WARS WITH FRANCE. -- CAUSES WHICH INFLUENCED HENRY. -- SUMMARY OF THE
AFFAIRS OF FRANCE FROM THE TIME OF EDWARD III. -- REFLECTIONS ON
HENRY'S TITLE. -- AFFAIRS OF FRANCE FROM HENRY'S RESOLUTION TO CLAIM
HIS "DORMANT RIGHTS," AND "RIGHTFUL HERITAGE," TO HIS INVASION OF
NORMANDY. -- NEGOCIATIONS. -- HIS RIGHT DENIED BY THE FRENCH. --
PARLIAMENT VOTES HIM SUPPLIES.
1414.
WARS WITH FRANCE.
It falls not within the province of these Memoirs to justify the
proceedings of Henry of Monmouth with regard to France, by an
examination into the soundness of his claims, and the abstract
principles on which he and his subjects and advisers rested them. But
it is incumbent on any one who would estimate his character uprightly,
to weigh the considerations by which he was influenced in the
undertaking, neither according to our present standard, nor
independently of all the circumstances of the age in which he lived,
and the sentiments then generally prevalent among men of education and
reputed probity.
Historians have generally represented it as an established fact (p. 071)
that the clergy, especially the Archbishop of Canterbury, alarmed
at the bold and urgent call of the Commons upon the King to seize the
church patrimony, and from its proceeds apply whatever was required by
the exigencies of the state, hit upon the expedient of stimulating him
to claim France as his inheritance; thus withdrawing his mind from a
measure so fatal to their interests. Though the evidence on which such
a tradition rests is by no means satisfactory, we may perhaps receive
it as probable. That the Commons were clamorous for the confiscation
of the ecclesiastical revenues, and that the clergy voluntarily voted
a very large subsidy to aid the King in prosecuting his alleged rights
on the Continent, are matters of historical certainty. That the
ecclesiastics, moreover, originally suggested to him the design of
reviving his dormant claim to an inheritance in the fair realm of
France, and then fostered the thought, and justified the undertaking
by argument, and pledged their priestly word for the righteousness of
his cause, is doubtless no unreasonable supposition. Still the clergy
do not appear to have been in the least more eager in the scheme, or
more anxious to protect themselves and their revenues from spoliation
by such a scheme, than were the laity enthusiastically bent on a
harvest of national glory and aggrandizement from its success.[64] In
a word, the King himself, the nobles, and the people, all seem (p. 072)
to have been equally determined to engage in the enterprise, and
to support each other in the resolution that it was not only
practicable, but most fully justifiable by the laws of God and man.
[Footnote 64: The people of England gave frequent
proofs of their desire to seize every opportunity
of reaping glory from conquests in France. When the
Duke of Burgundy and the confederated princes, in
the struggle to which we have before referred,
applied in the first instance for assistance to
Henry IV, Laboureur tells us that Henry replied to
the latter that he was compelled to accept the
offer of the Duke of Burgundy, to avoid the
irritation and discontent of his subjects, which
would be raised if he neglected so favourable an
opportunity of forwarding the national interests.]
That Henry's high spirit predisposed him to listen with readiness and
satisfaction to the suggestions of his subjects in this behalf, we may
well believe; but that he would have been driven by a dominant
ambition to engage in a war of conquest against the acknowledged
principles of justice, his character, firmly established by undeniable
proofs of a private as well as a public nature, forbids us to admit.
It must never be forgotten that those persons who were then
universally regarded as the best and safest interpreters of law, human
and divine, assured him, on his solemn appeal to them for their
judgment,[65] that the cause in which he was embarking was just; (p. 073)
and, as many incidents in the sequel establish, he did embark in
it without any doubts or misgivings, without the slightest scruple of
conscience; on the contrary, with a full confidence in the entire
righteousness of his cause, and a most unbounded reliance on the arm
of the God of Justice for success.
