THE REVIVAL OF ENGLISH SCHOLARSHIP
Had the Duke of Gloucester confined his patronage to scholars of foreign
birth, and taken no part in the intellectual life of England as a whole,
he would deserve only a passing mention by those who would trace the
development of English thought. His praises, however, were not sung by
Italian humanist and French ecclesiastic alone. In England he was the
acknowledged leader in the world of letters, the centre round which
native scholar and poet alike revolved, and his patronage was extended
to all who took an interest in intellectual pursuits. He therefore
became the medium of introducing the new ideas from Italy to the English
scholars, though it must be admitted that the latter were very slow to
accept the message of the new movement. They were reared in an entirely
different atmosphere to the Italians, and in most cases showed little or
no interest in the new learning. Even Wheathampsted of St. Albans, who
seems in some ways to have acted as the Duke's literary adviser, showed
but scant sympathy with the scholarship fostered by his friend and
patron. On the whole, it is probable that this Abbot was more a
political than a literary friend to Gloucester, and it has been
considered significant that he resigned the Abbacy in 1440, just when
his friend and supporter was losing his hold on the politics of the
country.[1265] Wheathampsted, however, was associated with the Duke in
literary matters, and was employed by him to adorn and increase his
collection of books, though our authority for this statement seems to
suggest that this was only part of his policy of securing his patron's
favour.[1266] He showed a distinct interest in books apart from his
relations with Duke Humphrey, himself building a library for his
monastery out of his own pocket,[1267] and presenting at least one book
to the students at Oxford, probably to the foundation of Gloucester
College, which was connected with the House of St. Albans.[1268] From
time to time we find gifts of books to Humphrey entered in the accounts
of the monastery, one of which alone cost £6, 13s. 4d.,[1269] a fact
which may help us to estimate the enormous sums which the Duke must have
spent in collecting his great library. On another occasion we hear of
the gift of three books to the Duke of Gloucester, one of them being a
_Cato Glossatus_, which we may identify with the _Catonem Comentatum_
presented to Oxford in 1443,[1270] probably an annotated copy of Cato's
famous treatise _De Re Rustica_. The other two books of this gift were
of the Abbot's own compilation,[1271] probably two parts of his
three-volume work, the _Granarium de Viris Illustribus_, which we also
find included in the Oxford gifts.[1272] From his connection with
Wheathampsted and his Abbey of St. Albans Humphrey may have imbibed that
love of astrology which was so unfortunately shared by his wife, but
there is no recorded gift of a work on this subject to him, though
Bedford received a treatise of this kind at the hands of these monks,
who were famous for the study of the occult sciences.[1273]
JOHN CAPGRAVE
Amongst monkish scholars to be found in the Duke's following was John
Capgrave, a native of Lynn, in Norfolk. He studied at Oxford, Cambridge,
and London, and was for a time a tutor in the first-named University,
ending his days as a member of the Augustinian community in its
monastery at Lynn. He was a prolific writer on theological and
historical subjects, and also a composer of English verse, into which he
translated a _Life of St. Catherine of Alexandria_, attributed by some
to St. Athanasius.[1274] He is said to have been intimate with Humphrey,
who retained him to discuss matters of philosophy when the mood was upon
him.[1275] It is interesting to note that Capgrave was one of the first
monkish chroniclers to use the vulgar tongue for historical purposes,
and his _Chronicle of England_ is one of the most useful contributions
to the history of his times still extant. This adoption of English as a
medium for the writing of history casts an interesting gleam of light on
the position of Duke Humphrey in the Renaissance movement, one of the
most important aspects of which was the abolition of 'Christendom' as a
political term, and the development of the nationalities of Europe, a
development which is mirrored by the adoption of the vernacular
languages for scholarly purposes.
It was probably at the instance of Humphrey that the _Chronicle of
England_ was compiled, as well as the _Commentary on Genesis_ which was
dedicated to him. To this book, of which the original copy is preserved
in the Library of Oriel College, Oxford, is prefixed a dedication to
Duke Humphrey, in which he is described as the extirpator of heresy and
the protector of the poor. The author goes on to say that no one was so
worthy as Gloucester to receive the gift of such a book, for
'flourishing in the vigour of a most subtle intellect you give yourself,
as is reported, with the greatest earnestness to the study of the works
of ancient authors.' Most especially was the Duke famous for his studies
in the Scriptures, and, much in the spirit of the Italian Humanists,
Capgrave thanks God that such a prince should devote himself to the
pursuit of knowledge, especially in an age when even ecclesiastics
abandon the cloister for the field of politics, and without studying
themselves, discourage studies in other people.[1276] Had he set out to
paint Humphrey in relation to his times, this author could not have
drawn the picture more accurately than he has here done. The scholars of
the Middle Ages had lost all traces of enthusiasm; their scholarship was
in that state of decay which preceded its entire abolition. To such a
state of affairs came Humphrey, the first of that long line of laymen
who were to usurp the place which the Church could no longer hold in the
vanguard of the pursuit of knowledge. The domination of the
ecclesiastical mind over the intellectual development of the world was
about to pass away; no longer would it be possible for a Gregory the
Great to order the destruction of a library of ancient classics, for a
poet such as Alcuin of York to declaim against heathen authors, or for
any one to cry in the words of Gregory of Tours, 'Let us shun the lying
fables of poets, and forgo the wisdom of sages at enmity with God, lest
we incur the doom of endless death by sentence of our Lord.' Humphrey
and Capgrave were both faithful sons of the Church in which they had
been born, yet they did not hesitate to denounce the scholarship of the
mediæval ecclesiastics which had developed into a science of
superstition, and to herald a new era in which knowledge was to be the
birthright of all men, a means whereby they might perfect their lives by
a realisation of the goodliness of humanity.
[Illustration: CAPGRAVE PRESENTING HIS COMMENTARY ON GENESIS TO THE DUKE
OF GLOUCESTER.]
An equally interesting feature of this dedication is that Capgrave
commends this commentary on Genesis to his patron on the ground that
in it is to be found the science of judging literature.[1277] The new
science of theology was to discard the crutches of tradition, and to
take its place side by side with the other interests of the human mind.
No longer was it to be a science apart, but rather one branch of a great
and growing literature, which had for its object the improvement of
man's state, both mentally and morally. In these words of Capgrave may
we not see some indication of that critical faculty, which plays so
large a part in the new birth of the mind of man? That Humphrey could be
addressed after this manner clearly shows the position that he held
among those who aspired to more freedom of thought; it is significant
that a theological treatise should be dedicated to him on the ground
that in it full play was given to the critical faculty.
It seems likely from the wording of the dedication of this _Commentary
on Genesis_, that Capgrave was not at that time patronised by Humphrey,
for he alludes to the Duke's love of learning as a matter of report and
not of personal knowledge. Probably this book and its dedication served
as an introduction for its author, even as the _Republic_ of Plato had
served for Pier Candido Decembrio, and from the autograph at the end we
gather that it was personally presented by Capgrave in the year 1438. We
have no other work by Capgrave with a dedication to Gloucester, though
four books written by this author, including this same copy of the
_Commentary on Genesis_, were presented to Oxford; yet we know of one
which would have been of immense interest had it survived, for it seems
an undoubted fact that Capgrave wrote a _Vita Humfridi Ducis_. In his
_De Illustribus Henricis_ he tells us that such a work was in
contemplation,[1278] and it was known to exist in the days of Bale and
Pits, the last of whom declares that in his time it formed part of the
Library of Balliol College, Oxford.[1279]
Among other English authors patronised by Duke Humphrey we must place
Nicholas Upton, a Fellow of New College, Oxford, who dedicated his work
_De Studio Militari_ to 'Excellentissimio et illustrissimo Principi meo
singulari, Humfrido.'[1280] It is a work of heraldic rather than of
military interest, and bears more on the public than on the literary
side of Gloucester's character. Also a host of quite forgotten men,
mostly clerics, circled round this famous prince and patron, such as
John Homme, Canon of Hereford, and at one time the Duke's
secretary;[1281] Richard Wyot, his Dean of the Chapel;[1282] John
Everdon, who successfully petitioned for a Canonry in the Collegiate
Church of Hastings;[1283] and one Henry Abingdon, who for services
rendered received an annuity of £8 per annum.[1284] All these probably
were employed at one time or another in copying books for their master,
and all found the reward they sought at the hands of their employer, a
fact which leads us to believe that the complaints of Bruni and Candido
were based more on cupidity than on justice.
ENGLISH POETS
More a friend than a follower was Thomas Beckington, a man of some
political importance, at one time Lord Privy Seal, Private Secretary to
Henry VI., and ultimately Bishop of Bath and Wells. He was elected a
Fellow of New College, Oxford, in 1408, a position which he held till
1420, about which time he probably became Gloucester's chancellor, for
he is alluded to as such in a letter written by Henry V. to Pope Martin
V.[1285] He was a man who leant towards the new learning, led thereto
probably by the example of his friend, and we find him in communication
with Italian Humanists, such as Flavio Biondo of Forli and Piero del
Monte, while at home he was connected with such scholars as Adam
Moleyns, Thomas Chandler, and William Grey,[1286] the last of whom was
the first great scholar churchman of England whose enthusiasm for the
new learning was anything but a passing fancy. It may be that, through
Beckington, Humphrey had some connection with these men, though all
trace of this has vanished; at least he probably knew Grey, who claimed
a distant relationship with the royal House. Lastly, it has also been
stated that Reginald Pecock, the famous heretical Bishop of St. Asaph,
was patronised by Gloucester, and we are told that he was 'quiet and
safe, and also bold to dispute and to write his mind' so long as his
patron was alive.[1287] Moreover, he is said to have been appointed
Master of Whittington College, London, in 1431, through the influence of
Duke Humphrey.[1288] The original authorities for these statements
cannot be found, but it is significant that Pecock began the propaganda
which ended in his disgrace immediately after the death of the man who
is said to have been his patron. It may be that the orthodoxy of
Humphrey acted as a restraint on the Bishop so long as he lived.
However, this cannot be anything but supposition, as there is no real
authority on which to base this hypothetical connection.
While speaking of the English writers patronised by the Duke of
Gloucester, some mention must be made of a small band of poets--or
perhaps it would be more correct to term them writers in verse--who had
some relation with Gloucester. The fifteenth century was entirely barren
of English literature. After the bright sun of Chaucer had set, a period
of darkness arose, unrelieved by the slightest gleam of brilliancy or
genius. An unheroic age produced a race of unheroic versifiers, men who
slavishly followed in the steps of Chaucer, hailed him as their master
in all their works, and exemplified the law that a literature which
looks for its ideals to the age that has just passed must be devoid of
all originality and of all real power. Interested as he was in the
rediscovery of the lost literature of the past, Humphrey did not
patronise the poets with the fervour he showed in reading the ancient
classics, yet most of the versifiers of the day seem to have had some
connection with him. Most famous of these was John Lydgate, who was
responsible for about fifteen thousand of the worst lines of poetry that
have ever been produced. He acted as a self-appointed poet-laureate,
writing a poem to celebrate every important national event. Thus he
described the triumphant entry of Henry V. into London after Agincourt;
he welcomed the attempts at peace in 1443; Queen Margaret's advent and
the truce she brought with her were celebrated in the same manner.[1289]
His output of bad verse is amazing, and, with the exception perhaps of
his 'London Lyckpenny,' it is totally devoid of interest whether
literary or personal. The greater part of his life was spent as an
inmate of the great Benedictine monastery at Bury St. Edmunds, and it
was probably here that he first met Gloucester. Several of his all too
frequent poems were written to celebrate Duke Humphrey. He produced one
of these on the occasion of his patron's first marriage, and entitled it
'A comendable balade by Lydgate dame John at ye reverence of my lady of
Holland and of my lord of Gloucester to fore ye daye of there maryage in
the desyrous tyme of their true louynge.'[1290] In another poem he
bewailed the sad fate of Jacqueline in a way which was not very
complimentary to Humphrey, though this production of his has not
survived in a complete state, two whole folios being mercifully
missing.[1291] Finally, he lived long enough to write the 'Epitaphium
Ducis Gloucesterie,' a piece of doggerel which almost surpasses its
predecessors.[1292]
JOHN LYDGATE
Apart from these original poems, Lydgate produced one work commissioned
by the Duke. This was a verse translation of Boccaccio's encyclopædic
Latin work _De casibus Virorum et Feminarum illustrium_, though a French
translation by Laurent de Premierfait and not the original was used by
the English versifier. The title runs, 'Here beginneth the book callyd I
Bochas, descriuyng the falle of Pryncys, pryncessys, and other nobles,
translated into Inglish by John Ludgate, monke of the Monastery of Seynt
Edmundes Bury, after commaundment of the worthi prynce Hunfrey duk of
Gloucestre, beguning at Adam and endyng with Kyng John taken prisoner in
France bi Prince Edward.'[1293] Humphrey showed considerable interest in
the works of Boccaccio, for he possessed other translations of this
master's writings. To his copy of the _Corbaccio_ we have already
alluded, and a French version of the _Decameron_ was presented to him by
the Earl of Warwick.[1294] His appreciation of Italian literature was
not confined to these items, though it is evident that he had no
knowledge of the Italian language. To Oxford he gave a copy of Dante's
works, and a commentary thereon, together with several volumes of
Petrarch and Boccaccio, all in Latin, but these may well have contained
translations of the Italian compositions of these writers, as well as
those originally written in the scholarly language of the time. Italian
literature was undoubtedly known in England before Humphrey's day.
Richard of Bury had been the friend of Petrarch, who, together with
Dante, was the acknowledged inspiration of Chaucer's poetry,[1295] and
so there is no occasion for surprise at finding that these works formed
part of the literary equipment of the Duke of Gloucester.
The translation of Boccaccio's work must have cost the Duke dear, for
in the midst of the translating he received a rhymed communication from
Lydgate, urging penury as an excuse for a request for money, and asking
him at least to give a moment,
'To so th' entent of this litel bille,
Whiche whan I wrote my hand felt I quake.'[1296]
There is something peculiarly modern in this appeal, and to judge by the
fervent thanks in the text of the work, it was not in vain. A tribute is
paid to the munificent patron of the work in the Prologue, which is
interesting as evidence of what was the general opinion about Humphrey's
humanism in England. His ability and energy in governing the kingdom
occupy two stanzas, and still more space is devoted to his exertions in
support of Holy Church, which were so successful,
'That in this londe no lollard dar abide.'
The greatest stress, however, is laid on the Duke's literary qualities:
'He doth excelle
In understandyng alle othir off his age,
And hath gret joie with clerkes to commune,
And no man is more expert off language.
Stable in study alwey he doth contune,
Settyng a side alle changis of fortune.
Duc off Gloucestre men this prynce calle,
And notwithstanding his staat and dignite,
His corage never doth appalle
To studie in bokis off antiquite.
Therin he hath so gret felicite
Vertuously himselff to ocupie
Off vicious slouthe to have the maistrie.'[1297]
Strangely enough, this encomium on the literary character of Gloucester
runs on very much the same lines as the praises of the Italian
Humanists, and though it may have been written by a grateful poet about
a munificent patron, yet there is a certain restraint about it, unusual
in Lydgate's verses, which leads us to believe it is prompted by genuine
feeling. It would seem that the book was not dedicated to the Duke,
though undertaken at his request, and these lines occur unheralded in
the midst of the prologue to the reader.
SOME OTHER POETS
Lydgate was not the only English poet who owned Gloucester as a master,
though there is no other mention of poetical work being either composed
at his request, or dedicated to him when finished. On the title-page of
his _Boke of Nurture_, John Russell describes himself as 'Sum tyme
seruande with Duke Ufrey of Glowcetur, a prynce fulle Royalle, with whom
Uschere in Chambur was I, and Mershalle also in Halle,' and in the
course of the poem, which is interesting as an indication of
contemporary manners and customs, we read:
'Pray for the soule of John Russelle that God do hym mede.
Sum tyme seruande with duke umfrey due of Glowcetur in dede,'[1298]
a couplet which gives a clear indication of the poetical qualifications
of Gloucester's usher. George Ashley, who was clerk of the signet to
Queen Margaret, and compiled a moral poem for the instruction of her
ill-fated son, Prince Edward, was also at one time in Humphrey's
service, at least so we would gather from a statement made by his
mistress that at the time of his death the Duke owed him money.[1299]
A closer connection existed between Humphrey and Thomas de Norton, who
was his chaplain[1300] and chancellor of his house.[1301] This post was
probably one of importance, for he assisted materially in securing the
renewal of the St. Albans charter, and was in correspondence with Abbot
Wheathampsted on this subject. Norton was a man of more eminence than
these other English versifiers, though he was probably but a young man
when his master died. A native of Bristol, he became one of the most
noted alchemists of his day, and embodied his knowledge in a poem called
the 'Ordinal,' using this form and the vernacular, in order that he
might instruct the unlearned in a science so useful to them,[1302] a
reason which bears some affinity to the remarks made by Dante to the
Prior of the Convent of Santa Croce when explaining his use of Italian
in the _Divina Commedia_. It was most likely in his primary capacity as
a scientist, and not as a poet, that Norton appealed to Humphrey, who
died long before this poetical scientific treatise was written.
