle, 416.] was a man of no great
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 cheerefull
and couragious, his haire yellow like the burnished gold, his eies
graie, shining, and quicke ; prompt and readie in answering, but of
Buch 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 Life of King Henry the Might opens.
The action is brought to an end on September 10, 1533, the day of
Elizabeth's christening ;6 but Crannier's appearance before the Council
— July, 1544 — is dramatized in a preceding scene (Act V. sc. iii.).
Act I. sc. i. — Enter Norfolk, Buckingham, and Abergavenny.
Buckingham says (11. 4-7) :
An vn timely Ague 4
Staid me a Prisoner in my Chamber when
Those Sunnes of Glory, those two Lights of Men,
Met in the vale of Andren.
For. 'Twixt Guynea and Aide :
I was then present, saw them salute on Horsebacke ; 8
1 fensed] Hol. (More), feinted Halle.
* ron] Hol. (More), loked Halle.
a Cp. Rich. III., V. iii. 159, 160.
1 June 7, 1520, was the date of their first meeting (Halle, 608) J and thev
took leave of each other on June 24 (ffaUt, 620). * Haue, 805.
XIII. HEKBY VIII.
425
Tht iuier-
uu* of tAt
fro ttng$ in
I hi ratf nf
Arutrt*.
fflMftVtt
IBM
embrace
Beheld them, -when they lighted, how they clung
In their Embracement, as they grew together ; . . .
On June 7, 1520,
[Hoi. iii. 858/1/33. Halle, 008.] the two kings met in the vale
of Andren, accompanied with such a number of the nobilitie of
both rcalmes, so richlic 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 roonies, which euerie man kept
according to his appointment.
The two kings meeting in the field, either saluted other in
most lowing wise, first on horesebacke, and after alighting on foot
eftsoones imbraced with courteous words, to the great reioising of
the beholders : and, after they had thus saluted ech other, they
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
talke, banketting, and louing deuises, till it drew toward the
euening, and then departed for that night, the one to Guisnes, the
other to Ar&
The historical Buckingham was not his " Chambers Prisoner "
(1. 13) on June 17, 1520 ; for on that day, — after Francis had taken
leave of Queen Katharine and her ladies, —
[Hot, iii. 86O/2/64. Halle, G16.] The lord cardinal!, in statelie gj^J;.,
attire, accompanied with the duke of Buckingham, and other great 5JJSt!\ci,'a
lords, conducted forward the Frencb king, and in their way they
incountered and met the king of England and bis companie right n< <*•
in the vallte of Anderne, apparelled in their masking apparell ; [*"**■
which gladded the French king. ah*»»j.
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 (II. 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) :
But. Why the Diuell, 72
Vpon this French going out, tooke he vpon him
(Without the priuity o'th'King) t'appoint
11
[They
Hpmt4
Henry to
Frmncif. t/>
Ante.]
Calendar (Hen. VIIL), III. i 873, 895.
126
XIII. HENRY VI] F.
[The nobles
were dis-
KIMd nt
ng mm-
moncd to
attend
Henir with-
out the
council's
sanction.]
[Bucking-
ham was
especially
aggrieved.]
Onat katrtd
bctumm tkt
cardinal,
and Ou dul<
of Bucking-
Who should attend on himt He makes vp the File
Of all the Gentry ; for the moat 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 :
[27b/. iii. 855/2/1. Polyd. Verg. 659/3.] The peeres of the
realme (receiuing letters to prepare themselues to attend the king
in this iournie, and no apparant necessarie cause expressed, why
nor wherefore) seemed to grudge, that such a costlie iournie
should be taken in hand to their importunate charges and
expenses, without consent of tho whole boord of the councelL
But namelie the duke of Buckingham (being a man of a loftie
courage, but not most liberall) sore repined that he should be at
so 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 vame talke to bo had, and communication to be
ministred of things of no importance. Wherefore he sticked not
to saie, that it was an intolerable matter to obeie such a vile and
importunate person.1
The duke indeed could not abide the cardinal!, and Kpeclallic
he had of late concerned an inward malice against him for sir
William Buhner's cause, whose trouble was onelie procured by the
cardinall ; who first caused him to be cast in prison.3 Now
such grccuous words, as the duke thus vttered against him, came to
the cardinalls eare ; wherevpou he cast before hand all waiea possible
to haue him in a trip, that he might cause him to leape headlcsse.
In response to Norfolk's opinion that the peace is of little worth
(11. 87-89), Buckingham says (11. 89-94) :
Euery man,
After the hideous storme that follow'd, was
1 HaiU merely says (600) that the project of an interview " was often
tymea 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
Bhould passe the sea to his castell and lordshyp of Guisnes, & there in Maie
next comming, betwene Guisnes and Arde, the kyng and the Frenche kyng
should mete."
* See p. 438, n. 1, below.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
427
A thing Inspir'd ; and, not consulting, broke
Into a generall Prophesie : 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.
[Hoi. iil 86O/2/74. Halle, 616.] On mondaic, the eighteenth
of Iune, was such an hideous storme of wind and weather, that
manie conlectured 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 flaw'd the League, and hath attach'd
Our Merchants goods at Burdeux.
Abur. Is it therefore 96
Th' Ambassador is silenc'd ?
Nor. Marry, is't.
The historic Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, was beheaded
on May 17, 1521 j some ten months before the event here spoken of.
On March 6, 1522,
[Hoi. iii. 872/2/47. Halle, 632.] the French king commanded
all Englishmens goods, being in Burdcaux, to be attached and put
vnder arrest, . . . [Halle, 633.] The Merchauntes of England,
that had factors at Burdeaux, coniplayncd to the King of England,
and shewed hym how the French 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.1
This outrage was met by retaliatory measures ; and the French
[Halle, 634.] Ambassador was commaunded to kopo his house
in silenco,2 and not to come in presence till he was sent for, . . ,
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 (11. 163-167) that Wolsey
timp*»tu<tHM
teitut prop-
trou'Ae.
TktFrtneA
K. oltacknK
tktSnfftuk-
m Bur-
dtatuc.
[Th* French
ftmbunrfot
■ilcntm),]
1 The substance of this excerpt from Halle and the words " league '' and
" merchants" are in Hol.'a epitome (872/2/73) °' Halle 633, but not in one
paaage.
1 in riUnce] Halle, om. Hoi.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
429
After attributing the costly and useless interview to Wolsey'a love
of ostentation, Buckingham makes a more serious charge (11. 176-190) :
Charles the Emperour, 176
Vnder pretence to see the Queens hie Aunt,
(For 'twas indeed his colour, but he came
To whisper Wolsey,) here makes visitation :
His fearea 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 tuenac'd him : he ' priuily
Deales with our Cardinal ; and, as I troa, — 184
Which I doc well ; for, I am sure, the Emperour
Paid ere he promis'd; 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 sooiie 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.
[Hoi. iii. 856/1/5 1. Halle, 604.] On Whitsundaie, earlie in
the morning, they tooke their horases, and rode to the citie of
Cauturburie, the more to keepe aolemne the feast of Pentecost,
but specialise to see the queene of England his aunt was the
emperour his intent ; of whome ye may be sure he was most
iuifullie reeeiued and welcomed. . . .
[Hoi iii. 806/1/70. Polyd. Verg. 66O/45.] The chiefe cause,
that mooucd the emperour to come thus on land at this time, was
to persuade that by word of mouth, which he had before done
most earnestlie 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 fuithfull bond of amitie, it might tunic him to
displeasure.
But, now that he perceiucd how the king was forward on his
iournie, he did what he could to procure that no trust should be
committed 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, forsomnch as he
ami M.
Hennt ktcpe
■MttMMW
at Cktntvr-
burie.
(Charles
TV ^.-1 I..
k«Uw
q r.i.. Mi
win l.)
T\t emperor
tatountA l»
Mmri
1 h<] P2. ODI. Fl.
430
XIII. HENRY Vin.
thittbe
interview
fthuuM KG
forward, but
CharlM'i
bribe to
di**olvc the
friendship of
Henry and
Frmndi.)
Afv. Halt
[Arreit of
Uueking-
liUIl,
Hopkin*,
Dotiicourt,
aud PerkcJ
Anno Rtg.
13.
knew the lord cardinall to be woone with rewards, as a fish with a
bait, he bestowed on him great gifts, and promised hirn much
more ; so that hoc would be his friend, and helpe to bring his
purpose to passe. The cardinall (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 vse the matter,
as his purpose should be sped : onelie he required him not to
disaluw the kings intent for interuiew to be had ; which he desired
in anie wise to go forward, that ho might show his high magnificence
in France, according to his first intention.
An officer named Brandon1 now enters (1. 197), preceded by "a
Sergeant at Arines " and u two or three of the Guard." At Brandon's
bidding Buckingham and Abergavenny are arrested ; it being Henry's
pleasure tl\at they shall both to the Tower (U. 198-214). Brandon also
(II. 217 — 221) shows a wan-ant from
The King, t'attach Lord Mountacute ; and the Bodies
Of the Dukes Confessor, lohn de la Car,
One Gilbert Pecke, his chancellor,8 —
Buck. So, so ;
These are the limbs o'th'Plot : no more, I hope. 220
Bra, A Monke o'th'Chartreux.
Buck. O ! Nicholas Hopkins 1 8
Bra. He.
Buckingham having been accused of treasonable designs
[Hoi. iii. 863/ 1/2 1.] was sent for vp to Loudon, w at his
comniing thither, was streightwaiea attached, and brought to the
Tower by sir Honrie Marneie, capteine of the gurd, the sixteenth
of Aprill [, 1521]. There was also attached the , . . Chart reux
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
diuersc shires of England of him ; so that, by the knights and
1 Perhaps "sir Thomas Brandon, master of the kings horsae," who appeared
in the royal train on the day before Henry VIII. a coronation. — Mot. iii.
8OI/2/1. Halle, 508.
* chancellor] Pope, ed. 2 (Theobald). (hui\ccllour F. It appears from
Buckingham's indictment that the chancellor's name was Robert Gilbert By
ILUle (623) he was named (Jylbert Perke,
■ Nicholas] Pope, ed. 2 (Theobald). Hichaeli F.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
431
gentlemen, ho was indicted of high treason, for certeine words rwuj*^
spoken ... by the same duke at Blechinglie, to the lord of ^Jjj|^
Aburgauennie * and therewith was the same lord attached for Jf^jSir «,a
concelement, and so likewise was the lord Montacute, and both led »tuSunj
to the Tower.
■est to the
Tower.}
Act I. so. ii. — Henry enters, " leaning on the Cardinals 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 (II. 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 Cardinall, they vent reproches
Most bitterly on you, as putter on 24
Of these exactions, yet the King, our Maister,
(Whose Honor Heauen shield from soile t) euen he escapes not
Language vnmannerly, yea, such which breakes
The sides of loyalty, and almost appeares 28
In lowd Rebellion.
Nvrf. Not " almost appeares,"
It doth nppeare ; 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,
Vntit for other life, compeld by hunger
And lack of other meanes, in desperate manner
Daring th'eueut to th' teeth, are all in vprore, 36
And danger serues among them.
Resuming her petition Queen Katharine explains (11. 56-60) that
Hie Subiects griefe 06
Comes through Commissions, which compels from each
The Bixt 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),9 but as soon as she begins to speak
wo are transported to the historic year 1525,8 when Henry,
[Hoi iii. 891/I/3I. HalU, 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
plentio of monic must needes be prouided. Wherforc, by the
See pp. 434, 435, below.
' Stow, 861
llalU, 094.
432
XIII. 1IEXRY VIII.
[Wolsey*!
commis-
sions. J
7A* rixt part
o/<utnt
■■MsjHi
sIsbmhmM
IWotacy
sbonred to
obtain tb*
money. ]
(The cotn-
ii, i h m
moved U>
rrtnilfin i
A rebtllio*
inSvffottt 6y
th* frineui-
,■ . ut af (At
t.i'-ti'lu.
eomtth vilh
o^ainit (he
rtbtUin
Suffolk*.
Pouertu and
Afccstifw
tkt rtUttion.
cardinall there was deuised strange commissions, aud 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 & cardinal!, that pitie it was to heare. . . .
[Hoi iii. 891/1/70. Halle, G97.] The cardinall traueiled
earnestlie with the maior and aldermen or Loudon, about the aid
of monie to be granted, and likewise the commissioner, appointed
in the shires of the rcalme, sat vpou the same i but the burthen
was so greeuous, that it was generallie denied, and the commons
in euerie place bo tnooued, that it was like to grow to rebellion. . . .
[Hoi iii. 891/2/8. Halkt C99.] The duke of Suffolke, eitting
in commission about this subsidie in Suffolke, persuaded by
courteous meanes the rich clothiers to assent therto : but, when
they came homo, and went about to discharge and put from them
thoir 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 harnesee, and rang the bels alanne, and began still
to assemble in great number. . . .
The duke of Norffolkc,1 being therof aduertised, gathered a
great power iu Norffolke, and came towards the commons, &,
seuding to them to know their intent, receiued answer, that they
would liue and die in the kings causes, and be to him obedient.
Ilercvpon 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
NeceBgitie, had brought them to that dooing.
Henry exclaim** {11. 67, 68) :
1 The third Duke. The second Duke died in June, 1524.— ifaWe, 697.
XIII. HEXRY VITI.
433
By my life,
This is against our pleasure !
Card. And for me, 68
I haue no further gone in this, then by
A single voice ; and that not past me, but
By learned approbation of the Iudges. . . .
Turning to Wolsoy the King says (II. 91-102):
Haue you a President '
Of this Commission ? I beleeue, not any. 92
We must not rend our Subiecta from our Lawes,
And sticke them in our Will. Sixt port of each ?
A trembling Contribution ! . . .
... To euery County
Where this is questioned, send our Letters, with
Free pardon to each man that has deny'de 100
The force of this Commission ! pray looke to't ;
I put it to your care !
Card, [aside to his Secretary] A word with you I
Let there be Letters writ to euery Shire,
Of the Kings grace and pardon. The greeued Commons 1 04
Hardly concetue of me : let it be nois'd
That, through our Intercession, this Reuokement
And pardon comes : . . .
The Suffolk rebels having dispersed, Henry
[Hoi. iii. 891/2/64. Bulk, 700.] came to Westminster to the
cardinals palace, and assembled there a great councell, in the
which he openlio protested, that his mind was ueuer to aske anie
thing of his commons which might sound to the breach of his
lawes ; wherefore he willed to know by whose meanes the commis-
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
mooued in councell how to leuie monie to the kings vse, the kings
councell, and namelie the iudges. [p. 892] said, that he might law-
fullie demand anie sum me by commission, and that by the consent
of the whole councell it was doone ; and tooke God to witues that
he neuer desired the hinderance of the commons, but like a true
counsellor deuised how to inrich the king. The king indeed was
much offended that bis commons were thus intreated, & thought
it touched his honor, that his councell should attempt such a
doubtfull matter in his name, and to be denied both of the
rjTonrr pro-
fited that
he m<wnt
not to tax
hli ■object.
unlawfully,
and de-
manded who
had preaaad
the eommU-
•lon.l
The car-
dtnall oj
vorkt ix-
euMtkklm-
tel/t touching
Uuttrtitt
forth* tax.
[Thejudgee
Mid that the
oommiaalooa
were lawful. 1
(Henry wu
dlspleaaed
at the wrong
dona to the
"1
" President "= precedent.
F F
434
xm. kenrt vm.
temporaltie. Therefore he would bo more of
all
Tk,
Un
ICnjTttJ.
letters to be i
natter should bo farther be talked of : & he
that had denied the fieiatid opealie or
to deliuer himselfe of the euill wiD of the
procuring k adnancing of this demand
be bruted abrode,1 that through his
pardoned and released all thing*.
thu the
all them
Hie cardinal],
hj
it to
die king had
Historic time runs hack to the rear 1521 when Charles KLnyvet,
132
136
144
Buckingham's surveyor, enters, and, at Henry's
give evidence of the Duke'* treason :
Sur. First, it was vsosil with him, euery day
It would infect fass Speech, that (/'the Kimg
Should vrilAvut Usw cfy*, heel carry it so
To make the Scepter his : these very words
1'ue heard him rtter to his Sonne in Law,
Lord Aburgany - to whom by oth he menae'd
Keuenge vpon the CardinalL . . .
A'. «- Speakeon!
How grounded bee his Title to the Oowne,
Vpon our f sole t to this poynt hast thou heard him
At any time speake ought I
Sur. He was Brsioai to this
By a vain* Prophet* of XieAoias Hcntom.
Am. What was that Hen ton !
Sur. Sir, a Chartreux Fryer,
His Confessor, who fed him euery minute
With words of Sooeraignty.
On the authority of Polydore Vergil (665; 1 1) Holinabed relates that
[Hoi. iil 862/2/53] the cardinall boiling in hatred against the
duke of Buckingham, & thirsting for his blood, deuised to make
Charles Kneuet (that had beene the dukes surueior, and pat from
him * . . .) an instrument to bring the duke to destruction. This
Kneuet, being had in examination before the cardinall, disclosed
US
1 HaiU ssys (701) that "letters were seat to all
with instructions how to declsre the kruges pardon, la whiehe declaracion
was shewed that the Cardinal never sinnUl to the first davsaunde [for a
sixth. Henry afterwards asked for what his subjects would willingly give
him.— HaiU, 697] ; and in the instroorion* was comprehended that the lorde*
and the lodges, and other of the kynges coanjaill, diuiaed the same demaonde,
and that the Cardinall folowed the myud of the whole counsaill : these two
poyntes were eontnry one to another, whiehe wen well marked. And farther
the instruction* were that, at the humble peticioa and supnlkackm of the
Card inall, the ssied greats sommea. whiehe were deasaandedby tfiekyngsanctho-
ritie royall, were clerelv pardoned and remitted," ... * See p. 457 below.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
435
all the dukes life. And first he vttered, that the duke wan
accustomed, by waie of talke, to saie how he meant so to vse the
matter, that he would atteine to the crowne, if king Henrie
chanced to die without issue : & that he had talke and conference
of that matter on a time with George Neuill, lord of Abur-
gauennic, vnto whomo he had giucn his daughter in marriage ;
and also that he threatned to punish the cardinall for his manifold
misdooings, being without cause his mortall enimie.
The cardinall, hailing gotteu that which he sought for, incour-
aged, comforted, and procured Kneuet, with manie comfortable
words and great promises, that he should with a bold spirit and
countenance obiect and Iaie these things to the dukes charge, with
more if he knew it when time required. Then Kneuet [p. 803],
partlie prouoked with desiro to be reuenged, and partlie mooued
with hope of reward, openlie confessed, that the duke had once
fullie determined to deuise meanes how to make the king away,
being brought into a full hope that he should be king, by a vaine
prophesie which one Nicholas Hopkins, a monke of an house of the
Chartreux order beside Bristow, called Benton, sometime his
confessor, had opened vnto liirn.
The cardinall, hauing thus taken the examination of Kneuet,
went vnto the king, and declared vnto him, that his person was in
danger by such traitorous purpose, as the duke of Buckingham
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 suertic with Bpeed. The king,
hearing the accusation, inforced to the vttcrmost by the cardinall,
made this answer: "If the duke haue deserued to be punished,
" let him haue according to his deserts."
Knyvet then explains how he knew of Nicholas Hopkins's prophecy
(11. 151-171) :
Sun Not long before your Highnesse sped to France,
The Duke being at the Rom, within the Parish 152
Saint Laurence Poultney, did of me demand
What was the speech among the L&ndoners,
Concerning the French Journey : I replide,
Men fonr'd 1 the French would proue perfidious, 156
|B irklflgbun
to the crown
if Henry
dlsd without
lnui 1
Tkt car-
rfmoH
fntaUmfft
againtt tkt
duit.
\Bm kta|
ham wu
Influenced
by a pro-
phecy of
BttW Ut
Uo^kiui.)
Tkt car-
dinall me-
niMtt tht
d«k<<tf
Buckingham
to tkt ting.
1 ftar'd] Pope, ftare F.
436
XIJl. HENRY VIII.
[Bucking-
tjLui ttmm
Knrvvt
wUt the
Londoners
•aid of
Henry's
Jouraejr.J
[Knjvet'i
■niwer, J
T\- Mi
duepvcretA
tht ttcrteit
ofalltkt
matter to
Au own*
wmdooing.
To the Kings danger. Presently, the Duke
Said, 'twas the feare, indeed ; and that he doubted
'Twould prone the verity of certaine word*
Spoke by a holy Monke ; " that oft," sayes ho, 160
" Hat h sent to me, wishing me to permit
" John de la Car, my Chaplain*, a choyce howre
" To heare from him a matter of some moment :
" Whom after, vnder the Confessions * Seale, 164
"He sollemnly had sworne, that, whit he spoke,
" My Chaplaine to no Creature lining, but
" To me, should vtter, with demure Confidence
" This pausingly ensu'de : * Neither the King, nor's Heyre$ 168
■ (Tell you the Duke) shall prosper : bid him striuo
1 To gain * the loue o'th' Commonalty ; the Duke
1 Shall gouerne England/ "
One of the charges in Buckingham's 8 indictment 4 was that
[Hoi, iii. 864/2/12. Stow, 861.] the same duke-, the tenth of
.Maic, in the twelfe yeare of the kings reigne [1520], at London in
a place called the Rose, within the parish of saint Laurence Paultnie
in Canwike street ward, demanded of the said Charles Kneuet
esquier, what was the talke amongest the Londoners concerning tlte
kings iourneie 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 duko answered,
that it was to be feared least it would come to passe according
to the words of a certeine holie moanke ; " For there is " (saith he)
"a Chartroux moonkc, thai diuerso times hath sent to vie, willing
"me to send vnto him my chancellor: and I did send vnto him
"John de la Court my chapleine, vnto whome he would not declare
"anie thing, till do la Court had svwrne vnto him to keepe all
"things secret, and to tell no creature lining what bee should
"heare of him, except it were to me.
1 Confessions] Theobald, Commissions F. Theobald justified his emend-
ation by quoting Hoi. iii. 863/2/52: "The duke in talke told the monke
[Hopkins] that he had doone verie well to bind hie chapleine Iohn de la Court,
vnder the seale of confession, to keepe secret such matter" : . . ,
* gain] F4. om. F. Malone supported this insertion by quoting " that
I should indeuor my selfe to purchase the good wils of the communaltie of
England " (see close of next excerpt).
2 On July 20, 1517, Hopkins prophesied " that before Christmas next there
should be a change, & that the duke should liaue the rule and gouernement of
all England."— Sol. iii. 864/1/3 1. Stow, 860.
* The indictment, as it appears in Stow, is prefaced by the remark that he
had " seen and read " it (859).
"
XIII. HENRY VIH.
"And then the said moonke told de la Court, that neither the
"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 mj 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 (11. 171-175);
If I know you well,
Tou were the Dukes Surueyor, and lost your Office
On the complaint o'th Tenants : take good heed
Ton charge not in your spleene a Noble person,
And spoyle your nobler Soule
In 1520
[Hoi. iii. 856/1/7. Polyd. Verg. 660/33-] it chanced that the
duke, comming to London with his trainc of men, to attend the
king into France, went before into Kent rnto a manor place which
he had there. And, whilcst he staid in that countrie till the king
set forward, greeuous complaiuts were exhibited to him by his
far mars and tenants against Charles Kncuet his surueiour, for such
bribing as he had vscd there amongest them. Wherevpon the
duke tooke such displeasure against him, that ho depriued him of
his office; not knowing how that in so dooing he procured his owne
destruction, as after appeared.1
Resuming his evidence Knyvet says (11. 178-186) :
I told my Lord the Duke, by tltDiusls illusions
The Monks might be deceiu'd ; 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 answer'd, "Tush !
'* It can doe me no damage "; adding further,
That, had the King in his last Sicknesse faild,
The Cardinals and Sir Thomas Louets heads
Should haue gone off.
To illustrate these lines I quote the rest of the charge concerning
Buckingham's talk with Knyvet on May 10, 1520 :
1 The excerpt " it chanced . . . appeared " is preceded by the following
passage : " Now in this meane while [Spring of 1520], thecardinall ceassed not
to bring tbe duke out of the kings fauour by eucb forged tales and contriuod
surmises as he dailie put into the kings bead : insomuch that (through the
infelicitie of his fate) diuerse accidents fell out to the nduantoge of the
cardinall ; which he not omitting, atchiued tbe thing whereat he so stndioualie
(for the satiafieng of his can eke red & malicious stomach) laid full aimc." —
Hoi. iii. 808/2/73. ' *"*] Rowe- ^,'* F-
438
XIII. HEKRY V1IL
[Hoi. iil 864/2/37. Stow, 802.] Then said Charles Kneaet:
" Tkt moonkc maie be decerned through the diuels illusion : " and
that it was euill to meddle with such matter*. " Well " (aaid the
duke) "it cannot hurt me ;" andso(saith the indictment) the duke
seemed to reioise in the moonks woords. And further, at the
■b u tune, the duke told the said Charles, thai, if the king had miscaried
mM that the
ynvwer now in his lost sicknesse, he would haue chopped off the beads of
*>*■"»* the ea-rdinall, of sir Thomas ZoueU knight, and of others ; and also
fed 1&Z said, that he had rather die for it, than to be vsed as he had beene.
Questioned by Henry, Knyvet gives an instance of Buckingham's
188
BoddngWai
u^KSTof truculent mood
WolMTUd
Sur. Being at Greenwich,
After your Highnesse had reprau'd the Duke
About Sir William Bulmer,1—
Kin. I remember
Of such a time : being my sworn seruant.
The Duke retein'd him his. But on ! what hence I 192
Sur, " If" (quoth he) N I for this had beene committed,
" As, to the Tower, I thought, I would haue plaid
" The Part my Father meant to act vpon
11 TWeurper Richard ; who, being at Salsbury, 196
" Made suit to come in's presence ; which if granted,
" (As he made semblance of his duty,) would
u Haue put his knife into him."
Kin. A Gyant Traytor !
Card. Now, Madam, may his Highnes Hue in freedome, 300
And this man out of Prison 1
Queen. God mend ail !
Kin. Ther's somthing more would out of thee ; what say*stt
Sur. After * the Duke his Father," with « the knife,"
He atretch'd him, and, with one hand 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,
[Bel iil 864/1/64. Slow, 861.] on the fourth of Nouember.
in the eleuenth yere of the kings reigne [1519], at east Greenwich
reprowi in the countie of Kent, said rnto one Charles Kneuet esquier,
for ™1*',li,1« (after that the king had reprooucd the duke for rdcinwg William
Boimer.) Bulrrur, knight, into his seruice *) that, if he had perceiued that he
1 Eulmer] Hoi. Burner F.
7 In November, 1519, « the king speciallie rebuked sir William Bolmer,
XIII. HENRY VIII.
439
should hauo heme committed to the Tower (as he doubted hee should
haue beene), hce would hauc so wrought, that the principall dooers
therein should not haue had cause of great reioising : for he would
hauc plated the part which his father intended to haue put in
practise against king Richard the third at Salisburie; who made
earnest sxde to haue come vnto the presence of the same king
Richard ; which Bute if he might haue obteined, he hauing a knife
secretlie about him, would haue thrust it into the bodie of king
Richard, as he had made semblance to kneele downe before him.
And, in speaking these words, he maliciouslie laid his hand \pon
his dagger, and said, that, if he were so euill vsed% he would doo his
best to accomplish his pretensed purpose ; swearing to continue his
word by the bloud of our Lord.
Act I. bc. iii. — The Lord Chamberlain and Lord Sandys censure the
Gallic airs of those courtiers who went to France with Henry in 1520.
The Lord Chamberlain says (U. 5-10) :
As farre as I see, all the good our English
Haue got by the late Voyage, is but meorely
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 Councellonrs
To Pepin or Clotharius, they keepe State so.
Sir Thomas Lovell entering brings tidings of a
new Proclamation
That's clapt vpon the Court Grate.
L. Cham. What is't for?
Lou. The reformation of our trauel'd Gallants,
That fill the Court with quarrels, talke, and Taylors. 20
L. Cham, I'm glad 'tis there : now I would pray our Monsieurs
To thinke an English Courtier may be wise,
And neuer see the Louore.
Mr. Boyle supposes the u trauel'd Gallants " of James I.'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 1519,1 "diuerse yoong gentlemen of England/'
who resided awhile at the French Court,
[Hoi. iii. 850/1 /i 7. Halle, 597.] came againe into England,
[Bucking-
ham ex-
pected lobe
committed
to the
Tower.]
StttM*
ktitart4 Of
Richard tht
thirds pag.
744.
[He would
then hive
done to the
Mag wti'tt
Henry duke
of Bucking-
ham meant
to do to
Hichardlll.
knight, bicause he, being his sentant income, refused the kings aeruice, and
became semant to the Duke of Buckingham.*— Hot. iii 862/2/72. Halle, 599.
1 After recording our surrender of Tournay on February 8, 1519, HaUe
describes the conduct of these young gentlemen at Paris, " during this time " ;
and then speaka of their behaviour when they returned to England (607).
440
XIII. HENRY VI U.
[Otlllriifii
Engliih-
Crrftintof
the print*
chamber
f,— who had
be«D In the
French
Court,—]
onrfoUtn in
their roome
*j>pointtd.
[Henry •
minion*
were high In
lore with
the French
Court]
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 laughed at, the ladies and gentlewomen were dispraised ;
so that nothing by them was praised, but if it were after the
French turne ; which after turned them to displesure, as you shall
hearc.
In May 1519 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
theinselues."
[Hoi. iii. 852/2/7. Halle, 598.] 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-
selues, he committed it vnto their reformation: Then the kings
councell caused the lord chamberleine to call before them diuerse
of the priuio chamber, (which had beene in the French court,) and
banished them the court for diuerse considerations ; laicng nothing
particulate to their charges, & they that had offices were com-
manded to go to their offices. Which discharge out of court
greeued sore the hearts of these yoong men, which were called the
kings minions.
In a passage omitted by Holinshed, Halle adds (598) :
These young minions, which was thus seuered from the kyng.
had bene in Fraunce, and so highly praised the Frenche kyng and
his courte, that in a maner they thought lttle 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 sc. iii., Act I., the Lord
Chamberlain remembers an invitation of Wolsey ;
This night he makes a Supper, and a great one, 52
To many Lords and Ladies ; there will be
The Beauty of this Kingdome, lie assure you.
While going out to his barge, accompanied by Lord Sandys, the
Lord Chamberlain says (11. 66, 67) :
For I waB spoke to, with Sir Henry Guilford,
This night to be Comptrollers.
H
HENRY VIII.
Sc. IT., Act I., opens thus :
" Hoboies. A email Table vnder a State for the Cardinal!, a longer
Table for the Guests. Then Enter Anne Bullen, and diuers
other Indies, & Gentlemen, as Guests, at one Doore ; at an other
Doore, enter Sir Henry Guilford."
After 1. 34 : w Hoboyes. Enter Cardinal! 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 Lift of Wolity,
and transferred from Stow to the pages of Holinshed. Cavendish —
who was present when Henry came disguised to Wolaoy's banquet —
thus describes the ceremony observed :
[Hoi. iil 922/I/I. Stow, 845.] First, ycc shall vnderstaud that JiUT^,.
the tables were set in the chamber of presence banquetwise couered,* um* «*»•
& the lord cardinall sitting vnder the cloth of estate, there hauing
all his seruice alone : and then was there set a ladic with a noble
man, or a gentleman and a gentlewoman, throughout all the tables8
in the chamber on the one side, which were made and Joined as it |jj2jL ntX
were but one table : all which order and deuise was doone by the ouiSa«7
1 This banquet is noticed by Halle (719), who tells us that, on the night of
January 3, 1527, " the kyng aud many young gen ted men with hym came to
Bridewell, & there put hym and xr. other all in Maskyng apparcll, and then
toke his Barge, ana rowed to the Cardinalles place, where wer at supper a
great compaignie of lordes and ladies; and then the Mnskers daunced, and
made goodly pasty me, and, when they had well danced, the Ladies plucked
away their visors, and so they were all knowen, and to the kyng was made a
great banket" Gasparo Spinel) i, Venetian Secretary in London, writing to
his brother Ludovico on January 4, 1527, says : " Last evening I was present
at a rery 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
company 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 Menaeckmti was acted in
another hall, and Latin verses were recited to Henry by the actors. " Having
listened to HMO all, the King betook himself with the rest of the guests to the
hall where they had all supped, the tables (at which they seated themselves in
the same order as before) being spread with every sort of confection, whereof
thev partook." A pageant was then displayed, in which six damsels appeared,
eacn 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. BtaU PP., IV. 4.
■ brtnquttwiae covered) Cavendish, iust cotterect Hoi. and Stow.
3 The Lord Chamberlain to Lord Sandys (I. iv. 28, 24) :
■ Two women, plac'd together, makes cold weather : . . .
Pray, sit betweene these Ladies."
442
XIII. HENRY VIII.
rnmut«d lord Sandes, then lord chamberleine to the king, and by sir llenrio
tu4oet] Gilford, comptrollor of the kingB maiesties house.
Soon after AVolsey's entrance comes the stage direction : " Drum
and Trumpet, Chambers dischargd " (1. 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 seem*: th'haue left their Barge and landed.
And hither make, as great Embassador*
From /arraign* Prince*.
Card. Good Lord Chamberlaine, 56
Go, giue 'em welcome ! you can apeake the French, tongue ;
And, pray, receiue 'em Nobly, and conduct 'em
Into our presence, where this heauen of beauty
Shall shine at full vpon them. — Some attend him ! 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 snowre a welcome on yee ; welcome all !
Hoboyes. Enter King and others, as Maskers, habited like
Shepheardt, vsher'd by the Lord Chamberlaine. They passe
directly be/are the Cardinally and gracefully salute him.
A noble Company ! what are their pleasures ? 64
Cham. Because they speak no English, thus they praid
To tell your Grace : That, luiuing heard by fame
0/ this bo Noble and so faire assembly,
This night to meet heere, they could doe no tense, 68
(Out of the great respect they beore to beauty,)
But leaue their Flockes ; and, vnder your faire Conduct,
Crave leaue to view these Ladies, and entreat
An houre of Beuols with 'em.
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 !
Wolsey's
ne «r. [Hoi. iii. 921/2/45. State, 844.] house was resorted to with
tiktaprinc** noblemen and gentlemen, feasting and banketting ambassadors
bnJSuamt diuerse times, and all other right noblie. And when it pleased
***** the king for his recreation to repaire to the cardinals house, (as ho
did diuerse times hi 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
XIII. HENRY VIII.
443
was there all kind of musike and harmonic, with fine voices both
of men and children.
On a time the king came suddenlie thither l in amaske, with a
dozen maskers all in garments like sheephcard*, made of flue cloth
of gold, and criraosin sattin paned, & caps of the same, with
visards of good physnoniie, their haircs & beards either of fine
goldwire silko, or blacko silke ; hauing sixteene torch-bearers,
besides their drums and other persons with visards, all clothed
in sattin of the same color. And, before his entring into 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 Ida
landing they were shot off, which made such a rumble in the aire,
that it was like thunder : it made all the noblemen, gentlemen,
ladies, and gentlewomen, to muse what it should meanc, comming
so suddenlie, they sitting quiet at a solcmne banket, . . .
[Hot. iii. 922/i/u. Stow, 845.] Then immediatlie after, the
great chamberlcine and the said comptrollor [were] Bent to looke
what it should meane (as though they knew nothing of the matter) ;
who, looking out of the windoweB into the Thames, returned againe
and shewed him, that it seemed they wore noblemen and strangers
that arriued at his bridge, comming as amba&sadours from some
forren prince.
With that, quoth the cardinall, " 1 desire you, bieause you
" can speaJce French, to take the paines to go into the hall, there to
"rtceiue them according to their estates, and to conduct them, into
" this chamber, where they sluril see vs, and all these noble person-
"ages being merie at our banket; desiring them to sit downe with
11 vs, and to take part of our fare." Then went he incontinent
downc into the hall, whereas they recehied them with twentie new
torches, and conueied them vp into the chamber, with such a noise
of drums and flutes, as seldomo had beene heard the like. At
their entring into the chamber, two and two togither, they went
directlie before the cardinall, where he sate, and saluted him
reuerontlie.
uu
A
be
king in
ptrmn
pn»€*t at
pAmbm
shot oir.]
DU car-
Hinall knrw
not tAat Ou
hug mj in
tk4
r*c»tvwl by
the t/ord
Chtmtttr-
Uin.)
1 On . , . thither) Hoi. (Stow).
thither Cavendish, I 49.
/ have Ken the king ewddeidy come in
444
T*<
KtUtvt nf
tkt
(Their
through
Chuber-
Uin.]
XIII. HENRY VIH.
To whom the lord chauiberleine for them said: "Sir, for as
"much as they be strangers, and can not spealce English, they haue
u desired me to declare vnto you, that they, hauing vnderstanding
"of this your triumphant banket, where was assembled such a
" number of excellent dames, they could doo no lesset wider support
"of your grace, but to repaire hither, to view as well their incom-
" parable beauiie, as for to accompanie them at mum-chance, and
" then to danse with them : and, sir, they require of your grace
"licence to accomplish the said cause of their comming." To
whom the cnrdinall said he was veric well content they should
so doo.
The masquers "choose Ladies." Henry takes Anne Boleyn'B hand
(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 :
There should be one amongst 'emt by his person,
More worthy this place then my selfe ; to tehom
(If I but knew him) with my loue and duty 80
I would surrender it,
Cham. I will, my Lord. Whisper[s the Maskers.]
Card. What say they?
Cham, Such a one, they all confesses
There is indeed ; which they would haue your Grace
Find out, and he will take it.
Card. Let me see, then. — 84
By all your good leaues, Gentlemen } huere He make
My royall choyce.
Kin. Ye haue found him, Cardiuall : . , .
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.
i&twoiMy] [Hot. iii. 922/1/57- Stow, 846.] Then quoth the cardiuall to
«*jU*«i*"v the lord chamberleine, "I praie you" (quoth he) "that you would
MfcSSt** "8new them, that me seemeth there should be a nobleman amongst
"them, who is more meet to occupie this seat and place titan, I am ;
II to whame 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 eare, the lord chamberlein said to my lord
XIII. HENRY VIII.
445
cardinall : "Sir" (quoth he) "they confuset that among them there
" i* such a noble personage, whome, if your graee can appoint him
"out from the rest, he is content to disclose himsclfe, and to
" accept your place." With that the cardinall taking good aduise-
mcnt among them, at the last (quoth he) " me seemeth, the gentle-
"man with the blacke beard should be euen hee":1 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
whom he offered the chairo was sir Edward Nouill, a comelie
knight, that much more resembled the kings person in that maake
than anie other.
The king, perceiuing the cardinall so decerned, could not for-
beare laughing, but pulled downe his visar and master Neuels also,
and dashed out such a pleasant countenance and cheere, that all
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 " (I. 93). The King kisses her and demands a
health ; whereupon Wolsey Bpeaks (11. 98, 99) :
Sir Thomas Louell, is the Banket ready
I'th' Priuy Chamber?
Lou. Yes, my Lord.
Car<L Your Grace
I feare, with dancing, is a little heated. 100
Kin. I feare, too much.
Card. There's fresher ayre, my Lord,
In 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
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 vp, 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.
