With Humphrey’s return from Hainault the second phase of his life ends and the third begins. His early life had been that of a soldier; he had celebrated the death of his brother by making a bid for the position of an independent prince; now he was to devote the rest of his days to political intrigue, and it is perhaps in this last phase that his career assumes its greatest interest. Undoubtedly his actions during the minority of his nephew have more importance in the history of his country than those of his earlier years, and from them we are enabled to realise more clearly the various threads of his policy and the governing influences in his life. Henceforth Humphrey’s whole energies are devoted to English politics. His discarded Duchess may flit across the stage, for a brief moment he may revert to his early participation in the French war, but these are merely unimportant incidents in a busy political career. The rest of his life, too, is entirely moulded by the opposition he experiences. The spirit which had inspired the limitation of the Protector’s power was to meet him at every turn, and throughout the next twenty years all English history was to find its central theme in the great struggle between the Duke of Gloucester and the Beaufort faction. Barely six months after his departure from England, Humphrey had returned to find preparations being made for the holding of Parliament, and it is probable that he had timed his departure from Hainault so as to be present at this meeting, fearing lest some hostile move should be made against him in his absence. On April 27 the young King was brought up from Windsor, and, being met at the west door of St. Paul’s by Gloucester and Exeter—the protectors of his kingdom and his person respectively—was lifted out of his chair by them and escorted to the choir, where he was ‘borne up and offred.’[596] Three days later he was present at the opening of Parliament, that his uncle might remember that he was the servant, not the master of the realm.[597]

After so inglorious and impolitic a proceeding as his recent campaign Humphrey might well have expected criticism of no light kind from the strong faction opposed to him, and if we are to believe the French chroniclers, such criticism he did receive at the hands of the Council,[598] but no traces of this are to be found in the official records. Nay more, there is ample evidence that the Protector’s influence both in Parliament and Council was considerable. Not only in the face of a revenue deficit of £20,000 did Parliament grant him a loan of 40,000 marks to be paid within four years, but the Lords of the Council agreed to act as sureties for its repayment;[599] in a dispute between the Earl Marshal and the Earl of Warwick for precedence Parliament decided in favour of the former, who was not only a supporter of Gloucester, but had also commanded his troops in Hainault;[600] finally the wardship of the estates which devolved on the young Duke of York by the death of the Earl of March was given to the Protector.[601] It seems hardly credible that Gloucester would have been given so much, or have championed his friend so successfully had his influence not been predominant. That he had met with some opposition cannot be doubted, for the six months’ power enjoyed by the Bishop of Winchester during his nephew’s absence was not likely to make him content with a secondary position, and therefore bitter, and undoubtedly justified, criticism was probably levelled at Humphrey by his rival. It may be that high words passed between them; at any rate it was not to be long before their mutual recriminations became a danger to the state. It is about this time, therefore, that the struggle between the two chief men in the kingdom passed from the stage of political rivalry to that of personal competition. Gradually Gloucester and Beaufort become bitter personal enemies, and the state of distrust inaugurated at the beginning of the reign, now becomes a contest which the full bitterness of individual dislike tends to increase every day. Henceforth no stone is left unturned by either of the men to damage the position and reputation of his rival.

Nevertheless there is no evidence that Gloucester’s Hainault policy had reaped that universal condemnation in England which it so richly deserved. Bedford, it is true, saw the danger of alienating Burgundy, and he had done his best, first to avert the provocation of his anger, and secondly to minimise the effects of that provocation, but even he seems to have felt considerable sympathy for his brother,[602] and perhaps he remembered that the late King might be held largely responsible for the turn of events. Englishmen generally seem to have looked with kindly eyes on this mad expedition, for there was about it some of the glamour of mediÆval romance in appearance if not in reality, whilst Jacqueline herself had won golden opinions in England, where her unhappy lot had obtained universal sympathy.[603] For Gloucester, however, the romance of his marriage with Jacqueline, such as it had been, was quite worn off, and he had already transferred his affections to the lady who was to bring him far greater disaster than did his foreign bride. Amongst Jacqueline’s ladies-in-waiting there had been a certain Eleanor Cobham, daughter of Reginald Cobham of Sterborough in Kent,[604] and she had accompanied her mistress to Hainault. When Humphrey had returned to England he had brought her with him, and it seems that it was about this time that she became his paramour.[605] At any rate Hainault ambitions play henceforth but a very small part in Humphrey’s life, for though we shall find that later he took some steps to send aid to his unfortunate wife, yet he never showed the slightest inclination to return to her side, a fact which caused no small scandal at a later date.

Meanwhile at Mons things had been going ill for Jacqueline. Her husband had no sooner turned his back, than the Brabanters rose again, and the citizens of Mons, unmindful of their recent promise, refused to support her.[606] On June 6 she wrote a most pathetic letter to Gloucester, telling him how the citizens had come to her on the third of that month,[607] and had shown her a treaty signed by the Dukes of Brabant and Burgundy, uniting her dominions under the rule of the former, and confiding the care of her person to the latter. In spite of her entreaties all help had been refused her, and she pointed out how her sufferings were due to the love she bore her English husband, begging him therefore to come to her help, though he seemed to have forgotten her existence.[608] In a second letter of the same date she alluded to a suggestion made by Gloucester that she should once more flee to England, a course which she declared it was now too late to adopt. Indeed, this was soon proved to be the case, for these letters were intercepted by Burgundian emissaries,[609] and within five days she was being conducted a prisoner to Ghent.[610]

Though Jacqueline’s letters never reached their destination, the news of her imprisonment soon came to England, and Parliament promptly showed its sympathy with her by petitioning that ambassadors should be sent to treat with Burgundy for the release of ‘my Ladies’ persone of Gloucester,’[611] and at the same time the Chancellor was empowered to draw up letters-patent under the great seal appointing the queens-dowager of England and France, and the Duke of Bedford as mediators between Burgundy and Gloucester, with a view to the abandonment of the duel that had been arranged.[612] To neither of these provisions would Humphrey make any objection, for though he had not been the challenger in the matter of the duel, yet he had doubtless welcomed it as a way of securing his retreat, and had never intended to take it seriously; at any rate he made no preparations for the fray, whilst his opponent had gone into strict training, and was having special armour made for the occasion.[613] This attitude on the part of Duke Philip points to a strong personal dislike of Gloucester, a dislike which dated probably from the days when he had been slighted at St. Omer; nevertheless, it is strange that he had ever thought that such a duel would be allowed to take place. Bedford, ever ready to appease the strife which had arisen over this Hainault affair, gladly undertook the duty assigned to him by Parliament, and when in September he summoned a council of arbitration to meet at Paris, his brother willingly nominated the Bishop of London as his representative thereat, whilst Burgundy grudgingly appointed the Bishop of Tournay to guard his interests.[614] Bedford tried to avert the duel as eagerly as he had endeavoured to reconcile the conflicting claims of Brabant and Gloucester earlier in the story of the Hainault struggle,[615] and his efforts were assisted by a papal Bull, which forbade the personal combat in no measured terms.[616] Armed with this authority, the council at Paris decided on September 22 that a perusal of the letters written by the two parties in the dispute convinced them that neither side had any right to demand satisfaction from the other,[617] a decision which disgusted the Burgundian envoy, but which afforded entire satisfaction to Gloucester’s representative.[618]

From this time forward Gloucester seems to have abandoned all idea of securing his hold on the government of his wife’s inheritance. He did not resign all claim to Holland and Hainault, nor did he refrain from occasional assistance to Jacqueline, or from attempts to secure the recognition by Rome of the legality of his marriage; but he had come to realise that personal intervention on the Continent would mean political extinction at home, where he needed all the prestige of his popularity amongst the commonalty and the power conferred by his position and lineage to withstand the manoeuvres of his great rival, Henry Beaufort. For Beaufort was entrenched in a strong position. A man of determined will and restless energy, with powerful family connections, of royal blood, if not in the line of succession, and well versed by long experience in the affairs of the kingdom, he stood in marked contrast to his nephew, who was lacking in resolute purpose, and had spent most of his active life in the French wars, with few opportunities of gaining political experience. Above all, whilst Beaufort was constantly lending money for purposes of state, Gloucester was equally constant in his demands for royal loans or an increased salary, a fact which gave the former an immense financial hold on the kingdom. Such a power as that wielded by the Bishop of Winchester was not to be despised, nor was it to be left unopposed by one who aspired to be the chief governing power in the state; but there was yet another reason which impelled Humphrey to confine his main efforts towards maintaining and improving his position in England, the roots of which lay in his own character. When he had set out light-heartedly to assert his right to control the dominions of Jacqueline, he had thought it to be an easy task. He now knew that it was only by a prolonged effort that he could succeed in Holland and Hainault. Such an effort he was totally incapable of making, for he had none of that determination which characterised his father and at least two of his brothers. Brilliant and versatile as he was, these qualities preordained him to prefer a life of political intrigue to that of hard fighting against a firm and steadfast foe. His fickle nature delighted in the kaleidoscopic changes of party warfare, and to that warfare he devoted the best part of the rest of his life, forgetting his dreams of foreign dominion in that strife where the interests of the moment predominated. He was a child of circumstance, and lived only for the passing moment, and as such he found his true milieu in the faction fights which preceded the Wars of the Roses.

