King and the other notwithstanding any Confederacies they have made on this side or beyond the Sea with any Persons be they of Scotland or Flanders or any other Country 32. Also it is agreed That the King of France and his Eldest Son the Regent for them and for their Heirs Kings of France as soon as it may be done shall declare themselves and depart from all the Confederacies they have with the Scots and promise That they nor their Heirs nor the Kings of France for the time being shall give or do to the King or Realm of Scotland nor the Subjects thereof present and to come any Aid Comfort or Favour against the King of England his Heirs and Successors nor against the Kingdom nor against the Subjects in any manner and that they make not other Alliances with the Scots in time to come against the Kings and Kingdom of England And in like manner as soon as it may be done the King of England and his Eldest Son shall declare themselves and depart from all Alliances they have with the Flemmings and so on in the same Words and Things concerning them as the King of France engaged to do in respect of the Scots 33. Also it is agreed That the Collations and Provisions made of Benefices vacant in time of the War by one Party and the other shall hold and be good and that the Costs Issues and Revenues received and levied of any Benefices or other things Temporal whatever in the Kingdoms of France and England by one Party or the other during the Wars shall be quitted by one Party and the other 34. Also That the Kings above-said shall be bound to cause to be confirmed all the Things above-said by our Holy Father the Pope and they shall be made sure and strengthened by Oaths Sentences and Censures of the Court of Rome and all other Places in the most strong manner that can be and there shall be obtained Dispensations Absolutions and Letters from the Court of Rome for perfecting this Treaty and they shall be delivered to the Parties at furthest within three Weeks after the King shall be arrived at Calais 35. Also That all the Subjects of the said Kings which come to Study in the Universities and Places of Study in the Kingdoms of France and England shall enjoy the Privileges and Liberties of those Places and Universities as well as they might have done before the War or as they do at this present 36. Also it is agreed That to the end the Things debated and treated of as above may be more established firm and valuable there shall be made and given the Securities which follow That is to say Letters or Instruments sealed with the Seals of both Kings and their Eldest Sons the best that can be made or directed by their Counsel And the said Kings and their Eldest Sons and other Sons shall swear and also those of their Lineage and other great Men of their Kingdoms to the number of Twenty on each side That they will observe and keep and help in the keeping of the Things treated and agreed inasmuch as shall concern them and without Fraud or Deceit shall accomplish them without ever doing any thing to the contrary and without any hindrance of the same And if there shall be any of the Kingdom of England or France which shall be Rebels and will not agree to the Things above-said the said Kings shall use the Power of their Bodies Goods and Friends to bring such Rebels to Obedience according to the Form and Tenour of the Treaty And further the said Kings their Heirs and Kingdoms shall submit themselves to the Coertion of our Holy Father the Pope that he may constrain by Sentences Censures of the Church and all due ways him that shall be Rebel according to Reason And according to these Establishments and Securities above-said both Kings and their Heirs shall by Faith and Oath Renounce all Wars and Contention And if by Disobedience Rebellion or Power of any Subjects of France or any just Cause the King of France or his Heirs cannot accomplish all the Things above-said the King of England his Heirs or any for them shall not make War against the King of France his Heirs or Kingdom but both together shall endeavour to bring the Rebels into true Obedience and accomplish the Things above-said And if any of the Realm or Obedience of the King of England will not render the Castles Towns and Fortresses which they hold in the Realm of France and obey the Treaty above-said or for just cause cannot do that which by this Treaty they ought to do The King of France nor his Heirs nor any for them shall make War upon the King of England or his Kingdom but both together shall employ their Power to recover the Castles Towns and Fortresses and that all Obedience and Compliance may be given to the Treaty And there shall be made and given on both sides according to the nature of the Fact all manner of Security that shall be known or can be devised as well by the Pope the College of the Court of Rome as otherwise holding and keeping the Peace perpetually and all the Things as above agreed 37. Also it is agreed That by this present Treaty all others if any have been made before shall be null and void and never be any Advantage to either Party nor cause any Reproach of one to the other for not observing them 38. Also the present Treaty shall be Approved Sworn to and Confirmed by the Two Kings when theyshall meet at Calais and after the King of France shall be gone from thence and be in his own Power within a Month next following he shall make Letters Patents of Confirmation and send and deliver them at Calais to the King of England and receive such and the like from the King of England 39. Also it is agreed That neither King shall procure or cause to be procured by himself or others any Injury or Molestation by the Church of Rome or any of Holy Church whoever they be to or concerning this Treaty towards either of the Kings their Coadjutors Adherents and Allies whoever they be or their Lands or Subjects on occasion of the War or other thing or for Service the Coadjutors Adherents or Allies of either side have performed or if our Holy Father will do it of himself both Kings shall hinder it as well as they can without Deceit 40. Also the Hostages that are to be delivered to the King of England at Calais the manner and time thereof the Two Kings shall there direct Note That in the Corrected Instrument or Letters of this Treaty the Words Resort and Sovereignty are always and in all Articles omitted in respect to the King of England's enjoying them in the Places which were to be delivered to him where in the uncorrected Articles and Instrument they are given to him And then it follows at the latter end or bottom of the Articles
Grands by their great Devotion and Gifts to Holy Church were in peaceable possession to give the Churches and Benefices as Holy King Edward gave the Bishoprick of Worcester to St. Wulstan and afterward by Devotion of the Kings it was granted and by the Court of Rome confirmed That the Cathedral Churches should have free Election of their Prelates so as the Bishopricks by true Election and other Benefices of Holy Church were given Charitably not out of Covetousness or by Simony to the most Worthy of the Clergy of Strictest Lives and holy Conversation that could be found such as would reside upon their Benefices Preach Visit and Confess their Parishioners and spend the Goods of Holy Church to the Honour of God and in Works of Charity according to the Devotion and Intent of the Donors And so long as these good Customs were used the Kingdom was prosperous the People good and Loyal there was Peace and Quiet and sufficient of Treasure Grain Cattle and other Riches but since these good Customs have been perverted Covetousness and Simony advanced the Kingdom hath been full of Adversities le Roialme ad este plien des diverses adversitez as Wars Pestilence Famine Murrein amongst Cattle and other Grievances whereby the Kingdom was so much empoverished and destoyed that there were not the Third part of the People or other Things in it for the Cause abovesaid and what follows Also it is to be thought on That no Man in the World who loved God Holy Church the King and Kingdom of England but had great Reason to think Sorrowfully of things and Weep That the Court of Rome that was wont to be the Fountain Root and Source of Sanctity and Destruction of Covetousness Simony and other Sins had so craftily by little and little more and more in process of time gained the Collations of Bishopricks Dignities Prebendaries and other Benefices of Holy Church in England of which the Pope always received the Tax or First Fruits and by his Bulls made several Translations that he might get the more by which Means and by other Payments and Charges the Bishops became so much in Debt to the Court of Rome that they sold the Timber of their Bishopricks had Ayd of their Poor Tenants and the Clergy and all Methods were taken to destroy the Church and Realm of England Also it ought to be thought on That there are many that when they have purchased one Benefice of the Court of Rome and payed the Tax or First-fruits and the Brokers of Benefices residing in the Wicked City of Avinion en la pechere use Cite D'Avenon they let them to Farm and send the Rents to their Brokers to purchase more and greater Benefices even as a Caitif or miserable Person not worth or good for any thing by Simony or Brokage shall be preferred to Churches and Prebendaries to the Value of 1000 Marcs whereas a Doctor of Decrees and a Master in Divinity must be satisfied with a small Benefice of 20 Marcs So as Clercs lose all their Hopes of being advanced as such And for the same cause People forbear to put their Children to School so as the Clergy fails which is the Support of the Church and our Holy Faith declines and comes to nothing Also it ought to be thought on That Strangers Enemies to this Land and others beyond Sea have Benefices Riches