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Of that sweet way I was in to despair!
What say you now? what comfort have we now?
By Heaven, I'll hate him everlastingly,
That bids me be of comfort any more.
Go, to Flint-castle; there I'll pine away:
A king, wo's slave, shall kingly wo obey.
That power I have, discharge; and let them go
To ear the land, that hath some hope to grow,
For I have none :-Let no man speak again
To alter this, for counsel is but vain.

Aumerle. My liege, one word.
King Richard.

He does me double wrong,

That wounds me with the flatteries of his tongue.
Discharge my followers, let them hence.-Away,
From Richard's night, to Bolingbroke's fair day.

67

Cotemporary Events.-France: Charles V. Charles VI. Scotland: Robert II. Robert III. Vasco de Gama doubled the Cape of Good Hope (1392). Tamerlane takes Delhi (1398). During the latter half of the 14th century flourished Chaucer, the father of English poetry, and Wycliffe "the morning star of the Reformation." In Italy, Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio flourished. Froissart also wrote his Chronicles in this century.

In the course of this century also the mariner's compass was introduced, and gunpowder and cannon first used. A linen paper-mill was established in Germany. Medical science made some progress.

Questions.-1. Write an account of the insurrection under Wat Tyler, and of the causes which led to it. 2. Who was Henry Bolingbroke, and what circumstances led to his banishment? 3. With what avowed purpose did he return to England, and what was the result of his expedition? 4. What was the character of Richard the Second's government?

3. Henry IV.

A.D. 1399-1413.

REVOLT OF THE WELSH UNDER OWEN GLENDOWER-INVASION BY THE SCOTS— REBELLION OF THE NORTHERN EARLS-ACT AGAINST HERESY.

Edward III.

Lionel, Duke of Clarence, (second son) Phillipa, married E. Mortimer, Earl of March Roger Mortimer

Edm. Mortimer, Earl of March.

Anne
I

Richard, Duke of York

son of Edward III.

Edward IV.1

Henry IV., son of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, having procured, as we have seen, the deposition of Richard II., usurped the throne from the Earl of March, the lawful heir, who was great-grandson of the Duke of Clarence, the second As might have been expected from the manner in which the throne was obtained, and the existence of a rival claimant, Henry's reign was disturbed by conspiracies, insurrections, and civil war. The first conspiracy was set on foot by the Earls of Kent and Huntingdon, Richard's half-brothers, but it was betrayed by the king's cousin, the Duke of Rutland, son of the Duke of York, whose treacherous habit it was to join in every plot, and then turn informer. Kent, Huntingdon, and some others were beheaded. Charles VI., king of France, whose daughter had been married to Richard II., at first declined to recognise Henry's title, believing his son-in-law to be still living, and purposing to send him assistance. Meanwhile, as has been already stated, Richard died in Pomfret Castle, being, it is supposed, starved to death by Henry's order.

The Scotch and Welsh determined to take advantage of the unsettled state of England. land with an army, and in don, in which the Earl of was made prisoner by the the famous Harry Hotspur.

The former accordingly entered Eng1402 was fought the battle of HomilDouglas, who commanded the Scotch, Earl of Northumberland and his son

The Welsh also gave considerable

1 Compare genealogy of Henry IV., p. 63.

A.D. 1403.]

REBELLION OF THE NORTHERN EARLS.

69

annoyance, and under Owen Glendower made another effort to secure their independence. They made frequent inroads into the English marches; and in one of these Mortimer, uncle of the young Earl of March, who had taken part with the Welsh, was made prisoner. Harry Hotspur, who had married Mortimer's sister, requested the king to allow Mortimer his liberty upon payment of a ransom; the king refused, and at the same time ordered the Earl of Northumberland on no account to liberate Douglas, who had been taken at Homildon. The consequence was, that Northumberland, his brother the Earl of Worcester, and Harry Hotspur, resolved to overturn the throne they had aided to establish, and having formed an alliance with Douglas and Glendower, a tremendous battle was fought at Shrewsbury (1403). The death of Hotspur decided the day in favour of the king. The Earl of Worcester was executed, and Douglas made prisoner.

