II. THE RISING OF OWEN GLENDOWER AND THE RENEWAL The panic caused by the raids of Owen Glendower and the general rising of the native Welsh in his support are reflected in the following extracts from letters of one of the king's officers on the Welsh border. There are come into our county more than four hundred 167. A letter of the rebels of Owen, and they have captured and robbed from Wales to King within your county of Hereford many men and beasts in great Henry IV number, as Miles Walter, the bearer of these presents, will more (1403) fully tell you by mouth than I can write to you at present, to whom may it please you to give your faith and credence in that on which he shall inform you, for the preservation of your said county and of all the country around. . . . From day to day letters are arriving from Wales by which you may learn that the whole country is lost, unless you go there as quick as possible. Be pleased to set forth with all your power and march by night as well as by day, for the salvation of those parts. It will be a great disgrace as well as damage to lose in the beginning of your reign a country which your ancestors gained and retained so long; for people speak very unfavorably.. The turning of the tide in favor of the government is shown by the succeeding letter from Prince Henry, afterwards Henry V, then a young man of eighteen. King Henry IV (1405) My most redoubted and most sovereign lord and father, I 168. Prince sincerely pray that God will graciously show his miraculous Henry to aid towards you in all places, praised be he in all his works, for on Wednesday, the eleventh of this present month of March, your rebels of the parts of Glamorgan, Morgannok, Usk, Netherwent, and Overwent assembled to the number of eight thousand men, according to their own account, and they went on the same Wednesday, in the morning, and burnt a part of your town of Grossmont within your lordship of 169. Extract from the chronicle of Juvenal des Ursins (1414) Monmouth and Jennoia. Presently went out my well-beloved cousin the Lord Talbot and the small body of my household, and with them joined your faithful and valiant knights, William Newport and John Greindor, the which formed but small power in the whole; but true it is indeed that victory is not in the multitude of people, but in the power of God, and this was well proved there. For there by the aid of the blessed Trinity your people gained the field, and vanquished all the said rebels, and slew of them in field by fair account, by the time of their return from the pursuit, some, being questioned upon pain of death, say eight hundred, others a thousand. Nevertheless, whether it were one or the other I will not contend, and to inform you fully of all that has been done, I send you a person worthy of credit therein, my faithful servant, the bearer of this letter, who was at the engagement and performed his duty well, as he has always done. And such amends has God ordained you for the burning of your houses in the aforesaid town; and of prisoners were none taken except one, a great chieftain among them, whom I would have sent to you, but he cannot yet ride at ease. Written at Hereford the said Wednesday at night. Your most humble and obedient son, HENRY. It is very doubtful whether Henry V was sincere in his peaceful embassy to the king of France, described below by a French chronicler. At any rate, it was followed up quickly by warlike acts, and in a short time the interrupted war was resumed with vigor. On the eighth day of August the king of England sent a notable embassy to Paris with offers of peace and alliance, that is to say, the bishop of Durham and the bishop of Norwich, two well-known prelates, the earl of Salisbury, Lord de Gray, Messire Jean Pheletin, and others, and they had five hundred horses pompously arrayed and well ordered, which came to Paris. But because the king and dauphin were not there they addressed themselves to Monseigneur the duc de Berry, who received them as lavishly and honorably as he knew how, and entertained them many times. They wished to be heard, a thing which the duc de Berry granted, and they were heard. The said bishop of Norwich, who was a very notable clerk, made a proposal, the substance of which was, "Do us justice; we offer peace and alliance." For alliance they demanded Madame Catherine of France, the duchy of Guienne, the county of Ponthieu, without returning faith or homage; these together with other demands. peace laid down by the English When the return of the king came to the knowledge of the Conditions of English they returned to Paris, in order to have a reply to the offer which they had made of having Madame Catherine for their king, and demanding Guienne and Ponthieu, and, in a word, of having the treaty of Bretigny kept. And the same bishops who had made the proposition in the first place repeated it, saying that their lord and sovereign master would be much rejoiced if he might know that the good will which the king of France and his parents had preserved had become a firm peace. The king of England, not content