[WollCT W
dwlradto
poM Um
oat)
Itt taktth kit
marti autur
and is
Thtking
hufaci and
is rrrit
in
bw to
ntli-
■Mfl Ml
/.«] Stow, be Hoi.
44C
XIII. HENRY VIII.
A ntm baidtrt
rp&n the
rtddmof
brought lu
when Henry
rt turned].
Then the king tooko his scat ruder the cloth of estate, com-
manding euerie person to sit still as they did before : in came a
new banket before the king, and to all the rest throughout all the
tables, wherein were serued two hundred diuerse dishes, of costlie
deuises and subtilties. Thus passed they foorth the night with
bankettiug, dansing, aud other triumphs, to the great comfort of
the king, and pleasant regard of the nobilitie there assembled.
Act II. 8c. i. — Two gentlemen enter, one of whom (Sec. Gent.) is on
his way to Westminster Hall. There — as he learns from the other
gentleman (First Gent.) — Buckingham has already been tried and
condemned (11. 1-8). The First Gentleman gives a brief account of the
trial, at which he was present (11. 11-22) :
12
The great Duke
Came to the Bar ; where, to his accusations,
He pleaded still, not guilty, and alleadged
Many sharpe reasons to defeat the Law.
The Kings Atturneyy on the contrary,
"Vrg'd on the Examinations, proofes, confessions
Of diuers toitnesses ; which the Duke desir'd
To haue1 brought, viua voce, to his face :
At which appear'd against Aim, his Surueyor;
Sir Gilbert Pecke his Chancellour ; and Iohn Car,
Confessor to him ; with that Diuell Monks,
Hopkins, tbat made this mischiefe.
2. That was hee
That fed him with his Fropftecies t
1. The same.
All these accus'd him strongly ; which he f aim
Wvuld haue flung from him, but, indeed, he could not
And so his Poeros, vpon this euidence,
Haue ybunci him guilty of high Treason, Much
He spoke, and learnedly, for life ; but all
Was either pittied in bun, or forgotten,
2. After all this, how did he beare himself e?
1. When he was brought agen to th' Bar, (to heare
Hie Knell rung out, his ludgment,) he was stir'd
With such an Agony, he sweat extreamly,
And somtbing spoke in choller, ill, and hasty :
But he fell to himself e againo, and, sweetly,
In all the rest shewM a most Noble patience.
16
20
24
28
32
36
The judges appointed to try Buckingham met at Westminster Hall
on May 13, 1621." Their president was Thomas Howard, second Duke
of Norfolk.
1 have] F4. him F.
* The date from Stow, 862.
The other particulars from Bulls, 623.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
447
[Hoi. iiL 865/i/zo. Halle, 623.] When the lords had taken
their place, the duke wan brought to the barre, and, vpon his
arreignement, pleaded not guiltie, and pub himselfe vpon his peerca.
Then was his indictment read, which the duke denied to be true,
and (as he was an eloquent man) * aUtdged reasons to falaifio the
indictment; pleading the matter for his owne Justification Terie
pithilie and earnestlie. The kings aliourneie, against the dukes
reasons, alledged the examinations, confessions, and proof ex of witnesses.
The duke desired that the witnesses might bee brought foorth.
And then came before him Charles Kneuet, Perke, De la Court,
& Hopkins the monke of the priorie of the Charterhouse beside
Bath, which like a false hypocrite had induced the duke to the
treason with his false forged prophesies. Diuereo presumptions and
accusations were laid rnto Mm by Charles Kneuet ; which he would
faine haue couered. The depositions were read, & the deponents
deliuercd as prisoners to the officers of the Tower. Then spake
the duke of Norffolke, and said : "My lord, the king our souercigne
" lord hath commanded that you shall haue his lawes ministred
" with fauour and right to you.2 Wherefore, if you haue auic other
"thing to aay 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.
Thru said the duke of NorfTolke to the duke of Suffolke :
"What say you of sir Edward duke of Buckingham, touching the
" high treasons ? " The duke of Suffolke answerod : ,( He is giltie " :
& bo said the marques [of Dorset] and all the other carls and lords.
Thus was this prince, duke of Buckingham, found giltie of high
treason, by a duke, a marques, senon carles, & twelue barons.* The
t Bucking-
ham pleaded
not icuilty,
and made an
eloquent
MmhJ
NMr
Bdm. Holt.
iTheUngi
attorney
•Ueged the
SIMMS
again it
Um.]
(Ttuwft-
MMI wh>xti
BiSHISBlM
desired to U
browbt
forth,]
Ed v. Itall.
Ixrxwj.
gmrHnphmm
ronutnetd of
* "ho . . . man."— Polyd. Vtrg.t 665/34- In 1. ii. Ill, Henry says of
Buckingham :
" The Gentleman is Learn'd, and a most rare Speaker * ; . . .
1 Cp. Henry's last words aneut Buckingham (1. ii. 211, 212) :
" if he may
Finde mercy in the Law, 'Lis his"; . . .
8 Op. Buckingham's admission (II. i. 118, 119} :
■ I had my Tryall,
And, must needs say, a Noble one"; . . .
448
XIII. HENRY VIII.
[Wobn
believed
to tUTO
procured
Bucking-
ham's
death.]
resolved to
Mud Surrey
out of tho
[Kn rally
between
WuImt and
Surrey.]
duke was \<rought to tht barrc sore chafing, and sioet maruellounlie ;
&, after he had made his reucrence, 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,
11 putting your selfc to the peeres of the rcalmc, which haue found
"you giltie."
The Second Gentleman's remark — (I. 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 :
[Hoi iiL 864/2/68] Sauing that (I trust) I maie without
offense saie, that (as the rumour then went) the cardinall chieflie
procured the death of this noble man, uo lesse fauoured and
beloued of the people of this rcalme in that season, than the
cardinall himsclfe was hated and enuied. Which thing caused tho
dukes fall the more to be pitied and lamented, sith he was the
man of all [p. 865] other that chieflie went about to crosae the
cardinall in his lordlie demeanor, & headie proceedings.
In response to the Second Gentleman's positive assertion that
Woleey was " the end of this/' the First Gentleman says (11. 40-44) :
1. Tis likely, 40
By all conjectures : first, Kildares Attendure,
Then Deputy of Ireland ; who remou'd,
Earle Surrey waa sent thither, and in hast too,
Least he should help© his Father.
On the authority of Polydore Vergil (659/2o) Holinshed relates
that Wolsey, enraged by Buckingham's M greeuous words" (see p. 426
above), Bought tho Duke's destruction, but
[Hoi iii. 855/2/25.] bicause he doubted his frcends, kinnesmen,
and alies, and cheeflie the carle of Surrie, lord admcrall, (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,1 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 Duko of Norfolk. Inlll. ii. 275-277, the dramatic
"Surrey "(see p. 474, n, I, below) professes to be deterred by naught save
Wolsey's priesthood from answering the Cardinal^ rebuke with the sword.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
44L*
At length there was occasion offered him to compassc liis
purpose, by occasion of the earle of Kildare his camming out of
Ireland. For the cardinal!, knowing he was well prouided of
monie, sought occasion to fleece him of part thereof. The earle
of Kildare, being mmarried, 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 himselfc vprtghtlio in his office in Ireland, where ho was
the kings lieutenant, Such accusations were framed against him,
when no bribes would come, that ho was committed to prison, and
then by the cardinals good preferment the earle of Surrie was sent
into Ireland as the kings deputie, in lieu of the said carle of
Kildare ; there to remainc rather as an exile than as lieutenant
to the king, euen at the cardinals pleasure, as he hiinselfe well
perceiued.1
The two gentlemen's converse is interrupted by the entrance of
11 Buckingham from his Arraignment ; Tipstaues before him ; the Axe
with the edge towards him ; Halberds on each side : uccorapanied with
Sir Thomas Louell, Sir Nicholas Yaux, Sir William2 Sands, and common
people, &c." Addressing those who are following lum the Duke says
(II. 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 faithfull t
The Law I beare no niallice for my death ,
T'has done, vpon the premises, but Iustice:
But those that sought it I could wish more Christians : 64
Be what they will, I heartily forgiuo 'em : . . .
For further life in this world T ne're hope,
Nor will I sue, although the King haue mercies
More then I dare make fault*. 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 dyin<;,
Uoe with me, like good Angels, to my end ;
And, as the long diuorce of Steele fals on me, 76
Make of your Prayers one sweet Sacrifice,
And lift my Soule to Heauen !
[KUfan i
»islt to
England ]
Tht tarte cf
K\'-tar« eom-
tmttnt to
trunJ f : anr!
Surrey seat
to Ireland u
depaty).
fSunwy
KflUW illSt
t» ru
nflad M
WulfteM
1 In lit. ii. 260-264, "Surrey*' accuses Wolsey of this.
* imiutm) Theobald. WalUr F. Created Lord Sandys on April 27,
1523. — Stow, 874. la Act I.} scenes iii. and iv., he appears as Lord
Sandy*,
o o
450
XIII. HENRY VIII.
im'i §p«jeh
after
■catenee.]
[The edge of
the axe waa
turned
toward!
him.)
(Bucking-
ham aald :
** Now I am
but Edward
Bohnn."
Howaa
received at
the Temple
aUlnby
Van x and
Sandra.
He dealred
the people to
pray for
Urn.]
A speech to this effect was made by Buckingham l on May 13, after
Norfolk had pronounced sentence of death.
[Hoi. iii. 865/1/68. Halle, 621] The duke of Buckingham
said, "My lord of NorfFulke, you haue said as a traitor should be
tl said vnto, but I was neuer anie : but, my lords, I nothing inaligne
" for that you haue doone to me, but the eternall 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 Lovcll resigns the custody of Buckingham (11. 95-97) :
To th' water side I must conduct your Grace;
Then giue my Charge vp to Sir Nicholas Vaux, 96
Who vndertakes you to your end.
Yatuc. 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.
TF7«m / came hither, / was Ix>rd High Constable
And Duke of Buckingham ; now, poore Edward Bohun ; , . .
When Buckingham was u led into a barge M
[Hoi. iii. 865/2/4 Halk, 624.] Sir Thomas Louell desired
him to sit on the cushins and carpet ordeined for him. He said,
" nay ; for when I went to Westminster / was duke of Buckingham ;
"neno I am but Edward Bohune* the most caitife of the world."
Thus they landed at the Temple, where receiued him sir Nicholas
Vawse & Bir William Sands, baronets, and led him through the
citie ; who desired euer the people to pray for him, , . ,
1 He was beheaded on May 17, 1621.— HatU, 624. As the "last houre"
of the dramatic Buckingham has come in this scene (II. i. 132), it is evident
that the dates of his 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 erk of Hereford of that surname of Rohunc, . . . had issue two daughters
and heirea, Eleanor the eldest, maried to Thomas of Woodatockc ; and Marie the
second, married to Henrie of Bullingbrooky, after king of England, . , .
He [Thomas] had issue [by hie marriage with Eleanor de Bohun] . . . foure
daughters : . . . The foure daughters, heirea to Thomas of Woodstocka,
. . . were Anne the eldest, married to Edmund Stafford erle Stafford," . . .
Hoi. iii. 867/2/2*. Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, was the great-
great-grandson of Edmund Eurl Stafford.— Collins, ii. 37-40.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
451
Buckingham compares his lot with that of his father Henry, who
whs also betrayed by a servant, but was not, like the speaker, tried
by his peers (II. i. 107-111 ; 118-123).
After the desertion of his troops (p. 404 above), Henry Duke of
Buckingham
[ifoL iil 743/2/49. Halle, 394.] conueied himselfe into the
house of Humfrcie Banaster, his Beruant, beside Shrewcaburie ;
whome be had tenderlio brought vp, and whome he aboue all men
loued, fauoured, and trusted : now not doubting but that in bis
extreaine necessitie he should find him faithful!, secret, and
trustie; . . .
f Henry Duke
of Bucking-
ham trusted
his serrant
Buuutter.J
[HoL iil 744/1/50. Halle, 395.]
Humfrcie Banaster (were it tf«**A<«
An »<■ ■-.
more for feare of life and losse of goods, or allured & prouoked by *
the auaricious desire of the thousand pounds) l . . . bewraied
guest and maister to Iohn Mitton, then shiriffe of Shropshire ; .
r*« tluki of
his *"*"-
IsakMrwi
Contrasting his treatment by his late sovereign and present King,
Buckingham notes that Henry VII. had restored him to his honours,
but Henry VTII. deprived him of life and all which belonged to it (11.
112-118).
In the first Parliament of Henry VII. (November, 1485),
[HoL iil 763/1/25. Hoik, 424.] Edward Stafford, eldest
sonne to Henrie late duke of Buckingham, he [Henry VII.] suJ.ni
EJwanl
SUffurU
restored to
restored to his name, dignitie, « possessions, which by king hJldnl^d<,,n
Richard were confiscat and attainted. h*m-]
When Buckingham and his Train have departed, the two gentlemen
resume their discourse. The Second Gentleman asks (II. 147-149) :
Did you not of late dayes heare
A buzzing, of a Separation 148
Betweene the King and Katherine I
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.
1 On June 2, 1527, news of the sacking of Rome reached Windsor. On
July 3, WoUey, who had been appointed ambassador to France, passed through
London. — IfoJ/e, 727, 728. Between these dates occurs mention in IluiU tt2fl)
of the rumour touching Henry's marriage, prefaced by the words : "This
reason began a fame in London that the tinges confessor," &c.
452
XI1L
nn
ruu*^
lOLm. Wt7/i f6s-
ilnl i In ii»p nmtsm
derUhad UM the king thai the
ladie Katharine, Ute wife to his
lawfull; -hercrpon the ba* shoold sme a
duchesse of Alasaoa, sister to the French king, at the
Caiat, th» Ruer: tad that the
with him the pietare of the said
with those tales, sad seat for or
citie of London, secretlie charyiag him to see that the
from sacn talke.
Bf iL,-
Tbe Second Gentleman replies (11. 153-161) :
2. But tUt slander, Sr,
Is fossd » troth now : lor it
Fresher than e're it was ; and held for
The Kins; will rentoreat it. Either the Cardinal!,
Or some about him neert, have, out of malice
To the good Queene, pomsst him with s
That will vndoe her : to confirme this too,
Cardinal! Oampeins is arriu'd. and lately ;
As all thinke, for this busines.
1. Tis the Cardinail
And meerely to reoenge him on the Emperour,
not bestowing on him, at his asking.
The Archbishopricke of Toledo, this is purpos'd.
In the first of the ensuing paragraphs Holinshed records — as though
it were a suspicion generally entertained — Polydorc Vergil's unfounded
assertion (685/ 9) that Wolaey was the author of Henry's matrimonial
scruple:
[Hoi iii. 9O6/2/24.] Ye haue heard how the people talked a
little before the cardinals going ouer into France, the last yeare,
1**9- that the king was told by doctor Longland, bishop of Lincolne, and
f ££%£"?*• others, that his marriage with queene Katharine could not be
tAmmtmt
DM
■tprf
Hmtry m
lUUTMft|.
good nor lawful). The truth is, that, whether this doubt was first
mooued by the cardinal!, 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 hane the
case examined, cleared, and adjudged by learning, law, and
sufficient authoritic. The cardinall Yerelie was put in most blamo
for thin scruple now cast into the kings conscience, for the hate he
XIII. HENRY VIII.
453
bare to the emperor, bieause be would uot grant to him the arch-
biahoprike of Toledo, for the wliich he was a Butor. And therefore
he did not onelic procure the king of England to ioine in friend-
ship with the French king, but also sought a diuorse betwixt the
king and the queene,1 that the king might haue had in marriage
the duchesse of Alanson, Bister vnto the French king : and (as
some haue thought) he trauelled in that matter with the French
king at Amiens, but the duchesse would not giue care therernto.*
But howsoeuer it came about that the king was thus troubled
in conscience concerning his manage, this followed, that, like a
wise & sage prince, to haue the doubt clcerelie rcmnoucd, he
called togither the best learned of the rcalmc ; which were of
scuerall opinions. Wherfore he thought to know the truth by
indifferent iudges, least peraduenture the Spaniards, and other
also in fauour of the queene, would saie, that his ownc subiccts
were not indifferent iudges in this behalfe. And therefore he
wrote his cause to Rome, and also sout to all the vniuersities 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 realmc a logat, which should be indifferent, aixl of a
great and profound judgement, to heare the cause debated.
At whose request the whole consistorie of the college of
Rome sent thither Laurence Cainpeius, a preest cardinal!, a
bt -lyoiiut
the
rtmrriagt.
[Woltey
wiibed
Henry to
trJUTy the
LHicbsttof
Alanqoav i
M*. nail.
I.TMJ.
Tkr trtng \t
dtfirWHi U> b*
molded bf
tfir opinions
QfUuUanud
touching htt
ltmt rinfit.
man of
wit and experience,'
and with him was
t'nrdinoil
«»f into
SaffaMt
1 Puhjd. V*rg. doe* not say that Wulsey'a revenge was to counsel Henry's
divorce, but asserts that the Cardinal wanted a Queen whose disposition
resembled tiia own, pince Katharine, although she had done him no linnii,
"eiua . . . tnaloa oderat mores, quoe ut cunluieulia cmeudaivt, identidem
benigne raonebat." — 688 \2
1 Wolsey was ambassador to France in Julr — September, 1527. — HalU,
728-733. Margaret Dncbese of Alencon married Henry King of Navarre in
January, 1527.— Ven. State PP.t\\! 7, 17. These dates are irreconcilable
with FoiytL Verg.'t supposition (687/i) that Woleey endeavoured while at
Amiens to arrange a marriage between Henry and Margaret
8 Cp. Wolwy's praise of the conrse which Henry took in regard to
Katharine (II. ii. 90-97) :
" The Spaniard, tide bv blood and fauour to her,
Murt now confesse, it they bane any goodnessc,
The Tryall iust and Noble. All fa IVrkes
(I menne the learned ones) in Christian Kingdnmea
Haue their free voycea : Rome, the Nurse of ludgeui* -M,
Inuited by your Noble selfe, hath sent
454
XIII. HENRY VIII.
[B>nnr
irtM
Kaih'iriri"
to )ut« the
best clerks
for her
couniel.J
ioined in commission the cardinall of Yorko and legat of
England.1
This cardinall came to London in October,9 and did intimate
both to the king & queene the cause of his comrning : which
being knowne, great talke was had thereof.
Act II. 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
Cardinals enter and have a private audience of Henry. Wolaey
assumes that Katharine is not to be denied what
A Woman of lease Place might aske by Law : 112
Schollers allowed freely to argue for her.
Kin. 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 till
Easter 1529, "was none other thing commoned of but ouely of the
kinges manage."
[Hoi. ILL 90//I/2. Halh, 756] And bicause the king meant
nothing but vprightlie 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 (1L 115-117) ;
Cardinall,
Prethoe call Gardiner to me, my new Secretary:
I find him a fit fellow,
Henry and Gardiner go aside and converse in whispers. Drawing
Wolaey's attention to the King's new secretary, Campeggio asks (11.
122, 123) :
Camp. My Lord of Yorke, was not one Doctor Pace
In this mans place before him ?
4
One generall Tongue vnto vs, this good man,
This iuet and learned Priest, Cardnall Canipeiua"; . . .
With "the Clerkes . . . Christian Kingdoraes" cp. "profound clerkes . . .
all christendome " (p. 479 below).
1 In II. ii. 104-107, Campeggio tenders to Henry the
, .. . "Commission; by whose vertue,
The Court of Rome commanding, vou, my Lord
Cardinall of Yorke, are ioyn'd with me their Seruant
In the vnpartiall iudging of this Business*."
2 Campeggio had his first audience of Henry on October 22, 1528. — Calendar
(Hen. Fil/Oi IV. ii. p. 2100 (cp. no. 4879, p. 2111).
XIII. I|EXRY VIII.
455
Woi. Yes, he was.
Camp. Was he not held a learned man 1
Wot. Yea, surely. 124
Camp. Beleeue me, there'** an ill opinion spread, then,
Euen of your selfe, Lord Cardinall.
Wot. ' How! of mel
Camp. They will not sticke to say, you enuide him ;
And, fearing he would rise, (ho was so vertuous,) 128
Kept him a forraigne man still , which so greeu'd him,
That he ran mad, and dide.
About the year 1529,1
[Sol. iii. 907/i/2o. Polyd. Vtrg. 687/20.] the king receiued v***
into fauour doctor Stephan Gardiner, whose seruice he vsed in Oor™-
matters of great secrecie and weight, admitting him in the roome ^Sr7«7
of doctor Pace, the which, being contmuallie abroad in ambassages, iS'tST'1 V
and the same oftentimes not much necessaric, by the cardinals
appointment,2 at leugth he tooke hucIi greefe therewith, that he
Fell out oF hia right wits.
Act IL sc. iii. — In this scene the Lord Chamberlain announces to
Anne Boleyn that
the Kings Maiesty 60
Commends his good opinion of you to you ; a and
Doe's purpose honour to you no lesse flowing
Then Marchionesse of Pembrooke ; to which Title,
A Thousand pound a yeare, Annuall support, 6 1
Out of his Grace he addes.
Halle (790) was lioHnshcd's authority for the following passage :
[Hoi hi 928/2/30.] On the first of September [, 1532,] being wuudu
sundaie, the K., being come to Windsor, created the ladie Anne s*"«w
Bullongne marchionesse oF Penbroke, and gaue to hir one *
thousand pounds land by the yeare.
Act II. sc. iv. — In Act II., sc. ii., IL 138-141, Henry directs that
the trial of his marriage shall be held at Black-Friars, and he bills
i**>rrkwne§
Pmhrott.
1 After November 17, 1529, Gardiner is spoken of as Henry's " newly made
Secretary."— i/atte, 760.
* Foxr says (ii. 963, 1) : u But as the laude, and the reno wined prayse of
men, for their worthy proweses, commonly in this world nciier go vnaccom-
panyed without some priuye canker of enuy & disdayne folowyng after, so the
pincular industry of Pacie, as it wanne much commendation with many, so it
could not auoyae the secret stynge of some Scrpcntcs. For the conreaned
hatred of this Cardinall to kynd'led against him that he neuer ceased till tot
he brought him out of the kynges fauour, and at last also, out of his perfect
wittes."
5 of y<«i, to you] F. to yo« Pope, of you Capell.
45G
XHi. HENRY VIII.
Wolsoy see that the place be *' fumi.-li'il.
ensuing stage direction ;
Edv. Bail
I, 751].
[A hall at
Bt»ck -Friar i
furnmlicd
for the
IriaLJ
Ahr. Fl.tx.
I. S. paff.
V59.
Scene iv. opens with the
<■/
r«tri«
jtrmnngt of
ta-nunt in
ti im ytiKt.
Trumpets, Sennet, and Cornets.
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 Liocolne, Ely, Rochester, and
9. Asaph : Next them, with some small distance, followes a
Gentleman bearing the Purse, with the great Seale, and a
Cardinals Hat ; Then two Priests, bearing each a Siluer Crosse :
Then a Gentleman Vsher bareheaded, accomponyed with a
Sergeant at Armes, bearing a Siluor Mnce : Then two Gentlemen
bearing two great Siluer Pillors : After them, side by side, the
two Cardinals ; two Noblemen, with the Sword and Mac*.
Thti King takes place ruder the Cloth of JState. The two
Cardi nails lit vnder him as Iudges. The Queens takes place
some distance from the King. The Bishops place themsclues 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 convenient order about the Stage.
The arrangements made for the trial are thus described :
[Hoi iil 907/1/27.] The place where the cardinals should sit,
to heare the cause of matrimonie betwixt the king and the queene,
was ordeiued to be at the Blacke friers in London ; where in tho
great hall was preparation made of seats, tables, and other fur-
niture, according to such a solcmne session and roiall apparance.
The. l court was platted in tables and benches in manner of a con-
sietoric, one Beat raised higher for the iudges to sit in. Then as
it were in the midst of the said iudges, aloft, aboue them three
degrees high, was a doth of estate hanged, with a chaire roiall
vnder the same, wherein eat the king ; and, besides him, some
distance from him sat the queene, and vnder the iudges feet sat
tho scribes and other officers : the cheefc scribe was doctor
Stccuens,2 and the caller of the court was one Cooke of
Winchester.
Then before the king and the iudges, within the court, sat the
1 The . . . funiUJttvi (pp. 456, Mty] Sh.w, 912 (CkTendah, i. 147 .
■ Stephen Gardiner. "The chief scribe there was Dr. Stephen*, (who was
after Bishop of Winchester) ; " . . . — Oavendieh, i. 147. As to Gardiner being
known as Stevens or Steven, see a note in Oarendith (loc. cil.). Brewr says
(ii. 245, note 1) ; " Gardiner always writes his own name Steven Gardiner, but
Wolsey and others call bim by his Christian name Ste\en» (i.e. Stephnnu?),
Steven or Stevens being the same name .''
XIII. HENRY VIII.
457
archbishop of Cauturburie, Warhain, and all the other bishops.
Then stood at both ends within, the counsellors learned in the
spiritual! laws, as well the kings as the qaeenes. The doctors of
law for the king . . . had their conuenient roomes. Thus was the
court furnished.
In obedience to Henry's command, that she should "choose the
beet clearks of his realme to be of hir counsell " (p. 454 above), Katharine
[Hoi iii. 907/1/9- Halle, 756.] elected William Warham,
archbishop of Cauturburie, and Nicholas West, bishop of Elie,
doctors of the laws; and Iohn Fisher, bishop of Rochester, and
Henrie Standish, bishop of St. Assaph, doctors of diuinitie ; and
manic other doctors and well learned men, which for suertie, like
men of great learning, defended hir cause, as farre as learning
might mainteino and hold it vp.
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."
[Hoi. iii. 921/1/63. Stowt 844.] Before him wa^ borne, first
the broad scale of England, and his cardinals hat, by a lord, or
some gentleman of worship, right solemulio : &, as soono as he
was once entered into his chamber of presence, his two great
crosses were there attending to be borne before liim : then cried
the gentlemen vshers, going before him bare headed, and said :
"On before, my lords and maisters, on before; make waie for
"my lords grace!" Thus went he downo through the hall with
a sergeant of armes before him, bearing a great mace of siluer,
and two gentlemen carieing two great pillers of Btluer.
After Wolsey had been appointed legate,
[Hoi. iii. 920/1/14. Stow, 841.] had he his two great crosses
of siluer, the one of his archbishoprike, the other of his legacie,
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. WhiVet our commiseiim froin Rome is read,
Let ei/enee be commanded !
King. What's the need 1
It hath alrpady publiquely bene read,
Tkt ■■/"•• H
rihfMM
latryert/or
Air part.
Tht tahtns
and martmf
Am dignitUa
bormbtftrrt
(Wolwy*.
croM-
bearera.J
458
XITI. HENRY VIII.
ThM king
and autrnt
calUn into
the court.
(Katharine
knrlt At
Henry's
fc«t.J
And on all aides th' Authority allow'd ; 4
Yon may, then, spare that time.
Car. Bee't bo. — Proceed !
Scri. Say, H Henry, K. of England, come into the Court / "
Crier. " Henry, King of England," d'e.
King. Hum!
Scribe. Say, " Katherine, Queene of England, come into the Court /"
Crier. " Katherxne, Queene of England," dec.
[The Queene makes no answer, rises out of her Chairs, goes
about the Court, comes to t?te King, and kneeles at hi*
Feete ; tJien speakes.
On June 21, 1529, Henry and Katharine appeared personally before
the Court.1
[HoL iii. 907/I/5O. 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 HenrU of England, come
"into the court," &c. With that the king answered and said,
"Heere /" Then called he the queene by the name of " Katharine t
queene of England, come into the court," &c. Who made no answer ;
but rose out of hir cJiaire.
And, bicause shee could not come to the king directlie, for
the distance seuered betweene them, shee went about by the court,
and came to the king, kneeling downe at his fed, to whome she
said in effect as followeth ; *
1 exhibit in parallel columns Katharine's speech as it appears in
Holinshed, and the version of it given in Henry VIII., Act II. sc. iv.
U. 13-57 ;
Quteni
Mathortna
tamrntabtt
[Hoi iii. 907/1/63, Stow, 912.]
"Sir" (quoth she) "/ desire you
u to doo me iustice and right, and
Sir, I desire you do mc Right and
Iustice ;
And to bwtow your pitty on me : for
I am a most poor* Woman, and a
Stranger,
1 The Court met for the first time on June 18, 1529, and Adjourned to the
21st Katharine was present on the 18th> but Henry was on that day repre-
sented by proxies.— Calendar (Hen. VIII.), IV. iii. 5694, 5707.
* This speech was taken by Stotc from Cavendish (i. 149-152). According
to Halle (757), "the Qnene 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 appeal and supplication to the
Pope and withdrew ; but first she knelt there before the Beat of judgment,
altnough the King twice raised her up, asked permission of the King 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 [tne Emperor] and to his Holiness," . . . — Brewer, ii. 491.
XHI. nENRY VIII
"take some pUie vpr>n me, for I
" am a poor* woman, and a stranger,
" borne out qf your dominion ;
" having hetre no indifferent coun-
■ sell, A lease assurance effrtend-
"ship. Alas, sir, [in]what haue I
li offended you, or what occasion of
V displeasure haue I shewed you ;
" intending thus to put me from
" you after this sort 1 I take God
" to my iudge, / haue beene to you
"a true efc humble tr{/i, euer con-
^formable to your wn/Zand pleasure;
" that neuer contraried or gaino-
■ 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.
"/ haue beene your unfe these
11 twentie yeares and more, <fr you
" have had by me diuerse children.
11 If there beanie iust cause that
"you can alleage against me,
"either of dishonestie, or matter
" lawful! to put me from you, I
"am content to depart to my
" shame and rebuke: and if there
41 be none, then I praie you to let
" me liaue iustice at your hand.
" The king your father was in his
" time of excellent toit, and the
"king of Spaine, my father, Fer-
" dinando, was reckoned one of the
"wisest prince* that reigned in
'•Spaine manie yeares brfort. It
"is not to be doubted, but that they
"had gathered as wise counsellors
" vutn them of euerie realme, as to
"their wisedoms they thought
" meet, who deemed the marriage
Borne out of your Dominions ; hauing 16
hetre
No Iudge indifferent, nor no more
assurance
O/eoaau Friendship and Proceeding.
Alas, Sir,
In what Maue I offended you t what
CStOM
Hath my bchauiour giuen to your 20
displeasure,
That thus you should proceeds to put
me off,
And take your good Grace from mo T
ili-auen witness*,
/ haue bens to you a true and humble
Wfe.
At all times to your will tonformnhle. .
Euer in feare to kindle your Dislike,
Yea, subject to your Countenance ;
Glad, or sorry.
As I uw it inclin'd t When was the
houro
I euer contradicted your Desire, 23
Or made it not mine too t Or which
of your Friends
Haue 1 not stroue to loue, although
I know
He were mine Enemy T what Friend
of mine,
Tliat had to him derin'd your Anaor, 32
did I
Continue in my Liking T nay, gaue
notice
He was from thence disuharg'd T Sir,
call to mi ml-- .
Tliat / haut bent your Wife, in this
Obedience,
Vpward of twenty yeares, and haue 36
hene bleat
With many Children by yon : if, in
tlie course
And proccsM of this time, you can
report.
And prone it too, against mine
Honor aught.
My bond to Wedlocke, or my Loue 40
and Dutie,
Against your Sacred Person, in God's
name
Tnrne me away I and lot the fowl'st
Contempt
Shut door* vpon me, *nd somueme vp
To the aharp'st kinde of Iustice! 44
Please you, Sir,
The King, your Father, was reputed
for
A Prince most Prudent, of an excellent
And vnmatoh'd H'it, sir I Judgment :
Fertltttdifui,
My Father, Eituj of Spaine, was 43
reckon' d one
The wisest Prints, that there had
reign' d, by many
Tkt
fcassflM Hi
V Our
f*tb«ri Wr I *
wUe m«n,
and thry
deemed oar
460
XIII. HENRY VIII.
iideaira* " betweone you and tne good and
rS^WJ u lattfttU, Ac Wlurefore, / hum-
cowiBeifroin *'6/m desiro you to s/tare me, \nl-itt
my Muds _ , , 7 „
fn8i*in.] "/ may know what counsell my
"freends in Spain* will aduertise
"me to take, and, i/"you will not,
"then your jiUa9urt befuffifod."
A yean before t it i§ not to be
question'!,
That t/unj had gather* d a xcise Council/
tolhem
Qf entry Realm*, that did debate tlu*
Busineaso,
Who deem'd our Marriage lawfulL
Wherefore 1 humbly
Beseech you. Sir, to spare me, till I may
Be, by my Friend* in Spain*, aduiVd ;
whom Counwile
I will implore. //W.i'th'himeofCrod,
Tour pleasure be fulfil? d !
50
Wolsey and Campeggio object to a delay of the trial (11. 57-68)
Katharine ' then brings an accusation against Wolsey (11 75-84) :
I do beleeue
(Induc'd by potent Circumstances) that 76
You are mine Enemy ; and make my Challenge,
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, 60
I utterly ahhorre, yea, from my Soule,
HeJ\tse you for my fudge ; whom, yet once more,
I hold my most malicious Foe, and thinke not
At all a Friend to truth !
Wolsey denies the charge (U. 84-105) ; but Katharine is unmoved
(1L 118-121):
I do refuse you for my ludge ; and heere,
Before you all, Appeals vnto tlte Pope,
To bring my whole Cause 'fore his Holiness*, 1 20
And to be ivdg'd by him /
The source of this part of scene if. (11. 66-121) is the following
passage, derived by Holinshed from Polydore Vergil (688/4) :
1 In November, 1528, the two legates visited Katharine at Bridewell, and
told her that they had been appointed judges of the legality of her marriage.
After maintaining its lawfulness, she said : " * But of thys trouble I onely may
thazikfi you, mv lorde Cardinall of Yorke ; for because I haue wondered at
your hy^h pride & vainglory, and abhorre your volupteoua life and abbomin-
able Lechery, and liUe regard your presunipteous power and tiranny, therfore
of malice you haue kindled thys tyre and set tiiys matter a broclie ; & in
especial for y* great malice that you oeare to my nephew the Emperour, whom
I perfectly know you hate worse then a Scorpion, because he would not satisfie
your ambicion and make you Pope by force ; and therfore yon haue eayed
more then once that you would trouble him and bye frendes, and you haue
kept hym true promyse, for, of al hys warres and vexacions, he only may
thanke you, and as for me, hyo poore aunte and kynswoma;i, what trouble you
put me to by this new found doubt, Qod knoweth, to whom I commyt my
cause according to the truth/ The cardinal] of Yoxke excused himself, saying,
that he was not the begynncr nor the mouer of the double, & that it was sore
ayaynst hys wyl that euer y9 manage should come in question ; but he sayd
that, by his superior, the Bishop of Rome, he was deputed as a ludge to hears
XIII. HENRY VIII.
4G1
[Hoi iii. 908/ 1/3 5.] Heere is to be noted, that the queene in
presence of the whole court most greeuoualie accused the cardinall
of vntruth, deceit, wickednesse, & malice ; which had sowne dis-
scution betwixt hir and the king hir husband : and therefore
openlio protested, that she did vtttfUt abhorre, refuse, and forsake
such b judge, aa was not onelie a most malicious enimie to hir, but
also a manifest aduorsarie to all right and justice; and therewith
did she appeale vnto tlu pope, committing hir wlwle cause to be
judged of him.
Katharine's refusal of Wolseyas hor judge (1L 118-121) is succeeded
by this stage direction : " She Curtsies to the King, and offers to
depart." Campeggio draws attention to her movement, whereupon
Henry cries (1. 126):
Kin. Call her again* /
Crier. Kaiherine, Q. of England, come into the Court /
Gent. Ush. Madam, you are cold backe.
Que, What need you note it T pray you, keep your way :
When you are cald, returne ! (Now the Lord helpe,
They vexe me past my patience !) Pray you, passe on !
/ will not tarry ; no, nor euer more
Vpon this businesse my appearance make
in any of their Courts f
[Exeunt Queene, and her Attendants.
In the play Katharine's departure is preceded by her dispute with
"WoUey (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,
making a lowe curteBie to the king, and departed from thence.
The king, being aduertised that shee was readie to go out of
the house, commanded the crier to call hir againe ; who called hir
by these words : " Katharine, queene of England, come into the
"court!" With that quoth maister Griffith,1 "Madame, you be
"called againe." "On, on" (quoth she) "it maketh no matter, /
"will not tarrief go on ymtr waxes!" And thus she departed,
llMJBlll
Woltit.
Shi apptUtS
(KnOmrine
■OfeM t.j
Henry tod
■!• pant]
departing
out of U*
rvurt (j
eaUtd
the cause, which he sware on his profess von to heare indifferently ; but, what-
soener was said, she beleued hym not, and so the Legates toke their leaue of
her & departed. These wordea were spoken in Frenche, and written by
Cardinall Campeius secretary, (which was present,) and by me translated as
nere aa I could." — HalU, 75ft.
1 Catendimh says (i. 15S) that Katharine " took her way straight oat of the
house, leaning (as she was wont always to do) upon the arm of her General
Receiver, called Master Griffith."
462
XIII.
HEXRY VIII.
i Bony*!
ES
tharijic.]
TA« tfar-
tHnalt re*
yutrr.A to
Aau« that
dtdartd
wAu-A too*
w*/l enouffK
MMMi
without auie further answer at that time, or anie other, and neuer
would appeare after in anie court.
When Katharine is gone Henry closes a speech in her praise by
saying (11. 141-143) :
Shee's Noble borne;
And, like her true Nobility, she na's
Carried her selfe towards me.
Wolsey then addresses Henry (U. 143-149) :
WoL Most gracious Sir,
In humblost manner /require your Highnea, 1-44
That it shall please you to declare, in hearing
Of all these earee, (for where I am rob'd and bound,
There must I be vnloos'd, although not there
At once and fully satisiide,) whether euer / 148
Did broach Mm busines to your Highness ; . . .
I continue to quote excerpts derived by Holinshed from Stow's
paraphrase of Cavendish ;
[Hoi. iii. 907/2/33. State, 913.] The king, pcrceiuing 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,
" that ahee hath beuue 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 auie
"other of a baser estate ; she. is also surelie a nolle woman borne ;
"hir conditions will well declare the same."1
With that quoth Wolseie the cardinal] : "Sir, I most humblio
"require your kighnesse, to declare before all this audience, teluther
" / haue beone the cheefe and first moouer of this matter vnto your
"maiestie or no, for 1 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 Cardinal!,
I doe excuse you ; yea, vpon mine Honour, 156
1 On November 8, 1528, at Bridewell, Henry spoke thus of Katharine to
au assemblage of nobles, judges, counsellors, and otaera whose attendance had
been commanded : * I assure you all that, beside her noble parentage of the
whiche ahe is discended, (as you wed know,) she is a woman of moste genttenti,
of moste humi litie and buxu nines ; yea, and of al good qualities apperteignynge
to nobilitie she is wythoute com miry son, as 1 this .xx. yeres ulmoste haue had
Hit true experiment ; so that yf 1 were to mary agayue, if the manage myght
he good) I would surely chose her aboue al other women." — JTufie, 756. In
II. iv. 137-139, Henry praises her " sweet gtntlenetse" meekness, and obedience.
xm. henry vin.