and Rents of Holy Church in England which never saw or will see their Parishioners whereby the Service of God and Holy Church and all Works of Charity are neglected the Parishioners like to suffer in Body and Soul their only care being to get the Profits of their Benefices out of the Kingdom And so it is that Holy Church is more destroyed by such wicked Christians than by Turks and Saracens Also it is to be thought on That the Law of Holy Church is such that the Benefices of Holy Church ought to be given freely out of pure Charity without Price or Prayer without the Gift of Gold Silver or any thing else And that Law and Reason will that what is given by Devotion to Holy Church ought to be spent to the Honour of God according to the Devotion and Intent of the Donour and not out of the Realm upon their Enemies Also it is to be considered That God committed his Sheep to the Pope to Pasture and not to Shear them and that the Lay Patrons followed these Examples and sold their Churches as God was sold to the Jews who put him to Death Wherefore they desired the King would please to observe this was the 50th Year of his Reign which was called the Year of Jubilee the Year of Grace and Joy and it would be the greatest Grace and Joy that ever happened to this Kingdom and the most pleasing to God and Holy Church and all those that love them if the things above-said were laid to heart and agreeable Remedy provided for them And then propounded the King and Great Men should write to the Pope as had been before ordered in Parlement The King's Answer was That he had ordained sufficient Remedy before by Statutes and otherwise that he was then applying to and pressing the Pope concerning this matter and was fully resolved to do it from time to time until he had performed their Desires as well concerning the things comprised in this large Bill next foregoing as that which was to follow which was very near the same The Title of this Bill in the Todding or in the Margin of the Parlement-Roll is Bill encontre le Pape le Cardinaux The Bill against the Pope and Cardinals and the other which follows this on the Roll and was almost the same had this Title The Bill and Articles against the Pope and Clergy Billes Articles encontre le Pape le Clergy To both which the King answered as above It is worth notice That though the Second Bill was near the same with the First yet in that the Commons informed the King 9 Rot. Parl. 50 Ed. III. n. 45. 104. there were several Spies who resided in London who had their Spies and Informers in all parts of the Kingdom that gave them notice when any Dignities or great Benefices were void that they might send to the Cardinals and other Persons residing in the Court of Rome to purchase them of the Pope Seeing in these Complaints there hath been so often mention made of Provisions and Reservations for the better understanding thereof here follows the Translation of one of them according to the true Form John Bishop 1 Append. n. 101. the Servant of the Servants of God to the future Memory of the thing Whereas we have understood That the Church of Rochester by the Death of Thomas * Thomas de Windham he died the last of Feb. 1316. See Gâ—dwin Bishop thereof is at present void We for the good Estate of that Church intending the Provision of it for this Turn for certain Causes that have persuaded us
at St. Pauls about sending some of their own Order to the King and Queen as Mediators of Peace between them The Bishop of Rochester dissuaded his going into the City or beyond the Thames to Treat being then at Lambeth telling him the Hearts of the People were against the Bishops and that they hated them imputing all the Evil that had happened in the Nation to their Sloathfulness Foolishness and Ignorance Next day they met at Lambeth and Resolved to send Two The Bishop of Winchester was willing to go for one but could not get a Companion 2 Ibm. All sorts of Citizens meet at Guildhall and contrive how to put to Death the Bishops of London and Excester and the King 's other Justices Die Mercurii proximo ante Festum St. Lucae convenerunt apud la Gyld-Hall c. On Wednesday before St. Luke the Citizens great and small majores minores met at the Guildhall where they contrived how they might take and put to Death the Bishops of London and Excester and the King 's other Justices and how they might Plunder the Merchants Mercatores in Civitate depraedarent taking the occasion of the Queen's coming 3 Ibm. The Queen comes to London All her Enemies that adhered not to her accepta occasione de adventu Reginae quod Reginae adhaerere noâ—entes proditores Regni publice censerentur because those that would not adhere to the Queen were publickly Reputed Traytors to the Kingdom The Justices were then met at the Friers Preachers and the Bishop of Excester was flying to St. Paul's Church they caught him at the Door beat and grievously wounded him and drew him through the Streets and Lanes to the Great Cross in Cheapside where the Sons of the Devil Filii Diaboli Virum fidelem providum discretum ac Regno valde necessarium truculenter decapitarunt Beheaded a Faithful Wise and Discreet Man and very useful to the Nation And further says Tunc conturbata est tota 4 Ibm. Those who were called the Queen's Enemies were plundered all the Nation over Terra in circuitu impii ambulantes animalia alia bona pacificorum quos hostes Reginae dixerant sub tali colore ubique depraedantes abduxerunt Then the whole Nation was in confusion and the Wicked calling peaceable Men the Queen's Enemies and under that colour took away and plundered their Goods The King not thinking himself safe there had left London before the Queen came thither and finding 5 De la Moor f 598 n. 50. The King goes into Wales by such as he had sent to make a Discovery that almost all the Nobility afrighted with false Reports tota fere Regni Communitas falsis territa rumoribus had come in to the Queen went in 6 Ibm. Sets H. Spenser the Father to defend the Town and Castle of Bristol Wales and having appointed Hugh Despenser the Father then Earl of Winchester to defend the Town and Castle of Bristol went with Hugh the Son then Earl of Glocester Robert Baldock and few others to 7 Ibm. Wals f. 125. n. 10. The King lay close in the Abby of Neath in Glamorganshire Chepstow and there took Ship intending for the Island of Lundy or Ireland but the Wind being cross he could make neither and having undergone much Hardship at Sea he landed and got to the Abby of Nethe in Glamorganshire where he lay close In the mean time the Queen followed him with her Army and sent these Letters abroad to command and draw in the People to her Assistance 8 Ibm. Append n. 69. The Queen's Letter by which she commanded and drew in the People to her Assistance Isabel by the Grace of God Queen of England Dame of Ireland Countess of Pontif or Ponthieu and we Edward Eldest Son to the Noble King of England Duke of Guyen Earl of Chester Pontif and Monstroil or Monstrevil and we Edmond Son to the Noble King of England Earl of Kent To all those to whom these Letters shall come Greeting Whereas 't is notoriously known That the State of Holy Church and the Realm of England are many ways blemished and abased by the Evil Counsel and Abett of Hugh le Despenser who by Pride and a Desire to Lord it and set himself over all others hath taken upon him Royal Power against Right Reason and his Allegiance and in like manner made use of all the Evil Counsel of Robert Baldock and others his Adherents so as Holy Church is reviled and shamefully put under great Subjection Her care of Holy Church and the Prelates of Holy Church and the Prelates of Holy Church spoiled of their Goods against God and Right Holy Church defamed and dishonoured many ways and the Crown of England destroyed in divers manners in Disheritance of our Lord the King and his Heirs the Great Men of the Realm by the Envy and wicked Cruelty of the said Hugh many of them without Fault and without Cause put to shameful Death some Disherited others Imprisoned Banished and Exiled Widows and Orphans wrongfully forejudged of their Right and the People of the Land by divers Tallages and undue Exactions very often burthened and by divers Oppressions grieved without Mercy By which Offences the said Hugh hath shewn himself an open Tyrant and Enemy to God and Holy Church to our most dear Lord the King and to the whole Realm And we and many others with us and in our Company who have long been estranged from the good Pleasure of our Lord the King by the false Suggestions and Evil Procurement of the aforesaid Hugh and Robert and their Adherents are come into the Land to raise the State of Holy Church and the Realm and to defend the People from these Mischiefs and grievous Oppressions and to maintain to our Power the Honour and Profit of Holy Church and our Lord the King and the whole Realm as abovesaid Wherefore we command and pray you for the Common Profit of you and every one of you to be Aidant to us at all times and in all places and by all the ways you know or can that the things abovesaid may be speedily brought to a good Effect and End For know certainly That all we and all those with us will not undertake any thing that shall not be for the Honor and Profit of Holy Church and of the whole Kingdom as in time you will see and find if God please Given at Wallingford the 15th Day of October in the Twentieth Year of the Reign of our most dear Lord the King From Wallingford she marched to Oxford and so in a short Bristol taken time to Bristol which she besieged and soon took and the next day after she came thither 9 De la Moor f. 599. n. 50. H. Despenser the Father drawn and hanged Hugh Despenser the Father Earl of Winchester was Drawn and Hanged upon the Common Gallows without Hearing or Trial on the 1 Aist Sacr.
