thousand, drawn up on the plain of AGINCOURT, and he without hesitation determined to attack the tremendous host. The skill of his archers, and the bad generalship of the French commanders, enabled him to gain a decisive victory, and the flower of the chivalry of France was cut down on that fatal day (Oct. 25, 1415). Henry proceeded to Calais, and thence to England, where he met with a most enthusiastic reception.

The war was renewed in 1416, and continued during the two following years with much success; but Henry's ultimate triumph was due to the assassination of the Duke of Burgundy, in the presence, and doubtless at the instance of, the dauphin (1419). The opposite party now threw themselves into the hands of the king, and the treaty of Troyes was signed (May 21, 1420), by virtue of which he was to receive the hand of the Princess Catherine, daughter of the demented monarch; to be regent of the realm, and to succeed Charles on his death.

The dauphin, however, continued the struggle, and a body of Scotch auxiliaries under John Stewart, Earl of Buchan, defeated and slew the king's brother, the Duke of Clarence, at BEAUGÉ, in Anjou (March 22, 1421). But Henry raised fresh troops, and capturing Meaux, he became master of most of France north of the Loire. Soon after he was seized by a malady which the physicians pronounced incurable; and the command of the army was entrusted to his brother, the Duke of Bedford, a general of distinguished skill and courage.

In this reign "the first commission of array which we meet with was issued. The military part of the feudal system, which was the most essential circumstance of it, was entirely dissolved, and could no longer serve for the defence of the kingdom. Henry, therefore, when he went to France in 1415, empowered certain commissioners to take, in each county, a review of all the freemen able to bear arms, to divide them into companies, and to keep them in readiness for resisting an enemy."* Henry

Hume's History of England.

built several large ships, and seems to have been the first sovereign who had something of a permanent navy.

The revenue at this time was 55,700l., and the expense of Calais alone amounted to more than 19,000l.

The Commons in Henry's reign, as well as in that of his father, increased their power, and they obtained from the former a confirmation of their claim, that no statute should be valid unless made with their assent.

[John Huss burned, 1415. Jerome of Prague also burned, 1416.]

Death.-Henry died at the Bois de Vincennes, August 31, 1422.

HENRY VI.

Reigned from 1422 to 1461.

Birth.-Henry was born at Windsor, December 6, 1421.
Descent. He was the only son of Henry V.

Marriage. He espoused Margaret of Anjou, daughter of René, titular King of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem.

Child.-Edward, killed at Tewkesbury.

Important Events.-Henry was only nine months old at the time of his father's death, and the government of France was accordingly delegated to the Duke of Bedford, and that of England to the Duke of Gloucester. Seven weeks after the decease of his son-in-law, Charles VI followed him to the grave.

The first conflict between the army of the regent and that of the dauphin, now called Charles VII by his party, was at CREVANT, on the Yonne, where the Earl of Salisbury was victorious (July 1, 1423); and in the succeeding year, Bedford himself defeated the French and Scots at VERNEUIL-" the greatest deed," according to the parliament, "done by Englishmen in our days, save the battle of Agincourt" (Aug. 17, 1424).

The Duke of Burgundy, the most important ally of the English, was much incensed by Gloucester's marriage with the Countess of Hainault, who had abandoned her husband (a kins

man of Burgundy); but Bedford succeeded in pacifying the duke, and the marriage was ultimately declared void.

In 1428 the English generals, having already taken the chief strongholds on the north of the Loire, invested the city of Orleans; but in a few days the Earl of Salisbury, their most able commander, was mortally wounded. The siege was vigorously carried on by the Earl of Suffolk; and a small force, conveying provisions for the English camp, under Sir John Fastolf, vanquished a body of troops twice as large, sent to intercept them, at ROUVRAI. This battle, fought on the first Sunday of Lent, was called the BATTLE OF HERRINGS, from the stores of salted fish which were scattered on the field by the discharge of the French artillery (Feb. 12, 1429).

It was now fully expected that Orleans would fall into the hands of the besiegers; but Joan of Arc (the youthful daughter of a peasant, residing at Domremy, a village near Vaucouleurs), who believed that she was Divinely commissioned to deliver her country, obtained an introduction to Charles VII, and with his consent headed some troops carrying supplies to the beleaguered city. The expedition was successful; and the English dreading the reputed sorceress, abandoned their enterprize (May). Six weeks later Lord Talbot was defeated at PATAY (June 18); and Charles succeeded in peaceably entering Rheims, where he was crowned (July 17).

