Part 26 Outlines of Universal History

Part 26

Young Richard managed them with so much tact, and gave them such fair promises, that they dispersed. One of their most fierce leaders, _Wat Tyler_, whose daughter had been insulted by a tax-gatherer, was stabbed during a parley which he was holding with the king.

There was a _Gloucester_ party--a party led by his youngest uncle, the _Duke of Gloucester_--which gave Richard much trouble; but he became strong enough to send the duke to _Calais_, where, it was thought, he was put to death. In 1398 he banished two n.o.blemen who had given him, at a former day, dire offense. One of them was _Thomas Mowbray_, Duke of _Norfolk_; the other was _Henry of Bolingbroke_, Duke of _Hereford_, afterwards called Duke of _Lancaster_, son of John of Gaunt. When John of Gaunt died, Richard seized his lands. In 1399, when _Richard_ was in Ireland, _Bolingbroke_ landed, with a few men-at-arms and with Archbishop _Arundel_; and, being joined by the great family of _Percy_ in the North, he obliged _Richard_ to resign the crown. He was deposed by Parliament for misgovernment. Not long after, he was murdered. _Lancaster_ was made king under the name of _Henry IV._ It was under _Richard_ that the statute of _praemunire_ (of 1353) was renewed, and severe penalties were imposed on all who should procure excommunications or sentences against the king or the realm.

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.--In the course of the reign of _Edward III._, the French language, which had come in with the Normans, ceased to be the speech of fashion; and the English, as altered by the loss of inflections and by the introduction of foreign words, came into general use. The English ceased to speak the language of those who were now held to be national enemies. In 1362 the use of English was established in the courts of law. The _Old English_ ceased to be written or spoken correctly. The _Latin_ still continued to be familiar to the clergy and to the learned. _William Langland_ wrote a poem ent.i.tled the _Vision of Piers Plowman_ (1362). _Pierce the Plowman's Crede_ is a poem by another author. The two princ.i.p.al poets are _Chaucer_ and _Gower_, both of whom wrote the new English in use at the court. Chaucer's great poem, the _Canterbury Tales_, is the latest and most remarkable of his works.

HENRY IV. (1399-1413): TWO REBELLIONS: THE LOLLARDS.-By right of birth, the crown would have fallen to _Roger Mortimer_, Earl of March, the grandson of _Lionel_, Duke of Clarence, Lionel having been a son of Edward III., older than John of Gaunt. But there was no law compelling Parliament to give the throne to the nearest of kin. So it fell to the house of Lancaster.

Henry had to confront two rebellions. One was that of the _Welsh_, under _Owen Glendower_, which he long tried to put down, and which was gradually overcome by _Henry_, Prince of Wales, the story of whose wild courses in his youth was perhaps exaggerated. The other rebellion was that of the powerful Northumberland family of the _Percys_, undertaken in behalf of _Richard_ if he was alive,--for it was disputed whether or not he had really died,--and if not alive, in behalf of the _Earl of March_. The _Percys_ joined Glendower. They were beaten in a b.l.o.o.d.y battle near _Shrewsbury_, in 1403, where Northumberland's son "Hotspur"

(_Harry Percy_) was slain. While praying at the shrine of St. Edward in Westminster, the king was seized with a fit, and died in the "Jerusalem Chamber" of the Abbot. Under _Henry_ the proceedings against heretics were sharpened; but the Commons at length, from their jealousy of the clergy, sought, although in vain, a mitigation of the statute. In the next reign, the Lollards, who were numerous, had a leader in _Sir John Oldcastle_, called _Lord Cobham_, who once escaped from the Tower, but was captured, after some years, and put to death as a traitor and heretic. Whether he aimed at a Lollard revolution or not, is uncertain. The Lollards were persecuted, not only as heretics, but also as desiring to free the serfs from their bondage to the landlords.

THE BURGUNDIANS AND ARMAGNACS.--In the last days of _Charles V._ of France, he tried in vain to absorb _Brittany_. _Flanders_ and _Languedoc_ revolted against him. The aspect of public affairs was clouded when _Charles VI_. (1380-1422), who was not twelve years old, became the successor to the throne. His uncles, the Dukes of _Anjou_, _Berri_, and _Burgundy_, contended for the regency. Their quarrels distracted the kingdom. A contest arose with the Flemish cities under the leadership of _Philip Van Artevelde_; but they were defeated by the French n.o.bles at _Roosebeke_, and _Arterielde_ was slain. This victory of the n.o.bles over the cities was followed by the repression of the munic.i.p.al leaders and lawyers in France. Two factions sprang up,--the _Burgundians_ and the _Armagnacs_.