others any grief or prejudice to be done to the other his Friends or Allies by the Church of Rome or others of Holy Church whatever they were nor to their Lands or Subjects by reason of the War or any other cause nor for the service the Allies and Assistants of both Kings had done or should do for either of them And if their most Holy Father the Pope or others would do so both Kings might oppose them to their Powers without doing ill during the Truce All Prisoners of War on both sides to be released during the Truce upon their Paroles to return again to Prison when it was ended 6. That there should be a Truce between the English and Scots for the same time and certain Persons appointed upon the Borders of each Kingdom to see it observed upon such Conditions as had been formerly Which if the Scots refused the King of France was not to assist them with Force or any other ways to relieve and encourage them And it was agreed That this Truce should be notified or proclaimed in England and Scotland 26 Days after the Date thereof 8 Ibm. p. 93. a. which was confirmed and sealed with the Seals of the Commissioners on both sides in the Church of Espetelyn on Monday the 25th of September in the Year of Grace 1340. In the time of this Truce several Commissions were issued for Several Commissions during this Truce to make a firm Peace without effect the ending all Controversies between the Two Kings by a full Peace or long Truce as they are to be found in the Alman or Close Roll in the Tower in the 15th of Edward III. But they had no other effect than to continue the Truce unto the Decollation of St. John Baptist or 29th of August from thence to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross or 14th of September and from that time to Midsummer the next Year While the King lay before Tournay the Scots 9 Knighton col 1580. The Scots plundered wasted the Borders that had not submitted to King Edward Baliol came into England and plundered and ravaged the Country as far as Durham but being included in the Truce as above all Hostility ceased during that Truce After the Siege of Tournay the King went to Gant and staid there some time and returning into England on the Feast 1 Claus 14 Ed III. Part 2. M. 12. Dors of St. Andrew about midnight he arrived at the Tower and next morning he sent for the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury to Lambeth but found him 2 Hist Sacr. vol. 1. f. 20. The A. Bp. of Canterbury and others of the King's Council imprison'd not there He also sent for the Bishop of Chichester his Chancellor the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry Lord Treasurer and several others his Great Officers Clerks of Chancery and Justices and imprisoned them in the Tower except the Bishops whom says 3 p. 93. a. c. 35. Robert of Avesbury for fear of the Clementine Constitution That Bishops ought not to be imprisoned he permitted to have their Liberty On the 3d of December the Arch-Bishop went to Canterbury and secured himself in his Church to escape future Dangers Most of the Persons 4 Rot. Parl. 14 Ed III Paâ—t 1. n. 13 14 15. sent for or imprisoned by the King were of the King's Council in England and those who were appointed and directed in Parliament to take care of the Payment of the King's Debts to the Town of Brussels and other Towns in Brabant and Flanders and treat with the Merchants both Foreign and English about paying the Money amongst whom was the Arch-Bishop The Sheriffs 5 Ib. Part 2. â— 17 25â— were commanded to send from all Cities and Burghs in their several Counties Merchants to be before the King's Council at London or Westminster on Monday next after the Assumption of the Virgin Mary or 15th of August to treat with About selling the Wooll granted them about buying the Ninth of Wooll in all Counties where the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury some other Bishops Earls and Barons of the King's Council there named as being nearest at hand Treated with them and contracted 6 n. 20 c. ad 28. for great numbers of Sacks of Wooll the Money to be paid at Bruges within three Weeks after or upon the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary or 8th of September or upon the Feast of St. Michael The Merchants of Bard and Prussia bought much of this Wooll and engaged to pay the Money to the People of Louvain and Malins and several particular Persons there named Almans and others that had been retained by King Edward and also sent for divers Persons to account before them and ordered them to return the Money to the King beyond Sea On the 30th of July 7 n. 29. the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Lords Chancellor and Treasurer the Earl of Arundel Thomas Wake of Lydell and others of his Council in England wrote to the King to give him an account of his Subsidy and to let him know That the Grant of 20000 Sacks of Wooll to raise Money speedily was not made in the Parlement he Summoned before he went beyond Sea to meet on Wednesday next after the Feast of St. Thomas or 7th of July until the Vigil or Eve of St. James or 24th of the same Month And therefore he could not wonder nor his Allies or good People of Flanders That neither Wooll nor Money was then come to him for certainly as much as could be levied of his Subsidy should come to him daily as soon as the Pains or Knowledge of Man could cause it to be sent or paid The Arch-Bishop having secured himself at Canterbury 8 Hist Sacr vol. 1. f. 21. 25. The A. Bp of Canterbury's Advice and Reproof to the King the King sent Nicholas de Cantelpue with Letters of Credence That he would come to him to London where he might personally speak with him but he came not pretending some about the King had threatned to kill him Yet though he came not he wrote to the King and admonished him to take good Advice and make 9 Wals f. 150. â— 10 20 c. use of good and wise Counsellors and to remember that by evil Counsel his Father had contrary to the Laws of the Land and Magna Charta imprisoned some great Men and others adjudged them to death seized their Goods or put them to grievous Ransom And what hapned to him for this cause He also put him in mind That by the Circumspection and Discretion of the Prelates the Great and Wise Men of the Nation his own Affairs had prospered so as he possessed the Hearts of the People and had met more Assistance from the Clergy and Laity than any of his Progenitors But at present by the evil Counsel of some English and others who loved their own Profit more than his Honour or the Safety of the People he
K. Edward according to the French Historians him at Sea did not admit them to these Terms as the French Historians Froysard Du Chesne de Serres and Mezeray report until they sent Six of their Chief Burgesses bare-headed and bare-footed in their Shirts with Ropes about their Necks to deliver the Keys of the Town and Castle to him with a total Submission to his Pleasure He was greatly resolved to put them to death but his Queen then in the Camp by an importune Intercession obtained their Lives 'T is very remarkable That as the same Historians say at a Meeting of the Townsmen to appoint or chuse the Six to send out they were in great Difficulties and Perplexity Eustace of St. Peter the most Noted of them to save his Fellow Burghers offered himself to be one by whose Example there soon followed others to make up the Number 9 The same Historians The Keys thus delivered and the King in possession of the Town all the old Inhabitants were removed by his Authority and it was new Peopled with English to whom he gave all their Goods 1 p. 116. a. c. 8. Avesbury reports none of those Terms but gives a more fair account of of the Usage them Robert of Avesbury hath nothing of this Relation of the Six Burghers being demanded or thus sent out he only says That the Besieged wanting Victuals and hopeless of Relief ipsam villam ac se sua omnia voluntati Domini Regis Angliae reddiderunt idem Dominus Rex semper misericors benignus captis retentis paucis de Majoribus Communitatem dictae villae cum bonis suis omnibus gratiose permisit abire rendred the Town themselves and all they had to the King's Will who always merciful and kind retained only a few of the Chief Persons and graciously permitted the Community of the Town to go away with their Goods Soon after the taking of 2 Rot. Cales 22 Ed. III. M. 4. Calais by the Mediation of the Cardinals the Earls of Lancaster and Huntington Ralph Lord Stafford Walter de Manny and others had Commission to Treat of a Truce with the Commissioners of Philip de Valois which was concluded A Truce made at Calais affirmed and sworn to on the 28th of September 1347 to continue till 15 Days after Midsummer next following 3 Aves p. 116. b. â—17 a. c. 69 70. The Chief of the Articles were the same with the Truce made before Tournay In a very short time after having settled the Town with his Affairs in those Parts making Sir Amery de Pavy an Italian Governour thereof 4 Wals f. 167. n. 50. K. Edw. returns into England he returned into England with great Glory and Renown The Number of King Edward's Army at this time in France Normandy and before Calais besides the Lords 5 Append. n. 92. The number of his Army What their Pay for a year and 21 weeks was 31294. And the whole Pay and Wages of this Number from the 4th of June in the 20th Year of his Reign to the 12th of October in the 21st of his Reign being a Year and 131 Days amounted to 127201 l. 2. s. 9 d. ob as appears by the Particulars Within 5 or 6 Weeks after his Return on the 13th of November he sent forth 6 Claus 21 Ed. III. Part 2. M. 9. Dors Summons for a Parlement Writs of Summons for a Parlement to meet on the morrow of St. Hillary or 14th of January The cause 7 Rot. Parl. n. 4. The cause of Summons of Summons by William de Thorp Lord Chief Justice was declared to be for two things First concerning the War with France undertaken by Consent of the Lords and Commons The Second how the Peace of the Nation might be kept And that within four Days they should give their Answer to the King and his Council what they thought of these things The fourth Day the Commons declare 8 Ibm. n. 5. The Commons not able to advise any thing concerning the War That they are not able to advise any thing concerning War and therefore desired to be excused as to that and that the King will be advised by his Nobles and Council and what shall be by them Determined they would Consent unto Confirm and Establish To the second they answer 9 Ibm. n. 70. The Commons Advice to the King about keeping the Peace Having been long in Parlement they desire to be dismissed Whereas they were charged to advise the King how the Peace of the Land might be better kept That in every County there should be Six Persons of whom Two to be the Greatest of the County Two Knights and Two Men of the Law or more or less as need