ENGLISH VERSION OF PALLADIUS
There is still one more versifier to be mentioned in connection with the
Duke of Gloucester, though his name has not survived, and perhaps,
considering the quality of his verse, he was wise not to betray his
identity. Indeed, he is so conscious of his feebleness as a poet that he
alludes to it more than once in the prologue which precedes his verse
translation of the _De Re Rustica_ of Palladius.[1303] This prologue,
which, consists of sixteen stanzas, is not directly addressed to the
Duke, nor is there any formal dedication of the poem to him.
Nevertheless, frequent mention is made of the writer's patron, and in a
few introductory verses to the second book of the work it is obvious
that the translation was undertaken for him.
'I wul assay hem up to plowe and delue;
A lord to plese, how suete is to laboure,'[1304]
writes this rhymester, and there is no doubt as to the identity of this
lord, for he tells us plainly,
'My blissed lord, mene I the duc homfrey.'[1305]
The writer was well acquainted with the life of his 'blissed lord,' most
especially with his literary leanings, and he devotes nearly two whole
stanzas to retailing his benefactions to Oxford, and the nature of the
books given to that University.[1306] He also mentions the famous men in
the Duke's following, making special allusion to Wheathampsted, Piero
del Monte, Livius, and Antonio di Beccaria, and he further gives us a
speaking picture of the extensive field which his master's studies
covered.[1307] He also makes the somewhat startling statement that 'he
taught me meter make,'[1308] which we may well discount as a poetical
exaggeration, not to be taken too literally. Doubtless it was at the
Duke's bidding that the translation was undertaken, and the author was
probably a member of the foundation of St. Albans. This last supposition
is suggested by the placing of Wheathampsted first on the list of
Humphrey's literary friends, and by an allusion in the course of the
prologue to the robber Wawe, whose crimes were only of local importance,
and would be unknown to us save for the account of them given by the St.
Albans chronicler.[1309] The poem must have been written between the
years 1439 and 1447, that is, after the first gifts to Oxford, and
before the death of the writer's patron, who was obviously still alive
at the time of writing. The literary form of the poem cannot enhance
Gloucester's reputation, but it bears interesting testimony to the
important position held by him amongst the scholars of the kingdom.
The list of English poets connected with Duke Humphrey is not brilliant,
but this was not his fault. There was no great light in the poetic
firmament whom he could patronise in the way his grandfather had
patronised Chaucer, though it may seem a strange omission that this dead
poet was totally unrepresented as far as we know, in his library, We
must qualify our surprise by remembering that we possess no complete
list of Gloucester's books, so that a copy of Chaucer may have been
among them, but at least we have sufficient evidence to prove that he
did not despise the vernacular languages as did so many of the earlier
humanists. True, we can only directly connect three books written in
English with his name, and he seems to have found French more natural to
his use than the language of his native land, since all the inscriptions
in his books are written in that language, but practically all the
writers of his age who wrote in English enjoyed his patronage, and we
have the evidence of the University of Oxford to prove that he
encouraged the production of books in the national language.[1310]
Humphrey was not so busy in the rediscovery of the forgotten poets and
philosophers of the past, as not to realise that the knowledge he was
acquiring was to be the basis of the vernacular literature of the
future, that the spirit of the new learning, while it liberated men's
minds from bondage, must also find a means of expression for itself.
Though intent on building the foundations, he did not fail to consider
the nature of the edifice which should crown his labours.
* * * * *
THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
The historian of Literature is little more than the historian of
exploded reputations; the great men with whom we must deal are the great
men who no longer loom large on the horizon, and this is doubly true of
a patron of literature. Humphrey's reputation as scholar and patron,
though it flourished in his day in countries far distant from England,
is now not even a distant memory, save perhaps in that society which
frequently in his lifetime expressed the conviction that his fame would
be immortal, not so much for his military or political glories, though
indeed they were great, as for his constant liberality to its members,
and that the University of Oxford would ever be the home of his
glory.[1311] In Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, Oxford found one of her
most generous and constant patrons of any age, one who laid the
University under an obligation which not all her sons are ready to
recognise. Certainly no contemporary of the 'Good Duke' could rival his
generosity to the 'clerks of Oxenford,' though they were not destitute
of important patrons. Henry IV. was numbered amongst the benefactors of
the early library;[1312] Henry V. took an interest in the welfare of the
University, on one occasion making special ordinances to be proclaimed
and observed therein,[1313] and at his death bequeathing certain books
to the Library.[1314] It is said that he had intended to found a great
college there, and though this plan was never carried out, Archbishop
Chichele built and endowed his foundation of All Souls in memory of his
royal master. Of Henry's sons, Bedford had the intention of founding
lectures in the seven liberal arts and the three philosophies, but it is
uncertain whether this project was ever brought to fruition.[1315] Henry
VI. was but a churlish friend of the University in spite of the
obsequious flattery he received therefrom, and on more than one occasion
we find him as a harsh landlord raising the rent of 'Bedel Hall,' or
cutting down the hard-earned fees of the masters teaching in the
arts.[1316] On the other hand, Queen Margaret was the founder of a
lectureship in theology,[1317] whilst Cardinal Beaufort, who had
neglected his Alma Mater during his life, thought it well to add to his
chances of eternal salvation by bequeathing five hundred marks towards
the completion of the Divinity School, in return for which he was to be
remembered in all the University prayers.[1318]
GLOUCESTER AND OXFORD
Oxford, therefore, was a fashionable subject of interest, though the
benefits gained were not in proportion to the giving capacity of the
donors. Humphrey was not only a liberal benefactor, but a faithful and
trusted friend to the University. We may smile at the servility of the
eulogies, and the extravagances of the compliments in the letters
addressed to him, and also at the obvious suggestion in these utterances
that there was a distinct hope of favours to come, yet with all this we
can trace a note of genuine admiration and respect in these flowery
effusions. For many years the Duke of Gloucester was the 'great
protector'[1319] of Oxford outside the confines of the University, a
power in the land who would stand up for the privileges and rights of
Chancellor and Proctors in a way that was far more valuable than many
liberal donations at a time when the majesty of the law was a very venal
sovereign. In a case of trouble or danger, whether from within or from
without, the University would invariably appeal to her good patron, and
did not find him wanting. Even when it was a matter of a quarrel with
the members of the Benedictine order, of whose monasteries he was
acknowledged to be _quasi fundator_, the University did not hesitate to
appeal to the Duke to use his influence with the Chancellor in stopping
the proceedings instituted by these monks in the Court of Arches against
the usual payment of six shillings and eightpence made by each student
to the master whose lectures he attended. At the same time he was
besought to bring the presidents of the Benedictine order, namely the
Abbots of St. Albans and Abingdon, to reason in this matter.[1320] The
appeal was probably successful, for Humphrey's sense of justice was
seldom subordinated to his predilections, and he had already upbraided
the Prior of the monks in Oxford for unseemly behaviour towards the
scholars of Glastonbury.[1321] At any rate, no further appeal was found
necessary, so that it may be presumed that the monks were compelled to
yield the point. The incident recalls an interesting aspect of
Gloucester's relations with Oxford, in that he devoted his sympathies to
the University as a corporate body, and neglected the separate
foundations which made up the whole, even to the extent of having no
connection with Gloucester College, the home of these monks of the
Benedictine order, and the offshoot of his beloved monastery of St.
Albans.
But while Gloucester favoured Oxford, he was not unduly partial, and in
one case at least the University had to compromise. A certain friar,
William Mussilwyk, had been deprived of his doctor's robes, and his
supporters had been suspended, whereupon Gloucester wrote to
remonstrate. The University declared that their patron had been
misinformed as to the rights of the case, but after considerable
correspondence with him on the subject, a compromise was arranged, and
it was agreed that the disgraced friar was to be reinstated if he
acknowledged his fault; it was, however, emphatically explained that
this course was adopted merely as a personal favour to the Duke, and was
in no way a confession of error.[1322]
The University had reason to be grateful to Gloucester, for he had taken
it under his special protection, at least so one would gather from the
phraseology of a letter written to him in 1430, wherein elaborately
worded thanks are given him for his great generosity towards it ever
since he had been its protector.[1323] He was not the man to give his
protection without his interest, and he wrote to the University in 1431,
requesting that certain reforms which he suggested should be carried
into effect. An evasive reply explained that at present this could not
be done, as so many members of the University were then absent from
Oxford, and the time was too short for so important a question to be
decided; however, it was hoped that a more definite answer could be
sent before Christmas.[1324] Of this promised answer there is no trace,
and the event passed into oblivion as one of no importance, save that it
might suggest a marked continuity in the history of the University. This
is the only record of unsolicited interference in the internal history
of Oxford on the part of Humphrey, and it comes somewhat as a surprise
that a man who has the reputation of being overbearing and interfering
should not have tried to stamp his individuality more clearly on the
University of which he was the protector.
Throughout the earlier years of the connection between Humphrey and
Oxford it is the latter that invokes aid, not the former who would press
his own wishes. Each may occasionally ask the other's help for a
friend,[1325] but the letters addressed by the University to their
patron were mainly written in pursuit of some benefit from outside, or
in the hope of the pacification of some internal quarrel. At one time
the Duke is besought to use his influence in securing for them the books
bequeathed by Henry V.;[1326] at another, as protector of the realm, he
is asked, together with the King's Council, to advise as to the
treatment of certain defiant heretics, who are preaching 'uncircumcised
and seditious words';[1327] or again he is appealed to in matters of
purely internal concern--the disputes between Town and Gown, or the
insubordination of the members of the University themselves. Thus in
1434 the authorities sought aid in enforcing a statute which had been
passed in the interests of peace, which was meant to satisfy both the
townsmen and the scholars, but the opposition thereto threatened to
render it a nullity.[1328] The very next year a claim made by the
Bachelors to be called Masters threw the University into a state which
bordered on civil war, and caused a total cessation of lectures and all
teaching. Urgent letters were written to Gloucester asking his
assistance in quieting these disturbances, and Kymer was petitioned to
use his influence with the Duke to beg him to grant their
supplication.[1329] No sooner was the town reduced to quiet than the
scholars of Devon and Cornwall organised a riot, and bearing off the
image of St. Peter from a parish church, they placed it in the monastery
of St. Frideswide, and desired all other scholars to attend Mass there.
An attempt on the part of the University authorities to allay the tumult
resulted in armed resistance, in which the law-students took the lead.
Oxford, in a state of anarchy, once more appealed to its patron.[1330]
We have none of the replies to these various petitions, but from a
subsequent letter from the University it would seem that Gloucester had
shown sympathy, and had intervened, for peace, though not entirely
restored, was then at least in sight.[1331]
Interesting though they are, Gloucester's relations to the University in
his capacity of a great prince have not the importance of his
intercourse with her as a man of letters. Noisiness and a tendency to
tumult have not always been signs of decay in Oxford, but at this moment
they were the outward tokens of inward debility. Poverty, 'the
step-mother of learning,' was the bane of university life, and we have
seen the efforts of some students to escape paying their fees. A large
percentage of the letters written by the University had this lack of
money as their theme, and it was not greediness for more of the good
things of life, but a desire for mere necessaries, that obliged them so
to write. The University was as Rachel weeping for her children--so says
a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1438: once she was famous in
the world, and students flocked to her from all parts; then she
possessed many men learned in the arts and sciences, her schools were
not depopulated, nor were her halls empty. Now there was a scarcity both
of food and money, and learning was so little rewarded that few came to
acquire it; scarcely a thousand scholars and masters remained in the
University, doors were locked, the buildings in ruins. Those who still
remained had to be content to see ignorant and unlettered men promoted
over their heads in the world outside, whilst they were left to
starve.[1332]
Oxford had indeed fallen from her high estate, and was experiencing a
period of affliction. The scholarship of the Middle Ages was worn out,
the gospel of the New World had not yet been preached to her, but when,
as in all its troubles, the University turned for help to the Duke of
Gloucester, it had taken the first step towards better things. To him
its grievances were told, and it was his generosity that resuscitated
the lectures on the seven liberal arts and the three philosophies.[1333]
Still, there was not sufficient for their continual maintenance. The
lectures were carried on for some time, till the expense was more than
could be borne, and again an appeal was made to the Duke. It was
imperative that they should have a permanent foundation for three more
lecturers, and they must have books, and money to buy more. Yet another
important corollary to these demands was that more suitable appointments
should be made by those in authority in the kingdom, and that a man who
had been educated at Oxford should not be at a disadvantage by reason of
his superior knowledge.[1334] We have here the grievance in a nutshell.
University education was unpopular, no one was ready to provide the
means for that education, and the existing means were at present wholly
inadequate.
GIFTS OF BOOKS TO OXFORD
Probably the lack of books was the greatest want, for beyond a very few
volumes in the chests of the Library named after Bishop Cobham, and some
others possessed by masters more wealthy than their fellows, there were
no books at all in the University. The students had no access to books,
all the teaching had to be done orally, and hence the knowledge acquired
was of that purely hereditary type which could not be enlivened by the
infusion of new ideas. To a lover and student of books such as Duke
Humphrey this defect in the equipment of both teachers and taught must
have come home very strongly, and his reply to the appeal, which was
made in April 1438, was not tardy. Already his name, together with those
of his father and brothers, was written on that tablet in the Oxford
Library which recorded the benefactors of that institution,[1335] and in
1435 he had presented both money and books to the University, for which
he had received the warmest thanks, and a promise of renewed diligence
in study, as recognition that it was his wisdom that had brought about a
revival of learning in Oxford.[1336] In answer to the direct appeal he
had received in 1438, he forwarded what must have been an important part
of his library, in the shape of one hundred and twenty-nine
volumes,[1337] 'a more splendid donation than any prince or king had
given since the foundation of the University,' valued as it was at more
than £1000.[1338] The letter of thanks spoke in naturally high terms of
the Duke's wisdom and learning, and compared him to Julius Cæsar, who
founded a library in Rome, for he, like Gloucester, combined the
attributes of a great soldier with those of an enthusiastic
scholar.[1339] Not content with their own thanks, these grateful
scholars wrote to Parliament, urging its members to thank the Duke,
since both they and their relatives had been, or in the future would be,
beholden to the University for their education[1340]--a request which,
it is hardly a surprise to find, went unheeded. On November 5, 1439, an
indenture in receipt of the books was drawn up, and thereon were
inscribed the first word or words occurring on the second folio of each
volume, so that identification in case of loss might be possible.[1341]
This last precaution, which was customary in most libraries of that
period, is still of immense value in verifying the authenticity of
manuscripts said to have formed part of the donations of Duke Humphrey
to Oxford. Two more gifts followed in 1441, the first consisting of
seven, the second of nine books, of which we have only the names of the
latter preserved.[1342] It is noticeable that on both these occasions
the books were conveyed to Oxford by Sir John Kirkby, a soldier who had
served under Humphrey in the campaign of 1417. Finally, in 1444, came a
gift of one hundred and thirty-four volumes, which were indented for in
the usual manner.[1343]
Gifts of books in such numbers were unique in the history of the
University, and continued to be so for some time to come. Other donors
there were, amongst whom may be numbered Bedford, Wheathampsted, the
Duchess of Suffolk, Thomas Knolles, and John Somersett.[1344] These,
however, were all either small collections or single books, and even a
gift by Henry VI. to the foundation of All Souls only numbered
twenty-three volumes.[1345] Throughout, Duke Humphrey had led the way in
the patronage of the University. He had befriended it at a time when it
sadly needed support, and he now endowed it with a library, which in
numbers compared very favourably with any similar collection in
England. It was a deed of open-handed generosity, which well deserved
all the thanks it provoked, for in all he must have given quite three
hundred volumes to the University[1346]--by no means an insignificant
collection of books when all had to be copied by hand. They were drawn
undoubtedly from his own private library, as there had been no time
between the request and the donations to collect for the purpose, and
the gift becomes thereby all the more interesting to us, and all the
more honourable to the donor. Humphrey cared not for books merely for
the sake of collecting them; he valued their teaching, and did his
utmost to give them every opportunity of spreading their gospel abroad
among the students of the land.
Special arrangements were made by the University for the preservation of
these additions to their Library. Already since 1412 there had been a
Librarian, who cared for the books collected in the room over the porch
of St. Mary's Church. He was in receipt of a salary of one hundred
shillings per annum, besides six shillings and eightpence for every
university Mass that he said, and the right to receive robes from every
beneficed graduate at the time of his graduation. Only graduates and
members of the religious orders who had studied philosophy for eight
years were given access to the Library, though certain exceptions, as in
the case of sons of members of Parliament, might be made. Oaths must be
taken by all readers not to mutilate the books by erasures or blots, an
ordinance, let us hope, which was observed more carefully at that time
than it is now in modern libraries. The Library was open from nine to
eleven and from one to four o'clock, except on Sundays and certain
specified days, including the Librarian's holiday of one month in the
long vacation.[1347]
Fresh provisions were drawn up in 1439 in view of the recent additions.
