Amnesty at Home—Disaster Abroad

I, Richard, Duke of York, confess and beknow that I am and ought to be humble subject and liegeman to you, my sovereign Lord, King Henry the Sixth, and owe therefore to bear you faith and truth as to my sovereign lord, and shall do all the days unto my life’s end; and shall not at any time will or assent, that anything be attempted or done against your noble person, but wheresoever I shall have knowledge of any such thing imagined or purposed I shall, with all the speed and diligence possible to me, make that your Highness shall have knowledge thereof, and even do all that shall be possible to me to the withstanding thereof, to the utterest of my life. I shall not in no wise any thing take upon me against your royal estate or the obeisance that is due thereto, nor suffer any other man to do, as far forth as it shall lie in my power to let it; and also I shall come at your commandment, whensoever I shall be called by the same, in humble and obeisant wise, but if [i.e.unless] I be letted by any sickness or impotency of my person or by such other causes as shall be thought reasonable to you, my sovereign lord. I shall never hereafter take upon me to gather any routs, or make any assembly of your people, without your commandment or licence, or in my lawful defence. In the interpretation of which my lawful defence, and declaration thereof, I shall report me at all times to your Highness, and, if the case require, unto my peers: nor anything attempt by way of faite against any of your subjects, of what estate, degree, or condition that they be. But whensoever I find myself wronged or aggrieved, I shall sue humbly for remedy to your Highness, and proceed after the course of your laws, and in none other wise, saving in mine own lawful defence in manner above said; and shall in all things abovesaid and other have me unto your Highness as an humble and true subject ought to have him to his Sovereign Lord.All these things above said I promise truly to observe and keep, by the Holy Evangelists contained in this book that I lay my hand upon, and by the Holy Cross that I here touch, and by the blessed Sacrament of our Lord’s body that I shall now with His mercy receive. And over this I agree me and will that if I any time hereafter, as with the grace of our Lord I never shall, anything attempt by way of fear or otherwise against your royal majesty and obeisance that I owe thereto,102or anything I take upon me otherwise than is above expressed, I from that time forth be unabled, [held and taken as an untrue and openly forsworn man, and unable]102.1to all manner of worship, estate, and degree, be it such as I now occupy, or any other that might grow unto me in any wise.And this I here have promised and sworn proceedeth of mine own desire and free voluntee and by no constraining or coercion. In witness of all the which things above written I, Richard, Duke of York above named, subscribe me with mine own hand and seal, with this mine own seal, &c.102.2With this guarantee for his future loyalty, the duke was permitted to return into his own country.Somerset might well be pleased that the matter should be settled thus; for if the charges York brought, or at least was prepared to have brought, against him were only one-half true (and some of them certainly were true altogether), his administration of the Duchy of Normandy was a mixture of indiscretion and dishonesty at which the nation had good right to be indignant. We have already seen how in concert with the Duke of Suffolk he had authorised a perfidious breach of the truce with France in the capture of Fougères. We have also seen how ill prepared he was for the consequences; how he discovered too late the weakness of all the garrisons; how the French king recovered town after town, and the English were finally expelled from Normandy in less than a year and a half after the unjustifiable outrage.York’s charges against Somerset.But if any credit may be given to the further charges brought against him by the Duke of York,—charges which agree only too well with the character attributed to him by the most impartial authorities102.3—Somerset had himself to blame in great measure for the defenceless condition of the country committed to his protection.103On his first going into Normandy he had jobbed the offices under his control. For the sake of private emolument he had removed a number of trusty and experienced captains, filling their places with creatures of his own, or men who had paiddouceursfor their posts; and only on receipt of still greater bribes would he consent to restore any of those that had been put out. He had, however, actually reduced many garrisons, while he had taxed the inhabitants of the Duchy beyond all reason for the means of defence. His administration of justice, too, had been such as to excite the most vehement dissatisfaction, and had made the whole native population impatient of English government. He had, moreover, pocketed the compensation given by France to the dispossessed Englishmen of Anjou and Maine. Worse still, after all his maladministration and ill success, he had prevailed on the king to make him captain of Calais, which it seemed as if he was on the point of losing also in as careless and culpable a manner as he had already lost Normandy.Here, however, is the full text of the accusation,103.1as prepared by York himself:—Thies articles and pointes folowyng yeve, shewe and ministre I, Richard Duc of York, youre true liegman and servaunt unto youre highnesse, summarily purposyng and declaryng thaym ayeinst Edmond Duc of Somerset for the grete welfare and the comen availle and interesse of youre mageste Roiall and of this youre noble roialme, aswell to bryng to knawlege and understondyng the meanes and causes of the grete myscheves and inconvenientz which late befe[l] unto this youre said noble roiame, as in losse of youre lyvelode by yonde thee see and otherwyse in ponisshment of deservitours and excuse of innocencie, and also in puttyng aside and eschuyng of the grete and importable hurte and prejudice which ben like, withouten that purviaunce be had of remedie, to succede in shorte tyme. To the which articles and every of theym I, the seid Duc of York, desire of youre egall and indifferent rightwesnesse that the seid Edmond answere by his feith and trouth,104the sacrement of his othe thereuppon made, duly and truly as lawe and conscience requireth; I also desiryng, for the veraly examinacion and knowlech of trouth theruppon to be had, and for the grete and singuler weel of this youre said Roiame, to be admytted to the prefe, and to yeve evidence in the said articles that folowyn in such as he woll denye, after the equite and consideracion of lawe in such case, and processe had, and also of good feith and conscience justice thereafter to be don and executid.First, I article and declare that the seid Edmond Duc of Somersett hath be meane, consenter, occasioner, cause and mediatour, both by his inwarde knowlege and expresse consent, by counseill, and worchyng thurghe diverse subtyle weyes and meanes, as by violent presumpcion and otherwyse is knowen and understonde, and furthermore also by his inordinate negligence, lacchesse and wilfull rechelessnes and insaciate covetyse, of the losse and amission of youre Duchie of Normandie, rejoissed and possessed at this tyme, for the defence of his negligent kepyng and otherwyse before reherced, by youre enemyes. Which may clerly by (sic) understonde by the meanes and causes that folowen; of the which and for such one he is openly called, reputed and had by the comen fame and voice. Of the which oon cause is that the seid Duc of Somersett, at his first comyng into Normandie, chaunged and putt out of theire occupacion and youre service, withoute skyll, cause or reason, all the true and feithfull officers, for the most partie, of all Normandie, and put in such as hym liked for his owne singuler availe and covetyse, as it apperith well, inasmoch as ther coude noon of theym that were so put out be restored agayn withoute grete giftes and rewardes, which was full unfittyng. And furthermore did put in prison many diverse and notable persones of youre seid Duchie, withoute cause, justice or any ordinarie processe made agayn theym or due examinacion, and by that meane did grete extorcions and rered unlawfully grete sommes undre colour of amendes and composicions, wherby the cuntre for such wrong and faute of justice grucched sore agayn hym and his governaunce and caused the people to arise in theire conseytes and to take grete displeasir; and that was a grete occasion and cause of the losse of youre said Duchie of Normandie.Item, the seid Edmond Duc of Somerset was cause and consenter voluntarie of the brekyng of the trues and pais for a tyme had betwene youre highnes and youre uncle of Fraunce, which was well understond at the taking of Fogiers in Britaigne by Sir Fraunceys Larragonneys thurgh his avise, consentement, and counseile; and also duryng the said trues made more strong and fortified diverse places disopered by youre commaundement, as Morteyn and Seint Jakes de Beveron, ageyn the appointement of the seid trues; uppon which youre uncle did sommon hym to make a-seeth [satisfaction] and for to105disimpaire the seid fortifying and wrong don agayn the trues, and in asmoch as non aseeth by hym was don, nor [he] lefte not of his seid fortifiyng, caused youre seid uncle to have, as he pretende, cause to breke the said trues on his partie; which brekyng of trues was oon of the verray cause of losse of Normandie. And thus he brake the seide trues ayeinst his promysse and true feith made to youre highnes, which was to kepe and entretyn the said trues, and so did ayen the lawe in this behalve and youre statutes of the roiame.Item, he put away and diminisshed diverse garnisons and other strong places of youre seid Duchie of Normandie of soudiours and of men of werre which were accustumed to abide uppon the suerte and saufgarde of the same, howe be hit he had verrayly knowlege that youre ennmyes were full determi[ned] for to ley seges to put the same places in theire subjeccion, not paiyng duely nor contentyng such soudiours as abode uppon the defences of the same places; he reryng at that tyme in youre said Duchie as grete tailles and aides as were in long tyme before duryng the werre; and that caused the soudiours in diverse strong places for poverte, not havyng hors nor harneys, and also the nombre diminisshed, to be of non poiaire to make resistence, and that was a grete cause of the losse of Normandie. The losse of which caused the perdicion of Gascoigne and Guyen.Item, the Duc of Somersett wold yeve noo counseile, aide ne helpe unto the capitanis of diverse stronge places and garnisons which at that tyme, constreyned by nede, desired of hym provision and relief for abillement of werre to resiste the malice of theire enemyes daily makyng fressh feetes of werre uppon theym; he gevyng theym noone aide nor help, but lete theym contynue in theire malice, howe be it that diverse places were lost before: and what tyme that the said places were beseged and sent for help and socour unto hym he wold graunte no maner of comforte, but suffred hem appoint and compounde with here enemyes as well as they myght for theire ease and suertee, makyng no maner of provision for the kepyng of the places which remayned; insomuch that he made non ordinaunce nor provision for the toun, castell, and places of Rouen, neither of men, stuffe ne vitaile, the knowlage that he had of youre enemyes comyng thereunto notwithstondyng, yevyng licence unto the Archiebisshopp, chanons and burgeys of the same toun for to goo or sende to compounde with youre enemyes for the deliveraunce of the same, notwithstondyng that afore that tyme the enemyes which were entred in to the same toun were worshiply put oute and betyn of by the Erle of Shrowesbury and other notable persones, and withdrawen to Pontlarge and Loviers, and at that tyme, they beyng so withdrawen, licenced to appointe as it is aforeseid. Which was plainly ayeinst his promys, feith and liegeaunce that he of right oweth unto you, and ayeinst the tenure of the endentures106made betwix youre highnes and hym of the charge of that londe, the which licence, and it had not ben don, the seid toun had abiden undre youre obeisaunce, the losse of whiche was a verray ope . . . .106.1cause of the perdicion of Normandie.Item, the said Duc of Somersett, for to colour his defautes and wilfull purp[o]s in the premisses, entred in to youre palaice of Rouen not vitailed nor fo[rnisshed]106.1for defence, where he myght savely absentid hym, and yeldid up the said Palaice and Castell, and moreover other good tounes, castels and [fortresses],106.1as Caudebek, and other diverse, as Tancarville, Moustervillers, Arques, key of all Caulx, not beseged nor in perell of losse at that tyme, for the enlargisshyn[g] and deliveraunce of hym, his childre and goodes; which myght not, nor hath not, be done nor seen by lawe, resoun or cronikel, or by cours or a . . . . . . any leftenant, all though that he had be prisoner: Witnesse the Duc of Orliaunce, the Duc of Burbon, the Duc of Alansum and other . . . . . . for whom was none delyvered, al though they had many strong places of theire owen. And furthermore fore the suertee of delyveraunce of . . . . . . tounes, castell and forteresses which were wel furnysshed for to have resisted youre enemyes, and to have biden within youre obeisaunce, delyvered in ostage the Erle of Shrowesbury, that tyme Marescall of Fraunce, and other notable persones which shuld have defended youre lande there ayens the malice of youre enemyes; and in likewyse apointed to delyver Honflu, which was in noo gret perell, ne had be that it was retardyd by youre lettres and so by that fraudelent and inordinat meane all was lost and yoldon up, as hereafter by more evident declaracions it shalbe clerely [proved].106.2Item, the said Duc of Somerset hath contrived and ymagined, helped or consented to the grete and importable losse of Cales to be undre the obeisaunce of the Duc of Burgoyn, as it apperith openly by diverse skilles, evidencez, and resons; that is to sey, in asmuch as he desired and made laboures, or at the lest toke uppon hym, for to be capiten of the seid Toun of Cales, knowyng and understondyng well the grete murmur and sclaunder which daily rennyth agayn hym for the losse and sale, as it is surmyttid, of Normandie, to the grete discoragyng of the soudiours of the said Toun; where as the comen fame is that he will bylike sotill meanes contrive and ymagyn the losse and amission of youre said Toun of Cales, like as he hath afore causid the perdicion of youre Duchie of Normandie; which apperith well, in asmoch as he hath desirid the terme of a monyth without more, that, in case that the said Toun were besegid and not rescuyd within the107said monyth, that than he shuld stond discharged though it were delyvered to youre enemyes; within which tyme it were impossible, or at the lest full unlikly, that never myght be assembled for the rescu therof, where as it may and hath be here-before kept ayens the force of youre enemyes moche lenger tyme in grete jupardy; which is so grete an hevynesse and trouble to youre said soudiours, that by theire langage, demenyng and communicacion it may be understond that they will not be so herty nor feithfull to the welfare and defence of the said Toun as they shuld be in case they had a captayn more agreable unto theym. And also this premisse apperith well in asmoch as the comen voyce, langage, and fame is, and also grete prefe and evidence shalbe made theruppon, that the seid Duc of Somerset, in hope of mariage to be doon and had be twix the Duc son of Burgoyn107.1and one of his doughters, had made a promysse and behest to the said Duc of Burgoyne, or Duchesse by his meane, concent and massangers, of the delyverey of the Toun of Cales, to be done by such sotill meanes as shuld not be understond neither of youre highenes nor of youre subgettz.Item, the said Duc of Somerset is cause of grete hurte, robbery, manslauter and other myscheves daily done and contynued in this youre roialme, in asmoch as he resceyved and had at the delyverey of Anjoy and Maynxxiij.mxij.(72,000) frankes or there aboutes, which were graunted and ordeyned to the Englisshmen havyng theire [there] lyvelode for theire recompense and asyth for the lyverey up of theire seid lyvelode at the said delyveraunce, and wold not dispose the same money nor departe therfrom, bot kepith it still to his owne use and singuler availe, notwithstondyng that he was recompensid for his lyvelode in that cuntrey in youre Duchie of Normandie of a more value than the gift therof was worth, which causith the said Englisshmen to be here in grete povertee; of which povertee no doute commyth grete myscheve daily within your said roiame. And also in so muche as many diverse soudiours of Normandye were not paied theire wages, where he rerid grete and notable sommes of youre Duchie of Normandie for ther agrement, which non paiement and poverte causith also daily grete inconvenientz within this your lande.Item, that these forsaid articles and poyntz be just and true it may well appere by many grete presumpcions beside evident prefes that shalbe made thereuppon with open and notarie fame and voice of the people, and also inasmoch as the said Duc of Somerset hath be double and untrue in many and diverse pointes, and in especiall that he hath desirid a recompense of youre highnes for the counte of Mayn for the delyverance therof, where it was specified in youre lettres patentes of108your graunte therof to hym made that ye shuld be at your libertee to dispose it at your pleasere in case that ye for the meane of the pease wold do make a lyverey thereof unto youre uncle of Fraunce; and yit at the tyme of delyveraunce thereof he wold not agree therto unto tyme that he were recompensid, as it is aforesaid, in youre Duchie of Normandie to a more value than his said graunte drue to.Item, thees forsaid articles, everyche of theym and every parte of theym, purposyth and ministre I, Richard, Duc of York, ayens the said Duc of Somersett joyntly and severally not atteigne to a more strate nor chargeable prefe than your lawe in such case and processe will require; desiryng of youre highnesse and rightuous justice that in asmoche as lawfully may ayenst hym be foundon or previd, that jugement in that partie be had and executid unto youre highnes for yours and youre roialmes prosperite and welfare, indende not elles bot the salvacion and indempnite of youre most roiale persone, and also alle youre feithfull subgettz, in which y reporte me to God and all the word [world].I imagine this paper must have been really handed in by York to the lords of the king’s Council. It is preserved among theMSS.in the Cottonian Library, a large number of which were undoubtedly at one time part of the public records of the realm. But in any case we can hardly doubt that Somerset understood quite sufficiently the grounds on which he was so generally hated; nor is it by any means improbable that the armed remonstrance of the Duke of York produced some real effect, if only for a time. This at least we know, that only four days after the oath taken by York at St. Paul’s, active and energetic measures began to be taken for the defence of Calais.Defence of Calais.Historians, as Sir Harris Nicolas truly remarks, do not seem hitherto to have been aware of the imminent danger in which even Calais at this time stood of being lost, like the other English conquests, a full century before it was actually recovered by the French. Rumours that Calais would be besieged reached England in the beginning of May 1450, along with the news of the Duke of Suffolk’s murder.108.1In August 1451 a reinforcement of 1150 men was sent thither in twelve vessels, under the Lords Beauchamp and Sudeley. In the February following, as we have seen, York wrote of the success of the French in Gascony having emboldened them to109lay siege to Calais again. And now, on the 14th of March, when Charles was advancing towards the last English stronghold, with the most formidable army that had been seen for years, and when men had begun to fear that he would be able not only to gain possession of Calais with ease, but even to invade and ravage England, steps were at last taken for the immediate formation of a fleet.A royal navy had undoubtedly existed for a long time before the days of HenryVI., but it never amounted in itself to a very formidable force, and in time of war recourse was always had to impressment on the large scale. But the neglect of the sea was during this reign the constant complaint of Englishmen. For want of an efficient fleet the mercantile interest continually suffered, the fisheries could not safely be visited, and even the dwellers at home were insecure. The fact was confessed by the greatest eulogists of HenryVI., who had not a thought of impugning his government. ‘Our enemies,’ says Capgrave in hisIllustrious Henries,—‘Our enemies laugh at us. They say, “Take off the ship from your precious money, and stamp a sheep upon it to signify your sheepish minds.” We who used to be conquerors of all nations are now conquered by all. The men of old used to say that the sea was England’s wall, and now our enemies have got upon the wall; what think you they will do to the defenceless inhabitants? Because this business has been neglected for so many years it now happens that ships are scanty, and sailors also few, and such as we have unskilled for want of exercise. May God take away our reproach and raise up a spirit of bravery in our nation!’109.1There were already available for the king’s service a certain number of ships in the Thames, and at Winchelsea and Sandwich. The chief of these vessels was called theGrace Dieu—a name which was perhaps traditional, for it was handed down to Tudor times when, with the king’s own Christian name prefixed, it was always given to the largest of the fleet.109.2The110Earl of Shrewsbury110.1was appointed to take the command of the whole army at sea, and efforts were made to augment the squadron with as large a force as possible. On the 14th of March 1452 a commission was given to Lord Clifford, which was doubtless one of a number given to various noblemen, to negotiate for this purpose with shipowners, knights, and gentlemen in the district where he commonly resided; and he was instructed to take the command of all such vessels as he could raise, and bring them into the Downs to join with Shrewsbury. The appeal to patriotism was not made in vain. Many shipowners came forward, offering not only to lend but to victual their own ships for the service. But full powers were also given to arrest ships, shipmasters, and mariners, to make up a sufficient number. To every man not furnished with victuals by the benevolence of others, twelve pence a week was offered on the king’s behalf, with a customary share in any booty that he might help to capture at sea. Captains of ships were to have in addition a reward of ten marks, or £10, at the discretion of Lord Clifford. Altogether we may presume that the defensive measures taken at this time were sufficient, for we hear no more during the next few years of any attempt to lay siege to Calais.80.1Rolls of Parl.v. 211-12.80.2The whole of this correspondence is attributed by Holinshed and Stow to the year 1452; but it appears to me clearly to belong to the year 1450, when the Duke had just returned from Ireland. SeeChronicle of London, 136; though internal evidence alone will, I think, satisfy the careful student.82.1I have no doubt this is a misreading of the contracted form ‘yr’which was intended for ‘their.’ To accuse York of the murder of the Bishop of Chichester, and apparently as a principal, not an accessory in that murder, when he was at the time in Ireland, would have been absurd. Besides, the tenor of the whole of this reply is to exculpate York of all charges.82.2Misprinted ‘Chester’ in Holinshed.83.1SeeNo. 142.83.2Nicolas’sProceedings of the Privy Council, iv. 212, v. 108.84.1Misprinted ‘your’ in Holinshed.85.1Nos. 142, 145, 148, and 149. The influence of a powerful nobleman on the elections was evidently quite a matter of course. What use York made of it, or attempted to make of it, cannot so easily be determined. Of the two candidates proposed by him for the county of Norfolk, only one was returned, the name of Sir Miles Stapleton being substituted for that of Sir William Chamberlain (seevol. ii. p. 185 note 1). It appears from two of the above cited letters that Stapleton was a favourite candidate with the Pastons and their friends, and that he was urged to wait on the Duke of York on his coming to Norwich.85.2SeeNo. 119.86.1Nos. 151, 153, 154, 155, 156.86.2Stow’sChronicle, p. 392.87.1Seevol. ii. pp. 161-2.87.2Rymer, xi. 276.87.3Rolls of Parl.v. 210.87.4W. Worc.88.1MS.Cott. Vitell. A. xvi. Stow in hisChronicledates this procession a day later.88.2W. Worc.88.3The Chronicle of London(p. 137) says that ‘all the Commons’ agreed to this proposition, and stood out for some time against the Lords on the subject.88.4Rolls of Parl.v. 210-14.89.1In earlier issues of this Introduction was added: ‘probably for no other reason than his high impartiality.’ Mr. Plummer, I find, who knows him better, has not the same opinion of Fortescue’s impartiality as a politician, but considers that he was in danger just because he was so strong a Lancastrian.SeeIntroduction toThe Governance of England, p. 50.89.2Nos. 167, 169-174.90.1Nos. 179 and 180.91.1Nos. 119, 185, 186, 192.91.2Nos. 189, 192.91.3No. 178.92.1No. 189.93.1No. 193.93.2Ibid.93.3Rolls of Parl.v. 217.94.1The modern see of Chester was separated from this diocese in the time of HenryVIII.94.2Rolls of Parl.v. 216.94.3No. 206. Daniel had been out of favour at one time during Suffolk’s ascendency.SeeNo. 75, p. 86.95.1Basin, i. 247-48.96.1Reginald Butler or Boulers, whose appointment to the see, dated 23rd December 1450, was no doubt due to the Duke of York’s influence.96.2Stow’sChronicle, p. 393.98.1Ellis’sLetters, First Series, i. 11-13.98.2English Chronicle(ed. Davies), 69.98.3Nicolas’sPrivy Council Proceedings, vi. 116. According to Fabyan, the king and Somerset set out on the 16th of February. The summons to Lord Cobham, though dated Westminster, was issued on the 17th.99.1Cottonian Roll, ii. 23.SeeAppendix to this Introduction.99.2Rolls of Parl.v. 346. The statement in the Act of Attainder passed against the Duke of York seven years afterwards, that he was ‘of no power to withstand’ the king on this occasion, is liable to suspicion, but it is confirmed by the testimony of Whethamstede, 348.99.3‘The Lords, both spiritual and temporal, took the matter in hand.’Three Fifteenth Century Chronicles(Camden Soc.), 69. So alsoChronicle of London, 137.100.1Fabyan.100.2Fabyan.Three Fifteenth Century Chronicles, 69, and theMS.Chronicle, Vitell. A. xvi.102.1These words are not in the copy in theRolls of Parliament, but they occur in that given in Holinshed’sChronicle.102.2Rolls of Parl.v. 346.102.3The character given of the Duke of Somerset by the contemporary historian Basin is on the whole favourable, and may be supposed to be impartial. He describes him as handsome in person, gentle and urbane in manner, and well inclined towards justice; but all these graces were marred by an insatiable avarice which would not let him rest content with the immense wealth he had inherited from Cardinal Beaufort; and by continually coveting the riches of others he brought ruin on himself. Basin, i. 193.103.1Printed in this Introduction for the first time from the original in the CottonianMS., Vesp. C. xiv. f. 40. The first paragraph of this document is quoted by Stowe in hisChronicle, p. 397, and the charges are referred by him to the thirty-third year of the king’s reign,i.e.the latter part ofA.D.1454, which is certainly erroneous. The date which he intended, indeed, was the latter part of the year 1453, when the Duke of Somerset was arrested and sent to the Tower; but this date also is quite impossible.106.1MS.mutilated.106.2A line seems here to be cut off in theMS.at the bottom of the leaf.107.1Charles, afterwards Charles the Bold, son of Philip the Good, who was at this time Duke of Burgundy.108.1Letter 121.109.1Capgrave de Illust. Henricis, 135.109.2TheHenry Grace Dieuof HenryVIII.’s time is, however, better known by its popular epithet of theGreat Harry.110.1The Earl of Shrewsbury, as already mentioned, had been given up to the French in 1449 as a hostage for the delivery of certain towns in Normandy. It is said that he only recovered his liberty on taking oath never to bear arms again against the French, but that on visiting Rome in the year of Jubilee, 1450, he obtained an absolution from this engagement.