GLORY AND THE GRAVE
I had been some time in England when the Prince of Wales achieved the
last of the great triumphs which enshrined his name in imperishable
glory; and Englishmen learned with pride that, on the south of the
Ebro, the heir of England had, against great odds, fought a great
battle, and won a great victory, to decide the fate of Castille and
Leon.
It was some time after I left the city of Bordeaux that a guest, whose
appearance created much interest, and excited much curiosity, arrived
at the court of Guienne, and, being in extreme perplexity, demanded
the aid of the Prince of Wales. Already he was becoming known as
Peter the Cruel. A few weeks earlier he had been King of Castille. But
his bloodthirstiness and tyranny had disgusted his subjects; and his
illegitimate brother, Henry of Trastamare, with the aid of Bertrand du
Guesclin and the French, had found it no difficult matter to drive him
from a kingdom where his unpopularity was so great. Exile, however,
as Don Pedro was, he did not despair; for he knew that the Prince of
Wales was at once the most chivalrous and most skilful warrior of the
age, and he hoped to persuade the young hero to espouse his cause, to
trample Henry of Trastamare and Du Guesclin in the dust, and to re-seat
him on the throne from which he had been driven.
It speedily appeared that Don Pedro had rightly calculated his chances.
Indeed, the prince, moved by generosity and compassion, became quite
enthusiastic in his cause, and eager to aid him to the utmost. Nor was
he without the power of so doing; for the country at that time was
overrun with the "free companies," ever ready to hire their swords for
pay; and Pedro promised, on his word as a king, that, in the event of
being restored to his rights, money should be forthcoming to satisfy
all demands. Nothing, indeed, could be more magnificent than his
promises. It really seemed that every soldier who fought for him was
certain to make a fortune, and might indulge in visions of boundless
wealth. Not doubting the royal exile's good faith, the prince, after
holding many councils, resolved to raise an army and march into Spain
as Pedro's champion.
It must be admitted that the enthusiasm of the prince was not shared
by all around him; and the Princess of Wales was one of those who
entertained grave doubts as to the policy of the expedition. When
tidings that the prince had finally decided on marching to restore
Pedro was conveyed to her while at her toilette, she expressed herself
strongly.
"I grieve to hear," said she, "that my husband has allowed himself to
be imposed on by a man so criminal and so cruel."
"Ha!" exclaimed the prince, when her words were reported to him, "I
see she wants me to be always at her side; but, by St. George," added
he, "say what they may, I am determined to restore Castille to its
rightful inheritor."
In fact, the die was cast; and the prince, having assembled an army of
thirty thousand men, marched for Spain, and, having crossed the Ebro,
came up with the foe between Navarretta and Najara.
Henry of Trastamare and Bertrand du Guesclin were not, however,
warriors to yield without a struggle; and, to meet the crisis, they
mustered an army of a hundred thousand men, and prepared to encounter
the conqueror of Cressy and Poictiers in close conflict. Accordingly,
on Saturday, the 3rd of April, 1367, the two armies met at Navarretta,
and fought a severe battle. But nothing could withstand the Prince of
Wales; and that day he well maintained the character he had won as a
war-chief, and gained so complete a victory that, seeing their men
scattered in all directions, Henry of Trastamare fled to France, and
Bertrand du Guesclin surrendered himself prisoner to Sir John Chandos.
When the news spread over Europe that Don Pedro was restored to his
throne by the arms of the heir of England, the French dreaded the
prince more than ever; and high was the admiration which the tidings
of his exploit created, especially in England, Flanders, and Germany,
and even among the Saracens. But, while Christendom was ringing with
his name, and sovereigns were bowing at the mention of it, and while
the citizens of London were celebrating his victory with solemn shows,
and triumphs, and feasts, the Prince of Wales was in melancholy mood.
Already he discovered the truth of the words spoken by the princess. He
had been grossly deluded by the miscreant whom he had befriended.
