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SIMON DE MONTFORT. [_Price 2s. 6d._
THE BLACK PRINCE. [_Price 2s. 6d._
SIR WALTER RALEIGH.
OLIVER CROMWELL.
THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH.
THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON.
LIFE OF EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE
BY
LOUISE CREIGHTON
_WITH MAP AND PLANS_
RIVINGTONS
WATERLOO PLACE, LONDON
Oxford and Cambridge
MDCCCLXXVI
"In war, was never lion rag'd more fierce,
In peace, was never gentle lamb more mild,
Than was that young and princely gentleman;
... when he frown'd it was against the French,
And not against his friends; his noble hand
Did win what he did spend, and spent not that
Which his triumphant father's hand had won:
His hands were guilty of no kindred's blood,
But bloody with the enemies of his kin."
SHAKESPEARE, _Richard II._ Act ii. Scene 2.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
_EARLY YEARS OF THE BLACK PRINCE._
Page
1330 Birth 1
Position of Edward III. 2
Fall of Mortimer 3
Scottish Affairs 4
1333 Edward's Claim to the French Crown 7
Prince Edward's Education 9
CHAPTER II.
_BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH WAR._
1336 Flanders and Jacques van Arteveldt 12
1338 Edward III. sails for Flanders 14
His Journey to Coblentz 15
He leads an army into France 16
1339 He grants Charters to the Flemings 16
1340 Birth of John of Gaunt 17
Edward III.'s Money Difficulties 17
Battle of Sluys 19
Edward III. Invests Tournai 20
Truce with France 21
1344 Earl of Derby sent to Guienne 22
English Possessions in France 22
1345 Edward III. goes to Flanders again 24
Murder of Van Arteveldt 25
CHAPTER III.
_CRESSY._
Constitution of Edward III.'s Army 27
1346 Edward III. sails from Portsmouth 31
He lands at La Hogue 32
Capture of Caen 33
Edward III. marches up the Seine 34
Pursuit of Philip 35
Battle of Cressy 37
CHAPTER IV.
_THE SIEGE OF CALAIS._
1346 Edward III. lays siege to Calais 46
1347 Surrender of the Garrison 49
Heroism of the Six Burghers 49
Edward III. returns to England 51
1349 Geoffroy de Chargny tries to retake Calais 52
CHAPTER V.
_CHIVALRY._
1347 Effect of Edward's Victories on England 54
Chivalry 55
Education of a Knight 56
Institution of Knighthood 57
Ideal of Knighthood 58
Tournaments in England 60
Order of the Garter 61
Dress 64
Furniture 66
Amusements 67
Miracle Plays 68
Christmas Festivities 69
Hunting and Hawking 70
CHAPTER VI.
_THE BLACK DEATH._
1348 First appearance of the Black Death in England 72
Its Ravages 74
1349 The Flagellants 75
Effect of the Black Death on Labour 76
The Statute of Labourers 78
Condition of the Labourer 81
Langland's "Vision of Piers the Plowman" 82
CHAPTER VII.
_RENEWAL OF WAR WITH FRANCE._
1350 Sea-fight with the Spaniards 86
1351 State of France 90
1354 Triple Invasion of France 92
1356 Burnt Candlemas 93
CHAPTER VII.
_POITIERS._
1355 The Black Prince sails from Poitiers 94
His Raid into France 95
1356 He starts on his Second Campaign 96
Capture of Romorantin 97
Battle of Poitiers 98
Capture of King John 107
The Black Prince returns to Bordeaux 110
CHAPTER IX.
_TRIUMPHAL RETURN TO ENGLAND._
1356 Entry of the Black Prince into Bordeaux 113
1357 Black Prince, with King John, sails for England 115
They enter London in triumph 115
State of France 119
1358 Jaquerie 121
1359 Peace Negotiations 122
CHAPTER X.
_THE PEACE OF BRETIGNY._
1359 Edward III. leads a mighty Army into France 123
He lays siege to Rheims 125
He marches into Burgundy 127
Sir Walter Manny assaults the barriers of Paris 127
1360 Treaty signed at Bretigny 128
King John returns to France 129
Chandos Lieutenant in Aquitaine 131
CHAPTER XI.
_EDWARD III.'S JUBILEE._
1361 Meeting of Parliament 132
Black Prince's Marriage 133
John of Gaunt becomes Duke of Lancaster 133
Geoffrey Chaucer 134
1362 Edward III. celebrates his Jubilee 139
1363 Sumptuary Laws 140
Archbishop Islip's Remonstrance 141
Wealth of the City of London 142
King John's return to England 144
CHAPTER XII.
_THE BLACK PRINCE IN AQUITAINE._
State of Aquitaine 145
Bastides 146
Edward III.'s Policy in Aquitaine 147
Black Prince's Court at Bordeaux 149
1364 Birth of Prince Edward 150
State of Spain 151
Don Pedro and Henry of Trastamare 153
1366 Black Prince promises to help Don Pedro 155
Preparations for the Spanish Campaign 158
CHAPTER XIII.