—Æneæ Sylvii Opera, 441.The gift had been left with the under sherifftext unchanged: expected form “under-sheriff”Amnesty at Home—Disaster AbroadGeneral pardon.As to internal dissensions at home, it was quite in accordance with the weakness of the king’s character to believe that he had now stilled the chief elements of danger. His piety suggested to him to complete the good work by a general political amnesty. The year 1450, as being the concluding year of a half-century, had been celebrated as a jubilee at Rome, during which a general indulgence and pardon were granted to all who visited the Imperial City. There was also,111according to precedent, a bull issued at the close of the year to extend these benefits still further. Taking his example from the great Spiritual Ruler, the king, on Good Friday, the 7th of April 1452, offered publicly a general pardon to all who had been guilty of acts of disloyalty to himself, and who would apply to his Chancery for letters patent.111.1The offer was, undoubtedly, both gracious and humane. It sprang from a genuine love of peace on the king’s part, and probably went far to make the government of Somerset endurable for some months longer. Amid the confusion and troubles of the times, thousands must have felt that they needed the royal clemency to protect them against the severity of the laws. One hundred and forty-four persons, among whom was Thomas Young of Bristol—he who had proposed in Parliament that York should be proclaimed heir to the crown—obtained sealed pardons on that very Good Friday. Some two or three thousand others laid claim to the like indulgence, and had patents granted to them at a later date.111.2Only a very few persons were excepted on account of the enormity of their offences.One part of his kingdom, however, Henry himself did not expect to pacify by such means only. The state of the county of Norfolk had been so represented to him that he felt it necessary to send thither the Duke of Norfolk. ‘Great riots, extortions, horrible wrongs and hurts,’ were the subject of complaint, and nothing but an impartial inquiry would give satisfaction. The duke on coming into the country issued a proclamation, urging all who had any complaints to make to lay them freely and fearlessly before him. But free and fearless evidence was not likely to be had without a strong112guarantee for the protection of witnesses. Already the news of the duke’s coming had got wind, and some of the dependants of Lord Scales, who had been amongst the principal offenders, had given notice that any complaints againstthemwould be redressed in another fashion after the duke’s departure. In the absence of the duke Lord Scales had been always hitherto the natural ruler of the county, and it was under his protection that Sir Thomas Tuddenham, Sir Miles Stapleton, John Heydon, and others had dared to make themselves unpopular. Norfolk accordingly declared in the same proclamation that he intended henceforth to vindicate for himself so long as he lived the chief power and authority in the county which bore his name, subject only to that of the king himself.Intended royal visit to Norfolk.And to give still greater encouragement to the well-disposed, he announced that the king himself would shortly visit the county, before whom all who desired it should have their grievances redressed.112.1That the king actually visited Norfolk at this time I do not find from any other evidence. A letter written on St. George’s Day says that he had been expected at Norwich or Claxton for ten days past. Encouraged by the duke’s proclamation, several gentlemen of the county had drawn up a complaint against Charles Nowell, and were waiting to know in what manner they should present it.Complaint against Charles Nowell.This Charles and a number of others appear to have been keeping the country east of Norwich at the time in continual alarm and confusion. They held their rendezvous at the house of one Robert Ledeham, from which they would issue out in bands of six, or twelve, or sometimes thirty or more, fully armed with bows and arrows, spears and bills, jacks and sallets.112.2No place was sacred from their outrages. On Mid-Lent Sunday they had attacked two servants of the Bishop of Norwich inside the church at Burlingham, and would have killed them behind the priest’s back while they were kneeling at the mass. On the 6th of April they had endeavoured to break into the White Friars at Norwich on pretence of wishing to hear evensong; but having publicly declared in the town that they intended to get hold of113certain citizens, either alive or dead, the doors were shut against them. Happily, before they accomplished their purpose the mayor and aldermen came to the spot. A multitude of people had meanwhile assembled in the streets, and the rioters, finding the odds considerably against them, quietly took their departure.113.1John Paston assaulted at Norwich Cathedral.John Paston had a complaint of his own to make against these wrongdoers. Charles Nowell himself, and five others, had attacked him at the door of Norwich Cathedral. He had with him at the time two servants, one of whom received a blow on the naked head with a sword; and he himself was seized and had his arms held behind him, while one of the company struck at him. But for a timely rescue his death would seem to have been certain. On the very day on which this occurred his wife’s uncle, Philip Berney, was waylaid by some of the same fellowship, in the highway under Thorpe Wood. Berney was riding, accompanied by a single servant, when their two horses first were wounded by a discharge of arrows. They were then speedily overtaken by their assailants, who broke a bow over Philip Berney’s head, and took him prisoner, declaring him to be a traitor. To give a further colour to their proceedings, they led him prisoner to the Bishop of Norwich, demanding surety of him to keep the peace, and, when they had obtained it, let him go. Philip Berney lived more than a year after the adventure, but he never recovered from the effects of this rough usage.113.2Outrages like these, it must be remembered, were not the work of lawless brigands and recognised enemies of the whole community. They were merely the effect of party spirit. The men who did them were supported by noblemen and country gentlemen. One, by name Roger Church, probably the most daring, and at the same time the most subtle, of the gang, had got himself made bailiff of the hundred of Blofield.113.3Charles Nowell was a friend of Thomas Daniel, who, after being a year and a half out of favour, had recently recovered his influence in Norfolk through the medium of the Duke of114Somerset.114.1By this means he seems again to have obtained possession of the manor of Bradeston, the right to which he had disputed in 1450, apparently more by arms than by law, with Osbert Mountford, marshal of Calais. Charles Nowell was appointed by Daniel bailiff of the manor, with the slender but not insignificant salary of twopence a day; and he and his fellows, Roger Church, Robert Ledeham, John Ratcliff, and Robert Dalling, made it their chief business to maintain Daniel in possession.To put an end to such a state of matters as this, the Duke of Norfolk’s coming must have been truly welcome. But if any man expected that the power of duke or king could suddenly terminate the reign of anarchy, and initiate an era of plain impartial justice, he must have been a sanguine mortal. As one of the first effects of the duke’s coming, some of the leading oppressors of the country were driven to a course of chicanery instead of violence.Roger Church.Roger Church got himself arrested by some of his own company, and was brought before the duke as a promoter of sedition. He was accused of having taken part in an unlawful assembly at Postwick, with the view of stirring up an insurrection. He confessed the fact, and offered to turn king’s evidence on his accomplices. He then named a number of thrifty husbandmen, farmers, and gentlemen of the neighbourhood, alleging that about three hundred persons were implicated in the intended rising. The truth, as it presently turned out, and as Church himself afterwards confessed, was, that the movement had been got up by himself, at the instigation of Robert Ledeham, who promised to procure his pardon through the influence of Daniel. By solicitations addressed to various unsteady characters he had induced some to believe that an insurrection would be well supported. A little company of fifteen men accordingly met him under a wood at Postwick, and he told them he had discovered an excellent name for their captain, who should be called John Amend-All. But beyond this meeting and naming of the captain nothing seems ever to have come of the project.114.2115John Paston was certainly one of those mentioned by Church. The chief persons accused were the friends of Osbert Mountford, and Paston was one of them. But John Falgate, one of the deluded victims who had been present at the meeting at Postwick, being subjected to examination before the sheriff, exonerated Paston, and, while acknowledging his own share in the conspiracy, pronounced the tale told by Roger Church in his confession to be altogether an invention. We need not be surprised to hear that after this a petition from the county of Norfolk was sent up to the Lord Chancellor, praying that Church should not be allowed the benefit of the general pardon, offered upon Good Friday.115.1But Church persevered in his policy. He appears to have been a reckless kind of adventurer. He probably claimed the benefit of clergy, for we find him three months after his arrest in the hands of officers of the Bishop of Norwich. His goods also were seized for a debt that he owed the bishop. But in spite of the contradictions given by other witnesses, in July he adhered to what he had said in April, and instead of retracting his former accusations, said he meant to impeach some one else whom he could not at that time name,—a man who, he said, had more money in his purse than all of those whom he had accused before. The coolness with which he persisted in these statements gave an impression that he was even yet relying upon powerful friends to support him.115.2The conclusion of the affair must be a matter of speculation, for we hear nothing more of it. The political history of England, too, is, at this point, almost a blank. We know from the Privy Council Proceedings that there was some difficulty in the spring of 1452 in preserving friendly relations with Scotland in consequence of some Border outrages perpetrated by the Earl of Douglas. And this is absolutely all the light we have on the domestic affairs of England for about a twelvemonth after the Duke of York’s oath of allegiance at St. Paul’s. I have found, however, by an examination of the116dates of privy seals,A royal progress.that in July the king began a progress into the west of England, which is not altogether without significance. He reached Exeter on the 18th, and from thence proceeded by Wells, Gloucester, Monmouth, and Hereford to Ludlow, where he arrived on the 12th of August, and from which he returned homewards by Kenilworth and Woodstock, arriving at Eltham in the beginning of September. In October he made another circuit northwards by St. Albans to Stamford, Peterborough, and Cambridge. There can hardly be a doubt the object of these journeys was mainly to conciliate those who had declared their opposition to the Duke of Somerset, especially when we consider that the visit to Ludlow must have been nothing less than a visit to the Duke of York. York was now more than pardoned. He was honoured by his sovereign.Financially, however, we may well suppose that the duke was not the better of the royal visit. Perhaps also the state of the country did not conduce to the prosperity of great landowners. At all events we find that at the end of the year York was glad to pledge some pieces of jewellery to Sir John Fastolf for a loan of £437, to be repaid next Midsummer.116.1The transaction is in every way curious, as illustrating the sort of dealings in money matters which were at that time by no means uncommon among knights and noblemen. It is certainly highly characteristic of such a knight as Sir John Fastolf, who, quite unlike the Falstaff of the dramatist, instead of being always needy, was always seeking to increase the wealth that he had amassed by long years of thrift and frugality.Sir John Fastolf.We have had occasion to mention the historic Fastolf before; and it is time that we should now direct attention to the circumstances of his private life and his connection with the Paston family. John Paston, as the reader has already been informed, was ultimately his executor, and to this circumstance may safely be attributed the preservation of so many of his letters, most of which have certainly been handed down with the papers of the Paston family. Nevertheless, up117to the time at which we have now arrived we do not find that he directly corresponded with any of them. We can see, however, that he had a high regard for John Paston’s advice in business, and sometimes sent letters and documents of importance by him to his agent in Norfolk, Sir Thomas Howes.117.1He seems to have been related in blood to John Paston’s wife,117.2and he acknowledges Paston himself as his cousin in his will. From the general tenor of most of his letters we should certainly no more suspect him of being the old soldier that he actually was than of being Shakespeare’s fat, disorderly knight. Every sentence in them refers to lawsuits and title-deeds, extortions and injuries received from others, forged processes affecting property, writs of one kind or another to be issued against his adversaries, libels uttered against himself, and matters of the like description. Altogether the perusal is apt to give us an impression that Sir John would have made an acute and able, though perhaps not very highminded, solicitor. If ever his agent, Sir Thomas Howes, was, or seemed to be, a little remiss in regard to some particular interest, he was sure to hear of it, and yet woe to him if he did things on his own responsibility which turned out afterwards to be a failure.117.3Sir John was not the man to pass over lightly injuries done by inadvertence.The familiarity shown by Fastolf with all the forms and processes of the law is probably due not so much to the peculiarity of his personal character as to the fact that a knowledge of legal technicalities was much more widely diffused in that day than it is in ours. Even in the days when Master Shallow first made himself ridiculous to a London audience by claiming to be justice of the peace andcoram,custalorum, andratolorum, there can hardly be a doubt that the knowledge of legal terms and processes was not a thing so entirely professional as it is now. But if we go back to an118earlier time, the Paston letters afford ample evidence that every man who had property to protect, if not every well-educated woman also, was perfectly well versed in the ordinary forms of legal processes. Sir John Fastolf had a great deal of property to take care of, and consequently had much more occasion to make use of legal phraseology than other people. Had it been otherwise we should hardly have had any letters of his at all; for the only use of writing to him, and probably to most other people in those days, was to communicate on matters of business.There are also parts of his correspondence from which we might almost infer that Sir John was a merchant as well as a lawyer. His ships were continually passing between London and Yarmouth, carrying on the outward voyage building materials for his works at Caister, and bringing home malt or other produce from the county of Norfolk. In two of his letters we have references to his little shipThe Blythe,118.1which, however, was only one of several; for, in the year 1443, he obtained a licence from the Crown to keep no less than six vessels in his service. These are described as of four different kinds: two being what were called ‘playtes,’ a third a ‘cog-ship,’ a fourth a ‘farecoft,’ and the two others ‘balingers,’ for the carriage of goods and building materials for the use of his household. These vessels were to be free from all liability to arrest for the service of the king.118.2Building of Caister Castle.The object of these building operations was the erection of a stately castle at Caister, not far from Yarmouth, the place of the old warrior’s birth. As early as the reign of HenryV., it seems, he had obtained licence to fortify a dwelling there, ‘so strong as himself could devise’;118.3but his occupation in the French wars had suspended a design which must have been a special object with him all through life. The manor of Caister had come to him by natural descent from his paternal ancestry; but even during his mother’s widowhood, when Sir John was a young man of about six-and-twenty, we find that119she gave up her life tenure of it to vest it entirely in her son.119.1Since that day he had been abroad with HenryV.at Agincourt and at the siege of Rouen. He had afterwards served in France under the Regent Bedford,—had taken several strong castles and one illustrious prisoner,119.2—had held the government of conquered districts, and had fought, generally with success and glory, in almost every great battle of the period. Nor had he been free, even on his return to England, to go at once and spend the rest of his days on his paternal domains in Norfolk. His counsels were needed by his sovereign. His experience abroad must have qualified him to give important advice on many subjects of vital interest touching both France and England, and we have evidence that he was, at least occasionally, summoned to take part in the proceedings of the Privy Council. But now, when he was upwards of seventy years of age, the dream of his youth was going to be realised. Masons and bricklayers were busy at Caister,119.3building up for him a magnificent edifice, of which the ruins are at this day the most interesting feature in the neighbourhood. Sadly imperfect ruins indeed they are,—in some places even the foundations would seem to have disappeared, or else the plan of the building is not very intelligible; but a noble tower still rises to a height of ninety feet,—its top possessed by jackdaws,—and a large extent of mouldered walls, pierced with loopholes and surmounted by remains of battlements, enable the imagination to realise what Caister Castle must have been when it was finished over four hundred years ago. A detached fragment of these ruins, too, goes by the name of the Bargehouse; and there, beneath a low-browed arch still visible, tradition reports that Sir John Fastolf’s barge or barges would issue out on their voyages or enter on their return home.According to Dawson Turner, the foundations of Caister Castle must have enclosed a space of more than six acres of ground.119.4The inventory of the furniture contained in it at Fastolf’s death119.5enumerates no less than six-and-twenty120chambers, besides the public rooms, chapel, and offices. An edifice on such a scale must have been some time in building:—many years, we should suppose, passed away before it was completed. And we are not without evidence that such was actually the case; for a chamber was set apart for the Lady Milicent, Fastolf’s wife, who is believed to have died in 1446, and yet the works were still going on in 1453. In this latter year we find that John Paston was allowed to have some control of the building operations, and that chambers were to be built for him and his wife. Meanwhile it appears he had chosen an apartment in which to set up his coffers and his counting-board for the time. Possibly when he was able to visit Caister he may have acted as paymaster of the works.120.1The great castle, however, was now not far from completion; and before the end of the following year Sir John Fastolf had removed from London and taken up his residence at Caister, where, with the exception of one single visit to the capital, he seems to have spent all the remainder of his days.We have said that very few notices are to be found of the internal affairs of England in the year 1452, subsequent to the Duke of York swearing allegiance at St. Paul’s. But just about that time, or not very long after, the affairs of Guienne came once more to demand the serious consideration of the Council. It is true that Guienne and Gascony were now no longer English possessions.Attempt to recover Guienne.Bayonne, the last stronghold, had been given up in the preceding August, and, the English forces being now expelled, all hope of recovering the lost provinces might well have been abandoned, but that the inhabitants were desirous to put themselves once more under the protection of the King of England. The fact is that the Gascons, who had been three centuries under English rule, did not at all relish the change of masters. Under the crown of England they had enjoyed a liberty and freedom from taxation which were unknown in the dominions of CharlesVII.; and on the surrender of Bordeaux and Bayonne, the121French king had expressly promised to exempt them from a number of impositions levied elsewhere. But for this promise, indeed, those cities would not so readily have come to terms.121.1Unfortunately, it was not very long before the ministers of Charles sought to evade its fulfilment. They represented to the people that for their own protection, and not for the benefit of the royal treasury, the imposition of ataillewould enable the king to set a sufficient guard upon the country, and that the money would not in reality be taken from them, as it would all be spent within the province. The English, it was to be feared, would not remain patient under the loss, not only of the provinces themselves, but also of a very valuable commerce that they had hitherto maintained with the south of France; for Gascony supplied England with wine, and was a large consumer of English wool. Hence there was every reason to fear that some attempt would be made by the enemy to recover the lands from which he had been expelled, and it was the interest of the inhabitants themselves to provide an adequate force to ward off invasion.121.2With arguments like these the French king’s officers went about among the people endeavouring to compel them to forego a liberty which had been secured to them under the Great Seal of France. In vain were deputations sent from Bordeaux and Gascony beseeching the king to be faithful to his promise. The petitioners were sent back with an answer urging the people to submit to exactions which were required for the defence of the country. The citizens of Bordeaux were greatly discontented, and an embassy, headed by the Sieur de l’Esparre, was sent over to the King of England to offer him the allegiance of the lost provinces once more, on his sending a sufficient fleet and army to their rescue. The proposal being laid before a meeting of the English Council, was of course most readily agreed to; and it was arranged that a fleet, under the command of the Earl of Shrewsbury, should sail for the Garonne in October. On the 18th of that month the earl accordingly embarked with a body of 4000 or 5000 soldiers. The French army having withdrawn, he easily122obtained possession of Bordeaux, and sent its captain,Oliverde Coëtivy, a prisoner into England. Other towns then readily opened their gates to the invaders, of which one of the principal was Castillon in Perigord; and very soon, in spite of the opposition of their French governors, the greater part of the lost provinces had put themselves again under the protection of the English.122.1The suddenness with which these things were done seems for a time to have disconcerted the French king. Winter was now coming on, and probably nothing effective could be done for some time, so Charles lay maturing his plans in silence. As he surveyed the position at leisure, he probably found that any further efforts of the invaders could be checked with tolerable facility. France still retained possession of the two little towns of Bourges and Blaye, which we have already mentioned as being the keys of Bordeaux, and also of various other strong places in which he had been careful to leave considerable garrisons.A.D.1453.It was therefore the beginning of June in the following year before he took any active steps to expel the enemy from their conquests. He then marched southwards from Lusignan, near Poitiers, and laid siege to Chalais in Perigord, on the borders of Saintonge. In the space of five days it was taken by assault. Out of a garrison of 160 men no less than half were cut to pieces. The other half took refuge in a tower where they still held out for a time in the vain hope of succours, till at last they were compelled to surrender unconditionally. Of the prisoners taken, such as were of English birth were ransomed; but as for those who were Gascons, as they had sworn fealty to Charles and departed from their allegiance, they were all beheaded. After this, one or two other ill-defended places fell into the hands of the French. On the 14th July siege was laid to Castillon on the Dordogne, a position which when won gave the French free navigation into the Gironde. The besieging army was furnished with the most perfect mechanism of war that the skill or science of that age could supply. It had a train of artillery, with no less than 700 gunners, under the123conduct of two able engineers of Paris, the brothers Bureau. The place was thoroughly closed in, when Shrewsbury, hearing of the danger in which it stood, came with haste out of Bordeaux with a body of 800 or 1000 horse, followed shortly after by 4000 or 5000 foot.123.1At daybreak on the 17th, the earl came suddenly upon the besiegers, and succeeded without difficulty in thoroughly defeating a body of archers, who had been posted at an abbey outside the town. This detachment being completely taken by surprise, was obliged to save itself by flight, and after a little skirmishing, in which some 80 or 100 men were slain on both sides, the greater number of the Frenchmen succeeded in gaining a park in which the main body of the besiegers had entrenched themselves. Further pursuit being now unnecessary, the English returned to the abbey, where they were able to refresh themselves with a quantity of victuals which the French had left behind them. ‘And because the said skirmish,’ writes the French chronicler De Coussy, ‘had been begun and was done so early that as yet Talbot had not heard mass, his chaplain prepared himself to sing it there; and for this purpose the altar and ornaments were got ready.’ But this devout intention the earl presently abandoned; for a cloud of dust was seen in the distance, and it was reported to him that even the main body of the French were rapidly retreating. Immediately the earl was again on horseback, and as he left the abbey he was heard to say, ‘I will hear no mass to-day till I have overthrown the company of Frenchmen in the park before me.’123.2Unfortunately, it turned out that the report of the retreat of the French was utterly unfounded. The cloud of dust had been raised by a body of horses which they had sent out of the camp to graze. The French army remained in its position, with artillery drawn up, ready to meet the earl on his advance. The English, nevertheless, came on with their usual shout, ‘A Talbot! A Talbot! St. George!’ and while their foremost men just succeeded for an instant in planting their standard on124the barrier of the French lines, they were mowed down behind by the formidable fire of the French artillery. Against this all valour was fruitless; about 500 or 600 English lay dead in front; and the French, opening the barrier of their park, rushed out and fought with their opponents hand to hand. For a while the conflict was still maintained, with great valour on both sides; but the superior numbers of the French, and the advantage they had already gained by their artillery, left very little doubt about the issue. After about 4000 Englishmen had been slain in the hand-to-hand encounter, the remainder fled or were made prisoners. Some were able to withdraw into the town and join themselves to the besieged garrison; others fled through the woods and across the river, in which a number of the fugitives were drowned.Defeat and death of Talbot.In the end the body of the veteran Talbot was found dead upon the field, covered with wounds upon the limbs, and a great gash across the face.124.1So fell the aged warrior, whose mere name had long been a terror to England’s enemies. By the confession of a French historian, who hardly seems to feel it a disgrace to his countrymen, the archers, when they closed around him, distinctly refused to spare his life, so vindictively eager were they to despatch him with a multitude of wounds.124.2Yet it must be owned that in this action he courted his own death, and risked the destruction of a gallant army. For though he was led to the combat by a false report, he was certainly under no necessity of engaging the enemy when he had discovered his mistake, and he was strongly dissuaded from doing so by Thomas Everingham.124.3But his own natural impetuosity, inflamed probably still more by the unreasonable taunts of the men of Bordeaux, who, it seems, were dissatisfied that no earlier attempt had been made to resist the advance of the French king into Guienne,124.4induced him to stake everything on the issue of a most desperate and unequal conflict.With him there also died upon the field his eldest son, Lord Lisle, his illegitimate son, Henry Talbot, Sir Edward Hull, and thirty other knights of England. About double125that number were taken prisoners, the most notable of whom was John Paston’s old persecutor, the Lord Moleyns.125.1Never had the English arms experienced such a disastrous overthrow.The Gascons now gave up their cause as altogether hopeless. A fresh army had lately marched into their country, and was laying siege to several places at once towards the east of Bordeaux, so that it was manifest that city would soon be shut in by the royal forces. Castillon was no longer able to hold out. It surrendered on the second day after Talbot’s death. About the same time Charles in person laid siege to Cadillac, one of the most important places in the neighbourhood, protected by a strong castle. The town was speedily carried by assault, and a few weeks later the castle was also taken. Other places in like manner came once more into the power of the French king. At Fronsac an English garrison capitulated and was allowed to leave the country, each soldier bearing in his hand a baton till he reached the seaside. Very soon Bordeaux was the only place that held out; nor was the defence even of this last stronghold very long protracted. Its surrender was delayed for a time only in consequence of the severity of the conditions on which Charles at first insisted; but a sickness which began to ravage his camp at length inclined him to clemency. On the 17th of October the city submitted to Charles, the inhabitants engaging to renew their oaths of allegiance, and the English having leave to return in their own ships to England. To secure himself against their future return, or any fresh rebellion of the citizens, Charles caused to be built and garrisoned, at the expense of the latter, two strong towers, which were still standing at the beginning of the last century. Thus was Gascony finally lost to the Crown of England.We must now return to the domestic affairs of the kingdom. Matters had been hung up, as it were, in a state of unstable equilibrium ever since Good Friday 1452. The political amnesty, proceeding, as it did, from the king’s own heart, and removing every stain of disloyalty from those who had laboured most to change his policy, helped, in all probability,126to keep up a precarious state of tranquillity much longer than it could otherwise have been preserved. The danger of Calais, too, had passed away for the time, although it was always recurring at intervals so long as HenryVI.was king. So that, perhaps, during the latter part of the year 1452, the country was in as quiet a state as could reasonably have been expected. At least, the absence of information to the contrary may be our warrant for so believing.A.D.1453.But the new year had no sooner opened than evidences of disaffection began to be perceived.Robert Poynings.On the 2nd of January Robert Poynings—the same who had taken a leading part in Cade’s rebellion, and had, it will be remembered, saved the life of one of Sir John Fastolf’s servants from the violence of the insurgents—called together an assembly of people at Southwark, many of whom were outlaws. What his object was we have no distinct evidence to show. He had received the king’s general pardon for the part he took in the movement under Cade; but he had been obliged to enter into a recognisance of £2000, and find six sureties of £200 each, for his good behaviour; so that he, of all men, had best cause to beware of laying himself open to any new suspicion of disloyalty. Yet it appears he not only did so by this meeting at Southwark, but that immediately afterwards he confederated with one Thomas Bigg of Lambeth, who had been one of Cade’s petty captains, and having met with him and about thirty others at Westerham in Kent, tried to stir up a new rising in the former seat of rebellion. From Kent he further proceeded into Sussex, and sent letters to two persons who had been indicted of treason, urging them to come and meet him at Southwark on the last day of February; ‘at which time and place,’ says the Parliament Roll, ‘the same Robert Poynings gave them money, thanking them heartily of their good will and disposition that they were of unto him in time past, praying them to continue their good will, and to be ready and come to him at such time as he should give them warning.’126.1Altogether it would appear from the record of the charge itself that nothing very serious127came of this display of disaffection on the part of Poynings; but it must at least be noted as a symptom of the times.

