Walter gets into a quarrel with the king's squire.
But Walter did not seem at all inclined to go. He looked around upon the king's attendants, and seeing one that he had known before, a squire, who was in immediate attendance on the king's person, he said to him,
"What! You here?"
This squire was the king's sword-bearer. In addition to the king's sword, which it was his duty to carry, he was armed with a dagger of his own.
Walter turned his horse toward the squire and said,
"Let me see that dagger that you have got."
"No," said the squire, drawing back.
"Yes," said the king, "let him take the dagger."
The king was not at all afraid of the rebel, and wished to let him see that he was not afraid of him.
So the squire gave Walter the dagger. Walter took it and examined it in all its parts very carefully, turning it over and over in his hands as he sat upon his horse. It was very richly ornamented, and Walter had probably never had the opportunity to examine closely any thing so beautifully finished before.
After having satisfied himself with examining the dagger, he turned again to the squire:
"And now," said he, "let me see your sword."
"No," said the squire, "this is the king's sword, and it is not going into the hands of such a lowborn fellow as you. And, moreover," he added, after pausing a moment and looking atWalter with an expression of defiance, "if you and I had met somewhere alone, you would not have dared to talk as you have done, not for a heap of gold as high as this church."
There was a famous church, called the Church of St. Bartholomew, near the place where the king and his party had halted.
"By the powers," said Walter, "I will not eat this day before I have your head."
Seeing that a quarrel was impending, the mayor of London and a dozen horsemen rode up and surrounded Walter and the squire.
"Scoundrel!" said the mayor, "how dare you utter such threats as those?"
"What business is that of yours?" said Walter, turning fiercely toward the mayor. "What have you to do with it?"
"Seize him!" said the king; for the king himself was now beginning to lose his patience.
Walter is at last assaulted and killed.
The mayor, encouraged by these words, and being already in a state of boiling indignation and rage, immediately struck a tremendous blow upon Walter's head with a cimeter which he had in his hand. The blow stunned him, and he fell heavily from his horse to the ground. One of the horsemen who had come up with the mayor—a man named John Standwich—immediately dismounted, and thrust the body ofWalter through with his sword, killing him on the spot.
Excitement among his men.
In the mean time, the crowd of the insurgents had remained where Walter had left them, watching the proceedings. They had received orders not to move from their position until Walter should make the signal; but when they saw Walter struck down from his horse, and stabbed as he lay on the ground, they cried out, "They have killed our captain. Form the lines! form the lines! We will go and kill every one of them."
Courage and coolness of the king.
So they hastily formed in array, and got their weapons ready, prepared to charge upon the king's party; but Richard, who in all these transactions evinced a degree of bravery and coolness very remarkable for a young man of sixteen, rode forward alone, and boldly, to meet them.
"Gentlemen," said he, "you have no leader but me. I am your king. Remain quiet and peaceable."
The insurgents seemed not to know what to do on hearing these words. Some began to move away, but the more violent and determined kept their ground, and seemed still bent on mischief. The king went back to his party, and asked them what they should do next.Some advised that they should make for the open fields, and try to escape; but the mayor of London advised that they should remain quietly where they were.
"It will be of no use," said he, "for us to try to make our escape, but if we remain here we shall soon have help."
Alarm conveyed to London.Troops brought to the ground.
The mayor had already sent horsemen into London to summon help. These messengers spread the cry in the city,"To Smithfield! To Smithfield! They are killing the King!"This cry produced universal excitement and alarm. The bands of armed men quartered in London were immediately turned out, and great numbers of volunteers too, seizing such weapons as they could find, made haste to march to Smithfield; and thus, in a short time, the king found himself supported by a body of seven or eight thousand men.
Some of his advisers then urged that the whole of this force should fall at once upon the insurgents, and slaughter them without mercy. This it was thought that they could easily do, although the insurgents were far more numerous than they; for the king's party consisted, in great measure, of well-armed and well-disciplined soldiers, while the insurgents were comparatively a helpless and defenseless rabble.