_SPANISH CAMPAIGN._
1367 Birth of Prince Richard 159
Troops meet at Dax 160
Bertrand Du Guesclin 161
Black Prince crosses the Pyrenees 162
Henry's Manifesto 163
Black Prince marches to Logrono 164
Battle of Navarette 165
Restoration of Don Pedro 169
Black Prince winters round Valladolid 170
He Returns to Aquitaine 171
CHAPTER XIV.
_FAILURE IN AQUITAINE._
Effects of Spanish Campaign 173
1368 Release of Du Guesclin 175
Death of Don Pedro 176
Hearth Tax in Aquitaine 177
Discontent in Aquitaine 177
1369 Black Prince summoned to Paris 179
Death of Chandos 180
1370 Siege of Limoges 183
1371 Black Prince returns to England 186
CHAPTER XV.
_ENGLISH POLITICS._
1369 Death of Queen Philippa 187
Growth of Parliament 188
Parliaments of Edward I. 189
Parliaments of Edward III. 190
State of Clergy 192
1371 The Papacy 193
1351 The Popes at Avignon 194
1353 Statutes of Provisors and Præmunire 195
1371 Lancaster's Opposition to the Clergy 197
Lancaster's Union with Wiclif 197
William of Wykeham 199
Petition of Parliament against the Clergy 200
Triumph of Lancaster's Party 201
1374 Congress at Bruges 202
CHAPTER XVI.
_THE GOOD PARLIAMENT._
1376 Unpopularity of Lancaster 204
Meeting of Parliament 205
De la Mare, Speaker 206
Petitions of Parliament 208
Impeachments of Lyons, Lord Latimer, &c. 208
Impeachment of Alice Perrers 210
CHAPTER XVII.
_DEATH OF THE BLACK PRINCE._
1376 Scene round Black Prince's Death-bed 212
His Funeral 215
His Character 217
Results of the French Wars 220
CHAPTER XVIII.
_THE FIRST YEARS OF RICHARD II._
Lancaster's return to power 221
1377 Charges of Heresy against Wiclif 222
His "Simple Priests" 223
1381 Peasant's Revolt 223
Insurgents enter London 224
Murder of Archbishop Simon Sudbury 225
Death of Wat the Tyler 225
Wiclif's Translation of the Bible 226
Summary 229
PLANS AND MAP.
Plan of Cressy 39
Plan of Poitiers 99
Map of France at end of vol.
CHAPTER I.
Early Years of the Black Prince.
On the 15th June, in the year 1330, there were great rejoicings in the
Royal Palace of Woodstock. One Thomas Prior came hastening to the young
King Edward III. to tell him that his Queen had just given birth to a
son. The King in his joy granted the bearer of this good news an annual
pension of forty marks. We can well imagine how he hurried to see his
child. When he found him in the arms of his nurse, Joan of Oxford,
overjoyed at the sight, he gave the good woman a pension of ten pounds a
year, and granted the same sum to Matilda Plumtree, the rocker of the
Prince's cradle.
Perhaps with Edward's thoughts of joy at the birth of his son were
mingled some feelings of shame. It was three years since he had been
crowned, and yet he was King only in name. He was nothing but a tool in
the hands of his unscrupulous mother Isabella, and her ambitious
favourite Mortimer. He was very young, not quite eighteen, and had not
had sufficient knowledge or experience to know how to break the bonds
within which he was held. But with the new dignity of father came to him
a sense of his humiliating position. He would wish that his own son, on
reviewing his youth, should have different thoughts of his father than
he had.
He can hardly have borne to look back upon his own youth, with its
shameful memories. He had seen his father, Edward II., by his dissipated
life and his slavish devotion to his favourites, alienate the affection
of his subjects, and provoke the Barons to rise against him. Then, when
peace had for awhile been restored, he had gone with his mother to
France. He had seen her refuse to return to England at the King's
demand; he had watched the growth of the disgraceful intimacy between
her and Roger Mortimer, one of the rebel earls. At last, a powerless
instrument in their hands, he had been taken by her and Mortimer to
invade England, and Edward II.'s throne was attacked and overthrown by
his own wife and son.
The rebellion was entirely successful. None were found to espouse the
cause of the despised King. He was obliged formally to give up the crown
to his son, and on the 20th January, 1327, Edward III., then only in his
fourteenth year, was proclaimed King. All we know of the part taken by
Edward III. himself in these proceedings is, that he refused to receive
the crown without the sanction of his father. But he had no real power:
all was in the hands of the Queen and Mortimer. Before the end of the
year, feeling insecure whilst Edward II. was still alive, they caused
him to be secretly murdered in the castle where he was imprisoned. Soon
after they married the young King to Philippa, daughter of the Count of
Hainault, a union destined in every way to contribute to his happiness
and to the good of the kingdom.
