The First Years of Richard II.
It is not possible to make a pause in the history of the times with the
Black Prince's death. It will be well for us briefly to consider the
events which followed it.
His death interrupted the reform begun by the Good Parliament by
depriving it of his support, and prepared the way for his brother's
return to power. John of Gaunt interfered in the most unscrupulous
manner in the elections for the next Parliament, and so obtained the
return of men who reversed the acts of the Good Parliament. William of
Wykeham was again dismissed from office, and the nobles were once more
triumphant. Alice Perrers was allowed to return to the old King, who
lived at Eltham, alone and neglected. When he died, in 1377, at the age
of sixty-five, even Alice Perrers deserted him after she had stolen the
rings from his fingers. Richard II.'s accession was welcomed with joy by
the Londoners, and a magnificent ceremony graced his coronation. As he
was only in his twelfth year, a council of twelve was appointed to
govern during his minority.
Meanwhile the attack of the nobles upon the Church went on, and Wiclif,
in his zeal for reform, was working side by side with John of Gaunt. He
was beginning to be regarded with suspicion and animosity by the Pope,
and in 1377 was summoned to appear before Bishop Courtenay, of London,
to answer the charges of heresy made against him. John of Gaunt was
present to defend him, and spoke such insulting words to Courtenay that
the Londoners, who loved their bishop, rushed to his rescue. They showed
their hatred of Lancaster by sacking his palace of the Savoy; but they
only objected to Wiclif in so far as he was Lancaster's friend. In his
desires for reform they cordially sympathised; and when at the end of
the same year he was again summoned to appear before the Archbishop at
Lambeth, the Londoners broke in and dissolved the sittings of the court.
Wiclif also found a friend in the Princess of Wales, the fair maid of
Kent, who wrote to the Bishop, telling him to desist from the
proceedings against him. In the University of Oxford he was allowed to
teach and lecture as he liked, and his schemes for Church reform were
listened to with approval on all sides.
From his living of Lutterworth he sent forth itinerant preachers, who
went, as the disciples of St. Francis had done before, to labour among
the poor and the neglected. One of his great desires was to reform
preaching, and these men were taught to preach the word of God in
simplicity and purity, "where, when and to whom they could." They were
called "the Simple Priests," and spoke to the people in simple homely
language, spreading Wiclif's doctrines far and wide. For them Wiclif
wrote many small tracts, which he published in large numbers, and in
which he appealed to the people in their own language, and from their
own point of view. He had set on foot a great spiritual revival, and if
he had stopped short in his reforming tendencies, and had not gone on to
deny the doctrine of transubstantiation, he might have come down to us
canonised as St. John de Wiclif, the founder of a new order of preaching
friars. But hopes of reform in the English Church were destined to be
crushed for a time.
Wiclif published in Oxford twelve theses on the subject of
transubstantiation. The Chancellor felt himself bound to interfere, and
forbid heretical teaching in the university. Wiclif appealed to the King
to have the question settled.
At this moment all England was disturbed by the outbreak of the
Peasants' Revolt. We have seen in speaking of the Black Death many of
the causes of discontent amongst the peasantry. The wages of the
labourers were fixed by law. Rigorous attempts were made to bind the
peasant to the soil, and to restore the old conditions of serfdom. But
since the days of serfdom there had been a great advance in the
intelligence of the peasantry, who eagerly listened to the new views
which the wandering preachers sent out by Wiclif were spreading over
the country. It was said that all men were equal, and had equal rights.
The popular rhyme:
"When Adam delved and Eve span,
Where was then the gentleman?"
ran from mouth to mouth. The iniquity of serfdom was becoming more and
more clearly seen, and at the same time its oppressive character was
making itself more and more harshly felt. The men who had served with
courage and distinction in the French wars could not be expected to
submit to their former serfage. A simultaneous rising of the peasantry
in different parts of the country shows that the revolt had been long
planned and carefully arranged. It was the result not of any one special
act of tyranny, but of a long course of oppression, and above all of the
attempt to return to the old system of exacting personal labour as
payment for rent, instead of a money commutation.