Yet while he devoted himself mainly to matters of English politics, Humphrey did not abstain from all interference in Hainault affairs. There was no question with him of abandoning an enterprise fraught with danger to his country. So long as Jacqueline could keep up the struggle, he would encourage her, in the hope that some day he might reap the advantage, and it was in this spirit that he wrote to Martin V., complaining that the divorce decree against Brabant had not yet been granted, and urging him in the interests of Europe generally to hasten the matter to a conclusion favourable to the Countess.[619] At the same time the situation in Hainault looked more promising. The exertions of English ambassadors to secure Jacqueline’s release had been rendered unnecessary by her escape from her captors,[620] and she had signalised her regained freedom by a victory over her assailants at the little village of Alfen. The Duke of Brabant was rendered still more anxious by rumours which reached him to the effect that a force of some 20,000 strong, under the personal leadership of Gloucester, was about to reinforce his enemies, that the Scotch King, in remembrance of his recent marriage alliance with the House of Lancaster, was coming with 8000 more, and that contingents from Ireland and the English army in Normandy were destined to join the victorious troops of his militant Countess.[621] The exaggeration of this report was obvious, but, nevertheless, a force was being collected in England, and towards the end of the year it sailed under the leadership of Lord Fitzwalter, in all some thousand men. In the early days of 1426 these troops landed on the coast of Zealand, only to be almost annihilated with the majority of Jacqueline’s native troops in the neighbourhood of Zierikzee by the Burgundian forces. The remainder straggled back to England, having ‘prevayled nothing.’[622]

Before this expedition had sailed, however, Gloucester was entirely absorbed in affairs nearer home. The rivalry between himself and Beaufort, which had been simmering ever since the Protector’s return, now boiled over, and for a moment threatened civil war. The Chancellor had made great efforts during his short period of government to strengthen his own hands, welcoming Gloucester’s absence abroad as an opportunity for weakening his power. Some disorderly riots and seditious manifestations in London had afforded a pretext for inducing the Council to place one Richard Wydeville in command of the Tower,[623] and he had used this appointment to strengthen his position in the capital, where he was notoriously unpopular. He gave Wydeville strict injunctions that he was to admit no one ‘stronger thanne he’ within the Tower, and later mentioned the Protector as one of those who must be excluded, pointing to his popularity in the city as evidence of his seditious intentions.[624] It was not likely that such proceedings would pass without a protest from Gloucester, and there is every reason to believe—from an undated entry in the minutes of the Council, which records a meeting held towards the end of the third year of the reign—that the quarrel between the two rivals had become acute by the July or August after his return. We learn from this that an ordinance was being prepared for the consideration of the next Parliament, which required that every peer should take an oath not to disturb the King’s peace by revenging by force any ill done to him, but to have recourse to ‘pesible and restful weyes of redress.’ At the same time an oath of secrecy and a promise to give honest advice without obstructing any matter under discussion was exacted from all who sat at the Council board.[625] All this tends to prove that the struggle between the two claimants for power was already raging fiercely.

Nevertheless, we find no actual disturbances recorded till the Bishop roused Gloucester’s suspicions by filling Southwark, where his house was situated, with Lancashire and Cheshire archers.[626] Then, fearing lest he should be attacked by this force and taken unprepared, the Protector sent a message post-haste to the Mayor and Aldermen, asking them to be on their guard for fear lest an attack on the city should be made from the other side of the river. The message found the civic magnates at the banquet with which they were wont to celebrate the election of the new Mayor, but they promptly acceded to Gloucester’s request, and the city was carefully guarded all through that night, as though a siege was imminent.[627] This was on October 29, the day after the feast of St. Simon and St. Jude,[628] and on the morrow events justified the Protector’s precautions, for a large body of Beaufort’s men appeared outside the gate on the south side of London Bridge about eight or nine o’clock in the morning, and were surprised to find all entrance forbidden them. Nothing daunted, they waited till more of their fellows had come up, and then proceeded to attack the gate ‘with shot and other means of warre,’ attempting by these means to force an entrance into the city.

The news that the Chancellor was in arms against their beloved Duke Humphrey spread like lightning amongst the citizens, and within an hour all shops were shut, and the streets leading to the bridge were thronged by men willing and anxious to keep the bishop out, and to resist the ‘King’s enemies.’ So determined was this opposition that the attempted assault was abandoned, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the Mayor restrained the angry citizens, who wanted to sally out and exact vengeance for the presumptuous attack, whilst the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Duke of Coimbra—one of Gloucester’s Portuguese uncles—offered their services as mediators. This self-imposed task proved no sinecure, and eight times did they ride backwards and forwards between the two parties ere peace was secured, and Beaufort had to be content with his side of the river, whilst the Protector remained in possession of the city.[629] ‘All London a rose with the Duke a yenst the forsaide Bysshope,’ writes a contemporary chronicler,[630] and indeed Gloucester had reason to be grateful for the support of the citizens at a critical time. It was not the rabble—as Beaufort later declared—which rose to champion him, but the sober burgher class, headed by Sir John Coventry, their Mayor, that had produced the discomfiture of the Chancellor, and that ever henceforward formed the most important section of Gloucester’s supporters. The tone of the London chroniclers also suggests, that the action of Beaufort was considered by them at least as a direct blow dealt both at the city and at the peace and security of the kingdom at large, and that in supporting Gloucester the citizens were taking a line which was patriotic both as regards their city and as regards the nation.

The truce between Humphrey and his uncle could not be a final settlement of the bad blood that had been aroused, and on All-hallows Even[631] the latter wrote to Bedford in hurried, but emphatic, terms, urging him to come to England without delay, ‘for by my troth,’ he wrote, ‘if you tarry, we shall put this land in adventure with a field,[632] such a brother you have here; God make him a good man.’[633] He forgot to mention that it was he that had taken the first step to ‘put this land in adventure with a field,’ for even as he had been the first, in the days when the Protector’s privileges were being arranged, to provoke that duel for power which, in its later manifestation, was to develop into the Wars of the Roses, so was he now the first to appeal to armed force as a means of emphasising the righteousness of his cause. The statement that Gloucester made the first move to arms cannot be substantiated.[634] It was against the force which Beaufort had already mustered in the suburbs of Southwark that he appealed to the Mayor of London, and in so doing he acted as any wise Protector of the kingdom would have done, when he saw the capital threatened by the armed retainers of a too powerful subject. Moreover, while Beaufort’s force was specially organised, Gloucester was prepared with no retainers to protect himself or his ambitions, but in the time of need he was forced to appeal on the spur of the moment to the loyalty of the citizens. In point of fact, too, the first hostile move was made by the Bishop, for the action of the Mayor in guarding the gates of the city was merely a defensive precaution, unknown to the Beaufort retainers, who did not expect to meet with any resistance when they tried to cross the bridge. Thus both the hostile intent and the hostile action originated with the Chancellor, while the support given to the Protector, apart from the guarding of the gates overnight, was entirely spontaneous on the part of the great mass of the citizens.

The fact that Beaufort so promptly appealed to the arbitrament of Bedford has also been counted unto him for righteousness,[635] whereas it merely displays the cleverness of his play in the game of politics. From Bedford he might hope for support, since the folly of the Hainault campaign would tend to make the Regent in France suspicious of his brother’s actions, and ready to believe that the fault of the recent disturbances lay with him. Moreover, no one knew better than Bedford the usefulness of the Bishop’s purse, and the impolicy of alienating one who could always produce ready money, while Humphrey had no such claim to a statesman’s consideration. Beaufort also had nothing to lose, and a possibility of much to gain, by this appeal. Public opinion in London had spoken against him; it is more than probable that this feeling extended outside the city, and for the time at least he had to acknowledge defeat. On the other hand, if it is true that the Protector refused to formulate complaints against his opponent when asked to do so by envoys from his brother,[636] it was only natural that he should adopt such an attitude. He looked on himself, both by right of birth and by right of the will of Henry V., as the lawful Protector of England, and though he was compelled to accept the restrictions imposed on him by Parliament, he was not likely to acknowledge the supremacy of his brother more than he could help. To indict Beaufort before Bedford would not only be a confession of weakness, but also, in his eyes, an insult to his position. By law as well as by right he was Protector in England so long as Bedford remained in France, and under the circumstances he could recognise no superior tribunal; he had no wish to bring Bedford to England to settle the matter, and thus be compelled to take the second place. Though this attitude was undoubtedly selfish, and based on too high an opinion of his own importance, it does not therefore prove that in the quarrel with Beaufort he was in the wrong.