468
I free you from't ; . . .
But will you be more iustifi'de 1 You euer
Haue wish'd the sleeping of this busines ; . . .
My Conscience first receiu'd a tendernes.
Scruple, and pricke, on certain* Speeches vtter'd
By th' Bishop of Bayon^ then French Embassador ;
Who had beene hither sent on the debating
A l Marriage 'twixt the Duke of OrUance, and
Our Daughter Mary : i'th'Progreese of this busines,
Ere a determinate resolution, hee
(I meane the Bishop) did require a respite ;
Wherein he might the King his Lord aduertise,
Whether our Daughter were legitimate,
Respecting this our Marriage with the Dowager,
Sometimes our Brothers Wife. This " respite" shook©
The bosome 2 of my Conscience, enter' d me,
Yea, with a splitting s power, and made to tremble
The region of my Breast ; which fore'd such way,
That many maz'd considerings did throng,
And prest in with this Caution. First, me thought
I stood not in the smile of Ueauen ; who had
Commanded Nature, that my Ladies wombe,
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 after
This world had ayr'd them. Hence I tooke a thought,
Tins was a Iudgoment on me; that my Kingdome
(Well worthy the beet Heyre o'th1 World) should not
Be gladded in't by me : then followes, that
I weigh'd the danger which my Realmes 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
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)
By all the Reuorend Fathers of the Land,
And Doctors learn'd. — First, I began in priuate
With you, my Lord of Lincolne ; you remember
How vnder my oppression I did reeke,
When I first mou'd you.
172
176
180
184
1,SH
192
L96
200
204
108
B. Lx
Very well, my Li edge.
Kin. I haue spoke long : be pleas'd your selfe to say
How farre you satisfide me.
Lin. So please your Highnes,
The question did at first so stagger me,
212
■ A) Row* (ed. 8). And F.
* bottom] Theobald. Cp. next excerpt from Hoi.
*fpHHing]?2.sfnttin.iV',
XIII. HENRY VIII.
DM wi.h lU
lawfulness
<-r [)•: iir/s
tobo
• vr.a/.I., i i
(ThB
VUattm
Mniy'tt
leyitiinicy
queatJoDeJ.]
Tht king
eon fourth
tKattkt
Hingof
cwurfmcf
(Bearing a State of mighty moment in't,
And consequence of dread,) thai I committed
The daringst Counsaile which I had, to doubt ;
And did entreato your Highnes to this course, 216
Which you are running heoro.
Kin. / then mou*d you,
Afy Lord of Canterbury / ; and got your leaue
To make this present Summons : vnsohcited
I left no Reuerend Person in this Court ; 220
But hy particular consent proceeded
Vnder your hands and Scales : therefore, goe on ;
For no dislike i'th' world against the person
Of the good Queene, but the sbarpe thorny points 224
Of my alleadged reasons, driue' l this forward :
Proue but our Marriage lawful!, hy my Life
And Kingly Dignity, we are contented
To weare our mortal! 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 Lougland, as
they appear in Holinshed :
[Sol. iii. 907/2/46. Stow, 914.] "My lord cardinall" (quoth
the king) "/can well excuse you, in this matter, marrie" (quoth he)
"you haue beene rather against me in the tempting heereof, than
" a setter forward or moouer of the same. The speciall cause, that
"mooued me vnto this matter, was a certeine scrupulositic that
"pricked my conscience, rpoa certeine words spoken at a time
" by the bishop t of Bau/n, the French ainbassador? who had hetne
"hither sent, vpon the debating of a marriage to be conclude*!
"bctwoenc our daughter the ladic Marie, and the duke of Orhance,
"second son to the king of France.
"Upon the resolution and determination whereof, he desired
"rcspit to aduertise the king his maister thereof, whether ovr
"daughter Marie should be legitimate in respect of this my
"marriage with this woman, being sometimes my brothers wife.
" Which words, ouce concerned within the secret bottome of my
" conscience, ingendercd such a scrupulous doubt, that my con-
1 drtre] Pope, tfriue* F.
1 time oy the bishop] Cavendish, time uJieii U was, by the bishop Hoi. and
Stow.
■ A mistake. Tlic ambassador to whom these words were officially attributed
was Gabriel de Grominont, Bishop of Tarbes.
XIII. IIEKRY vni.
465
"science was incontinentlic accombrcd, vexed, and disquieted;
"whereby I thought my selfe to be greatlie in danger of God's
" indignation. Which appeared to be (as me Beemed) the rather,
" for that he sent vs no issue male, and all such issues male, as my said
" wife had by me, died incontinent after they came into the world;
" so that I doubted the great displeasure of God in that behalfe.
"Thu8,wy conscience being tossed in the waues of a scrupulous
" mind, and partita in despnire to haue [p. 9i)&] 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
"lacke of a prince to succeed me. / thought it good in release of
"the weightie burthen of my wcake conscience, ... to attempt the
" law therin, whether I may lawfullie take another wife more
"lawfullie, . . . not for anie displeasure or misliking of the
" queenes person and age ; with whome I would be as well contented
"to continue, if our 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
"prelate and pastors of all this our realme and dominions, now
"heere assembled for that purpose; . . . Wherein, after that I
"perceiued my conscience so doubtfully I mooued it in confession
" to you, my Lord of Lincolne, then ghostlie father. And, for so
" much as then you your selfe were in some dtttbt, you mooued me
"to aske the counsell of all these my lords ; where vpon / mooued
"yen, my lord of Canturburie, first to haue your licence, in as much
"as you were metropolitane, to pat this matter in question, and
"so I did of all you, my lords: to which you granted ender your
"scales, heere to be shewed."
At the close of Henry's speech Campeggio says (11. 230-235) :
Camp. 8o please your Highnes,
The Queene being absent, 'tis a needful! fitnesse,
That we adiourne this Court till further day ; 232
Meane while must be an earnest motion
Made to the Queen*, to call back* her Appeal*
She intends vnto his Holineaae.
Holinshed omitted a dispute between War ham and Fitther, which
succeeded the royal speech, ami wan silenced by Henry.
[Hoi. iii. 9O8/1/33. Stow, 915] After that the king rose
vp, and the court was adioumed vntifl another dale.
ii ii
madt Kim
mUUkt (Mi
marriap<>
[Ur h.vl n->
Inlllu !> HI 1
innmlm
wu In
diuxgrr for
lack or a
prince to
Mm.]
[He moved
the matter
in confession
!•• bm
Un*i ; and
obtained
Umom t-«
tty it:
UM L'tiirr
bishopa. ]
(The
adjourne-l
466
xni. henry vni.
[KAthArine
Uckbcr
TXtHnff
mdtrutUtk
tk*t<g*U<rf
Notwithstanding Katharine's appeal,
[Hoi iil 908/I/4S. Polyd. Verg., 688/1 1.] the legate sat
weekelie, and euerie daie were arguments brought in on both
parts, and proofes alleaged for the understanding of the case, and
still they assaied if they could by anie meanes procure the queens
to call backe hir appeale, which she vtterlie 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 Rome,
Holinahed copied Polydore Vergil's remark (688/14) tnftt *ne
[Hoi. iii. OO8/1/50.] king would gladlie haue had an end in
the matter, but, when the legats draue time, and determined vpon
no certeine point, he concerned a suspicion that this was doone
of purpose, that their dooings might draw to none effect or
conclusion.
16
19);
Act III. sc. i. — " Enter Queene and her Women, as at worke.
Gentleman announces that
the two great Cardinals
Wait in the presence.
Queen, Would they speake with me f
Gent. They wil'd me say so, Madam.
Katharine bids her Gentleman invite them to "come neere " (1,
and presently the Cardinals enter.
The court at Black-Friars closed its sessions in the latter part of
July, 1529.' 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 Wolaey and Campeggio to
make a direct appeal to Katharine,3
Wots. Peace to your Highnesse !
Queen. Your Graces find me heere part of a Houswife
I would be all, against the worst may happen.
What are your pleasures vjith fne, reuerent Lords 1
Wol. May it please you, Noble Madam, to withdraw
Into your prioate Chamber, we shall giue you
The full cause of our camming.
Queen. Speake it heere :
There's nothing I haue done yet, o' my Conscience,
Deserues a Corner : would all other Women
24
28
1 ■ Cardinall Campeius sayd yk they myght not eyt after Iuly, tyll October,
all whyche season was a vacacyon in the Courte of Rome, and, their court
beynge a member of the Courte of Rome, they must nodes do the same." —
Halle, 758. * Cavendish, i. 180, 161.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
Could epeake this with as free a Soule as I doe t
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 aet against 'em,
I know my life so euen. . . .
Out with it boldly I . . .
Card. [Wol] Tanta est ergs, te mentis integritas, Regina
aereni Raima, — 41
Queen, O, good my Lord, no Latin t . . .
Pray, speaks in English t
Wolsey replies (11. 54-61) :
We come not by the way of Accusation,
To taint that honour euery good Tongue blesses,
Nor to betray you any way to sorrow ;
(You haue too much, good Lady !) but to know
flow you stand minded in the waighty difference
lieticeene the King and you ; and to deliuer,
Like free and honest men, our iust opinions,
And comforts to your 1 cause.
Camp. Most honour'd Madam,
My Lord of Yorke, (out of his Noble nature,
Zeale and obedience he still bore your Crace,)
Forgetting, like a good man, your late Censure
Both of his truth and him, which was too farre,
Offers, as I doe, in a eigne of peace,
His Seruice and his Counsel 1.
" To betray me," Katharine murmurs. Then she addresses
Cardinals (U. 68-80) ;
My Lords, I thanks you both for your good units ;
Ye speake like honest men ; (pray God, ye proue so 1)
But how to make ye sodainly an Answers,
In such a poynt of weight, so neere mine Honour,
(More neere my Life, I feare,) with my weake wit,
And to such men of grauity and learning,
In truth, I know not. / was set at works
Among my Maids ; Jul! little (God knowes) looking
Either for such men, or such bu sin esse.
For her sake that I haue bee-ne, (for I feele
The last fit of my Greatnesse,) good your Graces,
Let me haue time and Couneell for my Cause.
Alas, I am a Woman frendlesse, hopelesse !
Wol, Madam, you wrong the Kings loue with these fearea ;
Your hopes and friends are infinite.
Queen. In England
But little/or my profit : can you thinks, Lords,
That any English man dare giue me Couneell 1 84
1 your] Fa, om, Fi.
4C8
XIII. HENRY Vin.
Qttttru
Katharine
and (Ac
cardinals
tn Air yrivit
chamber
I; bat at
lint ane
required
the in to
■peak In her
nmrnn
Chamber].
(Woliey
wUnmti
her In
Utin.]
(He and
Carni
know her
mind In
regard to the
marriage
(juration,
and to
counsel her]
The quenu
rtfuMtthto
matt ludde*.
antvtr m to
*<ij/htuu
mat term (Ac
diuortd
I: the had
jo art come
from work-
ing with her
maid*),
(She Mid
that no
Or be & known© friend, 'yainst his Highnes pleasure,
(Though he be growne so desperate to be honest,)
And Hue a Subiect t Nay, forsooth, my Friends,
They that must weigh oat my afflictions, 83
They that my trust must grow to, liue not haste :
They are (as all my other comforts) far hence,
In mine o\one Countrey, Lords.
[Hoi ill 908/2/2. Stow, 916.] The cardinals being in the
queenes chamber of presence, the gentleman usher adtiertiscd the
queene that the cardinals were come to speake with hir. With
that she rose vp, &, with a skeine of white thred about hir necke,
came into hir chamber of presence, where the cardinals were
attending. At whose comming quoth she, " What is your plesrure
"with meV " If U please your grace" (quoth cardinal I Wolseie)
u to go into your priuie chamber, we will shew you the cause of our
"comming" "My lord" (quoth she) "if yee haue anie thing to
"saie, speaks, it open lie before all these follte; for I feare nothing
"that yee can saie against me, but that 1 would all the world
"should heare and see it, and therefore speake your mind." Then
began the cardinal I to speake to hir in Latine. "Naie, good my
"lord" (quoth she) "speake to me in EnglisJt."1
"Forsooth" (quoth the cardinal!) "good madamc, if it please
"you, we come both to knmo your mind how yon are disposed to
"doo in this matter hetweent the- king and you, and also to declare
"aecretlie our opinions and counsel! vnto you: which we doo
"onclie for verie zeale and obedience we beare vnto your grace"
"My lord" (quoth she) "/ thanke you for your good will ; but to
"make you answer in your request I cannot so suddenlie, for / teas
"set among my maids at worke, thinking full little of auie suck
" matter, wherein there needeth a longer deliberation, and a better
"head than mine to make answer: for I need counseli in this case
"which touch eth me so necro, & for anie counseli or freendship
"that I can find in England, they are not for my profit. What,
"thinks you, my lords, will anie Englishman counseli me, or be
1 speak* to ms Hi English, for I can (I thanks Qod) both speafo and wider-
stand English, although l vnderttand some latin.] Stow., om. HoL Op. Katha-
rine's words (III. i. 43, 44) :
"I am not such a Truant since my comming,
As not to know the Language I haue liu'd in ": . . .
XIII. UENKY VIII.
4G9
"frtend to me against the K[ings] pleasure that is his aubiect f
11 Nate, forsooth. And as for my counsell in whom I will put my
" trust, they be not here, they be in Spaine in my vwnt cowrUrie.
" 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
"a matter, therefore I praie you be good to me, poore woman,
" destitute of freends here in a forren region," . . .
Campeggio responds by offering his counsel (U. 93-97) :
Put your maine cause into the King's protection j
Hee's louing and most gracious : 'twill be much
Both for your Honour better, and your Cause ;
For, if the tryall of the Law o'retake ye, 96
You'l part away disgrae'd.
The object of the Cardinals' mission to Katharine was
[Hoi, iil 908/I/7O. Stow, 916.] to persuade with hir by their
wisdoms, and to aduise hir to surrender the whole matter into the
kings hands by hir owne consent & will, which should be much
better to hir honour, than to stand to the triall of law, and thereby
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) :
Come, reuerend Fathers,
Bestow your CouneeU on me I
We are not told by Cavendish how Katharine received the legates'
proposition.1 After her appeal, — " I praie you be good to me, poore
woman, destitute of freends here in a forren region," — she added :
[HoL iil 908/2/41. Stow, 917.] " and your counsel! also I will be
"glad to heare." And therewith she tooko the cardinall [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 III. sc ii — Norfolk, Suffolk, " 8urrey," 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 (11.
30-36) :
her; her
do id
her; :
frtand
laBpolB |
(She en-
ItmM tti
CAnltnali'
pity.)
[Henry
win he-!
Katharm*
to leave the
wttlement
of the
ruarriAgr
question to'
fi in,)
I She retired
with tbo
eaniinalt lo
her PHvy
Cluuiibcr,)
1 Cavcndith says (i 164) that " we. in the other chamber, might sometime
hear the queen speak very loud, but what it was we could not understand."
470
XIII. HENRY VIII.
Tfu king*
affection and
Uutadu
A*n<
Bultm.
[If ir.no-
would marry
Anne
Bolejm.l
Tkt merit
vttrlnng and
fiiinmula-
turn of
mtmkrnU
Waited [to
hinder Uw
divorce].
Tkt Una cd-
The Cardinals Letters to the Pope miscarried.
And came to th'eye o'th'King : wherein was read,
How that the Cardinall did intreat his Holinesse
To stay the Iudgement o'th'Diuorce ; for if
It did take place, " I do " (quoth he) " perceiue
" My King ia tangled in affection to
"A Creature of the Qneenes, Lady Anne Bullen."
32
36
pUantn
ngainst tkt
cardinall
(onthla
ICCOUDlJ.
After a while Wolsey enters and soliloquizes upon his intention of
uniting Henry to the Duchess of Alencon,1 for the purpose of prevent-
ing the King's marriage to Anne Boleyn (11. 85-101). Soon Henry
enterB and elicits from Wolsey great professions of loyalty, which the
King brings to a close by giving the Cardinal two papers, with these
words (11. 201-203) :
Read o're this ;
And after, this [the Letter to the Pope] ; and then to Breakfast with
What appetite you haue !
[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-Friars,
[Sol, ill 908/2/7O.] the cardinall of Yorko was aduised that
the king had Bet his affection vpon a yoong gentlewoman named
Anne, the daughter of Sir Thomas Bullen, vicount Rochford, which
did wait vpon the queene. This was a [p. 000] great griefe vnto
the cardinal), as he that perceiued aforehand, that the king would
marie the said gentlewoman, if the diuorsc tooke place. Wherfore
he began with all diligence to disappoint that match, which, by
reason of the mieliking that he had to the woman, he iudged
ought to be auoided more than present death. While the matter
stood in this state, and that the cause of the queene was to be
heard and iudged at Rome, by reason of the appeal© 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 diuorsc, till he might frame the kings mind to his purpose.
Howbeit lie went about nothing so secretlic, but that the same
came to the kings knowledge, who tooke so high displeasure
with such his cloked dissimulation, that he determined to abase
his degree, aith as an vnthankefull person he forgot himselfe and
An anachronism. See p. 453, n. 2, above.
XIII. HENRY VUI.
471
his dutie towards him that had so highlie aduanced him to all
honor and dignitie. When the nobles of the realme perceiued the
cardinall to be in displeasure, they began to accuse him of Buch
offenses as they knew might be proued against him, and thereof
they made a booke conteining certeine articles, to which diuerse
of the kings counccll set their hands.
Before Wolsey entered, Suffolk mentioned (11. 56-60) a circumstance
which would be sure to confirm the resentment felt by Henry on
discovering the letter to the Pope.
Cardinall Campeius
Is etolne away to Home ; hath ta'ne no leaue ;
Ha's left the cause o'th'King 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,
Campeggio thus addressed the Court assembled at Black-Friars : l
[Hoi UL 908/2/57. Stow, 917.] "I will not giue judgement
"till I haue made relation to the pope of all our proceedings;
"whose counsell and commandement in this case I will obserue :
" the case is verie doubtfull, and also the partio defendant will
" make no answer here, but dooth rather appcale 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
protracting of the conclusion of the matter, king Henrie tooke
verie displeasantlie. Then cardinall Campeius tooke his leaue of
the king1 and nobilitie, and returned towards Rome.
From my last excerpt it appears that Campeggio took leave of Henry
before returning to Rome. The Legate's clandestine departure was
perhaps inferred by tbe dramatist from the somewhat misleading ex-
pressions used by Foxe,3 who says (ii. 967/2) that Campeggio
Mm Ml
ArtirUs
akihittd
Otfdi rwt tk€
cnrdinatl
[bytho
C*r4inmlt
toaiwt
nv Onrt
WMdiS-
Csiiil-»KKi»
r-'turiifl |o
Borne.]
1 On July 23 Campeggio prorogued the Court to October 1, 1529. — Calendar
{Hen. VIII), IV. iii. p. 2689.
* Campeggio took leave of Henry at Grafton Regis, on September 20, 1629.
— Alwardto Cromwell {Ellis, I. i. 309> Oavendi*hy I 179. The testimony of
Alward and Cavendish — both of whom accompanied Wolaey to Grafton — doea
not differ save in regard to the time of the day when Campeggio and Wolaey
took leave of Henry.
3 At the end of the paragraph which contains my quotation, Fort gives as
a reference, "Ex Hallo." Hall* (759) records "Campeggio's farewell of
Henry.
472
XIII. HENRY VIII.
[Cunpeggi*
Ml tunr?
to
lenry'i
emus* un-
determined.]
[Henry had
a liking fur
Anne
Bolejn, who
mi
L-.ithcra.il.]
Cardinall
CampriuM
thpptth
frit** *y»ff-
craftily shifted hym self out of the realme before the day came
appoynted for determination, leauing his sattle felow behynd hym
to wey with the king in the meane time, while the matter might
be brought yp to the court of Rome.
Tn 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,
& especially because the Cardinall of Yorke perceaucd the kyng
to cast fauour to the Lady Anne, whom, ho knew to be a Lutheran}
they thought best to windc them seines out of that brake by tyme,
& so Cardinal Cauipeius, dissemblyng the matter, conueyed him-
selfe home 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 (11. 120-128) ;
This morning, 120
Papers of State he sent me to peruse,
As I requir'd : and wot you what I found
There, (on my Conscience, put unwittingly?)
Forsooth, an Inuentory, thus importing, 124
The seuerall parcels of his Plate, his Treasure,
Rich Stuffea, and Ornaments of Housbold, which
I tunic at such proud Rate, that it out-speakos
Possession of a Subiect.
Steevens pointed out (Far. Sh.% xix. 412) that a somewhat similar
mischance befel Thomas Ruthul, Bishop of Durham, who had two book*
precisely like in outward appearance, one describing " the whole estate
of the kingdome," the other containing an account of his private means.
Henry VIII. sent Wolsey for the former book, and Ruthal inadvert-
ently gave the private volume
[HoL hi. 796/2/6a] to the cardinall to beare vnto the king.
1 When Wolsey is soliloquizing on the necessity of preventing Anne Boleyn
from becoming Queen, he says (III. ii. 97-101) :
" What though I know her vertuous
And well deae ruing i yet I know her for
A spleen y Lutheran ; and not wholsome to
Our cause, that she should lye i' th' bo#ome of
Our hard rul'd King."
Elsewhere (ii. 1056,'t) Fox* speaks thus of Anne Boleyn: "But because
touchyng the memorable vertues of this worthy Queene, partly we haue sayd
some thyng before, partly because more also is promised to be declared of her
virtuous life (the Lord so permittyng) by other who then were about her, I
will cease in this matter further to proceede." I find no mention in Salle or
HoL of her Lutheranism.
XIII. HKXRY VIII.
473
The cardiimll, hairing the booke, went from the bishop, and after
(in his studie by himselfe) vndcretanding the contents thereof, he
greattie reioised; hauing now occasion (which he long sought for)
offered vnto him to bring the bishop into the kings disgrace.
Wherefore he went foorthwith to the king, deliuered the booke
into his hands, and brecfelio informed the king of the contents
thereof; putting further into the kings head, that if at anie time
he were destitute of a masse of iuonie, 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 " Soedule," 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.1
Wolsey aspired after the Papacy, and therefore wrote to Gardiner,
[Fojcc, ii. 963/2.] willing hym to sticke for no costc, so farre
as sixe or seuen thousand poundes woulde stretche : for more he
sayd he would not geue for the triple crowne.4
Finding the second paper to be the letter to the Pope, Wolsey
despairs of regaining Henry's confidence (11. 220-227). Then re-enter
T*f
tOfftabUto
( Wolsey '•
bid for the
triple
crown. J
1 Calendar (Hen. VIII.), IV. iii 5369.
• Gardiner was journeying towards Rome in January, 1529. — Culrtuiar
(Hen. VIII.), IV. iii. 5237. He reached it on February 15, 1529.— Calendar
(Hen. VIII), IV. iii. 5294. In February, 1529, Henry, believing Clement to
be dead, sent instructions to Gardiner and others that they should, if necessary,
endeavour to procure Wolsey'a election as Pope by "promises of spiritual
promotions, offices, dignities, rewards of money, and other things, to show them
what Wolsey will give up if he enters into this dangerous storm and troubloua
tempest for the relief of the Church ; all of which nenences shall be given in
the King's friends, besides other Urge rewards," — GuUndar (Hen, VIII.), IV.
iii. 5270. Foxe^ ii. 965/2. Henry hoped thus to be divorced from Katharine
by Papal sanction, which Wolsey would grant. — Ibid. Faxe printed a letter
from Wolsey to Gardiner (ii 964/1. Ce&ndar (Hen. VIII.), IV. iii. 5272) in
which general directions, to make promises are given, hut no specific ram of
money is named. I suspect Foxe't 6000 or 7000 pounds for the Popedom to
be the 5000 or 6000 ducats offered by Wolsey for bulls to hold Wmetieater —
Wolsey to Sir Gregory Casale and PeUr Vannes, Feb. 20, 1529 (<
(Hen. VIIL), IV. ui 5313).
474
XIII. HENRY VIII.
Tht card-
inttlUlrtk
tktartat
uatt.
(He wo
fint*r*d to
.!. pari to
Biher.l
[Hide-
mui«M the
duke*'
authority.)
(<Vnd re tatted
to surrender
UwOreat
Seat, which
Henry had
Jivi n him
or lift).]
(III. ii.) " the Dukes of Norfolke and Siiffolko, the Earle of Surrey,1 and
the Lord Chamber laine."
For. Ileare the King's pleasure, Cardinal] ; who commands you
To render vp the Great Scale presently
Into our Iwnds; and to Confine your selfe
To Asher-house, my Lord of Winchesters^
Till you heare further from his Highnease.
Car, Stay: 232
Where's your Commission, Lords ? words cannot carrie
Authority so weighty.
Suf. Who dare croseo 'em,
Bearing the Kings will from his mouth expressely %
Car. Till I finde more then will or words to do it, 236
(I meane your malico,) know, Officious Lords,
I 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 Goodnesse,
Ti'de it by Letters Patents : . . .
On October 16 (1), 1529,
[Hoi 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 the kings pleasure was that he should
surrender vp the great scale into their Ivands, and to depart tumplie
vnto Ashert which was an house situat nigh vnto Hampton court,
belonging to the bishoprike of Winchester. The cardinall de-
manded of them their ccmimission 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 kiugs person, to inioy the ministration
thereof, with the roome of the chancellor for the tenne of his life.
whereof for his suertie he had the kiugs 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 *' (III. ii. 256).
* The Bishopric of Winchester became vacant by the death of Richard
Foxe in 1528. — Godroin, 246. Wolsey afterwards held the see in eommendam^
and was succeeded by Stephen Gardiner.— Rrid.t 247. Gardiner is, perhaps,
the dramatist's « Lord of Winchester."
XIII. HENRY VIII.
475
HoHnshed — copying Stow (919), whose authority was Cavendish
(i. 181) — tells us that Wolsey steadily refused to surrender the Great
Seal to Norfolk and Suffolk ; so that, after the matter had been
[Hoi. iii. 909/1/58. Stow, 919.] greatlie debated betweene
them with manie great words,1 . . . the dukes were faiiie to depart
again e without their purpose, and rode to Windsore to the king,
and made report accordingly ; but the next daie they returned
againe, bringing with thern the kings letters. Then the cardinall
deliuered vnto them the great scale,2 and was content to depart
simplie, taking with him nothing but onelie eertoine provision for
his house : and after long talke betweene him and the dukes, they
departed with the great sealc of England, 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 Cardinal. But, as
these articles are " in the Kings hand " (I. 299), the nobles rehearse
them from memory, "Surrey" beginning:3
[1] First, TkeUj without the Kings assent or knowledge,
You wrought to be a Legate ; by which power
You maim'd the Jurisdiction qf aU Btihope, 312
[2] Nor. Then, That in aU you writ to Rome, or else
To Forraigne Princes, M Ego <fc Rex meus "
Was still inscrib'd ; in which you brought the King
To be your Servant.
[4] Suf. Then, That, without the knowledge 316
Either of King or Councell, when you went
Ambassador to the Emperor* you made bold
To carry into Flandtrs the Great SeaJe.
[5] Sur. Item, Yon sent a large Commission 320
To Gregory de Cassado, to conclude,
Without the Kings will, or the States allowance,
A League betweene his Highness© and Ferrara.
1 great and heinous words'] Stow (919). stout words Cavendish (i. 182).
* On October 17, 1529.— Calenda r (Hen, VIIL), IV. iii. 6025.
3 Surrey prefaced the articles hy saying (III. ii. 294-296) :
" He startle you
Worse then the Sacring Bell, when the browne Wench
Lay kissing in your Armee, Lord Cardinall 1 "
Boewell (Var. Sh.t m. 424) illustrated these lines by a etory of " a cardvnall
of Rome " [the Legate John of Crema], who caused much scandal ; " for, in ym
euenyng, alter he had lewdely bio wen his home, & savd it was a detestable
synne to aryse from yf syde of a Strumpet, & sacre y» feody of Cryste, he was
taken with a strumpet, to his open shame and rebuke." — Fob., 269. Henry of
Huntingdon (ed. Savile, 1596, p. 219) — who was, perhaps, Fob's authority —
places this event under the year 1125.
[Wolsey and
ym AuM
debt ted the
matter with
' manie great
words.']
7V/ f',,1-
intili dit-
pwi
maU.
476
XJII. HENRY VIII.
ArlieU*
i ■■/,.'. t i
affaiiut tht
tardinall qf
[7] Suf. That, out of meere Ambition, you haue caue'd 324
Your Holy-//a/ to be stampt on the Kings Coins.
[9] Sur. Then, That you haue sent innumerable substance
(By what ineanes got, I leaue to your owne conscience)
To furnish Rome, and to prepare the waves 328
You haue for Dignities ; to the meere vndooing
Of all t/te Kingdome. Many more there are ;
Which, since they are of you, and odious,
I will not taint my mouth with. 332
In December, 1529,1
[Hoi. iii. 912/2/15. Halle, 767-] was brought downe to the
commons the booke of articles, which the lords had put to the
king against the cardinal! ; s the chiefe wherof were these :
1 First, that he without the kings assent had procured to be a
legal, 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 mens, I and my king : as who
would saie that the king were his seruant* . . .
4 Item, he without the kings assent carried the kings great scale
with him into Flanders, when he was sent ambassador to the emperour.
5 Item, he, without the kings assent, Bent a commission to sir
Grregorie de Cassado* knight, to conclude a league betwecne the king
& the duke of Fcrrart without the kings knowledge. . . .
7 Item, that he caused the cardinals hat to be put on the kings
OOHM . ■ .
9 Item, that he had sent innumerable substance to Borne, for the
obteiningof his dignities; to the great impouerishmento/^ rcalme.
These articles, with manic marc, read in the common house,
and signed with the cardinals hand, was [sic] confessed by him.
Before the nobles leave Wolsey, Suffolk adds (11. 337-344) :
Suf, Lord Cardinal!, the Kings further pleasure is,
(Because alt those things you haue done of late,
1 ■■ 1 ■ ■ ■ 1 1 1 1 ■ 1 ■ 1 1 ■ m 1 1 . -
1 December 1 in the date of the Articles.— Calendar (Hen. fill.), IV. iii.
p. 2714. Parliament waa prorogued on December 17.— HaUe, 768.
s Seep. 471 above.
3 Halle has misquoted this article. Wolsey was accused (4) of " having in
divers letters and instructions to foreign parte used the expression, ' the King
and 1/ . . . using himself more like a fellow to your Highness than a
subject.' '—Calendar [Hen. VIIL), IV. iii. p. 8712.
* Sir Gregory Casale.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
477
By your power Legating,1 wiUtin this Kingdome,
Fall into ^'comp&sse of a Premunire,)
That therefore such a Writ be sued against you ;
To forfeit all your Goods, Lands, Tenements,
Cataltes,* and whatsoeuer, and to be
Out of tke Kings protection. This is my Charge.
In October, 1529/1
340
344
[EoL iii. 909/1/32. Halle, 760.] the king (being informed
that all those things, that the cardinall had doont by his pototr
legating * within this realme, were in the case of the premunire and
prouision) caused his atturneie Christopher Hales to sue out a writ
of premunire against him ; in the which he licenced him to make
his atturneie.
After WoUey's retirement to Esher,
[EoL iii. 909/2/43. Ealh, 760.] in the kings bench, his
matter for the premunire, being called rpon, two atturneis, which
he had authorised by his warrant signed with his owne hand, con-
fessed the action ; 6 and bo had judgement to forfeit all his lands,
tenements, goods, and colitis, and to be out of the kings protection : . . .
Wolse/s soliloquy on his fall (A. 351-372) succeeds the nobles'
departure. Then Thomas Cromwell enters ; and, in response to
Wolsey's question, "What Newes abroad?" answers (11. 393, 394)
that Sir Thomas Moore is chosen
Lord Chancellor in your place.
On October 25, 1529,°
[Hoi. iii. 910/2/6, Halle, 761.] was sir Thomas Moore made
lord chancellor.
At the close of the trial-scene (H. iv. 23S-240) Henry muttered :
My learn'd and welbeloueti Seruant, Cranmer,
Prethee, returne : with thy approch, T know,
My comfort comes along.
In this scene (III. ii. 64-67) Suffolk told Norfolk that Cranmer
is retum'd in his Opinions ; which 64
Haue satisfied the King for his Diuorce,
TMeant-
inatlmed
in a pre-
munire.
John Ante,
and Mbnumt
Irnnu
(, Wnbwy'ct
attorniittj.
TKt card-
ina// co»-
donned in a
prtmunirt.
Sir Tkomat
Monr* lord
1 Legating Kowe (ed. 2). Legatiue F.
» Catalles] Halle. Castles F. Chattels Theobald.
3 October 9 is the date of the bill of indictment preferred by Hales against
Wolsey.— Calendar (Hen. VIII.), IV. iii. G035.
4 UgaUne] legantine Hoi.
* On October 30, 1529.— Oulemdmr (Hen. Fill), IV. iii. MBS.
« CaUndar (Hen. VIII), IV. iii. 6025.
478
XIII. HENKY VIII.
£Tbe qucs-
Icnofthe
King's iu*r-
rUgcww dis-
puted in tha
universities
■bru*J nnl
At home.]
Tht kinffu
mariafii
found by
Qodi wtmf
vnlaiefuU.
Dortour
Cranmer
vilA other
»tnl to
Rome
Atmbtuaa-
dour to the
Ppjh.
[CtauM
vi : iaflt .1 Uie
ti'.n'rif.s t<l
ill.- Bnu
amnM
touching
n«nry*i
C4UM.]
'...:-/. If, \-
t'»tt,up of
Cant.
Together with all famous Colledges
Almost in Christendonie : . . .
Suffolk then (1. 74) declared that Cranmer's services were to be
rewarded with an archbishopric; and now (11. 401, 402) Cromwell
answers Wolsey's request for more news by the information
That Cranmer is return'd with welcome; 400
Install'd 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 [Crnnnier's] opinion, whiehe was this : that the Bishop of Rome
had no suche authorities as wliorcby lie might dispence with the
word of God and the Scripture. . . , And thus, by meanes
of D. Craumers handlyng of this matter with the Kyng, not
onely certane learned men were sent abroade to the most part
of the vniuersitics in Christendome, to dispute the question,
but also the same beyng by Commission disputed by the diuines
in both the vniuersities of Cambridge and Oxforde, it was
there concluded that no suche matrimonii.' was by the word
of God lawful 1. Whereupon a solemne Embassage was then pre-
pared and sent to the Bishop of Rome, then [March, 1530]1 beyng
at Bonony, wherin went the Earle of Wiltshiere, D. Cranmer, D.
Stokesley, D. Came, D. Benet, and diuers other learned men
& gentlemen.
When the embassy returned to England, Cranmer went to Germany,
and discussed the question of Henry's marriage with " diuers learned
men " of that nation ;
[Foxe, il 1754/2.] who, verye ambiguouslye heretofore con-
ceiuyng the cause, were fully resolued aud satisfied by hym.
This matter thus prosperyng on Doct. Craumers behalfe, as-
well touchyng the kinges question as concerning the iuualiditie of
the bishop of Romes authoritie, Bishop Warrham, then Archbishop
of Canterbury, departed this transitory life, wherby that dignity,
then beyng in the kynges gift and disposition, was immediatly
giuen to Doctour Cranmer, a as worthy, for his trauaile, of suche
a promotion.
" HaZJe, 769.
1 Cranmer was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury on March 30, 1633.
— Beg, 8acr. Angl,t 76.
XIII. HENRV Vin.
479
[Julm mokea.
Icy. See i>.
487. below).
Suffolk, as we have soon (p. 478 above), speaks of the sanction
given to Henry's divorce by "famous Colledges" 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. iii. 923/2/28. Halk, 775.] "Wherefore the king, like a
"vertuouB prince, willing to be satisfied in his conscience, & also
"for the suertie of his realine, hath, with great deliberation, con-
sulted with profound clcrkes, & hath sent my lord of London /tamttu
"here present, to the chiefc vniuersities of all christendome, to
"know their opinion and iudgement in that behalfe. And
"although that the vniucrsities of Cambridge and Oxford had
" beene sufficient to discusse the cause, yet, bicauae they be in his
"realme, and to auoid all suspicion of parcialitie, he hath sent
"into the realme of France, Italie, the popes domiuious, and
"Venccians, 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 (III. ii. 41, 42). Suffolk
believed that " shortly " the King's
second Marriage shall be publishd, and 68
Her Coronation. Katherine no more
Shall 6c caWd Queene, but Princesee Dowager,
And Widdow to Prirux Artfiur.
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 Cbappell ; and the voyce is now
Onely about her Corronation.
The exact date of Anne Boleyn's marriage cannot be ascertained.1
1 Cranmer — writing on June 17, 1633, to our ambassador at the Emperor's
Court — says j " But nowe Sir you may nott ymagyn that this Coronacion
[Anne Boleyn's coronation, described in a previous part of the letter] was
before her manege, for she was maricd muchc about sainto Paules daye last
[January 25, 1533], as the condicion therof dothe well appere by reason she ys
nowe sumwhat bygg with chylde. Notwithstanding 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. — Eltt*,
I. ii. 3d. According to State (946) Henry was privately married to Anne
Boleyn on January 25, 1533. On April 0, 1533, Norfolk told the Imperial
ambassador, Eustace Chapuya, that Henry had married Anne more than two
480
XIII. HENRY VIII.
The king rt-
turtuth into
Hi marrirth
the lady
Ann*
Queene
An,\r\'R
curou*tioa
puinted].
Qytent
Katharine
prinemm
Ztowrar.
According to Halle, Henry, after taking leave of Francia on October
30. 1532,
[Hoi iii. 929/ 1 /S6. Halle. 794.] etaied at Calis for a con-
uenient wind till tueadaie the twelfth x of Nouember at midnight,
and then taking his ship, landed at Douer the next daie about fiuc
of the clocke in the morning. And herewith vpon his returne, he
married priuilie the Indie Anne Bullougne the same daie, being the
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
child.
On April 12 (Easter Ere), 1533, Anne Boleyn
[Hoi. iii. 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 1533,2 it was enacted by Parliament
[HoL iii. 929/2/29. Halle, 795.] that queene Katharine should
no more be called queene, but princcsse Dowager, as the widow of
prince Arthur.
Dismissing Cromwell, WoUey says :
Se-eke the Ring ;
(That Sun, I pray, may neuer set !) I haue told him
What, and how true, thou art ; he will aduance thee j . . . 416
Cromwell answers :
Beare witnesse, all that haue not hearts of Iron, 424
With what a sorrow Cromwel leaues his Lord 1
The King shall haue my seruice ; but my prayres,
For euer and for euer, shall be yours,
months ago. — Friedmann'a Antie Boleyn, ii., appendix, note D, p. 339 (citing
Vienna Archives, P.C. 228, i. fol. 41). On May 10, 1533, Chupaye wrote that
the marriage was generally believed to have taken place on January 25.— Ibid.
(citing Vienna Archives, P.C. 228, i. fol. 61).
1 thirteenth] Hoi. Tuesday was November 12. Sol. was misled by a mis-
take in Salle (794V whereby we read that Henry "landed at Douer the
morowe after [Tuesday], beyng the .xiiiL daie of Nouember." As November
14 is the feast of S. Erkenwald, Hoi was betrayed into the further error of
assigning Henry's landing and marriage to u the same daie.'' Halle says (794) :
" The kyng, after his returne, maried priuily the lady Anne Bulleyn, on sainct
ErkenwaMes daie," . . .