All books were to be entered on a list kept in the Library, and their
titles were to be clearly marked on the first page with a list of the
contents; none were to be alienated or removed from the Library, save
for the purpose of rebinding, though the Duke might borrow any volume
after having submitted a written request to that effect. The books were
to be kept in chests for the use of lecturers and masters, and in the
absence of lectures students might have access to them. In case of loss
the loser was to pay to the University the sum marked on the book, which
was to be in excess of its real value.[1348]
The possession of a useful library did much to restore the old position
of the University. From having almost no books--so wrote the authorities
to Gloucester--they now had plenty, so that both the Greek and Latin
tongue was there studied--that is, both the Greek and Latin authors, for
no Greek books were included in the gift. Men from all lands came to
study in Oxford now, as they had done before, and the letter concludes
with a phrase couched in more intimate terms than had been hitherto
customary; 'we wish you could see the students bending over your books
in their greediness and thirst for knowledge.'[1349] So great were the
crowds that used these volumes, that the accommodation afforded by the
old library was insufficient, and so the University wrote to Gloucester,
suggesting that the new Divinity school, then in course of construction,
should be used for the purpose. It was in every way suitable for a
library, being retired and quiet, and the idea that this new home for
his books should be called by his name was submitted to the donor
thereof for his approbation.[1350] Herein we may see a polite hint that
money as well as books would be acceptable. We have no evidence that the
Duke responded to this appeal at the moment and he died before the
building was completed by the munificence of Thomas Kempe, Bishop of
London, who gave one thousand marks for the purpose. With a conveniently
short memory the University alluded to the finished Library as _tuam
novam librariam_ when writing to Kempe in 1487.[1351]
LAST RELATIONS WITH OXFORD
This last request of Oxford, though only suggested, did not go
unanswered, for Humphrey appeared in the House of Congregation, and
publicly promised to give the rest of his Latin books to the University
together with £100 towards the new Divinity school, a promise which he
renewed just before his death. But this promise was never fulfilled, and
in spite of numerous letters to the King, the executors of the Duke's
will and many other influential persons, neither the books nor the money
ever found their way to Oxford.[1352] Even as the library bequeathed by
Petrarch to Venice in the preceding century never reached its
destination, so did Oxford never benefit by the last promise of her
friend and patron.
It was with genuine regret that Oxford learned the death of the Duke of
Gloucester, and an invocation, inspired by sorrow and fear for the
future, appears in their letter-book.[1353] His obsequies were performed
with great pomp,[1354] and an ordinance was issued enjoining all
graduates to pray for him at the beginning of all sermons preached
before the University, at St. Paul's Cross, and at St. Mary's Hospital,
Bishopsgate.[1355] Every year Mass was said on the anniversary of his
death for the repose of his soul, and later of that of his wife
Eleanor.[1356]
[Illustration: THE OLD DIVINITY SCHOOLS AND DUKE HUMPHREY'S LIBRARY AT
OXFORD.]
The Oxford masters had reason to be grateful to Gloucester, and in the
later epistles to him we can trace a growing simplicity and a growing
genuineness in their tone--'unable to repress our feelings, we pray you
of your goodness accept our simple gratitude.'[1357] Like the Italian
Humanists, they dwelt on that great combination of qualities which made
him a great soldier and a great man of letters in one,[1358] and
speaking of his books given to them, they cried, 'Statues, sculpture,
and graven brass will not so long preserve the memory of the great, as
will the living records of history.'[1359] The prophecy was justified,
but later events mitigated the exactitude of its operation. When the
ecclesiastical reformers, whom Humphrey had suppressed, won their final
triumph in the unlovely days of Edward VI., the tangible evidences of
the 'Good Duke's' benefactions to his University were lost. How or
exactly when this happened we cannot tell, but of the original
manuscripts not one was left in the Library. A fanatical abhorrence of
illuminations and rubricated initials, combined with a mediæval
disregard of the intellectual side of life, destroyed, scattered and
lost, in most cases for ever, these interesting relics of an interesting
personality.[1360] The student of the early Renaissance in England has
good ground of complaint against the Protestant Commissioners of King
Edward VI. Yet in the University which educated him, and which he helped
to educate, the memory of Duke Humphrey is not entirely forgotten. For
long it treasured a silver-gilt belt known as 'le Duke Humfrey's
gyrdyll' as a remembrance of their benefactor,[1361] and to this day
every preacher in the University pulpit still recalls to his hearers the
bounty of this fifteenth-century prince. The building which was erected
to contain his manuscripts, now the central part of the larger room in
which the present students 'studie in bokies off antiquite,' still bears
his name, and beyond that barrier where visitors dare not--or rather
should not dare to--tread lies 'Duke Humphrey's Library.' Though Oxford
may call her Library by the name of its restorer, Sir Thomas Bodley, yet
there is an older tradition which never dies, the tradition of the man
who, with all his faults and with all his vices, did not forget his debt
of gratitude to his Alma Mater--'literatissimus princeps, amicissimus
noster.'[1362]
GLOUCESTER'S LITERARY TASTES
All that we know of Gloucester's literary career tends to prove that his
patronage of Oxford was only one branch of his scholarly activities. It
is evident that he had an extensive collection of books over and above
those that he gave to the University, and it is the loss of nearly all
knowledge regarding this private library which is our most serious
disadvantage when estimating his literary tastes. We have but little
evidence of the nature of the books which belonged to the Duke and never
reached Oxford, or of the subjects of a less classical bias that he
studied; had we even the catalogue of books in his possession that he
sent to Candido, we might be able to estimate his position in the
literary life of his age more justly, but this also seems to have gone
to that bourne from whence no knowledge returns. Apart from the zeal of
the reformers and the carelessness of the ignorant, we doubtless owe the
loss of many of these books to that discovery which has helped to
perpetuate the learning of the past. Humphrey stood on the threshold of
the age of printing, that age when the multiplication of printed books
cast their written forebears into the lumber-room. A manuscript of which
the contents had been printed was then regarded as a cumbrous method of
imbibing learning; its historical value was not recognised. Humphrey's
library was not long to remain as a monument to his memory, as the
University of Oxford had predicted that it would; it no longer remains
to help us to gauge with any hope of exactitude the breadth of his
interests, or the nature of his talents. That he loved his books, and
took an interest in them for what they contained, is beyond dispute,
though in those copies that survive there is no evidence that he wrote
in them 'Moun bien mondain,' as Leland asserted, and Hearne either
copied or confirmed.[1363]
GLOUCESTER'S LITERARY TASTES
The fact that a large proportion of the books which once belonged to
Humphrey, and are still extant, did not form part of the gift to Oxford,
leads us to believe that a considerable part of his library must remain
unknown to us, even as to the titles of the various volumes. From the
Oxford lists, however, it is evident that the scholarship of the Middle
Ages had but little interest for him. Theology holds an important place
among the gifts to Oxford, but the schoolmen are but scantily
represented on the list. Bede, William of Occam, Pietro Damieno, and
Albertus Magnus, the master of Thomas Aquinas, are there, but there is
no trace of the writings of Aquinas himself, Peter Lombard, Bradwardine,
Duns Scotus, and many other famous schoolmen. The early Fathers are
well represented, some only by volumes of letters, others by their
better-known works, and these last seem to be more the imaginative than
the doctrinal theologians of their day. Taken as a whole, the theology
of Humphrey's library betrays a tendency to ignore mediæval
doctrinaires, and to turn to the early Fathers, who wrote before
Imperial Rome had passed into final decay. Mediæval law shared the fate
of mediæval theology, and even more markedly. Hardly any of the numerous
treatises on a subject which formed part of the staple food of the
mediæval mind appear on Humphrey's lists; canon law is but sparsely
represented, civil law is almost entirely neglected.
Humphrey's library was fairly well supplied with historical writers. We
find the works of Suetonius, the historian of the twelve Cæsars, the
Jewish historian Josephus, Tragus Pompeius, and Cassidorus; among later
historians Eusebius and Vincent of Beauvais, Bede, and Higden. Among
other historical works were a copy of the _Flores Historiarum_, an
_Eulogium Historiarum_, a volume entitled _Tripartita Historia_, a
_Polycronicon_, the _Granarium_ of Wheathampsted, and other anonymous
chronicles. These were a goodly number of historical books for the times
in which Humphrey lived, but more remarkable is the large quantity of
medical and astronomical treatises. A long list of books from the pens
of doctors ancient and modern belonged to him, beginning with the early
Greek writers on medicine, and ending with the compilations of his own
physician-in-chief, Gilbert Kymer. Side by side with these stand all the
leading authorities on astronomy and astrology, including the works of
the chief Arabian philosophers and Roger Bacon's _De Celo et Mundo_. No
mention is made of Bacon's _Opus Majus_, nor are there any traces of any
scientific treatises outside those known to the mediæval scholars. The
interest evinced by the Duke in medicine is both interesting and
unusual; his knowledge of astrology proved one of the most fatal of his
accomplishments in the days when his wife was accused of sorcery. A word
should be said about the recurrence of several works on agriculture,
both in Humphrey's library and amongst the books he requisitioned
Candido to procure for him. Whether this points to a practical interest
in agriculture we cannot tell, though the probability is against it, and
there seems no reason to believe that the Duke anticipated that other
disappointed politician, who forgot grief at the loss of power in the
useful, if unheroic, occupation of growing turnips.
Humphrey's chief distinction as a collector of books lies in the
possession of those copies of the ancient classics which he had procured
from Italy. Though the _Cosmography_ of Ptolemy, the _Politics_ of
Aristotle, and the _Lives_ of Plutarch were absolutely unknown in
Western Europe till Palla degli Strozzi had them brought to Italy from
Constantinople, yet within a few years of this they were to be found in
Latin translations among the Duke of Gloucester's books. Other classical
works there were in that collection. Five more volumes of Aristotle, the
_Republic_, the _Meno_, and the _Phædrus_ of Plato, all the known works
of Cicero, and a volume of that 'most learned of the Romans,' Varro;
Sallust, the historian of the Cataline conspiracy; grammarians such as
Aulus Gellius and Priscian; rhetoricians such as Quintilian; poets such
as Ovid and Terence, all stood side by side in this wonderful library.
Seneca was represented both by his philosophical and by his dramatic
writings, and criticisms on the philosophy of Aristotle might be found
from the pen of Averrois or John of Damascus. The Greek language had
been relearned in Italy during the Duke's lifetime, and a step towards
bringing it to England was taken in the presentation of a Greek
dictionary to Oxford. Finally, Humphrey showed his sympathy with the men
of the new learning by possessing five volumes of Boccaccio and seven
of Petrarch, and his appreciation of what was best in mediæval thought
by the inclusion of a volume of Dante and a commentary thereon amongst
his books.[1364]
None can doubt the catholicity of Gloucester's tastes after a glance at
the names of the books which he collected, and we must believe that they
genuinely manifested his predilections, and that Leland was clearly in
the right in praising his sound judgment in matters literary.[1365] His
taste was developed by genuine study. Numerous references to him by
contemporaries prove that his patronage of literature was no pose
adopted for the sake of the popularity it might bring. Livius declares
that he surpassed all other princes of his time in his devoted study of
letters both humane and divine;[1366] Basin bears the best
testimony,[1367] Capgrave follows suit,[1368] and an unknown hand has
left a record of high praise for his love of study on the fly-leaf of an
Oxford manuscript.[1369] It is, moreover, obvious that the Duke's
interests were not confined to the volumes presented to Oxford, and it
is noteworthy that among the survivals of his library there is a great
contrast in subject-matter between the books of the Oxford donation and
those which were retained in his own hands. While the Oxford books are
strictly classical and scholastic, the others show a wide range of
subjects, and give us reason to believe that they must have formed part
of a collection of considerable literary interest. This shows at once
the wisdom of the Duke in making his selection of works to give away to
a great educationary foundation, and his great range of knowledge, which
in many cases stepped outside the traditional limits both of the
Schoolmen and of the Humanists. Perhaps the most striking fact is the
existence of so many French works in Gloucester's library.[1370] The
large majority of these are translations from the Latin, which might at
first glance seem to imply that Humphrey was but an indifferent Latin
scholar, and preferred to read his books in French. It is undoubtedly
true that French was to him the most natural language; he invariably
used it in inscribing his name in his books, and he even went so far as
to possess a French translation of Livy.[1371] But we must remember that
in those days of infrequent and costly manuscripts a collector was only
too glad to secure a copy of the author he wanted in whatever language
it was written, and moreover a large number of these French books,
notably the Livy, were presents from friends, and not private purchases
on the part of the Duke. It is, however, interesting to note that whilst
he gave a Latin version of the military treatise of Ægidius Romanus to
Oxford, he retained in his own hands a French version of the same
work.[1372] Undoubtedly, Humphrey read gladly and largely in French, but
there is ample evidence that he was also a finished Latin scholar, and
deeply versed in the classics. This alone can explain the wealth of
classical quotations in letters addressed to him on matters purely
personal, when the writer was trying to ingratiate himself with his
princely correspondent.[1373] Moreover, his letters to his Italian
friends, though doubtless they owe their final shape to a secretary,
make constant allusion to classical reading. He was never separated from
his copy of the _Republic_ of Plato, and on one occasion at least he
borrowed a book from the Oxford Library for his own private use.[1374]
On this showing he must have been able to read Latin with ease, and his
favourite study was the works of Plato, whose philosophical system was
the chief new discovery of the Italian Humanists.[1375]
Earnest though he was in the study of the ancient classics, Gloucester
did not allow it to restrict his mental vision. As a practical soldier
he was interested in the theory of military operations, and besides his
copy of the work of Ægidius Romanus he possessed in his private library
a French version of the _Epitome Institutionum Rei Militaris_ of
Vegetius.[1376] This treatise, which deals with the organisation of
armies, the training of soldiers, and other kindred subjects, was
doubtless used by him as a basis for his military theories, and proved a
useful handbook on which to found a system more in accord with the
circumstances of his day. In general literature, apart from the English
poetical works composed for him, Humphrey showed an interest in early
French romance by the possession of a copy of the _Roman du
Renard_[1377] and at the same time this shows how his political
inclinations affected his literary outlook. The _Roman du Renard_,
unlike its predecessors of the Carlovingian and Arthurian epic cycles,
was produced by the growing sense of independence in the French towns.
It has a direct bourgeois inspiration, which must have appealed to a man
who found his chief supporters among the burgesses of the City of
London. Gloucester's personal tastes may also be traced in his
possession of a copy of the resolutions passed at the Council of
Basel,[1378] and in the _Songe du Vergier_, which also formed part of
his library.[1379] This last consists of a discussion on the relative
spheres of the spiritual and temporal powers, and shows us the learned
Duke applying his intellect to the pressing ecclesiastical problems of
his day, problems about which he had taken a very definite stand in his
public actions. Closely connected with this was his interest in matters
theological, his acceptance of Capgrave's _Commentary on the Book of
Genesis_,[1380] and his possession of numerous tracts by
Athanasius,[1381] and of both an English and French version of the
Bible.[1382]
Apart from matters purely literary, we have reason to believe that
Humphrey's interests were very wide. He showed considerable artistic
taste in the beautifully illuminated manuscripts which formed part of
his library, though the books that were written specially for him were
not often very elaborately adorned. Like his brother Bedford, he knew
how to appreciate this kind of artistic work, and we need but allude to
the beautiful edition of the Psalms compiled for him, to the St. Omer
_Psalter_ once in his possession, and to his copies of the _Decameron_
and of Livy, to realise how he was able to gratify this taste.[1383] In
an age when artistic values were still the monopoly of Italians, the
illuminated books in the Duke's possession, if of no great artistic
value, were excellent examples of the decorative work of the
period.[1384] In the kindred art of music also Gloucester probably took
some interest. We find frequent mention of 'The minstrels of the Duke of
Gloucester,' who visited Winchester, Reading, Lydd, and many other towns
'as a courtesy,' for which they received monetary recognition from the
inhabitants.[1385] Possibly these were a band of strolling musicians who
enjoyed the patronage of the 'Good Duke,' much in the same way as at a
later date actors were known as the 'King's servants.' In any case
there is a strong presumption that musicians as well as scholars
enjoyed the bounty of the Duke of Gloucester.
[Illustration: A PAGE FROM THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER'S COPY OF "LE SONGE DU
VERGIER," ONCE PART OF THE LIBRARY OF CHARLES I OF
FRANCE.]
GLOUCESTER'S LITERARY POSITION
Just as Humphrey was a great student so was he a great personality in
the life of England, the Mæcenas of the new learning, and the friend of
all scholars. A considerable portion of his books were presents from
various people, and he seems to have been always approachable by any one
who could take an interest in any branch of knowledge. Those who gave
books to him were drawn from various classes of the community. Men who
would earn his patronage presented their work to him as did
Capgrave;[1386] his friend Wheathampsted cemented their friendship in
the same way.[1387] Frenchmen as well as Englishmen knew of his tastes,
and approached him with literary gifts, whether it were the learned
Bishop of Bayeux,[1388] or an insignificant Canon of Rouen.[1389] The
Duke of Bedford chose a choice treasure from the library of Charles VI.
as a gift for his brother,[1390] and the Earl of Warwick, the 'Father of
Courtesy' and the tutor of the young King Henry VI., offered a French
translation of the Decameron as a mark of friendship and esteem for the
man under whom he had served.[1391] Men of less mark followed the lead
of the princes of the land. Sir Robert Roos, a public servant of some
eminence, gave yet another French work to the then Protector of
England,[1392] and Sir John Stanley, possibly the Sir John Stanley who
was king of the Isle of Man, hastened to add his tribute of homage in
the shape of a French Bible.[1393]
It is hard to say whether these gifts were in all cases indications of
literary esteem, or merely means towards securing the favour of a
powerful prince. At least they show that Humphrey's interest in all
kinds of literature and learning was not assumed as a pose, but was a
veritable passion, ministered to by all who desired his friendship. To
no other man of his time were such gifts in such profusion given, gifts,
moreover, which came not only from the needy scholars who desired his
support, but from prince, noble, priest, and humble gentleman alike.