_Margaret_, the wife of the Duke of Burgundy, received Flanders by inheritance, on the death of her father the Count (1384). The king was beginning to free himself from the control of the factions when he suddenly went mad. Thenceforth there was a struggle in France for supremacy between the adherents of the dukes of _Burgundy_ and the adherents of the house of _Orleans_. The latter came to be called _Armagnacs_ (1410), after the _Count d'Armagnac_, the father-in-law of _Charles, Duke of Orleans_. The strength of the _Burgundians_ was in the _North_ and in the cities. They adhered to _Urban VI._, the pope at Rome, in opposition to the Avignon pope, _Clement VII._; for these were the days of the papal schism. They were also friends of the house of _Lancaster_ in England,--of _Henry IV._ and _Henry V._ The strength of the _Armagnacs_ was in the _South_. At the outset, it was a party of the court and of the n.o.bles: later it became a national party. _Louis, Duke of Orleans_, was treacherously a.s.sa.s.sinated by a partisan of the Burgundians (1407). This act fomented the strife.

BATTLE OF AGINCOURT: TREATY OF TROYES (1420).--It was in 1392 that the king partially lost his reason. For the rest of his life, except at rare intervals, he was either imbecile or frenzied. By the division of counsels and a series of fatalities, gigantic preparations for the invasion of England had come to naught (1386-1388). _Henry V. of England_ (1413-1422) concluded that the best way to divert his n.o.bles from schemes of rebellion was to make war across the Channel. Accordingly he demanded his "inheritance" according to the treaty of _Bretigny_, together with _Normandy_. On the refusal of this demand, he renewed the claim of his greatgrandfather to the crown of France, although he was not the eldest descendant of _Edward III_. _Henry_ invaded France at the head of fifty thousand men. By his artillery and mines he took _Harfleur_, but not until after a terrible siege in which thousands of his troops perished by sickness. On his way towards _Calais_, with not more than nine thousand men, he found his way barred at _Agincourt_ by the Armagnac forces, more than fifty thousand in number, comprising the chivalry of France (1415). In the great battle that ensued, the horses of the French floundered in the mud, and horse and rider were destroyed by the English bowmen. The French suffered another defeat like the defeats of _Crecy_ and _Poitiers_. They lost eleven thousand men, and among them some of the n.o.blest men in France. France was falling to pieces. _Rouen_ was besieged by Henry, and compelled by starvation to surrender (1419). The fury of factions continued to rage. There were dreadful ma.s.sacres by the mob in Paris. The _Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless_ (_Jean sans Peur_), was murdered in 1419 by the opposite faction. The young Duke _Philip_, and even the Queen of France, _Isabella_, were now found on the Anglo-Burgundian side. By the _Treaty of Troyes_, in 1420, _Catherine_, the daughter of _Charles VI._, was given in marriage to _Henry V._, and he was made the heir of the crown of France when the insane king, _Charles VI._, should die. _Henry_ was made regent of France. The whole country north of the _Loire_ was in his hands. The Dauphin _Charles_ retired to the provinces beyond that river.

THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR:

PERIOD III. (TO THE END, 1463).

FRANCE IN 1422.--Both _Henry_ and _Charles VI._ died in 1422.

The Duke of Bedford was made regent in France, ruling in the name of his infant nephew (_Henry VI._). _Charles VII._ (1422-1461) was proclaimed king by the _Armagnacs_ south of the Loire. His situation was desperate, but he represented the national cause.

_Bedford_ laid siege to _Orleans_, the last bulwark of the royal party. The English were weakened, however, by the withdrawal of the _Duke of Burgundy_ and his forces.

