INCIDENTS OF THE REIGN.
A.D. 1382-1396
Jealousy of Richard and his mother against the uncles.--Plots
and manoeuvres.--Thomas, Duke of Gloucester.--Province of
Parliament.--Prerogative of the king.--The Commons threaten the
king.--He is compelled to yield.--Council appointed.--Richard's
discontent.--The court at Nottingham.--Preparations for war.--Richard
and his party overcome.--Execution of Burley.--Queen Anne's fruitless
intercession.--The king determines to resume his power.--His interview
with his council.--Surprise of the barons.--The great seal.--Richard
appoints a new chancellor.--Richard appoints new officers of
government.--The wars in which Richard was engaged.--Story of Sir
Miles, the Bohemian knight.--The archers and the squires.--A squire
killed.--Sir Ralph Stafford is displeased and alarmed.--Lord Holland
is enraged.--He meets Lord Stafford in a narrow lane.--Stafford
is killed.--Lord Holland's unconcern.--Richard's perplexity and
distress.--His mother's anguish.--Extraordinary marriage of the Duke
of Lancaster.--Indignation and rage of the ladies of the court.
In giving some general account of the character of Richard's reign,
and of the incidents that occurred during the course of it, we now go
back a little again, so as to begin at the beginning of it.
When Richard was married, he was, as has already been said, only about
fifteen or sixteen years of age. As he grew older, after this time,
and began to feel that sense of strength and independence which
pertains to manhood, he became more and more jealous of the power and
influence of his uncles in the government of the country. His mother,
too, who was still living, and who adhered closely to him, was very
suspicious of the uncles. She was continually imagining that they were
forming plots and conspiracies against her son in favor of themselves
or of their own children. She was particularly suspicious of the Duke
of Lancaster, and of his son Henry Bolingbroke. It proved in the end
that there was some reason for this suspicion, for this Henry
Bolingbroke was the means at last of deposing Richard from his throne
in order to take possession of it himself, as we shall see in the
sequel.
In order to prevent, as far as possible, these uncles from finding
opportunity to accomplish any of their supposed designs, Richard and
his mother excluded them, as much as they could, from power, and
appointed other persons, who had no such claims to the crown, to all
the important places about the court. This, of course, made the uncles
very angry. They called the men whom Richard thus brought forward his
favorites, and they hated them exceedingly. This state of things led
to a great many intrigues, and manoeuvres, and plots, and
counterplots, the favorites against the uncles, and the uncles against
the favorites. These difficulties were continued for many years.
Parties were formed in Parliament, of which sometimes one was in the
ascendency and sometimes the other, and all was turmoil and confusion.
When Richard was about twenty years old, one of his uncles--his uncle
Thomas, at that time Duke of Gloucester--gained such an influence in
Parliament that some of Richard's favorites were deposed from office
and imprisoned. The duke was imboldened by this success to take a
farther step. He told the Parliament that the government would never
be on a good footing until they themselves appointed a council to
manage in the king's name.
When Richard heard of this plan, he declared that he would never
submit to it.
"I am the King of England," said he, "and I will govern my realm by
means of such officers as I choose to appoint myself. I will not have
others to appoint them for me."
The ideas which the kings of those days entertained in respect to the
province of Parliament was that it was to vote the necessary taxes to
supply the king's necessities, and also to mature the details of all
laws for the regulation of the ordinary business and the social
relations of life, but that the government, strictly so called--that
is, all that relates to the appointment and payment of executive
officers, the making of peace or war, the building and equipment of
fleets, and the command of armies, was exclusively the king's
prerogative, and that for the exercise of his prerogative in these
particulars the sovereign was responsible, not to his subjects, but to
God alone, from whom he claimed to have received his crown.
The people of England, as represented by Parliament, have never
consented to this view of the subject. They have always maintained
that their kings are, in some sense, responsible to the people of the
realm, and they have often deposed kings, and punished them in other
ways.