I, Richard, Duke of York, confess and beknow that I am and ought to be humble subject and liegeman to you, my sovereign Lord, King Henry the Sixth, and owe therefore to bear you faith and truth as to my sovereign lord, and shall do all the days unto my life’s end; and shall not at any time will or assent, that anything be attempted or done against your noble person, but wheresoever I shall have knowledge of any such thing imagined or purposed I shall, with all the speed and diligence possible to me, make that your Highness shall have knowledge thereof, and even do all that shall be possible to me to the withstanding thereof, to the utterest of my life. I shall not in no wise any thing take upon me against your royal estate or the obeisance that is due thereto, nor suffer any other man to do, as far forth as it shall lie in my power to let it; and also I shall come at your commandment, whensoever I shall be called by the same, in humble and obeisant wise, but if [i.e.unless] I be letted by any sickness or impotency of my person or by such other causes as shall be thought reasonable to you, my sovereign lord. I shall never hereafter take upon me to gather any routs, or make any assembly of your people, without your commandment or licence, or in my lawful defence. In the interpretation of which my lawful defence, and declaration thereof, I shall report me at all times to your Highness, and, if the case require, unto my peers: nor anything attempt by way of faite against any of your subjects, of what estate, degree, or condition that they be. But whensoever I find myself wronged or aggrieved, I shall sue humbly for remedy to your Highness, and proceed after the course of your laws, and in none other wise, saving in mine own lawful defence in manner above said; and shall in all things abovesaid and other have me unto your Highness as an humble and true subject ought to have him to his Sovereign Lord.All these things above said I promise truly to observe and keep, by the Holy Evangelists contained in this book that I lay my hand upon, and by the Holy Cross that I here touch, and by the blessed Sacrament of our Lord’s body that I shall now with His mercy receive. And over this I agree me and will that if I any time hereafter, as with the grace of our Lord I never shall, anything attempt by way of fear or otherwise against your royal majesty and obeisance that I owe thereto,102or anything I take upon me otherwise than is above expressed, I from that time forth be unabled, [held and taken as an untrue and openly forsworn man, and unable]102.1to all manner of worship, estate, and degree, be it such as I now occupy, or any other that might grow unto me in any wise.And this I here have promised and sworn proceedeth of mine own desire and free voluntee and by no constraining or coercion. In witness of all the which things above written I, Richard, Duke of York above named, subscribe me with mine own hand and seal, with this mine own seal, &c.102.2With this guarantee for his future loyalty, the duke was permitted to return into his own country.Somerset might well be pleased that the matter should be settled thus; for if the charges York brought, or at least was prepared to have brought, against him were only one-half true (and some of them certainly were true altogether), his administration of the Duchy of Normandy was a mixture of indiscretion and dishonesty at which the nation had good right to be indignant. We have already seen how in concert with the Duke of Suffolk he had authorised a perfidious breach of the truce with France in the capture of Fougères. We have also seen how ill prepared he was for the consequences; how he discovered too late the weakness of all the garrisons; how the French king recovered town after town, and the English were finally expelled from Normandy in less than a year and a half after the unjustifiable outrage.York’s charges against Somerset.But if any credit may be given to the further charges brought against him by the Duke of York,—charges which agree only too well with the character attributed to him by the most impartial authorities102.3—Somerset had himself to blame in great measure for the defenceless condition of the country committed to his protection.103On his first going into Normandy he had jobbed the offices under his control. For the sake of private emolument he had removed a number of trusty and experienced captains, filling their places with creatures of his own, or men who had paiddouceursfor their posts; and only on receipt of still greater bribes would he consent to restore any of those that had been put out. He had, however, actually reduced many garrisons, while he had taxed the inhabitants of the Duchy beyond all reason for the means of defence. His administration of justice, too, had been such as to excite the most vehement dissatisfaction, and had made the whole native population impatient of English government. He had, moreover, pocketed the compensation given by France to the dispossessed Englishmen of Anjou and Maine. Worse still, after all his maladministration and ill success, he had prevailed on the king to make him captain of Calais, which it seemed as if he was on the point of losing also in as careless and culpable a manner as he had already lost Normandy.Here, however, is the full text of the accusation,103.1as prepared by York himself:—Thies articles and pointes folowyng yeve, shewe and ministre I, Richard Duc of York, youre true liegman and servaunt unto youre highnesse, summarily purposyng and declaryng thaym ayeinst Edmond Duc of Somerset for the grete welfare and the comen availle and interesse of youre mageste Roiall and of this youre noble roialme, aswell to bryng to knawlege and understondyng the meanes and causes of the grete myscheves and inconvenientz which late befe[l] unto this youre said noble roiame, as in losse of youre lyvelode by yonde thee see and otherwyse in ponisshment of deservitours and excuse of innocencie, and also in puttyng aside and eschuyng of the grete and importable hurte and prejudice which ben like, withouten that purviaunce be had of remedie, to succede in shorte tyme. To the which articles and every of theym I, the seid Duc of York, desire of youre egall and indifferent rightwesnesse that the seid Edmond answere by his feith and trouth,104the sacrement of his othe thereuppon made, duly and truly as lawe and conscience requireth; I also desiryng, for the veraly examinacion and knowlech of trouth theruppon to be had, and for the grete and singuler weel of this youre said Roiame, to be admytted to the prefe, and to yeve evidence in the said articles that folowyn in such as he woll denye, after the equite and consideracion of lawe in such case, and processe had, and also of good feith and conscience justice thereafter to be don and executid.First, I article and declare that the seid Edmond Duc of Somersett hath be meane, consenter, occasioner, cause and mediatour, both by his inwarde knowlege and expresse consent, by counseill, and worchyng thurghe diverse subtyle weyes and meanes, as by violent presumpcion and otherwyse is knowen and understonde, and furthermore also by his inordinate negligence, lacchesse and wilfull rechelessnes and insaciate covetyse, of the losse and amission of youre Duchie of Normandie, rejoissed and possessed at this tyme, for the defence of his negligent kepyng and otherwyse before reherced, by youre enemyes. Which may clerly by (sic) understonde by the meanes and causes that folowen; of the which and for such one he is openly called, reputed and had by the comen fame and voice. Of the which oon cause is that the seid Duc of Somersett, at his first comyng into Normandie, chaunged and putt out of theire occupacion and youre service, withoute skyll, cause or reason, all the true and feithfull officers, for the most partie, of all Normandie, and put in such as hym liked for his owne singuler availe and covetyse, as it apperith well, inasmoch as ther coude noon of theym that were so put out be restored agayn withoute grete giftes and rewardes, which was full unfittyng. And furthermore did put in prison many diverse and notable persones of youre seid Duchie, withoute cause, justice or any ordinarie processe made agayn theym or due examinacion, and by that meane did grete extorcions and rered unlawfully grete sommes undre colour of amendes and composicions, wherby the cuntre for such wrong and faute of justice grucched sore agayn hym and his governaunce and caused the people to arise in theire conseytes and to take grete displeasir; and that was a grete occasion and cause of the losse of youre said Duchie of Normandie.Item, the seid Edmond Duc of Somerset was cause and consenter voluntarie of the brekyng of the trues and pais for a tyme had betwene youre highnes and youre uncle of Fraunce, which was well understond at the taking of Fogiers in Britaigne by Sir Fraunceys Larragonneys thurgh his avise, consentement, and counseile; and also duryng the said trues made more strong and fortified diverse places disopered by youre commaundement, as Morteyn and Seint Jakes de Beveron, ageyn the appointement of the seid trues; uppon which youre uncle did sommon hym to make a-seeth [satisfaction] and for to105disimpaire the seid fortifying and wrong don agayn the trues, and in asmoch as non aseeth by hym was don, nor [he] lefte not of his seid fortifiyng, caused youre seid uncle to have, as he pretende, cause to breke the said trues on his partie; which brekyng of trues was oon of the verray cause of losse of Normandie. And thus he brake the seide trues ayeinst his promysse and true feith made to youre highnes, which was to kepe and entretyn the said trues, and so did ayen the lawe in this behalve and youre statutes of the roiame.Item, he put away and diminisshed diverse garnisons and other strong places of youre seid Duchie of Normandie of soudiours and of men of werre which were accustumed to abide uppon the suerte and saufgarde of the same, howe be hit he had verrayly knowlege that youre ennmyes were full determi[ned] for to ley seges to put the same places in theire subjeccion, not paiyng duely nor contentyng such soudiours as abode uppon the defences of the same places; he reryng at that tyme in youre said Duchie as grete tailles and aides as were in long tyme before duryng the werre; and that caused the soudiours in diverse strong places for poverte, not havyng hors nor harneys, and also the nombre diminisshed, to be of non poiaire to make resistence, and that was a grete cause of the losse of Normandie. The losse of which caused the perdicion of Gascoigne and Guyen.Item, the Duc of Somersett wold yeve noo counseile, aide ne helpe unto the capitanis of diverse stronge places and garnisons which at that tyme, constreyned by nede, desired of hym provision and relief for abillement of werre to resiste the malice of theire enemyes daily makyng fressh feetes of werre uppon theym; he gevyng theym noone aide nor help, but lete theym contynue in theire malice, howe be it that diverse places were lost before: and what tyme that the said places were beseged and sent for help and socour unto hym he wold graunte no maner of comforte, but suffred hem appoint and compounde with here enemyes as well as they myght for theire ease and suertee, makyng no maner of provision for the kepyng of the places which remayned; insomuch that he made non ordinaunce nor provision for the toun, castell, and places of Rouen, neither of men, stuffe ne vitaile, the knowlage that he had of youre enemyes comyng thereunto notwithstondyng, yevyng licence unto the Archiebisshopp, chanons and burgeys of the same toun for to goo or sende to compounde with youre enemyes for the deliveraunce of the same, notwithstondyng that afore that tyme the enemyes which were entred in to the same toun were worshiply put oute and betyn of by the Erle of Shrowesbury and other notable persones, and withdrawen to Pontlarge and Loviers, and at that tyme, they beyng so withdrawen, licenced to appointe as it is aforeseid. Which was plainly ayeinst his promys, feith and liegeaunce that he of right oweth unto you, and ayeinst the tenure of the endentures106made betwix youre highnes and hym of the charge of that londe, the which licence, and it had not ben don, the seid toun had abiden undre youre obeisaunce, the losse of whiche was a verray ope . . . .106.1cause of the perdicion of Normandie.Item, the said Duc of Somersett, for to colour his defautes and wilfull purp[o]s in the premisses, entred in to youre palaice of Rouen not vitailed nor fo[rnisshed]106.1for defence, where he myght savely absentid hym, and yeldid up the said Palaice and Castell, and moreover other good tounes, castels and [fortresses],106.1as Caudebek, and other diverse, as Tancarville, Moustervillers, Arques, key of all Caulx, not beseged nor in perell of losse at that tyme, for the enlargisshyn[g] and deliveraunce of hym, his childre and goodes; which myght not, nor hath not, be done nor seen by lawe, resoun or cronikel, or by cours or a . . . . . . any leftenant, all though that he had be prisoner: Witnesse the Duc of Orliaunce, the Duc of Burbon, the Duc of Alansum and other . . . . . . for whom was none delyvered, al though they had many strong places of theire owen. And furthermore fore the suertee of delyveraunce of . . . . . . tounes, castell and forteresses which were wel furnysshed for to have resisted youre enemyes, and to have biden within youre obeisaunce, delyvered in ostage the Erle of Shrowesbury, that tyme Marescall of Fraunce, and other notable persones which shuld have defended youre lande there ayens the malice of youre enemyes; and in likewyse apointed to delyver Honflu, which was in noo gret perell, ne had be that it was retardyd by youre lettres and so by that fraudelent and inordinat meane all was lost and yoldon up, as hereafter by more evident declaracions it shalbe clerely [proved].106.2Item, the said Duc of Somerset hath contrived and ymagined, helped or consented to the grete and importable losse of Cales to be undre the obeisaunce of the Duc of Burgoyn, as it apperith openly by diverse skilles, evidencez, and resons; that is to sey, in asmuch as he desired and made laboures, or at the lest toke uppon hym, for to be capiten of the seid Toun of Cales, knowyng and understondyng well the grete murmur and sclaunder which daily rennyth agayn hym for the losse and sale, as it is surmyttid, of Normandie, to the grete discoragyng of the soudiours of the said Toun; where as the comen fame is that he will bylike sotill meanes contrive and ymagyn the losse and amission of youre said Toun of Cales, like as he hath afore causid the perdicion of youre Duchie of Normandie; which apperith well, in asmoch as he hath desirid the terme of a monyth without more, that, in case that the said Toun were besegid and not rescuyd within the107said monyth, that than he shuld stond discharged though it were delyvered to youre enemyes; within which tyme it were impossible, or at the lest full unlikly, that never myght be assembled for the rescu therof, where as it may and hath be here-before kept ayens the force of youre enemyes moche lenger tyme in grete jupardy; which is so grete an hevynesse and trouble to youre said soudiours, that by theire langage, demenyng and communicacion it may be understond that they will not be so herty nor feithfull to the welfare and defence of the said Toun as they shuld be in case they had a captayn more agreable unto theym. And also this premisse apperith well in asmoch as the comen voyce, langage, and fame is, and also grete prefe and evidence shalbe made theruppon, that the seid Duc of Somerset, in hope of mariage to be doon and had be twix the Duc son of Burgoyn107.1and one of his doughters, had made a promysse and behest to the said Duc of Burgoyne, or Duchesse by his meane, concent and massangers, of the delyverey of the Toun of Cales, to be done by such sotill meanes as shuld not be understond neither of youre highenes nor of youre subgettz.Item, the said Duc of Somerset is cause of grete hurte, robbery, manslauter and other myscheves daily done and contynued in this youre roialme, in asmoch as he resceyved and had at the delyverey of Anjoy and Maynxxiij.mxij.(72,000) frankes or there aboutes, which were graunted and ordeyned to the Englisshmen havyng theire [there] lyvelode for theire recompense and asyth for the lyverey up of theire seid lyvelode at the said delyveraunce, and wold not dispose the same money nor departe therfrom, bot kepith it still to his owne use and singuler availe, notwithstondyng that he was recompensid for his lyvelode in that cuntrey in youre Duchie of Normandie of a more value than the gift therof was worth, which causith the said Englisshmen to be here in grete povertee; of which povertee no doute commyth grete myscheve daily within your said roiame. And also in so muche as many diverse soudiours of Normandye were not paied theire wages, where he rerid grete and notable sommes of youre Duchie of Normandie for ther agrement, which non paiement and poverte causith also daily grete inconvenientz within this your lande.Item, that these forsaid articles and poyntz be just and true it may well appere by many grete presumpcions beside evident prefes that shalbe made thereuppon with open and notarie fame and voice of the people, and also inasmoch as the said Duc of Somerset hath be double and untrue in many and diverse pointes, and in especiall that he hath desirid a recompense of youre highnes for the counte of Mayn for the delyverance therof, where it was specified in youre lettres patentes of108your graunte therof to hym made that ye shuld be at your libertee to dispose it at your pleasere in case that ye for the meane of the pease wold do make a lyverey thereof unto youre uncle of Fraunce; and yit at the tyme of delyveraunce thereof he wold not agree therto unto tyme that he were recompensid, as it is aforesaid, in youre Duchie of Normandie to a more value than his said graunte drue to.Item, thees forsaid articles, everyche of theym and every parte of theym, purposyth and ministre I, Richard, Duc of York, ayens the said Duc of Somersett joyntly and severally not atteigne to a more strate nor chargeable prefe than your lawe in such case and processe will require; desiryng of youre highnesse and rightuous justice that in asmoche as lawfully may ayenst hym be foundon or previd, that jugement in that partie be had and executid unto youre highnes for yours and youre roialmes prosperite and welfare, indende not elles bot the salvacion and indempnite of youre most roiale persone, and also alle youre feithfull subgettz, in which y reporte me to God and all the word [world].I imagine this paper must have been really handed in by York to the lords of the king’s Council. It is preserved among theMSS.in the Cottonian Library, a large number of which were undoubtedly at one time part of the public records of the realm. But in any case we can hardly doubt that Somerset understood quite sufficiently the grounds on which he was so generally hated; nor is it by any means improbable that the armed remonstrance of the Duke of York produced some real effect, if only for a time. This at least we know, that only four days after the oath taken by York at St. Paul’s, active and energetic measures began to be taken for the defence of Calais.Defence of Calais.Historians, as Sir Harris Nicolas truly remarks, do not seem hitherto to have been aware of the imminent danger in which even Calais at this time stood of being lost, like the other English conquests, a full century before it was actually recovered by the French. Rumours that Calais would be besieged reached England in the beginning of May 1450, along with the news of the Duke of Suffolk’s murder.108.1In August 1451 a reinforcement of 1150 men was sent thither in twelve vessels, under the Lords Beauchamp and Sudeley. In the February following, as we have seen, York wrote of the success of the French in Gascony having emboldened them to109lay siege to Calais again. And now, on the 14th of March, when Charles was advancing towards the last English stronghold, with the most formidable army that had been seen for years, and when men had begun to fear that he would be able not only to gain possession of Calais with ease, but even to invade and ravage England, steps were at last taken for the immediate formation of a fleet.A royal navy had undoubtedly existed for a long time before the days of HenryVI., but it never amounted in itself to a very formidable force, and in time of war recourse was always had to impressment on the large scale. But the neglect of the sea was during this reign the constant complaint of Englishmen. For want of an efficient fleet the mercantile interest continually suffered, the fisheries could not safely be visited, and even the dwellers at home were insecure. The fact was confessed by the greatest eulogists of HenryVI., who had not a thought of impugning his government. ‘Our enemies,’ says Capgrave in hisIllustrious Henries,—‘Our enemies laugh at us. They say, “Take off the ship from your precious money, and stamp a sheep upon it to signify your sheepish minds.” We who used to be conquerors of all nations are now conquered by all. The men of old used to say that the sea was England’s wall, and now our enemies have got upon the wall; what think you they will do to the defenceless inhabitants? Because this business has been neglected for so many years it now happens that ships are scanty, and sailors also few, and such as we have unskilled for want of exercise. May God take away our reproach and raise up a spirit of bravery in our nation!’109.1There were already available for the king’s service a certain number of ships in the Thames, and at Winchelsea and Sandwich. The chief of these vessels was called theGrace Dieu—a name which was perhaps traditional, for it was handed down to Tudor times when, with the king’s own Christian name prefixed, it was always given to the largest of the fleet.109.2The110Earl of Shrewsbury110.1was appointed to take the command of the whole army at sea, and efforts were made to augment the squadron with as large a force as possible. On the 14th of March 1452 a commission was given to Lord Clifford, which was doubtless one of a number given to various noblemen, to negotiate for this purpose with shipowners, knights, and gentlemen in the district where he commonly resided; and he was instructed to take the command of all such vessels as he could raise, and bring them into the Downs to join with Shrewsbury. The appeal to patriotism was not made in vain. Many shipowners came forward, offering not only to lend but to victual their own ships for the service. But full powers were also given to arrest ships, shipmasters, and mariners, to make up a sufficient number. To every man not furnished with victuals by the benevolence of others, twelve pence a week was offered on the king’s behalf, with a customary share in any booty that he might help to capture at sea. Captains of ships were to have in addition a reward of ten marks, or £10, at the discretion of Lord Clifford. Altogether we may presume that the defensive measures taken at this time were sufficient, for we hear no more during the next few years of any attempt to lay siege to Calais.80.1Rolls of Parl.v. 211-12.80.2The whole of this correspondence is attributed by Holinshed and Stow to the year 1452; but it appears to me clearly to belong to the year 1450, when the Duke had just returned from Ireland. SeeChronicle of London, 136; though internal evidence alone will, I think, satisfy the careful student.82.1I have no doubt this is a misreading of the contracted form ‘yr’which was intended for ‘their.’ To accuse York of the murder of the Bishop of Chichester, and apparently as a principal, not an accessory in that murder, when he was at the time in Ireland, would have been absurd. Besides, the tenor of the whole of this reply is to exculpate York of all charges.82.2Misprinted ‘Chester’ in Holinshed.83.1SeeNo. 142.83.2Nicolas’sProceedings of the Privy Council, iv. 212, v. 108.84.1Misprinted ‘your’ in Holinshed.85.1Nos. 142, 145, 148, and 149. The influence of a powerful nobleman on the elections was evidently quite a matter of course. What use York made of it, or attempted to make of it, cannot so easily be determined. Of the two candidates proposed by him for the county of Norfolk, only one was returned, the name of Sir Miles Stapleton being substituted for that of Sir William Chamberlain (seevol. ii. p. 185 note 1). It appears from two of the above cited letters that Stapleton was a favourite candidate with the Pastons and their friends, and that he was urged to wait on the Duke of York on his coming to Norwich.85.2SeeNo. 119.86.1Nos. 151, 153, 154, 155, 156.86.2Stow’sChronicle, p. 392.87.1Seevol. ii. pp. 161-2.87.2Rymer, xi. 276.87.3Rolls of Parl.v. 210.87.4W. Worc.88.1MS.Cott. Vitell. A. xvi. Stow in hisChronicledates this procession a day later.88.2W. Worc.88.3The Chronicle of London(p. 137) says that ‘all the Commons’ agreed to this proposition, and stood out for some time against the Lords on the subject.88.4Rolls of Parl.v. 210-14.89.1In earlier issues of this Introduction was added: ‘probably for no other reason than his high impartiality.’ Mr. Plummer, I find, who knows him better, has not the same opinion of Fortescue’s impartiality as a politician, but considers that he was in danger just because he was so strong a Lancastrian.SeeIntroduction toThe Governance of England, p. 50.89.2Nos. 167, 169-174.90.1Nos. 179 and 180.91.1Nos. 119, 185, 186, 192.91.2Nos. 189, 192.91.3No. 178.92.1No. 189.93.1No. 193.93.2Ibid.93.3Rolls of Parl.v. 217.94.1The modern see of Chester was separated from this diocese in the time of HenryVIII.94.2Rolls of Parl.v. 216.94.3No. 206. Daniel had been out of favour at one time during Suffolk’s ascendency.SeeNo. 75, p. 86.95.1Basin, i. 247-48.96.1Reginald Butler or Boulers, whose appointment to the see, dated 23rd December 1450, was no doubt due to the Duke of York’s influence.96.2Stow’sChronicle, p. 393.98.1Ellis’sLetters, First Series, i. 11-13.98.2English Chronicle(ed. Davies), 69.98.3Nicolas’sPrivy Council Proceedings, vi. 116. According to Fabyan, the king and Somerset set out on the 16th of February. The summons to Lord Cobham, though dated Westminster, was issued on the 17th.99.1Cottonian Roll, ii. 23.SeeAppendix to this Introduction.99.2Rolls of Parl.v. 346. The statement in the Act of Attainder passed against the Duke of York seven years afterwards, that he was ‘of no power to withstand’ the king on this occasion, is liable to suspicion, but it is confirmed by the testimony of Whethamstede, 348.99.3‘The Lords, both spiritual and temporal, took the matter in hand.’Three Fifteenth Century Chronicles(Camden Soc.), 69. So alsoChronicle of London, 137.100.1Fabyan.100.2Fabyan.Three Fifteenth Century Chronicles, 69, and theMS.Chronicle, Vitell. A. xvi.102.1These words are not in the copy in theRolls of Parliament, but they occur in that given in Holinshed’sChronicle.102.2Rolls of Parl.v. 346.102.3The character given of the Duke of Somerset by the contemporary historian Basin is on the whole favourable, and may be supposed to be impartial. He describes him as handsome in person, gentle and urbane in manner, and well inclined towards justice; but all these graces were marred by an insatiable avarice which would not let him rest content with the immense wealth he had inherited from Cardinal Beaufort; and by continually coveting the riches of others he brought ruin on himself. Basin, i. 193.103.1Printed in this Introduction for the first time from the original in the CottonianMS., Vesp. C. xiv. f. 40. The first paragraph of this document is quoted by Stowe in hisChronicle, p. 397, and the charges are referred by him to the thirty-third year of the king’s reign,i.e.the latter part ofA.D.1454, which is certainly erroneous. The date which he intended, indeed, was the latter part of the year 1453, when the Duke of Somerset was arrested and sent to the Tower; but this date also is quite impossible.106.1MS.mutilated.106.2A line seems here to be cut off in theMS.at the bottom of the leaf.107.1Charles, afterwards Charles the Bold, son of Philip the Good, who was at this time Duke of Burgundy.108.1Letter 121.109.1Capgrave de Illust. Henricis, 135.109.2TheHenry Grace Dieuof HenryVIII.’s time is, however, better known by its popular epithet of theGreat Harry.110.1The Earl of Shrewsbury, as already mentioned, had been given up to the French in 1449 as a hostage for the delivery of certain towns in Normandy. It is said that he only recovered his liberty on taking oath never to bear arms again against the French, but that on visiting Rome in the year of Jubilee, 1450, he obtained an absolution from this engagement.—Æneæ Sylvii Opera, 441.The gift had been left with the under sherifftext unchanged: expected form “under-sheriff”Amnesty at Home—Disaster AbroadGeneral pardon.As to internal dissensions at home, it was quite in accordance with the weakness of the king’s character to believe that he had now stilled the chief elements of danger. His piety suggested to him to complete the good work by a general political amnesty. The year 1450, as being the concluding year of a half-century, had been celebrated as a jubilee at Rome, during which a general indulgence and pardon were granted to all who visited the Imperial City. There was also,111according to precedent, a bull issued at the close of the year to extend these benefits still further. Taking his example from the great Spiritual Ruler, the king, on Good Friday, the 7th of April 1452, offered publicly a general pardon to all who had been guilty of acts of disloyalty to himself, and who would apply to his Chancery for letters patent.111.1The offer was, undoubtedly, both gracious and humane. It sprang from a genuine love of peace on the king’s part, and probably went far to make the government of Somerset endurable for some months longer. Amid the confusion and troubles of the times, thousands must have felt that they needed the royal clemency to protect them against the severity of the laws. One hundred and forty-four persons, among whom was Thomas Young of Bristol—he who had proposed in Parliament that York should be proclaimed heir to the crown—obtained sealed pardons on that very Good Friday. Some two or three thousand others laid claim to the like indulgence, and had patents granted to them at a later date.111.2Only a very few persons were excepted on account of the enormity of their offences.One part of his kingdom, however, Henry himself did not expect to pacify by such means only. The state of the county of Norfolk had been so represented to him that he felt it necessary to send thither the Duke of Norfolk. ‘Great riots, extortions, horrible wrongs and hurts,’ were the subject of complaint, and nothing but an impartial inquiry would give satisfaction. The duke on coming into the country issued a proclamation, urging all who had any complaints to make to lay them freely and fearlessly before him. But free and fearless evidence was not likely to be had without a strong112guarantee for the protection of witnesses. Already the news of the duke’s coming had got wind, and some of the dependants of Lord Scales, who had been amongst the principal offenders, had given notice that any complaints againstthemwould be redressed in another fashion after the duke’s departure. In the absence of the duke Lord Scales had been always hitherto the natural ruler of the county, and it was under his protection that Sir Thomas Tuddenham, Sir Miles Stapleton, John Heydon, and others had dared to make themselves unpopular. Norfolk accordingly declared in the same proclamation that he intended henceforth to vindicate for himself so long as he lived the chief power and authority in the county which bore his name, subject only to that of the king himself.Intended royal visit to Norfolk.And to give still greater encouragement to the well-disposed, he announced that the king himself would shortly visit the county, before whom all who desired it should have their grievances redressed.112.1That the king actually visited Norfolk at this time I do not find from any other evidence. A letter written on St. George’s Day says that he had been expected at Norwich or Claxton for ten days past. Encouraged by the duke’s proclamation, several gentlemen of the county had drawn up a complaint against Charles Nowell, and were waiting to know in what manner they should present it.Complaint against Charles Nowell.This Charles and a number of others appear to have been keeping the country east of Norwich at the time in continual alarm and confusion. They held their rendezvous at the house of one Robert Ledeham, from which they would issue out in bands of six, or twelve, or sometimes thirty or more, fully armed with bows and arrows, spears and bills, jacks and sallets.112.2No place was sacred from their outrages. On Mid-Lent Sunday they had attacked two servants of the Bishop of Norwich inside the church at Burlingham, and would have killed them behind the priest’s back while they were kneeling at the mass. On the 6th of April they had endeavoured to break into the White Friars at Norwich on pretence of wishing to hear evensong; but having publicly declared in the town that they intended to get hold of113certain citizens, either alive or dead, the doors were shut against them. Happily, before they accomplished their purpose the mayor and aldermen came to the spot. A multitude of people had meanwhile assembled in the streets, and the rioters, finding the odds considerably against them, quietly took their departure.113.1John Paston assaulted at Norwich Cathedral.John Paston had a complaint of his own to make against these wrongdoers. Charles Nowell himself, and five others, had attacked him at the door of Norwich Cathedral. He had with him at the time two servants, one of whom received a blow on the naked head with a sword; and he himself was seized and had his arms held behind him, while one of the company struck at him. But for a timely rescue his death would seem to have been certain. On the very day on which this occurred his wife’s uncle, Philip Berney, was waylaid by some of the same fellowship, in the highway under Thorpe Wood. Berney was riding, accompanied by a single servant, when their two horses first were wounded by a discharge of arrows. They were then speedily overtaken by their assailants, who broke a bow over Philip Berney’s head, and took him prisoner, declaring him to be a traitor. To give a further colour to their proceedings, they led him prisoner to the Bishop of Norwich, demanding surety of him to keep the peace, and, when they had obtained it, let him go. Philip Berney lived more than a year after the adventure, but he never recovered from the effects of this rough usage.113.2Outrages like these, it must be remembered, were not the work of lawless brigands and recognised enemies of the whole community. They were merely the effect of party spirit. The men who did them were supported by noblemen and country gentlemen. One, by name Roger Church, probably the most daring, and at the same time the most subtle, of the gang, had got himself made bailiff of the hundred of Blofield.113.3Charles Nowell was a friend of Thomas Daniel, who, after being a year and a half out of favour, had recently recovered his influence in Norfolk through the medium of the Duke of114Somerset.114.1By this means he seems again to have obtained possession of the manor of Bradeston, the right to which he had disputed in 1450, apparently more by arms than by law, with Osbert Mountford, marshal of Calais. Charles Nowell was appointed by Daniel bailiff of the manor, with the slender but not insignificant salary of twopence a day; and he and his fellows, Roger Church, Robert Ledeham, John Ratcliff, and Robert Dalling, made it their chief business to maintain Daniel in possession.To put an end to such a state of matters as this, the Duke of Norfolk’s coming must have been truly welcome. But if any man expected that the power of duke or king could suddenly terminate the reign of anarchy, and initiate an era of plain impartial justice, he must have been a sanguine mortal. As one of the first effects of the duke’s coming, some of the leading oppressors of the country were driven to a course of chicanery instead of violence.Roger Church.Roger Church got himself arrested by some of his own company, and was brought before the duke as a promoter of sedition. He was accused of having taken part in an unlawful assembly at Postwick, with the view of stirring up an insurrection. He confessed the fact, and offered to turn king’s evidence on his accomplices. He then named a number of thrifty husbandmen, farmers, and gentlemen of the neighbourhood, alleging that about three hundred persons were implicated in the intended rising. The truth, as it presently turned out, and as Church himself afterwards confessed, was, that the movement had been got up by himself, at the instigation of Robert Ledeham, who promised to procure his pardon through the influence of Daniel. By solicitations addressed to various unsteady characters he had induced some to believe that an insurrection would be well supported. A little company of fifteen men accordingly met him under a wood at Postwick, and he told them he had discovered an excellent name for their captain, who should be called John Amend-All. But beyond this meeting and naming of the captain nothing seems ever to have come of the project.114.2115John Paston was certainly one of those mentioned by Church. The chief persons accused were the friends of Osbert Mountford, and Paston was one of them. But John Falgate, one of the deluded victims who had been present at the meeting at Postwick, being subjected to examination before the sheriff, exonerated Paston, and, while acknowledging his own share in the conspiracy, pronounced the tale told by Roger Church in his confession to be altogether an invention. We need not be surprised to hear that after this a petition from the county of Norfolk was sent up to the Lord Chancellor, praying that Church should not be allowed the benefit of the general pardon, offered upon Good Friday.115.1But Church persevered in his policy. He appears to have been a reckless kind of adventurer. He probably claimed the benefit of clergy, for we find him three months after his arrest in the hands of officers of the Bishop of Norwich. His goods also were seized for a debt that he owed the bishop. But in spite of the contradictions given by other witnesses, in July he adhered to what he had said in April, and instead of retracting his former accusations, said he meant to impeach some one else whom he could not at that time name,—a man who, he said, had more money in his purse than all of those whom he had accused before. The coolness with which he persisted in these statements gave an impression that he was even yet relying upon powerful friends to support him.115.2The conclusion of the affair must be a matter of speculation, for we hear nothing more of it. The political history of England, too, is, at this point, almost a blank. We know from the Privy Council Proceedings that there was some difficulty in the spring of 1452 in preserving friendly relations with Scotland in consequence of some Border outrages perpetrated by the Earl of Douglas. And this is absolutely all the light we have on the domestic affairs of England for about a twelvemonth after the Duke of York’s oath of allegiance at St. Paul’s. I have found, however, by an examination of the116dates of privy seals,A royal progress.that in July the king began a progress into the west of England, which is not altogether without significance. He reached Exeter on the 18th, and from thence proceeded by Wells, Gloucester, Monmouth, and Hereford to Ludlow, where he arrived on the 12th of August, and from which he returned homewards by Kenilworth and Woodstock, arriving at Eltham in the beginning of September. In October he made another circuit northwards by St. Albans to Stamford, Peterborough, and Cambridge. There can hardly be a doubt the object of these journeys was mainly to conciliate those who had declared their opposition to the Duke of Somerset, especially when we consider that the visit to Ludlow must have been nothing less than a visit to the Duke of York. York was now more than pardoned. He was honoured by his sovereign.Financially, however, we may well suppose that the duke was not the better of the royal visit. Perhaps also the state of the country did not conduce to the prosperity of great landowners. At all events we find that at the end of the year York was glad to pledge some pieces of jewellery to Sir John Fastolf for a loan of £437, to be repaid next Midsummer.116.1The transaction is in every way curious, as illustrating the sort of dealings in money matters which were at that time by no means uncommon among knights and noblemen. It is certainly highly characteristic of such a knight as Sir John Fastolf, who, quite unlike the Falstaff of the dramatist, instead of being always needy, was always seeking to increase the wealth that he had amassed by long years of thrift and frugality.Sir John Fastolf.We have had occasion to mention the historic Fastolf before; and it is time that we should now direct attention to the circumstances of his private life and his connection with the Paston family. John Paston, as the reader has already been informed, was ultimately his executor, and to this circumstance may safely be attributed the preservation of so many of his letters, most of which have certainly been handed down with the papers of the Paston family. Nevertheless, up117to the time at which we have now arrived we do not find that he directly corresponded with any of them. We can see, however, that he had a high regard for John Paston’s advice in business, and sometimes sent letters and documents of importance by him to his agent in Norfolk, Sir Thomas Howes.117.1He seems to have been related in blood to John Paston’s wife,117.2and he acknowledges Paston himself as his cousin in his will. From the general tenor of most of his letters we should certainly no more suspect him of being the old soldier that he actually was than of being Shakespeare’s fat, disorderly knight. Every sentence in them refers to lawsuits and title-deeds, extortions and injuries received from others, forged processes affecting property, writs of one kind or another to be issued against his adversaries, libels uttered against himself, and matters of the like description. Altogether the perusal is apt to give us an impression that Sir John would have made an acute and able, though perhaps not very highminded, solicitor. If ever his agent, Sir Thomas Howes, was, or seemed to be, a little remiss in regard to some particular interest, he was sure to hear of it, and yet woe to him if he did things on his own responsibility which turned out afterwards to be a failure.117.3Sir John was not the man to pass over lightly injuries done by inadvertence.The familiarity shown by Fastolf with all the forms and processes of the law is probably due not so much to the peculiarity of his personal character as to the fact that a knowledge of legal technicalities was much more widely diffused in that day than it is in ours. Even in the days when Master Shallow first made himself ridiculous to a London audience by claiming to be justice of the peace andcoram,custalorum, andratolorum, there can hardly be a doubt that the knowledge of legal terms and processes was not a thing so entirely professional as it is now. But if we go back to an118earlier time, the Paston letters afford ample evidence that every man who had property to protect, if not every well-educated woman also, was perfectly well versed in the ordinary forms of legal processes. Sir John Fastolf had a great deal of property to take care of, and consequently had much more occasion to make use of legal phraseology than other people. Had it been otherwise we should hardly have had any letters of his at all; for the only use of writing to him, and probably to most other people in those days, was to communicate on matters of business.There are also parts of his correspondence from which we might almost infer that Sir John was a merchant as well as a lawyer. His ships were continually passing between London and Yarmouth, carrying on the outward voyage building materials for his works at Caister, and bringing home malt or other produce from the county of Norfolk. In two of his letters we have references to his little shipThe Blythe,118.1which, however, was only one of several; for, in the year 1443, he obtained a licence from the Crown to keep no less than six vessels in his service. These are described as of four different kinds: two being what were called ‘playtes,’ a third a ‘cog-ship,’ a fourth a ‘farecoft,’ and the two others ‘balingers,’ for the carriage of goods and building materials for the use of his household. These vessels were to be free from all liability to arrest for the service of the king.118.2Building of Caister Castle.The object of these building operations was the erection of a stately castle at Caister, not far from Yarmouth, the place of the old warrior’s birth. As early as the reign of HenryV., it seems, he had obtained licence to fortify a dwelling there, ‘so strong as himself could devise’;118.3but his occupation in the French wars had suspended a design which must have been a special object with him all through life. The manor of Caister had come to him by natural descent from his paternal ancestry; but even during his mother’s widowhood, when Sir John was a young man of about six-and-twenty, we find that119she gave up her life tenure of it to vest it entirely in her son.119.1Since that day he had been abroad with HenryV.at Agincourt and at the siege of Rouen. He had afterwards served in France under the Regent Bedford,—had taken several strong castles and one illustrious prisoner,119.2—had held the government of conquered districts, and had fought, generally with success and glory, in almost every great battle of the period. Nor had he been free, even on his return to England, to go at once and spend the rest of his days on his paternal domains in Norfolk. His counsels were needed by his sovereign. His experience abroad must have qualified him to give important advice on many subjects of vital interest touching both France and England, and we have evidence that he was, at least occasionally, summoned to take part in the proceedings of the Privy Council. But now, when he was upwards of seventy years of age, the dream of his youth was going to be realised. Masons and bricklayers were busy at Caister,119.3building up for him a magnificent edifice, of which the ruins are at this day the most interesting feature in the neighbourhood. Sadly imperfect ruins indeed they are,—in some places even the foundations would seem to have disappeared, or else the plan of the building is not very intelligible; but a noble tower still rises to a height of ninety feet,—its top possessed by jackdaws,—and a large extent of mouldered walls, pierced with loopholes and surmounted by remains of battlements, enable the imagination to realise what Caister Castle must have been when it was finished over four hundred years ago. A detached fragment of these ruins, too, goes by the name of the Bargehouse; and there, beneath a low-browed arch still visible, tradition reports that Sir John Fastolf’s barge or barges would issue out on their voyages or enter on their return home.According to Dawson Turner, the foundations of Caister Castle must have enclosed a space of more than six acres of ground.119.4The inventory of the furniture contained in it at Fastolf’s death119.5enumerates no less than six-and-twenty120chambers, besides the public rooms, chapel, and offices. An edifice on such a scale must have been some time in building:—many years, we should suppose, passed away before it was completed. And we are not without evidence that such was actually the case; for a chamber was set apart for the Lady Milicent, Fastolf’s wife, who is believed to have died in 1446, and yet the works were still going on in 1453. In this latter year we find that John Paston was allowed to have some control of the building operations, and that chambers were to be built for him and his wife. Meanwhile it appears he had chosen an apartment in which to set up his coffers and his counting-board for the time. Possibly when he was able to visit Caister he may have acted as paymaster of the works.120.1The great castle, however, was now not far from completion; and before the end of the following year Sir John Fastolf had removed from London and taken up his residence at Caister, where, with the exception of one single visit to the capital, he seems to have spent all the remainder of his days.We have said that very few notices are to be found of the internal affairs of England in the year 1452, subsequent to the Duke of York swearing allegiance at St. Paul’s. But just about that time, or not very long after, the affairs of Guienne came once more to demand the serious consideration of the Council. It is true that Guienne and Gascony were now no longer English possessions.Attempt to recover Guienne.Bayonne, the last stronghold, had been given up in the preceding August, and, the English forces being now expelled, all hope of recovering the lost provinces might well have been abandoned, but that the inhabitants were desirous to put themselves once more under the protection of the King of England. The fact is that the Gascons, who had been three centuries under English rule, did not at all relish the change of masters. Under the crown of England they had enjoyed a liberty and freedom from taxation which were unknown in the dominions of CharlesVII.; and on the surrender of Bordeaux and Bayonne, the121French king had expressly promised to exempt them from a number of impositions levied elsewhere. But for this promise, indeed, those cities would not so readily have come to terms.121.1Unfortunately, it was not very long before the ministers of Charles sought to evade its fulfilment. They represented to the people that for their own protection, and not for the benefit of the royal treasury, the imposition of ataillewould enable the king to set a sufficient guard upon the country, and that the money would not in reality be taken from them, as it would all be spent within the province. The English, it was to be feared, would not remain patient under the loss, not only of the provinces themselves, but also of a very valuable commerce that they had hitherto maintained with the south of France; for Gascony supplied England with wine, and was a large consumer of English wool. Hence there was every reason to fear that some attempt would be made by the enemy to recover the lands from which he had been expelled, and it was the interest of the inhabitants themselves to provide an adequate force to ward off invasion.121.2With arguments like these the French king’s officers went about among the people endeavouring to compel them to forego a liberty which had been secured to them under the Great Seal of France. In vain were deputations sent from Bordeaux and Gascony beseeching the king to be faithful to his promise. The petitioners were sent back with an answer urging the people to submit to exactions which were required for the defence of the country. The citizens of Bordeaux were greatly discontented, and an embassy, headed by the Sieur de l’Esparre, was sent over to the King of England to offer him the allegiance of the lost provinces once more, on his sending a sufficient fleet and army to their rescue. The proposal being laid before a meeting of the English Council, was of course most readily agreed to; and it was arranged that a fleet, under the command of the Earl of Shrewsbury, should sail for the Garonne in October. On the 18th of that month the earl accordingly embarked with a body of 4000 or 5000 soldiers. The French army having withdrawn, he easily122obtained possession of Bordeaux, and sent its captain,Oliverde Coëtivy, a prisoner into England. Other towns then readily opened their gates to the invaders, of which one of the principal was Castillon in Perigord; and very soon, in spite of the opposition of their French governors, the greater part of the lost provinces had put themselves again under the protection of the English.122.1The suddenness with which these things were done seems for a time to have disconcerted the French king. Winter was now coming on, and probably nothing effective could be done for some time, so Charles lay maturing his plans in silence. As he surveyed the position at leisure, he probably found that any further efforts of the invaders could be checked with tolerable facility. France still retained possession of the two little towns of Bourges and Blaye, which we have already mentioned as being the keys of Bordeaux, and also of various other strong places in which he had been careful to leave considerable garrisons.A.D.1453.It was therefore the beginning of June in the following year before he took any active steps to expel the enemy from their conquests. He then marched southwards from Lusignan, near Poitiers, and laid siege to Chalais in Perigord, on the borders of Saintonge. In the space of five days it was taken by assault. Out of a garrison of 160 men no less than half were cut to pieces. The other half took refuge in a tower where they still held out for a time in the vain hope of succours, till at last they were compelled to surrender unconditionally. Of the prisoners taken, such as were of English birth were ransomed; but as for those who were Gascons, as they had sworn fealty to Charles and departed from their allegiance, they were all beheaded. After this, one or two other ill-defended places fell into the hands of the French. On the 14th July siege was laid to Castillon on the Dordogne, a position which when won gave the French free navigation into the Gironde. The besieging army was furnished with the most perfect mechanism of war that the skill or science of that age could supply. It had a train of artillery, with no less than 700 gunners, under the123conduct of two able engineers of Paris, the brothers Bureau. The place was thoroughly closed in, when Shrewsbury, hearing of the danger in which it stood, came with haste out of Bordeaux with a body of 800 or 1000 horse, followed shortly after by 4000 or 5000 foot.123.1At daybreak on the 17th, the earl came suddenly upon the besiegers, and succeeded without difficulty in thoroughly defeating a body of archers, who had been posted at an abbey outside the town. This detachment being completely taken by surprise, was obliged to save itself by flight, and after a little skirmishing, in which some 80 or 100 men were slain on both sides, the greater number of the Frenchmen succeeded in gaining a park in which the main body of the besiegers had entrenched themselves. Further pursuit being now unnecessary, the English returned to the abbey, where they were able to refresh themselves with a quantity of victuals which the French had left behind them. ‘And because the said skirmish,’ writes the French chronicler De Coussy, ‘had been begun and was done so early that as yet Talbot had not heard mass, his chaplain prepared himself to sing it there; and for this purpose the altar and ornaments were got ready.’ But this devout intention the earl presently abandoned; for a cloud of dust was seen in the distance, and it was reported to him that even the main body of the French were rapidly retreating. Immediately the earl was again on horseback, and as he left the abbey he was heard to say, ‘I will hear no mass to-day till I have overthrown the company of Frenchmen in the park before me.’123.2Unfortunately, it turned out that the report of the retreat of the French was utterly unfounded. The cloud of dust had been raised by a body of horses which they had sent out of the camp to graze. The French army remained in its position, with artillery drawn up, ready to meet the earl on his advance. The English, nevertheless, came on with their usual shout, ‘A Talbot! A Talbot! St. George!’ and while their foremost men just succeeded for an instant in planting their standard on124the barrier of the French lines, they were mowed down behind by the formidable fire of the French artillery. Against this all valour was fruitless; about 500 or 600 English lay dead in front; and the French, opening the barrier of their park, rushed out and fought with their opponents hand to hand. For a while the conflict was still maintained, with great valour on both sides; but the superior numbers of the French, and the advantage they had already gained by their artillery, left very little doubt about the issue. After about 4000 Englishmen had been slain in the hand-to-hand encounter, the remainder fled or were made prisoners. Some were able to withdraw into the town and join themselves to the besieged garrison; others fled through the woods and across the river, in which a number of the fugitives were drowned.Defeat and death of Talbot.In the end the body of the veteran Talbot was found dead upon the field, covered with wounds upon the limbs, and a great gash across the face.124.1So fell the aged warrior, whose mere name had long been a terror to England’s enemies. By the confession of a French historian, who hardly seems to feel it a disgrace to his countrymen, the archers, when they closed around him, distinctly refused to spare his life, so vindictively eager were they to despatch him with a multitude of wounds.124.2Yet it must be owned that in this action he courted his own death, and risked the destruction of a gallant army. For though he was led to the combat by a false report, he was certainly under no necessity of engaging the enemy when he had discovered his mistake, and he was strongly dissuaded from doing so by Thomas Everingham.124.3But his own natural impetuosity, inflamed probably still more by the unreasonable taunts of the men of Bordeaux, who, it seems, were dissatisfied that no earlier attempt had been made to resist the advance of the French king into Guienne,124.4induced him to stake everything on the issue of a most desperate and unequal conflict.With him there also died upon the field his eldest son, Lord Lisle, his illegitimate son, Henry Talbot, Sir Edward Hull, and thirty other knights of England. About double125that number were taken prisoners, the most notable of whom was John Paston’s old persecutor, the Lord Moleyns.125.1Never had the English arms experienced such a disastrous overthrow.The Gascons now gave up their cause as altogether hopeless. A fresh army had lately marched into their country, and was laying siege to several places at once towards the east of Bordeaux, so that it was manifest that city would soon be shut in by the royal forces. Castillon was no longer able to hold out. It surrendered on the second day after Talbot’s death. About the same time Charles in person laid siege to Cadillac, one of the most important places in the neighbourhood, protected by a strong castle. The town was speedily carried by assault, and a few weeks later the castle was also taken. Other places in like manner came once more into the power of the French king. At Fronsac an English garrison capitulated and was allowed to leave the country, each soldier bearing in his hand a baton till he reached the seaside. Very soon Bordeaux was the only place that held out; nor was the defence even of this last stronghold very long protracted. Its surrender was delayed for a time only in consequence of the severity of the conditions on which Charles at first insisted; but a sickness which began to ravage his camp at length inclined him to clemency. On the 17th of October the city submitted to Charles, the inhabitants engaging to renew their oaths of allegiance, and the English having leave to return in their own ships to England. To secure himself against their future return, or any fresh rebellion of the citizens, Charles caused to be built and garrisoned, at the expense of the latter, two strong towers, which were still standing at the beginning of the last century. Thus was Gascony finally lost to the Crown of England.We must now return to the domestic affairs of the kingdom. Matters had been hung up, as it were, in a state of unstable equilibrium ever since Good Friday 1452. The political amnesty, proceeding, as it did, from the king’s own heart, and removing every stain of disloyalty from those who had laboured most to change his policy, helped, in all probability,126to keep up a precarious state of tranquillity much longer than it could otherwise have been preserved. The danger of Calais, too, had passed away for the time, although it was always recurring at intervals so long as HenryVI.was king. So that, perhaps, during the latter part of the year 1452, the country was in as quiet a state as could reasonably have been expected. At least, the absence of information to the contrary may be our warrant for so believing.A.D.1453.But the new year had no sooner opened than evidences of disaffection began to be perceived.Robert Poynings.On the 2nd of January Robert Poynings—the same who had taken a leading part in Cade’s rebellion, and had, it will be remembered, saved the life of one of Sir John Fastolf’s servants from the violence of the insurgents—called together an assembly of people at Southwark, many of whom were outlaws. What his object was we have no distinct evidence to show. He had received the king’s general pardon for the part he took in the movement under Cade; but he had been obliged to enter into a recognisance of £2000, and find six sureties of £200 each, for his good behaviour; so that he, of all men, had best cause to beware of laying himself open to any new suspicion of disloyalty. Yet it appears he not only did so by this meeting at Southwark, but that immediately afterwards he confederated with one Thomas Bigg of Lambeth, who had been one of Cade’s petty captains, and having met with him and about thirty others at Westerham in Kent, tried to stir up a new rising in the former seat of rebellion. From Kent he further proceeded into Sussex, and sent letters to two persons who had been indicted of treason, urging them to come and meet him at Southwark on the last day of February; ‘at which time and place,’ says the Parliament Roll, ‘the same Robert Poynings gave them money, thanking them heartily of their good will and disposition that they were of unto him in time past, praying them to continue their good will, and to be ready and come to him at such time as he should give them warning.’126.1Altogether it would appear from the record of the charge itself that nothing very serious127came of this display of disaffection on the part of Poynings; but it must at least be noted as a symptom of the times.