The power of Queen Isabella and Mortimer continued unchecked till the
birth of Prince Edward. It was a troubled world in which the little
Prince first saw the light. For three years the English people had been
subjected to a rule they detested, and their discontent had been
gradually growing. One attempt at rebellion had been made by the King's
uncle, Edmund Earl of Kent; but it had only ended in the execution of
the simple, high-minded Earl. This had increased tenfold the hatred with
which Mortimer was regarded. Edward III. felt that as a father he was no
longer a mere boy, and could not continue to submit to his own
degradation.
It was not difficult to find people ready and eager to enter into his
plans. A conspiracy was formed, of which the Queen and Mortimer seem to
have had dim suspicions. They tried to avert the danger by keeping
Edward with them in Nottingham Castle. But he succeeded in gaining over
the governor of the castle, and a body of armed men was introduced at
midnight through a subterranean passage. They broke into the room where
Mortimer was, and after a short struggle made him prisoner. The Queen,
who was in the next room, burst in with agonized entreaties, "Fair son,
fair son, oh spare the gentle Mortimer!"
Soon afterwards Mortimer was brought to trial, before a Parliament
summoned by Edward, and was sentenced to be hanged. Queen Isabella was
kept in honourable confinement till her death, twenty-seven years after.
Edward III. now took the entire management of affairs into his hands,
and soon found that he had plenty to do. Whilst the little Prince was
still in his cradle, his father was already perplexed by the events
which were to lead to those wars in which both played such a brilliant
part.
Edward III.'s grandfather, Edward I., had cherished the dream of uniting
under his own rule England, Scotland, and Wales. At times he had been
very near the fulfilment of this dream; but Scottish love of
independence had been too strong for him. The Scots found powerful
leaders; they struggled fearlessly against apparently hopeless odds, and
at last secured the throne to Robert Bruce.
The English however would not give up the hope of conquering Scotland.
One of the most unpopular acts of Queen Isabella and Mortimer had been
the conclusion of a peace with Scotland, called the Treaty of
Northampton, in which they had recognised Robert Bruce as King. Edward
III. therefore was acting quite in accordance with the wishes of his
people when he interfered with Scottish affairs.
The moment seemed hopeful. Robert Bruce was dead, his son David was a
mere child, and a new claimant to the throne had arisen in Edward
Baliol, whose father in former days had struggled for the crown against
the Bruces. Baliol was successful, and David Bruce had to fly to France.
Then Edward demanded that Baliol should recognise him as suzerain, that
is, should acknowledge the over-lordship of the English King, and do him
homage as one of his vassals.
Baliol consented, and this in the end lost him his crown. The Scottish
nobles, who had fought so bravely for their independence, would own no
allegiance to a monarch who could tamely submit to the King of England;
they revolted, and chased Baliol from the throne. It was then that
Edward was called upon to interfere actively; he summoned an army, and
marched against the revolted Scots; they were completely crushed at the
battle of Hallidon Hill, near Berwick. Berwick itself fell into Edward's
hands, and remained part of the English dominions ever afterwards.
Baliol was restored to the throne, and maintained there by Edward III.
The Scottish barons, however, still clung to the house of Bruce; they
would not recognise Baliol, the sub-King of the King of England. They
turned to France for help, and France was willing enough to listen to
them and seize this opportunity of striking a blow at the growing power
of the English Crown. Already, in the reign of Edward I., she had aided
the Scots against the English; and it soon became clear to Edward III.
that he could not hope for submission from Scotland until he had put an
end to the intervention of France.
So we see that it is in the struggle between Scotland and England that
we must look for the chief cause of the great French war, which was to
drain the resources of both countries for a hundred years. We shall see,
as we follow the course of events, how brilliantly this war opened, and
how eager the English were to engage in it.
England, since Edward III. had become King in fact as well as in name,
seemed inspired with a new life. The King was young and ambitious,
anxious to promote his people's good, and eager to gain glory for
himself. Commerce was extending on every side, and largely increasing
the wealth of the country. National life beat vigorously, as we see,
amongst other things, in the increased use of the English tongue.
Formerly French had been the common language taught in the schools; but
now it began gradually to fall into disuse, and before the end of
Edward's reign the English language was to win its final triumph by the
appearance of Chaucer, the first great English poet, and Wiclif, the
first great English prose-writer. The English people were eager for some
great undertaking, and from the very first the idea of the French war
was extremely popular. The people wished it more than Edward himself,
and the Parliament urged him to assert his claim to the French Crown.