Never, indeed, was a champion more ungratefully treated by the man for
whom he had conquered. No sooner was Pedro restored to his kingdom by
the prince's victory at Navarretta, than he forgot all his promises
as to paying the "free companies," and the prince, after waiting for
a time in the expectation of justice, in a climate that was proving
most injurious to his health, lost all opinion of Pedro's good faith,
and, returning to Bordeaux, burdened with debt, endeavoured to raise
the money to defray the cost of his expedition by the hearth-tax. Much
discontent was the consequence. Indeed, the Gascons declared that they
had always been exempt from taxation, and appealed to the King of
France as sovereign of Guienne.
By this time John of Valois was dead, and Charles, John's eldest son,
occupied the throne of France; and though, by the treaty of Bretigny,
the provinces of Guienne and Languedoc had been conveyed in full
sovereignty to England, Charles not only responded to the appeal of the
Gascons, but resolved on citing the Prince of Wales, as his subject,
before the Chamber of Peers.
Accordingly, Charles of Valois despatched a knight and a lawyer to
Bordeaux, and, on being admitted to an audience, they proceeded to read
the letter with which they had been intrusted, summoning the heir of
England to appear without delay at Paris. The prince listened, eyed the
Frenchmen, and shook his head.
"Well," said he in reply, "I will willingly attend on the appointed day
at Paris; but, by St. George, it will be with my helmet on my head, and
with sixty thousand men at my back!"
Much alarmed was Charles of Valois on learning how the Prince of Wales
had treated his summons, and how, in spite of his malady, he had put on
his armour, mounted his horse, and displayed his banner. But it soon
appeared that he was no longer himself--that he was not the Edward of
Cressy, or Poictiers, or Navarretta; and when the campaign terminated,
and he returned to Bordeaux, such was his languor that the physicians
counselled him to repair to England.
Agreeably to the advice of his physicians, the Prince of Wales, with
the princess, and their infant son Richard, embarked at Bordeaux, and,
having landed at Southampton, took up their residence at Berkhamstead.
But the prince, though he recovered sufficiently to take a part in
public affairs, never regained his strength; and it was suspected that
he had been poisoned in Spain. At length, on Trinity Sunday, 1376,
after languishing for years, he expired at the palace of Westminster.
Great was the grief, loud the lamentation, caused by the news that
the hero of England had departed this life; and in celebrating his
obsequies no ceremony was omitted that could do honour to his memory.
Canterbury having been selected as the religious edifice where his
bones were to rest, great preparations were made for his burial, and
when the appointed time arrived, a stately hearse, drawn by twelve
horses, conveyed the corpse from Westminster; and, with great pomp,
the remains of him who had been the pride of England and the terror of
France were laid in the south side of the cathedral, hard by the shrine
of Thomas à Becket.
And so, mourned by the nation to whose grandeur he had so mightily
contributed, Edward, Prince of Wales and Duke of Guienne, the flower of
English knighthood, passed from glory to the grave, at a time when his
father was on the verge of the tomb, and when his own son was scarcely
out of the cradle. But it is not within my province to speak now of the
dead hero's dying father, or of the prince's ill-fated son. My tale is
told. With the death of the conqueror of Cressy and Poictiers ends "The
Story of the Black Prince's Page."
PLYMOUTH
WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD.
PRINTERS
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Transcriber's note:
Obvious punctuation errors were corrected.
p127 "the centre of the Scottish a my," replaced with
"the centre of the Scottish army"
p219 "replied the goaler." replaced with "replied the gaoler."
p236 "and, leaving Romarantin, marched forward" replaced with
"and, leaving Romorantin, marched forward"
p297 "preliminaries were aranged for the trial" replaced with
"preliminaries were arranged for the trial"
p301 "surrendered himself prisioner" replaced with
"surrendered himself prisoner"
"negociation" has been spelled consistently throughout,
and has been left uncorrected.