The Second Sonne to Edward Prince of Wales.
[Sidenote: An. Reg. 1.
1377.
_Fabian._
_Thom. Wals._
The Londoners sent to K. Richard, commending themselues to his fauour
before y^e death of K. Edward.]
RICHARD, the second of that name, and sonne to prince Edward, called
the blacke prince, the sonne of king Edward the third, a child of the
age of eleuen yeares, began to reign ouer the realme of England the
two and twentith daie of Iune, in the yeare of the world 5344, of our
Lord 1377, after the conquest 310, about the two and thirtith yeare
of the emperour Charles the fourth, and in the fouretéenth yeare of
Charles the fift king of France, and about the seuenth yeare of the
reigne of Robert the |712| second king of Scotland: he was named
Richard of Burdeaux, bicause he was borne at Burdeaux in Gascoigne,
whilest his father ruled there. The day before it was vnderstood, that
his grandfather king Edward was departed this life, being the one
and twentith of Iune (on which daie neuerthelesse he deceassed) the
citizens of London hauing certeine knowledge that he could not escape
his sicknesse, sent certeine aldermen vnto Kingston, where the prince
with his mother the princesse then laie, to declare vnto the said
prince their readie good wils, to accept him for their lawfull king and
gouernour, immediatlie after it should please God to call to his mercie
his grandfather, being now past hope of recouerie of health. Wherefore
they besought him, to haue their citie recommended vnto his good grace,
and that it would please him to visit the same with his presence, sith
they were readie in all sorts to honour and obeie him, and to spend
both liues and goods in his cause, if need required.
[Sidenote: Iohn Philpot.
The duke of Lancaster & the Lōdoners submit their quarels to the kings
order.]
Moreouer, they besought him, that it might please his grace to make an
end of the discord betwixt the citizens, and the duke of Lancaster,
which through the malice of some had béene raised, to the commoditie of
none, but to the discommoditie of diuerse. When Iohn Philpot, one of
the foresaid aldermen, that had the words in all their names, had ended
his oration, he was answered by the prince and his councell, that he
would indeuour himselfe in all things to satisfie their requests, and
so were they sent home to bring a ioifull answer of their messege to
the citie. The morrow after, there were sent to London from the king,
the lord Latimer, sir Nicholas Bond, sir Simon Burlie, & sir Richard
Adderburie, knights; to bring them sorowfull newes of the assured death
of king Edward, who (as we haue said) deceassed the day before; but
comfortable newes againe, of the great towardlinesse and good meaning
of the yoong king, who promised to loue them and their citie, and to
come to the same citie, as they had desired him to doo. And further,
that he had spoken to the duke of Lancaster in their behalfe, and that
the duke had submitted himselfe to him in all things touching the
cause; wherevpon the kings pleasure was, that they should likewise
submit themselues, and he would doo his indeuor, that an agreement
might be had to the honor of the citizens, and profit of the citie.
The citizens liked not of this forme of procéeding in the dukes matter,
bicause the king was yoong, and could not giue order therein, but by
substitutes: yet at length with much adoo, they were contented to
submit themselues, as the duke had doone before, though not, till that
the knights had vndertaken vpon their oth of fidelitie and knighthood,
that their submission should not redound to the temporall or bodilie
harme of any of them, consenting to the kings will in this point. And
so with this caution they tooke their iournie towards Sheene, where
they found the new K. with his mother, the duke of Lancaster & his
brethren, vncles to the king, and diuerse bishops, about the bodie of
the deceassed king. When it was knowen that the Londoners were come,
they were called before the king, by whom the matter was so handled,
that the duke and they were made fréends. After this, when the king
should ride through the citie towards the coronation, the said duke
and the lord Percie riding on great horses before him, as by vertue
of their offices appointed to make way before, vsed themselues so
courteouslie, modestlie, and pleasantlie, that where before they two
were greatlie suspected of the common people, by reason of their great
puissance in the realme, and huge rout of reteiners, they ordered the
matter so, that neither this day, nor the morrow after, being the day
of the kings coronation, they offended any maner of person, but rather
by gentle and swéet demeanour they reclaimed the harts of manie, of
whome before they were greatlie had in suspicion, and thought euill of.
¶ But now, sith we are entred into the matter of this kings coronation,
we haue thought good breefelie to touch some particular point thereof
(as in Thomas Walsingham we find it) though nothing so largelie here,
as the author himselfe setteth it foorth, bicause the purpose of this
worke will not so permit. |713|
[Sidenote: The maner & order of the kings coronation.]