JOAN OF ARC.--When the national cause was at this low point, Providence raised up a deliverer in the person of a pure, simple-hearted, and pious maiden of _Domremy_ in _Lorraine_, seventeen years of age, _Jeanne Dare_ by name (the name _Joan of Arc_ being merely a mistake in orthography). The tales of suffering that she had heard deeply moved her. She felt herself called of Heaven to liberate France. She fancied that angels' voices bade her undertake this holy mission. Her own undoubting faith aroused faith in others. Commissioned by the king, she mounted a horse, and, with a banner in her hand, joined the French soldiers, whom she inspired with fresh courage. They forced the English to give up the siege of Orleans, and to march away. Other defeats of the English followed. The Maid of Orleans took _Charles_ to _Rheims_, and stood by him at his coronation. The English and Burgundians rallied their strength. _Joan of Arc_ was ill supported, and was made prisoner at Compeigne by the Burgundians. They delivered her to the English. She was subjected to grievous indignities, was condemned as a witch, and finally burned as a relapsed heretic at _Rouen_ (1431). The last word she uttered was "Jesus." Her character was without a taint. In her soul, the spirit of religion and of patriotism burned with a pure flame. A heroine and a saint combined, she died "a victim to the ingrat.i.tude of her friends, and the brutality of her foes."

THE ENGLISH DRIVEN OUT--In 1435 the _Duke of Burgundy_ was reconciled to _Charles VII._, and joined the cause of France. The generals of Charles gained possession of one after another of the provinces. During a truce of two years, _Henry VI._ of England (1422-1461) married _Margaret of Anjou_, the daughter of King _Rene_. _Henry_ was of a gentle temper, but lacked prudence and vigor. The king of France and the dauphin began the organization of a standing army, which greatly increased the military strength of the country (1439). In 1449 the war with England was renewed. With the defeat of the English, and the death of their commander, _Talbot_, in 1453, the contest of a century came to an end. All that England retained across the Channel was _Calais_ with _Havre_ and _Guines Castle_. France was desolated by all this fruitless strife. Some of the most fertile portions of its territory were reduced to a desert, "given up to wolves, and traversed only by the robber and the free-lance."

REBELLION of "JACK CADE."--The peasants in England were now free from serfdom. Under _Henry VI._ occurred a formidable insurrection of the men of Kent, who marched to London led by _John Cade_, who called himself _John Mortimer_. They complained of bad government and extortionate taxes. One main cause of the rising was the successes of the French. The condition of the laboring cla.s.s had much improved. The insurgents were defeated by the citizens, and their leader was slain. In this reign began the long "Wars of the Roses," or the contest of the houses of _York_ and _Lancaster_ for the throne.

MILAN.--THE VISCONTI AND SFORZA.

Matteo I, VISCONTI (nephew of Archbishop Otto), Lord of Milan, 1295-1332.

| +--Stefano (_d._ 1327).

| +--Matteo II,[1] 1354-1355.

| +--Bernabo,[1] 1354-1385.

| | | | | | | | | +--Ma.s.sAMILLANO,[4] 1512-1515 (_d._ 1530) | | | | | | | | | +--FRANCESCO MARIA, [4], 1521-1535. _m._ | | | | Christina, daughter of Christian II of Denmark (1) | | | | | | | Jacopo (Muzio) Attendolo di Cotignola, called Sforza.

| | +--Galeazzo II,[1] 1354-1378.

1 The Milanese territory was divided between the three brothers, and united on the death of Bernabo.

2 Hence the French claim to Milan.

3 Louis XII of France took Ludovico prisoner, and held Milan 1500-1512.

4 Puppet dukes. Milan being, in fact, the subject of contention between France and the Hapsburgs.

[Abridged from George's Genealogical Tables.]

THE THREE NORTHERN KINGDOMS BEFORE THE UNION OF CALMAR.

[D. means King of Denmark; N., King of Norway; S., King of Sweden.]

HACO IV, N. (_d._ 1263).

| +--MAGNUS VI, N., 1263-1281.

| +--ERIC II, N., 1281-1299.

| +--HACO V, N., 1299-1320.

| | MAGNUS I, S., 1279-1290.

| | | | | | | +--Margaret,[2] D. N., 1387, S., 1388 (_d._ 1412).

| | | +--Eric.

| _m._ +--Ingeburga | +--Magnus VII (II), N. S., 1320-1365 (deposed).

| +--Euphemia. _m._ Albert, Duke of Mecklenburg, | | | +--Albert,[1] S., 1365-1388 (deposed).

| | | +--Henry, m. Ingeburga, daughter of Waldemar III, D.

| | | +--Mary, _m._ Wratislas of Pomerania.

| | | +--Catharine, _m._ John, son of Emperor Robert.

| | | +--CHRISTOPHER, D. N. S. (_d._ 1448).

| +--HACO VI, N. (_d._ 1380)

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