■ HaUe, 795. The act is £5 Hen. VIII. c 22 (SUdutes, iii. 472).
A
XIII. HENRY Vin.
481
Cromwell was in Wolsey' 8 service l for
[Foax, il 1150/2.] a certayne space of yeares, growing vp JSSJjf
in office and authoritie, till at length he was preferred to be f^jM||
sollicitour to the Cardinall.
In Lent, 1530,3 "diueroe" of Wolsey's
[Hoi. iii. 913/2/17. Halle, 709.] soruants departed from him Thomas
to the kings seruice, and in especiall Thomas Crumwell, one of his JJSJJJ1 *
chiefc counsell, and chiefe dooer for him in the suppression of •«n*k*-
abbeies.
Having obtained a .seat in the Parliament which met on November
3, 1529, Cromwell answered every charge made against Wolsey in the
Commons ; and thus, for his
[Stoie, 926. Cavendish, i. 208.] behauior in his Masters cause,
he grew into such estimation in euerie mans opinion, that hee was
esteemed to be the most3 faithfull seruaunt to his Master of all SSTfw
other ; wherein hee was greatlie of all men commended.
j.raW.I f.-r
Ins fidelity
It ITotar.]
From the same source (Stow, 930 ; Cavendish, i. 229) we learn
that Cromwell was esteemed not only for his ability, but also for his
true and faithfull demeanor towards his lord and master.
After again commending Cromwell to Henry's service, Wolsey says :
prythee, leade me in 1
There take an Inuentory of all I haue,
To the last pony ; 'tis the Kings : . . . 452
On October 17, 1529, when Norfolk and Suffolk had departed with
the Great Seal, Wolsey
[Hoi. iii. 909/1/69. Shw, 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 placed after the grant* of December 1524 is addressed to
"Matter Cromwell, councillor to the lorde Legate."— Calendar (Hen. VIII.),
IV. i. 979. There are earlier papers in Cromwell's handwriting relating to
Wolsey's public business ; for example, a draft of a petition dated September
22, 1524.— OaUiuiar (Hen. VIIL), IV. i. 681.
s In Lent, 1530, Wolsey was ordered by Henry to reside in the province of
York. — Halltj 769. Cromwell then left Wolsey and became Henry's servant.
— Ibid. Wolsey set forth on his journey northwards in the beginning of
Passion Week (April 11, 1530.)— Cavendish, i. 841.
* cause, He grew . . . the most] Cavendish, cause, grew so in euerie mans
opinion, how that hee was the most Hoi. and Stow.
! I
T\* cardi-
nal! ettlt-
US ail kit
QJUrr* to
nctounU.
482
XIII. HENRY VIII.
[ InvratorlPi
of Wolicj'i
stuff]
[Wofceyi
to account
to Henrj tor
the iturf In
their
charge.]
Tk« canti-
nail
tucrihttkhi,
failtoUk*
tutt iudfft-
mtnt nf Qod,
Proclama-
tion for tht
silke of all colours, veluet, sattin, damaske, taffata, grograine, and
other things. Also, there laie a thousand peeces of fine Holland
cloth.
There was laid on euerie tabic, bookes reporting the contents
of the same, and so was there inucutaries of all things in order
against the kings comming. . . .
Thus were all things prepared, [Wolsey] giuing charge of the
delivery thereof unto the king, to every officer within his office :
for tho order1 was such, that euerie officer was charged with the
receipt of the stufie belonging to his office by indenture.
"Wolsey's reflections on his fall close with these memorable words :
O Cromwel, Cromwel !
Had I but aeru'd my God with halfe the Zeale
/ seru'd my King, he would not in mine Age 456
Horn left me naked to mine Enemies 1
On November 29, 1530, when "Wolsey was dying, he said to Sir
William Kingston, Constable of the Tower :
[Hoi. iii. 017/1/45. Stow, 940.] "I see the matter how it is
"framed ;2 but if / hod Bcrued God as diligentlic as / haue doone
" the king, he would not heme giuen mc ouer Ml my greie haires :
"but it is the hist reward that I must roceiuo for the diligent
"paincs and studie that I haue had to doo him seruice; not
"regarding my seruice to God, but onelie to satisfie his pleasure."
Act IV. sc. i. — The two Gentlemen, who appeared in Act II. sc. i.,
meet again. Their " last encounter " was when Buckingham " came
from his Triall " {11. 4, 5). They now take their stand to see Anne
Boleyn " passe from her Corronation " (11. 2, 3). Between these events
a historic interval of more than twelve years elapsed.
The First Gentleman has in his hand a list
Of those that claiino their Offices this day,
By custome of the Coronation. 16
The Duke of SufEolke is the first, and claimes
To he High Steward ; next, the Duke of Norfolke,
He to be Earle Marshall : you may reade the rest.
[Eol, iii. 930/1/35. Halle, 798.] In the beginning of Maie
[1533], the king caused open proclamations to be made, that all
1 charge of . . . for the orrferl Cavendish, charge of all the said etnffe,
with all other remaining in event office, to be delinered to the king, to make
answer to their charge .' for the order TloL and Stow.
* Wolsey presaged the truth ; which was, that Kingston had been sent to
convey him to the Tower.— Onrendish, i. 304, &c. The date of Wolsey*B death
is given by Cavendish (i. 319).
XIII. HENRY VIII.
men that claimed to doo anie Beruice, or execute atiie office at the ™/™?J£n
solemne feast of the coronation by the waie of tenure, grant, or Annt-
prescription, should put their grant three weekes after Easter in
the Starrechainber before Charles duke of Suffolke, for that time
high steward of England, and the lord chancellor, and other com- "I,
missioned.
Tki mtrall
The duke of Norffolke claimed to be erle niarshall, hZ'£it>u
and to exercise his office at that feast; . . . fmttfme**.
The Second Gentleman asks :
But, I beseech you, what's become of Katherine,
The Princess© Dowager 1 How goes her businei
1 That I can tell you too. The Archbisliop
Of Canterbury, accompanied teith other
Learned and Reuerend Fathers of his Order,
Held a late Court at Dunstable, sixe miles off
From Ampthill, where the Princesse lay ; to winch
She was often cyied by them, but appcar'd not :
Aiul, to be short, for not Appearance, and
The Kings lute Scruple, by the amine assent
Of all these Learned men she teas diuore'd.
And the late Marriage made of none effect : . . .
24
32
The Parliament which reassembled, after prorogation, on February
4, 1533, passed an act forbidding appeals to Rome ; l
[Hoi. iil 029/2/58. Halkt 790.] for that in ancient counccls
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
Katharine Dowager (for so was she then called), the which per-
sisted still in hir former opinion, and would reuoke by no meaues
hir appeale to the court of Rome. Where vpon tlu- archbishop of
Canturburie, accompanied with the bishops of London, Winchester,
Bath, Lincolne, and diners other learned men in great number,
rode to Dunstable, which is six miles from Amfitfull, irhcrc the
princcsse Dowager laic; and there by one Doctor Lee site u*as cited
to appeare before the said archbishop in cause of matrimonie in
the said townc of Dunstable, and at the daic of appearance she
appeared not, but made default; and so she was called percmptori[li]e
[p. 930] euerio daie fiftcene daics togithcr, and, at the last, for
Anne rtg.
21.
JfaU*n«,
1 Halle, 789, 795. The act is 2fl Hen. VIII., c. 22 {Statutes, iii 472, 473).
484 XIII. HENKY VIII.
crMimeri lacke of appearance, by the assent of all the learned men there
court at
udDdiY«ved Presen^ s?16 VJas dinoreed l from the king, and the 'manage declared
Ed£Li to be v°id and °f ™™ effect-
The trumpets now sound, and the procession enters in the manner
set forth by the following stage direction :
The Order of the Coronation.
1 A liuely Flourish of Trumpets.
2 Then, two fudges.
3 Lord Chancellor, with Purse and Mace before him.
4 Quirristers, siivjimj. Musicke.
5 Maior of London, bearing the Mace. Then Garter, in his Coate of
Amies, and on his head he wore a Gilt Copper Crowne.3
6 Marquesas Dorset, bearing a Scepter of Gold, on his head a Demy
Coronall of Gold. With him, the Earle of Surrey, bearing the Rod
of Siluer with the Done, Crowned with an Earles Coronet. Collars
of Esses.
7 Duke of SuffoUcs, in his Robs of Estate, his Coronet on his head,
bearing a long white Wand, as High Steward. With him, the Duke
of Norfolke, with the Rod of Marsfialship, a Coronet on his head.
Collars of Esses.
8 A Canopy borne by fours of the Cim\\ud-Ports ; vnder it, the Queens
in her Robs ; in her hairs richly adorned with Pearle, Crowned. On
each side her, the Bishops of London and WincJtsstsr.
9 The Olde Dtttchesse of Norfolke, in a Coronall of Gold, wrought with
Flowers, bearing tfe Queenes Trains,
10 Certaine Ladies or Countesses, with plaino Circlets of Gold without
Flowers.3
Anne Boleyn was crowned on June 1, 1533.4 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.
Ttecomui* [HoL iii. 933/i/i. Hallet 802.] First went gentlemen, then
KpiwiSr* esquiera, then knights, then the aldermen of the citie in their
**<f«wr* cloka of scarlet, after them the iudges in their mantels of scarlet
alUn-iant in
hinuyrtt- and coiffes. Then followed the knights of the bath being no lords,
euerie man hairing a white lace on his left sleeue; then followed
1 On May 23, 1533, as we learn from Cranmer'a letter (cited at p. 479, n, 1,
above).— Ellis, I. ii. 36.
2 Before the procession returned to Westminster Hall, *• euerie king of
armes put on a crowne of coper and guilt." — Hot. iii. 933/ 1/70. Halle, 803-
3 When the kings of arms put on crowns of copper gilt, '* euerie countease
[donned] a plaine circlet of gold without flowers." — HoL iii. 933/1/69. HaUe,
803. These crowns and circlets " were wornc till night." — Ibid.
* Hulls, 802.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
485
baron r and vicounts in their parlement robes of scarlet. After
them came earls, marquesses, and dukes in their robes of estate of
crimsin veluot furred with ermine, pondered according to their
degrees. After them came the lord chancellor in a robe of scarlet
open before, bordered with lettise; after him came the kings
chapell and the moonks solemnelie singing with procession, then
came abbats and bishops mitcred, then sargoants and officers of
amies ; then after them went the maior of London with his mace,
and garter in his cote of armes ; then went the marqueese Dorset in
a robe of estate, which bare the sceptre of gold ; and the carle of
Arundell, which bare the rod of iuorie with the done ; both togither.
Then went alone the carle of Oxford, high chamborleine of
England, which bare the crowne ; after him went the duke of Suffolke
in his robe of estate also, for that daie being high steward of England,
hauing a long white rod in his hand ; and the lord William Howard l
with the rod of the marshalship ; and euerie knight of the garter had
on his collar of the order. Then proceeded foorth the qyuene in a
circot and robe of purple reluet furred with ermine, in hir here,
coiffe, and circlet as she had the saturdaie ; and ouer hir was borne
the canopie byfoure of the fine ports, all criinHin with points of blue
and red hanging on their slceues ; and the bishops of London and
Winchester bare vp the laps of the quecnes robe. The qucencs
traine, which was verie long, was borne by the old ditches of
Norffolke ; after hir folowed ladies being lords wiues.
The procession passes over the stage, and goes out with a great
flourish of trumpets. An interval is supposed to elapse before a Third
Gentleman enters, and, joining the twain who have hitherto played
chorus, gives them an account of the coronation ;
The rich stream©
Of Lords and Ladies, hauing brought the Queene
To a prepar'd place in the Quire, fell off 64
A distance from her ; while her Grace sate downe
To reel a while, some halfe an houre or so,
In a rich Chaire of State, . . .
At length, her Grace rose, and with modest paces
Came to the Altar ; where she kneel'd, and, Saint-like,
Judge*.}
[The Lord
Chancellor . ]
(The King's
I ItllJu'I,
singmg.)
[The Mayor
of London. J
[Garter. J
[ Marquess
Dorset.]
[The Duke
uf Suffolk,
Lord
William
Howard,
representing
the Duke nf
Norfolk.]
THt flUcRC
¥mttr a
ennopie
horn* by
four* of (A*
cimptt par It.
[The Bfanojv
of London
and
Winchester.]
[The old
Diichffta of
Norfolk.)
[Ladles
being Lords'
wives,]
1 In the Queen'sproceseion from the Tower to Westminster Hall, on May
31, "rode the lord William Howard with the marahalles rod, deputie to hia
brother the duke of Norflblk, marelinll of England ; which was ambassador
then in France."— Hoi. 931/2/40. ffalle, 800. H ol. has this sidenote: "The
two dukes of Norffolke and Suffolke in their office*."
486
XIII. HENRY VIII.
The manerof
O-.t torona-
tiu cm it wot
tktr\ \*<j.
[A.M1*
Boleyn
mulcted
«iul crowned
hj Oran-
mer.J
IThc ndn
MOg ft
Dotm.1
Kb
and
Joc&j in
tArir pompe
(return to
tftttalnttaf
Hall J.
Cast her faire eyes to Heauen, and pray'd deuoutly : 84
Then rote againe, and bow'd her to the people ;
When, by the Arch byahop of Canterbury,
She had all the Royall makings of a Queene ;
Aa, holy Oyle, Edward Confessors Crowns,
The Rod, and Bird of Peace, and all such Emblemes,
Laid Nobly on her : which perform'd, the Quire,
With all the choysest Muaicke of the Kingdome,
Together sttny *4 Te Ztetori." So she parted, 92
And with the same full State pae'd backe againe
To Yorke-Place, where the Feast is held.
The ceremony subsequent to the procession is thus described :
[Hoi. iii. 933/1/47. Halle, 803.] When she was thus Drought
to the high place made in the middest of the church, betweene the
qutere and the high altar, she was set in a rich chaire. And after
that she had rested a while, she descended downe to the high altar,
and there prostrate hir selfe while the archbishop of Canturhtrie
said certeine collects : then she rose, and the bishop annointed hir
on the head and on the brcst, and then she was led vp againe ;
where, after diuerse orisons said, the archbishop set the crownc of
saint Edward on hir head, and then dcliucrcd hir the scepter of
gold in hir right hand, and tlu. rod of iuorie with the done in the
left baud ; and then all the queen soong Te Dcitm, &c. . . .
When the queene had a little reposed hir, the companie
returned in the same order that they set foorth ; and the queeno
went crowned, and so did the ladies aforesaid. . . . Now when
she was out of the sauctuarie and appeared within the palace, the
trumpets plaied maruellouslie freshlie ; then she was brought to
Westminster hall. & so to hir withdraw im? chamber: . . .
The last speaker's wrong designation of Henry's new palace is
corrected by the First Gentleman :
Sir,
You must no more call it Yorke-Place, that's past ;
For, since the Cardinal] fell, that Title's lost : 96
Tia now the Kings, and call'd White-Hall.
In January, 1531,1 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
1 After keeping Twelfth Night, 1531, at Greenwich.— Halle, 774.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
487
cardinal] was attainted in the premunire, & was gone northward,
he made a feoffment of the same place to the king, and the
chapiter of the cathedrall church of Yorke by their writing con-
firmed the same feoffement ; & then the king changed the name
and called it tho kings manor of Westminster,1 and no more Yorke
place.
The Second Gentleman asks :
What two Heuerend Bjshops
Were those that went on each side of the Quecue? 100
3 Stokesley and Gardiner ; the one of Winchester,
Newly preferr'd from the Kings Secretary;
The other, London.
Gardiner was consecrated Bishop of Winchester on December 3,
1531.* In 1530 the bishopric of London
[Hoi. iii. 909/2/$$. Halle, 761.] was bestowed on doctor
Stokesleie,3 then ambassadour to the vniuersitics beyond tho sea for
the kings manage.
The Second Gentleman remarks upon Gardiner's dislike to Cranmer.
The Third Gentleman answers that Cranmer will tind 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 Councell.
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 939/2/46. Halle, 795.] was appointed to Thomas
Cromwell, maister of the kings iewell house,4 & councellor to tho
king, a man newlic rcceiued into high fauour.
Act IV. sc. ii. — In Act IV. sc. i. the First Gentleman, after relating
the circumstances of Katharine's divorce, added (II. 34, 35) :
[WoI#er*»
former
■bode celled
no more
York rU«. 1
■ uaada
iCrotniren
mut«r of
jewel
houe.)
1 Br the Act 28 Hen. VIII., cap. 12 {Statute*, iii 668) this former residence
of the Archbishops of York was annexed to the old palace of Westminster, and
the whole was to be known as " the Kyngea Paleys at Westmynster." The
index to Halle has: "York Place called now whyt hall." In 1530 a petition
is spoken of as having been made to Wolsey " when lie lav at the White Hall,
then called York'B Place."— Calrwfar (//«u. V}It.), IV. iii. p. 2969.
1 Reg. Sacr. AiujLt7&
3 Stokesley was consecrated Bishop of London on November 27, 1530.—
lUa. Sacr. Anal, 76.
* Cromwell was made Master of the Jewel House on April 14, 1532.— Put.
23 H. VIII.(p.2,m.36(H,S.)t
488 XIII. HENRY VIII.
Since which, she was romou'd to Kymmalton,
Where she rem&ines now sicke.
The second scene of Act IV. opens with the following stage
direction :
Enter Katherine, Dowager, sicke ; lead [led] betweene
Griffith, her Gentleman Vsher, and Patience, her
Woman.
About the middle of the scene a messenger announces to Katharine
(L 106),
A Gentleman, Bent from the King, to Bee jou.
Griffith goes out and re-enters with Eustace Chapuys, the Imperial
ambassador, whom Katharine thus addresses :
If my sight faile not, 108
You should be Lord Ambassador from the Emperor,
My Royall Nephew, and your name Capuchius.
Chapuys'B reasons for presenting himself at Kimbolton are :
First, mine owne eeruice 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
Pat. 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 loucs, his yong daughter, 132
(The dewes of Heauen fall thicke in Blessings on her 1)
Beseeching him to gine 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
Vpon my wretched women, that so long 1 40
Have follow'd both my Fortunes faithfully :
Of which there is not one, I dare auow,
(And now I ahould not lye,) but will deserue.
For Yertue, and true Beautie of the Soulo, 144
For honestie, and decent Carriage,
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 J (they are the poorest, 148
But pouerty could neuer draw 'em from me ;)
That they may haue their wages duly paid 'em,
XIII. HENKY VIII.
489
And something oner, to remember me by :
If Heaueu had pleas'd to haue giuen me longer life, 152
And able meanea, we had not parted thus.
These are the whole Contents : . . .
In December, 1535,1 the
[Hoi. iil 939/2/13. Polyd, Verg. 690/6.] princosse 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 Eustachius 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
therein, comforting hir the best he might ; but she, within six daies
after, perceiuing hir selfe to wax verie weake and feeble, and to
feele death approching at hand, caused 0110 of hir gentlewomen to
write a letter to the king, commending to him hir daughter and
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 scuenth3 of Ianuarie at Kimbaltou 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 Greatnesse,
To vse so rude bc-hauiour.
The messenger then entreated her " Highnesse pardon "; his " hast "
made him " vnmanuerly." Katharine, however, demanded that she
should never see him again (U. 100-108).
This incident may have been suggested by the latter clause of tho
16*5
Th< Iodic
K-lt/.'tn.'f
tUcttmth.
[Cbapayi
wu tent to
her by
Henry. I
I Her letter
H Ji-Liy. 1
1 Hearing that Katharine was very ill, Eustace Chapuys, Charles V.'s am-
bassador, " went to ask the King for leave to visit her, which he obtained, with
some trouble." — Calendar (Hen. VIII.)t X. 60. Chapaya set off on December
30, 1535, and left Kimbolton on January 5, 1536.— Calendar (Hen. VIII.),
X, 59. She gave him audience twice on the day of his arrival, and after-
wards he had one audience on each day of his attendance at Kimbolton. She
died on January 7, 1536.— Ibid.
* seuenth] Calendar, tight HoL
490
XIII. HENRY VIII.
[Katharine
itJiBhl
wbo did not
Mm her u
ensuing excerpt. On December 17, 1533,1 Henry sent to Katharine the
Duke of Suffolk, who
[HoL iii. 936/2/7. Halle, 808.] discharged a great Bort of hir
houahold seruants, and yet left a conuenient number to serue hir
like a princesse ; which were sworne to serue hir not as qucene, but
as princesse Dowager. Such as tooke that oth she vttcrlic refused,
and would none of their scruice ; bo that she remained with the
lesse number of seruanta about hir.
Before she entered Katharine liad learnt from Griffith that Wolsey
was dead (11. 5-7). To her question how the Cardinal died Griffith
answered :
WoUj the voyce goes, Madam :
For after the stout Earle Northumberland 1 2
Arrested him at Yorko, and brought him forward
(As a man sorely tainted) to his Answer,
He fell eickc sodainly, and grow so ill
He could not sit his Mule.
Kath. Alas, poore man ! 1 6
Grif. At last, with easie Rodes, he came to Leicester,
Lodg'd in the Abbey ; where the reuerend Abbot,
With all hie Couent, honourably reoeiud him ;
To whom he gaue these words, "0, Father Abbot, 20
" An old man, broken with the stormes of State,
'* la come to lay his weary bones among ye ;
" Giue him a little earth for Charity I "
So went to bed : where eagerly his sicknesse 24
Pursu'd him still ; and, three nights utter this,
About the houre of eight, (which he himselfe
Foretold should be his last,) full of Repentance,
Continuall Meditations, Teares, and Sorrowcs, 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.3 The Cardinal
left Cawood, under arrest, on November 6,a and on November 8
reached Sheffield Park, where for a fortnight he enjoyed the hos-
pitality of George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury.4 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/'
1 Calendar (Hen. VIII.), VI. 1541. * Cavendish, i. 268, 275-280.
' Cavendish, 263, 284, S88. ■ Cavendish, 293, 299.
6 Cavendish, 299-302. As to this date cp. 310, 311, 313-319.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
491
Though his disorder increased he began his journey to London,
and, on November 26, rode from Nottingham l
[/To/, ill 917/i/ 10. Stow, 940.] to Leicester abbeie, and by
the waie waxed so siekc that he was almost fallen from his mule;
bo that it was night before he came to the abbeie of Leicester, where
at his camming in at the gates, (he abbot with all his conucnt met
him with diucrse torches light ; whom they honorahlis recciued and
welcomed.
To whom the cardinall said ; " Father ahlat, I am oome hither
uto lay my bones among you "; riding so still vntill he came to the
staires of the chamber, where he allighted from his mule, and
master Kingston led him vp the staircs, and as soone as he was
in his chamber lie went to fad. This was on the Saturday at night ;
ami then increased ho sicker and sicker, vntill mondaie, that all
men thought he would haue died : so on fcucsdaic, 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 did ?
In lees than two houra after Kingston's morning salutation, Wolsey
was at the point of death :
[Hoi. iii. 917/1/65. Stow, 940.] & incontinent the clocke
stroke eight, and then he gaue vp the ghost, and departed, this
present life : which caused some to call to remembrance how he
said the daie before, that at eight of the clocke they should loose
their master.
Having hoard how Wolsey died, Katharine says :
So may he rest ; his Faults lye gently on him t
Yet thus farre, Griffith, giuo me leaue to speake him, 32
And yet with Charity. He was a man
Of an rn bounded *tontacker euer ranking
Himself e with Princes ; one that, by suggestion,
Ty'de all the Eingdome : Syntonic was faire play ; 36
//m owns Opinion was his Law : i'th'jrresence
lie would say vntruths ; and be euer double
Both in his words and meaning : he was neuer
(But where he meant to Ruine) jiif/ifuli: 40
His Promises were, as be then was, Mighty ,
But his performance, as he is now, Nothing ;
I WnUoy dif d
■t eight In
thf irn Tiling,
m he turf
prediotmLI
Cavendish, I 311 313
41>2
XIII. HENKY VIII.
Of his owne Itody /te was ill, and gaue
The Clergy ill example.
With Katharine's leave, Griffith thus proceeded to "speake"
Wolsey's M good ":
This Cardinally 48
Though from an humble 8tocke, undoubtedly
Was fashion'd to much Honor from his Cradle.
He was a Scholler, and a ripe and good one ;
Exceeding wise, /aire spoken, and perswading : 52
Lofty and sowre to them that lou'd him not ;
But, to those men that sought him, sweet as Summer.
And though he were vnsatisfied in jetting,
(Which was a sinne,) yet t» bestowing, Madam, 56
He was most Princely : euer witnesse for him
Those twinnes of Learning, that he rais'd in you,
Ipswich and Oxford / one of which fell with him,
Vti willing to out-liue the good that did it ; 60
The other (though unjinish'd) yet so Famous,
So excellent in Art, and still so rising,
That Christendoms shall euer speake his Vertue.
His Ouerthrow heap'd Happinesse vpon him ; 64
For then, and not till then, he felte himselfe,
And found the Blessednesse of being little :
And, to adde greater Honors to his Age
Then man could giue him, he dy'de fearing God. 63
For comparison with Katharine's unfavourable judgment of Wolsey
I quote the following passage, taken by Holinshed from Halle (774) :
[Hoi. iii. 922/2/48.] This cardinall . . . was of a great stomach,
for he corapted himselfe equall with princes, & by craftie suggestion
gat into his hands innumerable treasure ; he forced little on
rimonic, and was not pittifull, and stood affectionate in his owne
opinion : in open presence he would lie and sate vntruth, and was
double both in speach and meaning: he would promise much &
performe little : he was vicious of his bodiet & gam the clergic cuill
example: . . .
Griffith's defence should be compared with another estimate of
Wolsey, which forms my next quotation :
njrdocwp. [Hol.iiL 917/2/20.] This cardinall (aa Edmund Campian in
his historic of Ireland l describeth him) was a man vndoubtcdly borne
to h&tior: I thinke (eaith he) some princes bastard, no butchers
Jb. f'.tr
Sdtc Hal.
Ctxrxxiijj
TKe tUterip-
titmofti*
cardinall.
rnrdinail
ifoltcit, mt
by
' In the dedication of an account of Ireland (Hoi. ii.), Raphael Holinshed
acknowledged his obligation to Campian a " two bookes 01 the Irish historic*."
xni. henry vin.
193
sonne ; exceeding wise ; /aire spoken ; high minded ; full of reuenge ;
vitious of his bodie ; loftie to his enimies, were they neuer so big ;
to those that accepted and sought hie frcendship woonderfiill
courteous ; a ripe schooleman ; thrall to affections ; brought a bed
with flutterie ; insatiable to get, and HOT* JWWUafti m bestoiving, as
ajipeareth by his two colleges at Ipsivich a?td OxQt\fordt the one
ouerthrowne with his fall, the other vnjinishai, and yet, as it lieth
for an house of students, considering all the appurtenances, incom-
parable thorough Christendome ; whereof Hcurie the eight is now
called founder, bicause he let it stand. He held and inioied at
once the bishopriks of Yorke, Duresme, & Winchester, the digni-
ties of lord cardinall, legat, & chancellor, the abbeie of saint
Albons, diuerse priories, sundrie fat benefices " In commendam : "l
a great preferrer of his seruants, an aduancer of learning, stout in
euerie quarell, neuer happie till this his overthrow. Wherein he
shewed such moderation, and ended so perfectlie, that the houro of
his death did him mure honor than all the pompe of his life passed.
Act V. ac. i. —Gardiner and Lovell meet. Hearing from Lovell
that Queen Anne is in labour and in great extremity, Gardiner wishes
that she, together with Cranmer and Cromwell, were dead. " Aa for
Cromwell," answers Lovell, he
Beside that of the Iewell-House s is made Master
O'th'Rolles, and the Kings Secretary; . . .
[Hoi. iii. 938/1/6. Stow, 962] The one and twentith of Sep-
tember [1534], doctor Tailor, master of the rolles, waa discharged
of that office ; and Thomas Cromwell sworne in his place, the
ninteenth of October.3
In Holtnshed, iii. 94O/1/15 (Stow, 964), "Thomas Cromwell secro-
tarie" 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, Holiiifihed, Stow, or Foxe.4
1 I have substituted quotation commas for the original italics of In
commendam.
* See p. 487, n. 4, above.
8 Cromwell was made Master of the Rolls on October 8, 1534. — Pat. 26
II. VIII. p. 2, ra. 1 m. S.).
4 A letter from Henry Marquis of Exeter to Cromwell, dated April 7, 1534,
ia addressed : " Master Secretary."— Calendar (Hen. VIIL\ VII. 446. In a
document dated April IS, 103 1, appointing Cromwell to be one of the pleni-
potentiaries for concluding peace with Scotland, he ia called " Primarius
Secretarius nosier." — Bymer, xiv. 53C.
Edmvn-i
LWr.lfflj'a
colleges «t
Ipswich tnd
Oxfur.l.)
I II Iti I it'll r-
Ares.)
[His charac-
ter (con-
tinued).]
[lilt eiem-
pl*ry death,]
[Cromwell
nude Mutter
of Uio Rolls.]
494
XIII. HENRY VHI.
grmt**p~
f^vrlrr of
Crammer.
T\t fmtttm
(— incited
by Uutllaer
— ] frujy Co
Iringthr
Arthbfhop
cutofcrtdit
*>U IA<
King.
JTbey told
Henry that
" TV Archbyahop," adds Lovell,
Is the Rings hand and tongue ; and who dare apeak
One syllable against him 1
Touching the folly of those persons who hoped to ruin Cranmer
through the conspiracy which is dramatized in sc iiL Act V., Foxe
remarks (ii. 1760/i):
And it was muche to be marueiled that they would goe bo farre
with hym, thus to seekc hia vndoyng, this well vnderstandyng
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 kyngea pacience was, by sinister informations,
against hyui tried.
Gardiner replies that there are some who dare accuse Cranmer ;
and 1 my selfe haue ventur'd
To speake my minde of him : and, indeed, this day.
(Sir, I may tell it you,) I thinke I haue
Incenst the Lords o'th'Councell, that he is
(For so I know he is, they know he is)
A most Arch-Herotique, 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.
10
44
M
In(?) 1544,1
[Foxe, ii. 1759/r,] cerfcaine of the Counsailo, whose names
neede not to bee repeated, by the cntisement 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
1 According to Fare (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* 1540 (Lvrdi Journals, i. 143/2), and remained
there until he was beheaded on the 28th of July.— Halle, 839. But the attempt
to ruin Cranmer is placed under the year 1544 by Strype, who, in regard to
the latter date, says j '* I leave Fox to follow [Ralph] Morice, the Archbishop's
secretary, in hia manuscript declaration of the said Archbishop." — Strype's
Cranmer, i. 176. Of the authority cited Strype epcaks thus: "There is an
original writing of thia Morice'a hand, preserved in the Benei- library [the
library of Corpus Christi, Cambridge], entitled, A declaration, <frc, which he
drew out for the use, and by the command, of Archbishop Parker." — Strype's
Cranmer, L 615.
xiit. henhy vin.
495
to permit it vnreforoied, . . . [1759/2], The kyng, perceiuyng
their importune sute against the Archebishoppe, (but yet nieanyng
not to haue hym wronged, and vtterly giueu ouer vnto their
handcs,) graunted to them that they should, the nexto daie,
committe hym to the Tower for his trialL
Gardiner goes out and Henry enters with Suffolk (1. 55). Suffolk's
exit is followed by the entrance of Sir Anthony Denny, who thus
addresses the King (11. 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 King 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 of Canterbury. 92
Come, you and 1 must wftlke a turne together ;
I haue Newes to tell you : . . .
I haue, and moat vnwillingly, of late
Heard many greeuous, I do say, my Lord,
Greeuouti complaints of you ; which, being considered,
Haue mon'd Vs and our Councell, that you shall 100
This Morning come before vs ; where, I know,
You cannot with such freedome purge your Belfe,
But thatT till further Trial in those Charges
Which will require your Answer, you must take 101
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 else no wtine$se
Would conm against you.
Crant I humbly thanke your Highnesse ; 108
And am right glad to catch this good occasion
Most throughly to be winnowed, where my Chaffe
And Gome shall flye asunder : for, I know,
There's none stands vnder more calumnious tongues, 112
Then I my selfe, poore man !
King. Stand vp, good Canterbury :
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 manner of man are you t My Lord, / look'd
You toould haue giuen me your Petition, that
I should haue tane some parties to bring together
Your selfe awl your Accuser* ; and to haue heard you, 120
Without induranct) further. . . .
Know you not
How your state stands fth'world, with the whole world- t
the aprwad
or tirivSY
ought to be
■Jwdni*]
I Henry con-
sented that
Cranmer
ahnnld be
committed
to the
Tower.]
496
xin. henry vi n
Your Enemies are many, and not small ; their practises I *-?8
Must bean? the same proportion ; and not ouer
The Iustice and the Truth o'th'queation carries
The dew o'th'Verdict with it : at what ease
Might corrupt inindes procure Knaues as corrupt 132
To sweare against you / such things haue bene done.
You are Potently oppos'd ; and with a Malice
Of as great Size. \Veene you of better lucke,
(I meaue, in periur'd Witneese,) then your Master, 13C
(Whose Minister you are,) whiles heere he liu'd
Vpon this naughty Earth I Go to, go to :
You take a Precepit for no leape of danger,
And wooe your owne destruction, ... 140
Be of good cheere ;
They shall no more preuaifc then we giue way to.
Keepe comfort to you .; and this Morning see 144
Yon do appeare before them : \f they shall chance,
In charging you with waiters, to commit you,
The best perswasions to the contrary
Faile not to vset and with what vehemencie 143
Th'occasion shall instruct you : if intreatiea
Will render you no remedy, this Ring
/Jeliuer them, and your Appeale to vs
There make before them. (Looke, the good man weeps ! 152
He's honest, on mine Honor. Gods 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. 156
I resume my historical excerpts from tho point where we learn that
Cranmer's enemies had obtained permission to " committe hym to the
Tower for hia trial! " (p. 495 above).
TV Btaf
trnt Syr
Antony
Deny at mid-
night for (A<
[Henry >n<t
the Council
latawW is
commit
Cmmuer
to the
Tower.)
[Foxet ii. 1759/2.] When Nigh to came, the Kyng sent Sir
Anthonie Denie, aboute Midnight, to Lambeth, to the Archbishop,
willyng hym forthwith to resorfce mto hym at the Courte. The
message docn, the Archbishop speedily addressed hym self to
the Court, and commyng into the Galeric where the kyng walked,
and taried for hym, liis high n esse saied ; "Ah, my Lordc of
" Canterburu, I can tell you newes. For diuers waightie consider-
ations it is determined by me and the Counsaile, that you to
"morrowe at nine of the clocke shall beo 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 wUnntl in these matterev you bcyng a Counsellour."
When the kyng had said his minde, the Archbishop kneeled
»■
Xni. HENRY VIII.
497
doune, and Baled : "I am content, if it please your grace, with all ™^^7A"
" my harte, to go thether at your higlmes commauiidoniente ; and ^^Jf
" I moste humbly thankc your Maiestie that I maio conic to my
"trial!, for there bee that hauo many waies sclaundcred me, and
"nowe this waie I hope to trie my self not worthy of suchc
"report"
The Kyng, perceiuyng the manneB vprightuesa, ioyned with audio
mmplicitie, saied : "Oh Lorde, what maner a man be you? What nn>n«y™»
"simplicitie ia in you! / liad thought that you would rather haw J{£jJJJJJJ^B
11 sued to vb to hauc taken the paincs to haue heard you and your
"accusers together, for your triall, ivWunU any suehe indurance.
"Doe not you hwwe what state you bee in unth the whole worlds
" and how many greato enemies you haue ? Doc you not consider
tc wliat an easie thyng it ia to procure three or fower false knaues
" to witnesse againste you ? Thinke you to haue letter Incke that
11 waie then your Maister Christe had ? I ace by it, you will runne
"hoadlonge to your vndoyng, if I would suffer you. Your enemiea jfuKiw*
"shall not so preuaile against you, for I hauc otherwise dcuiscd £2^.
"with my selfc, to keepe you out of their handea. Yet, notwith- SJiJSE0"
"standing, to inorrowe, when, the Counsaile ahall aitte, and sonde cfm£r&n>>.
" for you, resort vnto them, and if, in chargyng yon with thia
" mattery they doe commit yon to the Tower,1 . . . vsc for your selfc
"as good pcrsioasions ... as you maie deuiae, and, if no intreatie
"or reasonable request will seme, then d< li<'>r w\U\ Affl this my
"rung;" (whiche thou the Kyng deliuered vuto the Arclibishoppo;) rk<Ki*$
KtuUth hit
. . . "for,' (aaied the Kyng then vnto the Archbishoppe,) "bo fy^fj*/**
"sone aa thei shall rco thia my ryng, thei knowe it so wcl that JJj^J?
"they ahall vndoratando that I haue resumed the whole cause c
"into mync owne handeB and determination, and that I hauc
"discharged them thereof!"
The Archebishoppe, perceiuyng the kynges benignite so muche irj*n.mor^
to him wardea, had muchea doe to forbeare teares. "Well," saied Jjjj*
the kyng, " goe your waies, my Lorde, and doe as I hauo bidden t*"**-"*
"you." My Lorde, humblyng hym self with tUankes, tooke his nbtiMfal
leaue of the kynges highnessc for that night dei»rti<L]
See p. 500, u. I, below.
K K
HENRY M,
An " Olde Lady" — who appeared with Anne Boleyn in bc iii.,
Art II. — now enters and tells Henry that a daughter has been born to
him (V. i. 158-165).
The birth of Elizabeth is thus recorded :
EilibSlh.] lHoL "»■ KH/a/L Halle, 805.] The aeuenth of September
[1533], being Hiuidaic, betwcone three & foure of the clockc in tlio
aftornoone, the quoeno was dcliuered of a faire yoong ladio, . . .
Act V. bc. ii. — Cranmer is discovered at the door of the Council
Chamber, He says (11. 1-4) :
I hope I am not too late ; and yet the Gentleman,
That was sent to mo from the Co uncoil, prayM me
To make great hast. — All fast ? What meanos this 1 — Hoa !
Who waites there 1 Sure, you know me 1
Enter [Door-]Keopcr.
Keep, Yes, my Lord ;
But yet I cannot helpe you.
(torn. Why?
Keep. Your Grace must waight till you be call'd for.
Dr. Butts enters, and/ witnessing the affront offered to Cranmer,
murmurs to himself :
This is a Peece l of Malice. I am glad 8
I came this way so happily \ the King
Shall vnderstand it presently. [Exit Buts.
Oran. [aside] 'Tis Bute,
The Kings Physitian ; , . .
Butts re-enters with the King, " at a Windowe aboue," and says :
Buts, lie shew your Grace the strangest sight —
King, What's that, Buts? 20
Butts. I thinke your Highnesse saw this many a day.
Kin. Body a me I where is it 1
Butts. There, my Lord :
The high promotion of his Grace of Canterbury ;
Who holds his State at dore, 'mougst Purseuants, 24
Pages, and Foot-boyes !