There is, too, a remarkable absence of party politics in the literary
friendships which these gifts manifest. Bedford not once nor twice was
compelled to condemn his brother's action. Warwick was a member of the
Council of Regency which withstood the Protector's ambitious claims. Sir
Robert Roos, though he accompanied Beckington on his embassy to the
Court of Armagnac, was prominent in carrying out the peace policy which
Humphrey opposed, and in 1445 was intrusted with bringing Henry VI.'s
Queen over to England. Sir John Stanley may possibly be the man to whom
the Duchess of Gloucester was intrusted when she was confined in Leeds
Castle, and when we look further afield we find that Piero del Monte,
the friend of Duke Humphrey, did not hesitate to give the papal blessing
to the union of Margaret and Henry VI. when they were married by proxy
at Tours.
GLOUCESTER'S LITERARY UNDERSTANDING
Humphrey therefore was more than a mere patron of scholars, and more
than a mere literary dilettante. He was known to be more devoted to
literature of all kinds than to anything else, and the subtle monks of
St. Albans knew well how to win his favour by enlarging his library. His
powers of criticism and appreciation are, however, hidden from us.
Beyond the nature of the books he collected and a few words of formal
appreciation of the works of Plato, we have nothing to guide our
judgment, for though a patron and a student, he was not himself an
author, in spite of statements to the contrary.[1394] There still
exists a copy of certain astrological tables entitled _Tabulæ Humfridi
ducis Gloucestriæ in judiciis artis geomansie_, but this was merely a
compilation made at his command.[1395] He was content to encourage
learning, and to qualify himself for this rôle by study. Thus the Duke
of Gloucester devoted a large amount of his superfluous energy to the
really great work of encouraging learning in England; yet at first sight
it may seem that he laboured in vain. England did not at once adopt the
new doctrines that were paving the way to modern methods of study, and
it has been thought that Humphrey simply worked in the spirit of the
mediæval scholar, and did not in any way appreciate the importance of
his actions. England had lagged behind other nations in accepting the
doctrines of the Renaissance scholars. Men imbued with the scholastic
spirit had journeyed to Italy before the days of Duke Humphrey, but they
had not understood the message which the Italians taught them. Richard
of Bury had been the friend of Petrarch, but had entirely failed to
understand his point of view, and when the future Duke of Gloucester was
but five years old, a certain Augustinian monk, known in Italy as Thomas
of England, was lecturing in Florence, but was said by Leonardo Bruni to
have loved Humanism only so far as an Englishman could understand
it.[1396] The Italian scholar therefore had been contemptuous of his
English contemporary, but a new era dawns when Humphrey begins to take
an interest in Italian scholarship. The Italians who wrote to him showed
clearly in their letters that they understood their patron's interest to
be intelligent and quite different to the mediæval conceptions of his
predecessors, and in some cases we can see the genuine appreciation of
the scholar peeping through the adulation of the retainer. His love for
Plato, and his clear understanding of the contrast between his
philosophy and that of Aristotle, show how entirely he had thrown off
the intellectual fetters of the Middle Ages, and in his selection of
books we clearly see that he understood that the progress of the future
must be based on an understanding of the past. In Humphrey, too, we see
traces of that critical faculty which characterised the new movement. He
did not look on the classics as an allegorical commentary on the
Scriptures, and as a basis for Christian Theology; he studied them from
the literary and philosophical point of view, and refused to accept the
system laid down by the mediæval schoolmen. He was the first great
Englishman to introduce these new ideas into England, though there were
other scholars of the period who understood the new doctrines, if they
did not preach them; men like Andrew Holles, who after long study in
Italy retired to a country benefice, and did nothing towards spreading
the new ideas he had acquired.[1397]
GLOUCESTER'S LITERARY INFLUENCE
Herein lies the importance of Duke Humphrey's career. He not only
understood the meaning of the new doctrines, but he paved the way
towards their fuller appreciation by the nation as a whole. As a layman
and a man of affairs he was able to take a more comprehensive view of
the significance of the new learning than the churchmen who hitherto had
held the monopoly of English knowledge, and he laid the foundations on
which others were to build. In the first place he taught men that it was
to Italy that they should look for direction in their studies. He
himself had not visited that country as so many of his contemporaries
had done, but he had brought himself into nearer touch with its
intellectual life than any other Englishman. The man who was the patron
of Leonardo Bruni, the constant correspondent of Pier Candido Decembrio,
the friend of Piero del Monte, and the literary acquaintance of Alfonso
of Aragon, the man who more than once was picked out by Æneas Sylvius
for literary appreciation, was far more in sympathy with Italian
aspirations than such a one as Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, who
showed no signs of having been influenced in any way by his sojourn at
the University of Padua.
Yet the interest of Humphrey's Italian sympathies lies not so much in
his connection with Italy as in the fact that he never set foot in the
country. He did not take himself and his energies to be expended in a
selfish pursuit of learning in Italy, like his contemporary Holles, but
he helped to bring the intellectual aspirations of the Italians over to
England. He not only taught men to study Italian wars, but also led them
to bring the results of that study home to their own doors. And he was
not without disciples. It is customary to believe that the humanistic
aspirations of the 'Good Duke' received no echo in the England of his
day, but we cannot but think that his example helped to inspire the
exertions of that devoted band of scholars which included the princely
ecclesiastic, William Grey, poor students such as John Free, Fleming,
and Gunthorpe, and the notorious but scholarly John Tiptoft, Earl of
Worcester. Indeed there is much to suggest this, and perhaps the most
curious of all our evidence centres in the name of Guarino da Verona,
the great schoolmaster of Ferrara, who was intrusted with the education
of Lionello and Borso d'Este. Every one of this band of English students
studied under the direction of this famous scholar. Grey attended his
instructions while living in princely state at Ferrara; Free journeyed
from his home in Bristol to get the benefit of his teaching; Tiptoft
turned aside during his wanderings in Italy to visit him in his adopted
home; all at one time or another joined that ever-increasing band of
English scholars who flocked to the Ferrarese school in such numbers as
to be specially mentioned by Lodovico Carbone in his funeral oration
over the dead scholar.[1398] Humphrey's influence is to be traced here,
for it was he who had first pointed to Guarino as the fountain of true
learning. When commissioning Zano of Bayeux to buy him books in Italy,
he had laid special stress on his desire to possess anything that had
been written by this teacher.[1399] By selecting Guarino as the mentor
of his intellectual aspirations, he had pointed out the road for future
scholars to tread.
All these scholars followed in the steps of the Duke of Gloucester, and
had all grown up before he passed from the scene of his activities.
They, however, failed to carry out his theories to the full. Though they
submitted themselves to the desire for the new learning, they did but
little to bring it home to the great mass of Englishmen. They studied,
but they did not teach. They had all learnt the earliest lesson of the
new ideas under the shadow of the University of Oxford; all were
Oxonians, and thus were direct products of Duke Humphrey's patronage of
that home of learning, and they so far followed in his footsteps as to
give or bequeath the books they collected either to the University
itself, or to some College within it. It was in this way that Gloucester
had most conspicuously prepared the high-road to learning. By his gifts
of books he had given Oxford students the opportunity of further
researches into the human mind, he had thrown open the doors which had
hitherto barred the way to Englishmen who desired a knowledge of what
the past had thought of life and its component elements. For the first
time in England men were able to know something of what the ancients had
written. In the book-chests of Oxford lay the seeds of the English
Renaissance. The immense importance of access to these books may easily
be misunderstood at the present day; it is hard to realise completely
the limitations which surrounded the mediæval scholar, but once this is
achieved, the presence of these works, which reflected, if they did not
very accurately represent, the ideas of classical writers, will be fully
appreciated.
By his patronage of Oxford and his gifts of books Humphrey had inspired
his immediate successors to carry on his work, and to bring together the
materials for future generations to use. His work was crowned when Greek
came to be taught in England. He himself had known no Greek, Grey and
his friends had known but not imparted it; it remained for William
Selling of All Souls at Canterbury, and Thomas Linacre, William Grocyn,
and Thomas Latimer at Oxford, to bring this language and the literature
which it voiced to the knowledge of educated Englishmen. Linacre,
perhaps even more than his fellows, was cast in the mould that Humphrey
would have approved. Like Humphrey, he was a man of immensely wide
interests, not the dry-as-dust scholar, but the man of the world; like
Humphrey, he was a special student of medicine, a science which owed its
development in Italy to the discovery of the works of Hippocrates. At
the same time he, more than any one else, completed the edifice of which
Humphrey had built the foundations. Again we can trace the direct
influence of the Duke. This last band of scholars who finally
established the new learning in England were, like their predecessors,
all Oxonians. The University which Gloucester had started on the way of
good things was the parent of the new school of thought, it carried on
the work of its great patron. It is to the lasting fame of this
indifferent politician that through him the humanities came to be taught
in England, that through him Oxford was induced to lead the van in
introducing the new culture. We are apt to forget the debt we owe to
the work of these early intellectual reformers, and to minimise the
influence of the ideas they introduced on every aspect of our lives. Yet
reflection will give its due meed of praise to their laborious efforts,
and if it goes far enough back, will, like the Bidding Prayer read from
the pulpit of the University Church, place Duke Humphrey's name first on
the list of benefactors.
GLOUCESTER'S TITLE TO FAME
It is a relief to turn from the stormy political career of Duke Humphrey
to that sphere of his activity where undiluted praise can be given; to
forget that public life which was marred by instability and prejudice,
and to admire that industry which won him a great reputation both with
his contemporaries and with posterity. Yet we must not forget that many
of the qualities which led him to court disaster in public life were due
to his leanings towards a life of study. The circumstances of his life
and the tendencies of his age were against him. A student by nature and
a politician by birth, he had too much ambition and too little restraint
to choose the better path, and confine his energies to spreading the
gospel of the new learning. The man of letters is seldom wise in
adopting a life of political activity, and the case of Humphrey was in
some ways repeated later in the life of Bacon. Even if we place the Duke
of Gloucester amongst the worst types of political criminals--and we
have no adequate reason for so doing--we must accord him a position of
honour amongst those to whom posterity should be grateful. By those who
have laboured under the shadow of his personality in the Library which
preserves his name the memory of the 'Good Duke' must be cherished as an
inspiration. They indeed must catch something of the spirit which
enabled Hearne to speak of him as 'that religious, good and learned
prince whose handwriting I us'd, whenever I saw it in the Bodleian
Library ... to show a particular sort of respect to, as some little
Remains of a truly great Man, one that was both a Scholar himself, and
the chiefest Promoter of Learning and Scholars at that time.'[1400]
The first page of the Renaissance in England consists of the life of
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and all who value the inspiration to be
drawn from the new era in human thought which dates from that great
movement, must respect the memory of this great Lancastrian Prince.
FOOTNOTES:
[1265] Admundesham, _Annales_, ii. 233, and Introduction to vol ii.
p. liv.
[1266] Bale (1559 edition), 584.
[1267] Wheathampsted spent much money on other improvements to the
monastery as well. Dugdale, _Monasticon_, 199, 200.
[1268] Bodley MS., F. _infra_, i. 1. Inscription.
[1269] Arundel MS., 34, f. 666.
[1270] _Epist. Acad._, 237.
[1271] Amundesham, _Annales_, ii. App. A. 256.
[1272] _Epist. Acad._, 235. These two parts of his _Granarium_ which
Wheathampsted gave to Humphrey were at one time amongst the
books of Thomas Allen of Gloucester Hall. Twyne,
_Collectanea_, in the Oxford University Archives, vol. xviii.
p. 123.
[1273] Arundel MS., 34, f. 67.
[1274] See Early English Text Society's edition, 1893.
[1275] Bale, 582; Leland, _Commentarii_, 453.
[1276] Oriel MS., xxxii. f. 1vo. This dedication is printed in
Appendix IV. to Capgrave's _De Illustribus Henricis_, pp.
239-301.
[1277] Oriel MS., xxxii. f. 1vo.
[1278] Capgrave, _De Illustribus Henricis_, 109.
[1279] Bale, 583; Pits, 672.
[1280] Nicolaus Uptonus, _De Studio Militari_ (London, 1654), p. 2.
[1281] _History from Marble_, i, pp. 79 and clxviii.
[1282] _Ordinances_, iv, 345.
[1283] _Ibid._, iii. 99.
[1284] _Rot. Pat._, 25 _Henry VI._, Part i. m. 16.
[1285] _Beckington Correspondence_, ii. 255.
[1286] _Beckington Correspondence, passim._
[1287] Foxe, _Acts and Monuments_, iii. 731.
[1288] Ramsay, ii. 203. No authority is given for the statement.
[1289] See _Political Songs, passim_. Cf. Stow, 385.
[1290] Harleian MS., 2251, ff. 279vo-282vo; Additional MS., 29, 729,
ff. 157vo-161.
[1291] Ashmole MS., 59, ff. 57-59.
[1292] Harleian MS., 2251, ff. 7-8vo; Additional MS., 34, 360, ff.
65vo-67vo.
[1293] Caxton's edition of the _Falls of Princes_ (1494). Cf. MS. 23
of the Library of the Earl of Jersey at Osterley Park, _Hist.
MSS. Report_, viii. Part i. p. 100.
[1294] Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. français, 12,421.
[1295] On this point see Hortis, 646.
[1296] _Minor Poems of Lydgate_, Percy Society Publications (London,
1840), ii. 49-51.
[1297] Bodley MS., 263, ff. 5, 6.
[1298] The poem is printed in F. J. Furnivall's _Manners and Meals
in Olden Times_ (Early English Text Society, 1868), pp.
115-198.
[1299] _Letters of Queen Margaret_, edited by Cecil Monro (Camden
Society, 1863), p. 114.
[1300] Amundesham, _Annales_, ii. Appendix D, p. 295.
[1301] Cotton MS., Claudius, D. I, f. 8vo; Letter of Wheathampsted
to Norton.
[1302] See Warton, iii. 131.
[1302] Bodley MS., Arch. F. d. 1. A photographic reproduction of a
MS. once in the possession of Earl Fitzwilliam at
Wentworth-Woodhouse, but now denied to be there. It has been
published by A. S. Napier.
[1304] Palladius, p. 66.
[1305] _Ibid._, p. 85.
[1306] Palladius, p. 22.
[1307] _Ibid._, pp. 21, 22.
[1308] Bodley MS., Arch. F. d. 1, f. 12; Palladius, p. 22.
[1309] Palladius, p. 21. Cf. _St. Albans Chron._, i. 12-17.
[1310] _Epist. Acad._, 103.
[1311] _Epist. Acad._, 198-241.
[1312] _Munimenta Acad._, 266.
[1313] _Ibid._, 277-279.
[1314] _Epist. Acad._, 152.
[1315] _Ibid._, 106.
[1316] _Ibid._, 201-211.
[1317] _Ibid._, 645.
[1318] _Munimenta Acad._, 333-335; _Epist. Acad._, 266.
[1319] _Epist. Acad._, 61.
[1320] _Ibid._, 77-79.
[1321] _Beckington Correspondence_, ii. 256-258.
[1322] _Epist. Acad._, 162-168.
[1323] _Ibid._, 61, 62.
[1324] _Epist. Acad._, 64, 65.
[1325] _Ibid._, 105, 196.
[1326] _Ibid._, 152.
[1327] _Ibid._, 35-37.
[1328] _Beckington Correspondence_, ii. 249, 250; _Epist. Acad._,
110.
[1329] _Epist. Acad._, 115-133.
[1330] _Ibid._, 134, 135.
[1331] _Ibid._, 136.
[1332] _Epist. Acad._, 155-157.
[1333] _Ibid._, 139, 140. It was also through Gloucester's influence
that Bedford was induced to promise to endow his
lectureships; _Ibid._, 81-83, 95.
[1334] _Ibid._, 152, 153.
[1335] _Munimenta Acad._, 266, 267.
[1336] _Epist. Acad._, 114, 115.
[1337] The numbers are variously stated in different letters as 120,
126, and 129. This last corresponds with the number of books
in the indenture; _Ibid._, 179-183.
[1338] _Ibid._, 177-179, 184.
[1339] _Ibid._, 177-179. This was not the first time that Gloucester
had been likened to Julius Cæsar.
[1340] _Epist. Acad._, 184.
[1341] _Munimenta Acad._, 758; _Epist. Acad._, 179.
[1342] _Epist. Acad._, 198, 204, 205.
[1343] _Ibid._, 232-237. The indenture mentions one hundred and
thirty-five volumes as the total, but only one hundred and
thirty-four are given in the list.
[1344] _Ibid., passim._
[1345] Additional MS., 4608, f. 100, 100vo.
[1346] By counting the same items more than once Anthony Wood brings
the total to five hundred and thirty-nine; Wood, _History of
the Antiquities of the University of Oxford_, 914, 915.
[1347] _Munimenta Acad._, 261-266.
[1348] _Ibid._, 326-328; _Epist. Acad._, 188-191.
[1349] _Epist. Acad._, 245.