Accordingly, when Richard declared that he would not submit to the
appointment of a council by Parliament, the Commons reminded him of
the fact that his great-grandfather, Edward the Second, had been
deposed in consequence of having unreasonably and obstinately resisted
the will of his people, and they hinted to him that it would be well
for him to beware lest he should incur the same fate. Some of the
lords, too, told him that the excitement was so great in the country
on account of the mismanagement of public affairs, and the corruptions
and malpractice of the favorites, that if he refused to allow the
council to be appointed, there was danger that he would lose his head.
So Richard was obliged to submit, and the council was appointed.
Richard was in a great rage, and he secretly determined to lay his
plans for recovering the power into his own hands as soon as possible,
and punishing the council, and all who were concerned in appointing
them, for their audacity in presuming to encroach in such a manner
upon his sovereign rights as king.
The council that was appointed consisted of eleven bishops and
nobles. Richard's uncle Thomas, the Duke of Gloucester, was at the
head of it. This council governed the country for more than a year.
Every thing was done in Richard's name, it is true, but the real power
was in the hands of the Duke of Gloucester. Richard was very angry and
indignant, but he did not see what he could do.
He was, however, all the time forming plans and schemes to recover his
power. At last, after about a year had passed away, he called together
a number of judges secretly at Nottingham, toward the northern part of
the kingdom, and submitted to them the question whether such a council
as the Parliament had appointed was legal. It was, of course,
understood beforehand how the judges would decide. They decreed that
the council was illegal; that for Parliament to give a council such
powers was a violation of the king's prerogative, and was consequently
treason, and that, of course, all who had been concerned in the
transaction had made themselves liable to the penalty of death.
It was Richard's plan, after having obtained this decree, to cause the
prominent members of the council to be arrested, and he came to London
and began to make his preparations for accomplishing this purpose. But
as soon as his uncle Thomas, the Duke of Gloucester, heard of these
plans, he, and some great nobles who were ready to join with him
against the king, collected all their forces, and began to march to
London at the head of forty thousand men. Richard's cousin Henry, the
Duke of Lancaster's son, joined them on the way. Richard's friends and
favorites, on hearing of this, immediately took arms, and preparations
began to be made for civil war. In a word, after having successfully
met and quelled the great insurrection of the serfs and laborers under
Wat Tyler, Richard was now to encounter a still more formidable
resistance of his authority on the part of his uncles and the great
barons of the realm. These last, indeed, were far more to be feared
than the others, for they had arms and organization, and they enjoyed
every possible facility for carrying on a vigorous and determined war.
Richard and his party soon found that it was useless to attempt to
resist them. Accordingly, after a very brief struggle, the royal party
was entirely put down. Richard's favorites were arrested. Some of them
were beheaded, others were banished from the realm, and the government
of the country fell again into the hands of the uncles.
One of Richard's favorites who was executed on this occasion was a
man whose untimely death grieved and afflicted both Richard and the
queen very much indeed. His name was Sir Simon Burley. He had been
Richard's friend and companion all his life. Richard's father, Edward,
the Black Prince, had appointed Sir Simon Richard's tutor while
Richard himself was a mere child, and he had been with him ever since
that time. Queen Anne was much attached to him, and she was
particularly grateful to him on account of his having been the
commissioner who negotiated and arranged her marriage with Richard.
Richard made every possible exertion to save his tutor's life, but his
uncle Gloucester was inexorable. He told Richard that his keeping the
crown depended on the immediate execution of the traitor. Queen Anne
fell on her knees before him, and begged and entreated that Sir Simon
might be spared, but all was of no avail.
So Richard was compelled to submit; but he did not do so without
secret muttering, and resolutions of revenge. He allowed the
government to remain in his uncle's hands for some time, but at
length, about a year afterward, he found himself strong enough to
seize it again. The plea which his uncles had hitherto made for
managing the government themselves was, that Richard was not yet of
age. But now he became of age, and he resolved on what might be called
a _coup d'etat_, to get possession of the government. He planned this
measure in concert with a number of his own friends and favorites, who
hoped, by this means, that they themselves should rise to power.