Aw. Ha I Tis he, indeed.
Is this the Honour they doe one another f
'Tis well there's one aboue 'em yet. 1 had thought
They had parted bo much honesty among 'em, %B
(At least, good manners,) as not thus to suffer
A man of his Place, and so noere our favour,
To dance attendance on then* I»rdship8 pleasures,
Ami ;it the (lore Loo, like a Post with Packets. 32
By holy Mary, Butts, there's knauery :
Let 'em atom r and draw the Curtaine close :
We ahaU heart vwre anon.
recce] retre F.
,.
XIII. HENRY VIII.
499
The incident here dramatized is thus related by Foxe (ii. 1759/2) :
On the morowe, about ix. of tho clock before noone, the Coun-
saile sent a gentleman Huslier for the Arehebiskop, who, when he
came to the Counsail chamber dorc, could not bee let in, but of
purpose (aa it seemed) was [17G0/i] compelled there to waite
among the Pages, Lnckeis, ami seniyng men, all alone. Doctor
Buttet, the kynges PhMion, rcsortyng that waie, and espiyng hmvo
my Lorde of Canterburie was handled, went to the kynges liighnesac
and saied : n My lorde of Canterbury, if it please your grace, is
"well promoted : for nowe he is become a lackey or a seruyng
"man; for yonder he staudeth this halfe bower, without the
"Counsail chamber doore, amougest thorn." "It is not so," q«oth
the kytig, " I trowo ; nor the Counsaile hath not so little dis-
cretion as to vse tho Mctropolitano of the Realm e in that sort,
" specially bey ng one of their owne number: but Id them alone"
(saied tho kyng) "and we shall heave more boiic."
Act V. sc. iii. — The scene is laid in thu Couneil-l'hambor. When
tho counsellors are seated, ■ Norfolk " addresses tho door-keeper :
Who waits there '/ 4
Keep. Without, my Noble Lords 1
Oard. Yes.
Keep. My Lord Archhishop ;
And ha' a done halfe an houre to know your pleasures.
Chan. Let him come in.
Keep. [To Cran.] Your Grace may enter now.
Oanmer [enters and] approchos the Counecll Tabic.
The Lord Chancellor then censures Cranmer, because
you, that best should teach vs,
Haue miftdemean'd your selfe, and not a little,
Toward the King first, then his Lawes, in tilling
The whole Bealme, by your teaching <£- your Ckaplaines, 1 6
(For so we are inform'd,) with new opinions,
Diuers and dangerous ; which are Heretics,
And, not reform'd, may proue pernicious.
Gardiner adds :
... If we suffer 24
(Out of our easiness© and childish pitty
To one mans Honour) this contagioxis sicknesse,
Farewell all Fhysicket and what followes thenl
Commotions, vjtrores, with a geuorall Taint 28
Of the whole State : as, of late dayes, our neighbours,
The Arch-
■'■;• -'■■■,'.
MM RMJ
qfthr
Cou.njw.-l,
matte to
QmmmA
rtuim'n-r
itort,
wayting.
UulU*, ft
l-inffc* Phi-
iition, a
/fiend etf Uu
Arek-
by*Kf>p*
f.told ij.-nrv
how Crmn-
IIIIT WIW
troatwl].
[Henry
resolved not
to interfere
for a whilu.]
500
XIII. HEXRY VIH.
in. i..u
cm i motion*
In Gorman y
riuo to her-
■ I ■> | 1 ti .vh-
in*.]
The Arch*
byiho/t . . .
nrv-iufrf to
Ou Ling [
of prcaduug
li' u>y].
IlfCraimicr
wcrw not
CuillTllJttol
to the
ntMN -
wuuJ.J ii.t
• ppCAT
H nli„t
ll:IH.|
The vpper Germany, can deerely witnesse,
Yet freshly pittied in our memories.
When Cranmer's enemies drew Henry's attention to the spread
of heresy in England, they urged (see pp. 494, 495 above) "that it
was daungeroua for his highnesse farther to permit it "
[Foxet u. 1759/1. ] vnreformed, lest peraduenture, by long
suffcryng, suchc contention should arise and ensue in the real mo
among his subiectes, that thereby might spryng horrible convictions
and vprorcs, like as in some partes of Gwmanic it did not long
agoe: the cnormitie whereof they could not impute to any so
muche as to the Archbishop of Canterburie, who, by his own
preachyng and his Chapleins, had filled the ivhole rcalrne full of
diners pernicious heresies.
Cranmer's speech in answer to this charge closes with the request
That, in this case of Iustico, my Accusers,
Be what they will, may stand forth face to face,
And freely vrge against me ! l
Svff. Nay, my Lord, 48
That cannot be : you are a Counsellor,
And, by that vertue, no man dare accuse you.
Gard. My Lord, because we haue busines of more moment,
We will be short with you. 'Tis his Iliyhnesee pleasure, 52
And our consent, for better tryall of you,
From honco you bo committed to the Tower ;
Where, being but a priuate man againe,
You shall know many daro accuse you boldly, 56
More then (I feare) you are prouided for.
Having been informed that Cranmer " had filled the whole realuie
full of diuers pernicious heresies," Henry M would needes knowe " the
Archbishop's
[Foxe, ii. 1 759/2. ] accusers. Tbci [Cranmer's enemies]
aunswered that, forasninche as he was a GouiwUcr, no man durst
take vpon liym to aemm him ; but, if it would please his highntsst
to iouunUU liym to flu Toioer for a tymc, there would bee
accusations and proofes enough agninsto him ; for otherwise iuste
testimomc and witnesse against hyin would not appcere ; M and
1 During their private conference, Henry paid to Cranmer (see p. 497 above) :
" if, in chargying you with this matter, they [the Council] doe commit you to
the Tower, require of thein, IxjcauBe you are one of them a Counsellor, that
you maie haue your accusers brought before them, and that you maie aunswere
their accusations before them, without any further induraunce, and vse for your
sclfe as goud perswasiona that waie, as you maie deuiee," . . ,
M
xm. henry vm.
501
"therefore your highnesse " (saied they) " muste needes giue vs the
" Counsnill 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 little too ftharpe"
with the Archbishop, Gardiner retorts :
Doe not I know you for a Fauourer 80
Of this new Sect? ye are not sound.
Crom. Not sound ?
Gard. Not sound, I say.
Crom. Would you were halfe so honest !
Mens prayers then would secke you, not thoir feares.
Foxe says of Cromwell (ii. 1159/2) :
In this worthy and noble person, besides diners other eminent
vertues, iij. thinges eBpecially are to bco considered, to wytte,
floriBhyng authoritie, excellyng wysedome, and foment zeale to
Christ & to his Gospell.1 First as touching his foment zeale in
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 co?»mon wealth,
and doyng good to the poore afflicted Saintes, helpyng them 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 out
of the kirigOH fauour.
The chiefs and principal euemie against him was Steuen
Gardiner, Byshop of Winchester, . . .
Foxe gives the following description of Gardiner (ii. IG79/i) :
He was of a proude stomake and high minded, in his owne
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 Btout and enuious,
namely if in judgement and sentence liee any thyng withstode him :
Tkrtt
tkingm m
the I.
Gnmm "..
1. Z&de.
2. Wi»lOM<.
3. Author-
Hit.
Ste. Oar-
di-ner €hi**'
m*mk to
thtL.
CM -. '■■
of Gnnlim r.
1 "This Cromwell was at that tynie [1538] the chief frond of the Qoe-
pollom.1'— Foxe, 1097/2.
8 Cp. the rebuke addressed by Henry to Gardiner (V. iii. 126, 127) :
" To me yon cannot reach, you play the Spaniell,
And thinke with wagging of your tongue to win mo ; " . , .
502
xin. henry vra.
{He and
Cromwell
were rtout
opponents. |
Mid c-i intra*
dietory
opiniuaaor
ha wui
time-server. J
|Cr»nmer
WM tO
np]*al from
tfie Council
to thfiKlng.l
ThtArck-
.-,'■ '■ '■ ■ | n
lAcCtoun-
•aitt.
Tkt Covn-
.'■:•!: WM
Xtte against
f» Arch
bithop. Hte
V.l-fl >!.,-
tyngtt rirrj
et apptat-
ctkfrvm
tMtm.
as appered betwene the good Lord Cromwell and hym in the
reigne of king Henry, beyng of like hautines of stomacke, . , .
Cromwell's taunt — "would you were halfe bo honest" — may be
illustrated by a passage (ii. 1 670/ 1 ) in which Foxe pointed out the
apparent contradictions of Gardiner's teaching;
And as touching diuiuitie, ho was bo variable waueryng with tyme,
that no constant censure can be geuen what to make of hym. If
bis doyngs & writynges were accordyng to his conscience, no
man can rightlyc say whether he was a right protestaut or Papist.
If he wrote otherwise then he thought, for foaro, or to beare with
time, then was he a double depe dissembler before God and man,
to say & vnsay, to write & rnwrite, to sweare and forsweare,
so as he did.
The Lords of the Council agree that Oranmer shall be sent to the
Tower (11. 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 Oranmer. Oranmer then replies :
Stay, good my Lords,
I haue a little yet to say. Looke there, my Lords ;
By vertue of that Ring, / take my cause
Out of the gripes of cruell men, and giue it 100
To a most Noble Iudge, the King my Maister.
At their interview on the night before the council-meeting, Henry
bade Oranmer, *' if no intreatie or reasonable request will serue, then
deliuer vnto them this my ryng" (p. 497 above) j
[Foxt, ii. 1759/2.] and saie vnto them: "if there be no
"remedie, my Lordes, but that I must needes goe to the Tower,
"then / reuoke my cause from you, and appeale to the Kynges
" owne persone, by this his token vnto you all," . . .
Henry had foreseen what would happen. After waiting a " halfe
howor " (see p. 499 above),
[Foxe, ii. 1760/1] the Archbishop was called into the
Counsaill Chamber : to whom was alledged, as before is re-
hearsed. The Archbishop aunswered in like sort as the kyng had
aduised hym : & in the eude, when he perceiued that no mancr
of perswasion or intreatie could scrue, ho deliuered to them the
Kynges rynge, reuoking his cause into the Kynges handes.
Recognizing the ring, Suffolk exclaims :
xni. henky vm,
503
e Karl of
knd r>-
Tis the right Ring, by Heau'n I / told ye all,
When wo first put this dangerous stone a rowling 104
'Ttoold fall vpon our selues.
Norf. Doe you thinJce, my Lords,
The King will suffer but the little finger
Of this man to be vex'd 1
Cham. 'Tis now too cettaine :
How much more is hi* Lij\ in value with him ? 108
Would I were fairely out on't I
Crom. My mind gaue me
In seeking tales and Informations
Against this man, , , .
Ye blew the fire that burned ye : . . .
Foxe relates (ii. 1760/i) that, Cranmer having delivered to them
Henry's ring, and the
whole Counsaile beyng thereat somewhat amaaed, the Erie of
Bedford, with a loude voice, confirmyng his woordcs with a solemno g^Sj*^
othe, saied: "when you first began this matter, my Lordes, I tolde Jjjjj
"you what loonld come of it. Dot you thinke that tht Kyng mil •eS'witiwM
%t suffer this manncs finger to ake? muche more (I warrant you) cnumnrj
" wil he defeude his life agaiast brablyng varlettes. You doe but
H comber your selues to heare tales & fables against hym."
Immediately after Cromwell's speech (1. 113) Henry enters,
" frowning on them, takes his Seate." The King sternly answers
(11. 122-129) a flattering address from Gardiner (IL 114-121), reassures
Cranmer (11. 130-133), and then Bays:
/ had thought I had had men of some vnderstanding
And wisedome of my Councell ; but I find* none. 136
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 dore t and one as great as you are? 140
Why, what a shame was this ! Did my Commission
Bid ye so farre forget your selues ? / gaue ye
Power, as he was a CounseUour, to try him,
Not a* a Groome : there's some <j/"ye, / see, 144
More out of Malice then Integrity,
Would tryt him to the vtvwst, had ye meane ;
Which ye shall neuer haue while I liue.
Chan, Thus farre,
My most dread Soueraigne, may it like your Grace, 148
To let my tongue excuse all. What was purpos'd
Concerning his Imprisonment, toas rattier
(If there be faith in men) meant for his TryaU,
And faire purgation to the world, t/ten malice, 152
I'm sure, in me I
Kin. Well, well, my Lords, respect him ;
504
xm. henry vin.
[TTi ■ i '. .Tu 1
Omm ft
matter to
Elenry'f
JMMM 1
T'ir i ' Ml
wortlu ta
ike eown-
nult in
defmrt of
tiuArck.
bithop.
offered by
'•one or
twuoof the
I :.■■ | mIiii-
77.' tdfiln
of th- i:-, .'■,'-
atilt gltut to
bctfrientttw
again* trith
the Arch-
lit/lop.
Take him, and vse htm weft, hee'e worthy of it,
I will say thus much for him, if a Prince
May be beholding to a Subiect, I
Am, for his louo and scruice, so to him.
Make me no more adoe, but all embrace him.
ir>6
After recording the Earl of Bedford's speech, Foze proceeds thus
(ii. 1760/i):
And so, incontinently vpon the receipt of the kynges token, thei
al rose, and caried to the king bis ring ; surrendering that matter,
as the order and vse was, into his own handes.
When thei wer all come to the kynges presence, his highnes,
with a seuere countenaunco, said vnto them : " Ah, my lordes, /
" thought I had had wiser men of my counsaile then now I findc
"you. What discretion was this in you, thus to make the Primate
" of the Realme, & one of you in office, to waite at the Counsail
"chamber dorc amongest aeruyng men! You might hauo con-
M sidered that he was a Counacller as well as you, and you had no
"Buche commission of mo so to handle hym. /was content that
"you should trie him. as a Counsetler, and not as a meane subiect
"But now / well perceiue that things be doen against him
"maliciously, and, if some of yon might liauc had your minds, you
"would hauo tried him to Ike vttormost. But I do you all to wit,
"and protest, that if a Prince male bee bcholdyng \n(o his mbiecte ";
and so (solem[n]ly laiyng his hande vpon his breaste) saied: "by
"the faithe 1 owe to God, I take this man here, my Lorde of
"Canterburie, to be of al other a moste faithfull eubiecte Tnto vs,
"and one to vthom we are mucho beholding": giuyng hym greate
commendations otherwise. And with that one or twoo of the
chief est of the Counsailo, making their excuse, declared, that, in
requesting his induraunce, it was rather mmnte for his triall, and
hia purgation against the common fame and sclaundcr of the
worlde, then for any malice conceiued against him : ■ Well, well,
"my Lordes " quoth tho kyng, "take hym, and xotll vse hym, as
"he is worthie to be, and make no more ado." And with that
eucry man caught hym by the hand, and made faire weather of
altogether, whiche might easely be doen with that man.
Henry "once more" bids Gardiner embrace Cranmer; and, observing,
HENRY VIII.
505
as this command is obeyed, the Archbishop's " ioyfull teares," remarks
(1L 176-178) ;
The common voyce, I see, is verified
Of thee, which sayes thus : " Doe my Lord of Canterbury
" A shrewd turne, and hee's your friend for euer."
According to Foxe (ii. 1756/i) Cranmer's forgiving disposition was
so notorious
that it came into a common prouorbe : " Do vnto my Lord of Canter- cor*nmcr»i
uUtry displeasure or a shrtvxd turne, and then you may be sure U^J^j
" to haue him yourfraul whiles he lyueth." {Tro-rcr*.)
Act V. sc. v. — In sc, iii., Act V., Henry desired Cranmer to be the
godfather of ■ a faire young Maid that yet wants B&ptisme" (1. 162) ;
adding : " You shall haue two noble Partners with you ; the old
" Ducheese of Norfolke, 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,
Garter, Cranmer, Duke of Norfolke with his Marshals
Staffe, Duke of Suffolke, two Noblemen bearing great
standing Bowles for tho Christening Guifts : Then foure
Noblemen bearing a Canopy, vnder which the Dutcheese of
Norfolke, Godmother, bearing tho Childo richly habited in
a Mantle, &c., Traine borne by a Lady : Then followes the
Marchionesse Dorset, the other Godmother, and Ladies.
The Troope passe once about the Stage, and Garter speakes.
Gart. Heauen, from thy endlesse goodnesse, send prosperous
life, long, and euer happie, to the high and Mighty Princesse of
England, Elizabeth I
Flourish. Enter King and Guard.
Addressing the godparents, Henry says (11. 13-15) :
My Noble Gossips, y'haue beene too Prodigal! :
I thanke ye heartily ; so shall this Lady,
When she ha's so much English.
Tho christening
[Hoi iii. 934/2/5. Halle, 805, 806.] was appointed on the
wedueBdaio next following [Elizabeth's birth on Sunday, Sept 7,
1533] ; and was accordinglie accomplished on the same date, with
all such Bolemnc ceromotiies as were thought conuenient. The god-
father at the font was the lord archbishop of Canturburic, the god-
mothers, the old dutches of Norffolke, & the old marchionesse
rp«t«of
KUnbetlTa
christening.]
[Hergod-
506
XTTT. HENRY Vin.
£d*. Hall.
CtrriJ. 1905.)
[The Lord
Mayor and
Aldermen
of London
present at
her christen-
ing.)
Norfolk
and tho
Dukes of
Norfolk and
Suffolk were
in the pro-
eeeaiim to
tin church.]
A tmtfk
benuoucr
the ws.j
[Oarter'a
■mflm>
ti.-n.j
HiehpifU
ffiut* to tfi<
(The pro-
eeaalua
returned in
tbeiaine
order.]
Dorset, widowes ; 1 and at the confirmation tho ladic marchionesse
of Excester was godmother ; the child was named Elizabeth.
Upon the daie of the christening, the maior, sir Stephon
Peacocke, in a gowne of crunsin veluet, with his collar of S S, and
all tho aldermen in scarlet, with collars and chaincs, and all the
councoll of the 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 manic lords, knights, and gentle-
men assembled.
When the procession to the church wns formed
[Hoi iii. 934/2/47. Hoik, 805, 800,] the old dutches of Nor-
flfolke bare tho child in a mantell of purple veluet, with a long trainc
furred with ermine. The duke of Norffolkc with his marshal! 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
amies. The countesse of Kent bare tho 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
tho said child, was borne a canopio by the lord Rochford, the
lord Husee, the lord William Howard, and by the lord Thomas
Howard the elder ; after the child followed manic ladies and
gentlewomen. . . .
When the ceremonies and christening were ended, Garter,
cheefe king of armes, cried alowd, "God of his infinite gowhussc
" send prosperous life & long to the high and miglUie princesse of
"England, Elizabeth;" & then the trumpet** blew. Then the
archbishop of Canturburic gauc to the princesse 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 holies, pounced, with a couer: and the marchionesse of
Excester gaue three landing holies, graucn, all gilt, with a
couer. . . . [Hoi iiL 935/1/3. 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, sauing
1 widoiees] Halle, icidow Hal.
xra. HENEY VIII. 507
that the gifts that the godfather and the godmothers gaue were
borne before the child by foure persons, that is to saie : First, sir ttao ban
Iohn Dudleie bare the gift of the ladie of Excester, the lord p™t*t*iu>
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 brought the princesse to the Qfueen's] gjjjjj*1"*
chamber, & tarried there a while with the maior & his brethren £^51$?
the aldermen, and at the last the dukes of Norffolke & Suffolke ££L J^er'
came out from the K, thanking them hartilie ; who commanded name.]"
them to giue thanks in his name : which being doone, with other
courtesies, they departed, & so went to their barges.
u
INDEX.
Abe
ABERaAvjEmrT, George Neville, Baron (1491—
1586), arrested, 431
"ablements," habiliments, 416
"abrayded," started, 163
"accustomablie," habitually, 350
"adoption," acquiring, xiv.
Afrira (Mahadiah), Tunis, 112
Agaiiippus, a prince uf Gallia. Sec France,
King of
Albany, Duke of (Maglanus), marries Gonorilla,
3 ; naif of Britain bequeathed to him, ib. ;
rebels against Lear, ana assigns him a portion
to live on, 4 ; defeated and slain, 5
, Robert Steward, Duke of, father of
Murdach Steward, 182, 133
Alhein&rlo (Aumerle), Edward Duke of (1397-
99), becomes bail for Boliugbroke, 78 ; sent
by Richard to make peace between Doling-
broke and Norfolk, 79 ; spent money in
Richard's service, 81 ; officiates as high con*
stable in tho lists at Coventry: 86 — 88; retires
to King's Langley, 92 ; brings reinforcements
to Ireland, 99 ; Ids loyalty doubted, ib. ; per-
suades Richard to linger a Ireland, 100, 102
91 2 ; returns with Richard, 106 ; deserts him,
109 Til ; accused by Bagot, 111 ; accepts Fitz-
Walter a challenge, ib. ; challenges Norfolk,
112; his mother, 121 n 1; deprived of his
dukedom, 121,122; reprobated by the com-
mons, 130. Set Rutland, Edward Earl of
Albergati, Nicholas, Cardinal of Santa Croce,
counsels "a godlio peace," 234. (Cp. 1 Hen.
ri.t v. 1 6)
Albret, Charles d'. Sea Constable of Franco
Alencou, Johu I., Duke of (1404-15), gives
advice for the defence of France, 1 79 ; promises
battle to Henry V., 164 n 2 ; encounters
Henry, 195 ; slain, 195, 196
, John II., Duke of (1416-76), relieves
Orleans, 215, 216 ; present at Margaret's
espousals, 243
Alexander the Mason denies tho pope's authority
in temjttral matters, 66 n 3
"alongst," along, 98
"alow," low down. 858
11 altogether* " ■ altogether, 504
"ondV'ifa, 372
Angers {Angiors) delivered to Arthur, 46; taken
Ant*
by Eleanor, 51 ; taken by John, ib. ; Con-
stance and Arthur flee to, 53 ; restored to
John, il>,
Angus, George Douglas, Earl of, token prisoner
at Homildon, 132, 133
Anjou yields allegiance to Arthur, 46 ; Arthur's
homage for, 52 ; possession of, demanded for
Arthur, ib, ; recovered by John, 59 ; ravaged
by York and Somerset, 230 ; ceded to Rene,
244 ; a key of Normandy, 245
, Rend, Duke of (1434-80), 182 n 4 ; his
daughter Margaret's marriage arranged, 233 ;
hia kingly style, 241 ; present at Margaret's
espousals, 243 ; could cot pay for her journey
to England, 245 ; advises her to discard
Gloucester's authority, 260 ; visited by her,
312 n 1 ; ransoms her, 342
Anne (Neville), wife of Richard III., married to
Edward (Lancastrian) Prince of Wales, 318,
346 ; date of her marriage to Richard, 345,
346 ; crowned, 887 ; rumour of her death
spread by Richard, 338 ; dies, 396 ; eclipse
of the sun at her death, 396 n 3
"antecessors/' ancestors, 309
Antelope, Henry V. 'a pursuivant, sent to
Charles VI., 178
"apcrt, in," openly, 293
Apollo, Lear's oath by, 6 n 1
"appaire," deteriorate, 249
"appent," belonged, 129 n 2
Armagnac, John IV., Connt of, proffers his
daughter in marriage to Henry VI., 235
Armourer, an, appose hed of treason by his
sorvant, 248 ; who overcomes him in a judicial
duel, 260, 2G1 ; hia servant was perjured,
261 *1
Arras, representatives of England and France
meet at, 226 ; and are exhorted to make ]ieacct
234 ; terms proposed at, 240
Arthur. Am Brittany, Arthur Duke of
Articles devised by tho Percios, 135 ; which win
approval but no help, 136 ; presented to
Henry IV., 144
Arundel, Richard FiU-Alan, Earl of (1376-87),
rebels against Richard II., 94 ; careful in
choosing soldiers, 148
, Thomas Fitz-Alon, Earl of (1400-15),
joins Bolingbroke's invasion, 96; "broke
goes with
let sacke "
510
Artt
from the Duke of Exeter," 97
Bolingbroke to meet York, 102 ;
a man ordained to murder Prince Henry , 213
Arundel, William Fitz-Alan, Earl of (1524-44),
in the coronation procession of Anne Boleyn,
485. (His place in filled by the dramatic
" Surrey '*)
(or Fitz-Alan), Thomas, Archbishop uT
Canterbury, persuades Bolingbroke to de-
throne Richard II., 96; joins Bolingbroke's
invasion, ib. ; goes with Bolingbroke to meet
York, 102; meets Hiohard at Flint Castle,
109 n 1 ; scroll of Richard's abdication de-
livered to, 114 ; places Bolingbroke in "the
recall throne," 115; lends money to Hourv
IV., 159 nl
Arviragua, son of the legendary Cymbeline, 7 ;
a British prince named A., 7 n 3 ; Spenser
made A. a brother of Cymbeline, 10 n 1
Ascension Day (May 27, 1199), date of John's
coronation, 45 ; prophecy that John would
not be king on, in 1213 ("quod non foret
rex in die Dominica; Asccnsioms. " — M. Paris,
ii. 536), 62
"aslope," indirectly, 379
As poll, Robert, tries to save Rutland, 297, 298
"assaie, take the." taste the food, 120
" assay] ed, " assoiled, 188
Athol, Walter 8leward, Earl of, taken prisoner
at Homildon, 132
Aodley, Sir Thomas, 485. See Chancellor, Lord
Augustus knights the legendary Cymbeline, 7,
8 ; prepares to invade the Britons, who re-
fused tribute, 7 ; turns his arms against the
Pannoniins and Dalmatians, 8 ; the British
princes seek his amity, 0 ; sends an ambassador
to C vmbeliue, ib.
Aumcrle. See Albemarle, Rutland, and York
Aurelius Ambrosius borne to battle in a litter,
226. Sec Uter
Anrora Borealis, (T) appearance of, 61 n 1. Cp.
137
"Austria," a composite character, 53 ft 1. See
Limoges, 48
Bagot, Sir "William, talks with Norfolk about
Gloucester's death, 83 ; his tower a lodging
for Richard II. r 86; farms England, 00;
gives advice for resisting Bolingbroke, 93 ;
flees to Ireland, 100; accuses Aumerle, 110,
111 ; hated by the commons, 130
Baker, John, reports Cardinal Beaufort's last
words, 209
Baldnd (Bladud), father of Leir, 1
Ball, John, exhorts the villeins at Blackhcath,
m
Banaster, Humphrey (Ralph), betrays Henry
Dake of Buckingham, 451
Bangor, Archdeacon nr Dean of (David Darc>n)>
tripartite division of Englaud framed at his
house, 138
" banquetwise," as for a banquet, 441
Banquo, thane of Locbaber, a fictitious person,
xiii. ; supposed ancestor of the Stewards, 19, |
INDEX.
Bed
35; wounded by rebels, 19 ; complains to Dun-
can, ii. : sent against Macdowald, 20 ; com-
mands the rear in the war with Sueno, 21 ;
defeats the Danes sent by Canute, 22 ; meets
the weird sisters, 23, 24 ; jests with Macbeth
about their prophecy, 24, 25 ; connives at
Duncan's murder, 25 ; murdered by Macbeth 'a
order, 33
Bar, Hid ward Duke of, promises battle to Henry
V., 184 n 2; slain, 196
Bardolf, Thomas Bardolf, Baron, conspires
against Henry IV., 151; invades England
and is defeated, 157
"bare him sore," had a grudge against him,
349
Barklotighly (Qi and Fi. Barcloiolie Hoi.
Harlech Williams conj.), Richard II, lands
there, 106
Barons form a league against John at Bury St.
Edmunds, 66, 67 ; excommunicated by In-
nocent, 68 ; oner the English crown to Lewis,
69 (cp. 67, 68) ; their ruin plotted by Lewis,
72 ; become averse to Lowls, 72, 73 ; give
allegiance to Henry III., 75, 76
''baste," bastardy, 269
" Battes " (clubs), Parliament of, 221
Bay trees wither, 103
Bayly beheaded for knowing Cade's base lineage,
276
Bayonna, Bishop of. Sec Gabriel de Gramtnont,
464 u 3
Beaufort, Henry, Bishop of Lincoln (1898 —
1406), Winchester (1405—1447), and Cardinal
(1427), returns with Richard II. from Ireland,
106 ; informs parliament of Henry V.'s pro-
jected war with France, 168 n 2 ; appointed
guardian of Henry VI., 209; accused by
Gloucester of plotting Henry's abduction, ib. ;
dissension betwixt him and Gloucester, 212 ;
orders the Tower to bo kept against Gloucester,
212, 213 ; who accuses him of plotting Prince
Henry's murder, 213 ; and obstructing London
hridge, 220, 221 ; truce botween, and Glou-
cester, 222; godfathor to Henry VI., 224;
crowns Henry VI, at Paris, 228 ; made a
cardinal, 235, 236; conspires against Glou-
cester, 246 ; accused of selling offices, 250 ;
his character, 269 ; last words, 269, 270
"Beaumont," Earl of, slain at Agincourt, 196.
Not in Monstrelet's lists or in Harleian MS.,
782. (See "Fois" and "Lestrake") Per-
haps Henri II., Comte de Blamont, is meant
(Mom. iii. 349)
Beaumont, Henry Beaumont, Baron, joins
Bolingbroke, 03
, John Beaumont, Viscount, arrests
Gloucester, 264
Bedford, John Duke of, not at Agincourt, 187 ;
at the siege of Melun, 201 ?* 1 ; secures the
Normans' allegiance to Henry VI., 206 n 1 ;
at Henry V. a death-bed, 208 ; appointed
Regent of France, ib. ; appoints Suffolk to
besiege Orleans, 214 ; petition to, from Eleanor
Mortimer, 219 n 6 ; godfather to Henry VI.,
INDEX,
511
Bed
I'.ii
224 ; date of his death, ib. ; attends Henry
VI. 'b coronation in Tarts, 228 ; takes the
Carter from Fastolfc, 139 ; his tomb, Lewis
XI. advised to deface, 232; orders Jeanne
Dare's examination, 236; calls her a "limb
of the fiend," 238 » 3. See John of Lancaster
Bedford, John Russell, Karl of (1560-55), warned
the council not to molest Cranmer, 503
Bellona, goddess of l»ttle, and hor three hand*
maidens, 166
"bend," band, 353
"Benevolence," a, given to Edward IV. 94, 95
Berkeley, Thomas de Berkeley, Baron, goes with
York to meet BoUngbroke, 102
Bern, John Duke of, his daughter's marriage
to Bolinghroko prevented, 02 ; gives advice
for the defence ui France, 179 ; at the council
summoned after Henry V. crossed tfceScttme,
182
Bertha, Perth, 21 n 1
"bctooke," delivered, 356
Birnam Wood, Macbeth reassured by a prophecy
abont, 36, 41 ; its removal a tradition, 42 n 1
Bishop, a, on each hand of Kichard Duke of
Gloucester, 383
Black-Friars, arrangement of the court at, for
trying Henry's cause, 466, 457 ; court at, ad-
journed, 465 ; closed, 471
Blanch of Castile marries Lewis, 53, 69 ; her
dower, 53
Blank charters Issued by Richard II., 90
Blithild, fictitious ancestress of Pippin, 170
Blood, one of Bellona's handmaidens, 166
Blunt, James, captain of llammes Castle, joins
Richmond, 409
, Sir Thomas, conspires against Henry IV. r
122 ; beheaded, 127
, Sir Walter, slain by Douglas, 146, 147.
The historic messengers (143) were Thomas
Prestbury, Abbot of Shrewsbury, and a clerk
of the pnvy seal
"bobaunce," pride, 282 n 2
Boleyn, Anne, mnde Marchioness of Pembroke,
456; captivates Henry, 470; a Lutheran,
472; married to Henry. 479 » 1, 430; ac-
knowledged as queen, 480 ; in her coronation
procession, 485 ; crowned, 480
Bolinghroke. Set tuccessivdy Derby, Hereford,
Lancaster, and Henry IV.
(alias Oonly), Roger, accused of sorcery,
253 ; confesses his guilt, ib. ; recants, but
is executed, 259 ; was an accomplice of the
Duchess of Gloucester, 262
Bona (Bonne), daughter to LffwSl I Hike of
Savoy, her marriage to Edward I V. Dsgotfetftd,
313 ; married to (laleozxo Maria Sforza, Duke
of Milan, 316
Bonvile and Harington, Wi Iliam Bonvile,
Baron, his heiress married Marquess Dorset,
319 nl
Bordeaux, Englishmen's goods at, seized by
Francis I., 427
"borow," surety, 418
Botgoauanc (Botgosuana Bocee 250/9- Bothgo-
wanan, the smith's bothy.— Robertson's Scot-
land -under her Early Kings, 1115 note), 25
Bouchier, Thomas, Bishop of Ely (1443-54),
Archbishop of Canterbury (1454-86), and
Cardinal (1464), envoy (in 1452) to Vnrk,
285 ; takes part in Edward V.'s coronation
conncil, 363 ; crowns Richard III., 887
Boucicault, John le Meingre, Marshal, provides
for the defence of France, 179 ; encamps at
Agincourt, 185; taken prisoner, 195
Bouratier, William, Archbishop of Bourges,
offers terms of peace to Henry V., 179
Bourbon, John Duke of, in the Q. of Hen. V,9
183 n 1 ; promises battle to Henry V., 184
n 2 ; taken prisoner at Agincourt, 195
, Lewis Dastard of, admiral of France,
appointed to assist the J-aneastrians, 318
Brabant, Anthony Duke of, promises liattle to
Henry V., 184 n 2; uses a trumpet -banner
instead of his standard, 189 ; slain, 196
"braies," 108. "Braye ... An advanced
parapet surrounding the main rampart." — New
English Dictionary
"brake," (?) thicket, 472, Perhaps a machine
for confining the legs of unruly horses
B rukenbury, Sir Robert, refuses to murder
Richflrd III.'s nephews, 389 ; delivers the
keys of tho Tower to Tyrret, 890 ; slain at
Bosworth field, 421
Brandon, Sir Thomas, (1) Brandon in Henry
VU 7., 430 nl
, Sir William, Richmond's standard-
bearer, overthrown by Richard, 419 ; was not
slain at Bosworth, 419 n 1
Breaute, Fnukesde, compared with the dramatic
Faulcou bridge, 48 » 1
Bretons levy war against John on Arthur's
Itfhalf, 60 ; enraged by the rumour of Arthur's
death, 62, 63 ; their character, 417 sidenote 2
"breuod," recorded, 129 n 2
Brews, William de, bis contempt of court, 161
»2
Bridge-tower at Orleans taken by the English,
210 ; .Salisbury wounded in the, 214, 216
"brignudine," 273, " briganders, " 874, coats of
scale -armour
Britain conquered by Claudius, 6 ; Augustus
prepares to invade, 7 ; tribute imposed on,
by Caesar, 9 ?i 2 ; "a worlde by it selfe," 10,
11 ; recovered by Maximian I., 11 J governed
by a pentarchy of kings, 14 ; re-united by
MuJmucius, ib.
Britons refuse tribute to Augustus, 7; thoir
youth brought up among the Romans, 8 ;
their " lack of skill " to oppose Julius Caesar,
8 « 2 ; their princes secK the friendship of
Augustus, 9 ; their imports, ib. ; used
chariots, 16 n 2
Brittany, Arthur Plantagenet, Duke of, Angers
delivered to, 46 ; acknowledged in Anion,
Maine, and Touraine, ib. ; son of John's elder
brother, ib, ; much younger than John, 47
fat 59 » 1) ; placed in Philip's charge, ib. ;
is knighted by and does homage to Philip,
512
I'n
52 ; reconciled to John, ib. ; flees from John,
53 ; docs homage to John, and returns with
Philip, 54 ; takes Mirabeau, 68 ; captured bv
John, 69 ; demands possession of Richard s
dominions, ib. ; imprisoned, i'6. ; ttersuades
Hubert do Burgh to save him from blinding,
80; his blinding and death rumoured, 61 ;
rumour of his death contradicted, 68 ;
various accounts of his death, ib. ; Ms
murder attributed to John, 70 {ep. 61 n 1}
Brittany, Constance Duchess of, entrusts Arthur
to Philip, 47 ; repudiates her second husband
and marries Guy At Thouars, 63 ; dies, 61 n 1 ;
accused John of Arthur's murder, ib.
, John V., Duko of (1364-99), Brest sur-
rendered to, 84, 95 ; aids Bolingbroke, 96
, John VI., Duko of (1399— 1442), at the
council summoned after Henry V. crossed the
Somme, 182
, Francis I., Duke of (1442-60), present at
Margaret of Anjou'a espousals, 243
, Francis II., Duko of (1458-88), receives
the carls of Pembroke and Richmond, 329,
830 ; Richmond brought up in his court,
417
Brocas, Sir Leonard, conspirator against Henry
IV., beheaded, 127
"broch/'ao., spit, 23
Buckingham, Humphrey Stafford, Duko of
(1444—60), conspires against Gloucester, 246 ;
when made duke, 246 » 3 ; present at Glou-
cester's arrest, 264 ; sent to York before the
battle of St Albans, 284 n 1 ; wounded at
St. Albans, 290
, Henry Stafford, Duke of (1460-83), aids
Gloucester in removing the queen's friends
from Edward V., 351, 352; aids Gloucester
to act possession of Edward at Stony Strat-
ford, 364 ; asserts that York needed no
sanctuary, 359, 3*10 ; was he in Richard's con-
fidence from the first I 361 ; courts Hastings,
362 ; promises mado him by Richard, ib, ;
takes part in Richard's secret council, 3(!3 ;
his speech at the Guildhall on Richard's
claim to the crown, 377 — 379 ; was received
with silence, 381 ; accepts packed applause as
an answer, 382 ; invites Richard to assume
the crown, 383 — 386 ; vainly doiuands the
earldom of Hereford, 392 (ep. 362, 450 n 2) ;
relates his wrongs to Morton, 393 ; rebels,
397 ; promised to support Richmond, 393 n 1 ;
stopped by a flood, 403; his army deserts him,
40 1 ; beheaded, 410 ; meant to have stabbed
Richard, 439 ; bctroyod by Banaster, 451
, Edward Stafford, Duke of (I486— 1521),
escorts Francis I. in the vale of Andrcn, 425 ;
grudged the charges of attending the kings'
interview, 426 ; hated Wolsey, ib. ; arrested,
430 ; Kuyvets evidenco against, 436 — 439 ;
had dismissed Knyvet, 437 ; tried and found
Suilty, 447, 443 ; Wolsey blamed for Iiik
eath, 448 ; denies that he was a traitor, 450 ;
the edge of the axe turned towards him, ib. :
says that he is now " but Edward Bohune,"
Cap.
ib, ; his dukedom restored by Henry VII.,
■151
Bulmor, Sir William, his imprisonment by
Wolsey, 426 ; Buckingham's threat in con
Motion therewith, 438, 439
Burdctt, Thomas, executed, 342 n 3 ; and why,
375, 375 n 2
Burgundy, John the Fearless, Duko of (1404-
19), murders Lewis Duke of Orleans, 48 ;
murdered, 199 « 3 ; conferred with Henry V.
at Meulan, 200; was the "let" of Henry's
desires, ib.