I, Richard, Duke of York, confess and beknow that I am and ought to be humble subject and liegeman to you, my sovereign Lord, King Henry the Sixth, and owe therefore to bear you faith and truth as to my sovereign lord, and shall do all the days unto my life’s end; and shall not at any time will or assent, that anything be attempted or done against your noble person, but wheresoever I shall have knowledge of any such thing imagined or purposed I shall, with all the speed and diligence possible to me, make that your Highness shall have knowledge thereof, and even do all that shall be possible to me to the withstanding thereof, to the utterest of my life. I shall not in no wise any thing take upon me against your royal estate or the obeisance that is due thereto, nor suffer any other man to do, as far forth as it shall lie in my power to let it; and also I shall come at your commandment, whensoever I shall be called by the same, in humble and obeisant wise, but if [i.e.unless] I be letted by any sickness or impotency of my person or by such other causes as shall be thought reasonable to you, my sovereign lord. I shall never hereafter take upon me to gather any routs, or make any assembly of your people, without your commandment or licence, or in my lawful defence. In the interpretation of which my lawful defence, and declaration thereof, I shall report me at all times to your Highness, and, if the case require, unto my peers: nor anything attempt by way of faite against any of your subjects, of what estate, degree, or condition that they be. But whensoever I find myself wronged or aggrieved, I shall sue humbly for remedy to your Highness, and proceed after the course of your laws, and in none other wise, saving in mine own lawful defence in manner above said; and shall in all things abovesaid and other have me unto your Highness as an humble and true subject ought to have him to his Sovereign Lord.All these things above said I promise truly to observe and keep, by the Holy Evangelists contained in this book that I lay my hand upon, and by the Holy Cross that I here touch, and by the blessed Sacrament of our Lord’s body that I shall now with His mercy receive. And over this I agree me and will that if I any time hereafter, as with the grace of our Lord I never shall, anything attempt by way of fear or otherwise against your royal majesty and obeisance that I owe thereto,102or anything I take upon me otherwise than is above expressed, I from that time forth be unabled, [held and taken as an untrue and openly forsworn man, and unable]102.1to all manner of worship, estate, and degree, be it such as I now occupy, or any other that might grow unto me in any wise.And this I here have promised and sworn proceedeth of mine own desire and free voluntee and by no constraining or coercion. In witness of all the which things above written I, Richard, Duke of York above named, subscribe me with mine own hand and seal, with this mine own seal, &c.102.2