[Footnote 65: The "Chronicles of England" record,
that, "in the second year of King Henry's reign, he
held a council of all the lords of his realm at
Westminster; and there he put to them this demand,
and prayed and besought them of their goodness, and
of their good counsel and good-will, as touching
the right and title that he had to Normandy,
Gascony, and Guienne--the which the King of France
withheld wrongfully and unrightfully--the which his
ancestors before him had by true title of conquest
and right heritage--the which Normandy, Gascony,
and Guienne the good King Edward of Windsor, and
his ancestors before him, had holden all their
life's time. And his lords gave him counsel to send
ambassadors unto the King of France and his
council, demanding that he should give up to him
his right heritage,--that is to say, Normandy,
Gascony, and Guienne,--the which his predecessors
had holden before him, or else he would win it with
dint of sword in short time with the help of
Almighty God."]
The facts which laid the groundwork for his enterprising spirit to
build upon are very interesting; and, though they may perhaps belong
rather to general history than to Memoirs of Henry of Monmouth, yet a
brief review of them might seem altogether indispensable in this
place.
"The preference given by the States-General to Philip of Valois above
Edward III, when he laid claim to the crown of France, led to that
disastrous war, the prominent incidents of which are familiar to every
one at all acquainted with the history of that time. Edward gained a
naval victory over the French, and conquered Philip at Cressy, and
possessed himself of Calais, which gave him an entrance into (p. 074)
France at all times. After some interval, Edward the Black Prince, his
son, gained the famous battle of Poictiers; where King John, son and
successor of Philip of Valois, was taken prisoner. Whilst that monarch
was a captive in England, Edward entered France at the head of one
hundred thousand men, and marched to the very gates of Paris. This
successful invasion led to the treaty of Bretigny. By the terms of
that peace, Edward recovered all those ancient dependencies of Guienne
which had been wrested from his ancestors. These provinces had fallen
to the Kings of England by the marriage of Eleanor, heiress of
Guienne, with Henry II; but, from the time of John (Lackland) and
Henry III, Philip Augustus and St. Lewis, Kings of France, had so
shorn that vast territory, that nothing remained to England except
Bourdeaux, Bayonne, and Gascony. Besides, by the same treaty, Edward
secured Montreuil and Ponthieu, Calais and Guienne; and all these
possessions were ceded to him in full sovereignty without any suit or
homage due to France. Finally, he stipulated for the sum of three
millions of golden crowns as the ransom of King John. On his side, he
consented to forego all right and claim which he might have on the
crown of France. Especially he renounced all title to Normandy and
other places, which were said to be the heritage of his ancestors, and
to all the sovereignty of Brittany. This treaty was solemnly (p. 075)
executed by King John, and observed during his life, except as to the
ransom, two-thirds of which remained undischarged at his death. But
Charles V, his son and successor, finding this peace very
disadvantageous to France, though he had himself been a party to it,
and had sworn to observe its conditions, broke it on very frivolous
grounds. He declared war against Edward, and in a very few years
recovered all that had been ceded to England by the treaty of
Bretigny, except Calais, Bayonne, Bourdeaux, and part of Guienne. This
second war was interrupted by a truce, which continued till the death
of Edward III. in 1377. During the reign of Richard II, and the
remainder of Charles V.'s life, and the first years of Charles VI, war
and peace followed each other in mutual succession, without any
important or decided advantage on either side. At last, Richard II.
and Charles VI. concluded a truce for twenty-eight years, which was
ratified by the marriage of Richard with Isabel, Charles's daughter.
From the deposition of Richard to the death of Henry IV,
notwithstanding frequent violations of the truce, both sides
maintained that it still subsisted. Such was the state of the two
crowns when Henry of Monmouth mounted the throne. France having broken
the peace of Bretigny, and maintaining that the treaty was void,
evidently the Kings of England were reinstated in all their rights
which they had before that peace. On this principle, immediately
after the disclaimer of that peace on the part of France, (p. 076)
Edward III. resumed the title of King of France, which he had laid
aside; and his successors assumed it also. Since the commencement of
the war which followed the treaty of Bretigny there never had been
peace between the two crowns, but only truces, which do not affect the
rights of the parties. It is evident, therefore, that, when he
ascended the throne, Henry V. found himself under precisely the same
circumstances in point of right in which his great grandfather, Edward
III, was eighty years before, when he commenced the first war. Besides
this, Henry had to allege a solemn treaty, which, after it had been
unequivocally acted upon, France broke on a most trifling pretext."