For the time being Gloucester’s power was undisputed. On the same day that the letter of summons to England was despatched to Bedford the Council met at the Protector’s own house,[637] a fact which has its significance. It was probably with the consent of the Council that the Protector, with the Duke of Coimbra, journeyed down to Eltham on November 5, and brought the young King back to London to strengthen the hands of the executive there.[638] The same day yielded another illustration of Gloucester’s influence, when the Council, in consideration of his ‘great necessity,’ agreed to lend him five thousand marks on promise of repayment, when the King should reach his fifteenth year,[639] a sum probably used for the expedition to Hainault already described. Beaufort, it is to be presumed, took no part in these transactions, but was compelled to view his rival’s success in silence, eagerly awaiting the return of Bedford, who on December 20 landed on English soil. By virtue of his return Bedford became Protector of the kingdom, receiving the salary of eight thousand marks a year, which in his absence had been enjoyed by his brother,[640] who now was reduced to the rank of first councillor to the King, with an income of three thousand marks only.[641] The Bishop of Winchester hastened to meet Bedford, and together they entered London on January 10, proceeding at once to Westminster, where the new Protector was lodged in the King’s palace, while the Chancellor lay near by at the Abbey, desiring to keep watch over his nephew, lest any influence hostile to himself should be brought to bear on him.[642] So successfully did he put his case and justify the policy of his appeal to the Regent in France, that Bedford showed marked hostility to his brother, and when the citizens of London came to greet him on the morrow of his arrival, and presented him with a pair of ‘silver gilt basins, they received but a cold reception, in view of the hostility they had recently shown to the Chancellor and his proceedings.[643]

Already steps had been taken to summon Parliament, which was to meet on February 15 at Leicester,[644] the choice of this town being probably due to the Chancellor’s fears that in London public opinion would be too strongly against him, and in the meantime vigorous attempts were made to effect a reconciliation before the meeting took place. On January 29 a Council was held under the presidency of Bedford at St. Albans, whence a deputation, consisting of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Earl of Stafford, Lords Talbot and Cromwell, and Sir John Cornwall, was sent to Gloucester, who had refused to attend the meeting, though he might have counted on the support of public opinion in the neighbourhood of his chosen abbey. This deputation was commissioned to inform the Duke that another Council was to be held at Northampton on the 13th of the next month, and to offer him a pressing invitation to attend there, as the matters in dispute between him and the Chancellor were to be discussed with a view to a reconciliation, assuring him that ‘justice and reason shal duely and indifferently be mynystered unto him in all things that he hath said or shal say as for occasion or matter of the displesaunce or hevynesse abovesaid.’ To the demand which Humphrey had made, that as a condition of his coming the absence of his opponent must be assured, the Council gave a decided refusal, pointing out that there was no danger of a riot between the retainers of the respective parties, as the Bishop had agreed to restrain his men, and the King would ‘settle such rewle’ that peace would be maintained throughout the town. It is, however, probable that Gloucester feared more the hostile bias in Bedford’s mind produced by the machinations of his uncle, than personal violence to himself, and preferred a direct appeal to the Lords in Parliament, with whom his influence was much stronger than it had been earlier in the reign, to a judgment by the Council, now under the domination of his opponents.

This changed attitude of the Council, which before Bedford’s landing had been controlled by Gloucester, is seen in a secret instruction to the deputation. Should the Duke steadily refuse to go to Northampton under the assurances mentioned above, the commissioners were empowered to add, that at the request of Bedford and the Council Beaufort had promised to dismiss some of his men, and only bring such as were fitting for his position, on condition that Gloucester should do likewise. It is very strange that this condition should be kept in the background, and only produced under compulsion, for it seems a natural concession, and one which could only be refused by a man who was not acting in perfect honesty. If the Council had suspected the large retinue of the Earl of March in 1423, why should not the Chancellor’s evidently large body of retainers incur the same suspicion? It would be, of course, absurd to suggest that, had Gloucester gone to Northampton, the drama of 1447 at Bury St. Edmunds would have been anticipated; the mere presence of Bedford would refute such a suggestion; but this ‘card up the sleeve’ policy does not speak well for the honesty of those who adopted it.

If after their last magnanimous offer Gloucester still persisted in his refusal to attend if Beaufort were present, the messengers of the Council were to point out that it would be unreasonable in Gloucester, even if he were the King—surely a malicious insinuation—to refuse any man a hearing, and also that if he wished ‘to be esed as towards his griefs,’ as the Council assured him was their honest intention, it must be done either by an act of justice, or by a reconciliation, either of which required the presence of both parties. Moreover, to Gloucester’s demand that the Chancellor should resign the custody of the seals, it was answered that this was an attempt to coerce the King—for no official was ever dismissed except by the King’s wish, by his own request, or owing to some fault proved against him.[645] In their refusal of this request the Council were undoubtedly justified, and there is much that is wise and statesmanlike throughout the instructions, due undoubtedly to the influence of Bedford. But there is also ample evidence of Beaufort influence, and we cannot blame Gloucester if he regarded this communication more as a manifesto from his opponents than as a genuine offer of arbitration, and refused to go to Northampton, preferring to wait till the Parliament should be summoned at Leicester. One thing should not pass unnoticed in this offer of the Council. Though the Bishop had summoned Bedford from France, Gloucester had now assumed the rÔle of accuser. It was as such that he was to appear at Leicester, having herein outmanoeuvred his opponent, who, thinking to act on the aggressive, had been compelled to fall back on a defensive attitude.

The Parliament which met at Leicester on February 18,[646] has been handed down to posterity as the ‘Parliament of Battes,’ because, as all weapons had to be discarded by the members and their retainers, they came armed with staves and ‘battes,’ which did not come under the category of weapons.[647] No allusion was made to the quarrel in the Chancellor’s opening speech, although it was the most important matter before the assembly, and indeed it seemed at first as though there would be little progress made in the work of the session. For ten days nothing was done; the Speaker was not even chosen; and during that time Leicester must have been the scene of much diplomacy and intrigue, of which we have no record. At length on the 28th the Commons took the initiative by sending up a petition to the Lords, asking them to take steps to heal the divisions which had occurred in their body,[648] a request which was answered by a promise, made by the peers on March 4, to deal honestly between Gloucester and the Bishop.[649] The consent of the two parties to this mediation had now to be secured, and at the urgent request of Bedford the Duke consented, three days later, to submit all his grievances to a Commission, composed of Archbishop Chichele, the Dukes of Exeter and Norfolk; the Bishops of Durham, Worcester, and Bath; Humphrey, Earl of Stafford; Ralph, Lord Cromwell, and William Alnwick, Keeper of the Privy Seal and Bishop-elect of Norwich, though it was provided that any matter touching the King was to be referred to the Council.[650] Beaufort gave a similar consent.[651] This Commission could not have been more fairly chosen. The Archbishop, if slightly inclined to resent the ambitions of his brother of Winchester, was eminently impartial and well versed in the art of pacification; the two Dukes each represented one of the rivals, for whilst Exeter was the brother of the Bishop, Norfolk was the friend of Gloucester;[652] Lord Cromwell was inclined to the Beaufort faction,[653] but the bishops were mostly impartial, though probably the Bishop of Bath was another of Beaufort’s followers.[654]

It was with his usual easy confidence that Gloucester proceeded to draw up his indictment of the Chancellor. He complained that Beaufort had instructed Wydeville to refuse him entrance to the Tower, though he was Protector of the realm, and had afterwards shielded this man from the consequences of this action. Nay, more, Beaufort had plotted to undermine the Protector’s power by attempting to remove the King from Eltham, thinking to secure thereby a hold over the government of the kingdom. At the same time he had hindered Gloucester from going to frustrate these plans by barricading the Southwark end of London Bridge, and posting armed men in the houses of the district, thus trying to kill the Protector and disturb the King’s peace. Further, Gloucester accused his adversary of maligning him to Bedford in his letter of October 31 by saying that he was harassing the Kings subjects. Not content with the recent misdemeanours of the Chancellor, his accuser made an excursion into past history, and brought up an old story that an attempt had been made on the life of Henry V., when Prince of Wales, by a man who confessed himself Beaufort’s agent, and together with this was joined the incompatible, but more likely story, that Beaufort had advised the same Henry to assume the crown whilst his father was lying dangerously ill.[655]

The tenor of these accusations at once establishes the motive of the quarrel. From them it is evident that Gloucester looked on the whole matter as a personal question, and did not realise that there was a possible constitutional aspect of the case. There was nothing which betrayed the statesman in this indictment, which merely complained of insults to his dignity, attacks on his position, and concluded with impertinent statements as to the past career of his rival. Throughout it showed considerable ingenuity, but at the same time it betrayed an inability to understand the constitutional pose which the better politician of the two had assumed. In Beaufort’s answer the refutation of the very first accusation shows the different methods of the two men. Though his policy was one of mere self-seeking, the Bishop of Winchester knew how to use the language of the new constitutional theories which had developed under the two preceding Lancastrian kings. He asserted that in the Tower incident he was fully justified in the advice he had given Wydeville not to admit the Protector within its walls. He declared that before the Hainault expedition it had been decided in Council, in the presence of Gloucester, to garrison and provision the Tower, but that this had never been done; that during the absence of the Protector certain seditious risings, levelled, it would seem, mainly against foreigners, had disturbed the peace of the capital, and that Wydeville had been placed in command of the Tower to strengthen the hands of the Executive. Such being the case, Gloucester on his return had ingratiated himself with the citizens by sympathising with them for having a castle fortified against them in this manner, and had done his utmost to stultify the action of the Council in this matter. Moreover, a question of privilege had been raised by the refusal of Humphrey to deliver up a certain Friar Randolph who had been committed to the Tower on a charge of treason, and whom the Protector had removed from the Lieutenant’s custody, declaring that his command was a sufficient warrant of discharge for the custodian of the prisoner, ‘in the which thing above seyd yt was thought to my lorde of Winchestre that my seyde lorde off gloucestre toke upon himsylff fferrer thanne his auctorite stretched unto, and causid him fforto doute and drede, leest the Toure hadde be stronge he wolde have proceded fferther.’[656]