I, Richard, Duke of York, confess and beknow that I am and ought to be humble subject and liegeman to you, my sovereign Lord, King Henry the Sixth, and owe therefore to bear you faith and truth as to my sovereign lord, and shall do all the days unto my life’s end; and shall not at any time will or assent, that anything be attempted or done against your noble person, but wheresoever I shall have knowledge of any such thing imagined or purposed I shall, with all the speed and diligence possible to me, make that your Highness shall have knowledge thereof, and even do all that shall be possible to me to the withstanding thereof, to the utterest of my life. I shall not in no wise any thing take upon me against your royal estate or the obeisance that is due thereto, nor suffer any other man to do, as far forth as it shall lie in my power to let it; and also I shall come at your commandment, whensoever I shall be called by the same, in humble and obeisant wise, but if [i.e.unless] I be letted by any sickness or impotency of my person or by such other causes as shall be thought reasonable to you, my sovereign lord. I shall never hereafter take upon me to gather any routs, or make any assembly of your people, without your commandment or licence, or in my lawful defence. In the interpretation of which my lawful defence, and declaration thereof, I shall report me at all times to your Highness, and, if the case require, unto my peers: nor anything attempt by way of faite against any of your subjects, of what estate, degree, or condition that they be. But whensoever I find myself wronged or aggrieved, I shall sue humbly for remedy to your Highness, and proceed after the course of your laws, and in none other wise, saving in mine own lawful defence in manner above said; and shall in all things abovesaid and other have me unto your Highness as an humble and true subject ought to have him to his Sovereign Lord.

All these things above said I promise truly to observe and keep, by the Holy Evangelists contained in this book that I lay my hand upon, and by the Holy Cross that I here touch, and by the blessed Sacrament of our Lord’s body that I shall now with His mercy receive. And over this I agree me and will that if I any time hereafter, as with the grace of our Lord I never shall, anything attempt by way of fear or otherwise against your royal majesty and obeisance that I owe thereto,102or anything I take upon me otherwise than is above expressed, I from that time forth be unabled, [held and taken as an untrue and openly forsworn man, and unable]102.1to all manner of worship, estate, and degree, be it such as I now occupy, or any other that might grow unto me in any wise.

And this I here have promised and sworn proceedeth of mine own desire and free voluntee and by no constraining or coercion. In witness of all the which things above written I, Richard, Duke of York above named, subscribe me with mine own hand and seal, with this mine own seal, &c.102.2

With this guarantee for his future loyalty, the duke was permitted to return into his own country.

Somerset might well be pleased that the matter should be settled thus; for if the charges York brought, or at least was prepared to have brought, against him were only one-half true (and some of them certainly were true altogether), his administration of the Duchy of Normandy was a mixture of indiscretion and dishonesty at which the nation had good right to be indignant. We have already seen how in concert with the Duke of Suffolk he had authorised a perfidious breach of the truce with France in the capture of Fougères. We have also seen how ill prepared he was for the consequences; how he discovered too late the weakness of all the garrisons; how the French king recovered town after town, and the English were finally expelled from Normandy in less than a year and a half after the unjustifiable outrage.York’s charges against Somerset.But if any credit may be given to the further charges brought against him by the Duke of York,—charges which agree only too well with the character attributed to him by the most impartial authorities102.3—Somerset had himself to blame in great measure for the defenceless condition of the country committed to his protection.103On his first going into Normandy he had jobbed the offices under his control. For the sake of private emolument he had removed a number of trusty and experienced captains, filling their places with creatures of his own, or men who had paiddouceursfor their posts; and only on receipt of still greater bribes would he consent to restore any of those that had been put out. He had, however, actually reduced many garrisons, while he had taxed the inhabitants of the Duchy beyond all reason for the means of defence. His administration of justice, too, had been such as to excite the most vehement dissatisfaction, and had made the whole native population impatient of English government. He had, moreover, pocketed the compensation given by France to the dispossessed Englishmen of Anjou and Maine. Worse still, after all his maladministration and ill success, he had prevailed on the king to make him captain of Calais, which it seemed as if he was on the point of losing also in as careless and culpable a manner as he had already lost Normandy.