The insurgents surrender their banners and disperse.
The king, however, would not consent to this. Perhaps somebody advised him what to do, or perhaps it was his own prudence and moderation which suggested his course. He sent messengers forward to remonstrate calmly with the men, and demand of them that they should give up their banners. If they would do so, the messengers said that the king would pardon them. So they gave up their banners. This seemed to be the signal of disbanding, and large parties of the men began to separate from the mass, and move away toward their homes.
Next, the king sent to demand that those who had received decrees of emancipation should return them. They did so; and in this way a considerable number of the decrees were given up. The king tore them to pieces on the field, upon the plea that they were forfeited by the men's having continued in rebellion after the decrees were granted.
The whole mass of the insurgents began now rapidly to get into disorder. They had no head, no banners, and the army which was gathering against them was increasing in strength and resolution every moment. The dispersal went on faster and faster, until at last those that remained threw down their weapons and fled to London.
The king's interview with his mother.
The king then went home to his mother. She was overjoyed to see him safely returning.
"My dear son," said she, "you can not conceive what pain and anguish I have suffered for you this day."
"Yes, mother," said Richard, "I have no doubt you have suffered a great deal. But it is all over now. Now you can rejoice and thank God, for I have regained my inheritance, the kingdom of England, which I had lost."
Final results of the rebellion.
After this there was no farther serious trouble. The insurgents were disheartened, and most of them were glad to make the best of their way home. After the danger was past, Richard revoked all the decrees of emancipation which he had issued, on the ground that they had been extorted from him by violence and intimidation, and also that the condition on which they had been granted, namely, that the men should retire at once quietly to their homes, had not been complied with on their part. He found it somewhat difficult to recover them all, but he finally succeeded. He also sent commissions to all the towns and villages which had been implicated in the rebellion, and caused great numbers of persons to be tried and condemned to death. Many thousands werethus executed. Indeed, the rebellion had extended far and wide; for, besides the disturbances in and near London, there had been risings in all parts of the kingdom, and great excesses committed every where.
When the rebellion was thus quelled, things returned for a time into substantially the same condition as before, and yet the bondage of the people was never afterward so abject and hopeless as it had been. A considerable general improvement was the result. Indeed, such outbreaks as this against oppression are like the earthquakes of South America, which, though they cause for the time great terror, and often much destruction, still have the effect to raise the general level of the land, and leave it forever afterward in a better condition than before.
The cause of these rebels, moreover, badly as they managed it, was in the main a just cause; and it is to precisely such convulsive struggles as these, that have been made from time to time by the common people of England in the course of their history, that their descendants, the present commons of England and the people of America, are indebted for the personal rights and liberties which they now enjoy.
A.D. 1382-1394
KingRichard was married twice. His first queen was named Anne. She was a Bohemian princess, and so is sometimes called in history Anne of Bohemia. She was, however, more commonly called Good Queen Anne.
The planning of Richard's first marriage.
The marriage was planned by Richard's courtiers and counselors when Richard himself was about fifteen years old. The negotiations were interrupted by the troubles connected with the insurrection described in the two last chapters; but immediately after the insurrection was quelled they were renewed. The proposals were sent to Bohemia by Richard's government. After suitable inquiries had been made by Anne's parents and friends, the proposals were accepted, and preparations were made for sending Anne to England to be married. Richard was now about sixteen years of age. Anne was fifteen. Neither of them had ever seen the other.
Journey of the bridal party toward England.
In due time, when every thing had been made ready, the princess set out on her journey, accompaniedby a large train of attendants. She was under the charge of a nobleman named the Duke of Saxony, and of his wife the duchess. The duchess was Anne's aunt. Besides the duke, there were in the party a number of knights, and other persons of distinction, and also several young ladies of the court, who went to accompany and wait upon the princess. There were also many other attendants of lower degree.