The arguments thus used by the Bishop in reply to this charge are specious to a degree, and appealed to principles of ministerial control, an attitude which has stood him in good stead with the historians of a democratic age. Nevertheless, this favourable appearance was but skin-deep. The Chancellor had had practically complete control of the kingdom whilst Gloucester had been abroad, and now he was disgusted to find that his precedence was no longer recognised. If the title of Protector was anything beyond a name, its holder was entitled to enter a royal castle at his will, and no plea of expediency could be pleaded by a Chancellor who took upon himself to deny such a right. The truth which lies beneath the fair exterior of the reply to this first charge is on careful examination quite evident. Beaufort feared that, in spite of the strict limitations put upon his power, Gloucester would prove to be stronger than had been expected, and his instructions to Wydeville were dictated by no fears for the safety of the kingdom, but fears for the permanency of his own ascendency in the councils of the nation. The stories about the Londoners and the traitor friar were in all probability true, but those who would sympathise with Beaufort as leader of the constitutional party against the encroachments of the Protector can here find no arguments to support their theory, for he had worked in opposition to his own chief, and had persuaded an officer to disobey his superior. Only so far as all who oppose governments are called constitutionalists can this term be applied to the Bishop of Winchester and his party. On the other hand, it seems hard to understand why Gloucester should deliberately give a handle to his opponent by removing Friar Randolph from custody. This action, if not exactly illegal at this time, was undoubtedly unwise, though it may be that some unexplained reason—possibly the Protector’s known affection for the unhappy Queen Joan, whose confessor and alleged accomplice Randolph was[657]—impelled him to take it.

The answer to the second and third counts, which accused Beaufort of attempting to secure the King’s person for his own ends, and of preventing Gloucester from going to visit his nephew at Eltham, give us a further insight into the events of the famous Tuesday on which the retainers of the Chancellor came to blows with the Londoners. If we are to accept Beaufort’s version of the matter—and it is to some extent corroborated by the terms of Humphrey’s accusation—the trouble between the two princes had been brewing for some time. The Chancellor declared that as early as the time when the last Parliament was sitting he had been warned that Gloucester was contemplating a personal attack on him, and that certain of the London citizens of the baser sort had announced their intention of throwing him ‘in Temyse, to have tauht him to swymme with wengis.’ Furthermore, on the Sunday which preceded the call to arms, a deputation from the Council had waited upon the Protector to know whether it was true that he bore the Chancellor ill-will, and if so, the reason of his so doing; and Gloucester had acknowledged the truth of the report. With an assumed air of innocence Beaufort recounted how the city had stood to arms all through the Monday night, and had assumed a threatening attitude towards him, although, as we know, both he and his men were ignorant of this till they attempted to cross the bridge on the following morning. On the Tuesday, it appears, the Protector had also wished to cross the river with a company of three hundred horse provided by the civic authorities, to go to Eltham to see the King, and the Chancellor had prevented this by force of arms, defending this action by saying that his rival wished to remove the King from his present abode without securing the consent of the Council—an act which he declared to be illegal and high-handed to the last degree.[658]

Thus both parties accused the other of the same intent with regard to the King, but as Beaufort on his side pointed out, and it was equally true from the point of view of his rival, no useful end was to be attained by securing the King’s person.[659] There was no obvious felonious intent in the Protector wishing to visit the child for whom he was acting, and no objection was taken by the Council to his removal to London on November 5. Beaufort’s assumed constitutional fears as to the danger attending his removal from Eltham are discounted by his declaration that the possession of the young King’s person was for him a useless burden. The truth seems to be that Gloucester, established in London, and with the citizens espousing his cause, was in so strong a position that Beaufort felt he must do something to counteract it. He therefore collected troops, and failing to effect an entrance into the city, was determined that at least Humphrey should not cross to his side of the river. The fundamental reason for the quarrel was the rivalry of two ambitious men, each desirous of governing the kingdom, but of the two Beaufort was undoubtedly the aggressor. It was he that had appealed to force to aid his cause, and though he declared that he considered the kingdom in great danger from Duke Humphrey, it never occurred to him to summon Bedford from France to restore order till he himself had been worsted in his attempt at armed interference. Humphrey cannot be accused of provoking the appeal to arms. His modest escort of three hundred men was no large force in view of the existence of an enemy on his road, also it was quite uncharacteristic of him to appeal to such means. In spite of his stormy political career, in no case do we find him making any appeal to force of arms. He was by nature a political schemer, but he had seen too much of war on a grand scale, and the disasters which militant parties bring on themselves as well as on their country, to make use of such methods. Beaufort, on the contrary, was turbulent where his opponent was factious; he dabbled in the pomp and the language of war, and was far more ready to bring the country to the venture of a ‘field’ than the party opposed to him. It was Beaufort, not Gloucester, who was responsible for the first blood spilt in that great struggle for the control of the incapable Henry vi.’s policy, the last stages of which neither were to live to see.

Beaufort’s answer to the accusation of plotting against Henry IV. and Henry V. was a denial, and an offer to stand his trial on this count;[660] but the rights of the case are of no importance here, for this was only a diplomatic move on the part of the Protector to blacken the other’s character. The Bishop’s justification of his remarks in his letter to Bedford, however, have considerable interest. He stated that in it was to be found proof of his desire for a good government of the kingdom, and of his anxiety to escape provoking a civil war, arguments which came ill from one who had tried force and had failed; but his chief point was that Gloucester had encouraged rather than restrained the seditious action of some of the London artisans, who had resisted some wage regulations made by the mayor and aldermen with the consent of the Council.[661]

This last reply was a skilful move intended to discredit Gloucester’s case by proving the disreputable character of his supporters, but we can hardly believe that the civic authorities would so loyally have supported any one who had encouraged a disregard of their decrees. Nothing speaks more strongly for the fact that the Protector, rather than the Chancellor, stood for the cause of good government than the undivided support which the long-headed, peace-loving burgesses of London gave to the former. In point of fact, both Gloucester and Beaufort were ambitious men, and neither was over-burdened with principles. Yet we must not forget that the Protectorate was in the hands of Gloucester, and that the Bishop, as Chancellor, was attacking a power which was legal, though to him obnoxious. He had inspired the limitations of the Protector’s power at the beginning of the reign; he had secured that the absent brother should be supreme; and he resented the discovery that, after all, Gloucester was not a mere subject for his Chancellor’s diplomacy, and that he was supported by a strong party in the nation. Beaufort’s action here was a bid for power, not a protest against bad government; and, while in no way praising the Protector for an enlightened policy, it would be unfair to brand his government of the nation as corrupt and merely turned to his own advantage, because an ambitious man strove to occupy the position which he held. Throughout the struggle there was no question of principle, whether moral or constitutional; it was merely a fight as to who should govern England.

The arbitrators adopted a policy of conciliation. In accordance with their award of March 12, the Bishop of Winchester solemnly declared in Parliament that he had always borne true allegiance to Henry IV., Henry V., and Henry VI.; and, in answer, Bedford, in the name of the King and Council, declared him to be a true and loyal subject. Next, the Bishop swore that he had no designs on the ‘persone, honour, and estate’ of Gloucester, who replied, ‘Beal Uncle, sithen ye so declare you such a man as ye say, I am ryght glad yat hit is so, and for suche I take yowe.’ After these formalities the two opponents shook hands.[662]

Though this award allayed the difficulties of the moment, the reconciliation thus brought about rang hollow, and there still remained much ‘prive wrath’ between the two men.[663] It was considered impossible for both to remain in office, and the day after the award (March 13) Beaufort resigned the Seal, and the Bishop of Bath followed on the 18th with his resignation of the Treasurership.[664] Thus Gloucester had secured a decided victory, and, for the time at least, he was free from Beaufort factions. A really strong man would never have permitted matters to reach the pitch they had attained, but we must not allow any of his later actions to colour our opinion of his behaviour at this time. He cannot be said to have invited the contest, and it is a revelation to those who remember only the discredited politician of later years, that there was a time when he could command the support of a strong section of the community and resist a deliberate and well-planned attack. Doubtless much of his success was due to the prestige of the position which he held, and to the fact that there was an instinctive dread—well justified in the light of subsequent events—of any change of government. To remove Gloucester from the Protectorate, though he only held it during the King’s pleasure, would be to cause a disastrous struggle, if not civil war.

Gloucester was victorious, and his position was naturally strengthened thereby. After the great ‘Debaat’ between him and Beaufort had been brought to a peaceful conclusion, little more was done in Parliament before the Easter adjournment beyond filling the vacant offices. John Kemp, Bishop of London, was made Chancellor, and Lord Hungerford succeeded the Bishop of Bath as Treasurer,[665] appointments to which, it must be presumed, Gloucester made no objection. However, the time was to come when Humphrey would class Kemp only second to Beaufort among his most prominent opponents. On the 20th of March Parliament was prorogued till the 29th of the following month, and Gloucester left Leicester forthwith, intending, it would seem, to spend Easter at London or Greenwich. On the 22nd he passed through St. Albans, whence the monks, to show their pleasure at the discomfiture of the Bishop of Winchester and the success of their patron, escorted him as far as Barnet, where he spent the night; on his return journey to Leicester for the reopening of Parliament he spent three nights at the abbey.[666] Nothing of administrative importance occurred during this second session, but on Whit-Sunday a great ceremony was made of the knighting of the young King by his uncle Bedford. Immediately afterwards Henry himself knighted thirty-six other young men, including Richard, Duke of York. Amongst these new knights we find the six-years-old Earl of Tankerville, Gloucester’s future son-in-law, and Reginald Cobham, his future brother-in-law.[667] A week later steps were taken to ensure the seven years’ truce with Scotland which had been made two years earlier. It seems that the borderland between the two countries had been the scene of considerable disturbances, and to check these a strong commission was appointed to preserve the truce and punish infractions of it. At the head of this commission stood the Duke of Gloucester.[668] On June 1 Parliament was dissolved.

