HENRY IV. A.D. 1399--1413.
The English people had often chosen their king out of the royal family
in old times, but from John to Richard II., he had always been the son
and heir of the last king. Now, though poor Richard had no child,
Henry of Lancaster was not the next of kin to him, for Lionel, Duke of
Clarence, had come between the Black Prince and John of Gaunt; and his
great grandson, Edmund Mortimer, was thought by many to have a better
right to be king than Henry. Besides, people did not know whether
Richard was alive, and they thought him hardly used, and wanted to
set him free. So Henry had a very uneasy time. Everyone had been
fond of him when he was a bright, friendly, free-spoken noble, and
he thought that he would be a good king and much loved; but he had
gained the crown in an evil way, and it never gave him any peace or
joy. The Welsh, who always had loved Richard, took up arms for him,
and the Earl of Northumberland, who had betrayed Richard, expected
a great deal too much from Henry. The earl had a brave son--Henry
Percy--who was so fiery and eager that he was commonly called Hotspur.
He was sent to fight with the Welsh: and with the king's son, Henry,
Prince of Wales--a brave boy of fifteen or sixteen--under his charge,
to teach him the art of war; and they used to climb the mountains and
sleep in tents together as good friends.
But the Scots made an attack on England. Henry Percy went north
to fight with them, and beat them in a great battle, making many
prisoners. The King sent to ask to have the prisoners sent to London,
and this made the proud Percy so angry that he gave up the cause of
King Henry, and went off to Wales, taking his prisoners with him; and
there--being by this time nearly sure that poor Richard must be dead
--he joined the Welsh in choosing, as the only right king of England,
young Edmund Mortimer. Henry IV. and his sons gathered an army easily
--for the Welsh were so savage and cruel, that the English were sure to
fight against them if they broke into England. The battle was fought
near Shrewsbury. It was a very fierce one, and in it Hotspur was
killed, the Welsh put to flight, and the Prince of Wales fought so
well that everyone saw he was likely to be a brave, warlike king,
like Edward I. or Edward III.
The troubles were not over, however, for the Earl of Northumberland
himself, and Archbishop Scrope of York, took up arms against the
king; but they were put down without a battle. The Earl fled and
hid himself, but the archbishop was taken and beheaded--the first
bishop whom a king of England had ever put to death. The Welsh went
on plundering and doing harm, and Prince Henry had to be constantly
on the watch against them; and, in fact, there never was a reign so
full of plots and conspiracies. The king never knew whom to trust:
one friend after another turned against him, and he became soured
and wretched: he was worn out with disappointment and guarding against
everyone, and at last he grew even suspicious of his brave son Henry,
because he was so bright and bold, and was so much loved. The prince
was ordered home from Wales, and obliged to live at Windsor, with
nothing to do, while his youngest brothers were put before him and
trusted by their father--one of them even sent to command the army
in France. But happily the four brothers--Henry, Thomas, John and
Humfrey--all loved each other so well that nothing could make them
jealous or at enmity with one another. At Windsor, too, the king
kept young Edmund Mortimer--whom the Welsh had tried to make king,--
and also the young English princes, and they all led a happy life
together.
There are stories told of Henry--Prince Hal, as he was called--leading
a wild, merry life, as a sort of madcap; playing at being a robber,
and breaking into the wagons that were bringing treasure for his
father, and then giving the money back again. Also there is a story
that, when one of his friends was taken before the Lord Chief Justice,
he went and ordered him to be released and that when the justice
refused he drew his sword, upon which the justice sent him to prison;
and he went quietly, knowing it was right. The king is said to have
declared himself happy to have a judge who maintained the law so well,
and a son who would submit to it; but there does not seem to be good
reason for believing the story; and it seems clear that young Henry,
if he was full of fun and frolic, took care never to do anything
really wrong.
The king was an old man before his time. He was always ill, and often
had fits, and one of these came on when he was in Westminster Abbey.
He was taken to the room called the Jerusalem chamber, and Henry watched
him there. Another of the stories is that the king lay as if he were
dead, and the prince took the crown that was by his side and carried
it away. When the king revived, Henry brought it back, with many
excuses. "Ah, fair son," said the king, "what right have you to the
crown? you know your father had none."
"Sir," said Henry, "with your sword you took it, and with my sword I
will keep it."
"May God have mercy on my soul," said the king.
Another story tells show the prince, feeling that his father doubted
his loyalty, presented himself one day in disordered attire before
the king, and kneeling, offered him a dagger, and begged his father
to take his life, if he could no longer trust and love him.
We cannot be quite certain about the truth of these conversations,
for many people will write down stories they have heard, without
making sure of them. One thing we are certain of which Henry told
his son, which seems less like repentance. It was that, unless he
made war in France, his lords would never let him be quiet on his
throne in England; and this young Henry was quite ready to believe.
There had never been a real peace between France and England since
Edward III. had begun the war--only truces, which are short rests
in the middle of a great war--and the English were eager to begin
again; for people seldom thought then of the misery that comes of
a great war, but only of the honor and glory that were to be gained,
of making prisoners and getting ransoms from them.
So Henry IV. died, after having made his own life miserable by taking
the crown unjustly, and, as you will see, leaving a great deal or harm
still to come to the whole country, as well as to France.
He died in the year 1399. His family is called the House of Lancaster,
because his father had been Duke of Lancaster. You will be amused
to hear that Richard Whittington really lived in his time. I cannot
answer for his cat, but he was really Lord Mayor of London, and
supplied the wardrobe of King Henry's daughter, when she married the
King of Denmark.