, Philip the Good, Duke of (1419-67),
offers peace to Henry V., 199; concludes a
truce with Henry, ib. ; accomjianies Henry's
ambassadors to Troyes, 200 ; swears to observe
:]h treaty of Troyes, 203 ; makes peace with
Charles VII., 226 ; besieged Calais, 226 n 1 ;
obtains Orleans's release, and why, 227, 228 ;
his excuse for deserting Henry* VI., 229 ;
receives the Duchess of York's sons, 303
, Charles the Bold (U Wmtmire), Duko of
1467-77), secretly aids Edward IV. s restora-
tion, 330
Bushy, Sir John, spokesman for Richard II.
regarding Bolingbroke's appeal, 79 ; an-
nounces the decision to settle Bolingbroke's
appeal by battle, 82 ; reads the sentences of
Bolingbroke and Norfolk, 88 ; farms England,
90 ; gives advice for resisting Bolingbroke,
98 ; flece to Bristol, 100 ; beheaded there,
104 ; his character, 129 ; flatters Richard II.,
130 ; hated by the commons, ib.
"buskling," bustling, noise, 28
Butler, Dame Eleanor, betrothed to Edward
IV., 377 nZ
Buttes, Dr. William, tells Henry that Cranmcr
waits outside the council- chamber, 499
"by," about, concerning, 363, 371, 889
Cade (ri/i'M Mend-all), John, date of his rebel-
lion, 265 ; called himself Mortimer, 266 ; a
feel«r for York, 266, 282 n 2 ; defeats the
Staffords, 273 ; dons Sir H. Stafford's brigan-
dine, ib. ; releases prisoners, ib. ; sends a
supplication to Henry, 273, 274 ; confers
with Henry's messengers, 274 ; lodges at the
White Hart in Southwark, ib. ; robs, 275
n 1 ; outers London unopposed, 275 n 2 ;
■tdka his sword on London stone, 276 ; kills
those who knew his base lineage, ib. ; tries to
seize London bridge, 276, 277; the dramatic
C. and Wat Tyler, 277, 278 ; proposes to
abolish fifteenths, 278 ; puts to death Lord
Bajre ami Sir James Cromer, 278, 279; makes
their heads kiss, 279 ; his followers disperse
and ho Hies, 280, 281 ; reward offered for
him, 281, 284; date of his death, 283 ; slain
by Iden, 284
Caesar, C. Julius, imposes a tribute on Britain,
9*2; calls Britain "another world," 11 ;
his ships wrecked, 12 ; his good luck fails
him in Britaiu, 12 n 1 ; the British account
of his invasions, 12, 13; loses his sword, 13
INDEX.
513
Cak
Cla.
" cakes," *6.( clots, 29
Calabria ("Calaber"), John of Anjou, Duke of,
present at his sister Margaret's espousals,
213
Calvert, Bernard, his ride, Ill /i 2
Cambridge, Richard Earl of, treason of, made
public, 173 n 3 ; found guilty, ib, • bis con-
spiracy detected, 174 ; lod to doom hi
174 n 1 ; his real motive for conspiring, 175,
176 ; says that he was bribed by France, 176 ;
doomed by Henry, 176, 177
Cainpeggio, Lorenzo, Cardinal, sent to try
Henry's cause of matrimony, 463, 454 ; closes
the court at Black-Friars, 471 ; takes leave
of Henry, 471, 472
"■■lllllWlnTT." champaign, 239
C.itnp Tires, the, at Agincourt, 186
Canterbury, Archbishop of, in llmry Vt See
I 'hii'ln-lf
Capuchius, 488. (Eustace Chanuys)
:■■, Bishop of (Thomas Murkes), returns
with Richard II. from Ireland, 106; accoin-
Smies Richard to Conway, 107; present when
ichard met Bolinghroiee, 109 ; speaks on
Richard's behalf, 115, 11G; ittulBM bj
Westmoreland, ib. ; conspires against Heavy
IV., 122, 123; his subsequent history, 127,
12S
Cassibelan, oldest son of Lnd (F"b. 34), or
Lud's brother, 7 n 1 (Hoi.) : agrees to |
Romans tribute, 9; obstructs the Thames
with piles, 13; was "at point to master
Crcsars Sword" (Ot/tnb.) 13 ?t 2 ; celebrates
his second defeat of Caesar, 14
"cast," contrivance, 377
Castle, the, in St Albans, Somerset slain then-,
QM
Cntesby, Sir William ("the Cat," 347), moved
by Richard to sound Hastings, 362 ; present
at Richard's secret council, 303 ; was (rotted
and advanced by Hastings, 363, 364 ; reports
Hastings's loyalty, 365 ; hindered Tyrrel's
advancement, 339, 390
Catur, John, an armourer, appeached of treason
by his servant, 248 n 3
Cawdor, where, 23 n 3 ; the thane of, con-
demned for treason, 24 ; made an earldom,
45
"Cawny, the lordo of" (Aubert Lo Flamcnc,
seigneur do Cany), supposed father of Damns,
49
Chamberlain, Lord, of the Household, 439,
440, 442-445, 454, 469, 503. Within the
historic range of ffm. VIII. (1520-44) this
office was held by (1) Charles SaBMCmtf
Karl of Worcester; (2) William .Muudys,
Baron SanJys of the Vino ; and (3) William
1'oulet, Baron Seint John, afterward* Earl
of Winchester. The respective dates of
their appointments were: 1509, 1526, and
1543
Chamberlains, Duffs two, made drunk by Don-
wald and his wife, 27, 28 ; slain by Donwald,
29
"chambers," small cannon, 443
Chancellor, Lord (Sir Thomas Auillcy), in the
coronation procession of Anne Boleyn, 485 ;
Thomas Goodrick, Bishop of Eh, in
VIII. v. iii. (p. 499). The dramatic character
is probably Sir Thomas More
"chaneemealie," manslaughter by misadven-
ture, 33
"Change ... a diuine instinct" warns men
of, 353
Chapuys, Eustace, Charles V.'s ambassador,
visits Katharine, 489. See ndditiuu, p. xxiii
Chariots used by the Britons, 15 n 2
"Charlemaine, king," Charles the Ibid, 170
Charles V., the Emperor, visits Katharine. 429 ;
bribes Wofaoj to dissolve the friendship Ikj-
twixt Henry vnA Francis, 429, 430
VI., Kingof France, receives Bolingbroke
courteously, 92 ; desired by Richard II. to
prevent Bolingbroke's marriage, ib. ; urgf-d
by Henry V. to resign Franco peaceably, 178 ;
temporarily insane, 178, 179; advised to
interrupt Henry's march, 182; concludes a
truce with Henry, 199 ; receives Henry's
ambassadors at Troves, 200 ; at Troyes when
the treaty was revised, 201 ; and when his
daughter married Homy, 201 n 1, 202;
swears to observe the treaty of Troyes, 203 ;
his death inclined the French to rapport Mi
■OH, 206 ; date of bis death, 207 n ^
VII., youngest sou of Charles VI., present
at tho council dramatized in lien, V, III. v.,
182; proclaimed king, 207; crowned at
Poitiers, 207 n 1 ; and at Iiheims xb. ; meets
Jeanne Dare, 21 1 , 212 ; appoints her an army,
212 ; welcomes Burgundy, 226 ; re-established
in Paris, 237 ; impiously availed himself of
Jeanne Dare's help, 239; present at Margaret's
espousals, 243
QhlnlloD, Jacoues de, seigneur de Dampierre,
Admiral of France, encamps at Agincourt,
185 ; slain 196
Chichcle, Henry, Archbishop of Canterbury,
saves th-3 clergy's endowments by Advising
Henry V. to claim France, 168 .
from S. David's, 168 n 2 ; argues that the
Balk law was not made for Franc, 169 — 171;
cites Numbers xxvii. 8, 171 ; promises a large
subsidy from the clergy, 171, 172
"chieuance," bargain, 399
"Christes passion, by," Kit/hard III. 'a oath,
417
Clarence, Thomas Duke of (1411-21), made
president of tho council butud of Prince
Henry, 141 find 161 « 1 ; concerned with a
riot m Eastcheap, 141 n 1 ; invades Nor-
mandy, 159 n 1 ; sentences Cambridge and
Scroue, 173 ft 3 ; present when Henry V.
married Katharine, 201 n 1 ; at the siege of
Melon, ib
, Qeorge Duke of (1401-77), sent to
Utrecht by his mother, 303 ; dukedom con-
ferred on, S08 ; joins the Lancastrian league,
318 ; angered hy Edward's disposal of Gar-
L L
514
IM'KX,
Cl.K
Des
819; marries uabel, alder daughter of
Warwick, 320 ; invmKw England with War-
wick, 822 n 3 ; aid* Warwick in capturing
Edward, 328 ; releases Heury from the Tower,
329 ; made governor of England and heir to
tin. QRun in remainder, 827 ; urges Warwick
tn make peace with Edward, 334 ; his recon-
ciliation with his brothers, 336, 336 ; hod
been urged not to supplant hit* own lineage,
336 ; helps to murder Prince Edward, 340 ;
probable date of his arrest, 842 ■ 3 ; the
*' O " prophecy a rumoured cause of hit* death,
344 ; hia marriage to Mary of Burgundy op-
posed by Edward, ib. ; hated by the queeu's
kindred, 344, 345 ; put to death, 348 ; his
fortune, 422
" clepyd," named, 221
Clifford, Thomas Clifford, Baron (1422-55),
"old Clifford," 289 n 2 ; slain nt St. Albans,
290
, John Clifford, Baron (1455-01), at
Wakefield. 298 ; kills Rutland. 298; tentta
York's corpse, 299 ; defeats the Yorkists at
Ferrybridge, 305 ; slain, 307
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 Storbmongh, Reginald Cobham, Baron,
joins Bolingbroke's invasion, 96
"Coinacke," Cognac, 48
Coint, Francis, joins BoHngbroke's invasion, 96
Colchester, William. See Westminster, Abbot of
Colt-vile- of the Dale., Sir John, behritdrd for
rebelling against Henry IV,, 155 ; in arms at
TopclinV, 155 n 2
Collingborne, William, ridicules Richnrd III. in
a couplet, 347
"Colon," Cologne, 254
Constable of France, the (Charles d' A lb-ret),
fortifies towns against Henry V., 179; pro-
mises battle to Henry, IS 1 n 2 ; encamp* »t
Agincourt, 185 ; slain, 196
Constance. See Brittany, Constance Duchess of
i "I" hud, John, captures David II., 172
CorduiDa's answer to Lear, 3 ; disinherited by
him, ib. ; marries Aganiprms, 4 ; receives
Lear kindly, 5; made his sole heiress, and
returns with him to Britain, ib. ; Hi
Lear, 6 ; her nephews rebel against her, ib. ;
she slays herself, ib.
Cordelia, the name so spelt in the Faerie
Qutene, 2 n 1
Cornwall, Duke of (Heoniniu), marries Regan,
3 ; half of Britain bequeathed to him, <h, ;
rebels against Lear and assigns him a portion
to live on, 4 ; defeated and slain, 5
"counterpane," counterpart of a deed, 124
Courtenay, Edward Courtenay, Baron, aids
Buckingham's relwdlion, 403
# Peter, Bishop of Exeter, aids Bucking-
ham's rebellion , 403
Courtiers return from France with French pre-
dilections, 439, 440
Cramner, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury,
in favour of Henry'B divorce, 478 ; mado
archbishop, ib. ; on the date of Anne Boleyn's
marriage, 479 n 1 ; divorces Katharine, 483,
484; crowns Anne Boleyn, 486; beloved by
Henry, 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 Henry how to meet
his foes, 496, 497, 502 ; obliged to wait out-
side the council •chamber, 499 ; shows Henry's
ring to the council, 502; and justifies Bed*
ford's warning, 503 ; his placable temper was
proverbial, 505 ; godfather to the princess
Elizabeth, 505
Crema, John of, legate, taken with a Htrumjwt,
475 u 3
" Crocea mors," name of Caesar's sword, 13 n 2
Cromer, Sir James, beheaded and his head
borne on a pole, 270
Cromwell, Thorns*, in Wobav'a service, 481 ;
enters Henry's service, %b. ; faithful to
Wuhsuy, ib. ; made master of the jewel bouse,
487 ; master of the rolls and Henry's secretary,
493 ; favoured the Protestants, 501 ; his chief
■my was Gardiner, ib.
"cullions," testicles, 148
Cymbeline, authentic jaiti.ulars concerning, 0;
the legendary C. knighted by Augustus, 7,
8 ; who sends an ambassador to him, 0 ;
refuses tribute to the Romans, 10 n 1
7/rc, names in Hoi. occurring there,
17, 18
"damnific," injure, 285
"damning," censuring, 355
Danes, tne, defeated, at Loncarty, 16, 17;
drugged with "niekilwoort," 21 " 2 ; their
dead buried at Inchcolm, 22 ; make ]»cace
with Qm Scots, 23
Duron, David, See Bangor, Archdeacon of,
138
Dauphin, Guichard, seigneur do Jaliguv, Grand
Master of the King*! Household, ( Souverain
Mum,- da 1'Hntrl tlu Roi." — Anselme, viii.
340), confounded by Shakspere with the
Dauphin, 183 ft 1 ; slain, 106
David II., King of Scote, taken prisoner at
Neville's Cross, 172
Davy, John, armourer's servant, appeachea his
master of treason, 248 n 3
Dctaeourt, John, arrested, 430 ; beta Hopkins's
nrophecy, 436, 187 ; brought forth at Buck-
ingham's trial, 447
Dcjiny, Sir Anthony, requires Cranmer'.s attend-
ance on Henry, 496
Derby, Henry' Earl of, joins a conspiracy against
Richard II., 82 ; was a crusader in Prussia,
not in Barbary, 112, 113; anti-clerical in
youth, 122 ; made n pilgrimage to Jerusalem,
160 n 1. See Hereford, Henry Dnke of
Despencor, Thomas Desponccr, Baron, conspires
INDEX.
515
Dm
i'i i
against Henry IV., 122, 123 j beheaded, 127.
Dtnetfon, p. xxiii
Dighton, John, a murderer of Edward IV.'s
children, 394
Dinner hour, the, (?) 11a.m. Q*. 871, 372, 373
"di.sparkled " scattered, 405
"Domprin," Domromy, 211
Doualbain, son of Duncan I., chosen king of
Scots, xii n 2, 41, 42 ; takes refuge in 1 :>■ Intnl.
81
Donwald detects the witchcraft practised against
DnfT, 22, 23 ; has a blood feud with J hill",
26, 27 ; counselled by his wife to murder
Dull", 27 ; who visits Forres Castle, ib. ; they
make Duffs chamberlains drunk, 28 ; Don-
wald's servants slay Duff, and hide the body,
ib. ; searches the castle, and kills Duff's
chamberlains, 20 ; Donwald's real suspected,
ib.
Dorset, Thomas Beaufort, Earl of. See Exeter
, Thomas Grey, Marques* of (1475—1501),
married to the heiress of Lord Hon vi lie, 311*
nl; heljw to murder Prince Kdivard, 340;
date of his murtfucssato, 317 ; hi
tion with the lung's friends, 349 ; joins Rich-
mond in Brittany, 387 ; promises made to
hiin (through his mother) by Richard, 400;
■tied Buckingham's re 1 tell km, 403
, Thomas Grey, Marqucas of (1501-30),
found Buckingham guilty, 447
, Henry Grey, Mnnjuvss of (1530-51), in
the coronation procession of Anne Roleyn,
485
— — , Margaret (Mrs. Medley, horn Wotton)
dowager Marchioness of, godmother to the
princess Elizabeth, 505, 508 ; her gift, 506
"doubte,"fcar, 288 n 3
Douglas, Archibald Douglas, Eat 1 of, defented
at Homildon, 131 — 133 ; his help solicited
by the Percies, 135; makes Henry IV. sat
onject of his attack at Shrewsbury, 148 ; fells
Henry, 147 ; slays Sir Walter Blunt and throe
who wore Henry's coat, ib, ; released without
ransom, 148
Duff, Ring of Scots, kept sleepless by witch-
craft, 22 ; the sorcery practised against him
discovered, 22, 23 ; executes kinsmen of
Donwald, who meditates revenge, 26, 27 ;
lodges at Forres Castle, 27 ; and is murdered
there by Donwald's servants, 28 ; his body
hidden, ib. ; i^rteuts after Duff's murder,
31, 32
"durape," reverie, 892
Duncan I. , King of Scots, slain in his youth,
xiii n 2 ; his parentage, 18 ; character, ib. ;
bis leniency encourages sedition, 19; sends
for some who had wounded Banquo, ib. ; asks
bis nobles' advice for the HtiUluing of tfao-
dowold, 20 ; blamed for slackness by MacK-th,
ib. ; commands the main body in the war
with Sue no, 21 ; gives the thanedom of
Cawdor to Macbeth, 24 ; confers Cnmln'rlnnd
on Malcolm, 25 ; murdered by Maclt-th, i'i". ;
buried at Iona, 26
Duncan II., King of Boots, sou of Malcolm III.,
duitoses Doiuddbaiu, xii ft 2 ; promises to
abjure foreigners, to.
Dunoiw, John, Count of, liastard of Lewis Duke
of Orleans, 48; his legitimacy
49; chooses to be oaUed Orioan
io. ; befriended by Charles Duke "1 O
ib. ; requital the Duke's kindness, 50 ; makes
a sally from Orleans, 209, 210 ; craves -
help from Alimcon, 215
Eadword the Con feasor receives Malcolm Can-
more, 31 ; healed the king's evil, 40; orders
ttVMtd to assist MaJooln, 11 ; whencr.'
43 n 2; his feast the date of Baling
exile, 82 h 1 ; his shrine visited by Henry
IV., 160
Bdwird I. punished his son Edward for reviling
a royal officer, 161 n 2
III. watched the battle of Creoy from a
hill, 171; in France when David II. was
captured, 172 ; woodcut portrait of, in HoUsv
■bid, 178, 174
IV. (Bad of Mir- h, litf BO; Duke of
York, 1460-61), date of his birth, 887 ■ 1 :
BOttta to his father's rcsme, 238 ; inarms with
lii- Esther, 296 ; weleomod bjr the Kentfahtnen,
2!»5, 290; sees three suns at Korttmer'a
Cross, 300, 301 ; takes the sun at* bis •
DOJ, 301 ; joined by Warwick, ib. ; liis pro-
clamation to his soldiers at Towton, 305, 306 ;
removes his father's heatl from York
iind sets Devonshire's there, 307; crowm.il,
307, 308 ; gives dukedoms to George and
Richard, 308 ; wooes Elizabeth Grey, 310,
311 ; gives a reason for marrying her, 312 ;
was an elected king, 315, 316; insults a
relative of Warwick, 316, 317 ; his disposal
of heireases, 319; appoints Pembroke and
Stafford to sunprcas the northern rebellion,
321 ; captured by Warwick, 323, 324 ; escapes,
324, 325 ; dethroned, 325, 326 ; returns, 330 ;
beguiles the citizeiiB of York, 330—332 ;
obliged by Montgomery to proclaim himself
king, 332 ; bills Warwick battle at Coventry,
334; marches tbe&oe to London, 330; wins
the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury, 337,
338 ; suffers Prince Edward to bo murdered,
340; troubled by the " 0 " prophecy, ,344 ;
opposed Clarence's marriage to Mnry of Bur-
gundy, ib. ; date of his death, 346 ; on his
death-bed tried to reconcile the parties in his
court, 349, 350 ; sorrowed for Clare net 's
hasty death, 350 ; lived chiefly in London,
378 ; his person and character, 422
V.t born in sanctuary, 324; leaves Lud-
low for London, 351 ; his governor was Rivers,
ib. ; had a small escort to London, 353 ; bin
journey interrupted, 354 ; asserts the inno-
cence of Rivers and Grey, 356, 357 ; enters
Louden, W7 ; conveyed to the Tower, 860,
361 ; in the custody of Slaughter, 376;
murdered, 394 ; bis body never found, 305
Eleanor wins England for John, 16 ; jealous of
516
INDEX.
Eli
Foi
Constance, 47 ; takes Angers, 51 ; scandal about
her, ib. ; ticsicgcd in Miralwan, 58 ; dies, 61
Elizabeth (widow of Sir John Grey, afterwords
married to Edward IV.), a suitor to Edward,
310 ; refuses to bo his paramour, 311 ; is be-
trothed to him, 312 ; her son Edward I*™ D to
sanctuary, 321; troubled by the "G" pro-
phecy, 344; hated Edwaid's kindred, 814, 345 ;
persuaded to lessen her son's escort to L
352, 363 ; hears that his journey Had been
interrupted, 354 ; takes sanctuary with her
children, 355 ; receives the great seal from
Rotherham, 355, 350 ; answers his advice to
part with York, 360 ; suffers York to go, ib. ;
accused of witchcraft by Gloucester, 371 ;
union between Richmond ami her daughter
Sropoaed to her, 398, 399 ; beguiled by
icnard III. 's promises, 400
, eldest daughter «f Edward IV., project
for her marriage to Richard III., 388, 399,
400, 401 ; Richmond swears to marry her, 399
, daughter of Henry VIII., born, 408;
her god-porouU, 505, 506 ; bearers of her
canopy in her christening procession, 506
(Unroii Rochford, 1 Baron HuBscy of Sleford,
Boron Howard of Effingham , and Lord
Thomas Howard) ; Iwarer of her train, ib.
(Anne, Countess of Kent) ; her proclama-
tion, ib. ; gifts to, ib.
Ely, Bishop of, 167 « 1 (John Fordhnm)
English, tbt', given to gormandizing, 42 ; paid
for food on the march to Calais, 184 ; can't
tight on an empty stomach, 185 n 3 ; their
camp and the Romans* compared, 186 ; their
demeanour on the eve of Agiucourt, 187 ;
silent when marching to their camping-
ground, ib.\ number of, at Aginconrt, 189;
search for wounded French after the battle,
195 ; mrmlwr of, slain at Aginconrt, 196 ;
repulse Duuois'a sally from Orleans, 210;
adopt French habits, 430, 440
Krmcngardn of Lorraine (170), ancestress of
Lewis IX. through Alix of Namnr, whose
granddaughter Isabelta married Philip II.,
King of Franco
Erpingham, Sir Thomas, joins Bolingbroke's in-
vasion, 96; begins the battle of Aginconrt, 187
1 ' Espcrauce ! Percy I " (battlo-cry of the Pcrcies),
" Everwyk," York, 152 « 2
Exeter, John Holland, Duke of (1397-99),
had the custody of Thomas Fitx-Alan, 97;
returns with Riclmnl II. from Ireland, 106 ;
occoinpfinii s Tlk-hard to Conwny, 107; de-
prived of his dukedom, 121, 122 ; reprobated
by the commons, 130. See Huntingdon
, Thomas Beaufort (Earl of Dorset, 1412-
10 ; Duke of Exeter, 1416-26), ambassador to
France, 178 (aw Bouratier, 179); captain of
Harticur, 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., 200
Exeter, Henry Holland, Duke of (1447-78), hb
ship intercepts Suffolk, 270 ; advises Margaret
to oppose York, 294, 295 ; at Wakefield, 296 ;
flees from Tow ton, 306 n 2 ; with Warwick
at Barnet, S35
" Exeter," the dramatic, 342
Extoii, Sir Piers of, moved by Bolingbroke's
words to slay Richard, 125 ; murders Richard.
126 ; his remorse, ib.
11 facundious," eloquent, 247 n 2
Famine, one of BeDona'a handmaidens, 166
" fastcly," stedfostly, 254
Fastolfo, Sir John, lieutenant of Harflour,
181 ; withdraws from the battle of Patav,
207, 208; a K.G., 208; joined with others
in the siege of Orleans, 214 ; the Garter
restored to, 229
Fauconherg, the bastard (son of William Neville,
Baron Fuuconborg, afterwards Earl of Kent),
mode vice-admiral, 294
Fan! eon bridge, Philip, collects money from the
clergy, 47 ; his inheritance claimed by his
younger brother, 48 ; clioos**a to be called
Richard's bastard, ib. ; historic parallels of
choice, 48-^60
— , Sir Robert, (?) ambassador to *«*
Emperor, 50
Fanquomherguc, Waleran Count of, holds bis
men together at Aginconrt, 193 ; defeated
and slain, ib. , 196
"faytoure," rogue, 254
"feare," terrify, 218
"fenaed," (i) was protected by a mail-coat, or
"feinted," Omened, 424
Ferrers of Chartloy, Walter Dovereux, Baron,
slain at Bosworth field, 421
Fifi-, MunlnHi steward. Earl of, taken prisoner
at Homildon, 132, 133 ; wrongly called
" eldest son to " Douglas, 132 n 1 ; was Earl
of Mentcith, 132 n 3 ; delivered to Henry IV.
by the Percies, 133
Fire, one of Bcllona's handmaidens, 166
Fisher, .Mm, Bishop of Rochester, Katharine's
counsel, 467
FiU-Alans, they snd the Stewards descended
from Alnn [ww, Hen. I.), 35 w 2
Fitz-Walter, Walter Fitz- Walter, Baron, appeals
Aumerle of treason. 111 ; challenged by
Surrey, & ; replies to 8nrrey, 112
FiL.william, Thomas, recorder of London, re-
hearses Buckingham's speech, 381 ; present
at Baynard'B Custle, 386
Fleance, son of Bamguo, a fictitious person, xiii ;
escapee Macbeth 'a plot, and fleet* to Wales,
33 ; in the genealogy of the Stewards, 35
"flix," flux, dysentery, 182
" liyttand Wod," Birnam Wood, 42 n 1
* 'Foia" (Foya FA Earl of, slain at Aginconrt, 1 96.
No Comte de Foix is mentioned in MonBtrclefe
lists (iii. 348—356). The list given in Hai-
leian AIS. 782, fob 48 verso, col. 2 (quoted in
NicoWs Afhoumt ed. 2, p. 867), places
"The Conntie de fois" among the slain
A
INDEX
517
fOB
QUO
"forced," oared for, 492
"forebaiTiDg," impeding, 221
"foreiuilged," judged beforehand, 110, 262
"forma!]," regular, 310
"fonnallie compact," well made, 184
Forres an abode of witches, 22 ; the weird
sinters appear on the way there, 23 ; Duff
murdered in the castle of, 28
Forrest, Miles, a murderer of Edward IV. 's
children, 394
"forsake," deny, 461
France, King of (Aganippus), marries Cordoilla,
4 ; restores Lear to the throne, 5 ; die*, 6
Francis 1. meets Henry VIII. in the vale of
Andrcn, 425 ; seises Englishmen'* goods,
427 ; wished to meet Henry. 428
French, the, "fall of game on the eve of
Agincourt, 185; encamped near the English,
186 ; plaved dice for the English, ib. ; their
camp and the Germans' compared, ib. ; make
great haste to the battle, 189 ; number of, at
Agincourl, ib.; invite Henry V. to fix his
ransom, 191 ; their rearward tly, 192; some
of, rob Henry's camp, ib. ; list of, made
prisoners or slain, 195, 196 ; inclined to sup-
port Charles VII., 20tJ ; but are reclaimed by
Bedford, 206 n 1 ; surprised at Lo Mnns,
217; reconquer Normandy, 263; their cha-
racter, 417 ridenotc 2
14 fretting," froting, chafing, 371
'* furthexlia," serviceable, 848
"G" prophecy, the, 344
Gamme, Davy, slain at Agincourt, 196
Gardiner, Stephen, Bishop of WlnehesU-i, n>
ccives a place near Henry, 455 ; his name,
456 » 2; in the coronation procession of
Anne Roleyu, 485, 487 ; attacks Cranmer,
494 ; the chief enemy of Cromwell, 501 ; his
character, ib. ; vacillating in divinity, 502
Gargravo, Sir Thomas, mortally wounded at
Orleaus, 214, 215
Garter (Sir Thomas Writhe or Wriothcsbs ), in
the coronation procession of Anne Boleyn,
485 ; proclaims the princess Elizabeth.
Gascoign, Sir William, Chief Justice of the
King's Benrh, punishes Prince Houry for
contempt, 102, 163
Gauut, John of. See Lancaster
Gausell ("Gawacy"), Sir Robert, slain at
Shrewsbury, 147
"George! St., Talbot! (217)
,, „ toborow! (418)
,, ,, vpontbem ! (145)
„ victorie!"(147>
Germans, the, and the French, aspect of tlt-ir
camps compared, 186
"ghoetlie," inward, 379
GLansdale (or Glasdaltt), William, out
with the hridgO'tower at Orleans, 210 : views
Orleans therefrom, 214. A<r addition, p. xaiii
Glendower, Owen, wtbftl hi was, 105; wars
upon Lord Grey of Ruthin ib. ; attacked
by lb tii v IV., ib. ; defeat* Sir Edmund
Mortimer, 130, 131 ; is joined by Mortimer,
131 % 1; his daughter marries Mortimer,
135; dramatic portents connected with, 137 ;
defeats Lord Grey of Ruthin, ib. : and im-
prisons him, 258 ; foils Henry IV
138 ; a party to the indenture dividing Henry
IV. 's realm, 138, 139; encouraged by a uo-
phecy, 139 ; meets his French allies at Den-
bigh, 149; his last days, 150; date of his
death, 150 n 3
Gloucester, the title of, unlucky, 308
Gloucester, Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of ( 1 385-
97). Norfolk licensed of causing his death,
60; joins a conspiracy against Richard II,,
32, 84, 85 ; arrested, 82; put to death, 83 ; his
character, 83, 129; buried at l'lushey, 83;
rebukes Richard II. for surrendering Brest,
84, 95 ; reproved by his brothers lor rash
talking, 85 ; the Londoners sorry for his
death, ib. ; rebelled against Richard II., 94;
IlIs murder caused by Aumerle, 111 j his
Appellants degraded, 121, 122
, Eleanor de Dohun, Duchess of, dice,
99
, Humphrey, Duke of (1414-47), mines
Uarfluur, 180; in England when Henry V.
was alnauccd to Katharine, 201 » 1 ; at
Henry's death-bed, 208 ; appointed Protector
of England, ib, : accuses Beaufort of plotting
Henry VI. 's abduction, 200; disaeusion be-
twixt Mm and Beaufort, 212; kept out of
the Tower bv Beaufort's order, 212, 213;
MM Beaufort of plotting Prince Henry's
murder, 213; and of obstructing London
Bride*, 22<*» 221 1 truco l*tween, and Beau-
fort, 222 ; Lieutenant of England, 228 ■ 3 ;
disapproves of Henry VI. 'a marriage, 241 ;
his character, 246 ; conspiracy against, ib. ;
charges against, 249, 250 (cv. 259 n 4) ; his
wife accused of treason, 252, 253 ; detects a
rogue at St. Alltans, 253, 254 ; this event
recorded in his epitaph, 253 ft 2 ; resigns the
protectorate, 259 n 4 ; deprived of power,
260; his patience, 202; resents his wife's
disgrace, ib. ; arrested at Bury, 263, 204 ;
his death gave scope to York's ambition,
264, 265 ; his dofonce disregarded, 266 ; dies,
266, 267
, Eleanor, Duchess of, accused of treason,
252, 253; condemned to open penance mid
llimifalllllllll 859] committed to the
custody of Stanley, ib. and 261 ; her
penance described, 261
, Richard, Duke of (1461-83), date of
his birth, 287 n 2 ; sent to Utrecht by his
inuihtT, 303; dukedom conferred on, 308;
lives with Edward from England, 325 ; makes
peace between Edward and Clarence, 335,
his strategy at Tewkesbury, 338 ; helps
te murder Prince Edward, 340; murdered
Henry VI. ,341 ; looked forwanl to being king,
343, 344 ; date of his marriage to Anne, 315,
346 ; lived at Crosby Place, 346 ; made pro-
bii n m -n-utial bearing to Kdwanl
518
Got>
INDEX.
V., 340, 347 ; foeters strife in his brother's
court, 347, 348 ; intrigue* with Buckingham
and Hastings to reinovo the queen's friends
from Edward V., 351—353; get* possession
of Edward at Stony Stratford, 354 ; oaks
Rotherham to bring York from sanctuary,
868 ; receives York joyfully, 360 ; was Buck-
ingham in his confidence from the first T 861 ;
seeks to win Hastings, 362 ; his promise* to
Buckingham, 0. ; held secret council*, 363 ;
calls Hastings to the coronation comnil,
367 ; asks for strawberries and leaves the
council, 370, 371 ; returns and denounce*
Hastings, 371, 372 ; tells the Londoners that
Hastings bad plotted hi* death, 374 ; was the
image of his father, 380 ; invited to assume
the crown, 888 — 385 ; his answer, 385 ; ac-
cepts the crown, 386. See Richard 111.
" Godablcssed Iodic, by," Edward IT. 'a oath, 312
Gonorilla, her answer to Lear, 3 ; marries Mag-
lanus, ib. ; diminishes Lear's retinue, 4
Gough (or Goche). Matthew, obtains news of
the French in I*e Mans, 216, 217 ; appointed
to assist the Londoners against Caue, 275 ;
slain, 277 ; his military renown, ib.
Grammont, Gabriel de. Bishop of Tarbes, ques-
tioned the Princess Mary's legitimacy, 464 n 3
Grand-Pre. Edward Count of, slain at Agin-
eourt, 196
Great Chamber, tlir, in Westminster Palace,
Prince Henry's peril there, 218. Sec addition,
p. rxiii
Greene, John, brings Brakcnbury an order to
murder Richard III.'* nephews, 8tj9 ; reports
Rrakenbury's refusal to Richard, ib. Cp.
390 R 2
, Sir Henry* farms Englnnd, 90 ; give*
advice for resisting Bolingbroku, 98 ; See* to
Brbtol, 100; beheaded there, 104; hated fart
the commons, 180
Grey of Kutliin, Reginald, Baron, warred upon
by Glendower, 105 ; defeated by Glendower,
137 ; and imprisoned, 258; confounded with
Sir Edmund Mortimer, ib. Sec correction, p.
xxiii
;, arrested by Gloucester and
Iiuekingham, 354, 356 ; sent to Pomfret and
beheaded, 355
, Sir Thomas, treason of, made public,
178 n 3 ; found guilty, ib. ; his conspiracy
detected, 174 ; led to doom himself, 174 « 1 ;
was of the privy council, 175 ; says that he
was bribed by France, 176 ; doomed by Henry,
176. 177
Griffith (Griffin Riclmixle*), leads Katharine out
of the court at Block-Friars, 461
"Griinlamt brigs," Grim bald Bridge, 157
"groundlie," solidly, 377
Gnioch, Macbeth'* wife, gives Kirknes* to the
Culdeos, xili
Gualo (Walo) trie i. ps*T*ttt Lewis from in-
vading England, -69 ; visits John, 70 ; present
at the conclusion of peace with Lewis, 75 ;
a party' to the treatyjof peace with I*wis, 77
GuideriuB, son of the legendary Cyiubuliuc,
rebels against the Romans, 10
Guildford, Bichard, aids Buckingham's rebel-
lion, 403
, Sir Henry, regulated Wolsey'a banquets,
441, 442
"Gun-stones," cannon-balls, 173 n 1
"hails," pavilions, 192
"Haliwtdl" (Holy Well, afterward* Sadler's
Walla), 280
Harlech Castle, 106 n 1. Bichard II. landed
near T See Bark lough ly
"Horncfiic," Hornsey, 357
Hastings, a pursuivant, meets Lord Hasting* on
Tower wharf, 866
Hastings, William Hasting*, Baron (1461-83),
flee* with Edward IV. front England, 325,
326 ; help* to murder Prince Edward, 840 ;
his reconciliation with the queen's friends, 849 ;
aids Gloucester in removing the queen's
friends from Edward V., 851, 352; takes part
in the coronation council, S68 ; feared nut
the secret council while Catesby Attended it,
ib, ; trusted and advanced Catesby, 363, 364 ;
despise* Stanley's dream, 365 ; refuses to
make Richard king, ft.; had been endangered
by Rivers'* accusation, 366 ; of which ho
cheerily reminds a pursuivant, 860, 367 ;
sent for by Gloucester, 367 ; talks with a
priest on his way to the Tower, ib. ; kept
Jane Shore, 372 ; denounced by Gloucester
and beheaded, 372, 373 {see 868 n 2) ; omen
of his fate, 373 ; a proclamation of his vicious
life, ib. ; prepared Iwfore his death, 877
, Edward Hastings, Baron (1497—1506),
married the heiress of Lord Hungerford, 319n2
Hay and his son* check the Scots' flight at
I<oncarty, 10
Henninus. See Cornwall, Duke of
Henry IV., his first expedition against Glen-
dowor, 105; his coronation-day, 119; the
crown entailed upon his heirs, ib. ; the abbot
of Westminster's conspiracy against, 129. —
124 ; is revealed to him by Rutland, 124 ;
complains of peril from Richard, 125; flees
from Windsor, 127 ; present at Richard's
funeral, 128; demands the Percies* Scottish
Srisoners, 133 ; refuse* to ransom Sir Edmund
Inrtinier, 134 ; threatens Henry Percy, 134
n 0 ; ignorant of the Percies' conspiracy, 135 ;
why he would not ransom the Earl of March
{i.e. Sir Edmund Mortimer), 135, 136; his
second and third expedition again* L Qsan>
dowor, 138 ; his realm partitioned, 138, 139 ;
prophesied of a* the moldwarp. 1 30 ; diBtrosts
his son Henrv, but is reassured, 140 : dis-
grace* Prince Henry, 141 ; his rapid advance
against Hotepar, 142; offers terms to the
Percies, 143 ; reads the Percies' articles and
offers battle,»144 ; relieves his mon at Shrews-
bury, 146 ; withdrawn from tho main attack
at Shrewsbury, ib. ; breaks the enemy's
ranks, 147 ; railed by Douglas, ib. ; fights
*
INDEX.
519
Hkn
Bxm
valiantly, ib. ; takes Warkworth, 149, 160;
Scrope and Mowbray brought as prisoners to
him, 155 ; at nick with leprosy, 155 n 3 (rp.
160) ; loses consciousness, ib. ; vexed with
sickness, 156 ; fears dissension between Prince
Henry and Clarence, ib. ; hid crown removed
by Prince Henry, 158; dies, 159; his pre-
parations for a crusade, 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 Confessor's
shrine, ib. ; died in the Jerusalem Olmmlo-r,
ib. ; had made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem,
160 n 1 ; his person and character, 164 frj>.