He called a grand council of all the nobles and great officers of
state. The assembly convened in the great council-chamber, and waited
there for the king to come in.
At length the king arrived, and, walking into the chamber, he took his
seat upon the throne. A moment afterward he turned to one of the chief
officers present and addressed him, saying,
"My lord, what is my age at the present time?"
The nobleman answered that his majesty was now over twenty years of
age.
"Then," said the king, speaking in a very firm and determined manner,
"I am of years sufficient to govern mine own house and family, and
also my kingdom; for it seemeth against reason that the state of the
meanest person in my kingdom should be better than mine. Every heir
throughout the land that has once come to the age of twenty years is
permitted, if his father be not living, to order his business himself.
And that which is permitted by law to every other person, of however
mean degree, why is it denied to me?"
The king spoke these words with an air of such courage and
determination that the barons were astonished. The foremost of them,
after a brief pause, seemed ready to accede to his proposals. They
said that there should henceforth be no right abridged from him, but
that he might take upon himself the government if he chose, as it was
now manifestly his duty to do.
"Very well," said the king. "You know that I have been a long time
ruled by tutors and governors, so that it has not been lawful for me
to do any thing, no matter of how small importance, without their
consent. Now, therefore, I desire that henceforth they meddle no more
with matters pertaining to my government, for I will attend to them
myself, and after the manner of an heir arrived at full age. I will
call whom I please to be my counsel, and thus manage my own affairs
according to my own will and pleasure."
The barons were extremely surprised to hear these determinations thus
resolutely announced by the king, but had nothing to say in reply.
"And in the first place," continued Richard, "I wish the chancellor
to give me up the great seal."
The great seal was a very important badge and emblem of the royal
prerogative. No decree was of legal authority until an impress from
this seal was attached to it. The officer who had charge of it was
called the chancellor. A new seal was prepared for each sovereign on
his accession to the throne. The devices were much the same in all.
They consisted of a representation of the king seated on his throne
upon one side of the seal, and on the other mounted on horseback and
going into battle, armed from head to foot. The legends or
inscriptions around the border were changed, of course, for each
reign.
The engraving on the following page represents one side of king
Richard's seal. The other side contained an image of the king seated
on his throne, and surrounded by various insignia of royalty.
"I wish the chancellor," said the king, "to deliver me up the great
seal."
[Illustration: SEAL OF RICHARD II.]
So the nobleman who had been chancellor up to that time delivered the
seal into the hands of the king. The seal was kept in a beautiful box,
richly ornamented. It was always brought to the council by the lord
chancellor, who had it in charge. The king proceeded immediately
afterward to appoint a new chancellor, and to place the box in his
hands. In the same summary manner the king displaced almost all the
other high officers of state, and appointed new ones of his own instead
of them. The former officers were obliged to submit, though sorely
against their will. They were powerless, for the king had now attained
such an age that there was no longer any excuse for withholding from him
the complete possession of his kingdom.
From this time, accordingly, Richard was actually as well as nominally
king of England; but still he was often engaged in contentions and
quarrels with his uncles, and with the other great nobles who took his
uncle's part.
The queen--for good Queen Anne was at this time still living--was so
gentle and kind, and she acted her part as peace-maker so well, that
she greatly softened and soothed these asperities; but Richard led,
nevertheless, a wild and turbulent life, and was continually getting
involved in the most serious difficulties. Then there were wars to be
carried on, sometimes with France, sometimes with Scotland, and
sometimes with Ireland. Richard's uncles, the Dukes of Lancaster and
Gloucester, generally went away in command of the armies to carry on
these wars. Sometimes Richard himself accompanied the expeditions; but
even on these occasions, when he and his knights and nobles were
engaged together in a common cause, and apparently at peace with each
other, there were so many jealousies and angry heartburnings among
them, that deadly quarrels and feuds were continually breaking out.