[1350] _Epist. Acad._, 245, 246.
[1351] _Ibid._, 533.
[1352] It has been stated that these books were ultimately obtained,
but there is no reason to believe this, though ten years
later thirteen volumes, originally bequeathed by some one,
were recovered; _Epist. Acad._, 483. Cf. Wood, _History of
the Antiquities of the University of Oxford_, 915. In 1453 we
hear that all the volumes of this bequest were scattered in
private hands; _Epist. Acad._, 318, 319.
[1353] _Epist. Acad._, 254.
[1354] _Munimenta Acad._, 735.
[1355] _Munimenta Acad._, 376.
[1356] _Ibid._, 329, 330; _Epist. Acad._, 256.
[1357] _Epist. Acad._, 241.
[1358] _Ibid._, 178.
[1359] _Ibid._, 198.
[1360] See Macray, _Annals of Bodleian_, 13.
[1361] On 1st March 1544 a certain John Stanshawe, gentleman, stole
from the church of St. Mary 'unam Zonam de argent. aurat.
voc. le Duke Humfrey's gyrdyll.' _Letters and Papers, Foreign
and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII._ (London, 1905),
vol. xx. Part 1. p. 655.
[1362] _Epist. Acad._, 373. Letter of the University of Oxford to
Wheathampsted.
[1363] Leland, _Collectanea_, iii. 58; Hearne, MS. Diary, xxxvi. f.
199. It is probable that this motto was used by Gilbert
Kymer. It is found stamped on the binding of a medical work
written for him and now preserved in the Bodleian Library
(Laud MS., 558). Another binding which encloses another
medical treatise written by the same scribe, and presumably
also for Kymer, now in the Merton College Library, bears the
same legend. (Merton College MS., 268.) My attention has been
drawn to this by Mr. Gibson of the Bodleian Library.
[1364] The books alluded to are to be found in the indentures
printed in _Epist. Acad., passim_.
[1365] Leland, _Commentarii_, 453.
[1366] Livius, 2.
[1367] Basin, i. 189.
[1368] Capgrave, _De Illustribus Henricis_, 109.
[1369] Lincoln MS., 106, f. 359vo.
[1370] See Appendix A.
[1371] Bibliothèque de Ste. Geneviève, MS. français, 777.
[1372] Cambridge University Library, MS. Ee. 2, 17.
[1373] See letters in _Beckington Correspondence_, i. 283, 284,
290-293.
[1374] _Epist. Acad._, 246.
[1375] The book borrowed from Oxford was a copy of the _Phædrus_ of
Plato. In the _Epistolæ Academicæ_ this volume is called the
'Phædo,' but a reference to the entry in the Register shows
it to be a misprint for the _Phædrus_, a mistake first
discovered by Mr. Gibson of the Bodleian Library.
[1376] Cambridge University Library, MS. Ee. 2, 17.
[1377] Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. français, 12,583.
[1378] Cotton MS., Nero, E. v.
[1379] Royal MS., 19, C. iv.
[1380] Oriel College MS., xxxii.
[1381] Harleian MS., 33; King's College MS., 27.
[1382] Egerton MS., 617, 618; Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. français,
2.
[1383] For a description of these volumes see Appendix A.
[1384] Leland tells us that Gloucester received many beautiful
illuminated books as presents from religious houses.
_Collectanea_, iii. 58.
[1385] _Hist. MSS. Rep._, v. 517, and xi. 174.
[1386] Oriel College MS., xxxii.
[1387] Corpus Christi College MS., ccxliii.
[1388] Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. latin, 8537.
[1389] Bodley MS., Hatton, 36.
[1390] Bibliothèque de Ste. Geneviève, MS. français, 777.
[1391] Bibliothèque Nationale MS., français, 12,421.
[1392] Cambridge University Library, MS. Ee. 2, 17.
[1393] Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. français, 2.
[1394] Bale (1559 ed.), 583.
[1395] Arundel MS. 60, ff. 277vo-287vo. Cf. Tanner, _Bib. Brit._,
420, 421.
[1396] Einstein, 15.
[1397] See Vespasiano, 238; and Sir Arthur Collins's _Collections
for the Family of Holles_ (1752), 52, 53.
[1398] Leland, _Commentarii_, 462.
[1399] Above, p. 351.
[1400] Hearne's Introduction to _Peter Langtoft's Chronicle_
(Oxford, 1725), p. xx.
APPENDIX A
BOOKS ONCE BELONGING TO GLOUCESTER STILL EXTANT
The dispersion of a Library is in all cases unfortunate, but most
especially so when it serves as a monument to a great personality. Even
as Petrarch's two hundred manuscripts are scattered and lost so that not
forty of them can be now identified, so Duke Humphrey's private library
and the books he presented to Oxford, which in all must have numbered
five hundred at least, are now recognisable only in a very few
instances. Only three of the manuscripts given to Oxford repose now on
the shelves of the Bodleian, and these have not continued there since
the days when they were transferred thither from the chests of Cobham's
Library. The first of these is a copy of the letters of Nicholas de
Clemenges (Hatton MS., 36), a French theologian and Rector of the
University of Paris, who died about 1440. The book was a present to
Gloucester from one of the Canons of Rouen, and formed part of his last
donation. The first folio has been torn out, but the opening words of
the second are 'O nos,' which corresponds to the entry in the University
indenture, though the scribe by a slip of the pen has transcribed it 'O
vos' (_Epist. Acad._, 235). The last folio bears the Duke's inscription,
'Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre du don maistre Guillaum
erare docteur en theologie chanoyne de Ram.' A still more interesting
volume in the same library is that which contains the Letters of the
Younger Pliny (Bodley MS., Auct. F. 2, 23, at present on view in glass
case No. 1), probably one of the books sent over from Italy by Candido.
It also bears the Duke's autograph, 'Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de
Gloucestre,' and formed part of the same gift as the letters of Nicholas
de Clemenges (_Epist. Acad._, 235). Both these manuscripts were in
private hands in the seventeenth century, the former owned by Henry
Holford of Long Stanton, the latter by Dr. Robert Master, Bishop of
Lichfield. Notes to this effect are appended in the respective
manuscripts.
A more doubtful authenticity attaches to a third manuscript in the
Bodleian Library, which contains Bruni's translations of Aristotle's
_Politics_ (Bodley MS., 2143 [Auct. F. 27]). Therein is contained a
dedication to Humphrey and the letter from the translator quoted in the
text (see p. 352). At the end there is an erased and unrestorable
inscription placed exactly in the position that Humphrey almost
invariably used for his autograph. Unfortunately the two first folios of
the text proper are missing, though the prefatory letter is intact, but
in no case did the University scribes count the folios from anywhere but
the beginning of the book itself, all prefatory matter being
disregarded. The possibility of proving that this is the actual volume
presented to Oxford is thus removed, and when we remember that the terms
of the letter preceding the translation show that the original copy had
reached its destination before this letter was written, we must doubt
that this was the volume received from Italy. Possibly, and almost
probably, this manuscript in the Bodleian was a copy of the original
translation, made by one of Gloucester's secretaries, with the letter
written by Bruni introduced by way of preface. Two other manuscripts in
the Bodleian Library are copies of work given by Humphrey to Oxford, one
the 'De Regimine Principum' of Egidius (Hatton MS., 15), the other the
moral treatise dedicated by Piero del Monte to the Duke (Bodley MS.,
3618 [E. Museo, 119]). Neither of these belonged to Gloucester, nor do
they correspond to their fellows in the indenture. By a strange error
another manuscript in the same Library, containing the last six books of
the historical anecdotes of Valerius Maximus and notes thereon (Bodley
MS., F. _infra_, i. 1), has been numbered among Gloucester's books
(Macray, _Annals of the Bodleian_). The mistake probably arose from the
fact that the Duke's arms appear on the first folio, but an inscription
plainly refutes the theory, and shows that the book was given 'ad usum
scolarium studencium Oxonie' by Abbot Wheathampsted. It was given
therefore for the use of the 'scholars' of the University, and the
presence of the arms is explicable, if we remember that Humphrey was
Wheathampsted's friend and patron, and that another copy of this book
was probably given by the Abbot to Gloucester. It is even possible that
the copying of the book was undertaken at Gloucester's suggestion, and
that his arms were placed there in token of this.
Outside the University Library three Oxford Colleges can boast the
possession of a manuscript which belonged to Humphrey. In the Library of
Corpus Christi there is preserved a large folio volume (Corpus Christi
MS., ccxliii.), containing numerous treatises of a philosophic nature in
Latin, all in the handwriting of 'Fredericus Naghel de Trajecto,' and
dated 1423 'in alma Universitate Oxoniensi.' Amongst the most
interesting items are Latin translations of the _Phædo_ and _Meno_ of
Plato, the last of which concludes the volume, and is followed by
Gloucester's autograph, 'Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre
du don (some words are here erased) treschier en Dieu labbe de seint
Albon.' A note in a later hand tells us that in 1557 the manuscript
belonged to a certain John Dee, who had bought it by weight. Though it
cannot be stated definitely, as the earlier folios are missing, yet
there seems little doubt that this volume did not ever belong to the
University Library. At Oriel there is a manuscript to which we have
already had reason to refer, the 'Commentary on the Book of Genesis' by
John Capgrave (Oriel MS., xxxii.), which according to a concluding note
was written between October 1437 and September 1438. The initial
letter of the dedication contains a miniature in which a very
simple-minded-looking monk is presenting his book to a still more
simple-minded patron, evidently meant to represent Capgrave and
Gloucester, though it gives no suggestion of portraiture. At the end of
the Commentary the Duke has appended his autograph, 'Cest livre est A
moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre du don frere Jehan Capgrave quy le me fist
presenter a mon manoir de Pensherst le jour de lan lan [M] ccccxxxviii.'
This book formed part of the last donation of Gloucester to the
University (_Epist. Acad._, 233).
In the Magdalen College Library another of Gloucester's books is to be
found. This is the copy of Ptolemy's 'Cosmographia' (Magdalen MS., 37),
which was given to Oxford in 1443, though the scribe who drew up the
indenture of books transcribed the first words of the second folio as
'vel toto' (_Epist. Acad._, 236), while in the manuscript they are 'vel
tota,' obviously merely a clerical error. At the end of this work an
erased inscription, when treated with chemicals, reveals Humphrey's
autograph, 'Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre.' Bound up
with the 'Cosmographia' in a sixteenth-century binding are three
translations from the Greek by Antonio Pasini. The first of these is
Plutarch's 'Life of Marius,' which is dedicated to Gloucester, but the
other two, though in the same hand, have no mention of the Duke. This
volume, which in the present manuscript occupies the first sixty folios,
has an erased inscription at the end, but all efforts to restore it fail
to reveal any more than 'Cest livre' at the beginning, and a date at the
end. No mention is made of this work amongst the books of Humphrey's
gifts, and therefore it probably never belonged to the Oxford Library;
on the other hand, it may be one of the volumes that belonged to the
Duke, for the inscription is placed at the end in the not very usual
place that he nearly always used, and the first two words, in so far as
they can be read, seem to be in his handwriting. Added to this, I
believe this copy to be unique, so it is possibly a book acquired by
Humphrey late in life, and never copied by his secretaries. It may be
one of the volumes so vainly sought for by the University after the
death of the donor.
In the British Museum there are nine volumes that once belonged to
Gloucester. Among the Harleian manuscripts there is a treatise on
heretics by William of Occam (Harleian MS., 33), which was one of the
books conveyed to Oxford in 1443 (_Epist. Acad._, 233). Unlike all the
other books known to have belonged to Humphrey, it bears no inscription,
and depends for its verification solely on the correspondence of the
first words of the second folio. The volume has been bound up with what
seems to be part of a fourteenth-century collection of extracts from the
Fathers, two folios of which appear at the beginning and two at the end.
On the second of these folios is pasted a square slip of paper bearing
Gloucester's arms, roughly executed, and the inscription 'Ex dono
illustrissimi principis et domini. Domini Humfredi filii fratris regum
et patrui. Ducis Gloucestrie comitis Pembrochie et magni camerarii
Anglie.' The wording of this label suggests that it was a kind of
book-plate placed on the volumes of the Duke's gifts to distinguish them
from the other books in the Oxford Library, and the present appearance
almost conclusively proves this. It is very dirty, and has evidently
been exposed on the outside of a book, and the corners are worn away, as
though it had been lifted from some other place. In all probability its
original position was on a panel of the binding, and when this was
renewed, it was removed to its present position on the spare leaves,
which must have been inserted at the time of re-binding. That no other
volume known to have been in the Oxford Library bears this label is no
argument against the theory that all the books of Duke Humphrey's gifts
were thus marked, for the plunderer does not expend his pains in
preserving the indications that his booty was once the property of
another. The absence of these book-plates is only the result of the
policy which has erased so many of the autograph inscriptions in
Gloucester's books, and thus increased the difficulty of tracing these
volumes tenfold.
A still more interesting manuscript in the Harleian collection contains
the first five books of Candido's translation of Plato's _Republic_
(Harleian MS., 1705), and is evidently the same copy which was sent over
from Italy by the translator, for the inscription in Gloucester's
handwriting on the verso of the last folio runs, 'Cest livre est A moy
Homfrey duc de Gloucestre du don P. Candidus secretaire du duc de
Milan.' The volume is beautifully written on fine vellum with many
illuminated letters, but many of the leaves are now missing, and some of
the illuminations have been cut out. Prefixed to the actual translation
are the earlier letters exchanged between the Duke and his translator.
The book has never belonged to the Oxford Library, doubtless because it
contains only the first half of the _Republic_, and so Candido's request
that it should not be shown abroad in view of the corrections he had
made in the translation was respected (_Eng. Hist. Review_, xix. 516).
The translation of the _Republic_ given to Oxford we must believe was
the complete work, and this did not reach the Duke till some time after
the copy of the first five books. These two Harleian volumes must be the
books which Hearne refers to, when he says in 1714 that the Earl of
Oxford possessed two manuscripts once the property of Gloucester
(Hearne, _Remarks and Collections_, Oxford Hist. Society, 1885-1898, iv.
421).
A book from the Oxford Library is preserved amongst the Cottonian
manuscripts in the British Museum, and consists of the collected
ordinances and decrees of the Council of Constance (Cotton MS., Nero, E.
v.). The last two folios are devoted to a short description of the
origin of the Scotch nation, and the rights of the Kings of England over
those of the sister kingdom. At the end of the last sentence Gloucester
has written, 'Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre lequel
jachetay des executeurs maistre Thomas Polton feu eveque de Wurcestre.'
Several more of Humphrey's books are still extant in the old Royal
Collection of manuscripts, now in the British Museum. A beautifully
illuminated fourteenth-century volume entitled _Chroniques des Roys de
France jusques a la mort de St. Loys l'an 1270_ (Royal MS., 15, G. vi.)
bears the inscription, 'Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre
du don des Executeurs le Seigneur de Faunhere,' but it was not included
in the gifts to Oxford. In the same collection there is a volume
containing several translations of the works of St. Athanasius (Royal
MS., 5, F, ii.). The original format of this manuscript is a matter of
uncertainty. The first treatise begins abruptly without title or
address, save in small letters above the text, 'lege feliciter
serenissime Princeps'; at the beginning of the second book of the
treatise the title runs 'Athanasii viri sanctissimi de humanitate verbi
contra gentes liber secundus incipit ex graeco in latinum conversus per
antonium Beccariam veronensem ad serenissimum ac illustrissimum
principem ducem Gloucestrie dominum suum singularissimum.' A fly-leaf,
which may have been originally the termination of a volume, divides the
first from the second treatise, which begins on folio 70. This ends on
folio 91, and on the verso stands the Duke's autograph, 'Cest livre est
A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre lequel jay fait translater de grec en
lattyn par Antoyne de Beccara Veroneys mon serviteur.' This may be the
end of one volume, and the treatise which begins on the next page may be
the opening of another one. It begins with a dedicatory epistle to
Gloucester, which by its phraseology seems to be the opening of a new
book (see p. 377, note 1247), and whereas the earlier part of the present
volume is illustrated, this second portion has only the blank spaces
left for such adornment. There are on this page none of the signs of
wear which might suggest that it had been the first sheet of an
independent volume, but it is possible that it was never much used, and
only acquired late in life by Gloucester. A later owner may have bound
up the two volumes together, and handed them down to us in their present
shape. It seems thus most probable that in Duke Humphrey's day this
manuscript consisted of two volumes, else he would not twice have
appended his autograph, nor probably have varied it in the same book,
for an inscription at the end of the last treatise reads 'Cest livre est
A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucester lequel je fis translater de grec en
latin par un de mes secretaires Antoyne de Beccara ne de Verone.' The
first volume corresponds in its second folio to an entry in the Oxford
Register (_Epist. Acad._, 767. The second folio in the register is
marked 'racti quae,' whilst in the manuscript it is 'rati quae,'
probably only a clerical error. The University scribe also misnamed the
volume as 'Athanasius, de Trinitate'), and so was part of the gifts to
that University; the second probably never passed out of its owner's
hands till his death. At one time this manuscript, in its present shape,
was in the possession of a certain Mr. Fowler of Hampton, near
Cirencester (James MS., 30, p. 84).