should be and they to have Power and Commission out of the Chancery to hear and determine Matters concerning the Peace c. And then because they had been so long in Parlement to their great Costs and Mischief they desire the Answer to their Petitions and a Dismission 'T is probable the King received not the Satisfctaion he expected Summons to Parlement from this Parlement for within a Month and 3 Days after the firstday of the Meeting thereof he issued 1 Rot. Claus 22 Ed. III. Part 1. M. 32. Dors Writs for Summoning another that is to say on the 14th of February to meet on Monday next after the Sunday in Midlent On which Day because the Great Men Summoned were not fully come the Parlement was continued until the next Day and for the same reason unto Wednesday Pur ceo que les Grantz gestoient somons ne furent pas pleynement venuz fu continuez tanque le Mardy prochien suant pui pur mesme la cause du dit Mardy tanque a Meskerdy When Monsieur 2 Rot. Parl. 22 Ed. III. n. 2 3. The cause of Summons declared William de Thorp Chief Justice propounded the Causes of Summons fully also contained in the Writ which were two The first That according to the Truce made at Calais between the King and his Adversary of France certain Messengers were to be sent to the Court of Rome on both Parts to treat of a smal Peace between them That King Edward had sent his competent Messengers to find the Disposition of the Pope concerning some Preparatories for the Treaty and other things about the Feast of St. Andrew last past in hopes to have heard from them in his last Parlement of whom or of what they had done he had then received no certainty and for that many notable things had been agreed last Truce in favour of him his Subjects and Allies by the Malice of the adverse Party were not then accomplished And also for that his said Adversary contrary to his Faith given concerning the then hoped-for Peace had provided a very great Multitude Trop grant multitude des Gentz d'Armes of Men at Arms and others with Ships and Gallies
for there is nothing of this Accusation on the Parlement-Roll About the 6 Wals f. 310. n. 30. A. D. 1385. 8 Ric. II. The Duke of Lancaster goes into France makes only a Truce for 3 quarters of a year His extravagant Expences beginning of August the Duke of Lancaster went into France to Treat about a Peace or Truce He staid there long with many Noblemen and made a Truce only to the first of May next coming and then returned after the Expence of 50000 Marks While the * Ib. n. 40 50. John of Northampton's Trial and Judgment Duke was in France the King called many of the Noblemen together at Reding where John of Northampton was Tried for his late Practices in London when he was Convicted by the Testimony of his Clerc and Sentence was to be given upon him in the King's Presence He said such Judgment ought not to pass upon him in the Absence of his Lord the Duke which brought ill Suspicions upon him The Judge told him That he was to acquit himself by Duel of the Crimes laid against him or by the Laws of the Land to be Drawn Hanged and Quartered To which making no Answer he was condemned to perpetual Prison above 100 Miles from London and sent to Tintagel-Castle in Cornwal and the Goods to be seized to his King's Use Some time after the King * Ibm. f. 314. n. 50. The Duke of Lancaster was to have been Arraigned of High-Treason intending to Arraign the Duke of Lancaster upon several Articles of Treason before Sir Robert Trisilian Lord Chief Justice whereas he ought to have been Tried by his Peers he Victualled and Manned his Castle of Pontfract and stood upon his Guard until his Peace was made by the Princess of Wales his Mother On the 7 Rot. Parl. 8 Ric. II. n. 1 2 3. A Parlement The cause of Summons morrow of St. Martin or 12th of November a Parlement assembled at Westminster The Chancellor shewed the King's great Care of the Church Commons and Laws of England and further shewed how the Nation was invironed with Enemies the French Spaniards Scots and Flemings and that the chief cause of calling the Parlement was to provide for the Safety and Defence of the Kingdom and to consider how this Provision might best and most speedily be made and so as the poor People might be least burthened and withal let them know the King offered to go in his own Person for Defence of the Kingdom against any Enemy by the Advice of his Council These things considered 8 Ibm. n. 10. Two 15ths granted the Lords and Commons granted the King for the Defence of the Kingdom the Safeguard of the Sea and Marches of Scotland Two Fifteenths one to be paid at Lady-Day next coming the other at Midsummer upon condition that the last half Fifteenth granted at Salisbury might not be paid And in case the King went not in his own Person against his Enemies or that Peace or Truce should be made with them then the latter of these Two Fifteenths not to be Levied In this Parlement 9 Ibm. n. 13. The Judgment against Alice Perrers repealed Alice Perrers the Wife of Sir William Windsor petitioned to have the Judgment and Order made against her in the 50th of Edward III. and the Judgment and Statute made against her in the first of this King to be repealed and that she might be restored to all her Lands and Tenements 1 Ibm. Ro. Which was granted by Advice and Assent of the Lords and Commons so as the Gifts and Grants of any of the Lands Tenements and Houses repealed may remain in force There is nothing more concerning Scotland and England in our Historians for this Year but alternate Invasions as they found or made Opportunities and burning and plundering each others Countries Next Year 2 Knight col 2674 n. 60. The French and Scots join to invade England John de Vienna Admiral of France came from thence with a great Fleet and in June transported an Army into Scotland to join with the Scots to invade England The King prepares an Army to march into Scotland and sends the Duke of Lancaster with a good Force before to secure the Borders 3 Ibm. col 2675. n. 10. The King marcheth into Scotland with a great Army On the 7th of July the King was at Leicester and the Queen with him and there went before came with and followed him the Flower of the English Militia Earls Barons Knights Esquires Valets and others to a vast Number With this Royal Army the King marched into Scotland but could not find the Scots or at least could not follow them into the Woods Forests Fastnesses or the High-lands whither they drove with them their great Cattel 4 Ib. n. 20 30 40. The Scots fly into the Woods and High-lands Finding nothing in the Country he burnt Edinburgh and many other Towns cut down Woods and burnt them likewise While these things were doing by the English toward the High-lands about Edinburgh and in the East-Marches the Scots and French slipt the English entred the The French and Scots march into England West-Marches burnt Penreth plundered the Country took many Captives and made an Attempt upon Carlisle but hearing of the coming of the English got again into their own Country 5 Wals f. 317. n. 30. and do more Mischief there than the King with his Army did in Scotland A mighty Fleet prepared by carrying more out of England than the King with his Royal Army carried out of Scotland While the English Army was in Scotland the King of France was providing a mighty Fleet and Army at Sluis in Flanders to invade England Froysart 6 Vol. 2. cap. 53 53 54. the King of France to invade England says this Navy was Twelve hundred and eighty seven Ships in September 1386. at Sluis and Blanqueberg and adds since God created the World there was never seen so many great Ships together The Land-Forces were according to this mighty Fleet and the King having notice of these vast Preparations provided accordingly both by Sea and Land to intercept them or hinder their Descent 7 Ibm. c. 59. The Wind held contrary so as they could not pass toward England until after St. Andrew or 30th of November when a Council being called it was resolved it being so late in the Year the Expedition was laid aside until April or May following 8 Ib. c. 60. Froysard says he had an Account of the great Provision the Dauphin of Avergn made for this Voyage from himself In the 9th of this King a Parlement was 9 Claus 9 Ric. II. M. 45 Dors A. D. 1386. holden at Westminster on the Friday next after St. Luke in which the Lords Great Men and the Communities of Counties Cities and Burghs 1 Rot. Parl. 9 Ric. II. n. 10. A Tax granted for the Duke of Lancaster's Voyage into Spain Memorandum
what he was could confide in him yea he was reputed so Unfaithful and Inconstant that he was not only a Scandal to his own Person but to the whole Kingdom and all Strangers that knew him 26. Though the Lands Tenements 8 8 Ibm. n. 43. Goods and Chattels of all Free-men by the Laws of the Land ought not to be seized without Forfeiture yet the said King intending to enervate those Laws in the Presence of many Lords and others of the Community of the Kingdom he often said and affirmed That the Life of every Subject his Lands Tenements Goods and Chattels were his to be disposed as he pleased without Forfeiture which was altogether against the Laws and Customs of his Kingdom 27. Although it had been made a 9 9 Ibm. n. 44. Law which had hitherto been confirmed That no Free-man might be taken c. nor any ways destroyed nor that the King should proceed against him but by lawful Trial of his Peers or the Law of the Land yet according to the Will Command and Appointment of the said King very many of his Lieges being maliciously accused for having spoken publickly or privately Words that might tend to the Scandal and Disgrace of the King's Person were taken imprisoned and brought before the Constable and Marshal in the Court Military where being accused they could not be admitted to give any other Answer than Not Guilty and could defend themselves no otherwise than by their Bodies their Accusers being young Men Iusty and sound whereas they were old impotent lame and infirm from whence not only the Destruction of Lords and Great Men but of singular Persons of the Community of the Kingdom very likely might have followed When therefore the said King willingly contravened this Law it was no doubt but he incurred Perjury 28. Altho the People of 1 1 Ibm. n. 45. England by virtue of their Ligeance were sufficiently bound to their King and if they offended in any manner he might Correct and Punish them by the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom yet the said King desiring to supplant and too much oppress his People that he might more freely execute and be able to follow the Fancy of his foolish and unlawful Will he sent his Letters into all Counties of his Kingdom That all his Lieges as well Spiritual as Temporal should take certain Oaths in general which were too burthensome to them and which very likely might cause