Here, however, is the full text of the accusation,103.1as prepared by York himself:—

Thies articles and pointes folowyng yeve, shewe and ministre I, Richard Duc of York, youre true liegman and servaunt unto youre highnesse, summarily purposyng and declaryng thaym ayeinst Edmond Duc of Somerset for the grete welfare and the comen availle and interesse of youre mageste Roiall and of this youre noble roialme, aswell to bryng to knawlege and understondyng the meanes and causes of the grete myscheves and inconvenientz which late befe[l] unto this youre said noble roiame, as in losse of youre lyvelode by yonde thee see and otherwyse in ponisshment of deservitours and excuse of innocencie, and also in puttyng aside and eschuyng of the grete and importable hurte and prejudice which ben like, withouten that purviaunce be had of remedie, to succede in shorte tyme. To the which articles and every of theym I, the seid Duc of York, desire of youre egall and indifferent rightwesnesse that the seid Edmond answere by his feith and trouth,104the sacrement of his othe thereuppon made, duly and truly as lawe and conscience requireth; I also desiryng, for the veraly examinacion and knowlech of trouth theruppon to be had, and for the grete and singuler weel of this youre said Roiame, to be admytted to the prefe, and to yeve evidence in the said articles that folowyn in such as he woll denye, after the equite and consideracion of lawe in such case, and processe had, and also of good feith and conscience justice thereafter to be don and executid.First, I article and declare that the seid Edmond Duc of Somersett hath be meane, consenter, occasioner, cause and mediatour, both by his inwarde knowlege and expresse consent, by counseill, and worchyng thurghe diverse subtyle weyes and meanes, as by violent presumpcion and otherwyse is knowen and understonde, and furthermore also by his inordinate negligence, lacchesse and wilfull rechelessnes and insaciate covetyse, of the losse and amission of youre Duchie of Normandie, rejoissed and possessed at this tyme, for the defence of his negligent kepyng and otherwyse before reherced, by youre enemyes. Which may clerly by (sic) understonde by the meanes and causes that folowen; of the which and for such one he is openly called, reputed and had by the comen fame and voice. Of the which oon cause is that the seid Duc of Somersett, at his first comyng into Normandie, chaunged and putt out of theire occupacion and youre service, withoute skyll, cause or reason, all the true and feithfull officers, for the most partie, of all Normandie, and put in such as hym liked for his owne singuler availe and covetyse, as it apperith well, inasmoch as ther coude noon of theym that were so put out be restored agayn withoute grete giftes and rewardes, which was full unfittyng. And furthermore did put in prison many diverse and notable persones of youre seid Duchie, withoute cause, justice or any ordinarie processe made agayn theym or due examinacion, and by that meane did grete extorcions and rered unlawfully grete sommes undre colour of amendes and composicions, wherby the cuntre for such wrong and faute of justice grucched sore agayn hym and his governaunce and caused the people to arise in theire conseytes and to take grete displeasir; and that was a grete occasion and cause of the losse of youre said Duchie of Normandie.Item, the seid Edmond Duc of Somerset was cause and consenter voluntarie of the brekyng of the trues and pais for a tyme had betwene youre highnes and youre uncle of Fraunce, which was well understond at the taking of Fogiers in Britaigne by Sir Fraunceys Larragonneys thurgh his avise, consentement, and counseile; and also duryng the said trues made more strong and fortified diverse places disopered by youre commaundement, as Morteyn and Seint Jakes de Beveron, ageyn the appointement of the seid trues; uppon which youre uncle did sommon hym to make a-seeth [satisfaction] and for to105disimpaire the seid fortifying and wrong don agayn the trues, and in asmoch as non aseeth by hym was don, nor [he] lefte not of his seid fortifiyng, caused youre seid uncle to have, as he pretende, cause to breke the said trues on his partie; which brekyng of trues was oon of the verray cause of losse of Normandie. And thus he brake the seide trues ayeinst his promysse and true feith made to youre highnes, which was to kepe and entretyn the said trues, and so did ayen the lawe in this behalve and youre statutes of the roiame.Item, he put away and diminisshed diverse garnisons and other strong places of youre seid Duchie of Normandie of soudiours and of men of werre which were accustumed to abide uppon the suerte and saufgarde of the same, howe be hit he had verrayly knowlege that youre ennmyes were full determi[ned] for to ley seges to put the same places in theire subjeccion, not paiyng duely nor contentyng such soudiours as abode uppon the defences of the same places; he reryng at that tyme in youre said Duchie as grete tailles and aides as were in long tyme before duryng the werre; and that caused the soudiours in diverse strong places for poverte, not havyng hors nor harneys, and also the nombre diminisshed, to be of non poiaire to make resistence, and that was a grete cause of the losse of Normandie. The losse of which caused the perdicion of Gascoigne and Guyen.Item, the Duc of Somersett wold yeve noo counseile, aide ne helpe unto the capitanis of diverse stronge places and garnisons which at that tyme, constreyned by nede, desired of hym provision and relief for abillement of werre to resiste the malice of theire enemyes daily makyng fressh feetes of werre uppon theym; he gevyng theym noone aide nor help, but lete theym contynue in theire malice, howe be it that diverse places were lost before: and what tyme that the said places were beseged and sent for help and socour unto hym he wold graunte no maner of comforte, but suffred hem appoint and compounde with here enemyes as well as they myght for theire ease and suertee, makyng no maner of provision for the kepyng of the places which remayned; insomuch that he made non ordinaunce nor provision for the toun, castell, and places of Rouen, neither of men, stuffe ne vitaile, the knowlage that he had of youre enemyes comyng thereunto notwithstondyng, yevyng licence unto the Archiebisshopp, chanons and burgeys of the same toun for to goo or sende to compounde with youre enemyes for the deliveraunce of the same, notwithstondyng that afore that tyme the enemyes which were entred in to the same toun were worshiply put oute and betyn of by the Erle of Shrowesbury and other notable persones, and withdrawen to Pontlarge and Loviers, and at that tyme, they beyng so withdrawen, licenced to appointe as it is aforeseid. Which was plainly ayeinst his promys, feith and liegeaunce that he of right oweth unto you, and ayeinst the tenure of the endentures106made betwix youre highnes and hym of the charge of that londe, the which licence, and it had not ben don, the seid toun had abiden undre youre obeisaunce, the losse of whiche was a verray ope . . . .106.1cause of the perdicion of Normandie.Item, the said Duc of Somersett, for to colour his defautes and wilfull purp[o]s in the premisses, entred in to youre palaice of Rouen not vitailed nor fo[rnisshed]106.1for defence, where he myght savely absentid hym, and yeldid up the said Palaice and Castell, and moreover other good tounes, castels and [fortresses],106.1as Caudebek, and other diverse, as Tancarville, Moustervillers, Arques, key of all Caulx, not beseged nor in perell of losse at that tyme, for the enlargisshyn[g] and deliveraunce of hym, his childre and goodes; which myght not, nor hath not, be done nor seen by lawe, resoun or cronikel, or by cours or a . . . . . . any leftenant, all though that he had be prisoner: Witnesse the Duc of Orliaunce, the Duc of Burbon, the Duc of Alansum and other . . . . . . for whom was none delyvered, al though they had many strong places of theire owen. And furthermore fore the suertee of delyveraunce of . . . . . . tounes, castell and forteresses which were wel furnysshed for to have resisted youre enemyes, and to have biden within youre obeisaunce, delyvered in ostage the Erle of Shrowesbury, that tyme Marescall of Fraunce, and other notable persones which shuld have defended youre lande there ayens the malice of youre enemyes; and in likewyse apointed to delyver Honflu, which was in noo gret perell, ne had be that it was retardyd by youre lettres and so by that fraudelent and inordinat meane all was lost and yoldon up, as hereafter by more evident declaracions it shalbe clerely [proved].106.2Item, the said Duc of Somerset hath contrived and ymagined, helped or consented to the grete and importable losse of Cales to be undre the obeisaunce of the Duc of Burgoyn, as it apperith openly by diverse skilles, evidencez, and resons; that is to sey, in asmuch as he desired and made laboures, or at the lest toke uppon hym, for to be capiten of the seid Toun of Cales, knowyng and understondyng well the grete murmur and sclaunder which daily rennyth agayn hym for the losse and sale, as it is surmyttid, of Normandie, to the grete discoragyng of the soudiours of the said Toun; where as the comen fame is that he will bylike sotill meanes contrive and ymagyn the losse and amission of youre said Toun of Cales, like as he hath afore causid the perdicion of youre Duchie of Normandie; which apperith well, in asmoch as he hath desirid the terme of a monyth without more, that, in case that the said Toun were besegid and not rescuyd within the107said monyth, that than he shuld stond discharged though it were delyvered to youre enemyes; within which tyme it were impossible, or at the lest full unlikly, that never myght be assembled for the rescu therof, where as it may and hath be here-before kept ayens the force of youre enemyes moche lenger tyme in grete jupardy; which is so grete an hevynesse and trouble to youre said soudiours, that by theire langage, demenyng and communicacion it may be understond that they will not be so herty nor feithfull to the welfare and defence of the said Toun as they shuld be in case they had a captayn more agreable unto theym. And also this premisse apperith well in asmoch as the comen voyce, langage, and fame is, and also grete prefe and evidence shalbe made theruppon, that the seid Duc of Somerset, in hope of mariage to be doon and had be twix the Duc son of Burgoyn107.1and one of his doughters, had made a promysse and behest to the said Duc of Burgoyne, or Duchesse by his meane, concent and massangers, of the delyverey of the Toun of Cales, to be done by such sotill meanes as shuld not be understond neither of youre highenes nor of youre subgettz.Item, the said Duc of Somerset is cause of grete hurte, robbery, manslauter and other myscheves daily done and contynued in this youre roialme, in asmoch as he resceyved and had at the delyverey of Anjoy and Maynxxiij.mxij.(72,000) frankes or there aboutes, which were graunted and ordeyned to the Englisshmen havyng theire [there] lyvelode for theire recompense and asyth for the lyverey up of theire seid lyvelode at the said delyveraunce, and wold not dispose the same money nor departe therfrom, bot kepith it still to his owne use and singuler availe, notwithstondyng that he was recompensid for his lyvelode in that cuntrey in youre Duchie of Normandie of a more value than the gift therof was worth, which causith the said Englisshmen to be here in grete povertee; of which povertee no doute commyth grete myscheve daily within your said roiame. And also in so muche as many diverse soudiours of Normandye were not paied theire wages, where he rerid grete and notable sommes of youre Duchie of Normandie for ther agrement, which non paiement and poverte causith also daily grete inconvenientz within this your lande.Item, that these forsaid articles and poyntz be just and true it may well appere by many grete presumpcions beside evident prefes that shalbe made thereuppon with open and notarie fame and voice of the people, and also inasmoch as the said Duc of Somerset hath be double and untrue in many and diverse pointes, and in especiall that he hath desirid a recompense of youre highnes for the counte of Mayn for the delyverance therof, where it was specified in youre lettres patentes of108your graunte therof to hym made that ye shuld be at your libertee to dispose it at your pleasere in case that ye for the meane of the pease wold do make a lyverey thereof unto youre uncle of Fraunce; and yit at the tyme of delyveraunce thereof he wold not agree therto unto tyme that he were recompensid, as it is aforesaid, in youre Duchie of Normandie to a more value than his said graunte drue to.Item, thees forsaid articles, everyche of theym and every parte of theym, purposyth and ministre I, Richard, Duc of York, ayens the said Duc of Somersett joyntly and severally not atteigne to a more strate nor chargeable prefe than your lawe in such case and processe will require; desiryng of youre highnesse and rightuous justice that in asmoche as lawfully may ayenst hym be foundon or previd, that jugement in that partie be had and executid unto youre highnes for yours and youre roialmes prosperite and welfare, indende not elles bot the salvacion and indempnite of youre most roiale persone, and also alle youre feithfull subgettz, in which y reporte me to God and all the word [world].

Thies articles and pointes folowyng yeve, shewe and ministre I, Richard Duc of York, youre true liegman and servaunt unto youre highnesse, summarily purposyng and declaryng thaym ayeinst Edmond Duc of Somerset for the grete welfare and the comen availle and interesse of youre mageste Roiall and of this youre noble roialme, aswell to bryng to knawlege and understondyng the meanes and causes of the grete myscheves and inconvenientz which late befe[l] unto this youre said noble roiame, as in losse of youre lyvelode by yonde thee see and otherwyse in ponisshment of deservitours and excuse of innocencie, and also in puttyng aside and eschuyng of the grete and importable hurte and prejudice which ben like, withouten that purviaunce be had of remedie, to succede in shorte tyme. To the which articles and every of theym I, the seid Duc of York, desire of youre egall and indifferent rightwesnesse that the seid Edmond answere by his feith and trouth,104the sacrement of his othe thereuppon made, duly and truly as lawe and conscience requireth; I also desiryng, for the veraly examinacion and knowlech of trouth theruppon to be had, and for the grete and singuler weel of this youre said Roiame, to be admytted to the prefe, and to yeve evidence in the said articles that folowyn in such as he woll denye, after the equite and consideracion of lawe in such case, and processe had, and also of good feith and conscience justice thereafter to be don and executid.

First, I article and declare that the seid Edmond Duc of Somersett hath be meane, consenter, occasioner, cause and mediatour, both by his inwarde knowlege and expresse consent, by counseill, and worchyng thurghe diverse subtyle weyes and meanes, as by violent presumpcion and otherwyse is knowen and understonde, and furthermore also by his inordinate negligence, lacchesse and wilfull rechelessnes and insaciate covetyse, of the losse and amission of youre Duchie of Normandie, rejoissed and possessed at this tyme, for the defence of his negligent kepyng and otherwyse before reherced, by youre enemyes. Which may clerly by (sic) understonde by the meanes and causes that folowen; of the which and for such one he is openly called, reputed and had by the comen fame and voice. Of the which oon cause is that the seid Duc of Somersett, at his first comyng into Normandie, chaunged and putt out of theire occupacion and youre service, withoute skyll, cause or reason, all the true and feithfull officers, for the most partie, of all Normandie, and put in such as hym liked for his owne singuler availe and covetyse, as it apperith well, inasmoch as ther coude noon of theym that were so put out be restored agayn withoute grete giftes and rewardes, which was full unfittyng. And furthermore did put in prison many diverse and notable persones of youre seid Duchie, withoute cause, justice or any ordinarie processe made agayn theym or due examinacion, and by that meane did grete extorcions and rered unlawfully grete sommes undre colour of amendes and composicions, wherby the cuntre for such wrong and faute of justice grucched sore agayn hym and his governaunce and caused the people to arise in theire conseytes and to take grete displeasir; and that was a grete occasion and cause of the losse of youre said Duchie of Normandie.

Item, the seid Edmond Duc of Somerset was cause and consenter voluntarie of the brekyng of the trues and pais for a tyme had betwene youre highnes and youre uncle of Fraunce, which was well understond at the taking of Fogiers in Britaigne by Sir Fraunceys Larragonneys thurgh his avise, consentement, and counseile; and also duryng the said trues made more strong and fortified diverse places disopered by youre commaundement, as Morteyn and Seint Jakes de Beveron, ageyn the appointement of the seid trues; uppon which youre uncle did sommon hym to make a-seeth [satisfaction] and for to105disimpaire the seid fortifying and wrong don agayn the trues, and in asmoch as non aseeth by hym was don, nor [he] lefte not of his seid fortifiyng, caused youre seid uncle to have, as he pretende, cause to breke the said trues on his partie; which brekyng of trues was oon of the verray cause of losse of Normandie. And thus he brake the seide trues ayeinst his promysse and true feith made to youre highnes, which was to kepe and entretyn the said trues, and so did ayen the lawe in this behalve and youre statutes of the roiame.

Item, he put away and diminisshed diverse garnisons and other strong places of youre seid Duchie of Normandie of soudiours and of men of werre which were accustumed to abide uppon the suerte and saufgarde of the same, howe be hit he had verrayly knowlege that youre ennmyes were full determi[ned] for to ley seges to put the same places in theire subjeccion, not paiyng duely nor contentyng such soudiours as abode uppon the defences of the same places; he reryng at that tyme in youre said Duchie as grete tailles and aides as were in long tyme before duryng the werre; and that caused the soudiours in diverse strong places for poverte, not havyng hors nor harneys, and also the nombre diminisshed, to be of non poiaire to make resistence, and that was a grete cause of the losse of Normandie. The losse of which caused the perdicion of Gascoigne and Guyen.

Item, the Duc of Somersett wold yeve noo counseile, aide ne helpe unto the capitanis of diverse stronge places and garnisons which at that tyme, constreyned by nede, desired of hym provision and relief for abillement of werre to resiste the malice of theire enemyes daily makyng fressh feetes of werre uppon theym; he gevyng theym noone aide nor help, but lete theym contynue in theire malice, howe be it that diverse places were lost before: and what tyme that the said places were beseged and sent for help and socour unto hym he wold graunte no maner of comforte, but suffred hem appoint and compounde with here enemyes as well as they myght for theire ease and suertee, makyng no maner of provision for the kepyng of the places which remayned; insomuch that he made non ordinaunce nor provision for the toun, castell, and places of Rouen, neither of men, stuffe ne vitaile, the knowlage that he had of youre enemyes comyng thereunto notwithstondyng, yevyng licence unto the Archiebisshopp, chanons and burgeys of the same toun for to goo or sende to compounde with youre enemyes for the deliveraunce of the same, notwithstondyng that afore that tyme the enemyes which were entred in to the same toun were worshiply put oute and betyn of by the Erle of Shrowesbury and other notable persones, and withdrawen to Pontlarge and Loviers, and at that tyme, they beyng so withdrawen, licenced to appointe as it is aforeseid. Which was plainly ayeinst his promys, feith and liegeaunce that he of right oweth unto you, and ayeinst the tenure of the endentures106made betwix youre highnes and hym of the charge of that londe, the which licence, and it had not ben don, the seid toun had abiden undre youre obeisaunce, the losse of whiche was a verray ope . . . .106.1cause of the perdicion of Normandie.

Item, the said Duc of Somersett, for to colour his defautes and wilfull purp[o]s in the premisses, entred in to youre palaice of Rouen not vitailed nor fo[rnisshed]106.1for defence, where he myght savely absentid hym, and yeldid up the said Palaice and Castell, and moreover other good tounes, castels and [fortresses],106.1as Caudebek, and other diverse, as Tancarville, Moustervillers, Arques, key of all Caulx, not beseged nor in perell of losse at that tyme, for the enlargisshyn[g] and deliveraunce of hym, his childre and goodes; which myght not, nor hath not, be done nor seen by lawe, resoun or cronikel, or by cours or a . . . . . . any leftenant, all though that he had be prisoner: Witnesse the Duc of Orliaunce, the Duc of Burbon, the Duc of Alansum and other . . . . . . for whom was none delyvered, al though they had many strong places of theire owen. And furthermore fore the suertee of delyveraunce of . . . . . . tounes, castell and forteresses which were wel furnysshed for to have resisted youre enemyes, and to have biden within youre obeisaunce, delyvered in ostage the Erle of Shrowesbury, that tyme Marescall of Fraunce, and other notable persones which shuld have defended youre lande there ayens the malice of youre enemyes; and in likewyse apointed to delyver Honflu, which was in noo gret perell, ne had be that it was retardyd by youre lettres and so by that fraudelent and inordinat meane all was lost and yoldon up, as hereafter by more evident declaracions it shalbe clerely [proved].106.2

Item, the said Duc of Somerset hath contrived and ymagined, helped or consented to the grete and importable losse of Cales to be undre the obeisaunce of the Duc of Burgoyn, as it apperith openly by diverse skilles, evidencez, and resons; that is to sey, in asmuch as he desired and made laboures, or at the lest toke uppon hym, for to be capiten of the seid Toun of Cales, knowyng and understondyng well the grete murmur and sclaunder which daily rennyth agayn hym for the losse and sale, as it is surmyttid, of Normandie, to the grete discoragyng of the soudiours of the said Toun; where as the comen fame is that he will bylike sotill meanes contrive and ymagyn the losse and amission of youre said Toun of Cales, like as he hath afore causid the perdicion of youre Duchie of Normandie; which apperith well, in asmoch as he hath desirid the terme of a monyth without more, that, in case that the said Toun were besegid and not rescuyd within the107said monyth, that than he shuld stond discharged though it were delyvered to youre enemyes; within which tyme it were impossible, or at the lest full unlikly, that never myght be assembled for the rescu therof, where as it may and hath be here-before kept ayens the force of youre enemyes moche lenger tyme in grete jupardy; which is so grete an hevynesse and trouble to youre said soudiours, that by theire langage, demenyng and communicacion it may be understond that they will not be so herty nor feithfull to the welfare and defence of the said Toun as they shuld be in case they had a captayn more agreable unto theym. And also this premisse apperith well in asmoch as the comen voyce, langage, and fame is, and also grete prefe and evidence shalbe made theruppon, that the seid Duc of Somerset, in hope of mariage to be doon and had be twix the Duc son of Burgoyn107.1and one of his doughters, had made a promysse and behest to the said Duc of Burgoyne, or Duchesse by his meane, concent and massangers, of the delyverey of the Toun of Cales, to be done by such sotill meanes as shuld not be understond neither of youre highenes nor of youre subgettz.