The party traveled slowly, as was the custom in those days, until at length they reached Flanders. Here, at Brussels, the capital, the princess was received by the Duke and Duchess of Brabant, who were her relatives, and was entertained by them in a very sumptuous manner. She, however, heard alarming news at Brussels. The intention of the party had been to take ship on the coast of Flanders, and proceed to Calais by water. Calais was then in the hands of the English, and an embassador with a grand suite had been sent from Richard's court to receive the princess on her arrival there, and conduct her across the Channel to Dover, and thence to London.
The reason why the princess and her party did not propose to go by land all the way to Calais was that, by so doing, they would necessarilypass through the territories of the King of France, and they were afraid that the French government would intercept them. It was known that the government of France had been opposed to the match, as tending to give Richard too much influence on the Continent.
Their way is cut off by sea.
But now, on their arrival at Brussels, the bridal party learned that there was a fleet of Norman vessels, ten or twelve in number, that were cruising to and fro on the coast, between Brussels and Calais, with a view of blocking up the princess's way by sea as well as by land. Both she herself and the Duke of Saxony were much chagrined at receiving this information, and for a time they did not know what to do. At length they sent an embassage to Paris, and after some difficulties and delay they succeeded in obtaining the consent of the French government that the princess should pass through the French territories by land. The embassadors brought back a passport for her and for her party.
Although the King of France thus granted the desired permission, he did it in a very ungracious manner, for he took care to say that he yielded to the Duke of Saxony's request solely out of kindness to his good cousin Anne, and a desire to do her a favor, and not at all out of regard to the King of England.
The princess was detained a month in Brussels while they were arranging this affair, and when at last it was settled she resumed her journey, taking the road from Brussels to Calais. The Duke of Brabant accompanied her, with an escort of one hundred spearmen. This, however, was an escort of honor rather than of protection, as the duke relied mainly upon the French passport for the safety of the party.
The bride enters Calais.Great display.
As the party were approaching Calais, they were received at the town of Gravelines by the English embassador and his suite, who had come out from Calais to meet them. This embassador was the Earl of Salisbury. He was attended by a force of one thousand men, namely, five hundred spearmen and five hundred archers. Conducted by this grand escort, and accompanied by a large cavalcade of knights and nobles, all clad in full armor, and splendidly mounted, the princess and the ladies in her train made a magnificent entry into Calais, through the midst of a vast concourse of spectators, with trumpets sounding and banners waving, and their hearts beating high with ecstasy and delight. In passing over the drawbridge and through the gates of Calais, Anne felt an emotion of exultation and pride in thinking that she was here entering the dominions of her future husband.
The bride arrives in England.
The princess did not remain long in Calais. She set out on the following day for Dover. The distance across is about twenty miles. They were dependent wholly on the wind in those days for crossing the Channel; but the princess had a prosperous passage, and arrived safely at Dover that night. News then spread rapidly all over the country, and ran up to London, that the queen had come.
Great excitement in London.
The news, of course, produced universal excitement. No certain tidings of the movements of the bride had been heard for some weeks before, and no one could tell when to expect her. Her arrival awakened universal joy. Parliament was in session at the time. They voted a large sum of money to be expended in arrangements for receiving the young queen in a proper manner, and in public rejoicings on the occasion. They then immediately adjourned, and all the world began to prepare for the arrival of the royal cortége in London.
A contrast.
The princess, after resting a day in Dover, moved on to Canterbury, admiring, as she journeyed, the beautiful scenery of the country over which she was henceforth to be queen. Richard's uncle Thomas, the Duke of Gloucester, with a large retinue, was ready there to receive her. He conducted her to London. As theyapproached the city, the lord-mayor of London and all the great civic functionaries, with a long train of attendants, came out in great state to receive her and escort her into town. The place of their meeting with her was Blackheath, the same place which a year before had been the bivouac of the immense horde of ragged and miserable men that Wat Tyler and his fellow-insurgents had brought to London. But how changed now was the scene! Then the country was excited by the deepest anxiety and alarm, and the spectacle on the field was that of one immense mass of squalid poverty and wretchedness, of misery reduced by hopeless suffering to recklessness and despair. Now all was gayety and splendor in the spectacle, and the whole country was excited to the highest pitch of exultation and joy.