142, last sentence of excerpt) ; hill for dis-
endowing the clergy in his reign, 167 ; en-
joined by the Pope to have prayer made for
Hie hard II. 's soul, 183
Henry V., chooses wise counsellors after bis
coronation, 161 ; calls his first parliament,
163, 164; his coronation, 164 ; banishes his
former misleaders, ib. ; besieges Rouen, 165;
his answer to an orator's plea for Kouen,
166 (rp. 165 n 8); summons narlianitut b
Leicester, 167; advised to claim the crown
of France, 168 — 172; his dying deelnrntion
that his war with France was lawful, 368 n 3;
promised a large subsidy from the >
171, 172 ; advised to conquer Scotland, 172 ;
MrUW teinris*l>alls from the lhiuphin, 173 ;
conspiracy against, detected, 174 ; dMBU the
traitors, 176, 177 ; encourages his lords, 177 ;
lands near Harllenr, 177, 1 78 ;urgi* Charles VI.
to resign France peaceably , 1 78 ; givos nit- 1 1 m
to the French proposals for peace, 179 ; grants
a truce to Harfteur, 180 ; Hartleur surrendered
to, 181 ; sacks Hurlluur, ib. ; makes Exeter
(Dorset) captain of HarQcur, ib. ; colonizes
Harfleur with English folk, 181 n 1 ; resolves
on a march to Calais, 181, 182 ; crosses the
Soinme, 182 ; was to be borne captive in a
chariot, 182, 183 ; crosses the Ternoiso, 183 ;
executes a soldier for stealing a pyx, 184 ;
forbids theft and violence, ib. ; pays for food,
ib. ; answers Moutjny's defiance, 185 ; orders
silence on the march to the camping-ground,
187; removes Richard II.'s body to West-
minster, 188 ; gives alms and founds chantrio
on Richard's behalf, ib. ; speech before the
{tattle attributed to, 190 ; refuses to fix his
ransom, 191 ; overthrows the French rear-
ward, 192 ; his camp robtwd, ib. ; orders his
men to slay their prisonors, 192, 193; his
men renew the battle, 193 ; bids the lingering
French fight or decamp, 194 ; questions
Montjoy, ib. ; names the battle, ib. ; date
of the battle, 195 ; grants burial to the
French dead, ib. ; encounters Alencon, ib. ;
gives thanks to God for his victory, 196, 197;
reaches Calais, 197 ; his return to France in
1417, ib. ; lands at Dover after a rough pas-
sage, 197, 198; his welcome at Rlockhcath,
198 ; his humility, ib. ; peace otferod to him
by Philip the Good, 199 ; concludes a truce
with Philip, ib. ; sends ambassadors to Troyes,
199, 200 ; his marriage with Katharine ar-
ranged, 200 ; made heir of France, ib, ; con-
ference with, at Mculan, ib. • snubs the
"let " of his desires (John the Fearless), 200,
201 ; at Troyes when the treaty was revised,
201 ; falls in love with Katharine at Mculan,
201 » 3 ; styled heir of France, 202 ; affianced
to Katharine, ib. ; date of his marriage, 202
n 3 ; swears to observe the treaty of Troyes,
203 ; his bodily powers, and character, 203,
204 ; military skill, 204 ; aspect and speech,
205 ; an example to princes, ib. ; his funeral,
205 n 4 ; bin dying injunctions and advice,
208, 209 ; prophecy touching bis son, 224
lb in v VI., guardians of, 209 ; knights Richard
Duke of York, 223 (cp. n 2) ; birth of, at
Windsor, 223, 224 ; his godparents, 224 ;
Jirophecy about, ib. ; crowned at Paris, 228 ;
lesertod by Burgundy, 229; loses Paris, 237
{cp. 205»5); his marriage toMaigaretarraogod,
238 ; espoused to her by Suffolk, 243 ; his char-
acter, 249; date of liia coronation at Westmins-
ter, 259 n 4 ; begins to govern, ib. ; banishes
Suffolk, 268, 269 ; receives a supplication from
Cade, 273, 274 ; marches against him, 274 ;
i-Lii-.a to Kenilworth, ib. ; tries Cade's fol-
lowers, 281, 282 ; marches against York, 286 ;
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. ;
in custody of Norfolk and Warwick, 295,
302 ; released by tho Yorkists' defeat at St
Albans, 802, 303 ; knights his son, 303 ; his
presence brought defeat, 304 ; flees from Tow-
ton, 306 ; justified his right to reign, 309 ;
returns secretly to Rngland, ib. j arrested and
sent to the Tower, ib. ; had been in Scotland,
812 ; his regnal years, 313, 314 ; deposed by
popular vote, 315 ; restored, 326, 327 ; his
parliament attaints Edward and makes
Clarence heir in remainder, 327 ; prophesies
that Richmond shall be king, 329 ; again
imprisoned, 333; date of his death, 340 n
3 ; his murderer supposed to be Gloucester,
341 ; his corpse bled at his funeral, 345
VII. restored the dukedom to Bucking-
ham, 451
■ VI 11. meets Francis I. in the vale of
Amlren, 425 ; silences the French ambassador,
427 ; tax of a sixth demanded for him, 431,
432 ; repudiates the tax, 433, 434 ; his answer
to Wolsey's accusations of Buekbigham, 435
(rp. /Ten. VIII. I. ii. 211—213); a rumour
that his marriage was unlawful, 152 ; lids
the lord mayor silence such talk, ib. ; takes
steps to have tho matter sifted, 452—454 ;
desires that Katharine should have tin
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, 484, 495 ; sus-
pects that the legates mean to do nothing,
520
INDEX.
HEtt
.1 1 \
406 ; sends them to Katharine, ib. ; in love
with Anne Boleyn, 470 ; angered by Wolscy's
secret opposition to his divorce, 470, 471 ; by
chance sees RuthoTs priv&to accounts, 472,
473 ; semis to Wolsey for the great seal, 171 ;
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, 600 ; licenses
Cranmcr's committal to the Tower, 495 ; in-
structs Crannur how to meet the accusers,
496, 497, 502 ; hears that Cranmer waita
outside the council-i'hamlwr, 499; rebukes
tho council for insulting Cranmer, 504 ; to
whom he is much K-holilcn, ib. ; bids the
counsellors he friends with Cranmer, ib. ;
m/ikLs thanks to tin,- lord mayor for attending
EHnbath'a christening, 607
Herbert, Sir Walter, in arms for Richard III., 403
ll.-t. Jbli Henry, Duko of (1397-99), apneal*
Norfolk of treason, 78 ; bail token for mm,
ih, ; refuses to make jwace with Norfolk, 79,
81 ; his specific charges against Norfolk, 80 ;
casts down his gago, 81 ; day and p3fl
battle appointed him, 82 ; date of his exile,
82 n 1 ; takes leave of Richard II. near
Coventry, 86 ; arms for the battle, ib. ; enters
the lists, 87 ; las spear delivered to him by
Surrey, 88 ; seta forward against Norfolk, ib. ;
banished for ton years, ib. ; swears that ho
will keep apart from Norfolk, 89 ; his exile
reduced to six years, ib. ; goes to France, ib. ;
K-loved of the people, ib. See Lancaster
Hri-1-.wli (Barkfoughly), Richard II. landed
near tho castle of, 106 ?i 1
"houynes.se," displeasure, 262
Holinshed, Raphael, lil i will, ix ; 2nd ad
of his chronicles* the source of some plays, ix,
x; used unauthentic materials, xii ; names
in Cijvib. occurring in his chronicles, 17, 18
Hopkins, Nicholas, arrested, 430 ; lived at
itcnton, 435 ; his prophecyabout Buckingham,
Hi : brought forth at Buckingham's trial, I I 7
Horses eat their owu flesh, 31 ; immersed in
blood, 137
"hosto " (hwtia), victim, 333
Howard, John Howard, Baron, ono of filmi-
c*ster*H trustiest counsellors, 367 « 2. See
Norfolk, John Duko of
, Lord Thomas, son of Thomas 2nd Duko
of Norfolk, and Agues Tiluoy ("the old
dutches of NoriTolke "), bearer of tho princess
Elizatath's canopy, 506
of Effingham, William Howard, Baron
(1554-73), deputy in the coronation procession
or Anno lioloyn, 485 ; bearer of the princess
Elizabeth's canopy, 506
, Sir Thomas, laughs at Hastings for
lingering with a priest, 367 ; when knighted,
367 » 2. See Surrey, Thomas Earl of, and
Norfolk, 2nd Duke of
Hubert, difference between tho dramatic Uu3
lii-'nric H-, 77- fifes Kent for the historic
Hubert
Hume (or Hun), John, accused of sorcery, 253;
jiardoncd, 259 ; was the Duchess of Glouces-
ter's chaplain, 259 n 1
Hungerford, Sir Walter (afterwards Baron
Kungerford), wishes for more soldiers at Agin-
conrt, 190 n 3 ; taken prisoner at Patay, 207
, Thomas (son of Robert 3rd Baron
Hiiiigcrford), his heiress married Lord
Hastings, 319 n 2
Huntingdon, John Holland, Earl of (1387 —
1400), misled Richard II., 86; conspires
against Henry IV., 122, 123; doviscs Henry's
death at a jnsts, 123 ; requests Henry to be
present, ib. ; raises men and joins his confed-
erates, 124. Set Exeter, John Holland
— , John Holland, Earl of (1416-43), present
at Henry V.'s betrothal to Katharine, 201 ; at
the siegoof Melun, 201 n ; attends Henry Y I. 's
imrouation at Paris, 228
"luirlynge," strife, 141 n 1
of Slcford, John Hussoy, Baron, (?)
bearer of the princess Elizabeth's canopy, 500
Idem (or Eden) slays Code, 284 (cp. 283 n 3)
"importable," intolerable, 878
" imposteme," aposteme, abscess, 266
Ina, King of "Wessex, liis daughters1 answers
touching their love for him, 2 n 2
11 incensed," insensed, instructed, 249
Innocent III. causes Langtou to be chosen
Archbishop of Canterbury, 65 ; 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, 08 ; tries to prevent Lewis
from invading England, 69 ; defends John's
title, 70, 71
"insane Root," the, possibly " mokilwoort,"
21 n 2
" inttuatie," conference, 317, 318
Irish, tho, war with the Britons 8 « 2 ; invade
the English [-ale, 89 ; attached to York, 248,
282 n 1, 296 ; and Rutland, 296
U:j1»1. daughter of Pcdni the Cruel, was
Aumerle's mother, 121 n 1
Isalwllo of Bavaria, wife of Charles VI., receives
Henry V.'s ambassadors at Troyos, 200;
present at the conference of Meulan, ib. ; at
Troyeswhen Katharine was married, 201 n 1 ;
brought Katharine to Meulan, 201 n 3
of Flanders. Scr Ermongnrdo
of Valois, second wife of Richard II.,
her marriage mentioned, 81 ; her residences,
110 n 1 ; leaves London 120
" Isoldune," Issoudun, 64
James, titular king of Majorca, was Richard
II. 's godfather, 118. See correction, p. xxiii
Jeanne Dare brought to Charles VII., 210 ; date
of hor first audience, 210 n 2; her surname,
210 n 5 ; parentage and condition, 210, 211 ;
person and character, 211 ; journey to Charles,
ib. ; sword, ib. ; ensign, ib. ; first talk with
Charles, ib. ; an army appointed her by
INDEX.
521
Jou
La>
Charles, 212 ; Iter exploits and death, ib. ;
raises the siege of Orleans, 215, 210 ; the
dramatic Jeanne takes Rouen, 224, 225 ;
historic date of her capture, 237 ; examined
by Canchon, 238 ; called "the Pucelle," 238
n 3 ; relapses, 239 ; burnt, ib. ; her visions, ib,
John, Richard II., baptised as, 118
"John Baptist, by 8t.t" Richard H.'s oath, 81
John, King of England, his regnal years com-
puted from Ascension Day, 45 it 3 ; proclaimed
King, 40 ; Chinon and Saumur delivered to,
•ib. ; owed bis crown chiefly to Eleanor, ib. ;
exacted money from the clergy, 47, 48 ;
takes Angers, 51 ; England bequeathed to,
52 ; rejects Philip II. s terms, ib. ; recon-
ciled to Arthur, ib. ; cedes and regains
territory, 63, 54 ; does homage to l'hilip and
receives Arthur's homage, 54; returns to
England, ib. ; refuses to confirm Longton's
election, 05; gives audience to Pandulph, 56;
formally deposed by Innocent, 57 ; refuses to
surrender bis transmarine dominions to
Arthur, 57 n 3; recaptures Mirabcau, 68, 59;
takes Arthur prisoner, and offers friendship
to him, 69 ; imprisons Arthur, ib. ; rccrowucd,
69, 60; orders the Uxodrng of Aitbur, BO;
accused bv Constance of Arthur's murder, 61
n 1 ; hxs deposition prophesied, 62 ; imprisons
and hangs Peter of romfret, ih.\ glad to hear
that Arthur was not blinded, 63 ; suspected
of being Arthur's murderer, ib.; prepares to
resist Philip's invasion, ib. ; receives a mes-
sage from Fandnlph, 64 ; confers with Pan-
dulphand yields to Innocent, 64, 65 ; delivers
his crown to Paudulpb, 65; blamed for hang-
ing Peter, ib. ; infltit Enetd hj Pi b r's prophecy,
66, 60 ; his forces defeated by Philip at Bou-
vines, 66 ; fails to recover Poiton 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 bis
baggage in the Wash, 73 ; sickens and dies,
ib. ; said to have been poisoned, 74 ; buried
in Worcester Cathedral, ib, ; his person and
rhiiractor, 76 ; quarreled with the clergy, ib. ;
hated by hU subjects for pinching their
purses, 70, 77
of Lancaster, 3rd sou of Henry IV., con-
cerned with a riot in Eastcheap, 141 n 1 ;
marches against Archbishop Scropc, 152 ;
receives the submission of Scropc and Mow-
bray, 154. See Bedford, John Duke of
11 iolie," joyful, 204
Jonrdain, Margery, accused of sorcery, 253 ;
executed, 259
Katharine of Arragon visited by Charles V.,
429 ; rumour that her marriage was unlawful,
452 ; tho host clerks were to be her counsel,
454 ; their names, 457 ; called into court,
458 ; her appeal to Henry, 458—460 ; accuses
Wolscy, 461 ; leaves the court, 461, 462 ; will
not recall her appeal to the pope, 466, 488 ;
visited by tho two cardinals, 468, 409 ; who
advise her to surrender her cause to Henry's
decision, 469 ; styled princess dowager, 480 ;
divorced, 483, 484 ; visited by Chapuvx,
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, ft, ;
present at the conference of Meulan, ib. ;
affianced to Henry, 202 ; date of her marriage,
202 n 3 ; grant to, of house inherited by
York, 223 n 2 ; her son born, 228, 224
Kenneth III., King of Scots, defeats the Danes
ut Lonearty, 16, 17 ; reproached by a noctur-
n al voice for the murder of Malcolm Duff, 30
Kent, Anne (born Blennerhasset), Countess of,
bears the train of the princess Elizabeth, 506
, Hubert de Burgh, 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 « 1 ; story of his
dogMatbe, 124 n 8
, 3rd Earl of, conspires against Henry
IV., 122, 123; beheaded, 127. See Surrey,
Thomas Holland
Kentishim n wcie Yorkists, 296
"kiftV'kith, 2n2
Kikolie {Kethj F.), Sir Richard, slain at Agin-
conrt, 196. "La S» de Richard Kykellcy,"
Harleian Ma 782, foL 49, col. 1 (quoted in
Nicolos's Agineourt, ed. 2, p. 869)
Kildare, Gerald Fitzgerald, 9th Earl of, com-
mitted to prison, 449
Knyvet, Charles, Buckingham's surveyor, pro
cured by Wolsey to accuse Buckingham, 434,
436 ; bis evidence, 436—439; hud hem dis-
missed by Buckingham, 437 ; brought forth
at Buckingham's trial, 447
Lady, n, bearing the train of the princess
Elizabeth, 506. (Anno, Countess of Kent)
Ladv Macbeth (Oruoch), xiii
'<Laford,"Slcaford, 73
Lancaster, John of Gaunt, Dnke of, luiflflHMl
lwiil for Botingbroke, 78 ; ambush laid against
him by Norfolk, 81 ; excuses Gloucester to
Itiehurd II., 84 ; reproves Gloucester, and
leaves the court, 65 ; comes to London with a
Sower, ib. ; forgives Gloucester's death, 80;
ies, 91 ; his third marriage disliked by Glou-
cester, 129; his house (the Savoy) burnt by the
villeins, 277 ; his Spanish expedition, 318
, Henry or Bolingbroko, Duke of, his
inheritance confiscated, 91, 102 ; his mar-
riage tire vented, 92 ; invited to dethrone
Rieharu II., 96; sails from Brittany, ib. ;
delays landing in England, 96, 97 ;
522
INDEX.
Lax
Mac
York's levies will not resist him, 08, 101 j
lands at Itaveiunur, 93 ; joyfully received,
ib. ; his oath to tne lords at Doncastor, 101 ;
inarches to Berkeley and meets York, 101,
102; adherents flock to him, 102 ; Riehanfa
favourites brought lie fore him at Bristol, 104;
roes 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; Ids claim con-
firmed by parliament, 115 ; ring )>ut 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 3. See Henry IV.
"Lancastrian/' Lancastrian, 312
Lane, the long, at Loncarty, 16
Langton, Stephen, chosen Archbishop of Canter-
bury, 66 ; rejected by John, ib. ; goes with
Pandulph to Philip II., 67
11 iaund/*&. plain, 23
M leame," sb. light, 16 n 2
Lear (Loir), sources for the story of, 1; madness
of, ib. ; built Leicester, 2 ; his daughter's
answers touching their love for him, 2, :j; gives
hi* elder daughters in marriage, and makes
their bus hands his heirs, hnt disinherits Corde-
lia,3; deposed, and his retinue diminished, 4 ;
flees to Cordelia and is kindly received, 6 ;
makes her his sole heiress, ib. ; restored to
the throne by Aganippus, ib. ; dies, ib. ;
swears by Apollo, 6 n 1 ; compares himself
to a dragon, ib.
"legaeie/'lefflitealiip, 457
Leicester, Abbot of (Richard Pexal), n
Wolsey as his guest, 491
"Lestrako" (Lertrale F.j, Earl of, sluin at
Agincourt, 196. No similar title occurs in
Monstrclet's lists (iii. 313—356). The Hat
given in Harhdan MS. 782, fol. 48 verso, col.
2 (quoted in Nieolos's Aijiiicourt, ed. 2, p.
367), places "The Countie de Lestrnke "
among the slain
" lettise," grey fur, 485
Lenenox, Lennox, 45
" lewdesto," most illiterate, 270 n 2
Lewis, son of Philip IL, King of France,
betrothed to Blanch of Castile, 63 ; invades
England, 67; many Englishmen do homage
to kiiii, 67, 68 ; he makes them large pro-
mises, 68 ; his procurators defend his title to
the crown of England, 69, 70 ; his army
defeated at Lincoln, 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
1 Dauphin of France, eldest son of Charles
VI., sends tennis-balls to Henry V., 165,
173 ; seeks advice for the defence of France,
178, 179 ; refuses succour to Haifleur, 181 j
prevented by his father from being at Agin-
court, 188 ; at Agincourt according to the F.
text of Sen. V.. 183 n 1
XI., King of France, refuses to deface
Bedford's tomb, 232, 233 ; favours the Lan-
castrians, 312 ; assents that Bona shall marry
Edward IV., 313 ; leagues with the Lancas-
trians, 817, 318 ; lends Rene money to ransom
Margaret, 342 (cp. 841 n 2)
Lewis, the Countess of Richmond's physician,
proposes to Queen Elizabeth an alliance of
Lancaster and York, 398, 399
Limoges, Widomar Viscount of, slain by Richard
L's bastard, 48. See Austria, 63 n 1
Lingaid, fictitious ancestress of Hugh Capet, 170
Lisle, Joint Talbot, Viscount, refuses to desert
his father, 231, 232
Lists not to be touched, 87
" lode-starre in honour," Henry V. a, 205
London, Mayor of, in 1 Men, VI. (John
Coven tre), prevents rioting, 213. See alto Sir
Edmund Shaw aud Sir Stephen Peacock
London, rejoicing there to celebrate Caesar's
defeat, 14 ; took its name from Lud, ib. ;
temple there — afterwards St. Paul's— built
by Lud, 14 n 1 ; Lewis (son of Philip II.)
there, 63 ; the citizens of, sorry for Glou-
cester's death, 85 : joyful reception of Boling-
hroke there, 120, 121 ; balls, Henry V.'s, 173;
mayor of, welcomes Henry V., 198 ; troubled
by the strife of Gloucester and Winchester,
222 ; mayor of, asks for help against Cade,
275; bridge, conflict on, with Cade, 276,
277, 279 n 1, 280; favours the Yorkists,
292 ; Edward lV.'s chief residence, 378
Longland, John, Bishop of Lincoln, asserts
that Henry's marriage was unlawful, 452
"L'iv.'II, Sir Thomas," 403 n 1. See Rowcll,
Thomas
, Sir Thomas, attends Buckingham to
the Temple stairs, 450
Lucy, Dame Elizabeth, her alleged betrothal
to Edward IV., 377
Lud,. King of Britain, much esteemed Loudon,
14 ; which took its name from him, to. ;
built a temple there, turned to St. Paul's
church, 14 n 1
Lynx, Lynceus the Argonaut, 80, 421. But cp.
a inarg. note, in Halle (54) ; " Lynx is a beast
like to a wolfe, whose sighte dooeth perce all
t hinges "
Macbeth probably not regarded as an usurper,
xii; stories about, xui ; his wife's name
was Gruoch, ib. ; temporarily dethroned,
xiii « 1 ; rebellion against, ib. ; hiB parent-
age, IS ; character, ib. s blames Duncan's
leniency, 20; sent against Macdowald, whom
ho defeats, ib. ; sends Maodowald'a head to
Duncan, 21 ; commands the van in the war
with Sneno, ib. ; defeata the Danes sent by
Canute, 22 j grant* burial to their dead, ib, ;
meets th«r weird sisters, 23, 24 {cp. xiii) ;
jests with Bauquo about their prophecy, 24 ;
made thane of Cawdor, ib. ; resolves to seize
tha kingdom, 25 ; urged thereto by his wife,
■ ': , murders Duncan, ib. ; is made king,
INDEX.
Ma.
Mnu
26 ; rales well for ten years, 32 ; his laws,
it. ; causes Ban quo to bo murdered, 83 ;
becomes & cruel tyrant, 34 ; builds a castle
on Dnnm'nane, 34, 3S; is angered by Macduff's
refusal to visit Dunsinaue, 35 ; warned to
beware of Macduff, 36 ; trusts in a witch's
prophecies, 36, 41 ; keeps spies in his nobles'
houses, 36 ; slays Macduff's wife and
children, 87 ; tries to entrap Malcolm, 38,
40 ; some of his nobles take part with Mal-
colm, 41 ; retires to Dunsinane, to. ; his
friends' advice, to. ; sees the approach of
Birn&m Wood, 42 (ep xiii) ; flies from
Dunsinane, ib. ; slain by Macduff in 1057
(cp. xiii), 43 ; length of his reign, xiii.
43 ; escapes from the battle with Siward, 44
*1
Macdowald (Macdonwald Much.) 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 slay Macbeth, 36
{cp. xiii) ; resolves to join Malcolm Canmore
in England, ib. ; his wife and children slain
by Macbeth, 37 ; acquaints Malcolm with
Macboth's cruelty, ib, ; urges Malcolm to
attempt Macheth's overthrow, 38 ; answers
Malcolm's sol f -accusations, 38, 39 ; despairs
when he hears of Malcolm's dissimulation, 39 ;
is undeceived by Malcolm, 40 ; requires the
Scottish noble* to support Malcolm, 40, 41 ;
pursues Macbeth to Lumphanan, 42 ; was
ripped from his mother's womb, 43 ; slays
Macbeth, to. ; made earl of Fife, 45
Moglunus, Duke of Albania. Sec Albany,
Duke of
Maine yields allegiance to Arthur, 46 ; Arthur's
homage for, 52 ; possession of, demanded for
Arthur, ib. ; ceded to Rene of Anjou, 244 ;
a key of Normandy, 245
" main pern our," surety, 124
Malcolm III. (Canmore) uiade prince of Cum-
berland, 26 ; takes refuse with Eudwnrd the
Confessor, 31 ; hears from Macduff of Mac-
beth's cruelty, 87 ; tests Macduff's ain< . iity
by accusing himself of vices, 38, 39 ; hi*
piety, 39 n 1 ; undeceives Macduff, 40 ; ob-
tains the assistance of Siward, 41 : attached
to English habits, ib. (cp. xii) ; his sol
take branches from Birnam Wood, 42 ; U
presented with Macbeth 's head, 43 ; crowned
•t Scone, 44 ; calls a parliament at Forfar,
45 ; gives earldoms to his thanes, ib.
March, Edniuml Mortimer, fifth Earl of <13»8—
1425), confounded with bis uncle Edmund,
131 n 1, 134 n 4, 257, 258; reveals Cam-
bridge* conspiracy to Henry V,, 174 [l
date of his death, 218 ; charge of, entrusted
to Prince Henry, 219 ; not a state privwrr,
ib. ; his offices, to. ; Halle's obituary notice
of, ib. ; (f) confounded with Sii John Mor-
timer, 219 h5
529
m
March, Edward FlanUgenct, Earl of.
Edward IV.
, George de Dunbar, Earl of ("Lord
Mortimer of Scotland ''), defeats the Scots at
llomildon, 131—133; urges Henry IV. to
attack Hotspur without delay, 142 ; engages
to become Henry's subject, 142 nlj with-
draws Henry from the main attack at Shrews-
bury, 146
Margaret of Anjou, her intrigue with Suffolk a
fiction, xiii, xiv ; her marriage to Henry VI.
arranged, '238 ; her character, 242 : her es-
pousals, 243 ; conveyed to England, ib. ;
crowned, 244 ; was dowerless, ib. (cp. 246) ;
favours the conspiracy against Gloucester,
248 j deprives him of power, 260 ; ruined by
his death, 264, 265 ; tries to screen Suffolk,
267, 268 ; sends the StaffoTcU against Cade,
273 ; releases Somerset from ward, 266, 287 ;
refuses to join Henry, and raises an army, 294,
295 ; York's head presented to, 299 ; with-
draws to the north, 301, 304 ; defeated the
Yorkists at St Albans, 802; reunited to
Henry, 302, 303 ; fortunate in two battles,
304 ; defamed, ib. ; seeks help from Lewis
XI., 312 ; visits Rene, 312 ul; leagues with
Warwick, 317, 818; her return to England
delnyed by weatheT, 328 ; met Somerset at
( Vrne Abbey, 381 n 3 ; landed at Weymouth,
337 ; her despair after Warwick's defeat, 338 ;
n prisoner after Tewkesbury field, to. ; ran-
somed, 341 n 2, 342 ; date of her death, 347
Mario, Hubert de Bar, Count of, holds his men
together at AgSlUKHB t, 193; defeated and
slain, ib.. 196
Mathe, Richard II. 's greyhound, story of, 12 n 3
"mawmet," puppet, 139 n 2
"meant stature, middle height, 164
Melun, Adam, Viscount of, confesses Lewis's
plot against the English liirons, 72 ; his con-
fession averts them from Lewis, 72, 78
Merlin likens Uthcrpendrogon to a dragon's
head, 5 n 1 ; his prophecy about the mold-
warp, 130 h 2
"incase, n," four jwrsous' aliaie, 370
" niv we, in," encaged, concealed, 259 n 4
Miui>'us, the kinjr/s, courtiers who had Wn in
Fronce, 440
"mirrour of magniii on . Henry V. a, 205
Montague, Henry Pole, liaron, arrested, 431
, John Neville, Baron and afterwards
M iinjuoss, 290 n 2 ; loth to revolt from Edward,
321, 322; with Warwick at Barnet, 336;
slain, 337
Montgomery, Sir Thomas, obliges Edward IV.
to proclaim himself king, 332
Montjoy, Herald of France, sent to defy Henry
V., 132; sent to Aire, 184 n 2; receives
Henry's answer to his defiance, 185 ; craves
burial for the dead, 194 ; answers Henry's
questions, %b.
Moons, five seen at once in John's reign, 62
Moray, Thomas Dunbar, E irl of, taken prisoner
at llomildon, 132
524
INDKX.
Muu
Nou
More, Sir Thomas, made lord chancellor, 477 ;
informs the commons of the universities'
opinions of Henry's marriage, 479
Homo, Provost of Beverley, chooses to be
called Henry II. 's bastard, 60
Mortain, .SVe Somerset, Edmund 2nd Duke or
Mortimer, Elizabeth, wife to Hotspur, 134 n 2
, Sir Edmund, defeated by Gluudowcr,
130, 131 ; confounded with the fifth Earl of
March, 181 n 1, 131 n 4 j joins Glondower,
181 nl, 185; was Glendowcr's prisoner, 133,
134; marries Glendowcr's daughter, 136; por-
tent at his birth, 137 ; a party to the indent-
ure dividing Henry IV. 'a realm, 139 * 1 ;
encouraged vy a prophecy, 139; confounded
with Lord Grey of Ruthin, '257, 268
, Sir Hugh, slain at Wakefield, 299
, Sir John, (!) confounded with Edmund
5th Earl of March, 219 n 6 ; account of, ib. ;
his name assumed by Cade, 2(10
, 8ir John, slain st Wakefield, 299
Morton, John, Bishop of Ely, takes part in the
coronation council of Edward V. , 363 ; sends
for strawberries at Gloucester's request, 370,
371 ; hears the tale of Buckingham's wrongs,
393 ; escapes from Buckingham's custody.
390, 397 ; obtained Buckingham's promise to
support Richmond, 398 k 1
Mulmueius Duuwallou becomes monarch of
Britain, 14 ; his laws, 14, 15 ; the first who
wore a crown in Britain, 16
"mum-chance," 444. "Chance: . . . the
game at dioe called Mnmchance, or such
another. "—Cvtgra ve
Murderer, a, detected by the bleeding of the
corpse, £8
"ruurrie," dark red, 198
Na*h field, a retainer of Richard Duke of
Gloucester, 382
Necessity, cousin of Poverty, caused the rebel-
lion in Suffolk, 432
Ncnnius, Cassibclan's brother, causes the loss
of Caesar's sword, 13
11 nephuc," grandson, 18
Nevers, Philip, Count of, slain at Agincourt,
196
Neville, Cecilia, See York, Cecilia Duchess of
, George, Archbishop of York (1464-70),
has the custody of Edward IV., 824
— , Isabel, marries Clarence, 820
, John Neville, Baron, slain at Towton,
342 >i 1 ; bis attainder reversed, 346 n 1
" Nicholas of the Tower/' Suffolk intercepted
bv the, 270
"uightcrtalo," night-time, 211
"Non nobis," sung after Agincourt, 197
Norbury, John, joins BoKugbroke's invasion,
96
Norfolk, Agnes (born Tilney), dowager Duchess
of, in the coronation procession of Anne
Boleyn, 435 ; godmother to the prim-ess
Elizabeth, 505 ; in the ehristenin^ procession
of Elizabeth, 600 ; her gift, ib.
Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of (1397-
09), denies Bolingbroke s charge of treason,
78 ; arrested and put in ward, ib. ; refuses
to make ]>eace with Bolingbroke, 79, 80, 81 ;
denies Bolingbroke's specific charges, 80, 81 ;
spent money in Richard's service, 81 ;
takes up Bolingbroke's gage, to.; day and
place of battle appointed him, 82 ; date of
nis exile, 82 » 1 ; denies having murdered
Gloucester, S3 ; takes leave of Richard II.
near Coventry, 86 ; arms for the battle, ib. ;
enters the lists, 87, 68 ; his spear sent to him
by Surrey, 88 ; delay* setting forward against
Bolingbroke, ib. ; banished for life, ib. ;
swears that he will keep apart from Boling-
broke, 69 ; dies at Venice, in. and U2 ; hoped
that Kichnid would favour him, 89 ; licensed
to return nml answer Aumerle's challenge,
112 ; reprobated by the commons, 130
Norfolk, John Mowbray, 2nd Duke of (1424-82),
2nd 8on of Thomas, attends Henry YI.'s
coronation in Paris, 228
.John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of (1482-61),
son of John, a supporter of York's claim to
the crown, 283 ; charged 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 vaward at Bosworth, 41S ; warn-
ing couplet addressed to, 410 ; slain, 421. See
Howard, John
, Thomas Howard, '2u>\ Dukeof (1614-24),
by Henry VIII .'a creation, 367 n 2; not at
the meeting of Henry and Francis, 425 ; date
of his death, 432 n 1 ; presides at Bucking-
ham's trial, 446—448. See Howard, Sir
Thomas, and Surrey, Thomas Howard
, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of (1624-64),
talks with John Greene, one of the Suffolk
i, 432; com mauds Wolsey to surrender
the great seal, 474; receives it after much
debate, 475 ; claims to exercise his office as
earl marshal, 483 ; represented by his half,
brother (Huward of Effingham) in the coro-
nation procession of Anne Boleyn, 486; in
the christcuiug procession of the princess
Elizabeth, 500
Northumberland, Henry Percy, Earl of (1377 —
1408), proclaimed a traitor bv Richard II.,
99 ; receives Bolincbroke's oath at Doncaster,
100, 101 ; goes with him to meet York, 102 ;
decors Richard II. into an ambush, 107 «
1 ; bears Bolingbroke's terms to Richard,
108 ; at Flint Castle, 109 ; receives the gages
of Auinerlc and other lords, 111, 112 j pre-
sent at Richard's abdication, 118; his Scot-
tish prisonera claimed by Henry IV., 133;
requires Henry to ransom Sir Rlward Mor-
timer, ib. ; joins Ulrudower, 135 ; obtains
aid from the Scot«, ib. ; a party to the in-
denture djvi.HitK Henry IV.'s realm, 138,
139; B&COWagM by a prophecy, 139; pre-
vented by sickness from joining Hotspur at
Nor
143; submits to Henry IV.,
148; flees to Berwick, 149; iu«i thence to
Scotland, 150 ; delivers Berwick to the Scots,
160 n 1 ; his conspiracy against II. ury IV.,
151 ; re tarns with Scottish forces to England,
157 ; craves help from his countrymen, to. ;
defeated sin! slain, ih.
Northumberland, Henry Percy, Earl of 0415-
55), slain st St Albans, 290
, Henry Percy, Earl of (145S-61), slain st
Towton, 342 * 1
Northumberland, John Neville, Esrl of (1464-
70), local feeling against, 321 a 3. (Afterwards
Ptt
525
Marquess of Montagu)
— — , Henry Percy, £
Earl of (1470-89), sum-
moned to oppose Richmond, 401 ; took no
part in the battle of Bosworth, 412
, Henry Percy, Earl of (1527-87), arrests
WoW 490
, Siward, Earl of. Set Sward
Nottingham, Thomas Mowbray, Earl of (1383-
97}, joins a conspiracy against Richard II.,
82; reveals it to Richard, ih. ; arrests Glou-
cester, to. ; delays Gloucester's death, to. ;
despatches him, under Richard's compulsion,
83 ; misled Richard, 80. &i Norfolk, Thomas
Mowbray, 1st Duke of
, Thomas Mowbray. Earl of (1390—1405),
elder son of Thomas, conspires against Henry
IV., 151 ; persuaded to confer with West-
moreland, 153 ; arrested by Westmoreland,
1 64 ; said to have yielded freely, ib, ; beheaded,
155
Oonly, Roger, 262. Sec Bolingbroke, Roger
"orient grained," brightly dyed, 198
Orleans, Lewis Duke of (1891— 1407), murdered
by John Duke of Burgundy, 48 ; father aj
Dunois, 49
, Charles Duke of (1407-85), 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
ItseA. II., V. vi. 8, 127 «1
Oxford, John do Vera, Esrl of (1417-62>. be-
headed, 814
, John de Vere, Earl of (1462—1513),
embittered by bis father's execution, 314;
date of bis rebellion, 314 n 3; joins the
Lancastrian league, 317, 313 ; with Warwick
at Harriet, 936 ; defends St. Michaels Mount,
339 ; imprisoned in Homines Castle, \b. ;
joins Richmond's invasion, 407 ; had escaped
from Hnmmes, 409
Pace, Richard, kept sbroad by Wolsey, 456
Page, a, recommends Tyrrel to Richard III.'s
service, 389, 390
Psnduiph, sent to John, 56 ; sent to bid Philip
make war on John, 57 ; obtains John's sub-
mission to Innocent, 64, 65 ; receive* Jobn'l
crown, 66; did Innocent's message stoutly, 77
"pened," striped, 443
"papistical], aTQ
"Paradise," a house near Westminster Hall,
417
Parlcv, a, from Harneur (ffeu. J*., III. ii. 14S),
ISO a 2
Parry, Dr. William, begs Elisabeth to forgive
his fault but not his punishment, 176 a 1. Sm
correction, p. xxiii
"Paul, by St," Richard III.'s oath, 371
Pax, definition of a, 183 a 3
Peacock, Sir Stephen, Lord Mavor of 1/nnfrtsij
in the coronation procession of Anne Boleyn,
485 : st the christening of the princess Elisa-
beth, 506, 607
Pembroke, William Marsha] (the elder). Earl
of, sent to proclaim John, 46 ; defeats Lewis's
army at Lincoln, 71 ; present at the con-
clusion of peace with Lewis, 75 ; brings John's
children to Gloucester, and asserts Henry
III.'s title, to. ; s party to the treaty of peace
with Lewis, 77
, William Marshal (the younger), Earl of,
forsakes John for Lewis, 68 ; s Guardian of
the Great Charter, 6S a 1
, Jasper Tudor, Lancastrian Earl of, de-
feated at Mortimer's Cross, 300, 301 ; joins
the Lancastrian league, 317, 318; meets
Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, 838, 339 ;
takes him to Brittany, 329, 330 ; joins Rich-
mond's invasion, 407
, William Herbert, Yorkist Esrl of U46S-
69), defeated at Edgoote, 320 n 4 ; hail been
ipj-inted to suppress the northern rebellion,
321
Pendragon. See Uter
Penker, Friar, his character, 376
"penner," pen-case, 272
"perclois,'' screen, 86
Percy, Henry, surnaniod " Hotspur," banishment
of, by Richard IL, 98 a 3 ; receives IVding-
brake's oath at Doncaster, 100, 101 ; mar-
shals Bolingbroke's army Ivfore Flint Castle,
107; why called "Hotarmr," 131 m I
feats the Scots at Homildon, 131—133; hi«
Scottish prisoners clsimed by Ib-nry IV,.
133 ; requires Heury to ransom Sir Edmund
Mortimer, ib. ; his speech when H-nry re-
fused, 134 ; threatened by Henry, 184 r(;
joins Glendowor, 136; obtains aid from the
Scots, it. ; assembles an army, 136 ; joined
by Worcester, 136, 187 ; wss mm-h oUw
than Prince Henry, 142; commanded st
Otterbonrne, ib. ; liis lirst military taj
16. j did not expect Henry IV. *s rspid advance
u]>on Shrewsbury, ib. ; sends Wofoestcr to
parley with Henry, 143 ; driven to fight by
Worcester's false rer»rt of Henry's words,
145 ; his speech to his followers, so, ; makes
Heury IV. the object of his attack: at
Shrewsbury, 146; slain, 1*7
i'erke, Gilbert (Robert Gilbert), arrested, 430 ;
brought forth at Buckingham's trial, 447
Peter of Pomfrot prophesies John's dethrone-
52G
INDKX.
I'm
Ric
83 :
iucnt, 61, 62 ; imprisoned unil hanged
■Ufcnd unjustly, 65
Philip, butBQof Bfehttd L, kills the Viscount
of Limoges, 48
Philip II. (Augustus), King of Franco, takes
china of Arthur, 47 ; knights Arthur and
receives his homage, 62 ; proposes terms to
John, ib. ; concludes ft peae^ with John, 63 ;
receives John's homage, 54 ; exhorted by
Innocent to moke war on John, 57 ; demands
Jolin's transmarine dominions for Arthur,
57 ?( 3 {**;>. 52) ; aids Arthur, 67, 58 ; craves
Arthur's liberty, 60 ; cites John to answer
the charge of Arthur's murder, 61 n 1 ; pre-
pares to invade England, 63 ; attacks Ferrand.