the final Destruction of his People and that under their Letters and Seals they should confirm these Oaths Which Command the People obeyed lest they should incur his Indignation and for fear of Death 29. When the Parties 2 2 Ibm. n. 46. contending in the Ecclesiastick Court in Causes merely Ecclesiastick and Spiritual indeavoured to procure Prohibitions to hinder Process in the same from the Chancellor of England who out of Justice refused to grant them yet the same King often granted them under his Signet wickedly infringing the Church Liberties granted in Magna Charta which he had Sworn to Preserve damnably incurring Perjury and the Sentence of Excommunication Pronounced by the Holy Fathers against the Violators of Church Liberties 30. The said King in Parlement 3 3 Ib. n. 48. compassed about with Armed Men without Reasonable Cause or Legal Process contrary to the Laws of the Kingdom Banished Thomas Arundel Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and his Spiritual Father being then absent by his Contrivance 31. Upon perusal of the said 4 4 Ib. n. 48. Kings Will under his Great Seal Privy Seal and Signet there was in it this Clause Also we Will That the Debts of our House Chamber and Wardrobe being paid for which we allow Twenty thousand Pounds and the Leprose and Chaplanes we appointed to be maintained at Westminster and Bermondsey for which we allow Five or six thousand Marks The Residue of our Gold shall remain to our Successor upon Condition he Approves Ratifies Confirms Holds and causeth to be Holden and Observed all Laws Statutes Ordinances and Judgments made had or done in the Parlement held at Westminster on the 17th of September in the 21st of our Reign and continued or adjourned to Shrewsbury and all things done at Coventry on the 16th of September in the 22d of our Reign as also what was done at Westminster on the 18th of March in the same year by Authority of the same Parlement But if he shall Refuse to do these things then we Will that Thomas Duke of Surrey Edward Duke of Aumarle John Duke of Excester and William le Scrop Earl of Wiltshire my Debts c. as aforesaid being paid shall have the said Residue for the Defence of the Statutes Ordinances Judgments and Stabiliments aforesaid to the utmost of their Power yea to Death if it be necessary Upon all which things we burthen their Consciences as they will Answer it at the Day of Judgment By which Article it appears evidently That the same King endeavoured pertinaciously to maintain those Statutes and Ordinances which were Erroneous Wicked and Repugnant to all Law and Reason not only in his Life but after he was Dead neither regarding the Danger of his Soul or the utmost Destruction of his Kingdom or Liege People 32. In the Eleventh year of the said 5 5 Ib. n. 49. King Richard at his Mannor of Langley in the presence of the Dukes of Lancaster and York and many other Lords desiring as it seemed That his Uncle the Duke of Glocester there also present might Trust and have Confidence in him of his own accord Sware upon the Venerable Sacrament of the Lords Body placed upon the Altar That he would pardon unto him all things which were said to be committed against his Person and that he should never receive any Damage for them yet afterwards the said King notwithstanding this Oath caused the Duke for those Offences horribly and cruelly to be Murdred damnably incurring the Guilt of Perjury 33. After a Knight of the Shire 6 6 Ib. n. 50. who had a Vote in Parlement impeached the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury publickly before the King and all the States of the Kingdom upon certain Defects committed against the King with little Truth as 't was said Altho he offered presently to answer what was objected against him and desired to be admitted by the King so to do sufficiently trusting as he said to demonstrate his Innocency yet the same King contriving by all the Ways and Means he could to oppress and reduce to nothing the State of the Arch-Bishop as the Event shewed kindly spake to and earnestly desired him that he would say nothing then but expect a more fit time That day being past for five days and more together the King deceived him advising and perswading him not to come to Parlement but to remain at his own House promising that in his absence he should not receive injury but the said King in that Parlement Banished the Arch-Bishop during his
Regaly in the Cases aforesaid and in all other Cases attempted against him his Crown and Regaly in all Points to live and die 3 Ibm. And further they pray the King and him require by way of Justice That he would ask all the Lords in Parlement as well Spiritual as Temporal severally and all the States of Parlement What they thought of the Cases aforesaid Whereupon the Lords Temporal so asked answered every one by himself That the Cases aforesaid were clearly in Derogation of the King's Crown and of his Regaly as it was well known and had been a long time known and that they would be with the Crown and Regaly in these Cases especially and in all others which shall be attempted against them in all Points with all their Power The Answer of the Lords Spiritual to the King's Demands much to the purpose of that of the Lords Temporal will best appear from the Arch-Bishop's Protestation so called upon the Parlement-Roll as 't is transcribed in the Appendix n. 118. and there translated After which Answers given 4 Ibm. the King by Assent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal at the Prayer of the Commons Qrdained and Established That if any Purchase or Pursue or cause to be Purchased or Pursued in the Court of Rome or elsewhere any such Translations Processes and Sentences of Excommunications Bulls Instruments or any other things which touch the King against him his Crown Regaly or Kingdom as is aforesaid and they that bring them within the Realm or receive them or make thereof Notification or any other Execution within the Kingdom or without they their Notaries Procurators Maintainers Abetters Fautors and Counsellors shall be put out of the King's Protection their Lands and Tenements Goods and Chattels forfeited and also attached by their Bodies if to be found and brought before the King and his Council there to answer or that Process be made against them by Praemunire facias io manner as it is Ordained in other Statutes of Provisors After this there is nothing further that I have seen about these Controversies the Pope being quiet all his Reign yet I shall take notice of some things done by the King relating to these Affairs which were omitted in their due Place He caused James Dardain 5 Rot. Claus 12 Ric. II. M 39. Dors the Pope's Collector in England to Swear he would be Faithful to him and his Crown That he would not do permit or procure to be done any thing Prejudicial to him his Kingdom Laws and Rights And that he would not put in Execution any Papal Letters or Mandates or permit them to be put in Execution that were Prejudicial to the King his Regaly or Royalty Laws or Rights or to his Kingdom That he would not receive or publish any of the Pope's Letters but such as he should deliver to the King's Council as soon as he could That he would not send any Money or Plate out of the Kingdom unless he had special Licence from the King or his Council nor that he would introduce any Novelties by or without Command without the King's Licence And that he would keep the King's Laws and Rights without violation This Oath was taken August 27. in the 12th of Richard II. before his Council as appears by the Record it self Then he wrote to 6 Ib. 13 Ric. II. part 1. M. 17. De decimis Papae non solvendis William Arch-Bishop of Canterbury That he could not but know that he was bound by Oath for the Conservation of the Rights and Customs of the Kingdom and for the Indemnity and Right Government of his People and also that no Impositions upon the People could be made or levied any ways whatsoever without Common Counsel or Consent of the Kingdom And further That he had been Petitioned by the Commons lately assembled in Parlement at Westminster to provide Remedy against the Impositions upon the Clergy at that time published and exacted by the People And also that any one that should bring in any Pope's Bulls to levy such Impositions or create such Novelties not formerly used which might bring Damage to him or his Kingdom nor should publish such Impositions and Novelties or collect or levy them should be adjudged and suffer as a Traitor to him and his Kingdom And it was granted by him with Assent of the same Parlement nothing should be levied or paid that might tend to the Burthen and Damage of the Kingdom or Liege People This notwithstanding he was informed of a new Imposition upon the Clergy by the Pope which by his Authority or the Authority of his Suffragans by his Command was to be levied without Common Advice and Assent of the Kingdom which he might not suffer to be done saving his said Oath And then Commanded by the Faith in which he was bound to him and under forfeiture of all he could forfeit to revoke all that had been done for the levying and exacting of this Imposition and to return what had been paid and levied enjoining him not to pay or contribute any thing to this Subsidy or Imposition under the foresaid Faith and Forfeiture Witness the King at Westminster the 10th Day of October The like Writ and of the same Date 7 Ibm. was directed to the Arch-Bishop of York and all the other Bishops of England as also to the Guardians of the Spiritualities of the vacant Bishoprics and several Collectors of this Imposition The like Writ was likewise directed to James Dardain then the Pope's Nuncio Rex 8 Ibm. Jacobo Dardain Nuncio Domini summi Pontificis in Anglia c. to desist in exacting of this Imposition sub forisfactura Vitae Membrorum under the Forfeiture of Life and Members and all things he could forfeit Witness as before This Imposition was the Payment of a Tenth by the Clergy to the Pope by him laid upon them as appears by the Todding or Title of the Record De Decimis Papae non solvendis Concerning Tenths not to be paid to the Pope In the 14th of his Reign 9 Ibm. 14 Ric. II. M. 13. Dots De Proclamatione he caused Proclamation to be made through England to call from Rome under forfeiture of Life and Member and all they could forfeit many Persons that went thither to procure the Nulling and Vacating of divers Statutes made by him and his Progenitors with Consent of Parlement for the Common Profit of the Kingdom and to perpetrate many other Evils there to the Contempt and Prejudice of his Person to the great Damage of the Kingdom and People and to the manifest Cassation of the Laws and Customs thereof That they should be in England by the Feast of St. Martin in Winter or 11th of November at furthest And that no Man of what State or Condition soever he was should bring any Pope's Bulls Processes or Instruments for the Adnulling or Vacating of any the Statutes Laws or Customs aforesaid or obey them or put them in