The bride enters London.Parades and rejoicings.
At Blackheath the grand cavalcade was formed for passing through London. Splendid preparations had been made in London to receive the bride, and to do honor to her passage through the city. Many of these preparations were similar to those which had been made on the occasion of the king's coronation. There was a castle and tower, with young girls at the top throwing down a shower of golden snow, and fountains at the sides flowing with wine,with fancifully-dressed pages attending to offer the princess drink from golden cups. In a word, the young and beautiful bride was received by the civic authorities of London with the same tokens of honor and the same public rejoicings that had been accorded to the king.
In a few days the marriage took place. The ceremony was performed in the chapel royal of the king's palace at Westminster. The king appeared to be very much pleased with his bride, and paid her great attention. After a week spent with her and the court in festivities and rejoicings in Westminster, he took her up the river to the royal castle at Windsor. His mother, the Princess of Wales, and other ladies of rank, went with them, and formed part of their household. They lived here very happily together for some time.
Character of the queen.
The young queen soon began to evince those kind and gracious qualities of heart which afterward made her so beloved among the people of England. Instead of occupying herself solely with her own greatness and grandeur, and with the uninterrupted round of pleasures to which her husband invited her, she began very soon to think of the sufferings which she found that a great many of the common people of England were enduring, and to consider what shecould do to relieve them. The condition of the people was particularly unhappy at this time, for the king and the nobles were greatly exasperated against them on account of the rebellion, and were hunting out all who could be proved, or were even suspected to have been engaged in it, and persecuting them in the most severe and oppressive manner, and they were bloody and barbarous beyond precedent. The young queen, hearing of these things, was greatly distressed, and she begged the king, for her sake, to grant a general pardon to all his subjects, on the occasion of her coronation, which ceremony was now soon to be performed. The king granted this request, and thus peace and tranquillity were once more fully restored to the land.
Why she was called Good Queen Anne.
After this, during all her life, Anne watched for every opportunity to do good, and she was continually engaged in gentle but effective efforts to heal dissensions, to assuage angry feelings, and to alleviate suffering. She was a general peace-maker; and her lofty position, and the great influence which she exercised over the king, gave her great power to accomplish the benevolent purposes which the kindness of her heart led her to form.
Ancient drawings.
The arrival of the young queen produced agreat sensation among the ladies of Richard's court, in consequence of the new fashions which she introduced into England. The fashions of dress in those days were very peculiar. We learn what they were from the pictures, drawn with the pen or painted in water-colors, in the manuscripts of those days that still remain in the old English libraries. There are a great many of these drawings, and, as they agree together in the style and fashion of the costumes represented, there is no doubt that they give us correct ideas of the dresses really worn. Besides, there are many allusions in the chronicles of those times, and in poems and books of accounts, which correspond precisely with the drawings, and thus confirm their correctness and accuracy.
The engravings on the following page are copied from one of these ancient manuscripts.
Curious fashions of those times.Costumes of Richard's time.
Observe the singular forms of the caps, both those of the men and of the women. The men wore sometimes jackets, and sometimes long gowns which came down to the ground. The most singular feature of the dresses of the men, however, is the long-pointed shoes. Were it not that fashions are often equally absurd at the present day, we should think it impossible that such shoes as these could ever have been made.
MALE COSTUME IN THE TIME OF RICHARD II.MALE COSTUME IN THE TIME OF RICHARD II.
FEMALE COSTUME IN THE TIME OF RICHARD II.FEMALE COSTUME IN THE TIME OF RICHARD II.
The Cracows.Origin of the name.