The king, in riding thorough the citie towards Westminster, on the 15
daie of Iulie being wednesdaie, was accompanied with such a traine of
the nobilitie and others, as in such case was requisite. Sir Simon
Burlie bare the sword before him, and sir Nicholas Bond lead the
kings horsse by the bridle on foot. The noise of trumpets and other
instruments was maruellous, so that this seemed a day of ioy and mirth,
a day that had béene long looked for, bicause it was hoped, that
now the quiet orders and good lawes of the land, which thorough the
slouthfulnesse of the aged king deceassed, and couetousnesse of those
that ruled about him, had béene long banished, should now be renewed
and brought againe in vse. The citie was adorned in all sorts most
richlie. The water conduits ran with wine for the space of thrée houres
togither. In the vpper end of Cheape, was a certeine castell made with
foure towers, out of the which castell, on two sides of it, there ran
foorth wine abundantlie. In the towers were placed foure beautifull
virgins, of stature and age like to the king, apparelled in white
vestures, in euerie tower one, the which blew in the kings face, at his
approching néere to them, leaues of gold; and as he approched also,
they threw on him and his horsse florens of gold counterfeit.
When he was come before the castell, they tooke cups of gold, and
filling them with wine at the spouts of the castell, presented the same
to the king and to his nobles. On the top of the castell, betwixt the
foure towers, stood a golden angell, holding a crowne in his hands,
which was so contriued, that when the king came, he bowed downe &
offered to him the crowne. But to speake of all the pageants and shewes
which the citizens had caused to be made, and set foorth in honour
of their new king, it were superfluous; euerie one in their quarters
striuing to surmount other, and so with great triumphing of citizens,
and ioy of the lords and noble men, he was conueied vnto his palace at
Westminster, where he rested for that night. The morrow after being
thursdaie, and the 16 day of Iulie, he was fetcht to the church with
procession of the bishops and monks, and comming before the high altar,
where the pauement was couered with rich clothes of tapistrie, he there
kneeled downe and made his praiers, whilest two bishops soong the
Letanie, which being finished, the king was brought to his seat, the
quéere singing an antheme, beginning, Fermetur manus tua.
That doone, there was a sermon preached by a bishop touching the dutie
of a king, how he ought to behaue himselfe towards the people, and how
the people ought to be obedient vnto him. The sermon being ended, the
king receiued his oth before the archbishop and nobles: which doone,
the archbishop hauing the lord Henrie Percie lord marshall going
before him, turned him to euerie quarter of the church, declaring to
the people the kings oth, and demanding of them, if they would submit
themselues vnto such a prince & gouernor, and obeie his commandements:
and when the people with a lowd voice had answered that they would
obeie him, the archbishop vsing certeine praiers, blessed the king;
which ended, the archbishop came vnto him, and tearing his garments
from the highest part to the lowest, stripped him to his shirt. Then
was brought by earles, a certeine couerture of cloth of gold, vnder the
which he remained, whilest he was annointed.
The archbishop (as we haue said), hauing stripped him, first annointed
his hands, then his head, brest, shoulders, and the ioints of his armes
with the sacred oile, saieng certeine praiers, and in the meane time
did the quéere sing the antheme, beginning, Vnxerunt regem Salomonem,
&c. And the archbishop added another praier, Deus Dei filius, &c. Which
ended, he and the other bishops soong the hymne, Veni creator spiritus,
the king knéeling in a long vesture, & the archbishop with his
suffraganes about him. When the hymne was ended, he was lift vp by the
archbishop, and clad first with the coate of saint Edward, and after
with his mantell, a stoale being cast about his necke, the archbishop
in the meane time saieng certeine praiers appointed for the purpose.
After this, the archbishop and bishops deliuered to him the sword,
saieng, Accipe gladium, &c. |714|
When that praier was ended, two earles girded him with the sword,
which doone, the archbishop gaue to him bracelets, saieng, Accipe
armillas, &c. After this, the archbishop did put vpon him an vppermost
vesture, called a pall, saieng, Accipe pallium, &c. In the meane time,
whilest the archbishop blessed the kings crowne, he to whose office it
apperteined, did put spurs on his héeles. After the crowne was blessed,
the archbishop set it on his head, saieng, Coronet te Deus, &c. Then
did the archbishop deliuer to him a ring, with these words, Accipe
annulum, &c. Immediatlie herewith came the lord Furniuall by vertue of
his office, offering to him a red gloue, which the archbishop blessed,
and putting it on his hand, gaue to him the scepter, with these words,
Accipe sceptrum, &c. Then did the archbishop deliuer to him in his
other hand a rod, in the top whereof stood a doue, with these words,
Accipe virgam virtutis, &c. After this the archbishop blessed the king,
saieng, Benedicat de Deus, &c.