Item, the said Duc of Somerset is cause of grete hurte, robbery, manslauter and other myscheves daily done and contynued in this youre roialme, in asmoch as he resceyved and had at the delyverey of Anjoy and Maynxxiij.mxij.(72,000) frankes or there aboutes, which were graunted and ordeyned to the Englisshmen havyng theire [there] lyvelode for theire recompense and asyth for the lyverey up of theire seid lyvelode at the said delyveraunce, and wold not dispose the same money nor departe therfrom, bot kepith it still to his owne use and singuler availe, notwithstondyng that he was recompensid for his lyvelode in that cuntrey in youre Duchie of Normandie of a more value than the gift therof was worth, which causith the said Englisshmen to be here in grete povertee; of which povertee no doute commyth grete myscheve daily within your said roiame. And also in so muche as many diverse soudiours of Normandye were not paied theire wages, where he rerid grete and notable sommes of youre Duchie of Normandie for ther agrement, which non paiement and poverte causith also daily grete inconvenientz within this your lande.

Item, that these forsaid articles and poyntz be just and true it may well appere by many grete presumpcions beside evident prefes that shalbe made thereuppon with open and notarie fame and voice of the people, and also inasmoch as the said Duc of Somerset hath be double and untrue in many and diverse pointes, and in especiall that he hath desirid a recompense of youre highnes for the counte of Mayn for the delyverance therof, where it was specified in youre lettres patentes of108your graunte therof to hym made that ye shuld be at your libertee to dispose it at your pleasere in case that ye for the meane of the pease wold do make a lyverey thereof unto youre uncle of Fraunce; and yit at the tyme of delyveraunce thereof he wold not agree therto unto tyme that he were recompensid, as it is aforesaid, in youre Duchie of Normandie to a more value than his said graunte drue to.

Item, thees forsaid articles, everyche of theym and every parte of theym, purposyth and ministre I, Richard, Duc of York, ayens the said Duc of Somersett joyntly and severally not atteigne to a more strate nor chargeable prefe than your lawe in such case and processe will require; desiryng of youre highnesse and rightuous justice that in asmoche as lawfully may ayenst hym be foundon or previd, that jugement in that partie be had and executid unto youre highnes for yours and youre roialmes prosperite and welfare, indende not elles bot the salvacion and indempnite of youre most roiale persone, and also alle youre feithfull subgettz, in which y reporte me to God and all the word [world].

I imagine this paper must have been really handed in by York to the lords of the king’s Council. It is preserved among theMSS.in the Cottonian Library, a large number of which were undoubtedly at one time part of the public records of the realm. But in any case we can hardly doubt that Somerset understood quite sufficiently the grounds on which he was so generally hated; nor is it by any means improbable that the armed remonstrance of the Duke of York produced some real effect, if only for a time. This at least we know, that only four days after the oath taken by York at St. Paul’s, active and energetic measures began to be taken for the defence of Calais.Defence of Calais.Historians, as Sir Harris Nicolas truly remarks, do not seem hitherto to have been aware of the imminent danger in which even Calais at this time stood of being lost, like the other English conquests, a full century before it was actually recovered by the French. Rumours that Calais would be besieged reached England in the beginning of May 1450, along with the news of the Duke of Suffolk’s murder.108.1In August 1451 a reinforcement of 1150 men was sent thither in twelve vessels, under the Lords Beauchamp and Sudeley. In the February following, as we have seen, York wrote of the success of the French in Gascony having emboldened them to109lay siege to Calais again. And now, on the 14th of March, when Charles was advancing towards the last English stronghold, with the most formidable army that had been seen for years, and when men had begun to fear that he would be able not only to gain possession of Calais with ease, but even to invade and ravage England, steps were at last taken for the immediate formation of a fleet.

A royal navy had undoubtedly existed for a long time before the days of HenryVI., but it never amounted in itself to a very formidable force, and in time of war recourse was always had to impressment on the large scale. But the neglect of the sea was during this reign the constant complaint of Englishmen. For want of an efficient fleet the mercantile interest continually suffered, the fisheries could not safely be visited, and even the dwellers at home were insecure. The fact was confessed by the greatest eulogists of HenryVI., who had not a thought of impugning his government. ‘Our enemies,’ says Capgrave in hisIllustrious Henries,—‘Our enemies laugh at us. They say, “Take off the ship from your precious money, and stamp a sheep upon it to signify your sheepish minds.” We who used to be conquerors of all nations are now conquered by all. The men of old used to say that the sea was England’s wall, and now our enemies have got upon the wall; what think you they will do to the defenceless inhabitants? Because this business has been neglected for so many years it now happens that ships are scanty, and sailors also few, and such as we have unskilled for want of exercise. May God take away our reproach and raise up a spirit of bravery in our nation!’109.1

There were already available for the king’s service a certain number of ships in the Thames, and at Winchelsea and Sandwich. The chief of these vessels was called theGrace Dieu—a name which was perhaps traditional, for it was handed down to Tudor times when, with the king’s own Christian name prefixed, it was always given to the largest of the fleet.109.2The110Earl of Shrewsbury110.1was appointed to take the command of the whole army at sea, and efforts were made to augment the squadron with as large a force as possible. On the 14th of March 1452 a commission was given to Lord Clifford, which was doubtless one of a number given to various noblemen, to negotiate for this purpose with shipowners, knights, and gentlemen in the district where he commonly resided; and he was instructed to take the command of all such vessels as he could raise, and bring them into the Downs to join with Shrewsbury. The appeal to patriotism was not made in vain. Many shipowners came forward, offering not only to lend but to victual their own ships for the service. But full powers were also given to arrest ships, shipmasters, and mariners, to make up a sufficient number. To every man not furnished with victuals by the benevolence of others, twelve pence a week was offered on the king’s behalf, with a customary share in any booty that he might help to capture at sea. Captains of ships were to have in addition a reward of ten marks, or £10, at the discretion of Lord Clifford. Altogether we may presume that the defensive measures taken at this time were sufficient, for we hear no more during the next few years of any attempt to lay siege to Calais.

80.1Rolls of Parl.v. 211-12.80.2The whole of this correspondence is attributed by Holinshed and Stow to the year 1452; but it appears to me clearly to belong to the year 1450, when the Duke had just returned from Ireland. SeeChronicle of London, 136; though internal evidence alone will, I think, satisfy the careful student.82.1I have no doubt this is a misreading of the contracted form ‘yr’which was intended for ‘their.’ To accuse York of the murder of the Bishop of Chichester, and apparently as a principal, not an accessory in that murder, when he was at the time in Ireland, would have been absurd. Besides, the tenor of the whole of this reply is to exculpate York of all charges.82.2Misprinted ‘Chester’ in Holinshed.83.1SeeNo. 142.83.2Nicolas’sProceedings of the Privy Council, iv. 212, v. 108.84.1Misprinted ‘your’ in Holinshed.85.1Nos. 142, 145, 148, and 149. The influence of a powerful nobleman on the elections was evidently quite a matter of course. What use York made of it, or attempted to make of it, cannot so easily be determined. Of the two candidates proposed by him for the county of Norfolk, only one was returned, the name of Sir Miles Stapleton being substituted for that of Sir William Chamberlain (seevol. ii. p. 185 note 1). It appears from two of the above cited letters that Stapleton was a favourite candidate with the Pastons and their friends, and that he was urged to wait on the Duke of York on his coming to Norwich.85.2SeeNo. 119.86.1Nos. 151, 153, 154, 155, 156.86.2Stow’sChronicle, p. 392.87.1Seevol. ii. pp. 161-2.87.2Rymer, xi. 276.87.3Rolls of Parl.v. 210.87.4W. Worc.88.1MS.Cott. Vitell. A. xvi. Stow in hisChronicledates this procession a day later.88.2W. Worc.88.3The Chronicle of London(p. 137) says that ‘all the Commons’ agreed to this proposition, and stood out for some time against the Lords on the subject.88.4Rolls of Parl.v. 210-14.89.1In earlier issues of this Introduction was added: ‘probably for no other reason than his high impartiality.’ Mr. Plummer, I find, who knows him better, has not the same opinion of Fortescue’s impartiality as a politician, but considers that he was in danger just because he was so strong a Lancastrian.SeeIntroduction toThe Governance of England, p. 50.89.2Nos. 167, 169-174.90.1Nos. 179 and 180.91.1Nos. 119, 185, 186, 192.91.2Nos. 189, 192.91.3No. 178.92.1No. 189.93.1No. 193.93.2Ibid.93.3Rolls of Parl.v. 217.94.1The modern see of Chester was separated from this diocese in the time of HenryVIII.94.2Rolls of Parl.v. 216.94.3No. 206. Daniel had been out of favour at one time during Suffolk’s ascendency.SeeNo. 75, p. 86.95.1Basin, i. 247-48.96.1Reginald Butler or Boulers, whose appointment to the see, dated 23rd December 1450, was no doubt due to the Duke of York’s influence.96.2Stow’sChronicle, p. 393.98.1Ellis’sLetters, First Series, i. 11-13.98.2English Chronicle(ed. Davies), 69.98.3Nicolas’sPrivy Council Proceedings, vi. 116. According to Fabyan, the king and Somerset set out on the 16th of February. The summons to Lord Cobham, though dated Westminster, was issued on the 17th.99.1Cottonian Roll, ii. 23.SeeAppendix to this Introduction.99.2Rolls of Parl.v. 346. The statement in the Act of Attainder passed against the Duke of York seven years afterwards, that he was ‘of no power to withstand’ the king on this occasion, is liable to suspicion, but it is confirmed by the testimony of Whethamstede, 348.99.3‘The Lords, both spiritual and temporal, took the matter in hand.’Three Fifteenth Century Chronicles(Camden Soc.), 69. So alsoChronicle of London, 137.100.1Fabyan.100.2Fabyan.Three Fifteenth Century Chronicles, 69, and theMS.Chronicle, Vitell. A. xvi.102.1These words are not in the copy in theRolls of Parliament, but they occur in that given in Holinshed’sChronicle.102.2Rolls of Parl.v. 346.102.3The character given of the Duke of Somerset by the contemporary historian Basin is on the whole favourable, and may be supposed to be impartial. He describes him as handsome in person, gentle and urbane in manner, and well inclined towards justice; but all these graces were marred by an insatiable avarice which would not let him rest content with the immense wealth he had inherited from Cardinal Beaufort; and by continually coveting the riches of others he brought ruin on himself. Basin, i. 193.103.1Printed in this Introduction for the first time from the original in the CottonianMS., Vesp. C. xiv. f. 40. The first paragraph of this document is quoted by Stowe in hisChronicle, p. 397, and the charges are referred by him to the thirty-third year of the king’s reign,i.e.the latter part ofA.D.1454, which is certainly erroneous. The date which he intended, indeed, was the latter part of the year 1453, when the Duke of Somerset was arrested and sent to the Tower; but this date also is quite impossible.106.1MS.mutilated.106.2A line seems here to be cut off in theMS.at the bottom of the leaf.107.1Charles, afterwards Charles the Bold, son of Philip the Good, who was at this time Duke of Burgundy.108.1Letter 121.109.1Capgrave de Illust. Henricis, 135.109.2TheHenry Grace Dieuof HenryVIII.’s time is, however, better known by its popular epithet of theGreat Harry.110.1The Earl of Shrewsbury, as already mentioned, had been given up to the French in 1449 as a hostage for the delivery of certain towns in Normandy. It is said that he only recovered his liberty on taking oath never to bear arms again against the French, but that on visiting Rome in the year of Jubilee, 1450, he obtained an absolution from this engagement.—Æneæ Sylvii Opera, 441.

80.1Rolls of Parl.v. 211-12.

80.2The whole of this correspondence is attributed by Holinshed and Stow to the year 1452; but it appears to me clearly to belong to the year 1450, when the Duke had just returned from Ireland. SeeChronicle of London, 136; though internal evidence alone will, I think, satisfy the careful student.

82.1I have no doubt this is a misreading of the contracted form ‘yr’which was intended for ‘their.’ To accuse York of the murder of the Bishop of Chichester, and apparently as a principal, not an accessory in that murder, when he was at the time in Ireland, would have been absurd. Besides, the tenor of the whole of this reply is to exculpate York of all charges.

82.2Misprinted ‘Chester’ in Holinshed.

83.1SeeNo. 142.

83.2Nicolas’sProceedings of the Privy Council, iv. 212, v. 108.

84.1Misprinted ‘your’ in Holinshed.

85.1Nos. 142, 145, 148, and 149. The influence of a powerful nobleman on the elections was evidently quite a matter of course. What use York made of it, or attempted to make of it, cannot so easily be determined. Of the two candidates proposed by him for the county of Norfolk, only one was returned, the name of Sir Miles Stapleton being substituted for that of Sir William Chamberlain (seevol. ii. p. 185 note 1). It appears from two of the above cited letters that Stapleton was a favourite candidate with the Pastons and their friends, and that he was urged to wait on the Duke of York on his coming to Norwich.

85.2SeeNo. 119.

86.1Nos. 151, 153, 154, 155, 156.

86.2Stow’sChronicle, p. 392.

87.1Seevol. ii. pp. 161-2.

87.2Rymer, xi. 276.

87.3Rolls of Parl.v. 210.

87.4W. Worc.

88.1MS.Cott. Vitell. A. xvi. Stow in hisChronicledates this procession a day later.

88.2W. Worc.

88.3The Chronicle of London(p. 137) says that ‘all the Commons’ agreed to this proposition, and stood out for some time against the Lords on the subject.

88.4Rolls of Parl.v. 210-14.

89.1In earlier issues of this Introduction was added: ‘probably for no other reason than his high impartiality.’ Mr. Plummer, I find, who knows him better, has not the same opinion of Fortescue’s impartiality as a politician, but considers that he was in danger just because he was so strong a Lancastrian.SeeIntroduction toThe Governance of England, p. 50.

89.2Nos. 167, 169-174.

90.1Nos. 179 and 180.

91.1Nos. 119, 185, 186, 192.

91.2Nos. 189, 192.

91.3No. 178.

92.1No. 189.

93.1No. 193.

93.2Ibid.

93.3Rolls of Parl.v. 217.

94.1The modern see of Chester was separated from this diocese in the time of HenryVIII.

94.2Rolls of Parl.v. 216.

94.3No. 206. Daniel had been out of favour at one time during Suffolk’s ascendency.SeeNo. 75, p. 86.

95.1Basin, i. 247-48.

96.1Reginald Butler or Boulers, whose appointment to the see, dated 23rd December 1450, was no doubt due to the Duke of York’s influence.

96.2Stow’sChronicle, p. 393.

98.1Ellis’sLetters, First Series, i. 11-13.

98.2English Chronicle(ed. Davies), 69.

98.3Nicolas’sPrivy Council Proceedings, vi. 116. According to Fabyan, the king and Somerset set out on the 16th of February. The summons to Lord Cobham, though dated Westminster, was issued on the 17th.

99.1Cottonian Roll, ii. 23.SeeAppendix to this Introduction.

99.2Rolls of Parl.v. 346. The statement in the Act of Attainder passed against the Duke of York seven years afterwards, that he was ‘of no power to withstand’ the king on this occasion, is liable to suspicion, but it is confirmed by the testimony of Whethamstede, 348.

99.3‘The Lords, both spiritual and temporal, took the matter in hand.’Three Fifteenth Century Chronicles(Camden Soc.), 69. So alsoChronicle of London, 137.

100.1Fabyan.

100.2Fabyan.Three Fifteenth Century Chronicles, 69, and theMS.Chronicle, Vitell. A. xvi.

102.1These words are not in the copy in theRolls of Parliament, but they occur in that given in Holinshed’sChronicle.

102.2Rolls of Parl.v. 346.

102.3The character given of the Duke of Somerset by the contemporary historian Basin is on the whole favourable, and may be supposed to be impartial. He describes him as handsome in person, gentle and urbane in manner, and well inclined towards justice; but all these graces were marred by an insatiable avarice which would not let him rest content with the immense wealth he had inherited from Cardinal Beaufort; and by continually coveting the riches of others he brought ruin on himself. Basin, i. 193.

103.1Printed in this Introduction for the first time from the original in the CottonianMS., Vesp. C. xiv. f. 40. The first paragraph of this document is quoted by Stowe in hisChronicle, p. 397, and the charges are referred by him to the thirty-third year of the king’s reign,i.e.the latter part ofA.D.1454, which is certainly erroneous. The date which he intended, indeed, was the latter part of the year 1453, when the Duke of Somerset was arrested and sent to the Tower; but this date also is quite impossible.

106.1MS.mutilated.

106.2A line seems here to be cut off in theMS.at the bottom of the leaf.

107.1Charles, afterwards Charles the Bold, son of Philip the Good, who was at this time Duke of Burgundy.

108.1Letter 121.

109.1Capgrave de Illust. Henricis, 135.

109.2TheHenry Grace Dieuof HenryVIII.’s time is, however, better known by its popular epithet of theGreat Harry.

110.1The Earl of Shrewsbury, as already mentioned, had been given up to the French in 1449 as a hostage for the delivery of certain towns in Normandy. It is said that he only recovered his liberty on taking oath never to bear arms again against the French, but that on visiting Rome in the year of Jubilee, 1450, he obtained an absolution from this engagement.—Æneæ Sylvii Opera, 441.

The gift had been left with the under sherifftext unchanged: expected form “under-sheriff”

General pardon.

As to internal dissensions at home, it was quite in accordance with the weakness of the king’s character to believe that he had now stilled the chief elements of danger. His piety suggested to him to complete the good work by a general political amnesty. The year 1450, as being the concluding year of a half-century, had been celebrated as a jubilee at Rome, during which a general indulgence and pardon were granted to all who visited the Imperial City. There was also,111according to precedent, a bull issued at the close of the year to extend these benefits still further. Taking his example from the great Spiritual Ruler, the king, on Good Friday, the 7th of April 1452, offered publicly a general pardon to all who had been guilty of acts of disloyalty to himself, and who would apply to his Chancery for letters patent.111.1The offer was, undoubtedly, both gracious and humane. It sprang from a genuine love of peace on the king’s part, and probably went far to make the government of Somerset endurable for some months longer. Amid the confusion and troubles of the times, thousands must have felt that they needed the royal clemency to protect them against the severity of the laws. One hundred and forty-four persons, among whom was Thomas Young of Bristol—he who had proposed in Parliament that York should be proclaimed heir to the crown—obtained sealed pardons on that very Good Friday. Some two or three thousand others laid claim to the like indulgence, and had patents granted to them at a later date.111.2Only a very few persons were excepted on account of the enormity of their offences.

One part of his kingdom, however, Henry himself did not expect to pacify by such means only. The state of the county of Norfolk had been so represented to him that he felt it necessary to send thither the Duke of Norfolk. ‘Great riots, extortions, horrible wrongs and hurts,’ were the subject of complaint, and nothing but an impartial inquiry would give satisfaction. The duke on coming into the country issued a proclamation, urging all who had any complaints to make to lay them freely and fearlessly before him. But free and fearless evidence was not likely to be had without a strong112guarantee for the protection of witnesses. Already the news of the duke’s coming had got wind, and some of the dependants of Lord Scales, who had been amongst the principal offenders, had given notice that any complaints againstthemwould be redressed in another fashion after the duke’s departure. In the absence of the duke Lord Scales had been always hitherto the natural ruler of the county, and it was under his protection that Sir Thomas Tuddenham, Sir Miles Stapleton, John Heydon, and others had dared to make themselves unpopular. Norfolk accordingly declared in the same proclamation that he intended henceforth to vindicate for himself so long as he lived the chief power and authority in the county which bore his name, subject only to that of the king himself.Intended royal visit to Norfolk.And to give still greater encouragement to the well-disposed, he announced that the king himself would shortly visit the county, before whom all who desired it should have their grievances redressed.112.1

That the king actually visited Norfolk at this time I do not find from any other evidence. A letter written on St. George’s Day says that he had been expected at Norwich or Claxton for ten days past. Encouraged by the duke’s proclamation, several gentlemen of the county had drawn up a complaint against Charles Nowell, and were waiting to know in what manner they should present it.Complaint against Charles Nowell.This Charles and a number of others appear to have been keeping the country east of Norwich at the time in continual alarm and confusion. They held their rendezvous at the house of one Robert Ledeham, from which they would issue out in bands of six, or twelve, or sometimes thirty or more, fully armed with bows and arrows, spears and bills, jacks and sallets.112.2No place was sacred from their outrages. On Mid-Lent Sunday they had attacked two servants of the Bishop of Norwich inside the church at Burlingham, and would have killed them behind the priest’s back while they were kneeling at the mass. On the 6th of April they had endeavoured to break into the White Friars at Norwich on pretence of wishing to hear evensong; but having publicly declared in the town that they intended to get hold of113certain citizens, either alive or dead, the doors were shut against them. Happily, before they accomplished their purpose the mayor and aldermen came to the spot. A multitude of people had meanwhile assembled in the streets, and the rioters, finding the odds considerably against them, quietly took their departure.113.1

John Paston assaulted at Norwich Cathedral.