The victim of the next conspiracy, which failed like all the others, was Scrope, archbishop of York. His brother, one of Richard's ministers, had been executed by order of Henry, and the archbishop, disapproving of the perfidy, usurpation, and murder of which Henry had been guilty, advocated the claim of the Earl of March to the throne. The archbishop was handed over for trial to Chief-Justice Gascoigne, who declined, on the ground that he could not lawfully try a dignitary of the Church. A complaisant tool was however found,-the first judge that pronounced capital sentence on an archbishop. Shortly afterwards the old Duke of Northumberland, Hotspur's father, took up arms against Henry, but was defeated and killed at Bramham Moor (1408). Glendower then gave up the struggle, and died in retirement. The constant success and good fortune that attended Henry IV. is remarkable. He professed to believe that success was a proof of the approbation of Heaven, but the maxim brought no ease to his conscience.

In Scotland society was disturbed. Robert III. being deemed incapable of governing, his brother, the Duke of Albany, seized the reins, and, with the hope of insuring permanence to his position,

The

starved to death the heir, who was Robert's eldest son. father, apprehensive for the life of James his second son, sent him to his ally of France. The ship bearing the youth was waylaid, and young James was brought to Henry, who kept him as hostage for the good behaviour of Scotland, but treated him kindly and educated him well.

Henry, in order to please the clergy, ordered William Sautré, a Wycliffite or Lollard, as the sect was called, to be burned for heresy, the first instance of an execution on account of religious opinions. A royal act was about the same time passed against the reformed opinions, which were rapidly spreading, and many died at the stake rather than repudiate their faith. This act is the greatest blot on Henry's reign, but quite in accordance with the spirit of the time.

In 1413 Henry IV. died, at the age of forty-six. During his reign the House of Commons gained great additional importance. The king paid marked respect to its authority. Having the power of granting supplies, the House generally made use of it to acquire new privileges.-Henry's sons were, Henry v.; Thomas, duke of Clarence; John, duke of Bedford; Humphrey, duke of Gloucester.

Colemporary Sovereigns.-France: Charles VI. Scotland: Robert III.

James I.

2. What led

Questions.-1. By what wars was Henry the Fourth's reign characterized? to the rebellion of the northern earls? 3. How is this reign notable in respect to religious watters ?

4. Henry V.

A.D. 1413-1422.

HENRY V'S CLAIM TO THE CROWN OF FRANCE-VICTORY OF AGINCOURT-HENRY DECLARED REGENT OF FRANCE-FOUNDATION OF A PERMANENT NAVY LAID.

Henry, who had led a gay and somewhat dissolute life, began his reign by dismissing his boon companions, and drawing round

A.D. 1415.]

HARFLEUR BESIEGED AND SACKED.

71

him the wisest and most virtuous men in the kingdom. He restored to liberty the Earl of March (lawful heir to the throne), and their estates and honours to the sons of Percy. The Lollards, who sought to carry out Wycliffe's doctrines, caused some disturbance in the first year of this reign, but the imprisonment of their chief, Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, and his subsequent execution, restored the old order of things.

France at this time was passing through the most unfortunate period of her history. King Charles VI. was subject to fits of madness. His queen, Isabella of Bavaria, was the most profligate and unprincipled of women. His brother Louis, duke of Orleans, who considered his right to the regency superior to that of all others, had been assassinated, under the most perfidious circumstances, by his cousin and competitor for the regency, John, duke of Burgundy. Thus was France split into two factions, the Burgundians representing the democracy, and the Armagnacs or aristocratic party (who derived their name from the father-in-law of Charles) the young Duke of Orleans. It was while France was in

this state of anarchy that Henry v. revived Edward III.'s old claim to the throne, but, as he was on the point of embarking to prosecute his claim, a conspiracy was detected at home. The Earl of Cambridge, son of the late Duke of York, had married the sister of the Earl of March, and had with others conspired to place that Earl, as the lawful heir, on the throne. Cambridge and his associates were hurriedly tried, condemned, and executed. Immediately after this Henry sailed, and landed (1415) near Harfleur, which he besieged.

The speech which Shakspere puts into the mouth of Henry, before the assault of Harfleur, is one of the greatest battle orations ever uttered or written :

King Henry. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;

Or close the wall up with our English dead!

In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man

As modest stillness and humility:

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