These shoes were called Cracows. Cracow was a town in Poland which was at that time within the dominions of Anne's father, and it is supposed that the fashion of wearing these shoes may have been brought into England by some of the gentlemen in Anne's train, when she came to England to be married. It is known that the queen did introduce a great many foreign fashions to the court, and, among the rest, a fashion of head-dress for ladies, which was quite as strange as peaked shoes for the gentlemen. It consisted of what was called the horned cap.
FASHIONABLE HEAD-DRESSES.FASHIONABLE HEAD-DRESSES.
The horned caps.Description of the horns.
These horns were often two feet high, and sometimes two feet wide from one side to the other. The frame of this head-dress was made of wire and pasteboard, and the covering was of some glittering tissue or gauze. There were other head-dresses scarcely less monstrous than these. Some of them are represented in the engraving. These fashions, when introduced by the queen, spread with great rapidity among all the court ladies, and thence to all fashionable circles in England.
Pins.
It is said, too, that it was this young queen who first introduced pins into England. Dresses had been fastened before by little skewers made of wood or ivory. Queen Anne brought pins, which had been made for some time in Germany, and the use of them soon extended all over England.
Side-saddles.
Side-saddles for ladies on horseback were a third fashion which Queen Anne is said to have introduced. The side-saddle which she brought was, however, of a very simple construction. It consisted of a seat placed upon the horse's back, with a sort of step depending from it on one side for the feet to rest upon. Both feet were placed upon this step together.
Queen Anne's useful and busy life.Shene.
Queen Anne, after her marriage, lived very happily with her husband for twelve years. She was devotedly attached to him, and he seems sincerely to have loved her. He was naturally kind and affectionate in his disposition, and, while Anne lived, he yielded himself to the good influences which she exerted over him. She journeyed with him wherever he went, and aided him in the accomplishment of all his plans. Whenever he became involved in any difficulty, either with his nobles or with his subjects, she acted the part of mediator, and almost always succeeded in allaying the animosity and healing the feud before it proceeded to extremes. She resided with her husband sometimes at one palace and sometimes at another, but her favorite residence was at the palace of Shene, near the present town of Richmond.
Grand celebration.
Although the king was crowned at the time of his accession to the throne, he did not fully assume the government at that time on account of his youth, for you will remember that he was then only about eleven years old; nor did he, in fact, come fully into possession of power at the time of his marriage, for he was then under sixteen. At that time, and for several years afterward, his uncles and the other influentialnobles managed the government in his name. At length, however, when he was about twenty-one years old, he thought it was time for him to assume the direction of affairs himself, and he accordingly did so. At this time there was another grand celebration, one scarcely inferior in pomp and splendor to the coronation itself.
The tournament.
Among other performances on this occasion there was a tournament, in which knights mounted on horseback, and armed from head to foot with iron armor, fought in the lists, endeavoring to unhorse each other by means of their spears. The tournament was held at Smithfield. Raised platforms were set up by the side of the lists for the lords and ladies of the court, and a beautiful canopy for the queen, who was to act as judge of the combat, and was to award the prizes. The prizes consisted of a rich jeweled clasp and a splendid crown of gold.
Knights.
The queen went first to the ground, and took her place with her attendants under her canopy. The knights who were to enter the lists then came in a grand cavalcade through the streets of London to the palace. There were sixty ladies mounted on beautiful palfreys, accoutred with the new-fashioned side-saddles. Each of these ladies conducted a knight, whom she led by a silver chain. They were preceded byminstrels and bands of instrumental music, and the streets were thronged with spectators.
After the tournament there was a grand banquet at the palace of the Bishop of London, with music and dancing, and other such amusements, which continued to a late hour of the night.
Magnificence of the king's mode of life.
For some years after this the king and queen lived together in great prosperity. Outwardly things went pretty well with the king's affairs, and, as he was fond of pomp and display, he gradually acquired habits of very profuse and lavish expenditure. Indeed, he is said to have made it an object of his ambition to surpass, in the magnificence of his style of living, all the sovereigns of Europe. He kept many separate establishments in his different palaces, and at all of them gave entertainments and banquets of immense magnificence and of the most luxurious character. It is said that three hundred persons were employed in his kitchens.