Bedford was in no hurry to leave England, for he remained fifteen months in the country, and during this time the government was in his hands. Gloucester took no active share in the administration, and he seems to have lived in retirement, only emerging to attend the obsequies of the Duke of Exeter at St. Paul’s early in January 1427.[669] Almost immediately after attending this ceremony he fell ill, and was still confined to his ‘inne’ when a Council was held on January 18 in view of the approaching departure of Bedford, who was especially asked to attend this meeting. It was opened by a speech from Chancellor Kemp, now Archbishop of York, in which, after some complimentary remarks, he broached the reason for this invitation. He enlarged on the responsibility for the good governance of the kingdom which lay on the lords spiritual and temporal assembled in Parliament, or, when Parliament was not sitting, on the Council, showing how, though the King was titular sovereign, his youth compelled the full weight of government to fall on the Council, except in so far as Parliament had given definite and special powers to the Protector. He reminded Bedford that the Council might be called in question for the government and for the use of its authority, and under the circumstances they could not do their duty unless they were ‘free to governe by the said auctorite and aquite hem in al thing that hem thought expedient for the King’s behove and the good publique of the said roialmes.’ Thus, though they had no desire to curtail the Protector’s privileges of birth or position, the Council, realising that their rights were being infringed, demanded of him a declaration of his policy, and a promise to abide by the arrangement under which he held office.[670] Bedford, with a suspicious readiness, thanked the Council for their plain speaking, and declared himself ready to be ‘advised, demened and reuled’ by them in all things, asking them to point out any defects in his conduct, and then proceeding unasked to take an oath on the Testament to abide by their decisions.[671]

Gloucester, ‘being deseased with syknesse,’ was not present at this meeting, so on the following day the Lords of the Council visited him at his ‘inne,’ and repeated to him what they had said to his brother. They feared that a favourable answer was not so likely in this quarter, for they remembered his answer to certain ‘overtures and articles’ they had recently laid before him, and how ‘sayng and answeryng as he had doon at divers tymes afore,’ he had declared that if he had done anything disloyal he would answer to none but the King himself when he came of age. They reminded him of this answer, and further remarked how they had heard that he had said, ‘Let my brother governe as hym lust whiles he is in this land, for after his going overe into Fraunce I will governe as me semeth good.’ They then recounted the proceedings of the day before, and laid great stress on Bedford’s gracious answer to their request. Thus confidently expecting a like answer from him—so they assured him—they asked to know his intentions.[672]

Gloucester found himself in an awkward position. He had evidently been so elated by his victory over Beaufort that he had been more incautious than usual, and while in no way interfering with the government of his brother, had unwisely asserted his intention to profit by his success. Bedford was too wise not to be alarmed at this avowed policy, not merely because he could not trust the judgment of Gloucester, but also and mainly because he saw that it would raise such opposition, that the dissensions he had just appeased would again recur. It is more than probable that he had instigated the action of the Council, and had taken advantage of Gloucester’s indisposition. His prompt acceptance of the proposals proves that they were not unexpected, and the fact that he had taken an oath to be governed by the Council would make it practically impossible for one who was merely his substitute to refuse his consent. Thus everything was safely arranged and carried out before Gloucester knew anything about it. There was no jealousy of his brother in this action of Bedford’s; he knew the temper of the kingdom and the dangers with which it was threatened, better probably than any man living; he saw that Beaufort and Gloucester with their selfish policies were almost equally dangerous, and while he was moving one from the scene of his activities,[673] he desired to warn the other, who could not be removed, of the folly of his course. Beaufort’s influence, though his reputation in the country at large had doubtless suffered by his defeat at Leicester, was still no negligible quantity, and there is every reason to suppose that he still retained the partial confidence of Bedford. It may be that it was absolutely on his own initiative that Bedford took this action, but it was prompted by the distrust of his brother which Beaufort had instilled into his mind—a distrust, be it owned, which Humphrey had done little or nothing to remove.

Gloucester was compelled to make the best of his diplomatic defeat. His absence from the Council meeting had put all protest out of the question, and he thanked his visitors for having come to ‘advertize hym’ as they had done, and begged them always to treat him so in the future. If in any way he should break the law of the land, he would submit to be ‘corrected and governed by them,... and not by his owne wit ne ymaginacion.’ He even digressed into instances of the advantage of this course, and the disasters which might ensue from a contrary attitude. In conclusion he solemnly promised to be governed by the Council in everything which touched the King, even as Bedford had promised.[674] That this was only a temporary attitude of conciliation was to be proved before very long.

Having done his best to secure the safety of England, Bedford turned his attention to France, where the defection of Brittany had not improved the outlook. On March 19 he set sail, taking with him the Bishop of Winchester, whom he thought it best not to leave in England. As far back as the previous May Beaufort had obtained leave from the Council to go on a pilgrimage,[675] and he now availed himself of this permission, probably at the instance of Bedford, who had prepared a sop for his dignity. On the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) the Duke and Duchess of Bedford were present in the Church of Our Lady at Calais, when the Bishop of Winchester was created a Cardinal by the authority of a Bull of Martin V., and the Duke with his own hands placed the long-coveted hat on the new Cardinal’s head.[676] This honour had been long desired by Beaufort, and indeed the original Bull of creation dated from the days of the Council of Constance, but Henry V. supported Archbishop Chichele in his objection to the presence of a Cardinal Legate in England.[677] Now at last the necessary permission had been given, and while Bedford applied himself to the French wars, Beaufort went off as Papal Legate to wage war on the revolted Hussites in Bohemia.

Whether this additional dignity conferred on the Bishop of Winchester was calculated to advance the peace of England may well be doubted. Bedford had worked hard to restore peace between the various parties in England; he had produced a compromise which tended to favour Humphrey; he had as a counter-blast secured a definite acknowledgment by the Protector of the authority of the Council; finally he had greatly strengthened the hands of the Protector’s enemy by giving him the prestige and power which attached to the cardinalate. His action in England had all the vicious characteristics of a compromise. Even as in war a victory won by either side inevitably leads to a third battle, so in politics the successes won alternately by Gloucester and Beaufort must open the way to another conflict. It could not be expected that the new Cardinal would spend the rest of his life out of England, his political proclivities were too strong for this, and on his return he would almost inevitably reopen the old struggle which had nearly resulted in civil war. Bedford accurately diagnosed the disease from which England was suffering, but he failed to prescribe the right remedy. The only hope of peace lay in the crushing of one of the rivals, and though this might have been impossible, it was not even attempted. Each was in turn humbled, but only to such an extent as to make him still more ambitious, and the sole definite bit of policy to be found in Bedford’s action in England was the emphasising of the power of the Council and the developing of those constitutional theories of government, which by reason of their precocity were bound to bring disaster both to the kingdom and the dynasty. Bedford’s interference in English politics had no healing effect; it only postponed the coming struggle by the temporary diversion of Beaufort’s ambitious energies to the Hussite war. On the latter’s return the substitution of the cardinalate for the chancellorship was not calculated to weaken his position, whilst the strengthening of that of the Council would tend to induce Gloucester to use all the means in his power to undermine its authority.

Meanwhile in England Gloucester had been seriously ill, and it was not till April that he was sufficiently recovered to journey to St. Albans; there on St. Mark’s Day, escorted by the usual procession headed by the Abbot, he gave thanks for his recovery, and presented his gift of gratitude on the High Altar.[678] Having visited the cell of Sopwell, he returned to Langley.[679] Here he busied himself in the affairs of the kingdom, being made Justiciar of Chester and of North Wales on May 10, an office which he was allowed to delegate to a substitute for whose actions as well as his own he must answer to the King.[680] Indeed, Gloucester seems to have been very energetic in executing his duties as Protector, and to have turned to the administration of the government that restless energy, which circumstances and his own ambitious nature had drawn lately to less worthy occupations. In June we find him at Norwich to strengthen by his presence the hands of the justices who had to try a case of lawlessness which had gone unpunished during the disturbed state of affairs in official circles. On the last night of 1423 certain felons to the number of eighty or more had attacked the house of John Grys of Wighton in the county of Norfolk, and he being ‘somewhat heated with wassail,’ had been dragged out to a gallows a mile away, where with his son Gregory and a servant he had been butchered for lack of a rope to hang them. It would seem that the two principals in this outrage had been Walter Aslak and Richard Kyllynworth, who tried after this to establish a reign of terror in Norfolk, and so threatened William Paston by manifestoes openly posted in public places, that ‘the seyd William, hese clerkes and servauntz by longe time after were in gret and intollerable drede and fere.’ Paston had indicted these men before Gloucester as Protector, and on April 5, 1425, the matter had been referred to arbitration. The award of the arbitrators had been ignored by Aslak, and under the protection of Sir Thomas Erpingham he had further annoyed Paston at the Parliament of Leicester. Gloucester now presided in person at the trial of the offenders, and six men were condemned for this outrage and put to death.[681]