Joan, on this, begged to be allowed to retire home, as she had performed her promises; but being deemed a valuable political instrument, she was urged to continue with the army, and was unfortunately captured by the English at Compeigne (May, 1430). The next year she was charged with sorcery and heresy, and with adopting male costume-an abomination which was pronounced to be contrary to the law of God; and on the 30th of May she was burned alive in the market-place at Rouen, the name of Jesus being the last word which she was heard to utter. The Duke of Burgundy, about this time, became desirous of freeing himself from the English alliance; and in 1435 a con

gress was held at Arras, at which he was reconciled to Charles. Very favourable terms were offered to the English and declined. Before the close of the congress, Bedford died; and Richard, Duke of York, the Earl of Warwick, York a second time, and Edmund, Duke of Somerset, were successively regents. By the king's marriage Anjou and Maine were virtually surrendered to France in 1448, and the following year Normandy was taken. In 1451 nearly all Guienne was conquered; and in 1453, Talbot, the veteran Earl of Shrewsbury, after considerable successes in that district, was defeated and slain at CHATILLON, in Perigod. Bordeaux was captured the same year, and "the dream of conquest, which had lasted for more than a century, was, by God's blessing, at an end." *

The Duke of Suffolk, who had been mainly instrumental in bringing about the king's marriage, caused the arrest of the "good Duke Humphrey" (Gloucester), at Bury St. Edmund's; and the latter was found dead a few days after (Feb., 1447). Henry Beaufort, Cardinal of Winchester, his most powerful rival, died six weeks later, at the age of eighty.

Suffolk was impeached, and sentenced to banishment, in 1450, and on his voyage to the continent was assassinated. In the same year a rising took place in Kent, under Jack Cade, who named himself John Mortimer; and the insurgents entered London and committed some excesses, but the revolt was speedily suppressed, and Cade was slain. It was about this time that Richard, Duke of York, the representative of the elder branch of Edward III's descendants, seems to have designed to obtain the crown, and in 1452 he took up arms to destroy the power of Edmund, Duke of Somerset, the nearest kinsman of Henry VI, and much disliked, because under him the late disasters in Franch had occurred. York was induced to lay down his arms, and was then imprisoned; but not long after he was released. In 1453 Henry sank into a state of mental imbecility, and on the meeting of parliament, early the next year, York * Knight's "Popular History of England."

was made protector, having previously procured the imprisonment of Somerset.

In a few months the king partially recovered, and both cancelled York's commission and released his rival (1455); but York collected some forces, and attacked the royal army under Somerset, at ST. ALBAN'S. Henry was captured, and Somerset and other Lancastrian leaders were slain (May 22). This was the first battle in the Wars of the Roses, so called because the emblem of the Yorkist party was a white rose, and that of the Lancastrian a red. Towards the close of the year, on the king's renewed illness, York was again appointed protector; but Henry was able to take the government into his own hands, after a few weeks' interval. In 1459 the struggle between the two factions was recommenced, and the Earl of Salisbury (Warwick's father) proceeding on his march to join the Duke of York, defeated Lord Audley at BLOREHEATH, in Staffordshire, (Sept. 23). But Henry's heroic queen advancing against the combined forces with a superior army to Ludlow, one of the Yorkist leaders deserted to her camp, and the rest of the troops immediately disbanded (Oct. 13). In the middle of the following year, however, the Yorkists vanquished the queen's forces at NORTHAMPTON, and the king was taken prisoner (July 10, 1460); and on the meeting of parliament, the Duke of York, having formally claimed the crown, it was agreed that Henry should wear it during his life, and that he should be succeeded by Richard. The queen, anxious to vindicate the rights of her son, raised a large army in the north, and overthrew the troops of the Duke of York at WAKEFIELD. York and his son the Earl of Rutland, were among the slain (Dec. 31, 1460). Edward (now Duke of York), a month after, defeated the Earl of Pembroke at MORTIMER'S CROSS (Feb. 2, 1461); and though Margaret gained a victory over the Earl of Warwick at ST. ALBAN'S and recovered her husband (Feb. 17), the Duke of York entered London without opposition, and was declared king (March 4).

In this reign it was enacted that the knights of the shire