These things doone, the king kissed the bishops and abbats, by whome
he was lead afterwards vnto his seat, the bishops beginning to sing
(Te Deum) which ended, the archbishop said to him, Sta & retine amodo
locum, &c. When these things were finished, they began masse, the
bishop of Worcester read the epistle, and the bishop of Elie the
gospell. At the offertorie, the king rose from his seat, and was
brought to offer. He therfore offered first his sword, and after so
much gold as he would, but no lesse than a marke, by reason of the
custome; for more he might offer to God and S. Peter, but lesse he
could not. After this, he offered bread and wine, with which he and
the archbishop did after communicate. This doone, the earle, to whome
it apperteined to beare the sword before the king, redéemed the sword
which the king had offered with monie, and receiuing the same, bare
it afore the king. When masse should be soong, the king was brought
againe to the altar, & there knéeling downe, and saieng Confiteor to
the archbishop, did communicate, and so was brought backe to his seat.
The wardens of the cinque ports by their office, as well in time of
the procession, as when he was annointed also at masse time, and as he
returned from the church to the palace to dinner, held ouer him a large
canopie of blew veluet, fastened vnto foure staues at the foure corners.
In the meane time, sir Iohn Dimmocke that claimed to be the kings
champion, had béen at the kings armorie and stable, where he had chosen
according to his tenure, the best armour saue one, and the best stéed
saue one: albeit, sir Baldwine Freuill claimed the same office, but
could not obteine it; so that the said sir Iohn Dimmocke hauing armed
himselfe, and being mounted on horssebacke, came to the abbeie gates,
with two riding before him, the one carrieng his speare, and the other
his shield, staieng there till masse should be ended. But the lord
Henrie Percie lord marshall, appointed to make waie before the king
with the duke of Lancaster lord Steward, the lord Thomas of Woodstoke
lord constable, and the lord marshals brother sir Thomas Percie, being
all mounted on great horsses, came to the knight, and told him, that he
ought not to come at that time, but when the king was at dinner, and
therefore it should be good for him to vnarme himselfe for a while, and
take his ease and rest, till the appointed time were come.
The knight did as the lord marshall willed him, and so after his
departure, the king hauing those lords riding afore him, was borne on
knights shoulders vnto his palace, and so had to his chamber, where he
rested a while, being somewhat faint with trauell, and tooke a small
refection. After this, comming into the hall, he created foure new
earles, before he sat downe to meat; to wit, his vncle the lord Thomas
de Wodstoke earle of Buckingham, to whome he gaue a thousand marks a
yeare out of his treasurie, till he prouided him of lands to the like
value. The lord Guishard de Engolesme, that had béene his tutor, was
created earle of Huntington, to whome he gaue likewise a thousand
marks annuitie, till he were prouided of lands of like value. The lord
Mowbraie was created earle of Nottingham, and the lord Henrie Percie
earle of Northumberland. He made also nine knights the same daie.
To shew what roiall seruice was at this feast, it passeth our
vnderstanding to describe: |715| but to conclude, the fare was
excéeding sumptuous, and the furniture princelie in all things, that
if the same should be rehearsed, the reader would perhaps doubt of the
truth therof. ¶ In the midst of the kings palace was a marble pillar
raised hollow vpon steps, on the top whereof was a great gilt eagle
placed, vnder whose feet in the chapiter of the pillar, diuers kinds of
wine came gushing foorth at foure seuerall places all the daie long,
neither was anie forbidden to receiue the same, were he neuer so poor
or abiect. On the morrow after the coronation, there was a generall
procession of the archbishop, bishop, and abbats then present, with the
lords, and a great multitude of people, to praie for the king and the
peace of the kingdome.
At the going foorth of this procession, the bishop of Rochester
preached, exhorting them, that the dissentions and discords which
had long continued betwixt the people and their superiours, might be
appeased and forgotten, proouing by manie arguments, that the same
highlie displeased God. He admonished the lords, not to be so extreme
and hard towards the people. On the other part, he exhorted the people
in necessarie causes, for the aid of the king and realme, chéerefullie,
and without grudging, to put to their helping hands, according to
their bounden duties. He further exhorted those in generall that were
appointed to be about the king, that they should forsake vice, and
studie to liue in cleanesse of life and vertue. For if by their example
the king were trained to goodnesse, all should be well; but if he
declined through their sufferance from the right waie, the people and
kingdome were like to fall in danger to perish. After the sermon and
procession were ended, the lords and prelats went to their lodgings.
[Sidenote: _Froissard._
Rie burnt by y^e Frenchmen.
_Tho. Wals._
The Frenchmen spoile the Ile of Wight. Sir Hugh Tirrell.
_Froissard._
_Tho. Walsi._