and in the end, though personally beloved for his pious and charitable conduct, splendid evidences of which remain to this day 9, the "meek usurper" was deprived of his throne; he saw his friends cut off in the field or on the scaffold; he suffered exile and a tedious imprisonment himself, and he died at last in confinement in the Tower, about the month of May, 1471. His death has usually been ascribed to violence, but it was more probably owing to grief at the capture of his wife and slaughter of his son at Tewkesbury shortly before. His body was exposed in St. Paul's, and then buried with little ceremony at Chertsey Abbey, but by Henry VII. was removed to Windsor, and interred in St. George's Chapel.

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In 1445 Henry married Margaret of Anjou, daughter of René, titular king of Sicily, Naples, and Jerusalem, but in fact a dependant on the king of France. To obtain her hand most of the remaining English possessions in France were given up, and Margaret thus became unpopular with the English from her first coming among them. She was a woman of beauty and undaunted spirit; thus she gained an ascendancy over her weak husband which was often unwisely and some

York took up arms to bring him to trial, but after some contention they were formally reconciled; this lasted but a short time, and in 1454 Somerset was imprisoned on charges of treason preferred by the duke; he was, however, set at liberty by the influence of the queen, and taking the command of some troops he advanced to St. Alban's, where he was met by the duke of York, defeated and killed, May 23, 1455, the assault being led by his brother-in-law, the earl of Warwick. He left three sons, who all died in the Lancastrian

cause.

He founded Eton College in 1440, and King's College, Cambridge in 1443, beside assisting Chicheley's foundation at Oxford; his queen endowed a second college at Cambridge.

times cruelly exercised, and was the immediate cause of his downfall. She, however, fully shared his sufferings, and made the most vigorous attempts to retrieve his fortunes, enduring exile, innumerable perils by land and by sea, and a long imprisonment; she at length closed her chequered life in her native country, dying in poverty at Dampierre, near Saumur, Aug. 25, 1481.

Henry's only son, Edward, born October 13, 1453, married Anne, daughter of the earl of Warwick, in 1470, but was killed at Tewkesbury shortly after.

The arms of Henry VI. are the same as those of his father, France and England quarterly.

His supporters are usually two antelopes, argent; but sometimes the dexter supporter is a lion; and in other instances a panther rampant, incensed, is the sinister. His badges are, an antelope collared and chained, two feathers in saltire, and sometimes a panther passant gardant, spotted with many colours and incensed; but this latter more properly belongs to the Beauforts. The well-known motto DIEU ET MON DROIT, appears to have been first assumed as such by this king, but it had been in use as a war-cry at least as early as the time of Richard I.

Henry in character was evidently well meaning, and sincerely pious", but too weak and irresolute to hold sway in the turbulent days in which he lived; still he

He was popularly regarded as a saint, and Henry VII. took some steps to procure his canonization, but is stated by Lord Bacon to have been deterred by the expense.

justly claims our pity for his sufferings: his great misfortune was, that by the conduct of his grandfather he was placed in a position the duties of which he was entirely unfit to discharge, and that thus he was exposed to the penalty justly attached to his ancestor's crime, but which descended on his innocent head.

A.D. 1422. The duke of Bedford governs in France, and the duke of Gloucester in England, in the name of the infant kings, who is placed under the care of the earl of Warwick (Richard Beauchamp).

Charles VI. of France dies, Oct. 21; the dauphin is crowned at Poictiers, while Henry VI. is acknowledged as king in Paris.

Irish residents at Oxford and Cambridge ordered to leave the realm within a month, except graduates and beneficed men, who can find surety, [1 Hen. VI. c. 3t].

A.D. 1423. A treaty concluded at Amiens, by which the duke of Britanny (John V.) becomes an ally of the English.

The earl of Salisbury (Thomas Montacute) defeats the French and their Scottish allies at Crevant, in Burgundy, July.

The French defeat and capture Sir John de la Pole, at Graville, in Maine.

Merchandize of the staple to be carried only to Calais, [2 Hen. VI. c. 4].

His regnal years are computed from Sept. 1.

The reason given is that divers manslaughters, murders, robberies, felonies, riots, and other offences, have lately been committed by them; no fresh scholars from Ireland are to be received without proper testimonials of being in the king's obedience.

Justices empowered to regulate wages and prices of victuals, [c. 18].

Persons committed for treason, making their escape, to be considered as convicted, [c. 21].

A.D. 1424. King James of Scotland set at liberty, in April".

James of Scotland causes the duke of Albany (the late regent), two of his sons, and the earl of Lenox, to be executed as traitors, May 24.

The duke of Bedford defeats the French and Scots, at Verneuil, in Perche, August 16.

The duke of Gloucester invades Hainault, in October, to recover the inheritance of his wife, Jaqueline of Holland; he is opposed by the duke of Burgundy (her kinsman), and at length obliged to withdraw.

The duke of Britanny abandons the party of the English.

A.D. 1425. The duke of Gloucester and his uncle Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, contend for the rule in England, but, after a time, are outwardly reconciled by the duke of Bedford.

Britanny is invaded by the duke of Bedford, and its duke obliged to rejoin the English.

The court of Charles VII. is torn by faction; the constable puts the royal favourite to death.

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A.D. 1426. The duke of Gloucester abandons the

"He had shortly before married Joan, daughter of John Beaufort, earl of Somerset. He gave hostages for the payment of a heavy ransom, and agreed to a truce of seven years, from which the Scots serving in France were excluded.

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His youngest son escaped to Ireland, and died there.

Arthur, earl of Richmond, and brother of the duke of Britanny. See p. 36.

contest in Hainault. He endeavours to render himself absolute in the council in England, but is thwarted by Cardinal Beaufort and the chancellor, Archbishop Kempe.

A.D. 1427. The election of knights of the shire regulated by statute, [6 Hen. VI. c. 4; see also 8 Hen. VI. c. 7].

James of Scotland captures Alexander, lord of the Isles, and several other chieftains, by treachery, at Inverness.

A.D. 1428. Lincoln College, Oxford, is founded", Oct. 13.

Jaqueline fell soon after into the hands of the duke of Burgundy, but escaped to Holland. Her marriage with Gloucester was set aside by the pope (Martin V.) and the duke married Eleanor Cobham.

John Kempe was a poor Kentish scholar, who received his education at Merton College, Oxford, and acquired a profound knowledge of the civil and canon law. From

the office of archdeacon of Durham he was raised, by a papal provision, to the see of Rochester, in 1419; and was successively advanced, by the same influence, to the sees of Chichester, London, York, and Canterbury, and made a cardinal. In 1426 he became chancellor, and supported Cardinal Beaufort against the Duke of Gloucester. In 1432 he resigned, and was succeeded by John Stafford, bishop of Bath and Wells, who 18 years after was driven from office, when Kempe again received the great seal, and held it till his death, which happened March 22, 1454. He had in earlier days been chancellor of Normandy, as also judge of the Arches court; he displayed statesmanlike firmness and prudence in dealing with Cade and his followers, and also in endeavouring to reconcile the dukes of York and Somerset, whose animosity was kept within bounds during his life, but who no sooner lost his seasonable mediation than they carried their quarrel to a point where the sword alone could decide between them. Cardinal Kempe was liberal in his patronage of learning, and greatly contributed to the establishment of the Public Schools at Oxford.

Its founder was Richard Flemmyng, bishop of Lincoln, who had