The insurgents of Essex, under a leader who went by the name of Jack
Straw, joined with the insurgents of Kent, under Wat the Tyler, and
marched on London, striking terror by the way. The young King took
refuge in the Tower. The insurgents entered London, and began their work
of destruction. Their rage was especially directed against the lawyers.
They destroyed the Temple, with all its books and records. The foreign
merchants in the city were also treated with great cruelty. Then the
insurgents swarmed round the Tower, and demanded that the King should
come out and hear their grievances. Richard II. was only a boy; but he
knew no fear. Accompanied only by one or two attendants, he rode to Mile
End, and listened to the grievances of the peasantry. He granted all
they asked, and promised a general pardon to all concerned in the
revolt.
But whilst this conference was going on, the remainder of the rebels had
broken into the Tower, seized the Archbishop Simon Sudbury, and murdered
him on Tower Hill. Their fury was directed against him, not as
Archbishop, but as Chancellor. After this it was hardly to be hoped that
there could be a peaceful end to the revolt. The next day, when quite by
chance Richard met Wat the Tyler and his followers face to face, the
peasant leader spoke so insolently that the Lord Mayor, Sir Richard
Walworth, struck him to the ground with his dagger; and when the
insurgents cried, "Kill, kill! they have killed our captain," Richard
rode boldly to the front, saying, "What need ye, my masters? I am your
captain and your King." The peasantry were easily touched. They gathered
round Richard, kneeling, and asking his pardon.
The panic caused by the revolt was over. For a week the insurgents had
kept the country in terror. Now Richard made a progress through the
counties with forty thousand men at his back, and the rebels suffered
stern and terrible justice for their revolt. The charters granted to
the peasantry in the first moment of terror were revoked, and they
seemed to have gained nothing by their rising. But they had shown the
landholders their strength; and though no immediate change was made, it
became more and more clear that the old conditions of serfdom could not
be enforced.
It is quite certain that Wiclif had nothing to do with the rising of the
peasants. Still, at the time it caused him and his teaching to be
regarded with terror by the respectable classes of society. The
communistic and socialistic views which had been spread among the people
had in many cases been preached by men, who declared themselves
followers of Wiclif. People were inclined to look upon the revolt as
partly the outcome of his teaching, and so were no longer as ready as
before to listen to his schemes for reform. Still Wiclif was not
proceeded against with severity. Certain of his opinions were laid
before a council of bishops and doctors of theology held in London, and
were pronounced erroneous; but Wiclif himself was left in peace. He
stayed within the Church, living quietly in his vicarage of Lutterworth,
and busying himself with his translation of the Bible till he died, on
the 31st December, 1384. This translation of the Bible was the natural
outcome of Wiclif's teaching. He had always insisted upon the necessity
of the word of God being preached to every one, and had said that the
Scriptures were the common property of all men. But as long as the Bible
existed only in the Latin tongue, it was a sealed book to the great
majority of men. Wiclif's earnest belief that all men should know and
study it for themselves led him to conceive the idea of translating it.
It was a great undertaking for one man to contemplate, and single-handed
he could never have accomplished it. He himself began with the New
Testament whilst Nicholas of Hereford took the Old Testament in hand.
This man was a doctor of theology, and one of the chief leaders of
Wiclif's party in Oxford. He got as far in his translation as the book
of Baruch, when he seems to have been suddenly interrupted, probably by
proceedings conducted against him on account of his opinions.
Wiclif himself translated the entire New Testament, and probably
finished the translation of the Old Testament. The next step was to get
copies of the translation made, that it might be distributed amongst the
people. This was done rapidly, and in 1382 copies of the separate books
and portions were circulated widely.
This English translation was made from the Vulgate--that is, the Latin
translation--and not from the original Greek or Hebrew. Nicholas of
Hereford stuck very closely to the Latin forms, and was almost
pedantically literal; so that he was hardly successful in making his
translation readable. Wiclif's translation is very different. He wished
above all to put into his work the spirit of the English language; to
write in such a way that he might strike home to the hearts of his
readers. Of all his English writings, his translation of the Bible is
the most remarkable for the force and beauty of the style.
