THE Lancastrian princes, who were three in number, and ruled for above sixty years, being without hereditary right to the crown, possessed it only by virtue of a parliamentary settlement, setting aside a formal declaration of Richard II. in favour of Roger Mortimer, earl of March", which had been assented to by the lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, in the face of a claim made in the name of his son by John of Gaunt, and supported by the production of what were considered forged documents. When the unhappy king was a prisoner in his hands, Henry of Lancaster again brought his rejected claim forward; but not choosing to trust to it alone, he mixed it up with complaints of Richard's misgovernment, and even some mention of conquest, and was

declared king on no intelligible principle, by his triumphant faction. Some years later he obtained a parliamentary recognition, [7 Hen. IV. c. 2,] in which the unquestionable right of the Mortimers is passed over in silence; and he transmitted the crown to his son, whose warlike achievements promised to give him a second kingdom in France; but these expectations were frustrated by his premature death.

Both these princes were able men, well fitted to preserve their acquisitions; their successor was of a totally different character, and his weakness proved the ruin of his House. His ambitious uncles struggled for power during his long minority, the result being that the French were enabled not only to recover their recently lost provinces, but also to regain others

which had long been in the hands of the English; and the few that then remained were alienated on the king's marriage with Margaret of Anjou. The grievous discontents thereby occasioned to a nation that had long looked on its sovereign as rightful lord of France, added to many personal slights that he received from the new queen, and her minister, Suffolk, induced Richard, duke of York, who had hitherto served the king as governor of Normandy, to bring forward his claim to the throne as the representative of the Mortimers. The duke was killed in the struggle; his place, however, was well supplied by his son Edward, and very shortly after the sceptre passed from the feeble descendant of John of Gaunt.

An illegitimate branch of the house of Lancaster, the Beauforts, rendered

three brothers, Cardinal Beaufort, John duke of Somerset, and Thomas duke of Exeter, and their nephew Edmund duke of Somerset, held high offices in the state; and Margaret, the daughter of John duke of Somerset, was the mother of Henry earl of Richmond, the first of the Tudor kings.

Beside devices peculiar to each prince, and the well-known symbol of the red rose, the columbine and the collar of SS. belong to the House

The Portcullis.

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They were the descendants of John of Gaunt by his mistress Katherine Swinford, whom he afterwards married, but were legitimated by letters patent of Richard II., an act of parliament, and a papal decree. Richard's letters patent (Feb. 9,

Beauforts.

1397) were confirmed by Henry IV., (Feb. 10, 1407,) but he of his own authority introduced a restrictive clause, "excepta dignitate regali," which now appears as an interlineation on the Patent Roll, (20 Ric. II. p. 2, m. 6.)

HENRY, the only son of John of Gaunt by Blanche, daughter of Henry Grismond, duke of Lancaster, was born at Bolingbroke, in Lincolnshire, in 1366. As Sir Henry of Lancaster, he was celebrated for his skill in martial exercises and his enterprising character. In 1390 he fought in Barbary against the Mohammedans, and in the next year in Lithuania against the pagan tribes on the shores of the Baltic; he also undertook the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but proceeded no further than Rhodes. His bold, active character contrasted strongly with that of Richard II., and he was a popular favourite, though regarded with jealous dislike by the king. He shared in Gloucester's proceedings against De Vere and De la Pole, but afterwards joined his opponents, and was in consequence created duke of Hereford. A quarrel with the duke

of Norfolk soon followed; each accused the other of expressing treasonable doubts of the king's intentions towards his nobles, and both were banished.

The duke of Hereford withdrew to France, with a promise that he should not be deprived of his inheritance in the event of his father's death; but he allied himself with his former enemies, the fugitives of the duke of Gloucester's party, and thus induced the king to revoke the promise he had made. He returned to England, ostensibly to claim his inheritance, but being supported by powerful friends, and feebly opposed by the duke of York, the regent in the absence of the king in Ireland, he was enabled also to seize on the throne, and found a new royal house.