As an example of these quarrels, I will give an account of one which
took place not very long after Richard was married. He was engaged
with his uncles in an expedition to Scotland. There was a knight in
attendance upon him named Sir Miles. This knight was a friend of the
queen. He was a Bohemian, and had come from Bohemia to pay Anne a
visit, and to bring the news to her from her native land. The king,
out of affection to Anne, paid him great attention. This made the
English knights and nobles jealous, and they amused themselves with
mimicking and laughing at Sir Miles's foreign peculiarities. The
particular friends of the queen, however, took his part, one
especially, named the Earl of Stafford, and his son, the young Lord
Ralph Stafford. Lord Ralph Stafford was one of the most courteous and
popular knights in England.
In the course of the expedition to Scotland the party came to a town
called Beverley, which is situated in the northern part of England,
near the frontier. One day, two archers belonging to the service of
Lord Ralph Stafford, in riding across the fields near Beverley, found
two squires engaged in a sort of quarrel with Sir Miles. The cause of
the quarrel was something about his lodgings in the town. The squires,
it seems, knowing that the knights and nobles generally disliked Sir
Miles, were encouraged to be very bold and insolent to him in
expressing their ill-will, and when the archers came up they were
following him with taunts, and ridicule, and abuse, while Sir Miles
was making the best of his way toward the town.
The archers took the Bohemian's part. They remonstrated with the
squires for thus abusing and teasing a stranger and a foreigner, a
personal friend, too, and guest of the queen.
"What business is it of yours, villainous knave, whether we laugh at
him or not?" said the squires. "What right have you to intermeddle?
What is it to you?"
"What is it to us?" repeated one of the archers. "It is a great deal
to us. This man is the friend of our master, and we will not stand by
and see him abused."
Upon hearing this, one of the squires uttered some words of defiance,
and advanced as if to strike the archer; but the archer, having his
bow and arrow all ready, suddenly let the arrow fly, and the squire
was killed on the spot.
Sir Miles had already gone on toward the town. The other squire,
seeing his companion dead, immediately made his escape. The two
archers, leaving the man whom they had killed on the ground where he
had fallen, made the best of their way home, and told their master,
Sir Ralph Stafford, what they had done.
Sir Ralph was extremely concerned to hear of the occurrence, and he
told the archer who killed the squire that he had done very wrong.
"But, my lord," said the archer, "I could not have done otherwise; for
the man was coming up to us with his sword drawn in his hand, and we
were obliged either to kill him or to be killed ourselves."
The archers, moreover, told Sir Ralph that the squires were in the
service of Sir John Holland. Now Sir John Holland was a half brother
of the king, being the child of his mother, the Princess of Wales, by
a former husband. When Sir Ralph heard this, he was still more alarmed
than before. He told the archers who killed the squire that they must
go and hide themselves somewhere until the affair could be arranged.
"I will negotiate with Lord Holland for your pardon," said he, "either
through my father or in some other way. But, in the mean time, you
must keep yourselves closely concealed."
The Earl of Stafford, Lord Ralph Stafford's father, was a nobleman of
the very highest rank, and of great influence.
It is a curious indication of the ideas that prevailed in those days,
and of the relations that subsisted between the nobles and their
dependants, that the slaughter of a man in an affray of this kind was
a matter to be _arranged_ between the masters respectively of the men
engaged in it.
The archers went away to hide themselves until Lord Ralph could
arrange the matter.
In the mean time, the squire who had escaped in the fray hurried home
and related the matter to Lord Holland. Lord Holland was greatly
enraged. He uttered dreadful imprecations against Lord Ralph Stafford
and against Sir Miles, whom he seemed to consider responsible for the
death of his squire, and declared that he would not sleep until he had
had his revenge. So he mounted his horse, and, taking some trusty
attendants with him, rode into Beverley, and asked where Sir Miles's
lodgings were. While he was going toward the place, breathing fury and
death, suddenly, in a narrow lane, he came upon Lord Ralph, who was
then going to find him, in order to arrange about the murder. It was
now, however, late in the evening, and so dark that the parties did
not at first know each other.
"Who comes here?" said Lord Holland, when he saw Sir Ralph
approaching.
"I am Stafford," replied Sir Ralph.