A very interesting copy of the 'Historia Anglie' of Matthew Paris (Royal
MS., 14, C. vii.) likewise belonged to Duke Humphrey, though it was not
presented to Oxford. The 'History' is in the author's own hand, but is
continued down to 1273 by some other chronicler. When finished by Paris
it was presented by him to the Abbey of St. Albans whence it may have
been given to Gloucester by Wheathampsted. At the end there is an
inscription, which when restored by a chemical reagent was read by Sir
Frederick Madden as 'Cest livre A moy Homffrey duc de Gloucestre'
(Introduction to Matthew Paris, _Historia Anglorum_ (Rolls Series,
1866-1869), pp. xxxviii-xl). The erasure has been so carefully effected
that under all circumstances the words are hard to decipher, but a close
inspection seems to reveal that the inscription is that of Humphrey, and
that it follows the spelling which he invariably used: 'Cest (not ceste)
livre est A moy Homfrey (not Homffrey) duc de Gloucestre.'
Also in the Royal Collection there is a French version of the 'Somnium
Viridarii,' originally written about 1376 (Royal MS., 19, C. iv.). 'Le
Songe du Vergier,' as the French title runs, is in the form of a
discussion, a method so popular at that period, between a knight and
clerk on the question of the relative spheres of the spiritual and
temporal powers. This manuscript, which was once the property of King
Charles V. of France, is beautifully illuminated throughout, and is
illustrated at the beginning of each of the two books of which it is
composed. At the end an erased but just decipherable inscription reads,
'Cest livre est a moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre (see Paleographical
Society's _Facsimiles_, Second Series, Plate 169, and also Paulin Paris,
_Manuscrits Français_ (Paris 1840), iii. 299-328). Neither this nor a
still more beautifully adorned volume containing certain selected Psalms
(Royal MS., 2, B. i.) was given to Oxford. This last is ornamented
throughout with initial letters and pendants in gold and colours, those
in the calendar at the beginning being particularly finely executed. On
the first page of the text Gloucester's arms appear in two different
places, and the next page is headed by a minature, which we may perhaps
take to represent the Duke kneeling at a Prie-Dieu, and being presented
to the Saviour by one who may be St. Alban, or more probably David.
Humphrey is here represented as quite a young man, which would agree
with the date of the volume, which may be fixed about 1415. (See
_Facsimiles of MS. and Inscriptions_, published by the Palæographical
Society, Second Series, Plate 201.) Besides the Psalms and calendar
above mentioned a few Latin prayers are added, and the whole is preceded
by a dedication to God's service. At the end stands the inscription,
'Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre des seaulmes les quels
jay esleus du saultier,' of which the first part is only legible when
restored by chemicals. Those who secured the books of the dead Duke were
remarkably anxious to remove the traces of his ownership, even when they
were not part of his gifts to Oxford. This book is an interesting
personal relic of Gloucester, and apart from this it is also a very
favourable specimen of the art of the period.
Amongst the Egerton manuscripts in the British Museum there is an
English version of the Holy Scriptures, usually called Wycliff's Bible,
in two volumes, with the books up to the Proverbs omitted (Egerton MSS.,
617 and 618). At the end is a calendar of the Gospels and Epistles for
the year according to the Sarum use. The manuscripts bear no
inscription, but we may surmise that it belonged to Humphrey by the
presence of his coat of arms in the centre of the second folio above the
text. This is not a conclusive proof of possession, as we have seen in
the case of the book given by Wheathampsted to Oxford, but in the
absence of any hostile evidence it may be accepted.
Yet one other book which may be put down among the possessions of Duke
Humphrey survives in the British Museum, a vellum folio containing a
medical treatise by the most famous of all the Arabian writers on
surgery, Aboo-l-Kassim, who flourished in the latter part of the
eleventh century. The title runs 'Albucasis sive Albukassem Khalof Ebn
Abbas Al-Zaharias Antidotarium per Lodaycum Tetrafarmacum e lingua
Arabica translatum' (Sloane MS., 248). At the end of the text an
inscription has been erased and its restoration is impossible, though
the first three words, 'Cest livre est,' can just be made out, and after
this there seem to be traces of the big 'A' with the particular flourish
the Duke always used when writing his name in his books. On the top of
the first leaf is written 'Loyale et belle a Gloucester,' and again on
a blank leaf at the end in the same hand occurs 'Loyale et belle de
Gloucestre. Loyalement voster la Duchesse.' These last two sentences are
repeated on the next blank leaf. The meaning of these inscriptions is
not evident, though we know that the Duke adopted the motto, 'Loyale et
belle.' In default of better evidence they seem to suggest that the
book, once the property of Gloucester, was given by him to his wife.
Outside Oxford and the British Museum there are in England four
manuscripts which are thought to have once formed part of the Duke's
library. In the possession of Mr. Henry Yates Thompson, of 19 Portman
Square, London, there is a Psalter with an erased inscription at the end
of the text, which, when treated with a chemical reagent, reveals the
words, 'Cest livre est A moy Homfrey fiz frere et uncle de roys duc de
Gloucestre comte de pembroc grant chambellan dangleterre, etc.' (Henry
Yates Thompson MS., 58. Cf. the descriptive _Catalogue of the Thompson
Collection_ (Second Series, Cambridge, 1902), pp. 75-81). This book was
originally copied for the family of St. Omer of Mulbarton in Norfolk,
and the illuminations, which make it one of the most beautiful examples
of English art in two periods, are distinctly of the East Anglian
school. The latter part of the volume was left unfinished, though part
of the illuminating work must have been executed early in the fifteenth
century. The absence of the Gloucester coat of arms in any part of the
book shows that it must have been in its present state of completion
when it came into the Duke's hands.
Another brightly decorated manuscript was till lately preserved in the
library of Earl Fitzwilliam at Wentworth-Woodhouse in the shape of an
English verse translation of Palladius, _De Re Rustica_
(Wentworth-Woodhouse MS., Z. i. 32). It is brilliantly illuminated, the
poem being written in scarlet, crimson, blue, and green, with a few
words in gold, and the effect is naturally more startling than
beautiful. The book is bound richly but roughly in Russian leather, and
inserted in the cover is an enamel of a woman of good but heavy
features. Round this enamel runs the legend, 'Jacqueline, Dutchess of
Bavaria, Countess of Holland, Zealand, and Hainault, wife to Humfrey,
Duke of Gloucester, 1427.' We gather from a modern fly-leaf that this
manuscript was in a 'rotten wood binding' in 1767, and the enamel was
'judged proper to make a part of the new binding.' According to the
canons of Labarte this portrait cannot be earlier than the sixteenth
century. (Inquiry at Wentworth-Woodhouse has resulted in a declaration
that no such volume is now known to exist there. In the Bodleian
Library, however, there is a photographic facsimile of it made in 1888.
Bodley MS., Arch. F. d. 1.) The proem to this translation contains a
good deal about Gloucester's books at Oxford, and his relationship to
the Italian Humanists in England. This, together with the portrait, have
been declared undoubted evidence that it was the copy presented to
Humphrey, and the presence of his arms in the initial letter of the poem
strengthens, though it does not entirely confirm, this suggestion (see
article in the _Athenæum_ for November 17, 1888, p. 664). On the other
hand, the fact that the introduction and text are written in different
hands, would lead us to think that this was not the copy presented by
the author to his patron.
The Cambridge University Library possesses a volume at the end of which
occurs the inscription, 'Cest livre est A moy Honfrey duc de Gloucestre
du don mess Robert Roos chevalier mon cousin' (Cambridge University
Library, MS. Ee. 2, 17. It is described by P. Mayer in _Romania_, xv.
264, 265). It contains the last two sheets of a French translation of
the _De Regimine Principum_ of Ægidius Romanus, and the _Rei Militaris
Instituta_ of Flavius Renatus Vegetius, also translated into French by
Jean de Vignai. Also at Cambridge, in the Library of King's College,
there is a manuscript which is thought to have once belonged to Duke
Humphrey. This is a translation of some of the speeches of St.
Athanasius by Antonio Beccaria, and is written in an Italian hand of the
fifteenth century (King's College MS., 27). Prefixed is a dedication to
the Duke, one leaf of which is missing, but it bears no inscription, nor
are there signs of there ever having been one. This volume is the only
surviving relic of the original library of the college, and it has been
suggested that, since it is dedicated to Humphrey, it was part of his
library, and given by Henry VI., with others of his uncle's books, to
the college of his foundation, as some part of the spoils shared among
the King's favourites after the tragedy of Bury. The old library
catalogue, which dates from 1453, helps to confirm this theory, for in
it occur translations of Plato and Plutarch, and several of the Latin
classics, which give a tone to the collection unlikely to be borrowed
from any one but the late Duke of Gloucester (see _Catalogue of MSS. of
King's College_, by Montague Rhodes James (Cambridge, 1905,) pp. 46, 47,
70, 71). The theory is ingenious and worth considering; at any rate it
suggests a possible destination for those books which the University of
Oxford sought so long and so vainly to obtain.
Some of Gloucester's books in course of time have found their way across
the Channel, and six volumes, once part of his library, are now extant
in France. In the Bibliothèque Nationale there are two Latin books which
bear his autograph. The first is a collection of ancient panegyrics
(Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. latin, 7805), on the first fly-leaf of
which is written in the scribe's hand, 'Est illustrissimi domini ducis
Gloucestrensis,' which shows that the volume was written for Gloucester
himself. These panegyrics are addressed by ancient writers to various
emperors, the most interesting being one composed by the Younger Pliny
for the benefit of Trajan. The whole manuscript is written in a neat
Italian hand of the fifteenth century, and bears an illuminated letter
at the beginning of each panegyric. On the verso of the last folio
Humphrey has written 'Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre,'
and by him it was given to Oxford in 1443 (_Epist. Acad._, 235). The
other Latin work is a collection of the letters of Cicero, which was
given to the Duke by his friend Zano, Bishop of Bayeux (Bibliothèque
Nationale, MS. latin, 8537). It is written in a clear, clerkly hand of
the fifteenth century, and adorned with occasional illuminated letters.
The copyist was evidently no Greek scholar, for there are frequent gaps
left for words of that language, which are supplied in a scrawling hand,
with the Latin equivalents above. Several letters to Atticus are
included, and the earlier ones are either addressed to or received from
Brutus. At the end of the last folio is written, in large uncertain
capital letters, 'Rudolfus Johannis de Misotis de Feraria SS. MCCCCXV.'
Below this again the Duke has written, 'Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc
de Gloucestre du don Reverend piere en Dieu Zanon eveque de Bayeux.' The
volume was probably purchased by Zano in Italy and presented to his
friend when he returned to England to visit him, later passing by the
gift of 1439 into the possession of the University of Oxford (_Epist.
Acad._, 183).
In the same library we find three French manuscripts which Gloucester
once possessed, and which, owing to the language in which they are
written, do not naturally form part of his gifts to Oxford, consisting
as these did exclusively of Latin works. An elaborately illuminated
manuscript bearing the title 'Le Bible hystoriaux' (Bibliothèque
Nationale, MS. français, 2) bears on the last folio written in a large
hand, not that of the scribe, the inscription, 'Le dixiesme jour de
Septembre lan mil quatrecens vingt sept fut cest livre donne a tres
hault & tres puissant prince Humfrey duc de Gloucestre Conte de Haynau
Holland, etc., & protecteur & deffenseur d'engleterre par Sire Jehan
Stanley Chevalier ledit prince estant en l'abbaye notre dame A Chestre.'
In this French version of the Scriptures the books are arranged in an
arbitrary order, and in the New Testament everything after the Epistle
to the Hebrews is omitted. The pages are all adorned with elaborate
floral decorations, and they also bear numerous small illustrations of
varying artistic value, some reaching a respectable standard, others
being grotesque even for the age in which they were produced. The volume
was originally written for William, Bishop of Sens, and in 1451 was
bought in London by Philip de Loan, who was in the service of Philip,
Duke of Burgundy. Thus one at least of Gloucester's books passed to the
Court of his great enemy.
The second of the French books once belonging to Humphrey, and now in
this library, is a translation of the _Decameron_ of Boccaccio
(Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. français, 12,421). It is but poorly
written, though a small portion of it is in a slightly better hand than
the rest. A few coloured letters relieve the monotony of bad writing,
and some fairly frequent illustrations help to give colour to the
manuscript. Some of the last are typical fifteenth-century work,
possibly slightly less grotesque than those in the last-mentioned
volume. Others, however, are beautifully executed in water-colours, and
appear to be of a much later date. The presumption is that the original
illustrator did not fill up all the spaces at his disposal, and that a
later artist, who betrays more technical ability than even the
fifteenth-century painter, Jean Fouquet, completed the work. At the end
of the last folio there is to be found a faded yet quite legible
inscription, which shows traces of an attempt at erasure. It reads,
'Cest livre est A moy Homfrey duc de Gloucestre du don mon tres chier
cousin le conte de Warwic.' Less ornate is the third French manuscript
in the Bibliothèque Nationale, which we can trace back to Duke
Humphrey's library (Bibliothèque Nationale, MS. français, 12,583). This
is a poorly written copy of the early French romance, _Le Roman de
Renard_. At the head of the first words stands a picture of inferior
execution, and beyond this no adornment is attempted. The text ends
abruptly on the 48th folio, and shows traces of mutilation. The fly-leaf
at the beginning is pasted down, and on it is cut 'Homfrey' in fairly
large characters. This seems to be a later addition, as an experimental
'H' has been cut higher up on the page, and its tail cuts the 'de' in
the following inscription, 'Cest livre est a Humfrey duc de Gloucestre.'
The writing of this is not in the hand of Duke Humphrey, though there
seems no reason to doubt the accuracy of the statement.
The list of Gloucester's books now extant in Paris is brought to a
conclusion with a large folio volume of 433 folios containing Livy's
_Roman History_ translated into French by Pierre Bersuyre, or Bercheure,
or Berchoire, and dedicated to King John of France (Bibliothèque de Ste.
Geneviève, MS. français, 777). The manuscript is beautifully
illuminated, and at the head of the title-page there stands a painting
divided into nine medallions showing various episodes in the history of
Rome. There are two other large title-pages in the volume, and others
have been cut out. This manuscript must have formed part of Charles V.'s
library, for the colours of the illuminations are blue, red, and white,
such as are found in all his books. Thence it probably passed into the
possession of Charles VI., for a volume closely resembling it is to be
found in the catalogue of this king's library drawn up by order of
Bedford (_Catalogue des Manuscrits de la Bibliothèque de Sainte
Geneviève_, par Ch. Kohler (Paris, 1893), vol. i. p. 370, quoting a MS.
in the same library). The English regent sent it to his brother, who in
his turn possibly sent it to Alfonso of Aragon. Below a rubbed space at
the end of the last sentence, which is supposed to have held the _ex
libris_ of Charles VI., stand these words, 'Cest livre fut envoye des
parties de France et donne par mons le regent le royaume duc de Bedford
a mons le duc de Gloucestre son beau frere l'an mil quatre cens vingt
sept.'
Thus of the great library, at the size of which we can only guess, only
some twenty-seven works in twenty-nine volumes, at the most generous
computation, survive. Others there may be which have escaped the notice
of librarians, cataloguers, and the researches of the present writer, or
may lie buried in the dust of unexplored libraries. Yet even were this
list of survivals to be doubled or trebled the loss would be enormous.
APPENDIX B
THE TOMB OF HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER
In Cotton MS., Claudius, A. viii. ff. 195-198, there is an entry of
which the title runs: 'In this sedule be conteyned the charges and
observances appointed by the noble Prince Humfrey late Duke Gloucester
to be perpetually boren by thabbot and Convent of the Monastery of Seint
Alban.' The entries contained in the schedule are as follows:--
Paid by the said Abbot and convent 'for making of the tombe and place of
sepulture,' £433, 6s. 8d.
To two priests for saying Mass daily at the altar of the tomb at the
rate of 6d. a day each. £18, 5s. per annum.
To the Abbot for his expenses on the 'day of anniversary of the Duke,'
40s. per annum, and to the Prior for the same, 20s. per annum.
To 40 monks in orders, to be paid on this 'day of anniversary' every
year, 6s. 8d. each, £13s, 6s. 8d.
To 8 monks as above on the same day, 3s. 4d. each, £1, 6s. 8d.
To an 'ankress' at St. Peter's Church and another at St. Michael's on
that same day each year, 20d.
To be distributed to the poor on that day each year, 40s.
To 13 poor men bearing torches round the tomb on that day each year, 2s.
6d. each, £1, 8s. 2d.
To wax burnt daily at the Duke's Mass and torches at his anniversary,
£6, 13s. 4d.
To the kitchen of the monastery 'in relief of the great decay of the
livelod of the said monasterie in the marches of Scotland, which before
time had been appointed to the said Kechyn,' £60 per annum.
In payment for these expenses, the Duke transferred to the monastery the
alien Priory of Pembroke in his possession.
(This schedule is printed in Dugdale's _Monasticon_, ii. 202, and in the
notes to the _English Chronicle_, edited by J. S. Davies, p. 195.)
On the south wall of St. Alban's shrine, close to Humphrey's tomb, an
epitaph was once written, but it is now lost owing to restoration. It
was the work of Dr. John Westerman, Vicar of Bushey early in the
seventeenth century, and was placed under Gloucester's arms, which were
surmounted by a coronet.
PIAE MEMORIAE V. OPT.