Wiclif's writings mark an epoch in the development of the English
language. Chaucer did much for it; but his poems could not influence the
people in the same way that Wiclif's Bible did. Nothing else could have
the same intimate relation with the spiritual life of the people as the
Bible, a new book to most of them. No words could so firmly fix
themselves in their memory as those in which their Saviour had taught
them the meaning and the duties of their life.
The first translation of the Bible was soon found to be very faulty. It
was revised with great care by Wiclif himself, and more especially by
his friend John Purveys. It was not complete in its new and greatly
improved form till after Wiclif's death.
The Lollards, as the followers of Wiclif were called, formed a strong
party, and their fervour did not begin to die out till the end of Henry
V.'s reign; but we cannot doubt that the movement would have had more
permanent results, had it not been interrupted by the Peasants' Revolt.
With the remainder of Richard II.'s reign we have nothing to do. We have
only thought it right to trace briefly the movement amongst the working
classes, which was the most important consequence of the Black Death.
In Wiclif's teaching and in the Peasants' Revolt we see the two most
striking events of this epoch. In a certain way they were the results of
the French wars, whose course we have been following. These wars
produced a general stir and ferment; they gave the people new ideas and
new life. The men who had earned such distinction by their brave
fighting at Cressy and Poitiers were not content to settle down on their
return home to the old state of things. They wanted greater freedom,
better wages, an improved manner of living; their minds were open to
receive new teaching. The result was the increasing discontent with
their position, which led to the Peasants' Revolt, and the eagerness
with which Wiclif's teaching was received on all sides.
But both Wiclif's teaching and the views expressed by the leaders of the
Peasants' Revolt were premature. They were founded upon principles which
could not at that time meet with general acceptance, and they were
followed by a decided reaction. A period of darkness followed this great
burst of intellectual life. In literature there were no worthy
successors of Chaucer. The reforming views of Wiclif were slowly stamped
out. The peasants failed in obtaining those results for which they had
struggled. From the time of Chaucer till the days of the Reformation
there is no great name in the history of English literature. It was not
till then that intellectual life revived in England, and England took
those great steps in advance which Wiclif had hoped she might take in
his day. But we must not look upon the Reformation as in any way the
result of Wiclif's teaching. By that time his ideas had faded away from
men's remembrance, and the English Reformation received its impulse from
Luther's teaching in Germany.
Even in this way the influence of the French wars was transient. The
advantages which Edward III. and the Black Prince gained by their
victories were lost, even in their own lifetime. In the same manner, the
intellectual movement produced by these wars was stamped out, and was
followed only by the long anarchy of the wars of the Roses.
[Illustration]
INDEX
Angoulême, Black Prince at, 180.
Anjou, Duke of, 130, 182.
Aquitaine, Extent of Duchy, 24
Condition of, 145-148
Discontent in, 177
Disasters in, 203.
Archers, 29, 30.
Armagnac, Count of, 150.
Arteveldt, Jacques van, Edward III.'s Ally, 12
His Relations with Edward III., 14
Makes Truce with Philip of Valois, 21
Meets Edward III. at Escluse, 24
Murdered at Ghent, 25.
Audley, Sir James, 55, 62, 103, 104, 111.
Auvergne Plundered by the English, 96.
Avignon, Popes at, 194.
Baliol, King of Scotland, 5.
Bangor, Bishop of, 204, 214.
Banquets, 67.
Bardi; Edward pawns his Jewels to them, 15.
Bastides, 146, 147.
Bed-hangings, 66.
Berkhampstead, 140.
Berry, Duke of, 130, 182.
Berwick, 5, 93.
Bible, Wiclif's, 226, 228.
Biscaya, Maritime Towns of, 86, 90.
Black Death, 72
Nature of, 73
Mortality of, 73-75
Results of, 76, 80, 229.
Black Prince. See Edward.
Blanche, Duchess, 133, 135, 137.
Blanquetaque, Ford of, 36.