Before the end of the month the Protector was back in London, holding a council, at which matters of some moment were up for discussion. The truce with Scotland for which Gloucester was one of the guarantors had not been very well observed, and the question of heresy had also come to the fore.[682] Shortly before Gloucester’s visit to St. Albans a certain William Wawe—latro mirabilis the chronicler quaintly calls him—had attacked the neighbouring nunnery of Sopwell and plundered its contents. Rightly or wrongly this was considered to be part of a Lollard scheme of opposition to the Church, and it was as a heretic as well as a ‘wonderful robber’ that Wawe, after a period of confinement at St. Albans, was arraigned before Gloucester in London. We cannot in any way judge of the rights of the case, as we have only a very one-sided account of the event, but it is quite possible that it was more the heated imaginations of the ecclesiastics, who had not forgotten the incidents connected with Oldcastle, than any real heretical inclinations on the part of the prisoner, which produced the charge. Wawe was condemned and hanged.[683]

In these two cases of summary judgment we find displayed a side of the Protector’s character which has been given but scant justice by historians. Though crafty and self-seeking, Gloucester was in no sense turbulent. His justice thus meted out cannot be dismissed as a standard of ethics to which he himself did not conform. We have no instance in which he appealed to brute force except when he was compelled to do so, for in the case of the quarrel with Beaufort he was not the aggressor, nor can we believe the stories of armed conspiracy which surround his mysterious death. His energy was devoted at this time at least towards keeping the peace. We have seen his recent journeys into the country districts to settle matters which might cause disturbance, and in September he was at Chester,[684] whither he had probably gone in his capacity as Justiciar of that district, not being content to leave his duties there to a delegated representative, as the terms of his appointment had allowed. As Protector he meted out justice impartially, and though he may have helped to shatter the foreign policy of his country, his home government shows a strange contrast to the other more prominent but by no means more essential incidents of his life. It is, however, by the terms of his Hainault policy that he has been judged, a policy which, with all its far-reaching consequences, occupied but a small part of his life, and to the last stages of which we must now refer.

Whilst Gloucester had been devoting his time to the assertion of his personality in English politics, Jacqueline had been carrying on her uphill struggle against the superior forces and the boundless resources of the Duke of Burgundy. Her English husband, though his attention was devoted to other matters, was still prosecuting his cause at the Court of Rome, and even during the stormy days of the Parliament at Leicester we find a reference to his attempt to secure a recognition of the legality of his marriage.[685] But all hope of papal favour was now very remote, for at this very time we find an edict, issued on February 27, 1426, by the papal commissioner who was examining the case, declaring the desertion of Brabant by Jacqueline to be quite illegal, and committing her to the care of her kinsman Amadeus of Savoy until the ultimate decision was given by the Pope.[686] Though this edict had not the authority of a papal Bull, yet it showed which party the decision of the Pope would favour, and the chroniclers agree in taking this date as the final decision of the matter.[687] Nevertheless pressure was still brought to bear on the Pope, and in October of the same year the English Council agreed to desist from prosecuting the Bishop of Lincoln under the act of PrÆmunire, on condition that he should do his utmost to expedite the cause of the Duke of Gloucester at Rome.[688]

Jacqueline had no intention of returning to her former husband, or of resigning herself to the keeping of her kinsman of Savoy, and in view of the greater difficulties which now attended her owing to the defection of some of her none too numerous supporters, she turned her thoughts again to the country which had befriended her in the past, where dwelt the man whom she claimed as her husband, though he seemed to have forgotten her existence. From Gouda, where she was making a last desperate resistance against her enemies, she sent Lewis de Montfort and Arnold of Ghent to the Council in England with a letter which was written on April 8, 1427. She recalled therein the friendship of Henry V., and assured them that he would never have left her to her fate; she begged for help, comme pour femme desolÉe, and begged them to lay her sad plight before her husband, and induce him to come to her help, or at least to send her some assistance.[689] She had evidently given up hope of any spontaneous support from Humphrey. She no longer wrote to him personally, as she had done earlier, and she realised that her only hope of relief was to lay stress on the moral obligation laid on the nation by the action of Henry V. In answer to her letter ambassadors were sent from England, bearing an answer written in the name of the King, and to this Jacqueline replied agreeing to the desire for peace expressed by Henry VI., but pointing to Burgundy’s unreasonableness as an impossible bar to any pacific arrangement. Again she asked for help in the name of Henry V.’s friendship for her.[690]

Before this last letter had been despatched a change had come over the state of affairs. The Duke of Brabant had brought his poor mean life to an end in a halo of sanctity,[691] and the Duke of Burgundy could no longer wage war in his name. This was no obstacle to the unscrupulous Philip, who declared that, as formerly, he had been the regent of John of Brabant in his wife’s dominions, so now he was by inference regent for that wife herself. The dummy which had stood as an excuse for interference in Hainault was now removed, and we can see the state of affairs clearly, untrammelled by diplomatic fictions. All along, in point of fact, the struggle had been between Jacqueline and her powerful cousin, now it was so in theory also. Under these altered conditions the Countess made yet another appeal to the English Council on June 6, alluding to the recent events, and imploring assistance.[692] At the same time she sent ambassadors with written instructions both to the Council and to Gloucester.[693] Letter and messages were delivered towards the end of June,[694] and at length these constant appeals began to make an impression. Gloucester began to bestir himself, seeing that he would probably have public opinion on his side, and that he was free from the interference of Bedford. He appealed to Parliament for the sum of 20,000 marks to enable him to equip an army to assist Jacqueline,[695] and this body replied willingly to the request by petitioning the Council to take steps to alleviate her position, whether by treaty or some other means, laying stress on the perilous position in which she found herself, as recorded in letters both to her husband and to the estates of the realm; they also backed up Gloucester’s request for 20,000 marks. The matter was seriously considered by the Council, and it was ultimately decided that 9000 marks should be granted to Gloucester, 4000 marks of which was to consist of the immediate payment of half his yearly salary as Protector, the other 5000 marks being a grant for the maintenance of his Duchess.[696]

This money was given for a definite purpose, and for that purpose alone; it was to furnish an expedition to Holland, which should relieve and garrison the towns which still remained obedient to Jacqueline. Part of the forces were to be told off to escort the Countess to England, whilst the remainder were to stay behind in Hainault and protect such places as they had relieved. Under no conditions were they to act on the offensive, or attack any place in Holland, Hainault, or Zealand held by any one but Jacqueline. As though they feared that the money would not be directed to its destined use, the Council arranged that it should be paid to two persons appointed by Gloucester to receive it, with the proviso that if no soldiers could be induced to go, the receivers were to hold the money for the King’s use, while all soldiers that were enlisted were to be paid directly by them.[697]

Thus, though a grant was made, it was hedged in with conditions which betray no desire on the part of the Council to assist Gloucester to a continental dominion. Jacqueline had an undoubted claim on the sympathy of Englishmen, and a desire for her safety was expressed on all sides, yet under the circumstances it was not desirable, from the point of view of English politics, that she should be enabled to prolong her resistance to Burgundy. The visit of Bedford to England had not been in vain, for it had taught Englishmen the danger of Burgundian complications, and the necessity for refraining from undue intervention in the politics of Hainault. This money for armed assistance to Jacqueline was not intended to prolong the struggle, but to procure a peace between the opposing parties in Hainault; the terms on which the grant was made plainly indicate that it was her safety only that was to be procured; she was to be removed and brought back to an asylum in England. No thought of helping Humphrey lay therein. As the husband of the lady he was to carry out the commission, but it was made impossible for him to extract any territorial or monetary advantage therefrom.

However galling this position might be to Gloucester, he began to prepare an army to fulfil the commands of the Council, and he received ready support from the Earl of Salisbury. This famous general had been distinguishing himself in the wars in France; he had served with distinction under Henry V.; at Verneuil he had been conspicuous for his bravery,[698] and since then he had established a great military reputation. He was now ready to put his abilities at the service of the Duke of Gloucester, for he had sworn to avenge himself on Burgundy who had seduced his wife, and he was joined under Humphrey’s banner by many of the chief men of the kingdom.[699] From this readiness to undertake hostilities against Burgundy we may gather that the ill-will between Philip and his English allies was not entirely due to the reckless action of Gloucester, and that there were many who were ready to help on the discomfiture of a man who had done little to make his alliance effective, and who more than once had intrigued with both parties in France in the hope of securing some personal advantage.

