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CHAPTER V.

THE HOUSES OF LANCASTER AND YORK.

1399-1485.

95. HENRY IV., 1399–1413.-John of Gaunt, fourth son of Edward III., was Henry's father. He married (1) Mary of Bohun in 1387, and (2) Jane of Navarre in 1403. The grounds of his pretensions to the throne were (1) deposition of the late king; (2) election of the people; (3) Act of Parliament, and (4) descent from Edmund Crookback, Earl of Lancaster, alleged by some to have been the elder brother of Edward I. The real heir to the throne was Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March (1392-1424), then seven or eight years old.' External tranquillity was maintained during this reign; but his doubtful title to the crown drove the king into vigorous measures abroad to preserve tranquillity at home.

96. Persecution of the Lollards or Wickliffites, 1401.— This was a name given to the followers of Wickliffe, who had been gradually gaining ground in the last two reigns. His desire to conciliate the clergy induced Henry to support the cruel statute De Hæretico Comburendo, chiefly directed against this sect, by which burning alive was made the punishment of heresy. William

1 The following table will show Henry's genealogical position :

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*These numbers are continued from the table on p. 16.

Sawtre, Rector of St. Osith, was the first victim.

The persecution

was continued in Henry V.'s reign, when Sir John Cobham suffered death, with many others.

97. Battle of Homildon Hill, 1402.-Between the Percies and the Scotch under Earl Douglas. Earl Douglas and many of the Scotch nobility were taken prisoners.

98. Battle of Shrewsbury, 1403.-In this battle, Henry, Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V., greatly distinguished himself. It was fought between the king's troops on the one side and Owen Glendower, a Welsh gentleman, and the Percies on the other; the Percies having rebelled because the king had forbidden them to ransom Earl Douglas, their prisoner. The rebels were defeated, and Hotspur (Harry Percy) was killed,

99. HENRY V. (of Monmouth), 1413-1422.-Eldest son of Henry IV.; married in 1420 Catherine of France, who after his death became the wife of Owen Tudor.

He is re

ported to have been wild and licentious in his youth; but his riper years atoned fully for errors which have been perhaps too highly coloured. His bravery and military skill have made his memory popular. These qualities, and the civil wars in France, led him to revive Edward III.'s claim to the crown of that kingdom.

100. Siege of Harfleur, 1415.-He accordingly invaded France, and took the town of Harfleur.

101. Battle of Agincourt, 1415.-After the taking of Harfleur, his army being wasted by disease, Henry commenced retreating to England, but was forced into a battle with the French at Agincourt. The result was a decisive victory over the enemy; 14,000 prisoners were taken, and 10,000 men were killed. English loss was about 1600, but has, in all probability, been greatly understated. Shakspeare, who has followed the common report, makes it ludicrously small:

Edward, the Duke of York, the Earl of Suffolk,
Sir Richard Ketly, Davy Gam, Esquire:
None else of name; and, of all other men,

But five-and-twenty.

The

Henry V.

102. Treaty of Troyes, 1420.-Peace was finally concluded between England and France upon these conditions: (1) That Henry should marry Catherine, daughter of Charles VI., the imbecile King of France; (2) that he should succeed to the crown at that monarch's death, to the exclusion of the dauphin; and (3) be regent of the kingdom during the remainder of his lifetime,

103. HENRY VI. (of Windsor), 1422-1461.-Only son of Henry V.; married in 1445 to Margaret of Anjou, daughter of Regnier, or René, Duke of Anjou and King of Naples, a princess of commanding qualities. On the death of his father Henry was an infant, and England and France were placed under the regencies of his uncles, the Dukes of Gloucester and Bedford. Early in life, the young king displayed a weakness of character, which towards the latter portion of his reign changed to absolute mental incapacity, inherited doubtless from his grandfather, Charles VI., the mad King of France.

104. Battle of Verneuil, 1424.-Charles VI. died in 1422. At his death, in defiance of the Treaty of Troyes, the dauphin seized the He was defeated by the Earl of Salisbury, at Cravant, in 1423, and afterwards by Bedford, at the bloody battle of Verneuil. Then the tide was turned by

crown.

105. Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans, 1429-1431.-A female theomaniac, who relieved Orleans, when closely besieged by the English led by the Duke of Suffolk. Under her influence, politicly turned to good account by the dauphin, who was crowned at Rheims as Charles VII., in 1429, the French retrieved their losses. She was subsequently taken prisoner, and cruelly burnt in the market-place at Rouen in 1431, as a sorceress and heretic. From this date, nevertheless, the English were gradually driven from their strongholds, and, in a few years, they lost, with the exception of Calais, all their possessions in France, which nothing indeed but its own intestine divisions could ever have made them masters of.

106. Jack Cade's Insurrection, 1450.—Jack Cade, an Irish adventurer, assumed the popular name of Mortimer, and raised a rebellion in Kent. The insurgents defeated Sir Humphrey Stafford, who was despatched against them, and afterwards advanced to London. They were, however, finally dispersed; and Cade was killed by a gentleman of Sussex, named Iden.

107. Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485. Originated in the struggle between Margaret of Anjou and Richard, Duke of York, to gain possession of the person of Henry VI. The duke claimed to be the rightful heir to the throne, through his mother, Anne Mortimer, descended from Lionel, Duke of Clarence, third son of Edward III. The Lancastrian badge was a red, the Yorkist a white rose.

108. First Battle of St. Albans, 1455.-First battle in the Wars of the Roses; won by the Yorkists. The Duke of Somerset (Lancastrian) was killed, and the king taken prisoner.

109. Battle of Blore Heath, 1459.—After a short interval of

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