with having sent ambassadors to the king, himself wrote twice very graciously, that he wished to do him justice. And to this he added soothing and gentle words, in order to strengthen the peace, concord, and unity, hoped for from the offers made by the ambassadors. When the king and his council saw the smooth manner of speech used in the letters, they concluded to send to him a notable embassy, since they well knew the preparations which were being made to descend upon France. They sent the archbishop of Bourges, surnamed Bourretier, a very noted man and good clerk who used fine language; together with him were to go the bishop of Lisieux, the count de Vendôme, the baron d'Ivry, and others. . . Soon after, news came that they were about to descend on Harfleur; the king of England was present in person, accompanied by his brothers and other princes of England, six thousand men of arms, thirty to forty thousand archers, and other people without number, with artillery, bombards, cannon, and people trained in arms. 170. A'speech of Henry V 171. Extract from John Capgrave's chronicle The following is a contemporary account of the wellknown words of Henry V before the battle of Agincourt, which Shakespeare introduces into the play of Henry V. Amongst other speeches which I noticed was this: a certain Sir Walter Hungerford, knight, was regretting in the king's presence that he had not, in addition to the small retinue which he had there, ten thousand of the best English archers, who would be desirous of being with him. Then the king said : "Thou speakest foolishly, for by the God of heaven, on whose grace I have relied, and in whom I have a firm hope of victory, I would not, even if I could, increase my number by one, for those whom I have are the people of God, whom he thinks me worthy to have at this time. . . . Dost thou not believe the Almighty with these his humble few is able to conquer the haughty opposition of the French, who pride themselves on their numbers and their own strength?" The following account of the battle of Agincourt is given by John Capgrave, one of the first chroniclers who wrote in English after the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The Kyng, aftir this conquest, purposed to go to Caleys, with foot-men for the most part. For al his hoost was not acoundid passing eight thousand; so many were left seek at Harflew. Merveile it was that he with so fewe durst go thorw alle the thik wodis in that cuntre. For the Frensch parti in al this tyme had mad an hoost of an hundred thousand and forty thousand. Vitailes were kept fro hem, that eighteen dayes thei had walnotes for bred; and flech had thei sum: but her drynk was watir. So in the 23rd day of Octobir the hostis met not a myle asundir. The Kyng coumforted gretly his men, that thei schuld trost in God, for her cause was rithful. The Frensch part stod on the hille, and we in the vale. Betwix hem was a lond new heried, where was evel fotying. Schort for to sey, the feld fel onto the Kyng, and the Frensch party lost it, for al her noumbyr and her pride. Ther were ded the duke of Lauson, the duke of Braban, the duke of Baver, five erles, the Constable eke of Frauns, and a hundred lordes; knytes and swiris, four thousand sexti and nine: the comon puple was not noumbered. The most prominent characteristics of the Treaty of Troyes are the fact that it does not name the French king's son Charles, but puts Henry V in his place; and that it provides for the present administration of France by the English king and the eventual union of the two kingdoms. from the Treaty of First that by the alliance of marriage made for the good of 172. Extracts the said peace between our said son King Henry and our dearest and most beloved daughter Katherine, he has become Troyes our son and that of our very dear and best beloved com- (1420) panion, the queen. heir Item, that after our death and afterwards the crown and Henry to be the kingdom of France, together with its rights and appurtenances, shall be vested and remain perpetually in our son King Henry and his heirs. . . . Item, that inasmuch as we are held and hindered for the Henry to be present, on account of health, from hearing and arranging the regent affairs of the kingdom, the faculty and exercise of governing and ordering the public affairs of the said kingdom shall be vested, and remain during our life, in our said son King Henry, with the consent of the nobles and wise men obedient to us, who have at heart the advantage and honor of the said kingdom; and he shall be able to rule and govern by himself and by others whom he wishes to appoint, with the consent of the nobles and said wise men. Item, that during our life our said son King Henry will not call or subscribe himself, or cause himself to be named or written, as king of France, and will abstain utterly from this said name so long as we remain alive. . . Item, it is allowed that during our life we shall call, name, and write our said son, King Henry, in the French language in this manner: "Our dear son Henry, king of England, heir of France." . . |