they should ask them if they would avow the Letter sent and the Words contained in it which they did and the King being acquainted with it advising with his Council put in the Place of the Earl of Hereford Constable Monsieur Thomas de Berkeley and in the Place of the Earl-Marshal Monsieur Geofrey de Geneville as they desired whereupon they withdrew themselves from the King and Court and soon after the Archbishop of Canterbury and many other Bishops came to the King beseeching him they might speak with the Earls which the King Granted they sent to them to know where they might come to speak with them they let them know by Letters they should be at Waltham the Friday on the Morrow of St. James They went thither the Earls came not but sent Monsieur Robert Fitz-Roger and Monsieur John de Segrave Knights who said the Earls could not then come for some Reasons On Sunday following the Bishops and two Knights came to the King at St. Albans and at their Requests the Knights had Letters of safe Conduct given them for the Earls to come to stay with and return from the King yet they never came and now 't is given out the Earls offered to the King certain Articles for the common Profit of the People and that he utterly refused them of which the King knows nothing for they never propounded or caused to be propounded any thing to him nor doth he know why they are retired amongst which Articles 't is reported there were certain Grievances which the King understands well as the Aids which he often demanded of the People by reason of his Wars in Gascony Wales Scotland and other where which could not be Maintain'd or his Kingdom Defended without the Assistance of his People of which he thinks often that he should so much grieve and burthen them and prays they would have him Excused and if it please GOD he returns from this Voyage he would have all Men know That according to his great Desire according to the Will of GOD and to the Satisfaction of his People he will amend all things whatever where he ought And if he doth not return he will order his Heir to do it as well as if he had Returned for he knows well that no Man is so much bound to the Kingdom or to love the People as he himself On the other side there is great necessity of his going to assist his Ally the Earl of Flanders and his Passage is so hasty for the Peril his Friends beyond Sea are in which if he should lose the Kingdom might be in great Danger And therefore they should have the Confirmation of the great Charter of the Liberties of England and of the Charter of the Forest if they would Grant him an Aid or Gift such as was Necessary for him at this time and the rather for that upon his going over a lasting Peace might ensue and if he had Refused Articles or any thing else in Hatred and Destruction of his People contrary to the Common Profit of the Realm or that he hath done otherwise against the Earls then is here said he desires no Man to believe him for these are the true Proceedings and the very Truth of things to this time Afterwards he put them in mind what Dangers and Wars may arise from Rumours Stories and Reports raised between the King and his People c. concluding his Declaration That all his good People would pray That his Voyage might have a good End to the Honour of GOD of himself of them and his Kingdom and that a Durable Peace might follow Given at Odymere near Winchelsey the 12th day of August in the 25th of his Reign The King being informed there were Excommunications ready to be Pronounced and Published against his Officers c. sent a Prohibition 4 Append. N. 32. to the Archbishop and all other Bishops to forbear it The King to the Venerable Father in Christ Robert c. The K. forbids the Bishops to publish Sentence of Excommunication against his Officers c. Whereas we have been forced by inevitable Necessity for the Defence of our Kingdom and Hereditary Right invaded by the King of France and other Enemies and for the Preservation and Safety of the English Church and of the Persons of Ecclesiastics and others we have taken from them Grain and other Goods and the same necessity yet compels us to do the like for which Corn and Goods we are resolved to make full Satisfaction and now we understand that you intend to promulge and cause to be published Sentence of Excommunication against our Officers that took them by our Command which if you should do it would manifestly redound to the great and immeasurable Michief of our Crown and Dignity the Scandal of the People and as it may happen the Consequence of it may prove the Destruction of the Church and Subversion of the whole Kingdom We forbid you upon Observation of the Oath of Fidelity by which you are bound to us and upon forfeiture of all you hold of us to publish any such Sentence against our Officers Clercs or Laics or to do any Injury to them especially when we are ready to make Satisfaction Witness the King at Winchelsey the 19th Day of August in the 25th of his Reign King Edward being so far engaged to assist the Earl of Flanders in Person as he could not recede from his Promise and resolved beyond persuasion to do it with what speed he could the Earl now much pressed by the King of France having lost some Towns and being in fear of the Revolt of his People 5 Walsingh Hist Angl f 71. N. 30 40 50. f 72. N 10 20. while he was thus at Winchelsey or Odymer with all possible Expedition providing for his Passage the Earls sent him the following Petitions of his Kingdom in Writing and with this Title These are the Injuries and Grievances which the Archbishops Bishops The Grievances of the whole Kingdom presented to the King Abbots Priors Earls and Barons and the whole Community of the Land do shew unto our Lord the King Humbly beseeching him That for his own Honour and the Safety of his People he would correct and amend them First It seemeth to the Community of the Land That the Summons sent them by the King 's Writ was not sufficient because the Place whither they were to go was not named for according to that they were to prepare themselves and make Provision of Money Secondly Whether they ought to perform Service or not because 't is said in general words the King would pass over into Flanders It seems to the Community that there they ought to do no Service because neither they nor their Predecessors or Progenitors ever performed their Service in that Land And tho' it was so that they ought to do it yet they were not able being so oppressed with Tallages Aids and Takings or Prizes as of Wheat Oates
c. The number of Sacks agreed upon was 20000 for which the Merchants were to pay the King 40 s. per Sack Custom besides the Price of the Wooll beyond Sea 1 Ibm. pur equitter e rt ses dettes pur les ploit de ses grosses busoignes to discharge his Debts and for the Exploit of his great Affairs And it was left to the King's Choice and his Counsels beyond Sea whether the Flemings 2 Ib. n. 11. or Almans should be paid with the Money was to be received of the Merchants Soon after King Edward 3 Rob. Aves p. 90. b. c. 30 31. with the assistance of the Duke of Brabant the Earl of Haynault whose Forces then passed under the name of Flemings as in the Parliament Roll and the Communities or Governments of Bruges Gaunt and Ipres besieged Tournay from which Siege he wrote 4 Append. n. 87. a. He besieged Tournay and wrote to the King of France to Philip of Valois without any Title or addition That he had besought him by Messages and all other ways he knew reasonable to restore his Rightful Heritage of France and for that he saw he would not do him Reason he had enter'd into the Country of Flanders as Sovereign Lord thereof signifying to him That by the aid of Jesus Christ and power of the Country his own People and his Allies he would put a short end to his Claim if he would approach him and advance towards him But for that Two so great Armies as there was on both sides could not long continue together without great damage to the People and Country which thing every Christian And sent a Challenge to him to determin the Quarrel and their Claims by Duel between their Two Bodies c. ought to avoid especially Princes and Governors of the People he desired a brief period might be put to the Matter and to avoid the Deaths of Christians the Quarrel being between themselves that the discussion of their Claims might be determined by and between their two Bodies And if he would not consent to this way then that it might be ended by Battel between them and an hundred of their best Men on either side And if he would not take one of these then that he would assign a certain day within ten days after the date of this Letter to fight Army with Army before the Town of Tournay This was his desire not out of Pride or Disdain but that the will of Jesus Christ might be shewn between them for the greater repose amongst Christians Given under his Great Seal at Clyn in the Field the 27th day of July in the 14th year of his Reign of England and first of France To this Letter he had the following Answer returned * Ib. 87. b. The King of France his Answer to King Edward's Letter and Challenge Philip by the Grace of God King of France to Edward King of England We having seen your Letters brought to our Court from you to Philip of Valois in which were contained certain Requests made to Philip of Valois and for that your Letters were not directed or the Requests made to us as clearly appears by the Tenor of them we ought not to have given you any Answer nevertheless because we understand by the said Letters and otherwise that you are entred into our Kingdom of France doing great damage to us our Realm and our People without Reason not regarding what a Liegeman ought to observe toward his Lord for you have entred into our Homage Leige and recognized us King of France according to Reason and promised such Obedience as Men ought to promise to their Liege Lord as appears more clearly by your Letters Patents sealed with your Great Seal which we have by us Our intention therefore is when it shall seem good unto us to drive you out of our Realm and that we may be able to do this we have firm hope in Jesus Christ from whom all our Puissance c. Given in the Fields near the Priory of St. Andrew under our Privy Seal in the absence of our Great Seal the 30th of July in the year of Grace 1340. Hereupon Philip of Valois 5 Ib. Avesh ut supra p. 91. c. 33. Philip of Valois brought a great Army into the Field but dare not fight The English burn and destroy 300 Cities Towns and Villages And kill a vast number of French of all sorts Both Armies in great want of Forage and Victuals brought a very great Army into the Field as was thought to raise the Siege but he