This expedition to Hainault was not, however, to take place. Ten days after they had agreed to grant Humphrey the 9000 marks, the Council wrote to Bedford and explained what they had done. They described how strong was public opinion in favour of Jacqueline, and how they had determined to give her support, but they besought the Regent of France to do his utmost to bring about peace by inducing Burgundy to abstain from his wrongful oppression of the Duchess of Gloucester and her husband.[700] Bedford was naturally dismayed at this news. Knowing Philip as he did, he realised that even purely defensive interference by English troops in Hainault would be regarded as an unforgivable act of hostility. At the best of times Burgundian fidelity to the English alliance hung by a mere thread, and with this excuse nothing would prevent Philip from coming to an agreement with the Dauphin, in favour of whom public opinion in France was slowly turning. To prevent such a result he promptly answered the Council’s letter, stating that Philip was ready to treat with Gloucester, and pointing out the dangers which would attend English intervention in the matter; the King was young, and the alienation of Burgundy under these conditions was very undesirable, and might bring terrible disasters on the English cause in France. Moreover, it was not fair to condemn Philip unheard, and, in any case, the rights of the matter must be decided in Rome and not in London.[701] He also wrote to Humphrey, declaring his affection for him in the most brotherly terms, and begging him in the name of England’s safety not to carry out his mad intention, but to listen to the advice of those who wished him well. At the same time he offered to use all his influence to bring about a peace, which would not reflect in any way on his brother’s honour.[702] Not content with letters, he sent over ambassadors to impress on the Council the impolicy of allowing Gloucester to go to Hainault, and to procure, if possible, the abandonment of the idea.[703] Meanwhile he turned his attention to Duke Philip himself, who was already busy preparing forces to resist the expected invasion.[704] A meeting between the two Dukes at Lille proved abortive, but since the expedition had been delayed in spite of a protest from Jacqueline received in September,[705] and no signs of its approach were apparent, a truce with the promise of a future settlement was at length concluded between Burgundy and Gloucester at Paris.[706]

Thus Humphrey allowed the year to close without having done anything to help the lady who could hardly be called his wife, and on January 9 in the new year the Pope finally issued a Bull, whereby the marriage of Jacqueline with Brabant was definitely recognised as valid, and any marriage contracted by the former in the lifetime of the latter was declared to be illegal.[707] Gloucester was weary of the whole affair. He had not protested against Bedford’s opposition to the last projected expedition to Hainault, for he had given up all hope of a continental dominion from the day when he first turned his back on Hainault. He was too deeply occupied in asserting himself in English politics to trouble his mind over a matter which had passed so entirely out of his thoughts, and his preparations in answer to the grant of 9000 marks had been spiritless and unconvincing. Now, though Jacqueline lodged a protest against the final decision of the Court of Rome, he took no action, and on March 17 procured the cancelling of the bonds of the 9000 marks loan of the previous year.[708] This callous behaviour with regard to his former wife seems to have shocked his contemporaries. On March 8 the Mayor and Aldermen of London appeared before Parliament, and said that they had received letters from Jacqueline, whom in defiance of the papal Bull they called Duchess of Gloucester as well as Countess of Holland and Zealand, in which she appealed to them for help. They declared that the nation ought to rescue her, and said that they were ready to help within reason.[709]

More definite than this implied censure on Gloucester was another scene enacted within the precincts of Parliament about this time.[710] A woman from the Stocks Market,[711] which occupied the present site of the Mansion House, and was so called from the stocks which stood there, came openly into Parliament, bringing with her some other London women, and handed letters to Gloucester, the two Archbishops and other lords there, censuring the Duke for not taking steps to relieve his wife from her danger, and for leaving her unloved and forgotten in captivity, whilst he was living in adultery with another woman, ‘to the ruin of himself, the kingdom, and the marital bond.’[712] The women of London at this time were apt to assert their right to a voice in public matters. In the very next year we find the wives and daughters of the citizens of Aldgate taking the law into their own hands, and killing a Breton murderer by pelting him with stones and canal mud in spite of the intervention of the constables who were escorting the prisoner to the coast.[713] In this case the victim of the murderer was an old widowed lady who had shown him much charity, and it would seem that it was only in matters which affected their own sex that the London women took an interest. The story of the women’s petition to Parliament is handed down to us in the pages of a chronicler of the friendly house of St. Albans, though the entry has been cancelled by another hand; it therefore helps us to understand the intense sympathy felt in England for Jacqueline, when the men and women of London both came to censure their ‘Good Duke.’

It is possible that news of the ultimate declaration of the Court of Rome had not yet reached England, for we find Jacqueline termed Duchess of Gloucester in an official document of March 18 in this year,[714] but this did not detract from the blame which the Duke had incurred by his neglect of the woman whom he had claimed as his wife for the last six years. We cannot but find the censure of the market-women well deserved. In the hope of increasing his possessions and his power Humphrey had made a questionable marriage with Jacqueline, but this could be forgiven him if, when he had done so, he had been loyal to his wife, who at one time at all events had loved him for himself. It was not the perception of the political complications which would result from further action that restrained him, but the realisation that the prize was not worth the energy needed to win it, coupled with the fact that he had become a slave to what was perhaps the one real passion of his life.

We have seen how Gloucester was accompanied home from Hainault by one of Jacqueline’s English ladies-in-waiting, and how he had fallen a victim to her charms. Eleanor Cobham was of great beauty, so the gossiping Æneas Sylvius tells us, whilst Waurin bears testimony to her wonderful charm and courage,[715] but her honour had been besmirched before Gloucester made her acquaintance.[716] Notwithstanding this, she had gained a complete ascendency over her royal lover, to whom she had probably borne two children by this time, and the superstition of the age did not hesitate to say that it was through potions provided by the Witch of Eye that this ascendency had been secured.[717] Throughout these last years it had been the attractions of this woman that had caused Gloucester to forget Jacqueline, and he now carried his infatuation so far as to marry her. Freed from all obligations to his former wife by papal decree, he hastened to legalise his relations with Eleanor, whence ‘arose shame and more disgrace and inconvenience to the whole kingdom than can be expressed,’ says a contemporary chronicler,[718] whilst a later writer says, ‘and if he wer unquieted with his other pretensed wife, truly he was tenne tymes more vexed by occasion of this woman—so that he began his marriage with evill, and ended it with worse.’[719] Monstrelet also looks askance at the marriage,[720] and even the poet Lydgate raised his voice against the ‘Cyronees,’ who tempted

Eleanor was an ambitious woman, who had undoubtedly had this end in view, but that she had been used by Bedford and Beaufort as a counter attraction to Jacqueline is a statement supported by no evidence, and merely suggested by the dramatic instinct of a poet. There was nothing unusual in this action of Gloucester’s, and if he married his mistress, it was no more than his grandfather had done before him. Even if he did not encourage the marriage, Beaufort could not object to it, for what claims he had to legitimacy were based upon such a union.

Henceforth the history of Jacqueline ceases to be bound up with that of Gloucester, and a few months later she was compelled to agree to a treaty with Burgundy, whereby she acknowledged the illegality of her former marriage. Bereft of her English husband, her life assumed a calmer aspect, and for the remaining years that she had to live she could not regret the loss of one for whom she had suffered so much, and from whom she had received so little.

While Jacqueline was making her last stand against her enemies, and sending her last appeals for help across to England, Humphrey was occupied with ambitions far nearer home and totally unconnected with his now forgotten Hainault policy. The Parliament of 1427, which had been opened by the little King in person on October 13, had been prorogued on December 8 by the Protector on the authority of letters-patent from the King,[722] and on both occasions the subordination of the Protector to the rules laid down for him were thus fully emphasised. Gloucester began openly to resent these limitations of his power, and even before the adjournment he had made some protest against the merely nominal privileges which he enjoyed.[723] No notice had been taken of this protest, and he was therefore left to reflect on the matter during the recess. Christmas he spent at his favourite monastery, and the St. Albans chronicler tells us of the splendid style in which he celebrated the Feast. When Epiphany was past, he moved on to Ashbridge near Berkhampsted for a stay of three days, and thence he returned to London for the reopening of Parliament.[724] His mind was made up. In spite of the previous ignoring of his protest, he now, on March 3, requested that the Lords should define his powers, and did so in such a way as to imply a demand for more extended rights and privileges than he at present possessed. He declared his intention of abstaining from attendance in Parliament till this matter was settled, and arrogantly declared that during his absence other questions might be discussed but not settled.[725]

The motive underlying the request is evident. Bedford was safely employed in the French wars and in Burgundian negotiations; Beaufort was also absent, and it seemed to Gloucester to be an ideal time to strengthen his hands against the Cardinal. Possibly he had been betrayed into the belief that he held the ascendency in Parliament by the alacrity with which that body had sanctioned the recent loan to him. Short-sighted as before, he could not distinguish between sympathy for Jacqueline’s sad plight and sympathy with his personal ambitions, and he did not realise that other men’s memories were longer than his. In point of fact he could not have chosen a worse time for this attempt to secure increased power in the kingdom, for the Lords would have less compunction in refusing anything to the ‘Good Duke’ at a time when his conduct was being openly censured even by his London supporters, than when his popularity was not under a shadow. As it was, the demand produced the inevitable result. The Lords took their stand on the arrangements made in the first Parliament of the reign, recalling how at that time Humphrey had claimed the government of the kingdom, both by right of birth and by the right of the will of Henry V., how records had been searched and precedents consulted, with the result that the claim was found to be unsupported by any legal authority, whilst the right of Henry V. to give away the government of the country after his death was also found to have no legal basis. Yet for the sake of peace and to ‘appese’ Gloucester, he had been made chief councillor of the King as long as Bedford remained abroad, and to distinguish him from the other councillors the name of ‘Protector and Defender’ was ‘devised’ for him, which should not ‘emporte auctorite of governaunce of ye land,’ but merely carry with it a personal duty to provide for the defence of the kingdom both from external and internal dangers, giving him therewith certain powers which were enumerated at the time. That was the intention of Parliament five years ago, and beyond this the Lords would not now go; indeed at the time Gloucester had agreed to the arrangement. In Parliament Humphrey had no rights beyond those of any other duke, and it was merely as Duke of Gloucester that he was summoned there. The Lords declared themselves surprised at his recent demands, and they told him pretty bluntly that he must be content with such power as he had got, even as was Bedford. In conclusion they expressed a hope that he would take his seat in Parliament, and make no more ado about his position there.[726]