Blois, Charles of, 21, 48.
Bohemia, King of, 42, 44.
Boniface VIII., Pope, 193.
Bordeaux, Black Prince's court at, 149, 150.
Bretigny, Treaty of, 128-131, 174.
Bristol, Effects of Black Death, in 74.
Britany, Struggle in, 21, 48.
Bruce, David, 5, 47, 48.
Bruce, Robert, recognised King, 4
Death, 5.
Bruges, Congress of, 202-204.
Burgesses in Parliament, 189.
Burgos, 169.
Burgundy, Duke of, 126.
Burgundy, Edward III. in, 127.
Burley, Dr., Black Prince's Tutor, 9.
Burnt Candlemas, 93.
Caen taken by English, 33.
Calais, Siege of, 46, 50.
Calverly, Sir Hugh, 164.
Cambridge, Edmund Earl of, 139.
Canterbury, 115, 215.
Carcassone burnt by the English, 95.
Cerda, De la, 86.
Chandos, Sir John, 55, 62, 87, 105, 107, 131, 149, 156, 158, 166
His Death, 180, 182.
Chargny, Geoffroy de, 51.
Charles, Dauphin, makes Peace with King of Navarre, 121
Enters Paris, 121
Refuses English Proposals of Peace, 122.
Charles V. Summons Black Prince to Paris, 178
Declares War against England, 179
Allies with Henry of Trastamare, 153
Character, 162, 174.
Charles, King of Navarre, 92, 93, 119, 121, 158, 162, 163, 167, 175.
Charterhouse, Origin of, 75.
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 123, 134-138, 228, 229.
Chivalry, 55-60.
Clarence, Lionel, Duke of, 139.
Christmas Festivities, 69, 70.
Clement VI. tries to make Peace, 51.
Clergy, State of, under Edward III., 193, 195-197
Ejected from Office, 200
Their Luxury, 143.
Commerce between England and Flanders, 14.
Courtenay, Bishop, 222.
Cressy, Battle of, 37-45.
Crusades, develop Chivalry, 56, 59.
Dax, 159, 160.
De la Mare, Peter, 206, 207.
Derby, Earl of, 22, 24.
Dress, 64, 65.
Du Guesclin, Bertrand, 154, 161, 163.
Edward I.; Policy in Aquitaine, 146.
Edward II.; his Government, 2
Death, 3.
Edward III.; Conspires against Isabella and Mortimer, 3
Undertakes Government himself, 4
Expedition against Scotland, 5
Claim to French Crown, 7
Sails for Flanders, 14
Visits the Emperor, 15
Meets the French at Cambrai, 16
Assumes title of King of France, 16
Grants Charters to Flemish Towns, 16
His Debts, 18
Exploit at Calais, 52, 53
Defeats the Spaniards at Sea, 87
His Jubilee, 139
Character, 139, 140
Policy towards Aquitaine, 148
His Death, 221.
Edward the Black Prince: Birth, 1
Youth, 8
Education, 9
Character, 10
Dignities, 11
Goes to Flanders, 24
Knighted, 32
Commands, 1st Battalion at Cressy, 38
His Danger, 42
Gains name of Black Prince, 51
His Will, 66
Fights with the Spaniards at Sea, 89
Leads a Raid into France, 95
Wins Battle of Poitiers, 98-108
Courtesy to King John, 108, 109
Letters about Poitiers, 111, 112
Enters Bordeaux in Triumph, 113
Concludes Truce with France, 115
Goes to France with Edward III., 124
Accompanies King John to Boulogne, 129
Marriage, 132, 133
Made Duke of Aquitaine, 133
Goes to Aquitaine, 145, 146
His Magnificence, 150
Reasons for Helping Pedro, 155
Leaves Bordeaux, 159, 160
Manifesto to Don Henry, 163
Prayer before Battle of Navarette, 166
Returns to Aquitaine, 171, 172
Broken Health, 173
Releases Du Guesclin, 175
Summoned to Paris, 178
Prepares for last Struggle, 183
Returns to England, 186
Supports Parliament, 205, 207
Death of, 212-215
Funeral, 215
Will, 215
Tomb, 216
Epitaph, 216
Character, 217-219.