It is not likely that any one ever thought this claim to be serious, or
considered it to be any thing but a useful pretext for the war. Such as
it was, Edward's claim to the French Crown came through his mother
Isabella, granddaughter of Philip III. the Bold, King of France. Her
three brothers had reigned one after another, and all died without male
issue. On the death of the last, Charles IV., the crown passed to his
cousin, Philip of Valois, son of Charles of Valois, the second son of
Philip the Bold. Edward III., in asserting his claim, had to maintain,
that though, according to the Salic law, females could not inherit the
crown, they could transmit it to males.[1] He could never have seriously
urged such a plea, if other causes had not led to a war with France, and
in time made it useful for him to assume the title of King of France.
There can be no doubt that Edward was grievously provoked by the French
before he made up his mind to engage in war. The restless ambition of
Philip of Valois produced a general feeling of insecurity. His pirate
ships interfered with the trade of the channel. He made constant
encroachments upon the English possessions in France, and frequently
threatened an invasion of England, whilst he thwarted in every possible
way Edward's policy with regard to Scotland. Under these circumstances
it was natural for the English King to go to war, though if the war had
not aimed at conquest it would have been better for England in the end.
Edward III., however, was full of youthful ambition. He did not care to
look into the future, but rushed into the war as if it had been a great
tournament, in which he and his knights might distinguish themselves.
So active were the fears of French invasion during the first years of
Edward III.'s reign, that we find orders for putting the Isle of Wight
and the southern coast into a state of defence; and in 1335 the young
Prince was sent to Nottingham for safety. He must have been early
accustomed to hear war talked of, and probably the chief part of his
education was concerned with military exercises. We know little of his
youth, except that he was educated under the direction of Dr. Walter
Burley, of Merton College, Oxford, which, since its foundation by Walter
de Merton, the Chancellor of Henry III., had produced most of the men
distinguished in England for their learning. Dr. Burley, on account of
his fame for learning and piety, had been appointed Queen's almoner; as
his reputation increased at Court, he was finally appointed tutor to the
Prince. In accordance with the custom of the times, many other young
gentlemen were educated in common with Prince Edward, so that
companionship might lend an increased interest to his studies. Amongst
others, Simon Burley, a young kinsman of Dr. Burley's, was admitted to
share these advantages. He became a great favourite with the Prince, and
in time was made Knight of the Garter, and was entrusted with the
education of the Prince's son, Richard of Bordeaux.
We can form a pretty good idea of the kind of education received by
Prince Edward and his companions. Chivalry was then at its height, and
it was necessary for every gentleman to be skilled in all knightly
exercises. An accomplished knight must be endowed with beauty, with
strength and agility of body; he must be skilled in music, be able to
dance gracefully and run swiftly, to wrestle and sit well on horseback;
above all, he must be skilful in the management of arms, and must
thoroughly understand hunting and hawking. In these accomplishments were
young Edward and his companions trained, and we cannot doubt that he,
who was the very type of the chivalric spirit in its highest
development, early learnt to excel in all knightly exercises.
There exists a rhyming chronicle in French of the life of Edward the
Black Prince, by the Herald of Sir John Chandos, who was so constantly
with the Prince, that we may believe that his herald writes from
personal knowledge of the Prince's character. He says:
"This frank Prince of whom I tell you,
Thought not but of loyalty,
Of free courage and gentleness;
And endowed was he with such prowess
That he wished all the days of his life
To give up all his study
To the holding of justice and integrity.
And in that was he nurtured
From the time of his infancy.
Of his own noble and free will
He learned liberality;
For goodness and nobleness
Were in his heart perfectly,
From the first commencement
Of his life and youth;
And he was, it is well known,
So preux (chivalrous), so hardy, and so valiant,
So courteous and so wise,
He loved so well holy church,
With all his heart, in every form,
The most holy Trinity,
The festival and holiday."
There is a tradition that Prince Edward studied at Queen's College,
Oxford, and this may perhaps have been the case, as Queen's College was
founded by his mother, Queen Philippa; but the story rests on no
authentic evidence.
During his early youth various honours and dignities were bestowed upon
him. He was made Duke of Cornwall at the Parliament held at Westminster
in 1337. This is the first time that the title duke appears in English
history. In 1338, when Edward III. was about to leave England to begin
his war with France, he appointed his son Prince Edward to be guardian
of the kingdom during his absence. As the Prince was then but eight
years old, this was naturally only a nominal office. It was not till
1343 that he was created by Parliament Prince of Wales.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The following table illustrates Edward III.'s claim to the French
Crown:
Philip III. the Bold. 1270-1285.
|
+------------------------+-----------------------+
| |
Philip IV. the Fair. Charles of Valois.
| |
+---+--------+------------+-----------+ Philip VI. of Valois.
| | | |
Louis X. Philip V. Charles IV. Isabella=Edward II. of England.
1314-1316. the Long. 1323-1328. |
| 1316-1323. |
| |
+-----------------------+ Edward III.
|
Jeanne Queen of Navarre.