Henry was declared king, Sept. 30, 1399, and he held the sceptre for nearly fourteen years, amid all the

difficulties and cruelties that usually attend a flagrant usurpation. His title was recognised by but few foreign states, and he had little success in war; he was repelled with scorn when attempting to form a marriage for his son Henry, with the youthful queen of his predecessor, and personally insulted by her kindred, whilst pretended prophets styled him "Moldewarp, ac

cursed of God's own mouth." Numerous plots were formed against his life, and most barbarously punished; his parliaments remonstrated vehemently on his bad government, and greatly increased their own privileges, as he could not afford to quarrel with them, for his finances were throughout his reign in a deplorable condition. His great friends the Percies aban

b Among other promises made by Henry at his accession, had been one, that he would head an army against France, and lead it farther than his grandfather, Edward III., had ever done. He never even attempted to perform this promise, but in the year 1411 he sent a considerable body of troops, under the duke of Clarence, to assist the duke of Burgundy against his rival, the duke of Orleans; in the following year he joined the Orleans faction, but the parties then wisely effected a temporary agreement, in order to dispense with such dangerous aid.

Beside procuring the removal of various obnoxious officers of the royal household, the Commons asserted their privileges with vigour, and succeeded in establishing their exclusive right of imposing taxes, and also of controlling the public expenditure.

Henry, lord Percy of Alnwick, served in France and in Flanders in the wars of the latter part of the reign of Edward III. He was rewarded with the office of marshal, and, acting in that capacity at the coronation of Richard II., he was created carl of Northumberland. Being also warden of

Arms of Percy, earl of Northumberland.

the east marches, he was engaged in frequent hostilities with the Scots, and in 1378 captured Berwick, which he committed to the care of Sir Matthew Redman. Apprchending an attempt at its surprise, the earl directed Redman to admit no one without an order from himself; John of Gaunt passed that way, and was refused entry, of which he bitterly complained to the king; and when some time after a plot for seizing the place was discovered, he charged the earl with treason, and endeavoured to procure his condemnation; the accusation, however, was disbelieved, and Northumberland was employed in negotiating a treaty of peace with France. He was subsequently reconciled to John of Gaunt (who was his kinsman by marriage), and warmly espoused the cause of his son, Henry of Lancaster; he thus became an object of suspicion to Richard II., was summoned to court, and not appearing, his estates were forfeited; the king, however, went on his second expedition to Ireland without seizing them, and Henry landed, and became king, mainly by the aid of Northumberland, who received vast grants, such as the Isle of Man, the justiceship of Chester, and many castles in Wales, while the Isle of Anglesey was bestowed on his son Hotspur. They

together defeated the Scots at Homildon, in 1402, and captured the earl of Douglas, but either repenting of the part they had acted against Richard, or offended at the refusal of Henry to allow them to treat for the liberation of their kinsman, Sir Edmund Mortimer, from the hands of Glyndwr, they resolved to dethrone the usurper. It is pro bable, however, that meaner motives also actuated them. Henry's grants had been large, but he had left them to conduct the Scottish war on their own resources; and Henry Percy complains, in a letter dated June 26, 1403, remaining among the Privy Council Records, that "£20,000 and more" was owing to his father and himself on that account. The great difficulty of Henry's reign, as is abundantly evident from the same class of documents, was want of money; their claim was left unpaid, and they took up arms. Their enterprise, which had been concerted with Glyndwr, miscarried; young Percy was killed at Shrewsbury, but the earl obtained a pardon. He soon after joined Archbishop Scrope's rising, was in consequence obliged to flee to Scotland, and subsequently to Wales, and being after a while induced to return to England, was defeated and killed at Bramhammoor, near Leeds, Feb. 19, 1408. His body was quartered and the portions set up in London, Lincoln, Berwick, and Newcastle; but after a few months they were taken down by permission of Henry, and delivered to his friends for burial.