Edward, Prince, 150, 186.
Ellis, William, 209.
Extravagance in England, 143.
Fay, Sir Godemar du, 36.
Felton, 156, 158, 164.
Flagellants, 75, 76.
Flanders: Condition in 1336, 13.
Flavigny, Edward III. spends Lent at, 126.
Foix, Count of, 150.
France, English Possessions in, 22.
Free Companies ravage France, 91, 120
Engaged by Henry of Trastamare, 154
By Black Prince, 158.
French Wars, Causes of, 6
Preparations for, 12
Results of, 219, 220, 230.
Furniture, 66, 67.
Garter, Order of the, 55, 60-62.
Gascon, Lords, 114, 177, 178.
Gaunt, John of, made Duke of Lancaster, 133
Marriage, 134, 135, 160
Befriends Chaucer, 134, 137
At Navarette, 166
Invades North of France, 181
Succeeds Black Prince in Aquitaine, 186
Opposes Clergy, 197-199
His Power, 201
At Bruges, 203
Unpopularity, 205
Second Marriage, 201
His Anger against Parliament, 207
Return to Power, 221
Defends Wiclif, 222.
Genoese Archers, 40, 41.
Gilds of the City of London, 116.
Glass Windows, 66.
Gobin Agace, 36.
Good Parliament, 205-211, 221.
"Great Company," 131.
Guesclin, Bertrand du, 154, 161-163.
Guienne, Aggressions of the French upon, 22.
Guisnes, Congress of, 90, 92.
Hallidon Hill, Battle of, 5.
Harcourt, Sir Godfrey de, 32.
Hawking, 31, 70.
Henry of Trastamare, 153, 154, 160, 163, 164, 171, 176.
Hereford, Nicholas of, 227.
Hobblers, 29.
Hostages, French, in England, 129, 130, 144.
Households of Noblemen, 67.
Hunting, 70.
Innocent VI., Pope, Attempts to make Peace, 128.
Isabella, Queen: her Power, 1, 3
Imprisoned, 4.
Islip, Archbishop Simon, "Remonstrance," 141, 143.
Jacquerie, 120, 121.
Joan of Kent, 133, 159, 160.
Joan, Princess, 75.
John of Gaunt. See Gaunt.
John the Good, King of France, Accession, 90
Character, 91
Marches from Chartres, 97
Bravery at Poitiers, 106
Taken Prisoner, 107, 108
In England, 118
His Ransom, 129
Returns to France, 129, 130
Returns to Captivity, 144.
Jubilee, Edward III.'s, 139.
Jugglers, 67.
Kent, Edmund Earl of, Rebels against Mortimer, 3.
Knights: their Armour, 28
Education, 56.
Knighthood, Institution of, 57, 58.
Knyvet, Lord Chancellor, 211.
La Hogue, English Troops land at, 32.
Labour, Effects of Black Death upon, 76-79.
Labourers, Statute of, 78, 79
Condition of, 81
Combinations amongst, 81.
Lancaster, Henry Duke of, 124, 128, 133.
Lancaster, John Duke of. See Gaunt.
Langland, William, 82, 85, 195.
La Rochelle, yielded to English, 130.
Latimer, Lord, Impeachment of, 209.
Legislation in Edward III.'s Reign, 191.
Libourne, 146.
Limoges, taken by French, 182
Besieged by Black Prince, 183
Sacked, 184, 185.
Logrono, 164.
London, Entered by Black Prince in Triumph, 115, 118
Appearance of, 117
Wealth of, 142, 143
Bridge, 116.
Ludi, 69.
Lyons, Richard, 208, 209.
Manny, Sir Walter, 49, 52, 55, 74, 127.
Marcel, Etienne, 119, 121.
Minstrels, 67.
Misrule, Lord of, 70.
Montfort, De, 21, 48.
Morbeque, Denys, 106.
Mortimer: his Power, 1, 3, 4.
