Edward III.'s Jubilee.
The Christmas after the treaty of Bretigny was spent by Edward and his
court with great splendour at Woodstock. When the holidays were over,
the king went to Winchester, where he had summoned his Parliament to
meet him on the 24th of January, 1361. He told them all the articles of
the peace concluded between him and the King of France, with which they
expressed themselves entirely satisfied. On the last day of January the
Archbishop of Canterbury celebrated the mass of the Holy Trinity in the
presence of the Court and Parliament, returning thanks for the peace.
After the mass, torches were lighted and crosses held up over the
Eucharist, the King and his sons standing up in the presence of the
French hostages. Then all those lords who had not yet sworn to keep the
peace took their oath, and signed a solemn declaration that they would
observe all the conditions.
The Black Prince was now thirty-one years of age, and still unmarried.
Struck, it is said, by the beauty of his cousin, Joan of Kent, he
obtained the consent of his father to marry her. Joan was of the blood
royal of England, being daughter of Edmund, Earl of Kent, son of Edward
I. She had already been twice married, and was now a widow, and
thirty-three years of age, somewhat older than the Black Prince. Her
great beauty had won for her the name of the Fair Maid of Kent, and
there is no reason to suppose that she had lost any of her charms at the
time of her marriage to the Black Prince. The marriage took place on the
10th October, 1361, and in the following year, on the 14th July, Edward
III. solemnly invested the Black Prince with the principality of
Aquitaine and Gascony, giving him the title of Duke of Aquitaine.
The peace and prosperity of England was disturbed in 1362 by a second
outbreak of the plague, which lasted from August till May. It was not so
destructive as it had been the first time; but it seems to have been
more fatal amongst the higher ranks of society. Amongst others, the
king's cousin, the Duke of Lancaster, died of it. He left behind him
only two daughters; the elder had been married to the Earl of Hainault,
and the younger, Blanche, had married, in 1359, Edward's third son, John
of Gaunt. Blanche, on the death of her elder sister, became heiress of
all her father's great wealth, and it is in her right that John of Gaunt
became Duke of Lancaster.
This marriage of John of Gaunt has a special interest to us, as it is
said to have inspired one of Chaucer's earliest poems, the _Assembly of
Foules; or, The Parliament of Birds_. The origin of the connexion
between Chaucer and John of Gaunt is not known, but it seems to have
begun early in the poet's life.
Geoffrey Chaucer was the son of a London vintner, and seems most
probably to have been born in 1340. The facts of his early life are
involved in obscurity, and we do not know whether his education was due
to the wealth and enlightened views of his father, or to his having been
early taken under royal patronage. John of Gaunt was never a popular man
in English history, but he seems to have had the capacity of attracting
to him the great literary characters of his age, for we know that both
Chaucer and Wiclif were intimately connected with him.
Poetry had at that time become very fashionable, and was cultivated,
more especially in France, by men of the highest rank. Chaucer
therefore, though of humble birth, might hope to raise himself by his
genius to be the friend even of a royal prince. If the date assigned to
the _Assembly of Foules_, 1358, be a true one, it must rank as one of
his earliest poems. He was then only eighteen years of age, but there
are no signs of an unripe intellect about the poem. It is full of the
freshness and life which always remained such distinguishing
characteristics of Chaucer.
The poet has fallen asleep over his book, and he dreams that he is led
into a beautiful park, "walled with Green stone." With a few of his
light, delicate touches he brings before us the whole scene, the "trees
clad with leaves that air shal last," the garden "full of blossomed bow
is;" it is the orderly, sweet, fresh landscape that the mediæval poet
loved. At last he came to the spot where all the birds were gathered
together before the noble goddesse Nature, that, since it was Saint
Valentine's day, each might choose his mate. Perched on Nature's hand
was a beautiful female eagle, by whom the poet is supposed to have
signified the Lady Blanche of Lancaster. Three eagles dispute vehemently
as to which of them shall be her mate, and Nature refers the question to
the assembly of birds. Each kind of bird chooses a representative to
speak for them, and in the speeches of the different birds there is
ample scope for Chaucer's playful humour and irony. Characteristic of
the spirit of chivalry is the great deference paid by the suitors to the
lady herself. She is the "soveraine lady," whom the royal eagle
beseeches to be his "through her mercy." No constraint is to be put on
her choice, and Nature, as judge, decides that she shall have him on
whom her heart is set. She bashfully asks for a year's respite in which
to make her choice.
This charming little poem may almost be taken as a type of the
excellencies of Chaucer. It shows us his love of nature, his vivacity,
his humour. Like all that he has written, it reflects faithfully the
spirit of his age, and breathes the very atmosphere of chivalry.