The earl's son, Henry, born in 1366, was, when quite young, associated with his father in the charge of the Scottish marches, and there his well-known appellation of Hotspur was acquired. In 1385 he was sent to succour Calais, and made many daring incursions into Picardy: afterwards served at sea, then killed the earl of Douglas at Otterburn, but was himself captured, through pursuing his advantage too far. He soon obtained his freedom, and in 1389 passed over to Calais, and thence into Britanny, being retained as the king's soldier at the rate of £100 per annum. He joined Henry, and received from him the wardenship of the east marches, the justiceship of North Wales, and the Isle of Anglesey, but afterwards fell in arms against him at Shrewsbury. His son Henry, after many years of exile in Scotland, was restored to his title and estates in 1414, and was killed fighting on the Lancastrian side at the first battle of St. Alban's, in 1455:

Thomas Percy, the younger brother of the earl, served in France under the Black Prince, and was seneschal of the Limousin. He was afterwards made admiral of the north sea, and captain of Calais. He was also admiral of the fleet that conveyed the earl of Buckingham's troops to Britanny in 1380. His fleet was dispersed by a storm, and his own ship disabled; while in that condition, it was attacked by a Spanish vessel of greatly supe rior force, but Sir Thomas captured his opponent by boarding, carried his prize into port, and sold it, with the money replaced the equipment which the troops he had on board had lost, and led them in gallant order to join the earl. He afterwards became steward of the household to Richard II., and was created earl of Worcester, but treacher

1. HENRY, who succeeded him. 2. Thomas, born in 1389, was appointed lieutenant of Ireland in 1401, and created duke of Clarence in 1412. He served in France in that year, and also under his brother, and was killed at Baugé, in Anjou, March 22, 1421. He left no issue by his wife, Margaret, daughter of Thomas Holland, earl of Kent, and relict of John Beaufort, earl of Somerset, but his natural son, Sir John of Clarence, had a grant of several manors in Ireland from Henry VI., by patent dated July 11, 1427.

3. John, born in 1390, was appointed constable of England in 1403, and was created duke of Bedford in 1415. His talents upheld the English rule in France, and he died regent of that kingdom, at Rouen, Sept. 14, 1435. He married, first, Anne, sister of Philip, duke of Burgundy, and soon after her death, (which occurred Nov. 14, 1432,)

ously forsook him on his return from Ireland, and received from Henry IV. the lieutenancy of Wales. He joined in the fatal enterprise of his brother and nephew, and being taken at Shrewsbury, was beheaded two days after.

The cardinal was the advocate of peace with France, whilst Gloucester aspired to complete its Conquest. Henry Beaufort was the third son of John of Gaunt by Katherine Swinford. He en

4. Humphrey, born in 1391, was created duke of Gloucester in 1414. He was protector of England during the minority of his nephew, Henry VI., but his policy was opposed by his uncle, Cardinal Beaufort, and at last he was found dead in his bed, under suspicious circumstances, Feb. 1447. He married, but was afterwards divorced from, Jaqueline of Holland; his second wife, Eleanor, daughter of Lord Cobham, was accused of witchcraft and treason, and after doing penance in London, was imprisoned, first at Calais, and afterwards in the Isle of Man, for the remainder of her life. He left a natural daughter, Antigone, who married Henry Grey, carl of Tankerville.

5. Blanche, born in 1392, was married when only ten years old to Louis, son of Rupert, King of the Romans, and died in childbed, May 22, 1409.

6. Philippa, born in 1393, married Eric XIII., of Denmark. She acted with wisdom and courage as regent of the kingdom while Eric made a pil-

tered the Church, became dean of Wells, and when young was promoted to the see of Lincoln. He succeeded Wykeham as bishop of Winchester, and in later years was made cardinal and papal legate. He was esteemed a profound canonist, held the office of chancellor thrice, was employed on frequent embassies and made the pilgrimage to Jeru

lem. He survived Gloucester but a short time.. dying April 11, 1447