Count of Flanders, 6Q ; defeats John's forces
fit Bouvines, ib. ; accepts the offer of John's
barons, 60 ; argues that John is an usurper,
ib. ; sends reinforcements to Lewis, 71
"physnomie," physiognomy, 443
"pikodst," choicest, 143
Plantagcnct, Cicely, a mean marriage purposed
for her bj Richard 111., 396
"platted," arranged, 456
IJlautius, Aulus, sent to snUlue Britain, 0 ; his
soldiers loth to follow him, II; ■ portent id
hia success, 16 n 2
Pole, Sir Richard, married Murguret Flanta-
genet, Countess of Salisbury, 306
"porayle, the," the poor, 1*29 » 2 ; 275 n 1
; in Kichard 1 1 1. 'a reign, 390 n 2
"pounced," ornamented with perforations or
indentations, 506
Poverty, captain of the Suffolk rebels, 432
"powdered," sprinkled, 485
'■PKcclarissimiis," mistranslation of " trosch-
icr," 202
Prestbury, Thomas, Abbot of Shrewsbury, sent
to otrer terms to the Percies, 143
"pretended," intended, 160
Priest, a |w Chaplaine of tho Tower "),
buries the bodies of Edward IV. 's childrmi,
305
Princes1 Inn, the, Calais, scene of Gloucester's
murder, 83
"promit," promise, 293
Proverbs and ] >h rases : — "kings . . . ham.1
sharps sight like vnto Lynx, and long ears
like vnto Midas," 36 (rp. 421) ; left- no stone
vu turned, 46; "tag and rag," 143; "shot
for the best game," 145; "Whoso will'
win, must with Scotland first begin," 172; "to
hauc a Kouland for au Oliuer," 235 ; " block-
ham feast," 271 widmutk 2; "Won Adam
deln'd, and Eue span, / Who was then a
gentleman f " 272 u2; "a aleenideaae errand, "
316;, "a daie after tho faire," 337 ; "broken
all the dansc," 364; " free n da faile fliers,"
365; " Honours change manners," 803 ; "tho
parish priest never remembreth that lie was
ever pariah clerk," ib. ; "chevko and ehecke-
mate," ib. ; "he cuild not disecrno a goose
from a capon," 895; "a man found in
a cloud," 306; "» fooles paradise," 400;
"left . . . post alone," 404; "Frenchmen &
Jtritans great boaters small rosters," 417 side-
I; "bag and baggage/' 420; " hane
him in ;i trip," 426; " rause him to leaps
beadloase," ib, ; "cast a trumpe in his waie,"
448; "mado faire weather of altogether*,"
;.<>■!
Pyx (box for preserving the host), a soldier
strangled for stealing a, 184
" quails," fail, 316
"quarell," list of charges, 101 n 1 ; 134 n 4 ;
144
Queene Hiuo, Quoonliithe, 261
'■ in ritmoongers," jurymen, 272
'•liiinch," start, 203
Quoin t, Francis, 96. See Coint
"radicate," rooted, 249
Kambures, David seigneur de, Grand Master of
the Crossbowmen, encamps at Agincourt,
185; slain, 196
U:inist"u, .Sir Thomas, joins BolingbrokVs
invasion, 96
llaU'liffu, Sir Ridttld ("the Rat," 347), tups*
int.-u.j- lit.- execution of Rivera, Qnry, and
Vnughau, 368 ; his ch.iru ter, ib. ; hindered
Tyrrel's advancement, 38J*, 31»0 ; rimfn at
Bos worth, 421
Li['j'er," .second aflgnu 23
"reculed back," fell back, 338
Regan, her answer to Lear, 3; marries IIcn-
nmns, ib. ; diminishes Lear's retinue, 4
"resented," except, 162
" retawnU," repetition of taunts, 393
Hico ap Thomas joins Richmond, 408
Richard 1., King of England, date of Ui death,
45 n 8; slain at Chain*, 48 ; why called
Cceur de Lion, 60 ; bequeaths England to
Jr hi), 62 ; his heart buried at Rouen, 225
II., present when Bolingbroke accuses
Norfolk of treason, 78 ; orders tho dukes'
arrest, ib. ; endeavours to reconcile them, 70,
80, 61 ; hears the appeal of treason, 80, 81 ;
swears that he will cease endeavouring to
reconcile the dukes, 81 ; appoints time and
place for their combat, 82 ; conspiracy against
him in 1397, ib. ; orders Nottingham to
.I. sj.iih Gloucester, on pain of death, 82, 83;
rebuked by Gloucester for surrendering Brest,
84, 95; complains of Gloucester's enmity;
84 ; persuaded to despatch Gloucester, 85 ;
summons a parliament, ib. ; goes to Coventry,
86 ; Bolingbroke and Norfolk take leave of
him, ib. ; enters the Held at Coventry, B7 ;
stava the combat, 88 ; banishes Bolingbrnk*
and Norfolk, ib. ; makes them swear that
they will keep apnrt, 89 ; shortens Boling-
broke's exile, ib. ; resolves on a campaign in
Ireland, 89; sets England to form, 90;
reconciled to the Londoners, ib. ; issues blank
charter*, ib. ; imposes fines and a new oath,
to., 94 ; exacts money from the clergy for his
Irish campaign, 91 ; confiscates Bolingbroke'a
iNi>i-:x.
527
Rio
Hn
inheritance, ib, ; prevent* Bolingbroke's mar*
•"••ge, 82 ; appoint* York lieuU-nant-gener&l,
93 ; goes to Ireland, ib. ; excepts nobles from
imrdou, ib. ; disinherits heirs, ib. ; a poll-tax
levied for, 83, 94 ; proclaims Northumber-
land a traitor, H news (delayed by
contrary winds) of Bolingbroke's landing,
100 ; persuaded to defer his return, ib. ; sends
Salisbury to gather an arniv, 102, 103 ; Glen-
dower said to hare served hint, 105 ; lands in
Wales, 106; distnissesand leaves his army, 100,
107; at Conway, 107; an ambush laid for
him, 107 » 1 ; sees Bolinghroke's army
apnroaching Flint, 107, 108; dines, 109; moats
Bolingbroke, ib. ; rides with him to London,
ib. • persuaded to abdicate, 113 ; reads
and signs the scroti of his abdication, 114,
US; which i a read in iiarliamcnt, 117: his
crimes Bet forth in articles, ib. ; puts his ring
on BolingbrokH's finger, 117, 118; d
his crown to Bolingbroke, 118 ; uamed John,
ib. ; his "noble housekeeping," 119; com-
mitted to the Tower, ib. | dosign to waylay
him, 121 ; plot to restore him, 122—124 ;
his greyhound Mathe, 124 n 3; murdered,
126 ; date of his death, 120 n 2 ; his funeral,
128; buried at King's I*angley, ib. ; his
person and character, 128, 129 ; nattered by
liiishy, 130 ; his heir presumptive was Roger
Earl of March, 134 (q>. n 1); his body
removed to Westminster, 188
Richnrd III. expresses remorse for his nephews'
murder, xiv {cy. 424); date of his birth,
287 n 2 ; his cognisance called a hog, 347 ;
date of his accession, 376 n 3 ; crowned, 387 ;
spreads a rumour of Anne's death, 388 ; in-
tends to marry his nicco Elizabeth, ik.t 399-
401 ; plans his nephews' murder, 389, 390 ;
charges Stanley to prevent Kiel mini:. I 'smother
from plotting, 391 ; prophecy that Richmond
would be fatal to him, 392 ; refused to give
Buckingham the earldom of Hereford, ib.,
393 (cd. 362, 460 n 2); thanks Tyrol for
murdering his nephew*, 394 ; but disapproves
of their sepulture, 394, 395 ; his plan for
suppressing Buckingham's rebellion, 397 ;
makes overtures to Elizabeth, 399, 400;
denies that he meant to marry his niece, 400
v 1 ; marches against Buckingham, 401 ;
after Richmond's landing summons his friends
to muster forces, ib. ; tno persons whom he
most mistrusted, 402 ; oners a reward for
Buckingham's apprehension, 404 ; hostility
or indifference among his followers, 410 ;
encamps near Hoswortb, -111 : otitnir,
Richmond, ib. ; his white courser, ib, ; his
dream, 413 ; draws up his army, 416 ; com-
mands the main body at Bosworth, ib. ; his
speech to his army, 416, 417 ; his summons
rejected by Stanley, 417 ; defers the execution
of George Stanley, 417, 418; joins battle,
418; refused to fiy when defeated, ib. ; as-
sails Richmond, overthrowing those who
opposed him, 419; slain, 420; his soldiers
submit to Richmond, 121 ; his person and
character, A'2.2, 423 ; portentous birth, 422;
habit of biting bin lip. {$$
Richmond, Henry Tudor, Karl of, Henry VI. s
prophecy about, 328, 329 ; his person and
character, 328 k 2, 424 ; date of his birth,
328 a 4 ; taken to Brittany, 32D, 330 ; Dorset
joins him there, 387 ; hears that Richard will
marry the Princess Elizabeth, 388 ; promises
to marry her, 399 ; sails with an army to
join Buckingham, 402 ; his fleet dispersed
by a tempest, 404, 405 ; treacherously invited
to land at Toole, 405 ; returns to Normandy,
405, 406 ; lands at Millard, 406 ; could not
depend on Stanley's help, 407 ; his army in-
creases, 407, 408; meets Stanley, 412; en-
camps, 412, 413 ; his speech before the battle,
414, 416; a marsh on his right flank, 418;
keepe Richard at bay, 419 ; crowned after
Bosworth field, 420 ; remove* to Leicester,
ib. ; his speech after the battle, 421
, Margaret, dowager Countess of, com-
municates with her son, 391 ; broaches his
marriage to the Princess Elizabeth, 308
Rivers, Richard Wood vile, Karl, envoy (in
1452) to York, 285 ; his daughter Elizabeth
wooed by Edward IV., 310, 811
, Anthony Woodvile, Earl, flees with
Edward IV. from England, 325 ; governor of
Edward's elder son, 351 1 his character, A ;
arrested by Gloucester and Buckingham, 354 ;
MBit to Pom fret and beheaded, 355; date of
Iiim execution, 368 u 2. See Scales, Anthony
Rochford, George Boloyn, Baron, bearer of the
princess Elizabeth's canopy, 506
KoKcsby, Sir Thomas, sheriff of Yorkshire,
defeats Northumberland and Bardolf, 157
Remains, the, and the English, aspects of their
camps compared, 186
" rungen," rung, 254
" rove," commotion, 323 n 1, 352
Ros, William de Ros, Baron, joins Roliugbroke,
98 ; goes with him to meet York, 102
KotherWu, Thomas, Archbishop of York,
Cardinal, ami Chancellor, hears that Edward
V.'s journey had been interrupted, 364, 355 j
takes the great seal to Elizabeth, 355, 356 ;
asked to bring York from sanctuary, 358
(cij. 367 h 1); nis answer, 858, 369; advises
EUabeth to j*irt with York, 360; brings
him from sanctuary, 360 j takes part in the
coronation council, 363
Roussy, John Count of, slain at Agincourt, 196
Rowell, Thomas ("sir Thomas Louell") saves
Dog H's life, 403 n 1
" rowued," whispered, 386
Rashes a floor covering, 856
Rutliul, Thomas, Bishop of Dnrham, his private
accounts accidentally seen by Henry V III- ,
472, 473
Rutland, Edward Earl of, conspires against
Henry IV., 122, 123; detected by York,
124 ; obtains Henry's pardon, ib. See Albe-
marle, and York, Edward Duke of
528
INDEX.
Kut
Srw
Rutland, Edmund, fowl of, inarms with Richard
Duke of York, 295 ; Moved by tho Irish,
296 ; bll total tries to save his life, 297, 298 ;
slain by Clifford, 2tfa ; his ago, 298 » 1 ;
character, ib.
" sacke, let," caused to bo put iu a sack, 213
"saere," consecrate, 175 n 3
"sad," grave, 381, 400 ■ 1
"sadde/'firm, 238 » 3
St. Maur, Richard do St. Maui, Baron, goes
with York to meet Boliugbroke, 102
St, Paulo, St. Pol, 185
Saintc - Traille (Xointraillcs), Potou dc, ex-
changed for Tallwt, 211
Salisbury, tho bastard of (son of Richard Earl
of Salisbury), slain at Ferrybridge, 305
— — t William Lungespue, Karl of, forsakes
.Mm for luswis, 58
, John do Montagu, Earl of, employed to
prevent Bolinghroke a marriage, 92; gathers
an army to await Richard's return, 103 ;
incuts him at Conway, 107 ; present when
Richard met Boliugbroke, 109 ; conspires
against Henry IV., 122, 123; beheaded, 127
, Thomas dc Montagu, Earl of, son of
John, a negotiator of the treaty of Troyes,
2O0 ; at Troyos when Henry V. was tflb&OM
to Katharine, 201; at Henry's deathbed,
203; mortally wounded, 214, 215; date of
his death, 215 n 1 ; martial renown of, 217,
218
1 Ricluu'd Neville, sou -in-law of Thomas,
Earl of, attends Henry VI. 'a coronation iu
Paris, 228 ; married Alice do Montagu, 245
n 1 ; his children, ib. ; a supporter of York's
claim, 283, 288 ; reconciled to the Lancas-
trians, 290 ; his chancellorship, 291 n 1 ; in
arms with York, 295 ; welcomed iu Kent,
296, 298; beheaded, 300; his head removed
from York gates, 307
> Margaret Plantagcuet, Countess of
(1499—1539), mamed Sir Richard Pole, 396 ;
date of her birth, 396 « 1
"sanctuaric children" unheard of, 360
Sandys, William Sandys, ISai -,.u. regulated
WoIboj's banquets, 411, 442; date of his
creation, 449 « 2; attends Buckingham's
execution, 450
Say k Solo, James Fiennes, P»arou, removed
from ofliee, 269 ; charged with ceding Aujou
and Maine, 278; beheaded, 278, 279; his
)n;id borne en a \> lit, 279
Scales, Thomas Scales, Baron, taken prisoner
at Patay, 207 ; joined with others in the
siege of Orleans, 214 ; at the retaking of Lo
Mans, 217 ; charged to keep the Tower against
Code, 27 1 ; promises help to tho Londoners
in resisting him, 275
, Anthony Wood vile, Baron (1482-69),
married the heiress of Thomas, Karon Scales,
319 ■ 1. See Rivers, Anthony Wood vile,
Earl of
Scots, the, expel Malcolm's English followers,
xii n 2 ; came from Ireland, 3nl; defeat
tho Danes at Loncarty, 16, 17; defeat
, 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 IVrries, l3.r> ; attack Henry IV. 's
van at Shrewsbury, 146 ; defeated at Neville's
. 172
Scrope of Maahatn, Henry Scropo, Baron,
treason of, mode public, 173 n 3; found
guilty, ib.; his conspiracy detected, 174;
led to doom himself, 1/4 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 PercW articles,
135, 151 ; conspires against Henry IV., 151 ;
wears armour, 152; his character, ib, ; at
Oaltres Forest, ib. ; confers with Westmore-
land, 153, 154 ; arrested by Westmoreland,
154 ; said to have yielded freely, io. See
correction, p. xxiii
, Sir Stephen, accompanied Richard II. to
Conway. 107 ; present when Richard met
Boliugbruke, 10!)
"seelio, innocent, 394
Seelv, Sir Beuuet, conspirator against Henry
IV., beheaded, 127
"Seimonr, the lord." See St Maur
"sundall, silke,"86
" sentence," opinion, 501
Sergeant-ut-arms, Duncan's, slain by rebels, 19
(cp. 18)
"sew," Berve at table, 126
Seyton (Seiton), name assumed in Malcolm
III.'s time, 45
Shaw, Dr. John or Ralph, his cliaractcr, 376 ;
his arguments for Gloucester's claim to the
crown, 377, 379, 380
, Sir Edmund, Mayor of Loudon, receives
Edward V., 357 ; present during Bucking-
ham's speeches at the Guildhall, 381, 332,
and at Baynard's Castle, 383
Shirley, Sii Hugh, slain at Shrewsbury, 147
Shore, Jane, accused of wasting Gloucester by
sorcery, 371, 872; kept by Hastings, 372,
373
Shrewsbury, John Tallwt, Earl of (1442-53),
appointed to besiege. Dieppe, 230 ; sent to
Msra Giiieiiuu, 231 ; slain, ib. ; advised his
sou to Hoc, 231, 232; his words to his son
889 ; epitaph, 9S8 ; his Imncs brought to
England, 233 ft 1 ; aud fonudat Whitchurch,
ib.
Sicilius, father of Posthumus {Cymb.), aids in
Caesar's defeat, 13 n 1 ; name in //«/., 18
Kigismnud, the Emperor, comes to make peace
between Henry V. and Charles VI., 199;
seeks to make peace between England and
France, 234
Sinell, thane of Glamis, father of Macbeth, 18
Siward, Earl of Northumberland, temporarily
dsthronrs Macbeth, xiii N 1 ; ordered to
assist Malcolm. 41 ; defeats Macbeth, 41 ; Ul
speech when his sou was slain, £*.
••sod," boiled, 247
Somerset, John Beaufort, l»t Duke of, bit age
at Mortimer's death, 218 ; date of hia death,
218 n 6* ; ravages Anjou, 230
.Kdrannd Beaufort [Earl of MorUin, 1431,
Earl of Somerset, 1444), 2nd Duke of, brother
of John, atteuds Henry V.'i funeral, 205 n 4 ;
the "Somerset" of 1 & 2 Be*. VL% '218
(cp. 335) ; his age- at Mortimer's death, to. ;
rumitv U'twesu him and York, 218, 219;
attends Henry V I. 's coronation in Paris, 228 ;
conspires against Gloucester, 246 ; when made
dake, 246 n 3 ; supersedes York in the lieu-
tenancy of Prance, 261 ; date of his lieuten-
ancy, 251 n 1; retards York's departure to
France, 252; surrenders Csru, 263; blamed
for the loss of Normandy, 283 ; his committal
to ward demanded by York, 238; released
by Margaret, 286, 287; accuses York of
treason, 287 ; slain, 289
Somerset, Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of, son of
Edmund, advises Margaret to opposo York,
294, 295; at Wakefield, 296; flees from
Towton, 806 h 2 ; deserts and rejoins the
Lancastrians, 320 ; beheaded, A,
, Edmund, 4th Duke nf, brother of Henry,
meets Margaret on her return to England,
333 n 4, 834 n 8 ; with Warwick at Barnut,
835; taken prisoner at Tewkesbury, 338;
beheaded, 339
Somervillo, Sir Thomas, perhai-
mSBen, VI., 342
"songen," sung, £64
"Southerie," Surrey, 281
Southwell, Thomas, accused of
dies in the Tower, 259
fipaxhawk, a, strangled by an owl
"Spencer." (F. reading iu /
127 « 1. Se* Despencvr
Staflbrd, Edmund Stafford, 5th Karl of, com-
mands Henry I Ws ran at Shrewsbury, 146 ;
slain, ib. ; made Constable on the day of the
battle, io.
, Humphrey Stafford, Earl of, son of
Humphrey Duko of Buckingham, slain at St.
Albans, 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
8Un<lisb, Henry, Bishop of St. Asaph, blflaV
lino's counsel, 457
Stanley, Sir Thomas, lias the custody of the
Duchess of Gloucester, 259, 261
— , Sir William, aids Edward IV. 'b escape
from the Nevilles, 825 ; distrusted by Richard
III., 402 ; comes to Richmond, 408 ; his con-
ktagsot, 411; meets Richmond, 412; his
succour gives Richmond victory at Bosworth,
419, 420
Sr«
'Somernile
asa
31
//. V. vi 8),
Stanley, Thomas Stanley, Karon, " Derby" in
Jiic/tard IU., 350 : takes part in the ooroxuv
tion ei.un irtUtrusts the aejmrate
councils, to. ; hia dream, S64 ; charged by
Richard, to prevent his wife from oomuium-
eating with Richmond, 391 ; his son do*
manded from him as a hostage, 402 ; afraid
to befriend Rii htmjiid openly, 407; roncta
Kichmond, 412 ; rejects Richard's summons,
417 ; crowns Richmond after Bos worth field,
420
Star, a blazing, seen in 1402, 137 Up* 61 n 1)
" states, " persons of high rank
Stewards, Boeoe's genealogy of the, 35 ; they
and the Fits-Alan* descended from Alan
(tann. Hen. I.), A, n 2
Stokesley, John, Bishop of London, asks his
clergy s aid in buying pardon of the pre-
muni re, xxiv ; in the coronation procession of
Anno Boloyn, 485, 487
Storm, portentous, before the leave-taking of
Henry ami Francis, 427
"stoupes," 221, "stoops," 277. stulpes, short
Strange, George Stanley, Baron, a hostage to
Richard III., 402; uarrowly escaped execu-
tion before Boaworth field, 417, 418 ; brought
to his father after the buttle, 420
"stroinable," vehement, 405
Kiiu' nf Norway, invades Scotland, and
iVaU-ti, 81 ; ransoms his dead {&taeb.)t
n l
Suffolk, Michael de la Polo, third Earl of, slain
at Agjnconrt, 196
, William do la Pole, Duke of, brother of
Michael, his intrigue with Margaret ficti-
tious, xiii, xiv ; appointed to besiege Orleans,
214 ; attends Henry VI. 's coronation in Paris,
228 ; ambassador at Tours, 237 ; arranges
Si ury VI. s marriage, 238 ; returns to Eng-
land, 241 ; his services acknowledged by
Parliament, 211 n 1 ; procurator for espous-
ing Margaret to Henry, 213 : conveys oaf to
England, ib. ; disneuses witli her dowry, 244:
cedes Anjou and Maine to Rene, ib. ; crentod
Duko of Suffolk, ib. ; Bent to bring Margaret
from Franco, 245 ; demands a fifteenth, 246 ;
conspires against Gloucester, ib. ; aids
Somerset to obtain the lieutenancy in France,
261 ; accused of taking bribes from France,
204 ; and of other crimes, 267, 268, 278 ; sus-
pected of Gloucester's murder, 263 ; banished,
269 ; murdered, 270, 271 ; prophecy of his
■
, Cliliksj Broaden. Duke of (1614-45), a
roniuiiH.tir.iier for levying a sixth, 432; found
Buckingham guilty, 447 ; commands Wobwy
to surrender the great seal, 474 ; receives it
after much debate, 475 ; high steward for
the coronation of Anne Boleyu, 483 ; in Uasl
procession, 465 ; 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
at at
530
INDEX.
Sus
Wal
8nn obscured after Duffs murder, 31 ; ap-
pears as three suns at Mortimer's Cross, 301 ;
eclipee of, at Queen Anne's death, 396 n 3
"suppryse," oppression, 129 n 2
"Surrey "in the coronation procession of Anne
Boleyn, 484. See Arundel, 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 marsliall in the
lists at Coventry, 86 — 88 ; returns with
Richard from Ireland, 106 ; accompanies
Kichard to Conway, 107; challenges Fitz-
Walter, 111, 112 ; deprived of his dukedom,
121, 122. AW Kent, 3rd Karl of
Surrey, Thomas Howard,Earlof(1483— 1514), by
Richard III. 'a creation, 367 n 2 ; summoned
to oppose Eichmoud, 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,
3rd Duke of
Surrienne, Francois de, le Arragonnois, sur-
prises the Castle of "Coruill," 224, 225.
(Source for the fictitious surprise of Rouen,
\Hen. VZ, III. ii.)
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. Sec Shrewsbury
, Sir Gilbert, joins Richmond, 408
"tapct," banging, lil3
"Te Deum" sung after Agincourt, 197
"tempering," experimenting, 255 aulenole
" Temple-garden scene, characters in the, 213,
247 »1
Tenantius, form of the name, 7 « 1 ; aids in
Cesar's defeat, 13 n 1
Thanes of Scotland made earls, 46
Thomas of Lancaster. See Clarence, Thomas
Dnke of
Thomas, St, of Waterings, Southwnrk, 198.
A brook or spring dedicated to St Thomas u
Beeket. — Cunningham's Handbook of London,
1860, p. 498, col. 2
Thorpe, Thomas, Baron of the Exchequer, an
enemy " to the famylie of York," 292 « I
"thought," sorrow, 127
"Thoule,"Toul, 211
"Threske,"Thirsk, 167
Tides, three continuous, in the Thames, 15B
Toison d'Or brings Bnrgundy's letter to Henry
VI., 229
"tooting hole," spyhole, 214
" torcious," wrongful, 338 n 2
Troinovant (London), temple to Apollo in, 5 n
1 ; called London, 14 marjr. note
Troves, treaty of, its terms, 200, 201 ; lit article
of, 201, 202; 25th article of. 202; 23rd
article of, 202 « 1 ; sworn to, 203
Tun, drinking cup, 172 n 2
"tuition." protection, 47, 359
TvVt, Writ, says that be will give lava to
England, 277, 278
"tyj*," tip, summit, 185
" t'yr.mtlike," 34
i Sir James, his character, 339; kept
"under by Ratclifie and Cateabv, 389, 390
agrees to despatch Richard Ill.'a nephei
390 ; carries out the business, 391 ; thai
by Richatd, ib.
, Sir Thomas, quite unlike his brothi
Sir James, 390
11 underset," propped up, 349
" undertooke," understood, B7I
Universities, foreign, consulted about Henry
VIII. 'a marriage, 479
11 unlififul," unbelieving, 238 n 3
(Tniriek, Christopher, a meesenger to Richmond
from the Countess, 409
Uter (or Uther), call ml lYndrugon, 5 7i 1 ; borne
to battle in a litter, 226
"utter Imrrester," 105. "And they ll*arrintcn]
are called VUCt Barristers, i. r. Pleaders
without the Bar, to distinguish them from
Benchers, or those who have been Readers, who
arc sometimes admitted to plead within the
Bar ; as the King, Queen, or Prince's Counsel
are." — Cowel's Laic Dictionary, 1727, ». v.
Vaudemont, Ferri de Lorraine, Count of, slab
at Agincourt, 190
Vaughan, Sir Thomas, arrested by Gloucester
and Buckingham, ;■!.'-! ; NUt to Pom fret and
beheaded, 355 ; bis last words, 303 » 1
Vaux, Sir Nicholas, attends Buckingham's
execution, 450
Venetian Senate assist Bolingbroke in his pil-
grimage to Jerusalem, 160 n 1
Vera, Aubrey de (heir of John, twelfth Earl of
Oxford), beheaded, 314
Vernon, Sir Richard, taken prisoner at Shrews-
bury and beheaded, 147
" Veulquessme, Vaxin, 62, 54
"Vici,* translated "I ouercame," in North's
Plutarch, 12 n 1
Villeins' revolt and Cade's rebellion dramatically
amalgamated, xi ; villeins kill lawyers,
schoolmasters, and nobles, 271, 272; release
prisoners, 273 n 4 ; bnrn the Savoy, and the
lawyers' lodgings in the Temple, 277 ; destroy
records, 278
Wales, Edward Prince of (afterwards Edward
II.), punished by his father for reviling a
royal officer, 161 n 2
, Edward Prince of (the Black Prince),
defeats the French at Crecy, 171
, Henry Prince of, deserted by Worcester,
136 ; distrusted by his father, 140 ; whose con-
fidence ho regains, ib. ; his youthful vagaries,
INDEX.
531
Wal
Wit
Ml ; disgraced by his father, ib. and 101 n 1 ;
robs his receivers, 141 n 2 ; was much younger
tLftii Hotspur, 142; wounded at Shrewsbury,
but continues fi^htiug, 146; removes his
father's crown, 158; strikes chief-justice
Gascnign, 161, 163 n 1; insults Gsscoign,
162 ; at whose bidding he goes to prison,
169 ; in danger from an assassin, 213 ; charge
of Mortimer entrusted to, 219. Hc€ Henry V
Wales, Edward, Lancastrian Prince of, meeting
between, and his father, 303 ; dubbed knight,
to. ; said not to be Henry's son, 304 ; espoused
to Anne Neville, SIS ; returns to England,
S37 ; murdered after Tewkesbury field, 340
, Edward, Yorkist Prinoeof. A'taEdwardV.
11 wanhope," despair, 400
Warham, William, Archbishop of Canterbury,
Katharine's counsel, 457
"warlie," warlike, 422. "The erle of Hunt-
yngdou also this yere [1433] was sent into
Fraunce with a \carly company." — Fob. ii.
608
Warwick, Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of (1369—
1401), rebels against Richard II., 94
, Riohard Beauchamp, Earl of (1401-39),
son of Thomas, envoy from Henry V. to Philip
the Good, 199 ; at Troyes when Henry was
affianced to Katharine, 201 ; at the siege of
Midim, 201 n 1 ; attends on Henry V. s
funeral, 205 n 4 ; nt Henry's death-bed,
208 ; appointed guardian of Henry VI., 209
n 1 ; attends Henry's coronation in Paris,
228 ; his lieutenancy in France, 237 n 8 ;
death, ib. ; 247 H 1
, Henry Beauchamp, Duke of (1444-45),
sou of Richard, his sister married Richard
Neville (the King-maker), 246 n 1
, Richard Neville, Earl of (1449-71), Mi
hospitality, 247 ; wheu Imrn, and mode pari,
247 n 1 ; the dramatic " Warwick," ib.; his
character, 247 n 2; a sapporterof York's claim,
283, 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
Henry's custody, 295, 302 ; welcomed by
the KentUhmen, 295, 296 ; joins Edward,
301 ; defeated at St. Albans, 302 ; slays his
horse at Ferrybridge, 305 ; conducts Henry
VI. to the Tower, 809 ; negotiates the
marriage of Bona to Edward, 313 ; angered by
Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Grey, 316 ;
and by Edward's insult to a relative, 316,
317; leagues with Margaret, 817, 318; his
daughter Anne espouses Edward Prince of
Wales, 318 ; tempted Clarence to revolt, 319 ;
his daughter Isabel marries Clarence, 320 ;
secretly foments a rebellion, ib. ; his invasion
favoured, 822, 323 n 1 ; date thereof, 322 n 3 ;
proclaims Henry VI., 328 ; captures Edward,
323, 324 ; releases Henry from the Tower,
320 ; made governor of England, 327 ; in
Warwickshire when Edward landed, 333 n 1 ;
refuses Edward's offer of battle at Coventry,
334 ; rejects Clarence's oiler of peace, ib. ;
follows Edward's march from Coventry, 386,
337 ; slain, 337 j his speech before Bamet
field, 338 n 2
Warwick. Edward Plantogeuot, Earl of (1490-89),
his long imprisonment, 895; was "a vene
innocent,'
Washford, Wexford, 238
Wntcrton, Sir Robert, joins Bolingbroke's inva-
sion, 96; mairhesagninst Northumberland, 148
"woerfah," shruuk, 372
"weird sisters," 24
Welshmen disperse, believing Richard II. to
be dead, 103; rebel, led by Glendower, 105,
137 ; aid the Percies at Shrewsbury, 146 ;
desert Buckingham, 404
Welshwomen mutilate the slain, 131
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 IV., 122, 123 ;
his subsequent history, 127
Westmoreland, Ralph Neville, Earl of (1397-
1425), receives Bolingbroke's oath at Doucas-
ter, 100,101; goes with him tomeet York, 102;
receives the gages of Aumerle and other lords,
III, 112; attaches Carlisle, 116 ; marches
against Northumberland, 148 ; aud against
Archbishop Scrape, 152; quells Scrape's
revolt by politic dealing, 152 — 164; another
account of his procedure, 154, 155; advises
Henry V. to conquer Scotland, 172 ; not at
Agiucourt, 187
, Ralph Neville, Earl of (1425-84), and
the dram a tie Westmoreland, 342. &e cor-
rection, p. xxiii
Whole stranded, 156. (Simile in 2 Hen. II'.
IV. iv. 40, 41.)
"whifller," fifer, 197
White Hart in Southwark, Cade lodges at the,
274
White rose, Edward IV. 's emblem, xxiii
"wight," blame, 362
William of Lone (*'de Lanura." — OrapstaTits,
Surtees Soc. ed., p. 35) advises Morgan not
to deny the king's blood, 50
Willoughby of Eresby, William Willooghby,
Baron, joins Bolingoroke, 98 ; goes with him
to meet York, 102 ; sent to ravage near
Amiens, 230
Wiltshire and Ormond, James Butler, Earl of,
attends Henry VI. 'a coronation in Paris, 228 ;
fled from St. Albans, 290 ; defeated at
Mortimer's Cross, 800, 301
Wiltshire, William Scropc, Earl of, farms
England, 90 ; gives advico for resisting
BoRngbroke, 98 ; flees to Bristol, 100 ; be-
headed there, 104 ; reprobated by tho com-
mons, 130
Winchester, Bishop of. See Beaufort, Henry
Winds, great, after Duff's murder, 31
" wisebardie," 204
Witch, revenge of the First {A!acb.)t 22 ;
532
INDEX.
Wrr
Yon
witches at Forres, 2*2, 23 ; prophecies of a,
to Macbeth, 86
11 witcherk," witchcraft, 212
Wolsey, Thomas, escorts Francis I. in the vale
of And re n, 425 ; angered by Buckingham's
abuse, 426 ; imprisons Buhner, ib. ; p* r-
suadca Henry to meet Francis, 423 ; regulates
their interview, it. 4 bribed by Charles V. to
dissolve their friendship, 420, 430 ; devisee a
tax of a sixth, 431, 432 ; excuses himself for
projecting it, 433 ; claims credit for its
remission, 434 ; procures Knyvet to accuse
Buckingham, 434, 435 ; his stately banquets,
441 ; great resort to las house, 442 ; to one
of his banquets Henry comes maaqued,
accompanied ov masquers, 443—446 (cp. 411
nl); olamed for Buckingham's death, 443 ;
aenda Surrey (3rd Duke of Norfolk) away to
Ireland as lieutenant, 449 ; blamed fur im-
pngningHunry's marriage to spite tin .■ enipei 01 ,
452, 453 ; wished H«ury to marry the
Duchess of Alencon, 453 ; in aeammsBloxi
with Cainpcggio, 153, 454 ; blamed fur keep-
ing I'ltcc abroad, 455 ; his usual procession
to Westminster Hall, 457 ; his two cross-
bearers, ib. ; accused by Katharine, 4til ;
asks Henry to acquit him of her charge,
462; hears of Henry's affection for Anne
Boleyn, 470; desires the pope to defer Henry's
divorce, it. (cp. 472) ; his duplicity resented
by Henry, 470, 471 ; his enemies frame
articles against him, 471 ; delivers RuthaTtt
private accounts to Henry, 473 ; his bid for
the papacy, ib. ; surrenders the great seal
after much debate, 474, 475 ; the articles
framed against him, 476 ; condemned in a
prrinuuire, 477 ; takes account of his goods
forfeited to Henry, 481, 482 ; wishes Unit he
had served God better, 482 ; arrested by
Northumberland, 490; comes to Leicester
Abbey and dies there, 491 ; his character,
foundations, and preferments, 492, 493
Woodvile, Richard (father of Richard, Earl
Rivers), keeps the Tower against Gloucester,
212, 213
Worcester, Thomas Percy, Earl of, dismisses
Richard ll.'s household, 98, 99 ; prompts his
brother and nephew to demand Mortimer's
ransom, 183; informs them of Henry IV. *s
proposed absence in Wales, 135 ; deserts
Prince Henry and joins Hotspur, 136, 187 ;
sent to parley with Henry IV., 143 ; mis-
reports to Hotspur the words of Henry, 144,
145 ; taken prisoner and beheaded, 147
Xaintrailles, 214. See Sain te -Traill e
York, Cecilia (Cecily), Duchess of, sends her
sons George and Richard to Utrecht, 303 ;
disapproves of Edward's marriage to a widow,
812 ; and calls it bigamy, 385 » 2; dates of
her birth and death, 330 n 3 ; slandered in
Shaw's sermon, 379 ; asserts that Edward was
betrothed to Elizabeth Lucy, 386
York, Edmund, Duke of, becomes bail for
Bolingbroke, 78 ; excuses Gloucester to Richard
II., 84 ; reproves Gloucester, aud leaves the
court, 85 ; comes to London with s power,
AS ; forgives Gloucester's death, 86 ; angered
by the confiscation of Bolingbroke's inherit-
ance, 91, 92; retires to King's Lsngley, 92;
appointed lieutenant-general of England, 93 ;
takes counsel to resist Bolingbroke, 97, 98 ;
his levies refuse to fight, 98, 101 ; meets
Bolingbroke at Berkeley Castle, 101, 102;
goes with Bolingbroke to Bristol, 104 ; his
two marriages, 121 h 1 ; detects Rutland's
treason, 124 ; reveals it to Henry IV., ib. ;
his character, 129
, Edward Duke of, receives command of
the vaward at Agiuconrt, 191 ; slain, 196
, Richard, Duke of, his age at Mortimer's
ttasth, 218; tiumity between him and
Edmund Beaufort, L'18, 219; was Mortimer's
heir, 219, 390 ; knighted by Heury VI., 223
im. n 2) ; attends Henry's coronation in
'nris, 223 ; ravages Anjou, 230 ; his lieu-
tenancies in France, 237 n 3 ; in England
during the truce, 245 ; married Cecilia
Neville, 245 ft 1 ; ingratiates himself with
the Irish, 243 to 282 n 1, 296) ; date of bis
lieutenancy in Ireland, 248 n 1 ; Hiijwrseded
hy Somerset in the lieutenancy of France,
251 ; his departure to France retarded by
Edmund Beaufort, 252 ; wins support for his
claim to tho crown, 255 ; his pedigree, 255 —
258 ; supposed siieech to the peers, 256 — 258,
291 ; angered by Somerset's surrender of
Caen, 263 ; his ambition served by Glou-
cester's death, 264, 265 ; his friends instigate
Cade's rebellion , 266, 282 ft 2 ; date of his return
from Ireland, 232 ; consults his friends about
claiming tho crown, 283 ; marches against
Henry. 285 ; answers Henry's envoys, 285,
236 ; demands Somerset's committal to ward,
236 ; dissolves his army, ib. ; finds Somerset
at large, 287 ; becomes, a prisoner, ib. ;
released through his son Edward sintervention,
288 ; defames Henry and Somerset, it. ;
seeks the Nevilles' favour, id. ; wins the
battle of St. Allans, 288, 289; his protector-
ates, 290, 294 ; reconciled to the Lancas-
trians, 200 ; breaks into Henry's lodging,
291 n 3 ; steps up unto the throne, 291 n 4 ;
declared heir apparent, 292 — 294 ; his
oath, 293; prepares for war, 295 ; at Sandal,
io. ; absolved from his oath, ib. ; would not
avoid bottle at Wakefield, 297; his death,
299, 300; his head set on York gates, 300 ;
lit;! vt'inuvt il by Edward, 307
, Edward, Duke of. 8m Edward IV.
, Richard, Duke of (1474-83), taken from
sanctuary to the Tower, 360, 361 ; was
married to Anne Mowbray, 367 » 2 ; in the
custody of Slaughter, 376 ; murdered, 394 ;
his body never found, 395
York Place called White Hall, 487 ft 1
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