kept at such a distance off the English Army being afraid as says the Historian to engage them that he could not be provoked to fight tho the Earl of Haynault the Lord Walter Manny and Reginald de Cobham the King's Marshal and other Officers of the Army were sent with Parties from the Siege who wasted the Country destroy'd and burnt three hundred Cities Towns and Villages within six Leagues round Tournay and killed of the French Fourteen Barons Sixscore Knights and more then Three hundred Men at Arms. At last both Armies being very numerous and in great distress for want of Forage and Victuals and the King of England especially in very great want of Money the Two Kings consented to a Treaty of Truce until Midsummer next following 6 Ib. p. 91. b. c. 34. The King of England in great want of Money Commissioners on both sides to Treat of a Truce The Commissioners for the King of England were the Duke of Brabant the Duke of Guelderland the Marquiss of Juliers and Monsieur John de Haynault Lord of Beaumont Those for the King of France were John King of Bohemia and Earl of Luxenburgh Adulph Bishop of Liege Raoul Duke of Lorrain Ame Earl of Savoye and John Earl of Arminiac who concluded a Truce between the Two Kings their Aidants and Allies 7 Ibm. upon the ensuing Articles 1. That no prejudice or injury be done by either Party to the The Articles of the Truce other during the Truce and Respite 2. It was agreed That the Two Kings their Aidants and Allies whosever they were should remain in the same possession and seizin they were in at that time of all their Goods Lands and Possessions they held or had acquir'd any manner of way during the Truce 3. It was agreed That during the Truce the Kings their Assistants and Allies whoever they were might safely go out of one Country into another and the Merchants with all manner of Merchandise and all other People with their Goods might go and come as well by Land as Sea and Water as freely as they used to do at other times paying their Passage Money Tolls and Customs as anciently due The Barons and others of Gascoigny in the Dutchy of Guien to be comprised in this Article 4. It was agreed That neither of the Kings should procure or cause to be procured by themselves or
be had And that when 1 Ibm. n. 9. And nâ—t to lay aâ—â—de his Voyage for the Pope's Letters the King should be ready to pass beyond Sea to take what God should give him pur prendre ce que Dieux lui durra upon the Exploit of this Business he would not for the Letters or Command of the Pope or any other lay aside his Voyage until he had made an end one way or other The which Prayer the King fully granted a quele preere le Roi ottroia pleynement but because it could not 2 be done without a great and agreeable Aid the Arch-Bishop Bishops Prelates and Procurators of the Clergy of the Province of Canterbury granted to the King a Triennial Aid for this Voyage granted by the Clergy and Commons Tenth les ditz Commons le samaday apres granterent nostre Seigneur le Roi pur mesme la cause deux Quinzismes de la Commonalte de la Cerre deux dismes des Citees Burghs And the said Commons granted to the King for the same cause Two Fifteenths of the Commonalty of the Land and Two Tenths of the Cities and Burghs And 3 Ibm. n. 10. after that the said Commons granted another Fifteenth apres le dite Commune grantent une autre quinzisme See for the Conditions of these Grants in the Statutes at large 18 Ed. III. translated exactly from the French on this Roll n. 14. to n. 23. which Statute was made from the Petitions of the Commons and the Answers to them and 't is called in the todding on the Roll the Charter of the Commons la Chartre enseale par la Comune and also for the Statute or Charter for the Clergy bearing Date July 8. in the 18th of his Reign which gave them many Privileges n. 24. to n. 32. In both these Statutes which are now in a manner become obsolete 't is said the Great Lay-men granted to pass and adventure themselves with the King and therefore they are not found upon the Roll to be Taxed The residue of this Year was spent in 4 Walâ— f. 164. n. 30. Froys l. 1. c. 100. Ashmâ—le f. 182. Tournaments and other Military Exercises at Dunstable Smithfield and especially at Windsor in Feastings Revellings Dancing and all manner of Jollity But it was not long after the beginning of the next Year that King Edward 5 Avâ—â— p. 103. a. c. 48. III news from Bretagne received news of what had been done in Bretagne how the Noblemen who adhered to him there were put to death and what havock and depopulation had been made in those Places under his Subjection Whereupon William de Bohun Earl of Northampton had 6 Rot. Franc. 19 Ed III. Part 1. M. 24. The King sent Defiance to Philip of Valois Commission Dated April 24. to defie Philip of Valois as a Truce-breaker his capital Enemy Persecutor and unjust Vsurper of his Inheritance the Kingdom of France And as what was done in Normandy and Bretagne against the Truce had been declared to be so by the Parlement so he wrote 7 Rot. Rom. 19 Ed. III. M. 2. n 4. He wrote 'to the Pope complaining of him to the Pope on the 26th of May following almost the same thing and made grievous Complaints to him of Philip de Valois having in the highest manner broken and dissolved the Truce The effect of his Letter the Pope repeats in his Bull or Answer to it the Original being in the Cotton Library 8 Cleopâ—tra E. 2. The Effect and Contents of K. Edward's Letter to the Pope That for avoiding the Dangers and Damages that might arise by reason of the Dissentions and Wars between Edward III. and the Illustrious King of France as the Bull hath it inter te fili carissime ac carissimum in Christo filium nostrum Philippum Regem Franciae Illustrem he had offered many ways of Peace that he might apply himself as he much desired to the Service of his Redeemer beyond Sea but was always delayed with fair Words and Treaties without effect to his great Damage His second Complaint was after a Narrative of the Truce made before Vannes That when he returned into England and had left a few Men only in Bretagne and sent his Commissioners to treat before his Holiness about a Peace as related before he received news which pierced his Soul That certain Noblemen of Bretagne were by Command of Philip taken carried to Paris and put to death And also of the great Ravage and Depopulation made in Bretagne Gascoigne and other Places 3dly That he endeavoured by crafty and secret Treaties to draw his Allies and Subjects from him and procured other things to be attempted against the Truce by Sea and Land Therefore he thought it utterly dissolved by his Adversary And now since the Time of Treaty was ended and no rational way of Peace appearing nor were the things attempted against the Truce reformed or amended but rather multiplied although by his Holiness's Letters the said King had been often required to reform them not to say any thing of his Legate that was sent into Bretagne to cause the Truce to be observed yet took the contrary part and blamed him that he did not what he ought toward an Accommodation he thought himself excused by God Holy Church and the People if seeing he could have no other Remedy in a just Cause he declared the Truce dissolved by Philip and defied him as above and renewed the War again protesting he would attempt nothing that might offend his Holiness or the Apostolick See which he desired and ought to revere or that might do Injury to any one but only with Moderation to defend himself and prosecute his Rights asserting what he did was for want of other Remedy and against his Will offering Peace when he might have a good one or by good means cum habere poterit bono modo The Pope's Answer to this Complaint begins with a most obliging The Pope's Answer to K. Edward's Complaints Compellation calling God to Witness Fili dilectissime novit 9 Ibm. Altissimus qui scrutator est cordium cognitor secretorum c. Most beloved Son the Most High knows who is the Searcher of Hearts and understands all Secrets that he had faithfully endeavoured to procure a Peace between him and the King of France without partiality and would not yet spare any Pains for the effecting of it And he tells him That those who wrote his Letters probably understood not the Truth of the Affair for that there were some things put in them and some things left out which caused notable He tells him he had not done according to the Truce Errors It was agreed by the Truce That there should be some of the Royal Blood Commissioned to Treat on either side in his Presence and though the King of France had sent several of the Royal Blood and many Prelates of great Authority as it
hereafter declared The City Castle and Earldom of Poictiers with the whole Land and Country of Poictou together with the Fief of Thouars and Land of Belleville the City and Castle of Xaintes and the whole Land of Xaintonge on this side and beyond the River of Charente the City and Castle of Agen and the Land and Country of Agenois the City and Castle and whole Earldom of Perigort and the Land and Country of Perigeux the City Castle and whole Earldom of Limoges the Land and Country of Limozin the City and Castle of Cahors and the Land and Country of Cahorsin the City and Castle and Country of Tarbe and the Land and Earldom of Bigorre the Earldom Land and Country of Gaure the City and Castle of Angolesm and the Earldom Land and Country of Angolesmois the City and Castle of Rodes the Land and Country of Rovergne And if there be any Lords as the Earl of Foix the Earl of Armagnac the Earl of Lisle the Earl of Perigort and Viscount of Limoges or others which hold any Lands within the Bounds of these Places they shall do Homage to the King of England and all other Services and Devoirs due by reason of their Lands in the same manner they did in times past The First Article was corrected and in instead of the Words Those in Soveraignty in Soveraignty were inserted these Those in Fee in Fee 2. Also the King of England shall have all that any of the Kings of England anciently held in the Town of Monstruel upon the Sea with their Appurtenances 3. Also the King of England shall have all the County or Earldom of Ponthieu entirely save and except That if any thing of the said County or Appurtenances have been alienated by the Kings of England for the time being and to other Persons than the Kings of France the King of France shall not be obliged to render them to the King of England And if the said Alienations have been made to the Kings of France for the time being without mean and he doth possess them at present they are entirely to be released to the King of England except the Kings of France had them by Exchange for other Lands of the Kings of England then both were to release But if the Kings of England for the time being had alienated any thing to other Persons than