"You are the very man I want to see," said Lord Holland. "One of your
servants has killed my squire--the one that I loved so much."
As he said this, he brought down so heavy a blow upon Sir Ralph's head
as to fell him from his horse to the ground. He then rode on. The
attendants hurried to the spot and raised Sir Ralph up. They found him
faint and bleeding, and in a few moments he died.
As soon as this fact was ascertained, one of the men rode on after
Lord Holland, and, coming up to him, said,
"My lord, you have killed Lord Stafford."
"Very well," said Lord Holland; "I am glad of it. I would rather it
would be a man of his rank than any body else, for so I am the more
completely revenged for the death of my squire."
As fast as the tidings of these events spread, they produced universal
excitement. The Earl of Stafford, the father of Sir Ralph, was plunged
into the most inconsolable grief at the death of his son. The earl was
one of the most powerful nobles in the army, and, if he had undertaken
to avenge himself on Lord Holland, the whole expedition would perhaps
have been broken up into confusion. On the king's solemn assurance
that Holland would be punished, he was appeased for the time; but then
the Princess of Wales, Richard's mother, who was Lord Holland's
mother too, was thrown into the greatest state of anxiety and
distress. She implored Richard to save his brother's life. All the
other nobles and knights took sides too in the quarrel, and for a time
it seemed that the dissension would never be healed. Lord Holland, in
the mean while, fled to the church at Beverley, and took sanctuary
there. By the laws and customs of the time, they could not touch him
until he came voluntarily out.
Richard resisted all the entreaties of his mother to spare the
murderer's life until he found that her anxiety and distress were
preying upon her health so much that he feared that she would die. At
last, to save his mother's life, he promised that Holland should be
spared. But it was too late. His mother fell into a decline, and at
length died, as it was said, of a broken heart. What a dreadful death!
that of a mother worn out by the agony of long-continued and
apparently fruitless efforts to prevent one of her children from being
the executioner of another for the crime of murder.
Besides these fierce, deadly contests among the knights and nobles,
the ladies of the court had their feuds and quarrels too. They were
often divided into cliques and parties, and were full of envyings,
jealousies, and resentments against each other. One of the most
serious of these difficulties was occasioned by a marriage of the Duke
of Lancaster, which took place toward the close of his life. This was
his third marriage, he having been successively married to two ladies
of high rank before. The lady whom he now married was of a
comparatively humble station in life. She was the daughter of a
foreign knight. Her name, originally, was Catharine de Rouet. She had
been, in her early life, a maiden in attendance on the Duchess of
Lancaster, the duke's second wife. While she was in his family the
duke formed a guilty intimacy with her, which was continued for a long
time. They had three children. The duke provided well for these
children, and gave them a good education. After a time, the duke,
becoming tired of her, arranged for her to be married to a certain
knight named Swinton, and she lived with this knight for some time,
until at length he died, and Catharine became a widow.
The Duchess of Lancaster died also, and then the duke became for the
second time a widower, and he now conceived the idea of making
Catharine Swinton his wife. His motive for this was not his love for
_her_, for that, it is said, had passed away, but his regard for the
children, who, on the marriage of their mother to the father of the
children, would be legitimatized, and would thus become entitled to
many legal rights and privileges from which they would otherwise be
debarred. The other ladies of the court, however, particularly the
wives of the other dukes--the Duke of Lancaster's brothers--were
greatly incensed when they heard of this proposed marriage, and they
did all they possibly could do to prevent it. All was, however, of no
avail, for the Duke of Lancaster was not a man to be easily thwarted
in any determination that he might take into his head. So he was
married, and the poor despised Catharine was made the first duchess in
the realm, and became entitled to take precedence of all the other
duchesses.
This the other duchesses could not endure. They could not bear it,
they said, and they _would_ not bear it. They declared that they would
not go into any place where this woman, as they called her, was to be.
As might have been expected, an interminable amount of quarreling and
ill-will grew out of this affair.
About the time of this marriage of the duke, the king himself was
married a second time, as will be related in the next chapter.