Chaucer was no doubt strongly influenced by the French Trouvères. Though
first amongst the great English poets, he was an outcome of the poetic
movement which had been going on for two centuries in the south of
France and in Italy. He was the English representative of the great
burst of mediæval poetry, but came late in its development, and
originated no great movement in England. He had some few successors and
imitators; but after his death there is no great name in English
literature till the revival of letters under the Tudors.
It is not difficult to see how French influences were brought to bear
upon Chaucer. In those days there was constant intercourse between
France and England. Chaucer himself went to France, as we have seen,
with the royal army, in 1359, and remained there a year, till he was
ransomed by Edward III. He also later on in his life visited Italy, and
was intimately acquainted with the writings of Bocaccio and Petrarch,
from whom he borrowed largely. But it was from the French Trouvères that
he received his great impulse; he belonged to their school, and adopted
their form and imagery. One of his first works was a translation of the
_Romance of the Rose_. Yet he was no imitator. He was inspired by the
spirit of the Trouvères, but every thing he did is stamped with his own
strong individuality, and has a decidedly English character. His
greatest work, the _Canterbury Tales_, is most distinctively English.
He wrote another poem on the occasion of the death of the Duchess
Blanche, in 1369, called the _Book of the Duchess_, in which he
expresses the grief of the Duke of Lancaster. The setting of this poem
is again quite in the character of the Trouvères. He employs his
favourite machinery of a dream, which opens with the singing of birds on
a May morning as
"They sat along
Upon my chamber roof without,
Upon the tiles over all about,
And songen everych in his wise
The mosté solemné servise
By note that ever man I trow
Had heard."
He gives us an interesting picture of a mediæval room by describing that
in which he lay. It was painted all over with frescoes illustrating the
Romance of the Rose, and the windows were filled with beautiful painted
glass, on which was wrought the history of the siege of Troy. As he lies
in bed he hears the sound of a horn, and jumps up that he may follow the
hunt. Then, as he wanders through the wood, he comes upon a knight
sitting mourning at the foot of an oak tree. This of course is John of
Gaunt who with bitter tears deplores the death of his lady.
Chaucer continued all through his life to find a powerful friend in John
of Gaunt. To his influence he doubtless owed various offices, which he
held at different times. He was several times sent abroad on secret
affairs of state, and at last obtained a permanent office in London,
with a salary, and besides had a pension granted to him. His connexion
with John of Gaunt was strengthened by the fact that his wife's sister,
Katherine Swynford, who had been in the service of the Duchess Blanche,
first became the Duke's mistress, and afterwards his third wife.
The advantage of such a patron to the poet must have been great, as it
relieved him from all anxiety about money, and permitted him to devote
most of his energy to his art.
We cannot overestimate what Chaucer did for the English language. Before
his time French was the common language of the court, the schools, the
law courts, and all the higher classes of society. The dialects spoken
in different parts of England differed widely from one another, and it
remained a question which of these dialects should triumph and form the
cultivated English language. It was Chaucer who decided this question.
It was his language that was to become the standard of English. This was
due to the force of his genius, which made men feel the beauty, the
power, and the capacities of the language which he used, so that
insensibly it became the language of all cultivated men. And as the
English language developed, it triumphed over the French. One of the
acts, which commemorated Edward III.'s jubilee, is an edict in which he
said, that as the French tongue "was much unknown in the country," all
pleas should be henceforth in English.
On the 14th November, 1362, Edward III. celebrated his jubilee; that is,
his fiftieth birthday. In honour of the day he proclaimed a general
pardon, and set all prisoners at liberty, and recalled all exiles. To
commemorate it still further, he conferred various dignities upon his
sons. Lionel was made Duke of Clarence; John of Gaunt was solemnly
raised to the dignity of Duke of Lancaster. The king in full Parliament
girt him with a sword, and set upon his head a cap of fur, and a circlet
of gold and pearls. Edmund, the fourth son, was made Earl of Cambridge.
This was the climax of Edward's prosperity. On his fiftieth birthday he
might look back upon his life, and say that fortune had indeed favoured
him; but from henceforth things did not go so well. Misfortunes and
troubles marked the last years of his life, and in the end he was
destined to lose almost all that he had won. It is not difficult to see
how this came about. Edward III. was a brave and accomplished knight, a
man full of energy and interests, anxious to protect commerce and
manufacture, to increase the wealth of his people, and to win glory for
himself by his wars; but he had no great purpose in his life. He
collected mighty armies, at an enormous expense, and led them into the
enemy's country without any definite scheme of what he meant to do. His
own bravery and that of his soldiers enabled him to win great victories;
but not content with grasping firmly what he had once got, he indulged
in an ambitious dream of one day winning the crown of France. Even when
the peace of Bretigny had secured to him the great Duchy of Aquitaine,
neither he nor the Black Prince had sufficient political wisdom to take
such steps as would have preserved it for the English Crown. They had
won it, but they could not keep it.