SACRUM
SEROTINUM
Hic jacet Humfredus dux ille Glocestrius olim
Henrici Regis protector, fraudis ineptae
Delector; dum ficta notat miracula caeci,
Lumen erat Patriae, columen venerabilis regni:
Pacis amans, musisque favens melioribus, unde
Gratum Opus Oxonio, quae nunc schola sacra refulget
Invida sed mulier regno, regi, sibi nequam,
Abstulit hunc, humili vix hoc dignata sepulchro
Invidia rumpente tamen post funera vivit.
Deo Gloria.
(Weever, _Ancient Funeral Monuments_, p. 555, writing in 1631; Ashmole
MS., 784, f. 41, writing in 1657; Sandford, _Genealogical History_, 309,
writing in 1677 and dating the epitaph about 60 years earlier; _History
of the County of Hertfordshire_, by Robert Clutterbuck (London, 1815),
i. 73.)
The third line of this epitaph refers to a legend which first appears in
the works of Sir Thomas More, and which had a great popularity at one
time. It recounts how a man, who declared that he had been blind from
birth and that he had been miraculously cured at the shrine of St.
Alban, was proved to be lying by the Duke of Gloucester, who asked him
the colours of the coats of the various people standing round and was
answered correctly. As the man declared that his sight had been restored
that very day, the impossibility of his having learned the various
colours in so short a time proved the baselessness of his story. (Foxe,
_Acts and Monuments_, iii. 713; cf. Shakespeare, Second Part of _King
Henry VI._, Act II. Scene i.)
Later generations made a strange mistake with regard to the place where
Duke Humphrey was buried. The reverent affection with which his name was
regarded, after the defamations of the Lancastrians had caused a
reaction which went to the opposite extreme, led the Londoners to do him
honour, and for this purpose they selected a tomb in the old St. Paul's
Cathedral. By what chance the mistake was made cannot be known, but in
the days of John Stow, the chronicler, the tomb of Sir John Beauchamp,
son of Guy, Earl of Warwick, who died in 1358, was thought to contain
the remains of the 'Good Duke.' Every year a ceremony was observed when
'on May Day tankard-bearers, watermen, and some other of like quality
beside, would use to come to the same tombe early in the morning' and
strew herbs and sprinkle water thereon. The precise significance of this
proceeding seems to be unknown. (Stow's _Survey of London_, ed. Thomas,
1842, p. 125.)
In connection with this mistake as to Gloucester's tomb, there grew up a
saying, which is known to most people at the present day, though in many
cases the origin is forgotten. 'To dine with Duke Humphrey' was till
comparatively recent years synonymous with not dining at all, and the
saying arose from the mistaken idea, that the tomb in St. Paul's was
Gloucester's last resting-place. In the days when the Cathedral was a
public meeting-place for Londoners, and a centre of social and
commercial life, it was the custom for certain gallants, whose
pretensions were greater than their purses were full, to hang about
there in the hopes of receiving an invitation to dinner, and failing in
their quest, they were compelled to dispense with dinner altogether. The
rendezvous of these hangers-on of society, who sought to live on men
whose social position they despised, was opposite the tomb of Sir John
Beauchamp, and it is of them that Thomas Dekker, who has left us so many
interesting facts relating to the early seventeenth century, wrote, when
he said: 'Such schemes are laid about eleven o'clock in St. Paul's (even
amongst those that wear gilt rapiers by their sides), where for that
noone they may shift from Duke Humphrey, and be furnished with dinner at
some meaner man's table' (Dekker's _Dead Terme_, D. 3). Those that
failed in their endeavours, and were left dinnerless near the tomb where
they had taken their stand, were therefore said 'to have dined with Duke
Humphrey.' A reflection of this same phrase is to be found in Bishop
Corbet's 'Letter to the Duke of Buckingham,' where he alludes to
'Poets of Paules, those of Duke Humfrey's messe,
That feed on nought but graves and emptiness.'
APPENDIX C
GLOUCESTER'S WILL
Wheathampsted tells us that the Duke died intestate (Whethamstede, i.
74), and on March 24, 1427, a commission was issued to the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Lord Say de Sele, Sir Thomas Stanley, John Somerset, and
Richard Chester, empowering them to dispose of the goods and chattels of
the late Duke of Gloucester, since he had died intestate (_Rot. Pat._,
25 _Henry VI._, Part ii. m. 35; Rymer, V. i. 171). On the other hand,
there is a strong presumption that a will did really exist, and that the
Duke's enemies suppressed it. No such document has survived, but in one
of their frequent letters written to various persons in the hope of
securing the books promised to them, the authorities of the University
of Oxford ask for a copy of Gloucester's will, as though it were a
well-known fact that such a document existed (_Epist. Acad._, 285). In
several other letters the will is referred to, though it is noticeable
that when writing to the King on the subject, its existence is not
mentioned (_Epist. Acad._, 252). The date of this last letter is 1447,
whilst the former was written in 1450, which seems to imply that the
University had obtained evidence of the existence of a will in the
interval. Moreover, in one letter there is a thinly veiled suggestion
that those in power were diverting the property of the late Duke to
their own private ends (_Epist. Acad._, 286). It seems likely that
Gloucester's enemies seized the majority of his property, and that the
King himself presented some of his uncle's possessions to the
foundations at Eton and Cambridge in which he was so much interested.
Certainly some church ornaments and jewels, which had belonged to
Humphrey, and were then in the keeping of the Abbey of St. Albans, found
their way to these institutions, though the monks were to a certain
extent compensated for the loss (_Rot. Parl._, v. 307; Whethamstede, i.
65), and we have already shown the probability that the Library of
King's College, Cambridge, was begun with a collection of Humphrey's
books. It is noteworthy that a loving-cup, now in the possession of
Christ's College, bears the arms of Gloucester quartered with those of
his Cobham wife; (_ex relatione_ Sir Alfred Scott-Gatty, Garter); this,
too, was probably part of the plunder which fell to the King on his
uncle's death. The supposition that there was a will, and that it was
suppressed, is strengthened by the fact that the Parliament of Bury
passed an ordinance annulling Eleanor of Gloucester's right to any
dower, or to any freehold or other possession left to her by her husband
(_Rot. Parl._, v. 135). Apart from the question of dower, how could
Eleanor have any claim to the late Duke's possessions except under the
terms of his will?
It is significant that the question of the settlement of Duke Humphrey's
affairs was reopened by the Parliament which was called after the first
battle of St. Albans under Yorkist influence, the same assembly that
petitioned the King for the vindication of his uncle's memory. In
another petition this Parliament besought the King to provide for the
administration of Gloucester's estate, since his creditors had not been
paid, and were in great want. It was suggested that fresh commissioners
for this purpose should be appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
and that they should have right of action against those who were
detaining the property of the Duke illegally. It was definitely stated
that the existing goods and chattels would not both pay his debts and
fulfil his will, a statement which cannot be regarded as consistent with
the assertion that he died intestate (_Rot. Parl._, v. 339). The
petition was dismissed with the familiar formula 'Le roi s'advisera,'
but some steps were ultimately taken, and in 1462 we find the Archbishop
of Canterbury busy in arranging for 'the performance of the will of
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester' (Westminster Abbey MSS., Miscellanea,
Press 6, Box 2, Parcel 20; see _Hist. MSS. Rep._, iv., Appendix, p.
176). All the facts suggest that Wheathampsted was once again mistaken
with regard to the events which surrounded his friend and patron's
death, and that a will was made by Gloucester, but suppressed by his
triumphant enemies, and probably in the end never completely executed.
APPENDIX D
GLOUCESTER'S RESIDENCES
There are indications that Duke Humphrey possessed several houses
scattered about the country in which he dwelt from time to time. We have
seen him residing and holding his Court at Pembroke Castle (_Rot.
Parl._, iv. 474); on one occasion, at least, he was resident at his
manor of Penshurst in Kent (Oriel MS., xxxii.); and he is said to have
at one time dwelt at the Manor of the Weald, near St. Albans (Newcome,
_History of Abbey of St. Albans_, 510). Another story declares that he
held the castle of Devizes and had a mansion there (Holkham MS., p. 68),
but there is no trace of the possession of the castle in official
records, and it is known to have been demolished towards the end of the
reign of Edward III. It would seem likely that he resided at Leicester
and Pontefract at certain times, as on the fly-leaf of a book that he
gave to his wife there are scribbled certain accounts relative to his
household, dated at the two above-named places (Sloane MS., 248). The
most famous of Gloucester's residences was the one situated at
Greenwich. This mansion is supposed to have been a royal residence as
far back as the days of Edward I.; Henry IV. was constantly resident
there, and from it his will is dated. Henry V. gave it to Thomas
Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, for his life, and within two years of the
latter's death, we find it in the possession of Duke Humphrey (_St.
Albans Chron._, i. 32)--possibly under the provision in Henry V.'s will
that gave all his castles in the south of England to his youngest
brother (_Test. Vetust._, i. 21). Henceforth it was Duke Humphrey's
favourite resort, and between 1432 and 1437 he transformed it into a far
more important house than it had been hitherto. He was given permission
to increase his possessions in the immediate neighbourhood by exchanging
some lands for seventeen acres belonging to the Carthusian Monastery of
Jesus of Bethlehem at Shene (_Ancient Petitions_, File 113, No. 5612;
_Rot. Parl._, iv. 466; _Ordinances_, iv. 136-138), and ultimately he
surrounded the manor with a wall, embattled the mansion itself, and
built towers and turrets within the park, one of which stood on the spot
on which Greenwich Observatory is now placed. The house was surrounded
by a park of some two hundred acres, most of which had been enclosed
and afforested by special permission of the King (_Rot. Parl._, iv. 498,
499; _Ordinances_, iv. 136-138; _Cal. Rot. Pat._, 277). Both in official
documents and in letters written from Greenwich this residence is called
'the manor of Plesaunce,' and at Humphrey's death it reverted to the
Crown and was inhabited by Henry VI., when Jack Cade's rebellion had
made the capital unsafe (Fabyan, 623). Edward IV. enlarged and furnished
this palace, Henry VII. spent much time there, his son Henry VIII. and
his grand-daughters Mary and Elizabeth were all born there. At the
Restoration, the King pulled down the old building, and in the days of
Humphrey's seventeenth-century biographer hardly a stone of it was left;
and a new building was rising on the site (Holkham MS., p. 68). This new
house, by the gift of William III. and Mary, became, and still is, the
National Hospital for Seamen. (See _Gentleman's Magazine_, New Series,
vol. xiii. pp. 21-24; 'Cygnea Cantio auctore Joanne Lelando,' in
Leland's _Itinerary_, ed. by Thomas Hearne (Oxford, 1768), vol. ix. p.
17.)
Besides his residence in Greenwich, Humphrey possessed a house in
London, 'a place callid the Duke's Wardrobe atte Baynardes Castel in
London, otherwise called Waterton's Aley' (_Rot. Parl._, v. 239). This
mansion was situated on the banks of the river, just west of Paul's
Wharf, and bounded on the north by what is now Queen Victoria Street. It
has been thought that this was the same site as the original castle of
Bainard and the Fitzwalter family (Stow's _Survey of London_ (London,
1720), Book i. pp. 60, 61), though modern research tends to prove that
this earlier fortress was in another parish (_London_, by J. W. Loftie,
Historical Towns Series (London, 1887), p. 80). Possibly the palace of
the earliest Saxon kings stood on this spot, and in Chaucer's day it
seems to have been a royal residence, to which Edward II. had added a
lofty tower (_The Pageant of London_, by Richard Davey (London, 1906),
i. 42, 188). In 1428 a devastating fire reduced this quarter of London
to ashes, and it seems that it was at this time that Humphrey built the
palace associated with his name, though no documentary evidence exists
to justify the suggestion (Stow's _Survey_, Book i. pp. 60, 61; _London
City_, by W. J. Loftie (London, 1891), p. 249). The fact that in 1427
the Duke was at an 'Inn,' when the representatives of Parliament called
upon him, supports the theory that at that time he had no permanent
residence in the city. The house was called Baynard's Castle after the
ward in which it was built, extensive grounds surrounded it, and it was
only second in magnificence to the palace at Greenwich, if we are to
believe a political songster of the time, who makes Eleanor sadly take
leave of 'fayer places on Temmy's side' ('The Lament of the Duchess of
Gloucester,' in _Polit. Songs_, ii. 207). Mansion, gardens, and all
pertaining thereto were given by the King in 1447 (when they reverted to
him at the death of his uncle) to King's College, Cambridge (_Rot.
Parl._, v. 132), but in the reign of Edward IV. we find the King's
mother there resident, and it was at Baynard's Castle that the Mayor of
London waited on Richard of Gloucester in 1483 with the formal offer of
the English Crown (_London City_, pp. 76, 116). Henry VII. rebuilt the
palace early in his reign, but it was not then embattled, 'or so
strongly fortified castle-like,' as in Duke Humphrey's days, but was
more of a royal and family residence (Stow's _Survey_, Book i. pp. 60,
61). We next find it in the possession of the Herbert family, and on
July 19, 1553, the Privy Council met there to proclaim Mary queen, the
owner being then William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke (_The History and
Survey of London_, by B. Lambert, London, 1806, iii. 98). John Cooper,
the seventeenth-century biographer of Duke Humphrey, had himself visited
Baynard's Castle, and by that time, he tells us, the property had been
split up, and was intersected by streets and lanes, but they still bore
'the name of Duke Humphries.' Indeed there stood an inn which bore the
sign of the Duke just on the edge of the site of the old mansion, and at
the time of writing was famous for a recent brawl on the premises
(Holkham MS., pp. 68, 69). The whole district was swept away by the
great fire of 1666, but in 1809 two towers of the old castle were still
standing, and to this day Castle Street and Castle Yard commemorate the
past glories of Gloucester's London residence (Davey's _Pageant of
London_, i. 337).
APPENDIX E
PORTRAITS OF GLOUCESTER
I. In a book of portraits in Vol. 266 of the _Bibliothèque de la ville
d'Arras_, on folio 37, there is a portrait bearing Gloucester's name, a
reproduction of which hangs in the Bodleian Library. It appears among a
series of portraits of people from the fourteenth to the seventeenth
century, which represent in most cases Flemish grandees and prominent
courtiers of the Court of Burgundy. On folio 36 there is a portrait of
Jacqueline of Hainault, and on folio 35 another of the Dauphin John, her
first husband. All are in crayon, and are probably the work of Jacques
Le Boucq, a herald of the Toison d'Or, who was known as a painter in the
days of Philip II. of Spain. It has been thought probable that he copied
contemporary portraits for these crayon drawings, and if this be true,
he provides us with the only attempt at real portraiture of Duke
Humphrey (_Catalogue of the Arras Library; Les Portraits Aux Crayons_,
by Henri Bouchet, Paris, 1884).
II. In the initial letter of the dedication to Duke Humphrey, prefixed
to Capgrave's _Commentary on Genesis_, a miniature portrays the author
in the act of presenting his book to his patron. The workmanship of this
miniature is too coarse to allow of any portraiture, though a slight
likeness to the Arras portrait may be traced (Oriel MS., xxxii.). A line
reproduction of the Duke's head, taken from this manuscript, is given in
Doyle's _Official Baronage_.
III. In a register at St. Albans Abbey there is a small illumination
representing Duke Humphrey and his wife Eleanor, painted on the occasion
of the latter's reception into the confraternity of St. Albans. There is
here a more successful attempt at portraiture than in the Oriel
manuscript, and the type of face, long, clean shaven, almost apathetic,
is similar to that in the Arras drawing. Nevertheless, here as elsewhere
there is no real character in the face of Humphrey, and still less in
that of his wife; there is, indeed, a strong suggestion of mediæval
formalism (Cotton MS., Nero, D. vii. f. 154).
IV. Among the royal collection of manuscripts in the British Museum
there is a Psalter which was prepared for Duke Humphrey, and which,
besides being beautifully illuminated, bears a miniature which may
contain a portrait of the owner (Royal MS., 2, B. i.). It represents a
man kneeling at a Prie-Dieu, with a patron standing behind him. The
kneeling figure may very well be taken to represent the owner of the
book. Again there are very few signs of portraiture, but such as it is,
the miniature seems to be the likeness of Humphrey when still a young
man The manuscript was written about 1415, which would lead us to
suppose that the artist here tried to present the Duke's features at the
age of twenty-five.
V. In the church at Greenwich which was destroyed in 1710 there was a
stained-glass window representing the Duke in a kneeling posture. A copy
of this window is still extant, and is to be found as the headpiece of
the preface to the old catalogue of manuscripts contained in the
Bodleian Library (Oxford, 1697). A rough drawing thereof, executed in
1695, is also to be found in Tanner MS., 24, f. 107, and another, dating
from some seventy-five years earlier, exists in Ashmole MS., 874, f.
113vo. Humphrey is represented in armour, and in appearance he is here
totally unlike any of the above-mentioned portraits, being represented
as wearing a beard. The window was probably placed in Greenwich church
some time after his decease.
VI. In the year 1610 there was at the west end of the church of St.
Helen's, Abingdon, a glass window, in which were portraits of Henry V.
and his three brothers. 'These Dukes be in their robes and their
coronalls with their arms over their Hedds, and their names written
under their feet.' No drawing of this window has survived, and it has
disappeared as completely as the one in Greenwich church. (Ashmole MS.,
874, f. 113vo.)