John Paston had a complaint of his own to make against these wrongdoers. Charles Nowell himself, and five others, had attacked him at the door of Norwich Cathedral. He had with him at the time two servants, one of whom received a blow on the naked head with a sword; and he himself was seized and had his arms held behind him, while one of the company struck at him. But for a timely rescue his death would seem to have been certain. On the very day on which this occurred his wife’s uncle, Philip Berney, was waylaid by some of the same fellowship, in the highway under Thorpe Wood. Berney was riding, accompanied by a single servant, when their two horses first were wounded by a discharge of arrows. They were then speedily overtaken by their assailants, who broke a bow over Philip Berney’s head, and took him prisoner, declaring him to be a traitor. To give a further colour to their proceedings, they led him prisoner to the Bishop of Norwich, demanding surety of him to keep the peace, and, when they had obtained it, let him go. Philip Berney lived more than a year after the adventure, but he never recovered from the effects of this rough usage.113.2

Outrages like these, it must be remembered, were not the work of lawless brigands and recognised enemies of the whole community. They were merely the effect of party spirit. The men who did them were supported by noblemen and country gentlemen. One, by name Roger Church, probably the most daring, and at the same time the most subtle, of the gang, had got himself made bailiff of the hundred of Blofield.113.3Charles Nowell was a friend of Thomas Daniel, who, after being a year and a half out of favour, had recently recovered his influence in Norfolk through the medium of the Duke of114Somerset.114.1By this means he seems again to have obtained possession of the manor of Bradeston, the right to which he had disputed in 1450, apparently more by arms than by law, with Osbert Mountford, marshal of Calais. Charles Nowell was appointed by Daniel bailiff of the manor, with the slender but not insignificant salary of twopence a day; and he and his fellows, Roger Church, Robert Ledeham, John Ratcliff, and Robert Dalling, made it their chief business to maintain Daniel in possession.

To put an end to such a state of matters as this, the Duke of Norfolk’s coming must have been truly welcome. But if any man expected that the power of duke or king could suddenly terminate the reign of anarchy, and initiate an era of plain impartial justice, he must have been a sanguine mortal. As one of the first effects of the duke’s coming, some of the leading oppressors of the country were driven to a course of chicanery instead of violence.Roger Church.Roger Church got himself arrested by some of his own company, and was brought before the duke as a promoter of sedition. He was accused of having taken part in an unlawful assembly at Postwick, with the view of stirring up an insurrection. He confessed the fact, and offered to turn king’s evidence on his accomplices. He then named a number of thrifty husbandmen, farmers, and gentlemen of the neighbourhood, alleging that about three hundred persons were implicated in the intended rising. The truth, as it presently turned out, and as Church himself afterwards confessed, was, that the movement had been got up by himself, at the instigation of Robert Ledeham, who promised to procure his pardon through the influence of Daniel. By solicitations addressed to various unsteady characters he had induced some to believe that an insurrection would be well supported. A little company of fifteen men accordingly met him under a wood at Postwick, and he told them he had discovered an excellent name for their captain, who should be called John Amend-All. But beyond this meeting and naming of the captain nothing seems ever to have come of the project.114.2

John Paston was certainly one of those mentioned by Church. The chief persons accused were the friends of Osbert Mountford, and Paston was one of them. But John Falgate, one of the deluded victims who had been present at the meeting at Postwick, being subjected to examination before the sheriff, exonerated Paston, and, while acknowledging his own share in the conspiracy, pronounced the tale told by Roger Church in his confession to be altogether an invention. We need not be surprised to hear that after this a petition from the county of Norfolk was sent up to the Lord Chancellor, praying that Church should not be allowed the benefit of the general pardon, offered upon Good Friday.115.1But Church persevered in his policy. He appears to have been a reckless kind of adventurer. He probably claimed the benefit of clergy, for we find him three months after his arrest in the hands of officers of the Bishop of Norwich. His goods also were seized for a debt that he owed the bishop. But in spite of the contradictions given by other witnesses, in July he adhered to what he had said in April, and instead of retracting his former accusations, said he meant to impeach some one else whom he could not at that time name,—a man who, he said, had more money in his purse than all of those whom he had accused before. The coolness with which he persisted in these statements gave an impression that he was even yet relying upon powerful friends to support him.115.2

The conclusion of the affair must be a matter of speculation, for we hear nothing more of it. The political history of England, too, is, at this point, almost a blank. We know from the Privy Council Proceedings that there was some difficulty in the spring of 1452 in preserving friendly relations with Scotland in consequence of some Border outrages perpetrated by the Earl of Douglas. And this is absolutely all the light we have on the domestic affairs of England for about a twelvemonth after the Duke of York’s oath of allegiance at St. Paul’s. I have found, however, by an examination of the116dates of privy seals,A royal progress.that in July the king began a progress into the west of England, which is not altogether without significance. He reached Exeter on the 18th, and from thence proceeded by Wells, Gloucester, Monmouth, and Hereford to Ludlow, where he arrived on the 12th of August, and from which he returned homewards by Kenilworth and Woodstock, arriving at Eltham in the beginning of September. In October he made another circuit northwards by St. Albans to Stamford, Peterborough, and Cambridge. There can hardly be a doubt the object of these journeys was mainly to conciliate those who had declared their opposition to the Duke of Somerset, especially when we consider that the visit to Ludlow must have been nothing less than a visit to the Duke of York. York was now more than pardoned. He was honoured by his sovereign.

Financially, however, we may well suppose that the duke was not the better of the royal visit. Perhaps also the state of the country did not conduce to the prosperity of great landowners. At all events we find that at the end of the year York was glad to pledge some pieces of jewellery to Sir John Fastolf for a loan of £437, to be repaid next Midsummer.116.1The transaction is in every way curious, as illustrating the sort of dealings in money matters which were at that time by no means uncommon among knights and noblemen. It is certainly highly characteristic of such a knight as Sir John Fastolf, who, quite unlike the Falstaff of the dramatist, instead of being always needy, was always seeking to increase the wealth that he had amassed by long years of thrift and frugality.

Sir John Fastolf.

We have had occasion to mention the historic Fastolf before; and it is time that we should now direct attention to the circumstances of his private life and his connection with the Paston family. John Paston, as the reader has already been informed, was ultimately his executor, and to this circumstance may safely be attributed the preservation of so many of his letters, most of which have certainly been handed down with the papers of the Paston family. Nevertheless, up117to the time at which we have now arrived we do not find that he directly corresponded with any of them. We can see, however, that he had a high regard for John Paston’s advice in business, and sometimes sent letters and documents of importance by him to his agent in Norfolk, Sir Thomas Howes.117.1He seems to have been related in blood to John Paston’s wife,117.2and he acknowledges Paston himself as his cousin in his will. From the general tenor of most of his letters we should certainly no more suspect him of being the old soldier that he actually was than of being Shakespeare’s fat, disorderly knight. Every sentence in them refers to lawsuits and title-deeds, extortions and injuries received from others, forged processes affecting property, writs of one kind or another to be issued against his adversaries, libels uttered against himself, and matters of the like description. Altogether the perusal is apt to give us an impression that Sir John would have made an acute and able, though perhaps not very highminded, solicitor. If ever his agent, Sir Thomas Howes, was, or seemed to be, a little remiss in regard to some particular interest, he was sure to hear of it, and yet woe to him if he did things on his own responsibility which turned out afterwards to be a failure.117.3Sir John was not the man to pass over lightly injuries done by inadvertence.

The familiarity shown by Fastolf with all the forms and processes of the law is probably due not so much to the peculiarity of his personal character as to the fact that a knowledge of legal technicalities was much more widely diffused in that day than it is in ours. Even in the days when Master Shallow first made himself ridiculous to a London audience by claiming to be justice of the peace andcoram,custalorum, andratolorum, there can hardly be a doubt that the knowledge of legal terms and processes was not a thing so entirely professional as it is now. But if we go back to an118earlier time, the Paston letters afford ample evidence that every man who had property to protect, if not every well-educated woman also, was perfectly well versed in the ordinary forms of legal processes. Sir John Fastolf had a great deal of property to take care of, and consequently had much more occasion to make use of legal phraseology than other people. Had it been otherwise we should hardly have had any letters of his at all; for the only use of writing to him, and probably to most other people in those days, was to communicate on matters of business.

There are also parts of his correspondence from which we might almost infer that Sir John was a merchant as well as a lawyer. His ships were continually passing between London and Yarmouth, carrying on the outward voyage building materials for his works at Caister, and bringing home malt or other produce from the county of Norfolk. In two of his letters we have references to his little shipThe Blythe,118.1which, however, was only one of several; for, in the year 1443, he obtained a licence from the Crown to keep no less than six vessels in his service. These are described as of four different kinds: two being what were called ‘playtes,’ a third a ‘cog-ship,’ a fourth a ‘farecoft,’ and the two others ‘balingers,’ for the carriage of goods and building materials for the use of his household. These vessels were to be free from all liability to arrest for the service of the king.118.2

Building of Caister Castle.

The object of these building operations was the erection of a stately castle at Caister, not far from Yarmouth, the place of the old warrior’s birth. As early as the reign of HenryV., it seems, he had obtained licence to fortify a dwelling there, ‘so strong as himself could devise’;118.3but his occupation in the French wars had suspended a design which must have been a special object with him all through life. The manor of Caister had come to him by natural descent from his paternal ancestry; but even during his mother’s widowhood, when Sir John was a young man of about six-and-twenty, we find that119she gave up her life tenure of it to vest it entirely in her son.119.1Since that day he had been abroad with HenryV.at Agincourt and at the siege of Rouen. He had afterwards served in France under the Regent Bedford,—had taken several strong castles and one illustrious prisoner,119.2—had held the government of conquered districts, and had fought, generally with success and glory, in almost every great battle of the period. Nor had he been free, even on his return to England, to go at once and spend the rest of his days on his paternal domains in Norfolk. His counsels were needed by his sovereign. His experience abroad must have qualified him to give important advice on many subjects of vital interest touching both France and England, and we have evidence that he was, at least occasionally, summoned to take part in the proceedings of the Privy Council. But now, when he was upwards of seventy years of age, the dream of his youth was going to be realised. Masons and bricklayers were busy at Caister,119.3building up for him a magnificent edifice, of which the ruins are at this day the most interesting feature in the neighbourhood. Sadly imperfect ruins indeed they are,—in some places even the foundations would seem to have disappeared, or else the plan of the building is not very intelligible; but a noble tower still rises to a height of ninety feet,—its top possessed by jackdaws,—and a large extent of mouldered walls, pierced with loopholes and surmounted by remains of battlements, enable the imagination to realise what Caister Castle must have been when it was finished over four hundred years ago. A detached fragment of these ruins, too, goes by the name of the Bargehouse; and there, beneath a low-browed arch still visible, tradition reports that Sir John Fastolf’s barge or barges would issue out on their voyages or enter on their return home.

According to Dawson Turner, the foundations of Caister Castle must have enclosed a space of more than six acres of ground.119.4The inventory of the furniture contained in it at Fastolf’s death119.5enumerates no less than six-and-twenty120chambers, besides the public rooms, chapel, and offices. An edifice on such a scale must have been some time in building:—many years, we should suppose, passed away before it was completed. And we are not without evidence that such was actually the case; for a chamber was set apart for the Lady Milicent, Fastolf’s wife, who is believed to have died in 1446, and yet the works were still going on in 1453. In this latter year we find that John Paston was allowed to have some control of the building operations, and that chambers were to be built for him and his wife. Meanwhile it appears he had chosen an apartment in which to set up his coffers and his counting-board for the time. Possibly when he was able to visit Caister he may have acted as paymaster of the works.120.1

The great castle, however, was now not far from completion; and before the end of the following year Sir John Fastolf had removed from London and taken up his residence at Caister, where, with the exception of one single visit to the capital, he seems to have spent all the remainder of his days.

We have said that very few notices are to be found of the internal affairs of England in the year 1452, subsequent to the Duke of York swearing allegiance at St. Paul’s. But just about that time, or not very long after, the affairs of Guienne came once more to demand the serious consideration of the Council. It is true that Guienne and Gascony were now no longer English possessions.Attempt to recover Guienne.Bayonne, the last stronghold, had been given up in the preceding August, and, the English forces being now expelled, all hope of recovering the lost provinces might well have been abandoned, but that the inhabitants were desirous to put themselves once more under the protection of the King of England. The fact is that the Gascons, who had been three centuries under English rule, did not at all relish the change of masters. Under the crown of England they had enjoyed a liberty and freedom from taxation which were unknown in the dominions of CharlesVII.; and on the surrender of Bordeaux and Bayonne, the121French king had expressly promised to exempt them from a number of impositions levied elsewhere. But for this promise, indeed, those cities would not so readily have come to terms.121.1Unfortunately, it was not very long before the ministers of Charles sought to evade its fulfilment. They represented to the people that for their own protection, and not for the benefit of the royal treasury, the imposition of ataillewould enable the king to set a sufficient guard upon the country, and that the money would not in reality be taken from them, as it would all be spent within the province. The English, it was to be feared, would not remain patient under the loss, not only of the provinces themselves, but also of a very valuable commerce that they had hitherto maintained with the south of France; for Gascony supplied England with wine, and was a large consumer of English wool. Hence there was every reason to fear that some attempt would be made by the enemy to recover the lands from which he had been expelled, and it was the interest of the inhabitants themselves to provide an adequate force to ward off invasion.121.2

With arguments like these the French king’s officers went about among the people endeavouring to compel them to forego a liberty which had been secured to them under the Great Seal of France. In vain were deputations sent from Bordeaux and Gascony beseeching the king to be faithful to his promise. The petitioners were sent back with an answer urging the people to submit to exactions which were required for the defence of the country. The citizens of Bordeaux were greatly discontented, and an embassy, headed by the Sieur de l’Esparre, was sent over to the King of England to offer him the allegiance of the lost provinces once more, on his sending a sufficient fleet and army to their rescue. The proposal being laid before a meeting of the English Council, was of course most readily agreed to; and it was arranged that a fleet, under the command of the Earl of Shrewsbury, should sail for the Garonne in October. On the 18th of that month the earl accordingly embarked with a body of 4000 or 5000 soldiers. The French army having withdrawn, he easily122obtained possession of Bordeaux, and sent its captain,Oliverde Coëtivy, a prisoner into England. Other towns then readily opened their gates to the invaders, of which one of the principal was Castillon in Perigord; and very soon, in spite of the opposition of their French governors, the greater part of the lost provinces had put themselves again under the protection of the English.122.1

The suddenness with which these things were done seems for a time to have disconcerted the French king. Winter was now coming on, and probably nothing effective could be done for some time, so Charles lay maturing his plans in silence. As he surveyed the position at leisure, he probably found that any further efforts of the invaders could be checked with tolerable facility. France still retained possession of the two little towns of Bourges and Blaye, which we have already mentioned as being the keys of Bordeaux, and also of various other strong places in which he had been careful to leave considerable garrisons.A.D.1453.It was therefore the beginning of June in the following year before he took any active steps to expel the enemy from their conquests. He then marched southwards from Lusignan, near Poitiers, and laid siege to Chalais in Perigord, on the borders of Saintonge. In the space of five days it was taken by assault. Out of a garrison of 160 men no less than half were cut to pieces. The other half took refuge in a tower where they still held out for a time in the vain hope of succours, till at last they were compelled to surrender unconditionally. Of the prisoners taken, such as were of English birth were ransomed; but as for those who were Gascons, as they had sworn fealty to Charles and departed from their allegiance, they were all beheaded. After this, one or two other ill-defended places fell into the hands of the French. On the 14th July siege was laid to Castillon on the Dordogne, a position which when won gave the French free navigation into the Gironde. The besieging army was furnished with the most perfect mechanism of war that the skill or science of that age could supply. It had a train of artillery, with no less than 700 gunners, under the123conduct of two able engineers of Paris, the brothers Bureau. The place was thoroughly closed in, when Shrewsbury, hearing of the danger in which it stood, came with haste out of Bordeaux with a body of 800 or 1000 horse, followed shortly after by 4000 or 5000 foot.123.1

At daybreak on the 17th, the earl came suddenly upon the besiegers, and succeeded without difficulty in thoroughly defeating a body of archers, who had been posted at an abbey outside the town. This detachment being completely taken by surprise, was obliged to save itself by flight, and after a little skirmishing, in which some 80 or 100 men were slain on both sides, the greater number of the Frenchmen succeeded in gaining a park in which the main body of the besiegers had entrenched themselves. Further pursuit being now unnecessary, the English returned to the abbey, where they were able to refresh themselves with a quantity of victuals which the French had left behind them. ‘And because the said skirmish,’ writes the French chronicler De Coussy, ‘had been begun and was done so early that as yet Talbot had not heard mass, his chaplain prepared himself to sing it there; and for this purpose the altar and ornaments were got ready.’ But this devout intention the earl presently abandoned; for a cloud of dust was seen in the distance, and it was reported to him that even the main body of the French were rapidly retreating. Immediately the earl was again on horseback, and as he left the abbey he was heard to say, ‘I will hear no mass to-day till I have overthrown the company of Frenchmen in the park before me.’123.2

Unfortunately, it turned out that the report of the retreat of the French was utterly unfounded. The cloud of dust had been raised by a body of horses which they had sent out of the camp to graze. The French army remained in its position, with artillery drawn up, ready to meet the earl on his advance. The English, nevertheless, came on with their usual shout, ‘A Talbot! A Talbot! St. George!’ and while their foremost men just succeeded for an instant in planting their standard on124the barrier of the French lines, they were mowed down behind by the formidable fire of the French artillery. Against this all valour was fruitless; about 500 or 600 English lay dead in front; and the French, opening the barrier of their park, rushed out and fought with their opponents hand to hand. For a while the conflict was still maintained, with great valour on both sides; but the superior numbers of the French, and the advantage they had already gained by their artillery, left very little doubt about the issue. After about 4000 Englishmen had been slain in the hand-to-hand encounter, the remainder fled or were made prisoners. Some were able to withdraw into the town and join themselves to the besieged garrison; others fled through the woods and across the river, in which a number of the fugitives were drowned.Defeat and death of Talbot.In the end the body of the veteran Talbot was found dead upon the field, covered with wounds upon the limbs, and a great gash across the face.124.1

So fell the aged warrior, whose mere name had long been a terror to England’s enemies. By the confession of a French historian, who hardly seems to feel it a disgrace to his countrymen, the archers, when they closed around him, distinctly refused to spare his life, so vindictively eager were they to despatch him with a multitude of wounds.124.2Yet it must be owned that in this action he courted his own death, and risked the destruction of a gallant army. For though he was led to the combat by a false report, he was certainly under no necessity of engaging the enemy when he had discovered his mistake, and he was strongly dissuaded from doing so by Thomas Everingham.124.3But his own natural impetuosity, inflamed probably still more by the unreasonable taunts of the men of Bordeaux, who, it seems, were dissatisfied that no earlier attempt had been made to resist the advance of the French king into Guienne,124.4induced him to stake everything on the issue of a most desperate and unequal conflict.

With him there also died upon the field his eldest son, Lord Lisle, his illegitimate son, Henry Talbot, Sir Edward Hull, and thirty other knights of England. About double125that number were taken prisoners, the most notable of whom was John Paston’s old persecutor, the Lord Moleyns.125.1Never had the English arms experienced such a disastrous overthrow.

The Gascons now gave up their cause as altogether hopeless. A fresh army had lately marched into their country, and was laying siege to several places at once towards the east of Bordeaux, so that it was manifest that city would soon be shut in by the royal forces. Castillon was no longer able to hold out. It surrendered on the second day after Talbot’s death. About the same time Charles in person laid siege to Cadillac, one of the most important places in the neighbourhood, protected by a strong castle. The town was speedily carried by assault, and a few weeks later the castle was also taken. Other places in like manner came once more into the power of the French king. At Fronsac an English garrison capitulated and was allowed to leave the country, each soldier bearing in his hand a baton till he reached the seaside. Very soon Bordeaux was the only place that held out; nor was the defence even of this last stronghold very long protracted. Its surrender was delayed for a time only in consequence of the severity of the conditions on which Charles at first insisted; but a sickness which began to ravage his camp at length inclined him to clemency. On the 17th of October the city submitted to Charles, the inhabitants engaging to renew their oaths of allegiance, and the English having leave to return in their own ships to England. To secure himself against their future return, or any fresh rebellion of the citizens, Charles caused to be built and garrisoned, at the expense of the latter, two strong towers, which were still standing at the beginning of the last century. Thus was Gascony finally lost to the Crown of England.

We must now return to the domestic affairs of the kingdom. Matters had been hung up, as it were, in a state of unstable equilibrium ever since Good Friday 1452. The political amnesty, proceeding, as it did, from the king’s own heart, and removing every stain of disloyalty from those who had laboured most to change his policy, helped, in all probability,126to keep up a precarious state of tranquillity much longer than it could otherwise have been preserved. The danger of Calais, too, had passed away for the time, although it was always recurring at intervals so long as HenryVI.was king. So that, perhaps, during the latter part of the year 1452, the country was in as quiet a state as could reasonably have been expected. At least, the absence of information to the contrary may be our warrant for so believing.A.D.1453.But the new year had no sooner opened than evidences of disaffection began to be perceived.Robert Poynings.On the 2nd of January Robert Poynings—the same who had taken a leading part in Cade’s rebellion, and had, it will be remembered, saved the life of one of Sir John Fastolf’s servants from the violence of the insurgents—called together an assembly of people at Southwark, many of whom were outlaws. What his object was we have no distinct evidence to show. He had received the king’s general pardon for the part he took in the movement under Cade; but he had been obliged to enter into a recognisance of £2000, and find six sureties of £200 each, for his good behaviour; so that he, of all men, had best cause to beware of laying himself open to any new suspicion of disloyalty. Yet it appears he not only did so by this meeting at Southwark, but that immediately afterwards he confederated with one Thomas Bigg of Lambeth, who had been one of Cade’s petty captains, and having met with him and about thirty others at Westerham in Kent, tried to stir up a new rising in the former seat of rebellion. From Kent he further proceeded into Sussex, and sent letters to two persons who had been indicted of treason, urging them to come and meet him at Southwark on the last day of February; ‘at which time and place,’ says the Parliament Roll, ‘the same Robert Poynings gave them money, thanking them heartily of their good will and disposition that they were of unto him in time past, praying them to continue their good will, and to be ready and come to him at such time as he should give them warning.’126.1Altogether it would appear from the record of the charge itself that nothing very serious127came of this display of disaffection on the part of Poynings; but it must at least be noted as a symptom of the times.

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