Nothing could show us more plainly than this the suspicion in which were held any attempts by Gloucester to monopolise the governmental power, and the surprisingly advanced state of constitutional theory. Yet we must not be tempted to dismiss this incident merely as an indication of Humphrey’s ambition, and of the patriotic endeavour of Parliament to maintain constitutional government in the face of expiring despotism. Humphrey’s ambitious nature is, of course, beyond dispute, but among his motives there may have been some hope of giving the kingdom a strength it lacked under the present government. It is a platitude to say that under the Lancastrian kings England had advanced in constitutional theory much further than in administrative efficiency. The elements of constitutional monarchy had been attained, and they are nowhere better expressed than in the answer to Gloucester’s demands, but parliamentary government at this time was not what we understand by that term now. The Parliament of Henry VI. was not representative of the kingdom in the modern sense of the word; it was largely a reflection of the desires of the English nobility, or rather of a certain dominant clique therein. The government of this clique had not proved a blessing to England, and we have already seen something of the lawlessness and disorder of the kingdom generally. In September of the following year the Chancellor in opening Parliament was very despondent about the moral state of the country, declaring that acts of lawlessness and oppression were everyday occurrences, and arose from the absence of any real administration of justice.[727]

To Humphrey was given all the hard work of keeping the peace, with none of the rewards for those labours, or the prestige which would make his influence efficient. As it was, the divisions in the government had disastrous effects; the country was not ready for a divided sovereignty. The only remedy for this state of affairs was that the central power should be in the hands of one man, who should make his personality felt at a time when personality had far more influence on men’s minds than any theory of government. We cannot suggest that Humphrey was the ideal man to exert this personal power, yet we must not forget his past attempts to administer the law for the benefit of the injured, or his later efforts to prevent sedition and internal strife. He could not belong to the House of Lancaster without inheriting some of the administrative qualities of his family; to this was added his popularity with the people, and his position as a member of the royal family. Owing to this position his influence must be great, and it would have been to the advantage of the country that this influence should be exerted on the side of law and order, rather than at the head of a discontented opposition. On paper the theories contained in the Lords’ reply were excellent, but in practice they needed a more advanced state of society than that which obtained in fifteenth-century England. The country, though it knew it not, was on the eve of a civil war of the worst kind, and a man untrammelled by the limitations of a none too wise oligarchy might have saved it many years of bloodshed. Humphrey was not a strong character, yet with his advantages of birth to support him, he was no weaker than any other individual of the time in England, and far stronger than the divided rule of a Regency Council.

As a mitigation of the rebuff of this refusal to increase his powers, Gloucester was granted the payment for forty-eight days’ service in 1415, which had hitherto been refused by the officials of the Exchequer;[728] and when Parliament had ceased to sit he went off to Merton, where he kept the Feast of Easter.[729] The King meanwhile was taken to keep the Feast at Hertford, where he was visited by Warwick, who had been brought back from France to fill a post wherein he might act as another check on the power of the Protector.[730] The death of the Duke of Exeter in January 1427 had left the post of tutor to the King vacant, and hitherto this vacancy had not been filled. Now, however, fearing that in the absence of an authorised tutor Gloucester might influence his royal nephew, the Council determined to give to Warwick the place of Exeter, thus fulfilling the wishes of the late King in this respect, though they had lately refused to do so in the matter of the Protectorate. On June 1 the writ empowering Warwick to exercise the office of tutor to Henry VI. was signed by Gloucester and eleven other Lords of the Council.[731]

In the same month we find Humphrey hearing petitions in the Star Chamber at Westminster with other members of the Council,[732] but he was called away shortly afterwards to settle a dispute which threatened the peace of the Midlands. From some paltry retainer’s quarrel a feud had sprung up between John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, and John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon, and matters had gone so far that each had collected a considerable force, and a pitched battle seemed imminent. Hearing of this the Protector hastened to leave London, and on August 19 reached St. Albans, where the monks greeted him with the usual joyful processions. He did not, however, delay here, but the next morning, having paid his respects to the Holy Martyr, he set off in the direction of Bedfordshire, so that he might get in touch with the two opponents, and probe the reasons for their quarrel. Though an actual fight was averted, no settlement could be arranged, as the Duke of Norfolk refused to appear before the Protector.[733] Here again we find an instance of the undesirable effects of government by the Privy Council. Both Norfolk and Huntingdon were councillors, and naturally resented the interference of a man whose power in the government was subordinate to theirs, but their feelings of patriotism and responsibility were not enough to induce them to keep the peace which they were supposed to enforce on others. No better example could be found of the emptiness of constitutional theory in those days of turbulence and violence.

Finding himself powerless to restore peace in Bedfordshire, Gloucester turned south, and by way of St. Albans reached London, where he prepared to welcome his old rival Beaufort on his return from the Continent.[734] This was the Bishop of Winchester’s first appearance in England as a cardinal, and he was met on September 1 outside London by the Mayor and citizens ‘reverently arrayed in red hoods and green vestments. The Abbot of St. Albans and many of the regular clergy were there also to meet him, but of the bishops his Lordship of Salisbury was the only representative.[735] Gloucester cannot have received the Cardinal with unalloyed pleasure, for he thoroughly disapproved of the policy which had allowed the acceptance of the cardinal’s hat. However, he joined in the official reception, when the Cardinal rode into the city with that pomp and magnificence which he loved so well.

The year passed to its close without further incident, though on November 19, the Eve of St. Edmund, King and Martyr, we find the Cardinal again seizing the opportunity of displaying his newly acquired dignity. A solemn procession round the city was headed by Beaufort, accompanied by the two Archbishops, the Mayor, and the Protector himself, who, for the time, seems to have been on good terms with his uncle.[736] As Christmas drew near, Gloucester went down to Greenwich, there to celebrate the festival in the house which he had acquired after the death of the Duke of Exeter, and which he was later to transform into a famous palace.[737] But with Beaufort in England once more, he was on the lookout to curb the power of his old antagonist, and the opportunity was offered him by the cardinalate which the latter had accepted.

It has been said that Beaufort made ‘the great mistake of his life’ when he accepted this dignity;[738] at all events it gave the Protector an excuse for attacking him. He had come back from the Continent with a papal commission to raise men and money for the crusade against the Hussites, and he was permitted to make an expedition to Scotland for this purpose.[739] During his absence Gloucester raised the question as to whether he had not vacated his bishopric by accepting the cardinal’s hat, since it exempted him from the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury,[740] and on his return the Cardinal, in order that the matter might be settled forthwith, petitioned the King to be allowed to exercise his functions as prelate of the Garter, by right of his bishopric of Winchester, at the approaching Feast of St. George, the patron saint of the Order and of the kingdom. The matter was discussed before the King at Westminster on April 17, and the peers, prelates, and abbots present agreed to ask the new cardinal to refrain from attending the festival on this occasion at any rate.[741]

By thus playing on the fears of the majority of Englishmen, who looked with great dislike on any one who even seemed to suggest papal interference in the country, Gloucester had made a skilful, if somewhat revengeful, move, but we must not forget that Beaufort had taken the first step that led to the state of mutual mistrust which prompted this action. For the time Gloucester held the ascendence over his rival, and in the hope of getting him out of the country again, raised no objection to the permission granted to the Cardinal to raise forces for the campaign against the Hussites,[742] and this in spite of the fact that Bedford was asking for reinforcements. However, the defeat of the English at Patay on the same day that the permission to Beaufort was given could not be overlooked, and the Cardinal was induced to lead his forces to the help of Bedford, and to postpone his crusading zeal.[743] In June he crossed the Channel and landed in France.[744]

Bedford, however, wanted more than reinforcements. In the face of the French successes under the influence of the enthusiasm engendered by the Maid of Orleans, and the favour with which Frenchmen generally were beginning to look on the hitherto despised cause of the ‘King of Bourges,’ it was necessary to do something to rehabilitate the Lancastrian cause in France. It was with this object that the Regent earnestly asked the English Council to send the little King to be crowned at Paris.[745] When Parliament met on September 22 it agreed to comply with this request, and preparations were rapidly made so that Henry’s coronation in England might first take place. Gloucester naturally took a large share in these preparations; it was always with zest that he arranged a great function. On October 10 he was appointed to act as Steward of England for the occasion,[746] whilst he was allowed to appoint a deputy to perform his duties as Great Chamberlain.[747]

It was on St. Leonard’s Day, Sunday, November 6, that the coronation took place, shorn of some of its glories by reason of the haste with which preparations for it had been made. Archbishop Chichele, assisted by the Cardinal Bishop of Winchester, who had returned from France for the occasion, performed the ceremony, which ended with a banquet in Westminster Hall, such as Gloucester had supervised nearly ten years before on the occasion of Queen Catherine’s coronation.[748]