Such is the representation made by the author of the Abrégé
Historique[66] of the affairs of England; and the Author is desirous
of transferring into his pages this clear and candid statement the
rather because it is written by a foreigner, who seems to have viewed
the transaction with enlightened and unprejudiced eyes.
[Footnote 66: "Abrégé Historique des Actes Publics
d'Angleterre," which now accompanies the foreign
edition of Rymer's Foedera.]
More modern writers, indeed, would teach us to deem it "unnecessary
for them to comment on the absurdity of Henry's claim to the French
crown in right of his descent from Isabella wife of Edward II. For
futile as her son Edward's (III.) pretensions were, Henry's were (p. 077)
still less reasonable, as the Earl of March was in 1415 the heir
of those persons."[67]
[Footnote 67: Sir H. Nicolas.]
The fact on which this reasoning rests is undoubtedly true, and yet
considerations connected with that claim require to be entertained,
and weighed without haste and without prejudice; and the truth itself
warns us not to dismiss the point so summarily. Henry (it must never
be forgotten) had been bred up in the belief that Richard II. had in
the most full and unreserved manner, by his act of resignation,
yielded all his rights into the hands of the people of England, and
that those rights had been as fully and unreservedly conferred by the
nation on Henry's father. Whatever rights, moreover, the Earl of March
possessed as lineal heir to the crown, he had, as far as his own
personal interest was concerned, over and over again, not merely by a
passive acquiescence, but by repeated voluntary acts, virtually
resigned, and made over to Henry as actual King; and, lastly, it is
clear that Henry's claim was always by himself and by the nation
rested on the ground of his being King of England, and, ipso facto, as
such, heir of all his predecessors Kings of England.
On these grounds, and with such an opening offered to his ardent mind
by the distracted state of the realm of France, Henry resolved to
prefer his claim; negociating first for its amicable concession, and,
if unsuccessful in negociation, then pursuing it in the field of
battle. This appears to have been his determination from the (p. 078)
first; but from the first he seems also to have contemplated the
probability of failure by treaty; for, from the first intimation of
his designs, he and his subjects were steadily engaged in making every
preparation[68] for a vigorous invasion of France.
In this part of our treatise a brief outline is required of the
proceedings between the resolution first taken by Henry, and his
appearance in arms on French land; nor can we satisfactorily pass on
without taking a succinct view of the internal state of that kingdom
at the time of Henry's original claim and subsequent invasion.
[Footnote 68: The only measures mentioned in the
"Foedera," before April 1415, indicative of
Henry's expectation that the negociations with
France would not terminate pacifically, are, that
on September 26, 1414, the exportation of gunpowder
was prohibited; whilst, on the 22nd, Nicholas
Merbury, the master, and John Louth, the clerk of
the King's works, guns, and other ordnance, had
been commanded to provide smiths and workmen, with
conveyance for them; that, on the 18th of the
following March, Richard Clyderowe and Simon Flete
were directed to treat with Holland for ships; and,
on the 22nd, the Sheriff of London was ordered to
summon knights, esquires, and valets, who held
fees, wages, or annuities by grant from the King or
his ancestors, to repair forthwith to London, and,
on pain of forfeiture, to be there by the 24th of
April at the latest.--Sir H. Nicolas.
The Pell Rolls record the payment of "2,000_l._ to
Richard Clitherow and Reginald Curtys, (27th
February 1415; ordered by the King himself to go to
Zealand and Holland, for the purpose of treating
with the Duke of Holland and others to supply ships
for the King's present voyage,) therewith to pay
divers masters and mariners, who were to accompany
him abroad, whither he was going in his own
person."]