Mysteries, 68, 69.
Navarre, King of. See Charles King of Navarre.
Navarette, Battle of, 165, 168.
Neville, Sir John, 209.
Nevil's Cross, Battle of, 47.
Niort, 131.
Normandy Ravaged by English, 33.
Northampton, Treaty of, 4.
Norwich, Effects of Black Death in, 74.
Oisemont, 36.
Orleans, Duke of, 130.
Oxford, Wiclif in, 197, 198, 223.
Papacy, Degradation of, 193.
Parliament of Winchester, 132
Under Edward I., 189
Growth in Power of, 188, 220
Under Edward III., 190-192.
Peasants' Revolt, 223-226, 229.
Pedro the Cruel, 152-158, 168-170, 176.
Perigord, Cardinal of, 100, 101, 114.
Perrers, Alice, 187, 210, 221.
Philip le Hardi, Duke of Burgundy, 105.
Philip VI. of Valois: his Ambition, 8
Makes Truce with Flemings, 21
Death of, 90.
Philippa, Queen, at Calais, 50
Death of, 187.
Picard, Henry, 142.
Piers the Plowman, 82, 85, 195, 196.
Plague, Second outbreak of, 133.
Poissy, 35.
Poitiers, Battle of, 98-110.
Purveys, John, 228.
Præmunire, Statute of, 195.
Provisors, Statute of, 194.
Rheims, Besieged by Edward III., 125, 126.
Ribeaumont, Reconnoitres English before Poitiers, 98.
Richard II., 150, 221, 225.
Rochelle, 149.
Romorantin, Captured by the Black Prince, 97.
Roncesvalles, Pass of, 162.
Serfdom, 77, 78.
Sluys, Battle of, 18, 19.
Soldiers: how Raised, 27
their Pay, 27
how Armed, 28.
Spain, Condition of, 151-153.
Spanish Expedition, Decided on, 157
Results of, 173.
St. George, Chapel of, 61.
St. Pierre, Eustace de, 49.
Straw, Jack, 224.
Stury, Richard, 213.
Sumptuary Statute, 140, 141.
Sudbury, Archbishop, Murdered, 225.
Tax, Hearth, 177, 183.
Taxation under Edward III., 192, 193.
Tello, Don, 164.
Tonnerre, Taken by Edward III., 126.
Tournaments, 54, 61-64.
Towns, Struggle of, for Charters, 147.
Trastamare. See Henry of.
Tregetours, 67.
Truce between England and France (1340), 21.
Tumblers, 67, 68.
Tyler, Wat the, 224, 225.
Urban VI., Pope, 198.
Valladolid, Camp at, 170.
Vienne, John of, 47.
Walworth, Richard, 225.
Whittlesey, Archbishop, 201.
Wiclif, John, 197
Union with Gaunt, 198-200
At Bruges, 203
Before Bishop Courtenay, 222
His Labours, 222, 223
Translation of the Bible, 226-228
His Teaching, 229, 230.
Winchelsea Pillaged by the French, 127.
Winchester, Bishop of. See Wykeham.
Wine Trade, 148.
Wykeham, William of, 199, 200, 210, 215, 221.
Transcriber's notes:
A paragraph break has been inserted before the first line of Page 73:
"The disease seemed to be a poisoning of the blood."
Battle off Sluys 19
Battle of Sluys 19
The following is a list of changes made to the original.
The first line is the original line, the second the corrected one.
to the Kings of France for their county. The
to the Kings of France for their country. The
their own superiority, were impatient to fight,
their own superiority, were impatient to fight.
Wyclif, wishes for the return of the apostolical
Wiclif, wishes for the return of the apostolical
dad been carried off to supply the garrisons. Moreover
had been carried off to supply the garrisons. Moreover
knights to assult the barriers of Paris; but they
knights to assault the barriers of Paris; but they
Wycliff were intimately connected with him.
Wiclif were intimately connected with him.
more valiant or courteous then he. His servants
more valiant or courteous than he. His servants
before they begun the fight. The English were
before they began the fight. The English were