to the King of France and afterwards they came into his hands he shall not be obliged to render them Also if the things abovesaid owe Homage the King of France shall convey them to others who shall do it for the King of England And if they do not owe Homage the King of France shall appoint a Trustee or Tenant to perform the Devoir within one Year after he shall part from Calais 4. Also the King of England shall have the Castle and Town of Calais the Castle Town and Seigneurie of Merk the Towns Castles and Lordships of Sangate Colongue Hames Wale and Oye with Lands Woods Marshes Rivers Rents Lordships or Seigneuries Advowsons of Churches and all other Appurtenances lying between the Meeses and Bounds following That is to say from Calais by the Course of the River that goes before Graveling and also by the Course of the same River round about Langle and by the River which goes beyond the Poil and by the same River that falls into the great Lake of Guisnes and so to Fretun and from thence by the Valley about the Hill Calculy inclosing that Hill and so to the Sea with Sangate and all the Appurtenances 5. Also the King of England shall have the Castle Town and County or Earldom of Guisnes with all the Lands Towns Castles Forteresses Places Men Homages Lordships Woods Forests and the Rights of them as intirely as the Earl of Guisnes lately dead had them at the time of his death and the Churches and good People being within the Limits of the County of Guisnes of Calais and Merk and other Places abovesaid shall obey the King of England as they obeyed the King of France or Earl of Guisnes for the time being All which things of Merk and Calais contained in this and the precedent Article the King of England shall hold in Demain except the Heritages of the Churches which shall remain to them intirely where-ever they be and also except the Heritages of other People of the Country of Merk and Calais lying out of the Town of Calais to the value of an Hundred Livres of yearly Rent or under of Current Money of the Country which shall remain to them But the Habitations and Heritages being in the Town of Calais with their Appurtenances shall be to the King of England in Demain to dispose of them at his pleasure and also the Inhabitants in the County Town and Lands of Guisnes shall enjoy all their Demains intirely and shall wholly be returned to them saving what hath been said concerning the Borders Meets and Bounds in the precedent Article 6. Also 't is agreed the King of England and his Heirs shall have and hold all the Isles adjacent to the Lands Countreys and Places before named together with all other Isles which he holds at present 7. Also 't is agreed the King of France and his Eldest Son the Regent for them their Heirs and Successors as soon as they can without deceit and at furthest by the Feast of St. Michael in one year after the same Feast next coming shall render tranfer and deliver to the King of England his Heirs and Successors all Honours Obediences Homages Ligeances Vassals Fees Services Recognisances Mere and Mixt Empire and all manner of Jurisdiction high and low Resorts Safeguard Collations and Patronages of Churches and all manner of Seigneuries and Soverainties and all the Right they have or can have appertains or can appertain to them by what Cause Title or Colour of Right soever or to the Kings and Crown of France by reason of the Cities Counties Towns Castles Lands Countreys Isles and Places before named and all their Appurtenances and Dependances and every one of them where-ever they are without retaining any thing to them or their Heirs and Successors or to the Kings or Crown of France And also That the King and his Eldest Son should send their Letters Patents to all the Arch-Bishops Bishops and all other Prelates of Holy Church and to the Earls Viscounts Barons Noblemen Citizens and others of the Cities Lands Countreys Isles and Places before-named that they should obey the King of England and his Heirs and their certain Command in the same manner they had obeyed the Kings and Crown of France and by the same Letters they should quit and absolve them after the best manner they could from all Faiths Homages Oaths Obligations Subjections and Promises made by any of them to the Kings and Crown of France in what manner soever This Article was corrected The Word Resorts being left out in the Correct Copy and these Words or Sentence and all manner of
The Bishop of Norwich his 2d Offer Accepted by the King and his Council and approved by the Commons having had time to consider of his first Profer makes a second To serve the King one Year with 2500 Men at Arms and 2500 Archers well Arrayed and Mounted for the whole Fifteenth granted by the Laity of which Number 1000 Men at Arms and 1000 Archers should be ready to pass the Sea for the Relief of Gaunt and the Country of Flanders within 20 Days after the first Payment and that he would take upon him to pay the Charge of Shipping and other Charges 5 Ibm. This Profer was accepted by the King and his Council and much approved of by the Commons This Bishop some time before had received 6 Wâ—â—s f. 291. n. 30 40. The Bishop of Norwich had Bullsfrom Pope Urban for a Croysado against the Anti-Pope Clement Bulls from Pope Vrban for a Croysado and to sign all with the Cross that would go with him into France for the Destruction of the Anti-Pope who called himself Clement and to Sanctifie the War against all his Adherents which were the 7 Knighton col 2671. n. 20 30 c. The Ladies give their Jewels Necklaces Rings c. toward this Croysado French Scots Flemings and many other Nations By virtue of these Bulls he collected a great Sum of Money besides Jewels Necklaces Rings Dishes Spoons and other Silver Implements especially of Ladies and other Women And many gave 8 Ibm. to be pardoned and absolved from their Sins beyond their Ability as it was believed to obtain the Benefit of Absolution and Pardon for their Sins For otherwise they were not absolved unless they contributed according to their Ability Many found Men at Arms others Archers and many went in their own Persons The Form of Absolution was this By Apostolic Authority to me committed 9 Append. â— 105. The Form of the Absolution I do Absolve thee A. B. from all thy Sins which thou dost with a contrite Heart confess or would confess if thou didst remember them and give thee a Full Remission of them the Retribution of the Just and do promise the Increase or Addition of eternal Salvation And I Grant to thee the same Privileges that are Granted to such as go to the Defence of the Holy Land and do impart to thee the Benefit of the Prayers and Suffrages of the Holy Catholic Church To publish this Croysado and to absolve according to this Form there were a sufficient number of Preachers sent beyond Sea and all England over besides all the Mendicant Friers to stir up the People to contribute with a Clerc to take the Names and receive Money of the Contributors not omitting Labourers Knighton Col. 2673. Toward the latter end of 1 Wals f. 298. n. 30 40. The Bishop passeth beyond Sea with his Army May the Bishop passed the Sea with his Army staid a few Days at Calais besieged Graveling and took it by Assault Dunkirk yielded without much trouble where some Flemings joining with the French and Britans to the number of 30000 came toward the Town 2 Ibm. f. 301. lin 11. Knight ut supra n. 50 60. His great Success He besieged Ypre against whom the Bishop tho' but with a small Number in respect of theirs marched out of Dunkirk and gave them Battel taking many and killing 3000 Walsingham says 12000. Afterwards he took in Cassal Dixmude Burburgh Fern Newport and Popering Then he besieged the 3 Knight ib. His Army left the Siege and revolted from him Town of Ypre a long time assaulted it often and was always repulsed and beaten off and at length without his Knowledge the Army left the Siege and Revolted from him The Battering Engines were all left behind with one great Gun called Canterbury-Gun 4 Ibm. col 2672. lin 3. cum una magna Gunna vocata Gunna Cantuariensis The Bishop followed his Army and went to Dunkirk with Sir Hugh Caverse and part of it and from thence to Gravelin Sir Thomas Trivet Sir William Elingham and others went to Burburgh with other part of the Army and fortified it 5 Ibm. n. 10 20 30. The King of France takes Burburgh The King of France comes suddenly upon them with a great Army besieged the Town assaults it and was beaten off with loss Yet within few Days they treated and yielded the Town to the King of France upon Condition to march away with Horse and Arms and all their Goods and so they did to Calais After 6 Wals f. 304. n. 50. f. 305. n. 10 20 30. and Gravelin Burburgh was taken the French Army marched before Graveling and summoned the Bishop to yield the Town The French offered him 15000 Marks to quit the Town with liberty to demolish it and to depart and go whither he would and all with him with all their Goods He desired Time to consider of the Terms and appointed a Day to give his Answer and in the meant time sent to England for Relief which not coming at or before that Day he accepted the Terms levelled the Town to the ground and came for England after Michaelmas And thus ended the Croysado or the Pontifical War Before the Return of the Bishop of Norwich Writs Dated the 20th of August had been 7 Claus 7 Ric. II. M. 37. Dors A. D. 1384. A Parlement called The Reasons of calling it given in the Writ of Summons sent forth for a Parlement to meet on Monday before All-Saints In which Writs notice was given That by Advice and Assent of the Council the Parlement was called for their Mediation and Assistance in a Treaty of Peace to be had then between the King his Kingdom Dominions and Subjects on the one part and Robert King of Scotland his Lands Dominions and Subjects on the other part and for other Difficult and Urgent Business which concerned him the State and Defence of the Kingdom and Church of England Sir Michael de laPole then Chancellor 8 Rot. Parl. 2 Ric. II n. 3. The same and other Causes of Summons declared by the Chancellor shewed the Causes of Parlement to be for that the Truce with the Scots was to end at Candlemas next and whereas the Duke of Lancaster had been sent to renew it he was returned and brought back That the Scots would send Commissioners to London to manage the Treaty about it Another Cause was 9 Ib. n. 4 5 to provide against Three Powerful Enemies Spain France and lately Flanders And here he offered several Reasons to prove it was better for us to begin and make War upon them than they upon us or suffer them to invade us Further shewing That these Wars were not to be imputed to the King seeing that with the Crown they descended to him And the last Cause was 1 Ib. n. 6. for the Maintenance of good Laws and Security of the Peace when he put them in mind of