Over the joy of Edward's jubilee there hung no shadow of distrust for
the future. The next year the Black Prince was to go and take up his
abode in his new Duchy of Aquitaine, and the months before his departure
were filled up with hunting parties in the royal forests, which were
conducted with the greatest possible magnificence, and with no sparing
of expense. The king and queen, with their children, spent Christmas at
the Black Prince's manor of Berkhampstead, near London. Here were many
jousts and tournaments, and all the usual Christmas games and
festivities.
The general extravagance and love of dress must have increased to an
alarming extent; for the next year is marked by a sumptuary statute,
which aimed at diminishing extravagance and high prices. It decreed that
each merchant was to deal only with one sort of merchandise, which he
must choose before the feast of Candlemas. Handicraftsmen also were to
practise only one "mystery," as the trades were then called, exceptions
only being allowed in the case of women workers. The goldsmiths were to
make their work sterling, and each master goldsmith was to have his own
mark. His work must be assayed by the royal surveyors, who were to put
the king's mark on it, and then the goldsmith was to put his own mark.
No goldsmith might make both gold and silver plate. The prices at which
he was to sell his work were fixed.
The statute went on to regulate matters of mere personal expenditure. It
ordained that the poor were "to eat and drink in the manner that
pertaineth to them, and not excessively;" that they were not to eat fish
or meat more than once a day. "Seeing that various people wore clothing
above their estate and degree," it ordained that the handicraftsmen and
yeomen were not to wear cloth above a certain price, and no silk and
embroidery, ribands or gold and silver ornaments. The ploughmen and all
agricultural labourers were only to wear tunics of blanket or russet,
with girdles of linen. Above all, no one except persons of the highest
rank was to wear fur or pearls.
The statute was not prompted by any feeling of the evils of luxury
amongst the ruling classes. About the time of its promulgation
Archbishop Simon Islip issued a "Remonstrance against the abuses, the
foppery, and extravagance of the court." The upper classes had no
intention of reforming their own extravagance; but they wished to have
the monopoly of all luxuries, and they fancied that the more extensive
use of fine clothes and various kinds of victuals greatly increased
their price. These sumptuary laws show with what bitter jealousy the
nobility regarded the growing wealth and prosperity of the merchant
classes.
The burghers of London were indeed becoming very rich and powerful.
About this time Henry Picard, a vintner, the Lord Mayor of London,
sumptuously feasted Edward III., the Black Prince, David Bruce (King of
Scotland), the King of Cyprus (who had come to ask Edward's help against
the Turks), and many nobles. Afterwards he kept open house to any who
liked to play at dice or hazard with him, whilst his wife, the Lady
Margaret, received the ladies in her upper room. The King of Cyprus
engaged in play with Picard, and won fifty marks; but Picard was a good
player, and soon won back more than he had lost, at which the King was
much vexed. He tried to hide his irritation; but Picard saw it, and said
to him, "My lord King, be not aggrieved, I covet not your gold but your
play, for I have not bid you hither that I might grieve you, but that,
amongst other things, I might try your play." Then he gave him his money
back again, and distributed more among his servants. He gave also many
rich gifts to Edward III., his son, and the knights who had dined with
them.
At a later period the city bought a large quantity of plate to present
to the Black Prince, at a cost of £683 10s. 4d., which equals about
£10,252 of our money. Amongst other articles, all of silver, were ten
dozen porringers, five dozen saltcellars, and twenty chargers. There
were also three gilded basins, six gilded pots, a gilded cup in the form
of an acorn, and a pair of ivory bottles. The total number of articles
was 279.
Not only amongst the people at large, but still more at the English
court itself, had extravagance in dress and manner of living increased
at an enormous rate. Old English simplicity was more than ever
forgotten, and large sums of money were wasted on every side merely on
display in matters of food and clothing.
The remonstrance of Archbishop Islip attracted some attention, but
produced as little effect on the fashions of the day as did the
sumptuary laws just passed by Parliament. Display was characteristic of
Edward; and where the king set the example it was only likely that the
people would follow. The mass of the clergy were worse than the people.
They who ought to have set an example of greater sobriety and
simplicity, were especially renowned for their love of good eating and
fine clothes. Whilst they followed the chase, and gave themselves up to
pleasure of every kind, they left their people wandering as flocks
without shepherds.
A noticeable event occurred in the year 1362. Some of the French
hostages had begun to weary of their confinement, and asked Edward's
permission to go to Calais and make some excursions into the surrounding
country, promising never to be absent for more than four days at a time.
The king, believing that he might trust their promise, granted their
request; but the Duke of Anjou basely took advantage of this permission
to break his parole, and went off to Paris. His father, King John, was
so deeply grieved at this breach of faith that he determined to go back
himself to England as a prisoner in the place of his son who had
escaped.
The English received him with great respect and courtesy, and he took up
his abode again at the Savoy Palace. Edward did all he could to make his
captivity pleasant; but he was seized with a mortal sickness, and died
three months after his return to England.