VII. Horace Walpole possessed amongst his collection of pictures at
Strawberry Hill three paintings in which he claimed there were portraits
of Duke Humphrey. The first was a representation of the marriage of
Henry VI., and Walpole thought that it was probably designed for the
King, but executed after his death. The King and Queen stand in the
front of the picture, and behind the former is a nobleman, bald headed,
with a beard, and wearing a furred mantle. The workmanship throughout
shows considerable power and expression, and would seem to be of a later
date than is supposed. (Walpole, _Anecdotes of Painting in England_,
London, 1876, i. 34, 35; _Catalogues of Strawberry Hill Sale_, p. 197.)
The second picture was once part of the doors of a shrine in the Abbey
of St. Edmundsbury, which Walpole had sawed into four panels. According
to his judgment two of the panels bear portraits of Cardinal Beaufort
and Archbishop Kemp; the third may represent St. Joseph in adoration, or
more probably the donor, the fourth is described as a portrait of Duke
Humphrey of Gloucester, and corresponds exactly in dress and appearance
with the figure said to be a likeness of the same Duke in the 'Marriage
of Henry VI.' The third and fourth panels 'are so good that they are in
the style of the school of the Caracci. They at least were painted by
some Italian; the draperies have large folds, and one wonders how they
could be executed in the reign of Henry VI.' (Walpole's _Letters_, Mrs.
Paget Toynbee's edition, xi. 183, 184; _Catalogue of Strawberry Hill
Sale_, p. 211.) Probably neither of these pictures was painted in the
reign of Henry VI. The King would not have wished to have the uncle whom
he had been taught to hate introduced into a picture of his marriage,
nor would a contemporary have painted Cardinal Beaufort, Kemp, and
Gloucester on adjoining panels. Far more probably the marriage picture
represents the union of the houses of Lancaster and York in the persons
of Henry VII. and his wife Elizabeth, an event fraught with far more
significance than the one suggested by Walpole, and the shrine is most
likely of much the same date. However, Walpole's theory had been
universally accepted, and prints of the figure from the panel of St.
Edmundsbury were made, as being an authentic likeness of the Duke of
Gloucester (Ackerman's _History of Oxford_ (London, 1814), ii. 272;
_Collections for the History of Hertfordshire_, by N. Solomon, i. 87:
Extra illustrated copy of Wood's _History and Antiquities of the
University of Oxford_ in the Bodleian, MS. Top. Oxon., c. 16, p. 914).
George Perfect Harding also painted one of his well-known water-colour
portraits from this panel, and it is now in the possession of Miss C.
Agnes Rooper, Per Selwood, Gervis Road, Bournemouth. It is to be noticed
that the likeness between the two so-called portraits of Gloucester is
not so exact as Walpole would have us think, for whereas, in the
marriage of Henry VI., he is represented with a beard, in the panel he
is clean shaven. This last, though probably not contemporary, seems to
possess some indications that it represents the same face as the Arras
manuscript, but at a later stage of life. Also it was quite possible
that when personal rivalries had been forgotten in the lapse of years,
the monks of Bury might erect a memorial to one of their patrons, along
with others who had not been his friends during his life. Nevertheless,
we cannot generalise as to Humphrey's appearance from this portrait,
which, to say the least, has a doubtful authenticity. The third picture
of the Strawberry Hill collection, said to contain a portrait of the
Duke of Gloucester, was once an altar-piece at Shene, and was probably
painted for Henry VII. It represents Henry V. and his three brothers,
together with his wife and other ladies, but the faces have no
individuality, and are too conventional to be taken as portraits. These
three pictures were sold to two different buyers at the Strawberry Hill
sale. The 'Marriage of Henry VI.' and the panels from St. Edmundsbury
were bought by the Duke of Sutherland, while the picture of Henry V. and
his family went to the Earl of Waldegrave (_Catalogue of the Strawberry
Hill Sale_).
VIII. In St. Mary's Hall, Coventry, there is an Arras tapestry, which
hangs below the north window. It is divided into six compartments, the
two centre ones containing allegorical figures, and in the upper ones to
left and right certain saints are represented. In the remaining two
compartments a king and queen kneel before desks with their suite in
attendance. The king and queen are supposed to be Henry VI. and his
wife. Behind the king stands a bearded figure, which 'is with no small
reason supposed to be the good Duke of Gloucester' (Thomas Sharp,
_Dissertation on the Pageants or Mysteries at Coventry_ (Coventry,
1825); _The Coventry Guide_ (Coventry, 1824), p. 46; _The History of the
Antiquities of the City of Coventry_, No. vi. pp. 187, 188; _Handbook of
the Arts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance_, by M. Jules Labarte
(London, 1855), p. 90. An illustration of the tapestry is to be found in
this last). However, the workmanship of this tapestry tends to prove
that it dates from Tudor rather than Lancastrian times, and in all
likelihood it was made to celebrate the visit of Henry VII. and his
Queen to Coventry, not that of Henry VI. and Margaret. Both these
monarchs and their consorts were members of the Guild of the Holy
Trinity in that city.
APPENDIX F
A LEGEND OF GLOUCESTER'S DEATH
Amongst seventeenth-century chroniclers there are many accounts as to
the way in which Gloucester was murdered, the most popular of which,
perhaps, is the one that he was smothered to death between two pillows.
A contemporary Frenchman gives a different version, which has an
extraordinary resemblance to the stories which surround the death of
George, Duke of Clarence, in 1478. This occurs in a rhymed account by
George Chastellain of the unusual and interesting events which happened
in his days and runs as follows:
'Par fortune semestre
Veis à l'oeil viviment
Le Grant duc de Glocestre
Meurdrir piteusement;
En vin plain une cuve
Failloit qu'estranglé fust
Cuidant par celle estuve
Que la morte n'y parust.'
(Introduction to Georges Chastellain, _Chronique_ (ed. Buchon), p.
xlviii). The rhyming chronicle in which this is found is not extant in
manuscript, but in a printed form bearing the date 1528; and appended to
it a continuation by Jacques Le Bouvier. Chastellain died at least three
years before Clarence, so that he could not have borrowed the idea from
the latter event. Nevertheless, it seems too obvious that the
circumstances of the two deaths have been confused with one another to
lightly dismiss its possibility. Bouvier mentions the death of Clarence
and the well-known legend, putting it quaintly as follows:
'Le roi le fist noyer
Dedans mallevisee
Pours le moins ennuyer.'
(Introduction to Georges Chastellain, _Chronique_ (ed. Buchon), p.
liii), but none the less he may have interpolated the passage about
Gloucester into his predecessor's poem.
The theory of drowning, however, finds some support from an English
authority. In a popular poem called 'The Dyrge of the Commons of Kent,'
sung by the rebellious followers of Jack Cade in 1450, the following
passage occurs:
'Arrys up Thorp and Cantelowe, stand ye together
And synge _dies illa dies ire_,
Pulford and Hanley that drownyd ye Duke of Glocestar
As two traitors shall synge _ardentes anime_.'
(_Three Fifteenth-century Chronicles_, Camden Series p. 103.) It is
possible that from these two legends we can get an indication of what
nature Humphrey's end really was. The story of Clarence's drowning can
have no share in suggesting the earlier poem of Jack Cade's followers,
and here may be the solution of the problem which has puzzled modern
historians. It must be remembered, however, that in another work,
already cited in the text, Chastellain gives the more usual story of
Gloucester's murder, when he describes his death to a red-hot spit
thrust into his body. (Chastellain, _OEuvres_, ed. Kervyn de
Lettenhove, vii. 87.) In both cases, however, he lays stress on the fact
that the manner of death was devised so as to prevent the appearance of
murder.
APPENDIX G
GLOUCESTER'S ARMS, BADGES, AND SEALS
I. ARMS
Like his brothers, the Duke of Gloucester adopted the arms of England
and France quarterly, but whereas their arms were differentiated with
various labels, his own were surmounted with a border argent (Garter
Types, College of Arms). At this period the arms of France, as borne by
the English Kings, were changed from 'azure semée of fleur de lys or' to
'azure three fleur de lys or,' and this is the only difference which
marks Humphrey's arms from those of a predecessor in the Gloucester
title, Thomas of Woodstock. Nicholas Upton, a follower and friend of
Humphrey, describes his arms as follows: 'Portat Integra Arma Francie et
Anglie Quarteriata, Cum Una Bordura Gobonata De Argento et Nigro ... Il
port lez Armes de Fraunce et D'engleterre quarterlez ovesque ung bordure
gobone d'argent et d'asor' (Nicholaus Uptonus, _De Studio Militari_,
London, 1654, p. 238). This is not strictly accurate, as the border was
argent only. These arms were carved on the Duke's tomb at St. Albans
with their supporters, antelopes gorged and chained, and the shields
were alternately 'ensigned' with his ducal coronet on his cap of estate,
and with his crest, 'a Lyon passant guardant crowned and accolled.' This
part of the tomb is so mutilated that all the crests are gone; and only
fragments of the other heraldic adornments remain (cf. Sandford,
_Genealogical History_, p. 307; Gough, _Sepulchral Monuments_ (London,
1776), vol. ii. part III. p. 142).
Gloucester does not seem to have altered his armorial bearings after his
marriage to Jacqueline of Hainault, for a seal attached to a charter in
the archives of Mons seems to be the same one he had hitherto used
(_Cartulaire_, iv. 440). After his marriage with Eleanor Cobham,
however, he impaled the Cobham arms with his own, of which we have two
recorded instances. In the east window of the church of Cobham in Kent
there stood his arms 'in two several places, dimediated with those of
the Duchess Eleanor Cobham' (Sandford, _Genealogical History_, p. 308),
and they appeared in a similar form in a window of Greenwich Church
before its destruction. A reproduction of this east window is to be
found as the headpiece to the preface of the old catalogue of
manuscripts in the Bodleian Library at Oxford (_Catalogi Librorum
Manuscriptorum_, Oxford, 1697), and the following description thereof
was written in 1695: 'An Helmet and crest with Mantles, and the
Antelopes holding it up with Humphrey Duke of Gloucester kneeling, and
his Arms, scilt. quarterly France and England within a bordure argent on
one side, and the same arms impaling Cobham, viz., Gules on a Cheveron
or, three Estoils sable, on the other side, a good distance from him;
stand all in one of the south windows near the Belfry of Greenwich
Church' (Tanner MS., 24, f. 107). The manuscript also contains a rough
drawing of the window, as is also the case in an Ashmole record written
about 1659, which gives the same information, though at less length
(Ashmole MS., 1121, f. 228). Humphrey, it will be noticed, used as one
of his supporters an antelope, which had been borne by Henry IV., and
had appeared on the trappings of his horse in the Lists of Coventry
(Tyler, _Henry of Monmouth_, p. 30). It appears from a manuscript in the
Heralds' College that his supporters were to the Dexter a Greyhound
argent collared and leashed or, to the Sinister an Heraldic Antelope
argent Ducally gorged and chained or (Heralds' College MS., 14, f. 105,
B.).
II. BADGES
Humphrey bore no less than three badges. From a political song, written
probably about 1449, it appears that he was known by the title of 'the
Swan,' a name taken from the badge he had adopted from his Bohun
ancestors. In the course of the poem the phrase 'the Swanne is goone'
appears, and in a different though contemporary hand the word
'Gloucetter' is written above the word 'Swanne' (_Political Songs_, ii.
221. Cf. _Excerpta Historica_, p. 161)
The second badge was on a shield sable three ostrich feathers argent
surrounded by the Garter and supported to the Dexter by the Greyhound,
to the Sinister by the Antelope. (Window in Greenwich Church, College of
Arms MS., L. 14, 105, B.) These appear in the Greenwich window (Ashmole
MS., 1121, f. 228. Cf. _Archæologia_, xxxi. 368), though from
impressions of his seal he seems then only to have used two feathers.
(Seal described in Cartulaire, iv. 440, and Seal attached to British
Museum, _Additional Charters_, 6000.)
The third badge has a particular interest. It is found at frequent
intervals on the St. Albans tomb, and it appears in a slightly different
form in other places. It seems to represent a cup with sprays of some
plant issuing from the top. On the tomb the sprays look like daisies or
their foliage, whereas in drawings of this same badge that occur in
several manuscripts in the College of Arms and elsewhere, they seem to
be laurels. They vary, too, as to the number of sprays. On the tomb
there are seven or eight in each cup, whilst in the extant drawings,
which date mostly from the seventeenth century, they vary from one to
three (College of Arms, Garter Types and Badges, and MS., L. 14, f. 105,
B.). Gough thought that this badge was the rebus of Wheathampsted, and
represented wheat sheaves (Gough, _Sepulchral Monuments_, vol. ii. part
III. p. 142). This, however, is disproved by the fact that it was not
Wheathampsted who built the Duke's tomb, and it was unlikely that Abbot
Stoke would put his predecessor's mark on a monument built by himself,
and secondly by an entry which we find in more than one place under the
drawings of the cup, which reads, 'Humfrey Duke of Gloucester bare this
cup with a Laurell branch, in the respect he bore to Learning' (College
of Arms, Miscellanea Curiosa, i. 105, B. Cf. Ashmole MS., 1121, f. 227).
III. SEALS
There are few impressions of Gloucester's seal still surviving. In the
British Museum there is attached to a warrant a very small seal bearing
the Duke's coat of arms and round it the motto 'Loyalle et Belle'
(_Additional Charters_, xxxvi. 146). This is the only evidence to prove
the use of this motto by the Duke, save some rather inconclusive remarks
on the fly-leaf of one of his manuscripts (Sloane MS., 248). A larger
impression is attached to a grant of custody given by Gloucester and
dated September 22, 1426 (_Additional Charters_, 6000). This seal is in
fairly good preservation and on one side bears the Duke's arms between
two feathers and surmounted by a cap, on the other a representation of
the Duke himself holding a drawn sword and riding on a horse.
In the Mons archives attached to a charter granted by Gloucester there
is a round seal which is described as follows: 'Il represente un ecu
ecartele aux 1 et 4 a trois fleurs de lis et aux 2 et 3 trois lions
passants, surmounté d'un heaume qui a pour cimier un léopard, et accosté
de deux plumes; supports: deux beliers.' The legend runs: 'Sigilu.
Humfridi. filii et fratris. regis. ducis Glocestrie. comitis Pembr. et
camerarii Anglie' (_Cartulaire_ iv. 440).
Two more seals are preserved amongst the deeds in Magdalen College,
Oxford. Both are attached to warrants issued by Gloucester in his
capacity of Chief Keeper of the King's Forests on this side of the river
Trent. The first is a round brown seal bearing the ducal arms within a
border of antlers rising from a deer's head. Above is the figure of an
heron, which with the antlers were the signs of this particular office.
The inscription so far as it can be read runs: 'S. H. duc Glouc ... Angl
ac just. et capit. cust. forestr' (_Magdalen College Deeds_, Selborne,
112; cf. Selborne, 115). The second is a seal of green wax, hollow on
the reverse, and though much broken, still reveals the stag's head and
antlers surrounding Gloucester's arms (_Magdalen College Deeds_,
Shotover, 4).
SOURCES AND AUTHORITIES
_I. PRINTED BOOKS_
DOCUMENTS AND ORIGINAL LETTERS
CITED AS
Rotuli Parliamentorum. London, 1767-77. _Rot. Parl._
Comprises Petitions, Pleas, and Proceedings in
Parliament, 1278-1503.
Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council _Ordinances._
(1386-1542). Ed. by Sir H. N. Nicolas. London,
1834-37.
Rotuli Scotiae in Turri Londiniensi asservati. _Rot. Scot._
London, 1814-19.
Calendarium Rotulorum Patentium in Turri _Cal. Rot. Pat._
Londiniensi. London, 1802.
This calendar only contains excerpts from the
Patent Rolls. The new calendars published
do not as yet include the important periods of
the Duke of Gloucester's life.
Issues of the Exchequer. Collected by Frederick _Devon, Issue
Devon. London, 1837. Roll._
Calendar of Norman Rolls:--
For the year 1417. Rotuli Normanniae, vol. i. _Rot. Norm._
(all published). Ed. by T. D. Hardy. London,
1835.
For the year 1418 and onwards. Reports of the _Cal. of Norman
Deputy Keeper of the Public Records. Nos. 41 Rolls._
and 42. Appendices. London, 1880, 1881.
Calendar of the French Rolls. Reports of the _Cal. of French
Deputy Keeper of the Public Records. Nos. 44 Rolls._
and 48. Appendices. London, 1883, 1887.
Catalogue des Rolles Gascons, Normans et Français. _Carte._
By Thomas Carte. London, 1743.
Certain selections from these rolls only.
Reports of the Lords' Committees touching the _Lords' Reports._
Dignity of a Peer of the Realm. London, 1829.
Foedera Conventiones Litterae et cujuscumque Acta _Rymer._
Publica inter Reges Angliae et alios. Collected
by Thomas Rymer. Third ed. by George Holmes.
'Hagae comitis apud Joannem Neaulme.' 1745.
Miscellaneous documents illustrative of
English History.
Memorials of London. Extracts from the early _Memorials of
Archives of the City of London, 1276-1419. By London._
H. T. Riley. London, 1868.