SUMMARY OF THE AFFAIRS OF FRANCE. (p. 079)
Charles V, surnamed the Wise, died in 1380.[69] He left to succeed him
his son Charles VI, twelve years of age; and he appointed his three
brothers to govern the kingdom during the minority,--Lewis, Duke of
Anjou, John, Duke of Berry, and Philip, Duke of Burgundy, who by their
ambition and rivalry threw the whole realm into confusion. Charles V.
left also another son, called the Duke of Orleans, who in his time
contributed to the general confusion no less than his uncles. Through
the first days of Charles's (VI.) reign, the three regents, differing
in every other point, agreed only in burdening the nation with taxes;
a circumstance which bred great discontent, and prepared the people
for separating into different factions whenever an opportunity might
occur.
[Footnote 69: The Author has been, in this portion
of his work, chiefly assisted by the authors of the
"Abrégé Historique," above referred to.]
The Duke of Anjou quitted France in 1381, to take possession of his
kingdom of Sicily. The King was of age to be his own master, according
to the will of his father, at fourteen; yet his uncles governed both
his estate and his person till he was twenty. In 1385, he was married
to Isabella, daughter of Stephen, Duke of Bavaria.
In 1388, Charles assumed the reins of government, discharging his
uncles, and keeping about his person his brother, the Duke of Orleans,
then seventeen, and his maternal uncle the Duke of Bourbon.
The Duke of Burgundy could not endure to see the Dukes of (p. 080)
Orleans and Bourbon govern the kingdom in the name of the King; and in
1391 he succeeded in causing the Estates-General to transfer the
government to him under the pretext of aiding his nephew to bear the
burden of the state. Probably the King had already shown symptoms of
that imbecility which afterwards incapacitated him altogether for
managing the affairs of his kingdom. In 1395 his malady increased in
violence; and for some time the Queen his wife, the Dukes of Orleans,
Berry, Burgundy, and Bourbon, each struggled hard to retain the reins
of government in their own hands. At length the Dukes of Orleans and
Burgundy formed two opposite parties; under the banners of which, as
well the members of the court, as the subjects of the kingdom at
large, arranged themselves in hostile ranks. Queen Isabella joined the
Duke of Orleans. The Duke of Berry fluctuated between the two
factions, and had great difficulty in preventing them from coming to
extremities. In these struggles the two chiefs were so equal, and so
determined not to yield either to the other, that they left the
government to the council of the King. The Duke of Burgundy withdrew
to the Netherlands, where he was master of the earldoms of Flanders
and Artois, and the duchy of Brabant: there he died in 1403, leaving
his son John to succeed him, who became Duke of Burgundy and Count of
Flanders and Artois. His brothers shared the residue of their father's
inheritance.
Whilst the new Duke of Burgundy was employed in arranging his (p. 081)
own affairs, the Queen and the Duke of Orleans conducted the
government; but with little satisfaction to the people, who found
themselves grievously oppressed by taxation. Meanwhile, the Duke of
Burgundy married his son Philip, Earl of Charolois, to Michelle, the
King's daughter; and one of his daughters was also espoused to the
Dauphin, Louis, then only nine years of age.
Some time afterwards, Charles VI. finding himself in one of his
intervals of mental health, and hearing complaints from all sides
against his Queen and the Duke of Orleans, convened an assembly of
nobles to deliberate on a remedy; and commanded the presence of the
Duke of Burgundy. On his approach, the Queen and the Duke of Orleans
withdrew, taking with them the young Dauphin. The Duke of Burgundy
followed, and overtook them; and rescued the Dauphin from their
custody. This was a source of open rupture between those princes.
There followed, indeed, an outward show of reconciliation; but their
mutual hatred was deadly still. In 1407 the Duke of Burgundy caused
the Duke of Orleans to be assassinated. He was bold enough to profess
himself the author of the murder, and powerful enough to shield
himself from any punishment, and to procure letters of free pardon.
Next year he was obliged to visit his own territory, and in his
absence his enemies caused the bill of amnesty to be reversed.
Meantime, the Duke gained a victory over the troops of Liege, (p. 082)
and marched at the head of four thousand horsemen direct upon Paris.
