(A.D. 1370-1437.)
|It was to the Duke of Bretagne, Joanna of Navarre's first husband,
that Henry IV. was partly indebted for his elevation to the throne
of England. Henry was an exile when Richard II. was obliged to go to
Ireland, and finding that a clear field was thus left for his return,
he applied to the Duke of Bretagne for advice and assistance, and was
unhesitatingly provided by him with vessels, soldiers, and arms. The use
he made of them is recounted in the last reign.
Joanna, the duke's wife, met Henry of Bolingbroke, the first time when
he was making his preparations for this expedition to England, and was
very much pleased with his beauty and attractive manners.
[[A.D. 1401.]] When she had been a widow for two years, and Henry was
established on the throne, she willingly accepted an offer of his
hand in marriage. He had then been a widower since 1394, when Anne of
Bohemia, his first wife, died.
Joanna of Navarre agreed to marry Henry IV., but she had a family of
children, and before going to England she had to provide for them.
She knew that it would be unwise to take her sons with her, and as the
eldest had succeeded to his father's title, the people of Bretagne would
naturally object to his making England his home, so she entered into a
treaty with her uncle, the Duke of Burgundy,
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[Illustration: 0259]
{257}who faithfully swore to preserve the laws, liberties and privileges
of the Bretons. Thereupon the little duke and his two brothers, Arthur
and Jules, were placed under his care, and taken to Paris to live.
[[A.D. 1402.]] The two daughters accompanied their mother to Winchester,
where King Henry awaited her. The marriage was publicly solemnized at
the church, of St Swithin, and afterwards there was a splendid feast.
The citizens of London made costly preparations to receive the bride,
whose coronation took place Feb. 26, 1403, nearly three weeks after her
landing in England.
Joanna was thirty-three years old at that time, but she was still
handsome, majestic, and graceful; she was, besides, a woman of excellent
common sense, but excessively avaricious. Indeed, this besetting sin not
only prompted her to make unjust demands on her subjects, and to accept
unlawful bribes, but also prevented her from performing those deeds of
charity that one reasonably expects from people in lofty positions.
The festivities that succeeded the coronation were rudely interrupted
by an attack of the Bretons on the merchant shipping along the coast of
Cornwall. This made the queen distasteful to her new subjects at once,
though as her own son, the Duke of Bretagne, was then entirely under
the influence of the Duke of Burgundy, it was the French who were
responsible for the attack. Then followed the Percy rebellion and the
battle of Shrewsbury, where the king so nearly lost his life.
[[A.D. 1404]] Joanna further increased her unpopularity by filling her
palace with her former subjects, an error that many Queens of England
had made before her. But in this instance it was soon rectified, for the
House of Commons took the matter in hand and cleared the royal household
of nearly all the Breton servants. As the king {258}was well aware that
the voice of the people had secured for him his position, he dared not
interfere.
[Illustration: 0262]
Three years after she had ascended the throne of England, Joanna was
called upon to part with her daughters, because their brother, whose
subjects they were, claimed them.
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[Illustration: 0263]
{261}He had a husband provided for each, and they were married soon
after their return to France.
[[A.D. 1413.]] The death of Henry IV., which occurred in 1413, left
Joanna again a widow. His interview with the Prince of Wales, during
which he resigns his crown and offers most excellent advice, is
correctly given in the fifth act of Shakespeare's Henry IV.
When the new king, Henry V., ascended the throne, he treated his
stepmother with every mark of attention and respect, so much so that
when he started on his expedition against France she was appointed
regent in his absence.
[[A.D. 1415.]] The Duke of Bretagne took no part in this contest; but
Queen Joanna's second son, Arthur, made the first attack on Henry's
camp, at the head of two thousand French cavalry, near Agincourt. It was
midnight on the eve of St. Crispin's day and a violent storm was raging
when the assault was made. It resulted in victory for the English;
Arthur was wounded and taken prisoner.
It was with an aching heart that Queen Joanna was called upon to receive
the royal victor when all England rejoiced at his return; for her
son-in-law and her brother had both been killed at the battle of
Agincourt, and her son, Arthur, was brought to her kingdom in chains.
She had been separated from the boy for twelve years, and now she was
only permitted to give him a fond embrace, and then see him consigned to
the gloomy Tower. Although Henry continued for a time to treat the queen
with consideration, he would listen to no proposition or entreaty of
hers for Arthur's release.
[[A.D. 1419.]] At last, on an accusation of witchcraft, preferred
against Joanna by her confessor, who declared that she was planning
with two sorcerers who were dealing with the powers of darkness for the
destruction of the king, she {262}was committed to Pevensey Castle as a
prisoner. Henry V. gave the queen no opportunity of justifying herself,
but no attempt of hers on his life was ever proved.
[[A.D. 1422]] Her money was all appropriated by King Henry, and she did
not regain her liberty until his death was at hand; then his conscience
smote him, and he did his utmost to make amends.
Joanna lived many years to enjoy her restored liberty and kept her court
chiefly at Havering Bower, surrounded by all the luxuries that wealth
could procure.
She died in 1437, and was buried at Canterbury Cathedral beside Henry
IV.
[Illustration: 0266]
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