Death of Queen Anne.The king inconsolable.
At length, in the year 1394, when Richard was preparing for an expedition into Ireland to quell a rebellion which had broken out there, the queen was seized with a fatal epidemic which was then prevailing in England, and after a short illness she died. She was at her palace of Shene at this time. The king hastened toattend her the moment that he heard the tidings of her illness, and was with her when she died. He was inconsolable at the loss of his wife, for he had loved her sincerely, and she had been a singularly faithful and devoted wife to him. He was made almost crazy by her death. He imprecated bitter curses on the palace where she died, and he ordered it to be destroyed. It was, in fact, partially dismantled, in obedience to these orders, and Richard himself never occupied it again. It was, however, repaired under a subsequent reign.
The funeral.
Richard gave up, for the time being, his expedition into Ireland, being wholly absorbed in his sorrow for the irreparable loss he had suffered. He wrote letters to all the great nobles and barons of England to come to the funeral, and the obsequies were celebrated with the greatest possible pomp and parade. Two months were expended in making preparations for the funeral. When the day arrived, a very long procession was formed to escort the body from Shene to Westminster. This procession was accompanied by an immense number of torch-bearers, all carrying lighted torches in their hands. So great was the number of these torches, that a large quantity of wax was imported from Flanders expressly for the purpose.
Inscription on Queen Anne's tomb.
The tomb of Anne was not made until a year after her death. Richard himself attended to all the details connected with the construction of it. The inscription was in Latin. The following is an exact translation of it:
"Under this stone lies Anne, here entombed,Wedded in this world's life to the second Richard.To Christ were her meek virtues devoted:His poor she freely fed from her treasures;Strife she assuaged, and swelling feuds appeased;Beauteous her form, her face surpassing fair.On July's seventh day, thirteen hundred ninety-four,All comfort was bereft, for through irremediable sicknessShe passed away into interminable joys."
"Under this stone lies Anne, here entombed,Wedded in this world's life to the second Richard.To Christ were her meek virtues devoted:His poor she freely fed from her treasures;Strife she assuaged, and swelling feuds appeased;Beauteous her form, her face surpassing fair.On July's seventh day, thirteen hundred ninety-four,All comfort was bereft, for through irremediable sicknessShe passed away into interminable joys."
"Under this stone lies Anne, here entombed,Wedded in this world's life to the second Richard.To Christ were her meek virtues devoted:His poor she freely fed from her treasures;Strife she assuaged, and swelling feuds appeased;Beauteous her form, her face surpassing fair.On July's seventh day, thirteen hundred ninety-four,All comfort was bereft, for through irremediable sicknessShe passed away into interminable joys."
By the death of his wife, Richard was left, as it were, almost alone in the world. His mother, the Princess of Wales, had died some time before, and Anne had had no children. There were his uncles and his cousins, it is true, but they were his rivals and competitors rather than his friends. Indeed, they were destined soon to become his open enemies.
Richard was afterward married again, to his "little wife," as we shall see in a future chapter.
A.D. 1382-1396
Ingiving 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.
Jealousy of Richard and his mother against the uncles.
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 atlast of deposing Richard from his throne in order to take possession of it himself, as we shall see in the sequel.
Plots and manœuvres.
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 manœuvres, 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.
Thomas, Duke of Gloucester.
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 thegovernment 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."
Province of Parliament.Prerogative of the king.
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 maintainedthat 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.
The Commons threaten the king.
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.
He is compelled to yield.
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.
Council appointed.Richard's discontent.
The council that was appointed consisted ofeleven 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.
The court at Nottingham.
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.
Preparations for war.Richard and his party overcome.
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 hisuncle 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.
Execution of Burley.Queen Anne's fruitless intercession.
One of Richard's favorites who was executedon 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.
The king determines to resume his power.
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 acoup d'état, 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.
His interview with his council.
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?"