The Queen withdrew at his approach, taking the King with her to Tours;
and, finding herself unable to cope with her antagonist, she consented
to an accommodation. The King received Burgundy, and reconciled him in
appearance to the Duke of Orleans, son of the murdered Duke. After
this, the Duke of Burgundy remained master of the government, and of
the person of the King.
It will be remembered that, in 1411, a powerful league was formed in
Guienne against the Duke of Burgundy, by the Dukes of Berry, Orleans,
Alençon, and the Count of Armagnac, who was governor of Languedoc and
father-in-law to the Duke of Berry; and who, being the chief conductor
of the whole affair, gave the name of Armagnacs to the party in
general opposed to Burgundy.[70] At the beginning, the Duke of
Burgundy, having received succours from Henry IV. of England, gained a
great advantage over his opponents. Subsequently, the Armagnacs,
obtaining considerable assistance from the same King, forced the Duke
of Burgundy, who was besieging them in Bourges, to make peace; one
condition of which, however, being that no one of those chiefs should
return to the court, the Duke of Burgundy still remained master of the
King's person. In this state of triumph on the part of the (p. 083)
Duke of Burgundy, and of depression of the Armagnacs, another opponent
arose against the Duke, of whom he seems to have been previously under
no apprehension,--the Dauphin himself, his son-in-law, then only
sixteen years of age. This prince, persuaded that during his father's
illness the government could of right belong to no one but himself,
resolved to secure his own. He gained over the governor of the
Bastille, and seized that fortress. The Parisians flew to arms at the
secret instigation of the Duke of Burgundy. A surgeon, named John of
Troyes, at the head of ten or twelve thousand men, forced the gates of
the Dauphin's palace; and, carrying off the chief friends of that
prince, lodged them in prison.
[Footnote 70: See vol. i. p. 268.]
These events took place at the opening of the year 1413, whilst Henry
IV. was labouring under the malady of which he died. Henry V.
succeeded to the throne, March 20th of that year. At the end of April,
the malcontents of Paris, all of the Burgundian faction, committed
various excesses, and compelled both the King and the Dauphin to wear
the white cap, the badge of their party. The Dauphin[71] betook
himself at last to the Armagnacs, of whom many lived in Paris,
grievously oppressed by the government of the Duke of Burgundy; and he
planned his scheme so well, and so secretly, that at the (p. 084)
beginning of September he found thirty thousand men in Paris ready to
support him. By his sudden and vigorous efforts he struck terror into
the opposite faction, who abandoned the Bastille and other places in
their possession, and thought of nothing but their own personal
safety. The Duke of Burgundy himself withdrew to Flanders. The
Dauphin, however, gained no permanent advantage from this success; for
the King, in one of his favourable intervals, immediately seized the
reins of government, and called his nephew the young Duke of Orleans
to his counsels. This youth induced the King to issue very violent
decrees against the Duke of Burgundy, and to execute a great number of
his partisans.
[Footnote 71: The Dauphin, eldest son of Charles
VI, was born 22nd January 1396, and died before his
father, without issue, on the 18th December 1415,
in his twentieth year.]
Such was the state of affairs in France when Henry of Monmouth first
resolved to prosecute his claims in that kingdom. The Duke of Burgundy
lost no time in endeavouring to secure the assistance of so powerful
an ally; as we find by the many safe-conducts dated before the Duke's
expulsion from Paris, which did not take place till September. Whether
Henry had, before these embassies from the Duke of Burgundy, formed
any design of claiming his supposed rights in France, or not, the
Duke's negociations must have strongly impressed him with the
distracted state of that country, and with an opening offered to the
enterprising spirit of any powerful neighbour who would promptly and
vigorously seize upon that opportunity of invading France.
"Although[72] several negociations had taken place between (p. 085)
September 1413, and the January following, for the purpose of
prolonging the subsisting truce between England and France, it was not
until January 28, 1414, that ambassadors were appointed to treat of
peace. From the engagement then made, that Henry would not propose
marriage to any other woman than Katharine, daughter of the King of
France, until after the 1st of the ensuing May, (which term was
extended from the 18th of June to the 1st of August, and afterwards to
the 2nd of February 1415,) it is evident that a marriage with that
princess was to form one of the conditions of the treaty. But the
first intimation of a claim to the crown of France is in a commission,
dated May 1, 1414, by which the Bishop of Durham, Richard Lord Grey,
and others, were instructed to negociate that alliance, and the
restitution of such of their sovereign's rights as were withheld by
Charles. The principal claim was no less than the crown and kingdom of
France. Concession to this demand, however, being at once declared
impossible, the English ambassadors waived it, without prejudice
nevertheless to Henry's rights. They then demanded the sovereignty of
the duchies of Normandy and Touraine, the earldom of Anjou, the duchy
of Brittany, the earldom of Flanders, with all other parts of the
duchy of Aquitain, the territories which had been ceded to (p. 086)
Edward III. by the treaty of Bretigny, and the lands between the Somme
and Graveline; to be held by Henry and his heirs, without any claim of
superiority on the part of Charles or his successors. To these demands
were added the cession of the county of Provence, and payment of the
arrears of the ransom of King John, amounting to one million six
hundred thousand crowns. It was also intimated that the marriage with
Katharine could not take place, unless a firm peace were also
established with France, and that two millions of crowns would be
expected as her dower.
[Footnote 72: The following paragraphs are almost
literally extracted from Sir Harris Nicolas's
"Battle of Agincourt."]
On March 14, 1415, the French ministers denied Henry's right to any
part of the dominion of their master; but, to avoid extremities, they
offered to cede the counties of Angouleme and Bayonne, with various
other territories. They said that Provence, not being among Charles's
lordships, was not withheld by him. With respect to the arrears of
ransom, they thought that, having offered so much to extend the
possessions of England, with a view of securing peace, the claim ought
to be withdrawn. Touching the marriage, which had been so frequently
discussed, though the Kings of France had been accustomed to give much
less with their daughters than six hundred thousand crowns, which sum
the Duke of Berry had offered with her in the preceding August, yet
that it should be enlarged to eight hundred thousand crowns, besides
her jewels and apparel, and the expense of sending the princess (p. 087)
in a suitable manner to the place where she might be delivered to
Henry. But as the English ambassadors said they were not permitted to
prolong their stay in France, and had no authority to vary their
demands, Charles engaged to send an embassy to England to conclude the
treaty.
During the progress of these protracted negociations Henry grew
dissatisfied; and either from impatience, or with a view of awing
France into submission, issued writs of 26th September 1414, for a
parliament to be held at Westminster after the Octaves of St. Martin,
18th November following. On that day parliament met; and the session
was opened at the command of the King by Henry Beaufort, Bishop of
Winchester, then Chancellor. In a long harangue he informed the
assembly, that their King (who was present in person) had resolved to
recover his inheritance, which had been so long and unjustly kept from
him and his progenitors, Kings of England; and that, for this purpose,
many things were necessary. Taking for his theme the text, "Whilst we
have time, let us do good," he pointed out, with more pedantry than
eloquence, that for every natural thing there were two seasons; and
that just as for the tree there was one time to bud, to flower, and to
bring forth fruit, and another time through which it was left to
repose, so was there given to man a time for peace, and a time for war
and labour: that the King, considering the value of peace and (p. 088)
tranquillity which this kingdom then enjoyed, and also the justice
of his present quarrel, (considerations most necessary for every
prince who had to encounter enemies abroad,) deemed that the proper
time had arrived for the accomplishment of his purpose. But, to attain
this great and honourable object, three things, he said, were wanted;
namely, wise and faithful counsel from his vassals, strong and true
support from his people, and a copious subsidy from his subjects;
which each of them would readily grant, because the more their
prince's dominions were extended, the less would their burdens become;
and, these things being performed, great honour and glory would
necessarily ensue.
This address was not without effect, for the Commons, after electing
Thomas Chaucer (son, as it is said, of the poet) for their Speaker,
"granted the King, for the honour of God, and from the great love and
affection which they bore towards their sovereign, two entire
fifteenths and two entire tenths, _for the defence of the kingdom of
England and the safeguard of the seas_."